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Trump is wasting his own time. Why hasn't he dissolved Congress? He has subsumed Congressional authorities and rights, with no complaint from the majority. Why not go all the way?

He seems to be looking for legitimacy by forcing all of the legal issues before the SC. However, what he wants is the imprimatur from the SC to continue dissolution of Democracy. What should be obvious is, the gambit is nothing more than a coup using the SC as cover. If they sustain his actions, and I suspect most if not all will be, it will be patently a political victory for the anti-Democractic forces.

How have we come to this point in our history? The Jews asked the question of God, perhaps we should ask the same question.

Trump and his administration continues their relentless assault on Democracy. DoJ just dropped a case of alleged disenfranchisement of GA voters which affected predominantly black citizens. This is simply another example of DoJ seeking retribution against anyone who dares oppose Trump. Trump has extorted one law firm after another with all manner of weapons including economic death, all because they represented people and organizations which opposed Trump. He continues to bombard universities which dared teach DEI course or used DEI as a guide for employment, using defunding them. This campaign of censorship will continue with the 4th estate being the next major victim. And now he has floated the idea he will run for a 3rd term, well because, he is apparently needed to save America from crazy radical leftists.

Once he has squeezed the life out of any viable opposition, there will be no one who can oppose anything he does. Now if anyone still believes he will hold free and fair elections .... raise your hand

Using history which some of you think doesn’t apply. But I’ll go ahead. 75-80% of all those who vote, vote the party, not the candidates unless the party in power peeved them off for some reason or another. A good economy always benefits the party in power, a bad economy the out of power party. The 20-25% of those who don’t vote party, usually has the economy at their number one issue in deciding who to vote for in some form or another.

The economy, Trump’s inaction on the economy has placed him underwater, 44% approval, 51% disapproval. Immigration, a majority of Americans approve of what Trump has done regarding this issue and what he is doing, 52% approve, 44% disapprove. The Ukraine is a minor issue that didn’t make the top 20 issues being kept track of. Most Americans don’t care what happens there. The last poll I saw involving the Ukraine was about providing military aid, 24% increasing, 35% decreasing taken on 4 March. Isolationism doesn’t register.

https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approval/donald-trump/issues/economy

https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approval/donald-trump/issues/immigration

https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/econTabReport_uHE5Cxl.pdf

Which leaves government efficiency or DOGE. You have this: Asked whether creating DOGE was a good idea or a bad idea, 46% say the idea was good, 40% say it was bad, and another 13% do not have an opinion. Most voters have a strong opinion: 40% say DOGE is “strongly a good idea,” while 37% say it’s “strongly a bad idea.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/do...early-results-raise-red-flags-rcna196541

However, there are red flags being raised which the article covers. In the end, Trump support comes from MAGA republicans and some independents. 93% of republicans approve of Trump’s actions so far with only 5% disapproving. Among democrats it’s 4% approval, 92% disapproval. Independents stand at 35% approval, 41% disapproval with a huge 19% unsure or undecided.

Which doesn’t surprise me in today’s modern political era of polarization, the great divided along with the super, mega, ultra-high partisanship.

perotista, your experience with your elected officials mirrors my own. The only exceptions have been Jack Metcalf and Rick Larsen the previous and current WA-2 Congressperson. Don’t get me wrong, they both asked for money and replied with form letters but they were form letters that addressed the questions/concerns I raised. Metcalf was an old fashion Republican like the late great Dan Evans. Larsen is a moderate Democrat.

I guess I was lucky there. Many other WA friends in other districts (and me when I didn’t live in the 2nd) have had the same experiences as you have described.

The thing about the public messaging that, amongst other things, revealed National Secrets did a really great job of displaying just how far Mr. Trump has gone in assigning folks to run our government and and his efforts to destroy the United States of America. There were a number of persons, high in our government, and not a single one of them, when this was revealed had the good sense to simply say something like; "We really screwed up, sorry, we will really try to do better". Not a single one. Even after the entire thing was revealed to the public they were still at it. Making excuses, denying that it happened, you know, virtually everything they could think of to just make it go away. After all, that is, exactly, what Mr. Trump does. If he wants something to go away he simply says that it never happened or he knew absolutely nothing about it. His minions, on the other hand, has not denied there was the thing just lied about it.

So, Mr. Trump is sticking to his efforts to fail, yet again. He has now installed a bunch of incompetent liars to get together together and help with the destruction of the nation. What really bothers me is the number of people who support this man. It would seem that a big portion of the American Voting Public lack common sense and are determined to adore one of the great public liars, and convicted criminal, in the history of the nation. I keep remembering when a newspaper started keeping track of, and counting the lies in his first presidency. They simply stopped when it got over something like 600 lies and counting. Nobody is doing this now its a kindofa "Who Cares?" thing.

I was going to rumble on but - well, you know..........

OK ... I don't get it.

What has Trump done which would warrant improved approval from any group?

The economy ... a whirlwind of uncertainty with continued high consumer prices, tariffs just now hitting importers, stock market in a tailspin

Immigration ... the numbers are down but there are highly visible media reports or MAGA loves the show

Ukraine ... not in one day as advertised but a group chat in progress ... I have to wonder what Trump gets out of this ... does he award his billionaire cronies with lucrative mineral rights contracts?

Isolationism ... disassociation from allies ... maybe MAGA thinks this is a good thing ... certainly Rand Paul does

Government efficiency ... Ive been an advocate for a long time but not for the reasons most people think. An efficient bureaucracy delivers protection and services in the most timely manner. Slashing the workforce and eliminating agencies meant to deliver those services is an abrogation of my contractual agreement. If the government on it's own fails to make good, it is tantamount to a dissolution of that contractual agreement. .... How is that good?

Help me comprehend what I think is incomprehensible?

No doom and gloom from me. But here’s something interesting. The reasons why Trump is doing a bit better this term than in his first term.

Republicans, Men Push Trump Approval Higher in Second Term
Black, Hispanic adults more approving of Trump in second term, but still disapprove of him overall

https://news.gallup.com/poll/658661...nt=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication

I’m one of those who basically just votes. But I do follow politics closely. I used to write letters and call my congressman and senators about this or that issue. But all I got back is a form letter telling me how good a job my congressman or senator is doing on this or that issue. Not a mention as to what I wrote them about with the required please send money at the end. I also donated to some candidates, but stopped that also.

While the numbers you cite are historically valid, I don't think they tell the real story. In previous posts I have suggested the actual number of people for which politics is very important is very small. I unscientifically guess less than 10M, and probably closer to 3M - 5M. When I use the word politics, I do not mean people who simply vote, dedicated voters , knowledgeable voters, or pass by voters. I mean those who have made their voice heard and so have a visible profile, which has attracted attention. So for everyone else the only real meaningful politics any are interested is the economy, otherwise does it really matter who is in charge, be they benevolent kings or evil dictators? I don't judge them for this, as I think it true across the board, be it here or in some foreign land. For some however, there is a higher calling. For me I am one of Irked's group #3's. I prefer having a more forward looking party in power, but can easily tolerate a more regressive party. Like I have said, we can survive bad policy, no matter from where it emanates. What I am not sure about is whether we can survive the destruction of the Foundations of Democracy. Based on what Trumpists say and have said, I don't think so. They don't use the language of Democracy, rather the words from dictatorships. Certainly within the group of people who are not intimately involved in politics, there are large groups which have beliefs which run contrary to Democratic principles, so in the short term I don't see a vocabulary of unification. However, on the bright side for our future generations, as I have typed numerous times, the inexorable inertia of progressivism will win.

I see Perotista is still holding on to the belief there will be a free and fair midterm election.

The SC has given Trump a taste of the addictive elixir, unconditional power. Trump is only now taking that power out for a test drive. Once he figures out the courts can not enforce any ruling on him, what do you think he will do? You believe he will abide by the Constitution? He hasn't shown any inclination to do so as yet. Once he is in complete control, he will not take a chance he will lose Congress. He needs it to support him, as they have so eloquently done. Spkr Will never investigate the administration no matter how egregious the offense. Trump will become firmly ensconced in the WH. No dictator ever willingly wants to relinquish power to the opposition. Thus he will make every effort to extort from the several states laws to disenfranchise voting blocks which may be heavily Democratic. Predicated on that he will use whatever executive power necessary to ensure a Trumpist win. This may be everything from sequestering voting machines/ballots to outright not having an election under the guise of national security threats from migrants or Democrats. Already Spkr Johnson has indicated he wants to eliminate the District Court system (impediments to Trump's power). What else will Spkr Johnson do to lubricate Trump's ascension?

I suspect by the end of the year, if not sooner, Trump will have consolidated power. So no, I don't see a free and fair election in our future.

Perhaps that’s not needed. I’ve always said that a presidential election is a referendum on the sitting president, how the public views the job he had done over the last 4 years. Midterms are the same, a referendum on the sitting president over the first two years of his presidential term. Trump over the last two weeks has slid from a plurality of Americans approving the job he’s doing to a plurality disapproving. These things take time.

https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approval/donald-trump/approval-rating

But under the radar, you have this happening.

Democrat wins special state Senate election in Pennsylvania in major upset

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5214236-democrat-james-malone-wins-pennsylvania-senate/

The democrats have also taken the lead in the generic congressional ballot for the 2026 midterms.

https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/state-of-the-union/generic-congressional-vote

Come the midterms, most voters won’t be paying attention whether the democrats are in disarray or not. They’ll be focus on the Trump administration as that is what the midterms will be all about. A referendum on Trump’s first two years. All the democrats have to do is be there as an alternative.

A thought or two. Reference group 1. On average 45% of all eligible voters don’t bother to vote in presidential elections, 60% don’t vote in the midterms. These folks pay little to no attention to politics. They go about living their daily lives regardless of what is going on in government. Did you know only 37% of all Americans know who their representative is. That 57% can’t name a senator from their state. There’s an apathy out there among the masses when it comes to politics.