There's a coup happening in DC. There's no other way to describe it.
The president is nominating and the Senate is approving candidates whose basic qualifications are loyalty to the president.
He's illegally firing employees and shutting down federal funding to the states.
He's implemented 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
The Republicans in the Senate are approving his nominees.
He's fired all the heads of agencies that deal with airline travel and safety, then blamed two crashes on Biden, women, and people of color. The new N word is DEI.
He's fired a large number of federal attorneys and FBI agents.
He's wiping out all traces of programs that work for justice for people who aren't white hetero males.
His unelected, unapproved, honorary vice president (some argue the true president) Elon Musk has slipped into key agencies and people are worried he's collecting data for his own business uses and other nefarious purposes.
Gutting important health and other websites.
He's released water from a dam in California that was being saved up for when it's needed in the summer.
This is just a tiny fraction of the acts he's taken.
Even if Congress stood up to Trump, he would simply ignore them and do what he wants. Who is to stop him? (I'll try to address this question in another post.)
What seems to drive his decisions? There seem to be four key factors, though readers can probably think of others:
- Getting everyone to focus on Trump. He just can't deal with being ignored or criticized
- Punish those who don't kowtow to his whims
- Whip up the fear and anger of his supporters
- Reward his wealthy supporters
No mainstream media mention coup yet
While the main media outlets might mention his actions, none that I've seen have put it all together and called it a coup. When I google Trump coup - everything that comes up is about January 6, 2021. Cyber coups are as easy to convey visually as military coups.
But on social media, people are starting to call this what it is. Here are just a couple of examples:
From Bluesky/ was bustling with coup references today.
"But the longer we fail to recognize the current situation for what it is—a slow-rolling coup attempt—the longer it will take for us to recover."
A privatization coup of the US government?
— David Corn (@davidcorn.bsky.social) February 1, 2025 at 3:25 PM
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Not just a coup but a coup by a corrupt Putin- and Nazi-aligned foreigner. Too bad we no longer have a real DOJ.
— Andrew Wallingford (@andrewwallingford.bsky.social) February 1, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Another step in the coup & Trump still doesn’t realize Musk has taken charge.
— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) February 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM
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https://spoutible.com/. didn't offer as many examples when I searched for 'coup'
Even on Musk's own Twitter people are calling it a coup
We are in the middle of a fast moving putsch, a right wing authoritarian coup, a five alarm fire, and our media are treating it as if it were a little backyard bonfire.
— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) February 1, 2025
If this isn’t a coup d’etat, I don’t know what is. Someone not elected to office is methodically taking full control of the United States government. pic.twitter.com/zxUMcsFv8G
— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) February 2, 2025
Elon Musk is staging a coup. Was that not clear? https://t.co/AcCNI1caNK
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) February 1, 2025
Democrats are still talking about winning the 2026 Congressional races, as if there will be free and fair elections. But Trump's team has studied all the possible ways to disenfranchise opposition voters and ways to game the electoral process, I can't imagine that the next elections will be conducted with a fat thumb on the scales.
At the moment, most people are living pretty much the way they were six months ago. Except for dark skinned immigrants, pregnant women with complications, LGBTQ folks, people are still going about their lives relatively normally.
They haven't grasped that soon they will be affected. Maybe when disaster funds are withheld, or people they work with disappear, or their health care or social security are sharply reduced or disappear.
But most authoritarian governments in world history end. Some faster than others. Find ways to resist in your community - whether it's joining a group, contacting your federal representatives on a regular basis, confronting disinformation when you hear it, and many other ways. Here's Robert Reich's list of ten things to do to resist.
I'd note Reich reminds people to find joy in their lives - get out and appreciate the beauty of nature, of art, music, a meal with family and friends, play with your pets.
Hi Steve. Well, I guess I understand why you haven't posted for several weeks. But really, other than all this, how is life?
ReplyDeleteBest to all your readers. Keep the kettle on.
Jakob
Hey... It's only been 12 days, not even two weeks. Don't make it sound worse than it is. :) And in that time I read The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi - a fantasy novel about a woman pirate captain plying the Indian Ocean in the 12th Century. The various gods and supernatural beings in the story were very much part of people's lives back then. A great way to escape 2025 for an hour or two a day. And I would have had another post up already today, except a) I slept until 10:45 this morning b) an old high school friend who lives in Seattle called to say he was waiting for the 12:30 pm ferry to Bainbridge if I was around and c) I was around and met him at the ferry then we went to the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, then walked around a lot, then had a late lunch/early dinner at a Thai restaurant in the small boat harbor, and it started pouring rain and then some non-stick snow while we were eating, then walked him back to catch the 6:30 ferry. Was martial law declared today? Haven't seen any news at all.
DeleteAch, good to hear, Steve. We've returned from Scotland yesterday after attending our first, real Robbie Burns Night & other things in Banchory with an older (formerly Alaskan as we are) friend who lives in her home-country there.
DeleteAlso got in some good walks along deep & fast running rivers in mountain country a few months ahead of Alaska's schedule (with a bit of wonderful snow on mountain-tops!). Took time in Glasgow to get better grounding in that city -- a place of historic socialist termoil & workers' movements -- and shelter for so many of Europe's tempest-tossed over the centuries. A lot to take in, much to learn. And there, unlike here in N. Ireland, both established and disestablished church is fading. There is hope for the USA after all.
It is, after all, yet another nation-constituency of another forced-integration nation-state. It helps to gain perspective in the study of the USA. So yes, writing out loud here, it seems there is a terrific number of 'end-of-the-world' prophets (profits?) now. Like you, I'm finding moments of inner calm. The rest feels much like reliving adolescent angst. And I remind myself I got through that madness once; I can do it, again.
It's a different sort of 'good', this way of seeing life with experience. I may see this unleashing of 'creative destruction' economics as a wildly-careening boulder smashing our world political disorder, a demon longer-in-tooth than the horror of an American Zion.
Ok, time to take a wrap, then. For you & all your good readers, find those moments of healing for your heart & soul. However this madness may end, all will be changed for the effort.
Life is still worth living. It's living that presents the problem.
Good morning, friend. Really.
First the tariffs were cancelled.
ReplyDeleteSecond Trump had nothing to do with the air crash. 'From the New York Times
285 of 313 Air Traffic Control Facilities Are Understaffed
Persistent staff shortages have raised safety concerns. At many facilities, staffing is so low that at least a quarter of the work force is missing.
How did Trump cause a military pilot to ignore multiple warnings from ATC about the plane in their flight path?
The Democrats need working class people; union support maybe and win back male voters, and this is how they select new officers.
"We have an amazing group of new officers. So far, as you know, our three at large vice chair positions are used to ensure gender balance among seven offices: treasury secretary, national finance chair and vice chair for civic engagement and voter participation and the three at large vice chairs. Our rules specify that when we have a non-binary candidate or officer, the non-binary individual is counted as neither male nor female, and the remaining six offices must be gender balanced with the results of the previous four elections. Our elected officers are currently two male and two female. To be gender balanced… we must elect one male, one female, and one person of any gender."
I can't believe what I just listened to. The DNC Leader interrupted the party election to tell members that not enough non-binary candidates have been elected, so they MUST now vote for one.
Then they pick David Hogg for one of the seats!!!!
Andrew said I officially endorse David Hogg to be DNC Vice Chair. David is the greatest gun salesman of all-time & I think he will do an even better job pushing young men further to the right
While the Republicans were acknowledging the plight of the working class the Democrats were explaining how someone with a penis is a female and how men can get pregnant and the horror of not using the right pronoun.
No coup Steve, it’s what the American people voted for what was important to them . Get use to the fact that the Democratic party is out of touch with the common person.
43% of voters have a favorable opinion of the Republican Party, the highest since 2008.By contrast, 31% of registered voters have a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party.