Thanks for the reference to Ozymandius. I suggested it during the period of time when he was demolishing the East Wing of the WH. I couldn’t remember all of it, because I graduated from HS (where I had to memorize it) 67 years ago. I’ll screenshot it, so I don’t have to look it up again.
To ensure 'never again' means not only building MUCH better guard rails, but also taking money out of politics and teaching our young 'critical thinking skills' among other life survival thinking skills that would have protected too many from falling into habits of hatred and cult membership.
We have some guardrails now, such as the law that was broken when Trump's name was added to the Kennedy Center. It's just that an entire political party has prostrated itself to the Dear Leader and has no desire to actually put the guardrails into practice.
Exactly. We need guard rails that do not rely on the presumption that Republicans (for instance) will act honorably, and in the face of fear uphold their oath to the constitution. When the 14th amendment (section 3) was passed, I am sure no one assumed that a president would lead an insurrection then get re-elected, and PARDON all those involved in the insurrection and no one would enforce the clear intent of the constitution. I am sure when they set up the judiciary, with the requirement of staying on "Good Behaviour", they did not anticipate open corruption of the Justices would be allowed to continue. I am sure they did not anticipate an entire administration would be corrupted from the top, by all the leaders in each department, to openly disobey the laws as passed by congress and signed by a president. The idea of a president breaking a treaty he himself 'negotiated' and signed, without any new actions by the other side presented as evidence or reason... The idea that Congress (led by one party) would openly give up it's powers to the executive branch by not opposing the blatant takeover of all the prerogatives of congress, all of their powers. We need more effective guardrails, including a citizenry trained in critical thinking and taught about cults and how to protect themselves from being inducted into one. A guardrail on our news media, including 'Discussions' and Entertainment to ensure they report facts, not lies on whatever platform they communicate. A guardrail on our media that removes ownership by an individual, ensuring they are owned publicly with a low limit on how much any one person can own, and how those shares are sold. A guardrail on our courts that denies the ability to forever delay trials, to deny justice. A guardrail that removes money from politics, finally and really, specifically removing the concept that people with money have MORE speech rights than anyone else.
Lots else, but that is a start. We have a LOT of work ahead of us.
Couldn’t agree more - but we need to build one item to go along with what is being torn down - wherever an item is torn down, where appropriate, there needs to be a marker listing all the grifters and oligarchs that supported the creation of these monstrosities. In addition , there needs to be a tax levied on these individuals to pay for the removal/demolition costs.
Among other things on the to-do list is to restructure SCOTUS to both remove those clearly corrupt, but also to remove politics completely from our Judicial branch.
Please note the "Good behaviour" clause in the constitution. Search for it, and look at what was immediately before it and why the impeachment process does not apply.
“When we neither punish nor reproach evildoers, we are not simply protecting their trivial old age, we are thereby ripping the foundations of justice from beneath new generations.”
amen, Paul, you're playing my song—eradicate everything he is doing now to mark the territory with his foul branding. because that's what this is: him trying to hijack our attention even after he's gone. and every single one of these appropriations must be undone as soon as we assume power. we gotta have that symbolic reclaiming of America as ours, not his. no dear leader's name or image to remind us of the degradation he's now imposing on us. it will reassure the country that there is a future without him so we can devote our resources to the daunting task of restoration.
“Two bit grifter” says it all. He wants to create a legacy to enjoy while alive, to enhance his pomposity. Not to mention filling his pockets and coffers at the expense of our citizens and profiting himself and his family. Sick.
Please write the full name, "The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy MEMORIAL Center for the Performing Arts" [CAPS mine for emphasis]. A memorial to yourself? Before passing?
I want to believe those elected officials will have the courage, even with the power, to completely wipe Trumpism away. We need to elect those willing to do this.
Trump steaks. Trump sneakers. Trump casinos. Trump university. Trump watches. Trump bibles. Oh, where are they now? Nothing this man "builds" (i use the term loosely) endures. So it has been, so it shall always be. From our keyboards to God's ears.
The teardown of Trump Tat will be swift and complete. Every public thing that bears the treacherous touch of the tiny orange paw will be restored. I would like Trump to be alive to see it. To see that, and the dancing in the streets when he leaves the White House forever.
If only he could also be erased from my memory completely. This was a great read! You stated so eloquently what my husband & I discuss daily. I can't wait to see his power removed, & see real leadership again. Yes, definitely make the erasure public. I'd pay good money to take a pick axe to his ugly name.
I agree with this--tear it all down. But until then and in the meantime. I think we SHOULD add Trump's name to the Supreme Court and Congress. Call it Trump Court--because that's what it is. Ditto for Trump Congress. ICE officers should wear uniforms announcing they are Trump ICE. Let's not pretend that any of these government institutions are legitimate. And why stop with government buildings? The Washington Post could be called the Trump Washington Post. Ditto for Trump CBS. Etc.
Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1818)
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away
Sounds like very good reason to make sure that's not how our story ends.
Thanks for the reference to Ozymandius. I suggested it during the period of time when he was demolishing the East Wing of the WH. I couldn’t remember all of it, because I graduated from HS (where I had to memorize it) 67 years ago. I’ll screenshot it, so I don’t have to look it up again.
My favorite poem. I memorized it when I was 12. It is especially timely now.
Wonderful
Plus ca change...
I do know better, but I do have to say that Ozymandius sounds like a weight-loss drug like Ozempic or Wegovy.
Definitely we will need to make the teardown loud, broadcast everywhere, and memorialized.
Then we move on. We have rebuilding to accomplish.
Put this awful man in history where he belongs.
Never again.
To ensure 'never again' means not only building MUCH better guard rails, but also taking money out of politics and teaching our young 'critical thinking skills' among other life survival thinking skills that would have protected too many from falling into habits of hatred and cult membership.
We have some guardrails now, such as the law that was broken when Trump's name was added to the Kennedy Center. It's just that an entire political party has prostrated itself to the Dear Leader and has no desire to actually put the guardrails into practice.
Exactly. We need guard rails that do not rely on the presumption that Republicans (for instance) will act honorably, and in the face of fear uphold their oath to the constitution. When the 14th amendment (section 3) was passed, I am sure no one assumed that a president would lead an insurrection then get re-elected, and PARDON all those involved in the insurrection and no one would enforce the clear intent of the constitution. I am sure when they set up the judiciary, with the requirement of staying on "Good Behaviour", they did not anticipate open corruption of the Justices would be allowed to continue. I am sure they did not anticipate an entire administration would be corrupted from the top, by all the leaders in each department, to openly disobey the laws as passed by congress and signed by a president. The idea of a president breaking a treaty he himself 'negotiated' and signed, without any new actions by the other side presented as evidence or reason... The idea that Congress (led by one party) would openly give up it's powers to the executive branch by not opposing the blatant takeover of all the prerogatives of congress, all of their powers. We need more effective guardrails, including a citizenry trained in critical thinking and taught about cults and how to protect themselves from being inducted into one. A guardrail on our news media, including 'Discussions' and Entertainment to ensure they report facts, not lies on whatever platform they communicate. A guardrail on our media that removes ownership by an individual, ensuring they are owned publicly with a low limit on how much any one person can own, and how those shares are sold. A guardrail on our courts that denies the ability to forever delay trials, to deny justice. A guardrail that removes money from politics, finally and really, specifically removing the concept that people with money have MORE speech rights than anyone else.
Lots else, but that is a start. We have a LOT of work ahead of us.
The only thing that should be named after him is the law enacted to keep him and others like him from ever doing this to our country again.
Couldn’t agree more - but we need to build one item to go along with what is being torn down - wherever an item is torn down, where appropriate, there needs to be a marker listing all the grifters and oligarchs that supported the creation of these monstrosities. In addition , there needs to be a tax levied on these individuals to pay for the removal/demolition costs.
Yes -- a Wall of Shame.
Yes, this, too!!!
So that Trump can take it to the Supreme Court and get it stricken down?
Among other things on the to-do list is to restructure SCOTUS to both remove those clearly corrupt, but also to remove politics completely from our Judicial branch.
Please note the "Good behaviour" clause in the constitution. Search for it, and look at what was immediately before it and why the impeachment process does not apply.
“When we neither punish nor reproach evildoers, we are not simply protecting their trivial old age, we are thereby ripping the foundations of justice from beneath new generations.”
― Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn
amen, Paul, you're playing my song—eradicate everything he is doing now to mark the territory with his foul branding. because that's what this is: him trying to hijack our attention even after he's gone. and every single one of these appropriations must be undone as soon as we assume power. we gotta have that symbolic reclaiming of America as ours, not his. no dear leader's name or image to remind us of the degradation he's now imposing on us. it will reassure the country that there is a future without him so we can devote our resources to the daunting task of restoration.
Well done! Something to hold fast too, he’ll be gone…along with all the rest of his sycophantic subhumans
“Two bit grifter” says it all. He wants to create a legacy to enjoy while alive, to enhance his pomposity. Not to mention filling his pockets and coffers at the expense of our citizens and profiting himself and his family. Sick.
If he's only a two-bit grifter, why can't we get rid of him?
Bravo, Paul Waldman! Bravo!
Please write the full name, "The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy MEMORIAL Center for the Performing Arts" [CAPS mine for emphasis]. A memorial to yourself? Before passing?
I want to believe those elected officials will have the courage, even with the power, to completely wipe Trumpism away. We need to elect those willing to do this.
Trump steaks. Trump sneakers. Trump casinos. Trump university. Trump watches. Trump bibles. Oh, where are they now? Nothing this man "builds" (i use the term loosely) endures. So it has been, so it shall always be. From our keyboards to God's ears.
The teardown of Trump Tat will be swift and complete. Every public thing that bears the treacherous touch of the tiny orange paw will be restored. I would like Trump to be alive to see it. To see that, and the dancing in the streets when he leaves the White House forever.
Yeech to Trump Monuments!
If only he could also be erased from my memory completely. This was a great read! You stated so eloquently what my husband & I discuss daily. I can't wait to see his power removed, & see real leadership again. Yes, definitely make the erasure public. I'd pay good money to take a pick axe to his ugly name.
I agree with this--tear it all down. But until then and in the meantime. I think we SHOULD add Trump's name to the Supreme Court and Congress. Call it Trump Court--because that's what it is. Ditto for Trump Congress. ICE officers should wear uniforms announcing they are Trump ICE. Let's not pretend that any of these government institutions are legitimate. And why stop with government buildings? The Washington Post could be called the Trump Washington Post. Ditto for Trump CBS. Etc.