We older folks find this note off base. We participated in fighting for civil rights, voting rights, women's rights. And we're out there now protesting to preserve all our rights. We care. So, you all get with it and join your peers and elders, and fight back now!
"(If you’re MAGA, the Golden Rule is in Matthew 7:12. You probably haven’t heard it lately in church.)"
Actually, if you're MAGA, you think the Golden Rule is "do unto others before they do unto you".
//
"...when we look back on American history the United States will only have been a full democracy between 1965 and 2016 and that its sunset was the culmination of a long organized reaction to the Civil Rights Movement...".
I would say quite a full democracy, but we were moving in that direction more than any other time.
I also would say future historians will say that period was a brief respite from the long organized reaction to losing the Civil War, and the advent of "the lost cause" syndrome.
//
"...if that breakup fallout had gone on much longer he would have found himself on the wrong end of Epstein discovery".
That should still be the case.
//
"It criminalizes dissent and criminalizes some kinds of free speech, freedom of assembly, and more. It empowers the military to disrupt not just extant protests but to thwart protests against ICE that have not yet organized. Not just in Los Angeles but everywhere in the United States".
With 12,000,000 of us out there, he can't kill and arrest us all!
//
"Invoking the Insurrection Act will be a political, legal, and societal nuclear bomb. We’ll be considered a dictatorship overnight. Trump will think it will make things easier for him but every antibody in the country — and around the world — will turn out against him immediately."
All I can say is, I sure hope you're right about this. Actually, I hope he decides to back off the martial law gambit, although I can't say I'm optimistic about it.
im a self identified Insurrectionary anarkist. So i support separatism and decentralization whenever; wherever. Basques; Catalans; Taiwanese; Quebecois; Palestinians.
Dont characterize me as anti-semitic: Arabs -are- semitic.
The movement has nothing to do with tribal identity anyway.
Its a condemnation of the way England initiated Israel in 1948.
You dont just dump 20 million traumatized people on a patch of land and expect them not to re-traumatize everyone around them.
The UN shouldve maintained Israel for the first 20-40 years...to make sure the 2 groups dont fuck with each other.
Right, and now man baby has all his toys in our capital for the weekend, is he going to keep them there. Take over the entire government and make himself king?
I am a 68 YO disabled US Cavalry veteran. My allegiance is to GOD, the constitution of the United States (per my soldier's oath) and my family. I will not countenance treason or traitors. As for Trump, I will NEVER kneel...
I think that if this continues, and if Himself actually does impose martial law, as The Long Memo says, good luck enforcing it. America has the largest gun ownership per capita in the world, and Americans will start using those guns. They did in 1964-69, during the "ghetto riots" when not only was there rioting, burning of buildings, looting, etc., - on a far larger scale than the very few blocks of LA that are involved right now, but there were snipers in more than one city, firing from rooftops, etc., against the police and National Guard...
And as it is, the word is that the National Guard, right now, is not happy about their deployment.
“The sentiment across the board right now is that deploying military force against our own communities isn’t the kind of national security we signed up for,” said Sarah Streyder of the Secure Families Initiative, which represents the interests of military spouses, children and veterans.
MY NOTE: In search of concentrating on the "lethality" of our military forces, SOD Hegseth fired a large chunk of civilian workers, many of whom were involved in procurement, inventory, transportation and logistics, i.e., the support team BEHIND the actual soldiers, sailors, etc. Which is why the national guard members were sleeping on a concrete loading dock floor without bedding, and the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the troops arrived with no lodging, insufficient portable toilets and no funds for food or water. Hegseth, in his infinite wisdom, never thought about little things like that. And this will be the norm.
SECOND NOTE: The National Guard troops deployed by then Governor Noem to the Texas border complained bitterly about the deployment, from issues with the mission's purpose, training value, and logistical support. Not to mention reports of delays in pay and living in cramped quarters. Betcha this happens with the LA National Guard and marines...
Imposing martial law on America might boost Himself's morale, but it sure isn't going to boost the troops' morale. Nor the ability of the current DOD to supply food, lodging, water, toilets, etc. Himself might order "in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures" and "quarter large bodies of armed troops among us" (in our homes, against the people's will). Both of these, of course are among the "Crimes of the King" in our own Declaration of Independence. We know what came of that...
On top of all that, bypassing Newsom meant that no deployment paperwork got filed for any of those Guardsmen. Which means that *they are not being paid a cent for any of this.*
They're being underfed, forced to sleep on cold floors with no blankets, deprived of bathrooms, subjected to battlefield conditions -- and getting NO MONEY for it.
I think you are overly optimistic about moving focus from blue states to red states. It is more likely that he’ll double down on “enforcement” in blue states and there will be mass arrests and the violence will switch from the targets of enforcment actions to the protesters and public officials who resist.
They do NOT want to hurt the economies of red states and they do NOT want Trump supporters to actually experience the results of voting in a fascist regime. If you are a farmer in a red state, you’ll get your workers more or less unmolested. If you are a farmer in a blue state, your crops are toast.
I upvoted your comment but I don't think I actually agree with it. Certainly not in whole. As others have pointed out, PAB doesn't care about his base's pain, he's only in it for the money and power. He's not planning on running for President again, not because of the two-term limit but because he's planning on staying there until he's dead, even if it's another 20 years. And Gruppenführer Miller *definitely* doesn't care about red states, he just wants *all* the sorta-brown people out of the USA, and he doesn't give two shits about where they are or what they're doing.
Trump gives no fucks about his voting base. He thinks they're losers because they're not rich, chumps for falling for his web of lies, and because many of them really, truly have (stops to retch) faith in him as some kind of holy prophet, he has nothing, *nothing* but contempt for them.
He doesn't care if they suffer from disasters. He doesn't care if they lose money because of his tariffs. He didn't care if they lose Medicaid and/or the very food in their tables because of his Big Blowies for Billionaires Bill. So why would he care about taking away people's neighbours and local farm workers whose jobs will be left unfilled because Americans won't do them and recent citizens are already working their butts off?
How long do you think that his followers will continue to believe that their hardships are Biden’s fault? He’s quite good at getting them to believe that this is much harder because Biden did such a horrible job and he is only trying to rectify it. 🥺
They're having a harder and harder time justifying his behaviour, because he's getting more and more irrational. Honestly, all they have to do is think back to what their lives were like a year ago and compare that to what they're like today. Things aren't getting better for most of his base. Kicking brown people in the teeth doesn't matter as much when you can't feed your family because your job just disappeared and the cost of food has skyrocketed.
He can keep it going for another six months at the very most, I would say - and that's assuming his dementia doesn't worsen and make his impulse control even worse. Thing is, dementia doesn't put itself on pause.
I'm not so sure - the red states are already experiencing no FEMA funds, at a time when many of them have turned into tornado alley day after day after day... And Trump has made it plain that FEMA's closing down, and nobody's getting funds. Let the states do it.
Here's a great post from The Long Memo from back in January on the problem with martial law. Finnegan has spent his career in government and politics and knows what he's talking about.
Finnegan's the brightest spot on Substack this side of Cass himself these days. I'm an expat again (for the second time in 20 years, so I know this territory well), and he talks about small but hugely important aspects of this life that nobody else in that sector ever talks about. There's no one like him if you're an American who is contemplating life elsewhere. He gets this moment like few others do.
We older folks find this note off base. We participated in fighting for civil rights, voting rights, women's rights. And we're out there now protesting to preserve all our rights. We care. So, you all get with it and join your peers and elders, and fight back now!
It doesn’t feel like I’m doing enough 😞
Pew pew pew time
"(If you’re MAGA, the Golden Rule is in Matthew 7:12. You probably haven’t heard it lately in church.)"
Actually, if you're MAGA, you think the Golden Rule is "do unto others before they do unto you".
//
"...when we look back on American history the United States will only have been a full democracy between 1965 and 2016 and that its sunset was the culmination of a long organized reaction to the Civil Rights Movement...".
I would say quite a full democracy, but we were moving in that direction more than any other time.
I also would say future historians will say that period was a brief respite from the long organized reaction to losing the Civil War, and the advent of "the lost cause" syndrome.
//
"...if that breakup fallout had gone on much longer he would have found himself on the wrong end of Epstein discovery".
That should still be the case.
//
"It criminalizes dissent and criminalizes some kinds of free speech, freedom of assembly, and more. It empowers the military to disrupt not just extant protests but to thwart protests against ICE that have not yet organized. Not just in Los Angeles but everywhere in the United States".
With 12,000,000 of us out there, he can't kill and arrest us all!
//
"Invoking the Insurrection Act will be a political, legal, and societal nuclear bomb. We’ll be considered a dictatorship overnight. Trump will think it will make things easier for him but every antibody in the country — and around the world — will turn out against him immediately."
All I can say is, I sure hope you're right about this. Actually, I hope he decides to back off the martial law gambit, although I can't say I'm optimistic about it.
Exactly American Resistance 💙💙💙💙🇺🇸
Oh, he is chomping at the bit to call for martial law.
i masturbate to it.
every time i load a .50 cal magazine into my Barrett, or dig a new bunker.
Never did have much use for authoritarians
of course he is.
thats -what- he is. he and his movement.
hence why i mock and heap scorn on all the contributors on here who whine "stay peaceful and nonviolent otherwise trump will initiate martial law".
Do the self identified progressives who either justify, celebrate, or remain silent in the attacks on Jews even see themselves?
im a self identified Insurrectionary anarkist. So i support separatism and decentralization whenever; wherever. Basques; Catalans; Taiwanese; Quebecois; Palestinians.
Dont characterize me as anti-semitic: Arabs -are- semitic.
The movement has nothing to do with tribal identity anyway.
Its a condemnation of the way England initiated Israel in 1948.
You dont just dump 20 million traumatized people on a patch of land and expect them not to re-traumatize everyone around them.
The UN shouldve maintained Israel for the first 20-40 years...to make sure the 2 groups dont fuck with each other.
Missed the point by so far ypu can't even see it.
Absolutely 💯
No innocent bystanders-
That’s compliance to the problem.
Right, and now man baby has all his toys in our capital for the weekend, is he going to keep them there. Take over the entire government and make himself king?
"Americans across the political spectrum generally have a visceral allergic reaction to secret police."
Do they?
Familiar, I am sure, but: "The problem, the personal problem was not what our enemies did, but what our friends did." Hannah Arendt
I am a 68 YO disabled US Cavalry veteran. My allegiance is to GOD, the constitution of the United States (per my soldier's oath) and my family. I will not countenance treason or traitors. As for Trump, I will NEVER kneel...
I think that if this continues, and if Himself actually does impose martial law, as The Long Memo says, good luck enforcing it. America has the largest gun ownership per capita in the world, and Americans will start using those guns. They did in 1964-69, during the "ghetto riots" when not only was there rioting, burning of buildings, looting, etc., - on a far larger scale than the very few blocks of LA that are involved right now, but there were snipers in more than one city, firing from rooftops, etc., against the police and National Guard...
And as it is, the word is that the National Guard, right now, is not happy about their deployment.
“The sentiment across the board right now is that deploying military force against our own communities isn’t the kind of national security we signed up for,” said Sarah Streyder of the Secure Families Initiative, which represents the interests of military spouses, children and veterans.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/12/los-angeles-national-guard-troops-marines-morale
MY NOTE: In search of concentrating on the "lethality" of our military forces, SOD Hegseth fired a large chunk of civilian workers, many of whom were involved in procurement, inventory, transportation and logistics, i.e., the support team BEHIND the actual soldiers, sailors, etc. Which is why the national guard members were sleeping on a concrete loading dock floor without bedding, and the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the troops arrived with no lodging, insufficient portable toilets and no funds for food or water. Hegseth, in his infinite wisdom, never thought about little things like that. And this will be the norm.
SECOND NOTE: The National Guard troops deployed by then Governor Noem to the Texas border complained bitterly about the deployment, from issues with the mission's purpose, training value, and logistical support. Not to mention reports of delays in pay and living in cramped quarters. Betcha this happens with the LA National Guard and marines...
Imposing martial law on America might boost Himself's morale, but it sure isn't going to boost the troops' morale. Nor the ability of the current DOD to supply food, lodging, water, toilets, etc. Himself might order "in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures" and "quarter large bodies of armed troops among us" (in our homes, against the people's will). Both of these, of course are among the "Crimes of the King" in our own Declaration of Independence. We know what came of that...
On top of all that, bypassing Newsom meant that no deployment paperwork got filed for any of those Guardsmen. Which means that *they are not being paid a cent for any of this.*
They're being underfed, forced to sleep on cold floors with no blankets, deprived of bathrooms, subjected to battlefield conditions -- and getting NO MONEY for it.
Yeah, that's not gonna end well for Trump.
I think you are overly optimistic about moving focus from blue states to red states. It is more likely that he’ll double down on “enforcement” in blue states and there will be mass arrests and the violence will switch from the targets of enforcment actions to the protesters and public officials who resist.
They do NOT want to hurt the economies of red states and they do NOT want Trump supporters to actually experience the results of voting in a fascist regime. If you are a farmer in a red state, you’ll get your workers more or less unmolested. If you are a farmer in a blue state, your crops are toast.
I upvoted your comment but I don't think I actually agree with it. Certainly not in whole. As others have pointed out, PAB doesn't care about his base's pain, he's only in it for the money and power. He's not planning on running for President again, not because of the two-term limit but because he's planning on staying there until he's dead, even if it's another 20 years. And Gruppenführer Miller *definitely* doesn't care about red states, he just wants *all* the sorta-brown people out of the USA, and he doesn't give two shits about where they are or what they're doing.
Trump gives no fucks about his voting base. He thinks they're losers because they're not rich, chumps for falling for his web of lies, and because many of them really, truly have (stops to retch) faith in him as some kind of holy prophet, he has nothing, *nothing* but contempt for them.
He doesn't care if they suffer from disasters. He doesn't care if they lose money because of his tariffs. He didn't care if they lose Medicaid and/or the very food in their tables because of his Big Blowies for Billionaires Bill. So why would he care about taking away people's neighbours and local farm workers whose jobs will be left unfilled because Americans won't do them and recent citizens are already working their butts off?
How long do you think that his followers will continue to believe that their hardships are Biden’s fault? He’s quite good at getting them to believe that this is much harder because Biden did such a horrible job and he is only trying to rectify it. 🥺
They're having a harder and harder time justifying his behaviour, because he's getting more and more irrational. Honestly, all they have to do is think back to what their lives were like a year ago and compare that to what they're like today. Things aren't getting better for most of his base. Kicking brown people in the teeth doesn't matter as much when you can't feed your family because your job just disappeared and the cost of food has skyrocketed.
He can keep it going for another six months at the very most, I would say - and that's assuming his dementia doesn't worsen and make his impulse control even worse. Thing is, dementia doesn't put itself on pause.
They just hit Nebraska and had people try to stop them. Admittedly, it was Omaha, but when you have such high quotas, you go after what's easiest.
I'm not so sure - the red states are already experiencing no FEMA funds, at a time when many of them have turned into tornado alley day after day after day... And Trump has made it plain that FEMA's closing down, and nobody's getting funds. Let the states do it.
Here's a great post from The Long Memo from back in January on the problem with martial law. Finnegan has spent his career in government and politics and knows what he's talking about.
https://open.substack.com/pub/longmemo/p/people-think-trump-wants-martial?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1wbr1r
Reading that left me feeling relieved and horrified at the same time.
Finnegan's the brightest spot on Substack this side of Cass himself these days. I'm an expat again (for the second time in 20 years, so I know this territory well), and he talks about small but hugely important aspects of this life that nobody else in that sector ever talks about. There's no one like him if you're an American who is contemplating life elsewhere. He gets this moment like few others do.