Bulwark team—keep calling out the facts as they are presented. I just finished watching the documentary of Katherine Graham and am re-inspired. You are the ‘new’ press and we need you more than ever. And yes, get “hot” as needed, just ensure the facts are your strong foundation.
Well, employers and employees are already screwed. Watching Rachel now - "employers cut 172,017 jobs last month" over a 200% decrease from January. In fact, the worse since 2020. And it was also the worse since the Bush recession. And genius Skum cancelled a contract that sterilizes equipment in the VA facilities. And cancelling PTSD treatment.
My opinion - between the tariffs, the firings in government, including tens of thousands of veterans, etc. etc., etc., - we're heading into a recession.
1) The “Trump Comeback Narrative” is in common usage today. And here it is again, in the guise of Trump keeping his base fired up by continuing to claim to be the victim of voter fraud, leading to the conclusion that his “calculation” was “vindicated”. But the way I see it, Trump didn’t really make a comeback – because he never really went away. He was always going to be the GOP nominee should he choose to run in 2024. And given the disarray of the Democratic side, that meant that he had a really good chance of winning the Presidency again. What headwinds did he really face? His base never wavered even when he was credibly charged with election interference and illegally retaining classified documents. If anything, the charges made him more popular. His approval ratings went down a little after January 6, but they were going to return to where they were no matter what (see Access Hollywood Tapes) once some time had passed and Fox News was given a chance to broadcast their conspiracy theories that really the government was behind the riot or it wasn’t really a riot or those folks were really true patriots just doing their civic duty as they saw it. The Trump supporters were simply looking for some justification to return to Trump. It didn’t matter if the justification made any sense. All that mattered is that it gave them some mental cover for returning to the fold.
My real point is that giving Trump credit for some Machiavellian-like political scheming by continuing to claim voter fraud ignores two basic truths: (1) his ego demanded it (so he would have done it no matter how it affected his reelection chances), and (2) he didn’t need to do it to stay “relevant” (he was in the paper or on TV practically every day) – he was never “irrelevant”.
2) Trump may be “adopting a new posture of Messiah” as SS claims. But that doesn’t mean that he has dropped in the smallest measure his posture of victim. How many times did he mention the DOJ going after him in his Congressional speech? He’s never going to drop that line. I personally think that portraying himself as a victim is a lot more effective with his base that playing the Messiah card.
3) More abject shamefulness from the Trump Administration – removing TPS from Ukraine refugees. What is the purpose behind this beside simple cruelty?
4) I think that Trump’s view of the stock market is a prime indicator of the difference between Trump 1.0 and Trump 2.0. Trump emphatically touted any rise in the stock market in Trump 1.0 because of “the great economy that I created”. Now the stock market swings wildly based on his on-again, off-again tariffs, and he talks about “temporary disruptions”. I think this shows that his real motivation isn’t anything other than pure vengeance. Nothing else matters.
I don’t think he cares about anyone but himself. If he deems his constituents to be a threat, he will do whatever is in his best interest. He blows with the wind…
A hearty thank you to whoever found that gross photo of Trump! In Trump 1.0, I started an album of “Ugly Trump” photos, to make me feel a bit better, and this is a perfect addition to my archive.
Yes. We are not getting the right candidates, with the right issues, combined with the right messaging so the voters can choose to vote for us. All of those things were lacking in November. And no, the candidate wasn't Kamala Harris. She was a stand-in for the old guy who couldn't put a thought together at that debate.
The inability of the Demopublicans to bring more than one or two Republicrats to their side of any issue while losing ten or more of their own is telling. At some point an effective opposition to The Don must arise among the disaffected however, the time does not seem to have come yet. The first American Revolution was sparked by British troops panicking and firing into a crowd of protesters. Perhaps Hegseth's proud boys will offer another opportunity this Spring as protest season swings into high gear, after all, he has stated a willingness to have his minions fire into protesting crowds in the name of 'suppression of disorder'. We shall see.
I don't have any evidence, but I truly believe that Musk & doge have downloaded all the federal data they could get their hands on. It's all on their hard-drives. Possibly they left viruses in federal computer systems, too. Now, Trump has finally said he might have been moving too quickly & he's going to rein in Musk. That would only happen if he & Musk have gotten what they want already.
“We were at war with a dictator,” said French center-right politician Claude Malhuret of Europe’s stand against Putin. “[N]ow we are at war with a dictator backed by a traitor.”
I am advocating that people will need to have the right to fight back against an authoritarian (trump) regime. Same as our founders advocated for. This time the Dems will be the party protecting the right to Bear and Keep Arms.
Join Indivisible - https://indivisible.org/ - It’s run by former congressional staffers who know how things work in Washington. These folks have an amazing level of determination, practical knowledge, and hope. Those demonstrations against Musk & Trump around the country have been organized by dozens of local Indivisible chapters. They do a Zoom every Thursday that lays out action steps. Their next focus is to identify vulnerable GOP Senators – the traitors who confirmed every dangerous cabinet head – who are coming up for re-election soon…and make sure they are voted out of office.
Speak out against the GOP’s latest attempt at voter suppression. Tell your Representatives and Senators to stop the ironically-named ”SAVE” act. Up to 34% of voting-age women don't have documents proving citizenship with their current legal name because when they married, they likely took their husband’s surname. This could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters. And that’s the whole point. HR 22 would need to be passed by both the House and Senate.
Also tell your Congress people to not give Trump one inch – on anything. (Even some Democratic Senators have, shockingly, voted to confirm dangerous Cabinet heads.)
If you’re shy about calling Congress, join Adam Kinziger’s “Country First” zooms. Hundreds of people call their congresspeople at the same time – they suggest scripts and coach you through it. Sign up at https://www.country1st.com/
Support Judge Susan Crawford in her bid for the Wisconsin Supreme court. Go to CrawfordForWI.com to learn about why this race is so important. (That Elon Musk has donated tons of money to her GOP opponent tells you something…..) Jen Rubin at The Contrarian explains - https://substack.com/home/post/p-158477872
And please support Democracy Forward – https://democracyforward.org/ These tireless lawyers are suing the Trump Administration every day. They have some impressive wins under their belt, but unfortunately there are many more battles to fight. 5,600 civil servants just got their jobs back, due to Democracy Forward’s lawsuit!
Oh hell yes – this is the kind of energy we need! Indivisible is out here doing the Lord’s work (if the Lord were a bunch of badass, strategic ex-staffers who actually understand how Washington works). Those protests that make Musk clutch his emerald-encrusted pearls? Indivisible. The slow but relentless dismantling of GOP control in key states? Indivisible. And their Thursday Zooms? A masterclass in tactical resistance. Join them, show up, and let's start putting some Senators on notice.
Meanwhile, the GOP’s latest voter suppression scheme – the “SAVE” act (oh, the irony) – is yet another attempt to make sure women, particularly married women, have to jump through bureaucratic flaming hoops to vote. Because, of course, it’s not enough to pay the “pink tax” – we also have to produce a notarized biography to prove our existence at the polls. Call, email, scream into the void – whatever it takes – but let your representatives know this is unacceptable.
And let’s not forget: NO COMPROMISES WITH FASCISTS. None. Zero. Nada. Any Democrat cozying up to Trump should feel the full force of our collective rage. Don’t like calling Congress? Fine, but at least sign up for Adam Kinzinger’s Country First Zooms and let them hand-hold you through it. There’s power in numbers, and nothing terrifies spineless politicians more than a coordinated flood of phone calls.
Also, Wisconsin, we see you. Judge Susan Crawford needs our support because if Elon Musk is throwing money at her opponent, you know damn well what kind of corporate dystopia they’re gunning for.
And let’s hear it for Democracy Forward, the legal nightmare of every corrupt official who thought they could get away with gutting civil rights. 5,600 civil servants just got their jobs back because of them – and that’s just one win. If they’re taking on the Trump machine daily, the least we can do is throw them some support.
Bottom line? This is not a drill. We fight, we organize, we VOTE – and we don’t give these power-hungry authoritarians a single inch.
Also, at the top of my page, there is a link to Indivisible, right next to another page with more resistance resources. If you're interested, please take a look at my Project 2026 posts.
This is what happens when a grift mutates into a full-blown political doctrine. Trump never cared about proving election fraud. He cared about monetizing, weaponizing, and turning it into the emotional glue binding his base to him for life. The lie wasn’t just a strategy. It was a long-term business model.
The revelations in Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power aren’t shocking because they expose Trump as a fraud. We knew that. They’re shocking because they confirm how deliberate this whole con was from the start. While his dead-eyed flunkies ranted about Venezuelan voting machines and bamboo ballots, Trump was already looking ahead to 2024, laying the groundwork for a movement that thrives on humiliation, real or imagined.
Fast-forward to today. The martyr act has evolved into a full-blown messianic delusion. He isn’t just a victim of the Deep State anymore. He’s God’s chosen warrior. Meanwhile, his administration staggers under its own incompetence, leaving chaos, reversals, and lawsuits in its wake.
The good news? The mask is off. The bad news? The cult doesn’t care.
Time for the Dems to do something radical! They need to take a hard stand in favor of the second amendment. Their anemic stance during the State of Union was laughable. This is an Authoritarian regime. One of the first things an authoritarian ruler does after coming to power is to ban the private possession of guns or other weapons. That should wake the sheep up. Maybe they will even begin to grow fangs, horns and claws!
For those who are interested in Alex's book, but prefer not to support Bezos and slimy Amazon business practices, it's available from The Hachette Book Group in all formats as well. https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/alex-isenstadt/revenge/9781538765517/
Just breaking: SpaceX Starship just blew up! Business as usual for Elon?
If only Elon had been on it . . .
The quicker he heads to Mars, the better for the world.
Bulwark team—keep calling out the facts as they are presented. I just finished watching the documentary of Katherine Graham and am re-inspired. You are the ‘new’ press and we need you more than ever. And yes, get “hot” as needed, just ensure the facts are your strong foundation.
Well, employers and employees are already screwed. Watching Rachel now - "employers cut 172,017 jobs last month" over a 200% decrease from January. In fact, the worse since 2020. And it was also the worse since the Bush recession. And genius Skum cancelled a contract that sterilizes equipment in the VA facilities. And cancelling PTSD treatment.
My opinion - between the tariffs, the firings in government, including tens of thousands of veterans, etc. etc., etc., - we're heading into a recession.
A few comments...
1) The “Trump Comeback Narrative” is in common usage today. And here it is again, in the guise of Trump keeping his base fired up by continuing to claim to be the victim of voter fraud, leading to the conclusion that his “calculation” was “vindicated”. But the way I see it, Trump didn’t really make a comeback – because he never really went away. He was always going to be the GOP nominee should he choose to run in 2024. And given the disarray of the Democratic side, that meant that he had a really good chance of winning the Presidency again. What headwinds did he really face? His base never wavered even when he was credibly charged with election interference and illegally retaining classified documents. If anything, the charges made him more popular. His approval ratings went down a little after January 6, but they were going to return to where they were no matter what (see Access Hollywood Tapes) once some time had passed and Fox News was given a chance to broadcast their conspiracy theories that really the government was behind the riot or it wasn’t really a riot or those folks were really true patriots just doing their civic duty as they saw it. The Trump supporters were simply looking for some justification to return to Trump. It didn’t matter if the justification made any sense. All that mattered is that it gave them some mental cover for returning to the fold.
My real point is that giving Trump credit for some Machiavellian-like political scheming by continuing to claim voter fraud ignores two basic truths: (1) his ego demanded it (so he would have done it no matter how it affected his reelection chances), and (2) he didn’t need to do it to stay “relevant” (he was in the paper or on TV practically every day) – he was never “irrelevant”.
2) Trump may be “adopting a new posture of Messiah” as SS claims. But that doesn’t mean that he has dropped in the smallest measure his posture of victim. How many times did he mention the DOJ going after him in his Congressional speech? He’s never going to drop that line. I personally think that portraying himself as a victim is a lot more effective with his base that playing the Messiah card.
3) More abject shamefulness from the Trump Administration – removing TPS from Ukraine refugees. What is the purpose behind this beside simple cruelty?
4) I think that Trump’s view of the stock market is a prime indicator of the difference between Trump 1.0 and Trump 2.0. Trump emphatically touted any rise in the stock market in Trump 1.0 because of “the great economy that I created”. Now the stock market swings wildly based on his on-again, off-again tariffs, and he talks about “temporary disruptions”. I think this shows that his real motivation isn’t anything other than pure vengeance. Nothing else matters.
I don’t think he cares about anyone but himself. If he deems his constituents to be a threat, he will do whatever is in his best interest. He blows with the wind…
A hearty thank you to whoever found that gross photo of Trump! In Trump 1.0, I started an album of “Ugly Trump” photos, to make me feel a bit better, and this is a perfect addition to my archive.
Not just tariffs on the table with Canada. US is threatening to cut off intelligence sharing and all the other normal things allies share.
Kunce and Osborn both lost. Doesn't matter how they scored vs Harris. They lost.
They were both head and shoulders above their opponent in character, integrity and policy.
This is a voter problem.
Yes. We are not getting the right candidates, with the right issues, combined with the right messaging so the voters can choose to vote for us. All of those things were lacking in November. And no, the candidate wasn't Kamala Harris. She was a stand-in for the old guy who couldn't put a thought together at that debate.
The inability of the Demopublicans to bring more than one or two Republicrats to their side of any issue while losing ten or more of their own is telling. At some point an effective opposition to The Don must arise among the disaffected however, the time does not seem to have come yet. The first American Revolution was sparked by British troops panicking and firing into a crowd of protesters. Perhaps Hegseth's proud boys will offer another opportunity this Spring as protest season swings into high gear, after all, he has stated a willingness to have his minions fire into protesting crowds in the name of 'suppression of disorder'. We shall see.
I don't have any evidence, but I truly believe that Musk & doge have downloaded all the federal data they could get their hands on. It's all on their hard-drives. Possibly they left viruses in federal computer systems, too. Now, Trump has finally said he might have been moving too quickly & he's going to rein in Musk. That would only happen if he & Musk have gotten what they want already.
I've thought this since the beginning of the DOGE incursion.
“We were at war with a dictator,” said French center-right politician Claude Malhuret of Europe’s stand against Putin. “[N]ow we are at war with a dictator backed by a traitor.”
He is not wrong.
I am advocating that people will need to have the right to fight back against an authoritarian (trump) regime. Same as our founders advocated for. This time the Dems will be the party protecting the right to Bear and Keep Arms.
Do you believe that Trump will attempt to restrict the right to Bear and Keep Arms? Gun owners, one of his core constituencies, would revolt.
The gun owners in the Trump base who remain loyal to Trump would keep their weapons and ammunition dumps.
I know that. But they like to accumulate. Do they think they ever have enough?
What we can do now:
Join Indivisible - https://indivisible.org/ - It’s run by former congressional staffers who know how things work in Washington. These folks have an amazing level of determination, practical knowledge, and hope. Those demonstrations against Musk & Trump around the country have been organized by dozens of local Indivisible chapters. They do a Zoom every Thursday that lays out action steps. Their next focus is to identify vulnerable GOP Senators – the traitors who confirmed every dangerous cabinet head – who are coming up for re-election soon…and make sure they are voted out of office.
Speak out against the GOP’s latest attempt at voter suppression. Tell your Representatives and Senators to stop the ironically-named ”SAVE” act. Up to 34% of voting-age women don't have documents proving citizenship with their current legal name because when they married, they likely took their husband’s surname. This could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters. And that’s the whole point. HR 22 would need to be passed by both the House and Senate.
Also tell your Congress people to not give Trump one inch – on anything. (Even some Democratic Senators have, shockingly, voted to confirm dangerous Cabinet heads.)
If you’re shy about calling Congress, join Adam Kinziger’s “Country First” zooms. Hundreds of people call their congresspeople at the same time – they suggest scripts and coach you through it. Sign up at https://www.country1st.com/
Support Judge Susan Crawford in her bid for the Wisconsin Supreme court. Go to CrawfordForWI.com to learn about why this race is so important. (That Elon Musk has donated tons of money to her GOP opponent tells you something…..) Jen Rubin at The Contrarian explains - https://substack.com/home/post/p-158477872
And please support Democracy Forward – https://democracyforward.org/ These tireless lawyers are suing the Trump Administration every day. They have some impressive wins under their belt, but unfortunately there are many more battles to fight. 5,600 civil servants just got their jobs back, due to Democracy Forward’s lawsuit!
Support Judge Crawford.
Oh hell yes – this is the kind of energy we need! Indivisible is out here doing the Lord’s work (if the Lord were a bunch of badass, strategic ex-staffers who actually understand how Washington works). Those protests that make Musk clutch his emerald-encrusted pearls? Indivisible. The slow but relentless dismantling of GOP control in key states? Indivisible. And their Thursday Zooms? A masterclass in tactical resistance. Join them, show up, and let's start putting some Senators on notice.
Meanwhile, the GOP’s latest voter suppression scheme – the “SAVE” act (oh, the irony) – is yet another attempt to make sure women, particularly married women, have to jump through bureaucratic flaming hoops to vote. Because, of course, it’s not enough to pay the “pink tax” – we also have to produce a notarized biography to prove our existence at the polls. Call, email, scream into the void – whatever it takes – but let your representatives know this is unacceptable.
And let’s not forget: NO COMPROMISES WITH FASCISTS. None. Zero. Nada. Any Democrat cozying up to Trump should feel the full force of our collective rage. Don’t like calling Congress? Fine, but at least sign up for Adam Kinzinger’s Country First Zooms and let them hand-hold you through it. There’s power in numbers, and nothing terrifies spineless politicians more than a coordinated flood of phone calls.
Also, Wisconsin, we see you. Judge Susan Crawford needs our support because if Elon Musk is throwing money at her opponent, you know damn well what kind of corporate dystopia they’re gunning for.
And let’s hear it for Democracy Forward, the legal nightmare of every corrupt official who thought they could get away with gutting civil rights. 5,600 civil servants just got their jobs back because of them – and that’s just one win. If they’re taking on the Trump machine daily, the least we can do is throw them some support.
Bottom line? This is not a drill. We fight, we organize, we VOTE – and we don’t give these power-hungry authoritarians a single inch.
Also, at the top of my page, there is a link to Indivisible, right next to another page with more resistance resources. If you're interested, please take a look at my Project 2026 posts.
Thank you for your wonderful comment!
This is what happens when a grift mutates into a full-blown political doctrine. Trump never cared about proving election fraud. He cared about monetizing, weaponizing, and turning it into the emotional glue binding his base to him for life. The lie wasn’t just a strategy. It was a long-term business model.
The revelations in Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power aren’t shocking because they expose Trump as a fraud. We knew that. They’re shocking because they confirm how deliberate this whole con was from the start. While his dead-eyed flunkies ranted about Venezuelan voting machines and bamboo ballots, Trump was already looking ahead to 2024, laying the groundwork for a movement that thrives on humiliation, real or imagined.
Fast-forward to today. The martyr act has evolved into a full-blown messianic delusion. He isn’t just a victim of the Deep State anymore. He’s God’s chosen warrior. Meanwhile, his administration staggers under its own incompetence, leaving chaos, reversals, and lawsuits in its wake.
The good news? The mask is off. The bad news? The cult doesn’t care.
Time for the Dems to do something radical! They need to take a hard stand in favor of the second amendment. Their anemic stance during the State of Union was laughable. This is an Authoritarian regime. One of the first things an authoritarian ruler does after coming to power is to ban the private possession of guns or other weapons. That should wake the sheep up. Maybe they will even begin to grow fangs, horns and claws!
So, you are advocating for more guns with less regulation?