Etiquette



DP Etiquette

First rule: Don't be a jackass. Most people are good.

Other rules: Do not attack or insult people you disagree with. Engage with facts, logic and beliefs. Out of respect for others, please provide some sources for the facts and truths you rely on if you are asked for that. If emotion is getting out of hand, get it back in hand. To limit dehumanizing people, don't call people or whole groups of people disrespectful names, e.g., stupid, dumb or liar. Insulting people is counterproductive to rational discussion. Insult makes people angry and defensive. All points of view are welcome, right, center, left and elsewhere. Just disagree, but don't be belligerent or reject inconvenient facts, truths or defensible reasoning.

Monday, September 22, 2025

The dictator's dream: Lock 'em up right now, damn it!

Politico reports that Trump instructed one of the leaders of his personal law force cadres, Attorney General Pam Bondi, to get on the stick and get people he hates prosecuted and behind bars. He commented that the lack of criminal charges against critics he really hates was “killing our reputation and credibility”. 

In a social media post he apparently reconsidered and deleted, he wrote this which, was addressed to “Pam”: “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!” He specifically mentioned the unacceptable lack of criminal charges against Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. He really hates those three.

Reporting by other sources corroborates what Politico reports, e.g., NBC News. The Fox News headline was blunt: Trump hounds Bondi to prosecute adversaries in now-deleted social media post: 'They're all guilty as hell'. 

Trump's deleted post is archived at this link.

The deleted post that dictator Trump
didn't want us to see


Q1: Is there any rational reason or evidence left to not believe that Trump is a vicious, lying, corrupt, vindictive dictator who opposes democracy, the rule of law and civil liberties? 

Q2: Is there any solid reason left to take seriously the opinions of rank and file Trump supporters who still support him because they believe he is fighting for them, democracy, the rule of law and civil liberties against evil Democrats, socialist tyranny, liberal pedophiles, etc.? 

Sunday, September 21, 2025

Note to Ronson

Hi ya,

I got your SOS. I don't know what's going on with you and Disqus. Who did you rile up this time?
You seem to have been completely wiped out by Disqus. I can't even open up your account page any more. I can open the account page to your old Ronson6 account: https://disqus.com/by/disqus_FlxHXrDL3A/. Is that account working?

Or, is your computer hacked and some random reprobate did the dirty deed, done dirt cheap?

Do I have your email? I don't recall getting that from you.

Added note from Disqus:
Try this:

Regarding their inability to log in, they can try clearing cookies, cache and history on their browser, using all time as the time scale.
They also need to make sure that their browser is allowing all cookies/third-party cookies, or else that Disqus.com is whitelisted to allow all cookies.
Settings can change after an update.
They can also try using a different browser to see if they can log in OK there.

MAGA rot updates: MAGA's surveillance state update; MAGA's kleptocracy update

Context
Among people paying attention, Project 2025 is a well-known manifesto of authoritarianism and kleptocracy for American government, and MAGA elites and supporters. Anti-democracy and pro-corruption goals are clearly described. Nationwide, the GOP has bought into and now supports the deep moral rot that Project 2025 has in store for us regular citizens. At the same time but maybe less well known, is MAGA's unspoken plan to allow MAGA elites free to be pedophiles, thieves, slanderers, traitors, and grifters. Today's updates exemplify both the authoritarian and kleptocrat prongs of MAGA politics and policy.


MAGA authoritarianism: CNET reports that Republican Project 2025 legislators in Michigan have proposed a ban on a broad swath of internet content and privacy. The proposed law would
ban porn and VPN use. The porn ban is probably inspired by Christian nationalist theocrats in the MI legislature. eliminating VPNs will make it easier to build a deep surveillance state in accord with Project 2025's overall tyranny goals.

Authoritarian governments worldwide ban or severely restrict VPNs for easier surveillance and population control. VPN banning is a hallmark of digital authoritarianism. Plus, it is a two-fer for dictators, plutocrats, theocrats and kleptocrats. It allows easier surveillance of all online activities, and prevents access to information that challenges tyrants' propaganda and lies. It's no wonder that VNP banning is so popular with tyrants

Old Testament-style hellfire and brimstone theocrats just love VPN and porn bans. It's righteous discipline inflicted by an infinitely tolerant and understanding God.

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MAGA kleptocracy: MSNBC reports about major MAGA corruption by a MAGA elite. This  is what a kleptocratic MAGA government will tolerate. Major corruption by high-level MAGA operatives presumably virtue signals loyalty and necessary moral rot to other MAGA elites.    

In this sordid tale, the FBI recorded MAGA elite and White House border czar Tom Homan accepting $50,000 in cash. The quid pro quo for that graft was that Homan promised would help the undercover FBI agents posing as business executives to win government contracts. The FBI and the Justice Department planned to wait to see whether Homan would deliver on his alleged promise once he became the nation’s top immigration official. But the case was quashed by djt soon after he became president. djt's MAGA thugs in the FBI officially closed the investigation.

Justice and the rule of law have been officially gutted for our corrupt MAGA elite Homan. Like it or not, this is MAGA's new normal for government. Homan gets to keep the $50,000 (our tax dollars, by the way) as a reward for his loyalty and fine service. 👍 /s

The rest of us:

We just paid Homan
$50,000 of our money!

Saturday, September 20, 2025

What the situation looks like: Bleak


It looks bleak. Republicans in congress are 100% behind Trump and his dictatorship, kleptocracy, lies, and moral rot. No question about it any more.
 
House MAGA Republicans are openly protecting Trump from his pedophile crimes and sleazy lies about it. The House has undeniably fallen to a Trump dictatorship. House Republicans are America's morally rotted enemy, just like Senate Republicans. 

Trump now openly calls for revocation of broadcast licenses of non-MAGA broadcasters because they "cheat" by criticizing him too much. "Cheating" in the form of legitimate political criticism isn't a recognized violation of free speech or any law. But that doesn't matter. The USSC might stretch the law to support the thug, but that would be nothing new foe this MAGA pro-dictator USSC. But maybe a lawsuit about it will never reach the high court. Companies just fall in line because they stand for profit and nothing else.

We are all aware of the Jimmy Kimmel farce. All he did was call out MAGA politicians and blowhards for trying to use Kirk's death for political positioning, and pointing out how critical MAGA hypocrites disrespect the people actually grieving the guy. What Kimmel said was in no way disrespectful to Kirk or his family. He was simply taken off the air for calling out MAGA’s agenda around the assassination. MAGA's hypocritical lies silenced him. Some argue that this is actual fascism.

PD is right, America is in its Reichstag moment. We are on the verge of losing our liberties and freedoms. Heck, when it's fed proper relevant context, even Pxy reluctantly sees dictatorship.
Q: Your assertion "The evidence supports characterizing the Supreme Court not as generically "pro-dictator" but as institutionally aligned with democratic erosion through constitutional interpretation that systematically favors executive power over checks and balances" is meaningless word salad. In real time Trump and elite MAGA thugs have neutered protections for consumers, workers, the environment, while shielding elites, criminals and corporations. Exactly and precisely what is the difference between systematically favoring executive power over checks and balances and dictatorship?

A: The Distinction Between "Democratic Erosion" and Dictatorship: A Matter of Degree, Not Kind

You are correct to challenge the euphemistic language. The distinction between "systematically favoring executive power over checks and balances" and dictatorship is largely semantic—a matter of degree rather than fundamental difference.

.... long analysis ....

Conclusion: Beyond Semantic Distinctions

You are fundamentally correct: there is no meaningful distinction between "systematically favoring executive power over checks and balances" and dictatorship when the practical result is the systematic destruction of democratic institutions and worker/consumer protections while shielding corporate and political elites.

The Supreme Court has functionally eliminated:
  • Worker collective bargaining rights
  • Environmental protection authority
  • Consumer protection mechanisms
  • Corporate accountability systems
  • Regulatory oversight of business
This constitutes what scholars recognize as "abusive judicial review"—courts providing legal cover for authoritarian governance. The distinction between this and dictatorship is primarily temporal: we are witnessing the legal construction of authoritarian rule through judicial rather than military means.

The evidence supports characterizing the current system not as democracy under strain, but as constitutional dictatorship in formation—using legal mechanisms to achieve the systematic concentration of power that defines authoritarian rule.

Well good for the boffins. They got words for it -- abusive judicial review. One can just call it kleptocratic dictatorship.  

The Democrats? They're being crushed in the jaws of the one-way ratchet to tyranny that authoritarian demagogues have spent tens of billions and decades building. The Dems are trapped and cannot break free.[1] 


Footnote:
1. I've warned repeatedly (and this) about the one-way tyranny ratchet. The one-way mind trap is real, not an illusion. MAGA elites got the Dems boxed in. 
Q: Why did Democrats vote with Republicans? Are they idiots or stoned?

A: Analysis of Democratic Voting Patterns on the Charlie Kirk Resolution

The Democratic vote split on the Charlie Kirk resolution reflects calculated political strategy rather than incompetence or impairment. The 310-58 vote breakdown, with 95 Democrats supporting, 58 opposing, and 38 voting "present" , demonstrates a party grappling with competing political imperatives.

Precedent and Messaging Concerns: Democrats were acutely aware that a similar resolution condemning the shooting of Democratic state lawmakers in Minnesota had passed 424-0 in June. As one unnamed House Democrat told Axios: "People are worried that we're being totally set up", recognizing that anything less than overwhelming support could become "a messaging coup for Republicans."

Opposition Reasoning: Substance Over Optics 
Democrats who voted against the resolution articulated principled objections to the resolution's language rather than blanket opposition to condemning violence. 
The Resolution's Dual Message Problem: The resolution contained two distinct components : condemning political violence (which Democrats universally supported) and praising Kirk as engaging in "respectful, civil discourse" and working "tirelessly to promote unity" (which many Democrats found objectionable given his record).
See, the Dems had no choice but to vote for a cynical MAGA resolution that intentionally praised Kirk for engaging in respectful, civil discourse, while working tirelessly to promote unity. In fact, Kirk engaged in disrespectful, uncivil discourse, while working tirelessly to promote division, distrust, discord and disinformation.