+++. “Wooden-headedness consists of assessing a situation in terms of preconceived, 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 ]
Trumps’. Economic Ignorance
Beginning evidence for that unfortunate fact comes from “Real World Economics: Federal Reserve follies continue,” Edward Lotterman; St. Paul Pioneer Press; 8/31/25:
“The upshot is that we are $6.3 trillion, or 39.7%, above our pre-Covid bliss 4 1/2 years ago. So, in trying to force interest rates lower, Trump is demanding to further inflate an already historically high money supply even more. He is ignorant of †hat, but buyers and sellers of bonds and mortgage lenders understand it well. Trump doesn’t understand that markets, not Fed governors, are in the driver’s seat. Forcing overnight rates lower will drive long-term rates higher as inflation looms. No well-informed and sane person would want to go into the 2026 election with mortgage and medium-term farm and business loan interest rates rising, but our president seems hell-bent on that.”
Note: read the above again: “… Trump is demanding to further inflate…..He is ignorant of that…..Trump doesn’t understand…..No well-informed and sane person….seems hell-bent on that.”]
*** “A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.” [ William Blake ]
*** “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” [ Proverbs 29: 18 ]
Author: tomdolen
The August 27, 2025 Minneapolis church shooting – some thoughts……..
1] “A boy identified only as Victor laid on top of 10-year-old Weston Halsne during the Annunciation shooting. Victor was shot protecting his friend.
“That also means Victor has done more to protect a child during a school shooting than all the members of Congress elected in the last 30 years.” [ Jeremy powers; Minnesota Star Tribune “letter”; 8/29/25]
2] “It’s not about the ideology.
“It’s not about mental health.
“It’s not about video games.
“It’s not about social media.
“It’s not about the pronouns.
“It’s not about left or right.
“It’s not about freedom.
“It’s about the leading cause of death amoung children and adolescents in this country.
“It’s about the mass destruction that can be caused by anyone, anywhere, anytime for any reason at all.
“It’s about guns.” [John Neerland; Minnesota Star Tribune “letter”; 8/29/25]
3]. “New Zealand did something…Less than a month after the attack, Parliament voted 119-1 to introduce a nationwide ban on semi-automatic weapons and assault rifles.”…………….
“The U.K. did something….By the next year, Parliament had banned private ownership of most handguns and semi-automatic weapons, and required mandatory registration for shotgun owners. the U.K.hasn’t had a school shooting since.
“Norway did something…While Norway already had strict gun laws, they passed a ban on semi-automatic weapons in 2018, which went into effect in 2021.” [Maggie Kelly: “America grieves again and again. Other countries act.”; Minnesota Star Tribune; 8/29/25]
4] Amendment II: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Read ALL of the discussion among Founding Fathers on the Second Amendment – most importantly, WHY, they passed it.
5] James Madison’s original Second Amendment proposal contained this: an exemption from military service for those religiously scrupulous about bearing arms. It was left out of the shortened words adopted.
OBVIOUSLY – the Second Amendment was. INTENDED. to be about a GOVERNMENT military force – in 1787-91 – made up of private citizens. America now has this. It’s known as THE. NATIONAL. GUARD.
6] Get a professional English teacher to explain the rules of grammar on interpreting a sentence. the TRUE MEANING of a sentence takes into account ALL words in it. Amendment II has three sections: “A well regulated Militia.” “…the security of a free State”. ‘the right of people to keep and bear Arms.”
Obviously – people have Arms, in order to join a Militia, to protect the security of a free State. Obviously – if the “people’ aren’t in a Militia – they don’t need Arms. Which is what other, more rational and civilized nations have done
7]. CORRUPTION of the Second Amendment – was done by the CORRUPT Roberts ‘court” in 2008. they magically discovered a “meaning” that had eluded previous state and federal courts for over 200 years in numerous rulings, including multiple Supreme Court rulings.
8]. is America a “civilized’ nation. – IF – somebody, for reasons all his own – can obtain a MILITARY weapon – and then proceed to shoot up a school, a church, a store, a night club, etc. AND – our reaction is only to pray, make speeches, grieve by ourselves…. – BUT. REFUSE. to do THE. ONE THING THAT WILL STOP THS CARNAGE. – ban the weapons that do the killing and maiming????? We are not “free” – our children live in fear of being shot at school, are forced to do “live shooter drills.” We live in far for ONE REASON – some crazed person will kill us, with a gun.
It is time to elect people who WILL pass strict gun laws – like New Zealand, UK, Norway have done. PERIOD.
The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, LVIII – Four Minnesota and Two Wisconsin Republican Congress Critters Disgrace Themselves and America
Perhaps YOU missed it – but in July, 2025, 6 Republican Congress Critters felt compelled to send a letter to Canada”s American ambassador – complaining that Canadian wildfire smoke was affecting the lives of American citizens, and criticizing Canada’s forest-management policies !!!!! NOT making this up !!! They really did it !!!
This – a prime indicator of the Trump era STUPIDITY, CRUELTY, CRAZINESS. What else, besides ‘proving” to their FAR RIGHT voters that they’re “fighting for them” ?, would they insult the ambassador of America’s historic number one friend in the world ???????
***. “Fools are more dangerous than rogues.” [ George Bernard Shaw ]
It gets worse, as “letters-to-the-editor” pointed out:
— there are currently 12 wildfires burning in U.S. states; 2 national parks had to evacuate staff and visitors [M.J.; 7/15/25; Minnesota star Tribune]
– “the real cause is climate change” – higher temperatures, reduced snowpack, more combustible fuels, linger fire season. Suggesting better policies is “ludicrous” – most Canadian wildfires are in remote areas of vast boreal forest, far from firefighting infrastructure. ˇhese same people voted for Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” – which cut tax-incentives aimed at reducing greenhouse emissions. since 1750, the U.S. produced about 24% of CO2 emissions, Canada about 2%. [ S.H. 7/15/25; Minnesota Star Tribune]
– our Minnesota- Wisconsin Republicans “must have already forgotten where the wind was blowing when St. Louis County was burning up this spring” and the resulting smoke over Canada. {Jill Burcum: “That Wildfire smoke blows both ways”; 7/16/25; Minnesota star Tribune}
Not content with July’s letter – Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, Wisconsin Republicans signed. ANOTHER. letter in August, 2025, berating Canada for how its handling of fires ruined the summer tourist season!!! One Minnesota Republican filed a complaint with the U.S. EPA. and. the International Joint Commission – to investigate Canada’s handling of its fires !!!
A University of British Columbia forest ecologist noted that “70 years of fire suppression” in both the U.S. and Canada “is what allowed so much fuel to stockpile on the forest ground.” WE BOTH cut down mature trees to maximize profit -and left the rest – much of which is burning…..
Trump’s tariffs have made fire equipment 30% more expensive in Canada. An $850,000 truck of 3 years ago now costs. $1.4-$1.5 million. [Kristopher Tigue: “Smoke ignites more cross-border tension”; 8/16/25; Minnesota Star Tribune]
THEN – there’s TRUST. “Replacing agreements is one thing. Replacing trust is another. And that’s at risk with Trump’s economic and geopolitical aggression.” [John Rash: “Trump risks U.S. and Minnesota’s key relationship with Canada”. 5/8/25; Minnesota Star Tribune]. [NOTE: this was written two months before the infamous Congressional Republican’s July and August “complaint” letters.]
TRUST – for about 150 years, the U.S. and Canada had the world’s most peaceful and TRUSTFUL border in the world. There was a library between Vermont and Quebec which straddles the border. Crazy Trumpsters wanted Canadians to go through U.S. customs to enter. THEIR. library. One angry Canadian punched out an entrance on the Canadian side to thwart that bit of STUPIDITY-CRUELTY-CRAZINESS by YOUR government. There is an “International Peace Garden”. “that honors the long friendship between Canada and the United States’. that straddles the North Dakota-Manitoba border, established in 1932. There have been joint governmental buildings housing Canadian and American government departments along the u.S.-Canada border. Historic. TRUST.
***. “When we begin to build walls of prejudice, hatred, pride, and self-indulgence around ourselves we are more surely imprisoned than any prisoner behind concrete walls and iron bars.” [ Mother angelica ]
People may forget, even forgive. STUPIDITY, CRUELTY, CRAZINESS. – BUT. – they are unlikely to forget, unlikely to forgive HOW. YOU. TREATED. THEM. the REAL enemies of freedom and democracy are Russia and China. – NOT. countries, formerly friendly and “allies.” An intelligent American government would know this, act accordingly. – and. NOT alienate countries like Canada that are needed to combat the REAL enemies of democracy – Russia and China. Which also totally ignores how much genuine affection there HAS been – before Trump – between Canadians and Americans.
***** to Canadian readers, citizens – please consider this to be a public apology from Americans horrified by our mistreatment of Canada. Myself, my family, friends – all made many trips to Canada. there are NO better people on this earth than the Canadians we met on those trips, from the 1950s forward. I am sorry……..
The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, LVII – The Corruption of the American Soul
***** “How can you say to your brother, “Let me pull the speck out of your eye,” and behold, a plank is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take out the plank from your own eye, and then shall you see clearly to take out the speck from your brother”s eye.” [ Matthew. 7: 3-5 ]
Of all the crimes against America and Americans by Donald John Trump, perhaps the worst, the most insidious, likely the longest-lasting, will be the egregious damage and corruption of the American soul. The Trumpian virus eats away at America’s aggregate humanity and simple decency. Trump has inspired hate, not love; fear, not optimism; suspicion, not trust. This has, will continue, to take a great toll on how WE as ordinary Americans treat each other.
1]. “Trump’s perverse genius, and he follows in the footsteps of cult leaders and dictators alike, is to convince his followers that the world is a dangerous place that only he can fix.”………..
“According to Malkin, political leaders such as Hitler, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong-un exhibit malignant narcissism. As Robert Jay Lifton notes in “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump,” such narcissism in a leader can lead to “malignant normality”…people can come to accept aberrant and even pathological behavior as the new norm, especially when it is exhibited by an authority figure. He applies this to Trump..” [Steven Hassan: “The Cult of Trump”]
Note: “…”malignant normality”…people can come to accept aberrant and even pathological behavior as the new norm..” This is painfully becoming obvious in America – after 9 years plus of Trump’s insults and public put-downs, a new brutality has been unleashed. The necessary self-restraints and norms about how decent people treat each other in a “civilized society’ have, are, being ripped away. So ordinary people feel “justified’ in cruelty.
*****. “Instead of clearing his own heart, the zealot tries to clear the world.” [ Joseph Campbell ]
2] “Trans panic zealots are following girls into the bathroom now, I guess”. [Noor Adwan; Minnesota Star Tribune; 8/l4/25]:
A]. “A Minnesota nonprofit filed a discrimination charge against a Buffalo Wild Wings location in Owatonna, Minn., on Tuesday after a server allegedly followed an 18-year-old into a bathroom, then proceeded to bang on the stall door demanding that the teen prove she was a girl.”
B]. “According to the news release from Gender justice, the high schooler – feeling trapped and humiliated – resorted to unzipping her hoodie to ‘show she had breasts”. in order to make it stop.”
C]. “Here’s the thing, though: G.M., the teen on whose behalf the charge was filed, isn’t trans. but it’s no secret that this type of moral panic is simply a way of alienating and shaming those who don’t conform to societal expectations of gender expressions.”
D]. “We know G. was targeted because of how she looks, [her step-mother]. is quoted as saying in the news release.”
*****. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.” {Ephesians. 4: 32]
BUT – CRUELTY is a major part of the Trump strategy. Important people around Trump, in his administration, have publicly stated, bragged, this is their INTENT. Be intentionally cruel to create fear. It’s worked. there are ever increasing cases like the young girl of this post. – instances where ‘ordinary’ Americans felt “justified” to treat other Americans with malice and cruelty.
***** “Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law….no court can save it.” [ Judge Learned Hand ]
The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, LVI – Trump’s DICTATORSHIP is Created Right Before YOUR Eyes
***** “When the rights of any individual or group are chipped away, the freedom of all erodes.” [Earl Warren]
Look around YOU, at daily headlines!!! American freedoms, YOUR freedoms, are being chipped away – issue after issue, group after group. If YOU don’t fit the “Trump vision” of what “loyal” American is – YOU are a candidate for legal action against YOU.
In how many ways is the Trump administration trying to censor information, to rewrite American history? – changing signs in national parks, changing ow the Smithsonian operates, deleting information from government websites, attacking universities, dictating PUBLIC school curriculum, attacking journalists, attacking judges………..
1] Read Jason Stanley’s. “Erasing History…How Fascists…Rewrite…The Past…To control…The Future.” Or – read “1984,”
Or – study how Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany, Communist China….have done this in REAL LIFE.
*** “Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.” [Harry Truman, U.S. President]
People in 2025 America. ARE living in fear – many different categories for different reasons. THAT has been an ANNOUNCED goal of the Trump administration.
2] Remember this – there were at least 6 major badges in Auschwitz: red for “politicals,” green for “criminals,” pink for homosexuals, black for “anti-socials,” purple for Jehovah’s Witnesses, yellow for Jews. [Peter Padfield; “Himmler”]
The Trump administration has now DONE what it said a previous administration did: WEAPONIZE the federal government AGAINST the American people. Look at what and WHO is favored, NOT attacked or persecuted. THEN – look at what or WHO IS attacked or persecuted. Things that support average Americans like YOU are attacked – grants to build infrastructure, support public education, support science; student loans [this recall process could ripple through the economy]; a rational and fair tax structure; the dispensing of critical information [weather, economic data]; crippled and withheld; changing voting rules, practices, laws;…and much more…………
*** “Those who suppress freedom always do so in the name of law and order.” [John Lindsay]
3] CORRUPTING the 2026 congressional elections !!!!!!!!!!!! – Right in YOUR face !!!!!!!!!
A] Trump DEMANDED that Texas re-do its congressional election districts in order to FIND ways to CREATE 5 safe Republican seats – and, of course, Texas Republicans followed their marching orders from Der Leader. So now – either Democrats accept this corruption. – or. – they fight back. – producing a “race to the bottom”. -which threatens American democracy.
B} Read daily headlines of this Trump-ordered CORRUPTION – “Trump to target mail-in voting’ [Dylan Wells; Washington Post; 8/19/25]: “…Trump in a series of misleading statements….another sign Trump is trying to alter the rules around voting….falsely claiming….widespread fraud….The Constitution does not allow the president to direct states what to do, as Trump falsely claimed….he has used the method himself..” [!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
C] Read “Project 2026…Trump’s Plan To Hijack The Next Election” [Ari Berman: Mother Jones; September-October, 2025}
D}. Research “gerrymander” – since 1812 recognized as a CORRUPT election maneuver – and, of course, ther CORRUPT Roberts “court” refused to rule it out !!!!!!!!!!
Read and listen to daily headlines on REAL mainstream news, U.S. and foreign. Donald Trump and the Rasputins around him, many from “Project 2025,” are carrying out the long-range plans of the FAR RIGHT – read how they planned it:
– “Evil Geniuses” [Kurt Andersen]; “The Conspiracy To End America” [Stuart Stevens]; “Democracy In Chains [Nancy MacLean]; “Dark Money” [Jane Mayer]: “Antidemocratic: Inside the Far Right’s 50-Year Plan To Control American Elections” [David Daley]; “Vigilante Nation” {Jon Michaels, David Knoll]; “On Tyranny” [Timothy Snyder]; “How Fascism Works” [Jason Stanley]; “Twilight of Democracy” [Anne Applebaum]
*** “We can either have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentration in the hands of a few. but we can’t have both.” [Justice Lous Brandeis]
*** “You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man’s freedom. You can only be free if I am free.” [Clarence Darrow]
True, real, American democracy now hangs by an increasingly threatened narrow thread. – what are YOU going to do to protect YOUR freedom – and that of YOUR children and of YOUR grandchildren ????????????
*** “The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.” [Dante Alighieri]
The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, LV – Making Up “Enemies” That “Only I”. Can Save YOU From!
*** “This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs: When he first appears, he is a protector” [Plato]
Donald Trump NEEDS “enemies.” He desperately needs to find ‘enemies” – so “Only I”. can save YOU from “them.” Times, places, villains, “reasons” change – the formula does not. Find an “enemy”; cook up some “rationale”; be the “strong man on horseback”. who rides in to “save” America.
Consider Trump’s most recent episode: “saving” Washington, D.C. from “caravans of mass youth” rampaging city streets. And: “Our capital city has been overtaken by vilent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people.”
Trump’s “solution?” – Call in the military. Send in National Guard troops, FBI agents, U.S. marshals, D.E.A agents, Alcohol,Tobacco,Firearms & Explosives agents and other agents. Are these people ALL trained to police American streets? NOT HARDLY !!!!!!!!!! Is putting these people on D.C. streets going to hurt American national security in the areas from which their expertise is, and, they’re now pulled away from? YES !!!!!!!!!! – as numerous people have already testified.
***** “Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear – kept us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor –
with the cry of grave national emergency.” [ General Douglas MacArthur, 1957 ]
Consider information on these issues from the following excerpts:
A] “Trump send Guard into D.C.” [Josh Boak, David Klepper; Associated Press; 8/12/25]
1]. “…activating 800 members of the National Guard in the hopes of reducing crime, even as city officials stressec crime is already falling in the nation’s capital.”
2] “..push his tough-on-crime agenda, though he has not proposed solutions to the root causes of homelessness or crime.”
3]. “The president dismissed the idea Washington needed to enlarge its 3,500-officer police force, even as he seeks to have more armed personnel going through the city with the goal of reducing crime.” [!!! But – that would be too logical, and, more importantly, would not be “good TV’ !!!!!!!!]
4]. “While Trump has portrayed himself as a friend to law enforcement and enjoyed the political backing from many of their groups, he pardoned or commuted the sentences of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes in the deadly Jan.6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, including people convicted of assaulting police officers.”
*** “The true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity.” [Andre Gide]
5] “…the federal government could be far more helpful by funding more prosecutors or filling the 15 vacancies on the D.C. Superior Court, some of which have been open for years.”
6 “Trump has emphasized the removal of Washington’s homeless population, though it was unclear where the thousands of people would go, and he did not give details..”
***** “Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.” [ Aristotle ]
B] “Trump Proclaims Federal Control Of The D.C. Police” [Katie Rogers; New York Times; 8/12/25]
1] “..Mr. Trump painted Washington as an urban hellscape, repurposing some of the incendiary language he has used to describe conditions on the southern border. Mr. Trump has railed against crime in urban, largely liberal cities for decades…’
2] “There are practical questions about how Mr. Trump’s plans would be carried out…Federal officials were still working out many of the operational details…”
3] “Mr. Trump’s remarks seemed largely aimed at rewriting history and the reality of crime in Washington. Soon after he took office, mr. Trump pardoned hundreds of rioters…”
4] “.. in summer. 2020, Mr. Trump deployed more than 5,000 National Guard troops to Washington to crack down on mostly peaceful demonstrators pushing for racial justice…widely seen as a debacle.” [ Would it be correct to say that under a Trump regime – it matters WHO you are when you demonstrating???]
***** “There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be trust no man living with the
power to endanger the public liberty.” [ John Adams ]
C] “Military Is Again Pulled Into a Domestic Concern”. [ Eric Schmitt, Helene Cooper; New York Times; 8/12/25]
1] “.. the latest example of how the president has used the military to advance domestic policy priorities…Already this year, Mr. Trump has deployed some 10,000 active-duty troops to the southwest U.S,. border to choke off the flow of drugs as well as migrants, and 4,700 National guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles to quell protests..”
2] “Mr. Trump last month secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that his administration has deemed terrorist organizations.
3]. “The U.S. military responds quickly to executive directives. for that reason, it is a preferred institution for a president who presents himself as tough on crime, undocumented immigrants, drugs, “woke” culture and other perceived domestic enemies.’
4] “Mr. Trump’s directive deploying National Guard troops to Washington ‘is a fraught one because it will seem partisan from the go,’ said Peter Feaver, a political science professor at Duke University. “The military does not train for normal police beat-walking missions,’ Mr. Feaver said..”
5]. “This is part of a pattern where the administration is using and appropriating military resources for nonmilitary domestic goals,” said Carrie A. Lee, the former chair of the department of national security and strategy at the Army War College.”
6]. “During Mr. Trump’s first term, Pentagon and military leaders cautioned him against using troops to shoot racial justice protesters in the legs, as former aides have said he suggested.” [looks like, to Trump, it DOES matter WHO you are when you “protest” – trashing the U.S. Capitol would be forgiven, racial justice would NOT]
7] “…members of the California National Guard said the deployment to Los Angeles had eroded morale…Guard officials also expressed concerns that the deployment would hurt re-enlistment.”
Would an administration noted for being vengeful, partisan, ideological, be sending armed American military into cities – be doing that ONLY in Democratic-run cities, in “blue’ states??? have, are, any SIGNIFICANT raids occurred in Republican-run cities and states??? Just asking………..
***** “If Fascism came to America, it would be on a program of Americanism.” [ Huey p. Long ]
The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, LIV – Eliminating ANY Bad News to Cover Up Incompetence
***** “Why sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” [Alice in Wonderland]
Nothing illustrates the. STUPIDITY, CRUELTY, CORRUPTION, CRAZINESS, INCOMPETENCE of the Trump DICTATORSHIP than the recent firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics leader. No fact-based, competent. administration would be this stupid and incompetent. Dear people; America is very quickly becoming a kleptocratic “Banana Republic.” Right before your eyes.
Consider REAL. WORLD. FACTS – as reported in these three articles:
1] “Why the Bureau of Labor Statistics regularly revises jobs data” [Ben Casselman; New York Times; 8/10/25]
2] “In Trump we trust, at our own peril” [Edward Lotterman; St. Paul Pioneer Press; 8/10/25]
3]. “Numbers Don’t Lie. Can We Keep It That Way?” [Jeff Sommer; New York Times; 8/10/25]
***** “The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.” [Alexandre Dumas]
A] “Why the Bureau of Labor Statistics regularly revises jobs data”
1] “To the economists and investors who obsessively scrutinize the employment numbers, revisions are normal – an inevitable if sometimes frustrating part of trying to measure a $30 trillion economy.”
2]. “Trump claimed without evidence that McEntarfer had “rigged” the numbers to hurt him politically.”
3]. “Economists across the political spectrum decried McEntarfer’s firing, and dismissed the notion that she would, or could, meddle with the monthly jobs figures.”
4]. “The challenges facing the agency, they added, long predated McEntarfer’s leadership and will be difficult for her successor to address without increased funding. Instead, the Trump administration has proposed further cuts to the agency’s budget.” [ Trump. stupidity, incompetence. illustrated, PROVED !!!!!!! ]
5] “The average revision during Trump’s first six months in office is almost identical to the average during the four years of the Biden administration.
B] “In Trump we trust, at our own peril” [Edward Lotterman; St. Paul Pioneer Press; 8/10/25]
1] “..President Donald Trump’s lying about the validity of the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s job numbers released and then firing its very capable commissioner.
2]. “..in great part because he and minions like Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic council, keep doubling down, the damage may be broader, longer-lasting, and perhaps irreversible. However, few voters or members of the Republican party seem to appreciate the gravity of what is happening.”
3] “Start with some simple facts and contradictions: 1. Trump wants lower interest rates, especially on politically critical ones like mortgages. 2. Trump wants to claim a booming economy with high employment and output….Therefore, Trump cannot have both 1 and 2 at the same time.”
4] “What is even more frustrating is that Trump is too obtuse to see how his lack of self-control is sabotaging his own goals
5] “..the crux of the problem: Trump says the trusted numbers can’t be trusted, so he creates a situation where everyone knows the numbers can’t be trusted.”
***** “Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.” [ Confucius ]
C]. “Numbers Don’t Lie. Can We Keep it that Way?” [Jeff Sommer; New York Times; 8/10/25]
1]. “Imagine living in a country where you can’t trust the government’s numbers. I don’t have to imagine it. I spent time in China and the Soviet Union in the 1980s….U.S. official data isn’t tainted like this, but it may be heading there. President Trump didn’t like the numbers he was seeing in the latest government jobs report. So he fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics..”
2]. “THe furor over statistics comes at a critical moment for the economy. So much is changing that we need to know where the economy is heading. MNr. Trump has cast doubt on ther official data precisely when we need it most.”
3]. “If anyone tampered with the data, Ms. Groshen said, “we’d hear from whistleblowers, and employees would resign.” We’d know about it.”
4] “Rather accept that his own policies may have been responsible for the negative economic picture, the president attacked the bureau, saying the agency’s ‘numbers were RIGGED..”..”
5]. “In fact, a review by Bespoke Investment Group of the bureau’s jobs reports over several presidential election cycles since 1998 shows that it has been impartial.”
6] “There are reasons to be worried about data integrity beyond Mr. Trump’s assault on the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Science statistics have been vanishing from government websites…Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has disbanded expert advisory committees devoted to improving the quality of data on inflation, employment and gross domestic product. Funding of statistical agencies has been cut.” [Alice in Wonderland in action!!!!!!!!!!]
***** “It’s hard to believe anyone would vote for me. People must really be stupid.” [ Donald John Trump ]
The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, LIII – Trump Sabotages America by Destroying Truth and Trust
***** “To this day, the lies, misrepresentations, and fabrications that are the sum total of who my uncle is are perpetrated by the Republican Party and white evangelical Christians.” [Mary Trump: “Too Much and Never Enough”]
As Trump’s niece relates, Trump grew up being allowed to lie; often creates his own reality. Those “alternate facts” were one thing in his business career, they are quite another when this flawed person is again president of the United States. Below are just four recent examples of how Trump’s war on truth sabotages America, at home and abroad.
A]. “In Trump’s World, Wild Numbers Are Real If He Says They Are” [Naftali Bendavid; Washington Post; 8/3/25]
1]. “president Donald Trump made a promise..for Republican lawmakers that was as impossible as it was specific: He would drive down drug prices by as much as 1,500%…A price cannot drop by more than 100%..”
2]. “The cost of gasoline had fallen to $1.99 a gallon in five states, he said; according to AAA, it was more than $3 in every state..”
3]. “Businesses had invested $16 trillion in America in the past four months, he added; the entire U.S. economy last year was worth less than $30 trillion.”
!!!!! – these three Trump lies were all said at ONE sitting !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4]. “He uses statistics less as a factual statement of, ‘Here is what the best data says,” and more as rhetorical construct to sell an idea….He will choose a statistic based on what he thinks he can credibly say..” [Robert Rowland, University of Kansas communication professor]. [MEANING – how BIG a lie he can tell]
***** “Donald has always been able to get away with making blanket statements {“I know more about [fill in the blank] than anybody…he’s been allowed to riff about nuclear weapons, trade with China, and other things about which he knows nothing..” [ Mary Trump: “Too Much and Never Enough”]
B} “Trump erodes trust by firing labor-data official” [John Rash: Minnesota Star Tribune; 8/5/25]
1]. “Rather than reflect on employer uncertainty from policy prescriptions he’d implemented…Trump took to social media to claim the jb numbers were “RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.” The president, predictably, offered no evidence, because there is nine.”
2]. “Firing the labor statistician delivering the data is akin to breaking the thermometer because of a heat wave. Which..is what the administration is also doing regarding global warming..”
3]. “the latest episode was “a sad and tragic day. This ws a country, until last Friday, which consistently provided the highest quality statistics.. This firing signals to me that we are well on our way to becoming a country where the government is not to be trusted, statistics are not to be trusted, nobody is to be trusted.” [ University of Minnesota economics professor V.V. Chari]
4]. “..Publisher’s Weekly reported that during inauguration week last January, sales of “1984” increased 192%..While another Orwellian warning, “Animal Farm,” rose 136%..readers turning to Orwell’s classic novels to better understand current events.”
5]. “The current event Chari fears? “We are becoming a dictatorship in might quick time.”
***** “From his childhood..to his early forays into the New York real estate world and high society until today, Donald’s aberrant behavior has been consistently normalized by others.” [Mary Trump; “Too Much and Never Enough”]
C]. “Park signs about Indian history at risk” [Dee DePass; Minnesota Star Tribune; 8/5/25]
1]. “Federal officials are reviewing whether to remove books and signs with historical references to the harsh treatment of Native Americans from Minnesota’s national park sites.”
2]. Signs in national parks “..asked visitors to alert the government “of any signs or other information that are negative about either the past or living Americans” in support of Trump’s executive order called “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” [!!! as in “1984,” Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany !!!!! – as in WHO. decides?????}
3] A resistance campaign, “Save our signs’. has so far acquired over 3,000 photos from the public to be used after Trump is gone – and truth returns. [ as in slaves did NOT “enjoy” slavery ]
***** “It is the absolute right of the state to supervise the formation of public opinion.” [Joseph Goebbels]
D] “Trump’s trade deman: Pledge money or get higher tariffs” [Alan Rappeport; New York Times; 8/5/25]
1] “President Donald Trump’s tariff threats have turned into a play for cold, hard cash as he tries to leverage U.S. economic power to cajole other nations to make multi-billion dollar investments to maintain access to America’s market.”
2]. “To trade experts..raise the question of whether Trump is negotiating with trading partners or trade hostages. “This is no doubt a global shakedown of sorts,” said Scott Lincicome {of the} Cato Institute.”
3]. There are many questions about what “commitments” mean. “Donald Trump is a gifted storyteller, and I think when his counterparts recognize this, they can play to it,’ Ames said. “If you’re negotiating with a narcissist, you look for ways to make them feel like they’ve won.” [Chinese “commitments” to buy American farm products in Trump’s first term “were never met.”]
*****”A lie once told remains a lie, but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth.” [Joseph Goebbels]
e]. “In Trump’s world {lies} are standard operating procedure. When lies are repeated, they have the effect of shutting down critical thinking – people turn a blind eye to the lie and to the truth. When a once respected and trusted sources of news are called fake or the enemy of the people, people are put into a double bind. They are discouraged from trying to reality check – they might even feel it is a betrayal to their allegiance to Trump to try to do so.” [Steven Hassan: “The Cult Of Trump”; Free Press; 2019]
***** “Trust is the foundation of leadership.” [Colin Powell]
***** “The object of the superior mind is truth.” [Confucius]
***** “Trust is the glue that holds government together.” [Gerald Ford]
The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, LI – One small American Town Confronts the REALITY of Trump’s Deportations
Following is ONE story about what is happening in America as a result of “our’ president’s deportation regime. This story is told in: “Confronting thenReality of Deportation in a Conservative Town”. [ Nicholas Kristof; New York Times; 7/20/25 ]. Excerpts follow. Read the article!!!
1]. “Voters here in Oregon’s rural Yamhill County have backed Donald Trump for three presidential elections in a row..”
2]. “Then last month ICE detained Moises Sotelo, a beloved but undocumented Mexican immigrant who has lived in the county for 31 years and owns a vineyard management company employing 10 people…Sotelo was a pillar of his church and won a wine industry award – yet he was detained for 5 weeks and on Friday his family believed he was in transit and being deported to Mexico.”
3]. “Moises’ story just really shook our community,’ Elise Yarnell Hollamon, the City council president in Newberg, Sotelo’s hometown, told me. “Everyone knows him, and he has built a reputation within our community over the last few decades.”
4]. “The result has been an outpouring of support for Sotelo…More than 2,200 people have donated to a Gofundme for the family, raising more than $150,000 for legal and other expenses, and neighbors have been dropping off meals and offering vehicles and groceries.”
5]. “Bubba King, a county commissioner, put it this way: “We want tighter border security”. but also humane treatment of families.”
6]. “Judging from what unfolded here..voters may have wanted a tightening of the border and the deportation of criminals – but not the arrest of a longtime neighbor. They wanted Trump to pursue gangsters, not destory small businesses.”
7]. “Trump’s policy in his first term – which included ripping children from their parents and then losing track of 1,360 of those children…”
8]. “A rule of thumb is that whenever the foreign-born share of a population surges to somewhere around 15 percent, there is discontent. In the United States, the foreign-born share has tripled since 1970 and is now around 15 percent.”
9]. “No one makes excuses for Sotelo’s driving drunk. but one offense decades ago should not define his life.”
10]. “Even for Americans who welcomed more deportations, there’s something chilling about the militarization of the crackdown and echoes of police state practices…”
11] “consider also the financial cost of all this. ICE says that “the average cost to arrest, detain and remove an illegal alien is $17,121.” Thus the administration’s goal of one million deportations would cost $17 billion – and presumably be repeated annually..”
12] “Trump has more than tripled the annual ICE budget to $28 billion, making it the most expensive law enforecement agency in the federal government.”
13]. “Trump is also using officials from other law enforcement agencies to build a deportation army, meaning that fewer law enforcement officers are left to deal with homegrown criminals.’ [READ THIS AGAIN – Trump’s ignoring REAl criminals to make a big show of arresting NON-CRIMINALS ]
14]. “Here in Yamhill County, an agricultural area, there is also widespread concern that mass deportation will hurt the economy, with shortages of agricultural workers already reported.”
15]. “The Peterson Institute for International Economics calculated last year that mass deportation could cause a G.D.P. in 2028 to be 7.4 percent lower than it would be otherwise.”
16]. “Only 35 percent of americans approve of Trump’s handling of immigration…”
17]. “Trump is damaging America’s economy, Shattering families, and destroying small businesses.”
The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, L – Mencken’s Prediction comes True
On July 26, 1920, H.L. Mencken said this: “As democracy is perfected, the office of the president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. One some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be occupied by a downright fool and a complete narcissistic moron.”
105 years later, America has that person in the White House. The only question of great importance is now this: in his remaining 3 1/2 years in office, how much more DAMAGE can D.J. Trump do to America, what’s left of American ‘democracy,” American norms, American decency, America’s economy, America’s reputation, American law, American education, the First Amendment, American national debt, American small businesses, America’s National Parks, American civil rights, America’s natural environment, the very concept of truth………………….
Luckily for Mencken, “The Evening Baltimore Sun” newspaper existed in a time when a president with a thin skin, a colossal ego, desire for “revenge”. on any and all who make him look bad [regardless whether it was true] was not in office.
One wonders what commentators like Mark Twain, the Muckrakers, and Will Rogers would say about Donald Trump. And, of course, one wonders how long it would be before Trump threatened them with the power and wealth of “our” federal government; how long before he sued the writer and their newspaper; how long before Trump threatened to cancel their citizenship; how long before Trump said they were “old,” “fat,” “ugly,” “stupid,” “a knucklehead.”
One wonders what specious, bogus, questionable, or outright falsehood would be the ‘grounds” for suing Mencken, Twain, Muckrakers, or Rogers. Would it be “a threat to national security,” “a threat to the president’s “vision,” “antisemitism,” “a need for efficiency and to eliminate waste and fraud,” “displaying dangerous D.E.I. tendencies,” that it violates “common sense” [hang on to your wallets when ANY Republican or R-W spokesperson uses this term!], that it “presented disturbing material like to offend good Americans,” that it “presented material likely to make some good Americans self-conscious,” that it “presented material making good Americans feel guilty” [anything suggesting slavery wasn’t fun], that it is “a hoax,” that it was “old news,” that “it was guilty of being ‘liberal bias’ [claiming 2 plus 2 equals 4], that ‘it was divisive” [saying the North won the Civil War], that it was “a feminist falsehood” [saying no woman had been president!], “we need a tax cut” [standard GOP operating principle; one state Republican claimed the cure for COVID-19 was a tax cut!!!], saying that despite Trump’s denials, he did know the person in question [as illustrated by 6 pictures, pre-A.I., of the two together], whatever else the Heritage Foundation or “Project 2025” authors can DREAM UP…………….
*** “The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy, ghat is the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” [ John Kenneth Galbraith ]
Note: the inspiration for using Mencken’s 1920 quote comes from a 7/29/25 “letter-to-the-editor to the Minnesota Star Tribune by Chris Simonson.
With Justice For All 
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