Kidnapping Just For Fun

GIVE TRUMP CREDIT. He called off any further strikes against Venezuela. Or at least he said he did. But you know how things go with Trump,in terms of sheer honesty and reliability of word. Thus, only the kidnapping of Madura, this time around, at least for now. Smoke was rising from several different places in Caracus, according to the network video. And, evidently, fire sas exchanged, and some Venezuelans were killed. Official sccounts given by the Trump administration are of course vague, murcky, and impossible to take at face value. Such is Trump. It was more than a mere kidnapping. It was an attack. From any logical perspective, the raidand kidnapping acomplished nothing; the entire rest of the Maduro regime remains intact ,from the Vice President, who now becomes president, down through the ranks to all the bureaucrats, who presumably remainin place. Everybody just moves up one notch, and Venezuela carries on. This new president lady certainly does not look like someone who would be an easy patsy for the United States to push around and give orders to. She looks tough and smart, like someone who has attended a few rodeos,so to speak, which she probably has, having somehow risen to the top of the Venezuelan political power structure. In terms od attempting to regimechange in various and sundry countries, teh United States, variably,needs to be careful what it wishes for. The prime example is the CIA, under Eisenhower, helping Castro come to power in Cuba in 1959 by running the cruel dictator Baptista out fo the counrty. Its fairto say that this little adventure in regime change nation building didn't work out at all like the American corporate plutocracy planned. Castro turned communist socialist and got in bed with the Russians and the young girls, and all that. The rest, as they say,is hsitory. Decade after decade of Castro as a huge thorn in the American corporate capitalistic side, namely. Overall, however,the signs are ominous. LittleMarco,on network television, made it abundantly clear that these United States under Trump insist on complete cooperation from the post Maduro Maduro government, meaning that Venezuela will be expected to comply with all instructions handed down by the Trump junta, with serious consequences for failing to do so. Perpetually scowling Vice President Vance went further, went back to the Monroe Doctrine, now the "Donroe Docrine" (cute, eh?): this is our hempisphere. You'd have to figure that fishing boats leaving Venezuelan ports and venturing out into the larger Caribbean to do some deep sea fishing will if it hasn't already become something of a lost art. Other that that, we can probably look forward to a few more sucker punches from old bones spurs on other weak, third world countries, the list of possible targets including Colombia, as well as a couple in North Africa. Donroe himself said flat out that he got his rocks off hitting Caracus. Another sources of spiritual orgasm for the Predator-in-Chief seems to be brutality visited upon average, upstanding, upstanding American citizens by the I.C.E. agency, which has morphed into Trump's personal Gestapo under the command of his version of Himmler, the sexy, seductive Kristi Noem. If this regime can spin a video recorded stright up murder of an innocent wife and mother by the govenment into an heroic elimination of an attacking terrorist, then it can and will spin anything into anything. That's how Trump's insurrrection, the anniversary of which we just "celebrated", became, in the Trump fun house,a harmless pep rally gone a bit overboard.

Denying Climate Change

ITS EARLY JANUARY, and spring is just around the corner, amazingly. The big trees in my yard have buds, as if the leaves are ready to pop out. Pop out they will, well before March first. Fifty years ago in my locale the trees were still barren on March twenty. Irises could spring up out of the ground at any time. Last year at about this time it did exactly that, and promptly got burned on a freezing night. The climate has changed drastically in the past fifty years, and everyone my age (seventy) or older agrees. It is becoming difficult, neary impossible to deny climate change, so conservatives are now much more prone to acknowledge it. They still have the option of refusing to attribute it to human industry, which they invariably utilize, in their desperate need to deny any need to make fundamental changes to society politically, and economically. I plan to take a short but scenic road trip when the first blush of iight green yellowish color spreads across the tree covered hills of the Ozark Mountain biosphere. My best guess as to when this will take place is early to mid March. Nowadays you just never know. Last year spring sprang late,in late March, just like back in teh old days. Who knows? Maybe climate change is reversing itself, and the climate is going back to the wa it used to be, as President Trump, in all his wisdom, promised us it would do. He didn't specify when. Its a hoax, says the prevaricating president, but if it exists,its only because nature wanted it that way, we had nothing to do with it, and, in any event, it'll soo get back to normal. the sea level will stop rising suddenly, for no apparent reason,the atmosphere will cleanse itself of a trillion tons of carbon, and the immense amount of heat energy that has been trapped in the atmosphere in recent years shall magically, mysteriously radiate harmlessly away into outer space, of its own volition. As is so often the case, H.L. Mencken's famous quote applies here: "The fools would be humorous were they not in such deadly earnest." As always, the great tragedy is not only that a presumed reasonably intelligent group of people, the American people, would actually choose as their head of state a perosn who would actually utter such nonsense, but that those same people seem perfectly willing and content to believe it. Of all the pernicious, harmful policy positions embraced by Trump and MAGA, none is as pernicious and harmful to humanity as climate denial. Not the racism, not the aggressive, angry foreign policy, not the cruelty towards the poor, the verbal abuse of those to dare depart from the fuhrer and his fscism. Of all the numerous vile, disgusting aspects of Trumpism, climate change denial is by far the mostevil, the most harmful. Climate change, according to the D.O.D., is the greatest threat to American national security. Neither China, nor Russia, nor gay people, nor liberalism. Global warming, climate change, which, for the benefit of conservatives, are the same thing. The conservative approach to climate change, pretending that either it does nto exist or that if it doe sit is unimportant, is insane, suicide. There are a million reasons to get rid of Trump and to defeat his MAGA mob, and that is going to happen. The entire agenda is poison. But the argument which the Democrats must make above all, and must make it early, often, and incessantly, is that cliamte change is real, and that Trump, the Republican party, and conservative America generally, by refusing to take strong action against it, are contributing to the destruction of the United States and the extinction of the human species.

Denying Science, For Oil

I LIKE QUOTES. Especially the particularly witty or profound kind often issued by peple such as Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln, Einstein, and so forth. Thomas Jefferson is a great source, and I often encounter wonderful quotes by Jefferson whih are new to me. Yesterday on Facebook I saw one, which, roughly paraphrased, is this: "Priests dread the advance of science like witches dread the approach of daylight." Like all great quotes, its great because it articulates a great, sweeping truth; it applies to just about everybody, clearly points out a msjor characteristic of all religion: religions resist new knowledge which contradicts their basic beliefs. Like many of Jefferson's best quotes, this one was evidently written in a personal letter. Jefferson assumed that the letters he wrote would be lost to history, but were not, much to our benefit. Jefferson loved science, but not religion, which in one letter he referred to as "superstition". The Jefferson quote also applies to us today, as is obvious in the various of the so called "culture wars" raging in the good ole U.S. of A. The Trump administration, even as we speak, has waged and continues to wage a vindictive war against science and education in 'murca, beyond doubt merely because Trump, and conservatives in general, do not like what science and education have to say about the world and reality, as well as Trump and MAGA. The reductions in federal assistance to science and education are drastic, and disastrous. Experts are warning that if these Trump policies are allowed to stand for very long, the United States could lose its current position as a world leader in scientific and technological innovation and development. Thomas Jefferson spent the final years of his life supervising the establishment of the University of Virginia. He said it was the best thing he ever did, better than serving as president or writing the Declaration of Independence. During his first term, Trump, by totally mismanaging the Covid epidemic, was arguably responsible for hundreds of thousands of American deaths. His general denial of and refusal to take action against the deadly virus was perfectly acceptable to his cult followers, who now constitute about thirty percent of the American population, still, amazingly, and who seem as antithetical to scientific reality as their cult icon. To deny climate change, for example, is as delusional as trying to explain nature with primitive religious beliefs rather than modern science. Climate change denial is a manifestation of anti-science bias. The same Americans who wish to insinuate their personal religion into the United States government are perfectly willing to pretend that global warming is a hoax in service to their conservative views, which include allegiance and addiction to a fossil fuel capitalistic economy. One of the inconvenient facts about solar energy is that nobody will be able to use it as leverage in international political, economic, or military warfare. Sunlight is so abundant in nature that it has no value at all. Everybdoy can havea much fo it as anyone could possibly want, for free. That fact must surely frustrate our fossil fuel corporate capitalistic elite billionaire class, who will continue to resist the inevitable clean energy future to achieve their sacred cause; sucking as much personal profit out of the dying planet as possible, no matter how many people die in so doing. We wee preciely who the enemy of humanity is, merely by watching Trump and his governing mafia mob rip apart and suck poor hapless Venezuela bone dry. Our only hope is that science vanquishes the witches.

Kidnapping Trump

THE NUMBER of indisputable reasons why Trump's kidnapping of Madura, his attack of Venezuela, is and shall forver be regarded by historians as idiotic is greater than the number of elementary particles of matter in the known universe, and the accounting has but barely begun. They are at once philosophical, moral, and pragmatic. For one, regime change, as a rule, doesn't work. Almost invariably the negative, undesirable results and consequences thereof outweigh the benefits by a considerable margin. You don't just invade another country, kidnap its head of state and hold him or her captive, without expeiencing some bad karma, unintended consequences, and repurcussions, We know that Trump has, without doubt, brought about deteriorating relationships with most if not all of the some two hundred nations on Earth, that he has helped end wars and bring about peace nowhere, despite his flagrant lies to the contrary, and we know that everything Trump does regarding Venezuela will do only in his perceived personal best interests. Such, as they way, is the nature of the beast. American fuel companies are already, it is reported,being invited by the Trump administration to come swooping in, assume control fo Venezuela's oil producing infrastructure, which we are told is in very bad repair, refurbish it at a cost of billions, and proceed to enhance their already record shattering profits. As always, the American corporate oligarchy triumphs over all. Unless, of coures, Trump signs, say, an executive order mandating that all proceeds from the regifted oil fields of Venezuela, which produce seventeen percent of the world's oil, be distributed among the world's poorest people and countries. Fat chance of that. Give credit where due. Rather neat, extracting the head of state, leaving all else intact, including the Venezuelan government, and just have everyone move up a notch, the lady Vice President now assuming the presiency. The likelihood that she will merely continue to pursue Maduro's policies notwithstanding, Trump's United States shall doubtless remain stationed nearby or in country in large enough numbers to ensure compliance with the almighty Yankee Norde Americanos As always, we the American people si tidly by, twiddling our thumbs, gaing at our collective navels, passively accepting our beloved United States of Aggression in its role as "owner of the western hemisphere" as Trump says it, applauding our coporate masters and their bursting billfolds. This thing ob kidnapping another country's head of state, incarcerating him or her, trying, convicting, and sentencing, then licking up for life has merit, and a substantial part of the American public, as much as sixty percent thereof, are asking: "Why can't somebody come over here and do that for us?" Why do we always miss out on all the fun? You can imagine it now.In a meticulously orchestrated conspiracy, larger even than that which managed to steal the twenty twenty election right out from under Trump's nose, helicopters swoop into the nation's capitol under the radar, land on the newly paved rose garden, a nice place to land a chopper,and in a lightening quick operation, escort Trump from the White House. or maybe better to pull off this daring hypothetical raid at Mara Lago, where Trump is much more likely to be distracted by young ladies, or whatever,and unguarded. A "Go Fund Me' account to pay any willing foreign power to render the American majority this invaluable service could never grow too big, like a lottery. Sound crazy? If nothing else, its certainly worth fantasizing about.

Controlling the Climate

IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS, in the lower midwestern mid south part of the United States, we are currently knee deep in a very serious drought. It rained not at all during December, and we had a few sprinkles, and nothing more, a couple of days ago. Meanwhile a drenching avalanche of an atmospheric river is dumping unwanted billions of tons of fresh water all over California, too much of a good thing. If only we could move some molecules around a bit, and redistribute all this hydro wealth, using human technology. That will likely be possible within a hundred years, famed scientist Michio Kaku said about a quarter century ago. The thought of the human species having complete control over the Earth's atmosphere, hence weather and climate,is at once awe inspiring and frightening. The "image" of waring countries using fabricated violent weather to destroy each other comes to mind. Over the past couple of decades our tendency here in lower mid America has been to have at least one, and sometimes too prolonged droughs each summer, but spring, fall,and winter have usually been adequately and reliably wet. A super dry December is new territory,as far as I can recall.In my neck of the woods, it is utterlly amazing hwo much the climate has changed over the course of my seventy year and counting lifetime. Around here, October used to be a cold weather month. Now, October is late summer, with temperatures in the mid eighties most days. It used to snow where I live, at least two or three times each winter, in amounts ranging from a fraction of an inch to two feet, snow which would usually melt rapidly and be gone within a few days, a feature particularly appealing to me. Now, it never snows, or hardly ever, and it seems to most of us that if probably never will again, or if so, only infrequently. I have started telling people that I predict that within my lifetime we will experience a summer in which the temperature rises to one hundred degrees on Memorial Day, and remains there until Labor Day. I am standing by that prediction while praying that it is wrong. We already have, as a matter of course, weeks on end of temperatures well into the nineties, so, we don't really have far to go. Those almost daily pop up showers in mid summer which used to briefly interupt our neighborhood whiffleball games are seemingly a thing of the past; now, when it rains, it pours, for days, and often, it doesn't rain for weeks, like now. The rain would stop, we'd have a few minutes of twig races in the flowing street gutters until the sun dried out the back yard ball field, then, back to baseball. Hopeful signs are that the world is becoming constantly more aware of and concerned about doing something about global warming, all except our beloved but recalcitrant United States of Amnesia. The world is converting to solar and wind energy at a break neck pace, thank heavens. Solar energy panels are flowing out of China and unto every human inhabited nook and cranny on Earth, while Trump's America ignores and tries to destroy this best hope for future economic prosperity. Take heart. Trump and his ridiculous cult movement will be gone not soon enough, but soon, and the U.S. can become, or will at least have a chance to become, a responsible partner in restoring the health of the planetary ecosystem. Its too late to prevent climate change made by humanity, but not too late to prevent its most disastrous consequences. As for now, we could, as usual, use a litttle rain.

Tending Our Gardens

THE ATTACK of Venezuela is perfectly in keeping with United States foreign policy towards Latin America since the earliest days of the American plutocratic republic. The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 made it "perfectly clear", as Nixon might say, that the United States would henceforth and forevermore regard all areas south of its southern border as de facto subject to American control, as a purely American sphere of influence. No other nations, especially European nations, would be allowed to exert any sort of influence or control of any kind in the western hemisphere. This ambitious, imperialistic declaration of continental suzzerainty by a rather fledgling United States has from its inception been largely ignored and disrespected by not only European powers, but in particualr by China, whose influence we see today. The Chinese are engaged in the construction of infrastructure and trading relations in Latin America, none of it with the approval of the powerless United States, powerless, that is, to enforce the breast thumping early 19th century declaration of imperialist intent. Since 1823 the United States has invaded Latin American countries regularly, dozens of times, early and often. A simple list of American invasions can easily be googled; the list is long and impressive, and includes something like twenty two separate occupations of Haiti.A seminal if slightly outdated monograph by historiam=n William Appleman Williams, titled "The Traddgy of American Diplomacy" details this history from the early nineteenth century to the nineteen sixties. Consider teh arrogance,let alone the aggressive underlying attitude, of a nation willing to prolcaim that the door to China is "open" in the "Open Door Policy" of 1900, without consulting China, and no less willing to consider itself the rightful overlord of the entire western hemishpere from the early 19th century until....today. Ther is absolutely no moral imperative or justification behind this attitude, only raw economic and military power, and the willingness and even latent desire to exploit it for the enhancement of the pwrsonal wealth and power of the plutocrats who govern the Unoted States, and always have. Ironic, in a way, that this latest American violation of international law and moral decency took place thirty six years to the day after a simliar exploit in Panama, with another of those third world petty dictators our neighbors to the south seem so adept at producing.Latin Ameria is a good lesson for lovesr of demoracy everywhere: you can expand voting rights as far and wide as you choose, but there is never any guarantee that we the people will not willingly elect a "atrong leader" who will, upon gaining power, soon morph into the sort of brutal, cruel dictator we now see so many of, staining the fabric of human civilization with their culturally suffocating suppression. In Latin America voters elect strong leaders who become dictators. In the United States we have elected a demagogue who is attempting to become a dictator, by governing by decree rather than by legislative and executive due process. Ultimately it is the people of any nation who must keep and defend their freedom and democracy, not some foreign power. We Americans can talk about the necessity of defending and supporting democracy all over the world all we want, even while supporting the petty tyrants of our choice but while doing so. It might not hurt us to think carefully about the current, evident threat to our own democratic system here at home, currently holding power. As Voltaire said: "We must tend our gardens."

Keeping the Faith

I HAVEN'T BEEN Up and attem at midnight on New Year's Eve since, probably, I was about thirty five, if not longer. I recall 1985, I think, when I actually had a date, which fizzled like Roman candles in rain. Seldom am I asleep at the ball drops, but always horizontal. This year I cruised into the new year ready to kick butt, as usual, enthusiastic and optimistic, even though the world I inhabit bears nothing in common with one the one I thought, when i was a kid, I might live in when I reached the age of seventy, in the far distant future year of twenty twenty five. One year ago at this time I was dreading the forthcoming second Trump administration and swearing to almighty whomever that I would dedicate my energies to opposing it. I kept my promise in my own meager way, and now, with Trump's approval rating well below forty percent and most of his agenda stalled out, I feel a certain sense of vindicaation, and empowerment. Although there is no feasible way to remove Trump from the presidency until 2029 without seriously doing damage to all of us, we who oppose him can, are, and will continue to get in the way of the MAGA fascist agenda and, lord willing and the creek don't rise, bring it to a complete standstill. To reduce the Trump presidency to the status of lame duck is the best we can realistically expect at this point. We do not want to allow the whimsical invasion and occupation of our cities by our own armed forces, nor do we want to seriously disrupt the economy by deporting millions of agricultural and blue collar workers. It is hard to imagine forcing millions of people off of Medicaid by cutting its funding will endear the Republican platform to voters at the bottom fo the economic pyramid going into the 2026 midterms. This, notwithstanding the obvious, demonstrated historical willingness of poor Americans to support billionaire politicians such as Trump who have not the slightest conern for their well being. Precisely why anyone would possibly believe that a billionaire olitician would give the slightest consideration to the plight of the poor and impoverished is nearly beyond the comprehension of any reasonably intelligent person. When he wrote most of the constitution, Madison assuemd that the wealthy elite, to whom he gave all real political power, would naturally manifest their inherent "noblesse oblige" and look after those at the bottom of society. Within five years after the document took effect, he realized that there was no way this was going to happen, and he regretted what he had written, regretted that he had not listened to his mentor Jefferson, who had advocated for more restraints to the power of the aristocracy, and more guarantees of protected power for the common people, whom Madison called "the lesser sort." Madison's system won out, Jefferson's vanished, and here we are today. It is neither unfair nor innacurate to call Trump a fascist, and the Trump movement a fascist movement. His obvious intent to govern by presidential decree, and the submissive willingness of the Republican caucus to accede to this usurpation of its own constitutional powers in deference to their cult leader clearly evinces the fascist approach. A strong man, leading the country with an iron hand, with the support of a tightly knit well organized political machine. Fascism, pure and simple, invited into America by America's extremist right wing fascist movement. 2026 will be a very good year to continue to ANTIFA campaign to defeat Trump-MAGA fascism, and to return the country to sanity and basic decency.

Building Battleships, Or Not

WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER, decades ago, I was interested in science and history, and atill am. A friend and I built model battle ships, made of cardboard,plywood,and plastic, duct tape and staples, and floated them on local lakes and streams. We then proceed to attack them with withering firepower,BBguns and rocks, in the heat of some naval engagement from World War One, Two, take your pick. In those days i [robably knew more about military history and weaponry in the dirt beneath my fingernails than I do in my entire aged brain today, my having forgotten more history than I ever thought I knew. Most old people know how that goes. Not that I'm anexpert on naval warfare past, present, or future, or that I know very much about battleships. But one thing I know, or think I know, is that battleships are obsolete,and have been since the inventionand deployment of aircraft carriers, Since nowadays we have the capacity to sink naval ships from nearly ay distance, from anywhere in the world,by land, by sea, or from beneath the sea, battleships, like aircrafitcarriers, are floating,sitting targets for drone attacks. Weprotect our aircraft carriers by surrounding them with their own personal naval flotilla, a sort of aircraft carrier bodyguard,amd, by keeping planes in the sky to surveil the surrounding seas, and by using surveillence drones, radar, and so forth. It isn't worthwhile, militarily, strategically, to go to all this toruble to protect big, bulky battleships, with limited range and firepower; you might as well build more aircraft carriers instead. Battleships were obsolete before World War Two, and the Germans found out in, what, nineteen forty, with the sinking of the legendary allegedly unsinkable battleship, the Bismark.My prediction is that Donald Trump's two titanic proposed battleships, the Trump One and the Trump Two, the first such vessels built by the United States since World War Two - will never be built. Cooler heads will prevail, slowly, gradually, America's top military commanders will come out of hiding and admit that the idea of actually building battleships in twenty thiery is insane, and enough politicians will be convinced of this inconvenient but glaringly blatantly obvious reality to scotch the idiotic Trump idea. This is a classic example of the emporer having no clothes, and everyone associated him is subservient to him, and nobody dares tell the high and mighty king that he is stark naked. If I can figure out that battleships are a total anachronism, utterly obsolete today and forevermore, then so can and so has every naval officer in the navy, and, for that matter, every member of every branch of the United States military. IN modern America,on tis paritcualr issue, we have literally millions of people perfectly capable of telling president Trump that he needs to start wearing clothing. Surely, of the hundreds of high ranking military officiers, and hundreds of members of Congress, somebody, anybody, can and will do precisely that. The idea of re-battleshipping the American navy will die perhaps a slow an dpaiful death, but die it will, for dead certain. If nothing else, teh next president will be sane enough to cancel this latest Trump insanity, just as our court system already has canceled so much of it. What we'll build is nuclear submarines, drones, computers, and lasers, but not battleships or muzzle loading rifles or cannonballs. Our coal and oil loving conservatives have some catching up to do on a number of different fronts.

Trump, Departing

THIS TIME OF YEAR folks're making their predictions for twenty twenty six, along with New Year's resolutions and wish lists, and proclamations of good intent regarding eliminating or reversing long held hard to break personal habits. Inevitably, as is well known,most of this comes crumbling down within a couple of weeks or a few days after teh first day of the year. Thos daly sunrise visits to the fitness center become less and less frequent and by mid February, another ten dollar a month membership goes unused, just as the fitness center owners intend and understand. The large majority of Americans who comprise the anti-Trump movement often express their prediction or desire that President Trump either die, resign,or be impeached and removed, understandably. Impeachmwnt seems the msot likely, with a new and probably Democrat controlled House of Representatives likely to take office a year from now. The Senate, unless the Democrats take control of it, will almost certainly laugh the impeachment charges out of court, as the Trump sycophants did twice before. If Trump haters would take the time to think past their immediate emotions, and to look at the "big picture" they would surely realize, at length, that this scenarion, any scenario by which trump does not complete his presidential term is undesierable, for them. In the first place, although anti-Trumpers for thesot part have doubtless failed to realize this, the first thing that would happen in the event of Trump's death or fored resignation or removal would be that he instantly becomes a martyr among his MAGA cult. There would issue forth from the MAGA mob an avalanche of wailing, gnashing of teeth, and venomous hatred of all liberals and non Trump supporters everywhere. Since Trump supporters tend to be conspiracy theorists, all manner of wisted, deranged accusations would doubtless be hurled against those left wing Democrats which Trump has alternately called "vermin" and scum." Hillary Clinton, as well as Obama dn Biden, would have to hire extra security, which I am told they already do, due to the level of vitriolic hatred the Prevaricator-in-Chief constatnly gins up within his angry minions. There might even be an actual civil war, Trump's MAGA mob, bolstered by white supremacist groups armed to the teeth, roaming the city streets of freedom's land like goons or National Guard, looking to eradicate the libs. Do those of us who despide and revile Trump really want him out of office before 2029? We think we do. But when we think more carefully about the Republican party, wearing and carrying the banner of the martyred Trump like armor, uniting behind the Trump-like J.D. Vance and entering the 2028 election cycle with the fervor of a sacred cause, we think twice. They would be looking to use Trump's memory to keep Vance and the Trump agenda in office fora full eight years, eight more years of Trumpism, an intolerable thought. It is in teh best interests of the great moral majority of Americans who want Trump gone to endure him the rest of his term, while wroking to render him impotent politically, through lack of public support, which continues to erode. ForTrump to leave office prematurely would only strengthen the Trump movement. As it now stands, Trump'sinsane policies are gradually, all to slowly but steadily, eroding his support, as MAGA folk, one by one, give it up. Trump's evident strategy is to regain his popularity by involving the United States in a noble crusade of a foreign war. That si a desperate strategy, directly opposed to Trump's stated agenda of peace. For Trump to champion himself as the architect of peace in conflists all over the world, while involving his own country in such wars,will be a fascinating balancing act for the don of dception. But if anybody call pull it off, he can.

Insulting Trump With Facts

"NOBODY IS FORTUNATE ENOUGH" said Goethe, "so escape either blame or praise." Boy, howdy. We all try to convince oursleves that we don't give a fig what other people think, and we shouldn't, should we? As for me, I'll take the praise, and pass on the blame. And, like most folks, I've been called a lot of things in my time, and maybe still will be after my time. Frankly, I'd rather be forgotten. But I've never to my knowledge been called "scum" by anybody, unless it was behind my back, which is where most name calling takes place for most of us. Until now, that is. now,I have officially been called "scum" by none other than his reprobateness,the acting presdident of the United States. It was a blanket condemnation. The slanderer-in-chief was talking about everybody who doesn't vote for him, a demographic which has long been accustomed to ignoring Trump's verbal slings and arrows, and returning them in kind. As a friend of mine said when I informed him that he has now been designated "vermin" by our nation's highest office holder, he casually responded "the feeling is mutual". Never in my wildest imaginings would I have thought that the president of the United States would call me "vermin". But of course, never would a I have thought that a person of absolutely no redeeming personal qualities, a complete reprobate and criminal of low morality and intellect, would get elected to the presidency. Of course this is far from the first time Trump has lashed out at his opponents. He has done it constantly since entering politics a decade ago. Gratuitously slandering everyone who disagress with him or does not support him is his primary form of behavior. He seems to thrive on it. I cannot recall ever experiencing a more contemptible human being than Trump. I keep telling myself not to lower myslef to his level, not to hurl curse words and insults, but rather, to fight the fascist bastard with facts, and facts alone. Sometimes it almost seems like Trump opponents forget or don't realize how easy it is to criticize and condemn Trump on facts alone, since his public resume includes numerous felony convictions and a steady stream unethical behavior. If you're aim is to prove that Trump is crazy, poorly educated, or just plain stupid, its easy to pull up his more entertaining quotes, such as the beauty when he warned us that windmills can cause cancer. There area seemingly infinite number from which to choose. I'm glad that Trump told the world that he hates his political opponents, and I am evern more glad that he slanders me and my trump hating fellow citizens with childish epithets. It helps justify my hatred, hatred which I hate having but cannot avoid having, and it motivates me to keep up the assault on all things MAGA. Somehow, presumably by twisting their core values into a pretzel and bending over backwards, Trump's supporters manage to hang on to their cult worship. that is, until they begin to realize that their cult hero'spolicies are hurting their personal bottom line, which to them is the only thing that matters. What I find utterly amazing is how easy it is to despise Donald Trump, as I have never despised anyone before, or, I pray, never will again. Factually, I clearly identify Trump as a liar and a convicted criminal, and his supporters as accessories to, enablers of his reprehensible behavior. But I'll let other Trump haters talk about his hair, his girth, or his wife. The best way to show Trump's stupidty is to merely quote him. The best way to emphasize his immorality and criminality is to leave the gratuitous insults and slanders to our low life president, and to merely state the facts.

Climate Changing Christmases

I HAVE ALWAYS loved Christmas. The decorations, music, parties, good cheer. Awakening early on Christmas Day in early childhood and discovering a pile of beautifully wrapped presents with my name on tham beneath a real, apline smelling Christmas tree all lighted up helps set the tone for an entire lifetime of Christmas love. Now, I no longer have occasion to exchange gifts with anyone. My family members and I agreed to suspend the practice years ago, and everybody is still happy with the decision. When you approach retirement age and realize that you have a house full of at least five times the amount of material things that you really need tends to frighten some seniors into toning things down a bit. I amone of those. I light up my house with colored lights, and it looks good. No tree for me and my cats. Yesterday, Christmas Day, I never left the house, and I enjoyed teh day as much as ever, as much as when I was en years old. I am glad that this indoctrinated love of Christmas has remained with in me, and hope and trust that it will so remain for a few more years. I can remmber onw and only one white Chrstmas during my lifetime, an inch or two of snow falling on Shristmas morning when I was in my early teens in the late sixties, around 1967 or 1968. In those days it snowed several times every winter in my lower midwestern American locale, usually three or four inches which melted within a couple of days, sometimes a rare one ot two foot snow atorm. Now, it rarely snows here, and hasn't for years. Schood age children undoubtedly cannot remember the climate the way it used to be. On Christmas Day our temperature got close to eighty degrees, and never fell below sixty at night. Shirt sleeve weather, suitable for April or May, not late December. Whether I prefer the old or the new cliamte depends on what day you ask me. Spring-like Christmases have a certain appeal for me, but on the other hand, cold weather has never really impeded my outdoor activities; its the sharp winds and ice which really get in the way. The week of December 21-28 most of the United States is enveoped in a big heat wave, except for the ice and snow storm making its way through the north and on back east. The week of unseasonably warm weather, because of its timing and duration, seems weird, somehow unnatural. And, verily, unnatural it is, if you make the philosophical assumption that modern human civilization, with its technology and industry is not necessarily what nature had and has in mind. The president of the United States is actively trying to reduce and slow down the developed of sustainable energy sources, such as wind and solar energy, which the confused old man sees a harmful to the United States, and is trying to reignite the fossil fule industry, almost as if said president is a secret member of some suicidal death cult bent on the extinction of the human species and all life on Earth. The environmental policy of the Trump administration and the entire Republican party, and presumably conservative America generally, consists, for all appearances, in a dogged determination to end all life on Earth. Only twisted minds embracing destructive political policies could actually strive towards this goal,of resisting any and all measures to save ourselves. When one takes a close look at today's conservative environmental ideology, as articulated by the Republican party, human suicide is clearly its predictable result, if not its stated intent. To defeat this culture of denial of reality will require the sustained effort of millions of people wise enough to consider eighty degree Christmases highly alarming, if rather pleasant.

Stopping Trump, Legally

JUST THE OTHER DAY a friend of mine suggested that some people who hate Trump will never ever give him credit for doing anything right, no matter what he does.I allowed as that was the case,and added that I am among those, although it isn't really true. Recently, for example, Trump reclassified marijuana, changing it from a schedule 1 drug,with an addiction and damage severity classification equal to cocaine and heroine,to a schedule 3 drug, a looser, more lenient, more harmlessly recreational status. Marijuana smokers are essentially self medicating, practicing medicine without a license, not comitting some horrible crime worthy of arrest and incarceration. Drug abuse is a medical problem, and should not become a legal one. In fact I applaud not only Trump's rare good deed, and even his harmless ones, both of which are few and far between, as we say. Great though the harm done by Trump is, our federal judicial system, throughout his entire second administration,has been doing its job, stepping in where needed, and saving the nation from Trump's fascist tyranny.It happened, as a matter of fact, twice, yesterday. The Supreme Court, in a six to three vote, ruled that Trump cannot insert the national guard into the city of Chicago without the invitation and consent of its governor; for now. The "for now" part sounds omninous, allowing the court to circumvent its own ruling at a later time. One wonders whether this ruling applies to every city in the United States; the mere fact that it was issued by the SCOTUS, the highest court in the land and whose jurisdiction includes the entire country, would ensure that indeed it does. The very thought of Donald Trump, much less any other president, ordering the national guard or other military units into any American city at will, and occuptying them, is unthinkable. We all know damned good and well that this is precisely what Trump would love to do, but only to heavily Democratic cities. The high court ruled that Trump never demonstrated any need or reason for doing this, and that no president can do so without good cause, and never simply because he or she chooses to do so for political reasons. In its other enlightened rendering, SCOTUS ruled that all federal disaster relief funding must be restored to those states where Trump had recently cut it. As one might guess, Trump had cut disaster funding for states governed by or populated by a majority of Democrats. No, there is no end to this person's cruety and pettiness. Anyone who fails to join MAGA and seig heil Trump, left to die of hunger homelessness after a hurricane or earthquake, apparently the policy of choice of Trump and his supporters. No disaster help for Democrats. Amazingly cruel and petty. Trump supporters might object to this characterization, but cannot dany it with facts. Can you imagine Trump invading our cities with our own citizens every tiem the notion strikes him? Perish the thought. He had the sheer audacity and criminality to whimsically re-appropriate federal funds duly authorized and designated by Congress, based entirely on personal loyalty, or lack thereof, to him. A flagrant disregard for the law, in evident pursuit of dictatorial powers. Arguably, the federal coursts are not only saving our democracy, they are doing so directly on behalf of the people. Tyrants, especially when they become desperate, inevitably end up ignoring the court system, often attacking it, as Trump does, and destroying it, as Trump will probably try to do. Ultimately preserving our democracy and defending it against fascism is our responsibility, and to do this the courts are only one of the tools at our disposal. For our own sake we had better use them well, and use them all.

Trump, Going Overboard

THE LETTERS ON THE MESSAGE SIGN said,at the convenience store, clearly: "Free gas on days Trump says nothing stupid". That seems like a generous offer, and maybe a bit risky, untio you consider the following: On any given day, as well Americans know all too well, Trump is extremely highly likely to say soemthing stupid.He rarely misses an opportunity. The odds of him missing even a single day of dumb-speak are, by all reasonable reckoning, vanishingly small. Even on days when he is relatively quiet, which are of course few and far between, he somehow always seems to utter at least one inanity,making a "Trupm stupid statement of the day" tear off calendar a very real possibility. Surely they already exist, and are available. I want one. It there are nonoe, or are not being heavily marketed, somebody is missing a helluva a business opportunity. Then too, everything Trump says can be interpreted, with a little bit of imagination,as "stupid". Stupid is as stupid does, we know. It seems safe to assume that the day will never come when a day of free gas will actually take place. But with Trump,its not just all talk. On a daily basis, America's Prevaricator in Chief manages to not only say but to actually do at least one stupid thing, and quite often, more than that, sometimes, many more. Yesterday, for example. In a single eigt hour work day, Trump managed to steer the navy and the United States military policy in the wrong direction, and to initiate a process which has no bneficial potential, but can only harm American relationshps with several of its closest allies. Other than that, its all good, as we say. Trump announced that construction will begin on two huge new old fashioned "battleships", completion in theory scheduled for the early thenty thirties. A pair of World War Two style ships, on steroids. The question is: why? Why, when the modern aircraft carrier supplanted the traditional battle ship as the most potent mainstay in the United States navy, rendering batleships functionally obsolete. Cariers can do everything battleships can do, and much much more. Why not simply build more of them? Another trillion or two tacked on to the burgeoning out of control national debt, for obsolete weapons. The nation's military leaders doubtless know full well how stupid this idea is, but cannot say so. Stupid thing number town has to do with Trump's long standing and evidently quite serious desire and goal of adding, believe it or not, Greenland to these United States. A quick look at a map or globe and it almost seems to make sense. A land rich resource rich land mass of an island jsut off America's norther coast, kind of, awaiting, in theory, only people and financial investment to become a fully developed engine of yet more American prosperity, The one percent, our illustrious infamous corporate elite ownership class, would doubtless go for this scheme whole hog, as it were. Can you imagine the real eestate feeding frenzy the Trump family is demonstably capable of and doubtless chomping at the bit to initiate? Two brand spanking new warhips, The USS Donald Trump and the USS Donald Trump II at port in America's fifty first state, The State of Trump, guarding against possible perfidy by either Denmark or the tiny Greenlandian population, which, by the way, wants independence from Denmark, but overwhelmingly wants nothing to do with the United States, if you can imagine such a thing. What's not to like about daily mass murders in metropolitan war zones, rampant poverty and violence, and a culture at war with and within itself?

Trump, Running Out the Clock

I MUST CONFESS that my interest in the "Epstein Affair" has never been especially pronounced. National Enquirer stuff, normal for Trump. Whether I ever know the actual truth about all this sordid stuff, I will forever regard Trump as a reprobate and sexual miscreant, if for no other reason than his reputation, an abundance of anecdotal material, and his own ill considered utterances, such as the one in which he expressed an attraction to his daughter. I despised the man long before he entered politics as a candidate, for his obvious lack of moral decency and intellect. Towards the Epstein "scandal" I have a somewhat "ho hum so what" attitude, and have no doubt whatsoever that Trump is a pedophile, and that he has engaged in a veritable plethora of illegal and immoral sexual conduct. It may be that paying prostitutes is the most honest, honorable thing he has ever done. Trump has never been documented to have done anything kind or generous for anybody. Everything he does is based, quite obviously, on his own personal interest. I also have no doubt that the Epstein files are full of highly incriminating information on Trump, having to do with inappropriate sexual contact with underage girls. No doubt at all. Its just that there are only so many times that you can convict someone of a crime and send him or her to prison. You can indict, try, and convict incessantly,but if the criminal can delay infefinitely or avoid jail althogether through the machinations of law and politics, what good does it do? The relevant question is: what sentence would any ordinary, competant, honest judge and jury normally hand down to a defendant found guilty of thirty four felonies? Also relevant is the question of what will become of Trump in the criminal justice system after he leaves the presidency, assuming that he lives through it or doesn't crown himself president for life? Will the wheels of justice, having been placed on hold for four years, finally begin turning again, leading to more indictments, trials, and convictions? And if so, will the then eighty two year old Trump see the inside of a prison cell? The answer to that seems to be "no". Somewhat fondly, in a strange sort of way, I recall the Nixon Watergate scandal, which at the time seemed so serious and shockingly criminal, but now, by today's standards seems far less severe. The entire country, Republicans included, rose up in outrage against "Trickie Dick", making his resignation necessary. Otherwise he would likely been tried, convicted, and incarcerated if not pardoned. Arguably, unpopular as it was at the time, the pardon Nixon got from President Ford was, in retrospect, perhaps the best way of getting the country through this constitutional crisis relatively unscathed. If Trump's successor is a republican, you can bank on him or her granting Trump a full pardon. If a Democrat, the wheels of justice will probably resume, with the Trump legal team probably able to delay the process sufficiently to allow Trump to live out the rest of his life without further felony convictions or any jail time. I don't care one way or the other. To my way of thinking, the damage has already been done, the presidency has been sullied, the nation stained by Trump, and our only true recousre is to now gently allow the infamous Trump phenomenon to slide away ignominiously into the proverbial dust bin of history. Hell,having sex with underage girls is but one of many disgusting parts of Trump's sahdy, sordid life. The most disgusting of all is what he has done to everyone else.

Trump, Renaming Everything Trump

IT SHOULDN'T BE surprising that Donald Trump has decided, unilaterally, to rename the iconic Kennedy Performing Arts Center after himself. It would be different, maybe, if, for instance, a veritable tens of millions of members mob were strongly advocating for the name change, staging mass protests in the streets, spray painting the name "Trump" on every city street and public building in America, carrying placards bearing the message "Rename Everything "Trump"". Is it now the "Kennedy-Trump Center"?, the "Trump-Kennedy Center", or simply the "Trump Center"? Are we scrubbing the memory of JFK from our national consciousness, and chiseling Trump into them in stone? Perhaps MAGA folk encouraged the renaming. Most likely, the idea came entirely from a single demented pathologically narcissistic mind. Its time to hold on to our sacred traditions for dear life. How long until we walk up the steps looking up at the image of an obese orange haired man gazing uotward from his chair at the "Lincoln-Trump Memorial"? Our Washington Monument obelisk formally designated, by an act of Congress, the Washington-Trump Memorial"? In fact, an act of Congress is required to change the name of anything federal, including the Kennedy Center. So yes, once again, as is seemingly constantly the case, Mr. Trump is breaking the law. When I was about nine or ten years old my mother gave me a cool present. It was a plastic machine shaped roughly like a handgun. You could use it to print out words and names on plastic strips by pushing the right letters on a small keyboard,and the plastic strip had a sticky side with which you could attack your name to an object. I loved the device, and stated printing out all kinds of words and names, until my mom reminded me that the spply of plastic was limited, and should be used wisely. That neraly, but not quite spoiled the fun. I decided I wanted to put my name on everything I owned,including my radio. Eventuayll, i figured, I would get to all the clothing in my closet, which was a considerable amount. Mom sht downthat project too, and gave me a quick lesson on the difference between things you should put yor nae one, and things you shouldn't, or didn't need to. I would never lose my radio and want it back, and nobody would ever steal it out of my bedroom. At my favorite university man of the buildings are named after the welahy benefactors who helped pay for their construction, appropriately so. This included the football stadium and basketball arena. Like all fans, I love our nice, modern, attractive athletic facilities. It makes going to the game much more pleasant. And of course I am grateful to the generous billionaires who ade it all possible. But I can'thelp but wish that they were instead named after the teams that play in them, after the university rather than the generous billionaire benefactor. When I consider the sheer number of places and things that are named in honor of people like Washington and Jefferson and Madison, and then extrapolate a bit, flashing forward to now, the mere thought of the word "Trump" adorning and sullying public places in our beloved United States frankly horrifies me. Thank God we have not yet added a sculpted visage of Roonald Reagan to Mt. Rushmore, and, it seems now, never will. We sure thought about it. With Trump,we may be spared. His administration may sink to such great depths of infamy that the mere mention of it will be instantly ridiculed and dismissed. That requires faith in our powers of discernment, sadly.