The Worst Circus Act in Town

 

                                "We are the greatest show on earth" P.T. Barnum about his beloved circus

Donald J. Trump has also said so in so many words about our country, and charlatan that he is, half the country believes him. Yet these same people truly believe the country is in awful shape, blaming the "criminal" and "mentally-ill" illegal immigrants, yearnong for a disrupter once more, and blaming the rising cost of groceries on the former adminstration. New Yorkers who grew up with the real estate scams of Donald and his father, Fred, and also those who lived through the unfair prosecution of the Central Park Five and the full-page ad he took out in the NYT placing the blame on the accused  youngsters, knew him as a bullshitter, a liar and a tax-fraud schemer. What is worse than an incorrigible liar is the people who believe him. America is currently the laughing stock of the world!

Now that five days have passed  since the inaguration and the price of eggs has nearly DOUBLED,  I am trying to figure out what is the worst of his acts, since daily there is an assault on all the norms of law and decency. Five days in and Pete Hegseth, poorly behaved alcoholic and abuser of women (indeed, he admitted to Elizabeth Warren he paid off one of the many women $50,000 to keep quiet) is now the head of the military, and he deserves ZERO respect because he has ZERO experience. Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, who served in the military, said five star generals and military personnel will never listen to his orders, since he has no idea whatsoever how the military operates. What is worse? Only three senators voted no on his confirmation, since the senate is a House of Scam, with sentate Republicans bowing to the king, terrified of reaping the wrath of The Donald (what NewYorkers called him years ago). 

That was yesterday. In the days prior, he announced his mass deportation, which has started in sanctuary cities. The BIG LIE is no one targeted is a criminal, many have applied for legal asylum, and he is now sending ICE agents in to businesses, schools and Churches without a warrant, which is totally ILLEGAL. Indeed, laws do not matter in this new adminstration. Nor does experience matter; most people slated to head big and important divisions have conspiracy-theory ideas; don't believe in free and fair elections (aside from now, of course, since Trump won) and are slated to destroy the very fabric of our society simply by following this mean, elected president, who lacks morality, decency and character. He has pulled us out of the WHO, which means the health and safety of our fellow Americans has no checks or balances; he has pullled us out of the Paris Climate Accord (forget climate change,  a left-wing hoax), fired people who dare to defy his politics; the $35.00 for insulun cap, now gone; he disparaged Bishop Budde, who dared to suggest he "take mercy on humanity. People are scared, vulnerable and we need to have compassion and humanity." Humanity from Donald Trump is out of the question, but what is reprehensible is not one of his minions dared to stand up for her or the decency she provided during this time of indecency. They can't. He even suggested she is stupid (his go-to) and she should apologize to him. 

No, HE SHOULD APOLOGIZE to the American people for this daily assalt on Democracy! The absolute worst offense is the pardoning of all the insurrectionists, who he has audacity to call patriots.  Worse yet, he called them hostages. Seriously! He has let these criminals out of prison, those who attacked and killed police officers; who stormed the capital with bats, broke in by smashing windows; defecated on the floors; terrorized people in the house and senate, who had to go into hiding; chanted "Hang Mike Pence;"  and all these people are now out, poised and ready for retaliation and retribution, getting ready with their guns. He has even called for the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys to have a place in our government, and these Domestic terrorist groups are absolutely thrilled to have a president as lawless as they are. They are ready for their guns, yet again, and set to engage in another insurrection. I suppose they can ask Trump to join them, which he would gladly do. He is that mentally unhinged.

These insurrectionists are the new S.S.,  taking orders from a dictator, and this is just the beginning. When Hitler took power, he capitalized on base fears and the worst human impulses, painting a picture of the other, diminshing the rule of law, which enabled him to embark upon genocide. So, too, is Trump ready for the metaphoric kill--that of character, and the legitimacy of what was once a Democratic country. Undeniably, this is the worst circus act in the world, and sitting it out on the sidelines is not really an option.

Hitler's Willing Executioners by Daniel Goldhagen

 In his brilliant account of World War 11, we come to understand the horror of the Holocaust. It becomes evident how easy it was for the Holocaust to occur, since anti-semitism was deeply embedded in society. There was, as Hannah Arendt says, "a banality of evil", but there was also widespread belief that death and destruction were acceptable, since those people and norms being killed were worthy of being destroyed. Jews were, after all, so demonized, and so their destruction was necessary. Ordinary citizens came to this vision of reality, so it was easy for them to participate--or else look the other way.

The new adminstration under the tutelage of a crazy man is not engaged in a horror of this magnitude, but as I wake up after the day of the inaguration,  I have come to see how easy it is to get people to bend to the will of a dictator. Tim Snyder, a noted historian and political writer, has compared Trump to Hitler, in a  comparison that truly resonates the day after, though I would take a leap and say not Hitler, but a dictator, hell-bent on eradication of a certain population of humanity, and also all our norms of decency and a legitimate government.

Let's just start with day one. He has pardoned at least a thousand insurrectionists, who came to a sacred U.S. institution with guns and bats, broke into the White House by shattering its glass windows, defecated on the floors, killed police officers, harmed people along the way, destroyed offices (Nancy Pelosi's, among them) and shouted "Kill Mike Pence," the vice president, who surely would have been dead if not for going into hiding. Yet, Pence came to the Inaguration and shook his hand. Why?  Trump wanted Pence dead, because he was willing to follow the Constitution, a historical document which will surely be defunct by the end of 2029. Additionally, Trump has called the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, domestic terrorist organizations, a group of good people, Patriots, in fact, I suppose in the league of the S.S.

Day one has also included pulling us out of the Paris Climate Accords, an anchor to Climate Change, the natural diaster that has already wreaked havoc in states across the country, as well as WHO, the World Health Organization. Today, day two, he is poised to deport thousands of immigrants, which means not just the criminals and drug dealers, but decent people trying to seek legal asylum for their families beset by the poverty and terror in their own countries. Trump and his minions have already deomized them, even as so many are decent, hard-working, even tax-paying citizens, just waiting for the long process of seeking legal asylum in this country, as many of your families once did.

Yet, he has a party that accepts all of this, his eradication, his vitriol, his isolationism and incorrigible acts, his inhumanity to the poor, the suffering, humanity in general. They are the "Willing Executioners," a party that not only does nothing but justifies (some of whom call themselves "Good Christians") everything he does, no matter the level of insanity. They do not question the dictator, nor does his base, who cheer every despicable word that comes out of his mouth, every act. Yes, I blame some of the voters who heard what he said, and yet, everything was acceptable. Dictators can only be dictators because no one stops them, and so many have not or will not, ever.

Shame on this world that looks the other way--or better yet, participates. Hitler, too, was once a hero, and look what happened to a precious population, the world. I don't just blame the leader, I blame the multitude of sheep that follow him. 

"This is the way the world ends/not with a bang but a whimper." T.S. Eliot

Frozen Hearts and Feckless Leaders

 Today is the inaguration of  Donald J. Trump. It is also Martin Luther King Day. The irony is not lost here. You couldn't find two men more diametrically opposed. King was a man of honor, dignity and respect who marched peacefully for the rights of freedom and human rights. He was a great and powerful orator, whose messages were always on point: the equality of humankind. Trump deserves little to no respect because of his oration, whose focus has consistently been on hate and denigration. He repeatedly lies, so it is nearly impossible to figure out what he stands for, aside from me, myself and I. He is vain, petty and worse still, a heartless man who proudly stands on his charlatan pulpit announcing he is poised to deport millions of immigrants today or tomorrow, the first days of his presidency. He boasts of family separations--and his feckless crowd and impotent party cheer him on, as if any of this is acceptable.

I will not watch this charade, so the television is off today, on this tundra of a day with arctic air spinning around. It is a terrific metaphor for what is inside his heart: Nothing. Guess who comes inside for the inaguration? All his techie millionaire friends who have converted to his calls to eliminate fact-checking, thereby becoming a real platform to perpetuate his lies. Where are the hearts and souls of these people? I would say absent. The goal is money and power, not the good values of morality, decency and integrity. Donald J. Trump is the Snow King, frozen in a huge land of ice. 

The chill comes not just from him, but from the lack of courage of practically everyone he surrounds himself with, since he only surrounds himself with loyalists willing to enact his retribution. Most of his cabinet choices support the pardoning of the insurrectionists of January 6th, and believe he was the legitimate president in 2020, since this is what he has told them.  Partriotism is defined as support for the incorrigible king. Morality is out the door.

What makes this tenure so incredibly ugly are his policies--or lack up--since he is hell-bent on destruction of all the norms and checks and balances we have, instead focusing on hurting people, in particular those he has said he would help. Since there is a whirlwind of destruction, I select just one act of indecency. One of his henchman, Mike Johnson, hypocrite exraordinaire, has told Gavin Newsome, the governor of California, the government will not help the state, which recently suffered billions of dollars in the loss of homes, schools, houses of worship, infrastructure, all because of wildfires. One of the causes of these fires has to do with climate change, which the party has decided is a non-issue.Oh, they will give funding only IF California agrees to their list of demands. More importantly, what kind of feckless leaders tell a suffering state and its inhabitants, I will only give you money if you do as I say, follow my rules? This is not the way government is supposed to work. Biden did the opposite with North Carolina's recent flooding. Helping the people of North Carolina did not come attached to a quid pro quo.

But with a frozen heart and feckless, spineless leaders, get ready for a transactional and mean-spirited government, an autocracy, where first they come after the most vulnerable--and then they come for you. Even those of you who voted for him.

The Apocalypse

 A convicted felon will be inaugurated into office in less than ten days. Though there is discussion of giving him a chance, that train has passed long ago. Since 2016, his lies have grown exponentially to the point that I can't look at him with anything but disdain--nor can I keep on circulating this consistent level of wrath, since I feel like the spoon ladling the pot, without ever cooking a meal. I will continue to oppose what he calls a government.  Although the supreme court in their five four decision did not intervene on his behalf in his sentencing in the NY case, it is hard to fathom how 4 of the justices are ALWAYS on his side. He is above the law; that is what justice appears to be from some jurists from the supreme court. This is an uphill battle.

Meanwhile, L.A. is literally burning; eleven now dead, at least ten thousand people have been displaced or have lost their homes, and this part of California looks like a war zone. What does this wreck of humanity do? He blames the governor of California for what are the winds of California. NOT ONCE does he offer an iota of compassion to the fires ravaging  the state--the children who have lost their homes, their schools, their pets, their places of worship. What breed of human being does this? G-d help the state and the people when he is in office. Owned by MUSK and the billionaires, his interest is NOT in saving lives, but in saving dollars and cents, at the expense of people who are already suffering. Actually, the money is only intended to go in HIS pockets. And now all his tech cronies are willing to perpetuate disinformation. This is truly a world on fire, a world gone awry!

And while we are on the subject of suffering, if the economy was the issues that voted him in with a very slim margin, why is he not talking about it? Instead all I hear about is his desire to purchase Greenland, The Panama Canal, Canada and now he wants to rename The Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. The Mexican president already slammed him in a disparaging comment. She laughed at him for the clown he is, as are so many foreign leaders who snicker behind (and in front of his back) like the bad joke that is not going away.

Let's not forget his complaints about the flags that will be flying at half-mast because of former president Jimmy Carter's death. He couldn't hold a candle of decency or integrity to Carter. I suppose there is no heart to hold. A lying felon and adjudicated sexual abuser is going to swear an oath on the Bible and you wonder why the world is laughing at us?

But this is no laughing matter, since less than half the country wanted this (he received 49.9% of the vote). This is the apocalypse. This is a world on fire for a man who cares nothing, nothing, nothing about the folks who voted him in. This is the ugly AMERICAN, the man who would be king, yours--not mine!

Revenge and Retribution

 

                                    "Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall

                                    Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

                                    All the King's horses and all the king's men

                                    Couldn't put Humpty back together again."

So begins the Trump presidency, poised for disaster in 2025. When a man who dreams of being king sets his primary goal on ridding the country of all of his enemies, he--like Humpty Dumpty--is setting the country on a collision course that is terrifying and doomed to fail. He has an enemy list that includes several media outlets he abhors, and the likes of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, among others, and he has appointed unqualified people to his cabinet who will do his bidding. After all, it is alot easier to destroy an institution than to build one.

Let's start with Kash Patel, who in his 2023 book GOVERNMENT GANSTERS is going to head the F.B.I. and "has named 60 people as members of the executive branch deep state"-- "a cabal of unelected tyrants who posed the most dangerous threats to our democracy." He wants these political, military and media people to be dealt with "criminally or civilly." (NYT, Sarah Isgur, 12/14/2024). There are many people on this list, such as Bill Barr, who served as one of Donald Trump's attorney generals; John Bolton, who served as national security advisor; and Pat Cipollone, Mr.Trump's White House counsel." If you have spoken any word against the incoming king; if you are perceived as the opposition, you are part of the "deep state" and, according to Trump and his henchman (the future Federal Bureau of Insanity), you deserve jail time, at the very least, or the death penalty for Retired General Mark A. Milley. This is an absurd travesty of justice. Trump repeatedly said during his campaign, "Revenge and Retribution" and as professional journalists and politicians said, "Believe him!"

This insane premise would be fine if there were other guardrails, a criminal justice system that would safeguard folks against baseless prosecutions, but those are quickly disappearing. Once the Supreme Court granted Donald Trump, a clear-cut criminal, immunity under acts he committed when he was president, all gloves were off. We already know the Supreme Court, with its six Conservative justices, has given Trump a get out of jail free card, so what hope can there be for them to protect the innocent people who dare to question his authority. Plus, he has a whole cabinet of equally unqualified people, including Pam Bondi to head the justice department, who, aside from denying the results of the 2020 election, wants all "woke radical leftists" fired from the DOJ. This  spells the end of freedom for a democratic voice.

Let's not forget freedom of speech - they want NPR to end as well as newspapers who speak the truth to Trump's numerous lies. Just today Trump annnounced "I am not sure if grocery prices could be lowered for a very long time," a baseless campaign promise which people who saw through his charade knew was a bogus claim. That is what he does. But right now, as he begins policies to help claim  his demagoguery, who could possibly stop him?

Finally, there is Kari Lake chosen to serve as director of the federally funded boadcaster Voice of America, where America's achievements are boadcast worldwide. "Mr.Trump's thoughts of the media are clear: he calls reporters enemies of the people, derides critical news coverage of him as fake and muses about stripping broadcasters of their licenses" (NYT, Kate Rogers, 12/14). Ms. Lake, a former television anchor who lost her own elections, has often disparaged the press. Journalists are already reeling regarding the possibility of voicing free and independent coverage. This fear is justified. A man who bullies senators to support his appointees by intimidating them with fears of not being reelected will surely attempt to squelch all opposition, and he will likely succeed.

Yet, having such supporters and their undying pledge of allegiance to the king has an obvious pitfall. There will come a reckoning, one day, which will cause some of his minions to disagree with him. Already he and Musk are at odds with contrasting points of view about the government. History has repeatedly demonstrated all monarchies may have their day in the sun, but inevitably fail. And when, hopefully, this presidency comes tumbling down because of revenge and retribution, there will be no one left in his government to pick up these pieces based on hate. Hopefully, we can start over, perhaps in two years, when people realize the emperor is naked and was indeed so the day he first walked down the golden stairs of Trump tower.

The Free Press

 "You may be going to jail," my husband said the other day after reading my latest blog.

"You think???" I said, laughing.

"Of course, since you are admonishing the man who would be king/dictator."

I laughed again, knowing my blogs, soon to be posted on substack, are small potatoes. However, the non-laughing matter is he will surely go after the big presses. Freedom of the press may be a thing of the past. It was bad during the first term, but this term will be arguably worse. In his first term he went after CNN because of its coverage about him, and apparently tried to push The Department of Justice to block AT& T's acquisition of the Network's owner at the time, Time Warner. He has frequently ranted and rallied against the press, calling them "the enemy of the people." Since he is a media creation, this feels ridiculously ironic; they have given him too large a platform, freqently pushing his lies as facts.They have normalized an insanely abnormal man, a terrific injustice to the American public who believe him.

This second term will be worse. According to a piece in THE NEW YORKER, "there is a fear he will ramp up the deployment of subpoenas, specious lawsuits, court orders and search warrants to seize reporters' notes, devices and source materials." The threats are so large that THE WASHINGTON POST and THE L.A. TIMES refused to endorse Kamala, their candidate of choice. Joe and Mika went down to Mar-a-Lago to try to reconcile with him. Afterwards, he made fun of them for trying to get back in his favor. It is a terrible move to try to gain favor with a man who is so unhinged, so newspapers and media, beware of your kow-towing. Stop bowing down to him; it won't work!

Indeed, retribution is in the air. Trump has already opposed a bi-partisan federal bill that would allow journalists to withold the identity of confidential sources. "Republicans must kill this bill," he has said. Already Kash Patel, a Q conspiracy theorist and potential F.B.I director, has said, "We are going after American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections," while on Steve Bannon's podcast. Trump's lawyers have already threatened or taken legal action against THE TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, ABC, Penguin Random House, and others. With one of the authors of 2025 (the 900 page document Trump knew nothing about), Brendan Carr, who is ideologically aligned with Elon Musk, to head the Federal Communications Commission, freedom of press may soon be obsolete.  Indeed, the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 proposed ending federal funding for both NPR and PBS.

We are now like Putin's Russia. Another irony is just the other day, Russian television mocked America's chaos and disarray, clearly happy to have Trump and his chaos in office. It will only make Russia stronger as American power weakens. This is, after all, "the arsenal of a would-be-autocrat who seeks to intimidate his critics, protect himself from scrutiny and go on wearing away at the liberal democratic order." He desires the silence of the opposition, which is why it is critical for people to raise their voices of dissent high over the rooftops of every building, all over the world! And so I will.

*Acnowledgment is given to "The Talk of the Town," NEW YORKER, December 9th

Disqualified

 If one were doing a search for the president of a university, a hospital or a law firm, they would scrutinize a multitude of resumes. Unfortunately, little was done when the Republican candidate was chosen.  This one man, in particular, has a HUGE fan base who would go to bat for this man, which includes, perhaps, a call to arms. His base loves him so much they will fight, destroy the U.S. capital (if need be), but they will get their man in. They will lie, but so will he; he lies so much, it is a challenge to decipher truth from disinformation. It doesn't matter; he is loud and entertaining and a classic bully. He is certainly not a role model for workers, teachers, doctors, lawyers or students. My God, parents would punish their children for doing far less. His behavior is unacceptable. Plus, he has 34 felony convictions. There would have been more charges, many more, but he has relied on massive delaying tactics. He lies to those interviewing him, but they like a strong man, a powerful man; they don't mind his derision. In the "real" world, he would never be hired. He wouldn't even get a second interview. But it is this man who was selected to be president of the United States; you can't make this level of debasement up. It is parody at its worst. No one reads the news anyway or is truly that informed, so there are zero guardrails to reign him in. He is on a mission to destroy, and indeed he will.

The plot thickens. Now this man is in charge of putting together a charlatan cabinet and staff, and he does it with speed and with one goal and one goal only: loyalty to the chief. It is like a hospital hiring the worst doctors and staff and nurses because they will honor this "fearless leader," and do whatever he wants, even if this means seeing patients die right before their very eyes. This is retribution against your enemy time; not a government. Let's start with Pete Hegseth's nomination as defense secretary. Even his own mother wrote to him in 2018 saying he was an abuser of women and a misogynist. No surprise. He is also an alcoholic, with several ugly scenes to his credit. In addition to no expereince, he wants to ban women from combat operations. Seriously? But he loves Donald Trump, so what else matters? Joining him in the list of challenges is Putin-lover Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence, sure to make foreign nations keep many secrets from our country. She is putting our national security at risk. Foreign leaders are already banning together to ban America from sensitive information. Who could blame them? R.F.K. Jr our possibly soon to be our secretary of Health and Human Services, is the man in part responsible for discouraging vaccines in Somoa, which resulted in an outbreak of 5,700 cases of measles and more than eighty deaths (many of them children) as a consequence. Personality doctor Dr. Oz, who lost his gubernatorial race in Pennsylvania, has now been chosen to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Between one bogus scientist and one non-scientist, what more could you ask for! 

Yet, there is still more. Kash Patel, whose only goal is to take care of the Don, wants to trash the F.B.I., a task he will have no problem with. He is an election denier consipracy-theory junkie, who has bounced from job to job with a level of gross inefficiency, in truth on par with everyone else. His goal is retribution. Let's not forget Kristi Noem the current Govenor of South Dakota who is well-known for two things: shooting her own dog who was a nuisance, as well as a goat, and dancing for thirty minutes at a rally with the Don, because he forgot he was supposed to speak and not dance. She is now pegged to be Director of Homeland Security, who better to serve in such a role.

Other cast members include seven people who worked on the 2025 Project, the distastrous more than 900-page document that seeks to destroy all our norms, all our institutions and all the progress we have made as a nation in the past decades. I shudder at this "shadow" government, that selects Massad Boulas (his credential: daughter Tiffany's father-in-law) as advisor to the Middle East and Charles Kushner (Jared's father) a recently pardoned criminal as ambassador to France.

I am so glad Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter, and to say otherwise, as an appalled Republican or citizen, indicates how much you have swallowed the Kool-Aid; hypocrisy is now your middle name. What Hunter did to break the law is NOTHING compared to this lowly group of sycophants who DARE to lead our government. This is not the Twilight Zone; it is not a dystopian novel; it is not even a successful parody. It is that bad! I would laugh-out-loud if I weren't crying and mourning whatever this country wants to call itself, not anything that bears any semblance to reality. Each day's selection is a new disaster.