Author: tomdolen

The Trump-Musk Dictatorship – THE PATTERN, II – part Two

~ tomdolen

Continuing Part II of. THE. PATTERN:

7]. CORRUPTING LAWS [ALL dictatorships corrupt the laws and judicial system]
“…a new school of legal thought..’law and economics’..became one of the prime organizers of a regular series of seminars for judges…including legal arguments in favor of network priorities [the kleptocratic network] and market-based ethical standards and denigrating the very notion of the public interest…the Federalist Society..subnetwork of legal scholars and practioners has been crucial to the hydra’s ability to weaponize the justice function….much more radical….What American citizens don’t yet realize..is that ‘this will make it very hard for future democratically elected institutions to govern.'” [Sarah Chayes: “The Corruption of America”] *****{NOTE: Chayes is an internationally recognized expert on government corruption, having observed it elsewhere. Also – do YOUR own research on the “law and economics” theory & the “seminars for judges” this movement conducts – & VERY BIG – WHO pays for these law school classes, WHO wants this radical FAR RIGHT legal theory put into American law?????]

“The rich and their lobbyists have taken firm control of the levers of power in Washington, and the state capitals while remaking the rules in their own interests…These same people also happen to be the primary source of the campaign donations that put politicians in office and keep them there…Rules define a civilization…For more than a quarter century..our government has been adopting rules that tilt the playing field in favor of the rich, the powerful, and the politically connected.” [“Free Lunch,” David Cay Johnston. NOTE: Johnston has also written “Perfectly Legal” and “The Fine Print”. also documenting how the rich and their corporations are robbing YOU.}

*** “I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country…Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people until all the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.” [ Abraham Lincoln; 11/21/1864 letter to Col. W.F. Elkins]

8] LOYALTY AND OBEISANCE
– “Noem is rewarded for Trump toadying”. [Jennifer Brooks; Minnesota Star Tribune; 11/13/24]
– “..anticipatory obedience”….”..actions..individual people or private institutions took pre-emptively, with some measure of free will.” [“We Are Watching America Capitulate To Trump”; M.Gessen; New York Times; 2/9/25]
– “If you were seeking to destroy the country, the Gabbard, Gaetz, RFK Jr. picks were exactly the ones you’d make.” [“Will then Senate Save America From Trump’s Cabinet?”; Joe Conason; The Progressive Populist; 12/15/24]
– “In Hiring, Trump Follows Instinct More Than Ever…Prioritizing Loyalty and Not Seeking Advice Outside His Circle”. {J.Swan, M.Haberman; New York Times]

*** “Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters.”

{ U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson]

The Trump-Musk Dictatorship – The Pattern, II

~ tomdolen

Democracy is fragile. Democracy depends on “the rule of law,” NOT “rule BY law.” Democracy depends on norms, restraints, toleration, decency, respect for others, and as the U. s. Constitution’s Preamble says: American government was created to “..establish Justice…promote the general Welfare.” “Promote the general Welfare”. means that U.S. government policies, rhetoric MUST benefit ALL 330 million citizens – not just a select few.

The Founders established a government of separation of powers. No one branch was to control everything. The Trump-Musk KAKISTOCRACY intends to control EVERYTHING. Their latest move: “Trump plans to control U.S. Postal Service,” is discussed in today’s newspaper, 2/21/2025 thus: “President Donald Trump is preparing to dissolve the leadership of the U.S. Postal Service and absorb the INDEPENDENT mail agency into his administration..” [Jacob Bogage; Washington Post]

******* Is it sinking in now????? The governing document for the United States is no longer the Constitution.
it is now “PROJECT 2025”. – a 900 page FAR RIGHT plan to change YOUR “democracy”
into a. PLUTOCRATIC THEOCRACY. The first mechanism is run by a billionaire!!!!!!!

Now, here is Part II – of the Trump-Musk Dictatorship: THE. PATTERN, II:

5] Destroy The Government’s Ability To Function
“The Great Dismantling: Trump’s Coming Attack on America’s Economic Backbone” [Thom Hartmann; the Progressive Populist; 12/1/24]: “By torching the regulatory state, Trump and Musk pave the way for America’s elite to plunder…having a strong administrative stat is essential to a high-functioning economy…A strong administrative state is also the only thing that can protect the environment from those who destroy it for their own profits…A strong administrative state i the only thing that protects entrepreneurs and small businesses from being squashed..by monopolistic behemoths and small businesses are our nation’s main growth engine.”

“They [Trump & Musk] don’t care if the government delivers food or comes in and rescues your town from a flood or teaches poor kids in the inner city because they don’t have to live through any of those things themselves,” said..Trump biographer Tim O’Brien. “They’re rich and powerful, so they’re insulated from consequences of their actins.” [“Playing DOGE ball”; Maureen Dowd; New York Times; 2/9/25]

*** “Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees; and both the trust and the trustees are
“..acreated for the benefits of the people.” [Senator Henry Clay, 1829]

6] Access Sensitive, Classified, Private Data
“Treasury was warned of DOGE risk”. [J.Menn, J.Stein, E.Nakashima; Washington Post; 2/8/25]: “..was warned in a confidential assessment that U.S. DOGE Service access to a sensitive payment network represented an “unprecedented insider threat risk,”…said the DOGE’s access to the payment network should be “immediately suspended”…urged Treasury to scour payments systems for any changes approved by affiliations of DOGE…The memo highlights the degree of concern among government officials and cybersecurity experts…with implications for tens of millions of Americans…”There are reasons we don’t let just anyone peer into the fiscal machinery. Our adversaries would love to get to the headwaters of the money flow…[so] they csan trace out who is receiving payments.”

“DOE targets U.S. health agencies, gains access to payment systems” [D.Diamond, H.Knowles, J.Stein, L.Sun, L.Kaori Gurley; Washington Post; 2/6/25]: “..alarming some government workers with requests to access sensitive records…federal personnel who access those systems are required to undergo specialized training to comply with privacy protections…It was not immediately clear if DOGE officials have undergone that training.”
[NOTE: and WHAT are they going TO DO WITH THAT INFO??? Will we know if Musk’s businesses have it???]

7] CORRUPTING. LAWS {ALL dictatorships corrupt laws]

The Trump-Musk Dictatorship – THE PATTERN

~ tomdolen

***** As an American citizen, YOU need to know an essential truth:
the governing document for the United States of America is
no longer the Constitution.
It is now. PROJECT. 2025″
This and two more posts will BEGIN to reveal
THE. PATTERN
of how this is being done to YOU.

*** “The best way to take control over people and control them utterly is to take a little of their freedom at a time, to erode rights by a thousand tiny and almost imperceptible reductions. In this way, people will not see these rights and freedoms being removed until past the point at which these changes cannot be reversed.” [Adolf Hitler]

The Trump-Musk KAKISTOCRACY is doing this; the big difference is they’re doing so much damage immediately and rapidly. Note how many people, especially Republicans, are accepting this damage.

*** Notice two pieces of advice from Lenin that Trump-Musk follow faithfully: “A lie told often enough becomes truth.” and: “Truth is the most precious thing. That’s why we should ration it.”

Here we begin with various parts of the Trump-Musk KAKISTOCRACY’s PATTERN
1]. “He who saves his Country does not violate any Laws.” [Donald J. Trump: 2/15/2025]

***. “Never let yourself be persuaded that any one Great Man, any one leader, is necessary to the salvation of America. When America consists of one leader and 155 million followers, it will no longer be America.” [Dwight Eisenhower]

2] “Monetizing Assets”. and Monetizing the Presidency
A high-ranking Trump official said they’d take U.S. government assets and sell them off [“monetize them”] like YOUR national forests, YOUR mineral and oil rights, YOUR hydroelectric dams. etc. Guess who’d likely be at the front of the line of possible buyers? Elon Musk and 28 other billionaires who kicked in $1 million or more to help Trump!!!!

Monetizing the Presidency? – Trump DID this, 2017-2021; did it 2021-2025 out of office; has plans to continue: “Trump’s Family Business Is Preparing to Profit” [E.Lipton, B.Protess, D.Yaffe-Bellany; New York Times; 12/6/24]; “Trump’s crypto venture raises ethics issues-billions” [Tony Romm; Washington Post; 1/23/25]. For perspective: “On Corruption In America” [Sarah Chayes]; “Corruption In America” [Zephyr Teachout]

***. “The point is you can’t be too greedy.” [Donald Trump: “The Art of the Deal”]
*** “The love of money is the root of all evil.” [1 Timothy. 6:10]

3] Defund The I.R.S.
“Another $20B is stripped from the IRS” [J.Bogage, S.Najmabadi; Washington Post]: “..the additional cuts would add $140 billion to the national debt..by hamstringing the agency’s ability to audit wealthy individuals and corporations….years-long assault by Republicans on the Internal Revenue Service….Bush II hired private contractors, who “..ended up costing the federal government money.”

Republicans then “slashed 20% of the IRS’s budget and 22% of its staff from 2010-2018. For people making more than $1 million, the number of tax audits dropped by 72% – and the money the IRS collects from audits fell by 40%…Biden’s new IRS commissioner told Congress the agency is leaving on the table $1 trillion a year in uncollected taxes because it doesn’t have enough staff.” [Washington Monthly; July-August, 2021]

***. “The citizens of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities.” [Adam Smith]

4]. PURGE. THE FBI, INSPECTORS GENERAL, “DISLOYAL CIVIL SERVANTS”
“Massive FBI agent purge looms” [A.Goldman, D.Barrett, G.Thrush; New York Times; 2/1/25]. “Trump cuts back election monitors”. [C.Itkowitz, Y.Wingett Sanchez, S.Ellison; Washington Post; 2/9/25]. “Hegseth strips Milley of security protections”. [Tara Copp; Assoc. Press; 1/30/25]. “The friends and foes of Trump and Co.” [Aaron Blake; Washington Post Weekly; 2/16/25]: “The self-serving pattern of the president’s norm-shattering early actions is unmistakable.”

***. “If the laws are to be so trampled upon with impunity, and a minority..is to dictate to the majority, there is an end put, at one stroke, to Republican government.” [George Washington]

Trump-Musk Dictatorship – Stupidity and Climate Crisis Denial

~ tomdolen

*** Donald J. Trump: Climate change is a hoax.

Albert Einstein: “Anybody who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either.”

*** CLIMATE CHANGE CRISIS- and – YOU!!!: Can YOU insure YOUR house???????

Consider. “A Growing Threat To Home Values,” Abraham Lustgarten; 2/9/25; New York Times {Note: The following is a summary – READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE.

1] Maps – A] “Where home values may decline because of climate change” [large parts of the Southwest, West Coast
Florida]
B] “How climate change may cause rising insurance rates over the next 30 years” [almost everywhere west
of the Mississippi River; Florida & Gulf Coast; much of the South]

2]. “Climate change means home ownership may no longer guarantee financial security.”

3]. “One little-discussed result is that soaring home prices in the United States may have peaked in places most at risk, leaving the nation on the precipice of a generational decline…analysis predicts an extraordinary reversal of housing fortunes for Americans – nearly $1.5 trillion in asset losses over the next 30 years.”
“The implications are staggering: Many Americans could face a paradigm shift in the way they save and how they define their economic security. Climate change…is upending the American dream.”
[NOTE: re-read this very carefully. With all their frantic work to “make American government more efficient – exactly what is the Trump-Musk KAKISTOCRACY doing to help save your family’s home insurance??????]

4] “The First Street researchers found that climate pressures are the main factor driving up insurance costs. Average premiums have risen 31% across the country since 2019…Over the next 30 years. if insurance prices are unhindered, they will, on average, leap another 29%…Rates in Miami could quadruple..” [NOTE – SO, if the Trump-Musk KAKISTOCRACY continues to say climate change is a “hoax,” – then it means they don’t care about the cost of YOUR home insurance increasing 50-60-70%, assuming you can get YOUR home insured.]

5] “..systemic economic risk..” Insurance USED TO BE 8% of average mortgage payments, TODAY. they’re about 20%, “outpacing inflation and even the rate of appreciation on the homes themselves.”
“That makes owning property, on paper anyway, a bad investment.” 30 years from now, houses could be worth 6% LESS THAN TODAY, “..affirming fears that many economists and climate analysts have held for a long time.”

6] “Part of the problem is hat many people were coaxed into living in the very high-risk areas they cll home precisely by the availability of insurance that was cheaper than it should have been…companies canceled policies, but in response, states redoubled support for homeowners…But those discounts “muffled the free market price signals”…also slowed down our adaptation..”

7]. “However imprecise, First Street’s work “plays the role of Paul Revere, of the challenge we could face if we fail to adapt.”

8]. “Like many aspects of the climate challenge, this one will also drive climate haves and have-nots further apart..”

9]. “..Altadena may prove to be the true harbinger – of a future in hich only the rich own their own homes, where insurance is a luxury good and where renters pay a monthly toll to large private equity landowners..”

****** Why should YOU be surprised – that in the end – THE RICH, THE OLIGARCHS, would be the winners as now projected? This will ONLY change if ordinary people – like YOU – demand that “our” government for for the lower 95%, i.e. – that YOU demand ‘..that government of the people, by the people, FOR the people shall not perish from the earth.” Right now, under the Trump-Musk KAKISTOCRACY, YOUR democracy is threatened like never before. And quite possibly, the existence of YOUR home, if not now, in the next 30 years. LIES have consequences – and in this case, the consequence could likely be YOU can’t afford home insurance.

*** “Truth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear.” [Mohandas Gandhi]

The Trump-Musk Dictatorship – Stupidity, Corrruption, Cruelty, Craziness – V – THER. COUP

~ tomdolen

{Note: this post reflects “Shaky politics make for a shaky economy,” by Edward Lotterman’s “Real World Economics”; St. Paul Pioneer Press; 2/16/25. -*** – read the entire column, a MUST read for ANY American citizen]

“Our nation is in the middle of a coup d e’tat, a civilian one..but a classic coup. An ill-defined but powerful group of people, most with no legal standing but with ample private funding, is making drastic changes in our nation’s politics and governing structures. Many of these changes violate existing laws and some our Constitution, but no one seems to have the means to stop this.” [NOTE: this is a damning thing to say – read every word, mull it over – YOUR job: discover WHY he’s making this statement – he’s an econ prof; what do numbers tell him?]

“..It is our elected president himself together with the shadowy “gray eminence” of Elon Musk who are most scornful of the law..many in the president’s own party are dismayed..yet few dare to speak out…
“Many committed Republicans understand that the historical GOP..Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan, is near death..” ]NOTE: WHY does he say this???]

“For decades, demagogues have lied to the public by asserting that federal budget deficits are caused by “waste and abuse”…Firing large numbers of civil servants is a supposed remedy. No, it isn’t….the number of civilian federal employees..has been roughly level for the past 60 years.. secondly..civil service pay ..remains a relatively small fraction of total federal outlays.” NOTE: re-read this!!! He just told you. THE ENTIRE ‘REASON’ FOR DOGE is one HUGE LIE!!! – like much else of the Trump-Musk KAKISTOCRACY, it is based on, is a BIG LIE.]

“Non-military foreign aid is not a major factor in federal spending and deficits…is highly misunderstood and a subject of much demagoguery…our foreign aid spending is about $60 billion a year..eight-tenths of 1% of total spending… [NOTE: This is part of America’s “soft power”. – much cheaper than military power]

“International trade is not a zero-sum game. Nearly 250 years ago, Adam Smith and other economists showed how both nations engaging in uncoerced trade benefit…Donald Trump refuses to understand this simple truth…We are not subsidizing Canada.. [NOTE: Meaning Trump’s ENTIRE ‘ECONOMIC REASONING’ is based on NOT UNDERSTANDING what a MAJOR economist understood 250 years ago !!!!!!!!!!!!! His economic policies are based on IGNORANCE!!!!!!!]

“U.S. ‘sovereign wealth fund’ might be a joke or an enormous theft….the key question: From where would the money come?….On its face, the idea is ludicrous…
“..the key detail: “We will take assets the country already has, monetize them….”monetizing” assets we already have would mean selling off national forests, mineral & oil rights..hydroelectric dams…perhaps even locks and dams…And who would be better buyers than the 26 billionaires, in addition to Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Tim Cook, who gave over $1 million to the Trump campaign?…The potential is for the American people to be cheated both coming and going..” [NOTE: re-read this – in plain language – this could be a quid pro quo payoff to favored billionaires for supporting Trump – by selling YOUR national assets. The joke this will “..promote the general Welfare..” requirement of the Constitution; the joke that YOU are supposed to be stupid enough to believe something this “ludicrous.”]

AGAIN – do [real] research – from recognized mainstream economists. Lotterman has just told YOU Trump’s “economic thinking” is one BIG FRAUD; the ENTIRE “rationale of Musk’s DOGE is fraudulent; that the Trump-Musk KAKISTOCRACY wants to PRIVATIZE government assets acquired 1789- ; that the Trump-Musk team is carrying out AN. UNPRECEDENTED COUP in plain sight – itself based on RADICAL LIES of constitutional executive powers.

Trump lied – SURPRISE!!! – when he denied any knowledge of or connections to PROJECT 2025. Now the Trump-Musk COUP. is carrying out “PROJECT 2025” plans. Trump’s administration is full of PROJECT 2025 authors.

For the last 45 years, the FAR RIGHT has been building a PLUTOCRATIC THEOCRACY over American “democracy.” It began with Reagan’s reactionary radicalism; continued with Bush II’s incompetence and destruction; and now – as John Dean warned in “Broken Government”, Trump Era Republicans are creating this nightmare: “..another four years, and heaven forbid not eight years, under Republicans, and our grandchildren will have to build a new government, because the one we have will be unrecognizable and unworkable.”

The evidence is in plain sight – it is there in post- January 20, 2025 news casts and mainstream newspaper, virtually every day. YOUR democracy is being dismantled and destroyed in plain sight.

Plato warned us 2300 some years ago: “This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs: Whenhe first appears, he is a protector.” [How many times has Trump said he is our “savior”??? – the latest being on 2/15/25: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Laws.” !!!!!!!!!!! ]

The Trump-Musk KAKISTOCRACY – “There Is No Turning Back”

~ tomdolen

{Note – the following is from “There Is No Going Back,: by Jamelle Bouie; New York Times; 2/9/25. READ HIS ENTIRE COLUMN – and then THINK, think very hard and long IF America is still a “democracy.”

“Even if anyone had elected Elon Musk to anything, his past week would still be one of the most serious examples of executive branch malfeasance in American history. Musk has seized hold of critical levers of power and authority within the federal government, apparently enabling him to destroy agencies at will, barring congressional action or judicial pushback…..
“By his own account, Musk uses his access to the payments system..to effect a kind of personal line-item veto. If he does not believe….if he thinks….he will then cancel its funding and leave it to starve on the vine…

“When you see prices go up at the grocery store, the prices are going up because of excess government spending…The supermarkets are not taking advantage of you. it’s not price gouging; it’s that the government spent too much.” [This, it must be said, makes no sense.]” [!!!!!NOTE: – See confessions by by various CEOs that they DID GOUGE YOU!!! Then contact a rational econ prof – see on what page of econ 101 THIS appears!!!!!! How many BIG LIES has Musk now told???]

“Musk says..he is acting on the authority of the United States. Even still, it is not as if the president of the United States has the authority to unleash an unvetted, unaccountable private citizen onto some of the most sensitive data possessed by the federal government.

“But that is the situation. A power-mad president possessed of radical theories of executive authority and convinced of his own royal prerogative has given de facto control of most of the federal government to one of the richest men on the planet…whose own interests are tangled up in those of rival governments and foreign autocracies as well as the United States. The public has no guarantee..its most sensitive data is secure… [NOTE – now, sit back and very carefully re-read this paragraph. What is Musk going to do with YOUR private info. When will Russia & China have it/]

“Thune and Johnson, acting with the support of Republicans in both chambers, have, in effect, renounced their power over the purse and abnegated their powers of oversight. Their Congress is supine, submissive and subordinate..
“Somewhere King Charles I is jealous.” [NOTE: THINK – what THIS ALONE means – WHY do we have a “congress”??? What doers the Constitution say about WHICH branch has the power of the purse???

“To describe the current situation in the executive branch as merely a constitutional crisis is to understate the significance of what we’re experiencing, “Constitutional crisis” does not even begin to capture the radicalism of what is unfolding…
“together, Trump and Musk are trying to rewrite the rules of the American system..an anti-constitutional theory of executive power..in service to a plutocratic agenda of austerity and upward distribution of wealth..” [NOTE: THINK on what “..trying to rewrite the rules of the American system..” MEANS – hint; after one neuters Congress, fires inspectors generals, purges the FBI, acquires sensitive data, stacks courts previously with reactionary “judges” – what do you have??????? Hint: some might say; a dictatorship. Or in this case. the Trump-Musk. KAKISTOCRACY.

“..Russell Vought..a vocal advocate of an autocratic “radical constitution” that treats the president as an elected despot..[if they] succeed, the question of American politics won’t be if they’ll win the next election, but whether the Constitution as we know it is still in effect….
“Trump and Musk really have altered the structure of things. They’ve taken steps that cannot be so easily reversed..”

[NOTE: Re-read this brief summary – every word, every thought. If Republican – isTHIS what you voted for? Contact rational, fact-based constitutional experts – ask them if ANY of what the Trump-Musk KAKISTOCRACY is doing is justified by 1787-1980 laws, discussions, DOCUMENTS, precedents, people’s understandings.}

NOTE: much of what the Trump-Musk KAKISTOCRACY is doing is in PROJECT 2025, which, of course, Trump LIED about – once voters heard what it meant. so, many of you trusted him [why would you/] Much of the rest is a PLUTOCRATIC wish list 90 years in the making. Destroying YOUR government’s ability to regulate THEM has been an announced goal. NOT paying ANY income taxes is their well-known goal. YOU should be asking why some, if not most, billionaires are reportedly paying taxes at a 3.4% rate, if they pay any taxes at all
YOU should be asking WHY corporations making billions don’t pay ANY taxes. YOU should be asking WHY billionaires have their Social Security taxes capped at $170,000 – under the “theory” that “they don’t benefit from paying any more, so it wouldn’t be fair to them.” [they don’t get any benefit for police protection, courts, infrastructure, etc.]

YOU should be asking, under the announced goals of “saving taxpayers money,’ how many federal government expenses that benefit Musk and other billionaires will also be cut. OR – is this austerity only for the “undeserving” lower 95%????????

If what Trump and Musk, and their cadre of enablers, in Congress and out, succeed – IT. IS. OVER. American “democracy” will die somewhere between January 20, 2025 and January 20, 2029 – OR – maybe, the KAKISTOCRACY will just continue under one of Trump’s children in the “Trump Dynasty.”

The Trump-Musk DICTATORSHIP – U.S. Creates Gaza as “Tourist Area”!!! – Cruelty, Stupidity, Craziness – IV

~ tomdolen

THE UGLY AMERICAN HAS RETURNED!!! – This time more arrogant, cruel, stupid, corrupt, and crazy – and – totally uncaring about what the PEOPLE OF GAZA want.

Unable – so far – to conquer the Panama Canal, to buy Greenland, to make Canada the 51st state, to lower the costs of American’s food “on day 1”!!!!!!!!, to follow the Constitution and numerous American laws; the “winner” of the 2024 election with 49.9% of votes – NOW proposes America can “solve” the problem of 2 million Gazans – recently bombed back to the Stone Age, by, is it permanently?, or, “temporarily?, forcing theses innocent, traumatized people to leave their homeland for someplace else – with little or no money, no jobs, no housing, few if any possessions. – SO. – America can create a brand new Middle East “tourist area” in WHAT. USED. TO. BE. THEIR. HOMES ??????? Typical Donald Trump “thinking” – “temporary’ pain for somebody else.

Maybe somebody can think of it – but – has ANY American president EVER suggested such a CRUEL, STUPID. plan? Leaving aside other issues – de-stabilization of the entire Middle East; no surrounding countries accept this; WHERE are 2 million displaced, poverty-stricken people going to live; Where do they get FOOD & WATER; how do they find JOBS; WHO will establish SCHOOLS for their children; – what normal human being, in the face of immense tragedy and suffering already inflicted on Gazans, would even jokingly – suggest such CRUEL, STUPID, UNCARING ‘plan”?

According to “Trump suggests U.S. ‘ownership” of rebuilt Gaza [A.Madhani, T.Goldenberg, Z.Miller; Assoc. Press; 2/5/25]: Trump’s top aides said a 3-5 year reconstruction timeline as currently discussed “is not viable.”
SO – WHERE do 2 million Gazans live for over 5 years, if not in THEIR. OWN. HOMELAND ????????

“…asked in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier that aired Monday if Palestinians in Gaza would have a right to return to the territory under his [Trump’s] plan, h replied, “No they wouldn’t.” [“Trump is envisioning Gaza as a ‘tourist area”; Z.Miller, C.Megerian, W.Weissert; Assoc. press; 2/12/25]

UGLY THOUGHT: is the Trump-Musk dictatorship working with Israel’s Netanyahu and Israel’s Far Right to implement a secret nefarious plan to ethnically cleanse ALL Palestinians out of their ancient homelands – so Israel can occupy Gaza and the West Bank, merge them with current Israel? Remember – there are now about 500,000 Israelis illegally [under both international & Israeli law] living in the West Bank. Remember MANY suggestions, given documents, that THIS has been an unofficial policy goal of Israel.

The above is troubling for many reasons – number one being that honest, fair-minded, objective experts have LONG SAID that THERE. WILL. BE. NO. PEACE. IN THE MIDDLE. EAST. without a ‘TWO STATE’ solution – a secure Israel and a recognized Palestinian state.

Somehow – Gaza, without real Palestinians, as a “tourist area” – does NOT seem to be a serious, long-term solution to the current tragedy, nor events of many decades
Somehow – this sounds like evicting all real Venicians from Venice and declaring ti a “tourist area”; like evicting all the real people of Paris and declaring it a “tourist area’; evicting all the real people of………………………..

***”Peace implies reconciliation.” [ Edmund Burke]

*** “Peace is more the product of our day-to-day living than of a spectacular program..” [ Dwight D. Eisenhower ]

*** ‘True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” [Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ]

The Trump-Musk Dictatorship – “BROKEN GOVERNMENT – You Were Warned

~ tomdolen

The Trump-Musk dictatorship didn’t come out of nowhere. At this point, it is the LOGICAL CONCLUSION of decades of DELIBERATE Republican efforts to sabotage government, mostly from GREED for their corporate and wealthy supporters and donors, but also to satisfy FAR RIGHT ideological goals.

YOU. WERE. WARNED – below are some of those warnings…

1]. “Broken Government…How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches” [John W. Dean – Nixon White House legal counsel; 2007]: As Dean was ending this book, “an old friend from the Nixon White House called..a life-long Republican who knew Bush and Cheney personally, who said: “Just tell your readers that you have a source who knows a lot about the Republican Party from long experience..and he has a bit of advice: People should not vote for ANY Republican because they’re dangerous, dishonest, and self-serving…I have come to realize the Democrats really do care about people who most need help from government; Republicans care most about those who will only get richer because of government help. The government is truly broken, particularly in dealing with national security, and another four years, and heaven forbid not eight years, under Republicans, and our grandchildren will have to build a new government, because the one we have will be unrecognizable and unworkable.”

[NOTE – now read this again, remembering WHO said it, and this, he insisted on anonymity “..because one of his sons is in an important [non-political] government post, and we both know that Republicans will seek revenge wherever they can find it.” !!!!!!!!! – NOW, think on this too! – As in who is infamous for seeking revenge on HIS “enemies.”!!!!!!!!!]

You MUST read pages 166-74, “Direct Impact of Judicial Fundamentalism on Individuals,” and his fears of what could [and DID] happen; Appendix A; “Separation of Powers; An Essential Process Envisioned by the Framers;” Appendix B: “Republican Appropriation Process Abuses: shutting Down the Government;” Appendix C: “Bush and Cheney’s Radical Lawyer: The Remarkable Source for UnConstitutional War Powers” [this person is still active!]; pages 102-110: trhe “unitary executive theory” – which the Trump-Musk dictatorship has resurrected to gut YOUR democracy.

2] “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks…How the American Constitutional Sysrem Collided with the New Politics of Extremism”. [Thomas Mann, Norman Ornstein; 2012 – 40 years as respected bi-partisan commentators]:: “In every chapter..we have documented the ways in which the Republican Party has become the insurgent outlier in American politics and as such contributes disproportionally to its dysfunction..the culture and ideological center of the Republican Party itself, at the congressional, presidential, and in many cases, state and local levels, must change if U.S. democracy is to regain its health. The contemporary GOP, to ther horror of many of its longtime stalwarts and leaders like former senators John Danforth of Missouri and Alan Simpson of Wyoming, has veered toward tolerance of extreme ideological beliefs and policies and embrace of cynical and destructive means to advance political ends over problem solving..disdain for negotiation and compromise unless force on them…Republicans in office have driven both the widening of the ideological gap between the parties and the strategic hyperpartisanship on such crucial issues as financial stabilization, economic recovery, deficits and debt, health-care reform and climate change.” [Note: read pages 31-43 on how Gingrich destroyed Congress – WHY}

[Again – read this again – and note – NOTHING has changed- virtually EVERY word van be said of 2025 Republicans]

3]. “It Was All A Lie..How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump”. [Stuart Stevens; 2020 – 25 years as lead strategist and media consultant for Republican presidential campaigns}: “Burn it to the ground and start over.” that’s the answer I find myself giving when asked what should be done with the Trump Republican party..Over the past few years, I’ve come to realize that Donald Trump didn’t hijack the GOP, as much as some of us would like to assert. Sadly, the party had already become Trump, and he or his like was inevitable.”….

All the supposed “core values” of Republicans “turned out to be mere marketing slogans.” “Family values” was useful as “an otherness tool” to attack Democrats…Christian Right wants the world to see them as the political arm of Jesus saving America – in practice its about power…Basic facts are “indisputable”: in the post-WW II era, Republican presidents have contributed far more to the deficit than Democrats.”
“..an entire industry of hate that has come to dominate the Republican Party…Today the intellectual leaders of the Republican party are paranoids, kooks, know-nothings, and bigots who once could be heard only on late-night talk shows.’

“The Republican Party is held aloft by a large, powerful, and ever-growing industry of deceit. The purpose of much of conservative media is to lie to their audience. It is fitting that the heart of the Trump presidency itself is a lie: almost every Republican elected official in Washington knows Donald Trump is unfit to be president.”

[NOTE: – now – read all this again, word by word – remembering WHO said this. lies, ‘kooks,’ “unfit to be president”]

Read pages 171-182 on 15 years of Republican voter suppression. “..the current Republican Party is driven by conspiracy theories, a result of nutty radio mixed with nutty internet supercharged by a nutty president.” Read pages 192-202: “How Do Lies End?” ‘..Donald Trump, the most anti-American president in the country’s history…the Republican party has legitimized bigotry and hate as an organizing principle for a major party in a country with a unique role in the world.” { READ the book – remembering WHO wrote it & his 25-year leadership in Republican presidential campaigns}

4] PROJECT 2025. – ask YOURSELF – WHY. are numerous key authors now in the Trump administration???

And – TRHE TRILLION DOLLAR QUESTION – WHO. paid for the “research’ and writing of PROJECT 2025?????????

AS in another Republican GIANT political scandal – Watergate – “follow the money”

It is well-known Donald Trump cares little about history, facts, democracy; that he is uncaringly ignorant of most things not on Fox “news.” SO – WHO wrote PROJECT 2025? WHO WANTED it written???? WHO paid for it?????

If YOU care about America, American democracy, the future of your children and grandchildren – YOU just might want to know WH IS BEHIND PROJECT 2025????? WHO wanted PROJECT 2025 as a ready-to-use blueprint for the Trump-Musk dictatorship??? WHO WANTRS YOUR GOVERNMENT GUTTED????? WHO wantsYOUR government unable to protect YOU from from corporate criminality and deceit???? [see weekly, if not daily newspapers for stories of YTOUR government prosecuting corporate criminality] WHO benefits from YOUR government being able to collect the ANNUAL $1 trillion in taxes payable – but NOT collected [from mostly the rich]?????? WHICH party has demanded the IRS be underfunded – so it can’t audit the rich and corporations?????? Just asking, but is a possible answer people like a certain billionaire running DOGE?????????? Is your answer WHO had honored positions for Trump’s 2025 inaugural – sitting IN FRONT of his cabinet????????

*** “It is the first responsibility of every citizen t question authority.” [Benjamin Franklin]

*** “The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.” {Dante Alighieri]

The Trump-Musk Dictatorship – Corruption and Cruelty – III

~ tomdolen

ONE DAY!!!!! – Headlines from jst ONE DAY – February 10, 2025 – BEGIN to reveal the depth and breadth of the FAR RIGHT PROJECT 2025 plan to destroy YOUR ‘democracy’ – or – rather – to further pervert the post-1980 OLIGARCHY.

***!!!***!!! – THE HEADLINES:
1] “DOGE paranoia is reasonable with so much on the line” {Michelle Singletary; Washington Post]
2] “Musk’s goals are coming into focus” [J.Stein, E.Dwoskin, H.Natanson, J.O’Connell; Washinton Post]
3]. “Vance, Musk question court’s say” [Jill Colvin; Associated Press]
4]. “Consumer agency is ordered to stop work” [Christopher Rugaber; Associated Press]

1] “DOGE paranoia reasonable..” {M.Singletary]: “Imagine a film where the bad guy is a foreign-born multi-billionaire plotting to take over the U.S. federal government. He uses his vast wealth to help elect the president of the United States, and together they create chaos, consolidating power and making themselves nearly untouchable. They try to gain access to the personal information of millions of Americans, all to amass even more money.”
“Wait, this isn’t fiction. We are extras in that movie right now.”………
“We should all be concerned that Musk’s minions have been angling to dive into government databases…Those very concerns were raised by several Democratic senators in a letter to the White House chief of staff..”…..
“With little transparency into what DOGE is doing with the data it has access, your paranoia is not unreasonable. Major data breaches have already exposed much of our personal information..”

2] “Musk’s goals are coming into focus” [Stein-Dwoskin-Natanson-O’Connell]: “Billionaire Elon Musk’s blitzkrieg on Washington has brought into focus his vision for a dramatically smaller and weaker federal government, as he and a coterie of aides move to control, automate, – and substantially diminish – hundreds if not thousands of public functions..
“In less than 3 weeks, Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service has followed the same playbook at one federal agency after another: install loyalists in leadership, Hoover up internal data, including the sensitive and the classified. Gain control of the flow of funds. And push hard – by means legal or otherwise – to eliminate jobs and programs not ideologically aligned with Trump administration goals.
“The DOGE campaign appears choreographed to gut the civilian workforce, assert power over the vast federal bureaucracy and shrink it to levels unseen in at least20 years. The aim is a diminished government that exerts less oversight over private business, delivers fewer services and comprises less of the economy – but is far more responsive to the president’s directives.”
[NOTE: read this again. Now, study how dictatorships were created – realizing what is NOT discussed here is PURGING THE FBI, firing INSPECTORS GENERAL, installing a CORRUPT ‘supreme court’ and other ideological federal judge hacks – meaning eliminating ANY force holding the Trump-Musk dictatorship ACCOUNTABLE]

3] “Vance, Musk question court’s say” [Jill Colvin]: “Top Trump administration officials are openly questioning the judiciary’s authority to serve as a check on executive power as the new president’s sweeping agenda faces growing pushback from the courts..”…
“Over the past 24 hours, officials…have also attacked the legitimacy of judicial oversight, a fundamental pillar of American democracy, which is based on the separation of powers.”
NOTE: read this again – the Trump-Musk dictatorship is ‘OPENLY’ attacking “..a fundamental pillar of American democracy…the separation of powers.”
Note: a leader – president, king, etc. who has NO checks on his/her power IS. A. DICTATOR]

4]. “Consumer agency is ordered to stop work” [Christopher Rugaber]: ‘..effectively shutting down an agency created to protect consumers after the 2008 financial crisis and subprime mortgage-lending scandal. Russell Vought, the newly installed director of the Office of Management and Budget…Conservatives have targeted the agency since President Barack Obama pushed it to include it in the 2010 financial reform legislation that followed the 2007-08 financial crisis.
“Congress directed the bureau to be funded by the Fed to insulate it from political pressures…The CFPB says that it has obtained nearly $20 billion in financial relief for U.S. consumers..”…
“The administration’s move against the CFPB also highlights the tension Trump’s more populist promises to lower costs for working class families and his pledge to reduce government regulation.”..
“Vought was an architect of Project 2025, a policy blueprint for the Trump White House that Trump tried to disavow during last year’s campaign.”
[NOTE: read this again – a government bureau designed to PROTECT YOU is shut down – in order to protect the billionaires & Wall Street con artists who caused the 2007-08 crash!!!!!!! Congress specifically set it up to be independent from “political pressures” [the Trump-Musk dictatorship]. and – why should YOU be surprised Trump lied about knowing nothing of PROJECT 2025???? If Donald J. trump’s lips are moving, he’s likely lying – 30,000 plus times]

SO – while YOU still have rights of speech, petition, assembly – YOU might want to think about whether American democracy means enough to YOUR family to protest against the Trump-Musk dictatorship – and – everything PROJECT 2025. intended to impose an OLIGARCHIC THEOCRACY on YOU. Day by day the evidence is piling up.

The Trump-Musk Dictatorship – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness – II

~ tomdolen

***!!!***!!! A sign at a recent Washington, D.C. protest against Elon Musk: D.O.G.E. IS. “Dangerous Oligarchs Grab Everything”

***”We cab either have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentration in the hands of a few. But we can’t have both.” [ Justice Louis Brandeis ]

*** “Musk’s Dangerous Bullying” [ Robert Reich; The Progressive Populist; 1/15/25]: “No one better illustrates the sinister consequences of great wealth turned into unaccountable power than Elon Musk…not only claiming presidential authority to fire federal workers, but he’s posting the identities of those whose jobs he wants to eliminate – with the clear intention..his followers harass and threaten them so they quit…
“..America spends less each year on the federal government’s civilian workforce..than we spend annually on federal contractors..Much of the “fat” is found in these private, for-profit contractors…The biggest waste is in the Defense Department…Musk, whose businesses are fast becoming among the government’s largest contract monopolists.”

*** “The most popular man under democracy is not the democratic man, but the most despotic man. The common folk delight in the exactions of such a man. They like him to boss them. Their natural gait is the goose step.” [H.L. Mencken]

*** “Musk becomes Trump’s ‘first buddy'” [A.Parker, J.Dawsey, M.Scherer; Wash. Post Weekly; 11/17/24]: “Ever since President-elect Donald Trump’s political ascent, the unofficial rules governing his private Mar-a-Lago Cub have remained unchanged: His steak is well-done. He controls the musical playlist and the volume. And club members regularly applaud him when he enters and exits the patio.” [note: for perspective refer to stories in Stalinist Russia – NOBODY wanted to be the first to stop applauding Stalin…..just saying…]

*** For perspective on THE BIG QUESTION of “WHY”??? – consider this old quote from the employee of a well-known billionaire: “Only governments and courts remained as sources of authority, if enacted Charles’ ‘libertarian policies would eliminate these.’…”He was driven..to smash the one thing left in the world that could discipline him: the government.” [NOW – THINK!!! – one billionaire – Musk – goes looking for ways to “eliminate waste” – but WHERE is he looking, and WHO gets hurt when he supposedly finds “waste” – YOU or the rich people like himself????????]

As YOU witness the withering away of YOUR democracy under the FAR RIGHT assault, now in its 45th year, in the corrupt hands of the Trump-Musk. KAKISTOCRACY, ponder the above, plus MUCH MORE……..

1] “Selling massive budget cuts..involves deception about actual motives and consequences. The first deception is..DOGE..is a government agency…A second deception involves Trump administration positioning DOGE and massive budget cuts as necessary…A third deception involves DOGE promises to deliver massive budget cuts..with minimal pain… The final deception. The Trump administration is continuing a long-standing Republican Party tradition of paying for tax breaks for the rich by hurting the poor and increasing the national debt.” [ Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer; “Time to get out of DOGE”; Minn. Star-Tribune; 2/8/25 ]
****!!!! Why should we be surprised that the Trump-Musk DOGE monster is a BIG LIE????; like the 30,XXX before

2] “The Supreme Court won’t save Musk’s DOGE plans” [Noah Feldman; Bloomberg Opinion; 12/8/24]: “The plans for for the Department of Government Efficiency..are..riddled with legal problems…The looming conflicts of interest are..low-hanging fruit. The promises to roll back existing federal regulations by executive fiat, then fire the civil servants who administer the rules, grossly misrepresent how the regulatory process and civil service protections work..But the piece de resistance is the idea..the president can simply choose not to spend money..Congress has appropriated and directed the executive to disperse. This absurd notion violates the basic text of the Constitution..”

**** But – think on mad geniuses; think on “move fast and break things.” The Trump-Musk KAKISTOCRACY is moving fast, and they are “breaking things” – like the American democracy. OK – so they get “stopped” by courts – BUT, how much damage did they accomplish? Can WE re-construct government to work – for US? Is THIS part of their plan? – we’ll get to keep some of our ideological goals, because they – US – can’t get back to normal?

3]. “Is Musk’s Blitz Illegal?” [J.Stein, D.Diamond, F.Siddiqui; New York Times; 2/5/25]” “..many of these moves appear to violate federal law, according to more than two dozen current and former officials, one audio recording and several internal messages obtained by the Washington Post.
“So many of these things are so wildly illegal that I think they’re playing a quantity game and assuming the system can’t react to all this illegality at once,” said David Super, an administrative law professor at Georgetown Law School..”.. several legal experts and government officials expressed alarm over how Musk’s team appears to operate as a strike force, outside typical agency rules and constitutional checks on executive power.
“The big picture constitutional worry is that there is a kind of shadow executive branch that is existing and operating and exercising power outside the channels of the Constitution and the statutes..Congress authorized,’ said Blake Emerson, a professor of constitutional law at the UCLA School of Law.”

**** Obtain a copy of. Kurt Andersen”s. “Evil Geniuses…The Unmaking of America” [2020]

4]. “Treasury was warned of DOGE risk” [J.Menn, J.Stein, E.Nakashima; Washington Post; 2/8/25]: “..was warned in a confidential assessment that U.S. DOGE’s access to a sensitive sensitive payment network represented an “unprecedented insider threat risk,”.. said that DOGE’s access to the payment network should be “immediately” suspended. It also urged Treasury to scour the payments system for any changes approved by affiliates of DOGE…The memo highlights the degree of concern among government officials and cybersecurity experts…with implications for tens of millions of Americans….”There are reasons we don’t let just anyone peer into the fiscal machinery. Our adversaries would love to get to the headwaters of the money flows ..they can try to trace out who is receiving payments.” [So -are Russia & China getting crucial info, courtesy of Musk’s DOGE? Will we know? }

5] “DOGE targets U.S. health agencies, gains access to payment systems” [D.Diamond, H.Knowles, J.Stein, L/Sun, L.Kaori Gurley; Washington Post; 2/6/25]: “..alarming some government workers with requests for access to sensitive records…a DOGE associate had been made a Treasury official [**Bingo!, just like that!!!!!]…Current and former federal officials said..federal personnel who access those systems are required to undergo specialized training to comply with privacy protections. It was not immediately clear if DOGE officials have undergone that training.” [****!!!** Would YOU like to place a bet – a really big one – that NO DOGE “officials” have undergone normal training of federal personnel??!!??]

***** consider historic FAR-RIGHT goals: deregulation [as in Wall Street & its 2008 crash!!!]; privatization [as in hiring civilians, paying them TWICE govern workers doing the SAME job]; tax cuts [as in national debt busting 2017 Trump tax cut for billionaires, that he wants to re-new!!!]. Think on this: THE reason for Trump-Musk destruction of YOUR government is to PRIVATIZE all those government functions – which will cost YOU more. SECOND: “..Trump’s pet vision of funding..government through tariffs..a long-standing conservative dream: eliminating the income tax.” [Andrew Duehren: “The Tariff Man’s guide to taxes”; The Week; October 4, 2024]

6] IF Musk is serious about ‘REFORMING U.S. government finances, he should:

#1]. adequately fund the I.R.S. [which Republicans REFUSE to do] – Why/ – because then it could collect more than $1 trillion annually in payable income taxes that it can’t now. [from likely, people like Musk!!!]

2] cancel the 2017 Trump tax cut for the rich – which is responsible NOW for 25% of U.S,. national debt – and – if renewed it is KNOWN, will add an estimated $5 trillion in more debt
3] save $1 trillion annually by eliminating the interest paid on “our’ national debt – and most certainly NOT cutting taxes on billionaires like Elon Musk
4]. stop subsidizing fossil fuel industry – when humans are destroying the earth by burning fossil fuels – why encourage burning more? [is this THE definition of stupidity?]

5] take an inventory of ALL the “private contractors” working for the federal government – fire them all, replace them [back] with normal government employees. [at less cost!]
6] take on BIG PHARMA – and demand to “negotiate” ALL prescription drug prices – so Americans and the governments – pay MUCH lower prices – like the REST OF THE WORLD !!!!!!!
7] stop giving away U.s. taxpayer owned resources – like under the 1872 law giving away U.S. mineral assets to private claimants; charge cattle ranchers the same grazing rates as private land owners do – i.e. more
8] stop giving farm subsidies to primarily rich and connected farmers [some of whom live in big cities!!!] and give only to “Mom & Pop” family farmers actually living and working their own farms
9] tax ALL American income for Social Security and Medicare the same rates – eliminate the “cap” where billionaires only pay on the first $170,000. [under the ABSURD ideology they “don’t benefit’ from having to pay more!!!!!!]
10]. audit the Defense Department ! – rumor has it the Defense Department has NEVER passed an audit]

***** THE big DOGE fraud is that Musk will only ‘find” waste’ that doesn’t hurt him and Trump personally – YOUR test on the validity of Musk’s “findings” are simple – the Preamble’s test: ‘..benefit the general Welfare” – i.e US, ALL 330 million Americans. YOU want to ‘save the country” – protest vehemently if Musk announces budget cuts that are obviously not fair, not what citizens of a “democracy” should expect.