I heard about this via The Thom Hartmann program, then queried Copilot for the following summary...
Copilot:Staffan Lindberg, the director of the V-Dem Institute, has expressed concerns about the state of democracy in the United States. According to Lindberg, if current trends continue, the U.S. could lose its classification as a democracy in the near future. This warning stems from data collected by the V-Dem Institute, which tracks democratic attributes across nations. Lindberg has highlighted actions and policies that undermine democratic norms, such as the erosion of checks and balances, attacks on independent institutions, and the consolidation of power [1].
The V-Dem Institute's latest report still ranks the U.S. as a "Liberal Democracy", but Lindberg cautions that ongoing developments could lead to a reclassification. This reflects broader global trends, where the number of autocracies has surpassed democracies for the first time in decades.
**End Copilot Summary**
The "ongoing developments" are actions being taken by Turd-2, aka the 2nd d0n0ld administration.
...if trends described by the authors continue throughout 2025, the United States' government regime will definitely be reclassified in next year's annual Democracy Report, says Staffan Lindberg ... a professor of political science at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.
"Normally, these things -- over the past 25 years -- play out over up to 10 years before democracy is sort of done away with", Lindberg says. "The Trump administration is just unleashing all of it at the same time, more or less". usnews.com3/25/2025.
Recently I heard a story about a man who was caught being deceased and continuing to receive social security payments. Thus proving that doge is uncovering and putting a stop to dead oldsters defrauding us. Way to go, doge!
After discovering this (by way of Stephanie Miller) I decided to query the AI Copilot and see what additional information it would provide...
Me: Is there a person named Ned Johnson who it was claimed to be an example of social security fraud due to him being dead and still receiving payments? But then it turns out he is still alive, but money was taken from his bank account? Is he going to get his money back?
Copilot: Yes, there is a case involving an 82-year-old man named Ned Johnson from Seattle. He was mistakenly declared dead by the Social Security Administration (SSA), which led to his Social Security payments being stopped and $5,201 being withdrawn from his bank account. This error also caused his Medicare to be canceled.
After weeks of effort, including visiting the SSA office in person, Ned managed to prove he was alive. While the SSA has reportedly agreed to restore his status and return the funds, he has not yet received his missing payments for February and March3. It seems like the process is still ongoing, but the expectation is that he will eventually get his money back. Bureaucratic errors like this can be incredibly frustrating, especially for someone relying on these benefits.
Me: Was he touted by doge or trump as an example of the fraud they say is occurring?
Copilot: Yes, Ned Johnson's case was highlighted by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk under the Trump administration, as part of their efforts to expose Social Security fraud. However, it turned out to be a mistake -- Johnson was very much alive, and the error was on the part of the Social Security Administration. This incident ironically undermined the narrative of widespread fraud, as it showcased a bureaucratic error rather than intentional wrongdoing.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) mistakenly declared Ned Johnson dead due to an error in their records. While the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had been highlighting cases of alleged fraud involving payments to individuals supposedly over 150 years old, Johnson's case was unrelated to such claims. Instead, it appears to have been a bureaucratic mistake, possibly exacerbated by the SSA's understaffing and procedural inefficiencies.
Me: Regarding "it appears to have been a bureaucratic mistake, possibly exacerbated by the SSA's understaffing and procedural inefficiencies"... I'd say it looks like they caused the error via all the firings. It's somewhat like a self fulling prophecy.
Copilot: That's a sharp observation. If significant staff cuts led to the SSA being overwhelmed and prone to errors, it really does resemble a self-fulfilling prophecy. By crippling their capacity to handle cases accurately and efficiently, it creates the very issues that groups like DOGE highlight as systemic problems. The cycle perpetuates itself.
Pete Hegseth is a White Supremacist? His tattoos identify him as one. As per the following two article excerpts...
Thomas Lecaque, an associate professor of history at Grand View University who specializes in the nexus of apocalyptic religion and political violence ... has been following these communities for over a decade [says] "There is no version of Deus Vult that means anything other than Crusader fanboy ... It's a call to religious violence, expressly linked to a pretty horrific episode in history. There isn't another way of reading it other than that". [link]
"Deus vult" (Latin for "God wills it") is a phrase historically associated with the Crusades. In modern times, it has been appropriated by some white supremacist and far-right groups to connect their causes with divine will.
Hegseth, who has downplayed the role of military members and veterans in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and railed against the Pentagon's subsequent efforts to address extremism in the ranks, has said he was pulled by his District of Columbia National Guard unit from guarding Joe Biden’s January 2021 inauguration. He's said he was unfairly identified as an extremist due to a cross tattoo on his chest.
...a fellow Guard member who was the unit's security manager and on an anti-terrorism team at the time, shared with The Associated Press an email he sent to the unit's leadership flagging [the] tattoo reading "Deus Vult" that's been used by white supremacists, concerned it was an indication of an "Insider Threat". [link]
The person who held the same position before Hegseth was a vastly more qualified person. And he was Black. Pete is unqualified. As a drunk and a sexual assaulter, he is exactly the type of person who should NOT be United States Secretary of Defense. Setting aside his White Supremacist tattoos.
Though I don't think they should be set aside at all. Clearly the executive branch is currently infested with White Supremacists. Pete says that people who take note of his White Supremacist tattoos are engaging in "Anti-Christian bigotry". To which I say, BULLSH|T. The Klan also claims to be a Christian organization.
This process of obfuscation is central all bigoted movements. Most people don't want to admit their own biases. At least publicly. That's why it's effective to sanitize racist opinions as "community concern". Or hatred toward queer people as "protecting children". Or White Supremacy, whether consciously or not, as "Christian values".
The thing is, it seems like Lindy Li no longer stands with herself. Or with what she believed previously. Now it seems she is maga. I'm standing where Lindy Li stood, but she's not there any more.
In the video above from 12/16/2024, "Roland Martin destroys Dem turncoat Lil Lindy Li for sucking up to Trump and Fox News".
Lindy claims she "held her tongue for years"? I call BS. She was very enthusiastic in her support for Kamala Harris. Now she thinks d0n0ld is great? After previously writing that d0n0ld made her ill? Yeah, she is obviously lying.
For what reason? Apparently for money. As Roland Martin points out. Fox News loves former Democrats that are willing to speak ill of the Democratic Party.
"Fox News will book you all day and all night". Indeed. She is now making the rounds and appearing on all the rightturd MSM propaganda shows. As well as every single trumpturd podcast that will have her.
There are examples of other former lefties that have done the same thing. Jimmy d0re and Glenn Greenwald, for example. Both still say they are lefties, but very strongly support d0n0ld. Will Lindy Li next come out in support of Ukraine surrending and giving in to all Putin's demands?
Maybe not, but she is definitely going to continue bashing Democrats on rightturd media for as long as she is able. Roland says she wants a Fox News contributor job. I think it's definitely accurate that she is hoping to make money bashing the Democratic party. I'm sure she is currently making money bashing the Democratic Party.
How long can she continue to do so? I don't know, but I surely do not wish her luck. I don't wish her ill, I only wish that she isn't successful in her new endevor as a former Democrat turned maga. She lied before or she's lying now. Or she's just a liar that always lied. I do NOT believe she "saw the light" and made a genuine conversation from Democrat to maga republiturd.
My opinion is that she likely was being truthfull before (as in the tweet at the top of this post) and is lying now.
Lindy was "in" regarding the presidency of Kamala Harris and claims she would ALWAYS be "team Biden"? What happened is that Lindy changed her mind about ALWAYS being team Biden?
The bl0g Turd that calls itself Mystere (also "Rattraper", among numerous other aliases) says "she thought for herself [and] has integrity".
Wrong. Lindy Li has proven she has no integrity. I also don't believe she thinks for herself. She saw that flipping from Democrat to republiturd was very profitable for Turds like Glen Greenwald, jimmy d0re, Dave Rubin, Joe Rogan, etc. el0n Musk used to be a Democrat. As did the Top Turd, himself, d0n0ld tRump.
These people proved that it is so easy to make money telling magadupes what they want to hear. All you need to do is abandon all the principals and integrity you used to have.
"I will always be team Biden" and "To those of you who said Biden was cognitively impaired, WE AWAIT YOUR APOLOGY" (before the election) become "the president has not been cognitively fit to assume the duties of the Oval Office for a number of years now" (after the election).
Fvck you, Lindy Li. btw, I don't care that she is Chinese ethnically. I don't believe she is a Chinese spy or works with CCP. As she claims her critics allege. Who is alleging this? She says she will sue them for defamation. So, do it already!
Until a lawsuit is filed, I suspect that she lies about this as well. Given that she is a proven liar, I'm inclinded to believe any words she speaks are probably lies.
Video: Feb 8, 2025. The Vanguard. Clip from our new exclusive interview with Pastor Benjamin Dixon, former TYT contributor...
Partial Transcript 10:56 to 11:59.
Zac: if I could just add ... as a white American, you look back and people always say like, oh how could we do this, right? Oh my God, how could you do that? Like, oh how could my ancestors have turned the other eye? well, you're kind of finding out right now. You know what I mean, you're kind of finding out right now where you would have fallen, right? When the battle lines were drawn because, let me tell you what, there was a lot less information going around in the 1850s, okay? You know? You might have gotten way easier brainwashed. 10:56 to 11:18.
If you're getting brainwashed now? You would have been a lost fvcking cause in the 1850s. I'm telling you if you're even sitting on the fence with this shit, you would have been with the KKK. I'm sorry, you don't like it because you don't like the truth. But I'm telling you, back then you would have been like a John Wayne. Like, "let's go out and hunt the Comanche, motherfvcker". 11:18 to 11:38.
That's what you would have been like. You would have been like, "oh we got to get all them there on our land". It's the same logic. You'd have gone out hunting injuns. You know, burn crosses. Intimidate. That's you. If this is you in 2025, that was you in 1855. 1755. that's you, right? and you can either own that, or you can change. 11:38 to 11:59.
**End Transcript Excerpt**
I'm not sitting on the fence. I'm fully acknowledging that trumperism and maga are White Supremacist.
That they combined the Nazi and KKK flags (to make the Kekistan flag) is yet more proof of this fact. That they make it so fvcking obvious, but then deny the obviousness? It's their joke. To see how obvious they can make it. el0n giving the Nazi salute, for example. Yet continue to deny it.
I don't deny the obvious. I acknowledge things I see with my own eyes and hear with my own ears. Which is that trumperism is a White Supremacist fascist Nazi/KKK cult.
Kekistan is a fictional country created by 4chan users that has become a political meme and online movement. The name is derived from "kek" and the suffix "stan", a common Central Asian country suffix. Since late 2016, the satirical ethnicity of Kekistani has been used by US-based alt-right protesters opposed to what they view as political correctness. These "Kekistanis" decry the supposed "oppression" of their people and troll counterprotesters by waving the "national flag of Kekistan" (modeled after the Nazi war flag, with the red replaced by green, the Iron Cross replaced by the logo for 4chan, and the swastika replaced by a rubric for KEK).
It is now official. The republican party is now the American Nazi Party. As shown in the genuine, not photoshop or AI image above. Elon Musk did recently perform the Sieg Heil salute to show respect for his Nazi leader, Herr d0n0ld der Führer.
With the "election" of the Orange Turd, the future of civilization was assured? I think the destruction of civilization may have been assured, given that one of the first thing king d0n0ld did was to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement. Again.
Musk defended his actions, saying that pointing out the obvious amounts to "dirty tricks". He also remarked that the "accusations of him being Hitler are sooo tired". I'm not aware that anyone called Elon "Hitler". People only point out the fact that he gave the Nazi salute.
He isn't Hitler. d0n0ld is Hitler. Musk is Goebbels. That seems right, given that he bought Twitter and transformed it into a cesspool of misinformation. Goebbels was Hitler's propagandist. Musk serves the same role to his Führer, d0n0ld.
Though I have no doubt that, in his mind, Musk was trolling. On Quora, Kevin F wrote, "whether Musk is a sincere Nazi is, in my view, besides the point. He can make offensive gestures all he likes because it's entertaining to him, and no one who matters is gonna do anything about it".
As per Wikipedia, the term Edgelord is "frequently associated with the forum site 4chan [and that] The renegade rhetoric of the edgelord is often intentionally employed by the far-right to troll leftist targets". Keven F says Elon is an "edgelord". "I can make the nazi saloot for tha lulz, cuz it triggers da libz". That's Elon's mindset, as per Kevin's Quora post.
I say Elon's troll was a Freudian slip, which is "an unintentional error regarded as revealing subconscious feelings". The Nazis were a White Supremacist cult and Hitler was a messianic figure who would save Germany. d0n0ld's cult members see him the same way. Only d0n0ld can fix it. That's what he claimed.
Hitler targeted Jews, Slavs, and Romani people. d0n0ld targets Mexicans, Muslims and people from "sh|thole countries". Also Chinese men. If you fall into one of those categories and aren't a US citizen, you could be deported. You could be deported even if you are a US citizen. Ask Tom Homan. If parents of US citizens who are themselves not US citizens, then the parents can "choose" to take their children with them when they are removed from the country.
The Orange Turd Emperor issued a royal decree (aka an "executive order") titled "Protecting the Value and Meaning of American Citizenship" which "states that children born in the U.S. must have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident to be granted citizenship". This is a "reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment".
I queried Copilot, asking if this is a power the president has, and the reply was "The President does not have the power to unilaterally reinterpret the Constitution". This will probably go to the corrupt supreme court. And then the corrupt supreme court could say that the form that d0n0ld twisted and shaped the Constitution into pleases them as well. The rightturds on the court, at least.
The chatbot that Elon paid to be developed known as Grok supposedly has a sense of humor. Grok is "a maximum truth-seeking AI". The first AI image above was created using Grok, which means that it represents "maximum truth".
Video: Herr d0n0ld issues full pardons to his Brownshirts. Democracy Now! Jan 21, 2025.
Republiturds will say there is no way d0n0ld is in any way like a Nazi, because he opposes socialism. But that is BS, because the National Socialist German Workers' Party under Adlof Hitler was not socialist. That the party was socialist was propaganda intended to fool Germans into supporting it. d0n0ld does the SAME thing in regards to his phony claims that he fights for the "forgotten man".
Björn Höcke is a German politician and a prominent member of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. In a joint interview during a campaign event in Erfurt, AfD chancellor candidate Alice Weidel expressed support for Björn Höcke Höcke and highlighted his role as a key figure in the AfD.
Elon Musk has publicly endorsed Alice Weidel and the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. In a recent live chat on his social media platform, X, Musk expressed strong support for Weidel and the AfD, stating that he believes they are the "best hope for Germany".
Copilot: The Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has faced several accusations of harboring neo-Nazi sympathies and aligning with far-right extremism. Here are some key points...
1. Extremist Factions: Sections of the party, particularly in eastern Germany, have been linked to far-right extremist ideologies. The "Flügel" faction, led by Björn Höcke, has been classified as "right-wing extremist" by Germany's domestic intelligence agency.
2. Controversial Statements: Prominent AfD members have made controversial statements about Germany's Nazi past. For example, Björn Höcke referred to Berlin's Holocaust memorial as a "monument of shame", and former co-leader Alexander Gauland described the Nazi era as a mere "speck of bird's muck" in over a thousand years of German history.
3. Associations with Far-Right Figures: Reports of AfD members meeting with known far-right activists, such as Martin Sellner of the Identitarian Movement, have fueled concerns about neo-Nazi ties.
4. Surveillance by Intelligence Agencies: Germany's domestic intelligence agency has placed sections of the AfD under surveillance, citing concerns about their potential to undermine the democratic order.
These factors contribute to the ongoing accusations and concerns about the party's alignment with far-right extremism.
Source: What you need to know about AfD, Elon Musk's favorite German Party. Times of India.
As per Malcolm Nance, "I warned that these insurrectionists would become a version of Trump's self-deputized political enforcers, the American version of the Nazi Brown Shirts. Now that Trump has pardoned over 1,600 violent extremists, their threat has magnified now that we know that the US Government may become their official sponsor".
d0n0ld tRump is America's Hitler. Full stop. That is why Elon Musk gave him the Nazi salute and supports the AfD, the German Nazi Party that says they aren't Nazis. Fascists deny being fascists. That's what fascists do. Same as White Supremacists deny being White Supremacists.
If they hope to gain power, that's what they do. Some people might eagerly vote for fascism, but most won't. But you can easily trick many of those people into voting for fascism, as has been conclusively proven via the return of the fascist Orange Turd to the White House.
Video: Feb 4, 2025. Bill talks about Elon Musk and confirms that el0n gave a Sieg Heil.
Description for the PBS Newshour video from 1/20/2025 above: Billionaire Elon Musk gave what appeared to be a fascist salute Monday while making a speech at the post-inauguration celebration for President Donald Trump at the Capital One Arena.
Plutocracy is rule by plutocrats and kleptocracy is rule by kleptocrats. Kakistocracy is rule by kakistocrats. This post concerns one example of how the United States is now a Kakistocracy. Ironically these incompetents are bigly offended by DEI. They claim it means that incompetent minority candidates are hired in place of more qualified White men.
d0n0ld tRump recently signed an Emperor Order to end DEI, after which he declared that employment in the United States is now "merit based". Right. I say the people he has nominated for cabinet positions is proof that the opposite is true. Unless you think "competent" means mismanaging funds of the organization you head (spending it on parties), sexual assaulting female employees and being drunk on the job indicates competence.
Pete Hegseth is a Turd whose record clearly disqualifies him for the position he has now been confirmed to. Other Turds include the puppy killer Kristi Noem, tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist Kash Patel and the Putin asset Tulsi Gabbard. As well as the vaccine denialist Robert Kennedy Junior. A nutter whose brain has been eaten away by worms. Also don't forget that the Turd at the top is clearly dementia-addled.
The word is that "deportation flights" headed to both Mexico and Columbia were turned back. Meaning they loaded up people, took off, flew to Mexico and Columbia, but were not allowed to touch down.
So, they didn't find out ahead of time if they would be allowed to land? I'd think this would be absolutely necessary to work out with the receiving country. Though apparently permissions to make these flights were granted, but later rescinded.
Is this an example of incompetence, or did Turd-2 get punked? I say the answer could be both. It's definitely the first one. This must have meant that tens of thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of dollars were spent for nothing.
Video: Jan 24, 2025. Thom Hartmann. Trump didn't win 2024 Election. Investigative journalist Greg Palast proves the 2024 election was handed to Trump through underhanded voter suppression tactics. The only question now is... what do we do now that we know Trump's second term is illegitimate?
Partial Transcript Thom: Our buddy Greg Palast is with us ... So, who won or lost the election?
Greg: It's real simple. If not for vote suppression tactics -- that's a fancy way of saying shafting people of color and young people out of their votes—Kamala Harris would have won by 3,565,000 votes. That's the number of voters denied their right to vote because they were purged, challenged, or had their provisional ballots thrown out.
Let me give you some numbers. The reason I've waited to make this report is that I had to get the data from government agencies, particularly the Elections Assistance Commission. People don't realize that I used to be a professor of statistics and a forensic economist. This is my specialty -- numbers. I've done this work for attorneys general, the U.S. Department of Justice, and other agencies, even for federal courts.
According to the Elections Assistance Commission's official numbers, 4,776,706 voters were wrongly purged from the rolls. I'm not making this up. We had experts from Microsoft and Amazon go through every purge name in two states -- Georgia and Wisconsin. For example, in Georgia, we found 198,000 voters who were wrongly removed from the rolls. We even have their names and addresses. Overwhelmingly, these were voters of color.
In Wisconsin, nearly every voter removed by the purge was either a Black voter in Milwaukee or a student in Madison. And this year, we saw a new phenomenon: vigilante voter challenges. For the first time, individual voters could challenge others. For example, I could say, “Thom Hartmann doesn’t live in Portland; he shouldn't be allowed to vote".
By August, there were 317,000 challenges. The NAACP reported over 200,000 challenges in Georgia alone by Election Day.
We also had 2.12 million mail-in ballots rejected. This wouldn't matter if it were random, but it's not. According to a Washington state study, Black voters are 400% more likely to have their mail-in ballots rejected compared to white voters. Washington has the least voter suppression of any state.
The U.S. Civil Rights Commission found that mail-in or in-precinct ballot rejection rates are 900% higher for Black voters than for white voters. Over half a million votes were spoiled because machines couldn’t read them -- again, disproportionately affecting voters of color.
We had 1.2 million provisional ballots rejected. People think, "Oh, I'll fill out a provisional ballot". But 43% of those were thrown out, according to the U.S. government. Provisional ballots are disproportionately given to Black, Hispanic, Latino, and Asian-American voters, who are 300% more likely to receive one than white voters.
Factoring in some double counting, the vote suppression rate was about 2.3%. Kamala Harris would have gained 3.565 million more votes, winning Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, with 286 electoral votes [270 is necessary to win]. These calculations are precise. Without voter suppression tactics, she would have won.
**End Transcript Excerpt**
The above video is the first segment from the 1/24/2025 airing of the Thom Hartmann Program. Thom interviews investigative journalist Greg Palast. This is how republicans "win"... they keep throwing out ballots until their guy is the victor.
Greg calls this the "Klan Plan" to suppress the Black vote. Why? He contacted people on the purge list and most of them were African Americans. Greg Palast (who has a background in staticts, data and crunching numbers) shows his work in his article here.
The bottom line is that republiturds stole the election for tRump using voter suppression. Kamala Harris, without voter suppression, would now be president with 286 electoral college votes and over 1 million more popular votes.
