Category Archives: Current Events

The Growing List Of Trump Victims.

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Members of Trump’s MAGA cult have long wanted to reshape our government and punish the “Libs”. But they have gotten much more than they bargained for. Under the guise of making America great again and improving government efficiency, the actions of Donald J. Trump and his billionaire friends have already victimized millions of Americans and untold numbers of others around the globe. And there appears to be no end in sight. Indeed, it seems that Trump won’t stop until the US mirrors Putin’s Russia.

Following is a partial list of the victims so far:

  1. The Constitution – In a blatant attempt to consolidate power in the executive branch under his direction, Trump has ignored or violated many of the Constitution’s provisions. He has usurped Congress’s power of the purse by blocking funding. He has illegally fired federal employees without cause. In his first term, he violently dispersed peaceful demonstrations. He has tried to violate free speech. And he has signed an executive order abolishing the 14th Amendment.
  2. Truth – Trump told more than 30,000 documented lies during his first term in office and the number has only accelerated since.
  3. Justice – By pardoning roughly 1,500 of the January 6 insurrectionists while investigating and firing all those within the FBI and DOJ who had anything to do with bringing charges against him, Trump has shown that he is willing to weaponize the justice system on his behalf.
  4. People of color, members of the LGBTQ community, and the disabled – By abolishing DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), Trump has eliminated programs intended to prevent discrimination in the federal workplace, in corporations and in universities.
  5. Federal employees and their families – Elon Musk and his DOGE bros have illegally and unconstitutionally fired hundreds of thousands of civil servants, disproportionately military veterans, without severance.
  6. US federal government – Trump and Musk have created chaos throughout the government. They have illegally usurped the powers of Congress by gutting agencies and firing hundreds of thousands of employees without justification or cause. In doing so, they have compromised essential government services, including
  7. Refugees –With the stroke of a Sharpie, Trump has revoked temporary protective status for Haitians, Venezuelans, Ukrainians and others who escaped political violence and war in their countries.
  8. Undocumented workers and their families – Trump has ordered ICE to detain and deport all undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes. Unfortunately, many innocent hardworking people, including US military veterans, have been swept up in raids that appear based on racial profiling. And though it’s a civil, not a criminal offense to be in this country illegally, it appears that many will be sent to prisons, including Guantanamo.
  9. Farmers, food processing companies, & small businesses – As ICE continues sweeps at workplaces and schools, most undocumented workers and their children are now afraid to leave their homes. This has been so disruptive to the employers that many now claim they are vulnerable to bankruptcy. Additionally, the block on USAID foreign aid contracts represents the potential loss of billions in income for US farmers. And Trump’s tariffs will result in further losses as China raises tariffs on the import of most US agricultural products.
  10. US military – Trump and his lapdog, Pete Hegseth, decapitated the leadership of the military with the intent of replacing members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with loyalists regardless of inexperience.
  11. US intelligence services – It could be argued that in the Trump administration there is no intelligence. Yet Director of National Intelligence, conspiracy theorist and Russian apologist Tulsi Gabbard has fired more than 100 senior staffers and numerous CIA officers for violating Trump’s ban on DEI.
  12. Veterans – Not only has DOGE illegally fired thousands of military veterans throughout the federal government. It has gutted the Veteran’s Administration through a hiring freeze and mass layoffs.
  13. Americans’ health – Trump has illegally blocked funding for the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization. This comes at a time when those organizations are needed to deal with an Ebola outbreak, Avian Flu and the very real threat of another pandemic. It even compromises the ability to select the appropriate vaccine for the next flu season.
  14. Women – Trump’s previous term resulted in compromising women’s freedom to control their own bodies with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. This term is likely to result in further loss of women’s rights – not only the right to abortion, the right to contraception, even the right to vote. Indeed, there is a bill before Congress that would block millions of women from voting because they took the last name of those they married.
  15. Wildlife and the environment – Trump has already unleashed an all-out attack on the environment. Not only did he again withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords and end programs that attempt to mitigate the worst impact of climate change. He has ordered the expansion of production of fossil fuels, including in environmentally sensitive areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. He also wants to eliminate most regulations on the fossil fuel industry. And there are plans to weaken the protection of endangered species.
  16. National Park visitors – DOGE has fired more than 1,000 rangers who clean and maintain parks in addition to educating visitors and providing for their safety. This will result in long lines, reduced hours and even the closing of some parks.
  17. Disaster victims – We have already seen cuts to FEMA staff and Trump has made it clear that disaster relief from floods, tornados, hurricanes and wildfires should be the responsibility of the states. And given his past actions and statements, it is likely that he will politicize federal aid, prioritizing red states over blue.
  18. Consumers – Despite promising to eliminate inflation and cut prices on day one, Trump has made it clear that he no longer cares about those issues. Instead, he has exacerbated the problems by starting a trade war with Canada, China, Mexico and others. And, contrary to Trump’s rhetoric, the cost of the tariffs will be paid by importers and passed along to consumers.
  19. Shareholders – Trump’s announced tariffs have already led to a large downturn in the stock markets which affects everyone with a 401(k). And, as the tariffs take full effect, the downturn is likely to turn into a market crash which will only benefit the billionaires and hedge fund managers.
  20. Emerging nations – With the gutting USAID, many of those living in emerging nations will suffer from food deprivation and epidemics.
  21. Ukraine – Following the Oval Office ambush of Zelenskyy for refusing to sign an agreement that would have given away half of Ukraine’s nation’s resources, Trump has illegally “paused” military aid for the defense of Ukraine. The only person that benefits is Putin.
  22. Palestinians – By stating that the US will take over Gaza, Trump has encouraged Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and potentially further destabilized the Middle East.
  23. Tibetans – Trump has illegally blocked congressionally approved funding for the Tibetan government in exile – another case of revictimizing victims.
  24. NATO and longtime allies – Trump’s long running distaste for NATO and his unwarranted attack on Zelenskyy and Ukraine has understandably shaken the bond between the US, the UK and Europe. Our allies are now discussing ways they can stave off potential attacks by Russia without US help.
  25. You – Without proper oversight, Musk and his DOGEbags have been illegally filing through the data files of Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and the IRS. That means they now have personal data for virtually every American citizen – where you live, where you work, how much you make, what is the status of your health, even your investment and bank accounts. What will they do with that information? For all we know, they could provide it to Putin or some other foe to drain our resources.

And this is just the start. Keeping in mind that it only took Hitler and his Nazis 53 days to completely dismantle a constitutional democracy, imagine how much damage this administration can do in four years.

We’ve Seen This Movie Before.

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If the actions of the current Trump administration seem vaguely familiar, it’s because we’ve already seen similar storylines.

Consider the movie Dave, in which a man without any relevant experience or qualifications finds himself in the White House through a series of misunderstandings and odd circumstances. There’s also Being There, the story of Chance, a simpleton who accidentally becomes one of the most powerful men in Washington.

Another apropos movie to consider is The Godfather, the story of a powerful crime boss who is ironically more empathetic and far more patriotic than Trump. Then there’s Joker, the story of a man who, after failing at his chosen profession, descends into mental illness and leads a violent revolution against the establishment. You could also add American Psycho, a movie about Patrick Bateman, a man completely devoid of empathy.

Finally, there’s A Clockwork Orange the story of a group of youthful dropouts known as droogs who go on a crime spree engaging in anti-social behavior.

Each of these films could be instructional in understanding the Trump administration, including the Felon-in-Chief, Musk and the rest of his DOGEbags, and the group of misfits who comprise the Trump cabinet.

Like Chance, Trump attained his position more by luck than qualifications. Like Dave, Trump is an opportunist. Like the Joker, Trump was a business failure before leading an attack on polite society. Like Michael Corleone, Trump is expert at using other people’s money and his position to extort and threaten. And similar to the character Bateman, Trump has been diagnosed as a malignant narcissist and sociopath.

Additionally, the droogs are roughly equivalent to Musk and his youthful group of nerds who have set about slashing and burning our most cherished institutions and belief systems.

Of course, Trump and Musk claim their actions are intended to save money and make your life better. But reality is quite the opposite. They’re reducing government services, starving the poor, deporting essential workers, alienating the U.S. from our longtime allies, and torching the planet in order to give themselves and their billionaire friends a $4.5 trillion tax cut.

Moreover, the firings of hundreds of thousands of federal employees and civil servants will add to the unemployment numbers. Likewise, the elimination of USAID, SNAP and school lunch programs will negatively impact those who grow our food. Cuts to VA will negatively affect veterans. The abolishment of DEI will impact people of color, women, and the disabled. The planned mass deportations will impact farms, food processors, restaurants, hotels and more. The massive tariffs on goods from our trading partners will raise prices for consumers. And the potential cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and even Social Security will be devastating for tens of millions of American citizens.

By the time Trump’s demolition squad is finished we’ll almost certainly be facing an inflationary recession – a recession that will be crippling to our economy and ordinary people.

But will Trump, Musk and their wealthy friends suffer along with you? No! Emphatically no! Indeed, the wealthy often create recessions by dumping their holdings during a strong stock market, so they can buy low after stock prices have tanked.

If Trump and his DOGEbags were serious about cutting waste and fraud, they’d be looking to cut Musk’s government contracts totaling more than $38 billion. And Trump would forgo his golf weekends, Super Bowl outings and costly excursions such as his multi-million-dollar victory lap around the Daytona Speedway, which have already cost more than the federal salaries cut.

Complex Problems: Part 5 – Urban/Rural Divide

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Let me begin by stating that I was raised on a farm. For the first 18 years of my life, farming was the only life I knew. Indeed, I fully expected to, one day, take over the family farm. It was only 160 acres in size, but it provided a reasonable living. Then I went to the state university where I was exposed to people from around the world and a vast array of other possible professions, which eventually led me to a degree in journalism and life in the city. After retiring, I returned to rural communities for several years.

All of this is to say that I believe I understand the unique issues facing people in both environments. And though the lifestyles are vastly different, the political views are worlds apart.

Reduced to stereotypes and generalities, people in the cities tend to think of their rural counterparts as uneducated country bumpkins. And people in rural communities tend to think of city dwellers as soft, overeducated, and overpaid elitists.

Of course, neither stereotype is true.

Today, many farms are large corporations with the family farmer operating as a combination farmhand, heavy equipment operator, veterinarian, mechanic, accountant, investment manager and CEO. And those living in small, rural communities are heavily entrepreneurial. Many have college degrees. They may own and operate a store, restaurant, hair salon, bank, car dealership or some other independent business. Many, like some of their big city counterparts, work in a big box store or manufacturing plant. And some drive many miles to the city to work in an office.

As for the city dwellers, many are office workers or work in warehouses and manufacturing plants. Others operate small businesses. Some drive delivery trucks. Indeed, there are a myriad of jobs. Percentage wise, very few are corporate executives. And because the costs are higher, most are hard-working people trying to eke out a comfortable living for their families.

So, as you can see, rural and urban people have more in common than they have differences. But when it comes to politics…

For one thing, in rural farming and ranching areas, guns and hunting are part of life. Many of the residents resent attempts to limit sales of guns and ammunition to solve what they consider big city crime. They falsely believe that they are overtaxed to subsidize big cities. (Actually, the reverse is true.) And, in rural areas, residents are more likely to belong to traditional churches which are central to many of life’s events: Weddings, funerals, fundraisers for neighbors down on their luck, holiday celebrations, etc.

In addition, the socioeconomic problems in rural areas are more extreme than in the city. It begins with consolidation. Today, Midwestern farms are upwards of 10 times larger than when I lived on the farm. That means there are roughly one-tenth of the number of jobs in rural towns. Their Main Streets are being hollowed out by Walmart, which based its growth model on competing with locally owned stores in small towns. Adding to the problem is our increased mobility. Rural consumers are often willing to drive long distances to shop in big cities for lower prices and greater selection.

Far too often, jobs in the few remaining rural manufacturing plants are exported to the cities, or worse…to foreign countries. There’s also the brain drain caused by many high school and college graduates leaving home for what they perceive as greater opportunities in cities.

All of this has led to the ongoing shrinkage of small towns. That is, unless they happen to be located within 30 or 40 miles of a large city. In those cases, they often become exurbs overwhelmed by development. As a result, the lifestyle they chose – the only lifestyle they know – is changing or dying. Their houses are declining in value. They feel trapped.

These problems are amplified by rightwing radio hosts and Fox News Channel. Almost all plumbers, carpenters, tradesmen and laborers take radios to their worksite. And, almost inevitably, those radios are tuned to the Mark Levins and the Alex Jones of the broadcast world who tell listeners their problems are caused by government, undocumented immigrants, DEI, city elites, and “libtards.” You’ll also hear radios in trucks and tractors tuned to the same hate-based “news” and “entertainment.” Likewise, local bars and cafes often have TVs permanently set to Fox News.

In other words, these people have become victims of propaganda. And extremists in the Republican Party (Are there any others?) are right there to take advantage.

So, where are the Democrats? They’re seldom anywhere to be seen…until election season. You see, nearly 20 years ago, the Democratic Party made the decision to invest its money where the most people are…in the cities. They pulled funding from rural counties. And they all but disappeared. The result was all too predictable.

That was evidenced when a couple of years ago, I volunteered to help with a Democratic booth at a couple of county fairs in reliably blue Minnesota. We were scoffed at, yelled at, labeled baby killers, and threatened by what I am sure are otherwise good people.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

We actually agree on most policies when they are not attached to party labels. We can have reasonable, albeit intense conversations with each other without threats and name-calling. All that’s required is respect for one another as fellow human beings. And for Democrats to be visible and available all year and every year. Not just preceding an election.

I believe the Democratic Party – in fact, both parties – would get far greater returns on their investments by operating and maintaining local offices, by holding meetings with constituents, by creating an ongoing dialogue with voters, than by spending billions on TV commercials.

A Return To The Gilded Age.

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During his second inaugural speech, Donald J. Trump, he of the golden toilets, announced that he would lead America into a “Golden Age.” What does that mean? Well, based on his executive orders to date and his roadmap called Project 2025, it appears that he wants to return the U.S. to the Gilded Age of the late 1800s when our economy was controlled by a small group of ruthless men who eventually became labeled Robber Barons.

In other words, the Gilded Age was a time when all the nation’s wealth trickled upward to the likes of Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Jay Gould, Jim Fisk and others. Through a combination of inspiration, luck, and insatiable greed, these people created monopolies based on unfettered access to the continent’s natural resources. By 1890, one percent of American families controlled as much as 51 percent of the nation’s wealth. Most of the rest of the nation’s citizens, especially people of color and women, were relegated to a life of hardships and poverty.

That era only came to an end because of economic depression, exposure of corruption by courageous journalists, a populist movement that instituted regulations and antitrust laws, and the Second Industrial Age.

Trump’s so-called Golden Age promises to be worse.

To begin, in 2014 an extensive study determined that the United States could no longer be called a democracy, but an oligarchy – a government controlled by a few wealthy elites. And they have gained even more power under the new Trump administration. Indeed, his campaign was financed by billionaires such as Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos, all of whom were front and center at the inauguration.

Once in power, Trump appointed at least seven billionaires to powerful government positions. And who was the ally given the most power? Elon Musk, the world’s richest man with more than $400 billion in mostly government and Chinese money, who (coincidentally?) also donated the most to Trump’s campaign.

These unelected people are the ones who will benefit the most from Trump’s promise to cut taxes. These are the people who will reap the most rewards from a hollowed-out federal government that repeals regulations. These are the people who will benefit most from Project 2025’s planned attack on labor unions. These are the people who will remain unharmed by Trump’s trade war. And these people will almost certainly be among the very few who will benefit from the economic recession that almost certainly will result from Trump’s actions – actions that will lead to even more wealth disparity between billionaires and ordinary working people. (In 2023, the top one percent already controlled 30 percent of American wealth. And fifty percent of Americans controlled 97.5 percent of the wealth.)

Musk, aided and abetted by Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson and other congressional Republicans, is also the one given unparalleled power by the Felon-in-Chief to lead the ongoing coup against our government and the Constitution through the newly formed and unofficial agency called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk claims his agency should be pronounced “doej”, but it would be more aptly pronounced “douche”. And, without constitutional Article I authority, the lead douchebag has taken control of multiple agencies that are created and funded by Congress.

In just 14 days, Musk has taken control of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and unconstitutionally shuttered the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He has also blocked communications between government agencies and the American citizenry – all without congressional approval.

Of course, there are precedents for these kinds of actions. We have seen them executed by dictators and fascists the world over. But they have never before been seen in the United States of America where we are now watching our once proud democracy circle down the drain of one of Trump’s golden toilets.

Complex Problems: Part 4 – News Versus Propaganda

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I regret to inform you that you are being misinformed on a daily basis.

For many years, Americans depended on TV networks, newspapers and radio to bring them the news in an unbiased manner. The news gatherers were mostly graduates of journalism schools that instilled in their students the need to be thorough, objective, and professional. It was during this time that we came to rely upon such journalistic giants as Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Chet Huntley and many more. These people were among the most trusted in the nation.

Even local radio and TV stations were to be trusted as they were bound by the Fairness Doctrine which demanded that, since the stations were operating on public airwaves, they had to operate in the public interest. That meant they needed to tell the truth and clearly separate news from opinion. A failure to do so would result in the suspension of their broadcast license.

Then along came cable TV. Since cable didn’t rely on public airwaves, it was argued that the Fairness Doctrine could not be applied to them. And, at the urging of conservatives and President Reagan, the Federal Communications Commission rescinded the doctrine altogether. That paved the way for Fox News Channel and rightwing radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh. They began with news stories with a biased conservative slant. But, over time, they filled their schedules with anti-government lies and rightwing propaganda that evolved into conspiracy theories and fantasies completely untethered to the truth. By contrast, liberal shows never gained traction because they tended to be less hateful, less emotional and focused on presenting the unexciting, often boring, truth.

A couple of decades after the repeal, social media added to the cacophony of lies and deceit to which anyone with a political agenda could add their voice. Indeed, more people now get their news from social media than legacy media. You know, the networks, newspapers and magazines that are, for the most part, staffed by real journalists – the journalists who often risk their lives in war zones to inform you about current events.

Unfortunately, MAGA loyalists spearheaded by Donald J. Trump deemed the journalists’ reports to be fake news. They would have you believe that only partisan pundits, anti-regulation billionaires, couch potatoes and conspiracy theorists can give you the “truth.”

As if that’s not bad enough, most of the legacy media are now owned by 6 corporations managed by multimillionaires and billionaires whose personal greed outweighs the public interest. They continue to slash budgets for their news departments and intercede in editorial decisions, sometimes causing staff to resign in disgust. (The departures of Ann Telnaes and Jennifer Rubin from The Washington Post and Jim Acosta from CNN are the most recent examples of the trend.)

Given the rise of propaganda combined with the ongoing destruction of legacy media, is it any wonder that our population is so misinformed and divided? Indeed, many Americans have tuned out news altogether. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that many voters make their choices based almost entirely on emotions and gut feelings rather than facts and evidence.

It certainly does not bode well for our nation’s future that the most frequent questions for search engines following the 2024 presidential election were: Why wasn’t Biden on the ballot? And what is a tariff?

Our nation’s founders believed that an informed citizenry is necessary for our democracy. But given the complexity of today’s society, it’s unlikely to expect most Americans to seek out the truth, to search for trustworthy and reliable news sources. Far too many Americans are more interested in who their favorite celebrity is dating than who is running for office…more interested in a major leaguer’s batting average than in the nation’s latest unemployment statistics.

Finding a potential solution for this problem is daunting.

Our populace is so divided and entrenched in their beliefs, almost certainly there can be no agreement as to which sources to believe and what constitutes the truth. Further, the Republican Party, in particular, has long depended on telling lies, distorting the truth and creating scapegoats to gain power.

One possible solution is for the news industry to police itself. After all, the mass of misinformation and disinformation has not only destroyed media credibility. It is dragging down readership and ratings.

Perhaps all of the major news outlets could agree to clearly identify which stories are factual news and which are opinion. Maybe they could even agree to hold themselves to the long-held journalistic standard of reporting, requiring a news story to be based on multiple credible sources. (It happened before, in the early 1900s, after attention-grabbing headlines and sensational stories were blamed for the beginning of the Spanish-American War.) Or the maybe the major news media could create an elected board of news editors given the power to hold all news outlets accountable.

Failing that, the only other possible way out of this conundrum is some form of government regulation – to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine and enforce it against all news platforms. Of course, that or any other attempt by the government to hold media accountable for telling the truth will immediately be labeled censorship. But there must be a way for the leaders of both political parties to come to terms. If not, I fear that our nearly 250-year-old experiment with democracy will almost certainly fail.

Autocracy? Plutocracy? Corporatocracy? Kleptocracy? Kakistocracy? Or Idiocracy?

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Since the Felon-in-Chief took office, we’ve seen all of these words used to describe his new administration. So which one fits?

In fact, they all do.

To wit: An autocracy is defined as a country governed by one person with absolute power. By his own count, Trump has issued more than 300 executive orders (several of them in direct conflict with the Constitution and congressional authority). In doing so, Trump has signaled that he intends to consolidate power in the executive branch. Those orders, if they are allowed to stand, combined with his intent to replace more than ten thousand nonpartisan civil servants with Trump loyalists and last year’s SCOTUS decision giving him immunity for most executive actions, will clearly allow Trump to operate as an autocrat – a king.

A plutocracy is a government ruled by or controlled by the wealthy. Although the description of the United States as a plutocracy is nothing new (scholars have determined that the US could best be described as a plutocracy since 2014), the Trump regime seems determined to expand the power and influence of the wealthy. Trump himself claims to be a billionaire and many of his nominees and appointees are billionaires. Moreover, three of the world’s richest men were front and center at his inauguration. And, he has already created a new department (DOGE) for the world’s richest man. Of course, Trump has clearly stated that he intends to give these people further tax cuts.

A corporatocracy is a government controlled or influenced by business. Certainly, the consolidation of control over entire industries by a few corporations has been underway since the Reagan era. For example, the grain industry is controlled by 4 multinationals. The meat industry is controlled by 4 giant corporations. The packaged food industry is controlled by 10. The pharmaceutical industry is controlled by 3. And the news and entertainment media are controlled by just 6 corporations, most of which have already shown a willingness to ignore Trump’s lies and bow to his wishes. Many of these corporations supported and funded Trump’s campaign. What do they expect in return? Trump has promised to reduce or eliminate many of the corporate regulations intended to protect our citizens and our environment. (Incidentally, you may be interested to learn that Benito Mussolini, the founder of fascism, once said that fascism could better be described as corporatism.)

A kleptocracy is defined as a government in which its rulers use their positions to steal from the people. Given what we saw during Trump’s first term in office, how could one argue the description won’t apply to this term? Not only did he financially benefit from overcharging his own Secret Service officers for staying in his resorts and hotels, from violating the Constitution’s emoluments clause with his Washington, D.C. hotel, from appointing his family members to positions of power within his administration, and from his son-in-law receiving a $2 billion “investment” from the Saudis. Several of his cabinet members helped themselves to taxpayer funds for private vacations on government planes along with numerous other perks. And, by firing the independent Inspectors General, Trump has made it clear that we should expect even more of this behavior in the future.

A kakistocracy is defined as a nation run by the worst, least qualified or most unscrupulous people. It’s certainly difficult to argue that the incoming administration doesn’t fit that description. Not only is Trump a convicted felon, an indicted conspirator in the January 6 insurrection, the owner of a company convicted of tax fraud, an adjudicated sexual assaulter, and an accused rapist. Many of his nominees have also faced legal problems. And many more are obviously unqualified for their respective positions. Indeed, the only qualification that seems to matter is a willingness to kiss the king’s butt…err…ring.

Finally, as it sounds, an idiocracy is a society run by idiots. I’ll leave it to you to decide if the term now fits the United States.

Sadly, I fear the one definition that will no longer apply is democracy.

The Real Teflon Don.

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In the 1980s, John Gotti, the boss of the Gambino family became known as the “Teflon Don.” Though he was indicted for numerous crimes committed as head of America’s most powerful crime syndicate, he repeatedly escaped conviction through jury tampering, juror misconduct and witness intimidation. Until finally, in 1992, he was convicted of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, racketeering and a host of other crimes.

But today, we have a crime boss who has more successfully earned the title of “Teflon Don” – a criminal who has proven to be much more slippery. I’m referring, of course, to Donald J. Trump.

Gotti would be envious of Trump’s ability to escape any real accountability for his crimes. Sure, Trump was convicted of defamation following a sexual assault and sentenced to pay his victim $5 million. In addition, his crime family’s business was found guilty on 17 felony counts including tax fraud and fined $1.6 million. And more than a thousand members of his crime syndicate, aka MAGA, have been convicted or pleaded guilty for participating in an insurrection that cost lives.

But, thus far, he has dodged indictments for inciting the insurrection, for trying to coerce state officials into rigging the outcome of the 2020 election, and for stealing and mishandling highly sensitive classified documents. Moreover, despite being convicted of 34 felony counts for hush money payments to women with whom he had extramarital affairs, unlike his former fixer, he apparently will avoid any prison time or other penalties. And, after receiving a sentence far less severe than a slap on the wrist, he almost certainly will appeal his conviction to the Supreme Court, where it likely will be overturned by the corrupt conservative majority that already has judged him immune for crimes committed while in the White House.

He didn’t have to resort to witness intimidation. His MAGA followers did that for him. And he didn’t’ have to tamper with jurors. One of the federal judges he previously appointed did all the work for him.

More impressively, he was elected to a second term in the Oval Office, even though voters had been informed of his indictments and convictions, his marital infidelity, his alleged rapes and sexual assaults, his close ties to famed pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, his defrauding of the government, his bullying and more.

Soon he will have the power to pardon members of his crime syndicate and preside over a government of nominees, appointees and a congressional majority that mirrors his own self-serving, hateful image.

It has long been said that justice is blind. In the case of Donald J. Trump, it certainly is.

Complex Problems: Part 3 – The National Debt

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According to the National Debt Clock, our national debt is currently $36 trillion and counting. That’s because the government is currently spending more than $1.6 trillion than it receives from federal taxes. This is despite the fact that the annual deficit is currently $1 trillion less than when President Biden took office.

Of course, there are many who will say that the way to reduce the debt is to simply cut spending. Others will say that we need to raise taxes to increase revenue. But it’s not that simple. To understand why, you need to look at how we got here.

Since the end of World War II, we have endured two banking crises and 13 recessions. Many of those events resulted in the necessity of corporate bailouts, tax cuts, and increased spending to induce economic recovery. During that time, we have also fought in four costly wars, not including the estimated $26 trillion in today’s dollars spent on defense during the Cold War. More recently, the failed response to the Covid Pandemic resulted in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan and the $1.2 trillion Inflation Recovery Act, which were necessary to stave off a second Great Depression and lower runaway inflation. Without those expenditures, we would have seen unemployment and inflation continue to skyrocket with many millions of Americans in soup lines and/or begging in the streets.

The point is, in a civilized society, there are certain events and economic conditions that require government to outspend its revenue.

Not the least of these are the climate-related disasters that annually cost billions of dollars to help victims and rebuild infrastructure. The National Centers for Environmental Information estimate that over the last five years those costs have totaled $764.9 billion! Do we turn our backs on the Americans ravaged by wildfires, droughts, hailstorms, tornados and hurricane victims to avoid budget deficits? Of course not.

And there are still more issues that have contributed to our debt, including self-inflicted problems such as trade wars, battles over the debt ceiling, and political shutdowns of the government which have cost many billions of dollars.

Taking all of this into consideration, you can see why, in modern times, our government has experienced a budget surplus only once. That was accomplished by the Clinton administration.

Now, you may say that I have overlooked one of the largest contributors to our annual deficits – the rising costs of “entitlements.” Certainly, it is true that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid payments comprise about 61 percent of the annual federal budget. But before you call for cutbacks to these programs, consider this: In reality, these programs should be entirely separate from the federal budget. That’s because the retired workers who benefit from them have paid for them over a lifetime of work through FICA (the Federal Insurance Contributions Act).

That’s right, these programs are not “entitlements” at all. They are, in fact, insurance – nonprofit retirement insurance for which you pay premiums that are deducted from your paycheck.

Since the founding of the programs, the premiums collected have gone into a trust fund where the money is invested in federal securities. And because these programs are insurance, they should be treated like all other forms of insurance by following the principles of actuarial tables, which match premiums to expenditures. (When the costs of your casualty and accident auto insurance go up, so do your premiums.) Unfortunately, Congress has refused to consistently and equitably raise premiums, which has placed the programs in some degree of jeopardy.

That leads us to the politics of deficits and debt.

Since the Citizens United v FEC decision of 2010, political campaigns are funded in large part by billionaires, lobbying groups, and large corporations. Of course, these groups all expect a return on their investments. For example, despite the impact on our climate caused by the burning of fossil fuels, the fossil fuel industry received more than $1 trillion in subsidies in 2023. Many others have similarly cashed in. And all of these paybacks contribute to the deficit.

Further, politicians love to promise tax cuts even when they know those tax cuts will lead to larger deficits. Perhaps that’s why the highest federal income tax rate has been cut from 91 percent in 1950 to 40.8 percent today. Indeed, we have seen at least five major tax cuts since WWII. And since many of those same politicians like to campaign on a platform of fear – fear of immigrants, fear of other religions, fear of terrorism, and fear of other nations – they routinely vote to increase our defense budget.

The requested Pentagon budget for 2025 is nearly $850 billion dollars. That’s more than the next nine countries combined! And, if you separate Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid from the annual budget as is justified, it represents roughly 34 percent of the remaining (discretionary) budget. Add another $103.2 billion for Homeland Security, plus $303.8 billion for Veterans Affairs, and you’ll see that we’re spending an incredible amount for defense and the consequences of war – an annual total of more than $1.2 trillion that is nearly equal to our deficit.

And that doesn’t even include the $21 trillion in previous spending that the Pentagon couldn’t account for in a recent audit.

So, where do you cut? How do you raise more revenue? If you’re serious about reducing the debt, you absolutely have to do both. But if you do too much of either, you risk damaging the economy which will further add to the debt.

The planned tax cuts, inflation-inducing tariffs, and mass deportations of undocumented workers certainly isn’t the answer.

Complex Problems: Part 2 – Climate Change

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As previously mentioned, our modern world is facing a daunting list of complex and interrelated issues. Unfortunately, most of our elected leaders fail to address their complexity and continue to offer quick, simplistic, and ineffective “solutions.”

That’s a prescription for failure.

Instead of shallow politicians who make hollow promises, we need leaders who can recognize the complexity of problems, explain them to constituents, look for real and lasting solutions, and inspire action.

Take our growing climate crisis: One party has made incremental but insufficient changes in an attempt to mitigate the worst probabilities. While the other party denies that climate change even exists, calling it a hoax.

Meanwhile, millions of people suffer from the consequences of increasingly severe storms, drought-caused wildfires, food shortages, oppressive heat, rising insurance rates, and failing businesses. The human and financial toll of these events is simply astonishing. And the problem is only getting worse.

Based on a growing pool of evidence, scientists tell us that the Arctic Sea ice will be completely gone by 2027. They tell us that glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates which will lead to the flooding of some of our largest coastal cities. They tell us that large portions of the US, particularly the South and Southwest, will be uninhabitable by 2070.

Given that climate change is the result of burning fossil fuels to power our homes, our businesses, and our cars, you would think that making the necessary changes to address climate change would be simple – easier and less expensive than rebuilding entire regions following extreme weather-related events.

But you would be wrong.

First, we have massive industries which promote continued use of fossil fuels despite knowing the dangers they pose. For at least 15 years, car makers hid evidence that car exhausts were the primary cause of air pollution. Only after the evidence was finally exposed were cars required to have catalytic converters and lead additives were removed from gasoline. Even worse, for nearly 40 years, the world’s largest oil companies covered up evidence that the burning of fossil fuels was warming the planet.

Second, greedy corporations have resisted making changes to their supply chains. So, they continue to manufacture products half a world away and transport them thousands of miles (using fossil fuels) in order to take advantage of cheap labor.

Third, many religions would have you believe that climate change is God’s will – that you needn’t worry because it’s part of God’s plan, and, if you simply have faith, you will be transported to paradise. (NEWS FLASH: The Earth is paradise! Or, at least, it was before we discovered fossil fuels.)

Fourth, there’s the modern lifestyle which most people refuse to alter even in the most minor ways. We prioritize convenience and price over sustainability. We continue to commute long distances to work in fossil-fuel-burning cars. We fly around the world for vacations in fossil-fuel-burning aircraft. And we pollute our air, water, even our own bodies, with microplastics from our disposable products.

Fifth, the planet is suffering from overpopulation, particularly in developing countries. As these countries embrace the lifestyle of developed nations, they contribute more to the climate crisis. The Earth simply can’t sustain billions more people who demand cars, furnaces, and air-conditioning powered by fossil fuels along with all of the trappings of modern society.

Sixth, even among those who acknowledge the urgency of the problem, there’s a sense of defeatism – since governments aren’t addressing the climate crisis, they believe there’s little they can do to change what seems inevitable. And many of those who are sixty years old and older simply accept that they will probably die of old age before we experience the worst effects of the crisis.

What’s particularly sad is that we already have an abundance of technology-based solutions available. The use of wind, solar, and wave-generators are increasing, but not nearly fast enough. With further investment in batteries and infrastructure, EVs and hydrogen-powered vehicles can quickly replace the fossil fuel variety. As an interim step, small nuclear power plants can replace fossil fuel-powered plants while presenting little real danger. And the real game-changer – nuclear fusion – is on the horizon. The world’s first fusion-powered electric plant has broken ground.

The problem with all of this is that our government, alone among the world’s most advanced nations, has shown no sense of urgency. Meanwhile, the effects of the climate crisis are cascading. As the ice melts, the sea level is rising, already causing coastal flooding in some places. As the permafrost thaws, methane is released into the air leading to even more warming. In addition, ancient bacteria are released potentially leading to more illness. Climate-caused droughts will lead to more mass migration and more military conflicts. And the rapid temperature changes combined with the loss of habitat will lead to mass extinctions of wildlife species.

At the pace we’re reacting to the crisis, we and the rest of the inhabitants of the planet will suffer immensely. Indeed, we may not survive. But don’t just blame our government and political leaders. After all, we are the ones who put them in office.

Our Problems Are Too Big For Simple-Minded Solutions.

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Or simple-minded politicians.

The US and the world are facing a growing and complex set of interrelated problems. But few people have the time and patience to understand them. Many politicians know this all too well. So, instead of being honest with voters, they lie. They offer simplistic “solutions.” They create easy targets for voters to blame. Targets who have already been victimized, such as migrants and transexuals.

These people, they say, are the reason low to middle income voters are struggling. They tell voters that migrants are taking our jobs, filling our housing stock, and driving up prices when, in fact, the only jobs they are taking are those that no American citizens want. They also falsely claim that migrants are driving up crime rates.

The same politicians claim that transexuals are defying God and destroying our nation’s morals. They want you to believe that aspiring young male athletes are willing to permanently change their bodies, to undergo extensive hormonal therapies and to have their genitals removed, so that they can invade girls’ locker rooms and unfairly compete with the so-called weaker sex.

Seriously? How stupid do they think voters are? Never mind. We already know the answer to that question.

Now let’s take a look at the real problems we face: Climate change, human rights violations, mass shootings, religious conflicts and wars, poverty and food insecurity, wealth disparity and greed, corrupt and repressive governments, corporate consolidation of markets and resources, corporate treatment of workers as mere commodities, propagandist media, overcrowded urban areas, and hollowed-out rural areas.

There are no quick and simple answers for any of these problems. The issues are complex, and, in most cases, one drives the others.

For example, mass migration is the result of many factors. Very few people on the planet would leave their homeland, uproot their families, and, in many cases, walk thousands of miles through a gauntlet of hardships, violence, and obstacles just to take a poverty-level, back-breaking job elsewhere. That is, they wouldn’t unless the conditions in their homeland were much worse.

These migrants are leaving their homelands under threat of death – from wars, violent gangs, drug cartels, vicious dictators, greedy oligarchs, religious and political persecution, ethnic cleansing, and climate-caused droughts. They aren’t just looking for the promise of a better life. These men, women, and children are escaping almost certain death.

What happens when we deport them? In all likelihood, they will die. And their deaths should be forever burned into our collective conscious. Of course, many of those in prosperous countries will simply shrug their shoulders, offer thoughts and prayers, and claim their deaths are God’s will.

In fact, the anti-immigrant crowd is more likely to be concerned about the possible economic consequences of mass deportations. Deporting up to 12 million undocumented workers from the US could be catastrophic to our economy. After all, these are the workers who pick our fruit and vegetables, who process our meat, who cook our food, who clean our offices and hotel rooms, who repair our roofs, who do our landscaping, and nanny our children. Many have become friends and neighbors. And the plain fact is, we need these people.

But they should have entered the country the right way, you say. They should have stood in line to apply for immigration. The unfortunate truth is that it takes approximately three years to enter “the right way.” Most of those escaping their homelands would be dead by the time they received approval.

So, if walls, razor sharp concertina wire, and the threats of deportation are not the answer to migration, what is?

Clearly, a big part of the answer is to deal with the causes of migration. Of course, addressing climate change is a multi-generational task. So, there needs to be some interim way to humanely house and feed its victims. That only takes a willingness to help and money – likely less than we’re spending on walls. The other factors driving migration require governmental fixes – deposing dictators, ending persecution, and jailing gangs.

That all seems very daunting. But, in many cases, we – the world’s most prosperous nations and empires – created these problems and supported corrupt governments. We absolutely should be part of the solution.

Of course, that takes an honest, caring and sensible government at home. One run by politicians that are willing to level with voters, to understand the complexities and explain them to voters, to address the issues, to inspire, and to lead.

Unfortunately, such a government is nowhere to be seen on our horizon.