in Politics, Racism & Bigotry, US History 565 Words

Blackmail & Scare Tactics are the rule of the day

I had hoped to not blog today, but here I am.

I decided yesterday to write a blog post for today about how Trump blackmails people, universities, states, etc., and I will get to that in a minute.

Calling up the Marines

But first, after a seven-hour power outage when I was blissfully unaware of what was going on in the world, Trump decided to ramp things up in Los Angeles. When my electricity was restored around 8:30 last night, I turned on the TV and lo and behold on the bottom of the screen it said, “700 active-duty US Marines being sent to Los Angeles.”

Sending active-duty US military personnel to scare the American citizens into submission? Is this what it has come to in the country I love? Will the two active-duty US Marines I know answer the call?

I pray for all who serve today in all the branches of the US military. I pray that when the current Commander-in-Chief orders them to turn on their fellow citizens they will do the right thing.

We are in a very bad place in the United States, and I don’t think I can forgive the people who voted for this. God, help me.

Blackmail

Day-by-day, our democracy in the United States takes another hit. The people in charge are taking chisels, sledgehammers, and chainsaws to the foundations of our long-held values and way of life.

When the US President can boldly say without any outcry from his political party that if Elon Musk gives any money to support Democrats, there will be “serious consequences,” we are in a dangerous place.

The public spat Musk and Trump had last week should have embarrassed both of them, but I doubt either of them can be embarrassed.

Trump has already threatened to halt all the contracts Musk has with the US Government. Granted, that wouldn’t be an altogether bad thing, but I don’t like to see a US President blackmailing anyone… not even Elon Musk.

Trump tired to blackmail other countries by threatening tariffs up to 145%. All he did was make all our allies mad… and rightfully so. You have to be pretty low on diplomatic smarts to attack Canada.

Trump’s blackmailing of universities has been going on for weeks now. His latest threats are against not only the university system in California, but he threatens to withhold all federal funds from the state because a transperson was allowed to participate in a sporting event.

By the way, California sends more money to Washington, DC than it gets in return.

The President thinks he can bully corporations, states, cities, and countries to cave to his lame desires and threats. So far, it has worked with the US Congress, and some days it appears to have worked with the US Supreme Court.

It is his modus operandi. He does not know any other way to operate, and it is a disgusting and hideous way to run the greatest experiment in democracy the world has ever seen.

Where does this end?

Until my next blog post on Friday…

I hope you have a pleasant and peaceful week in preparation for June 14. I fully intend not to blog again until Friday. I will explain later.

Remember what the core values of our country are and be ready to defend them.

Take courage from the people of Ukraine.

Janet

24 thoughts on “Blackmail & Scare Tactics are the rule of the day”

  1. If Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass would’ve done what they should’ve done, this would not have gotten out of hand. They are truly Trump haters. And regarding the tariffs, during Bidens, four years, he continued a lot of of Trump‘s tariffs and nothing was said. Not one word by anyone, not even you. So if you’re going to make comments, just be fair.

    Terry McLeodMCLEOD INSURANCE GROUP“serving clients since 1991”615-868-6271terrymcleod@yahoo.com “

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  4. Government should fear the people! It is a government of the people and all power is in the hands of the people. To allow a president to carry on this way is a shame upon the Congress and the political parties! Where are the Democrats? Or are they afraid to lose their hen that lays golden eggs?

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  5. We’re asking ourselves the same thing over here: where does this end? We watch and wait with growing concern, because what’s happening now in California is headline news here too. Honestly, anything happening in the U.S. has been front-page news ever since Trump came to power.

    A Belgian punk band from the old days — the guys are now over sixty, still performing, and even have fans in the U.S. — were recently told they’re no longer welcome in America. Their tour has been cancelled. That made the news here as well. I mean… those gentle old rockers? Why?

    And honestly: I’m worried too.

    I truly understand your concerns.

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  6. He’s looking for some way to declare martial law, and he’s quite willing to send the military in to provoke the “insurrection” he needs. Amazing that what’s going on in LA is an insurrection but what went on on Jan 6th was a “peaceful protest”. It’s getting more Orwellian by the day.

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  7. I am wondering if this episode with Musk and Trump is a conspiracy for attention? Perhaps behind the scenes, they are still drinking buddies. Deception is the order of the day.

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  8. I am wondering if this Musk and Trump episode is a conspiracy for attention. After all, we are living in a world filled with deception

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  9. I returned home tonight after taking a three-day break and there was your comment, accusing me of not being fair. I take it you haven’t been reading my blog until this year. If you’d been reading it for 11 years, you would know that I did not write about political topics until this year. Therefore, your comment that I never said anything about President Biden’s tariffs is a little out of line. If you had read several of my recent blog posts, you would have noticed that I included items “in fairness to the Republicans,” but I guess you missed those posts. If you support Trump and the dismantling of our democracy, that is your right. I have the right to love my country too much to tolerate the destruction I’ve seen since January 20. Nice touch for you to advertise your business on my blog — A true Republican. I defend your right to free speech, and I welcome honest conversation about politics or most any other subject. I do not tolerate trolls or business ads on the blog space for which I pay, so any future comments in which you advertise your business will be deleted.

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  10. Thank you. One of my other readers I’d not heard from before begs to differ with you. He had the nerve to end his comment with an ad for his insurance business. I answered him and told him if he does that again, I will delete his message because I pay for my blog space, he doesn’t. He said I’m not fair to the Republicans because I never complained about Biden’s tariffs. Not a comment I wanted to come home to tonight, but it takes all kind and we still have some freedom of speech in this country. I told him I also don’t tolerate trolls.

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  11. Liz, I just got back from three days in the mountains of NC, so I’m playing catch up tonight on blog comments. I hope you’re having a good week, considering the news… it’s hard. When I get my thoughts and photos organized, I’ll blog about my trip. It was both sobering and rewarding. I have lots to think about. It will not surprise me if he declares martial law on Saturday… or before, although it would be a memorable birthday present for him to give us and the military on Saturday. Maybe if a few more US Senators get body slammed to the floor, they will wake up. It’s rich that Noem wouldn’t have had that done if she had known he was a Senator. Well, excuse me, but it’s not okay to do that to any human being asking a question at a press conference. She is a real piece of work. And now Israel attacks Iran. Too many countries are run now by bullies.

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  12. I don’t know what the Democrats in Congress are afraid of. The word is that many of the Republicans in Congress and their family members have been threatened. If that is the case, perhaps they should make a public statement about it and where such threats are coming from. Most of them are afraid to have public meetings with their constituents because they know their constituents are angry with them for their cowardice. US Marines on the streets of Los Angeles! Francis! What has this country become?

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  13. I just got home tonight from three days in the mountains of North Carolina. I’ll blog about that when I get my thoughts and photos organized. It was a sad but rewarding trip. And, yes! January 6th was just a bunch of grandmothers touring the Capitol. He’s been looking for an excuse to call up the military ever since January 20. What an abuse of power and a misuse of the US Marines it was for him to call up 700 active-duty personnel to do crowd control in Los Angeles! The Marines train to search and destroy, not to shoot their fellow citizens. Israel attacking Iran tonight is the icing on the cake. President Bone Spurs will probably decide we should jump into that fight, too. If he does not declare martial law on Saturday after his birthday parade, many of us will be surprised. All he has to do is declare an insurrection and there we are. The level of brainwashing he has accomplished in the Congress and the public is unbelievable and unforgivable. And we thought “1984” was sci-fi!

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  14. I had not thought about that until someone on TV speculated that it was all part of their act. Musk is already apologizing, which Trump would see as a weakness in anyone else. Trump was too quick to stop his end of their public argument. I don’t know what to make of it at this point. I think his bypassing the Governor of California and sending the National Guard to Los Angeles and then really abusing his power and abusing the US Marines by sending them to Los Angeles was all done to move our attention away from his fight with Musk and what Musk said about Trump being involved in the Epstein files. He is rotten to the core.

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  15. Good to hear from you, as always, Matroos. I apologize for not responding since you commented on Tuesday. My sister and I went to the mountains of North Carolina on Tuesday and returned home tonight. I didn’t want to publicize on my blog that I was not going to be at home for three days. We had a somewhat sad trip, as our purpose was to try to patronize as many small restaurants and shops as we could in the areas heavily damaged by Hurricane Helene last September. It was, therefore, a sad trip. And we couldn’t go into the most heavily damaged areas since the road are still closed. The people have really struggled. I can’t imagine the combination of what’s happening in our government at the same time many have lost their homes and their businesses. It must be pushing some of them to their emotional limits. I don’t know that I could have withstood a personal trauma at the same time I’m seeing my government dismantled from the inside right before my eyes. My sister just came in from another room to tell me that a federal judge has ruled tonight that Trump has to relinquish control of the California National Guard and return their control to Governor Newsom because what Trump did was illegal. That’s welcome news, but what if Trump just ignores the judge’s ruling? He has a record of doing that! And now Israel has attacked Iran. Only God knows where they will lead. I don’t understand why or how that Belgian punk rock band has been banned from the US! I don’t understand why they would be on Trump’s list. Of course, I don’t understand why he put 12 countries on his list last week that no one from those countries can enter the US! There are children in some of those countries whose doctors were trying to get them to the US for medical treatment! Trump is absolutely cruel and evil. We are just waiting for him to declare an insurrection so he can then declare martial law. Our daily lives are generally going along as usual. We just have a black cloud of worry and confusion hanging over our heads. It’s like being in a nightmare. Nothing in our government seems real anymore. I’m truly sorry that the entire world is being sucked into all the Trump mess. It is scary how much influence the United States has, especially when a wannabe dictator is in the White House. Thank you for being so supportive and encouraging. It’s comforting to know that people in other countries see what is happening here and that you support the American people as we do what we can to resist fascism. I never in a million years thought I’d be in this position. Never.

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  16. It is incredible that a president would bi-pass a governor and deploy active duty troops in a US city against Americans! Is he taking lessons fromStalin, Mao and Fidel Castro? Or Kim Jung Un? Putin?

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  17. I can well imagine that. It must feel incredibly frightening and confusing. We hardly read anything here about the situation in North Carolina. How terrible for the people still suffering from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. And then those political tensions on top of it… It’s hard to grasp everything that’s going on. Who could have imagined this, as thinking and civilized human beings? And now the bombings between Israel and Iran. Gaza. Ukraine. The world seems more and more lost. Now more than ever, we need clear minds, courage, and people who respond with gentleness and humanity. Know that you are not alone. Many of us here are standing with you. We think of you often, and we go to sleep and wake up each day with these worries on our minds as well. I wish you and all Americans who are suffering because of this much strength, courage, and a sense of connection. You are not alone.

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  19. As I write you, I’m watching the live pictures on CNN of the bombs falling in Tel Aviv. Netanyahu has brought this on his own people. I think he is cut from the same cloth as Donald Trump. This is just one more thing that takes the media’s attention off of Ukraine. In fact, Turmp’s actions have dominated the news here since January 20 to the point that we never hear Ukraine mentioned anymore. Trump is a master at timing his actions and pronouncements in a way that the news media are drawn to him like a bug to a light and meanwhile we cannot see the bigger picture. It is heartbreaking that Europeans now must live in constant worry about what the President of the United States is going to do. It’s bad enough that he is keeping us on edge. Like you indicated, it is the last thing we think about before we go to sleep and the first thing we think about when we wake up. It is nonstop, and I know I’m not aware of half of what he is doing. It will take a few years before we realize some of the things he has taken from us, our government, and our way of life. And the young people who have no memory of how things were before Trump’s first term have no idea what “normal life” even was. They don’t realize the freedoms they are losing to this self-centered maniac. There are 1,800 peaceful “No Kings!” protests planned across the US tomorrow to coincide with his military parade. Stormy weather is predicted for the Washington, DC area tomorrow, so the parade might be cancelled or postponed. That would certainly be poetic justice for our wannabe dictator! Thank you for your thoughts and support. I hold you close in my prayers.

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  22. I’m working on my blog post about our trip now. I’m finding that I have a limited vocabulary. Most of what we saw is fine and there are pockets where the damage was extreme. I don’t want to paint the mountains as a disaster area, but there are places there that would still qualify as such. Seeing two-story houses that are just shells now was sobering. Seeing houses extremely damaged with a FEMA trailer a few feet away was emotional to see. I plan to post about the trip on Monday… unless World War III breaks out over the weekend.

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