Basket of Betrayals May Day Rally

Here are the signs we’ll be taking. Actually one sign with two sides. First side same as last protest and second side suggested by Dan. 

 

Wordless Wednesday - Colors of Spring

 

How Things Stand Now

Trump is worse off than he was 100 days ago

The battle for democracy, however, is not yet won.

JENNIFER RUBIN APR 28

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“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. 
But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” 

– Winston Churchill, 1942

We therefore cannot tell if the last week or so leading up to the 100-day mark of Donald Trump’s assault on democracy, decency, and truth has definitively shifted momentum toward the pro-democracy movement or just temporarily sidetracked Trump’s march to autocracy. If and only if pro-democracy forces draw the right lessons, cement their alliances, and pursue their MAGA assailants relentlessly will recent events come to be recognized as the end of the beginning of the fight to preserve the American experiment.

Multiple data points from just the last fortnight suggest Trump’s presidency is in disarray:

• Trump has racked up a raft of legal defeats (on sanctuary cities, DEI in all educational institutions, displacement of states’ principal role in election administration, and deportation of immigrants without due process) in court, as federal court judges in multiple cases and jurisdictions enjoined his unconstitutional power grabs. A few judges in separate immigration cases suggested the government might be held in contempt; a court ordered the government to return an illegally deported immigrant; and the U.S. Supreme Court insisted deportees receive due process. The administration’s unconscionable deportation of children who are U.S. citizens should (and will) cement widespread outrage over its actions.

• “Voters believe President Trump is overreaching with his aggressive efforts to expand executive power, and they have deep doubts about some of the signature pieces of his agenda,” the New York Times/Siena College poll found. Multiple surveys showed Trump’s poll numbers are in free fall, plummeting to below 40 percent, while significant aspects of his agenda (e.g., deporting immigrants without due process, eliminating the Education Department, defying court orders, or unleashing his puppeteer Elon Musk to maul the government) proved to be toxic.

• Trump’s miserable economic performance, tariffs in particular (but also consumer confidence and debt accumulation), have drawn bipartisan scorn. Trump’s erratic moves seem very likely to plunge the country into a recession. The Wall Street Journal reports: “The CEOs of American Airlines, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and many other major U.S. companies warned that shape-shifting tariff threats make it virtually impossible to plan and are spooking consumers.”

• Trump’s unqualified and/or ethically challenged toadies (e.g., Steve Witkoff, Pete Hegseth, Howard Lutnick) revealed MAGA’s phony meritocracy is no more than a gaggle of ignorant, reckless, and ham-handed incompetents. The white boys club makes a mockery of the regime’s assault on DEI, which most white Christian nationalists claim hinders a merit-based society.

• Key parts of the MAGA agenda have sputtered. Trump’s culture wars have fizzled (even North Dakota’s GOP governor vetoed a book ban). Meanwhile, his supposed strengths (e.g., immigration) have quickly become exposed as weaknesses thanks to incompetence, overreach, and cruelty. Many in the Jewish community have condemned his effort to use antisemitism as an excuse to assault universities’ academic independence. Five Jewish senators wrote, 

  “[W]e are extremely troubled and disturbed by your broad and extra-legal attacks against universities and higher education institutions as well as members of their communities, which seem to go far beyond combatting antisemitism, using what is a real crisis as a pretext to attack people and institutions who do not agree with you.”

• Trump’s foreign “policy” is in tatters. The Gaza War truce unraveled, his trade wars against allies (Canada!?) have engendered incredulity, and European allies have joined U.S. Democrats in deploring his sellout of Ukraine (complete with his cringe-worthy parroting of Kremlin lies). Trump’s determination to repeat Neville Chamberlain’s moral and strategic blunder (“Peace in our time!”) has sparked new European solidarity and commitments to build its own defense industry.

• Collective action from universities, charities, law firms, law students, unions, and ordinary Americans has blossomed—putting Republicans on defense (and prompting some to hide from their constituents) while defying Trump’s effort to chill, intimidate, and crush dissent.

• Elon Musk has become a reviled figure, Tesla’s brand turned toxic, and even Musk’s reduced presence in the White House is unlikely to cleanse his obnoxious taint from the Republican Party.

• Democrats have already won a critical Wisconsin Court race, blocked (for now) a North Carolina Supreme Court race from being stolen, and overperformed in special elections.

• Despite a slow start, Democratic congressional leaders are getting their act together, and a cadre of stars (e.g., New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries) have actively stepped up.

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The survival of our democracy depends on what happens next. Much will depend on events through the end of this year, namely if: Democrats secure big wins in gubernatorial and legislative races in New Jersey and Virginia; Trump’s approval drops into the mid-30’s; and Democrats can turn Republicans’ inhumane “big, beautiful bill” into a political albatross. If Republicans can reach agreement (if not, their own voters will eat them alive), Democrats must amplify public anger against measures that bust the budget, slash Medicaid, hand billions in tax cuts to the super rich, and accelerate the economic tailspin. Throughout, Democrats must not descend into internecine warfare and purity posturing. Instead, they must sit-in and stand together. 

Beyond that, federal circuit courts and the Supreme Court must uphold lower court rulings blocking Trump’s unconstitutional moves and hold him accountable for defying court orders. Media outlets, universities, and law firms that have capitulated should face appropriate backlash. And critically, Americans need to continue their frequent and well-attended peaceful protests.

If the pro-democracy movement continues to build momentum and Trump’s serial blunders multiply, the table will be set for the midterms. From them, the pro-democracy coalition must emerge victorious, thereby significantly thinning the Republicans’ MAGA herd and forcing surviving Republicans to distance themselves from Trump.

In short, Trump lost the first 100 days, but democracy has not won the war. Had the Allies not gone on to prevail on D-Day and win WWII, their victory in North Africa in 1942, which inspired Churchill’s memorable observation, would have been viewed in retrospect as a bump in the road on the way to Nazi victory. Without persistent, ongoing opposition, recent victories on multiple fronts cannot end the MAGA threat.

The Contrarian is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support our persistent, ongoing opposition, kindly consider becoming a paid subscriber. 

Word Play

 Thank you to Marilyn for sharing these with me.

Venison for dinner again?   Oh deer!

 

How does Moses make tea?   Hebrews it. 

 

England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool. 

 

I tried to catch some fog, but I mist. 

 

They told me I had type-A blood, but it was a Typo. 

 

I changed my iPod's name to Titanic.  It's syncing now.

 

Jokes about German sausage are the wurst. 

 

I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid, but he says he can stop any time. 

 

I stayed up all night to see where the sun went, and then it dawned on me. 

 

This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I'd never met herbivore. 

 

When chemists die, they barium. 

 

I'm reading a book about anti-gravity.   I just can't put it down. 

 

I did a theatrical performance about puns.   It was a play on words. 

 

Why were the Indians here first?  They had reservations. 

 

I didn't like my beard at first.  Then it grew on me. 

 

Did you hear about the cross-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn't control her pupils? 

 

When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble. 

 

Broken pencils are pointless. 

 

What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary?  A thesaurus. 

 

I dropped out of communism class because of lousy Marx. 

 

I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough. 

 

Velcro - what a rip off! 

 

Don’t worry about old age; it doesn’t last.

The view from here.

Spring comes to NH. 

Two trees in Maple bed with white ribbons. Have you tied any on your trees?

And look how green our grass is. 

A rainy day this Saturday but much needed.

And on the hummingbird migration map the birds are almost here.  I’ll be hanging the feeders this week.

 

White Ribbon

 Tie a white ribbon for immigrants jailed without due process and foreign students whose 1st amendment rights have not been honored.  

"Until the crisis is over, white ribbons tied around trees across America will mark our hope for freedom for all and an end to this dark period of lawlessness and the inhumane violation of due process." Prof. Lila Berman

                                    I used remnant cloth to make a white ribbon. 

This is the only tree it would reach around.

Must get some ribbon.

Share your white ribbons, please!

Wordless Wednesday

 

White Ribbons!

Professor Lila Berman 

(https://as.nyu.edu/faculty/lila-corwin-berman.html)

is starting a campaign to tie white ribbons on trees to protest Trump’s abductions/deportations. In Lila’s words:

“In the late 1970s, during the Iranian hostage crisis, Americans tied yellow ribbons around trees until the hostages were brought home. Today, the Trump administration is perpetrating its own massive hostage crisis—holding people, ideas, institutions, and freedom itself hostage. Until the crisis is over, white ribbons tied around trees across America will mark our hope for freedom for all and an end to this dark period of lawlessness and the inhumane violation of due process.”

We are seeking ways to reach folks with major platforms. If you’re interested, please get some ribbons and spread the word far and wide! 

*****

Now I need to find white ribbon that can withstand being outside and tie them on my trees.

Will you do it too?

If you have FaceBook, can you spread the word?

"We are in a constitutional crisis" Jennifer Rubin

 

Stop Waiting for a Formal Declaration of “Crisis”

It is here. We are living through it.

JENNIFER RUBIN APR 21

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Are we in a “constitutional crisis”? 

You have likely heard that question innumerable times over the past three months, followed by a discussion as to whether our president has actually, explicitly, openly violated a court order (make that a Supreme Court order). When a question is so pervasive, it is safe to assume that yes, we are already there.

When does the combo of authoritarian bullying, revenge seeking, stooge-nominating, retaliatory prosecuting, contemptuous litigating, and lawless usurpation of congressional power become a “crisis”? The word is defined by Merriam-Webster as “an unstable or crucial time or state of affairs in which a decisive change is impending…especially one with the distinct possibility of a highly undesirable outcome.” Frankly, we have been in that “crisis” since the first day of the Trump presidency.

When a Republican Congress allows the president to seize the power of the purse and does nothing, when the secretary of defense commits the worst breach of national security protocols in memory (and evidently doesn’t learn his lesson), or when Republicans refuse to reclaim the power to lay tariffs—despite a recession-inducing presidential trade war—the question is not if we are in a constitutional crisis, but just how bad it is.

For Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Rumeysa Ozturk, Mahmoud Khalil, Mohsen Mahdawi, and scores of others who are legally present in the United States have been snatched up, incarcerated (or are facing incarceration) in a foreign gulag, and are deprived of their right to contest their confinement and visa revocation, the “constitutional crisis” is well underway.

When the Supreme Court convenes “literally in the middle of the night” to stop the government from spiriting away Venezuelans in apparent contradiction of their instruction to give every individual a meaningful opportunity to oppose their deportation, the “constitutional crisis” has arrived.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) knows a constitutional crisis. When asked explicitly whether we were in one on Meet the Press, he affirmed, “Yes, we are.” He had to fly down to El Salvador to see for himself Abrego Garcia’s condition, and upon his return, called out the president and his flacks for abject lies, even revealing the clumsy attempt to stage a scene suggesting he and Kilmar were tossing down margaritas on a tropical holiday. 

When such steps are required to confirm whether or not a lawful American resident is alive, we know this is not only the least trustworthy White House in modern history, but one seemingly eager to foment a constitutional crisis. “They wanted to create this appearance that life was just lovely for Kilmar, which of course is a big, fat lie,” Van Hollen said. Calling out the White House’s baseless allegations that Abrego Garcia is a gang member and terrorist, Van Hollen declared, “…In other words, put up in court or shut up.”

“The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order.” Conservative Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson of the 4^th Circuit wrote. “Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done. This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear.” 

When not one, but two federal court judges edge toward finding the government in contempt, all the alarm bells should be going off.

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For the thousands of government workers fired, the law firms and universities bullied, the millions of Americans harmed by illegal cuts and firings, the charitable organizations living under the cloud of a possible IRS dragnet, and the former Trump officials and assorted Trump nemeses targeted for persecution, the “constitutional crisis” is here. When Trump betrays Ukraine, cozies up to the evil aggressor Russia, wrecks the international trading system, stokes inflation, and sends us hurling into a recession, that crisis extends beyond the Constitution.

To borrow from Stephen Sondheim, there “won’t be trumpets or bolts of fire,” heralding that we have arrived at this moment. But let’s not muddy the waters with artificial paradigms. Let’s try this: Trump has undertaken an autocratic coup, dropping the pretense he is bound by law or obligated to act in the country’s best interest. He thinks he is a dictator (not just for a day, but for all the days since taking office), and he is trying his best to act like one.

Media, politicians, activists, and courts must stop waiting for a checkered flag to start responding. We need every person, every officeholder, and every facet of society to tell Trump: “NO.” No obeying in advance, No bullying, No court defiance, No executive overreach, No betrayal of allies, and No gaslighting. Then, voters must defeat any MAGA enablers, henchmen, and cowering politicians who are encouraging or complicit in these unprecedented assaults on our democracy.

And when Democrats (because, let’s be honest: there is no critical mass of Republicans prepared to return to democratic norms) regain power, they will need to rebuild government and erect a series of reforms (e.g., Supreme Court term limits or expansion; serious civil and criminal penalties for abrogating others’ constitutional rights or blocking congressionally appropriated funds; bright red lines on private citizens assuming governmental powers; complete divestiture of presidents’ business interests while in office) to secure our democracy.

Only after all that is accomplished can we mark the end of the multiple crises (constitutional, economic, diplomatic, moral) in which we find ourselves. 

Until then, let’s stop arguing about when the crisis begins and start marshaling the will to end it.

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