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We are now fighting the Second American Civil War
January 15, 2021
The second American Civil War has begun.
No official announced Trump's Civil War. That's the reason our major news organizations dance around the awful truth using obfuscating language.
<p>But we don't need a press release to recognize that Donald Trump directed his white supremacist followers to attack another branch of our national government on Jan. 6—after years of undermining the judiciary and, in the executive branch, the intelligence, law enforcement and public health agencies.</p><p>Trump apologists will quarrel with the word "directed." Yes, Trump spoke, as he often does, out of four sides of his mouth when he said he would march with them to our Capitol where recordings show people shouting that they were invited by the president, that they were doing his will. It is the message the mob took that matters compounded by his video during the siege expressing his love for the insurrectionists.</p><p>That Trump will not attend the inauguration of Joe Biden should make you shudder. Without him on the outdoor platform rebels hellbent on overthrowing our government could assassinate Biden and Kamala Harris with no risk to their messianic and delusional leader.</p><blockquote>We face danger from more than the lawless Trump mob that attacked our Capitol.<br/></blockquote><p>This is why police and National Guard will flood that zone on Jan. 20. And it explains why Biden and Harris insist on being sworn in outdoors, to signal that fear has no place in the land of the free and home of the brave.</p><p>And it's not just government buildings that now require extra protection from disloyal and self-righteous Americans who love Trump more than our Constitutional liberties. Mosques, synagogues and some churches, especially black churches, will be vulnerable to attack by those who want to make America white again, many of whom claim to be Christians but are in fact the embodiment of evil.</p><p>Trump's mob will not win this war. No matter what buildings they attack, what leaders they assassinate, they cannot win because there are not enough of them to destroy the United States of America in favor of a dictatorship under Trump, his children or anyone else.</p><h3>Making America Endure</h3><p>Eager and willing as Trump's army is to assassinate Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitman, as well as Biden and Kamala Harris, our freedom and continuity of our government does not hinge on any individual. Our nation endures so long as we sustain a broad and deep commitment to the six noble purposes articulated in our Constitution's preamble especially the promise to perfect our union over time.</p><p>If you don't know those six purposes <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/preamble" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">please click here</a> and read the 52 words again and again until you memorize them. And take note as you do that riches are neither mentioned or hinted at in the Preamble, while liberty, the general welfare, and justice are along with their products—peace and tranquility.</p><p>Still, even though the outcome of Trump's Civil War is certain, his band of domestic terrorists can and already have imposed enormous and lasting damage on our society.</p><p>These true believers in Trumpian rule can dissuade many from peaceful and joyful mingling in houses of worship, government buildings, sports arenas and political venues. While Biden and Harris are brave, millions will hold back because of their rational fear of violent attack. Doubt that? How eager are you to visit on vacation or ride a bus in Jerusalem? Kabul? Baghdad?</p><p>Our nation's capital is an armed camp today. So are the downtowns of many of our state capitals. Law enforcement and the intelligence community sift through plots organized on the Internet in the hope of disrupting attacks before they occur. The police and soldiers are backups for the inevitable failures to prevent attacks.</p><h3>Among the Attackers</h3><p>We also need to recognize that we face danger from more than the lawless Trump mob that attacked our Capitol and have menaced our state capitols.</p><p>We now know that the insurgents attacking our Capitol included active-duty military and police officers. Dozens of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/terror-watchlist-capitol-riot-fbi/2021/01/14/07412814-55f7-11eb-a931-5b162d0d033d_story.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">people on FBI terrorist watch lists</a> were among the attackers, evidently not being watched at all closely. There are disturbing indications some members of Congress, Republicans all, may have helped the attackers scout the Capitol, pointing out hidden offices of Democratic Party leaders.</p><p>One Republican lawmaker openly encouraged rebellion. Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, outfitted in camo, riled up the Trumpian mob before its attack. Another, Republican Lauren Boebert of Colorado, tweeted out the location of Speaker Pelosi while she was being hunted with plans, one of them texted, to put a bullet in her head on television. Think about what America would be like today had the insurgents assassinated Pence, Pelosi and others by firing squad or hanging them from the gallows they set up outside the Capitol.</p><p>Brooks and Boebert must be expelled from the House if their vile and disloyal actions are to have consequences. Failure to do this will only give succor to others tempted by traitorous opportunity.</p><p>Even more disturbing, some Democratic lawmakers say that on the day before our Capitol was sacked they observed a few of the most extreme Republicans giving guided tours to people who turned out to be insurgency leaders. Now, they worry that this was a scouting operation supported from within. The coming investigations will tell us the facts, especially if prosecutors are smart about leveraging those who gave such tours in return for lessening the severe sentences they deserve.</p><p>That we may have a Fifth Column in Congress immediately alarmed their unwitting collaborators from the dominant economic force in America, big corporations. From American Express and AT&T to Tyson Foods and United Parcel Service, many big companies stopped, at least for now, aiding and abetting these faithless enemies of our Constitution with campaign contributions.</p><p>We live in strange times when we need help from soulless corporations to defend our liberties. To be sure, they acted out of self-interest. Under a dictatorship, corporate directors and executives would be forced to bend to the will of an unelected and unaccountable autocrat who could eviscerate their privileges and plunder their wealth.</p><p>Disloyalty and oath-breaking by officials also marked the 1860s, when some representatives, senators and federal judges used their office to wage war on the United States. Until they were stopped. Texas lawyer Barbara Radnofsky tells some of this compellingly in her concise book <em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Citizens-Guide-Impeachment-Barbara-Radnofsky/dp/1612197051" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A Citizen's Guide to Impeachment</a></em>.</p><h3>Our Noble Purpose</h3><p>The costs of Trump's Army waging war on our government will drain resources from improving America, from perfecting our union.</p><p>To secure our safety, National Guard troops sleep on the cold marble floors of America's Capitol. Fences and walls will become ubiquitous, a twisted outgrowth of Trump's lie that he would build a wall, to fencing and other barriers, metal detectors and other protections against domestic terrorists.</p><p>Trump's Civil War did not begin with the murderous attack on our Capitol. It dates to at least August 2017 when his violent thugs marched in Charlottesville, Va., shouting Nazi slogans. "Jews will not replace us" and "blood and soil," they chanted while marching past a synagogue. The next day one of them drove his car into a crowd, killing Heather Heyer, the first fatality in Trump's Civil War.</p><p>What these rebels heard the next day, what instilled them with bravado, was not Trump's confusing comparison between anti-Semitic racists and the counter-demonstrators, but this line about themselves—"very fine people."</p><p>Don't make the mistake of thinking there is no Second Civil War just because all is peaceful where you are. Six days before rebels bombarded Ft. Sumter on April 12, 1861, The New York Times reported that an attack was imminent. But once the fighting began, there was no battle of Grand Rapids, no skirmish in Rochester, no siege in Cincinnati. In some states, such as Oregon, all regular Army were withdrawn and volunteers maintained military outposts and kept watch on Confederacy sympathizers.</p><p>That is how wars take place. People may be sipping espresso in sidewalk cafes or picnicking beside a stream while soldiers fire on one another within earshot.</p><p>As we prosecute this war on Trump's militias and half-organized renegade insurgents, we must give no quarter in terms of criminal prosecution, especially for seditious conspiracy and murder. Where they fire their arms we must respond with lethal force as the laws of war allow. But we must be better than the attackers.</p><p>We must take care not to give Trump's army a perverse victory by destroying the soul of America, by losing sight of our nation's great purpose. We must not descend into a militarized safety zone. Instead, we must build up the institutions we have damaged with decades of malign neglect—schools, colleges, public health, law enforcement as guardians instead of warriors, and the public furniture from parks to bridges that make life pleasant and commerce efficient. We must make our union more perfect through caring for our citizens, providing the tools for stable and prosperous lives and vigorous debate about the way we want to order our liberty.</p><p>We must keep in our hearts and our politics the fundamental purpose of our government—to ennoble the human spirit with liberty and fraternity so that our people can attain the best that our nature makes possible.</p>
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Trump's 'brand' is dead and he may have to hold a 'fire sale' on prized properties: report
January 15, 2021
According to Bloomberg's Tim O'Brien, Donald Trump is about to leave the political minefield over a second impeachment trial and enter a new minefield where he is faced with enormous loans coming due at a time when the Trump "brand" could hardly be more toxic.
As the only president to be impeached twice exits the Oval Office next week, Trump will turn his full attention to his financial situation valued at over $3.4 billion but heavily loaded down with debt.
<p>With Deutsche Bank announcing earlier in the week that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/12/investing/deutsche-bank-trump/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">they will no longer lend to Trump</a> and his Trump Organization, and Signature Bank saying it has started closing Trump's personal accounts before calling for the president to resign, the president will find far fewer options when it comes to loans than when he entered office in 2016.</p><p>According to OBrien, who has reported extensively on Trump's finances for years, the president shouldn't expect to be able to trade on his name as he seeks financial help.</p><p>"What does the Trump brand represent?" he wrote for Bloomberg. "And how valuable has it been, really — even before the president alienated half of the country and untold millions overseas, bungled the federal response to a deadly pandemic and got himself impeached for the second time by convincing a confederacy of dunces, thugs and white supremacists to lay siege to the Capitol?"</p><p>The answer, he suggests, was that the Trump name was already damaged for branding purposes before the election after a string of spectacular failures including a "university" that was shut down after being deluged with lawsuits.</p><p>"Do you remember Donald J. Trump Eyeglasses, Donald Trump Regency Collection lighting, Select by Trump coffee, Success by Trump cologne, Trump Home mattresses and furniture, Trump Ice bottled water, Trump Steaks, Trump: The Game, Trump Vodka, or the Donald J. Trump Signature Collection of underwear, ties, shirts and suits? Does the Trump PrivaTest at-home urine test ring a bell?" he wrote before pointing out that the majority of Trump's wealth is tied up in high-profile properties like Trump Tower in New York City at a time when commercial properties are facing a downturn due to the COVID-10 9 pandemic.</p><p>Adding to that are the president's golf courses th<a href="https://www.rawstory.com/trump-golf-2649719801/" target="_self">at have been bleeding money</a> even before the PGA announced it would n<a href="https://www.rawstory.com/trump-wall-street/" target="_self">o longer hold any more tournaments</a> at Trump-owned properties.</p><p>All of this may force the president, who is looking at <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/that-makes-him-a-mark-trump-biographer-reveals-presidents-debt-far-worse-than-421-million/" target="_self">a reported $421 million in loans</a> to come due in the next two years, to sell off some of his more valuable assets., O'Brien writes.</p><p>"Urban real estate, now sideswiped by Covid-19, is the core of Trump's wealth, and has generated some of his most lucrative streams of income. As is his wont, he has saddled his holdings with lots of debt. Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2020/10/16/donald-trump-has-at-least-1-billion-in-debt-more-than-twice-the-amount-he-suggested/?sh=8c451d843306" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">estimates</a> Trump's total indebtedness to be about $1.1 billion, and about <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2020/10/19/trump-will-have-900-million-of-loans-coming-due-in-his-second-term-if-hes-reelected/?sh=5168aa4b5f37" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">$900 million</a> is coming due over the next four years, some of it this year," he explained. "Trump is not broke, as some have speculated in recent months, but he could wind up in a very nasty cash squeeze. If his properties don't generate enough money to pay down the debt, he'll have to sell something — and may have to unload trophy properties in fire sales that leave him with less than he might have secured if he'd sold them just a year ago (or if he had properly divested his businesses before he was inaugurated in 2017). If the economy continues to struggle in coming months, the valuations of everything Trump owns will be tested."</p><p>You can <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-01-15/it-s-trump-s-money-not-his-brand-that-should-worry-him" target="_blank">read more here</a>.</p>
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Fox News could make big changes as ratings plummet after calling the election for Biden
January 15, 2021
Fox News boss Rupert Murdoch has taken a more hands-on role in network operations as rivals cut into their dominance over conservative media, according to a new report.
Ratings are down after President Donald Trump urged follows to switch over to rival Newsmax, and CEO Suzanne Scott and president Jay Wallace could be out of a job after Fox News lost the ratings battle to CNN and MSNBC, reported The Daily Beast.
<p>"I mean, Rupert got involved with the shuffling of the lineup, so that's never a good sign for someone in charge," one current Fox staffer told The Daily Beast. "What is the point of having a manager running your business if you have to run the business yourself?"</p><p>Ratings <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fox-news-lands-third-cable-232700701.html" target="_blank">have drooped</a> since the November election, despite one dramatic event after another, and Scott was already mistrusted by staffers who say she hasn't been held accountable for helping to enable late founder Roger Ailes' sexual misconduct.</p><p>Scott has told more than one Fox executive that she doesn't care if she's fired because she's "got enough money now to never work again," according to one source who has spoken to her, although a Fox News spokesperson strongly denied that claim.</p><p>"Your premise is wrong. It is wishful thinking by our competitors," the spokesperson said.</p><p>Insiders told The Daily Beast that David Rhodes, a former Fox News president and the libertarian brother of former Obama national security aide Ben Rhodes, could be tapped to replace Scott, who the Murdochs always considered a "temporary solution."</p><p>Wallace, the current network president, has been under fire since the Fox News decision desk correctly projected Joe Biden as the winner in Arizona -- which angered Trump and helped drive some viewers over to Newsmax.</p><p>The rival network has beaten Fox News in some head-to-head matchups since November, and CNN and MSNBC finished in the top two spots in daytime ratings for the first time since 2000.</p><p>"They are reaping the whirlwind of having gotten their audience hooked on the heroin of outrage because as soon as someone comes along and is more outrageous those addicts will move over there," said Jon Klein, former president of CNN/US and current chairman of TAPP Media. "They don't care where they get their fix from, so whoever ends up running Fox News is going to have to wrestle with that conundrum."</p>
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