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.

All Hail Chairman Trump!

Posted: August 31, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Not that I don’t have — I would — the right to do anything I want to do. I’m the president of the United States.’

— Trump responding to a question about deploying the National Guard to Chicago during his three hour and fifteen minute Politburo Cabinet meeting on 22 August 2025.

For too long I have used this space to express my concerns that we are on the road to an authoritarian regime. Perhaps most of you are tired of hearing about it. Frankly, I am tired of thinking about it. Besides, I no longer think that we are on the road, we are there. Trump has succeeded in becoming a de facto dictator. He announces absurd and illegal actions and his henchmen go out and execute his plans without hesitation. Legally, papal announcements, royal decrees and presidential Executive Orders are not permanently binding dispatches in the United States. Laws passed by Congress take precedence, as do court decisions, as does the Constitution, but so far, no one has blunted Trump’s blatant disregard for the rule of law. He has created an authoritarian regime. We are living our worst fears. It’s just that the majority of our population has yet to realize it.

I think of my visit to Normandy, France and listening to the stories that were told about the occupation by the Germans. On many of the farms, day to day life went on as normal. No interaction with the Germans. Until there was, and then it was bad. I feel that most Americans are going about their busy days unaware of the changes to our democracy. I fear that they will not get involved or even know what is happening until it is too late. This is most definitely not “just politics.”

I do not want to get your hopes up, but I will be surprised — shocked even — if there are free and fair elections in 2026. Trump is already pushing national voter identification for voting along with doing away with mail-in ballots (sorry military folks, you won’t be able to vote) and voting machines — paper ballots counted by hand, only. All of which is blatantly against the Constitution but then, why let a dusty old document get in the way?

Is it not interesting that Trump deployed the National Guard — about 2,200 so far — to our nation’s capital where it would be possible to block the seating of a new Congress should he not like the results? I also find it interesting that all of the cities that he wants controlled by the National Guard are Democrat run cities with black mayors. Why, with the language that he uses, one might wonder if he is racist. Statistics do not make people feel safer, but they show that “red” cities and states have worse crime rates than most of the “blue” cities and states that he rants about, as I have written about before.

There is a saying that if you control the institutions you control reality and then you can create your own facts and rewrite history. Trump is far down the road on doing just that. Ask yourself how things are going with the following:

  • The Center for Disease Control (CDC)
  • National Institute of Health (NIH)
  • The Smithsonian Museum Complex
  • The Kennedy Center
  • Ivy League Colleges
  • Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
  • The Federal Reserve
  • U.S. Military Academies
  • The National Archives
  • The Library of Congress
  • The Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
  • The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
  • The National Weather Service (NWS)
  • The U.S. Department of Education
  • The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  • The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
  • The Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
  • The Voice of America (VOA)
  • The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
  • Need I go on?

All are in disarray or being disbanded. It is hard to figure out whether it is incompetence or just cruelty that drives their actions. Probably both.

It isn’t just D.C. streets that he wants to take over. He is striving to dictate every facet of our lives and our culture from museums to plays to universities to health care. He is already well on his way. If you are loyal to him and his whims you will do just fine. If you do not play along, he will attack you with the full weight of the federal government. Here is an example of the shady dealings he undertakes. We are all aware of his tariffs against certain countries he likes or dislikes. I doubt most Americans know that he approved exceptions for companies to trade with China based on what looks like extortion. Last month Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. each got permission to trade with China — despite a ban on selling microchips to China — in exchange for 15% of their revenue. Recently he reached a similar deal for 10% of Intel, another chip maker. Already on the books was approval for Japan’s Nippon Steel to merge with U.S. Steel in exchange for a “golden share” for the president. A golden share essentially gives the president veto control over the company’s decisions. Seems like the president is moving towards nationalizing our means of production. In the old days they would call that socialism. But then, only Democrats are socialists so that couldn’t be it.

To fully grasp where we are I found it necessary to try and understand the foundation of his loyalists’ view of our great country. In their telling, the American Revolution was the only important event in our history. Wealthy white men — “Christians” in current mythology although many were not in the same way as they are portrayed — were the founding fathers. There vision was perfect in today’s revised story. Wealthy white men were in charge and they set up a nation to reward other wealthy white men. Only the Declaration of Independence is relevant to the Pete Hegseth’s of the movement. The words “to form a more perfect union” mean nothing to them. It was already perfect — at least it was until women and black folks got into positions of power. Therefore, for example, the Smithsonian museums need to conform to their vision of history. Anything that reflects the long history of trying to achieve a more perfect union is too negative and does not align with what they consider the “the real” elements of our national history. The good parts. When men were men and all women and minorities knew their place. Taxes are an abomination because hard working rich white men are having their money taken from them to provide for the poor in the form of education, health care, infrastructure, welfare and all other forms of social support. All men are not created equal. (I have always wondered why, if it is such a good deal because of all the “free” stuff that they get, why don’t more people strive to be poor?)

Do you think I am exaggerating?

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s pastor preaches white Christian nationalism. He reposted a CNN interview that clearly reveals that the church he belongs to espouses that women should not have the vote and that their place in society is to stay home and raise children. A view held by many in the Project 2025 movement. They also believe that our museums and history lessons should reflect the fact that there was a real mutual affection between enslaved people and their masters. After all, thanks to their master’s generous contributions many slaves learned a profession. They should be grateful. Recall that the Secretary has been firing black men, women and a few white men for being too “woke.” These were career military officers that rose to the top of their profession by doing the hard jobs. Our nation is in danger as a result.

I am not attacking the Secretary’s choice of places to worship. I am attacking his world view, that he has espoused in many forums, both before and after confirmation to the office, that denigrate the role of women in our modern world. He fits completely with the tenets of Project 2025 that our country should be a white, Christian nationalist world run by men.

It is affirmative action for white men. There is no room for the “others” or their stories. Only the white story is the American story.

The take over is real and we are living the reality. Is it too late? I do not know. I do know that sending the military into America’s cities on a false pretext of fighting crime is an extremely dangerous situation. I feel sorry for the men and women of the National Guard (and maybe regular Army soldiers and Marines if Trump has his way). They do not want to be there. They are not trained for the assignment, their mission is ambiguous and they are being used as props for photo ops so that Trump and his minions can project a sense of authority. It is actually a sign of weakness.

This is the same weak con man that said in Alaska that Vladimir Putin was ready to seek peace with Ukraine. Since then, the Russians have pummeled Ukraine and the capitol in Kyiv with the worst rocket and drone attacks of the war. The Russians even purposefully bombed a U.S. owned manufacturing plant in Ukraine. Trump’s response? Nothing. Only that he was “not happy” about the bombing but that in “two weeks” we will find out which way the war is going and that he “better be very happy.” Those two weeks are almost gone. I am sure that his good buddy Vlad is very worried.

I know I am.

The Authoritarian Playbook

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

Recognizing that we live in unsettled times and that sometimes the rhetoric seems out of control, I needed a gut check to see if my concerns about our fading democracy were legitimate or if they were the product of an overly imaginative mind — was it a reality or merely a possibility that we are on a path to autocracy?

In researching the myriad works available on how authoritarianism takes over democracies, I read numerous theories, checklists, historical analyses and the like but found one, in particular, that seemed to me to be clear, succinct and relevant to what I see happening in these United States. In a series of social media posts in 2017, all ending with the tag “with love, your Eastern European friends,” Martin Mycielski discussed the tenets of authoritarianism and the tactics and methods with which it is imposed. He also posted ways to push back — to resist. His posts became internationally acclaimed and in March, 2018 they were collected in the Authoritarian Regime Survival Guide. The information below draws heavily on that guide. The entire thing can be found here. It is relatively short and worth a look.

The authoritarian’s check list looks like the following:

  • Win the election on fear and populist promises.
  • Reclaim power for the People from the “elites.”
  • Purge the highest positions in key government institutions.
  • Place cronies in the positions of highest power regardless of their competence.
  • Brush off any critical press as “fake”, “corrupt”, “acting against the People.”
  • Blatantly lie to the People.
  • Ban the press from the parliament/Congress/White House or selectively limit their access.
  • Limit press freedom and quietly take control of the mainstream media.
  • Label opposition and protesters as “traitors”, “elites trying to reclaim power.”
  • Limit freedom of assembly.
  • Fix the highest court to be able to bypass the Constitution “for the good of the People.”
  • Limit minority and women’s rights.
  • Ruin the economy to fulfil your populist promises in the short term.
  • Alienate international partners and allies, “making your country great again.”
  • Quietly fix electoral law under the disguise of making it better.
  • Start over until there’s nothing left…

For those keeping score at home, it appears that the Trump Administration is at about a 72 percent completion rate with efforts underway to make it 100 percent.

Within the playbook are some key factors to consider because those of us that pay close attention already see these elements at work. For example, the aspiring autocrat will be elected following a fear mongering campaign in a fair and free election. Once in office, the administration will counter any criticism with the claim that they have a “mandate” from the electorate to change the system. In so doing they will lie, obscure the truth, and substitute fear and emotion for logic and knowledge. Claiming that democracy means majority rule, racial or sexual or other minorities will be treated as a threat to the order they seek to enforce. Foreigners and immigrants will be promoted as potential threats and therefore they should be removed from the land. Gender equality will come under siege as the society is dominated by men. They will attack the judiciary as “monsters” or “left leaning judges with a liberal agenda” in order to undermine the Rule of Law and to enable the enactment of unconstitutional measures. By controlling the judiciary and Department of Justice they can prosecute anyone or any organization that tries to push back against the regime. The list goes on.

Can’t happen here? Few people, including in the House of Representatives who voted for it, know that The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has provisions in it that have nothing to do with taxes or healthcare or any of the other headline grabbing issues. In it is a provision that would effectively strip the power of the courts to hold any official of the current administration in contempt of court — the only real power that the courts have to ensure that their decisions are followed. If enacted in the final bill, it is a huge blow to the equal branches of government enshrined in the Constitution by severely hobbling the federal judiciary.

Another little known provision in the OBBBA prohibits state and local authorities from enforcing laws governing the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for ten years. The real intent of this provision is to impact elections. Misinformation, fake ads, accusations of election interference, deep fake videos, and all the rest that comes with the negative use of AI can easily confuse or discourage voters and thereby impact the results of the election. Why include it in the OBBBA if there are no plans to do this very thing?

In the end, my concern over the future of our democracy is only growing stronger. The threat is real. I, for one, am tired of Democrat politicians, pundits, political analysts and the rest talking about how “history will not look kindly on this administration.” They don’t care. (Which really is the motto of the MAGA politicians — “we don’t care” about anything or anyone except themselves.) Likewise, I am tired of all of the talk about a big backlash to the MAGA agenda come the 2026 and 2028 elections. I wonder what the talking heads are smoking. First of all, the Democrats cannot seem to get their act together to put up a viable resistance and effective policy alternatives that can get people’s votes. But, there is still time for them to get it all together.

More to the point, what kind of elections do we think we will have in 2026? I am not 100 percent convinced that we will have elections in the coming years. Probably, but not certainly. I do know this, MAGA politicians are acting like, repeat with me, they don’t care. They do not seem concerned about their actions impacting their re-election. Why is that? That leads to my deeper concern which is that I doubt that the elections will actually be free and fair. State governments controlled by MAGA politicians are working feverishly to restrict the numbers of people that can vote, especially in “blue” and urban areas of their states. Congress (see above about AI, for example) and the Trump Administration are working just as hard to alter the vote. Congress is trying to pass the SAVE Act that would require voters to prove that they are U.S. citizens by showing a passport or other form of identification. The alleged motive is to ensure that there are no illegal voters, even though study after study shows consistently that the number of illegal voters are so miniscule as to be nearly non-existent. Certainly, no election was decided by illegal votes. (States already have laws making it a crime to vote illegally.) The president issued an Executive Order that effectively gives him the power to set the parameters of who can vote and under what conditions — a clear violation of the provisions in the Constitution. (The order is under a court ordered stay while the issue is adjudicated.) In brief, the type of documents required to be able to vote would disenfranchise millions of voters (most people do not have a passport, women that marry and take their husband’s name would have a different name on their birth certificate, etc.). It also puts new requirements on military personnel and American citizens living overseas that will be onerous to fulfill and thereby limit the number of those voters. It requires states to decertify certain types of voting machines (used in 39 states) and replace them with machines that meet new federal standards — machines that do not currently exist. What could go wrong?

Most people do not know about these direct attacks on our democracy. They will probably not pay much attention until it directly impacts their own daily lives. By then it may be too late. For those of us following and understanding these developments how do we start to fight back? A little bit at a time, one by one, until a great sea of concerned citizens becomes too big to ignore. Bombard your Representatives and Senators — Republican, MAGA or Democrat — with questions, complaints and reasoned dissatisfaction. As far as you are able, attend rallies, especially those out in the open on the streets of our cities and towns. Talk to your friends, neighbors and families. Not to argue with them or to convince them of how wrong they are but rather to learn what they find attractive, or not, with the MAGA agenda and to educate (not preach) them about issues or policies that they may not know exist.

To answer my question to myself from the opening of this piece, yes, I think the threat is real.

We Don’t Need Another Hero

Posted: March 19, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

(With apologies to Tina Turner and the theme from Thunderdome.)

We have many, many worries that concern many of us right now about the direction our country is headed and for some of us, the direction our own lives may be heading. So, in case you missed it in all the smoke and flames surrounding our current presidential administration, let’s pause and take a moment to consider this.

According to the Washington Post and other news sources, the Department of Defense (DOD) has purged all references to prominent Black, Hispanic, female and other minority service members as well as any references to the Civil War from its website for the Arlington National Cemetery and most any other military website because they are considered to be DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) entries. In his zeal to please the president, the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) has decreed that all DOD websites shall be examined and any references to minorities, women, LBGTQ or any other individual who is not white, heterosexual and male shall be deleted.

This includes World War II aviators with the Tuskegee Airmen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Secretary of State Colin Powell, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (buried next to her husband who was a veteran) and Medal of Honor winners. The indication is that throughout DOD, thousands of pages of historical records have been removed from public access. The Arlington Cemetery Website was a useful tool for students and others that were trying to research our American history and to study those that played a prominent role in it. But, not anymore.

But wait! There’s more!

The DOD also directed the removal of a link to PFC Ira Hayes, immortalized in the iconic photo and national monument depicting the raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima during World War II. He was one of the six Marines involved. His crime? He is a Native American as a member of the Pima nation. It gets better. During World War II the Navajo code talkers were instrumental to the U.S. success in the Pacific Theater of war. The Japanese never broke the code (their native language) and critical information was securely passed from unit to unit leading to tactical and operational success. Where are the stories celebrating their contribution to our history? Gone. Deleted. I might point out that PFC Hayes, the Navajo code talkers, and many of those whose stories are now gone had never heard of the term DEI. They were not inducted into the military to meet some quota. They volunteered as Americans and their unique talents — such as the code talkers — were a bi-product of their involvement in fighting for American values. It was integral to the task at hand — not some contrived theater of the absurd to demonstrate Native American inclusion.

There are an estimated 26,000 pictures and articles (some reports indicate that it may end being as much as 100,000) that have been deleted from DOD websites, including the ludicrous removal of references to the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. We cannot have any reference to “gay” of course. Enola Gay was the name of the pilot’s mother. Reason and sanity do not prevail when one is rooting out evil influences within our military.

And it gets better still.

Should one search for the links to these Americans on DOD websites you will be disappointed but also find that they indicate they have been deleted because they are “DEI” related.

Many members of the public have protested the removal of specific entries. Some have just been restored — but extremely few compared to the tens of thousands that have been deleted.

So, let me get this clear in my head. There is no reason to celebrate Black History month or Women’s History month or any other similar event because we are all Americans and it is only American History. And yet, we eliminate references to many brave Americans. This administration is working as hard as it can, literally night and day, to re-write history as they wish it to be. The truth be damned.

Sadly, I guess Tina Turner is correct in her song. We don’t need heroes. Unless of course they are straight white men.

“So, what do we do with our lives
We leave only a mark
Will our story shine like a light or end in the dark?
Give it all or nothing”

Some lyrics from the song “We Don’t Need Another Hero”