RESIST THIS: Trump Moves to Disband Congress

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Trump himself weighed in yesterday on a first step toward stripping the Senate and House of power. Neutralizing the legislative branch is at the top of every autocrat’s to-do list.

Read the details here from Politico, but this “recess appointment ” process is a way for Trump to populate his Cabinet and other posts with officials who might not win Senate confirmation. For example, it would avoid a pesky fight over putting conspiracy nut Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in charge of health care. Recess appointments can last up to two years unless senators later come back and confirm the nominee.

All three of the Republicans vying for Senate Majority Leader, to be voted on Wednesday, quickly agreed to Trump’s demand. Next, expect him to demand abolishing the filibuster, depriving the Senate’s Democratic minority of any influence on outcomes.

Whenever you see Giggy on a post or comment we urge you to share our links on the Trump Regime’s daily assault on Democracy. Studies show links from friends, family or someone followed online are effective.

And there is a market for concerns about Trump’s ambitions. Although some voted for him anyway, a majority of the voters on Tuesday said they were “very or somewhat concerned that electing Trump would bring the U.S. closer to being an authoritarian country”, where a single leader has unchecked power, according to the AP VoteCast survey.

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49 thoughts on “RESIST THIS: Trump Moves to Disband Congress”

  1. FAREWELL TO AMERICA

    Restrictions: May not be reprinted outside of North America and Australia. Others, please ask: cartoons@globecartoon.com
    Attribution: Farewell to America? by Patrick Chappatte, Le Temps, Switzerland

  3. from daily beast via yahoo

    John Oliver Exposes Trump’s Likely Cabinet: ‘Oops! All A**holes’

    Talk of who will fill President-elect Donald J. Trump’s new Cabinet has already inspired rampant speculation, and a chart of potential picks from CNN revealed “a deep bench of idiots, freaks and wannabe tough guys,” according to John Oliver.
    “That chart f—ing sucks,” The Last Week Tonight host said Sunday. “It looks like a ‘choose your fighter’ screen where the only thing they’re fighting is the arc of the moral universe. It looks like an advent calendar where every circle opens up to a tiny piece of literal shit. It looks like a game board for Guess Who? Oops! All a–holes.”
    Trump already has named Susie Wiles as his incoming chief of staff. And he’s expected to formally name New York congresswoman and chair of the House Republican Conference, Elise Stefanik, to become the new United Nations ambassador.
    But Oliver zeroed in on the question marks over the headshots of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Elon Musk, declaring: “Even the chart itself is surprised that they’re there, and honestly, chart: Same.”
    Oliver described RFK Jr. as an “enemy to all animals, friend to all measles” and reminded viewers that “Trump plans to let him go wild on medicines, you know, really get in there and mix things up, like a worm in a frontal cortex.”
    Oliver seemed more skeptical about plans to put Musk in charge of cutting wasteful government spending, even though Musk once boasted he could easily trim the federal budget by $2 trillion, even if it means a period of “temporary hardship” for many Americans. “And seeing a man worth $300 billion telling the country to endure hardship and live within their means fills me with a feeling that apparently I cannot say out loud for legal reasons,” Oliver said, adding: “Look, ultimately I don’t see Musk going through the federal budget line by line because he’s just going to get bored and go back to something more his speed like, I don’t know, finding a place to do another big-boy jump.”
    Some other potential Cabinet-level positions under Trump’s second term could include Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as U.S. attorney general, despite not only coming under federal investigations for bribery as well as settling a state securities fraud case against him earlier this year by agreeing to pay $300,000 in restitution, and perform hundreds of hours of community service and another 15 hours of legal ethics training.
    More concerning for Oliver, however, was was Paxton’s refusal to sign a letter condemning violence on the eve of the election.
    Among qualifications for AG, Oliver said, “I would argue that horny for another insurrection shouldn’t be one of them.”
    Oliver also exposed potential CIA director Kash Patel as “a man so devoted to Trump he even has a series of children’s books called The Plot Against The King,” about King Donald fighting “Hillary Queenton.” Trump reportedly considered Patel as a deputy FBI director during his first term, only to have then AG Bill Barr reject the idea. “Well, Bill Barr isn’t there to stop it anymore,” Oliver said, noting how Patel told Steve Bannon on his podcast last year that he would go after the media, saying: “We’re going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We’re going to come after you. Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out. But yeah, we’re putting you all on notice.”
    “Well, I don’t love the sound of that,” Oliver said.
    “But that is just scratching the surface of a deep bench of idiots, freaks, and wannabe tough guys eager to get into the White House and start breaking things. In January, things can get very bad very fast.”

  4. Rick Scott of Florida definitely won the suck-up contest among Senate Leader contestants on Trump’s recess appointment demand. While Sens. Thune and Cornyn hedged with statements like it’s “on the table”, Scott totally caved: “100% agree. I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly as possible”.

    So Senate confirmation of appointments is the first part of the Constitution to go. More to follow. Much more.

    When you look at the rogue’s gallery of nuts, traitors and criminals Trump wants to empower you can see why the founders put the confirmation guard rail in the Constitution.

  11. Found a useful list in case you think you are overusing “idiot”. 1. Fool 2. Moron 3. Imbecile 4. Dunce 5. Simpleton 6. Nincompoop 7. Blockhead 8. Dimwit 9. Halfwit 10. Dope 11. Dullard 12. Nitwit 13. Numbskull 14. Bonehead 15. Birdbrain 16. Airhead 17. Knucklehead 18. Dolt 19. Clod 20.Oaf 21. Dunderhead 22.Thickhead 23.Jerk 24.Cretin 25.Bozo 26.Ignoramus 27. Lamebrain 28.Dingbat 29.Scatterbrain 30.Dumbbell 31. Sap 32.Twit 33.Chump 34.Buffoon 35.Yahoo 36.Clown 37. Goon 38.Schmuck 39.Numpty 40.Ninny 41. Turkey 42.Goof 43.Foolhardy 44.Muttonhead 45.Bumpkin 46.Yokel 47. Noodle 48.Jackass 49.Mooncalf 50.Fumbler 51. Bungler 52.Lackwit 53.Doltish 54.Peabrain 55.Muppet (UK slang) 56.Gull 57. Sucker 58.Saphead 59.Lummox 60.Git (UK slang) 61. Prat (UK slang) 62.Mug (UK slang) 63.Block (slang for “blockhead”) 64.Zany 65.Twitbrain 66.Stupe 67. Putz 68.Simple 69.Dodo 70.Duncecap 71. Sillies 72.Ass 73. Thicko (UK slang) 74. Dimbo 75. Mook 76. Doofus 77. Dolt 78.Schmendrick 79.Fathead 80.Dweeb 81.Schlemiel 82.Schmo 83.Drongo (Australian slang) 84.Goonie 85.Pinhead 86.Wally (UK slang) 87.Thick-skulled 88.Ninnyhammer 89.Dunghill 90.Stupidhead 91.Foolish fellow 92.Bonehead 93.Dull-wit 94.Dotard 95.Numbwit 96.Meathead 97.Thick-browed 98.Block-brain 99.Nitpicky idiot 100.Derp (internet slang)

  16. Here is one reason why Trump wants no Senate oversight for his appointments.

    Donald Trump picks Project 2025 architect who attended neo-Nazi gathering to build detention camps.

    As Border Czar in the new administration Tom Homan’s areas of control will include “the southern border, the northern border, all maritime, and aviation security”, Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. Trump added that “border czar” Homan will be in charge of the deportation of illegal immigrants.

    In 2022 when Homan was head of ICE under Trump he accepted an invitation to speak at a racist event hosted by neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes but left the event before speaking when the news got out.
    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/thomas-homan-rnc-white-supremacist-conference_n_669856f6e4b05a9a604f80d9

    Homan is considered the architect of the Trump family-separation policy at the Southern Border that outraged many Americans when children were detained in cages.
    https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/09/trump-administration-family-separation-policy-immigration/670604/?gift=NRiHslr75Dl8nzQxUmBxShWU0u8Jywf-y6maaHys9_s&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

  17. Since Orange Adolf is pulling this shit, President Biden should step aside and make Kamala Harris #47 on Thanksgiving Day.  

    It will literally be the only chance the US ever had for a woman POTUS…and probably the last time a non-MAGAt or MAGAt-adjacent person is ~elected~ to the OO.

    He said folks only had to vote once and then never, again.   

    Harris #47

  18. Blockhead, but I would equate Lucy with MAGAts, not Charlie Brown.

    Dungheap * Destroyer * Sir Satan

    Next year, President Poopy Pants, unless cholesterol does it’s one job.
     

  19. https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/11/china/china-kaifeng-night-bike-craze-crackdown-intl-hnk/index.html

    “Tens of thousands of Chinese college students went cycling at night. That put the government on edge”
     
    “… a trend initially encouraged by the government as it sought to promote local tourism.
    But now, officials are scrambling to curb the craze by deploying police and closing bike lanes.

    Tens of thousands of cyclists brought intercity traffic to a standstill, while piles of discarded bikes overwhelmed the streets of Kaifeng, leaving commuters in Zhengzhou struggling to find bikes to ride home.

    Authorities cited traffic disruptions and safety concerns for the clampdown on the impromptu gathering. But the scenes of hordes of university students mobilizing, organizing and congregating in public are likely to have rattled local officials given the ruling Communist Party’s history with youth movements in China and its obsession with stability.”

     
    Just spitballing.
    Also, boycottts and strikes.
     
     
     
     

  20. If I get dragged to church on Christmas Eve, I’m wearing a tee-shirt under my jacket to see how many MAGAts in Bible drag I can trigger:

    Love Your Neighbor
    Love Your Black Neighbor
    Love Your Elderly Neighbor
    Love Your Atheist Neighbor
    Love Your LGBTQ Neighbor
    Love Your Immigrant Neighbor
    Love Your Disabled Neighbor
    Love Your Poor Neighbor

    The Kamala button on the jacket will probably do the job, though.

  22. Morning Joe’s show guests bemoaned the lack of Black voter turnout in Wayne County, Michigan, and apathy of women , generally nation-wide, for the Harris blowout.I didn’t search the numbers, but I kept posting it was going to take a massive charge like never seen before by women , to the polls , voting for Kamala, to depose the rapist forever.Later I heard there was a rather massive number of women who voted for the felon. So collectively, we got what we deserve.My sister-in-law has dual Swedish-USA citizenship; she cares for my brother with dementia at home as she is a retired nurse and can do it. But when he passes, she is back to her native Stockholm. If I had connections and dual citizenship somewhere, I would be gone instantly. I don’t. I live on a teeny-tiny pension and SS benefits and a small VA disability allowance. Like almost all Americans, I…we…are stuck with 4 years of upcoming terror and discontent. Who was it that said, “What hath God wrought.” ?
    Hey Trump? He’s gonna ram through every damn judge available. As Mom said when she made a point: “Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.”

  23. Thank you for your service Dex, Sturg, Ms. Bronc and any other vets who see this.
     
    Hooray, somehow my Error 403 message and access denial went away and I’m back online at the office. Of course I’m busy and don’t have a ton of time to post, but still…
     
    Not sure where the party goes from this point, but it better go somewhere that generates messaging more palatable to about 5% more of the electorate than it did in the past 10 months or so.  
     
    Oh, and based on the reporting done over the weekend regarding appointments and the like, we are screwed.

    Oh, and lest I forget – come January 1 (or within a short time thereafter) you will see Senate rule changes that do away with the filibuster and remove the single Senator hold rule on appointments. If I’m wrong, I owe each of you a drink.

  26. Thank you for your service Dex, Sturg, Ms. Bronc and any other vets who see this.

    Thank you, Pogo, and thanks to our veterans, past, present and future. 

  29. It will take me a minute to dig through all Joyce Vance has to share today, but let’s get on with it. 

    This is a tough one to write.
    My top-line thought for the week ahead: Don’t give up!
    If you want to plan a protest, plan it. If you want to knit in public at a lecture, do it. Don’t let anyone else make the rules for you. You get to set your own vision for what it means to be persistently pro-democracy as we prepare to face what’s ahead. For me, it means resisting the language of division that brought us here and working to maintain the big tent that helped us win the fight for four more years of democracy in 2020. People are down right now; none of us are at our best. So, give people a lot of space and understanding. But don’t be afraid to act on your own or enlist like-minded friends to come along with your plans. Don’t let anyone tell you that your way of expressing your love for country and Constitution isn’t the right way. There is a lot of that going around, as many people with good intentions are struggling.
    If you’re looking for inspiration and have the concentration for a longer piece, read the words of Czech leader Václav Havel, who wrote The Power of the Powerless in 1978, ten years after the Soviet Union crushed Prague Spring. Havel explored the idea that individuals who might normally be seen as powerless can make common cause in dissidence against a repressive political structure. The Czechs did not have the centuries-long history of democracy like we do, nor did they have a Constitution in place that guaranteed rights like our does. Still, Havel pointed the way for them to resist a totalitarian system. Although the story of our coming struggle is likely to be very different from theirs, you may still take heart reading Havel, knowing that his people struggled free from a dictatorial regime and created a republic.
    The outcome of this election has been incredibly hard to come to terms with. In my heart, I feared Donald Trump would win—I live in a state where many people support him and their numbers were strong—but I hoped and even dared to believe it wouldn’t happen. And of course, I was wrong.
    We are in for tough times, and they will not be times to give up in. Lawyers are already preparing to do important work. They have the experience of 2016 to guide them. Project 2025 and Trump’s Agenda 47 vision are dark. But they are not self-executing; they will have to do the work to put them in place, and we need to be there every step of the way, pushing back. Never underestimate the value of the public voice.
    But do take time to refresh your understanding of the policies this administration has rallied around in advance. I have not forgotten that in early July, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts commented that the coming revolution could be “bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

    This interview with States United CEO Joanna Lydgate is an overview of Project 2025
    This piece touches on climate and science
    This piece talks about the impact of mass deportations
    This piece linked Trump to Project 2025 after he disclaimed knowledge of it
    This is an index of the columns I wrote about Project 2025 prior to last July

    We have a long history and tradition of democracy in this country. We have local governments and organizations where we can run for office and use our power to make things better, even if Trump is trying to make them worse at the national level. We are still a constitutional democracy, and if we want to keep the Republic, we are going to have to fight to hold onto as many of our norms as we can.
    But not all this week.
    This week we are going to have to endure the winding down of the criminal cases against Donald Trump. That’s a gut punch for those of us who believed that accountability was possible and that Donald Trump wasn’t above the law.
    Tuesday in Manhattan, Judge Juan Merchan is expected to rule on whether the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision impacts Trump’s conviction in the New York case. If the convictions survive, and they should, or at least some of them, expect a rocket of an appellate case going off, as Trump tries to avoid being sentenced later this month. He may succeed given the politics of the moment, but legally, there is no reason he can’t be sentenced, although, and I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, I expect that even if he receives a custodial sentence, he will not serve it because of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. It’s an entirely unsatisfactory conclusion to one of the worst-ever violations of American democratic principles.
    I don’t expect normal times ahead. I believe Trump when he tells us who he is. I believe MAGA when they tell us who they are. This wasn’t just a campaign where the winner takes office and we all move on happily together, shoring up our disappointment. We have to be prepared for that reality, and not get sucked into a “business as usual” version of what Trump’s time in office will look like.
    We haven’t begun to fight yet, but as we get over the shock of the election, we can begin to get ready. As President Biden says, you can’t love your country only when you win. I’d add to that, you can’t be willing to fight for democracy only when it’s easy.
    We’re in this together,
    Joyce

  32. All these pronouncements about what sfb “said”, or “declared”, or “wrote”, leave me wondering why none of it matches the inane drivel that an old man with mental health failures has produced during the last eight years.  This morning WashPo put out a big front page article about what sfb told puttie in a phone call. BS.  puttie had russian propaganda networks showing the former third wife in her role in soft porn.  Yeah, hang head down when standing next to puttie really told him something.
    It all smells like the first go around with the criminal.  Maybe the far reich is not going to wait until inauguration to do its own version of the Twenty-fifth Amendment.

  33. My boyfriend in college was very young when he and his family escaped Czechoslovakia before Russian tanks rolled.  His mom was pregnant and they said they wanted to go to Austria to visit family while she could still travel.  The border guard said they could not all go, so his dad said they’d have to wait until the baby was born.  The guard changed his mind because they didn’t push to get out.  From Austria, to Canada, to the US.       My Czech language teacher escaped with her lover around the same time. 

    So, here we are but we are the ones who want to flee.  Sadly, the loss of democracy here will embolden authoritarians everywhere. 

    War is spreading.  Nukes are coming.  Famine is coming. An asteroid is coming.  The bunkers of billionaires will not save them forever.  Dust to dust, assholes. Your money will not immortalize you.

  34. BB – I had that thought, too.  Or, it will be very soon after the 20th. Will the MAGAts embrace JD? Does he pick a Drumpf to be his VP?  

  35. Great story, BID, unsung heroes. 
    You reminded me of a family who escaped from Hungary and settled in our neighborhood, became my brothers’ playmates, one daughter for my sister to hang out (and get in trouble) with too, but none of the kids were the right age for me.

  37. https://time.com/7174260/white-christianity-trump-election-essay/
    “According to the 2024 National Election Pool exit polls, 8 in 10 (81%) white evangelicals once again declared their allegiance to Trump, as did 60% of white Catholics and similar numbers of white non-evangelical Protestants. (Note: While there are no publicly available exit poll numbers for white non-evangelical Protestants, pre-election polling from PRRI suggests 6 in 10 once again supported Trump).
    If we put white Christians’ strong support for Trump into context, we can clearly see their singular contribution to his power.
    Overall, more than two thirds (68%) of white Christians favored Trump over Harris—a mirror image of the rest of the country, including Christians of color (33%), followers of non-Christian religions (30%), and the religiously unaffiliated (28%). While the proportion of white Christians in the country has been declining over the last three decades, they remain 41% of the population and an even higher percentage of voters. Even a modest decline in the overwhelming level of support for Trump among white Christians would have denied him the Republican nomination or the presidency.”

  39. Historians have repeatedly listed Donald Trump among the nation’s worst Presidents. And so,Rachel Maddow writes, “it says something about our respect for expertise that we decided to give the man another go.” It also says something about our national tolerance for crooks and thieves. In this week’s issue, Maddow joins a collection of writers looking outward and inward to consider what Trump’s reëlection reveals about America. Read Jia Tolentino on the gender war, George Saunders on understanding systemic rot, Jane Mayer on the coming decades for the Supreme Court, Kelefa Sanneh on white-grievance politics, Timothy Snyder on how fascism takes hold, and much more.

    https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/dispatches/2024-trump-beats-harris-writers-reflect?
     
     
     

  40. https://www.axios.com/2024/11/11/rick-scott-senate-republican-leader-maga-trump

    “Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) may be the MAGA media darling, but some of his colleagues are bristling at the public pressure on their secret voting process to elect Mitch McConnell’s Senate Republican leader successor on Wednesday.

     It is “definitely backfiring on him. At this point I won’t vote for him for anything ever,” one Republican told Axios.

    Senate offices are dealing with a flood of trolling on social media from Scott allies while Scott campaigns for their votes, aides tell Axios.

    That’s left many of them livid and frustrated. It could cost Scott persuadable votes, another GOP aide told us.”

    They are starting to eat their own. Ha!

  42. Something weird – I was affronted with one of the stupid advertisements that you cannot get away from while watching YouTube that was from mart of walls.  It featured a single creature feature.  A woman who looked like a compilation of several sfb entourage women who have had too many blasts of something making their lips look like duck bills.  Very disturbing.

  45. Jamie – I honestly feel it’s going to happen. Maybe not here, but I just feel it. The asteroid is a few years out.

  48. https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/11/middleeast/israeli-minister-annexation-occupied-west-bank-intl/index.html
    “Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has ordered preparations for the annexation of settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
     
    Smotrich, who is in charge of the settlements, said on Monday that he had instructed his department to “prepare the necessary infrastructure for applying sovereignty.”
    Smotrich told the Knesset, or Israeli parliament, that US President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the US election “brings an important opportunity for the state of Israel.”

    “… it drew swift condemnation from the Palestinian Authority, whose foreign affairs ministry characterized such comments as “a blatantly colonial and racist extension of the ongoing campaign of extermination and forced displacement against the Palestinian people.”
     

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