Mussolini ruled for 21 years. He tried to get away, and was arrested with his lover, and he and his mistress were shot, and hung upside down in the town square.
Hitler ruled for 12 years and married his lover and then took a pills to end their lives. Worst honeymoon ever.
Franco ruled for 36 years. Franco's family had a cushy existence after he died in office. It's only recently his body was exhumed from the graves of honor.
Castro ruled Cuba for 49 years and his brother was still in control, so they had a big funeral. You might say that the regime has worn off slowly and they still have a unitary communist state.
I felt the straw that broke camel's back with Kimmel's removal. Call it tyranny, authoritarianism, fascism, nazism, or whatever, but silencing critics is a major step. He's packed the supreme court and they're enabling him, and the legislature doesn't seem to keep him in check, and the press seems to have been cowed by him long ago, New York Times could be said to have supported his second rise.
I fear the midterm elections, and how he's going to subvert those.
Seeing him entertained by Prince Charles is weird photo ops because he's not a king as Justice Sotomayor has pointed out.
Law schools will teach this period of law as what not to do, and how to notice the signs of supporting fascism.
Meanwhile the pedophile in chief has record low approval rating by the American people. I take now joy in the leopard ate my face moment of farmers, and hispanics, and on and on. Will the farmers turn to different crops and create another dust bowl? Do we have to live out and repeat the last century?
The current regime has blown by natural barriers, and it turns out democracy rots from the head.
Every accusation is an admission. The Orange Mussolini criticized Biden for being too old, and indeed out of office he got cancer, and it was a good thing he passed the baton to a younger person. This cult of personality isn't a movement and he can't pass it on to the charismaless Vance. Kush Patel passing his loyalty test by saying there is no Epstein evidence. So bizarre he imagines that lie is close to believing.
I need to touch grass, and live in the moment, and not think so much about how we're living through what Hogan's Heroes and other TV shows I watched growing up, warned us against.
That he survived the "grab them by the pussy" moment is something I will never understand.
The mia culpa moment of Mitch McConnell isn't enough. We're heading into turbulent times. The economy is tanking.
Everything is impermanent. Leaves are turning color and falling off trees. Mussolini and Hitler didn't last.
Links:
NY Times
Video on Reddit of Kimmel
From HCR (Heather Cox Richardson)
Kimmel said: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it. In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving. On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half staff which got some criticism but on a human level you can see how hard the president is taking this.”
Kimmel then played a clip of Trump’s response to a reporter who asked how the president was holding up after Kirk’s death. Trump answered: “I think very good. And by the way right there you see all the trucks, they just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House which is something they’ve been trying to get as you know for about for 150 years and it’s gonna be a beauty.”
If Tucker Carlson gets it, it must be blindingly obvious (Independent). I like it when HCR says what I'm noticing.
HCR mentions it on her YouTube stream. She talks about reimagining partisanship under the cheeto mussolini. She mentions pools at -17. He's incredibly unpopular at the moment. American people are not behind what he's doing. People are not behind the economy and the deportations. Looking strong is all about trying to look better as their hugely unpopular. She likens it to a classroom of 4 year olds out of control. Also he's out of control. Melania is holding his hand a lot because he's in trouble, he's in poor shape. The power of the administration is flowing to Stephen Miller and other unelected officials. They're kind of frantically trying to get things done while things are falling apart. The Epstein files are not just about abusing children, but also about wealthy connected people were getting away with breaking the law. Rich guys can break the law is why everyone is so angry. Inflation is out of control.
Heather Cox Richardson is single handedly holding this nation together. She says to now pay anything, it's free.
Teddy Roosevelt stood up against the corrupt people in his party that launched him into popularity. She mentions the republican governor has switch parties to democrats. People are standing on American values over MAGA.
She talks about how Bluesky became a refuge from X.
9/20/2025: HRC: "Karl Rove, who was a key member of President George W. Bush’s administration, pushed back against the friends and enemies distinction in the Wall Street Journal. “No,” he wrote. “Charlie Kirk wasn’t killed by ‘them.’ ‘They’ didn’t pull the trigger. One person did, apparently a young man driven by impulse and a terrible hate. If there were a ‘they’ involved, law enforcement would find ‘them’ and the justice system would hold ‘them’ accountable. But ‘he’ and ‘him’ are the correct pronouns for this horrendous act…. Using Charlie’s murder to justify retaliation against political rivals is wrong and dangerous. It will further divide and embitter our country. No good thing will come of it.”"
