When it became public what MOST people who pay attention knew – Trump’s conglomeration of incompetents he had nominated for key government positions proved to the world they have no idea what the requirements of their jobs entail – as they were involved in a “group chat” on a commercial ap which it appears they were using in order to avoid the requirements their conversations MUST be saved for posterity blew up in their faces. For the past few days the fact they included a journalist in the discussion has dominated MUCH of the news. Here’s what I’ve only heard from a couple sources – using this ap was apparently ILLEGAL. This discussion related to what SHOULD have been “Top Secret” material. Legally required to be saved.

The Federal Records Act is another of the laws Trump and his group of Project 2025 Puppet Masters conveniently are willing to ignore. Those who were on this “group chat” had set their phones to varying dates for when the info would “disappear.” Clearly, that’s a violation of federal law. But, as I’m sure you’ve figured out, who’s going to be charging anyone in Trump’s administration with ANYTHING? Hell, it appears no one is going to even lose their job after proving to be maybe the most incompetent group of security people, well, EVER. And, as a Washingtonian I have to add – Joe Kent who lost the previous TWO elections for the House in my district (well, it’s not “my” district, it’s the district where I reside) has been nominated for a part in Trump’s administration but hasn’t been confirmed by the Senate – as a private citizen HE was part of the “group that can’t text straight,” Should a private citizen be part of a “chat” with Top Secret information? Seems odd to me. (update: Kent is part of the DNI “team” until confirmed)

Here’s what would have happened had I been in Trump’s shoes – of course, in that case NONE of these people would be part of the government, but I digress – EVERY one of the NINETEEN people (including Kent) who were part of that fiasco would have turned their phones in IMMEDIATELY, so there could be an investigation which (maybe) the American people could abide. Of course, it’s hard to “abide” a situation where a bunch of incompetent “boobs” were potentially putting the lives of American pilots in danger. And, to top it off, Mike Walz – the guy who invited the editor of the “Atlantic” into the group – apparently potentially outed a source the Israeli’s have on the ground in Yemen in the chat. “Oops” – let’s hope the Israeli’s get that person out of there before, well, you know………

But, in this “scandal a day” administration – which I pointed out would be the case BEFORE Trump took (er LIED about) the oath of office (refusing to put his hand on the Bible – for whatever that’s worth for all you MAGA “Christians”) – the Project 2025 “road to fascism” is becoming clearer and clearer. (There are even some in the so-called “liberal media” noticing the similarities to mob tactics) Trump’s goon squads are snatching people from off the streets and hurriedly shipping them to some prison in Louisiana. There was a Tufts student – a Fulbright scholar with a PHD – a young lady who was approached on the street outside her apartment building, roughed up a little, had her backpack removed and tossed to the ground as these thugs put her in handcuffs and they hauled her away. None of the thugs had visible identification and, just like that, according to “liddle” Marco Rubio America was “safer.” How do you spell BULLSHIT?!

These republicans’ willingness to participate in fascism is maybe the greatest disappointment to me. I’ve always been an “independent voter” – but, once GW Bush/Cheney LIED America into Iraq and began 20 disastrous years of “war” in Afghanistan I began voting AGAINST republicans. (Well, come to think of it, I might have started doing that with the emergence of Newt Gingrich in the House, back in the 1990’s) Trump is so bad I might decide to become a democrat – if they can get some younger leadership (in the Senate – not counting Bernie Sanders) – and begin putting up a FIGHT for this republic in order to block (f)Elon Musk and his co-president.

I’m a “child of the sixties” and I’m guessing (or should I say hoping) that today’s STUDENTS will react like we did back in the late sixties in regard to, at that time, the Viet Nam war. I remember, when I was in college, with a couple thousand other students walking into the middle of a freeway (I believe it was the I-5 freeway) and sitting down for a couple hours. There were many other opportunities to express our outrage to the war, to opposition of the Civil Rights movement, and to the violence which was happening to student protesters in various parts of America. Kind of what’s “brewing” today.

Right now, Universities are apparently choosing to capitulate to Trump and his Project 2025 “puppet masters” as the easy way out – in the Case of Columbia University – a very prestigious University – which Trump cut off from $400 MILLION in grants – the university agreed to the following Trump demands:

“The university has agreed to ban students from wearing masks at protests, hire 36 new campus security officers — who, unlike previous security officers, will have the ability to arrest students — and appoint a new senior vice provost to oversee the department of Middle East, South Asian and African Studies.

Columbia also committed to “’greater institutional neutrality’”’ and said it is ‘working with a faculty committee to establish an institution-wide policy implementing this stance.’”’ The university added that it will review its admissions procedures to ‘ensure unbiased admission processes,’ as the Trump administration requested.” In short – get rid of anything “smelling of ‘DEI.'”

Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, (she has since RESIGNED) said Friday that the school responded to the Trump administration to “ensure uninterrupted academic activities.” (From NBC news) Here’s what would have happened back in the 60’s to a capitulation to a fascist president – academic studies WOULD have been “interrupted.” We would have DEMANDED the “provost” to the department of the Middle East, South Asian, and African studies would be retained and that the federal government wasn’t going to bribe the school into accepting THEIR interference in the Universities business. (what amounts to pseudo racist demands from Trump and Project 2025 [whose authors are calling the “shots”]).

And, it appears that there are students at Columbia who are doing just as I would have suggested. Many of the protests Trump and his right wing thugs are opposed to are protests against the genocide going on in GAZA by Bibi Netanyahu – as I predicted on October 8th (Netanyahu would “prosecute this war indefinitely” for his own political sake) – a corrupt politician who, when all is said and done, will have his place in the history books right there with Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump – and, it won’t be a good place. It would be surprising to me if the students WEREN’T opposing the total destruction of GAZA. Netanyahu is simply attempting to keep himself from facing his own corruption charges and when all is said and done his connection to HAMAS will become part of the public domain.

Just the other day a student group which organizes and leads protests at Columbia said this: “”Columbia’s refusal to divest from, and even doubling down on, the genocide of the Palestinian people these past 17 months has made its expected response to the Trump Administration’s ransom note incredibly clear,” the group wrote on Instagram. “Columbia has no intention of defending its students or faculty from the government’s crackdown on Palestinian activism, instead it actively joins hands with the fascist state to sell out its community.” There are also members of the faculty expressing their opposition to the government interference.

But, Trump isn’t going to stop – he’s threatening universities all across America – anywhere he sees any signs of “DEI” – in other words the Trump administration is opposed to “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” at academic institutions. This would be silly if it wasn’t so serious. America’s universities SHOULD be “invested” in DEI – foundationally. These are universities totally committed to various types of research – much of it medical – but, in Trump’s view it’s more important if the various universities all bow down to his “royal decrees.” To hell with the research. To which I say, “utter nonsense.” (Of course, the universities have MILLIONS at stake which apparently Trump can “cut off” with simply a whim. I’ve been pointing out for years Trump is a fascist – occasionally to uninformed objection – but, there can no longer be any doubt.

Trump is simply a “puppet” of the Project 2025 puppet masters and the “stooges” Trump put in his cabinet are there for a specific reason – so there would be no pushback on the actual objectives. I’d love to be a “fly on the wall” when Trump is getting his direction orders from those who wrote and published Project 2025 – but, if you’ve read it, you KNOW that is what is happening to this country. I doubt if Trump even knows who’s writing all the executive orders which are being used to, as I’ve said many times, cause progressives liberals to be “chasing their tails.” it’s hard for all the lawyers filing lawsuits to keep up with the deluge of outrageous s*@t Trump is “throwing at the wall” and the “liberal media” surely isn’t able to keep up.

Just the fiasco with the group who couldn’t “text straight” mentioned above. I watched the fallout (and read about it too) for a good three days before I saw one commentator mention what these incompetent “boobs” were doing in this signal ap was likely ILLEGAL – in violation of the Federal Records Act. And, of course, the only way “we the people” know about what they were doing is because they invited the editor of the “Atlantic” to be part of their group. (And there were NINETEEN in the group – of Trump’s TOP national security people – do you feel safe?) What else were they/are they doing with ap’s that can “disappear” the messages on command. Like they’re pretending they’re in the movies. Those in Trump’s administration consider the constitution and our system of laws nothing more than an annoyance – AND they’re already disregarding judges orders routinely.

In the case of the student kidnapped (she had violated NO laws) from Tuft’s University a judge ordered “ICE” not to remove her from the state (Massachusetts) without giving him 48 hours notice. Their response, “too bad so sad – she’s already in the air.” Just like with the Venezuelan’s who were sent to the gulag in El Salvador the judge ordered Trump’s administration to order the planes to be turned back, they refused, and then (actually) said, “oops” – after their victims had their head shaved and were put into a gulag which can hold up to 40,000 prisoners. Plus, the U.S. is PAYING El Salvador to keep these prisoner indefinitely. (If they could have been legally deported the SHOULD have gone back to Venezuela) Prior to Trump, in America “due process” was a pillar of our Justice System. Now the Justice Department and the FBI are headed up by the stoogiest of the stooges. This will require the attention of ALL Americans! And, it’s not likely to end well.

While attacking education is a key facet of fascist takeovers of nations another key to destroying democracies lies in the Justice system. The Justice Department, itself, has been successfully “polluted,” so the next step would be to put the fear of “god” in the lawyers who might choose to be defending the attacks on the said democracy. In the Project 2025 playbook the remedies are always executive orders intended to put FEAR into the recipients – in this case some of the top – and largest – legal firms in the nation. So far, the “score” is THREE to two – meaning two of the firms Trump has threatened with orders cutting them off from things like security clearances unless they decide to kiss his ass.

Here’s some examples: “On March 27, Trump ordered the federal government to stop working with Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP (WilmerHale)—suspending the law firm’s security clearances, directing federal agencies to terminate contracts they have with the firm, and limiting WilmerHale employees’ access to government buildings.” WilmerHale’s response: “In a statement to the media, a spokesperson for WilmerHale called the order “unlawful” and said the firm will pursue “all appropriate remedies” to countermand it. Robert Mueller was part of that firm. Trump hates Mueller. The spokesperson added that  Mueller ‘retired from our firm in 2021.'”

To me, that was the proper response (fighting back in court). Here’s another firm which made the proper response: “On March 25, Trump issued an executive order against Chicago-headquartered firm Jenner & Block. Trump suspended security clearances for the firm’s employees and restricted the firm’s access to federal buildings and contracting work.” Andrew Weissmann was, at one time, part of this firm. Jenner & Block’s response: “A spokesperson for Jenner & Block responded to the order: “We remain focused on serving and safeguarding our clients’ interests with the dedication, integrity, and expertise that has defined our firm for more than one hundred years and will pursue all appropriate remedies.” The firm added in its statement that the executive order resembled one that “has already been declared unconstitutional” by a federal judge. On March 28, Jenner & Block filed a suit challenging Trump’s order, and a federal judge froze parts of the order targeting the firm later in the evening.

Apparently, we still do have an constitution. Here’s another example: “On March 6, Trump targeted Perkins Coie LLP, similarly suspending security clearances for the Seattle-headquartered law firm and ordering federal agencies to stop business with it. This firm is headquartered in the state where I live. Perkins Coie apparently believes in diversity and is willing to take the Trump administration to court for their criminal conduct. Their response:  “Perkins filed a suit on March 11 challenging the constitutionality of Trump’s order, claiming that “its plain purpose is to bully those who advocate points of view that the president perceives as adverse to the views of his administration, whether those views are presented on behalf of paying or pro bono clients.” A day later, a federal judge temporarily blocked part of Trump’s order.”

Then there’s: Paul, Weiss (formerly) one of the largest and most famous firms in America. “On March 14, Trump extended similar (to Perkins Coie) revocations of security clearances and government building access to Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (Paul, Weiss), which is headquartered in New York. Their “crime?” Mark Pomeranz, one of their former lawyers, investigated Trump for Alvin Bragg back in 2021 but resigned from their office in 2022. Paul Weiss’ response: on March 21 after Paul, Weiss “acknowledged the wrongdoing” of former partner Pomerantz and vowed to some policy changes, including the dedication of $40 million worth of pro bono legal services to “support causes” of the Trump Administration like anti-Semitism efforts and “fairness in the justice system.” They CAVED! But, Trump did rescind the executive order. According to former associates of the firm they: “called the deal “a permanent stain on the face of a great firm that sought to gain a profit by forfeiting its soul.”  The Chairman of the firm argued CAVING to Trump was necessary for survival. Reports I’ve read are implying the opposite is happening.

There’s another large firm which has CAVED: Just the threat of an executive order caused ” Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom” to capitulate. Here’s a bit of the details: They reached a “deal with President Donald Trump on Friday to dedicate at least $100 million in free legal services and to review its hiring practices, averting a punishing executive order like the ones directed at nearly a half-dozen other major legal institutions in recent weeks.” Their justification for the capitulation (which, if enough firms bow to Trump’s demands, it’s basically all over for our republic – the Project 2025 assault on America would be successful. “As part of the deal, Skadden Arps agreed, among others things, to provide at least $100 million in pro bono legal services related to causes including veterans affairs and countering antisemitism. It also pledged a commitment to merit-based hiring and to use an independent counsel to make sure its employment practices are legal and don’t rely on diversity, equity and inclusion considerations.” (from the AP) Yep, the old “DEI” dilemma. Be a racist, or else!

Final Thought: This assault on the foundation of American Jurisprudence is ongoing and there are several other large firms in Trump’s/Project 2025’s “cross hairs.” All Americans should be paying attention to this as it plays out in the courts, and, ultimately, the same SCOTUS that “crowned” Trump as America’s “King” when they gave the presidency “absolute immunity” will be the final “backstop.” Are they, themselves, going to stand for the rule of law in America – we KNOW Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas WON’T – so it’s up to Chief Justice Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett to be the “firewall” between a democratic republic and a fascist state. Trump is acting post HASTE to achieve the destruction before “his people” understand what he’s doing to them.

Clearly, there are some firms who have, at least up to now, put the rule of law ahead of what a couple of the firms view as their best chance of survival. From what I’ve read in the history books, appeasement is the absolute opposite action required when fighting a BULLY. It didn’t work in the 1930’s with Hitler, it’s NOT working in Putin’s, ILLEGAL Russian assault with Ukraine, and it won’t work in Trump’s ILLEGAL assault on America’s democratic republic. These legal firms putting up the good fight SHOULD be widely applauded and the two that CAVED? Yowser! If there’s any JUSTICE left in this nation, Paul, Weiss and Skadden Arps should, as the saying goes, “get their just rewards.” If you’ve read this far, I’ll let you speculate what that should be. Stay tuned…….

Something Else I’ve been saying – FOR YEARS. “Rights are much easier to LOSE than to get BACK. We’ve seen this following the Dobs decision re: abortion and women’s health issues. We’re witnessing it daily as LEGAL residents of our nation are pulled off the streets and sent to gulags with no warrant – only “justified” by some obscure rule in the State Department saying their status is revoked – AND, you MUST remember, if they can do it to a Fullbright Scholar from Turkey THEY (meaning the government) can do it to YOU! These are arbitrary decisions made by Trump’s thugs (the Project 2025 puppet masters) that succeed when the rest of us look the other way. (I just remembered I was supposed to remind myself – Stephen Miller is one of the Project 2025 authors if the white nationalism wasn’t clear to you as yet.) The protest MUST grow if “we the people” are going to make it clear our republic is not for sale and we DON’T bow to pseudo “kings.”

This all reminds me of when Bush/Cheney were putting “enemy combatants” – defined uniquely by them – into Guantanimo – and, holding them without charges indefinitely – including American citizens. Don’t tell me it can’t happen here!