Dude, usually I love your takes but this was the worst piece of copium bullshit I’ve heard this far. You start off with a “don’t panic” but go on to list all the exact reasons why we SHOULD be panicking. Who enforces the laws? The Executive. Who is supposed to check Executive power? Congress. Who holds Congress captive? The GOP. Who is doing nothing to check Executive power? Congress.
Do I HOPE you’re right? Yes. Does the evidence of my eyes and ears support you being right? No.
What in the name of Christ do you see this “administration” doing that gives you any hint they want to do anything other than burn the fucking system down and remake it into a technocratic oligarchic banana republic with Trump’s face on the new flag? Do you not see who he is surrounded with? Actual fascist technocrat billionaires who want to do away with the concept of a public, accountable government.
As for the faith in judges making rulings that are consistent with their past opinions and the foundation of their profession…again, what makes you think the corrupt, bought and paid for conservative SCOTUS members give a shit about consistent arguments, precedent and maintaining the rule of law when they have been promised more power in a new Christian Fascist country? They don’t fucking care about the way things have been done. They are fully on Trumps side. And in the exceedingly rare hypothetical future where SCOTUS does somehow rule against him…WHO IS GOING TO ENFORCE IT IF THE EXECUTIVE HAS UNCHECKED POWER?
Oh, they’re “following” TROs and pursuing appeals? For now. If I were a betting man, I’d put money on that being a ruse to show the public how they “tried the legitimate way” but have no other choice but to ignore the courts and do whatever the fuck they want.
Am I saying the normal legal challenges shouldn’t be pursued? No. Sue them all you want. I hope it works. But to think that the legal system will succeed with no actual means to stop Trump, Elon and compan from continuing to BREAK CONSTITUTIONAL LAW other than what amounts to a sternly worded letter with no plan B is the highest folly. They have been enabled to say “lol no” because the system only works on norms and gentlemen’s agreements. This is not how Trump and his coterie operate.
How about changing the narrative as Mark Cuban suggests below....I could not paste a snapshot of his reply to me....
"I realize it would never even get put up for a vote. But, you send the message that you aren't against reviewing every nickel spent. You are against misleading narratives.
And by putting it on social media, even though they are already on gov websites like USAspending.gov, this connects to all" by Mark Cuban
Biden broke the law by importing millions of ILLEGAL aliens. You might get to meet one or more of them that have tuberculosis on your next visit to the ER.
Okay, so the people around Trump might be charged with criminal contempt and face fines or jail time. But who will enforce the fines or jail time when they don't pay, don't appear in court, etc.?
When will someone point out that "cost-cutting" and "efficiency" is really only a ruse to distract people while the real goal of Musk and his dogebags is to eliminate all oversight and regulations concerning his private businesses? Also to gain access to private and classified information that gives Musk a competitive advantage over his competition? Not to mention personal retribution against anyone who has ever tried to make him follow laws, just like his rodeo clown Trump. All the distractions are to hide the real agenda of dismantling our government and selling its parts to the highest bidders, and siphoning off our nation's wealth to oligarch buddies.
Why doesn't the Pentagon, of all places, refuse entry to these law-breakers and uphold their duty to protect and defend our national security interests? Unvetted hackers with no security clearance are going to waltz right into the heart of our national intelligence services and pilfer top secret information and rewrite code???
Where is the duty to defend the against attackers foreign and DOMESTIC?
You and Ezra Klein are the only two analysts saying, “Trump is fucking himself with all this fucking bullshit.” You two are the smartest analysts in the public arena (and I am allowed to have two despite the superlative) so I am starting to feel a little better. Thank you. Thank you.
"... you saw me last night on the Nicole Sandler show."
Whew. That's a podcast. I do not do podcasts. If Sandler is seeing people (or vice versa), then the black tape over my laptop's little camera isn't working.
Thinking the courts rulings are going to deter Trump is foolish. We all saw what happened in the private court cases. Since they could never jail him he didn’t care. The judges orders had no teeth. Same as what is going on now. He wants to continue to ignore laws so eventually there are no laws. He will do the same with the Supreme Court. So the judges keep demanding that Trump follow their rulings. Without anyway to uphold the rulings, Trump does whatever he wants. That’s the constitutional crisis. He is ignoring the rule of law and the constitution.
Dude, usually I love your takes but this was the worst piece of copium bullshit I’ve heard this far. You start off with a “don’t panic” but go on to list all the exact reasons why we SHOULD be panicking. Who enforces the laws? The Executive. Who is supposed to check Executive power? Congress. Who holds Congress captive? The GOP. Who is doing nothing to check Executive power? Congress.
Do I HOPE you’re right? Yes. Does the evidence of my eyes and ears support you being right? No.
What in the name of Christ do you see this “administration” doing that gives you any hint they want to do anything other than burn the fucking system down and remake it into a technocratic oligarchic banana republic with Trump’s face on the new flag? Do you not see who he is surrounded with? Actual fascist technocrat billionaires who want to do away with the concept of a public, accountable government.
As for the faith in judges making rulings that are consistent with their past opinions and the foundation of their profession…again, what makes you think the corrupt, bought and paid for conservative SCOTUS members give a shit about consistent arguments, precedent and maintaining the rule of law when they have been promised more power in a new Christian Fascist country? They don’t fucking care about the way things have been done. They are fully on Trumps side. And in the exceedingly rare hypothetical future where SCOTUS does somehow rule against him…WHO IS GOING TO ENFORCE IT IF THE EXECUTIVE HAS UNCHECKED POWER?
Oh, they’re “following” TROs and pursuing appeals? For now. If I were a betting man, I’d put money on that being a ruse to show the public how they “tried the legitimate way” but have no other choice but to ignore the courts and do whatever the fuck they want.
Am I saying the normal legal challenges shouldn’t be pursued? No. Sue them all you want. I hope it works. But to think that the legal system will succeed with no actual means to stop Trump, Elon and compan from continuing to BREAK CONSTITUTIONAL LAW other than what amounts to a sternly worded letter with no plan B is the highest folly. They have been enabled to say “lol no” because the system only works on norms and gentlemen’s agreements. This is not how Trump and his coterie operate.
With his presidential immunity, trump could just FIRE the SCOTUS ? 🤔🙄
Love your letters, at least I can laugh while I cry
"...bird flu started under Pres. Joe Biden and therefore there’s nothing Pres. Donald Trump could have done to prevent the rise of egg prices."
Oh, we're acknowledging causality now that Bidenflation is out of office? Neat!
What can we citizens do to support the constitution at this time?
How about changing the narrative as Mark Cuban suggests below....I could not paste a snapshot of his reply to me....
"I realize it would never even get put up for a vote. But, you send the message that you aren't against reviewing every nickel spent. You are against misleading narratives.
And by putting it on social media, even though they are already on gov websites like USAspending.gov, this connects to all" by Mark Cuban
So Bribery is legal now. Forget Gulf of America just change the whole country name to Banana Republic of America.
'The grift that keeps on giving'
Biden broke the law by importing millions of ILLEGAL aliens. You might get to meet one or more of them that have tuberculosis on your next visit to the ER.
So why isn’t anyone doing anything? “That guy” sat there and blatantly said he follows the laws!
Okay, so the people around Trump might be charged with criminal contempt and face fines or jail time. But who will enforce the fines or jail time when they don't pay, don't appear in court, etc.?
You might meet one of Biden's illegal aliens that has tuberculosis on your next visit to the ER.
Still waiting for the cops to show up.
When will someone point out that "cost-cutting" and "efficiency" is really only a ruse to distract people while the real goal of Musk and his dogebags is to eliminate all oversight and regulations concerning his private businesses? Also to gain access to private and classified information that gives Musk a competitive advantage over his competition? Not to mention personal retribution against anyone who has ever tried to make him follow laws, just like his rodeo clown Trump. All the distractions are to hide the real agenda of dismantling our government and selling its parts to the highest bidders, and siphoning off our nation's wealth to oligarch buddies.
Why doesn't the Pentagon, of all places, refuse entry to these law-breakers and uphold their duty to protect and defend our national security interests? Unvetted hackers with no security clearance are going to waltz right into the heart of our national intelligence services and pilfer top secret information and rewrite code???
Where is the duty to defend the against attackers foreign and DOMESTIC?
You’re right. I would think his competition (the entire business community) would be pushing back on his antics.
ARREST TRUMP AND ELON
You and Ezra Klein are the only two analysts saying, “Trump is fucking himself with all this fucking bullshit.” You two are the smartest analysts in the public arena (and I am allowed to have two despite the superlative) so I am starting to feel a little better. Thank you. Thank you.
"... you saw me last night on the Nicole Sandler show."
Whew. That's a podcast. I do not do podcasts. If Sandler is seeing people (or vice versa), then the black tape over my laptop's little camera isn't working.
Great job today! Carry on...
It’s also a video!
Thinking the courts rulings are going to deter Trump is foolish. We all saw what happened in the private court cases. Since they could never jail him he didn’t care. The judges orders had no teeth. Same as what is going on now. He wants to continue to ignore laws so eventually there are no laws. He will do the same with the Supreme Court. So the judges keep demanding that Trump follow their rulings. Without anyway to uphold the rulings, Trump does whatever he wants. That’s the constitutional crisis. He is ignoring the rule of law and the constitution.