So Far – America Under Trump

 

  Signal Chat Emoji                           HSI Secretary Noem visiting 

                                                                  a US… er… Salvadoran Prison 

                                                             where US deportees are incarcerated

So Far – America Under Trump

PETER ON THE WRITERS’ HANGOUT PODCAST!

We live under a national security “come and get it” sieve where unambiguously classified detailed military attack plans are disseminated on unsecured personal smart phones on a mildly encrypted unapproved private platform (Signal) prior to a major Houthis attack by US forces. Among those receiving an invitation to the “Houthis PC small group” chat on March 13th was both a journalist from the Atlantic and US Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. The former was not remotely part of the government, and the latter was in Moscow. Oh, and the above emoji was posted on that chat. So, when you hear the “national security” excuse/justification for Trump’s executive orders, keep in mind how loosely national security is regarded by the senior Trump appointees with the highest levels of security clearance.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has made a mockery of our federal judicial system, which is constitutionally the full equal of both Congress and the Executive Branch. The administration has openly defied at least two direct federal court orders – one a request for information concerning when individuals were sent to El Salvador and the other a refusal to rehire wrongfully discharged federal employees – effectively a “dare” to the judiciary, despite Chief Justice John Roberts’ admonition to the Trump administration that the only proper response to such judicial directives is to appeal. We are in an unprecedented constitutional crisis!

Meanwhile. GOP Congressman (CA) Darrell Issa defied hundreds of his constituents, on March 23rd, gathered for a town hall meeting with their representative… he simply didn’t show up. But that did not stop this “empty chair” MAGA-man, echoing the President, from introducing federal legislation, probably unconstitutional, severely limiting federal judges’ rights to issue mandates and injunctions against federal officials or agencies. Issa may be involuntarily in his last term. House Speaker Mike Johnson even posited that Congress should consider reducing the number of federal courts.

Immigration Tsar, Tom Homan, also echoing the President, openly stated that he has no intention of allowing courts to limit his deportation efforts, is simply rounding up individuals, unilaterally and without sufficient proof, declaring them to be members of notorious gangs. With zero due process, there is unequivocal proof that there are numbers of such individuals shipped off and now living in prison hell (look behind Ms Noem in the picture above), who objectively are neither gang members nor have any criminal conviction. Trump already controls the MAGA-dominated Congress… Only the federal judiciary remains able to sustain the constitutionally expected guardrails against autocracy… and Trump finds that intolerable.

As Trump pledged to keep the United States out of more wars in distant lands, apparently that does not apply to his obsession with Greenland, currently a Danish territory that is likely to be granted independence. In a recent vote, 85% of the tiny population in that vast land made it clear that they did not want to be part of the United States. Nevertheless, presumably even that means invading the territory of a European member of NATO, “President Donald Trump said the U.S. will ‘go as far as we have to go’ to get control of Greenland, ahead of a planned visit to the Arctic island by Vice President JD Vance that has prompted criticism from Greenland and Denmark.” David Brennen on the March 27th GMA.com.

Telling Europe that there will be no trade negotiations until after US tariffs are fully operative, and warning against any agreement between Canada and Europe to impose a coordinated response to US tariffs, the US stock market continued its downward plunge, the real estate market tanked from the destabilized economy, a quarter of major corporations are freezing hiring plans (CNN, March 27th), tourism to the US off an astounding 8%+, and the US automotive sector is watching its business plans tank. Even Trump’s “drill baby drill” mantra is particularly unpopular with the Texas oil industry:

“The [oil company] executives, shielded by anonymity, bluntly criticized Trump in their responses to a survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas from March 12 to March 20… ‘The administration’s chaos is a disaster for the commodity markets,’ one executive said. ’ ‘Drill, baby, drill’ is nothing short of a myth and populist rallying cry. Tariff policy is impossible for us to predict and doesn’t have a clear goal. We want more stability.’

“Several executives said Trump’s steel tariffs are raising their costs, making it difficult to plan for future projects… ‘Uncertainty around everything has sharply risen during the past quarter,’ another executive said. ‘Planning for new development is extremely difficult right now due to the uncertainty around steel-based products.’” NBC News, March 27th. The economy is in shambles, consumer confidence levels continue to fall, and people are not reacting well to most of the massive DOGE cuts to government services, from Social Security and the VA to air traffic controllers and national park rangers. With cuts to IRS, fat cats are celebrating the estimated 10% loss in net tax collections.

The raw hatred of Elon Musk, who in my opinion is suffering from Asperger Syndrome (a mild form of autism), is bubbling out all across the nation, evidenced by massive turnouts at town halls with a unified voice against Musk and DOGE… and even in one small special election in northern Pennsylvania in bright red district where Trump trounced Kamala Harris by a 15 point margin; even with massive GOP funds pouring in, a Democrat prevailed.

Trump has seen the writing on the wall: Republican candidates are not faring well with their own constituents, so he is demanding (via executive order and legislative support from House MAGA-maniacs) that election laws be changed to make voting hard or impossible for minorities and those with income levels likely to vote Democratic (via access and proof of citizenship requirement)… or he may have to cancel or delay the midterms, presumably for “national security” reasons. Trump has gone so far as to withdraw his nomination for UN Ambassador, NY state congresswoman, Republican Elise Stefanik, to avoid a probable losing battle in the resulting special election to replace her.

If you are among the MAGA crazies who believe God anointed Trump to be our supreme leader, you are probably cheering at Trump’s bumbling cloud with eternal hope for a silver lining. As JD Vance attacks Europeans as greater enemies than China or Russia, because they do not countenance Nazi hate speech and policies, you may join that 3% of Americans who support Vladimir Putin… versus the 80% who do not. And while Trump can fire Elion Musk and gain a nanosecond of relief, we do have to remember that Trump anointed Musk, supported him repeatedly and even presided over a Tesla promotion in front of the Whitehouse.

I’m Peter Dekom, and for those Democrats waiting for Trump to destroy himself and his credibility before acting in strong resistance, what more exactly do you need?!