Yes, a quiet, "soft" coup is still a coup, and still potentially as damaging to our democracy as a violent coup. Let us hope/pray that Congress and the courts will put up a stiff, last ditch effort to halt and reverse the damage that's already been done.
My nightmare scenario is that Trump and his cronies will simply ignore both the courts and Congress if it suits their purposes; they've already effectively done the equivalent by their extra-legal closings of agencies. Paraphrasing Joseph Stalin, "How many divisions do the courts and Congress command?" Will the fate of our democracy ultimately hinge upon the integrity and loyalty of our military to stand up and defend the constitution? And if so, how might that play out? Who would be in charge? Might it come down to a violent counter-coup, with Trump and the Proud Boys on one side and our military on the other? Not a pretty scenario to imagine. But still better, in my opinion, than living under uncontested strongman/authoritarian rule.
It’s terrifying! It’s terrifying. What is going on at treasury and not many sources are talking about the worldwide effects of a crash of the treasury payment system. Because that is a reality. We are faced with an ignorant 25-year-old inside the payment system making code changes. I do not understand why musk cannot and should not be arrested. I’m guessing this is another measure of our weakness in the face of illegal assault on our systems which is more precious than I knew.
For those of you who have Democratic Senators, call and demand blanket oppositions to the candidates. Withhold unanimous consent and ask them to make constant Quorum calls. THESE are the tools at their disposal.
The Senate is not a majority institution. A lot of power is given to the minority, as Republicans showed many times.
If you don't understand the Quorum calls, you can look this up.
If they do this, then give them a lot of love. They seem to need lots of applause and encouragement. And remind them that this IS a time where working through weekends or however hard they have to work is necessary!
Maxwell Frost said very well: we are not the minority, we are the opposition. Encourage them to be the opposition!
I would use a stronger term than "coup." I would say that we are in a dictatorship – a two-headed dictatorship. As has been the case in other dictatorships, we have to organize a resistance that is a real one, using whatever means we still have.
Anand, thank you for this forceful and urgent response. You’re so right, THIS is the ball game. But the American people have power, and need to use it as much as possible. All of us. Now.
What is really scary is that apparently 39% of Americans polled actually approve of Elon. I guess you can at least say that this is the era when you can actually quantify the number of Americans who are both racist and ignorant in the extreme.
I agree, a coup is underway. The media needs to call it what it is. Some strong democratic leadership right now would be nice. Having a congress that pushes back against Executive overreach would be helpful. Lawsuits and court rulings that overrule unlawful orders and illegal conduct is necessary. But I am wondering how any of that actually stops what Trump/Musk are doing?
In order to stop willful illegality someone has to physically stop it. Courts can make rulings and congress can pass laws. Hell, congress could even impeach Trump again AND convict him. But unless he voluntarily stops doing what he and Musk and his administration are doing, which I see as highly unlikely, to actually stop him/them from continuing to commit crimes against the constitution and the American people a criminal enforcement agency or agencies would have to intervene. And who precisely would that be?
Is it realistic to believe that now, after the purges and turmoil at the FBI, DoD and throughout the federal government, any of the agents left standing would enter the White House or Mar-a-Lago, somehow circumvent or confront or negotiate with the Secret Service and drag Trump to jail? Would someone at Homeland Security send a detail of officers to the Treasury Department and drag Musk and his adolescent cronies out of the building? Even with a court order or warrant? Would the Trump loyalists in those agencies suddenly have a change of heart and betray their dear leader because a judge said so?
I'm seriously asking. A coup is a coup until someone physically stops it. And who's gonna do that?
It’s so tempting to drop into denial, where most Dems are currently residing, that we’re still in the former world. That the next election will change things. I’m in all the stages of grief, but clinging to a glimmer of hope that the American people will rise up, as we’ve seen in South Korea, Georgia, Brazil, Ukraine before the invasion. But who indeed will stop Musk, even if they do? And where is our data?
Coup, indeed, for many of Trump's allies, it is just that. But, for him, that is all noise. I don't think he worries one little bit about Elon. I have decided that he only has three goals: revenge on those who took him to court, staying out of jail, and making money. He has reached two out of the three. We should look to protect the FBI and the Department of Justice. I remember when I would be hung out to dry if I ever talked about protecting the FBI. But I believe the agents need our protection and the career employees at the Department of Justice.
The Democrats in Congress are powerless. What I think has to happen is for 2-3 House Republicans and 13 or so Republican Senators to change parties and get impeachment rolling. Highly improbable, I know. But there must be that many Republicans who are appalled--but very scared. Can they get past their very real fear (of them or their families being harmed, as has been reported) to act courageously and have history record them as extraordinary heroes who saved our country? I hope there are behind-the-scenes efforts by Jeffries and Schumer to do that.
I completely agree with Anand. The Democrats need a leader, someone who can articulate a vision for the party and at this critical time to voice an effective opposition to what is clearly an administrative coup by Elon Musk. The situation is urgent. It seemed to me when Trump won the election the democrats retreated into their cave like Puff the Magic Dragon. It is great that they have awakened to the danger, but there has to be a consistent and persistent rallying cry by someone who can motivate us, someone to encourage us to stay strong, and someone to stand solidly against the destruction and havoc Musk is wreaking.
It is a horrifying situation. Sometimes it feels like being in the middle of a very bad fantasy novel about a dystopian country. Nightmarish. Threatening. Neither Trump nor Musk has any regard for the safety and well-being of the American people. But, Trump was, unfortunately, voted into office, Musk was not. He has no authority or right to take the actions he has, but what really astounds me is that Republicans in Congress are unwilling to stop him, they seem unconcerned. They are standing by and watching not just our government institutions being destroyed, but they are relinquishing their power as one of the three equal branches of government.
Anand, I am connecting dots. In your interview with Cohen you said, paraphrasing, that Trump is using the TecBros to do financial capture that he couldn’t do. Cohen acknowledged that Trump like a Mafia boss always subs out tasks that he doesn’t want to do himself, also for plausible deniability. In a Frontline doc on how Trump’s time in military style boarding school shaped his authoritarian ‘leadership’ style of today they told how he ended up running the boarding school dormitory. I believe Trump is a sociopath (so were many in military boarding school) and he is filling his administration with other antisocial types (because he understands how they think)
and orchestrating them like a conductor, but with plausible deniability. What think you?
Big change rarely comes from the ‘parties’ sans FDR’s. Waiting for elected democrats and/or DNC staff to mount a credible resistance or lead the country out of the grips of unchecked capitalism is an intellectual exercise. Ie a waste of time. Significant lasting change to societies comes from grassroots unrest that is organized into strategic campaigns to win stuff; like the minimum wage increase and protection of reproductive rights in (red) Missouri. The ‘democrats’ didn’t do this. Organized grassroots movements did it. Time to see and accept the democrats for who and what they are. Mostly useless to average working Americans, especially those who are Black and brown and women. Let’s say that. And focus on social change movements instead.
This is not business as usual. It is a five-star alarm. Thank you Anand for saying what it is. A second coup waged by a coup president with a shadow government headed by a billionaire who is throwing his weight around the world in other nations too - 13 times meddling in other nations, according to Politico. https://www.politico.eu/article/elon-musk-politics-uk-republicans-x-owner-donald-trump-prison/
Yes, a quiet, "soft" coup is still a coup, and still potentially as damaging to our democracy as a violent coup. Let us hope/pray that Congress and the courts will put up a stiff, last ditch effort to halt and reverse the damage that's already been done.
My nightmare scenario is that Trump and his cronies will simply ignore both the courts and Congress if it suits their purposes; they've already effectively done the equivalent by their extra-legal closings of agencies. Paraphrasing Joseph Stalin, "How many divisions do the courts and Congress command?" Will the fate of our democracy ultimately hinge upon the integrity and loyalty of our military to stand up and defend the constitution? And if so, how might that play out? Who would be in charge? Might it come down to a violent counter-coup, with Trump and the Proud Boys on one side and our military on the other? Not a pretty scenario to imagine. But still better, in my opinion, than living under uncontested strongman/authoritarian rule.
It’s terrifying! It’s terrifying. What is going on at treasury and not many sources are talking about the worldwide effects of a crash of the treasury payment system. Because that is a reality. We are faced with an ignorant 25-year-old inside the payment system making code changes. I do not understand why musk cannot and should not be arrested. I’m guessing this is another measure of our weakness in the face of illegal assault on our systems which is more precious than I knew.
For those of you who have Democratic Senators, call and demand blanket oppositions to the candidates. Withhold unanimous consent and ask them to make constant Quorum calls. THESE are the tools at their disposal.
The Senate is not a majority institution. A lot of power is given to the minority, as Republicans showed many times.
If you don't understand the Quorum calls, you can look this up.
If they do this, then give them a lot of love. They seem to need lots of applause and encouragement. And remind them that this IS a time where working through weekends or however hard they have to work is necessary!
Maxwell Frost said very well: we are not the minority, we are the opposition. Encourage them to be the opposition!
Unfortunately senators are still voting for trumps nominees.
That has to stop. Democrats need to shut down all business as usual.
Thank you Anand for speaking the truth on Morning Joe. We need real leaders to stand up to this Coup.
Great job! Thank you!
I would use a stronger term than "coup." I would say that we are in a dictatorship – a two-headed dictatorship. As has been the case in other dictatorships, we have to organize a resistance that is a real one, using whatever means we still have.
Great job as always.
Anand, thank you for this forceful and urgent response. You’re so right, THIS is the ball game. But the American people have power, and need to use it as much as possible. All of us. Now.
What is really scary is that apparently 39% of Americans polled actually approve of Elon. I guess you can at least say that this is the era when you can actually quantify the number of Americans who are both racist and ignorant in the extreme.
I agree, a coup is underway. The media needs to call it what it is. Some strong democratic leadership right now would be nice. Having a congress that pushes back against Executive overreach would be helpful. Lawsuits and court rulings that overrule unlawful orders and illegal conduct is necessary. But I am wondering how any of that actually stops what Trump/Musk are doing?
In order to stop willful illegality someone has to physically stop it. Courts can make rulings and congress can pass laws. Hell, congress could even impeach Trump again AND convict him. But unless he voluntarily stops doing what he and Musk and his administration are doing, which I see as highly unlikely, to actually stop him/them from continuing to commit crimes against the constitution and the American people a criminal enforcement agency or agencies would have to intervene. And who precisely would that be?
Is it realistic to believe that now, after the purges and turmoil at the FBI, DoD and throughout the federal government, any of the agents left standing would enter the White House or Mar-a-Lago, somehow circumvent or confront or negotiate with the Secret Service and drag Trump to jail? Would someone at Homeland Security send a detail of officers to the Treasury Department and drag Musk and his adolescent cronies out of the building? Even with a court order or warrant? Would the Trump loyalists in those agencies suddenly have a change of heart and betray their dear leader because a judge said so?
I'm seriously asking. A coup is a coup until someone physically stops it. And who's gonna do that?
It’s so tempting to drop into denial, where most Dems are currently residing, that we’re still in the former world. That the next election will change things. I’m in all the stages of grief, but clinging to a glimmer of hope that the American people will rise up, as we’ve seen in South Korea, Georgia, Brazil, Ukraine before the invasion. But who indeed will stop Musk, even if they do? And where is our data?
Coup, indeed, for many of Trump's allies, it is just that. But, for him, that is all noise. I don't think he worries one little bit about Elon. I have decided that he only has three goals: revenge on those who took him to court, staying out of jail, and making money. He has reached two out of the three. We should look to protect the FBI and the Department of Justice. I remember when I would be hung out to dry if I ever talked about protecting the FBI. But I believe the agents need our protection and the career employees at the Department of Justice.
The Democrats in Congress are powerless. What I think has to happen is for 2-3 House Republicans and 13 or so Republican Senators to change parties and get impeachment rolling. Highly improbable, I know. But there must be that many Republicans who are appalled--but very scared. Can they get past their very real fear (of them or their families being harmed, as has been reported) to act courageously and have history record them as extraordinary heroes who saved our country? I hope there are behind-the-scenes efforts by Jeffries and Schumer to do that.
I completely agree with Anand. The Democrats need a leader, someone who can articulate a vision for the party and at this critical time to voice an effective opposition to what is clearly an administrative coup by Elon Musk. The situation is urgent. It seemed to me when Trump won the election the democrats retreated into their cave like Puff the Magic Dragon. It is great that they have awakened to the danger, but there has to be a consistent and persistent rallying cry by someone who can motivate us, someone to encourage us to stay strong, and someone to stand solidly against the destruction and havoc Musk is wreaking.
It is a horrifying situation. Sometimes it feels like being in the middle of a very bad fantasy novel about a dystopian country. Nightmarish. Threatening. Neither Trump nor Musk has any regard for the safety and well-being of the American people. But, Trump was, unfortunately, voted into office, Musk was not. He has no authority or right to take the actions he has, but what really astounds me is that Republicans in Congress are unwilling to stop him, they seem unconcerned. They are standing by and watching not just our government institutions being destroyed, but they are relinquishing their power as one of the three equal branches of government.
Anand, I am connecting dots. In your interview with Cohen you said, paraphrasing, that Trump is using the TecBros to do financial capture that he couldn’t do. Cohen acknowledged that Trump like a Mafia boss always subs out tasks that he doesn’t want to do himself, also for plausible deniability. In a Frontline doc on how Trump’s time in military style boarding school shaped his authoritarian ‘leadership’ style of today they told how he ended up running the boarding school dormitory. I believe Trump is a sociopath (so were many in military boarding school) and he is filling his administration with other antisocial types (because he understands how they think)
and orchestrating them like a conductor, but with plausible deniability. What think you?
Big change rarely comes from the ‘parties’ sans FDR’s. Waiting for elected democrats and/or DNC staff to mount a credible resistance or lead the country out of the grips of unchecked capitalism is an intellectual exercise. Ie a waste of time. Significant lasting change to societies comes from grassroots unrest that is organized into strategic campaigns to win stuff; like the minimum wage increase and protection of reproductive rights in (red) Missouri. The ‘democrats’ didn’t do this. Organized grassroots movements did it. Time to see and accept the democrats for who and what they are. Mostly useless to average working Americans, especially those who are Black and brown and women. Let’s say that. And focus on social change movements instead.
This is not business as usual. It is a five-star alarm. Thank you Anand for saying what it is. A second coup waged by a coup president with a shadow government headed by a billionaire who is throwing his weight around the world in other nations too - 13 times meddling in other nations, according to Politico. https://www.politico.eu/article/elon-musk-politics-uk-republicans-x-owner-donald-trump-prison/