The MAGA Authoritarian Regime Is Growing

Posted: August 11, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“The Almighty tells me He can get me out of this mess, but He’s pretty sure you’re f***ed.”

— “Stephen” the Irishman to William Wallace in the movie “Braveheart”

Sometimes it is the little things that tell you that events are unfolding in a negative way. Sometimes it is the big things. Sometimes it is both. However I look at, it seems that all of the evidence points in the direction of Trump and his MAGA acolytes converting our government into an authoritarian regime. I fear that we are further down that road than most of us realize.

Have you seen pictures of the Oval Office or the rest of the White House recently? It is as though Trump has some form of kenophobia. Every imaginable space is filled with gold gilt. Cherubs, medallions, swirls, and countless other embellishments fill the walls, ceiling, doors, and every other imaginable flat space. Meanwhile he has cornered the market on gold tchotchkes and proudly displays them everywhere. I think he was going for the Saudi prince model of decorating. He bulldozed the Rose Garden and paved it over with a patio that rivals any patio at a La Quinta Inn anywhere. He plans to build a 90,000 square foot ballroom by demolishing the East Wing of the White House and replacing it with his idea of glamour. Or most likely, as a monument to himself. For comparison, the ballroom will be almost twice as big as the existing main structure of the White House. It will totally distort the grace of the current White House and grounds with a tasteless monument to one man’s ego. So much for calling it the “Peoples House.” Besides being heartbroken by the destruction he is spreading — institutionalizing his disregard for the law, tradition and morals — I worry that he is remodeling the White House to suit his tastes because he does not plan to move out. Add to that the nearly one billion dollars that the Department of Defense (DOD) must redirect from modernizing our nuclear arsenal to rebuilding the “new” Air Force One with which the Qataris bribed him — talk about “pimp my ride”– and we have some serious indicators that the man does not think that the laws pertain to him. He is a guy planning to remain in power one way or another for the rest of his natural life.

Ahh, but what about elections you ask? You mean the ones that Trump and his MAGA henchmen are trying to rig? Here is all you need to know about where this is all heading. Look at Texas, already a state that has gerrymandered (drawn voting district lines to favor one party over another) its map for the U.S. House of Representatives. The Republican majority there is attempting to draw the districts yet again to give more seats (five) to the MAGA party at the expense of Democrats in the House. Last week this is what Trump had to say about the ongoing effort.

“We have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats. We have a really good governor, and we have good people in Texas. And I won Texas. I got the highest vote in the history of Texas, as you probably know, and we are entitled to five more seats.”

“Entitled.”

That is Trump’s approach to everything and the approach that his administration takes — laws, tradition and morality be damned. If Trump wants it, he will get it. Oh, but there is more. Not content to get five seats from Texas, he is pushing Florida, Ohio, Indiana and other states to do the same thing. If that does not get the job done, he wants to hold a census, this year, and dictate who can and cannot be counted, specifically excluding people living in the country without legal status. The goal is to gain forty more seats for the MAGA party and make it a permanent majority. In other words, keep one party in power while denying power to half the country. But wait! There’s more! The 14th Amendment requires that the census include “the whole number of persons in each state.” It does not distinguish who those “persons” are. Just that they live there. The census determines how the representation in the House is distributed among the states as well as the number of presidential electors to the Electoral College. Additionally, Trump has tasked the Commerce Department which oversees the census, to “immediately” begin work on a new census applying modern technology to “the results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024.” I am not sure anyone knows exactly what that means, but I am betting that since he won that election the analysis will show that he is “entitled” to more representatives than he currently has.

One more little wrinkle. Not only the 14th Amendment addresses the census, but Article I of the Constitution gives the Congress control of the census. Currently Title 13 of the U.S. Code dictates a once a decade count. The last census was in 2020.

But why let a silly little thing like the Constitution stop the great man from rigging the election?

By the way, keep an eye on developments in Texas. Lots of threats have gone back and forth between the Republican majority and the Democrat minority. Currently most of the Democrat state representatives are out of state to prevent a quorum in the legislature (the minimum number of elected representatives needed under state law to conduct business) and thus to prevent a vote on the new districts. State officials are trying to get the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) involved to arrest the Democrats and haul them back to Texas. There is no law, state or federal, that would allow that. The missing Democrats have broken no laws. They are not criminals. If the president or any other administration official orders the FBI to get involved, then we know we are all in great danger. It will mean that the FBI has become another branch of the private army of the MAGA politicians. (Some may argue that the disguised undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] officials taking people off the street in unmarked vehicles are the other branch.)

The abuses are becoming bigger and they do not try to hide them or justify them anymore. Today in what I see as a test run for the rest of the country, Trump and his cronies took over the Washington D.C. police department, put FBI officers on the streets and began deploying National Guard troops in the city. Ostensibly, their actions are to fight crime, which comes as a surprise since the D.C. crime rate is at a thirty year low. In reality, I believe this is the first of many such moves to gradually take over the country’s “blue” cities with federal forces. They declared an “emergency” which allows such action. (Just like everything else that they are doing, be it the economy, immigration, deportations, tariffs, etc. etc. All of their actions utilize loopholes in the law that allow actions in “emergencies” that are not normally legal.)

Trump and his MAGA buddies always tout that “blue” cities are the most dangerous, crime ridden, awful places to live. By many accounts, that award should go to a “red” city — Memphis Tennessee. Which isn’t to say that crime is not a problem. One murder or rape is too many. But other cities in the top 15 according to the news outlet U.S. News and World Report, include St. Louis Missouri, Alexandria Louisiana, New Orleans Louisiana, Anniston Alabama, Little Rock Arkansas and Birmingham Alabama. New York City, Washington D.C. and other supposedly crime ridden cities are not on that list. According to data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in 2022 (the latest year available) the five states with the highest murder rates per capita were Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, New Mexico and Missouri. Interesting. Why isn’t the National Guard being called out to patrol their streets?

It’s all about power and suppressing political opposition. Crime is just an excuse.

Well, at least it isn’t all bad. At least Trump is bringing a war criminal who is a pariah who would be arrested in most countries in the world to Alaska so that he can give Russia Ukraine without the good people in Ukraine giving their consent. Well maybe it will fulfill his fantasy of winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

I hope that the Almighty can get us all out of this mess.

We Must Continue to Stand With Ukraine

Posted: December 27, 2022 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

“Your money is not charity. It is an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way.”

—Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a speech to a Joint Session of Congress on 21 December 2022

As we celebrate the holidays and look toward a new year, it is important to remember that the war in Ukraine continues. This is day 307 since the Russian invasion in February. Fierce fighting continues in eastern Ukraine and the entire country is subject to air raids from missiles, drones and artillery. While the Ukrainians continue to fight with courage, tenacity and ability, they are still outnumbered and with fewer technologically advanced weapons than their Russian counterparts. It is a a brutal war.

Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he will send 500,000 additional troops to the Ukrainian front. Such numbers are staggering and could easily overwhelm the Ukrainians on the ground. That is until we pull back the curtain and it reveals that most of the 500,000 are conscripts off the street and, literally, convicts recruited from prisons throughout Russia. They are sent to fight with little or no training and often suffer from lack of adequate weapons, winter clothing and food. Such is the Russian way of war. Even their most vaunted Army units are in trouble as outlined by a recent article in the Washington Post. The “200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade” was considered one of the most elite units in the Russian military. Originally tasked with protecting the nuclear missile submarines of the Russian Navy based in the far northern Kola Peninsula, since the end of the Cold War, the “200th” was often tasked to take on some of the Russian military’s toughest assignments. Last February, they were among the lead elements of the invasion tasked with taking Kharkiv. Since then, their staggering losses of experienced personnel and of state of the art equipment leaves them, in the estimation of several European intelligence assessments, in such a state that it “cannot be considered a fighting force.”

The Russians are losing the ground war. Unfortunately, Mr. Putin is determined to continue the fight. His goal seems to be the total obliteration of Ukrainian culture, quality of life, and the civilian population. In the dark of winter, the fighting on the front will continue with heavy casualties on both sides while attaining only minor tactical advantages. Operationally and strategically, the winter fighting will remain stagnant.

The result? Nearly daily Russian terrorist attacks on civilians in Ukraine. If he cannot win on the battle field, Mr. Putin will punish the civilian population. Terrorism is the only way to describe the continued attacks on schools, hospitals, museums, power stations and water plants. Mr. Putin is determined to destroy the will of the Ukrainians to resist. Clearly, he has never studied history if he believes that a reign of terror descending from the skies will turn the tide of war. He obviously never studied Britain’s response to the intense bombing of World War II, his own nation’s resistance in that same war to the Germans in Leningrad or Stalingrad, or countless other stories of a determined population strengthening their resistance to tyranny while under relentless attack.

Mr. Zelenskyy was in Washington D.C. last week to convey directly to the U.S. Congress and to all of us as citizens that Ukraine will not fall to Russian aggression. They are unwavering in their determination. But they need continued help from the U.S. and NATO and Mr. Zelenskyy was here to make sure that we do not get weak-kneed in our support. With the swearing in of a new Congress in January, numerous MAGA Republicans are pushing to end, or at least severely restrict, the aid we send to Ukraine. (Incredibly, some are open admirers of Vladimir Putin — their view of a strong and effective leader.) For the time being, our support of Ukraine continues thanks to the Omnibus Bill passed by the House and Senate as they headed out the door for the holidays. The all encompassing bill (ostensibly a 1.7 trillion dollar spending bill, it is packed with numerous amendments addressing everything from tax law to the Electoral Count Act of 1887) included 45 billion dollars for Ukraine. Thus Mr. Zelenskyy’s statement that this is not charity, it is a fight for the rule of law and the sanctity of democracy. I agree with him.

The war in Ukraine is not some far off, obscure war where the average American could probably not even find it on a map (of course the average American isn’t very good about locating places on a map of the United States). It is nothing less than a line in the sand that western democracies will not see the post World War II world order go up in flames. Ukraine is the first attack on European soil since the 1940s where one country is determined to take over another through military force. The West either believes in supporting democracy or all democracies will be threatened. The Baltic States, Finland, Norway and Sweden certainly understand the stakes due to their borders with Russia. Polish history makes them very aware of the dangers of this Russian threat. This is the biggest test yet as to whether we in the U.S. and NATO believe what we say or whether we are going to look away. Our domestic politics sometimes obscures this point. But if we do not help Ukraine, we may as well tell the world that we are no longer a world player, and China would certainly be glad to hear that as they continue to threaten a peaceful Taiwan.

The size and scope of our support is growing as the conflict continues. The U.S. and NATO are walking a fine line in trying to keep Ukraine in the fight and capable of defending themselves without expanding the war into the rest of Europe. In November, a missile landed in Poland near the Ukrainian border and killed civilian workers. It turned out to be a Ukrainian air defense missile gone astray, but it raised serious concerns as it exemplified a possible Russian provocation. President Joe Biden declared that we will defend every inch of NATO territory. What if the next “stray” missile is Russian and we have the intelligence to support the fact that it was not accidental? Such a scenario will severely test NATO resolve and engender debate as to the appropriate response. (Most likely the response would be measured and on a similar scale, such as a cruise missile slamming into the launch site from which the missile came. The problem, of course, is that a miscalculation or misunderstanding the intent can quickly lead to a massive escalation.)

I have at least two recommendations to move our country’s support of Ukraine to a new level. One is to declare Russia a terrorist state. There is no question that they meet the criteria. The torture, rape, abduction and murder of Ukrainian civilians by Russian soldiers are war crimes. Mr. Putin’s order to indiscriminately bomb cities and towns along with the deliberate targeting of humanitarian facilities are terrorist activities. Car bomb or exploding drone? No difference. To do so incurs certain legal and international actions and the West is not certain how the Russians might respond, as well as concern over the second and third order impacts on our other friends or allies. At this point, it is necessary. Make the proper diplomatic preparations and then do it.

The second game changer would be to give the Ukrainian military offensive weapons. The U.S. and NATO are reluctant to do so in fear that the Russians would see it as provocative and a possible act of war should they be used against the Russian motherland. It is a risk worth taking in my opinion. Through training, effective intelligence to monitor their use, and other measures to modify the weapons the West can minimize the chances that the Ukrainians would misuse the weapons. The rationale for supplying them is that as long as Russia has safe havens for their missile launching aircraft, drones and ships, they run no risk and can fire at will to destroy Ukrainian cities. Bringing Russian logistics hubs, training centers, and bases in occupied Ukrainian territory into the war raises the stakes for the Russian military and contributes to the unmistakable decline in Russian morale. It could help to convince more Russian soldiers to defect or go home (thousands already have), and the increased destruction of the Russian military could lead to increased unrest in Russia, including some in the government that do not want to see their military and economy destroyed because Mr. Putin has some kind of crusader-like vision quest for Ukraine. It is worth the risk.

I am sure that efforts already are under way to curtail third party efforts to supply Russia. Most notably, Iran is sending armed drones in vast numbers for the Russians to use against Ukrainian cities. There is also open source reporting that North Korea is probably supplying Russia with artillery and ammunition for use in the war. The U.S. and other nations have the means to make this too painful for those countries to continue their support. To date, China has not helped Russia militarily. Diplomatic efforts must continue to ensure that they do not do so.

As it is, Mr. Biden promised to send a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine. This is a very advanced air defense system. It will take time for the battery to arrive and for the Ukrainians to get properly trained in its use. Some have criticized the decision as being provocative and could lead to an escalation by the Russians. Not so. As Mr. Biden pointed out, it is a defensive weapons system. It won’t be used unless the Russians continue to attack Ukraine.

To me it is not only important from a geo-strategic viewpoint for the U.S. to continue to support Ukraine. It is in our national interests to help them. It is not an act of “charity” or done at the expense of our own citizens. It is absolutely a case of pay me now or most certainly we will be paying much more later, including with the blood of our sons and daughters.