The Labor Day weekend seems a good moment to pass along one of Simon Rosenberg's insightful rants about the Orange Parasite in Chief:
I’ve come to believe that the central project now of Trump and his allies is to get up everyday and work to construct this illusion of strength for Trump who is clearly in physical, cognitive and political decline.
They slather him with his favorite burnt orange, coif and dye whatever it is that is on his head, tighten the bulging girdle, message his swollen ankles and legs, pump whatever it is they are pumping into him intravenously, wrap him in his long red tie and blue suit, show him fake right-wing polls to comfort and buoy him, and then roll him out at some staged event where someone ritualistically bends the knee and then he rallies to play “TRUMP” one more incoherent time.
The wild over the top bending of the knee shitshow we saw yesterday at the Cabinet meeting was something that only a weak, insecure and diminished leader would need. It’s all a show, a terrible show that is without doubt the unGreatest show on Earth today, a pathetic show that still works for the old faithful but is losing its audience and relevance, daily.
As we often say here two things can be true at the same time:1) Trump is doing enormous harm to the country; is breaking things that will be difficult if not impossible to repair; and he has escalated and become far more dangerous in August
2) “Trump” the brand is in significant decline, and losing its hold on the public and the power to persuade; Democrats keep overperforming in elections and we should be viewing the fall and 2026 elections as ones of opportunity and expansion. In 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2023 we seized the opportunity the ugliness of MAGA presented us. We failed to do it in 2024. In 2025 and 2026 we must lift ourselves up and once again seize the opportunity that is clearly in front of us now.I think Trump escalated in August because he feels his powers ebbing, and is desperately trying everything he can to restore his STRENGTH, VIRILITY and POWER. Despite his efforts it isn’t working.
So anticipate more escalation, more efforts to steal seats, rig the elections, weaken and degrade his opposition and a him growing more distant from the public. It is something that I’ve called the vicious cycle of a declining strongman, and yes we are in the midst of it today.
That means we all have a lot of work to do.
• • •
Stephen Robinson inventories Trump's visible physical decline.
The White House is lying about Trump's health. Their explanations are absurd and it's time to start asking questions.
... Something clearly is up with the 79-year-old president, and the official explanations don’t make sense. That’s not surprising given that Trump is a world historical liar surrounded by toadies who surrendered their shame long ago. But it’s past time for reporters to ask some questions.
... How sick is Trump? ... It’s reasonable to question the Trump administration’s candor about his actual condition. In April, Barbabella released a glowing physical exam that declared, “President Trump remains in excellent health, exhibiting robust cardiac, pulmonary, neurological, and general physical function.” Has Trump’s health declined since then, or was Barbabella misleading people?
• • •
The apparently tireless Jay Kuo meanwhile catalogues four areas in which Trump is revealing his weakness while pretending to be strong.
Trump is but a paper tiger in the very places he asserts he can act with impunity. ...
The law
Trump knows he can’t pass most of his fascist agenda through Congress due to the power of Democrats in the Senate to filibuster any such legislation. (His “One Big Beautiful Bill” was not subject to filibuster under the reconciliation rules.) So he’s trying to accomplish by executive orders what he can’t achieve by normal legislative means.
But the President’s ability to change the game on the ground through executive order is nearly always limited by law, and even the Trump White House knows that its actions will have to pass legal muster. ...
The Blue States
The U.S. is a bit better suited than smaller nations to withstand a fascist assault by the head of the federal government precisely because it has divided the power of government between Washington D.C. and the 50 states. Our Constitution specifies in the Tenth Amendment that “powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” That is a general statement of the limits of federal power, but it has some real consequences for dangerous federal overreach. ...
The civil service
As the self-proclaimed “unitary executive,” at whose pleasure all employees of the government are supposed to serve, at least in his mind, Trump has sought to control the Executive Branch from top to bottom. And he has demanded unquestioning fealty from every official, even while demanding they bend or break the rules, especially around the politicization of their authority.
... This has created a crisis of morale within every corner of the federal government and prompted several high-profile public resignations, including three from top officials at the Centers for Disease Control yesterday. Talented workers have been departing in droves, leaving many parts of the government paralyzed from staff shortages. ...
The People
Many of us are familiar with the massive shows of opposition organized by groups such as Fifty Fifty-One and No Kings, where millions of citizens have turned out in streets and squares in thousands of locations across every state to oppose Trump’s fascism. More such protests are planned, and they are likely to grow in size and intensity, especially if Trump escalates his troop deployments.
We’re also now familiar with scenes of citizens bravely standing up to Trump’s thugs. Across social media, and as reported on by local news, ordinary people are confronting ICE, demanding to see warrants, filming their abuses, and shaming them for hiding their identities with facial coverings. Rather than cower in fear from the SS-like behavior of ICE, the public is accosting, recording and holding federal agents accountable. We are building an ethos of resistance to counter the MAGA ethos of fascism.
... In Los Angeles, grand juries reportedly have been refusing to indict protestors arrested during the ICE protests ...
There's a Labor Day rally on Monday most everywhere there is organized labor -- and a heck of a lot of places that aren't yet so lucky. Be there.
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