War Crime or Murder?

Posted: December 2, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An AI generated cartoon from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that he posted on “X” in response to war crime accusations. Franklin is a character from books and an animated TV series for young children . Apparently, the Secretary has nothing better to do than to “own the libs.”

The United States continues to attack unarmed boats at sea under the guise of stopping alleged narco-terrorists operating in international waters in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. To date they have attacked at least 23 boats and killed over 80 people. The president and his cabinet allege that the boats carry drugs that are killing tens of thousands of Americans. As I have explained in previous posts, such claims are baloney. The administration has yet to present any concrete evidence that the boats are being used in the drug trade or to explain exactly how this is a direct threat to the United States since the boats are too small with too little fuel to directly reach the United States. The president wrongly asserts that he can declare anyone a terrorist and thus they can be legally killed by the U.S. Armed Forces.

In the last few days, the Washington Post published an article asserting that the Secretary of Defense ordered the destruction of the first boat attacked on 2 September this year, with the order to “kill everybody.” There were eleven people onboard, which to those of us that have participated in stopping the drug trade, means it is unlikely that there were significant, if any, drugs on board because the number of people limits the cargo space. There are usually only three people on drug boats like these. After the first weapon hit the boat — the only video released to the public — two people were observed in the water clinging to the wreckage. A second attack followed to kill the unarmed, helpless survivors. This is in direct contrast to everything that the United States holds near and dear and is a crime under U.S. law, international law, and the Department of Defense Law of War Manual which in section 18.3.2.1 describing clearly illegal orders and violations says, “for example, orders to fire upon the shipwrecked would be clearly illegal.” It is the same as the German U-boat commanders machine gunning survivors in lifeboats after hitting a ship with torpedoes.

Most legal experts, former military officers and national security officials understand that the entire operation is illegal. It is not a military problem, it is a legal problem. Even if the people in those boats are drug runners, they are criminals, not terrorists and not a direct threat to Americans. If the attacks are illegal, then the United States is murdering people on the high seas. Even if one believes that the entire operation is legal, then a war crime was committed. Trump and his administration claim that this is to stop the illegal drug trade, which would be humorous even if it were true. The people in the boats are not cartel members or anything but mostly poor fishermen that have been coerced into transporting the cargo or paid a few hundred dollars to help feed their family. This is not to say that anyone condones such activity, but no one is going after the real drug lords or manufacturing plants or distribution centers. Instead we have a Secretary of Defense acting like a 12 year old with new toys to play with. After the first video went public, the Secretary was on Fox News bragging about how he ordered the operation and watched the whole thing “live.” Clearly he knew what happened and observing his personality, he probably thought it was really cool to kill people.

There is now a concerted effort to pin the whole thing on the operational commander Admiral Frank M. “Mitch” Bradley, USN. At the time he was the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) commander in Fort Bragg North Carolina. Trump and Hegseth are publicly washing their hands of the whole thing by claiming “support” for the Admiral who they say ordered the strikes. In fact, Admiral Bradley should be held accountable. Whether or not Hegseth ordered the second strike, the Admiral should have known it was an illegal order. But clearly, by his own statements, Hegseth was involved as the senior person in the chain of command that conducted the attack. Therefore he is liable for a war crime. Or murder.

I suspect that there has been push-back from the military about the anti-fishing boat operation. As I wrote earlier, Admiral Alvin Holsey, USN is resigning two years early from his post in charge of the military’s U.S. Southern Command responsible for the Caribbean and Latin America. Widespread reporting indicates that he is leaving after arguing with Hegseth over these operations. Additional reporting indicates that military Judge Advocates General (JAG) did not clear these operations. They decided that they were illegal. The final opinion on the matter — claiming that the U.S. was in ” non-international armed conflict” with “designated terrorist organizations” — came from the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel. In other words, non-military people that are coopted in Pam Bondi’s DOJ that is running amok.

Remember that one of Hegseths first moves when voted into office (by one vote — the Vice President’s) was to fire scores of JAGs. Additionally, I warned back in September that Hegseth’s speech to all flag and general officers and senior enlisted at Quantico Virginia had some very disturbing words in it. It turns out that he was signaling that war crimes were just fine with him. As a reminder, here is what he said about the Rules of Engagement (ROE) — essentially what is legal or illegal during a particular operation.

“We also don’t fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for warfighters.” (emphasis added)

Apparently telling people not to kill unarmed survivors that pose no threat is stupid. What a great patriot!

Only an unserious person would think that all of this is about stopping drugs and killing terrorists. There are several “tells.” First, that they did not want any survivors in the first attack. Second, they actually returned two other surviving “narco-terrorists” from another attack on a “go-fast” boat to their native countries where they were allowed to go home. Why? If these are the worst of the worst why not take them prisoner, bring them to the U.S. and put them on trial? In my opinion they did not do that because they would have had to produce actual evidence of their crimes and the survivors would have a chance to tell the world what they were really doing. It would not hold up to public scrutiny. If you want further evidence that this is not a serious counter-drug operation Trump just pardoned and released the former president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez who had been convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 45 years in prison. He was at the center of an enormous drug ring that brought tons of cocaine into the United States, tortured informants and is believed to be responsible for more than 50 murders. Trump said it was a political “witch hunt” by President Joe Biden and set him free. So much for the war on drugs.

So what is really going on? I do not know but I have an idea.

Besides the cosplay by Hegseth — have you noticed he is not in on any serious national issues such as the war in Ukraine, solving the Middle East crisis, working on China issues, procuring future weapons systems or anything else that a real Secretary of Defense would have in his portfolio? — there is something else going on.

I think that Trump sees the world as dominated by three people — himself, Putin and Xi. Each has, or should have, their own spheres of influence where they can pretty much do as they want. Trump’s domain is the Western Hemisphere. Putting 15,000 uniformed Americans in the Caribbean area of operations is a demonstration to the rest of the hemisphere that he has the power and the will to use it against anyone that gets in his way. Blowing up fishing boats is a manifestation of that power. He is showing that he can do anything that he wants. In Venezuela, it is to get oil for his billionaire oil buddies that are paying him what are, in essence, bribes by buying his crypto, bitcoins and “contributing” to his various vanity projects.

For Putin, Ukraine is his for the taking. Trump probably believes that Putin deserves to control Ukraine because Russia is a power and Ukraine is not. If one looks closely at the 28 point peace plan — experts can tell it was originally written in Russian and then translated into stilted English — it is really a surrender plan. It gives Russia everything they want with no guarantees of Ukrainian sovereignty. Note also that the prime negotiators for the Russians and the U.S. are billionaire businessmen. Included in the negotiations are many U.S.-Russian business deals ranging from oil to precious minerals to development projects. Ukrainian concerns are not Trump’s concerns. He has also offered to broker a “deal” between NATO and Russia. Wait. What? The U.S. is part of NATO, how could he do that? Because he does not believe in NATO and would leave it at the drop of a hat if it meant a deal with Russia where he benefits. (I have no idea, but some people speculate that the Russian intelligence agencies have copies or at least know what is in the Epstein files.)

Xi gets to have the western Pacific. Specifically he can take Taiwan without the U.S. offering any real resistance. China is big and powerful, Taiwan is not. Japan is not. China deserves it.

Note how Trump talks with such admiration about Putin and Xi. He thinks he is in their league and that they adore him as much as he adores them. So, lets divvy up the world and all its riches. Trump will make himself rich (he has already accumulated billions since he came into office) and he will make all of his billionaire buddies even richer. Same with Putin and Xi. Regional alliances and the rule of law are old fashioned. Plutocrats rule! We, the rich and powerful will run everything. If other people were as smart and savvy as we are they wouldn’t be poor and weak.

With that perspective, a lot of what this administration is doing makes sense. What’s a war crime against some peasants in a boat when we own the world?

Six Senators and Representatives with military and national security backgrounds released a video reminding the military that not only does one not have to obey an illegal order, it is the law as established in the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) that they must not obey an illegal order. The six are 100 percent correct as any individual that has been in the military more than two months knows. Hegseth is clearly threatened as he is making a lot of noise about bringing Captain Mark Kelly, USN (ret) (now a Senator from Arizona) up before a court martial. (Officers serve at the pleasure of the president. Retired officers can be recalled to active duty at any time — even if it is extremely unusual.) The others are being threatened by the FBI. It is ridiculous and without any legal grounding to do so, but the intent is not to actually convict anyone. The intent is in the harassment, expenses and time involved in defending oneself. It is meant to instill fear and to inhibit criticism. The exercise of power against the powerless. The message is that if we can come after these high ranking people we can come for you. He also thinks that the military should be loyal to him, not to the Constitution. They should do whatever he orders them to do and the six are getting in his way. He even threatened to execute them.

Each of those participating in the video ended their explanation the same way that we should all be thinking — from “No Kings” demonstrations to quiet support for those in need. We should all remember their words which are the foundational motto of the United States Navy:

DON’T GIVE UP THE SHIP!

The Epstein Saga Continues

Posted: November 17, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Donald J Trump and his then Slovenian girlfriend Melania Knauss partying at Mar-A-Lago with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell both of whom were later convicted of sex trafficking girls and young women. (Getty Images)

The House of Representatives is back from their nearly eight week paid vacation and were in session last week. Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) was finally sworn in after Speaker “Little Mikey” Johnson declined to do so for more than seven weeks. It is widely discerned that he delayed her ascent to office to prevent her signature on a discharge petition that will bring a bill to the House floor for a vote on releasing the “Epstein Files.” The files in question cover the investigation and prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex trafficker that died in a New York prison deemed a suicide.

In a separate, but related development, the Epstein Estate turned over roughly 20,000 pages of documents and emails to the House Oversight Committee that released them last week. As a result, Trump is freaking out. He is also mentioned more than any other person in those files.

Nothing in the information released so far implicates Trump in doing anything illegal. Despite speculation and some embarrassing emails, no one else has yet to be implicated in any wrong doing or direct involvement in Epstein’s sex ring. Yet. Which is why there is such a clamor for more from the estate, but especially from the Department of Justice (DOJ) which is believed to have incriminating information. But on who? Or for how many rich and powerful individuals? The common perception is that there was long-standing and wide-ranging knowledge of Epstein’s sex ring among the rich and powerful but that they all worked to protect each other. That, it is believed, is why no information is yet forthcoming. In recent polls eighty one percent of Americans want the DOJ files released. Let the chips fall where they may. For his part, Trump calls the entire Epstein case a “Democrat hoax.” That he would say that only further punishes the estimated hundreds of women and girls that were abused for many years. It implies that the survivors are all liars or in cahoots with the Democrats. Trump is totally disrespectful towards them and further abuses them by claiming that it is a hoax. However, why would he tell Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Democrats mentioned in the documents if it is a hoax? Of course, logic is never Trump’s strongest trait.

Trump is freaking out and according to press reports is doing everything in his power to suppress the files and to make the whole thing go away. So far, no luck. Although only four Republicans joined all Democrats that signed the discharge petition, it is expected that as many as one hundred of them will vote in favor of the bill to release the files. The vote will be viewed in simple terms — do Republican Representatives support bringing pedophiles to justice or do they support pedophilia?

Trump finally realized last night that the bill was going to pass. Consequently, he announced on social media that Republicans should vote for the bill. Since many were going to do so anyway, it is a little like a military officer saying “there go my soldiers — I am their leader — therefore I must follow them.” No one has any misconceptions that Trump really wants the files released. We can openly speculate as to how they will continue to be suppressed even if the bill passes both the House and the Senate. Trump could veto it. DOJ could claim that since there is an ongoing investigation (see above) no information can be released. They could release only select portions that are favorable to Trump or damning to people he dislikes. The possibilities are endless. Passing the bill in the House of Representatives is an important first step. But only a first step.

What about Maxwell? She was sentenced to twenty years in prison. Trump’s personal attorney, now the Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche visited her to ask questions about Trump’s involvement with Epstein. A known liar (she was charged with perjury) who desperately wants to get a pardon or commutation to get out of prison, she was, after Blanche’s visit, transferred to a minimum security prison in Texas (commonly referred to as Club Fed — a play on the resort chain Club Med). Such a transfer is totally unheard of for a sexual predator. It is now reported that she gets custom meals delivered to her prison cell, a puppy, late-night private workouts, special accommodations to meet privately with friends and family and other perks not available to the other inmates. Reportedly, inmates or staff that complain about the situation are transferred or fired. It sure seems that somebody (could that be someone in the White House?) sure does not want Maxwell to get mad and tell the truth. When asked numerous times if he would pardon or commute Maxwell’s sentence, Trump dissembles and tries to change the subject. He never says that he will not pardon a convicted pedophile. Of course, he has pardoned a rogues gallery of hardened criminals already, so what’s one more pedophile if it keeps her quiet?

Trump denies, denies, denies. And, again, to date there is nothing that ties him to any illegal acts. However, whatever is in the files must really be bad given the full court press he is instrumenting to keep them secret. The available information to date suggests that he at least knew what was going on with Epstein, Maxwell and the underage girls.

“I’ve known Jeff [Epstein] for 15 years. Terrific guy, He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” Donald J Trump in 2002

So let’s take a look at what we do know.

  • The Access Hollywood tapes. In 2016 a video tape of Trump bragging about his approach to women included a description of his attempt to seduce a married woman. He then bragged that he might start kissing a woman that he and his interviewer were about to meet saying, “I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. … Grab ’em by the p***y. You can do anything.”
  • In 2018 a story broke about Trump’s alleged one night stand with an adult film star named Stormy Daniels in 2006 while his wife was recovering from the birth of their son. It included a 2016 conspiracy to cover up the incident to protect his presidential campaign and resulted in a $130,000 payment to Ms. Daniels. Trump was indicted and later convicted of 34 felony counts related to the conspiracy and his illegal business activities.
  • In 2023 Trump was found guilty at trial of sexual abuse of E. Jean Carroll, a journalist and author and was ordered to pay her five million dollars. In a separate case in 2024 Trump was ordered to pay Ms. Carroll 88.3 million dollars in a defamation law suit.
  • While still married to his first wife Ivana, he took his wife on a ski trip and had his then girlfriend Marla Maples stay in the same hotel at the same time. Ivana and Trump later divorced. Trump married Ms. Maples and soon divorced. He is now on his third wife.
  • Trump owned the Miss Universe Pageant organization for nearly two decades until he sold it in 2015. The franchise included the Miss Teen USA and Miss USA pageants. Multiple contestants related how he would enter the dressing areas where the girls and young women were in various stages of being undressed. But don’t take their word for it, here is Trump explaining his activities in his own words on the Howard Stern Show, “Well, I’ll tell you that the funniest is that before a show, I’ll go backstage and everyone’s getting dressed, and everything else, and you know, no men are anywhere and I’m allowed to go in because I’m the owner of the pageant and therefore I’m inspecting it. You know, I’m inspecting because I want to make sure that everything is good. You know. The dresses. ‘Is everyone okay?’ You know they’re standing there with no clothes. ‘Is everybody okay?’ And you see these incredible looking women, and so, I sort of get away with things like that.”

The Guardian has documented nineteen credible accusations in addition to those above, that Trump forced himself on young women in various locations from the 1980s to 2013.

Need I go on? Whether he joined or not, with such a track record is it totally inconceivable that Trump knew nothing about anything having to do with Epstein’s pedophile ring?

It is going to get worse for him and for us before it gets better. He will try every gambit that he can to change the subject or to obscure his involvement by creating a barrage of other major news developments. To me, the most likely will be military activity in South America, primarily against Venezuela.

Think about that. It is straight from the Autocrat’s Playbook. If you find yourself in trouble domestically, create a military distraction to try and rally the public and to give the autocrat “emergency” powers to suppress press reports and to use extraordinary powers to prosecute the war. Meanwhile, our Sailors, Marines and Airmen are being put in harm’s way for a manufactured crisis involving fantasy narco-terrorists “attacking” the U.S. Nonsense. But dangerous nonsense. Just the word “narco-terrorists” is made up to suit some public relations effort to justify the ongoing extra-judicial killing of people in boats in international waters. As I have previously explained, it is a totally illegal operation. In fact, press reports indicate that at least the U.K. and the Netherlands, who both have interests in the area, have stopped sharing intelligence with the U.S. because they do not want to be a party to murder. Presently, an aircraft carrier strike group is in the Caribbean Sea. The carrier and escorts are strategic assets. Having them there weakens our abilities in other places around the world where there are, you know, real crises such as the Middle East or western Pacific. From my experience, there is also a tendency among civilian leaders in government that in such a situation they think “use it or lose it.” In other words, they cannot keep the strike group there indefinitely so it is time to attack. So much for Trump’s peace agenda.

I am still waiting for Congress to re-assert their power. Until they do, as Bette Davis said in the 1950 movie All About Eve, “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.”

Let Them Eat Cake

Posted: November 2, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A young woman in a martini glass — A “decoration” at Mar-a-Lago for Trump’s Halloween Party. Picture unattributed from The Daily Beast

On Friday night, Donald J. Trump hosted a lavish Halloween Party at Mar-a-Lago and named the Great Gatsby themed party “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody.” This, while the government is shutdown — for 31 days at the time of the party — the House of Representatives has not met since mid-September, and 42 million Americans are going without their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds. The Trump regime at work.

Donald J. Trump, Marco Rubio, Jeanine Pirro and other partygoers at Mar-a-Lago. Picture from the Instagram account of Jeanine Pirro.

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess….” From the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The line to get to a food bank in Florida on 31 October 2025. Getty Images.

Connecting The Dots

Posted: October 29, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) Picture by Petty Officer Jackson Adkins

It is another wild week in the Trump regime. On 1 November, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP — commonly called food stamps) will cease to operate for a lack of funds. There is an emergency fund of roughly six billion dollars in the Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for the program, but they insist they cannot release the money, even as the United States provides roughly 40 billion dollars in aid to Argentina. Perhaps MAGA actually stands for Make Argentina Great Again. Clearly Trump cares little for the American people. He only cares about his personal well-being by collecting money for himself and his family and being treated as royalty. To wit, if I may bring it up, he is suing the Department of Justice (DOJ) for 230 million dollars for pain and lost income relating to his indictments following his actions in attempting to overthrow the government and for stealing classified documents and storing them in his bathroom at Mar-a-Lago. The people making that decision are his personal defense attorneys that are now leading the DOJ. That money is taxpayer money. Let’s also not forget that during the shutdown, demolition of the White House continues for construction of a 300 million dollar ballroom. But we cannot feed 42 million Americans, and we do not care about the small grocers, farmers and others whose livelihoods depend on serving the people that use SNAP.

About that ballroom….

I am not a math major, but 300 million dollars for a ballroom works out to be 3,333.00 dollars a square foot. I have read that most hotel ballrooms max out at about 1,000.00 dollars a square foot for even the most luxurious locations. Additionally, reports indicate that a “patriot” donated 130 million dollars to the Pentagon, supposedly to help pay the military during the shutdown. That sounds great, but it works out to about 6 hours worth of pay. (Incidentally, a private individual paying the military — hmm, would that not make them mercenaries?) So what gives? What few people are talking about is that under the now destroyed East Wing of the White House was the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) — also known as a bunker. It was originally built as a bomb shelter during World War II. It has been updated over the years with ever more sophisticated equipment. Most famously in recent times, it is where Vice President Dick Cheney was rushed by the Secret Service during the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

It seems to me that when Trump says he needs to upgrade the East Wing, he is really talking about having a PEOC that meets his gilded standards, like 130 million dollars of gold. You know, a command bunker worthy of any self-respecting autocrat as all of his authoritarian buddies have — historically we know how well those bunkers for dictators work out in the long run. I opine that the 130 million dollars donated to the Pentagon is not for paying the troops but for helping to pay for a grand bunker. (The patriot, by the way, is thought to be Timothy Mellon, a billionaire member of the Mellon banking family and the bank is under investigation for its connections to Jeffrey Epstein. It gets “curiouser and curiouser.”)

Meanwhile, in the Caribbean Sea, and now in the Pacific Ocean, the Trump regime continues to order the murder of alleged drug smugglers. They have yet to offer even a shred of evidence to certify their assertions and not even members of Congress can get a straight answer even as they have oversight of the military and its use. Assuming for a minute that they are in fact drug smugglers — and as I have explained in previous posts I do not think most are drug smugglers — it is still unlawful under U.S. and international law to simply blow up boats and murder people just because the president says so. It is the equivalent of standing on a street corner in Huntsville Alabama and someone points at you and claims you are drug dealer and the police shoot you on sight. Or is that the point?

Admiral Alvin Holsey, USN the head of U.S. Southern Command that is responsible for Latin America and the Caribbean resigned earlier this month only one year into a normal three year tour of duty. Reports indicate that he retired early because of his concern over the use of force against unidentified boats and would not go along with the policy. At last! Someone spoke up. I wish more senior military officers would push back. Maybe they are and we just do not hear about it, but they need to re-invigorate the over two hundred year tradition that the military is non-political and takes an oath to support and defend the Constitution, not the whims of one man. Trump continues to call it “my military” and make political speeches with uniformed military as a back drop, just like it is some kind of campaign rally. Someone needs to make it clear that the military is not his to play with.

Now, we are told that in addition to the numerous Navy and Marine units already in the Caribbean Sea, it is necessary to send the entire Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Caribbean to stop the flow of drugs into the U.S. The fact is that most drug deaths in the U.S. are from fentanyl which comes primarily from Mexico via land and smuggled mostly by U.S. citizens, and that it is made from precursors from China. Colombia and Venezuela are more into the cocaine business to Europe. Let’s do a little more math. Trump says that each boat they destroy saves 25,000 American lives that would otherwise die of an overdose. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) says that there were 73,000 drug overdoses in the year ending in April, 2025. The Secretary of Defense claims to have sunk fourteen boats at the loss of at least 57 lives. That means, according to Trump, that 350,000 American lives have been saved. There should be no more deaths for at least four and a half more years. All of it is preposterous of course.

Speaking of preposterous, a carrier and its escorts will not have any impact on the flow of drugs. Even if that were their mission, it is perhaps the least cost effective method ever devised by any human being to stop illicit drugs. (We all know that the only effective way to stop the flow of drugs is to stop the demand for them. To stop the demand, we need to improve the social safety net and our health services, especially mental health. Instead they plan to cut them.)

So why are they doing this? One, because they can. Trump gets off on being able to show his power. Two, I think something larger and far more dangerous is afoot. My thinking on this is not clear, but I am trying to connect the dots as are other Americans that spend time thinking about this.

First, remember the implementation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of Tren de Aragua, the alleged gang allegedly connected to the president of Venezuela. They, the Venezuelan president, and the alleged drug boat personnel have all been declared terrorists. The president will use this fig leaf to attack Venezuela (and perhaps Colombia as he has been whining about their president too) and assert that he is wiping out narco-terrorists. Think about the fact as well that Trump has already put American troops onto the streets of American cities in places he does not like. He wants to put more there and elsewhere including actual, regular combat troops. Remember that he talks about “the enemy within” and how they are as dangerous as any foreign terrorists. He calls those that he considers his enemies (anyone that doesn’t agree with him) “domestic terrorists” and that the Democrats are an “extremist organization” among other demeaning and demonizing terms. I have already written about the National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7) that outlines the steps that Trump wants to take against “Antifa” and “domestic terrorist organizations” by using broad and vague language that prohibits dissent and severely impacts our First Amendment right to protest. It asserts that anyone that espouses “extremism on migration, race and gender,” in other words anyone that disagrees with him, or does not match his view of “traditional American views on family, religion, and morality” is to be investigated and perhaps prosecuted.

As I look at those dots, I become increasingly concerned. I hope not paranoid, but to me the warning lights are blinking bright red and sirens are blaring. He is setting a precedent in Latin America that he can and will use the military to eliminate anyone he deems a terrorist. Why not in the U.S. as well?

Remember that the powers behind Trump’s throne are Stephen Miller and Russel Vought, the same two men that are the primary architects of Project 2025. They are well on their way to attaining their goals. Miller and Vought continue to assert that Trump has plenary authority to do whatever he wants. Absolute power. If you oppose their plans, as did Governor J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) recently, he will accuse you of “seditious conspiracy.”

Put over all of it that MAGA legislators all over the country are trying to gerrymander their House of Representatives districts to eliminate districts that voted for Democrats and thus keep control of the House. Texas succeeded in doing so and there are many more working on doing the same. That is the first sign that the 2026 elections, if held, are going to be anything but free and fair. Indeed, Speaker “Little Mikey” Johnson has declared that no Republican Representatives should return to Washington for the fourth straight week. They are getting paid during the shutdown to sit home and do nothing. Talk about freeloaders living off the public dole. Perhaps they will never return. As it is, Trump was quoted as saying “I’m the president and the Speaker,” according to two anonymous sources from within the White House.

We find ourselves in this predicament for a variety of reasons. Let us not let it happen because it is impossible to imagine that it can happen here. It is happening here. The entire picture to me looks like Trump wants to sit in his new bunker, direct the military to kill anyone he deems disloyal and ensconce himself and his cronies in power for as long as they can illegally keep it.

Democracy In Shambles

Posted: October 21, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Photo from Getty Images showing the demolition of the East Wing of the White House.

Donald J. Trump — convicted felon, adjudicated sex offender and world class liar — symbolically showed us what he thinks of we, the people, of the United States. The demolition of the White House has begun so that he can build a monument to himself. Back in July, Trump said about the construction of a new ballroom that the White House itself would not be changed because the ballroom will “be near it but not touching it and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.” Yet another lie. The addition was never approved by the National Capital Planning Commission which approves changes to federal buildings, construction and the National Mall. The chairman happens to be Will Scharf who also happens to be the White House Staff Secretary and a close adviser to the president. The ballroom will be 90,000 square feet, which will dwarf the existing White House which totals only about 50,000 square feet. This is on the heels of destroying the Rose Garden so that he could put in a Mar-a-Lago style patio which he calls the “Rose Garden Club.” Somehow, I don’t think I can afford to join that club.

However, if that is not enough to show his disdain for the “The People’s House” — he seems to forget that he is merely a tenant, not the owner — check out his AI generated meme reacting to the “No Kings” rallies held in about 2,500 cities and towns with an estimated attendance of over seven million citizens of all ages, social backgrounds, religions, representing the diversity of our great nation.

This is an outtake of the video (and yes the oxygen mask is supposed to go over one’s nose as well as mouth) so as to not have to insult you with the moronic, unamusing, disrespectful, scatalogical contents of the meme. Let’s just say the aircraft has a payload that he drops on a major city and shows inhabitants of that city getting covered in poo. Apparently we have a president with the sensibilities of a ten year old.

The president. Of the United States. Don’t you feel proud?

Taken together, it shows his total disregard for our country. He is happy to spend his time sending out social media posts rather than working on re-opening the government. You know, to actually govern. His puppet-filling-space as the Speaker of the House still refuses to even talk to a Democrat about finding a solution to help the American people. Thanks to his leadership, the members of the House of Representatives have only worked 20 days since the Fourth of July. That’s quite the extended paid vacation. Yes, even though hard working TSA agents and others are working with no payday in sight, the members of the House and Senate still get paid during the shutdown. Apparently, the contents of the Epstein files must be so bad, that the president and his MAGA crowd would rather have hard working people go broke than re-open the government and risk a vote on releasing the files.

Trump pardoned nearly 2,000 rioters that attacked our national legislature with the purpose of keeping him in power while seriously injuring 140 law enforcement officers and yet he claims the mantle of being a law and order president. Therefore, it is imperative that he federalize the National Guard to go after old people in lawn chairs and folks in frog blow up costumes because they are a real threat to America.

On a positive note I met many new, kind, helpful and joyous people while attending a peaceful “No Kings Rally” in a small town that is the county seat for a heavily red, pro-Trump county in our state. It was refreshing and a quiet boost and underlined that the majority of Americans — regardless of past political associations — have tired of the antics of this administration. The Trump regime knows that it is deeply unpopular which is why they continue to lash out. They have a losing agenda. We need to turn the outpouring from over the weekend into actual political action. We have a way to go, but I cannot remember a feeling so widespread in our country that serves to unite us to protect our life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

You Might Be A Terrorist In Trump’s America

Posted: October 14, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

And all I ever hear about is Aunt Tifa. The president, the people in Congress, all the Republicans are constantly talking about Aunt Tifa. What has she done? Why is she always in the news? I don’t get it.

The word is Antifa.

Oh. Never mind.

— With apologies to Gilda Radner as the character Emily Litella on Saturday Night Live

The late Gilda Radner was one of the best actors on the original Saturday Night Live (SNL). She captured her characters brilliantly and always made me laugh. Unfortunately, the current administration’s fixation on Antifa is no laughing matter. Antifa is short for anti-fascist. In the broadest strokes, anyone that opposes fascism is a part of Antifa. It has no organizational structure, no organized funding, no designated leaders or a chain of command. It is more of an idea. There are people who simply do not want to see authoritarianism replace our Republic. Yet, Trump and his administration and MAGA followers in Congress have come to use the phrase as a substitute for anyone that disagrees with Trump’s policies and actions. They equate it to domestic terrorism. They must be really afraid of the people that elected them.

National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7) Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence, signed by Trump on 25 September 2025, provides the cover for the federal government to investigate, surveil, or apprehend anyone that they deem as being “Antifa” — or in other words, anyone against Trump’s view of the country’s future.

Citing the murder of Charlie Kirk and other violent acts against MAGA supporters — but not the murders of Democrat politicians or supporters — the president directs that a Joint Terrorist Task Force (JTTF) be formed, bringing in elements from all of the relevant federal agencies, in order to stop political violence as he defines it. Trump thinks, or at least asserts, that there is an organized effort to oppose him through violence. As the NSPM says:

“This political violence is not a series of isolated incidents and does not emerge organically.  Instead, it is a culmination of sophisticated, organized campaigns of targeted intimidation, radicalization, threats, and violence designed to silence opposing speech, limit political activity, change or direct policy outcomes, and prevent the functioning of a democratic society.  A new law enforcement strategy that investigates all participants in these criminal and terroristic conspiracies — including the organized structures, networks, entities, organizations, funding sources, and predicate actions behind them — is required.“

Under the terms of NSPM-7, which directly mentions Antifa, the definition of “terroristic activities” is described as the following:

“This “anti-fascist” lie has become the organizing rallying cry used by domestic terrorists to wage a violent assault against democratic institutions, constitutional rights, and fundamental American liberties.  Common threads animating this violent conduct include anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity; support for the overthrow of the United States Government; extremism on migration, race, and gender; and hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.“

Apparently, dissent is no longer protected by the First Amendment. Under the guidelines, any individual, journalist, non-government organization (NGO) or any entity that opposes the MAGA and Project 2025 agenda is Antifa and therefore a suspected terrorist. Dissent is now considered an indicator of pre-terrorist behavior and you could be subject to surveillance or even arrested. Welcome to the America of Trump’s dreams.

Words have meaning and impact which is why they constantly talk about Democrats as the “radical left,” “terrorists,” “the enemy within,” “Marxist, communists and fascists,” and so on. Dehumanize opponents and harden the citizenry until they are numb to his hateful rhetoric. Then bring in the troops to remove all of your perceived enemies. Straight from the Autocrat 101 text book.

No Kings Day is on Saturday 18 October. Back in June, millions of Americans in small towns and big cities came out to peacefully demonstrate their opposition to the Trump regime. The same thing is expected this week. But if you listen to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson it is as an attempt to keep the government shut down (more on the shutdown later). Here are his unhinged views of the gatherings as expressed on Fox News last week:

“We’re so angry about it. I’m a very patient guy, but I have had it with these people. They’re playing games with real people’s lives. The theory we have right now: They have a ‘Hate America’ rally that’s scheduled for October 18 on the National Mall. It’s all the pro-Hamas wing and the antifa people, they’re all coming out. Some of the House Democrats are selling T-shirts for the event. It’s being told to us that they won’t be able to reopen the government until after that rally, ’cuz they can’t face their rabid base. This is serious business hurting real people.… I’m beyond words.” 

There are other even more vicious lies about the peaceful rally from administration and MAGA members of Congress. They must really fear the majority of Americans who disapprove of the MAGA, MAHA and Trump policies and actions (I am never sure that Trump actually has policies. He just does whatever pops into his mind at the time. He recently declared that Joe Biden was the president on 6 January 2021. Is that a big lie or his biggest lie? Or is he simply delusional?)

It is interesting to me that they oppose peaceful national rallies against the United States having a king and demanding due process under the law, respect for our fellow citizens, and opposing authoritarianism. As I recall from grade school, this nation was founded on the desire to no longer bend a knee to a king. And while I am at it, what is wrong with Antifa as a concept? There were anti-fascists in the Weimar Republic in Germany in the 1930s. Indeed, we fought an entire world war that was anti-fascist.

Meanwhile the government shutdown continues. There are no plans to bring the House back from a prolonged vacation and no plan to work with Democrats to solve the health care issues. Only stone walling and whining about the Democrats as the enemy. Apparently Speaker Johnson fears the completion of a “Discharge Petition.” Without getting too far down into the rules of the House of Representatives, this is a path for a Representative to bring legislation to the floor without having to go through “regular order” and without the approval of the Speaker and other leaders in the House. It takes a majority of Representatives to literally sign their name to the petition and very rarely succeeds. In this session, that means 218 Representatives need to sign. They have 217 including both Democrats and Republicans. The 218th vote is waiting in the wings. Representative Adelita Grijalva (D- AZ) was elected in a special election weeks ago, but the Speaker claims that because the government is shut down, he cannot swear her into her new job. The petition is to bring legislation to the House floor to vote on releasing the Epstein files. Trump and the MAGA leadership desperately do not want that to happen. (One might wonder why if they are not covering something up?) Thus he will not swear her in. It is unclear how long this can go on, but having the government shut is a convenient excuse. Not to mention that the longer it is closed, the more that Trump and his Project 2025 henchmen Russel Vought and Stephen Miller can expand their power and take ever more extreme actions.

They are trying to press their agenda regardless of its unpopularity. Do not be intimidated. Do not be afraid. Stay peaceful. They are trying to scare anyone that opposes them. They do not understand peaceful protest. They want to rule by fear — physical threats, threats to people’s livelihoods, threats to their families.

I hope to see you on Saturday.

Morality Is the Issue

Posted: October 8, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

You’ll be back soon you’ll see
You’ll remember you belong to me
You’ll be back time will tell
You’ll remember that I served you well
Oceans rise, empire fall
We have seen each other through it all
And when push comes to shove
I will send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love

You’ll be back like before
I’ll fight the fight and win the war
For your love for your grace
And I’ll love you til my dying days
When you’re gone, I’ll go mad
So don’t throw away this thing we had
Cause when push comes to shove
I will kill your friends and family to remind you of my love

— Part of the lyrics sung by King George III in the play Hamilton addressing the colonists during the American Revolution

Last week I was concerned about all of the un-American actions underway within the Trump Administration. My fears were not unfounded, and yet, this week promises to be even worse for those of us that believe our Constitutional Republic is worth saving. Like King George, wannabe king Trump is going to send in fully armed troops to remind us, not of his love, but of his quest for power.

It is only Wednesday and we had our Attorney General go before an oversight committee of the Senate and with full flair and drama, give the Senators the middle finger. She was insulting and her message was simple. We in the Trump Administration are in power and we do not care about your silly oversight, we are going to do whatever we want. We have the power. Try and stop us.

Today was the arraignment of the first Trump Director of the FBI. He is being charged in response to a direct order from the President of the United States as part of the president’s Revenge Tour. The case is so flimsy that no career prosecutor would touch it. Trump had to pull in a grossly inexperienced attorney with no background as a prosecutor to pursue the case. Today in the court room it looked like a clown show. And yet, the proceeding will continue, if only to humiliate and harass the former Director.

The extra-judicial murder of civilians in the Caribbean Sea continues. Trump brags about it. To date there is no evidence of any reason to kill people in small boats at sea. Again, it is merely a demonstration of pure power. It puts our military in a precarious position — if indeed it is our military that is carrying out the killings. It could be drones controlled from the U.S. or elsewhere by other federal agencies. Since the administration refuses to come clean, all we know is that our country is violating U.S. and international law.

The government shutdown continues. Whatever one thinks about this or any other shutdowns, the issue about healthcare is real. Thanks to the Big Beautiful Bill Act (BBBA) as the Republicans call it, or the Big Ugly Bill (BUG) as the Democrats call it, the impact on healthcare for over 20 million Americans is on the line. Republicans argue that the Democrats are holding the government “hostage” to give billions of dollars to illegal immigrants. It is a lie to say that undocumented immigrants will get free healthcare if the Democrats have their way. Restoring the cuts to Americans’ healthcare that are in the BBBA does not provide any federal money for undocumented immigrants. There are some limited available health care provisions for immigrants that are here lawfully. Additionally, a few states use state — not federal — funds for some health care for undocumented immigrants. Under U.S. law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, hospitals are required to treat anyone that presents to their Emergency Department with a medical emergency or in labor. Medicaid reimburses the hospital. The BBBA does not change that. However, it does reduce the amount of the reimbursement in states that have adopted expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA — “Obamacare”). That expansion, accepted or rejected by each individual state, helps American citizens to get healthcare they may not otherwise get. It also keeps hospitals and nursing homes open in rural areas of our country.

So, why care? Well, from a moral perspective when we say we care about human beings, it matters. But putting it in terms of dollars and cents, millions of Americans are going to see skyrocketing insurance premiums and some will lose their insurance. More voluntarily will drop their health insurance because they can no longer afford it and they consider themselves healthy, which means other people that want to keep their insurance — basically everyone else with insurance — will see their rates increase as well because the pool of healthy people with insurance will decrease. Much of the increased costs come with the failure to extend tax credits under the ACA which expire at the end of the year. On average, most calculations indicate that with the increase in premiums and the loss of tax credits, the average premium across the U.S. will increase by 136 percent. Some states will see much higher increases such as, for example, in Alaska the average premium will increase by 346 percent. In Mississippi it will be 314 percent. You can also expect your local emergency department to become far more crowded as people skip preventative care because of the lack of insurance and then present when they are in terrible condition. Democrats want to extend the credits, Republicans do not.

Oh by the way, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Russ Vought — one of the primary architects of the Project 2025 playbook — wants to fire thousands of furloughed federal employees and has floated a proposal to not give back pay to those furloughed, despite the obligation to do so under a 2019 law enacted by Congress and signed into law by Trump.

Russ Vought is literally on a mission from God to remake the United States in his vision of a white Christian nationalist state. His co-ruler behind the Trump throne is Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, another Project 2025 devotee. These two unelected men are the real power in government right now. So let us take a look at Miller.

This week during an interview with CNN, Miller said “Under Title 10 of the U.S. Code, the president has plenary authority.” As I am not an attorney or legal scholar, I had to check what he was actually saying. It turns out that Miller has used that term before, usually in the context that Trump has the unlimited and absolute power to federalize the National Guard and use it as he sees fit. According to the Cornell University Legal Information Institute, plenary authority or power means “power that is wide-ranging, broadly construed, and often limitless for all practical purposes.”  In fact, the law limits the president’s use of the National Guard to narrow circumstances such as a rebellion or invasion. This is why you hear Trump, Miller and the other henchmen in the administration increasingly using the word “insurrection.” This is why Trump and others continue to call Portland Oregon and Chicago Illinois, among others, war zones where domestic terrorists reign supreme. Or as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week at an official briefing, “President Trump will end the radical left reign of terror in Portland once and for all.”

A federal judge, appointed by Trump, stopped the use of the National Guard in Portland for now with a jarring rebuke of the president and his legal standing to send in troops in what is otherwise a peaceful situation with peaceful protesters. So, Miller turned to Chicago. Last week Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and other federal agencies attacked — and I use the word deliberately — an apartment building on the south side of Chicago by rappelling from a Black Hawk helicopter at night, using trucks to bring in other officers, breaking down doors, ransacking people’s homes and placing everyone — men, women and little children — in zip tie handcuffs and holding them incommunicado for hours. Many were American citizens. No warrant, probable cause or other emergent crisis was cited as the reason for the raid. (On a side note, why is the CBP operating in Chicago? They are supposed to only have jurisdiction within a “reasonable” distance from our borders. That distance is considered to be 100 miles from borders or coastlines. They consider Lake Michigan to be both a “border” with Canada and a coastline of the U.S.)

As of last night, federalized troops from the Texas National Guard arrived in the Chicago area. They were not requested by the governor or mayor or any other official of the state of Illinois. There was no coordination or advanced information that they were coming. Red states policing blue states by using troops without regard for the citizens living there. This is not America.

Alarm bells should be going off in all of our heads. Trump, Hegseth, Bondi, Miller, Vought and the other Trump minions are out to consolidate their power in any and every way possible. They believe that they have the power to do anything. Anything. If you disagree, then stop them they all but taunt. If you do try to stop them, you are likely be to their next target. This fight is not over. It is, however, coming to a head. Trump and the MAGA crowd know that their policies are unpopular and un-Constitutional. Their goal is to stop any dissent and to control the elections — if indeed they take place. So far the courts have had some success in keeping them in check. I do not expect the MAGA crowd to continue to follow judicial orders. The guardrails that we have depended on in the past are the intelligence community, Department of Justice (DOJ) and the military. Two of those three have already been co-opted. They are working hard on getting the military to bend to their evil plans. So far I have not heard much out of the senior military leadership in reaffirming their loyalty to the Constitution and total disregard for illegal orders.

The Trump crowd is abusing our military and National Guard. Those soldiers from Texas do not want to be in Chicago. They are away from their real jobs and families on a deployment with unclear objectives that they are not trained to do.

It will hit the fan when Miller, oops, I mean Trump, invokes the Insurrection Act of 1807. In their minds, that Act, which would over ride the Posse Comitatus Act which prohibits troops from being used for law enforcement, would give them unlimited power to use the American military against American citizens. The Act does not fully outline or restrict how it can be utilized. Trump will undoubtedly declare that it gives him “plenary authority” to do whatever he wants. Remember in his first term he asked why the military couldn’t just shoot peaceful demonstrators in the legs to get them out of the way.

To me, we are past the “blue” versus “red” or Democrat versus Republican or Liberal versus Conservative or any of the other traditional ways we define policy differences. We are in the gravest danger to our Republic since at least the Civil War. And to me, it is about morality. It is now the moral versus the immoral. Do we treat human beings as we would want to be treated and not as scum or animals as Trump labels them? Do we act as judge, jury and executioner to murder people in small boats in the middle of the ocean or do the rules of the legal system apply? Do we care that millions of Americans are going to die because they no longer can afford basic healthcare or do we do our best to help them? Do we use the scientific method to prevent illness and the spread of disease or do we just wing it on the whims of one man that does not care about anyone else? Do we allow children around the world to die preventable deaths from illness and malnutrition or do we, the greatest nation on earth, help them?

The moral aspects of what is now happening cannot be ignored. It is not “just politics.” It is a fight to define who we are as a nation. We have not always gotten it right, but we have made progress over the last 249 years in our quest to “form a more perfect union.”

“NO KINGS DAY” is 18 October.

Bizarre. Embarrassing. Scary.

Posted: October 1, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Yesterday Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) Pete Hegseth ordered roughly eight hundred Admirals, Generals and Senior Enlisted Advisers to Quantico, Virginia so that he could heckle, humiliate, and embarrass them while giving a totally political speech. Not to be out done, Trump showed up 26 minutes late to give a 73 minute campaign speech that was barely coherent. This was the best use of the time and money (estimated to be in the millions of dollars) of our most senior military leaders from around the world?

The good news? Those present demonstrated to the American people that our military leaders can remain apolitical in the face of brazen attempts to use them as props for some harebrained tirade against a “woke” military. They were polite but Hegseth’s and Trump’s applause lines fell flat. No applause. Or any other reaction. Trump in particular seemed nonplussed that his usual antics had no impact.

Hegseth’s speech (transcript here) and delivery reminded me, as one commentator noted, of Major Frank Burns of M.A.S.H. fame (the television version. I know. I am old.) He came across as the totally unaware disgruntled junior officer that is pissed that he cannot do what he thinks he should be doing rather than what he is told to do. Lots of talk about “woke” (apparently the military started down the woke path in 1947 when the Department of War was replaced by the name National Military Establishment which in 1949 became the Department of Defense). He railed that women in combat roles ruined the “warrior ethos” by lowering standards (and plugged his book on the subject — a true Trump Administration member, never miss a chance to make a buck). Of course, he forgot to mention that the standards have been the same for men and women since the beginning of integrating women into combat positions. He denigrated minorities. He talked about pushups and haircuts. He stated that many of the officers he fired and most still in the services were only there because they were women and minorities, saying “for too long, we’ve promoted too many uniformed leaders for the wrong reasons, based on their race, based on gender quotas, based on historic so-called firsts.” Of course. How could they possibly be qualified to lead when they did everything every white male did to get where they are?

You know what he did not talk about? Strategy. Equipping the force. Relations with allies. Regional threats. The future of warfare. Countering our adversaries around the world. Or any other national level policies that a SECDEF is supposed to focus on and help to formulate. Instead he is focused on redefining hazing and bullying. “We’re talking about words like bullying and hazing and toxic. They’ve been weaponized and bastardized inside our formations, undercutting commanders and NCOs [Non-commissioned Officers — enlisted leaders]. No more. Setting, achieving and maintaining high standards is what you all do. And if that makes me toxic, then so be it.” He added that physically and verbally abusing recruits will be okay again because these are the “tried and true methods” that turn new recruits into “warriors.”

As a twenty-eight year Navy veteran I was appalled, embarrassed and angry at the way that he spoke about my, our, military. Apparently, no one since World War II knew how to run America’s first line of defense at all. Only he and Trump know how. He was insulting.

Underneath the in-house blather about pushups and “dudes in dresses” one thing caught my eye because it is totally reckless. He already fired Inspectors General, Judge Advocate General (JAG) officers and civilian attorneys trained in the laws of warfare, the Constitution, the Geneva Convention and ethics. He intends to change the Rules of Engagement (ROE). This should worry us all. (Keep this in mind when I address Trump’s speech below.) As Hegseth put it, “we also don’t fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for warfighters.” This spells TROUBLE. Visions of Lt. William Calley who led the Mai Lai massacre of civilian men, women and children in Viet Nam in 1968 come to many people’s minds. These words of Hegseth’s are repugnant to today’s military. The U.S. Armed Forces take pride in being the best in the world at fighting hard while doing their best to protect civilians — of any country. I am sure that our professional military officers and enlisted were insulted when he said in this same context that today is the “liberation of America’s warriors, in name, in deed and in authorities. You kill people and break things for a living. You are not politically correct and don’t necessarily belong always in polite society.” So says the Fox News weekend host about our highly educated officer corps that has as their foremost mission being prepared to fight in order to deter conflict. (As we used to say “Deter. Defend. Defeat.”)

Clearly Hegseth has no concept of what the modern military does, of the people that are in it, what modern warfare is about, or where and how our enemies are taking advantage of new technologies. He wants to refight World War II using the same training and tactics that won the Big One. Embarrassing.

I thought it was the worst speech I have ever heard in the context of understanding the audience, their ethos, their values and their profession. At least until I heard the Commander-in-Chief’s speech. (You can find it here. As of this writing there is no official White House transcript. The administration stopped providing verbatim transcripts some months ago because it only highlighted how incoherent Trump is in his public remarks.)

Clearly thrown off guard by the lack of response to his “greatest hits” Trump mumbled through a monologue of lies, exaggerations, political attacks, whining and self-congratulatory remarks with a rambling seventy-three minute stream of consciousness. I’ll spare you the details (although there is a classic bit in there about steps — clearly Trump is afraid of falling, but Obama was great at steps — as well as a reference to Victory At Sea the old 1950’s television show about World War II which prompted him to say “it’s something we’re actually considering, the concept of battleship.”) Unfortunately, thrown into the mix were some really scary ideas. I can only imagine what his audience thought about the competence, knowledge and mental health of our Commander-in-Chief.

About halfway into his talk, Trump started ruminating about the state of our cities and how immigrants have made them unsafe. “You know, the Democrats run most of the cities that are in bad shape. We have many cities in great shape, too, by the way. I want you to know that. But it seems that the ones that are run by the radical-left Democrats — what they’ve done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles — they’re very unsafe places, and we’re going to straighten them out one by one.” Pretty much standard fare for the MAGA crowd. But then, it became threatening. “And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That’s a war, too. It’s a war from within.” In other words, all of you combatant commanders listening to my speech, “now hear this!” We are going to be using the United States military to fight a war in our own cities.

Too far-fetched? Maybe I misunderstood the intent? I don’t think so since he then went on to say “And I told Pete [Hegseth] we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military — National Guard, but military — because we’re going into Chicago very soon. That’s a big city with an incompetent governor. Stupid governor.” Remember that he continually talks about his political critics as “radical left lunatics.” In a speech he conceded that “I hate my opponents and I don’t want the best for them.” He also calls Democrats “terrorists”. And there we go. He wants troops in Portland, Oregon to use “Full Force” against American citizens. He already has ICE agents in military gear wearing masks and little to no identification “disappearing” folks off of our nation’s streets. Now take another look at Hegseth’s remarks about ROE.

And this from Trump to the military leaders at Quantico, “last month, I signed an executive order to provide training for a quick reaction force that can help quell civil disturbances. This is going to be a big thing for the people in this room because it’s the enemy from within, and we have to handle it before it gets out of control. It won’t get out of control.“

One positive thing that may have happened yesterday is that our military leaders saw with their own eyes how unhinged our president actually is and the dangerous ideas he has about how to consolidate his power over our country. Everything that he and his minion at the Pentagon said yesterday flies fully in the face of our military’s traditions, values, ethics and their oath to uphold the Constitution — with no trace of loyalty to one man. I hope that they can hold fast.

No Limits? No Constitution.

Posted: September 29, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I have been away for awhile. If I thought we were on the path to authoritarianism a month ago, I have dropped the Pollyanna wishful thinking and now know that we are under a very real authoritarian regime. That regime no longer pretends to be doing the people’s business or even trying to couch their activities in some dressed up guise of justification. Now, they take the most blatant un-Constitutional actions and do not even try to hide it.

A quick look at what has happened over the past few weeks gives a giant red flashing light that we are in authoritarian territory. A few examples:

  • The president wanted a comedian off the air and he was subsequently suspended from his late night show. A clear violation of the First Amendment. Stations he does not like should lose their broadcasting licenses. In Trump’s own words, “the stories are 97 percent bad. They’ll take a great story and they’ll make it bad. See, I think that’s really illegal, personally.” “George Slopadopolous [sic] had to pay $16 million to me because of what he said, and that’s ABC… I think that reporting has to be at least accurate to an extent. Again, when somebody is given, 97 percent of the stories are bad about a person, that’s no longer free speech… that’s just cheating, and they cheat. And they become really members of the Democratic National Committee is what they are, the networks, in my opinion. They’re offshoots of the Democratic National Committee.”
  • Further attacking the First Amendment, officials in the Department of Defense (DOD) announced that reporters can no longer report on issues, classified or unclassified, that have not been officially released by DOD. “DoW [sic] information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.” (DOW stands for Department of War, more cosplay by Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) Pete Hegseth. Only Congress can change the department’s name.) This new requirement seriously hinders the public’s right to know what is happening in the Pentagon.
  • Representative Mikie Sherill (D-NJ) who is running for governor of the state discovered that her opponent received a nearly completely unredacted copy of her complete military file, including much personal information such as her Social Security Number, home address, insurance information, performance evaluations and other highly sensitive information in an attempt to dig up damaging information to hurt her run for governor. The information was provided by the Trump Administration through the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) headed by interim administrator Secretary of State Marco Rubio. To do so is illegal.
  • The U.S. claims it has now destroyed three small boats from Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea that the administration claims were operated by narco-terrorists smuggling fentanyl into the U.S. There is no legal basis for such action and the administration has provided no information to substantiate their claims. Those sized boats cannot reach the U.S. from Venezuela. (Most fentanyl in the U.S. comes from Mexico and China and is smuggled in vehicles at the U.S. – Mexico border).
  • Trump broke our justice system by ordering the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prosecute his “enemies” starting with former FBI Director James Comey. Trump’s hand picked prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia refused to do so because of a lack of evidence. He was replaced by Trump’s personal lawyer (who also happens to be in charge of “cleaning up” the Smithsonian museum system). She has no prosecutorial experience. No career attorneys in the office would sign the paper work needed to bring an indictment. He has several more former and current officials that he is directing be prosecuted, including his own appointed FBI Director Christopher Wray.
  • The FBI and DOJ dropped an investigation into “Border Tsar” Tom Homan who last year took $50,000 in cash in a paper bag, captured on tape, from FBI agents posing as businessmen looking for favors from a new Trump administration. To date, no one, including Mr. Homan disputes he took the cash, only that there is no evidence it was a crime. (Maybe because $50,000 is chump change in this administration’s many grift and graft schemes?)
  • The most troubling of all developments to me in recent weeks is that Trump signed an Executive Order making “Antifa” a domestic terrorist organization. There are two problems with this. One, there are no laws in the U.S. that pertain to domestic terrorist organizations. Second, Antifa is not an organization. It is short hand for anti-fascist or opposition to fascism. It has no organizational attributes. There are no designated leaders. It is a loose coalition of individuals that protest decisions that they believe contributes to our government being run like a fascist dictatorship. There are no bank funds or identifiable assets or sources of income. Essentially it is just a protest movement and an ideology. So, in essence, Trump is trying to get the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to crack down on political dissent. Anyone, any organization, anything at all that Trump declares is part of, or contributes to, Antifa is a terrorist. Put plainly, if you do not support Trump or MAGA you are susceptible to being investigated, arrested and prosecuted at Trump’s direction. This runs counter to our Constitution in too many ways to enumerate.

The week to come is a potential historic breaking point. A few examples:

  • In a very dangerous development, Trump is shopping a Congressional bill that would allow him as president to declare any individual, organization or country in the world a narco-terrorist. It would allow him to use the U.S. military to eliminate those so designated. It does not define what exactly is a narco-terrorist and it does not geographically limit where force could be used. It gives Trump carte blanche to do as he sees fit. Scary powers for any president. In this president’s hands it is essentially a license to use the military where ever and how ever he desires.
  • SECDEF Hegseth ordered every general and flag officer (Generals and Admirals) in the world to come to the Marine Corps Base in Quantico Virginia tomorrow. Note that the DOD has the most secure video-conference capability in the world and that there is active conflict in some of the areas from which these officers were summoned. No one is sure about the purpose of the meeting. Originally it was just SECDEF that was going to be there. Now Trump has inserted himself into the proceedings. I am very worried about what this means. The possibilities range from forcing some sort of loyalty to Trump, to Hegseth lecturing seasoned combat veterans on what the “warrior ethos” means. That phrase is the Fox News personality’s go-to catch-all to justify whatever harebrained scheme he is promoting at the moment. I am most concerned that this is some kind of propaganda stunt to make it look like the senior military officers are in Hegseth’s and Trump’s camps on all of their un-Constitutional schemes. This has bad vibes all over it. I have no doubt that the officers will uphold their non-political professional demeanor. They will not applaud as Trump brags about his alleged macho accomplishments. They will resist every attempt to politicize the moment. However, AI, spliced video and other devious and unethical methods can be manipulated to make it look like they have pledged allegiance to Trump. Otherwise, why make them show up in person for a “lecture”?
  • The government runs out of money tomorrow night. Trump has directed that if that happens, he wants thousands of people fired from their jobs. Not furloughed as in other shutdowns. Fired. How will that be used to his advantage to strengthen his regime?
  • Trump is ordering the military to Portland Oregon to “save” the “war ravaged” city under siege from Antifa. A totally made up excuse justified by doctored video from years ago. He wants them to use “Full Force, if necessary” [sic]. There is nothing in any military Rules of Engagement (ROE) called “Full Force.” Nobody knows what that means but I suppose he thinks the military should shoot American citizens if he declares them to be Antifa. (Do you see a pattern building here?) The military does not enforce the law in the U.S. and they certainly do not shoot fellow citizens. This tenant is perhaps the most ingrained value in our current military. The Constitution comes first. Not a demented politician.
  • Trump is sending 50 billion dollars to Argentina to save their economy. America First my…. Argentina is going into economic ruin for the umpteenth time but Trump needs to save a fellow right wing wannabe dictator. Of course, thanks to tariffs, U.S. farmers cannot sell their crops to China and are going bankrupt. So, what countries are taking up the slack to sell to China? Brazil and, wait for it, Argentina. So Trump is bailing out an economy that is using his tariffs to save their own farmers while Americans are left holding the bag. America!

There is more. Too much more. This will be an important week. The onslaught on our rights and values continues. There is hope. Jimmy Kimmel got back on the air when most Americans, left leaning or right leaning, pushed back on the limits to free speech. That is the lesson of our time. Congress appears helpless, district and appeals courts push back on Trump only to be over ruled by the Supreme Court in unexplained “emergency” rulings, but the people still have impact.

Don’t accept the lies. Don’t ignore what is happening. Keep pushing.

The Threat To Our Military

Posted: September 5, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Last Tuesday, video was released showing an attack by a U.S. military asset on a small boat reportedly sunk with the loss of all onboard. The location of the attack was not disclosed, but it was claimed that the boat was in international waters after leaving the mainland of Venezuela. Facts surrounding the incident are scarce. There are assertions from the President Bone Spurs Administration that it was an identified narco-terrorist boat filled with illegal drugs headed “eventually” to the U.S. In my career as on officer in the U.S. Navy, I participated in numerous drug operations in the Caribbean Sea.

For decades, the U.S. Navy (USN) and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) have conducted anti-drug operations. They have always been considered law enforcement actions. The USN ships participating would carry USCG detachments onboard because the U.S. military does not do law enforcement. The USCG is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and does have law enforcement capability and authorization. I have seen a lot of boats similar to the one sunk on Tuesday during my days on these operations. Some were carrying drugs. Some were legitimate fishermen. I did not see any, but others are known to carry undocumented migrants trying to sneak into the U.S. Some are innocent civilians traveling about the Caribbean Sea. How do we know that the administration is legitimate in its claims that these were narco-terrorists without positive identification? Normally, the USN ship would stop the vessel — most stopped when asked, or if not, they did when we trained guns on them, but if they did not, accurate gunfire would disable their engines — and the heavily armed USCG detachment would go onboard and search the vessel. If drugs were found, the crew was arrested, the cargo seized and the boat taken over by U.S. military personnel or towed to port. Not every boat we stopped and searched was a drug runner. Most were innocent people undertaking innocent business of their own. It worked.

Unless you ask Secretary of State Marco Rubio. While in Mexico he said “the United States has long, for many, many years, established intelligence that allow us to interdict and stop drug boats. We did that. And it doesn’t work.”  He went on to say “what will stop them is when you blow them up, when you get rid of them.” Therefore, “instead of interdicting it, on the president’s orders, we blew it up. And it’ll happen again. Maybe it’s happening right now.”  Maybe they killed innocent civilians without regard to international law. This is a frightening development if we really delve into it. It contradicts precedent, American values and the law. A secret document signed by the president does not change the law. If a criminal act is discovered, it is handled by law enforcement officials. Not the military. For this administration the words “national security” and “emergency” seem to be thought of as some kind of magic words that allow them to do whatever they want, be it tariffs, immigration, health care or the use of our military in domestic circumstances.

Trump likes to act like the tough guy but really he is quite weak. Just ask XI, Putin and Kim. Whether you believe him to be strong or weak does not matter, he is still expected to follow the law. Trump is consistently creeping ever closer to using the military for his own personal purposes. Under international law he cannot order a bombing attack on a non-threatening vessel in international waters just because he wants to look tough.

Do I sympathize with drug runners or want to see them succeed as Trump and his minions claim of anyone that questions their unlawful actions? No. Of course not. I do, however, believe in the rule of law and the president cannot just make it up as he goes along. Indiscriminately killing people in international waters does not enhance our liberty or the pursuit of happiness.

The Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C — 1385) from 1878 bans the use of the military for law enforcement “except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress.” So far, none of his actions with active duty forces or the National Guard meet those criteria. While it is a little more complicated for the National Guard — depending on whether they have been nationalized as federal forces by the president or whether they are under the control of the state’s governor — the way that they have been used is not legal. Do not take my word for it, take the word of federal District Judge Charles Breyer who recently ruled that the Trump Administration’s federalization of the National Guard and the use of U.S. Marines in Los Angeles to assist ICE and other federal agencies in arresting undocumented immigrants violated the Act in multiple ways. His decision carefully debunks the three main arguments that the Trump attorneys asserted was within presidential power. Each of their three assertions basically say that the president cannot be held criminally liable because only the Executive Branch can prosecute violations through the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the president controls DOJ therefore the president can act in his own best interests.

I have oversimplified what is considered an elegant and air tight decision, but given that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) said that presidents are immune from prosecution when acting in an official capacity, none of us should rest easy. If the SCOTUS overrules the lower courts, Katie bar the door. It is open season on all of us.

The military has a proud tradition of pledging loyalty to the Constitution and not to any individual, including the president acting as Commander-in-Chief. They are bound to obey lawful orders from their superiors, but Trump is coming right up to the line. We will see if he crosses over.

There is no one in his administration that will pull him back. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is incompetent. He only does what he is told. And now he and the president want to rename the Department of Defense (DOD) the Department of War. There is a long history behind it — the Department of War was the Army until post World War II reforms. It and the Department of the Navy were cabinet positions, there was no Air Force. The National Security act of 1947 realigned the Defense Establishment. An act of Congress in 1949 created the title Department of Defense. They want to rename it because that is what it was during World Wars I and II. Ahhh. The good ol’ days. It would take an act of Congress to officially change it, but like everything else, Trump plans to issue an Executive Order (E.O.) allowing the use of the name, even if he is not officially changing it. In other words, a rebranding effort.

We have already seen that Trump will do whatever he wants. I think we are only beginning to understand how lawless his behavior already is and how much further he is ready, willing and able to go if he wants it. Remember that he fired the leaders of the Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard as well as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and multiple other senior officers including the Judge Advocate General (JAG) in each of the services. Recently, Hegseth reassigned six hundred (!) other military lawyers to assist DOJ as immigration judges. (Recall that this administration fired or forced into early retirement over 100 immigration judges when they took over.) Who is left to advise leaders as to the legality of the military decisions that are being made?

Already our due process rights are in danger as masked, unidentified men are disappearing people off the streets of our country as I type. They are sent on their way to who knows where. What should we expect if the president can indiscriminately use the military for law enforcement purposes? Why not drone strikes inside the U.S.? Why not use the military to take care of criminal gangs? When that happens we are finished as a democracy. Stick a fork in it, we’re done.

In 2020 there was a draft E.O. ordering the military to seize all voting machines. Ultimately Trump backed down and did not sign it — mainly because senior military and civilian leaders told him it was illegal. Now there is no one in place that would stop him. It may happen in the future because he already says results from voting machines are not valid. What if he declares voting machines to be counter to U.S. national security interests because he thinks that they can be manipulated by foreign powers? (They cannot be manipulated.) Does he execute his E.O. and have the military seize the machines or does he just declare the results invalid?

I fear for our men and women in uniform and the pressure that will increasingly come their way in Trump’s endless pursuit of his own interests. Where are the senior uniformed military leaders? Are they okay with this? Afraid of being fired? If so, I am ashamed for them.

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