The stench from Trump’s corruption is so thick you’d need a razor sharp knife to cut through it. And, it’s mostly out in front of the public and is so obscene that it just keeps going on almost as if it’s the new normal. I’m going to take my time with this post – which means it’ll probably be hard to keep up with a so-called president who can’t take his hand out of the “cookie jar” and a republican controlled Congress which is unable to act to prevent virtually any of this thievery. If you’ve read any of my previous posts you know I simply work off the top of my head when writing. I don’t feel the need to do more than the minimal amount of “research” to complete each posting. This “blog” (if that’s what it is) simply represents my frustration with the direction of the country I’ve lived in for 78 years.

Over the course of that lifetime I’ve learned what the expectations of the founding documents of our nation SHOULD be (and we’ve definitely evolved over the years in the attempt to be a “more perfect union”), but also the forces which have been surreptitiously aligned to REVERSE so much of what has been gained since the “New Deal” and then the legislation from the 1960’s. (Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act) Most, in my view, of America’s “pock marks” – in our history – are centered on the treatment of “minorities.” This should be OBVIOUS to anyone who doesnt’ get their “news” from Fox, Newsmax, or any of the other right wing outlets that practice the same propaganda techniques used by the Nazi’s of the “Third Reich.”

Now we have a president (and a bunch of republican sycophants in Congress) who want to take us back in time while, at the same time, pilfering our treasury out of BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars. I have to add, virtually EVERY advancement in American History – like the 40 hour work week, women’s right to vote (more on that later) – civil rights advancements, Social Security, Medicare, etc. etc. have been initiated by LIBERALS. We’re watching the Project 2025 republicans who HATE “liberals” trying to turn us back to the 50’s. Some reports suggest these “conservatives” (BILLIONAIRES) have transfered tens of TRILLIONS from America’s taxpayers into their greedy pockets. Yikes!

By trying to list the examples of pure republican CORRUPTION (and, yes, democrats are involved as well. They just don’t think on the same scale as these republicans) I can think of off the top of my 78 year old head I hope to give anyone who might read this a reason to participate in the next NO KINGS protest and to make sure everything is in order with your voter registration so you can participate in what will hopefully be a MASSIVE rejection of these republicans in the November election (if we still have elections by then). I’ve been lamenting the fact this republican party has been heading for the “right wing cliff” over the past 20 years – almost 20 years on this site for me. And, right now, they’ve got one foot over the edge. (Both feet?)

Will November finally be the long needed “reckoning?” I truly hope so, because I feel our time is running out. We MUST NOT allow this THIEVERY in plain sight to continue! It’s time to take a stand. And, I realize many who understand what Trump is doing don’t like democrats (myself included in many instances), but the “JOB” this year is to vote AGAINST republicans – UP and DOWN the ballot. They’ve allowed (as stated above) TRILLIONS to be transfered from taxpayers to BILLIONAIRES. It’s time for a MAJOR course correction! And Trump has increased that THIEVERY exponentially. It’s grifting on steroids! (Once the republicans are in the History books, we can begin cleaning up the democrats) Following are a few of the most egregious examples:

The “weaponization” slush fund is as good as anyplace to start. Trump wants to pilfer almost $1.8 BILLION from us taxpayers to re-route to the 1600 INSURRECTIONISTS (Including those found guilty of Sedition AND the “cop beaters”) who were pardoned on “day one.” About the only “day one” promise Trump actually kept. (The Ukraine war continues and Israel’s war against HAMAS and Hezbollah continues a year and a half later – plus food prices and gas prices are going in the opposite direction of Trump’s promises – also for “day one” – reminder: Mexico was going to pay for the wall) Not only is the plan for these INSURRECTIONISTS to receive MILLIONS, but also people like Mike Lindell (the pillow guy), Rudy Giuliani, Steve Bannon, Peter Navarro, and even Trump himself. (The courts and Congress are stopping this, but Trump and Blanche have a workaround. They’re going to find a way to send taxpayer funds to the cop beaters of January 6th!)

Plus, Trump had his personal lawyer er Assistant Attorney General Todd Blanche throw in a guaranee neither Trump, nor anyone in his family, or his business organization could face charges of tax fraud. The proposed slush fund aims to forever prohibit the IRS from initiating any audits or claims against Donald Trump, his family, and the Trump Organization based on previous tax filings, effectively shielding them from scrutiny regarding tax fraud. Apparently, there’s about $100 MILLION at stake. But, hey – that only amounts to a grift of about $2 BILLION taxpayer dollars, including the above mentioned “slush fund,” going to some really creepy thugs. (In the case of Trump’s illegal “tax holiday” I believe the next administration can simply undo it because it’s not put in place by an act of Congress)

OK now for the crypto bs: Donald Trump has been linked to significant financial gains from cryptocurrency ventures, reportedly amassing a fortune exceeding $1.2 billion through various schemes, in just the first two years of Trump 2.0, including licensing his name to crypto tokens and promoting his own meme coin. (I don’t even know what they are) His administration has also been criticized for rolling back regulations and dropping investigations into crypto firms, raising concerns about conflicts of interest and corruption and selling “crypto” pardons.

“The combination of Trump’s financial gains from cryptocurrency and the regulatory environment during his presidency has led to significant scrutiny. Many experts and critics view this as a troubling example of how political power can intersect with personal profit, undermining ethical standards in governance.” Do ya think???

The trading in the stock market – 3700 trades in the first QUARTER of this year – how ethical is that? President Donald Trump disclosed last week that he binged on corporate stocks earlier this year, when he and his administration were promoting or conducting business with some of those same companies, and a new report suggests the president knew the details of the trades.

The 79-year-old so-called president personally signed a 112-page federal financial disclosure document May 8 disclosing that he executed more than 3,700 individual stock trades between January and March, and his signature certified that he has full knowledge of his stock holdings, reported NOTUS. This version of Trump’s CORRUPTION amounted to tens of MILLIONS of profit. Nice work if you can get it!

The Iran fiasco and the open manipulation of markets – this kind of gets back to his stock market CORRUPTION. He’s got himself into a war he has no idea how to get out of without proving what a LOSER he really is – so, almost every day for the past month or so it’s “We’re really close to an agreement to end the war.” Stock market goes up, oil prices come down. After a day or so, “rinse and repeat.” And, of course, Wall Street continues to fall for it and “bathe” in their record profits – while those of us on “Main Street” continue to suffer through a terrible economy. We, recently, watched Xi Jinping look on smuggly as Trump continually threw him adoration – with Xi giving Trump NOTHING for his long ride home – and, of course, the leaders of Iran realize they have Trump “where the hair is short” and they’ll be “twisting the knife” as Trump begs them for some kind of “peace deal.”

I’m anticipating the Iranians getting sanction relief, BILLIONS in the release of siezed Iranian assets, reparations for the damage caused by the bombing, and continued control of the Straight of Hormuz – via tolling. My guess is the Iranians will agree to allow the U.S. to come dig up the rubble over their uranium assets buried in last year’s bombing raids so that Trump can claim total victory. The only people in the WORLD who will NOT be laughing at him will be the MAGA’s who watch Fox “news,” Newsmax, etc. The bottom line here is it will be the Iranians calling the shots.

The “boys” and their putting their hands into the “pie” – for this one I’m just doing a bit of copying and pasting – it’s too involved for me to type it all out and, to be honest, I can’t keep up with Erik and Don Jr. – like their dad they’re following the old adage from when I was doing a bit of farming: “Make hay while the sun shines!” – here we go”

During Donald Trump’s second presidency, his sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., have engaged in a variety of business activities across multiple sectors. Below is an overview of their key ventures.

Investments in Defense Technology

• Drone Production:
  • Both Eric and Donald Trump Jr. have invested in domestic drone production companies.
  • They are notable investors in Powerus Corporation, which focuses on supporting American drone industry dominance through domestic manufacturing.
  • Eric Trump is also involved with an Israeli drone maker, Xtend, which has secured contracts with the U.S. Department of “War.”

Cryptocurrency and Financial Services

• World Liberty Financial:
  • This financial and cryptocurrency company is majority-owned by the Trump family and has been a significant part of their business strategy.
• American Bitcoin:
  • Founded by Eric and Donald Trump Jr., this venture is aimed at capitalizing on the growing cryptocurrency market.

Other Business Activities

• Trump Organization:
  • Both sons continue to play prominent roles in the Trump Organization, overseeing various aspects of the family business while their father is in office.
• Advisory Roles:
  • Donald Trump Jr. has joined the boards of several companies, including Unusual Machines and BlinkRx, which have benefited from their association with the Trump family.
  • And, I haven’t even gotten to Jared Kushner – who, it appears to me, set up the Iranians in the guise of negotiating a new nuclear weapons agreement. Kushner was soliciting funds from Gulf Arab states for his private equity firm, Affinity Partners, while serving as a U.S. government negotiator in the Middle East. Kushner served as the Special Envoy for Peace, negotiating U.S. foreign policy. While negotiating for the U.S. he sought to raise $5 billion from Gulf Arab states, including meetings with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. These Trump “boys” seem to be much more CORRUPT than Hunter Biden. But, where are the republicans who were so worried about Hunter’s role on the Board of Ukrainian Energy company Burisma? And $5 MILLION? Doesn’t this Trump/Kushner CORRUPTION make Biden look like an amateur?

Trump slapping his name and image “everywhere” – Since the start of his second term in January 2025, Donald Trump has placed his name on several locations, including the U.S. Institute of Peace and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. Additionally, he announced the commissioning of “Trump-class” battleships. He’s putting his signature on U.S. currency, he’s putting his name on National park passes, he’s soon to have his mug shot on U.S. passports, and this doesn’t account for him hanging banners with his mug shot on it across many of Washington D.C.’s iconic buildings. Thankfully, a federal judge recently ordered he take his name off the Kennedy Center unless Congress approves the change. We are discovering America has a lot of courageous judges – of course, excluding six of the justices on the SCOTUS.

Trump LYING about his height (apparently he weighs 238 pounds) – once again, after Trump’s most recent physical it was reported he’s 6 foot 3 and 238 pounds. Last year I started looking at Trump next to others in photos and came to the conclusion he’s around 5 feet 11. The first time I started checking this out was when he was standing next to (f)Elon Musk – who is reported to be 6 feet 2 inches tall. Musk clearly towers over Trump when they are side by side. Then, just recently when Trump was in China standing next to Xi Jinping they appeared to be around the same height – Xi is reported to be 5 feet 11 inches tall. Then Trump, next to his daughter-in-law Laura Trump in photos, they appear to be about the same height as well. She’s also 5 feet 11 inches tall. Look, I’m 78 and have shrunk around 3 1/2 inches over the past few years – it comes with the territory of getting OLD. Trump can’t seem to accept he’s not even 6 feet tall any more. And, trust me, that 238 pounds is something to be a bit concerned with. Next thing you know, Chris Christie is going to accuse Trump of obesity!

French President Macron is said to be 5’7″ or 5’8″ Trump is bairly taller (but much heavier!) Sorry, couldn’t figure out how to make the image larger!

Partnership with Heritage Foundation (Project 2025 and “Saving America by Saving the family”) I’ve been writing about the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” since well before the 2024 election. I have repeatedly referred to it as a “roadmap to fascism.” It is the mechanism that is allowing all this CORRUPTION. They are benefiting from the CORRUPTION as well. (Obviously, America’s Oligarchs are gaining far more than the Trump family – making their “investments” pay exponential “dividends.” The most obvious example is Musk. He “invested” around $300 MILLION to get Trump elected and his net worth has tripled since he threw those Sieg Hiels at Trump inauguration party. (with, it seems, few even noticing or caring) Musk is now worth a reported $750 BILLION – attempting to be the first “TRILLIONAIRE.” (News Flash, Musk is now a TRILLIONAIRE! – That’s a THOUSAND Billions!) Once again, “nice work if you can get it.” Regarding the “Saving America by Saving the Family” I would refer you to my previous post which was written by Thom Hartmann. In a nut shell, Those at Heritage want to take away the right to vote from women, they want to ban all forms of abortion and birth control, and they want women back in the kitchen during the day while making babies at night! And, I’m not kidding! (And, of course, they want to ban things like Gay sex, Gay marriage, and Trans rights)

Plane from Qatar – a $400 MILLION gift (or should I say grift, or better yet, bribe?) to our so-called president which is a bit over the limits of the emoluments clause of the constitution. The Emoluments Clauses of the Constitution prohibit the president from accepting any gifts, emoluments, or titles from foreign states without congressional consent and restrict the president from receiving any other emolument from the United States beyond a fixed salary. (He gets to keep this plane when “we the people” get the end to this nightmare) These clauses are designed to prevent corruption and undue influence from foreign powers and domestic entities. Oops! on both fronts. Trump considers the constituion an annoyance and our republican legislature willfully allows him to get away with it. Do you think HIS Department of Justice will object to any of this grifting? Keep in mind it’s costing a reported BILLION dollars to remove “stuff” from the plane that might allow someone, say the Qatari’s, from monitoring our president and to turn the plane into a “White House” with wings. Ugh!!!

The “free” Ballroom – and NOW the “free” ballroom is apparently in need of an infusion of a BILLION taxpayer dollars – in addition to the $400 MILLION in bribes paid by America’s leading corporations? (OK, bribes is a strong word, but do you think these corporate OLIGARCHS are shoveling all this money Trump’s way with nothing expected in return? If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge……….) Republicans are attempting to force this $1 BILLION through as part of a reconciliation bill they are proposing that throws more taxpayer dollars ICE’s way – with no “strings” attached – but the Senate Parlimentarian wont allow it. (Trump’s immediate response was the republican Senators should FIRE her) Once again, it appears this “free ballroom” will only cost “we the people” a cool BILLION. The fact polls say an overwhelming majority of Americans are pissed Trump tore down the East Wing of the “White House” and want nothing to do with this ostentatious ballroom means nothing to him (all he cares about is that Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon – wink wink). OK, if you’ve read this far you’ll agree, I’m sure, that’s enough. But, I’ll say it again, Trump’s CORRUPTION is so thick you’d need a sharp knife to cut through it!

Final Thought: After all this here’s the definition of Nacissistic Personality disorder from the Mayo Clinic:

Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance. They need and seek too much attention (try to force yourself to watch/listen to one of his cabinet meetings) and want people to admire them. People with this disorder may lack the ability to understand or care about the feelings of others. But behind this mask of extreme confidence, they are not sure of their self-worth and are easily upset by the slightest criticism.

A narcissistic personality disorder causes problems in many areas of life, such as relationships, work, school or financial matters. People with narcissistic personality disorder may be generally unhappy and disappointed when they’re not given the special favors or admiration that they believe they deserve. They may find their relationships troubled and unfulfilling, and other people may not enjoy being around them.

Does that define Trump? You be the judge! Stay tuned…..

Mother’s Day has just passed, so it’s an excellent time to examine what the most powerful conservative think tank in America is planning right now for the women in your life.

The same outfit that wrote Project 2025 and watched the Trump administration follow its playbook virtually to the letter has been busy assembling a 90-page tract called “Saving America by Saving the Family.”

It maps out a future in which American women are stripped of their right to vote without their husbands’ paperwork, denied access to contraception and abortion, pushed back into the home, and reduced to what Heritage’s new American Citizenship chair Scott Yenor calls the “heroic feminine” of motherhood and wifeliness. It’s quite a Mother’s Day card from the people who claim to revere motherhood the most.

ALSO READ: ‘I was dumb as a rock’: Hardcore MAGA couple ditches Trump after getting ‘kick in teeth’

Scott Yenor wants:
— To make gay sex illegal in America again,
— Divorce to be “difficult to get or proscribed,”
— Adultery and sex between unmarried consenting adults (he calls it “fornication”) criminalized, and
— The Civil Rights Act to be “scaled back” so that businesses, schools, and “every other institution in the country” can once again discriminate against women, queer people, and minorities the way they used to.

And just a few months ago, the Heritage Foundation, the same outfit that wrote Project 2025 and watched the Trump administration follow their playbook virtually to the letter, hired Yenor to chair its American Citizenship Initiative.

When pressed about Yenor’s record, reported in detail by The Guardian and LGBTQ Nation, Heritage didn’t quietly walk anything back. They instead invoked their “One Voice” doctrine, which means that what one Heritage staffer says is what the institution stands for, and they loudly stood by him.

Even some of the foundation’s allies winced publicly to The Atlantic, but Heritage reportedly didn’t budge. This is what billionaire-funded Christian nationalism looks like in 2026, and it’s been the project, almost without interruption, ever since the Reagan Revolution

Most Americans don’t know how the Heritage Foundation came to exist; I’ve been telling this story on the radio for more than two decades because it matters. In 1971, a tobacco lawyer named Lewis Powell wrote a confidential memo to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce arguing that the American “free enterprise system” was under attack from “the college campus, the pulpit, the media, the intellectual and literary journals, the arts and sciences, and from politicians.”

His prescription was that corporate America needed to fund its own intellectual infrastructure, think tanks and university programs, legal centers, and media outlets that would shift the country’s political center hard to the right and protect billionaire wealth from democratic accountability.

Two months after writing that memo, Nixon nominated Powell to the Supreme Court.

In 1973, beer baron Joseph Coors read the Powell Memo, decided American business was “ignoring a crisis,” and wrote a $250,000 check to launch the Heritage Foundation alongside Paul Weyrich, the man who later coined the phrase “Moral Majority” and famously told a room of 1980 evangelical leaders that conservatives don’t actually want everyone to vote because “our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.”

Heritage was, from day one, a vehicle for translating Powell’s memo into operational policy, and that founding circle of donors, Coors plus Bradley plus Olin plus Scaife plus Koch, never really left.

According to a DeSmog analysis of Project 2025’s funders, six billionaire family foundations bankrolled Heritage’s blueprint for the second Trump administration: Bradley, Coors, Koch, Mellon, Seid, and Uihlein.

Same families, same project, more than half a century of the same handful of fortunes funding the same grinding assault on democracy, women’s rights, civil rights, and any policy that would tax great wealth or restrain corporate power.

What’s new is how openly they’re saying the quiet parts now.

Heritage’s 90-page tract “Saving America by Saving the Family,” the subject of a thorough investigation by Billie Jean Sweeney for Important Context, lays out a vision that overturns marriage equality, denies the existence of trans people, eliminates no-fault divorce, and uses federal Medicaid dollars as a weapon against any state that disagrees.

The document opens with the sentence “The Founding Fathers were, quite literally, fathers,” which gives you a pretty clear sense of where they’re going. They’ve invented a problem they call a “birth dearth” and identified the culprits: women being educated, women working outside the home, women using contraception, women existing as autonomous people.

As Mehmet Oz, Trump’s administrator for Medicare and Medicaid, said recently, “One in three Americans is under-babied.” White Americans, of course.

Anybody who’s read 1930s European history will recognize what’s going on here.

The Nazi regime’s Mutterkreuz, the “Cross of Honor of the German Mother,” handed out medals to Aryan women who produced four or more children while sterilizing those it considered unfit, and the Lebensborn program ran maternity homes designed to manufacture “racially valuable” babies for the Reich.

Heritage isn’t there yet, but the ideological architecture is the same: women as reproductive vessels for a state-defined ideal, with the full weight of federal policy bent toward forcing them into that role.

Civil rights attorney Michelle Uzeta, who runs the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, told reporters the through-line is “government-sponsored devaluation of entire communities, informed by eugenic thinking,” and that’s not hyperbole, that’s what the documents say when you read them carefully.

The operational arm at HHS is staffed accordingly. Russell Vought, Trump’s OMB director and a self-described Christian nationalist who co-authored Project 2025, has spoken with revulsion of “the transgender sewage that’s being pumped into our schools and institutions.”

Calley Means, a former Heritage research analyst, is now senior White House advisor at HHS. His sister Casey Means, whose surgeon general nomination Trump just withdrew on April 30 after Senator Bill Cassidy refused to support her, told Tucker Carlson that birth control “shuts down” a woman’s “life-giving nature,” and Trump immediately replaced her with another vaccine-skeptical Fox News contributor, radiologist Nicole Saphier.

Natalie Dodson, a named Project 2025 contributor, runs the Office of Population Affairs that decides Title X family planning rules, and the first Trump-era domestic gag rule, in effect from 2019 to 2021, forced 981 clinics out of the program and cut the network’s patient capacity in half, leaving six states with no Title X provider at all. The current administration has signaled it will repropose the gag rule, and Trump’s 2026 budget proposes eliminating Title X entirely.

The most useful place to watch how the playbook actually operates on the ground is Missouri.

Voters there passed a constitutional amendment in November 2024 protecting abortion rights with 52 percent of the vote, and the Republican-controlled legislature simply ignored them and referred a counter-amendment to this November’s ballot that would repeal the protections voters just enshrined.

To boost their odds, they bundled in a permanent ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors, even though Missouri law already bans that care. It’s pure ballot candy, bolted onto an abortion ban specifically because polling shows the trans-care provision boosts support for the abortion ban among voters who otherwise wouldn’t go along.

Divide and conquer, in other words, weaponized at the ballot box to overturn the explicit will of the voters.

This is what I wrote about in The Last American President: the slow, methodical, billionaire-funded conversion of American constitutional democracy into something that more closely resembles a “Christian” white supremacist oligarchy with a theocratic veneer.

The people running this project are not hiding it anymore. Yenor isn’t hiding it, Vought isn’t hiding it, and Heritage’s “Saving the Family” tract isn’t hiding it either.

They’re telling us, in their own words, that they want to recriminalize gay sex, eliminate no-fault divorce, force women back into the home, gut the Civil Rights Act, and use federal funding as a chokehold on any state that resists.

And while Heritage and its think-tank allies map out the cultural policy, their allies in Congress are working to rig the franchise itself so that the populations most opposed to all of this can’t actually vote any of it down.

The SAVE Act, which Republicans in the House passed in expanded form on February 11 as the SAVE America Act, would require every American to produce documentary proof of citizenship in person at an election office in order to register or re-register to vote.

The Brennan Center estimates that more than 21 million eligible American citizens lack ready access to those documents, and the League of Women Voters puts the number of American women whose paperwork doesn’t match their current married name at 69 million, all of whom would suddenly need to dig up a birth certificate, a marriage license, proof of a legal name change, and matching photo ID just to vote.

Trans Americans, naturalized citizens, older Black Americans born in the pre-civil-rights South who were never issued birth certificates in the first place, college students, military families stationed overseas, rural voters who’d have to drive hours to a county office, and the millions of working-class citizens who simply can’t afford a passport would face the same wall.

Senator Mike Lee of Utah, one of the bill’s chief Senate champions, has publicly tied its passage to Republican prospects in the 2026 midterms, which is about as close as a politician gets to admitting on the record that the entire point of the bill is to keep women, trans people, young voters, and Americans of color away from the polls so the Heritage agenda doesn’t get voted down by the majorities that consistently oppose it.

So here’s where you come in. Call your senators through the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and tell them you oppose Nicole Saphier’s surgeon general nomination, you oppose any reimposition of the Title X domestic gag rule, your oppose the SAVE Act, and you expect them to say so publicly.

If you’re in Missouri, or you know someone who is, get involved with Abortion Action Missouri and the ACLU of Missouri right now, because Amendment 3 is on the November ballot and the divide-and-conquer strategy works only if voters don’t see it coming.

Check your registration at vote.org, track state-level legislation through openstates.org, and support the Guttmacher Institute, Planned Parenthood, and the Center for Reproductive Rights with whatever you can give.

And share this article and HartmannReport.com with everyone you know. The billionaires funding this project are betting that ordinary Americans won’t connect the dots from Powell to Coors to Yenor to Project 2025 to the ballot in Missouri this fall, and the only way to prove them wrong is to make sure those dots get connected loudly, publicly, and everywhere we can manage it.

Get Thom Hartmann’s daily columns on his Substack, Hartmann Report. Click here to join for free.

I’ve pointed out here, I can’t remember how many times, how the Trump administration (from the beginning) adopted the propaganda schemes of the Third Reich (Yep, that’s Hitler and Goebbels) labeled as “The Big Lie Theory” and the use of projection as the keys to their bullsh*t public statements. In Trump’s case it’s obvious on a daily basis with his social media posts – which, full disclosure, I only get snippets of because I don’t use social media (other than a bit of YouTube videos). Last night Trump gave the most succinct example of projection ever. He accused President Obama of being a “Traitor” in a post of three or four words. Talk about projection. This was coming from he who instigated a full blown INSURRECTION (ie an attempted coup d’etat) on January 6th, 2021. The perfect example of an “accusation being a confession.”

I’m not writing much these days because I’m old and worn out. I’m so sick of Trump I can barely hold food down. I believe “we the people” cannot endure another 2 1/2 years of this madman. Is the solution IMPEACHMENT (and conviction) – NO! I actually consider JD Vance worse – and, third in the line of succession is Speaker Johnson – a great example of someone who knows he’s doing wrong (per his so-called Christian values) but continues to work as a “loyal” field person. Both Vance and Johnson have proven their values mean next to nothing. I mean Vance once callled Trump “America’s Hitler.”

I’m sure Trump feels totally insulated from his lawbreaking in office by our disgusting SCOTUS – which continues to impress on how they’re wearing the robes of Justices while attempting to be politically loyal to Trump and republicans. Their latest example was the Louisiana v Callais decision where the court went out of its way to turn the “maps” of the former confederate states back to the days of Jim Crow. If you remember the “absolute immunity” debacle in 2024 the court STALLED the arguments AND the decision in order to ensure Trump would not face a jury for his alleged CRIMES on January 6th, 2021. In the Callais decision they not only RUSHED the decision, but, then they implemented an order to bypass the normal 32 day waiting period allowing Louisiana to redraw their “maps” while the primary election was already underway – with over 40,000 votes already submitted. As Louisiana and other Southern states gerrymander out majority Black districts with the court suggesting racism is a thing of the past makes you wonder why these Justices seem confused at their all time low approval ratings.

This BS goes on and on with Trump to the point where people are immune from reacting as they would during any other time. The CORRUPTION is right out in the open. The LYING is pathological. The racism is OVERT as if to say “What are you going to do about it?” Democrats continue to point out how the polls suggest there is a “blue tsunami” on the horizon. But, this Callais SCOTUS decision simply makes it clear that the right wing fascists who are in the process of destroying our democratic republic control ALL three branches of the government and they don’t like “blue.” While District Court Judges around the country are acting courageously (and, according to our constitution) the SCOTUS is making KEY decisions suggesting the attack on our elections this November are in their crosshairs. And, not in a good way!

Steve Bannon has said the “quiet part out loud.” They have no plan to allow all us progressives, independents, and disaffected republicans to put a halt to their “project 2025” scheme. I believe very few Americans have taken the time to read Project 2025 but I pointed out after I had made it through a couple hundred pages that it’s, simply put: “a roadmap to fascism.” The people behind this “manifesto” are much more intelligent than Trump and, obviously, much more DANGEROUS. However, the DAMAGE left in their “wake” will be mostly attributed to Trump – who deserves a place next to Benedict Arnold in our history books once this DISASTER is in the rear view mirror. (Along with Congressional republicans) It will take at least a generation to recover – if that’s possible – our traditional allies around the world won’t trust the American voters for far longer than I have left on this planet – if regaining their trust is even possible.

Russel Vought controls the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and he’s cherry picking which items authorized by Congress he wants to actually fund and which ones he simply refuses. (He’s one of the main authors of Project 2025) This is overtly taking the “power of the purse” out of the “hands” of Congress and the republican COWARDS there who are willingly complicit – which is why USAID, for example, is “dead” (along with maybe a MILLION poor people around the world) and why “stuff” benefiting working class Americans is “off the table.”

Plus, FCC chair Brendan Carr (another Project 2025 author) is busy threatening the licenses of media outlets that don’t bend the knee to Trump. Or, in the case of Disney and ABC, not bending the knee far enough. The $15 MILLION “settlement” of a frivolous Trump lawsuit wasn’t enough to keep Trump happy – they STILL want ABC/Disney to cancel Jimmie Kimmel (which, if they do, I’ll have to cancel my subscription once and for all). These threats, of course, are “par for the course” for virtually all thugs who are attempting to turn democracy into fascist states. (Let’s all stop using the euphemism “authoritarian”) Trump is running the government like an organized crime syndicate!

Speaking of fascists; I’ve watched for years as Trump has sucked up to Vladimir Putin – one of the “worst people in the world.” As I’ve followed the roll out of the Epstein files it was impossible not to notice the number of times Putin’s name showed up. It certainly confirms in my mind that Putin has “kompromat” on Trump – likely provided by Epstein himself. That’s simply my own inference based on the public information available. That’s the only way I can explain why Trump has been kissing up to Putin for the past 10 years (other than Putin helped him “win” in 2016) and why Trump has abandoned Ukraine – a country “we the people” are OBLIGATED to defend based on an agreement signed after the fall of the Soviet Union.

The agreement is known as the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, signed on December 5, 1994, which provided security assurances to Ukraine in exchange for its commitment to give up its nuclear arsenal. The memorandum aimed to provide security assurances to Ukraine in exchange for its commitment to relinquish its MANY nukes. It was signed by the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, Belarus, Kasakhstan, and, of course, Ukraine. It provided a commitment not to threaten or use military force against Ukraine, except in self-defense or in accordance with the United Nations Charter. This agreement SHOULD be a focal point regarding Ukraine’s security based on the Russian aggression since 2014 beginning with the annexation of Crimea and leading to the 2022 INVASION. I doubt Trump is even aware of this agreement – and, of course, it would mean nothing to him even if he was. Like I said above, I believe Putin has the “goods” on Trump.

Much to the delight of Putin, Xi Jinping, and other American adversaries Trump allowed Benjamin Netanyahu – a leader nearly as CORRUPT as America’s so-called president – to talk him into a DISASTROUS bombing invasion of Iran – killing one group of Iranian leaders only for them to be replaced by a more extreme group – and, it’s become more obvious by the day Trump has no idea how to extract himself from this DEBACLE. Iran’s capacity to defend itself, according to intelligence reports, with their weaponry is nearly what it was before the invasion where Trump and Hegseth claimed they had wiped them out “completely.” On several occasions Trump said, “We’ve already won.” Iran, meanwhile, has exerted control of the Straight of Hormuz blocking the flow of about 20% of the World’s oil supply plus much more (with all reports they intend to charge tolls once this “war” is over) by closing it to MOST of the traffic which moved freely before Trump’s ill advised invasion. Trump’s response to Iran’s blocking of the Straight is to set up their own blockade of Iran’s blockade. Reminds me of the Middle Schoolers I used to teach. Huh?

China (where Trump is as I’m writing this) and Russia are supporting Iran and, in order to mitigate the world oil shortage caused by this STUPID invasion, the U.S. has removed sanctions from Russian’s oil allowing them to reap huge financial benefits right when their economy was on the brink – due to their Ukraine invasion and the Biden era sanctions imposed before Trump 2.0. (More Trump help for Putin – many people are saying the “winner” in the Iran war will be Vladimir Putin – Yikes!!!) The U.S. has even rolled back sanctions on Iranian oil – for that which they are able to get through the blockade of the blockade. Clearly, the huge loser in all this is “we the people.” I mean, we’re even continuing to arm Israel with offensive weapons despite the reality they were the ones who suckered Trump into this fiasco. The “oil shock” very well might cause a world wide recession.

Now, if you’ve been paying attention to this war from the start you know that Trump, Hegseth, Vance, and Rubio have all given a plethora of reasons to justify America’s invasion. I happened to have been up all night on February 28th because of a surgery that day which made it impossible for me to sleep. So, I witnessed Trump’s claims right from the start – coming from his club – and, I can tell you it had NOTHING to do with Iran’s nuclear weapon capability (although, there was a LIE about them having a weapon in two weeks that could reach the U.S. – but, that was only credible with the TOTALLY gullible MAGA’s). I remember Trump really focusing on “regime change.” He implored the Iranian people to rise up and take over the country – because “we the people” were going to take out the “regime.” Of course, we took out a layer of the Iranian leadership (along with about 175 Iranian elementary schoolgirls) and, that encouragement for the Iranian people to rise up and claim their government was, as I remember it, the focus of Trump’s remarks. And, as absurd as just about everything else he said, like the Iranian people would likely never have a better opportunity.

Well, as I said, the rationale coming from the various American leaders seemed to change by the day – ranging from regime change to preventing them from building a nuclear weapon. Of course, just a few months earlier, according to Trump, “we the people” had OBLITERATED Iran’s ability to build a nuclear weapon. The reason I point this out is because it took Trump (and his cronies) about eight to ten weeks in order to come up with a rationale they could all agree on – after the fact. “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.” With Trump, once again, as his belated rationale, claiming they were two weeks away from having one that could reach the United States. Absurd doesn’t come close to analyzing this Trump LIE)

I point this out because just before Trump left for China he – as these guys are so apt to do once in a great while (like Bannon above) – said the “quiet part out loud.” Trump, when asked whether people’s financial difficulties, which have been exacerbated by the gas and oil crisis triggered by the Middle East conflict, were “motivating” him to make a deal with Iran, he replied: “Not even a little bit.” The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody,” Trump added. Talk about your perfect ad (“locker room”) material for democrats in the mid-terms. (If we have them) I have to wonder if all the MAGA’s out there will like these words while they’re filling up their gas tanks? Trump’s approval rating is hovering somewhere below 35% and dropping by the week. Will this help?

I believe leaders around the world are laughing at “we the people” until they realize how dangerous this man is to the world writ large. The one place where I believe Trump’s conduct brings smiles to the faces of the leaders is in China. And, of course, that’s where Trump is as I’m typing this. I shudder to think of how completely Xi Jinping is likely playing Trump. Not only is Putin benefiting from this Iran fiasco, but more-so would be China. I can guarantee you China is filling every void around the globe caused by countries turning away from America. This energy shock is world wide. Countries will remember China coming to the rescue.

Remember, Trump has another 2 1/2 years to grift off of his second reign on this nation. His net worth has DOUBLED since the beginning of Trump 2.0 (not to mention his sons and son-in-law – I’ve mentioned Kushner at length in the archives) and he’s trying to shake down “we the people” for $10 BILLION in an absurd lawsuit against himself – that, apparently, the DOJ and IRS are planning to “settle.”

Trump sees all the OLIGARCHS around him squeezing BILLIONS from America’s taxpayers and, obviously, he wants in on the action. He even took about a dozen OLIGARCHS to China with him for ????? I’ll let you figure that one out – maybe to find creative ways around his tariffs? As I’ve said, I don’t believe America can withstand these next 2 1/2 years under Trump’s reign. The SCOTUS has left him to believe he has IMMUNITY from any lawbreaking while in office (at some point there’s going to have to be a definition of Official duties) but “we the people” can’t allow him to turn America into Russia 2.0. We MUST demand “free and fair” elections in November and we MUST have a virtual stampede of voters going to the polls to put an end to this republican nightmare! May God help us!

Final Thought: I couldn’t help, after watching Trump and Xi Jinping walking next to each other, to check out how TALL President Xi is – and, “the answer is:” 5 feet 10 inches. I point that out because our LIAR in chief claims to be 6 feet 3 inches tall. Well, if you were watching them side by side they look to be about the same height – at most I’d say Trump might be an inch taller (if that). I point that out because, as I’ve been saying here for years, Trump LIES about everything – obviously including his height.

Now, I’m almost as old as Trump and I’ve dropped about 3 1/2 inches in the past few years, so it’s understandable that Trump is SHRINKING. I guess it should be no surprise that he’s unwilling to admit it. (Honestly, I have no idea if he was EVER 6 feet 3 inches tall) I also know that as my height has gone down, my waist has gone out. When looking at Trump it appears to me his waist is headed in the wrong direction as well. I keep thinking of the song: “Your so vain, you probably think this song is about you.” And, yes, I do have Trump derangement syndrome! (if that wasn’t obvious) Stay tuned….

I quit my subscription to the Washington Post when Jeff Bezos overruled his paper’s editorial board blocking them from endorsing Kamala Harris. This, of course, was followed by Bezos kissing up to Trump from the day of the election until, well, now. So, it wasn’t surprising to me when I read a headline (the only thing I can read without giving them my money once again – which I originally did to support investigative journalism) about the Post demonstrating surprise at (f)Elon Musk continually posting racist stuff on his Xwitter platform suggesting he might be a “white nationalist.” Apparently, the Post wasn’t paying attention when Musk was throwing Sieg Heil’s at Trump’s inauguration party. It seems obvious to me the “tech Oligarchs” – Bezos, Musk, Zuckerberg, Thiel, the Ellisons, Page, Brin, Altman, Sook (Nextar), Smith (Sinclair), the oil billionaires (Koch, Woods, and ???) – are more dangerous than Trump.

Yes, Trump is DAMAGING the foundational institutions of America, he’s destroying our relationships with our traditional allies, and he’s cultivating CORRUPTION the likes which America has NEVER seen – but the American OLIGARCHS are going to be around long after Trump (and me) are pushing up daisies. These OLIGARCHS have unlimited funds and they’ve figure out the surest way to keep their wealth expanding (they are insatiable) is by gaining control of the so-called “mainstream media.” Trump is coordinating with these right wing media moguls who keep buying up more and more of the “stuff” we the people put into our heads.

Musk owns Xwitter, Zuckerberg Meta (Facebook, Instagram, What’s App), Ellison controls CBS, TikTok (with Murdoch), and soon CNN, Page, Brin, Altman (and others) are pushing “AI” down the throats of humanity, and Thiel is making a fortune via government contracts spying on “we the people.” Yes, the DAMAGE Trump is doing to the traditional institutions and norms of our democratic republic will take a generation to recover from (if that’s possible) but these OLIGARCHS will be getting richer and richer unless “we the people” can somehow elect leaders who realize the DAMAGE they are causing and take action to mitigate it. And, yes, I’m talking about taxing them like it was the 1950’s again (they and their republican cheerleaders (SCOTUS) seem to want to take us back to those days). If you’re too young to remember, the top tax bracket back then was 90% over what would likely amount to something in the tens of millions in today’s dollars.

Should they threaten that they would leave the country, well I’d say, “don’t let the door hit you where the good lord split you.” And, tell them to take their corporations with them. We’d all be a lot better off without the social media moguls who are totally focused on making more money. Take Musk for example. His “donation investment” of close to $300 MILLION in order to get Trump elected proved to be one of the great “investments” of all time. His net worth has TRIPLED since he was able to shed the government intrusions into his businesses via “DOGE.” The accomplishment of “DOGE” wasn’t reducing our annual deficit, it was reducing regulations he (and Bezos, and the other OLIGARCHS) didn’t like. Plus, of course, Musk torpedoed USAID leading to around a MILLION people in Africa dying because of the cut off of medicine and food. As Bill Gates put it, the “world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children.”

I started this a couple weeks ago and just haven’t had the motivation to write despite the fact the frustration of what I continue to observe coming from Trump 2.0’s reign on America continues to rise. I realized from the start those of us who are paying attention and believe in the constitution which has guided America for 250 years will be (and are) “chasing our tails” trying to keep up with the CORRUPTION coming from the “White House,” sycophantic business “leaders,” and, of course, Trump’s “crime family.” It’s been widely reported Trump’s net worth has increased by over $4 BILLION since taking office. And, his sons and son-in-law are knee deep in all the grifting as well. America’s standing in the world is tanking by the day.

I try as best as I can to keep up with what is happening in Ukraine. Here’s what is apparent to me. Trump is aligned with Vladimir Putin while MOST of America is aligned with Ukraine. Especially people like me who studied history in college – even though that was many years ago in my lifetime. But, the parallels between Putin (and Trump) toward Hitler and the Third Reich are not difficult to see. Putin has “said out loud” he wants to recreate the former Soviet Union. That means Ukraine is just the first step in that process. Joe Biden, MOST of the European Union, and the UK clearly recognized this. Biden was the leader in pulling NATO together to provide aid to Ukraine allowing them to defend themselves from the Russian invasion.

It’s true Barack Obama’s administration was relying on sanctions to get Putin to pull out of his “takeover” of Crimea and the Donbass region of Ukraine in 2014 in response to Ukraine’s push for “democracy” and cleaning up government CORRUPTION. Biden increased American aid to Ukraine when it became obvious Russia wanted control of the entire country. Unfortunately, in my view, that aid was focused on defending Ukraine from the Russians and didn’t include the offensive weapons they needed to push the Russians out. I felt from the day Russia made the push toward Kyiv it was time to make the people of Russia feel the pain of this war – initiated by Putin. Remember, it started in 2014. (Trump actually referred to Putin’s push into Ukraine, in the first few days, as “genius.”)

So, now, Trump has pushed “we the people” into Iran not having a clue what he’s doing and with not the slightest idea of how to get out. He knows if he just declares “victory” and pulls America’s troops and ships out of the area he’ll be even more of a laughing stock around the world than he already is. But, my thoughts continue to be focused on the DAMAGE Trump is causing. Up until Netanyahu talked him into joining Israel in bombing Iran I felt MOST of the DAMAGE being caused by Trump was to America. However, the Iranians understand Trump’s vulnerability likely better than Trump himself and now we’re talking about the world’s economy. If it collapses it will be Trump’s “legacy.” I predicted when Trump first took office it would take him about six months to torpedo America’s economy – I admitted I was wrong – and then modified my prediction to one year.

A year has passed, and thanks to the so-called “magnificent 7” – corporations, outwardly it appears America’s economy is “booming.” The big Tech corporations are spending money by the BILLIONS in a push to prop up the “AI” boom – which, to me, is “evil,” by the way – so that helps to make things look good (on Wall Street) – but the 60% of Americans living from paycheck to paycheck aren’t feeling so good. Virtually ALL public opinion polls express negativity regarding the economy (and virtually every other aspect of Trump’s administration) so, I’m feeling the “tanking” could be on the horizon. However, with the blockade of the Straight of Hormuz, we’re now talking about the world’s economy.

From my observation point, Trump’s STUPIDITY is leading to “making China great,” and causing a lot of residual pain around the world because of the blockade of the Straight. Keep in mind, Trump will NEVER concede he made a mistake. He’s so full of hubris that he’s hanging his photo on government buildings, he’s putting his name on everything from money to ships (including American passports). Trump’s narcissism is off the charts. Speaking of China I read some interesting “stuff” the other day regarding all the multi-MILLION dollar bombs Trump/Hegseth have unfurled on Iran.

These bombs require specific minerals in order to construct them. They are precision “implements of destruction” and apparently America has depleted its stockpile of these weapons by about half. So, who do “we the people” depend on to replenish these weapons? You guessed right – it’s CHINA. From what I read (I can’t remember the names of the minerals) China exports roughly 95% of these minerals – sometimes referred as “rare earths.”

If you remember, Trump made a deal with Volodymyr Zelensky regarding Ukraine’s “rare earths” – that apparently are very abundant – but it appears Russia’s troops control much of the land where these “rare earths” exist. I have no idea how this relates to Trump being a “turn coat” regarding Ukraine and siding with Putin but what seems certain is that the U.S. will be counting on China to export these minerals in order to replenish the stockpile of these “weapons of war.” (These “rare earths” are critical elements in much more than bombs – like, for example, EV’s – Electric Vehicles)

Speaking of EV’s, China is surpassing America in the car building push for the change to Electric Cars. I’ve been driving either a “plug in hybrid” electric car (Chevrolet Volt) or a full electric car (first a Polestar and now a Ford Mach E Mustang) since 2014. I really don’t miss buying gas. The Chinese car company “BYD” is, from my viewpoint, building the best cars in the world, mostly EV’s (with some HEV’s – hybrids). They are unable to sell them in the U.S. because of the tariffs because American car companies just would be unable to compete with them. The volume of BYD’s cars selling across Asia and now in parts of Europe far surpasses Tesla’s in the EV “genre.”

While Trump is causing America to fall farther and farther behind in the area of clean energy compared to the rest of the world (especially China) by the day. His refusal to understand the “climate crisis” is a dereliction of duty. There are coastal areas in the U.S. which are being threatened by the rise of oceans caused by the melting of the polar ice caps. He got lucky last year because there were fewer “natural disasters” than normal in the U.S. but I suspect the Hurricane season, this year, will make up for it. Who knows maybe Mar a Lago will be hit with a major Hurricane. Even that would probably not get Trump’s attention. Our attention should be focused on his CORRUPTION and the GREED of his sycophantic OLIGARCHS. Still chasing my “tail.” Stay tuned!!!

Final Thought: As you can see, it’s difficult to keep up with all the STUPIDITY and the CORRUPTION. I’ll end with a bit of nostalgia. Maybe you remember the fuss the republican party (and Trump – likely at his direction) made over the $5 MILLION Joe Biden’s son (Hunter) received from a Ukrainian company he was part of the “board” back in Trump’s 1.0. Trump, in his finest projection mode, used that to label Biden and his son as the “Biden crime family.” Unfortunately, the democrats failed miserably to fight this nonsense back in the universe of “public opinion.” Well, now we really have a “crime family” at the head of America’s government and the comparison to Biden is not even close. I’ll try to be as succinct as I can.

Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has managed to pull several BILLIONS dollars out of the investment funds of Arab countries in the Middle East. The first $2 BILLION coming from Saudi Arabia and an unknown (to me) amount coming from the UAE (United Arab Emerites), Qatar, and maybe others. Now, Kushner is part of the American real estate duo leading the “negotiations” with Iran to end the “war.” (Trump is referring to the war as something else to avoid America’s “War Powers Act”) An aside to suggest why the Iranians might not trust Kushner (and Steven Witkoff) were engaged in negotiations – which were referred to as productive by a mediator – right before Iran’s leaders were wiped out in the first stages of America’s and Israel’s attack. In essence, they set up the Iranians and that’s probably – OK, obviously – difficult to forget.

While involved in these negotiations it’s been reported Kushner has also been pushing to get another $5 BILLION or so out of these Arab countries (who would like nothing better than for Trump to follow through on his threats of genocide to Iran). Does that appear to you to be a conflict of interest on Kushner’s part? For that matter, on Trump’s part? Because he (Trump) has pilfered BILLIONS from these Arab “allies” as well. I refer you back to all the fuss Trump made over Hunter Biden’s $5 MILLION payday in Ukraine. A payday that was undoubtedly because of who is father is – but compare that to Kushner and the lack of questions he’s had to face and the lack of negative publicity. BILLIONS because of who HIS father is! Democrats just aren’t very good in the field of messaging.

And, I haven’t even mentioned Trump’s two sons who have been traversing the world making huge profit off of their familial connection to Trump. Not only that, but it’s now being reported that the Trump boys are “investing” in corporations related to the area of “defense” and “somehow” gaining government contracts for these businesses. The Trump administration has given new meaning to the term “swamp.” Don Jr. is connected to the gambling outfit, “Polymarket” where people bet on “predictions.” People have made MILLIONS betting on some of Trump’s decisions – insider trading?

Hopefully, by November the members of Trump’s CULT will realize they are being scammed by a world class Con Man and, for at least one election (hopefully more) vote AGAINST republicans. I’ve been writing for close to twenty years here with the focus being MY “fever dream” that American voters would vote this version of the republican party into the History books – right next to Trump and Benedict Arnold. (With apologies to Mr. Arnold because I don’t believe he had 34 FELONY convictions) If “we the people” fail to have a massive response to Trump’s CORRUPTION at the polls in November we’re screwed! Yikes!!!

Sorry, I have to add: The recent SCOTUS ruling putting the finishing touches on their dismantling of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) has set off scrambling by the former Confederate States to rig their elections so that Black and Brown people will lose any representation. (A return to Jim Crow? facilitated by the SCOTUS?) Louisiana’s 2026 primaries were already started – as far as the voting – thousands of early votes had been cast via mail in votes and absentee votes – and, one day after the SCOTUS’ decision the governor “paused” the election so that Louisiana’s legislature could redraw their “maps” supposedly to break up the two majority Black districts making sure their Congressional representation is “all White.” (36% of Louisianans are Black)

Several people are suggesting this is a precursor to Trump’s plans to “rig” the 2026 Mid Terms. I’ve been saying I’ll believe the mid-term elections will go on when I see it happening. Trump knows what he’s in store for if he is unable to interfere/block November’s elections. How will Trump interfere? How will democrats respond if he tries to cancel the mid-terms? Food for thought! OMG!!!