And Now, This

Any meaningful form of democracy requires an educated, informed, and engaged society.
In the coming days, we will likely see the impeachment of the President of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol. When he was unable to ram right-wing law and policies through parliament, he declared Martial Law and deployed military forces to seize the National Assembly. Crowds of South Korean citizens, countered the military, special forces, and police, and poured into the Capitol area -providing the mechanism for the National Assembly to vote and end Martial Law, and bringing the attempted self-coup to a peaceful end. (https://www.yahoo.com/news/south-korean-politician-broke-parliament-213100757.html). While the military, special forces, and helicopters were all armed, the South Korean people were armed with knowledge, a love of democracy (instead of a right-wing authoritarian dictatorship), and engaged enough to show up and resist. Their courage and commitment to democracy and each other is a timely example for the entire world.

In the United States we are often distracted by an array of entertainment, a steady stream of political chaos, and sports.

More people likely know the Super Bowl is on February 9, 2025, or the season premiere of “American Idol” is on March 9, 2025, than those who know the inauguration of Trump is on January 20, 2025. And each tick of the clock takes us closer to those who will celebrate loudly that day, tired of hearing about “wokeness”, climate, reproductive rights, same-sex marriages, DEI, children coming home from public school transgendered, Ukraine, Gaza, the government seizing our assault weapons, and caravans of drug-selling criminals pouring through the southern U.S. borders.

MAGA will celebrate that finally there’s a real President who will deport every last immigrant (first the undocumented though!), close the borders, make Canada and Greenland our 51st and 52nd states, stand firmly with Netanyahu, and slaughter every last Gazan, withdraw from global treaties and alliances, and give Putin whatever he wants -because that’s the difference between governance and capital “L” Leadership. Voters were given the choice between a dedicated public servant and a bloviating criminal “Leader”. While one-third voted for good governance, justice, democracy, and equality; slightly more than one-third voted for a corrupt, incompetent, narcissistic tyrant and his criminal organization; and remarkably one-third didn’t care one iota that people suffered, spilled blood, and died for their right to vote, didn’t care about democracy, the rule of law, institutional guardrails, or equality.

What Happens Now: December and January

First and foremost, it’s vital for all who poured heart and soul into the 2024 election cycle trying to protect democracy and the rule of law to rest, recover, take a book to a park or the beach, enjoy quiet time in nature, go for a swim, punch a nazi, birdwatching, watch “Slow Horses” on Apple TV, do whatever you need to do to relax.

Now, one not-so-brief observation (it started as brief, but, you know).

Project 2025, disavowed by Trump yet written by many appointees and close associates including VP “JD” Vance, represented 900+ pages of comprehensive plans to concentrate power and control of the United States for generations. Project 2025 is a bookend to the Lewis Powell Memorandum of 1971 which planned for a multigenerational weakening of democracy, justice, and equality in the United States. This is because extreme wealth concentration and tyranny go hand in hand anywhere in the world.

While many of us are rightfully outspoken about the blatant criminality of the Trump regime and the most sinister components of Project 2025, we must also negotiate a tightrope between informing and fearmongering.

For example, those with any grasp of economics understand the concept of a tariff.

A tariff is a tax or fee levied to import products or goods. It is intended as a “protectionist” levy and yes, those who have a minimum daily requirement of irony in their diet know that it is an anti-”free market” concept (which would ordinarily take me deeper into the rabbit hole while I prove that “free markets”, like unicorns, exist only in fairy tales), but I won’t digress (or did I?).

If, for example, we need widgets to manufacture xigots, widgets are only available from Canada, and we have imposed a 50% tariff on anything imported from Canada, widgets formerly priced at $100 each are now $150 upon import. The cost of any goods sold would then include the $50 tariff charge, so our precious xigots (and every family wants at least one!) which had cost $200 each are now, at least $250.

When criminal-elect Trump says he’s going to pay for tax cuts for corporations and Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy, Marion Adelson, Betsy DeVos, Linda McMahon, Timothy Mellon, and other billionaires by implementing tariffs (like when Mexico paid for the wall?) … guess who is paying for the tax cuts? And guess what else? It doesn’t matter if you wear a Red Hat, love Kid Rock and Ted Nugent, or are burning books in your front yard while shooting off rounds of your not-seized red, white, and blue AR-15.

Okay, now back to the tightrope. We’ve sounded the alarm on Project 2025. We’ve yelled from the treetops about the economics of tariffs. And when, on January 20, 2025, the criminal-elect becomes the criminal President, when suddenly the price of xigots doesn’t rise as of January 21, 2025, two-thirds of voters will just think it was just another time liberal elitists were yelling “The sky is falling” and yet the sky is right there and nothing has changed.

Mark these words, when (or if) the tariffs are implemented, the inflationary bump will be blamed on the Biden Administration, it will be deemed “fake news”, it will be blamed on China, and it will be blamed on Hillary’s emails. So there is a tenuous thin line fraught with risk when we shift from informing and crossover into fear-mongering -as when things we know will happen, however, not necessarily in the time and sequence we think, our informed words will simply be marginalized or rejected outright by many who are already “factose” intolerant.

Pardon This Brief Digression

While “news” organizations and pundits are “up in arms” about President Biden pardoning his surviving son, President Biden understands the vindictive nature of the coming storm. Trump has no interest in justice. His interests, which are manifest in his appointments thus far, are in pursuing retribution through absolute loyalists who will do what they are told. If Trump wants Hunter Biden convicted and imprisoned -he will be indicted by Pam Bondi, put in front of Aileen Cannon and be sentenced to as many years in prison that Trump should now be serving. Trump doesn’t like an investigative journalist “enemy of the state” at ProPublica, The Guardian, or Grist? Or Trump doesn’t like a political opponent, a whistleblower, or a witness? Well, the Supremely Corrupted Court of the U.S. has given him immunity for “official acts”. No witness, no crime.

The fact that frenzied “news” organizations are headlining the pardon is just another symptom of the legacy media disease. It is “sanewashing” because they are effectively creating a frame that the Justice department under Trump appointees Pam Bondi and Kash Patel will remain a fair system representing the interests of the people of the United States. This is a preposterous frame. They are Trump loyalists bought and paid for just as Aileen Cannon was. While I don’t like “whataboutism”, nevertheless here are three Trump pardons for context (notwithstanding that the GOP would never bring “gun charges” against anyone). Hunter was also indicted for a scheme to avoid $1.4 million in federal taxes, and he repaid the entire amount due.

By comparison, let’s quickly look at five of Trump’s pardons:

• Joe Arpaio: The former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, was convicted of criminal contempt for defying a court order to halt racial profiling practices. In August 2017, Trump pardoned Arpaio, a move that drew widespread criticism for endorsing discriminatory law enforcement tactics.
• Michael Flynn: Trump's former National Security Advisor pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his communications with the Russian ambassador while undermining sanctions on Russia for annexing Ukraine’s Crimea. In November 2020, Trump granted Flynn a full pardon, raising concerns about undermining accountability for misleading federal investigators.
• Roger Stone: A longtime political adviser to Trump, Stone was convicted on charges including obstruction of justice and witness tampering related to the Russia investigation. In July 2020, Trump commuted Stone's 40-month prison sentence, a decision that many viewed as an abuse of presidential power to protect an associate.
• Paul Manafort: Trump's former campaign chairman was convicted of tax and bank fraud, as well as failing to disclose foreign lobbying activities. In December 2020, Trump pardoned Manafort, prompting criticism that the pardon was intended to shield a political ally from legal consequences.
• Charles Kushner: The father of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was convicted of tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions, and witness tampering. Trump's December 2020 pardon of Kushner was controversial due to the severity of the crimes and the personal connection to the president.

And Charles Kushner? Now named as Ambassador to France by the criminal Trump. (France -please hide your valuables and about 75 million Americans apologize in advance)
(https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/30/charles-kushner-nominated-france-ambassador)

And yes, I still deplore “whataboutism” -but I’ll get over it.

Back to “What Happens Now Until January 20, 2025

There are several things President Biden should be considering as the clock on his term winds down to zero. An array of Executive Orders (EOs) should be executed related to defining, strengthening, protecting, and funding initiatives related to Department of Justice independence and commitment to impartial enforcement of the rule of law, strengthening protections for civil servants, Dreamers and immigration reform, climate action, housing affordability, gun violence prevention, the Affordable Care Act, capping essential drug prices for all Americans, voting rights, student loan reform, reproductive rights, election security, and voting rights. Granted, these and other EOs will be rescinded by the criminal Trump upon his inauguration, however, it would provide some tangible objectives for future Congressional action. The President and Senate should ensure they leave no judicial bench empty. While it will take multiple generations to restore impartiality, competence, and ethics to the Judicial system, the outgoing Administration must make sure they have left no vacancy behind to be filled with people like Aileen Cannon, Clarence Thomas, and Matthew Kacsmaryk.

State governments and State Attorneys General should be proactively planning defensive strategies for Federal overreach requesting State agency data about immigrants, women, and all others vulnerable to the Trump regime. Running through scenarios of the mobilization of the military to quell protected protest and dissent. Protection for journalists, scientists, election workers, and State/Local agency officials. Reacting to disasters, potentially without Federal funds and/or emergency declarations. The impact on State budgets when Federal funds are illegally delayed and/or withheld for political reasons. Forward thinking Governors like Gavin Newsom are already taking proactive steps. (https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2024/11/gavin-newsom-special-session-trump-resistance/)

Of course the best way to “Trump-proof” anything is for Trump to be rotting in prison.

January 2025 - January 2027 the 119th Congress

Many already know that in 2016, when the co-CEO of Oracle, Safra Catz, (a company that began life as a database company) told President-elect Trump that “we are here to help you in any way” I resigned from Oracle. And while I’d published my resignation letter on Linked In, I didn’t expect coverage from The Guardian, the New York Times, and other news outlets.

While less famous than Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre” the warnings inherent in the resignation letter have (unfortunately) withstood the test of time. While I can’t resign from Oracle again (although it would be fun just for the confusion at HR), the toxic, vindictive hate radiating from the Trump regime still stands, now unleashed by the Supremely Corrupted Court.

Because Congress (the Legislative Branch of government) is divided it will be important for all of us to apply pressure on House and Senate members to protect the Constitution and the Rule of Law -as those those protections will be assailed on all fronts by the incoming criminal regime.

The incoming Congressional demographic now that the last House of Representatives race has been decided results in a GOP-controlled Senate is 53-47. Senate Majority Leader Thune can only lose 4 GOP votes). The House is 120 - 115 (this means Johnson can only lose 3 votes).

This means we should have 5 GOP Senators on “speed dial” and the Democratic and Ind. Senators must become a bulwark against egregious policy, legislation, and nominations.

The 118th Congress began with 222 GOP seats and 213 Dems. Remember poor Kevin McCarthy? It took 15 rounds of GOP/MAGA cage matches between all of the various factions of his peers to elevate him to House Speaker.

The new 119th Congress will begin on a foundation of quicksand for current Speaker Mike Johnson (or “little Johnson” as I’ve heard he is called). This should provide a bit of entertainment for all of us while Jim Jordan and James Comer-”Pyle” remain on the loose with others like Boebert, Taylor-Greene, and Stefanik making a mockery of the House.

The slight majorities mean any Special “Out of Cycle” Elections for vacated House or Senate seats carry massive weight.

Over the next two years, we are likely to see 2-3 SCOTUS retirements. I’m certain that if Alito and Thomas retire, it will be fairly easy for Leonard Leo to produce a list of potential justices who will happily destroy precedent and democracy in exchange for luxurious gifts like their retiring predecessors. This is an unfortunate reality that will have to be addressed in the longer-term future.

Finally, remember the criminal-elect Trump’s late Friday afternoon "press announcements and proclamations?” He would have his Press Liar (I mean Press Secretary) announce his latest toxic policy statement while the White House Press Corps were already three single malts to the wind at a local DC watering hole. Those Fridays are back unless Trump, buoyed by his SCOTUS immunity decision determines he is now above the law and beyond reproach so early afternoon Monday is no different than 6pm on Friday.

Resist then Advance

The road ahead is filled with defending and delaying the implementation of policy and legislation representing attacks on public education, equality, justice, climate, labor, and more. The road is also about protecting those most vulnerable to Trump’s racism, misogyny, and xenophobia. Dreamers, the BIPOC community, women exercising their reproductive rights, journalists, scientists, teachers, librarians, election workers, and the impoverished will all be assailed by Trump/Vance policies and a GOP-controlled Congress.

We need more people to understand the concentration of wealth is not only the root cause for societal anger, frustration, and generational despair it is also compromising future generations who will pay for the damage done at the behest of the less than 1% who have amassed obscene wealth.

Understanding the basics of extreme wealth concentration, and how our nation has arrived at this divided and weakened state (which will worsen in criminal Trump’s second term) is vital as we work toward the mid-term 2026 election cycle. While the 2026 Democratic party plan might be “Instead of 30 emails a day requesting donations, we need to send 45!”; we need to be articulating the basic plan the GOP has maintained since Reagan. Divide and polarize voters on “hot-button” issues while concentrating wealth to the top. Misdirect and steal is all it has been about since the 1980’s.

• Abortion? Divide & misdirect.
• Cut Estate Taxes? Concentrate Wealth
• Climate? Divide & misdirect.
• Gun violence? Divide & misdirect.
• Slash corporate tax? Concentrate wealth.
• Privatize prisons? Concentrate wealth.and so on.

Very Bad News -Patience

Despite the Wrestling-style entertainment which will be the centerpiece of this sociopathic circus as MAGA continues a race to the bottom, the bad news is the journey ahead will require time, “maximum effort” as Deadpool might say, and patience. What we are fighting against was designed in 1971 by Lewis Powell, and has been funded and continuing to evolve for almost 45 years. Every election cycle we are fighting against a stronger, well-funded, better equipped, anti-democracy wealth/power-concentrating machine.

Unfortunately, instead of countermeasures, the Democratic party has largely just focused on fundraising from election cycle to election cycle. IT IS NOT WORKING.
It is maddening that a small percentage of the money raised by the Democratic Party is not expended on innovative methods to inform, educate, and engage independent voters, non-affiliated voters, and those who are tired of the “Rah-Rah, vote for us because we are NOT THEM” messaging, I could be enjoying tennis, or on a nice nature walk instead of writing this article -and my blood pressure would be closer to normal range.

Furthermore, many progressive organizations have succumbed to a narrow focus on a similar, failed strategy. The concept of organizations growing their email distribution lists by distributing petitions with subjects in ALL CAPS! Such as “TELL THOMAS AND ALITO TO ACT ETHICALLY NOW!”, or “STOP PROJECT 2025!!! SAY NO TO TRUMP!!!!!” as though 50,000 electronic petition signatures will miraculously cause the criminal-elect Trump to reconsider destroying the Affordable Care Act, the environment, and public education when approximately 75 million people voted against him. A basic value of a petition is gathering a name, an email address, and an affinity an individual may have regarding a specific issue, to use the information for fundraising later. I’m not saying petitions are useless, they are useful in raising societal awareness of issues that might otherwise not be exposed such as stopping future environmental disasters like the Keystone Pipeline Project, creating more momentum for stopping the use of U.S. weapons in Gaza, or the egregious acts of an out-of-control prosecutor and justice system pursuing someone like Aaron Swartz. (See trailer for film about Aaron).

How To Help Now

Over the last 25 years, my thinking has evolved and I continue to share my insights through articles such as this, by providing topical analysis on radio (shameless plug for Hudson River Radio’s “The Many Shades of Green” with Maxine Margo), and my continuing effort on the Civic Works Project: https://civ.works.

I remain committed (or, perhaps, should be according to some trolls) to keeping my publications free to honor the idea that was of core importance to Aaron Swartz, that important information about a truly free, fair, and cooperative society should be readily available without an economic barrier to anyone. Those with the financial capability to help progress the Civic Works 501c3 non-profit project (small or large, recurring or one-time) are warmly encouraged (editor’s note: This is George’s way of begging and it’s a little unseemly) to do so securely here via Stripe.

I’ve created a “Defend” page on Civic Works (https://civ.works/defend) and will be growing and maintaining a directory of actions, trusted news and investigative reporting, and entities (people and organizations) who are dedicated to protecting the vulnerable, advancing good policy and legislation, and continuing to drive innovation toward a complete ecosphere -a massive countervailing force to what the Lewis Powell Memorandum ultimately unleashed upon all of us.

In other news developers are now researching the best mechanisms to integrate civ.works with Bluesky and the Fediverse, and I hope to pilot what that will look like soon.

Thank you for reading! If you find this informative and “shareworthy” -again, my articles and subscription to them remain free. (editor’s note: and are worth twice that!)

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