Author | Lightnews

R. Bell

R. Bell

@robtbell.bsky.social

90 followers 160 following 540 posts

Former editor of political and general news at a metro daily. Yes this is a pseudonym. Views expressed are my own. Pleased if they match yours; unbothered if they don't. The America Fairy won't save us.

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R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · Jan 25

The Trumpists' seemingly crazy actions have one common goal: Weaken the USA as a nation and a global power.

Divide its people, wreck its economy, its health and safety, its relationships with other countries.

Who benefits? Russia, China, autocrats and oligarchs.

That's who Trump+GOP work for.

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 8h

There is, in fact, a bill sitting in committee that would extend the subsidies - for 1 year, just long enough to get past the midterms. That bill at least could be a starting point for negotiations, but GOP refuses to talk to Dems.

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 19h

We *have* been taken over by a hostile power. Not one foreign entity, but a combination of domestic & foreign interests. It didn't invade & conquer by force; it infiltrated & corrupted, using bribes & propaganda. Its goal is to weaken & fracture America, to make the world safe for oligarchy.

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 1d

He's literally demanding the country abandon the Constitution, which gives tariff, taxing and spending power to Congress.

And so far, the Republicans controlling Congress and SCOTUS are going along.

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 1d

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome-decree.

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 1d

We are, in fact, living in a dictatorship. The legislature has dissolved and turned over all power to the #MadKing, with the blessing of the judiciary.

For those of us who believe in the America of constitutional democracy and rule of law, the job now is not to 'defend' democracy, but restore it.

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 1d

They're not "consumed" with "a false belief."
They are deliberately perpetuating a lie - a pure fabrication that serves their interests.
And they will use it to *actually* steal future elections.

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 1d

So we can confidently assume that anything those outlets publish is pure propaganda - and absolutely NOT assume that anything they publish is true.

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 1d

Big Brother is blaming all opposition on Emmanuel Goldstein.

The Trump Party is following Orwell's 1984 as its playbook.

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 1d

We're not having a "government shutdown." We have a government that is operating, but no longer under the Constitution. The legislature has been dissolved and the executive has assumed its powers. Tax money is being raised and spent according to the dictator's whims. IOW we have a dictatorship.

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 1d

In effect, we are now a country where the legislature dissolved itself and turned all power over to the executive. In other words, a dictatorship.

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 3d

He's lying that any of it is legal. But that won't matter unless an equal authority - Congress or SCOTUS - stops him.

He IS glad that Johnson has shut down the House. In effect, the legislature has been suspended and all power given to the dictator.

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 3d

The so-called shutdown is cover for an authoritarian takeover. The government isn't shut - it's just no longer operating under the Constitution or congressional oversight. Tax $ is being raised and spent according to the president's whims.

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 3d

In effect, the Republicans have dissolved the legislature and given all power to the executive.

What everyone is calling a "shutdown" is, in fact, a facist takeover.

The govt isn't shut down. It's just been converted from a constitutional democracy to a dictatorship.

Reposted by R. Bell

Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 5d

This is what democracy looks like. #NoKings

Reposted by R. Bell

TK-S Is Here Now @timekiller-s.bsky.social · 4d

Gift link, because if you read ANYBODY on a Sunday, you should be reading @willbunch.bsky.social: share.inquirer.com/0mZ2Xw

Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 4d

The 7 million Americans who took the streets for 'No Kings' made history, and they did something even more important

They got under the skin of Donald Trump and his dictatorial regime, on a day that showed that most Americans love democracy instead

My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/no-k...

Then they fight you: How the No Kings protests are winning America | Will Bunch

A massive turnout of 7 million and a panicked White House showed Saturday why the No Kings protests matter, a lot.

www.inquirer.com

Reposted by R. Bell

Just Lynn 💙🦋✌️🇺🇦 @shoredweller7.bsky.social · 6d

Reposted by R. Bell

Patrick Chovanec @prchovanec.bsky.social · 6d

Citizens waving American flags protest Trump violating the Constitution.

MAGA: They’re Marxists who hate America.

GOP operatives praise Hitler and joke about rape and gas chambers in their group chat.

MAGA: Boys will be boys!

Reposted by R. Bell

Mikie Sherrill @mikiesherrill.bsky.social · 6d

Trust isn’t given — it’s earned.

newjerseyglobe.com/governor/boy...

Boyer: Why I’m Supporting Mikie Sherrill for Governor - New Jersey Globe

OPINION I had no intention of weighing in on this election. But a series of events has made silence untenable. We are living through a seismic shift in

newjerseyglobe.com

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 6d

Not "everywhere you look." It's everywhere in Trump-MAGA-Republican circles. Sure, there have always been sleazy politicians, but today's GOP is thoroughly antisocial - and snidely smug about it.

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 6d

Why do I never see serious discussion of micropayments? Of a system where readers could purchase individual articles from various publishers for small one-time fees - instead of being asked to subscribe to dozens of separate sites. Is that so hard to imagine, develop, operate?

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 6d

Everyone needs to realize, the government is not "shut down." It's still running, but no longer under the Constitution.

Effectively, the GOP has suspended the legislature and given total power to a dictator.

Reposted by R. Bell

Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · 7d

Extraordinary NEW story: We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. @nicolefoy.bsky.social w/ photos by @sbmaneyphoto.bsky.social

More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.

The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...

www.propublica.org

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 6d

What the GOP has done, in effect, is dissolve parliament and give all power to the king.

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 6d

The government is NOT shut down. It's just no longer operating under the Constitution.

What the GOP has done, in effect, is dissolve parliament and give all power to the king.

R. Bell @robtbell.bsky.social · 7d

This "shutdown" is actually the functional equivalent of a dictator dissolving the legislature.

Money still flows thru the govt - just not by congressional appropriations, but instead by the dictator's whims.

That's how Trump likes it, and that's why the GOP isn't trying to end it.