I'm just genuinely shocked that so many people in positions of power -- people who could take a stand, make a difference, and be remembered for it -- have no interest in being on the right side of history.
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Their fear is selfish. Just shows the quality of the character of those people in power and that they have no business being where they are. But sadly, because of them, innocent lives will suffer.
They say power corrupts, but these days I believe power is only GIVEN TO THE CORRUPTIBLE. Famous people who speak out never work again, are destroyed in public opinion, etc.
If you prove to have integrity, youβre left out of the party.
I just hope that THIS TIME we all remember this! It seems everything this happens, we all act shocked, forgetting this happened the last time too. Celebrities (be they artists or politicians) are NOT on the side of the Average Joe, except when they need something from us.
It did just occur to me earlier this week that the most resistance seems to be coming from ordinary people, while the big corporations and others with power seem to be the ones obeying in advance the fastest.
Exactly right. Most people making big bags of money have committed everything to that purpose. Fanatics! Nothing impedes that goal. Sounds crazy? Prove me wrong.
Itβs self reinforcing as well. The Senate Minority leader tucks tail, which leads to a major law firm tucking tail, which leads to an endless parade of people taking the oath of least resistance, when resistance is exactly whatβs needed.
They have no interest in being on the wrong side of trump or Elon. They sue everyone without cause constantly abusing the system with their paid for judges and their base is vicious, easily triggered, will believe any lie he tells and is heavily armed. Mob rule
Capitulation by the elites, the professional managerial class, the consultant classes always happens. The wealthy acquiesced to Nazi rule quite easily. Itβs unsurprising.
Makes you wonder WHY ( beyond cowardice )? I think they know what the general public doesn't. Invasion plans ( on a grand scale ) against the US already greenlit by Trump. And, they have decided to save their own asses instead of taking their chances when foreign boots step on US soil.
Where are all the celebrities, the unions, the scientists, the artists, the writers, the church, the athletes, former presidents, the politicians? Why is everyone paralyzed as they watch what is happening in this country?
What is this, boredom, disinterest, fear, egoism, a "I don't give a shit" mentality? Why is the only people I see and hear in Europe always Neil Young and Steven King? I love them both, but it can't be that nobody else cares that idiot Trump is turning the USA into a dictatorship?
Lots of these 50-something white male legislators care only about their own professional ambitions. And they are willing to say or do anything to achieve them. They really are monsters. That's how I see it.
People dream of being low-effort heroes their whole lives and never get the chance, and all these people are just pissing away opportunity after opportunity, like βoh bother, ANOTHER damsel on the tracks? Iβve passed by three today already!β
Cowards. Most of whom can only live with themselves by lying to themselves, convincing themselves that theyβre on the right side of history when they know, deep down, theyβre not. Easier to keep lying to yourself. Cowards
Unfortunately Iβm not. History was bound to repeat itself again because people refuse to learn these difficult lessons about hate, greed, violence, and tyranny.
Btw, I'm well aware that history is littered with people who made this same craven decision. But this isn't Germany or Russia in the 1920s-30s. The checks we have on authoritarianism - courts, media, states, elections, etc. - while each flawed, are much more advanced than these historical examples.
We also have much more economic stability today. We are not in a depression (yet). The people making these decisions today often have generational wealth. In short, the Paul Weiss management committee has a lot less to lose than a bakery owner in Berlin in 1932.
Finally, while he has all the levers of government at his disposal + violent supporters (which is admittedly scary), Trump is not popular. There's already a rising backlash, which will get stronger. It won't be easy, & there may not be much of a federal government left, but Trumpism can be defeated.
There is reason for optimism, & reason to believe we can right this course of history, but only if those in power are brave enough to stand up. It doesn't have to be this way. A handful of Senators or Representatives could send a huge message tomorrow if they wanted. The same for Fortune 500 CEOs.
@timothysnyder.bsky.social recently posted on Substack that you fight the battle when you are in a position to win, not later when you are about to lose!
I disagree. The media is afraid to use words such as coup, tyranny, authoritarian etc, the opposition party capitulated as have corporate America. And most Americans have no understanding of totalitarianism in history, so there is a lot of naviete and ignorant folks.
Itβs because almost every person in a position of power got there not by act or merit or worthiness but by β¦ scheming, networking, strategizing, and power plays
Theyβre not the best of us, theyβre the most amoral and cunning of us
Right? But I think now that even Trump voters are starting to yell about being fooled - that maybe 3 or 4 republican senators could be strong-armed into standing up to save democracy and social security. Every Dem member of congress needs to organize and start meeting with these republicans.
Conservatives are fine with society paying their check. Blue federal taxes subsidize the red states. CA picks up Alabama's tab.
Conservatism is the belief that there are in-groups that deserve everything, and out-groups that deserve nothing--except to be hurt. That, to them, is fairness.
Their main focus is building and keeping personal wealth and influence.
Taking a stand against someone ruthless with power is a non-starter to the vast majority of these people.
In this history you imagine: who wrote it?
The US has been funding a genocide for going on 3 years & the only politicians to challenge that disgusting atrocity got disingenuously called antisemitic by peers both on & off this list. The rest gave hitler a standing ovation when he illegally visited.
Because they've already deduced that Trump will definitely, 100% succeed at becoming a dictator. And they want to earn brownie points to spare themselves what is coming.
As a parent, whatβs most shocking to me is how many of these people have children, grandchildren. They donβt care about what kind of world theyβre helping to create, that their kids will have to actually live in?
History is littered with these people. The closer to power, the more easily corruptible. It is up to us to make sure they never live this down when this is all over.
Iβm imagining the same people who slayed the Manafort et al after the trump 1.0 are on hiatus on an island in the Caribbean, with dual citizenship elsewhere. How the Actual F is the foundation so brittle?!
When faced with moral collapse, most choose comfortable complicity over righteous resistance.The right side of history offers no protection in the present only the cold comfort of vindication long after the damage is done. Power rarely surrenders itself for principle.
I believe this might be the incorrect reading of the silence from the people I think you're talking about. I believe those people are looking at the 90m people who stayed home in 2024. No one is coming to save us from ourselves. #citizens need to stand up for democracy now, and #GOTV
This was my big takeaway from covid. People in power have no interest in doing anything with it. It is all just prestige and style. Nobody wants to do a hard thing
Fear of losing what you have is a powerful motivator to capitulate. Morals and ethics are difficult in times of crises. Cream rises to the top. Be the cream.
Especially given the price they have to pay is - moderate. For many of them it means being somewhat less rich.
Others who think they may have a career to pursue in 10+ years should consider whether bending the knee now will still leave them better positioned than making an ethical sacrifice.
I actually know a billionaire who claims patriotism, blue-collar upbringing, boot-strapping. I'm about to send him an e-mail to say; "so what are you thinking about this mess and what are you going to do?" I thought he was going to make a run for president this time, not going to get chance 2028.
Our government officials want every perk without doing the work. They are deathly afraid of losing their status. Trump can do that to them. Hence, they are Profiles in Cowardice.
I feel so silly to have once thought there would be ππππ kind of resistance from people who might have been able to stop this destruction of the USA.
Wait till they discover their selective amnesia the day after orange turd gets flushed down the toilet of history. Then it will be, we never imagined.! Among those in that boat: Paul Weiss, Columbia, all Congress critters, Bezos, Musk, Putin and John Roberts and the other cross dressers on the SC!
This. If I had any position of power or influence, I would make it my mission to be thrown in jail in such a public fashion. You get your name in the history books forever. Plus itβs the correct thing to do. No brainer.
Which is EXACTLY why instead of giving Americans due process in our court system (with the martyrβs media wave and human rights that entails), theyβre shipping them off to a black hole torture prison in El Salvador, where you get none of that. you just disappear to hell β
Just like we were shocked by finding out the number of racists we still have. Obviously, we see the world through our own clouded lens and assume too much.
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Pence stood up.
McConnell could have done so with little personal risk after January 6th - the votes were there - but did not.
Eg, James Lankford, anyone heard from him lately?
https://www.news9.com/story/67db59381159ec0f3ff3794d/sen-lankford-trying-to-get-specifics-on-doge-layoffs
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/02/james-lankford-zelenskyy-ukraine-chaos-00206892
If you prove to have integrity, youβre left out of the party.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GXE_n2q08Yw&pp=0gcJCfcAhR29_xXO
> a partner at the New York-based law firm Paul Weiss and the brother of US Sen. Chuck Schumer
https://bsky.app/profile/secretsandlaws.bsky.social/post/3lku4hmf5522d
Columbia University - stripping students of degrees for pro-Palestinian protest.
NCAA - ban on transgender women
Disney/ABC News - settling defamation suit
Senators who voted for cloture, supporting Trumps budget
History will be written by the victors.
In all revolutions past the center hamstrings the left and then the right murks them, then some Napoleon or Stalin show up.
The center simply cannot hold.
Most'll only choose fight once they understand the couch is on fire
"Great grandpa fucked it all up!"
Theyβre not the best of us, theyβre the most amoral and cunning of us
Conservatism is the belief that there are in-groups that deserve everything, and out-groups that deserve nothing--except to be hurt. That, to them, is fairness.
There are a FEW who stand - like @aoc.bsky.social & @repjasmine.bsky.social & @algreen.house.gov - as well as a few governorsβ¦
But MOST are just
Taking a stand against someone ruthless with power is a non-starter to the vast majority of these people.
The US has been funding a genocide for going on 3 years & the only politicians to challenge that disgusting atrocity got disingenuously called antisemitic by peers both on & off this list. The rest gave hitler a standing ovation when he illegally visited.
Theyβre egomaniacal sociopaths.
A lot of people throughout history have said that the people with power are almost always those who don't deserve it.
Others who think they may have a career to pursue in 10+ years should consider whether bending the knee now will still leave them better positioned than making an ethical sacrifice.
Also, we are fundamentally selfish society. It seems the capitalist American dream requires it.
no one is coming to rescue us
and no one can save you.