Hey there friends, sorry I was absent yesterday, my beloved Mac of 6 years died and I needed a day of mourning. I’m joking, I had to order another one and it did not arrive until late this afternoon. I’m now in the tiresome process of restoring all my stuff from the late Mac, so finishing this post off comes as a pleasant break. On the upside, it also gives me an opportunity to do some housekeeping. Buying a computer for video editing is eye wateringly expensive, but it’s made much easier by the thought it’s an investment in my little contribution to the preservation of democracy.
It’s always difficult to know what to write about given the depth of the global crisis induced by the useful idiot of the obscenely rich. I think because there is so much going on, it’s difficult to look beyond the moment and I get that. However, if you think what Trump is doing in plain sight is terrifying, imagine what’s going on behind closed doors and that’s what I want to focus on today. Just so we understand each other, I insert video clips within my pieces not because I’m lazy, but because I spend hours and hours listening to and watching people much more intelligent than me for one simple reason, I want to be fully informed. I don’t want to present an argument or opinion, unless I have taken the time to form that argument or opinion based on gold standard sources.
Today before we begin, I’d like to provide this PROFOUND Ted Talk clip by investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr who recently stated, “We are watching the collapse of the international order in real time, and this is just the start.” If you have time, I’d like you to hear this, even if you have to come back to it later, because it absolutely mirrors my beliefs about where we are and the threat we face.
The thing about executive orders which are now a daily ritual for Trump, is legally they can be overturned. However, before you get excited, legally does not mean practically. The Heritage Foundation who drew up Trump’s blueprint for his second term has for decades been planning for this moment. This is not some random bad actor looking to cause disruption, this is an organisation specifically incorporated to systematically dismantle government and reimagine American society in their image. The truly terrifying thing is, we are only in the foothills of this Frankenstein horror story.
It has been societally jarring, as those that can see what’s coming, begin to comprehend the extent of their ambition. What should concern every American is, the guardrails the founding fathers put in place at the outset of the American experiment, are being probed and tested each and every day, by a man the rich have installed in the White House to do their bidding.
The writing has been on the wall for decades. On January 21st 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Citizens United against The Federal Election Commision on the prohibition on independent expenditures by corporations at elections. If you are unfamiliar with the details of that ruling The Brennan Centre for Justice produced an excellent piece on this which I highly recommend you read. Up to this point, dark money was seeping into US politics. After the ruling, it quite literally flooded into a trough that politicians from both sides of the aisle have gorged themselves on ever since.
The starting gun had been fired on corporate interests buying politicians and this is probably one of the most significant contributors to why we find ourselves in this moment of existential crisis. Politicians dating back to ancient Rome have been more than happy to sell access to influence legislation, but aside from Banana Republics and rogue states, the guardrails put in place in the US had largely held. However since Trump was re-elected, America has been added to the Civicus Monitor Watchlist, which identifies countries that they believe are currently experiencing a rapid decline in civic freedoms. In their own words, the US was added to the list as a result of:
Trump administration’s assault on democratic norms and global cooperation”
In the latest published version in March, the new additions besides the US were the Democratic Republic of Congo, Italy, Pakistan and Serbia. Great company indeed.
Anna Betts reported in the Guardian on the 10th March.
‘The group [Civicus] cited several of the administration’s actions such as the mass termination of federal employees, the appointment of Trump loyalists in key government positions, the withdrawal from international efforts such as the World Health Organization and the UN Human Rights Council, the freezing of federal and foreign aid and the attempted dismantling of USAid.’
I’ve left the links in the quote for the benefit of those who will claim Civicus is picking on Trump, which is not the case of course.
Time and time again, we were told not to take Trump literally on anything he says. Well now you have the unequivocal proof, you should take him EXACTLY at his word. I’d like to draw some direct historical comparisons to King Henry VIII of England. When he decided to break away from the Church of England because the Pope would not grant him a divorce, the first thing he did was seize all the wealth from Churches and monasteries. In addition, anyone who defied or disagreed him was either imprisoned or executed.
The way the Heritage Foundation and it’s coalition of malign actors is approaching this, is to persistently flatter Trump and let him pretend their ideas are all his ideas. Throughout history, leaders have always had bad actors whispering in their ear and massaging their ego. This is exactly why Putin has been able to play Trump like a fiddle over the Ukraine. Let’s be clear, innocent people now die EVERY DAY in Ukraine not because Zelenskky is a dictator who started the war, but because he would not dig up dirt on Joe Biden. Take a moment to understand the level of evil intent it takes to extract that level of retribution on the innocent population of a country whose soldiers died alongside his own in Iraq. All done to punish their president who did the right thing, which led to Trump’s impeachment.
What many who voted for Trump are about to witness, is a level of financial pain they can’t even begin to imagine right now. It is slowly beginning to dawn on Trump that Xi is happy to have his people eat grass before he concedes. Trump does not have the luxury of the power to convince Americans to do the same. His disastrous fiscal misadventure has not only wiped in excess of $6 trillion from the US economy and drained value from the 401ks of millions of Americans. He’s about to take food from the mouths of children and put families out on the street, all while he persistently manipulates the markets for his rich friends to buy in the dip. This is an administration which has the population living in a state of perpetual fear, not knowing if they will have a job tomorrow or if the system they have paid into all their working life is going to stiff them in their retirement. That doesn’t bother a man who has stiffed people his entire life.
All of the above should leave nobody asking the question ‘Is America in crisis?’ Not only is it in crisis, it’s in a constitutional crisis. It has been since the US Supreme Court granted Trump absolute immunity for acts carried out in office. Once the highest court in the land encourages the president to break the law, they have created a permissive environment to dismantle democracy and allow him to rule as a king. The irony is, they now find themselves being threatened to be thrown into the wood chipper too.
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
If you believe this to be the extent of the current threat, you are deluding yourself. This is just the first step in a MUCH bigger plan. He wants to rewrite the constitution. For the Heritage Foundation blueprint to truly succeed, they need the keys to the safe where the true foundations of power are held. To take on the role of ‘the NEW founding fathers’. Previously, this has been a very distant opportunity to completely reimaging American society. I now believe this to be a REAL threat which is being worked on every day under the cover of darkness.
By way of context let’s take a trip back in time to 1856,
As quoted from the Government Office of the Historian:
The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia met between May and September of 1787 to address the problems of the weak central government that existed under the Articles of Confederation. The United States Constitution that emerged from the convention established a federal government with more specific powers, including those related to conducting relations with foreign governments. Under the reformed federal system, many of the responsibilities for foreign affairs fell under the authority of an executive branch, although important powers, such as treaty ratification, remained the responsibility of the legislative branch. After the necessary number of state ratifications, the Constitution came into effect in 1789 and has served as the basis of the United States Government ever since.
Republicans, much as they have taken the flag and the word ‘patriot’ hostage, claim to be the party of absolute service to the constitution. It mirrors their whole political ideology they would have you believe. The reason they love the Constitution as they do the Bible, is because they can build a narrative around interpretation and boy have they exercised that skill. They have twisted and distorted both texts to create the magic sauce that is Christian Nationalism. What could be better than a radical interpretation of the constitution with a liberal sprinkling of a bastardised interpretation of the Bible. What could possibly go wrong?
The Heritage Foundation has much more lofty ambitions that interpreting the Constitution, because there’s only so far you can go with interpretation before it becomes and obstacle to seizing absolute power. I’m not a man for hiperbole, so I don’t intend to try and sugar coat the threat it poses if Trump becomes the poster boy for a rewrite of the constitution. There will be those that say we’ve heard all the doom speak before and it went nowhere. To that I say, America was warned about the impact Citizens United posed to democracy in the US. America was warned that Roe v Wade was under threat of being overturned. America was warned about the threat posed by Project 2025 and on each occasion, the warnings were not taken seriusly. So please don’t tell me in the current environment not to worry about the threat of a rewrite of the constitution.
Be afraid be VERY afraid, because this is the MAGA Holy Grail and it won’t be as Monty Python put it ‘Just a flesh wound’, it will be an end to democracy as we know it. If you think government is being dismantled now, imagine what you can do when you have thrown the judiciary and Congress under the bus and you are left with a compliant Senate ready to do the bidding of a new monarch who has rewritten the Constitution. Do you want to be looking back on that saying I’m sorry we didn’t listen?
The new seal of the president already appears to say ‘Do as I say not as I do, or face the consequences’. We are but one step from a political nuclear detonation and we are worried that Trump is a bad actor. You ain’t seen nothing yet. That famous quote from War of The Worlds has never been so apt:
“And slowly and surely they drew their plans against us.”
For Republicans to succeed in their monstrous plan, they require 34 of the 50 state legislatures to submit applications to call a Constitutional Convention. Ratification of any amendments proposed by the convention require a majority of three-fourths of the states (38 of 50) legislatures.
Now on the face of it, you would assume there was no real risk because Republicans don’t hold enough state trifectas. However, as reported by Emily Cheesman on February 19th in an article published by CBS affiliate KGAN:
‘DES MOINES, Iowa — House Republicans are advancing a resolution that calls on Congress to hold a convention to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution. This initiative is part of a national movement known as the Convention of the States.
According to the group's website, 19 states have already passed similar policies, and 18 others, including Iowa, are considering it.’
In addition, ProRepublica in local reporting on 17th March by Phoebe Petrovic from Wisconsin Watch wrote:
A draft lawsuit being floated to attorneys general in several states argues Congress must call a convention over the national debt. But the legal theory mixes and matches petitions from states dating back to 1789.
This is being coordinated with a behind the scenes effort from Republicans in Congress spearheaded by The Speaker. It is carefully being wrapped up in a focus on the national debt, but as with all MAGA deceit, the plan will open the door to other changes, facilitating a rewrite of key sections of the constitution.
Despite the requirements I mentioned above, as you would expect, Republicans are adding a twist. Rest assured the proposed legal challenge has been drafted by the same legislative shop that constantly provides hard right legislation for Republican trifectas to rubber stamp. The circulating draft claims :
Congress must hold a convention now because the states reached the two-thirds threshold in 1979. To get there, these activists count various calls for a convention dating back to the late 1700s. Wisconsin’s petition, for example, was written in 1929 and was an effort to repeal Prohibition. The oldest petition they cite, from New York, predates the Bill of Rights. Some others came on the eve of the Civil War.
On the face of it, this is a ludicrous assertion, but all they have to do is get it to the Supreme Court and it moves from a snowball in hell’s chance to a remote but yet distinct possibility the right wing majority might wave it through. I don’t want to reinvent the wheel here, so I would highly recommend you read the piece by by Phoebe Petrovic and Wisconsin Watch
Just for clarification, the report goes on:
‘To avoid the threat of a convention, the legislatures in some states like Colorado and Illinois have passed resolutions withdrawing their petitions. The draft lawsuit says those actions don’t count because “once the Article V bell has been rung, it cannot be unrung.” Nearly half the states the draft counts have rescinded their petitions.’
The point of my piece today is to say DO NOT take your eye off the ball and Democrats need to be all over this, because if this slips through, no matter what Dems do, it’s game over and there will be no turning back because American society will be changed forever. Never forget a percentage of MAGA voters are perfectly at ease with having a dictator as president. That’s what a low education society delivers I’m afraid.
To those who have generously invested in a paid subscription to Truth Matters, your help is vital to my efforts to produce high quality content that informs in this fight to preserve democracy. You are stakeholders in my campaign to help rescue democracy from tyranny in 2026 — Martin
I can't stress enough, that this article is the most well written piece and most important piece written about this horrendous attack on our democracy. Thank you Martin.
A solid piece. I remain optimistic about the world, however. Where there is negative change there comes positive eventually, at least for a time.
As well as protesting, this is the time to think and to plan, and to be ready for the opportunity for change. When change comes it is likely to be swift. In which sort of society do we all want to live? How do we balance social aspiration and upwards mobility with the more negative effects of money? What can we learn from neoliberalism, and what has failed? How do we cater for the full range of political views to try to mitigate future fascist episodes? How do we adapt as AI becomes more dominant in the world, and what is acceptable source data for AI? What is the future for foreign policy and globalisation?
In this sense I think the conversation is wider than Democrats vs GOP. Certainly it touches many countries around the world; it's not exclusively American.