Please don't take my message the wrong way

I realize my last message, about my e mail signature could be misinterpreted. I only intended it as a statement of frustration, and only sent it to people whom I know more or less agree with me about the Mad King. It was not directed at you, only a comment about where we are with the shockingly large segment of the population that still thinks this is somehow okay. I apologize if anyone took it the wrong way, I should have been clearer. 

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.............

TRUMP MUST BE IMPEACHED. Write your Senators and Congressional Representatives. One by one we must peel away the MAGA cowards and force them to do the right thing. 

my e mail signature

I have a flatly political and anti-Trump message as my e mail signature. I delete it for "businesslike" e mails, but ya know what? If I forget once in a while, I do not care, because in my opinion no person of good will and common sense can support this madman. So if anyone is offended, tough. Block me. Stop coming to my music groups. I don't care. 

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.............

TRUMP MUST BE IMPEACHED. Write your Senators and Congressional Representatives. One by one we must peel away the MAGA cowards and force them to do the right thing. 

Whither Tesla?

Maybe GM or even Stellantis should buy Tesla out from under Musk? Since it's lost over half its value in the last six months and sales are down something like a third, they should be ripe for the taking, and F-Elon obviously doesn't give two sh*ts about it anymore. They do have some good technology, including the gigacasting, and they could buy more advanced battery systems from BYD (they already do, in China for cars built there). The subsidies are going away anyway, most likely. The reality is that EVs are much simpler than ICE cars, and the outcome of recent trends is for them to be cheaper to build and sell than ICE cars. Politics has gotten in the way, but the natural progression is for most cars to be EVs within 10 years or so. If not an American company, I would think Honda/Nissan might be interested. Or even Toyota. Tesla has what they lack, and vice versa. Maybe the Japanese government would kick in a couple hundred bill.

Trying to think of a way to get out of yet another MAGA shitshow. 

--

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Roberts calls out Trump... a little

Pretty weak sauce but I was happy to see Roberts call Trump's outrageous call for impeachment of a judge that ruled against him "inappropriate." 

--

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Raul Grijalva has died

We have lost a great champion of Democracy, Representative Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona). He died age 77 from complications of cancer. We can ill afford to lose him. RIP, and condolences to his family. 

--

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Substack post up: What will it take?

Please see my latest post, What will it take? 

https://open.substack.com/pub/davidstudhalter/p/so-what-will-it-take?r=8kzi3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false 

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.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

When will the spineless republicans in Congress realize?

Please subscribe to my new substack. Here's a post I just put up: https://open.substack.com/pub/davidstudhalter/p/when-oh-when-will-they-realize?r=8kzi3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

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.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Future posts migrating to substack

I flatter myself that some few of my farflung correspondents at least occasionally read my posts and even appreciate getting them. I am trying to convert the modest little enterprise into a free substack, in hopes of reaching a somewhat wider audience, mainly to do my bit to combat authoritarianism and autocracy. If you care to subscribe, please follow the link and subscribe... if I am understanding how it works, you should then be subscribed to future posts unless ... as of course you may do... you choose not to receive them. Thank you so much. 

https://davidstudhalter.substack.com/p/serious-as-a-heart-attack-our-constitutional

David 

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.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Conferting to Substack

I am trying to convert my regular e mail postings to a free substack. Please follow this link to my recent post Constitutional Conundrum, and subscribe to receive future posts at no cost. Thank you. 

https://open.substack.com/pub/davidstudhalter/p/serious-as-a-heart-attack-our-constitutional?r=8kzi3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email 

--

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Daydreaming about a better Constitution is sometimes salutary

I have long thought that one feature of parliamentary democracies that it's really unfortunate our constitutional framers didn't put in our constitution, is the ability of Congress to call a presidential election. Sometimes a president can serve two terms with no problems (which I do think is more than enough for any one person, ever). But sometimes, and right now is the most extreme case ever, it would be far better for the country if a majority of both houses could simply call an election, in, say 60 days. (And unlike most Congressional action, but like impeachment, it would not require the president's signature). Maybe with a proviso that it can only be done once during the otherwise 4-year term. (This would also have the effect of greatly reducing the absurd length of presidential campaigns). I honestly think there's a chance, if fair elections are held at all, that the Dems could take back both houses in 2026, and with such a provision in place, I believe Trump would be creamed (or better, maybe elected twice, you don't get to run in a special??). It would be interesting, because the four year terms would end up being staggered, with no direct tie to the congressional elections. Which might be a good thing. We need to have lots of elections, and not dwell on them for months and years but just get on with them. And the newly elected president should take office ten days later. At most. No one I've talked to about this kind of idea has ever given me what seems like a rational reason it should be longer than that. The whole point is to get rid of a wilting head of lettuce (or worse), so we'd need to get on with it. Right now more than ever, but it ain't gonna happen, of course. 

I realize I'm just daydreaming about constitutional changes that are all but impossible in the current political milieu, and this would hardly be the most important (fixing the antidemocratic apportionment in the Senate, ending gerrymandering, admitting some new states, and reining in executive power come to mind). But sometimes you just gotta imagine what a better world would look like, while you're doing your damndest to make the one we got not quite as bad. 

The best we can hope for is to throw out enough of the MAGA invertebrates to use Congress to block the regime's worst excesses and use people power (street demonstrations, constant hammering on elected officials) to make clear that we are not going to stand for subversion of future elections or attempts to make the president an elected king. And to be honest, as I guess I've made clear in my other rants, I don't see a lot of hope for even that. 

--

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Serious as a heart attack: the Constitutional Conundrum we find ourselves in

Apologia:  I send out rants and observations to correspondents regularly, but I'm sending this one to a somewhat wider audience because I think it is terribly important and relates to a really frightening predicament our nation finds itself in. If you are offended by it, I apologize to you for inserting politics into our relationship, but sometimes we simply have to stand up for what we believe. Feel free to just hit delete if you don't care to read on. I doubt anyone who knows me at all will be surprised by the tenor of what I have to say.

The conservative (albeit anti-Trump) legal scholar George Conway has explained the conundrum of our being dependent on the Supreme Court to order the executive to comply with the law in the present circumstance. I recommend looking up his remarks. There was a signifciant decision in the Supreme Court this week, although only procedural. It was 5-4, and it is a prelude to the final showdown on this great issue. Let's taken it as read that Trump's administration, under his direction, is, in fact, defying the law in a significant number of particulars. There is prior case law and statutory law saying that the president must spend money appropriated by Congress and may not simply rule by decree, eliminating agencies created by Congress, firing people without legally provided for process, etc. This subject is itself worthy of a lengthy treatment, but I think most people who are paying attention at all to current events have some idea that there is a crisis brewing around these develpments. So, please take it as a given for this discussion that there is no doubt at all that Trump is violating the law, the question is, what can the court do about it? (If you just don't see it this way, I'm sorry, but this is objectively true at this point, and you may want to stop reading because you and I are at irreconcilable loggerheads). I believe the answer is deeply, deeply troubling, even terrifying, and not only because at least four members of the court are cowards, although I do think that is the case. But because the Republican majority Congress has abdicated its job, refusing to even react when the executive overreaches and tramples on its Constitutioanl powers. And, the truth is, ultimately there is no real way, short of asking Trump to respect the law, for them to force him to comply with the law, even the Constitution itself. And he has repeatedlly hinted —more than hinted— that he doesn't believe he should have to. This, in itself, is a grave constitutional crisis.

Five of the justices, including Roberts and Coney Barrett, see that it is indeed their role to tell the executive what the law is, and direct that the administration "must" obey the law. I put "must" in quotes, because it's not like the IRS telling you you "must" pay your taxes. If you don't, they'll dispatch law enforcement to arrest you, eventually. The Supreme Court cannot do that. It relies on the coequal branches having respect for the law. The remaining justices aren't entirely irrational or obstructionist, theoretically, although I would argue that given thre reality of the situation we are in, which they know very well, they are expressing willingness for the republic to simply be ended, and replaced by a dictatorship, because the Article I branch is unwilling to do its job, so the hell with it. This, in my view, is simple cowardice, or possibly rank willingness to go along with dictatorship out of ideological preference for authoritarianism (in the case of Alito and Thomas, I think that is exactly what it is). Anyway, as a practical matter, the attitude of these four is simply surrender. I believe that even the most "strict constructionist" judges before this era would agree that the court should at the very least recognize that the executive is wildly exceeding its powers under the plain language of both statutes and the Constitution iteslf, and state in their judgment that they must do so. Becaus it is the law.The precedent whereby this seems the only reasonable view is probably most reliant on Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, commonly known as the Steel Seizure Case, decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1952. In this landmark decision, the Court ruled that President Harry S. Truman did not have the authority to seize and operate the steel mills to avert a strike during the Korean War. Truman, who was an honest and straightforward officer of the United States who did his duty under his oath of office, complied. As would most of the presidents in our entire history. (Nixon complied with the order to release the tapes, for example). But, likely, not Trump, based on his own statements, his defiant attitude towards any checks on his power, and his obvious actual ignorance of how checks and balances are supposed to work and why they are so critically important to the very survival of the American republic.

So, what happens when the president refuses to comply? The Constitutional remedy, of course, is impeachment and removal from office. Because the court can't summon the army, or the US Marhsals (who are answerable to the president via the Attorney General), to compel compliance. They can only rely on the Constitutional officer to accept their authority to tell him what the law is, and comply. There is a very real expectation that, failing this, the Congress will not do its duty, which would be to immediately impeach and convict the president of failure to comply with the laws, which in turn would automatically result in his removal from office. Then, of course, there would be the expectation that the new president (Vance) would comply. Good luck with that.

So we are in a very, very dark place, constitutionally. There is a real possibility that four, or even five, of the justices will espouse an overblown sovereign immunity argument and shy away from even being willing to tell the president he must comply with the law. But even if the majority does uphold a larger conception of the role of the court in ensuring the continuity of the republic, if the Congress simply refuses to deal appropriately with a lawless president, then government under the Constitution will have failed, full stop, and there will be nothing anyone in and under color of their office is willing to do about it. We will have arrived at no-kidding full blown dictatorship, and short of massive civil disobedience, our own version of the Maidan Orange Revolution or the Arab Spring uprisings, our republic will have passed into history and we will be living in a dictatorship.

If you think, oh, surely not, that won't actually happen, will it?, I admire your sunny optimism. Because from where I'm sitting on this lovely March afternoon, this seems the most likely outcome to me. And I shake my head with a heavy heart and tremble for my country.

Schiff on fear of our own government

Watch Sen. Schiff on what our response to our own government's attempts to terrify us. Here

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Stopping MAGA and preserving the separation of powers

We're being told that Democrats in the House are unified in refusing to go along with a Continuing Resolution to keep the government operating unless it includes some kind of commitment to the separation of powers and respect for Congressionally mandated funding and agencies. Well and good as far as it goes, but I think we need to go further. We need to say to them that unless they do this and include a declaration of the intention of Congress that the president may not impound funds, make laws without acts of Congress, or violate laws relating to the execution of programs and retention of federal employees, without consent of Congress. This is hardly radical. It's just a restatement of the Constitutional separation of powers. But we need to demand that they agree to this, at minimum, or Democrats will not vote for their resolution. Because, it appears, they just don't have the votes to pass it without at least some Democratic  votes. This is our only leverage.

I have been queasy... very queasy... about Jeffries's leadership lately. Now is the time for him to stand up. He should give an address to the nation, with hullaballo and fanfare, explaining the Constitutional crisis and what the Democratic caucus wants to do to fix it... and directly ask the public for their support to save our Constitution and rein in the excesses of the Mad King. Now is not the time to be mealy mouthed and proceduralist. Now is the time for bold leadership and appeal to the public to support real American values.

America was already great.... MAGA is trying to make it a hellscape, and it's our job as citizens to resist, fight back, and STOP THEM by whatever means we can.

Trump trashes historic alliances

Our closest allies, including the "Five Eyes," which historically have exchanged intelligence at the most sensitive level (Canada, UK, Australia, NZ), are clamming up. They realize, correctly, that the US can no longer be trusted as an ally or as a secure recipient of shared intelligence. European allies now realize they cannot rely on the US to fulfill even the most basic treaty commitments. And this includes the North Atlantic Treaty. NATO hasn't ceased to exist, quite, but I think it's safe to say that the countries of the alliance no longer quite believe that the US will fulfill obligations under the treaty, including Article V that requires joint defense. This is in addition, of course, to his having started a damned trade war with our closest neighbors and allies, Canada and Mexico. It is so unbelievable, it's hard to absorb.

This is truly sad, and, unfortunately, the damage is already irreparable. We can never return to "normal," in this or many other regards. There is no more "normal." This is a going to be a significant part of Donald Trump's legacy. And everyone, everyone, who fails to speak out against this regime and resist its incursions into our way of life and values, is complicit. I'm looking at you, Mitt Romney, George W. Bush, Condoleeza Rice, and many other Republicans who have simply stood by and wrung their hands without making clear that they stand in unity with the RESISTANCE to Trump and Trumpism.

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Revised Draft Letter to Congressional Representatives and Senators DEMANDING impeachment

Here's my revised draft letter. I might make slight customizations based on whether the recipient is a Representative or Senator, and of which party, but the core I think is here. By the way, my fear of retribution isn't, in my honest opinion, misplaced. I think they will eventually try to use the various powers of the state to suppress and punish dissent. But we are Americans. We must show the courage of our convictions. It is our sacred duty, no joking and no screwing around.  

As a concerned U.S. citizen, I feel compelled to petition you, as a representative in Congress, about the burgeoning and accelerating constitutional crisis precipitated by President Donald J. Trump and his administration, under his direction. My appeal to you is founded in objective fact, regardless of political ideology and even policy itself. It is rooted in simple patriotism, in love and concern for our republican form of government, and a fundamental commitment to our nation's constitutional framework established in the 1789 Constitution. I feel sure that as an elected representative, you must share these core beliefs and concerns.

Clear evidence shows that this administration has repeatedly disregarded the constitutional oath to "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution. That Constitution explicitly requires that the president "take care that the Laws be faithfully executed" (Art. II, Sec. 3). His violation includes the brazen attempt to end birthright citizenship, a right unequivocally set out in the 14th Amendment. Moreover, President Trump has explicitly attempted to circumvent the legislative powers of Congress by impounding approved funds and even effectively eliminating established federal agencies, jeopardizing both American lives and our economic stability, in clear violation of both case law and statutory law. He has tried to usurp Congress' power to decide whether and how funds and aid will be applied.

The unilateral imposition of outsize tariffs, ostensibly under authority specifically enacted for temporary national security emergencies, is a significant misapplication of the law, which was intended for real national security emergencies, not presidential pique. This misuse of power illustrates a fundamental disregard for the legislative control intended by our laws. Certainly there was never intent that the president would be free to start a massive trade war with our closest allies and neighbors. Such actions imperil not only our prosperity but our national security.

The list of constitutional breaches, including violations of the Emoluments Clause (Art. I, Sec. 9) and credible allegation of actual bribery, point to a pattern of behavior that I believe warrants impeachment. (Wired; reliable reports that oligarchs have paid $1 million and more to meet with Trump to attempt to obtain influence). This can only be seen as bribery, an explicit ground for impeachment (Art. II, Sec. 4). In every case, this administration's actions constitute a major turn away from democracy and toward autocracy, underscored by attempts to suppress the right to vote and disseminate misinformation on a mass scale. We cannot fail to see that our republic is in grave danger.

Given these concerns, I urge Congress to initiate articles of impeachment against President Trump. This action is imperative to uphold the integrity of our government and to reassure the American public of the enduring strength of our democratic institutions. Even with scant chance of immediate success, we must begin to develop the momentum necessary to change course before it is too late. I believe there is growing alarm among a majority of Americans for the future of our country and our Constitution. Only removal of this would-be elected king can ensure their survival.

I realize that in a time like this, there is risk in speaking out. But even before the Declaration of Independence, it was widely accepted in Anglo Saxon law and political philosophy that there is an inalienable right to protest, to petition the government for redress of grievance, and to advocate for rights and policies without fear of retribution or suppression. Since I am urging you, as an elected official, to stand up, show courage, and be counted as opposed to creeping dictatorship, I must show courage too, and say this openly, and not to hide away in fear. Thank you for considering this urgent appeal to safeguard our constitutional democracy.

Sincerely,

David Studhalter  --  Portland, Oregon

--

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

My declaration of determination to resist dictatorship

Yesterday, I posted two missives to some of my correspondents, one saying I wasn't going to watch the State of the Union diatribe of the Mad King, and the other posting a draft letter to Congressional Representatives and Senators, of both parties, demanding and explaining why I believe articles of impeachment should be drafted, introduced, and prosecuted, no matter how unlikely to succeed in any near future. My idea was that I would send this letter anonymously, because, let's face it, the prospect that we may actually face direct retribution against dissenters is very, very real. But I've changed my mind. I am going to edit the letter to include my real name, because if I am asking these politicians to take the risk of losing their careers, and even subjecting themselves and their families to potential violence (as has actually happened, already), then I need to have the courage of my convictions to risk sacrifice and retribution myself. After all, the core concept of the American revolution was that a king or state could not legitimately alienate its citizens from their inalienable rights. And long before the Declaration of Independence, and the 1789 Constitution, the concept that citizens have a right to petition their government for redress of grievance, without fear of retribution or suppression, was widely accepted as a human right, indeed a pillar of modern liberal civilization. Fearful that this core pillar was not clearly enough expressed in the main body of the Constitution, some of the framers saw to it that it was explicitly added as the first amendment. Last night the Mad King made pretty clear he doesn't believe in that, that he believes only in autocratic power, and he will try to erase it from our laws. (I didn't watch the diatribe, but I did inform myself). We cannot accept that. 

Get it straight. I used to say that the Right Wingers wanted to erase the New Deal. Then it seemed, no, they wanted to go back to before the Civil War, erasing the Reconstruction reforms and enshrining White Privilege as some kind of diabolical principle. Now I have come to realize, no, they don't want to stop even there. They think democracy itself is a mistake, a concession to the rabble that should never have been made. They think John Locke and the principles that led to the American Revolution, Declaration of Independence, and Constitution itself will have to be trashed, so they can have straight up dictatorship. England had that kind of government under Henry VIII. Even Elizabeth I, who presided over what amounts to a police state, was forced to accept some dissent and give and take. And with the 1832 Reform Act, Britain actually probably exceeded the United States in the overall dedication to inalienable rights (although their freedom of speech and dissent was never quite as robust as ours... until now, sadly). This is not in any sense conservatism. Conservatives want to preserve institutions and establish and maintain civil order, not tyranny. Not rule by a tiny elite of the powerful, with the populace kept in line with lies, coercion, suppression, oppression, and sops. That is radical totalitarianism, not conservatism, and it is manifestly what the MAGA movement and their Mad King explicitly stand for, whether the bulk of the cult followers that elected him realize and understand it or not. 

But we must have courage. We must resist dictatorship. And we must stand up and say it, with our names and faces, and say to them, no. We will not comply. We must demand of our elected leaders that they resist; that they grow a pair, in the lovely if unavoidably sexist au courant language of ordinary people. We will not passively stand by and let the American fascist oligarchs do this. We will peacefully protest, en masse. We will demand that our elected leaders fight them, fight their illegalities, use their Constitutional powers to resist and remove them, and demand and ensure that elections be free and fair. We will organize the people till a great majority turns them out and restores representative democracy in our country. There can be no giving in, no obedience in advance, no hiding our heads in the sand. There is no guarantee of success, but we must persist, and never give up. We will resist, we will continue to speak out, proudly and loudly, and we will not accept autocracy, not now, not ever. 

--

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Letter to DEMAND IMPEACHMENT

Here's my (believe it or not, slightly shortened) draft letter to members of both the House and Senate, of both parties, regarding the constitutional emergency and the need to impeach Trump. I don't know that I will send to every one, but I will be sending it out to members I think just might be receptive. 

As a concerned U.S. citizen, I feel compelled to write about what I perceive as a burgeoning and accelerating constitutional crisis precipitated by President Donald J. Trump's actions and those of his administration, under his direction. My appeal to you is founded in objective fact, transcending political ideology and even policy itself. It is rooted in simple patriotism, love and concern for our republican form of government, and a fundamental commitment to our nation's constitutional framework established in the 1789 Constitution. I feel sure that as an elected representative, you must share these concerns.

Clear evidence shows that the current administration has repeatedly disregarded the constitutional oath to "preserve, protect and defend" the Constituiton. That Constitution explicitly requires that the president "take care that the Laws be faithfully executed" (Art. II, Sec. 3). This includes his brazen attempt to end birthright citizenship, a right unequivocally set out in the 14th Amendment. Moreover, the administration has unquestionably and explicitly attempted to circumvent the legislative powers of Congress by impounding approved funds and even effectively eliminating established federal agencies, jeopardizing both American lives and our economic stability, in clear violation of both case law and statutory law.

The unilateral imposition of outsize tariffs, ostensibly under authority specifically enacted for temporary national security emergencies, is a significant misapplication of these statutes, intended for scenarios far removed from those being addressed. This misuse of power illustrates a fundamental disregard for the legislative oversight intended by our laws. Certainly there was never intent that the president would be free to start a massive trade war with our closest allies and neighbors. Such actions imperil not only our prosperity but our national security.

The list of constitutional breaches, including violations of the Foreign Emoluments Clause (Art. I, Sec. 9) and credible allegation of actual bribery, points to a pattern of behavior that, in my view, warrants impeachment. (Wired; reliable reports that oligarchs have paid $1 million and more to meet with Trump to attempt to obtain influence). This can only be seen as bribery, an explicit ground for impeachment. In every case, this administration's actions constitute a major turn toward autocracy, underscored by attempts to suppress voter turnout and disseminate misinformation on a mass scale. Our republic is in grave danger.

Given these concerns, I urge Congress to initiate articles of impeachment against President Trump. This action is imperative to uphold the integrity of our government and to reassure the American public of the enduring strength of our democratic institutions. Even if there is scant chance of immediate success, we must begin to develop the momentum necessary to make change. I believe there is growing alarm among already a majority of Americans for the future of our country and our Constitution. Only removal of this would be elected king can ensure their survival.

I choose to withhold my name not out of anonymity but to underscore the gravity of my concerns about potential retaliation against dissenting voices. Even Republican members of Congress have received threats from self-described supporters of the administration.

Thank you for considering this urgent appeal to safeguard our constitutional democracy.

Sincerely,

An American Citizen

 

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Town Hall Report... people ARE waking up

https://youtu.be/h1OurUUr9KE 

Local Portland area report on a Dem congressional town hall. My Congressperson is also a freshman, Janelle Bynum. Have to check on what she's up to. 

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Grounds for impeachment

Reliable reports that "business leaders" are paying $1 million and more to meet with Trump. I call this bribery, pure and simple, and remind everyone that this is one of the very few explicitly mentioned, black letter grounds for impeachment and removal from office in the Constitution. This isn't political, it's objectively corrupt and illegal as hell. Someone should wear a wire. 

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

How is this not bribery?

https://bsky.app/profile/oldionus.bsky.social/post/3ljkvk6fz3k2o 

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Economic Turnaround! Thanks to Trump ... err..

https://bsky.app/profile/gtconway.bsky.social/post/3ljk5b43rr22s

If you don't use bluesky in preference to X, you should ask yourself why not? And if you don't use either, I suggest giving bluesky a try. They do not have an algorithm designed to gin up discord. You can choose what you pay attention to, straight, no chaser. I will not use or even follow links to either X or Facebook. I regard both of them as forces for evil, given the way they deceive and manipulate users. 

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Not watching the SOU

I will be almost physically unable to watch the SOU. So I'm not going to. I'll find out what he said, but I cannot subject myself to his image and voice. 

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

One thing I can do... and keep doing

One thing I've decided to do, for what it may be worth (which may be not much, but I feel everyone needs to do something). I am going to send actual physical letters to Congress people and Senators of both parties. Saying, in simple, short terms, that Trump is violating the law and trashing his oath of office, objectively, factually, not just ideologically, and that he must be impeached, convicted, and removed from office. Even if the votes aren't there, even if the invertebrate leadership of the House won't allow a vote, the articles need to be written, published and talked about, as a tip top priority. Every day. This is how change occurs. Gradually, as a result of slowly building momentum. So I'm buying a bunch of stamps and printer ink and I'm gonna make this a regular activity. I want to believe that an avalanche of demands will eventually result in the collapse of the inertia. Even some Republicans (not that many, but some, and it will be more after the 26 elections (assuming they happen)... are alarmed by the sheer lack of respect for the law and the black letter words of the Constitution.They fear Trump, but that doesn't mean they don't also fear and loathe the way he's destroying the very institutions of our government.  

Sometimes I'll throw in a demand that they revoke the president's arbitrary power to impose tariffs too. That was never a good idea and right now it's causing untold damage to the US and world economies. I have no illusions that they will do this anytime soon, but, again, momentum. 

Please forward this to others you think might be interested; and if you received it as a forward and would like to receive more personal communications from me on the resistance and trying to be constructive, please send me your e mail and I will put you on my farflung correspondents' list. (Conversely, if you would like to be removed from the list, just ask). Thanks everyone. Courage. 

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

The Mad King acts

It's so obvious I almost feel foolish saying it. But imposing tariffs on our principal allies out of sheer narcissistic pique will go down in history as one of the stupidest presidential acts ever. Why the spineless toadies in the Congress didn't long since take away what is supposed to be an in extremis emergency delegation of a clear and exclusive Article I power (the power to devise and impose taxes)... to the Executive, when it first became apparent that the stupidest man ever to hold the White House had glommed on to the fact he had this power, I can't imagine. (He did it in a limited way in Shitshow I, so no one can claim they didn't know). Even in the first two years of the Biden term, it would've been quite feasible to pass a simple, 20 or so word statute, revoking this power, and Biden would've signed it, I'm sure. But as far as I can remember no one even tried. Now we pay the price. An argument can be made that Hawley/Smoot was a leading cause of WW2. Why anyone would gamble with the exercise of the power to massively fuck up the economy and destabilize the whole world is beyond me; but I find almost all the actions of the Mad King not only deplorable but incomprehensible. Even in terms of the interests of his own supporters, the ones he cares about (the billionaire donor class), it's foolish and stupid beyond belief. 

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Stark choices ahead

It has never been clearer to me that we have domestic enemies of our constitution and our country in positions of great power in our government. A truly terrible situation. Americans soon will have no choice but to choose sides. I hate that it is coming to this but it is. Better be prepared. I hope that a good percentage of Republicans will choose the Constitution, democracy, and traditional American values over their opposite, which is what MAGA has become. If an overwhelming majority of Americans demand fair elections, respect for the law, and restraint of imperial powers of the executive, we will survive as a republic. If not, we won't. It's that stark. All other political issues are secondary. 

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Adam Conover: no one is coming to save us: we have to do it ourselves

Please watch this. 

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Elliot Cohen and Eric Edelman on the Trump Vance Blowup

These old guys are well worth listening to. 

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Today's Economic Boycott February 28 ... a step towards massive resistance

I support today's economic boycott. Buy nothing from corporations, especially Amazon; use no credit cards. I fear this hasn't been publicized enough, but we need to start somewhere and build a MASSIVE RESISTANCE.  

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/feb/28/trump-consumer-protests-companies 

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Ukraine renegotiates mineral deal

The Trump reversal, at least in public, of support for Ukraine (and even NATO), is absolutely disheartening and disgusting. But it appears that Zelensky, who is a masterful negotiator, has managed to renegotiate the mineral deal with Ukraine and turn a pile of shit into something that will actually help Ukraine. (Although, as usual, Trump is lying out his ass about it). See Jake Broe, the indefatigable Ukraine news YouTuber: 

https://youtu.be/Oqjntfq8LWY?list=TLPQMjgwMjIwMjX6LRzaNeP2Vg 

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Tesla down

I own a Tesla, which has become inconvenient and embarrassing, but I wasn't sorry to see that Tesla stock is down 4% today. Not four points. Four percent. Elon Musk is seen not only in the wider world but specifically in the business world as a force of destruction, not anything positive. It's a shame, because before he became a drug addled Nazi bent on usurping the legitimate powers under the US Constitution, he did seem to have some ability to marshal forces to produce technological breakthroughs. I'm all for advanced technology, but not at the cost of freedom.... and humanity. 

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Just have a think

I highly recommend this YT channel. Mostly deals with climate science and other aspects of technology and civilization. Doesn't shy away from drawing inferences regardless of ideology, but not explicitly political.  

The emerging climate catastrophe is not actually controversial among people who accept the principles of empiricism. Of course there can be some disagreement about details. But the overall picture is quite clear and irrefutable. If you don't think so, you are listening to and believing fossil fuel propaganda. 

To me this is one of the reasons the political collapse in our country is so very terrifying. We simply do not have the luxury of fucking around like this when the world is almost literally on fire. 

https://youtu.be/LrS4PKDln0E?list=TLPQMjUwMjIwMjWFI6r-I7dzWg 

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

Fwd: February 23, 2025

Please read HRC today. Something's "shifting," for sure. And none too soon. We have a long road ahead of us, but it's not totally hopeless. 

.............

RESIST. BOYCOTT.
ORGANIZE. CONTRIBUTE.

NEVER GIVE UP. 
DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Heather Cox Richardson from Letters from an American <heathercoxrichardson@substack.com>
Date: Sun, Feb 23, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Subject: February 23, 2025
To: <ds@gyromantic.com>

Something is shifting," scholar of authoritarianism Timothy Snyder posted on Bluesky yesterday.

͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­͏     ­

	Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more February 23, 2025 Heather Cox Richardson Feb 24   READ IN APP   Something is shifting," scholar of authoritarianism Timothy Snyder posted on Bluesky yesterday. "They are still breaking things and stealing things. And they will keep trying to break and to steal. But the propaganda magic around the oligarchical coup is fading. Nervous Musk, Trump, Vance have all been outclassed in public arguments these last few days. Government failure, stock market crash, and dictatorial alliances are not popular. People are starting to realize that there is no truth here beyond the desire for personal wealth and power." Rather than backing down on their unpopular programs, Trump and the MAGA Republicans are intensifying their behavior as if trying to grab power before it slips away. Trump's blanket pardons of the people convicted for violent behavior in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol were highly unpopular, with 83% of Americans opposed to those pardons. Even those who identify as Republican-leaning oppose those pardons 70 to 27 percent. And yet, on February 20, the Trump Justice Department expanded those pardons to cover gun and drug charges against two former January 6 defendants that were turned up during Federal Bureau of Investigation searches related to the January 6 attack. Then, on February 21, a number of people pardoned after committing violent crimes, including Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio—who was sentenced to 22 years in prison—and Proud Boy Ethan Nordean (18 years) and Dominic Pezzola (10 years), as well as Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes (18 years) and Richard "Bigo" Barnett, who sat with his feet on a desk in then–House speaker Nancy Pelosi's office (four and a half years), held a press conference at the U.S. Capitol to announce they were going to sue the Justice Department for prosecuting them. Kyle Cheney of Politico reported that the group followed the route they took around the Capitol on January 6, 2021, then posed for photos chanting as they had that day: "Whose house? Our house." Protesters nearby heckled the group, and when one of them put her phone near Tarrio's face while he was talking to a photographer, he batted her arm away. Capitol Police officers promptly arrested him for assault. A number of the January 6 rioters were visiting the Capitol from the nearby Conservative Political Action Conference being held in Maryland. There, MAGA participants continued to normalize Nazi imagery as both Steve Bannon and Mexican actor Eduardo Verástegui threw fascist-style salutes to the crowd. Yesterday, Tarrio posted a video of himself following officers who defended the Capitol on January 6 though the lobby of a Washington hotel where the anti-Trump Principles First conference was taking place. According to Joan E. Greve of The Guardian, Tarrio followed officers Michael Fanone, Harry Dunn, Daniel Hodges, and Aquilino Gonell, saying: "You guys were brave at my sentencing when you sat there and laughed when I got 22 f*cking years. Now you don't want to look in my eyes, you f*cking cowards." Fanone turned and told him: "You're a traitor to this country." Today, the hotel had to be evacuated after someone claiming to be "MAGA" emailed a threat claiming to have rigged four bombs: two in the hotel, one in Fanone's mother's mailbox, and one in the mailbox of John Bolton, Trump's former national security advisor turned critic. After listing the names of several of the conference attendees—and singling out Fanone—the email said they "all deserve to die." The perpetrator claimed to be acting "[t]o honor the J6 hostages recently released by Emperor Trump." Billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump are also ramping up their behavior even as the public is starting to turn against the government cuts that are badly hurting American veterans, American farmers, and U.S. medical research. The courts keep ruling against their efforts and their claims of finding "waste, fraud, and abuse" are being widely debunked. Rather than rethinking their course in the face of opposition, they seem to be becoming more belligerent. On Saturday, Trump urged Musk to be "more aggressive" in cutting the government, although the White House has told a court that Musk has no authority and is only a presidential advisor. "Will do, Mr. President," Musk replied. He then posted a command to federal employees: "Consistent with [Trump's] instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation." Shortly after, emails went out giving workers 48 hours to list five things they had accomplished in the past week. This sparked outrage among Americans who noted that Musk has spent 24 hours tweeting more than 220 times and engaged in public fights with two of the mothers of his children while allegedly running companies and overhauling the government, while Trump spent at least 12 nights at Mar-a-Lago in his first 29 days in office. S.V. Date of HuffPost noted on February 18 that Trump has played golf at one of his own properties on 9 of his first 30 days in office and that Trump's golf outings had already cost the American taxpayer $10.7 million. Reddit was flooded with potential responses to Musk's demand, scorching it and Musk. The demand also exposed a rift in the administration, as department heads—including Kash Patel, the newly confirmed head of the FBI, as well as officials at the State Department, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of the Navy—asserted their authority to review the workers in their own departments, telling them not to respond to Musk's demand. Then users pointed out that the new government employee email system the Department of Government Efficiency team set up explicitly says that using it is voluntary, and that resignations of federal employees must be voluntary. Musk responded by sending out a poll on X asking whether X users think federal employees should be "required to send a short email with some basic bullet points about what they accomplished" in the past week. The entire exercise made it look as if the lug nuts on the wheels of the Musk-Trump government bus are dangerously loose. Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo commented: "Drunk on power and ketamine." Historian Johann Neem, a specialist in the American Revolution, turned to political theorist John Locke to explore the larger meaning of Trump's destructive course. The founders who threw off monarchy and constructed our constitutional government looked to Locke for their guiding principles. In his 1690 Second Treatise on Government, Locke noted that when a leader disregards constitutional order, he gives up legitimacy and the people are justified in treating him as a "thief and a robber." "[W]hosoever in authority exceeds the power given him by the law and makes use of the force he has under his command…ceases in that to be a magistrate; and, acting without authority, may be opposed, as any other man, who by force invades the right of another," Locke wrote. Neem notes that Trump won the election and his party holds majorities in both chambers of Congress. He could have used his legitimate constitutional authority but instead, "with the aid of Elon Musk, has consistently violated the Constitution and willingly broken laws." Neem warned that courts move too slowly to rein Trump in. He urged Congress to perform its constitutional duty to remove Trump from office, and urged voters to make it clear to members of Congress that we expect them to "uphold their obligations and protect our freedom." "Otherwise," Neem writes, "Americans will be subject to a pretender who claims the power but not the legitimate authority of the presidency." He continues: "Trump's actions threaten the legitimacy of government itself." In the Senate, on Thursday, February 20, Angus King (I-ME) also reached back to the framers of the Constitution when he warned—again—that permitting Trump to take over the power of Congress is "grossly unconstitutional." Trump's concept that he can alter laws by refusing to fund them, so-called impoundment, is "absolutely straight up unconstitutional," King said, "and it's illegal." "[T]he reason the framers designed our Constitution the way they did was that they were afraid of concentrated power," King said. "They had just fought a brutal eight-year war with a king. They didn't want a king. They wanted a constitutional republic, where power was divided between the Congress and the president and the courts, and we are collapsing that structure," King said. "[T]he people cheering this on I fear, in a reasonably short period of time, are going to say where did this go? How did this happen? How did we make our president into a monarch? How did this happen? How it happened," he said to his Senate colleagues, "is we gave it up! James Madison thought we would fight for our power, but no. Right now we're just sitting back and watching it happen." "This is the most serious assault on our Constitution in the history of this country," King said. "It's the most serious assault on the very structure of our Constitution, which is designed to protect our freedoms and liberty, in the history of this country. It is a constitutional crisis…. Many of my friends in this body say it will be hard, we don't want to buck the President, we'll let the courts take care of it…. [T]hat's a copout. It's our responsibility to protect the Constitution. That's what we swear to when we enter this body." "What's it going to take for us to wake up…I mean this entire body, to wake up to what's going on here? Is it going to be too late? Is it going to be when the President has secreted all this power and the Congress is an afterthought? What's it going to take?" "[T]his a constitutional crisis, and we've got to respond to it. I'm just waiting for this whole body to stand up and say no, no, we don't do it this way. We don't do it this way. We do things constitutionally. [T]hat's what the framers intended. They didn't intend to have an efficient dictatorship, and that's what we're headed for…. We've got to wake up, protect this institution, but much more importantly protect the people of the United States of America." Senator King, along with Maine governor Janet Mills, who stood up to Trump in person earlier this week, are following in the tradition of their state. On June 1, 1950, Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) delivered her famous Declaration of Conscience, standing up to Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-WI), who was smearing Democrats as communists. "I think that it is high time for the United States Senate and its members to do some real soul searching and to weigh our consciences as to the manner in which we are performing our duty to the people of America and the manner in which we are using or abusing our individual powers and privileges," she said. "I do not want to see the Republican party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny—Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear." On July 28, 1974, Representative Bill Cohen (R-ME), who went on to a long Senate career but was at the time a junior member on the House Judiciary Committee, voted along with five other Republican members of the committee and the Democratic majority to draw up articles of impeachment against Republican president Richard Nixon, fully expecting that the death threats and hate mail he was receiving proved that that vote would destroy his political career. But, Cohen told the Bangor Daily News, "I would never compromise what I think is the right thing to do for the sake of an office; it's just not that important. Only time will tell if the people will accept that judgment." Days later, the tape proving Nixon had been part of the Watergate coverup came to light. "Suddenly there was a switch in the people who had been defending the president," Cohen recalled. "That's when people back in Maine, Republicans, started to turn around and said, 'We were wrong, and you were right, and we'll support this.' " It's a good week to remember that politicians used to use as a yardstick the saying: "As Maine goes, so goes the nation." — Notes: https://www.washingtonpost.com/tablet/2025/02/19/feb-13-18-2025-washington-post-ipsos-poll/ https://www.npr.org/2025/02/20/nx-s1-5304454/jan-6-pardons-drugs-firearms https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/proud-boys-leader-ethan-nordean-gets-18-years-in-prison-tying-for-longest-sentence-in-jan-6-insurrection https://www.npr.org/2023/09/01/1197186891/proud-boys-member-dominic-pezzola-sentenced-to-10-years-in-jan-6-riot-case https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/court-sentences-two-oath-keepers-leaders-seditious-conspiracy-and-other-charges-related-us https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/21/proud-boys-leader-enrique-tarrio-arrested-00205513 https://abcnews.go.com/US/former-proud-boys-leader-enrique-tarrio-arrested-us/story?id=119057808 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2025/feb/21/steve-bannon-gives-fascist-style-salute-at-us-conservative-political-action-conference-video https://www.justsecurity.org/108229/what-just-happened-musk-email-federal-employees/ https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/new-doge-musk-email-goes-seriously-sideways https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/18/politics/mar-a-lago-trump-remote-work-golf/index.html https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-golf-doge_n_67b50fbfe4b0319f377e6c6a https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5159062-donald-trump-elon-musk-advice/ https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/elon-musk-grimes-child-sick-b2702570.html https://people.com/ashley-st-clair-sues-elon-musk-for-sole-legal-custody-of-their-son-rsc-11684615 Johann's Substack Donald Trump Is No Longer the President of the United States I remember that day in 1985 when I accompanied my parents to a courthouse in San Francisco. As I recall, they stood before a judge and, with other new Americans all around them, said the Pledge of Allegiance and became American citizens. We then went out for sandwiches. I was in fifth grade. It was one of the most significant days of my life. That was t… Read more 11 days ago · 52 likes · 5 comments · Johann Neem https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-to-senate-colleagues-weve-got-to-wake-up-and-protect-this-institution https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/upshot/doge-musk-trump-errors.html https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/SmithDeclaration.pdf https://www.pressherald.com/2017/05/28/bill-cohens-lessons-from-watergate/ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/22/enrique-tarrio-capitol-police Bluesky: timothysnyder.bsky.social/post/3lirihxoyyc24 jennydee.bsky.social/post/3liryo5n47k2p meidastouch.com/post/3lisr5cfd2k2m gtconway.bsky.social/post/3lisnkx6exs2u marisakabas.bsky.social/post/3liu2sx53gk2d joshtpm.bsky.social/post/3liu2xz2xqk2k joshtpm.bsky.social/post/3liu3n7ra4k2k ronfilipkowski.bsky.social/post/3litrsp2s7k2o evansutton.bsky.social/post/3lit4cz6cxk26 yasharali.bsky.social/post/3lis4q5meph2f YouTube: watch?v=g2ptQFOi9Pg X: acosta/status/1893735277002113280?s=46 Share You're currently a paid subscriber to Letters from an American. If you need help receiving Letters, changing your email address, or unsubscribing, please visit our Support FAQ. You can also submit a help request directly.   Share     Like Comment Restack   © 2025 Heather Cox Richardson 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 Unsubscribe