Rodney King

Wrong Side of the Bed


POST 1242

 

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

Coming Attractions

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

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

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

Finally, In This Season of Regaining Light

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

Don’t forget:

The little people are as big as you are.

Whoever you are. – Tom Waits

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

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

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

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

Goes fast, doesn’t it?

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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.
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  6. Comments offered by readers, whether in agreement with my opinions or opposing, are encouraged and greatly appreciated. All are reviewed prior to going live. I reserve the right to edit for readability, punctuation, typos, voluntary idiocy and to exclude those I deem inappropriate.
  7. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine. Unless it’s a guest essay, in which case blame the guest.

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JA

 


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

The Names


Daunte Wright

Rayshard Brooks

Daniel Prude

Breonna Taylor

Attatiana Jefferson

Aura Rosser

Stephon Clark

Botham Jean

Philando Castile

Alton Sterling

Freddie Gray

Janisha Fonville

Eric Garner

Michelle Cusseaux

Akai Gurley

Gabrielle Nevarez

Tamir Rice

Michael Brown

Tanisha Anderson

and of course, Rodney King*

George Floyd

Those are just a few of the Black people who have been killed in the past few years by police and who never, ever got justice. Neither did their families.

But now man one has. George Floyd is dead, but he and his family got justice. And we now know that justice for Blacks requires video recordings of police murders that are shown to the whole world. That’s what it took this time.

And maybe, just maybe, his little daughter, Gianna, will be proven right, saying, “My daddy is going to change the world.”

Which will be a very good thing. Writing to your senators and telling them to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is a good way to help.

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  • * Rodney King was brutally beaten by four Los Angeles police officers, but he did not die from that beating. He’s included in this list because his is an iconic and tragic story. Even with video tape evidence of his beating shown to the jury, neither he nor his family ever got justice. That touched off the LA riots in 1992.

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Thanks!

The Fine Print:

  1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings, so don’t bug me about it.
  2. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling and punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
  3. Responsibility for the content of these posts is unequivocally, totally, unavoidably mine.

JA


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

It Will Take More Than Impeachment


Reading time – 3:35  .  .  .

I’m still conflicted about impeachment. On the one hand, there’s the obvious imperative to do the right thing. Trump is bad news in so many ways and many of them are almost certainly criminal. He should be held to account, and not just to punish him. It’s critical that we say to future leaders that we believe in accountability and that there won’t be any more Gerald Ford absolute presidential pardons.

On the other hand, impeachment in the House is unlikely to result in conviction by the spineless Republican Senate. That will give Trump insufferable bragging rights and might help him win reelection. Not good.

Meanwhile, now that the inquiry has started, I’m all for parading before the public Trump’s lawlessness, the violations of his oath of office and anything else that might make it hard for Republicans to continue to stand with him and brainlessly chant idiotic talking points to gaslight the American public.

If Trump were to avoid conviction in the Senate we’ll be left with a president who knows he must stay in office to protect himself from the city, state and federal indictments for tax fraud, money laundering, campaign finance violations and more that are awaiting him when he leaves office.

Consequently, he will scratch, claw, lie and call on our worst demons during his 2020 campaign. He will baselessly accuse political rivals of treason. He will attack our intelligence agencies. He will stonewall every legitimate inquiry and every subpoena.* He will suborn perjury. He will undermine American foreign policy in order to advance his own interests. He will joke about shooting immigrants and building his wall and making it electrified, with spikes on top that can pierce human flesh and a with moat filled with snakes and alligators. He will sacrifice our country and our values for personal gain. We know this because he’s done it all and continues to do these things.

In contrast, Democrats are the party of patty-cake politics. They always bring a knife to a gunfight. They will have to toughen up and put on their big boy and big girl pants to figure out how to beat our ruthless dictator wannabe.

Enter Thomas Friedman.

“You can vote for a man who wants to bring back cars that get bad mileage, lights that use more energy and produce more heat, power plants that produce more asthma, chemical companies that pollute more rivers, coal companies that pollute more air, mining companies that strip more pristine landscapes, and an economy that lags China in the next great global industry.

“Or you can join the Earth Race and make Donald Trump’s presidency an extinct species while saving Mother Nature’s endangered species.”

Friedman has given us the roadmap to beat Trump: hammer on all the ways Trump has hurt Americans. Not America; Americans.

Trump will still get his 38% of voters, the hard core people motivated by, “Don’t confuse me with values or the facts. I’m pissed and I’m voting for the pissiest candidate.” The battle is for the middle 20%, so Democrats must appeal to them. And it will take more than impeachment in the House to get their attention and defeat Trump at the polls.

The power is in the gut

The impeachment horror show is about high-minded values like patriotism, accountability for violations of oath of office, dealing with international extortion and other crimes. Very rational stuff, but not things likely to stir passion in most people. Studies have shown clearly that emotional issues are 4 times more powerful at persuading people than are rational arguments. That’s why the healthcare issue was so powerful for Dems in the 2018 mid-term election. The Democrat’s appeal in 2020 will have to grab people where they live.

And that’s why Friedman’s piece is so important. Link through and read the entire essay.

*Subpoena literally means, “under penalty,” as in, “Do what this requires or go to jail.” Given the stonewalling by Trump and so many connected to him and the complete lack of consequences for ignoring subpoenas, whatever happened to the “penalty” part of “subpoena”?

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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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