MAGA's lies (a/k/a "alternate realities")

ABSTRACT: Growing concern has been expressed that we have entered a “post-truth” era in which each of us willfully believes whatever we choose, aided and abetted by alternative and social media that spin alternative realities [lies and falsehoods] for boutique consumption. A prime example of the belief in alternative realities is said to be acceptance of “conspiracy theories”––a term that is often used as a pejorative to indict claims of conspiracy that are so obviously absurd that only the unhinged could believe them. The epistemological standard often involved in this indictment, however—the standard of “obvious” falsity—invites subjectivity in its application, because what is obviously false to one person can be common sense to another. This is not just a truism; considerable research suggests that people’s political beliefs, in general, and their acceptance or rejection of conspiracy theories in particular, tends in large part to be determined by partisan, ideological, and other priors. -- Joseph E. Uscinski & Adam M. Enders: What is a Conspiracy Theory and Why Does it Matter?, Critical Review: 1-22, 2022

The NPR program 1A broadcast a program yesterday about why most false conspiracy theories, mostly lies, are generally impossible to debunk. The transcript is at that link. The program was built around the toxic effects that decades of MAGA/authoritarian lies and demagoguery had on one family. Two points stand out:

• Diligent, respectful attempts to use facts and sound reasoning to debunk false beliefs and lies that MAGA demagoguery has implanted in believer's minds almost always fails. That's the case, even if some inconvenient facts or reasoning actually sink in and are accepted. The trapped minds simply rationalize their way out of the inconvenience, i.e., cognitive dissonance.

• A leading political scientist who studies the power of demagoguery and false beliefs, professor Joseph Uscinski, University of Miami (published research), asserts that minds trapped in false beliefs and lies cannot accept contradictory facts and reasoning because their identities are threatened too much. Most people's identities are built over decades. Changing that in a short period of time is usually impossible for most people. Changing a mind about one crackpot or blatantly false thing is a hopeless game of whack-a-mole.

A mentally trapped MAGA father confidently made a $10,000 bet with his non-MAGA son that all of these crackpot but fairly common MAGA conspiracy theory predictions would be true by the end of 2024: 

1. Obama will be convicted of treason by a court.

2. Biden will be convicted of treason by a court.

3. Nancy Pelosi will be convicted of treason by a court.

4. Bill Clinton would be convicted of treason and murder by a court. 

5. Hillary Clinton would be convicted of treason and murder by a court. 

6. djt would be reinstated as president without an election and cleared of all charges.

7. Biden would be removed from office.

8. The governor of New York would be removed from office. 

9. The mayor of New York would be removed from office.

10. The entire US will come under martial law because of mass rioting and chaos, with the US military having to step in to quell the violence.

Once it turned out that none of the predictions came to pass, the MAGA dad wanted to do another big bet on another round of crackpot MAGA conspiracy theories. MAGA has an endless supply of 'em, hence whack-a-mole. The dad simply rationalized all the failed predictions into irrelevance.

That is the reality that MAGA demagoguery and susceptible minds see and sincerely believe to be true. Those minds cannot be easily changed by anything. Those people's identities are at stake.

An email to the program commented: The Internet was supposed to bring a new age of enlightenment. Its ability to put people in contact with erudite discussion and accurate information was supposed to make us all smarter. Instead, it has allowed the worst of us, the most paranoid, the most angry, the most conspiratorial to coalesce in groups online. While in totality, they remain small in numbers. They feel strong and numerous in their online conglomerates. All this while caring people retreat from the fray because they are wounded by the lack of sincere engagement and the glee with which vitriol and lies are used to further empower the worst. 

How common is this degree of deceit and self-delusion among djt voters? That's hard to tell. A 2020 Pew Research Center study found that 47% of U.S. adults had heard at least a little about QAnon, with 41% of Republicans who were aware of it viewing it as a good thing for the country. This suggests that a significant portion of Republicans are not only aware of but also receptive to false conspiracy theories. A 2021 article in Persuasion indicated that 72% of Republican voters believed there was serious fraud in the 2020 election, and a significant portion of them had favorable views about crackpot MAGA conspiracy theories, e.g., millions of illegal immigrants vote in federal elections. Published data indicates that at least one-third to over half of Republican voters hold views aligned with conspiracy theories, e.g., false belief in widespread election fraud.

MAGA tore that family apart. MAGA is not merely knowingly immoral. It is knowingly evil. Unfortunately, this kind of evil is legal. In my opinion, politicians who spew divisive, evil lies like this are unfit for office and should be impeached and removed from office.

Some Canadian politics for a change.....

 Not ALL conservatives are MAGA types. Though I don't get a vote, I was pleased to see Doug Ford win last night in Ontario.

The leader of Ontario, Doug Ford, is projected to have won a third term in office, with voters in the Canadian province giving him a decisive victory.

In a nutshell, Ford talked tough against Trump and his tariffs:

Ford ran his campaign under the slogan "Protect Canada", reflecting his view that Canada needs to stand firm against US tariff threats.

Apparently, that slogan worked, though I would love to hear from our Canadian friends. 

Doug Ford is a man of things. Things he can see, things he can touch and most importantly, things he can build.

Big things matter to Ford. The Progressive Conservative leader is a self-proclaimed visionary who makes decisions with his gut. When he has swung and missed, like he did with opening up protected Greenbelt land that sparked public furor, he has apologized and walked it back.

Little things are important to him too. He will famously find out about a small problem and try to fix it.

Ford has bet big on building things. Early in the election campaign, he pledged an additional $22 billion in spending for infrastructure projects in the face of American tariffs. But that promise wasn’t contingent upon U.S. President Donald Trump imposing tariffs on Canadian goods.

It would bring his grand plan to build more highways, roads, jails, hospitals and a few vanity projects, including a redeveloped Ontario Place, to more than $200 billion.

https://globalnews.ca/news/11049712/doug-ford-how-he-wins/

With Doug Ford's Progressive Conservatives seeking re-election on a slogan of "Protect Ontario," it's worth examining whether they made good on their last campaign slogan: "Get It Done." 

The Ontario PC campaign promises in 2022 focused largely on building, in particular housing, hospitals, highways, transit and long-term care homes. 

"Overall I would say it's a relatively good performance," said Geneviève Tellier, a political scientist at the University of Ottawa, in an interview.

Peter Graefe, a political scientist at McMaster University, says while Ford may have acted on many of his specific promises, it's questionable whether those actions actually solved the bigger problems they were supposed to address. 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-election-doug-ford-campaign-promises-report-card-1.7447912

OF COURSE................... not everyone is going to be thrilled at Ford winning a third term. Hence.............

 I would love to hear from our Canadian friends. 

For my money, that $200 cheque I got recently from the Ont. government just for being a resident of Ont. was a nice touch. Also, where I live, lithium mining is being heavily invested in which should significantly improve employment. 

February 22, 2025 — Today, Doug Ford outlined the PC plan to speed up approvals, cut red tape and invest in infrastructure to unlock the enormous economic potential of Ontario’s critical minerals in the Ring of Fire and protect northern Ontario’s economy and workers.

BUT...............................his standing up to the bullying of Trump, may have been the winning ticket. Ontario has rendered their verdict. 

The WaPo sinks into MAGA's world of authoritarian demagoguery and lies

Everybody is reporting that Bezos has formally poisoned the WaPo's opinion page. Bezos, the WaPo owner directed the newspaper's opinion section to focus exclusively on advocating for "personal liberties and free markets." This shift in editorial policy was announced in a memo to staff. He said that viewpoints opposing these principles would be left for others to publish. 

David Shipley, the WaPo opinion editor, resigned rather than lead the poisoned opinion section. Bezos offered Shipley the opportunity to continue, but Shipley declined, stating that he could not fully commit to the new direction. 

Bezos shields his abandonment of inconvenient truth, democracy, the rule of law and civil liberties with clever sophistry. Here he intentionally conflates freedom and liberty. Free markets, i.e., unregulated markets, is what allows people like Bezos and Musk to do whatever the hell they want to us and the environment. Personal liberty, i.e., civil liberties, is what protects the rest of us from people like them and authoritarians generally.

News sources:

https://www.npr.org/2025/02/26/nx-s1-5309725/jeff-bezos-washington-post-opinion-section

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y44gw5gpro

https://apnews.com/article/washington-post-bezos-opinion-trump-market-liberty-97a7d8113d670ec6e643525fdf9f06de

A WaPo article comments (not paywalled):

The move was received by some as an indication that Bezos is making decisions for the storied news outlet with an eye toward avoiding retaliation by President Donald Trump. Bezos, though, cast the change as a modernization from the days when newspapers offered opinions on a broad range of topics. Now, he said, “the internet does that job.”

“We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets,” Bezos wrote in his post, adding that the new topics “are right for America. I also believe that these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion.” Opinions editor David Shipley resigned rather than lead the shift, Bezos said.

“Bezos argues for personal liberties. But his news organization now will forbid views other than his own in its opinion section,” wrote Marty Baron, Buzbee’s predecessor at the paper, in a statement first reported by The Daily Beast. “There is no doubt in my mind that he is doing this out of fear of the consequences for his other business interests.”

“This is what Oligarch ownership of the media looks like,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., posted on X, Musk’s platform “The second-richest guy in the world, Bezos, owns The Washington Post. He has now declared that the editorial page of that paper is going Trump right-wing. Surprise, Mr. Musk agrees. We must support independent media.”

 So, the WaPo editorial pages have gone the way of the WSJ editorial pages, radical right, authoritarian, demagogic, kleptocratic and shamelessly mendacious. My subscription ends in April. I won't renew it. Years ago I ended my subscription to the WSJ for exactly the same reason.

MAGA bits: We're fat and disgusting!; Medicare & Medicaid cuts; Biblical MAGA politics; Etc.

As always, djt is gracious, caring and and articulate. A USA Today opinion: Trump calls America 'fat and disgusting.' What leadership! -- 'This country has gotten bloated and fat and disgusting.' Inspiring rhetoric that will surely uplift the masses off their bloated, fat and disgusting keisters. I guess.

Un-fracking-believable. Inspiring rhetoric indeed! This insult is brought to you with charm, grace and finesse by our fat, bloated, and far worse than disgusting djt.

Well, actually they aim for 

capitalist, authoritarian kleptocracy

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The NYT reports (not paywalled): House Passes G.O.P. Budget Teeing Up Enormous Tax and Spending Cuts -- The plan instructs the Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid and Medicare, to come up with at least $880 billion in cuts. While some Republicans denied that they would slash programs for the poor, the amount of revenue they are calling to raise would all but certainly necessitate some cuts to at least one of those programs.

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The Hill: GOP committee chair demands staff call West Bank by biblical name -- The Republican House Foreign Affairs Committee chair instructed GOP staff to refer to the West Bank by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria. Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), chair of the committee, wrote in a staff memo that all “formal correspondence, communication, and documentation” would refer to the territory of the West Bank as Judea and Samaria. .... Mast said he was making the change to recognize the “inherent right of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland” and demonstrate the U.S.’s “unbreakable bond with Israel.” 

Welp, ladies ’n germs, there we have it. The end game of the endless, bloody Israel-Palestine war is coming to an end. As expected, Palestine is obliterated and Israel wins it all. Israel is annexing the West Bank, er, Judea and Samaria. Of course Israel does not explicitly declare annexation. However its actions including military operations, settlement expansions, and legislative changes, amount to a de facto annexation of the West Bank. Gaza is slated to become a high-end development project for resorts, gold courses and brothels.

On Aug. 14, 2019 I posted these inspiring thoughts:

When Prime Minister Rabin was murdered by a political extremist with a gun in 1995, it seemed apparent then that the peace process was dead and would never lead to a solution. That turned out to be true from the end of 1995 until today, 23 years later.

Given the fact that there will never be a free and independent Palestinian state, America really should rethink the US-Israel alliance. At present, it looks like the Palestinian people are forever doomed to live in poverty, misery, blinding rage and actual imprisonment. Is that what America stands for? Apparently it is.

Once upon a time, the US stood up to Israel and tried to be a neutral broker. But those days are long gone. It’s ancient history. Palestine is toast. The Palestinians are destined for misery, poverty and tons of righteous oppression, i.e., also toast. 

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From the depths of the MAGA mortuary, we have these inspiring nuggets of MAGA foresight, grace and charm: Republican Cites Bible To Defend Hitting Disabled Students - A Republican lawmaker in Oklahoma cited a Bible verse as he argued against a bill seeking to ban corporal punishment being used on disabled students in schools. Oklahoma State Senator Shane Jett quoted several verses from the Book of Proverbs on Tuesday as he argued that the bill is in "violation of Scripture."

See, the bible commands corporal punishment of disabled students. I was not aware of that bit of Christian nationalist theology.

Also, there's new poll data:

Source

One GOP pollster commented: “I think what we’re starting to see is the very beginning of buyer’s remorse setting in. And the voters that I was talking to both before the election and after … They voted for Donald Trump for one very specific reason—they thought things were too expensive, and they still think things are too expensive. .... People are experiencing negative personal consequences as a result [of the damage Musk has inflicted]. You can see it in the poll numbers. I can hear it in the focus groups, like it’s already starting to turn. .... [many djt voters were] just mad about the economy.”

Too expensive?? Everyone knew that djt tariff promises would increase costs of lots. Guess those were low information voters. Heck, they’re probably high disinformation voters. After all, they listened to and believed both djt and Faux News. What could possibly go wrong?

MAGA bits: Suing dishonest book authors; Environment updates 1 and 2; MAGA Misogyny?

The Hill reports: Trump threatens lawsuits, ‘NICE NEW LAW’ over anonymous sources in books -- Here, djt threatens lawsuits against authors who use anonymous sources in books about him or his thug MAGA elites. djt calls reporting of inconvenient facts and truths to be defamatory and dishonest. He suggests a new law could be created to ban anonymous sourcing in books. “As a President who is being given credit for having the Best Opening Month of any President in history, quite naturally, here come the Fake books and stories with the so-called ‘anonymous,’ or ‘off the record,’ quotes.” At some point I am going to sue some of these dishonest authors and book publishers, or even media in general, to find out whether or not these ‘anonymous sources’ even exist, which they largely do not. .... They are made up, defamatory fiction, and a big price should be paid for this blatant dishonesty. I’ll do it as a service to our Country.” 

Once again, djt makes allegations that are not supported by one shred of empirical evidence. In other words, he still is the same old pathological liar and slanderer he has been for years. And, it's hypocrisy as usual too.

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Update 1: The WaPo reports that the MAGA thug who runs the EPA is gunning to get rid of most or all major air pollution regulations: EPA tells White House to strike down landmark climate finding -- Here MAGA thug Lee Zeldin is telling djt to repeal the EPA's 2009 “endangerment finding.” That finding said that greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare. The 2009 finding cleared the way for regulating greenhouse gases. Both Obama and Biden used the finding to set limits on emissions from cars and power plants. 

Climate science denier Lee Zeldin

spewing poison in congress last month

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Update 2: The NYT reports about the effects that MAGA hostility to the concepts of global warming and environmental protection is exerting: BP to Focus More on Oil and Gas in Strategy ‘Reset’ -- BP says it will cut investments in clean energy and redirect that spending toward fossil fuels. The NYT article says that BP's move is just a response to investor pressure for higher returns after a period of lower profits and a realization that transition to clean energy is not moving very fast. 

Of course that begs the question of why clean energy transition is not moving very fast. MAGA is why. Investor pressure is part of it, but MAGA policies that lower political and operational costs of fossil fuels creates a feedback loop that entrenches hydrocarbon dependence. In significant part, BP is virtue signaling to djt and MAGA elites that the company is on the side of pollution for profit, just as djt and MAGA are. 

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In a wonderfully snarky article, Salon writes about a fascinating but nasty power struggle that's now ongoing in MAGAlandia:

"A woman is like a child": MAGA quickly turns its sights on 

stripping Republican women of power

(well, at least they're not stripping off their clothes)

For decades, the anti-abortion movement has aggressively promoted women into visible leadership roles. It's for cynical reasons, namely, to bat off entirely accurate accusations that the movement is misogynist. Never mind that there have always been women who are eager to police the bodies and behavior of other women. Enough people are credulous or at least disingenuous enough to think that "I'm a woman, which means I can't hate other women" is an actual argument. For ambitious women who wanted to climb the ranks of Republican politics, anti-feminism has long been the steadiest of ladders. The propaganda value of their gender outweighed their party's larger hostility to women in leadership.

But now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned and Donald Trump is back in the White House, many on the right feel they no longer need to hide the naked sexism fueling their movement or put up with the annoyance of women in even token leadership positions. As Kiera Butler at Mother Jones reports, the anti-abortion movement is embroiled in an escalating civil war right now over these issues. Male leaders of the Christian right have been swarming Kristan Hawkins, the 39-year-old head of a "student" anti-abortion group, demanding her ejection from the movement. It started after she objected to Republican legislators introducing bills to charge women who get abortions with murder, an extreme move she fears will backfire on the movement. But mostly it was about growing male anger on the Christian right that women are allowed leadership positions at all.

"Removed [sic] this woman from public service," declared influential Christian nationalist pastor Joel Webbon, part of the "TheoBros" movement that includes the leadership of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's church. Soon other TheoBros jumped in, declaring "We need Christian men leading the fight against abortion," arguing that women's suffrage was a mistake, and accusing Hawkins of emasculating her husband by being "busy jet-setting."

Forty-five percent of female voters backed Trump in 2024, despite his overt misogyny. Most, no doubt, believed that complicity would protect them and that the attacks would be centered on other women. But while the GOP certainly wants to strip liberal and feminist women of their rights, male MAGA leaders are showing increasing interest in bringing Republican women to heel, both culturally and through the force of law. After all, they are more likely to live and work with Republican women. If they want to feel the full flowering of male domination, it's Republican women they need to see submitting.

Woof! That is feisty prose, to say the least. Those poor MAGA males, they don't like being emasculated by uppity jet-setting women. Darned women's suffrage, 'twas a huge mistake. And, WTF is the TheoBros? Mother Jones writes: To Understand JD Vance, You Need to Meet the “TheoBros” -- These fine Christian-adjacents are aggressive, angry, young White Christian men. They want to get rid of the 19th Amendment, restore public flogging, and make America white again.

The 19th Amendment: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex".

Mother Jones quotes Joel Webbon, a Texas MAGA pastor and podcaster, who wrote on X: “America is a particular place with a particular people.” He means White Christian men.

Another Christian MAGA freak, former Trump administration official William Wolfe said: “This is one of the most important political questions facing America right now. Answer it wrong, we will go the way of Europe, where the native-born populations are being utterly displaced by third world migrants and Muslims. Answer it right, and we can renew America once more.” One of the most cherished MAGA beliefs is this: America belongs to Christians, specifically White Christian men. 

Geez, not only is MAGA misogynist, it's racist too!! American women, start submitting right now or there will be hell to pay!! 

The demographic time bomb pressuring democracy

In my opinion, Earth is seriously overpopulated with humans. I recon there are about 4-5 billion too many of us to sustain a good quality of life, the environment and democracy. Unfortunately, there is a major problem with decreasing population. It put serious pressure on democracy. A NYT analysis article (not paywalled) discusses the damage from a declining population that most or all advanced countries are facing: 

How a Demographic ‘Doom Loop’ Helped Germany’s Far Right

The Alternative for Germany party came in second in federal elections doubling its vote share from four years ago, on Sunday, doubling its vote share from four years ago, in the strongest showing for a German far-right party since World War II. Some segments of the party, known as the AfD, have been classified as extremist by German intelligence.

How could that happen in Germany, a country whose history has taught a bitter lesson about the dangers of right-wing extremism?

Many experts have pointed to the role of immigration, particularly the surge of Muslim refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern countries in the mid-2010s, which has persuaded many people to abandon the long-dominant parties of the center-left and center-right.

But new research suggests an additional factor. The AfD posted its biggest wins in the former East Germany, where young people have been moving away from former industrial regions and rural areas to seek opportunities in cities. For years there has been a very strong correlation between the level of out-migration and the level of AfD support ....

The article points out that East Germans expected a post-unification peace dividend, but that never happened. On top of that, austerity measures and cuts to local services triggered support for far-right populist parties. Other Eastern European countries had a few years to adjust their economies before joining the European Union in 2004, but eastern Germany got had no time for economic adjustments. People with human capital would leave, leaving behind a lot of other people. Those left behind were disproportionately from the demographics most likely to support the AfD and extremism. People in the left-behind regions are radicalizing into far right extremist, authoritarian politics. 

So what? That's Germany, this is the US!

The left-behind phenomenon in the US and Germany have strong parallels. Rural US communities are facing demographic shifts, federal policy disconnects, and a perceived moral decline. That makes disaffected people open to political radicalization, just as is the case in Germany. In the US and Germany, economic prosperity gravitates toward the cities, leaving rural areas unequal. The loss of manufacturing jobs and agricultural consolidation hollowed out rural economies in both the U.S. Midwest and Germany's eastern states. U.S. rural areas face systemic underinvestment. In the US, 60% of "persistent poverty counties" are rural. Those disparities amplify narratives of federal neglect. That is a theme weaponized by groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. They frame themselves as defenders of "forgotten" communities. In American Appalachia, 43% of counties lack community mental health centers. That enables crackpot conspiracy theories to fill knowledge voids.

Population declines in Japan and Europe mirror Roman Empire fertility patterns. Aging populations strain healthcare and pension systems. Some research indicates (and this) that modern states face added risks from climate change and energy scarcity, which could trigger synchronous collapses. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic’s negative effect on labor markets and supply chains demonstrated how demographic disruption can be a potent threat.

Population loss is a separate but overlapping phenomenon from economic shifts from rural to urban areas. It has historically been part of the story of the collapse of great civilizations. In the past, high populations depleted environmental resources, which in turn put pressure on governments and societies. In one study, 10 of 12 empire collapses was found to be accompanied by an interplay between environmental degradation and population decline. Although historical collapses were regional, globalization created new kinds of interdependencies between nations. That creates new possibilities for global civilization disruptions, maybe even collapses. 

Translated into MAGA politics and policy

At present, it seems very unlikely that MAGA's authoritarianism and deep corruption are going to significantly improve the rural poverty situation or the decline in rural economies. Without major immigration, US population would decrease. Now that MAGA is blocking large-scale immigration, one can expect the US population to level off and then slowly decline. 

In the past empires have had a very difficult time dealing with environmental damage and ensuing population decline. Given that US politics is mostly reactive and not proactive, and often incompetent or corrupt, the same can reasonably be expected here. 

Counterintuitive as it is, the most likely upshot is that under MAGA, unhappiness in most American rural areas will continue to simmer unabated. MAGA simply does not care about regular people. Rural Americans will probably continue to further radicalize into extremism and authoritarianism. If nothing else, MAGA knows how to effectively deflect blame from itself onto anything or anyone else that it chooses to blame. That's pretty much like what is going on in Germany now.

A little fun at Trump's expense

 This thread is not about kleptocracy or Trump being a kleptomaniac.

Instead it is a thread being concerned about where his loyalties lie and his health.

First, his loyalties, seem to be Elon Musk.

Of course, the White House is saying that the video is fake and was a hack, but come on, we ALL know that Trump indeed does kiss Musk's feet (even if they are both left feet).

As for Trump's health:

A large bruise that appeared on Donald Trump's hand is down to him shaking a lot of hands, the White House has said.

You buying that? Looks mighty suspicious to me.

Germaine's indescribable sadness: MAGA plans to sell off public lands

INTRODUCTION

“Over the last half century alone, the losses have been extraordinary. Millions of acres of forest logged, much of it old growth; tens of millions of animals slaughtered by Wildlife Services; every year more than 155 million acres of BLM land and 100 million acres of national forests destructively grazed; hundreds of thousands of miles of new roads blazed, some 2.8 million roadless acres in our forests gone; tens of thousands of acres drilled for oil and gas or mined for precious metals and ores; the sage grouse headed for extinction, the last of the wild bison trapped in a tiny national park, the grizzly bear and the wolf clinging to vestiges of the wild. .... The country has operated under both parties in accordance with ‘the one true faith, the mad faith that says the economy must grow always bigger and at a faster pace on a planet of finite resources that can’t handle the growth.’ .... Grazing is today the most widespread single use of the public domain, occurring on 270 million acres of national forest and BLM land. The grazing of privately owned cattle on public lands has polluted streams, decimated native plants, and turned a biologically diverse ecosystem into a monoculture of grassland.” Christopher Ketcham, This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism and Corruption are Ruining the American West, 2019

djt signs the EO that sells out or precious

heritage to MAGA kleptocrats, grifters and thugs

Thinking about and writing this literally brings tears to my eyes. Literally. It makes me think about what we are on the verge of irretrievably losing to a bunch of morally rotted, arrogant, cruel, lying, MAGA kleptocrat thugs. I cannot adequately describe how bad this makes me feel. (now can you see why I posted a warning about resort to violence 2 days ago? -- emotions are running high)

Despite me consciously walling-off the moral rot and insulting outrages of djt and MAGA elites, this bit really gets to me. Not sure why. But I just cannot wall this horror off. 

This is one of the saddest and most demoralizing of all the posts I’ve ever written. In Nov. of 2023, I wrote two posts about a 2019 book by Christopher Ketcham, This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism and Corruption are Ruining the American West (post 1, post 2). Those two come fairly close to how I felt about writing and posting this. 

A simple three-step MAGA plan explains the staggering scope and arrogance of what djt and elite MAGA kleptocrats plan to do, in my opinion: 1) First they establish an American sovereign wealth fund. 2) Then they fund it by selling public property. 3) Finally, they loot the sovereign fund as much as they can get away with. Anyone caught stealing will be pardoned by djt, who in turn will receive a legal gratuity, formerly known as an illegal kickback. 

Public land amounts to about 28% of the US, about 640 million acres or ~1 million sq mi. Most of that land is west of state borders from Minnesota south to Louisiana and stretches from the Canada border to the Mexico border. Maps of public land are below.

BLOG POST

American Progress reports that on Feb. 3, 2025, djt signed an executive order to create a US sovereign wealth fund. To fund it, MAGA implicitly proposes selling off some or all land the US owns and manages. American Progress writes, seriously understating the gravity of the situation:

President Donald Trump’s executive order to create a sovereign wealth fund requires that the United States come up with heaps of cash quickly, which may make selling out and selling off public lands irresistible.

On February 3, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to create a sovereign wealth fund (SWF), saying the United States will have one of the largest funds in the world. That requires raising trillions of dollars very quickly. For context, Norway’s fund is currently worth $1.8 trillion U.S. dollars. Sovereign wealth funds are typically financed with surplus revenue from trade or natural resource development. Given that the United States is roughly $36 trillion in debt, experts question where the money would come from. The Trump administration seems to be signaling that selling out and selling off the nation’s public lands to the highest bidder might provide the necessary funding. Selling federal public lands would turn America’s treasured places into a financial asset for the Trump administration without the need for surplus revenue, making it a potentially** enticing idea for the administration.

** Potentially my ass. Public land is the target that MAGA kleptocrats intend to loot, and nobody and nothing is going to stop them.

At the signing ceremony, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained where some of the money might come from: “We are going to monetize the asset side of the U.S. balance sheet for the American people. We are going to put the assets to work.”

What exactly does this mean? Doug Burgum, President Trump’s secretary of the interior, explained that the nation’s parks, public lands, and natural resources—including timber, fossil fuels, and minerals—are assets on “the nation’s balance sheet.” Burgum speculated in his confirmation hearing that federal lands could be worth as much as $200 trillion {a number that the shameless MAGA liar Burgum pulled out of his morally rotted MAGA backside -- total value is ~$2.67 to ~$4.5 trillion [1]}.

The US has no budget surplus! Duh. All those MAGA and radical right tax cuts for rich and powerful people and corporations still have not paid for themselves. And they never will. That was known to everyone. But that is just an inconvenient truth for government haters and MAGA to lie about and rationalize into non-existence.

Bottom line: djt and MAGA elites are on the verge of setting up the biggest theft of anything and everyone in all of human history. This is going to be at or near the top whopper among the few biggest whoppers ever.

Yabbut, whaddabout the rule of law?? That’ll stop the theft!

Gosh, I so much wish that was true. But it ain’t. It just ain’t. Let’s just get straight to the ghastly point.

The executive order djt signed to create his personal sovereign wealth fund does not explicitly mention any protections to prevent Trump or MAGA elites from misusing or stealing wealth from the fund. djt’s executive order directs the development of a plan that includes recommendations for funding mechanisms, investment strategies, fund structure, and a governance model, but it does not specify any safeguards against misuse by political figures or elites.

A cornucopia of corruption, theft and sleaze is on the near horizon. Next 12-18 months will be very interesting, assuming the MSM has not been shut down before then. If djt and MAGA elites manage to finish shutting down the MSM, we’re probably not gonna know what the hell is going on. djt’s and elite MAGA’s kleptocratic intent is crystal clear. Can they pull it off? Maybe. My guess, they have about a 60% chance of doing the dirty deep, done dirt cheap.

Q: The usual -- is Germaine off his meds or his rocker, or is he maybe making a valid, troubling point or two? 

Update! Germaine’s now solidly entrenched state of mind: I’m absolutely done with entertaining the idea that djt and his cadre of elite MAGA thugs are messy but survivable aberrations or otherwise not much to worry about.[2] They are true authoritarians. djt is our hypocritical, deeply corrupt, morally rotted dictator, MAGA billionaires are our hypocritical, deeply corrupt, morally rotted plutocrat thugs, and MAGA Christian nationalists are our hypocritical, deeply corrupt, morally rotted sharia law theocrat thugs. We are undeniably in a state of full-blown war on democracy, the rule of law, civil liberties, honest, pluralistic governance, the public interest, the environment, and inconvenient facts, true truths and sound reasoning. This is full blow war, not a tempest in a teapot. Not a little or moderate kerfuffle. Full-blown war to the death of democracy if the thugs can pull it off. 

Footnote:

1. Data sources: 

https://www.fb.org/market-intel/u-s-agricultural-land-values-and-cropland-cash-rents-reach-record-levels-amid-falling-commodity-prices

https://texasfarmbureau.org/report-shows-agricultural-land-value-up-from-last-year/

https://manhattan.institute/article/unleash-the-potential-of-federal-lands

https://www.blm.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2024-11/BLM-Valuing-Americas-Public-Lands-2024_508.pdf

2. Like with climate science deniers, I won't engage with American authoritarianism and corrupt dictatorship deniers any more. For climate science deniers, I just respectfully tell them (i) we disagree, (ii) give them links to climate science experts, (iii) tell them to convince the actual experts are wrong, and (iv) say that once they have convinced the experts they are wrong, I will change my mind accordingly. Henceforth, the same will apply to anyone who tells me that djt and MAGA are not authoritarian or kleptocratic. I am 100% done with that nonsense. Time for debate is over. Time for desperate defense is now.

A Project 2025 pulse check: Authoritarianism, check . . . . . kleptocracy, check

Slate writes:

Project 2025 Makes Trump’s Goal Chillingly Clear

Donald Trump is a notoriously dishonest man, but one of his oft-used slogans has proved absolutely true: Promises Made, Promises Kept. Unfortunately, this time around, the promises being kept weren’t all made by Trump. They were made by the fanatics who penned Project 2025.

But the mass firings, the power grabs, and the agency shutterings are not just Musk’s doing. They were planned and proposed well before Trump was even elected, right there for everyone to see, in Project 2025.

Trump may have said he had “nothing to do with” the far-right game plan for his presidency—always a dubious claim, given that its architects are either former administration members or people with close ties to it. But now that he’s in office, he’s following their plan almost to the letter.  

And although the details certainly are important, the single message must be this: Trump is trying to be a king or a dictator, and Project 2025 is his monarchical playbook. 

If Trump has done one thing so far, it’s break the federal bureaucracy.

The article goes on to point out that the DJT has been doing closely tracks with the content and strategy that Project 2025 asserts. P2025 strenuously argues that a president has a very short time to implement their policy. Hesitating to sort out policy details wastes that time. Only because P2025 wrote out a very detailed plan, has djt been able to do so much in such a short time. He is not wasting one minute with congress, the courts or anything else. He is in a mode of acting first and fighting against all sources of resistance, including in the federal courts. In federal law enforcement and prosecution, the FIB and DoJ, he will face no resistance at all to essentially anything he does.

djt and MAGA defenders: But it’s just conservatism!

Pro-democracy realists: That is gaslighting, it’s authoritarianism and kleptocracy

State-directed kleptocracy is this century’s brand of authoritarianism, but it is critical to understand that kleptocracy and authoritarianism are mutually supportive and reinforcing activities designed to achieve total control. An authoritarian leader and his or her inner circle can secure state-owned and private assets through kleptocratic means, and kleptocratic means can secure control over key government and democratic institutions.

Source: NED

We constantly hear the MSM, politicians and even Perplexity (artificial intelligence) referring to djt, MAGA elites and Project 2025 as conservatives and conservatism. That is a gigantic, but devastatingly effective lie. Old-fashioned, i.e., pre-MAGA and pre-djt, conservatism is staunchly pro-democracy and pro-rule of law, while grudgingly accepting of inconvenient facts, true truths and sound reasoning. djt and his elite MAGA thugs flatly reject all of that. 

Conservatism is not inherently authoritarian or kleptocratic, even if a policy just happens to be the same for a true conservative and a dictator or kleptocrat. However, conservative rhetoric has been appropriated by djt and MAGA demagogues. They do that to pursue centralized power and personal enrichment while pretending they are doing the opposite. That reality, i.e., fact, not opinion, directly contradicts the foundational principles of conservatism. The current MAGA agenda reflects a blend of populist authoritarianism and kleptocracy, not authentic conservatism rooted in tradition, limited, honest government, transparent fiscal responsibility and loyalty to the Constitution and rule of law.

djt’s and MAGA elites’ (i) centralizing authority via loyalty tests for civil servants, and (ii) attacking and undermining independent institutions, both contradict the conservative principle of limited government. People who want a high-level government job have to spout djt’s whopper lie about the 2020 election being stolen. djt’s and MAGA’s cronyism, misuse of public funds, and deregulation favoring elites all undermine fiscal responsibility and accountability, both of which are core tenets of actual American conservatism.

Bits: MAGA protects rogue cops; MAGA attacks the rule of law in the US military; MAGA attacks the IRS

Our rogue president and rogue DoJ have given blanket protection to rogue cops. Justice Department deletes database tracking federal police misconduct -- Trump executive order ends National Law Enforcement Accountability Database, which he proposed creating in 2020. The first nationwide database tracking misconduct by federal police officers has been shut down by President Donald Trump, the Justice Department confirmed, deleting a resource that experts said improved public safety by helping to prevent bad officers from jumping to new agencies and starting over with clean records.

Nice work shoes, very sensible

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A NYT opinion says we have a rogue president. the author, Frank Kendall, was the secretary of the Air Force in the Biden administration. Germaine says we had a rogue president from Jan. 2017 to Jan. 2021 and again from Jan. 2025 until now. America Has a Rogue President (not paywalled) -- President Trump’s decision to fire senior military leaders without cause is foolish and a disgrace. It politicizes our professional military in a dangerous and debilitating way. What frightens me even more is the removal of three judge advocates general, the most senior uniformed legal authorities in the Defense Department. Their removal is one more element of this administration’s attack on the rule of law, and an especially disturbing part.

Kendall's opinion goes on to assert that the three people djt fired Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., Gen. James Slife and Adm. Lisa Franchetti, were extremely capable apolitical professional officers who served for decades with honor and distinction over multiple administrations. He says that the three were treated unfairly and fired without cause. 

Kendall says he is worried about political loyalty becoming a criterion to hold high military positions. He points to “the utter lack of respect for legal constraints” by djt and MAGA elites now in power. Well Sir, that horse ran out of the barn the day djt was re-elected in Nov. 2024. Unfairness is  literally nothing to djt and MAGA in pursuit of unrestrained power and wealth. The law is something they still have to be somewhat concerned about. Can the US military's vaunted professionalism and loyalty to the rule of law stand up to djt and elite MAGA thugs in power? Time will tell.

I'm NOT a rogue president,

and . . . . Fani, you're fired!!

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That is not going to happen to MAGA elites 

and most rich people who are not enemies of djt

Another fun-filled NYT opinion (not paywalled) by a slew of former IRS Commissioners since the Reagan administration say that djt and MAGA are attacking the IRS. No surprise there. That's in Project 2025's plans. The Commissioners write:

Trump Just Fired 6,700 I.R.S. Workers in the Middle of Tax Season. 

That’s a Huge Mistake.

If you were to ask the top chief executives in the world to name the best strategy to attack waste in their organizations and balance the books, there is one answer you would be very, very unlikely to hear: Take an ax to accounts receivable, the part of an organization responsible for collecting revenue.

Yet the private sector leaders advising President Trump on ways to increase government efficiency are deploying this exact approach by targeting the Internal Revenue Service, which collects virtually all the receipts of the U.S. government — our nation’s accounts receivable division. Last week, the Trump administration started laying off about 6,700 I.R.S. employees, many if not most of whom are directly involved in collecting unpaid taxes.

Sigh. Here we have yet another, sincere, heart-felt warning from experienced experts acting in good will who can clearly see what is going on but still just cannot bring themselves to call a freaking spade a spade. They just can't do it. It's too hard (cognitively dissonant) to come out and say it. djt and MAGA are setting up federal infrastructure needed to implement and support dictatorship and kleptocracy.

Crud.

Anyway, the commissioners point out that reducing IRS resources will make government less effective in collecting the taxes. Sigh. Of course. That's the whole freaking point Commissioners, you boobs. The plan is brain-dead simple, honest people will pay their taxes and tax cheats won't. This effort will also kill the IRS effort to simplify tax filings, also a very popular item among the public ( /s). The Commissioners end their opinion with this quaint plea: "But whatever the future size and priorities of the IRS, our country needs a fully functioning tax system."

Geez, the last thing that MAGA kleptocracy needs is a fully functioning tax system. These people still don't get it. Firing IRS employees isn't a mistake. It is part of the plan, you hopeless boobs. 

Q: Are those Commissioners dense, naive or what, or is Germaine off his anti-insanity and anti-hallucination meds as usual? 

My 2024 estimate: Tax evasion is running at about $1.1 trillion

My recollection of the IRS 2023 estimate (until djt hides the data): ~$700 billion

My 2025 estimate: ~$1.5 trillion

The transition of MAGA dictatorship from legitimacy seeking to power consolidation

CONTEXT

My Perplexity AI account has 5 search options, three of which are deep research and reasoning options, two are research-lite. AI has taught me how to ask more complex and precise questions. It is actually pretty easy now. Posing sophisticated, complex questions allows me to see what a deep analysis by an expert might look like. It's the closest thing to asking a true expert to draw on lots of information and synthesize answers. Sure, sometimes it makes a mistake and draws a clearly flawed or unsupported conclusion from the info sources it selects. AI isn't human and doesn't have human judgment. But in my opinion and experience, it's surprisingly good, usually equal or better than what I can do on my own. where it falls down is lack of human judgment and understanding of nuance (shades of gray) inherent in human cognitive biology and social behavior.

IS MAGA'S DICTATORSHIP AND 

DEMAGOGUERY LEGITIMATE?

Yesterday, I posted this Q&A in a post that was TL/DR for most people to go through. Here is the 3rd of the 4 Q&As that were asked in one of Perplexity's deep research and reasoning modes (Grok 2, not DeepSeek). It strikes me as an important bit of analysis to be aware of.

Q3: You assert that "the argument that widespread violence is inevitable under MAGA rule reflects genuine despair over institutional failures but risks legitimizing the very authoritarianism it seeks to oppose", but that authoritarianism (and corruption) has already been normalized by the 2024 elections that returned Trump and the GOP to power. What more legitimacy do they need? They have all the power.

A3: .... long analysis ....

Beyond Legitimacy: The Naked Power Reality
The Endgame of Post-Legitimacy Authoritarianism MAGA’s trajectory reveals a shift from legitimacy-seeking to raw power consolidation. Key indicators:

1. Personalist Rule: Trump’s installation of family members (Donald Jr. as Senior Adviser, Ivanka as UN Ambassador) and loyalists (Steve Bannon as Chief Strategist) bypasses traditional accountability structures 9.

2. Information Control: FCC revocation of broadcast licenses for CNN and MSNBC (March 2025) under “national security” pretexts completes media capture 15.

3. Paramilitary Integration: Oath Keepers and Proud Boys members now comprise 12% of DHS staff under the “Patriot Recruitment Initiative” 2.

These moves reflect what scholar Juan Linz termed “sultanistic regimes”—systems where personal loyalty replaces ideological or institutional legitimacy.

The Illusion of Inevitability
MAGA’s greatest strength lies in fostering belief in its invincibility. Yet history shows no regime is permanent. The 1986 People Power Revolution (Philippines) and 2018 Armenian Velvet Revolution prove even militarized autocracies can fall to sustained nonviolent resistance.

Current mutual aid networks—feeding 17 million Americans through church basements and community centers—demonstrate grassroots resilience 15. Legal scholars note that 132 sanctuary cities still defy federal immigration orders, while Texas’ Supreme Court rebellion against Trump’s EPA overreach shows federalism’s lingering power 13.

Conclusion: Legitimacy as Theater in the Autocratic Play
MAGA’s post-2024 legitimacy is performative—a stage play where democratic rituals mask authoritarian reality. Like Putin’s Russia or Orbán’s Hungary, the regime requires constant legitimacy theater: staged elections, co-opted courts, and propagandized crises.

Yet as the 2026 midterms approach—with GOP plans to eliminate mail-in voting in 19 states—the façade grows thinner. The true battle lies not in debating MAGA’s legitimacy but in exposing its fictional nature while rebuilding democratic power from below. For in the end, no amount of institutional capture can withstand a populace that withdraws its complicity and reclaims the courage to imagine—and fight for—a different future.

In my opinion, djt and MAGA elites relied very heavily on demagoguery or dark free speech to regain power. Because they created false realities and beliefs in the minds of tens of millions of Americans, one can argue that djt and MAGA are both illegitimate. As I argued a few weeks ago, the will of the demagogues subverted and overpowered the will of the people.

Here, one can see a plausible, logical extension of my earlier argument that the will of the people was an illusion in the 2024 elections. What AI analysis convinces me is true is this: 

MAGA’s trajectory reveals a shift from legitimacy-seeking to raw power consolidation. 

In other words, djt and MAGA are in a mode that transitions from seeking legitimacy to simply consolidating power. I believe that analysis is true. djt and MAGA elites are not stupid. They hear people complaining. But they could not care less about that. Now they are making their run at unrestrained power and wealth, the consequences be damned. And given how subverted and weak our federal rule of law, law enforcement and courts are, the chances of significant consequences for breaking laws and large-scale corruption are quite low in my opinion.

Golf update

Pennlive reports:

One government expense that Elon Musk and DOGE have not addressed yet is the amount of money President Donald Trump spends golfing.

But, if Musk and DOGE do look at that, well … Trump is reportedly on pace to put an incredible amount of taxpayer money into perfecting his game this year. And that is because, according to HuffPost, Trump has spent an estimated $10.7 million playing golf in the first month of his return to office.

The site said it calculated the cost based off of a 2019 report from the Government Accountability Office that broke down the cost of Trump’s trips to Mar-a-Lago. That report, HuffPost said, said it cost taxpayers $3,383,250 for each trip.

The site said that Trump has golfed every weekend since taking office on Jan. 20 and played golf at his own properties on nine of his first 30 days in office. The site noted that because that report was based on costs in 2017, the costs is likely higher in today’s dollars. It puts Trump on pace to spend well over $100 million golfing in 2025. HuffPost reported that he spent an estimated $152 million, golfing 293 days at his own resorts, during his first term.

Well, guess we know who is running the executive branch day-to-day. It’s not djt. He’s busy golfing. 

Pssst, have I got a deal for you . . . . bend over

Regarding violent resistance: Analysis of MAGA and its asymmetric epistemic advantage

I'm afraid this is another TL/DR post. Sorry. I didn't intend it to be that way, but the seriousness of our situation keeps prodding me to look for answers to complicated questions. At least check out the three key points (bullet points) at the top of the four AI Q&As at the end of the post.

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Threats to Americans under djt and MAGA's corrupt, iron fist regime are rapidly intensifying. Some planned policy goals will literally kill a lot of innocent Americans. For example, deranged MAGA freak RFK Jr. is now pulling the plug on activities related to development and evaluation of vaccine safety and efficacy. arstechnica writes:

Just days after anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became the country's top health official, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already pulled back some of its efforts to protect Americans with safe, lifesaving vaccines.

Last weekend, a Washington Post columnist noted on Bluesky that the CDC's effective "Wild to Mild" seasonal flu shot campaign had vanished. The campaign highlighted how the seasonal vaccines can prevent influenza infections from becoming severe or life-threatening.

Meanwhile on Thursday, The Washington Post reported that the HHS told the CDC to indefinitely postpone a meeting of its vaccine advisory committee (the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP), which Kennedy has criticized. ACIP, comprised of independent experts, meets regularly to review and discuss vaccine safety and efficacy data and vote on recommendations.

 

One thing that can be said of what MAGA wants to do to public health is that it is not merely aimed at fixing problems. It is aimed at destroying American public health policy and infrastructure. RFK Jr. promised he was going to be guided only by data, but that was a profoundly insulting lie. He could not care less about data. He wants to see thousands of Americans die from infectious diseases.

Violence?

The following is not an assertion that most actors in certain groups are MAGA. It is an assertion  that enough are MAGA and (i) they are now in power, and (ii) unrestrained by laws, morals, inconvenient facts and truths, rationality, good will, common sense, or anything else. The following is not an argument favoring violence. It is my personal assessment of our situation, nothing more.

It is time to contemplate the outbreak of widespread violence. djt and MAGA elites have forced many Americans into untenable positions. The GOP, federal courts (especially the USSC), law enforcement, the rule of law, the Dem Party, the private business sector, and Christianity have all failed and betrayed us, our democracy and our civil liberties. Who or what is left to defend us? The bare majority of Americans who oppose the corrupt dictatorship that djt and MAGA elites are forcing on us leaves opposition with few options. 

Mass demonstrations and protests will not faze djt or MAGA elites in the slightest. Again, who or what is left to defend us? 

Top: djt & MAGA

Bottom: Democracy & rule of law

I do not know how likely widespread violence is. Again, I am not advocating violence. But it does seem increasingly possible that there could be a violent rebellion in the near future. 

I agree with, and have been arguing basically the same the analyses and conclusions that the following four AI deep research Q&As assert, i.e., Perplexity's Deep Research mode and I are in almost 100% agreement. For people who distrust AI and won't read any of it, ignore that and pretend that all of the following analyses have been written by me personally. If you don't want to read any or some of that, here are three key points that come out of these four analyses:

• Violence in resistance to djt  and MAGA literally is killing us, but might backfire, strengthening djt's and MAGA elites' power, while weakening our power and civil liberties.

• Dishonest speech, demagoguery, dark free speech, deceptive/divisive propaganda, or whatever one calls it, is more powerful and persuasive than weak honest speech. There is an epistemic asymmetry in authoritarianism that greatly favors authoritarianism over democracy. As I posted last month, this knowledge dates back at least to Plato and Aristotle in ~400 BC. Here, Perplexity reinvents that old wheel.

• Sometimes demagogue-driven authoritarianism is brittle because they depend on perpetual crisis and can be eroded by their own excesses. We just might have to live through this, even if it kills thousands of us.

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Q1: How plausible is the argument that Trump and MAGA have forced people into untenable positions and widespread violence is the only option left, with the argument articulated like this?: The following is not an assertion that most actors in certain groups are MAGA. It is an assertion that (my first two paragraphs from above pasted into the question) .... 

A1: The resurgence of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement has intensified debates about the stability of American democracy, the role of institutional safeguards, and the potential for widespread political violence. Over the past decade, Trump’s rhetoric, policy initiatives, and alliances with far-right actors have systematically eroded democratic norms, weaponized governmental power, and normalized authoritarian tactics. Concurrently, key institutions—including the Republican Party, federal courts, law enforcement agencies, and corporate entities—have either actively enabled this agenda or failed to mount meaningful resistance. This convergence has created a perilous environment in which marginalized communities, political opponents, and pro-democracy advocates face escalating threats. While the argument that widespread violence is now the “only option” remains contested, the structural conditions for such conflict—state-sanctioned repression, institutional collapse, and the mainstreaming of extremist ideologies—have undeniably intensified under MAGA’s influence.

Erosion of Democratic Norms and Authoritarian Consolidation

The Normalization of Authoritarian Governance
Since returning to office in 2025, Trump has accelerated efforts to centralize power, bypass congressional oversight, and redefine constitutional boundaries. His second inaugural address framed his presidency as a “liberation” from democratic constraints, declaring a national emergency at the southern border to justify sweeping executive actions 3 7. This rhetoric mirrors historical authoritarian playbooks, where crisis narratives legitimize the suspension of civil liberties. Trump’s administration has issued 26 executive orders in its first week alone, including attempts to reinterpret the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship clause and militarize immigration enforcement—actions legal scholars describe as “dictatorial theories of presidential power” 7 14. By asserting inherent constitutional authority to override statutes, Trump has effectively positioned the executive branch as unaccountable to legislative or judicial checks 7.

Project 2025 and the Weaponization of Bureaucracy
The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 blueprint has provided a roadmap for embedding MAGA loyalists across federal agencies, ensuring ideological conformity and dismantling institutional independence. Prospective hires undergo rigorous vetting for “MAGA enthusiasm,” including scrutiny of social media activity and demands to recount their “MAGA awakening” 2 13. This purge of non-loyalists—derided as “MAGA commissars” by critics—has paralyzed agencies like USAID, where political appointees have attempted abrupt closures of programs deemed ideologically incompatible 2 13. Such tactics extend Trump’s longstanding grievance against the “deep state,” reframing nonpartisan civil service as existential threats to his agenda.

.... very long analysis ....

Conclusion: Democracy at the Precipice
The argument that widespread violence is inevitable under MAGA rule reflects genuine despair over institutional failures but risks legitimizing the very authoritarianism it seeks to oppose. While Trump’s policies have created structural incentives for conflict—through dehumanization, militarized policing, and partisan capture of the state—history shows dictatorships often crumble under sustained nonviolent resistance. The path forward requires confronting MAGA’s ideological roots: white Christian nationalism, corporate oligarchy, and the myth of neoliberal meritocracy. Whether democracy survives depends not on abstract institutions but on collective courage to defend it—in streets, courts, and every contested space where power resides.

The alternative—resignation to violence as “the only option”—plays into MAGA’s hands, justifying further repression and eroding the moral high ground essential for lasting change. As Trump tests democracy’s limits, the response must be strategic, principled, and above all, rooted in solidarity that transcends the divisions his movement exploits.

Q2: How influential has MAGA-aligned American Christian nationalism been in the attacks on and erosion of democracy and the secular rule of law?

A2: The alliance between the MAGA movement and Christian nationalism has emerged as a transformative force in American politics, systematically undermining democratic institutions and secular governance. By weaving ultra-conservative religious ideology into policy frameworks, judicial appointments, and electoral strategies, this coalition has redefined political discourse, normalized authoritarian tactics, and destabilized the separation of church and state. The convergence of these forces—rooted in ethno-religious identity politics and anti-pluralist governance—has accelerated the erosion of democratic norms and secular legal foundations.

.... long analysis ....

Conclusion: Democracy at a Crossroads
The MAGA-Christian nationalist alliance has reshaped American governance, replacing pluralistic democracy with majoritarian theocracy. Through judicial capture, voter suppression, and cultural demonization, this movement has institutionalized policies that privilege a narrow ethno-religious minority over the broader populace. While resistance persists—via grassroots mobilization, legal challenges, and international scrutiny—the trajectory toward authoritarianism remains alarming.

Q3: You assert that "the argument that widespread violence is inevitable under MAGA rule reflects genuine despair over institutional failures but risks legitimizing the very authoritarianism it seeks to oppose", but that authoritarianism (and corruption) has already been normalized by the 2024 elections that returned Trump and the GOP to power. What more legitimacy do they need? They have all the power.

A3: .... long analysis ....

Beyond Legitimacy: The Naked Power Reality
The Endgame of Post-Legitimacy Authoritarianism MAGA’s trajectory reveals a shift from legitimacy-seeking to raw power consolidation. Key indicators:

1. Personalist Rule: Trump’s installation of family members (Donald Jr. as Senior Adviser, Ivanka as UN Ambassador) and loyalists (Steve Bannon as Chief Strategist) bypasses traditional accountability structures 9.

2. Information Control: FCC revocation of broadcast licenses for CNN and MSNBC (March 2025) under “national security” pretexts completes media capture 15.

3. Paramilitary Integration: Oath Keepers and Proud Boys members now comprise 12% of DHS staff under the “Patriot Recruitment Initiative” 2.

These moves reflect what scholar Juan Linz termed “sultanistic regimes”—systems where personal loyalty replaces ideological or institutional legitimacy.

The Illusion of Inevitability
MAGA’s greatest strength lies in fostering belief in its invincibility. Yet history shows no regime is permanent. The 1986 People Power Revolution (Philippines) and 2018 Armenian Velvet Revolution prove even militarized autocracies can fall to sustained nonviolent resistance.

Current mutual aid networks—feeding 17 million Americans through church basements and community centers—demonstrate grassroots resilience 15. Legal scholars note that 132 sanctuary cities still defy federal immigration orders, while Texas’ Supreme Court rebellion against Trump’s EPA overreach shows federalism’s lingering power 13.

Conclusion: Legitimacy as Theater in the Autocratic Play
MAGA’s post-2024 legitimacy is performative—a stage play where democratic rituals mask authoritarian reality. Like Putin’s Russia or Orbán’s Hungary, the regime requires constant legitimacy theater: staged elections, co-opted courts, and propagandized crises.

Yet as the 2026 midterms approach—with GOP plans to eliminate mail-in voting in 19 states—the façade grows thinner. The true battle lies not in debating MAGA’s legitimacy but in exposing its fictional nature while rebuilding democratic power from below. For in the end, no amount of institutional capture can withstand a populace that withdraws its complicity and reclaims the courage to imagine—and fight for—a different future.

Q4: Some people have been trying to expose the fictional nature of djt and MAGA ever since djt won the GOP nomination for president in 2016. All of those warnings have failed miserably. The power of dishonest speech (demagoguery, divisive lies and slanders, etc.) seems to have overwhelmed the power of honest speech, which problem is made worse by the subversion of honest reporting by most of the professional news media. How can weak honest speech ever overcome the power of the demagogue's dishonest, divisive free speech?  

A4: The Asymmetric Battle: Demagoguery’s Resilience and the Paths to Restoring Epistemic Integrity
The ascendancy of Donald Trump and MAGA-aligned rhetoric since 2016 has exposed a fundamental asymmetry in modern political discourse: demagogic strategies leveraging dishonesty, division, and identity polarization consistently outmaneuver fact-based, pluralistic dialogue. This dynamic reflects not merely a failure of "honest speech" but systemic vulnerabilities in democratic institutions, media ecosystems, and collective psychology that demagogues exploit. To understand how truth-seeking discourse might regain traction, we must dissect the structural advantages of demagoguery and identify counterstrategies rooted in epistemic renewal, institutional reform, and narrative reclamation.

The Anatomy of Demagogic Dominance
1. Crisis of Legitimacy and the Authenticity Paradox
As Hahl, Kim, and Zuckerman Sivan’s research demonstrates, demagogues thrive in contexts where constituencies perceive political systems as illegitimate or unresponsive 3 5. MAGA’s core supporters—largely white, non-urban, and economically marginalized—view institutions (media, academia, federal agencies) as hostile to their interests. Trump’s lies function not as factual claims but as symbolic protests against this perceived illegitimacy 3. When he falsely asserts voter fraud or "deep state" conspiracies, he signals solidarity with supporters’ grievances, rendering factual rebuttals irrelevant. This creates an authenticity paradox: supporters dismiss contradictions because the demagogue’s defiance of norms embodies their resentment toward elites 3 13.

2. Emotional Resonance Over Rational Engagement

Demagoguery weaponizes affective polarization by simplifying complex issues into moral binaries. Patricia Roberts-Miller identifies this as framing politics as a battle between a virtuous "ingroup" (MAGA supporters) and a corrupt "outgroup" (liberals, immigrants, elites) 14 15. Trump’s rhetoric—e.g., labeling migrants "invaders" or opponents "vermin"—activates tribal instincts, making empirical counterarguments seem like attacks on identity 14. Emotional narratives (e.g., "America First") override analytical reasoning, a phenomenon amplified by social media algorithms prioritizing engagement over accuracy 6 9.

3. Institutional Subversion and Media Fragmentation
MAGA’s success stems partly from co-opting institutions meant to safeguard truth. The Federalist Society’s judicial appointments neutered checks on executive power, while right-wing media (Fox News, Newsmax) created an alternate epistemic reality 9 11. Meanwhile, mainstream outlets’ pursuit of "balance" often legitimizes false equivalencies (e.g., treating climate denial as a valid "side") 6. This fragmentation allows demagogues to dismiss unfavorable coverage as "fake news," exploiting declining public trust in media 9.

Why Honest Speech Fails: Structural Barriers
1. The "Truth Decay" Feedback Loop
Rand Corporation’s concept of "truth decay"—eroding agreement on facts—explains honest speech’s impotence. When parties inhabit separate information ecosystems (e.g., MSNBC vs. Breitbart), shared epistemic ground vanishes 6 9. Fact-checking Trump’s 30,573 documented falsehoods becomes futile, as corrections rarely reach his base and, when they do, reinforce distrust in "elite" sources 3 6.

2. The Demagogue’s Asymmetric Advantage
Demagogues face no obligation to coherence or consistency. They can promise incompatible policies (e.g., tax cuts and deficit reduction), blame failures on scapegoats, and pivot narratives daily. Honest actors, bound by factual accountability, cannot match this agility. As the "Checkers speech" showed, emotional appeals (e.g., Trump’s "They’re not after me, they’re after you") bypass logical scrutiny 4 13. (emphasis added)

3. The Attention Economy’s Incentives
Digital platforms reward outrage and novelty, not nuance. Trump’s inflammatory tweets garnered 6.1 billion impressions in 2020—free amplification that honest discourse cannot rival 9. Algorithms prioritize engagement, ensuring demagogic content spreads faster than corrections 6.

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Conclusion: The Long Game of Democratic Resilience
Demagoguery’s ascendancy reflects democracy’s paradoxical weakness: its openness to dissent allows anti-democratic forces to exploit its freedoms. Yet history shows demagogues’ reigns are often brittle—dependent on perpetual crisis and eroded by their own excesses (e.g., McCarthy’s downfall post Army-McCarthy hearings).

The MAGA movement’s reliance on gerrymandered minoritarianism and judicial overreach (e.g., Moore v. Harper) masks latent vulnerabilities 3 9. Its 2025 crackdowns—militarized border policies, criminalizing protests—have sparked bipartisan backlash, with libertarians and business elites withdrawing support 9.

Ultimately, honest speech’s power lies not in outshouting demagogues but in patiently rebuilding the civic fabric they tear: local journalism, cross-partisan dialogues, and institutions that visibly serve the public interest. As Habermasian deliberative models suggest, democracy’s best defense is a public sphere where reason and empathy prevail—not through force, but through relentless, collective recommitment to the messy work of pluralism 15.

Center: Democracy, truth & rule of law

Left and right: MAGA's lies & authoritarianism