I watched with amusement all weekend long, as the outraged Trump cult stomped their feet, threatened, sputtered their outrage. Naturally MTG was there with more ridiculous threats. "Scorched earth"? A Military strategy? THIS TIME around, should these Anti American, Anti Democracy folks want to use violent actions, I believe the police and authorities will be given orders to use whatever force they have to, to stop it. The sad thing is, Trump knows very well what he has done to this country and has no remorse. And his family, I hope, are shaking in their own boots as to more cases coming that may involve their own indictments.
The "Poor Donald" section of today's America America is so powerful in the reminding us of all of the outrage we have felt for the past 7 years. When is enough enough? When do we as the other 65% of the population say STOP? When do we reject the instability all of this causes in our country? The United States is in a civil war now. How do we end this? Do we go to the streets with weapons and kill one another? Or do we go to the ballot box and finally rid ourselves of this cancer that has seeped into our everyday life? I suggest the latter. The GOP and Tea Party successfully took over our country in 2010 in the voting booth. We the majority can and should do the same in 2023 and 2024.
Good piece, Steve. As if any further proof of the malign nature of the MAGA movement was needed, the spew this weekend coming from the ex-POTUS and his sycophants is further evidence. They weaken themselves with these continued ravings.
Probably worth a reprise of his urging the country to jail (lock up) a former First Lady and former US Senator to cheers and laughter to his hateful supporters.
Mar 20, 2023·edited Mar 20, 2023Liked by Steven Beschloss
Thank you Steven for again sharing your excellent writing: “Grievance, Persecution and the Endless Excuse.” It represents an accurate analysis of the man who would be King of America. When Trump and his extensive entourage visited Queen Elizabeth II in England, he appeared to gaze longingly at members of the Royal family, bedecked in their jewels and finery, as he sported an ill fitting Tux. Trump considered The White House his castle. When he lost the 2020 Election, any hope that he would fade off into the sunset was wishful thinking. He is not done with America, and desperately wants to remain relevant. He continues his shell game to distort, disrupt and deceive his gullible followers. Trump's announcement that he may be arrested on Tuesday, apparently is not based on fact. It is another one of his war-cry ploys, to solicit donations and support for his Election campaign. Charging decision are the responsibility of the Prosecutors. Trump likes to scramble the game pieces and metaphorically flip the board, if it means he can win. Seriously, who announces their own pending arrest?
Every era has had its perilous times. Washington hardly made it through Valley Forge while one of the best officers who saved Boston, Arnold, turned traitor But we won. Lincoln lived with the burden of a divided country while those of his party, McClellan, a forerunner of Chamberlain, wished to cow tow to the "enemy," We won. T.Roosevelt , contrary to his party now, provided the impetus for free competition by use of the Sherman Antitrust Law and breaking up railroad monopolies and Standard Oil which set the precedence for breaking up AT&T. We won. Hitler, certain of a 1000 year Reich, lasted 12 years till he put a gun to his head and had his body burnt. We won.
But every action produces a reaction. Washington presided over a country where only propertied men could own land or vote and owned slaves,much worse than any British tax imposed. Lincoln gave his life for the union but today, treacherous MTG and her sycophants in Congress call for a dissolution of the US. And General Flynn, an intelligence officer with 3 graduate degrees turning traitor.Today, there are huge corporations that destroy smaller challengers, pay their CEOs millions of dollars making up the richest 1% of Americans while one in eight children go hungry. With Hitler gone, up rose Stalin and the Iron Curtain, as Churchill named it, causing misery to peripheral countries and a psychopathic donald trump parading around like a swaggering Mussolini with another, Ron DeSantis, right behind but in step with him.
And so, today, we have turned around reactions. We expect and prepare for chaos, turncoats siding with Putin against aid to Ukrainians, pictures and statements of trump so dominant in the media and on the news it makes one sick, pompous reporters like Carlson and Hannity, Elon Musks and Jeff Bezos with more money than anyone but Putin would want (although Bezos has pledged his wealth to charity upon death), banks not following regulations and nobody making them to, climate change practically destroying California, and the list goes on.
We can hope, in fact, look forward to better times as history repeats itself....until the next dilemma. Security is beefing up (with hopes that certain FBI and security personnel will behave),there are Walter Cronkite clones like Rachel Maddow, Jon Meacham and of course, Michael Beschloss ; ), Flynn is out and replaced with men more like Audie Murphy, Paul Tibbets, like Lloyd Austin, Mark Milley, Democratic voters (46.89%) are double Republicans (23.88%), there are still Ben & Jerrys out there, Putin has enemies within, and I think trump will self destruct. His followers will then, like Douglas Mac Arthur, fade away.
As the saying goes, yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.
You have to hand it to TFG - he is a master of chaos- I am betting on Alvin Bragg though and would like to hope that Merrick Garland and Fani Willis are watching closely
There are many aspects of the current scenario that upset me. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg has not yet announced an indictment. However, the former president (I usually capitalize president when I refer to the person who leads the United States, but not in this case) came out in front of the story, by saying last week that there was going to be man indictment of him this week, and then went into his whole grievance routine. IT IS NOT HIS PLACE TO ANNOUNCING THAT THERE WILL BE AN INDICTMENT (intentionally capitalized). When the Manhattan DA has something to say, he will say it. Just as the former president announced the search of Mar-A-Lago, by a legitimately obtained search warrant , which he never mentioned, before anyone else, which search would not have been known to anyone if he hadn't announced it. He is entitled to the presumption of innocence. Yet he seems to have the need to preview that the justice system is working on a case that involves him. Is it narcissism? He wants attention, any kind of attention, even if it is bad attention. Similarly, no one would have known that Manhattan DA Bragg was going to announce an indictment this week, and we still don't know if that will happen. However, the former president again chose to get out front. He seems desperate for attention. Then, he compounds the problem by telling his followers to PROTEST. At the same time he is claiming that he didn't do anything to incite the January 6 insurrection he is now saying the quiet part out loud. PROTEST. He seems to have no regard for the law. While under investigation by the Special Counsel to determine if he is in fact guilty of inciting January 6, he comes right out and says in connection with the current matter of hush money before the 2016 election PROTEST. TAKE YOUR COUNTRY BACK. He appears to have no regard for the law; and he seems to think that it's permissible to incite followers to act out on his behalf. Perhaps if he had been indicted for inciting the January 6 insurrection, he wouldn't become a repeat offender. Or maybe he would. Because he thinks he is above the law. That he can break any law. More than once. Just because he is who he is. That his congressional sycophants are backing him up is not surprising. They are spineless as I have said many times before, They don't have any moral compass. And they are so afraid of his wrath if they don't fall in lock step. MTG is also just out there for attention. She is for herself. She is not for the country. Then there is the speaker of the house. That is supposed to be a leadership position. However, the current speaker, making deal after deal with the devils in his party so that he could finally win the job after 15 votes, is showing that he is not a leader at all. He swore an oath to the Constitution. Everyone is Congress did. However, some feel that they don't need to follow the law. They just need to make their cult leader happy. Then, what really turned my stomach and raised my blood pressure this past weekend is when former vp Pence said that it would be a terrible thing to indict a former president. I don't understand his reasoning, except that he probably doesn't want top alienate the base in this cult, thinking that he needs that base to get the GOP nomination, which is very much a long shot for him anyway. He has played so many sides of this same issue. Sometimes saying the former president was wrong in telling him that he could overrule the voice of the people when it came time to certifying the election. Then other times he wavered. He also bows to the base in that cult, thinking he needs them to get the nomination. I didn't see the entire Pence interview, but I am wondering why it would bow so awful to indict a former president. If a former president committed a crime, shouldn't that former president be just as accountable for his crime and any other American who commits a crime. Does he think that holding the office of president of the US means that a person doesn't have to obey the laws that the rest of Americans have to obey? Does he think that holding office makes a person immune from following the Constitution? Does he think that it would be embarrassing for a former president to be indicted? Well, yes it would be embarrassing. But the facts are the facts. I never had much respect for Pence; and my respect for him dropped precipitously this past weekend. Then there is the issue of the cult trying to intimidate the Manhattan DA's office. To the point that Manhattan DA Bragg has to assure his team that they will be protected, that NYC's law enforcement will be all over this and that the prosecutors will not be in danger. And the people of NYC will not be in danger. And that we learned a lot from January 6 and no announcement that the cult doesn't like will result in a revolution in the streets of NYC like the insurrection that took place at the Capital on January 6 2021. This is so very sad on so many levels. I write it all out as a form of political therapy. Maybe someone will take my writing, maybe even you, Steven Beschloss, and tell me something that will make me not feel so sad about the state things in our country. Or maybe any of you in this fantastic group has something to say to me that will make me seem the current situation as anything but very very very sad, a real low in our country. Thanks for listening.
Personally, I'll believe it when I see it. The Feds failed to prosecute, so to my mind there's still no real justice. Not at the right level. The election process was a national deal. A national conviction is what is called for here, don't you think?
I think (hope) many voters have already crossed the line back to reality.
They’ve been listening to all the BS between the most crazy Republicans and the almost crazy Republicans for two years now. Voters who might have accepted a quasi-radical Republican have given up on them, especially after the Fox News revelations. The current Republican knee-jerk ranting every time something happens makes them look even more ludicrous. The fact that they can’t even get rid of George Santos it’s just one highlight of their aberrant behavior. They’re driving themselves deeper and deeper into a hole. Good
Trump is exhausting he's always been exhausting and he will always be exhausting because no one seems willing to take him on. But I've been exhausted before in my life -death -birth- jobs -relationships- there's lots of different kinds of exhaustion. But "Trump exhaustion" seems interminable. I'm confident it will end someday but-- will it and in JUSTICE?
Why should we believe Trump expects any consequence for his behavior -criminal ethical legal-He has never had any consequence -not once in 74 1/2 years. He is financially ethically morally and practically bankrupt !
I watched with amusement all weekend long, as the outraged Trump cult stomped their feet, threatened, sputtered their outrage. Naturally MTG was there with more ridiculous threats. "Scorched earth"? A Military strategy? THIS TIME around, should these Anti American, Anti Democracy folks want to use violent actions, I believe the police and authorities will be given orders to use whatever force they have to, to stop it. The sad thing is, Trump knows very well what he has done to this country and has no remorse. And his family, I hope, are shaking in their own boots as to more cases coming that may involve their own indictments.
The "Poor Donald" section of today's America America is so powerful in the reminding us of all of the outrage we have felt for the past 7 years. When is enough enough? When do we as the other 65% of the population say STOP? When do we reject the instability all of this causes in our country? The United States is in a civil war now. How do we end this? Do we go to the streets with weapons and kill one another? Or do we go to the ballot box and finally rid ourselves of this cancer that has seeped into our everyday life? I suggest the latter. The GOP and Tea Party successfully took over our country in 2010 in the voting booth. We the majority can and should do the same in 2023 and 2024.
Good piece, Steve. As if any further proof of the malign nature of the MAGA movement was needed, the spew this weekend coming from the ex-POTUS and his sycophants is further evidence. They weaken themselves with these continued ravings.
Is the “sordid base“ the same as the despicable‘s? I like it!
Very well said. We have to stay focused and not let him control the media. Appreciate you being here .
Probably worth a reprise of his urging the country to jail (lock up) a former First Lady and former US Senator to cheers and laughter to his hateful supporters.
Really appreciate this today! Thank you 😊
Thank you Steven for again sharing your excellent writing: “Grievance, Persecution and the Endless Excuse.” It represents an accurate analysis of the man who would be King of America. When Trump and his extensive entourage visited Queen Elizabeth II in England, he appeared to gaze longingly at members of the Royal family, bedecked in their jewels and finery, as he sported an ill fitting Tux. Trump considered The White House his castle. When he lost the 2020 Election, any hope that he would fade off into the sunset was wishful thinking. He is not done with America, and desperately wants to remain relevant. He continues his shell game to distort, disrupt and deceive his gullible followers. Trump's announcement that he may be arrested on Tuesday, apparently is not based on fact. It is another one of his war-cry ploys, to solicit donations and support for his Election campaign. Charging decision are the responsibility of the Prosecutors. Trump likes to scramble the game pieces and metaphorically flip the board, if it means he can win. Seriously, who announces their own pending arrest?
Every era has had its perilous times. Washington hardly made it through Valley Forge while one of the best officers who saved Boston, Arnold, turned traitor But we won. Lincoln lived with the burden of a divided country while those of his party, McClellan, a forerunner of Chamberlain, wished to cow tow to the "enemy," We won. T.Roosevelt , contrary to his party now, provided the impetus for free competition by use of the Sherman Antitrust Law and breaking up railroad monopolies and Standard Oil which set the precedence for breaking up AT&T. We won. Hitler, certain of a 1000 year Reich, lasted 12 years till he put a gun to his head and had his body burnt. We won.
But every action produces a reaction. Washington presided over a country where only propertied men could own land or vote and owned slaves,much worse than any British tax imposed. Lincoln gave his life for the union but today, treacherous MTG and her sycophants in Congress call for a dissolution of the US. And General Flynn, an intelligence officer with 3 graduate degrees turning traitor.Today, there are huge corporations that destroy smaller challengers, pay their CEOs millions of dollars making up the richest 1% of Americans while one in eight children go hungry. With Hitler gone, up rose Stalin and the Iron Curtain, as Churchill named it, causing misery to peripheral countries and a psychopathic donald trump parading around like a swaggering Mussolini with another, Ron DeSantis, right behind but in step with him.
And so, today, we have turned around reactions. We expect and prepare for chaos, turncoats siding with Putin against aid to Ukrainians, pictures and statements of trump so dominant in the media and on the news it makes one sick, pompous reporters like Carlson and Hannity, Elon Musks and Jeff Bezos with more money than anyone but Putin would want (although Bezos has pledged his wealth to charity upon death), banks not following regulations and nobody making them to, climate change practically destroying California, and the list goes on.
We can hope, in fact, look forward to better times as history repeats itself....until the next dilemma. Security is beefing up (with hopes that certain FBI and security personnel will behave),there are Walter Cronkite clones like Rachel Maddow, Jon Meacham and of course, Michael Beschloss ; ), Flynn is out and replaced with men more like Audie Murphy, Paul Tibbets, like Lloyd Austin, Mark Milley, Democratic voters (46.89%) are double Republicans (23.88%), there are still Ben & Jerrys out there, Putin has enemies within, and I think trump will self destruct. His followers will then, like Douglas Mac Arthur, fade away.
As the saying goes, yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.
We, as a nation, seem to do both.
Great and thanks for all of this detail. Must be remembered!
You have to hand it to TFG - he is a master of chaos- I am betting on Alvin Bragg though and would like to hope that Merrick Garland and Fani Willis are watching closely
There are many aspects of the current scenario that upset me. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg has not yet announced an indictment. However, the former president (I usually capitalize president when I refer to the person who leads the United States, but not in this case) came out in front of the story, by saying last week that there was going to be man indictment of him this week, and then went into his whole grievance routine. IT IS NOT HIS PLACE TO ANNOUNCING THAT THERE WILL BE AN INDICTMENT (intentionally capitalized). When the Manhattan DA has something to say, he will say it. Just as the former president announced the search of Mar-A-Lago, by a legitimately obtained search warrant , which he never mentioned, before anyone else, which search would not have been known to anyone if he hadn't announced it. He is entitled to the presumption of innocence. Yet he seems to have the need to preview that the justice system is working on a case that involves him. Is it narcissism? He wants attention, any kind of attention, even if it is bad attention. Similarly, no one would have known that Manhattan DA Bragg was going to announce an indictment this week, and we still don't know if that will happen. However, the former president again chose to get out front. He seems desperate for attention. Then, he compounds the problem by telling his followers to PROTEST. At the same time he is claiming that he didn't do anything to incite the January 6 insurrection he is now saying the quiet part out loud. PROTEST. He seems to have no regard for the law. While under investigation by the Special Counsel to determine if he is in fact guilty of inciting January 6, he comes right out and says in connection with the current matter of hush money before the 2016 election PROTEST. TAKE YOUR COUNTRY BACK. He appears to have no regard for the law; and he seems to think that it's permissible to incite followers to act out on his behalf. Perhaps if he had been indicted for inciting the January 6 insurrection, he wouldn't become a repeat offender. Or maybe he would. Because he thinks he is above the law. That he can break any law. More than once. Just because he is who he is. That his congressional sycophants are backing him up is not surprising. They are spineless as I have said many times before, They don't have any moral compass. And they are so afraid of his wrath if they don't fall in lock step. MTG is also just out there for attention. She is for herself. She is not for the country. Then there is the speaker of the house. That is supposed to be a leadership position. However, the current speaker, making deal after deal with the devils in his party so that he could finally win the job after 15 votes, is showing that he is not a leader at all. He swore an oath to the Constitution. Everyone is Congress did. However, some feel that they don't need to follow the law. They just need to make their cult leader happy. Then, what really turned my stomach and raised my blood pressure this past weekend is when former vp Pence said that it would be a terrible thing to indict a former president. I don't understand his reasoning, except that he probably doesn't want top alienate the base in this cult, thinking that he needs that base to get the GOP nomination, which is very much a long shot for him anyway. He has played so many sides of this same issue. Sometimes saying the former president was wrong in telling him that he could overrule the voice of the people when it came time to certifying the election. Then other times he wavered. He also bows to the base in that cult, thinking he needs them to get the nomination. I didn't see the entire Pence interview, but I am wondering why it would bow so awful to indict a former president. If a former president committed a crime, shouldn't that former president be just as accountable for his crime and any other American who commits a crime. Does he think that holding the office of president of the US means that a person doesn't have to obey the laws that the rest of Americans have to obey? Does he think that holding office makes a person immune from following the Constitution? Does he think that it would be embarrassing for a former president to be indicted? Well, yes it would be embarrassing. But the facts are the facts. I never had much respect for Pence; and my respect for him dropped precipitously this past weekend. Then there is the issue of the cult trying to intimidate the Manhattan DA's office. To the point that Manhattan DA Bragg has to assure his team that they will be protected, that NYC's law enforcement will be all over this and that the prosecutors will not be in danger. And the people of NYC will not be in danger. And that we learned a lot from January 6 and no announcement that the cult doesn't like will result in a revolution in the streets of NYC like the insurrection that took place at the Capital on January 6 2021. This is so very sad on so many levels. I write it all out as a form of political therapy. Maybe someone will take my writing, maybe even you, Steven Beschloss, and tell me something that will make me not feel so sad about the state things in our country. Or maybe any of you in this fantastic group has something to say to me that will make me seem the current situation as anything but very very very sad, a real low in our country. Thanks for listening.
Personally, I'll believe it when I see it. The Feds failed to prosecute, so to my mind there's still no real justice. Not at the right level. The election process was a national deal. A national conviction is what is called for here, don't you think?
I think (hope) many voters have already crossed the line back to reality.
They’ve been listening to all the BS between the most crazy Republicans and the almost crazy Republicans for two years now. Voters who might have accepted a quasi-radical Republican have given up on them, especially after the Fox News revelations. The current Republican knee-jerk ranting every time something happens makes them look even more ludicrous. The fact that they can’t even get rid of George Santos it’s just one highlight of their aberrant behavior. They’re driving themselves deeper and deeper into a hole. Good
Trump is exhausting he's always been exhausting and he will always be exhausting because no one seems willing to take him on. But I've been exhausted before in my life -death -birth- jobs -relationships- there's lots of different kinds of exhaustion. But "Trump exhaustion" seems interminable. I'm confident it will end someday but-- will it and in JUSTICE?
Why should we believe Trump expects any consequence for his behavior -criminal ethical legal-He has never had any consequence -not once in 74 1/2 years. He is financially ethically morally and practically bankrupt !