A dark inauguration day for democracy

 

Wednesday, January 22 Well, here we are. Trump 2.0 has officially arrived and with it: a slew of executive orders that are bad for democracy, pardoning of the Jan. 6 rioters and the world’s richest man giving a Nazi salute at a Trump rally. I can’t say I’m surprised, but the past few days have been dark ones for the future of democracy. That being said, the swift and robust legal response to Trump’s actions give me some hope for the next four years. As always, thanks for reading. — Matt Cohen, Senior Staff Writer Trump is back in the Oval Office, and it’s time to plan how to fight back. Join Marc tomorrow, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. ET for a live debrief of Trump’s inaugural address, the new lawsuits against his administration and what to expect. This event is exclusive to Democracy Docket members — upgrade now to join! A Dark Inauguration Day for Democracy My memories of President Donald Trump’s first inauguration, back in 2017, are still burned into my brain. I was working for D.C.’s storied alt-weekly, Washington City Paper, and was assigned to cover the many inauguration protests around the city that day. I biked around downtown, stopping to interview various Trump supporters and protesters, until I found one of the larger protests marching toward the National Mall. I was no stranger to covering protests — social justice was one of my main beats, which had me covering large and small demonstrations throughout D.C., almost weekly. But this day was different.   For weeks, the fear, anxiety and tension of the incoming Trump administration had evolved into righteous anger. D.C. may be a transient city — and one that’s often (and wrongly) portrayed as nothing more than the playground for the politicos and their staff in Congress — but for the hundreds of thousands of people who call it home, there’s a sense of pride and ownership about it. From go-go to mumbo sauce to the Washington Color School, the city has a rich, storied cultural history and one that its people fiercely fight to preserve. And so, with the threat of the incoming administration, people took the streets to let Trump know: you’re not welcome. At times, it felt like the people protesting the inauguration outnumbered the people actually attending it (which may have been the case!). At a certain point, the protest I was following — which would later be known as the DisruptJ20 protest — was violently attacked by police, who eventually kettled them to the corner of 12th and H Streets NW. I stood there, along with a slew of reporters, watching police drag and arrest dozens of protesters one by one. And then all hell broke loose. Pro-Trump supporters started pushing protesters. A skirmish broke out. Hundreds of riot police went into action, pepper-spraying peaceful protesters and firing tear gas, pepper balls and flash-bang grenades into the crowds. It was a grisly scene and one that, in my eyes, came to define the next four years. I wasn’t at Monday’s inauguration, but from the coverage I read, the scene seemed a stark opposite of Trump’s 2017 inauguration. On Saturday, two days before the inauguration, thousands of people marched on the National Mall for The People’s March. But in all, the protests were markedly quieter than before. The cynical reading of this is that it’s because Trumpism won and people, even those who don’t support him, have accepted this new reality. I don’t think that’s accurate. To me, it feels like the resistance to the second Trump term isn’t so much a “take to the streets” approach than it is a more thoughtful and organized opposition using legal means to fight back. There’s a network of pro-democracy organizations that spent years preparing for this moment and are challenging Trump’s flurry of executive orders in the courts almost as soon as they’re signed. That’s huge. Trump 2.0: Same As It Ever Was In the two months since Trump’s election victory, a common refrain I saw far more than I thought I would was various notable people saying that we should give Trump a chance. Maybe the assassination attempt changed him, some wondered. Surely he won’t do all the terrible things outlined in Project 2025, others wrongly claimed. Surprise! Turns out Trump is doing all the terrible things we knew he would do. In his first couple days in office, Trump signed a barrage of executive orders to roll back voting rights, allow him to fill the federal workforce with loyalists, overturn birthright citizenship and pardon some 1,500 Jan. 6 rioters — including commuting the sentences of those convicted of violence against police officers on that fateful day. It’s safe to say that, in the first 24 hours of taking office, Trump showed us exactly who he is and what he’ll do — and it’s what people have been saying all along: setting the stage for an authoritarian takeover, with unfettered capitalism and oligarchy ruling the land. There is, however, a salve: Trump’s sweeping actions have been met with a swift legal response. Pro-democracy groups and organizations are well prepared to fight these actions in the courts, and while we can’t predict what the courts will actually do, just know that the fight to preserve democracy is on. Let’s Be Clear About Elon Musk… By now, you’ve probably seen the video from Elon Musk’s speech at the pro-Trump rally following his inauguration. You know the one, wherein the world’s richest man, and known troll, ended his remarks by giving the “sieg heil” Nazi salute to the crowd — twice. You would think there would be no confusion or second-guessing as to what he did. You’d be wrong. Yesterday, after video of the incident spread online, I sat in front of my computer slack-jawed as I read headline after headline from mainstream media outlets who tiptoed around it. CNN’s Erin Burnett called it an “odd-looking salute.” “Elon Musk Ignites Online Speculation Over the Meaning of a Hand Gesture,” read a New York Times headline. The Washington Post said simply that Musk “stirs controversy over hand gesture at Trump rally.” Even the Anti-Defamation League, supposedly the nation’s leading organization to combat antisemitism, said on X — the Musk-owned platform — that the billionaire “made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm.” Maybe it’s just me, but the gesture doesn’t closely resemble any other acceptable one that I know of. It seemed pretty unmistakable, and knowing who Musk is, it doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility for him to do such a thing. If mainstream media can’t have the tenacity to call out a fascist salute as such, what are they even doing anymore?

Jimmy Kimmel Reacts to Donald Trump’s Inauguration

 

Jimmy Kimmel Live

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Today our long national nightmare was sworn in and Donald Trump became the 47th President of the United States, it was freezing in Washington D.C. so the events were moved indoors, Donald & Melania and Jill & Joe Biden partook in the traditional transfer of power, Mike Pence was in attendance, Trump gave a speech where he called this the “Golden Age of America,” all of the rich tech guys were invited to sit right behind him, Elon continues to be a real life comic book villain, Carrie Underwood dealt with some technical difficulties before her performance of America the Beautiful, Trump finally came together with the Village People for a performance of YMCA, he took his magic sharpie and signed a stack of executive orders and signed pardons for those convicted of storming the Capitol on January 6th, and Joe Biden went onwards and upwards as he left Washington D.C. today! SUBSCRIBE to get the latest #Kimmel: http://bit.ly/JKLSubscribe Follow Jimmy Kimmel on Instagram: https://bit.ly/KimmelInstagram Follow Jimmy Kimmel Live on Instagram: http://bit.ly/JKLInstagram Follow Jimmy Kimmel Live on TikTok: https://bit.ly/JKLTikTok Like Jimmy Kimmel on Facebook: http://bit.ly/KimmelFB Like Jimmy Kimmel Live on Facebook: http://bit.ly/JKLFacebook Visit the Jimmy Kimmel Live Website : http://bit.ly/JKLWebsite About Jimmy Kimmel Live: Jimmy Kimmel serves as host and executive producer of Emmy® nominated “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” ABC’s late-night talk show. “Jimmy Kimmel Live” is well known for its viral video successes, with over 16 billion views and more than 19 million subscribers on the show’s YouTube channel. Some of Kimmel’s most popular comedy bits include Celebrities Read Mean Tweets, Lie Witness News, Halloween Candy YouTube Challenge, Jimmy and Cousin Sal pranking Aunt Chippy and music stars like Rihanna and Dua Lipa surprising Jimmy in the middle of the night.

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Meidas Stomped on Trump and the Media… LET’S GO!

Ben Meiselas and MeidasTouch Network Jan 21

Written by Ben Meiselas

We won the day thanks to you. We stomped on Trump and his corporate media lackeys thanks to you. Thank you to our subscribers. Please subscribe now.

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Our coverage of puppies and kittens got more views than corporate media covering the inauguration. We made corporate media look irrelevant today thanks to you. We raised almost $90K yesterday alone for the Humane Society from the Puppy and Kitten event we did.

Here is what went down.

Trump looked like a pathetic, weak, little psycho bunker boy as he moved the inauguration inside the Capitol Rotunda because he was afraid of small crowd sizes and blamed it on “cold weather.”

This was the most embarrassing inauguration in the history of the presidency.

The optics were a disaster for Trump.

His weird third wife, who hates him, dressed up for some Orwellian dystopian funeral with a hat that looked like the Pizza Hut roof.

Weird, weird, weird.

The billionaire oligarch tech owners sitting in the front row made weird facial expressions like they were tweaking out or something during the speech as Zuckerberg stared into Bezos’ wife’s chest.

Weird, weird, weird. And creepy.

Trump’s speech was a disaster.

No mention of unions, workers, healthcare, or tackling inflation.

Trump said earlier that inflation was not a big deal and that the biggest concern among Americans was people coming in from “mental institutions.”

Trump did not bring peace to Ukraine as promised on Day 1. Trump said he didn’t believe a ceasefire in Gaza would last and said he didn’t care if it did.

Trump praised Kim Jong Un. He talked about “taking over” Panama.

The speech was objectively the worst inauguration speech ever.

Then, Trump went back to the Oval Office, where he pardoned and commuted every January 6 insurrectionist, including the leaders of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, who were convicted by federal juries of sedition.

Trump also signed Executive Orders declaring birthright citizenship unlawful, removing the United States from the Paris Climate Treaty, withdrawing from the World Health Organization, and rescinding prior executive orders that lowered prescription drug prices, among other things.

Trump announced that 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada would begin on February 1 and said he would put 100 percent tariffs on Spain, claiming Spain was in the BRICS bloc—when, in fact, Spain is an EU nation and not part of BRICS.

Trump looked like a bumbling fool in the Oval Office.

A national and international disgrace.

As Trump signed Executive Orders, one by one, the meme coin he and Melania released before the inauguration was crashing hard, causing massive losses for those who bought it.

In 24 hours, Trump managed to make the Oval Office look so little and so cheap.

While all of this was going on, the MeidasTouch Network was hammering him. Every second, we didn’t relent.

Video after video today, we called him out.

We did not hold back.

We were on the front lines of reporting.

We showed in the past 24 hours that we can fully replace corporate media, which has been an utter failure.

Trump thought he had controlled all of the media owned by billionaires and oligarchs.

He didn’t think a network like ours could be as big—or bigger—than corporate media, especially when we have zero investors. Zero oligarchs. Zero billionaires. That’s why our subscribers to this Substack are so important.

Trump and MAGA couldn’t fathom that we could build the top editorial team not through billionaires and oligarchs, but through Substack subscriptions right here.

They are pissed. This is their worst nightmare.

They spent all their energy getting corporate media to kiss the ring, only for the MeidasTouch Network to fill the void with even more viewers—calling Trump out with a ferocity he could not fathom or handle.

Look, we have been targeted by Trump before in court. We expect he will come after us again soon. That is his nature. We are getting tons of threats from MAGA. That is their nature.

But guess what?

We aren’t backing down.

We are going to grow bigger each day and be Trump’s worst nightmare over the next four years.

We will be corporate media’s worst nightmare over the next four years, constantly reminding them of their traitorous betrayal of democracy.

Thanks to you, we are building an infrastructure that will last for generations.

In addition to our hard-hitting reporting yesterday, our Puppy and Kitten Inauguration raised almost $90K for the Humane Society in a single day. I am so glad we can use our platform for good.

Yesterday was a defining moment for this network.

With your help, we met the moment. We will continue to meet the moment each day. We will continue to make you proud to be a Meidas Mighty.

We will make history together.

Let’s keep growing.

Please consider becoming a paid subscriber today and help the MeidasTouch Network grow.

We don’t have outside investors. We hear you loud and clear that you want us to always be 100 percent independent.

Now is the time to put our foot on the gas and grow.

So if you can subscribe, please do so now, and you can also gift subscriptions to people you know.

Thanks for your support, Meidas Mighty.

Let’s keep fighting together.

Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

 

We Got Who They Voted For The president chose not to take the high road Dan Rather and Team Steady Jan 21 Credit: Getty Images For what is supposed to be an esteemed, tradition-rich ceremony, full of grandeur and history, our presidential inauguration in the Capitol Rotunda today ended with what has become a Trump tradition: a long, hate-filled rant that would best be described in polite company as one giant load of hooey. Most incoming presidents use their inauguration speech to optimistically look toward a bright future. Most presidents are not Donald Trump. His inaugural address was so dark, no one would have been surprised if it had started raining inside the rotunda. Trump made America sound like a struggling nation rather than a country with one of the most robust and envied economies in the world. That is his schtick. It’s like Munchausen by Proxy, politics edition. He convinces people things are dire so that he, and only he, can swoop in to be their savior. To bring this point home, he said, “I was saved by god to make America great again.” In the exact spot where rioters tried to carry out a coup four years ago, Trump unironically predicted that his proudest legacy will be as “peacemaker and unifier.” With all the grace of a thundering rhino, he laid blame for our country’s ills at the feet of Democrats sitting close by, accusing the Biden administration of a “horrible betrayal.” Way to be a peacemaker and unifier. We’ve all been here before. This bully has no filter, by design. With oozing bravado, he said he would get back control of the Panama Canal, end the Green New Deal (including revoking electric car mandates — happy about that one, Elon?), and rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America (cue the shot of Hillary Clinton seated behind Trump guffawing). But what about all those promises made during the campaign? I’ve been taking notes, and it will be up to us, all of us, together with a robust and vigorous press, to hold the new president accountable. Many Americans are in no mood for his nonsense, which, unsurprisingly, has already begun. Trump has started backtracking on some of his major pledges, promises he made in order to get elected. Many of which have never had a chance of becoming reality. Here is just a sampling: Ending automatic citizenship for everyone born in the United States In December, he hedged on this promise, telling NBC News that “We’ll maybe have to go back to the people.” It was, however, apparently one of the executive orders he signed today. Most constitutional scholars believe this birthright is enshrined in the 14th Amendment, so Trump’s executive order will be challenged in the courts. Ending the war in Ukraine Trump claimed he would do this before he took office. Clearly that didn’t happen, nor could it have. Last week Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia told Fox that the president wants to take “100 days” to see if he can “figure a way we can do this in the near term.” Lowering the cost of gas to $2 a gallon Presidential action has little effect on the price of gas. Global prices fluctuate because of things like wars and pandemics, not who is sitting in the Oval Office. He said today that he would “drill, baby, drill” to bring down the price of oil. One problem: Right now the U.S. is already drilling more than ever before. Also, to bring down prices, oil companies, i.e. many Trump supporters, would take a hit on profits. Cutting automobile insurance costs in half During the campaign, Trump erroneously claimed that the cost of auto insurance had jumped 73%, and that he would cut it by half. First, car insurance costs are up 16.5% year to year — a lot, to be sure. Second, since it is the states that regulate insurance rates, he is limited as to what, if anything, he can actually do. Impose high tariffs on Canadian, Mexican, and Chinese imports The Wall Street Journal is reporting that he will hold off on the tariffs while he awaits a review of trade and currency imbalances with the three nations. It seems someone talked some sense into Trump, since most economists believe raising tariffs would increase inflation and thus consumer costs. Closing the border Trump claimed in a post-election interview that he “wasn’t speaking literally” when he said he would close the U.S. border with Mexico. He has subsequently said he meant he would strengthen enforcement against illegal entry. Lowering food prices After asserting numerous times on the campaign trail that he would “rapidly drive down prices” of groceries on his first day in office, Trump walked back that promise just one month after winning the election. He told NBC News, “I’d like to bring them down. It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard.” Dismantling the social safety net Much waffling on this one. Trump has said he won’t touch Social Security, but Elon Musk has said everything is on the table. Reportedly, plans are circulating on Capitol Hill to make trillions of dollars in cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid over the next decade. Nearly 100 million Americans are beneficiaries of one or more of these programs. That is almost a third of the population. You know who isn’t in that group? Any of the billionaires currently advising the president. Sadly, it appears one promise he will keep is pardoning the January 6 insurrectionists, in what has become one of the most sickening attempted rewrites of American history. Just before leaving office, President Biden had one final shot for Trump, preemptively pardoning several members of government against whom Trump had promised political retribution, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and General Mark Milley. As for the promises, how many will go unfilled before a large majority of people realize they have elected a charlatan? The silence of critics is essential to the growth of authoritarian power. So time for another gentle reminder that the press has an imperative role to play in holding the powerful accountable. Here at Steady we are rededicating ourselves to doing our small part. To support my team’s efforts to protect our democracy through the power of independent journalism, please consider joining as a paid subscriber. It keeps Steady sustainable and accessible for all. Thank you. No matter how you subscribe, I thank you for reading. Stay Steady, Dan

3 billionaires walk into an inauguration…

 THANK YOU CONGRESSMAN FOR POINTING OUT THAT TRUMP DOES NOT 

REPRESENT AMERICANS!

Take a look at this picture.

This is the front row of today’s Inauguration ceremony for Donald Trump. Sitting just one row behind the podium are billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg—who together control more wealth than the bottom half of America.

The front row at inauguration SHOULD be a firefighter from California, a schoolteacher from Uvalde, and—to honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s last stand—a Memphis sanitation worker.

Instead, these corrupt billionaires sat in front of Trump’s own family. They sat in front of his own cabinet. They were put in the front row for all Americans to see who Trump is really fighting for.

Today Donald Trump showed working people exactly what he’s about: corruption and screwing over working people in order to help the wealthiest guys on earth get even richer.

Trump may put these billionaires ahead of his own family, but we won’t let him put them ahead of OUR families.

Saul Loeb/Pool/AFP Via GETTY

Thank you,

-Greg

Greg Casar
Congressman 
Texas Congressional District 35

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