Gaetz withdrawal has a larger lesson
We need to keep fighting
Trump loses
Today Matt Gaetz announced he is withdrawing from consideration as Trump’s Attorney General after meeting with Senator’s on Capitol Hill yesterday. Today found even more reports of disturbing things in the yet to be released House Ethics Committee report that is leaking piece-by-disgusting-piece.
This afternoon he posted his withdrawal to Twitter.
So his nomination was a distraction and would be protracted. For once, I agree with him but the point and lesson is a simple one for me: Trump is not a dictator.
We still have power
Since the election there has been an absolute tidal wave of fear and despair among Democrats. Not a minute goes by someone on Bluesky isn’t telling me there is nothing we can do.
‘He’s got the White House, Senate, House, and the Supreme Court! Don’t forget that Fox News, OAN, and even Joe Rogan are covering for him! Even the left leaning media is bending the knee! Did you see MIKA AND JOE went to MAR-A-LAGO!!!’
I just happen to disagree. Passionately. Trump is not a dictator. Sure, he is absolutely a wannabe dictator. Totally an authoritarian and really digs the whole concept of fascism but he is not yet. Hell, he isn’t even President again yet.
He is, however, a walking ego. Driven by both adulation and striking fear. He takes power from being cheered like his rallies as well as humiliating people and making them surrender to him.
How broken is he? Did you hear the tapes from Jeffrey Epstein? One of Donald Trump’s favorite things to do according to the dead pervert, was to have sex with his friends wives. I won’t force you to read this disgusting stuff but what kind of a broken man does that?
Donald Trump.
But it tells you something
He only understands conflict. He lives for it while still craving adulation and support. We watched it in the first Administration. Public pressure worked. Negative press got under his skin. Perceived disloyalty made him crazy.
Nothing has changed. We can still use his craving for adulation and respect against him.
We have to. We have to fight these Cabinet picks. These nominations are absolutely insane. One after another that should be nowhere near the government from Gaetz…to nearly all of them. Hegseth, Gabbard, McMahon, Whitaker, Dr. Oz, RFK Jr., and on and on. I am waiting for Hulk Hogan to be named Secretary of the Army.
Just look at Pete Hegseth, who we now know is credibly accused of sexual assault on a woman at a conference in Monterey, California. That’s even before we talk about his disturbing connections to Christian Nationalism, tattoos that are popular with white supremacists, and backwards opinions on women serving in uniform.
With Gaetz out of the picture now things are already heating up on Hegseth to explain those events from 2017. Mediaite obtained the full police report and it’s not just disturbing because of the accusations of sexual assault, which Hegseth was not charged with, but his behavior confirmed by multiple women of touching them inappropriately and trying to lure them to his room.
That alone is disqualifying for a person that wants to lead a modern military that is battling a persistent sexual assault and harassment plague. What message does it send to women, and even worse, predatory men, that the Secretary of Defense himself was a sexual predator?
What can we do?
Well clearly pressure still works. It appears that members of the Senate believe there will be more elections because they are listening to the backlash and were telling Gaetz he didn’t have a chance. We can pressure these elected leaders to do the right thing and stand their ground.
We have to make it clear that Donald Trump’s threats and Elon Musk’s money isn’t going to matter when voters leave their party and toss them out of office.
File those petitions.
Call those Senators.
Push the media to keep digging.
Raise hell
This country is still a democracy (democratic republics work the same way incidentally) so let’s keep acting like it. This is not the time to surrender or throw your arms in the air. It’s more important than ever to band together and show Trump and his minions they aren’t operating with unlimited power.
Do not comply in advance!
There is work to do and we should take heart that it worked this time. This is his second defeat. He did not want John Thune as new Senate Majority Leader either. I don’t put a lot of faith in the Republican Senators but I am all about putting pressure on them to at least try and do the right thing every now and then.
So, let’s get to work.
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Why does MSM not discuss the fact that we lost to a Rusian psy ops operation and chaos is their object? The appointments merely are a deflection so Trump can grift. Today Trump guitars. Tomorrow the national treasury.
Gaetz would have been incompetent. Now maybe Trump will find someone who will be able to assert dictatorial powers.
Meanwhile Tulsi Gabbard is a thank you gift to Putin for helping to steal the election. What are the odds that Putin/Trump/ Musk pulled it off? Musk explains how it's easy to steal an election. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV58O0USCaY
On election eve, the FBI issued a statement. "Since our statement on Friday, the Intelligence Community (IC) has been observing foreign adversaries, particularly Russia, conducting additional influence operations intended to undermine public confidence in the integrity of U.S. elections and stoke divisions among Americans."
If voters were wary of the "other" it was because Russia and a complying media and Republican proaganda targeted visceral voters. To me the "other" is Russia.
Mueller convicted national security advisor Michael Flynn and the chair of the Trump presidential campaign, Paul Manafort. The investigation resulted in charges against 34 individuals and 3 companies, 8 guilty pleas, and a conviction at trial.
Mueller did not reach a conclusion about possible obstruction of justice by Trump, citing a Justice Department guideline that prohibits the federal indictment of a sitting president. That pisses me off. It's uo to a jury to determine whether there was complicity. I thought that Mueller was farblonget and Weissman, who MSNBC has elevated to expert, should, at least have preserved Trump's testimony,
DOJ identified the Russians early on. On September 4, 2024, the United States publicly accused Russia of interfering in the 2024 election and announced several steps to combat Russian influence including sanctions, indictments, and seizing of Doppelganger-linked web domains used to spread propaganda and disinformation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_interference_in_the_2024_United_States_elections#:~:text=On%20September%204%2C%202024%2C%20the%20United%20States%20publicly%20accused%20Russia,to%20spread%20propaganda%20and%20disinformation.
In reality, Russia should nor be a major power. Trump has been elevating their status. Like I said yesteerday, Mueller convicted national security advisor Michael Flynn and the chair of the Trump presidential campaign, Paul Manafort. The investigation resulted in charges against 34 individuals and 3 companies, 8 guilty pleas, and a conviction at trial.
Stephen Spoonamore, who was CEO or CTO at seven high technology firms including two that specialized in hacking and counter-hacking operations. He wrote a memo alleging that to "a near certainty" the results have been changed at a scale which reversed the election. He recommends a hand recount to most likely require reversal. He cites to a letter from 7 experts in computer science who go into detail. https://freespeechforpeople.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/letter-to-vp-harris-111324.pdf
Still waiting to hear about validity of the Greg Palast claim that 2.7 million votes were ditched. According to the Philly papers, we lost Pa in Biden's home area, former Biden supporters. Not Gen Z. Not Blacks. Lost 2 Pa Dem house seats.
A hand count there is problematical that could verify the claims is being litigated. There are a myriad of other inconsitencies.
Her's the latest from Spoonamore. https://substack.com/home/post/p-151923500
This win comes with strings. Haetz isnt a red herring in the traditional sense. He's more like a sacrifice. Less extreme legislators institutional admins fear for their careers and are left with dwindling options to justify their "conservatism". One way: public, performative cathartic theatrics like the scripted swirl around the Gaetzes on 47's slate. "See? Just back our overall play, and we'll scrape the worst slime into the insimkerator".
Our system of government is getting *flooded* - again - with unfit and deeply dangerous operatives. They're sleepers and if they know the meta, they either don't care or are true believers.
Gaetz can keep his homes, cars, perks, and pension. Our tax dollars will continue to subsidize whatever the hell he choses to get up to. The man should not only have never been on the shortlist for AG, he should have long since been indicted. The DOJ is indeed in need of some refinement. However, installing career criminals to oversee operation in order to grease the skids for their colleagues in crime isnt necessary. Garland is doing just fine, in that regard.