Violence

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.

Emergency Warning: Something Very Terrible Is Afoot


POST 1274

  • April 1:
  • Trump delivered an under 20 minute update to the nation about his Iran War, in which he presented:

Nothing new – no new information whatsoever

Multiple self-contradictory sentences

Multiple lies about regime change, the U.S. economy, inflation, Iran casualties and our need for Iranian oil

No reason for starting the war

No strategic goals of the war

No clue about how to get out of it

It was just more dribblings from the Dribbler-In-Chief seeking attention and wanting to be the alpha male. Then the insanity ratcheted up to warp speed.

  • April 2:
  • Trump threatened war crimes:
  • April 4:
  • Trump appealed to GOD (in all caps) for Hell to reign [sic] down on Iran:

  • April 5:
  • On Easter Sunday, in an appeal for massive killing, Trump invoked Allah (not in all caps) and threatened Iranians they will live in Hell. He used his customary foul language:

Trump seems to have extended his deadline for mass murder to Tuesday at 8:00PM EDT, roughly a 24 hour extension. Do let us know if that somehow makes you feel better.

The only questions are whether Trump will once again chicken out and whether the U.S. military will refuse to obey his illegal orders to commit war crimes. What we can be sure of is that our very own mad king will make sure lots of people are murdered. This is exactly the kind of stuff that drove our revolution against an earlier mad king. It is the reason over 8 million people took to the streets on March 28.

With Trump’s atrocities promised, where is Congress? Oh, yeah: they’re on vacation. Where are the Vice President and the Cabinet when they should be invoking the 25th Amendment? Right, they’re hiding in the knee holes of their desks. We are left with an unchecked, demented executive who loves cruelty and lawlessness.

Something very terrible is afoot.

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 This War Is All About


POST 1268

A Little News Wrap-Up
  1. As detailed in Rolling Stone, 17% of young Republicans are Hitler loving Nazis, John Avalon reported on Morning Joe on Monday, March 16.
  2. The Chairman of the FCC and Trump are threatening broadcast networks that they’ll take action against those outlets which report news and opinion about the war that Trump doesn’t like. You’re right: that violates the First Amendment. Trump will do so to get his way through intimidation. See Timothy Snyder’s First Lesson in On Tyranny: Don’t obey in advance.
  3. Hegseth says we’re winning and doing so “without mercy” and “we will show no quarter for our enemies.” That means we will take no prisoners and instead we’ll kill everyone, including those who surrender. How very chest puffy of Hegseth to declare that. Other than the moral repugnance of such a thing, intentional cruelty and murder violate our own Uniform Code of Military justice. That means it’s a crime according to our own laws to follow Hegseth’s direction. And it’s a war crime, too. So, any U.S. military personnel who act according to Hegseth’s dictum will be international criminals.
  4. For an excellent explainer, read Sheila Markin’s post here.
War Update

Trump ignored warnings about likely Iranian opposition to a U.S. initiated war and did scant planning for it, even to the point of having no clear, achievable objectives.

The U.S. military doesn’t have the capacity to guard all regions of the globe, commit various offensive actions against Iran and also escort 130 – 150 ships per day through the Strait of Hormuz to protect them from Iranian missile and drone attacks. So, Trump is now trying to strong-arm other nations into filling the gaps in U.S. preparedness.

After harming them with tariffs, Trump has repeatedly threatened, disrespected and coerced members of NATO to help. In fact, now he is alternately begging and dismissing them regarding sending their warships to the Strait of Hormuz.

Stable genius Trump’s demand has been rejected or ignored by over a dozen countries. He said that if they won’t support his war, “I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.”

Let’s be clear that the United States attacked Iran, not the other way around. The NATO charter doesn’t require any support for a member nation that violates international laws regarding other nations’ rights and sovereignty. Nothing is promised to a nation which goes to war because its leader had “a feeling,” apparently based upon no evidence, that some unnamed bad thing was about to happen.

I swear it’s true that Trump posted this plainly self-contradictory idiocy:

“We have already destroyed 100% of Iran’s Military capability, but it’s easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close range missile somewhere along, or in, this Waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are.”

This is the person who started a war based on “a feeling.”

Insufficient and Insecure Being

On Thursday, with the Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sitting next to him, Trump made a cringe worthy comparison of his sneak attack on Iran to the Pearl Harbor attack. That was in response to a question about his failing to notify our allies in advance of his ambush. Said Trump,

“We didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise. Who knows better about surprise than Japan, okay?

Turning to her, he asked, ‘Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor, okay?”

We shake off the willies and go on.

In the preface to Brother Wayne Teasdale’s book, The Mystic Heart, Dr. Beatrice Bruteau makes an insightful comment that applies to our time, writing,

Consider that domination, greed, cruelty, violence and all our other ills arise from a sense of insufficient and insecure being. I need more power, more possessions, more respect and admiration. But it’s never enough; the fear always remains. It comes from every side; from other people; from economic circumstances; from ideas, customs, and belief systems; from the natural environment; from our own bodies and minds. All these others intimidate us, threaten us, make us anxious. We can’t control them.

Hence, our sociopath.

Trump’s effrontery, like that dumped on the Japanese PM, and all of his anti-social exhibitions play out in his domination, greed, cruelty, violence and the rest, as they inevitably “arise from a sense of insufficient and insecure being,” He harms and kills others in his desperate clawing to fill his emptiness. But he’ll never fill that void. Never.

That explains, but it doesn’t excuse. And now we are in yet another intractable war that should never have been started. People are dying and people are suffering and it’s of no consequence to Trump. But it is to us.

Just get that all the outrageous narcissism is about Trump trying to fill his bottomless neediness and we are the now hapless victims of that. It’s about his deadly coverup, too. See the final sentence in this post.

Follow Up

Last Wednesday in my post Winning I detailed some of what should be wins for We The People but instead they are abject, painful losses for us. Here’s an important addition that’s critical to that list for a lot of people.

Two and a half years ago there was a freak and violent hurricane that hit the Asheville area of North Carolina. The residents looked to FEMA for help and there was very little. Then Trump took office and ravaged the agency, making things far worse. There are lots of people in that devastated area still paying mortgages on houses they cannot live in, while simultaneously paying for housing elsewhere. And FEMA is nowhere to be found.

To be fair to FEMA, it is sorely hobbled by a huge percentage of its people having been DOGEed by Chainsaw Musk, so those remaining are unfairly challenged. There’s no way to distribute desperately needed cash to desperate people if there’s nobody there to do the job. Do you think the folks in Asheville feel like they’re winning?

Report From The Snark Department

Perhaps you’ve wondered how MAGAs could remain in thrall to Trump in the face of his anti-patriotic bluster. They vote against their own best interests and even thump chests about that.

I’ve repeatedly cautioned that such people have valid grievances. Their blockage is that they are ruled by their anger and that blanks their ability to think clearly and critically. They are limited to rage and hatred and they are unable to oppose what is actually abhorrent to themselves.

Watch this rant from Cliff Cash.

CAUTION: There is a lot of potty mouth in this rant. If nasty words offend you, don’t watch the video.

Speak Up This Saturday!

Click here to find a No Kings rally near you. Then show up on March 28. Change our atmosphere that has been poisoned by our home grown fascists. Make it clear that the they are the minority and we are the majority.

The cure for hopelessness is action.
What It’s All About

DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT let Trump’s war distract you from his culpability in the Epstein crimes. Trump trying to cloud your eyes is what this war is all about.

  • Time for action is dwindling

    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.

The Rush To War And, Of Course, Money


POST 1266

This is an unusual day/time for letting you know about a new Disambiguation. It’s part of some good news, which is .  .  .

My web geeks tell me that they’ve fixed the spam inundation, which means that you can now enter your comments without getting the third degree from Captcha. So, speak!

The U.S. Stampede To War

A piece published in Dispatches from the Atlantic Council entitled Before striking Iran, Trump should answer these six questions explores what our bottomlessly ignorant President and State Department should have done before launching this illegal war. The questions are here, with my answers following them.

Questions and Answers

Q1: What is the objective of [this] military campaign?

First, foremost, middle and last, to distract from the Epstein case.

As to the military objective, nobody knows. It’s a vast cluelessness, callousness and official incompetence surrounded by tough guy posturing. See this sample of the White House videos.

Q2: What might Iran do in response?

There is no evidence that this was considered. But by now we know about their missile and drone strikes and the closing of the Strait of Hormuz. You don’t suppose they might try some terrorist stuff, do you? Explosions? Cyber terrorism? Proxy uprisings?

Q3: Will Trump face any consequences this time around?

Oh, please, please, please.

Q4: [Wa]s there a feasible diplomatic off-ramp prior to conflict?

Yes, given that Iran posed no threat to the U.S. But Trump was too excited about looking like a tough guy flexing U.S. military muscle to bother with little impediments like diplomacy. Plus, there;s that wagging of the dog thing.

Q5: How will the Iranian people respond to a military campaign?

They will die and death will come from our bombs, missiles and drones.

Q6: What role will US regional partners play?

They will be targets for Iranian missiles and drones. They won’t lift a finger to help the war effort, nor will any U.S. ally.

We can add more questions, like:

Jax Q & A

Q7: What is the end game – the off ramp for ending this war?

There is none. Trump says bombing will stop “when I feel it, OK, feel it in my bones.” Yes, he said that.

Q8: Now that we’ve broken things, we own them, per the Pottery Barn rule as taught to us by Gen. Colin Powell. What are we prepared to do with the broken mess we’ve created?

Nothing. We will just turn our back to the suffering we’ve created. Think: Vietnam; Iraq; Libya; Syria; Afghanistan; Yemen; Somalia; Nigeria; Venezuela.

Q9: How will we repair relationships with the countries in the region that have suffered from Iranian bombardment, triggered by our display of our manly manliness?

Trump will tell them that nobody has ever seen anything like the rebuilding we’ll do. Then he will accept their bribes, which they will give, hoping for assistance. He will pocket the money and do nothing to help them.

Q10. How many dead American military is too many?

There is no number high enough to deter Trump from his Epstein distraction.

There is so much that should have been done way in advance of any hostilities at the direction of smart, wise experts in international affairs. But those people have been forced out of government service and replaced either by nobody, leaving us empty of expertise, or by know nothings and people who think war is a bar room video game.

Now the question is how we can get out of this mess. Trump will reject any solution that won’t leave him looking like a hero, the  likes of which nobody’s ever seen before, and keep us distracted from the Epstein criminal participants. Got any ideas?

Follow What?

After being forced out of office by the exposure of his criminality in the Watergate crimes, Nixon returned to his home in California and never admitted to any wrongdoing. Indeed, in an interview with David Frost in 1977 he defended himself, arrogantly declaring,”When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.” That was an echo of the long dead divine right of kings and a precursor to the divine right of Trump, a vicious Supreme Court perversion of our Constitution.

The advice to Woodward and Bernstein for investigating Watergate was, “Follow the money.” We can do that now to understand Trump’s illegal war against Iran.

Who benefits monetarily? The easiest way to think about that is to consider who benefits from greatly increased oil prices.

The U.S. is energy independent. The Straight of Hormuz may be blocked and 20% of the world’s oil supply may be choked off, but that doesn’t affect supplies here. The cost to produce a gallon of gas or diesel fuel has not increased a bit, but still the prices at the pump continue to rise.

You’re the loser because you are funding the expanding profits of oil companies. Watch those quarterly reports for confirmation. Trump’s billionaire friends thank you.

Who else benefits from this war? Certainly, the manufacturers of war matériel receive enormous contracts to replace our fabulously expensive drones, missiles, rockets, bullets, that refueling airplane that crashed and killed 6 of our people and yet more. Betcha those billionaire friends of Trump are sending him messages with hugs and kisses emojis.

How about Saudi Arabia? They hate the Iranians. They’re in a centuries old battle of Sunni/Shia, each side certain that Allah is on their side and the other side is a horde of horribles, which may actually be true in both directions. Betcha the Saudis are content to have Trump do the dirty work of pounding Iran. They just might be paying Trump handsomely for him to be their bounty hunter. Watch for more billions to be given to Jared Kushner.

Russia has gained a windfall of over $6 billion due to Trump releasing Russia from oil sanctions. How come Putin gains huge whenever Trump acts?

You get the idea. This war was a money con long before a shot was fired. We’ve been given bottomlessly stupid explanations for the reason for our attack, including that Trump “had a feeling” that the Iranians might possibly do something or other. We’ve been given a long string of implausible goals for this war with no consistency coming from the idio-scenti.*

Pay no attention to our over 200 mangled troops dumped into VA hospitals or the now 13 flag draped coffins that have arrived at Dover AFB. Hey, our President told us with a yawn that people die in war, you know?

And he calls them suckers and losers.

Ultimately, it’s simple: follow the money. But DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT be distracted from the Epstein case and Trump’s involvement.

I’m Not So Sure

Likely, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a Lebanese-born U.S. citizen, was unglued because he had lost four family members to an Israeli bombing in Lebanon last week. So, he did what any of us would do. He strapped on his rifle, mounted his explosives filled vehicle and rammed it into a synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan.

In the aftermath of each of our unceasing episodes of religious and racial violence we regularly hear calls to our “shared humanity.” I’m not so sure that we have a shared humanity, except in a genetics sense. When someone is moved to violence against others, is that person’s humanity displaced or perhaps destroyed by uncontrollable rage? Did the killer of eleven at Tree Of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh share our humanity? It looked to me more like he was sharing his rage and his full magazines of bullets. Same at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston where nine were murdered. Same when ten were murdered at the Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo. Do we have a shared humanity with those murderers? I’m not feeling it.

Right now I’m not much in the mood to understand those who want to get their way by means of murder. There just isn’t much detectable humanity in them.

Come to think of it, that’s a lot like Trump jamming our military into where it doesn’t belong, getting his way by means of murder.

Spare me the calls to shared humanity.

Make Your Voice Heard

Click here to find a No Kings rally near you. Then show up on March 28.

The cure for hopelessness is action.

_________________________________________

* Cognoscenti – “people who are considered to be especially well informed about a particular subject.” My made-up idio-scenti is the opposite of that and is well displayed in this government.

  • Time for action is dwindling

    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.

Newsflashes


POST 1264

Newsflash 1!

To the right is a picture from the dignified transfer at Dover AFB of six of our fallen military personnel. Attending is the undignified President Bone Spurs, who refers to our fallen warriors as “suckers” and “losers.” He is ignorant and doesn’t know that it is inappropriate to salute when out of uniform. But then, President Bone Spurs never wore a uniform.

Plus, he couldn’t be bothered to remove his cap as a sign of respect as six coffins passed him. The white ball cap is Trump merch, of course, for sale to rubes wherever they buy lies. And he wore a too long red tie as dead patriots passed by. The transfer was dignified. Trump is never dignified,

Newsflash 2!

It’s been reported that Russia – meaning Trump’s bestie, Putin – is providing targeting intelligence to Iran, which has led to their much improved accuracy in hitting U.S. military installations and killing American military personnel. Watch for swift, inane denials from Trump that are devoid of any concern for our troops. Hey, no problem, Trump told us. “When you go to war, some people will die.”

Watch Rick Wilson’s take down of this.

And see this video designed to appeal to Pete Hegseth’s MAGA-macho sub-intelligence. Perhaps it’s his creation. It will help you to understand this administration’s low sense of gravitas – its callousness, really – about this war.

Newsflash 3!

Kristi Noem, AKA ICE Barbie, the puppy and goat killer, the surgically and cosmetically altered face of United States Homeland Security, will be gone from the department by the end of the month.

President Trump used to try to look like a tough guy on his TV show The Apprentice by eliminating contestants with a vicious and scowling, “YOU’RE FIRED!” Turns out that in real life he doesn’t have the cojones to face a subordinate in a one-on-one dismissal meeting or to write a formal letter of dismissal or even to send a sycophantic employee to do the dirty work. He fired Noem via his social media platform, just as he has done with many others. It’s the coward’s way.

Trump wants Noem replaced by Sen.Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), a proud suck up to Trump. Actually, Trump said he was appointing Miller to the top spot at Homeland Security but that isn’t how this works. He gets to nominate Mullin and the Senate decides whether to let him slither through.

Mullin is a lick-spittle to Trump, a perfect yes-sir machine. This is a highly suitable and desired trait in fascist governments. He will be powerful, blatantly cruel and a proudly manly man, right until the hammer comes down on him. Here is what to expect from Mullin and each of Trump’s cabinet toadies when they are at last confronted with accountability:

“I was just following orders.”

It’s a Nuremberg excuse and it won’t work any better for Trump’s lackeys than it did for Nazi operatives. Bookmark this notion, because it’s already on the way via the next Congress if we do our job right.

Newsflash 4!

Jesse Welles’ explanation – click me

Back in our school days we took lots of tests, many of them multiple-choice. Often choice E was “None of the above.” Periodically, there was a choice F, “All of the above.” But in war, there is rarely a choice F. There is a primary answer or reason and everything else is secondary at best. This Iran war is more nebulous than that. Here are examples from the mouths of Trump, Rubio, Vance and a few more blabbers.

1, What is the real goal of the U.S. military actions against Iran?

A. Regime change – or not

B. Obliterate Iran’s nukes and nuke making capability – again

C. Destroy Iran’s ballistic missile capability

D. Freedom for the Iranian people – some undefined, probably unachievable smoke and mirrors thing

E. To eliminate some unnamed, invisible and fact-less “imminent threats” to the U.S. from Iran, supported only by a Trump “feeling”

F. All of the above, but who knows?

2. What is the U.S. end game? How will we know we’ve won and can bring our troops home?

A. There is regime change to something that isn’t a military theocracy – maybe a democracy in this country that has never had a democracy?

B. There are no more Iranian ships to sink or nuclear sites or missile launchers to bomb.

C. We’ve run out of missiles, drones and bombs

D. Netanyahu says, “I’ll take it from here.” Yeah, that will go well.

E. Trump has hotels and casinos along the Persian Gulf

F. All of the above, but who knows?

Newsflash 5!

This looks to be legitimate, based on a report from Politico.

Ashley Beck T, Moderator
BREAKING: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney blindsides Trump by forming a super alliance of 40 powerful countries to defeat his disastrous MAGA agenda.
.
[Canadian Prime Minister] Carney has become one of Trump’s most brilliant adversaries . . .
.
According to Politico, the European Union, composed of 27 nations, as well as a geopolitical bloc of 12 Indo-Pacific countries, have begun negotiations to form one of the largest economic alliances in the entire world. This historic pivot comes as Trump continues to wage erratic tariff wars on close allies, turning the once-stable United States into a deeply unreliable partner.
.
The talks are being led by Canada and will be the fruit of Carney’s vision of a world in which the so-called “middle powers” unite to undermine Trump’s tariffs and make themselves immune to his bullying coercion.
.
If successful — and it certainly appears to be heading in that direction — the supply chains of countries as far off as Canada, Malaysia, and Germany could be intertwined into one super supply chain.
.
“The work is definitely coming along,” a Canadian government official said to POLITICO. “We’ve had very fruitful discussions on it with other partners around the world.”
.
“We see a lot of value in increasing trade among the EU and [Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership] parties, which would also contribute to enhancing supply chain resilience,” stated a Japanese trade official.
.
Last month, Carney gave an astonishing speech at the Davos World Economic Forum during which he announced the end of American dominance, stating that the “bargain no longer works for the rest of the world. American hegemony once offered benefits, now it offers only chaos.
.
“Let me be direct, we are in the midst of a rupture not a transition,” Carney said during that speech. “Over the past two decades a series of crises in finance, health, energy, and geopolitics have laid the bare risks of extreme global integration.”
.
“But more recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons,” he said, referring to Trump. “Tariffs as leverage. Financial infrastructures as coercion. Supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited. You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination.”
.
He predicted that allied nations would “diversify to hedge against uncertainty” and “rebuild sovereignty” and that’s exactly what’s happening with this nascent trade alliance. Carney said that the deal will “create a new trading bloc of 1.5 billion people.”
.
Left out in the cold would be the American people, who will be forced to stand by as the citizens of other nations enjoy easier, cheaper access to reliable goods. Trump has made us a world pariah, and the price will be shouldered by your wallet.
.
“We hope that if that’s a success, if you can see tangible benefits in different areas, that could also entice other countries to join in and team up in a positive sense,” said Klemens Kober, the Director of Trade Policy, EU Customs, Transatlantic Relations at the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce. “So the more the merrier,” Kober added.
.
This is what happens when we elect an ignorant conman and give him absolute power over foreign policy. Trump and his MAGA sycophants thought that the rest of the world would simply go paws up as America proceeded to abuse their countries. Instead, they’re banding together to completely shatter the balance of power forever and leave the U.S. odd man out.
.
It’s not just Americans whom Trump is pissing off. This is going to cost us big time.
  • Time for action is dwindling

    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.

Apt Comparison


POST 1256

Moderation?

As early as 2017, the first year of Trump’s first administration, I made comparisons of Trump to Hitler. A few others did so, too, but the voices of moderation and reason railed against such observations, calling any comparison to Hitler hyperbolic, unfair, overblown and more. It was, they said, way too early for such over-the-top accusations. But the reality of Trump’s desire for fascism was in our faces even then. The issue was our being willing to see what was plainly there. That’s what I was calling out.

Now that Trump’s Gestapo is murdering Americans, should we still be moderate in our descriptions?

Now that journalists are being indicted for reporting the truth that Trump doesn’t want you to see, should we still be moderate in our descriptions?

Now that tens of millions of Americans are being denied food and medical care, as are millions in devastated regions of the globe, causing massive numbers of deaths, is it still time to be moderate about calling a spade a spade?

I warned about the hatred in America that can metastasize into murder, comparing it to the Holocaust in a post in 2020. There is nothing moderate about what is happening now, including DHS moving to create massive koncentration kamps – human warehouses – across our country.

Brown and Black people, citizens, legal residents, law abiding people – it doesn’t matter –  are being disappeared at the direction of Trump’s Adolph Eichmann, his toy Nazi, Stephen Miller. Prisoners are being denied food and medical care. Anyone not speaking the fatherland tongue is in trouble. Actually, any non-White person or non-Christian person is somewhere in line for persecution. We’ve seen this movie over and over. The ending is beyond horrid and it’s always the same.

Don’t even think that’s not so because Miller is Jewish by birth. He is as full of demonic hatred as anyone you’ve ever heard of. So, I ask, how do those voices of moderation from 2017 sound now?

To anyone who thinks they still sound reasonable I suggest that they go to Minneapolis, pick up a protest sign and stand a watch at 26th Street West and Nicollet Avenue. That’s where Alex Pretti, helpless, with his face pressed into the snow and ice and the rough sidewalk, was gunned down by Trump’s ICE agents. For those showing up today, fascist descriptors may begin to seem reasonable and accurate.

First, watch the video to the right – again. There is no moderation there. There’s only murder legalized by Trump.

Still skeptical about Nazi/fascist comparisons? Watch this short commentary by Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI).

The Great Brain Report: True Trump Quote of the Week

“I don’t know why the federal government doesn’t manage elections.”

It’s true. Trump really doesn’t know. He could look it up in the Constitution, Article I, Section 4, or have a flunky look it up and make a comic book presentation for him, but he’d ignore even that. In fact, he doesn’t want to know. He hasn’t a bit of curiosity and he doesn’t see an immediate profit to himself for making the effort to know, Plus, he hasn’t the ability to learn.

Oops! Wrong brain

In the damaged Trump brain there are only two possible outcomes of any election. Either he gets what he wants or he declares that the other side cheated and demands to be named the winner. He knows that there’s nothing lower than a loser, so when he doesn’t get his way, he goes psycho. It’s a brain issue. Part nature, partly distorted by nurture. The Oval Office is a terrible place for an abnormal brain.

To see the actual way Trump got his brain, watch this short clip from the 1931 film classic, Frankenstein.

Trump’s loser phobia psychosis has real world impact. Here’s part of a report from Heather Cox Richardson’s post of February 3 and note the obvious insanity.

[Trump] said to Bongino: “These people were brought to our country to vote, and they vote illegally, and the, you know, amazing that the Republicans aren’t tougher on it. The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over, we should take over the voting, the voting in at least many, 15 places*.’ The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting. We have states that are so crooked and the county votes, we have states that I won that show I didn’t win. Now you going to see something in Georgia where they were able to get with a court order, the ballots? You’re going to see some interesting things come in. But, you know, like the 2020 election. I won that election by so much.”**

Fighting that anti-American, anti-Constitution, illegal vote stealing mania is job #1 for us, because if we don’t stop his theft of states rights and his destruction of the Constitution, it won’t matter how thoroughly he’s crushed in a real world vote count. He’ll just lie and say he won and his Reichsleiter (top Nazi leaders) and Gestapo thugs will make that stick.
.
Statistic of the Week

Got a sister, daughter, mother or female friend age 15 – 44? There’s a 40% likelihood they want to leave the U.S. permanently. That desire correlates perfectly to loss of faith in America’s institutions over the past 10 years.

  • Gasp! That’s the same time frame – 10 years – as Trump’s destructive influence on America!
  • Coincidence? I don’t think so. Neither do 40% of America’s younger women.
X Post of the Week

We are facing annihilation of our democracy, so splash some cold water on your face and read Frank Levy’s wake up call..

Hopeful Reading of the Week

Read Thom Hartmann’s Dear Trump Administration Official: History Is Full of Loyal Men Who Thought They’d Be Protected. The reality of what will happen can help you to stiffen your resolve and bolster your hope. You’ll enjoy reading this piece for the accountability Hartmann shows us is coming.

From The Borowitz Report, Feb. 5
Tom Homan Demands ICE Agents Return Their Signing Bonuses to Him in Paper Bag

While some ICE agents grumbled about transferring their signing bonuses to Homan, he sternly reminded them, “Taking away people’s freedom isn’t free.”

_______________________________________________
* All 15 are blue states. Imagine that!
.
** Even if a fourth counting of the Fulton County, GA votes somehow shows that Trump gained enough votes to win Georgia (there’s not even a remote chance that could happen in an honest recount), his Electoral College count would still show him to be the loser of the election, 290 – 248.
  • 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 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.

Get Out!


POST 1255

CAUTION!

The following transcript is a fiction drawn from the author’s imagination and does not represent the actual phone call between the parties. But it should.

It is presented here for the purpose of clarifying real world needs of the people, plus to properly place well deserved snark. Strong language suitable for the defense of democracy is unredacted. Sensitive readers are advised to use only one eye.

– JA

The Phone Call

President Donald Trump telephoned Governor Tim Walz (MN) on the morning of Monday, January 26, two days after unarmed, unresistant, defenseless Alex Pretti was gunned down in the street by ICE agents. The call was reported by the White House to have been “productive.” Here is a transcript of that conversation.

President Donald Trump (PT): Good morning, Tim.

Governor Tim Walz (GW): It’s “Governor Walz,” Mr. President.

PT: Right. Well, Tim, I just want to check in with you to learn firsthand what you’re seeing.

GW: Is your hearing okay, Mr. President? Do you hear okay? It’s “Governor Walz.”

PT: Absolutely, Tim. Absolutely. In fact, my doctors say I have the best hearing they’ve ever seen. Ever! It’s off the charts. I aced all the tests. All of them. They’ve never seen anything like that.

GW: Okay. I’ll say this slowly to be sure you’re able to understand my words. What I’m seeing is your mob of masked, heavily armed bullies are injuring and murdering my people. There is chaos and violence in our streets caused entirely – ENTIRELY! – by your Gestapo thugs. That’s what I’m seeing.

PT: Well, Tim, you know that you have a huge – HUGE! – crime problem. And your Somali’s – they’re bad. They’re very bad. These are very bad people. Just look at your Representative Omar. She’s garbage. Complete garbage. There’s crime in your streets, Tim, like nothing anyone has ever seen before. It’s never been seen.

GW: You’re right, Mr. President. Nobody has seen it before because the crime you refer to doesn’t exist. Both violent and non-violent crime are down dramatically all over the state. That was true well before your private army of fascist thugs showed up and started beating people, throwing them to the ground, arresting and imprisoning innocent U.S. citizens and murdering innocent people. So, Mr. President, get your damn Gestapo goons out of Minnesota. You can send your pet Nazi Stephen Miller to lead them away.

PT: You’re very rude, Tim. You know we have to have law enforcement. Can’t have these illegals doing criminal things, like eating dogs. People’s pets. It’s terrible. They eat ducks in the park, too. It’s bad. It’s very bad.

GW: Mr. President, those accusations of animal eating came from lies told by your idiot Vice President. He was talking about Haitians who live legally in Springfield, OH, not Somalis in Minneapolis. And his accusations were proven by multiple researchers to be total bullshit. Your lies and those you’ve trained your idiot Vice-President to tell are bad, Mr. President. Very bad. Nobody has ever seen so many terrible lies. Do you know what I mean? Are you tracking with me?

Also, 80% of our immigrants from Somalia are U.S. citizens and they are entirely law abiding.

PT: Now, Tim .  .  .

GW: It’s “Governor Walz,” you know? “Governor.” What’s your problem, dementia?

PT: Once again, that’s very rude, Tim. You’re a very rude person.

GW: You’re right about one thing, Mr. President. We need law enforcement. And we have great law enforcement at our state, county and local levels. So, Mr. President, we don’t need your brutal, cruel, law breaking goons. Get your damn criminal Gestapo thugs out of Minnesota.

PT: Tim, I think you’re missing something here. Do you .  .  .

GW: Mr. President, get your fucking Gestapo thugs out of my state. Am I saying this slowly enough for you so that you get it? Get your fucking criminal creeps out of Minnesota.

PT: Tim, have some respect. I’m the President of the United States.

GW: Yeah, well most often it’s hard to understand how that’s possible. Regardless, get your damnable thugs out of Minnesota. Just leave. We’ll clean up your miserable, sorrowful, un-American mess.

PT: We’ll see what happens, Tim.

GW: We already know what happens. We see your brutality every day. Get your damn fascist thugs out of Minnesota. Are you getting my message?

And it’s “Governor Walz.”

PT: You know, Tim, that I can send our active duty Marines to Minneapolis, right?

GW: And I can send the Minnesota National Guard to surround the White House. That would be just as stupid as your idea.

As a safety tip, Mr. President, I don’t think you’ll be welcome at the funeral of Alex Pretti or Renee Good or at any of the vigils held in their honor. You might want to stay at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with a Sharpie in your  hand counting the number of times you’re named in the Epstein files. Perhaps you’ll want some high school girls to help you count and to help you remember all the sick abuse of so many girls.

One more thing: Get a brain scan right away. And in case I haven’t been clear, get your criminal thugs out of my state.

Take Heart

From Pew Research:

Only about a quarter of Americans today (27%) say they support all or most of Trump’s policies and plans, down from 35% when he returned to office last year. That change has come entirely among Republicans.

His approval rate probably won’t go much lower because he’s down to only his angry, mouth-breathing base supporters who will mindlessly support any irrational or cruel things he does.

Unless there’s proof of his pedophilia. That’ll piss off even Billy Bob and his little sister, too. Abusing little girls just isn’t okay with nearly any 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 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.
  • 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 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.

ICE News! and Impeachment


POST 1253

ICE News! We Exist And We Don’t Care If You Do!
Minneapolis, January 24
.

It was a proud moment for we at ICE, for Secretary Dead Puppy, for leader UberFührer Bovino and our holy leader and god of the galaxy and beyond, His Celestial Majesty, Donald J. Trump.

Ignore all the woke mouth flappers and those videos about Saturday. Here’s what really happened.

This woman breaks into our ranks, so we shoved her to the ground where she belongs. Then this guy comes out of nowhere and moves to help her and we heard him blowing a whistle, so we knew immediately that he was a domestic terrorist, a threat to us and to all real Americans. We saw the bulge in his waistline and knew he was carrying a gun for only one reason: to kill our fellow agents.

But think about that. We’re the guys you count on to get rid of the worst of the worst and to terrorize our nation into submission. Instead, this guy was trying to terrorize us with his radical woke. Can’t allow that.

So, six of us jumped him. While trying to subdue him his hand shot up holding his iPhone. No way we’d allow that commie crap, so one of our guys pulled his gun and plugged that sucker in the back. That sure slowed him down. Plus, it looked  like fun, so two more of us drew our weapons and fired away like it was the 4th of July. Ten shots in just five seconds! Pretty good shooting, huh? It was more fun than a drive in the country shooting holes in speed limit signs. That f*cker won’t be showing up at rallies with his whistle and his lefty radical creeps anymore.

And the 5-year-old kid with the Spider-Man back pack (sniffle)? We either lock the brat up now or he becomes an adult woke terrorist with a gun later. We’re all safer with him behind bars. ‘Course, we can always rendition him to that gulag in El Salvador, but he’s pretty small now and probably wouldn’t last too long there. No matter. None of us cares.

The rest of you a**holes on the sidewalks carrying your stupid and unpatriotic signs and blowing your stupid whistles oughta learn something from this. You don’t stand a chance against ICE because we’re motivated by our anger, our heads are empty and we have immunity from prosecution and can do whatever we want. So, F*CK YOU!

And watch out, Maine, you hotbed of un-American idiots. We’re coming for you next.

It really makes us feel so strong and powerful to say that stuff. We’re proud to be tough guys serving our perfect leader.

To comment on this ICE News or any ICE actions, dial 1-800-EAT SH*T. An on-duty ICE operator will verbally abuse you and find you via GPS tracking of your phone. Agents will come and pound your door down, drag you outside regardless of whether you’re dressed for the frigid weather and throw you into the back of an unmarked SUV with your hands zip tied. You can run, but you can’t hide, woke scum.

Impeachment

Of course you’ve thought about it and there is a long list of miscreants for us to target. There’s Trump and Vance, of course. There are also Patel, Bondi, Noem, Hegseth, Rubio, Zeldin, Burgum,  Bessent and Lutnick, cabinet secretaries each doing their own brand of democracy killing and fascist evil. Plus, we should also rightly target Supreme Court Justices Thomas, Alito and “I like beer” Kavanaugh.

I’m imagining that after the new congress is seated that Speaker Jeffries will send a letter to each of them. It will read,

“Your high crimes and misdemeanors have been noted and catalogued and articles of impeachment to remove you from government office have been crafted.

Accordingly, and in line with our country’s long practice of decency and respect, values that you’ve abandoned and know nothing about, we give you twenty four hours to resign your post and clear out of all government buildings. Secret Service agents will be present to make certain that you do not remove anything that isn’t your legitimate personal property. You are specifically prohibited by law and by congressional mandate from taking any confidential materials of any level of classification, even if you want to hide them in your bathroom.

If you fail to resign within that time period, articles of impeachment will be filed immediately thereafter and you will be subject to the public humiliation of having the truth of your transgressions paraded before the world. Thereafter, you can count on your likely forcible removal from government by order of the Senate and enforced by U.S. Marshals, who will perp walk you out of the building and off government property. All evidence of your guilt will be forwarded to appropriate justice enforcing agencies.

The clock is ticking.

There is a glitch in this wonderful plan. It’s the pardon.

If Trump is impeached and removed from office, Vance will immediately become president and he will likely pull a Gerald Ford and grant Trump  a “full, free, and absolute pardon for all federal crimes he has committed or may have committed or taken part in .  .  .  ” Nice follow on from Chief Justice John Roberts having giving Trump a get out of jail free card for his crimes while in office. It’s galling to think that Trump might once again avoid accountability.

On the other hand, impeachment is not a criminal prosecution. The only penalties are removal from office and exclusion from ever again holding any public office.

Trump will likely pardon all of the felons preemptively. That would prevent them from being held accountable for their federal crimes. It appears that the only lasting remedy will be state prosecutions. Bring on Leticia James. Maybe Jack Smith, James Comey and a pack of feral state pit bull attorneys general. Keith Ellison, are you listening?

  • 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 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.

1 2 3 … 15  Scroll to top