Notices by Sean Casten (seancasten@mastodon.social)

If Mike Johnson gave a damn about the Constitution he claims to be an expert in we would be having immediate hearings on this blatant emoluments violation. There will be accountability. But apparently not until Dems get the gavels back from these cowards. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/us/politics/trump-cryptocurrency-usd1-dubai-conference-announcement.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

This is entirely Trump-inflicted and GOP-enabled. Acknowledge the emperor has no clothes, do proper oversight, put the country first and this ends.

A few select slides. 1/ Trump did this.

4/ US consumers are increasingly worried they're going to get laid off (thanks to Trump.)

3/ People who depend on Chinese supply chains are slowing down their purchases.

2/ CEOs, who will make recommendations on whether to invest are souring on the US economy.

7/ And finally, this is all a choice. We don't have to have this happen. But Trump has chosen to tank the US economy. He did this. Insert your own expletives. He deserves all your rage. /fin

6/ More Americans are maxing out their credit cards and entering default.

5/ Europeans are deciding not to vacation in the US.

This is sobering, but worth reading if you want to understand how badly Trump is destroying the economy. Just data. And entirely Trump-inflicted. https://www.apolloacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/042625-ConsumerandFirms_v2.pdf

To understand why this is straight up fascism, just ask yourself what protection you would have - as a law-abiding American citizen - if the President alleged that you were a criminal and an illegal immigrant and deported you to a prison in El Salvador. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/us/politics/trump-undocumented-immigrants-trials-deportation.html

Because you cannot assert that someone is doing something "illegally" in such a country unless that person has the right to present evidence, have access to counsel and defend themselves in court BEFORE such assertion carries with it the full force of law.

The truth is, it doesn't take a particularly sophisticated knowledge of the law to understand why a country based on rule of law must afford equal protection under that law to everyone inside our borders, regardless of their immigration status.

And that of course applies equally to immigrants who are here as DREAMers or asylum seekers under Temporary Protected Status. Both are technically "illegal" but are here with the understanding that if they go through a legal process and commit no crimes they can secure legal status.

If answer is that couldn't happen to you because you're a law-abiding citizen, then clarify where you would have the opportunity to make that case in the absence of due process?

He is asserting that he alone has the right to allege that someone "illegal" and a criminal, serve as their judge and sentence them with no checks. That is fundamentally fascist. It is also a plain violation of the 5th, 8th and 14th amendments.

Trump knows this as well as anyone. He is a 34-time convicted felon but he's been accused of a lot more crimes than that. He walks free among us today because he had access to due process in the trial and sentencing phase.

The Senate has complicity for confirming these folks. But ultimately, this is exactly what you'd expect if you put a convicted felon in the White House, protected by a Supreme Court that says he can't be prosecuted for his "official acts", bent on revenge and unwilling to do the reading.

None of this had to happen. Trump inherited an economy that was growing with low unemployment, rapidly falling inflation and attracting lots of capital. He literally could have done NOTHING and taken credit for the trend line.

Smart, patriotic people with strong spines and strong character who see the big picture don't want to work in this White House. All Trump has are idiots (Navarro, Hegseth), kooks (Gabbard, RFK Jr), fellow fascists (Miller, Musk) and cowards (Rubio, Bessent).