We’re embarked on a vast battle over the future of the American Republic, in which the executive and much of the judiciary is acting outside the constitutional order. That battle is fundamentally over public opinion. We’re in a constitutional interregnum and we are trying to restore constitutional government. The courts are a tool. Federalism is a big, big tool, the significance and importance of which is getting too little discussion. But it’s really about public opinion. And that means it’s about politics. The American people will decide this. That’s what this is all about. Waiting on the courts is just a basic misunderstanding of the whole situation.
Talking Points Memo is one of my must-reads each day, and Josh Marshall's current "Editor's Blog" piece is a perfect example of why you should be a subscriber, too. This clear-headed essay talks about one of the underlying disasters our nation faces: a thoroughly corrupt Supreme Court (and countless other Trump-appointed federal judges) that has broken with precedent and demonstrated contempt for the Constitution's plain meaning, not to mention the American people.
The only way back, he argues, is a demonstration that the public won't stand for it. There's not much evidence (yet) that the public cares enough. But the deep unpopularity of the court's overturning of abortion rights extends into many other court-decreed domains. The public hates the way money now controls politics, not to mention rulings that give corporations staggeringly more power than people – and, don't forget the worst of all, the flagrantly bogus granting of immunity from criminal prosecution to criminal presidents named Trump.
Democratic party leaders, notably congressional ones, remain utterly inept. As the essay reminds us, they think we should all just wait for the courts to act – a fool's errand when the courts are as corrupt – and correspondingly disliked – as the Republicans and their Federalist Society puppet masters could make them. If the American people do get to decide this, we can still recover our democracy. A thin reed, perhaps, but one of the few we have left.
For decades, the reigning outlook in the aviation world has been, “What’s our Plan C, in case Plans A and B go wrong? And what’s Plan D, after that?” This includes rigorous study of the accidents and close-calls that do occur, to reduce the chances of the same things going wrong. That, plus luck, is how you build up a near-perfect safety record. Now the reigning Doge attitude has changed to, “I wonder what this wire does? Let’s snip it and find out.”
This newsletter post by Jim Fallows (alternate link here) looks at two examples of the way the Trump-Musk regime is taking corrupt – and blatantly foolish – steps to wreck institutions that have been built for decades and which protect us from harm.
Fallows is a licensed pilot, and he knows what he's talking about. He's dumbfounded by the criminal stupidity of these moves to undermine air safety and weather forecasting. They make sense only to me only if I assume the point isn't just to induce panic among federal employees, but rather to further enrich the billionaires who now control our lives – and so what if lots of people die in the process.
This stuff is going on throughout our government. Witness the punishing insanity in wiping out vital public health programs, encouraging polluters to poison communities and accelerate climate change, and so much more.
The combination of stupidity and evil is about as dangerous as it gets.
Slotkin’s address suffered from the same half-heartedness that has seized the Democrats since last November. Her response, and the behavior of the Democrats in general, showed that they still fear being a full-throated opposition party because they believe that they will alienate voters who will somehow be offended at them for taking a stand against Trump’s schemes. Slotkin is a centrist—as she noted, she won in areas that also voted for Trump—and her victory in Michigan proved that centrism can be a powerful anchor against extremists. But centrism is not the same as meekness. America does not need a “resistance,” or stale slogans, or people putting those slogans on little paddles. It needs an opposition party that boldly defends the nation’s virtues, the rule of law, and the rights of its people.
As this Atlantic commentary makes clear, there's still no sign that the Democrats have even half a clue about the role they must – but still refuse to – play right now: hardline opposition. We don't have much time left, and Democratic weakness is accelerating our slide into dictatorship.
[O]pposition movements always seem hopeless until they’re not. Apartheid existed for decades and then came crashing down rapidly. We didn’t know that its heirs would be wreaking havoc on this country four decades later, but history isn’t an unbroken line that goes up and to the right. Some of the bad stuff comes back and has to be fought again. The South Africa apartheid regime was defeated. Maybe one South African oligarch can be too.
This excellent Mother Jones essay discusses 20th Century economic/social boycotts in the context of Elon Musk's pernicious effect on our economy and culture today. It draws parallels, and suggests that Tesla is an ideal boycott target now.
Tesla accounts for most of Musk's unprecedented wealth, so from that standpoint it's a worthwhile target. But another of the companies he controls accounts for most of his influence with the public: the social media platform, once called Twitter, that he and other investors bought, since renamed X. Musk uses ExTwitter to promote Trumpism, right-wing extremism, and his vile notions of economic oligarchy.
That alone should make ExTwitter at least as important a target for our contempt as Tesla. Yet the Mother Jones commentary doesn't even mention the platform. Is that because the magazine is a prolific poster there? The author of the piece above also keeps an ExTwitter account, though she says in her profile that she's moved most of her social media participation to BlueSky.
I stopped active participation at ExTwitter the day Musk took over. Since then, I've gone down on my virtual knees, begging journalists to stop supporting this evil man – because to actively participate on his platform is to support him. I'm considered a scold in journalism circles because I keep saying this, but I won't stop.
Yes, bring the resistance to Musk's Tesla. But if you don't bring it to Musk's hatred-spreading social media site – by refusing to support it – you're missing something important. That is the most polite way I can say it.
The Resistance Toolkit is a project created by a Washington political operative. It's a collection of links to organizations that are working to challenge extremism and encourage participation in our political system.
Remember: Voting is only one part of democracy. If you don't participate actively, you're missing the other part. This site will help you participate. Please take a look.
How I put this together
This newsletter is a compendium of the reporting and commentary that best explains the America's political, economic, and social conditions – and, most important, how we can find a way back from the dark days ahead. You will rarely find anything here from the New York Times or Washington Post or any of the other Big Journalism companies that failed us so completely during the 2024 elections and are now sucking up – even more than usual – to Donald Trump, his cult, and corporate oligarchs. My focus will be on smaller, more honorable outlets (and individuals). I hope you'll support them with your attention and your money. For more details, please read my About page.
Please send your suggestions
I spend a lot of time looking for essential coverage, and hope you'll help me by letting me know about the good stuff you find. Let me know.
Subscribe
Was this forwarded to you? If you would like to have your own free subscription, please click here.
Josh Marshall
James Fallows
Tom Nichols
Clara Jeffery
