The strategy of bluster and lies and macho posturing hasn’t been working too well beyond the boundaries of the United States of America, as country after country has failed to bend a knee to Donald Trump and the threats he made in his inaugural address to “expand our territory.” Trump has said he wants to take over Greenland and for Canada to become the 51
I used to do that all the time even when I worked as a copyeditor! It took this being pointed out to me by a boss to get it straight in my mind at last. We all have bugaboo words! (And this isn't nearly as crazy as "Philippines".)
Not surprising considering that CC's name was originally Cristoforo Colombo, and in Spain he became Cristóbol Colón. No "u"s anywhere -- except in English.
It was all Kabuki theater. Colombia caved on the military flights tonight and Trump dropped the tariffs. The is nothing new in this twisted universe that we live in.
One item that I saw indicated that Colombia's refusal was based on reports that the deportees were kept in handcuffs and not allowed to use the bathroom during the flight. I don't know if that was accurate, but, if true, the caving could have been on the U.S. side, if Trump decided to treat the deportees with a modicum of respect in order to get them out. He could still treat that as his success as facts are not important to him.
It is, at this point, criminally inexcusable for ANY of us - or any of our overseas allies - to accommodate these low-life thugs, especially Trump himself. He ran for one reason: to stay out of jail. For most of the last three years he has been scared shitless, because he KNEW that Jack Smith, Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis et al had him dead to rights - and he KNEW he was going to end his days in jail.
Now that he's "won", he's puffed himself up like the crudest tribal leader of a gutter-level mafia clan. He will disappoint most of the gullible, low-information-and-education people who voted for him, early on - and when he does, the rest of us have to have the guts to call him and his cronies out every time, to NEVER accommodate, and be ready with something better when time and the political wheel inevitably turns back again.
If Kamala Harris had been given the normal amount of campaign runway, we wouldn't be having this conversation. We need to use the incredible pain of that as fuel to make sure we're ready to fight like hell for as long as it takes.
I still think the Dems have to update their messaging and acquire current savviness in messaging. (both in content and dispersal) Also, we have to knock down the incredible amount of misogyny embedded in this country.
Damn right, Kely. It is our duty as citizens of America and THE WORLD to fight against the traitor, to prevent the same injustice and murder incurred by hitlers thugs in Germany. We must protect our vote, support our lawyers and the courts, and in 2026 elect those who will discontinue this travesty.
My favorite news moment Sunday was reports of Muck telling the German extremist right party [paraphrasing] to forget recent shaming, it's time to resume traditional German values.
If Trump were to expire tomorrow, 30% of your fellow Americans would refuse to believe it."No he's not dead,he's living on a ranch in Montana,with Tupac, J.F K.jr, and Elvis.'
Lucian, thank you for this post. I suggest you look up the full reply by Colombia's president. The original is in Spanish. The translation published by Newsweek is obviously from google translate, sloppy and not very accurate. Too bad nobody at Newsweek edited it for proper English. But you'll get the idea. Colombia's president now aquired many admirers abroad, especially in all of Latin America. How does the US gain any influence by such arrogant, provocative statements from its president? What a useless loss of prestige and respect for our country.
All countries that stand firm against Donald Trump and his compromised Cabinet are standing firm in favor of the majority of Americans and for America herself.
My head is spinning! Does he just throw all the excrement at the wall to see what might stick? He’s running this country (and attempting to bully others) like a video game. He may never have drunk alcohol, but he is so drunk with power that he’s a train wreck. I just hope we all get out of the way in time. And oh Little Marco and Pete the Barbarian! It. Just. Gets. Worse by the day.
Trump is working for Putin. Understand that. So, that means destroying the US and NATO both from within. We can see the domestic destruction, and anyone who has accepted that immigrants are our biggest problem is not understanding that was the Jewish problem in Germany. Going after Greenland a country belonging to a NATO ally, destroys NATO. Look at everything in this light, and then also look at what you can work on domestically. Pick one thing so that you do not feel overwhelmed. My group decided to work on health care.
I hope you're telling people to vote in local/municipal elections, where their vote is much more likely to have an effect than in congressional, statewide, or national elections. Unfortunately, the usual turnout is in inverse proportion to the election's importance: in general, turnout in local/municipal elections is pathetic, whereas something like 63% of eligible voters voted for president in 2024. Yes, 63% is fairly pathetic too, but when you consider that unless you're in a swing state, your vote means next to nothing, 63% isn't bad.
I support voting big time. Shoot, if the jurisdiction I live in has a special election for the Animal Control Officer, I'm there. As my old, old political science prof told the class, "if you don't vote, your complaints fall on deaf ears so get out and vote!"
Excellent suggestion. My group is working with the immigrant community. Have been doing this for 8 years but haven’t experienced the extreme fear that is being felt now. Horrifying.
The fact that most Americans don't understand the term "fascism" means we need to use other terms that will be understood.
My home city of Chicago is being attacked as a Blue City in a Blue State. Trump would like to destroy us but he is destroying the country in general with every word out of his mouth. We need to impeach him and throw him in prison.
It's called being a "dry drunk." All of the problems and none of the ability to "raise the bottom." There's no bottom to raise, he doesn't drink! He just constantly acts like he is on a 24/7 bender.
I think he's drunk on power. I don't think he truly expected to win this time--and he would not have save for the Republican manipulation of voter suppression, voting roll purges and all the other Repubbie tricks that they have perfected in the past five decades. But he did win and now he's completely out of control. He has released his true persona--a bullying nimrod of fathomless stupidity--and he wants to ravage the world for Putin.
Thanks for pointing that out. Hegseth's "I'll quit if I'm confirmed" = the alcoholic's classic "I'll quit tomorrow," and even if they do manage to stop drinking (for a while at least), recovery doesn't happen. It's 100% that alcoholism isn't Hegseth's only "issue."
Fully aware of the dry drunk syndrome. Members of my family, who stopped imbibing, never addressing what issues led them to it in the first place, all ended up classic dry-drunks. But I thought you had to have been a drunk in the first place. He truly does check off all of the dry drunk boxes.
No. It usually effects those who have been exposed to alcoholism. They may never have touched a drop in their lives. Children who have grown up in that atmosphere are susceptible, especially if there is a biological disposition towards alcohol intolerance.
Christina—Remind yourself at every turn of Adam Serwer's profound truism that the cruelty is the point; know that more is coming. James Carville advised just letting djt punch himself out—as Muhammad Ali did to opponents in early rounds, going into action to win in late rounds.
We are being lead by a madman. There is no other explanation. And congress, out of absolute fear, is letting him control them by the nose rings he has installed in just about every GOP senator or congressman. Chaos reigns!
I worry very much about what happens if Drumpf tells the Pentagon to go in and seize Panama Canal Zone or Greenland by force. (I don't worry as much about Canada or Mexico cause they are well prepared to resist, and have done in the past, and I figure Drumpf is too much a bully to pick a fight with someone who can fight back.) But these small nations don't have any significant military capacity. What then? Will the UN step in and throw us out? They should. What about sanctions on the US by other countries, en masse? Danish officials ought to be calling for an emergency NATO conference RIGHT NOW to address this blatant hostile threat.
Sheesh. Foreign military adventurism from the crooked real estate mogul was not what I saw coming in the first week of autocracy. But here we have it. He thinks the world is ripe for one of his punitive "deals."
As a veteran of Vietnam's river war, I just want to say that the Panama Canal offers wonderful opportunities for thousands of ambushes of ships in transit, dozens of places for blocking all ships, and a million sniper positions. My guess is that to properly protect the canal from all that would require hundreds of thousands of our soldiers---and nothing would be 100% effective.
Trump is demented and deteriorating, and his cronies and funders are drunk on power. With Hegseth drunk on alcohol and Gabbard drunk on her current political posture, does this mean we're left w/ Marco Rubio to somehow keep our allies allied with us?
Sadly, that link is behind Atlantic's paywall. Just FYI. I don't begrudge them that, but it's pretty steep.
And here I liked Tulsi when she was a Bernie-backing Social Democrat who defied Hillary and the Democratic establishment at the expense of her own career, back in the day. I wonder what caused her to lose her mind? It's a real shame she's gone over to the Dark Side. Too much pot, or what?
And some serious coaching by her "guru dev" Christopher Butler, head of the cultish Science of Identity Foundation. That whole cult thing is a little off-putting--they seem entirely too secretive to be a positive influence.
I just checked subscription cost for The Atlantic: $79.99/year for digital; $89.99 for digital and print. They've been consistently pro-democracy, anti-authoritarian, and anti-Trump, with a range of articles every month. It's impossible for me even to skim it in one sitting. I encourage readers to subscribe if it fits your budget.
Bluesky has a GiftLinks/GiftArticles feed that often features gift links to NYT, wapo, Atlantic, FN, other major publications popular stories (with the publishers' blessings). If you post a non-gift url and request a gift link somebody usually posts one soon.
A few off-brand android browsers have a 'reader' mode feature (~ old-time 'printer-friendly') that lets you read most paywalled articles. Software exists to let you do the same. (Not naming names since they may defeat the Substack subscription model.)
The internet as I use it would simply be unavailable to me without these (annoying extra steps) assists.
He is insane. He's trying to control California's water supply, which he knows nothing about. He's claiming that fire victims should ignore hazardous materials on their property and just start rebuilding. And he say that tumbleweeds are naturally green and lush. This is not a well person.
Thank you for that link. It's clear that Gabbard is more interested in personal power than she is any particular ideology. She swivels on a dime--which is not something I would can get behind for a director of national intelligence.
And as far as Little Marco's actions as Secretary of State, I definitely wouldn't count on him for ANYthing--let alone that he'd be willing or even able to stand up to Trumpo and keep our allies from deserting us.
That's the point - to show Rubio (and Cuba and America) who's in charge, remind him who he owes his job to, be randomly, unpredictably cruel. Unless Cuba will let him build a few golf resorts there. Just like he wants to do in Gaza, once he expels Gaza residents from there.
Didn’t get to go to grad school but these courses were really grad school material. Always stuck with me. Yep, I had those Pavlov’s/Skinner classes too. 😃
Yes, Laurie, I heard about Tulsi’s guru long ago. Tried to tell my in-laws about her but they were enamored by her, when they lived in Hawaii. They are somewhat shunned by my nephew and his wife for their views. My sister-in-law sent me a video of Tulsi’s workouts. I promptly asked her to never snd me anything pertaining to her again. Fortunately, she backed off. That was over 5 years ago. Gabbard is nothing but a Russian agent.
She sounds like a hollow lost soul, glomming onto power, fame, etc. Like Trump and a number of other VIP Trumpsters.
Per your brief "bio" on Substack, I think our psych degrees (I have one, too) are a great way to understand politics, especially these days. My PoliSci classes were all theory and civics textbooks, with virtually nothing about actual human behavior.
Mine focused on human behaviors and one professor who focused on the women in South Africa and how their children are taken care of by a village. Imagine that!? They take care of one another. Another class I took was psychobiology. It’s where we studied how our eyes, our bodies work in tandem with our brains. The most fascinating class I have taken!
That sounds great! I love that researchers are learning so much more about the body-brain connection. My first psych class was in college - all about Skinner, rats, and mazes. UGH. Grad school in counseling was much more rewarding. People are still a big puzzle.
Plus, we were taught civics in high school and US & World History but I was raised in small town USA where there was a Southern Baptist church on every corner. Our US history covered colonialism (oh joy🙄).
I read something like 74 billion dollars was saved by the Inspector General's last year but Trump fired them all as he doesn't want their oversight into his financial dealings. He was supposed to give Congress 30 days notice and a detailed report before firing any of them. Do you think the GOP will demand these rules be followed? Not a chance as they are all spineless jellyfish. We all knew, even as little children the difference between right and wrong, but when GOP legislators turn a blind eye to violation of the rules of decency, of the importance of honesty and integrity it only weakens our democratic system of government and brings us closer, to an autocracy. https://www.thedailypoliticususa.com/p/democrats-in-congress-have-options?
Thanks cal lash, I was just thinking along those lines, that he had said Biden was in mental decline but Trump has a much worse mental problem as you so well described, He is completely mad and getting worse. He is drunk with his sense of power; he is a megalomaniac.
We can only blame the small GOP minds that have supported him all along as well as those who voted for him.
Can you tell me more about the "Peter" you mention? Sounds like another complete nut case.
Wow! Another hypocrite then. Claims to be religious but lives a life of a degenerate. He really said people should be killed if they didn't believe as he did? And this man is now in charge of the military? I hate to say this, but I think it's time for the generals to take over temporarily and allow the country to return to its democratic principles.
That certainly seems to be the case with Trump. He seems completely oblivious to the fact that is nearly always wrong but obviously never in doubt. He thinks everyone else is stupid except him. whereas the opposite is true. i
I watched a documentary on the War of 1812 yesterday. The US actually spent a great deal of that war trying to invade Canada. Nothing new under the sun, I guess.
To your point, Heather Cox Richardson’s post today describes how the widening disregard of the law and the rule of law set the ground for the Civil War.
That's really interesting, Prinny A. , It makes sense that the crumbling of any civilization would begin with the a disregard for and contempt for the rule of law and order.
NYT now reporting that Colombia has capitulated to the Orange Bully and will accept deportee flights. Why do countries and politicians keep up the false hope that giving into a bully will appease him, it will only get worse from here.
Exactly. I think that other countries are seeing what works, and Mexican President Sheinbaum has already stood up to Trump whose biggest hurt on her right now is to rename the Gulf of Mexico, which no one else is going to spend a penny on changing their geography texts to do. So, that will be a Trump initiative that just makes him look like the petty Kindergardener, or middle schooler if you will, that he emotionally is.
According to Profs. Ruth Ben-Ghiat (fascism expert) and Prof. Brook Harrington Broligarchy expert) on Ben-Ghiat's weekly Zoom meeting, Trump is going through a laundry list of obligations to the Broligarchs and Putin, (I would add the Heritage Foundation cretins too), with Putin coming first because he is known to off people who double cross him. What does Putin want? Since the break up of the Soviet Union in 1990 he wants to revive it. How, he needs to get the US and the EU out of the way. Trump's job, destroy the US from within (so far he is off to a flying start), and Putin wants to break the EU up with Brexit being the first part. Now even the Brits are starting to wise up to what a mistake that was.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat also says that Trump is bombarding us with so many domestic and international policies so that we are discombobulated. However, we need to stay strong. I think standing up to bullies is what one has to do. I say this with over 30 years of experience in the classroom.
I am suggesting tracking the price of eggs every day in his administration and posting it publicly, since his MAGAs supposedly voted on that. We should list that next to each thing he tries to get media attention for. It can be called the Egg Index. So, Trump wants to take over Greenland, Panama and the Middle East, but what is the price of eggs, and has it gone down from the previous week. It won't as long as he does not have a health department that can address avian flu's effects on poultry. Fat chance that Kennedy has the know how to do that. Gone are the scientists, in come the clowns.
That’s a great idea Linda to always have the price of eggs in addition to whatever new outrage he comes up with, maybe some of the clueless will get a clue.💥🙏
This is not the first time in my life that the US has become the "bad guys". Bush's wet dream war in Iraq is a good example, as is Trump's first term. But this is new because Trump's policy is pure aggression against, not a couple of targeted countries, but the entire world. There is no diplomacy; there are only threats, bullying and really damaging policies like tariffs. AND THERE IS NOT EVEN AN ATTEMPT TO ARTICULATE A RATIONALE FOR OUR BECOMING A CRUDE WRECKER OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM. Nor could there be. The US faced no serious crisis on January 19, 2025 other than the coming of Trump. Churchill described Dulles as a bull who carried his own China shop around with him. Trump's wanton, infantile attempt to smash what was already working, deserves a much stronger metaphor.
Bad, bad, bad. I misspelled "Colombia" with a "u". Corrected.
I used to do that all the time even when I worked as a copyeditor! It took this being pointed out to me by a boss to get it straight in my mind at last. We all have bugaboo words! (And this isn't nearly as crazy as "Philippines".)
Just remember Phillip’s pines(dropping the apostrophe ess, obviously). That’s the way I learned to spell it.
So did Ms. Leavitt on one of Trumpo's press releases.
Don't beat yourself up. As Heather Cox Richardson said in her video yesterday, "Humans gonna human!" That means ALL of us.
Oh well 🤷♂️ no worries we know what you meant.
I checked the spelling and it seems the "U" is favored by English speaking folks and the "O"? Well, by the Others... :)
Not surprising considering that CC's name was originally Cristoforo Colombo, and in Spain he became Cristóbol Colón. No "u"s anywhere -- except in English.
My fingers are too large for this little keyboard, happens all the time!&
OOOPS, I did that too, elsewhere. Went back and fixed it. Thanks for the reminder!
ahh ! was just going to comment as it still
reads with a “u” on my copy.. thanks
Fuh·ged·da·boud·it, Lucian! Your newsletters are consistently without flaw. Chronicling the actions of this cohort of lunatics FUBAR takes its toll.
Oops!
It was all Kabuki theater. Colombia caved on the military flights tonight and Trump dropped the tariffs. The is nothing new in this twisted universe that we live in.
Honestly, I wish every country Trumpo tries to bully would tell him to GFYF. (in Elon's decidedly crude way). Trumpo is out of control.
Some countries are in a better position to do that than others. I'm guessing that Colombia is not one of them. Canada and Denmark, OTOH, are.
One item that I saw indicated that Colombia's refusal was based on reports that the deportees were kept in handcuffs and not allowed to use the bathroom during the flight. I don't know if that was accurate, but, if true, the caving could have been on the U.S. side, if Trump decided to treat the deportees with a modicum of respect in order to get them out. He could still treat that as his success as facts are not important to him.
I believe that’s what happened. So it paid for Colombia to stand up.
Sad
Goddamn right the rest of the world gets a vote.
It is, at this point, criminally inexcusable for ANY of us - or any of our overseas allies - to accommodate these low-life thugs, especially Trump himself. He ran for one reason: to stay out of jail. For most of the last three years he has been scared shitless, because he KNEW that Jack Smith, Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis et al had him dead to rights - and he KNEW he was going to end his days in jail.
Now that he's "won", he's puffed himself up like the crudest tribal leader of a gutter-level mafia clan. He will disappoint most of the gullible, low-information-and-education people who voted for him, early on - and when he does, the rest of us have to have the guts to call him and his cronies out every time, to NEVER accommodate, and be ready with something better when time and the political wheel inevitably turns back again.
If Kamala Harris had been given the normal amount of campaign runway, we wouldn't be having this conversation. We need to use the incredible pain of that as fuel to make sure we're ready to fight like hell for as long as it takes.
Thousand LIKES! Well said.
I'll add another thousand!
I still think the Dems have to update their messaging and acquire current savviness in messaging. (both in content and dispersal) Also, we have to knock down the incredible amount of misogyny embedded in this country.
Kamala, AOC, Elizabeth Warren, Bishop Budde... Help me with the list of brilliant leaders who are not white men 🤔.
Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, Jasmine Crockett, Katie Porter (sadly no longer in Congress), Barbara Lee (same).
Amy Klobuchar, Gretchen Whitmer. …
I see what you did there.
? (Those names seemed obvious to me.)
We need a LEADER!
Damn right, Kely. It is our duty as citizens of America and THE WORLD to fight against the traitor, to prevent the same injustice and murder incurred by hitlers thugs in Germany. We must protect our vote, support our lawyers and the courts, and in 2026 elect those who will discontinue this travesty.
My favorite news moment Sunday was reports of Muck telling the German extremist right party [paraphrasing] to forget recent shaming, it's time to resume traditional German values.
If Trump were to expire tomorrow, 30% of your fellow Americans would refuse to believe it."No he's not dead,he's living on a ranch in Montana,with Tupac, J.F K.jr, and Elvis.'
Tragically and absurdly, I'm afraid you are correct.
EXACTLY what I have been thinking for the past howevermany days he has been "president"!!!!!
Lucian, thank you for this post. I suggest you look up the full reply by Colombia's president. The original is in Spanish. The translation published by Newsweek is obviously from google translate, sloppy and not very accurate. Too bad nobody at Newsweek edited it for proper English. But you'll get the idea. Colombia's president now aquired many admirers abroad, especially in all of Latin America. How does the US gain any influence by such arrogant, provocative statements from its president? What a useless loss of prestige and respect for our country.
The Ugly American is back in force, Making America Small Again.
MAGA -- Make America Gross Again
All countries that stand firm against Donald Trump and his compromised Cabinet are standing firm in favor of the majority of Americans and for America herself.
This is true, and we must stand with them and against this illegal administration.
Yes. And we could sure use someone on the inside.
I would love to read a proper translation. The entire world needs to read a proper translation. Do you know someone we could ask for that favor?
My head is spinning! Does he just throw all the excrement at the wall to see what might stick? He’s running this country (and attempting to bully others) like a video game. He may never have drunk alcohol, but he is so drunk with power that he’s a train wreck. I just hope we all get out of the way in time. And oh Little Marco and Pete the Barbarian! It. Just. Gets. Worse by the day.
Trump is working for Putin. Understand that. So, that means destroying the US and NATO both from within. We can see the domestic destruction, and anyone who has accepted that immigrants are our biggest problem is not understanding that was the Jewish problem in Germany. Going after Greenland a country belonging to a NATO ally, destroys NATO. Look at everything in this light, and then also look at what you can work on domestically. Pick one thing so that you do not feel overwhelmed. My group decided to work on health care.
I work on protecting our right to vote and getting everyone to actually get out and vote!
So necessary!
I hope you're telling people to vote in local/municipal elections, where their vote is much more likely to have an effect than in congressional, statewide, or national elections. Unfortunately, the usual turnout is in inverse proportion to the election's importance: in general, turnout in local/municipal elections is pathetic, whereas something like 63% of eligible voters voted for president in 2024. Yes, 63% is fairly pathetic too, but when you consider that unless you're in a swing state, your vote means next to nothing, 63% isn't bad.
I support voting big time. Shoot, if the jurisdiction I live in has a special election for the Animal Control Officer, I'm there. As my old, old political science prof told the class, "if you don't vote, your complaints fall on deaf ears so get out and vote!"
Excellent suggestion. My group is working with the immigrant community. Have been doing this for 8 years but haven’t experienced the extreme fear that is being felt now. Horrifying.
Here is a discussion of the Musk Sieg Heil salute in The Guardian that is saying something important about this moment in our history. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/26/elon-musk-far-right-antisemitism?utm_term=679631f97a9063a144823d6fd46e3eb7&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email
It ties together with this article about the rise of the Neo-Nazi's and their focus on getting rid of (non-White) immigrants. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/26/neo-nazis-trump-extremism?utm_term=679631f97a9063a144823d6fd46e3eb7&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email
The fact that most Americans don't understand the term "fascism" means we need to use other terms that will be understood.
My home city of Chicago is being attacked as a Blue City in a Blue State. Trump would like to destroy us but he is destroying the country in general with every word out of his mouth. We need to impeach him and throw him in prison.
Climate and book banning.
It's called being a "dry drunk." All of the problems and none of the ability to "raise the bottom." There's no bottom to raise, he doesn't drink! He just constantly acts like he is on a 24/7 bender.
I think he's drunk on power. I don't think he truly expected to win this time--and he would not have save for the Republican manipulation of voter suppression, voting roll purges and all the other Repubbie tricks that they have perfected in the past five decades. But he did win and now he's completely out of control. He has released his true persona--a bullying nimrod of fathomless stupidity--and he wants to ravage the world for Putin.
Applause! Applause!
Thanks for pointing that out. Hegseth's "I'll quit if I'm confirmed" = the alcoholic's classic "I'll quit tomorrow," and even if they do manage to stop drinking (for a while at least), recovery doesn't happen. It's 100% that alcoholism isn't Hegseth's only "issue."
Fully aware of the dry drunk syndrome. Members of my family, who stopped imbibing, never addressing what issues led them to it in the first place, all ended up classic dry-drunks. But I thought you had to have been a drunk in the first place. He truly does check off all of the dry drunk boxes.
No. It usually effects those who have been exposed to alcoholism. They may never have touched a drop in their lives. Children who have grown up in that atmosphere are susceptible, especially if there is a biological disposition towards alcohol intolerance.
Fortunately then…I escaped it…I think!
Christina—Remind yourself at every turn of Adam Serwer's profound truism that the cruelty is the point; know that more is coming. James Carville advised just letting djt punch himself out—as Muhammad Ali did to opponents in early rounds, going into action to win in late rounds.
We are being lead by a madman. There is no other explanation. And congress, out of absolute fear, is letting him control them by the nose rings he has installed in just about every GOP senator or congressman. Chaos reigns!
He’s surrounded himself with sociopathic Christian Nationalists drunk on the power handed to them by a weak and brain-dead electorate.
BrainWASHED by right wing media!
I worry very much about what happens if Drumpf tells the Pentagon to go in and seize Panama Canal Zone or Greenland by force. (I don't worry as much about Canada or Mexico cause they are well prepared to resist, and have done in the past, and I figure Drumpf is too much a bully to pick a fight with someone who can fight back.) But these small nations don't have any significant military capacity. What then? Will the UN step in and throw us out? They should. What about sanctions on the US by other countries, en masse? Danish officials ought to be calling for an emergency NATO conference RIGHT NOW to address this blatant hostile threat.
Sheesh. Foreign military adventurism from the crooked real estate mogul was not what I saw coming in the first week of autocracy. But here we have it. He thinks the world is ripe for one of his punitive "deals."
As a veteran of Vietnam's river war, I just want to say that the Panama Canal offers wonderful opportunities for thousands of ambushes of ships in transit, dozens of places for blocking all ships, and a million sniper positions. My guess is that to properly protect the canal from all that would require hundreds of thousands of our soldiers---and nothing would be 100% effective.
Trump is demented and deteriorating, and his cronies and funders are drunk on power. With Hegseth drunk on alcohol and Gabbard drunk on her current political posture, does this mean we're left w/ Marco Rubio to somehow keep our allies allied with us?
If you want more bad news, read the Atlantic article about Gabbard. A political pro who interviewed her said, “She was willing to do or say whatever. It was like she had absolutely no moral compass.” https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/01/is-tulsi-gabbard-a-mystery/681398/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
Sadly, that link is behind Atlantic's paywall. Just FYI. I don't begrudge them that, but it's pretty steep.
And here I liked Tulsi when she was a Bernie-backing Social Democrat who defied Hillary and the Democratic establishment at the expense of her own career, back in the day. I wonder what caused her to lose her mind? It's a real shame she's gone over to the Dark Side. Too much pot, or what?
Too much pot or too many promises and too much money from Putin, Trump and their henchpeople.
And some serious coaching by her "guru dev" Christopher Butler, head of the cultish Science of Identity Foundation. That whole cult thing is a little off-putting--they seem entirely too secretive to be a positive influence.
I just checked subscription cost for The Atlantic: $79.99/year for digital; $89.99 for digital and print. They've been consistently pro-democracy, anti-authoritarian, and anti-Trump, with a range of articles every month. It's impossible for me even to skim it in one sitting. I encourage readers to subscribe if it fits your budget.
Bluesky has a GiftLinks/GiftArticles feed that often features gift links to NYT, wapo, Atlantic, FN, other major publications popular stories (with the publishers' blessings). If you post a non-gift url and request a gift link somebody usually posts one soon.
I don't see anything for the Atlantic Tulsi piece, but here's a Bluesky gift link for an nyt piece apparently on Tulsi and the same cult. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/27/us/politics/tulsi-gabbard-trump-national-intelligence.html?unlocked_article_code=1.sU4.Dtmh.dMLttfkDr_Nk
A few off-brand android browsers have a 'reader' mode feature (~ old-time 'printer-friendly') that lets you read most paywalled articles. Software exists to let you do the same. (Not naming names since they may defeat the Substack subscription model.)
The internet as I use it would simply be unavailable to me without these (annoying extra steps) assists.
Yes, rate is way too much! They (some robot) told me that there are cheaper group rates. We should form a group called "Your Rates are too F'n high".
He is insane. He's trying to control California's water supply, which he knows nothing about. He's claiming that fire victims should ignore hazardous materials on their property and just start rebuilding. And he say that tumbleweeds are naturally green and lush. This is not a well person.
That fits right in with DrumpF!
Thank you for that link. It's clear that Gabbard is more interested in personal power than she is any particular ideology. She swivels on a dime--which is not something I would can get behind for a director of national intelligence.
And as far as Little Marco's actions as Secretary of State, I definitely wouldn't count on him for ANYthing--let alone that he'd be willing or even able to stand up to Trumpo and keep our allies from deserting us.
Wish those countries he visits would hold him hostage!
Did you see that T is now banning Cubans from entering the US? I wonder what Rubio thinks of that (being Cuban, of course).
That's the point - to show Rubio (and Cuba and America) who's in charge, remind him who he owes his job to, be randomly, unpredictably cruel. Unless Cuba will let him build a few golf resorts there. Just like he wants to do in Gaza, once he expels Gaza residents from there.
Didn’t get to go to grad school but these courses were really grad school material. Always stuck with me. Yep, I had those Pavlov’s/Skinner classes too. 😃
Yes, Laurie, I heard about Tulsi’s guru long ago. Tried to tell my in-laws about her but they were enamored by her, when they lived in Hawaii. They are somewhat shunned by my nephew and his wife for their views. My sister-in-law sent me a video of Tulsi’s workouts. I promptly asked her to never snd me anything pertaining to her again. Fortunately, she backed off. That was over 5 years ago. Gabbard is nothing but a Russian agent.
She sounds like a hollow lost soul, glomming onto power, fame, etc. Like Trump and a number of other VIP Trumpsters.
Per your brief "bio" on Substack, I think our psych degrees (I have one, too) are a great way to understand politics, especially these days. My PoliSci classes were all theory and civics textbooks, with virtually nothing about actual human behavior.
Mine focused on human behaviors and one professor who focused on the women in South Africa and how their children are taken care of by a village. Imagine that!? They take care of one another. Another class I took was psychobiology. It’s where we studied how our eyes, our bodies work in tandem with our brains. The most fascinating class I have taken!
That sounds great! I love that researchers are learning so much more about the body-brain connection. My first psych class was in college - all about Skinner, rats, and mazes. UGH. Grad school in counseling was much more rewarding. People are still a big puzzle.
Plus, we were taught civics in high school and US & World History but I was raised in small town USA where there was a Southern Baptist church on every corner. Our US history covered colonialism (oh joy🙄).
I read something like 74 billion dollars was saved by the Inspector General's last year but Trump fired them all as he doesn't want their oversight into his financial dealings. He was supposed to give Congress 30 days notice and a detailed report before firing any of them. Do you think the GOP will demand these rules be followed? Not a chance as they are all spineless jellyfish. We all knew, even as little children the difference between right and wrong, but when GOP legislators turn a blind eye to violation of the rules of decency, of the importance of honesty and integrity it only weakens our democratic system of government and brings us closer, to an autocracy. https://www.thedailypoliticususa.com/p/democrats-in-congress-have-options?
Trump is a psychopath and Psychopaths are always right.
And now we have Pete that wants to murder everyone that dosent agree to join his church.
Thanks cal lash, I was just thinking along those lines, that he had said Biden was in mental decline but Trump has a much worse mental problem as you so well described, He is completely mad and getting worse. He is drunk with his sense of power; he is a megalomaniac.
We can only blame the small GOP minds that have supported him all along as well as those who voted for him.
Can you tell me more about the "Peter" you mention? Sounds like another complete nut case.
omaniax c.
Peter Hegseth is a religious zealot "Crusader."
He will carry Trumps"Sword". Slaying the enemy.
Research him
Wow! Another hypocrite then. Claims to be religious but lives a life of a degenerate. He really said people should be killed if they didn't believe as he did? And this man is now in charge of the military? I hate to say this, but I think it's time for the generals to take over temporarily and allow the country to return to its democratic principles.
Robert, some theories are that psychopaths are not capable of knowing they are psychopaths. And they believe they are always right.
That certainly seems to be the case with Trump. He seems completely oblivious to the fact that is nearly always wrong but obviously never in doubt. He thinks everyone else is stupid except him. whereas the opposite is true. i
For a fun read
"The Psychopath Test. "
by Jon Ronson
Let me know your score
Haha, okay,
I watched a documentary on the War of 1812 yesterday. The US actually spent a great deal of that war trying to invade Canada. Nothing new under the sun, I guess.
Like Heather Cox Richardson always says, these things have happened before. She excellently weaves our country’s past history into the present.
Charles, I'm wondering if that had anything to do with going after the French who had sided with the British? Will have to read up on it.
Apparently Grassley of all people called him on that.
Yes, just saw that on CNN.
To your point, Heather Cox Richardson’s post today describes how the widening disregard of the law and the rule of law set the ground for the Civil War.
That's really interesting, Prinny A. , It makes sense that the crumbling of any civilization would begin with the a disregard for and contempt for the rule of law and order.
NYT now reporting that Colombia has capitulated to the Orange Bully and will accept deportee flights. Why do countries and politicians keep up the false hope that giving into a bully will appease him, it will only get worse from here.
Amen!
Exactly. I think that other countries are seeing what works, and Mexican President Sheinbaum has already stood up to Trump whose biggest hurt on her right now is to rename the Gulf of Mexico, which no one else is going to spend a penny on changing their geography texts to do. So, that will be a Trump initiative that just makes him look like the petty Kindergardener, or middle schooler if you will, that he emotionally is.
According to Profs. Ruth Ben-Ghiat (fascism expert) and Prof. Brook Harrington Broligarchy expert) on Ben-Ghiat's weekly Zoom meeting, Trump is going through a laundry list of obligations to the Broligarchs and Putin, (I would add the Heritage Foundation cretins too), with Putin coming first because he is known to off people who double cross him. What does Putin want? Since the break up of the Soviet Union in 1990 he wants to revive it. How, he needs to get the US and the EU out of the way. Trump's job, destroy the US from within (so far he is off to a flying start), and Putin wants to break the EU up with Brexit being the first part. Now even the Brits are starting to wise up to what a mistake that was.
Ruth Ben-Ghiat also says that Trump is bombarding us with so many domestic and international policies so that we are discombobulated. However, we need to stay strong. I think standing up to bullies is what one has to do. I say this with over 30 years of experience in the classroom.
I am suggesting tracking the price of eggs every day in his administration and posting it publicly, since his MAGAs supposedly voted on that. We should list that next to each thing he tries to get media attention for. It can be called the Egg Index. So, Trump wants to take over Greenland, Panama and the Middle East, but what is the price of eggs, and has it gone down from the previous week. It won't as long as he does not have a health department that can address avian flu's effects on poultry. Fat chance that Kennedy has the know how to do that. Gone are the scientists, in come the clowns.
That’s a great idea Linda to always have the price of eggs in addition to whatever new outrage he comes up with, maybe some of the clueless will get a clue.💥🙏
"Columbian President Gustavo Petro issued a defiant post on X ‘Your blockade does not frighten me.’”
Well Petro just gave in and is allowing the transports to enter Columbia. This reminds me of Hitler and the Sudetenland in 1938.
I think someone in the White House is hearing voices no one else can hear. Freaky, probably a few imaginary friends. Just saying y'all.
Trump only listens to himself. He doesn't have ANY real friends that I've ever heard of--not even imaginary ones.
Maybe he'll make a "deal" for one. At the right price.
This is not the first time in my life that the US has become the "bad guys". Bush's wet dream war in Iraq is a good example, as is Trump's first term. But this is new because Trump's policy is pure aggression against, not a couple of targeted countries, but the entire world. There is no diplomacy; there are only threats, bullying and really damaging policies like tariffs. AND THERE IS NOT EVEN AN ATTEMPT TO ARTICULATE A RATIONALE FOR OUR BECOMING A CRUDE WRECKER OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM. Nor could there be. The US faced no serious crisis on January 19, 2025 other than the coming of Trump. Churchill described Dulles as a bull who carried his own China shop around with him. Trump's wanton, infantile attempt to smash what was already working, deserves a much stronger metaphor.
And an equally strong response
And they still named an airport after him. Fitting that now they want to rename it after you know who.
Dullest Don Airport ✈️
How many Senators would it take to yell Et tu Brutus. And is there a Augustus somewhere out there.
You're assuming they even know what that means.
Exactly
As always a brilliant column, but you might want to edit the text and change “Columbia” to “Colombia”. Silly spellcheck.