Thank you, Ms. Needham. Well said. If everything is national security or an emergency, then nothing is. Hopefully the greatest con man in world history is facing his Waterloo - voluntarily or involuntarily. It would be wonderful if the majority party in Congress had even an iota of the moral courage of our Founders.
Please permit just one semantic complaint. A paragraph near the end of this excellent piece blames "the conservatives running both of those branches," i.e., the legislature and the Supreme Court, for what is going on.
True conservatism calls for preservation of what is good, and caution about untested change.
However: the passive Republican legislators are facilitating America's decent into autocracy, while an activist Supreme Court accelerates the process. This is not conservatism: it is treason.
The next supreme Court ruling will say "a president (meaning trump) cannot lie." That is, everything he says must be true, because he is president. Anyone contradicting him is a traitor to... national security.
We gave the keys to the kingdom to a mental midget moron with severe impulse control issues. I hope I live long enough to see that dude behind bars being someone’s bi**h.😡. You know he’s all over the Epstein files for a reason.
When Trump and his regime refer to America’s “national security,” they are not talking about security against authoritarian regimes that eschew democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. Their view of “national security” is security against forces — both inside America as well as abroad — that advocate democracy, the rule of law, and human rights (which they describe derisively as “woke” or “diversity, equity, and inclusion”) rather than white male Christian nationalism. -- Robert Reich
My concern is that even if there were a blue wave, how would they govern when the Supreme Court which apparently has zero checks and balances will overrule everything that real democrats accomplish? It seems to me that removing the corrupt justices will need to be high on the agenda or nothing will be able to be done. Also, a system of checks and balances for the SCOTUS needs to be implemented. As an old person, I can't see this happening in my lifetime, I'm afraid.
With supermajorities in Congress, Democrats can impeach Supreme Court justices for misfeasance or malfeasance. They can also increase the size of the Supreme Court and, with a Democratic next president, dilute the power of the conservatives already on the Court.
This is why we need to work to restore the will of the people over our representative government. 2026 is vital. So is 2028.
Wasn’t the bunker underneath the East Wing? So did they destroy the bunker where the pres would go in case of a BLM protest and that’s the security issue they’re concerned with.
"they just told the world that the president and his family are not currently adequately secure and will only become so when a private contractor finishes some tasks."
How much time does the president and his family spend in the currently demolished East Wing? How does the East Wing project affect security in the West Wing and the residence?
It’s all about the ego trip of our whacko president having to be protected by Secret Service. And if it’s a secret service then it’s really none of our business? Spoiler alert: It is our business and further lying about questionable actions should fall flat on its face. I say “should”.
Thank you, Ms. Needham. Well said. If everything is national security or an emergency, then nothing is. Hopefully the greatest con man in world history is facing his Waterloo - voluntarily or involuntarily. It would be wonderful if the majority party in Congress had even an iota of the moral courage of our Founders.
Excellent points about “National Security “. Didn’t they think about this first before they suddenly tore down the East Wing? Silly question.
Please permit just one semantic complaint. A paragraph near the end of this excellent piece blames "the conservatives running both of those branches," i.e., the legislature and the Supreme Court, for what is going on.
True conservatism calls for preservation of what is good, and caution about untested change.
However: the passive Republican legislators are facilitating America's decent into autocracy, while an activist Supreme Court accelerates the process. This is not conservatism: it is treason.
The next supreme Court ruling will say "a president (meaning trump) cannot lie." That is, everything he says must be true, because he is president. Anyone contradicting him is a traitor to... national security.
We gave the keys to the kingdom to a mental midget moron with severe impulse control issues. I hope I live long enough to see that dude behind bars being someone’s bi**h.😡. You know he’s all over the Epstein files for a reason.
When Trump and his regime refer to America’s “national security,” they are not talking about security against authoritarian regimes that eschew democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. Their view of “national security” is security against forces — both inside America as well as abroad — that advocate democracy, the rule of law, and human rights (which they describe derisively as “woke” or “diversity, equity, and inclusion”) rather than white male Christian nationalism. -- Robert Reich
The "conservatives" running things have NOT "just given up". They're fully on board. They were recruited specifically to be fully on board.
My concern is that even if there were a blue wave, how would they govern when the Supreme Court which apparently has zero checks and balances will overrule everything that real democrats accomplish? It seems to me that removing the corrupt justices will need to be high on the agenda or nothing will be able to be done. Also, a system of checks and balances for the SCOTUS needs to be implemented. As an old person, I can't see this happening in my lifetime, I'm afraid.
With supermajorities in Congress, Democrats can impeach Supreme Court justices for misfeasance or malfeasance. They can also increase the size of the Supreme Court and, with a Democratic next president, dilute the power of the conservatives already on the Court.
This is why we need to work to restore the will of the people over our representative government. 2026 is vital. So is 2028.
Besides, who really needs legal reasoning or justification? “Cuz I say so,” is good enough for me!
Wasn’t the bunker underneath the East Wing? So did they destroy the bunker where the pres would go in case of a BLM protest and that’s the security issue they’re concerned with.
"they just told the world that the president and his family are not currently adequately secure and will only become so when a private contractor finishes some tasks."
How much time does the president and his family spend in the currently demolished East Wing? How does the East Wing project affect security in the West Wing and the residence?
It’s all about the ego trip of our whacko president having to be protected by Secret Service. And if it’s a secret service then it’s really none of our business? Spoiler alert: It is our business and further lying about questionable actions should fall flat on its face. I say “should”.
Hey, it’s in the Declaration of Independence! “We, the People, gotta dance.”