Getting rid of Donald Trump is more easily said than done, and requires extensive organization and planning.

Temperature today: 50F No change from yesterday. Stocks are going down, and Pete Hegseth is likely going down. If Trump cannot manage the Pentagon he is not going to be an effective dictator. Elon Musk is reportedly going down and out. There are disturbing reports about DOGE that I will get into tomorrow.

Yesterday I said we need to discuss how to get rid of Trump.  The need is obvious, but the way to get there is not.  

The Constitution provides two means of ending a presidency:  impeachment and conviction, and the 25th amendment.  Impeachment and conviction require that Republicans participate.  Right now this will not happen.  A combination of Trump slipping and intense pressure might eventually get them to do this, but it will not be quick.  We should be thinking about ways to put pressure on Republicans that might actually have impact.  The 25th amendment would require a cabinet whose members can think independently and act responsibly.  The current members were chosen mainly because they lack precisely those qualities.

If either impeachment or invoking the 25th amendment were to happen, we would then have JD Vance as president.  He is also capable of great mischief but I do not believe he would have any serious political capital; he would have to do what he was told (and he might willingly do so) by congressional Republicans and the oligarchs.  To have hope of restoring America, we would have to get rid of him as well.

Unless and until Democrats achieve a big swing in the midterm elections, the next in line would be Mike Johnson.  No help there.

That takes us to David Brooks’ national uprising.  If we the people rise in sufficient numbers, we can take over the offices and powers of government.

One could, and should, object that this would be a revolution, outside of the Constitutional order.  And so it would be.  But that is where we already are. We have been outside of the Constitutional order since before Trump was elected the first time.  Trump has never understood or cared about the Constitution except as something to be used when it would help him or trampled when it was in his way.  He has violated his oath countless times.  We cannot afford to keep thinking in normal terms.  The mainstream press appears to be incapable of thinking in any other way, but our situation is NOT NORMAL.  We have to acknowledge that and think creatively and strategically about how to proceed.

A national uprising needs leaders, organization and clear goals.  We do not want anarchy and we do not want violence.  We need instead to put in place a government that can provide stability and some normalcy while preparing for new elections and facilitating the repair and refurbishing of the Constitution.  That document has served us well, and I believe much of it should be preserved, but it was never going to last forever and it is time to modernize it.

It is frightening to contemplate a revolution.  I am sure our Founding Fathers were often frightened.  I am more frightened of the country and the world being created by those in power.