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| Laura Loomer: The loon with influence over Trump (AP) |
Long before election day in November 2024, Americans who were paying attention knew Donald Trump was good at one thing -- creating chaos. Despite that knowledge, quite a few of us apparently went to the polls and voted for a man who we knew (via four years of experience with his first term) could not govern, on top of being a convicted felon, adjudicated rapist, confessed sexual abuser, and serial marital cheater. (Note: I use the term "apparently" above because a growing body of evidence suggests the 2024 election was stolen -- and that means many of us have no idea if Trump lawfully is the U.S. president. Particularly exasperating to me -- and I hope to you -- is that neither Kamala Harris nor Joe Biden has lifted a finger to challenge the election results; no call for a hand recount or a forensic audit, no sign that they intend to fight for an election Harris likely won.
At least eight news outlets have reported on the Harris campaign's efforts to raise funds for a "recount effort." But we have seen no signs that Harris actually has sought a recount. (One of the best summaries of Harris' curious post-election activities can be found at the Baltimore Sun.) Given that Donald Trump is driving the United States toward a dangerous authoritarian cliff -- with ill-considered tariffs threatening to wreck our economy, historic alliances being left in tatters, plus saber rattling toward Canada, Mexico, Panama, Greenland, and Denmark (not to mention signs that Trump is planning to collaborate with murderous dictator Vladimir Putin to divide lucrative natural resources in the Arctic region and throughout Russia.) is Harris going to fight for our nation and for a presidential victory that might rightfully be hers?
What is the best way to get a grasp on the chaotic mess Trump is making of our country, especially over the past week or so? My recommendation would be to follow the work of progressive commentator, author, and broadcaster Thom Hartmann. In my view, all Americans -- regardless of political stripe -- would be wise to follow Hartmann's work, especially as we are in the grip of a lawless presidency unlike any most of us have seen in our lifetimes. Here is the latest from HARTMANNREPORT.COM:
(1) What to know about Saturday's "Hands Off" protests, which spread around the country and much of the world --
While the original idea for the protests was to focus on state capitols and federal buildings, it now appears there probably won’t be anyplace in America where there won’t be some show of disapproval for the way the Trump regime is wrecking America on behalf of Oligarchs, Putin, or for some other reason nobody understands. The organizers say they’ve received at least a quarter-million RSVPs; total attendance will be an order of magnitude larger, at least. I had lunch yesterday with a fellow who has inside information on what’s going on in Africa and across many developing nations; they’re all reaching out to China, since Trump and Musk gutted USAID, and China is rapidly and gleefully taking them — and their natural resources and strategic locations for military bases — into the fold.
Did Musk do this because USAID was a big factor in bringing down the apartheid government in South Africa when he was a kid there being chauffeured to elementary school in a Rolls Royce? Or was it because Chinese President Xi asked Russian President Putin to pass along a “favor” request to Trump? Meanwhile, Trump is overseeing what will probably become a second Republican Great Depression (it took 20 years for the Dow to recover from the last one) which is also greatly benefiting Russia and China.
And don’t get me started on his gutting our government and his latest announcement that he wants to dump around 80,000 soldiers from our military just as we’re facing the first serious military challenge since WWII (did Putin order him to do this?). Screwing with Social Security, student loans, labor, law enforcement, firing scientists, gutting regulatory agencies that protect average people from the avarice of billionaires: It all adds up to an administration that is fundamentally anti-American and anti-middle class. And now they want to give a $4-trillion tax gift to America’s billionaires. Democrats need to start talking seriously about impeaching this monstrous cult leader, who Putin and a handful of turncoat billionaires (with help from five corrupt Republicans on the Supreme Court) helped put in charge of our country. See you in the streets!
The Schnauzer sez -- Trump's greatest sin, in my view, is his persistent disrespect for the rule of law, which promotes the idea that our courts and our Congress can do nothing to control a president who violates the law so often that many Americans cannot keep up with all of his transgressions. Props to Hartmann for bringing "The I word" into the conversation. Indeed, it is time for Democrats to discuss such an option seriously -- and for Congressional Dems to launch a no-holds-barred investigation of Elon Musk.
(2) The tariff war begins...as Trump promises a new gilded age. He wrecked America in 74 days -- China was the first country to announce retaliatory tariffs, throwing a 34% hit on US agricultural products. More will come as country after country discovers they can’t negotiate with Trump unless they help make his family richer. And that will continue to drive the stock markets of countries around the world down; soon there may well be no safe investments outside of US treasuries and gold. And Trump saying he wants a new gilded age? Apparently, since gilded implies “gold covered,” he thought we were doing really well during the last gilded age (roughly 1870-1913) but, in fact, it was only the morbidly rich who benefited. As Derek Thompson writes for The Atlantic: “By 1880, in the middle of the Gilded Age, if you lived to be 10 years old, you would die at 48, if you’re an American white male, and you would be 5 feet, 5 inches tall. You would lead a briefer life and be shorter than your Revolutionary ancestor. And you were one of the lucky ones, because on average, 20 percent of infants would die before age 5. You’re living in an environment where, as America urbanizes, there’s no reliable sewage system. There’s no pure water. There’s no public health.”
The Schnauzer sez -- This is a sign that Trump and his allies are clueless about history. They seem to think a second Gilded Age would be a great thing -- but the first one, it turns out, was not so great. Speaking of history and tariffs, the Trumpers seem to have no idea that the infamous Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 introduced protectionist tariffs that many economists believe set the stage for the Great Depression. Is Trump setting himself up to be the next Herbert Hoover?
(3) Voters Revolt: AOC Crushes Schumer in Shocking Primary Poll --
Democrats are craving new, aggressive, progressive leadership: Data for Progress conducted a poll of likely primary voters in New York state, asking how many would support Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez if she took on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for his seat in that body. A shocking 55% supported AOC, with only 38% saying they’d vote for Schumer. Democrats have been in the wilderness ever since Bill Clinton led the party away from its progressive FDR and LBJ roots and into embracing Reagan’s neoliberal policies of low taxes on rich people, corporate deregulation, “the end of big government,” and “the end of welfare as we know it.” Joe Biden was the first Democratic president to repudiate Clinton’s and Obama’s neoliberalism, but he was so ineffective at communicating the great things he was doing that most Americans still thought we were in a recession the week of the 2024 election. Progressives are finding their voices, though, and increasingly the corporate sellout democrats like Jared Golden, Rahm Emanuel, Josh Gottheimer, and Chuck Schumer are finding themselves on the outside looking in.
Bernie [Sanders] is pulling crowds as large as 34,000 people, while the Congressional Progressive Caucus is organizing town halls in Red districts all across the country. Corporate Dems suggest it’s just a flash in the pan, but my take is that the days of sucking up to big corporations and hustling big donors are about to come to an end. And the sooner the better.
The Schnauzer sez -- Schumer probably could make a reasonable argument that caving on the GOP's budget bill was better than allowing Trump and Elon Musk to engage in skulduggery during a government shutdown. But that position made it look like Schumer was capitulating, that he was weak. And it came at a time when grass-roots Democrats were mad, spoiling for a fight. It probably is fitting that AOC trounced Schumer in the primary poll, given that she likely is the No. 1 fighter in the Democratic ranks. It appears Schumer's grip on power might be short lived.
(4) Rightwing conspiracy-nut blogger Laura Loomer ordered Trump to gut the senior ranks of our national security apparatus, and he did it! -- She lives in the dark underbelly of the internet, famous for Putin’s trolls driving narratives, and she apparently took some of those perspectives to Trump this week and suggested he fire a number of senior security officials. It’s not a stretch to think that maybe she got the idea from Putin’s trolls, who convinced her these people weren’t sufficiently loyal to Trump. Which raises the question: What’s the basis of her hold on Trump? Remember when, during the campaign and Melania refused to travel with Trump, Loomer was accompanying him on his big jet with its huge kingsized bed? Or does she know something the rest of us don’t? This apparently required him overriding his new Putin-friendly Director of National Security, which makes it all the more astonishing.
The Schnauzer sez: Hartmann seems to be suggesting there is more to the Trump-Loomer relationship than meets the eye, taking pains to note that Loomer accompanied the president on an aircraft with a "huge kingsized bed" -- all while Melania was absent. Our guy Thom is not being terribly subtle here. I suspect he thinks Loomer might have information she could hold over Trump's head, perhaps causing him to give her free rein to lop off heads belonging to folks in powerful positions. Hmmm . . . what could Loomer know that the rest of us don't? Someone in the day-to-day White House press corps needs to jump on this story. Did Trump recklessly put himself in a position where he could be blackmailed. If so, the public needs to know about that pronto.
(5) Gilded Age Alert! Trump wrecked the economy with his trade wars — then went golfing while America burned and our dead soldiers were returned! --
Four American soldiers died during training exercises in Lithuania; when their bodies were transported through the streets of the capitol city, Vilnius, thousands of Lithuanians and much of their country's military turned out to line the streets to pay tribute to them. But Trump couldn’t be bothered to meet their arrival at Dover Air Force Base; instead he chose to attend the LIV golf tournament that Saudi Arabia is apparently paying him tens or hundreds of millions of dollars to promote at his Doral course. Nero had nothing on this guy. And what about that little line in the US Constitution that says: “[N]o Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [this Constitution], shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.” Again, he’s committing naked crimes right in front of G-d and the entire world. Will Congress ever wake the hell up?
The Schnauzer sez -- Trump long has shown nauseating disrespect for members of the military, calling them "suckers and losers" and even stating that one military commander should be executed. The most galling part of this shameful display is that Trump would skip his duty to accept the bodies of fallen soldiers in favor of cavorting on a golf course with representatives of Saudi Arabia, a kingdom that is both murderous and insanely wealthy.
The LIV Golf Tour is directly tied to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (MBS). A 2021 report by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) found that Mohammed had ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Khashoggi reportedly was tortured, beheaded, and dismemebered, apparently because he was part of a group of journalists that TIME magazine called "The Guardians." That is the kind of barbaric "leadership" with whom Trump has aligned himself, apparently enriching himself by millions of dollars, in brazen violation of the U.S. Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which was the driver of multiple lawsuits against Trump during his first term. As Hartmann notes, Trump is making little attempt to hide that he is committing "naked crimes." Who knows what kind of illicit acts -- naked or otherwise -- he is committing with Laura Loomer.
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