What strikes me here is how much of the courtroom spectacle depends on behavioral manipulation.
The system thrives on delay, ritual, and framing, not because justice requires it, but because power feeds on it. Every procedural twist is designed to provoke anxiety, to keep citizens watching the theater instead of naming the cruelty.
This is what I’ve called free‑will cruelty: the way institutions exploit human psychology, turning uncertainty into punishment. The defendant’s fate becomes less about law and more about how long the system can stretch the timeline, how much stress it can impose, how much spectacle it can extract.
Behaviorally, it’s the same pattern we see everywhere:
• Delay as domination: dragging things out until exhaustion feels like inevitability.
• Spectacle as distraction: turning trials into rituals that obscure the real stakes.
• Cruelty as normalization: making suffering feel like the natural rhythm of governance.
The courtroom here isn’t just about guilt or innocence. It’s about how power manufactures anxiety, how institutions weaponize time, and how cruelty becomes the default operating system.
That’s why my last piece was a reminder: no one deserves this. Free will should mean agency, not ritualized punishment.
Until we name the behavioral mechanics of cruelty (America is doing some quite cruel things these days…) we’ll keep mistaking theater for justice.
—Johan
Professor of Behavioral Economics & Applied Cognitive Theory
Thank you, Professor. My take-away from your comment is we now have clear proof that this administration is essentially a PSYCHOLOGICALLY ABUSIVE HUSBAND... and the rest of the nation is a WIFE BEING PSYCHOLOGICALLY ABUSED. Of course, there is a lot of PHYSICAL ABUSE taking place too (see the actions of ICE). But the overall dynamic in America today is one of abuser / abused... just like my mother and father's marriage. He abused her both psychologically and physically for 20 years. SMH
I’ve been saying this same thing since 2016. I was married to a narcissist for over 13 years in my first marriage and know all too well the patterns of emotional manipulation and abuse that a relationship with a narcissist entails. We are ALL in a relationship with a narcissist now. Those members of the MAGA cult (that is the right word for it) remind me very much of an abused spouse who constantly makes excuses for the abuser’s bad behavior, blaming anyone and anything else for their deplorable behavior. Relationships with narcissists never get better. They don’t improve. Narcissists take. They don’t give. They don’t appreciate. And they sure as hell don’t reciprocate. They just take everything they can from people and then toss them aside like garbage.
I’m sorry you were married to a narcissist. I recognized Trump’s type early on. And when he beat Hillary, I was so triggered I had a nervous breakdown. This time around, I was better prepared. Now, I’m not just angry I’m working to offer an asymmetrical warfare type of solution, based on the work of Dr R Buckminster Fuller.
Trump also meets the definition of a psychopath, as well as a Dark Triad personality disorder. He will be very dangerous for the rest of his life, until he is totally disabled or locked up in a high-security prison.
Yes, the malignant narcissist has all the delightful qualities of the narcissist plus some elements of the psychopath, and he checks pretty much all of those boxes. But he's not the only one in the Dark Triad among this toxic crew!
You’ve captured the dynamic exactly …abuse is the right frame. What happens in the courtroom, and across institutions, mirrors the cycle of an abusive relationship: manipulation, delay, intimidation, and the normalization of cruelty. The “abuser” thrives on keeping the victim disoriented, anxious, and dependent, while insisting the abuse is somehow justified.
That’s why I call it free‑will cruelty: the system exploits psychology the same way an abuser does, turning uncertainty into punishment and ritual into control. ICE and other agencies show how quickly psychological abuse slides into physical abuse; the spectacle hides the violence until it feels routine.
Naming it as abuse matters, because once you see the pattern clearly, you stop mistaking it for law or justice.
Johan, you defined this horror in a way that I have not seen. I have been thinking about what you have named this theatrical mess in our justice system but you put it in words that define it.
My question is , how did we all become victims of this mindset and how do we rid ourselves of this? Will voting them out really fix the problem? I am very concerned.
Thank you, and yes. Framing of collective psychology and the dangers of unmoored leadership dovetails with what I’ve been pressing: cruelty and spectacle aren’t accidents, they’re systemic behaviors. The Roman Empire gave us bread‑and‑circuses; we’ve “advanced” to bread‑and‑fracases, where chaos itself becomes the distraction. That’s the modern twist, power thrives not just on entertaining the masses, but on keeping them permanently destabilized.
Naming that shift matters: once you see the spectacle as engineered fracture, you stop mistaking it for politics and recognize it as cruelty institutionalized.
Thank you, Sir, for taking the time meaningfully to respond to my comment; ✍️ I appreciate the effort, since there are many replies to which to answer. 🫱🏻🫲🏽 Again, well said, good and faithful savant! 😇
Thank you, Professor Vance, for reporting on the Supreme Court argumentation over the firing of independent agency appointees. And thank you for pointing out the desire of Solicitor General Sauer to escape the perfectly logical questioning by liberal members of the court who would preserve the makeup of these independent agencies, as legislated by Congress. How the president and the court can decide that "things have changed," and Congress's intent can now be violated, are beyond me. And I don't need tea leaves to predict how the current Trump-friendly majority will rule. I would call them conservative, but destroying a bulwark against presidential overreach can not properly be called conservative. It's authoritarian.
Sauer and the executive branch and the obeisant SCOTUS majority can dance all they want … but the result is an omnipotent president who deems all of Somalian descent “garbage”. And African American women nasty one and all. And Muslims, and Jews, and Haitians, and Latinos … who’s left?
Have to disagree: Under cover of the Big Lie, Trump has fleeced his MAGA minions over and over. Here, he is making sure the rich elite can remain dominant so that they, and he, can fleece the rest … or banish them.
Hasn't he done both? From Bezos and his ilk down to MAGAs who need SNAP to get through the month -- there's no one he won't fleece. And he has the nerve to call others "garbage!"
BTW: there was only one goose swimming under the rail bridge yesterday and none on the ice. The snow shoveling this morning was unusually heavy for December. This might be the first winter up here that I loathe from start to finish.
We definitely need to see all the video. They continued the strikes knowing that the policy could lead to a situation where they would be forced to execute survivors. Given that we only know about the first 'double strike' from a leak it's highly likely there are more examples of them commiting a blatant violation of DOJ policy.
Bradley's claim that being on some dubious 'target list' meant that was it all right to ignore the DOJ's prohibition against killing survivors is ludicrous. He's saying that the prohibition only applies to people who aren't legitimate targets. Why the %#$@ would you even be considering firing on people who weren't legitimate targets? The argument that they might have gotten away is even worse. Apparently if it was certain that they would drown it wouldn't have been necessary to kill them.
Losing shipments is part of the cost of doing business for the cartels; it doesn't matter to them if the shipment is blown up or confiscated. They know a certain percentage of shipments won't make it and take that into account. Even if all these boats were carrying drugs intended for sale in the U.S. these strikes won't affect the actual cocaine supply available. At best the cartels will temporarily adjust how they get the drugs here.
Drug runners are low level expendable cartel members. Dead men can't be interrogated. We've wasted millions of dollars worth of military hardware to murder men who we would have been better off capturing.
Kevin, clearly there is something else going on here and Trump, Hegseth, and the rest of the Toddler Pool are in on it. Whatever it is, there is no doubt that it will do harm to people Trump does not like, or it will be a proof test of their loyalty as it was for the Admiral. Shame on him for going along with it.
There seems to be two things going on. The original plan appears to be to start with lethal strikes on drug boats and escalate into attacking Venezuela directly. The goal being to remove Madura and open up access to Venezuela's oil. We'll have to wait and see if they actually try to follow through on this.
But, I strongly suspect that this is also about Hegseth and his obsession with the 'Warrior Ethos'. This is a chance to flex the military's muscles and make us look tough. Unfortunately, blowing up defenseless boats from a distance doesn't make one a warrior. It makes you a coward and a psychopath.
Parkin, I am guessing it is warrior stuff for the toddler pool that is Trump, his cabinet, and some of the high-level officers left in the Navy: no risk for them, death to non-white folks, no evidence but what has been filmed, which can be controlled.
Precisely. Your first paragraph. I came here to say that. It’s a precursor for a full-on attack on Venezuela. If Madura retaliates in any way other than “thank you for helping us with our narco terrorist,” it will be the excuse to attack them. Hegseth can’t wait.
The only "warriors" worthy of the title are in Ukraine. That the U.S. is expending expensive ordinance on murdering brown people in boats in international waters rather than arming Zelensky with the firepower to defeat the murderous thugs in the Kremlin is not just cowardly and psychopathic, but traitorous.
Anyone who's spent some time on the water knows how dangerous a boat that's been blown in half, inverted, and on fire can be.
The things can reach 400 knots in mere seconds, and a 30-foot one is capable of delivering 2 tons of drugs over a 1200 mile distance in under fifteen minutes without refueling.
Having spent many years, on the water, with the Coast Guard Aux, and having taught boating safety, the first thing I recognized was the distress signal by one of the survivors (waving his white shirt overhead). Yeah, he was signaling alright. Signaling for HELP! Instead, the survivors were murdered so there would be no evidence of the atrocity. Hegseth's military has become the very worst of a pirate force on the high seas, as well as on land.
Sorry Doc, I don't believe that. If it were true, there would be evidence because the Navy would have wanted to show off their prize and interrogate the survivors. The video game scenario seems a whole lot more likely.
Agree with everything you said but, I might add something to: "Drug runners are low level expendable cartel members" They might not even be cartel members. They might just be people looking for some cash OR they were coerced into running those drugs. Either way, they certainly were not the cartel king pins.
lauriemcf, yes, I can't believe any intelligent senator would have made the kind of comment Cotton did. I wonder who he is trying to please. Could it be his Baby Donnie. We know Cotton is not the brightest bulb in any string which is why he was run by the Republican party in AR. He is manipulatable and able to make such stupid comments with a straight face.
A development a few days ago in L'affaire Epstein seems to have flown under the radar. A federal judge in Florida this past Friday (12-05) approved the release of grand jury documents from the nearly 20-year-old Florida investigation of Epstein in response to the "Epstein Files Transparency Act." The transcripts dating back to the mid-2000s are expected to reveal details about the strength of the evidence presented at the time and the internal workings of the prosecution, rather than a list of high-profile "clients" or new victims. This could show if there was ample evidence for more serious federal charges that were ultimately avoided by the highly criticized 2008 Acosta non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with Epstein in favor of him pleading guilty to lesser Florida state charges.
I assume that's a rhetorical question. I really would love to see someone ask Johnson why he never showed Biden the same deference he claims Trump deserves.
The Oligarchs need to answer to a court of law, and as T totters, seems they are increasingly aware (in cases, scared) that they are wagering their own future freedom that they can prevent Dems from ever taking power again.
So. This makes them increasingly dangerous in step with the rising certainty of their fall. There WILL be criminal conspiracy electioneering attempts of every kind in 2026 by this group; find, document, and report!
T boasted repeatedly in July 2024, "After this election, you won't have to vote anymore!". The unthinkable out-loud.
Seems he thought Musk and his 'Big Balls' figured out how to hack the election in perpetuity. Somehow didn't allow for Musk preferring to kiss his own a...
The supremes left it in their purview to determine what activities were in line with presidential duties. I’ve read that the Trump vs U.S decision was as much a power grab for the court as it was forwarding the unitary executive theory. Unfortunately I can’t cite that. It may have been our very own Joyce Vance.
It seems for this regime, lying is their chief character trait and all of them are required to lie in favor of whatever Donald Trump wants. That is not what leadership is supposed to be, but alas, it is what we have and our Supreme Court Roberts 6 are totally up with the lies, cheating, firing innocent people, and so much more. Shame on Thomas and Alito in particular, but the rest of the 6 too, all of whom claimed they valued precedent when they knew they were lying, just preparing to set up and be an integral part of this regime. Truly Disgusting!!
Of all people, the quintessential flame-thrower for slavery in the United States may have, but hopefully not, been prophetic: “The [500-year] Republic had in reality ceased to exist long before the establishment of the [Roman] Empire. The interval was filled by ferocious, corrupt, and bloody factions. There was, indeed, a small but patriotic body of eminent individuals who struggled in vain to correct abuses and to restore the government to its . . . purity, and who sacrificed their lives in their endeavors to accomplish and object so virtuous and noble.” --John C. Calhoun, ‘A Disquisition on Government’; 1848.
Out of necessity, I grit my teeth and side with one of the more under-rated Presidents in American history: “If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” – President and General Ulysses Grant, 1875.
Finally, two more modern Presidents capture my dwindling hope: "I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit.” – President John F. Kennedy, 1962. Followed by President Ford (2½min.vid.) https://www.c-span.org/clip/joint-session-of-congress/user-clip-gerald-ford-on-the-united-states-2minvid/4679797.
Ned, first of all, Grant was not the terrible president a lot of folks color him as. He did trust men more than he should have, but he did work to make life better for the people leaving slavery. He did try to make some connections with Native groups, but didn't know enough to stop guys like Custer. Also, are you saying that men are unable to maintain peace and stability for any length of time, without forcing others to do their bidding, that men just want to cause chaos in their favor, kill folks and whatever comes within their purview? Maybe if that is the case, we should be working to develop drugs to help calm the male need to destroy and do harm. We could use drugs too to help the women who feel they have to follow the men's insanity in order to get any kind of recognition. I do not believe our nation is finished. I am just not sure how we are going to stop the toddler-men who think they are better, smarter, more worthy of getting whatever they want than everyone else, when they are clearly not. Delusion is strong with the Trump toddler pool and until we can figure out how to drain the pool, we will all suffer for it.
It’s not just stopping the toddlers. How on earth do we rebuild when the whole of the intellectual class has been fired and replaced with know-nothings? When years of research is gone? When Gen Z has never known anything else? When history has been rewritten? When the constitution has been so abused that it is in tatters?
Barbara, we do have a huge depth of knowledge in this nation and it is throughout the nation. Maybe when this insanity is past, we can work on creating a more egalitarian society where CEOs aren't earning 300+ times as much as their average worker, where housing and universal healthcare are a right, not just a hope, where stopping climate change is a priority over everything else and fossil fuelers are encouraged to stop producing fossil fuels, where quality education is available to all and people earn a living wage for what they do. We could do this and more, but it will require a will to do those things and stop looking back to see how things were before, when we were kids or some other nebulous time.
Your comment reminds me of the life-lesson I learned working counter-insurgency:
¿Change a policy? Argue with the men.
¿Change a culture? ¡Work with the women!
Sadly, I doubt that there is Rx that restore integrity to one's soul, whether that restoration be a deflation or inflation of the ego to healthy levels.
Sorry, you say many things that make sense but the "drugs" idea is deeply pernicious... a Brave New World scenario. Fixed hierarchies and soft control.
Tinkering with the human brain, which is as complex as the Universe... and interacts with body in ways still barely understood by physiology, despite frequent and important discoveries.
Trying to use AI grounded in basic ignorance and stupidity... to short-circuit all attempts for us to find ourselves... to know and work with our vast innate potential.
We know all the tricks when it comes to barking up the wrong tree. Mad compensations for the infinite built-in dissatisfaction that comes with unlimited wealth and power...
How else did we reach today's depths of delusion, the chaos and confusion that come with regimes that represent Big Crime?
"You’re asking us to destroy the structure of government and to take away from Congress its ability to protect its idea that the government is better structured with some agencies that are independent."
It seems to me that he's not "asking;" he is ordering.
This former court seems now a part of a mafia enforcer group, which is a group within a hierarchy that does whatever the Don tells them to do.
Ed, it seems Trump is holding something over the Roberts 6 too because none of them is any longer, worthy of serving on the bench, any bench, even a park bench. They have no integrity, no real understanding of the constitution so can twist it beyond recognition to give their Baby Donnie whatever he wants or they think he needs to rule. They need to be impeached, but there are too many Republicans who still love their Donnie and would never either permit the impeachment or vote to convict, just like they did with their Baby Donnie. Shame on them too.
According to Chief Justice Roberts, no one is above the law … but us.
The rich, the powerful, the Christian, the predominantly white - without investigation into character - this is the “democracy” Vladimir Putin brought to Russia, Trump brings to you … sucker.
If (probably when) the Supremely Corrupt Court allows the President to remove members of government agencies without cause and replace them with loyalists who will do whatever the President says, don’t those agencies essentially lose their purpose? If the President is given that power, he ultimately runs said agencies and his will is all that matters. (You know, sort of like what is happening all too often with the Department of Defense and the Justice Department?)
I love America , I do so much. Some people don’t seem to worry that it is dying.
A cruel culture may take its place; barbarity overwhelms civilized countries all the time in history.
It shows no skill to tear down what was meticulously built. Carrion feeders do this in the wild.
If these sinners were cruel enough to wantonly murder boatman, why do you think so few Epstein girls are left to testify? I suspect they were drowned in the Atlantic when they passed their peak, got pregnant, turned into garbage.
If this is not the work of the Devil, it sure is an award-winning performance. I do not like to contemplate the existence of sapient evil, but what is this? What is this?
Ah, but there is a difference between what we are living through and what carrion feeders do. Carrion feeders clean up unpleasant messes by eating them. They are a positive force in our world; they are not out to destroy anything.
Devil? People need to take responsibility for themselves and their actions. They know what they’re doing. There’s no evil force it’s their own greed, hubris, personality disorders, grandiosity, upbringing, whatever psychological disorder may apply but it’s nothing that couldn’t be fixed by impeachment, and a good shrink. Although now it includes conviction and punishment for sedition. That goes for the creators of this “2025 conspiracy”, Trump, the 6 liars on SCOTUS, and every lying spineless republican in congress.
". . . . Chief Justice tipped his hand a bit, saying 'the precedent' had 'nothing to do with what the FTC looks like today,' and claiming that the FTC back then was different, and 'had very little, if any executive power,' suggesting different rules might apply today . . . ." I am not trained in the law, so I may be giving way to an inherent bad-faith bias, here, but . . . ¿does this thinking sound like that behind the Holder vs Shelby County decision of a dozen years past? 🤔💔😠⚖️🤢
Interesting comment by Roberts who reached way back to England, I believe, for finding a rationale to overturn Roe v Wade by quoting some centuries old text. They are originalists and textualists only when it suits their ends.
Where I come from, there is a word for conveniently applied originalism: hypocrisy. I do believe, however, that Justice Coney Barrett is sincere in her belief or, at least, the least hypocritical. ⚖️
This is exactly what it sounds like. In Holder, Roberts claimed the situation had changed. Subsequent events showed clearly that it had not. The same thing is going on with this case.
It’s getting more and more apparent that most everyone in this misbegotten regime has decided to take the idea of the rule of law and flush it into the sewer. I suppose we could always hope John Roberts would undergo a Road to Damascus conversion but I’m not holding my breath.
He's every bit as soulless as the others. His goal, and the other liars, was always this. The Federalist Society groomed them, placed them where needed, and here we are.
Citizens United and John Roberts. Can you imagine how much volatility Roberts is about to unleash on our regulations? FTC, Federal Reserve, FCC etc. It'll be the Wild West and no one will know what comes in the next every 4 years as we swing between Dems and the GOP. It's an excellent way to hand Putin and XI another win by enfeebling our economy and to hurt American consumers as well as manufacturers.
JV: In a landmark 1935 decision, Humphrey’s Executor, the Supreme Court held that Congress could put limits on the president’s authority to remove certain executive branch officials. That longstanding precedent has been on a collision course with Donald Trump’s quest for maximal power for as long as he’s been in office. Today, a Court that has been very sympathetic to Trump heard argument in Slaughter’s case."
What strikes me here is how much of the courtroom spectacle depends on behavioral manipulation.
The system thrives on delay, ritual, and framing, not because justice requires it, but because power feeds on it. Every procedural twist is designed to provoke anxiety, to keep citizens watching the theater instead of naming the cruelty.
This is what I’ve called free‑will cruelty: the way institutions exploit human psychology, turning uncertainty into punishment. The defendant’s fate becomes less about law and more about how long the system can stretch the timeline, how much stress it can impose, how much spectacle it can extract.
Behaviorally, it’s the same pattern we see everywhere:
• Delay as domination: dragging things out until exhaustion feels like inevitability.
• Spectacle as distraction: turning trials into rituals that obscure the real stakes.
• Cruelty as normalization: making suffering feel like the natural rhythm of governance.
The courtroom here isn’t just about guilt or innocence. It’s about how power manufactures anxiety, how institutions weaponize time, and how cruelty becomes the default operating system.
That’s why my last piece was a reminder: no one deserves this. Free will should mean agency, not ritualized punishment.
Until we name the behavioral mechanics of cruelty (America is doing some quite cruel things these days…) we’ll keep mistaking theater for justice.
—Johan
Professor of Behavioral Economics & Applied Cognitive Theory
Former Foreign Service Officer
Thank you, Professor. My take-away from your comment is we now have clear proof that this administration is essentially a PSYCHOLOGICALLY ABUSIVE HUSBAND... and the rest of the nation is a WIFE BEING PSYCHOLOGICALLY ABUSED. Of course, there is a lot of PHYSICAL ABUSE taking place too (see the actions of ICE). But the overall dynamic in America today is one of abuser / abused... just like my mother and father's marriage. He abused her both psychologically and physically for 20 years. SMH
I’ve been saying this same thing since 2016. I was married to a narcissist for over 13 years in my first marriage and know all too well the patterns of emotional manipulation and abuse that a relationship with a narcissist entails. We are ALL in a relationship with a narcissist now. Those members of the MAGA cult (that is the right word for it) remind me very much of an abused spouse who constantly makes excuses for the abuser’s bad behavior, blaming anyone and anything else for their deplorable behavior. Relationships with narcissists never get better. They don’t improve. Narcissists take. They don’t give. They don’t appreciate. And they sure as hell don’t reciprocate. They just take everything they can from people and then toss them aside like garbage.
I’m sorry you were married to a narcissist. I recognized Trump’s type early on. And when he beat Hillary, I was so triggered I had a nervous breakdown. This time around, I was better prepared. Now, I’m not just angry I’m working to offer an asymmetrical warfare type of solution, based on the work of Dr R Buckminster Fuller.
Hugs!
Me, too (also over a decade). And the PTSD with the 2016 election was real. Arguably another case of when will people listen to the victims?
And...narcissists are said to get worse as they age...
Trump also meets the definition of a psychopath, as well as a Dark Triad personality disorder. He will be very dangerous for the rest of his life, until he is totally disabled or locked up in a high-security prison.
Yes, the malignant narcissist has all the delightful qualities of the narcissist plus some elements of the psychopath, and he checks pretty much all of those boxes. But he's not the only one in the Dark Triad among this toxic crew!
And at this moment there's a worldwide infestation of these narcissistic perverts...creating the chaos on which they thrive.
new to that term. It's a perfect fit but needs a bit of dementia thrown in. I hope we survive him.
saw that in my family.
No one could have said this better...I'm am copying...waiting for the right editorial to "paste" it to. Of course, with full accreditation.
Thank you. I like to have lots of arrows in my quiver!!
Iʻve thought the same thing! It is very much like being in an abusive relationship.
You’ve captured the dynamic exactly …abuse is the right frame. What happens in the courtroom, and across institutions, mirrors the cycle of an abusive relationship: manipulation, delay, intimidation, and the normalization of cruelty. The “abuser” thrives on keeping the victim disoriented, anxious, and dependent, while insisting the abuse is somehow justified.
That’s why I call it free‑will cruelty: the system exploits psychology the same way an abuser does, turning uncertainty into punishment and ritual into control. ICE and other agencies show how quickly psychological abuse slides into physical abuse; the spectacle hides the violence until it feels routine.
Naming it as abuse matters, because once you see the pattern clearly, you stop mistaking it for law or justice.
You see it for what it is:
cruelty institutionalized.
Johan, you defined this horror in a way that I have not seen. I have been thinking about what you have named this theatrical mess in our justice system but you put it in words that define it.
My question is , how did we all become victims of this mindset and how do we rid ourselves of this? Will voting them out really fix the problem? I am very concerned.
Incisive and clear -thank you Johan
Brilliant thinking, there, Johan; thank you. 🫱🏻🫲🏽 Are you familiar with the work of Dr Bandy Lee, M.D. & M.Div.? ✍️
The good news is that we have surpassed the Roman Empire; 🥳 we have graduated from bread-&-circuses to bread-&-fracases. 😉
I love Bandy Lee’s work. Her weekly zoom chats for paid subscribers help keep me sane.
Missed you the last couple of weeks, Steve.
Thanks for saying that, Ned. You’re too kind. I’ve had schedule conflicts lately. But as Arnold famously said, “I’ll be back”! ☺️
I am psyched. Counsellor Vance and Dr Richardson have talked. I would like to see them join Dr Lee and, perhaps, Mitch Jackson.
bread & carcasses 😈
Even better!
Thank you, and yes. Framing of collective psychology and the dangers of unmoored leadership dovetails with what I’ve been pressing: cruelty and spectacle aren’t accidents, they’re systemic behaviors. The Roman Empire gave us bread‑and‑circuses; we’ve “advanced” to bread‑and‑fracases, where chaos itself becomes the distraction. That’s the modern twist, power thrives not just on entertaining the masses, but on keeping them permanently destabilized.
Naming that shift matters: once you see the spectacle as engineered fracture, you stop mistaking it for politics and recognize it as cruelty institutionalized.
Thank you, Sir, for taking the time meaningfully to respond to my comment; ✍️ I appreciate the effort, since there are many replies to which to answer. 🫱🏻🫲🏽 Again, well said, good and faithful savant! 😇
Grateful for your words, clarity only matters if it’s shared, and I value the exchange. Thank you!
Habba has formally quit.
Thank you, Professor Vance, for reporting on the Supreme Court argumentation over the firing of independent agency appointees. And thank you for pointing out the desire of Solicitor General Sauer to escape the perfectly logical questioning by liberal members of the court who would preserve the makeup of these independent agencies, as legislated by Congress. How the president and the court can decide that "things have changed," and Congress's intent can now be violated, are beyond me. And I don't need tea leaves to predict how the current Trump-friendly majority will rule. I would call them conservative, but destroying a bulwark against presidential overreach can not properly be called conservative. It's authoritarian.
Interesting statements from Chief Justice Roberts, considering he luxuriates in originalism.
I have no words for how deeply i have come to loathe John Roberts.
With the heat of 1,000 suns?
For starters...
Sauer and the executive branch and the obeisant SCOTUS majority can dance all they want … but the result is an omnipotent president who deems all of Somalian descent “garbage”. And African American women nasty one and all. And Muslims, and Jews, and Haitians, and Latinos … who’s left?
David, there's always rich white men, the only folks Trump can get enough money from to stay out of jail.
Have to disagree: Under cover of the Big Lie, Trump has fleeced his MAGA minions over and over. Here, he is making sure the rich elite can remain dominant so that they, and he, can fleece the rest … or banish them.
Hasn't he done both? From Bezos and his ilk down to MAGAs who need SNAP to get through the month -- there's no one he won't fleece. And he has the nerve to call others "garbage!"
O exalt the Master of the Master Race!
The race to the bottom, you mean?
In Upside Down Trumpworld, the bottom becomes the goal—last one in has to buy a watch.
First they came for the comedians, ...
Always keep one bag packed.
Trans folks. He calls transpeople corrosive to society.
Apparently a life-expert on “corrosive” … and it’s very definition.
🤣
Oh, that’s a good one! 😊
BTW: there was only one goose swimming under the rail bridge yesterday and none on the ice. The snow shoveling this morning was unusually heavy for December. This might be the first winter up here that I loathe from start to finish.
My last year in Minneapolis, it snowed over 100 feet cumulatively; I remember towering snowbanks.
We’ve had some record breaking seasons since I’ve been here so I know of what you speak. You reminded me of a photo several years back that went viral of a mountain of snow several feet high in the Target parking lot with a shopping cart on top. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/03/21/woman-paints-homage-to-mount-target-the-infamous-eden-prairie-snowbank
Impressive! Repressive. My, a nice sunny day today, sweater weather.
We definitely need to see all the video. They continued the strikes knowing that the policy could lead to a situation where they would be forced to execute survivors. Given that we only know about the first 'double strike' from a leak it's highly likely there are more examples of them commiting a blatant violation of DOJ policy.
Bradley's claim that being on some dubious 'target list' meant that was it all right to ignore the DOJ's prohibition against killing survivors is ludicrous. He's saying that the prohibition only applies to people who aren't legitimate targets. Why the %#$@ would you even be considering firing on people who weren't legitimate targets? The argument that they might have gotten away is even worse. Apparently if it was certain that they would drown it wouldn't have been necessary to kill them.
Losing shipments is part of the cost of doing business for the cartels; it doesn't matter to them if the shipment is blown up or confiscated. They know a certain percentage of shipments won't make it and take that into account. Even if all these boats were carrying drugs intended for sale in the U.S. these strikes won't affect the actual cocaine supply available. At best the cartels will temporarily adjust how they get the drugs here.
Drug runners are low level expendable cartel members. Dead men can't be interrogated. We've wasted millions of dollars worth of military hardware to murder men who we would have been better off capturing.
Kevin, clearly there is something else going on here and Trump, Hegseth, and the rest of the Toddler Pool are in on it. Whatever it is, there is no doubt that it will do harm to people Trump does not like, or it will be a proof test of their loyalty as it was for the Admiral. Shame on him for going along with it.
There seems to be two things going on. The original plan appears to be to start with lethal strikes on drug boats and escalate into attacking Venezuela directly. The goal being to remove Madura and open up access to Venezuela's oil. We'll have to wait and see if they actually try to follow through on this.
But, I strongly suspect that this is also about Hegseth and his obsession with the 'Warrior Ethos'. This is a chance to flex the military's muscles and make us look tough. Unfortunately, blowing up defenseless boats from a distance doesn't make one a warrior. It makes you a coward and a psychopath.
Blowing up what amounts to be big bass boats without the glitter with missiles really is the warrior ethos. HaHa. Our big, bad Navy feels threatened?
Parkin, I am guessing it is warrior stuff for the toddler pool that is Trump, his cabinet, and some of the high-level officers left in the Navy: no risk for them, death to non-white folks, no evidence but what has been filmed, which can be controlled.
Precisely. Your first paragraph. I came here to say that. It’s a precursor for a full-on attack on Venezuela. If Madura retaliates in any way other than “thank you for helping us with our narco terrorist,” it will be the excuse to attack them. Hegseth can’t wait.
The only "warriors" worthy of the title are in Ukraine. That the U.S. is expending expensive ordinance on murdering brown people in boats in international waters rather than arming Zelensky with the firepower to defeat the murderous thugs in the Kremlin is not just cowardly and psychopathic, but traitorous.
To them it’s just video games.
This is frighteningly true.
Anyone who's spent some time on the water knows how dangerous a boat that's been blown in half, inverted, and on fire can be.
The things can reach 400 knots in mere seconds, and a 30-foot one is capable of delivering 2 tons of drugs over a 1200 mile distance in under fifteen minutes without refueling.
No wonder they shot it a second time.
🫣
Having spent many years, on the water, with the Coast Guard Aux, and having taught boating safety, the first thing I recognized was the distress signal by one of the survivors (waving his white shirt overhead). Yeah, he was signaling alright. Signaling for HELP! Instead, the survivors were murdered so there would be no evidence of the atrocity. Hegseth's military has become the very worst of a pirate force on the high seas, as well as on land.
Doc,
Irony spoken here. Mild sarcasm appreciated.
Tnx ;)
No. They. Can’t. Guinness world record is 275 knots, set in 1978.
Sorry Doc, I don't believe that. If it were true, there would be evidence because the Navy would have wanted to show off their prize and interrogate the survivors. The video game scenario seems a whole lot more likely.
Agree with everything you said but, I might add something to: "Drug runners are low level expendable cartel members" They might not even be cartel members. They might just be people looking for some cash OR they were coerced into running those drugs. Either way, they certainly were not the cartel king pins.
And the odious Tom Cotton speculating that the men hanging on to the wreckage were "sunbathing" !!!
lauriemcf, yes, I can't believe any intelligent senator would have made the kind of comment Cotton did. I wonder who he is trying to please. Could it be his Baby Donnie. We know Cotton is not the brightest bulb in any string which is why he was run by the Republican party in AR. He is manipulatable and able to make such stupid comments with a straight face.
My assumption is that the "no survivors" order was a "leave no witness who can testify" order.
A development a few days ago in L'affaire Epstein seems to have flown under the radar. A federal judge in Florida this past Friday (12-05) approved the release of grand jury documents from the nearly 20-year-old Florida investigation of Epstein in response to the "Epstein Files Transparency Act." The transcripts dating back to the mid-2000s are expected to reveal details about the strength of the evidence presented at the time and the internal workings of the prosecution, rather than a list of high-profile "clients" or new victims. This could show if there was ample evidence for more serious federal charges that were ultimately avoided by the highly criticized 2008 Acosta non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with Epstein in favor of him pleading guilty to lesser Florida state charges.
Good show! It’s easy for news of this kind to get pushed aside in lieu of the latest pile of rotting headlines.
So when a “D” becomes President, I wonder how many “R’s” are going to cry in their milk about the bestowed power.
D, R, I or other- no single branch nor individual should have all the power over governance of this country.
I assume that's a rhetorical question. I really would love to see someone ask Johnson why he never showed Biden the same deference he claims Trump deserves.
“Cheek weasel” gonna be sad when he loses the speakership. Apologies in advance for the snarkiness.
I believe it's spelled "Sneakership."
🙂
Mikey Mouse to the rescue.
Only those of a certain age are going to get that.
🥳😉😴
The Oligarchs need to answer to a court of law, and as T totters, seems they are increasingly aware (in cases, scared) that they are wagering their own future freedom that they can prevent Dems from ever taking power again.
So. This makes them increasingly dangerous in step with the rising certainty of their fall. There WILL be criminal conspiracy electioneering attempts of every kind in 2026 by this group; find, document, and report!
T boasted repeatedly in July 2024, "After this election, you won't have to vote anymore!". The unthinkable out-loud.
Seems he thought Musk and his 'Big Balls' figured out how to hack the election in perpetuity. Somehow didn't allow for Musk preferring to kiss his own a...
The supremes left it in their purview to determine what activities were in line with presidential duties. I’ve read that the Trump vs U.S decision was as much a power grab for the court as it was forwarding the unitary executive theory. Unfortunately I can’t cite that. It may have been our very own Joyce Vance.
It won't pertain to Dems. It's only Ramblestilskin.
It seems for this regime, lying is their chief character trait and all of them are required to lie in favor of whatever Donald Trump wants. That is not what leadership is supposed to be, but alas, it is what we have and our Supreme Court Roberts 6 are totally up with the lies, cheating, firing innocent people, and so much more. Shame on Thomas and Alito in particular, but the rest of the 6 too, all of whom claimed they valued precedent when they knew they were lying, just preparing to set up and be an integral part of this regime. Truly Disgusting!!
Perhaps our republican experiment is exhausted; it has been around for a while -- apparently the life-span of typical polities. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2218834120
Of all people, the quintessential flame-thrower for slavery in the United States may have, but hopefully not, been prophetic: “The [500-year] Republic had in reality ceased to exist long before the establishment of the [Roman] Empire. The interval was filled by ferocious, corrupt, and bloody factions. There was, indeed, a small but patriotic body of eminent individuals who struggled in vain to correct abuses and to restore the government to its . . . purity, and who sacrificed their lives in their endeavors to accomplish and object so virtuous and noble.” --John C. Calhoun, ‘A Disquisition on Government’; 1848.
Out of necessity, I grit my teeth and side with one of the more under-rated Presidents in American history: “If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.” – President and General Ulysses Grant, 1875.
Finally, two more modern Presidents capture my dwindling hope: "I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit.” – President John F. Kennedy, 1962. Followed by President Ford (2½min.vid.) https://www.c-span.org/clip/joint-session-of-congress/user-clip-gerald-ford-on-the-united-states-2minvid/4679797.
Ned, first of all, Grant was not the terrible president a lot of folks color him as. He did trust men more than he should have, but he did work to make life better for the people leaving slavery. He did try to make some connections with Native groups, but didn't know enough to stop guys like Custer. Also, are you saying that men are unable to maintain peace and stability for any length of time, without forcing others to do their bidding, that men just want to cause chaos in their favor, kill folks and whatever comes within their purview? Maybe if that is the case, we should be working to develop drugs to help calm the male need to destroy and do harm. We could use drugs too to help the women who feel they have to follow the men's insanity in order to get any kind of recognition. I do not believe our nation is finished. I am just not sure how we are going to stop the toddler-men who think they are better, smarter, more worthy of getting whatever they want than everyone else, when they are clearly not. Delusion is strong with the Trump toddler pool and until we can figure out how to drain the pool, we will all suffer for it.
It’s not just stopping the toddlers. How on earth do we rebuild when the whole of the intellectual class has been fired and replaced with know-nothings? When years of research is gone? When Gen Z has never known anything else? When history has been rewritten? When the constitution has been so abused that it is in tatters?
Barbara, we do have a huge depth of knowledge in this nation and it is throughout the nation. Maybe when this insanity is past, we can work on creating a more egalitarian society where CEOs aren't earning 300+ times as much as their average worker, where housing and universal healthcare are a right, not just a hope, where stopping climate change is a priority over everything else and fossil fuelers are encouraged to stop producing fossil fuels, where quality education is available to all and people earn a living wage for what they do. We could do this and more, but it will require a will to do those things and stop looking back to see how things were before, when we were kids or some other nebulous time.
Your comment reminds me of the life-lesson I learned working counter-insurgency:
¿Change a policy? Argue with the men.
¿Change a culture? ¡Work with the women!
Sadly, I doubt that there is Rx that restore integrity to one's soul, whether that restoration be a deflation or inflation of the ego to healthy levels.
we do have a drug for everything...xcpt smart
Sorry, you say many things that make sense but the "drugs" idea is deeply pernicious... a Brave New World scenario. Fixed hierarchies and soft control.
Tinkering with the human brain, which is as complex as the Universe... and interacts with body in ways still barely understood by physiology, despite frequent and important discoveries.
Trying to use AI grounded in basic ignorance and stupidity... to short-circuit all attempts for us to find ourselves... to know and work with our vast innate potential.
We know all the tricks when it comes to barking up the wrong tree. Mad compensations for the infinite built-in dissatisfaction that comes with unlimited wealth and power...
How else did we reach today's depths of delusion, the chaos and confusion that come with regimes that represent Big Crime?
My comment was addressed to Ruth Sheets. And the means to edit one's own text seems to have disappeared. Apologies to Ruth and all others.
I can't help but wonder how the pallets of cash are delivered.
The 6 on the court have also read project 2025 and agree totally with it.they will do whatever to make it a reality.
All six are members of the Federalist Society and vetted by Leonard Leo for their viewpoint. Project 2025 is their agenda. Trump is merely a tool.
"You’re asking us to destroy the structure of government and to take away from Congress its ability to protect its idea that the government is better structured with some agencies that are independent."
It seems to me that he's not "asking;" he is ordering.
This former court seems now a part of a mafia enforcer group, which is a group within a hierarchy that does whatever the Don tells them to do.
Ed, it seems Trump is holding something over the Roberts 6 too because none of them is any longer, worthy of serving on the bench, any bench, even a park bench. They have no integrity, no real understanding of the constitution so can twist it beyond recognition to give their Baby Donnie whatever he wants or they think he needs to rule. They need to be impeached, but there are too many Republicans who still love their Donnie and would never either permit the impeachment or vote to convict, just like they did with their Baby Donnie. Shame on them too.
I think that they love power and could give a shit about democracy.
"Park bench" A+ post! 🎉
According to Chief Justice Roberts, no one is above the law … but us.
The rich, the powerful, the Christian, the predominantly white - without investigation into character - this is the “democracy” Vladimir Putin brought to Russia, Trump brings to you … sucker.
🤬🤬🤬
Plutocracy, kleptocracy, thug-ocracy, kakistocracy: it's trending ...
Singing, “I’m in with the In Crowd …”
If (probably when) the Supremely Corrupt Court allows the President to remove members of government agencies without cause and replace them with loyalists who will do whatever the President says, don’t those agencies essentially lose their purpose? If the President is given that power, he ultimately runs said agencies and his will is all that matters. (You know, sort of like what is happening all too often with the Department of Defense and the Justice Department?)
Just ask Congress.
Men thinking like overlords are the problem, as those in control never consider asking half our world's population for their thoughts.
102 years of collecting dust and the ERA is still sitting on the shelf.
If women ever decide to unite they would bring sanity to our deeply disturbed world.
I love America , I do so much. Some people don’t seem to worry that it is dying.
A cruel culture may take its place; barbarity overwhelms civilized countries all the time in history.
It shows no skill to tear down what was meticulously built. Carrion feeders do this in the wild.
If these sinners were cruel enough to wantonly murder boatman, why do you think so few Epstein girls are left to testify? I suspect they were drowned in the Atlantic when they passed their peak, got pregnant, turned into garbage.
If this is not the work of the Devil, it sure is an award-winning performance. I do not like to contemplate the existence of sapient evil, but what is this? What is this?
I *love America, too, but, these days, I do not much like *her. Please see my pointless pedantry to Ruth Sheets above. Certainly applies here, too.
Ah, but there is a difference between what we are living through and what carrion feeders do. Carrion feeders clean up unpleasant messes by eating them. They are a positive force in our world; they are not out to destroy anything.
Devil? People need to take responsibility for themselves and their actions. They know what they’re doing. There’s no evil force it’s their own greed, hubris, personality disorders, grandiosity, upbringing, whatever psychological disorder may apply but it’s nothing that couldn’t be fixed by impeachment, and a good shrink. Although now it includes conviction and punishment for sedition. That goes for the creators of this “2025 conspiracy”, Trump, the 6 liars on SCOTUS, and every lying spineless republican in congress.
People who arrange their lives around the commission of sapient evil, shouldn’t. That’s true.
The Void.
". . . . Chief Justice tipped his hand a bit, saying 'the precedent' had 'nothing to do with what the FTC looks like today,' and claiming that the FTC back then was different, and 'had very little, if any executive power,' suggesting different rules might apply today . . . ." I am not trained in the law, so I may be giving way to an inherent bad-faith bias, here, but . . . ¿does this thinking sound like that behind the Holder vs Shelby County decision of a dozen years past? 🤔💔😠⚖️🤢
Interesting comment by Roberts who reached way back to England, I believe, for finding a rationale to overturn Roe v Wade by quoting some centuries old text. They are originalists and textualists only when it suits their ends.
Where I come from, there is a word for conveniently applied originalism: hypocrisy. I do believe, however, that Justice Coney Barrett is sincere in her belief or, at least, the least hypocritical. ⚖️
100%
This is exactly what it sounds like. In Holder, Roberts claimed the situation had changed. Subsequent events showed clearly that it had not. The same thing is going on with this case.
Agreed 111%, there. 🫱🏻🫲🏽James, nice always to hear from you. 🙂
It’s getting more and more apparent that most everyone in this misbegotten regime has decided to take the idea of the rule of law and flush it into the sewer. I suppose we could always hope John Roberts would undergo a Road to Damascus conversion but I’m not holding my breath.
He's every bit as soulless as the others. His goal, and the other liars, was always this. The Federalist Society groomed them, placed them where needed, and here we are.
Citizens United and John Roberts. Can you imagine how much volatility Roberts is about to unleash on our regulations? FTC, Federal Reserve, FCC etc. It'll be the Wild West and no one will know what comes in the next every 4 years as we swing between Dems and the GOP. It's an excellent way to hand Putin and XI another win by enfeebling our economy and to hurt American consumers as well as manufacturers.
JV: In a landmark 1935 decision, Humphrey’s Executor, the Supreme Court held that Congress could put limits on the president’s authority to remove certain executive branch officials. That longstanding precedent has been on a collision course with Donald Trump’s quest for maximal power for as long as he’s been in office. Today, a Court that has been very sympathetic to Trump heard argument in Slaughter’s case."