Coop Scoop: The Trump/Musk Regime Is Already in Action

Time to decide if you are a citizen or just a consumer

November 11-12

By Marc Cooper

I am hoping you have recovered some over the weekend and the holiday but now is the time to get back on your feet and, frankly, fight for the lives of your children and grandchildren, if not you own.

The Trump/Vance/Musk regime has already been activated and that means we must also not delay action.  I was half-joking before when I called Elon Musk the regime’s Rasputin. He has been elected by nobody. He has billions of dollars of contracts with the US government.

It's no longer a joke but a chilling reality.

His getting within a mile of any US legislative or, worse, executive power is a glaring unacceptable conflict of interest.  But he is being seen daily at Mar-a-Lago and Trump put him on the call the Orange Idiot had last week with Zelensky.

Just think about the combination of America’s most corrupt, transactional president partnered with the world’s richest man who—by the way—seems less than mentally sound himself.  Trump has more intentions of playing golf than poring over policy papers as he has trouble comprehending, almost anything.

Trump believes Musk is a genius and will obviously rely on him for guidance. He’s already been put in charge of slashing the budget by 30% which will lead to an economic and social catastrophe.  And now Musk is “advising” him on foreign affairs?  Like maybe a joint enterprise in Moscow?

If you are wondering what was said on that phone call, then I think we can rely on what the execrable soft-headed Don Jr. Tweeted out to Zelensky: “We are cutting off your allowance.” What a miserable, vengeful, spoiled pink.

Translation into English: The United States is going to abandon a struggling democratic western-facing Ukraine at the precise moment that Russian and allied North Korean troops are massing for what they think will be the final offensive to over-run as much of or all of Ukraine.

We already know Trump “loves” Kim and Putin knows that Trump is an imbecile so we can expect as soon as Trump is sworn in, mass killing of Ukrainians as the Russians steer their tanks toward Estonia and Poland and Trump proclaims himself a hero for stopping the war — even it means spreading a new one. Yes, there will be a conference first where Trump will simply hand over to his Russian pals whatever they ask for.

But don’t worry about US troops getting involved because on Day Two or Day Three, Trump will pull out and collapse NATO.  The U.S. will then be formally on the side of Russian Fascists and brainwashed North Koreans.  And then we will see what a real genocide looks like.

And what about Taiwan, a thriving democratic nation, the Dictator Xi is not already mobilizing to take over? The US has previously pledged support to protect Taiwan.  But with the Oligarchy supporting Trump and having billions invested in China, what will the US really do. I suspect nothing. Except maybe a carve out on proposed tariffs on China to exempt Teslas and iPhones.

We are staring straight down the barrel of an aggressive, anti-democratic authoritarian oligarchic kleptocracy with Trump as chairman of the board and Elon Musk as CEO.  What role JD Vance will exactly be playing is still unclear.  He is the least popular of the three and will probably be assigned a portfolio of sinister goals while keeping a lower profile until he poisons Trump to replace him.

Our actions, strategy and tactics will be shaped and will respond to the regime as it defines itself and it has already begun. But we will be crushed if we continue with our current strategies.  We have got to get this right or we risk losing everything.

To get ourselves together there are a couple of immediate pre-requisites we need to digest fully.  We cannot waste time in pointless, empty gestures or dead-end strategies

First, we need to understand there is nothing or nobody in Washington who can stop Trump. Congressional Democrats have exactly zero power.  I repeat, zero.  Signing petitions for Chuck Schumer or some other Democratic pol is akin to signing toilet paper.  He is impotent and half-way by choice.  Focusing on Democratic musical chairs – who will be on which committee, will Sotomayor be pushed out, thinking that Bernie or the Squad have some magical power to change the Democratic Party, finger-pointing at Biden (who deserves it) or parsing the Harris campaign are all a monumental waste of time.

The Democratic Party is flat on its back and unless there is a radical change in the geriatric leadership and that very much includes Nancy Pelosi, it will remain prone and defeated for years to come.

There is no cavalry coming to save us. Got that? Whatever bullshit Democratic fundraising texts (that are still coming to you) should be deleted before you even open them. 

The Federal courts will be hamstrung by the MAGA majority and the plethora of MAGA federal judges appointed by Trump in his first term. There will be some legal action that is successful here and there, modifying or staying this or that regime action but eventually those cases will go to John Roberts & Co. and we know what that means. They will be struck down.

The DOJ leadership will be replaced, it will lose its independence and will be used as a vehicle of persecution and prosecution of whomever Trump or Musk want to target.  We will have a political police in this country by late January. It’s called the FBI whose leadership will also be MAGAfied.

In the military, generals who do not kneel before their Moron-in-Chief  and swear personal loyalty as Hitler did with the Wehrmacht will be purged and replaced by Trump lackeys (so long as they meet Musk’s approval and Trump is unlikely to make any important decision without consulting Musk).  Or more likely, Musk will make the decisions, and Trump will simply say OK, get it done.

As Trump purges the 5000 independent top civil servants and replaces them with MAGA worms, imagine the damage they will do.  How about a few thousand IRS audits on those on his enemies list or simple NGO’s? How about a MAGA-run FDA that simply sidesteps the Supremes and bans mifepristone?  That’s if Congress, which will be ready to pass, a national abortion ban, has not acted first.  Trump has said he wants the states to decide the issue. But he has not said, nor will he say, that he is ready to veto a congressional ban and he will not.  And while we are on the, topic, where RFK Jr. will end up and what he will do and what new outbreaks of communicable diseases will be cranked up is to be determined.

And now we have elected MAGAS talking about banning no fault divorce. And that would be a federal ban and federal law over-rides state statutes.

So living in a Blue State is not going to protect you much either. Medicare and the Affordable Care Act are federal programs and will be on the chopping block as well. The IRS hardly exempts Blue Staters from audits, so be advised. New decrees on student loans, overtime pay, interference with union organizing etc will be just as enforceable in Californias in Alabama.

Mass deportations? They are going to happen, only the scale is unknown for the moment.  Trump is talking about 15 million.  If he achieves this goal it will be by military force and will be unthinkable in its consequences but I suggest you find a few moments to ponder it.

The jacket-less and amoral Rep. Jim Jordan told CBS exactly what I wrote last week, that they will start with the low hanging fruit. When pressed to explain how they are going to snatch 15 million, he explained there are already 1.3 million undocumented convicted of crimes and they will be the first to go. And then? Jordan said we’ll see,

And don’t think for a moment that some other millions will have to be dragged from their homes causing enormous trauma.  Throughout the country there are countless huge enterprises that employ mostly the undocumented. We have seen it before and we will see it again when huge police and possible National Guard deployments are sent to these workplaces, surround them and then pack everybody into busses to have their status checked while in custody.

Does anybody not think there will not be a bevy of “snitch” lines to denounce the “illegals” living next door or cutting your lawn? Official or otherwise, they will blossom abundantly. And how many essential workers who are undocumented will essentially go into hiding and not show up for work, causing severe labor shortages. Unless Stephen Miller volunteers to pick lettuce in the Central Valley under a 105 degree sun?

With the marriage of the oligarchs and the regime, imagine how many managers and executives in the private sector will simply get sacked. Even the quarter measures taken by places like Disney against Trump will end in firings.

The press will be chilled.  It’s already hovering at about  38 degrees so it won’t be that much of a struggle to freeze it.  DOJ will target journalists and outlets that Trump doesn’t like and adios, amigo. Bothersome reporters, at a minimum, will be greeted with IRS audits as an opening shot.

Am I intentionally painting the scariest scenario possible?  Sorry, not by a mile. All of the above assumes the regime will maintain a paper thin artifice of our current constitutional republic. Most if not all the above is abhorrent but mostly legal. And what I describe you can take as given as these are Trump’s promises and there are absolutely no “guardrails”(can we please get rid of the media-generated term?”

The darkest scenario is that Trump suspends the constitution and declares basically a military dictatorship and then all bets are off.  That would require a whole different discussion and, frankly, preparation for new forms of resistance by the population and not necessarily non-violent.  We can only hope that does not come to pass and I don’t thkn it will because it won’t necessary but I would not totally rule it out.

Then what do we do about the more likely situation I described above.  We start NOW building the broadest multi-racial community and regional coalitions possible.  And the price of admission is simply, defense of democracy and defeat of Trumpism in the long run and in the short run, defending what we can and preparing to take back the House in the mid-terms.  That is uphill but far from impossible.  That gives us two years starting this week.

It means no ideological, racial, gender, age, or sectarians divisions.  No woke language as it is counter-productive, as it is exclusionary rather than galvanizing. It means no elevation of one racial or gender group as the automatic leadership. Leadership must be collective and multi-racial. It means a willingness to do real work. It means working politically inside your union or your school district. It means some sacrifices.  It means that at least for the able-bodied, some basic training in non-violent protest tactics because that is going to be necessary.  It means on the local level certainly working with local Democratic voters and even some local Democratic pols as long as they are following us, not the other way around. This movement of opposition, if we build it, must be independent and open to all.  It means pro-active steps to work inside but also outside our own tribal bubble.

I propose a totally imaginary plan but I have none other for the moment. We set ourselves a goal to get this movement off the ground and running in the first year of the administration. And we spend the second year forcing the Democrats to follow our lead, and our agenda to win the House back.  That will not end the Trump regime  but it will hobble it and lay the groundwork for a regime change election in 2028. If you have a better idea, speak up.

I am pleased to see that in my own purple city of Vancouver WA (which went 55% for Harris) tomorrow night is the fist such community meeting sponsored by an umbrella group of diverse non-profits and open to to the public.  I have no idea what will come of it. But at least it is happening.

If you don’t have such a group where you live then start one.  Action and engagement is the best antidote for despair and depression. Start with 10 friends in your living room and have each convoke another ten.

Also be aware that we will get some unwitting help from the administration.  They are not evil geniuses. They are evil dumbfucks and they are going to over-reach.  There are going to be a number of disillusioned MAGA voters who will quickly see no economic improvement, but no raise in wages and higher prices due to tariffs.  This might be a crack in the wall to get to some working class voters. And the “moderate” suburbanites who flipped to Trump are one his most tenuous constituencies and could easily turn against him when they see the economic snafus coming and, gasp, even some moral outrage at what are bound to be his atrocities.

Most of all, do not give hope and do not surrender.  I have lived under draconian military dictatorships in Chile and Argentina and I have seen both defeated by an organized population.  These are all longer rather than short term projects, but we must start now.

In the last election we saw way too many Americans who fancied themselves as mere consumer rather than citizens. You have to make the same choice. 

This era will pass as this country is too big and diverse to support a long term dictatorship or authoritarian democracy.

But the duration of a MAGA regime depends only on us. On you and me and every other citizen who is not willing to roll over and become a Good German. Depending on other institutional forces is a dream ++

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