The silliness of Trump and his MAGA loyalists

 

 

In all of my comments about Trump and his loyal MAGA base, I never expected to win over the died-in-the-wool adherents of Trump’s autocratic moves.  These are treac erous people who frequently lack feelings of shame and guilt for their capitulation to undermine 250 years of constitutional democracy.  

They take pleasure in agitating what they refer to as the “woke” crowd and some may in fact relish the opportunity to have an autocratic strongman in power, though Trump in his ever debilitated state, is far from a strong man, physically and mentally.  You will find many of them who have lifted up the proclaimed man of God, Charlie Kirk, for his small-minded and hateful words expressed before his senseless assassination in September. (1) 

What I’m left with is akin to Gavin Newsome’s mockery style (2) of people who seek only to gain more power and enrich themselves at the expense of millions of low and middle income families, in red states as well as blue ones, conservatives as well as independents and liberals.  They are as much silly as they are threatening.  So hereafter I will point out how silly these wanna be authoritarians are and hope that the threat they pose to the rule of law will become self-evident.  

They started silly with declaring that the 2020 elections were stolen from them, in light of all the hard evidence to the contrary (3).  And even though Marjorie Taylor Green, aka MTG, recently sided with Democrats about keeping insurance prices stable, she will forever be remembered as the looney-toon that claimed “'Jewish Space Lasers' Caused California Wildfires”. (4)

That’s as far as I want to go in the near past on this subject.  The pages that such silliness would consume would be voluminous, and would merely serve as a non-narcotic sleep aid. So let’s just have ourselves a good laugh with the most recent absurdities.

Trump’s insane deportation policy has been randomly deporting people who do not fit his “worst criminals” scenario. (5)  Recently , after railing against Biden’s end to the Afghanistan war and leaving behind those Afghans who were U.S. assets, Trump’s administration is now dismantling programs created to assist Afghan allies, where American-friendly Afghan’s seeking asylum are now being deported back to a government that will surely execute them on their return (6)  Your first inclination may be to laugh before shaking your head in outraged bewilderment.

Then there’s the wild-eyed claims made about Independent candidate for New York mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who has been accused of “wanting to enforce Shariah law” by MTG and Laura Loomer who said Mamdani is “literally supported by terrorists. NYC is about to see 9/11 2.0.” (7)

We can’t leave the vice-president out of this joke circus.  J.D. Vance thinks the Democrats shouldn’t be so easily offended by his words (8) but doesn’t think this applies to his angry, vengeful boss, who says Democrats are evil and enemies of the state. (9)

Lastly there was Pete Hegseth’s embarrassing diatribe before the military’s highest ranking officers, many who faced combat conditions over their decades of service, arrogantly presuming they lacked a true “warrior ethos”. (10)  As a combat Marine Corps veteran, I couldn’t help but chuckle at his attempt to disparage other warriors as if they were less than he was.  He showed a lack of esprit de corps who apparently held higher esteem for the draft dodger and man who once said that those who died in service were losers and suckers. (11)

This ludicrous behavior is that of the loser/bully type who when finally bested with facts over their inane assertions resort to words that are only meant to distract from their failure with truth such as "your mother wears army boots."  Childish in nature, it is the only reaction left to people who have yet to mature mentally and who desperately gravitate towards their loser peers.

Stay tuned for more silliness from those who assure us that the convicted felon and rapist was anointed by God, despite the fact that he is the antithesis of Jesus. (12)

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(1) https://www.snopes.com/collections/charlie-kirks-quotes-investigated/?_bhlid=0f3cd06438de94f83f005efe227202ae5cafee24
(2) https://www.thedailybeast.com/california-governor-gavin-newsom-mocks-donald-trump-and-benjamin-netanyahu-with-dumb-and-dumber-reference/ 
(3) https://factually.co/fact-checks/politics/2020-election-fraud-investigation-fe9b53
(4) https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mtg-space-lasers/
(5)https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/migrants-in-u-s-legally-and-with-no-criminal-history-caught-up-in-trump-crackdown
(6) https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2025/10/14/trump-immigratio-afghanistan-asylum-deportation/
(7) https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/opinion/zohran-mamdani-muslim-america-new-york.html
(8) https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/jd-vance-just-said-democrats-220358980.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall
(9) https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-tells-the-navy-to-view-half-the-country-as-the-enemy/ar-AA1NXrU0
 (10) https://www.msnbc.com/the-briefing-with-jen-psaki/watch/trump-hegseth-put-on-embarrassing-show-before-a-distinguished-military-audience-248800325877 
(11)  https://www.snopes.com/news/2023/10/04/donald-trump-call-troops-suckers-losers/ 
(12) https://www.closertotheedge.net/p/the-gospel-according-to-trump-100

The Audacity of Hubris

                                                

 

If Trump supporters really believe in their campaign slogan “Make America Great Again”, then are any of them willing to speak out against republican members of  the Judiciary Committee, who sat through a humiliating session with Trump’s pick for Attorney General, Pam Bondi, who refused to answer questions requiring a simple or yes or no response.(1)

She couldn’t give a simple yes or no when asked if Trump’s Border Czar took money from an undercover FBI agent last year, which was caught on video tape.  She couldn’t answer yes or no to Senator Sheldon’s question if there were pictures of Trump in the Epstein files she claimed to have of him sitting with partially naked girls, and failed to answer the simple query whether Trump ordered her to indict and prosecute two Democratic politicians and a former Republican Assistant AG.

All responses to Democratic members of the committee were often vile, unfounded accusations meant to shame them while holding Trump blameless for contempt for his contempt of the Constitution.
South Carolina candidate, Brandon Brown recently stated the obvious, declaring that “the Justice Department is being transformed into a political weapon.” (2)

We are now being ruled by a fascist autocrat who demands loyalty from every single member of his administration. (3)  He puts these people on display routinely as they engage in hyperbolic praise of the then dear leader. (4)  He speaks in the third person about himself because he believes his ideal of himself is without fault, while knowing full well he is the corrupt president ever that engages in deals using his position as president to enrich himself, family members and cronies wealthier. (5)

How does any of this make America great again?

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(1) https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/pam-bondi-senate-judiciary-hearing/

(2) https://brandonbrownforsc.substack.com/p/how-we-stop-pam-bondi-and-roll-back?publication_id=5600100&post_id=175624775&isFreemail=true&r=8pb8r&triedRedirect=true 

(3) https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-white-house-loyalty-b2625363.html

(4) https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-cabinet-members-lavish-praise-1235416119/

(5) https://dennispcrawford.medium.com/trumps-culture-of-corruption-f6c0634f8053

Liberals are losing their first amendment rights

 

 

As one who holds liberal views, should I worry that I may be arrested for expressing views that conservatives feel are not protected under the 1st amendment to our Constitution?  as we have all recently witnessed , this became a reality after CBS fired Stephen Colbert and ABC just recently fired Jimmy Kimmel, both as a result of underlying threats from Trump and crony at the FCC. (1)

President Trump and his VP recently gave the green light for “right-wing extremists [to declare] open season on liberals and the left.” (2)  This has been an ongoing effort by Trump’s authoritarian edicts since his 2nd inauguration.  This includes many state and local governments, with Texas often in the forefront of violating the 1st amendment rights of millions who vote Democratic.  Liberal-leaning groups like MOVEON.org and the national INDIVISABLE organizations could be targeted for this assault.

It’s been a pattern of conservative commentators to suggest “that liberalism is tied to higher education because learning more about how the world works leads to a better understanding of political policy.”  (3)  That’s probably true but not in all cases, though I confess,  it was for me.  Liberals started finding their voices during the Vietnam era days where university campuses rallied students and staff to advocate for changes in foreign and domestic policies and the excesses of Presidential executive power.

Here in my hometown of Denton, Texas, DISD Education Commissioner Mike Morath “warned last week that educators who “posted and/or shared reprehensible and inappropriate content on social media” regarding the killing of conservative Charlie Kirk, “could face suspension or revocation of their teaching certificates.”   Though nothing has shown that these comments are “inappropriate”, it would likely be no different from the “hateful speech” of conservatives who viscerally call women who seek an abortion for an unwanted pregnancy, “BABY KILLERS”
and accuse  “liberal leftist” of hating God and “his word”, with their support to keep church and state separated and out of our public schools.

This follows on the heels of Gov. Abbot’s support for House Bill 4211 that masks the attempt to limit religious dwellings that are not  Christian.  The goal of this bill Abbot said was “to prevent ‘bad actors’ from using religious freedom to impose “segregation,” as he singled out an Islamic mosque in McKinney. (3)

Those alleged hateful words liberals are saying about Charlie Kirk are not ignoring that his violent death by an assassin, being the extreme version off quashing one’s free speech. But it is, none-the-less, speech that even CK himself said (4) was protected under the Constitution.

Alexis de Tocqueville, a French diplomat, political philosopher and historian, was in awe of Americans playing out their 1st amendment rights as he toured the relatively new nation in 1831, highlighting their “unlimited freedom to associate for political goals that prevents tyranny of the majority.”(5)  But it was the sentiment that was erroneously credited to Voltaire, a French writer and philosopher during the 18th century Enlightenment movement, who said “‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”. (6)  
Hate speech does not kill, maim or destroy property.  It’s the actions taken by people, like 22-year old Tyler Robinson, who read such words that now threaten a liberal’s right to exercise his or her 1st amendment right. (7)   These are the actions of an autocratic state of mind that will eventually destroy our constitutional republic and leave our children and grand children oppressed by the will of a single narcissistic demagogue. 

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(1) https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/09/19/trumps-media-enforcer-is-relishing-his-jimmy-kimmel-moment/ 
(2) https://dentonrc.com/education/higher_education/university_of_north_texas/unt-system-will-keep-faculty-senates-with-tweaks-to-comply-with-new-state-law-limiting/article_fefba570-299c-4ec5-a9f1-4d3f3d8ebb0f.html#tncms-source=login  
(3) https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/04/13/higher-education-leads-to-liberalism/
(4) https://www.fastcompany.com/91403774/charlie-kirk-believed-in-free-speech-his-fans-are-getting-people-fired-for-exercising-theirs
(5) https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/alexis-de-tocqueville/
(6) https://checkyourfact.com/2019/09/17/fact-check-voltaire-disapprove-defend-death-right-freedom-speech/
(7) https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/09/19/charlie-kirk-death-free-speech/

Another page out of the autocrat’s playbook

“The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders...tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.” - Hermann Goring

Adolph Hitler’s success was derived from his control of the public narrative. (1)  Similarly, Trump imitates this by deploying the National Guard in Democratically-controlled cities, based on bogus claims that these cities are experiencing out-of-control crime rates.  He’s lambasted the media as an “enemy of the state” and threatened traditional public and private institutions  who do not line up with his authoritarian inclinations.

Like Hitler’s Brown Shirts, Trump uses the military to intimidate any who oppose his imperial motives.  He ignores the courts and is puppeteer to Republicans in Congress and Red State legislatures.  His cruelty towards immigrants is becoming legend. (2)

Renaming the Defense Department as the War Department, along with an unlawful bombing of a suspected drug boat in international waters, is intended to display a macho image.  He ludicrously illustrates this with an “AI re-imagining of the war movie ‘Apocalypse Now,’ which he rebranded as ‘Chipocalypse Now’.” (3)

Many of his dogmatic supporters see him in a paternalistic fashion who will bring discipline to their fear of a chaotic world. (4)  They could be easily characterized as having “daddy issues” by some. (45  Trump’s own upbringing under a domineering father did little to help him establish any positive self-esteem.

But his own actions may be his undoing.  His relationships with pedophiles Epstein and Maxwell destroys any positive fatherly image, even by some of his strongest MAGA-ites.  The fate of our democratic republic waits to see if Trump’s supporters will remain loyal to the dubious father figure he so desperately needs them to see.

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(1)- https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zgtyvcw/revision/5 

(2) - https://immigrantjustice.org/blog/leading-with-cruelty-eight-impacts-of-trumps-first-day-executive-orders/
(3) - https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/unhinged-and-anti-american-critics-erupt-over-trumps-ai-generated-threat/
(4) - https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-a-new-home/202407/what-donald-trumps-most-loyal-followers-may-have-in-common
(5) - https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2024/11/americas-daddy-issues-trump/680566/

The culture of gun violence in America

 

 

 

My daughter was 38 when she passed away from Covid-related Pneumonia  in 2020 and as tough as that loss was I don’t think I could bare the loss of an 8-year old from a senseless, violent act like that which happened in Minneapolis recently.  That mass shooting was just one of some 90 mass shootings in August and one of nearly 300 this year alone.

Mass shooters are deemed mentally unstable which has some validity to that claim but the lax laws in most states make the purchase of these weapons fairly easy by those who have no record of mental instability. Even if there was, guns could still be purchased illegally but in most cases, more difficult than purchasing them openly from a licensed dealer.  Data shows that the highest rates of gun crimes, including suicides, tend to occur in the states with lax laws.

The old argument that claims car accidents cause more deaths than guns hasn’t been true since 2015.(3)  Efforts to legislate sane gun control measures is always met with opposition from the powerful gun lobbyists and their advocates in Congress and state legislatures.  They put profits over the gun epidemic in the U.S. that has one of the highest rate of gun deaths per capita and where they rate #1 in gun ownership.

We can make our schools and neighborhoods safer without denying sane, reasonable people their 2nd amendment rights.  We just lack the will and leadership to make it happen.

Ignore Climate Change at your own risk

 

 

The recent destructive flooding that happened in Central Texas this past week is one more warning about the ramifications of ignoring climate change.

Climate change skeptics are quick to dispute how flooding, like the recent Kerrville, Texas tragedy, has anything to do with man-made climate change.  What many are dismissively calling “acts of God” are more realistically abuses of God’s creation.  

We pump tons of God’s earth bound carbon and methane into the atmosphere every second of every day (1) through our extraction of those elements to meet our ever expanding energy needs.  Our attempts to mitigate this abuse is  constantly being hampered by those who profit from fossil fuel production.

The National Weather Service, that provides more accurate weather forecasts than they were able to in the past, warned citizens in Central Texas about the potential for such devastating floods, but way too late to prevent the deaths for many who got caught up in this severe storm, including many of the young girls who were camping at the popular Camp Mystic, that sat nearly 200 yards from the Guadalupe River’s edge. (2)   This river saw as much as a 36 feet incise in just 5 hours.

This was a tragedy that could have been avoided had the Kerr County officials not decided a few years earlier to forego “their … ability to warn people, including a delayed flood risk alert from Kerr County and stalled development of a flood monitoring system.” (3)  And how ironic too that Kerr County state Rep. Wes Virdell, voted three weeks earlier to prevent the passage of HB 13 that would "have established a grant program for counties to build new emergency communication infrastructure." (4)

Then there’s the Trump administration’s plan to diminish the effectiveness of the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (5)  Along with their plans “to eliminate [FEMA] ‘as it exists today’ and to dole out less money to states that are hit by disasters”, (6) communities become much more vulnerable to these disastrous events.

Trump’s Big Ugly Bill (BUB), that was recently signed into law, is ending all clean energy efforts so they can regenerate the coal and oil production which has brought us to the threshold of catastrophic weather changes.  Changes that will kill innocent and vulnerable men, women and children who sit along coastal waters or near designated flood plains.

Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) gave solar development a more certain timeline (10 years) of which they could depend on federal tax credits that incentivized solar developers and consumers.  This assurance created demand which in turn created jobs and lower prices for solar engineered products.  Trump’s BUB would completely eliminate developer tax credits by 2028 (7)

The climate science is now showing us that these destructive events will happen far more quickly than they have been.(8)  

The leaders of countries like ours, who ignore the threatening consequences of climate change, are in affect deciding the deadly fate of this unstoppable force, by failing to mitigate the human contribution of green house gases. In so doing, we are coming ever closer through our non-action of even being able to preserve life on this planet as we know it. (9)


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(1) https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/earth-science/climate-science/how-much-carbon-dioxide-are-we-emitting/
(2) https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025/07/06/texas-flood-risks-warnings-alerts-preparation/?location=alert
(3)https://www.axios.com/2025/04/11/trump-eyes-huge-climate-research-cuts-at-noaa
(4) https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5343144-trump-noem-fema-dhs-hurricane-season/
(5) https://www.douglewin.com/p/the-end-of-solar-and-battery-manufacturing?publication_id=1180283&post_id=166762725&isFreemail=true&r=8pb8r&triedRedirect=true
(6)  https://www.csiro.au/en/research/environmental-impacts/climate-change/Climate-change-QA/how-fast-is-climate-changing
(7  https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/what-are-best-and-worst-case-scenarios-sea-level-rise 

(8) https://www.csiro.au/.../Cli.../how-fast-is-climate-changing

(9)  https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/what-are-best-and-worst-case-scenarios-sea-level-rise 

Sustain No Kings Day

"The bedrock of autocracy is laid with the abdication of vigilance" - Sarah Kendzior 

On a day when the nation could have united to salute the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday, it was over-shadowed by a man-child, craving attention, who in the past has exhibited “flagrant animosity and disrespect toward the military,” says author and activist Camillo Mac Bica.  Likely the crowd size to honor the men and women who serve in today’s Army would not only have been larger,  but perhaps more exuberant out of respect for their service.

Like everything else Trump inserts himself into, reality gets obstructed by his hyperbole and the fantasy world he creates for those too willing to bend the knee.

His mere presence at that parade diminished what this nation is capable of expressing towards our soldiers.  He cast a pall over this salutary event, just like he sucks the air out of every room he walks into.  He and only he is all that matters in the self-absorbed mind of a monarchical autocrat.

To a day that should have been focused on the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary, which we will have for years to come, the nation instead  participated in something far more patriotic that we could easily lose in this generation.  June 14th, 2025 will be written down in the history books as the day this country started to take back their constitutional moorings and stood up to the cowards who hide behind their wealth and power grabs.

May “No Kings Day” be sustained by us all in the days and weeks to come.

"The money power preys on the nation in times of peace, and conspires against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic than monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy. It denounces, as public enemies, all who question its methods or throw light upon its crimes."   - Abraham Lincoln