Category Archives: Greed

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 And, at the urging of conservatives and President Reagan, the Federal Communications Commission rescinded the doctrine altogether.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 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.

Good People Who Unintentionally Damaged Our Democracy.

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In recent years, there have been numerous officials and powerful figures who have done great harm to our nation. To name just a few: Nixon authorized a break-in to undermine the integrity of our elections. Ronald Reagan created distrust in our federal government and formed a shadow government that led to the Iran–Contra scandal. George W. Bush and his V.P. Dick Cheney lied about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Bush’s brother, Jeb, undermined the presidential election in 2000. The Koch brothers bombarded our elections with billions to help destroy our government. Australian national Rupert Murdoch enriched himself by creating the rightwing propaganda network known as Fox News Channel. And Donald J. Trump fomented racial division, promoted false claims of election fraud, and incited a violent insurrection.

There are many, many others – mostly Republicans.

However, there are three well-intentioned Democrats who have caused lasting damage to our democracy in other ways. They are, in no particular order, Ruth Bader-Ginsberg (the notorious RBG), President Biden, and Merrick Garland.

The one trait these people shared is caution.

To wit, RBG, even while battling cancer, refused to resign her seat on the Supreme Court of the United States in the hope that the first woman president (Hillary Clinton) could name her replacement. Of course, though Clinton won the popular vote, she lost the election which allowed Trump to choose a young, partisan right-winger to succeed her.

President Biden won a mandate in 2020 in which Democrats controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. They immediately stabilized the government following Trump’s failed coup d’etat, improved our standing in the international community, and expertly ended the pandemic. But, though Biden, along with Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer accomplished many other great things including passing the long-awaited bipartisan infrastructure bill, the CHIPs Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden failed to articulate the benefits of those accomplishments to the voting public.

Worse, instead of clearly announcing that he would not seek re-election at the age of 82, he decided to run again. By waiting too long, he gave V.P. Harris just a little more than 100 days to campaign for the office, making her task exceedingly difficult, if not impossible.

The third, and I believe the most damaging person on this list is Garland. Though he was highly qualified as a judge and would have made a fine member of SCOTUS. His judicial caution made him a pathetic Attorney General.

Despite warnings that justice delayed is justice denied, Garland failed to quickly investigate and prosecute Trump for his many obvious crimes. He waited nearly two years to name a special counsel, apparently hoping to avoid the appearance of partisanship. Not surprisingly, the delay played directly into the hands of the man who had been schooled by the attorney to the Mob. Not only did Trump and his cronies label Garland’s actions a partisan witch hunt anyway. The delay permitted Trump to use an avalanche of court filings and aid from those he appointed to the bench to avoid justice.

As a result, we now have a convicted felon as President-Elect who can claim immunity for almost any crime that he and his nominees commit. Almost certainly, there will be many.

Kakistocracy Returns.

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And this time, it’s a real sh*storm!

Kakistocracy, of course, is defined as a government run by the least acceptable and least competent officials. How else could you describe a government led by a thuggish narcissistic sociopath and administered by his unhinged and unqualified sycophants?

Think that assessment too harsh?

Not when an unqualified Fox News host is nominated to lead the world’s most powerful military. Not when a brain worm-infected anti-vaxxer is put in charge of the nation’s health services. Not when a Putin-loving conspiracy theorist is nominated as the nation’s top intelligence officer. And especially not when a former congressman who is the subject of a House investigation and credibly accused of illegal drug use and trafficking underage women for sex is nominated to lead the justice department.

In the words of Trump’s former attorney, Ty Cobb, that is “a f**k you to America.”
Indeed, the election of Trump is clearly a f**k you to our constitution, democracy and decency.

Trump has used a combination of lies, hateful rhetoric, and threats of violence to so enrage his followers against his political opponents, recent immigrants, transsexuals, and other minorities that they’re willing to destroy everything good that our nation has stood for.

For these insurrectionists, nothing is sacred.

After previously attacking police and defacing the halls of democracy on January 6th, they now seem ready to abandon our most hallowed principles and institutions, including the rule of law that our nation was founded upon.

In addition, they seem intent on ending all efforts to mitigate the climate crisis and abandoning relationships with our long-standing allies. They talk of rewriting our constitution; of consolidating power in the executive branch; of mass deportations; of eliminating protections for the LGBTQ community and other minorities; of deregulating large corporations and lowering their taxes; of imposing tariffs that will put our economy at risk; of privatizing our schools; of banning abortion and contraception; of banning books and history; of diminishing the power of labor unions; of eliminating the Federal Reserve; and of replacing the U.S. dollar with crypto currency.

Given their control of the Oval Office, the Senate, the House and SCOTUS, they now have the power to burn it all down. And they won’t stop there. I believe the goal is to bring the entire world to its knees with orders to kiss the ring of Trump and his fellow autocrats.

Instead, they can kiss my ass!

Trump Has Already Irreversibly Damaged Our Nation.

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Forget his plans for a second term. Pay no attention to the impending execution of Project 2025. Disregard his planned revenge against political opponents. Try to ignore the coming mass deportations, the threats to leave NATO, the refusal to address climate change, and his pandering to the obscenely wealthy and large corporations. Those are only symptoms of his impact on a nation that was once proud to be a beacon for the poor and the oppressed.

Trump long ago set the United States on an unprecedented path of hate, cruelty and injustice.

Following a decade of his rhetoric, our political theater has evolved from a time when word of an extramarital affair was disqualifying to a point where a majority of our citizens voted for a man who previously would have been a model for the most evil and the most dastardly cartoon villain ever.

Despite his constant lies, his bragging, his blatant cruelty, his obvious racism, the dozens of credible accusations of sexual assault, his felony convictions and multiple grand jury indictments, his fraudulent use of taxpayer funds, his failed response to the pandemic that killed many thousands of Americans and crashed our economy, his cavalier handling of our nation’s most guarded secrets, and his attempt to overthrow our government, a plurality of Americans chose him to be their leader.

How could that happen?

It’s not as if voters were unfamiliar with Trump’s darkest tendencies. They had four years to observe his unethical, immoral and incompetent actions during his first term as president. Journalists exposed his more than 30,000 lies while in office. They reported that he was schooled in racism and eugenics by his father, that he was mentored by a lawyer for the Mafia, that his company was found guilty of defrauding the government of taxes, and that he created phony “charities” to further avoid paying his fair share.

It has been revealed that Trump’s best friend was a sexual predator. And that he gleefully bragged of sexually assaulting young women himself. But millions of Americans marked their ballots for him anyway.

Why?

I believe that Trump, unfortunately, represents the values of a large segment of our population, including many Americans who claim to be devout Christians.

Regardless of what happens over the next 4 years, the damage has already been done. He has coarsened our public conversations. He has further divided our population. He has encouraged Americans to distrust journalists and scientists, to ignore evidence and facts. He has further politicized the courts and the churches. He has modeled hate, cruelty, greed and corruption for the next generation of American leaders. He has even led them to question the value of democracy.

From here I fear there is no turning back. All we can hope for is that the outcome of future elections will result in the restoration of our Constitution and our nation’s most essential institutions. Even then, America will never be the same.

It has been made clear that our claim of American exceptionalism based on “freedom, justice and dignity for all” is little more than a myth. And the vision of a shining city on the hill has been forever dimmed.

What Your Support Of Trump Says About You:

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If you are a multi-millionaire, a billionaire or an executive of a large, multinational corporation, your MAGA support is likely a matter of greed. Trump’s previous tax cuts and promised further cuts make you willing to ignore his boorish and bullying behavior. It shows that you are greedy and self-focused – able to ignore the prospects of our nation turning from democracy to autocracy. It also shows that you have little to no compassion for your fellow human beings.

If you’re poor, a first-generation immigrant, a member of a minority, or a military veteran, it implies that you are a masochist. Why else would you support someone who has such a long history of referring to you as lazy, criminals, unintelligent, or suckers and losers?

If you’re an evangelical who believes Trump has been chosen by God to “save” you and your religious brethren, it shows that you have eschewed the tenets of your religion to worship a cult leader who is the polar opposite of your Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, and most other historical religious leaders. Trump is clearly a sociopath who knows nothing about compassion – the foundation of most religions. He cares only about himself.

If you’re a male 18-65, it says you are afflicted with toxic masculinity. You are likely angry, cruel, and entitled – perhaps an incel who sees women, immigrants, the poor, and the LGBTQ+ community as subjects who exist only to satiate your overwhelming need for dominance. In your perverse mind, they are to be controlled, ridiculed, used, and abused.

If you’re a young female of child-bearing age, it shows that you are likely either naïve or delusional. You unquestionably have a low self-image – willing to forgo the right to control your own body in service of a cult controlled by outsized male egos.

If you’re a senior, it shows that you have simply given up on the future. You no longer care about democracy, our government, or most of the other inhabitants of our planet. You are willing to ignore climate change and the extinction of millions of species. And you are willing to accept autocracy as long as your Social Security checks keep coming and you can rely on Medicare to help you enjoy a bit more time with your grandchildren.

And if you’re a child under the age of 18, it shows that you have either been indoctrinated by your MAGA parents, or you are acting out as part of a rebellion against polite society.

Almost certainly, most of you will disagree. And you certainly have a right to do so. But seriously, I can see no other reasons for anyone to support such a hateful, cruel, lying, womanizing, self-centered, sociopathic, treacherous and greedy excuse for a human being. One whose celebrity, fortune, and claimed success is based entirely on the labor of others.

The Robbers…er…Roberts Court.

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Under Chief Justice Roberts, the highest court in the land has become the most corrupt and hyper partisan in history. Unencumbered by a code of ethics, two of its members have accepted gifts worth millions in exchange for their votes. Two of the majority were credibly accused of sexual misconduct. Most, if not all, of the ruling majority perjured themselves during Senate confirmation hearings. And, ruling in lockstep, the majority has all but destroyed any respect for the justice system and the rule of law, the cornerstones of our democracy.

This court of last resort for traitors, conmen, and fascists has robbed women of the right to control their own bodies. It has robbed minorities of federal protections making it more difficult for people of color to vote. It has robbed federal agencies of the power to regulate large corporations. It has prioritized corporations over people and billionaires over everyone else. And, based on a clear misinterpretation of the Second Amendment, it has consistently ruled in favor of guns over the lives of people, even those of children.

The court has sufficiently delayed trials involving Trump, so that he will likely escape justice for his many unconstitutional and treasonous acts. Behind the scenes, at least one of its members allegedly pressured wannabe Supreme Court justice Aileen Cannon into delaying and eventually dismissing the case against Trump for stealing and mishandling classified documents. And, ignoring the wisdom of our founders, the majority has actually proclaimed the orange-tinted felon immune from prosecution for any and all illegal actions while in office.

In effect, this once proud and respected institution has been transformed into a governmental branch of the fascist White Christian Nationalist Movement seemingly bent on turning our nation into a mirror of Putin’s Russia.

To call it a kangaroo court would be a grievous injustice to kangaroos! And if our Republic does somehow survive the next two years, this version of SCROTUS will be internationally reviled by historians for centuries.