The Lincoln Project: This is NOT Conservatism. This is a CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS!

"If you feel like you're in a constitutional crisis, you are." 

Source:The Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson.

From The Lincoln Project

Rick Wilson talking about President Trump's White House staff: 

"You should be telling him the optics are bad, the impact is bad. What you're doing is bad, but they don't really care to. I'll tell you why, because everyone there now knows they live or die literally and politically, by Donald Trump's pleasure. Every single of those people around Donald Trump right now knows that if they say one word, if they say boo.

By the way, Donald, if you flip that switch, a thousand babies die. I wouldn't flip the switch. I like that switch. It's a good switch.

No one's ever seen a switch like this. He doesn't care. And they'll just disappear, They'll go away. They will be fired, they will be exiled, they will be stoked, they will be harassed.

That's it. These lawyers in the White House and the DOJ, they understand that the actions being taken by Doge and by Elon and by his team of boy geniuses are illegal. They understand that statutory requirements for monies to be spent harkened back to Article one and Article two of the Constitution. These describe the separation of powers of three co equal branches of government.

It is not Trump HQ, Trump Capitol Hill Division, and Trump Court's Inc. That's not how it works. That's not how a system in America that any conservative should want because believe you me, what you are stacking up right now is a series of awful precedents. No one believes that the abuse of power ever ends well.

But the abuse of power is what you are witnessing right now. The constitutional crisis you are witnessing is because of an abuse of power. It is going to accelerate. We are going to reach a moment of crisis very very very very soon...

From Speaker

According to Wikipedia: 

"In political science, a constitutional crisis is a problem or conflict in the function of a government that the political constitution or other fundamental governing law is perceived to be unable to resolve. There are several variations to this definition... 

From Wikipedia

I just want to take issue with 1 thing that Rick Wilson said first and then I'll get into my broader point here. 

I don't even pretend to be a lawyer, because I'm not that good of an actor. What I know about the law, is what I read myself about it, as well as listening to good lawyers. But if you want my definition of a "constitutional crisis", I will it to you anyway: a constitutional crisis would be when President Trump decides not to enforce a court decision that he lost. 

Rick Wilson gave us a list of terrible's that he think are possible... the President ordering his Attorney General Pam Bondi to arrest a Federal Judge for ruling against him and the Attorney General carrying out that order, would be what a "constitutional crisis" could look like. Both of those actions would be impeachable offenses. Now could either the President or Attorney General be arrested for that... what did I tell you about me not being a lawyer? But that would put the country I believe in a "constitutional crisis".

But Rick Wilson is damn right about MAGA not being a conservative movement. Now I think the best definition of a Conservative is: "averse to change or innovation and holding traditional values". Now move that up into an America  political sense, that would mean someone who believes in conserving the American form of government, our individual rights, American tradition, etc. 

A Conservative based on the definition that I just gave you, is not someone who is always talking about: 

taking down the establishment 

or taking down the deep state 

maybe America needs a dictator

or using the rule of law against their political opponents, simply because they are their political opponents, or ruled against them in court, investigated you for possibly being involved in illegal activities, or even breaking the law. 

If you are a Conservative, you are not intentionally breaking the law to begin with. No one is perfect, but these MAGA folks talk about breaking laws, like Ronald McDonald talks about cheeseburgers: it's an everyday activity for them that they can't get away from. .

So of course MAGA is not conservative. They are not "Make America Great Again" either. There's a real limit to how much someone can talk about how great their own country is, before it becomes counter-productive and you are like a general manager of a sports franchise, who's just won a few championships and you are now thinking this is as good as you'll ever be. So you lose the incentive to improve and be better. 

But the average American would probably tell you back in 2015-16 and even before that, well before Donald John Trump even represented a threat to becoming President of the United States, that America was not just a great country, but probably the greatest in the world. As much as MAGA talks about American patriotism and being American patriots... they are not calling themselves  MAGA, if they already thought America was great. I mean, isn't that obvious? If you think America is already great, then what's the need to call yourself "Mage America Great Again"? 

It's hard to treat MAGA seriously as a political movement because a lot of their members look completely unserious. You don't believe me, attend a CPAC conference at some point. What they really look like to me in a political sense... they look like whacked out hippies, (no offense to whacked out hippies) who ran away from home, ended up on a beach somewhere, got drunk and high for weeks and were never able to return to mainstream American society, mentally.

But somehow MAGA physically made it back to American mainstream society, but only to find themselves seeing an America that's completely foreign to them and wondering what the hell happened to their country, before they ran away from home. And they are the people who think they'll bring their America back. 

But as my colleague Kire Schneider wrote yesterday: 

"If you are Kamala Harris right now... I doubt she's home right now with her husband Doug laughing their heads off (to keep this clean) at the American voters. At least, the American voters who were too dumb, too blind, too death, (perhaps they flipped a coin in the voting booth to decide who to vote for in 2024) or simply don't give enough of a damn about the United States, to make an intelligent decision in who to vote for. But only because I believe she loves her country and is still willing to do everything that she can to make America as great as it can be... 

From The New Democrat

And this is who 49% of the American voters who actually gave enough of a damn about American democracy, to get to the polls, voted for in 2024. Donald Trump and his MAGA movement. And that was enough for him to win the Electoral College. 

So now the rest of the country, including the people who love America, need to do what we can, what is left for us to do, which is really just using our First Amendment rights to talk about how dangerous this whacked-out from the 1950s, (if not 1800s) far-right political movement is, that's not just an insult to American conservatism, but the American form of government. As well as relying on the Federal courts, to hold this President and his movement accountable. And hope American voters wake up in 2025-26 and give this movement and President what it deserves, which is a real check on their abuses of power. 

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Maybe It's Not The Politicians Fault

"Jesse talks about reporting from the Washington Post about Venezuelan refugees who supported the election of Donald Trump, who are now realizing he doesn’t care even a little bit about them and that they are now going to be deported despite not being criminals and being in the United States legally." 

Source:Jesse Dollemore with his take on this subject.

From Jesse Dollemore

"Rick Wilson is NOT here for the shock from Trump voters. It was an open book test!" 

Source:The Lincoln Project with Rick Wilson's take on this subject.

k
From The Lincoln Project

As I wrote about this back in December: 

"In Defense of Politicians", that would never be 1 of my lines. Not even if I was a defense lawyer defending a politician. I would be in there in court telling the judge: 

"I'm here to defend the politician". But if I win this case, as soon as it's over, I'll be the first person telling the public how big of an asshole I think this person is. And why I've never voted for this politician. Well, not after the first time...

My point here is it's not  just the politicians. It's not just the voters either. It's just mostly the voters. As George Carlin said: 

"Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don’t fall out of the sky. They don’t pass through a membrane from some other reality.

They come from American parents, American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses, American universities, and they’re elected by American citizens.

This is the best we can do, folks. This is what we have to offer. It’s what our system produces. Garbage in…garbage out... 

If voters took voting as seriously as buying I don't know, their latest smartphone, their latest smart TV, which coffee house to buy their coffee and what coffee drinks that they want, (just to throw out a few examples) I could guaran-damn-tee you that voting would be a helluva lot better in America. For the simple reason because then American voters would become American consumers of politics and government and would take it seriously. It's not that Americans are stupid by-en-large, (with a lot of exceptions) it's that they tend to be mentally lazy and don't like doing their homework and taking risks. Unless that's what their pop culture icons are doing and they think that's the cool thing to do.  

But as long as American democracy is like some realty TV game show, or something, where the winner is the person who is the coolest, the best looking, knows the best and most catch phrases, is hanging out with fabulist people, (so to speak) voting in American democracy will never be any better than voting for the NBA or MLB All Star Game. And to paraphrase George Carlin: it will just continue to be garbage in, garbage out, in our government."

From The New Democrat

If you are Kamala Harris right now... I doubt she's home right now with her husband Doug laughing their heads off (to keep this clean) at the American voters. At least, the American voters who were too dumb, too blind, too death, (perhaps they flipped a coin in the voting booth to decide who to vote for in 2024) or simply don't give enough of a damn about the United States, to make an intelligent decision in who to vote for. But only because I believe she loves her country and is still willing to do everything that she can to make America as great as it can be.

But, for the people who did vote for Donald Trump because they think he's a cool, wealthy, reality TV star, who hangs out with cool, wealthy, celebrities, who has a gorgeous wife and daughter, who was going to Washington "to shake things up" and "take on the establishment",  I have less than zero sympathy for you. 

American democracy is a serious thing. It's not a high school class presidential election. (No offense to high school class presidential elections) This is not a reality TV show where the winner gets 1 million dollars or, wins a record label, or something. 

Voting for President of the United States, is the major leagues of American citizenship. Except in this major league, we all get to play. Which means people who don't take voting seriously, who don't do their homework, who don't know who they're voting for before they actually vote for their candidates of choice, have the same right to vote as the people who not just watch and read the real news on a daily basis, but who go to PTA meetings, and town meetings, who've worked on campaigns themselves. And because of all that education and knowledge, generally make the right decisions in who to vote for themselves and their kids. 

This is literally what Donald Trump ran for President on in 2024, other than to stay out of prison, of course:

"SEAL THE BORDER AND STOP THE MIGRANT INVASION

CARRY OUT THE LARGEST DEPORTATION OPERATION IN AMERICAN HISTORY

END INFLATION, AND MAKE AMERICA AFFORDABLE AGAIN

MAKE AMERICA THE DOMINANT ENERGY PRODUCER IN THE WORLD, BY FAR!

STOP OUTSOURCING, AND TURN THE UNITED STATES INTO A MANUFACTURING SUPERPOWER

 LARGE TAX CUTS FOR WORKERS, AND NO TAX ON TIPS!

STOP THE MIGRANT CRIME EPIDEMIC, DEMOLISH THE FOREIGN DRUG CARTELS, CRUSH GANG VIOLENCE, AND LOCK UP VIOLENT OFFENDERS

KEEP THE U.S. DOLLAR AS THE WORLD'S RESERVE CURRENCY

CUT FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ANY SCHOOL PUSHING CRITICAL RACE THEORY, RADICAL GENDER IDEOLOGY, AND OTHER INAPPROPRIATE RACIAL, SEXUAL, OR POLITICAL CONTENT ON OUR CHILDREN" 

From Donald Trump 2024

And if you think about it, the only issue and promise that President Trump hasn't addressed yet, is dealing with inflation and cutting taxes for everyone. I keep hearing, especially during the fall, when grocery prices were actually coming down, about how voters were concerned about inflation and rising prices, the cost of eggs in particular and Donald Trump saying that he would, "cut prices on day 1". 

If you walk into a hospital cafeteria, or school cafeteria, are you expecting a gourmet meal? 

If you walk into a used car lot that just sells old Chevy's and Ford's that people sold to the lot, are you expecting to buy a car that's as nice as a brand new Mercedes SE, or Jaguar sedan? 

If you are looking for a home in Compton, Los Angeles, California, are expecting to even find a mansion there, let alone be able to buy 1 for what it could cost to rent a 1 bedroom rent-controlled apartment? 

American voters criticize politicians all the time. And in many cases for good reasons. But Donald Trump, except as it relates to inflation and middle class tax relief, is literally doing as President, what he campaigned on. He literally said he would "just be a dictator on day 1". He literally said he wouldn't enforce court orders that he didn't agree with. He also literally said when the Feds were still trying to prosecute him, that he literally had the authority to do whatever he wanted to as President. And he got elected anyway.

And now even people who voted for Donald Trump for President, are angry about what he's doing. Even though at his campaign rallies, he talked all the time about what he wanted to do as President again. Including deporting Haitians in Ohio "for eating our pets". 

If a guy says he will take everything you own and shoot you, if you let him in your home, but you let him anyway and he does exactly what he said he would do, after you let him in your home: aren't you at least partially at fault there? Maybe if you were drunk or high when he told you he would do those things to you, you might be able to plead insanity on that 1. I don't know. I'm not a lawyer. 

My only point here is don't blame the politicians that you voted for, for doing exactly what they told you that they would do, if they got elected. Because you already surrendered your right to credibly complain.

You can follow me on Threads and Twitter.

The Lincoln Project: CPAC 2024 in 120 Seconds

Source:The Lincoln Project- U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik (Republican, New York) was one of the original Never-Trumpers, at least in the House, before she decided she want to be Vice President of the United States. 

"The Lincoln Project is a leading pro-democracy organization in the United States — dedicated to the preservation, protection, and defense of democracy. Our fight against Trumpism is only beginning. We must combat these forces everywhere and at all times — our democracy depends on it." 

From The Lincoln Project

I already talked about what I think of CPAC (which actually stands for Crazy People At a Convention) last Friday. But here it is again, for anyone who wants to see it. 

Former U.S. Representative Charlie Dent (Republican, Pennsylvania) talking to Brianna Keilar and John Berman on CNN:

“CPAC has always been an odd gathering. But now it’s been taken over by radicals, anti-vaxers. It’s a land of misfits, toys, it’s a political freaks show. It’s the Star Wars bar, it’s bizarre… Serious people are not showing up to this thing. They had their stupid straw poll, its rank choice now. They’re not serious and one doesn’t know if they should laugh or they should cry about what they’re watching and witnessing at these CPAC gatherings.”

I’m well aware that CPAC stands for: “Conservative Political Action Conference”, but come on, is this really a conservative event anymore?" 

You can see the rest of this post on The New Democrat

I guess another good way to describe Crazy People At A Convention, (also known as CPAC) is with a hypothetical: 

Imagine if there were let's say 100, maybe a 1,000 people, whoever showed up at CPAC last weekend, who not just got our prison, perhaps a mental hospital, but just got out of solitary confinement either in prison, or at a secure forensic hospital, (which is a prison for mentally ill criminals) and they've been institutionalized for a very longtime and perhaps were just released because of prison overcrowding.

So now these folks our out of the institution, they've been out of society for a very longtime, the world even in real life, doesn't look the way it did lets's say 20-30 years ago, before they were institutionalized.

So now you have all these career criminals and career mental patients, who decide to invade Washington, for let's say their annual get together. That's what CPAC looks like, at least in a political sense. You have a lot of people there who look and act like they're from not even the 1950s, but perhaps even in the 1920s, and still think that's what America is culturally, ethnically, racially, religiously. And they just get out of the institution and see this new country that's also called America and feel the need to fight back and "take back America" and return America to the "real Americans" as they see themselves. 

MAGA doesn't live in the same country as everyone else. This is not the Conservative Political Action Conference. This is as one of the CPAC speakers said Jack Posobiec, this is a movement that wants to not end American democracy, but American liberal democracy and replace it with some type of Christian Nationalist government, where life for Americans who aren't Northern European, who aren't Protestant, who aren't male, would very different from the way it is today. 

To the outside world, MAGA looks like a bunch of escaped mental patients. The problem is, they're big enough, they're crazy enough, they're violent enough, to take down the American form of government and all our individual rights, if the real American patriots don't stand up, fight back, and prevent these folks from ever getting any real power in this country.

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