The author of this piece was an associate WH counsel under Reagan. He has a very polite way of explaining that what Trump is doing with DOGE is a coup. https://wapo.st/4hSE7Ox
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It’s a damn coup FFS! This must be stopped. I’m too old to march. I marched for all the rights they’re taking away decades ago! Protest this ridiculous bullshit.
nobody complains any if the conman and elmo is doing things within the legal framework (administrative procedure act). their objective is to overturn the framework with scotus' a piece of paper. scotus never holds accountable bcz they are speaking for god.
Trump issues EO, official act.
The judge rules EO unconstitutional.
Trump continues to act as if EO is valid, violating judge's order. Does that now make his actions unofficial acts, no longer meeting requirement for immunity?
If I committed treasonI would be arrested and sentenced to death and when a president and congress members and political elites do it, there are zero repercussions. A comedian makes an off color joke, the FBI does a door knock, Patel w/ a chain saw will run the FBI
A lot of us do know. We are doing what we can as citizens. Where are our leaders? Obama? Harris? Biden? Bush? Pelosi? Why are they so silent? It is infuriating.
The former presidents tend to say nothing and sleep well at night. It's a 'presidents club' rule. Harris is sneaking away from politics, having been rejected. And Pelosi, technically, is slowly dying after her terrible injury.
No, we can't afford that. We also can't afford writers who aren't knowledgeable of the terminology they are using.
Soft/Silent Coup:
A soft coup, aka a silent coup, is an illegal overthrow of a government. Unlike a classical coup d'état, it is achieved without the use of force or violence.
My son is about to graduate law school. The professors were talking to them yesterday about the statement from the ABA and saying how America's legal system is in grave danger. I mentioned that to my sister, and she made excuses for Trump. I just don't get it.
I dumped my sister over this . She lives with a Trumper, and to me that's Trump adjacent. I got rid of every last one of them since the election . Everyone I told off in person ,they had 9 years ,this is on them.
When Trump was sworn into office, Musk’s six corporations were under more than 32 continuing investigations conducted by at least 11 federal agencies, according to a review by The New York Times.
And this coup is fueled by the cowardice and opportunism of the Republican Congress - who know this is usurping their authority, but like Trump would like to slash and burn without going through votes that would cost them at the polls.
How many different ways can writers put out articles to line their pickets $$ about the same subject?
The effort I’m seeing w these opinion pieces and academic articles is mind numbing.
All directed to Harris voters who they literally have ZERO chance of changing any minds.
Trump is a $$ for them
When Jan 6th happened, I watched in horror like everyone else. I then started repeating over and over that this was just a warmup, a practice run for Trump for the future. People just said I was a nutty old fart and it won't happen again. Well, I'd love to say "I told you so" but it hurts to bad.
The latest I've heard is that doge is going to hide its actions under the Presidential Records Act. We won't know what they cut until the funds don't show up.
This part is driving me nuts. All my political mentors were Reaganites. Their brains would be exploding. This is not conservatism. This is it’s opposite. This is dictatorship. Dictatorship is one person making unilateral decisions about government without anyone else’s say. What is this if not that.
Every Republican president since Jude Wanniski told Dick Cheney about his Two Santa Claus strategy has been part of a scam. The Republican party has been a scam for over four decades
I was a Republican and voted for Reagan the first time. Reagan and his policies were tanking the economy. We had work shut downs and layoffs. He cut the top tax rates, doubled Social Security withholding and raised taxes on working people. Then I realized that it was a grift.
#IranContra
Yes, but: Goldwater and Nixon both tried to use conservative principles to open the door to greater authority for the executive without following the usual processes. They were shut down. The folks around Reagan opened the door a crack, too, and the crack has been used to let these radicals through.
Absolutely this. I think about this a lot. Reagan and all the republicans after him kept pushing and pushing the power of the executive to “protect America” and now its exactly that snowball they started rolling that may destroy us
When Newt Gingrich wasn't criticized and hounded out of his Speakership (and public life) for the Contract With America, and his impeachment of President Clinton is when we lost control of the train. Letting the Overton Window include radical right ideas has been corrosive.
You could go back slightly further with Reagan bringing in Billy Graham and pushing the Evangelical movement throughout the WH. This was the initial migration to the radical conservative Christians and their belief that they had an authority over government.
I would modify "naïveté" to extend to allowing our cultural avoidance of certain types of conflict and disagreement in favor of collegiality at all cost as a causative factor.
Ironically it was Clinton who announced “the era of Big Government is over!” ; he and Gore successfully downsized the federal workforce within a *legal framework* and actually balanced the budget. This,OTOH is authoritarian oligarchical kakistocracy on steroids. Erase the New Deal and Great Society.
In other words, our government has determined that there is a political class that has no accountability. In fact, they are working at destroying the courts, which makes it so that there is no mechanism for accountability.
Self-Inflicted Lobotomy on US. This is what the Trump-DOGE-Bannon-MAGA madness has produced. Supreme Court will ultimately be asked by Trump to endorse this coup. Will it stand or fold? If Court folds, it will make itself irrelevant. As they say in Robert's Rules of Order: Call for the Question.
Trump is going to continue to push boundaries and ignore guardrails. The question is, will Congressional Republicans ever have a breaking point and stop him?
When the Senate wants to block actions, it finds a way. McConnell took over the Supreme Court and they are letting Elon take over the government. This was all predicted and planned and given a rubber stamp. They also don’t want Maga to come to their house and hurt their family.
And our Democratic Party is not up for the fight, they did nothing when Mitch stole SCOTUS seats. And still helping by confirming horrible people to important positions.
Who is going to stop them? They'll destroy it then ram through by reconciliation a budget that supports what they've already destroyed. The damage will take decades to undo and will lead to calamity. All empires implode upon their own hubris.
Hmm, since congress has not authorized it, and Musk not an actual fed employee, seems the people have the right to take action against every one breaking and entering into taxpayer funded buildings. Round them up! Go where they go!
The DOGE website contains replicas of statements made on the X website. No further facts, reports, pre-determinate justifications and certainly NO TRANSPARENCY. The posts on the DOGE site link back to xwitter, therefore, they are just advertisements for X.
So, one could say, is that America is under attack from within and our Congressional leadership is either encouraging it or doing nothing to prevent it from happening.
Quaint, isn’t it? From 147 congressmen in 2021 to an unknown number of military, enlisted and commissioned, to the president himself, that oath is just a bothersome detail that needs to be addressed before the work begins. It means nothing.
Republicans have the majority so they can afford to not care about the constitution or about how Congress is supposed to work. It's only a matter of time before we flip the House and Senate.
Everyone knows this is wrong but the people who are winning don't care. They no longer want a democracy. They are lost souls , inscrutable devotees of the most obvious lies, the clearest pile of bullshit ever.
Watch me make this 🐰 disappear( just pulls all the fuckin fur off of it). Lord.
I think there are conflicting cases on the issue of institutional vs. individual standing for MOC wishing to sue the Executive Branch. What’s your take on this?
It’s the contemporary version of a fascist coup.
Brought to us by Ai.
The shock has not worn off yet or enough people haven’t googled..err, researched, fascism yet.
In the modern internet world this is what it looks like.
No one is stopping them, a few judges are trying but fascists don’t comply.
And unfortunately, Trump and musk and the Republicans absolutely do not care that this is happening. In their silence, they support the destruction of our democracy and the pain and hurt inflicted on the American people. And the threats to our allies. Despicable is too mild a word for them.
It’s a great point, but Congress (while the GOP holds power) is just a Vassal of Trump. Doge is just a pretend wrecking ball to steal - question: who holds all this data and do you truly believe it has not been duplicated and sent somewheres to help keep the regime in power?
Trump rode a transnational organized crime wave into office twice now. The Republican party embraced organized crime for years now. Some dems too unfortunately. It’s rather amazing we managed to hold them back for Biden’s win in 2020.
I still dont get why they dont use rhetoric like "trump crime family" every day - pushing a message everyday (a bit like the maga bad people did) just non stop pushing it -!
Attacking everything they do every day ! This is not a time to be nice - this is a time to fight !
It has been and is being processed on unsecured cloud systems and Musk's Techno-terrorist's unsecured servers and devices—all data is being weaponized by AI. Dashboard control and a 'smite' button if anyone steps out of line.
Anybody who went after Hillary about her emails has NO ground to stand on now since Muskrat and his band of Techno-terrorists vacuumed all our data and are in the process of weaponizing it against us using AI.
Received email response yesterday from Thom Tillis trying to justify this criminal behavior. They think they can just explain it away as "supporting elimination of waste" while forfeiting their own responsibility. "OH it is view only". Excuse me but they have 0 right to even view our personal data.
Then why are the GOP senators and representatives being so complacent??!! It’s obvious they are NOT doing their job!! The democrats would never have gotten away with any of this!!! Too faced double standards!! The entire GOP should resign and let people who care about America 🇺🇸 take over!!
Mr. Raul failed to use the word COUP. That is a massive FAIL to readers, and it is a big part of the problem with media. Proper, ethical journalism does not require politeness when your Country is being dismantled. It does require courage, however. The tone of this piece implies censorship by WaPo.
But couldn't this Congress of Sycophants elide this by passing a kind of Authorization to Use DOGE Force - a Tonkin Gulf Resolution-like writ of essentially unlimited presidential authority?
10 things that make a good Citizen:
Being a good steward of the Earth
Taking care of property
Respect for one another
Doing good with your talents
Honoring your mother and father
Not stealing
Not murdering
Not coveting
Not bearing false witness
Not committing adultery
If we are lucky enough to survive this, the members of Congress who willingly forfeited their responsibilities as a check on the other two branches of government must not be re-elected. They made their choice to capitulate.
It absolutely is a coup. Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer is posting about a Jazz player for black history month. Maybe he should be doing something about this coup, or we won't have a black history month. Or our country.
Do you think congressional democrats and independents are doing enough to stop this?
I think the answer is no. They were caught completely flat footed when they knew the plan (Project 2025) and once again are unprepared to fight. The Dems are weak and the republicans are traitors. #changemymind
The Trump/Musk administration is a coup attempt. DOGE is a Trojan horse with no legitimate purpose. We must unite before their plan can succeed. Spread this message far and wide.
2/ It is IMPOSSIBLE to accurately find waste, fraud, & abuse in 2 weeks, certainly with Musk's move fast & break it philosophy, especially with how complex government & its systems are, and obviously how inexperienced Musk & his children are in what's needed to do the job correctly, usefully.
/end
As a professional, I have engaged in dozens of large, complex business analyses to increase efficiency and simplification and improve financial and system controls for decades. I know how it is done.
If an executive in Africa, South America or Asia decided to void the laws enacted by their legislature and then threatened to ignore the findings of their judiciary, what would we call that?
Yes, we understand. MAYBE that judge will call Donald out for CONTEMPT. But they'll ignore that, too and someone will have to write out a warrant. Right? At some point, someone will take legal action to make this stop? That's what we all want to hear.
This is the reporting we need. Not the "this might not be so bad" take I'm seeing on @morningjoe-msnbc.bsky.social this morning. It's infuriating to watch.
Don't get it. If Prez has the unitary power to cancel Congressional laws at any time by not executing prior law or refusing to spend the appropriation, what's the point of the constitutionally enumerated presidential veto power? It would be meaningless, superfluous. Why does no one point this out?
Well I’d haven’t any impressive credentials but I’ve said the same thing. A snapshot from our feckless criminal president sitting silently at the desk while a billionaire gives a press conference peppered with lies also says it. Our reSIStance needs to be more organized.
Congress has been...neutered...by this prez and his co-prez Elon. Useless, irrelevant it is. If THEY want to keep their jobs, they need to get BUSY and start opposing Trump/Musk's ILLEGAL ACTIONS! DO YOUR JOB, CONGRESS!!!!!
Sad,what’s happening in our government.
Yes,we need to look at cutting costs,but I think BOTH sides need to look into it.Are the lobbyists causing corruption & possible congress personal kickbacks?
Oh,and the 🍊👑
isn’t corrupt nor his family?AND he always abides by the courts ruling?Right 😆
Thank you, Joyce, but most of us out here in the cheap seats have known all along that it's a coup.
We've been thinking along the lines of "how the hell do we STOP it"?!
Muskrat believes he paid for Trumps election and was promised total control of our Government.
Trumps just a sitting duck waiting for impeachment again, while Vivek (hiding in the basement?) Muskrat & his teens are ALL UNELECTED CITIZENS TAKING OVER THE WHITE HOUSE!
And no one does anything?
It absolutely is. Unfortunately the current GOP controlled Congress doesn’t seem to care & on the offchance that SCOTUS would care, it takes a long time for a case to get to them. Musk is using a blitzkrieg tactic (yes I use that term intentionally) to try to get control before anyone can stop him.
The politeness is a real problem. Center and center-right people need to stop talking in polite code as though this is a cocktail party. The constitution is a dead letter right now, the government is being turned into an engine of corruption and repression, and people are dying already.
Recall 2021 when 147 Rs voted to overturn. No one can tell me they actually thought Trump won. But they really wanted their team to win and damn the consequences. Pretty much the same thing today. As long as their team wins, they don’t care what rules are broken or how injured they will be in in fin
This is a great (and accurate) take! One of many, in a sea of great (and accurate) takes!
What it’s not doing is letting us know what we can do to stop it.
How do we #stopthecoup happening before our very eyes?
To all Americans. We are dealing with cowards. If this thing is going to turn, we must be the driving force. Maybe seeing us do everything we can they may find some balls and fight with us. I'm tired of seeing all these posts about what they are doing is illegal. WTF are you all doing about it?
Call to Action: Picket Tesla, Saturday February 15, 11am, at all Tesla dealerships everywhere to oppose Elon Musk and the oligarchy. #3E #EndOligarchy #TeslaTakeover If you can't make it, flood the lines with your concerns, all US locations and numbers here: https://www.tesla.com/findus/list/...
I will never understand the goofy political theater of Trump. He could’ve played golf for 4 years and let his Repub(!) Congress do all the work!!! His base would’ve loved him. But he chose a hostile invasion.
I don't know if it's possible, but we need a class action lawsuit on behalf of the people, to sue Republicans in Congress for handing over the authority we gave to them. They are not doing their jobs by submitting to every Trump & President Musk whim. They have given up the power of the purse!
Unfortunately, the entire Republican Congress is complicit with the coup. If they do not have to publicly insist upon retaining their congressional powers, the better, for them.
Sounds like Congress should be taking action and honoring their oath of office and duties instead of rolling over for Convicted Felon Trump The American Disgrace and Little Lord Musk!
Other than Musk being labeled a "special government employee", it doesn't give him the right to dismantle agencies and cut off funding. No different than anybody else with the same label.
And nobody seems to care.
What do you suggest we can do, Ms. Vance, short of revolution? We can march and we can protest, but they're just looking for an excuse to shoot us and declare martial law.
How about giving people someone to vote FOR? Standing behind politicians that stand up for the New Deal instead of those that take bribes to give the country to the wealthy? Valuing the self-employed and small scale entrepreneurs that built this country? I’ll vote for that.
Go stand in front of the Publican Incel Army’s guns? They will get cheered and immunity for killing protesters. The Diaper Don has already released the leaders of the incel groups. They are throwing tantrums for being held responsible for their actions. The Dems should have acted under Sleepy Joe.
Are you mobilizing to take over your work place like Elon took over the Government? We need worker owned production facilities and a worker owned government.
Mass surveillance on politicians is also a great idea. Hack and publish the communications and metadata of politicians.
It must be legal to hack phones. The police around here don’t take any action when presented with evidence from hackers. There is a private company that offers software for phone hacking that costs $.93 a day per phone… if it was illegal they would be RICOed.
Republican reps want to be in an autocratic government, otherwise they wouldn’t have given their power over. They need to go home as they are no longer needed.
Congress is controlled by Republicans and they have ALL capitulated to President Musk and Treason Weasel Trump. They may not have voted on the floor for this mess but they absolutely support it.
Comments
(every other country on the planet)
https://www.change.org/shadowcabinet
(see https://snyder.substack.com/p/shadow-cabinet)
The judge rules EO unconstitutional.
Trump continues to act as if EO is valid, violating judge's order. Does that now make his actions unofficial acts, no longer meeting requirement for immunity?
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/obama-you-cannot-sit-back-and-wait-for-a-savior
Soft/Silent Coup:
A soft coup, aka a silent coup, is an illegal overthrow of a government. Unlike a classical coup d'état, it is achieved without the use of force or violence.
A Coup.
It's CORRUPT and COWARDLY.
The effort I’m seeing w these opinion pieces and academic articles is mind numbing.
All directed to Harris voters who they literally have ZERO chance of changing any minds.
Trump is a $$ for them
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/10/unions-doge-musk-lawsuit-federal-data-00203489
Every Republican president since Jude Wanniski told Dick Cheney about his Two Santa Claus strategy has been part of a scam. The Republican party has been a scam for over four decades
#IranContra
#freedom #democracy #resist #NoToRacism #unity
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/opinion/trump-musk-christian-nationalism.html?unlocked_article_code=1.vE4.QQWd.u7DB1sz--JZT&smid=url-share
We fight injustice in the courts and we increase the pressure with growing public awareness, taking up space & oxygen, protest and transparency.
Trump voters are becoming aware of the negative impact in their lives. They are living Trump’s lies.
Watch me make this 🐰 disappear( just pulls all the fuckin fur off of it). Lord.
Brought to us by Ai.
The shock has not worn off yet or enough people haven’t googled..err, researched, fascism yet.
In the modern internet world this is what it looks like.
No one is stopping them, a few judges are trying but fascists don’t comply.
I'm not feeling it.
What are they supposed to do? Shut everything down? Hit the emergency button?
Tell us, what can they do?
@housedemocrats.bsky.social
@schumer.senate.gov
@schatz.bsky.social
@chrismurphyct.bsky.social
@warren.senate.gov
@schiff.senate.gov
@hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social
@repdangoldman.bsky.social
@raskin.house.gov
@ocasio-cortez.house.gov
@repjasmine.bsky.social
https://www-theatlantic-com.translate.goog/ideas/archive/2025/01/hitler-germany-constitution-authoritarianism/681233/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp&_x_tr_hist=true
https://discord.gg/50501
Attacking everything they do every day ! This is not a time to be nice - this is a time to fight !
Pretentious hypocrisy is the hallmark of MAGA.
Or we all going to sit back and watch - that's called an accessory to the crime.
For americans, coups happen in other countries, not here
But they know the word treason as it relates to America
If language counts, then time to use words like a sledgehammer
Being a good steward of the Earth
Taking care of property
Respect for one another
Doing good with your talents
Honoring your mother and father
Not stealing
Not murdering
Not coveting
Not bearing false witness
Not committing adultery
I think the answer is no. They were caught completely flat footed when they knew the plan (Project 2025) and once again are unprepared to fight. The Dems are weak and the republicans are traitors. #changemymind
The Trump/Musk administration is a coup attempt. DOGE is a Trojan horse with no legitimate purpose. We must unite before their plan can succeed. Spread this message far and wide.
https://bsky.app/profile/rosieogrady53.bsky.social/post/3lgiulcqpz22a
/end
Apparently nothing much.
When what we really need are people screaming in outrage, "OMIGOD! WE'RE IN A COUP!!!"
That’s often how it is here.
No Joyce, I am not joking
To the top 1%… Starting with Reagan
You want to tell the both sides about this anytime you’re on the air
I’m serious. This should be the first thing out of your mouth when they turn on the microphone.
Yes,we need to look at cutting costs,but I think BOTH sides need to look into it.Are the lobbyists causing corruption & possible congress personal kickbacks?
Oh,and the 🍊👑
isn’t corrupt nor his family?AND he always abides by the courts ruling?Right 😆
We've been thinking along the lines of "how the hell do we STOP it"?!
Whatever Trump Wants is OK. .
Trumps just a sitting duck waiting for impeachment again, while Vivek (hiding in the basement?) Muskrat & his teens are ALL UNELECTED CITIZENS TAKING OVER THE WHITE HOUSE!
And no one does anything?
What can the Public Do??
Editorials and strongly worded letters are not stopping them.
What next?
So the question for influencers and reporters et al: how will you help us regular folks to help stop the destruction of our Country?
What it’s not doing is letting us know what we can do to stop it.
How do we #stopthecoup happening before our very eyes?
Make your voice heard.
https://5calls.org/
Yeah yeah coup. We get it. We see it.
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT??
*with assists from Bibi and other select world rulers.
And nobody seems to care.
He was not even confirmed by that PAC of Constitutional rejectionist in the senate.
#NewDealOrNoDeal
Mass surveillance on politicians is also a great idea. Hack and publish the communications and metadata of politicians.
#WorkerOwnedGov
Politeness won't do away with it.