Documenting the fall: Google protects Trump; Trump threatens US citizens; MAGA lies about the shutdown

We're in the final end game now. Too much power and wealth has been taken from our democracy and pro-democracy institutions to stop the fall of our democracy. All I can do is keep bugging people with some influence, continue analysis and commentary, and document either the fall or an unexpected recovery from MAGAs' ongoing slow coup. It looks like the last major line of defense will be the 2026 mid-term elections. The Dems regaining cohesion and public support before then still looks unlikely, but that's a wild card. It's still too early to tell what the Dems might be able to manage to do.

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The Daily Beast reports that Google is protecting Trump by blocking AI-generated search summaries about President Trump's cognitive health while providing similar summaries for questions about Joe Biden. When users search "does Trump show signs of dementia" or similar queries about Alzheimer's, Google displays standard web results without its AI Overview feature, showing the message "An AI Overview is not available for this search". 

Trump has repeatedly threatened to prosecute Google for alleged search bias, calling it "ILLEGAL ACTIVITY" and promising to "request their prosecution, at the maximum levels". He has accused Google of operating an "illegal system" that shows only negative stories about him while promoting positive coverage of opponents.

Google says it's because of something technical. Common sense says its because Google is afraid of pissing Trump off. This is another example of businesses capitulating to threats by Trump and MAGA. Another potential source of substantial pro-democracy influence is gone. We'll maybe get some feeble fig leaves and hang-wringing, but that's about all we can expect from Google from here on out.

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TNR reports that Trump has dropped all pretense at governing democratically or fairly. He now openly threatens to withhold federal funding from states and voting districts that voted for congressional Democrats. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about Trump’s promise to work with Office of Management and Budget Director and key Project 2025 author, Russ Vought to ax so-called “Democrat Agencies” in the government. “Is that real?” a Fox News host asked Leavitt. “Or is that a negotiating tactic?” Leavitt responded “Oh it’s very real. And the Democrats should know that they put the White House and the president in this position. And if they don’t want further harm on their constituents back home, then they need to reopen the government. It’s very simple: Pass the clean continuing resolution, and all of this goes away.”

Notice the direct threat to constituents back home. That threat to average Americans cannot be spun into anything benign. He has frozen $18 billion in infrastructure projects in New Jersey and New York, and he plans to cut $8 billion in energy funding from 16 blue states. Trump is completely serious about his extortion and harm threats. 

Of course, when Leavitt says all of this will go away, she is lying. Trump and MAGA are  hell-bent on finishing off the last vestiges of opposition. It does not matter if the government is shut down or not. It also does not matter if congressional Democrats cave in to Trump/MAGA extortion threats. Trump's raging hate and vengeance know no bounds. The USSC has immunized Trump for crimes and he protects his thugs with pardons. There is nothing left to stop Trump or MAGA elites. 

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The main MAGA talking point to shift blame to the Dems for the shutdown is that the Dems are demanding to provide Obamacare benefits to illegal immigrants. Under current law, it is usually illegal for illegal immigrants to get Obamacare benefits. Politifact says the MAGA claim is false. 

Most of MAGA's lies are shameless. They are usually easily fact checked and proven false. But that does not faze MAGA elites or most of the R&F (rank and file), including ones who just happen to become aware of a lie. They rationalize it away. However, most of them do not become aware of the lies. They just don't listen to information sources that tell truth that is inconvenient for Trump or MAGA.

The ignorance and false beliefs of most of Trump's and MAGA's R&F support is another major threat to what's left of our democracy and rule of law. Unless most the R&F wakes up and rejects their leaders before the 2026 elections, we're probably hosed. Their support is necessary for MAGA's slow coup to succeed.