'Trump's Latest Threat Is A Duzy. And What We Must Do About It.' By Robert Reich

[appalachiablue]

- Sept. 16, 2022. robertreich.substack.com "Trump's latest threat is a doozy. And what we must do about it." - Robert Reich exposes where power lies in our system — and how it's used and abused. -

Yesterday, Donald Trump threatened that if he is indicted on a charge of mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House, there would be “problems in this country the likes of which perhaps we’ve never seen before,” adding “I don’t think the people of the United States would stand for it.” These words followed on last month’s threat by Senator Lindsey Graham that if Trump is prosecuted, there would be “riots in the street.” Trump appeared to endorse Graham’s threat, sharing a video link on his Truth Social platform. - Trump’s latest threat requires 4 responses:

1. Trump is daring the Justice Department to prosecute him, in effect asserting he is above the law. He is not above the law. The Justice Department is methodically and carefully sifting through evidence and presenting it to a grand jury. Neither the Department nor the grand jury should be intimidated by Trump’s latest threat.
2. Trump’s rhetoric is dangerous. We have already seen the consequences of what happens when Trump invites a mob to the streets. Five people died on January 6, 2021. Many more – including members of Congress and the former Vice President – could have been killed on that day. Since the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s incendiary words have fueled death threats to numerous federal officials, judges, and lawmakers.

All Americans should condemn Trump’s latest threat and incitement to violence.

3. We are dealing with a sociopathic narcissist who wants nothing more than to divide the nation over himself. This is not a matter of left versus right, liberal versus conservative, Democrat versus Republican. It is a question of the Constitution and the rule of law versus authoritarianism and tyranny. If Trump prevails — if he intimidates law-enforcement officials from doing their jobs over his attempted coup or his theft from the White House of secret documents — we lose our democracy.

The media must stop covering this as if there are two sides to this story. There are not.

4. The time has come for Republican lawmakers, candidates, and rightwing media owners and personalities to show some backbone and vigorously repudiate Trump. Their failure to do so before now has created a monster that threatens to consume this country. It is up to them to tell their constituents, followers, readers and viewers that there is no place in America for Trump’s threats to law enforcement and his incitements to violence...https://robertreich.substack.com/p/trumps-threat?r=11ru0b&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=direct

[no_hypocrisy]

1. I lived with a malignant narcissist for decades, my father.

And he was an authoritarian who was always right.

Except I protested. I never missed a chance to point out his faulty logic or lack of facts. And he would become enraged.

He scared my mother and my siblings. Yeah, he scared me too, but I refused to capitulate. And I became a target.

My sister was enlisted to join our father in persecuting me. Because she was scared to protest.

My sister warned me, "Don't get Dad mad. He'll disinherit you."

And at the Will Reading, I was indeed disinherited, but so were my siblings. It was almost funny as it was that predictable.

Resolution: My siblings and I re-united as allies after our father died. Yeah, we watched his money go to the neighbor across the street and charities. But in the end, we're here and he isn't.

I can only hope for the same for TFG.

[appalachiablue]

3. Glad you had the strength to not let it crush you and

you survived. Many malignant narcissists can't handle being criticised or challenged and it's rage, reprisals and harm if they are crossed. A highly dangetous personality type that's more prevalent than many people realize, although awareness has been increasing lately for good reason. These people are not limited to well known figures like Jim Jones, Bernie Madoff and others. They've been around for ages, especially seeking out situations where they can gain power, influence and opportunity for financial gain.

We had to deal with one which was perilous at times and without the benefit of all of the expert information about the condition that's come online in the last 15-20 years. Hopefully more people are finally realizing that these twisted individuals are much more common than previously thought. I still have this conversation occasionally with a few well- educated people, even even Boomers with Psych degrees who are busy with life and not following better news sources.

[Bayard]

2. K&R