Author: tomdolen

The Present, And Worsening Threat Of Irrationality And Blatant Lies To Democracy

~ tomdolen

*** “Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond doubt
that they are right.” [ Laurens van der Post ]

What does it mean for a society, especially for a “democratic” society, when it is infected by waves of IRRATIONALITY and obvious, deliberate, blatant LIES. When the goal of some is to create doubt, confusion, and division?
Consider the following examples for a beginning”

– vaccines are “bad”
– climate change crisis is “a hoax”
– the 2020 American presidential election was “stolen”
– immigrants are “stealing American jobs”
– cutting taxes for the rich is “good” for America, benefits will “trickle down” to ME
– America was founded as a “Christian nation”

***. “There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.” [ Goethe ]

1]. vaccines are “bad”. – Among other things, health improved in the 20th century because of scientific advances such as public health measures, improved sanitation, new medical knowledge – and vaccines. Just one current example: measles were declared eliminated in America around 2000. then anti-vaxxers gained influence – and we have serious outbreaks among mostly unvaccinated people. American schools routinely required students get vaccinated against highly infectious diseases. then – anti-vaxxers gained influence – some diseases are making comebacks. COVID 19 is a glaring example of unvaccinated people dying in greater numbers – and the threat they posed to people around them. Many wore masks longer, stayed away from crowds because of the threat to THEIR health by people refusing to get COVID 19 vaccinations.

2] climate change crisis is “a hoax”. – Headlines alone refute this: fires, floods, deforestation, droughts, heat waves, oceans heating up, the arctic melting, animals and plants migrating away from the equator, and much more. Fossil fuel corporations admitted climate change was real in the 1970s – have fought against change ever since. Petro states and fossil fuel corporations pump out continual misinformation and lies about dangers to the earth, plants, animals, and people on it. Heat records are continually being set and reset…………..

*** “Fools are more dangerous than rogues.” [ George Bernard Shaw ]

3]. the 2020 American presidential election was ‘stolen” – The loser lost by 7 million popular votes. He lost by tens of thousands of votes in marginal ‘electoral college” states. Numerous people, including people from his own political party, acknowledged that he lost. Elections people from all over America testified to the honesty of the election. This BIG. LIE. has become a cult ‘loyalty test” – one must support this Big Lie to be in good standing with the sore loser.

4]. immigrants are ‘stealing American jobs”. – Farmers have testified they CANNOT get native-born Americans to do the back-breaking work their farms require. One farmer testified he has recruited immigrants for over 15 years because of this FACT. Business people have testified that without immigrants their own business would be in trouble, maybe have to close. America is short over 400,000 manufacturing workers right now. [ 6/24/25; New York Times ]

***. “Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.” [ Plato ]

5]. cutting taxes for the rich is “good’ for America; benefits will “trickle down” to ME. – This has been STATISTICALLY disproven for many years. What HAS happened since 1981 is an ever-increasing income & wealth gap between the rich and the lower 90-95%. There are record numbers of American billionaires, more being added virtually every year. Millions are “food insecure”; hundreds of thousands are homeless; many are forced to work 2-3 jobs to survive. Businesses serving middle class customers are closing. People are NOT having children because they cannot afford to have them. All this, and much more, because the wealth of America is NOT being SHARED like it was 1947-73.

6]. America was founded as a “Christian nation” – it was NOT. We have clear, specific quotes from Founding Fathers against this. Best of all, we have 17776-1800 state constitutions of the original 13 states against this [see Edwin Gaustad’s “Faith of the Founders, Appendix B]. Four states prohibited a “religious test for office” [Article VI]. 8 states banned an active minister from their state government!!! [if we were going to have a “Christian nation” – would not some of the most desirable peope be active ministers?????]. 10 states had language prohibiting an official state church [Amendment I]. North Carolina, 1776 Constitution, Articles XXXIV: “..neither shall any person, on any pretense whatsoever, be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith..”, not have to pay to support ‘the maintenance of any minister or ministry contrary to what he believes is right..”

*** “The Master said, Yu, shall I teach you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, to recognize that you know it

and when you do not know a thing, to recognize that you do not know it. that is knowledge.” [ Confucius ]

***. “False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.” [ Socrates ]

***. “the greatest and noblest pleasure which men can have in this world is to discover new truths, and the next

is to shake off old prejudices.’ [ Frederick the Great ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, XXXXVI – Betraying his voters

~ tomdolen

*** “I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That’s why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration – and a very effective form of promotion.” [ Donald John Trump: “The Art of The Deal” ]

Note: This post supplies excerpts from: “Trump Has Betrayed His Working-Class Voters” [New York Times “Round Table”; 7/6/25]:
“As President Trump was poised to sign his signature policy bill into law, Times Opinion asked seven of our conservative columnists and contributors a simple question: Will it be good for America or bad for America? The group we convened included libertarians, New Right thinkers and traditional conservatives. Here’s what they thought.

BEST PROVISION
— David Brooks: “The increase in the child tax credit…and the tax-advantaged savings accounts for children…Those policies are proven to decrease child poverty, and they are consistent with the general trend we shod be taking: Spend more on the young and less on the old.”
– – David French: “The defense spending increase…is necessary and overdue….Russian aggression has escalated and China is engaged in an immense military buildup.”
— Matt Labash: “Even if I hate the bill – and I do – it seems to deeply irritate Elon Musk. And anything that irritates Musk as much as Musk irritates the rest of us should earn grudging credit as a karmic delivery system.”
— Katherine Mangu-Ward: “Extending the income tax provision in Trump’s 2017 tax cuts was a perfectly reasonable thing to do [though it should have been paired with more spending cuts].”
— Daniel McCarthy: “Americans deserve to keep more of the money they earn, so the scope and scale of the tax cuts are the best part of the bill.”
— Curt Mills: “The president has a mandate to combat illegal immigration…The signature policy bill infuses Immigration and Customs Enforcement and related agencies with cash and personnel. it is justified.”
— Matthew Schmitz: “Trump’s most notable second-term successes have come at the border, where he has reduced illegal crossings, and on campus, where he has changed the relationship between government and universities.”

WORST PROVISION
— Brooks: “THe [at least] $3 trillion increase in the public debt over the first decade…When your interest rates are higher than your economic growth rates, that makes for a long-term catastrophe. Or maybe not so long term.”
— French: “The biggest problem with the bill is also the most obvious: Tax cuts can’t be a priority when we need a military buildup and lower deficits. Instead, the Trump administration has chosen the most fiscally reckless course.”
— Labash: “It screws the poor and rewards the rich. Anyone still laboring under the illusion that this is a populist administration needs to understand that “for the people” means “only some of the people,” usually the millionaires and billionaires.”
— Mangu-Ward: “The debt implications are straight up insane….”if made permanent, the Senate bill would cost more than the CARES Act, the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS Act combined.””
— McCarthy: “..until the Pentagon can pass a rigorous financial audit, this threatens to throw goos money after bad. Defense is the department most in need of the Department of Government Efficiency treatment.””
— Mills: “A cause of America’s malaise at home is its illegitimate and hated empire abroad. The U.S. military-industrial complex doesn’t put America first. the Defense Department deserves to be focused, not further bloated. this bill goes in the wrong direction.”
— Schmitz: “Promoting personal responsibility through Medicaid work requirements may be laudable in theory. But it seems a bit rich when legislators are voting for a bill that swells an already staggering deficit. If the G.O.P. really believed in hard work, thrift and personal responsibility, it would rein in its own profligacy.”

WHAT ELSE. MATTERED
— Brooks: “Trump was elected by winning working-class voters. and all they get is no tax on tips..and a few other trifles? Americans are feeling betrayed. Democrats can now correctly argue that Trump has betrayed his working-class voters.”
— French: ‘This bill is a further reminder that Republicans in Congress have no independent will…very little courage. Republicans instead choose to do the wrong thing to placate Trump.”
— Labash: “Principled conservatives never stood a chance of shooting down this measure. Because Trump knows his audience and knows that Republicans are now as completely unprincipled as he is. When you’re in the cultist business – which 95 percent of them are – you either fall in line or go out of business.”
— Mangu-Ward: “Adopting a current policy base to claim that tax-cut extensions cost little is budgetary sleight of hand that not only obscures bonkers deficits but also undermines the Senate filibuster..”
— McCarthy: “Pulling a bill this big with a majority so small in the House is a feat of extraordinary political acumen, like ir or not.”
— Mills: “Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, or food stamps, are draconian. these are government programs that actually help younger Americans as this country lapses into gerontocracy.
— Schmitz: “You can’t keep slashing taxes while refusing to reduce spending. At some point, the G.O.P. will have to choose between tax cuts and entitlements.”

***. “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 bnaks that loaned him billions of dollars.” [ David Cay Johnston: “It’s Even Worse Than You Think”. Johnston is a Pulitzer Prize winner ]

*** “A lie told often enough becomes the truth.” [ Lenin ]

***. “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” [ Adolf Hitler ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness – XXXXV – Radical Republicans

~ tomdolen

***** “Those who seek absolute power…are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of
heaven on earth. And let me remind you, they are the very ones who always create the most
hellish tyrannies.” [ Senator Barry Goldwater – accepting the 1964 Republican nomination ]

Note: This post presents excerpts from former Republican governor Arne Carlson’s “Republicans have become radical. -they’re not worried about the spiraling debt, nor about their constituents’ needs. But they do worry about satisfying one particular president.” [Arne Carlson; Minnesota Star Tribune; 7/4/25]

1] “…there was no Democrat more vilified as a “reckless big spender” than President Lyndon Johnson, who was determined to fund an expanding war in Vietnam while launching his “Great Society” featuring Medicare, Medicaid and a host of antipoverty programs. Overall, his deficits averaged $12.4 billion, or o.8% of our gross domestic product..”

2]. “This grew to 2.2% of GDP when President Ronald Reagan assumed office in 1981 and nearly doubled during his term to 4%, largely as a result of massive tax cuts for the wealthy. Now, after further tax cuts for the wealthy by Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump [during his first term], that figure has risen to 6.7%. Overall, our national debt has increased from $908 billion when Reagan took office to more than $36 trillion today, an increase of 3,864%. [NOTE: read this again – “…largely as a result of massive tax cuts for the wealthy.” These obscene tax cuts for the rich are THE source of much American fiscal crises – and – are, and will be, used as excuses for more austerity. YOU, and your children, and your grandchildren – will suffer in. a society dominated by the rich.]

*****. “The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of government, as nearly as possible
in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively
enjoy under the protection of the state.” [ Adam Smith – yes THE. Adam Smith !!!!! ]

3]. “The result is that interest payments on our burgeoning debt have become the fastest growing part of our budget. Roughly 27% of all federal spending today is from borrowed money, and the more we cut taxes on the wealthy, the more debt we accumulate and the more vital spending that is in serious jeopardy.” [Under Trump this is now a FACT. Read headlines – critical services are being cut or weakened, experienced knowledgable people are being fired.]

***** A “life-long Republican” who knew Bush and Cheney personally told John Dean personally: “Just tell your
readers that..People should not vote for ANY Republican, because they’re dangerous, dishonest, and
self-serving…Democrats really do care about people who most need help from government; Republicans
care most about those who will only get richer because of government help…..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 w have will be unrecognizable and unworkable.” [ John Dean: “Broken
Government”; 2007. the John Dean who went to jail for Richard Nixon ]

4] “This Republican obsession with lowering the taxes on the rich not only balloons the deficit but substantially weakens our economy. Simply, we have gone from being the world’s largest international creditor to its largest debtor nation.

5]. “When Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican, was president, the budget was in balance while expanding Social Security, launching our national highway system, strengthening our alliances to contain Soviet expansion and growing the middle class. but he strongly supported a progressive tax system, with a rate of 91% on the wealthy.”

***** “..one of the two major parties, the Republican Party, has become an insurgent outlier – ideologically
extreme, contemptuous of the inherited social and economic regime; scornful of compromise;

unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; dismissive of the
legitimacy of its political opponents.” [Thomas Mann, Norman Ornstein: “It’s Even Worse Than
It Looks” – 2012. If Republicans were outliers then, what are they today???]

6] ” Since [1961], the wealthy have seen their tax ratwes reduced by 145%, while the middle class absorbed an approximately 10% increase.

7] “..the Trump Republicans of today are not conservative. They are totally radical with their willingness to concentrate power in the president while generating massive deficits tat will topple our economy. they have no plan for tomorrow and always blame their failings on others.”

*****”There is nothing strange or unexpected about Donald Trump. He is the logical conclusion of what the
Republican Party became over the last fifty or so years, a natural product of the seeds of race,
self-deception, and anger that became the essence of the Republican Party. Trump isn’t an
aberration..he IS the Republican Party in purified form.” [Stuart Stevens: “It Was All A Lie.”]

8]. “As to health care, the Peterson Foundation maintains that our current system is the “most expensive” at twice the cost when compared with other industrial nations and “generally no better than those of our peers.”

9] “Now our Minnesota Republicans in Congress want to add over $3.3 trillion to our debt load while inflicting unbelievable harm on everything in our state…”

*****. “Burn it to the ground and start over. That’s the answer I find myself giving when asked what should
b done with the Trump Republican Party.” [ Stevens” “It Was Al A Lie” – Stevens was for 25 years the lead
strategist and media consultant for many Republican campaigns. He was “an insider” who saw to much]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, XXXXIV – Political Violence

~ tomdolen

***** “Terror is the most effective political instrument.: [ Adolf Hitler ]

Note: This post presents excerpts from: “Political Violence. Is. Working” [ Tessie McMillan Cottom; New York Times; 6/22/25] – Read this article and EVERY other article on political violence you can.

***** “Every Communist must grasp the truth, “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” [Mao Tse-Tung ]

1] “Sometimes violent political speech is obvious, like the president calling former representative Liz Cheney a war hawk who should know what it feels like when “the guns are trained on her face.” But sometimes violent political speech is not what is said but isn’t said. Or even the way that it isn’t said. It was evident in President Trump’s insistence that those who stormed the U.S. Capitol in 2021 were “very special,” instead of violent insurrectionists. It was clear, too, in his callous response to last weekend’s assassinations, an obvious case of the dangerous escalation of political violence.”

*** “Violence does not and cannot exist by itself; it is invariably intertwined with the lie.” [ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn ]

2]. “A culture of fear shrouds this administration from the consequences of its actions. Trump taunts. He threatens. He hides his violent language behind humor that’s less funny than plausibly deniable. His behavior sets the tone for greedy political attention hogs….They curry his favor because they want his power for themselves….Online, loyalists act out a presidential vision of power by harassing and dehumanizing those he marks as ugly, stupid, lazy, fat and generally subhuman.”

***. “Just as death is the liquidation of being, dehumanization is the liquidation of being human.” [ Abraham Heschel ]

3] “Trump is the Republican Party. That is settled. His violent talk is, then, the official political communication strategy of that ruling party and its followers. And that ruling party is stripping this country for parts.”

*** “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him.” [ Leviticus. 19:13 ]

4] “Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way argued this year in Foreign Affairs that many political observers misunderstood how autocracy can look in a mature democracy. The administrative and electoral bureaucracy can and likely will continue to function. Instead, institutional and democratic failure would involve tilting the outcomes of normal democratic processes in favor of one party while grinding down opposition with a mix of retribution and fear. By that definition, our institutions are fracturing before our very eyes. Nowhere is that more evident than in our broken Congress.”

***. “Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together in new shapes of our own choosing.” [ George Orwell: “1984” ]

5]. “The erosion of political norms has driven a Republican-controlled Congress out of the business of checking the executive branch, essentially handing itrs power over to a man who styles himself a king. In 2020 the Democratic senator from Ohio at the time, Sherrod Brown, wrote in this newspaper that congressional Republicans feared retribution from Trump so much that they had abandoned their duty to the public.”

*** “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judicial, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, many justly be proclaimed the very definition of tyranny.” { James Madison: Federalist papers, #47; Founding Father, Fourth President ]

6]. “There’s the targeted harassment…Trump’s playbook, which is now the G.O.P. playbook, has long been to ruthlessly attack perceived enemies with ridicule and reputational punishment….”networked harassment”..the internet’s way of making doxxing people and spreading nasty rumors about them cheap, easy and undetectable.

*** “Exploitation is the essence of violence.” [ Mohandas K. Gandhi ]

7]. “The online part of violent political speech makes the violence seem twee, as if it was something teenage girls do on TikTok. But online harassment ruins lives and breaks people by socially isolating them. We should have more respect for teenage girls now that the president of the United States is enforcing fealty using his own burn book.”

*** “The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is in the minds of the oppressed.” [ Steve Biko ]

8] “Would a conspiracy-obsessed man really have broken into Representative Nancy Pelosi’s home and beaten her husband’s skull with a hammer if not for the inescapable online narrative that cast her as a unique villain to the American people?”………
“In other words, maybe the Gestapo won’t be jackbooted thugs but keyboard warriors. And maybe the keyboard warriors are worse.”

*** “[To fanatics}. all thought is divinely classified into two kinds – that which is their own and that which is false and dangerous.” [ Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson ]

9] “What matters is political violence is here and it is working. Congressional Republicans fear the sort of retribution that would not simply oust them from office but would threaten their lives and those of their staff members and their families.”

***. “You can get a lot more done with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word.” [ Al Capone ]

Note’ consider this – that among the costs of political violence is this: “Security has been a growing priority at all levels of government in recent years….The unprecedented violence….The amount of money federal candidates..have spent on security has grown significantly during the last decade…”It is unfortunate that is today’s climate of toxic political rhetoric and rampant disinformation..” [ Jessie Van Berkel: “Security a real priority for politicians; Minnesota Star Tribune; 7/3/25 ]
note this problem “ha grown significantly during the past decade.” – now what, or who, has occurred in the last decade in American politics??????? Do you think, just maybe, that THE cause is none other than Donald John Trump?????? Is it possible that “toxic political rhetoric and rampant misinformation is THE characteristic of one Donald John Trump??????? Who else has supplied us with some 30,000 recorded lies????? Who else functions primarily on insults and public humiliations??????? Who else has a NEED to extract revenge????? Who else has dropped veiled threats of political violence – and excused – and pardoned violent perpetrators???????

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, XXXXV – Corruption V – Cashing In

~ tomdolen

*****. “The Trump presidency is about Trump. Period. Full stop. He says so himself all the time.”
[ Pulitzer Prize winner. David Cay Johnston: “It’s Even Worse Than You Think.” ]

Note: This post presents excerpts from “President Is Cashing In On Crypto Investment” [ Ben Protess, Andrea Fuller; New York Times; 6/15/25 ]1]

1]. “Donald J. Trump got a small taste last year of life as a cryptocurrency mogul. His stake in World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency firm…earned about $57 million, making it one of the Trump family’s most lucrative investments in 2024. And a licensing deal involving a related industry, NFT collectibles, produced another $1.2 million.

2]. “Since Mr. Trump took office a second time this year, his crypto fortunes have skyrocketed through a series of business ventures that pose unprecedented conflicts of interest. Not only is Mr. Trump a major operator in the crypto industry, he is also its top policymaker – and a symbol of its rising stature in Washington.”

***** “Everyone asks if a man is rich, no one if he is good.” [ Euripides ]

3] “Even as the president seeks to deregulate and promote the industry, Mr. Trump’s personal net worth has soared through crypto.”

4] “..Mr. Trump developed a personal cryptocurrency known as $TRUMP, a memecoin launched days before his inauguration, that on paper could be worth billions of dollars.”

*** “The difference between a pickpocket and a robber baron is mostly a matter of opportunity.” [ Anonymous ]

5] “Mr. Trump also earned early returns on several new real estate deals, in which he licenses the family name to hotels, golf clubs and other properties around the world. the deals have cropped up in countries that are crucial to American foreign policy interests – Saudi Arabia and Qatar, among them – blurring the lines between his presidency and his personal business.” [note: some have said blurring the lines is an objective]

7] “Last year, Mr. Trump also earned royalties on products that capitalized on his political fame: more than $3 million for his books, $1.3 million for a Trump-endorsed Bible, $2.8 million from “Trump Watches” and $2.5 million from “Trump Sneakers and Fragrances.” A Trump-branded guitar generated more than $1 million in royalties.”

***. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.”
[ Jesus – Matthew 19:24 ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, XXXXII – Monetizing The U.S. Presidency – Corruption IV

~ tomdolen


***** “I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.” [ Donald John Trump:
“Dismal marks, only two months in”; George Will; Washington Post Weekly; 3/23/25 ]

Note: this post presents excerpts from “The monetization of the presidency, with little protest”; Peter Baker; New York Times; 6/1/25 – read the entire article !!!!!]

1] “The Trumps are hardly the first presidential family to profit from their time in power, but their patriarch has done more to monetize the presidency than anyone who has ever occupied the White House. The scale and the scope of the presidential mercantilism has been breathtaking.”

2] “The Trump family and its business partners have collected $320 million in fees from a new cryptocurrency, brokered overseas real estate deals worth billions of dollars and is opening an exclusive club in Washington called the Executive Branch charging $500,000 apiece to join, all in the past few months alone.”

***** “…former first term Cabinet and staff members – Tillerson called Trump “a moron;” James Mattis said Trump was “more dangerous than anyone could ever imagine;” John Kelly said Trump was “the most flawed person I have ever met;” John Bolton said Trump was ‘a laughing fool.” [Ashley Parker, Michael Scherer: “Donald Trump Is Enjoying This”; The Atlantic; June, 2025]

3]. “Just last month, Qatar handed over a luxury jet meant for Trump’s use not just in his official capacity but also for his presidential library after he leaves office. Experts have valued the plane..at $200 million – more than all of the foreign gifts bestowed on all previous American presidents combined.”

4]. “..Trump hosted an exclusive dinner at his Virginia club for 220 investors in the $TRUMP cryptocurrency that he started days before taking office.. Access was openly sold based on how much money they chipped in – not to a campaign account but to a business that benefits Trump personally.”

***** “Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power.”
[ George Bernard Shaw ]

5]. “.. a mark of how much Trump has transformed Washington since his return to power is the normalization of moneymaking schemes that once would have generated endless political blowback, televised hearings, official investigations and damage control. The dearth of outrage in the Trump era…exemplifies how far the president has moved the lines of accepted behavior in Washington.”

6]. “Trump, the first convicted felon elected president, has erased ethical boundaries and dismantled the instruments of accountability that constrained his predecessors. There will be no official investigations because Trump has made sure of it. He has fired government inspectors general and ethics watchdogs, installed partisan loyalists to run the Justice Department, FBI and regulatory agencies and dominated a Republican-controlled Congress unwilling to hold hearings.

***** “When is conduct a crime, and when is a crime not a crime? When Somebody Up There – a monarch, a dictator, a Pope, a legislator – so decrees.” [ Jessica Mitford ]

7] “When Trump provokes a major news story every day or even every hour – more tariffs on allies, more retribution against enemies, more defiance of court orders – rarely does a single action stay in the headlines long enough to shape the national conversation.”

8] “The American public has had to inure itself to the corruption of Donald Trump and his presidency because the president and his Republican Party have given the American public no choice in the matter,” said J. Michael Luttig, a conservative former appeals court judger who has become a critic of Trump.” [NOTE: – †his challenge to YOU – WHY has this distinguished CONSERVATIVE former judge become a Trump critic?????????? Investigate this man to find out the background of him; then figure out WHY Judge Luttig has become a Trump critic.]

***** “The wicked walk about freely when the vilest men are exalted.” [ Psalm 12:8 ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, XXXXI – Russian Similarities

~ tomdolen

***** “Power must never be trusted without a check.” [ John Adams, Founding Father, Second President ]

“Six Russian Terms For What’s Happening In America” [ Maria Kuzetsova, Dan Storyev; New York Times; 6/15/25}:

1] “We both grew up in Russia in the early 2000s and lived through the country’s gradual slide into authoritarianism under President Vladimir Putin…In recent months we have been noticing something worrying: The same markers of authoritarianism we know from our youth have been appearing in America.”

2] “Our American friends often struggle to describe what exactly is happening…in part, they simply don’t have the language for it. We do. Over decades of facing dictators, Russians have developed a rich vocabulary to make sense of authoritarian reality – a weave of neologisms, coded jokes, doublespeak and Aesopian language.”

3]. “Words like “oligarchy” and “gulag” have been pressed into use as people try to make sense of President Trump’s administration…We decided to write a phrase book..to help Americans name their new reality. Because when we can describe what is happening, it becomes a bit easier to fight it.”

4] “Mnogohodovochka” is an ironic Russian term that translates literally as “multiple steps” and usually means “master plan.” The term emerged online to mock the Kremlin’s need to explain Mr. Putin’s actions, even when they made no sense. State media presents everything he does as part of a brilliant long-term plan that will – one day – bring great benefit to ordinary citizens.” [note” observe Republican verbal gymnastics defending Trump!!!!!]

5] “One of Mr. Putin’s plans has actually been successful: the building of a “power vertical.” or. “vertikal vlasti” in Russian. It essentially means a hypercentralized, strictly hierarchical system of governance.”………..
“Remind you of anything?…this approach aligns all too well with the so-called unitary executive theory, long pushed by American conservatives. According to it, the president has the sole authority over the executive branch, which supersedes the rest. Mr. Trump has already put the principle to strenuous use, flooding the country with executive orders and defying the courts.”
“When you see your government hiring people based exclusively on loyalty, threatening political opponents, making nonpartisan agencies politically dependent and even effectively disobeying the Supreme Court, know: This is what a power vertical looks like.”

***** “The most odious of all oppressions are those which mask as justice.” { Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson }

6] “Who helps the leader establish his power vertical? Roughly translated as “men of power,” ‘siloviki”. is a political caste authorized to use violence against citizens.”

“Siloviki” is perhaps the most borrowed word in Russian studies – probably because it explains so much about Mr. Putin’s Russia. Its members are the police, the border control, the army, the security services, the spies.” ……..

“When we watched the videos of the arrests of Mahmoud Khalil or Rumeysa Ozturk, we felt a horrible sense of deja vu. Men in plain clothes taking an activist away? We have seen it before, many times. This is the work of Mr. Trump’s budding. siloviki – operating without a warrant, in defiance of due process and under political orders.”

***** “The very first essential for success is a perpetually consistent and regular employment of violence.”

[ Adolf Hitler }

7] “Dictators are relatively powerless without a pliable population creating the illusion of support for the leader. That’s where “byudzhetniki” come in. the word literally means “budget people” and describes the various people whose livelihoods depends on the government. In Russia they could hold almost any position: civil servants, students, workers, teachers, doctors.’
“The authorities are not shy about using this dependency as leverage. those images of cheering crowds at mr. Putin’s Red Square speeches? You might be surprised to find out that a large chunk, if not a majority, have been pushed to attend. by their employers…”Byudzhetniki”. are everywhere in Russia.”……..
“In America, this kind of paid-for partisanship is rare. But there are signs the Trump administration wants its own byudzhetniki.”

8] “What does all this authoritarianism lead to? In Russia, imperialism and war….many in the Kremlin were certain that Russia’s place must be at the center – at least of the former Soviet Union. The. “near abroad”. denoted former Soviet republics, suggesting that they might be independent but just for now.”……
“The term entered the American vocabulary when the U.S. military used it to describe Greenland and Panama in an internal memo. The way the Trump administration has been talking about these countries has us flabbergasted. It repeats, trope by trope, the Kremlin’s propaganda leading up to the war in Ukraine..”….

9] “Good czar, bad boyars”…Dating back to imperial Russia, it describes the belief that the ruler is wise and benevolent but is surrounded by corrupt officials and elites – boyars, in czarist Russia – who sabotage the ruler’s good intentions.
“Kremlin propaganda is suffused with that sentiment…that if Mr. Putin only knew about their suffering, he would help them.” ………
“We can see this playing out pretty clearly in America. The MAGA movement encourages supports to “trust the plan>”. And when things go wrong, as with “Signalgate,” Mr. Trump distances himself from it. He similarly stayed away from the Department of Government Efficiency and ushered mr. Musk out the door when he became too unpopular. The bad boyar had to go.”

***. “Great is the mischief of a legal crime.” [ Ralph Waldo Emerson ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, XXXX – CORRUPTION II

~ tomdolen

In our 6/25/25 post on Trump corruption, I – begin now with a brief review:
“President Trump has more than doubled his personal wealth since starting his 2024 election campaign.”

*** “..one certainty..there is no way to access infinite wealth without rigging the system. NO one becomes a billionaire honestly.” [ Sarah Chayes: “On Corruption In America” ]

We resume providing excerpts from the 6/8/25 New York Times editorial, “The American System Is Not Designed To Resist Corruption”:

1] “During Mr. Trump’s first term, he frequently used his powers to reward himself. He held government events at his hotels, and his family business continued to make deals involving foreign governments, in apparent violation of the constitutional prohibition of enrichment from foreign leaders. But those erasures of ethical norms now look like a dress rehearsal for the ultimate production of the second term. Given the stakes, we believe..it is important to step back and document the range of self-dealing since he took office four months ago:

2] “While administration officials engage in complex negotiations in the Middle East, Mr. Trump and his family are making billions of dollars worth of deals with players in the region.

3] “During his first term, those currying favor with Mr. Trump bought drinks and dinner or spent the night at his Washington hotel. Now they can spend half a million dollars to join the private club Donald Trump jr. is opening in Georgetown.”

4]. “As his administration is negotiating with Vietnam to reduce the tariffs he imposed on the country’s goods, the government there is making way for a $1.5 billion golf complex outside Hanoi, as well as a Trump skyscraper in Ho Chi Minh City.”

5]. “Serbian officials cleared the way for a Trump International Hotel in Belgrade by using a forged document to permit the demolition of a cultural site at the location.”

6] “Mr. Trump has held meetings, including one in the Oval Office, to force a merger between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV golf circuit, which frequently holds tournaments on Trump courses.”

7]. “The right-wing activist Elizabeth Fago attended a $1 million-per-person fund-raising dinner for MAGA, Inc., Mr. Trump’s super PAC, in April. Less than three weeks later, The Times reported, he granted a full pardon to Ms. Fago’s son Paul Walczak, who pleaded guilty to tax crimes in 2014. The pardon is one of many issued by Mr. Trump to people who provided him with political or financial support or were associated with others who did.

8] “After personally suing media companies that the government regulates, including CBS/Paramount and ABC/Disney, Mr. Trump has won millions of dollars in settlements…….a baseless lawsuit Mr. Trump filed..”

9] “Amazon has agreed to pay #40 million for the right to a documentary about Melania Trump. That’s tens of millions more than such projects usually cost, Hollywood executives have said….Defense contracts for web services would be reason enough for Amazon to curry favor with Mr. Trump.”

10]. “Mr. Trump’s inaugural committee raised $239 million, mostly from large corporations and business leaders. The committee spent far less than that on the inauguration and faces few legal restrictions on ehat to do with the rest of the money.”

{Note: review items #2-#10 – this is a SMALL SAMPLE of how ‘YOUR’. president has used his public office to enrich himself and the favored few around him. In doing so, Trump has/is shredding 1779-2016 norms of ethical conduct, ignoring laws with impunity – partially because of the CORRUPT Roberts ‘court’ giving him immunity – an immunity that George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, FDR, Eisenhower didn’t need, didn’t ask for. The effect of Trump’s. NORMALIZING. corruption on American society, government, ethics and morals is not totally visible yet. But one thing is certain – the effect. WILL. NOT. BE. POSITIVE.}

*** “The consequences of turning a blind eye to government corruption go far beyond simply letting some corrupt politicians and bureaucrats walk free.” [ Tom Fitton ]

11]. “If Americans shrug this off as just “Trump being Trump.” his self-dealing will become accepted behavior. It will encourage other politicians to sell their offices. The damage will undermine our government, our society and even our economy. Historically, when corruption becomes the norm in a country, economic growth suffers, and living standards stagnate. Under Mr. Trump, the United States is sliding down that slope.”

*****. “You shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe: for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.” [ Deuteronomy 16:19 ]

*** “A wicked man takes a bribe secretly to pervert the ways of justice.” [ Proverbs 17:23 ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, XXXX – CORRUPTION, II

~ tomdolen

*****. “The point is you can’t be too greedy.” [ Donald John Trump ]

This post is excerpts from: “Trump’s Corrosive Culture Of Corruption” [New York Times editorial; 6/8/25] READ the entire article – more evidence ITEMIZED on the NORMALIZATION of corruption by Trump and people around him.”

***** “The corruption of the best things gives rise to the worst.” [ David Hume ]

1] “..and shortly after the Trump administration took office in January, the Securities and Exchange Commission paused its lawsuit against him on charges of cryptocurrency fraud.”
“The message seemed obvious enough: People who make Mr. Trump richer regularly receive favorable treatment from the government he runs.
“The cryptocurrency is perhaps the starkest example of the culture of corruption in his second term. He and his relatives directly benefit from the sale of their cryptocurrency by receiving a cut of the investment.”

2]. “Only a few years ago, Mr. Trump was deeply skeptical of cryptocurrency, calling it “potentially a disaster waiting to happen” and comparing it to the “drug trade and other illegal activity.” Since he and his family have become major players in the market, however, his concerns have evidently disappeared. He shut down a Justice Department team that investigated illegal uses of cryptocurrency. He pardoned crypto executives who pleaded guilty to crimes, and his administration dropped federal investigations of crypto companies. He nullified an Internal Revenue Service rule that went after crypto users who didn’t pay their taxes

***** “Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law.”

[ Justice Lous Brandeis]



3} “The self-enrichment of the second Trump administrration is different from old-fashioned corruption>>>>>Nonetheless, he is presiding over a culture of corruption. He and his family have created several ways for people to enrich them – and government policy then changes the ways that benefit those who have helped the Trumps profit.. Often Mr. Trump does not even try to hide the situation. As the historian Matthew Dallek recently put it, “Trump is the most brazenly corrupt national politician in modern times, and his openness about it is sui generis.” He is proud of his avarice, wearing it as a sign of success and savvy

***** “The corruption that hides in plain sight is the real threat to our democracy.” [ Zephyr Teachout ]

4]. “This culture is part of Mr. Trump’s larger efforts to weaken American democracy and turn the federal government into an extension of himself. He has pushed the interests of the American people to the side, in favor of his personal interests…By using the power of the people for personal gain, he degrades that power for any other purpose. He stains the reputation of the United States, which has long stood out as a place where confidence in the rule of law fosters confidence in the economy and financial markets. This country was not previously known as an executive kleptocracy.” [Note: for perspective, read Casey Michel’s. “American Kleptocracy” – 2021 – Trump is in it!]

Note: Our next post will provide ITEMIZATION compiled by the New York Times in this 6/8/25 editorial of the scope of Trump’s NORMALIZATION of corruption. Donald J. Trump, the people around him, the POWER BEHIND HIM are a CANCER on America. YOUR democracy is deliberately being destroyed by multiple ways by the Trump administration. Much was written up in “Project 2025,” the far right blueprint to create a plutocratic theocracy. Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” now in congress is 1,000 pages of more far right destruction and immorality – not the least is making Trump’s 2017 tax cuts for the rich permanent – which means services for people like YOU MUST be cut to pay for it.

Abraham once said that if America was to be destroyed it would have to come from within. YOU are now witnessing this destruction from within – by “..the most brazenly corrupt national politician in modern times…”
*****!!!!!*****. What are YOU going to do about it????? What are you going to say when your children ask?

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness – XXXIX – CORRUPTION, I

~ tomdolen

***** “Corruption..is an operating system of sophisticated networks in which government officials, key
private-sector interests, and our-and-out criminals interweave.” {Sarah Chayes: “On Corruption in America”]

Following are excerpts from: “The American System Is Not Designed To Resist Corruption”. [Ben Rhodes; New York Times; 6/8/25]. READ the article!!!!! Read and then THINK on every quote. Make no mistake – Donald J. Trump and cronies, and most importantly – THE POWER BEHIND THEM – ARE. corrupting YOUR government Partly for twisted ideological reasons, but most of all – GREED. Continuing 1981- Republican policies – they are cutting taxes on the already obscenely rich and corporations – and shifting the tax burden onto people like YOU.

1]. “President Trump has more than doubled his personal wealth since starting his 2024 election campaign. Billions of foreign dollars have flowed into his family’s real estate and crypto ventures. A plane that doublers as a “palace in the sky” has been given for Mr. Trump’s use by the government of Qatar.”

2]. “It is easy to dismiss this as just a bigger and more brazen version of the self-dealing we saw during the first Trump term. But it poses a more fundamental danger. Our political system is being transformed into something that no longer serves the people…the United States is seemingly becoming just another country with a corrupt strongman personalizing and profiting from power.” [ Read this again – slowly. think what has just been written here.]

***** “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty – power is ever stealing from the many to the few.” [ Wendell Phillips ]

3] “As with Mr. Trump and ..Recep Tayyyip Erdogan, this includes Mr. Orban’s son-in-law. Family members and associates double as gatekeepers and deal makers operating outside formal government roles, which come with rules and oversight.”……….
“The story he tells echoes America’s. A justice system being captured by the leader’s loyalists. Checks and balances weakened or ignored until they barely exist. Moral and ethical frameworks eroded. Oligarchs becoming richer and more powerful than institutions.” [ Read this again – THIS is what D.J. Trump has/is doing to America.]

4] “Mr. Lederer likened the pressure corruption puts on a system to a river bearing down on a dam. Once the dam breaks, you’re washed downriver by currents you can’t control…opposition parties in Hungary, as in the United State, failed to understand that the system had collapsed…because the rules and expectations it relied on had disintegrated beyond salvaging……The corruption becomes a flood, a new normal, carrying the entire country along with it..”

*****”To usurp supreme and absolute authority..in a freee state and subject it to tyranny, the people must have already
become corrupt by gradual steps from generation to generation.” [ Machiavelli ]

5]”Americans are further downriver than we seem to understand..over the past several months, Mr. Trump has made moves that far exceed anything Mr. Orban has done. What separates Mr. Trump from an Orban or even a Putin is the awesome economic, technological and military power of..the United States of America.
“No country has more leverage over the global economy. Through tariffs announced on every country on earth, Mr. Trump has personalized that power.

6]. “On “Liberation Day,” Mr. Trump announced a 46 percent tariff on imports from Vietnam. He then paused it and created a 90-day period to negotiate..the Vietnamese government hastily approved a $1.5 billion deal involving a Trump golf complex before a ceremony attended by Eric Trump…….
“It’s impossible to know if this was a quid pro quo for tariff relief. But the ambiguity is the point. Governments like Vietnam’s are left to wonder what they can do to appease the U.S. president.”

*****. “There is nothing so characteristic of narrowness of littleness of soul as the love of riches.” [ Cicero ]

7]. “The American people will be losers in this process. Mr. Trump has ideological and personal reasons to perpetuate tariff uncertainty to maintain his power. Even if he succeeds in extracting some trade concessions, America’s businesses, investors and consumers have to expect continued volatility, higher prices and only temporary resolutions to trade tensions..”

8] “In the second Trump term, A.I. is going to be increasingly deployed globally. In the absence of careful planning, U.S. workers could face mass job displacement. In the absence of regulation, A.I. poses security threats: from cybercrime, disinformation and surveillance to the production of new weapons to the unforeseen dangers of superhuman intelligence. Yet instead of empowering experts or negotiating norms, Mr. Trump has slashed government agencies and personalized decisions. The “big, beautiful bill” that passed the House would even bar states from regulating artificial intelligence for 10 years. Power and the potential to profit off it, rests with Mr. Trump and whomever he favors.” {!!!!! – Read this VERY carefully again – there is so much here that imperils YOU, your family, America it is mind boggling!!! Trump has literally “sold YOU down the river” – for GREED.]

***** “the point is you can’t be too greedy.” [ Donald J. Trump ]

9] “If deregulated crypto markets generate a worrisome bubble, will Mr. Trump prioritize his family’s investments or the health of the global financial system? If justice is selective and pardons can be purchased, will white-collar crime proliferate? If the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act continues to go unenforced, Will bribery be normalized as the cost of doing business?

10]. “Corruption is a powerful tool, but it is not popular. To build a movement powerful enough to push back on Mr. Trump’s self-dealing, Democrats must show people how it will affect their lives.”……
“Already Mr. Trump has cut government programs that people depend on but that do not bolster his power or offer opportunities for profit…the “big, beautiful bill” ..would be a boon to his family and the wealthiest supporters while slashing Medicaid and nutrition assistance. It would add over $2 trillion to the national debt wile exploding inequality and making life worse for many Americans. That too is a story of corruption..”

***** “You have despised the poor. Is it not the rich man who oppresses you, and drag you before the judgment seats?” [ James 2: 6 ]