This past week has shown why I’ve never joined the democratic party. While driving around I listened to MOST of the first part of the debate between Joe Biden and our TWICE IMPEACHED so-called four times indicted 2 times popular vote LOSING (ex) president (Donald Trump) and I managed to catch the last twenty minutes, or so, on the TV. Two things were apparent to me: FIRST – Trump didn’t actually answer a single question. He BLOVIATED and LIED his way through the entire “debate.” Second: President Biden got off to a rough start and struggled to figure out how to deal with someone who, when his lips were moving, was LYING.

So, to no surprise from my standpoint, the pundits (I was watching on MSNBC) were in panic mode believing Biden had terribly lost the “debate.” Not ONE of the people I listened to (or watched) said virtually anything other than Biden should drop out of the election. This is TYPICAL democratic response to a situation which was, admittedly, less than ideal. BUT – the reality is the person President Biden was “debating” is a known pathological LIAR, a convicted FELON, facing an additional 54 FELONY charges which, with the help of HIS SCOTUS, he’s trying to worm his way out from. Not a SINGLE pundit put the onus on Trump for LYING for the entire 90 minutes – as if, that’s their measuring “stick” for the so-called “winner.”

Then, to top it off, out comes the New York Times calling on Biden to step aside – for who? That would be a good question now, wouldn’t it? If the democrats had a better candidate than Biden, it seems to me, that person would have participated in the primaries and been chosen by “we the people.” But, the truth is, the democrats DON’T have a better candidate than Biden and even if they did it would be impossible for that person to actually put together a campaign which had any chance.

I long ago quit the NY Times – the paper is accused of being “liberal” but for the couple of years I subscribed to it I saw little evidence that was true. And, suggesting to President Biden he should “put his tail between his legs” and quit the race, well NOTHING could be more stupid. Are they actually trying to help Trump back into the “White House.” I honestly can’t figure out why they would want that. And, the pundits? OMG they were unbelievable. What a bunch of wimps. It’s made me NOT want to tune into MSNBC because I got the impression they (there were several of their “hosts” in panic mode) were putting their individual “visceral” reactions out to MILLIONS without thinking what the hell they were doing.

To me, so what if it wasn’t “State of the Union” Biden? The other guy is a pathological LIAR and he was in top form. Virtually EVERYTHING coming out of his mouth was NOT true – fabricated in most instances. Why wouldn’t that be considered a devastating performance? Because he was aggressively spewing falsehoods and racist garbage we look the other way? I haven’t heard ONE MSNBC host suggesting Trump should get out of the race because of his LYING, racist rants, fascist innuendo. AND soon to be sentencing for 34 FELONY counts, re: stealing the 2016 election. Come to think of it, I don’t believe the NY Times has called on Trump to quit either. In fact – I get their headlines still in my email inbox – it appears to me the NY Times is actually pro Trump. Yikes!!!

Here’s the reason I’m going to vote for Joe Biden, no matter what the pundits on MSNBC and CNN, or papers like the Times say (I think other papers had the same editorial manure as the Times). The Biden administration passed the COVID rescue bill early on which saved several families I know (with children) from being homeless. They ACTUALLY got a bipartisan INFRASTRUCTURE bill passed which is putting people to work all across this land fixing stuff that needs fixing (Roads, Bridges, pipes with lead, etc.) plus pushing broadband access into rural areas, they passed the Chips and Science Act which is causing the manufacture of computer chips to be done here in America, they passed the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” which included the MOST significant Climate legislation yet, they got legislation passed for Veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits, and that’s just what I can remember off the top of my head.

The bottom line is Joe Biden KNOWS how the government works and he’s able to accomplish things that others (like Trump) have no idea what to do. Everyone, by now, knows the joke about Trump’s continuous “infrastructure week.” Never got done. President Biden got it done in his first two years in office. President Biden is TRYING (he needs Congress to do it right) to get a student loan forgiveness program through to help students who’ve been paying on their debt for years only to have the balances increasing. Typical bank skulduggery – and, of course, republicans oppose it.

Even to suggest President Biden doesn’t have the “stamina” to do this job you’d have to been having your head in the sand lately. He’s been flying back and forth across the Atlantic for different activities some ceremonial (like actually going to Ainse-Marne cemetery just outside of Paris where Trump said the “suckers and losers” are buried) and some official, like the G-7 Summit in Italy. Despite the BOLD FACED LIE coming from Trump that America is not respected around the world, well unless you’re focused on Russia, Iran, North Korea, and maybe China, Trump’s claim falls into the “poppycock” category. Nonsense! Yet, virtually everyone watching the “debate” let Trump get away with this.

And, CNN? I don’t watch/listen to CNN, but they were the ones putting on this debate. Their moderators were AWFUL. Now, maybe they were helpless to call out the lies based on the “rules” of the debate. But, they COULD have insisted Trump answer their questions. Here’s one I remember. Trump was asked how he would deal with the Climate Crisis (which is getting worse, year after year). He responded by blathering out about the “border” and the longer they let him go the more fanciful his response became. The number of “illegal aliens” continued to grow – seemingly exponentially – while the accusations of all the “murderers, rapists (remember Trump falls into that category while MOST immigrants DON’T), people from prisons, insane asylums, and terrorists is just MORE of Trump’s LYING. (Yes, Biden SHOULD have been prepared for this barrage of nonsense – but, as I remember it he simply said, “Everything he just said is a Lie.”

And, the issue of a CONVICTED FELON running to be president took up something like five minutes of the “debate.” Yes, I would like to have seen President Biden mention it more, but the part which caught my eye was Trump, in true mob boss form, attempted to turn the tables on the President by throwing accusations at him and suggesting Hunter Biden’s conviction for apparently lying about his drug use when he purchased a gun (think of ALL the cases which could be brought on that charge) was a more serious charge than him (Trump) LYING to (ie CHEAT) win the 2016 election. Hunter’s issue affected no one else – Trump’s something like 150 MILLION voters. And, Trump accusing Biden of being a criminal is classic (Nazi like) projection – “accuse your opponent of that which you’re guilty.”

For me, as I stated above, this “panic” by the so-called “liberal” pundits pretty much says it all. it’s the reason I’ll never join the democratic party. The democrats did this to Obama back in the 2012 election – unwilling to defend the Affordable Care Act – and, thus. LOSING control of Congress. Democrats allowed republicans to denigrate Hillary Clinton to the point where MANY either voted third party or didn’t vote – or, in some cases may have actually voted for Trump. And, now they’re complaining about the SCOTUS while attacking President Biden who’s put the most diverse judges on the various benches EVER. Once again, democrats seem to be running from their own accomplishments. The GREATEST one was keeping Trump out of office in 2021. And, they’re facing the same challenge today and, well, they’d better figure out soon the winner of the 2024 election will be either Biden or Trump. Full Stop!

Trump has sucked 40% of America into his CULT. Democrats don’t need to help him enlarge that number. And, trust me, Trump’s numbers will not (ever) go up. The plan of the republicans has been, since the INSURRECTION, to bring the number of democratic voters down. That’s why Trump’s largest donor (Timothy Mellon) is also RFK Jr.’s largest donor. (One of RFK Jr.’s spokespersons flatly said, “we want to make sure Joe Biden loses”) That’s the reason behind all the voter suppression legislation and the intimidation of poll workers. That’s why Trump is, once again, making his “mob like suggestions” about whether or not he’ll accept the results of the 2024 election. I can guarantee you, the ONLY way he accepts them is if he can somehow CHEAT his way back into the “White House.”

Final Thought: It’s just as important that democrats focus on giving President Biden a Congress which will allow critical legislation to get passed – and be somewhat of a “check” on the SCOTUS. There is much President Biden was unable to accomplish because republicans were able to block important legislation. For all those out there who are not “in tune” with how the government works, Biden is limited to what he can get through Congress and, while he managed some historic “bipartisan” legislation in his first two years, republicans ALWAYS crawl back to their ugly space at the slightest suggestion from the fuhrer.

Just think about all the republicans who’ve told the truth about Trump only to come grovelling back because they fear his nasty “tweets.” (Or whatever form the latest nasty-gram comes in) Trump has insulted Ted Cruz’s wife and father – you’d never know it (he even helped with the coup). Trump insulted Marco Rubio – ruthlessly – you’d never know it. Trump has insulted Mitch McConnell and made racist comments about his wife – you’d never know it. And, on and on. Lindsey Graham, Nikki Haley, one after another, they ALL come crawling back. Is it disgusting or embarrassing or shameful, or all of the above? You decide. It’s certainly not a good look!

OK, I’ve started the process of reading “Project 2025 Mandate for Leadership” which is published by the Heritage Foundation – that which, along with the Federalist Society, gave us Trump’s three Justices on the Supreme Court. (who, apparently, are trying to return the “favor” to Trump by, at a minimum, stalling on their ruling on Trump’s absurd claim president’s are “absolutely immune” from prosecution while they’re in office.) Who knows how this court will rule, but they’ve already given Trump what he wants, which is pushing the trial in his “coup d’etat” case out past the election – his only hope to avoid this prosecution would be “we the people” proving we have collective amnesia and allowing him to somehow STEAL another election.

I’m not sure how much reporting I’m going to do on this directory of how to turn a democratic republic into a fascist state through the use of doublespeak and pure hypocrisy. For example, in the first 20+ pages there is an emphasis on whoever the next president is that he/she would strictly follow the constitution and enforce the “rule of law.” (My characterization) This, while they are eagerly funneling MILLIONS to Trump’s “Super PAC’s” and pushing for a convicted FELON to be the next “conservative” president. While, of course, making positive remembrances of Ronald Reagan as the, I guess you’d say, “kingpin” of the conservative movement. (Apparently, the “rule of law” only applies to us “liberals.”)

Of course, Reagan was a covert racist who specialized in what we now call the art of the “dog whistle.” Phrasing his comments in ways which signaled to the white nationalist community in America that he was with them. I keep hearing people rationalizing that “I’m not a racist” – I know someone who is Black. And, then of course, enthusiastically supporting an OVERT racist in Trump. For me, you just can’t have it both ways. At this point in my life I’ve met too many white old people, like myself, who’ve benefited from “white privilege” their entire lifetimes who show who they are, really, by their enthusiastic support of a LIAR, a racist, a misogynist, and, very possibly, a traitor. (who knows – well Trump does, – where all the missing Top Secret documents actually are.)

If you looked at the photos of the evidence made public after the FBI executed a search warrant on Mar a Lago (They MUST convince a judge they have the evidence of a CRIME before they can even get the search warrant) you saw all the folders labeled “Top Secret” which were empty. What did Trump do with the contents of those folders? Who knows? All I can say is I know I don’t trust Trump to not, possibly, sell them. Trump is nothing more than a cheap mob boss, but he’s the perfect stooge for the people who have published “Project 2025.” In my previous post I pointed out I’ve come to the conclusion that as evil as Trump is, he’s just the front man for the actual problem.

In other words, Trump is just the “puppet” providing the “mechanism” the people aligning themselves with “Project 2025” – or, I guess I should say, to be more precise, the people who actually wrote it all down to mainstream their fascist plans for America, need to gain POWER. In other words, the GOP’s problem goes way DEEPER than the issue with Trump. Our so-called “liberal media” spends the bulk of its time chasing their tails as they focus their airtime on the TWICE IMPEACHED so-called four times indicted (for 88 alleged FELONIES) two time popular vote LOSING (ex) president while spending a small fraction of their airtime reporting on Joe Biden’s accomplishments (which are, by the way, many) and, possibly more importantly, reporting on what’s on the pages of “Project 2025.”

I’ve bookmarked the free version you can get online (get it by clicking HERE) and, I’ve committed myself to taking the time to read as much of it as I can. It’s about 900 pages of a fascist wish-list and, of course, the authors are hoping hardly anyone reads it. (It’s almost like watching Fox “news”) Especially, they don’t want undecided VOTERS actually reading it. It’s the people behind this project who are the real problem as awful as Trump actually is. This I can guarantee you – Trump will never read it as far as I have (20+ pages of the actual document – there’s also a long intro) but, he’ll be expected to follow their plan. I’m 76 (soon to be 77) and I could NEVER have imagined our country would be facing such a challenge from within, but, if you’ve studied Lincoln, you shouldn’t be too surprised. This “challenge” is like resurrecting the “lost cause.”

Will the voters actually show up? Will they vote in record numbers for Joe Biden and democrats up and down the “ticket?” That is the challenge and that’s what republicans are working “overtime” to prevent. There are issues in this campaign which go well beyond the “stuff” which, for example, seems to be turning young people away from Biden. Even though Joe Biden is the best thing that has happened for them in their young lives. (And, yes, I agree, it would be better to have someone less than 81 years old – who knows how to run the government, but, beating Trump and his fascist backers is the challenge)

Biden recognizes the danger of the climate crisis, for one example. He understands the burden of Student Loan debt and is trying to do something to help. He’s working to create more affordable housing and has plans to help young people who want to buy their first home, but he needs a democratic Congress to accomplish this. He supports WOMEN’S reproductive rights, he supports fixing the Voting Rights Act, he supports Civil Rights for all Americans, he’s working hard to push down the excessive costs of goods and, inflation in general, he’s a strong supporter of labor, and he’s done a great job in bringing BACK together the NATO alliance which was fractured under Trump. Also, as opposed to Netanyahu (and Trump) he supports a “two state solution ” in the Israel, Hamas war, and the list goes on and on.

Speaking of the Israel/Hamas conflict, President Biden can’t ORDER Netanyahu to do anything. Israel is a sovereign nation. However, Trump and Netanyahu are on the same page so young people who plan to vote against Biden because of him standing strong with Israel, I think they should rethink their logic. For example, a vote for a third party candidate is, in essence, a vote for Trump. Young people not voting is what Trump is attempting to accomplish with his misinformation flooding Social Media which is where most young people get their “news.” Very few young voters will actually read even parts of “Project 2025” and my hope is they don’t find out the details when it’s too late. What America needs right now is a group effort, democrats, disaffected republicans, and independents working together to re-elect President Biden and give him a democratic Congress.

That would mean people like Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley (who both participated in the coup attempt) and Rick Scott (who allegedly led a company which committed the greatest Medicare FRAUD of all time) should be VOTED OUT of office. Democrats need enough Senators to allow the FILIBUSTER to be removed from key legislation republicans routinely are BLOCKING. And, of course, the HOUSE must be returned to democratic control so that SOMETHING, anything, can be accomplished. Remember, this republican led House, has ONLY passed a few bills – keeping the government’s “lights” on – and, when Trump was president, the ONLY significant piece of legislation was the tax cut aimed at the “top 1%.” (And, OBTW Trump is promising to extend that tax cut in order to pull in MILLIONS from America’s Billionaires.)

From what I’m gathering so far, MOST of the DAMAGE the “Project 2025” would cause would be to the executive branch – where they are proposing what amounts to a “loyalty test” for anyone who would be employed in one of the HUGE bureaucracies and systematic purging of “career civil servants.” Think of the institutions this would undermine. The Justice Department, the State Department, the Education Department, Homeland Security, the CIA (and 17 other intelligence agencies), the Agriculture Department, the FDA, the EPA and those are the ones I could think of right off the top of my head. A MASSIVE amount of LONG TERM damage could be inflicted on the executive branch of government via “Project 2025.” (Oh yes, the SCOTUS would be FURTHER compromised as well)

Here’s the speculation of how the SCOTUS factors into this fascist takeover of the U.S. Right now, there are three YOUNG Justices who have LIFETIME appointments to the Court. If, as predicted, during a second Trump administration both (of the most CORRUPT Justices) Alito and Thomas will resign, allowing for two YOUNG replacements. The Court will be in right wing control for a generation +. There are so many CRITICAL reasons why Americans SHOULD be turning from this threat, but the Court has to be right at the top. Since the Bush v Gore decision in 2000 the Court has been pushing their corporatist bent on “we the people,” and putting two more YOUNG right wing Justices on the bench will prove unspeakably disastrous to America as we move forward with the challenges of our time. If you believe the recent decisions of this court are bad, just consider facing the likelihood of more of the same for another 30 years. Yikes!!!

Final Thought: I’ll keep reading “Project 2025” and, periodically, be giving a report on my interpretation of what’s in the document, but I hope MANY more Americans decide the future of our nation is important enough for them to read it as well. The “you know what” is about to hit the fan and it will require a unified mobilization to stop it. What Trump has accomplished for the “puppeteers” behind “Project 2025” is, through his pathological LYING, and the willingness of right wing media to mirror the LIES, to create a HUGE cult following of Americans willing to vote against their own self interests. I recently linked interviews with Trump supporters by Jordan Klepper and, if you haven’t seen them (Here’s a new one) you should check them out. You get a really good idea of why Trump loves “uneducated voters.”

It’s June 20, 2024, tomorrow will be the longest day of the year and (for me) the dreaded shorter days will start on the following day. Today is the day where the SCOTUS put a “bow” on it regarding the FACT this Court is attempting to do their part in helping Trump avoid facing accountability for his alleged CRIMINAL conduct – once again. He’s been managing to pull this off for his entire life – with the exception of the Manhattan “election interference” case where he was found GUILTY of 34 FELONIES. It appears the Court is hell bent on making sure that is the ONLY accountability he’ll face as he’s been indicted for an additional 54 FELONIES including the 4 allegations the Court has, in essence, granted Trump “immunity” from prosecution regarding January 6th, by running whatever decision they’re going to make on the ABSURD “absolute immunity” claim coming from our Twice Impeached so-called four times indicted two times popular vote LOSING (ex) president to the last possible day of this term.

I predicted right after I heard them respond to the arguments on this case there will be at least five of the Justices who will send this case – after stalling it for months – back to the district court for some kind of technicality so that Trump can once again start the appeal’s process all over again. I don’t believe the Court can grant Trump his absurd “absolute immunity” claim because that would render themselves powerless. We’re getting a “bird’s eye view” of the SHOCKING amount of CORRUPTION among these Justices – and, who knows what we don’t KNOW? (That was an odd question) And, of course, the Justices still haven’t rendered a verdict in Trump’s appeal meaning it will come either next week (the last week of their term) or they’ll push it into July. And, there are a bunch of other decisions which are likely to be controversial as well.

Here’s the deal. Even if they agree with the DC Appellate Court I believe they are attempting to make sure there’s not time for Judge Chutkin to actually try the case prior to November 5th’s election. I have had a scintilla of hope that despite the STALLING the court would rule in the obvious direction that NO person is above the law – which, obviously, would NOT be the case if they rule in Trump’s favor here. But, as I said, after listening to the oral arguments in the case I felt certain they were looking for a way to justify giving Trump what he wants by throwing it back to the district court.

It’s only hard to understand what is happening here when you’re looking at things through the prism of traditional American thought where each side is at least trusted by the other side to respect the constitution – really! Of course, Trump and the republicans shroud themselves in the flag and profess their undying fealty to the constitution – in one breath – while making plans to shred it, under that same breath – although their plans are becoming more and more obvious by the day. I haven’t had a chance (or the energy) to “tackle” the so-called “2025 project” – but, I feel an obligation to force myself to at least begin reading it – to get as far into it as I can. After all, I read Mueller’s report TWICE.

From what I understand, the “2025 project” is being put together by people like Stephen Miller – he of the infamous taking babies from mothers at the border fame – AND, after appearing on the Sunday talk shows one week while as a Trump “senior advisor” flashing the “white power” hand signal on national TV. Plus, others who have visions of a federal government where the number one requirement of a government worker will be to pledge undying LOYALTY to Trump. All, the while, Trump will, in essence, be doing as he’s told by whoever, in this tale, is portraying the “wizard of OZ” – behind the curtain.

Here’s the conclusion I’m coming to. Donald Trump is the puppet. The Billionaires “behind the curtain” are the puppet masters and they know how to manipulate Trump just as Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Xi Jinping, MBS, Netanyahu, and other dictators know how to manipulate him. The “trick,” is simple: compliment him – tell him how great he is. Obviously, this is why these dictators around the world will be attempting to “interfere” in the 2024 election because it will render the U.S. as impotent regarding foreign policy should Trump return to the Oval Office and will cause even more division in America making their positions even stronger in their own nations.

As someone who’s been willingly participating in the American political process since I was able to vote in 1968 I can’t believe I’m feeling forced to write these words. In 1967 I joined the U.S. Marines while a junior in college. When I reported for boot camp after the conclusion of the school year, and after taking a more detailed physical, I was given an honorable medical discharge because of a knee injury I suffered in high school football, which I didn’t consider all that serious, but was too much for the Marines. I’m saying this because I’ve been a supporter of EVERYTHING in this country, even when it seemed all wrong. It always seemed as if both sides believed in the “rule of law.” But, nothing has seemed as WRONG as Trump. He really does act as if he’s an organized crime “boss” and the laws shouldn’t apply to him.

As a comparison, I vividly remember being on the edge of my seat back during the Watergate hearings. In that case, as in the case of Trump, it was obvious to me Richard Nixon had committed egregious crimes and should be IMPEACHED and removed from office. Although, I hadn’t given Nixon’s criminal liability much thought, at the time, when Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon I was thoroughly disgusted. As I look back on it, I thought if Nixon hadn’t committed enforceable CRIMES why would he need a pardon? If he felt he was innocent of crimes, why would he accept a pardon?

Well, Trump has turned Watergate into what now seems like child’s play. He’s surpassed Nixon in what seems exponential terms and the republican party has lowered itself to levels which still seem almost unbelievable to me. To watch them, during Trump’s trial, violating his “gag order” for him as a way to challenge the judge to hold HIM accountable for his surrogates doing his “dirty work” was nauseating. So much for the “party of law and order.” And, even worse, a week or so ago when Trump returned to Capitol Hill, watching the republicans essentially attempting to force their way past each other to get to “touch” him and singing happy birthday to him (not even on his birthday) was, well, embarrassing. Remember, these video clips are seen around the world. McConnell was there, Graham was there, several others acting as if Trump is the fuhrer.

Not only are the Trump supporters coming across as willfully STUPID, but so are these members of Congress who are willing to push whatever LIE Trump orders. And, keep in mind, these republicans are the “puppets” as well as Trump. We KNOW who some of the puppeteers are – like the Koch’s, the Coors family, the Walton family, the DeVos family, Timothy Mellon, and other BILLIONAIRES (Elon Musk? Peter Thiel? Mark Zuckerberg??? the “new breed?”) For example, it’s been reported Mellon (also the largest donor to RFK Jr.’s campaign) recently donated $50 MILLION to a Trump “Super PAC.” Do you really believe these people are donating all these MILLIONS with no expectations? In fact, it’s been reported Trump has actually suggested what he’d do in return for “donations.” A true quid pro quo. He actually has been reported to have asked for a “cool BILLION” from a group of oil executives. Yikes!!!

Getting back to the issue of the Court. These “puppeteers” have been working to create a “conservative” Court for decades and they FINALLY hit the “bullseye” with, what amounts to the Trump Court. The THREE Justices he appointed to the court – under extremely devious circumstances – a combination of Mitch McConnell’s brazen hubris and the dark money orchestrated by Leonard Leo – remember Alito and Roberts are holdovers who resulted from the Bush v Gore abomination back in 2000 – they were nominated by George W Bush – has given us this court which seems not to understand the concept of stare decisis as they’ve furthered Lewis Powell’s vision of a corporatocracy. (I hope I didn’t make up a new word) Remember, as I’ve said here, the foundation of fascism is a corporate/government partnership.

All that’s been missing for these puppeteers has been a pathological LIAR willing to stand before the republican minions and spew the most outrageous LIES imaginable and demonstrate to the republican leaders – including members of Congress, Governors, and on down the line, how effective a strategy of “The Big Lie” is – it works! Enter Trump! The MASTER of LYING. And, I’ve been saying for years the republicans are all about POWER and not about governing with the belief “the end justifies the means.” So, Trump is the needed “puppet” to make all this work, and the SCOTUS is the mechanism to protect Trump from “we the people.” The final challenge, for them, is to figure out how to make sure Trump “wins” the 2024 election.

Final Thought: For the above conspiracy to work, you need a willing audience. There was a significant (more than I understood) segment of America who are full blown white nationalists/supremacists who’ve been waiting for a “Trump” for years. They reacted in true backlash fashion after the election of Barack Obama via the so-called “Tea Party.” Then there was the “evangelical Christians” professing to be “pro-life” and singularly opposed to abortion. Facilitating the Justices necessary to overturn Roe v Wade got Trump a significant and loyal following. It appears he’s got a strong base of something between 40 – 45% of the voting public.

That’s not enough to “win.” Hence, the voter suppression efforts in numerous states, the intimidation of election workers, the supporting of third party candidates by Trump’s biggest donors, all of this in an effort to create an election Trump can win with a significant minority of the voters. Add to that a MASSIVE misinformation campaign on Social Media platforms and Trump has, despite attempting a coup in 2021 put himself – with the help of his puppeteers and the SCOTUS they’ve created – in a genuine position where he has a chance to save himself from the 54 FELONY counts which he’s been charged via “winning” November’s election – by any means possible.

I have to add this, because, as a Christian myself, Trump’s pandering to the evangelical Christian community has been very offensive to me. The other day I saw video of him standing in front of an audience of Christian “leaders” and professing to be a “strong Christian.” Of course, he just finished a trial where he was found guilty of hiding payments to two women he had affairs with while his now wife was nursing his last son, and he’s been found liable by a unanimous jury of sexually assaulting another woman, plus he’s been accused of sexual assault by over 25 other women. He makes mob like THREATS to anyone who doesn’t bend the knee to him (he hasn’t discovered me yet) I’m not sure there’s one of the Ten Commandments, which are now legally required to be in EVERY public school classroom in Louisiana, he has actually followed.

You have to be STUPID not to understand he’s a pathological LIAR. In each of his THREE marriages he’s been credibly accused of committing adultery, he’s been found liable for HUNDREDS of millions in business and tax fraud, and on and on. Yet, a large segment of his “base” are people to profess to be Christians. I don’t think Trump has set foot in a church more than, maybe, a dozen times in his life. By my research, as a child it was the Easter and Christmas routine in his family. When he stands in front of a group of church leaders and professes to be a “strong Christian” they have to understand he’s LYING straight to their faces. I’m sure he laughs at them in private. As he recently said at a rally, he “doesn’t need them, he just needs their votes.

Yet, they put up with it because now they’ve got the Court. The SCOTUS is the key to all this and, their decisions likely are going to get a lot worse. From the standpoint we still have an election to stop it all, especially if you’re a young person, if you can’t see the importance of Biden winning the 2024 election – for your future – then, in essence you will deserve the consequences. I hate to put it that way, but to me, the choice is obvious! As many are saying, vote as if your life depends on it, because it very well might.

America’s Darkest Hour: Battling the Second Great Insurrection

The new GOP motto might as well be, “We don’t need no stinkin’ issues; we just want power and revenge for the heroes of the Old South and the New Insurrection.”

Thom Hartmann

Jun 19, 2024

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Have you noticed how rarely Republicans talk about actual issues?

— They rant about brown people pouring over the southern border but refuse to even discuss what could be done about it. In fact, when the Senate came up with a workable solution, Republicans in the House killed it at the insistence of Donald Trump. No policies, no solutions other than a Nazi-like round-up of 11 million people and a series of concentration camps.

— They complain about the state of the economy, but have no arguments about what can be done to enhance the economy other than more tax cuts for billionaires, who are already paying a pathetic average 3.4% income tax.

— They whine that our students aren’t doing well but refuse to engage in any serious discussion about how to take us back to the era when America had the newest and most successful public education system in the world.

— They’ll yell about prescription drug prices and the high cost of insurance, but their only policy suggestion is to end Obamacare and Medicaid. 

— They love to slander BLM and big cities with large Black populations but refuse to even entertain a conversation about healing the racial divide in this country; instead, their efforts are directed toward outlawing or decertifying Black History classes, as just happened in South Carolina.

All of this is because the GOP is now a post-politics party.

The reason why is simple and straightforward: The people who’ve captured the Republican Party envision a day when they won’t have to even pretend that they’re engaging in good-faith political discussions or negotiations because they will have outlawed, sidelined, or intimidated their opposition into impotence and silence.

They’re using our political system this election year, in other words, so they can seize enough power to destroy our political system.

And they have a model they’re using for what they want to replace it with: the Confederacy.

In the first decade of the 19th century, the invention of the cotton gin transformed the South, as I detail in The Hidden History of American Oligarchy. The machine could do the work of 50 enslaved people, so the wealthiest plantation owners could wipe out thousands of small farmers and other competitors.

Now that one machine could clean as much cotton as fifty people, every cotton plantation faced the possibility that it could produce 50 times as much cotton (and profit), if only it had 50 times as much land to grow the cotton on and 50 times as many people to pick it.

The wealthiest among the Southern oligarchs colluded on price-fixing to bankrupt and then buy out small farms and plantations for pennies on the dollar. Within a few decades, by the early 1840s, a handful of fabulously wealthy families had seized complete control of the economic and political systems of each state in the Old South.

And they brooked no opposition: White men who dared run or vote against them in elections were often assassinated or lynched; newspapers were seized and handed over to oligarchs friendly to the plantation owners; elections became a mere charade. They even monitored the mail: if you wrote a letter to a friend complaining about the end of democracy you’d find yourself in prison or hanged from a tree.

Democracy in the South, by the 1850s, was completely dead. The Confederacy had become a police state. And then they reached out to try to end that pesky remnant of democracy in the North, as well.

It’s nearly exactly what the MAGA GOP is trying to do today.

As historian Dr. Forrest A. Nabors wrote in his brilliant book From Oligarchy to Republicanism: The Great Task of Reconstruction, the richest families in the South had replaced democracy with a violent oligarchy, what today I’d call fascism:

“A new generation of rulers reshaped the South around their new ruling principle. … The development of Southern oligarchy portended the rupture of the union, regardless of the ties that bound them together, because no ties, physical, legal, or otherwise, can overcome the difference between fundamentally opposed types of political regimes.”

Illinois’ Representative John Farnsworth noted that history in his 1864 speech on the floor of the US House of Representatives:       

“[With t]he invention of the cotton-gin, … the greed for power took possession of the slaveholders, and the avarice of these men overleaped itself…

“Then it was, Mr. Speaker, that the slave power got the control of the Government, of the executive, legislative, and judicial departments.

“Then it was that they got possession of the high places of society. They took possession of the churches. They took possession of the lands. Then it became criminal for a man to open his lips in denunciation of [them].

“Then followed … the throttling of the right to petition; suppressing the freedom of the press; the suppression of the freedom of the mails; all these things followed the taking possession of the Government and lands by the slave power, until we were the slaves of slaves, being chained to the car of this slave Juggernaut…”

This is the model that today’s GOP, the reinvented Confederacy, is using to replace modern American democracy.

And they’re not even bashful about it: It’s why ten Republican-controlled states officially commemorate the Confederacy with state holidays every year and six refuse to recognize Juneteenth: Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina and North Carolina.

Reagan’s massive tax cuts (and Bush’s and Trump’s) had the same oligarch-producing impact as the cotton gin; before Reagan, billionaires were virtually unknown and few wealthy people were politically active. Today, they own Congress, our social- and news-media, and the Supreme Court.

The billionaire-funded Project 2025 is this generation’s version of John C. Calhoun’s nullification speech and South Carolina’s secession proclamation.

In this brave new world run by Citizen Trump and the MAGA GOP:

— Slave labor is replaced by the perpetual poverty and servitude of a $7.25 minimum wage and Red state laws hostile to unions. Children are encouraged to leave school and enter the workplace in dangerous jobs like slaughterhouses.

— Quality education becomes exclusively the province of the rich and white as public schools are gutted by voucher programs while college tuition explodes.  

— Healthcare is a luxury only available to the wealthy as insurance becomes unaffordable, Republican governors refuse to expand Medicaid, and medical practices are acquired by hedge funds and converted to concierge practices with $3000/year annual fees.

— Media that speaks truth to power are bankrupted by new libel laws, taken over, and turned into Republican propaganda machines.

— Women, people of color, and religious minorities are made culturally and legally subordinate to white “Christian” men.

— In any Republican-controlled part of the country where there’s a chance a Democrat could win an election, the voter rolls are purged of Democrats and those voters who survive the purges find increasingly complex barriers to casting a ballot.

— And, of course, they want to preserve the Confederate names and monuments still extant and bring back the monuments that have been removed. As we saw on January 6th, the Confederate battle flag is one of their favorite totems.

The new GOP motto might as well be, “We don’t need no stinkin’ issues; we just want power and revenge for the heroes of the Old South and the New Insurrection.”

It’s why they lie so easily on the Sunday talk shows and in political campaigns: They don’t give a damn about issues. All they care about is power.

And their base is with them. As Oliver Markus Malloy wrote in the headline for his Bad Choices Substack newsletter yesterday, “MAGA dumbfucks are so fucking dumb, they have no idea that the pro-slavery Confederates were the bad guys!”

In fact, they know what the sides were in the Civil War, and they are intentionally choosing — embracing — the Confederacy.

Democrats — and Americans more generally — must finally realize that Trump’s MAGA GOP is no longer interested in policy or politics but solely wants to seize absolute political and economic power to end our democracy and reinvent the confederacy.

Only then we can begin a discussion about how to deal with this Second Great Insurrection that they hope will reboot the Civil War only — now outfitted with deadly bump-stocks — this time with a different outcome.

Until then, as we try to debate “issues,” we’re merely engaging in meaningless political theater. Instead, we must identify, ostracize, and politically and legally crush this growing and violent insurrection against America and her traditional ideals.

The Hartmann Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my daily efforts to rescue American democracy, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

As I stated when I first began allowing my need for venting to end up on these pages I was, during the last 23 years of my working life, a sixth grade teacher. And, while my focus here has been a political bent based on my distaste for the republican party I have to give a few details of some of the feedback I’ve received from former students which gives an idea of why I have such a strong belief in the young people in America. Most of the students who were in my classes are now in ages ranging from 20 to 40. I’m going to share some examples of students who I know about and what they’ve accomplished.

This past week I was attending a celebration for the end of the school year where my wife was honored as a retiring teacher after 34 years in the classroom. She has been a first grade teacher over the past 7 years, but worked in just about every grade level from 1st grade through the middle school grades. For me, it’s always fun to be around teachers at the end of a school year because it’s time for them to take a deep breath and to soon begin preparing for the next year. Any time I hear someone badmouthing school teachers the hair on my back (there is none :o) stands on end. I worked in several occupations prior to teaching, including 7 years in a sawmill, and teaching was the most challenging, mostly due to mental exhaustion, of them all. I love teachers!

While I was at this celebration a young lady came up to me and said, “Did you teach at McLoughlin Middle School?” I, of course, had no choice but to answer, “Yes.” Her response was – in an excited tone, “I was in your 6th grade class!” I wasn’t able to place her (grown up) face to any students I had and I (embarrassingly) didn’t remember her name – she was in my classroom 20 years ago – in the second year after I stopped teaching in a “self contained” classroom. Fortunately for me, her memories of being in my classroom were quite positive. But, that’s not my point here.

She worked this past year in my wife’s school as an occupational therapist working with students who are still dealing with the after affects of the COVID pandemic. I asked her about her higher education and she shared with me she graduated from the University of Washington with both a four year Bachelor of Science degree and then she got a Masters degree in whatever the category was (I can’t remember) allowing her to work in the public schools helping low socioeconomic students manage the mental challenges of making it through High School. All I could say was “wow.”

But, there’s more. She told me she was part of a group of 2nd grade students who a local non-profit offered to pay for their higher education should they graduate from high school with a pre-determined grade point average. This offer was made to four groups of second graders (four successive years) at an elementary school (where my wife was teaching when I met her) that “fed” into the Middle School where I was teaching. I remember the students who got that “promise” and I often wondered whether it would ever really amount to helping kids from low income families actually attend college.

Well, this girl was the first example I’ve encountered proving that the people who made that offer over 20 years ago actually came through for the students. And, attending the University of Washington is not for the “faint of heart.” First, in my case, it was way too expensive. Secondly, it takes a high school GPA of at least 3.75 (on the 1 to 4 grading scale) to be admitted. Also, there are more than 40,000 students at, what we call here in the state of Washington, “The U.” It’s a world class University and it’s very challenging to succeed there. All I could think of was “Thank God, I didn’t ruin this girl’s education.”

We had a long conversation and she remembered more of what took place back then than I – although, she “triggered” some of the stuff I had forgotten. I was a teacher who focused on “relationship” with my students because MOST of them were two to three years behind grade level expectations when they arrived for the sixth grade and had lost their “love” of education. They needed someone they could trust encouraging them. Many of these students were in families where no one had graduated High School. Stories like this remind me how brilliant most of our young people are, no matter the environment they grow up in. And, as I thought about it, there are many more stories just as inspiring. I’ll share a couple more.

During my career I had many students who would be considered “Hispanic” or “Latina.” I never really understood the “category” into which they should be labeled, but, to me, they were simply part of my sixth grade classroom. One circumstance I distinctly remember was a young girl who was struggling during the year she spent in my classroom and I had numerous conversations with her outside the room. (Other teachers referred to the center area of our “Pod” as my psychology lab) She was in a “single mom” household and her Mom was very negative with her. When she was in High School she sent me a note reminding me I had compared her to a “flower which was about to bloom” in one of our conversations. Apparently, she really internalized the conversation and, when in High School, she became an Honor Student and a student leader.

After she graduated she sent me a note about what she was doing with her life. Surprisingly, to me, at 19 years old she was running for the school board in our city. Despite the fact she was not elected I was so proud of her. In my 60 years of observing the school system here I had NEVER heard of someone her age running for and campaigning for a seat at the school board. But, that wasn’t all she was doing.

She told me she was involved with a group organizing young people of Hispanic descent in order to help them get registered to vote. That really caused me to feel even more proud of her. One of the things I always emphasized to my students was the IMPORTANCE of them VOTING once the were old enough to be eligible. They would almost always ask me “who did you vote for” especially in the years there was a presidential election. I would always answer something like the following, “I won’t share that because I’m not encouraging to vote the way I would vote, your challenge is to educate yourself on the options and then make an informed decision.” (Obviously, if any of them have “wondered” onto this site, they know who I’m going to VOTE for in the next election)

I had another experience with a former student who used to sit in my classroom drawing the pictures of airplanes. For reasons I won’t document here, I had an extra level of “love” for this student, (OK his older brother died while he was in my classroom) I can’t remember the number of times I met with him outside the classroom (a conversation only for the two of us) encouraging him to apply himself because his grades were even close to his potential. I remember telling him “If you would apply yourself to your education maybe someday you could actually be designing airplanes.” In my mind, I thought that was far fetched, but I was trying to motivate him to apply himself to his own education.

Well, several years later – I had lost track of him – his family had moved to Southern California after his sixth grade school year – but toward the end of my time as a full time teacher he showed up at our school while we were in the meetings (I loathed) prior to the beginning of the school year and he took me to lunch. His parents had flown him up from California because he wanted to thank me for words which “stuck with him” and, of course, I couldn’t remember. But, here’s what’s significant about this: He graduated from High School with ABOVE a 4.0 grade average (at the time, I didn’t know that was possible) and, once we ended our lunch together he was flying back down to California and starting his college education. He had a “full ride” to the University of California at Davis in “Aeronautical Engineering.” He was still determined to design airplanes! To say the least, I was totally blown away and, of course, EXTREMELY proud of him.

My point here is there are young Americans all across this nation working to follow their dreams via some form of higher education. The examples are endless, I’m just sharing some of the ones I know of regarding students who were in my actual classroom. I also came across a young lady recently who was in the classroom right next to mine. My students were always at a level well below grade level and this young lady was in the “gifted” program on the other side of a removable partition between the two classrooms. I met her while attending a performance of my granddaughter who is an amazing dancer. Her daughter was one of the youngest children in the performance – which, by the way, was amazing.

When she saw me she reminded me of her name – which I did remember – and I had a short conversation with her about what was happening in her life. When she got into High School she was accepted into what’s called the “IB program.” (International Baccalaureate) As it turns out, this is one of the High School programs where a student can achieve HIGHER than a 4.0 grade average because several of the classes are eligible for college credit. This young lady graduated from college with a BA and a Master’s degree and now she’s actually a teacher in today’s IB program – at the same school. It just reminded me of another young American who is following his/her dreams and being a positive part of our society. I’ve been to presentations by students in this program and have been totally blown away. (That seems to keep happening)

I just wanted to write something a bit (OK a lot) more uplifting than the normal rants you might experience at this “blog.” (If that’s what it is) There are endless stories about the young people in America and I’m a strong advocate in “we the people” INVESTING in them. They are incredibly more sophisticated than those of us in the “old person” category were at the same age. And, of course, there are an un-calculable number of young people who are dealing with the affects of the pandemic. Who better to be part of the intervention for those suffering from issues like depression or anxiety than their peers who can identify with their challenges. Every time I meet a former student who is focused on helping others I get a warm feeling in my heart. They ARE our future!

Final Thought: Not all of the “success stories” I’ve encountered over the previous years are students who made it to/through college. There’s one in particular – a young Hispanic lady – I frequently run into as I do my shopping at Costco. (Most of what I purchase comes from Costco) She works part time at Costco and has a family of three young ones and a Husband she assures me treats her with the respect a mom deserves. It always lifts my spirits when I see her and she shares with her fellow workers “He was my sixth grade teacher.” I feel no less a sense of pride when I meet a former student who is being a responsible adult whether they made it through college or not. Keeping in mind, MOST of my students were in the “at risk” category, meaning something approaching 50% of these students were predicted to not graduate from High School. A large part of my focus in my real life is supporting “we the people” INVESTING in our future – America’s young people.

One more thing: I have many former students who, I believe, are “Dreamers.” That is, students who came to America when they were very young with parents who were “illegal.” (I hate that label) Many of them have gone to college, many have entered the military, and many are doing other positive things too numerous to mention here. I hope to live long enough to see “Dreamers” being offered a “pathway” to citizenship. Many of them know more about what SHOULD be routine for “citizens” and “citizenship” than those of us born here. They are also a positive part of America’s citizenry and SHOULD have the opportunity to “cement” their feeling of being an American into a formality.

During my last year in the classroom Donald Trump was elected president and I’ll never forget needing to allow my students (at that time I was teaching 7th graders) a couple class periods to discuss amongst themselves what that meant to them. The question I heard which I can’t get out of my mind was them asking each other “Are you legal?” Personally, I didn’t care, but it was obvious that, to them, it was of paramount importance. To me, it’s no wonder why their challenges are much greater than mine at the same age. And, again, I believe America’s young people are worth INVESTING in! They ARE our FUTURE! Stay tuned….

It likely does! I was reading writings by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) today and came across the following ARTICLE. It lists all the corporations who are supporting the seditionists in Washington D.C. (ie republicans) We’re talking about corporations who are donating money by the MILLIONS to republicans who participated in the 2021 coup attempt and/or republicans who continue to spew the so-called “Big Lie” (to me, just one LIE among MANY) One way to hold these companies accountable is by NOT giving them any of your business.

As one might guess, the WORST offender is Koch Industries (Charles Koch) and it might be difficult to figure out what products to avoid in this instance although, I believe, it’s not impossible. A quick search of the internet reveals, for example, the following are Koch companies: Flint Hill Industries, Georgia Pacific, Guardian Industries (not the publication from the UK), Invista (A spinoff of DuPont), Molex, Koch Ag and Energy Solutions, and Koch Pipeline. You (and me) probably spend money supporting Mr. Koch without knowing you’re doing it. In my case I’m going to be more selective. For example, instead of using UPS or Fed Ex – everything’s going via the USPS (when possible).

The list of these companies is long and some of the CEO’s seem to have no shame in prostrating themselves over Trump, apparently wanting to be in his “good graces” should he manage to CHEAT his way back into the “White House.” Apparently, they’re playing “both sides” and, instead of attempting to make sure he DOESN’T cheat his way back into the “White House” by, say, working to prevent that from happening, they’re kissing his ass er ring – it really is all embarrassing/pathetic.

So, the other day, on the eve of Trump’s 78th birthday (he’s 3 years younger than Biden with decades less wisdom) Trump was invited to a republican hangout on Capitol Hill in D.C. – he STILL couldn’t go to the Capitol, but for different reasons this time – and, I’m not kidding, the Congressional republicans were fawning all over him as they sang “happy birthday” (one day early) and, it appeared to get close to getting on their knees to worship him. It was as if they were trying to crowd in front of each other to be the next one to get a hug (or kiss) from him. It reminded me of when he was in the Oval Office for a meeting and one by one his cabinet officials went around the room exclaiming how thankful he/she was for him to allow them to prostrate themselves over him. Disgusting!

At this point I kind of expect this type of behavior from Mike Johnson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Andy Biggs, Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell, Matt Gaetz, Ron Johnson, “liddle” Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, Tim Scott, Elise Stefanic, Louie Ghomert, Scott Perry, Byron Donalds, and a whole bunch more republicans (many “applying” for the job of VP) but, the 80 members of the business “round table” participating was a bit much for me. For example, there was Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, and Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan who all actually allowed their spokespeople to announce they were present. Is there no shame? Apparently, they can’t remember back more than a month or two from 1/6/2021 – as republicans are busy working to “revise” recent American history.

These are all executives who claimed, after January 6th, 2021 they wouldn’t support any politician who was complicit in the INSURRECTION. They’re now apparently willing to throw their support to Trump, (as if he wasn’t involved) but also to the 150 or so republicans who participated in the scheme to overthrow the 2020 election. It’s no wonder the American public is so cynical – which absolutely works in Trump’s favor – let’s call it American amnesia. The worst attendee, in my view, was Tim Cook of Apple – who, was clear as a bell (?) after January 6th neither he nor Apple would be caught kissing up to Trump or anyone else involved in the storming of the Capitol. Surprise, Surprise.

What was Trump “offering” these American oligarchs? That was a rhetorical question if there ever was one. OF COURSE, he was telling them if they help him get re-elected he will “cut their taxes” and he’ll block regulations that do things like make the air and water you and I breathe and drink clean, but cost many of these businesses money and headaches. In Short: He was telling the business people if they put their profits ahead of the good of the country and the people in it, he’s their man. Cook, apparently, attempted to shake hands with Trump and “get out of town” without being noticed. Didn’t work! Maybe that’s Cook trying out the new Apple AI?

While, to me, this is all disgusting and embarrassing, none of it is surprising. It reminds me of the SCOTUS where one decision after another has been coming from the Court favoring corporate interests for the past 30 or more years, with the “pace” picking up once we were “in” the Roberts Court. And, trust me, “we the people” are about to see a barrage of “unfriendly” Court decisions in the next two weeks that will cement the idea the Court is CORRUPT to the core and there’s nothing those of us worried about issues like Climate Change, Voting Rights, Civil Rights, education, Women’s rights, the environment in general, government institutions’ decisions being made by experts as opposed to the Court, personal rights (ie LGBTQ, etc.) gun rights, and on and on, can do about it.

For those of us who are NOT CEO’s of America’s international corporations it might “behoove” us to think of those issues I just mentioned before deciding to sit out the 2024 election because Joe Biden is too old, or – just as bad – voting for RFK Jr. or another third party candidate – none of who have a “snow ball’s chance in…….” (you know the rest) of winning. In Robert Kennedy’s case – and, I’m saddened to have to say this – one of his surrogates, in New York recently, said, “Our purpose is to make sure Biden doesn’t win.” Yikes!!!

I listed above a BUNCH of reasons why corporate CEO’s might be throwing their support to Trump which are VERY MUCH reasons, if you’re a normal person (not in Trump’s CULT) why you SHOULD be voting for President Biden (who actually – in his first two years, accomplished more than any other modern president since FDR). However, as you watch the number of “ugly” decisions coming down from the Court in the final two weeks of this year’s session, keep in mind, THREE of those judges – the ones who overturned Roe v Wade – are on the court because progressives allowed themselves to be manipulated into either voting against Hillary Clinton or for Trump, or stayed home, in 2016 – much to the delight of V Putin, MBS, Netanyahu, and other dictators around the globe who consider America’s “democracy” (actually a “democratic republic”) a threat to their own fascist states.

Remember, fascism’s foundation is a corporate/government partnership. We the people have immense POWER when we exercise our right to vote – but, taking that privilege for granted could be a fatal mistake to the nearly 250 year experiment we call the “United States of America.” Yes, we’ve got MANY failings – including “electing” Trump (with the help of the Russians, other right wing despots, and, of course James Comey) but, America has slowly been working through the dark spots and including more and more of “us” in the process – to the point where those in the so-called “business round table” along with a base of political support led by white nationalists and right wing media outlets – are desperately attempting to “turn back the clock” one hundred, or so, years. In both cases they fear a diverse, progressive population.

There’s even a Black GOP member of Congress (I think his name is Byron Donalds) suggesting “Black Families had it much better during Jim Crow.” (I’m not kidding) In fact, I find Mr. Donalds, along with Tim Scott – the Junior GOP Senator from South Carolina (who is also Black) – to be two of the most pathetic of the republicans fawning all over Trump. Apparently, each one would love to be the VP – promising if they were in Mike Pense’s shoes they would have chosen the alternative slates of electors. (Apparently, the “hang Mike Pense” shouts failed to “jar” their memories to the days when their ancestors were actually getting hanged – for, the crime of being Black. Who knew?)

Final Thought(s): I’ve pointed this out here MANY times: The republicans have adopted the “strategies” of the Nazi’s of the Third Reich (back in the 1930’s) via the use of the “Big Lie Theory” (concocted by Hitler, himself, and put into practice by Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s minister of propaganda) and the use of projection. The Big Lie Theory is simple. You concoct a LIE and you tell it over and over again – meaning all surrogates telling the same LIE – and, eventually, it will be considered true. Take for example the so-called “Big Lie” of Trump – that he actually “won” the 2020 election. Not only is he still spewing this nonsense, but so are all those left in the republican party. The RNC actually used it as a “litmus test” for anyone to be hired there. (I often wonder if, in the case of Trump – who I considered a pathological LIAR prior to the “Big Lie” – if he hasn’t convinced himself his LIE is “true.”) Well over half of the republican base actually believes the “Big Lie.” (In other-words the tactic works!)

They LIE about virtually everything. They haven’t the least bit of SHAME which would/should prevent them from looking straight into a camera which is broadcasting, in some cases, to MILLIONS of their fellow Americans and purposefully LYING through their teeth. This is classic Nazi propaganda style garbage. I actually think it started with Rush Limbaugh in America with Trump taking it to new “heights.”

Then there’s the projection. “Accuse the other side of that which you are guilty” or words to that affect. We see this ALL the time with Trump and the republicans. It’s as if Trump is teaching the republican party how to CHEAT in order to win. I’ve said for years republicans are all about “winning at all cost” or, put another way, they believe “the end justifies the means.” i.e. win by CHEATING!

Trump is the master of projection. For example, “The Biden Crime Family” – he’s even got the republicans in Congress repeating that one, it seems, endlessly – again, with NO shame. Trump and his sons and his business have amassed an impressive “display” of CRIMINAL conduct being called out in court settings of late. In the New York Fraud case they LOST to the tune of close to half a BILLION dollars for Trump, his sons, and a couple of his executives for FRAUDulent business practices. Of course, as the head of the enterprise, Trump is racking up an impressive number of additional FELONY accusations, and NOW convictions. 34 CONVICTIONS along with another 54 alleged FELONIES. And, in our “two tiered” system of justice, Trump will likely avoid jail time via the 34 FELONY convictions and the rest. (Thanks to SCOTUS) Sad!

Trump also claims, under Biden, “crime is way up.” In reality crime has been dropping steadily since Trump left office (when it was “way up”). He’s claiming President Biden has ruined the economy, we’re now a “third world” economy. Well, when Trump left office he had a NEGATIVE number of jobs created – that is, there were MORE jobs LOST than created in his four years. Also, 4000 people PER DAY, were dying of COVID. Since Biden took office people got vaccinated for COVID (me included) and he’s overseen the creation of more than 15 MILLION jobs – the most in ANY American administration in, well, HISTORY for the first 3 1/2 years in office.

Under Biden, the U.S. has led the world in the recovery from the pandemic and our economy is the strongest economy in the world. Trump says Biden “ruined your 401K because of the stock market tanking. Of course, anyone paying attention KNOWS the stock market has been on a continuous upswing since Biden took office where new record highs seem to be routine. Virtually EVERY economic “indicator” is UP since Biden took the oath of office.

Now, I don’t give any president credit – nor do I judge any president – based on whether the stock market is going up or down during their time in office. But, the reality is, there are many people who do judge a president based on the Stock Market. For example, Herbert Hoover = bad. George W Bush = bad. In fact, when you look back over the previous 50+ years, it seems as if virtually every democratic president has come into office with the “job” of cleaning up the mess left behind by his predecessor. George HW Bush (along with Reagan) left Bill Clinton record deficits. Of course, Clinton left Bush/Cheney an annual surplus of $250 BILLION (which would have paid off the national debt in 10 tears had Bush/Cheney followed the plan)

George W Bush and Dick Cheney (I mention both because, at least in the first term, it seemed as if Cheney was the president) left Obama/Biden, what seemed to me at the time, the worst MESS since the depression. I didn’t think it could get much worse. President Obama oversaw an administration which – with NO help from republicans, in fact, with Mitch McConnell BLOCKING everything he could for the entire eight years Obama was in office – headed off what COULD have been another “great depression,” pulled us OUT of the “great recession” and, by the time he handed the “reins” to Trump, the annual deficit he inherited from Bush/Cheney was cut more than in half. When Obama took office he inherited an annual deficit far exceeding one TRILLION dollars per year (which didn’t include two WARS being funded “off the books”) – plus, Bush and Cheney had just finished a multi BILLION dollar bailout of Wall Street.

Just as Reagan and Bush/Cheney had done, Trump’s signature piece of legislation was ANOTHER “Tax cut for the top 1%.” While Trump was president his administration amassed approximately 1/4 of the ENTIRE national debt in just four years. It’s true the pandemic was partly at fault, but his tax cuts for BILLIONAIRES added TRILLIONS to the national debt and once Biden took office, the republicans, of course, started fretting about the deficit and the national debt while threatening to take the country into default despite the fact they refused to help pass legislation which would significantly cut the deficit – while that national debt was largely the result of the republican administrations following Nixon.

During Nixon’s years Lewis Powell, who Nixon would put on the SCOTUS wrote a memo to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce laying out the plan republicans have used to create our OLIGARCH society. That ‘plan” has been followed surreptitiously by CEO’s ever since. In my view, it was actually Reagan who put the “Powell Memo” fully into practice. You can read it HERE. Powell was appointed to the Court toward the end of his term in office (that is, pre resignation) by Nixon and, as they say, the direction of the Court since then is “history.” Lewis Powell was the epitome of the Americans who HATED the New Deal. That’s the “glaring” impression I got while reading his memo myself.

The organizing of big business to attack “leftists” in our universities and liberals among “we the people” and, during the Reagan years, converting America from a “we” society to a “me” society could be laid at the feet of Lewis Powell. Like Trump on January 6th it was “Powell,” who, to me, lit the fuse ultimately resulting in republicans using the tactics of the fascists of the WW II era to turn America into a land of “oligarchs.” Most Americans I know have no idea of the “benefits” they have due to the “New Deal” and it’s obvious, to me, today’s republicans (along with the SCOTUS) are hell bent on taking away many of these “rights” “we the people” take for granted. (They’ve already started) Trust me, this November’s election is of paramount importance simply based on the SCOTUS – Trump MUST be defeated!

But, the reality is that the republican fascists are not going to go away even if “we the people” send them a message this November. I keep thinking: “The majority of Americans are women and they SHOULD be motivated to vote for democrats in record numbers in this year’s election. However, until it actually happens, Trump will be lurking as the fox in the bushes next to the hen-house. Young people will deeply regret their future if they don’t turn out in record numbers to vote for democrats. (The Climate Crisis and the court SHOULD be enough to motivate them) Here’s the truth: The message will be the same in 2028, 2032, and so on, until this SCOTUS is balanced and until these fascists running the republican party are looking for new jobs plus Trump’s “uneducated voters” are either purged from the CULT or pushed back under the rocks where they were hiding until Obama became president. Stay tuned……..

Lately I’ve been consuming “politics” from various sources with most of it coming from online publications along with the constant drum beat of “Trump, Trump, Trump,” coming from MSNBC. From what I’ve been able to surmise, there’s nary a whisper about what Joe Biden’s been up to lately – with one exception: Hunter Biden. Today in the Washington Post I read a couple articles regarding the FACT today (June 3, 2024) was the beginning of the trial of Hunter Biden on FELONY charges he purchased a gun while suffering from drug addiction back in (I think) 2018. My inference was his intention was to commit suicide with this gun and his “girl friend” (?) (the ex of his deceased brother Beau) threw the gun away.

OMG This could lead to some seedy details which somehow could reinvigorate the so far FAILED attempts by republicans in the House – who are soon to go into the history books as leading the LEAST PRODUCTIVE session of Congress in, well, EVER – to once again “open an impeachment” inquiry into President Biden. (Or, would that be “reopen?”) The speculation coming from several of the articles I’ve read of late has to do with “how will President Biden react to his son’s prosecution?” Will he pardon Hunter? etc. etc.

Many of these questions are coming from republicans who have claimed – without evidence, as usual – that President Biden has targeted Trump with ALL of these “outrageous” CRIMINAL charges (a total remaining number of FELONY counts against Trump at 54 – if my math is correct – after the 34 GUILTY verdicts against him last week). President Biden has “weaponized” the Justice Department against Trump – including, somehow getting Alvin Bragg to lead the prosecution in New York (state charges) which led to the 34 FELONY convictions. Trust me, republicans will find a way to convince their minions President Biden is using the trial of his son as a smokescreen. Can you imagine what they’ll all say when Hunter gets a “not guilty” verdict in his trial?

Whatever they say will have NOTHING to do with the merits of either – Trump’s election interference case in Manhattan or Hunter’s gun case in Delaware – of the two case’s. They’ll find a way to make outrageous allegations against the President with, AS USUAL, no evidence. (Have I already said that?) Will President Biden have secretly paneled the jury? Will President Biden have influenced the judge illegally? (That one falls into the “likely” category for me) And, the list goes on well beyond my ability to imagine stuff.

Remember, as I’ve pointed out here for years. Republicans – especially Trump (the rest of them seem to be learning from him) – are all about PROJECTION. That’s one of the key tenets of the Nazi’s back in Hitler’s days. “If you’re guilty of something accuse your opponent of the same thing – muddies the water.” If you think Trump’s rhetoric mirroring Hitler’s is some mistake, well, to me, you’re not paying attention or are unfamiliar with Hitler or totally naive. The “They’re poisoning the blood,” comment about “immigrants” or “my enemy is like vermin” plus the “Big Lie Theory” and the Projection all comes right out of Mein Kampf. (Remember, Trump is a second generation immigrant [Germany] and his wife is a FIRST generation immigrant – Eastern Europe.)

Now, where was I? Of course, the New York State charges against Trump are the same charges which sent Michael Cohen to jail on a sentence of three years. Yes, Trump’s Justice Department managed to squeeze in some additional charges – which, according to Cohen, he pled guilty to because they were threatening to include his wife – causing Cohen to lose his law license and several business interests (taxi tokens?) – a prosecution which seems to fall perfectly into the category of “weaponizing the government” – albeit coming from the Trump Justice Department. (Which later attempted to whitewash the entire process after Cohen FINALLY got out of prison to the benefit of “individual 1”) If you’ve been around here, that “process” led me to refer to Trump as “individual 1” until I came to the conclusion Merrick Garland had no stomach for Trump to the same charges as had Cohen.

I believe Mr. Garland’s reticence led to, eventually, the charges coming from the DA’s office in Manhattan because, in essence, Trump had paid off “Stormy Daniels” in order to “win” the 2016 election – knowing if his sordid affairs came out right after the “Access Hollywood” tape became public his candidacy was doomed. After all, maybe in Trump’s thinking, he ONLY had two sordid affairs while his THIRD wife was nursing his final son. As his lawyers explained in court about the nondisclosure agreements reached with Ms. Daniels and Karen McDougal, “everyone does this.”

Of course, as I think back on all the STUPID things I’ve done over the years I never once tried to cover up anything with a nondisclosure agreement. So, maybe Trump and his lawyers should have found a different adjective than “everyone” when justifying his ILLEGAL behavior. (Of course, neither does “everyone” charge the [hush money] payments [in Trump’s instance a campaign charge] to business expenses leading to a tax deduction)

I read a couple opinion pieces in the Washington Post – one by Ruth Marcus, who I’ve become less and less a fan of, which talked about Trump’s CONVICTION and, hypothetically, Ms. Marcus’ take on why Trump should be sentenced to (I believe) 60 days in prison along with 6 months of community service. What she failed to mention in her faux sentencing recommendation was that Trump’s CRIMINAL conduct very well led to the FOUR years of his reign on “we the people” – which, of course, included his half-assed, narcissistic, response to the COVID crisis where, on the day he left office 4000 Americans, PER DAY, were DYING of COVID-19. This is one of the ways his “policies” were leading the world.

Comparing what Trump (has now been found GUILTY of – 34 times) did and what Hunter did is almost an adventure into the world of the ABSURD. In Hunter’s case, MOST people who committed the same CRIME were NEVER prosecuted for it. When people are suffering from drug ADDICTION what they need is medical/emotional/mental health help NOT criminal prosecution. It’s hard to find ANYONE who’s done the same thing as Trump because, well, there’s no evidence anyone else has falsified business records to hide payments to a PORN star in order to “win” an election to the presidency. In that regard Donald Trump is completely unique.

Here’s where he’s NOT unique: In his response to facing prosecution for his many CRIMES. (I put it that way because, of course, there’s three more INDICTMENTS he’s trying desperately to avoid by somehow CHEATING his way back into the “White House”) I’ve been calling Trump a “wannabee” Mob Boss since way back during his reign on “we the people.” I read the Mueller report twice and concluded a couple of things from reading it. First, Trump and his campaign did willingly COLLUDE with the Russians and he SHOULD have been charged with OBSTRUCTION of Justice (there were 10 listed occasions in the report) but, as a sitting president Mueller couldn’t charge him. (Of course, this is another example of a timid Merrick Garland, because Mueller “memorialized” the evidence for when Trump left office.) Secondly, after reading the report the “mob boss” moniker was, to me, appropriate. – so, that’s how I referred to him.

During his CRIMINAL prosecutions he’s only proven me correct. (Of course, NOW you’re hearing the same “charges” from many different political ‘pundits’) He lashes out at anyone who “rats” on him, he finds creative ways to influence witnesses – he even gave Allen Weiselberg a $2 MILLION severance package with the predicate he can NOT testify against Trump in any legal proceeding – apparently why Weiselberg is serving his SECOND five month term in Rikers Island. In Trump’s sordid mind, if you tell the truth to the government about him, you’re a “rat.”

When testifying before Congress, Michael Cohen famously said Trump “speaks in code.” That has become apparent as Trump has continuously used his public platform to “sick” his followers on prosecutors (and their families), judges (and their families), court personnel, witnesses, lawyers, and virtually anyone who blurts out a critical word regarding himself. (OMG, what if Trump would read this blog – oh yes, thankfully, rumors have it he doesn’t read anything) Who else acts like this? Trump has even compared his prosecutions to that of Al Capone. I’m not kidding. (That answers the question) “You can’t make this stuff up.” Of course, he’s also compared himself to Mother Theresa, Elvis, and Nelson Mandela. (That last one, curious as it was, actually pissed me off! – how dare he?)

Here’s the bottom line to all this. Trump is a convicted FELON (times 34) despite all the odds being against him EVER facing accountability for his corrupt CRIMINAL conduct. For example, it’s become more and more apparent Trump’s STACKING of the courts during his reign is totally working in his favor. The Judge in what should be an “open and shut case” in Florida regarding his STEALING, then CONCEALING, and then OBSTRUCTING the investigation into his ILLEGAL possession of HUNDREDS of Classified documents – some of the MOST sensitive in nature which he may have shared with – well, who knows who – is “slow walking” the case and, it appears setting herself up with a plan to actually dismiss the case before it ever goes in front of a jury.

But, as usual, there’s more. In the so-called “January 6th”case – another case which SHOULD be a “slam dunk” – based on the information which has become public since his FAILED coup d’etat attempt on January 6th, 2021 – it appears the SCOTUS is/has come to his rescue. His absurd claim of “absolute immunity” was, in a legal sense, “laughed out of court” until, you guessed right, the SCOTUS got their “hands” on it. Why did they even accept the appeal? It appears in order to ensure Trump doesn’t face a “jury of his peers” until after the November election – making it possible for him to get the case thrown out. (Yep, that would include the Florida case as well) Trump’s CORRUPTION is exposing the CORRUPTION on the SCOTUS as well.

We now KNOW Clarence Thomas’ wife was involved in the coup d’etat attempt leading up to January 6th, 2021 and NOW we KNOW Sam Alito was, at a minimum, a supporter of Trump’s attempt to remain in power despite LOSING the 2020 election “by a lot.” The Alito residence was seen flying the upside down American Flag – a symbol of the “Stop the Steal” movement – at his D.C. residence while flying the “Appeal to Heaven” flag at his vacation home in New Jersey – symbolic of the “christian nationalist” (ie white nationalist) movement – a flag which was carried into the Capitol by MANY of the INSURRECTIONISTS on January 6th, 2021. Of course, Alito courageously blamed his wife for flying BOTH flags. Yikes!

Regardless, the SCOTUS (along with Judge Cannon in Florida) seem to be scheming to prevent Trump’s FEDERAL indictments from ever going to trial – or, in Judge Cannon’s case, allowing the charges to ever reach a jury. This makes it apparent how Trump’s rot has permeated FAR into the functioning of our democratic republic. I’ve always said, “dry rot starts in a small place and if ignored it spreads to the point of destroying the entire structure.” Trump and his minions are attempting to destroy the foundation of our nearly 250 year experiment in self rule. The diminishing MINORITY of Americans who support Trump’s fascist pursuits are finding creative ways to destroy our republic via the use of techniques mastered in the 30’s by the Third Reich. (See above)

That our highest Court is apparently sympathetic in helping to spread the “rot” is alarming to people like me. The FACT there’s nothing we can do about it is even more alarming. Will “we the people” turn out to VOTE while we still can? I mean, it’s hard for me to imagine Americans would vote in a convicted FELON to the office of the president. That’s not what I, personally, would call a smart decision. But, as Trump has famously said, “I love the uneducated voters.” OBTW when you look at what’s been accomplished by the Biden administration with razor thin margins in Congress (during his first two years) it’s rather absurd/stupid to think the answer to America’s problems is another go around for Trump. Stay tuned……..

Final Thought: In the past I’ve referred to some Trump voters as “Stupid” – which is a word I really don’t like – there’s just been some occasions where I couldn’t think of another word which might be appropriate. Well, as fate would have it, I recently ran into a video from a couple years ago (I think) where Jordan Klepper (from the “Daily Show”) visits Trump rallies and interviews Trump voters. To me, the video says it much better than I. You can view it HERE if you haven’t already seen it. Enough said!

OK, I’m tired of writing about Trump, but now that he’s our TWICE IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING four times indicted 34 times found GUILTY of a FELONY owing $90 Million for sexual assault (ex) president, I have to put my “two cents” in. I was actually driving around running errands all day today and called a friend who immediately said, “I know you’re going to gloat.” Well, the first thought that crossed my mind was my fantasy baseball team must have somehow gained a bunch of points today. (Actually, it had LOST 5 points – which is, well, a LOT) Then he broke the news to me.

TRUMP GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS! I was like, are you kidding? The jury’s only been meeting for about 10 or 11 hours. I was thinking it would take a couple more days to convince the juror who got his “news” on Trump’s fake social media outlet not to blow up the entire case and cause a mistrial. So, I was kind of blindsided with the news because one of the last two things on my “bucket list” is to live long enough to see Trump put behind bars. I’m tempted to write a letter to Judge Merchan encouraging him to give Trump AT LEAST the equivalent sentence which Michael Cohen served for, in essence, the same CRIME. I mean, when you think about it, Trump CHEATED even more than we knew at the time to “win” the election in 2016.

I have no idea how many MAGA faithful show up on this site, but I’d love to hear from one of them as to whether it bothers them TRUMP has been found guilty of, basically, CHEATING to “win” in 2016 – and, I’m not talking about conspiring with the Russians and other foreign entities. It seems the dictator class around the world (along with their oligarchs) they just don’t care much for democrats – or more specifically democracy. (Pretty much like America’s oligarchs) Trump is the PERFECT foil in their years long attempt to undermine America’s democratic republic. Putin, Xi, Netanyahu, MBS, Kim Jung Un etc. are all bound and determined to use “we the people’s” open society against us. And, they’ve been – to me, unbelievably – successful.

The most important thing these conspirators count on is the large number of – as Trump called them – America’s “uneducated voters.” All you have to do is listen to the rationale of some of the MAGA faithful – if you happen to be someone who seeks out actual FACTS when you make your opinions – to realize how – I want to say STUPID – but, I hate that word and I think a better term is radicalized, er brainwashed these people really are. (They would say the same thing about me – but, the MAGAts are all about projection) Think I’m speaking in hyperbole? Just take a few minutes to listen to/watch Fox “news,” or “Newsmax,” Steve Bannon’s podcast, or other right wing “news” outlets. Whenever I attempt to give Fox a bit of my time I don’t last even five minutes – it’s just pure propaganda bulls@#$t!

I’m not going to watch Fox right now, because I don’t have to. I logged into MSNBC for about an hour once I got home and they did all the work for me – showing segments from multiple Fox shows, shows on “Newsmax” and likely all across the MAGA grifting network. Their message to the minions: It’s outrageous Trump is bound to the same laws as you and me! America’s going to hell! We’ve become a “Banana Republic!” I’ve even (somehow) received emails and “snail mail” from Trump recently asking for money. The one I got in mail box made me an offer where if I would send money to Trump I’d get a “free” Trump $2 bill worth “$39.99 plus $6.99 for shipping.” I’m not kidding. My first thought as I was throwing the letter in the garbage was, “Are people really STUPID enough to fall for this?” My guess is the answer is yes.

Here’s the deal. Republicans – especially the Evangelical Christian variety – like Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell Jr., etc. – long ago proved the “Access Hollywood” video meant nothing to them. The FACT Trump paid off TWO women he had affairs with while Melania was nursing Barron means nothing to them. The fact 25 different women have accused Trump of sexually assaulting them – he, of course, says they’re ALL liars – although, the first one to take him to court won a multi million $ judgement against him where the jury found he had sexually assaulted her (the judge said, “In New York” the verdict was the equivalent ( or words to that affect) of rape, means NOTHING to them. Trump bragged about being able to just grab women by the “pussy” – “When you’re famous they’ll just let you do it.” (Talk about seeing women as “sex objects”)

None of the above means “Jack Squat” to Graham, Falwell, and MILLIONS of America’s so-called “Evangelical Christian” class, because, well, Trump supports white supremacy. It’s pretty much as simple as that. If you’d take the time to read “Rising out of Hatred” by Eli Saslow you’d get a good inside look at the heart of the white nationalist/supremacy movement in this country. Don Black and David Duke (both former “Grand Wizards of the KKK) were quoted in an article I read, right after I finished the book, as saying Trump is their “vehicle” to penetrate “mainstream politics” in America. Black’s son Derek (who the book is about) has said his Mom and Dad record(ed) Tucker Carlson when he was still on Fox so they could play it back over and over again. Apparently, America’s “Evangelical Christians” are OK with this! Yikes!

In the case of THIS trial, the issue was Trump’s adulterous affairs with “Stormy Daniels” and Karen McDougal at the approximate time when his youngest son was born – maybe a few months later, and then paying each over $100,000 to “catch and kill” their stories. And, naturally Trump – via his lawyers – never had sex with either of them – in the trial, especially Stormy Daniels. As usual he was claiming Ms. Daniels testimony was all a lie. Of course, he also claimed Michael Cohen’s (his former “fixer” who was sentenced to 3 years in prison for the same crime done “at the direction of and for the benefit of “individual 1” I’ll let you figure out who that might be) testimony was all a lie. Guess what? The jury believed BOTH of them!

I can’t help but feel a bit bad for Trump because he’s forking out MILLIONS to attorneys who don’t seem capable of defending him without succumbing to his demands. By all accounts his attorneys in this case were pretty awful. They kept tripping all over themselves as they tried to defend the indefensible. And, here’s my prediction: If they haven’t been fired already they will be soon and we’ll be hearing about Trump’s refusal to pay them. He keeps asking, “where is my Roy Cohn?” (A mob lawyer who represented Joseph McCarthy back in the day) The New York “bar” stripped Cohn of his law license, but that’s immaterial to Trump.

After watching the commentary of this trial and reading about the Civil Trial were Trump was “slapped” with a nearly $500 MILLION judgement (for serial fraudulent activity in his business – including Tax fraud – surprise surprise) it appears Trump’s lawyers made gross mistakes regarding his chances of success on appeal – which, with Trump, is a given. And, keep in mind, all this recent court activity for our TWICE IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING four times INDICTED, and, now, 32 times CONVICTED of FELONIES (ex) president (phew) took place in New York – where it’s highly unlikely has compatriots on the SCOTUS (Alito and Thomas) will be able to, ultimately, come to his rescue. Right now, he’s at the mercy of Judge Merchan who will be doling out the sentence. If he escapes this without jail time he will have proven we DO have a two tiered Justice system.

Think of all the people who are sitting in jail for the outrageous crime of being African American (with a family history dating back MANY MANY generations more than Trump (a second generation immigrant from, you guessed it, Germany). Maybe they got caught driving with the smell of marijuana in their car while a taillight was out, or maybe they simply flipped off a cop, or maybe, like the “Central Park Five” they were just a convenient way to “solve” a case and had to rely on a public defender for their defense of “trumped up” charges. (Pun intended) Our jails are chock full of non-violent “offenders” who just happen NOT to be “white.” (And, I know “white” people without the means to hire lawyers who have spent time in jail for “stuff” someone like Trump would NEVER end up in court over.)

Final Thought: Trump has “friends in high places” – ie judges, who may be able to pull off “saving” him regarding the 54 FELONY charges he’s still facing. The case in Georgia will be a miracle to ever end up in trial because the Georgia republican party really doesn’t like a Black FEMALE prosecutor indicting him – they’re pulling out all the “stops” in order to undermine that case – it’s now in the hands of Georgia’s Supreme Court. And, of course, unless you’ve had your head in the sand you know Sam Alito has now officially confirmed he’s a Trump loyalist along with Clarence Thomas on the SCOTUS. In that instance it will only take THREE of the remaining judges (the exact number put on the Court by Trump) to grant him authority the Constitution CLEARLY doesn’t give him – “absolute immunity!” – would be an absurd joke if it wasn’t so serious.

I’ve predicted since the court mysteriously accepted to hear Trump’s absurd claim on appeal after the D.C. Circuit appeals court made, by all accounts, an airtight ruling AGAINST Trump’s claim of “absolute immunity.” It was curious to many why the SCOTUS would even grant “cert” on the appeal – but, people like me were predicting, at the time, it was to make sure the case didn’t go to trial prior to the November election. Therefore both Alito and Thomas could be helping to facilitate “the steal.” The next big firestorm re: Trump will be when the SCOTUS remands the “January 6th” case back to the District Court (meaning the entire appeal process will happen once again. Plus, the Court will rule – with an opinion by Alito – that charging defendants with “interfering with an official proceeding” in the January 6th case, is “unconstitutional.” This will wipe out TWO of the FOUR felony charges against Trump in the January 6th case. Stay tuned……..

OMG, I keep telling myself “things can’t get worse” when it comes to the Supreme Court, well, I keep getting proven wrong. During the past week Justice Samuel Alito has been found to have been flying flags at both his DC home and at his “beach house” which imply he’s part of the MAGA movement – if there was any doubt before these things were made public. At his home he was flying an American flag upside down which is the “stop the steal” public statement of those Trump supporters (flying it between Jan. 6th and Jan. 20th in solidarity with the INSURRECTIONISTS) who firmly believe the 2020 election was “stolen.” The flag flying at his beach house was the symbol of “Christian nationalism” seen (usually) by Trump’s white nationalist base. There were probably a dozen or so of these flags in the assault on the Capitol.

Worse, Alito was apparently flying that “Appeal to Heaven” flag for a period of months – apparently his neighbors were worried about the blow-back if they reported it. There are photos of the flag flying during three separate months. Of course, we (those of us paying attention) already knew Alito – along with Clarence Thomas (whose wife was involved in the INSURRECTION) – was neck deep in Trump’s attempt to overturn our constitutional system of laws. They’ve been busy, right out in the open, in an attempt to “turn back the clock” on RIGHTS “we the people” have come to take for granted. We’re going to find out between now and November how many Americans take their rights for granted to the point of losing them.

Hyperbole? I think not. All you have to do is listen to Trump’s actual words and watch those who are his sycophants and you should be on HIGH alert. Of course, if you’re a member of Trump’s CULT (like, apparently, Alito and Thomas) you might be “giddy” at this point because there’s no way in any “normal” time in American history (save for the pre Civil War days) where our republic has been so under assault. And, speaking of the “Civil War” – trust me on this one – there’s a significant number of those “citizens among us” who are chomping on the bit for the second Civil War. It’s just that some are more subtle than others. Marjorie Taylor Greene just comes out and says it (wanting “red states” to succeed from the “Union”) while the neo-Nazi’s are much more covert – but, if a non “social media” person like me can find these discussions on the internet, well…..

The “right” in America has been working toward this end for the last (at least) 50 years and they are “playing chess” while the rest of us are playing “checkers.” Controlling the courts is a KEY to their strategy because these Judicial appointments are for the lifetime of the Judge. That’s why Thomas has been there over 30 years and will remain there for at least another 4 years unless Trump somehow CHEATS his way back into the “White House.” Alito hasn’t been there that long (around 20 years) but, if Trump “wins” they’ll both retire so YOUNGER judges can be appointed to replace them. It’s all part of the scheme.

Personally, I was devastated back in the 2000 election when the SCOTUS chose to decide the election – of course – in the favor of George W Bush and Dick Cheney. The history of that choice SHOULD still be clear in the minds of the American voters – but, as some have suggested, MANY of America’s voters have amnesia. (The reality is a bunch of them are, well, not too smart – sorry, that’s just the reality) Republicans are expert at appealing to these – what some people call – “low information voters.” Trump famously was quoted as saying “I love my uneducated voters.” Full stop!

Since Bush v Gore we’ve been saddled with “Citizen’s United v Federal Election Commission” which unleashed a TORRENT of dark money into our elections – from the grass roots all the way to the top. I’ve pointed out here numerous times the “foundation” of fascism is a government/corporate partnership. In America, we are often fed the “Russian Oligarch” “thing” – but, when you think about it, America has so many MORE “Oligarchs” than the Russians that it’s not even a contest. Here’s the definition of “Oligarch:” “A member of a small governing faction.” There are more detailed definitions, but that is it “in a nut shell.”

Think of all the Wall Street Billionaires who are funneling money to politicians – mostly republicans – by the MILLIONS. Do you really believe they want nothing for that money. For heaven’s sake, Trump is just coming out and OFFERING “quo” in “quid pro quo” to the oil barons in our nation. Here’s what he ACTUALLY said to them “Give $1 BILLION to my campaign to help me get re-elected and I’ll reverse ALL of Joe Biden’s “green” initiatives.” They’ll be able to, as Trump puts it, “drill baby drill.”

And, of course, these Billionaires aren’t just sitting in the background now that they have a 6 – 3 majority on the SCOTUS. Harlan Crowe has allegedly lavished HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of gifts upon Clarence Thomas – none of it reported. That doesn’t even include the value of him purchasing Thomas’s Mom’s home and then allowing her to live in it rent free OR the $250 THOUSAND motor home which was, for all intents and purposes GIVEN to Thomas by a different BILLIONAIRE. According to the records I’ve found Alito has ONLY taken one ($100,000) freebie trip sponsored by none other than Leonard Leo – the man MOSTLY responsible for the right wingers on the SCOTUS as I’m writing this. Seriously, TWO certain votes for, say, calling the INSURRECTION a “normal tourist visit” is difficult to overcome.

So, we’re depending on Alito and Thomas to be “non-partisan” as they decide whether or not Donald Trump has “absolute immunity” and, I don’t know about you, but my confidence level on that one is, well, ZERO. Neither SHOULD be able to even sit on the cases let alone participate in the deciding vote. If you listened to the arguments of the (absurd) case, you heard both Alito and Thomas asking questions about any thing BUT the case which was brought before them. (I have to say Kavanaugh and Roberts weren’t much better, if at all)

My prediction has been the Court will “throw” this case back to the district court on some kind of “imagined” technicality for Judge Chutkin to decide and then the appeal process will start all over again. Think this court isn’t in Trump’s “back pocket?” Well, Jack Smith attempted to get them to take the case in December of 2023 and they refused. The DC Circuit made what most people called a “bullet proof” opinion denying Trump’s ludicrous claim. THEN, the court decided to take the case and they set oral arguments for the LAST day of this year’s term – something like 90 days after it was put on the docket. This isn’t subtle.

To: “We the people” – and, I’m talking especially to all the young impressionable Americans who are justifiably upset with what Netanyahu is doing in GAZA. First, there’s not much President Biden can do to force Netanyahu to “back off.” He’s just as corrupt as Trump and, as I’ve said from the start of Israel’s response to October 7th, he’ll drag this out indefinitely because once the “war” is over, Netanyahu will likely be voted OUT and he’ll be facing the corruption charges he’s been avoiding for the last few years. Secondly, there’s a PLETHORA of issues which will affect America’s young people (and America’s women) on this year’s ballot. Getting tricked into voting for a third party is a “fool’s errand.” It’s going to be EITHER President Biden or corrupt (sleepy) Donald Trump.

The COURT is an issue which will HAUNT “we the people” if Trump is allowed to put more (younger) right wing hacks on it – that’s a paramount issue which would be at the top of the heap in any other year. But, how about the Climate crisis? Trump doesn’t believe in it (or he’s too STUPID to understand) Women’s health issues? Republicans are even going after contraception. I listened to Trump being questioned about laws affecting contraception and it seemed clear he didn’t understand the question. Just the same he dithered in a way suggesting he had some kind of plan to limit it. How about Voting Rights. The Roberts Court (with Alito at the forefront) has effectively GUTTED Section Five of the 1965 Voting Rights Act which people like MLK Jr. and John Lewis (and many others) risked their lives to get passed during the administration of LBJ. How about affordable education.

President Biden is attempting to find ways to “forgive” student loan debt for MILLIONS of Americans and republicans are trying to BLOCK him at every turn. Marjorie Taylor Greene said something like “they borrowed the money they should be forced to pay it all back.” Of course, Ms. Greene took out approximately $200,000 of PPP loans during the pandemic – loans which were COMPLETELY forgiven. I’ll let you decide: Is that a classic example of republican hypocrisy? Help with Childcare? Biden and the democrats are pushing for re-upping the “Child Care Tax Credit” which was significant for around HALF of America’s children living in poverty. Republicans have been blocking that! The list goes on and on – but America’s young people have a real stake in voting for democrats – this year and for as long as it takes to purge the right wing bent of this SCOTUS. Once that’s been accomplished, maybe we’ll have political parties which can work together for the benefit of the American people.

I know people who – when I criticize Trump – say, I’d rather have that than Biden’s “socialism.” I immediately think – “too much Fox ‘news'” Biden and the democrats, in his first two years were INCREDIBLY successful in making significant INVESTMENTS in the American people. That, of course, included the Child Tax Credit mentioned above, until republicans refused to extend the pandemic relief bill democrats passed shortly after Biden took office. But, there’s lot’s more. Trump had “infrastructure week” (over and over ) while Biden got a BIPARTISAN infrastructure bill passed – freeing up something like $1TRILLION for needed repairs of existing infrastructure and expansion of utilities (like high speed internet) into rural areas, etc. etc.

I read yesterday how Ted Cruz (of Texas) is now touting the infrastructure bill as if he had ANYTHING to do with it. (Texas is apparently getting $30 BILLION for their state’s projects) Of course, what Cruz won’t talk about as he’s cutting the ribbon for an important project is that he voted AGAINST the bill. About two thirds of republicans in the Senate voted AGAINST it and a higher percentage in the House. Biden got this through with a Senate split 50/50 democrats/republicans and Nancy Pelosi had the SAME margin of a majority in the House as the republicans did at the beginning of this term – where the ONLY way they’ve accomplished ANYTHING is by seeking democrats to vote with them (actually, like it should be)

Kevin McCarthy was voted out as speaker because he worked with democrats to prevent the nation from defaulting on its debt. The new speaker – Mike Johnson – would have suffered the same fate except the democrats came to his rescue in order to hold out hope something MIGHT get done which benefits the American people before this House term comes to an end. Apparently, right wing members in the House don’t understand that by working with democrats to actually pass useful legislation they would likely remain in control of the House. To me, kind of fundamental. (But along with many others I feel people like MT Greene, Paul Gosar, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, and many more are simply “mental.” (The Senate has a few “doozies” as well)

Final Thought: As usual, once I start writing about this “stuff” I can’t seem to stop and I’m too lazy to play out what I want to say ahead of time. I guess I’m comfortable with “off the cuff.” The main point here tonight is that even considering ALL the issues which are paramount in this upcoming election – and, there are MANY – in my opinion, when you think of the “long term” there’s nothing MORE important than preventing republicans from putting more wack jobs on the SCOTUS.

As we observe the CORRUPTION of Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas we SHOULD be seriously ALARMED. If they are replaced by younger right wing judges “we the people” will be facing YEARS of “turning back the clock” issues coming out of the court. Just the FACT they are even considering the ABSURD claim a president has “absolute immunity” should say it all. And, KNOWING that two out of nine judges are apparently willing to subjugate their own authority to a POTUS is astonishing and alarming. Just by taking Trump’s appeal, they are saying a president “might” (in certain circumstances) be “above the law.” Nonsense!

I have to add: Trump’s lawyer claimed a president COULD have “Seal Team 6” assassinate a political opponent and without being IMPEACHED and CONVICTED (by the Senate) he/she would be “above the law.” They would have “absolute immunity.” Here’s the irony. When Trump found out that the Search Warrant for Mar a Lago included a standard form of the “rules” of using lethal force by FBI agents he made the OUTRAGEOUS claim President Biden wanted him to be murdered – by the FBI. (Of course the same “rules” were part of the search of Biden’s home when he discovered he had classified documents from when he was VP) I thought, maybe the court will OK this while there’s still time in Biden’s term. Just sayin…. (Or should I say “Just thinkin….) Stay tuned………..

Well, we’re several weeks into Trump’s FIRST criminal trial and it should be interesting how it ends up. Trump seems to always find a way to escape CRIMINAL accountability and this case may be no different – although as one witnesses it a GUILTY verdict seems appropriate. However, there’s some technicalities which could interfere in such a verdict not the least of which is if Trump’s lawyers managed to “sneak” a MAGA faithful onto the jury. His other cases seem to be running headlong into Judges who want to make sure those trials don’t happen until after the November election.

I have to wonder what these judges are thinking? Do they really believe their own “power” won’t be compromised should Trump somehow cheat his way into the “White House” a second time? Whether he’s found GUILTY or not in the Manhattan “election interference” trial, what is clear is he CHEATED to get elected the first time so why would it be any different this time. Clearly he’ll never get more than around 47% of the vote (if that) so his, and his republican sycophants, objective is to whittle down the number of people who will vote for Joe Biden – in any way they can.

The rhetoric coming out of Trump’s mouth is so reminiscent of 1930’s propaganda coming from the German Third Reich (OK, I’m talking about Hitler, Goebbels, and all the rest) and the mis/disinformation apparently flooding America’s Social Media networks (I say “apparently” because I don’t personally frequent those networks) from Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and (maybe) Egypt – countries with authoritarian leaders who fear the spread of “democracy” – is reminiscent of the flood of propaganda which was spreading across America during the 1930’s directly from Berlin. Fascism is a form of “government” which is not restricted by norms and things like a constitution.

Here are some of the “things” coming out of Trump’s mouth which should grab the attention of democrats, republicans, and independents alike. Here’s a comparison between Trump’s rhetoric and Hitlers:

“In honor of our great veterans on Veterans Day, we pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country—that lie and steal and cheat on elections, and will do anything possible; they’ll do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America, and to destroy the American Dream.” Here’s Hitler justifying the MURDER of six MILLION Jews: “If I can send the flower of the German nation into the hell of war without the smallest pity, then surely I have the right to remove millions of an inferior race that breeds like vermin!”

Here’s a “blurb” from “The New Yorker:” Just as the Fascists’ hateful rhetoric during the interwar period (between WW I and WW II) was intended to dehumanize, delegitimize, and intimidate its targets, Trump is trying to do the same thing to the individuals and institutions on his enemies list, (emphasis mine) which seems to include anybody who won’t forgive his attempt to overturn the 2020 election results or who supports the subsequent efforts to hold him to account. The foes he is targeting appear to include President Joe Biden, congressional Democrats, Never Trump Republicans, the Justice Department, the courts, senior military officers, and the media—i.e., many of the central institutions (pillars) of American democracy.

Trump claimed that President Biden “together with a band of his closest thugs, misfits, and Marxists, tried to destroy American democracy.” He added, “If the communists get away with this, it won’t stop with me.”

Trump has claimed with words parroted from fascists before him, that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country,” He (and his sycophants) have been pushing the “Great Replacement theory” which is the result of fear mongering about immigrants aimed at the republican base to the point where a significant portion believe it. (After all, we ARE a nation of immigrants. The reality is Trump is a second generation immigrant married to a first generation immigrant – what he objects to is immigrants who aren’t “white.”) He has threatened massive round ups of “illegal aliens,” putting them in what amount to concentration camps before, presumably, sending them back to their – as he calls them – “shit hole” countries.

Trump has PROMISED (I thought of writing “threatened” but decided promised would be more accurate) to suspend our constitution, he’s promised to go after the media which isn’t friendly to him (probably anything not friendly to him), he’s promised to weaponize the Justice Department to “arrest” his enemies – apparently in retribution for his own misdeeds. He’s planning to have, for example, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, the Clinton’s, Jack Smith (of course), probably the state prosecutors holding him accountable for all his CHEATING, MSNBC, CNN, The Washington Post, etc. etc. all arrested and charged with crimes he will apparently invent.

Just the other day, in a “meeting” at Mar a Lago, it was reported he made the following proposal to a group of oil executives: They would supply his campaign with ONE BILLION dollars and, in return, he would promise to end “Joe Biden’s ‘green’ policies” in favor of increased leases of government land for oil and gas exploration. What would you call that? Yep, that’s the classic “quid pro quo.” Got him IMPEACHED the first time – what do you think will happen if “we the people” vote in a House controlled by democrats? Just sayin…. (Getting IMPEACHED a third time would break his record!)

I started this post (rant) a few weeks ago and have since become lazier than usual. I’m going to attempt to bring it to some kind of a conclusion. I’ve been (sort of) paying attention to Trump’s Manhattan trial and have to say, from my layman’s point of view, it doesn’t look that good for Trump. That said, as the lawyer’s I’ve listened to have said it only takes putting a bit of doubt in one juror to cause a mistrial – which would likely leave Trump to be “off the hook.” It appears it’s likely this will be the only trial happening before the election because of a series of “Trump friendly” judges.

Aileen Cannon is not even subtle in her rulings (constantly) in Trump’s favor and her apparent disdain for Jack Smith. I’m convinced if Mr. Smith is unable to get a different judge Trump will get away with what may be significant espionage crimes. I mean, who knows how many people he shared the classified info with and, as I’ve said before, there were a number of classified folders which were empty when the FBI executed the Search Warrant on Mar a Lago. I know I’ve often wondered where the files which were in those folders actually ended up. Does Trump still have them? Or, did he work something out with a foreign government to get them.

And, the Supreme Court even taking the ABSURD “absolute immunity” case just shows how low this court is willing to go despite their increasingly “ugly” standing with the American people. (OK, I should say with a significant MAJORITY of the American people) We’ve got TWO judges who have NO business even participating on ANY case which has ANY thing to do with the January 6th INSURRECTION. (Which at least two cases do) As most people know Ginni Thomas was right in the middle of the attempt by Trump to overthrow the 2020 election. As far as I’m concerned she – along with SEVERAL members of Congress – SHOULD have been indicted as being part of the conspiracy to overthrow the election.

Then there’s Sam Alito. He’s been at the center of several pro business (corporations are “people”) decisions since the early days of President Obama’s administration along with the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, the blocking of Affirmative Action at top U.S. Universities, the overturning of Roe, and lots more to come. Recently, evidence came to light showing Alito flying an America Flag upside down – in concert with the so-called “Stop the Steal” movement – right in the front yard of his home. As most cowards would do, he blamed his wife. (Similarly to Justice Thomas claiming he didn’t talk to his wife about her allegedly ILLEGAL activities) The issues with the Supreme Court is bordering on the absurd.

A quick refresher: Judge Gorsuch is there because Mitch McConnell refused to allow Barack Obama’s choice (after the death of Antonin Scalia) to be even considered – for over one year – because “it was an election year.” Judge Kavanaugh was confirmed despite credible reports he had committed sexual assault on more than one occasion – allegations which were stifled by Trump’s FBI. And, of course, Judge Barrett had her confirmation rushed through by McConnell even while voting was taking place in 2020 because, well, he didn’t have to follow his own example set when Obama’s choice (Merrick Garland) was blocked for over one year. Give the republicans credit – they are unable to govern – but, they are really good at CHEATING and the SCOTUS is a great example of their success.

Will the Court decide Trump has “absolute immunity” both while in office and after leaving office? My guess is likely not. However, they can “remand” the case back to the District Court to force Judge Chutkin to differentiate between official duties and no official duties – as if overthrowing a free and fair election might be considered an “official duty.” Just by accepting this ABSURD claim by Trump and then putting off arguments until the LAST day of their term, they did for Trump what he needed. And, that’s to stall this case until after the election so that if somehow he CHEATS his way back into office he can have the two federal cases against him thrown out. Why? Because he says so!

The reason I don’t think the Court will simply rule on the case which was brought before it is because there still might be time for Judge Chutkin to get the case tried if, for example, the Court renders their decision at the end of June (putting it off as long as they can) That would not fit into the time schedule of Alito and Thomas as both, by rights, should be resigning in disgrace as I’m writing this. They’ve (the Court) acted in the space of a couple weeks in the past when the case is pressing (see Bush v Gore) but this court seems to be in the opposite of a hurry. I’ve said before I have NO confidence at all in this Court and I don’t expect that to change. I will say, this decision will NOT be unanimous. Judge Jackson put it best when she wondered why the discussion (in the arguments) seemed to go anywhere but to the case which had been presented to the Court. The fact they accepted the case, in the first place, told me “somethin’s up.”

Final Thought: Watching Trump’s Manhattan Trial confirms to me, even more, that Trump is nothing but a two bit mob boss. Michael Cohen was the perfect lawyer for him, until he wasn’t. Apparently, Trump expected Cohen to “take the fall” for him regarding the “Stormy Daniels” payoff and, as he’s done before, he’s said “I hate flippers.” (And, we’re not talking about people in a swimming pool) The evidence of Trump’s guilt is overwhelming, but the defense appears to be basing their chances on pointing out Mr. Cohen is a LIAR. Well, of course, Trump is a (allegedly) pathological LIAR and, if you’re working for him in the capacity of Mr. Cohen, well, you MUST be willing to LIE. Apparently, Trump has an ability to suck people into his “cult of personality” as he’s done with MILLIONS of Americans (plus what’s left of the republican party) – let’s hope a guilty verdict in this case might wake a few of the MAGA faithful up – and, really, clarify things for those independents and young people who don’t especially care for President Biden to cast a vote for the preservation of our democratic republic. In the words of Ben Franklin: “We’ll have this republic as long as we can keep it.”

I personally know so-called “upstanding Americans” who would rather have an authoritarian rule by Trump than “keeping the republic” under Biden. Almost every one of them watches/listens to Fox “news” or worse. Just about every one of them who’s said to me “I don’t watch Fox ‘news'” has, without thinking – later- confirmed to me they actually do and that they know how bad it is because they’re willing to LIE about the fact they DO watch it. Stay tuned………..