It has been a shocking 24 hours in America.
Yesterday, on the 238th anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution, Brandon Carr, the Chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) went on a podcast and showed his true MAGA colors. He did Trump’s bidding. Using the language of a mob boss, he threatened ABC if the network did not fire late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.
Trump once again publicly announced his disdain for the ABC network before he left from Great Britain on Tuesday.
Instead of finally showing a backbone and not caving in to pressure from the Trump Regime, ABC kowtowed to Donald Trump and his minions once again. Trump’s minion du jour yesterday was Brandon Carr.
These people have no shame. Carr was wearing a U.S. Flag on his lapel as he did Trump’s work on that podcast. I’m surprised he wasn’t wearing a big cross necklace like so many of Trump’s people do as they spout hate.
Once you give in to a bully, that bully owns you. Most people learn that on the playground when they’re five years old. The executives of the large corporations, universities, museums, law firms, etc. in the United States did not learn that lesson as children or young adults. They are learning it in 2025, and it is a hideous thing to watch because it means the destruction of the Constitution of the United States.
Yesterday, on the 238th anniversary of the September 17, 1787, signing of the Constitution of the United States of America, the United States reverted to our colonial rule under King George when criticizing the king was against the law.
Here we are. Half the voters voted for this last November. When you vote for a person who has no understanding of right and wrong, no understanding of the Constitution of the United States, and only understands the power of money, this is what you get.
Half of you voted for it and the rest of us are getting slammed with it. Speaking to those of you who are happy about government censorship of free expression, I feel sorry for you because you have no appreciation for the incredible freedoms and opportunities you were handed at birth just by being born in the United States.
When a wannabe dictator tells you he is “going to be a dictator on Day One,” you should believe him.
In the coming days, we will either see Republicans in Congress grow a backbone and speak up for free speech and reel in the FCC, or we will see them continue to be complicit in the dismantling of the Bill of Rights.
Since the official responses from the White House and Trump and his family have been to celebrate, I am not hopeful. There is an old saying in America: “Monkey see, monkey do.”
I’ll keep sounding the alarm as long as I’m allowed to. This is not the country I knew from 1953 through 2024.
Every time I think things can’t get worse….
Janet
Janet's Writing Blog 
“Once you give in to a bully, that bully owns you.” Indeed☹️
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Spot on, Janet. I would normally think the date coincidence is on purpose, but I think we are giving this crew too much credit for that. RIP First Amendment. 🪦🪦🪦
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I never thought I’d see the day when free speech was outlawed in the US–but here we are.
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We have a bad state of affairs here, Norah. I keep thinking about you and your organization — what you are trying to do. Have you ever been able to get any form of aid from the Carter Center in Atlanta? Now that USAID has been destroyed, we all have to depend on the goodwill of organizations not under government control. Just a thought. President Jimmy Carter’s heart was in the right place and I pray the Carter Center will be able to forever be a beacon of light for good causes around the world.
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Right, Pat. They had no idea. They have no idea there even is a Constitution Day. Which Amendment will bite the dust next week?
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The things we took for granted all our lives, Liz. The things we took for granted.
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It is terrible, this erosion of free speech in the United States. Your concern is justified and deeply felt, even from here.
Today, UGent rector Petra De Sutter (transgender, but above all: simply Petra) announced that she will not join the trade mission to the US. Too risky under Trump. The US has rapidly slid into an autocratic regime where academic freedom and free speech are under pressure. Petra chooses dialogue, not dictate.
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How sad it is that people are afraid to come to the United States now! I understand why, and I am horrified by what it means. One person interviewed on TV said he was appalled at how quickly the U.S. became Hungary. The museums cannot present true history, universities cannot teach and cannot allow student protests, medical researchers cannot do research, scientists cannot pursue cleaner ways to produce energy, immigrants are hunted down and sent to God knows where without due process, national parks and forests are being cut down and drilled for fossil fuels, a white man who made a career of brainwashing young people with his racist and narrow-minded ideas under the guise of being a Christian is made into a national hero and martyr, comedians cannot make jokes about politicians….
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It’s shocking to witness this.
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It certainly is.
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Probably the 25th Amendment The 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides a mechanism for removing a president who is unable to discharge their duties, though it has never been fully invoked for this purpose. Section 4 of the amendment requires the vice president and a majority of the cabinet to declare the president unable to serve, after which Congress can vote to remove the president. This process is separate from impeachment and has a high bar for execution, involving a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate.
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Isn’t that the truth!
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True! It will be next. I expect them to fall like dominoes. I’ve lost hope.
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A government by the people for the people is being replaced with government by the billionaires for the billionaires.
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Right before our eyes and at warp speed.
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