Category Archives: Trump

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.

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.

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.

Democratic Branding.

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During my many years of working in the advertising industry at a high level (I helped create brands for hundreds of well-known products and services), I learned that, if an organization fails to create a positive brand image for itself, its competitors will create one for it. And the competitors’ version will not be flattering.

That’s exactly what Republicans have done to the Democratic Party.

Upon doing a bit of informal research, I learned that most registered Democrats and independents, cannot, in a few words, describe what the Party stands for. If you ask a hundred people, you’ll likely get a hundred different answers. Indeed, many Democratic leaders take pride in quoting Will Rogers: “I’m not a member of an organized political party. I’m a Democrat.”

Yet most can state the GOP’s preferred brand message: “Smaller government and lower taxes.” (Of course, MAGA has turned that into outright hatred of government and ‘The Libs.'”)

Democrats, having failed themselves to clearly articulate a brand message, have permitted Republicans to do it for them. They have labeled Democrats as “tax and spend liberals.”

It should come as no surprise that the label is wholly inaccurate. In recent decades, Republicans have run up far larger deficits. And their tax cuts have mostly benefited large corporations and the wealthy. In fact, Reagan, W, and Trump have all broken our economy leaving their Democratic successors tasked with fixing it.

It should also be no surprise that, given the Republican version of the brand, so many people of low- and middle-income vote Republican against their own self-interest.

In addition, the Democratic Party’s failure to properly brand itself has resulted in a lack of loyalty. Too many of the “Big Tent” Party’s supporters are single issue voters. In the recent election, they consisted of those who are pro-Palestinian, angry at Biden’s unwavering support for Israel and seemingly unaware of Trump’s willingness to abandon Palestinian dreams of freedom. There were others frustrated that Biden had not done more to relieve student debt or frustrated that he had failed to expand the Supreme Court.

There were dozens of issues that lowered Democratic voter turnout. The biggest of which was inflation. Too many voters didn’t understand the true causes of inflation – that it began as a result of Trump’s failure to properly address the pandemic, which disrupted supply chains that have taken years to repair. Why would they? Biden and the Party never explained it to them.

I also think the Democratic Party’s failed messaging has permitted Republicans, conservative pundits, Russian operatives, and QAnon conspiracy theorists to inaccurately portray Democratic initiatives – to mislead and to misinform voters.

For years, I have begged the Party to improve its communications with voters and to create an accurate brand description that clearly states its support for working-class people of all incomes, colors and backgrounds. One of the very few to listen is Ken Martin, Chair of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in Minnesota. With his help, candidates like Governor Tim Walz, Senators Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith and the late Paul Wellstone have enjoyed widespread support of voters even in staunchly Republican districts.

Fortunately, at a time when the Democratic National Committee is still licking its wounds following the stunning outcome of the election, Mr. Martin has declared his interest in leading the committee. I know that many in Washington will look unfavorably at a leader from “flyover country”. But it is the Party’s failures in most of the “flyover” counties and states that have led to the recent MAGA success.

The Democratic Party is unnecessarily suffering from a long-standing urban-rural divide. The sentiment that led to the term “City Slicker” largely still exists in rural America. And even though modern-day farming consists of running a huge business, few Democratic leaders in Washington and elsewhere have come to recognize that.

I hope most Democrats ignore the post-election circular firing squad and blame game and address what I believe is at the root of our problems. We need to focus on creating an accurate brand message and combine that with an aggressive and ongoing outreach effort aimed at all Americans.

Ken Martin is the best person to lead that effort.

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.