Letters from an American
Heather Cox Richardson's narrated newsletter about the history behind today's politics.
Heather Cox Richardson's narrated newsletter about the history behind today's politics.Listen on
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Garamond
Thank You Heather for repeating multiple times that the rule of law is our guiding light for all these illegal acts i.e. they need to be adjudicated. The executive branch needs to recognize and acknowledge Congress' role. Call your Congress people and tell them to pay attention to what is really going on in government. Appointments can wait!
The courts are our only saving grace right now. I certainly hope they’re figuring out how to enforce the abeyance of their rulings and are willing to have arrested anyone UNDER trump that feels comfortable enough to follow his illegal orders to go against their rulings…the VP included!
Thank you for your thorough reporting. It’s a beacon that gives me a bit of hope that we can continue our democracy.
Do my fellow Americans really not see, or choose to see, how absolutely psychotic Our Mad King (wannabe) Donald the 1st is? Really? "Gulf of America"? Canada 51st stare? Gaza vacated by force of its 1.8M legitimate residents and turned into a Trump seaside resort, maybe Mar-a-Lago Club Med? Radical destruction of multiple Congressionally approved and funded agencies and departments? Sending the military into the US to carry out a mission for the first time in our 246yr. history, probably as a warm-up for martial law? Destruction of the Offices of the Department of Education when our students are increasingly failing standardized tests? Packing the SCOTUS with "yes" men and women? Threatening our long established allies with tariffs and the average American with purposeful preventable inflation? REALLY? STOP AND THINK, before it's too late, if it's not already. Thank you, Heather, for your sincere and passionate truth telling! God help us! Have a blessed evening in a nation where tomorrow is nolonger promised to be free of a dictatorship.
Call your Senators & Representatives whether they are D or R, but especially if they are R!
Heather,
If Trump, Musk, Vance, et al. begin to simply ignore court decisions, are there any consensus ideas on how to effectively deal with it? Is going into the streets the only option?
Most appropriately, Trump should be impeached again and this time convicted, but there is no reason to believe the GOP will do that. Since Vance will likely be complicit in defying the courts, he should be impeached as well. (Yet another President Johnson?)
Article II Section 2 states this (see https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/full-text):
"...he [the president] may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices..."
This proves that Trump has no power to control federal agencies or departments beyond appointing officials to run them, with congress' approval, because those agencies and departments operate under law, not the whim of the president.
Congress under control of the GOP has refused to do its constitutional duty, the GOP senate and house are aiding and abetting the coup that has been their goal since Reagan. To restore the constitution we must remove the Republicans from power. Nothing else will work.
Republicans voters, and the Republicans they voted into office to represent them, seem to be very happy that the Beastly King is shredding Congress and the Constitution, as well as the very idea of the rule of law, except for he that rules. The Republican Party and all those who voted for this delusional moron are all complicit, proving that it would be a miracle for our Constitutional Republic to make it to its 250th birthday. And did you notice when the Beastly One said he shouldn’t say how often he talks to Czar Putin? Get ready for a worldwide wave of terrorism launched by his plan for Gaza! And please, someone take away the nuclear toys? What do backyard bunkers cost these days?
I cling to your wise words, Heather. The courts need to stop these denizens at every turn. All of the law breakers should be arrested starting at the top! All of the nefarious things he has done against our democracy should be brought to the citizen's attention every day! The media is to blame for so much of our fate.
This this this!
I remain confused as to what good these lawsuits will do since they just go to a court, take time, and are 100% being ignored by Trump and Musk. (I think it's good that they're happening, but they just feel like shuffling papers while the titanic sinks.)
The most hopeful thing that I heard in Heather's words was that corporate America (minus the billionaires) is beginning to be upset. It's when a majority of those folks realize that the actions of Trump and his cronies are hurting their businesses and bringing the systems that work in their favor to a grinding halt (and maybe the stock market begins to plummet), that they will turn against Trump and all of what is going on. At that point I believe the rule of law may have a chance to come in and gain some traction. While the big business sheep meekly follow Trump believing that he will help their bottom line (or hurt their bottom line if they don't follow), our bought Congress will not stand up. It may be too late - it may be that the Oligarchs own the government. But sadly, I think it will be big business turning on Trump that is our best hope.
Thank you Dr Richardson! I so appreciate you taking time to record your incredibly helpful and insightful Letters from an American. I'm an auditory learner but I also read a lot and take it in well that way, so never really thought one was an advantage over the other. What I'm finding is they're very complimentary- and together, my retention of the information is greater. For some in my circle, there's a strong preference for one or the other. Bottom line, the two approaches increase your ability reach more people thirsty for factual information and historical context to better understand what's unfolding today.
Thank you Heather, I hope all elected representatives will honor their oath to uphold the constitution and law. It is frightening to see what they are doing!
The same misinformation propaganda machine that got him elected, is still running in full force and to mostly, so it seems, to the same blinded ears. You can see and hear them cheer, even, to their perceived “wins” as tmp, mud and jnsn and the rest of the unrecognizable rep party, tell their stories, on the progress of his agenda; the same intentionally triggering and distorted agenda, that he captivated them with, all while they remain blinded, both visually and audibly, to the actual dismantling of our guardrails, systems of checks and balances, our very democracy. How to break that cycle and encourage them to listen to other sources, in my experience thus far, seems to fall on some of those same deaf ears. I will keep trying. I think it’s just easier for them to believe. The alternative is just unimaginable. Somehow, that cycle has to be broken. (The messaging during the election was so misleading, untruthful and inflammatory. How can people be expected to sift through the weeds of misinformation that he and his supporters put out. They counted on that, and still do. That people will have limited time to inform themselves, with busy lives of work and family, if they can inundated them with highly triggering information in that limited space, they win. Somehow, that cycle has to be broken. If they are to hear anything contrary.
In the meantime, I wonder how long can the lines be held, by those they try to force out, a minority of opposing representatives and the courts. How much damage has been/ is being done, not to mention our crumbling alliances / standing around the world (the list goes on)
Please, someone find the emergency break! Clear and present danger seems to be an understatement.
Seems guidance from leaders of democracy from all parties is needed on best, most effective practices to organize efforts to help support a stop to the overreaching that is happening, before the damage is irreparable.
On another note, some helpful resources that I’ve seen shared:
https://apps.apple.com/app/id1202558609
https://nvunheard.org/
https://indivisible.org/resource-type/advocacy-resource
Fb/instagram:
alt National park
Rebecca Solnit
A girl has no president
Also, A huge thank you, to you, Heather. Your thoughtful and concise breakdown on what is happening, and why it matters, is an incredibly helpful tool to mentally organize and help make sense of all the nonsensical crap, that is happening to dismantle America’s constitutionally protected way of life.
Budgets must not be passed while this stuff is going on. Give no quarter to the Republicans. Thank you Heather for your continuing commentary.
Thank you Heather. This is the first time I have felt a little bit hopeful since the coup began.
You're right about the Doggy, Heather. See below.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=db77100aca&attid=0.1&permmsgid=msg-f:1823894184796182927&th=194fc61900ad598f&view=att&zw&disp=safe
I was almost physically sick when watching Trump and Musk in the Oval Office for a press conference, with Trump giving Musk the floor (with the cute but manipulative act of a beautiful child on his shoulders) and watching Trump smile at his words. Musk talks like Trump...jumping around with fragmented sentences. The last paragraph of today's post resonated with me as a Christian...the serpent IS definitely still alive and active. I joined this forum to see what other Americans are saying about the actions of the last three weeks.