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You Have More Power Than You Think
A CITIZEN'S GUIDE TO HOW AMERICA WORKS #13 (by America The Possible)
Welcome to issue #13!
YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP
Donald Trump has inspired a wave of sycophantic, sometimes bizarre, and often embarrassing gestures from both political allies and foreign leaders. Here are some of the most notable:
1. Mount Rushmore Proposals and Replicas
Multiple Republican lawmakers have introduced bills to have Trump’s likeness carved into Mount Rushmore, a monument traditionally reserved for presidents of historic significance. Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and others have made this a recurring theme, despite the proposal being widely seen as impractical and self-aggrandizing.
Rushmore Replica Gift: When she was Governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem presented Trump with a four-foot replica of Mount Rushmore featuring his face alongside the original presidents, directly appealing to his well-known wish to be immortalized on the monument.
2. The $250 Bill and Currency Proposals
The $250 Bill: Congressman Joe Wilson introduced a bill to create a $250 bill featuring Trump’s face. While intended as a tribute, the gesture backfired internationally, particularly in China, where “250” is slang for “fool,” turning the tribute into an accidental insult.
$100 Bill Proposal: Texas Rep. Brandon Gill proposed replacing Benjamin Franklin with Trump on the $100 bill, as part of a push to honor Trump’s “Golden Age.” This, too, was widely mocked as an example of excessive flattery.
3. Other wacky Proposals
National Holiday: Some lawmakers have suggested making Trump’s birthday a federal holiday, putting him on par with figures like George Washington and Martin Luther King Jr..
Renaming Airports: Legislation has been introduced to rename Washington Dulles International Airport in Trump’s honor.
Constitutional Change: Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles proposed amending the Constitution to allow Trump to run for a third presidential term.
4. Foreign Flattery and Opulence
Gulf States’ Lavish Treatment: During visits to the Gulf, Trump was greeted with extravagant displays of wealth and adulation, including elaborate ceremonies and gifts, as leaders sought to win his favor.
NATO Diplomacy: Mark Rutte, as NATO chief, went to great lengths to flatter Trump, crafting deals that allowed Trump to claim victory and publicly gushing about his achievements in a style mimicking Trump’s own rhetoric.
5. Embarrassing Sycophancy and Gaffes
Cabinet and Ally Flattery: Trump’s allies have routinely engaged in public displays of loyalty, often outdoing each other in praise. This includes fawning statements, exaggerated claims about Trump’s achievements, and even crediting him with originating phrases like “peace through strength,” a motto dating back to Ronald Reagan and even the Roman Empire.
Awkward Public Moments: Trump’s penchant for personal flattery and awkward compliments—such as calling a reporter “beautiful” mid-interview—has also drawn criticism and embarrassment, both for himself and his supporters.
(Editor’s note: Thanks to Perplexity for providing a list in a matter of seconds that would have taken me hours to assemble on my own. AI isn’t all bad.)
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BEHIND THE MICROBYTES
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MICROBYTE: The Electoral CollegeDuring the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the founders tossed around several options for how we elect a president. Direct popular vote was one, another was selection by Congress, and yet another was the Electoral College. Some were leery of the direct popular vote option, fearing that voters could be too easily misled, and argued that a body of chosen “electors” would be better equipped to make an informed choice. Others were against the idea of Congress electing a president because they thought it would dilute the independence of the President. In the end, the Electoral College version was chosen because it would better balance the power between the big states and the small states. Here’s how it works: Each state selects its own electors, one for each of its congresspersons and one for each of its senators. That amounts to 538 electors in total. Then, except for Maine and Alaska, whoever wins the popular vote in that state gets all their electoral votes. It takes 270 votes to win. In mid-December, the chosen electors meet in their state capitals and cast their official votes—one for president and one for vice president. The electoral votes are sent to Congress. On January 6, Congress meets in a joint session to count the votes and officially declare the winners. And, in case of a tie, the winner is decided by the House of Representatives. And now the dirty little secret: The Electoral College was far from a shoo-in. After lengthy and occasionally heated debate, many contend it was chosen because the system's structure directly benefited the slave states by inflating their influence in presidential elections through the Three-Fifths Compromise. In 1787, the population of the slave states included a latrge number of enslaved people who couldn’t vote. The infamous Thtree-Fiths Compromise allow those states to count each slave as three-fifths of a person when determinimng representation in Congress and the number of Electoral votes. And now? Getting rid of the Electoral College is a position held by many serious and influential thinkers across academia, politics, and voters. The movement for reform is alive and supported by a wide range of credible voices and organizations. |
MICROBYTE: Who’s going to pay for the Big Beautiful Tariffs?It would be comforting to believe that whoever sits in the Oval Office is well informed and well-advised on the issues of the day. Our current president and his team of financial counselors have assured us over and over and over again that their random and ever-shifting tariff strategy will pay off bigly, like nobody’s ever seen before, and, best of all, will cost Americans absolutely nothing. But it’s fair to point out that not everyone shares that vision. For example, Goldman Sachs, The Wharton School, Yale’s Budget Lab, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Warren Buffett, and 1500 major economists are in rather sharp disagreement with the President’s Big Tariff Strategy. All are saying that it will drive up inflation and the cost of everything from Mexican tomatoes to BMWs. So, as I’ve said, I am no numbers guy, but those numbers seem pretty convincing to me. It’s time We The People contact the politicians we sent to Congress and remind them that the Constitution gives them the right to impose tariffs. You may also remind them that they are responsible to us for what they do or, in this case, what they don’t do. |
THIS WEEK’S FRONT PAGE
The List, the List, who’s got the List?
Once again, despite wars, rising inflation, ICE raids, political chaos, a rising deficit, the gutting of government agencies, a measles epidemic redux, a climate crisis, and drastic cuts to Medicare, America has turned its eyes and ears to the late Jeffry Epstein and his rumored List of Comrades in Crime.
For years, Republicans and right-wing media commentators have promised us that there was a list and that when released, it would expose and incriminate powerful Democrats and cultural elites as pedophiles, sex traffickers, rapists, and maybe vampires.
For God’s sake, Trump & Company ran on the Epstein list.
2021-2025: Vance: “Remember when we learned that our wealthiest and most powerful people were connected to a guy who ran a literal child sex trafficking ring?… And now we just don’t talk about it.” He also said, “Seriously, we need to release the Epstein list. That is an important thing,”
2023-2024: Bongino: This Epstein sex ring operation, there’s a reason they’re hiding it. I’m not lettin’ it go ever. Ever.
2023-2024: Patal: Put on your Big Boy pants and let us know who the pedophiles are
MAGA influencers accused Government agencies of large-scale criminal cover-ups to protect Democrats and promised that when they gained power, all the files and the lists, and the smoking guns would be immediately made public, and trials would begin.
That was then, now there’s nothing. No evidence, no list. Case closed. Was all the shouting and the wild accusations merely political theater? Were we being scammed all along?
Now that the Republicans have the power to tell all, it appears that there may be nothing to tell. No client list, no evidence of a political cover-up, and in a most unexpected turn of events, the MAGA crowd has now turned on the administration.
According to The Washington Post, “House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson that he supported the release of the Epstein files, days after President Donald Trump’s Justice Department said the matter was effectively closed. Johnson is a close Trump ally and has never broken so publicly with the president on an issue.
“On the podcast, Speaker Johnson, the ultimate MAGA weather vane, said that Attorney General Pam Bondi “needs to come forward and explain” the confusion she has brewed after she said in interviews earlier this year that the purported Epstein “client list” was sitting on her desk for review, suggesting it would be released. Bondi and other Justice Department officials now say the client list — which some claim would reveal the names of powerful figures who allegedly participated in Epstein’s crimes — does not exist.
“The rift with the Trump administration over an issue near to the heart of the president’s MAGA base suggests that the roiling debate over Epstein is far from over. Many of the president’s supporters believed him when they were promised that once he was restored to the White House, his administration would release the files that Trump long claimed his predecessor was hiding. Now, they are angry.”
(Editor's word of warning to Pam Bodi: There’s always gotta be a fallguy, uh, or a fallgirl).
WHAT I’M READING NOW
Madeleine Allbright: “For democracy’s weary champions, White’s time-tested prose is a shot of adrenaline.” “I am a member of a party of one and I live in a world of fear.” Those words were written by E. B. White in 1947. Decades before our current political turmoil, White crafted eloquent yet practical political statements that continue to resonate. ‘There’s only one kind of press that’s any good…” he proclaimed. “A press free from any taint of government control.” He condemned the trend of defamation, arguing, “In doubtful, doubting days, national morality tends to sl;ip and slide toward a condition in which the test of a man’s honor is his zeal for discovering dishonor in another. And on his staunch opposition to tyranny, he maintained, “If it is boyish to believe that a human being should live free, then I’ll gladly arrest my development and let the rest of the world grow up.” (E. B.White, essayist, poet, humorist, contributor to The New Yorker. Author of more the 20 books. Publisher, HarperCollins) (Editor’s note: 186 pages of absolutely delightful reading.) As an Amazon Associate, we earn commission from qualifying purchases. |
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The modern patriotism, the true patriotism, the only rational patriotism is loyalty to America all the time, loyalty to the Government when it deserves it.”
POLITICAL JOKE OF THE WEEK
 United States has a hurricane season? Uh Yeah. | Weren’t we promised the ‘best and the brightest’? “Here’s some troubling news from FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Yesterday, in a private staff briefing about the start of hurricane season, Acting Chief David Richardson said he was unaware that the United States had a hurricane season. Okay. Not, not great. Hurricane season is big for FEMA. That would be like the head of the Hallmark Channel saying they were unaware that we had Christmas.” Stephen Colbert. |
BOOBY PRIZE OF THE WEEK
Rosie
The Daily Show: “So now MAGA World is now in open revolt. Clearly, telling your base to just forget about Epstein isn’t working. But if you know Trump, he can always just pivot to the classic Trump distraction. Throw something outlandish out there and watch the dogs chase the squirrel. I’m gonna invade Greenland. I’m gonna bomb Iran. He’s gonna try something Big.
President Trump, reigniting his decades-long feud with Rosie O’Donnell, takes to Truth Social: “I’m giving serious consideration to taking away her citizenship. She is a Threat to Humanity and should remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her.”
(Editor’s note: I’m not sure Rosie O’Donnell is a big enough squirrel for this one.)
HOW TO TAKE ACTION
🍸 Action of the Week: Drop One Civic Fact at a Cocktail Party
Next time you're out, share one thing most people don’t know about how America works.
(Yes, civic knowledge makes you cooler.)
Need a fact to start with?
The filibuster isn’t in the Constitution. It’s just a Senate rule.
Congress can override a Supreme Court ruling—by passing a new law.
The Speaker of the House doesn’t have to be a member of Congress.
Why?
Because changing the system starts with understanding it—and making it a little more contagious.
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