Never ceases to me that so many will kowtow to this despicable despot-wannabe just to keep their position. I mean, seriously, folks, how much do you love your job or the power or the $$ or the access to money that makes it worth GROVELING to this GHOUL? Is their self-esteem so pitiful that they cannot imagine doing the right thing? Do they get up each morning and say, "Goody, I get to kiss his ass again"? It is just beyond belief.
Roberta, here are two updates by Aaron Parnas today. I find them very telling of what is happening. Maybe you already know, but I’m pasting them in case anyone wants or needs to know.
Roberta, thank you for sharing your comment. I see the self-esteem you question as having diminished, yet I liken the lapse to pure fear because the individuals each have the power being exerted over them in public, and now we see how it will affect not only them in itself, but them all the way around in ways the followers react to them. That means that it affects all of us as a whole, and our country has much work to do, somehow. We must keep the faith! We must regain an honest democracy within this republic.
It is terribly sad that such control could result anywhere, and all for the power and greed which are craved in totality. However, it is truly tragic, anywhere for sure, but here by all means.
Like you, I think of each person, in any branch of our government, standing with self-esteem and loyalty to us, who are We the People, and to our Constitution. The steps taken today diminish our democracy even further, and the bossy one has taken privileges which are not in keeping with our Constitution. I will paste a site here in a minute if I can.
Meanwhile, I am not sure how we can overcome “the tiger in the zoo” as Jack has mentioned as a comparison. I look forward to Jack’s next piece, for sure!
Jack is correct that the Cornyn endorsement was a warning, not a preference. Historians will recognize the mechanism. When a political movement begins punishing hesitation rather than opposition, it has crossed a threshold. Opposition can be managed. Hesitation cannot be tolerated — because hesitation implies the possibility of independent judgment. And independent judgment, once permitted, cannot be reliably controlled. What Trump demonstrated this week is that the threshold has been crossed. The Republican Party is no longer disciplining dissent. It is disciplining doubt.
"Disciplining doubt" is the right phrase...and sharp!
The distinction matters...because the two require ENTIRELY different enforcement systems.
Disciplining dissent...means watching what people DO; disciplining doubt means watching what people MIGHT be capable of.
The first needs informants. The second...needs everyone to inform on themselves...to perform certainty louder and faster...than their actual conviction warrants.
That's the regime Cornyn failed to convincingly inhabit.
Not that he opposed...but...that he hesitated.
Hesitation is the tell of an interior life...that hasn't yet been fully colonized.
And as you say, once that's permitted...the WHOLE structure becomes unreliable.
Grateful for this comment...it sharpens the frame.
My question here is what happens once t is out of office? The DOJ (Todd Blanche) just issued an edict that states t & his fam can never be investigated or prosecuted by the IRS. Given the level of grift, I’m assuming he has billions squirreled away. Is no one thinking further than the end of their nose here? I doubt that t will survive terribly long - but - he has some very young family members that give me pause. What’s to say those billions won’t be used for political purposes for the long term? And if they are….. just how the hell do we deal with THAT?? We effectively had t acting as a shadow prez the four yrs Biden was in office and we all know how that went…..
All of this…. the grift, the threats, what’s essentially a pardon….. sets up some very dangerous and concerning situations that, depending on how the $$ go, have some very long term implications (jmho). I don’t like it one bit (if anyone’s asking 🙃)….
Deb...you're asking the question almost no one in the daily news cycle is asking, which is: what does the day-after-Trump landscape actually look like? And you're right to be uneasy.
The Blanche waiver from yesterday..."forever barred and precluded" from pursuing any IRS claims against Trump...his family...his trusts...or...his businesses for any pre-settlement returns... is the kind of move that's designed to outlive him.
A personal pardon expires with the person.
A waiver against family and entities...layered into a settlement...is harder to unwind.
Whether a future administration could challenge it...is a REAL legal question...BUT...the architecture is clearly built to make the unwinding....expensive and SLOW.
And...your instinct about the younger family members...is the part I think gets least attention.
The Trump movement isn't a person; it's a BRAND...an apparatus...and an inheritance.
Money that survives him...doesn't sit idle...it funds candidates...media...lawsuits...primary challenges. The shadow-presidency dynamic you mentioned...can ABSOLUTELY recur ...just with different faces...using the same financial infrastructure.
No clean answer to "how do we deal with that."
Part of the answer...is the long...unglamorous work....of rebuilding institutional guardrails so that the next iteration....doesn't find the SAME... wide-open doors.
Part is making sure dynastic political money stays INSIDE campaign-finance daylight ...rather than dark-money shadow.
After the impeachment hearings for the January 6 insurrection was when these Republican "leaders" lost their decency and humanity by allowing Trump to stay in office. Now, they are just empty shells wasting space in our government. They still have options to save themselves from self-loathing for the rest of their lives. They can accept that they will probably lose their seat. They can become Independents for the rest of their terms. They should stop kissing Trump's a**. When someone is starving and can't feed their families, groveling would make sense. Instead we have these "leaders" groveling to be patted on the head. How low we have descended.
Lynn...the comparison you drew is the one that sticks...a starving parent groveling to feed their family is doing something morally legible.
A senator with a salary...security...and a platform groveling to keep a title is something else entirely. The stakes...don't match the behavior...which is what makes it so hard to watch.
And...you're right that the off-ramp exists.
Accept the seat is probably gone...switch to Independent...use the remaining time for something that lets you look in the mirror later.
A few have done it. Most won't.
The pull of relevance...even CAPTURED relevance...is stronger than most people predict in themselves...until they're inside it.
Wouldn’t it be nice if TX steps up and elects a man who appears to be a decent human being for a change, other Republicans get spooked and it starts their (lack of) balls rolling downhill. . . ? Well, I can dream, can’t I?
Rae...dream away...it's not as far-fetched as it would have been a year ago.
Texas has been inching closer in statewide races for a while...and a Paxton nomination with all his baggage...is EXACTLY... the kind of scenario that could pull suburban Republicans across the line...or... just keep them home.
And...if Texas...of all places sends a signal...you're right that it could rattle Republicans elsewhere...who've been assuming Trump's grip is permanent.
No guarantees...but...dreaming about it is HEALTHY.
I still have a belief that we can win if we hold the line. He is not going to give the J6 scum any money..he will find a way to line his pockets again. They are just tools to him. We have get the vote out so strong like Hungary did so there is no doubt…
All I can think about is the midterms Jack. JFC I’m praying we turn out and vote with enough people to be able to curb the bullshit and take back our country.
This is not surprising. Trump and Paxton are birds of a feather; grifters, serial cheaters, ... The only question is whether the people of Texas have the integrity to do the rational, ethical thing? I don't have a lot of confidence.
I would have put money on t picking Paxton. I can't argue against the loyalty thing, but scratch deeper and t sees someone very much like himself morally [meaning there is No Connection !]. I don't think Cornyn ever had a chance for t's support. We already have a hideous guv and l'il guv and Paxton has been the trifecta of vice, graft and immorality.
Trump is a wrecking crane to the GOP unless they are totally subservient. However, when his hand was on the special elections, he lost bigly. Another political operative said if Paxton wins, then Talirico stands an excellent chance at Texas. Paxton is not liked. I hope ETTD holds true! I also look for the dummymandering to bring fruit. Kentucky is red, but they really like Massie, so even Pistol Pete may have shot his mouth off. I am confident we must fight this regime with all we have. He's set up a $1.776B fund to line his pockets, pay his warriors, and continue his kleptocracy. He also been deemed UNTOUCHABLE by the DOJ.👀😡
We're going to Spank Republicans hard in November and in 2028💦💙 Thank you for the great breakdown on the Loyalty Test, Jack,because that's all this guy has. So, let em' beat each other up.( let's hope the Democrats don't follow suit?!!) Excellent piece tonight, and will reStack ASAP 💯👍
Jack, you are leaving a chronicle of our times and it focuses us. So important! We've lost a lot of this in the MSM. I miss Molly Ivans and wonder what she'd make of it all. I can almost hear her in that Texan drawl, "calling Ken Paxton and the administration corrupt is like calling a dwarf short!" As a native Texan I agree and add, "F'@?k All! Is the majority always drunk?!"
Great article Jack! I was sensing Trump’s delight in dressing down the disloyal subjects. They are no longer a functioning political party, they are now a full blown CULT. The rest of the Unites States needs to realize that, and begin to treat them as cultists. Some of them may never recover and live in a world of delusion forever. Sad to see people willingly surrender their agency to an orange spray dyed tubby temper tantrum man baby in poo poo’d diapers. We need to outsmart them at the upcoming midterms and win to begin the reconstruction of a better democracy. I’m getting tired of the constant grifting…..it’s grating on my nerves like nails on a chalkboard. I’m trying to focus on how wonderful it will be when he finally croaks……☺️
Never ceases to me that so many will kowtow to this despicable despot-wannabe just to keep their position. I mean, seriously, folks, how much do you love your job or the power or the $$ or the access to money that makes it worth GROVELING to this GHOUL? Is their self-esteem so pitiful that they cannot imagine doing the right thing? Do they get up each morning and say, "Goody, I get to kiss his ass again"? It is just beyond belief.
Roberta...you're asking the right question...and I think the honest answer...is that most of them stopped seeing it as groveling a long time ago.
Once the daily compromises...become ROUTINE...the moral cost gets paid in installments ...small enough...that no single one feels decisive.
That's how decent people...end up in indecent places...not through ONE BIG surrender ...but...through a thousand small ones.
Damn sure doesn't make it less infuriating to watch. Just makes it more understandable... which is maybe...WORSE.
Grateful for the heat in this comment!
-Jack
How do you eat a cake? One bite at a time. #HoldingFast Thanks, Jack.
Exactly!
YOU...are welcome, Roberta.
-Jack
How sad and humiliating!
Roberta, here are two updates by Aaron Parnas today. I find them very telling of what is happening. Maybe you already know, but I’m pasting them in case anyone wants or needs to know.
https://aaronparnas.substack.com/p/news-top-trump-lawyer-resigns-after?r=17g578&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
And
https://aaronparnas.substack.com/p/major-update-doj-permanently-bars?r=17g578&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
#HOLDFAST!!!!
Roberta, thank you for sharing your comment. I see the self-esteem you question as having diminished, yet I liken the lapse to pure fear because the individuals each have the power being exerted over them in public, and now we see how it will affect not only them in itself, but them all the way around in ways the followers react to them. That means that it affects all of us as a whole, and our country has much work to do, somehow. We must keep the faith! We must regain an honest democracy within this republic.
It is terribly sad that such control could result anywhere, and all for the power and greed which are craved in totality. However, it is truly tragic, anywhere for sure, but here by all means.
Like you, I think of each person, in any branch of our government, standing with self-esteem and loyalty to us, who are We the People, and to our Constitution. The steps taken today diminish our democracy even further, and the bossy one has taken privileges which are not in keeping with our Constitution. I will paste a site here in a minute if I can.
Meanwhile, I am not sure how we can overcome “the tiger in the zoo” as Jack has mentioned as a comparison. I look forward to Jack’s next piece, for sure!
#HOLDFAST!!!!!
Agree
How can they stand kissing his ass like they do?
Jack is correct that the Cornyn endorsement was a warning, not a preference. Historians will recognize the mechanism. When a political movement begins punishing hesitation rather than opposition, it has crossed a threshold. Opposition can be managed. Hesitation cannot be tolerated — because hesitation implies the possibility of independent judgment. And independent judgment, once permitted, cannot be reliably controlled. What Trump demonstrated this week is that the threshold has been crossed. The Republican Party is no longer disciplining dissent. It is disciplining doubt.
"Disciplining doubt" is the right phrase...and sharp!
The distinction matters...because the two require ENTIRELY different enforcement systems.
Disciplining dissent...means watching what people DO; disciplining doubt means watching what people MIGHT be capable of.
The first needs informants. The second...needs everyone to inform on themselves...to perform certainty louder and faster...than their actual conviction warrants.
That's the regime Cornyn failed to convincingly inhabit.
Not that he opposed...but...that he hesitated.
Hesitation is the tell of an interior life...that hasn't yet been fully colonized.
And as you say, once that's permitted...the WHOLE structure becomes unreliable.
Grateful for this comment...it sharpens the frame.
-Jack
And it’s not a party anymore, it’s a political CULT and should be treated as such.
Jack, I look forward to your deep dive article.
My question here is what happens once t is out of office? The DOJ (Todd Blanche) just issued an edict that states t & his fam can never be investigated or prosecuted by the IRS. Given the level of grift, I’m assuming he has billions squirreled away. Is no one thinking further than the end of their nose here? I doubt that t will survive terribly long - but - he has some very young family members that give me pause. What’s to say those billions won’t be used for political purposes for the long term? And if they are….. just how the hell do we deal with THAT?? We effectively had t acting as a shadow prez the four yrs Biden was in office and we all know how that went…..
All of this…. the grift, the threats, what’s essentially a pardon….. sets up some very dangerous and concerning situations that, depending on how the $$ go, have some very long term implications (jmho). I don’t like it one bit (if anyone’s asking 🙃)….
Thanks!
Deb...you're asking the question almost no one in the daily news cycle is asking, which is: what does the day-after-Trump landscape actually look like? And you're right to be uneasy.
The Blanche waiver from yesterday..."forever barred and precluded" from pursuing any IRS claims against Trump...his family...his trusts...or...his businesses for any pre-settlement returns... is the kind of move that's designed to outlive him.
A personal pardon expires with the person.
A waiver against family and entities...layered into a settlement...is harder to unwind.
Whether a future administration could challenge it...is a REAL legal question...BUT...the architecture is clearly built to make the unwinding....expensive and SLOW.
And...your instinct about the younger family members...is the part I think gets least attention.
The Trump movement isn't a person; it's a BRAND...an apparatus...and an inheritance.
Money that survives him...doesn't sit idle...it funds candidates...media...lawsuits...primary challenges. The shadow-presidency dynamic you mentioned...can ABSOLUTELY recur ...just with different faces...using the same financial infrastructure.
No clean answer to "how do we deal with that."
Part of the answer...is the long...unglamorous work....of rebuilding institutional guardrails so that the next iteration....doesn't find the SAME... wide-open doors.
Part is making sure dynastic political money stays INSIDE campaign-finance daylight ...rather than dark-money shadow.
Both are slow. Both are necessary.
Grateful for the depth of this question, Deb.
-Jack
I’ve just got to believe that entire exchange of monies will be clawed back with extra long and sharp nails!
After the impeachment hearings for the January 6 insurrection was when these Republican "leaders" lost their decency and humanity by allowing Trump to stay in office. Now, they are just empty shells wasting space in our government. They still have options to save themselves from self-loathing for the rest of their lives. They can accept that they will probably lose their seat. They can become Independents for the rest of their terms. They should stop kissing Trump's a**. When someone is starving and can't feed their families, groveling would make sense. Instead we have these "leaders" groveling to be patted on the head. How low we have descended.
Lynn...the comparison you drew is the one that sticks...a starving parent groveling to feed their family is doing something morally legible.
A senator with a salary...security...and a platform groveling to keep a title is something else entirely. The stakes...don't match the behavior...which is what makes it so hard to watch.
And...you're right that the off-ramp exists.
Accept the seat is probably gone...switch to Independent...use the remaining time for something that lets you look in the mirror later.
A few have done it. Most won't.
The pull of relevance...even CAPTURED relevance...is stronger than most people predict in themselves...until they're inside it.
Appreciate the moral clarity in this comment!
-Jack
Wouldn’t it be nice if TX steps up and elects a man who appears to be a decent human being for a change, other Republicans get spooked and it starts their (lack of) balls rolling downhill. . . ? Well, I can dream, can’t I?
#Holdfast
Rae...dream away...it's not as far-fetched as it would have been a year ago.
Texas has been inching closer in statewide races for a while...and a Paxton nomination with all his baggage...is EXACTLY... the kind of scenario that could pull suburban Republicans across the line...or... just keep them home.
And...if Texas...of all places sends a signal...you're right that it could rattle Republicans elsewhere...who've been assuming Trump's grip is permanent.
No guarantees...but...dreaming about it is HEALTHY.
So is showing up to make it more likely.
#Holdfast
-Jack
You and me both Cherae
This is how authoritarian governments work.. how the leader keeps everyone in line.. and here we are. Beyond concerning.
Let’s see what gets passed in Congress now that once looked almost dead. That, in itself, should tell us a lot.
Thank you, Jack
Restacked and passing along.
#Holdfast
~Susan
Susan...that second point is the one to watch.
The endorsement isn't an isolated event...it's a discipline SIGNAL...and the test of whether it worked...is what shows up in the next round of votes.
Bills that were stalled last week....may SUDDENLY find legs. Holdouts may quietly fold.
That's how we'll know how thoroughly the message landed.
Grateful for the restack and for you watching closely.
#Holdfast
-Jack
And folks like Thomas Massie and Bill Cassidy and Thom Tillis will be unshackled to hopefully follow their consciences, if they still possess one.
Thom is one of mine. I’m thinking he does but he’s still a Republican.
Thanks, Jack. I’ll be watching and I always re-stack and share.
~Susan
“The tiger owns the zoo.” Yaaaaasss
I still have a belief that we can win if we hold the line. He is not going to give the J6 scum any money..he will find a way to line his pockets again. They are just tools to him. We have get the vote out so strong like Hungary did so there is no doubt…
#HOLDFAST
Teri
I think Teri is right, he can’t bear to share his money with anyone!
All I can think about is the midterms Jack. JFC I’m praying we turn out and vote with enough people to be able to curb the bullshit and take back our country.
This is not surprising. Trump and Paxton are birds of a feather; grifters, serial cheaters, ... The only question is whether the people of Texas have the integrity to do the rational, ethical thing? I don't have a lot of confidence.
I would have put money on t picking Paxton. I can't argue against the loyalty thing, but scratch deeper and t sees someone very much like himself morally [meaning there is No Connection !]. I don't think Cornyn ever had a chance for t's support. We already have a hideous guv and l'il guv and Paxton has been the trifecta of vice, graft and immorality.
Trump is a wrecking crane to the GOP unless they are totally subservient. However, when his hand was on the special elections, he lost bigly. Another political operative said if Paxton wins, then Talirico stands an excellent chance at Texas. Paxton is not liked. I hope ETTD holds true! I also look for the dummymandering to bring fruit. Kentucky is red, but they really like Massie, so even Pistol Pete may have shot his mouth off. I am confident we must fight this regime with all we have. He's set up a $1.776B fund to line his pockets, pay his warriors, and continue his kleptocracy. He also been deemed UNTOUCHABLE by the DOJ.👀😡
#HoldFast
We're going to Spank Republicans hard in November and in 2028💦💙 Thank you for the great breakdown on the Loyalty Test, Jack,because that's all this guy has. So, let em' beat each other up.( let's hope the Democrats don't follow suit?!!) Excellent piece tonight, and will reStack ASAP 💯👍
Jack, you are leaving a chronicle of our times and it focuses us. So important! We've lost a lot of this in the MSM. I miss Molly Ivans and wonder what she'd make of it all. I can almost hear her in that Texan drawl, "calling Ken Paxton and the administration corrupt is like calling a dwarf short!" As a native Texan I agree and add, "F'@?k All! Is the majority always drunk?!"
Great article Jack! I was sensing Trump’s delight in dressing down the disloyal subjects. They are no longer a functioning political party, they are now a full blown CULT. The rest of the Unites States needs to realize that, and begin to treat them as cultists. Some of them may never recover and live in a world of delusion forever. Sad to see people willingly surrender their agency to an orange spray dyed tubby temper tantrum man baby in poo poo’d diapers. We need to outsmart them at the upcoming midterms and win to begin the reconstruction of a better democracy. I’m getting tired of the constant grifting…..it’s grating on my nerves like nails on a chalkboard. I’m trying to focus on how wonderful it will be when he finally croaks……☺️
Jack, how do you see this impacting some of the GOP, who are on the verge of siding with Dems against the Cheeto-in-Chief?