Tag: trump

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, LXXIX – Trumpian Economic Policies Make Depression More Likely

~ tomdolen


*** “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.”
[ historian. Barbara Tuchman ]

Watch YOUR wallet, YOUR job, YOUR home, America’s financial stability.

First: read two articles: Thom Hartmann’s “The Coming Republican Depression: How the GOP Turned. America Into a Powder Keg, and Is About to Light the Match” [The Progressive Populist, September, 2025], and Colby Smith and Stacy Cowley’s “Critics see risk in Fed cuts to oversight” [ New York Times, November 19, 2025].

Second; Pray. And hope patriotic American officials will overcome Trumpian stupidity and corruption.

Consider these excerpts from Thom Hartmann’s “The Coming Republican Depression:
1]. “Republicans may be fixing to crash the economy again – Republican presidents oversaw 10 of the last 11 recessions and the Republican Great Depression – and they’re doing it to satisfy the greed of the billionaires they serve…..in 1929, Republican deregulation, tax cuts for the rich, financial speculation, and an all-out assault on labor exploded into the Republican Great Depression. Today, every one of the fuse lines that set off those explosions is once again being laid by a Republican president and Party…They are actively destabilizing the pillars of our economy, undermining our democracy, and gutting the social contract that has held us together for nearly a century.”

2]. “We are now living under a Republican president whose party has:
– Repeatedly held the full faith and credit of the United States in debt ceiling standoffs designed to force cruel cuts to programs that serve ordinary people;
– Demanded the Fed lower interest rates in a way that could push the nation into an inflationary spiral even as wages stagnate and housing becomes unaffordable for the bottom 90%;
– Pushed for an end of regulations on banks, fossil fuel companies, tech monopolies, and Wall street speculators, even as their recklessness increases systematic risk;
– Championed massive tax cuts for billionaires and multinational corporations, ballooning the deficit while cutting benefits and raising taxes on working people;
– Enabled trade wars and supply chain disruptions while cutting support for green manufacturing and public investment
– Promoted and made billions from crypto;
– And perhaps most grotesquely, embraced an open authoritarianism and white nationalism, eroding the rule of law and the very stability on which economic confidence depends.
Every one of these moves destabilizes the foundation of modern prosperity. And every one of them echoes the warning signs of past collapses.”

*** “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 Louis Brandeis ]

Consider these excerpts from Smith and Cowley’s. “Critics see risk in Fed cuts…”:

1] “..a list of directives for Fed examiners and supervisory staff across the country that significantly curtailed how closely they scrutinized lenders. It followed a host of changes made by Michelle W. Bowman [Trump appointee]..”
2] “current and former policy-makers and legal experts were already worried hat those changes would encourage exactly the kind of risk-taking that could sow the seeds for the next crisis….hat supervisors will be less equipped to spot such a crisis in advance, risking deeper damage to the economy.”
3]. “The memo also outlined changes that sought to limit the oversight power of two groups created by the Fed’s board after the 2008 financial crisis.” [stupidity, ideology, corruption?????]
4] “The Fed is not the only financial regulator undergoing upheaval to align with the Trump administration’s vision. The president wants more sway over how the central bank and other independent institutions, like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, oversee Wall Street.” [dictators do NOT want anybody to have ANY independence – their “vision’ is control]
5] “Another regulator, thre Consumer Financial Protection Bureau…has already been gutted.” [their ‘crime”? – they forced banks and other lenders to give back $20 billion to people like YOU!!! – we can’t have that!!!]

*** “The more lies are told, the more important it becomes for the liars to justify themselves by deep moral commitments to high-sounding objectives that mask the pursuit of money and power.” [ Bertram Gross ]

[NOTE: ask YOURSELF; Why do we have financial regulations? is it because we “hate banks and bankers”? is it because we’re jealous of rich people? Perhaps it’s because the world track record since at least the 1700s has DOCUMENTED the proclivity of “financial wizards,’ Wall Street, the banking industry of multiple countries, to take risks that blow up – and lead to destructive financial crises – of which 1929-41 is only the most documented for causes, suffering, results [like World War II].]

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

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, LXXVIII – Being Vague So. The Trump DICTATORSHIP. Can. Write. Its. Own. Rules

~ tomdolen

***. “It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed before they are promulgated, or undergo.such incessant changes that no man who knows what the law is today can guess what it will be to-morrow.” [ James Madison, Founding Father, 4th U.S. President – 1788 ]

This post presents excerpts from Matthew Purdy’s “The Fog of Trump” [New York Times Magazine; 11/16/25]. READ. THE ENTIRE. ARTICLE!!! It describes how the Trump DICTATORSHIP is INTENTIONALLY vague so it can apply government power against. YOU. – if YOU make Trump unhappy.

2] “..Trump is creating a system of rules and punishments all his own. And when those rules are vaguely defined – unlike, say a speed limit or even compex financial regulations – there is no assurance that anyone can be safely outside the zone of violation. Therefore, there is no telling who might be found out of bounds next and what punishment might be imposed.”

5]. “Vagueness has been seen as antithetical to due process and the rule of law since the earliest days of American democracy…. Vagueness thrived in the dark corner of anti-vagrancy laws. Under the post-Civil War Black Codes, the authorities arrested and sometimes effectively re-enslaved Black people…A hundred years later, vagrancy laws allowed police to detain people for such broadly defined crimes as “wandering or strolling around from place to place without any lawful purpose or object……In 1972, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the concept that laws could be “void for vagueness”…the law furnished “a convenient tool for ‘harsh and discriminatory enforcement by local prosecuting officials, against particular groups deemed to merit their displeasure.'”

3] “Vagueness breeds trepidation, perhaps the desired result. “We want you to fear,’ Steve Bannon, a former Trump aide and prominent cheerleader, said last year, anticipating a second term. Tom Ginsburg, an international law professor at the University of Chicago who has written about the decline of democracies around the world, says inducing worry is effective. “You get a lot of anticipatory compliance, which is cheap. And vagueness is part of the tool kit.”

***. “I do not see why men should not be just as cruel as nature.” [ Adolf Hitler ]

1] “..[Judge Young]..said diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in particular were set up as “some sort of boogeyman” in Trump’s executive orders, with “no operative definition.” Administration officials, he concluded, “decided they are going to ‘eradicate’ something that they cannot define.” Federal District Court judges across the country and across the political spectrum…have echoed Young’s critique, faulting the administration for using broadly cast executive orders and policies to justify “arbitrary and capricious” actions…..But vagueness has become fundamental to the way Trump operates.”

4] “Fear can seep in anywhere…its depth is perhaps best measured in more ordinary spaces, like middle school classrooms. Valerie Wolfson, the 2024 New Hampshire history teacher of the year, is wrestling with a federal order accusing all schools of “indoctrinating” students about racism…it remains a quandary for Wolfson, whose post-Civil War curriculum includes Reconstruction, the rise of the K.K.K. and the Jim Crow era. “I do not know how I could discuss them without creating a risk of being accused of presenting a narrative of the United States as racist”..”

*** “Every tyrant who ever lived has believed in freedom – for himself.” { Elbert Hubbard ]

7]. “For decades, the United States has held itself out to the world as the paragon of ‘laws not men” governance. During the first Trump administration, as vague laws aimed at suppressing dissent spread in Eastern Europe and beyond, the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, issued a statement underscoring that tradition. The statement, titled “Authoritarian Regimes’ Unclear Laws make Anyone a Suspect,” distinguished between vague laws used by authoritarians and American laws designed to guard against arbitrary power……Today, the ruling of some American judges critical of Trump administration policies echo the language in that statement.” [ Irony, anyone !!!!! ]

8]. “Trump did not hide that he was seeking revenge, nor was it lost on the judges. In the case of another law firm, WilmerHale, Judge Richard J. Leon, a George W. Bush nominee, said he agreed with the firm’s assertion that the executive order left “no doubt that WilmerHale is being punished because it has represented some of the president’s political opponents and advanced positions with which he disagrees.” “The order essentially leaves it to WilmerHale to predict which causes and which attorneys the president personally dislikes and then steer clear of those causes and attorneys,’ he wrote. “This chilling effect triggers serious vagueness concerns.”

*** “The tyrant confuses those he can’t convince, corrupts those he can’t confuse, and crushes those he can’t corrupt.” [Anonymous]

{NOTE: a reminder – this site has often said. – THE TEST. – of any president, of any American government is this: from the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution: “We the People…more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility….promote the general Welfare..” We have now provided 78. examples of WHY the Trump DICTATORSHIP is a threat to American democracy, American national security, America itself – because it has, usually deliberately, FAILED to provide Union, Tranquility, Justice, promote the general Welfare. As bad as the first Trump administration was, the 2025-2029 Trump DICTATORSHIP is a PLANNED assault on all hat America became, 1933-73, because. “Project 2025,” written by far right reactionaries – many of its major authors hold positions of power in Trump’s administration are working to implement that infamous plan. Their goal; make America a plutocratic theocracy. They’ve had numerous successes already. THE QUESTION: What are YOU going to do to protect YOUR family?????????????? ]

The Trump Dictatorship – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, LXXVI – “Are We losing Our Democracy?”

~ tomdolen


***”The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”
[ James Madison, Founding Father, Fourth U. S. President; Federalist #47 ]

[NOTE: This post is from a New York Times editorial, 11/2/25; “Are We Losing Our Democracy” – excerpts presented here. READ THE ENTIRE EDITORIAL – if YOU care about whether America will have a REAL democracy on January 20, 2029. If TYOU happen to be a Trump supporter, then YOUR challenge is to examine each accusation – WHY is this said, what are the undisputed facts of consensus Americans – not just in your bubble?

“Countries that slide from democracy toward autocracy tend to follow similar patterns. To measure what is happening in the United States, the Times editorial board has complied a list of 12 markers of democratic erosion, with help from scholars who have studies this phenomenon. The sobering reality is that the United States has regressed, to different degrees, on all 12.

“No. 1 An Authoritarian Stifles Dissent And Speech. Trump Has Started To……The Bottom Line…His evident goal is to cause Americans to fear they will pay a price for criticizing him, his allies or his agenda.”

“No. 2 An Authoritarian Persecutes Political Opponents. Trump Has……The Bottom Line…he has already targeted his opponents with legal persecution in shocking ways.”

“No. 3 An Authoritarian Bypasses The Legislature. Trump Has Started To……The Bottom Line. Mr. Trump has defied the Constitution by trampling on Congress’s power of the purse.”

“No. 4. An Authoritarian Uses The Military For Domestic Control…..The Bottom Line…..his willingness to use it as he has – and his threats to expand that use….”

“No. 5. An Authoritarian Defies The Courts. Trump Has Started To……The Bottom Line…the court’s reluctance to restrain him appears to have emboldened him to sidestep lower court orders he does not like.”

“No. 6. An Authoritarian Declares National Emergencies On False Pretenses. Trump Has……The Bottom Line Mr. Trump’s willingness to kill people without due proces…represents one of his most extreme abuses of power. It raises the prospect that he may expand the use of emergency power to other areas, including domestic law enforcement.”

“No. 7. An Authoritarian Vilifies Marginalized Groups. Trump Has. The Bottom Line. Mr. Trump is borrowing from the autocrat’s playbook by suggesting that some citizens are legitimate and others are second-class.”

“No. 8 An Authoritarian Controls Information And The News Media. Trump Has Started To……The Bottom Line. In place of an independent and free press, Mr. Trump evidently hopes to create a shadow ecosystem willing to promote his interests and talking points.”

“No. 9 An Authoritarian Tries To Take Over Universities. Trump Has Started To……The Bottom Line….Initially, some universities seemed as if they might simply submit to Mr. Trump’s demands. More recently, several showed more willingness to resist, rejecting a proposal that would have rewarded them financially for adopting Trump-friendly policies.”

“No. 10 An Authoritarian Creates A Cult Of Personality……The Bottom Line. The Trump cult of personality plays into his claims – common among authoritarians – that he possesses a unique ability to solve the country’s problems.”

“No. 11 An Authoritarian Uses Power For Personal Profit. Trump Has……The Bottom line. Mr. Trump’s culture of corruption may resemble the behavior of foreign autocrats more closely than any other category on this list. he is using what rightly belongs to American citizens – the power and resources of our democratic government – to enrich himself, and he is not trying to hide it.”

“No. l2 An Authoritarian Manipulates The Law To Stay In Power. Trump Has Started To…….The Bottom Line. Even if he backs away from any scheme to serve more than two presidential terms, Mr. Trump’s attempts to tilt the electoral field in favor of Republicans is anti-democratic and could pervert American elections for years.”

*** “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]

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

SO – Mr. and Mrs. American. – what are YOU. going to do about the obvious, blatant, theft of YOUR. DEMOCRACY. in plain sight??????

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, LXXV – “Americans go hungry while Trump parties like Gatsby”

~ tomdolen


***. “Just tell your readers that you have a source who knows a lot about the Republican Party from long experience, that he knows all the key movers and shakers, and he has a bit of advice: people should not vote for ANY Republican, because they’re dangerous, dishonest, and self-serving… I have come to realize the Democrats really do care about people who most need help from the government; Republicans care most about those who will only get richer because of government help. The government is truly broken, particularly in dealing with national security, and another four years, and heaven forbid not eight years, under Republicans, and our grandchildren will have to build a new government, because the one we have will be unrecognizable and unworkable.” [commentary “by a lifelong Republican…who voted for Bush and Cheney twice, because he knows them both personally,” in John W. Dean’s “Broken Government…How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches}

{NOTE: America did NOT listen – and we have now had 4 years, 9 months of Republican rule this man FEARED. AND – from daily headlines, the Trump DICTATORSHIP. IS working to make American government, America itself, “unrecognizable and unworkable.” ]

This post presents excerpts from Ka Vang’s. “Americans go hungry while Trump parties like Gatsby” [ St. Paul Pioneer Press; 11/6/25 ]:

1] “President Donald Trump threw a “Great Gatsby” party this past weekend at Mar-a-Lago while millions of Americans lost their snap benefits. It’s one thing to eat cake and drink champagne while others starve; it’s another to rent a jazz band, pour champagne into a tower, and rub it in our faces while calling it presidential leadership.”

2] “Trump’s Gatsby soiree was his Marie Antoinette let-the-eat-cake moment, except the cake was gold-leafed, the cavier imported, and the guest list limited to people who don’t know the price of a gallon of milk.”

3] “Meanwhile, the SNAP program – born in the 1960s as a bipartisan way to ensure Americans didn’t starve in one of the richest countries on Earth – was being gutted. SNAP isn’t charity. It’s the reason millions of children, seniors and working parents eat.”

*** “Wherever there is lost the consciousness that every man is an object of concern for us just because he is a man, civilization and morals are shaken, and the advance to fully developed inhumanity is only a question of time.”
[. Albert Schweitzer ]

4] “With the payments cut off amid the federal government shutdown, many families across Minnesota are going down to one meal a day. The Trump party didn’t just ignore them. It mocked them with every bottle of $500 champagne that could’ve fed a family of four for a week.”

5]. “I keep picturing Trump dancing with Melania in a designer sequined gown, pretending to be Gatsby and Daisy, when really they’re more like Edgar Allen Poe’s Prince Prospero and his courtiers in “The Masque of the Red Death.”

6] “On Monday, Trump’s administration said it will partially fund SNAP for November, but only after two judges issued rulings requiring the government to keep the nation’s largest food aid program running. It didn’t feed hungry families out of compassion; it was forced to do it.”

7]. “And in real life – and in books – the party always ends when the people outside get tired of starving. Just ask Marie Antoinette and Jay Gatsby how their parties ended.”

*** “There will be no loyalty, except loyalty toward the Party. Tere will be no love, except the love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy…..Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stomping on a human face – forever.” [ George Orwell: “1984” ]

{NOTE: The Trump DICTATORSHIP story is on of CONTEMPT. While there is chaos in airports and 42 million Americans worry about their next meal. – “your” president is playing golf. While 300 million live paycheck-to-paycheck. – “your” president DEMANDED. hat his. IMMORAL 2017 tax cut for billionaires be made permanent. The boot that is stomping on human, non-billionaire faces, FOREVER, is worn by Donald John Trump, who views America democracy, the rule of law, and YOU – with CONTEMPT. ]

{Note: If YOU have ANY doubt about what a truly rotten, selfish, dishonest, damaging, antidemocratic ‘person” Donald John Trump really. IS. – read just a part of any of the following books written by Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporters:
– “It’s Even Worse Than You ThinK – David Cay Johnston
– “Confidence Man”. – Maggie Haberman [“The Making of Donald Trump and The Breaking of America”]
– “Injustice” – Carol Leonnig, Aaron Davis [ how Trump has DESTROYED ‘the rule of law’}

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, LXXIII – ICE Arrests, Abuses. U.S. Citizen and Army Veteran

~ tomdolen

*** “The very first essential for success is a perpetually constant and regular employment of violence.”
[ Adolf Hitler ]

1]. “When ICE came for a U.S. citizen and army veteran’: “The ICEmen were presumably looking for undocumented immigrants. Retes’s driver’s license, which he says the ICEmen never asked to see, identifies him as “Veteran Army.” His license plate includes “DV”: disabled veteran. While ICE’s warriors were trying and ultimately succeeding in smashing his driver’s-side window [the better to pepper spray him], they apparently did not notice his rear window’s “Iraq Combat Veteran’ sticker.” [read this again – 3 chances to see who Retes is – ignored]

***. “It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.” [ Machiavelli ]

2] “Amid a torrent of shouted and contradictory ICEmen commands…after he asked for an agent’s badge number…Retes was dragged from his car…wrists zip-tied behind his back…seated on the ground for 4 hours…taken to a Navy base…strip searched…incarceration…handcuffs. No charges…mouth swab collected his DNA without his consent…requests for a lawyer…a shower to ease ..tear gas and pepper spray [discomforts]..ignored. After3 days…charges dropped.” [ George Will: “When ICE came for a U.S. Citizen and Army veteran’; Washington Post; 10/26/25 ]

Note: Hopefully, when YOU, a PATRIOTIC American read this – YOU are angry. As details above relate, NONE of this should have happened. – he had I.D. ON HIM. – which they could have verified ON THE SPOT – refused. They have quotas to meet.

*** “Some things are not forgivable. Deliberate cruelty is not forgivable.” [ Tennessee Williams ]

THEN – THIS; ‘American Gulag… The brutal rollout of Trump’s police state.” [ Mother Jones; November-December, 2025 EVERY American should, MUST, read this.

3] “When it comes to President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, cruelty has always been the point, but anti-immigrant animus is now being paired with unprecedented funding, manpower, and technology….The new immigration is everywhere, rife with conflicts, and it’s only just begun.”

4]. “Force Multiplier…How the GOP bankrolled ICE [ $74.9 billion] to unleash an army of masked agents on America.” 50 NEW detention centers. KNOW THIS ; 70% of people in detention in august HAD. NO CRIMINAL. CONVICTIONS. Another BIG Trump. LIE.

5]. “Minority Report”. – no-bid contracts to connected people. “The perils of this extend beyond mere immigration, privacy experts warn. The growing surveillance infrastructure could be ‘deployed by an authoritarian executive to coerce and control the US population at scale,”….

***. “The kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.” [ King Solomon ]

6] “Camp Fear…Florida’s troubled tent city has inspired copycats across the country” “According to an ACLU lawsuit, exposure to sun and mosquitos is “used as form of punishment and retaliation, with restrained individuals placed outside for hours at a time to be bitten and sun burned.” “An immigration lawyer called conditions at Alligator Alcatraz ‘psychological warfare..”

7] “Random House”. Small firm with NO experience in incarceration gets $1.3 billion deal….. 4 more examples of contracts and their “Trump connection”…. former ICE official: “The Fort Bliss deal is “a giant pass-through to other companies.” [ NOTE ; corruption, anybody???????}

*** “The best political weapon is the weapon of terror. Cruelty commands respect. Men may hate us. But, we don’t ask for their love, only their fear.” [ Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler ]

NOTE: Remember what was said above: “It is a mistake, ” the center noted, “to think about what the Trump administration is doing now as ‘immigration enforcement.” Trump is using immigration powers as the vehicle for activities of his militarized police force.”

And also this: Without last minute compromises, on November 1, 2025. – 42 million Americans will suddenly be left without government-aided access to food. – but this same government – YOUR government is spending $75 billion to TERRORIZE people, inside THIS country. It is making a choice – either feed its own citizens. – or. -build a police state.

***. “Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things.” [ Terry Pratchatt ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, LXXI – “Bow To The Emperor

~ tomdolen

*** “The accumulation of all power, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many; whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” [James Madison, 1788}

THE GOOD NEWS: on October 18th, 7 million PATRIOTIC Americans turned out for 2000 rallies held in all 50 states. Other rallies occurred in foreign nations. The NO KINGS” rallies showed Americans are waking up to Madison’s warning. King Donald I NOW controls all 4 branches of the U.s. government – House, Senate, Executive, Judiciary. Daily examples of STUPIDITY, CRUELTY, CORRUPTION, CRAZINESS are reported. Many more not reported.

THE BAD NEWS: The Trump DICTATORSHIP’s war on the “rule of law” continues. This post centers on Emily Bazelon”s “Bow To The Emperor” article in the 10/19/25 New York Times Magazine. If YOU. are a patriotic American – this is a MUST read. Some excerpts presented here. Read the entire article. Look at WHO is talking – 50 members of the legal establishment, 25 Republicans, 25 Democrats. look at WHAT they’re saying – the Trump DICTATORSHIP is a BIG threat to American “rule of law.” Look at WHY they say this. look at the fact their level of CONCERN has increased in Trump’s 9 months in office. Look at their FEARS.

*** “The most odious of all oppressions are those which mask a justice.” [ Justice Robert Jackson]

1] “A majority of our respondents told us they were alarmed about a potential second Trump term given the strain he put on the legal system the first time around……”What’s happening is anathema to everything we’ve ever stood for in the Department of Justice.”…..almost universal fear and anguish over the transformation of the Justice Department into a tool of thenWhite House.”

2]. “Just as chillingly, the new survey reflects near consensus that most of the guardrails inside and outside the Justice Department, which in the past counterbalanced executive power, have all fallen away…..But many of them – more so than last year – don’t want to speak on the record. These are people with stature in their world…But now they’re worried about retribution, for their law firms or their family members, if they draw Trump’s ire

3] “All but one of the respondents rated Trump’s second term as a greater or MUCH greater threat to the rule of law than his first term. They consistently characterized the president’s abuses of power – wielding the law to justify his wishes – as being far worse than they imagined before his re-election…….And every single one of the 50 respondents believe that Trump and his attorney general, Pam Bondi, have used the Justice Department to go after the president’s political and personal enemies and provide favors to his allies.

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

4] “To measure the degree to which the Department of Justice has changed…at the end of his first presidency, Trump insisted that the department investigate ‘fact free claims”….Barr had been Trump’s close ally. but in late December 2020, he resigned rather than give in to the president’s demands….other remaining top officials said that they too would resign rather than use the department to seek to overturn the election….”No one in the room now will say no,” said the Justice Department official from Trump’s first term.

5]. “Several legal experts told us they began worrying on the day Trump retook office…pardons and commutations to the Jan. 6 rioters – unraveled the work of what prosecutors have said is the Department of Justice’s largest-ever investigation. Trump alsofired lawyers who worked on the Jan.6 cases.”….
“..in February, Emil Bove..was appointed second in command at the Justice Department, ordered Danielle Sassoon..to drop an active corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams. Sassoon resigned, saying…It was a clear example of quid pro quo….At least 10 more career prosecutors resigned…..”

6] “In June, Trump nominated Bove for a lifetime appointment to a federal judgeship…..Several respondents raised Bove’s ascension as a sharp break from the past. Trump also stunned many of them when he issued a flurry of executive orders in march and April targeting big law firms perceived as being aligned with Democrats.”

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

7]. “Just as notable, in the eyes of many of our respondents, is the work these firms and others are NOT doing for fear of Trump….Thirty-three said that big firms as a group are doing little or nothing to constrain excessive uses of presidential power.” [Note re-read this, think what it means]

8} “More than any step the president has taken, according to a lawyer from the Reagan solicitor general’s office, Trump’s bullying of law firms has undermined the rule of law.” [NOTE: read THIS again, PATRIOTIC American}

9]. “In Trump’s Justice Department..retribution has been institutionalized. In February, Bondi created a “weaponization working group” to investigate “abuses of the criminal justice process.” She instructed the group to look into people who prosecuted Trump. To the dismay of some of our respondents, the head of the working group, Ed Martin, promised to smear the reputations of any target he couldn’t indict…a clear violation of Justice Department policy.”

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

10]. “In September, Trump trampled whatever remaining hope prosecutors had of exercising their judgment independent of the president. Trump forced the resignation of Erik S. Siebert, the U.s. attorney in Eastern Virginia who had concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Comey….On social media, Trump ordered Bondi tontake action ‘NOW!!!” against Comey…Adam Schiff…Letitia James……The next day, news broke that Trump’s Justice Department COLSED an investigation into Tom Homan, Trump’s so-called border czar, who was recorded last year accepting a bag with $50,000 in cash in an undercover F.B.I. investigation.” [NOTE; read this again – this is “justice’ in Trump’s “America.” ]

11]. “The firing of the Jan. 6 prosecutors, the resignations over the Adams case, Martin’s conduct and the indictment of Comey – each step corroded the Department of Justice in the eyes of our respondents. “It’s all about dismantling the institution”…”And the message to everyone in the department is that if you speak up, something could happen…you’d better bow to the emperor.” [Note: read this again – patriotic American]

12] “..all 50 believe that Congress, which framers intended to be the most powerful branch…is doing very little – or nothing at all – to fulfill its role of restraining the president. “The greatest threat,’ said Stuart Gerson, an assistant attorney general for President George H.W. Bush, “comes with the probability that the president is on the road to assuming autocratic powers and that the Congress has allowed its countervailing constitutional powers to wither.”

*** “Power may be justly compared to a great river which, while kept within its due banks is both beautiful and useful; but when it overflows its banks, is then too impetuous to be stemmed, it bears down all before it and brings destruction and desolation wherever it goes.” [ Alexander Hamilton ]

13]. “Some former officials said the Supreme Court set the country up for disaster by ruling in July 2024 that presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for most of their official actions…Nancy Gertner ..[said].. “I believe that they are fully on board with enabling him.” {NOTE: Patriotic Americans, knowing that “impeachment’ is in the Constitution by SPECIFIC Founders’ intent, think on this – which MANY other scholars have said}

14] “All but one of our respondents said they were concerned or very concerned about Department of Justice attorneys failing to tell the truth in court, which judges across the country have complained about….The reactions of judges like Alsup signal how lawyers who used to uphold the standards of the legal profession are compromising them to adapt to the Trump era. “ThenD.O.J.’s loss of credibility is devastating to the rule of law,” said William Yeomans..”

15] >>”>>>Trump is cowing people and institutions in a way that could change the foundation of America’s system of government.” [NOTE: PATRIOTIC American, think on THIS]

*** “Wherever Law ends, Tyranny begins.” [ John Locke ]

TEAM Right Wing Republican REACTIONARIES – CORRUPT Roberts ‘court” MAKES UP Another Decision

~ tomdolen

*** “It is a very dangerous doctrine to consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions. It is one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy.” [ Thomas Jefferson, 1820 letter ]

Increasingly, the CORRUPT 6-3 Reactionary Republican ‘supreme court” majority is demonstrating Jefferson’s fears. Consider their PATTERN ; Shelby County; refusal to oppose Gerrymandering – recognized for 200 years as an antidemocratic abomination; giving ANY president – let alone one D.J. Trump – “immunity” [if the Founders intended that, why is impeachment of a president in the Constitution???]; 9 months of “Shadow Docket” decisions allowing Trump’s dictatorial decisions; and now – removing injunctions by lower courts as a way of restraining Trump’s often BLATANT authoritarian decisions and actions.
This PATTERN is UNMATCHED in American legal history for its antidemocratic and unconstitutional scope and damage. With most other U.s. presidents, this would have been a lesser threat – with a deeply flawd person like Donald John Trump – possibly fatal to American rule of law and democracy.

*** “As a member of this Court, I am not justified in writing my private notions of policy into the Constitution, no matter how deeply I may cherish them or how mischievous I may deem their disregard.: [Justice Felix Frankfurter]

Consider excerpts from “Ending Nationwide Injunctions Will Let Trump Do His Worst”. [Sabrina Haake; The Progressive Populist; August, 2025]

1]. “The partisan majority chose instead to strike nationwide injunctive relief, a disastrous ruling that gave Donald Trump the green light to continue sh*tting on the Constitution. As a 30-year federal litigator, I am outraged. I don’t see how the rule of law survives this decision, handed down when our executive is so clearly and demonstrably unhinged.”

2]. “What the Republican majority did was outrageous…they struck down nationwide injunctions, the main tool federal courts have used to stop Trump from bulldozing the Constitution…It gives Trump license to trammel every law, every clause, and every amendment in the Constitution.”

***. “A judge can’t have any agenda. A judge can’t have any preferred outcome in any particular case. And a judge certainly doesn’t have a client. The judge’s only obligation – and it’s a solemn obligation – is to the rule of law.” [Samuel A. Alito, Jr. – opening statement in his Senate confirmation hearing; January 9, 2006] !!!!!!!!!! [NOTE: YOU be the judge on whether “justice’ Alito has honored this pledge – any doubt/ – read “Dobbs”; study Alito’s PATTERN on the ‘court.”]

3] “Just as these same partisan hacks did in Dobbs to erase abortion rights that had been in existence for 50 years, Trump v. Casa erased the history of nationwide injunctions, by focusing on what happened in the 1700s and 1800s instead of our more recent, and relevant, history
“Nationwide injunctions have been used in the U.S. for over 100 years. They are the strongest and surest remedy to keep elected officials from violating federal law or the constitution. Now, in service to Trump, that remedy has been removed, and protection for the little guy has been erased.”

4]. “Everyone who wants to stop Trump from illegally harming them now has to sue, and appear personally before the court , or join a class action, which can take years to certify. I defended class actions for over 15 years – they are an expensive, time consuming and cumbersome way to try to fight back against the government.” [NOTE: this too, is a Roberts “court” PATTERN – on paper you have a right , but exercising it is made much more difficult]

*** “..;Thomas himself vowed on the day of his confirmation, at the age of forty-three, that he intended to spend the next forty-three years of his life as a Supreme Court Justice. It would take that long, he told friends, to get even.” [Jane Mayer, Jill Abrahamson: “Strange Justice,” page 360] [NOTE: YOU decide: has Clarence Thomas achieved his promise “..to get even.” ??????????]

5] “Sotomayor’s outrage is also palpable. She continues: “In partially granting the Government’s remarkable request, the Court distorts well-established equitable principles several times over.”

6]. “The Roberts court is well aware of what Trump is doing…They know exactly what is happening, but shamefully choose to look away and let Trump do his worst AFTER they gave him immunity to break criminal laws.”

***. “If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.” [ Justice Louis Brandeis ]

7] “Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissent hit hard: “the Court’s decision to permit the Executive to violate the Constitution with respect to anyone who has not yet sued is an existential threat to the rule of law.”

***. “I have always thought that one of this Court’s most important roles is to provide a formidable bulwark against government violation of the constitutional safeguard securing in our free society the legitimate expectations of every person to innate human dignity and sense of worth.” [ Justice William Brennan ]

Ask YOURSELF: does the 20-year record of thre Roberts “court” uphold the Constitution’s requirements of “..establish Justice…promote the general Welfare..”??? The two BIG winners; corporations and the Religious Right. The Reactionary Republicans claim to be “originalists” or “textualists.” But their decisions aren’t. They’ve LIED, made up, misrepresented, ignored contrary evidence. They pick cases they can USE to aid the 50-year Right Wing agenda.

In 1947-73, America approached being a TRUE democracy, a mass middle class prosperous society. THEN – the Empire struck back. The Burger and Rehnquist “courts” chipped away. The Roberts ‘court” has, is, moving America toward the Far Right goal of a Theocratic Oligarchy, case – by – case.
Look at the RESULTS of major Roberts ‘court’ decisions in cases ‘big’ and ‘small.” The America of 2025 is a shadow of 1947-73 America economically, socially, politically, ethically – by DESIGN. The Roberts ‘court” has exacerbated America’s problems with virtually every major decision, and many ‘lesser” ones.
They’ve topped this off – so far – with making the ANTI-George Washington a virtual dictator, who issues one stupid, irrational, destructive order and decision after another.

***. “Power corrupts, and unrestricted power will tempt Supreme Court justices just as history tells us it has tempted other judges. For, unfortunately, judges have not been immune to the seductive influences of power, and given absolute or near absolute power, judges may exercise it to bring about changes that are inimical to freedom and good government.” [ Justice Hugo Black ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, LXX. – TrumpGate Worse Than Teapot Dome and Watergate

~ tomdolen

*** “I have always tried to treat white-collar criminals like other criminals. It still bothers me that Richard Nixon escaped that equal treatment….If Nixon had had the character of President Eisenhower, or any honest president, this scandal [Watergate] would never have happened….I hope no political party will ever stoop so low as to embrace the likes of Richard Nixon again.” [ John J. Sirica, former federal judge ]

This post presents excerpts from Jacob Silverman’s. “Teapot Dome and Watergate: They’re Nothing Next to this”. [New York Times; 10/19/25]:

1] “If you were an authoritarian seeking to influence another head of state, you might offer him a luxuriously appointed Boeing 747 airplane. You might spend big at his hotels or invest in one of many companies owned by him and his children. You might buy his sneakers, NFT’s and other branded products. In the case of President Trump, a potential influence peddler has a vast menu of choices.”

***. “No punishment, in my opinion, is too great for the man who can build his greatness upon his country’s ruin.” {George Washington; 12/12/1778]

2] “With World Liberty, Mr. Trump has created a powerful vehicle for those seeking influence. Anyone – you, me, an Emirati prince – can put money in his pocket by simply buying the tokens the company issues. The key is the convenience factor.”

***. “..no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of Congress, accept any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.” [ U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 9 ]

3]. “We’ve never seen anything like this before. You can tick off notorious executive branch scandals…but none of them featured this scale of mixing of personal and government interests, much less the sheer accumulation of profit, of Mr. Trump’s multibillion-dollar crypto windfall.”

***. “Uncontrolled power, in the hands of an incensed, imperious and rapacious conquerer, is an engine of dreadful execution; woe to that country, over which it can be exercised.” [ Thomas Paine, 1780 ]

4]. “But the greater risk concerns Mr. Trump and the huge amount of money that powerful overseas actors can potentially funnel toward him. if you are a head of state, it is in your direct political interest to buy Mr. Trump’s tokens or invest in one of his crypto ventures.” [ Question – just asking – Vladimir Putin is said to be one of the world’s richest men. “Our” president has consistently refused to REALLY stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Just asking. – do YOU suppose Putin has bought a considerable of Mr. Trump’s “crypto ventures”? – Just asking………… ]

***. “There is no more dangerous menace to civilization than a government of incompetent, corrupt, or vile men.” [Ludwig von Mises]

5] “In another era [in other words, a few years ago] we would have already had congressional hearings and law enforcement investigations into the president’s crypto business interests. But the Supreme Court’s recent decision related to presidential immunity signals that such moves could end up being practically superfluous.”

***. “The point is you can’t be too greedy.” [ Donald John Trump – “The Art of the Deal” ]

6]. “>>>to start his term, Mr. Trump fired 18 inspectors general, who might otherwise have been able to investigate and shine light on the crypto activities of this administration. In February, he ordered the Justice Department to suspend enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits the bribery of foreign officials.” Note: items 1-6: Jacob Silverman: “Teapot Dome and Watergate; They’re Nothing Next to This”; New York Times; 10/19/25]

***. “Wherever there is power, greed, and money, there is corruption.” [ Ken Poirot ]

We close this post with words from Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston’s. “It’s Even Worse Than You Think,” written in 2018 about Trump’s first term:
“Our Constitution is not written to handle someone like Trump,” the political scientist Jason Johnson told me. “That is the greatest danger and harm he is to our country.”………….
“For the next thirty-five years or so, the standard for what you can get away with as long as you are in power and stay in power has been lowered to a level I don’t think any of us can fully appreciate today,’ he said.”
[Note: Trump ordered the demolishing of the White House’s East Wing – without going through proper procedures – AND – despite his assurance that nothing like this would happen – AND – supposedly, it is being paid for by his billionaire friends !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, LXVIII – One Day!!!!!

~ tomdolen

***** “Trump lacks the emotional stability, knowledge, critical-thinking skills, and judgment to be commander-in-chief.” [Pulitzer Prize winer David Cay Johnston: :It’s Even Worse Than You Think”]

!!!!! – Headlines – from just ONE DAY! – reveal part of the Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness of the Trump DICTATORSHIP – Thursday, October 9, 2025:

1] “Canceled energy projects to hike costs…Trump’s funding cuts likely to end up hurting ratepayers, officials say” [Kristoffer Tigue; Minnesota Star Tribune]: “That’s because Minnesota’s transmission projects, which are part of a larger initiative to add transmission lines across seven states, will have to be built anyway.”

2]. “25% of FBI agents now diverted to immigration” [Perry Stein; Washington Post]: “The intense focus on immigration has raised alarm among current and former FBI agents who say morale is low across the bureau as agents have less time to dedicate to the often complex cases they were hired to work on.
“Agents have been pulled from duties related to cybercrimes, drug trafficking, terrorism, counterintelligence, and more.” ………
“We are weakening ourselves by the day, said Chris O’Leary, a former FBI senior executive and special agent.”
[NOTE: this is NOT THE FIRST concern on this – America’s defense against our REAL enemies – China, Russia – are being sabotaged. The public does NOT realize how DEEP and BROAD Trump’s administration has hurt American national security.]

3] “Fossil fuel firms get special treatment…As White House blocks renewables, coal and oil get ‘concierge’ service.” [Jake Spring; Washington Post]: “Trump wants to boost production of oil, gas, coal and critical minerals that align with his policy favoring fossil fuels to address his self-declared national energy emergency.” [NOTE: what is China doing? What does SERIOUS research say the FUTURE is going to require???]

4] “Nearly 300 Defense Dept. employees targeted over Kirk…Hegseth ordered probe into whether any online comments were critical” [Noah Robertson, Tara Copp; Washington Post]: “The sweeping, ongoing inquiry..follows an extraordinary directive by the department’s political leadership to silence criticism of a prominent, polarizing figure who was unabashed in his views and fervent support for President Donald Trump.”….
“..deepens alarm over the former Fox News personality’s stewardship of the military, whose personnel are expected to remain loyal to the Constitution, not any one party or president.” [NOTE: THIS is the Trump DICTATORSHIP in action]

5]. “James Comey pleads not guilty…His lawyers say case is vindictive prosecution against critic of Trump” [Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer, Michael Kunzelman; The Associated Press]: “..the case has amplified concerns the Justice Department is being weaponized in pursuit of the Republican president’s political enemies and is operating at the behest of an administration determined to seek retribution.” [NOTE; what’s the difference between this and Stalin, Hitler, Putin, Communist China???]

*****. “In Trump’s world [lies] are standard operating procedure…Trump’s lies appear to have pushed the same thought stopping buttons used by cult leaders – shutting down critical thinking; employing us versus them thinking; and using emotional manipulation to gain sympathy for the leader while at the same time drumming up animosity toward the media.” [Steven Hassan: “The Cult of Trump”]

6]. “Trump” Pritzker ‘should be in jail’…Illinois governor decries “path to full-blown authoritarianism.’ [Michelle Price, Sophia Tareen; The Associated Press]: “The Republican president made the comment in a social media post, the latest example of his brazen calls for his Democratic opponents to be prosecuted or locked up – a break from longtime norms as the Justice Department traditionally has strived to maintain its independence from the White House.”

7]. “U.S. soybean farmers race to harvest but have few buyers…China, normally the biggest customer, has booked no shipments.” [Michael Hirtzer, Erin Ailworth; Bloomberg News]: “Soybeans are typically America’s most-valued agricultural export.” [NOTE: Trump’s tariffs in action. As farmers and economists have said; once you lose markets, they may be difficult to regain.]

*****. “More surprising than Trump’s lack of knowledge of geopolitics is his ignorance of economics, the field in which he was given a bachelor’s degree.” [D.C. Johnston: “It’s Even Worse Than You think”]

JUDGING A PRESIDENT: Start with the Constitution. The Founders said American government’s purpose is; ‘..form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, secure ther Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…”

SO – individually, and collectively, ignoring what Trump SAYA. – what exactly is the REALITY of his actions – rhetoric, policies, programs, laws, executive orders???

Look at the 7 actions of just this one day. – in one or more ways. – EVERY one of the 7 Trump actions FAILS the test of the Constitution. They may make his ‘base” happy, they may make authors of “Project 2025″ happy, they may make his billionaire donors and friends happy. The United States is. NOT a better, more prosperous, more ‘democratic” nation because of Trump’s actions above; nor did Trump leave America a better country when he left office in January, 2021; nor have his actions in 2025. “made America great again.”

According to current statistics, 70% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck; the economy is being driven by top 20% spending; 50% of ALL U.S. spending is by the top 10%; 80% fell ‘squeezed;” 70% question ‘the American Dream;” inequality is statistically getting worse. NOTHING Trump has done even attempts to lessen this distress.

Trump’s biggest first term “achievement’ was an IMMORAL tax cut for the rich – now 25% of U.S. national debt. in his second term, he demanded a Republican Congress make that immorality PERMANENT. YOU tell me – how does this tax cut for the already obscenely rich ‘..promote the general Welfare..”???????????

***** “The governments of the past could fairly be characterized as devices for maintaining in perpetuity the place and position of certain privileged classes, without any ultimate protection for the rights of the people. The Government of the United States is a device fro maintaining in perpetuity the rights of the people, with the ultimate extinction of all privileged classes.” [ Calvin Coolidge, Republican 30th president, 1924 ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, LXVII – Making American Health Care WORSE

~ tomdolen

*** “All the other countries..have made a different moral decision. All the other countries like us..guaranteed medical care to everyone who gets sick..have concluded that everybody has a right to health care – and they provide it. One result is that most rich countries have better national health statistics…Yet all the other rich countries spend far less on health care than the United States does…most developed countries manage health care without resorting to “socialized medicine.” [ T.R. Reid: “The Healing of America” ]

1] “Barely eight months into his second term, president Donald Trump has disrupted, depleted, and desecrated our nation’s already fragile health care system, putting millions of lives in jeopardy. A new Public Citizen report, “The Rise of Trump’s Dangerous Health Cabal,” highlights the threats posed by Trump’s health care appointees – not just to the agencies they’re supposed to run, but also to patients, providers, and the programs they rely on.” [“Trump and Allies Threaten to Worsen Health Care, Putting Lives at Risk”; Public Citizen News; Sept/Oct, 2025]

*** “It was no accident that American health care became a profit center for Wall Street…..To encourage Wall Street to step in, The Reagan administration embarked on an ambitious plan to sell investors and venture capitalists on investing in health care.” [Donald Barlett & James Steele: “Critical Condition”]

2] “Robert F. Kennedy, jr.’s efforts to undermine vaccines in America are not just scientifically absurd. they’re also financially ruinous…vaccines save money….Health insurance companies know this; that’s why they make flu shots free….Employers know this, too: it’s why many of them pay for flu-shot days…..The HPV vaccine is extraordinarily cost-effective….the DPT vaccine..prevents three horrifying diseases….If Kennedy succeeds in pushing even one vaccine off the market, the financial repercussions will be severe.” [ Donald McNeil, jr.: “Not vaccinating comes at an exorbitant cost”; Washington Post Weekly; 9/28/25 ]

*** “How Hospital Monopolies Drive Up the Cost of Care”; Shannon Brownlee; Washington Monthly; November/December, 2022 – a review of “Big Med: Megaproviders and the High Cost of Health Care in America; David Dranove, Lawton Burns.

3] “The Trump administration is preparing a plan that will make it harder for older Americans to qualify for Social Security disability payments, part of an overhaul of the federal safety net for poor, older, and disabled people could result in hundreds of thousands of people losing benefits..”….
“People familiar with the proposed changes said they are a priority of Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget and a key author of Project 2025, which has shaped Trump’s policies. [NOTE: remember Trump LIED during the 2024 election about having anything to do with “Project 2025.]

*** “The true “elephant in the room,” to use Dale’s metaphor, is the fact that our health care system has been ‘privatized” by an insurance industry more intent on lining its pockets than on ensuring that the American people get the public service and care that they pay for.” [ Dr. Ralph Bovard: “Rationing is not the only alternative”; Minneapolis Star Tribune; 2/8/2011 ]

4] “In July, the Trump administration cut off Medicaid payments to reproductive health care clinics that offer abortions…The move was seen as directed at Planned Parenthood…a long-time target of Republicans. But two smaller providers, Maine Family Planning and Health Imperatives, a network of seven clinics in southeastern Massachusetts, were also swept up in the measure.”

“The fallout will soon be felt by thousands of patients across the country, particularly where there are few options.” [ Jenna Russell, Anna Griffin: “Freeze on Medicaid payments forcing rural health care cuts”; New York Times; 10/5/25]

*** “Inadequate attention to and investment in services that address the broader determinants of health is the unnamed culprit why the United States spends so much on health care but continues to lag behind in health outcomes.”…..
‘…the United States is not spending as much as other industrial countries on fortifying crucial social services that help make people healthy…10 percent of its GDP on social services while France, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark..and Italy all spend about 20 percent…providing reliable housing, ensuring nutrious food sufficiency, and safeguarding against harmful exposures…” [Elizabeth Bradley, Lauren Taylor: “The American Health Care Paradox”]

5]. “Millions of low-income seniors are missing out on crucial help paying for Medicare – and the recently enacted federal budget law blocks an effort to help them get it….the law does suspend until 2034 a requirement that states adopt a Biden-era plan to increase enrollment in state-run Medicaid programs that help seniors who qualify get a hand paying for out-of-pocket Medicare costs.” [Mark miller: “Poor Retirees Lose Key Medicare Help”; New York Times; 10/5/25]

*** “The health of the people is really the foundation upon which all their happiness and all their powers as a state depend.” [ Benjamin Disraeli ]

6]. “Last week, President Donald Trump emphatically discouraged women from taking Tylenol during pregnancy, based on unproven claims that acetaminophen is linked to autism…..The truth is that chosing relief or intervention when its medically appropriate is not weakness.”…..”They want to dictate your pregnancy……and add to the sense that it is appropriate for women to suffer for the sake of their babies.” [Catherine Pearson: “Pregnant Women Face An Onslaught Of Advice”; New York Times; 9/28/25]

***. “The most delusional fantasies can be made to masquerade as sanity if you’ve got the political power to reinforce them.” [ penny Skillman ]

7]. “At the behest of Trump, Congressional Republicans passed a massive tax cut for billionaires, paid for in part by huge cuts to Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and other crucial programs. These cuts threaten to cut off access to health care for millions of Americans. The Trump administration has ramped up efforts to privatize Medicare by hiking rates for Medicare Advantage plans.” [“Trump and Allies Threaten to Worsen Health Care, Putting lives at Risk”; Public Citizen News; Sept/Oct, 2025]

***. “The most odious of all oppressions are those which mask as justice.” [ Justice Robert Jackson ]

8] “Trump could gain leverage from shutdown….Layoffs, cuts would play into Project 2025 goals” [ Jacob Bogage; Washington Post; 9/28/25]: “..The White House is preparing for a shutdown that would reflect the purest vision of President Donald Trump’s vision for the federal government, guided by White House budget director Russell Vought, an architect of the controversial Project 2025 playbook for Trump’s second term…The result, both during and after a shutdown, could be a federal government dramatically reoriented to defense, immigration and law enforcement – and not much else.” [NOTE; remember what was said above – underinvesting in social services to keep people healthy – if the Trump DICTATORSHIP cuts health funding – how does this “…promote the general Welfare..” ? {U.S. Constitution]

*** “Zeal is fit only for Wisw Men, but is found mostly in Fools.” [ Thomas Fuller ]

For Perspective: “We the People of the United States, in Order to from a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility…promote the general Welfare..do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” “..promote the general Welfare..” YOU tell me, where in all the Craziness, Stupidity, Corruption, Cruelty of its “health care’ policies does the Trump DICTATORSHIP “..promote the general Welfare..” of YOU and other Americans??????? YOU tell me, after nearly 9 months of Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness – what, if anything, has the Trump DICTATORSHIP done to. “..promote the general Welfare..” ?????????

The CORRUPTION and HIGH COST of American ‘health care” that was begun under the Reagan administration has now created a crisis in American “health care” that. DOES. NOT exist in other “developed’ nations. Check on health care in Scandinavian countries – “the happiest people on earth.” What do they do that America does not? Read T.R. Reid’s. “The Healing of America;” Pulitzer Prize winners Barlett & Steele’s. “Critical condition;” Bradley & Taylor’s. “The American Health Care Paradox.” The answers to America’s health care crisis are. KNOWN. – because of. CORRUPTION. – we don’t do them………..