The blatant hypocrisy, corruption and illegality emanating from the executive branch calls into question the received wisdom by which most of us were raised. The notion that working hard and playing by the rules was a lie from the beginning is now the crux upon which all else will be measured. It's mind boggling and extremely disorienting. I am struggling to hold onto values I have held my entire life. Being lied to is my number one line in the sand over which no person or entity may cross.
Easy. Who controls the vast majority of ways to get said message out? Let's go back to the article and look at the names of people benefiting from this corruption. These names own the means of sending messages. Social Media & corporate media are owned by these oligarchs. And sadly, many of the Democrats are belly deep in the money trough as well, so they don't want to bite the hand that feeds them either.
Honestly, the message is out. MAGA doesn't want to hear it or believe it. There are SoMe entities with 4M-5M followers who I saw this past week who are praising trump for giving up his fortune to serve the country. The comment sections are piling on hearts and prayers.
While shocking, this list is so vast, and the numbers so large, that it's hard for many people to grasp. I think it's essential for Democrats to explicitly tie the grift to specific hardships of ordinary people. For example, the $16M for the reflecting pool was not used to pay for health insurance subsidies. You have to bring to "back to earth" for it to get the attention it deserves. The money loaned/given to Trump and his Cabinet's kids was not spent for SNAP benefits.
But he did build some fablous castles that are great tourist attractions for Germany. Old Ludwig doesn't hold a candle to Trump in the corruption category, but least he is openly acknowledged to have been mad (and I don't mean angry).
Mad is an ancient term for psychotic. Like Trump, Ludwig focused on royal buildings and monuments, not governing. Like in the case of Trump, he was allowed to stay in power way too long, emptying the treasury.
Our national debt just set a new record high. Aircraft are again whacking into one another. Inflation has doubled the cost of most consumables. Measles has returned to child epidemic levels. Health research today is at levels 25 years ago. Science and Christian morality has been replaced by fascist eugenic and ethnographic philosophies when it comes to guiding national policies. There are fewer women in the workforce today than the last time Trump ruled. Our military has been castrated by removing all competent generals and admirals and replacing them with white male toadies. We could not fend off an invasion of our homeland, much less Taiwan, without turning to nuclear weapons because Hegseth shot off all our ammo at a country that presented zero threat to the USA.
Alas, history has not even looked at how the peasants of that era lived. The history I could find was rather sketchy. Monarchs of that era did not seem to care much about non-royals. I have been to Linderhof twice in 40-some years. When you enter each room it is like touring the brain of a lunatic.
Tale as old as time. Linderhof may be my favorite of his creations. Definitely a brain most of us can't relate to. And here we are. But today's madman also has a taste for the garish.
We need to spell it out loud and often. Specifics about the level of spending on what. Contrast with cuts to healthcare, education, research. Get specific about the damage done by doge and the awfulness of gutting USAID. We were at one time respected around the world and now we are the pariah. We have concentration camps. It makes me sick to write this. We have Todd Blanche rammed up our collective ass by the cowards in Congress.
Midterms- get out and VOTE. I'm hanging a lot on the midterms. I think things will get ugly fast and it's going to be a long hard winter.
It took a great deal of stamina for me to read this entire post. The level of corruption, graft, greed and the out and out theft of the American people's hard earned tax dollars to enrich these modern day robber barons and to fund the outrageous and gawdy vanity projects designed to glorify their Dear Leader (read: POS POTUS) should enrage all of us, regardless of political persuasion.
Of course, I realize that there are millions who have consumed lethal gallons of the poisoned Kool Aid who are hopelessly brainwashed and will never see the light. However, there appear to be signs that some MAGAts, especially those at the lower end of the income scale, are beginning to have voter's remorse for the colossal mistake they made by unleashing the sociopathic monster and his minions upon all of us. A plague on all their houses for doing so.
I know it may sound melodramatic, but it seems to me that the only hope for our country to avoid going further down the road of destruction that resulted in the fall of history's numerous nations and empires is for the Dems to flip Congress (preferable both houses) so that the long and arduous task of ridding our nation of the corrupting "pay to play" schemes can begin. Let us hope that the ideals set forth at the end of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address will come to pass: that government of, by and for the people shall not perish from the earth.
You aren’t being melodramatic at all. Taking control of both houses of Congress is the first thing Democrats must do but it isn’t the only thing. They must have the actual guts to do what is needed to restore our democracy and its institutions.
This confirms what I've believed since Felon47 first hit that escalator - he views the entire American treasury as HIS personal bank account. As his mental capacity, limited to start with, declines he finds more and more whack-a-doodle distracting things he wants. These are things HE would NEVER pay for with his personal funds, but in his insanity he decides WE THE PEOPLE will just subsidize whatever crazy thing he wants. The fact that he dares to speak of saving money, through DOGE destruction of our government agencies and all the other things he tries to cut, including eliminating programs that feed children and supply healthcare, while he and his sons and creepy friends like Muskrat are filling their personal coffers with OUR TAX DOLLARS - this is theft, pure and simple.
THE PRESIDENT et al ARE BLATANTLY STEALING FROM EVERY AMERICAN EVERY FREAKING DAY!
Thank you for the detailed reporting on Trump's corruption enterprise. This is absolutely critical as part of the public record. As others have noted, the corruption is so flagrant and massive that it's almost hard to conceive of, but we cannot turn away and can never accept this as normal behavior. Trump has interpreted the lack of accountability to mean "he's allowed to" do whatever he wants. We have to maintain our resolve to show him that's not the case. To borrow from Joyce White Vance: We're in this together.
I agree with Alex Padilla. But we can’t wait until 2027. We must act now! Democrats must make Trump’s corruption and the complicity of Republicans and Congress the center of their campaign platforms! Democrats must win both houses of Congress in a landslide.
It genuinely does not appear that MAGA, from the bottom to the highest, cares that Trump is a lying, corrupt con-man. It most likely validates themselves to be the same.
Food prices have increased. Gasoline prices have increased. Health insurance costs have increased. On top of that, we are being forced to fund Trump's moneymaking and that of his family and oligarch friends AND his vanity projects. Make the connection: It's not just Trump but a Republican controlled Congress that enables him. Get that message out. Unless Democrats take the House and Senate, it will continue.
The blatant hypocrisy, corruption and illegality emanating from the executive branch calls into question the received wisdom by which most of us were raised. The notion that working hard and playing by the rules was a lie from the beginning is now the crux upon which all else will be measured. It's mind boggling and extremely disorienting. I am struggling to hold onto values I have held my entire life. Being lied to is my number one line in the sand over which no person or entity may cross.
WHY is it so hard for Democrats to get the message across?
Easy. Who controls the vast majority of ways to get said message out? Let's go back to the article and look at the names of people benefiting from this corruption. These names own the means of sending messages. Social Media & corporate media are owned by these oligarchs. And sadly, many of the Democrats are belly deep in the money trough as well, so they don't want to bite the hand that feeds them either.
Honestly, the message is out. MAGA doesn't want to hear it or believe it. There are SoMe entities with 4M-5M followers who I saw this past week who are praising trump for giving up his fortune to serve the country. The comment sections are piling on hearts and prayers.
#1, they are poor at messaging and can’t do it in small concise bites and #2, the media works against democrats.
While shocking, this list is so vast, and the numbers so large, that it's hard for many people to grasp. I think it's essential for Democrats to explicitly tie the grift to specific hardships of ordinary people. For example, the $16M for the reflecting pool was not used to pay for health insurance subsidies. You have to bring to "back to earth" for it to get the attention it deserves. The money loaned/given to Trump and his Cabinet's kids was not spent for SNAP benefits.
Trump and company's immigration policy is costing over $2000 per American.
Yes, history repeats. Read about Bavarian King Ludwig II [https://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/ludwig/biography.htm].
--------------
He was deposed and murdered for doing exactly what Trump is doing - wasting national wealth on gilding palaces and building castles nobody needs [https://www.dw.com/overlay/media/en/king-ludwig-ii-of-bavaria-and-his-castles/18669012/18669085].
But he did build some fablous castles that are great tourist attractions for Germany. Old Ludwig doesn't hold a candle to Trump in the corruption category, but least he is openly acknowledged to have been mad (and I don't mean angry).
Mad is an ancient term for psychotic. Like Trump, Ludwig focused on royal buildings and monuments, not governing. Like in the case of Trump, he was allowed to stay in power way too long, emptying the treasury.
Our national debt just set a new record high. Aircraft are again whacking into one another. Inflation has doubled the cost of most consumables. Measles has returned to child epidemic levels. Health research today is at levels 25 years ago. Science and Christian morality has been replaced by fascist eugenic and ethnographic philosophies when it comes to guiding national policies. There are fewer women in the workforce today than the last time Trump ruled. Our military has been castrated by removing all competent generals and admirals and replacing them with white male toadies. We could not fend off an invasion of our homeland, much less Taiwan, without turning to nuclear weapons because Hegseth shot off all our ammo at a country that presented zero threat to the USA.
The list of damage from Trump, as you've noted well, is a bit more extensive than the [other] Mad King's bankrupting obsession.
Alas, history has not even looked at how the peasants of that era lived. The history I could find was rather sketchy. Monarchs of that era did not seem to care much about non-royals. I have been to Linderhof twice in 40-some years. When you enter each room it is like touring the brain of a lunatic.
Tale as old as time. Linderhof may be my favorite of his creations. Definitely a brain most of us can't relate to. And here we are. But today's madman also has a taste for the garish.
We need to spell it out loud and often. Specifics about the level of spending on what. Contrast with cuts to healthcare, education, research. Get specific about the damage done by doge and the awfulness of gutting USAID. We were at one time respected around the world and now we are the pariah. We have concentration camps. It makes me sick to write this. We have Todd Blanche rammed up our collective ass by the cowards in Congress.
Midterms- get out and VOTE. I'm hanging a lot on the midterms. I think things will get ugly fast and it's going to be a long hard winter.
It took a great deal of stamina for me to read this entire post. The level of corruption, graft, greed and the out and out theft of the American people's hard earned tax dollars to enrich these modern day robber barons and to fund the outrageous and gawdy vanity projects designed to glorify their Dear Leader (read: POS POTUS) should enrage all of us, regardless of political persuasion.
Of course, I realize that there are millions who have consumed lethal gallons of the poisoned Kool Aid who are hopelessly brainwashed and will never see the light. However, there appear to be signs that some MAGAts, especially those at the lower end of the income scale, are beginning to have voter's remorse for the colossal mistake they made by unleashing the sociopathic monster and his minions upon all of us. A plague on all their houses for doing so.
I know it may sound melodramatic, but it seems to me that the only hope for our country to avoid going further down the road of destruction that resulted in the fall of history's numerous nations and empires is for the Dems to flip Congress (preferable both houses) so that the long and arduous task of ridding our nation of the corrupting "pay to play" schemes can begin. Let us hope that the ideals set forth at the end of Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address will come to pass: that government of, by and for the people shall not perish from the earth.
You have more stamina than I do. I couldn't make it through, I found it so disgusting.
I almost gave up but held my nose and kept going.
Me, too.
You aren’t being melodramatic at all. Taking control of both houses of Congress is the first thing Democrats must do but it isn’t the only thing. They must have the actual guts to do what is needed to restore our democracy and its institutions.
JFC. We've found the waste, fraud and abuse and it's coming from inside the house.
This confirms what I've believed since Felon47 first hit that escalator - he views the entire American treasury as HIS personal bank account. As his mental capacity, limited to start with, declines he finds more and more whack-a-doodle distracting things he wants. These are things HE would NEVER pay for with his personal funds, but in his insanity he decides WE THE PEOPLE will just subsidize whatever crazy thing he wants. The fact that he dares to speak of saving money, through DOGE destruction of our government agencies and all the other things he tries to cut, including eliminating programs that feed children and supply healthcare, while he and his sons and creepy friends like Muskrat are filling their personal coffers with OUR TAX DOLLARS - this is theft, pure and simple.
THE PRESIDENT et al ARE BLATANTLY STEALING FROM EVERY AMERICAN EVERY FREAKING DAY!
Thank you for the detailed reporting on Trump's corruption enterprise. This is absolutely critical as part of the public record. As others have noted, the corruption is so flagrant and massive that it's almost hard to conceive of, but we cannot turn away and can never accept this as normal behavior. Trump has interpreted the lack of accountability to mean "he's allowed to" do whatever he wants. We have to maintain our resolve to show him that's not the case. To borrow from Joyce White Vance: We're in this together.
I agree with Alex Padilla. But we can’t wait until 2027. We must act now! Democrats must make Trump’s corruption and the complicity of Republicans and Congress the center of their campaign platforms! Democrats must win both houses of Congress in a landslide.
Yes. Trump's corruption continues because a Republican Congress allows it.
It genuinely does not appear that MAGA, from the bottom to the highest, cares that Trump is a lying, corrupt con-man. It most likely validates themselves to be the same.
Food prices have increased. Gasoline prices have increased. Health insurance costs have increased. On top of that, we are being forced to fund Trump's moneymaking and that of his family and oligarch friends AND his vanity projects. Make the connection: It's not just Trump but a Republican controlled Congress that enables him. Get that message out. Unless Democrats take the House and Senate, it will continue.