Posts by: Jack Altschuler

Friday Extra – Reality Show


POST 1183

BSO Distraction

MSNBC and CNN are hyperventilating over the online feud between our president and his now estranged Director of Smash and Burn. It’s two billionaire tyrant brats having a public spat as reality show, but it’s far more than that.

These temper tantrums are Bright Shiny Objects designed to cause you either to fail to see or to ignore Trump’s horribles, like his new Muslim ban – 14 Muslim majority countries are accused of being such bad guys that no one from within their borders may come to the U.S. If you’re paying attention you’ll note that among the countries not on Trump’s list are:

– Saudi Arabia, where the leader, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, also known as MBS, had Washington Post journalist Jamal Ahmad Hamza Khashoggi tortured, murdered and dismembered. But that’s okay, because they’re letting Trump build a tower named after himself in Riyadh.

– Qatar, which just gave Trump a bribe of a $400 million airplane.

– Egypt, a citizen of which just injured 12 American Jews with a flame thrower and Molotov cocktails – dunno what Trump’s payday is with the Egyptians, but you can be sure that it’s a most impressive grift.

Of course, Trump is doing other things, like trying to end habeas corpus, defying judges and justices without being held in contempt of court and trying to get his despicable One Big Beastly Bill enacted so the Republicans can begin to end Medicare and Medicaid and let kids stay sick and let granny die. After all, Sen. Joni “Pig Castrator” Ernst has explained that we’re all going to die anyway.

Trump doesn’t want you to notice his treasonous efforts; hence, his reality show spat with Musk, who is angry because Biden’s deal to promote electric vehicles is being ended by Trump’s OBBB, so Musk-enriching spiffs will be gone; hence, his pissy.

You get the idea. So, ignore the stupid, bratty, rich jerk spat and focus on the substantive stuff, the repugnant, anti-American things they’re doing to bring our country crashing down.

Our Streets

You and I are just like the Founders in our abhorrence of kings – dictators, really. We are threatened by such people right now, in part because of the national insanity we’ve tolerated far too long. That’s why June 14 is

NO KINGS DAY!

.

You have to know what you stand for, or you’ll fall for anything.

Click on the map to find a demonstration near you. As of this writing there are over 1,400 of them, all for people across the nation who won’t tolerate Trump’s reign of scams, cruelties, corruption and the destruction of our Constitution he hopes will lead to his dictatorship and make him King Donald I.

But America isn’t about any king. It is about We The People. We declare that in no uncertain terms right here.

So, show up on June 14 to demonstrate who we really are, what we stand for and what we won’t stand for. And pass this message to others. This existential battle needs all of us.

Countdown to November 3, 2026
Mid-Term Election

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Thanks!

The Fine Print:

  1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not necessarily mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
  2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
  3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine, but I do wish that I could blame someone else. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
  5. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.
  6. Comments offered by readers, whether in agreement with my opinions or opposing, are encouraged and greatly appreciated. All are reviewed prior to going live. I reserve the right to edit for readability, punctuation, typos, voluntary idiocy and to exclude those I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2025 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Center-Right – Really?


POST 1182

The Numbers*
Here is What We Americans Want
.

87% of Americans believe Social Security benefits should be maintained or increased

79% of Americans support raising (not cutting) taxes on the wealthy and big corporations

69% of Americans want Medicare For All (MFA)

63% of Americans believe abortion should be legal

53% of Americans believe automatic weapons should be banned**

64% of Americans want stricter gun laws

74% of Americans want Dreamers to have legal status in the U.S.

62% of Americans believe medication abortion should be legal

82% of Americans want Medicaid to either stay the same or increase

60% of Americans oppose ICE raids in schools and places of worship

77% of Americans support maintaining or increasing SNAP (food stamp) benefits

90% of Americans oppose redistricting (gerrymandering) for political advantage

When asked if they’re righties or lefties, millions of Americans claim to be conservatives – center-right or even more to the right. But when they’re asked specifically about their views on the issues above, they respond just as you see – like progressives. The conservative blabbers really should stuff a sock in their claims that this is a center-right country, because that claim just isn’t true.

If We The People want these things and we’ve wanted them for a very long time, how come we don’t have them? Click here for the answer.

From the Kids Who Sat At The Back of the Classroom Shooting Spitballs Instead of Paying Attention
.

30% of Americans think the 2020 election was stolen from Trump

35% of Americans cannot name the 3 branches of government

26% of Americans believe the sun orbits the Earth

4 – 10% of Americans believe the Earth is flat – seriously!

27% of Americans distrust science

There will be no Blue Light Special to save us on the cheap. This is going to cost our blood, sweat and tears. It is a challenge worthy of America.

If we want something better than we are getting, we’ll have to do something different – like elect people to power who will fairly represent us and who will kill the voter suppression practices that poison the heart of America.

It will take generations to fix the mess we’ve allowed to be made by our legislative self-serving cowards who debase themselves to lobbyists and cower before bullies. And we’ve been harmed by the willful indifference of the over 90 million eligible voters whose butts remain on their couches every election. Now is a good time to start the clean-up on Aisle U.S.***

The Department of Hope

It’s time to stop wringing our hands. It’s time to reach down and grab our grit and use it to attack what deserves to be attacked. It’s time to speak the truth about America and Americans and demand the America We The People want. That fight is what gives us hope.

Start by listening to Tim Walz make it plain for you.

Our Streets

You and I are just like the Founders in our abhorrence of kings – dictators, really. We are threatened by such people right now, in part because of the national insanity we’ve tolerated far too long. That’s why June 14 is

NO KINGS DAY!

.

You have to know what you stand for, or you’ll fall for anything.

Click on the map to find a demonstration near you. As of this writing there are over 1,400 of them, all for people across the nation who won’t tolerate Trump’s reign of scams, cruelties, corruption and the destruction of our Constitution he hopes will lead to his dictatorship and make him King Donald I.

But America isn’t about any king. It is about We The People. We declare that in no uncertain terms right here.

So, show up on June 14 to demonstrate who we really are, what we stand for and what we won’t stand for. And pass this message to others. This existential battle needs all of us.

Don’t Ever Back Down

Democrats plan to hire a TACO truck to serve free tacos outside the Republican National Committee headquarters starting this Tuesday – TACO Tuesdays, as in: Trump Always Chickens Out. Said Mother Jones, “.  .  .  [the idea] has since reportedly irked our ever-mercurial, toddler-brain president.”

This kind of tweaking is, of course, childish and undignified. I love it.

Every day in every way, punch the bully in the nose.

Don’t back down. Don’t ever back down.
.

Click me. Definitely click me.

___________________________________________________

* I looked up all the numbers presented here and easily found them from reputable sources with a simple search, “What percentage of Americans want .  .  . ” There are many reports on each of these topics, so there is some variation in the percentages that can be found. However, in no case was there meaningful disagreement from the intent of what is presented here.

** In the wake of any major mass shooting (think: Sandy Hook; Parkland; Topps Supermarket; Las Vegas Route 91 Harvest Music Festival; Emanuel AME Church; Tree of Life Synagogue; Tucson-Giffords; etc.) the percentage of Americans who want automatic weapons, large capacity magazines, bump stocks and silencers to be banned goes up to 80-92%.

*** Gallup reports that approval of Congress is 26%. That means that 3 of every 4 Americans disapproves of our Congress. 53% of us disapprove of the job Trump is doing. Why in the world should we tolerate such horrid job performance? Fire these guys!

Countdown to November 3, 2026
Mid-Term Election

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Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

Thanks!

The Fine Print:

  1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not necessarily mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
  2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
  3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine, but I do wish that I could blame someone else. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
  5. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.
  6. Comments offered by readers, whether in agreement with my opinions or opposing, are encouraged and greatly appreciated. All are reviewed prior to going live. I reserve the right to edit for readability, punctuation, typos, voluntary idiocy and to exclude those I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2025 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Emergency


POST 1181

Paramedics Aren’t Enough
We all have to show up for this emergency.
.

Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” is presented as a budget bill, but its 1,116 pages hide aggressively subversive things buried in its bulk that have nothing to do with budgets and everything to do with crushing our rights and our freedoms. This bill is a clear and present danger to the United States. It is an existential threat to our way of life and the values you and I hold dear.

In a level headed, referenced piece on the site of Campaign Legal Center entitled These Hidden Provisions in the Budget Bill Undermine Our Democracy, Eric Kashdan lays out some examples of the subversion* in this bill.

“An Attack on the Judicial Branch

“The first of these outrageous policies — buried in Section 70302 of the legislation — would severely restrict federal courts’ authority to hold government officials in contempt if they violate judicial orders.”

Just consider the Supreme Court’s order to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S. and the Trump Administration’s refusal. This provision would actually make Trump’s criminal contempt of court legal.

“A Flood of False Information in Elections

“The second problematic provision — found within Section 43201(c) of the House reconciliation bill — would impose a 10-year ban on the enforcement of all state and local laws that regulate artificial intelligence (AI), including rules for AI’s use in political campaigns and elections.”

Read that again: This bill will kill the efforts of our states to stop election misinformation, interference and manipulation of voters.

The New York Times has an exhaustive walk-through of this assault on democracy. If you’re feeling too happy, sample your way through it and you’ll be cured.

This “Big Beastly Bill” (kudos to Nancy Kohn and Art Friedson for the label – link through to their post – it’s brilliantly clear) is cloaked as a budget bill but is chock full of democracy destroying provisions like the destruction of checks and balance that has nothing to do with budgetary issues. And it’s full of nuclear attacks on Americans, most especially on non-super rich Americans. It is straight out of the Project 2025 homegrown political terrorist playbook.

The treachery throughout this plan for a bloodless coup is a clear violation of both the Faithless Clause and the Deceit Clause of the Constitution and is likely in violation of various sections of U.S. Code: Title 18 — CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, especially the Fraud, Unlawful, Cruel and Kaput (collectively the “FUCK Acts”) statutes.**

Trump and his fellow conspirators may well be in violation of sections of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, which includes provisions for treason, seditious conspiracy and more. To be accurate, they aren’t trying to overthrow the government. They’re supplanting established norms with a blizzard of self-serving edicts nobody voted for and refusing to honor even a ghost of their oath of office.

Please link through and read this short, clear-headed explanation. There is more bad stuff in this bill than can be listed there, but this will get you started in your research to understand this awful bill.

Good-Bye Norman Rockwell

My wife and I have long enjoyed election day, walking to our local polling place, seeing neighbors there and all of us practicing citizenship. It’s a Norman Rockwell scene that affirms who we all are.

Now, though, we are threatened by tyrants who are working day and night in every venue imaginable to take away our rights of citizenship, to tear down our country, to impoverish you and me and to pocket the spoils for themselves. They want to set fire to that Norman Rockwell scene. That is the imminent danger we face.

Update From Sen. Pig Castrator

At a town hall on May 30 Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) responded to a constituent question about the massive cuts to Medicaid in the Big Beastly Bill – $880 billion – and how that will affect our most vulnerable. She smirked and said, “Well, we’re all going to die.”

That, apparently, is what passes for promoting the general welfare and compassion for the suffering, according to Republicans. See for yourself here. Watch for the smirk at 0.42.

Did You Know?
The Byrd Rule*** allows a single Senator to remove non-budget related provisions from bills that are attempting to be passed under budget reconciliation.
.
CALL YOUR SENATORS, because it takes 60 votes to overcome [a filibuster], and ONLY ONE SENATOR to call out these un-American provisions.
Action

Here are the two things we – you and I – must do.

1. Immediately phone both of your senators – no snail mail, no email – whether they’re Democratic, Republican or Independent. You can reach them through the

U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121

.

Tell them to invoke the Byrd Rule** on every single non-budgetary provision in this bill. That won’t fix everything, so they’ll also have to invoke the filibuster, too, if/when it comes time for voting on the entire caca package. Then tell them to VOTE NO on this attack-on-America bill.


2. Attend a NO KINGS protest on June 14. Click the map below for clarity about why you need to be there and to find a rally near you. I promise you that you’ll be emboldened and proud stand with people who show up to practice citizenship and to declare, “NO KINGS ON MY WATCH!“

Also, listen to New York Attorney General  Letitia James tell us it’s time to stand up and fight back. Do not give in to fear.

Finger Pointing Department

If you want to know who to blame for our ongoing debacle (root cause, primary driver), it might surprise you to learn that it isn’t Donald Trump. It’s who enabled Trump to happen. Click here.

Head Scratcher Department

Country Joe McDonald sang his song I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die Rag at Woodstock 55 years ago. In it he asked about the Viet Nam war, “What are we fighting for?” I’d like to hear some of today’s Trump supporters answer that question – what are they fighting for?

_________________________________________________

* sub·ver·sion
/səbˈvərZHən,səbˈvərSHən/
  1. the undermining of the power and authority of an established system or institution.
    “the ruthless subversion of democracy”
    Source: Oxford Languages

** These Clauses and statutes don’t exist, but they should so that we can accurately describe the un-American actions of today’s faithless, selfish, cowardly Republican saboteurs and hold them accountable.

*** From Google AI:

The Byrd Rule is a Senate rule that limits what can be included in reconciliation legislation to provisions that directly affect the federal budget, specifically spending and revenues. It prevents reconciliation bills from becoming vehicles for non-budgetary policy changes. 

Click here for a plain language explanation of the Byrd Rule, or here if you want to really get down in the weeds with it.
Countdown to November 3, 2026
Mid-Term Election

Countdown Timer

Goes fast, doesn’t it?

Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

Thanks!

The Fine Print:

  1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not necessarily mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
  2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
  3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine, but I do wish that I could blame someone else. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
  5. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.
  6. Comments offered by readers, whether in agreement with my opinions or opposing, are encouraged and greatly appreciated. All are reviewed prior to going live. I reserve the right to edit for readability, punctuation, typos, voluntary idiocy and to exclude those I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2025 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Sleight of Mouth


POST 1180

Bright Shiny Objects

During the 2016 election campaign of Doñald* Trump we heard the audio recording of what became known as the Access Hollywood tape. In it Trump is heard bragging about trying to f*ck married women. He said, “You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful… I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything.” Clearly, without their consent.

He said he would, “Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” Sexual predator stuff. It was a plain, direct admission of having committed multiple counts of felony sexual assault.

Later that same day, as reported in Wikipedia,

WikiLeaks begins publishing thousands of emails from the personal Gmail account of Clinton campaign manager John Podesta, revealing excerpts from Clinton’s paid speeches to Wall Street.

While Doñald’s crude comments remained in the public discussion, Clinton’s pay for giving speeches to Wall Street firms proved to be a powerful distraction. And so it goes with most Trump vulnerabilities.

Heather Cox Richardson posted on May 16,

In his newsletter today, retired entrepreneur Bill Southworth tallied the times Trump has grabbed headlines to distract people from larger stories, starting the tally with how Trump’s posts about Peanut the Squirrel the day before the election swept like a brushfire across the right-wing media ecosystem and then into the mainstream. In early 2025, Southworth notes, as the media began to dig into the dramatic restructuring of the federal government, Trump posted outrageously about Gaza, and that story took over. When cuts to PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) and the U.S. Agency for International Development threatened lives across Africa, Trump turned the conversation to white South Africans he lied were fleeing “anti-white genocide.”**

So the political lesson is that when exposed as a cheat, fraud, liar or sexual assaulter, Trump dumps something explosive to distract the public. It’s the Bright Shiny Object insanity plea.

Like Doñald surrendering to China by reducing tariffs from 145% to 30% and getting nearly no concessions in return. Nevertheless, the self-crowned master of negotiating claimed a big negotiating win for America and personally attacked his critics, which became the story.

Like the week ending with Moody’s downgrading America’s credit score (as did two other ratings agencies), so Doñald had his spokesman, Steven Cheung, make personal attacks on a Moody’s analyst. As with nearly all things related to Trump, Cheung completely failed to address the substantive issue.

Like the Supreme Court overwhelmingly shooting down Doñald for using the Alien Enemies Act to kidnap people off the street, so Doñald countered by announcing a $400 million dollar aircraft “gift” from the Qataris, which became all the buzz.***

Another of Trump’s get-away trick for his indefensible assaults on law and morality is to do bad stuff by stealth in the middle of the night, like the Republican House did when cobbling together the theft of Medicaid via their fetid, stinking budget. They are sneaking their rip-off, their larceny from poor children, from grannies in nursing and retirement homes, from desperately poor people in Red states and so many more millions of Americans needing healthcare. It’s all to transfer more trillions of dollars to greedy billionaires and add another $5 trillion to our national debt, the debt service of which will overwhelmingly be paid by working Americans, not the greedy billionaires.

Does this ghastly, dreadful, putrid stuff make you want to stand up and scream? Well, there’s good news for you.

Slighting You and Me

From Dan Rather, May 16 regarding the rancid Republican budget bill:

Trump and Johnson don’t want to give anyone time to read the fine print [in the 1116 page bill].

Because then folks would know that the bill would cut $625 billion from Medicaid, pushing more than 8 million of our most vulnerable from its rolls.

People would also be aware that cuts to the food stamp program would target poor families with children, seniors, and veterans.

Voters would find out that someone making less than $15,000 a year would see their federal taxes increase by 74.3% by 2031. That is not a typo.

Trump claims all of these cuts are necessary to make his $4.5 trillion tax cut for billionaires and corporations permanent.

Reader and friend E.L. gave me the heads up that last Sunday was the 98th anniversary of Charles LIndbergh’s flight across the Atlantic Ocean. It was quite a feat and it put Lindbergh into a special class, which became quite mixed.

He was quite familiar with the Nazis and said this in a 1945 speech:

History is full of [the] misuse [of power]. There is no better example than Nazi Germany. Power without moral force to guide it invariably ends in the destruction of the people who wield it. Power . . . must be backed by morality . . .

We are suffering terribly from a lack of morality in our government. If this continues, there will surely be destruction of We The People before “the destruction of the people who wield [power].”

From Norm Eisen’s Memorial Day post:

To memorialize our veterans’ sacrifices is to attend to the fragile, unfinished work of fighting autocracy and building a country worthy of their service. It is to hold tight to the idea of America, even when its practice falters. To do our part, as they did—not on distant battlefields, but on our streets, among our communities, and in our courthouses.

Our Streets

You and I are just like the Founders in our abhorrence of kings, monarchs, despots and dictators. Won’t tolerate one in our America. Which is why June 14 is

NO KINGS DAY!

.

Click on the map, to find a demonstration near you and register. If there isn’t one close by, register to organize one. Or wait a few days, as new sites are popping up every day. As of this writing there are hundreds of them, people across the nation who won’t tolerate Trump’s scams leading to his dictatorship. Many thanks to Indivisible for kick starting this national demonstration to strengthen America and metaphorically kick would-be kings in a most debilitating spot.

Yes, June 14 is the date of Trump’s birthday and his narcissistic, “Aren’t I The Powerful One!” military parade. It’s designed to show the world what a tough guy he is, able to tear up Pennsylvania Avenue with tank treads in a single afternoon and waste $45 million beyond that. Instead, he could hire more air traffic controllers, but that wouldn’t be special for him.

“NO KINGS” – kinda has a ring to it.

__________________________________________

* We’ll call him “Doñald” now and then to honor the millions of Hispanic people living in our country who are threatened by him every day and who live in fear. We honor all who walk down the sidewalk or speak out in any way Trump doesn’t like, be they citizens or visitors.

We extend our flick off to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its masked thugs who refuse to produce identification and who have no arrest warrants, but happily kidnap people. Didn’t kidnapping used to be a federal offense?

** Musk, too, claims there is a genocide of White farmers ongoing in his native country, South Africa. Here’s the fun part: His own Grok xAI says that isn’t true.

*** The giving of such a “gift” is called “bribery.” Also, “foreign emoluments,” which, like bribery, is prohibited by the Constitution.

Countdown to November 3, 2026
Mid-Term Election

Countdown Timer

Goes fast, doesn’t it?

Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

Thanks!

The Fine Print:

  1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not necessarily mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
  2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
  3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine, but I do wish that I could blame someone else. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
  5. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.
  6. Comments offered by readers, whether in agreement with my opinions or opposing, are encouraged and greatly appreciated. All are reviewed prior to going live. I reserve the right to edit for readability, punctuation, typos, voluntary idiocy and to exclude those I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2025 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Memorial Day


POST 1072

This essay was originally posted on Memorial Day, 2012, with wars raging in Iraq and Afghanistan and is offered today (with some updating) as a reminder of what this holiday – this holy day – is about.

Arlington CemetaryOur War Dead

It was originally called Decoration Day, a formal day of remembrance of the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. The refreshing of their graves with flowers and flags was the order of the day and it was later extended to all Civil War dead.  It became known as Memorial Day in 1967 and was declared to be in honor of our dead from all of our wars. That federal re-naming packaged all of the various honoring ceremonies for our war dead and all the individual traditions practiced around the country into a neater package, something that apparently was important in 1967. In addition, the date of remembrance was shifted from May 30 to the last Monday in May so that there would be a 3-day weekend.

We no longer conscript our young into military service and instead rely upon a voluntary corps of warriors, roughly 0.4% of Americans doing the frightful tasks for the rest of us. Military service and its risks seem remote to most.

Then we see a soldier in desert fatigues walking through the airport, his boots the color of desert sand, his heavy camouflage backpack hung from his shoulders, and we know he’s either on his way to or from trouble and war becomes real to us. It’s already quite real to that GI in his desert fatigues.

Study this picture and you’ll understand the meaning of Memorial Day. Source unknown

Memorial Day is not for that soldier. It is for those who have died doing their duty  to protect and defend our country. What is poignant is that the soldier in the airport might be one of those whom we remember next year.

Memorial Day is intended to be a somber event. It is not about parades with circus clowns to entertain us or political clowns to promote themselves. It is about the renewal of our individual and collective memory and the honoring of those who can no longer march in our parades. We do this, lest we forget them. And it is to honor those who loved them, to understand their pain, even for just a few sacred moments.

Go To Your Local Memorial Day Ceremonies Today

Remember and honor our fallen ones and say “Thank you.” Because they remembered: Duty, Honor, Country.

Finally, watch this short video from Adam Kinzinger. I know you’ll understand his message. And recite Longfellow’s poem aloud to feel the sober meaning of this day.

Decoration Day
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, pub. 1882
.
Sleep, comrades, sleep and rest
On this Field of the Grounded Arms,
Where foes no more molest,
Nor sentry’s shot alarms!
.
Ye have slept on the ground before,
And started to your feet
At the cannon’s sudden roar,
Or the drum’s redoubling beat.
.
But in this camp of Death
No sound your slumber breaks;
Here is no fevered breath,
No wound that bleeds and aches.
.
All is repose and peace,
Untrampled lies the sod;
The shouts of battle cease,
It is the Truce of God!
.
Rest, comrades, rest and sleep!
The thoughts of men shall be
As sentinels to keep
Your rest from danger free.
.
Your silent tents of green
We deck with fragrant flowers
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours.
.
Be Clear: They Aren’t Statistics. They’re Our People.
.

Today is a good day to be the light

  • _____________________________

  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

    And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

    1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not necessarily mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
    2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
    3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine, but I do wish that I could blame someone else. Glad to have your corrections.
    4. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
    5. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.
    6. Comments offered by readers, whether in agreement with my opinions or opposing, are encouraged and greatly appreciated. All are reviewed prior to going live. I reserve the right to edit for readability, punctuation, typos, voluntary idiocy and to exclude those I deem inappropriate.
    7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.

    Click me

    JA


Copyright 2025 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Ugly


POST 1181

Hatred

Photo included so that you see that they were real people with real hopes and dreams. They weren’t just statistics.

May 21, 2025 should have been just another beautiful spring day in Washington DC, but it was not. Instead, it was a horrible day of hate-fueled murder.

Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were staffers at the Israeli Embassy working on efforts to bring people together. They had fallen in love and were soon to travel to Israel, with a ring in Yaron’s pocket and a plan to surprise Sarah with his marriage proposal, then to begin the rest of their lives together.

They attended an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee at the Capitol Jewish Museum in DC that spring evening and were gunned down by an extremist who shot 21 bullets at them. The shooter had posted things like “Escalate For Gaza, Bring The War Home” and when he was taken into custody he shouted, “Free, free Palestine,” both slogans commonly used by anti-Israel and antisemitic frenzies. He also shouted, “I did it for Gaza.”

From Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and National Director of the Anti-Defamation League:

ADL’s latest Audit of Antisemitic Incidents tracked a total of 9,354 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. in 2024. This is the highest number of attacks against Jews on record since ADL began tracking incidents 46 years ago.

Hatred and violence against Jews is the world’s oldest hatred. It has been stoked often, sometimes by the Church, by ignorant peasants, by leaders of countries and for the past 9 years by Donald Trump, mostly using dog whistle messages, but sometimes with overt hateful idiocies. Here in graphic format is what he and others have incited.

If you have difficulty reading the chart, just click on it to go to the source.

Things to note:

The 35% increase in antisemitic incidents in 2016. It’s just a coincidence, I’m sure, that Trump was running for office that year and calling his rabid followers to violence.

The enormous rise in antisemitic incidents in 2023 and 2024, at least 300% over prior years. That time aligns with what happened following the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre of Jews and Israel’s response. It also corresponds to Trump running for office, leading rallies and not just failing to call on his supporters not to be violent, but issuing more dog whistles to hatred.

Not Too Surprising

Isn’t it peculiar that there have been many demonstrations against Israel and against Jews for Israel’s actions following the October 7 attacks. But there have been almost no demonstrations on college campuses, on city streets, in front of government buildings – anywhere – against Hamas for its murders, rapes, kidnapping and yet more brutality. Lots of angry people chanted variations of “From the river to the sea,” but you never heard any demonstration by ordinary citizens demanding that the world stop killing Jews.

What do you make of that? Hamas okay, Jews, like peacemakers Yaron and Sarah, not?

Last comment (for now) about this.

Don’t say that America is a country of peace. It was born in war. We officially made war on Native tribes and took everything they had. We incarcerated non-Whites and enslaved 16 million Blacks and then began to lynch them. We solve our differences with violence and often with guns: drive-bys in our cities; torturing of gays; mass shootings in schools, churches, synagogues, supermarkets, music festivals and a 4th of July parade; and right now whole communities are stockpiling hatred, anger and weapons for a civil war they long for.

And our fellow citizens committed 9,354 acts of antisemitism last year alone. That’s over 1 per hour, ’round the clock.

We humans love our hatreds. They make us feel powerful and important. “Death to _________” – you fill in the blank. That’s stuff that stokes our reptile brains.

Now For Another Hatred

This quiz is from Robert Reich’ post, Why the one big beautiful bill is the single ugliest you can imagine.  It’s about hatred of ordinary Americans by greedy rich, power crazed elites and their fawning, incompetent stooges. Answers are in parentheses.

1. Does the House’s “one big beautiful bill” cut Medicare? (Answer: Yes, by an estimated $500 billion.)

2. Because the bill cuts Medicaid, how many Americans are expected to lose Medicaid coverage? (At least 8.6 million.) [NOTE: 13.7 million people will lose health care – not insurance; healthcare. 11 million will lose food stamp benefits—many of them kids. JA]

3. Will the tax cut in the bill benefit the rich or the poor or everyone? (Overwhelmingly, the rich.)

4. How much will the top 0.1 percent of earners stand to gain from it? (Nearly $390,000 per year). [It includes $1.5 trillion in new – extra – tax cuts disproportionately skewed to the rich. It would defund Planned Parenthood, increase oil drilling and logging on public lands.]

5. If you figure in the benefit cuts and the tax cuts, will Americans making between about $17,000 and $51,000 gain or lose? (They’ll lose about $700 a year).

6. How about Americans with incomes less than $17,000? (They’ll lose more than $1,000 per year on average).

7. How much will the bill add to the federal debt? ($3.8 trillion over 10 years.)

8. Who will pay the interest on this extra debt? (All of us, in both our tax payments and higher interest rates for mortgages, car loans, and all other longer-term borrowing.)

9. Who collects this interest? (People who lend to the U.S. government, 70 percent of whom are American and most of whom are wealthy.)

10. Bonus question: Is the $400 million airplane from Qatar a gift to the United States for every future president to use, or a gift to Trump for his own personal use? (It’s a personal gift because he’ll get to use it after he leaves the presidency.)

Don’t believe it? Here’s another independent source.

Still don’t believe it? Click on the chart at the bottom.

It’s time right now to contact your senators and tell them to vote down this hate filled, hatred fueled Republican war on the American people conducted by hateful and cowardly Republicans and the extremists who want to turn our country over to an American Führer.

Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121
.

and ask to be connected to the offices of your senators. Tell them in no uncertain terms (politely, of course) to shoot down this dishonest, anti-Americans, so-called budget bill passed along to the Senate by House Republican cowards.

The Republicans can’t “both sides” their way out of responsibility for these cruelties. They did this to We The People. I appreciate their help in kicking them out of office. Indeed, that’s .  .  .

Good News!

White House officials have denied FEMA assistance to the state of North Carolina following lethal Hurricane Helene last year that devastated the western portion of the state, killed 107 people and destroyed over 75,000 homes. Trump and the Republicans are abandoning the people, leaving them in the rubble, the pollution and the danger. That’s yet more hatred.

That’s terrible news for those suffering people, but just try being a Republican running for any office in that state next year. Same thing in any state with poverty issues, as children and grannies are denied healthcare due to the billions of dollars of cuts to Medicaid and Medicare – more hatred. The “Who cares about you?” Republicans are showing themselves to be exactly what they are: cowards, barbarians, and self-obsessed animals.

The ads and campaign slogans for Democrats running for office fairly write themselves. Now, if only the Democrats can keep from screwing this up.

Finally, Institutional Discrimination

You need to click on the chart below and review the easy to read explanation of why it’s good to be in the top 0.1% and it sucks for most of the rest of us.

Countdown to November 3, 2026
Mid-Term Election

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Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

Thanks!

The Fine Print:

  1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not necessarily mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
  2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
  3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine, but I do wish that I could blame someone else. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
  5. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.
  6. Comments offered by readers, whether in agreement with my opinions or opposing, are encouraged and greatly appreciated. All are reviewed prior to going live. I reserve the right to edit for readability, punctuation, typos, voluntary idiocy and to exclude those I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2025 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose


POST 1179

I recently ran across a post from election year 1996 and was struck yet again that

  • “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.”
  • “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
  • – Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, 1849

But the intensity, the rotten flavor does change and sometimes brings diabolical things, like this.

The plan was for the House Rules Committee to do a mark-up vote on the Trumpy-named The One Big Beautiful Bill. It has horrific provisions, like huge cuts to Medicaid, disapproved by 75% of Americans, logging on public lands, $4 trillion in tax cuts for the rich and a corresponding increase in our national debt – you get the idea. Those are just some of the embarrassingly awful provisions of this authoritarian bill that were driving Republicans to vote at 1:00AM today, thinking they can sneak it past you and me.

The sneaky part is the “things stay the same” because for decades Republicans have done terrible things that the vast majority of Americans dislike and they often try to creep them through without our seeing what they’re doing. But we do see. We know their slimy ways, regardless of the time of day when they do them. For more on the “sneaky” and this administration’s “slimy,” read Prof. Heather Cox Richardson’s post of today.

Check the news today to find out what happened. If the committee passed this giant wad of wet toilet paper of a bill, it will to to the full House for a vote on Memorial Day, when all Democrats will vote against it and we will hope that 4 Republicans will have sufficient spine to stand against it.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Take Note, Trump Voter

I am grossly offended by the dishonesty that is thrown at me by the Liar in Chief and his band of traitors to America, as they spray their bent logic, their broken morality, their attack on every facet of our rule of law and their worst efforts to kill and bury The American Dream.

I abhor those calling upon our fears and our anger and rallying us to hate and strike out at others. It’s a mean spirited but effective ploy for votes and power, no doubt. It’s been used by demagogues and power mongers all over the world and it works, especially with low information voters. But it appeals because even as people are tricked onto the slide down to inevitable catastrophe, they’ll have the opportunity to have their fists clenched in a momentary rush of feeling powerful. But that’s all it will be – a momentary rush. And it will leave us all the poorer, more divided and far less free. See the next section of this post for more on that.

When someone tells us, “It’s those guys in the Washington swamp,” or “It’s the east and west coast elites,” or that it’s some fantasy Mexican drug mules with calves the size of cantaloupes or it’s phantom Tren de Aragua terrorists, they give us targets for our anger, even as there’s no sense in their words. Their hatred creates an “us” versus “them” mentality that they use to justify cruelty.

Simple solutions to complex problems are appealing. We like simple because we understand it and are comfortable with it. Unfortunately, many things just aren’t simple. So, I’m wary of people who tell me that their simple solution will solve all or even some of our enormously complex problems, or that they will solve problems “on day one.” It just doesn’t work that way.

I don’t trust people who lie to me, saying tariffs are paid by other countries or who extort individuals and companies to kiss the ring. The liars and the power cheaters will smear us with their lies and get their simple solutions in place, but then We The People will stand up and push back hard. Then we’ll banish the cheaters, but we’ll be left with the mess they made and it will take the work of generations of Americans to clean it up.

It’s looking like we have to stand against that now, before yet more damage is done to the things you care about.

Click here and look for more specifics coming on Sunday.

Here’s a card that was placed on my wife’s car windshield while she was grocery shopping.

Upon seeing the card my first reaction was to wonder about the rage the creator of the card must carry around to have gone to such bother just to be a jerk.  It isn’t road rage; it’s parking rage. Clearly, this guy has serious and debilitating anger issues which he wishes to impose on the rest of us.

Which made me wonder about this society, where vomiting out our every thin-skinned inkling of injustice and blaming others for our every disappointment is considered normal and even powerful and worthy of counter-attack and cruelty, sometimes online and sometimes in a supermarket parking lot.

Oh, and the reverse side of the card has a sketch of a fist with a raised middle finger, the true logo of MAGA. Welcome to the world of the perpetually angry.

Oh, and my wife is doing just fine. Thanks for asking.

We are now mired in the quicksand of Trump mendacity, thievery and his destruction of all we hold dear. So many promises have been broken, like the promise – the oath – to protect and defend our Constitution; like promises to our friends and neighbors who need help; like the promise of ending so much suffering, like promises to our friends and allies and like the promise of the American Dream for our children.

We need strong, positive leadership in this country and we need it right now. It can’t wait until the 2028 election.

If you’d like to learn how we’ve been manipulated into voting for exactly what the majority of us don’t want, read Thom Hartmann’s post, America’s Long Coup: How the GOP Rigged, Lied, and Stole Its Way Into the White House for Over 50 Years. As you read it, have water handy, because the truth will set your hair on fire.

And you’ll know what to do.

Today’s Fun Fact

Here’s yet another “stays the same.”

.

Finally, Some Cautionary Questions

I am the son of parents who were children of parents who were children of immigrants.

  1. Should I steel myself against the time when my front door is bashed down in the middle of the night by masked thugs carrying weapons, men who offer no ID, who have no warrant for my arrest signed by a judge, indeed, no warrant at all?
  2. What if they have come to arrest me and force me onto a deportation flight to El Salvador? Isn’t that kidnapping? Isn’t that a federal offense?
  3. Should I somehow prepare myself for a similar event on a sunny day while I’m walking down the sidewalk to the barber shop?
  4. What is the best safety protocol, knowing in advance that I won’t be afforded a telephone call or a judicial hearing?
  5. Am I at greater risk for having no tattoos but knowing a smattering of words in Spanish?
  6. How should I advise my wife and children on what to do, how to survive, in my absence?

And the non-immigration question: I write these posts and they are quite disparaging of Mr. Trump. Given his mania for retribution and my modest means, how should I prepare myself for his baseless $2 million defamation lawsuit?

Countdown to November 3, 2026
Mid-Term Election

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Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

Thanks!

The Fine Print:

  1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not necessarily mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
  2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
  3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine, but I do wish that I could blame someone else. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
  5. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.
  6. Comments offered by readers, whether in agreement with my opinions or opposing, are encouraged and greatly appreciated. All are reviewed prior to going live. I reserve the right to edit for readability, punctuation, typos, voluntary idiocy and to exclude those I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2025 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Who Benefits?


POST 1178

Last Wednesday I showed you that “repugnant, organizationally illiterate, DUI Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has announced that he is firing 20% of our flag officers [generals and admirals]” and that he “plans to eliminate legacy weapons and equipment programs.” I asked a critical question:

Who will benefit from us hobbling our national defense?
.

There are more areas to which to apply the “Who Benefits?” question..

Trump cut military aid and satellite surveillance capability from Ukraine. Then, having eliminated all motivation for Putin to negotiate to end the war in Ukraine, he invited Putin to a 30-day ceasefire, which Putin rejected, of course.

Same question again: Who benefits from our double-dealing?
.

Scott Galloway wrote in his post Brain Drain how we have massively cut our support and promotion of science, research and the things that have made us healthy, prosperous, safe and the go-to place for the best and the brightest in the world. Now those brilliant and creative people are either avoiding the U.S. entirely or are accepting schooling and R&D opportunities in other countries. And it isn’t just foreign born smart people who are abandoning us. It’s America’s best and brightest, too.

Trump’s self-defeating wounds are massively stupid actions that will crush the momentum of 80 years of our investments in growth and innovation. They will set us behind many other countries.

Same question: Who will benefit from our knee capping ourselves like that?
.

More in this line from STAT:

The city of Milwaukee was in the middle of a public health crisis when the Trump administration abruptly laid off 10,000 federal health workers last month. A lead crisis, to be exact: Late last year, a student had a concerning blood test, and the source turned out to be their school. The city took on the case, but investigating more than 100 schools is much more complicated than the typical exposure that occurs inside one family’s home. The local team would often turn to CDC scientists for both strategic planning and step-by-step guidance. Then the layoffs occurred, and all of those federal scientists were gone.

Who benefits from our government abandoning our health and safety needs?
.

Hint: It isn’t the lead poisoned children in Milwaukee – or those in any other place.

Trump imposed his brain-free tariffs with the precision of a car crushing machine and already our economy has been harmed, our supply chain is missing links, prices are on the rise, shelves at Walmart will be empty in not much more than a month and most of our former friends are avoiding us and looking for other partnerships.

Same question yet again: Who will benefit from our bad will, our forcing a trade war on the world and our abandoning our friends and allies?
.

I could go on with many more examples. The point is that Trump and his greedy billionaire power grabbing dictator wannabes and his lying, traitorous ideological sycophants are doing everything they can to destroy our strength, our leadership, our good will and our freedom.

Who will benefit from our self-destruction?
.

Here’s another question, one that you won’t like if you aren’t speaking out against these attacks on our country. It’s the one that our children and grandchildren will be asking you and me in the years to come, as the ashes from our self-immolation rain down on them.

What did you do to prevent this catastrophe?
.
One More Category

Trump is offered and may receive a “gift” of a $400 million airplane.

Get serious: Nobody gives $400 million like this and expects nothing in return. It is not a gift. It is a quid with an as yet unnamed pro quo. What do the Qataris want?

This “gift,” if retrofitted to the performance, communications and security measures required for it to be used as Air Force 1, will cost we taxpayers between $600 – 900 million.

Plus, Trump has bullied our military into giving him his narcissistic “big, beautiful” military parade down Pennsylvania Avenue. It will include 6,000 troops, 50 fighter jets and bombers and 150 military vehicles, including tanks that will destroy the pavement. It will cost you and me at least $45 million dollars. That doesn’t count the cost to restore Pennsylvania Avenue.

Obviously, there is no need to ask who benefits from these “mine’s bigger than yours” over-indulgences. Makes me wonder if there are limits to infantile behavior. Scratch that. Obviously, there isn’t.

Li’l Fun – Just To Lighten Up A Bit

This is to the tune of Harry Belafonte’s version of Matilda. Here it is karaoke style so you can sing along.

               Orange Trumpy
  • 1.
  • He say dey Argentina gang bangs.
  • Got no evidence of such t’ings.
  • Orange Trumpy, de courts do slap down, he jus’ ain’ no big king.
  • Everybody!
  • .
  • Chorus
  • Orange Trumpy (grifting with the crypto)
  • Orange Trumpy (trade apocalypto)
  • Orange Trumpy he take de money and run Mar-a-Lago.
  • 2.
  • He say we subsidize Canada.
  • Dumped a tariff on ’em, uh-huh.
  • Dey fight back and send de message to Trump, “Go screw ya.”
  • 3.
  • Walmart say de prices get big.
  • Tariffs make sick economy pig.
  • Moody’s does downgrade of U.S., is no longer safe gig.
  • 4.
  • Orange Trumpy say he don’ really know
  • If defend Constitution’s his show.
  • Orange Trumpy ignore court orders and kidnap your neighbor.
  • 5.
  • Orange Trumpy don’ care none ’bout your health
  • Just as long as he increase his wealth.
  • He say Granny jus’ go die and let cancer kill kids.
  • 6.
  • He say burn books that ain’t enough White.
  • Fire librarians just out of spite.
  • Orange Trumpy, he can’t read nothin’ and wants you be dumb, too.
  • 7.
  • Orange Trumpy sell dinner access, is plain,
  • Billionaires try to get in his brain.
  • But Orange Trumpy, dementia makes him don’ know nuthin’ no more.
  • Everybody!
  • .
  • Chorus 2
  • Orange Trumpy, sucking cash and airplanes.
  • Orange Trumpy, griftin’ wid just half brain.
  • Orange Trumpy, he take de money and run Mar-a-Lago.
  • Finally, The Scantron Crisis
  • Donald Trump has decreed that little girls may have only 2 dolls and 5 pencils (Merry Christmas!). Got me to wondering if pencils are still used in schools. Turns out they are, primarily for Scantron answer sheets.
  • But what’s a kid to do while taking her 5th grade math test, Mr. Pencil President, when her pencil points break or they aren’t sharp enough? Can you negotiate a deal for her? Your daddy got you test score deals at The Wharton School, right?
Countdown to November 3, 2026
Mid-Term Election

Countdown Timer

Goes fast, doesn’t it?

Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

Thanks!

The Fine Print:

  1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not necessarily mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
  2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
  3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine, but I do wish that I could blame someone else. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
  5. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.
  6. Comments offered by readers, whether in agreement with my opinions or opposing, are encouraged and greatly appreciated. All are reviewed prior to going live. I reserve the right to edit for readability, punctuation, typos, voluntary idiocy and to exclude those I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2025 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Downhill


POST 1177

Deterioration

During an ABC interview our president boldly and repeatedly embarrassed himself by claiming that Kilmar Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 terrorist gang member. Trump tried to prove it by showing a picture of Mr. Garcia’s left hand with “MS13” tattooed on his knuckles.

But here’s the Snopes fact check article that exposes Trump’s claim as bunk. They wrote,

While publicly available evidence confirmed the image shared by Trump was authentic in origin, it also confirmed the image had been altered to insert the text “MS-13” above the actual tattoos — in effect annotating them. There was no clear evidence the symbols on Abrego Garcia’s fingers proved an affiliation with MS-13. [emphasis mine]

Okay, so Trump lied. No breaking news there.

A couple weeks ago Trump declared that, “The price of eggs went down 92%.” But there is no place in the United States where the price of eggs went down 92%. Trump lied again, a fact based right here on Earth 1.

The egg lie is pointless. It’s stupid. The other lie has enormous impact, not just on Mr. Garcia, who remains in an El Salvador gulag, but on our foundational principle of the rule of law and, consequently, on all of us.

If Trump believes that the false things he says are true, then instead of his being dishonest, he would be delusional, mentally separated from reality, cognitively dysfunctional.

Going downhill.

The Garcia and the egg lies are just a couple of the most recent demonstrations of what makes Trump the poster boy for the 25th Amendment.

From Robert Reich’s post, Don’t Call Them “Potential Conflicts of Interest. They’re Corruption:

Words matter. When the media points out Trump’s “potential conflicts of interest,” as it has in recent days when describing Trump’s growing crypto enterprise, it doesn’t come close to telling the public what’s really going on — unprecedented paybacks and self-dealing by the president of the United States, using his office to make billions.

The correct word is corruption. [emphasis original]

Trump holds a private dinner at the White House for major speculators who purchase his new cryptocurrency, earning him and his allies $900,000 in trading fees in just under two days. One senator calls this “the most brazenly corrupt thing a president has ever done.”

Further downhill.

Now there’s the $480 million jet bribe.

During his first term there was nonstop talk about Trump’s obvious emoluments violations that constantly attended him like water swirling in a toilet. The Republican controlled Congress let Trump get away with his grift, just as this Congress sits spinelessly watching his grift today.

It looks like there is little Trump criminality that is low enough to motivate Republican legislators to honor their oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution.

Like I said: Downhill.

From Michael Cohen’s post, This Ain’t the Godfather, Morons**, explaining why so many Americans support this mob boss:

” . . . in a country broken by inequality, fear, and rage, people want to believe in someone who promises to punish the people they blame for their pain.”

“With Trump back in office, it’s no longer an act; it’s a goddamn sequel. But this time, he’s not just throwing tantrums on Twitter. He’s purging government agencies, pardoning his goons, and rewriting the rules to protect himself. This is mob rule in a democracy’s clothing.”

“America loves an outlaw. We romanticize the antihero. But we forget the lesson every one of those gangster stories teaches us: it always ends in blood. In betrayal. In regret.”

Not-So-Fun Facts

Not-So-Fun Fact #1:

Trump’s repugnant, organizationally illiterate, DUI Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, has announced that he is firing 20% of our flag officers (generals and admirals). They’re the guys with long experience and with the knowledge and good judgement that take decades to accumulate. They’re the folks who know national defense and who live the concepts of integrity and accountability. Hegseth is dumping 20% of these knowledge and expertise resources.

He’s also announced plans to eliminate legacy weapons and equipment programs. He’s said little about what these are.

Wait: He’s dumping our smart people and a bunch of our munitions. Who in the world might benefit from us hobbling ourselves like that?

Not-So-Fun Fact #2:

Musk and Trump have conspired to give worldwide dominance of internet services to Musk’s Starlink. Other than the tsunami of money for Musk, it’s a grab for worldwide dominance of AI. How do you feel about putting Musk in charge of everything, including your private, personal information and whatever you’re thinking and saying?

Plus, Musk warns us, the Sun is expanding and will affect and then eat Earth in 5 billion years. Musk realized as a child the threat we face and wants to go to Mars pronto. After all, we only have billions (with a “B”) of years until doomsday. There’s too much to unpack here, so read Heather Cox Richardson’s piece from last Wednesday.

Like I said: Downhill.

Thinking Beyond The Current Tweak To Your Sensibilities

As Trump slides down the mental acuity and corruption sewer pipe we are left with a terrible reality. Were Trump to leave office before January 20, 2029, J.D. Vance would move into the Oval Office. That’s actually as bad as Trump staying there, because Vance is just as comfortable as Trump is with dishonesty and betrayal of the Constitution and our laws. Worse, he’s cunning, slimy and indebted to a bunch of mega-billionaire Project 2025 types (read: greedy billionaire bastards) who paved his way to the vice-presidency on a highway of greenbacks. What could possibly go wrong?

Also from Robert Reich:

Today the great divide is not between left and right. It’s between democracy and oligarchy. [emphasis original]

He’s right, but most people don’t know what oligarchy is. Instead, try this when you speak of the threat we face:

Today the great divide is not between left and right. It’s between democracy and greedy billionaire dictator wannabes. – JA

Reich also said,

Unlike income or wealth, power is a zero-sum game. The more of it at the top, the less of it anywhere else.

He’s right. It’s time we stopped our downhill slide and started us and our country back to becoming once again the shining city on the hill.

__________________________________________

* Trump remains the undisputed champion of deceit. They even track Trump’s mendacity in Australia. From Independent Australia’s Victoria Fielding in her post, Donald Trump is the world’s most audacious liar:

Trump’s entire political career has been one lie after the other — a fire hydrant of small, medium-sized and huge lies, lies told to hide other lies, lies told to confuse, to attack, to undermine, to pretend he is something he’s not, to cover up for what he’s done, to justify the unjustifiable, to shirk responsibility, to avoid consequences, to confuse people about what is true, to make them stop trying to tell the difference between lies and reality.

** “Morons” refers to Americans who blindly follow and support Trump.

Countdown to November 3, 2026
Mid-Term Election

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The Fine Print:

  1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not necessarily mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
  2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
  3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine, but I do wish that I could blame someone else. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
  5. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.
  6. Comments offered by readers, whether in agreement with my opinions or opposing, are encouraged and greatly appreciated. All are reviewed prior to going live. I reserve the right to edit for readability, punctuation, typos, voluntary idiocy and to exclude those I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2025 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Dream Sequence v2.0 – For All Mothers


POST 1176

First The Big Bad News

Yes, the Army has reported that there will be parade of explosive masculine military hardware and personnel to help Trump deal with his small genital low self-esteem. But that’s not the big, bad thing I’m focusing on in this dense forest of big, bad things.

I heard yet another person, hateful of Trump, proclaim that they don’t want Trump to have any wins, so he hopes that our economy crashes. We all get the no wins intention, but wishing disaster for our country is quite a different thing. The point is that Trump and his army of treasonous, poison biting extremists have wound our national spring so tight that patriotic Americans are actually cheering for our downfall.

It’s easy to succumb to extreme emotion, but this is a time to keep our wits about us. Cheer for Trump’s downfall, not that of our country.

The Dream

At 8:00AM on March 16, 2022 I watched the broadcast of President Zelenskyy addressing the U.S. Congress, the American people and the world. His words were brilliant and compelling. His message was clear and unmistakable. And the fierce resolve of his people, even in those dark days, was reflected in his bearing, plain for all to see.

Four days later I awoke from a dream sequence and posted it here. That dream hasn’t come true and in the intervening years many lies have been told, many people have died and now great manipulation is afoot. It’s time to update the dream.

________________________________________________

The regular army of Ukraine plus many thousands of volunteer citizen soldiers have inflicted enormous damage to President Vladimir Putin’s vaunted military forces. Many thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed and at least twice as many have been wounded and sent home. Many of their tanks, troop carriers, aircraft and artillery pieces have been destroyed and the Russian army is, at times, in retreat, its myth of superior military might destroyed.

The North Koreans and Chinese have dumped thousands of their soldiers into this meat grinder of men. Iran has given Putin missiles with which to destroy Ukrainian infrastructure and to kill women and children as they sleep.

President Zelenskyy is taking to the airwaves to address President Putin and President Trump. The whole world is watching, holding its breath. First he speaks fluently in Russian from his office, with only the Ukrainian flag behind him. He is wearing an olive green tee shirt, a month of dark beard and his eyes are bloodshot, yet rock steady into the camera.

President Putin, it is time for us to end this war.

Clearly, you began it with the expectation that your military would roll over my country in just a few days; that you could eliminate our parliament and me and install a puppet regime that would be your servant; that the world would stand by and watch as you once again invade a sovereign nation and commit unspeakable crimes against humanity, including kidnapping thousands of our children. Only the kidnapping happened. Yours is a weak, blustering imitation of what the Soviet Union once was and you know that by now. We will not allow you to replicate it by destroying our country.

You did not count on the pride, the resolve and the unyielding patriotism of the Ukrainian people. You did not expect our fierce insistence upon our sovereignty, our democracy and our freedom. And you did not understand that the fire of freedom that burns in the hearts of people everywhere would cause them to reach out to support the Ukrainian people and punish Russia. Perhaps by now, after over 3 years of death and frustration, you are beginning to see the truth.

We will not bend. We will not be beaten. We will prevail. So, I am now giving you one chance to end this with some of your military still intact. If you refuse this offer we will continue to destroy your armies.

Here are my non-negotiable terms:

1. All Russian military personnel, army, navy, air forces and missile command, will immediately cease fire.

2. All Russian military personnel will immediately withdraw from all Ukrainian lands that were sovereign to Ukraine prior to the Russian invasion of Crimea on February 20, 2014, as well as all Ukrainian waters.

3. You will not interfere with any Ukrainians repatriating to our country.

4. You will return to Ukraine all Ukrainians whom you kidnapped or took as prisoners.

5. You will immediately pay for your indiscriminate bombardment of our civilians, our cities, our infrastructure and our lands the sum of $2 trillion dollars in U.S. funds as reparations for the destruction you have caused my people and my country. It grieves us that we cannot get reparations from you that could bring back our soldiers, our grand parents and our little children you have killed.

The entire world wants you to accept these terms, Mr. Putin, including over 140 million Russian people. They don’t want this horrible war any more than any freedom loving people would. That’s why you must stop the killing and suffering and end the morbid spectacle of thousands of body bags containing dead Russian boys being sent back to Russia and the awful sound of their wailing, grieving mothers.

This offer will expire in three days. Take it. Save what you can from this misbegotten adventure and Europe will once again be at peace.

The world awaits your reply.

President Zelinskyy turns to a second camera and continues in accented but clear English.

President Trump, you have sought to create a peace, but have done so by arm twisting the Ukrainian people to falsely accept responsibility for starting this awful war. You have insisted that we Ukrainians must accept defeat and give much of our beloved Ukraine to President Putin. You have curtailed U.S. shipments of munitions that would have supported our men and women of the Ukrainian army and you have shut down our access to satellite imagery. We understand that this is your standard negotiating technique – to do grave damage and then “negotiate” relief. Your cruelty, however, will not work against us.

You seek to force us to give up our mineral wealth, claiming it as repayment for past U.S. support of Ukraine. That support was given freely and with no stated or unstated demands or expectations of payment.

The United States did not seek such payments from Germany following WW I, nor from the United Kingdom, Germany or Japan following WW II, nor from South Korea following its war for freedom. The U.S. has never sought to exploit another country in such a way, be they ally or adversary. Yet now you try to do so like a thief holding hostages. Very well. The world can see what you are doing both to my people and to the esteem of the United States.

I have recently signed an agreement with your country, although I did so with much regret. Its terms give the U.S. preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals and natural resources licenses. In return, under this agreement the U.S. will provide financial and military assistance to Ukraine to help my country rebuild after the war. One can only wonder what assistance will be forthcoming, given your mercurial nature and no specificity about your assistance, as my citizens are left in the squalor created by Mr. Putin. President Trump, what will you do for my people then?

________________________________________________

Since the original dream, little has changed except the body count and the end of U.S. military support for Ukraine.

America and the rest of the free world have given much and European nations continue to give to Ukraine to help them to succeed, even as the U.S. retreats into self-inflicted embarrassment. Perhaps one day President Zelenskyy will be able to deliver my dream speech so that Ukrainian and Russian mothers will no longer have this awful reason to grieve.

Be sure to read the post from Ukrainian journalist Illia Ponomarenko provided by Meidas+. Scroll just past the picture for insight into today’s Ukraine.

And Finally,

Da Pope, from The Onion, of course

Countdown Timer
To The November 3, 2026
Mid-Term Election

Goes fast, doesn’t it?

Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) It’s going to take ALL OF US to get the job done.

And add your comments below to help us all to be better informed.

Thanks!

The Fine Print:

  1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not necessarily mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
  2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
  3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine, but I do wish that I could blame someone else. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
  5. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.
  6. Comments offered by readers, whether in agreement with my opinions or opposing, are encouraged and greatly appreciated. All are reviewed prior to going live. I reserve the right to edit for readability, punctuation, typos, voluntary idiocy and to exclude those I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2025 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

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