Tom, thank you for sharing Elizabeth Warren's article. She is a fountain of good advice! I could say my cup is overflowing, yet I won't go too far as I am still quite low. I am going to allow myself more time to lounge around, sleep, read, watch movies, tv, anything mindless or relaxing. I know the day will come when I will feel it in my bones that it's time to lace up the boots and start looking to get involved. I've already found some groups to look into and am signed up for a Zoom call. I look forward to learning what others are doing to ease their pain at this time. I wanted to go for walks and commune with nature, but it is raining right now. That means I can rest and my body tells me that is what I need because I feel so incredibly tired. I am undone.
I feel your pain. My knitting needles are almost producing enough heat these days to keep me warm. Movies and good books, too. My teeny dog snuggled up right next to me. A walk in the sunshine (unseasonably warm here right now). We each need to spend sometime recharging our batteries to be ready for the fight of a lifetime.
I rewatched Ted Lasso yesterday. That kinda helped a little. And Lower Decks’ new season dropped a couple of weeks ago if you’re into the whole Star Trek universe. Stupid, but fun - and very much NOT American politics. 😁
Sleep. Get some lavender and put it in your room (unless you’ve got allergies if course. ) It’s very calming. Hopefully it will stop raining soon and you can get outside and breathe. ✌️
Preserve your strength. We all have.to. Hard work ahead. Many connections are coalescing around common strengths. There are thousands of good folks on many contact lists that can be brought together. The serious resitance has already started and it is encouraging that self pity and despair will be fleeting. Hang in there, Kathy.
One thing I can’t do is donate to more “efforts” to change things. They are in and democracy is history, at least in my lifetime. I believed the campaign verbiage, then and now.
I am encouraged by the immediate ramping up of good political and legal advice as to fighting the worst Trump is offering. One of the most delicious is what was reported by the MeidasTouch Network on Youtube..... Last summer, we all lamented the end of the "Chevron deference" that allowed Congress to delegate to government agencies the power to write regulations enacting laws that Congress passed. With the new ruling by our favorite corrupt SCOTUS, Congress now has to rule on any new regulations. Exactly! The plan on the left is to file lawsuits against any new rulings issued by Trump's appointed department heads if they are not authorized by Congress. This means that every change Trump and his cronies want to make to cripple the Inflation Reduction Act, the Chips and Science Act or any of the other measures the MAGAs want changed, cannot be changed or deleted without authorization by Congress - they won't have much time for too much other mischief..... And the real "pin in the butt" for the MAGAs is that the Democrats doing this will be "judge-shopping" for cooperative Democratic-appointed judges in areas with left-leaning appellate courts as well, delaying things the maximum amount of time before they head for SCOTUS. And if SCOTUS says that the agencies CAN issue new rulings without Congress, they just reversed themselves on Chevron.....
My understanding is the rulings say that judges aren't forced to automatically default to an agency's interpretations, but that they must conduct fact-finding prior to ruling, and the ruling has to be based on something other than just an agency's says so. (And I honestly haven't delved into it enough to know whether or not rescinding a previous ruling is treated the same as writing a new one). In any event both sides should be expected to hit this tactic pretty hard. You can expect differing rulings in differing jurisdictions, so kinda of a SCOTUS Full-employment Act.
In the long run, I hope you're right, and that Congress will quit writing so many stupid mega-bills that create random agencies all charged with "doing something". Examples abound. Maybe this forces Congress to reclaim the responsibilities as the 3rd co-equal branch of government that they defaulted to the executive.
As far as slowing things down, that's in large part how our Constitution structured things to be.
I like this plan, Bruce and it could work. However, Republicans can also appeal all the way back to SCOTUS and those wimps are quite willing to contradict themselves if it enables the authoritarian government they seem to favor.
Oh, very true, but the thing is, they will have to expend a lot of time and effort to work around these lawsuits and they will eventually run out of time to do all the damage they had planned to do. There are a LOT of regulations they want to change and now they cannot do any of that without Congressional approval. And if they do contradict themselves, then they will have restored the Chevron deference doctrine.....
What makes you think a few law suits, will throw them off their 180 day schedule. We're talking about July 20. 2025. Their plan is meticulous, well laid out and they have complete corroboration from JD Vance and Peter Thiel. I doubt lame brain trump has ever read it - he certainly never read the constitution and that's no more than thirty pages - not 900+. I detest Heritage Foundation, The Federalist Society and everything they stand for; but I do give them credit for meticulous planning.
Agreed Tom, BUT, that was all trump, NOT the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025. Also, remember as late as 2021, we still had a relatively intelligent AND law abiding Judiciary. After this year I've lost a lot of faith in the Judicial Branch of our Government
Trump has a learning disability (my guess is dyslexia, ans that has been reported by someone who worked for him) so he doesn't read any more than he has to - he'd NEVER read a 900+-page document. The legal maneuver I described was intended only to stop Trump from wholesale gutting of the current regulations. Handling the other things they may do will require other approaches.....
I think the thing to remember - to avoid complete despair - is to realize that while Trump may have learned from his mistakes the first time, so have his opponents, and they are ready to do whatever they can to control and delay the worst aspects of his second administration..... There are literally hundreds of lawyers prepared to file briefs and lawsuits in cases all over the country to protect our form of government and our rights.
Warren points out the need for action. We do not need to obey in advance. If we fight back hard and nasty we might just disabuse the MAGAts of the idea they have some sort of mandate, and that might slow down their worst fascist plans.
She was my choice in 2020 for President, but ultimately Joe Biden, my second choice, became the nominee. I'm glad she is where she is, though, because we need fighters in the Senate.
My cousin and I were in debate class at the high school just west of Northwest Classen where Liz attended. He’s one of the smartest guys I know and he had the actual misfortune of debating her. He said he didn’t stand a chance. He was catching up with her when she spoke at her old school in 2016. She’s as smart and disciplined as Trump and his goon squad isn’t. As shameful and horrific as this result is, the last thing we should expect from Trump and his Qanon half wits is competence.
Though "to the barricades" feels cathartic, obstructionism will carry one only so far. Perhaps some introspection is also in order to see where the message and messenger needs reworking.
Entirely right. We absolutely need to look at the message. But gumming up the works to slow them down and limit the damage that will have to be repaired is also good.
I sent an email and called the Oregon Governor and Attorney General to follow suit with other blue states like California, New York, Illinois and Massachusetts and be proactive against the Trump regime. Of course here is the response Leticia James got. So disgusting
If the right-wingers have any sense (I know, that's a stretch), they'll muzzle the likes of Mike Davis, Stephen Miller, and everyone pushing Project 2025. Because the more people learn about them, the more disgusted they are.
Thank you Tom for sharing Elizabeth Warren's op-ed. I have long been an admirer of both Elizabeth and Bernie and I am totally aboard their socialism leaning views on Democracy. BUT.
She is assuming, that on January 21, 2025 that we will still have a democracy, I'm not so sure. I am certain Elizabeth has read at least part if not all Project 2025.
Their 180 day plan which JD Vance is fully in agreement, ends July 20, 2025. By then their detailed plan will have led to a Christian National Dictatorship with a Nationwide ban on all abortions (good luck fighting that, Governor Newsom) no contraception of any kind will sold at any level. Women will lose their right to vote. There will be NO taxes of any kind on the wealthy. All able bodied men over the age of 16 or 18 will be forced to work at bare subsistence wages. All immigrants (including a few Naturalized citizens) will be either in concentration camps or deported. Ukraine will have been handed to Putin, with appropriate obeisance to Putin.
AND worst of all the United States will no longer be a Constitutional Republic. They fully intend to figuratively "burn" the Constitution and replace it with the Project 2025 memorandum.
All Americans will belong to the fundamentalist Christian church NO other religion will be permitted within the American borders - you don't think they can pull this off? They just won the fucking election.
John McCain, the last American Republican (now sadly deceased) saved the Affordable Care Act. The current batch of "former Republicans" have sold their souls to the Heritage Foundation.
Using the current Courts to slow down or strike back is wishful thinking, The Democrat legislators slept through McConnell's stacking the courts with anti-Constitutionalists.
Yes, the Democrats in office until January 3, 2025 must get as much protective legislation passed and signed into law by President Biden - but will they. Or will they slink back to their homes to 'enjoy' their Christmas holidays?
Also, what Elizabeth doesn't mention but I fully expect the trumpster.dumpster's reign as President will be very short lived. I fully expect the rethugs to invoke Amendment 25. And long live Mr. Dictator JD Vance
You don’t buy bull Schitt or pipe dreams. They will start way before Inauguration Day. He’s already the main headline everywhere. It’s what he did in 2016. Obama was ignored the last 2 months. The smart guys will waste NO time, not a nanosecond
It is a shame that people couldn’t see Elizabeth Warren as a U.S. President.
They really don’t like smart women at all.
No shit.
While Biden has been among the most consequential Presidents of my lifetime, Liz got my primary vote. I love her!
Same here -- and we here in MA just re-elected her to the U.S. Senate.
I could see her as Prez with Bernie as VP.
Dream on, it’s fantasy but reality is a bitch
You and me both.....
Tom, thank you for sharing Elizabeth Warren's article. She is a fountain of good advice! I could say my cup is overflowing, yet I won't go too far as I am still quite low. I am going to allow myself more time to lounge around, sleep, read, watch movies, tv, anything mindless or relaxing. I know the day will come when I will feel it in my bones that it's time to lace up the boots and start looking to get involved. I've already found some groups to look into and am signed up for a Zoom call. I look forward to learning what others are doing to ease their pain at this time. I wanted to go for walks and commune with nature, but it is raining right now. That means I can rest and my body tells me that is what I need because I feel so incredibly tired. I am undone.
Do what you need to do, Kathy. The fight's not going anywhere.
I feel your pain. My knitting needles are almost producing enough heat these days to keep me warm. Movies and good books, too. My teeny dog snuggled up right next to me. A walk in the sunshine (unseasonably warm here right now). We each need to spend sometime recharging our batteries to be ready for the fight of a lifetime.
🫶 Hang in there, Kathy!
I rewatched Ted Lasso yesterday. That kinda helped a little. And Lower Decks’ new season dropped a couple of weeks ago if you’re into the whole Star Trek universe. Stupid, but fun - and very much NOT American politics. 😁
Sleep. Get some lavender and put it in your room (unless you’ve got allergies if course. ) It’s very calming. Hopefully it will stop raining soon and you can get outside and breathe. ✌️
Preserve your strength. We all have.to. Hard work ahead. Many connections are coalescing around common strengths. There are thousands of good folks on many contact lists that can be brought together. The serious resitance has already started and it is encouraging that self pity and despair will be fleeting. Hang in there, Kathy.
One thing I can’t do is donate to more “efforts” to change things. They are in and democracy is history, at least in my lifetime. I believed the campaign verbiage, then and now.
I am encouraged by the immediate ramping up of good political and legal advice as to fighting the worst Trump is offering. One of the most delicious is what was reported by the MeidasTouch Network on Youtube..... Last summer, we all lamented the end of the "Chevron deference" that allowed Congress to delegate to government agencies the power to write regulations enacting laws that Congress passed. With the new ruling by our favorite corrupt SCOTUS, Congress now has to rule on any new regulations. Exactly! The plan on the left is to file lawsuits against any new rulings issued by Trump's appointed department heads if they are not authorized by Congress. This means that every change Trump and his cronies want to make to cripple the Inflation Reduction Act, the Chips and Science Act or any of the other measures the MAGAs want changed, cannot be changed or deleted without authorization by Congress - they won't have much time for too much other mischief..... And the real "pin in the butt" for the MAGAs is that the Democrats doing this will be "judge-shopping" for cooperative Democratic-appointed judges in areas with left-leaning appellate courts as well, delaying things the maximum amount of time before they head for SCOTUS. And if SCOTUS says that the agencies CAN issue new rulings without Congress, they just reversed themselves on Chevron.....
Excellent!
I love it when a plan comes together..... :-)
I saw that info, and it was delivered with cheerful confidence that's certainly keeping me in the fight.
My understanding is the rulings say that judges aren't forced to automatically default to an agency's interpretations, but that they must conduct fact-finding prior to ruling, and the ruling has to be based on something other than just an agency's says so. (And I honestly haven't delved into it enough to know whether or not rescinding a previous ruling is treated the same as writing a new one). In any event both sides should be expected to hit this tactic pretty hard. You can expect differing rulings in differing jurisdictions, so kinda of a SCOTUS Full-employment Act.
In the long run, I hope you're right, and that Congress will quit writing so many stupid mega-bills that create random agencies all charged with "doing something". Examples abound. Maybe this forces Congress to reclaim the responsibilities as the 3rd co-equal branch of government that they defaulted to the executive.
As far as slowing things down, that's in large part how our Constitution structured things to be.
good analysis
Being a little “L” libertarian, we’re bound to agree about half the time :-)
Learn from the bastards
"Oh what a tangled web we weave..."
I like this plan, Bruce and it could work. However, Republicans can also appeal all the way back to SCOTUS and those wimps are quite willing to contradict themselves if it enables the authoritarian government they seem to favor.
Oh, very true, but the thing is, they will have to expend a lot of time and effort to work around these lawsuits and they will eventually run out of time to do all the damage they had planned to do. There are a LOT of regulations they want to change and now they cannot do any of that without Congressional approval. And if they do contradict themselves, then they will have restored the Chevron deference doctrine.....
What makes you think a few law suits, will throw them off their 180 day schedule. We're talking about July 20. 2025. Their plan is meticulous, well laid out and they have complete corroboration from JD Vance and Peter Thiel. I doubt lame brain trump has ever read it - he certainly never read the constitution and that's no more than thirty pages - not 900+. I detest Heritage Foundation, The Federalist Society and everything they stand for; but I do give them credit for meticulous planning.
Implementing their bs is where they get sued, and that hangs them up. Remmer the muslim ban in 2017?
Agreed Tom, BUT, that was all trump, NOT the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025. Also, remember as late as 2021, we still had a relatively intelligent AND law abiding Judiciary. After this year I've lost a lot of faith in the Judicial Branch of our Government
Trump has a learning disability (my guess is dyslexia, ans that has been reported by someone who worked for him) so he doesn't read any more than he has to - he'd NEVER read a 900+-page document. The legal maneuver I described was intended only to stop Trump from wholesale gutting of the current regulations. Handling the other things they may do will require other approaches.....
Agreed Bruce.
I think the thing to remember - to avoid complete despair - is to realize that while Trump may have learned from his mistakes the first time, so have his opponents, and they are ready to do whatever they can to control and delay the worst aspects of his second administration..... There are literally hundreds of lawyers prepared to file briefs and lawsuits in cases all over the country to protect our form of government and our rights.
That’s what they do. Flood the zone with Schitt. Make them wade thru it.
How about change the name of the party to the Democratic Labor Party and actually be that?
Excellent idea, and remind the GOP that it was Lincoln who said labor is superior to capital.
Warren points out the need for action. We do not need to obey in advance. If we fight back hard and nasty we might just disabuse the MAGAts of the idea they have some sort of mandate, and that might slow down their worst fascist plans.
I love her. I got to vote for her in her first win before I moved out of Massachusetts and it was an honor!
Thank you, Liz!!
She was my choice in 2020 for President, but ultimately Joe Biden, my second choice, became the nominee. I'm glad she is where she is, though, because we need fighters in the Senate.
Sexism rules, do we need more proof
My cousin and I were in debate class at the high school just west of Northwest Classen where Liz attended. He’s one of the smartest guys I know and he had the actual misfortune of debating her. He said he didn’t stand a chance. He was catching up with her when she spoke at her old school in 2016. She’s as smart and disciplined as Trump and his goon squad isn’t. As shameful and horrific as this result is, the last thing we should expect from Trump and his Qanon half wits is competence.
The Heritage cretins are not stupid or incompetent. Be careful about assuming…
I know a Paul Mack. Are you the Paul Mack I know?
My first name is Mack rather than Paul, so probably not. It took me years to realize Paul Mack seemed right to people
I feel a bit like Sisyphus in the morning. Here we go again.
I'm a Grunt, just point me in the proper direction and say Go!
I won't give up, I won't give in, and I sure as hell won't shut up.
My cousin sent me the video of her speech. As always a good one.
I especially like the section on putting as many Ds in as many spaces as cannot be removed by presidential finger snapping as possible.
All encouragement accepted. Thank you for sharing all of Sen. Warren's article. Lawrence O'Donnell from last night is a must see also.
Though "to the barricades" feels cathartic, obstructionism will carry one only so far. Perhaps some introspection is also in order to see where the message and messenger needs reworking.
Entirely right. We absolutely need to look at the message. But gumming up the works to slow them down and limit the damage that will have to be repaired is also good.
And you should. Just call out the crazies.
I sent an email and called the Oregon Governor and Attorney General to follow suit with other blue states like California, New York, Illinois and Massachusetts and be proactive against the Trump regime. Of course here is the response Leticia James got. So disgusting
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mike-davis-letitia-james-fat-ass-comment_n_672de5a9e4b0933e82c99ab2
Mike Davis is one of the two most dangerous MAGAts. If he was found face-down in a dark alley, that would be a Good Thing.
He and Stephen Miller (AKA Joseph Goebbels) both.
You didn't hear it from me. :-)
Or me
If the right-wingers have any sense (I know, that's a stretch), they'll muzzle the likes of Mike Davis, Stephen Miller, and everyone pushing Project 2025. Because the more people learn about them, the more disgusted they are.
No, they're all busy celebrating they can say "fuck you, libs!"
Wait till the tariffs kick in . . . <g>
Elizabeth Warren rocks!
Thank you for sharing Tom.
Thank you Tom for sharing Elizabeth Warren's op-ed. I have long been an admirer of both Elizabeth and Bernie and I am totally aboard their socialism leaning views on Democracy. BUT.
She is assuming, that on January 21, 2025 that we will still have a democracy, I'm not so sure. I am certain Elizabeth has read at least part if not all Project 2025.
Their 180 day plan which JD Vance is fully in agreement, ends July 20, 2025. By then their detailed plan will have led to a Christian National Dictatorship with a Nationwide ban on all abortions (good luck fighting that, Governor Newsom) no contraception of any kind will sold at any level. Women will lose their right to vote. There will be NO taxes of any kind on the wealthy. All able bodied men over the age of 16 or 18 will be forced to work at bare subsistence wages. All immigrants (including a few Naturalized citizens) will be either in concentration camps or deported. Ukraine will have been handed to Putin, with appropriate obeisance to Putin.
AND worst of all the United States will no longer be a Constitutional Republic. They fully intend to figuratively "burn" the Constitution and replace it with the Project 2025 memorandum.
All Americans will belong to the fundamentalist Christian church NO other religion will be permitted within the American borders - you don't think they can pull this off? They just won the fucking election.
John McCain, the last American Republican (now sadly deceased) saved the Affordable Care Act. The current batch of "former Republicans" have sold their souls to the Heritage Foundation.
Using the current Courts to slow down or strike back is wishful thinking, The Democrat legislators slept through McConnell's stacking the courts with anti-Constitutionalists.
Yes, the Democrats in office until January 3, 2025 must get as much protective legislation passed and signed into law by President Biden - but will they. Or will they slink back to their homes to 'enjoy' their Christmas holidays?
Also, what Elizabeth doesn't mention but I fully expect the trumpster.dumpster's reign as President will be very short lived. I fully expect the rethugs to invoke Amendment 25. And long live Mr. Dictator JD Vance
You don’t buy bull Schitt or pipe dreams. They will start way before Inauguration Day. He’s already the main headline everywhere. It’s what he did in 2016. Obama was ignored the last 2 months. The smart guys will waste NO time, not a nanosecond