In the U.S., most people revere the rule of law and the Constitution. We know that we are protected by the rule of law and are accountable to it. We cling fervently to the belief that justice will be done, even when it is not. We learn from an early age that “no man is above the law” (except, the Supreme Court ruled, the President) and that everyone is equal before the law, even when we see these principles flagrantly violated, with justice favoring those with money and influence. Yet, still we believe.

I haven’t believe that since OJ Simpson got away with the brutal murder of two innocent people.
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Jury nullification has been a thing forever and is in no way comparable to defying court orders.
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True enough. I was thinking more along the lines of a starstruck to total stupidity judge and having enough money to persuade “experts” to lie and obfuscate for him but I take your point.
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Diane:
To say I respect your writing and thinking would be an understatement. I also share your concerns about charter schools, but knowing a few here in the SF Bay area that are primarily serving low income kids of color with great success I also know the exceptions. I also know that most often here the existence of a charter school reflects a failure of the larger high schools to create alternatives with their schools. I see some charter schools as symptomatic of comprehensive high school failures.
Your thoughts very welcome!!
Appreciatively,
Mark Phillips Marin Independent Journal (formally taught high school 11 years, over three decades of training teachers and administrators at UCSB and SFSU)
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Mark,
I agree. I have seen very fine charter schools that fulfill their ideals.
But there are far too many charter schools that enrich their owners. Far too many that are segregation academies. Far too many that accept only the kids who make them look good. Far too many who kick out kids they don’t want. Far too many that are worse than public schools.
Far too many that fight accountability and transparency.
If you could persuade me about how to encourage the good ones and ban the bad ones, I’m listening.
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The Rule of Law and The Constitution are hanging on by a thread. It has been quite clear for a while now that they are done for, but our courts (some of them) are trying to keep it alive. We’ll see…
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IT’S QUESTIONABLE today that “most people revere the law and the Constitution.”
MAGA Minions make up nearly half of We the People today, and for them “the law” as a body of societal rules contains questionable and even outright wrong rules. For them, “the law” is not that body of legislated rules and court decisions that heretofore has been adhered to.
For MAGA Minions, “the law” consists only of those rules that Trump and his cronies favor.
Trump alone is the chief arbiter of what “the law” is, not the courts. And his minions allow him to pick and choose for them those parts of the Constitution that they will adhere to and those that he decides are invalid.
We are no longer a society of shared laws…if we ever were, when one recalls Jim Crow laws.
Trump’s role model, President Andrew Jackson, showed that even the U.S. Supreme Court can be ignored with impunity and that the hapless, helpless federal courts — including the Supreme Court — have no enforcement power. Federal courts rely on the Department of Justice to enforce court rulings, and the President controls the DOJ. Only federal court rulings that the President favors can be enforced.
Our Founding Fathers could never have imagined that Americans would elect scofflaws as Presidents, so the only remedy for a scofflaw President that was written into the Constitution was impeachment. But today’s Congress won’t impeach Trump, just as the Congress of Jackson’s term condoned what he did to ignore the Supreme Court and round up Native Americans and send them on the “Trail of Tears” death march.
And don’t hold your breath waiting for the 2026 midterm elections to change things. It is increasingly likely that there won’t be any 2026 midterms.
Remember that Trump promised his voters that if he were elected again, they would never have to vote again? HE WASN’T JOKING.
Sometime before 2026 — sooner if it looks to Trump like the popular vote has turned against him and will result in him losing control of Congress — Trump will concoct a “national emergency” and declare Martial Law. He will send armed troops into cities and towns across America and will suspend elections. There won’t be any 2026 midterm elections to challenge him. There won’t be any more free elections at all, only “elections” like we see in Russia and China.
If you think that the military won’t carry out Trump’s Martial Law orders, just remember that Trump’s henchman Hegseth has already purged the Pentagon and replaced the leaders with his own handpicked cronies…and if you peel off the shirts of tens of thousands of active military officers and service members and civilian police, you will find that they have the same right-wing tattoos as Hegseth has.
Trump is already declaring that protests against his policies and orders are treason…we can see what’s coming.
Today’s date in America is 1933. I had family members who lived through what happened in Germany between 1933 and 1945.
You recently wrote that “we are in dire circumstances”…I could not agree with you more.
The question is: What do we do?
There is no unified opposition. The Democratic Party is more divided than ever between politically impractical progressives and dithering party leaders — although Senator Schumer did make the correct decision in allowing the Republican continuing resolution to pass.
And, as noted, the courts have no genuine power of their own.
Meanwhile, the “move fast and break things” mantra of Musk and his lackeys is shredding our governmental systems and the DOJ has been weaponized to the point where it is prosecuting Habitat for Humanity for fraud.
What do we do?
First, we need a strong, visionary, eloquent, no-holds-barred brawler/leader around whom we can rally and follow.
Got anyone in mind?
Where is a Teddy Roosevelt when you need one?
https://voxdotcom.visitlink.me/Wf1Fd2 https://voxdotcom.visitlink.me/Wf1Fd2?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0tg9lN7gXkBk_QX_iabjXtpLxO3gDgf5dSiC6x88lUhb69ql5PSBLUIWM_aem_xr0RzQENdziyT24BWdDGnA
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A recent poll showed that Trump had a 47% approval rating and a 52% disapproval rating. While it only polled 2500 people, I thought with all dismantling of federal agencies, rejecting the rule of law and destroying our reputation with allies internationally that his approval numbers would be much lower. Clearly, lots of us are not seeing what is happening in the same way. https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-approval-rating-poll-tracker-march-18-2046375
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“MAGA Minions make up nearly half of We the People today,”
No, no, no, no. Absolute bunk.
They barely make up a third of the voting eligible people.
It doesn’t help our cause to be so wrong about such things.
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You’re talking about voters; I’m talking about people who identify as aligning with MAGA. Get your facts straight.
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Actually he said “voting eligible people,” i.e. citizens over 18.
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The point is that nearly half of the population identifies themselves as “MAGA-aligned” in multiple surveys.
Diane posted this:
A recent poll showed that Trump had a 47% approval rating and a 52% disapproval rating. While it only polled 2500 people, I thought with all dismantling of federal agencies, rejecting the rule of law and destroying our reputation with allies internationally that his approval numbers would be much lower. Clearly, lots of us are not seeing what is happening in the same way. https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-approval-rating-poll-tracker-march-18-2046375
Diane was surprised that nearly half of the people polled approved of what Trump is doing. But that isn’t surprising because that percentage closely corresponds to the percentage of people who label themselves as MAGA-aligned, regardless of whether or not they vote at all.
Popular votes are nice to have, but not needed so long as Trump stays strong in Electoral votes. Trump goes by his poll approval numbers, and so long as those numbers stay near 50% he will hold his course and probably speed it up even more because the courts are already overloaded and are necessarily slow in making rulings. By the time the courts rule, the damage is done…and he knows that. “Move fast and break things.”
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A comment or two from friends who voted for Trump:
”I hope when they find all the waste they are turning up, they find money to feed children.”
”It was about time we shook things up a bit.”
At least a third of the population is living in a Faux News dream, completely unaware of what is taking place. They see their daily dose of defamation, then they blithely think the world is normal.
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Roy, I hear the same.
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No, you’re dead wrong quikwrit.
“A recent poll showed that Trump had a 47% approval rating and a 52% disapproval rating.”
A single poll is not a valid indicator that over half of the population are MAGATS. Your inflating of the numbers is exactly what the regressive/reactionary folks like Fuxnews spew. Lies and deceit, plain and simple.
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Multiple polls by respected pollsters show the same result: Nearly 50% of adult Americans support what Trump is doing. They are largely part of The Samson Syndrome:
The millions of Americans who form the core of the MAGA movement knew from the beginning that Trump is a liar and destroyer who did not and does not have their best interests in mind — and they voted for him anyway because they knew he would bring The System crashing down.
They knew that it would come down on their own heads, too, yet they hate The System so much that, like the biblical Samson, they were and are willing to even die to destroy The System.
I call it “The Samson Syndrome”.
The roots of the MAGA movement were sown by President Clinton in 1999 when he repealed the Glass-Steagall Act that deregulated banks and allowed banks to speculate. The results were “bank products” called “derivatives” which were virtually gambling but which “worked” for a while, dumping tons of speculative money into all corners of the U.S. economy. Businesses expanded, jobs were created, millions of Americans bought homes with mortgages based on the speculative derivatives.
In 2008, the speculation bubble burst. Banks failed, businesses closed, millions lost their jobs, their savings, their homes, and their hope. It became known as The Great Recession.
Instead of coming to the aid of ordinary Americans who had lost everything because of speculation by banks and Wall Street, President Obama poured billions of dollars into assisting banks and Wall Street, even as those banks and investment firms paid executive bonuses to the people who had caused the crash. Most of Obama’s Cabinet were Wall Street bankers because Wall Street had long provided the bulk of Obama’s campaign money.
Ordinary Americans fell into despair. They saw that The System worked only for banks and Wall Street, not for them.
These tens of millions of Americans form the angry core of what today is the MAGA Movement.
Then in 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court hung out the “For Sale” sign on American government when it issued the “Citizens United” ruling. Billionaires and corporations immediately began buying members of Congress, making government totally dependent on billionaire and corporate money, and making The System an oligarchy, while ignoring ordinary Americans.
So, MAGA grew larger and more angry and developed “The Samson Syndrome”. The biblical Samson was willing to pull the temple down on his own head, killing himself, in order to destroy the temple. The System, America’s billionaire-bought-and-paid-for oligarchical government, is the temple today, and the furious MAGA millions are totally willing to bring it down even if that crushes them, too.
They know exactly what sort of person Trump is, but they vote for him and vote against their own self-interests because they want him to bring down The System that has betrayed them, suppressed them, oppressed them, and so they cheer him on.
And Democrats can’t understand and are in denial about that motivates these people to vote against their own self interest. Democrats think that these people have been brainwashed by Fox New, Newmax, and right-wing social media, and so long as Democrats delude themselves that way, they will never win over these people.
Diane posted this today:
A recent poll showed that Trump had a 47% approval rating and a 52% disapproval rating. While it only polled 2500 people, I thought with all dismantling of federal agencies, rejecting the rule of law and destroying our reputation with allies internationally that his approval numbers would be much lower. Clearly, lots of us are not seeing what is happening in the same way. https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-approval-rating-poll-tracker-march-18-2046375
Diane was surprised that nearly half of the people polled approved of what Trump is doing. But that isn’t surprising because that percentage closely corresponds to the percentage of people who label themselves as MAGA-aligned, regardless of whether or not they vote at all.
Popular votes are nice to have, but not needed so long as Trump stays strong in Electoral votes. Trump goes by his poll approval numbers, and so long as those numbers stay near 50% he will hold his course and probably speed it up even more because the courts are already overloaded and are necessarily slow in making rulings. By the time the courts rule, the damage is done…and he knows that. “Move fast and break things.”
The federal courts — not even the U.S. Supreme Court — are going to stop rabid Trump.
And with that, ends our republic….unless…by some miracle….the Democratic Party finds a savior and can stop its squabbling. Not that there’s much chance of either, especially the squabbling: When Will Rogers was asked what organized political party he belonged to, he replied: “I don’t belong to any organized political party — I’m a Democrat.”
If former Republican Jan. 6 Committee member Adam Kinzinger were to run for President on the Democratic ticket, we might have a very good chance of taking the White House in 2028…if Trump hasn’t suspended elections before that by declaring Martial Law. Otherwise, there’s no horse in the Democratic stable at the moment who can win.
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I think Trump “won” because Musk and Putin rigged the vote. Plus years of voter suppression paid off.
People voted for him because they believed his lies. He is a performer above all. He said he lead us into a golden age and everyone would be rich. Carnival barker stuff. People wanted to believe.
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I think quikwit and others are right about MAGA voting anyway for Trump even though they are voting against their own interest.
But I also think MAGA is delusional enough to NOT REALIZE what that means or, more concretely, that their interests will REALLY be hurt, e.g., no more Medicare and social security. The “reality check” won’t come until reality really happens.
This is the difference between living in a reality show and living in reality. CBK
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Great point, CBK
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Diane: I didn’t even think that such delusional thinking on the part of MAGA voters would be possible–until I read that article on the Nazi go-alongs in the New York Review of Books. The nuances the authors made there about how human beings think and justify our actions and nonactions were eye-openers and the comparisons quite clearly on the mark.
Also, I wrote the following on the Contrarian site:
I’m not sure if our cultural threads of non-thinkers, attention-deficits, and bumper-sticker brains will understand anything about what’s going on until it’s too late, and even then.
On the other hand, on a forum yesterday on MSNBC, ALL of the attendees who were Trump voters were very unhappy with the way things are going–one made her “line in the sand” with Trump’s interest in taking over Canada (truly bizarre.) I also hope there is more coverage here in the US of the protests going on against authoritarians in Europe and elsewhere. It helps to see “we” are not alone. And I hope that John Roberts’ has not waited too long. We should all remember that Trump was up to having our military shoot protesters. CBK
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Speaking of DELUSIONAL, a Newsweek headline says that Elon Musk is shocked at the hatred shown to him (people burning his Telsas, etc.) . . . he never did anything wrong or hurt anyone.
A secret thank you to people on the “front lines.” CBK
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“The millions of Americans who form the core of the MAGA movement knew from the beginning that Trump is a liar and destroyer who did not and does not have their best interests in mind — and they voted for him anyway because they knew he would bring The System crashing down.”
This is the most ridiculous thing I have read in a long time, and clearly is spoken by someone who actually knows very few MAGA folks.
The core of the MAGA folks are core believers who like Trump’s appeal to racism, xenophobia, white supremacy, and blaming the others. They hate Dems because of the narrative that the Dems like the “other” – the trans, non-white, non-Christian, immigrant – and Trump is on their side and hates the same people they hate. It’s that simple. The idea that they want to bring the system crashing down is nonsense. Those folks are the ones whoin 2016 acted as useful idiots for the MAGA movement and voted third party or didn’t vote and INTENTIONALLY spurned their chance to have a Supreme Court that would repeal Citizens United and start to give the power back to the people.
MAGA voters only want to tear down the “modern” system and return to the past system where white Christians ruled.
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I agree. But it’s not only the white supremacists who are the MAGA base. He also has a significant number of true believers who think he cares about them and intends to bring them prosperity.
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Spare us your sanctimony. You approved of Biden trying to defy SCOTUS when they struck down his vote-buying scheme to unlawfully transfer student loan debt to taxpayers. Biden once said that he didn’t have the power to transfer such debt but he later tried to do it anyway.
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Why are Trump fans invariably so stupid?
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Why is the sky blue? Does a wild bear shit in the woods? 😉
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How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?
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This is the MAGA response to anything critical of Trump. “Yeah, but Biden…” blah, blah, blah…
On Jan. 6, Donald bin Laden launched an attack on a co-equal branch of government.
“Oh yeah, well Biden (yada yada yada) was way worse.”
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At least Biden was trying to help millions of young people staggering under debt.
Trump uses his powers to hurt people. To close down foreign aid. To destroy science.
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Mitch Kuhn: So, do something good and it has to be a ploy to get votes, etc. I think you might be wrong in some cases, and I’ll take Biden’s track record (and heart) over Trump’s until they start throwing dirt on my grave.
Look around. The Ruse Patrol belongs to Trump and his enablers at present. The world of real politic only reflects Trump at the lowest level of human existence, and sometimes even lower than that. CBK
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