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Trump Dictatorship and All Things Politics

Mongoose said:
Sure having a corrupt, brain dead, geriatric, demented, shell as president is what the founding fathers had in mind when they wrote the constitution.
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You don’t know Jack s*** about what the founding fathers had in mind. In general, MAGA is clueless in what the founders feared the most. Your knowledge of the founders and the constitution is abysmal….

www.vanderbilt.edu

Civics 101: Keep Demagogues Out of Democracy

Political philosophers from the Greeks to the framers of the U.S. Constitution to Abraham Lincoln all warned of the mortal danger that demagogues pose to democracies. Vital to their understanding of that danger was their familiarity with Greek and Roman history and political philosophy. These...
www.vanderbilt.edu www.vanderbilt.edu

The preservation of a healthy constitutional democracy in the United States in the coming decades hinges critically on whether Americans heed a golden rule of this free form of government as taught throughout the ages by democracy experts like Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides, Livy, Edward Gibbon, Alexis de Tocqueville, Abraham Lincoln and especially the framers of the U.S. Constitution.

The golden rule is that demagogues destroy democracies. In their writings and speeches, these incisive political philosophers teach us that demagogues, especially those serving as heads of state, are to the body politic of democracy what cancer is to the human body. If the cancer is not kept out, or removed, it eviscerates critical organs and eventually kills the democracy.

The presidency of Donald J. Trump, culminating in the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is enlightening proof of the wisdom and relevancy of these teachings. Trump is a textbook example of a demagogue, and the lesson all Americans must take from his four years in the Oval Office is that no matter how much we may like a demagogue's disruptive style or policies, it is suicide for a democracy to elect, or reelect, this species of political actor to the highest office in the land.

The framers of the Constitution were the first Americans to understand this all-important principle of democracy, so much so that thwarting the rise of a demagogue was one of the primary motivations behind the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

Less than two weeks after the start of the convention, George Washington made this fact plain in a letter to the Marquis de Lafayette. In the letter, Washington explained that his crucial purpose in attending the emergency gathering of delegates in Philadelphia that summer was to prevent a demagogue from gaining power in the politically unstable young nation--and thus eroding constitutionalism and stripping Americans of their newly won rights, freedoms and liberties.

Washington described to Lafayette how he had recently been compelled out of retirement by an urgent risk to the United States. "Anarchy and confusion" were threatening the security of the American people and the rule of constitutional law. But, Washington wrote, there was a deeper risk than this. It was that the political chaos of those years created fertile ground for exploitation "by some aspiring demagogue who will not consult the interest of his country so much as his own ambitious views."

In a letter written three weeks later to David Stuart, a political colleague from Virginia, Washington reiterated the point, lamenting that the widespread distrust in the federal government under the Articles of Confederation had rendered "the situation of this great country weak, inefficient and disgraceful." In this letter, too, he concluded by warning about the destructive impact of "Demagogue(s) on the United States federal government…..
 
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Mongoose said:
Sure having a corrupt, brain dead, geriatric, demented, shell as president is what the founding fathers had in mind when they wrote the constitution.
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You should study American history more. You might learn something about your own nation….Again, you’re ignorant of the thoughts of the founders. It shows. Bigly.


If the Founding Fathers were alive today, they would tremble for the future of our republic.

Watching the rise of hyperpartisanship and populist demagogues in the United States and around the world would be their worst nightmare. And they would wonder: Can the citizens of today muster the personal and political virtue necessary to save our nation?

When they drafted the Constitution, the Founders’ greatest fear was that a populist demagogue would flatter the mob, subvert American democracy and establish authoritarian rule. “The only path to a subversion of the republican system of the Country is, by flattering the prejudices of the people, and exciting their jealousies and apprehensions, to throw affairs into confusion, and bring on civil commotion,” Alexander Hamilton wrote to George Washington in 1792. “When a man unprincipled in private life[,] desperate in his fortune, bold in his temper … is seen to mount the hobby horse of popularity … It may justly be suspected that his object is to throw things into confusion that he may ‘ride the storm and direct the whirlwind.’”

Thomas Jefferson agreed with Hamilton about very little, except for the danger of populist demagogues. After he read a draft of the Constitution, his main concern was that an unscrupulous candidate in the distant future might lose an election and refuse to leave office. “If once elected, and at a second or third election outvoted by one or two votes, he will pretend false votes, foul play, hold possession of the reins of government, be supported by the States voting for him,” Jefferson wrote to James Madison in 1787.

In the Founders’ view, the only thing standing between America and an authoritarian demagogue was the virtuous self-control of citizens who would find the wisdom to choose virtuous leaders. “I go on this great republican principle, that the people will have virtue and intelligence to select men of virtue and wisdom,” Madison said at the Constitutional Convention. “Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks — no form of government can render us secure.”

When the Founders talked about the need for virtuous citizens and leaders, they were referring to the four classical virtues: prudence, temperance, fortitude and justice. (By contrast, the three theological virtues are faith, hope and charity.) Following the classical and Enlightenment moral philosophers, the Founders believed that personal self-government was necessary for political self-government. In their view, the key to a healthy republic begins with how we address our own flaws and commit to becoming better citizens over time.

In the Federalist Papers, Madison and Hamilton made clear that the Constitution was designed to foster deliberation so that citizens could avoid retreating into the angry mobs and partisan factions that demagogues can inflame. Ancient Athens had fallen because the demagogue Cleon had seduced the Athenian assembly into continuing the war with the Peloponnesian League; the Roman Republic had fallen because the people were corrupted by Caesar, who offered them luxury in exchange for liberty. Only by governing their selfish emotions as individuals could citizens avoid degenerating into selfish factions that threaten the common good.

The Founders believed that virtuous self-mastery was necessary for both personal and political happiness. Today, we think of happiness as the pursuit of pleasure. But classical and Enlightenment thinkers defined happiness as the pursuit of virtue — as being good rather than feelinggood. Just as individuals can use their powers of reason to achieve psychological happiness, so can groups of citizens use theirs to achieve political happiness.
 

Investors are concerned over U.S. economy statistics showing continually high inflation and a slowing economy.

Stocks hit new lows Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 700 points, the S&P 500 plunged by 1.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell dropped 2%. Walmart shares also toppled by 2.5%.

It was the worst day for the U.S. economy since President Donald Trump took office in January, and stockholders growing wary of increasing tariffs and seemingly arbitrary policy changes. The economy data has pushed some investors into buying bonds, making yields fall. According to a consumer survey conducted by the University of Michigan, people are also increasingly worried about inflation. The survey found consumer sentiment fell 10%, with buyers showing concern as home sales decreased more than expected in January. A five-year inflation forecast also put inflation percentages at 3.5%, the highest since 1995.
 
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Elon Musk is annoyed that X's Community Notes feature is fact-checking tweets with information that runs counter to his and President Trump's worldview.

At issue are tweets about the popularity of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. Earlier this week, President Trump claimed that Zelensky's approval rating was at 4%, without citing a source. As the BBC notes, polling is hard to come by in Ukraine these days given the ongoing war with Russia, but a recent poll from Ukraine-based Kyiv International Institute of Sociology put Zelensky's approval at 57%.

Community Notes is a crowdsourced feature that allows users to debunk misleading or factually incorrect posts by leaving a note explaining why it's inaccurate. The community votes on these notes and the one deemed most accurate is displayed underneath the offending tweet.

It remains to be seen how Musk plans to “fix” Community Notes on X. But he's complained about them in the past. Last year, he got into a spat over a more innocuous subject—being forced to create a Microsoft account when setting up a new PC. When Community Notes pointed out that he could set up the computer without a Microsoft account, Musk tweeted: "Community Notes is failing here."

The news comes at a time when Musk's approval ratings are sinking. According to a Pew Research Center survey released Wednesday, 54% of respondents viewed him unfavorably.

From the comments: Yeah, little Elon thinks "freedom of speech" is just about speech that supports HIM. Same for little Donnie. Neither have any idea what the Constitution or the Bill of Rights is all about. They are basically Mussolini-wannabes who want to turn the US into what Putin did to Russia.
 
fishonjazz said:
Thank God.
That was one of his firing spees that was going to hit me the most and the soonest.
Glad he went back on that one.
I guess good job trump for not doing the dumb thing that you originally wanted to do.
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I thought this wasn't happening but this article is from 2 hours ago: https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/ne...1&cvid=ab85cef9773048dda2edee17d122af3b&ei=87

National Parks across the country are cutting hours, cancelling cave tours, closing visitor centers and warning of other cutbacks following Trump administration cuts to the federal workforce.

Park advocates and fired employees have been predicting those impacts for weeks, but a string of social media posts from park managers made after the Feb. 14 cuts appear to be the first formal acknowledgements.

"I think it's going to be a very rough spring," said Cassidy Jones, a former park service ranger who now works for the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association.

Among other parks, Saguaro National Park in Tucson announced that it was closing its two visitors centers on Mondays starting Feb. 24. At Yosemite National Park, officials announced they're halting reservations for 577 coveted camping spots this summer. Effigy Mounds in Iowa said it's closing its visitor center two days a week until the summer.

Online calendars for reservable tours in some parks show zero availability, a casualty of losing the rangers who led them. Carlsbad Caverns National Park has cancelled its guided tours, and announced that in March it will be ending self-guided tours.

Visitors to other parks are also noting staffing problems, including at Grand Canyon National Park, where terminations cut deeply into the employees who staff the entrance stations, leading to long lines last weekend.

Trump announced the cuts last Friday in what's been dubbed the Valentine's Day Massacre. In addition to the cuts by the Department of the Interior, led by Secretary Doug Burgum, similar cuts were made within the Department of Agriculture, which oversees the U.S. Forest Service and thousands of wildland firefighters and forest rangers.

Roughly 1,000 National Park Service employees were laid off in that round. Park employees and advocates say parks were already understaffed.

Advocates say the cuts will hurt the park's users: the American public.

"I don't know whether we’ll see overflowing latrines, polluted streams, or deadly wildfires first, but Doug Burgum is already leaving a path of destruction across America’s parks and public lands," said Aaron Weiss, the deputy director of the public lands advocacy group Center for Western Priorities. "These terminations are foolish, heartless, and do nothing to make the government more efficient.


Ashley Korenblat, who runs Western Spirit Cycling in Moab, Utah, said she wonders how many of the people she works with regularly have been let go. Moab is home to Arches and Canyonlands national parks, and depends heavily on their reputations to attract tourists, especially internationally.

Korenblat said a group of Canadian riders just cancelled their upcoming trip over concerns about cuts and Trump's tariff war with Canada, costing her a $10,000 booking.

A 2023 National Park Service report said parks in southeast Utah that year drew 2.4 million visitors, directly supported 5,122 jobs and had a cumulative economic impact of more than $486 million.

"We've spent millions and millions and millions of dollars marketing America's National Parks to the world and now we're just throwing away that money," she said. "Are we making these cuts to low-paying jobs so we can give a bigger tax break to the rich? Is that the plan?"

Yep, trump is the worst

from the comments:
How are they ever going to rake all these forest with even more understaffing? After all, most of the forests burning out west are on federal lands.
Among the fired employees are those who maintain trails and FIGHT WILDLAND FIRES. Brilliant

Some funding was restored at Acadia NP after Susan Collins had her say. That's one park.
 
I was considering 2 decent sized expenditures this year. I felt pretty good about where the economy was heading on the Biden administrations way out. Was looking into taking my family on a cruise (around $4000 total) and also looking at buying a new camping trailer ($10,000-$15,000)
But my faith in the economy at this point is pretty low. So no cruise and I will just continue to use our crappy old dented no water pump pop up trailer for camping trips instead. Save my money just in case the economy tanks worse than the Utah Jazz.
 

“You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game,”
 
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At a town-hall meeting in a Republican-friendly, Atlanta-area congressional district, boos rained down on GOP Rep. Rich McCormick as he tried to defend President Trump’s efforts to slash the federal government.

In one tense exchange before the hundreds of people there, a woman challenged McCormick over how he would “rein in the megalomaniac in the White House,” according to a video of the Thursday event posted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Eventually, McCormick—whose district backed him by a nearly two-to-one margin last year—acknowledged the audience’s concerns.

“I don’t want to see any president be too powerful,” McCormick said. His office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The contentious scene was one of a series of clashes in GOP congressional districts across the country in recent days that offered an early warning for the White House. While Trump is broadly giving voters what he promised during his campaign, the scope and unilateral nature of his early executive actions, as well as his upending of longstanding foreign alliances, is throwing some Republican lawmakers on the defensive.
 

ROSWELL, Georgia — The crowd packed into City Hall and filled an overflow room with one question, above all, for their Republican congressman: What did he think of Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn mission to shrink the federal government?

Their Atlanta suburb in a solid-red district was hardly a hub of the liberal resistance, but hundreds had shown up to confront Rep. Richard McCormick in person. Now each argument from the lawmaker brought a new round of shouts, groans and boos.


“If you’re going to just yell at me, that’s not going be an effective town hall,” McCormick said, five minutes into defending Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service.

“But we’re pissed!” a woman shouted.

Town halls this week for congressional Republicans from Georgia to Wisconsin to Oregon grew testy as voters showed up to vent, outraged at the firing of workers and the Department of Government Efficiency’s access to sensitive data. Protesters showed up around the country at lawmakers’ offices.

The backlash extends far beyond federal workers in the Beltway, reaching purple districts that will decide control of Congress in 2026 and swing states like Georgia that helped return Trump to the White House. Layoffs just hit the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Funding freezes have halted clean-energy projects championed by President Joe Biden.
 

Officials at a school district in Utah say they were stunned to find themselves at the center of a Fox News report accusing the district of fraudulently spending $86,000 in COVID-19 relief money on hotel rooms for an educational conference at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace.

Now, the Granite School District is firing back in a scathing statement defending its use of the money and condemning the network’s journalistic practices. The district also went after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which first put the district on blast in a social media post earlier this week.

The district countered on Friday with a detailed accounting of what the money was spent on, and how it benefited the district, while refuting “any impropriety for having our educators participate in this conference.”

“The Fox News national story contains many factual errors and no one from their organization has ever contacted us to verify the facts of the report,” the district said in a statement Friday.

“The funding in question was used to pay for hotel rooms for 123 educators from our district to attend a three-day professional educational convention hosted by Solution Tree in Las Vegas in 2022,” the district said. It added that a “comprehensive needs assessment was submitted and accepted by Utah State Board of Education” approving what it described as “a successful and beneficial conference for our educators.”

The district also made clear in the statement there has never been an investigation into the use of the funds.

“Granite School District has NOT been contacted or questioned by any state or federal regulatory agency about the use of these funds,” the statement concluded. “We first heard of this concern on social media. As such, we were surprised to be accused of fraud without having some contact from anyone to verify the legitimacy of the expense.”

Damn super rich elite school teachers just getting richer at the expense of the taxpayer!!!
 
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...1&cvid=91f24a41b47a4e5f8da19c3bd185a97e&ei=70

People are once again stating to "feel the burn"

‘Trumpism will not be defeated by politicians inside the DC beltway. That is not going to happen. It will be defeated by millions of Americans in Nebraska, in Iowa, in Vermont,’ Sanders said.

He said they need to come together at the grassroots level ‘in a movement which says no to oligarchy, no to authoritarianism, no to kleptocracy, no to massive cuts in programs that the working class desperately needs.’

Sanders spoke before a packed room in downtown Omaha with more fans waiting in the overflow outside.

His base is fired up about the whirlwind first month of President Trump’s second term and activities of Musk, as the world’s wealthiest man and his DOGE team slash the U.S. government.

Sanders supporters were outraged by what is happening in Washington and had no problems voicing their frustrations. They screamed their support at times and even teared up at other moments as they nodded along to his remarks.

While Trump was a target of much of the wrath receiving boos and one person even yelling ‘fascist,’ there were also were shouts of ‘fire Elon,’ ‘Tesla sucks’ and ‘Elon’s a Nazi.’

The senator will hold a second event in Iowa City, Iowa on Saturday as he hits the road to discuss how Americans can fight back against Trump and Musk.

He vowed to take his message to every corner of the country.

‘We are rapidly moving toward an oligarchy form of society in which a handful of multi-billionaires not only have extraordinary, extraordinary wealth but unprecedented economic, media and political power,’ Sanders said as the crowd booed.
The senator spoke of Trump’s inauguration and how the three wealthiest people in the country, Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, were sitting right behind the president as he was sworn in. He also noted Trump’s billionaire Cabinet nominees in the third row.

‘We can defeat them. I know how much money they have. I know their ownership of the people. I know they can buy and sell politicians. I know all of that,’ Sanders said.

‘But this I also know, that when we stand together and not let them divide us up… we can defeat them, and we must defeat them,’ he declared.

At one point, Sanders quoted President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. As he quoted about a government for the people, by the people, his supporters also chimed in to recite the famous lines.

The Vermont senator blasted Trump’s recent social media post where he wrote he who saves his country does not violate any law.


Sanders argued that the president believes ‘he can do anything he wants to do. The law does not apply to him.’

‘That is how he has been behaving, in violation of the Constitution and federal laws,’ he said as his supporters groaned.

He also slammed the president for attacking the First Amendment for his criticism of the media and blasted Trump’s recently calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a ‘dictator.’

‘Everybody in the world knows that Putin started the war except Donald Trump,’ Sanders said.
 
Mongoose said:
So are you pretending the last four years were a success? It’s been a complete disaster for democrats as indicated by the recent election. What are you especially proud of over the last 4 years?
Brain dead president?
Terrible VP and presidential candidate that nobody wanted or voted for?
Authoritarian policies?
Lies upon lies about Covid?
Media meltdowns?
Inability to move on from Trump?
Assassination attempts on political opponents?
Lawfair against political opponents?
Making Trump more popular than ever?
Pushing Tulsi out of the party?
Pushing RFK out of the party?
Cheney endorsements?
Becoming closer to WWIII and nuclear annihilation?
Maui fires?
California fires?
NC disaster response?
Men in woman’s sports?
Men in women’s restrooms?
Mental and physical health crisis?
Fentanyl deaths?
Open borders?
I could go on but I’m wondering what you are especially proud of?
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Are these things you’re willing to die for?

Because your presidents actions are provoking people to violence. Violence we will all feel on a large scale. 2020 was just practice compared to what your president is brewing. You’ve seen what happens when we protest, people start burning and looting. Who do you think they’re are going to come for? Do you have a wall around your house? No, they’re coming for all of us.

If he’s counting on martial law, he’s counting on the military to break their oath. I’m not.

I’m gonna vote for drawn and quartered.


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Al-O-Meter said:
It isn't a mystery. America hates 2025 Democrats. America hates what 2025 Democrats stand for. The 2025 Democrat party has become the party of Karens, and it turns out that Karens aren't popular. Every time the Democrats do exactly what you are wishing they'd do, their approval drops even further.
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I wish the Democrats were Karens. Karens actually do **** and raise a fuss about **** that is happening. The Democrats arent doing jackshit which is why the have bad favorability.
 
BabyPeterzz said:
Are these things you’re willing to die for?

Because your presidents actions are provoking people to violence. Violence we will all feel on a large scale. 2020 was just practice compared to what your president is brewing. You’ve seen what happens when we protest, people start burning and looting. Who do you think they’re are going to come for? Do you have a wall around your house? No, they’re coming for all of us.

If he’s counting on martial law, he’s counting on the military to break their oath. I’m not.

I’m gonna vote for drawn and quartered.


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I guess it’s a good thing tds morons are a dying breed. What’s left of the democrats are dumb ****ing brainwashed boomers that don’t know how to work a computer.
 
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Step-Back Lauri said:
When the resistance starts growing and ideas flying make sure to give any tips for us foreigners to help you out in any imaginable way. It's a global cause now and I'm ready to invest some time to help you/us out.
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We need you. Most of this country is good people just trying to do the right thing. We’ve been duped by our demons, again, and we’ll need our friends to help us. Start by boycotting American goods. Demand your leaders fight back against Trump economically. Isolate us and protest.

It’s all of our jobs to fight fascism, because eventually they come for us if we don’t stop them.


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