“This is important,” King said. “The cumbersomeness, the slowness, the clumsiness is built into our system. The framers were so fearful of concentrated power that they designed a system that would be hard to operate. And the heart of it was the separation of power between various parts of the government. The whole idea, the whole idea was that no part of the government, no one person, no one institution had or could ever have a monopoly on power.”
“Why? Because it’s dangerous. History and human nature tells us that. This division of power, as annoying and inefficient as it can be,… is an essential feature of the system, not a bug. It’s an essential, basic feature of the system, designed to protect our freedoms.” …
Project 2025 is nothing less than a blueprint for the shredding of the Constitution and the transition of our country to authoritarian rule. He’s the last person who should be put in the job at the heart of the operation of our government.”
“[T]his isn’t about politics. This isn’t about policy. This isn’t about Republican versus Democrat. This is about tampering with the structure of our government, which will ultimately undermine its ability to protect the freedom of our citizens. If our defense of the Constitution is gone, there’s nothing left to us.” …
King’s appeal to principle and the U.S. Constitution did not convince his Republican colleagues, who confirmed Vought.
The number of Republicans who want Musk and Doge to have “a lot” of influence in the Trump administration has fallen significantly, to 26%, according to the Economist/YouGov poll conducted this week, reported by the Hill.
The same poll taken in the days immediately after Trump’s November election win revealed that enthusiasm among Republicans for Musk’s role stood at 47%.
The disquiet also appears to have spread to a number of Republican senators, who have begun voicing alarm at Musk’s tightening grip. …
In the House on Wednesday, the Wisconsin Democratic congressman Mark Pocan filed legislation called the Eliminate Looting of Our Nation by Mitigating Unethical State Kleptocracy Act, AKA the Elon Musk Act.
“Elon Musk is ripping us off and like millions of Americans across the country, I’m pissed. I’m taking action [to prevent] grifters like him from getting richer while pillaging our tax dollars for himself,” Pocan said.
I know I’m spitting into the wind, but I remember MAGAts bragging that dt kept America out of war. I read that America First (throwing up now) was isolationist.
Now, wannabe Emperor Trump has declared an interest in taking over:
Greenland
Canada
Panama
Gaza
(Why not Mexico? That would really solve the problem with migrants. Well, there has been talk about invading Mexico, too, but not taking ownership.)
Are people who voted for dt *happy* with this? Are they so joyous with the destruction of government and the Constitution that they don’t care about empire building (and hotel selling)? Has anyone explained how this *bullshit* is “good”? Does dt have to drop his trousers at a press conference for loyalists to feel uneasy?
I feel genuinely scared in a way I didn’t expect to. Trump and his partner-in-crime, Elon Musk, are in the process of smashing the US to bits with a sledgehammer so they can sell it off for scrap and rebuild it to their liking. Even if you’re privileged enough not to be directly affected by that sledgehammer, you can still feel the reverberations.
Understand, we are watching in real time as a foreigner takes more power than anyone in the US has ever had. Even if the system repels him, he will have all the data he needs. He will have planted all the backdoors and viruses he needs to access ALL OUR DATA from any place in the world. Mucks has declared war on the US Government. We must declare WAR back. Lock him up. Take his wealth. #resist
Each of us needs to stand on principle, loudly, whenever, wherever we can. Used strategically, our voices can do a lot to preserve anti-authoritarian worldviews about facts, science, history, rights, justice and inclusion. In this moment, it matters to just be a person who, wherever the opportunity arises, affirms that the climate crisis is real and climate solutions benefit us all, immigrants are vital to our economy and their rights matter, trans people harm no one by their existence but face terrible harm, diversity strengthens enterprises and communities and our country, women’s rights and equality should be non-negotiable.
"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams
