13 Comments

Interesting how the impending death of democracy is inventoried on a daily basis.

Expand full comment

Thank you. Grim as this all is, it is helpful to articulate the details and not sink into a fug of despondency. Here we go, at least together.

Expand full comment

Just for the record, there is no argument against the Hunter pardon that’s in any way justifiable.

For those who can’t remember that far back, it was (again) an unjustifiable partisan vendetta. Talk about crapping on norms…

Expand full comment

I think the alarms have been sounding for weeks. I'd love to read more about what we do now. Thank you for using Blue Sky for reference material and not X.

Expand full comment

Steve Bannon and Donald Trump made it very VERY clear - they want to destroy their fictionalized “deep state” (ergo the federal government). They want a significantly weaker federal government, arguing that the marketplace (in other words big business) will better deal with matters such as pollution, food contamination, car safety, medical device manufacture, poverty, retirement, manufacturing safety, and on and on.

Making the FBI building a museum and sending all their employees out into the field will get rid of the many of their labs and expertise - as well as precluding them from protecting us from bad people (such as terrorists, both domestic and foreign). Ditto health matters as RFK, Jr. tells us to drink raw milk and stop making vaccines. Destroy Health and Welfare. Dumb down the country by destroying education (Trump wants to end accreditation of higher education institutions and make a college he approves for all).

Hegseth and Patel will just follow every whim of Bannon and Trump and Vance and Thiel and Musk and Bezos and Koch and Mellon and on and on.

In short, they want to destroy it all and start over - just like happened in Russia and the oligarchs got everything they wanted so long as they were loyal to Putin. Culture wars will distract most of “The People” from seeing what is happening.

BTW - if Trump gets his way, there will not be any impeachments and The People will never have to vote again (per his public comments).

This is not a clown show.

Expand full comment

Well, they want a significantly weaker federal government in *certain aspects*. They want it stronger in aspects friendly to wealth, power, property, and "morality".

Expand full comment

I stand, somewhat but not totally, corrected.

Expand full comment

https://substack.com/home/post/p-152457565

Trump turned pardons into tools of corruption, shielding cronies, his family, and himself. Biden’s decision to pardon Hunter is a stand against the GOP's weaponization of justice and their disgusting proxy way against his presidency.

Expand full comment

Thank you David for adding

your editorial remarks here

and there. They're very good

and generally 100% spot on.

Re: pardons and legacy.

I rarely if ever dive into any of

the 3 MSMs you post. 2 of

them are owned by

billionaires who tow their

bottom line, and the third is

a gray lady, who should be

dressed in black.

Expand full comment

The GOP and Trump have perfected the art of double-think, demanding strict adherence to "rules" they’ve gleefully torched. They insist on accountability for their enemies while excusing or outright celebrating their own rule-breaking. From undermining the justice system to defying constitutional norms, they weaponize laws as tools of convenience—enforcing them selectively to punish dissent while claiming victimhood when held to account. It’s not rule-following they champion; it’s the illusion of it, wielded to mask their own relentless pursuit of unchecked power.

Tired of the GOP's hypocrisy, nihilism, and corruption? Subscribe here:

https://substack.com/@patricemersault

Expand full comment

I personally don't think Biden intended to pardon Hunter as he kept confirming all along. Had Harris won the election, Biden would have let Hunter suffer the consequences of his actions. However, since trump won and is obviously giving away our country and the rule of law to people like Kash Patel, I can see that Biden didn't want his son to be tortured endlessly by them.

Unfortunately, his pardon has given them fuel to keep their bonfire of grievances burning and an excuse to pretend to take the higher ground. It's too bad that by trying to be a decent person, Biden's actions have the opposite effect of the intentions of an honorable man. As usual.

Expand full comment

I never thought the Constitution was a suicide pact, but the way "the opposition" is (not) gearing up to confront a threat that makes daily reports of its progress in preparing to rip the Constitution to threads is beyond belief.

I hate to say it, but the only bet I would place on Biden doing one damn thing more than protecting his son would be that Nothing Happens.

Expand full comment

Wow. The haughtiness and condescending statement by Justice Gorsuch is beyond the pale. Every branch of government here is independent yet they serve as checks and balances to each other. I doubt the Court can be diminished further based on the majority of US citizens assessment of their performance. As you have stated in your past newsletters...they have taken a sledgehammer to the rule of law.

Expand full comment