Voting Rights

Who Cares?


POST 1286

Cheating The Vote – One More Time
  1. Why is it that only Republicans continue to wage a multi-decade effort to prevent women, poor people and people of color from voting?
  2. Why is it that only Republicans want to deploy weapons-carrying thugs to polling places to intimidate voters?
  3. Why is it that only Republicans make up lies about non-citizens voting?
  4. Why is it that only Republicans want to make it next to impossible for poor people and married women to obtain satisfactory ID to vote?
  5. Why is it that only Republicans close polling places that were convenient to people of color and poor people?
  6. Why is it that only Republicans eliminate drop boxes for ballots, making it especially hard for millions of poor people and people of color to vote?
  7. Why is it that only Republicans change polling places but don’t tell Democrats about it?
  8. Why is it that only Republicans change the postal service so that mailed ballots don’t get counted in time?
  9. Why is it that our Republican controlled SCOTUS emboldens our Republican democracy turncoats?

The answer to each question is the same, simple, dreadful truth: they do all this and more because they’ve known for decades that they cannot win unless they cheat. They make it pretty clear who they care about. And who they don’t care about.

Jeez, Republicans, you guys stink.

Speaking of the Truth, You Know It When You Hear It

In a 1954 case about obscenity and the first amendment, rather than defining it, Supreme Court Associate Justice Potter Stewart famously said, “I know it when I see it.” When Trump was asked about his focus on the plight of Americans as he wages unnecessary war on Iran, our president said this:

I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation, I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all. That’s the only thing that motivates me.

That isn’t an out-of-context distortion. It’s what he said and, from his actions and from many of his other blabberings, it’s plain to see that it’s the truth of what he mean. Trump doesn’t care about your financial situation. He really doesn’t think about you. He only cares about eliminating an existential threat that does not exist for whatever illegitimate reason serves him, like distracting us from the Epstein scandal.

Like Potter Stewart (who names their kid Potter?), you knew truth when you heard it. That was a most rare moment hearing Donald Trump tell the truth. Savor it.

STAT Report

.  .  .  Vice President JD Vance announced that $1.3 billion in Medicaid funds to California will be deferred over suspicions of fraud. Earlier this year, the administration threatened a two-year licensing freeze for new providers of home and community-based services in Minnesota and instituted a similar nationwide halt on durable medical equipment suppliers.

Odd how Federal cuts to programs that benefit We The People get cut mostly in Blue states. Maybe that’s because there’s rampant waste, fraud or abuse in blue states and none in Trump supporting MAGA red states. Yeah, that must be it.

The sarcasm sizzles.

Must Read

Morgan Freeman (yes, that Morgan Freeman) does a Substack column and you are required to read his brilliant piece,

TRUMP IS HAVING A PUBLIC NERVOUS BREAKDOWN AT EXACTLY THE WRONG TIME

His title is, indeed, in all caps. Read the piece and you’ll understand. Actually, you already know why.

Freeman’s message is stunningly clear and stunningly foreboding. Read it and pass it along to everyone you know and to three people you don’t know.

Melania really doesn’t care. Do U?

Many thanks to futurist and friend David Houle for showing me Freeman’s piece.

Speaking Of Caring

Here’s Melania on her way to visit children who had been ripped from their mothers, now jammed into ICE/CBP detention cages without so much as ordinary hygiene for them. Did they teach her to be cruel and uncaring back in Slovenia, or did she learn it from Trump?

Inadvertently Speaking Truthfully About Not Caring

Check this from College Democrats of America, reporting on Republican Louisiana State Sen. Jay Morris:

On Friday, during a redistricting session, White GOP State Sen. Jay Morris yelled “Shut up, boy” at our Executive Director Dadrius Lanus who, in Morris’s words, was “commenting and talking” too loudly for him to concentrate.

Sen. Morris says we misheard. That the audio proves it. That he said “you all need to shut up” to Black constituents behind him outraged that their votes won’t be counted.

Sen, Morris, an elected member of our legislature, thinks if he had yelled “you all need to shut up” it would be better.

It wouldn’t.

What Sen. Morris doesn’t understand is that White people have been telling Black folk to “shut up” for over 250 years.

What Sen. Morris doesn’t understand is that we remember being told we were 3/5ths of a person. That even when we won personhood in the eyes of the law, they instituted poll taxes and “reading” tests. That when we marched and dreamed and cried and buried loved ones who had hung as strange fruit from tall trees because they raised their voices too loud that what Black people have always wanted is equality.

Or maybe Senator Morris does understand all that.

I don’t know.

What I do know is that I am a 70 year old Black man. And I don’t let anyone call me or my brothers “Boy.”

Any questions about what Sen. Morris cares about? Or about what any of the Republicans working so very hard to bring back Jim Crow care about?

The only question is .  .  .

What We’re Going To Do To Stop Them and Their Thievery.
.
It’s not the vibes and it’s not the polls: IT’S THE VOTES!
Are you registered to vote? Check it out on any of these websites:
.

https://www.vote.org/am-i-registerilled-to-vote/

https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration

https://www.rockthevote.org/how-to-vote/am-i-registered-to-vote/

The time for action is NOW!
Keep standing up,
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The Fine Print:

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

Click me

JA

 


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

Maybe You Thought The Civil War Was Over


POST 1283

It’s April 12, 1861* All Over Again

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

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

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

Bait And Switch

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’s what the Supreme Court Awful 6 allowed.

From Rick Wilson in The Red Court Kills Voting Rights:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Finally,

From Ted Dintersmith in Better Days???:

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

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

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

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

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

_____________________________________________

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

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

 

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

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

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

The Fine Print:

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

Click me

JA


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

Some Answers and Election Subversion


POST 1276

Guest Essay

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Protecting The Election From Subversion

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

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

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

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

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

Check out the Wednesday morning Disambiguation for answers.

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

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

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

The Fine Print:

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

Click me

JA


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

Your Government At Work – Maybe


POST 1237

Click me

Today is Pearl Harbor Day. No one alive on that day could have foreseen the intentional decline of the United States of America that has occurred, brought to us by political self-dealing, greed, power lust and voter indifference. Those at Pearl Harbor 84 years ago didn’t fight and die for the mess we have now. Read this.

The Rusty Wheels of Government

Take a look at this:

H.J.Res.54 – Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States providing that the rights protected and extended by the Constitution are the rights of natural persons only. (119th Congress)
Sponsor: Rep. Jayapal, Pramila [D-WA-7] (Introduced 02/12/2025)

Has changes in:

    • Cosponsors (1 new, 68 total)
      • Cosponsor: 12/03/2025: Rep. Goldman, Daniel S. [D-NY-10]

My representative hasn’t sponsored this critical bill yet, so I wrote to him asking him to cosponsor this legislation that is designed to allow for the elimination of Big Money from our elections, our politics and our laws and to ensure that the protection of our rights extends only to flesh and blood human beings. You know: reverse the dreadedful Citizens United manipulated Supreme Court decision.

If your rep hasn’t signed on yet, tell them what you want. Here’s a link to find his/her contact info. Just enter your zip code in the lookup box on the top right of that page. Your doing that will be part of lubrication for those rusty wheels of government.

Got The Alleged Bad Guy

You’ll recall that Trump directed thousands of people to storm the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021, inciting that insurrection. When they had vandalized everything they could find, tried to find Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi so they could lynch them and had defecated in the halls of Congress, they left with Trump saying he loved them and that they were fine people and patriots all.

Over 1,500 were tried and convicted of crimes. Then Trump, the tough on crime president, pardoned all of them in 2025, including the thugs who tried to kill cops. Isn’t he just the epitome of tough-on-crime?

Last Thursday our government bad guys catchers announced that they had arrested the guy they are sure planted the backpack bombs in DC just before that January 6, 2021 insurrection. Did I mention that it was planned and incited by Donald Trump.

The alleged perp catching isn’t the news. What is most significant is how the presenters of this nab spoke in a news conference. Note that the team included Attorney General Pam Bondi, Director of the FBI Kash Patel, Assistant FBI director Dan Bongino and U.S. Attorney for DC, Jeanine Pirro. Here’s what they did and said that is worthy of note.

  1. The entire event was little more than a self-congratulatory victory lap, all speakers chanting their own version of, “We’re so great! We’re so great! Na, na, noo, noo! We’re so great!” like so many high school jerks. They are so pleased to take nearly all the credit for the bust and give just an honorable mention to the FBI agents who did all of the hard work. So much for professionalism.
  2. Every speaker presented with righteous superiority the various failings, ineptitude and the unworthiness of President Biden and his entire administration. They’ll have us know that for four years they did nothing to find the bad guy, our performative ones say. And weren’t we lucky to finally have these real professionals at work for the American People? No, really, they’re just so great!

And there was more embarrassing stuff.

Please watch the 26 minute circus sideshow for yourself. Then come back to the Comments section below and let everyone know what other horribles I missed.

This complete lack of professionalism and childish bravado is what Americans voted for, however unknowingly. Now we wait as this story plays out, There will be charges made of possession of forbidden materials and whatever other charges they can conjure. There will be a trial held and the perp will go to prison, unless, of course, Bondi’s DOJ geniuses find ways to screw up this trial, too, like they did the James Comey and Letitia James prosecutions. If all that happens while Trump is still in office, watch for this perp to receive a January 6-worthy presidential pardon, unless, of course, Trump finds out that the guy is Black.

In Yet Another Attack .  .  .

.  .  .  on American values, the Trump White House issued its 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS) of the United States of America. Giving credit where it might be due, it’s possible that there isn’t even a handful of staffers who can spell “strategy,” much less know what it is, but their numbers wouldn’t include key players, because they’re just players.

This is a document that blows off all U.S. obligations to NATO, abdicates international order, promotes U.S. imperialism, embraces tough guy murderous rulers and promises to roll over all of Latin America to “protect our interests,” whatever that convenient phrase might mean when uttered by any Project 2025 extremist.

This document is an ugly read that will offend your very being, so instead read Heather Cox Richardson’s piece about it from her December 5 post. Be sure to first take your heart attack pills.

The Ignoble Prize

It became clear even to Trump he will never be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize, this for substantial reasons having to do with a lack of peace influenced by him, plus his continuing international belligerency. But his fragile ego needs a prize, so a solution was found. It is for Trump to award himself the first ever FIFA (soccer) Peace Prize. That brought raucous international disapproval and booing of fans, who declared, “This is pathetic.” The inscription on the medal reads, “For continuing discreditable service against the common man and attacks against laudable values.”

In receiving the award Trump said that he was so moved that he was speechless. He then proceeded to babble incoherently for 40 minutes, mispronouncing slurs against Presidents Obama and Biden and mimicking his insults of Sen. Adam Schiff. Reporters around the world once again bemoaned that America chose Trump as the best we could offer.

es
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.

Why We March


POST 1224

We had a fine NO KINGS! day. We danced in our disgust over everything Trump. We wallowed in the warmth of Trump vilification with our compatriots. We reveled in our righteousness. We marinaded in our mighty morality. We stood in strength and we cheered We The People in a thrilling moment of feeling like we were doing something important and valuable.

Then we went home, realizing the (as many as) 8.2 million of us marching for democracy in a feel good phalanx equaling 4.7% of all registered voters changed nothing. No bad laws were changed to become good laws. No stop-the-steal election claims were dropped. No immigrants, people who look like they might be immigrants, citizens who are foolish enough to maybe look Hispanic and no grannies out for groceries were suddenly not subject to Trump/Stephen Miller cruelty You get the idea. Nothing changed last Saturday.

Except maybe some things did change.

Like that a lot of people found they weren’t alone, that there are millions of kindred spirits all over America.

Like that perhaps some people who might otherwise sit on their butts on November 4, 2026 are now energized to vote in the mid-term elections in order to own a piece of the joy of punching the bully in the nose.

Like that we all know that son of a bitch can’t have our country,

Here’s why all of that is so enormously important.

Marc Elias, head of Democracy Docket laid it out for us on Monday. Rather than quoting just a few of his words of warning, here is his entire post.
Democracy Docket

October 20, 2025

While millions of Americans peacefully protested for “No Kings Day” this weekend, Donald Trump’s administration was busy working to undermine the upcoming midterm elections. Late Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that prominent election denier Kurt Olsen has joined the White House to focus on investigating the 2020 election and voting machines. This is just the latest step in the administration’s ongoing war on free and fair elections.

Though less well-known than some of the more high-profile election deniers, Olsen is no less committed to spreading false conspiracy theories about voting equipment and election results. His emergence as a government employee is just more evidence of Trump’s planned assault on the midterms.

Olsen has a rich election denier backstory. He was part of the 2020 post-election legal effort that asked the Supreme Court to throw out the election results in four states. When that failed, he tried to convince the Department of Justice to file its own lawsuit — an effort that even Trump’s DOJ refused.

His work since then has been no less dangerous.

Just like millions of Americans fighting back this weekend, Marc and Democracy Docket aren’t afraid to stand up, speak truth to power and defend our democracy.

In 2022, he represented Arizona’s Republican candidate for governor, Kari Lake, in a series of cases surrounding her failed election. In one case, the Arizona Supreme Court sanctioned Olsen and Lake’s other lawyers for making claims that were “unequivocally false.” In another case, a federal court sanctioned Olsen and another attorney for making “false, misleading, and unsupported factual assertions” and acting “in bad faith.”

In the run-up to 2024, Olsen was once again in Trump’s orbit, reportedly laying the groundwork to challenge the results if Trump lost. Despite being considered a “fringe figure” in the past, he is now a federal government employee seeking access to sensitive information about voting equipment and the 2020 election.

Olsen’s latest gig in Trump’s White House isn’t surprising. The president loves to surround himself with election denialists who are sure to be loyal soldiers for his cause. Recall that after losing in 2020, Stephen Miller — now Trump’s top aide — founded a legal organization deeply involved in efforts to alter voting rules and curtail voting rights in 2022 and 2024.

Now-Attorney General Pam Bondi likely caught Trump’s eye when she was promoting election denialism in the aftermath of the 2020 election. And, of course, it’s hard to imagine Kash Patel would be in his current position as head of the FBI if he had not been such a vocal proponent of the Big Lie.

From top to bottom, this administration is staffed with vocal election deniers and committed vote suppressors eager to help Trump cling to power — no matter how illegal or unethical.

And now, with election conspiracists taking center stage, Trump is slowly but surely desensitizing the public to a brand of authoritarianism aimed at subverting the will of the electorate.

His election-related executive order is designed to make voter registration more difficult and mail-in voting more restrictive. The administration is trying to decertify voting equipment and take control of key federal agencies. Most troublingly, Trump is asserting a presidential power over election administration that does not exist.

And just when you think it can’t get worse, it does. Trump is defunding and firing key parts of the government that ensure elections are free of foreign interference — while deploying the National Guard and masked federal law enforcement in major U.S. cities with large Democratic-leaning populations. He has promised to expand those efforts.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice has been turned into a weapon of war against Trump’s perceived opponents. He is normalizing direct presidential control over hiring and firing decisions within the DOJ, including who gets investigated and prosecuted.

Just as he is using the threat of criminal prosecution as a hammer against his foes, he is also using the pardon power to reward his political allies. The combined effect is to force Democrats and their supporters to act with excessive caution while emboldening Republicans to behave with reckless aggression.

And that’s only what Trump has done so far. The midterms are still more than a year away — it’s going to get worse.

He is already threatening to go after funders of Democratic candidates and causes. We should expect those efforts to expand and intensify as the midterms approach. He aims to target the critical infrastructure that allows Democrats and progressives to raise funds to oppose him. He will undoubtedly continue to pressure private companies — including media organizations — to tilt the playing field in Republicans’ favor.

He has claimed that additional executive orders are in the works. He says he plans to ban most mail-in voting, impose strict photo ID requirements, and mandate only using paper ballots. Most ominously, he wants to usurp the power to count and tabulate election results by turning states into his vassals.

Then there are the voting laws being enacted by the states. Trump has demonstrated his dominance over Republican-controlled legislatures as they enact grotesque new gerrymanders at his direction. When the architect behind Texas’s new map testified in court, he confirmed that he took his direction from the White House — not the Texas legislature.

This will not end with Texas, nor will it stop at redistricting. As we approach 2026, Trump will begin dictating specific voter registration, voting, counting, and certification laws, policies, and actions to compliant state Republicans.

To help him, the DOJ is already seeking to collect sensitive voter data on every single American. States that refuse to turn this information over willingly are being sued. I predict that those who cooperate will be rewarded.

In short, the Republican voter suppression and election subversion machine will have both state and federal components. It will have civil, criminal, and administrative tools at its disposal. It will have masked federal agents and the military. It will be ruthless and act as if it is above the law.

I am laying this out today — immediately following No Kings Day — because I want us to understand what the fight against authoritarianism means for the future of free and fair elections. When we marched, we were not only protesting Trump’s assaults on civil liberties and the rule of law; we were standing up for the right of citizens to choose their own leaders.

That is what it means to stand against a king. That is what it means to be an American. And that is what we must continue to fight for — not just on one weekend, but every day until this wannabe king leaves his castle.

And that is why we march in ever increasing numbers.

Marc and his team are the legal guys who can fight this anti-Constitution, anti-American crap in the courts. It’s why we link to their websight and kick in some bucks to lubricate the machine that fights for what we believe in.

Because that orange son of a bitch can’t have our country and he and all his fascists can all go to prison for the crimes they have committed.
Mid-Term Election
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The Fine Print:

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

Click me

JA


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

A Start


POST 1207

Congress

Amazingly, even Rs and performative MAGAs are offended by the sex trafficking of children and child rape, so they’re demanding all of the Epstein materials. It’s likely that these guys once knew someone who was a girl and are horrified by what Epstein, Maxwell and their clients (johns, really) did to them. Maybe the awfulness is close enough to home that they’re willing to displease even the foremost frequent flyer on Epstein’s Nubile Express, what with his attempts to cover up his behavior to avoid accountability for what pretty much everyone believes he did. Now we know what it takes to break through the Republican cowardice to get them to begin to stand upright. It’s a start.

Blast From The Past

Ronald Reagan, he of the “Government isn’t the solution to our problem; government is the problem” brain-free campaign sloganeering, used to be Saint Ronny. Nobody talks much about him now, so perhaps his sainthood has been voided. Regardless, this former B actor had great White House script writers and he delivered his lines well.

Here he is explaining tariffs to We The Ignorant. Watch this and imagine what Trump would call Reagan today. Trump is the one who said John McCain wasn’t a hero and that our military dead were suckers and losers. He’s the one who turns on former supporters and friends for the most trivial of reasons, just to exact revenge. He calls it retribution. You can ask John Bolton how that works now.

And people are beginning to react to his thin skinned delusions. It’s a start.

Voting Rights

Paul Weyrich didn’t want you to vote, because far righties’ “leverage” goes up when fewer people vote. Click me.

Perhaps our greatest fighters for our supposedly Constitutionally protected voting rights are Marc Elias and his team of snarling, biting pit bull legal fighters. They file blizzards of lawsuits against gerrymandering, illegal purging of voters’ registrations, closing of polling places, removal of ballot drop boxes, the killing of mail in ballot options and more. We know that the cheaters will continue to cheat – they always have. And we know that the job of stopping their abuse of We The People will never end.

The Republicans have been public about their scummy tricks and un-American attitude on who should vote and who they think shouldn’t vote at least since Paul Weyrich, a founder of the hateful Heritage Foundation and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), guys who write extremist legislation for Republicans to pass. He openly declared his un-American recommendations in 1980. Click the pic and hear the slime drip from his mouth. The good news is that Elias and his team are on duty, doing great work to protect all of us, to stop the cheaters. You might want to subscribe to his Substack and throw a few bucks their way. It’s a start.

Finally – as in: At Last

Gov. Gavin Newsome has taken the fight to Trump and shoved it in his face. He declared war on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and his abhorrent Trump-demanded, mid-decade gerrymandering to create 5 more Republican seats in the House. Every day Newsome mocks Trump by tweeting at him in Trump’s own communication style.

I’ve been asking who will lead us out of the valley of democracy death for a long time. We’ve been hoping for a Democrat to stand up and smack the far right liars and cheaters and now we have one. It’s a start.

The Deconstructing Trump Corner
.
  • It is against Stupidity in every shape and form
  • that we have to wage our eternal battle.
  • William Booth, 1890
  • Nobody can be kinder than the narcissist
  • while you react to life on his own terms.
  • Elizabeth Bowen,1938
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    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 length, readability, punctuation, typos and voluntary idiocy and to exclude those I deem inappropriate or intentionally cruel. If you must post something cruel, stop reading these posts immediately and instead invest your time with a good therapist.
    7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally and unavoidably mine.

    Click me

    JA


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

In America


POST 1193

Are You Among The Disfavored People?

university student, professor or administrator

scientific or medical researcher

farmer

non-White person

LGBTQ person

veteran

woman

any form of non-Christian

child

protector of the planet.

any Democrat (Trump hates you) or a current or former government employee

any person not accused or convicted of any crime and in this country legally – easy ICE targets

Bummer for you, because this country is solely for Christian-claiming (although not doing what Jesus would do), straight White men who insist on telling you how to live, establishing limits to your freedom and deciding your restricted fate, which may include warrantless deportation.

And all that gets far scarier when you consider that Trump is declining into dementia and JD Vance is next in line. He might be smarmy, disingenuous and heartless (I guess he forgot about his hillbilly roots), but he’s smart, diabolical and under the thumb of Peter Thiel, his sugar daddy, the private information thief.

Speaking of Disfavored

Let’s declare out loud what this deportation lunacy is actually about. The goals are:

  1. To get rid of Brown and Black people because they aren’t European White. Those immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
  2. Expand White privilege
  3. Feed raw meat to Trump’s base
  4. Suppress votes of Democrats

Those goals are well met by snatching Brown people, especially those who look Hispanic, off streets, from farm fields, from Home Depot parking lots, from a public park in Los Angeles and more. No need to check their papers, because we no longer care if the snatchees are here legally or even if they are U.S. citizens.

Nobody has a right to due process under the Trump administration. We just snatch ’em, shove ’em in a bus or van, cram them handcuffed onto an airplane and into rendition to be abused and held incommunicado. That’s the new American Dream Nightmare.

Here’s what our populist speaking but not practicing President and Republican Congress have done to make sure we’re number one in inflicting cruelty on immigrants.

Click the chart for Steve Schmidt’s comments.

This chart shows our Big Barfy Betrayal Bill carve out for ICE and compares it to the defense budgets of 20 countries. We are now poised to spend more on anti-immigrant actions than the total the next 10 countries spend on their national defense. That’s probably good, since those immigrants are drug dealers, rapists and murderers. So said the man with the golden escalator, the golden toilet, 34 felony convictions, boundless ignorance and a mania for cruelty, but not for reality.

Are you feeling safer now with our huge expansion of ICE, the American Gestapo? Read this from Jennifer Rubin for more.

The Lies and Cheating Didn’t Start With Trump

In 2010 the Supreme Court decided the Citizens United case. The lawsuit was about a movie trashing Hillary Clinton, intended by its producers to be aired during the 2008 presidential campaign. The Court struck down a provision of the McCain-Feingold Act (properly, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002) and told the Citizens United group they could show their movie. That should have been the end of that case, but it wasn’t.

Chief Justice John Roberts did something almost unheard of. He called the litigants back and ordered them to argue the rights of corporations, something not even remotely part of the original lawsuit. The Court then made a second ruling, deciding that corporations have all the rights of flesh and blood humans.

That unleashed the furies of fabulous wealth, which allowed those corporations and insanely rich people (plus foreign influencers) to donate fabulous amounts of money to political campaigns and overwhelm the wishes of we small folk. Roberts had made up a whole new case to serve his agenda and it worked.

As a result, the gun lobby, the pharmaceutical lobby and more lobbies control the votes of Congress and you have almost no influence. So, we don’t get the gun safety legislation 80% of us want, the healthcare-for-all that 67% of us want and far more. These legislators don’t care what you want because they don’t have to. They’re funded by corporations and super rich guys.

This Court that can’t seem to tell the difference between a corporation (a fictional “entity”) and human beings. The Court is composed of strict originalists, they tell us, but they don’t recognize the Founders’ abhorrence of undue influence exerted by the wealthy.

Like I said, it didn’t start with Trump. Before he showed up the Court had already greased the gears of the fascism express. The Court further cleared the way with it’s ruling in Trump v. United States, allowing the President to break any laws he wants and get away with it. Does that sound originalist to you?

In America

Likely you’re feeling disheartened, as are most of us, because of the blatantly illegal, immoral and cruel actions of this administration. But here’s the thing: we don’t get to wallow in our despair because there’s so much that must be done and we’re the only ones who can do it.

The Charlie Daniels Band song In America was released in 1980 as

“.  .  .  a reaction to the varying difficult issues facing America in the late 1970s – the fallout from the Watergate scandal [etc.]. [Wikipedia]

We have “difficult issues facing America” now, too.

The fascists have come back to divide us and steal America from us.
.

The CDB’s message tells us about Lady America, that “We’re gonna put her feet back on the path.” The fascists, the oligarchs, the selfish rich guys “can all go straight to hell.” That’s not exactly what Charlie sang, but I like the sound of it.

You’ll see Lady America back on the path when the pain hits – from tariffs and the resultant higher prices and empty shelves, stolen healthcare, stolen food assistance, scarcities, babies beginning to suffer and die, neighbors being sent to concentration camps, jobs being lost and more. As Thom Hartmann puts it, Trump’s Tax Cuts Come with a Body Count — Starting with Grandma. That’s when we’ll all come together, “feet back on the path.”

Click this link and listen to the song. While our fight and our battle victories may not be happening at the pace we’d prefer, they’re happening – because of us.

The “Deconstructing Trump”* Corner

For the week following the Fourth of July and Trump’s failed narcissism parade, at which both he and Melania fell asleep, this is about Trump:

  • Nothing is more terrible than ignorance in action.
  • Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
  • Do you know the hallmark of the second-rater?
  • It’s resentment of another man’s achievement.
  • Ayn Rand – that’s for our Libertarian friends
  • _________________________________________

* Deconstructing Trump by Mardy Grothe explores The Trump phenomenon through the lens of quotation history. As such, we explore his volume and add its applicable wisdom to these posts.

Mid-Term Election
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The Fine Print:

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


U-Turn


POST 1130

From Wikipedia:

A kakistocracy (/kækɪˈstɒkrəsi/, /kækɪsˈtɒ-/) is a government run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens.[1]: 54 [2][3] The word was coined as early as the seventeenth century.[4] [emphasis JA]

That term was coined then, but we’re reviving that dreadful threat right now.

Paul Newman

Paul Newman

With obviously predictive value, here are two variations of Paul Newman’s Second Law:

Just when things look darkest, they go black.

– or –

It’s always darkest before it turns absolutely pitch black. (Might be from John McCain or Mao Zedong.)

CLICK AND READ THIS. Many thanks to JHA for the link.

This is going to be really bad. We are about to have a government run by the worst, least qualified, hateful, rule-of-law destroying, most unscrupulous citizens. That’s baked into this bitter cake, unless .  .  .

.  .  .  we ditch the hand-wringing, the hopelessness and the rest. Because it will be far worse unless we get to work to stop our headlong plunge into self-destruction. Here are two actions for you to take.

1. Drown Your Republican Senator in Snail Mail, Email and Phone Calls

Demand that s/he VOTE NO on every one of Trump’s anti-competent, anti-qualified, anti-democracy nominees. Look up when your senator’s term ends and tell them that you vow on your children’s lives that if they vote to approve even a single one one of Trump’s democracy destroying picks that you will do everything you can to defeat them next election because your children’s lives would be imperiled by those nominees.

Extend your influence by recruiting your family and friends, neighbors and people you meet when you fill your gas tank and the granny who you help by reaching something on the top shelf for her at the supermarket. Post on whatever social media you use. Do it all repeatedly. Put up a yard sign that reads, “Friends don’t let friends ruin our children’s future.” Tell them all to drown your senator with promises of firing him/her.

Got a connection to someone with a podcast, a pundit with a broadcast email following, someone with connections? Get them to promote the downfall of Trump’s attempt to be führer of the Fourth Reich by directing their audience to pressure their Republican senators to reach around back where their spine is supposed to be an VOTE NO on all those hateful, un-American candidates.

2. Focus on Your State

Focus on the states to kick out the gerrymandering perps, the voter registration cancelling manipulators, the operatives who closed so many polling places and eliminated ballot drop boxes making it harder for many people to vote. How ’bout we encourage everything we can to re-invigorate voting rights. All we have to do is campaign to send Republican state officials packing.

Plus, you need to send a check to The States Project, because they are all about getting all 50 states to actually practice democracy. Wouldn’t that be refreshing?

Need Motivation?

From Heather Cox Richardson:

If Trump has now abandoned the performance he used to win the election, Trump’s planned appointments to office reveal that the actual pillars of his presidency will be personal revenge, the destruction of American institutions, and the use of political office for gain, also known as graft.

We’ll be upside down and without brakes if we don’t start the U-Turn now.*

REBEL!

_________________________________________

* Newman’s First Law: “It is useless to put on your brakes when you’re upside down.”

Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too. (IT’S A FREEBIE!) 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 mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings.
  2. There are lots of smart, well-informed people. Sometimes we agree; sometimes we don’t. Search for others’ views and decide for yourself.
  3. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
  4. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.
  5. Book links to Amazon are provided for reference only. Please purchase your books through your local mom & pop bookstore. Keep them and your town or neighborhood vibrant.
  6. Clicking on most pics in these posts will take you to the source information.

Click me

JA


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

Facing the ‘mare-ca In America


We Billy-Bobs are Right and We Know It

Let’s drop the pretending for a minute and honestly say that while George Floyd’s murder was not okay, it really wasn’t a big deal because, hey, he was just a Black guy. Plus, we stand by our police, except the ones at the Capitol Building and you know why. And we heard that Floyd’s past was sketchy, although me and my posse don’t know what that was about.

And those kids snatched from their mothers at the southern border – I mean, boo-hoo. Gimme a break. Those kids would have grown up to be Brown adults and not so cute anymore and they’d probably be on welfare with me payin’ for them. Glad they’re gone. And their crying moms? Too bad. Nobody invited you. Besides, you’re Brown. Just go away.

Let’s get serious about all those homos demanding rights like they’re so important. Hey, you want a website for your homo wedding, go do it yourself. Don’t try to make a God-fearing, straight, White Christian woman do anything for you. And get that damned rainbow flag out of my face.

And Affirmative Action? Everybody knows that’s just a way to discriminate against White guys, to keep us down. You other races can do that bootstrap thing like we did. Otherwise, just shut up and stay in your place.

We don’t go for no Department of Education. That’s gub-mint telling us what our kids should learn and turning over their future to a bunch of elite coastal bozos and sketchy teachers. We got parents rights, you know. It’s right there in the Constitution. I forget where.

Anyway, don’t go shoveling no lib-ral, anti-‘mer-can crap at us or our kids. We’ll home school ’em and make sure they learn the right stuff, not the lies in your history books. You can’t chop our freedom.

You know this is true: the Founders of this country were all White men – every one of ’em – and they set up this country to be run and owned by White men. That’s a fact. Deal with it, socialist.

The Constitution allowed for slavery, which is why we want to keep those Confederate statues and have our military bases and schools in the South named after Confederate generals. They were great heroes, especially Robert E. Lee. It’s why we honor the Confederate battle flag and do everything we can to make sure only White people can vote and have their votes mean something. It’s the right thing to do because we’re patriotic ‘mare-cans.

You bleeding heart lib-rals make me sick. That lib-ral crap is an insult to the spirit and meaning of our country, so you can take your woke and stick it. If you don’t like that, go someplace else. Maybe back to where your people came from. They sure didn’t come from here like we White people did.

Until then, just remember that most of us are doing concealed carry. Best if you stay in your lane. It would be a shame if something were to happen to you, you know?

We’re right and we know it.

Take a Breath

The above is satire, of course. It’s a caricature of the closed-minded and the willfully ignorant, those intolerant of everything that isn’t just like themselves.

Even as things are exaggerated here to make a point, we as a country rarely care enough about Black, Brown or LGBTQ people. New laws and extremist Supreme Court decisions are ensuring that we care even less. Harm to these people makes the news only because it’s spectacular and brings eyeballs to advertisers. We don’t do much to right the wrongs, so the hits just keep on coming.*

I’m sure it’s comforting to some to deny that there is systemic racism in this country. It’s a relief to some that service can be denied to LGBTQ people on the basis of an impromptu claim of religious beliefs designed to be inflicted on others. All that takes are just a few key words, like God, Jesus, Christian, freedom, liberty and ‘mare-ca. But what you know is that it’s just performative, faux patriotism.

Land of the free, home of the brave? Where’s the bravery that makes sure that all of us are free?

All men are created equal? How equal are we now?

I’m just wondering what it is we really stand for. It’s a terrible shame that we as a nation have lost our ability to feel shame. Maybe we can bring it back. That would help.

About Your Rights and Our Democracy

For a must read satire about the state of our nation that should wake up your blood, read Diane Roberts’ commentary, We’re the Mommies for Liberty and the future belongs to us. It’s focused on the outrageous rights violations going on in Florida today. With that model in mind you’ll see what could be coming to all of America if we don’t set things right. It will give you the shakes, because Roberts’ satire feels frighteningly close to reality.

Another take on democracy and the pummeling of our rights comes from an essay by Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead, his best-selling 2003 memoir about being a Marine in the first Gulf War, later made into a movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal. His essay in Daily Beast is about book banning, which the vocal extremists in Ottawa County, Michigan did to his book. He ends his post this way:

Make no mistake, they are banning books, but really they are restricting access to ideas. And when one small group of people ban[s] a larger group of people access to ideas, we are in for a closing of the American mind. What begins with banning books ends with a firescape of constitutional rights ablaze. But the fire is already here on your block. [emphasis mine]
 

That stunning image is the threat that faces us, which is why you and I are going to do something about that, like get elected to office people who believe in democracy and who will stop the ones torching the Constitution.

Quotes of the Week

From David Corn of Mother Jones:

So when the pundits scratch their heads about DeSantis’ attempt to out-flank Trump on the right, they miss the point. He is trying to out-hate Trump. That tells you a lot about the guy and what he thinks of Republican voters.

You could say much the same for Republican politicians who tacitly condone extremism by refusing to speak up.

Thinking more about the not-extreme Republicans who have refused to speak out against the vile lies for these terrible years of political venom, read this, paraphrased from Harlen Coben’s 2023 novel I Will Find You:

Morality is subjective. They could have done the right thing, but they only do the right thing when it doesn’t cost them.

Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger excepted, of course.

Just Sayin’

Monday, July 3 was Earth’s hottest day in the last 125,000 years. Tuesday was hotter.

It’s possible the climate science nerds have been right all along about looming climate catastrophe, even as know-nothing elected officials have denied both the science and what’s right in front of their own noses. Maybe it’s time we elect officials who can see past their noses.

______________________________

* Watch Jon Stewart’s explainer here.

Today is a good day to be the light.

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  • Our governance and electoral corruption and dysfunction and our ongoing mass murders are all of a piece, all the same problem with the same solution:
  • Fire the bastards!
  • The days are dwindling for us to take action. Get up! Do something to make things better.

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

Headlines


This Headline Gave Me Hope

.I wrote here about the terribly dangerous Moore v. Harper case from North Carolina. That law threatened to take the votes of We The People, throw them into a dumpster, set them on fire and allow a hyper-partisan legislature to hijack elections – a classic case of theft of our rights and the destruction of our democracy. The good news is that this law was rejected by a 6-3 decision of the Supreme Court.

That ugly North Carolina law was a threat to democracy everywhere. It was promulgated by the autocrat wannabes in the NC legislature, those little minds that covet their very own fiefdom. Had the despotic “independent state legislature theory” law been upheld by the Court, all the Republican controlled states would have followed suit and crafted their own version of this democracy crushing stinker. The legal contest worked out right this time, but another attempt at election theft, the end to your voting rights and our democracy, will surely come along.

The bad news is that the usual suspects, Alito, Thomas and Gorsuch, voted for the autocracy and despotism promised by that anti-Constitution North Carolina legislation. Do bear in mind that if Mitch McConnell had not stonewalled for 341 days President Obama’s nominee to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the bench, Gorsuch wouldn’t be there and Merrick Garland would. McConnell has said that he is very proud of his anti-Constitution larceny.

If the Senate Judiciary Committee had believed Anita Hill’s claims about Clarence Thomas and not fallen for Thomas’ lame “high-tech lynching” victimhood rant, we would have been spared his massive ethics violations and his extremist votes. I say we set that right by removing him and putting Anita Hill on the Supreme Court.

Click the headline above for the Times story and read Prof. Heather Cox Richardson’s explainer. For more insight into this, read Diana Dobrovolny Hefter‘s comment below my post last Sunday. She gets it and is a fine explainer.  Betcha you’ll have something to say, too.

With this vote to smack down the democracy killing “independent state legislature” theory, it looks like it’s possible that the Republican-packed, stolen, extremist Court might not be entirely reprehensible about rights and democracy. Just mostly.

This Oughta Have a Headline

We’ve always had liars, thieves, cheats and scoundrels in our politics. We’ve always had injustice in our justice system. And we’ve always had poverty, disease and avoidable death. What’s most interesting is how red states seem to excel at all of that and how the people in those states don’t seem to see how they are being manipulated and abused. They’re even dying younger due to Republican policies, but they’re allowing that to happen, too. Your required reading is Thom Hartmann’s report of June 28, where he writes:

“It’s undeniably true (and documented with each hotlink below) that Republican-controlled “Red” states, almost across the board, have higher rates of:”

and he goes on to document a Pandora’s box of awful stuff. Why do otherwise common sense Americans not have the sense to refuse to tolerate that?

If you’re in a blue state, don’t imagine you get a free pass. Read this. You’re getting ripped off, too, by being forced to subsidize red states.

This Headline Made Me Laugh Out Loud

This is for real. Click the headline to read the article to meet your minimum daily requirement of eye rolling.

Here’s Another “Oughta Have a Headline”

Let’s be clear about our military veterans. These people volunteered to put their lives on the line for us, even when they knew that the reasons for doing so were stupid, dishonest or hypocritical. They still kept their word to follow orders and to protect and defend. They did that while we went about our regular lives with nobody shooting at us. And some of our vets have lost their way.

A large number of them are homeless. For them, life is far more than hard. A crazy number of them live in a PTSD despair that drives many to commit suicide. It’s the same for teens who are in a mental health crisis of pain and hopelessness.

So, here are a couple of phone numbers to keep handy:

Veterans Crisis Hotline:    800-273-8255
Suicide Hotline:                    988
.

It turns out that the biblical question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” doesn’t apply only to male siblings. It’s about “brother” in a much broader sense. It’s about a moral obligation to help our fellow human beings when we can.*

The answer to the question is a resounding “YES!” And sometimes your help, our help, is desperately needed. Opportunities to reach out to someone who needs a hand are all around. And as Neil Diamond told us decades ago, that’s what your hand is for. Click the audio below and listen to the words for a reminder.

.
Taking This “Hand Thing” One Step Further

On the night of the 4th we went to the concert in Highland Park, IL to see Highland Park native Gary Senise and the Lt. Dan Band. It was a stunning display of generosity, caring and real deal patriotism. Plus, that’s a most wonderful and entertaining band.

The key point is about what those folks do for our military people. The put their lives where their hearts are and give to our active duty and retired vets. They’ve done over 550 concerts and countless visits to our wounded and they’ve donated gobs of money to benefit and honor the people who keep us safe from bad guys.

They were in town for the Highland Park concert, so the day before that they went to the Great Lakes Naval Training Base in North Chicago and did a gig for our new recruits. Those men and women volunteered to go into harms way for us and many will soon be there. Senise and his band showed up to honor them.

There were police from 27 towns around Highland Park to secure the morning dedication and memorial walk, as well as the concert in the evening. There were Secret Service folks, too, and sniffer dogs. They all gave up their day off, their 4th of July with their families, to be of service to all in the community. All stood in the heat and humidity guarding us. All served and protected.

Think about 9/11 and all of our horrific shootings, like in Highland Park last year. These first responders show up in places where you wouldn’t go and they do the dangerous and grisly things that must be done. So, Gary Senise and the Lt Dan Band remember and honor our first responders, too.

Here’s an NBC report about what Senise and the band members do. Because you’d like to support the people who support our troops, here’s a link for that. It’s a good way to say “Thank You” to the people who say “Thank You” as their mission in life. Through Senise and the band, your hand will reach all the way to our brothers and sisters in need.

One Last Fourth of July Follow Up

From Heather Cox Richardson’s July 5 Letters From an American:

Josh Hawley fist saluting insurrectionists – seditionists – trying to destroy America. January 6, 2020

“Yesterday the official account of the Republican National Committee tweeted Independence Day greetings with a graphic of the Liberian flag, which has one star, rather than that of the United States, which has fifty.

“Even more troubling was the tweet from Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) attributing to founder Patrick Henry a false quotation saying that “this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Historian Seth Cotlar noted that the quotation actually came from the April 1956 issue of a virulently antisemitic white nationalist magazine, The Virginian.”

Ignoring the impressive Josh Hawley ignorance factor for the moment, his is not the United States of America envisioned by the Founders, who bristled at the notion of being controlled by any religion. Neither is the America that today’s White supremacists demand.

So, Josh the Sloppy Opportunist, you can take your phony patriotism and religiosity and .  .  .

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* From Rabbi Hillel:

If I am not for me, then who will be for me?

And if I am for myself alone, what am I?

And if not now, then when?


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

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