I'm so angry at these degenerate wannabe tyrants who are taking a sledgehammer to the rule of law, brick by brick. Is what's happening getting through to the average American? Do they care?
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It is getting through to us and we most certainly do care. If our elected officials and legal scholars don't figure out how to un-fuck this situation, we will be pushed to grab significantly less metaphorical sledgehammers. Please don't make us resort to such drastic measures
sadly, i dont think so...
i got the impression that the general public views lawyers and judges and the institutions as corrupt and immoral, and only hurting them and being parasites to society
where do they get this idea?
well, besides some black sheep, maga has been "educating" them for years...
I genuinely question what has you, and other lawyers who actually care carry on at this point, and I mean this sincerely. We are seeing law eroded to effectively nothing, the rule of law borderline meaningless against those it should be strongest against. What the hell is the point anymore?
“There is even an app now, called 5 Calls: Contact your Congress https://5calls.org/ that you can download to keep the information available and at your fingertips.”
— from: “Democracy is Crumbling. Is Anybody Doing Anything?
Yes. And You Can Too.”
by SHERRILYN IFILL
FEB 09, 2025
We very much care. I don’t understand why this is happening (other than greed and idiocy) but we care. And thank you for your service. We wait for your videos and understand you can’t do it all.
@legaleagle.bsky.social most won't care or understand, those who do (judges, trial lawyers, legal academics), will feel it is unethical for them to speak out. We had the same situation in Poland and Hungary. Also, it is for the long haul. Do not burn out now. It will get worse before it gets better
It's getting through but the average American can do almost nothing to stop it. We're focusing on organizing where we can, building community locally, and being vocal. But we need people with actual power and platforms to work just as hard, and right now, they don't seem to be.
I mean we live in an age when a WSJ opinion piece arguing that since India was partitioned into Pakistand and India and millions displaced so too can Gazans, and therefore it’s not a big deal.
Soooo… yeah. There’s that. I am on my vacation after getting married and even now it’s hard to not doomer.
I'm not even American and I shed a tear the other day. The oath lawyers take matters, and I hope that everyone remembers that. Love to you and yours. I wish there were more I could do to help, other than do my part to explain things to people. Rooting for you.
Average American here, I do care, I vote, I tell friends and family they should vote and what happens, nothing.
Pretty sure they'll get to the polls now but it might be too late.
The right has successfully demonized the democratic process as "ineffective bureaucracy," and people can't grasp the abstract nature of how bureaucracy and process protect democracy
I think its important to note that the founding fathers did not account for multiple branches of government conspiring against the rule of law. So there are very fewl legal remedies to stop whats happening. we can slow it down and obstruct through popular opinion, but we need to be in the streets.
Maybe not the average, but a whole lot. Unfortunately, tons of adults, teens, and even children are too caught up idolizing Trump because they've either been told that Trump is good too far up a rabbit hole.
It is for me & yes I do. I'm good at imagining worst case scenarios so I'm not surprised by the shit show. I'll never understand why the prev admin did not try to stop the coup, get a stronger leader, etc. Now the official leaders of the Dem Party have to be begged to even object. Looks Vichy.
I mean down here in a very red rural area? No, all problems are Biden fault and when their disability gets cut and they see trump bragging about it they'll blame Democrats for that too.
When people have their treats, they don't really care. The people who voted for him won't realize their wrongs until their living situations get noticeably worse. Unfortunately that means innocents will also suffer.
There needs to be an oppositional party willing to stand up to these bullies and miscreants, to channel and energize the frustrated populace. But they'd rather whine like helpless bitches and pose for photo ops with equally decrepit GOP.
Thank you to you and your team for digging into the law portions of this chaos for us. I know there's *SO MUCH* and it changes hourly, and you have your 'day job' to handle. The information you share is invaluable.
The hope is that they're fulling going all out blitz in the first couple weeks to maximize the popularity of Trump. As the effects hit the average folk with a destabilized government and dollar, it'll be too late.
The US has never had true "Rule of Law". Any marginalized community can tell you it has always been one law for the rich and powerful, and another for everyone else. What we're seeing now is just the mask being taken off, and power no longer pretending to care about the powerless.
When farmers start to go bankrupt they'll notice, although there aren't enough family farmers anymore so this won't be a repeat of the '80s. Willie Nelson is still around, maybe he can organize a big concert or something like that (Yes, I know that Farm Aid concerts are an annual thing).
They don’t even know. My neighbor today asked me why some FA blogger she follows was concerned about taking her first flight since the DC crash. I had to explain the hiring freeze, lack of ATCs, and concerns about a major flight disaster on the horizon. It’s like this with everything.
The average American is overwhelmed or hyperfixated on issues an echo chamber and an algorithm told them to focus on, & they’re ignoring the magnitude of what is happening.
My question is- what is the best move for the average American now? (Don’t say “move to another country”, please 😂)
I think it is getting through. The problem is they still have to survive the way they know how to. It's hard to figure out what to do while maintaining your day to day struggles.
I angry as well! They are taking away things that support every day Americans in an unconstitutional way! I'm sickened by the willingness of congress that is bending the knee at this approach. This isn't how we govern as a Republic, a Democracy, as a government for the people by the people!
The echo chamber is nearly impenetrable. People can now pick their own realities, and they do it without even thinking. Because the Comcast basic cable package comes with a 24/7 fascist infotainment channel.
Sometimes even when they're dying from it, they hold on to their alternate reality. We saw that repeatedly during the COVID pandemic where they could be on thier deathbeds and still cling to fake remedies and conspiracies.
i mean, there's always going to be jessie lee wards out there, but every time a covid victim who was bedbound and renounced their previous trump allegiance, the news was there
The water still flows, the Amazon packages still arrive and food is readily available. It's going to have to get A LOT worse for people to really start to care.
I work for my state government, and everything happening at the federal level is hitting hard. Regulations being undone, the grant funding freeze - it all makes everything so uncertain and stressful every day. I'm so exhausted.
one idea, do you think you could do a video about the incremental growth of the administrative state under the executive, and how congressional delegation of responsibility to the executive has led us to this point? i feel like many people don’t understand just how much power the executive has…
i think it’s interesting for two reasons: 1) it’s gotten to the point where, in my opinion, the executive has so much power to legislate and execute laws without congressional approval that it’s allowed our congress to become completely worthless for actually passing laws and adapting to change.
2) the removal of bureaucratic civil servants, many of whom will serve multiple administrations and who support critical government functions, will have far reaching consequences that people don’t seem to understand. and there’s not much precedent to protect them. the federal govt is a jenga tower.
…and how ambiguous some of the procedural checks and balances against administrative agencies are, which fueled the power grab of project 2025. i feel like most people don’t understand just how bad things will be if the administrative state ceases to function without a replacement plan in place.
it’s absolutely hitting me. the complete disregard of our constitution and democratic processes is so sad to see. it’s honestly making me want to become a lawyer to stand up for the law of our country.
I honestly do not know what to say or do anymore. I’m feeling increasingly cornered into a position where actual, physical violence seems like the only course of action. And that is very, VERY bad.
It feels like everyone getting mad now was asleep for over a decade. I imagine that people who knew more about politics when I was just starting to get involved probably find that quaint. This seems like it was the inevitable outcome.
As someone who's not a lawyer but trying to follow along, I know shit is getting serious when I see you with the black background giving us the "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed" speech.
Take it easy when you can, I feel deeply passionate about it and I am a paralegal not even a lawyer. Hopefully these transgressions will be punished in time.
On your own for making the tea to soothe your throat after, I fear.
(I get good results coating the bottom of the mug in about half a cm of honey, pouring a bit of hot water atop that, stirring to dissolve the honey, then adding the teabags and the rest of the water)
I can tell you as a long time viewer and person feeling this bullshit pain, we 100% just want to see someone yelling into the camera. It’s what I have been so desperate to see from dems, just go out there and bang on a damn table please! We just want to see some anger!
A lot of people just don't know. The Fox News viewers obviously don't. But so little of it is getting significant coverage in the actual impacts and the illegality of it.
they will but it’ll take time and personal pain from finding out they can’t get their annual flu shot or having their mothers evicted bc their social security check was impounded. keep the faith brother
I share your content regularly. Keep posting. They care when it hurts them and they need someone to blame. 37% of America didn't care to vote. When it hurts, they will care and I will point them to your content to explain it.
1/2 @legaleagle.bsky.social a lot of people are afraid, your channel can help via making the public familiar with how the Judicial Branch works with the other 2 and how it is effective in addressing any illegal acts in those branches. I would also suggest pointing people to Erica Chenoweth's work...
Erica Chenoweth is a political scientist known for their empirical research on what stops authoritarianism and what makes civil resistance successful. In short 3.5% of the population is what's needed to topple Authoritarian Regimes. Non-violent resistance is twice as effective as violent resistance.
No. I expressed my concerns about the immigrant from Venezuela who was sent to Gitmo. Friends said that he’s just going there to stay in a dormitory setting until they figure things out.
As an average American, I am angry and overwhelmed. I’m smart enough to understand that everything is wrong but not smart enough to know exactly what is wrong.
I do know that everything at the moment is only happening federally, I’m scared for when we start to see real corruption state by state.
Apparently not for most ppl since the president’s approval rating is above 50%
A lot of people lean heavy on anti intellectualism on the daily and won’t do their due diligence to understand how much worse life can be with these recent changes.
I think the average person who gives a shit started having their health/mental health go to shit during at the beginning of covid and we had to learn to only take in the news in small bites or we'd spiral. The sky is falling but also I have to figure out how to meal prep with limited funds 🙃
Thats why channels like yours are so important because our capacity is limited. We're busy trying to survive whats been happening for the last decade and we're too exhausted to go down a rabbit hole to try to understand whats happening. Every time I pick up my phone I just yell WTF IS GOING ON?! 😑
Most of us do care. We're fighting the learned helplessness that's been instilled in us our entire lives. A lot of every day people are trying to figure out how to push back meaningfully without becoming a martyr. We're struggling to hold onto hope
I think the dismantling of our shared social media networks plays a huge part here. Like yeah I'm losing my mind, I'm pissed, and I feel like nobody else is. But then I realize I have no way of knowing what anyone else is thinking because the framework in which we shared those feelings is gone
Average American here. I see where this is going and I'm bleeping horrified, but I don't know what levers to pull to do anything about it.
FWIW, I've been writing my Congresspeople and trying to find local groups that are organizing for protests. Kinda feels like yelling at clouds, though.
There were protests at every US state capitol 2/5, now happening again on President's Day. Last time thousands of people showed up despite limited lead time and promotion.
Share widely so that media won't be able to ignore Americans this President's Day!! #50501 #buildtheresistance #wethepeople
Unfortunately the average American can't do anything without joining together to make its own law enforcement team.
Current systems aren't working when judges refuse to sic our existing police on the administration to jail them on offenses they're even found guilty of.
It's gotten through to a lot of queer folks and PoC, but when our votes are suppressed and our districts gerrymandered, those voices become far easier not to hear.
People need a leader to rally around. (IMHO we also need rallies and marches to be held on weekends when more people are off work and can participate.) We need an organizing force. We need coordinated campaigns, like Amnesty International's letter writing campaigns. We need a specific action plan.
Democratic leadership is failing while the Constitution is being shredded in real time. Schumer and Jeffries are still focused on eggs and bipartisanship.
If they won’t step up folks like Hirono in the Senate and AOC in the House need to. This isn’t politics as usual. It’s a fight for democracy.
I think there's a lot of people who are just tired & feeling beat down by their finances to care. Most I've talked to have lost any faith in the federal gov or have become conspiratorial.
I imagine once it starts to really decline they'll care but it'll be too late.
Def getting thru to some of us. The issue (for me, at least) is having no time or energy to do much. (I can at least donate to people like the ACLU, who are better equipped to fight than I am anyway.)
The mood I’m getting from you is the same scientists have been dealing with for awhile. 💜 Sorry.
I think that the last dozen years or so were, in retrospect, a concerted effort by the Republican party to get Americans to tune out. From lugenpresse to the billionaires just straight up buying news organizations to crying wolf over fraud and malfeasance at every opportunity...
I think that Americans just got burnt out on all of it, and decided that it's not really that big of a deal anymore, because they've been told that it's all a huge deal for the past dozen years and they're tired of it.
Plus, most of us are REALLY stupid. So that helps, too.
The only thing keeping me sane is the hope that lawyers and judges will hound them nonstop for 4 years. I voted Dem. We’re going to have to replace all our current Dems with ones with no ties to the system, because the ones in now aren’t doing their jobs. I’ve been fired for less.
Democrats are doing what they can for the positions they hold, and a fair number have joined the protests and spoken out in news media on the unconstitutional acts of the Trump Administration. Follow the Democrats feed on bluesky for their direct updates
Absolutely, but as an average American, I’m too busy struggling just to make ends meet to do anything other than vote and that’s exactly want the tyrants want. They divided people and distracted everyone that it makes unification to fight back incredibly difficult.
Many of us care, but elected Democrats are, and have a history of, caring more about decorum, precedent, and procedures to express the seriousness, and public officials haven't locked the doors and told Musk to get a court order to enter these agencies.
No, because most Americans get their news from corporate media (owned by the oligarchs) that is either downplaying or ignoring all this, or presenting it as pretty typical political stuff. Know who owns your news, stop getting news from oligarchs.
I think theres a backdrop of mistrust of the govt people are taught to have. People either don't understand what's going on or if they have an idea, it doesn't matter. To them the rule of law is corrupt, evil, shadow conspiracy government. People were the same in the rise to WW2 axis powers. Its bad
To be honest? The government could be DOING more right now to up hold its laws! To Protect itself and its people!
Some are trying, but it's not enough.
A whole lot of people care, just not the ones who are in power.
No, unfortunately, we're dealing with an very low level of general awareness of how our government functions. People of this nation barely understand the concept of the three branches of government, much less the intricacies of how they function and even less so how they interact with each other
If you choose to do this video, it might be important to also characterize the contrast to what is happening and why its bad for our democracy. just a thought.
what you be talking about? let me guess a single specific example? One where if I was the guard I'd have probably done more than just tell her to get lost? Being a VIP doesn't give you carte blanche to go wherever you want.
Could it be that DOGE is taking down all these agencies' websites to *reduce* transparency so they can make up whatever claims they want and no one can call them out on their bullshit?
except that's not actually transparency.... it's only part of the picture. One could call it the chosen excuse to spend money, it's not the paper trail of where all the money actually went. And we know
Don't know about the law regarding how lawyers can protest. But, if you're allowed to, get a big fuck off US flag and go yell fuck Donald Trump with as many likeminded people as you can find. Real good for blowing off steam.
the sanctimonious behavior of the "rule of law will save us" crowd isn't helping, either
bitch they're ignoring the rule of law while also literally deconstructing it, you're not a spymaster you're something congress barely listens to on the best of days
Unironically probably not until it impacts them personally and even then it's iffy if they can be given a scape goat to blame instead that they buy into.
I don't like it but...I think it's where we're at for people who voted in favor of him.
I feel the same way about science research and healthcare. Public health will take decades to recover from these decisions. Brainworm Whale Beheader Jr. is going to give way to TB and measles deaths nationwide.
I think that the average American does care. They just feel like they have little agency outside of voting, which has already passed. They resend to realize how important communicating with/influencing lawmakers is.
No. The average American hasn't even noticed. Or worse, still think it's an improvement because WHO THINKS ABOUT THE TREASURY'S CODEBASE. We should never HAVE to think about something like the Treasury's codebase!
My grandma was watching Fox News the other day. They’re telling their audience that Americans love the new changes. No exaggeration. That was the banner at the bottom of the screen, verbatim. They’re running straight propaganda.
They don't fucking care. I'm so angry at my family members. They all despise DJT and everything he and maga stand for. Yet they all say the same thing, "yeah it's scary times in our country". Burying their heads in the sand until something actually affects them. Beyond disappointed.
The whole shock and awe tactic is working so far... because they keep doing stuff and we're all getting whiplash from going from THING to THING to THING, and if it was for some newspeople we'd already have forgotten Thing 1 because we're already seeing Thing 7.
No. The average American was a tool to achieve power. Now they have power they're going to destroy the law to benefit them and use violence to enforce it
Once of course they conveniently make that violence legal
I think it's going to take real visceral pain to make people recognize we've departed normal, and it's not for the better. I just hope it's not too late to rebuild at that point.
Of course, we care. We're fucking terrified. We're watching our country being trashed, our rights ripped away, our neighbors threatened & abused, & the people we elected are just watching. What the hell are we supposed to do? I would love to have somebody tell me what the hell I can do.
Well... that's what a lot of people felt about the last 4 years in the US. We DID care, that's WHY this regime happened. We felt our rights had been trampled by elitist ---- who cared about nothing more than lining their pockets.
I don't think you saw the last four years as BAD. heh.. too bad.
That question was directed at normal people, not fascists. No one cares that your god-given right to threaten the nearest transgender person was trampled by fair website moderation.
You seem to think Nazis will be on the right side of history this time. You won't be. Again.
Does anyone else feel like their posts and shares and comments were being suppressed on Meta based on political content?
We’ve lost a nation wide newsfeed in favor of boutique news and now when I post a political article or comment -crickets-. Not even a “like” from my most liberal friends.
Meta is largely responsible for trump’s rise. People should’ve abandoned all of their platforms after the Cambridge Analytica scandal. And Zuckerberg should be strapped to a rocket and launched into the sun.
A divided, distracted populace with no reliable central source of credible information. A nearly silent transition from news media being held accountable by the FCC & fined for intentionally lying to an environment where Alex Jones could deceive his audience without consequence. A recipe for chaos.
It's hard to tell what the average American is aware of, these days. I've been hypervigilant on politics stuff for a while now, to my detriment. I'm sharing things in every forum I have access to.
Where I am, people are talking about it. The most die hard maga people believe all the misinfo but regular republicans I know are weirded out. They didn’t vote for project 2025
Once the checks stop, they'll blame it on the Dems. Once the food stops, they'll blame it on the dems. Once he hacks the voting system and wins again, hell say it was the dems who kept him from doing anything the first time.
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i got the impression that the general public views lawyers and judges and the institutions as corrupt and immoral, and only hurting them and being parasites to society
where do they get this idea?
well, besides some black sheep, maga has been "educating" them for years...
Yes. And You Can Too.
by SHERRILYN IFILL
FEB 09, 2025
https://sherrilyn.substack.com/p/democracy-is-crumbling-is-anybody?triedRedirect=true
@candidgamera.bsky.social
@silverrain64.bsky.social
@lwood999.bsky.social
@mokiti08.bsky.social
@rickycilantro.bsky.social
@rua-lupa.bsky.social
@graceomalley.bsky.social
@shadowtodd.bsky.social
@ngasloop.bsky.social
@spacemonkeygleek.bsky.social
— from: “Democracy is Crumbling. Is Anybody Doing Anything?
Yes. And You Can Too.”
by SHERRILYN IFILL
FEB 09, 2025
Soooo… yeah. There’s that. I am on my vacation after getting married and even now it’s hard to not doomer.
Pretty sure they'll get to the polls now but it might be too late.
After all (the logic goes), if the Democrats really wanted to stop this, why didn't they do it in 2021 when they held the White House and Congress?
Jeffries shrugging doesn't help.
Until that changes... 🤷♂️🤦♂️😑
My question is- what is the best move for the average American now? (Don’t say “move to another country”, please 😂)
I just keep up my hammering and keep working, the country might be falling apart, but people are still sick. So, I keep going.
They are lying to you so they can keep robbing you blind.
The new RRG.
it's just fucking awful.
(Still going to stream law after that, but tech/IP only.)
On your own for making the tea to soothe your throat after, I fear.
(I get good results coating the bottom of the mug in about half a cm of honey, pouring a bit of hot water atop that, stirring to dissolve the honey, then adding the teabags and the rest of the water)
Anyone who can is just compromised all to hell.
Unreal!
The US has exported despotism all over the globe with broad support at home.
And now domestic policy is beginning to align with foreign policy, leopards and faces etc.
I do know that everything at the moment is only happening federally, I’m scared for when we start to see real corruption state by state.
A lot of people lean heavy on anti intellectualism on the daily and won’t do their due diligence to understand how much worse life can be with these recent changes.
And context matters because Trump has the lowest approval rating of any president at the start of their term https://news.gallup.com/poll/655955/trump-inaugural-approval-rating-historically-low-again.aspx
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2025/02/09/trumps-approval-rating-at-53-in-new-poll-but-americans-are-less-sure-about-elon-musk/
FWIW, I've been writing my Congresspeople and trying to find local groups that are organizing for protests. Kinda feels like yelling at clouds, though.
Share widely so that media won't be able to ignore Americans this President's Day!! #50501 #buildtheresistance #wethepeople
Current systems aren't working when judges refuse to sic our existing police on the administration to jail them on offenses they're even found guilty of.
We need a massive protest.
If they won’t step up folks like Hirono in the Senate and AOC in the House need to. This isn’t politics as usual. It’s a fight for democracy.
I imagine once it starts to really decline they'll care but it'll be too late.
The mood I’m getting from you is the same scientists have been dealing with for awhile. 💜 Sorry.
Plus, most of us are REALLY stupid. So that helps, too.
We are protesting and calling/visiting our representatives, but they don't want to do this legally.
To be honest? The government could be DOING more right now to up hold its laws! To Protect itself and its people!
Some are trying, but it's not enough.
A whole lot of people care, just not the ones who are in power.
That's what the issue is!
bitch they're ignoring the rule of law while also literally deconstructing it, you're not a spymaster you're something congress barely listens to on the best of days
I don't like it but...I think it's where we're at for people who voted in favor of him.
Too old to matter, too poor to leave Oklahoma...and they have my passport cause I was renewing -_-
Also, Musk is just a COLOSSAL dick.
Once of course they conveniently make that violence legal
I don't think you saw the last four years as BAD. heh.. too bad.
You seem to think Nazis will be on the right side of history this time. You won't be. Again.
Although the way you're throwing accusations like confetti it almost reads like a copy/pasted form letter.
We’ve lost a nation wide newsfeed in favor of boutique news and now when I post a political article or comment -crickets-. Not even a “like” from my most liberal friends.
At least not yet.
When liberals are in charge: It's the liberals' fault.
When conservatives are in charge: It's the fault of the liberals, atheists, immigrants, minorities, and Jews.
That's the way it's always been.