“It might be helpful for you to know that you are not alone. And that in the long, twilight struggle which lies ahead of us, there is the possibility of hope.”
“The Long Twilight Struggle.” Babylon 5, created and written by J. Michael Straczynski, Season 2, Episode 20, 1995.
Here are the stories that caught my attention as I cleared my browser tabs:
- The dangers of treating Donald Trump as a normal politician;
- How news organizations sanitized Elon Musk’s Nazi salutes;
- Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s heroic call for mercy and the MAGA backlash she faces;
- Will Congress defend its Constitutional powers in the face of Trump’s impoundment executive orders—or is our Constitution meaningless;
- Trump’s PayPal Mafia supporters have many ties to apartheid South Africa;
- Ken White explains how every person can fight Trumpism through kindness, decency, and fidelity to American values; and
- Let’s not allow Trump to rewrite the history of the January 6, 2021, insurrection he instigated.
Here we go. I’m glad you’re here.
#1
The Moon Is Down (A.R. Moxon, The Reframe, Link to Article)
When you treat a party or person or idea as illegitimate, people start to believe in the illegitimacy, even if the target is legitimate. If you treat a party or a person or an idea as legitimate, people start to believe in the legitimacy, even if the target is illegitimate. When you pursue your principles with determination, people believe you have principles, and if they share those principles, they will give you their loyalty. As it turns out, people with evil principles are very loyal to the party that promises evil and delivers it.
There’s a flip side to that coin. When a party actually is illegitimate, and you treat them as legitimate anyway, then people start to think you don’t believe anything.
Obama will attend Donald Trump’s inauguration, by the way.
Joe Biden greeted Donald Trump and his wife today with a big grin, by the way.
WHY I FIND IT INTERESTING:
One of the reasons I am so focused on the need for the Democratic Party to start acting like an opposition party is this dynamic. President Donald Trump won a close election, but only after instigating an insurrection against the government. Trump is not a normal politician.
Yet Democratic leaders continue to treat him like one. Why did Biden welcome him home? Why were all of those Democratic elected officials at the inauguration? Why are so many Democrats voting for Trump’s cabinet nominees or discussing looking forward to finding common ground?
Democrats correctly described Donald Trump as a danger to our democracy for years. That fact didn’t end with the election. Trump’s first week of executive orders confirms he does not care about our Democratic system.
Democratic political leaders need to oppose. We did not elect them to be a junior partner in Trump’s reign of unconstitutional terror. We did not elect them to enable the implementation of Project 2025.
I mean, it’s a bit alarming when former Vice President Mike Pence’s advocacy group is doing more to try to stop Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination than the Democrats.
“The duty of an Opposition is to oppose,” is a quote often attributed to Lord Randolph Churchill, Winston’s father. Opposing these unconstitutional seizures of executive power, appointments of unqualified nominees, and the rhetorical dehumanization of transgender people and immigrants would demonstrate the highest loyalty to our country and its Constitution.
If the current leadership is unwilling to engage in the necessary political fights, they should step aside for those who understand what is at stake.
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#2
News Organizations Are Tiptoeing Around What We All Saw (Parker Molloy, The Present Age, Link to Article)
We’re living in a media environment where the truth has become nearly impossible to state directly. A billionaire can make a gesture that neo-Nazis celebrate as explicitly supporting their cause, and major news organizations feel compelled to describe it as “exuberant” rather than risk saying what it actually appeared to be.
Context matters here. This isn’t just some random rich guy making an awkward wave. This is someone who has tweeted agreement with an antisemitic conspiracy theories and recently allied himself with the far-right AfD party in Germany.
When neo-Nazis and white nationalists are celebrating your gesture while mainstream media outlets are afraid to even describe it accurately, something has gone terribly wrong with our ability to tell the truth about power.
WHY I FIND IT INTERESTING:
I do not believe there is any other good faith explanation for what Elon Musk does in this video clip than the obvious one: he’s performing a Nazi salute at a public political event celebrating the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
Twice.
It would be awful enough if this was just Elon Musk, a private citizen. But Musk may be the de facto co-president for now.
And as Molloy explains, Musk has made a bunch of alt-right actions in recent weeks—and as the Project on Government Oversight’s Nick Schwellenbach reports, the federal government’s human resources agency is now filled with people connected to Musk’s businesses.
Here’s a good test for all of these people, like MAGA’s Scott Jennings, who try to pretend we didn’t see what we saw.
During a recent CNN panel debate, Catherine Rampell asked Jennings to do the obvious: if Musk’s gesture is normal, do it right now.
He didn’t.
Yes, the Romans made a gesture like this one. But since 1945, it has been clear to everyone what this gesture means. And there is a reason Neo-Nazis are celebrating.
It is a major problem when our major media outlets refuse to report what we all can see and go out of their way to edit the news from their recaps. People can turn to Fox News and MAGA media for this kind of gaslighting. No one wants to watch or read poor carbon copies of the real thing.
And it’s also a major problem when, as a Columbia Journalism Review story explains, the White House press corps is so excited to engage with Trump and are relieved that they no longer have to deal with former President Biden’s press operation. They sure missed those insider book deals over the past four years.
#3
One voice begging for mercy (Melissa Ryan, Ctrl Alt Right Delete, Link to Article)
Fear is a weapon Donald Trump wields expertly and with precision. Even Republicans know that crossing Trump might lead to MAGA foot soldiers coming for you. Starting with the 1,500 insurrectionists Trump just pardoned. Fear is also the reason, understandably, why you haven’t seen as many organized protests and direct actions against the incoming Administration. Trump wants all of us, to his opposition to his closest supporters to fear him and his power. This time around, he’s had incredible success creating that culture.
Knowing all this, one can’t help but admire Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde for speaking truth to power — right in power’s face. There’s no personal upside for her here. There is little to be gained other than being the enemy of the day in right-wing media and the threats and harassment she’s undoubtedly now receiving. Watching her explain her decision on CNN, I’m struck by her bravery and humility. All while clearly grappling with the moment herself.
WHY I FIND IT INTERESTING:
Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde was respectful. She did not attack President Trump. She was true to the teachings of Jesus in her call for “mercy.”
For this she was attacked viciously, faced demands to apologize, was called Satan, and received death threats because MAGA attacks anyone who dares not fully support their leader. As Parker Molloy explained:
The response was swift and severe. Trump himself attacked her on Truth Social, calling her a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater” and demanding an apology. He told reporters the service was “not too exciting” and that organizers “could do much better.”
But that was just the beginning. Right-wing media launched an all-out assault on Budde that revealed exactly how power plans to deal with dissent in Trump’s second term. Fox News host Greg Gutfeld literally called her “Satan.” His colleague Sean Hannity described it as a “disgraceful prayer full of fearmongering and division.” Fox & Friends co-host Lawrence Jones called Budde’s words “radical leftist.” The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh declared that “hell exists for people like Mariann” and called her “exhibit A for why women should not be pastors, priests, or bishops.”
Even members of Congress got in on the act, with one Republican suggesting that the American-born bishop should be “added to the deportation list.”
None of that should be considered normal. Or very Christian.
I’ve frequently been critical of White Christian Nationalists in this space. I will continue to be. Trump’s executive orders are full of those theocratic ideas.
But Bishop Budde’s remarks remind me that I want us to consider whether religious people who reject the teachings of Jesus can really be considered Christians.
I don’t doubt they are religious. But the Sermon on the Mount and the Golden Rule exist. The Eye of the Needle parable exists. There is an entire Commandment that forbids the bearing of false witness. I could continue.
Bishop Budde’s sermon was so refreshing because so few have dared to disagree with Trump in his presence. She also lived her religion’s teachings.
I hope more people will follow Bishop Budde’s example.
#4
Trump’s Most Lawless Action Yet (David Dayen, The American Prospect, Link to Article)
It does not matter what executive action Trump takes; he cannot limit, halt, or refuse to carry out spending authorized and appropriated by Congress and signed into law.
This action is willful and deliberate. It is designed to pick a fight over spending, and relies on fanciful theories that would render Congress a vestigial organ in the governmental order. It means to nullify the congressional spending power by presidential fiat. And it hopes to spark litigation whereby the judiciary assents to that transfer of power, emasculating itself in the process.
The Prospect documented these attempted dictatorial maneuvers last July. Russell Vought, Trump’s handpicked selection to run OMB when confirmed, has laid out his strategy in detail. He wants to resurrect the practice of withholding congressionally appropriated funds known as impoundment, which violates federal law and Supreme Court precedent.
In Vought’s opinion, the president has inherent authority as head of the executive branch to impound funds that differ from his policy viewpoints. That’s really it; Vought simply asserts that congressional appropriations are a ceiling, so the president doesn’t have to distribute them all out.
WHY I FIND IT INTERESTING:
If President Trump gets away with this power grab, our Constitution will have been rendered meaningless.
There is a law that forbids the impoundment practice. Article I of the Constitution gives the Legislative Branch the spending power. Article II compels the president “to take care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Train v. City of New York (1975) that presidents do not have this power.
Trump could ask Congress to send him bills to allow spending to adhere to his policy goals. But he can’t ignore laws that have been enacted.
Well, unless there are five Supreme Court Justices who are willing to render themselves, and the Congress, irrelevant.
The Founding Generation assumed that the separation of powers would help prevent the rise of a tyrant because each branch would zealously defend its powers. We could rely on those checks-and-balances and separation-of-powers to keep potential tyrants in check.
So, in that rational world, Republican and Democratic Members of Congress would be joining together to condemn Trump’s Executive Orders and preparing to impeach him if he didn’t back down. We also wouldn’t need to worry about what the Supreme Court might do.
But we live in this world. Alas. Sure, some Congressmembers have complained and (gasp!) even posted to social media. Emergency meetings have been promised for later in the week. And the Supreme Court has already ignored the plain language of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to allow Trump to run for re-election despite being an insurrectionist.
So I’m not confident about the outcome. But that means we shouldn’t fight back as strongly as possible. And it would be great if some elected Democrats started to do more to inform the American people about what’s at stake.
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#5
How the roots of the ‘PayPal mafia’ extend to apartheid South Africa (Chris McGreal, The Guardian, Link to Article)
Musk is part of the “PayPal mafia” of libertarian billionaires with roots in South Africa under white rule now hugely influential in the US tech industry and politics.
They include Peter Thiel, the German-born billionaire venture capitalist and PayPal cofounder, who was educated in a southern African city in the 1970s where Hitler was still openly venerated. Thiel, a major donor to Trump’s campaign, has been critical of welfare programs and women being permitted to vote as undermining capitalism. A 2021 biography of Thiel, called The Contrarian, alleged that as a student at Stanford he defended apartheid as “economically sound”.
David Sacks, formerly PayPal’s chief operating officer and now a leading fundraiser for Trump, was born in Cape Town and grew up within the South African diaspora after his family moved to the US when he was young. A fourth member of the mafia, Roelof Botha, the grandson of the apartheid regime’s last foreign minister, Pik Botha, and former PayPal CFO, has kept a lower political profile but remains close to Musk.
Among them, Musk stands out for his ownership of X, which is increasingly a platform for far-right views, and his proximity to Trump, who has nominated Musk to head a “department of government efficiency” to slash and burn its way through the federal bureaucracy.
WHY I FIND IT INTERESTING:
And let’s not forget that Thiel has funded Vice President JD Vance’s political rise.
I think we should be asking more questions about these rich people surrounding President Trump. I don’t think they are spending their money to lower the price of eggs at the grocery store.
#6
I’ve had several people express frustration and feelings of helplessness during this first week of Trump 47. It’s been a tough week.
Ken White, who has been one of my favorite people to follow on social media, posted an important thread on BlueSky in which he shared ways that everyone can fight back against Trumpism.
I hope White’s suggestions will help people who are looking for ways to resist what is happening.
As White shared:
Not everyone can fight Trumpism and Trumpists directly. But remember this: kindness, decency, and fidelity to American values are defiance in the face of Trumpism. So be kind, decent, and faithful, particularly to the many kinds of people despised and attacked by Trumpists. That’s revolutionary./1
/2 It’s something anyone can do. Caring about whether something is true or not, and calling out lies, defies Trumpism. Treating people as humans even if Trumpists don’t think they are is defiance of Trumpism. Refusing to hate and revile Trumpists’ targets defies Trumpism. You can do that.
/3 Fidelity to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and to us all being created equal and endowed with those rights, defies Trumpism. Caring about values and principles defies Trumpism (and also nihilists, but why should they care?). Affirming that how you act matters defies Trumpism.
/4 The rule of law, equality before it, and freedom of expression, conscience, and worship defy Trumpism — whether or not some people have given up on them.
/5 Openly caring about and adhering to values infuriates Trumpists. It spoils their joy. They will never be happy because of it. Keep doing it. Decency is a thumb in their eye.
/6 Coda: I’m not preaching at you to be nice to Trumpists, but if you react to this by “what about Trumpists” you are missing the point.
Chances are you are already making a difference. Give yourself credit for it! And when you can, do a little more. These actions matter.
The Reality of the January 6, 2021, Insurrection
WHY I FIND IT INTERESTING:
On January 6, 2021, Donald Trump instigated a violent insurrection against the United States government.
People were hurt and police officers died protecting the Capitol. Vice President Pence and other elected officials just barely escaped danger. Our national streak of peaceful transfers of power ended.
It was not, as Trump claims, a “day of love.” And we must resist his efforts to rewrite the history of that dark day.
Post-Game Comments
Today’s Thought from my Readwise collection:
“The golden rule operates like a technology designed to direct us away from revenge. It hauls you back time and again to the certain knowledge of what it is you don’t like. Do you not like it when people call you ugly on social media? Then don’t do that to anyone else. Do you not enjoy it when someone tries to get you fired? Then consider very carefully whether it is ever right to do that to someone else. I know, I know. It’s so boring to get control of your feelings and think about what’s right. But this is how we construct a society, OK? The golden rule is a vastly valuable social technology carefully passed down to us by people who fought their way out of darkness using it.” (Naomi Alderman, The Future)
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