Trump's Reichstag moment is unfolding in Los Angeles, where he is baiting unrest and chaos over reckless ICE tactics. He had his openly bigoted fascist henchman Stephen Miller order quotas for ICE detentions and deportations, breaking their promise to prioritize arrests for violent criminals.
He WANTS riots and social unrest to justify his authoritarian crackdown on our former democratic republic. Those of us who try to be informed and rational have seen this coming. Those of us who read history understand this is fascism tightening its grip over the country.
It has been gestating for decades before Trump came along as America's first Felon president. Trump's tyranny depends on agitating the worst Americans who lack empathy and compassion.
The Radical Right propaganda machine has been relentless in fueling hate and bigotry through lies, demonization of dissent, and fascist scapegoating.
White nationalism and oligarchy have finally won their cold civil war.
This
social/moral sickness of greed, bigotry, racism, ignorance, and indifference is abetting Trump's ambition to be a military dictator who rules over an expanding
"Police States of America".
History teaches us this will only get far worse before the light of day shines again over MAGA's American Dark Age.
Hang on. Resist. Persist. And VOTE!
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24 comments:
So... perhaps this is a case of two things, or even more things, being true at the same time.
Does Trump have a dictatorial view of the presidency? Of course he does. No sane person can look at his actions and come to a different conclusion. Now, that does not mean he hates America and wants to see it fail. I'm just saying he is going about his job in the fashion of an autocrat or dictator.
Trump sees no need for Constitutional norms, scoffs at the SCOTUS and has publicly stated that because he was elected, he should be able to carry out his agenda, even if the courts say no. So much for three co-equal branches of government.
If he walks like a dictator, talks like a dictator and governs like a dictator, he is at the very least, dictatorial.
Now... none of this excuses the feebleness of the current Democratic Party. Especially as it relates to immigration, the current issue de jour.
Excusing the fever swamp idiots who say Democrats don't "want THEIR children safe from pedophiles, traffickers and murderers", let's look at this critically.
Can anyone here name a member of the Dem leadership who has said America cannot survive with open borders and we have a right to determine who comes here? Can anyone here name a single Dem who has simply said, illegal immigration, undocumented immigration or immigration "without papers" is WRONG?
I seriously doubt it, because my closest leftie friends refuse to do so.
Heck, the fact that we have to have different terms to describe the same thing so as not to offend, should tell you something.
IMO the Dems HAVE forgotten who they serve, creating a vacuum filled by the loons on the right who have enabled the Great Trumpini, his henchman Stephen Miller and the rest of his rogues gallery of YES Men, essential in any dictatorship.
Dave,
The constant yammering about "illegals" from the Right has effectively drowned out anything Democrats did about immigration. Dems are simply not as effective at messaging as Republicans are about lying.
Yes, Biden did too little too late, but he actually deported more than Trump at times.
Trump Immigrant Removals Now 10 Percent Below Biden’s Record
https://tracreports.org/reports/756/
This was as of March 25, 2025.
We don't hear that in corporate or Trump media.
You won't hear that Biden sent troops to the border after Title 42 expired either.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/8/4/22605595/biden-immigration-border-title-42-deportation-mexico
Americans are oblivious of this as well:
Biden’s immigration policy isn’t Trump’s — but it’s still a disappointment
Migrants at the border are finding an unexpected adversary in Biden.
Also forgotten is Biden and the Democrats agreed to an expansive bipartisan border bill that Trump ordered killed. We also don't hear much about that.
The Republicans are better propagandists and at drowning out other voices.
As we have learned, too many Americans are too incurious to learn the facts.
So here we are...
And for the record, under Biden the US did NOT have "open borders". That's just another Republican LIE they told Americans.
Dave... I get the borders weren't open, but anyone being objective has to agree that we saw an increase in immigration during the Biden Admin.
Now, I know that many of those immigrants came legally, through the asylum system, but both political sides agree that system is broken, needs to be fixed and was being abused.
But think about the border... did Biden or Harris ever go there? I don't believe so, despite invites from border area Dems. Honestly, I don't think either one of them has invested as much time in understanding the border issues as I have.
How is that possible?
As for the bi partisan bill, why did it take so long? It was a good try, but the Dems got duped and had no way to respond.
Look, the politics of this are horrible for the Dems and they refuse to learn. Why can't they say, or won't simply say the violence in Los Angeles is wrong and the ppl who are violent are criminals and need to be arrested?
The opinion of many is they are afraid to do so, for fear of angering various voting coalitions. So we're left with the Dems explaining. And explaining some more.
IMHO... it's political malpractice.
Yes, the fascists always pull the wool over Americans’ eyes. Republicans decry crime and criminals as they install a felon in the White House. They decry political violence as they cheer pardons for Trump’s J6 thugs.
Paraphrasing Van Jones, Democrats have to be flawless while Republicans can be lawless.
John Fetterman joined the Republican band wagon in lying that Democrats don’t condemn violence, after meeting with Steve Bannon, no less!
After a short search:
Rep. Nanette Barragán
Now, again, any violence is completely unacceptable.
https://www.npr.org/2025/06/09/nx-s1-5427213/democratic-rep-barragan-trump-immigration-raids-los-angeles
California Democratic senator Adam Schiff urged restraint from protesters, warning on social media that “violence is never the answer…plays directly into the hands of those who seek to antagonize and weaponize the situation for their own gain”.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/09/los-angeles-immigration-protests-trump-reaction
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
“The bottom line is that violence in the riots is outrageous and should never happen full stop. That’s the bottom line, and anyone who commits violence or breaks the law should be fully prosecuted,”
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/la-protests-ice-raids-trump-06-10-25
All on deaf ears.
As Trump’s thugs are praised and pardoned, Democrats get smeared for not condemning violence.
This is why this country is finished. When truth is dead, so is democracy.
Biden has visited the U.S.-Mexico border multiple times during his presidency.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDfPwNtTKeo
Harris at the border:
https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-donald-trump-border-arizona-4a87c6f3b2df1736aa226bc620f51b89
Again, all on deaf ears and closed eyes being overwhelmed with Republican lies.
Dave, here's how David Ignatius summed the border up for Dems...
"Democrats’ mistake, over more than a decade, has been to behave as though border enforcement doesn’t matter. Pressured by immigrant rights activists, party leaders too often acted as if maintaining a well-controlled border was somehow morally wrong. Again and again, the short-term political interests of Democratic leaders in responding to a strong faction within the party won out over having a policy that could appeal to the country as a whole."
What does he say that is not based in the truth?
As for border visits by both Biden and Harris, I did not remember them ever going. That's on me, but maybe... a little on them? Was there any substantial policy they announced? Any views on immigration they shared on those visits I also missed?
Honestly, I do not know the political views Ignatius holds. I see him as a pretty honest broker of info with years of experience. He's been tough on Trump as it relates to Ukraine and yough on the Dems as it relates to the border.
I guess here's my dilemma...
When Trump came in, Biden had recently announced some policies/EOs to reduce immigration on the southern border. What took the Biden Admin so long? Were they not aware of what was happening? Or did they not think it was a big deal?
Either way, they should have taken their late 2024 actions in early 2023 and maybe, just maybe, Trump would not be president.
You know the old adage... even a broken clock is correct twice a day. That was trump on immigration. He said it was a problem. And it was. And the Dems lost a chance to offer a better solution than what we are seeing now from our Dictator in Chief when Biden failed to act earlier in his admin.
And unless the Dems get a coherent strategy together on this, Dems won't win the presidency in 2028 either. Because a majority of the US, is feeling that while Trump's policies may be horrible, they are better than the nothing burget the Dems are offering.
Ignatius is right, that the Dems failed in conveying a strong message on the border, despite their willingness to draft and support the bipartisan border bill. Now it's fashionable in corporate media to kick them while they are down.
Ignatius has been a "company man" who supported the invasion of Iraq and opposed Obama's investigation of CIA torture. He also supported their use of private contractors and mercenaries.
Dems need a policy that could "appeal to the country as a whole", whatever that means. Uninformed and authoritarian Americans voted for Project 2025, mass deportation, and military occupation of American cities as Trump urges troops to boo democrats and news media.
I hope this doesn't "appeal to the country as a whole", but we voted for it.
The Democratic Party's weak messaging and Biden's fatal error in betraying his promise to serve only one term added up to defeat.
It didn't matter that illegal immigration was down in 2024. The price of eggs seemed to be the number one issue. Again, Dems need to be flawless while Republicans are free to be lawless. Literally.
Let's not forget the ONLY reason Trump won is because his corrupt partisan cronies on the Supreme Court invented "presidential immunity" for their criminal court packer. The Democratic Republic committed suicide in 2016.
Now we have the dictatorship we voted for. The end.
BTW... for all the trolls, this is what conversation, back and forth with respect, looks like. I wonder Dave, why it is so hard for the MAGA lovers to engage like this...
Dave, this is a line that troubles me...
"Let's not forget the ONLY reason Trump won is because his corrupt partisan cronies on the Supreme Court invented "presidential immunity" for their criminal court packer."
I think if we really believe this to be true, we're gonna end up losing again. Because it excuses numerous realities. Certainly it part of the problem, but doesn't the Dem inability to make a positive case for their election, as opposed to "we ain't Trump" factor in?
Love him or hate him, at least Trump said what he was going to do. Did I miss Harris saying how she'd help middle, rural America, lower taxes on the middle class, balance the budget, etc?
Honestly, I have no idea what the Dems have stood for since 2016. Except "Don't be Trump." And if I talk to my more lefty friends, neither do they. They know what THEY want, but not what Dem leadership wants.
I'll stand by the logic that Trump would not have won if justice was allowed to proceed to felony convictions and prison, aka rule of law.
"Not Trump" should be reason enough to vote for them. The fact this fails to resonate is on them and corporate media. You're right that Harris failed to expound on policies that benefit most Americans. Also being a woman of color really did put her at a disadvantage in our still too racist and bigoted country.
Last month I discussed how Democrats needed better messaging.
http://www.davedubya.com/2025/05/democratic-agenda.html
Low approval ratings for the Democratic party in recent polls reflect the success of this massive partisan propaganda. We've learned Republican messaging through simplistic bumper sticker slogans will always be more effective than Democrats’ nuanced discussions of policy.
Democrats need to make more of an effort to communicate their policies and agenda to the public and to emphasize what they stand for and against. I have these few suggestions...
I would amend my statement, Let's not forget the ONLY reason Trump was ABLE to win is because his corrupt partisan cronies on the Supreme Court invented "presidential immunity" for their criminal court packer.
Until both parties return to the Reagan/O'Neil and the Clinton/Gingrich style governing relationship not a damn thing is going to change. Governing under the divisive style embraced by tRump and his tRumpublican party will only keep partisan politics on steriods well into the future. Which is exactly what I believe tRump and his sycophants want. They may love their country but to expect everyone to conform to and embrace their ignorant deluded views, or face retribution, is at the heart of every fascist government that has ever existed or exists.
Continued division will ultimately tear this nation asunder. When and if it happens Donald J. Trump WILL bear full responsibility for it.
Reagan and O'Neil were the end of a bygone era. This cooperative, or at least civil, relationship can never happen with criminals like Trump and his fascist followers.
I don't care to see sleazeballs like Clinton or Gingrich ever again. Gingrich and the FOX empire initiated the far Right's coup with his "Contract with (on) America".
Slimy Newt is totally MAGA these days. From his book "Trump’s Triumph: America’s Greatest Comeback":
“President Trump’s reelection was the triumph of a man and a movement,” Gingrich writes. “Each needed the other if America was to be saved.”
He can go to hell with the rest of those neo-Nazis.
If those fascists really love our country they wouldn't be at war with democracy, decency, and the truth. They wouldn't take food from the hungry and healthcare from the poor so the oligarchs pay lower taxes. They wouldn't demonize fellow Americans.
No, they don't love America. They love wealth and power, and will destroy our republic to hold that power.
Yes, Trump is responsible, but I hold the partisan and Trump-sucking six so-called "justices" who fabricated "presidential immunity" for that crook in equal, if nor more, contempt. THEY should have known better, but proved to be as amoral, wrong, and unenlightened as Trump.
I was merely using examples of opposing politicians that maintained a degree of civility and respect that made governing possible. Which is good for America. Something the FOTUS has no intention of doing. Nor does the Party of MAGA.
Les.
Point taken. As bad as it was with Clinton and Gingrich, it only got worse.
Again, I don't credit the likes of Gingrich in making governing possible.
His shutdowns were the vanguard of the pro-corporate authoritarian radical Right anti-democracy campaign. His Contract on America proposed expanding the death penalty, more prisons, limits on punitive damages and weakening of product liability laws, prohibiting welfare to mothers under 18 years of age, denying increased Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) for additional children while on welfare.
Clinton went along with much of it. Hunter S. Thompson called him the "best Republican president".
Clinton's shift to the Right assured the descent of our democracy.
Then came the first president, selected by the Supreme Court, to lie us into invading a country that didn't attack us. When Bush II was reelected, I knew the end of the republic was inevitable. The American public was now under the spell of FOX(R) and talk radio. The stage was set for Trump.
America's Dark Age? How else to explain it? We awoke today to news that two Democratic and I assume progressive state politicians and their spouses were gunned down this morning in Minnesota. By a gunman who was wearing body armor and left a right wing manifesto.
Right wing killers have for years targeted doctors who perform abortions. The majority of the mass shootings in this country, those in churches, mosques, banks and grocery stores are committed by right wing ideologues.
There is overwhelming evidence that shows progressives do not resort to killing ppl with divergent political views on a level anywhere near the levels of violence prevalent from conservatives.
The only conclusion we can draw from this is that the extreme right wing has moved beyond advocating for political views favorable to their position and has opted for violence and even murder to accomplish their goals.
How else can we explain the disparity in the Dark Ages in which we are currently living?
Dave,
My first impression is the MAGA assassin was part of a broader conspiracy. It took money and help for him to steal or disguise a vehicle as a cop car. It reeks of hate groups like the emboldened and pardoned militia nuts, Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, etc.
These neo-Nazis are itching for civil war to let them murder everyone they hate. I'm sure more deaths will be forthcoming.
The Radical Right Republican Party and six corrupt Supreme Court Justices have openly endorsed political violence by immunizing and installing their Godfather of political violence in the White House.
The fascists will not relent until they have terrorized and suppressed all opposition and established their goal of a militarized police state.
And that's where we are headed.
"This country is finished." - George Carlin
Dave... this is what we need from more national politicians, including the POTUS and VP who to date, have NEVER affirmed something even close to this, a statement today out of Minnesota.
“Today we [the entire Minnesota Congressional delegation, Dem and GOP alike] speak with one voice to express our outrage, grief, and condemnation of this horrible attack on public servants. There is no place in our democracy for politically-motivated violence...”
"No place in our democracy" None at all. And yet so many MAGA folks cannot, or will not say this. Nor Trump or Vance.
And on the Dem side, notice how clean this was... no "we understand the anger that drives someone to it" BS.
Just a straight none. Period.
Why is a statement as clean and direct as this so hard to get?
Dave,
This is all on Trump and his party of authoritarians.
Sure, those Minnesota Republicans will agree, "There is no place in our democracy for politically-motivated violence.”
I don't believe them. They don't mean it. They LIE.
THEY all voted for the criminal asshole who incited violence, praised his loyal thugs, and then pardoned them. Until they repudiate Trump and Trumpism, they are dangerous neo-Nazis to me.
This assassination should remind Americans that Trump's hate and lie-filled rhetoric about Dems being "commies", "America-hating radical leftists", and the "enemy within" is why deranged gunmen want to kill Democrats.
Trump and everyone who enabled him, from the Supreme Court, to Republicans and their voters are directly to blame.
I'm with you Dave D. Trump is but the ring leader, the cheer leader for fascist authoritarian government. It's the red party in congress, the corrupt conservative scotus, and the billionaire oligarchs financing the fascist movement in America that hold the lion's share of responsibility for the increasing political unrest, chaos, and violence in the nation. Ignorant and greedy people using average folks as pawns to increase their own wealth, influence, and power. The power to control the lives of everyone, forcing all of us to conform to their fascist whims & will is absolutely their ultimate goal.
Donald Trump and other Republicans made fun of, and lied about Paul Pelosi after he was beaten with a hammer by a MAGA acolyte.
Now we have GOP Senator Mike Lee and other MAGA clowns blaming Democrats and lying about the assassination of Democratic political leaders in Minnesota.
Their only goal is to divide and sow discord in American society.
I'm slowly starting to come around to the conclusion that many of these people are just plainly, either proactively or passively, deciding to walk hand in hand with evil.
Here's an example. I have a friend who has been a lifelong Republican. Nice guy. Great guy. If you needed, he'd do anything for you. Last week we had a conversation about the One BBB the GOP is proposing. He has frequently stated he opposes deficit spending and is worried about the ballooning of US debt.
He stated that he was supportive of the One BBB and sees Mike Johnson as a serious, honest guy. As we talked about the ramifications of the tax cut on the deficit, he claimed that tax cuts pay for themselves by expanding the economy.
When I asked him, after pointing out that this approach did not work for Reagan, Bush I, Bush II or Trump I, he had nothing. When I stated that the tax increases of Bush I and Clinton, coupled with less spending in the 90's led to a balanced budget and a lower debt, he had nothing.
He wanted so much for what he believed to be true to actually be true, he was unable to pivot to a different mindset. And so he held firm in support of Johnson.
The MAGA people are in the same boat. They see how bad Trump is... some even write about it. But they cannot abandon him.
And in so doing, become everything they've always hated about politicians... evil enabling, relativist liars themselves.
It's sad to see.
Dave,
You described what I call the "Great American Tragedy". Willfully duped and ignorant people surrendered their minds, conscience, and soul to a fascist criminal.
Never again will anyone say, "It can't happen here".
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