He Has 5 Months. It Will Be Ugly

Chaos is coming when he dies. He has 5 months.

We are not prepared. Billionaires are planning their takeover now.

NOW is the time to create a Democrat shadow government which can step in and prevent the takeover.  

A video of a statement by a PhD in physical therapy specializing in dementia and Alzheimer's suggests he has ARIA and 3 to 5 months to live. 

Here is ARIA: 'Amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA) are changes seen in brain MRI scans of patients with Alzheimer's disease, often linked to anti-amyloid treatments. There are two types: ARIA-E, which involves brain swelling, and ARIA-H, which involves small brain hemorrhages.' Wikipedia Alzheimer's Association

I was unable to locate the name of the therapist who made the film. The statement video is available in Facebook at The Heart of Scotland group.

Here's Rick Wilson at LINCOLN SQUARE on what will happen then.

'When Trump Dies - What happens next will be ugly and dangerous.

Rick Wilson, Lincoln Square Dec 7

Every aging dictator, every long-in-the-tooth autocrat, every once-terrifying strongman eventually feels the cold hand of Death reaching out to tap them on the shoulder and whisper, “It’s time.”

We all understand mortality. It’s the constant of the human condition, the endless winner of billions of lives, even that of the Dear Leaders whose rule seemed eternal.

We don’t spend enough time on how much chaos and blood comes after that tap in the Generallismo’s shoulder, on the inevitable collapse of systems built around a single man entail.

The leader dies, weakens, is defeated politically or militarily, or even loses a step, and the entire structure that pretended to be a unified movement reveals itself as what it really was all along: a feeding frenzy for sycophants who think they were born to inherit the throne. The pressure cooker of autocratic systems rewards fealty, loyalty, public and private obeisance.

If you want to understand what is coming for MAGA as Donald Trump ages and declines, you start there.

Not with his tweets, not with daily outrages and excesses, but with the iron law of personality cults: succession is their unsolved problem.

Autocrats are very good at seizing power and holding it. They are very bad at leaving it behind without blowing something up on the way out. Political scientists have long argued that personality cult regimes are especially fragile at succession because the leader spends his life eliminating rivals rather than training successors.

Trump is not unique. He is just the latest in an ancient story...'

 

Fight MAGAT Threats

I am not yet being threatened by any MAGATS. 

But, I think about MAGA threats because I am a classroom teacher and also am outspoken about the MAGA cult. 

In preparation I have read accounts and watched films about school shooter attacks in other schools written by other teachers who have been in active shooter situations.

As an analogy for a MAGAT threat, here are my very personal thoughts about how to prepare for shooters in a classroom and, by extension, outside my front door. There are no guarantees about the effectiveness or lack of it in any of these ideas.

As preparation, I have meditated about dying from an attack. Now, I am prepared mentally and emotionally to die. I have mentally visualized the steps that might precede an attack that kills me. I hope that the visualization exercise will allow me to fight more effectively than I might if I were afraid to die. 

In many prior shooter situations, those who fight and or run away seem to have higher success at avoiding death or injury from a shooter. I tell my classes to run and fight if there is a shooter. Do not lock the door and wait. This is my very personal recommendation and may be counter to some law enforcement recommendations. 

If a MAGAT comes in person or in a group to my home and threatens me, I will fight. I may die, but I will not die quietly.

Most MAGATS are, IMHO, cowards who may make phone threats they do not expect to carry out in actuality. But, there is always a chance that one or more MAGATS may become violent.

 

At home, I have a yappy dog who will not be quiet until he is killed; he will not attack the MAGAT as effectively as might a Doberman, Rottweiler or Presa Canario, but he will alert me to a presence. 

If I see a person or persons, I will call 911 and announce a prowler outside my door, regardless of any badge or vest he/they may wear. If he/they announce they have a warrant I will wait until city police with badges and lights on marked cars before entering any conversation. 

My house is hardened. Motion detector lights ring the exterior premises so there are no dark places. I plan to install cameras. My windows are new and double paned with effective locks.

I have hardened my exterior doors by replacing the screws which hold the striker plates in the exterior doors and deadbolts with 3 or 4 inch deck screws; this forms exterior doors which are very difficult to kick down. Dead bolts with secure screws are a must have; the half inch screws in most doors won't even slow down an attacker. 

None of these efforts will do more that slow down a determined attacker.

If there such a person attacking my house, I will open the door and shoot him in the chest with my shotgun that is loaded with heavy buckshot. The shot will probably blow a hole through him and he will bleed out quickly. If he wears a vest, I will shoot him in the head. 

My shot gun is a pump action with a 5 round chamber and not a double barrel gun with only two rounds.

If the MAGATS are in a group, I will place a mattress in front of a seven-foot high, twelve-foot wide fully loaded bookcase on the wall facing the entry door to protect against multiple shooters

Once I am sure he is dead, I will place a kitchen knife in his hand and drag his body into my house. Then I will call 911 again and report an attack.  

Exporting America's Kleptocracy

 

Heather Cox Richardson,  Dec 1

On Friday evening, the Wall Street Journal published an article about the Trump administration’s negotiations with Russia over Ukraine that illuminated the administration’s approach to the world at home, as well as overseas. Authors Drew Hinshaw, Benoit Faucon, Rebecca Ballhaus, Thomas Grove, and Joe Parkinson explained that the administration’s plan for peace was a Russian-led blueprint for joint U.S.-Russia economic cooperation that would funnel contracts for rebuilding Ukraine, extracting the valuable minerals in the Arctic, and even space exploration to a few favored U.S. and Russian businessmen.

Many of those business leaders have close ties to the White House.

“Russia has so many vast resources, vast expanses of land,” Trump envoy Steve Witkoff told the journalists. “If we do all that, and everybody’s prospering and they’re all a part of it, and there’s upside for everybody, that’s going to naturally be a bulwark against future conflicts there. Because everybody’s thriving.”

On ABC’s This Week this morning, Representative Don Bacon (R-NE), who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said to host Jonathan Karl: “Putin’s the invader, he’s the dictator, he’s murdered all his opponents. But I just don’t see that moral clarity coming from the White House. We saw that Wall Street Journal article yesterday that many people around the president are hoping to make billions of dollars—these are all billionaires in their own right—from…Russia, if they get a favorable agreement with Ukraine. That alarms me tremendously. I want to see America being the leader of the free world, standing up for what’s right, not for who can make a buck…. I don’t want to see a foreign policy based on greed. I want to see it based on doing the right thing.”

There is far more at stake here than morality, although that is clearly on the table.

The Trump administration is replacing American democracy with a kleptocracy, a system of corruption in which a network of ruling elites use the institutions of government to steal public assets for their own private gain. It permits virtually unlimited theft while the head of state provides cover for his cronies through pardons and the uneven application of the law.

It is the system Russia’s president Vladimir Putin exploits in Russia, and President Donald J. Trump is working to establish it in the United States of America.

In the New York Times today, Cecilia Kang, Tripp Mickle, Ryan Mac, David Yaffe-Bellany, and Theodore Schleifer explored the story of David Sacks, an early technology entrepreneur with Peter Thiel and Elon Musk who now advises the White House on AI and cryptocurrency policy while investing in the companies that benefit from those policies. Sacks has brought Silicon Valley leaders, including the chief executive of Nvidia, into contact with White House officials. Shortly after, the government got rid of restrictions on Nvidia’s chip sales to foreign countries, a change that could net Nvidia as much as $200 billion.

Tom Burgis of The Guardian explained today how the Trump family is using its position in the federal government to advance its personal interests and enrich itself. Trump’s sons Don Jr. and Eric have thrown themselves into cryptocurrency, broken ground on new golf courses, and rushed through permissions for new buildings in foreign countries at the same time U.S. government policies over tariffs, cryptocurrency, and pardons, for example, seem to advance those interests.

“The Trumps’ most natural allies,” Burgis wrote, “first in business, now also in politics—have long been the rulers of the Gulf’s petro-monarchies, who see no distinction between their states’ interests and their families’.”

When New York Times reporters Ken Bensinger and David Fahrenthold published an article about Trump disclosing the donors who funded his transition to his second term a full year after promising to do so, they noted that the 46 individuals on the released list included billionaires and others who were later appointed to office. White House spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said: “President Trump greatly appreciates his supporters and donors; however, unlike politicians of the past, he is not bought by anyone and does what’s in the best interest of the country. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false.”

As wealth and power flow through the executive branch, Trump is overriding the rule of law that is designed to protect the rest of us from self-dealing by unscrupulous individuals. On Wednesday he commuted the sentence of private equity executive David Gentile, convicted in August 2024 of defrauding 10,000 investors in a $1.6 billion scheme that included securities and wire fraud. According to Kenneth P. Vogel of the New York Times, prosecutors said the victims were small business owners, teachers, nurses, farmers, and veterans: “hardworking, everyday people.” “I lost my whole life savings,” one victim wrote about his losses. “I am living from check to check.”

A judge sentenced Gentile to seven years in prison. He reported to authorities on November 14, was incarcerated, and was released less than two weeks later after Trump commuted his sentence.

There is a growing sense that an elite group of wealthy people is running the world without accountability to the law, and that the Trump administration is protecting and even advancing the people in that group. That sense is key to popular anger at the administration’s refusal to release the FBI files about its investigation into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The documents from the Epstein estate released by the House Oversight Committee on November 12 showed a chummy friendship between Epstein and political, academic, and economic leaders eager to retain access to Epstein’s money, information, and connections even after he pleaded guilty to procuring a minor for prostitution.

MAGA voters backed Trump in the belief that he would hold such people to account, but it is now clear he is protecting them instead. Indeed, as Mona Charon of The Bulwark noted today, Trump’s ally Steve Bannon, whom Charon describes as “Trump’s consigliere, strategist, propagandist, and former senior counselor at the White House,” was on such friendly terms with Epstein that it was to him Epstein turned to scrub his public image after his initial guilty plea.

The realization that Trump is bolstering and protecting an entitled elite rather than defending everyday Americans victimized by them has dovetailed with this administration’s undermining of the economy, firing of civil servants, attacks on public health, and destruction of the nation’s social safety net to create angry references to “the Epstein class.”

Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) explained to NPR’s Scott Detrow earlier this month: “[T]he Epstein class is a group of people with extreme wealth who have donated to politicians and been part of a system where they think the rules don’t apply to them, and they have created a system that has shafted a lot of forgotten Americans. That’s why Donald Trump ran and was central to his campaign. And many people, like Marjorie Taylor Greene and others, believe he’s become part of the swamp that he said he would drain. He’s forgotten the forgotten Americans he said he would stand up for.”

Unlike the robber barons of the late nineteenth century, today’s power elite is, as Anand Giridharadas of The Ink wrote on November 23 in the New York Times, a borderless network of people connected not to nations or their fellow citizens but to each other. They exchange nonpublic information and capital to enable the members of that group to control events, disregarding the effects of their decisions on those outside their network.

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo suggested Friday that the deep unpopularity of AI comes in part from the fact that it has become a symbol “of a society in which all the big decisions get made by the tech lords, for their own benefit and for a future society that doesn’t really seem to have a place for most of the rest of us.”

Popular anger at this “Epstein class” is sparking a political realignment. Democratic leaders have been hammering on how Republican policies benefit the wealthy at the same time that Trump’s tariffs send household costs upward and the Republicans’ budget reconciliation bill of July—the one Republicans call the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”—slashes the social safety net and drives up the cost of health care premiums. The extraordinary demand for energy caused by the massive data centers AI requires has sent energy costs skyrocketing.

In November, voters turned away from the Republicans and toward the Democrats, expressing concerns about the economy and “affordability.” Chris Stein of The Guardian explained today how 33-year-old John McAuliff flipped a Republican seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in those elections. McAuliff attracted Republican voters by going door to door, talking with voters about data centers and the infrastructure they require and noting voters’ own rising electricity costs.

McAuliff told Stein that the rising prices are “essentially an artificial tax on everyday Virginians to benefit Amazon, Google, some of the companies with the biggest market [capitalizations] in human history. Which is not to say they don’t provide benefits to those communities, but we need to do a much, much better job of extracting those benefits, because the companies can afford them.”

Voters’ anger at the administration’s support for the Epstein class is now so palpable it has inspired some MAGA leaders to try to cast themselves as populist leaders standing against the wealthy who control the government, a stand that puts them at odds with the White House. “I’ve always represented the common American man and woman as a member of the House of Representatives which is why I’ve always been despised in Washington DC and never fit in,” Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) began her resignation letter.

In 1932, in a similar time of political realignment, New York governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt attracted voters across the political spectrum when he promised “a new deal for the American people,” with “more equitable opportunity to share in the distribution of national wealth.” “Let us…constitute ourselves prophets of a new order of competence and of courage,” he told the delegates to the Democratic National Convention when he accepted its nomination for president. “This is more than a political campaign; it is a call to arms. Give me your help, not to win votes alone, but to win in this crusade to restore America to its own people.”

—

Notes:

https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/russia-u-s-peace-business-ties-4db9b290

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/30/don-bacon-moral-clarity-ukraine-00670982

https://www.chathamhouse.org/2022/07/what-kleptocracy-and-how-does-it-work

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/technology/david-sacks-white-house-profits.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/us/politics/trump-david-gentile-commutation.html

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-frees-former-gpb-capital-ceo-after-biden-admins-ponzi-scheme-sentence-2025-11-30/

EU Steps Up, Stops Russia !

 

'🚨 THE END GAME 🚨 AND THE REAL PLAN 🚨

Remember Trump's arrogance before the fall, when he floated his 28-point Putin-friendly “deal” and strutted around saying:

• “Zelenskyy is under pressure with little choice.”

• “We don’t really care about Europe.”

• “We’re confident he’ll sign once he sees the full plan.”

• “America’s done with the cash drain, let NATO and the EU handle it.”

Yeah. All that garbage.

All that delusion.

All that “sheriff in OUR town” energy from a man who thought Europe would kneel.

This 🤡 dismissed Europe’s €183B in aid and frozen Russian assets as something he “doesn’t really care about,” while demanding we “step up” for his freeze-line farce.

He thought Zelenskyy was cornered by frozen U.S. aid.

He thought Europe would rubber-stamp whatever Washington dictated.

And then HAWK MERZ walked onto ARD and detonated the illusion:

“Unacceptable. Impossible without Europe’s consent.”

A diplomatic sledgehammer.

Merz reminded the world that Europe controls the €183B in Brussels, the REAL leverage Trump arrogantly assumed he could seize and redistribute.

Yeah. He tried to rob us.

And Europe slammed the vault door in his face.

Trump said he “doesn’t really care” about Europe’s contributions?

Europe answered by taking over the entire negotiation.

Then came the ultimate humiliation:

Even the U.S. Ambassador in Berlin admitted the “aspirational goal” is Germany leading NATO SACEUR, a command post America held since 1951.

A German commander of NATO forces.

If that’s not a global power shift, what is?

Trump wanted Europe weak.

Instead, he forced Europe to grow titanium teeth.

Austria even cracked its sacred neutrality for the first time since 1955, bc Putin’s hybrid attacks don’t respect borders.

🇪🇺 THE REPLACED TRUMP PLAN, OUR PLAN

And this is the part that broke Washington’s spine:

Europe dropped a fully coordinated 24-point doctrine; written by Berlin, Paris, Warsaw, the Nordics, the Baltics, and London, and aligned with Kyiv from minute one.

If Russia accepts this plan, it admits strategic defeat.

If Russia rejects it, Europe keeps arming Ukraine until Russian logistics crumble.

Either way...  Europe wins.

This is why Merz launched his own Friedensvorstoß, a peace initiative without waiting for the U.S.

Germany is positioning itself as the architect of European security, while Washington can F OFF!

🇪🇺 THE 24-POINT EUROPEAN PLAN, THE  👑 JEWEL

(Every point destroys the equivalent in Trump’s plan, exactly as shown.)

1. Immediate OSCE/UN-verified ceasefire

→ Kills Trump's vague freeze that let Russia regroup.

2. No recognition of Russian territorial gains

→ Kills Trump's quiet Crimea concession.

3. Russian withdrawal from occupied regions, monitored

→ Kills Trump's "status freeze."

4. Independent monitoring mission across all fronts

→ Kills Trump’s loophole “mutual observation.”

5. 90-day compliance checks with instant snapback

→ Kills Trump’s toothless review.

6. Return of abducted Ukrainian children

→ Kills Trump’s silence on war crimes.

7. “All for all” POW exchange

→ Kills Trump’s selective exchange deal.

8. Legally binding EU-led security guarantees

→ Kills Trump’s neutrality trap.

9. No limits on Ukraine’s army

→ Kills Trump’s forced demilitarization.

10. Ukraine keeps long-range strike capability

→ Kills Trump’s 150km ban.

11. Reaffirmed NATO pathway

→ Kills Trump’s permanent neutrality.

12. Sanctions lifted only after full withdrawal

→ Kills Trump’s instant relief.

13. Automatic sanctions reinstatement

→ Kills Trump’s “consult first” loophole.

14. Zaporizhzhia NPP fully returned to Ukraine

→ Kills Trump’s insane joint control.

15. Dnipro trade routes restored under Ukraine

→ Kills Trump’s Russian veto.

16. Reconstruction funded by frozen Russian assets

→ Kills Trump’s U.S.-controlled fund.

17. Continuous Western military aid

→ Kills Trump’s weapons ban.

18. EU–Ukraine peace council runs the process

→ Kills Trump’s U.S.-chaired commission.

19. 50km demilitarized buffer zone

→ Kills Trump’s Russia-dictated lines.

20. Minority rights under Kyiv’s law

→ Kills Trump’s “autonomous Russian areas.”

21. Free elections only under OSCE/UN

→ Kills Trump’s Kremlin “observers.”

22. Balanced Black Sea maritime limits

→ Kills Trump’s naval restrictions on Ukraine.

23. Economic normalization only after compliance

→ Kills Trump’s reintegration despite occupation.

24. Ukraine holds veto power at every stage

→ Kills Trump’s attempt to sideline Kyiv.

🔥 THIS WAS A POWER GRAB, AND IT WORKED.

Everything about this moment screams:

ULTIMATUM.

Accept it, or Europe keeps arming Ukraine until the Kremlin is bleeding out of every supply line.

Europe seized control of the Ukraine endgame.

Not “in partnership with the U.S.”

Not “coordinating with Trump.”

Not “seeking approval.”

Europe wrote the plan.

Ukraine endorsed it.

And we removed every poison pill in Trump’s Putin-wish-list:

✔ no army caps

✔ no territorial giveaways

✔ no Russian vetoes

✔ no forced neutrality

✔ no Putin “profit” from frozen assets

✔ no U.S.-run “peace council”

✔ no American monopoly on reconstruction

⭐ THE BOTTOM LINE

Trump said Zelenskyy had “little choice.”

Trump said he “doesn’t really care” about Europe.

Europe answered by taking over the entire peace process, NATO command (in the future) shift and all.

The global power shift is real.

And it’s irreversible.'

 Rose Fleur November 24 at 5:55 AM

MAGA Is A Foreign Influence Op

Trump isn't Vladimir Putin's only American sucker. 

Rick Wilson, Nov 27, LINCOLN SQUARE 

Not “incidental to MAGA,” not touching it,” not “nudging it,” not “occasionally exploiting it.” MAGA is a foreign influence operation, root and branch.

While pundits spent more time this weekend than anyone should on RFK Jr.’s, uh, erotic poetry to Olivia Nuzzi (and by that, I mean SWEET JESUS BLEACH IT FROM MY BRAIN), we learned foreign influence operations are at the tweeting, bleating heart of the MAGA moment.

MAGA is not just a political movement of goateed, 50-ish white dudes who all rock that same avatar of them copping what they imagine is an expression of manly vigor in the front seat of their behind-on-the-payments Ford F-350.

It’s a delivery system.

A supply chain for chaos that starts in Moscow and Tehran and Beijing, runs through bot farms in industrial parks outside St. Petersburg or the Pardis Technology Park north of Tehran, or some Nigerian click farm, or a Chinese-criminal-owned social media and tech scam prison in the wilds of Burma, bounces off a rage-merchant influencer “from Ohio” who has never set foot in America, and ends up in your pissed off MAGA uncle’s Facebook feed as a “patriotic truth.”

It’s tempting to call MAGA the most gullible cohort of political suckers, mooks, rubes, and slowcoaches ever to blight this nation. I want to tell you I’m going to resist that temptation, but that would be as big a lie as the thousands of MAGA accounts with AI avatars who look and sound like American patriots, flooding social media platforms from their lairs abroad.

MAGA is the most gullible cohort of political suckers, mooks, rubes, and slowcoaches ever to blight this nation.

If that sounds harsh, good...

Trump's Replacement Already Chosen

THE SUCCESSOR - The GOP’s Hidden Plan for a Post-Trump America

Jack Hopkins, Nov 21, 2025

'READ THIS IN A QUIET ROOM.  What I’m about to walk you through is not a prediction.

It’s not a rumor. It’s not the kind of barstool chatter you hear from political junkies or Twitter addicts. This is the architecture of the operation…the GOP has already begun. It is the calm…organized…behind-the-scenes succession plan the Republican power structure has been forced to build……because their king is becoming too radioactive to protect.

And while the public is still distracted by Trump’s meltdowns…feuds…rallies…rants…polls…posts…and attacks… …the real power players in the Republican ecosystem…donors…strategists…media executives…and legal shields…are quietly doing what authoritarian movements always do…when their leader becomes more expensive to defend than to discard:

They pick a successor.  They build the escape hatch.  They prepare to feed the king to the wolves.

Today…for the first time…I’m giving you the name. Not a theory.  Not a meme.  Not an easy guess.  The actual figure the GOP is grooming in the shadows.

And once you understand who it is…and why it’s him…every strange headline of the last three months…will snap into place like a rifle bolt.

So let’s start with the foundational rule. The rule every authoritarian movement lives by…whether they admit it or not: 

RULE #1: Authoritarian Movements Always Prepare A Successor

Trump isn’t stupid.  Dangerous? Yes.  Chaotic? Extremely.  Narcissistic? Pathologically.

But stupid? No.  He knows what’s coming.  He can smell the shift in the air.  He can feel the tremors under his feet. He knows the party that once worshipped him…is quietly…carefully…systematically preparing the conditions…under which they can walk away from him…and survive.

But here’s what the base doesn’t know:

The GOP already has their replacement identified.  Already vetted.  Already modeled.  Already tested.  Already tentatively approved by the only three groups that matter:  donors…operatives…and Fox News.

And the moment Trump becomes politically irrecoverable… whether because of a scandal…a collapse…a file…a leak…or a catalyst event… …their successor will already be standing in the wings…polished…rehearsed…and wrapped in a donor-friendly bow.

So let’s talk about who it is. And why he’s far more strategically dangerous than Trump ever was.

The BIG Reveal: The Successor Is Glenn Youngkin

Yes.  Him.  The tall…polished…khaki-friendly…investor-class golden boy…from Virginia.  The man who looks like he was grown in a laboratory to be inoffensive.  The smiling assassin…who blends suburban moderation…with culture-war extremism… in the exact proportion required…to seduce swing voters…while still feeding red meat to the MAGA faithful.

But here’s the real kicker: Youngkin is not Trump without the chaos.  He’s Trumpism refined.  Trumpism professionalized.  Trumpism sanitized.

He represents the idealized version of the MAGA movement…the one Republican strategists wished Trump could be: Authoritarian without the sloppiness; Extreme without the scandals; Hard-right but soft-spoken; Ideological but not insane; Loyal to donors…not to vengeance;  Dangerous… but in a suit and tie…not a gold-plated tracksuit

He’s the “respectable authoritarian.” The brand-safe strongman. The white-collar version of the red-hatted id. And if Trump falls…collapses…or gets buried in the avalanche the GOP is already preparing… Fox News…the donor class…and the RNC…can roll Youngkin out in under 48 hours.

Let me show you the seven reasons why they chose him.

1. Donors Trust Him.

This is where everything begins.  Republican donors love Trump’s tax cuts.  They love his deregulation. They love his judicial pipeline. 

But they hate his unpredictability. They hate the instability.  They hate the risk.  

Youngkin is the anti-risk candidate. Former Carlyle Group executive. Translation:  He speaks fluent billionaire;  He understands institutional money; He knows how to stabilize markets; He won’t wake up one morning…and tank the stock market because he’s angry at a celebrity.

To donors…Youngkin is the perfect guard dog: He’ll protect their money;  He’ll protect their tax cuts;  He’ll protect their deregulation;  And he won’t blow himself up on live TV.

Donors don’t want charisma.  They want control.  Youngkin…is controllable.

2. FOX NEWS Loves Him…And They’ve Already Tested Him

This part matters more than almost anyone realizes.  Fox does not randomly elevate people.  They test.  They measure.  They probe.  They check viewer retention.

3. He Wins Suburbs Without Losing Rural Voters

This is the single most valuable trait a GOP candidate can have in modern politics.  Trump loses the suburbs.  DeSantis loses the suburbs.  Vance hemorrhages them.  Abbott is radioactive outside Texas.

But Youngkin? He walks into the suburbs like a golden retriever in a polo shirt and people relax.  This freaks Democrats out and delights donors.  He is the first Republican since before 2016 who can:  appeal to moms; appeal to college-educated whites; appeal to moderate men; appeal to older independents; …while still feeding rural conservatives the culture-war red meat they require. He’s the bridge.

Trump was the wrecking ball. Youngkin is the salesman.

4. He Carries MAGA Themes Without MAGA Baggage.  This is the part that makes him dangerous.  

Youngkin pushes:  anti-trans laws; book-banning rhetoric; anti-public education crusades; election restrictions; Christian nationalist dog whistles; anti-woke crusades; corporate capture; and, extremist school-board takeovers.

But he does it with a smile.  He packages authoritarian policy in “parental choice” language. He disguises extremism as “community values.” He masks culture war with khakis and fleece vests.  He’s a wolf in Vineyard Vines.  Republicans believe…correctly…that Youngkin can get away with pushing the same agenda as Trump……but without terrifying the moderates they need to win.

5. He’s A Blank Slate…And That Makes Him Lethal

Trump is a known quantity. His weaknesses are baked in.

But Youngkin? He’s undefined to most Americans. That gives GOP strategists a blank canvas to paint whatever character they need him to be: The unifier; The businessman outsider; The “normal” Republican; The suburban dad; The stable conservative; The future of the party

Blank-slate candidates…are the most dangerous…because people project what they want onto them.

6. He Is Authoritarian-Friendly...Just More Polished About It

Let’s be blunt: Youngkin governs like a smiling authoritarian. Not the loud, ranting…carnival-barker kind. The corporate…polite…boardroom kind. He advances: voter restrictions; surveillance-friendly policies; school censorship; state power over local boards; culture-war crackdowns; and, judicial alignment.

He does it quietly, Efficiently, With donor approval, He’s the authoritarian the Wall Street crowd…wished Trump had been. And that’s exactly why he’s their successor.

7. Donors, Operatives, And FOX See Him As The Post-Trump Bridge. This is the core of the plan. The GOP knows their movement cannot survive without Trump’s base. But they also know their movement cannot exist with a leader as unstable and self-destructive as Trump. 

Enter Youngkin: Acceptable to MAGA; Acceptable to donors; Acceptable to Fox; Acceptable to suburban moderates; Acceptable to the party establishment; He’s the only person who satisfies all factions…without triggering war. 

That’s why he’s the chosen successor. Not because he’s brilliant. Not because he’s charismatic. Not because he’s powerful. But because he’s…useful.

Authoritarian movements…don’t crown leaders based on strength. They crown leaders based on utility. 

The Plan: How They’ll Roll Him Out If The Avalanche Takes Trump

If Trump collapses…legally…politically…or psychologically…the GOP’s succession plan kicks in immediately. Here’s what it looks like behind the curtain:

1. Donors freeze Trump instantly. No money. No oxygen. No lifeline.

2. Fox pivots to a “future of the party” narrative. Soft. Earnest. Patriotic. Suburban-friendly. You’ll see Youngkin sitting comfortably on prime-time couches within 48 hours.

3. GOP leaders begin issuing statements about “stability” and “unity.” This is how they justify the pivot.

4. Operatives start pushing coordinated messaging: “It’s time for new leadership.” This is the real kill shot.

5. Youngkin is elevated as the calm…reasonable…safe alternative. He’ll appear moderate. He’ll appear steady. He’ll appear like the “antidote” to chaos. But underneath the performance is the same authoritarian project…just dressed in a fleece vest instead of a spray tan.

6. The Truth Democrats Must Understand …Youngkin Is More Dangerous Than Trump.  Trump is a blunt instrument. Youngkin is a scalpel. Trump mobilizes chaos. Youngkin mobilizes compliance. Trump incites rebellion. Youngkin manufactures consent. Trump destroys institutions. Youngkin repurposes them. Trump relies on rage. Youngkin relies on branding. Trump is the explosion. Youngkin is the quiet takeover.

Which one is more dangerous? You already know the answer.

7. This Is The Moment To Pay Attention

We are living in the early stages of the GOP’s succession plan. The headlines are shifting. The operatives are whispering. The donors are moving. The media is testing. The king is wobbling. And the successor is waiting in the wings.

This is what authoritarian movements do. They protect the project…not the person. And if Trump falls…collapses…or detonates under the weight of his own scandals…Glenn Youngkin will not be a surprise.

He will be the plan. And you’ll be ready… Because the avalanche…is coming. 

And One Last Thing Before We Close:

I’m not pretending to be a prophet…but I am telling you this as plainly as I can: When you follow the real signals…Glenn Youngkin isn’t just a “possibility.” He’s the logical endpoint of the GOP’s internal incentives. He’s the only figure who checks every box the power brokers care about: donor-safe…scandal-light…Fox-approved…suburban-friendly…MAGA-adjacent…and disciplined enough to carry the authoritarian project without the chaos Trump drags behind him.'

Here's the VIDEO

Is Donald Trump’s power about to collapse?

The Real Resistance is all of us..........

'Is Donald Trump’s power about to collapse?

On Friday, aboard Air Force One, the President of the United States, unable to maintain even the bare minimum of composure, turned toward a female reporter, pointed at her face, and snarled, “Quiet. Quiet, Piggy.”

She had asked a question that any functioning democracy should welcome: Would the newly released Epstein emails, where Epstein wrote that Trump “knew about the girls” at Mar-a-Lago, carry legal consequences?

It was clear. It was necessary. It was the kind of question a free press exists to ask. And instead of answering it, the President of the United States chose to degrade her.

This wasn’t a throwaway insult. It was calculated humiliation. It was the full weight of the presidency bearing down on a woman doing her job. And it wasn’t the first time. When Trump feels cornered, especially by a woman, he doesn’t argue. He attacks.

But if you look underneath the noise, the insults, the shouting, the constant stream of outrage, the cracks are showing. And he is terrified that we’re starting to notice. Authoritarian leaders often appear untouchable until they’re not. Mussolini’s grip on Italy looked solid until the military started to turn, and he was arrested by his own king. Ferdinand Marcos ruled the Philippines under martial law for years, but a popular uprising forced him into exile. Nicolae Ceaușescu ruled Romania with an iron fist until he lost control of a public speech, broadcast live, and was executed by his own people days later. These leaders didn’t fall because they lost all their power at once. They fell when the illusion of total control began to fade and the public stopped being afraid. That’s the moment we’re entering now. Trump still has power, but he’s no longer in complete control. And he knows it.

Let’s start with his speech today at the McDonald’s summit. Trump stood before a room of fast-food executives, franchise owners, and suppliers and declared, “You are so damn lucky that I won that election, I’m telling you.” He bragged that inflation was the highest in U.S. history when he took office and that he had fixed it. He boasted that Thanksgiving dinner at Walmart was now cheaper. He claimed prices were dropping across the board. He took jabs at Kamala Harris multiple times, casually mentioned military attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, rambled about his personal devotion to McDonald’s products, and even said he had renamed the Gulf of Mexico.

Every bit of his “facts” was false, and the rest were the ramblings of a madman.

Inflation peaked in June 2022, under Biden, at 9.1%. But in 1980, it hit 14.6%. The worst inflation in recent U.S. history happened decades ago. And even now, with inflation slowing, prices remain painfully high. A Big Mac costs over six dollars. Grocery bills are pushing families to the edge, and Thanksgiving is going to cost more.

This is how authoritarianism works. It’s all smoke and mirrors, lies dressed up as victories, propaganda sold as truth. You manufacture a crisis or make an existing one worse, then claim credit for solving it, even when the so-called solution causes more harm. In the Soviet Union, leaders praised “record harvests” while people stood in bread lines. In Venezuela, stores posted fake prices while shelves sat empty. And in America today, Trump is following the same playbook, pretending everything is great while millions are barely holding on.

That’s one crack.

Here’s another crack: New York City. During the campaign for mayor, Trump targeted Zohran Mamdani, calling him a radical, a communist, a threat to America. He warned that if Mamdani won, New York would lose federal funding and face “big problems.” But Mamdani won by nine points. And now, suddenly, Trump says he wants to meet with him. Says they’ll “work something out.” Says he “loves New York.” This isn’t a change of heart. It’s a strategic retreat. Trump talks tough until the pressure doesn’t work. He threatens governors, mayors, and entire states, but when voters push back, when people hold the line, he folds. That’s the pattern. The lesson here isn’t that he’s soft. It’s that resistance works. Not in a single knockout, but by dragging it out, slowing him down, and jamming the gears. Authoritarian movements thrive on speed and fear. They hate delay. They hate friction. Because the longer this drags on, the more people start paying attention, and waking up.

Another crack: the Epstein files. For months, Trump and his Republican cronies buried any effort to release the Department of Justice’s Epstein records. He called the investigation a hoax. House leadership refused to bring it to the floor. MAGA loyalists fell in line. But everything shifted after the recent special elections. Republicans saw the writing on the wall, MAGA’s grip is slipping. A bipartisan group filed a discharge petition, a rarely used procedural move to bypass leadership. They reached the magic number: 218 signatures. The bill had to move forward. So Trump flipped. Suddenly, he wanted transparency. Suddenly, he encouraged Republicans to vote yes. Claimed he had “nothing to hide.” But that’s not true.

Behind the scenes, he directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to open a new investigation, not into Epstein’s circle as a whole, but narrowly focused on Democrats. He used legal language to hint that an “ongoing investigation” could prevent full disclosure. It’s not transparency, it’s preemptive sanitization. He wants to scrub the files before they ever see daylight.

And looking at the facts, the accusations peaked between 2002 and 2005. This is important because this new “investigation” is only targeting Democrats. And during that time, Trump himself was a registered Democrat, from 2001 to 2009. So if Democrats are to blame during that window, by his own logic, he’s included. And we already know he’s involved. His name appears in the flight logs. Victims say he attended parties. Emails mention him by name. We don’t need the files to confirm the connection. The only remaining question is: how deep does it go? And if these files are released, don’t expect clarity. Expect redactions. Expect missing pages. Expect a carefully managed show. Because Trump doesn’t want the truth, he wants control of what truth is released. If it hurts an enemy, it’s fair game. If it hurts him, it’s a Democrat hoax or his old favorite “fake news”.

Then there’s the courts. This is where we are seeing big cracks, too. Since Trump took office again in January, he has treated the Department of Justice not as an independent institution, but as a weapon for personal revenge. Trump has a personal vendetta for James Comey, and he has been desperate to punish him using the legal system. He wants Comey humiliated just like Trump himself was. And the DOJ, under pressure, delivered.

But this week, a federal judge pushed back. He questioned the entire foundation of the case, suggesting prosecutors indicted Comey first and investigated later, a complete reversal of how law is supposed to work. In a rare move, the judge ordered the release of grand jury materials to the defense, raising serious concerns about abuse of process. That almost never happens. This wasn’t just a procedural rebuke. It was a warning flare that this whole case could be thrown out.

What the DOJ under Trump did is exactly how autocracies operate. They don’t need facts. They need targets. In Nazi Germany, the judiciary swore loyalty not to law, but to Hitler himself. In Putin’s Russia, courts exist to silence dissent, jail journalists, and erase political rivals. In Turkey, Erdoğan responded to unfavorable rulings by jailing judges and reshaping the bench. Trump has praised all of these leaders. He has studied their playbooks. And he’s using the same tactics here, demanding prosecutions of his enemies, attacking judges who rule against him.

We have not lost our judiciary. But the pressure is mounting. What’s holding the line right now is not the system; it’s individuals. Judges who still believe in their oath. Their courage is what stands between democracy and collapse. But courage is not permanent. It doesn’t last forever. It’s a window. And if we don’t act while it’s open, it will close. We need them to hold the line.

And then, the final crack. The one Trump fears the most. Us pushing back.

Not in Washington. Not in a courtroom. Not even on a ballot.

On the streets of Chicago, immigrant street vendors continue to be hunted. Under “Operation Midway Blitz,” ICE raids have swept through neighborhoods, leading to more than 3,000 arrests. Vendors are disappearing. Food carts are gone. Entire blocks have gone quiet. The threat is real, and it is relentless. But even in the shadow of fear, the community is fighting back.

Every weekend, a group of cyclists rides through Little Village, Brighton Park, and other immigrant neighborhoods. When they find a tamale vendor, they don’t just stop to eat. They buy everything. Every tamale. Every bottle of juice. Then they send the vendor home with cash, safety, and dignity. The food? Donated to shelters, to families who need it most.

Because as much as some of these individuals would love to shelter away from the modern day Gestapo, they can’t afford to not work. What these cyclists are doing is a grassroots movement that is making a difference.

This is resistance.

The Street Vendors Association has raised over $300,000. Their work has kept hundreds of people off the streets, out of ICE vans, and in the arms of their communities. They are not waiting for legislation. They are not waiting for elections. They are not waiting for heroes. They are the heroes.

This is what resistance has always looked like. In 1943, Danish citizens risked their lives to ferry Jewish neighbors across the sea to Sweden. In Selma, Black churches scraped together donations to bail out jailed marchers. In Poland, shipyard workers cooked in secret to feed entire neighborhoods under occupation. Resistance doesn’t always look like a protest sign or a headline. Sometimes, it looks like people working within the law to save each other.

Trump doesn’t fear Congress. He doesn’t fear subpoenas. He doesn’t even fear the truth. What he fears, what all authoritarians fear, is the people who refuse to be intimidated. The ones who say no. The ones who organize, protect, and hold the line.

And so tonight, as we watch the strong man weaken and crack before our very eyes, we need to take comfort and strength in knowing everything we are doing is working. We might not see it in every headline and news cycle, but the momentum is building. We have a very long year ahead of us where we are going to have to use every ounce of grit and every tool we have to slow and derail Trump’s sinister plans, but I can’t think of anyone better than Americans to get it done. We’ve fought strong men in the past, and we’ll get it done this time, too.

I’ll see you tomorrow,

Heather Cox Richardson '

from another FB post..

UPDATE - Video: Autocracies die from implosion.....

Reports say that the FSB is taking over many Russian prisons and detention centers, arresting Putin's officials. 

Ukraine drone attacks are weakening the Russian economy....

Autocracies die from implosion.....

Video 

He Will Go Soon

We will celebrate his absence, as we should. Maybe he'll go on a Greyhound bus!

Thank God and Greyhound He's Gone!  [Apologies to Roy Clark from 1970]

Maybe he'll just die. Perhaps his MAGA terrorist mob will turn on him. Or, maybe he will be hounded from Washington by a mob of ANTIFA 'rabble' patriots that takes over the capitol and demands that he leave

It will be a relief, however it happens.

BUT, what comes after will present real challenges to the United States of America.

On the one hand there are already forces of repression and theft who will try to control the government for their personal benefit - people like Thiele, Musk and the DOGE crooks, who are already lining up to take over.

Our job is to stop them - by whatever means necessary.

On the other hand, we will want to restore our Democracy back to the ancient history of 2024! 

We can do that; BUT we can do it only if we have people committed to the rule of law and Democracy who are ready to take over Federal jobs VERY SOON.

Perhaps we can create a SHADOW GOVERNMENT [as seen below] that can identify Trump appointees to fire and have lists of qualified replacements. 

May God bless America..... 

YES, We Can Claw Back Money from POTUS

How can we claw back money from gifts or theft by the President

ChatGPT said:

That’s a really good — and serious — question. The process of “clawing back” money or assets given away, stolen, or misused by a sitting or former President depends on what exactly happened (e.g., illegal gifts, embezzlement, misuse of public funds, or corruption).

Here’s how it generally works in the U.S.:

---

1. If public funds were stolen or misused

• Department of Justice (DOJ) and Office of the Inspector General (OIG) can investigate and bring civil recovery actions or criminal charges.

• The U.S. government can sue to recover funds (for example, under the False Claims Act or other restitution statutes).

• If convicted of a crime like theft or fraud, the court can order restitution — repayment of the stolen money.

---

2. If the President received illegal gifts or emoluments

• Under the Foreign Emoluments Clause and Domestic Emoluments Clause, the President cannot personally profit from gifts or payments from foreign governments or the U.S. government beyond their salary.

• Congress can demand the return of such funds, and the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) or General Services Administration (GSA) may step in to reclaim physical gifts.

• Civil lawsuits (including by Congress or watchdog organizations) can seek disgorgement — forcing the return of improperly obtained gains.

---

3. After leaving office

• A former President can still face criminal and civil liability for actions while in office (as reaffirmed in multiple court rulings).

• The DOJ, or private plaintiffs in some cases, can pursue asset recovery, fines, and civil forfeiture.

• If foreign assets or shell companies were used, the Treasury Department and FBI can coordinate with international partners to seize or repatriate funds.

---

4. Political accountability tools

• During office: Impeachment is the main mechanism for removal or sanction for misconduct.

• After office: Congressional investigations can expose wrongdoing and refer matters to the DOJ or state attorneys general.

---

Examples from history

• Richard Nixon had to return public gifts and pay back campaign funds after Watergate.

• Donald Trump’s emoluments cases (though unresolved before he left office) set precedents for civil recovery efforts.

• State-level prosecutions (like those involving fraud or tax violations) can also recover money even from a former president.

---

If you want, I can outline the legal steps Congress or the DOJ would need to take right now to reclaim funds in a specific scenario (e.g., “foreign gifts accepted by a president” or “funds misused from a campaign or public budget”).

Would you like me to break it down that way? 

Our Future - Mamdani and Hope

November 5, 2025  

Heather Cox Richardson

New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a member of both the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, began his victory speech last night with a nod to Eugene V. Debs, labor organizer and Socialist candidate for president at the turn of the last century.

“The sun may have set over our city this evening, but as Eugene Debs once said: ‘I can see the dawn of a better day for humanity.’”

The 34-year-old mayor-elect’s speech went on to deliver something that was more than a victory speech. It marked a new era much like the one that had given rise to Debs himself. After more than forty years in which ordinary Americans had seen the political system being stacked against them and, over time, forgotten they had agency to change it, they had woken up.

Mamdani began by lifting up New York City’s working people, noting that “[f]or as long as we can remember,” they “have been told by the wealthy and the well-connected that power does not belong in their hands…. And yet,” he said, “over the last 12 months, you have dared to reach for something greater.”

“Tonight,” he said, “against all odds, we have grasped it. The future is in our hands.” New York, he said, had delivered “[a] mandate for change. ​​A mandate for a new kind of politics. A mandate for a city we can afford. And a mandate for a government that delivers exactly that.”

Mamdani thanked “the next generation of New Yorkers who refuse to accept that the promise of a better future was a relic of the past.” And that was the heart of his message: that democracy belongs to ordinary people. “We will fight for you,” he said, “because we are you.”

He thanked “Yemeni bodega owners and Mexican abuelas. Senegalese taxi drivers and Uzbek nurses. Trinidadian line cooks and Ethiopian aunties.” He assured “every New Yorker in Kensington and Midwood and Hunts Point” that “this city is your city, and this democracy is yours too.”

Mamdani celebrated the hard work of democracy in his win. It was a victory not just for all those who make up New York City, he said, but also for “the more than 100,000 volunteers who built this campaign into an unstoppable force…. With every door knocked, every petition signature earned, and every hard-earned conversation, you eroded the cynicism that has come to define our politics.”

With that base of Americans engaged in the work of democracy, Mamdani welcomed a new era. “There are many who thought this day would never come, who feared that we would be condemned only to a future of less, with every election consigning us simply to more of the same,” he said. “And there are others who see politics today as too cruel for the flame of hope to still burn.”

But in New York City last night, he said, “we have answered those fears…. Hope is alive. Hope is a decision that tens of thousands of New Yorkers made day after day, volunteer shift after volunteer shift, despite attack ad after attack ad. More than a million of us stood in our churches, in gymnasiums, in community centers, as we filled in the ledger of democracy.”

“And while we cast our ballots alone, we chose hope together. Hope over tyranny. Hope over big money and small ideas. Hope over despair. We won because New Yorkers allowed themselves to hope that the impossible could be made possible. And we won because we insisted that no longer would politics be something that is done to us. Now, it is something that we do.”

Mamdani promised a government that would answer to the demands of the people. It would address the city’s cost-of-living crisis, invest in education, improve infrastructure, and cut bureaucratic waste. It would, he said, work with police officers to reduce crime while also defending community safety and demanding excellence in government.

Mamdani pushed back not just against the smears thrown his way during the campaign, but also against the deliberate division of the country that has been a staple of Republican rhetoric since 1972, when President Richard Nixon’s vice president Spiro Agnew embraced his role as the key purveyor of “positive polarization.” In its place, he called for community and solidarity.

“In this new age we make for ourselves,” Mamdani said, “we will refuse to allow those who traffic in division and hate to pit us against one another…. Here, we believe in standing up for those we love, whether you are an immigrant, a member of the trans community, one of the many Black women that Donald Trump has fired from a federal job, a single mom still waiting for the cost of groceries to go down, or anyone else with their back against the wall. Your struggle is ours, too.”

Mamdani, who is Muslim, promised to “build a City Hall that stands steadfast alongside Jewish New Yorkers and does not waver in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism. Where the more than 1 million Muslims know that they belong—not just in the five boroughs of this city, but in the halls of power.”

He called for a government of both competence and compassion. “For years,” he said, “those in City Hall have only helped those who can help them. But on January first, we will usher in a city government that helps everyone.”

Mamdani took on the problem of disinformation in modern politics, noting that “many have heard our message only through the prism of misinformation. Tens of millions of dollars have been spent to redefine reality and to convince our neighbors that this new age is something that should frighten them.” He laid that disinformation at the feet of the very wealthy in their quest to divide working Americans to make sure they retain power. “[A]s so often occurred,” he said, “the billionaire class has sought to convince those making $30 an hour that their enemies are those earning $20 an hour. They want the people to fight amongst ourselves so that we remain distracted from the work of remaking a long-broken system.”

Mamdani urged New Yorkers to embrace a “brave new course, rather than fleeing from it.” If they do, he said, “we can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves.”

Mamdani identified the popular momentum to defeat President Donald J. Trump, but made the point that the goal is not simply to stop Trump, but also to stop the next Trump who comes along. While Mamdani’s prescription focused on the avenues of resistance open to New York City government, he emphasized that for the president “to get to any of us,” he will have to “get through all of us.”

Mamdani called for New Yorkers to “leave mediocrity in our past,” and for Democrats to “dare to be great.” When Mamdani said, “New York, this power, it’s yours,” and told New Yorkers, “[t]his city belongs to you,” millions of Americans heard a reminder that they, too, are powerful and that the government of the United States of America belongs to them.

Mamdani won election yesterday backed by just over half the city’s voters, in an election characterized by extraordinarily high turnout. Andy Newman of the New York Times noted yesterday that in the last four New York City mayoral elections, fewer than a third of registered voters turned out. Yesterday, more than 2 million voters voted, the highest turnout for a mayoral election since 1969.

And that turnout is a key part of the story of yesterday’s Democratic wave. As Mamdani said, American voters appear, once again, to be aware of their agency in our democracy.

—

Notes:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/05/zohran-mamdani-victory-speech-transcript

https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/04/record-voters-ballots-cast-mamdani-cuomo-sliwa/

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/nyregion/nyc-mayor-election-turnout.html