A friend wrote a guest opinion for his local paper and gave me permission to post it for others to adapt:
In a recent letter to constituents entitled “The Amodei Report: Roundup of Presidential Actions”, MAGA Mark Amodei stated that a “90-day pause in foreign assistance fulfills President Trump’s commitment to ensuring responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”
Amodei goes on to list a “few initiatives” funded through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under President Biden’s watch with which he apparently disagrees, and I quote:
— $2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam
— $2 million for sex changes and “LGBT activism” in Guatemala
— Hundreds of thousands of dollars to a non-profit linked to designated terrorist organizations, even after an Inspector General initiated an investigation
— $47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Colombia
— $32,000 for a “transgender comic book” in Peru
Now, let’s put on our Critical Thinking Caps, shall we?
According to the most recent full-year fiscal report for USAID, USAID spent $39 billion dollars on its mission around the world. However, USAID also carries out programs funded by the US State Department. Adding in those expenditures, USAID executed missions totaling between $50 and $60 billion in 2023, according to public reporting. Let’s use $55 billion as an estimate.
Apparently, Mr. Amodei has a gripe with the five programs he mentioned. The approximate total expenditure for these five is about $5.1 million dollars. Dividing $5.1 million dollars by USAID’s total expenditures of $55 billion dollars, we find that Mr. Amodei is apparently complaining about expenditures totaling 0.00927% of USAID’s budget!!!
In other words, Mr. Amodei is literally ignoring the remaining 99.9907% of USAID’s expenditures. One would wonder if he knows or cares what activities are included in 99.9907% of USAID’s activities? Do you, Mark? How about holding one of your very rare constituent town halls so that we can discuss?
A rhetorical point is being made, not a point of substance. In truth, Mr. Amodei’s email to his constituents is not a product of his own independent thinking about USAID, but instead merely a subset of 12 talking points distributed by MAGA, intent upon attacking USAID in districts around the country with the usual “culture war” messages. Fact-checker Glenn Kessler at the Washington Post has declared that 11 of the 12 are wrong: "The White House’s wildly inaccurate claims about USAID spending: Eleven out of 12 claims about the agency’s work are misleading, wrong or lack context.” https://wapo.st/3X2I77c
In truth, USAID performs the vital mission of supporting the U.S. government’s foreign policy by helping countries with economic development, disaster relief, and promoting democracy.
What has USAID accomplished in recent years with the other 99.9907% of the budget that Mr. Amodei didn’t mention?
Well, only saved over 25 million lives in Africa under a program started by President George W. Bush called PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), called by many the most successful humanitarian aid program in history.
What else has USAID done? Daily, USAID saves starving people in sub-Saharan Africa using a substance manufactured from Georgia peanuts, suppresses the production of cocaine in South America, fights to save the Amazon rainforest, and acts through its nearly 100 missions worldwide as a pandemic early-warning system as it provides rudimentary anti-viral health care for the poorest people on earth.
The eradication of smallpox was achieved by a collaboration between USAID and the CDC and the World Health Organization (from which President Trump recently had us withdraw).
The bottom line is that every year, again using the 99.9907% of the budget that Mr. Amodei does not mention, USAID saves millions of lives worldwide, promotes democracy, and promotes American “soft power.”
But don’t just take my word for it, listen to conservative former USAID chief under President G.W. Bush, Andrew Natsios. He says “the notion that the agency are criminals and all that, that’s a lot of garbage. It’s a lie, it’s an insult.” Simply Google "Andrew Natsios USAID", and you will find numerous interviews where Mr. Natsios explains all the good that USAID does, and why America is worse off without it.
It is an abomination that the wealthiest man in the world, Elon Musk, bragged on “X” about how he and his young coders and hackers “spent the weekend feeding USAID into the woodchipper.” The wealthiest man on earth is bragging about an action that will cause thousands and probably millions of deaths of the poorest people on earth, without any review by the U.S. Congress.
This is a sad, disgusting chapter in our country’s history, and Mr. Amodei is complicit, spreading defaming tidbits about USAID while ignoring its magnificent accomplishments for the world and for all Americans. I am disgusted that he apparently condones Mr. Musk’s “feeding USAID through the woodchipper.”
As Mr. Natsios has pointed out, true conservatives don’t feed agencies through the woodchipper, they make course corrections, eliminating the bad and improving on the good works being done. Musk and Trump’s approach is not conservatism… it’s nihilism and anarchy.
I call on Mark Amodei to think for himself, and to stop supporting the ravings of Elon Musk and Donald Trump, before it is too late. American foreign policy and American democracy are at stake. If today’s MAGA will lie about USAID and “feed it through the woodchipper", soon they will come for FEMA, for Medicaid, for Social Security, for Medicare and other programs vital to American citizens to justify the $4.5 trillion dollar tax cut for billionaires that they just proposed in the upcoming budget talks.
Wake up, citizens, before it is too late. As I write this, Donald Trump has abandoned Ukraine, essentially promised disputed territory to Vladimir Putin, and invited this man, a war criminal, to the White House. These are disgraceful moments in American history, and we all need to wake up and think for ourselves.
Especially our elected representatives, like Mark Amodei.
100%. Putin won’t stop. Germany has been building bases and moving soldiers and material to Poland. Polands been building bomb shelters in every city and town.
Not only is Poland building bomb shelters, but all Scandi countries have just updated their civilian war preparedness advice, and Germany is in the process of doing that too. In my family where part is in the US and part is in Germany we have been preparing for war in Germany too, including me telling my 19-year-old daughter where we are meeting up.
Agreed, but most Americans could care less about the Baltics or even Poland. That's why I did a piece consisting of the Russian flag with the silhouette of Alaska superimposed and the state' name, in Cyrillic, superimposed on that. The title is "Why stop at Ukraine?"
From what is covered in the press, there is little awareness of the interrelationships of most areas of the world including the country. It's almost like each 'report' is another separate TV program -- the Flintstones never meet The Adams Family....
We know that most Americans who are not from those countries could care less, and may not be clear where they are, or know much about European history and politics. With the world of hurt that Americans are going to be in, it is clear that they will not care about anyone else, not even their neighbors if it need be for survival. That happens in autocracies.
I listen to The History of the Twentieth Century podcast and was interested in what he said about people just before WWI.
Only aristocrats (rich people) traveled. There was the Grand Tour of Europe for them. But...
Regular people didn’t leave their home town; they never traveled to other countries; they knew only their surroundings. No wonder they loved their “homeland” and didn’t see any reason to think about the rest of humanity.
That was an important aspect of the Crusades is that it got people out of their villages and to see parts of the world that were different from theirs and they could see that people are just people. I have been saying US high schools should be sending students abroad. It is important to our living in the world.
Apologies for any cross-posting but seems my reply didn't go through?
Anyway, thanks Jason for your post.
The "bold" actions (which in fact belie weakness, as Snyder points out) of the Trump Administrations to usurp power (violating the Impoundment Control Act being just one of many examples already) require an equally bold resistance. Their actions are breaking laws but also norms in at least two important ways.
First, they assault our values of due process and law and, by extension, any remaining standards of decency toward others (where to start on the latter?: their gleeful traumatization of our civil servants, their blatant attempt to threaten FBI investigators with vigilante violence, their dehumanization of immigrants, their attempt to withhold critical funding of programs here in the United States on which people’s and family’s livelihoods depend, and as you discuss, "shredding" an agency that provides critical assistance to sick and vulnerable people around the world).
Maybe even more importantly, though, is the open manner in which this assault is occurring. Its very openness is what communicates authority. The nakedness of their power grab sends a metamessage to all of us that they and they alone may govern us.
But for this strategy to work—and it is a strategy to change norms—requires us to not challenge their actions, to say: this isn’t outrageous, this is normal, legitimate (during this transition period, their claim to authority carries an implicit threat that we accept the change or else). Our non-response would reinforce their metamessage and embolden them, all while we acclimate ourselves to a new norm. Our hand is forced. We must resist.
Stephan - same friend wrote this letter to his Nevada rep a few days ago and gave me permission to post it for others to adapt:
Dear Representative Amodei,
In your email to constituents dated February 7th,”The Amodei Report: Roundup of Presidential Actions”, you stated that “while some of [President Trump’s executive] actions may be controversial, it is important to note that they have all been executed within the framework of democracy.”
I beg to differ, Sir! Federal judges of the United States disagree with you, vehemently!
In less than 3 weeks on the job, President Trump’s administration has been sued over his executive orders in court 41 separate times. This is a record for any president in our history. A running record of these lawsuits can be found at Just Security’s online litigation tracker, here: https://www.justsecurity.org/107087/tracker-litigation-legal-challenges-trump-administration/
In addition to the large number of lawsuits, several restraining orders have already been issued against Trump’s actions by federal judges, including a judge appointed by Trump himself. These include restraining orders against:
--- Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze, cutting off funding for Head Start, school meal programs, access to SNAP and WIC program benefits, and halting critical medical research.
Do you agree with cutting off federal funds for these vital programs, Mr. Amodei?
— Trump’s DOGE access to the Treasury Payment System. Some experts are calling this DOGE action the largest digital data breach in U.S. history, with millions of Americans’ social security numbers, Medicare health histories, bank account numbers, and financial records having potentially been exposed. There are doubts now about the system’s vulnerability to future hacking attempts.
Do you condone this activity, Mr. Amodei?
— Trump’s order ending Birthright Citizenship, in contravention of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, nominated to the bench by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, said in blocking Trump’s order that “it has become ever more apparent that, to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for his political or personal gain. Nevertheless, in this courtroom and under my watch, the rule of law is a bright beacon which I intend to follow.”
Judge Coughenour went on to say: “I said this two weeks ago, and I’ll say it again today: There are moments in the world’s history when people look back and ask, ‘Where were the lawyers, where were the judges?’ In these moments, the rule of law becomes especially vulnerable. I refuse to let that beacon go dark today.”
Gee, Mr. Amodei, it doesn’t sound like this federal judge agrees with your opinion that Trump’s orders are being “executed within the framework of democracy.” Phrases such as “blatantly unconstitutional”, “moments in world history…the rule of law becomes especially vulnerable”, “where were the lawyers?”, “the rule of law is something for [Trump] … to navigate around or ignore”… these phrases do not comport with the idea of Trump “execut[ing] within the framework of democracy.”
Mr. Amodei, I suggest you start thinking for yourself and stop simply parroting GOP talking points. Our democracy and our Constitution are under attack from a lawless president. I recommend you think more deeply about your oath to support and defend the Constitution, and about your future place in history.
I note that you have a law degree and have practiced law for over 20 years prior to becoming a congressman. It seems that Judge Coughenour’s words apply directly to you, Mr. Amodei: “There are moments in the world’s history when people look back and ask ‘Where were the lawyers, where were the judges?”
Where will you be when history looks back on you, Counselor?
Lastly, how about a town hall meeting in your district, Counselor? I went to the “Meet Mark” link on your website, and all I found was your bio and portrait, and list of committees. How about a meeting with your constituents?
RIGHT ON! YOU SAID IT ALL! Amodei and congressional cohorts have sold us all down the river. We may not survive as a result! SHAME, SHAME ON AMODEI AND REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS WHO HAVE SOLD US OUT! kARMA WILL NOT BE KIND TO THEM.
Ellen - 110%! Pro birth; NOT pro life! If MAGAts were pro life they wouldn’t be cutting off food to starving children, letting pregnant women die, inviting a war criminal to the White House, putting a vaccine denier in charge of DHHS the same day a measles outbreak in Gaines County, TX hits the news, etc, etc, etc!
Absolutely, and I'm constantly reminded of this whenever this topic comes up, especially the part about forgetting them once they are born:
“The unborn” are a convenient group of people to advocate for. They never make demands of you; they are morally uncomplicated, unlike the incarcerated, addicted, or the chronically poor; they don’t resent your condescension or complain that you are not politically correct; unlike widows, they don’t ask you to question patriarchy; unlike orphans, they don’t need money, education, or childcare; unlike aliens, they don’t bring all that racial, cultural, and religious baggage that you dislike; they allow you to feel good about yourself without any work at creating or maintaining relationships; and when they are born, you can forget about them, because they cease to be unborn. You can love the unborn and advocate for them without substantially challenging your own wealth, power, or privilege, without re-imagining social structures, apologizing, or making reparations to anyone. They are, in short, the perfect people to love if you want to claim you love Jesus, but actually dislike people who breathe. Prisoners? Immigrants? The sick? The poor? Widows? Orphans? All the groups that are specifically mentioned in the Bible? They all get thrown under the bus for the unborn.”
Fact-checker Glenn Kessler at the Washington Post has declared that 11 of the 12 are wrong: "The White House’s wildly inaccurate claims about USAID spending: Eleven out of 12 claims about the agency’s work are misleading, wrong or lack context.” https://wapo.st/3X2I77c
Great analysis. The Russians must be breaking out the champagne, especially after Trump suggested that the Ukranians might become Russian. Just like Canadians or Greenlanders might become American, I suppose. Like all tyrants, Trump does not believe that any people has the right of self-determination.
As you note, Trump will sell Ukraine down the river. He has talked with Putin but without Zelensky, just as he excluded the Afghan government from his negotiations with the Taliban. That turned out to be a surrender agreement for the Afghans.
Defense Secretary Hesgeth has already publicly caved on two key Russian demands: Ukraine can’t recover its lost territories or get NATO membership. Hesgeth is doing a fine job negotiating on Putin’s behalf. Maybe Trump will suggest that Ukraine should pay reparations to Russia?
and with tons of caviar! Meanwhile the Republican Senators are too scared of Trump to criticize his open support for Putin. As Snyder points out, they think that Trump is stronger than he really is.
Well.... in the only way that matters to a lot of them, he is strong. He'll get Musk to primary them at the next election go-round. BTW - lay this all on Roberts' atrocious Citizens United ruling in 2010. Corporations are people too.
I firmly believe trump has blackmail on everyone still in Congress but especially republicans who have goose stepped their way one at a time or in flocks, to kiss the ring and fall in line like good little boys and girls.
I really hurt for Ukraine though. I saw where Germany’s leadership has called an emergency session to figure out how to respond to Hegseth’s comments. Here is more about all that.
I don't believe T has anything on republicans. Putin, on the other hand, apparently has something on all of them and T. How corrupt is the party of law and order?
I used to disagree with Republican Senators, but I understood what their point of view was. Cannot say that is true anymore. They have no point of view other than being elected. And filling their coffers.
" Ukraine’s territory offers about 20 critical minerals from U.S. list – expert’s opinion
Ukraine’s territory offers about 20 critical minerals from U.S. list – expert’s opinion
14.02.2025 02:16
The United States has a list of 50 critical minerals, and about 20 of them are available on the territory of Ukraine.
The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Industry Expertise (Ukrpromzovnishexpertyza) State Enterprise Director Volodymyr Vlasiuk in a commentary to DW, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
According to Vlasiuk, those natural resources that U.S. President Donald Trump had expressed interest in, calling them ‘rare earth metals’, represent the group of critical minerals.
“The U.S. Geological Survey has a list of 50 critical minerals, which includes, for example, lithium. Speaking of this group of critical minerals, Ukraine indeed has such deposits and promising sites. In the United States, the list of critical minerals contains 50 names. Of them, we have about 20 minerals,” Vlasiuk told.
Mainly, the above refers to critical minerals that are conventionally classified as battery minerals, and also semiconductor minerals. These are the two key groups without which the modern economy is impossible, either defense or modern civilian production, such as the production of microchips.
“In Ukraine, there are elements of these two critical groups. We have lithium, graphite and manganese. These are the three key components of the ‘battery’ group. We also have critical minerals of the ‘semiconductor’ group, such as gallium and germanium… In millidoses, they are used for the production of modern microchips. We also have hafnium and silicon, and strategic structural materials, such as titanium, zirconium, vanadium and phosphorus. As for rare earth metals, these are bismuth, cadmium, and so on,” Vlasiuk explained.
At the same time, the expert could not estimate the actual reserves of such minerals, as they are still poorly explored.
“So far, there has been no precise exploration, which would have been conducted in accordance with international standards. We still have the exploration data on the development of ores from the Soviet era, and some exploration data from the Ukrainian times. As for the said elements, there are indeed serious reserves and in good condition,” Vlasiuk noted.
In his words, there are two or three promising lithium sites. In fact, one of them is situated on the border of the Donetsk region, i.e. in the area of active hostilities. But, the largest lithium site is located in the Kirovohrad region.
“In Ukraine, these deposits are rich enough for us to be included in the global supply chain of such minerals,” Vlasiuk concluded.
A reminder that Ukrainian Industry Expertise (Ukrpromzovnishexpertyza) is Ukraine’s leading company in the field of marketing and the expert assessment of foreign economic contracts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated earlier that Ukraine is open to signing an agreement with the United States on providing access to rare earth metals in exchange for continued support."
Here is what is really terrible about the “deal” for Ukraine’s rare earth deposits: Trump is more interested in getting access to natural resources than protecting a democracy. The US used to be the world’s policeman. Now,Trump is running a protection racket.
Trump's mental deficiencies have been apparent for a long time. The "press conference" held in the Oval Office recently gave visual evidence of the Trump/Must relationship. Trump hunched down at his desk while Musk strutted and answered most of the questions. Trump's mental decline has left him unable to deal with the day to day requirements of the presidency and I really believe that it is because of people like Musk, Vaught, and Stephen Miller that all the actions are being taken. Trump likes to sign things and then hold them up, but he probably hasn't read a word of what he signed.
Not only did Trump hunched down at his desk while musk strutted and answered most of the questions… Musk 4 yr old son “X” had some choice words for Trump while his father was talking…..
This is brilliant. Absolutely spot on, as my Brit BIL might say.... The weakness disguised as strength are so evident in both Trump and Musk. We The People will have to make good use of the First Amendment right to assemble and petition the government about our grievances, once again. With so much deception and destruction by both in so much of society right now, we are even stronger than right after the election. Resist!
Republicans----->. Please think long about what TS says here : "And now Trump is trying to make concessions to Russia regarding issues directly related to Ukrainian sovereignty on his own, without Ukraine, and indeed without any allies. He is showing weakness on a level unprecedented in modern US history. His position is so weak that it is unlikely to convince anyone. Trump is a sheep in wolf’s clothing. "
Trump is the consummate wimp...backs down when challenged and doesn't even have the guts to fire someone to their face (remember Secy. of State Tillerson was fired by a Tweet or email).
That is crap! I am a retired teacher and the schools are NOT dehumanized! People who say those kinds of things have an agenda! You are being"hoodwinked! "
Please..., I am a retired teacher! all this crap about dehumanizing schools is untrue and created by the idiots on the right that want to scare you and make you go fight windmills, like Don Kijote, that don't exist while they take over the country and leave you empty and without democracy and without life, liberty and happiness! Talk to people that work in the schools if you want the truth! Research the truth.
I just noticed, too, Gale, that you totally miss the correct title of that world classic you botch in trying to cite, "Don Quixote." (Longer title, in full: "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha.")
But if I can direct you to the real world, look at the accompanying comments here. Typically, almost no one cites any novels, memoirs, biographies, histories, or other arts.
Check out the nation's best pundits on You Tube videos. Typically, almost no one cites any novels, memoirs, biographies, histories, or other arts.
Check out C-Span: typically, virtually no public officials ever cite any novels, memoirs, biographies, histories, or other arts.
American schools did this, Gale. All countries get similarly dehumanized where standardized testing suffocates all.
It is shocking how many people have given Trump a pass for his disastrous response to COVID, while blaming Biden for having to pick up the pieces a bit too slowly for their liking.
Americans need to see what we know is happening - foreign leaders are laughing at Hegseth, Rubio and Trump. They know they are lightweights, and not very bright lightweights at that. We need to see retaliatory tariffs targeted at Musk and red states as many in Canada are discussing. And we need to see someone, anyone, forcing tRump to back down on his most outrageous attacks on us. Judges seem up to the task. Chris Murphy is up to the task. AOC is up to the taks. Jasmine Crockett is up to the task. We need to support them. Courage, like cowardice, is contagious.
Rage is Rising in America. Everyday, Trump finds more and more ways to infuriate more than half our citizens.
Imagine a president who authorized a inhuman person worth $300 Billion, to ruin the middle class lives of millions of Americans who work for the Federal government or for NGO charities affiliated with our government. How can this be?
Imagine that that $300 Billion guy has a small team of 20 somethings with laptops who are given access to the private information of hundreds of millions of Americans so they can identify, in a day or two, serious fraud within Federal agencies. No digital technology combined with human intelligence can do that in less than 6 months. And this $300 Billion guy's companies are major beneficiaries of Federal funding. How can this be?
And he's bankrupting rural farmers who sell crops to global aid agencies by defending the agencies based on false claims of fraud. People are dying as a result. His actions make we the people complicit in these crimes against humanity!
And this president has launched a dragnet campaign to sweep up alleged illegal immigrants for deportation without ANY due process. So who is breaking the law?
And this president is illegally removing US citizens from government jobs because of their sexual orientation.
And he's flooded agricultural land in California six months ahead of the growing season.
And so on and so forth.
Millions and millions of Americans are really pissed off!
UNITE. The lawsuits are here The protests and strikes and tax revolts are coming. Trump and his people are Paper Tigers.
While I love Timothy Snyder, someone please explain to me how a “weak” man, like Trump is supposed to be, can dismantle the US government at lightening speed and cow every Republican Senator into submission. What has happened these past few weeks (not even a month yet!) bears a strong resemblance to a mob boss whose “family” has decided to take over another mob family’s territory. That’s not weakness, that’s strength, or more appropriately, power. It may well be the power of an old mob boss whose will be taken out when he gets too old to be fully effective anymore, but it’s still power. In The Godfather, Don Corleone is succeeded by his son Michael, who goes from being a rather quiet “don’t bother me” member of the family to a boss even more powerful than his father was. Who succeeds Trump? Vance? Musk? Someone currently so quiet we don’t see him coming?
We have seen dictatorships flourish elsewhere for decades, with a succession of strongmen, one after the other. Russia is the foremost example. I hope our current malaise only lasts 4 years, but it could easily last decades. I’m in my 70’s. I may not live long enough to see this pass away. It comforts me not at all to think that somehow Trump is a “weak strongman”. He is surrounded this time, not by people who act as guardrails, but by zealots who follow an ideology. The movement will outlive Trump, just as surely as Stalin succeeded Lenin. I fear that we are living through our own version of Hitler transforming Germany in 53 days. Remember how that turned out. The Hitler regime did not last decades, but look what it took to end it.
I appreciate your question, Ann. You are definitely not alone in scratching your head about how we got here. Trump himself said in an interview back 2016 that "Power is...fear." I think that sums it up pretty well. Trump's "power" is empty in the sense that there is no moral or ethical compass, no purpose except for its own sake. And I think that that kind of power thrives in the cultural nihilism we find ourselves in these days.
That pretty much leaves only destruction as a way for his "power" to justify itself. I think this is partly what Snyder is getting at when he talks about weak strength (I have some other thoughts to add to his piece another time). Ultimately, it may be Trump's undoing, but as you say too, even then we all pay a price along the way, unfortunately, in sum but also in the whole greater than the sum. Our very democracy--our positive freedoms!--is at stake.
77 million Americans voted for the criminal, the rapist, the con man.
They pretty much all still love criminality, rape, con jobs.
American schools cower under and cravenly prolong standardized testing. It only promotes impotence -- in all countries where the commodifiers rely on it.
First he licensees out to the heritage foundation to the gutting. Musk sees the opportunity to go full Technocracy like his grandfather, wants to replace people with AI. Sometimes I wonder is the AI really that capable? Or if it is, could it already be manipulating Elon?
Perhaps the answer is in the reality/analysis of what a strongman is.. an appearance, an act that convinces. He steals power, accumulates it more and more. The "weak strongman" is a redundancy if not an oxymoron. But Trump's "strength" is pulled out of the air first through perception, then little by little gathering (including confidence in himself and what he can pull off). So I think Snyder means Trump is still weak but is a threat (existentially) if he becomes or is allowed to become even stronger. I think he is headed for a crash. We are not going to stand for this. Trump the strongman exists so long as he can wield his power. We need to take it away from him, to at least limit him drastically. That means firing up on all engines.
It's a crisis. We need to get going.
Trump works through a combination of using fear, threats, gathering those corrupt and weakly acquiescent, those looking for favor, the politically ignorant/misguided, the uncaring, complacent and nihilist. Musk, then Bezos, Zuckerberg and others disappointingly fall.
Trump's talent is in gaining even feigning power, threatening He feigns that he knows what he does not. He's a shameless liar, as are loyalists . His outrageous boldness works, though, to gain power. He worked the openings, the weaknesses of the electorate. It's really shame on us.. We allowed this to happen. We need to wake up now, be alarmed.
The words 'being alone' in the first paragraph of this analysis of Trump reverberated most for me. What of the American people who have retreated through loss of community and local journalism; overpowered by technology; much less mobility and social interaction; overworked with less and less guidance of the children... We are alone.
Why does a weak strongman look like a savior to many Americans? How are the people doing, Timothy Snyder?
Thank you Professor Snyder. trump and his crew gave away past, present and future today. idiots. Reverend Al Sharpton just said he believes people will be moved to a tipping point as the number of insults build. We need Americans to wake up. Yesterday my question to my Representatives was Do you know what's happening? Today I asked, Where are we going? Do you know it's a Coup? When I woke up this morning I donated to United 24 to tell Ukraine, I stand with them. (with Love)
This reminds me of poor Czechoslovakia as Hitler lied again & again about his aggression. I know that Neville Chamberlain has been excoriated by history. The clip of him getting off that plane waving that paper declaring "peace in our time" only to have Czechoslovakia gobbled up in its entirety a few months later is damning indeed. I'd like to point out one thing about Mr. Chamberlain's actions. We must remember that he saw & lived through the decimation of a generation of young men on both sides of WWI. While he was naive about Hitler I honestly believe he thought that he had done the right thing to try to avoid another devastating conflict. It's very easy for us today in 2025 who have not seen the US participate in an all encompassing war to criticize him Yes, we've had wars, we've had military actions & we have lost the lives of young men & women in these conflicts. But as a country we have not watched or endured what Europe went through in WWI. Our towns & cities & countrysides were not bombed, mined, inundated with mustard gas. And while the loss of every life is appalling what we have suffered in the last 50 or so years doesn't seem to justify maligning Chamberlain by comparing the likes of trump & Hegseth with him. One was a draft dodger the other, while he served he did not endure what the soldiers & civilians went through in either WWI or WWII or Korea or Vietnam. Chamberlain was no hero but he was a better man than either of the two that are parsing Ukraine for the benefit of another autocrat.
Dr Snyder once again, thank you for your ability to synthesise information with clarity. These are troubling times for everyone and your voice is much needed
A friend wrote a guest opinion for his local paper and gave me permission to post it for others to adapt:
In a recent letter to constituents entitled “The Amodei Report: Roundup of Presidential Actions”, MAGA Mark Amodei stated that a “90-day pause in foreign assistance fulfills President Trump’s commitment to ensuring responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”
Amodei goes on to list a “few initiatives” funded through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under President Biden’s watch with which he apparently disagrees, and I quote:
— $2.5 million for electric vehicles for Vietnam
— $2 million for sex changes and “LGBT activism” in Guatemala
— Hundreds of thousands of dollars to a non-profit linked to designated terrorist organizations, even after an Inspector General initiated an investigation
— $47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Colombia
— $32,000 for a “transgender comic book” in Peru
Now, let’s put on our Critical Thinking Caps, shall we?
According to the most recent full-year fiscal report for USAID, USAID spent $39 billion dollars on its mission around the world. However, USAID also carries out programs funded by the US State Department. Adding in those expenditures, USAID executed missions totaling between $50 and $60 billion in 2023, according to public reporting. Let’s use $55 billion as an estimate.
Apparently, Mr. Amodei has a gripe with the five programs he mentioned. The approximate total expenditure for these five is about $5.1 million dollars. Dividing $5.1 million dollars by USAID’s total expenditures of $55 billion dollars, we find that Mr. Amodei is apparently complaining about expenditures totaling 0.00927% of USAID’s budget!!!
In other words, Mr. Amodei is literally ignoring the remaining 99.9907% of USAID’s expenditures. One would wonder if he knows or cares what activities are included in 99.9907% of USAID’s activities? Do you, Mark? How about holding one of your very rare constituent town halls so that we can discuss?
A rhetorical point is being made, not a point of substance. In truth, Mr. Amodei’s email to his constituents is not a product of his own independent thinking about USAID, but instead merely a subset of 12 talking points distributed by MAGA, intent upon attacking USAID in districts around the country with the usual “culture war” messages. Fact-checker Glenn Kessler at the Washington Post has declared that 11 of the 12 are wrong: "The White House’s wildly inaccurate claims about USAID spending: Eleven out of 12 claims about the agency’s work are misleading, wrong or lack context.” https://wapo.st/3X2I77c
In truth, USAID performs the vital mission of supporting the U.S. government’s foreign policy by helping countries with economic development, disaster relief, and promoting democracy.
What has USAID accomplished in recent years with the other 99.9907% of the budget that Mr. Amodei didn’t mention?
Well, only saved over 25 million lives in Africa under a program started by President George W. Bush called PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), called by many the most successful humanitarian aid program in history.
What else has USAID done? Daily, USAID saves starving people in sub-Saharan Africa using a substance manufactured from Georgia peanuts, suppresses the production of cocaine in South America, fights to save the Amazon rainforest, and acts through its nearly 100 missions worldwide as a pandemic early-warning system as it provides rudimentary anti-viral health care for the poorest people on earth.
The eradication of smallpox was achieved by a collaboration between USAID and the CDC and the World Health Organization (from which President Trump recently had us withdraw).
The bottom line is that every year, again using the 99.9907% of the budget that Mr. Amodei does not mention, USAID saves millions of lives worldwide, promotes democracy, and promotes American “soft power.”
But don’t just take my word for it, listen to conservative former USAID chief under President G.W. Bush, Andrew Natsios. He says “the notion that the agency are criminals and all that, that’s a lot of garbage. It’s a lie, it’s an insult.” Simply Google "Andrew Natsios USAID", and you will find numerous interviews where Mr. Natsios explains all the good that USAID does, and why America is worse off without it.
It is an abomination that the wealthiest man in the world, Elon Musk, bragged on “X” about how he and his young coders and hackers “spent the weekend feeding USAID into the woodchipper.” The wealthiest man on earth is bragging about an action that will cause thousands and probably millions of deaths of the poorest people on earth, without any review by the U.S. Congress.
This is a sad, disgusting chapter in our country’s history, and Mr. Amodei is complicit, spreading defaming tidbits about USAID while ignoring its magnificent accomplishments for the world and for all Americans. I am disgusted that he apparently condones Mr. Musk’s “feeding USAID through the woodchipper.”
As Mr. Natsios has pointed out, true conservatives don’t feed agencies through the woodchipper, they make course corrections, eliminating the bad and improving on the good works being done. Musk and Trump’s approach is not conservatism… it’s nihilism and anarchy.
I call on Mark Amodei to think for himself, and to stop supporting the ravings of Elon Musk and Donald Trump, before it is too late. American foreign policy and American democracy are at stake. If today’s MAGA will lie about USAID and “feed it through the woodchipper", soon they will come for FEMA, for Medicaid, for Social Security, for Medicare and other programs vital to American citizens to justify the $4.5 trillion dollar tax cut for billionaires that they just proposed in the upcoming budget talks.
Wake up, citizens, before it is too late. As I write this, Donald Trump has abandoned Ukraine, essentially promised disputed territory to Vladimir Putin, and invited this man, a war criminal, to the White House. These are disgraceful moments in American history, and we all need to wake up and think for ourselves.
Especially our elected representatives, like Mark Amodei.
Voter
Reno, NV
—————————————————
Dr Snyder once again provides a War College level analysis of where we are headed. Putin will NOT stop with Ukraine.
100%. Putin won’t stop. Germany has been building bases and moving soldiers and material to Poland. Polands been building bomb shelters in every city and town.
Finland and Poland have also built walls/fences on their borders.
Not only is Poland building bomb shelters, but all Scandi countries have just updated their civilian war preparedness advice, and Germany is in the process of doing that too. In my family where part is in the US and part is in Germany we have been preparing for war in Germany too, including me telling my 19-year-old daughter where we are meeting up.
Agreed, but most Americans could care less about the Baltics or even Poland. That's why I did a piece consisting of the Russian flag with the silhouette of Alaska superimposed and the state' name, in Cyrillic, superimposed on that. The title is "Why stop at Ukraine?"
From what is covered in the press, there is little awareness of the interrelationships of most areas of the world including the country. It's almost like each 'report' is another separate TV program -- the Flintstones never meet The Adams Family....
We know that most Americans who are not from those countries could care less, and may not be clear where they are, or know much about European history and politics. With the world of hurt that Americans are going to be in, it is clear that they will not care about anyone else, not even their neighbors if it need be for survival. That happens in autocracies.
I listen to The History of the Twentieth Century podcast and was interested in what he said about people just before WWI.
Only aristocrats (rich people) traveled. There was the Grand Tour of Europe for them. But...
Regular people didn’t leave their home town; they never traveled to other countries; they knew only their surroundings. No wonder they loved their “homeland” and didn’t see any reason to think about the rest of humanity.
Sadly, it’s true today, too.
That was an important aspect of the Crusades is that it got people out of their villages and to see parts of the world that were different from theirs and they could see that people are just people. I have been saying US high schools should be sending students abroad. It is important to our living in the world.
Yeah but. (A favorite kid thing). The crusaders saw them as enemies.
1/2 of Americans haven’t left their state. 44% have never left their county.
Apologies for any cross-posting but seems my reply didn't go through?
Anyway, thanks Jason for your post.
The "bold" actions (which in fact belie weakness, as Snyder points out) of the Trump Administrations to usurp power (violating the Impoundment Control Act being just one of many examples already) require an equally bold resistance. Their actions are breaking laws but also norms in at least two important ways.
First, they assault our values of due process and law and, by extension, any remaining standards of decency toward others (where to start on the latter?: their gleeful traumatization of our civil servants, their blatant attempt to threaten FBI investigators with vigilante violence, their dehumanization of immigrants, their attempt to withhold critical funding of programs here in the United States on which people’s and family’s livelihoods depend, and as you discuss, "shredding" an agency that provides critical assistance to sick and vulnerable people around the world).
Maybe even more importantly, though, is the open manner in which this assault is occurring. Its very openness is what communicates authority. The nakedness of their power grab sends a metamessage to all of us that they and they alone may govern us.
But for this strategy to work—and it is a strategy to change norms—requires us to not challenge their actions, to say: this isn’t outrageous, this is normal, legitimate (during this transition period, their claim to authority carries an implicit threat that we accept the change or else). Our non-response would reinforce their metamessage and embolden them, all while we acclimate ourselves to a new norm. Our hand is forced. We must resist.
Stephan - same friend wrote this letter to his Nevada rep a few days ago and gave me permission to post it for others to adapt:
Dear Representative Amodei,
In your email to constituents dated February 7th,”The Amodei Report: Roundup of Presidential Actions”, you stated that “while some of [President Trump’s executive] actions may be controversial, it is important to note that they have all been executed within the framework of democracy.”
I beg to differ, Sir! Federal judges of the United States disagree with you, vehemently!
In less than 3 weeks on the job, President Trump’s administration has been sued over his executive orders in court 41 separate times. This is a record for any president in our history. A running record of these lawsuits can be found at Just Security’s online litigation tracker, here: https://www.justsecurity.org/107087/tracker-litigation-legal-challenges-trump-administration/
In addition to the large number of lawsuits, several restraining orders have already been issued against Trump’s actions by federal judges, including a judge appointed by Trump himself. These include restraining orders against:
--- Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze, cutting off funding for Head Start, school meal programs, access to SNAP and WIC program benefits, and halting critical medical research.
Do you agree with cutting off federal funds for these vital programs, Mr. Amodei?
— Trump’s DOGE access to the Treasury Payment System. Some experts are calling this DOGE action the largest digital data breach in U.S. history, with millions of Americans’ social security numbers, Medicare health histories, bank account numbers, and financial records having potentially been exposed. There are doubts now about the system’s vulnerability to future hacking attempts.
Do you condone this activity, Mr. Amodei?
— Trump’s order ending Birthright Citizenship, in contravention of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, nominated to the bench by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, said in blocking Trump’s order that “it has become ever more apparent that, to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for his political or personal gain. Nevertheless, in this courtroom and under my watch, the rule of law is a bright beacon which I intend to follow.”
Judge Coughenour went on to say: “I said this two weeks ago, and I’ll say it again today: There are moments in the world’s history when people look back and ask, ‘Where were the lawyers, where were the judges?’ In these moments, the rule of law becomes especially vulnerable. I refuse to let that beacon go dark today.”
Gee, Mr. Amodei, it doesn’t sound like this federal judge agrees with your opinion that Trump’s orders are being “executed within the framework of democracy.” Phrases such as “blatantly unconstitutional”, “moments in world history…the rule of law becomes especially vulnerable”, “where were the lawyers?”, “the rule of law is something for [Trump] … to navigate around or ignore”… these phrases do not comport with the idea of Trump “execut[ing] within the framework of democracy.”
Mr. Amodei, I suggest you start thinking for yourself and stop simply parroting GOP talking points. Our democracy and our Constitution are under attack from a lawless president. I recommend you think more deeply about your oath to support and defend the Constitution, and about your future place in history.
I note that you have a law degree and have practiced law for over 20 years prior to becoming a congressman. It seems that Judge Coughenour’s words apply directly to you, Mr. Amodei: “There are moments in the world’s history when people look back and ask ‘Where were the lawyers, where were the judges?”
Where will you be when history looks back on you, Counselor?
Lastly, how about a town hall meeting in your district, Counselor? I went to the “Meet Mark” link on your website, and all I found was your bio and portrait, and list of committees. How about a meeting with your constituents?
Sincerely,
Your Constituent
Reno, NV
RIGHT ON! YOU SAID IT ALL! Amodei and congressional cohorts have sold us all down the river. We may not survive as a result! SHAME, SHAME ON AMODEI AND REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS WHO HAVE SOLD US OUT! kARMA WILL NOT BE KIND TO THEM.
Similar to reactions in Ukraine and some parts of Europe....
Remember, the only lives that are valuable to these people are those of the unborn. Once you're born, they can't wait to kill you.
Ellen - 110%! Pro birth; NOT pro life! If MAGAts were pro life they wouldn’t be cutting off food to starving children, letting pregnant women die, inviting a war criminal to the White House, putting a vaccine denier in charge of DHHS the same day a measles outbreak in Gaines County, TX hits the news, etc, etc, etc!
iT isn't life they value, its control!
Absolutely, and I'm constantly reminded of this whenever this topic comes up, especially the part about forgetting them once they are born:
“The unborn” are a convenient group of people to advocate for. They never make demands of you; they are morally uncomplicated, unlike the incarcerated, addicted, or the chronically poor; they don’t resent your condescension or complain that you are not politically correct; unlike widows, they don’t ask you to question patriarchy; unlike orphans, they don’t need money, education, or childcare; unlike aliens, they don’t bring all that racial, cultural, and religious baggage that you dislike; they allow you to feel good about yourself without any work at creating or maintaining relationships; and when they are born, you can forget about them, because they cease to be unborn. You can love the unborn and advocate for them without substantially challenging your own wealth, power, or privilege, without re-imagining social structures, apologizing, or making reparations to anyone. They are, in short, the perfect people to love if you want to claim you love Jesus, but actually dislike people who breathe. Prisoners? Immigrants? The sick? The poor? Widows? Orphans? All the groups that are specifically mentioned in the Bible? They all get thrown under the bus for the unborn.”
― Methodist Pastor David Barnhart
That's if these supposed expenditures are not BS like the condoms were.
Tom - I added a gift link to the WAPO fact check:
Fact-checker Glenn Kessler at the Washington Post has declared that 11 of the 12 are wrong: "The White House’s wildly inaccurate claims about USAID spending: Eleven out of 12 claims about the agency’s work are misleading, wrong or lack context.” https://wapo.st/3X2I77c
Thanks, Jason.
So well put. We should feed this comment through a loud speaker for all to hear. Bravo!
Great analysis. The Russians must be breaking out the champagne, especially after Trump suggested that the Ukranians might become Russian. Just like Canadians or Greenlanders might become American, I suppose. Like all tyrants, Trump does not believe that any people has the right of self-determination.
As you note, Trump will sell Ukraine down the river. He has talked with Putin but without Zelensky, just as he excluded the Afghan government from his negotiations with the Taliban. That turned out to be a surrender agreement for the Afghans.
Defense Secretary Hesgeth has already publicly caved on two key Russian demands: Ukraine can’t recover its lost territories or get NATO membership. Hesgeth is doing a fine job negotiating on Putin’s behalf. Maybe Trump will suggest that Ukraine should pay reparations to Russia?
The Russians had the Champagne icing from November 5th. Time to tell Thune, McConnell, and Johnson.
and with tons of caviar! Meanwhile the Republican Senators are too scared of Trump to criticize his open support for Putin. As Snyder points out, they think that Trump is stronger than he really is.
Well.... in the only way that matters to a lot of them, he is strong. He'll get Musk to primary them at the next election go-round. BTW - lay this all on Roberts' atrocious Citizens United ruling in 2010. Corporations are people too.
Wasn't it Scalia's brainchild? (May he rot in hell.)
I firmly believe trump has blackmail on everyone still in Congress but especially republicans who have goose stepped their way one at a time or in flocks, to kiss the ring and fall in line like good little boys and girls.
I really hurt for Ukraine though. I saw where Germany’s leadership has called an emergency session to figure out how to respond to Hegseth’s comments. Here is more about all that.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/13/us-should-not-have-made-concessions-to-russia-over-ukraine-german-minister-says?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
I don't believe T has anything on republicans. Putin, on the other hand, apparently has something on all of them and T. How corrupt is the party of law and order?
the idiots gave away everything past, present and future.
I"ve heard that they have all been told that if they don't vote Trump, there will be conseuences
I used to disagree with Republican Senators, but I understood what their point of view was. Cannot say that is true anymore. They have no point of view other than being elected. And filling their coffers.
Step out of line
And the proud boys and oatkeepers put u away
and, perhaps most importantly?, the 'lost territories' contain the largest share of the rare earth minerals...
from Ukrinform today:
" Ukraine’s territory offers about 20 critical minerals from U.S. list – expert’s opinion
Ukraine’s territory offers about 20 critical minerals from U.S. list – expert’s opinion
14.02.2025 02:16
The United States has a list of 50 critical minerals, and about 20 of them are available on the territory of Ukraine.
The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Industry Expertise (Ukrpromzovnishexpertyza) State Enterprise Director Volodymyr Vlasiuk in a commentary to DW, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
According to Vlasiuk, those natural resources that U.S. President Donald Trump had expressed interest in, calling them ‘rare earth metals’, represent the group of critical minerals.
“The U.S. Geological Survey has a list of 50 critical minerals, which includes, for example, lithium. Speaking of this group of critical minerals, Ukraine indeed has such deposits and promising sites. In the United States, the list of critical minerals contains 50 names. Of them, we have about 20 minerals,” Vlasiuk told.
Mainly, the above refers to critical minerals that are conventionally classified as battery minerals, and also semiconductor minerals. These are the two key groups without which the modern economy is impossible, either defense or modern civilian production, such as the production of microchips.
“In Ukraine, there are elements of these two critical groups. We have lithium, graphite and manganese. These are the three key components of the ‘battery’ group. We also have critical minerals of the ‘semiconductor’ group, such as gallium and germanium… In millidoses, they are used for the production of modern microchips. We also have hafnium and silicon, and strategic structural materials, such as titanium, zirconium, vanadium and phosphorus. As for rare earth metals, these are bismuth, cadmium, and so on,” Vlasiuk explained.
At the same time, the expert could not estimate the actual reserves of such minerals, as they are still poorly explored.
“So far, there has been no precise exploration, which would have been conducted in accordance with international standards. We still have the exploration data on the development of ores from the Soviet era, and some exploration data from the Ukrainian times. As for the said elements, there are indeed serious reserves and in good condition,” Vlasiuk noted.
In his words, there are two or three promising lithium sites. In fact, one of them is situated on the border of the Donetsk region, i.e. in the area of active hostilities. But, the largest lithium site is located in the Kirovohrad region.
“In Ukraine, these deposits are rich enough for us to be included in the global supply chain of such minerals,” Vlasiuk concluded.
A reminder that Ukrainian Industry Expertise (Ukrpromzovnishexpertyza) is Ukraine’s leading company in the field of marketing and the expert assessment of foreign economic contracts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated earlier that Ukraine is open to signing an agreement with the United States on providing access to rare earth metals in exchange for continued support."
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-economy/3959640-ukraines-territory-offers-about-20-critical-minerals-from-us-list-experts-opinion.html
Here is what is really terrible about the “deal” for Ukraine’s rare earth deposits: Trump is more interested in getting access to natural resources than protecting a democracy. The US used to be the world’s policeman. Now,Trump is running a protection racket.
Trump's mental deficiencies have been apparent for a long time. The "press conference" held in the Oval Office recently gave visual evidence of the Trump/Must relationship. Trump hunched down at his desk while Musk strutted and answered most of the questions. Trump's mental decline has left him unable to deal with the day to day requirements of the presidency and I really believe that it is because of people like Musk, Vaught, and Stephen Miller that all the actions are being taken. Trump likes to sign things and then hold them up, but he probably hasn't read a word of what he signed.
Not only did Trump hunched down at his desk while musk strutted and answered most of the questions… Musk 4 yr old son “X” had some choice words for Trump while his father was talking…..
This is brilliant. Absolutely spot on, as my Brit BIL might say.... The weakness disguised as strength are so evident in both Trump and Musk. We The People will have to make good use of the First Amendment right to assemble and petition the government about our grievances, once again. With so much deception and destruction by both in so much of society right now, we are even stronger than right after the election. Resist!
Republicans----->. Please think long about what TS says here : "And now Trump is trying to make concessions to Russia regarding issues directly related to Ukrainian sovereignty on his own, without Ukraine, and indeed without any allies. He is showing weakness on a level unprecedented in modern US history. His position is so weak that it is unlikely to convince anyone. Trump is a sheep in wolf’s clothing. "
Wait, what’s that I hear, “baaaaahhhh” from the WH. Total sheep.
Trump is the consummate wimp...backs down when challenged and doesn't even have the guts to fire someone to their face (remember Secy. of State Tillerson was fired by a Tweet or email).
It seems so obvious, how Trump folds when challenged. I believe the fear is due to Trump’s well armed supporters, rather than Trump himself.
Bingo. They are standing by.
". . . the fear is due to Trump's well-armed supporters"?
No, JF -- it's due to America's totally-dehumanized schools.
That is crap! I am a retired teacher and the schools are NOT dehumanized! People who say those kinds of things have an agenda! You are being"hoodwinked! "
Please..., I am a retired teacher! all this crap about dehumanizing schools is untrue and created by the idiots on the right that want to scare you and make you go fight windmills, like Don Kijote, that don't exist while they take over the country and leave you empty and without democracy and without life, liberty and happiness! Talk to people that work in the schools if you want the truth! Research the truth.
I just noticed, too, Gale, that you totally miss the correct title of that world classic you botch in trying to cite, "Don Quixote." (Longer title, in full: "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha.")
Fine, Gale, you're a teacher and all.
But if I can direct you to the real world, look at the accompanying comments here. Typically, almost no one cites any novels, memoirs, biographies, histories, or other arts.
Check out the nation's best pundits on You Tube videos. Typically, almost no one cites any novels, memoirs, biographies, histories, or other arts.
Check out C-Span: typically, virtually no public officials ever cite any novels, memoirs, biographies, histories, or other arts.
American schools did this, Gale. All countries get similarly dehumanized where standardized testing suffocates all.
You are entirely out in left field
A real crisis will expose all his incompetence at once. I think that’s about to happen. Or will Putin wait a few months till America implodes?
Covid did that. Somehow it needs to be exposed all over again.
It is shocking how many people have given Trump a pass for his disastrous response to COVID, while blaming Biden for having to pick up the pieces a bit too slowly for their liking.
Ebola! No CDC!
Thank you Dr Snyder. This is absolutely horrifying and should he read out loud to every single American. 🇺🇸 ♥️
Americans need to see what we know is happening - foreign leaders are laughing at Hegseth, Rubio and Trump. They know they are lightweights, and not very bright lightweights at that. We need to see retaliatory tariffs targeted at Musk and red states as many in Canada are discussing. And we need to see someone, anyone, forcing tRump to back down on his most outrageous attacks on us. Judges seem up to the task. Chris Murphy is up to the task. AOC is up to the taks. Jasmine Crockett is up to the task. We need to support them. Courage, like cowardice, is contagious.
Rage is Rising in America. Everyday, Trump finds more and more ways to infuriate more than half our citizens.
Imagine a president who authorized a inhuman person worth $300 Billion, to ruin the middle class lives of millions of Americans who work for the Federal government or for NGO charities affiliated with our government. How can this be?
Imagine that that $300 Billion guy has a small team of 20 somethings with laptops who are given access to the private information of hundreds of millions of Americans so they can identify, in a day or two, serious fraud within Federal agencies. No digital technology combined with human intelligence can do that in less than 6 months. And this $300 Billion guy's companies are major beneficiaries of Federal funding. How can this be?
And he's bankrupting rural farmers who sell crops to global aid agencies by defending the agencies based on false claims of fraud. People are dying as a result. His actions make we the people complicit in these crimes against humanity!
And this president has launched a dragnet campaign to sweep up alleged illegal immigrants for deportation without ANY due process. So who is breaking the law?
And this president is illegally removing US citizens from government jobs because of their sexual orientation.
And he's flooded agricultural land in California six months ahead of the growing season.
And so on and so forth.
Millions and millions of Americans are really pissed off!
UNITE. The lawsuits are here The protests and strikes and tax revolts are coming. Trump and his people are Paper Tigers.
Do not be afraid. We shall overcome!!
While I love Timothy Snyder, someone please explain to me how a “weak” man, like Trump is supposed to be, can dismantle the US government at lightening speed and cow every Republican Senator into submission. What has happened these past few weeks (not even a month yet!) bears a strong resemblance to a mob boss whose “family” has decided to take over another mob family’s territory. That’s not weakness, that’s strength, or more appropriately, power. It may well be the power of an old mob boss whose will be taken out when he gets too old to be fully effective anymore, but it’s still power. In The Godfather, Don Corleone is succeeded by his son Michael, who goes from being a rather quiet “don’t bother me” member of the family to a boss even more powerful than his father was. Who succeeds Trump? Vance? Musk? Someone currently so quiet we don’t see him coming?
We have seen dictatorships flourish elsewhere for decades, with a succession of strongmen, one after the other. Russia is the foremost example. I hope our current malaise only lasts 4 years, but it could easily last decades. I’m in my 70’s. I may not live long enough to see this pass away. It comforts me not at all to think that somehow Trump is a “weak strongman”. He is surrounded this time, not by people who act as guardrails, but by zealots who follow an ideology. The movement will outlive Trump, just as surely as Stalin succeeded Lenin. I fear that we are living through our own version of Hitler transforming Germany in 53 days. Remember how that turned out. The Hitler regime did not last decades, but look what it took to end it.
I appreciate your question, Ann. You are definitely not alone in scratching your head about how we got here. Trump himself said in an interview back 2016 that "Power is...fear." I think that sums it up pretty well. Trump's "power" is empty in the sense that there is no moral or ethical compass, no purpose except for its own sake. And I think that that kind of power thrives in the cultural nihilism we find ourselves in these days.
That pretty much leaves only destruction as a way for his "power" to justify itself. I think this is partly what Snyder is getting at when he talks about weak strength (I have some other thoughts to add to his piece another time). Ultimately, it may be Trump's undoing, but as you say too, even then we all pay a price along the way, unfortunately, in sum but also in the whole greater than the sum. Our very democracy--our positive freedoms!--is at stake.
Sadly, Ann, correct you are.
77 million Americans voted for the criminal, the rapist, the con man.
They pretty much all still love criminality, rape, con jobs.
American schools cower under and cravenly prolong standardized testing. It only promotes impotence -- in all countries where the commodifiers rely on it.
Sadly, your prognosis stands.
First he licensees out to the heritage foundation to the gutting. Musk sees the opportunity to go full Technocracy like his grandfather, wants to replace people with AI. Sometimes I wonder is the AI really that capable? Or if it is, could it already be manipulating Elon?
Perhaps the answer is in the reality/analysis of what a strongman is.. an appearance, an act that convinces. He steals power, accumulates it more and more. The "weak strongman" is a redundancy if not an oxymoron. But Trump's "strength" is pulled out of the air first through perception, then little by little gathering (including confidence in himself and what he can pull off). So I think Snyder means Trump is still weak but is a threat (existentially) if he becomes or is allowed to become even stronger. I think he is headed for a crash. We are not going to stand for this. Trump the strongman exists so long as he can wield his power. We need to take it away from him, to at least limit him drastically. That means firing up on all engines.
It's a crisis. We need to get going.
Trump works through a combination of using fear, threats, gathering those corrupt and weakly acquiescent, those looking for favor, the politically ignorant/misguided, the uncaring, complacent and nihilist. Musk, then Bezos, Zuckerberg and others disappointingly fall.
Trump's talent is in gaining even feigning power, threatening He feigns that he knows what he does not. He's a shameless liar, as are loyalists . His outrageous boldness works, though, to gain power. He worked the openings, the weaknesses of the electorate. It's really shame on us.. We allowed this to happen. We need to wake up now, be alarmed.
" From there, it is hard to say that others are wrong when they invade other countries.."
In addition to caving on Ukraine, Trump is laying the groundwork to allow Xi to take Taiwan unopposed by the US.
And can we talk about North Korea?
The words 'being alone' in the first paragraph of this analysis of Trump reverberated most for me. What of the American people who have retreated through loss of community and local journalism; overpowered by technology; much less mobility and social interaction; overworked with less and less guidance of the children... We are alone.
Why does a weak strongman look like a savior to many Americans? How are the people doing, Timothy Snyder?
Ask their Facebook newsfeed.
Thank you Professor Snyder. trump and his crew gave away past, present and future today. idiots. Reverend Al Sharpton just said he believes people will be moved to a tipping point as the number of insults build. We need Americans to wake up. Yesterday my question to my Representatives was Do you know what's happening? Today I asked, Where are we going? Do you know it's a Coup? When I woke up this morning I donated to United 24 to tell Ukraine, I stand with them. (with Love)
This reminds me of poor Czechoslovakia as Hitler lied again & again about his aggression. I know that Neville Chamberlain has been excoriated by history. The clip of him getting off that plane waving that paper declaring "peace in our time" only to have Czechoslovakia gobbled up in its entirety a few months later is damning indeed. I'd like to point out one thing about Mr. Chamberlain's actions. We must remember that he saw & lived through the decimation of a generation of young men on both sides of WWI. While he was naive about Hitler I honestly believe he thought that he had done the right thing to try to avoid another devastating conflict. It's very easy for us today in 2025 who have not seen the US participate in an all encompassing war to criticize him Yes, we've had wars, we've had military actions & we have lost the lives of young men & women in these conflicts. But as a country we have not watched or endured what Europe went through in WWI. Our towns & cities & countrysides were not bombed, mined, inundated with mustard gas. And while the loss of every life is appalling what we have suffered in the last 50 or so years doesn't seem to justify maligning Chamberlain by comparing the likes of trump & Hegseth with him. One was a draft dodger the other, while he served he did not endure what the soldiers & civilians went through in either WWI or WWII or Korea or Vietnam. Chamberlain was no hero but he was a better man than either of the two that are parsing Ukraine for the benefit of another autocrat.
Dr Snyder once again, thank you for your ability to synthesise information with clarity. These are troubling times for everyone and your voice is much needed
An excellent piece!