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ACCORDING TO LIZ - Wazzat? Was there a first one?
Duh.
One that began long before Trump ever took power with the manifesto laid out by the Heritage Foundation’s dystopian Project 2025.
And the current Prez acts as the agent of evil for these and others who put him into the Oval Office. If you think he may have gone a bit off book, think again. All that they really needed him to do was create chaos.
Which he has done in spades, hurling democracy and the rights of the people to the ropes. Normalizing the unthinkable. Co-opting the Supreme Court, themselves put in place by the same forces behind the Heritage Foundation
Maybe he’s not a junta-leading military man but the American Führer rose to power as the leader of the pack of Wall Street wolves – fronting for the maverick titans of capitalism who believe that wealth supersedes right and that money should rule the world.
Even as a pariah for his misogyny and racism, for his gut-wrenching egoism, shadowy figures in palatial man-caves ensured he was surrounded by selfish and greedy cronies, grossly ignorant of the obligations of the positions in which they were plopped in place.
It is now up to the people of the United States to strike back and retake our democracy. But in a way that does not justify more violence by the arrogant goons who control the military, the National Guard, ICE and the Border Patrol.
Asked by White House reporters if there were any restraints on his global powers, he answered: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me… “I don’t need international law.”
But morality, common decency and a humanitarian vision no longer exists in the White House.
The Trump administration continues to invade other countries illegally, murder innocent civilians, capture foreign vessels on the high seas, kidnap foreign leaders, egregiously violate international treaties that the United States has signed, set the CIA to operate illegally against nations both friend and foe, and otherwise actively destabilize governments in Central and South America, the Middle East and Africa.
Trump’s United States has become an increasingly violent petro-state, emulating dictatorships against which America was once a firewall.
Now the Pumped-up Potentate is considering an invasion of Iran, without Congressional approval and despite the draw down in the Ayatollahs’ oppression. Despite the fact that embarrassments in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq should have taught American presidents that there is no change in a regime unless it comes from within.
As published in the New York Times, the take of those White House reporters is:
“Trump’s assessment of his own freedom to use any instrument of military, economic or political power to cement American supremacy was the most blunt acknowledgment yet of his worldview. At its core is the concept that national strength, rather than laws, treaties and conventions, should be the deciding factor as powers collide.”
After all, Trump really doesn't care what happens to the rest of us after he's dead. Which won't be long if you've seen pictures of him recently.
Unfortunately, his heirs bode to be even worse.
The United States may have emerged victorious from World War II, but it has not won a single significant war since – not Korea, not Vietnam, not Afghanistan, not Iraq, not the streets of Minneapolis, not even Los Angeles. Nowhere.
And the Wannabe God of War is now calling for increasing the Pentagon budget to $1.5 trillion annually to create his “dream military” … to annex Canada as the 51st state, Greenland the 52nd, Cuba the 53rd, and Colombia the 54th. Perhaps with China as the 55th… hey, it’s his dream.
His fantasy.
But is it ours?
The Toad recently declared, in violation of centuries of precedent, that states are but agents of the federal government, going on to say, “When you see some of these states, about how horribly they run their elections, what a disgrace it is, I think the federal government [should get involved].”
A repeat of what he posted on social media in August: “The States, are merely an ‘agent’ for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes. They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them … to do.”
Perennial puppet-master and former senior advisor to the president, Steve Bannon echoed his lordship’s declaration that Republicans should “take over” elections and “ought to nationalize the voting” doubling down, saying the federal government is planning to send immigration officers to patrol polling stations during this year’s midterm elections.
Bannon vowed: “We’re going to have ICE surround the polls come November... We’re not going to sit here and allow you to steal the country again. And you can whine and cry and throw your toys out of the pram all you want, but we will never again allow an election to be stolen.”
Which would be in direct violation of the Posse Comitatus Act which prohibits deployment of federal troops or armed federal law enforcement agents at polling locations. Not to mention a number of state laws enacted to prevent armed individuals to intimidate voters.
House Speaker Mike Johnson fallaciously claimed that the 2020 elections were “fraudulent.” A few instances of deliberate fraud were indeed discovered after frantic searches… committed by MAGA Republicans trying to lift his Blubbership into office.
The current denizen of the White House, who clearly thinks he owns it - that it is not the People’s House but his personal property - has ridden to power twice by fomenting hate and flaunting his disgusting personality, proving that any publicity, no matter how revolting, builds awareness… and enough awareness is all it takes to win.
New York Times Opinion columnist Lydia Polgreen recently wrote: “...it is clear that Trump covets the kind of unaccountable power Maduro enjoyed – to enrich his family and cronies, to intimidate political opponents, to muzzle the press, to flood the streets of his country with armed men who do his bidding.”
Americans’ faith in the federal government has faded, no, collapsed completely. As Portland Mayor Keith Wilson stated: “We know what the federal government says happened here. There was a time when we could take them at their word. That time is long past.”
Enough is enough. It’s time for a regime change here at home.
if not, intimidation by ICE in the streets will follow us to the ballot box, into our homes, locking down Americans in a perpetual police state.
To quote FDR in his first inaugural speech: “...the only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts [but in] every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.”
We-the-people are that leadership. NOT the current cabal in DC.
Protesting for the deaths of the innocent, standing up for a small boy with a blue bunny-eared winter cap matters. If it didn’t, Trump would not be trying to shut us down.
The forces of evil can only win if we let them. Those who help others, empower themselves. People on the streets across America must be steadfast in holding perpetrators to account.
Civil disobedience may sometimes be necessary but it’s essential we follow in the footsteps of Gandhi and MLK, not of ICE. Of kindness to our fellows, of peace and love, and not of hatred, cruelty and violence.
Let’s jail that felon and his associates, those who have consistently broken American laws and mores including J.D. Vance, Pam Bondi, Pete Hegseth and the rest. Remove from office all those tarred with the same brush.
Let’s rise up to replace certain Supreme Court judges with ones more in tune with the people and not rubber-stampers of White House criminality.
Let’s have free and open elections again, unskewed by the DNC and the RNC and the Electoral College, allowing the differing views from every corner of this country to have a say in D.C. even if they don’t have a presence in every state.
Let’s encourage more and better coalitions amongst those in the halls of the House and Senate so that the interests of all Americans can be made known and not be shackled to party-line goose-stepping that benefits the oligarchs and the plutocrats, the multinationals and the billionaires.
And let’s stop the dirty money seeping under the door from Russia, Israel, multinational profiteers and more, all those that seek to manipulate the future of the United States.
It’s time for real Americans to take to the streets in cities and towns across this great nation, Minneapolis and far beyond, as happened in the Arab Spring, as is happening in Iran, and will happen again at flashpoints around the world.
And demand accountability, freedom and democracy.
(Liz Amsden is a former Angeleno now living in Vermont and a regular CityWatch contributor. She writes on issues she’s passionate about, including social justice, government accountability, and community empowerment. Liz brings a sharp, activist voice to her commentary and continues to engage with Los Angeles civic affairs from afar. She can be reached at [email protected].)
