Trump’s Lawless Administration

Posted: January 28, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Alex Jeffrey Pretti, the Veterans Affairs (VA) ICU nurse executed by federal agents on the street in Minneapolis on 24 January 2026. (Official portrait for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.)

The lawless and out of control Trump administration continues to destroy and abuse the bedrock principles of our country. It is difficult to keep up with all that is happening because it is continuous, unrelenting and horrific. Not to mention embarrassing. From Minneapolis Minnesota to Davos Switzerland with stops in between, Trump is ripping our country apart. Fundamentally, he has destroyed the trust necessary to protect us internationally and to govern as a functioning democracy. Without trust, there is no legitimacy. Without legitimacy, there can be no governance. Our allies and our fellow citizens never know from one day to the next as to what mood swing or perceived insult will cause Trump to lash out unpredictably. One day we are on a particular path and the next day he reverses course and then lies about all of it. Trump and his cabinet lie as easily and instinctively as they breath. All trust is gone.

For the second time in a matter of weeks, federal agents killed a peaceful protester in Minneapolis. Alex Pretti a U.S. citizen, was murdered by violent extremists, this time by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents. Without hesitation or investigation the senior members of the government called the innocent victim a “domestic terrorist” with the intent to “massacre law enforcement.” Most of us have seen the numerous videos capturing the horrific incident. Alex was trying to help a fellow human being at the scene of a peaceful demonstration when he was attacked by seven CBP agents, taken to the ground, beaten and then shot ten times. The federal government, our government, immediately went into reflex mode to outrageously lie about what happened and to immediately blame the victim. Don’t believe your lying eyes, only believe what we tell you. He had a gun! (He had a permit to carry a concealed weapon.) Protesters are not allowed to carry weapons! (Just like in the state house in Michigan, or the march in Charlottesville, or at the insurrection in Washington D.C. or countless other right-wing demonstrations?) After the murder, Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote to Governor Tim Walz in Minnesota to inform him that she would have the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and CBP agents withdraw if the state turned over all voter information on the citizens of the state as well as for those receiving public assistance. That data would include driver’s license numbers, social security numbers, addresses, party affiliations and other deeply personal information. It was in essence a blackmail letter as it clearly shows the real motive behind the surge of unidentified people in tactical gear and face masks roaming the streets and breaking into people’s homes.

I clearly remember right wing zealots claiming that during the presidencies of Bill Clinton, and later Barak Obama, that the federal government was going to send unidentified masked men in tactical gear to break into people’s homes, whisk them away and take away everyone’s guns. It never happened. But it is now. Where are all those people that protested what did not happen, now that it is happening?

For the record, according to court records and legal challenges our government has violated the First (Freedom of Speech), Second (Right To Bear Arms), Fourth (Unreasonable Search and Seizure), Fifth (Due Process), Tenth (State Sovereignty) and Fourteenth (Equal Protection) Amendments in the name of “safety.”

It appears that the Trump regime is going to try and pull a public relations stunt by firing the senior CBP official Greg Bovino and replacing him with the “Border Czar” Tom “CAVA Man” Homan in Minneapolis. (The same Tom Homan that was investigated for taking a $50,000 bribe in cash carried out in a CAVA bag. The Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) quietly dropped the investigation when they took over.) There is no change in policy. Mass deportations are still the goal. The administration’s white nationalist and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller is still calling the shots. We will see if the tactics change, not just in Minnesota, but everywhere ICE and CBP agents are operating. Will they still detain five year old boys like they did Liam Ramos in Minnesota and send them to a detention center in Texas?

All of this came days after Trump tried to destroy NATO by insisting on taking over Greenland. Fortunately, his TACO instincts (Trump Always Chickens Out) kicked in, but the damage was done. In his rambling, nearly incoherent speech at the conference in Davos Switzerland, including insulting several heads of state by name, it was clear to our European allies and friends throughout the world, that Trump could not be trusted. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney gave one of the greatest speeches in recent history, and directly challenged Trump. Canada recently entered into a massive trade deal with China and pointedly rejected U.S. entreaties not to do so. The European Union and India just concluded a different trade agreement. That means two billion people are now in economic relationships that do not include the U.S. At least Trump has his Board of Peace which he alone controls. It only costs one billion dollars to join (c’mon, are you sure it isn’t Dr. Evil demanding this?). At the ceremonial signing of the treaty creating the Board were officials from the following countries: Argentina, Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Qatar, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Morocco, Paraguay and Pakistan. Our closest European allies have consistently rejected joining. Russia and China expressed interest in joining. Trump thinks this will be a replacement for the United Nations. To me, it looks like another of his scams to make money for himself. The fee to join, along with the oil money from Venezuela, is going into off-shore accounts controlled by Trump. Yep, everything is just normal. Nothing like giving a convicted felon, adjudicated sex offender and instigator of an insurrection a multi-billion dollar slush fund to control.

Speaking of the insurrection, former Special Counsel Jack Smith testified before the House Judiciary Committee last Thursday. He was in charge of investigating the attempt to overthrow the government and investigating the theft of highly classified documents that were stored in a bathroom at Mar-A-Lago. It was compelling. He concluded that, “Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity. If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat. No one should be above the law in this country, and the law required that he be held to account. So that is what I did.”

It is exhausting. It is tempting to throw up my hands and just quit. Let it all go by and take solace that it doesn’t impact me directly. Yet. We must remain vigilant and push back hard in any way that we can. There is no over-arching entity that can save us. It’s just us. Talk to friends and family members. Contact your Representative and Senator. When possible attend peaceful demonstrations. Assist immigrants. Work in a food bank. There are lots of ways to help. To me this is not a political issue. It is a matter of humanity and morality. Heroic Minnesotans are peacefully pushing back and loudly declaring their total disgust with the way an entire city is treated. I hope they soon can get back to their normal lives, but I fear that Minneapolis is a testing ground for further violations of our Constitution. Stay tuned.

An Insecure or the Most Insecure President?

Posted: January 19, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. (Getty Images)

Today is a federal holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, despite the current administration’s efforts. Thanks to Trump’s anti-DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) efforts, you cannot get into a national park today without paying, which we used to be able to do today and as is done on several federal holidays. However, for the first time you can now get in for free on June 14. Although that is Flag Day in the United States — which is not a federal holiday — one can get in for free because it is Trump’s birthday, according to the official website of the National Park Service. Nothing is awarded to anyone without Trump becoming jealous and trying to take it for himself. We have a six year old for a president. I am sorry he is so insecure about how people view him, but his insecurity is ruining our country.

Like most bullies, nothing is ever enough. The primary opposition leader in Venezuela Maria Corina Machado earned the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize that Trump insisted should be his. Last week Ms. Machado presented her Nobel medal to Trump, hoping that he would help her to get rid of the Maduro regime in Venezuela and help to move the country towards democracy. Instead she got a bag of Trump “merch” and a photo op. Trump prefers to work with the murderous Maduro regime — every member of that dictatorship remains in power except for Nicolas Maduro himself — rather than to help the people of Venezuela improve their lives. Taking someone else’s Nobel Peace Prize and pretending it is your own is cringe worthy. I am embarrassed for the man and for our country.

But it gets even more ridiculous and yet serious. It could be the focus of many a psychiatrists’ case study, but this has real world consequences.

Trump sent a text (!) to the Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Store informing him that because Norway did not give him the Peace Prize — as we all know, the government of Norway does not pick the winners, an independent five member committee decides, as it has since 1901 (“life is hard, but it’s harder when you’re stupid”) — he was going to take Greenland, which is a semi-independent territory of Denmark. The text was later put into a demarche, or letter, to other governments and delivered to their Ambassadors. Here is the text (punctuation, grammar and capitalization as in the original):

“Dear Jonas, Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United State of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a “right of ownership” anyway? There are no written documents, it’s only a boat that landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also. I have done more for NATO than any person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States. The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT“

Wow. There is so much to unpack there it is hard to know where to begin. Once again, it shows a complete and utter misunderstanding — ignorance? — of how NATO works. We have military access to Greenland and Denmark has been our staunchest ally for over two hundred years. If we want to build more bases, they would allow it. You have heard the arguments before, so, what is really going on?

One explanation might be what always drives Trump. Money. Greenland is rich in natural resources, and probably has vast deposits of rare earth minerals which are crucial to burgeoning industries. But again, through diplomacy and cooperation the U.S. could get access to those minerals.

As the sea ice continues to recede due to climate change, year round passages are beginning to appear in the Arctic region. This opens up new commercial shipping routes and also has military implications. The solution, again, is NATO. Obviously Russia has a long coastline on the Arctic Ocean, but so does Canada, a member of NATO as well as the U.S. and Scandinavian countries.

The Artic map created by U.S. State Department geographers.

In 2023 to prevent a president from unilaterally withdrawing from NATO, Senators Kaine (D-VA) and Rubio (R-FL) (hmmm) successfully included a provision in the 2024 National Defense Appropriations Act that requires a two-thirds majority of the Senate or a law passed by the entire Congress in order to withdraw from NATO. Legal experts differ as to the effectiveness of that provision and possible efforts to litigate it in court. Trump claims that as president, he alone has the power to withdraw.

But there is another way. Get kicked out.

This is what Trump’s game plan may be and it is back to Russia, Russia, Russia again. Nothing would please Vladimir Putin more than to see the U.S. withdraw from — or get kicked out of — Europe and Trump always defaults to what Putin wants. If the U.S. leaves NATO, under any circumstance, there will be many “Ukraines” as Putin endeavors to re-create the Russian Empire. In the worst case scenario for most of the world — but the best case for Russia — if the U.S. tries to take Greenland by force, and Denmark invokes Article Five of the treaty which says that an attack on one country is an attack on all, and other former allies respond to the U.S. attack, fighting could break out. The U.S. would be at war with its allies. Unthinkable? Of course. At least until the last few months. Reporting indicates that senior military officials in the Pentagon are pushing back hard on any use of the U.S. military in Greenland or anywhere else protected by NATO. It is not clear whether they will be listened to at all. Numerous NATO countries have already moved military forces to Greenland for “exercises.” Even if no fighting breaks out, irreparable harm has been done to our relationship with Europe. Put simply, we are no longer trustworthy or a reliable ally.

Trump threatened to put tariffs on the nations leading the resistance to his taking Greenland. (Which is an entirely different area of discussion as we await a Supreme Court decision as to the legality of existing tariffs.) Perhaps the European Union (EU) will respond in a way that creates a financial crisis for the U.S. They could impose their own tariffs, or sell U.S. assets or bonds or block U.S. firms from doing business in Europe. If other former, but not NATO, friends and allies do the same our economy will collapse.

Multiple media outlets are reporting that several NATO countries are limiting or stopping their intelligence cooperation with the U.S., especially with respect to Ukraine, because of suspicions that the information may be shared with Russia by U.S. intelligence agencies. We are markedly less secure than we were one year ago.

The lawlessness continues in other areas. Last Friday the Department of Justice (DOJ) told a federal judge that they do not have to follow the law and release the Epstein files because the law has no enforcement mechanism and no entity or person has standing to sue them to force their release. All that I can think is that there must really be something that they want to hide.

Meanwhile, in addition to 3,000 Immigration and Border Patrol agents terrorizing the streets of Minnesota, the Department of Defense (DOD) issued a Warning Order (notification to prepare to deploy) to 1500 paratroopers to move from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage Alaska to Minneapolis. The DOJ also announced that they are pursuing a criminal investigation into Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for allegedly conspiring to obstruct federal immigration enforcement, despite their mostly successful efforts to keep protests peaceful. The Trump regime is clearly trying to provoke a serious incident so that they can take over a major American city as an “example” to the rest of the country to stay in line with their repressive policies.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are in deep trouble.

As our government acts in our name to prop up a murderous dictatorship, attack our allies, suppress our fellow citizens, and break the law, we can try to take a moment on this day meant to honor a great American man of peace and remember his thoughts on peace and justice.

“True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.“

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.“

Dr. Martin Luther King (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)