On Tuesday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed lawsuits against the states of Oregon and Maine. The lawsuits seek to compel both states to turn over the private data of every registered voter, including driver's license numbers and partial social security numbers. The new litigation is part of a larger effort to undermine the legitimacy of the 2026 election.
Beyond Trump's most ardent supporters, I don't know that anyone with a functioning brain would consider what his administration is doing here as anything other than an attempt to hijack the 2026 election. When outside experts are unequivocal about how flimsy the pretext is, this agenda is unmistakable.
Trump's not speaking to normal citizens; but to FOX News viewers, whose brains have been corroded by endless streams of "alternative facts." The November Ipsos poll found that 85% of conservative voters use FOX for some/most/all of their news. And that 80% of those implicitly believe a whole raft of Trump/GOP falsehoods.
Judd rightly summed it up as the deligitimization of the upcoming GOP midterm losses. Trump will do anything to prevent the Dems from retaking Congress, and launching all manner of investigations into his crypto grift, and of releasing the Epstein files.
When the president is a megalomaniac (malignant messianic narcissistic despot), we know the intent of his harmful actions is to do harm. He seems to have a personal goal of having some impact on every single person whether it is injustice from denial of medical care or sicknesses caused by pollution, paying for stories to not get coverage, or consolidation of market power to those who tell him how powerful and pretty he is. He is shaking down Korea like he is a mobster, (spell check changed that to monster) giving choices that are total ruination or less ruination, shifting their hard earned wealth to us for no real benefit. It’s astonishing how effective he is at destruction of institutions and crushing of principles our founders fought so hard to bring about through good government and rule of law- fairness and equality, truth and justice, freedom of speech and religion, voting!, intelligence and know how- these are his enemies put on the chopping block daily.
Trump isn’t that bright, but in this current administration he has some sycophants that he listens to, that are as amoral, greed & power driven as he is & more intelligent. And there are folks, billionaires in the tech industry, that will support him in his endeavors in order to further their own, no doubt installing their own people throughout this administration. And I can’t suggest a viable solution to all this mess. Most times I just fantasize about leaving this country, finishing out my final years elsewhere. But difficult to do when you’ve spent several decades building a life & family / friends ties here.
Fortunately here in Maine, our governor, Janet Mills, Secretary of State ashen a Bellows, and our Attorney General are not , in the least intimidated by this regime. We feel very lucky to have such decent, honest people protecting our voting rights.
Trump, just to make sure, is likely to declare an emergency 89 days before the election and by exec order declare the democratic party a terrorist organization. It is not about right or wrong it is about power. Dems - especially in congress - need to stop their moral posturizing and pull out the mattresses.
This is why governors and state attorneys general and secretaries of state are SO important. They hold the line in our elections against a lame ass federal legislative branch and an executive branch led by a Queens borough real estate mob boss posing as president. Here in Michigan I am eternally grateful that we have holding the line the three witches (Whitmer, Nessel and Benson) as Trump himself calls them.
wow wow wow. That the federal government would stick their nose and all of their sticky fingers into state's rights and responsibilities embedded into that short document known as the Constitution is shocking. Isn't this the party that has long sought "state's rights" as their cornerstone of freedom? The federal government is there for some very specific purposes and controlling those duties that belong to states, like voting, is hands off. The courts are seeing this but what will the Supreme Court of Donald Trump say?
This is the argument the segregationists made back in the Sixties, and earlier. So Trump has turned the Voting Rights Act on its head. However, the Supreme Court has been gutting the Voting Rights Act so perhaps some of its precedents might be useful to Maine and Oregon.
I am glad I live in California where our leaders are fighting as best as they can, and that's more than what most states seem able to do. Trump will take my vote away only after I'm dead!
Yes, states control elections according to our Constitution!.
Who can say how our Extreme Court will view this? They are quite willing to let these excutive orders have a power beyond anything reasonably established by the founders. Executive orders ARE NOT LAWS‼️
The most absurd effort in this all is the casting of doubt on the mail-in
votes when both President Trump and RNC co-chair Lara Trump (no comment) heavily encouraged mail-in votes and ‘legal’ ballot harvesting for the 2024 election.
Only after Putin put his hand up DT's behind and moved his lips for him that DT decided to speak out against mail-in voting. Putin controls every vote in Russia and this is the person we are taking voting advice from? Come on MAGA people wake up.
I always understood him to mean that he will be a dictator for one day, and THAT VERY ONE DAY ESTABLISHES THAT HE WILL BE A DICTATOR FROM THAT ONE DAY FOREVER FORWARD. I think that I interpreted what he meant precisely. Here we are!
If the democrats are such cheaters in elections, why aren’t we in the majority from that cheating. Trump is the biggest liar in American history and he is drunk on his real and self created power. He must be checked by the courts, new media, and public opinion to maintain enough integrity to rebuild after the horrendous damage. The malicious intent is as unreal as the actions he takes.
What's next for trump and his project 2025 fascist goons? Have an armed ICE agent accompany every voter to the voting booth and watch them vote? It's quite the turn for fascist republicans who once screamed about every issue, ' STATE'S RIGHTS!' Now those same state's, and supposedly constitutional republicans don't give a damn about either and encourage fascist strongman rule. I thought people who voted republican were fools to begin with, but now there is no doubt... And republicans are godawful, dangerous fools at that. Give me liberty or give me trump.
This is why Trump dislikes mail-in ballots in states like mine, where elections are 100% absentee. Decentralized voting means he can’t send his goons to intimidate voters as they mark their ballots.
Maine and Oregon HAVE TO just say NO ! Its the same play book, if they comply , every state will be required to do the same. Trumps Election guy stated the election of 2020 was the most fair and accurate , so he was fired. This has to stop. The country is not designed to be run by executive order.
States are saying no. About half of them. I get updates from the AG and governor re their responses to Dear Leader every day. There's a coalition of usually 21-26 states that coordinate lawsuits and responses. At least once a week they say hell no, back off fat boy.
Beyond Trump's most ardent supporters, I don't know that anyone with a functioning brain would consider what his administration is doing here as anything other than an attempt to hijack the 2026 election. When outside experts are unequivocal about how flimsy the pretext is, this agenda is unmistakable.
Trump's not speaking to normal citizens; but to FOX News viewers, whose brains have been corroded by endless streams of "alternative facts." The November Ipsos poll found that 85% of conservative voters use FOX for some/most/all of their news. And that 80% of those implicitly believe a whole raft of Trump/GOP falsehoods.
Judd rightly summed it up as the deligitimization of the upcoming GOP midterm losses. Trump will do anything to prevent the Dems from retaking Congress, and launching all manner of investigations into his crypto grift, and of releasing the Epstein files.
When the president is a megalomaniac (malignant messianic narcissistic despot), we know the intent of his harmful actions is to do harm. He seems to have a personal goal of having some impact on every single person whether it is injustice from denial of medical care or sicknesses caused by pollution, paying for stories to not get coverage, or consolidation of market power to those who tell him how powerful and pretty he is. He is shaking down Korea like he is a mobster, (spell check changed that to monster) giving choices that are total ruination or less ruination, shifting their hard earned wealth to us for no real benefit. It’s astonishing how effective he is at destruction of institutions and crushing of principles our founders fought so hard to bring about through good government and rule of law- fairness and equality, truth and justice, freedom of speech and religion, voting!, intelligence and know how- these are his enemies put on the chopping block daily.
Trump isn’t that bright, but in this current administration he has some sycophants that he listens to, that are as amoral, greed & power driven as he is & more intelligent. And there are folks, billionaires in the tech industry, that will support him in his endeavors in order to further their own, no doubt installing their own people throughout this administration. And I can’t suggest a viable solution to all this mess. Most times I just fantasize about leaving this country, finishing out my final years elsewhere. But difficult to do when you’ve spent several decades building a life & family / friends ties here.
So what can citizens do now about this?
Ask Susan Collins?
She'll be "concerned" and clutch her pearls.
Again. 🙄
That’s what she do. When are the Maine folks going to vote her out?
We get our chance next year. That's why she voted for the BBB after receiving $2mil from Blackstone to her campaign fund.
Vote her out… Por favor!
Fortunately here in Maine, our governor, Janet Mills, Secretary of State ashen a Bellows, and our Attorney General are not , in the least intimidated by this regime. We feel very lucky to have such decent, honest people protecting our voting rights.
Time to vote out Susan Collins :) By voting FOR the Trump's BBB, she just traded health care in rural Maine for $2mil in her re-election fund.
This is hair-on-fire level serious.
Trump, just to make sure, is likely to declare an emergency 89 days before the election and by exec order declare the democratic party a terrorist organization. It is not about right or wrong it is about power. Dems - especially in congress - need to stop their moral posturizing and pull out the mattresses.
So much for the conservatives’ concern for states’ rights.
State's rights only matter when the state is doing what MAGA tells them to do.
More fascism from the Orange Idiot! The U.S. Constitution clearly states that the States control the elections!
This is why governors and state attorneys general and secretaries of state are SO important. They hold the line in our elections against a lame ass federal legislative branch and an executive branch led by a Queens borough real estate mob boss posing as president. Here in Michigan I am eternally grateful that we have holding the line the three witches (Whitmer, Nessel and Benson) as Trump himself calls them.
wow wow wow. That the federal government would stick their nose and all of their sticky fingers into state's rights and responsibilities embedded into that short document known as the Constitution is shocking. Isn't this the party that has long sought "state's rights" as their cornerstone of freedom? The federal government is there for some very specific purposes and controlling those duties that belong to states, like voting, is hands off. The courts are seeing this but what will the Supreme Court of Donald Trump say?
This is the argument the segregationists made back in the Sixties, and earlier. So Trump has turned the Voting Rights Act on its head. However, the Supreme Court has been gutting the Voting Rights Act so perhaps some of its precedents might be useful to Maine and Oregon.
Hypocrisy served up at all levels from the 'cheese-flavored Koolaide Crew.'
See my response above.
I am glad I live in California where our leaders are fighting as best as they can, and that's more than what most states seem able to do. Trump will take my vote away only after I'm dead!
Same here although I reside in Illinois.
I'm in f---ing Missouri. MAGA central. We'd leave, but we have kids and grandkids to protect.
Understood. They are the future. Literally.
Yes, states control elections according to our Constitution!.
Who can say how our Extreme Court will view this? They are quite willing to let these excutive orders have a power beyond anything reasonably established by the founders. Executive orders ARE NOT LAWS‼️
As usual, you are right on top of this story—danger waters, for sure—and we are forearmed. My hope is that we defy the administration unilaterally.
The most absurd effort in this all is the casting of doubt on the mail-in
votes when both President Trump and RNC co-chair Lara Trump (no comment) heavily encouraged mail-in votes and ‘legal’ ballot harvesting for the 2024 election.
Only after Putin put his hand up DT's behind and moved his lips for him that DT decided to speak out against mail-in voting. Putin controls every vote in Russia and this is the person we are taking voting advice from? Come on MAGA people wake up.
I think we may have misheard Trump when he said ‘I will be a dictator gor one day’. Maybe he meant to say ‘one day I’ll be a dictator’.
I always understood him to mean that he will be a dictator for one day, and THAT VERY ONE DAY ESTABLISHES THAT HE WILL BE A DICTATOR FROM THAT ONE DAY FOREVER FORWARD. I think that I interpreted what he meant precisely. Here we are!
If the democrats are such cheaters in elections, why aren’t we in the majority from that cheating. Trump is the biggest liar in American history and he is drunk on his real and self created power. He must be checked by the courts, new media, and public opinion to maintain enough integrity to rebuild after the horrendous damage. The malicious intent is as unreal as the actions he takes.
What's next for trump and his project 2025 fascist goons? Have an armed ICE agent accompany every voter to the voting booth and watch them vote? It's quite the turn for fascist republicans who once screamed about every issue, ' STATE'S RIGHTS!' Now those same state's, and supposedly constitutional republicans don't give a damn about either and encourage fascist strongman rule. I thought people who voted republican were fools to begin with, but now there is no doubt... And republicans are godawful, dangerous fools at that. Give me liberty or give me trump.
Don't be shocked if there are police or NG troops at every polling place.
This is why Trump dislikes mail-in ballots in states like mine, where elections are 100% absentee. Decentralized voting means he can’t send his goons to intimidate voters as they mark their ballots.
I would be more surprised if there weren't...
Maine and Oregon HAVE TO just say NO ! Its the same play book, if they comply , every state will be required to do the same. Trumps Election guy stated the election of 2020 was the most fair and accurate , so he was fired. This has to stop. The country is not designed to be run by executive order.
States are saying no. About half of them. I get updates from the AG and governor re their responses to Dear Leader every day. There's a coalition of usually 21-26 states that coordinate lawsuits and responses. At least once a week they say hell no, back off fat boy.