The Department of Government Efficiency Is a Lie — And It Might Destroy Us All

Musk. Trump. Putin. Labor spies. Stolen data. This isn’t a thriller. It’s what’s happening inside your government — right now…

Thom Hartmann

Apr 16, 2025

America is under siege, but not by foreign armies or rogue terrorists. Instead, the threat is coming from inside the house: unelected billionaires who are quietly hijacking our democratic institutions from within.

Although it’s entirely possible that they are collaborating with foreign autocrats, including Vladimir Putin, who are also billionaires and thus share their unique authoritarian worldview.

And thanks to the bravery of a whistleblower named Daniel Berulis, we now have a window into what may well be one of the most brazen and dangerous power grabs in American history.

This isn’t cheap or even ordinary corruption: this is the sort of thing that happens in Third World countries, like when Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines used cronies and spies to infiltrate government agencies and neutralize political opponents, or when Vladimir Putin installed former KGB allies into key Russian institutions to crush whistleblowers and rig judicial outcomes, or when Guatemala’s President Jimmy Morales dismantled anti-corruption agencies and handed sensitive state information to business elites.

It’s the sort of corruption that destroys democracies from the inside out.

Berulis risked his career, his safety, even his life to reveal what’s happening inside Elon Musk’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency,” or DOGE — a name that sounds innocuous enough, until you understand what they’re actually doing.

DOGE, according to Berulis’ bombshell disclosure, managed to breach the National Labor Relations Board’s computer systems and extract what he described as “the equivalent to a section of the New York Public Library” in sensitive data. This isn’t just bureaucratic overreach — it’s a digital smash-and-grab, right out of the authoritarian playbook.

And make no mistake: this is not some crackpot theory. Shortly after DOGE operatives created accounts inside the NLRB system, a login attempt came from a Russian IP address using one of those accounts — with the correct credentials. Within minutes of the breach, the data may have already been in the hands of the Putin government.

That’s the same Vladimir Putin who press reports say has been in regular telephone contact with both Donald Trump and Elon Musk for the past two years.

What’s being looted here isn’t just random bureaucratic files. We’re talking about the private information of whistleblowers, union organizers, witnesses in federal cases, proprietary corporate data, and labor rights enforcement strategies. Including complaints and complainants against Elon Musk’s companies.

In other words, the raw materials for dismantling organized labor in America — and for targeting, harassing, or discrediting anyone trying to stand up to corporate power, including Elon Musk’s multiple efforts to stop or break unionization attempts in his own companies.

This isn’t a conspiracy theory. It’s the naked truth, verified by a growing number of insiders and corroborated by NPR, which reports that at least eleven government officials and staffers have confirmed their fears about DOGE’s data exfiltration campaign.

Here’s the conflict of interest that should make every American’s hair stand on end: Elon Musk’s companies — Tesla, SpaceX, and X — were themselves under investigation by the NLRB for alleged labor violations. At least until Musk’s underlings fired the people investigating him and his companies.

Musk now has his own handpicked operatives inside the very agency tasked with holding him accountable. It’s like giving the bank robber a master key to the bank and letting him wander the halls at night. It’s a grotesque perversion of the rule of law, a corruption of the most fundamental principle of American justice that no one is above the law.

And if the information DOGE extracted gets used in court — or even leaked selectively — it could permanently tilt the scales of justice in favor of Musk and his corporate cronies. Labor law experts are already sounding the alarm, warning that even the possibility of access will have a chilling effect on union organizing and whistleblowing.

Just imagine you’re a worker trying to form a union. Would you still speak out, knowing your employer might now know your name, your address, your testimony, and your strategy — thanks to a government program run by that very employer’s billionaire CEO?

But it gets worse. Much worse. According to longtime employees within the Department of Labor and other agencies, the DOGE teams aren’t seasoned experts or trained cybersecurity professionals. They’re “new arrivals,” many of them with no vetting, no security clearance, and no relevant experience. Some have even worked with criminal hackers, and another reportedly runs a website based in Russia.

Yet they were granted sweeping access to some of the most sensitive data systems in the federal government. It’s a digital coup executed not by hackers, but by political loyalists and tech-bro mercenaries handed the keys to the kingdom by billionaire benefactors.

When Berulis tried to do the right thing — when he and his colleagues reached out to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to report the breach — they were stonewalled. Their alert was “disrupted by higher-ups without explanation.” And Berulis himself received a specific threat reminiscent of KGB strategies.

Internal cybersecurity teams were told by the Trump administration to stand down. One furious staffer at the Interior Department confessed that “every single alarm system we have regarding insider threats is going off,” but they were ordered to ignore them. That’s not just a red flag; it’s the flashing neon sign of a government being gutted from within. Or being turned over to Russian intelligence.

And don’t let the bureaucratic language of “data breaches” and “access credentials” lull you into thinking this is harmless IT stuff. These are national security breaches.

If this is what it appears to be, the Rosenbergs went to the electric chair for far less.

This is a modern Watergate, but instead of burglars breaking into a filing cabinet, they’re downloading 10 gigabytes of information with a keystroke. Instead of physical threats, DOGE’s enforcers are using drones to photograph whistleblowers, and notes are being taped to front doors like something out of a dystopian thriller.

Yet that’s exactly what happened to Berulis: a threatening note, drone surveillance, and an unmistakable message — shut up or we’ll make your life hell.

This is how authoritarianism functions in the 21st century. It doesn’t need a dictator in a military uniform when it has billionaires in boardrooms, access to surveillance technology, and cronies embedded deep within the machinery of government. It replaces accountability with loyalty. It replaces oversight with secrecy.

And it replaces democracy with intimidation and control, just like in Hungary and Russia.

Even if Musk and DOGE never use the data they’ve extracted, the damage is already done. The fear is out there. As labor expert Kate Bronfenbrenner put it, “Just saying that they have access to the data is intimidating.” And that’s the point.

This isn’t just about controlling government agencies and the courts; it’s about creating a culture of fear so pervasive that no one dares to challenge power. Workers won’t organize. Regulators won’t enforce. Whistleblowers won’t come forward. Democracy withers not with a bang, but with a whimper of silence and complicity.

And let’s not pretend this is all just theoretical. DOGE’s operations are still underway, expanding into other agencies, extracting more data, disabling more security protocols, silencing more voices.

Congress is beginning to stir — Rep. Gerald Connolly is calling for an investigation — but the clock is ticking. While bureaucrats write memos and hold hearings, the digital pillaging continues unchecked.

This is not some far-off threat. It’s happening here, now, and it’s being orchestrated by some of the richest men in the world who have zero accountability to the American people.

The same billionaires who already own our social media platforms, our space infrastructure, and our news cycles now want direct access to our government’s innermost workings. And they’re getting it.

The soul of American democracy is on the line. The question now is: will we let it be sold to the highest bidder, or will we stand up, speak out, and reclaim it?

Berulis showed us what courage looks like. Now it’s our turn.

Because if we don’t stop this now, it won’t just be our data they’re coming for — it’ll be our freedom.

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I want to say last year in July the SCOTUS made the most egregious decision, by my calculation, in the history of the Courts in America – but, actually, upon further reflection the decision was clear much much earlier. Donald Trump was facing FOUR serious FELONY allegations related to his foiled attempted coup of January 6th, 2021 and he was claiming he had “absolute immunity” from prosecution. The district court Judge in Washington DC clearly pointed out that “no one is above the law” and “shot down” his absurd argument. Of course, in his act of “delay delay” he appealed to the Court of Appeals in D.C. and they ruled America does not have kings.

The ruling of the three judge panel of the D.C. Appeals Court was widely, by constitutional experts, considered rock solid – air tight. Most of these scholars suggested the SCOTUS would (SHOULD) simply decline Certiorari – which simply means the Court SHOULD decline the case letting the Appeals Court judgment stand. After all, Jack Smith had attempted to by pass the Appeals Court just a few months earlier and take the appeal on an emergency basis to the SCOTUS. So, why would the Court take the case now, many people asked themselves? The answer I gave (and, I thought I was correct at the time) was they wanted to help Trump STALL in order to make it impossible for his trial on the attempted coup charges to take place.

Well, I was partially correct. I did figure out (it didn’t take a brain scientist to do this) several of the Justices on the Court were avid Trump supporters – and, wanted to make sure there’d be no trial before the November election. By stalling the arguments and the Court’s decision up until the LAST day in both cases – they succeeded, big time! Here’s what I got completely wrong – because, to me, Trump’s argument was so STUPID even these Justices would see right through it.

By a six to three ruling – and, this might go down in history as the WORST Supreme Court ruling in history (and, that includes Citizen’s United, Dobbs, the gutting of the Voting Right’s Act, and many other BAD rulings by the court), THIS Court actually ruled in Trump’s favor – suggesting that as long as he can claim his action is an “official duty” he, for all intents and purposes is IMMUNE. To me, that should go down in the history of the United States as the “Presidents are Kings in the United States” ruling. I wasn’t the only one, at the time, suggesting the Court had just given up their own – equal branch of government – part of our system of “checks and balances” – to a rogue president.

Were they not able to see through their own corrupt eyes they were enabling a future president to, in essence, declare he or she was not subject to the will of the Court? I guess that’s rhetorical. Did they willingly give up their power or are they just so STUPID they didn’t understand the potential consequences of this decision? It’s clear they wanted Trump to be the “next conservative president” – in the words of Project 2025. And, now that they’ve created a MONSTER do they have the guts to attempt to rectify the problem – THEY created? Based on the rulings I’ve seen so far since Trump 2.0 the answer is a resounding NO.

Maybe Justice Barrett is recognizing the peril to the United States THEY’VE created. Just Maybe. Justice Roberts? Also, maybe he’s going to have dreams at night regarding the place he’s going to hold in American History (just in case we still record American History) and, who knows, maybe he’ll have a granddaughter or grandson some day ask him “what part did you play in the destruction of the American democratic republic? How did you deal with the TRAITOR (remember, Trump’s a FELON, he was accused of Espionage violations and attempting a coup – how else can he be described?) who turned America into a fascist state? That remains to be seen!

However, what doesn’t remain to be seen is whether or not the Trump 2.0 administration will follow the rulings of the courts. I mean, the Congress appears to be helpless in doing anything to stop the dismantling of the government agencies “we the people” have come to “take for granted” we can depend on. In fact, the Congress is part of the conspiracy – they’re right in the middle of the process of destroying Medicaid and SNAP (food stamps) while (f)Elon Musk’s Dogeshits are busy dismantling one agency after another – without even the hint of Congressional authority or oversight. It’s the most INCREDIBLE thing I’ve seen in my 77 years. I was not capable of imagining someone as dumb as Donald Trump could pull this off.

But, about a year ago, after I’d heard rumors regarding the publishing of “Project 2025” I decided to take those rumors seriously and I downloaded a copy of the “manifesto” to my desktop. I then started reading it. As I read, the hair on my back almost immediately stood on end. I made it through the intro and about 100 pages when I realized I needed to read no further. (The intro would likely have been enough) I concluded: “This is a roadmap to fascism.” The “BRAINS” behind the Trump 2.0 administration lie right in that Project 2025 manifesto. They are the ones – by inference – filling out all the “executive orders” (You know, what republicans always complained about if a democratic president signed one) and the chaos created in Trump 2.0 is a key part of their “strategy.”

I want to say they’re succeeding in places “we the people” aren’t paying attention to – although, when they decided to take on Social Security they may have “stuck their hand in a hornet’s nest.” Here’s the deal, though; The “final straw” based on the way our government is situated right now, to “finishing the job” of destroying our constitutional democratic republic is Trump telling the courts to, as I’ve put it in recent posts, “pound sand.” For the unsophisticated out there, that means giving the courts the “one finger salute.” Project 2025 complete.

It’s very heartwarming to watch as democrats – mainly Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (AOC) – hold town halls in so-called “red districts” – where the republican member of Congress representing that district is following orders from their leaders and NOT holding town halls. This past weekend Senator Sanders and AOC spoke to an audience of 20,000 (they could only cram 16,000 of them into the venue) this was in Salt Lake City UTAH! and they had an audience of an estimated 36, 000 in Los Angeles. Voters are eager to speak their frustrations and there is anger all across America and democrats are going into “red” districts to accommodate the angry voters there. This is obvious, but there’s a serious “catch.”

Since reading as much of Project 2025 as I could (stomach) and listening to as much of Trump as I could (stomach) I’ve come to a conclusion. All these democrats stirring up angst to be vented at the next “mid term” election might be “barking up the wrong tree.” I hope I’m wrong – but my math ability to understand two plus two has told me Trump and the Project 2025 thugs have a different view of how the 2026 elections will unfold. They remember 2018 and I don’t believe they have any intention of reliving that experience. At best, I believe they’re planning a Russia type “free” election for 2026. At worst, I believe they may be planning for no election at all.

I’m not sure if they can suppress enough votes to pull off option one, but that would be the obvious way they might attack our “free and fair elections.” Republicans are pushing the SAVE Act through Congress which would require people to PROVE their legal status in cases where their – in the case of a woman who takes her husband’s surname at marriage – name on their photo ID differs from their name on their birth certificate. I take that to mean you’d have to show your birth certificate to register to vote and possibly have to prove you’re “legal” after you’ve already voted. This would REALLY affect women, but if my mother hadn’t sent my birth certificate right before she died I’d have no idea where to find it. (Actually, I’m not sure what I did with it)

Maybe they can pull off totally corrupting our “election” process – a process which has been the envy of the world – until Trump came along. Numerous people have tried to prove our elections are full of fraud – only to FAIL every time! But, that’s not stopping Trump and his Project 2025 puppet masters. Here’s what I figure: If they can’t corrupt the elections via voter suppression (they’ve already got a “head start” in that regard – see Greg Palast) they will find an “emergency” requiring something like martial law to fulfill their “deplorable” plan. If you remember, Trump told a Christian group prior to the 2024 election this would be the last time they’d have to vote with an assurance something like “we’ve got it all figured out.” Hyperbole? Don’t count on it!

Final Thought: You might wonder why Trump has value to the 170 or so authors of Project 2025 – who I refer to as the “puppet masters.” Well, he’s got a lot of characteristics which make him extremely “valuable – usable” to them. I’ll list some off the top of my head, in no particular order: He’s a pathological LIAR – he’s so “expert” at LYING he believes his own LIES as the LIES roll off his tongue. He’s a lifelong RACIST – (see “very fine people” from Charlottesville) from the early days of refusing to rent to BLACKS in his father’s tenements to his one page adds in the “Times” arguing for the DEATH penalty for FIVE innocent New York “boys of color,” to his leading the “birther” movement against Barack Obama. He’ll do just about ANYTHING for money – and, he’s really raking it in this time around – do you think the Justice Department is going to enforce the “Emoluments Clause” of the Constitution? Trump has blown that part of the constitution “out of the water” long ago.

Is he going to be held accountable for turning (f)Elon Musk loose on the federal bureaucracy with his “chainsaw” – lopping off Congressionally authorized programs on a daily basis? Will the Musk/Trump administration be held accountable for destroying agencies like Social Security and Medicare when it happens? Will Musk be investigated and (hopefully) prosecuted for his allegedly ILLEGAL schemes at buying votes? Will anyone in Trump’s administration be held to account for things like texting national security secrets on social media aps – where they’re obviously using the aps to get around the Federal Records Act? And, will their be accountability for disappearing people from this country with NO due process? Will he be held accountable for extorting law firms and universities around the country he doesn’t like? I could go on and on – but the obvious answer to all of the above is NO! And, the MAIN reason circles right back to our C.S. SCOTUS who left Trump with the idea he really IS a “king.” My hope is he’s more like Humpty Dumpty! Stay tuned…..

Over the previous couple of years the car insurance I pay has virtually doubled. That likely makes car insurance the worst driver of inflation in this country. I’ve attempted to figure out why this is happening. The replies I get from the insurance people I’ve talked to indicate the supply chain issues created by the COVID pandemic are at the heart of the increases. However, I personally suspect the issue of Climate change is also a driving force behind these increases. Many of the insurance companies have elected to move out of states like Florida, California, and other places where the costs of replacing damaged property caused by hurricanes or wildfires is exorbitant.

So, now with the tariffs initiated by Trump on cars and car parts coming from Canada, Mexico, and China (the tariff on China is 125%) I’m bracing myself. This will give State Farm (my insurance company) another excuse to increase my monthly car insurance bill. My wife and I have been with State Farm for over 25 years, but I finally decided to check around to see if I could save some money. Well, Progressive gave me a quote which was significantly better than what we had EXCEPT they wouldn’t insure our home – saying it was in a “wildfire” zone.

Our home is NOT in a “wildfire zone.” In fact, in the last year as I was going through the incredibly stupid process of getting a building permit to add 8 feet to our existing detached garage I discovered our home is actually right on the edge of a wetlands. With a little further questioning I was told the likely reason we couldn’t get a “bundle” with Progressive is because we live in a rural setting. My final question was are they (State Farm, and virtually all the other companies) increasing our rates because we’re …..old? As I suspected, the answer was …. yes. So, I’m not getting any younger and Trump’s tariffs are going to give State Farm another reason to “sock it to me.” Giving me another reason to believe Trump SUCKS!

I’m waiting in anticipation of tomorrow’s reaction to today’s over reaction to Trump’s “pausing” some of the tariffs. The reality is there are STILL enough tariffs in place to cause major DAMAGE to America’s economy. How soon will Trump back away (cave) from his outrageous tariffs on China? My wife and I are both retired teachers and we have friends in China who we met during a student exchange program (over a period of years) where we kept the teachers in our home for three or four weeks at a time. My wife even went to China to spend time with them. We love them very much and it really bothers me that Trump is potentially creating a problem which will be difficult (if not impossible) to recover from.

I’m not naive about the differences between China’s government and our government – in fact, it feels to me as if Trump is attempting to make our government worse than theirs. The reality, though, to me, is the Chinese people are wonderful people – at least the ones we’ve met. Initiating a “trade war” with China, Canada, Mexico, and the EU, to me, is among the STUPIDEST actions I’ve seen from any politician in my lifetime. Of course, most of “we the people” are figuring out we have a STUPID president who has brought a bunch of STUPID lackeys into his administration.

When Vladimir Putin first helped Trump “win” the presidential election in 2016 I realized I was going to need to read a lot of books about Trump because I was going to be writing a lot of rants while he was in office. (Little did I understand the rants would continue for nearly 10 years.) Here’s what has stuck out to me from many of those books I read (I donated almost all of them to a local bookstore a couple years ago). First, Trump has gone through BANKRUPTCY six times – with three of them from bungling the management of casinos. Yep, I guess that’s why his “base” believes he’s a business genius – or is it because they watched him in “The Apprentice” thinking he MUST be a good businessman to do reality TV?

But, let’s just focus on his record as our so-called TWICE IMPEACHED two time popular vote LOSING 34 times convicted FELON president – Trump 1.0 and Trump 2.0. In his first administration Trump pulled off something no other president has managed to accomplish in history – the MOST net jobs LOST during his first administration in the history of the nation. Trump’s supporters (rightfully) blame the COVID pandemic, but the reality is his incompetence made the pandemic FAR worse than it should have been. To the tune of an estimated 200 – 300 THOUSAND lives. Plus Trump and Moscow Mitch called a democratic proposal which would have “crushed the virus” dead on arrival at the Senate. Apparently, that’s a “title” (the job loss “king”) he wants to surpass in his second administration. (The lost jobs – hopefully not the lost lives)

Musk/Trump and their DOGEshits are lopping off government jobs in record numbers, they’re going after Medicaid and Food Stamps in their budget proposal and, it appears, attempting to feed their fever dream of toppling Social Security and Medicare by attacking it from the inside out using Musk’s DOGE bros. They have no idea what they’re doing – but, they’re doing a good job of it. I predicted when Trump took office it would take him six months to destroy the economy – but, it’s looking like I was giving him too much credit. He’s not only taking a “wrecking ball” to the government’s bureaucracy, but in the past week or so, directly to Wall Street and the financial sector of our economy as well.

Now, I’m not one who judges how the economy is doing entirely based on the stock market and the other related markets – and, as I’ve said here before, I’m no economist – but, I do have the ability to observe and listen to those people who do understand how the markets work. Trump and his “beloved” tariffs have upended pretty much the entire system and, to me, the Trump characteristic which is likely to undermine America’s economy past the breaking point is his inability to admit a mistake. (not to mention his incompetence)

After about three days of accelerating sell offs in the stock market – followed by a sell off in the bond market (as I understand it, those two things aren’t supposed to go in the “same direction”) – Trump gave a “heads up” to his prime benefactors – who will likely remain anonymous because of our corrupt justice department – to “buy now” shortly before he rolled back (caved on) his so-called “reciprocal tariffs” leading to a spike upward in the stock exchanges. Of course, once investors realized most of the tariffs remain, the stock market tanked again the next day. Over the course of my life, when you see the large swings – both up and then down – in the market, it’s a bad sign. If we’re lucky it will just be a recession we’re facing – although worst case scenario could be a depression. (Trump is good at “worst case scenarios“)

Yes, I realize during economic downturns for those who still have a job it’s a recession, for those who lose their jobs it’s a depression. What is apparent is those in the Trump 2.0 administration have NO idea what they’re doing. It’s possible they don’t understand what the effect will be once they’ve torpedoed Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare. We’re talking about HALF the nation’s people being very unhappy with Trump et al, but, worse yet, the SHOCK to the economy will be unimaginable. I really don’t think the Musk/Trump administration is thinking this through very well. (Full disclosure, I have a vested interest in each of the programs continuing – and, being strengthened)

So, here’s where I think we’re headed – and, of course, I hope I’m wrong. The logical conclusion of “we the people’s” brilliance in, along with Putin (of course), electing Trump 2.0 will be Trump BANKRUPTCY #7. Only this time the victim of his bankruptcy will be us. Or should I say the U.S. (Plus, the world) And, despite how STUPID this will be, the bottom line is the STUPID ones are “we the people.” We allowed a FELON who attempted a coup just four years earlier with a history of bankruptcies back into the “White House.” The first four years of incompetence wasn’t enough! We wanted an even worse case of his incompetence. Go figure.

Here’s what I’ve learned in the past week – stuff, which apparently is going right over Musk/Trump’s head. Bonds are the supposed “safe haven” where people put their money during times of recession or economic uncertainty. Like when the stock market is experiencing daily MAJOR fluctuations – with the general direction DOWN. So, when investors are selling BOTH stocks and bonds, at the SAME TIME, that could be signaling something really BAD. Apparently, the bonds which are considered the “safe haven” because they are protected by the “full faith and credit of the American government” are supposed to go up when the market is going down. It sounds to me as if there are investors feeling as if that “full faith and credit” is a bit dodgy with these republicans in charge.

Here’s another aspect of this. Trump is pushing things to the limit with China and China, from what I can figure out, has less motivation to “work things out” (ie “negotiate“) with the Trump administration than vice versa. In fact, MANY of those bonds are held by the Chinese government and, should they want to really “stick it to Trump” they could begin selling them. Not sure what that would do to the world economy, but it appears it would be “life changing” for the American economy – and, I don’t mean that in a good way. I’m just inferring what I can, but it doesn’t sound at all good to me. Maybe Trump is causing the world to “get along without” us now.

Combine that with at least half the country in economic peril once they accomplish their goal of destroying our social safety net and, I think you can see where this might go. Trump was protected from his SIX previous bankruptcies by an ability to use the courts to his advantage (surprise surprise) – he shielded himself from personal economic harm via the laws of incorporation – (Plus his daddy was funneling him HUNDREDS millions of dollars) – just like the corporate raiders like Mitt Romney over the years who’ve pilfered the assets from corporations they took over and then declared them to be bankrupt. I don’t think you can do that with a country – although I could be wrong. One thing’s for sure – it won’t be Trump bearing the brunt of his destroying America’s economy – it’s almost as if that’s the plan. Maybe he’ll fuel up his plane and fly to Russia once the job’s been completed. Who knows? Again, I hope I’m wrong.

Final Thought: Trump has succeeded in corrupting virtually EVERY department in our government with the most significant one being the Justice Department. I mean, who is Pam Bondi and the other Trump sycophants there going to investigate? They’re busy defending the yarding out of people around the country without “due process” – the founding “principle” of our nation’s government. This is the exact scenario our Founders attempted to prevent with our system of “checks and balances.” It’s been apparent for some time the Congress, now controlled by republicans, has completely ceded it’s role as an “equal branch of government” refusing to check Trump’s whims. But….

Sadly, the SCOTUS last year, in essence, created the problem we’re now facing when it not only knee capped its own role as a check on the government but left Trump with the impression (and, maybe correctly) that he can do “whatever the hell he wants.” The Trump Justice Department is, in essence, telling district court judges to “pound sand” as they are OBVIOUSLY ignoring court rulings. And, as I watch the SCOTUS, it appears to me they are uneasy on making clear rulings against the Trump administration because they’re worried Trump will tell them to go pound sand as well. And, then Project 2025 will be complete. Honestly, I keep thinking things couldn’t be worse – but, sadly I feel the “worst is yet to come.”

One more thing: There’s been a photo op which has really bothered me lately – almost as much as when Trump stood in front of a church outside the confines of the “White House” in Trump 1.0 and had his picture taken holding a bible upside down. Recently, Kristi Noem, one of the most incompetent of Trump’s appointees – the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – took the time to “one up” Trump with her picture in front of one of the cells in the El Salvadore prison (torture chamber?) where Trump’s “team” rushed out 260 or so “gang members” from Venezuela who were seeking asylum in America – many who WEREN’T gang members at all, while ignoring an order blocking the transfer by a judge in D.C. This is apparently where Trump thinks he can send ANYONE he doesn’t like while ignoring their “due process.”

I haven’t been able to get that photo out of my mind because it shows how many PEOPLE are held in each cell block – it’s “deplorable.” And, we KNOW there’s at least SEVEN people, and probably a lot more, who SHOULDN’T have been part of that “shipment” of PEOPLE to this “deplorable” prison. As Adam Serwer says in the book I’m reading, “The cruelty is the point.” One judge has ORDERED them (Trump et al) to bring a father from Maryland back and, so far, they are responding with “pound sand.” (They even have admitted in court this man was sent in “error”) By rights ALL 260+ PEOPLE sent to that prison should be sent back in order for them to be able to defend themselves in court. Musk/Trump/Vance et al don’t appear to believe in “due process.” Like the rest of the constitution, it’s an annoyance to them. To me, sending people to this prison is unquestionably “cruel and unusual punishment.” (Even for alleged “gang members.”)

Here’s the disgusting photon: And, from my vantage point in any other time in our nation’s post WW II history Ms. Noem would NEVER have been appointed to this office, or if she had, she’d be asked to resign. This photo op is – you guessed it, “deplorable!” Stay tuned!!!

To me, it’s not difficult to understand what Trump, and his puppet masters, are doing with all the SUDDEN actions which kind of unearth the minds of leaders around the world PLUS “we the people” trying to keep up. I believe this is what I’ll call the “shiny object” theory of governing. Trump and the authors of Project 2025 (they’re easy to forget in this atmosphere) have a goal of turning the U.S. into a fascist nation by, in essence, destroying the traditional fabric of the nation. So, while Trump has EVERYONE’S attention on the crashing stock market – the DOGEshits are still busy kneecapping the Social Security administration and virtually every other government department EXCEPT the one with the MOST “fraud, waste, and abuse” – the Department of Defense.

The republican Congress appears to be all in on undermining Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security – where MOST of the federal budget resides – although, for good measure, the republicans are also planning to eliminate SNAP (food stamps) and other programs aimed at us normal Americans. Their plan, which has been poorly disguised, is to cut enough from these programs – they refer to as “entitlements” – plus to raise enough from his tariffs to offset a $5 TRILLION tax cut MOSTLY for those in the “top 1%” of America’s earners and, of course, his corporate friends. Right now, most people are focused on the stock market.

So, our so-called “liberal media” is not focused on the destruction of USAID (and, the lives being lost as the result), the elimination of the Department of Education (and, all the low income schools, plus their students, which will be affected), all the scientists who’ve been fired at the CDC, the FDA, and NIH, the people fired at the IRS (so that BILLIONAIRES will no longer need to worry about being audited), the EPA, and I could go on and on. The DOGEshits have even invaded the National Institute of Peace – which is not a government entity – they needed Federal Marshalls and DC Police to get in the doors so they could force the employees out the door. And, on top of all this, we’re no longer talking about “Signalgate.” What that means is Trump’s cabinet members are likely continuing to ILLEGALLY communicate via insecure aps in violation of the Federal Records Act.

Every day there’s going to be something else – and, “we the people” are doing exactly what I predicted before Trump 2.0 was officially underway – “chasing our tails.” Today, while the stock market was responding to what people like me knew would happen – in just a matter of days – as disaster lurked Trump “paused” MOST of the so-called “reciprocal tariffs” for 90 days. That’s kind of like their (Trump’s et al) plan to dismiss corruption charges against New York’s Mayor Eric Adams “without prejudice” – allowing them to re-file them if Adams didn’t kneel to their orders. (The judge dismissed the charges “with prejudice” so that they may NOT be re-filed) So, now, Trump can threaten to put the tariffs back in place based on – well, who knows?

Today’s “shiny object” – other than Trump’s “pausing” SOME of the tariffs (the tariffs are still in place – just not as severe) is that Trump actually signed two executive orders aimed at two members of his former administration, Miles Talor (aka “anonymous”) and Chris Krebs, ordering the “Justice Department” to initiate “investigations” of both of these men. I said that correctly, Trump is ORDERING who the “Justice Department” is to be investigating. This is beyond outrageous! Chris Krebs is an expert in cybersecurity who made sure the 2020 election was FAIR. That was his “fault.” Trump called Miles Taylor a “traitor” – I’m not kidding. The man who attempted a coup d’etat on America’s government (i.e. a TRAITOR) loosely throwing that word (traitor) around so that “we the people” forget who the TRAITOR actually is.

My father was in the Army during WW ii and he was a lifelong republican. When I watch what Trump is up to I don’t think it would have been difficult to convince him that Trump is inflicting exactly what Hitler was attempting to “inflict” on America – but, Trump is so much closer to succeeding. He’s got the 170 or so authors of Project 2025 filling out executive orders for him to sign which makes things easy for him – allowing him to get two or three rounds of golf in each week. So, Trump is now “going after” individuals PLUS his attacks on law firms and universities – sadly, some of them capitulating. Capitulation, by the way, has been proved by HISTORY as the WRONG answer.

Long ago I wrote that when the Justice Department becomes unreliable this country is in BIG danger. Well, that day is here (it has been since last November 5th). The Supreme Court has given Trump unimaginable – and, to me, unconstitutional – POWER and Trump is pushing it to the limit. (Was there any question he would do so?) The top three “leaders” of the Justice Department are/were Trump’s personal lawyers – unthinkable at any other time in American history. And, now Trump is ordering the Department to go after selected individuals from his first administration who displeased him. But, the stock market……

There are so many parts of America that are simply “chugging” along as if everything is normal – and, some of them are “places” I could easily choose to “reside.” I have always been either involved in or a “fan” of various sports. I have a love of baseball and basketball, for example – and, it’s very easy to allow myself to get emerged in following my favorite teams. For some reason, I’ve always (well, since the late 1990’s) followed the stock market – so the “wild swings” of the past week have captured my interest as well as MANY others. It’s too easy to concentrate on my fantasy baseball team than what is happening to the country I’ve loved for the 77 years of my life. (Well, I don’t think I actually “loved” this country until I was a teenager – I remember crying with my classmates as school was dismissed because JFK had been murdered) I say that because I recognize how easy it is for Trump to cause me – and MILLIONS of others to “miss” what he’s doing which is the MOST important “stuff” for “we the people” to see. (and participate in the fight against it)

For example, two issues that are resulting in the actual loss of life directly related to Trump policies are the destruction of USAID (I’ve written about this several times now) and the ILLEGAL invasion of Ukraine by Trump’s idol Vladimir Putin. People who depended on the food and medicine from America they had received through USAID and were almost instantaneously cut off by the DOGEshits have been dying in numbers I don’t know – but ANY child dying because of this egregious action is too many. And, of course, the courageous people of Ukraine are taking on unnecessary losses because of America’s betrayal under Trump (Trump attempting once again to EXTORT Volodymyr Zelenskyy while kissing up to Putin) – which if we had a Congress with ANY “balls” would have already resulted in IMPEACHMENT #3. These things are being part of the “news” in America now seemingly ONLY on the fringes.

Trump has succeeded in getting his appeasement of Putin to be “old news” – not “fake news.” And, to me, this capitulation is MUCH more serious than the wacky reaction of Wall Street to Trump’s “scandal a day” way of governing. Now, don’t get me wrong here – I do NOT consider Trump to be a “smart” person – other than he knows how to align himself with whoever it is that will make him richer. Therefore, you see out front Elon Musk and his DOGEshits while in the background you DON’T see – but, they are orchestrating things – Russel Vought and the rest of the Project 2025 team. Trump is signing the executive orders, making the occasional STUPID public statements, and playing golf as much as he can. I won’t say he hates America, I’ll just say, from my viewpoint point, he doesn’t give a s@#t about America.

And, after you work your way through a couple hundred pages of Project 2025 you quickly realize the authors of that “manifesto” really don’t like America’s constitutional form of government – and, they’ve made a plan to end it. I put links in my posts to the document “Project 2025 – Manifesto of the next conservative administration” several times, but the final time I was forced to give my email address (stupidly I did it) which was then passed on to the email lists of (what seems like) every republican seeking office – most significantly Trump. Therefore, I stopped putting up that link – but, I still recommend people get and read that document. They (meaning the authors – a bunch of rich executives from various industries and occupations) are “knee deep” into succeeding at destroying the America we’ve known. If they end up pulling off their plan it will be because “we the people” weren’t paying close enough attention. Wild stock market swings appear to get a lot of attention but there’s little reference to Project 2025.

The antidote to all this would be republicans in Congress acting as if their oath to the constitution was more important to them than the threat by Musk/Trump to destroy that very constitution. (I refer you to Musk’s Sieg Hiels at Trump’s inauguration celebration) Nixon was BAD, but he was stopped by the republicans in his own party. Sadly, the republicans in today’s Congress are an incredible bunch of COWARDS – who care only about keeping their “gigs.” Honestly, they make me just as sick, if not more, than Trump – who was indirectly referred to as a “moron” by his co-president.

Final Thought: One thing I haven’t written much about, but which I’ve thought a lot about, is how democrats are putting their hopes on the 2026 mid term elections. And, I have to add – I have a lot of hope they’re correct. But, here’s the rub – I believe if Trump and his puppet masters have their way their either won’t be a 2026 election or they’ll figure out a way to suppress enough democratic leaning voters that it will be an election Vladimir Putin could be proud of – if you get my drift. Trump actually promised a group (I believe it was a “Christian” group) of his voters that if they elected him in 2024 they wouldn’t have to vote anymore. Here’s exactly what he said: “Get out and vote! Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore! Four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore.” Yikes!!!

Here’s another thing I’ve been wondering about – a lot. So, it appears the republicans (and Trump and the puppet masters) may succeed in undermining Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. (plus SNAP – food stamps) It appears their plan is to defund Medicaid and SNAP in their “very large” reconciliation budget legislation. This will affect MILLIONS of Americans – mostly very young or very old. Plus, it appears their strategy to get rid of Social Security and Medicare is to weaken them from the inside until they “collapse.” Obviously, this will affect MILLIONS more – mostly old people like me.

If they succeed, I’m guessing the ANGER will be elevated even more than it is now – there’ll be lots of protests – likely making Trump think: “Now’s the time for martial law.” I certainly hope these thoughts are just a product of my active mind – but, I have done a lot of reading regarding Trump and these people behind the scenes who I believe are “pulling the strings.” It seems to me the foundation of the Project 2025 agenda has been set – and, MOST of “we the people” still have no idea what it is. Remember, right wing republicans in America have opposed the programs they always refer to as “entitlements” (ie Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid) since their inceptions. It appears to me, they FINALLY feel they will be able to destroy them. The end result – should they succeed – is very scary to me (not only because I’m collecting my Social Security and Medicare benefit at the age o 77) because of what it will do to our nation.

If you missed it, (f)Elon Musk referred to Social Security as the biggest “Ponzi scheme” of all times – that while the CEO of corporations built on our government’s largess. His auto business has a price to earnings ratio approximately 20 times higher than, for example, General Motors. With significantly lower earnings per share. I’m no economist, but that seems to me to be a “house of cards.” My point here is Musk has no need of Social Security, but he does have his sights set on the MASSIVE tax cuts republicans will ram through Congress once again. (just like they’ve done in every administration since Reagan – except HW Bush) “Rince and Repeat” – this happens every time Americans vote a republican into the “White House.” (They just might succeed in their “fever dream” of undermining Social Security this time around) Stay tuned……

What do you do when you’re in a country, a very wealthy country, with a bumbling numskull at the helm, and no relief in sight for almost four years. And, of course, I’m talking (writing) about Donald Trump and the FACT that (without action by Congress) he’s going to be president of the United States of America for THREE more long years and NINE MONTHS. Yikes! By now, everyone who pays attention to this knows that Trump hit the world economy with a bunch of poorly thought out tariffs last week, right before he took a long weekend to go down to Florida and play golf.

Not only was he playing golf (while the rest of the nation was experiencing the largest Wall Street sell-off in years (well, since the last time he was president – go figure) but he was also hosting the Saudi funded “LIV” golf league at one of his golf courses in Florida. On one of the nights during his “vacation” he managed to hold a ONE MILLION dollar a plate fundraiser at his gaudy Florida “club” which he calls his residence. On the way back from Florida on Sunday it was reported he commented that “you have to take your medicine” regarding the impact his tariffs are having on the U.S. and World economies. He’s reaping unbelievable amounts of “emoluments” in Trump 2.0 with a big middle finger to those he’s hurting.

And, his “hurting” goes way beyond the financial calamity he’s imposing on the rest of us – Joe Biden left him an economy which was the “envy of the world.” It took him just over 2 months to begin the process of tanking it. But, the DAMAGE he’s inflicting is far worse and will probably not be “fixed” in my lifetime. One of the previous books I’ve read was by Anthony Fauci – one of America’s greatest scientists of the past half century – notwithstanding Trump attempting to put the blame of the COVID pandemic on him. A significant portion of Fauci’s book was focused on the fight against the AIDS epidemic back in the latter part of the 20th century into the 21st. During this “fight” the scientists involved in attempting to find a vaccine for the epidemic came up with drugs which, as I remember the reading, allowed people with HIV to live almost normal lives.

During the administration of George W Bush – a president who I’ve said little positive about – a program with the acronym “PEPFAR” – The Presidents Emergency Plan for Aids Relief – was developed at the National Institutes of Health where Fauci was one of the leading doctors. Bush OKed the funding which began a program providing assistance for MILLIONS of people in Africa (you know, Trump’s “shithole countries”) – where people with HIV got relief, and the spread was slowed down – including, as I remember it, (I’ve since given the book to someone else to read) women with HIV being able to have healthy HIV “free” births.

That program, along with all the other programs which were administered through the USAID (United States Agency for International Development) were abruptly discontinued almost the day Trump took (lied about – refusing to put his hand on the Bible) the oath of office. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of food aid was left to rot in the warehouses where it was stored – all the while people around the globe who were counting on the food for survival were – SOL. As the Musk/Trump administration was cutting off this aid, people were DYING as a direct result. To me, this sin is worse than the tanking of the markets – although, who knows the long term affect of that move – “we the people” just have to “take our medicine.”

As a bit of a digression – I’ve got to mention about the Saudi golf league funneling a BUNCH of money directly into Trump’s pockets – which, to me, is bad enough. But in the past I’ve read that Trump has become involved in the negotiations to merge that league with the PGA (golf) tour and the European Tour – the best golfers on the planet. I started playing golf as a hobby over 60 years ago. I never made it to my goal of becoming a “scratch” golfer and with the maladies I’m experiencing in my “old age” I’m coming to grips with the fact I’m likely not going to live long enough to shoot my age. (One of the last two things on my bucket list – the other one is likely as far out of reach – to see Trump behind bars) I still have hopes of getting healthy enough to spend a couple months each year golfing – HOWEVER, I’m not sure how I’ll react if the PGA succumbs to the Saudi “sports washing” – i.e. throwing the MONEY at the tours and the tours taking it. Enough of my digressing.

When I think about all the DAMAGE the Musk/Trump administration is causing to America’s traditional institutions (well beyond USAID) I have to wonder if this Trump induced CRASH of the world stock exchanges isn’t a way to get people’s attention off of what Musk/Trump are doing to agencies like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. If you don’t want to look for “waste, fraud, and abuse” in the budgets of the Department of Defense and you want to take a butcher knife to America’s economy, the logical place to “attack” is where the poorest and least able to fight back reside. Reports have been “out there” for several weeks now about the plan in the House republican’s budget proposal for cutting Medicaid and SNAP (food stamps) as a way to offset the nearly $5 TRILLION in tax cuts (mostly for corporations and those residing in the upper tiers of America’s wealthy). Where are all those budget hawks in the republican caucus?

Honestly, I’m not surprised at all at their willingness to cut programs like Medicaid and SNAP – although, the backlash is going to be significant. (My guess is it will recede by the 2026 mid-terms and/or they’ll be able to lie their way out of it – i.e. it’s Joe Biden’s fault) What does surprise me is their willingness to once again RAISE the debt ceiling – this time by a proposed $5TRILLION. Remember, when Trump left office the first time he had run up 25% of ALL the national debt in history. Just as Bush/Cheney did in 2009 to Obama/Biden Trump had left Biden/Harris with an even greater MESS in 2021. And, just as Obama/Biden left Trump/Pense an economy on the upswing so did Biden/Harris leave to Musk/Trump this year. And, just as republicans always do, MORE tax cuts “for the rich” (Mainly) and an acceleration of the national debt – this time in just 3 months.

I mean, not only are Musk/Trump closing departments like the Department of Education (cuts I’m personally gutted by – knowing how it will affect kids from low socio-economic families), several departments under the umbrella of HHS (Health and Human Services) – including the CDC, FDA, and the NIH – to name a few, but they’ve also INVADED – and I mean that LITERALLY) – the United States Institute of Peace. (USIP) The Institute of Peace is an INDEPENDENT, non profit, national institute funded by Congress and “tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. It provides research, analysis, and training to individuals in diplomacy, mediation, and other peace-building measures.”  Following years of proposals for a national peace academy it was founded during the days of Ronald Reagan.

It’s totally independent from our government (although Congress funds it), it owns its own building separate from the “government,” and it was actually INVADED by Musk’s Dogeshits – who got the Metropolitan Police to help them “get in” and they promptly forced ALL of USIP’s personnel to LEAVE the building. Then they (the Dogeshits) changed the locks on all the doors. Not the kind of government action you would expect in a representative democracy. Now, I haven’t heard much about what has happened since the BREAKIN – My guess is it’s just part of the nearly 60 lawsuits filed against Musk/Trump’s administration – but, it raises other questions in my mind.

Like, for example, when “everyone” is trying to figure out what really is Trump’s plan (if he’s capable of having one) for implementing tariffs which, within three trading sessions pushed Wall Street into “bear” territory. Me, not being an expert on the economy OR the stock market, seems to remember people who are experts suggesting Wall Street is a predictor of what lies ahead in the economy. There must be something to that because virtually everywhere I’ve looked in the previous 5 days the topic of conversation is Trump’s tariffs. What if the purpose is to get people’s minds off of all the other stuff Musk/Trump are “up to?” I’ve felt from the beginning of Trump 2.0 that his “flooding the zone” strategy would be aimed at furthering his own pocket book while “we the people” are looking elsewhere.

I mean, if there’s one thing consistent in all the stuff I’ve read about Trump over the years is that he’s able to FOCUS on one thing more than any other – and, that’s what is going into his pocket book. And, he was trained in revenge by mob lawyer Roy Cohn – which explains how he’s attacking those who even investigated his CRIMINAL conduct that his voters chose to ignore. His first term ended with the worst job record since Herbert Hoover and he might be headed to topping that this time. Trump has no idea what he’s doing and his “advisors” are afraid to tell him the truth. So, here we are.

It should be obvious by this time why Vladimir Putin was so involved in trying to help Trump back into the “White House.” Putin couldn’t have a better “useful idiot” in charge in America if he’d been allowed to bypass the election process and simply hand pick him. We’re seeing the results of this “deplorable” election all over the world. How many lives will be lost because of Trump’s hubris? I certainly don’t know, but it actually scares me to think about it. Is there any hope, or are we simply going to have to endure this for at least the next 3 1/2 years. (And, I’m not even taking into account here that I believe one of the things Musk/Trump are doing is further “rigging” our future elections to make us “more like Russia.” – pay close attention to their voter registration “plans”)

Well, this past weekend, there were massive demonstrations against what Musk/Trump are doing. I actually drove to the one in the city close to where I live and there were LOTS of protestors there – I can’t walk very far and there was NO parking for many blocks so all I could do was honk my horn with a “thumbs up” acknowledgement to the people I saw there. Will “we the people” soon tire of going out and publicly protesting the DAMAGE Musk/Trump are inflictin on us and the people we love? I certainly hope not – but, put yourself in the place of Trump and his advisors.

In March of 2024 Trump was CONVICTED by a unanimous jury of 34 Felony counts resulting from his “election interference” prior to Trump 1.0. Keep in mind Trump cheats routinely (he considers it being “smart” if he gets away with it) and if his lips are moving he’s LYING. He can’t help himself – at this point it’s all “ingrained.” So, the American people were (or should have been) aware of this – PLUS he was accused and indicted for an additonal 50 some FELONIES – including violation of the Espionage Act and voters “looked the other way.” He attempted a coup d’etat on January 6th, 2021 in an attempt to overthrow the results of a free and fair election. Yet voters looked the other way. And, he’ll be busy blaming Joe Biden and Barack Obama for the “necessity” to give “we the people” our “medicine” via purposely tanking the stock market. My guess is Musk/Trump believe this will “wash over” just as having a CRIMINAL leading our country did in the 2024 election – and, why wouldn’t they believe that?

Here’s why Musk/Trump, in m view, have a warped view of the likely future events. They have forced Europe and the UK into the position of planning to defend themselves from Russian aggression without the alliance they’ve had since WW II. The very reason NATO was formed after WW II was to create a block to further “Soviet” expansion. (The Eastern Europeans formed the Warsaw Pact in response) Since then, the Soviet Union dissolved (much to Putin’s chagrine) and, now, Putin wants it back – beginning with the invasion of Ukraine. I’m sure it’s obvious to Putin he won’t succeed (even in toppling Ukraine) as long as the United States is an adversary. Enter Trump.

Well, the Europeans – who experienced WW II on their soil, and have a vivid memory of Hitler – are now viewing Putin as potentially the 21st Century’s version of Hitler – potentially with Trump at his side. (And, I don’t think I’ve ever had a feeling I hope more to be wrong) They are ramping up their war time economies – and, keep in mind, the Germans are capable of, in my view, extraordinary wartime production. France is also gearing up for potential war with Putin and Russia. The next few months will be very “telling” and my hope is the American people WON’T do their usual act of political amnesia and that the protests will grow exponentially and “we the people” will DEMAND our nation honors it’s article 5 obligation to NATO. While some Europeans are revolting against their authoritarian dictators – “we the people” ushered in a wannabee! It remains to be seen what can be done about that. God help us!

Final Thought: I often wonder about the extent Trump is a Russian asset. The more I think about what he and his co-president (Musk) are doing, it is beginning to be obvious he’s working in the interests of Vladimir Putin. What do they have on him? Would the “pee tape” be enough to cause Trump to sell out his own country and the Western alliances formed after WW II? I honestly hope not, but the evidence is mounting to the contrary. Just the “you’ve got to take the medicine” comment about him blowing a HUGE hole in the stock market just really hit me the wrong way. Not to suggest MANY of his other comments have done so as well. But, this assault on the World’s economy – from the country which was sitting on top after the pandemic – is almost like Putin’s revenge. (For all the sanctions post invasion of Ukraine)

If I’m at all on to something here, it’s time for the Congress – including republicans – to remove this threat from our country’s government. If he’s purposely – which is what it seems at this point – attempting to throw the world into a “Great recession” or “depression” he becomes an even worse TRAITOR – than the man who attempted to have his thugs overthrow the 2020 election on January 6th, 2021. I mentioned above all the people who are DYING due to the Musk/Trump reckless attack on our fundamental institutions (ie USAID) but, what I didn’t mention was all the Ukrainian’s (including MANY children) are DYING at the hands of Putin’s WAR CRIMES. This could become clear very quickly – as the markets are headed into an even deeper chasm starting with Monday’s trading. (I probably won’t post this until after that reality strikes) Stay tuned…….

(Or did it start when he came down that ugly escalator?)

OMG – well no one can say they weren’t warned. The predictions regarding Project 2025 were REPEATED over and over – with the bulk of America’s voting public paying no attention to the warnings. It’s not going to do any good for those who were making those warnings to be saying “I told you so.” However, in the name of my ego, “I told you so.” Naturally, my voice is not a loud one – I just write out my frustrations because, well, it makes me feel a bit better – but, it doesn’t do anything to solve the problem. For years I’ve been pointing out Trump will continue LYING to “we the people” and using the power of his office to intimidate people/groups into funneling (ILLEGAL) emoluments to himself and his family. And, there’s a plethora of BILLIONAIRES who’ve discovered how to get Trump to help them get even RICHER!

The MASSIVE tariffs which he instituted yesterday will end up being no different. He’ll be looking for countries which will cave to his BULLYING just like the large law firms in America who value their bottom line more than our country. Trump is planning on a continuation of his windfall (personally for him) due to the tariffs. And, once he’s cratered the economy to the point where it’s either in recession or (God help us) possibly a “depression” – his BILLIONAIRE benefactors will be right there to fight over the “scraps.”

Here’s the deal – at least from my simple perception. Trump had already turned our major trading partners (Europe, Mexico, Canada, and the UK) against “we the people” by various actions he’d implemented before the ill-fated tariffs. His cozying up to maybe the WORST dictator in the world, Vladimir Putin, and his outrageous BULLYING of Volodymyr Zelenskyy had already given a middle finger to our traditional allies. Then he hits them with these OUTRAGEOUS tariffs – LYING through his teeth as he presented the STUPIDEST economic plan in a HUNDRED years.

No matter what happens going forward, for the next almost FOUR (long) years – and, likely well beyond then even if “we the people” are successful in voting this version of the republican party into the history books – our “allies” will be unable to TRUST the United States. Trump is acting like a deranged puppet – me knowing, at least for the most part, he’s being used by the authors of Project 2025 to achieve their fantasy of destroying out constitution for the sake of their fascist fever dream. Really, the only two I’m aware of who are somewhat public are Stephen Miller and Russel Vought. The two of them can do a LOT of DAMAGE.

Therefore, “we the people” must brace ourselves with what lies ahead. My son is planning to buy some clothes and shoes online soon and I told him do it right away because clothes and shoes are a couple of items which will be directly affected by the tariffs. I mean, my understanding is Trump put a 50% tariff on Viet Nam! When I saw that I couldn’t help but think he’s completely lost his mind. Does he really believe facilities which produce clothing are in America’s future. Trump pulled America out of the Transpacific Partnership in his first term – a trade agreement designed to mitigate the presence of China in South Asia and Southeast Asia – and, now Trump will accomplish pushing those countries to be closer to China. Xi Jinping couldn’t be happier.

Here’s another thing I worry about – and, I’m not sure why because I don’t have virtually any knowledge of how currency trading works – but, for my lifetime the main currency in the world is the dollar. I get the feeling that if Trump pushes this far enough that will change and I have no idea how that will affect our economy – but, it seems as if it might not be so good. Virtually every economist I’ve listened to (or read) in the past few weeks are saying the result of these tariffs will be a significant TAX on those of us who are not in the upper ranks as far as wealth goes. Additionally, the two dangers I hear the most are that inflation could go up to – well, I don’t know – but “up” is the “wrong answer. The other thing is a recession. The economists I listened to are warning about “stagflation” – which again – I know LITTLE about – but, I believe it’s when the economy is going into recession while there is inflation. Doesn’t sound like a good plan to me.

And, really, I believe the question must be asked (over and over) – does Trump even have a plan? Are these tariffs something he’s ruminated on since he was in his teens? Where did the idea come from. I’ve listened to him – and to his press secretary – who, like almost all press secretaries when they hold their first briefing. said she would NEVER LIE from the podium – either LIE about tariffs or prove she has no idea what a tariff is. The bottom line is a tariff is a TAX. Full stop!

My best guess as to what is happening is Trump/Musk and ???? are putting this tax on working Americans (mostly) in order to justify the impending $5 TRILLION tax cut republicans are planning to ram through with their budget legislation. Their plan is to get rid of Medicaid and SNAP (Food stamps) – two of America’s traditional ‘institutions” (for lack of a better word – I’m old) aimed at the poorest Americans, children, and the elderly. The DAMAGE from ending those two programs is hard for me to imagine. And, of course, I have a personal interest in what’s going to happen to Medicare and Social Security. I just have this feeling the DOGEshits are going to muck up those programs to the point where they collapse. That would really be the mother of all DISASTERS!

I’m certainly not smart enough even to be able to picture how Social Security and Medicare could be rebuilt once Musk and his “boys” get through with it. If you haven’t listened to (f)Elon Musk lately, as he rails against those who have had enough of him – saying he doesn’t understand why anyone would say anything mean to him with a “I haven’t done anything wrong.” This is a guy who allegedly is a regular user of Ketamine – which I only know my son says its bad stuff. Apparently, the fact he’s the CEO of some companies makes him qualified to take his “chainsaw” to our government.

And, today I saw a headline where, apparently, Musk is claiming the election for Judge in Wisconsin was rigged. I’m not kidding. It appears he got hold of this “conspiracy” based on posts on his social media platform by Alex Jones and Roger Stone. I’m really not kidding. Those are two of the best LIARS on the planet. I mean, it was Jones who lost a defamation lawsuit over his pushing conspiracy “denial” about the MURDERS of children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School. And, Stone, well, just do some online research and you’ll be able to see how he values the “truth.” Musk’s candidate – to which he donated a reported $25 MILLION – lost by 10 points. In Wisconsin, that’s a LANDSLIDE – so I would counsel Musk to shut the f*@k up!

In a couple days there’s going to be a MASSIVE public demonstration in opposition to virtually everything which is happening to our government over these past 70+ days. I’m not able to do much walking, but I’m going to see if I can use my cane and participate in the local version of the protest. My guess is there will be many people there – every time I drive past the Tesla showroom there seems to be a fairly large number of people protesting his involvement in the destruction of our republic. I’m guessing a lot of those people will be at the protest this weekend (April 5th).

Kind of reminds me of the late 60’s when the protests over the Viet Nam war took shape. They lasted into the early 70’s and several protesters were MURDERED by National Guardsmen who opened fire on a group of students on the campus of Kent State University. Is Trump going to resort to something like that. As I remember it (I’m old – memory’s not so good) those murders galvanized those who were protesting. I really do hope the same scenario doesn’t play out this time around. Nixon was HORRIBLE, but he was nothing compared to Trump. Trump and his puppet masters are “going for the downs” – they want to completely remake our government – without that pesky constitution. Are the tariffs a way to weaken our republic making it easier to “finish” the deal of Trump’s coup – which started on January 6th, 2021?

Final Thought: Remember, Trump has already proven himself to be a TRAITOR. (I would counsel Musk – a TRAITOR is someone who attempts to overturn his/her own government – NOT someone who is a military hero and former astronaut) Aligning himself with some really awful people who helped manipulate social media and a bunch of BILLIONAIRES – mostly Musk (who likely was responsible for Trump’s “victory”) – allowed Trump to CON his way back into the “White House.” He made a bunch of “on day 1” promises which were similar to Mexico’s going to pay for the wall – and, enough of America’s gullible public actually believed him.

That, in a nutshell, is why I believe the DAMAGE Trump is doing will last far beyond his time in office – which can’t end soon enough for me. The Europeans and our other allies not only can’t Trust Trump, but they can’t trust the American people. What if “we the people” would vote in another tyrant the next time, or the time after that, or…….. We’ve proved WE are untrustworthy because there’s so many of us who are politically illiterate and easy to manipulate. That’s the one thing Trump has clearly proven. As he’s often said, “I love uneducated voters.” Yikes!

Just think – “we the people” voted into office as our “leader” a 34 times FELON – who was facing another 50+ allegations of SERIOUS felonies – whose LIES had been documented in his first term to over 30,000 and who could surpass that this time. He’s setting “we the people” up to be vulnerable to the next pandemic (with RFK Jr’s help), this “hit” to the economy (from the tariffs) could be worse than what happened as he bungled his way through the COVID pandemic. It just goes on and on – the guy’s a HUGE loser and we’re stuck with him for over THREE more unimaginable years.

I have to add: This week the Midwest and South are being hit by devastating tornadoes, rain storms, and flooding with at least 7 dead and massive amounts of property damage. This is happening while Trump and his dog killing Secretary of Homeland Security are getting rid of FEMA. And, while this is ALL happening, including the stock market crash due to the tariffs – Trump is off to a golf course. He could give a s*@t! Stay tuned….

That was yesterday – today the market’s DOWN another 5% – meaning, for the sake of what Peter Navarro claimed was going to be $6 TRILLION in added revenue over the next ten years (taxes on working families, mostly) the markets have shed OVER $6 TRILLION in just two days. Who says Trump isn’t a “stable genius?”

We are witnessing the greatest financial heist in the history of the world. Now, I’m simply working from my 77 years of experience – with about 65 of them following politics to one degree or another – very intently in the previous 45 years – since the days of Reagan where, from my vantage point, America was morphed from a “we” society to a “me” society. We’re seeing that in “spades” with the Musk/Trump administration. There can be no doubt that the United States of America is the “richest country in the world.” The annual budget is something in excess of $6 TRILLION and, from my vantage point, the actual “elite” have had their “crosshairs” on all that MONEY for years – since Reagan began the “trickle down” (I call it “trickle up”) scam in 1981. This SCAM has become really tiresome to me, but the republicans replay it every time they manage to fool “we the people” into putting them in power.

Well, what’s transpiring as I’m typing out this rant is the makings of a brazen attack on America’s institutions making “trickle down” look like “fools gold.” The “elite” (and, now I’m talking about the BILLIONAIRE class that discovered how to manipulate Trump) such as (f)Elon Musk – our unelected co-president, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg (I really wanted to pull a Trump trick and call him “Suckerberg”), Peter Thiel, the DeVoss family, the Walton (Walmart) family, the Coors family, and others (those are the ones which came off the top of my head) have their sights set on pilfering the American taxpayers like they’ve never done before under Trump 2.0.

Of course, co-president Musk is the one out in front with his so-called “DOGE” boys (and, I MEAN boys – I refer to them as the Dogeshits) ripping the American bureaucracy apart at the seems – finally about to achieve the right wing fever dream of undermining the Social Security system allowing them to get their greedy (grubby) hands on the SS trust fund of something like $2.7 TRILLION. Of course, they’re after Medicaid and Medicare which they plan to make – if those programs continue – “private.” Even suggesting “private business” could manage these programs more “efficiently” than the federal government is laughable on its face. For example, the administrative cost of running the Social Security system is around 1%. What “DOGE” will accomplish is less service for more MONEY (ie profits). That is if they don’t manage to crash the entire system leaving the S.S. recipients to flounder kind of like the kids Trump 1.0 separated from their parents – then deported the parents back to their home countries – leaving the kids “high and dry.”

If you don’t know by now, Trump is NOT about efficiency. What he has a lifetime of expertise in is FRAUD. Do you really believe Musk is looking for “waste fraud and abuse?” Honestly, if you’re so gullible as to believe that I’ve got a bridge……… OK, you know the rest. The real FRAUD here is the Musk/Trump administration convincing all its members in the CULT that is what they are “rooting out” of our government. But, just common sense should tell you otherwise. (f)Elon Musk likes to hold up a chainsaw as a metaphor for what he’s doing to the government – and, in this instance, it’s one thing I can agree with. So, how is that supposed to be “rooting out waste fraud and abuse?” To me, it’s simply making (in some instances) random cuts to the government workforce with NO IDEA if there’s any “waste fraud OR abuse” – and, in some instances, I don’t believe the cuts are random at all.

For example, Musk was facing investigation from FIVE government agencies where the inspector generals were FIRED. The Department of Labor had 17 open investigations, regarding both Tesla and Space X, the Department of Defense was looking into Musk’s alleged use of illegal drugs (Ketamine?) and secret conversations with Putin – either of which would bring into question any security clearance. The Department of Agriculture was investigating the Musk led company Neuralink for experimenting with brain implants, and the Department of Environmental Protection was investigating Tesla on more than one occasion. You know, things like allegedly polluting rivers. Each department inspector general was fired almost as soon as Musk was flashing Sieg Hiels during his (and Trump’s) inauguration.

I don’t understand how anyone could mistake what Musk/Trump are doing as anything other than the “mother of all” corruption schemes in the history of this once great nation – and, really, the world. And, all those “conservative” MAGAs out there will find a way to not be surprised and to blame it on Joe Biden when this republican Congress attempts to get the debt ceiling limit removed completely as they’re pushing through their “one big” budget package – which will include something like $5 TRILLION in tax cuts that MOSTLY benefit the “rich.” (OK, the top 1% and large corporations) They’re also going to have to deal with the budget deficit – in addition to the tax cuts – that will be between a half TRILLION and a TRILLION higher because of the reduced tax receipts due to the rising number of unemployed Americans and the impending recession. (They’ve strategically fired about a third of IRS agents – blocking audits of tax cheats)

Are you going to go buy a new car when the price of the car is pushed up from $10,000 to $20,000 because of Trump’s “beautiful tariffs?” Are you going to buy new appliances for your kitchen with an increase of around 25% on each item? Do you really believe Trump’s tariffs will “bring manufacturing back to the U.S.?” For example, the “Chips Act” was passed in 2022 and it will be another year or two until those manufacturing facilities will open – if Trump doesn’t mess that up because he won’t be able to find a way to put his name on the buildings. There are thousands of Americans who are working on those projects today who don’t understand who’s responsible for their jobs. Many of them voted for this disaster we’re now calling the Musk/Trump administration. Will Americans tolerate four years of tariffs while Trump is waiting for the increase to manufacturing?

And, the level of ignorance displayed publicly by co-president Musk is startling to me – but, I guess if the CULT isn’t up to speed with what, I’m sure to Musk, are minor details, then, what the hell? For example, Musk wants judges he doesn’t like impeached suggesting this can be accomplished by “sixty votes.” Of course, even if he was correct, republicans would NEVER get 60 votes to impeach ANY of the judges ruling against the Musk/Trump administration. (Full disclosure/fun fact – it takes two thirds of those present in the Senate to impeach ANYONE in our federal government. I suppose if you could kidnap about 9 or 10 democrats you could do it with 60 votes)

Here’s the worst one for me. Musk, the Apartheid South African, who – as I mentioned above – was flashing Sieg Hiels at the inauguration ceremony (for you uneducated that would mean Nazi salutes – although, I tend to think MOST Trump supporters know what a Nazi salute is), accused Senator Mark Kelly from Arizona of being a “traitor.” He did this in a Fox “news” interview. Why? You might ask. Well, Kelly went to Ukraine and sent back messages of support for the Ukrainians in the fight against the ILLEGAL invasion of their sovereign land. Kelly, by the way, is a decorated veteran and former astronaut. Musk’s rationale, “You can’t support two countries at one time” (or words to that affect) If you do, that makes you a traitor. I would put a different “spin” on it. Coming from the mouth of someone accused of having secret phone conversations with Vladimir Putin – and, who also strategically prevented the Congress from putting into law restrictions on his business in China. Just sayin….. That’s what I would call a traitor – especially with the Nazi salutes! He’s even been reported as attempting to get American war secrets via China! I rest my case.

Of course, maybe the real reason Musk was/is mad at Senator Kelly is because Kelly published a “TikTok” regarding his decision to “get a new ride.” He was standing with his, what looked to me like a, Tesla “S” in the background while he explained he no longer wanted to drive a car “designed and built by an asshole.” Was he referring to Musk? Such harsh language! Well, actually, when I think of our unelected co-president my language – kept to myself when I can – is quite a bit harsher. For me, if you’re going to flash Sieg Hiels in public I’m going to refer to you as a NAZI.

And I have people in my peer group (when physically able I like to play a little golf) who are actually older than me – born during WW II – who are full blown members of the CULT. They are a bit offended when you point out to them their obsequious loyalty to two overt RACISTS actually, well, kind of makes them racists. Oh no, they’ll say. I know someone who is Black. And, I’m not kidding. That’s about how it goes. Or how about the word fascist. To me, when they are treating a couple overt fascists as idols – does that not make them fascists? I guess if you want to be nice you could call them “fascist sympathizers.” But, it only takes a minimal amount of historical reading about 1930’s Germany to let you know where that gets us. I’d say the same about being a misogynist, or a xenophobe, or homophobe – but, they’d likely willingly wear those “badges.” OMG!

While all this is going on, the pilfering of our taxpayers will continue as Musk/Trump hope “we the people” are distracted by their “flooding the zone” strategy. I brought this up BEFORE Trump took the oath of office (refusing to put his hand on the Bible – for some reason) – although, I wasn’t sure what the “thing” they were focused on which “we the people” wouldn’t notice until it was too late. And, last night as I was trying to sleep it became clear as a bell to me. Their goal is to privatize EVERYTHING – including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. They even want to “privatize” what were the outreaches of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) – now that they have it sufficiently crippled. That’s the plan – cripple it, then take it over.

The number of people around the world DYING because of what the Musk/Trump administration has done to that agency, (USAID) for example, means nothing to them. As I’ve pointed out here many times (in case you’ve been reading any of my rants) MOST of those people are in what Trump refers to as “shit hole countries.” So, why should it matter to them? What matters is if they can figure out a way to supply “stuff” to those countries and work in maybe about a 30% PROFIT. If they can figure that one out all those lives will then become important. (Makes me sick to feel the need to write those words)

Americans are getting more and more pissed as they realize what Musk and his Dogeshits are doing by messing around in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Social Security is its own agency, but Medicaid and Medicare fall under the “umbrella” of HHS – therefore being influenced by RFK Jr. Does that make you feel better? Well, between Musk and RFK it shouldn’t take a whole bunch more to send a “torpedo” into each of these programs. Nearly HALF of all Americans rely on one or more of these programs. In my case, I rely on Medicare and Social Security and I won’t be surprised when Musk/Kennedy mess them up. I’ve been paying into Medicare since its inception and I paid into Social Security for almost 55 years. Like MILLIONS of Americans, I don’t like what I’m seeing from the Dogeshits.

Final Thought: For all you MAGAs out there who are perpetually angry at “liberals” while your republican representatives in Congress (and, periodically, the “White House”) NEVER accomplish ANYTHING which might be of benefit to you – yet, you make it easy for them to keep getting your votes while almost NEVER even listening to you – and, then STEALING Trillions from ALL of us taxpayers each time they gain the “White House” – what will it take to get you to stop and think about what they’re doing to you? (And, of course, also, people like me) And, trust me, I “get” that NO ONE listens to you – but, the truth is President Biden was attempting to make things better in rural areas.

I’m just going to tell it to you straight. For all the power you SHOULD have in Congress you’re not getting much in return. In fact, it was President Biden who was actually doing MORE for people in rural areas, for example – people who vote republican in overwhelming numbers – with things like the Chip factories, or pushing high speed internet into rural locations (things Trump has probably already stopped) to name a couple – both those things designed to make things better in “red states.” Do you even realize it was happening – or if it’s already happened do you realize whose idea it was? Part of why things are so divided in this country is because you’re so gullible. Not only is Trump treating you as if you’re dumb as a rock, but so is Vladimir Putin.

And, Trust me – Putin could care less about you (or Trump). Putin’s goal is to undermine Western democracies and, sadly, you MAGAs are “ripe for the picking.” Now, we have a so-called president ordering people to be accosted on the street, put into shackles, and sent into the most convenient gulags allowing Musk/Trump to strut as if they’re some kind of tough guys. Trump is a weak hyper narcissistic LIAR who is a convenience for the fascists who wrote Project 2025. And, his co-president is simply hyper GREEDY being able to see a convenient way to eliminate federal investigations into his business practices (along with regulations) and to make himself even richer.

You MAGAs believe the Musk/Trump administration is “draining the swamp” – when, in reality a horde of BILLIONAIRES have descended on Washington DC like sharks who sense there’s blood in the water. Just think logically. When people like Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg (Suckerberg?) and other BILLIONAIRES are willing to throw MONEY at Trump and the republicans in Congress by the tens of MILLIONS – who are the swamp creatures? (Of course, Musk is throwing the money around by the HUNDREDS of millions) Do you actually believe they’re spending that money out of the kindness of their hearts? Like to make things better for YOU? Of course not – even you can see that!

By the time these BILLIONAIRES get through with what they’re doing to our government agencies I’m sure they believe things will just keep moving along except they’ll be even RICHER. They don’t seem to understand what they’re doing very likely is going to crash the stock exchange as opposed to triggering the great rise in their fortunes. (Ironically, it seems to me, the four years of President Biden may have been – at least for a few years – if worst comes to worst – the epitome of their great wealth. Of course, when you have no limit in the amount of MONEY you want to hoard, I suppose the grass always looks greener…….. You can fill in the blanks! Stay tuned…….

I have to add: Ask yourself why Musk/Trump want to eliminate the Department of Education – especially if you’re in a red rural area? (Most of America by land mass) Why does Trump exclaim “I love uneducated voters?” If you can’t figure that out, well, there is your answer. They treat you (and LIE to you) as if you’re STUPID. One of my prayers is you will stop proving them correct! One last thing, when they crash the stock market, it will be all those BILLIONAIRES buying up the scraps. Capiralism at its best!

When it became public what MOST people who pay attention knew – Trump’s conglomeration of incompetents he had nominated for key government positions proved to the world they have no idea what the requirements of their jobs entail – as they were involved in a “group chat” on a commercial ap which it appears they were using in order to avoid the requirements their conversations MUST be saved for posterity blew up in their faces. For the past few days the fact they included a journalist in the discussion has dominated MUCH of the news. Here’s what I’ve only heard from a couple sources – using this ap was apparently ILLEGAL. This discussion related to what SHOULD have been “Top Secret” material. Legally required to be saved.

The Federal Records Act is another of the laws Trump and his group of Project 2025 Puppet Masters conveniently are willing to ignore. Those who were on this “group chat” had set their phones to varying dates for when the info would “disappear.” Clearly, that’s a violation of federal law. But, as I’m sure you’ve figured out, who’s going to be charging anyone in Trump’s administration with ANYTHING? Hell, it appears no one is going to even lose their job after proving to be maybe the most incompetent group of security people, well, EVER. And, as a Washingtonian I have to add – Joe Kent who lost the previous TWO elections for the House in my district (well, it’s not “my” district, it’s the district where I reside) has been nominated for a part in Trump’s administration but hasn’t been confirmed by the Senate – as a private citizen HE was part of the “group that can’t text straight,” Should a private citizen be part of a “chat” with Top Secret information? Seems odd to me. (update: Kent is part of the DNI “team” until confirmed)

Here’s what would have happened had I been in Trump’s shoes – of course, in that case NONE of these people would be part of the government, but I digress – EVERY one of the NINETEEN people (including Kent) who were part of that fiasco would have turned their phones in IMMEDIATELY, so there could be an investigation which (maybe) the American people could abide. Of course, it’s hard to “abide” a situation where a bunch of incompetent “boobs” were potentially putting the lives of American pilots in danger. And, to top it off, Mike Walz – the guy who invited the editor of the “Atlantic” into the group – apparently potentially outed a source the Israeli’s have on the ground in Yemen in the chat. “Oops” – let’s hope the Israeli’s get that person out of there before, well, you know………

But, in this “scandal a day” administration – which I pointed out would be the case BEFORE Trump took (er LIED about) the oath of office (refusing to put his hand on the Bible – for whatever that’s worth for all you MAGA “Christians”) – the Project 2025 “road to fascism” is becoming clearer and clearer. (There are even some in the so-called “liberal media” noticing the similarities to mob tactics) Trump’s goon squads are snatching people from off the streets and hurriedly shipping them to some prison in Louisiana. There was a Tufts student – a Fulbright scholar with a PHD – a young lady who was approached on the street outside her apartment building, roughed up a little, had her backpack removed and tossed to the ground as these thugs put her in handcuffs and they hauled her away. None of the thugs had visible identification and, just like that, according to “liddle” Marco Rubio America was “safer.” How do you spell BULLSHIT?!

These republicans’ willingness to participate in fascism is maybe the greatest disappointment to me. I’ve always been an “independent voter” – but, once GW Bush/Cheney LIED America into Iraq and began 20 disastrous years of “war” in Afghanistan I began voting AGAINST republicans. (Well, come to think of it, I might have started doing that with the emergence of Newt Gingrich in the House, back in the 1990’s) Trump is so bad I might decide to become a democrat – if they can get some younger leadership (in the Senate – not counting Bernie Sanders) – and begin putting up a FIGHT for this republic in order to block (f)Elon Musk and his co-president.

I’m a “child of the sixties” and I’m guessing (or should I say hoping) that today’s STUDENTS will react like we did back in the late sixties in regard to, at that time, the Viet Nam war. I remember, when I was in college, with a couple thousand other students walking into the middle of a freeway (I believe it was the I-5 freeway) and sitting down for a couple hours. There were many other opportunities to express our outrage to the war, to opposition of the Civil Rights movement, and to the violence which was happening to student protesters in various parts of America. Kind of what’s “brewing” today.

Right now, Universities are apparently choosing to capitulate to Trump and his Project 2025 “puppet masters” as the easy way out – in the Case of Columbia University – a very prestigious University – which Trump cut off from $400 MILLION in grants – the university agreed to the following Trump demands:

“The university has agreed to ban students from wearing masks at protests, hire 36 new campus security officers — who, unlike previous security officers, will have the ability to arrest students — and appoint a new senior vice provost to oversee the department of Middle East, South Asian and African Studies.

Columbia also committed to “’greater institutional neutrality’”’ and said it is ‘working with a faculty committee to establish an institution-wide policy implementing this stance.’”’ The university added that it will review its admissions procedures to ‘ensure unbiased admission processes,’ as the Trump administration requested.” In short – get rid of anything “smelling of ‘DEI.'”

Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, (she has since RESIGNED) said Friday that the school responded to the Trump administration to “ensure uninterrupted academic activities.” (From NBC news) Here’s what would have happened back in the 60’s to a capitulation to a fascist president – academic studies WOULD have been “interrupted.” We would have DEMANDED the “provost” to the department of the Middle East, South Asian, and African studies would be retained and that the federal government wasn’t going to bribe the school into accepting THEIR interference in the Universities business. (what amounts to pseudo racist demands from Trump and Project 2025 [whose authors are calling the “shots”]).

And, it appears that there are students at Columbia who are doing just as I would have suggested. Many of the protests Trump and his right wing thugs are opposed to are protests against the genocide going on in GAZA by Bibi Netanyahu – as I predicted on October 8th (Netanyahu would “prosecute this war indefinitely” for his own political sake) – a corrupt politician who, when all is said and done, will have his place in the history books right there with Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump – and, it won’t be a good place. It would be surprising to me if the students WEREN’T opposing the total destruction of GAZA. Netanyahu is simply attempting to keep himself from facing his own corruption charges and when all is said and done his connection to HAMAS will become part of the public domain.

Just the other day a student group which organizes and leads protests at Columbia said this: “”Columbia’s refusal to divest from, and even doubling down on, the genocide of the Palestinian people these past 17 months has made its expected response to the Trump Administration’s ransom note incredibly clear,” the group wrote on Instagram. “Columbia has no intention of defending its students or faculty from the government’s crackdown on Palestinian activism, instead it actively joins hands with the fascist state to sell out its community.” There are also members of the faculty expressing their opposition to the government interference.

But, Trump isn’t going to stop – he’s threatening universities all across America – anywhere he sees any signs of “DEI” – in other words the Trump administration is opposed to “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” at academic institutions. This would be silly if it wasn’t so serious. America’s universities SHOULD be “invested” in DEI – foundationally. These are universities totally committed to various types of research – much of it medical – but, in Trump’s view it’s more important if the various universities all bow down to his “royal decrees.” To hell with the research. To which I say, “utter nonsense.” (Of course, the universities have MILLIONS at stake which apparently Trump can “cut off” with simply a whim. I’ve been pointing out for years Trump is a fascist – occasionally to uninformed objection – but, there can no longer be any doubt.

Trump is simply a “puppet” of the Project 2025 puppet masters and the “stooges” Trump put in his cabinet are there for a specific reason – so there would be no pushback on the actual objectives. I’d love to be a “fly on the wall” when Trump is getting his direction orders from those who wrote and published Project 2025 – but, if you’ve read it, you KNOW that is what is happening to this country. I doubt if Trump even knows who’s writing all the executive orders which are being used to, as I’ve said many times, cause progressives liberals to be “chasing their tails.” it’s hard for all the lawyers filing lawsuits to keep up with the deluge of outrageous s*@t Trump is “throwing at the wall” and the “liberal media” surely isn’t able to keep up.

Just the fiasco with the group who couldn’t “text straight” mentioned above. I watched the fallout (and read about it too) for a good three days before I saw one commentator mention what these incompetent “boobs” were doing in this signal ap was likely ILLEGAL – in violation of the Federal Records Act. And, of course, the only way “we the people” know about what they were doing is because they invited the editor of the “Atlantic” to be part of their group. (And there were NINETEEN in the group – of Trump’s TOP national security people – do you feel safe?) What else were they/are they doing with ap’s that can “disappear” the messages on command. Like they’re pretending they’re in the movies. Those in Trump’s administration consider the constitution and our system of laws nothing more than an annoyance – AND they’re already disregarding judges orders routinely.

In the case of the student kidnapped (she had violated NO laws) from Tuft’s University a judge ordered “ICE” not to remove her from the state (Massachusetts) without giving him 48 hours notice. Their response, “too bad so sad – she’s already in the air.” Just like with the Venezuelan’s who were sent to the gulag in El Salvador the judge ordered Trump’s administration to order the planes to be turned back, they refused, and then (actually) said, “oops” – after their victims had their head shaved and were put into a gulag which can hold up to 40,000 prisoners. Plus, the U.S. is PAYING El Salvador to keep these prisoner indefinitely. (If they could have been legally deported the SHOULD have gone back to Venezuela) Prior to Trump, in America “due process” was a pillar of our Justice System. Now the Justice Department and the FBI are headed up by the stoogiest of the stooges. This will require the attention of ALL Americans! And, it’s not likely to end well.

While attacking education is a key facet of fascist takeovers of nations another key to destroying democracies lies in the Justice system. The Justice Department, itself, has been successfully “polluted,” so the next step would be to put the fear of “god” in the lawyers who might choose to be defending the attacks on the said democracy. In the Project 2025 playbook the remedies are always executive orders intended to put FEAR into the recipients – in this case some of the top – and largest – legal firms in the nation. So far, the “score” is THREE to two – meaning two of the firms Trump has threatened with orders cutting them off from things like security clearances unless they decide to kiss his ass.

Here’s some examples: “On March 27, Trump ordered the federal government to stop working with Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP (WilmerHale)—suspending the law firm’s security clearances, directing federal agencies to terminate contracts they have with the firm, and limiting WilmerHale employees’ access to government buildings.” WilmerHale’s response: “In a statement to the media, a spokesperson for WilmerHale called the order “unlawful” and said the firm will pursue “all appropriate remedies” to countermand it. Robert Mueller was part of that firm. Trump hates Mueller. The spokesperson added that  Mueller ‘retired from our firm in 2021.'”

To me, that was the proper response (fighting back in court). Here’s another firm which made the proper response: “On March 25, Trump issued an executive order against Chicago-headquartered firm Jenner & Block. Trump suspended security clearances for the firm’s employees and restricted the firm’s access to federal buildings and contracting work.” Andrew Weissmann was, at one time, part of this firm. Jenner & Block’s response: “A spokesperson for Jenner & Block responded to the order: “We remain focused on serving and safeguarding our clients’ interests with the dedication, integrity, and expertise that has defined our firm for more than one hundred years and will pursue all appropriate remedies.” The firm added in its statement that the executive order resembled one that “has already been declared unconstitutional” by a federal judge. On March 28, Jenner & Block filed a suit challenging Trump’s order, and a federal judge froze parts of the order targeting the firm later in the evening.

Apparently, we still do have an constitution. Here’s another example: “On March 6, Trump targeted Perkins Coie LLP, similarly suspending security clearances for the Seattle-headquartered law firm and ordering federal agencies to stop business with it. This firm is headquartered in the state where I live. Perkins Coie apparently believes in diversity and is willing to take the Trump administration to court for their criminal conduct. Their response:  “Perkins filed a suit on March 11 challenging the constitutionality of Trump’s order, claiming that “its plain purpose is to bully those who advocate points of view that the president perceives as adverse to the views of his administration, whether those views are presented on behalf of paying or pro bono clients.” A day later, a federal judge temporarily blocked part of Trump’s order.”

Then there’s: Paul, Weiss (formerly) one of the largest and most famous firms in America. “On March 14, Trump extended similar (to Perkins Coie) revocations of security clearances and government building access to Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (Paul, Weiss), which is headquartered in New York. Their “crime?” Mark Pomeranz, one of their former lawyers, investigated Trump for Alvin Bragg back in 2021 but resigned from their office in 2022. Paul Weiss’ response: on March 21 after Paul, Weiss “acknowledged the wrongdoing” of former partner Pomerantz and vowed to some policy changes, including the dedication of $40 million worth of pro bono legal services to “support causes” of the Trump Administration like anti-Semitism efforts and “fairness in the justice system.” They CAVED! But, Trump did rescind the executive order. According to former associates of the firm they: “called the deal “a permanent stain on the face of a great firm that sought to gain a profit by forfeiting its soul.”  The Chairman of the firm argued CAVING to Trump was necessary for survival. Reports I’ve read are implying the opposite is happening.

There’s another large firm which has CAVED: Just the threat of an executive order caused ” Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom” to capitulate. Here’s a bit of the details: They reached a “deal with President Donald Trump on Friday to dedicate at least $100 million in free legal services and to review its hiring practices, averting a punishing executive order like the ones directed at nearly a half-dozen other major legal institutions in recent weeks.” Their justification for the capitulation (which, if enough firms bow to Trump’s demands, it’s basically all over for our republic – the Project 2025 assault on America would be successful. “As part of the deal, Skadden Arps agreed, among others things, to provide at least $100 million in pro bono legal services related to causes including veterans affairs and countering antisemitism. It also pledged a commitment to merit-based hiring and to use an independent counsel to make sure its employment practices are legal and don’t rely on diversity, equity and inclusion considerations.” (from the AP) Yep, the old “DEI” dilemma. Be a racist, or else!

Final Thought: This assault on the foundation of American Jurisprudence is ongoing and there are several other large firms in Trump’s/Project 2025’s “cross hairs.” All Americans should be paying attention to this as it plays out in the courts, and, ultimately, the same SCOTUS that “crowned” Trump as America’s “King” when they gave the presidency “absolute immunity” will be the final “backstop.” Are they, themselves, going to stand for the rule of law in America – we KNOW Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas WON’T – so it’s up to Chief Justice Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett to be the “firewall” between a democratic republic and a fascist state. Trump is acting post HASTE to achieve the destruction before “his people” understand what he’s doing to them.

Clearly, there are some firms who have, at least up to now, put the rule of law ahead of what a couple of the firms view as their best chance of survival. From what I’ve read in the history books, appeasement is the absolute opposite action required when fighting a BULLY. It didn’t work in the 1930’s with Hitler, it’s NOT working in Putin’s, ILLEGAL Russian assault with Ukraine, and it won’t work in Trump’s ILLEGAL assault on America’s democratic republic. These legal firms putting up the good fight SHOULD be widely applauded and the two that CAVED? Yowser! If there’s any JUSTICE left in this nation, Paul, Weiss and Skadden Arps should, as the saying goes, “get their just rewards.” If you’ve read this far, I’ll let you speculate what that should be. Stay tuned…….

Something Else I’ve been saying – FOR YEARS. “Rights are much easier to LOSE than to get BACK. We’ve seen this following the Dobs decision re: abortion and women’s health issues. We’re witnessing it daily as LEGAL residents of our nation are pulled off the streets and sent to gulags with no warrant – only “justified” by some obscure rule in the State Department saying their status is revoked – AND, you MUST remember, if they can do it to a Fullbright Scholar from Turkey THEY (meaning the government) can do it to YOU! These are arbitrary decisions made by Trump’s thugs (the Project 2025 puppet masters) that succeed when the rest of us look the other way. (I just remembered I was supposed to remind myself – Stephen Miller is one of the Project 2025 authors if the white nationalism wasn’t clear to you as yet.) The protest MUST grow if “we the people” are going to make it clear our republic is not for sale and we DON’T bow to pseudo “kings.”

This all reminds me of when Bush/Cheney were putting “enemy combatants” – defined uniquely by them – into Guantanimo – and, holding them without charges indefinitely – including American citizens. Don’t tell me it can’t happen here!

I’ve gone over in detail (you can find it in the archives) about my perception of the Trump administration’s focus on “merit” in choosing “the finest people” to be participants in their fascist assault on America’s democratic republic. For example, Pete Hegseth, our Secretary of Defense, maybe the most important position in Trump’s cabinet. His resume was filled with nuggets of, well, disbelief. The main “asset” for Hegseth appears to be the fact he was a weekend host on “Fox and Friends.” But, that was only one of his “assets.” He also had led two SMALL veterans groups – with budgets in the neighborhood of $10 MILLION – and had been FIRED for financial negligence reasons. As usual, there’s more. He also has a lengthy record of alleged public drunkenness – including showing up at work smelling of alcohol. On a couple occasions he allegedly had to be helped to his room due to the level of his inebriation. (I forgot – he’s also been credibly accused of sexual assault and adultery on multiple occasions – apparently a “must” in Trumps eyes when considering “merit”)

There’s Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, whose major attribute, it seems, is she’s an alleged Russian “useful idiot.” She has a history of repeating comments which end up being played on Russian TV with them claiming her to be “superwoman.” She’s made comments indicating she agrees with Vladimir Putin’s absurd justification for invading Ukraine – not to mention her publicly accusing Ukraine and the U.S. of sharing “biolabs” producing the “world’s nastiest pathogens.” Additionally, she claimed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was justified by accusing the U.S./NATO’s refusal to bend the knee to Putin’s demandsas the reason. Surely, she’s got the merit to be supervising our ENTIRE intelligence departments (there’s 17 or 18 of them).

Add to that our Secretary of State – “liddle” Marco Rubio, in the words of Trump. Here’s a guy who’s proven there isn’t ONE personal belief that he’s unwilling to abandon in the hopes of remaining in his office for (and on Trump’s “good side”) – apparently Trump’s full term. (question: Does Trump have a “good side?”) Not only these three highly meritorious people but the National Security Advisor, The VICE PRESIDENT – “we the people” decided they’ve got “merit,” (via the election) the “White House” chief of staff, senior political advisor (alleged white nationalist) Stephen Miller, and other members of Trump’s incredible administration including the CIA director. All chosen to these very important postitions based on their incredible “merit.”

Why do I bring these people up? Well, by now MOST Americans who pay the slightest attention to politics know Hegseth was part of a texting “chat” on the publicly available ap “Signal” which included the editor in chief of the “Atlantic” (A publication I have not, at least to this date, paid for a subscription) Jeffrey Goldberg, where the “war plans” of the U.S. BOMBING of the Houthi’s in Yemen were shared with the group. Once again, including the heads of our intelligence services AND the Vice President and about seven or eight others – not including Mr. Goldberg. Goldberg KNEW what was going to happen approximately TWO hours before it actually took place.

Of course, all these meritorious members of the Trump administration will either brush this off or LIE about what took place – but, it appears that Mr. Goldberg has the EVIDENCE (on his smartphone!) – something those who work for Trump feel nary a need for. Here’s some of what was shared with Mr. Goldberg – who was apparently part of the “text group” for close to two weeks. And, of course, all on UNSECURED cell phones. (Think Hillary Clinton’s “private server” and the 800 hours of Congressional testimony that generated.) (update: As I suspected, Pete Hegseth, when confronted with this “story” called it “fake news” and LIED through his teeth – in his denial)

Hegseth was “texting attack plans – when targets were going to be targeted, how they were going to be targeted, who was at the targets, when the next sequence of the attacks were happening… they were plans for the attack and they were texted before the attack.” (Via interview on CNN – which I almost NEVER watch) Mr. Goldberg stuck around (until he realized the severity of this breech) because he assumed he was being “spoofed” thinking there’s no way this kind of information could be shared in such a dangerous manner. To that, I say NO S*@T!

So all these “high ranking” members of Trump’s administration are FIRST creating this texting “chat group” where they’re discussing NATIONAL SECURITY stuff – where it isn’t too far fetched to believe the Russians, the Chinese, or maybe the Iranians could be listening – using their CELL PHONE’S spy stuff. SECONDLY they were discussing “war plans” of a planned assault on Yemen on unsecured devices – obviously, potentially putting the lives of the pilots flying the planes in jeopardy. And THIRDLY – what ELSE had they been discussing before one of the nitwits decided to include Mr. Goldberg in the chat group? Obviously, Goldberg is a man of honor because he immediately took himself out of the group once he realized that he WASN’T being “spoofed.” Knowing “me” I might have stuck around to see what else was “cooking” on their “private” channel. (I’m thinking of all those empty folders when Trump’s Mar a Lago was searched – national security secrets are no big deal to these people.)

If you’ve read any of my previous posts you know I’ve been throwing around the “fascist” card since well before Trump somehow (likely with about $300 MILLION from (f)Elon Musk) LIED his way back into the “White House.” Do you remember when he said “I don’t know anything about this “Project 2025.” Of course, I don’t believe ANYTHING Trump says (EVER) and I took the time to read as much of Project 2025 (as I could stand) to know what to expect in the unlikely (to me) scenario where he (allegedly) STEALS another election. I don’t know exactly how he did it (probably MUSK – plus, the Russians were active as usual with their targeted misinformation – welcomed on Xwitter – but I KNEW what to expect in case he did “win.”

And, it’s playing out before our eyes – day after painfully long day. The American public are beginning to realize – and, it doesn’t totally matter who they voted for – what they’re getting crammed down their throats. I’m happy to say, I’m not the only person using the term fascists when referring to Trump and his minions. If you had read Project 2025 you would have seen it’s a roadmap to fascism. And, the MANY people who wrote it – they call it the “manifesto” for the next “conservative” administration – which includes what “DOGE” is doing to the federal workforce. That was a main part of their plan. They want people loyal to Trump as opposed to being loyal to their oath of office – which is an oath to the constitution. Simple solution: FIRE as many government employees as possible – screw the legal obligations to the government workforce!

I mean sometimes they “say the quiet part out loud.” And, of course, you can “say” stuff through your actions – which is why many people say “watch what they do, not what they say.” (regarding the “say” part – they’re ALL liars) So, in the case of (f)Elon Musk, when he was at the celebration after the inauguration he threw a COUPLE “Sieg Heil’s” to the crowd with, to me, an astonishing look on his face as he did so. For the uninitiated, that means he threw a couple “Nazi salutes” to the crowd of people celebrating. And, was there any blowback from republicans – NONE that I’ve noticed. (Actually, I believe most of them approved of Musk’s “salute.”)

Keep in mind, maybe Musk should be deported. He grew up in Apartheid South Africa and he allegedly entered the U.S. illegally. By the reports I’ve read, he entered the country on a student visa – he graduated from Penn – but he NEVER attended graduate school (apparently Stanford) while he was still in the country on the “student visa.” Instead, he got venture capitalist money allowing him and his brother to create “Zip2” – whatever that was. Did he lie on his citizenship papers? It seems no one knows for sure, but I find it ironic his ANTI-immigrant views – some of which are so bizarre it boggles the mind. This guy believes some WEIRD stuff! And, he’s the co-president! Two months ago I was saying “what could possibly go wrong” – with tongue in cheek – but, now it’s becoming CLEAR to MILLIONS of Americans. No more “tongue in cheek.”

My point is, why should anyone be surprised at the incompetence which has permeated the Trump administration? It was all so predictable. With Musk randomly setting his DOGEshits upon one department after another and they firing people as if they’ve been authorized by some official act – doing it in quantities designed to overwhelm the justice department – we can assume the consequences to be born out by “we the people” are soon to be – potentially – catastrophic. When Bush/Cheney torpedoed the economy in 2008 it was an election year and the “cleanup” was able to start in 2009. The disaster Trump and Co. are inflicting on our economy won’t be able to be “fixed” for another 3 1/2 years – I’m guessing the bottom will fall out at about the sixth month “anniversary.”

Is Trump capable of creating another “Great Depression?” Well, I personally wouldn’t put it past him. As someone who depends on Social Security (I paid into it for close to 55 years) i will be MORE than unhappy once they’ve succeeded in crashing the system’s data base – while pretending to be looking for “waste, fraud, and abuse.” The “waste, fraud, and abuse” is coming from Trump, Musk, and “Big Balls” – if he’s the DOGEshit who’s been ransacking the data of MILLIONS of American citizens at the offices of Social Security. Going through ALL of MY information!

Recently a judge put a stop to the DOGEshit invasion of Social Security to which the temporary head of the department said he would “shut the department down” if they weren’t allowed back in. This is crazy – just as Project 2025 had planned. Therefore, a few “nitwits” in Trump’s administration potentially sharing “war plans” with whoever was listening shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. And, when Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security begin to collapse – people SHOULDN’T be too surprised – after all, there was plenty of warning about Project 2025 before the election. The “stooges” Trump put in his cabinet are there for one specific reason – so there would be no pushback on their actual objectives. Remember, watch what they’re doing, not what they say!

Final Thought: I encouraged people to check out Project 2025 for several months prior to the election – maybe as many as six months. I read through the introduction – which I believe was all anyone needed to read – plus about 100 pages (there’s 900 in all) and I decided I needed to read no more. To me, it was obviously a “roadmap to fascism.” These are people (the authors) who openly don’t believe in democracy – especially America’s “democracy” where they are clearly in the minority. Their largest strength, from my perspective, was that democrats are so easily manipulated and so terrible at messaging. As I’ve said for years, republicans believe “the end justifies the means.”

Well, after publishing a link to the Project 2025 about four or five times here, I decided to do so one more time about a month before the election – just in case someone might happen onto this site and actually do so. I had a copy on my desktop, but I always logged onto the Project 2025 site to get the link, but the last time I did that I had to give my email address to get the access. Stupid me, I wasn’t thinking and I did so, got the link and published it here. What I failed to think through was giving my email address (I gave the right one) to these right wing thugs – leading them to believe I was a supporter.

I’m sure you can figure out what happened after that. My inbox has been flooded by right wing emails, many from “Trump himself” (the last one offering “dinner at Mar a Lago”) – emails almost exactly like the democratic emails I simply delete. With Trump’s I send them to the “junk emails” – which are supposed to get “blocked” in the future. (They don’t) I actually opened one and answered all the questions (not how a Trump supporter would answer them – as you might imagine) – but, I couldn’t send the answers in without giving Trump money. I hope you understand how that ended. I’m reminded of my own stupidity every time one of these emails shows up – my son (an astute computer person) said – “Dad, why don’t you create a fake email address? Dah! Stay tuned……

As I often say here, I’m not a political genius, but I think back to when the SCOTUS decided to aid Trump’s 2024 campaign by first making it impossible for him to face the charges coming from his attempted coup of January 6th, 2021 by stalling the ruling until the LAST moment and second by giving the president (and, I’m sure their hope was it would be Trump) “absolute immunity” from prosecution. I wasn’t the only person pointing out the court just gave up their authority in the face of a rogue president. And, in Trump’s case, with the republicans holding a ONE vote majority in the House there’s NO WAY he will get impeached (AGAIN) for his ILLEGAL conduct.

Trump and co-president Musk have been urging IMPEACHMENT of justices who are, in large numbers, putting the skids on the Trump/Musk assault on our republic. They’ve ALSO decided to disregard the rulings of judges while actually claiming they’re not required to honor the judges decisions. It’s gotten so bad that even Chief Justice John Roberts has felt the need to make a public statement, in essence, chastising (his boy) Trump for being “mean” to the judges – as if that just started. I wrote that I was actually wondering what the SCOTUS will do when some of these ILLEGAL moves Trump/Musk are making make it to the Court.

So far, the Court has ruled on one of (many of) Trump/Musk’s overreaches and ruled against him – regarding the District Court judge ordering them to disperse the USAID contracts which had already been completed. As far as I know, they (Trump/Musk) still are not in compliance. What is the Court going to do when Trump/Musk just end the facade and simply flip the middle finger at the Court.

This SCOTUS has it coming, as far as I can tell – except this is all so SERIOUS. It’s been interesting (or should I say FRUSTRATING) watching the SCOTUS dealing with Trump over the pervious couple of years. On some occasions they have proven then can actually act with punctuality and give cases quick hearings and ultimately judgments. If you remember during the 2024 campaign there were cases popping up all across America challenging Trump’s right to actually be on the ballot. I mean the 14th Amendment to the Constitution is quite clear – I’m talking about section 3:

“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”

Like I said, it’s very clear. Now, in the case of Trump – he had taken an oath of office when he became president back in 2017 – that is undeniable. (Of course, I guess it depends on who you are as to whether or not he took that oath seriously) He also had allegedly engaged in INSURRECTION – but, undeniably, had given aid or comfort to the enemies therein. Let me be clear – the 1500 (or so) people who attacked the Capitol with the intent of overthrowing a free and fair election qualified as the “enemies thereof.” Trump constantly referred to them as hostages “who were treated so unfairly.” Plus, he repeatedly promised to PARDON them if re-elected. While I claim he instigated their assault on our seat of government – which would make him guilty of the first part of the amendment – he SURELY was GUILTY of the second part.

As I had expected, at the time when Colorado’s Court ruling preventing Trump from being on their ballot was challenged in the Appeals Courts, the SCOTUS took the case “forthwith” and rendered a decision within a few weeks. In Court time, that was extremely FAST. It was no surprise to me when the Court was able to cobble together a ruling which VIOLATED the stated beliefs of several of the Justices (ie “originalists,” etc.) to ensure Trump wouldn’t have to face the consequences of his CRIMINAL conduct at that point in the campaign process. In essence, they didn’t want to have to face a flood of cases from other states nor to make a definitive ruling that, yes, if you have previously taken an oath of office and you become a (or support) INSURRECTIONIST, you can no longer hold ANY office in the United States.

Well, that – plus the FACT both Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas had pro INSURRECTIONISTS flags flying at their homes – place Justice Thomas’ wife COULD have been considered part of the CONSPIRACY to overthrow the election – signaled that the Court was pro Trump. So, when he was indicted for his CRIMINAL conduct regarding the January 6th assault on the Capitol he came up with the “absolute immunity” argument as his defense. Jack Smith, the prosecutor, (likely “smelling a fish”) attempted to bypass the Court of Appeals to get Trump’s appeal in front of the SCOTUS as quickly as possible – as an emergency. Kind of like the Colorado case which just took a few weeks from start to finish.

Naturally, the Court said no – you have to go through the Court of Appeals first. In this case it was the D.C. Court of Appeals and Trump’s (ABSURD) claim of “absolute immunity” was argued there. The three judge panel of the Court of Appeals, after about five or six weeks, gave what was considered a “bullet proof” ruling MOST legal scholars considered SHOULD be the final say. No, Trump (or any other president) is NOT a King and MUST follow the laws they’ve taken an oath to protect and defend. Many suggested the SCOTUS should NOT even take the case – it wasn’t necessary.

But, true to form, this Court had other intentions. They stalled a couple weeks before announcing they would take the case. THEN they waited until the very LAST day when they were hearing arguments to hear the arguments from both sides in this case. Trump’s lawyer was the guy who claimed Trump could “order Seal Team 6 to assassinate his opponent and not face prosecution unless impeached and convicted in the Senate” (This guy is now our Solicitor General – yikes!) The Court THEN waited until the very LAST day they were giving opinions to announce to the world that American presidents, from that day forward, were immune from prosecution for “official actions.”

I understood Alito and Thomas pulling this charade, but I was hopeful the Chief Justice would recognize how this looked and what the consequences of their dragging this out and then ruling in Trump’s favor appeared. It made it impossible for the trial of the so-called “January 6th” charges to take place prior to the election PLUS it has enabled Trump/Musk to (likely correctly) assume NOTHING they do can be considered “illegal.” In other words, Trump’s claim “I can do whatever I want” has become America’s nightmare!

So, now there are signs Justice Roberts is beginning to see what the Court has unleashed and he’s publicly admonishing Trump for “going after judges.” When I heard him say that I couldn’t help but wonder if he hadn’t been paying attention for the previous, I don’t know, at least 10 years? The way I see it, the “Genie is out of the bottle” and it may not be possible to get it back in – thanks to the SCOTUS. I doubt the Court’s Justices had read Project 2025 – in fact, I don’t personally know a SINGLE person who read it before the election and I’ve stopped asking. But, the reality is what we’re “getting” IS Project 2025 – full stop!

Here’s the reality I believe “we the people” are facing. When those in the executive branch of our government – along with a willing Congress – begin ignoring the rulings of Judges in the District Courts we’re in big trouble. I’ve always said, like it or not, the Justice Department is the backbone of America. (It, of course, includes the FBI) When it has successfully become corrupted (it has) and begins defending the actions of a lawless executive (it is) we can as much as kiss our republic goodby. We are now dangerously close to being “Russia lite.” (And, Trust me, Trump is no match for Putin)

We’ve all watched Trump’s endless attacks on the media he doesn’t like as the “enemy of the people” (right out of the Nazi handbook, by the way) and his attacks on the judges he doesn’t like. But, the reality is any possible push back the democrats had on the Trump/Musk agenda went out the window when Senate democrats caved on the republican “CR” (Continuing Resolution – look it up) as opposed to allowing republicans to “shut down” the government – which they’re doing anyway MAYBE to a lessor degree. The issue is, and I’ve been saying this for years, those of us who’ve been lamenting this republican party (me, since the days of Nixon) have watched democrats for years appear to fail to have any understanding of what they’ve been up against. This move to turning American into a fascist nation has been underway for MANY years. (Some of the “never Trump” republicans – like in the Lincoln Project – were instrumental in getting them to this point – and, don’t get me wrong, I donate monthly to the Lincoln Project)

It’s been a slow move, but here we are. It’s happening right before our eyes – and, I’m guessing people STILL aren’t reading the Project 2025. Trust me, you don’t have to read ALL 902 pages to get the idea of what is happening or to understand WHY it’s all happening and who is really behind it all. Russel Vought, one of the main authors of Project 2025 is now the head of “OMB.” (The Office of Management and Budget) All the money appropriated by Congress goes through OMB – and, I believe, Vought was at the forefront, for example, of blocking the funds appropriated to USAID. He doesn’t believe he HAS TO spend the money Congress appropriates, unless he agrees with it – “so there.” We’ll see if Trump/Musk even appeal some of these decisions they’re ignoring regarding the other agency funds being blocked – and, by the way, with Vought’s blessing – and, we’ll see where the SCOTUS stands if any of them make it their way. And, if Trump/Musk ignore a SCOTUS directive, then they’ll be giving the middle finger directly to our constitution!

Final Thought: Surprise, surprise – Bernie Sanders is again showing up as the one true democrat in the Senate (OK, there might be a few of them) and he started holding Town Halls in “red” districts where the republican member of Congress was refusing to do so – with massive audiences. Sanders is the democrat the Project 2025 fear the most. When I saw his first couple of Town Halls I wrote here about what a brilliant strategy I thought it was. Give the people in these republican districts a chance to voice their anger and frustration at what is “happening” all across our country – with much more serious possibilities via Musk and “doge” (I call them the Dogeshits) that people are becoming aware of. (Like the cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, for example)

As the non-creative retired teacher I am, I looked at what Sanders was doing and thought to myself, “What a genius?” So,, I suggested, other democrats SHOULD be doing the same thing. They should spread out all across the so-called “red states” holding town halls where republicans are refusing – although some are holding “tele town halls” with filtered audiences. Kind of like when Trump did his “working at McDonald’s stunt” with the people vetted before they were able to go through the “drive through.” Back to Sanders – I’m happy to report that democrats are doing exactly that – going to republican districts and holding the Town Halls where the republicans won’t. My hope is they’ll give the same PROGRESSIVE message Senator Sanders has been pushing for as long as I’ve been one of his supporters.

I liked what Joe Biden was attempting to do, but he was limited by what amounted to a 50/50 Senate which, when you consider what Kyrsten Sinema decided to do (Cozy up to Wall Street Billionaires and republicans) and that often times the success of Biden’s agenda depended on Joe Manchin – what Biden got accomplished was historic – although far from where Senator Sanders’ ideal. (Sanders supported Biden almost in every instance) Biden had to issues – first he got old (I know how that feels) and, secondly, he’s good at governing but BAD at messaging. When I listen to people trying to figure out how we got here – the democrats bailed on Biden – lost track that the issue in the 2024 election was defeating Trump and his fascist brethren ONCE and for all! And, of course democrats ended up nominating a “woman of color” as their candidate.

I have to say, I was enthused by Kamala Harris’ campaign – and, I wanted her to win BADLY. But, the reality is, there were even WOMEN who voted for Trump because they didn’t want a WOMAN as our president – despite the FACT VP Harris was eminently MORE qualified than Trump. (Maybe that’s why he hates “DEI” so much) The other reality was (f)Elon Musk was willing to donate nearly $300 MILLION in order to get Trump elected (paid for some hideous and disingenuous anti-Trans ads with some of his money) and allow the spread of right wing conspiracy garbage on his Xwitter platform. To me, the reason democrats lost is more “simple” than pundits (one of my favorites is John Stewart) seem to understand.

As the saying goes “It was the economy stupid” – was incorrect but, to me, it was “we the people” BELIEVING stupid arguments about the economy ALONG with the reality democrats operate (and have operated) via FEAR all the way back to Nixon. As much as I wanted Ms. Harris to win the election, as soon as I saw the democrats panic because, apparently, the bad debate performance made them aware Biden was really old. However, had their focus been on BEATING Trump on November 5th, 2024 I still believe Biden would have won – and, when he finally realized how old he is, he could have resigned making Ms. Harris the 47th president. OK, that didn’t happen, so now I’m pleased democrats are following Senator Sanders lead. Maybe that will drill some sense and courage into them – because, in reality, they’re all we got!