So Huntsville, Alabama, we love Alabama. I only won it by about 47 points. [Aside to Pete Hegseth: I don't think that influenced my decision, though, right? That didn't, right?] I will say I want to thank Colorado. The problem I have with Colorado,, one of the big problems, they do mail-in voting. They went to all mail-in voting. So they have automatically crooked elections. We can't have that, when a state is for mail-in voting that means they want dishonest elections because that's what that means, so that played a big, uh, factor also.
Trump draws criticism for amplifying his power by grabbing powers that belong to Congress, the courts, or independent agencies. Trump's strategy is generally working because Congress is so timid in defending its prerogatives and because the U.S. Supreme Court majority wants to bend in Trump's direction whenever it can.
Trump has a second way to expand his influence: quid pro quo. Be nice to Trump and he will be nice to you. Displease Trump and he will use the power of the federal government to make you regret it.
Trump takes the heat for defending his friends. He pardoned the January 6 rioters, including ones convicted of assaulting police officers. He rewarded RFK Jr. with the Cabinet office he promised him. He gave Elon Musk giant power to fire federal employees. He moved Ghislaine Maxwell to a minimum security facility.
He openly connects two unrelated issues in demonstrating his quid pro quo dealmaking. We have a positive trade balance with Brazil, but Trump put a 50 percent tariff on imports from Brazil. Why? Because Brazil is prosecuting a former president who -- like Trump -- defied the Brazilian election in order to retain office. Trump said aloud exactly why he imposed that punitive tariff.
Trump is using leverage here with states that use a vote-by-mail system. Trump has decided that vote-by-mail promotes fraud. He blames it for his 2020 loss. Although vote-by-mail had been a longstanding and successful practice for turning out Republican votes, especially in Florida, where Trump himself voted by mail, beginning in the run-up to the 2020 election Trump urged Republicans to vote in person while Democrats urged voters to vote using the mail. It became a partisan issue.
Trump dangles this incentive and punishment in front of the nation. Colorado lost the Space Command because of how it runs its elections. At least in part. Or at least Trump claims that. It's a threat and warning. Other states see it, and calibrate their decisions. Can one dare disappoint Trump? What is at risk? What is the potential cost?
Officeholders across the nation watch Maryland's governor say he doesn't want federal troops in Baltimore. Trump says he will withhold the appropriated federal money to repair the damaged Francis Scott Key bridge. Funding of the bridge may be tied up in lawsuits for years.
A prudent person does not go looking for trouble. If there is a snarling dog on the sidewalk, tugging at its leash, one can decide either to stand by one's right and walk on the sidewalk in range of the dog, or to give it wide berth. Why make trouble? Give it wide berth.
Timothy Snyder, the historian of autocracy in Eastern Europe, warns that this is the mechanism by which autocrats gain power. The guardrails of constitutional democracies turn out to be soft because standing up to pressure is so costly. Be prudent. Don't anger the leader. Don't exercise one's rights. People obey in advance -- and in doing so, the democracy disappears.
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4 comments:
The opposition to Trump has certainly not yet found a way to fight back. Going to court is ineffective, because Trump does what he pleases regardless of court opinions. Appealing to his followers with logic and constitutional principles and budget authorizations simply does not compute. Does not reach them, even if they stand to lose their own job if work on the Scott Key Bridge comes to a halt.
I suggest the Governor of Maryland execute a condemnation by eminent domain of the headquarters of the Dept of Energy, located in Germantown, MD. The building must be turned over to the state govt so it can be sold at auction, funds to be used immediately to replace the federal funding due for the Scott Key Bridge. The governor should ignore any court orders and simply repeat that the sheriffs will be dispatched 30 days from the announcement to evict DOE employees from the property. Time is of the essence to keep the repair on pace.
If Trump doesn't send the money, then send the sheriffs to take the building. Gotta be willing to follow through on the plan, to show Trump you really mean business.
That liberal dyke bitch Tina Kotek is owned by the teachers and SEIU unions. Why don't you write about that, ASSHOLE?
The comment above is written anonymously, but the content and tone is characteristic of comments by Curt Ankerberg, a Medford, Oregon Republican. People who ask why I do not publish more negative pro-Trump comments need only read this comment, which I presume to be from that Republican. Those are not useful commentary. I consider them to reflect primarily on MAGA. Trump has empowerd this kind of vitriol, but Trump himself is more subtle than this. Curt Ankerberg runs for local offices but does not win, although he came very close in a Republican primary when he ran against a very reasonable female businesswoman. At this point Ankerberg is still a minority in the local GOP, I suspect, but he has not stood for election in a primary for a decade. The local GOP may have caught up with him, although I think his crudeness -- if not his policy choices -- are still outside the boundaries of a majority of local Republican voters.
Trump and his cronies are using the spoils system to solidify power, ala Putin. It will cost millions if not billions of taxpayer dollars to do this move, for no reason other than Colorado is too liberal. FYI, The Space Force has a budget of $40 Billion as part of the $200 billion of the Air Force and also has bases in California and Florida. MEANWHILE THE WHITE HOUSE SENT OUT A THREAT TO ANY REPUBLICAN WHO WOULD SIGN THE EPSTEIN DISCHARGE PETITION AND REPS BACKED OFF, MAKING THE WHOLE THING AN EXERCISE IN FUTILITY. WHATEVER IS IN THOSE FILES MUST BE TERRIBLE AND NOW EVERY REPUBLICAN IN CONGRESS IS COMPLICIT. THE VICTIMS ARE BANDING TOGETHER AND CREATING THEIR OWN "LIST". THIS IS NOT GOING AWAY.
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