From a recent NY Times article that says it all –

“Authoritarians often turn the government into a machine for enriching themselves, their families and their allies. 

Mr. Trump glories in his administration’s culture of corruption.

He openly uses the presidency as an opportunity to pad his bottom line, in ways that range from the comically petty (like charging the Secret Service up to $1,200 per night for rooms at his hotels) to the shamelessly greedy (like the $40 million that Amazon paid for the rights to a Melania Trump documentary or his recent demand that the government pay him $230 million because he was investigated for breaking the law). He solicits favors from foreign governments, including an airplane from Qatar. His children also profit from their father’s position, through real-estate deals, crypto, a private club in Washington and more. And he rewards those who enrich them, recently pardoning the head of a cryptocurrency firm who worked with the Trump family.

In the first six months of this year, the Trump Organization’s income soared to $864 million, up from just $51 million a year earlier, according to a recent Reuters analysis. It’s worth noting that recent Supreme Court decisions have made corruption harder to police.” (The validity of the Supreme Court had already been destroyed by Trump in the appointments he made during his first term in office).

“After returning from a trip to Asia [over Halloween weekend], Trump left…for his thirteenth visit to the Trump Organization’s Florida property Mar-a-Lago. S.V. Date of HuffPost notes this $3.4 million trip brings to $60.7 million the amount taxpayers have spent on the president’s 76 golf outings in his second term.”

Furthermore, “the clearest sign that a democracy has died is that a leader and his party make it impossible for their opponents to win an election and hold power.” What Trump is planting the seeds for is to make it more and more difficult to hold just and fair elections. His actions make it clear that he is intending to run for a third term. This would require amending the 22nd amendment of the constitution, which forbids presidents from seeking more than two terms.

“Once that stage is reached, however, the change is [virtually impossible] to reverse. And aspiring authoritarians use other excesses, like a cowed legislature and judiciary, to lock in their power.”

Notes:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/10/31/opinion/trump-autocracy-democracy-report.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-31-2025?utm_source=substack&publication_id=20533&post_id=177706389&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&utm_campaign=email-share&triggerShare=true&isFreemail=true&r=tsm7z&triedRedirect=true

The future of America depends on the support of the public.

It is up to the public, the people of America to go to the polls and vote for their preferred candidate.

It is ridiculous that Americans are supposed to go to the polls to vote on a working day.

Many people cannot find the time to leave their offices or their jobs.

Why should voting not be on a Sunday, as it is in Europe so that everybody is free?

The strength of democracy depends on the support of the public.

Change the voting date to Sunday.

As people cannot afford to live in Manhattan anymore, they must go further and further out of the city to find homes.

As they go further away, they will ultimately seek jobs or create them in these other places.

It’s already difficult to obtain services in Manhattan. To find painters, plumbers, carpenters, cabinet makers, etc.

These people no longer live here. There is so little parking and they have to lug all of their tools around. 

Why should every single building not have several floors of parking space or designated nose-in metered street parking? This should be mandated for every new building.

One of the main problems of the city is that it caters to those who profit from real estate rather than those who live in it.

New York City was once an iconic town.

As children, we swam in the East River with friends on hot summer days. Can you imagine doing that today?

Central Park had the reservoir and it was a criminal offense to throw anything into it.

The streets were clean and the pavements were more or less, even.

The gutters were cleaned regularly by men driving little carts.

There were very few parked cars. There were no trucks on Park, Madison, 5th Ave, or Central Park West.

Cars were fewer and no one raced their motors or pumped their horns.

The buildings were not covered for years at a time by scaffolding.

Although there were tall buildings they were neither so high nor so dense that one could not see the buildings or light and sunshine.

Stores were stores and people shopped.

It was fun to walk the avenues and see what was available.

Neighborhoods were patrolled by cops who had assigned beats and whom we knew.

And people who worked in the city could afford to live in the city.

Today, New York City, Manhattan specifically, is becoming increasingly a city for the uber rich and the homeless. The people who work here can’t afford to live here. A city where office buildings and stores stay empty, others are torn down and left as garbage dumps.

Every day brings more destruction. Obliteration of light and views.

There is an underground movement rising in this country that reminds one of Germany in the 1930’s – which also began as an underground movement – and reared its ugly head in America just prior to WWII.

Our democracy is at stake, as was the Weimar constitution. The destruction of our democracy is clearly represented by discussions and comments made in a recently leaked group chat that comprised of leaders from the Young Republicans National Federation (some of the chat highlights were black people referred to as “monkeys” and “the watermelon people,” other racial epithets thrown around casually, and the work of Adolf Hitler praised with a simple “I love Hitler” comment).

The shocking thing is, is that this a group of young leaders, and it is youth that represents the future of this country. The Young Republicans National Federation must be monitored and taken seriously as a danger to the future of our nation.

The speech they are using is indicative of dark and sinister motives and agents working, not just within this organization, but in our society.

This is one of, presumably many groups that have sprouted in the wake of Trump’s rise to power and his usage of, “…persistent…hostile, often inflammatory language…that normalizes aggressive discourse in conservative circles [and] can be incredibly influential on young operatives who are still trying to figure out, ‘What is that political discourse?’”

There are enough divisions in America going on right now, and we don’t need a young generation of Neo-Nazis whose true mission goes against the belief and promise of America. They must be stopped in their tracks.

Notes:

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/14/private-chat-among-young-gop-club-members-00592146?cid=apn&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

WHO WE ARE

Americans today should look closely at the threats to our democracy.

Whenever a political party pressures all members to vote as a block and works to punish any outliers who disobey, while at the same time pardoning those who have committed treason, that party has abandoned democracy and has embraced authoritarian, minority rule.

Today, America is facing a would-be dictator.

The future of America may well depend on thoughtful, reflective people who arrive at their voting booth, put their country first and choose democracy.

Notes: https://www.phillyburbs.com/story/opinion/2021/12/12/taft-much-rides-republicans-choosing-democracy-voting-booth/6461624001/

This was posted in 2016 before Trump was elected the first time. Nothing has changed, including the American people. The only change now, is that Trump has the power to destroy America and the world, as given to him by us.

People of America, rise up, en masse!

“We have extraordinary power. We’re the vast majority.” This government, these corporations in bed with Trump and his cronies rely on us.

Even if we can’t count on our elected politicians to protect our First Amendment rights, we can rely on ourselves. When our outrage translates into withholding our consumer dollars…” big corporations listen and respond

“Remember this.”

Trump this! Heil Hitler!

America wake up before it is too late! I have watched the rise of Donald Trump with fear and trembling. Right from the get go I thought this man was a “clear and present danger” to the US. He is a demagogue. He is a rabble rouser, a crowd pleaser, a tough guy, a false God, and yet a pied piper. 

He collects the poor, the less educated, the unemployed or underemployed, the disillusioned, and he promises them the sun, the moon and the stars. Of course these people go along. But so did the German people go along with Hitler. This is what I find so frightening. I remember Germany before WWII. I remember Hitler at Nuremberg, whipping the public into a frenzy with the belief that he would make Germany great again and give it back to the Germans. Trump promises to give America back to the Americans and make it great again. He also promises to put up a wall. Remember the wall in Eastern Europe? Doesn’t that sound familiar? Has he completely forgotten history? Or is he banking that you won’t remember or care?

The man is a quintessential bully. He doesn’t have a practical platform to stand on. Look at the man’s record. When he is criticized, he counters with “That’s a lie” even though it is there on record. He says he started with nothing, but if you take time to look you see he received his money from his family. His grandfather was a pimp, his father had ties to the Ku Klux Klan, and Trump ran a University that was a sham. He stole people’s money, he is a thief and a liar and yet he lives off of franchising his own name, claiming one of quality and success. Look harder and you see he is nothing more that a consummate liar, a clown and a crook. He is a Hitler in the making. Remember, Hitler was elected by the German People. Is America going to go the same way?

Notes:

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-deeper-story-behind-americas?utm_source=substack&publication_id=365422&post_id=174061762&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&utm_campaign=email-share&action=share&triggerShare=true&isFreemail=true&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo1MDA0NDAzMSwicG9zdF9pZCI6MTc0MDYxNzYyLCJpYXQiOjE3NTg1ODAxMDAsImV4cCI6MTc2MTE3MjEwMCwiaXNzIjoicHViLTM2NTQyMiIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.qcUcV0UiDf9gzBUyqNSSOW0KMuqpCqqclVf7BQ2Uwao&r=tsm7z&triedRedirect=true

Democracy is a difficult and fragile form of government.

It requires a healthy and educated public to function.

It is clear that Donald Trump wants to destroy our democracy.

His attack on Universities and health services makes it ever more clear that Trump is a dictator who wants a dumbed down, sick public totally dependent on him and under his control.

Donald J. Trump’s sole end goal is total control of America and revenge against anyone who disagrees with him.

This man, who has abused women and young girls, added billions to his personal wealth while president, and been hostile and vindictive towards anyone who has had differing opinions than his own.

His tariffs will weaken the economy and raise the cost of living.

He is turning friends of the United States into enemies, isolating the US.

Rewarding his friends who supported him in committing treason against the United States government.

Clearly, this man should be impeached and imprisoned.

Americans, wake up! Refuse to watch anything produced by ABC or Disney as a consequence of their decision to remove Jimmy Kimmel from the air. They have decided to support Donald Trump’s personal vendetta against anyone who disagrees with him. It is a total denial of free speech and of everything that America stands for. Everyone, take ABC off your watch list. Let them die, aborning.

“As Letterman said, ‘the institution of the President of the United States ought to be bigger than a guy doing a talk show, you know you can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful [that they’ll get a laugh]. That’s just not how this works.'”

Notes:

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-humorless-president?utm_source=substack&publication_id=365422&post_id=173985358&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&utm_campaign=email-share&action=share&triggerShare=true&isFreemail=true&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo1MDA0NDAzMSwicG9zdF9pZCI6MTczOTg1MzU4LCJpYXQiOjE3NTgyNjk1OTMsImV4cCI6MTc2MDg2MTU5MywiaXNzIjoicHViLTM2NTQyMiIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.snHJDy8UKl0FeJKj_vUjHbhG7JAiplUvORbgIkQcE8w&r=tsm7z&triedRedirect=true

Just to give you a few portraits of Trump’s recent appointments and supporters:

1. Charles Haywood is the founder of “the secretive Society for American Civic Renewal (SACR), a men-only, invitation-only, Christian ultranationalist network” that has been pointed to by the Middlebury Institute Report as having “undercurrents of neo-fascist accelerationism … in SACR’s Christian philosophy and articulated by SACR leaders”.

He recently called for “the total denigration of ‘career’ as the main goal of women”.

2. Trump’s own assistant attorney for Civil Rights, Missouri senator Eric Schmitt. In February, Schmitt hired Nate Hochman as a policy advisor. He was hired despite his previous professional history of creating video content for other political figures that contained neo-Nazi imagery and the targeting of Haitian migrants, LGBTQ+ people, and human rights groups.

There is a further roster of people of lesser importance, but nonetheless, destructive to our democracy.

“The American public needs to catch up fast on the reality of American politics,” said Katherine Stewart, the author of Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy. “This isn’t about left vs. right or liberal vs. conservative. The present administration and its Nationalist Convention supporters represent a fanatical movement that does not believe in democracy, individual rights, rational discourse, or anything that actually made America great.”

Notes:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/06/national-convservatism-conference-trump