The drama unfolds: A mind awakens, but too late; Environment update; Rule of law update; Prediction comment

The US is ranked 26th at 0.70

By 1/11/26, it will be ~30th?

US News opinion:

Forget Matt Gaetz. 

Merrick Garland Is America’s Worst Attorney General.

His abject failure to hold Trump accountable doomed us

Let people debate whether President-elect Donald Trump’s headline-grabbing pick of former Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz as his attorney general will be good, bad or really ugly. But there is no debate in my mind that President Joe Biden’s chief prosecutor, Merrick Garland, is already the biggest failure of an attorney general in our lifetimes.

We are where we are today because Garland failed spectacularly to act swiftly to hold Trump accountable for his illegal efforts to stay in power four years ago for inciting the violent Capitol insurrection that resulted in deaths, injuries, destruction of property and devastation to our democracy. By turning a blind eye to those crimes for as long as he could, Garland paved the way for the election of a disgraced felon who should not have been on the 2024 ballot. Thanks to Garland, Trump is storming back to the White House vowing revenge. 

Garland’s focus from Day One should have been to appoint a special counsel to investigate the former president for an insurrection that everyone saw him incite. Trump – still ginned up from the Jan. 6 violence – had just spoken at the conservative political gathering CPAC and hinted he would run again. Garland should have realized – as the rest of us did – that Trump was not going quietly into the night.  

Instead, Garland slow-rolled any Justice Department investigation, waiting nearly a year and a half after taking office before finally appointing veteran prosecutor Jack Smith as special counsel in November 2022 to probe Trump’s mishandling of classified materials and his incitement of the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Why did Garland wait? “Wariness about appearing partisan, institutional caution, and clashes over how much evidence was sufficient to investigate the actions of Trump and those around him all contributed to the slow pace,” The Washington Post reported.

The Justice Department didn’t even start investigating Trump in earnest until former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s June 2022 blockbuster testimony to the bipartisan House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection “jolted” Garland’s office into discussions, according to The New York Times.   

Garland helped normalize Trump. The longer the Justice Department stalled before investigating the former president, the more the GOP and the media embraced Trump as the Republican front-runner for 2024.

Finally, someone among the literati, or whatever they are, sees Garland the way I do. He is deeply corrupt and a traitor, pure and simple. I saw Garland's critical failure early on, in May 2021, as a matter of incompetence and timidity. But it wasn't until Sept. 2024 that I came to realize that Garland was neither incompetent nor timid. He was corrupt, complicit, treasonous, audacious and competent in destroying the rule of law and the DoJ. Garland did not fail to hold DJT accountable. He refused.

Well, now it's too late to do squat. Garland greatly helped DJT get back in power. He was arguably necessary for that. Sadly, there will be no accountability or penalty for him and his treasonous betrayal of the rule of law. 

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The Verge:

Donald Trump’s pick for energy secretary says 

‘there is no climate crisis’

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Energy is fossil fuel executive Chris Wright — who has misleadingly claimed on LinkedIn that “there is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition either.”

Wright is a staunch evangelist for fossil fuels who consistently rejects mainstream climate science. .... Wright is the CEO of Liberty Energy, a major oil and gas service provider that launched during America’s fracking boom more than a decade ago. Around 10 percent of total US primary energy production comes from wells fracked by Liberty, according to the company.

In a video posted by the right-wing think tank Heritage Foundation last year, Wright refers to “irrationally restrictive policies against the production of oil and natural gas” that “do nothing to change the demand for oil and natural gas,” he claims. “Our business today is the most profitable it’s ever been. As I say, I’m one of those people needlessly enriched by [the] bad energy policy environment we live in today. I don’t celebrate that. In fact, I adamantly oppose it.”

Trump campaigned on a Republican platform that says simply, “We will DRILL, BABY, DRILL.”

Keep your eye on the propaganda: Notice that Wright saying there is no “climate crisis”  and regulations “do nothing to change the demand for oil and natural gas” is subtle, powerful radical right authoritarian propaganda. That dark rhetoric is designed to distract from inconvenient facts that (i) global warming is real, (ii) most Americans are concerned about it and want to do something  about it, and (iii) there is demand for clean energy, but it is not yet available, in large part because people like Trump, Wright and the GOP vehemently oppose environmental regulations. In other words, Wright’s rhetoric is a pack of cynical, sophisticated misdirection intended to deceive the public to keep the profits flowing to elite authoritarians.

Serious erosion of environmental regulations by Trump was predictable, so I predicted it, accurately so far (“The Environmental Protection Agency will be gutted and neutered by then [11/1/26]. International climate agreements will be terminated.”)

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The New Republic:

It looks like the guy who has made it perfectly clear he doesn’t care about federal law is violating federal law. Oh, and also he’s about to be the president of the United States.

Donald Trump and his campaign are currently in violation of the Presidential Transition Act, a federal law that coordinates and funds the transition of power from one administration to the next.

The PTA has a few components that must be submitted by the Trump campaign—and so far, the president-elect’s team hasn’t handed over a single one.

Trump has yet to submit a Memo of Understanding to the General Services Administration, which would theoretically articulate an ethics policy pledging not to hire individuals with conflicts of interest to assist with its transition. The document would provide $7.2 million to fund Trump’s transition, and was due at the beginning of October.

It’s become increasingly clear the president-elect has no intention to submit one. That’s possibly because the PTA also requires candidates to disclose all of their private donors, and places a $5,000 cap on individual donations to the transition.

Trump has also failed to submit security clearance requests for members of his administration, with each appointment more disturbing than the last.

Last week, the Department of Justice said that it was ready to “process requests for security clearances for those who will need access to national security information.” Trump’s top advisers have previously suggested that the president-elect hand out security clearances without FBI vetting.

Further erosion of the rule of law by Trump was predictable, so I predicted it, accurately so far. 

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In retrospect - it’s not prescience, it’s common sense

Looking back on my predictions, there’s not much prescience in them. Honestly. Trump is just (1) continuing to do the things he clumsily tried to do the last time he was in power, and (2) repeatedly told us he would do it again before the 2024 elections. It’s not a mostly matter of predicting the future. It is mostly a matter of knowing what Trump did and listening to him saying he will do it again. But this time he will do it again with less clumsiness and more ferocity. 

Q: Do predictions of future actions and outcomes based on solid evidence of (i) current political circumstances, and (ii) Trump’s past behavior and intent constitute, mostly prescience/intelligence or mostly old-fashioned common sense?

Bluesky post

Chronicling the drama: Authoritarianism undeniably rising

There's no point in getting upset or mad. Some fear is now officially warranted. Power is literally flowing from government and the public interest to authoritarian special interests. What we are witnessing is a fascinating human story of what will likely be of truly epic proportions. Well, at least to me it is fascinating. The power flow looks likely to be huge. 

Law & Crime: ‘Despicable in their falsity’: Trump threatens to sue New York Times and Penguin Random House for $10 billion for ‘false and defamatory statements’ -- “There was a time, long ago, when the New York Times was considered the ‘newspaper of record,’” a letter reads from Trump’s attorney, Edward Andrew Paltzik, to Penguin Random House and the Times, which was reviewed and first reported by Columbia Journalism Review on Thursday. 

“Those halcyon days have passed,” the letter says, blasting the Times as a “full-throated mouthpiece of the Democratic Party” that employs “industrial-scale libel against political opponents,” per CJR.

The newspaper reportedly had “every intention of defaming and disparaging the world-renowned Trump brand that consumers have long associated with excellence, luxury, and success in entertainment, hospitality, and real estate, among many other industries, as well as falsely and maliciously defaming and disparaging him as a candidate for the highest office in the United States,” the letter asserts.

NPR: Accused of violating worker rights, SpaceX and Amazon go after labor board -- Now, SpaceX and Amazon are at the forefront of a corporate-led effort to monumentally change the labor agency. On Monday, attorneys for the two companies will try to convince a panel of judges at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that the labor agency, created by Congress in 1935, is unconstitutional. Their lawsuits are among more than two dozen challenges brought by companies who say the NLRB's structure gives it unchecked power to shape and enforce labor law. A ruling in favor of the companies could make it much harder for workers to form unions and take collective action in pursuit of better wages and working conditions.

My 11/14/24 prediction: 7. Whatever else I am unable to conjure right now. (Update 11/14/24: I forgot, the CFPB and NLRB will be mostly neutered so that consumer and worker protections can be eroded without much or any government pushback)

Creepier and scarier than those nasty little nuggets are two truly ominous items. One is a dystopian view that what is happening with the flow of power from government and the public interest to special interests is an inevitable evolution of a system that is too powerful for any government to control. That is an essay in Off Guardian, A Tale of Two PSYOPS, by CJ Hopkins. I'll get back to that. The other is this scary reporting from just a couple of outlets:

Anti-NGO Bill Would Give Trump Administration 

“Frightening New Powers”

Anti-NGO bill H.R. 9495 would grant President-Elect Trump and his handpicked Secretary of Treasury unilateral power to investigate and effectively shut down any tax-exempt organization including news outlets, universities and civil liberties organizations based on a unilateral accusation of wrongdoing.

Ahead of an upcoming Congressional vote on the bill, Public Citizen Co-President Lisa Gilbert released the following statement:

“This bill gives the Treasury Department broad power to designate groups as ‘terrorist supporting’ in order to shut them down, a dangerous power with few standards or guardrails that is an invitation to abuse,” said Gilbert. “H.R. 9495 would give the Trump administration – and any administration – frightening new powers to suppress nonprofit opponents.”

Think about that. An enraged, vengeful, thin skinned DJT would have the power to shut down political opposition groups, calling them supporters of terrorists. 

Regarding the Off Guardian essay, I have seen this power flow argument several times in recent years but ignored it as too extremist and unlikely. Now in view of what is happening in real time, this argument seems much less farfetched.

A Tale of Two PSYOPS

CJ Hopkins

The global-capitalist empire is not a cabal of powerful individuals. It is a system. And that system is evolving. Metamorphosing. Transmogrifying. Evolving into a new form of totalitarianism. [comment: I would use the term authoritarianism, at least for now] A global-capitalist form of totalitarianism.

It is the system, and not its servants, that is driving … driving this systemic evolution. It makes no difference whether Elon Musk, or Donald Trump, or Macron, or Starmer, or Netanyahu, or Gates, or Bezos, or Soros, or any other political “leader” or powerful figure knows what they are doing. They serve the system, as the system requires, each according to their specific role and scope of action within the system.

Elon Musk did not “save free speech” or “rescue Twitter” from a “Woke Mind Virus.” He purchased a corporation and rebranded its product for new market demographic. In so doing, he corralled and neutralized most of the conservative populist resistance to the evolution of the global-capitalist system … which is what the system needed to happen. It makes no difference whether Elon Musk understood his role. He played it perfectly. He is continuing to play it perfectly.

The Musk Cult is growing. Its apostles are preaching the Gospel of Elon throughout the empire, paving the road to The Privatization of Everything! Verily, it is the dawn of a golden age of “Freedom” ruled by global corporations and beneficent oligarchs!

But I don’t think I can make it any simpler. And I don’t see any way to stop it or fix it. It isn’t an error to be corrected. It is the organic evolution of a system … a supranational system evolving into a new totalitarian form.

So, there you have it, a tale of two PSYOPS. I’m sorry that it isn’t as comforting as a story about how Donald Trump and Elon Musk and their global-capitalist investors, and their subsidiaries, agents, and assigns, are going to “make America great again.”  

If it’s any consolation, one thing is certain … whatever happens, it won’t be boring.

I think that something along this line could be happening. In the past few years, I recall a few who wrote about something more or less like an authoritarian global-capitalist empire the article talks about. I dismissed it as very unlikely. Now I'm not at all sure about that. 

I have been deeply concerned about the out of control power of US corporations leading to some form of brass knuckles capitalist plutocracy as part of the shift of power I see flowing from government and the public interest to special interests. I do not know how to integrate that ruthless force with old-fashioned kleptocratic autocracy with DJT as the dictator for life or the ferocious Christian nationalist theocratic movement. Trump will fight for supremacy and all the power he can get. But so will brass knuckles capitalism and Christian nationalism.

I do believe that Hopkins is right to say that whatever happens, it won’t be boring. As far as I am concerned the radical right authoritarian social engineering is underway. It is already fascinating, i.e., not boring, not even a little. 

The flow of power to authoritarianism is starting to look unstoppable. Senate Republicans constitute one of our last lines of defense. Most of them are already signaling to Trump that they will not stand in his way. The US supreme court has already shown that, other than some window dressing and fig leaves, it will not stand in his way. The House will not stand in the way. Trump has said he will purge US military generals who stand in his way. 

So, who is left to defend us and our democracy? 

Q: As usual, is Germaine unmedicated crazy, off his meds crazy or otherwise chock full of baloney to argue that a major power flow is underway and its is empowering American radical right authoritarianism at the expense of democracy and the public interest?

Bluesky link

Bluesky update

I finally figured out how to find and copy a link to my posts there. 

https://bsky.app/profile/germaine2.bsky.social/post/3lbaaxlndkc25 

And, I think I've figured out how to embed my posts there.

Masha Gessen asserts that the election turned out like it did in part because liberal democracy offers moral constraints without problem-solving. But populism offers problem-solving without moral constraints. Trump promises you don’t have to think about others. dispol.blogspot.com/2024/11/post...

[image or embed]

— Rational Politics (@germaine2.bsky.social) November 18, 2024 at 7:40 AM

I'm making progress! Sort of.

Various thoughts

All I can do now is watch and comment on the unfolding drama. Will it be a midnight trainwreck, delicately lit by many smelly dumpster fires? Or, will it be peace, prosperity and happiness upon the land (excluding Gaza and Ukraine of course)? 

The human psychology of politics and the economy

Politico: Republicans suddenly think the economy’s great and the election wasn’t rigged -- Less than two weeks since Donald Trump’s victory, consumer sentiment in the Republican Party has skyrocketed. Democrats, meanwhile, are despondent. Elections? Suddenly Republicans are on board with the reality that they’re secure. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he saw no evidence of fraud in the 2024 campaign. And the media landscape? Viewership of Fox News has surged since Trump’s win despite his harsh criticism of the network in the run up to Nov. 5.

Well, he said he was gonna do it

Are the Dreamers hosed?

The Wash. Examiner: Trump confirms plans to declare national emergency to implement mass deportation program -- President-elect Donald Trump confirmed on Truth Social early Monday morning that his incoming administration will declare a national emergency and use military resources to implement a mass deportation of illegal immigrants. The confirmation was made in response to an earlier post by Tom Fitton, journalist and president of Judicial Watch. .... “President Trump’s been clear; public safety threats and national security threats will be the priority because they have to be. They pose the most danger to this country,” Homan said.

Well, he said he was gonna do it

Is that a smelly dumpster being rolled into position before being lit on fire? 

The Guardian: Gaetz pick raises fears that Trump will seek ‘retribution’ on political foes --
With president-elect likely to use DoJ to crush enemies, only hope lies in staffers refusing to carry out illegal orders. Above all, the choice of Gaetz underscores the premium Trump places on selecting a loyalist who can help him expand his powers at the DoJ to further his revenge agenda, and avoid the conflicts Trump had at times with Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr when they were attorneys general in his first administration.

Project 2025

I'm not dead yet!

ars Technica: Trump’s likely FCC chair wrote Project 2025 chapter on how he’d run the agency -- Brendan Carr wants to preserve data caps, punish NBC, and give money to SpaceX. If Trump makes Carr the next FCC chairman after his inauguration, the FCC is likely to ditch consumer protection initiatives, like a recently announced inquiry into data caps, and attempt to regulate Big Tech companies while reducing regulation of Internet service providers. That could include forcing Big Tech companies to pay into a fund that subsidizes ISPs' broadband network construction. A Carr-led FCC could also try to punish news organizations that are perceived to be anti-Trump. Just before the election, Carr alleged that NBC putting Kamala Harris on Saturday Night Live was "a clear and blatant effort to evade the FCC's Equal Time rule," and that the FCC should consider issuing penalties. Despite Carr's claim, NBC did provide equal time to the Trump campaign. (Trump sure doesn't let facts get in the way) 

I'm NOT a Nazi!

Salon: "Makes us look like Nazis": Trump allies asked to stop talking about mass deportation "camps" -- The president-elect's advisers worry about how the word "camp" plays as they plot mass deportation schemes. Donald Trump’s allies have been told to stop saying the quiet part out loud. Rolling Stone reports that MAGA associates have been asked to stop using the word “camps” to describe potential facilities that would be used to house people rounded up in a massive deportation operation.

From the new Bluesky subreddit:

About Bluesky

The NYT writes (not paywalled):

How Bluesky, Alternative to X and Facebook, 

Is Handling Explosive Growth

Jay Graber 

Bluesky’s chief executive

Over the past week, Bluesky’s growth has exploded, more than doubling to 15 million-plus users as people seek alternatives to X, Facebook and Threads. It has rocketed to the top of Apple’s and Google’s app stores as the most downloaded free app. Its ascent has been so rapid that the company has been forced to grow up practically overnight.

Bluesky’s 20 full-time employees have been working around the clock to deal with the issues that come with hyper-growth: site outages, glitches in the code and content moderation issues. Most importantly, they have been trying to keep early users happy as new members have flooded in.

From its beginning, Bluesky aimed to separate itself from other social media. The project grew out of an idea from Jack Dorsey, a founder of Twitter, who said he hoped to build a “decentralized” social network.

That meant building the app with an “open protocol,” which keeps the social network’s power and decision making out of the hands of any one company or group of people. Mr. Dorsey called the project “Bluesky,” and it eventually became a public benefit corporation, a type of for-profit company that aims to have a positive impact on society rather than focus on maximizing shareholder value.

Bluesky was initially financed with a grant from Twitter under Mr. Dorsey; Mr. Musk cut ties with the Bluesky team after he bought Twitter. Bluesky later raised more than $23 million in two rounds of venture funding from private investors.

With Bluesky, “you’re no longer tied to a dominant algorithm that promotes either the most polarizing posts and/or the biggest brands,” Rose Wang, Bluesky’s chief operating officer, said in a recent video explaining the site to new users. She added, “It’s built by the people, for the people.”

Rose Wang, COO

We'll see how this plays out. Bluesky is still a pipsqueak.

Update: The Bluesky experiment is underway

Welp, I made my 1st post of substance on Bluesky. I linked it to my post here on authoritarianism. I switched my name from Germaine2 to Rational Politics. 

I tried to set up a feed called Rational Politics, but I'm unsure about how it works, or even if it works. That will turn out to be a work in progress, assuming I can ever figure it out. My son had to come over to help me get set up just to find the button to write a post. He intuitively understood immediately how to navigate Bluesky. But to me social media is strange and counterintuitive. 

The 300  character post limit was not as bad as I originally assumed. I'll just post a couple of sentences there and add a link to posts here. 

Now I need to figure out RegEx (regular expression) syntax to set up my feed parameters, whatever that means. RegEx is scary. 

A RegEx cheat sheet.

I've still got a lot to learn. I think I need to figure out "or", "and/or" and "and" to get set up. 

I have no idea about how this experiment will play out. I truly do not know what I am doing.