"The time for all of us to speak up and join forces to protect each other is now"

In the words of the German pastor and theologian Martin Niemöller, who wrote:

“First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

The words reflected his early complicity in Nazi Germany and later change of heart. It seems like an extreme example. But they are coming for the judges. And not just the judges. Already they have come for federal employees, transgender people, immigrants, lawyers, the press, epidemiologists, scientists, and more. The time for all of us to speak up and join forces to protect each other is now, before it is too late.

We’re in this together,

Joyce Vance

Bending The Arc of the Moral Universe Toward Justice

 

Today, racism remains a poisonous force in America. Fascism and authoritarianism are on the rise and President Donald Trump is giving voice to such hate, making it state policy and central to his presidential agenda. Recently, he tried to ban birthright citizenship by executive order to limit the number of babies of color born in the United States, though such an act is clearly unconstitutional.

Currently, at least two federal judges have blocked Trump’s executive orders to redefine birthright citizenship. He has also issued executive orders seeking to roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion. He clearly does not want Black, Brown, and Asian people to be on an equal footing with Whites.

All his most recent efforts are consistent with his longstanding attempts to limit voting rights for people of color. Trump has voiced the most vicious comments over the years: he says that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country”; he slammed Haitian migrants for trying to enter the United States by claiming hundreds of thousands of them flowing into the country “probably have AIDS”; Haiti, El Salvador, and African lands are “shithole countries”; migrants are “animals“; and, as he also put it, there has to be “some form of punishment” for women who have abortions. Finally, Trump has repeatedly stated his admiration for dictators and strong abusive rulers.

Trump’s Protection of Afrikaners

Trump, his enablers in the Republican Party, and his Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporters should really be called Make America White Again (MAWA). He and those groups have generated a blueprint for increasing authoritarianism, racism, and xenophobia. It’s crystal clear that this enmity toward Black and Brown people is driven in part by demographic changes in the United States that threaten to place Whites in the minority.

On the subject of race, Trump is sensitive only when it comes to discrimination against White people. Recently, he signed an executive order that would protect White South Africans from discrimination and allow them to resettle in the United States…

Douglas H. White, CounterPunch

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/02/26/bending-the-arc-of-the-moral-universe-toward-justice/

 

"Outrage bloomed across the federal government over Elon Musk’s demand"

 

In his 1776 essay, the American Crisis, Thomas Paine wrote, “Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run through a country.” That long ago mood, with the Continental Army on the run from the British, has echoes today in the obedience in advance we see offered to Trump from those who panic at the thought of running afoul of him. But while some people, businesses, organizations, and other entities compete to see how low they can go in bowing to Trump, plenty of Americans, all across the country, refuse to do so.

Outrage bloomed across the federal government over Elon Musk’s demand that every federal employee (federal judges and their staff included, although, in some courthouses, there was a suggestion that only chambers of judges nominated by Democratic presidents received emails) send in “approximately five bullet points” reflecting what they accomplished last week.

Although it seemed clear likely that the email violated all sorts of chain and command and security requirements and that responses weren’t required, in back and forth over the weekend, in some offices, management suggested compliance, like Eagle Ed Martin in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia who told his people to respond carefully and be general but that “We are happy to be participate.” It seems like some people have forgotten Musk is an unelected private businessman trying to infiltrate federal agencies without legal authority to do so.

Late in the day, OPM sent out a memo to “all” federal employees telling them that unless they had an excused absence today, they had to respond to the “five bullets” request by 11:59 pm tonight. Apparently, OPM has forgotten that most government employees aren’t supposed to work outside of normal business hours.

One person, who said they were a federal employee, posted on Bluesky, “to recap: a Musk groyper told me to send 5 bullets about my work, my agency said to do it, my department said not to, the OPM director said to, my department hasn't responded, there's a vague threat of firings, and there's preexisting guidance saying I'm not required to do shit.” That about sums it up.

Thomas Paine began American Crisis with the famous words: “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.”

His conclusion to that essay would seem to have a message for us, almost as though this is 1776, (just not the way Marjorie Taylor Greene meant it when she tweeted that). Paine wrote, “There are persons, too, who see not the full extent of the evil which threatens them; they solace themselves with hopes that the enemy, if he succeeds, will be merciful. It is the madness of folly, to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice.”

It is indeed madness. Democracy or nothing.

We’re in this together,

-Joyce Vance

 

The U.S. voted against a resolution condemning Russia

 

The U.S. voted against a resolution condemning Russia as the aggressor in the war in Ukraine that passed the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, February 24, marking three years since Russia’s launched its full-scale invasion of the country. 

The resolution is an expression of the body, and not a binding action, but signals weakening U.S. political support for Ukraine under the Trump administration, in favor of improved relations with Russia.

The resolution, titled “Advancing a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” passed the General assembly with a vote of 93 in favor, 18 against, and 65 abstaining.  The text of the resolution calls for de-escalation, early cessation of hostilities and peaceful resolution of the war against Ukraine. 

Among those countries that also rejected the resolution along with the U.S. were Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban is a close ally to President Trump, Israel and Russia.

The U.S. is proposing a competing resolution. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. resolution is “consistent with President Trump’s view” that the U.N. must return to its “founding purpose… to maintain international peace and security, including through the peaceful settlement of disputes.”

Ambassador Dorothy Shea, acting head of the U.S. mission to the UN, said in remarks before the vote that the language included in Ukraine’s resolution mirrors previous resolutions, which “have failed to stop the war.” “ It has now dragged on for far too long, and at far too terrible a cost to the people in Ukraine, in Russia, and beyond,” Shea said. 

-The Hill

A Bill to End Illinois Property Taxes for Qualified Taxpayers

 

    

(The Center Square) – A bill filed at the Illinois Statehouse seeks to end property taxes for qualified taxpayers who live in and pay taxes on a residential home for at least 30 years. State Sen. Neil Anderson, R-Andalusia, said at some point, you have to own your own property.

“This country is founded upon freedom and property rights and at some point, you have to be able to own your property,” said Anderson. “This [bill] is a way to keep people in Illinois. If they own a home for 20 years and they have an option of moving to another state because they're tired of being taxed in Illinois, now all of a sudden, maybe [with the passage of this bill], they hang out another 10 years and now they don't have to pay property tax. That keeps them in the state and buying goods in the state and paying taxes in a different way.”

Illinois lost 32,826 residents from July 2022 to July 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That was the 10th consecutive year of population loss for the state.

Anderson suspects there will be opposition.

“I posted on Facebook about this and I've gotten a lot of feedback already. I tend to agree with the people that are in the comment section that are upset, that are saying, ‘well, you know, I've owned my house for 20 years because I paid for it in cash or I paid it off early, why shouldn't I be able to not pay property taxes?’ I get it,” said Anderson. “This [bill] is a starting point. If we can start somewhere and just get some kind of agreement that at some point, whether it's 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 50 years, whatever the agreement on the time period is, if we can agree that at some point you've paid enough money and you actually own your property and you don't have to pay anything anymore, that's the starting point I want to get to here.”

Senate Bill 1862 is co-sponsored by state Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Cherry Valley.

The measure says "qualified taxpayers,” or individuals who for at least 30 continuous years as of Jan. 1 of the taxable year have occupied the same homestead property as a principal residence and domicile, will be exempt from paying property taxes.

According to Anderson, the bill doesn’t apply to properties that provide income. "Qualified homestead property" is defined in the bill as a single-family residence that is occupied as a principal residence and domicile by a qualified taxpayer.

Anderson said the bill was not just created to provide property tax relief for Illinoisans, who pay the highest property taxes in the nation. “If I lived in Texas or Tennessee where property taxes are super low, I would also introduce this legislation. You have to be able to say, ‘yes, I own this property, and they can't take it away from me,’” said Anderson.

Anderson doubts the legislation will pass. “I'm hoping that I can get some friends on the other side of the aisle that just agree with the concept of, ‘oh, my gosh you're right, we do have to be able to own our property at some point and not pay anything else.’ If the compromise is to go to 50 years, fine, I'll take that starting point,” said Anderson.

-NewsBreak

 

Governor Mills vs. Trump

 

Donald Trump spent the day throwing a tantrum at the Governor of Maine because she refused to kneel before his latest ridiculous executive order banning transgender women from playing in women’s sports. It was classic Trump—loud, petulant, and so obviously desperate to be seen as a tough guy that it had the opposite effect.

He tried to wield federal funding like a bludgeon, warning Governor Janet Mills that her state would suffer if she didn’t comply. She met his threats with a casual, “We’ll see you in court,” a response so perfect, so effortlessly dismissive, that you could almost hear the air hissing out of Trump’s ego like a punctured parade balloon.

The man has built his entire persona on the idea that he is the world’s most dominant alpha male—an image that falls apart the moment he faces a challenge he can’t simply buy off or shout down. He is a bully, but more importantly, he is a coward. 

When he’s on the attack, he swaggers and postures like a professional wrestling villain, but when confronted by someone who won’t back down, he folds faster than a cheap lawn chair. His idea of masculinity is a bad 1980s action movie—loud, brash, and entirely built on illusion.

Trump isn’t angry because Mills disagrees with him; he’s angry because she isn’t afraid of him. That’s what really burns. He thrives on fear, on the illusion of unchecked power, and when that illusion is shattered—when someone like Mills stands toe-to-toe with him and refuses to budge—he doesn’t know what to do. So he sputters, he threatens, and he lashes out in every direction, hoping something will stick. It never does.

Meanwhile, JD Vance was weeping into a CPAC microphone about how America is turning men into “androgynous idiots.” “Our culture wants men to suppress every masculine urge,” he cried, no doubt wishing he was being cradled in the warm embrace of a father figure who actually loves him. 

It was a speech meant to conjure up the image of some glorious lost era of chest-thumping American manhood, but instead, it only reinforced what anyone with a functioning brain already knew: JD Vance has no idea what masculinity actually means.

These two buffoons love to cosplay as warriors, champions of testosterone in a world gone soft. But let’s take a look at what they’re actually doing. Trump, a man who dodged the draft because of imaginary bone spurs, is threatening to withhold federal funding from Maine because its governor won’t bow to his demands. 

And JD Vance, a man who once wrote an entire book about the dangers of sucking up to elites, is now licking Trump’s boots so hard you’d think they were made of chocolate.

Masculinity, real masculinity, is about strength, courage, and integrity. It’s about standing up for what’s right, even when it’s hard. It’s about protecting the vulnerable, not attacking them for political gain. It’s about facing adversity head-on, not throwing a fit when someone tells you “No.” By that measure, Trump and JD Vance are about as masculine as a wet paper towel.

Trump can puff out his chest and scream at governors all he wants, but at the end of the day, he’s just a blustering coward who folds under the slightest pressure. JD can cry about the decline of masculinity, but no real man spends his days groveling at the feet of a guy who wouldn’t piss on him if he were on fire.

The irony is that the people they’re attacking—women who stand their ground, LGBTQ people fighting for equality—are showing more guts, more resilience, more true strength than either of these pathetic frauds could ever muster.

Trump and JD don’t represent masculinity. They represent the weak, whimpering, flailing desperation of men who know, deep down, that they are frauds. And nothing is more pathetic than a man who has to constantly remind you how strong he is.

from Fear and Loathing

Harbinger

 

In 1923 Adolf Hitler incited an insurrection against the German government. He was tried, given a slap on the wrist, and became a convicted felon. Despite being treated charitably by the judge, Hitler claimed the trial was political persecution and successfully portrayed himself as a victim of the “corrupt" Social Democrats.

Hitler cleverly positioned himself as the voice of the "common man," railing against the "elites," cultural "degeneracy," and the establishment, who he all labeled as "Marxists." He claimed the education system was indoctrinating children to hate Germany and promised to return Germany to greatness.

To solidify his base, Hitler masterfully scapegoated minorities for the nation's problems, exploiting societal divisions with an "us vs. them" narrative. Many Germans took the bait. Hitler's Nazi Party continued to gain traction, until he became Chancellor in 1933.

Hitler appointed German oligarchs as his economic advisors. He proceeded to privatize government run utilities, solidifying support of the economic elite.

With the working class divided along cultural and ethnic lines, the Nazis shut down workers unions and abolished strikes. Progressives and trade unionists were imprisoned and sent to concentration camps. Corporate profits skyrocketed while working class Germans lived paycheck to paycheck.

Hitler, who became a billionaire while in office, knew he and his clan of oligarchs could get away with the scam if they constantly had an "enemy within" to blame while the corporatocracy robbed the country blind.

An easy target was one of the smallest minorities. Hitler removed birthright citizenship rights of Jews and started rounding them up for mass deportations for being "illegally" in the country. The German press under Nazi rule highlighted instances of violence by Jews to convince the public that Jewish immigrants were a danger to the "real Germans."

Hitler wasted no time dismantling democratic institutions. Loyalty wasn't just encouraged; it was demanded. Opponents were silenced. Media that dared to questioned[sic] him were vilified as "the enemy" and "Marxists."

Hitler's Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels, bragged about how the Nazis were able to intimidate the media into giving them favorable coverage, and didn't need to give direct orders. The Nazi regime and its followers collected all books they saw as promoting "degeneracy" or what would be considered "woke" today and burned them in large bonfires. They also burned books that promoted class consciousness.

Berlin had a thriving LGBTQ community in the 1920s and even had the first transgender clinic. The Nazis burned it to the ground. LGBTQ people were sent to concentration camps and forced to wear triangle badges. Many were killed in the Holocaust.

The Nazis also saw manhood as under threat by independent women who didn't rely on men. In 1934, Hitler proclaimed, “A women’s world is her husband, her family, her children, her house." Laws that had protected women's rights were repealed and new laws were introduced to restrict women to the home and in their roles as wives and mothers.

Reproductive rights were severely rolled back, and doctors who performed abortions could face the death penalty. Despite all of this, the German people didn't have a similar historical parallel to look upon as a warning. Most Germans never acted like the sky was falling.

Most just went along with their lives as usual, until many of their lives were snuffed out. By the time Hitler's reign was forced to an end by the Allied Powers, 11 million people were murdered in the Holocaust, and 70-85 million were killed in WW2.

-Monica Aksamit

Instagram Thread, Bluesky