Behavior

Epic Failures – Plus Day 1 Again


POST 1285

Hey Fred and Mary Anne!

Yeah, you.

It was your job to properly raise your reprobate son to have good moral principles, to obey the law and to respect others. You were supposed to mold him into a decent American citizen worthy of breathing our air and taking up space on this planet. In that moment of conception you signed up for those responsibilities. Then your little pink baby showed up and you abandoned all of your responsibilities and sicced him on the world. He’s your scoundrel mini-you taken to extreme obscenity. You failed utterly and We The People are paying the price.

Remember when your little cutie was maybe 2 or 3 years old and you told him he could not have a cookie until after dinner? It was mid-afternoon and you turned back to what you were doing and your little darling saw those cookies, then looked back at you and realized that you weren’t watching. He grabbed one and went over behind the couch and ate that cookie. You actually saw that happen and thought it was just so cute and you never said a word, so he continued stealing cookies – then lots of other things, and has never stopped stealing. You taught him he could get away with anything.

Years later he was grounded for good reason, and as soon as you left the house he grabbed the car keys and was off. You found out about that, too, and never said a word. You just let him get away with another violation of the rules. There would be no accountability, no limits for him. He got away with all of his outrages. You were abject failures as parents. You made him and yourselves into what you see as the worst thing anyone can be: losers.

And this story only got way worse.

Hey Republican Congress!

You’re the people in the branch of government:

– who are supposed to give serious thought before giving advice and definitely before giving consent

– who are supposed to be a branch of government that checks the others

– who are the 535 who are supposed to represent We The People, what we value, what we believe, where we draw the line

– who are supposed to be ever vigilant for integrity, accountability and truth, justice and the America way

But you quit even before you started and have allowed the tyrant to get away with any nefarious thing, anything illegal or immoral he pleases.

He’s doing execrable things, like claiming that it was okay to bulldoze a wing of the White House as though it were just another of his properties with his name on it in ostentatious gold letters. He says he had a right to knock down part of that house, the house that actually belongs to the We The People. And you did nothing, Congress, so he got away with it.

He said he was making way for a ballroom that everyone knows isn’t necessary. It’s tasteless glitter that looks like yet more gaudy gold crap all over 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, dwarfing the White House itself. He said that purposeless ballroom would be paid for by Trump and his billionaire friends.

This useless, tasteless ballroom will dwarf the White House, the international symbol of democracy and strength. And Congress is letting this happen.

But now he’s demanding $1 BILLION of our taxpayer money to build that monument to greed and his toxic narcissism. And he’s having the Reflecting Pool painted blue to look like  one of his swimming pools. This is the same brat who stole cookies, stole the car and who has grifted all his life.

And you, Republican Congress, are sitting on your hands letting him grift – just like failures Fred and Mary Anne Trump.
.

You have done a miserable, embarrassing, humiliating and incompetent job. You even took lessons from this monster of depravity and have copied him, consistently doing what you think is best for you, not what is best for We The People.

He gets away with his outrageous scams, grifts and thefts because you’re too chicken and too greedy to do the job you promised to do, the job that we hired you to do.

We all know that “Shame on you!” bounces off your thoroughly corrupted senses but on November 3 we’ll remember both what you’ve done and what you’ve failed to do. We will send you away with the albatross of history around your neck and on your résumé. You’re an epic failure for our country, just like Fred and Mary Anne. And, like them, you’re losers.

More Advice For Day 1, January 20, 2029

Regular reader, commenter and boyhood pal Kirk Landers landed comments so good about what our next administration and Congress must do starting Day 1 that we are compelled to revisit the subject here.

It’s not enough for democracy advocates to have ideals for governing. We need an action plan, especially for 2029, to hit the ground running like the neo-Nazis did in 2024. Not just ideas, a plan of action, immediate actions that can be undertaken by presidential fiat, and legislation ready to go for the longer range actions that require Congressional approval.

For example, if I were running things, on the first day of the democratic presidency, the new President would order the removal of Trump’s name and likeness from all federal properties. Similarly, the goddamn ballroom and any other monstrosities Trump creates will be immediately destroyed and carted away while legislation will be introduced dictating that the [demolition] expenses will be covered by a special tax on billionaires.

On the first day of Congress, legislation will be introduced and passed by a Democratic majority that expands the Supreme Court by six justices. Other bills will stipulate that SCOTUS terms are limited to 10 years, that justices will be subject to standards of conduct equal to those of senators, representatives and presidents, and that nominees to the court must be screened by a panel of federal judges before being voted on.

From The Onion, of course.

The same day, I’d have Congress vote on a bill to form a special ‘crimes against democracy’ extension of the justice department that would immediately bring charges against members of the Trump Administration who violated laws and their oaths of office. Their trials would be limited to six months in duration.

In the second week of the first Congressional session, work could begin on restoring professionalism and functionality to the federal government, especially the DOJ, the State Department, the IRS and the FBI.

I’m still working on a plan to find a Madam LaFarge to audit the trials of the traitors in the Administration, and to knit as their heads are chopped off .  .  .

CNBC, January 22, 2020 – 1.1 million Americas died, over 750,000 of those preventable.

Trump says hantavirus is ‘under control’ as WHO tracks cruise outbreak

Aljazeera, May 9, 2026 – Trump is in charge. What could possibly go wrong?

Some Believe In Trump

Read Rick Wilson’s MAGA and Idolatry. His over-the-top satire is really just barely over the top. And it’s frightening that about 1/3 of our countrymen and -women are Trump idolators. You read that right.

The time for action is NOW!
Keep standing up,
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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 or Barnes & Noble 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 comments I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine. Unless it’s a guest essay, in which case, blame the guest.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Maybe You Thought The Civil War Was Over


POST 1283

It’s April 12, 1861* All Over Again

An on-point look at the steadfast discriminatory pummeling into  powerlessness of the 1965 Voting Rights Act by the Roberts court can be found in The Post-Racial Deception of the Roberts Court. It was penned by Cedric Merlin Powell, University of Louisville, Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, and published in the SMU Law Review. It is a ponderous, thick-headed cure for insomnia. Good news: you’ll get Powell’s message from his conclusion:

Post-racial deceptions are disruptive, devastating in impact, and disconcerting because they ostensibly preserve fairness and the Court’s vaunted legitimacy, but instead chill all positive race-conscious remedial efforts and initiatives to advance substantive equality through the diversity imperative. The Roberts Court’s post-racial constitutionalism has undermined anti-discrimination law in virtually every area: school integration, affirmative action, Title VII, housing, and voting rights with the added effect of constitutionalizing its post-racial deception.

Racist is racist and no amount of Supreme Court verbal sleight of hand can mask its deviousness and cruelty. Same for the shameless Congressional Republicans doing shameful, deceitful, discriminatory things.

Bait And Switch

George W. Bush appointed John Roberts to the Court in 2005. During Roberts’ confirmation hearing he told us that he was an originalist, a traditionalist and a steadfast proponent of

Stare Decisis: A legal principle requiring judges to honor previous rulings, providing consistency and predictability in the law.

Roberts described Roe v Wade as “settled law” then. But he trashed it in its first direct test before him. I guess it wasn’t decisis-ed enough for Roberts. Likely, he thought he had integrity wiggle room to pull the plug on the prior ruling, but he didn’t.

Then he trashed the 1965 Voting Rights Act at least twice.

Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013), is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States regarding the constitutionality of two provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965: Section 5, which requires certain states and local governments to obtain federal preclearance before implementing any changes to their voting laws or practices; and subsection (b) of Section 4, which contains the coverage formula that determines which jurisdictions are subject to preclearance based on their histories of racial discrimination in voting.

When that law was overturned the Court’s decision made the gerrymandering and voter suppression shit hit the fan immediately in a dozen and a half states. Good-bye voting rights for non-Whites.

Last week the Roberts Court, proudly led by Justice Not-So-Stare-Decisis, trashed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Awful 6 have allowed the state of Louisiana and all the states that breathe that same polluted, hateful  air to racially redistrict their states to cut out representatives of color and thereby neuter non-Whites.

Calling all that racist switcheroo Bait and Switch really is far too generous to Roberts, because it looks like he showed up at the Court waving a stare decises flag while secretly looking for ways to kill Roe, neuter civil rights legislation and give big money people gigantic power over you (see this Sunday’s post for more on that). Some and maybe all of that was at least partly racist. So forget his alter boy looks. He’s a racist and the Court’s racist decisions have impact.

Roberts may not mean to be cruel and discriminatory, but his intentions are irrelevant. What matters is what he does and the cruel and discriminatory effect that has. He leads a “renegade, partisan Supreme Court.”

Nixon was a raging racist. Reagan was a raging racist with a Hollywood face and an “Oh, golly” manner. Trump is whatever is beyond racist. What is that Republican hatred about?

Reagan campaigned accusing fictitious “welfare queens” and “young bucks” of grossly scamming we good White folks via welfare programs. Key word: fictitious. Reagan was a president urging us to hatred, much like today.

Be clear that John Roberts’ Awful 6 are a critical part of inciting racism. And recognize that we are just short of the cheating apotheosis initiated by the racist Moral Majority and Heritage Foundation co-founder Paul Weyrich. He realized that Republicans could not win unless they suppressed (that means cheated) other voters. Their Song of Hatred is not only still being sung; it is blaring from loudspeakers all over our country and from the Court Chamber of the Supreme Court itself.

Given that, recognize how desperately we need a half dozen more Supreme Court justices to counterbalance the Awful 6.

Here’s what Sen. Rafael Warnock told Margaret Brennan on Face The Nation:

[S]tates that used to play old games, they’re playing new games. They’re 21st-century Jim Crow tactics in new clothes: moving voter polls, closing polls in Black and brown communities, purging people — people literally showing up [to vote] and not knowing that their names have been purged from the [voting] rolls. And the data shows that this disproportionately impacts Black and brown citizens.

That’s what the Supreme Court Awful 6 allowed.

From Rick Wilson in The Red Court Kills Voting Rights:

The War on Voting has entered its scorched-earth phase.

We are no longer debating “voter integrity,” “ballot access,” or the other endless sea of euphemisms in the polite, tepid tones of a Sunday morning talk show. We are witnessing a twin-pronged demolition of the democratic franchise so cynical, so surgically precise, and so fundamentally nihilistic that it would make a Cold War politburo blush.

Have a look at the Daily Docket, Mark Elias’ update for May 1:

After Supreme Court’s destruction of Voting Rights Act, here’s the latest on redistricting
.

Elias lists what the various states are doing to immediately undermine representation of and for people of color. John Roberts has given the go-ahead for them to do freebase racial gerrymandering. All of the gains of the 50s and 60s are systematically and relentlessly being wiped out, one Supreme Court decision at a time. Too bad for you, Dr. King, Malcolm X, Andrew Young, Ralph Abernathy, Roy Wilkins and so many others. And Rosa Parks, you get to the back of that bus right now to make room for Jim Crow to take over the entire thing.

The long term struggle for civil rights may not be dead, but it’s gravely injured. Maybe that win over enslavers in 1865 only postponed the full cruelty, because it looks like the haters aren’t just back; they’re back with a vengeance. They’re in plain sight and trashing our dearest values and our hopes for humanity before our eyes. The Civil War never ended and it’s being carried on by power crazed, scaredy-cat Americans, their hatred officially being permitted by our very own Supreme Court.

Finally,

From Ted Dintersmith in Better Days???:

Our esteemed SCOTUS is hastening the collapse of our democracy. John Roberts doesn’t seem to give a damn about America’s future.

He’s echoed by Robert Reich’s stunning revelation, Sam Alito and My Friend Mickey.

Last, a quotation from Steve Schmidt’s piece, A New Birth of Freedom, a piece inspired by Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address:

The United States is great because it can be made new again by the people who are sovereign and free. It can be made more just and perfect. It is a place where dreams can be fulfilled and where freedom can flourish, but it will never be a place that is free from the dangers that come from the people who want to take those things away.

If you’re Black or Brown, you lose first because that war still rages. Who do you suppose will be next?

_____________________________________________

* April 12, 1861 was the day when Confederate forces opened fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, thus beginning the Civil War. That war succeeded in killing over 700,000 Americans in just 4 years. That’s 479 soldiers killed every day for 4 years. Or five 9/11s every 8 days.

That’s just a sampling of what greed and racial hatred can do.

 

The time for action is NOW!
Keep standing up,
speaking out
and taking action, like:

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!), because 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.

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 or Barnes & Noble 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 comments I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine. Unless it’s a guest essay, in which case, blame the guest.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

What’s Wrong And What Isn’t


POST 1281

The White House Correspondents Dinner

A highly armed shooter sprinted past security people. He was stopped before he could hurt others. That is the only good news about what happened.

The far bigger issue is that the President of the United States is and has been promoting American violence going at least as far back as the Central Park 5 case in 1989. We can reasonably attach the current assault to Trump’s violence promotion. He urges his supporters to beat the hell out of protesters, to attack journalists and he slyly slips in references to the Second Amendment as “remedies” for his detractors. Why shouldn’t the WHCD intruder have the same remedy available to him?

Trump sent his ICE thugs to attack American citizens, legal non-citizens and undocumented people. There have been many deaths in ICE’s detention prisons and on our streets, all done at Trump’s direction. Inviting him to speak at the WHCD seems like a foolish normalizing of his attacks on the First Amendment and his violations of the personal safety of others. Bad idea.

After inciting the January 6 violence that killed and maimed, he pardoned the convicted seditious conspirators (insurrectionists), leading us to believe that there is not and never will be accountability for those who do violence against others and against our country, if their pardons serve Trump well. And he uses the power of the presidency to ignore laws and start wars.

Just what did anyone believe would happen when the President of the United States himself condones and promotes violence?

We have always been a violent country, regardless of self-serving claims about peace, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, all of which disappear in the face of an armed assailant. We are now a thugocracy led by a thug. Nothing good can come from that, unless one thinks violent attempts at murder are good things.

We have well over one gun per citizen distributed about our country and somehow the puff-up types think this is good. I invite them to ask the survivors of any of our mass murders, loved ones of those who so easily commit suicide with a gun, murdered bystanders when the 7-11 is robbed and victims of drive-by shootings if they agree. I bet our president thinks the threat of such violence is a good thing.

Beyond that, too many of our media folks, many who were in attendance a the WHCD, allow themselves to be led along like sheep. They don’t do a Joe Wilson “You lie!” even though nearly everyone in the banquet hall and those who weren’t there know Trump lies, cheats and steals as easily and as often as he breathes. Instead, they fail to report simple but ugly truth.

This last comment for this section is from Karla Von Huben:

I suspect that most people are going to think this [WHCD violence] is fake, just like the ‘attack’ in Butler that resulted in no scar on his ear. I also think it’s going to backfire bigly. I’m just so sick of this lunatic I could scream. Or cry. Or throw things.

She ain’t wrong.

Closing In – Maybe

The 1973 War Powers Resolution is a plain language act that was triggered by Richard Nixon’s secret and illegal bombing of Cambodia in 1969-1970. The Act makes clear that no President may send our troops to war without the consent of the Congress. But that consent not only hasn’t been granted for Trump’s war, it hasn’t even been requested.

Sec. 2, (c) of the Act states,

“The constitutional powers of the President as Commander-in-Chief to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.”

Trump cannot identify any immediate threat to the U.S. posed by Iran and none of the other authorizations apply, either.

Sec. 5 (b) clearly states,

Within sixty calendar days .  .  .  the President shall terminate any use of United States Armed Forces .  .  .  unless the Congress (1) has declared war or has enacted a specific authorization for such use of United States Armed Forces, (2) has extended by law such sixty-day period, or (3) is physically unable to meet as a result of an armed attack upon the United States. [all emphasis mine]

None of those “unless” exceptions exists, so Trump will have pull our troops out of Operation Epic Blunder or get Congress to formally authorize this by Friday, May 1. Of course, that will require a Congress with a spine.

Republicans hold majorities in both the Senate and House and they could stop him from causing yet more senseless deaths and carnage. But Republicans are despicably obsequious little rodents. They really may cave to Trump’s demand for the right to bomb whomever, wherever using the pressure of his twin threats of:

  1. Them being blamed for losing Trump’s epic folly, and
  2. Them getting primaried in November.

If you listen in a quiet area you can hear their little rodent knees knocking.

Regardless of how they go paws up for Trump, he will do the equivalent of invoking a fictitious Bavarian law from 1198 AD and he will invent a quotation from the Magna Carta to claim his right to murder Iranians and anyone else anywhere, anytime he “feels” like it to justify his unjustifiable war or to blow up little boats in the Caribbean.

This is going to get even more moronic and far more deadly. And at this point, failure is an option. We The People will know Trump is to blame, even as he rage tweets against the “horrible people” in Congress and the vile journalists.

Sadly, he’s statutorily wrong, but this spineless Congress won’t do anything to stop him.

_____________________________________________

* Bill Barr, Trump’s last attorney general in his first administration, was a strong proponent of a “unitary executive,” as were many other fascist wannabees. Now that their favorite fascist and his cadre of billionaires, as well as his sycophantic little rodents have succeeded in making billions of people around the globe miserable, we have to wonder what percentage of them still thinks a unitary executive is a good idea. Maybe we should just tax every one of them down to middle class wealth, just as a unitary executive could.

The time for action is NOW!
Keep standing up,
speaking out
and taking action, like:

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!), because 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.

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 or Barnes & Noble 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 comments I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine. Unless it’s a guest essay, in which case, blame the guest.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Deterioration


POST 1280

Starting At The Bottom and Deteriorating From There

Early in Trump’s first administration many mental healthcare professionals offered their professional opinions of Trump’s mental state. Many criticisms of their diagnoses followed, saying that no valuable diagnosis could be made in the absence of an in-person interview. It turns out that is incorrect.

My friend Sheila Markin (The Markin Report) dug into this during Trump’s fist term in an interview in 2024 of Dr. Vince Greenwood, a psychologist. He is certified to make assessments using the Hare Assessment Test. She reports their conversation it here.

I urge you to read her report. Add to that our observations of all the chaos and destruction that Trump has caused since January 20, 2025 and all the obvious signs of Trump’s mental deterioration we all see and commonly refer to as dementia.

This is not a happy case of confirmation bias. It is a serious and foreboding clinical diagnosis from a qualified professional and what we see every day that is a clear and present danger to all of us.

The Emptying Cabinet

From Dan Rather in his piece, Kash Out, explaining the likely upcoming departure of yet another of Trump’s galacticly unqualified Cabinet secretaries:

Patel, a former public defender with scant law enforcement experience, was a highly unusual choice to run the FBI, but one that makes sense if you want to change the FBI’s mission from protecting Americans to pursuing vengeance.

Trump has many skills, high on the list of which is avoiding accountability, His record is not unblemished (see: the E. Jean Carroll sexual assault and defamation cases; the New York tax fraud case; the Stormy Daniels hush money case; 6 bankruptcies; etc.), but he’s managed to get away with cheating and defrauding a lot of people, including stiffing contractors and his ongoing grifting violations. He just hates to be held accountable for his actions like you would be.

What with Pam Bondi’s  complete failure to get indictments of Trump’s many accusers, people who had the temerity to tell the truth, she had to go. Poor Pam. She’s been made available to industry, but who would hire disaster Pam?

ICE Barbie Noem snared too much spotlight that otherwise might have shined on Trump, so she had to go. Will the people of South Dakota re-hire her to be their look-at-me governor? In this age of celebrity over intelligence, integrity, insight and ignorance, maybe they will.

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer was caught with her pants down and her liquor up. Too embarrassing to be close to Trump, so he pulled the plug and down the drain she went.

Each of these firings/faux resignations both shifted blame for Trump’s failures and changed the subject from the Epstein scandal. Effective moves, Orangeman! And all the rejects are women.

But now Kash Patel seems to be in the center of Trump’s bulls eye following The Atlantic publishing a piece detailing some of his embarrassing habits, including drinking and being AWOL from his job. And, of course, there’s that damning video of him beer-ing it up with the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team following their gold medal win. Trump didn’t like that. Maybe that deer-in-the-headlights look of Patel’s will seem to fit better soon.

Quick Quiz:
  1. How many unconfirmed department heads (“acting” secretaries – i.e. not confirmed with the advise and consent of the Senate) will there be by November?
  2. How many unconstitutional ways will they find to rig the mid-term election for Trump?
Wuzzup?

The Washington Post reports that a Third U.S. aircraft carrier arrives in waters near Iran. We all get that Trump is trying to amp up his threats. He wants to look like the toughest tough guy, like his idols Putin, Kim Jung Un and Xi.  Orbán used to be in that murderous collection of psychotics but his countrymen enthusiastically booted his fat ass out of office in their April 12 election, along with removing a bunch of his toadies from their legislature.

Back to our aircraft carriers now stationed and ready to threaten Iran, support an invasion and imperil the global economy through American toxic masculinity.

The USS Gerald R. Ford left its patrol of the Red Sea and eastern Mediterranean. It is now redeployed to the the Strait of Hormuz.

The USS Abraham Lincoln was patrolling the South China Sea before being deployed to the Persian Gulf.

The USS George H.W. Bush departed Norfolk, VA and is now in the Persian Gulf region.

Consider the important global areas that we are now ignoring at our peril for the purpose of aiding Trump’s Operation Epic Blunder.

Quick Quiz:
  1. Is China giving serious thought right now to taking over Taiwan by force, now that we’ve concentrated our forces elsewhere? Think: Pearl Harbor.
  2. How many terrorists of various stripes are in high gear to cause trouble now that so many places are unguarded?
The White House Correspondents Dinner

This post was prepared before the White House Correspondents Dinner. This section originally supposed what would happen, including the President embarrassing himself and our country with his typical broadsides against the “mainstream media,” the “enemy of the people.” He would display his congenital inability to stay on point, would go off-script into an impressive recitation of meaningless and self-contradictory gibberish and cruelty. That is what we expected. But that didn’t happen because the event was interrupted by a shooter.

It’s too early to post much information about the shooter, but that news will come to us swiftly, At a press conference at the White House after the excitement was over Trump suggested his later follow up would include his prepared vitriol. He will attack the press and, indirectly, the First Amendment and he will attempt to give a black eye to some of the journalists he likes to attack. He will try to be funny, but he will only succeed at being cruel. Of course, that’s just my guess.

Because this is what passes today as presidential.

Best Feel Good In A Long Time

The time for action is NOW!
Keep standing up,
speaking out
and taking action, like:

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!), because 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.

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 or Barnes & Noble 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 comments I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine. Unless it’s a guest essay, in which case, blame the guest.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

You Aren’t Going To Live Longer – But You Could


POST 1278

This warning is required by everyone’s 8th grade English lessons:
CAUTION: This post contains snark, plus metaphors and satire badly mangled.
The Bad News

The workouts, the kale, the yoga om, the nix on red meat, the stairs instead of the elevator, your fixed genetics and the rest have taken you as far as they can. All that’s left for extending your lifespan is looking both ways before you cross the street, wearing your seat belt and dealing with the unhinged asshole sitting next to you in seat 13B. Let’s call him Mr. Rectum.

He’s unhinged about having a middle seat – so unfair! – and frantic about making his connection so that he can get to his Grift Jubilee. But your flight is an hour and a half late because there was weather somewhere and he’s going to miss his connection. Woe is him!

He’s flailing and wants to “retribution” someone. He cannot sit still or shut up because of the insanity that ceaselessly rages inside him and because of his innate hostility to everyone. Mr. Rectum is what is known in mental health circles as both troubled and toxic. In the real world where you and I live we just call him an asshole.

Click me

You will live longer if, metaphorically speaking, you move to a different seat, but it’s a full flight and nobody – I mean nobody – is going to switch seats with you and sit next to Mr. Rectum. In still more mixed metaphorical words, these derived from the movie Jaws, you’re going to need a bigger boat.

Which brings us to our current reality, the one where up is this way (↑) regardless of Mr. Rectum’s nearly constant misdirection. It’s a place where you sometimes get a citation for speeding and we want assholes in 13B to get what’s coming to them, too. You know: accountability.

But we’ve let Mr. Rectum get his way without consequences for a long time. Much too long. Indeed, for all of his life. Oh, we have our reasons, including our rationalizations (delusions, really) that the alternative was worse; that he would keep his word and fulfill his promises; that he was super special and deserved to endanger us by driving too fast and never getting a citation. We believed at the same time that he was a regular guy who was just like we little people and we would somehow, some day become big rectums like him, too. But that hasn’t happened and it never will.

We let him put an insufficiently educated racoon penis slicer, a man with a heroin damaged brain, in charge of vaccinations. Millions of us puffed our chests and stood up to The Man, refusing to vaccinate ourselves and our kids against measles, polio and more. Then thousands became sick, many died and some are heading to a lifetime of debilitation, none of which would have happened if they had listened to the medical experts instead of Mr. Pee-pee Chopper. These people are suffering because we put hatred-fueled Mr. Rectum in charge.

Real, actual, hurts-like-hell gas prices in Hilo, HI. Don’t you wish Tulsi Gabbard would go back there and get in line to buy six buck gas?

That innate Rectum hostility has now killed thousands in a Middle East war that had no business happening because there never was a national security threat to us from there. The global economy is sinking further into a long term funk. Mr. Rectum tells us that inflation and gas prices have come way down, but see the pic to the left for actual current prices. There is nothing, no verbal invention, no untethered-to-reality idiocy that the unhinged guy in 13B won’t say to benefit himself, as he rages at the weather, his middle seat, flight safety regulations and he threatens to sue everyone who still has a pulse and even some who are already dead.

Make no mistake about this: neither seat 13B nor the weather is the problem. We are the problem. Pogo is still correct.

We seated Mr. Rectum in 13B, believing our delusions and then going about our lives, heads down, oblivious to our foolishness, our gullibility and consequences. And we got what we selected.

His behavior is way past what the flight attendants (our representatives) can or are willing to handle, so it’s time for the captain (that’s us) to come out of the flight deck and inform Mr. Rectum that he’s being removed from the flight. We can land at a remote airport and kick him out, leaving him where he can’t harm us anymore, or we can slow the airplane to landing speed, open an exit door and shove him out at 37,000 feet.

Either choice will work for us just fine because Mr. Rectum will be gone. No more lies. No more toddler tantrums. No more of his killing people on the high seas, in mountains and deserts and in Minneapolis. And no more impoverishing of billions of people around the globe. We’ll find the way forward just fine without his insanity.

Mr. Rectum has been very busy failing, wrecking everything within reach. Many thanks to JN for forwarding this.

Regardless, you aren’t going to live longer, unless .  .  .

The Good News

.  .  .  unless you’ve smartened up and now, for example, get your vaccinations and get your kids vaccinated, too. In that case you will live longer. Markedly longer. And you won’t infect your neighbor, your Pilates bro, the barista who serves you that frothy froo-froo drink or anyone else. All of us will thank you for not infecting and killing us and our kids. Plus, prices for your froo-froo drink, gas, housing and much more will, in the absence of Mr. Rectum’s ignorant manipulations, eventually come down.

But you have to help with the in-flight eviction of Mr. Rectum in order for things to get better.

Stand up. Help to drag Mr. Rectum out, even as he’s kicking, screaming, biting, claiming he’s a poor victim of terrible people, saying he will make things better like nobody has ever seen before, blaming his constant failures on Biden, claiming he’s Jesus, failing at quoting “two Corinthians” and homicidally ordering the National Guard to shoot peaceful protesters in the legs. You’re a target of that, too, but once he’s off our airplane you can ditch your bullet proof pants.

And once we’ve jettisoned our gullible nature, you really will live longer.

Quote Of The Week

Dr. Amy Acton

From Dr. Amy Acton, Democratic candidate for Governor of Ohio, speaking to The Zoom Where It Happens, April 17, 2026:

.  .  .  everyone is exhausted and voters want public servants again who will help them solve problems.

What a concept: public servants actually being of service to We The People! Quite the contrast to servants of Mr. Rectum or his sycophants. So refreshing.

The time for action is NOW!
Keep standing up,
speaking out
and taking action, like:

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!), because 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.

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 or Barnes & Noble 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 comments I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine. Unless it’s a guest essay, in which case, blame the guest.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Madmen


POST 1277

Click me for a larger version of this pic, plus the Reuters essay.

Jesus Isn’t Just On our Side: He Is Our Side

April 13 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself as a Jesus-like figure .  .  .

Note the inclusion in this picture of the American flag, jet fighters, a heavily armed winged figure in combat fatigues with a spiked thing on his head. There are several other troops, all heavily loaded with weapons, a pair of bald eagles, the Statue of Liberty, two colonnaded buildings denoting government power – all very strongly manly, and – this is critical – only White people.

It appears that Trump-Jesus holds a divine light. Perhaps it’s the core of a nuclear explosion. He is laying his other hand over the head of an apparently wounded vet, perhaps to cure him by a miracle. All this takes place as a beautiful White female nurse looks up at him adoringly, perhaps eagerly anticipating his Access Hollywood pussy grab.

He’s been roundly criticized for this post by rational people, which Trump knows is so unfair to him. So, Trump went on the offense, attacking those who criticized his self-anointed divinity.

It’s easy to stop thinking about this in a logical fashion due to its obvious repugnance. But here’s the key: It wasn’t posted by some anonymous but creative and stupid twit whose brain hasn’t developed past age 15 and who doesn’t understand the concept of consequences or anything beyond his own need for attention. It was posted by Trump himself.

Okay, let’s be fair. Trump is that twit whose brain hasn’t developed past age 15 and who doesn’t understand the concept of consequences or that there is anything larger than himself.

Trump is the President of the United States whose finger is poised over the nuclear button and who seems to think he’s a god. Or wants to be a god. Or wants to have powers like a god, like life and death. Or he wants you to think of him as a god and worship him. He is naturally averse to self-examination, but he might recognize that he’s slipping fast and needs your worship of him very quickly, before he’s unable to bask in it.

If he pushes the button in a fit of retribution frenzy, like in a rage focused on Iran, it’s no problem for him. As throughout his entire life, he will be protected and never held to account. If the rest of us die, it’s of no consequence to him.

And that becomes yet more terrifyingly possible as Trump sinks ever deeper into dementia and is even less tethered to the day of the week.

The people who could stop this madness, this abuse of morality, of good sense, of the Constitution and the rule of law – they sit mute. They fawn over him and encourage him to do another wondrous miracle so they can cheer and clap their hands and swoon over him like infantile forest animals in a fairy tale.

Read Rick Wilson’s post from yesterday, Is Trump The Anti-Christ? and coverage from The Washington Post.

Living In The Age of Wimp

This is from a post by Ted Dintersmith, April 13, 2026, likening us to passengers trapped on a bus going at breakneck speed on a path to blow itself up.

Today, our entire nation is on an out-of-control bus. A madman is at the wheel, assuring us he’s history’s all-time greatest bus driver. He barks ludicrous tweets into the phone in his left hand. In his right hand [are] the nuclear codes. His knees do the steering. Front-seat passengers could intervene, but those seats are filled with sycophants who prize their proximity. Sheer horror, with years ahead of us. So how will this bus ride end? Bankruptcy? World War III? A full-fledged dictatorship? All of the above?

You don’t think that we can avoid our own disintegration sync-ed with Trump’s dementia-driven disintegration by sitting on our hands, do you? You don’t think that some wimpy Republican has the cojones to break the glass on the 25th Amendment or file impeachment charges, do you?

We are living in the Age of Wimp. The self-paralyzed ones are madmen endangering us every day.

The key is for us, you and me and others willing to see things as they are, to understand the danger all around us and to refuse to tolerate the Wimps in their madness. The key is for us to fight them everywhere.

On June 4, 1940, shortly before the fall of France and just after the disastrous British retreat from Dunkirk, Winston Churchill challenged the House of Commons with a declaration of defiance. His words ring true and valuable for us today.

We shall fight on the beaches,
We shall fight on the landing grounds,
We shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
We shall fight in the hills;
We shall never surrender.

Link through to read Churchill’s full address.

Our fight today is nearly as dire. We know the truth and that is why this is dire. So,

We shall fight the Wimps in the Congress.
We shall fight them in the state legislatures.
We shall fight them in the fields, in the streets and in the town square.
We shall fight them in the courts and in the polling places.
We shall never surrender

And in the end we will be victorious. We will save our fragile democracy from their cowardice and their malice.

For inspiration, think of the glorious and righteous prosecutions to come of those who sold out our country for a few coins in their pockets.

Here’s what we can do now.

Keeping The Promise

Last Sunday I promised you some direction for how you can fight the menace. Here it is.

Reader and activist Sheila Markin is making your next step easy. Take clarity of action from this. She writes,

TRUMP AND MAGA REPUBLICANS KNOW THEY CANNOT WIN FAIR AND SQUARE. 

THEY ARE GOING TO LIE, CHEAT, AND STEAL

to stay in power.  

They already are.

We must do 4 things:

Click the logo pic above to find out what the 4 things are. Also, see this.

The time for action is NOW!
Keep standing up,
speaking out
and taking action, like:

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!), because 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.

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 or Barnes & Noble 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 comments I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine. Unless it’s a guest essay, in which case, blame the guest.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Some Answers and Election Subversion


POST 1276

Guest Essay

Regular reader and boyhood pal Frank Levy had a strong reaction to the questions detailed in my Wednesday post, Things May Have Changed. His comments are listed below that post, but they are significant enough to offer them to you today as a Guest Essay.

Jack – I sincerely appreciate and share your snark, anger, and interspersed comments on 47 and his Christian nationalist goon squad. Keep them coming. That said, here goes.

1) Have our millions of Americans who have continued to let themselves be conned by this lifelong con man at last been awakened to the reality that Trump has started a global war and that real people are really being killed in service to Trump’s demented psychopathy?

Answer: NO! Those being killed are mostly brown and Muslim. Hegseth and the gang are Christian nationalists and are feeling really good about doing the sacred work of their god by killing some of Satan’s horde.

2) Have they/we at last figured out that this is real life or death? It isn’t a reality show and this war threatens to be fought right here. Do they get that the opponent won’t rope-a-dope for Trump for very long and that they will use their finest skills – terrorism – to attack us?

Answer: No!! they have not! The MAGA horde has convinced themselves – with the help of Paula White and Franklin Graham and others – that 47 and Hegseth are God’s anointed holy servants on Earth sent to destroy Satan’s Muslim (and Jewish) horde, and because that is so, no harm will come to their white, Christian America. God is watching over and protecting them. All those MAGA folks are willing to endure a lot of financial distress in order to get to Heaven after defeating the Satanic enemy.

3) Have our fellow citizens opened their eyes and now see that Trump is having our military people violate our own laws and commit war crimes – IN OUR NAME?

Answer: No!!! In the eyes of America’s Seven Mountain Dominionists, MAGA horde, and everyday Christian nationalists the law of God, and their quest to get to heaven, trump (pardon the pun) The Constitution. In their pretty little heads god’s law as they misunderstand it supersedes America’s inconsequential Constitution. Remember America is a Satanic land these MAGAites are hell bent on saving.

4) Do MAGAs see that Trump has removed everyone who might possibly be less than completely loyal only to him, as though he is an absolute, all powerful muck-a-muck, so that now there are no backbones anywhere near him, that there aren’t any adults left in the room, just cowering children?

Answer: No!!!! This is what they have been hoping 47 would do. While I suspect none of them have ever read Eric Fromm’s (he is a Jew after all) “Escape from Freedom,” they are proof of everything Fromm says in his book about how most people are afraid of actual freedom and seek strong, authoritarian leaders who will make all the important decisions for them; sort of like the god of their New Testament who reqards them when they do as commanded, and punishes them when they do not.

5) Life or death didn’t seem to matter to Americans in the Covid pandemic during Trump’s first administration. Will life or death matter to us in a global war?

Answer: No!!!!! When your life’s goal is getting to heaven, death is a vehicle to get there. MAGA and America’s Christian nationalists have a lot in common with the Muslim extremists they abhor. They, like the Muslim extremists, see a martyr’s death in the service of their god to be a wonderful thing. 47, Peter The War God, and those that send young people to die for “The Cause” are heroes for sending young people to die in the name of their God so they can make the holy trip to Heaven and be with their maker.

My short answer to all five is “No!!! and the rest of us are screwed.”

Have a nice day, my friend, as oil prices soar because 47 got his butt whipped by the Iranians.

Protecting The Election From Subversion

You know about the horrid Republican efforts to allow only Republicans to vote. It’s the gerrymandering, the redistricting, the conspiracy rumor sliming, the purging of the voter roles and so much more. As it stands, millions of American citizens won’t be able to vote in November, most because they are poor or minority and likely to vote D. This is what passes for Republican patriotism. You can call it cheating, dirty tricks, lying, stealing and many other apt and accurate names. Doesn’t matter the name. They’re trying to take away your rights.

It’s been this way for decades, as I’ve shown in these posts many times, most recently here. Paul Weyrich is the progenitor of this Republican malfeasance – see him in action here. The point of seeing his video is so that you become clear about the truth of what these anti-democracy, anti-Americans are about.

Now, we can wring our hands over this eminently hand wring-able cRap (the capital “R” is for Republicans) – and wait in dread for a disaster to befall us and America on November 3. Or we can do something about it. I recommend doing something.

I’m registered to vote, but I’m not a registered Democrat, Republican or Independent. I want Democratic candidates to win most of the time because that means that Republican candidates will lose, which I think is the most important thing for at least the next two elections. That means that I urge all of us to promote and vote for Democrats. It’s that simple.

You’re already being hit on for contributions multiple times per day. Likely, you’ve tuned those communications out, like the ones from the DCCC and even the ones with Obama’s name on them. Hey, it’s only 63 cents per day, $19 per month! Everybody wants what’s in your wallet. What’s a citizen to do?

Check out the Wednesday morning Disambiguation for answers.

The time for action is NOW!
Keep standing up,
speaking out
and taking action, like:

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!), because 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.

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 or Barnes & Noble 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 comments I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine. Unless it’s a guest essay, in which case, blame the guest.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Things May Have Changed


POST 1275

Trump Violates International Laws – Again & Still

He attacked a sovereign nation that did no harm to the U.S. and was not a threat to do so. That’s a war crime. He had our military strike civilian targets. That’s a war crime. He threatened the end of Iranian civilization. That’s a war crime.

Hey wait: this sounds a lot like Putin attacking Ukraine, a country that was no threat to Russia. That was and is a war crime. Same for his bombing civilian targets. That’s a war crime. Same for his nuclear blackmail. That’s a war crime.

Trump told us he admires Putin and we’ve seen that he wants to be like him. Looks like he’s succeeded.

Now Trump claims that he received a ten point plan from Iran to end hostilities and he’s grabbed it like a lifeline because he has no clue how to end this war. He told Iran that it has 10 days to open the Strait of Hormuz and let ships pass. Is this just another 10-day TACO? Did Trump get played big time by Iran? Time will tell. What is clear now is that Trump surrendered and Iran is still in control of the Strait of Hormuz. It is now expecting to charge and receive huge tolls for ships to pass.

Putin has benefited bigly from increased oil pricing and a reduction in sanctions against his nation. China knows that we’re distracted and there is speculation they are ready to move on Taiwan.

The shooting part of this Iran war may be over, but who’s the winner? We broke everything and gained nothing, so the U.S. isn’t the winner. This is yet another stupid war we should not have been in.

If You Missed It Do Not Search For It

The press conference on Monday featuring Trump, Hegseth, Air Force General Dan Caine and CIA Director John Ratcliffe was a tragedy. Each did a demonstration of infantile pretension, of strutting and puffery and an exaggerated parade of the absolutes and superlatives of braggadocio. These pretenders humiliated you before the world and made a mockery of our actual military personnel.

I am not including a pic or a link to this epic parade of immaturity and little boy-ism (“bang-bang you’re dead”), as I customarily do for events discussed in these posts. Further, I encourage you not to find it and watch. Unless you enjoy feeling embarrassed.

In his post of April 7, It’s Just World War 3 . . . if we’re lucky, Rick Wilson wrote:

[Trump] detonates a new crisis to incinerate the headlines of the last one. It’s a scorched-earth policy applied to domestic PR, and it’s going to lead us into a darkness we aren’t prepared for. He’ll keep throwing matches until there’s nothing left to burn, convinced all the while that the explosions are actually applause.

You’ve seen this time and again, as Trump “doubles down” on his lies, his mistakes and his wanton cruelty. That’s combined with his time tested Roy Cohn dictum to never apologize, never back down and never admit he’s wrong no matter how high the body count climbs. And now he’s detonated this war crisis to incinerate the headlines – the proof – of his Epstein criminality, regardless of the number of people who die so that he can skate from accountability.

This war isn’t about painting everything gold or tearing down a house he doesn’t own. It’s not about putting his growling face on coins or on banners hung from buildings. It’s not about dismantling nearly all the agencies that protect you and me. It’s about actual human beings dying. Oh sure, some don’t speak English, which alone is good enough reason for Trump to bomb them, especially if he thinks he can steal their oil. The dead now number in the thousands.

Some of those human beings being killed are American military personnel who volunteered to stand strong in the face of threats to America. To be clear, though, there wasn’t a threat and our people do care if they die. They just don’t want to die for stupid reasons, much less for no reason at all. They are all predisposed to want to continue living, but that doesn’t enter Trump’s short circuited, dementia addled brain. If they die, Trump will wave a flag in faux patriotism, declare our superior warrior-ship and then call the deceased suckers and losers.

From David Corn of Mother Jones, interspersed with my comments in parentheses that I was unable to rein in:

Of course, millions of Americans have known from the start that Trump has long been a deceitful scammer. But millions of others have fallen for his hustle—and they stuck with his flimflam after his first stint as president demonstrated he lied when he promised cheaper and better health care (never even had a plan – nor an idea of a “concept of a plan”), a revival of American infrastructure (Infrastructure Week never arrived), and an end to budget deficits (he added $7.8 trillion to our national debt in his first administration). Despite his failure to make good on these pie-in-the-sky promises, he managed to keep the con going—even after miserably mismanaging the Covid pandemic (there were at least 800,000 unnecessary deaths – dead people – due to Trump’s ineptitude – seeing a pattern?) and then scheming to overturn a national election.

Now he’s scamming us with bogus claims of having eliminated Iran’s defenses, even as they shoot down our warplanes and our search-and-rescue aircraft; making promises of grabbing Iran’s oil on the cheap as though it’s ours to take; securing glorious victory for our troops; and inflation so low that you’ve never seen anything like it before.  Plus evicting the “worst of the worst,” even as he deports U.S. citizens – the list goes on and on and they’re all cons.

Here are some timely questions:

  1. Have our millions of Americans who have continued to let themselves be conned by this lifelong con man at last been awakened to the reality that Trump has started a global war and that real people are really being killed in service to Trump’s demented psychopathy?
  2. Have they/we at last figured out that this is real life or death? It isn’t a reality show and this war threatens to be fought right here. Do they get that the opponent won’t rope-a-dope for Trump for very long and that they will use their finest skills – terrorism – to attack us?
  3. Have our fellow citizens opened their eyes and now see that Trump is having our military people violate our own laws and commit war crimes – IN OUR NAME?
  4. Do MAGAs see that Trump has removed everyone who might possibly be less than completely loyal only to him, as though he is an absolute, all powerful muck-a-muck, so that now there are no backbones anywhere near him, that there aren’t any adults left in the room, just cowering children?
  5. Life or death didn’t seem to matter to Americans in the Covid pandemic during Trump’s first administration. Will life or death matter to us in a global war?

Don’t imagine even for a second that this is hyperbole. It’s happening in front of your eyes right now. This isn’t about policies or policy differences. It isn’t about wacko conspiracy stupidities or about some “alternative facts” (i.e. lies). People are dying and the rate of death is increasing. This is a developing global war, even though it’s happening now a few thousand miles away from us – except for the impact on the loved ones of those getting killed and injured “over there.” It’s happening “over here” for the people who are grieving.

Don’t be conned into believing that this war is over. The Iranians have a long memory, such that even if the immediate hostilities are stopped, Iran will continue to do what it’s done since 1979: terrorism and proxy wars.

The time for action is NOW!
Keep standing up,
speaking out
and taking action, like:

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!), because 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.

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 or Barnes & Noble 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 comments I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine. Unless it’s a guest essay, in which case, blame the guest.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

This Week’s Greatest Hits; Plus Pigeons


POST 1273

Iran Update

Trump says we’ve obliterated Iran’s navy, air force, missiles and drones. Nevertheless, on Friday Iran shot down two of our war planes and one of the pilots still has not been brought back to safety. So much for obliteration.

Update: It was reported overnight that the airman has been recovered.

That Trump is lying is no surprise. That anyone would believe that he is a proper and effective war leader is amazing. Congress can stop this madness. Where are the people with a spine? How much needless criminal death and destruction will it take for them to learn to stand up once again?

Pam Bondi Dumped!

Yes, another wholly incompetent Trump appointee has received marching orders via social media to vacate the premises. Bondi is gone. It’s reported that Todd Blanche, acting Attorney General and proud fixer for Ghislaine Maxwell, moved into the AG office immediately after Bondi slammed the door on her way out. Blanche found the Epstein files still on her desk, along with her 7 dead house plants that had recently been ripped from their pots.

She was excellent at being a mean girl. That should have pleased Trump. And she wasn’t dumped for not embarrassingly fawning over Trump, because she always does. So, why was she dumped?

Jonathan Diaz of The Contrarian explained that, “Of the 30 lawsuits filed by former Attorney General Pam Bondi to steal these [state voting] records, the Department of Justice has lost all of them.” Perhaps her total failure to get away with cheating in court displeased Trump. Perhaps she didn’t prosecute enough of the innocent people on Trump’s hate list, even though there was no case to pursue in any of them and grand juries consistently shut her down because  – wait for it – there was no case to pursue.

She was dumped in order to better cover up Trump’s (likely) felonious acts related to the Epstein pedophilia and sex trafficking case.

As always, it’s all about Trump. Not justice. Not the Constitution. Not the people. Not catching bad guys and putting them in jail. Not upholding the rule of law, keeping the country safe or protecting civil rights. It’s not about enforcing federal laws or ensuring the fair and impartial administration of justice or defending the interests of the United States. She was in that office because it was good for Trump until it wasn’t. Now she’s gone because that’s better for Trump. So much for justice.

As good as it feels to be rid of that democracy killing, fundamentally corrupt sell-out, Bondi’s ouster is just another manipulation by Trump. She’s scheduled to be deposed in Congress under oath in a couple of weeks about the Epstein documents and DOJ actions to pursue justice that never happened. Now that she’s out of office she can’t be made to produce any of the Epstein related materials that she’s withheld, covered up and lied about because she no longer controls them. Trump loves that.

That civics experiment is complete. Now we know how much destruction of justice one attorney general can do in just 14 months.

But she can be prosecuted for perverting the law and lying to Congress. Watch for that immediately after January 20, 2029.

Who’s Next?

ICE has been persecuting, beating, killing, incarcerating and renditioning innocent people. You know that, but consider this.

In their quest for toxic manhood, these thugs have preyed upon Hispanics, Browns, Blacks and anyone who doesn’t look to be of northern European stock. Now we learn that Trump’s EEOC* has issued a subpoena to the University of Pennsylvania to produce the names and contact information of employees who are members of Jewish groups or organizations. Someone in the Trump administration justifies this invasion of privacy claiming this is somehow for the purpose of dealing with antisemitism on campus. I’ll leave it to you to figure out some warped explanation of how this singling out is somehow good for Jews.

What’s worse is that a Pennsylvania district court judge ordered the university to comply with the subpoena. In researching this issue I did not find that the judge wore a pointed KKK hood or an SS uniform instead of a judicial robe. His decision will be appealed.

But wait just a second.

From the Łódź Ghetto

First, the government isn’t entitled to such personal information or anything that smacks of a violation of the First Amendment, as this intrusion does. Second, the university rightly doesn’t request, amass or keep such records. Third, this is creepily like Jews in Europe in the late 1930s having to wear yellow arm bands with the Star of David to aid in identification and persecution of them.

I’ve told you before that the Trump government going after Blacks and Browns was just the first step into Christian nationalism. A purging of all non-lily white Christians is needed for that, so Jews are next on their list of who goes to concentration camps. That should creep you out big time, but there’s more.

Next will be Muslims, then Asians, then Catholics. Yes, Catholics, too. That’s because these Christian nationalists are actually Protestant nationalists. They hate everyone and everything that is not exactly like themselves.

Still, they say they are Christian nationalists, so let’s test the Christian part of that.

Christian nationalist: What would Jesus, the Prince of Peace, say about your hatred, your discrimination, your violence and the rest of what you’re doing? What part of your hatred and cruelty would He endorse? Where’s the quotation from the Bible where Jesus tells you to hate others, violate them, torture them, imprison them and expel them?

Sadly, I bet you can find some deeply integrity compromised minister to find a passage in the Bible that he can twist and torture into something supporting your cruelty. After all, slavery is in the Bible. Betcha you believe that it should be legal here right now. I do, too. You be the slave and I’ll be the master.

WARNING!

The following section contains vulgar language. Sensitive reader, you are strongly advised to keep secret your reading of this and to read it out loud where you can’t be overheard – maybe in a closet. We won’t tell on you.
.
A Pigeon’s Ode To Trump
.

Banner with Trump’s face hanging on the Department of Justice Building. It reads, “Make America Safe Again.”

The truth is not kind, it is just what we find,

As even we bird brains have said.

We pigeons fly by your long drape in the sky

And we laugh as we shit on your head.

.

There’s no place we claim that we cannot defame,

‘Cus we don’t give a damn ’bout your star.

We see your pathetic crazed clawing for credit

And want you to boil in hot tar.

.

All pigeons can see from our roost in a tree

Or from anywhere, ‘cus  we agree,

That we know the right word, that you’re just a dumb turd.

Gold plating can’t mask what we see.

.

You’re messed in the head and you will be ’til dead,

Your dementia is doomed to get worse.

You’ll dribble your spit and forget your worst bits,

But we know, so we’ll shit on your hearse.

.

Good riddance to you will be long overdue,

As the Earth breathes a sigh of relief.

All the years of repair is just something we’ll bear

As the price to restore our belief.

.

You’ll be remembered as worst-est dissembler,

By far the most cruel and depraved.

Generations from now folks will wonder at how,

And we will still shit on your grave.

.

Perhaps you can see there’s a story that’s key,

It’s a message that is its own bit.

We all despise you and everything you do,

‘Cus you’re just a pile of shit.

____________________________________________________

* That’s the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Odd that still exists, since Trump is all about eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion and has squashed that everywhere he can. But, of course, here he’s using it as a tool of discrimination.

Ah, now I get it.

The time for action is NOW!
Keep standing up,
speaking out
and taking action, like:

.

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!), because 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.

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 or Barnes & Noble 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 comments I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine. Unless it’s a guest essay, in which case, blame the guest.

Click me

JA


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

Headlines Plus NO KINGS Pics


POST 1272

Headlines
.
.
U.S. Worker Thriving Declines as Job Market Pessimism Grows:
Over half of employees are seeking or watching for new jobs, even as most [72%] say it is a bad time to find one. – Gallup, March 24, 2026
.
‘I feel betrayed’: Trump is losing young voters over Iran, economy – The Washington Post, March 16, 2026
. 
.
Zelenskyy Offers to be Temp US President While Trump Undergoes Psychiatric Evaluation– The Borowitz Report, March 31, 2026
.

In these most troubled times, we need an injection of humor regularly.

NO KINGS – Pass In Review!

As you review these pics of signs at NO KINGS demonstrations and marvel at people’s creativity, note, too, that the signs this time were edgier than at the demonstrations last year. Read that as you will, but I’m seeing greater anger and frustration. We’ve had way too much of Trump’s cheating, lying, war-ing, cover-ups, lawlessness, betrayal and dementia,* as well as the cowardice of Republicans in Congress.

 

Actually, WE are our only hope. But I really like the sign!

________________________________________________________

Click me

* “We’re in a hell of a lot of trouble. Us, America, but the world is in a lot of trouble because the most powerful man in the world is both evil and demented.” – Psychologist Dr John Gartner. Click here and watch his clear explanation.

Many thanks to MZ for pointing me to this interview.

The time for action is NOW!
Keep standing up,
speaking out
and taking action, like:

– Register voters

– Give to the ACLU

– Train to fight ICE

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!), because 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.

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 or Barnes & Noble 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 comments I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine. Unless it’s a guest essay, in which case, blame the guest.

Click me

JA

 

 

 

 

 


Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
Reproduction and sharing are encouraged, providing proper attribution is given.

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