Has the US crossed the Rubicon? - Trump thread #142

[Spandauer]

Here be dragons.

Previous thread:
www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5307874-are-we-feeling-liberated-yet-trump-thread-141

DH thinks Trump could send the military in to close Harvard down. Turf the students out and padlock the buildings! Yet at the same time he can't see there being a student/academia uprising.

1968 is a long time ago.

I have a few ideas where he can shove us anti-vax shite. He might learn something new about anatomy.

Yes, very good point, spot on, I'd forgotten that, it does indeed run in the family. 😡

I still think the 'main goal' of all of this shit (tariffs, deportations, DEI, etc) is to get to the point where Scrotus has unlimited power. Everything is being appealed using the justification that the judiciary (ie the Judicial Branch of Govt) has no power or even the authority to overrule the president. This will be the basis of the defense when it comes to lawsuits filed by Harvard and other Universities.

As far as the Admin's ignoring or defying orders to comply with court decisions, we now have Judge Boasberg considering contempt charges in connection with defiance of his order to turn around the flights to El Salvador. Even if Judge Boasberg does refer contempt charges, guess where those charge will go. Yep, right to the Dept of Justice and another Trump Barbie, AG Pam Bondi (maybe we should call her 'INjustice Barbie'). And even should those charges get past her, they will be brought against Scrotus' toadies, not him. At this point with so many willing to take a bullet for him and with the SCOTUS decision on immunity, he's pretty untouchable.

As far as the Legislative Branch (the House and Senate) all we hear are crickets. They're under GOP control so they will take no stand, nor any action, on any of this.

You can really begin (or continue) to see the consolidation of power via Scrotus' choices for heads of departments. He said out loud in his first term that he only wanted people who are loyal to him above all else. And that's exactly what he now has, with the exception of a few remaining military heads at the Pentagon. And he's working on getting rid of them.

I do wonder whether we’ll see US mumsnetters start to drop off (alongside other forms of media) as his authoritarian grip on power intensifies and people become more worried about articulating anti-authoritarian viewpoints. I hope we don’t but I suspect it’ll happen at some point.

As far as the Legislative Branch (the House and Senate) all we hear are crickets. They're under GOP control so they will take no stand, nor any action, on any of this.

I want to clarify this; the Dem Legisltors are screaming, holding Town Halls, planning, and proposing legislation. I don't want to make it sound like they're doing nothing but handwringing and saying "Oh dear, woe is the Country!!".

But as long as the GOP has control over Congress, their hands are pretty much tied, legislation- & impeachment-wise.

Who is going to risk booking vacations in the summer this year ?
How many business leaders will choose zoom not business class ?

Some of us still remember Ohio State. And many of us are still out there protesting.

But I'm afraid the events that bred the Protest Generation of the '60s is long gone. Just look at the crowds of the current protests. Lots of grey heads in those crowds. I'm not saying there aren't young people who are motivated and passionate. Just that there doesn't seem to be as many of them as there were 'back then'.

I will now get back in my rocking chair and continue pontificating about 'young people these days, by cracky!!' and SMH.

As far as the Admin's ignoring or defying orders to comply with court decisions, we now have Judge Boasberg considering contempt charges in connection with defiance of his order to turn around the flights to El Salvador. Even if Judge Boasberg does refer contempt charges, guess where those charge will go. Yep, right to the Dept of Justice and another Trump Barbie, AG Pam Bondi (maybe we should call her 'INjustice Barbie'). And even should those charges get past her, they will be brought against Scrotus' toadies, not him. At this point with so many willing to take a bullet for him and with the SCOTUS decision on immunity, he's pretty untouchable.

Not really an example of separated powers then ? Which means the US was built on a dud check (something clear to non Americans since 1783) , which is now bouncing.

.

This is the conversation DH and I had this morning. Discussing what seems to be a lack of engagement of many 'young ones'. DH was only 15 in 1968 but has an older DB who was 18 and fairly militant at the time (being the recipient of a draft number for Vietnam) so DH was influenced to be a participant in the local high school protests which in turn were influenced by the Columbia University protests.

https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/17/us_hyperscaler_alternatives/

Obama spoke about it. Many young people think online is activism. They say something there think their job is done.

A mate of mine was recently at Berkeley. Talking about the grandmas out with Stop Trump signs.

Yeah, well you shouldn't have worn that short skirt, should you?

Rep. Dan Meuser blames Josh Shapiro for the antisemitic arson attack against Josh Shapiro: "He makes comments where he said President Trump is an existential threat to democracy ... when you say things like that, that creates hatred."
bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lmzeunyf6c2s

I don't understand how the American people can see what is happening: the power grab, the abduction and false imprisonment, the relocation, the data grabs, the book burnings, the threat of university closures, the silencing of scientists and intellectuals, and aside from hand wringing, do nothing.

There are precedents for this, 1930s Germany is an obvious one. Is this how the people there felt. Shocked, stunned, unsure then afraid? Everyone knew what was happening, people whispered about it, then they stopped talking about it.

We see shocking images, but nobody is reacting, these allowed to go unchallenged will become normalised. Where is the outcry from world leaders?

I know protests are organised for the 18th, but why no general strike? Why are people not saying enough, no more, not in my name? Why are these crowds not out everyday?

Because people have a normalcy bias, they don’t think it’ll ever get THAT bad for them.

I think the Constitution was 'of its time', not in its content, but in its 'protections'. The Founding Fathers simply could not conceive that there would come a time where 'personal honour' was no longer prized by certain people. I also think that they thought that the majority of the voting population would consist of the educated, the reasonable, and those devoted to the common good.

So maybe not a dud check at the time it was written, but one that is now being drawn on an account with insufficient funds.

I think Boasberg’s got a work around for that. Can’t figure out what it is but he did say yesterday that if the DoJ refused to go ahead with the charges of contempt he would name someone else to do it. I guess there must be something written into the constitution as part of the checks and balances.

He certainly seems to have his head screwed on about what this administration are capable of to avoid scrutiny.

My 2 cents’ worth is that the radical ‘Christian’ (and I use that term advisedly!) are fully behind it all. They don’t watch the news outside their point of reference, they listen to their particular favourite on talk radio ad infinitum, and firmly believe that this is all god’s work. He won’t come for them because, well, it’s not god’s will; and if he does, well, they have been seen to believe that that was his will, too.
Just how many of those there are, I really don’t know.

that was to littledrummergirl’s post above!

@AcrossthePond55
Just that there doesn't seem to be as many of them as there were 'back then'.
Yes.
Look at the demographic pyramid
Over 50s now outnumber under 50s in almost all Western Countries

also those effing Online Petitions.
Those in power have brilliantly persuaded the angry that Change.org makes a difference.

THose of us in a different battle learned that only the UK Supreme Court actually makes policies change

If only the US one was less cowardly

From the BBC site...

Europe will be 'great again', says Trump published at 19:21
19:21
Trump says he hopes Europe will be "great again" and blames many of its problems on immigration.
He praises Meloni for taking a tough stance on immigration, saying he wishes more people were like her.
Meloni says change is happening, thanks to the example set by Italy.
"I'm optimistic," she said.

I feel a lot of sympathy for anyone in the USA who didn't vote for the egotistical tangerine. But I really wish he would stop trying to spread his poison around countries who didn't even have a say in the US elections.

The Trumpists, especially the younger ones, apparently don't attend church: they are more likely to just identify as Christian. It's just a cultural thing for them. Church attendance in the US is declining fast.

The point is that they're Americanists first and just see Christianity as part of that cultural identity without thinking much about what it means. They are very unlikely to be in a church on Good Friday, listening to a sermon about the sufferings of Christ or the importance of caring for the poor and the meek.

But I really wish he would stop trying to spread his poison around countries who didn't even have a say in the US elections.

@Coffeetwosugars

He's trying to gather allies, especially amongst NATO countries. He wants to have as many leaders 'on side' as his march to totalitarianism proceeds. What better way than to convince other countries that his way is the right way. Less interference and support for US citizen that way.

@AcrossthePond55

I was worried when he was elected for the second time, and I knew it would be bad, but really didn't think it would be this bad this quick. I'm now scared of how the world is going to look by the time he has finished with it.

You’d think Italy would have learned its lesson the first time. Pick the goodies this time Italy!