Building loyalty from militias and domestic terrorists

Kos of Daily Kos reviewed the nasty guy’s inaugural address and added comments that show how wrong he is or just laughing at the absurdity of his words. The basic question: is the nasty guy evil or stupid? As an example, the nasty guy said:

As we gather today, our government confronts a crisis of trust. For many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens, while the pillars of our society lay broken and, seemingly, in complete disrepair.

Kos responded:

Imagine the gall of saying that when the front row of your inauguration audience—in front of your Cabinet picks—is the modern American oligarchy.

After discussing and laughing over the nasty guys claims to be “unifier” and a “peacemaker” yet talking about invading Greenland and Panama Kos concluded

So … is his vision of “unity” and “peace” actually more like “world conquest”? Sure seems that way. Because nothing says “angry, violent, and totally unpredictable” like Trump himself and his MAGA movement. Indeed, if there’s anything we are sure to see over the next four years it’s more anger, violence, and unpredictability, courtesy of Trump. That is already his legacy, and everything he is pushing for—deportations, inflationary tariffs, anti-trans hate, and imperialism—will only further cement that legacy.

Oliver Willis of Kos showed several examples of how the mainstream media is congratulating the nasty guy because they say he showed how great of a president he will be. Emily Singer of Kos discussed how many Republicans are playing dumb after the nasty guy issued over 1500 pardons for the Capitol attackers. Strange that so many say they didn’t know about it or have no opinion on it. Alex Samuels of Kos discussed several of those nasty guy executive orders and how much the public disagrees with them. The topics include mass deportations, ending birthright citizenship, pardoning the Capitol rioters, imposing tariffs, withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, and mandating federal employees must return to the office and not work remotely. Singer reported that the ACLU, Democratic state attorneys general, and various other groups are quickly filing lawsuits to block the executive orders the nasty guy has been signing. The big one is, of course, banning birthright citizenship, which is in the Constitution. There are lawsuits against DOGE and the order that the nasty guy says will allow him to more easily fire federal employees. Morgan Stephens of Kos has more on the people filing those lawsuits. At an inaugural event Musk stood at a podium, talked for a while, and then gave a Nazi salute. Then, in case one didn’t catch it the first time, he saluted again. Stephens reported on that, on the people condemning it, and on the way too many people who are trying to dismiss, justify, or celebrate it. Alix Breeden of Kos reported that while Mark Zuckerberg was with the oligarchs at the inauguration Instagram, one of his products, started giving strange results when a user searched for Democrats. First they were told the results were hidden. Later they were given results that were far more Republican and MAGA than Democrat. Breeden concluded:

Ultimately, it’s unclear if Instagram’s algorithm is laden with MAGA content because of string pulling behind the scenes or if content from right-leaning creators is just simply more popular. One thing, however, is clear: Owners of the social media platforms that connect people, shape opinions, and keep people informed are eating out of Trump’s hand going into his second term. What they do with this newfound power remains to be seen.

There was so much for me to write about this last week I wasn’t able to include Biden’s last address to the country. An Associated Press article posted on Kos discussed it. A couple excerpts:

“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead," Biden said, drawing attention to "a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few ultra-wealthy people. Dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked.” Invoking President Dwight Eisenhower’s warnings about the military-industrial complex when he left office, he added, “I’m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers to our country as well.” ... Biden also called for a constitutional amendment to end immunity for sitting presidents, after the Supreme Court granted Trump sweeping protections last year from criminal liability over his role in trying to undermine his 2020 defeat to Biden.

Last Friday Bill in Portland, Maine, in a Cheers and Jeers column for Kos quoted late night commentary. One example:

"This Monday the three richest men in the history of mankind will attend the inauguration, where they will be seated together on the platform with Trump's cabinet nominees and elected officials. Sweet Jesus in a sky box, that is the most corrupt-appearing thing I have ever heard. If we’re gonna go complete Roman Empire then at least throw Denzel Washington in there.” —Stephen Colbert

In a pundit roundup for Kos Greg Dworkin included a few quotes worth repeating. From Olga Lautman, who studies authoritarians wrote:

Just in case people don’t fully grasp it. The pardoning of insurrectionists is Trump’s way of building loyalty from militias and domestic terrorists to carry out unofficial acts for him.

A question: Weren’t they already loyal? They had already attacked the Capitol for him, which is why they were in jail. Lautman is correct in that they will happily carry out unofficial acts for him. From Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

This was the true meaning of Inauguration Weekend 2025: the kickoff of America’s Second Republic as an unregulated and utterly unrepentant oligarchy.

I wish I knew what prompted Jack Jenkins to tweet this:

Kinda seems like a whole lotta people found out for the first time today that there's a very large, very vibrant progressive wing of Christianity (and religion in general).

Moira Donegan of The Guardian wrote:

Here is another prediction: these men will not succeed in all their schemes. They will not deport as many people as they say they will; he will not change the law as much as they pledge to; they will not, cannot, capture the institutions as completely, or bury dissent as successfully. They cannot do everything they aim to do. Because politics is not over; because our institutions are not all collapsed; and because the existing institutions are not the only methods of resistance and refusal.

While I agree with Donegan there is still a problem. While not as many will be deported as they say they will, many, likely thousands, will be deported, many more and in much more traumatic fashion that if a Democrat was president. They may not change they law as much as they pledge, but they will change the law that hurts many in the middle class, in the working class, and those in poverty. They may not capture institutions, but institutions will be damaged. They may not bury all dissent, but many will be harmed in the dissent they bury. American democracy may survive, but the cost will be high and the damage unnecessary. Down in the comments is a meme posted by exlrrp showing a farmer kneeling in his field saying:

Dear God, please send us a rapist bigot grifter so we can have cheap groceries and say the N word.

And the Tennessee Holler posted a cartoon (creator unknown) showing two men in a book lined room. The older one says:

Those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it. Yet those who do study history are doomed to stand by helplessly while everyone else repeats it.

Prairiecrat of the Kos community quoted a bit from an article posted on the New Republic:

Fear of increased ICE raids have already negatively affected the nation’s agricultural sector, causing alarm that food prices could skyrocket in the near future as a result of Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration policies. Bakersfield, California, saw a massive drop-off in the number of field workers showing up for work Tuesday while ICE agents in unmarked Chevy Suburbans rounded up and detained immigrants in the area, profiling individuals they believed to be field workers, reported CalMatters. The end result: acres of unpicked oranges roasting in the California sun at the height of the season.

I note this first action happened in California, definitely a blue state that has a governor vowing to protect his undocumented workers. Ruben Bolling posted a Tom the Dancing Bug comic on Kos showing the Constitutional Convention talking about a fourth branch of government, which will naturally arise. That will be the Dumbass Billionaires. They won’t be geniuses, but obnoxious idiots who will gain great political power. But don’t revise the new Constitution to prevent their rise. “These dunbass billionaires will be totally epic! They’ll want to live on Mars!” Bolling has a couple Questions for Classroom Discussion:

What if the Founding Fathers knew that the Dumbass Billionaires would also be racist? Would they have been less or more in favor of the Dumbass Billionaire branch? Did the Founding Fathers even consider the possibility that the elected president could himself be a Dumbass Lesser-Billionaire?