I’m so scared for all of us. This has never happened in my lifetime and I’m 75. Worked on Capitol Hill with republicans when they would go and argue on the senate floor and walk out and go out to lunch together. Democrats and Republicans. I’ve worked for the government, my dad for the Navy under Admiral Hyman Rickover in Washington, DC, my sister works for EPA now for 39 years in Boston, my cousins. My best friend and my aunt at the Pentagon for 30+ years. I worked for the CIA early on. I hate Trump and Musk and something drastic needs to happen now. How could they just get rid of all government agencies? I want to cry for all the people who loved their jobs and were walked out by a bunch of idiots who didn’t care.??
You have much more experience with the government than I do, but I too want to cry (and scream and yell) at the bunch of idiots who are inhumane and don't care about the rest of us...
I don’t suppose it’s happened in any American’s lifetime. You have to go back to the 1880s & 1890s to see such egregious abuses of power and naked collusion between big business and government. It took a few years to straighten out back then, but your ancestors managed it. I hope current day Americans will too!
I feel that the drastic thing that needs to happen is either people absolutely revolt, or the Blue States secede from the Confederacy, and allow people who don't want to stay in the Confederacy to come to them and leave with them. I say this because a book club I am in is reading Jefferson Cowie's Freedom's Dominion about the ideas of freedom coming from Slave nations, which is freedom to own other people. This freedom that has allowed White men to own other people and do whatever they want without legal consequences, is the free for me, but not for thee sort of freedom. No thanks! This feudalism is now being revived as the New Feudalism. The beloved governing set up of all autocracies. Then, a BC member shared this article from The Bulwark. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/liberal-democracy-american-south-vance-bourbons?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Everything with fascist governments is about timing. I do not see Blue States Seceding to join Canada or form their own more liberal democracy as being more disruptive than what is going on right now.
Or else, vulnerable groups should consider some other options. I wrote an article on this.
My cats have me enslaved. My every moment of existence is devoted to Hous cleaning, food served on demand, floor toys. You wouldn’t believe. They have me trained to perform as they demand or else. ( Said in fun.)
Great piece Joyce. Yes, the law firms all need to stand together. We all need to stand together against this corrupt regime.
It’s only been a few months and people are angry and scared. Trump voters have been fired and are regretting their votes. That doesn’t bode well for the rest of Trumps term.
I wish I had the skills of Bayard Rustin. We need someone in a national organization, perhaps Indivisible, or something like that, who could organize a May 1 march on Washington. We need enough people to shut down this government until they resign. I’m thinking of 30,000,000 people walking from the beltway in, surrounding the White House, the Capitol, and the Supreme Court. We need Trump, Vance, Johnson, and all of Trump’s cabinet to resign. They are clearly abusing their power, treasonous in their allegiance to Russia, using the government for revenge and profit, and posing a security threat to the country and the world.
We have had enough of liars and billionaires fixing elections and destroying our democracy, economy, and the health and safety of the world. I think we can get a few million people to show up. When they resign we can put an independent like Angus King of Maine in charge, and have a new election in November, with both parties having primaries in June and July. There will be reasonable restrictions on how candidates can be funded.
We don’t want to align with Russia. We want to maintain our current allies and treaties. We also want to keep funding medical and the scientific research, doing good deeds and saving lives both here and all over the world, vaccinating all our children, combating climate change, teaching, and allowing the peaceful expression of all viewpoints, keeping Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and trying our best to follow the laws and values put forth in The Constitution of the Untied States.
If we had a Department of Justice that enforced the laws, and a Supreme Court that didn’t try to rewrite the Constitution, we wouldn’t have to do all this. However, unless thing change drastically, we will have to take a very large and peaceful stance and not back down.
That is the very best idea I have heard! Think of scores of buses coming en masse from around the country and all those people proudly marching to save our country! It might not be possible but who knows!
That sort of protest en masse, is exactly what trump is wishing for, though. He is literally aching for us to gather in such a large group, so he can declare it a national emergency and instate Martial Law. I'm sure he's even planning on his J6 "political prisoners" and militias (Proud Boys, etc.) to infiltrate the crowds and start the violence. That's the reason I think that boycotting (starving) the profit mongers and a national walkout would be a better, safer way to protest. I also think we should all consider not paying our taxes to trump's treasure chest (U.S. Treasury).
I fear you made a good point. Trump has no morals. That makes him a vicious enemy. He's going to be hard to dump! It amazes me how stupid all in Congress are. They will not be needed by a king. They will be fired. All but those who actually have skills. The Cabinet most surely will go!
The trouble is everything we can do is "just what he is wishing for." And we need to do something.
BTW: I had a dear friend who lost her home because she refused to pay taxed that went to pay for the Viet Nam war. The reason doesn't make any difference. [Of course that assumes there is anyone left at IRS to come after us. ]
In most cases, the IRS won't even realize that people haven't filed. More than once I've skipped 2 years of filing (because I didn't owe any taxes), and never heard a word from them. It took them 7 months last year to send me a letter denying my application for extension, which was dated two months after I'd filed my return. And I still don't have my 2023 refund! That's with all the extra IRS boosting that Biden did, and now their staff is being decimated by trump.
So, folks can file for an extension. Employed people can fill out a new W4 and lower their employer's withholding rate, or even call themselves exempt (red flag, though). I just don't believe the IRS is going to be functioning very well this year, and it takes them quite a while to go through their standard demand process anyway. Not going to say there's no risk, though. We don't have a clue what info musk has, or what he's doing with it!
True, but sad. President Rat Brain has probably scoped out what ever might be in our nation's future. Not sure he went out this far. Something to think about.
Great points! Blue-organized marches that are merely performative accomplish nothing and, as you point out, are subject to Red sabotage!
Plus: if ALL of us chase after every idiot thing the senile, erratic hate machine does we learn only to be reactive, not pro-active. We can't all chase the daily dozen shiny (and slimy) objects like dogs.
Boycotts are good only if they are intelligently targeted - and long-running. A day or week of non-purchasing are a minor dent in profits of a large corporation (and result in smaller paychecks for service staff).
This tactic also requires a long period of planning and getting people to participate - especially if the wait staffs are going to be the front-line sufferers. How long until your not buying a new car gets noticed?
What are our Blue economists saying? Only a couple (Krugman, Reich) are easily-understood!
Not paying taxes also requires a long-term campaign just to get people to participate. Workers would have to change their payroll deductions to Zero, and the self-employed would need to stop paying Estimated Taxes. It would require months for this to get Treasury's attention, and probably just in the Blue states.
Most responsible taxpayers live in fear of the IRS Agents, ratcheted up by tax lawyers' fear-ads that make you think a dozen agents will emerge from unmarked vans parked around your home to garnish all they can grab if you fall behind. In reality, with the GOP cutting the $10 billion that Biden and Congress passed for IRS collectors, we can get away with massive tax protests until Reds restore the IRS enforcement budget and train the new CPAs and agents. Or, am I missing a mass email from Elon that would trap everyone?
Until at least January 2026 when, if Blues are successful, the House of Representatives turns Blue, we Blues have to get out of our walking shoes and kick up our political game(s) some levels.
Well, speaking of lawyers, Wisconsin Voters can put a majority 'liberal' justice on the Wisconsin Supreme in about 22 calendar days on 4/1/25 in the open WN Supreme Court seat Election.
Per the Associated Press' 12/4/24 article, National interest in the 4/1/25 Election has intensified. The AP reported the Wisconsin Supreme Court election already had high stakes but, a DANE County 12/4/24 Judicial ruling overturned 'Wisconsin Act 10'.
AP: "The Dane County Judge's ruling " ... restored collective bargaining rights to the states 10,000 Teachers & other Public workers".
Political Context: In April 2023 liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz won with 55.4% of the Wisconsin vote starting the 1st ideological shift on the Wisconsin Bench in years.
At Stake: The 4/1/25 vote could set up a liberal Majority until 2028 or create a 3-3 split on the 7 seat WN Bench. Per Ballotpedia this election result could shift an "outsize influence" to the 7th Justice with a "conservative leaning" tilt.
Caution: There are many -- a thicket of "Sponsored Ads".
The Democratic candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court is Judge Susan Crawford. Her Republican opponent got a lot of campaign money from Musk. Ways to support Susan Crawford in this critical election on April 1:
Indivisible Neighbor2Neighbor, phonebanks, and Vote Forward letters:
Thank you Ellie. You provided 5 links to an important northern state judicial seat election. With hard work ☕️over next 21 days to the 4/1/25 election, perhaps the nation will see a positive trend along with our Canadian friends.
I've got a modern view of the necessary classes for any undergraduate degree:
Mandatory classes in the 3 courses you need now more than ever including Contract law, Constitutional law & Torts particularly intentional torts. Maybe Professor Vance will you permit to monitor her lectures. If not, I recommend reading Civil Discourse particularly 5Q's.
Beyond all else, it is critical to "get names" so that they can be provided to judicial authorities. The recent arrest of a green card holder in a private university owned apartment in NY was carried out by armed agents who, though breaking the law, claimed they were just "obeying orders." The same has just happened in DC, where an Hispanic American was detained and handcuffed. Those breaking the law utilize spurious authorities to send unthinking enforcers to engage in violent action. The first task must be to ensure the safety of the public, which means calling to account those who do the illicit actions on the cutting edge. Otherwise, they will just keep doing it.
"I was only following orders" has been dropped as a defense since 1946 at the Nuremberg Trials. Makes me wonder if these "agents" were actually officers of the law.
Like the woman who is dragged out of a town hall in a state I don’t remember, maybe Arizona,by some security people who weren’t even licensed legally. They have been reprimanded in some way, but what a scary sight that video was. Gestapo. And no one came to her defense.
That interview clip of tRump...linguistic "skills" of a fourth -grader, mindlessly repeating himself for want of an ability to cogently express his - you know - "thoughts". Abysmally dense, intellectually limited, and criminally-minded...a winning combination in today's MAGA Murka.
Yes, more chickens. I’d be happy with one chicken picture per day at the bottom of the post. If that’s not feasible once a week or as was said in Oliver, paraphrasing, “please ma’am, may we have some more?”.
Pam Bondi is going to be swamped in her lame attempts to defend the lawsuits being filed against the current administration. How many are there now? I believe close to 100, with more on the way. She’s unqualified and cannot handle this.
Don't you just wish that attorneys would refuse to work on behalf of the DOJ or the White House? (Thought I read somewhere a few weeks ago that trump was trying to get a bunch more attorneys on their team.)
Joyce, I am heartened by the review of the week's not-insignificant steps to right the ship of state. However, as we play whack-a-mole, I wonder about the forces that placed Trump in office, such as The Heritage Foundation, Project 2025, and the religious right, including Leonard Leo and the Supreme Court influencers. What are they doing, and who is at their right hand to carry on their mission? These folks are not likely to relent even if Trump and Musk are ousted.
Yes all this chaos is just a shiny thing to make us all look at that instead of what they are doing to dismantle government behind the scenes, and they will keep going.
I think we've done a fairly decent job of responding to their "flood the zone" chaos strategy. Knowing this is their strategy, to attempt to overwhelm us, I hope everyone, press included, doesn't reward them by letting them see (or hear about) us sweating. Also, if trump gets rid of the federal gov't, then what is there to be king over - a smoking, scorched Washington, DC? At the moment, we don't have any allies - or neighbors who wish us well. What makes his attacks unpredictable is that he backs off them whenever he gets pushback, like the markets dropping or he gets loud, pushback from citizen groups on the very visible national news. I read tonight that Speaker Mike Johnson has instructed Congressional reps to no longer hold townhalls because of the angry crowds (shown on national media which makes the "surprised" reps look like incompetent deers-in-the-headlights). Alas, I'll miss those townhall videos. I'd love to see the polling about voters' happiness with trump in the formerly Biden areas we lost in the 2024 red "swing" states. So, the Speaker apparently feels the reps no longer need to answer to their constituents? Well, there's a huge savings musk has apparently overlooked. I say lay them off.
Wow! That's a super idea!! Good to keep surrounding them with the proof of their abandoned oath and constituents - that they aren't interested in representing the people who vote them into office. They're not doing their job and qualify to be fired by elon musk. Just because the Senator or rep isn't there, doesn't mean Johnson has shut us down. The empty chair townhalls will be even worse for them.
I'd like for the empty-chair townhalls to be filmed and released on every kind of media there is for the midterms - TV, Social Media, billboards, and buses rolling through cities every minute of everyday, also in opportune places, banners pulled by planes. On the commercials, I'd show (1) a clip of trump berating Zelenskyy, (2) headlines about federal layoffs, (2) a sampling of the horrible Cabinet heads their Senator voted for, and then (3) show constituents' angry complaints at the townhalls and (4) their Senator or congressional rep not able to answer their constituents' angry concerns. Film vacant-chair townhalls too and give them the same strong public airing. In other words, this is what "flood the zone" looks like when karma strikes.
For her Maine constituents, the "no town halls" policy will be familiar. Our senior Senator Susan Collins hasn't held a Town Hall in any city or town in Maine since 2019!
Someone actually held one after the local Rep. didn't show up for the town hall he was invited to, claimed he never received a formal (written) invitation. Of course, I don't recall where but saw footage on either Maddow or The Last Word on Friday night.
Don't forget what the "remove" part of that refers to (hint; it is not Musk). Remove comes first, so we can get to the impeach/impeach part and make it work..
Joyce: When you fill in the legal blank related to this horrid administration, it almost leaves one speechless! Can it get worse? Oh, yes-so put your seat belt on and listen.
Thanks for all you do to help us understand the complications!
Tell us when it will be time to go after all the bad actors and upturn the government Trump is creating and include getting DOGE out as well? Will you tell us?
Will the courts be strong enough to keep him from taking over the government? He has terrified the Republican congress people to the point that they have given up their powers of office.
With 1500 Jan 6 dangerous men roaming around, when will the time be right?
Is it time to gather all the military men who may be ready to fight? And I mean fight.
Thanks, Joyce! I wonder if the investors in the free market will be enough to corral him? Or the lawyers? And let's not forget this week also brings the Ides of March. Not that anyone remembers that. Thank you for always giving us hope. And chicken photos. And now the puppy!
So about DEI?? Since the administration is obviously going after people of color & women & people with sexuual orienatation differences from what the 'right' thinks is right then I think they should take it to it's obvious conclusion, ban people of color from professional sports! You know all those handsome, well built, athletically superior people of color, lets remove them from football, baseball, basketball. You know give those talented white folks a job! What's that you say? NOOOOOO!
Well, gee, if you don't want people of color in any other types of jobs, you know DEI & all that then why is it OK to let them work in pro sports???? Just something to think about!!!
I'm so sick of all this ridiculous stuff going on. Go play more golf donnie & take elon with you. And lets get those worthless republicans out of their 'jobs' they aren't doing anything anyway. If they're looking for waste & fraud start by cutting their salaries, rubber stamping & boot licking isn't doing a job it's being feckless & worthless. Get the bums out!
I am not on Instagram, so grabbed the YouTube link to the speech. An amazingly succinct and clear outline of what is happening and its significance to the world. All of us, and it all comes down to the doings of a few pathetic individuals, none of whom have nearly the power that they are trying to be seen as having. We can change this, and we are underway..
Thank you for posting the Youtube link. Fyi, I, too, do not belong to Instagram. The link I posted is to a “public” posting. Apparently, an Instagram account can choose to make a post public. You may come across other Instagram posts that are public that anyone can view.
I saw this!!! Thx for posting it here, Janet - good one! This really articulate Senator really knows up to the minute what's going on here and how to insult musk (a jester/buffoon high on ketomine) and trump ("at war with a dictator backed by a traitor") Bravo! One thing that really hurt was to see and hear the words "America" and "abandoned" in the same sentence. Never in my life would I have thought we'd do anything like this. I do appreciate that he is optimistic about us turning this around. I am too.
I’m so scared for all of us. This has never happened in my lifetime and I’m 75. Worked on Capitol Hill with republicans when they would go and argue on the senate floor and walk out and go out to lunch together. Democrats and Republicans. I’ve worked for the government, my dad for the Navy under Admiral Hyman Rickover in Washington, DC, my sister works for EPA now for 39 years in Boston, my cousins. My best friend and my aunt at the Pentagon for 30+ years. I worked for the CIA early on. I hate Trump and Musk and something drastic needs to happen now. How could they just get rid of all government agencies? I want to cry for all the people who loved their jobs and were walked out by a bunch of idiots who didn’t care.??
A moving reply, Patti.....but we are NOT alone.
Pressue Congressional Republicans.
Pressure, my butt! We need to drag them out of OUR Capitol and tar and feather the whole lot of them!
Agree!! I am SO Angry!
Daniel- Couldn’t agree more!
You have much more experience with the government than I do, but I too want to cry (and scream and yell) at the bunch of idiots who are inhumane and don't care about the rest of us...
I don’t suppose it’s happened in any American’s lifetime. You have to go back to the 1880s & 1890s to see such egregious abuses of power and naked collusion between big business and government. It took a few years to straighten out back then, but your ancestors managed it. I hope current day Americans will too!
I feel that the drastic thing that needs to happen is either people absolutely revolt, or the Blue States secede from the Confederacy, and allow people who don't want to stay in the Confederacy to come to them and leave with them. I say this because a book club I am in is reading Jefferson Cowie's Freedom's Dominion about the ideas of freedom coming from Slave nations, which is freedom to own other people. This freedom that has allowed White men to own other people and do whatever they want without legal consequences, is the free for me, but not for thee sort of freedom. No thanks! This feudalism is now being revived as the New Feudalism. The beloved governing set up of all autocracies. Then, a BC member shared this article from The Bulwark. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/liberal-democracy-american-south-vance-bourbons?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Everything with fascist governments is about timing. I do not see Blue States Seceding to join Canada or form their own more liberal democracy as being more disruptive than what is going on right now.
Or else, vulnerable groups should consider some other options. I wrote an article on this.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/a-plan-c-for-catastrophe?r=f0qfn
My cats have me enslaved. My every moment of existence is devoted to Hous cleaning, food served on demand, floor toys. You wouldn’t believe. They have me trained to perform as they demand or else. ( Said in fun.)
I have 3 cats and I understand!
Great piece Joyce. Yes, the law firms all need to stand together. We all need to stand together against this corrupt regime.
It’s only been a few months and people are angry and scared. Trump voters have been fired and are regretting their votes. That doesn’t bode well for the rest of Trumps term.
We all must keep up the pressure!
I wish I had the skills of Bayard Rustin. We need someone in a national organization, perhaps Indivisible, or something like that, who could organize a May 1 march on Washington. We need enough people to shut down this government until they resign. I’m thinking of 30,000,000 people walking from the beltway in, surrounding the White House, the Capitol, and the Supreme Court. We need Trump, Vance, Johnson, and all of Trump’s cabinet to resign. They are clearly abusing their power, treasonous in their allegiance to Russia, using the government for revenge and profit, and posing a security threat to the country and the world.
We have had enough of liars and billionaires fixing elections and destroying our democracy, economy, and the health and safety of the world. I think we can get a few million people to show up. When they resign we can put an independent like Angus King of Maine in charge, and have a new election in November, with both parties having primaries in June and July. There will be reasonable restrictions on how candidates can be funded.
We don’t want to align with Russia. We want to maintain our current allies and treaties. We also want to keep funding medical and the scientific research, doing good deeds and saving lives both here and all over the world, vaccinating all our children, combating climate change, teaching, and allowing the peaceful expression of all viewpoints, keeping Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and trying our best to follow the laws and values put forth in The Constitution of the Untied States.
If we had a Department of Justice that enforced the laws, and a Supreme Court that didn’t try to rewrite the Constitution, we wouldn’t have to do all this. However, unless thing change drastically, we will have to take a very large and peaceful stance and not back down.
That is the very best idea I have heard! Think of scores of buses coming en masse from around the country and all those people proudly marching to save our country! It might not be possible but who knows!
That sort of protest en masse, is exactly what trump is wishing for, though. He is literally aching for us to gather in such a large group, so he can declare it a national emergency and instate Martial Law. I'm sure he's even planning on his J6 "political prisoners" and militias (Proud Boys, etc.) to infiltrate the crowds and start the violence. That's the reason I think that boycotting (starving) the profit mongers and a national walkout would be a better, safer way to protest. I also think we should all consider not paying our taxes to trump's treasure chest (U.S. Treasury).
I fear you made a good point. Trump has no morals. That makes him a vicious enemy. He's going to be hard to dump! It amazes me how stupid all in Congress are. They will not be needed by a king. They will be fired. All but those who actually have skills. The Cabinet most surely will go!
The trouble is everything we can do is "just what he is wishing for." And we need to do something.
BTW: I had a dear friend who lost her home because she refused to pay taxed that went to pay for the Viet Nam war. The reason doesn't make any difference. [Of course that assumes there is anyone left at IRS to come after us. ]
In most cases, the IRS won't even realize that people haven't filed. More than once I've skipped 2 years of filing (because I didn't owe any taxes), and never heard a word from them. It took them 7 months last year to send me a letter denying my application for extension, which was dated two months after I'd filed my return. And I still don't have my 2023 refund! That's with all the extra IRS boosting that Biden did, and now their staff is being decimated by trump.
So, folks can file for an extension. Employed people can fill out a new W4 and lower their employer's withholding rate, or even call themselves exempt (red flag, though). I just don't believe the IRS is going to be functioning very well this year, and it takes them quite a while to go through their standard demand process anyway. Not going to say there's no risk, though. We don't have a clue what info musk has, or what he's doing with it!
Exactly! Another kind of intervention is needed.
True, but sad. President Rat Brain has probably scoped out what ever might be in our nation's future. Not sure he went out this far. Something to think about.
Great points! Blue-organized marches that are merely performative accomplish nothing and, as you point out, are subject to Red sabotage!
Plus: if ALL of us chase after every idiot thing the senile, erratic hate machine does we learn only to be reactive, not pro-active. We can't all chase the daily dozen shiny (and slimy) objects like dogs.
Boycotts are good only if they are intelligently targeted - and long-running. A day or week of non-purchasing are a minor dent in profits of a large corporation (and result in smaller paychecks for service staff).
This tactic also requires a long period of planning and getting people to participate - especially if the wait staffs are going to be the front-line sufferers. How long until your not buying a new car gets noticed?
What are our Blue economists saying? Only a couple (Krugman, Reich) are easily-understood!
Not paying taxes also requires a long-term campaign just to get people to participate. Workers would have to change their payroll deductions to Zero, and the self-employed would need to stop paying Estimated Taxes. It would require months for this to get Treasury's attention, and probably just in the Blue states.
Most responsible taxpayers live in fear of the IRS Agents, ratcheted up by tax lawyers' fear-ads that make you think a dozen agents will emerge from unmarked vans parked around your home to garnish all they can grab if you fall behind. In reality, with the GOP cutting the $10 billion that Biden and Congress passed for IRS collectors, we can get away with massive tax protests until Reds restore the IRS enforcement budget and train the new CPAs and agents. Or, am I missing a mass email from Elon that would trap everyone?
Until at least January 2026 when, if Blues are successful, the House of Representatives turns Blue, we Blues have to get out of our walking shoes and kick up our political game(s) some levels.
You mean January 2027, as the midterm elections are in November 2026. But January 2026 would be nice!
Gawd everyone's popping all my fantasies. !
Well, speaking of lawyers, Wisconsin Voters can put a majority 'liberal' justice on the Wisconsin Supreme in about 22 calendar days on 4/1/25 in the open WN Supreme Court seat Election.
Per the Associated Press' 12/4/24 article, National interest in the 4/1/25 Election has intensified. The AP reported the Wisconsin Supreme Court election already had high stakes but, a DANE County 12/4/24 Judicial ruling overturned 'Wisconsin Act 10'.
AP: "The Dane County Judge's ruling " ... restored collective bargaining rights to the states 10,000 Teachers & other Public workers".
Political Context: In April 2023 liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz won with 55.4% of the Wisconsin vote starting the 1st ideological shift on the Wisconsin Bench in years.
At Stake: The 4/1/25 vote could set up a liberal Majority until 2028 or create a 3-3 split on the 7 seat WN Bench. Per Ballotpedia this election result could shift an "outsize influence" to the 7th Justice with a "conservative leaning" tilt.
Caution: There are many -- a thicket of "Sponsored Ads".
The Democratic candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court is Judge Susan Crawford. Her Republican opponent got a lot of campaign money from Musk. Ways to support Susan Crawford in this critical election on April 1:
Indivisible Neighbor2Neighbor, phonebanks, and Vote Forward letters:
https://indivisible.org/scowis2025
WisDems virtual phonebank:
https://www.mobilize.us/wisdems/event/749814/?referring_vol=1942&rname=Stair×lot=5161911&referring_participation=36156711&referring_data_signature=v1-402429493407a0c2&share_medium=copy_link&share_context=signup-form-modal
Donate to the Crawford campaign:
https://www.crawfordforwi.com/
Thank you Ellie. You provided 5 links to an important northern state judicial seat election. With hard work ☕️over next 21 days to the 4/1/25 election, perhaps the nation will see a positive trend along with our Canadian friends.
A modern view of lawyers, A bit of humor:
https://youtu.be/Xs-UEqJ85KE?si=isCxFNhy3rC-XyqQ
I've got a modern view of the necessary classes for any undergraduate degree:
Mandatory classes in the 3 courses you need now more than ever including Contract law, Constitutional law & Torts particularly intentional torts. Maybe Professor Vance will you permit to monitor her lectures. If not, I recommend reading Civil Discourse particularly 5Q's.
Extra credit for Criminal law. : ---)
Having retired 15 years ago, I enjoyed that and reposted to Bsky.
Love that show!
Joyce, I am so grateful for your marvelous writings. In all the chaos you give us a glimmer of hope. Thank you so much!
Also some much-needed clarity!
Beyond all else, it is critical to "get names" so that they can be provided to judicial authorities. The recent arrest of a green card holder in a private university owned apartment in NY was carried out by armed agents who, though breaking the law, claimed they were just "obeying orders." The same has just happened in DC, where an Hispanic American was detained and handcuffed. Those breaking the law utilize spurious authorities to send unthinking enforcers to engage in violent action. The first task must be to ensure the safety of the public, which means calling to account those who do the illicit actions on the cutting edge. Otherwise, they will just keep doing it.
"I was only following orders" has been dropped as a defense since 1946 at the Nuremberg Trials. Makes me wonder if these "agents" were actually officers of the law.
Like the woman who is dragged out of a town hall in a state I don’t remember, maybe Arizona,by some security people who weren’t even licensed legally. They have been reprimanded in some way, but what a scary sight that video was. Gestapo. And no one came to her defense.
(Idaho)
Idaho, IIRC.
That interview clip of tRump...linguistic "skills" of a fourth -grader, mindlessly repeating himself for want of an ability to cogently express his - you know - "thoughts". Abysmally dense, intellectually limited, and criminally-minded...a winning combination in today's MAGA Murka.
Hmm, Trump seems to truly believe that not only the sun, but the galaxy … indeed, the universe - revolves around him. Laws? Mine only.
Everyone chant with me: chickens, chickens, chickens!
Are you saying that you want more?
Yes, more chickens. I’d be happy with one chicken picture per day at the bottom of the post. If that’s not feasible once a week or as was said in Oliver, paraphrasing, “please ma’am, may we have some more?”.
Oh, I thought you wanted them for the eggs 🤣
Plus de poulets, s'il vous plaît !
Mais oui!
Yes, bring on the chickens. Your photos of them are terrific as well as sharing their antics.
The way Charlie Sykes gives dog pix at the end of his daily post.
We want a chicken calendar, lol! Photos will do in a pinch, though. Chickens! Chickens! Chickens! Oh, and puppies, too.
What a super idea!!! I love it.
And, Elsa the Princess!
Pam Bondi is going to be swamped in her lame attempts to defend the lawsuits being filed against the current administration. How many are there now? I believe close to 100, with more on the way. She’s unqualified and cannot handle this.
Don't you just wish that attorneys would refuse to work on behalf of the DOJ or the White House? (Thought I read somewhere a few weeks ago that trump was trying to get a bunch more attorneys on their team.)
Joyce, I am heartened by the review of the week's not-insignificant steps to right the ship of state. However, as we play whack-a-mole, I wonder about the forces that placed Trump in office, such as The Heritage Foundation, Project 2025, and the religious right, including Leonard Leo and the Supreme Court influencers. What are they doing, and who is at their right hand to carry on their mission? These folks are not likely to relent even if Trump and Musk are ousted.
Yes all this chaos is just a shiny thing to make us all look at that instead of what they are doing to dismantle government behind the scenes, and they will keep going.
I think we've done a fairly decent job of responding to their "flood the zone" chaos strategy. Knowing this is their strategy, to attempt to overwhelm us, I hope everyone, press included, doesn't reward them by letting them see (or hear about) us sweating. Also, if trump gets rid of the federal gov't, then what is there to be king over - a smoking, scorched Washington, DC? At the moment, we don't have any allies - or neighbors who wish us well. What makes his attacks unpredictable is that he backs off them whenever he gets pushback, like the markets dropping or he gets loud, pushback from citizen groups on the very visible national news. I read tonight that Speaker Mike Johnson has instructed Congressional reps to no longer hold townhalls because of the angry crowds (shown on national media which makes the "surprised" reps look like incompetent deers-in-the-headlights). Alas, I'll miss those townhall videos. I'd love to see the polling about voters' happiness with trump in the formerly Biden areas we lost in the 2024 red "swing" states. So, the Speaker apparently feels the reps no longer need to answer to their constituents? Well, there's a huge savings musk has apparently overlooked. I say lay them off.
Some people have suggested doing an empty chair Townhall without the representative and publicize that. Sounds like a good way to go.
Wow! That's a super idea!! Good to keep surrounding them with the proof of their abandoned oath and constituents - that they aren't interested in representing the people who vote them into office. They're not doing their job and qualify to be fired by elon musk. Just because the Senator or rep isn't there, doesn't mean Johnson has shut us down. The empty chair townhalls will be even worse for them.
I'd like for the empty-chair townhalls to be filmed and released on every kind of media there is for the midterms - TV, Social Media, billboards, and buses rolling through cities every minute of everyday, also in opportune places, banners pulled by planes. On the commercials, I'd show (1) a clip of trump berating Zelenskyy, (2) headlines about federal layoffs, (2) a sampling of the horrible Cabinet heads their Senator voted for, and then (3) show constituents' angry complaints at the townhalls and (4) their Senator or congressional rep not able to answer their constituents' angry concerns. Film vacant-chair townhalls too and give them the same strong public airing. In other words, this is what "flood the zone" looks like when karma strikes.
For her Maine constituents, the "no town halls" policy will be familiar. Our senior Senator Susan Collins hasn't held a Town Hall in any city or town in Maine since 2019!
Someone actually held one after the local Rep. didn't show up for the town hall he was invited to, claimed he never received a formal (written) invitation. Of course, I don't recall where but saw footage on either Maddow or The Last Word on Friday night.
It was Kansas Senator Jerry Moran
How about 5 Million Patriots ---
bring five million citizens to Washington UNTIL: MUSK is expelled; and, TRUMP and VANCE are impeached. 5MillionPatriots.blogspot.com
Feathers of Hope. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/p/remove-impeach-impeach
Don't forget what the "remove" part of that refers to (hint; it is not Musk). Remove comes first, so we can get to the impeach/impeach part and make it work..
My fears, too.
Yes! Call them out!
Joyce: When you fill in the legal blank related to this horrid administration, it almost leaves one speechless! Can it get worse? Oh, yes-so put your seat belt on and listen.
Thanks for all you do to help us understand the complications!
Love to Elsa! Do not let her grow too fast!
Tell us when it will be time to go after all the bad actors and upturn the government Trump is creating and include getting DOGE out as well? Will you tell us?
Will the courts be strong enough to keep him from taking over the government? He has terrified the Republican congress people to the point that they have given up their powers of office.
With 1500 Jan 6 dangerous men roaming around, when will the time be right?
Is it time to gather all the military men who may be ready to fight? And I mean fight.
When will the time be right.
Puppy, puppy, puppy!
Thanks, Joyce! I wonder if the investors in the free market will be enough to corral him? Or the lawyers? And let's not forget this week also brings the Ides of March. Not that anyone remembers that. Thank you for always giving us hope. And chicken photos. And now the puppy!
Where I live we're holding a SUPPORT UKRAINE / DOWN WITH DICTATORS rally on the Ides. Seems appropriate, yes?
Read Snyder’s philosophical piece about Bezos new editorial policy regarding freedom and markets. The free market is .discussed. Great article.
ides of march like that....
So about DEI?? Since the administration is obviously going after people of color & women & people with sexuual orienatation differences from what the 'right' thinks is right then I think they should take it to it's obvious conclusion, ban people of color from professional sports! You know all those handsome, well built, athletically superior people of color, lets remove them from football, baseball, basketball. You know give those talented white folks a job! What's that you say? NOOOOOO!
Well, gee, if you don't want people of color in any other types of jobs, you know DEI & all that then why is it OK to let them work in pro sports???? Just something to think about!!!
I'm so sick of all this ridiculous stuff going on. Go play more golf donnie & take elon with you. And lets get those worthless republicans out of their 'jobs' they aren't doing anything anyway. If they're looking for waste & fraud start by cutting their salaries, rubber stamping & boot licking isn't doing a job it's being feckless & worthless. Get the bums out!
Chickens, chickens, chickens!!
Pupkens!
“This is a tragedy for the free world. But first and foremost a tragedy for the United States.”
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DG9Lj0FBhMb/?igsh=cTN6a2k1dnBtZmJm
I am not on Instagram, so grabbed the YouTube link to the speech. An amazingly succinct and clear outline of what is happening and its significance to the world. All of us, and it all comes down to the doings of a few pathetic individuals, none of whom have nearly the power that they are trying to be seen as having. We can change this, and we are underway..
https://youtu.be/unSSHfIs3U0
Watched. Thank you , Annie. A geopolitical earthquake has begun! OMG.
Thank you for posting the Youtube link. Fyi, I, too, do not belong to Instagram. The link I posted is to a “public” posting. Apparently, an Instagram account can choose to make a post public. You may come across other Instagram posts that are public that anyone can view.
I saw this!!! Thx for posting it here, Janet - good one! This really articulate Senator really knows up to the minute what's going on here and how to insult musk (a jester/buffoon high on ketomine) and trump ("at war with a dictator backed by a traitor") Bravo! One thing that really hurt was to see and hear the words "America" and "abandoned" in the same sentence. Never in my life would I have thought we'd do anything like this. I do appreciate that he is optimistic about us turning this around. I am too.
A must read/listen to, even if it makes your hair stand up