cabinet secretary

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


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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.

Unfit


POST 1199


A Look At Just One

Here are Tulsi Gabbard’s responsibilities, per Steve Schmidt. Note that a similar listing of gravely important duties can be made for all Cabinet positions.

Tulsi Gabbard is the director of national intelligence [DNI], who oversees 18 different three-letter espionage agencies.

They are as follows:

Civilian Intelligence Agencies (8):

    1. Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) – coordinates and leads the entire IC.
    2. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) – focuses on foreign intelligence and covert operations.
    3. National Security Agency (NSA) – responsible for signals intelligence and cybersecurity.
    4. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) – provides geospatial intelligence (maps, imagery).
    5. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) – designs, builds, and operates spy satellites.
    6. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – Intelligence Branch – handles domestic counterintelligence and counterterrorism.
    7. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) – Office of National Security Intelligence (ONSI) – focuses on drug-related intelligence.
    8. Department of State – Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) – provides intelligence to diplomats and policy makers.

Military Intelligence Components (8):

    1. U.S. Army Intelligence
    2. U.S. Navy Intelligence
    3. U.S. Air Force Intelligence
    4. U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence
    5. U.S. Space Force Intelligence
    6. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) – military-focused intelligence and support for defense policy.
    7. Department of Homeland Security – Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) – focuses on threats to homeland security.
    8. Department of Energy – Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence – focuses on nuclear security and energy-related threats.

Department of the Treasury – Office of Intelligence and Analysis

    1. Provides intelligence on financial and economic threats, including terrorism financing and sanctions evasion.

Coast Guard Intelligence (part of DHS)

    1. Provides maritime-related intelligence, particularly around border security and drug interdiction.

All of that responsibility lives in the office of a woman who has literally zero intelligence training, zero intelligence experience, no history of operational action, education of or even a familiarity with the awesome responsibilities that attach to the nation’s security. Oddly, Trump and Tulsi say she’s right for her job.

Yer kidding, Trump and Tulsi, right? It’s a joke, right? And the rest of the Cabinet pretenders, too?

The qualifiers for any Trump appointment are:

Absolute loyalty to Trump. Willing to shed principles and integrity. Willing to display boundless emptiness just to be in the orbit of the cult leader. Willing to say patently absurd things and promote phantasmagorically destructive notions in order to expand the leader’s power and wealth. Think: nominations of judges and justices. This is the primary demand of dictators.

Is telegenic – looks good on TV, in press conferences and while lying to a roomful of Senators or Representatives in a Congressional hearing. Adept at claiming to have no memory of events that aren’t self-aggrandizing and is facile at making up rabid idiocies.

Will pursue any Trump policy including illegal or unconstitutional actions and will ignore court orders. Will promote any Trump lie, manipulation or temper tantrum and will aid in seeking retribution for all fantasy wrongs done to Trump, like others disagreeing with him.

Because of the great lapse of time, is unable to answer this question:

What was it like before your soul left your body? – source: probably Rick Wilson

These qualifiers stand as the gatekeepers to anyone seeking high appointment in a Trump administration or the judiciary. There is never consideration given to likelihood of honoring the oath of office, fitness for duty, skills, intelligence, training, ability to lead a high performing staff or the chance of doing something positive for America and the American people. All that is needed for appointment is listed above, leaving our nation in constant peril.

It’s also useful to be

– 2 generations younger than Trump, female and sexually attractive to him

– or a billionaire who can be exploited

– or a judicial candidate slavish to Trump.

Unintentionally Offered Wishful Thinking, From Consumer Reports

Hey, wait a second: Is that code for someone or for something specific? Who are the “pests and animals” they speak of? Are these the well known names of domestic terrorists who are attempting to invade our homes and nation in order to subjugate us? Are these the No Policy barbarians whose only purposes are to “tear it all down” and replace it with their absolute rule? Are these the vandals heaping over-the-top cruelty on thousands, even millions of people and dropping bunker busting destruction on our bedrock values and the societal ways we count on? Could they be the lawless perps who abuse the rights of everyone and do so in our name, as though we approve? Who are these “pests and animals?”

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if some garden spray could rid us of these “pests and animals” to allow for the restoration of our national habitat?

It’s not that power corrupts; it’s that corruptible people seek power. – author possibly Frank Herbert

Reader Comments And The Risk of Public Opinion

Opinion is what I do. And I’m enormously grateful for readers’ comments and opinions, too.

Occasionally, I receive – let’s call them “cranky” – comments clearly intended to pick a fight or to own the libs through cruelty and to put me in my place. Because these comments are designed only to destroy, I never let them go live. (See Fine Print #6 below.) But recently one caused me to think about “putting it out there” and what that means.

We all like pats on the head, but in writing opinion pieces, including comments to these posts, more than that is dared. That caused me to pen the following for both of us, meaning for you, too, when you post your opinions. It’s to the tune of Ricky Nelson’s Garden Party.

    • If you’re gonna hang out your opinion
    • For everyone to see,
    • If accolades are all you want
    • Better brace for reality.
    • .
    • But it’s all right now.
    • I learned my lesson well.
    • You see, you can’t please everyone
    • So, you got to please yourself.

I encourage you to comment on these posts – to please yourself, of course, and perhaps to help others see and understand.


The Deconstructing Trump* Corner
.
  • [He] was his own world,
  • and nothing that concerned anyone else
  • was important to him . . .
  • and nothing that touched him unimportant. 
  • Kathleen Thompson Norris, 1933
  • Look at [his] comments . . .
  • They prove that the senator speaks his mind,
  • and that he is not working with much when he does so.
  • Anna Quindlen, 1993

_____________________________________________

  • * Deconstructing Trump by Mardy Grothe explores The Trump phenomenon through the lens of quotation history.

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  • Did someone forward this post to you? Welcome! Please subscribe at no charge – use the simple form above on the right. And pass this along to three others, encouraging them to subscribe, too, because it’s going to take ALL OF US to get this job done.

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

    Thanks!

    The Fine Print:

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

Fantastical Fictional Universe


Reading time – 3:41 .  .  .

President Trump is just like you and me – except he lies constantly and thinks everything is or should be about him.

In his Q & A with reporters during a Cabinet meeting on Monday, October 21 he expressed many opinions about the Constitution, the economy, his abilities in real estate and the splendor of his Doral resort. He gets to do that.

He also disgorged dozens of “facts,” not one of which was true and correct. He doesn’t get to do that and get away with it.

Tony Schwartz, the ghost writer of “The Art of the Deal,” spent months with Trump, watching and listening as Trump conducted his business. He warned us that Trump lies continuously, that he lies even when it isn’t necessary and he will  lie all day long. Sadly, Schwartz was and is right.

It’s no breaking news that Trump lies constantly. What is alarming and urgent is that he’s now lying to create a fantastical fictional universe. He’s desperate to be re-elected and he’ll do anything to make that happen, including ruin our country. That’s because he knows that the moment he stops being the president will be the moment he will be indicted for a laundry list of crimes. That’s why he needs his self-serving fantastical fictional universe.

So, in contrast to what Trump said, no, this isn’t the greatest economy ever. No, the Kurds aren’t safe, as hundreds have been murdered and Turkey continues to ignore the so-called “pause” that never was and we really have abandoned our ally. No, the troops aren’t coming home. And no to every other “fact” he claimed. Go watch his 20 minutes of self-idolizing and report back on the “facts” he got right. Yours will be a very short report.

The point is that while Trump’s 38% can’t get him re-elected, they and just a few independents and undecideds who don’t know the truth could get that job done. They won’t realize that they’ve been had because they will have been persuaded by Trump’s fantastical fictional universe, his continuous stream of lies. He paints it so very well, so convincingly.

The question for us is how we will overcome the Trump fantastical fictional universe. How will we get through to enough voters so that they know that Democrats don’t hate America; that the wall isn’t being built; that the impeachment hearings are exactly what the Founders envisioned; that the Chinese aren’t paying Trump’s tariffs – you and I are; that ISIS is not being “held”; that the whistle blowers haven’t “disappeared” and all the rest? We have just 372 days to figure this out and convince enough Americans to show up and vote against the Con Man in Chief and his fantastical fictional universe and instead vote for America and democracy.

And another thing  .  .  .

Cabinet secretary positions are so important and so powerful that to assume such a position requires confirmation by the Senate of the United States. No schmoes need apply.

Should a cabinet position become empty while the Senate is in recess, the President has the authority to appoint an acting secretary, who may serve up to 6 months. Staying in office longer than that requires Senate confirmation.

Except that’s not how things are working now. The Republican controlled Senate hasn’t insisted on its Constitutionally mandated duty to review these appointments and Trump has been and continues to be allowed to bypass proper review.

You don’t suppose there might be consequences to that do you?

Finally,

President Trump announced that “the impeachment thing” is un-Constitutional. Further, he let us know that the impeachment inquiry into his behavior is a “lynching.” Clearly, he needs some help in differentiating things. Luckily, I’m here to provide it.

Observe the two photos below. The one on the left is the Constitution, wherein you can find “the impeachment thing” not once, but twice. That is to say, impeachment is quite Constitutional.

The picture on the right is of a young Negro woman who has been lynched. Lynching is defined as “a premeditated extra-judicial killing by a group.” Mob behavior. It is hideous, vile murder. And our president thinks that Congress looking into his behavior is the equivalent of that.

Of course, we know his disgusting comparative only serves to stoke his base and to distract us from his wrongdoing. We certainly won’t allow ourselves to be manipulated in that way. Nevertheless, it’s important to see past Trump’s glib talk and look wide-eyed at the truth of the brutality he embraces.

————————————


Ed. Note: I don’t want money or your signature on a petition. I want you to spread the word so that we make a critical difference. So,

YOUR ACTION STEPS:

  1. Pass this along to three people, encouraging them to subscribe (IT’S A FREEBIE!).
  2. Engage in the Comments section below to help us all to be better informed.

Thanks!

NOTES:

  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, so don’t bug me about it.
  2. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling or punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
  3. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.

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

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