Freedom

For us To Win


POST 1259

“For Us To Win”

I keep hearing Democrats using that phrase regarding the upcoming elections. Lawmakers, candidates, influencers, liberal podcasters, bloviators and more talk about what Democrats need to do to persuade voters. What they need in order to get elected. Here’s the problem.

We The People don’t give a damn about those Democrats.

We care about our lives, our safety and our freedom. We care if there is equal justice under law for all, so that rich guys, elite guys and brutal cruelty dispensers get what they’re due. We care that the lawless, criminal ICE thugs are prosecuted and that lying, self-serving officials are prosecuted for their reprehensible and often illegal, un-constitutional behavior.

We care that Epstein’s buddies, the abusers, pedophiles and sex traffickers of girls, some of them little girls as young as 9 years old, get skewered by an aggressive Department of Justice that actually does its job. And I don’t mean their job of sucking up to Trump.

There is little as abhorrent as children being violated. Even MAGAs are all in on getting the perps. And they’re angry as hell that Trump lied to them, promising to make the evidence of those crimes public and then doing everything he can to keep the evidence from them, to cover up the wrongdoing. Still, millions of them stand with the felon.

We know what “fair” means, and what we see is so blatantly unfair and offensive to our values that we want things set right. Finger pointing doesn’t get the job done and neither do toothless bromides like, “We must,” blah, blah, blah.

We care if we can afford to feed our families, provide healthcare and keep the house warm in winter. We care about saving our democracy, too, but that’s a rather esoteric thing, so for some it isn’t a compelling argument to get out and vote – except for those voters already feeling the violations of their citizenship, like the citizens of Minneapolis and others around the country who care and show up to protest.

Voting for Democrats carries the implication of voting against Trump and his criminality and cruelty and that’s good. There are lots of us who find that motivating. In fact, much of the anticipation for a blue wave in November is not about electing Democrats, but about defeating Trump. Just watch what happens on March 28 for the next No Kings rally. And do more than watch. Show up! Speak up! You’ll see unlimited energy for deposing the tyrant.

So please, Democrat promoters, stop telling us what you need – donations – and whatever you think will tweak us to send more. We might like some of you, but honestly we’re not at all about you. We’re about us.

We care about We The People. Focus on that, on what we need, not what you need. Perhaps then we’ll listen and maybe donate – after you’ve listened to us. Then we just might show up on November 3rd, vote for Democrats and make a blue wave.

Your Wednesday Assignment

Read Andy Borowitz’s post of February 18, Will Pam Bondi Go to Prison? This is a well reasoned examination of our abhorrent Attorney General. And it will remind you, too, of other felonious incidents and perps that we must prosecute as we move forward to save our freedoms and as we continue to insist upon justice for all.

Quote Of The Week

Speaking to coal workers at the Champion of Coal meeting at the White House last week to accept a childishly made up award, your president broke news, saying,

“I’m proud to officially name the .  .  . undeshibly dishowen .  .  . when did this come out, Mr. Speaker .  .  .”

That is neither snark nor satire. It’s an accurate representation of Trump’s gibberish-speak. Some people are saying that someone must have implanted unintelligence nodules into his brain by blending them into his Big Macs. Or perhaps there is something degenerative going on.

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle boasted – and this is word for word what he said:

“President Trump is the sharpest, most accessible, and energetic president in American history.”

A confidential source inside the White House who understands Trump’s gibberish-speak explained that “The President takes daily shushems, eats organanic frendoom and garglesh fifadon eshtrank to stay ready for the world schtage.” When asked if President Trump is suffering from dementia, the source reported that Trump doesn’t seem to notice it.

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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.

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    JA


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

History


POST 1257

 

 

Everybody agrees that we want those people off our streets. That’s why during Trump’s first administration we locked up over 5,000 very dangerous children – they’re horrible people, very bad – some of them infants in diapers and you know what those are like. You’ll recall that Trump’s pet Nazi Stephen Miller told us that the cruelty is the point. That toxic history should tell us something about today and tomorrow.

Let’s start with a definition, agreeing that the “worst of the worst” are those convicted of violent crimes, like arson, homicide and various forms of assault. Good news! Our Department of Homeland Security is on duty rounding those guys up.

According to DHS’s own report, less than 14% of the people they’ve rounded up were accused or convicted of violent crime. Now, we can split hairs over whether those only accused and not convicted should be included in a “worst of the worst” lineup, but that’s just rule of law and Constitutional rights picky-picky.

Analysis Using Our 3rd Grade Math Skills

If less than 14% of the people zip tied, imprisoned, renditioned, deported and other forms of being abused and disappeared by ICE are accused or convicted of violent crimes, then our 3rd grade math skills tell us that

OVER 86% OF THE PEOPLE

DETAINED BY ICE

ARE INNOCENT

OF ANY CRIMINALITY.

BY DEFINITION THEY AREN’T THE

“WORST OF THE WORST”.

This is Trump’s full-page ad in the New York Times calling for the killing of the Central Park 5.

Surely you recall the case of the Central Park Five,** the horror of teens wrongfully accused and convicted of attacking and raping a jogger. After years of being imprisoned, they were exonerated in 2002 through the confession of the actual attacker and through DNA evidence that was illegally withheld by the prosecutor during their trial. In 1989 Trump took out a full page ad calling for the suffering and death of these innocents. He has never apologized for his cruelty. That history should have made clear to us what he is.

If you read Andy Borowitz’s short post of February 9, Trump’s Racism Isn’t News, Trump’s posting of Michelle and Barack Obama as apes will no longer surprise you..

In Trump’s case, his cruelty rhymes over and over.
.
More History – Say Their Names

A Sampling Of What Trump and his Totalitarian Monsters Bring Us.

Killed On The Street In Just The Past 3 Months:

Alex Jeffrey Pretti: A 37-year-old nurse fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 24, 2026.

Renee Nicole Good: A 37-year-old mother of three fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026.

Keith Porter Jr.: A 43-year-old father fatally shot by an off-duty ICE agent in Los Angeles on December 31, 2025.

Isaias Sanchez Barboza: Fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent on December 11, 2025.

Josué Castro Rivera: A 24-year-old from Honduras who was struck by a vehicle on a Virginia interstate while fleeing ICE agents on October 23, 2025.

Deaths in ICE Detention (Fiscal Year 2025) – Causes Not Listed, But You Can Imagine:

Ismael Ayala Uribe: Died September 22, 2025.

Oscar Duarte Rascon: Died September 8, 2025.

Lorenzo Antonio Batrez Vargas: Died August 31, 2025.

Isidro Perez: A 75-year-old Cuban national who died in ICE custody in Florida on June 26, 2025.

Jesus Molina-Veya: A 45-year-old Mexican citizen who died at the Stewart Detention Center on June 7, 2025.

Abelardo Avelleneda-Delgado: A 68-year-old Mexican citizen who died during transport on May 5, 2025.

Marie Ange Blaise: A 44-year-old Haitian national who died at the Broward Transitional Center on April 25, 2025.

For a more comprehensive historical list, including those dating back to 2004, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other advocacy groups like the Southern Border Communities Coalition’s Fatal Encounters and ICE’s Detainee Death Reports maintain trackers of deaths that occur in CBP and ICE facilities.
Source: Google AI
.
Current History From the Misogyny Department

You already know of the cheating, lying, manipulating and foul anti-Constitution crap in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, but this new slice of discrimination calls for our attention.

Recall the Gallup survey detailed in this post, showing that 2 out of 5 young American women (ages 15 – 44) want to emigrate – leave the U.S. permanently. Here are some reasons why, as outlined by Sheila Markin in her Zoom announcements of February 9***:

Heritage Foundation’s new attack on women’s rights.

You might not have heard about the next regressive playbook similar to Project 2025 to keep women barefoot and pregnant, but it has arrived. Sarah [Garza Resnick, CEO of Personal PAC] discusses it. The motive is to get more women to have babies to restock what these white supremacists believe should be a white Christian nation. Among other things it calls for an end to no-fault divorce, an end to IVF, an end to birth control and greater tax burdens for people who do not have children. Oh, and it calls for a dismantling of programs for women seeking higher education – because educated women tend to work instead of being barefoot and pregnant.

Women solely as submissive breeders, dull witted sex toys, robotic servants – it’s the fever dream, the wet dream of White supremacists.

Quick Quiz

Rules: No cheating. Answer each question before looking at the answers.

Questions:

  1. Why are the values of the far right always cruel to those who aren’t White, Christian and male?
  2. Why are so many policies promoted by the far right regressive and repressive to so many?
  3. Why do far righties hold fast to practices and beliefs stemming from at least, say, 1619 when the first African slaves were delivered to America? Okay, it goes back to way before that.

Answers:

  1. Fear. They see everything as a zero-sum game and are afraid of losing power and wealth if anyone else benefits.
  2. Fear. They see everything as a zero-sum game and are afraid of losing power and wealth if anyone else benefits.
  3. Fear. They see everything as a zero-sum game and are afraid of losing power and wealth if anyone else benefits.

_________________________________________

* Mark Twain was and is right: “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”

** The list of outrageous and discriminatory actions in this case is extensive. Read the report and remember that Trump continued to want to execute these teens even after they had been proven innocent.

*** Sheila Markin publishes The Markin Report and hosts a weekly Friday Zoom featuring high power guests from the political arena. Contact her at [email protected] to attend.

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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.

What Is Actually Happening Today


POST 1254

Don Lemon’s Bogus Arrest Isn’t What You Think

He committed journalism. So far that still is not a crime. But it was only a matter of time until Don Lemon would be arrested.

For years Lemon has been critical of Trump. He’s laughed at and ridiculed him, been disparaging, accusatory, condemning and, worse, Lemon has been accurate in his unsympathetic appraisal of the malignant narcissist. That alone would be enough for Trump to jam Lemon into his retribution pipeline, his enemies list, about which both he and Pam Bondi lie, saying it doesn’t exist.

Clearly, Trump believes Lemon has earned retribution and other cruelty. If Trump doesn’t suppress Lemon, Trump would be forced to see himself as a loser, the very worst thing. So he must crush that nasty bug. But there’s more and it’s worse.

Don Lemon is a full time, card carrying Black person. And he compounds that effrontery by being gay. He’s not who the heavy-starch-in-their-underwear, moral storm troopers insist that he must be. Don Lemon is the perfect target for persecution by racist Trump. And there’s moreT

Trump and his fascist lieutenants are on a full court press to eliminate our rights, focused primarily on the First Amendment. They’ve sent their Gestapo to many cities to shut down freedom of speech, the right to assemble and the right to petition government. And they’re on a 50 state rampage to eliminate voting rights for all but those who will vote for Trump.

He’s already attacked freedom of the press with his extortion of CBS, ABC and now his baseless arrests of Don Lemon and other journalists.

Lemon’s arrest isn’t just retribution, It is an attack on our freedom and our democratic foundation.

Historical precedent

It was then-Vice President Dick Cheney on (I think it was) Meet the Press. There was great criticism across the country of Dubya’s invasion of Iraq, Cheney’s pet project. He proclaimed his absolute certainty that deposing the tyrant Saddam was worth our blood and treasure. Far worse, he told we critics of the war that we better watch what we say.

WATCH WHAT WE SAY!?

If we were to criticize him, Dubya, Rumsfeld, their policy, their strategy or their power he would – what? – come gunning for us? Lock us up? Cheney’s was a barely concealed threat against the First Amendment’s protection against government abridgement of our freedom of speech. We might not have seen it then, but that was prelude to today.

Now

Trump, Bondi and a few DOJ bench warmers are saying the same thing, that we better watch what we say. They’re taking Lemon to court to make it stick. Were they to win their blatantly anti-Constitutional case, all freedom will be taken from all of us. The First Amendment will be burned to ashes.

Hundreds of thousands of citizens are already threatened with violence and incarceration, even a torture prison, this as government policy to eliminate our freedoms and place all power in Trump’s hands.

And Trump won’t stop there, Here are a quick list of the Amendments and Article II of the Constitution.

Q. Once the First Amendment is gone, what will be destroyed next?

A. Everything

I say again: Lemon’s arrest isn’t just retribution, It is an attack on our freedom and our democratic foundation.

Duplicitous

Maybe it’s just more of Trump’s miserable, self-serving, living-the-lie bullsh*t. Read this short report from Peter Baker’s January 13 NYT piece, Trump Supports the Protesters, Except Those Protesting Him.

From The Onion

President Trump had a ringing message of solidarity on Tuesday for demonstrators in the streets. “KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!” he wrote on social media. He decried “the senseless killing of protesters,” and added that those pulling the triggers “will pay a big price.”

He meant the protesters in Tehran, not Minneapolis. By contrast, the people in the streets of Minnesota, he wrote just 63 minutes earlier, were “anarchists and professional agitators” trying to cover up a fraud scandal. He vowed that “THE DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING!”

This is yet another example of Trump as democracy destroyer.

Tom Homan, Border Bastard

From Mother Jones:

Homan was a key architect in implementing family separations as acting ICE director in the first Trump administration [Think: thousands of kids in cages. Over 1.000 still are not reunited with their parents.]. In the president’s second term, he was appointed “border czar” to take charge of mass deportations and was investigated over cashing in on it. (We reported with the Project On Government Oversight that many of his former private business clients won lucrative border and immigration-related government contracts.)

Plus, Homan is the $50,000 FBI bag man. And he’s continuing the illegal, un-Constitutional ICE Gestapo brutality in Minneapolis, coming soon to Ohio and Maine.

That’s right: Homan’s appointment to Assistant Chief Cruelty Dispenser is yet another example of Trump as democracy destroyer.

Quote Of The Month

On NBC’s Meet The Press, Sunday, January 18, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained why we are in a state of emergency, by saying,

“The national emergency is avoiding a national emergency.”

Let your eyeballs settle a moment for having gone googly over that idiotic doublespeak.

Next-Gen M1 Abrams Tank. Picture that parked down the street from your house.

There is always the possibility of something causing an emergency. So, if Bessent’s absurd remark has weight, then we are always in a state of national emergency. That’s handy for Trump because that could allow him to cite the Insurrection Act and deploy our active duty military with their weapons of war everywhere in the country.

And that would make it much easier for Trump to destroy democracy and accrue all power to himself.

It Isn’t New, But It’s Just As Ugly

From The Diary of Anne Frank, January 13, 1943:

Terrible things are happening outside. At any time of night and day, poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. They’re allowed to take only a knapsack and a little cash with them, and even then, they’re robbed of these possessions on the way. Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared. Women return from shopping to find their houses sealed, their families gone. The Christians in Holland are also living in fear because their sons are being sent to Germany. Everyone is scared.

We’re living in a mad king, Jaberwocky moment like that right now and it’s very, very dangerous for us all.

Song of the Month

You must listen to Bruce Springsteen’s song Streets of Minneapolis. It’s so strong and so sad and so honoring and so brave.

A Call From July 4, 1776 – Pick Up The Phone. It’s For You

We are endowed with .  .  .

.  .  . certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness — That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed .  .  .

.  .  .  but we do not consent to this government!

We are at a choice point. We can either allow ourselves to be terrorized into submitting to Trump’s dictatorship or we can stand against it.

Many ask what we can do. Read Steve Schmidt’s Defiance Is The Cure. Then steel yourself for the patriotic battle that we will win.

Now, tell me you’re seeing what is actually happening today.
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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 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.

No Fever, But A Hopeful Dream


POST 1250

January 6, 2027, 9:00 PM EST

East fireplace, Statuary Hall, U.S.Capitol Building. Photo courtesy of Daniel Holt

The mid-term election is over, Congress members have been sworn in and the new Congress is open for business. The Democrats are in the majority in both the House and in the Senate. Hakeem Jeffries is the new Speaker of the House. The majority leader in the Senate is a surprise – Elizabeth Warren.

This evening the two chamber leaders sit in comfortable chairs on either side of the east side fireplace in Statuary Hall in the Capitol Building. Behind them are statues of Alexander Hamilton Stevens of Georgia and Robert M. La Follett of Wisconsin,* both seated. There is a robust fire in the fireplace as red lights on the front of two television cameras glow and Senator Warren begins.

Majority Leader Sen. Elizabeth Warren: Good evening. We’re here to address the American people and to formally declare what your Congress will do so that you know what to expect. We are here to stand guard for you and for our country. Thank you for being with us on this historic night and on this journey of American patriotism.

Democrats have taken majority control of both houses of Congress and we embark now on the ourney to restore our democracy and return the Congress to being a co-equal branch of government focused on the values, the needs and the hopes of We The People, exactly as the Founders intended.

Speaker Hakeem Jeffries: We begin with a symbolic demonstration of the promises we made to you during the mid-term campaign. We invited the minority leaders of both cambers to join us tonight, but they declined. Then, because our country needs both parties to work together and focus on the Constitution, our laws and the oath of office that every one of us has taken, we’ve offered the opportunity to all Congressional Republicans to participate in our ceremony tonight. None accepted our invitation.

Sen. Warren holds up a thick document.

EW: This is a copy of Project 2025, the horrid, anti-America fascism handbook written by the Heritage Foundation. It has been followed for the past two years by our attention seeking, insatiably needy, power grabbing president and our far too compliant Republican colleagues. Tonight Speaker Jeffries and I will rip out every section of this ghastly document, one after another, and throw them into the fire. We will burn them as a symbol, a stake in the ground, to put all on notice, that we will fight back against every one of the abhorrent policies that our Republican colleagues have failed to oppose.

These policies assaulted your rights.They took money from you and gave it to the super rich. They destroyed the agencies that have kept us healthy. They neutered the parts of government that have for decades helped to educate our children. They de-funded what made us the world’s research leader and compromised what has kept all of us safe in a very dangerous world. All of that destruction and more needs to be reversed and fresh air breathed into our country. That’s what we have promised to you that we will do. We begin that sacred duty tonight symbolically casting out this Project 2025 demon.

Sen. Warren hands the document to Speaker Jeffries.

HJ: Speaker Jeffries holds up the document.

The first section in this that is focused on the presidency opens by taking a cheap shot at – and this is exactly what they wrote – the “supposedly ‘woke’ faction of the country.” That’s what they disparagingly call most of us. “Woke.”

Whatever “woke” is, it’s their hateful slap in the face of most Americans. Throughout this document the authors seek to divide us and diminish whole swaths of the American people, which inevitably excludes you from the okay group. That stops now.

Here’s the really odd thing. They continue in this section of their Mein Kampf manifesto to quote Founder James Madison in Federalist No. 47, with his warning,

“[t]he accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”

But that is exactly what President Trump and his compliant Republican Congress have been doing – fyranny!

The Republican authors of this domestic terrorism manual give us no clue why they point Madison’s accusing finger at themselves, as that puts the lie to everything else they wrote. Perhaps in their cruelty, they really just don’t get it.

EW: They have brought us tyranny. You can see it in the escalating grocery store prices caused by the president’s illegal tariffs. You can see it as masked gunmen bang down doors and drag people out of their homes. You can see it as they rip our people out of their vehicles and throw them to the ground. You can hear it as a fellow immobilized in an ICE agent’s headlock yells repeatedly “I’m a citizen!. I have identification!” and the agent yells, “I don’t care” and proceeds to throw him into an ICE vehicle. And you can see it as ICE agents gun down American citizens who pose no threat and who have broken no laws.

You can see how they terrorize our citizens everywhere they can, hiding behind their face masks, Kevlar vests and menacing their weapons of war. They do all this as our perverse, obscene, un-American Justice Department bestows on them a claim of immunity. You can see it as millions have lost their jobs and you can see it as our Department of Justice violates our laws every day. This stuff is right out of the Project 2025 playbook. And it’s the stuff Hitler did. It’s what Stalin did and it’s what decades of Chinese leaders have done. Brutality and intimidation. And Trump and the Republicans are doing it now.

We’ll have no more of that.

Speaker Jeffries rips that section from the Project 2025 document, throws it into the fire and hands the rest of the document to Sen. Warren.

EW: Let’s look at another section.

They proceed to unmask the anti-American directives in this horrid document until the entire thing – all 922 pages – is in flames, one section at a time being reduced to ash.

EW: Together we welcome back our republic, our democracy and the America that we love.

_________________________

But today, January 18, 2026, the destruction of our republic, committed by fascist wannabes, continues. If you have doubts about that, check with anyone in Minneapolis. Or Portland. Or New Jersey. Or Chicago. Or .  .  .
.
The symbolism of this dream must be made real.
.
Trump, in his manipulations, his money and power grabs and his mania to out-Putin Putin; in his inept, incompetent and criminal lieutenants who wield their power with the glee of imbecilic sociopaths; his Gestapo attacks, beatings, jailings and murders carried on with impunity and immunity – it’s all a package designed to drive us to despair and to make us succumb to Trump’s destruction of our democracy so that he can be our all powerful dictator. We must not – we cannot let that happen. Our job is to make this democracy dream come true.
.
The antidote to despair is action.

Take action!

________________________________________

* Many thanks go to Daniel Holt, Associate Historian, US Senate Historical Office for his help in identifying the gentlemen represented by the statues on either side of the east fireplace.

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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 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.

An Update – With Questions


POST 1249

ICE Murders

Intending no disrespect, Renee Nicole Good is still dead. That’s the way it is when an ICE thug shoots someone in the face or shoots them pretty much anywhere else. It isn’t a movie and the actors don’t get to go home. Renee Nicole Good is and will remain dead and her children will remain orphans.

That was said to make it clear that she isn’t a statistic or an avatar. She was a real person just like you and me and now she’s dead because of ICE brutality directed by Donald “Shaky Brain” Trump, Stephen “Goebbels” Miller, Christi “Puppy Killer with a Rolex” Noem and Pam “President’s Hit Man” Bondi.

It doesn’t get more real or more permanent than dead, and our titular leaders don’t give a damn about that or anything important to you, like your life, just as they don’t care about Renee Good losing hers.

Two more innocents were gunned down by Border Patrol last week in Portland, OR, so it seems right to do a count of the deaths by our immigration thugs. Here’s what I found from Google AI.

Since January 1, 2017, ICE has reported that 70 people have died in its custody. [Note that we don’t know how many have died in the El Salvador torture prison.]

Independent reports suggest a higher potential number, with a 2024 analysis by the ACLU, Physicians for Human Rights, and American Oversight finding that 95% of 52 deaths in ICE custody between 2017 and 2021 were potentially preventable with adequate medical care. 
.

A report by The Trace revealed that between 2015 and 2021, 59 shootings by ICE officers resulted in 23 fatalities. [We must have had a lot of domestic terrorist drivers who tried to run down ICE agents in those years.]

More recent reports from late 2025 and early 2026 indicate a notable increase in the use of force.
.
During the current Trump second term, federal immigration agents have shot at civilians at least 16 times, resulting in four deaths and at least seven injuries, according to a data analysis. [all emphasis original]
.
None of the deaths of incarcerated people were of White guys. But most, maybe all, of the deaths of protesters gunned down by ICE were White. Make of that what you will.
Questions

Do you feel safer?

Is our nation safer?

Is it okay for a vigilante quality posse of goons to shoot law abiding people?

Is this the kind of country you expected or want?

Did you vote for this? This question will make a lot of people twist their innards. Guilt is a terrible thing.

More Pesky Questions

Have you noticed that nearly all the Immigration and Customs Enforcement – ICE – action is happening hundreds to thousands of miles from our borders, where there is no immigration going on?

Can we now stop pretending that what is going on has anything to do with the enforcement of our immigration laws?

Can we now publicly declare that our officially designed domestic terrorism is actually about racial domination in pursuit of White racial purity? You know: like superior Aryan purity?

Playing With Numbers

It’s clear that making this a White Christian nation is a key priority of Trump, MAGA and most super rich guys. So, what would it look like if we removed all those pesky “others”?

We’re already well on the way to expelling all Brown and Black people. People with Somali ancestry are obviously next to be imprisoned and expelled, even though between 70 and 83% of them are U.S. citizens and most others are here legally. But this is the Trump era, so those numbers are no impediment to ICE thuggery.

Muslims, Jews and Asians will likely be next. I have no clue what they’ll do with/to Native Americans. Since Trump likes Andrew Jackson so much, maybe there will be another Trail of Tears that leads to deportation vehicles.

The population of the country is about 348 million, so when we get rid of the 60% of unwelcome non-White, non-Christian “others” the population will be about 139 million.

That leaves me wondering who will do all the jobs that those disappeared people are doing now. What will Trump do with all the vacant rooms in his hotels? What will be our sense of ourselves? Don’t ask me because I won’t make the cut. I’ll be looking for a country to live in.

Three Questions

Who will remove Emma Lazarus’ poem from the base of the Statue of Liberty?

The last line to each stanza of the Star Spangled Banner is “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave,” just as Francis Scott Key wrote it. Who will compose a revised last line that both rhymes and reflects our new and deeply compromised freedom and bravery?

When Trump has Arlington National Cemetery dug up to build the “Nobody has ever seen anything like this” Trump U.S. National Golf Course, what will he do with the 430,000 caskets and headstones of all those “suckers and losers”? How will the caskets and headstones be kept properly paired?

  • Goes fast, doesn’t it?

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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.

Doing “Things”


POST 1245

Preface: Nearly all of this post was written prior to the American invasion and kidnapping done in Venezuela yesterday. Consequently, there are just a few comments about that particular dog wagging and lawbreaking included here. We will do a deeper dive soon. Meanwhile, keep your eye on the prize.

Click me for the story by The Onion. My preferred caption for all of the posed pictures of Trump signing an executive order is, “Look! Look! I made a boom-boom!”

We the People are an endlessly clever and creative band and we relentlessly ridicule those who have earned and richly deserve our contempt and shaming. The year just past provided non-stop material for satire and verbal punches in the nose to our national abusers of decency, the law, the Constitution and even rational thinking. A few favorites are sprinkled in this post.

First, though, please accept my thanks for reading these posts and sometimes commenting on them. We all can do our part in this war to stop fascism, to protect and defend our Constitution, our democracy and our way of life and to restore decency to its place at the forefront of our cherished values. These posts are part of my modest effort to do just that. Indeed, when you see a message in these posts encouraging you to share them and to encourage others to subscribe (one more time: it is still and will remain a freebie!) it’s for the purpose of stretching the reach of the message from those of us who think democracy is a pretty good thing worthy of our collective moral muscle, to those who need our encouragement.

This particular post is less my words than direction to the brilliance of others. We start with the year end post of Prof. Heather Cox Richardson.

Click me

She brings context and points a finger at the guilty responsible for so many deeply destructive, anti-Constitutional and outright illegal things that have happened since January 20. Most examples are blood boilers, preludes to full-on fascism, but some really good stuff happened, too, like judicial decisions that pinned Trump’s ears back. Those are fun.

Many commentaries are persuasive, yet most often we’re left not knowing what to do to make the change we want to come about. Turns out some people can help fill that “huh?” hole.

For example, Robert Reich published 10 Crucial Things You Can Do in 2026 and it’s a really good list. You’ll know how to do every one of those “things”.

Here’s one of my “things”.

Are you on the fence about mean girl puppy murderer and poser in front of men illegally jammed into a torture prison at her direction, Christie Noem? Should she be removed from her post as Secretary of Homeland Security?

First, Watch this little video of Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (IL-3) as she skewers Noem by detailing her lies, her law breaking and her joyful cruelty. Then decide a proper fate for her.

Next, call your representative and senators and demand that they oust this talent-less Eva Braun by means of a humiliating impeachment. That’s a “thing” you can do.

Now Some Bitter, Well-Earned Congratulations:

Watch and listen to Jesse Welles’ message about recruiting ICE thugs. If you want more to make you think, click here.

– to the many millions of Americans who voted for Trump and who have lost their Obamacare subsidy so that their healthcare insurance now costs more than double what it cost last week. That will make it completely impossible for millions to get insurance at all and they will be relegated like so many to only the hospital emergency room for healthcare, including for their children. Millions of them live in red states and they didn’t vote for this to happen.

– to the hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens and legal residents who have been unjustly thrown to the ground, handcuffed, their faces mashed into the pavement, thrown into unmarked vans and either imprisoned or deported, all without an arrest warrant or even reasonable suspicion of any wrongdoing. It sucks to be an American with fascists in power and only the sociopaths voted for this.

– to the millions of kids who now go hungry because of the cruel withholding of SNAP benefits, a huge proportion of which used to go to families in red states. Again, they voted for Trump, but they didn’t vote for this to happen.

Grifting with Jesus

– to all the dozens of Venezuelans who have been illegally murdered at sea and now on land, but who were never formally accused of, incarcerated for, convicted of or sentenced for any crime.

– to all of us for our windfall benefit created by Trump’s piracy at sea of at least two oil super tankers filled with Venezuelan oil.

– to the hundreds of thousands of people around the world who have died of starvation or lack of inexpensive medicines because Trump ended the USAID program.

– to all of us for the blatant crushing under heel of the First Amendment on Christmas day by Trump and various departments of what’s left of our government. “If lawmakers could destroy the right of freedom of conscience, they could destroy all other unalienable rights. Those in charge of government could throw representative government out the window and make themselves tyrants.” Read Heather Cox Richardson for this sad story.

Maybe you’d prefer an upside down Bible from the steps of St. John’s Church.

– to the terrorist cult of MAGA for its cheering Trump auctioning off a hastily painted Jesus, where he announced through his actions yet again that there is no bottom. There is nothing so undignified, so clownishly demeaning of our country that Trump will refuse the opportunity to grab it by its septic tank and tarnish our nation before the world.

– to Merrick Garland and his timid DOJ for epic, even galactic foot dragging, thereby refusing to enforce our laws. That allowed Trump to run in and win the 2024 election. See William A. Finnegan’s take down of what happened. This story will gnarl your innards yet again over the DOJ cowardice that enabled the current, ongoing destruction of our Constitution and blatant lawlessness, every bit as much as our lap dog Republican Congress has enabled that through the same cowardice.

Yes, really

– to the people of Venezuela for losing their country to Donald Trump. He’s made it clear that he admires and wants to be like Vladimir Putin, invading a sovereign nation, bombing facilities and killing its citizens. Trump has gone even farther by kidnapping its leader. Now he’s just like Putin. Maybe worse.

NOTE: Don’t be distracted. This invasion and kidnapping have nothing to do with drugs, democracy, elections or how bad or how illegitimate is Maduro as president of Venezuela. It is about the massive reserves of oil beneath that country and what that’s worth to Trump. That’s why we’ll “run the country.” Plus it’s a first step toward domination of all of South America and maybe Greenland, because Trump desperately needs to show what a strongman he is.

– finally, congratulations to us, for our dog being wagged relentlessly by yet another illegal Trump military distraction. But We The People will not let the Epstein scandal go away and Trump will get what he is due.

You know that this congratulatory list could be very long and you understand the sarcasm. You get that we cannot – we must not – tolerate more of this, which means that you and I must take action because our dire circumstances have become worse. Whatever you and I are doing, it isn’t enough. This is a great and lasting task before us. But, what to do? Try this to jump start your engine:

  • I can’t vouch for the claimed connection to anyone named Van Gogh, but the message is clear and compelling. There is a blank page before us waiting for what’s next in our story of democracy and it is our honor to write that story.

I repeat: Whatever you and I are doing, it isn’t enough. But we can do “things” and keep on doing “things”.

Many, many thanks to all who step up, do “things” and carry a load for the sake of all of us.

  • Goes fast, doesn’t it?

    Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too (IT’S A FREEBIE!), 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.

    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 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 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.

Wrong Side of the Bed


POST 1242

 

NOTE: This post started as “Wrong Side Of The Bed” but somewhere in the process of editing it became clear that it actually was “Year End – Part One” but the change didn’t stick in the composing machine. You’ll have to imagine the correct title yourself.

Coming Attractions

The next Democratic (and democratic) president will spend a significant portion of his/her time reversing Trump actions.

  1. How ’bout an elegant evening at the Trump-Kennedy Center? No worries. Trump is just a mongrel dog that has to piss on every fire hydrant and tree and put his name on every building. The Trump name will be erased from the Center, the entryway to the facility will be sanitized and his hand picked, suck up Board Members will be fired, all on Day One. In fact, Trump’s name will be removed from every federal building in the nation. To get a better understanding of how ferociously, psychotically rabid Trump is, see these links from Mother Jones:
  2. We think that the rule of law is a good thing, even as it is under such relentless attack. Again, no worries. The new president will see that the perps doing illegal and un-constitutional things today will be introduced to the defendant’s table in courtrooms across the land.
  3. The new president will issue dozens of executive orders on Day One to reverse nearly everything Trump has done by executive order. The rest of his lawlessness will be challenged and reversed in court.
  4. Trump’s cheap gold glitter will be removed from every part of the White House. If the preposterous ballroom is still under construction, all the glitter will be removed and orders for more will be cancelled. A new use will be found for the building. Maybe for a Boys and Girls Clubs activity center, or housing for homeless vets, or a food bank for needy people.
  5. The snarky, whiny plaques Trump put beneath the portraits of past presidents will be replaced by the simple ones that had been beneath them – the ones that show only their names and dates of service.
  6. The portrait of Trump will be turned around so that it faces the wall.
  7. The next Democratic president will end our illegal, murderous attacks on land and sea and will visit our allies to reassert our commitment to our mutual support and partnership. If the  Russian war on Ukraine is still underway, we will ship massive armaments to Ukraine that can reach into Russia as far as necessary to force Russia to retreat in surrender.
  8. There will be renewed support for the things a large majority of us want, like: Medicare for All: sensible gun safety legislation: tax policy that serves all the people, not just the uber-wealthy; safe and legal abortion; support for fighting climate warming* and scientific research; and making higher education affordable. Our faithful federal workers will be rehired and will restart their efforts to protect us and our Constitution and much more.
  9. The new president will denounce Trump for his efforts to end birthright citizenship, a right that is articulated plainly and clearly in the 14th Amendment.** Similarly, he will excoriate the Supreme Court for having agreed to hear Trump’s case that is an effort to end run that Amendment. New Pres will recommend disbarment of all Trump lawyers who tried to end that right. They will be required to have a copy of the Constitution on their person at all times and all of them will have “XIV” tattooed on the back of each hand.
  10. Serious efforts will be made to make public the horrors of the Epstein cruelty and the criminality of his “guests,” but the new AG will find Pam Bondi’s desk and files empty and her hard drive will have been scrubbed. Have low expectations here.
  11. The Epstein cover up story will not go away. Neither will our resolve to support the victims who were so cruelly abused, some unable to even survive. The next Democratic/democratic president will stand with us to stand by these women. They will at last get the justice and a chance for relief from their suffering. Furthermore, we will not stand by and allow the perpetrators of those horrible crimes to continue to get away with their criminal cruelty. They will receive all the justice they deserve.

You get the idea. America will once again do what is right.

Finally, In This Season of Regaining Light

This is for all the big, tough bullies who beat up defenseless people.

Don’t forget:

The little people are as big as you are.

Whoever you are. – Tom Waits

For those who have at least a little understanding of the meaning of at least one end-of-year holiday (i.e. they know these celebrations aren’t about buying perfume, jewelry or a new car),

wishing you happy holidays and a request for us all to be good to one another.

_________________________________________________

* Climate warming deniers and the insatiable conspiracy mongers and the frothing dark web bobble heads will be required to get a brain MRI yearly and “ace” a cognitive test. They will have to wear a GPS signaling mouth monitor so that we’re alerted when they claim global warming is a hoax. Actually, they are the hoax.

** If Trump can end birthright citizenship, what’s to stop him from ending habeas corpus, free speech, protection from cruel and unusual punishment and the right to vote? What will stop him from restoring slavery?

Goes fast, doesn’t it?

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

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

Thanks!

The Fine Print:

  1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not necessarily mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
  2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
  3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine, but I do wish that I could blame someone else. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Book links to Amazon 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 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.

Behavior Geek


POST 1241

A Disambiguation Science Moment

Today, the winter solstice, is not the shortest day of the year. In fact, there is no shortest day of the year. They’re all the same length: 24 hours; 86,400 seconds. What this actually is that is noteworthy is the day of this year with the shortest duration of daylight. Conversely, it’s the day with the greatest duration of dark sky.

But you knew that. Here’s another way to look at it.

Starting today, we’ll gain between 1 and 3 minutes per day until the summer solstice on June 21. Consider that we can shed more and more light on reality all next year to influence our November 3 election to create more sanity in our federal and state governments.

More light. It’s a good thing.

We Start Here

Machiavelli told us long ago, it matters far more what people think of you than what the reality is. And we are experts at manipulating our self-presentation [and] we are so good at it that we actually believe the nonsense we say to other people.

– Bill Moyers interview of social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, 2012

Haidt was talking about all of us, but this was pre-Trump. The concern today is about our not-so-dear president, his sycophants and his millions of supporters. They actually believe the nonsense they say.

And the concern is also about the cavers, the ones who sell themselves out for a short term gain. The reason for our concern is the terrible effect they have on our nation and on each of us individually, including their attack on values we all claim to hold but which are sold out by so many.

We learned during Trump 1.0 that when he says outrageous, incendiary, un-American things that he’s telling us what he actually will do, including breaking the law. Oddly, many are surprised.

Click me

“We’re shocked, shocked, to find that there is crime being done in and from the White House!” It’s a Captain Renault moment in America, over and over.

To mix metaphors probably way too much, we really did know what that snake was when we picked him up, so there should be no surprise at all. Horror? Fear? Blood running cold? Sure. But not surprise.

Perhaps what is more shocking is the capitulation done by people who had no need to capitulate. The knee benders. The ring kissers. The simple greedy bastards. The ones who obey in advance.

From Wikipedia:

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison (“Paul Weiss”) is the sole law firm targeted by an executive order that did not sue the administration and instead made a deal with the administration to avoid sanctions and restore access [to federal courts].

In addition to Paul Weiss, eight other firms made preemptive deals with Trump to avoid being similarly targeted by executive orders. As part of the settlements, the nine law firms have agreed to provide a total of $940 million in pro bono work to efforts supported by the president. Plus, they and many others each agreed to Trump’s extortion plan that they “donate” $16 million to Trump’s presidential library, for which there is neither a location nor architectural plans.

Trump doesn’t read and his only book is Mein Kampf, so there will be no need for book shelves, nor file cabinets for documents in a Trump library, were it to be built. Likely, there would only be his greatest hits album detailing his tough guy speeches and reruns of The Apprentice shown in a gold and white theater.

Columbia University went completely paws up to Trump when he pulled $400 million in federal funding from them. To get him off their back they relinquished control of their programs, their classes and even their selection of students and faculty.

What they and so many others have in common is that they have ignored Timothy Snyder’s messages from On Tyranny – 20 Lessons From The Twentieth Century. Here’s a sampling. Note that the comments below are mine, not Snyder’s.

Lesson No. 1: Do Not Obey In Advance. Don’t do what you think the bully wants you to do, perhaps hoping to curry favor. Doing so is surrendering without even an objection, much less a fight. It’s voluntarily going paws up. Instead, put on your big boy or big girl pants and punch the damn bully in the face. Hard.

Lesson No. 2: Defend institutions. Tyrants want to smash them, disempower them so that they can control everything and everyone. Instead, put on your big boy or big girl pants and punch the damn bully in the face. Hard.

Lesson No. 5: Remember professional ethics. Refuse to succumb to directives ordering discrimination and violation of your oaths. Instead, put on your big boy or big girl pants and punch the damn bully in the face. Hard.

There is more, of course, but it all comes down to taking a stand protecting and defending what must be protected and defended, like the Constitution. Failure to do so is nothing but caving in, hoping you’ll quickly get out of the crosshairs of the bully and will be able to do so on the cheap. The best that can be said about that is that it is astonishingly short sighted and self-deluding.

When a little kid has a temper tantrum and you give him what he wants, hoping to shut him up, you’ve trained him to come back in full tyrant form and demand more. That’s what happens to those who are quick sell-outs to bullies. The bullies take your lunch money the next day, too. Don’t be an idiot. Put on your big boy or big girl pants and punch the damn bully in the face. Hard.

And that’s the message that so many should have heard and heeded. Trump’s threatened lawsuits would have been easy to defeat in court because his actions weren’t defensible. His style is to make capitulation the cheapest exit from his bullying. But there really is no exit for those who cave and ultimately it isn’t cheap.

There are many short-term thinkers, like the bullies who became ICE thugs. Trump found a cheap hook to recruit them – a $50,000 signing bonus – and then he owned them. He told them to bully, beat, gas, shoot and assault people indiscriminately – strangers, fellow citizens, neighbors – anyone even a little brown – and to pay no attention to whether they were U.S. citizens or legal residents and to essentially ignore whether they were criminals or not. Trump got his national thug army and set them a-thugging. The goal wasn’t about crime. It was and is to terrorize the country so that he could rid the country of non-Whites using illegal immigration as a cover story. Plus he’d get to cow all of us into submission.

And these ICE thugs stepped up to collect their checks and then started beating up innocent people. When Trump is gone and sane people are back in charge – like when we once again remember and invoke our common values – look for prosecutions of all the bullies.

For these and others, the day will come when they are in deep, deep trouble, maybe anguish, because they gave up, sold out on the cheap for their greed and for their lust for power until nothing was left. They will look for strength deep inside and will find an empty vacuum where their souls used to be.

Goes fast, doesn’t it?

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

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

Thanks!

The Fine Print:

  1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not necessarily mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
  2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
  3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine, but I do wish that I could blame someone else. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Book links to Amazon 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 I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.

Click me

JA


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

Starting To Set Things Right


POST 1236

Cheers For Freedom Of Speech

One of the most valuable rights we Americans have is the right of free speech. What that means is that the government is prohibited from restricting our speech, stopping us from saying what we want to say, even if we are criticizing the government or any of its employees. There are some exceptions, like for slander, liable and incitement to violence. That’s how it’s been since 1789 and it’s worked pretty well for our democracy and our freedom all this time. We can say pretty much what we want to say, as did six legislators who told the truth about the prohibition of military personnel to obey illegal orders. See the Special Slime section in this post for more.

The government may not censor us just because some wrinkly, thin-skinned official cries “MEANY!” or “UNFAIR!” or “TRAITOR” on the playground at recess time and throws an infantile tantrum, then runs to his fixer, his present day Roy Cohn (his AG, Bondi) demanding prosecution of whoever dared to speak truth about him.

Having so many opportunities to right grievous presidential wrongs, we’re getting better at this.

A Mini-Summary

A court says Alina Habba, Attorney General Pam Bondi’s surrogate for unconstitutional cases, is an illegal U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. The appeals court agrees and replaced Habba with Desiree Leigh Grace. Immediately Bondi fired Grace and put Habba back into control of that office. We’ll see how long that lasts, because judges typically have the last say.

Click me for the U.S. Department of Revisionist History

Another court says beauty queen Lindsey Halligan was not properly vetted and appointed, so it dumped her cases against James Comey and Letitia James, then spanked her hand with judicial smack downs. Andy Borowitz opined that Halligan’s dream is to go to law school some day.

It seems that maybe, possibly, might be, could be Pete Hegseth has finally crossed a red line. Following 10 months of saying stupid things, he ordered our military to kill survivors of our homicidal drone strikes on boats in international waters. A lot of people have their underwear in a bunch over that, including senators and representatives. They say those acts are war crimes and murder. Ya think? At last Hegseth may get what he has coming; specifically a boot out the White House back door and perhaps prosecutions for his impressive list of illegal actions. We’ll all have lots to say about this deviant in the coming months.

AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks earned his title  of czar only because: 1. Nobody knows what someone in charge of AI and/or crypto does or should do; 2. Donald Trump likes big superlative seeming stuff that gets attention, like the title “czar.”

Hard to read. It’s a huge billboard in Chicago not far from  Broadview that reads “IMPEACH TRUMP.”

Adapted from a quotation by management expert Peter Drucker:

“We are using the word ‘czar’ only because ‘charlatan’ is too long to fit into a headline.”

That quote can be used for just about every Trump appointment. And yeah, I get to say that. It’s that freedom of speech thing.

Our reality show president has been waging a verbal war on narco-terrorism, perhaps believing he can Truth Social it into submission and randomly kill whoever someone tells him is a drug something or other. Apparently, even the dementia-addled have the right of free speech, much as that sucks in this case.

Trump is definitely a tough guy who is verbally tough on narco-terrorism and Hispanic landscapers, but now he has pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, a former president of Honduras. He was convicted in the United States of a vast drug-trafficking operation that prosecutors said dumped over 400 million tons of drugs into the U.S. Trump has pardoned this biggest narco-terrorist of them all, enraging Elmer Fudd, who oinked furiously, “I’ll get that wasco, if it’s the wast thing I eva do!” So much for Trump being the narco tough guy.

Since the power of pardons rests solely with the sitting president we can’t prosecute Trump for this affront. We are left with investigating how much money was given to Trump for that pardon. Watch for that investigation as Trump’s biggest pay-to-play bribe. It might be part of a package of bribery investigations starting in 2027, then pursued by the Department of Justice in 2029.

Click me for the transformational story.

We’re starting to set things right. My notion is that it’s going to take more than a generation to clean up all the terrible mess the infant tyrant has made. It will take many years to remove his bad boys and bad girls and prosecute them in accordance with the law. Let’s hope that foot dragging Merrick Garland has nothing to do with initiating those prosecutions so that we don’t get stymied by the statute of limitations.

That said, courts are largely doing what they are supposed to do, although John Roberts cannot live long enough to somehow be worthy of forgiveness for giving immunity from prosecution to Trump. Our Republican legislators are beginning to see that it may be safe for them to retrieve their spines from the Senate and House Cloak Rooms, where they checked them upon being sworn in.

It’s Partisan

President Donald Trump has told us that the Epstein thing is a partisan witch hunt being conducted by Democrats, much like his claim about Russians helping him in his elections; like “affordability” and inflation; like Hegseth’s “Kill them all” criminality; like so many issues. It’s about the other party. So, I have a question.

My party is the Constitution of the United States. What is Trump’s party?

Now is the time to come to the aid of your Constitution.
Goes fast, doesn’t it?

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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 I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.

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JA


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

Geeking Over Behavior


POST 1232

We learned during Trump 1.0 that when he says outrageous, incendiary, un-American things that he’s telling us what he actually will do. Then, oddly, when he does what he said he would do and breaks the law, so many are surprised.

“We’re shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you to find that there is crime being done in and from the White House!”

But we really did know what that snake was when we picked him up, so there should be no surprise at all. Horror? Fear? Blood running cold? Sure. But not surprise.

Perhaps what is more shocking is the capitulation done by people who had no need to capitulate. The knee benders. The ring kissers. The simple greedy bastards. The ones who obey in advance.

From Wikipedia:

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison (Paul Weiss) is the sole law firm targeted by an executive order that did not sue the administration and instead made a deal with the administration to avoid sanctions and restore access.

In addition to Paul Weiss, eight other firms made preemptive deals with Trump to avoid being similarly targeted by executive orders. As part of the settlements, the nine law firms have agreed to provide a total of $940 million in pro bono work to efforts supported by the president and the firms.

Plus, they and many others each agreed to Trump’s extortion plan that they “donate” $16 million to Trump’s presidential library, for which there is neither a location nor architectural plans. Trump doesn’t read and his only book is Mein Kampf. There will be no need for book shelves. Neither will there be file cabinets for documents in a Trump library, were it to be built. Likely, there would only be his greatest hits reel showing his tough guy speeches and The Apprentice reruns in a gold and white theater.

Columbia University went completely paws up to Trump when he pulled $400 million in federal funding from them. To get him off their back they relinquished control of their programs, their classes and even their selection of faculty.

See Notes 4 & 5 below.

What they and so many others have in common is that they have ignored Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny – 20 Lessons From The Twentieth Century.

  1. Rule No. 1: Do Not Obey In Advance. Don’t do what you think the bully wants you to do, perhaps hoping to curry favor. Doing so is surrendering without even an objection, much less a fight. It’s voluntarily going paws up. Instead, put on your big boy or big girl pants and punch the damned bully in the face. Hard.
  2. Rule No. 2: Defend institutions. Tyrants want to smash institutions, disempower them so that he can control everything and everyone. Instead, put on your big boy or big girl pants and punch the damned bully in the face. Hard.
  3. Rule No. 5: Remember professional ethics. Refuse to succumb to directives ordering discrimination and violation of your oaths. Instead, put on your big boy or big girl pants and punch the damned bully in the face. Hard.

There is more, of course, but it all comes down to taking a stand protecting and defending what must be protected and defended. Failure to do so is nothing but caving in, hoping you’ll quickly get out of the crosshairs of the bully and do so on the cheap. The best that can be said about that is that it is astonishingly myopic and self-deluding. When a little kid has a temper tantrum and then you give him what he wants, you’ve trained him to come back in full tyrant form and demand more later. That’s what happens to quick sell-outs. Don’t be an idiot. Take a stand.

And that’s the message that so many should have heard and heeded. Trump’s threatened lawsuits would have been easy to defeat in court because his actions and demands weren’t defensible. His style is to make capitulation the cheapest exit from his bullying. But there really is no exit for those who cave. So, take a stand.

There are yet more short-term thinkers, like the bullies who became ICE thugs. He found a cheap hook to recruit them – a $50,000 signing bonus – and then he owned them. He told them to bully, beat, gas, shoot and assault people indiscriminately – fellow citizens, neighbors – and to pay no attention to whether they were U.S. citizens, legal residents and to essentially ignore whether they were innocents or criminals.

The goal wasn’t about crime. It was and is to terrorize the country so that he could rid the country of non-Whites, using illegal immigration as a cover story, plus cow all of us into submission.

And these ICE capitulators stepped up to collect their checks and then started beating up innocents.

The question to ponder in this “greatest country in the world,” in this “indispensable nation,” in this “American exceptionalism country” is why our educated people in this land of the free and home of the brave would be so easily seduced and manipulated. How does this happen here?

The day will come when the capitulators are in deep, deep trouble, maybe existential anguish. They will look for strength deep inside and will find only an empty vacuum where their souls used to be.

They gave up. They sold out on the cheap until nothing was left.

BTW

From Bloomberg News:

The FBI Redacted Trump’s Name in the Epstein Files.

Hundreds of FBI personnel scrubbed the Epstein documents in AG Bondi’s possession. They removed or redacted Trump’s name and those of his favorite deviants.

Now connect the dots to explain Trump directing Congress to vote to release the Epstein files. He’s made sure that everything incriminating or even embarrassing to him has been redacted from the files that will be released so that there is no risk to Trump, everything sanitized for his protection and no justice to be found anywhere.

He’s ordered the DOJ to investigate Democrats who might be connected to the Epstein crimes. That way Trump can refuse to release hundreds, perhaps thousands of files, claiming that doing so would interfere with an ongoing investigation. There will be terrible obstruction games to come.

The fix is in. If you listen you can already hearing Trump falsely brag yet again that he’s been exonerated.

Given the likely tampering of evidence, consider the votes in Congress yesterday to be not an open road to justice, but the end of the beginning of that road. The real battles are just getting underway.

If you long for justice for those long suffering women who were a while back those horribly abused girls – children; if you long for justice for the sake of justice itself and for the protection and welfare of us all; If one of your fondest wishes is for a fair and just country that resembles at least a little the America you grew up believing in; then you are advised to put your hopes and expectations on low and anticipate a long, critical and brutal fight against the very worst people ever spawned by this country. And expect to be a soldier in that fight, along with the rest of us.

Goes fast, doesn’t it?

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

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

Thanks!

The Fine Print:

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

Click me

JA


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

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