Thursday, January 30, 2025

continued trampling of our democracy and our rights and what we can do about it


This is long. I keep trying to publish but shit keeps happening.


Trump is continuing his path of destruction and stupidity. He is withholding funds for all federal grants and federal assistance. States are reporting that their Medicaid websites are shut down depriving the over 72 million people dependent on it for medical care of the funds to pay for that care. It freezes student loans, SNAP and WIC, Meals On Wheels, school lunch programs, aid people depend on for food for their families, and housing assistance. Shelters for the homeless that depend on government aid will be closed in the middle of winter as will domestic violence shelters. The funding freeze* disrupts ongoing medical and scientific research, other relief efforts, and work by non profits, with the OMB demanding that every recipient submit an accounting of what the money is used for so they can decide if it's too Woke or not, if it benefits people other than straight white christian men. The freeze on foreign aid will only cause those countries to seek aid elsewhere reducing American influence. This is inherently illegal. The president does not have the power to stop funding already passed by Congress. The president’s job is to see that the monies are distributed.


*It is being reported Wednesday that the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) has rescinded the freeze on all agency grants and loans following numerous lawsuits filed amid general rebellion. There is some confusion over whether this is actually true. The OMB rescinded the memo announcing the freeze. The White House press secretary made a SM post that the freeze is still in force and quite frankly, until payments are starting to be made again I don't believe the freeze is lifted. Trump is a liar. 


People are already losing their jobs. The freeze on hiring has caused the National Parks, among others, to rescind job offers that were already accepted and in some cases those people had already moved in order to start the job or turned down other offers for employment including Trump supporters who are also seeing family members deported. 


The hiring freeze is making our skies less safe because the air traffic controllers are already short handed and overworked. The head of the Federal Aviation Administration resigned after Trump’s inauguration pressured by Elon Musk. Trump fired 100 FAA senior officials, the heads of the TSA and Coast Guard, and disbanded the Aviation Safety Advisory Committee. He appointed a reality TV star for Secretary of Transportation. He appointed, and republicans confirmed, a Fox show host to head the Department of Defense. All before a mid-air collision Wednesday night when a military helicopter ran into the back of a commercial airliner. They have no idea why the Black Hawk military helicopter ran into a commercial airliner but Trump has “opinions and ideas” which he spouts as fact. He's demanding answers from agencies he gutted or disbanded. Instead of accepting responsibility for a collision that ended a 16 year safety record or expressing empathy or remorse for the 67 lives lost under his unqualified administration he is blaming Obama, Biden, Buttigieg, the ‘diverse’ air traffic controllers, DEI recruitment of “mentally disabled" and "physically disabled" people “including dwarfs”. The man is vile. 


Immigration raids are being reported in more states, Texas included (of course) and 2,000+ troops have been sent to the border here though they are not going to be involved in apprehending illegal migrants which begs the question, just what are they tasked with doing? Missouri is licensing bounty hunters offering them $1000 for every person they apprehend that results in deportation. Schools are being targeted with the intent of arresting children to draw their parents out and deporting the entire family. Fortunately some school districts are refusing to comply with these illegal tactics. Trump also has given permission (illegally) for churches and other houses of worship to be targeted. The Quakers have filed a lawsuit against ICE to prevent their agents from entering all houses of worship claiming the constitutional right to freedom of religion is being violated. Trump announced Wednesday that he is signing an order to build a migrant detention camp in Guantanamo Bay because, he says, these criminals are so dangerous he can't count on their native countries to contain them. In other words he wants to incarcerate them for life without charges or a trial and without those pesky reporters knowing what's going on.

Colombia refused to allow two military cargo planes transporting deportees when they learned Trump was having these people handcuffed and in leg irons in the planes with no access to water or bathrooms in intolerable conditions. These were not hardened criminals handcuffed in leg irons. Their only crime was not having documentation but to Trump, that makes them criminals. Colombia demanded they be treated humanely before the country would accept them. Trump immediately put 25% tariff on all imports to raise to 50% in a week and deported Colombians working with the World Bank. Colombia threatened tariffs of their own on American imports including corn. Colombia is a major importer of American corn for cattle feed. Colombia held their ground, Immigration agreed to Colombia’s conditions and now Trump is braying like a donkey that his swift tough response worked, that Colombia backed down. What Trump doesn’t understand is that cutting our allies in South America off from trade and the financial institutions that make trade possible isn’t the stick he thinks it is. If the US policies start hurting their economies they will look elsewhere for aid and support. China would love to have influence in South America.


About using the military cargo planes. It is reportedly costing upwards of $800K to transport 80 deportees instead of the +/- $250K to charter regular airplanes as Biden did. 


The other thing Trump is braying about I picked off Jeff Tiedrich’s newsletter. Trump is bragging about issuing an order, that federal soldiers stormed into California and turned on the faucet and now water is flowing down from the north.

California responded. There were no soldiers, there is no faucet. Pumps that are maintained by the federal Army Corps of Engineers that had been down for three days for necessary maintenance were simply restarted.


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Stephen Miller is a nazi, Elon Musk is a nazi, Trump is a fascist who has promised to use the federal government to attack his political enemies and has most recently canceled General Mark Milley’s security detail, rescinded his security clearance and is considering demoting him in retirement because Milley pushed back during Trump’s first term and has been critical of him since. Trump has also fired all the prosecutors in the DOJ that worked with Jack Smith. The billionaires Trump surrounds himself with don’t give a fuck as long as they control things, destroying all the workers’ rights that were fought for and make wage slaves out of us all. Who do you think they will force to do the jobs done by the people they’re deporting? Trump’s pick for commerce secretary is against raising the national minimum wage of $7.25, an amount that is already impossible to live on and Trump has fired the heads of the National Labor Relations Board who support worker’s rights and the leaders of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission paralyzing these agencies.


So what do we do, what can we do? We resist. We don’t obey in advance. We refuse to comply. We refuse to accept this as normal. When we see someone being attacked verbally, abused, we speak up, we intervene, we protect. If we see someone being physically attacked, record from a safe distance and call the police. If someone asks you for help, asks you to hide them, if it is in your power to do so, you do. If asked if you know any illegal residents, the answer is no. You do unto others. You refuse to become numb or hopeless. You refuse to give into the fear he wants you to feel. You support those groups who are actively fighting Trump’s lawlessness in the courts, financially if it is within your means, because the courts are the only guardrail we have left since Congress has bent the knee and is derelict in it’s duty and the Democrats, with few exceptions like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are deafeningly silent instead of broadcasting every fucking day the illegality and power grabbing already apparent. You cancel subscriptions to media that has become nothing more than a Trump echo chamber, that refuses to investigate and report the truth of things. You support the small independent media, the true free press, springing up in the wake of the capitulation of mainstream media. We become the Underground, the Resistance to the takeover of our country by fascists, nazis, and billionaires. Do not get overwhelmed. This blitz of horribleness is a tactic Trump is using to do exactly that, overwhelm us so we give up.


Here are some independent news organizations you can depend on for the truth:


Daily Docket reports current litigation

Democracy Docket 

The Contrarian 

Angry Staffer 

Heather Cox Richardson 

Meidas Touch News 

Public Notice  


There are more. Jim Acosta has a podcast after being forced out at CNN. Adam Kinzinger has a newsletter/podcast. All of these can send posts directly to your email. Please share others that you rely on. 


Most importantly, don't give up.



24 comments:

  1. It can be done. It's going to take such a long time to unscrew this mess.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just heard Stephen
    Frye's take on Musk- he said that Musk is not a nazi, Nazis made good cars...hahaha. Trump gonna do what trump gonna do and he will break everything as intended, we knew that going in.
    Democrats are ridiculous and have no leadership, no plan, nothing to hold on to. NO BALLS !! Interesting times, darlin'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. also John Stewart and his interviews are great- The one with Chris
      Christy today was most worthy.

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  3. Trump needs to take a short helicopter ride

    ReplyDelete
  4. Codex: This helps too
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3m5qxZm_JqM

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  5. You may be right on quite a bit of what you’re saying , but in one instance or mistaken and I don’t want anyone to be afraid. Snap, wic, and meals on wheels will NOT BE AFFECTED.
    Non programs that benefit individuals will be affected.
    However, grants and such will be

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't believe anything they say about preserving aid or protecting aid via food and housing or SS and Medicare and Medicaid. They have made no bones about wanting to end those programs or significantly reduce them.

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  6. It is going to be a very long fours years. Hopefully, it will only be four years. It is outrageous and obscene after just a week.

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  7. Meals on Wheels is most definitely being affected, Anonymous. It benefits individuals but is funded by grants. Every day is just something else. Yesterday might have been the topper. When a reporter asked Trump if he was visiting the crash site, and he said why? To go swimming? Unbelievable. Such a horrible human being.

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    Replies
    1. The man does not have one ounce of decency or compassion.

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  8. As the shit is hitting the fan in my country as well, I am spending a lot of my time contacting members of parliamant. some even replied and responded in a meaningful way, walked into the conservative party's local office yesterday and gave them a piece of my mind and was confronted by group of white-hiared males looking at their shoes. Anyway, lots to do. Two rallies to attend in the coming days. We are currently making our signs. Yes, I am scared but I was also scared of flying, giving birth, buying a house, relocating to another continent, waiting for medical diagnoses and so on.
    (Tiny minor pet peeve of mine, please excuse, the country in South America you refer to is spelled Colombia. Whereas Columbia refers to e.g. the district of Columbia and so on.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I share your pet peeve about the spelling of Colombia!

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    2. Thanks for pointing out the misspelling. It completely slipped by me. I've corrected it now. Unfortunately my senators and representatives are hard core Trump butt kissers. The will of the people falls on deaf ears.

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  9. I've been keeping up on this news by reading Heather Cox Richardson and The Contrarian. Thanks for including those and others in your list.

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  10. Thanks for speaking up, speaking out. Resist is the message, and get good accurate information, whether it's "good news" or not. A fact is a fact. Many broadcast news sites are slighting things, slanting things, ignoring some things. When they only have so many minutes to broadcast, there are some absolutely awful focus topics.

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  11. And the evil minions in D.C. are having the time of their lives terrorizing the world.

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  12. Love your what do we do paragraph. Thank you for your clearsighted coverage and the indie press links.

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  13. "Don't give up" is good advice. I think there are still mainstream news outlets that have not capitulated but it's good to read widely and be able to discern reliable sources. The California water response is pretty funny. I bet that infuriated Trump.

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  14. This isn't the hardest thing, but one thing that is hard for me is that they are so mind-numbingly INCOMPETENT AND cruel. So dumb. And yet since they're currently in charge they can wreak all the havoc they want.

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    Replies
    1. If they were just incompetent it would be less of a problem. But the cruelty. It seems like that is the whole point of some of the stuff they're doing.

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  15. The Freedom from Religion is good for news about the infringements of religion, and I find PBS to be a trustworthy news source.

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.