21st Century

Stand a Post – 1


POST 1140

President Biden’s Farewell

“Oligarchs.”

President Biden said, “Oligarchs.”

Biden has spent 50 years protecting and defending this bold experiment, this idea of the rule of law, of rule by the people. Now he calls to us with a warning about what is so plain to see, that our country is well down the path to abandoning our democracy and turning it over to a group of ultra-wealthy oligarch wannabees and to a power hungry cruel despot wannabe.

At the edge of his last days in public office, Biden appealed to us, saying,

“I still believe in the idea for which this nation stands, a nation where the strength of our institutions and the character of our people matter and must endure. Now it’s your turn to stand guard. May you all be the keeper of the flame. May you keep the faith. I love America. You love it, too.”
.

Watch his address. Listen to his warning. The dreadful dangers are real. They are an existential threat to our country and they have the potential of being an existential threat to each and every one of us. As he said, “Now it’s your turn to stand guard.”

So, I offer to you this metaphor from the barricades, absent any hyperbole:

It’s time for you and I and all of us to
grab a rhetorical activist weapon and stand a post.
.

Thank you for stepping up to serve.

REBEL!

.  .  .  against the billionaire tyranny.

Imagine

Biden’s accomplishments for the American people are largely ignored now and his favorability ratings are quite poor. But imagine how things will look to our children and grandchildren 30 years from now.

Roy is a carpenter building houses for the last of our homeless. He’s done well by doing good, so he grabs a beer in the kitchen and drops into a chair. He doesn’t know why, but he begins to think in a way he had not before, largely because he had been quite busy doing the basic blocking and tackling of everyday life. But on this day, for reasons he cannot explain, he gets to thinking about what has happened. He turns to his wife.

“You know, this really has been great most of the time. I have a good job that pays a good wage. We live well, much better, in fact, than our parents did. And this all started because of the programs Joe Biden put in place all those years ago, including his support of unions.

“We got internet service way out here because of Biden’s program. We have good healthcare and our country is safe, in part because we’re making those little chips here instead of buying them from China. That bridge over the river finally got rebuilt and we can afford to send both of our kids to college without leaving them with a pile of debt. Plus your mom’s still alive because she didn’t get Covid. That’s because Biden put together the system that delivered a vaccine to her arm and that protected her.

“I didn’t think much of Biden when he was president, so I’m surprised to say that now he’s looking like he was a really good one.”

That self-reflection only happens if we stop the people who want to bring down our country, this while sitting on their piles of money that they took from us.

So, I offer to you this metaphor from the barricades, absent any hyperbole:

It’s time for you and I and all of us to
grab a rhetorical, activist weapon and stand a post.
.

Thank you for stepping up to serve.

REBEL!

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.

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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. 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.

Perception Deception


POST 1138

Update From the Institute for the Destruction of Intelligence, Opportunity, Trust and Self-rule (“IDIOTS”)

Trump wants you to perceive the wonderful wonderfulness of his you’ve-never-seen-anything-like-this-before, the-best-in-the-world, never-done-before, only-I promises, so, he’s declared all sorts of bone headed things that will begin on “day-one.”

On day-one, says Trump, he’ll begin an absurd number of over-the-top actions, including Gestapo style raids to snatch and grab 11 million people (or is it 20 million?) who look like they might not be in this country legally. The “looks like” part means they look Hispanic or just non-European to ignorant, untrained officials – like Trump. Inflation will soar and eggs and lettuce will become really expensive. Pay no attention to the illegal profiling and wanton cruelty.

From Eugene Robinson:

It is undeniably true that the southern border is a mess and the whole U.S. immigration system is dysfunctional. This has been the case for decades, under Democratic and Republican presidents. The solution has also been obvious for decades: We need comprehensive reform that secures the border; provides viable pathways for legal immigration; offers asylum to those seen as legitimately fleeing oppression or life-threatening violence; provides legal status to the “dreamers,” who were brought here as children and know no other country; and acknowledges the reality that uprooting and expelling an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants, almost all of them leading productive lives, would be an unrealistic exercise in national self-harm.

Also on day-one he will not only re-authorize the “make rich guys and corporations richer” tax fraud, he will almost certainly propose additional tax breaks for unthinkably rich guys. He will authorize the destruction of regulations that cost corporations a few bucks but which protect We The People. Perhaps the Cuyahoga River will once again ignite and Los Angeles air will once again become unbreathe-able, even after the fires are gone. Deregulation will be the ultimate iteration of Reagan’s supply side fraud that blatantly impoverished We The People.

Another day-one proclamation will be signed ostentatiously, like all the rest, in extra bold Sharpie. This one will be to cancel all Biden policies in a first step to erase Biden from U.S. history, just as Trump tried to do in his first term to Obama’s legacy. “Only I” must have all the spotlight all the time, no matter the cost to our nation. Chips and Science Act? Inflation Reduction Act? Infrastructure Act? They don’t have Trump’s name on them, so Trump will carve Biden’s successes into flush-able chunks that won’t make it into history books. All history will start with Trump.

Of course, his Inflation Maximization policy that includes brain-free tariffs will be triggered by bold Sharpie on day-one, too.  Not only will eggs and lettuce become really expensive, so will parts for your car, TVs, clothing – pretty much everything. When it hits, think about this as the inflation people hated before the election, now becoming far worse because they voted for it.

Whether his healthcare moron is JFK, Jr. or some other brain-free suck up, Trump will encourage an assault against medicines and medical practices that protect We The People. Make Preventable Death Great Again!

From David Corn of Mother Jones, Democrats, Don’t Waste This Opportunity, November 22, 2024:


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

Who Will Sound the Alarm?


POST 1136

Late Addition BSO Update!

In his so-called press conference yesterday, Trump once again rattled his sabre, saying that he won’t rule out military force to take back the Panama Canal, seize Greenland and force Canada to become our 51st state.

And the reporters at the press conference and elsewhere stared fixedly into that sun, blind to what is happening around them.
.

His threats are today’s BSO – bright shiny object – to distract us from whatever nefarious, criminal or unconstitutional act he doesn’t want us to see. Too many are taking the bait. We need everyone to stop reacting to his manufactured chaos. Pay attention to what actually matters, what is actually happening.

Like that his threats toward Panama, Greenland and Canada are actually threats that undermine NATO.

The Value of Idiocy

Recently Trump spoke at the Turning Point AmericaFest and said we’re going to take back the Panama Canal. That came as a big surprise to the people of Panama who own it. Should Trump attempt to grab it, that would be an illegal invasion, a violation of territorial integrity and national sovereignty, much the same as Putin grabbing the Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and the Donbas in 2022.

He also reiterated that he wants Greenland, which the Danes assure us is not for sale. Plus he wants to make Canada our 51st state. I have friends in Canada and they have assured me that they like their maple leaf flag and their relative freedom from mass shootings. They’re quite satisfied being Canadians. They don’t need Trump dealing with them as though they are pawns in a real estate deal.

Here are a few reasons Trump would say such idiotic things – check all that apply.

Ο  It gets him the constant attention that he craves, an indispensable for life to him, much like air to the rest of us. He has no need for his mouth dribblings to make sense.

Ο  It’s catnip for his over-testosteroned followers and keeps them dumbed-down so they’ll continue to cheer his every dribbling.

Ο  He’s too ignorant to realize the implications of saying such stupid things.

Ο  He keeps the chaos rolling on, which keeps opponents off balance.*

Fortunately for Trump’s galactic narcissism, he’s not shackled by the limits of reality or his promiscuity with stupid.

With his idiocies like these and more, his Cabinet pics of likely felons and will-never-be-ready-for-a-serious-post fools, he continues to live in our brains rent-free. I say, “Break the glass to ring the alarm and evict the bastard.” Let’s talk about We The People instead. Who will sound that alarm?

  • A Coming Comeuppance

    People are reacting with their feet to far right extremism.

OB/GYNs are leaving Red states so they can practice medicine, be true to their Hippocratic Oath and not be thrown into prison. They and other docs and nurses are vacating stifling Red states and leaving healthcare deserts in their wake.

Women who are miscarrying and don’t want to bleed out in a parking lot are saying good-bye to Red states to avoid preventable death.

School teachers who want to teach history, not a revisionist, pablum, self-flattery version of it, are saying good-bye to Red states, leaving teaching voids.

Parents are grabbing their kids and moving to where their young will get a good education and where there are books on the library shelves. Many are moving to states with sensible gun safety laws, hoping their kids won’t be gunned down in school.

Have a look at Sheila Markin’s exploration of this nascent migration in her recent piece, How MAGA Extremism Helps Blue States. It will take a while for Red eyes to see the reality, but Red states are going to pay a price for their assaults on freedom and reality. Besides, Trump Is About to Betray His Rural Supporters.

Do you thrill to the sight of MAGA self-destructing? Do you pulse red, white and blue when bullies get kicked in the shins? Does your sense of balance solidify when what went around, comes around? Then read Prof. Heather Cox Richardson’s December 27 piece and watch Steve Schmidt’s piece exposing Musk and Ramaswamy for what they are.

If masochism is your thing, read Dan Friedman’s reveal, Hero of 2024: Richard M. Nixon. You’ll gain a fresh perspective on our massively contorted Supreme Court. It appears that Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is now sounding the alarm about our extremist Supreme Court. Who’s listening?

Fighting Words
What has been said or whispered about for years is now fully in the open. People with enormous piles of money (like Musk, Thiel and more of the South Africans and so-called Christian Nationalists) are scheming to bring apartheid here. They are now blatantly demanding to control the world. Every one of them is a racist and xenophobe, believing they are superior, the ones designed to rule over all others.
.
We go about our ordinary, non-oligarchic lives in blissful ignorance of the proposed destruction of our republic, even as our elected leaders either succumb to whatever trifles buy their acquiescence, or they act to promote the whims of the monied bullies because they cannot or will not see what is before their eyes.
.
We have seen this picture before and we know what will happen in a Fourth Reich, the Musk-Trump Führer-ship. It will happen unless we American frogs suddenly realize that we are being boiled in what will have become a militarized state.
.
Who are the American leaders who see what is happening and who have what it takes to sound the alarm so that they wake up all we boiling frogs? I don’t mean bloggers as leaders. We have plenty of flapping lips. I mean political/social/cultural people with some power and who can speak bedrock-shakingly with a thunder that wakes the sleeping? Where is the proper condemnation of the bullies. Where is the needed primal scream heard ‘round the world?
.
Which brings us to a related point.
.
We officially abandoned accountability when Ford pardoned Nixon for any and all crimes he may have committed. Effectively, Ford said out loud that if you’re rich enough or high enough in the power structure that you can get away with all sorts of crimes. Now the Supreme Court has formally cemented that slap in the face to the rule of law into national policy so that Trump really can shoot someone on 5th Avenue and suffer no consequences.
.
Trump is escaping accountability for having incited an insurrection against the United States and for stealing highly classified documents and showing them (or selling them) to whoever he wants to suck up to or who he wants to suck up to him. His money, plus the money he’s grifted from his ignorant, easy to manipulate followers, has bought him out of accountability for his crimes – yet again.
.

Thought experiment: What would have happened if Obama had incited an insurrection or stolen classified documents? Would 6 Supreme Court justices have granted him immunity and a Get Out Of Jail Free card? Would Republicans go all crickets about such obvious crimes? Bear in mind that Obama was and still is Black. And a Democrat. And he still ridicules Trump. Compare and contrast this iteration of insanity with the one that protects Trump from accountability. For extra credit, propose a world in which Elon Musk is investigated by the IRS and the SEC, the same agency which sat on its hands in the 2008-2009 financial meltdown.

If you are horrified, watch Steve Schmidt’s discussion with Paul Reickhoff. You’ll feel worse.
I ask again: Who will sound the alarm?
.
The election of Trump and the rise of Musk tell us that we have outrun the fear of what nearly destroyed the world. We have outrun the wisdom of those who rebuilt it. We can’t remember — or at least not enough of us can.
Our democracy only functions if those who seek high office have at least a rudimentary sense of honor. Now that Trump has run his last presidential race, the nation must insist that the Republican Party relearn what honor means.

* Watch John McCain’s gracious and patriotic concession speech of 2008 (just 4:45) for the quintessential model of driving unity and community.

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 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. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
  5. 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.
  6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

Click me

JA


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

January 6 Special


POST 1135

From Adam Kinzinger’s Country First post today, The Truth About January 6th – Never Forget:

Sadly, the incoming administration and their allies have tried to normalize the events of January 6, 2021, and distort the truth.  Here’s the truth, 4 years ago, Donald Trump incited a Mob that marched to the United States Capitol, a symbol of our democracy, and our nation faced an unprecedented attack.

1. The Mob attempted to stop the certification of a free and fair election almost leading to a Constitutional Crisis.

2. The Mob desecrated the United States Capitol.

3. Members of The Mob assaulted the Men and Women of the Capitol Hill Police and DC Metropolitan Police.

4. The Core of our Democracy was shaken by a sitting President who was too small to admit his defeat.

That last point is the key to all. Trump is too small to admit his defeat, too small to admit anything that doesn’t support his grandiose fantasies about himself – and for him, it’s all about himself. He doesn’t care a bit – it never enters his small mind at all – who gets hurt or killed, like our DC and Capitol Police, as he protects and defends only his fragility.

Trump declares that the January 6 felons who attacked and attempted to bring our republic crashing down, the ones who openly and vaingloriously tried to end our democracy and the rule of law, are patriots. That’s sufficient example of his smallness, his weakness and his cowardice.

And yet in the face of his many public lies about that day, over 77 million Americans voted for this mental and moral cripple. It turns out that millions love our cowboy fantasies.

The American cowboy is a White guy (always White and always a guy) who wants nothing more from the government than to be left alone. He’s tough and he’s rugged. He’s a stand alone individual with a Dresden flag – “Don’t tread on me” – tattooed on his body, inscribed on his gun belt and painted on his pickup truck. His woman is at home cooking dinner, tending the children, and patiently waiting to be his submissive play toy. He’s a patriarch. And first and foremost, he’s a tough guy.

He loved Sarah Palin chanting “Drill, baby, drill” as though it was a message from God, although truth be told – and it is, sometimes – no god directed men (women don’t count) to impoverish and poison themselves. He loves to hear Trump chanting”Drill, baby, drill.” It makes him feel proud and powerful. Plus, cowboy knows that global warming is a hoax, so he has no concerns for his children being killed in a hurricane, a flood, a tornado or a monster fire. Drill, baby, drill.

These Americans like feeling proud and powerful. They’re saps for chest pounding.

We’re a highly educated society, yet so many willingly surrender their belief in reality, science and learning, exchanging it mindlessly for preposterous conspiracy fantasies. Think: Pizzagate. That attempted murderer pounded his chest all the way from North Carolina to shoot up a pizza shop in DC. Very proud. Very powerful.

They cheer murderers like Kyle Rittenhouse, who armed up and went to Kenosha to fight the riot there. He killed two, wounded one and was somehow acquitted. They cheered George Zimmerman who killed Trayvon Martin for the outrage of walking outside while Black. He, too, was acquitted because he “stood his ground” against a teen armed with Skittles and a Diet Coke. These perps, too, were very powerful and pounded their chests proudly.

Now Luigi Mangione, the highly educated son of wealthy parents, allegedly murdered the UnitedHealthCare CEO in New York He is being cheered. A group calling itself “The December 4th Legal Committee” has raised over $200,000 online for his legal defense with implications that he is some kind of hero. Rumors have it that contributors to the fund are very proud and powerful.

Each of these killers is a very proud and powerful American with a well-pounded chest. Real cowboys.

Killings are a great American sport. They’re riveting entertainment for a few hours.

When 20 first graders and six teachers and staff were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School, we were shocked. Then we did nothing to prevent the next massacre of children. That takes some kind of pride and power.

That’s how we handled Columbine, too, and all the rest, including those done in churches, supermarkets and at the Las Vegas concert, where 58 people were killed and over 500 injured. Each murder is just a temporary diversion, maybe even a Walter Mitty fantasy for these American desperados, which some contemplated as they fondled their guns. We’re tough and we’re rugged, they tell us. Don’t tread on them.

They like things simple out there on the prairie. So many things are far more complex than they like. They  have no need for complexities or nuance and they reject elites who they think talk down to them. So they keep it simple and vote for whoever makes them feel proud and powerful. It’s really that simple.

_________________________________________

Here we are four years later on another January 6 and over-proud Americans who assaulted cops and the Capitol Building are still proclaiming that they are the true patriots, that the DC and Capitol police they claim to support didn’t get attacked, injured or killed, that January 6 was a day full of love and that packing heat is a sign of a real American.

Here we are on this anniversary of an insurrection, a traitorous act against our own country. Proudly ignorant Americans have been easily manipulated into voting for a felon, a retrograde masquerading as a cowboy. It’s no problem that he’s a phony rugged guy, who wants to lie, grift. break laws and have only fawning cowards around him. Plus he wants absolute, never ending power. The mindless simplicity of his message has tricked American cowboys and others and given a reckless felon the reins of power, including the nuclear codes.

Welcome to the anniversary of January 6, 2021, an insurrection triggered by a far too small man; a day which should live in infamy, but instead lives in glory for far too many Americans.

“After the rioting and the mayhem, a majority of Republican members of Congress still voted to overturn the election. Still. 147 members of Congress — many of whom are still in office today. Insurrectionists, too. Albeit in suits and ties.” [emphasis original]

– Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) , A horrific anniversary, January 6, 2025

“And we should commit to remembering Jan. 6, 2021, every year. To remember it as a day when our democracy was put to the test and prevailed. To remember that democracy — even in America — is never guaranteed.”

– President Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States, January 6, 2025

 

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 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. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
  5. 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.
  6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

Click me

JA


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

The Light


POST 1133

Tree of Life Synagogue

Joe Biden wrote two months ago, on the sixth anniversary of that awful mass murder,

“.  .  . a gunman armed with an AR-15, multiple handguns, and hate in his heart, opened fire and killed 11 Jewish worshippers [sic] and wounded six more, in the deadliest act of Antisemitism in our history. It shattered families, pierced the heart of the Jewish community, and struck the soul of our nation.”

There wasn’t much light to be seen on that terrible October day in 2018.

Four days ago on Christmas morning, just hours prior to lighting the first candle of Hanukkah, Tree of Life sent this:

This week, our community will recount a powerful story: a story of courage, unity and the triumph of hope over adversity, of light over darkness.

Each night, as we light another candle, we honor the miracle of the oil that lasted eight days. We tell the story of the Maccabees’ unwavering bravery in the face of insurmountable odds. Their strength to stand up, rebuild and protect what was sacred has inspired generations—that same courage fuels our work at The Tree of Life as we envision a world where hope, kindness and resilience prevail.

With each candle, may we all remember that Hanukkah calls us not only to be the light but to spread it. By coming together, we amplify the brightness of hope, illuminating a future where all can thrive in safety and peace.

One of our challenges today is not just that we don’t agree on much; it’s that we all think we’re right. So, intransigent, inflammable, indignant and ignorant ways are often the norm. Facts need not intrude on this spectacle of craziness and sometimes self-justified cruelty. Welcome to 21st century America, land of victims who are victimizing.

That makes the job of each American – to be and to spread the light – much more difficult. And I am certain that you see clearly the enormous need for light in this democracy threatened by powerful, corrupt people intent on tearing down all we hold dear. That means that each of us has to go beyond our feelings of shock, hopelessness and fear and get up, find our own way to the light, likely alongside others, and do what needs to be done.

We have an owners manual that gives us direction. It is the Constitution. We have reference materials, like the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers and 248 years of the writings of many wise people. To be fair, we also have writings from some wretched fools, so be careful in your selection. Pull up a wooden chair at the library table. Read, learn and follow the instructions.

And recognize that the incoming administration has pledged to burn our owners manual and reference materials. In years past labels like “traitor” would have been pasted on such people with Republicans doing most of the labeling and pasting. Republicans, please explain to all of us why burning down our republic is now somehow acceptable.

Sadly, many no longer seem to have what used to be called common sense or the humility to be ashamed of themselves. Bluster and lack of accountability have taken their places and they have a sky high opinion of their opinions.

Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing,
once all other possibilities have been exhausted.
  • – commonly attributed to Winston Churchill, but he never said that.
  • Sometimes Israeli Ambassador Abba Eban gets credit for some
  • variation of this statement. Had either of them
  • said this, he would have been right.

We have promoted so many other possibilities, most notably now the attempts to strong arm our democracy toward fascism by rich, cruel usurpers supported by angry, heavily armed citizens who fear their special place in our society is slipping away. So many practice various forms of discrimination and repression and more harm is promised. They’ll try any self-serving thing that crosses their corruptible minds.

Citizen screamers will always cling to their pompous anger and grievance. They honestly believe that there are those who are naturally superior to others (e.g. book banners/burners, immigrant haters, replacement theory whiners, patriarchy promoters, etc.) and that it is self-evident that those holding such a view are the superior ones. In reply, let us read together from page one our founding documents: “Nuh-uh.”

Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

– Mark Twain

We can wish for the lessons for doing right to be simpler, obvious to everyone and easier, but they are not and they won’t be. We’ve built an impassioned barrier, a self-constructed divide that makes us distrust one another and which dims the light from the shining city on the hill. Paraphrasing Ronald Reagan,

Mr./Mrs./Ms. America, tear down these walls!

When we do that we will have begun to end our violence toward one another. Until then, our primary job will have to be to counter our angry, violent fellow citizens, whether they’re the elected officials attacking our republic or others attacking Americans with threats and physical violence. We must do this before they hurt someone, like our immigrants now being threatened with family separation cruelty – again. There is enormous stubbornness in this violent country, so becoming the light will be difficult and will take a long time.

Be clear: We are at terrible risk right now and it’s going to take all of us to set things right, to turn up the light of the shining city on the hill.

There are glimmerings. The darkest day of the year is behind us and ever more daylight shines, a little more each day. And so our charge is not only “to be the light but to spread it.” That means stepping up and fighting the darkness that is trying to smother our nation. We must make incremental improvements every day.

It’s about the light. It’s always about the light.

_____________________________________

NOTE: No post this Wednesday

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 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. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
  5. 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.
  6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

Click me

JA

 


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

How We Fell Off the Sled – v 2.0


POST 1128

A short while back I wrote that We’ve Fallen Off The Sled because we really have been dumped from our metaphorical transportation to a more perfect union. I had a perfectly serviceable 9-point post detailing how we did that, but I’m quite sick of election postmortems (likely, you are, too), especially when all they do is point fingers and wring hands. So, I did the humane thing and shredded that post.

Still, having read analyses from pundits proved useful because it brought me to a blinding flash of the obvious:

The Democrats have been resting on their laurels for over 80 years!
.

There have been a few bright flashes during that long interregnum of idea famine, like Medicare and Medicaid, but those happened nearly 60 years ago. Biden did some FDR-worthy things with infrastructure, bringing back manufacturing and more. Then he proceeded to allow fellow Democrats to fail to wave their Party flag. They sat on their hands and let Republicans beat the snot out of them and their policies.

Where the hell is the Democrats’ fight? Where the hell are the Democrats at all? I believe you can find them with their butts on their laurels, basking in the glow of how right and good they are. But,

“Some American men feel the sun setting on them while reckoning others enjoy the warmth on their faces. And Democrats have left those people alone in the darkening shadows for a very long time.” Ira Leavitt, The Sound and Fury of American Antipathy

Why should those folks vote for Democrats?

The Republicans have been fighting against all of FDR’s programs and all other programs designed for the welfare of the American people for all this time. They’ve had a 50-year plan to eliminate all these policies at least since Saint Ronnie. The Democrats have no plan, not a 50-year plan nor a 50-state plan. They are nowhere. The Democrats quit trying 80 years ago. That is how we got Trump and his billionaire fascists and

That is how we fell off the sled!
.

We dumped ourselves off it.

What We’re Facing

A few years ago I was riding in the back seat of my favorite Uber driver’s car, engaged in a lively conversation, when he made a most stunning statement. I don’t remember his precise wording, but he invoked conspiracy craziness, saying that the Earth is flat, not round.  I asked where that came from, to which he replied that there was no proof that the Earth is round, or some such gibberish, and besides, it looked flat to him.

I casually mentioned orbital space flights, during which humans and machines have traveled around Earth in a circular pattern, not in a straight line or in a tight rectangular trajectory. He challenged that by saying that those flights could have been faked or that the astronauts were lying.

Let’s think for a moment about some the things that our science and reality deniers claim didn’t happen/were faked:

The moon landings

The assassination of President Kennedy

Elvis lives!

The Holocaust

The Sandy Hook murders

And, of course, there are the things that the deniers claim happened but actually didn’t, like the Pizzagate non-event. You may recall that in 2016 conspiracy loonies claimed that high level Democratic officials associated with the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign were running a sex trafficking operation from the basement beneath a pizza shop in DC. An especially excitable idiot came from North Carolina with his firearms to put an end to that operation. He fired several bullets through the floor of the pizza shop. The only problems were:

  1. That building has no basement, so there never was a pedophilia operation or anything else going on below the pizza shop.
  2. Had there been a basement occupied by young girls, the North Carolina vigilante idiot likely would have wounded or killed some of them.

Some conspiracy zealots still hold that there was a sex trafficking operation there. It’s the same perversion of reality – belief in what has been shown to be false – as my Uber guy who, when confronted with the observed fact of a round Earth, simply claims that the observations are lies. That is the perversion such people believe. Think: space lasers.

All of which brings us to the main questions (really just one stated in two ways):

  1. How did we get to the point of denying facts, science, learning and intelligence?
  2. How did we get to the point where it’s okay to defend absurdities with reality-free claims – sometimes called “alternative facts” – and insist that actual evidence is a pack of lies? (No, Trump did not have the largest inauguration crowd ever. PERIOD!)

John Kennedy declared that “College is America’s best friend,” which you can reasonably interpret to mean that education is a good thing. It appears that we’ve slipped away from that best friend and now seem to be embracing vacuous ignorance as a virtue. Some of us have decided to refuse to learn what has been known for hundreds of years, that the Earth is round.

That is what we’re facing: Denial of reality. And it shoves us off the sled time and again.

Such people are obstacles on the path to a better America. Democrats, often their favorite targets, are going to have to get their butts off their laurels and get in the game, the one challenging the notion of America, if things are to get better.

Finally

We’ve had a few weeks since the election of continuing shock, battling dizziness, hand-wringing, hopelessness, confusion, thinking about where to emigrate to, and collective self-pity. It’s time to do as the low cost psychotherapists advise: GET OVER IT!

In fact, it’s time to pick a path to support truth, justice and the American way. Being self-congratulatory nice guys will not help in the battle to overcome the manipulation, hatred and cruelty of the MAGAs. Patting ourselves on our purity-infused backs won’t defeat the cowardly Republicans peddling the destruction of our Constitution and our democracy.

Right now Trump and his band of marauding Mongols are planning the destruction of our republic (see: Project 2025), but thus far don’t have any power, so their only marching orders are (to paraphrase segregationist George Wallace), “Chaos today, chaos tomorrow, chaos forever.”

Once in office, if Trump can go after those he thinks said mean things about him, how long do you think it will be before he muzzles Dorothy, the small and meek – or you?

Now we’re facing a possible Secretary of Defense – i.e., the person in charge of keeping us safe in a very dangerous world – who, according to multiple reports, can’t keep his d**k in his pants, can’t keep a drink out of his mouth and can’t keep his hand out of the cash box.  That such a person is a serious candidate tells us plainly that we’ve fallen very, very far from the sled.

Right now is the time to show America a better path. Roll up your shirtsleeves and get to work, because the battle to save America is underway. Get back on the sled and

Rebel!

In fact, step up, like Messman Doris Miller.

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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 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. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
  5. 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.
  6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

Click me

JA


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

A Thought Experiment and Explanation


POST 1127
A Balancing Act

Everyone believes in freedom. Everyone wants it.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

You can read Jefferson’s “Liberty” (yes,he capitalized it) as “freedom.”

Let’s make the assumption that we believe in Jefferson’s declaration of equality and freedom and we endorse the expansion of his declaration from “all men” to include, at long last, all women, people of all races, religions, sexual orientation, economic condition – everyone. That claim contains a conflict that is a fundamental of our country.

All men may be created equal in some respects, as in their value as a human being, but neither Jefferson nor we believe that we all were all born with the same innate talents and abilities. Some have great physical talents like athletes and dancers, talents that the rest of us cannot match. Some have the capacity for great intelligence, like surgeons, physicists and philosophers. And some have an impressive talent for amassing money.

We are mimicking Les Miserables with our astounding level of wealth inequality. It is greater than in France in 1789 and greater than just before the Great Depression, as our great rich have amassed more wealth for themselves than the total wealth of over 90% of us. They have and are embracing life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but many are left to suffer, some in Dickensian poverty.

In other words, some have the great freedom that comes of great wealth and some have the greatly constricted freedom of just getting by or of abject poverty. Our system is based on an unequal distribution of freedom, this in spite of us all being “created equal” and having “unalienable Rights,” including “Liberty.”

What are we to do with this desire for both freedom and our claim of equality of all? We can level the playing field somewhat by taxing the wealthy and directing the proceeds to the common good, to things which will benefit everyone, including the poor, but that necessarily curtails the freedom of the rich. It’s a challenge that in this country goes back at least to post-Civil War times, when wealthy landowners objected to paying taxes designed to benefit the now-free former slaves with roads and schools. Set aside the moral implications of that statement and just recognize the very real conflict in the balance of equality and freedom.

Generally speaking, Democrats believe that the best thing is to do is to take some money from wealthy people and direct it to the common good, like education, healthcare, infrastructure, national defense and more. Republicans believe in freedom above all and they understandably decry government hands reaching for their wallets for anything other than national defense. Who’s right?

Of course, there’s more to consider in this thought experiment. Thom Hartmann has a fine piece explaining that crime isn’t caused so much by poverty as by wealth inequality. When people feel they’re being treated unfairly by a system that allows such extreme wealth and poverty at the same time, they react quite negatively. Were we to change the rules to achieve a more equitable economy, the logic goes, we would have less crime. It is unavoidable that such a modification would result in less freedom for some. Would we still be the “land of the free” if some were less free than before?

Trump and his coming Fourth Reich are way off the edge of the continuum in favor of ever-greater wealth for themselves and, of course, domination of everyone else. If you think the balance between freedom and equality (call it “equity” or “fairness’) belongs at a place other than off the freedom edge of the continuum, you have a problem.

Those coming into power soon have no interest in you having the freedom/equitable balance you believe is right. They only have interest in what serves themselves, which is ever-greater wealth and power. If you are to nudge that balance away from that far edge and toward something more equitable, wishing for that isn’t going help. You’re going to have to do something.

What’s this Rebel! Stuff?

It’s the verb form of the word, with the accent on the second syllable. It’s about you taking action against the usurpers, the thieves of our freedom, our democracy and what is good about America. Resisting is blandly insufficient. If we are to restore anything resembling the intentions of the Founders we will have to do what they did: Rebel!

To be clear, the Founders made war and I intend nothing of the sort. This is about non-violent rebellion. I advocate fiercely against any civil war that the MAGA violent ones seem to be gleefully anticipating.

This rebellion is about leaning heavily on elected officials to do the patriotic thing, rather than some “don’t primary me” selfishness. It’s about working hard to get liberal democracy candidates elected. It’s about protesting in the streets loudly and often, demanding the America we have been promised, which doesn’t include grift or graft and which doesn’t over-balance in favor of the grossly rich,

THAT kind of Rebel!

If we really want what we say we want, we’re going to do more than we’ve ever done. The promise of the destruction of our Constitution is in the air, made by men and women being put into positions of power by billionaire bullies. The longer we wait to take action, the steeper and more arduous the climb from the coming depravity will be.

Thomas Paine

From Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, The American Crisis, words which he declared to be Common Sense:

“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman”

The time for disorientation, apathy and the wringing hands is past. This is the time for action.

Rebel!

Here’s How

From Simon Rosenberg:

Call your Senators and Representative to let them know your dissatisfaction with the rapist, fraudster, traitor and 34 times felon’s pick of Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel, Pete Hegseth and Robert Kennedy; and to inform them of your expectation that they will leave it all out there on the playing field to block these profoundly dangerous nominations whether they have a vote on them or not.

Contact the White House and ask President Biden to order the FBI to begin background checks into Trump’s nominees immediately and before Trump installs Patel to disable the process.

Further, it’s as obvious as it can be: the inept DNC needs new leadership.

One of the most effective Democratic state chairmen, Ben Wikler (WI), is running to become the DNC chairman. He’s done amazing things, like flipping the state Supreme Court to be more liberal, getting Democratic Gov. Tony Evers reelected, picking up 14 congressional seats and more. Check him out at BenWikler.com. And don’t miss Thom Hartmann’s endorsement of Wikler and explainer, America’s Future Hangs on a Democratic Party Decision .

Need motivation? Read Thom Hartmann’s How to Stop the Billionaire Takeover: Democrats Must Declare Class Warfare. He’s right. It’s time to

REBEL!

NOTE: See Michael Shaw’s comment below. Please add your ideas for action in reply to his excellent question.

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 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. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
  5. 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.
  6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

Click me

JA


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

Rebel: To Resist or Defy


POST 1124

I often listen to Jon Meacham’s marvelous podcast, Reflections of History, which I was doing recently while walking the dog. He presented the speech given by then-Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy on St. Patrick’s Day in 1954. Kennedy’s words have relevance today, so here is a small portion of Meacham’s presentation.

Kennedy said,

“Here is a challenge to the United States, whom we salute tonight as the torchbearer of liberty. Let us inscribe on the inner wall of the Iron Curtain for all to read, oppressor and oppressed, the words of the Irish martyrs. Let those partisans of freedom behind the Iron Curtain, who see little hope for their generation and little more for the next, hear these words spoken by Sir Roger Casement to the jury which had convicted him of high treason for his part in the Organization of the Irish in 1914.

“’If it be treason,’ said Sir Roger, ‘to fight against such an unnatural fate as this, then I am proud to be a rebel and shall cling to my rebellion with the last drop of my blood. If there be no right of rebellion against the state of things that no savage tribe would endure without resistance, then I am sure that it is better for men to fight and die without right than to live in such a state of right, as this.’”

There is no longer an Iron Curtain and we no longer face a Cold War, but we face an enemy perhaps more dangerous now than the communists were then and the fascists were before them. It is now the threat from Americans who wish to and are striving with all their might to take down our democracy, to burn our Constitution and replace it all with fascism, with dictatorship, subjugation and the elimination of our freedom.

Their tools are much the same as those used by the communists and the fascists to fool people and cow them into mindless obedience. They use lies, absurd propaganda, intimidation, bullying, appeals to our basest instincts, pitting us against one another, contorting the law for selfish gain of power and money and making everyone afraid all the time. That is the threat we face today from our home grown enemies of democracy and freedom. The threat will grow more dire with each passing day, unless . . .

. . .  unless we heed the words of Sir Roger “to fight against such an unnatural fate as this . . .” and “be proud to be a rebel.”

In these times of profound discouragement, dismay and confusion over the way forward, withdrawal from the fight is actually ongoing support for defeat. Rather, it is time like never before for us to rebel against the darkness as instructed by Sir Roger, because that duty falls to us today. There is no one else.

Succumbing to fear ensures that fear will never leave us. Courage is taking action in the face of fear. Sir Roger knew that and we know that, too. This is a time for courage.

I go through periods wondering what I’m doing in a country where half the people vote for their own downfall. Is this country so bamboozled by anger, hatred and fear that there is nothing left that is redeemable?

Then the dawn comes and I realize that I’m no quitter, that I won’t allow the barbarians to destroy what we hold dear. There is a whole civilization that has been buried behind lies, hatred and bigotry, all so that the angry ones can flick their middle fingers, scream into the night and turn over our country to the self-aggrandizing thieves.

Well, they can’t have it. I won’t stand for it. I will not allow them to bully me.

Dick Altschuler, 1943

One year my dad and I were at the Oshkosh airshow standing near a B-24. Perhaps he escorted that very bomber into harms way over Germany on one of his 69 missions in his P-47. I looked at a waist gunner’s window on that bomber. His only protection was a thin sheet of aluminum easily pierced by enemy bullets. Still, that gunner went into battle and did what had to be done. My dad did the same, as did 16 million other Greatest Generation Americans. 416,800 of them never came home. You can find them in huge cemeteries like those in Normandy and on Iwo Jima, all graves facing home.

Those people faced the greatest brutality the world had ever known. They did that to keep the promise of America for you and me. I’ll be damned if I’ll let the grifters and the liars, the cheats and the willfully ignorant take it away. I’ll be damned if I’ll let the haters and the selfish ones sully the memory and slander the courage of our brave ones. It’s our duty to stand and fight where we can.

This is going to take a long time and it’s going to hurt more often than it will feel good. But this is the contest – the fight of our lives. When we fail, we’ll have to get up and fight once again. We’ll have to keep getting up as many times as it takes to cure our country of this awful disease.

As Shakespeare wrote, King Henry V, holding his sword high, said to his troops at the terrible battle of Harfleur “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more. . .” And so we march into the breach as many times as it will take to secure the promise that is America. It’s just behind the wall that the barbarians made out of fear, anger and hatred.

We can do no less to honor our brave ones.  We can do no less to “Secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”

Listen: You’ll hear your children and grandchildren and the grandchildren after them calling you. They’re counting  on you.

From Terry Real in his wonderful post:

Facing this alone may well feel overwhelming. But we are not alone. There are millions of us. The greatest political resource left standing is the beating hearts of one another.

Join with others in this fight. Our hearts beat together and we stand strong together.

Once more, dear friends. Once more,

Rebel!

.

Coming soon: Specific actions you can take. Example:

Block unqualified or criminal or just idiotic Cabinet appointments.

______________________________________________________

Many thanks to SC for pointing me to the Terry Real piece.

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 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. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
  5. 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.
  6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

Click me

JA


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

We’ve Fallen Off the Sled


POST 1122

There is no end of pundits punditing wildly in an effort to explain how Democrats managed to embarrass themselves and allow the country to be imperiled by power mad, greedy haters and traitors. We used to wonder why so many people would vote against their own best interests, but how did we get to the point where half the country has voted against our nation’s best interests?

It takes very little effort to imagine what those of The Greatest Generation would say to those millions who want to tear down what those heroes risked their lives for and what several hundred thousand lost their lives protecting and defending. It wasn’t a flag or the lakes and the land. It wasn’t amber waves of grain or purple mountain majesties or pompous chest thumping by tyrants. It was sweet freedom and the ever young promise of democracy. So many blithely voted all that away, as though doing so would whisk away their personal malaise, but it won’t.

Surrendering rights and freedom always – always – creates misery and hopelessness. We like to speak of American exceptionalism, but if we have that, it’s from a bedrock foundation of hope, of endless possibilities, of the freedom to be free and the dream – The Dream! – of something better for ourselves and for our children. We can and will be exceptional, but only if we grant ourselves the ingredients for it.

But we’ve cut that short. We were having a fine, if imperfect time, but now we’ve fallen off the American Dream sled. We’re tumbling and cold. Hard snow is plugging our nostrils and blinding our eyes. We grunt with each body blow and hope for air. We’re dizzy and disoriented and we don’t know where the sled is. The snow fog has obscured everything and we can’t tell up from down. We’ve got to find that sled and get back on it. Then we’ll fix what needs fixing. Everything of value, everything we hold dear depends on our doing that.

But the sled is nowhere to be seen. It’s turning dark and hope is dimming. The dawn will come, of course, but we will need to dig the snow from our faces if we’re to see the light and figure out what to do.

Find the sled before someone steals it from us and it’s gone forever.

Find the sled.

________________________________________________

See the post this Wednesday for How We Fell Off the Sled.

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 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. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
  5. 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.
  6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

Click me

JA


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

What Will Happen – Part 2 of 2


POST 1121

Preface

This is Part 2 of 2 – Part 1 was published last Sunday, detailing some of what you can expect from the second Trump presidency, Some of what follows is snark or satire. Most is not.

Criminality

The sentencing hearing for the 34 criminal convictions of Trump in New York for fraud is scheduled for November 26. Expect some cockamamie, bullshit suspension of sentence. The conviction will stand, but it will be neutered and Trump will get away with fraud, election interference and screwing a porn star while his wife was giving birth and caring for his infant son.

The E. Jean Carroll case is on appeal, likely to be decided around the time Trump is sworn in with his hand on a Chinese made Trump Bible. Watch to see if the Bible is held upside down, as in Trump’s photo op in Lafayette Square in 2020. If the judgement award is upheld, the money will be paid to Carroll from the bond believed to have been created by Trump’s lawyers. Then expect an infinitely long delay to repay Trump’s attorneys. Like so many Trump lawyers and contractors have been, those guys (or whoever put up the cash) will be screwed.

Once in office, Trump will attempt to pardon himself in order to avoid eventual prosecution in the insurrection indictment and in the Mar-A-Lago classified documents indictment. His puppet district court judge in the Mar-A-Lago case, Aileen Cannon, dismissed the case on bogus reasoning (a staple of her judgeship) that the special prosecutor was appointed improperly. There are at least two cases that establish with great clarity that there is no basis for her ruling. Jack Smith has appealed her stupid dismissal of the case. Expect yet another appeals court smack down of Judge Cannon.

Meanwhile, as I said, Trump will attempt to pardon himself from this and all other crimes which he may have committed, which will include the insurrection indictment and the Mar-A-Lago classified documents case. His pardon, if allowed to stand (and I don’t know who would challenge it, since he will control the Department of Justice) will only apply to federal cases.

Meanwhile, there’s the Fani Willis indictment of Trump in Georgia for election interference, criminal racketeering, conspiracy to change the outcome of the 2020 election and felonious manifestation of stupidity. That’s the, “What I want to do is this. I just want to find, uh, 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state,” case. This case will go nowhere because by the time Trump is out of office he will be mentally enfeebled and too much time will have passed for there to be public support for prosecution.

Several of Trump’s lawyers pleaded guilty to the Georgia conspiracy charges and some are disbarred. All are tarred and will have to go find real work. Maybe they can get jobs building the wall that Mexico won’t pay for.

These lawyers helped the big stinky fish to get away. That was a great deal for Trump, because he will stiff those lawyers. All it took to get his free legal defense was Trump’s promise of money and fame. The disgraced lawyers believed him and sold themselves out on the cheap.

Meanwhile, pardon or not, Trump will be President and therefore prosecution-proof because of that grievous 1973 memo from The Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice, which says that a sitting President may not be criminally prosecuted. It isn’t law, but it’s treated as if it were.

And, of course, there is the idiotic Supreme Court stay-out-of-jail-free decision from 2024 that transforms a president into an absolute, untouchable monarch. The Court decided that a bad boy President can never be prosecuted for criminal official acts. That way Trump really can shoot someone on 5th avenue and get away with it. It’s good to have one’s own personal Supreme Court justices.

Supreme Court

Thomas and Alito will resign and Trump will replace them with radical right wing operatives (no women need apply). Their young age will guarantee an extremist Court for generations. They will be fundamental to the Heritage Foundation march to permanent destruction of democracy and the enshrining of autocracy.

There will be no ethics codes with teeth imposed on the Court, the kind that all other federal judges must abide by. The Trump Court will lubricate the monstrous enriching machine for already fabulously rich people, as well as send all power to just a few unworthy individuals. Cruelty and discrimination will be enshrined in our laws, as rights and freedoms are incrementally taken from the people. Abortion, gun safety, public education and humane immigration will all vanish. No worries, though. Things will get worse.

Legacy

In his first administration, Trump rampaged through everything on which Obama had his fingerprints. Effectively, he tried to erase Obama from American history. Now it’s Biden’s turn to be Trump’s whipping boy. Expect his efforts to cancel every Biden success.

Trump will direct his Department of Justice to prosecute the non-existent Biden Crime Family. All that will come of that will be a high volume lies and innuendos from Republican posers. They will sound like champions of justice to the MAGA crowd and like lying idiots to the rest of us. Biden will have to secure legal counsel to defend himself against the Republican dishonesty, so Trump will crow about how he crushed Biden.

Foreign Relations

Expect Trump to do everything he can to undermine NATO, including removing the US from membership. Plus, he will treat NATO like one of his lawyers and refuse to pay what is owed. Given his compliant Senate and likely compliant House, they will allow him to terminate our membership or financially undermine the organization that has kept the peace in Europe for 75 years. Following that, look for Putin’s Russia to begin invasions of NATO member countries with relative impunity, because Trump has already told Putin to, “Do whatever the hell you want.” Accordingly, it’s safe to assume Trump will cut off military aid to Ukraine and allow the very worst to happen to those people.

Expect some kind of aggressive actions toward Iran, likely leading to a military confrontation in a battle to win the Penis Raving Insecurity Challenge Kingdom (PRICK). There will be further sucking up to North Korea and provocations of China. What could possibly go wrong?

Final Note

There is nothing in this post that you didn’t already know. That is how blatantly, screamingly, obviously awful this stuff is. And there is more and worse on the way. We have a lot of work to do. Meanwhile,

Don’t let the bastards get you down!

 

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 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. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
  5. 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.
  6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

Click me

JA


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

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