Rise of Fascism in the United States [SPLIT]

[cityboy-stl]

The Constitution doesn't give power to the courts to enforce its decisions after a ruling. It gives that power to the Executive Branch. However, the definition of "judiciary" is that the judiciary interprets the law's meaning and intent, and issues rulings on laws in cases of Constitutionality or criminal, civil, or other legal disputes.

I don't see how anyone can say the Constitution does not give power to courts to do what is the very definition, purpose, and function of a "judiciary". If the Constitution does not empower the courts to adjudicate and interpret the law, then it gives that power to no one, especially not the President, and the courts are useless. That's obviously not the case, and a breach of the fundamental principle of separation of powers and three branches of government.

This whole argument that the Constitution does not give the judiciary power to do what is by definition what a judiciary exactly does, is just stupid.

 

[rareboy]

I will put this here today because it goes to the heart of how fascism at the presidential level works.

The firehose of lies.

TrumpCo. and MuskCo. and the GQP KNOW that the first month has been a fucking dumpster fire...but all you do is just put out the Lie for your faithful readers on Lies Social and XITTER and press on regardless.
Because the Dictator will tell you what to believe. And along the way, don't forget to threaten any media (like the WaPo) that may not fall into line.

 

[KaraBulut]

I will put this here today because it goes to the heart of how fascism at the presidential level works.

The firehose of lies.

TrumpCo. and MuskCo. and the GQP KNOW that the first month has been a fucking dumpster fire...but all you do is just put out the Lie for your faithful readers on Lies Social and XITTER and press on regardless.
Because the Dictator will tell you what to believe. And along the way, don't forget to threaten any media (like the WaPo) that may not fall into line.

This little disinformation post from the Sharpei (no spelling errors, so it wasn't from Trump) is likely connected to Michael Wolff's new book. We know from past Wolff books that Trump is one of the primary sources for gossip that ends up in the books. It wouldn't surprise me if Trump mentions the book multiple times because he wants to his name on best seller lists, even if it's a book that is not particularly favorable to Trump.

Trump’s Least Favorite Writer — “a Total Loser” — Gets the Last Word (Again) With ‘All or Nothing’

'Fire and Fury' author Michael Wolff's new page-turner is packed with revelations about Trump's comeback, including a desperate campaign by Rupert Murdoch to regain the president's trust.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

You’ll probably recall how Murdoch turned on Trump after Jan. 6, only to have second thoughts after it became clear that Trump could actually get back into the White House. Wolff recounts in excruciating detail Murdoch’s attempts to rekindle their old magic. He reports that Murdoch phoned so often that Trump started cracking jokes about how the 93-year-old Aussie “could not remember that he had called him the day before.” There’s also a cringy moment when Murdoch introduces Trump to his new, fifth wife, Elena Zhukova. “She’s Russian!” Murdoch brightly tells him, playing the Slav mate card.

 

[KaraBulut]

In other countries, autocrats take over privately-owned media and turn it into a disinformation agent for the State.

In the world where billionaires are owners of media outlets, an autocratic government will appear to keep its hands clean while the billionaires control the "free speech" narrative, in exchange for rewards from the autocrat. This is oligarchy.

Bezos Orders Washington Post Opinion Section to Embrace ‘Personal Liberties and Free Markets’

David Shipley, The Post’s opinion editor, is resigning after trying to persuade Jeff Bezos to reconsider the new direction.

www.nytimes.com

Jeff Bezos, the owner of The Washington Post, announced a major shift to the newspaper’s opinion section on Wednesday, saying it would now advocate “personal liberties and free markets” and not publish opposing viewpoints on those topics.

Mr. Bezos said the section’s editor, David Shipley, was leaving the paper in response to the change...

Mr. Bezos’ decision to curtail the scope of views on The Post’s opinion pages is a major departure from the newspaper’s decades-long approach to commentary and criticism. Under Mr. Shipley and his predecessor, Fred Hiatt, The Post has published a wide variety of views from the left and the right, including liberal stalwarts like David Ignatius and Ruth Marcus and conservative voices like George Will and Charles Krauthammer.

 

[rareboy]

In the continuing assault on science and research, TrumpCo. are forbidding the CDC co-authoring publications with the WHO. Every day, it gets worse to be a scientist in the US.

CDC Staff Prohibited From Co-Authoring Papers With World Health Organization Personnel

It’s just the latest “Orwellian” crackdown on government scientists.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

 

[rareboy]

And this is one of the ways you break government at the judicial branch level. Fire everyone and then not have enough people to litigate.

 

[KaraBulut]

During Trump's first tour of destruction, several members of his campaign and his administration were convicted of not registering as foreign agents and for lying to the FBI during the Russia interference investigation.

Guess what Pam Bondi did during her first week on the job as Attorney General?

Update on the Proposed Amendments to the Foreign Agents Registration Act Regulations

On her very first day in office, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a sweeping memorandum laying out what the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) enforcement priorities will be going forward under her leadership.

natlawreview.com

On her very first day in office, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a sweeping memorandum laying out what the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) enforcement priorities will be going forward under her leadership. It seems that the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) will not be among those priorities, or, at least, the focus of FARA criminal enforcement efforts will be much narrower than it was during not only the Biden Administration but also the first Trump Administration.

First, the Attorney General has disbanded the Foreign Influence Task Force, established in 2017 by then-FBI Director Chris Wray to counter Russia’s attempts to influence U.S. elections and undermine democratic institutions and values. (The task force later expanded its focus to include similar malign foreign influence operations by China, Iran, and other U.S. adversaries).

Second, the Corporate Enforcement Unit within the National Security Division, the DOJ division that administers FARA, has also been disbanded, and its personnel are being reassigned.

Third, and most importantly here, criminal charges will now be brought under FARA only for “alleged conduct similar to more traditional espionage by foreign government actors.” An example would be the indictment of Sue Mi Terry, a Korea expert at think tanks in Washington and New York charged with acting as an unregistered agent of the Korean government and who, among other things, allegedly passed on non-public U.S. government information to Korean intelligence officers.

More efforts by Trump's accomplices to get rid of anyone or anything that holds corrupt politicians accountable to the law. Let's get rid of the watchdogs and law enforcement for paying and accepting bribes from foreign countries:

Newly Confirmed AG Pam Bondi Issues Directive Limiting Scope of FCPA Enforcement

Newly appointed US Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a directive shifting the focus of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations and cases away from those that do not involve criminal operations of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and expanded the scope of offices responsible...

www.morganlewis.com

Newly appointed US Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a directive shifting the focus of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations and cases away from those that do not involve criminal operations of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and expanded the scope of offices responsible for prosecuting the violations.

In a departure from traditional Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement priorities, newly sworn-in Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a directive on her first day in office both narrowing the focus of prosecutors who investigate violations and broadening the number of offices within the US Department of Justice (DOJ) authorized to do so.

Bondi's vote was 54-46. No Republicans voted "No". One Democrat voted to confirm: Fetterman [D-PA],

 

[rareboy]

Robert Reich offers more reasons for some optimism this week as the cracks in the Trump regime start to grow.

I wish I was as optimistic; I see the majority of US voters as lazy and complacent in the face of the destruction of their government unless it directly affects them, but there is no question that the GQP/TrumpCo. Budget and the slash and burn across government departments is starting to impact many more cis white het middle classers with serious results.

It is interesting that he notes the impact on Tesla and the growing resistance against buying their vehicles.

Full disclosure. I am among the Canadians lobbying our government to impose a 100% tariff on Tesla if the US tries to fuck us over on automobiles with the impending 25% tariffs.

10 more reasons for modest optimism

Friends,

robertreich.substack.com

 

[rareboy]

Sorry Bernie. There was no 'luck' involved. This has always been the plan and the long game has finally paid off for Putin.

 

[rareboy]

On the arts side, Ticket sales at the Kennedy Center have dropped by about 50% since Trump's putsch against the body that governs it.

Not surprisingly, the Center has cancelled the childrens' musical Finn that was actually developed by them and had a sold-out season last year...claiming it is for financial reasons.

I am surprised that the new board, at Trump's direction hasn't used a shock and awe approach to announce a bunch of shows that would shore up their political agenda.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/2025/02/22/artists-cancel-kennedy-center-shows-ticket-sales/

‘Not what we signed up for’: inside Trump’s ‘shocking’ Kennedy Center takeover

The esteemed bipartisan cultural institution has fallen into the hands of the returning president leading to chaos, confusion and a celebrity exodus

www.theguardian.com

 

[Dargelos]

Coming soon at The Kennedy Center.
Karaoke! Cage Fighting! Striptease! Bingo!

 

[Norri]

Don’t forget the WWE.

 

[NotHardUp1]

You'd think Wicked! would be playing year round.

 

[cityboy-stl]

Republicans Fascists have been cultivating this soil for 40 years. I've been saying this since 2016.
What is happening is what they planned, and they want to happen.
They are not silent cowards, they are collaborators.

 

[rareboy]

So having trashed Lisa Murkowski in the Deplorables thread, I now want to praise her for being the only GOP Senator or Congress rep to take a very short, concise and strong stand against what happened on Friday last week.

Hard to say, but her horror, certainly shared by other senators and reps, may be the genesis of an actual move to constrain him.

Transcript: GOP Senator’s Harsh Takedown of Trump Hits the Mark

As Senator Lisa Murkowski gets it right on Trump’s ambush of Zelenskiy, an expert in far-right movements explains how the Oval Office attack will be seen as a watershed by the rising forces of global fascism.

newrepublic.com

 

[rareboy]

Hey America.

Still wondering about how many days it would take to reach this level of fascism?

Where's your 'Freedom of Speech' now MAGAts???

 

[KaraBulut]

Hey America.

Still wondering about how many days it would take to reach this level of fascism?

Where's your 'Freedom of Speech' now MAGAts???

He's provoking. He wants Nixon-era Vietnam style protests so that he can call them insurrections and then he can invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, he can deploy the military against his domestic "enemies" and he can extend the emergency powers that he's granted himself.

After the last coup in Turkey, Erdoğan declared an emergency, he went on media outlets and incited his followers to "stop the traitors". He immediately accused selected enemies of being behind the coup, after which he rounded up over 100,000 people from academia, the opposition party and the judiciary.

https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/17/asia/turkey-attempted-coup/index.html

I'm not sure how long it will take before Americans (not just the people who voted for him) realize that they have given the keys to absolute power to an insane man who is determined to use the government to punish the people who have opposed him.

 

[rareboy]

This is absolutely correct.

But tonight, watch as the GOP Congress and even some Democrats will applaud him and the number of standing ovations he gets from the GQP.

They know exactly what is being done here.

And we will still even have a couple of gaslighters on JUB who will say that it is a shame but if the Dems and the left hadn't asked for it, the Trump Regime wouldn't have to beat the country up.

 

[Norri]

I'm not sure how long it will take before Americans (not just the people who voted for him) realize that they have given the keys to absolute power to an insane man who is determined to use the government to punish the people who have opposed him.

My answer is they will never realize their mistake, supporters of the Iraq war still think it was a good idea. However I don’t think even Trump acolytes are willing to suffer economically for him and that’s my hope. Bring on the tariffs, wreck world trade I got my popcorn all ready.

 

[KaraBulut]

My answer is they will never realize their mistake, supporters of the Iraq war still think it was a good idea. However I don’t think even Trump acolytes are willing to suffer economically for him and that’s my hope. Bring on the tariffs, wreck world trade I got my popcorn all ready.

I've seen a fair number of American Presidents who start out their terms with high approval ratings. At the end of the four years, they are invariably lower in approval. It's gotten worse with every Administration, as the American public has now been conditioned by Republicans since the Reagan years that "government is the problem" and the belief that the whole system is corrupt. Biden is a perfect example: in 2021, everyone was relieved to be "getting back to normal" and ending the chaos. Then the "Let's Go Brandon" thing started. By the time that inflation hit and interest rates went up, there was little that Biden could do to save his Presidency.

The stock market falling won't do it. Only 1/3 of Americans own stocks and 50% of the market is owned by the top 1% income earners or by foreign investors.

Where it will come to a head is when the American public feels that the Republicans are "messing with their money". When unemployment goes up. When parents' Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits are impacted. When they try to get a government service and the office is closed or it takes weeks to get an appointment. When VA services aren't available. When another disaster happens and the Trump Administration once again gets caught totally unprepared. When their States have to increase taxes or cut services because of lost Federal funds and because of higher unemployment.

America doesn't have a social welfare system, so there's no free "people's bread", free coal or government-guaranteed jobs to sustain them, like in most countries.

When it hits their bank account, they will turn against Trump and the Republicans. When they do, it's not going to be pretty.