In January 2025, although Melania was holding a Bible on which her spouse could place his hand while taking the oath of office, he chose not to. I sometimes wonder if that was superstition on his part, that he wouldn’t place his hand on a Bible while taking an oath he had no intention of respecting, much like his marital vows.
Yes, Jack, I totally agree, conduct by 47 that is “unconstitutional” was planned and is intentional. I guess my surprise is that the same has shown to be true for the majority of Congress.
That Bible moment felt symbolic to a lot of people...whether superstition or simple disregard...it fit the broader theme: oaths as optics...not obligations.
And...your bigger point is the heavier one. It’s one thing for a president to test constitutional limits. It’s another...when large parts of Congress DO NOT push back.
That’s where surprise...turns into realization.
Some are aligned. Some are afraid of primaries. Some are protecting careers. And some ...are choosing silence because silence is easier than confrontation.
The real shift isn’t just boundary-pushing at the top...it’s normalization around it!
Excellent points All, Jack, which is why I wouldn't be surprised if he is going to his golf course this weekend. He lights fires and watches it burn. Pure evil this whole Regime is‼️ looking forward to your next drop and will reStack ASAP 💯👍
He escalates, creates chaos...then retreats into leisure like it’s all a spectator sport. That whiplash isn’t accidental; it’s part of how the whole thing stays destabilizing...and hard to pin down.
Appreciate you, truly! And...thank you for the reStack. That’s how this spreads in a way that actually matters.
When a country is threatened by a foreign force, its men and women line up to enlist in the military to protect their homeland. They knowingly risk life and limb to battle the enemy. They sacrifice because that is what the moment demands. Their families suffer and sacrifice because they realize that heroes are needed to preserve life and liberty.
Right now an army of amateur internet sleuths and independent journalists are sifting through the limited evidence released. They are doing a great job, but the clock is ticking, as the trump regime pulls every dirty trick in the book to ensure its continued control.
There are definitely people that know the full truth, that are not involved in any nefarious way. Stepping forward with that information would surely involve consequences, but there is so much more at stake here than their personal fears.
America is facing the most heinous attack it has ever faced right now. Democracy is under siege from the enemy within the Oval Office. Are we to accept that the potential heroes, those that know the facts and have the evidence, are cowered in fear by the threat of breaking an NDA?
When the President has cast aside all semblance of law and order, and justice is only served by bribes, those NDAs should be considered mere scraps of paper, worth nothing more than kindling. If the threat of being sued is enough to make you abandon your countrymen, then you are nothing but cowards, traitors and the lowest of the low.
John...you’re naming something a lot of people feel but don’t say out loud: there’s a moral gap between “I’m uncomfortable” and “I’m willing to accept consequences.”
And in moments like this...that gap matters...a hell of a lot.
You’re also right to credit the amateur investigators and independent journalists. They’re doing real work with partial information… and they’re doing it under pressure.
Two things I’d add, to make this land even harder and harder to dismiss:
First: NDA fear is real...but it’s not the end of the story.
There are ways to come forward: inspectors general...protected disclosures...counsel...documented channels. A lot of people don’t know that...and the regime benefits when everyone believes there are no safe options.
Second: the frame is “duty + pathway.” The moral demand is clear...but so is the practical question: how do you step forward in a way that actually gets the truth out and holds up under pressure?
What moves people is...“If you know something, here’s how you can do the right thing and protect yourself as much as possible.”
Because, John...yes...if someone has the truth...and sits on it to protect a paycheck or avoid discomfort...that’s indefensible.
And...I’ll say it plainly...history doesn’t reward “I meant well.” It remembers who stepped forward when it cost them.
My message to them would be:
“If you have the facts, your NDA isn’t a shield...it’s an excuse. Come forward. The stakes are bigger than your comfort.”
I’m with you on the urgency. Windows close fast when the power is locking itself in!
Thanks for adding some crucial details. There are still somewhat safe pathways to whistleblowing redemption. There are no guarantees, but the prize of saving your country should warrant the risk, to anyone with a soul.
Those with a conscience who have seen behind the curtain, must be slowly dying inside. It would be better to reap the rewards now, while there is still an opportunity to stop the insanity, then to face the vengeful retribution later from fellow citizens deceived.
Absolutely! The constitution has to be enforced and Congress has failed their responsibility in that terribly. Next up will be him taking over elections because there is a war, or there was fraud or WTF he doesn't need an excuse he just wants to do it. We need Congress to act to rein him in and I do not see that happening. I fear we will not make it to an election in November.
The Constitution doesn’t enforce itself. Congress was supposed to be the guardrail...and they’ve failed that responsibility in plain sight.
And...you’re right about the trajectory. Once power decides elections are an inconvenience, the excuse doesn’t matter. War. Fraud. Emergency.
Or...no excuse at all.
If someone wants to override the system...they’ll manufacture whatever narrative they need...or simply act and dare anyone to stop them.
That’s the part that chills people: not just the ambition...but the lack of visible resistance from the branch designed to restrain it.
Your fear about November...isn’t hysteria. It’s what happens when institutional guardrails look weak...and the stakes are existential.
Keep saying it out loud, Nancy. Silence is what normalization feeds on.
BTW, I know several members of the Hoffman family, here in Missouri. Of course, no idea if you are connected...but...I suppose you could be. (If you have any interest in knowing their names, just send me a private message.)
What strikes me most about your argument is not its anger — it is its precision. You are not lamenting the death of norms in the abstract. You are identifying the specific mechanism by which constitutional systems fail: the gap between the language used to describe institutions and the reality those institutions are actually capable of delivering. When elected officials repeatedly invoke constitutional boundaries as if invocation were itself a form of enforcement, they are not being naive. They are making a calculation — that the comfort the language provides is more politically valuable than the honesty it forecloses. That calculation, repeated often enough, becomes the very condition that makes authoritarian consolidation possible.
What you understand, and what historians have documented across failed democracies from Weimar to Hungary, is that the erosion is never announced. It arrives as a series of individually explicable moments — each one rationalized, each one survived, each one quietly expanding the boundaries of what the executive may do without consequence. By the time the pattern is undeniable, the tools available for reversal have themselves been compromised by the process they were meant to prevent. Reading this morning, on the day American bombs are falling on Iran without a congressional vote, I find myself thinking that you have written something that future historians will cite — not as prediction, but as diagnosis delivered in real time, with the rare clarity of someone who refused to look away.
Jane...thank you...and I know exactly what you mean.
What you wrote isn’t just supportive...it’s diagnostic: you nailed the mechanism.
The gap between constitutional language...and constitutional enforcement...becomes the space where power expands.
And...when lawmakers keep “invoking” limits...as if that’s the same as imposing them... they’re not confused...they’re choosing comfort, optics, and deniability...over confrontation.
Repeated long enough...that choice becomes the enabling condition.
You’re dead on about how it happens...not with a banner that says “authoritarianism,” but with a chain of “explainable” moments...each one survived...each one normalized...each one widening the perimeter.
By the time everyone agrees it’s real...the tools that were supposed to stop it...have ALREADY been dulled or captured.
That’s why your timing matters, too. Saying this out loud...WHILE it’s happening...while bombs fall without Congress doing its job...is how you keep the record straight...and REFUSE the collective amnesia...that always shows up later.
Wow! This just smacked me across my face. I keep thinking that SOMETHING in our constitution will hold him back. All the while knowing that he will do whatever he damn well pleases. And you are so right.
And the fact that so many lawmakers (R’s) have adopted the same approach to laws and norms is staggering.
I’m putting on my grown up pants, and accept that we really do have outlaws running our country.
I’m gonna need to breathe deep while I retrain my brain.
Chrissy...yeah. That moment when it clicks...isn’t gentle.
We were raised to believe the Constitution is a self-executing shield. That there’s some automatic brake system built in. And realizing that it only works...if the people inside it choose to honor it? That’s a punch to the chest...that lands with a loud thud.
You’re not crazy for hoping something structural would hold. That hope was civic conditioning. What’s staggering...like you said...is watching lawmakers adopt the same elasticity toward norms and law...and just call it politics.
“Outlaws running the country” isn’t melodrama when the pattern keeps reinforcing itself. It’s you...adjusting to the evidence.
The physical reaction? COMPLETELY real.
When your worldview shifts...your body reacts. Brain hurts. Hair hurts. Heart hurts. That’s what cognitive rewiring under stress feels like.
Putting on your grown-up pants doesn’t mean becoming numb. It means seeing clearly ...and...staying upright ANYWAY.
Breathe. Let the shock metabolize. Clarity is uncomfortable...before it’s stabilizing.
You're welcome, Elisabeth. I can think of endless other things I'd enjoy making crystal clear...than this. But...we can't run from reality and expect to shape it.
Buell...here’s what’s most disturbing about your comment: we’re living in a moment where someone can write that… and nobody instantly assumes they’ve lost their mind.
That’s how far the country has shifted in the last decade. What used to be unthinkable is now thinkable...and the escalation feels faster by the day.
I’m glad you’re here.
And yeah: every sane person wants a path forward that avoids violence and the misery that comes with it. But when the guy in the White House talks the way he does... constant heat, hate, and threat...it forces reasonable people to run the tape forward and imagine what he might try to unleash on Americans.
My fear, B H, is Nat’l Guards are made up of individuals with their own political leanings. I don’t know how many support what 47 is doing. If they reflect those who were eligible to vote in Nov 2024, then about 35% may support what is going on, 34% may not, and the remaining 31% may not have an opinion that they care to express.
You are correct. It would be foolhardy to suggest that the National Guard in all blue states are ideologically identical and there are undoubtably Trump supporters in all Guard units everywhere. My sense is that the blue states probably have majority democratic voters in their armed guard units - but no guarantee. Maybe the job itself attracts more republicans than other occupations. Guess we'll find out next November.
Pointing out that the Constitution is not a force field made me chuckle. You're right though...we treat it like it has some kind of magical properties, but Trump has demonstrated that it is, in fact, words on paper.
I wonder if some of the perception of magical properties has come from the emphasis, at least throughout my lifetime, of "originalist" or "strict textual" interpretation of the Constitution from SCOTUS has misled people into thinking that at least the courts would hold the line. But, we learned that the courts have no enforcement mechanism and this executive and administration are willing to shrug and carry on as they want to.
You mentioned that if Dems were serious, we would see pre-planned mitigation strategies, including rapid litigation frameworks. The only place I'm seeing that is from Marc Elias.
A crystal clear examination of the situation. We have seen this play out time and again since he was first elected(?) Franklin is quoted as saying "we must all hang together, or we will surely hang separately." tRump told the Iranian people to rise up and over throw their government. It is time we did the same! Stay strong!
Right on again Jack,thank you! There is no constitution right now,time to look back before the constitution and become the patriotic militia. Just a thought
A few articles back you told us the next few months could be pretty rough, but keep the faith. I didn't realize how rough it was going to be. The ups and downs are the toughest. The hope and then the fear. An endless loop. I will make it through but this is tough.
In January 2025, although Melania was holding a Bible on which her spouse could place his hand while taking the oath of office, he chose not to. I sometimes wonder if that was superstition on his part, that he wouldn’t place his hand on a Bible while taking an oath he had no intention of respecting, much like his marital vows.
Yes, Jack, I totally agree, conduct by 47 that is “unconstitutional” was planned and is intentional. I guess my surprise is that the same has shown to be true for the majority of Congress.
Mary E...you’re seeing the pattern clearly.
That Bible moment felt symbolic to a lot of people...whether superstition or simple disregard...it fit the broader theme: oaths as optics...not obligations.
And...your bigger point is the heavier one. It’s one thing for a president to test constitutional limits. It’s another...when large parts of Congress DO NOT push back.
That’s where surprise...turns into realization.
Some are aligned. Some are afraid of primaries. Some are protecting careers. And some ...are choosing silence because silence is easier than confrontation.
The real shift isn’t just boundary-pushing at the top...it’s normalization around it!
-Jack
Excellent points All, Jack, which is why I wouldn't be surprised if he is going to his golf course this weekend. He lights fires and watches it burn. Pure evil this whole Regime is‼️ looking forward to your next drop and will reStack ASAP 💯👍
Karen...yep...you’re tracking the pattern.
He escalates, creates chaos...then retreats into leisure like it’s all a spectator sport. That whiplash isn’t accidental; it’s part of how the whole thing stays destabilizing...and hard to pin down.
Appreciate you, truly! And...thank you for the reStack. That’s how this spreads in a way that actually matters.
-Jack
He declared war from Maralago.
Sure did, Toni. Being a night-owl...I was up for it when it broke. A US President...in the dumb-ass "USA" white ball-cap.
-Jack
And he announced where he would be. That is just taunting Iran.
That's exactly it, Charli.
-Jack
I believe he's hosting a dinner party tonight.
I saw it on video. He was there acting as the host of another ultra rich party. Those people are real suck -ups for what I do not know
Teri...yeah...the prick just loves rubbing the elitism in our face...even less than 24 hours after starting an illegal war.
-Jack
When a country is threatened by a foreign force, its men and women line up to enlist in the military to protect their homeland. They knowingly risk life and limb to battle the enemy. They sacrifice because that is what the moment demands. Their families suffer and sacrifice because they realize that heroes are needed to preserve life and liberty.
Right now an army of amateur internet sleuths and independent journalists are sifting through the limited evidence released. They are doing a great job, but the clock is ticking, as the trump regime pulls every dirty trick in the book to ensure its continued control.
There are definitely people that know the full truth, that are not involved in any nefarious way. Stepping forward with that information would surely involve consequences, but there is so much more at stake here than their personal fears.
America is facing the most heinous attack it has ever faced right now. Democracy is under siege from the enemy within the Oval Office. Are we to accept that the potential heroes, those that know the facts and have the evidence, are cowered in fear by the threat of breaking an NDA?
When the President has cast aside all semblance of law and order, and justice is only served by bribes, those NDAs should be considered mere scraps of paper, worth nothing more than kindling. If the threat of being sued is enough to make you abandon your countrymen, then you are nothing but cowards, traitors and the lowest of the low.
John...you’re naming something a lot of people feel but don’t say out loud: there’s a moral gap between “I’m uncomfortable” and “I’m willing to accept consequences.”
And in moments like this...that gap matters...a hell of a lot.
You’re also right to credit the amateur investigators and independent journalists. They’re doing real work with partial information… and they’re doing it under pressure.
Two things I’d add, to make this land even harder and harder to dismiss:
First: NDA fear is real...but it’s not the end of the story.
There are ways to come forward: inspectors general...protected disclosures...counsel...documented channels. A lot of people don’t know that...and the regime benefits when everyone believes there are no safe options.
Second: the frame is “duty + pathway.” The moral demand is clear...but so is the practical question: how do you step forward in a way that actually gets the truth out and holds up under pressure?
What moves people is...“If you know something, here’s how you can do the right thing and protect yourself as much as possible.”
Because, John...yes...if someone has the truth...and sits on it to protect a paycheck or avoid discomfort...that’s indefensible.
And...I’ll say it plainly...history doesn’t reward “I meant well.” It remembers who stepped forward when it cost them.
My message to them would be:
“If you have the facts, your NDA isn’t a shield...it’s an excuse. Come forward. The stakes are bigger than your comfort.”
I’m with you on the urgency. Windows close fast when the power is locking itself in!
Glad you're here, John.
-Jack
Thanks for adding some crucial details. There are still somewhat safe pathways to whistleblowing redemption. There are no guarantees, but the prize of saving your country should warrant the risk, to anyone with a soul.
Those with a conscience who have seen behind the curtain, must be slowly dying inside. It would be better to reap the rewards now, while there is still an opportunity to stop the insanity, then to face the vengeful retribution later from fellow citizens deceived.
John, you have communicated this about as clearly as it can be. I agree wholeheartedly. Much appreciated!
-Jack
Absolutely! The constitution has to be enforced and Congress has failed their responsibility in that terribly. Next up will be him taking over elections because there is a war, or there was fraud or WTF he doesn't need an excuse he just wants to do it. We need Congress to act to rein him in and I do not see that happening. I fear we will not make it to an election in November.
Nancy Hoffman...yes. Exactly!
The Constitution doesn’t enforce itself. Congress was supposed to be the guardrail...and they’ve failed that responsibility in plain sight.
And...you’re right about the trajectory. Once power decides elections are an inconvenience, the excuse doesn’t matter. War. Fraud. Emergency.
Or...no excuse at all.
If someone wants to override the system...they’ll manufacture whatever narrative they need...or simply act and dare anyone to stop them.
That’s the part that chills people: not just the ambition...but the lack of visible resistance from the branch designed to restrain it.
Your fear about November...isn’t hysteria. It’s what happens when institutional guardrails look weak...and the stakes are existential.
Keep saying it out loud, Nancy. Silence is what normalization feeds on.
BTW, I know several members of the Hoffman family, here in Missouri. Of course, no idea if you are connected...but...I suppose you could be. (If you have any interest in knowing their names, just send me a private message.)
-Jack
What strikes me most about your argument is not its anger — it is its precision. You are not lamenting the death of norms in the abstract. You are identifying the specific mechanism by which constitutional systems fail: the gap between the language used to describe institutions and the reality those institutions are actually capable of delivering. When elected officials repeatedly invoke constitutional boundaries as if invocation were itself a form of enforcement, they are not being naive. They are making a calculation — that the comfort the language provides is more politically valuable than the honesty it forecloses. That calculation, repeated often enough, becomes the very condition that makes authoritarian consolidation possible.
What you understand, and what historians have documented across failed democracies from Weimar to Hungary, is that the erosion is never announced. It arrives as a series of individually explicable moments — each one rationalized, each one survived, each one quietly expanding the boundaries of what the executive may do without consequence. By the time the pattern is undeniable, the tools available for reversal have themselves been compromised by the process they were meant to prevent. Reading this morning, on the day American bombs are falling on Iran without a congressional vote, I find myself thinking that you have written something that future historians will cite — not as prediction, but as diagnosis delivered in real time, with the rare clarity of someone who refused to look away.
Excellent article Jack! #holdfast
Jane...thank you...and I know exactly what you mean.
What you wrote isn’t just supportive...it’s diagnostic: you nailed the mechanism.
The gap between constitutional language...and constitutional enforcement...becomes the space where power expands.
And...when lawmakers keep “invoking” limits...as if that’s the same as imposing them... they’re not confused...they’re choosing comfort, optics, and deniability...over confrontation.
Repeated long enough...that choice becomes the enabling condition.
You’re dead on about how it happens...not with a banner that says “authoritarianism,” but with a chain of “explainable” moments...each one survived...each one normalized...each one widening the perimeter.
By the time everyone agrees it’s real...the tools that were supposed to stop it...have ALREADY been dulled or captured.
That’s why your timing matters, too. Saying this out loud...WHILE it’s happening...while bombs fall without Congress doing its job...is how you keep the record straight...and REFUSE the collective amnesia...that always shows up later.
I’m grateful you’re here. #HoldFast.
-Jack
Much needed, especially now, and MUCH appreciated. I’m so thankful to have found our Jack on Substack. I only wish I’d found him earlier.
#HoldFast
Rae...you're most welcome. That means a lot. No kidding. Very kind of you.
#HoldFast
-Jack
Wow! This just smacked me across my face. I keep thinking that SOMETHING in our constitution will hold him back. All the while knowing that he will do whatever he damn well pleases. And you are so right.
And the fact that so many lawmakers (R’s) have adopted the same approach to laws and norms is staggering.
I’m putting on my grown up pants, and accept that we really do have outlaws running our country.
I’m gonna need to breathe deep while I retrain my brain.
My brain hurts.
My hair hurts.
My heart hurts.
Thank you Jack (I think)
Chrissy
Chrissy...yeah. That moment when it clicks...isn’t gentle.
We were raised to believe the Constitution is a self-executing shield. That there’s some automatic brake system built in. And realizing that it only works...if the people inside it choose to honor it? That’s a punch to the chest...that lands with a loud thud.
You’re not crazy for hoping something structural would hold. That hope was civic conditioning. What’s staggering...like you said...is watching lawmakers adopt the same elasticity toward norms and law...and just call it politics.
“Outlaws running the country” isn’t melodrama when the pattern keeps reinforcing itself. It’s you...adjusting to the evidence.
The physical reaction? COMPLETELY real.
When your worldview shifts...your body reacts. Brain hurts. Hair hurts. Heart hurts. That’s what cognitive rewiring under stress feels like.
Putting on your grown-up pants doesn’t mean becoming numb. It means seeing clearly ...and...staying upright ANYWAY.
Breathe. Let the shock metabolize. Clarity is uncomfortable...before it’s stabilizing.
And yeah… you’re welcome. Even if it stings.
-Jack
This is exactly the problem we have right now - thank you for making it crystal clear.
You're welcome, Elisabeth. I can think of endless other things I'd enjoy making crystal clear...than this. But...we can't run from reality and expect to shape it.
-Jack
Our very freedom could - in the end - rely on armed resistance against ICE by blue states' own National Guard troops
Buell...here’s what’s most disturbing about your comment: we’re living in a moment where someone can write that… and nobody instantly assumes they’ve lost their mind.
That’s how far the country has shifted in the last decade. What used to be unthinkable is now thinkable...and the escalation feels faster by the day.
I’m glad you’re here.
And yeah: every sane person wants a path forward that avoids violence and the misery that comes with it. But when the guy in the White House talks the way he does... constant heat, hate, and threat...it forces reasonable people to run the tape forward and imagine what he might try to unleash on Americans.
-Jack
My fear, B H, is Nat’l Guards are made up of individuals with their own political leanings. I don’t know how many support what 47 is doing. If they reflect those who were eligible to vote in Nov 2024, then about 35% may support what is going on, 34% may not, and the remaining 31% may not have an opinion that they care to express.
You are correct. It would be foolhardy to suggest that the National Guard in all blue states are ideologically identical and there are undoubtably Trump supporters in all Guard units everywhere. My sense is that the blue states probably have majority democratic voters in their armed guard units - but no guarantee. Maybe the job itself attracts more republicans than other occupations. Guess we'll find out next November.
Pointing out that the Constitution is not a force field made me chuckle. You're right though...we treat it like it has some kind of magical properties, but Trump has demonstrated that it is, in fact, words on paper.
I wonder if some of the perception of magical properties has come from the emphasis, at least throughout my lifetime, of "originalist" or "strict textual" interpretation of the Constitution from SCOTUS has misled people into thinking that at least the courts would hold the line. But, we learned that the courts have no enforcement mechanism and this executive and administration are willing to shrug and carry on as they want to.
You mentioned that if Dems were serious, we would see pre-planned mitigation strategies, including rapid litigation frameworks. The only place I'm seeing that is from Marc Elias.
Again, Congress has abdicated their responsibility to the 🍊💩.
Great article once again! 👍💯❤️
A crystal clear examination of the situation. We have seen this play out time and again since he was first elected(?) Franklin is quoted as saying "we must all hang together, or we will surely hang separately." tRump told the Iranian people to rise up and over throw their government. It is time we did the same! Stay strong!
#HoldFast
It has become so obvious that dump will not leave power unless forced to. Where is that force going to come from?
Right on again Jack,thank you! There is no constitution right now,time to look back before the constitution and become the patriotic militia. Just a thought
#HOLDFAST
it may be the only way. so much damage has been done.
What was it about moving the fleet/ planes to surround Iran that Congress didn’t understand?"
He kept warning Congress/ Everyone what he was going to do. If he "warned" them and they did nothing, then it was a green light to DO MORE.
This wasn't a secret. He has been moving his war toys out in the open.
Now I imagine "CONGRESS" will fuck this up.
From day one he has been taking his orders from Russia.
Congress has had a whole YEAR!
Congress could shut this down, but I don't see that they will.
💕🗽🇺🇲🇺🇦
A few articles back you told us the next few months could be pretty rough, but keep the faith. I didn't realize how rough it was going to be. The ups and downs are the toughest. The hope and then the fear. An endless loop. I will make it through but this is tough.