From Fulton County to North Carolina to Texas, Republicans are using the same playbook: Rewrite the rules, bully the process, and call it “election integrity.”
This commentary is a masterpiece. I am very apprehensive about Trump shenanigans to manipulate the results in November, and fear by 2028 there will be little left of the country as we knew it. Once again it appears that America has a rendezvous with destiny.
Thank you for the article, I am also way beyond the cry baby bs. I am hoping that a miracle happens. Our courts are the guard rails. Perhaps SCOTUS can do the same thing with their judges.
Someone send a copy of this article to Jeffries and Schumer… and every member of congress… and every state Democrat… and well all citizens who still want to live in a free country
Just 2 days before the Nazi Republican Virginia governor left office in an act of violence pardoned a cop killer(https://bit.ly/4rjx3Pz) just because he could This underscores that the Nazi party of “law and order” is clearly the party of lawlessness
Over at Harry Litman’s Substack channel(https://bit.ly/4rjx3Pz) he recalls Lincoln’s Lyceum address in which Lincoln made the case that when a society stops respecting the rule of law then that disrespect leads to a lawless society and that the destruction of a democratic Republic occurs from within, that violence committed in the name of community passion would be tolerated, even excused, and that the rule of law would erode as a result
But reverence for law—the shared understanding that rules bind even when inconvenient—quietly dissolves and accountability becomes persecution of the one who is held to accountability And poignantly it's us to decide WE the People will decide at this crossroads which path to follow that "will make all the difference"
Exactly. And in my opinion the FBI will NEVER recover their credibility for going along with all of his toddler tantrums and schemes to dominate. Never. Ever.
Totally agree with you, that is why it's important for people to KNOW what they are doing which you have explained. Yes Dems can win (not on merit) but coming out en masse for BOTH Primary in May and the General Election this year. We can't make excuses for not voting unless you aren't old enough to vote. So your advise is we can't just pray and hope it works, we actually have to VOTE, no excuses will do.
PJ, exactly. This isn’t a “thoughts and prayers” moment — it’s a turnout moment. People have to know what’s happening and show up in both the primary and the general like their lives depend on it, because for a lot of folks they do. No excuses, no magical thinking, no waiting for the perfect candidate. Voting is the minimum. Then we pressure the winners to actually use the power we give them.
Totally agree with you on this one Krisoffer! There has to be more NOT less spine in the candidates this year. They have to stand up for democracy and fairness in government because they will have their work cut out for them when they get in there.
I already think the president and his minions are going to invoke the “Insurrection Act” and banish midterms. Since he’s already acted on every institution in the government and trashed the White House. A macabre drama to the “I’ll show them who is boss” to own the libs. Playing out on cold streets in Minnesota and across the nation in every type of weather, but none of it is fair.
Laura, I get why you’re thinking along those lines — because this administration keeps testing how far it can go and then acting offended when people notice. The “Insurrection Act” talk isn’t paranoia; it’s a recognition that they’re addicted to spectacle and force.
That said, I don’t want us living in a doom loop where we pre-concede the midterms in our heads. They want people demoralized and frozen. The best posture is: assume they’ll try something dirty, document it early, challenge it fast, and organize like hell anyway. The courts, the states, and the public pressure matter most before it becomes a crisis.
And your point about Minnesota is real — they’re treating the country like a stage for “I’ll show them who’s boss” politics, and ordinary people are the ones paying in real time. Stay loud, stay vigilant, but don’t let fear turn into paralysis. That’s how they win without even having to cheat.
Alan & Jan — exactly. And I’ll take it a step further: Democrats keep showing up with a spoon and a PowerPoint explaining why knives are inappropriate. Republicans brought blades, and Democrats keep acting like good manners will disarm them. That era is over. If you’ve got power, use it—because the other side already is.
MGL 929 — that line is painfully accurate. “We the people” sounds strong on paper, but lately it feels like we’re watching a grown man’s tantrums get treated like national policy. The only way it stops is if people stop normalizing it and start voting like the stakes are real.
❤️💙❤️💙 Angie — seriously. He’s a whiny little bitch and the country is paying the price for one man’s ego injury.
And I’m going to say it plainly: I will NEVER FORGIVE THIS COUNTRY FOR NOT VOTING FOR HARRIS. People acted like it was a personality contest or a protest opportunity, and now we’re watching the consequences play out in real time — chaos, intimidation, and government power being used for petty revenge instead of public safety.
He needs to get over it. America needs to wake up.
The New York Times published an editorial yesterday under the headline "Trump Could Interfere With The Midterm Elections." Could? More like "Will," and you can take that to the bank. I've been saying since last summer that Trump will try to cancel the midterms, and the reaction I usually get from friends, family, and the like-minded in threads such as this, is that I'm overreacting. Maybe, but this nonsense in Georgia, this never-ending temper tantrum by the world's biggest man-child should be fair warning to us. "Don’t be surprised if he tries to bully his way into floating a third-term push, or into normalizing the idea that the Constitution is more of a suggestion than a rulebook," Kristoffer writes. That's right. The murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the goon squads in multiple cities, ignoring the law requiring the Epstein files be released: all of that is proof that these authoritarian creeps couldn't care less about the Constitution. So what's to stop them from trashing that quaint idea of free and fair elections?
It's incredible that there are STILL people claiming that those of us pointing out the guarantee that trump will do something evil and destructive is no big deal. What the hell does it take to wake people up? He tried to overturn the 2020 election and that's still not enough??
It's like the people who smoke 5 packs of cigarettes a day and claim they'll live to 105 because, ya know, they "heard/know/are sure" that all those other people who died horribly from lung cancer or other respiratory diseases are the outliers but they're the special ones who'll just live forever. Then when the crap does hit the fan, they come crying for instantaneously relief and cures. Watching the maga types on the FAFO train crying about "this isn't what I voted for" now that they're getting directly screwed is political example No. 1 of this willful ignorance and stupidity.
It's a given that when trump and crew concoct their scheme for the midterms, all your family and friends will just be shocked about what's going on. If I were in your shoes, I'd tell them to their faces to pound sand and STFU when it happens.
Stephen, you’re not overreacting — you’re describing the pattern people keep refusing to name until it’s sitting on their chest. The “Could?” framing is exactly the kind of polite hedging that gives authoritarians room to operate. When someone shows you they’re willing to torch norms, weaponize agencies, and treat the Constitution like a suggestion, the only honest question is how, not if.
And you’re dead on about Georgia being a warning flare. This isn’t “one more tantrum.” It’s a stress test: can he keep using 2020 as a permanent excuse to lean on institutions and intimidate the people who run elections? If he can do that in Fulton County, he can try it anywhere the margins are tight and the officials aren’t MAGA-friendly.
Your point about the third-term push matters too. Even if it starts as “jokes” and trial balloons, that’s how normalization works: float the unthinkable, watch who laughs, watch who repeats it, watch who treats it like a debate topic instead of a red line. The goal isn’t to persuade everyone—it’s to exhaust everyone.
And yes: the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the goon-squad behavior, the open contempt for basic legal constraints, and the casual disregard for transparency when it’s inconvenient—all of it is the same story. It’s not that they “don’t care” about the Constitution in an abstract way; it’s that they view it as an obstacle course they’re entitled to bulldoze.
So when you ask what stops them from trashing free and fair elections, the answer is uncomfortable but simple: not vibes, not faith in institutions, not assuming “the courts will handle it.” What stops them is organized political resistance, loud public pressure, and leaders who treat these moves as the emergency they are—early, not after the damage is done. You’re seeing it clearly, Stephen. The warning is the point.
We have far more power than we realize. The blowback from Jimmy Kimmel being suspended by Disney is a prime example of the economic bomb we could drop at any time. The Resistance is just getting started but we will prevail.
Writing with clarity, as is evident here, is as important as this argument for Democrats to fight for their own interests and directly disavow Republican irrational and destructive behaviors. Every possible candidate for office should speak clearly about what is at stake, namely the constitutional order that must be upheld. Buttigieg and Newsom, particularly, know this. And they are sober, cognitively stable, and intelligent. Give me a list of Republicans with the same attributes.
Douglas, I appreciate this. Clarity is the whole ballgame—because the stakes aren’t “policy vibes,” they’re whether the constitutional order still means anything.
If we’re talking Republicans who’ve consistently come off as adult, sober, and reality-based in this era, the short list looks like: Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Larry Hogan, Charlie Baker, Phil Scott, Lisa Murkowski,(sometimes).
And the part that proves your point: most of the people on that list are either out, sidelined, or treated like traitors for refusing to worship at the altar of the 2020 lie. That’s the problem—any party can produce smart people. MAGA punishes them when they won’t co-sign the fantasy.
Last night's special election in Texas shows that there are NO safe Republicans in 2026. The people are fed up with all of them and all the bullshit and all of the violence. They know that Democratic leadership will do nothing substantive to fight and that the only solution lies with the voters. And they will make Republicans pay, and pay dearly. It will not be close. Republicans are going to get smoked. They will claim massive voter fraud. They will refuse to accept the results. They may even try to refuse to seat the new Democratic majority in the House and the Senate, but they will have lost and they will lose the court fight. The imperative will be in 2029 after a new Democratic president is inaugurated. No more Merrick Garlands. Justice must come for Trump, his enablers, ICE, its enablers, and all of the rest of the Republicans who have held the country hostage SINCE RONALD F'KING REAGAN.
Peter, I’m with you on the big picture: there are no truly “safe” Republicans in this era because the party has made “loyalty to the lie” the price of admission. Even the ones who know better keep voting the same way, keep excusing it, keep pretending the next outrage will be the one that finally crosses a line. That line doesn’t exist anymore.
I also agree that people are fed up—fed up with the violence, the corruption, the unseriousness, and the constant hostage-taking. And yes, voters are the only force big enough to break this cycle, because institutional courage has been in short supply.
Where I’ll add a caution is this: I hope you’re right that “it won’t be close” and that Republicans get smoked, but I’m not counting on a blowout. They’ve built a whole strategy around making close races messy—and they will absolutely scream fraud, challenge results, and try to use the courts and procedure as weapons. That part is predictable at this point.
On the “refuse to seat” point: I wouldn’t put anything past them in terms of bad-faith obstruction, especially with how comfortable they’ve gotten treating democracy like a suggestion. Even when they ultimately lose the fight, the damage comes from the delay, the chaos, and the normalization of the tactic.
And I’m glad you named the Garland lesson, because that slow-walk era cannot be repeated. Accountability can’t be something we schedule for “later,” after the country is already on fire. The post-2028 imperative you’re talking about—real consequences for Trump, his enablers, and the machinery that keeps producing this—has to come with a spine and a timeline. No more half-measures, no more deference to people who don’t reciprocate it.
Only thing I’ll tweak: blaming this “since Ronald Reagan” isn’t wrong as a historical through-line, but MAGA accelerated everything into a different category—open contempt for elections, open contempt for law, open contempt for pluralism. Reagan laid groundwork. Trump turned it into a cult.
Appreciate you laying it out like this. The urgency is real, and people need to stop acting like we’re still in the old rules.
I agree with you. But I would simply note that Democrats are not winning by close margins, they are winning in blow outs. Heck, just last night a Democrat won a race in deep red Texass by 15 points, a 32 point swing from Trump +17. Two races were just won in Minnesota with 90%+ of the vote. It's going to be ugly for the Pubbies and they know it. And Trump knows that if his MAGAs lose control of Congress he's fucked. I expect to see ever more desperate measures as the election gets closer and certainly after the votes are cast.
correct .."The New Jim Crow" .... the writer goes all the way back to the civil war but ronald has done the lasting and continuing damage .....WW2 nightmare had Japanese encampments ..and still black, brown, yellow and red skins fought bravely to save the world....what is it going to take ....
GingerLee, I feel you. What you’re describing is the long arc of this country trying to pretend it can outrun the consequences of what it built—then acting shocked when the bill shows up again and again.
And you’re right to bring up WWII and the Japanese internment camps, because that’s exactly the point: America has already shown it’s willing to suspend rights, dehumanize people, and call it “security” when the politics are convenient. The only reason people act like it can’t happen again is because they want to believe the worst chapters are sealed off in history books. They’re not.
So when you ask “what is it going to take,” the honest answer is: it takes people refusing to normalize any of this. Refusing to treat voter suppression, mass detention, or state violence as just another news cycle. The “New Jim Crow” framing exists because the pattern is familiar—different tools, same instinct: control, punishment, and exclusion.
You’re not overreacting. You’re recognizing the pattern early, which is exactly what we’re supposed to do.
Abbott has played his own hardball political games also. He has not filled the Congressional seat left vacant in Houston when Representative Sylvester Turner died. People in Mr. Turner’s district will remain unrepresented until the November elections. Bill Barr himself:told Trump he had lost, but Trump refused to believe it. Trump has always lived in a reality of his own making constructed from his malignant narcissism and sociopathy, and his reality and our lives are getting worse as his frontotemporal dementia progresses.
The election to replace Mr. Turner took place yesterday. Abbott took maximum advantage to stretch the process out for a year. It’s now done just in time to start primaries for November.
Don’t even get me started on Abbott, Kathy. You’re exactly right — he plays hardball and he’s shameless about who pays the price for it. Leaving that Houston seat vacant after Rep. Sylvester Turner died isn’t some neutral bureaucratic delay; it’s a choice. It means real people in that district are basically told, “Good luck, you can wait until November,” while the state treats representation like a bargaining chip instead of a right.
And your Bill Barr point is the one that still makes my eye twitch: when your own Attorney General is telling you there’s no “stolen election” there and you still keep screaming fraud, that’s not confusion — that’s a deliberate commitment to an alternate reality because the truth doesn’t serve you. Trump didn’t “refuse to believe” he lost. He refused to accept it, and the difference matters.
On the mental health/medical stuff — people throw around diagnoses, but I don’t need a clinical label to call what we’re watching: escalating delusion as a political strategy, enabled by a party that would rather ride the lie than risk his wrath. The result is the same either way: his fantasy becomes policy, and everybody else is forced to live inside it.
Appreciate you, Kathy. You’re connecting the dots exactly how people need to.
Appreciate your comments. I knew what we were in for the first time around as although I live in Ohio, I’ve observed Trump for years and was reasonably well informed on his grifting and stiffing suppliers and contractors. Trump has only become worse since his mental state is worsening. The press we depend upon to do its job isn’t doing its job.
This commentary is a masterpiece. I am very apprehensive about Trump shenanigans to manipulate the results in November, and fear by 2028 there will be little left of the country as we knew it. Once again it appears that America has a rendezvous with destiny.
Thank you for the article, I am also way beyond the cry baby bs. I am hoping that a miracle happens. Our courts are the guard rails. Perhaps SCOTUS can do the same thing with their judges.
Someone send a copy of this article to Jeffries and Schumer… and every member of congress… and every state Democrat… and well all citizens who still want to live in a free country
It's not that the Trump regime is that concerned with crime, it's that they don't want the competition.
Nazi Republicans And Rule Of Law
Just 2 days before the Nazi Republican Virginia governor left office in an act of violence pardoned a cop killer(https://bit.ly/4rjx3Pz) just because he could This underscores that the Nazi party of “law and order” is clearly the party of lawlessness
Over at Harry Litman’s Substack channel(https://bit.ly/4rjx3Pz) he recalls Lincoln’s Lyceum address in which Lincoln made the case that when a society stops respecting the rule of law then that disrespect leads to a lawless society and that the destruction of a democratic Republic occurs from within, that violence committed in the name of community passion would be tolerated, even excused, and that the rule of law would erode as a result
But reverence for law—the shared understanding that rules bind even when inconvenient—quietly dissolves and accountability becomes persecution of the one who is held to accountability And poignantly it's us to decide WE the People will decide at this crossroads which path to follow that "will make all the difference"
Exactly. And in my opinion the FBI will NEVER recover their credibility for going along with all of his toddler tantrums and schemes to dominate. Never. Ever.
I 100% agree, Cathy. Kash Patel has destroyed that organization for life.
Totally agree with you, that is why it's important for people to KNOW what they are doing which you have explained. Yes Dems can win (not on merit) but coming out en masse for BOTH Primary in May and the General Election this year. We can't make excuses for not voting unless you aren't old enough to vote. So your advise is we can't just pray and hope it works, we actually have to VOTE, no excuses will do.
PJ, exactly. This isn’t a “thoughts and prayers” moment — it’s a turnout moment. People have to know what’s happening and show up in both the primary and the general like their lives depend on it, because for a lot of folks they do. No excuses, no magical thinking, no waiting for the perfect candidate. Voting is the minimum. Then we pressure the winners to actually use the power we give them.
Totally agree with you on this one Krisoffer! There has to be more NOT less spine in the candidates this year. They have to stand up for democracy and fairness in government because they will have their work cut out for them when they get in there.
I already think the president and his minions are going to invoke the “Insurrection Act” and banish midterms. Since he’s already acted on every institution in the government and trashed the White House. A macabre drama to the “I’ll show them who is boss” to own the libs. Playing out on cold streets in Minnesota and across the nation in every type of weather, but none of it is fair.
Laura, I get why you’re thinking along those lines — because this administration keeps testing how far it can go and then acting offended when people notice. The “Insurrection Act” talk isn’t paranoia; it’s a recognition that they’re addicted to spectacle and force.
That said, I don’t want us living in a doom loop where we pre-concede the midterms in our heads. They want people demoralized and frozen. The best posture is: assume they’ll try something dirty, document it early, challenge it fast, and organize like hell anyway. The courts, the states, and the public pressure matter most before it becomes a crisis.
And your point about Minnesota is real — they’re treating the country like a stage for “I’ll show them who’s boss” politics, and ordinary people are the ones paying in real time. Stay loud, stay vigilant, but don’t let fear turn into paralysis. That’s how they win without even having to cheat.
In short, don’t bring a spoon to knife fight.
Alan & Jan — exactly. And I’ll take it a step further: Democrats keep showing up with a spoon and a PowerPoint explaining why knives are inappropriate. Republicans brought blades, and Democrats keep acting like good manners will disarm them. That era is over. If you’ve got power, use it—because the other side already is.
As the world looks at “we the people” asking will we ever stop the tantrums?
MGL 929 — that line is painfully accurate. “We the people” sounds strong on paper, but lately it feels like we’re watching a grown man’s tantrums get treated like national policy. The only way it stops is if people stop normalizing it and start voting like the stakes are real.
He's such a whiny little bitch. Get over this mf'er, America. Good gawd. All he does is have tantrums.
❤️💙❤️💙 Angie — seriously. He’s a whiny little bitch and the country is paying the price for one man’s ego injury.
And I’m going to say it plainly: I will NEVER FORGIVE THIS COUNTRY FOR NOT VOTING FOR HARRIS. People acted like it was a personality contest or a protest opportunity, and now we’re watching the consequences play out in real time — chaos, intimidation, and government power being used for petty revenge instead of public safety.
He needs to get over it. America needs to wake up.
I wonder what happened in his childhood, or was he just born mean, vindictive, nasty, greedy and orange?
The New York Times published an editorial yesterday under the headline "Trump Could Interfere With The Midterm Elections." Could? More like "Will," and you can take that to the bank. I've been saying since last summer that Trump will try to cancel the midterms, and the reaction I usually get from friends, family, and the like-minded in threads such as this, is that I'm overreacting. Maybe, but this nonsense in Georgia, this never-ending temper tantrum by the world's biggest man-child should be fair warning to us. "Don’t be surprised if he tries to bully his way into floating a third-term push, or into normalizing the idea that the Constitution is more of a suggestion than a rulebook," Kristoffer writes. That's right. The murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the goon squads in multiple cities, ignoring the law requiring the Epstein files be released: all of that is proof that these authoritarian creeps couldn't care less about the Constitution. So what's to stop them from trashing that quaint idea of free and fair elections?
Not overacting, only way for them to happen is somehow stop him - and very soon.
It's incredible that there are STILL people claiming that those of us pointing out the guarantee that trump will do something evil and destructive is no big deal. What the hell does it take to wake people up? He tried to overturn the 2020 election and that's still not enough??
It's like the people who smoke 5 packs of cigarettes a day and claim they'll live to 105 because, ya know, they "heard/know/are sure" that all those other people who died horribly from lung cancer or other respiratory diseases are the outliers but they're the special ones who'll just live forever. Then when the crap does hit the fan, they come crying for instantaneously relief and cures. Watching the maga types on the FAFO train crying about "this isn't what I voted for" now that they're getting directly screwed is political example No. 1 of this willful ignorance and stupidity.
It's a given that when trump and crew concoct their scheme for the midterms, all your family and friends will just be shocked about what's going on. If I were in your shoes, I'd tell them to their faces to pound sand and STFU when it happens.
Stephen, you’re not overreacting — you’re describing the pattern people keep refusing to name until it’s sitting on their chest. The “Could?” framing is exactly the kind of polite hedging that gives authoritarians room to operate. When someone shows you they’re willing to torch norms, weaponize agencies, and treat the Constitution like a suggestion, the only honest question is how, not if.
And you’re dead on about Georgia being a warning flare. This isn’t “one more tantrum.” It’s a stress test: can he keep using 2020 as a permanent excuse to lean on institutions and intimidate the people who run elections? If he can do that in Fulton County, he can try it anywhere the margins are tight and the officials aren’t MAGA-friendly.
Your point about the third-term push matters too. Even if it starts as “jokes” and trial balloons, that’s how normalization works: float the unthinkable, watch who laughs, watch who repeats it, watch who treats it like a debate topic instead of a red line. The goal isn’t to persuade everyone—it’s to exhaust everyone.
And yes: the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the goon-squad behavior, the open contempt for basic legal constraints, and the casual disregard for transparency when it’s inconvenient—all of it is the same story. It’s not that they “don’t care” about the Constitution in an abstract way; it’s that they view it as an obstacle course they’re entitled to bulldoze.
So when you ask what stops them from trashing free and fair elections, the answer is uncomfortable but simple: not vibes, not faith in institutions, not assuming “the courts will handle it.” What stops them is organized political resistance, loud public pressure, and leaders who treat these moves as the emergency they are—early, not after the damage is done. You’re seeing it clearly, Stephen. The warning is the point.
We have far more power than we realize. The blowback from Jimmy Kimmel being suspended by Disney is a prime example of the economic bomb we could drop at any time. The Resistance is just getting started but we will prevail.
Writing with clarity, as is evident here, is as important as this argument for Democrats to fight for their own interests and directly disavow Republican irrational and destructive behaviors. Every possible candidate for office should speak clearly about what is at stake, namely the constitutional order that must be upheld. Buttigieg and Newsom, particularly, know this. And they are sober, cognitively stable, and intelligent. Give me a list of Republicans with the same attributes.
Douglas, I appreciate this. Clarity is the whole ballgame—because the stakes aren’t “policy vibes,” they’re whether the constitutional order still means anything.
If we’re talking Republicans who’ve consistently come off as adult, sober, and reality-based in this era, the short list looks like: Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Larry Hogan, Charlie Baker, Phil Scott, Lisa Murkowski,(sometimes).
And the part that proves your point: most of the people on that list are either out, sidelined, or treated like traitors for refusing to worship at the altar of the 2020 lie. That’s the problem—any party can produce smart people. MAGA punishes them when they won’t co-sign the fantasy.
Last night's special election in Texas shows that there are NO safe Republicans in 2026. The people are fed up with all of them and all the bullshit and all of the violence. They know that Democratic leadership will do nothing substantive to fight and that the only solution lies with the voters. And they will make Republicans pay, and pay dearly. It will not be close. Republicans are going to get smoked. They will claim massive voter fraud. They will refuse to accept the results. They may even try to refuse to seat the new Democratic majority in the House and the Senate, but they will have lost and they will lose the court fight. The imperative will be in 2029 after a new Democratic president is inaugurated. No more Merrick Garlands. Justice must come for Trump, his enablers, ICE, its enablers, and all of the rest of the Republicans who have held the country hostage SINCE RONALD F'KING REAGAN.
Peter, I’m with you on the big picture: there are no truly “safe” Republicans in this era because the party has made “loyalty to the lie” the price of admission. Even the ones who know better keep voting the same way, keep excusing it, keep pretending the next outrage will be the one that finally crosses a line. That line doesn’t exist anymore.
I also agree that people are fed up—fed up with the violence, the corruption, the unseriousness, and the constant hostage-taking. And yes, voters are the only force big enough to break this cycle, because institutional courage has been in short supply.
Where I’ll add a caution is this: I hope you’re right that “it won’t be close” and that Republicans get smoked, but I’m not counting on a blowout. They’ve built a whole strategy around making close races messy—and they will absolutely scream fraud, challenge results, and try to use the courts and procedure as weapons. That part is predictable at this point.
On the “refuse to seat” point: I wouldn’t put anything past them in terms of bad-faith obstruction, especially with how comfortable they’ve gotten treating democracy like a suggestion. Even when they ultimately lose the fight, the damage comes from the delay, the chaos, and the normalization of the tactic.
And I’m glad you named the Garland lesson, because that slow-walk era cannot be repeated. Accountability can’t be something we schedule for “later,” after the country is already on fire. The post-2028 imperative you’re talking about—real consequences for Trump, his enablers, and the machinery that keeps producing this—has to come with a spine and a timeline. No more half-measures, no more deference to people who don’t reciprocate it.
Only thing I’ll tweak: blaming this “since Ronald Reagan” isn’t wrong as a historical through-line, but MAGA accelerated everything into a different category—open contempt for elections, open contempt for law, open contempt for pluralism. Reagan laid groundwork. Trump turned it into a cult.
Appreciate you laying it out like this. The urgency is real, and people need to stop acting like we’re still in the old rules.
I agree with you. But I would simply note that Democrats are not winning by close margins, they are winning in blow outs. Heck, just last night a Democrat won a race in deep red Texass by 15 points, a 32 point swing from Trump +17. Two races were just won in Minnesota with 90%+ of the vote. It's going to be ugly for the Pubbies and they know it. And Trump knows that if his MAGAs lose control of Congress he's fucked. I expect to see ever more desperate measures as the election gets closer and certainly after the votes are cast.
correct .."The New Jim Crow" .... the writer goes all the way back to the civil war but ronald has done the lasting and continuing damage .....WW2 nightmare had Japanese encampments ..and still black, brown, yellow and red skins fought bravely to save the world....what is it going to take ....
GingerLee, I feel you. What you’re describing is the long arc of this country trying to pretend it can outrun the consequences of what it built—then acting shocked when the bill shows up again and again.
And you’re right to bring up WWII and the Japanese internment camps, because that’s exactly the point: America has already shown it’s willing to suspend rights, dehumanize people, and call it “security” when the politics are convenient. The only reason people act like it can’t happen again is because they want to believe the worst chapters are sealed off in history books. They’re not.
So when you ask “what is it going to take,” the honest answer is: it takes people refusing to normalize any of this. Refusing to treat voter suppression, mass detention, or state violence as just another news cycle. The “New Jim Crow” framing exists because the pattern is familiar—different tools, same instinct: control, punishment, and exclusion.
You’re not overreacting. You’re recognizing the pattern early, which is exactly what we’re supposed to do.
Abbott has played his own hardball political games also. He has not filled the Congressional seat left vacant in Houston when Representative Sylvester Turner died. People in Mr. Turner’s district will remain unrepresented until the November elections. Bill Barr himself:told Trump he had lost, but Trump refused to believe it. Trump has always lived in a reality of his own making constructed from his malignant narcissism and sociopathy, and his reality and our lives are getting worse as his frontotemporal dementia progresses.
The election to replace Mr. Turner took place yesterday. Abbott took maximum advantage to stretch the process out for a year. It’s now done just in time to start primaries for November.
Don’t even get me started on Abbott, Kathy. You’re exactly right — he plays hardball and he’s shameless about who pays the price for it. Leaving that Houston seat vacant after Rep. Sylvester Turner died isn’t some neutral bureaucratic delay; it’s a choice. It means real people in that district are basically told, “Good luck, you can wait until November,” while the state treats representation like a bargaining chip instead of a right.
And your Bill Barr point is the one that still makes my eye twitch: when your own Attorney General is telling you there’s no “stolen election” there and you still keep screaming fraud, that’s not confusion — that’s a deliberate commitment to an alternate reality because the truth doesn’t serve you. Trump didn’t “refuse to believe” he lost. He refused to accept it, and the difference matters.
On the mental health/medical stuff — people throw around diagnoses, but I don’t need a clinical label to call what we’re watching: escalating delusion as a political strategy, enabled by a party that would rather ride the lie than risk his wrath. The result is the same either way: his fantasy becomes policy, and everybody else is forced to live inside it.
Appreciate you, Kathy. You’re connecting the dots exactly how people need to.
Appreciate your comments. I knew what we were in for the first time around as although I live in Ohio, I’ve observed Trump for years and was reasonably well informed on his grifting and stiffing suppliers and contractors. Trump has only become worse since his mental state is worsening. The press we depend upon to do its job isn’t doing its job.