2/ We don't give up. We fight this. HARD. Everything helps. EVERYthing. Protests, lawsuits, phone calls, pressuring Congress members, town halls, running for office (starting at local level), talking to friends/strangers, supporting universities, judges, EVERYthing.
3/ It may seem like we lose battles, but we can win the war. Have you been watching @maddow.msnbc.com's segments on this stuff? How we'll miss her 5 days/week soon. But wow, she is GOOD at emphasizing my points here. Way better than I am. EVERY tiny bit of resistance helps EVEN WHEN WE HAVE LOSSES
4/ It's up to US Courts help. They spotlight, they reveal facts in discovery/filings, even when our side loses a case. Protests help. Even when it feels like they don't. We've accomplished a lot already. We have a long way to go, but we have already made progress. DON'T LET ANYONE ARGUE OTHERWISE
5/ It's painful, excruciating in fact. It's scary. I cry, I scream, I shiver. But then start fighting again. We feel shitty. Really shitty. That's the time to muster up the courage and strength deep inside and keep pushing. HARD. I hate it as much as anyone, so so much. We have no choice
Shocked but happy that he is alive. Here's hoping he gets home to his family soon, as well as the chance to tell his story.
Also, this is proof that pressure works. When someone actually does something, the needle moves. This needs to be a lesson to the Schumers of the world: good can be done, things can be changed, but only when you put forth the effort and courage necessary to make it so.
Bob liked to play his poker Pinochle whist and euchre But shootin dice was his favorite game He got throwβd in jail with nobody to go his bail The judge done said that he refused to the fine
Heβs in the jailhouse now Heβs in the jailhouse now Well, I told him once or twice to stop playin cards and shootin dice Heβs in the jailhouse now --can't pass GO cannot collect $200 #JimmyRogers
The Members of Congress (Senators and Representatives) in the US are in real danger of being killed or disappeared. Itβs standard in authoritarian takeovers.
The current Representatives and Senators must act now to protect themselves (and the country and Constitution).
Did you know:
In 1993, Yeltsin ordered the russian military to shell the parliament, killing dozens, and reformed the government to put more power in the presidency?
In 1992, Fujimori dissolved the Peruvian legislature and sent soldiers to occupy legislative buildings, arresting many in them (and causing others to flee)?
In 2007, three Congresspeople from El Salvador weβre found dead in Guatemala, and the four police officers arrested for their deaths were later killed in prison themselves?
In 2021, Min Aung Hlaing dissolved the Myanmar legislature and arrested most civilian leaders, some of whom are still missing?
In 2021-now, Saied dissolved the Tunsian legislature entirely?
Well, now you do.
There are many other examples of world leaders destroying the legislature, and destroying legislators, as they work to consolidate their power.
The US Congress must take action, now, as a matter of self-preservation, in addition to the defense of the country, the American people and the US Constitution.
Exactly. With such a wealth of evidence, it's hard to see them yield so readily. And we don't even have to look further back than the Columbia vs Harvard comparison. One capitulated and one didn't, and they're both suffering. At least Columbia seems like they are starting to push back a little. Better late than never?
I can't say what I would do in their position. But I will say that leaders at any level have a certain responsibility that comes with that job. Surrendering without even making an attempt to resist isn't what we as a society need, and like you said, on an individual level it isn't going to pay off with this guy or his henchmen.
Good point that leadership[ carries with it responsibilities. And I also get how genuinely concerning and frightening defiance feels and is.
A rabid dog cannot be negotiated with, no matter how much we wish we could negotiate and get safety from such negotiations.
Compliance and defiance don't guarantee safety, yet even as defiance seems more likely to have one prevail or survive long-term, making it through today can feel impossible.
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski says the quiet part out loud: βWe are all afraidβ¦ I am oftentimes very anxious about using my voice because retaliation is real.β
To have the gop leaders themselves disclose and draw attention to this is very good. The direct threat from the admin I was focusing on in my 3 post thread is in _addition_ to maga's direct threats.
Amazing and terrible that there a multiple levels of peril in play.
With the president smashing norm after norm, even lawmakers within his party have feared for their personal safety, and at least one has told confidants that it has swayed his decision-making.
I totally believe it's likely to happen here. A certain someone never forgets nor forgives real or perceived slights. Retribution is his lifeblood.
When I say things like this, though, to my friends and spouse, they categorically refuse to believe such a thing could happen here even though they loathe the man and his minions.
That's the thing, they never do, not really. They just mumble something about me being a conspiracy nut. With three of them, including my spouse, I think it's because they can't find the "logic" in something like that happening, no matter how often I tell them there is NO logic to be found, unless you're one of them. In that case I'm sure there's tons of logic, all in the name of justification.
@Bette they think there is no logic in a dictator liquidating the legislature? Interesting.
I partly researched and assembled the thread you replied to the first post of specifically to confirm my own suspicion that it is typical for autocratic backsliding to imperil legislators.
Sounds like maybe some people are simply in denial maybe?
Denial is a definite possibility, especially since I've seen the progression: "He won't touch Roe v Wade ... The dems will come up with something ... He won't pardon J-sixers ... The rest of the party won't let it get that far ..." And the go-to answer: "The courts will stop it ..." etc., etc.
@yuhasz01 @Bette It's called "normalcy bias" and it's very dangerous in dangerous times. It's the same big reason the climate crisis is met with denial. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normalcyβ¦
I wonder how we can all best use the preparation, warning, impact, and aftermath template the wiki mentions to try to help people get past the denial and/or normalcy bias and take action?
@yuhasz01 @Bette Good things are happening in video land, but TikTok is censoring and YouTube won't be far behind. I think spreading video is a great way to reach the nonreaders. It would help to use a federated video platform for safekeeping.
Parkrose Permaculture is a family-run farmette on 1/4 acre in Portland, OR. Angela has more than 25 yrs experience in permaculture and specializes in perennial food crops, unusual fruit, beekeeping, duck/chicken-keeping, domestic skills, and unschooβ¦
@yuhasz01 @Bette Permaculture makes the point that Gen Z reports not finding out about the April 5 protest. Spreading information about available actions to that group is key. Fliers in bars and on poles that also spread on social media like TikTok and YouTube. All acts matter. Academics are being vanned and deported.
I don't know who the key influencers are there, but some will be turning toward democracy protection like TechDirt and Teen Vogue did.
That's a reeaally tough thing to do. People tend not to act until their own normalcy is actively being threatened.
There would have to be some kind of scenario set up that literally makes people experience what it would be like to lose everything, for them to understand the gravity of the danger.
@TheEffekt @yuhasz01 @Bette Everyone knows an immigrant. Everyone knows someone on Social Security. Everyone knows someone who work(ed) for the federal government. Everyone knows a pregnant person. Everyone will see the effect of tariffs on prices and of DOGE on medicaid and other important services.
It's just that it's happening so fast and "conservative news" is slow to catch on.
Hubs and I are both on SS & Medicare, but LONG before this admin I've been advocating for both programs. Since Reagan times! Anyway, just to stir the pot, I said to my spouse "I wonder when the new admin will start disappearing Dem congresscritters." His response was immediate "Oh, for FFS, that's never going to happen!" Then he said that what I said was just like a MAGAt saying "Pizzagate is real."
hours ago a US citizen in Florida was taken/detained for entering Florida as an alien. Your spouseβs assessment that members of Congress will not be disappeared is optimistic to the point of reckless fantasy. I wish it weren't.
Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen, was being held in the Leon County Jail Thursday, charged with illegally entering Florida as an βunauthorized alienβ β even as a supporter waved his U.S. birth certificate in court.
Sadly, yes, I agree. Seeing that video of Murkowski, a republican who helped create this clusterfuck, admitting that she's as afraid as her constituents is telling.
@Bette @TheEffekt @yuhasz01 He needs to read the news at feditrends.com . And maybe some history of Germany, and check the Project 2025 checklist.
It sounds extreme because it is. FFS Trump is giving billions to El Salvador and a rancher in TX to build new concentration camps. For citizens too he hopes.
He is defying the SCOTUS and other court orders and the rule of law. He hopes people donβt catch on until it is too late.
@Bette Denial does sound likely, it's a lot more comforting.
Also wondering if we have lost cultural memory of what happens in a crisis? After WW2 the rich west experienced an unprecedented period of stability, peace and growth. The tools people need to cope with a world in crisis haven't been passed on for several generations.
@XenoDangerEvil @FediThing @Bette exactly right. Sadly, most who personally experience how bad this gets are gone. Foolishly, the remaining folks are too often committed to learning the hard way.
It feels like some people are incapable of learning beyond their own direct experience π
Or maybe they just think things always work out well in the end, because that's all they've ever known. They do not see the foundations upon which their life exists.
The silent generation sacrificed so much to protect their children from fascism, but in election after election it's the silent generation's children that are giving power to fascism.
@Bette Usually the idea that "it couldn't happen here" is one based in a deep fear but also one of delusion. Delusion that their place is better, it wouldn't fold like that and the fear that if it did they'd be at a loss for what next just like those people far away who they watched silently as their world crumbled.
I can't answer for @Bette of course, but a few *have* answered me when confronted with the same question.
Usually something patriotic - "Democracy always wins" (and they refuse to hear all of the times that it hasn't). Or something about "hope and faith". These are people that are so terrified by reality that they absolutely refuse to see it.
Some of the people I engage with are elderly and don't see what they can possibly do about it *other* than hope. They are terrified, but don't know how to resolve it. They learned how to huddle in a corner and cut back from their Depression-era parents, so that's what they're doing.
People are suffering a trauma response daily; at some point they are going to change tactics because what they're doing isn't working. And basically all of us have been trained that "fight" should be the absolute last resort.
(I'm not a doctor, just someone that has processed trauma)
Most people's response to threats fall into one of the following four categories: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. Here's what each response involves and how your own response can impact your life.
@Bette Iβm in a similar position. While friends and family agree with me politically and are horrified at whatβs happening, they all refuse to believe things could / will get that bad. They have faith in our system, rule of law, etc.
But Iβm over here screaming if that system worked it would have leapt into action by now! Whoβs pushing back? Whoβs stopping him? Literally no one. Theyβre already disappearing US citizens. People they donβt like are next.
@aburtch @Bette I think one can have faith in our system, and rule of law while _also_ knowing that taking out the legislature is standard practice in autocratic backsliding.
Interesting, and more than a little distressing, that people aren't grasping that in the struggle to maintain the rule of law, lawmakers will be targeted.
Yeltsin shell the parliament because those who settled there were from the old government. This is the first one. Secondly, Yeltsin wanted to destroy nuclear weapons, but they were against it. By the way, a well-known fact described on Wikipedia is that the Russian constitution of 1993 was written with advisers from the United States and Europe. And she did not add any power to the president.
@zloybryuzga suggesting that shelling Parliment is somehow pro democracy is weird and likely in violation of German law (as so in violation of this instanceβs rules).
Muting you for a week. If you insist on being an apologist for violence I will report it and block you.
I would rather not do that, so please donβt make it my only option left. Thank you in advance.
If itβs part of Project 2025, which I believe it is, then we should not be surprised when it happens. Whatβs surprising is that heβs following P25 to the letter yet people still say βheβs not going to doβ this or that.
Archival footage married with part of a Christopher Hitchens speech, showing Saddam Hussein's final purge of the Iraqi Baath Party leadership. You'll notice...
I think that controlling the congress is central to Trumps US transformation. He will most likely try to get a third term and he will need them for that. Also he needs to make sure no one impeaches him. We have seen this type of power grab in other authoritarian governments.
@nickapos exactly right. He, like all autocrats, seeks to compromise, control or simply sideline the courts and legislature. Killing people who are judges and lawmakers is one of the common ways to do that.
I very much hope US legislators have been talking to military commanders since the election result last year. I have seen no evidence at all of this. It seems like the obvious thing to do when the constitution is under such threat. The US officer's oath doesn't contain anything about obeying the president, that I know of.
I hope the absence of evidence is because of the conversations being clandestine, not evidence of absence.
@eswag The US military swears an oath of allegiance to US Constitutions, not president, though they do swear to "β¦obeyβ¦orders ofβ¦Presidentβ¦andβ¦orders ofβ¦officers appointed over me," which makes sense asβ¦superior officers/commander in chief have reason to command soldiers to follow all _legal_ orders.
@eswag UCMJ forbids soldier to follow illegal orders. "to be lawfulβ¦order must 1 haveβ¦valid military purpose 2 be clear, specific, & narrowly drawnβ¦order must not conflict withβ¦statutoryβ¦constitutional rightsβ¦)"
I note the officer's oath doesn't include obeying the president. However, it seems like there isn't anything about how to arrest senior members of the executive for violating the constitution.
Are you suggesting that because the order "don't arrest me on suspicion of treason!" would make the soldier an accomplice if they obeyed, that all that needs to happen is for any US military commander to order Trump's arrest?
@eswag my non-lawyer understanding is that if a military commander had reason to believe a potus was violating the law, and ordered an MP (normal soldiers don't really have arrest powers beyond citizen's arrest), then the MP would have to arrest the potus to both comply with a lawful order and possibly avoid becoming some sort of accomplice after the fact or maybe an obstructer of justice.
The military in the US has several laws forbidding them from domestic and civilian law enforcement.
Pretty sure AOC and my Congresswoman, Pressley, are very much aware. And Democrats are going to need to hire their own security privately - Speaker Johnson sure isn't going to let a vote like that reach the floor.
Updated: 17/04/2025 - 16:39 GMT+2Protests in Montenegro against a UAE firm beach deal highlight sovereignty and environmental fears. President Jakov MilatoviΔ insists investments respect local laws.
If international students stay home, the U.S. economy will suffer greatly – UPI.com (Me: Trump’s dummy ego policies costly to US)
A $44 billion economic impact Higher education is America's 10th-largest export, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. (Yes, even though students are coming into the U.S. for their education, economists consider it an export.) Last year, U.S. colleges and universities attracted international students from 217 nations and territories,…
If international students stay home, the U.S. economy will suffer greatly β UPI.com (Me: Trumpβs dummy ego policies costly to US)
A $44 billion economic impact Higher education is America's 10th-largest export, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. (Yes, even though students are coming into the U.S. for their education, economists consider it an export.) Last year, U.S. colleges and universities attracted international students from 217 nations and territories,β¦
If international students stay home, the U.S. economy will suffer greatly β UPI.com (Me: Trumpβs dummy ego policies costly to US)
A $44 billion economic impact
Higher education is Americaβs 10th-largest export, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. (Yes, even though students are coming into the U.S. for their education, economists consider it an export.)
Last year, U.S. colleges and universities attracted international students from 217 nations and territories, including one student from the island nation of Niue in the South Pacific. Their economic contributions added up to more than the value of U.S. telecommunications, computer and information services exports combined.
While the national impact is impressive, the effects at the local level are even more important. After all, nearly every city across the United States has at least one institution of higher learning.
The average international student brings a wallet stuffed with about $29,000 to spend on everything from tuition to pizza. As these students rent apartments, buy books and order DoorDash delivery to fuel all-nighters, theyβre pumping money into the local community.
General Keith Kellogg, the Special Presidential Envoy for Ukraine, will travel to Paris as part of a high-level U.S. delegation to discuss Ukraine. β Ukrinform.
thetyee.ca/Opinion/2025/04/17/β¦ βSkippyβ Wants to Shatter the CBC. And Maybe Canada Wrecking a national bulwark makes sense if Poilievre is fine with foreign assimilation. What would Machiavelli say?
There is no maybe about Skippy wanting to destroy Canada!
The Swiss tradition of marksmanship was established during the old Swiss Confederacy in the 15th century, when festival participants used crossbows in shooting contests. The legend of William Tell recalls this tradition.
#JDVance claims as fact that #KilmarAbregoGarcia (KAG) is a member of MS13. This is based on the Gang Field Interview Sheet (GFIS) filed by a Maryland cop, that #ICE used in the 2019 effort to deport him.
It's an extremely weak case.
The GFIS claims KAG wore MS13 clothing [Chicago BullsπMichael Jordan made the Bulls universally loved] & that a βconfidential sourceβ identified him as part of the Western clique, which operates in NY, where KAG never lived.
While a judge denied #KilmarAbregoGarcia bail in 2019 proceedings, this is also a weak evidentiary basis for #JDVanceβs claim. As Roger Parloff shows, that was largely based on the confidential source. Neither the cop nor the source were cross-examined: "Double hearsay."
Greg Sargent & TNR obtained the GFIS, & reported that the #cop who filled it out was SUSPENDED soon after for SERIOUS MISCONDUCT: sharing case info with a sex worker.
This doesnβt settle the matter, but it casts more doubt on the process designating #KilmarAbregoGarcia as MS13.
Trumpworld claims Kilmar Abrego Garcia was in MS-13. But new information concerning the local cop who attested to that charge at the time raises fresh questions about it.
Reporters should press #JDVance on why we should take this GFIS as gospel given all this. Also, if #KilmarAbregoGarcia is a *dangerous criminal*, why wasnβt he ever charged with, let alone convicted for, ANY gang-related crime?
claimed that Abrego Garcia wore a Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie, that this was evidence of membership in MS-13, and that a "confidential source" had related that he was a member of the gang's Westerns clique. But that operates in New York, where he never lived.
It bears repeating: EVEN IF there WERE a mountain of evidence tying #KilmarAbregoGarcia to MS13, he would STILL be entitled to #DueProcess, & the current #deportation would STILL be illegal.
This is where #JDVanceβs other argument comes into play.
JD says KAG doesnβt deserve a βthird deportation hearing,β meaning he already had due process while omitting that THE CURRENT DEPORTATION IS ILLEGAL.
It is THIS FACT, that the US GOVT ACTED illegally, that reopens the need for due process.
#JDVance asks: What is the left asking for? On #KilmarAbregoGarcia, itβs simple: If the #Trump admin wants him deported, all it has to do is return him & recontest his βwithholding of removalβ status, or move to deport him to a third country. Why won't they do this?
The Trump administration could allow Kilmar Abrego Garcia back into the U.S. and try to deport him through proper channels. So why wonβt it even do that?
#JDVance keeps saying #KilmarAbregoGarcia already had #DueProcess. But JD's govt illegally defied the ruling yielded by this process, which gave KAG qualified protected status.
It is the act of JDβs govt in violation of that, IRRESPECTIVE of anything KAG did/didnβt do, that calls for due process.
Finally, #JDVanceβs big βgotchaβ is his claim that *the left* doesnβt want us to deport all who came illegally. What do we propose instead, he asks?
This deceptively frames the choice as *only* between 1) leaving all undocumented immigrants in that status here forever; & 2) deporting them all.
#JDVance is correct [for once]: Liberals don't want to deport most longtime undocumented residents who've committed no serious crimes. We say most should instead get a qualified path to legalization, packaged with other reforms that would make the system function better. We are very open about this!
Many of us would accept codifying real restrictions on asylum, because the system *has* become unmanageable, along w/scaled up resources for processing + broader legal pathways for entry to make migration more orderly. That's something even some Republicans & some of their constituencies want.
#JDVanceβs #immigration solutions treat complex problems w/cartoonishly simplistic thinking & squander huge amounts of enforcement resources for no real gain. Ours address the situationβs complexities & seek to manage them in the national interest.
#JDVanceβs solutions rest on a rigid worldview that does not permit migrants' life circumstances, or the passage of time, or their integration into US life to impact our moral deliberations. His reflect a historically false vision of American identity & yield awful real-world outcomes.
That is Greg Sargentβs response to JDβs lies & oversimplifications.
When #DOJ released the Gang Field Interview Sheet in the #KilmarAbregoGarcia case, they redacted the name of the cop...the one who was suspended & then indicted for serious professional misconduct. But Sargent & TNR obtained the GFIS & confirm that the name is under the first redaction bar.
In exchange, MS-13 βagreed to reduce the number of public murders in El Salvador, which politically benefitted the government, by creating the perception that the government was reducing the murder rate.β Indeed, Bukeleβs popularity is the result of his so-called βTerritorial Control Plan,β which involved building his supermax prison and his plan of mass incarceration β a plan which he credits for the drop in violence since he took office. Of course, the citizens of El Salvador arenβt privy to the secret negotiations Bukele made with MS-13 β details that were going to be made public when the U.S. governmentβs case against the MS-13 defendants went to trial. Which may explain why the Trump administration quietly dropped these charges last week and put the charged MS-13 members on the third plane bound for El Slavador (and which included Abrego Garcia). -1
um...it's also not acceptable to deport people to random countries they're not actually from. That's not a compromise anyone should call for. If he wants to apply for asylum in a different country, that's his choice, but he can do that once he's free and back in the US. Also, note that people who are being returned to their home countries to answer for crimes they're accused of committing THERE get extradited, not deported.
@plan-A That produced the following error message:
Error while communicating with Invidious companion: Error while communicating with Invidious companion: status code: 503 and body: " 503 Service Unavailable \nNo server is available to handle this request.\n\n"
After which you should try to:
Refresh Switch Invidious Instance Go to YouTube (Embed)
@Radio Free Trumpistan Reply on another yes, but compose post not... So tired of warmongers making propaganda while they dunno how all works etc and while their bio say total different things.
I have no idea how to deal with your issues on this instance regarding posting locally; turns out that there are no posting options except locally. When I click on the global icon (the circular thingie), the posting editor goes away, and I was told that's just how all Friendica instances work; to change that, one would have to change the coding. The editor shows up when you click on the left-most grid-type icon.
Broccoli is unfairly named. It's a rather delicious brassica when done right, but it sounds like the disease that causes toxic masculinity. It's not easy being green. π
With Trump reportedly planning to end the IRS Direct File program, there's no better time to remember how TurboTax owner Intuit spent two decades fighting to prevent Americans from filing their taxes online for free.
Using lobbying, the revolving door and βdark patternβ customer tricks, Intuit fended off the governmentβs attempts to make tax filing free and easy, and created its multi-billion-dollar franchise.
The Federal Trade Commission has issued an Opinion and Final Order that Intuit Inc., the maker of the popular TurboTax tax filing software,Β engaged in deceptive advertising in violation of the
If youβre one of the millions of Americans struggling with your tax forms today, youβre not alone. Even Albert Einstein allegedly found income taxes to be βthe hardest thing in the world to understand.
In which I brag that in my country I just use the free web app of the national tax agency itself, which is excellent. Fast, easy to use, full of easy to understand information.
Every week day, during the lunch hour, my daughter and I find an intersection with heavy traffic and get busy holding up signs. I had made a new "Hands Off Medicaid and Medicare" sign for today. We settled on a spot near a hospital and medical offices. Lots of waves, honks and peace signs happened as we connected with motorists and pedestrians. Today two different doctors went out of their way to come outside to thank us. One of them said over and over how much she appreciated seeing people do something instead of just complaining. We listened because I think she needed someone to hear her. Who knows where we will end up tomorrow but we can't give up. This camellia was right next to my protest spot.
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