Requiem for Justice

They were so certain it was too late for democracy, justice, and equality they published their 900+ page Project 2025 plans while laughing at us.

Numerous events led us here beginning with compromises made during the founding of the United States. Post-Civil War lenience, concessions, and reconstruction. Nixon’s obstruction of justice, other crimes, and betrayal of trust -never prosecuted.

The Powell Memorandum. Reagan and his crimes, and the implementation of his economic doctrine deriding government and rewarding the emerging billionaire class.

The Federalist Society, Mitch McConnell, and the influence of dark money in the judicial system and all layers of the U.S. Government. And an extremist criminal organization masquerading as one of two primary political parties in the United States aiding and abetting a corrupt criminal tyrant.

Current circumstances represent the culmination of direct and indirect attacks on the US political, economic, and justice system by anti-democratic forces.

The 2024 election cycle was problematic in a multitude of ways. There was (and is) voter suppression and gerrymandering -both with a caustic impact on free and fair elections. Criminals seeking power understand that in today’s United States where every key election is contested and close, you only need to tip the scales a couple of points in your favor.

Nevertheless, while we can consider different theories of direct or indirect attacks on elections, the prevailing issue remains voter apathy.

The stakes in this election were very clear. A corrupt, incompetent, and convicted felon who spent his first term attempting to extort allies, embrace other corrupt authoritarian regimes and undermine democracy and justice was competing with a career public servant.

Despite these facts, while the popular vote slightly favored the corrupt criminal, more than one-third of eligible voters decided it simply wasn’t important enough to spend a few hours setting the direction for the United States for at least the next two years. It has been said that you get the government you deserve. I cannot help thinking that one-third of the country do not support a corrupt fascist takeover of the United States.

Notably, some people I know now declare it is time to transcend partisan politics and move beyond affinity with one political party or another. This thinking could not be more flawed because it assumes that we are mired in debates about the GOP and the Democratic Party in the United States, or that ranked choice voting is widespread and therefore third-party candidates are viable. The thinking is flawed and a complete failure to grasp present reality. The current situation is a battle between greed, corruption, criminality, oligarchy, and tyranny versus democracy, justice, and equality.

Now we are witnessing a corrupt, lying, criminal in the highest office of the United States with unbridled power, emboldened by his “Supreme Court” which provided Trump with immunity for “official acts’ who will continue to dictate increasingly cruel actions either directly or through the puppets and sycophants he has nominated to lead vital institutions as part of the Trump Cabinet.

Trump’s orders will fall into a priority sequence intended to divide, weaken, and paralyze any meaningful opposition and response.

• The directive against immigrants and refugees.
• The unconstitutional revocation of Birthright Citizenship.
• Elimination of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs.
• Redefinition of gender recognition.
• Withdrawal from international agreements on health and climate.
• The pardoning of domestic terrorists and extremists.
• The unconstitutional act of impoundment of legally authorized Congressional appropriations.
• The termination of security protections for Dr. Fauci and General Milley.
• The firing of career DOJ lawyers involved in the investigation and prosecution of Trump’s crimes.
• Ordering the DOJ to investigate witnesses and investigators associated with the January 6th insurrection and attempted coup.

There are two forces at work here:

One is Trump. His objectives are to stay out of prison, enriching himself through emoluments and corruption, and seeking retribution for those who attempted to force him to account for his numerous crimes.

The other is a group of billionaires who seek to increase their wealth and perpetuate their power over the United States, politically and economically while supported by The Heritage Foundation and The Federalist Society. This is where the forces align.

Any questions so far?
To Pay for Trump Tax Cuts, House GOP Floats Plan to Slash Benefits for the Poor and Working Class : (https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-tax-cuts-congress-republicans-plan-slash-benefits)

There is a massive amount of U.S. Treasury money invested for Social Security, Medicare, and Public Education. Investment in K-12 public education was $857 billion in 2022. (For comparison, military spending in 2022 was over $1.5 trillion). The investment/trust fund for Social Security in 2024 is approximately $2.78 trillion. There should be no doubt that the same people who are laughing at all of us about the 2024 election result (including Putin and other right-wing murderous criminals) and positively giddy over each Trump directive and nomination want access to roughly $3.5+ trillion in our taxpayer reserves. Note: for a compelling look at U.S. Budget detail visit https://nationalpriorities.org.

The impact to all of us (regardless of whether you voted for the criminal-elect, voted for VP Kamala Harris, or didn’t bother to vote at all) is an uncertain immediate future and a gravely weakened country for this and future generations. While many of you may not yet feel much of an impact, thousands have already been deported, Ukraine, Poland, and other parts of Europe are at grave risk, and you may have managed to hammer the last nail into the climate survivability coffin, so congratulations.

At least puppy-killing “Barbie Ice” was born from the deal.

During the criminal-elect’s first term civic resistance actions included initiatives such as “5 calls”, Resistbot, Daily Action, and more. In some instances, the actions became counter-productive when indiscriminately flooding resistance allies in Congress with calls and faxes where they were already committed to a resistance outcome.

As the criminal-elect and his corrupt organization learned from his first term and subsequently have evolved, an effective resistance now requires dynamic and adaptive responses to counter egregious policy, unconstitutional or otherwise illegal actions of the Trump regime and the criminal organization formerly known as the GOP.

The New Resistance is comprised of an array of entities and actions that can be civic, economic, educational, local, and/or virtual actions.

• Contact Congress, State, and Local government officials and/or their staff.(https://govtrack.us, https://usa.gov).
• Support Government officials committed to public service and their oath and loyalty to serving the United States, not any king, tyrant, or criminal.
• Support Whistleblowers and https://whistlebloweraid.org.
• Entities using the courts to resist such as -Democratic AG’s, organizations such as EarthJustice, CREW, Democracy Docket, Public Citizen, and the ACLU.
• Make sure your voter registration is current and vote. The GOP holds a razor-thin margin in the House of Representatives, and JD Vance has already had to cast a tie-breaking vote in the Senate.
• Indivisible.org and Civic Works Defend

Some concrete actions right now:

• Download and use Signal instead of Whatsapp.

• Use Bluesky and deactivate X/Twitter.

• Support independent news and media such as ProPublica and The Guardian.

• When sharing news and information -research and validate first. The criminal elect will flood the zone with disinformation and propaganda -try not to add to it.

• Support (donate to and/or volunteer for) front line organizations like Democracy Docket, ACLU, CREW, and yes https://civ.works

• Write “Letters to the Editor” to local, regional, and national newspapers addressing societal imperatives such as public education, climate action, anti-corruption measures, healthcare, human rights, voting rights, and more.

• Participate in local rallies, regional marches, town hall meetings, and other opportunities to demonstrate that we are paying attention to governance, domestic and foreign affairs, and economics.

• Shift checking and savings accounts from predatory banks to local credit unions.

• Boycott Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp), X/Twitter, Tesla, HobbyLobby, WalMart, Wendy’s, MyPillow, Publix, Wynn Resorts, Robinhood, and Purdue Farms.

• View short form educational videos from Inequality Media, documentaries and films from Brave New Films.

• Help research, validate, and boycott companies that are supporting Trump, seeking “special favors” and therefore undermining democracy and consumer protections. (There is presently a large list circulating which includes companies pictured below).

  

  Finally, it is important to note, the civ.works platform welcomes (as I do, personally) respectful conversation and debate between conservative and liberal ideologies based upon an inviolable foundation of justice, democracy, and equality. We seek to provide a safe space for virtual “Kitchen Table Democracy” followed by actions leading to the codification of societal agreements into law and policy. (Take a look at https://civ.works/moonshot).

  
  The Constitution establishes the United States as a Republic, which is a representative form of democracy. If you enter the conversation suggesting a fascist authoritarian regime, an oligarchy, or any combination thereof -we are no longer having a political debate, you are attacking the Constitution and the very foundation of the U.S. system.