Category Archives: Terrorism

It Was Never About The “Worst Of The Worst.”

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The invasion of Minnesota by 3,000 feral paramilitary shock troops was never about arresting violent immigrants. Most of those people were already in Minnesota jails and prisons before being turned over to ICE. Certainly, the ICEstapo did detain immigrants. But almost all of them were hardworking, taxpaying individuals who contributed to our communities and are here legally.

Many of our immigrants are refugees or have applied for asylum. Some have been sponsored by family members. Many are legally here on Temporary Protected Status after fleeing war zones or overwhelming natural disasters. Others are going through the immigration process “the right way” and have been issued green cards, which permit them to live and work in the U.S. permanently. Some are “Dreamers” who were granted special status after being brought here as children. Some are holders of temporary visas. Still others are here on H1-B “genius” visas because they possess unique and valuable talents. A very few may be undocumented. But none of them – I repeat – none of them are “illegal aliens.”

That term should not be applied to any human being!

The invasion of Minnesota was, in fact, the combination of a Mafia-style shake-down and the regime wanting to exact violent retribution against a proud blue state.

How do we know that? Pam Bondi and the DOJ have recently stated that the regime will end its siege if the state ends its sanctuary policies, provides details of SNAP and Medicaid recipients and, more importantly, turns over voting data – an action that would be against state law.

Why voting data? Because the regime wants to use voter records to rig future elections, including the upcoming midterms. As Marc Elias says, “Donald Trump is obsessed with the midterms and will do whatever he needs to prevent losing control of Congress. Given his unpopularity, that likely means mass voter suppression, election subversion and outright election theft.

To accomplish any of this at scale, he will need unredacted statewide voter files. That would allow him and Bondi to identify which voters to target, which ballots to discard, and against whom to lodge false claims of fraud.”

In pursuit of the information, the ICEstapo and Border Patrol led by Hitler mini-me Greg Bovino have subjected tens of thousands of Minnesota residents to terrorist tactics – illegally dragging them out of their cars with the windows broken and the motors still running. They’ve kidnapped a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old to use as bait to lure parents out of their homes.

These morally bankrupt criminals have usurped freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, including freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. They have violated the 4th Amendment prohibiting unreasonable search and seizure. They’ve also violated the 5th Amendment guaranteeing due process in addition to numerous other provisions of the Constitution.

And with the murders of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, they have unconstitutionally invoked a policy of “obey or die.”

Apparently, they believe that no one can hold them accountable by recording and observing their almost always brutal tactics. They have, after all, been told by their leaders and the corrupt regime in Washington, DC that they have complete and total immunity for their actions. In the process, they have terrified most residents of our great cities.

Because the ICEstapo is racial profiling, citizens who are brown and black are afraid to leave their homes. Even Native Americans have been detained and swept away to detention centers in other states. As a result, our economy is dying. What the racist, anti-immigrant crowd doesn’t understand is that we need immigrants. A Minnesota economist has stated that the African, Asian, Latino, and Native American communities in Minnesota account for 1 in 10 businesses owned, 1 in 5 workers, and 1 in 5 dollars earned.

If this invasion is to stop, we must see a unified response from elected Democrats, candidates and patriotic Americans across the nation. It’s not enough to retire Bovino and chastise the puppy killing Noem.

We must see more Republicans follow the lead of a Minnesota candidate for governor who recently left the electoral race and the party in disgust. We cannot wait for the regime to have a change of heart. (It’s no more likely to do that than to release all of the Epstein files.) And we certainly cannot expect the outcome of the midterm elections to rein in the fascists. Given the statements and actions of the Trump regime, those elections may very well never be allowed to happen.

Where Is Democratic Leadership?

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As I’ve previously written, CBP and ICE have deployed 3,000 masked, heavily armed bullies to Minnesota, including the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and their suburbs. For weeks, they have been terrorizing residents by making arrests using illegal and unconstitutional tactics, often brutally ripping innocent citizens from their homes and cars. In the process, they are using an array of internationally banned chemical agents to punish onlookers who are hoping to hold the bullies accountable.

People – citizens and noncitizens alike – are understandably frightened. Businesses are suffering and many will not survive the siege.

During this assault, what have we heard from Democratic leadership? Crickets.

Minnesota state and city leaders have forcefully spoken out, even filing a lawsuit against DHS. Members of Minnesota’s Democratic caucus in Congress have spoken out. But Jeffries and Schumer? They seem unfazed by the unconstitutional actions of Trump’s personal assault team. No press conferences to denounce the situation. No media appearances. Indeed, it has been reported that neither Jeffries nor Schumer tried to convince their colleagues to block additional funding for ICE and CBP!

Why?

Why are Democrats not using every available parliamentary technique to block funding? (Perhaps Schumer should consult Mitch McConnell to learn how to fight the opposition party’s agenda.) Why are they not using every available opportunity to speak to the media? Why are they not screaming from the rooftops?

From the beginning of the Trump regime, Democratic leadership has conceded issue after issue to MAGA without so much as a stern speech on the floors of Congress in the middle of the night. All I see from national Democrats are emails asking for more money.

Meanwhile, the situation in Minnesota could not be more dire!

There are now hundreds, if not thousands of Anne Franks – legal immigrants afraid to leave home who are protected and supplied by neighbors. And, while Minnesota is suffering the brunt of the regime’s brutality, unless they are stopped, they will soon invade other cities and states with the same cruel tactics.

The regime’s disdain for our Constitution and the rule of law is not in question. It is not a matter of political conjecture. It is real. And the very future of our democracy is at a tipping point!

Yet our Democratic leaders seem unfazed. They seem to be content to wait for the midterms. But there is absolutely no certainty that Democrats will take control of Congress as the result of the elections. It’s possible, almost inevitable, that Trump and his regime will steal the elections. Trump has even talked about invoking the Insurrection Act and having the military seize ballot boxes.

We cannot allow that to happen. We must demand that our leaders speak up and fight back. If they won’t, we need new leaders!

The Dishonest Reframing Of Operation Arctic Frost.

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With Senator Chuck Grassley’s description of an FBI and DOJ investigation targeting rightwing groups code-named “Artic Frost,” it would appear that the Biden administration had politicized and weaponized the government against Republican organizations.

But that narrative doesn’t fit the reality of the time.

Keep in mind that the operation began following a violent attempted coup at the nation’s capital and a coordinated attempt to overturn a free and fair election – all orchestrated by Trump and a variety of rightwing groups, including Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA. Indeed, prior to the insurrection, Kirk posted that Turning Point Action would send more than 80 busloads of Trump supporters to Washington, DC to “fight for the president.”

Other conservative groups conspired to illegally replace legitimate electors as part of the Stop The Steal scheme. And Trump, himself, was recorded demanding the Georgia Secretary of State to illegally “find” the 11,780 votes necessary to hand him the 2020 election.

All of that goes well beyond ordinary politics – well beyond Watergate. It undermines the very foundation of our nation and crosses the line into conspiracy to commit multiple felonies, including sedition.

To further put Operation Arctic Frost into context, the FBI had long ago identified rightwing groups as the most prolific source of domestic terrorism. {Think Timothy McVeigh’s bombing in Oklahoma City aimed at the FBI, a rightwing militia’s attempt to kidnap the Democratic governor of Michigan, and the murder of Minnesota Democratic legislator Melissa Hortman.)

In fact, over the past 10 years, rightwing extremists, including those who oppose abortion, immigrants, minorities, government and non-Christian religions have been responsible for 378 murders. These were all acts of terrorism.

That’s not to say that leftwing extremists haven’t committed acts of violence. But despite what Vice-President Vance says, they are comparatively rare.

Nevertheless, you can expect the Trump regime to use the murder of Charlie Kirk and the revelation of Operation Arctic Frost to justify further attacks on their political opponents. The regime has already shown contempt for the Constitution by governing in direct violation of the 1st, 4th, 6th, 8th and 14th Amendments. And Trump seems determined to seek a third term in violation of the 20th Amendment.

It would not be surprising to see the regime try to arrest and silence opponents. And, given that there were no real consequences for January 6 due to court delays, the SCOTUS immunity ruling and presidential pardons, you can be certain that Trump will further attempt to rig the 2026 election in order to retain his grip on power.

The Divide Between The Left And The Right Is More Than Ideological.

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It’s cultural. With the left determined to maintain some degree of decorum along with traditional norms and institutions. And the right determined to exact retribution against its opponents – to own the Libs – and to tear our government apart.

Those differences have never been more apparent than following the recent political assassinations of Minnesota State Legislator, Melissa Hortman, and MAGA activist Charlie Kirk.

After the murder of Hortman and the violent attack on Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman by an apparent white Christian Nationalist, many on the right refused to acknowledge that the attacks were political despite abundant evidence to the contrary. Some falsely attributed the shootings to a “Leftist Marxist.” Others blamed the victims. A few used the attack to make sarcastic remarks aimed at Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Further, Trump even refused to call Walz, saying it would be a waste of time.

Contrast that to the response following Kirk’s death: Almost every Democratic politician, political commentator and entertainer have decried the shooting and mourned the state of our political discourse. One glaring exception was MSNBC contributor, Matthew Dowd, a Republican, who was fired by the center-left network for stating the uncomfortable truth that Kirk’s hateful rhetoric likely led to his own death.

Meanwhile, those on the right are calling for vengeance by baselessly blaming the left for Kirk’s death though most political shootings have been committed by MAGA supporters. Trump quickly blamed the shooting on “the radical left.” Fox host, Jesse Waters, claims “we are at war.” MAGA ally Laura Loomer calls for “cracking down on the left with the full force of the government.” And, despite the fact that the vast majority of political violence has been committed by MAGA, Trump advisor Stephen Miller vowed to use the full force of the government to shut down leftist groups (aka MAGA’S political opposition).

In truth, the response from the right seems as extreme as its cruel policies.

Let me be clear: All murders, especially political murders, are disgusting and cowardly acts. But these targeted assassinations reveal a new low in the freefall of political discourse in our nation. That said, one must also acknowledge that Kirk was a prominent contributor to that freefall. Kirk not only tested the limits of his right to free speech. He abused that right in his pursuit of power, fortune and fame by promoting falsehoods and conspiracy theories.

Moreover, Kirk used his freedom of speech to undermine the very government to which he owed that freedom.

As a white Christian Nationalist, he advocated for an end to separation of church and state. He opposed a woman’s freedom of choice to control her own body. He created a Professor Watchlist to threaten the academic freedom and careers of college professors with whom he disagreed. He promoted the Great Replacement Theory and claimed that the white majority are the actual victims of racism. He was integral to the January 6 insurrection in which many of his followers stormed the Capitol with the intent of hanging the Vice-President and others. And ironically, he thought that the thousands of deaths from gun violence are justified by the need for the Second Amendment.

Yet despite his contributions to help elect a dictatorial and autocratic regime, and despite the pain he inflicted on so many others, Kirk is being feted as a martyr and honored with the Medal of Freedom.

These unwarranted honors are further evidence of the asymmetry with which the two political sides are treated.

Now, as a blogger and a journalist, I’ll admit to resorting to hyperbole in some of my writings that contribute to the coarse tone of our political debate. And I will strive to constrain myself in the future. But I challenge you to compare the rhetoric from the right to that of the left. I think you will find that there is no comparison. The cruel and hateful tone from the right begins in the White House.

Only in the MAGA universe is it acceptable for a President of the United States to refer to immigrants as vermin, to Democrats as Demoncrats and traitors, to the legitimate press as enemies of the people, to women as nasty, filthy, crazy, or ugly, and to every problem as a Democrat hoax. He even suggested that the Second Amendment folks could deal with a rival. That rhetoric is repeated and even exaggerated by the MAGA base.

It’s long past time for reasonable Americans to reject such purveyors of hate and fear no matter which side they’re on. It’s one thing to oppose policies and to voice a differing opinion. It’s quite another to incite violence through words or actions. Indeed, no one should be targeted for expressing their thoughts and opinions.

A sharp criticism or a biting commentary may temporarily hurt. But under no circumstances is a bullet an acceptable retort.

Consequences Of The Trump Regime.

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Most people are concerned about the impact on separation of powers, the Constitution, and our democracy. But there is much more to be worried about. Following is a partial list of consequences to the planet, the nation and its citizens as a result of the regime’s policies:

  1. Increased debt and interest payments thereby mortgaging the future of the next generations as a result of tax cuts for the wealthy.
  2. Increased inflation due to tariffs.
  3. Increased political division and political violence.
  4. Further weakening of institutions and norms.
  5. Increased hunger and homelessness along with a widening of the wealth gap.
  6. Massive decline in necessary workers for the food industry, construction and hospitality from deportations.
  7. More bankruptcies of family farms resulting in further corporate consolidation of our food chain.
  8. Increased vulnerability to terrorists and rogue nations as a result of the brain drain at the CIA and National Security Agency.
  9. More political control of our nation by billionaires (deepening of the oligarchy).
  10. Massive brain drain from cutting funds to universities and research.
  11. Further consolidation of media and erosion of first amendment rights.
  12. Weakening of public education furthering the wealth gap and brain drain.
  13. Further erosion of separation of church and state.
  14. Weakening or elimination of FEMA, NOAA and NWS resulting in lack of preparedness for extreme weather events.
  15. Further accelerating the global climate crisis by increased use of fossil fuels, increased lumbering, oil drilling in national parks and erasing incentives for electric cars and other mitigation efforts.
  16. Weakening of CDC and NIH resulting in lack of preparedness for another pandemic.
  17. Increased bankruptcies of hospitals and other healthcare facilities as a result of cuts to Medicaid and the ACA.
  18. Increased health insurance rates as a result of forcing the uninsured into ERs because they can’t afford routine medical visits.
  19. Undercutting citizen faith in vaccines making children more vulnerable to deadly disease.
  20. Weakening of our nation’s stature around the globe making us a global bully and pariah as a result of tariffs along with ICE and its concentration camps.
  21. Weakening of the arts by elimination of funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.
  22. Increased racism and misogyny as a result of the attacks on DEI.
  23. Overloading of the foster system by unwanted births due to denial of abortions.
  24. Mass extinctions of species as a result of ending mitigation policies for global warming.
  25. Increased state and local taxes as a result of cuts to federal grants.
  26. Massive loss of revenue from foreign tourists and foreign students.
  27. Loss of revenue from exports to foreign nations due to tariffs and offensive statements.

Given the regime’s policies, these consequences are inevitable. Are they what you voted for?

One Of The World’s Greatest Propaganda Machines.

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As a former writer, creative director and owner of ad agencies, I could be considered somewhat of an expert on propaganda. So, despite being appalled by the Republican Party’s policies and utter cruelty, I have long been impressed by its mastery of propaganda.

In advertising and marketing, we are taught that the best way to attack competitors who have failed to articulate and promote a clear and positive brand is to simply rebrand them. To portray the brand as too expensive, too weak, too out of step with the times.

In essence, that is what the Republican Party and its propaganda outlets have done to Democrats. And the Democratic Party made it easy. For much too long, Democrats have embraced the Will Rogers quote: “I’m not a member of an organized political party. I’m a Democrat.” That may have been humorous and harmless when the party was at its peak in the days following FDR’s New Deal. But it’s toxic today.

Sure, the Democratic Party offers a big tent with room for lots of disparate groups and minorities. That’s good. But for decades, the Party has failed to articulate its core beliefs of equality and fairness; of establishing a government that serves all Americans, especially workers.

That made things easy for Republicans, their billionaire benefactors, and their propaganda machine.

For example, by embracing the Moral Majority and rebranding anti-abortionists as pro-life, Republicans were able to successfully portray Ronald Reagan, a Hollywood actor, as morally superior and more religious than President Jimmy Carter, a Baptist preacher. Republicans also took advantage of Reagan’s repeal of the Fairness Doctrine, which freed electronic media to conflate opinion with news, by embracing Rush Limbaugh and his golden microphone. Recognizing that emotions – particularly anger, hatred and fear – are good for ratings, Limbaugh and his Republican sponsors began hammering Democrats with a continuous stream of propaganda that would have made Nazi Germany’s Goebbels envious.

A seemingly endless stream of Rush imitators followed suit. And they were soon joined by Fox News Channel, which hired Republican media consultant, Roger Ailes, as CEO. While operating under the ironic slogan “Fair and Balanced”, Fox became the nation’s most powerful megaphone praising Republican ideologies and spreading disinformation.

More recently, websites, social media, and podcasts have caused the viewers, readers, and listeners to be further separated into ideological silos where unbiased reporters and factcheckers are unwelcome.

For decades, the ratings and readership of these propaganda outlets have soared as they have blamed gays, immigrants, transexuals and Democrats for all of our nation’s ills. The attacks on minorities, taxes, an over-reaching federal government, the courts, and education are particularly effective in rural areas where the population is mostly comprised of straight, white Christians…all of it is aided by our nation’s abysmal literacy record. (21 percent of U.S. adults are illiterate and 54 percent of U.S. adults are literate at a 6th grade level or below.)

The propaganda’s impact on rural areas has led to Republican control of the South and much of the Midwest as well as the U.S. Senate. It also greatly impacts presidential races as a result of the Electoral College.

Republican propaganda in the form of disinformation and misinformation has given us Q-anon, Pizzagate, and the January 6 insurrection. It has convinced a majority to believe that vaccines are more dangerous than guns, that politicians know more about healthcare than doctors, that the climate crisis is a hoax, and that white people are the victims of racism. More worrisome, it has given us a second Trump administration headed by a thrice-married, twice-impeached charlatan who should be serving time for 34 felonies, for trying to rig an election, for inspiring an insurrection and for mishandling highly classified national intelligence.

Now all of that hatred and cruelty has been unleashed to detain, arrest, deport and brutalize ordinary people whose only crime is to seek safety, a job, and a better life for their children. And they’re not the only victims. We all are.

If our ever-so-fragile democracy survives this moment, the Republican propaganda machine will be a case study in mass media, marketing, and political science classes for decades to come. Hopefully, those studying it will also find a way to better implement the antidote for propaganda – truth.

Imagine The Worst Thing That Can Happen To Our Country.

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Whatever scenario you come up with, the Felon-in-Chief will do worse. Since taking office, his actions have exceeded every worst-case scenario Democrats and even his own voters could have imagined.

For example, he didn’t just nominate a cabinet of staunch conservatives; he nominated unqualified and wholly incompetent extremists. He didn’t just pardon the January 6 insurrectionists that invaded the Capitol, he pardoned those who brutally beat cops.

He’s not just deporting immigrants who are violent criminals as he promised, he’s trying to deport law-abiding immigrants and lawful residents including essential workers, parents, children with cancer, educators, students, refugees, even US citizens.

He’s not just lining his pockets by peddling influence to international leaders, he’s lining the pockets of his entire crime family and his billionaire friends.

He’s not just reshaping the government; he randomly fired tens of thousands of nonpartisan federal workers so he could replace them with MAGA loyalists. He’s not only discriminating against minorities by banning DEI programs in the federal government, but he’s also punishing universities and corporations that fail to follow his lead. He not only purged black and female leadership from our military, he’s all but erased the civil rights movement and LGBTQ rights movement from history.

He’s not just calling news reporters and the media “enemies of the people,” he’s suing networks for reporting the truth and threatening to take away their broadcast licenses.

He didn’t just alienate our closest allies. He’s sucked up to some of our worst adversaries and dictators. He didn’t just invoke tariffs to protect American industries; he invoked tariffs on all goods entering the U.S. resulting in higher prices and increased inflation. And he’s not only pushing a bill to cut taxes on billionaires and multinational corporations, but he’s also raising taxes on workers and taking healthcare access away from millions of ordinary Americans.

His DOJ isn’t just investigating those who worked on his own criminal investigations, it’s now arresting political opponents and charging them with crimes. His DHS isn’t just sending the heavily armed ICEstapo into communities to arrest innocent workers, the Felon has unnecessarily sent National Guard troops and Marines into Los Angeles to incite protesters in hopes he can invoke the Insurrection Act. And according to his executive order, it’s obvious that he plans to send the military into any city he considers worthy of his ire.

He ordered a $40 million Soviet-style military parade to celebrate his birthday. That’s bad enough, but don’t be surprised if he orders the troops and tanks to stay in Washington to take over the city and threaten Congress. (He did, after all, direct his supporters to overturn the 2020 election and hang his disobedient VP.) He didn’t just have the DOGE bros collect personal data on every living American, he’ll likely use them to electronically rig upcoming elections.

And these are but a few examples. What’s the worst you can imagine? Almost certainly, it won’t be as bad as the eventual reality.

The Oppressed Have Become The Oppressors.

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In an attempt to put the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into perspective, it should be noted that it all began with the Balfour Declaration of 1917 when the UK agreed to create a home for Jews who were being persecuted in Europe. Of course, Jews had historical links to the land in British-controlled Palestine, but it had been occupied by Palestinians for centuries.

The British intended for the land and the city of Jerusalem to be shared, and the rights of Palestinians protected. But Israel declared independence in 1948 and was recognized by the UN. That led to war with the five surrounding Arab nations and the displacement of roughly 750,000 Palestinians. Then in 1967, Israel captured more territory following a pre-emptive war with Egypt, Syria and Jordan leading to Israeli control of more than a million Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. As years passed, violence from both sides continued with Israel tightening its control of Palestinians in Gaza and clearing Palestinians from large tracts of the West Bank.

The growing Palestinian frustration and anger eventually led to the horrific events of October 7, 2023. As a result, Israel was certainly justified in attacking Hamas militants in Gaza. But the response has been vastly disproportionate and indiscriminate. Instead of an initial ground campaign to root out and kill or capture the militants, Israel chose to execute a massive bombing campaign followed by a large-scale invasion that has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Gazans.

Indeed, given the brutality of Israel’s attacks on Gaza, the conflict can no longer be called a war. It now meets the very definition of ethnic cleansing.

Here are the numbers:

  • More than 52,000 Palestinians – mostly civilians – have been killed
  • More than 50,000 children have been killed or wounded
  • More than 1.9 million of the 2.1 million Gazans are displaced
  • At least 45 percent of the housing in Gaza has been destroyed
  • 75 percent of Gaza farmland has been destroyed
  • By January of this year, almost 7,000 Palestinians were being held on administrative detention (a practice that began long before October 7) without charges and without trials
  • Since 2023, conditions for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons have so declined that at least 70 prisoners have died
  • US trauma teams have reported seeing dozens of Palestinian children as young as 2 who were shot in the head or torso by Israeli snipers
  • 408 aid workers have been killed, including 280 from UNRWA
  • 176 journalists have been killed by Israeli forces
  • 374 medical personnel have been killed as a result of Israeli strikes
  • Hospitals and clinics have been damaged or destroyed by 1,644 Israeli strikes
  • The entire population of Gaza is facing food insecurity due to Israeli blockades
  • 250,000 Palestinians are currently facing starvation, and that number is expected to double
  • 71,000 children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition
  • 14,100 children under the age of five suffer severe malnutrition and death
  • Approximately 18,400 pregnant and breastfeeding women are expected to need malnutrition treatment to prevent irreversible and life-threatening health problems for both mothers and babies
  • At least 31 Palestinians were reportedly shot and killed by IDF soldiers at a recently opened food distribution site and hundreds more were wounded

Despite its nearly complete devastation of Gaza, no end of the conflict is in sight. Israel has announced plans to seize Gaza and stay for an unspecified time. And until very recently, Israel has blocked all humanitarian aid to Gaza, with some Israeli officials laughingly saying, “it will end Palestinian obesity.”

At the same time, Israeli settlers have increased attacks on Palestinians on the West Bank and the Israeli government approved 22 new settlements with the explanation that it will permanently end any possibility of a Palestinian state.

Yet the Trump administration continues to supply weapons to Israel despite its obvious war crimes. It has even shown a willingness to violate our constitutional right of free speech for even speaking out about the plight of Palestinians claiming that any expression of such sentiments constitutes antisemitism. But there is a vast difference between telling the truth about a violent and repressive government and engaging in hate speech against those who follow one of the world’s largest and oldest religions.

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.

The Hamas-Israeli War By The Numbers.

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70 million – the number of kilograms of explosives dropped on Gaza (the equivalent of 3 nuclear bombs of the type dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II.)

2.26 million – the approximate number of Palestinians living in the West Bank.

2.1 million – the approximate number of Palestinians living in Gaza prior to the war.

1.9 million – the number of Gaza Palestinians displaced since the beginning of the war.

450,000 – the number of Israeli settlers living in settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

250,000 – the number of Palestinians living in East Jerusalem.

220,000 – the number of Israeli settlers living in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.

77,084 – the number of Palestinians wounded since the start of the war.

34,000 – the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza and the West Bank since the start of the war.

14,000 – the number of Palestinian children killed by the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) since the start of the war.

1,410 – the total number of Israelis killed by Hamas since the start of the war.

1,139 – the number of Israelis killed by Hamas in the October 7 surprise attack.

520 – the approximate number of Palestinians held without charges by Israel in administrative detention (many of them children).

500 – the approximate number of healthcare workers killed by Israeli airstrikes.

317 – the number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since the start of the war (most by Israeli settlers).

250 – the approximate number of Israeli hostages taken in the Hamas attack.

200 – the number of humanitarian aid workers killed by the IDF.

140.93 – the number of square miles in the Gaza strip.

97 – the number of journalists killed trying to document the war – mostly by the IDF.

72 – the percentage of Gaza casualties who are children.

60 – the approximate percentage of Gaza buildings damaged or destroyed by the IDF.

20 – the number of Gaza hospitals damaged or destroyed by the IDF.

14 – the number of years it will take to remove debris and unexploded bombs as estimated by the UN.

2 – the number of Hamas-held Israeli hostages mistakenly killed by the IDF.

0 – the number of winners of the war.

Why do I say there will be no winners? Because, in war, there seldom are. And though Israel has the capacity to destroy all of Gaza, its disproportionate response to October 7 and its indiscriminate killing of Palestinian civilians has called attention to its long-standing practice of apartheid. That has resulted in a growing anti-Israeli sentiment worldwide.

We can only hope that the frustration and anger is directed at the rightwing leaders of Israel and not at the Israeli and Jewish people in general.