The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, CLXXXXIII – Trump Votes By Mail !!!!!!!!!!

~ tomdolen

***. “There is not in human nature a more odious disposition than a proneness to contempt, which is a mixture of pride, and ill-nature. – It is the truest symptom of a base and bad heart.” [ Henry Fielding ]

1]. “Trump votes by mail after calling it ‘cheating'” [ Erica Green; New York Times; 3/25/26 ] IN YOUR FACE AMERICA!!! I, Donald John Trump can do whatever I want – you can’t !!!!!!! Because I make the rules!!!

this post will BEGIN to look at the FRAUD. of Trump’s various FALSE claims on cheating in American elections. – a reflection of his massive, fragile ego. “entailed by his belief that it is theoretically impossible for him to lose at anything.” [ George Will: “Trump’s ‘stolen election’ obsession”; Washington Post Weekly; 2/22/26 ]

NOTHING better illustrates Trump’s CONTEMPT for YOU and all other ordinary Americans than him voting by mail when he says it’s “crooked.” NOTHING better illustrates Trump’s LYING than falsely claiming there is massive cheating in American elections. – when ALL studies reveal this a COMPLETE LIE. NOTHING better illustrates Trump’s intent to continue the TRUMP DICTATORSHIP than his numerous attempts to rig the 2026 elections. – to prevent a REAL. Congress that would check his authoritarian “Project 2025” efforts. – as the Founders intended.

2]. “The president’s rationale for this dangerous proposal is even more alarming. He cited the opinion of Russian President Vladimir Putin to support his position..” [ Mary Hartnett: “Reject Trump’s attempt to undermine absentee and mail-in voting”; Minnesota Star Tribune; 8/25/25 ]

3] “Out of 49.5 million voter registrations that have been checked, the department referred around 10,000 cases to Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation of noncitizenship, or roughly 0.02%..” [ Alexandra Berzon, Nick Corasaniti: new York Times; 1/15/26 ]

4]. “Republicans could keep millions from voting SAVE Act, Trump order present array of hurdles” [ Janet Moore; Minnesota Star Tribune; 5/10/25 ]. Among the issues which could prevent people from voting: 69 million women changed their last names after marriage; 5% of men took. their wife’s last name; men who hyphenated their last name after marriage; rural college students; members of the military; millions don’t have a passport; 140 million Real IDs can’t be used as proof of citizenship; people who recently moved. Do YOU have your birth certificate???

***. “It’s not the people who vote that count. It’s the people who count the votes.” [ Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin ]

5]. “But as Trump has escalated efforts to involve the administration in election and voting matters while also eliminating programs designed to fortify these systems against attacks, secretaries of state and other top state officials, including some Republican ones, have begun to sound alarms.” [Nick Corasaniti: “alarms sound on Trump’s voting call”; New York Times; 2/8/26 ]

6] “A documentary proof-of-citizenship requirement for voting…is being pushed by America First Legal, a conservative group co-founded by Stephen Miller, the Republican president’s deputy chief of staff.” [ Julie Carr Smyth; “Barriers To Voting Pushed; Associated Press; 10/26/25 ]

7]. “Trump is basically destroying the federal statistical system,” said Margo Anderson, a professor emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee who has written extensively on the history of the census. “He wants numbers that support his political accomplishments, such as he sees them.” [ Josh Boak, Mike Schneider, Joey Cappelletti: “Trump” Census to exclude migrants in U.S. illegally”; Associated Press; 8/8/25 ]

8]. “Trump often shouts fraud before an election that he fears losing, but this year he has intensified his drumbeat of threats, warnings and false claims about voting.” [ Shane Goldmacher, Nick Corasaniti: “Trump’s election efforts spur fears”; New York Times; 2/27/26 ]

***. “Beginning on his first day in office and continuing the past year in plain view of the American people, Donald Trump has orchestrated and led a sweeping federal government effort to subvert the mid-term elections,” said J. Michael Luttig, a conservative retired federal appeals court judge..” [ Goldmacher, Corasaniti – #8 above ]

9]. “Today, an all-out gerrymandering war, sparked by President Trump, has erupted nation-wide…to redraw congressional maps in hopes of maximizing their arty’s chances of controlling the House of Representatives after the 2026 midterm elections.” [ Richard Fausset, Nick Corasaniti: “Gerrymandering War Spreading Across u.S. is A Crisis, Experts Say”; new York Times; 11/9/25 ]

10] “..Trump called for GOP officials to “take over” voting procedures in 15 states…”The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over,'” he said. “We should take over the voting…The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.” [ Reid Epstein, Nick Corasaniti: “Trump, in an escalation, calls for GOP to ‘nationalize’ elections”; new York Times; 2/4/26]

11]. “The U.s. Department of Justice has filed lawsuits in 23 states and the District of Columbia seeking access to detailed voter information for the purpose of building a national database. The department’s request sets a dangerous precedent and could expose millions of Americans to fraud, abuse and other nefarious activities.” [ Barbara McQuade: “The DOJ suing for voter data is dangerous on many levels”; St. Paul Pioneer Press; 1/15/26 ]

12]. “President Donald Trump is engaged in an unprecedented attempt to manipulate the midterm elections. Not only has he demanded that Texas redraw its congressional districts, he’s now got Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Department of Justice embarking on another insidious strategy: Building a dossier of private information on every voter that Trump can use for political advantage.” {Mary Ellen Klass: “DOJ’s push to collect data is a fishing expedition”; St. Paul Pioneer Press; 8/10/25 ]

13] “That order embodies the right’s lie that elections have been ‘stolen,’ and it is a clear example of how Project 2025 has made prosecuting so-called election fraud a policy objective. Trump’s latest, a missive on mail-in voting, is just moving that same ball forward. Whether the executive order ever materializes or is enacted, it matters that when the president reaches for a strategic distraction, he chooses one that matches Project 2025’s goals.” [ Tressie McMillan Cotton: “Trump’s Voting Rights Chaos is A Pattern”; New York Times; 8/24/25 ]

***. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” [ Lord Acton ]

[NOTE: Trump and his Republican allies have done much to corrupt American elections, this post is only #1. Other’s include: “Project 2026. Trump’s Plan to Hijack the Next Election”; “The Coming Election Mayhem”; “Antidemocratic…Inside the Far Right’s 50-Year Plot to control American Elections”. Dictatorships don’t die willingly.]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP. – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, CLXXXXII. – Trump Destroys American Government

~ tomdolen

*** “No one has ever been as dangerous to this country as Donald Trump…He is the most dangerous person ever…I talked to you about his mental decline..now I realize he’s a total fascist…A fascist to the core.” General Mark Miley – in Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Woodward”s “War’ ] [NOTE: take so time… mull this over. Look at WHO said these words. Ask YOURSELF. – WHY – What events led General Miley to say this???]

This post presents excerpts from. “The Purged… Donald Trump’s Destruction Of The Civil Service Is A Tragedy Not Just For The Roughly 300,000 Workers Who Have Been Discarded, But For An Entire Nation.” [Franklin Foer; The Atlantic; February, 2026. Read the mini biographies of 50 former U.S. government experts to understand partially. WHY Trump’s destruction of. YOUR. government will take years, if not decades, to rebuild and repair. Trump and Musk fired people who’s job was to protect America and make America run efficiently for. YOU. 80% of U.S. government employees work outside Washington. YOUR community and YOUR. state will most likely not work as well or efficiently. THIS is one of THE most STUPID things Trump has done. “The damage will ripple through every national park, every veteran’s hospital, every city and town.”

2] “For all its flaws, the American state was a source of national greatness and power: It ushered in an age of prosperity and discovery; it made everyday existence safer and fairer.”

7] “Until the purges of the past year, the U.S. government housed an unmatched collection of experts, capable of some of the greatest feats in human existence…the Manhattan Project, Apollo, the Human Genome Project.”

10]. “What’s been lost isn’t just a sense of purpose, but a body of knowledge – a way of making the machinery of the state function….By wiping out many of the bureaucracy’s most experienced practitioners, Trump has severed the chain that allowed one generation of civil servants to pass on the habits of effective government to the next.” [NOTE: again, re-read these words. This is SABOTAGE. WHY would a loyal American patriot sabotage his own government???]

***. “Our Constitution is not written to handle someone like Trump,” the political scientist Jason Johnson told me. “That is the greatest danger and greatest harm he is to our country… the Framers “envisioned presidents who might be dishonest, who might not have consistent ethical values, but they never envisioned a self-involved dictatorial capitalist, so we don’t have a government designed to restrain someone who doesn’t care about any of the norms.”
[ Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston: “It’s Even Worse Than You Think” ]

1]. ‘..the administration showed little interest in understanding the organizations it was eviscerating. Any sincere attempt to reform the government would have protected its top. experts and most skilled practitioners. In fact, such workers account for a disproportionate share of the Trump-era exodus.”

3]. “In the late 19th century, as the American government took on its modern form, a single word captured the spirit of the enterprise: disinterestedness. The duties of civil servants..were supposed to transcend patronage and partisanship. Their professional obligation was to present facts and judgments that reflected objective reality – not to flatter the preferences of the administration in power.”

*** “Can’t you just shoot them?” President Trump asked Defense Secretary Esper on June 1, 2020, about the protesters in Washington, D.C. “Just shoot them in the legs or something?” { Bob Woodward: “War” ]

4] “…regulators also prevented immense human suffering. Before the advent of the modern state, the economy convulsed with financial panics roughly every 20 years. After the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation were created in the 1930s, confidence replaced chaos. Generations passed without bank runs. American markets became the safest bet on the planet.”

5]. “At the dawn of the 20th century, American medicines were often laced with alcohol, opiates, or narcotics. Thanks to the FDA, those potions were gradually replaced by pharmaceuticals tested for safety – snake oil gave way to science.”

6]. “..the surprising thing, really, was how many preeminent experts – scientists, intelligence analysts, economists, even lawyers – stayed in their government job for the entire arc of their career.”

*** “He is a transgressive personality, so he likes to attack and destrroy and unsettle people,” Wehner said. If he sees an institution that he thinks is not doing his bidding, not protecting him like he wants or is a threat to him, he’ll go after it….intelligence community…Justice Department…North Atlantic Treaty organization…The press is ‘the enemy of the people.’…doesn’t have any regard for institutions, the role they play, why there’re important…delights in tearing them down.” [ Pulitzer Prize winners Philip Rucker, Carol Leonnig: “A Very Stable Genius” ]

8] “Under Trump, the expertise capable of such achievements has begun to vanish… What took generations to build is being dismantled in months, and with it goes not just expertise but what remains of the shared American faith in expertise itself.”

9]. “a generation of bureaucrats, now in the prime of their career, entered government after September 11…They felt an obligation to serve. Donald Trump has betrayed those workers. by describing them as a hostile force, he’s questioned their patriotism – and robbed the sense of mission from their work.”

11] “The toll of the purge will become clear only gradually…Government, too, is part of a delicate American ecosystem – as it erodes, crises that lay bare its indispensability will multiply.”

*** “Tillerson was never told why he was fired. The president did not give him a reason. It had earlier leaked out that Tillerson had called Trump a “fucking moron”. at a July 20, 2017, Tank meeting. Probably nothing could have triggered Trump’s insecurities more.” [ Bob Woodward; “Rage’ ]

12]. Listed below are some of the critical employees no longer in. YOUR. government:

A] Micaela White: “She was America’s fixer of choice….her improvisational skills were legendary.”
B] Eric Green: ‘..became the head of the American genomics effort.”
C] Wren Elhai: ” helped build the State Department’s new cyberspace and digital policy bureau.”
D]. Jeff Cohen: “became adept at improvising programs that burnished America’s prestige.”
E]. Peter Marks: ‘was a driving force behind Operation Warp Speed.”
F] Mamta Patel Nagaraja: ‘She trained astronauts.”
G] Michael Feinberg: “becoming the FBI’s top Chinese counterintelligence invetigator.”
H]. David Boucher: Infectious disease preparedness and response expert.
I]. Susan Miller: “she led the CIA’s counterintelligence unit”
J]. Mike Gordon: “He became the department’s closer.”
K]. Michael Missal; “his office issued 2,500 reports and 10,000 recommendations, saving billions of dollars.”

***. “Stupidity is the same as evil if you judge by the results.” [ Margaret Atwood ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, CLXXXXI. – “Our leaders are out of touch on income inequality”

~ tomdolen

***. “..the single most powerful and least-understood threat to democracy today: the attempt by..billionaire-backed radical right to undo democratic governance.. a stealth bid to reverse-engineer all of America..back to the political economy of oligarchic governance of mid-century Virginia..” [Nancy MacLean: “Democracy in Chains”]

This post presents excerpts from economist Edward Lotterman from. “Our leaders are out of touch on income inequality”. [St. Paul Pioneer Press; 3/22/26]:

7]. “..it seems clear that we are at the most unequal levels since the Gilded Age of ostentatious spending ended prior to World War I.”

3] “Navarro’s boneheaded assumption is that goods affected by tariffs make up the same fraction of total spending fro rich people as they do for lower income ones. You don’t need a Ph.D. in econ to know that isn’t true. A far greater fraction of the incomes of poor people go for basic necessities than for rich people.”

4] “..items on which import tariffs are levied make up a far higher fraction of household spending for low-and middle-income people than for higher-income ones. Rich people may pay more for tariffs in absolute number of dollars, but much less relative to income. Tariffs really are ‘regressive”. in the strict public-finance definition of taxing a higher percentage of total income for the poor than for the rich.”

*** “The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy, that is the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” [ John Kenneth Galbraith ]

1]. “International studies of educational outcomes often show that U.S. students’ critical thinking skills lag those of their peers in many European and Asian countries. It is not just kids; when administration officials open their mouths, it is clear that the problem goes right to the top, especially in dealing with income distribution. Start with President Donald Trump’s trade whisperer, Peter Navarro.”

2] “Responding to assertions that working-class U.S. households would bare the brunt of the administration’s tariffs, Navarro argued that was wrong. The reason? Well, the highest-earning 10% of U.S. households account for 50% of all consumer spending. Therefore, that small group also would pay 50% of all tariffs according to Navarro..”

5] “.. Navarro’s camp..miss a loophole the size of a bypass tunnel at Hoover Dam. The top income tier of U. S. households travel abroad many. times more frequently. They can buy their luxury goods…and wear them on the plane back or pack in their luggage…what U.S. customs agent will demand they open their suitcases and explain the provenance of every item?”

***. “Wooden-headedness consists of assessing a situation in terms of perceived, fixed notions while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting to wish while not allowing oneself to be confused by the facts.”
[ Barbara Tuchman ]

6] “The other facet of Navarro’s sad song about the plight of the rich is his acknowledgement that 10 percent of households do make half of all household spending. The distribution of income in the U.S., which had gotten slowly more equal for four decades after World War II, reversed as the 20th century ended. it is now getting steadily more unequal, especially over the last 20 years.”

8] “Similar tone deafness was evident in statements made by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and by Trump himself about the effects of oil prices. These are being pushed sharply higher by Trump’s “war of choice, not of necessity” against Iran.”

*** “Being ignorant is not so much Shame, as being unwilling to learn.” [ Benjamin Franklin ]

9] “If you want to see those hit hard by high gas prices, think of a single parent who drives a clapped-out F-150 pickup to their job at the Dollar General store in some rust-belt town. Or the beginning farmer…Or consider the over-the-road owner-operator who still has a monthly truck payment…When oil prices go up, such Americans do not “make a lot of money.”

10] ‘..for a final example of willful blindness about financial realities, consider the situation of National Guard or other reservists who once again face having their lives turned upside down by a call to active duty.”

11] “The ways in which both government taxing and spending policies contribute to shamefully increasing income inequality between Americans should” be one of the top issues of our age. Numbskull thinking on the part of officials who should know better makes the problem worse, not better.”

***. “We Americans live in the most unequal advanced country…When compared with similar societies, ours has the greatest inequities in the distribution of income and wealth, the provision of basic health care, the relationship between CEO salaries and average wages…This didn’t happen overnight. It’s the direct result of twenty-five years of public policy that has favored wealth, rewarded property, and encouraged the concentration of both.”
[ John Ehrenberg: “Servants Of Wealth. The Right’s Assault On Economic Justice” ]

*** {NOTE: if in doubt, consider: “The typical CEO compensation package rose nearly 6% in 2025 to $17.7 million….at Coca-Cola, its CEO earned nearly. 1,739 times the median pay of $17,947 for its workers.” [“Median CEO pay up nearly 6% in ’25”; Associated Press; 5/28/26]. Read “The Spirit Level.” ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP. – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, CLXXXX. – “Trump’s China Policy Has Weakened America”

~ tomdolen

***. “No punishment, in my opinion, is too great for the man who can build his greatness upon his country’s ruin.”
[ George Washington ]

This post presents excerpts from. “Trump’s China Policy Has Weakened America” [ New York Times editorial; 5/17/26 ]: Read this VERY carefully – pause, think on what they say…..

8]. “The competition between the United States and China matters to the entire world. China wants to dominate Asia and expand its global influence. It wants to discredit democracy and downgrade the importance of human rights and political equality. It wants a world where ethnic and religious oppression is accepted. China is the most important ally of several brutal dictatorships, including Russia, North Korea and Iran. Anybody who believes in pluralism, freedom, and other liberal values should be rooting against a world where Mr. Xi and the Chinese Communist party have more sway.”

***. “The damage the president has done to our security is a consequence of his terrible foreign policy choices, an area where Trump’s instincts are so backward that we will devote an entire chapter addressing them.”
[ Anonymous: “A Warning” ]. {Note: Anonymous was a senior Trump. administration official}

4] “For a time, Mr. Trump seemed to have started a bipartisan era of realpolitik toward a country that seeks to diminish American power. As is so often the case, though, Mr. Trump showed little strategic discipline, and he prioritized his personal and political interests over the nation’s.” [read this again – SLOWLY …]

1] “Last week’s summit in Beijing between President Trump and President Xi Jinping ended with few concrete accomplishments, but Americans should be relieved about that. The most likely alternative was a setback for the United States.”

2] “In both his terms..he has weakened the United States relative to China…His failed tariffs have been a central example, setting off a humbling chain of events. The tariffs proved ineffective at intimidating China…China restricted U.S. access to valuable rare-earth metals – and learned just how much leverage it has. To regains access to the minerals, Mr. Trump agreed to allow China to buy advanced American semiconductors that power artificial intelligence.” [read this again – it shows YOU Trump’s rigid Stupidity, China’s long-term thinking]

3]. “He has also diluted instruments of American power that have long been crucial to constraining foreign adversaries. he has alienated partners that can help counter China…He has cut funding for scientific research, diminishing American prowess in A.I., green energy and other realms.” [Trump’s rigid Stupidity weakens America]

***. “No government could give us tranquility and happiness at home, which did not possess sufficient stability and strength to make us respectable abroad.” [ Alexander Hamilton; 6/29/1787]

5] “..America’s inability to defeat Iran’s much smaller military has raised questions about whether it could help defend Taiwan from a mainland invasion.” [ China is watching and waiting… ]

6] “The biggest risk of the summit was that Mr. Trump would trade short-term American gains, such as exporting more soybeans and other agricultural goods, for long-term Chinese advantages.” [ !!!!! read this again – SLOWLY – they are saying Trump would even consider trading soybeans for high-value technical knowledge, or, let China invader Taiwan unopposed. Are you kidding me????? ]

7]. “Taiwan manufactures many of the semiconductors that American companies use. China..remains significantly behind the United States in the race to develop the most advanced A.I…..Mr. Xi very much wants the restrictions removed, and Mr. Trump has begun to loosen them. China now has permission to purchase Nvidia’s high-end H200 chips, but is still blocked from buying the company’s top-line chips, known as Blackwell. If Mr. Trump ever lifts that restriction, he will hand mr. Xi a huge victory.” [can YOU conceive Churchill giving Hitler anything that would help him??? Can YOU conceive ANY American president, 1945-1991, giving the Soviets ANYTHING that would help them?}

***. “I asked about his strategy for dealing with Chinese President Xi Jinping…”Well, first of all, his personality is incredible,’ Trump said. “His strength, his mental and physical strength is great. he’s very, very smart. He’s very cunning. I get along with him fantastically well.” [ Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Woodward: “Rage” ]
[NOTE: YOU tell me – where’s the strategy?????? Is it Trump is awed by this dictator? He gets along with him “fantastically well”??? …..]
***. “…and foreign governments calculated that Trump could be won over relatively easily, with flattery and deference.” [ Pulitzer Prize winners Philip Rucker, Carol Leonnig: “A Very Stable Genius” ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP. – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, CLXXXIX. – INCOMPETENCE And Stupidity In Foreign Affairs

~ tomdolen

*** “Orthodoxy means not thinking – not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.”
[ George Orwell: “1984” ]

This post provides YOU with information from only a FEW of the many reports on the Trump DICTATORSHIP’s monumental record of rigid, often fact-free, INCOMPETENCE and Stupidity in dealing with the Middle East. By the time you read this post, things will likely have gotten worse. The possibility is substantial that Trump’s “war of choice” will devastate the WORLD economy. The origin of much of this INCOMPETENCE and Stupidity is Trump’s own ego and desire for revenge. Some excerpts from only a few reports follow:

A] “State Dept. cut jobs with expertise in Middle East”. {Byron Tau; Associated Press; 3/20/26:
3]. “These kinds of personnel and management choices – coupled with President Donald Trump’s moves to shrink government and confine decision-making to a tight circle – are limiting the ability of the United States to handle a global emergency..”
1]. “The Trump administration for a time put mora Namdar, a lawyer of Iranian descent with limited management experience in charge…One of her credentials was her contribution to Project 2025”..
2]. “Namdar’s last Senate-confirmed predecessor was a long-time middle East expert who had been with the department since 1984 an had served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.” [ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!///!!!!!!!!!!! ]

***. “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security – both during his presidency and afterward. Many of Trump’s former top cabinet officers and aides have said publicly that Trump should not be president again and should not even be on the ballot.” [ Bob Woodward: “War” ]

B] “War poses test for DOJ”. [ Alan Feuer, Glenn Thrush; New York Times; 3/8/26 ]:
2] “..hardball personnel and policy directives, often at the command of the Trump White House, has led to an exodus of experienced investigators and prosecutors…The priority placed on Trump’s directives has also diverted agents from national security matters to immigration enforcement or other ancillary tasks…” [NOTE: is this sabotage?]
1] “after a year of constant firings, resignations and other disruptive distractions, elite counterterrorism and counterintelligence units have been stretched thin and left short-handed..” [NOTE: sooo – catching the woman who babysits YOUR child is more important than catching a Chinese spy or a terrorist who’ll blow up YOUR kid’s school???]
3] “some of those let go included agents who worked on efforts to stem Iran’s ability to operate stealthily in the United States..” [ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????? ]

***. “All American presidents before Trump had, in varying degrees, modulated their remarks to avoid exacerbating the centuries-old rivalries within Islamic countries…to balance American interets among those contending factions. Abandoning that history of thoughtful diplomacy, Trump…” [Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston: “It’s Even Worse Than You Think” ]

c] “Depleted FBI, DOJ on guard for terror” [ Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer; Associated Press; 3/5/26 ]:
3] “The Justice Department’s National Security Division was established in 2006 to address threats of terrorism, espionage and other concerns. In the last year, lawyers in the division found themselves assigned to review the Jeffrey Epstein files…and elite sections dedicated to prosecuting terrorists and catching spies have endured turnover.”
4]. “This is not an exaggeration to say that the are not as capable as they were a year ago,” Matthew Olsen, who led the national Security Division…”they’ve lost, forced out, fired, the most capable, the most experienced FBI agents, FBI officials and DOJ prosecutors that were working on the Iran threat.” [Note: sabotage???]
1]. “The firings and resignations, along with the diversion of resources and personnel over the last year to meet the Trump administration priorities, have fueled concerns about the capability to head off a potential surge in threats.”
2] “So much experience has been decimated from the ranks,”…”The folks that were best positioned to get to the bottom of it before something really bad happened”. are in many cases no longer with the government..”

*** “Ive served the man for two years. [Trump’s]..a long-term and immediate danger to the country,” a senior national security official told us. Another senior administration official said, “The guy is completely crazy.”
{ Pulitzer Prize winners Philip Rucker, Carol Leonnig: “A Very Stable Genius” }

D]. “The U.S. desperately needs functional counterterrorism”. [ Jacob Ware, Colin Clarke: Los Angeles Times; 3/22/26]:
3] “..the Trump administration has repeatedly invoked Iran’s history of support for terrorist proxies to justify the conflict…But without a more defined strategy, America will likely struggle to mount an effective response.”
1] “Without a strategy that clearly lays out American priorities and responses, America’s counterterrorism defenses are divided, disorganized and under-resourced.”
2]. “The home-grown backlash to the Iran conflict began on March 1… The diversity of the attacks and the perpetrators makes matters worse..”

*** “Mattis, Tillerson and Coats are all conservatives or apolitical people who wanted to help him and the country…They concluded that Trump was an unstable threat to their country.”

Pulitzer Prize winner Bob Woodward: “Rage” ]

E] “Gulf allies say U.S. ignored their warnings on Iran”. [ Samy Magdy, Michelle Price, Aamer Madhanl; Associated Press; 3/7/26]: This title says it all!!! INCOMPETENCE and Stupidity. Plus not really caring what happened to these small ‘allies” of the U.S.. Read the article for specific quotes. Note their disappointment. Will they still be ‘allies” when this is over???

*** “when his performance as president is taken in its entirety, I can only reach one conclusion: Trump is the wrong man for the job.” [ Bob Woodward; “Rage” ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP. – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, CLXXXVII. – Can We Safely Say That THIS is CORRUPTION???

~ tomdolen

***. “I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain…the character of an “Honest Man.”
[ George Washington; 8/28/1788 ]

This post concerns various issues involved in the “dea” between the U.S. government and the Trumps to “resolve” the $10 billion lawsuit “our” president filed against the IRS. As of this date, 5/21/26, we have learned some details. Ordinary American citizens have written “letters to the editor” decrying ‘corruption.” Legal experts are beginning to raise concerns. What do. YOU. think? Read these excerpts – begin THINKING……

I. “IRS to ‘forever’ drop its tax claims against Trump” { Alanna Durkin Richer, Eric Tucker; Associated Press; 5/20/26 ]:
1] “..acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday wouldn’t rule out the prospect of Jan. 6 rioters receiving payouts from a taxpayer-fueled fund created by the same settlement.”

2] “The settlement agreement also says the U.S. government is “forever barred and precluded” from examining or prosecuting Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization over current tax issues..”

3]. “Blanche defended the creation of the fund without any acknowledgement that the Trump administration has pursued investigations of Trump’s political opponents.” [NOTE: when you’re DICTATOR you make the rules !!!]

4] “The mere possibility that violent rioters at the Capitol could be considered for payouts is consistent with a Trump administration pattern of rewriting the history of Jan. 6…”

*** “It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and disguise.” [ Joseph Goebbels; Nazi Minister of Propaganda ]

II. “Trump’s $1.776 billion windfall tests constitutional limits” [ Adam Liptak; New York Times; 5/21/26 ]:
2]. “The whole enterprise was a jarring shock to the conventional understanding of the constitutional system, raising what legal experts said were profound questions about presidential power. If the arrangement is allowed to stand, they said, Trump will have managed simultaneously to thwart Congress’ power of the purse and the ability of the courts to police the separation of powers.”

1]. “..the president managed to work out a deal with himself Monday, one as novel and brazen as the process that spawned it. He dropped his lawsuit, extracting from his own government a promise to create a $1.776 billion fund to dole out to his political allies.”

*** “The time to guard against corruption and tyranny is before they shall have gotten hold of us. It is better to keep the wolf out of the fold than to trust to drawing his teeth and talons after he shall have entered.” {Thomas Jefferson; 1782]

III. “Trump’s stock trades questioned”. [ Bernard Condon; Associated Press; 5/21/26 ]:
2]. “If he were defense secretary, he would be commiting a crime,” said Richard Painter…”Technically he can do this, but it is a fundamentasl breach of trust.”

1] “Recent presidents have stayed away from trading stocks in companies whose fortunes they could lift or scuttle…but Donald Trump smashed that precedent in the first quarter of this year with more than 3,600 buy and sell orders, many of them involving companies whose profits have been directly impacted by his decisions..”

3] “Since he became president again, the Trump organization has taken in tens of millions in upfront fees from overseas developers that want to put his name on resorts and hundreds of millios from cryptocurrency sales, mostly anonymous, making it impossible to know if the purchaser were trying to curry favor with the president.”

***. ‘..no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept any present, Emolument, Office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or sovereign state.”
[ Article I, Section 9; U.S. constitution ]

IV. “Officers who defended U.S. Capitol sue to block payments”. [ Michael Kunzelman; Associated Press; 5/21/26 ]:
1] “The lawsuit claims the government’s “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is an illegal slush fund that Trump will use to “finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name.” It describes the fund’s creation as “the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century..”

2] “The officers claim the fund “encourages those who enacted violence in the President’s name to continue to do so.” “Dunn and Hodges already face credible threats of death and violence on regular basis; the Fund sunstantially increases the danger..”

*** “It is essential to the idea of a law, that it be attended with a sanction…a penalty or punishment for disobedience. if there be no penalty annexed to disobedience, the resolution or commands which pretend to be laws will, in fact, amount to nothing more than advice or recommendations.”
[ Alexander Hamilton: “The Federalist Papers” ]

V. “$100M tax threat for Trump likely wiped away by DOJ-brokered deal”. [ Russ Buettner; New York Times; 5/21/26]:
1] “..frees the president from a potential adverse ruling that could cost him more than $100 million..”

2] “The audit dated back to a $72.9 million tax refund that Trump claimed, and received… Trump justified the refund claim by declaring huge business losses..”

3] “The IRS has argued that he, in effect, tried to write off the same losses on the Chicago tower twice.”

4] “The agreement to end the Trumps’ lawsuit, while sidestepping judicial review, also puts an end to any other audit by the IRS pertaining to tax returns they or their businesses have already filed.”

***. “The accumulation of all power, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”
[ James Madison: “The Federalist Papers” ]

VI. Some excerpts from “letters to the editor”. Trump Administration Let this corruption sink in [ Minnesota Star Tribune; 5/21/26]:
1] “Never in my 70-plus years have I seen the level of greed and corruption present in the Trump administration and family.” { m.H. ]
2]. “What an unbelievable conflict of interest. But it’s just business as usual: ˇhe chief executive’s objectives of enriching his supporters from prosecution keep on coming..” [ R.S. ]
3]. “..perhaps Republicans at the federal level should consult them on how to prevent corruption in the newly established $1.776 billion fund that so far appears to be directed at the complete discretion of Trump.” [ E. P. ]
4]. “This reeks of corruption and is further proof that Trump doesn’t care about the Constitution or the oath he took to uphold it.” [ W.J. ]
5] “Apparently crime does pay. I”m thinking about quitting the career I”ve been building for 26 years to become a rioter.” [M. R.]
6]. “This is the “mafia-zation” of government.” [ P. R. ]
7] “Trump may not be working on the problems facing Americans…but he is certainly finding creative ways of enriching himself and his friends at taxpayers’ expense.” [ M. A. ]

SOOO – what do YOU think? Need more evidence? Have enough evidence to vote November 3, 2026?

***. “Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law… no court can save it..”
[ Judger Learned Hand ]

VI. !!!!! – Corruption update: “DOJ violates its own policy in ‘shocking gift’ to Trump” [ Devlin Barrett; New York Times; 5/22/26]: “Justice Department veterans have been deeply skeptical…particularly when it comes to the provision in the deal that offers President Donald Trump, his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. immunity from tax penalties…
“I have never heard of the department ever being willing to grant blanket immunity, said Jennifer Rickett…”That seems blatantly corrupt. It’s a shocking gift to the president.”

The Trump DICTATORSHIP. – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, CLXXXVI – “Buyer’s remorse sets in over Trump”

~ tomdolen

***. “..one of the traits that had led Trump to the White House on full display: his extraordinary capacity to say things that were not true. He always seemed to have complete conviction in whatever product he was selling or argument he was making. He had an uncanny ability to say with a straight face, things are not as you’ve been told or even as you’ve seen with your own eyes. He could commit a lie in the frame of his body and in the timbre of his voice so fully, despite all statistical and even video evidence to the contrary.”
[ Pulitzer Prize winners Carol Leonnig, Philip Rucker: “I Alone Can Fix It” ]. [NOTE: read this again, and again – for many observers, THIS is a capsule of who Donald John Trump is ]

This post presents excerpts from: “Buyer’s remorse sets in over Trump” [ Dan Merica, Cat Zakrzewski; Washington Post Weekly; 3/22/26 ]. Americans are waking up to the Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, Incompetence, Dishonesty of the Trump DICTATORSHIP !!!!! The Big Lie that “Trump cares about me” is exposed more and more. Trump is costing YOU money!!! One analysis soon to be posted: Trump’s 2027 Pentagon budget request is estimated to cost EVERY American household about $4,000. There are MANY other Trump DICTATORSHIP “costs.”

1] “Joshua Byers was hopeful when he voted for Donald Trump in 2024. The 26-year old document clerk believed the former and future president when he said he would lower prices and improve the lives of the working class….
“I feel betrayed”…”

2] “But with prices stubbornly high, a belief that Trump is overly focused on international conflict and concerns about how federal officials are implementing the president’s immigration policy, they also said they are questioning why they voted in the first place..”

3] “I wouldn’t even say it’s a living,” James Wiest, a 23-year old arcade technician from Mooresville, North Carolina, said of his life…”It’s more survival.”

***. “Trump is not Adolf Hitler, but he shares many of Hitler’s disorders, addiction to lies, and appeal to wounded followers through the dehumanization of target groups. In Trump’s case, these include African Americans, Muslims, women, Hispanics, and migrants.” [ Bandy lee, editor: “The Dangerous Case Of Donald Trump” ]

4]. “A Washington Post – ABC – Ipsos poll released last month found 70 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds disapproved of Trump’s handling of the presidency, compared with 29 percent who approved.”

5] “I don’t really want to vote anymore,” Byers said…I don’t want to feel responsible for taking a vote and feeling misled, or misjudged, or making a wrong move.” [NOTE; what effect will THIS ‘COST’ have on American democracy????? ]

6] “Young voters are also more likely to disapprove of the Iran war, according to a Washington Post poll released Tuesday. a majority of voters between the ages of 18 and 29 say they oppose the military campaign in Iran…”

***. “Men are so simple of mind, and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived.” [ Niccolo Machiavelli ]

7] “Lilly Burrow, a 23-year-old teacher from Charlotte who voted for Trump in 2020 and 2024, said..she initially supported the strikes because she thought they were intended to change the regime in Iran. But her view has since shifted, and now she believes the United States is “doing Israel’s dirty work.”

8] “Wiest, a Republican, said he feels demoralized and is unlikely to vote in the 2026 midterms. “I agree with his idea of making America great again, but the way he is going about…it’s not who I thought would be running this country,”…and he does not care about what we are mad about.”

9] “Byers and others in the focus group said they got much of their news about the 2024 election from social media, including online influencers…a constant stream of pro-Trump content..” [NOTE: so – “our’ president is elected by loads of amateur “journalists,” unqualified to say what they do, to repeat Trump’s lies without questioning….}

*** “He is incredibly suggestible, skimming ideas and thoughts and statements from other people and repacking them as his own; campaign aides once called him a “sophisticated parrot.” He has sown willingness both to believe anything is true, and to say anything is true. he has few core ideological impulses, but is often willing to suppress them when it’s useful for another purpose. He makes vague statements that allow people to project what they want in his words, so two sides he same issue could claim his support.” [ Pulitzer Prize winner Maggie Haberman: “Confidence Man” ]

10]. “Those same influencers who helped Trump connect with young voters during the election are now using their platforms to criticize the war in Iran and reconsidering their actions in the election. Rogan, who endorsed Trump after his 2024 interview, on Tuesday called the Iran war “so insane” and said Trump had “betrayed” the Americans who supported him.”

11] “Andrew Schulz, one of the cohosts of “Flagrant,” has criticized Trump since last year for doing the opposite of what he promised on the campaign trail.”

12] “Naturally, Americans are furious about it, right?” Schulz said. “Because we’re like, ‘How the f— does this benefit me? I can’t even afford to pay for college. i can’t buy a home. I can’t pay for health insurance. And we’re going to spend billions on a war in a country i can’t even point out on a map.”

***. “When one with honeyed words but evil mind persuades the mob, great woes befall the state.” [ Euripides ]

13] “Ross, who wore a white MAGA hat during his 2024 stream with Trump, also has expressed regret for having associated himself with the campaign.”

14] “..Faith Peavey, a 21-year-old American Sign Language interpreter and Republican who said she voted for Trump in 2024 with ‘caution…”It has definitely been frustrating to see him doing things that were not things he promised to do and not doing things that he promised to do,” Peavey said.”

*** “In the end the Party would announce that two and two make five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it.”
[ George Orwell: ‘1984″ ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, CLXXXV. – Trump Makes America Weaker, War More likely

~ tomdolen

***. “The mismatch shows the risks in Mr. Trump’s personality-driven foreign policy, his bet that he can solve the world’s problems and defend America”s interests by his charm and force of will. In Mr. Xi, the U.S. president faced a counterpart last week who is well-versed in Mr. Trump’s desire for praise and pomp, and with an apparent strategy for how to exploit it. The result, analysts said, was a summit that illustrated the growing confidence of China..alongside a strategically muddled U.S. foreign policy under Mr. Trump.” [ Anton Troianovski: “Trump’s Push For Friendship Is Unrequited.”; New York Times; 5/17/26 ]

This post presents excerpts from “Every Nation for Itself”. [ Robert Kagan; The Atlantic; March, 2026 ]. We invite YOU to read the entire article. We invite YOU to THINK in what Kagan says – mull his words and implications……

16] “Trump’s megalomania is transforming the United States from from international leader into international pariah, and the American people will suffer thre consequences for years to come.”

1]. “President Trump wants to return to the 19th century’s international order. He will leave America less prosperous – and the whole world less secure.”

17] “..Trump’s exaltation of selfishness, rests on profound ignorance of the true sources of American strength. So much of America’s influence in the world has derived from treating others as part of a community of democratic nations or of strategic partners.”

***. “Especially important it is to realize that there can be no assured peace and tranquility for any one nation except as it is achieved by all.” [ Dwight D. Eisenhower; Republican; 34th U.S. President ]

3] “Americans are entering the most dangerous world they have known since World War II…The U.S. will have no reliable friends or allies and will have to depend entirely on its own strength to survive and prosper. This will require more military spending, not less, because the open access to overseas resources, markets, and strategic bases that Americans have enjoyed will no longer come as a benefit of the country’s alliances.”

9]. “Trump and his supporters seem to believe that the rest of the world will simply accommodate this new American approach, and that allies, in particular, will continue to tag along, subservient to a United States that cuts them loose strategically, exacts steep economic tribute from them, and seeks to establish a ‘concert” with powers that directly threaten them. But the radical shift in U.S. strategy must force equally radical shifts among erstwhile friends and allies.”

12] “The mere existence of the United states and the liberal order it supported offered small and medium powers an opportunity denied them by centuries of multipolarity… The American order promised a higher standard of living, national sovereignty, and the legal and institutional equality.”

***. “Trump’s foreign policy is not so much immoral as it is amoral.” [ Richard Haass ]

2] “The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy made it official: The American-dominated liberal world order is over…The American might that upheld the world order of the past 80 years will now be used instead to destroy it.”

4] “Americans are neither materially nor psychologically ready for this future…They have grown accustomed to the world operating in a certain way: Largely agreeable and militarily passive European and Asian allies cooperate with the United States on economic and security issues… Americans…think it is the normal state of international affairs, likely to continue indefinitely.”

5]. “Perhaps more extraordinary than America’s ability and willingness to play the dominant role was the readiness of most other great powers to embrace and legitimize its dominance…America’s allies made trwo remarkable wagers: that the United States could be trusted to defend them whenever needed, and that it would not exploit its disproportionate might to enrich or strengthen itself at their expense.”

*** “To achieve [enduring good relations between states], the conduct of diplomacy should conform to the same moral and ethical principles which inspire trust and confidence when followed by and between individuals.”
[ Dean Acheson; former U.S. Secretary of State ]

6]. “..the grand bargain of the American order after 1945. And it was what allowed for the extraordinary peace and stability of the subsequent decades.”

7] “Trump has openly celebrated the end of the grand bargain…launched aggressive tariff wars against virtually all of America’s allies…waged ideological and political warfare against European governments and explicitly threatened territorial aggression against two NATO allies, Canada and Denmark.”

8] ‘..the administration’s National Security Strategy regards Russia and China not as adversaries or even competitors burt as partners in carving up the world.”

***. “[The commander] must be able to see the situation as a whole, attribute to each object its relative importance, grasp the connections between each factor in the situation, and recognize its limits. All this implies a gift of synthesis which, in itself, demands a high degree of intellectual capacity.” [ Charles de Gaulle ]

10] “The consequence of a newly unreliable and even hostile United States, therefore, will likely be significant military buildups by former allies. This will not mean sharing the burden of collective security, because these rearmed nations will no longer be American allies…They will owe nothing to the United States…At the very least, they will not be the same countries Americans know today.”

11] “In a multipolar world, everything is up for grabs.”

13] “Do we know how far China’s perception of its rightful sphere extends?”

***. “Even in war moral power is to physical as to three parts out of four.” [ Napoleon ]

14] ‘..China and Russia are not at all satiated, status quo powers. They are dissatisfied, have-not powers…chronically unhappy with American global supremacy..”

15] “This is the new world that America is entering, voluntarily shown of its greatest assets…When Russia or China went to war, it went alone. When the United States went to war…it had the support of dozens of allies.”

18] “Trump has managed in just one year to destroy the American order that was, and he has weakened America’s ability to protect its interests in the world that will be. If Americans thought defending the liberal world order was too expensive, wait until they start paying for what comes next.”

***. “Mankind will never know what it was spared because of risks avoided or because of actions taken that averted awful consequences. – if only because once thwarted consequences can never be proved.”
[ Henry Kissenger; former U.S. Secretary of State ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP. – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, CLXXXIV. – Trump’s Incompetence, Corruption, Contempt

~ tomdolen

*** “It’s hard to believe anyone would vote for me. People must really be very stupid.” [Donald Trump]

This post will provide just four May, 2026, examples of how INCOMPETENT, how Corrupt, how much contempt Trump has for ordinary Americans – like YOU. We have folders and envelopes FULL of similar stories. It seems EVERY day brings a new example of how Trump has declared war on ordinary Americans, on American democracy, is weakening and disgracing America. Not by me – but by the Preamble’s principles: “We the People”. created a new government to “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare..” Trump doesn’t care about any of this.

1] “Intel shows Iran’s military stronger than Trump says”. [Adam Entous, Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan; New York Times; 5/14/26]: “Most alarming to some senior officials is evidence that Iran has restored operational access to 30 of thre 33 missile sites in maintains along the Strait of Hormuz…Iran has regained access to roughly 90% of its underground missile storage and launch facilities nationwide…Trump and his military advisors overestimated the damage that the U.S. military could inflict..and underestimated Iran’s resilience and ability to bounce back.”

***. “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you in trouble, it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” [Mark Twain]

2] “Trump’s IRS suit could be settled”. [Andrew Duhren, Alan Feur; New York Times; 5/14/26]: “..a move that could involve the government directly providing taxpayer funds or another public benefit to the president…the possibility of the IRS dropping any audits of Trump, his family members or businesses..”…Depending on its terms, a settlement with the IRS could be among Trump’s most brazen efforts to bend the government to his personal will – an agenda often carried out through the Justice Department. Trump and his family have repeatedly disregarded Washington ethical guardrails aimed at preventing government officials from profiting from public office.” [NOTE: if memory serves, didn’t Trump says his was going to voluntarily disclose his tax data???]

***. “What do I care about the law? Haint I got the power?” [ Cornelius Vanderbilt ]

3] “Trump: Economic pain not a consideration for Iran War”. [ Erica Green; New York Times; 5/14/26]: “President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he does not think about the economic hardship Americans feel as a result of his war in Iran, and it did not factor into his negotiations to end it…..”I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,’ Trump added. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all”
[NOTE; Trump hopes that YOU will forget the HE canceled a settlement that PROHIBITED Iran from having a nuclear bomb !!!!!!! Perhaps because President Obama negotiated it – can’t have anything Obama did !!!]

***. “The basest and meanest of all human beings are generally the most forward to despise others. – So that the most contemptible are generally the most contemptuous.” [ Henry Fielding ]

4] “Tobacco’s big win, courtesy of Trump”. [ Christina Jewett, Kenneth Vogel; New York Times; 5/14/26]: “The industry has poured millions into his presidency…Donald Trump got an earful from a group of tobacco executives and lobbyists unhappy with the way the Food and Drug Administration was regulating their industry…He complained to [RFK, Jr., Oz]..about the FDA’s regulation of e-cigarettes..”…The message was received. Less than a week later, the executives got what they wanted….The new policy bypassed the FDA’s regular rule-making process.”

*** “People who contribute get the ear of the member and the ear of the staff. they have access and access is it. Access is power. Access is clout. That’s how this thing works.” [ retired U.S. Representative Romano Mazzoli; in “Economic Apartheid in America”; Chuck collins, Felice Yeskel ]

***. Donald John Trump is THE man our Founders feared. He is THE anti-George Washington. He is THE anti-Abraham Lincoln. He is THE man feared in JohnW. Dean’s “Broken Government” ;…”another four years, and heaven forbid not eight years, under the Republicans, and our grandchildren will have to build a new government, because the one we have will be unrecognizable and unworkable.” – This from a “life-long Republican” in the Nixon White House!!!!! YOU have ONE. chance left to prevent the Trump DICTATORSHIP from being even more destructive, more undemocratic. – In November, 2026, VOTE AGAINST EVERY REPUBLICAN. – because they have almost all. “Drunk the Koolaid,” are giving Trump whatever he demands. – like the. KNOWN. corrupt mid-decade. GERRYMANDERING.

***. “Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law; invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.” [ Justice Louis Brandeis ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP. – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, CLXXXIII. – Trump Betrays His Voters, Destroys Middle Class

~ tomdolen

*** “The most perfect community is one in which the middle class is in control and outnumbers both of the other classes.” [ Aristotle ]

This post will BEGIN. to discuss evidence on how the Trump DICTATORSHIP policies are negatively impacting Americans. Leaving aside damage to the environment, relations with formerly friendly countries, undermining the rule of law, undermining democracy. – this post concentrates on. SOME. reasons most Americans are struggling financially. Often a headline alone is enough.

1] “The Middle Class Is Selling Blood Plasma to Get By” [ Kurtis Lee, Robert Gebeloff; New York Times; 4/5/26 ]: “As living costs rise, collection centers are increasingly opening in wealthier areas of the country.”

2] “The Great American Heist: How Reagan, Trump, and Their Billionaire Backers Stole the Middle Class” [ Thom Hartmann; The Progressive Populist; December, 2025 ]: “Every major social program since the 1930s has been opposed by Republicans…Trump just de-unionized an additional few hundred-thousand federal workers…the middle class has shrunk to fewer than 50% of us, and it takes two paychecks to do it.”

3]. “The Town That Reveals All of Trump’s Bad Economic Ideas” [ bob Davis; New York Times; 4/26/26 ]: “The town is making a comeback..But the reasons have nothing to do with mr. Trump and his signature policies.”

4]. “Republic for Sale”. [ Sabrina Haake; The Progressive Populist; December, 2025]; “Thanks to Citizens United…Trump is indebted to hundreds of industry leaders from tech, auto, education, banking, arms, prison, healthcare, and fossil fuel sectors…Trump is targeting these federal agencies for privatization: USPS, VA, FEMA, TSA, National Weather Service, National Parks, TVA, CDC.”

***. “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power.”
[ Benito Mussolini ]

5] “To Pay Bills, Seniors Turn To Gig Work” [ Cathy Bussewitz; Associated Press; 4/6/26 ]

6]. “VA eliminates thousands of medical jobs…Despite promises to care for veterans..” [ Nicholas Nehamas, Andrea Fuller, Danielle Ivory, Ellen Barry; New York Times; 3/4/26 ]

7] “Brisk sales at Goodwill suggest shoppers worried”. [ Kim Bhasin, Sophia June; New York Times; 2/1/26 ]

8]. “With Grids Under Strain, Blackout Risk Rises for Millions of People”. { Brad Plumer; New York Times; 2/8/26 ]

***. “No society can..be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of..members are poor and miserable..It is but equity..that they who feed, clothe, and lodge the whole body of the people should have..a share of the produce of their own labor as to themselves tolerably well fed, clothed and lodged.” [ Adam Smith; yes – THE Adam Smith ! ]

9]. April 17, 2025 – 5:30 PM CBS News: there are 50 million Americans who are food insecure.

10] November 18, 2025 – 6 PM PBS News Hour: 44% of U.S. wokers are in low-wage jobs; 60% of U.S. workers live paycheck-to-paycheck

11]. January 30, 2026 – 6 PM PBS News Hour: Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” cut back $911 million on services to adults with disabilities

12]. “Parents face tough child care choices”. [ Julie Weil, Joanna Slater; Washington Post Weekly; 1/25/26 ]

***. “We can either have a democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentration in the hands of a few. But we cannot have both.” { Justice Louis Brandeis ]

13]. “Millions abandon pricier ACA coverage” [ Reed Abelson, Margot Sanger-Katz; New York Times; 5/10/26 ]

14]. “Less for Health Care, More for the Pentagon” [ Lindsay Koshgarian; The Progressive Populist; January, 2026 ]

15]. “To Make America Healthy Again, Break Up Big Ag”. [ Amanda Starbuck; The Progressive Populist; May, 2026 ]

16] “Babies become ‘sitting ducks’ in outbreaks of measles”. [ Devi Shastri, Laura Unger; Associated Press; 4/25/26 ]

*** “We will move from a society based on the pretense..everyone is given an okay standard of living in which people are expected to fend for themselves…a world where..10 to 15 percent of the citizenry is extremely wealthy [and has fantastic lives]…” [Tyler Cowen, a “pro-market” economist; in Robert McChesney and John Nichols: “People Get Ready” ]

17] “EPA won’t consider lives saved in setting rules” [ Maxine Johnson; New York Times; 1/13/26 ]

18]. “The Trump Administration’s War on Science Has A Human Cost”. [ Jeneen Interlandi; New York Times; 3/1/26 ]

19]. “Manufacturers not seeing tariff payoff…Trump’s rationale of more factories opening hasn’t materialized” [ Josh Boak; Associated Press; 3/19/26 ]

20]. “Trump’s Betrayal of His Voters Is Now Complete” [ Joe Conason; The Progressive Populist; may, 2026 ]: Trump: “I said to Russell, Don’t send any money for day care because the United States can’t take care of day care.’ That has to be up to a state.’ We can’t take care of day care. We’re a big country. We have 50 states. We have all these other people.”

*** “His entire life Trump has been a con artist. In “The Art of the Deal” he brags about deceptions that enriched him. He has boasted about not paying banks that loaned him billions of dollars. He lost a court case, had to pay back $25. million on his Trump University scam. [ Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston: “It’s Worse Than You Think” ]