Reflections

 Reflections

By Jack Dallas

Each end-of-year holiday season we look back to what happened during our most recent trip around the sun. We give thanks for the good things and express our hopes for the future. I’m going to throw out a curve ball and say that we should be thankful for Donald J. Trump.

I didn’t live in New York where, according to several old episodes of Law and Order, he is mentioned regularly in passing and everyone nods knowingly in agreement. I never watched any of his television ventures. Before he successfully ran for president, I couldn’t have told you much about him. I just didn’t have an opinion.

Well, that has sure changed. You would have to be living under a rock to not know of him today. Speaking of rocks, there must be a lot of vacancies under them these days because so many folks have emerged to the siren call of their new “rock star.” Love him or hate him, everyone knows of his escapades.

He will be remembered, and history will speak his name. We remember Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Fidel Castro, Idi Amin, and Ivan the Terrible, why not Trump? I would have preferred that his tenure in office would have been as memorable as William Henry Harrison who, after giving a long acceptance speech in the cold at his inauguration, caught pneumonia and died four weeks later.

I won’t list Trump’s faults, no one has that much free time. I would however like to point out a few positive things he has accomplished. He has highlighted the shortcomings of our democracy. As a deceitful grifter with no moral compass, he has tested our laws, protocols, and even our understanding of common decency. We now know that relying on previous rules of decorum and the threat of public shame, is without influence on the activities of someone who has no feelings beyond those of pompous pretentiousness. He has pulled off the long con and as a bloviating coward who is filled with his own importance, he threatens others into submission.

Unwritten laws are not worth the paper they aren’t written on. We also know and should have always known, that laws without a means of enforcement, are useless. We now know, as if it wasn’t clear before, anyone with time, money, and a bit of political influence can ignore the law, delay investigations, ignore subpoenas, appoint, and influence judges who will refuse to recuse themselves, and basically defy and deny justice. Laws are for those without the means to fight them.

It is particularly now clear that only working stiffs pay their fair share of taxes. The underfunded and understaffed IRS won’t bother with complicated tax returns where the subjects might be able to put up a long legal battle. The IRS only bothers with the low-hanging fruit. Trump and his ilk can avoid all but the taxes on things like the outright sales of real estate. He avoided taxes, like most of us, by donating large sums of money to charity in cash without documentation. Oh wait, I can’t do that. I would need to provide documentation.

He also “donated” a large parcel of land, the value of which had no valid appraisal, to a land trust, and claimed it was worth $21.1M. I wonder if I could donate my backyard and front yard to a trust. No one could use the land and I could write off the maintenance as a further donation to charity. If only I were rich and connected. We also see that Trump inspired a new era in Republican politics.

Ducey, Abbot, Trump, DeSantis

We have three state Republican governors trying to outdo each other by being cruel to immigrants to gain favor for those constituents who hold some animosity for Hispanics or people of color. Greg Abbot and Ron DeSantis have each pulled stunts at taxpayer expense to use immigrants as pawns in a political game of who can make the lives of these people more miserable. Imagine how much fun Governor Abbot had bussing families with children to Washington DC in the middle of a Christmas blizzard, some wearing shorts and sweatshirts with sandals, and dumping them at the doorstep of the Vice President.

Immigrants being dropped off at VP Kamala Harris' Washington DC home

Even Arizona governor Doug Ducey jumped on the bandwagon and erected an illegal border wall topped with razor wire. The wall was a waste of taxpayer dollars that accomplished nothing more than to get the governor some publicity. Protesters easily climbed his wall and stood on top for pictures. All three governors hope to be presidential candidates and think that such stunts will win them votes with the Republican base. None of these activities were constructive. They did not address the problem. They merely made the lives of some poor immigrants more miserable than they already were.

Yes, there is a problem with immigration that both Republicans and Democrats need to solve, but this is not the way. When a building is on fire you don’t throw gasoline on it just so you can make people aware that the building is burning. We already know about the problem so grandstanding like these three clowns is not the answer. Trump just paved the road and these three are just the heartless tin man, empty-headed scarecrow, and cowardly lion trying to get to Oz. They would tell you that they just don’t want us overrun by Munchkins or whatever aliens lurk south of our border.

Another part of Trump’s legacy in politics is unabashed lying. We have long tolerated the “little white lies” of those running for office. Trump’s lies have taken the lying out of the minor leagues and made it an Olympic event and national political pastime. His Big Lie about a stolen election is a classic work of fiction that has been copied by his minions like Kari Lake. She lost her legal challenge because she, like Trump, had theories and conjecture, but no proof. Trump doesn’t like losers so, if asked about Kari Lake, he will claim that Kari Lake is a water hazard on the back nine at Doral.

Kari Lake at Doral

A recent political candidate, George Santos, has been caught lying about his education, his work experience, his religious background, and the source of his income. He calls these things “embellishments.” When you pad a resume and say that you graduated at the top of your class and you were really second or third, that’s an embellishment. When you never attended that school and don’t have a degree from any college, never worked at two prestigious corporations, and don’t have a Jewish family history involving the Holocaust, but claim that you do, you are a fraud not worthy of the public trust. We are well beyond the “embellishment” phase on a resume. In the corporate world, this much lying on a CV would result in termination.

Who is George Santos?

Santos further claims that he had a family-owned real estate portfolio with 13 properties but that too seems to be fabricated. His sources of income are cloudy at best. First, he was poor, and then he was a millionaire who had a spare $700,000 to loan his campaign. There are now inferences that some of his economic windfalls happened through the largess of Andrew Intrater, money manager to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Vekselberg, like all Russian oligarchs, has close ties to Vladamir Putin. Santos has since blasted the Ukrainian government calling it, “a totalitarian regime.” It would seem that Santos, much like Trump, hasn't met an authoritarian dictator he didn't like. This is especially true for any who will donate dark money to his campaign.

Santos also claims that he has no criminal record in Brazil, but authorities say he wrote checks there with a stolen checkbook. He confessed to the crime in Brazil, but the case is still open because he left the country. Another stunning example of what we seem to now tolerate as the new normal in politics after the legacy of Donald J. Trump.

When you have MTG in your corner, your troubles have just begun.

Yes, while lying in politics has been around since its inception, Trump has set the bar so low that it is no longer a high jump but a limbo bar where politicians say, “how low can you go?” It would seem that this “barrier” now only allows snakes to slither underneath.

Trump lost the 2020 presidential election and here we are, two years later, still talking about him. He has been “in politics” for over two decades now with declarations as a candidate for our highest office in 2000, 2016, 2020, and now for 2024. He even made half-hearted attempts in 2012 and 2004. Let’s hope that our better politicians, both Republicans, and Democrats, will realize that America deserves better than the likes of Donald Trump. Promises to Make America Great Again and Drain the Swamp were just political rhetoric. Trump divided America further than it had ever been and showed up for his first day at work with a truckload of alligators for the DC swamp.

We may not have known much about him in 2016, but the four years of his presidency have tested the fabric that holds this nation together. That fabric held, but just barely. We may not need a complete overhaul of the Constitution, but this man has certainly pointed out its weaknesses. If we make the necessary changes to prevent a future such occurrence, good for us. If we ignore his example, or worse yet, condone his actions, we deserve what follows. Thank you, Donald Trump.

Joseph Welch at McCarthy hearings

To quote Joseph Welch from the McCarthy hearings, “You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”

Trading Democracy for Strong Authoritarian Rule

 A recent editorial I read, talked about Vladimir Putin’s paranoia and his fear of being killed by his own forces. Putin was apoplectic when, in 2011, he learned of the fate of Muammar Gaddafi who had suffered a humiliating and painful death at the hands of a rebel militia. Putin watched the cellphone video of Gaddafi’s death, and he took steps to isolate himself to prevent a similar fate. His paranoia and isolation have made him a dangerous individual and his missteps in the Ukraine war have made his actions dangerously unpredictable.

Muammar Gaddafi

It was Muammar Gaddafi who had led Libya for four decades in a manner described as a "cult of personality." He created the image of an idealized heroic leader who demanded unquestioning praise and flattery. Why does this sound so familiar? Gaddafi's technique was to use propaganda, fake news, nationalism, and organized rallies and demonstrations to promote himself as a hero who was not to be questioned. I'm thinking of a number. If you guessed 45, give yourself a gold star.

I mention this only as a prelude to my thoughts on the global decline of democracy and the rise of a quasi-religious nationalism that seems to be overtaking countries around the world, including America. The rapid globalization of world economies and the trend toward unrestricted capitalism have widened the gap of economic inequities. Those who end up on the short end of this economic stick, are then more easily manipulated through fear and misinformation to favor leaders who regularly work against their interests.

In America, people seem to be willing to give up a democratic way of life for the “magic beans” and empty promises of those claiming to be the strong leaders that will provide them with a better life. This exchange of democracy for authoritarianism seems like a good bet as the former has, in their minds, been responsible for their plight. Strong and wrong seem preferable to weak but right. In a quote attributed to American socialist and trade unionist Eugene Debs, he stated, “In every age, it has been the tyrant, the oppressor and the exploiter who has wrapped himself in the cloak of patriotism, or religion, or both to deceive and overawe the People.”

In the age of Roman domination, it was a maxim that whenever a revolt was perceived, it was advisable to start a war to shift priorities. In modern America that “war” is the threat of immigrants coming to take your jobs, rape your women, sell drugs, and commit crimes that are used to distract the masses. It is a variation of a common tool of magicians, conmen, grifters, and politicians who use distraction as a means of control.

Another sign of the shift toward authoritarian rule in America is the death of truth. While politicians have long been known to “bend the truth” it took just one grifter of extraordinary talent to gain political office to declare open war on verifiable reality. During his 2016 campaign, it was found that this one political candidate made false utterances about 78 percent of the time. If challenged he would double down on the previous statements to create a fictional parallel universe of his own making. Endless repetition of lies and the use of nicknames of derision for his opponents was a useful tool for this new demigod of the oppressed.

He would also openly use promises that defied all logic. Cutting taxes for everyone and eliminating the national debt might sound like worthwhile goals but they are contradictions. Did anyone ever truly believe that Mexico would pay for a wall across its own border to keep immigrants from making it to America? How a billionaire was able to convince a massive audience of financially insecure individuals that he alone could lead them to the promised land is a tribute to his skill as the consummate grifter. As their new savior, only he could solve their problems. All they needed was faith. After four years they still had faith, but nothing else.

If people could only open their eyes and see beyond their fear and loathing of the unknown, they would see him as those who have had the misfortune of trusting him in business. Most banks have learned their lessons the hard way. Those tradespersons without large law firms on retainer have also learned he is not to be trusted. He is currently having difficulty finding lawyers who will represent him as he ignores their consult and puts them in precarious positions of liability.

Will this individual of whom I speak ever hold political office again? I doubt it, but the damage he has wrought on our democracy will last for generations. One political party has been totally corrupted and many within have seen how easy it was for a non-politician, non-religious person, and not-so-smart grifter to easily find a way forward to touch so many with false hope.

A brief look at other authoritarian leaders just in my lifetime, which according to Christian Evangelicals began at conception, we have the likes of Benito Mussolini who were shot to death by Italian partisans while he was fleeing to Switzerland. Then there was Adolf Hitler who swallowed a cyanide capsule and shot himself in the head. Before they died, however, they led their countries into a war that destroyed each of their countries. Over 4 million Germans died in WWII. Over 200,000 Italians died in that same war.

Then there was Francisco Franco of Spain who used forced labor, concentration camps, and executions to maintain control which led to the deaths of over 40,000 of his people. We also had Mao Zedong whose Great Leap Forward brought industry and agriculture under state ownership and controlled his people with ruthless suppression. A massive decline in agriculture due to poor harvests and the famine that followed led to the deaths of 1.5 million of his people and the destruction of much of his country’s heritage. I need not mention the many “successes” of other authoritarian leaders like Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Augusto Pinochet, Idi Amin, Joseph Stalin, Muammar Gaddafi, and Vladimir Putin.

Why so many Americans are willing to give up some personal freedoms and abandon democracy to another authoritarian leader escapes me. We seem to be a generation looking for quick fixes and simple solutions based on false promises of politicians and the misinformation of 8chan, OAN, and Truth Social. We forget the failed “experiments” with authoritarian rule in Germany, Italy, Spain, China, Cuba, Chile, Uganda, and Russia. We have become a nation of zombies blindly walking through life with our eyes glued to smartphones which aren’t making us any smarter. We have forgotten that just two and a half years ago one of our biggest problems was not having enough toilet paper to wipe our collective behinds.

What Will We Do?

Wilhelm Reich

I leave you with the scary proclamation of Wilhelm Reich in his 1933 book, The Mass Psychology of Fascism: “As painful and embarrassing as it may be, the fact remains that we are confronted with a human structure that has been shaped by thousands of years of mechanistic civilization and is expressed in social helplessness and an intense desire for a führer.”

 TDS

On a recent visit to the Dark Side, I encountered several non-sentient alien life forms, one of whom used the term TDS in reference to my comments. Her first use of the acronym was, “I see a lot of TDS here.” She followed this up with her adoration of DeSantis because he ignored those ignorant doctors and scientists during the peak of the Coronavirus pandemic by, “keeping the state open and the children in school.”

I wasn’t sure what this Storm Trooper from the MAGA Galactic Empire meant by TDS, so I began my investigation. What is TDS and how can I identify it? If anything could detect TDS, certainly I could find something on Amazon, they have everything. I wasn’t disappointed. I could buy a TDS meter for only $13.98, and it would give me a display indicating that my test sample had fewer than 40ppm of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in green, or a red display if my sample exceeded that count.

Somehow, I didn’t think this person was concerned with water quality in Florida. She was a DeSantis supporter, and he allows Big Sugar to flourish to the detriment of the Everglades, manatees, and others living things in our ecosystem. Water quality is very low on the list of MAGA priorities. I will need to look elsewhere.

Further research into the term TDS found that, in Trumpworld, it is used as a pejorative to discredit opponents without having to resort to a more intelligent reply. Like most things in Trumpworld, they appropriated the acronym from the George W. Bush-era when it was called BDS. It was used to describe a form of paranoia brought on by the very existence of George Bush and his policies. In Trumpworld, even the Make America Great Again-MAGA banner was an appropriation originally used in the 1940 presidential election by Alexander Wiley, then later by Barry Goldwater, and then Ronald Reagan. Nothing much in Trumpworld is original, not MAGA, not TDS.

In the new MAGA Republican era, TDS is similarly used to discredit others by saying that opposing arguments are based merely on an intense hatred of all things Trump. It stands for Trump Derangement Syndrome. My reply to the TDS name-caller was to provide a reasoned argument. This was essentially a waste of time. I said, “I don't hate Donald Trump, I just find him unworthy of the public trust. Those who are willing to overlook his many faults because he gives lip service to their deeply held beliefs are short-sighted. The man is not religious, doesn't respect women, is rude, and is criminally negligent when it comes to our national security.” Her reply, “more TDS.”

I think I must change my tactics and start communicating with these people in a language they understand. I will just create new fiction and present it as fact. These people follow QAnon and believe all that this enigma, living in the ether of the digital underworld, spouts. The more outrageous it sounds the faster it spreads and the more deeply these people believe the lies. So, let me try my hand at QAnon-level fiction…,

Donald J. Trump was born in a Salem Oregon psychiatric hospital and was the lovechild of Randle Patrick McMurphy and Nurse Ratched. He came into this world with a vestigial bifurcated tail. When the orange bloviator first made his earthly presence known, the nurses all gathered ‘round, and they gazed in wide wonder, at the joy they had found. The head nurse spoke up, said leave this one alone, she could tell right away, that he was bad to the bone. [apologies to George Thorogood]

The decision to “leave this one alone,” also meant that his vestigial tail would be left in place. The five-inch appendage would come in handy later in life as The Donald could now screw people in two directions at the same time.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Growing up in a psychiatric hospital would also come in handy when he later made his entry into politics. When he was only five years old, Donald snuck into the electroconvulsive therapy room and pleasured himself with 800 milliamperes of direct current to his tail. While this would have caused severe brain damage in normal humans, The Donald was not normal. He became disruptive, even more so than the actual patients. His tantrums were legendary, and he had a strange fascination with the top secret patient medical records. The decision was made to give him up for adoption.

He was shipped to Roy Cohn because Cohn had served as chief counsel during Joseph McCarthy’s trial, and Joe was the first cousin once removed of Randle McMurphy. Roy Cohn was also the lawyer for Fred Trump who had expressed a need for a fourth child for tax purposes. The Donald was provided with false papers and would ever after be known as Donald Trump.

Jaba the Hut

I’m putting this out there as a fact. Any doubters will have to provide a truckload of evidence to the contrary and, in true QAnon fashion, I still won’t believe them. I also have it on good authority that Q’s real name is Jabba Desilijic Tiure, aka Jabba the Hutt. He champions morbid obesity, corruption, and corporate greed, otherwise known as all the finer qualities of the Trump empire.

King Trump

 Upon learning of Queen Elizabeth’s death, Donald Trump responded:

“That was supposed to be my job, but she stole it in June of 1953. It was a fake coronation and everybody at Westminster Abbey knows it. King George VI was my father and Queen Victoria was my great-grandmother who I called Vicky. I will send copies of my birth certificate as soon as the ink dries. I have notified the British authorities that I intend to assume my position as king, and I plan to immediately move into Buckingham Palace which I will rename Trump-a-Lago. I want to inspect the crown jewels upon my arrival as they will be sold at an eBay auction to cover my legal expenses here in America. To sweeten the pot, I plan to bring over 28 boxes of Top-Secret US documents that will go on display in the lobby of Trump-a-Lago. I have attached a photograph that is to be released showing the huge crowds at the former Buckingham Palace during my coronation. Please don’t release this picture until after the ceremony because if it got out, I would have to explain the circumstances and while I am fully capable of that, it would be a bother. Please have Kiera Knightley, Kate Middleton, Kate Winslet, Naomi Watts, Emma Watson, Kate Beckinsale, and Elizabeth Hurley stand by for inspection as I plan to select one to be my queen. I would also like the name of Boris Johnson’s hair stylist as I am wanting a new look. I will be appointing J.K. Rowling as my secretary of state and senior press secretary as she can really tell some whoppers. She can begin by working on a new logo as MGBGA doesn't sound right and the little red hats cost more with the extra letters.”

His Most Supreme Majesty,

King Trump I

DOUBLE SECRET PROBATION

Donald Trump, in one of his many convoluted explanations for his desire to maintain control of classified materials, said that he secretly “declassified them all as soon as he moved them to his residence.” He claimed it was a standing order that he obviously never gave to anyone. It was his secret.

Trump's "standing order" was a better-kept secret than those marked Top Secret-SCI and stored just feet from where the fake Rothschild heiress, Inna Yashchyshyn, fooled Trump and the Secret Service on the grounds of Mar a Lago. Only a padlock protected our top secrets from the likes of Yujing Zhang, a 33-year-old Shanghai "business consultant," who in 2019 managed to make it past at least five Secret Service agents and into the main reception area of Mar-a-Lago with a bag full of electronics.

Double Secret Probation

Double Secret Probation

I am reminded of “double-secret-probation” as described by Dean Wormer of the fictional Faber College from the movie Animal House. Unbeknownst to Delta Tau Chi, the entire fraternity was secretly placed at risk of expulsion. Dean Wormer then used their failing GPAs to shut down their frat house to hilarious consequences. In the scary closing sequence, it is predicted that the crazy Bluto eventually becomes Senator John Blutarsky. Not much of a stretch of the imagination these days.

How would Trump feel if he found out that President Biden secretly “reclassified” all records that Trump had changed and that they were all back to their original classifications the moment Biden was sworn in? Both the secret declassification and the secret reclassification are ludicrous scenarios, but we now live in a time when the ridiculous and ludicrous are not only commonplace but accepted behavior.

That Donald J. Trump was careless with our national secrets is now common knowledge, even among his cult followers. Whether or not this carelessness rises to the level of treason will be a matter for the courts and those with access to what was in those documents. The contents might give insight into Trump’s motives for virtually stealing our national secrets and acting as if they were his personal property.

Motive is critical in matters of treason. Even if his actions don’t rise to the level of treason, they clearly show that the man is too careless and dangerous to ever again be entrusted with any position that provides access to our nation's secrets. This is information that, if divulged, could place our nation and the lives of those who perhaps risked theirs to gather that information, in mortal danger.

Even the Mr. Magoo’s of the GOP should clearly see that Donald Trump is a danger to this nation. Party loyalty is one thing, but you all pledged allegiance to the United States, not Donald Trump. It’s time to set some priorities. If you are the patriots you claim to be, then it’s time to put your actions where only words have gone before. There will be no hilarious consequences if Trump's Animal House is allowed to continue.

For What It’s Worth

For What It's Worth is the title of a Buffalo Springfield song that begins, “There’s something happening here, But what it is ain’t exactly clear.”  The refrain then states, “It’s time we stop, Hey, what’s that sound?  Everybody look, what’s going down.”

Buffalo Springfield from 1968

Perhaps now is the time for everyone to look at what’s going down.  Conservatives who will whip out a copy of the Second Amendment faster than Marshall Dillon could clear his holster, want to skip right over the First Amendment.  They will cherry-pick parts from the First that suit them but ignore the rest.  They will support free speech if it is their speech.  They love a free press if it is in line with conservative thinking.  The right of the people to peaceably assemble will be restricted to just white people assembling for conservative causes and the peaceful aspect of it be damned if they feel that violence is warranted.

Matt Dillon (James Arness) from the television show Gunsmoke

The part that they mostly ignore, skip over, and regularly try to regurgitate as something never intended by the writers of that Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”  This has uniformly been interpreted to mean that the federal government is prevented from establishing an official religion.  The government may respect religion but not establish a religion.  It has been long accepted that this Establishment Clause bars any government support that would tend to establish any religion.  This would mean that the government is prohibited from sponsoring, providing financial support for, or active involvement in, religious activities.

Religious neutrality is at the core of the First Amendment and protects both believers and non-believers.  This would be inconvenient to those who would like to establish Christianity as the formal national religion.  In this regard, the First Amendment is “inconvenient” to those who advocate the governmental adoption of Jesus Christ as the spiritual leader of our country.  To “reinterpret” the meaning of the First Amendment, conservatives want to do an end-run around that pesky obstacle.  Their actions have sometimes been subtle but recently, they have become more forthright with their goals.

They want to control all three branches of government.  They denied President Obama his appointment to a vacancy on the Supreme Court claiming that one year was “too close” to a new election to even consider the matter.  They cited the “Thurmond Myth” like it was an official rule.  This allowed Donald Trump to later appoint three conservative Supreme Court justices; Jackson, Barrett, and Kavanaugh.  All three were supportive of some of the more extreme conservative religious values.  Despite denials to the contrary, once on the bench, they would use religion to influence decisions.

For abortion rights, the appointment of those three judges meant iacta alea estdie, the dice had been cast.  Those newly minted conservative appointees tipped the scales favoring Christian morality and Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey were both overturned by Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.  This was done, not with some new legal insight but by twisting the law in favor of a powerful minority.  I say minority because, while the numbers may vary a bit between polls, somewhere around 85% of Americans think abortion should not be made illegal in all circumstances.  50% think it should be legal in certain circumstances and 35% believe it should be legal in all circumstances.  But, like gun control, policymakers will contradict the will of the majority to placate a vocal and tenacious minority.

The conservatives are also using the education system to promote Christian values in our schools.  We have seen certain books banned that didn’t meet Christian standards.  We have also seen a starving of public-school funding through the diversion of tax dollars to private charter schools and some schools of parochial sponsorship.  Once underfunded public schools begin to falter, better-funded private charter schools can take their place.  Private and parochial schools won’t be so bothered with a pesky First Amendment when it comes to promoting Christianity.  This also allows them to “reinvent” history by only approving those books that make White people feel more comfortable when talking about topics like slavery, Jim Crow laws, and our past oppression of people of color.

Thomas Jefferson; the third president of the US; drafted the Declaration
of Independence; spent $15 on Lousianna Purchase

Thomas Jefferson stated that the First Amendment created “a wall of separation between church and State.”  This was from a letter he wrote to the Danbury Baptist Assn. on Jan 1, 1802.  This statement was quoted in 1947 in Everson v. Board of Education where the SCOTUS said that this wall “must be kept high and impregnable.”  It went on to state that neither the Federal Government nor the state can set up a church, or pass laws that aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another.  They confirmed that “no tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions.

Sherlock Holmes

It doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to see how this ruling is being regularly violated by the newly emboldened White Christian nationalists and their elected stooges.  Using campaign donations and the voter support of their parishioners as a giant carrot, legislators will twist the First Amendment into a pretzel.  They will do this to satisfy the desire to impose Christian morality on all within our borders.

In their zeal to impose this Christian will, they will ignore the sins of their puppets.  By no stretch of anyone’s imagination is Donald Trump a religious man.  He is immoral, untrustworthy, and as un-Christian a person as you might ever meet, yet he will sing whatever tune the choir puts before him to achieve his own goals.  More dangerous still is Ron DeSantis, arguably the next presidential hopeful from the GOP camp.  He is imposing Christian morality on the citizens of Florida.  With teacher salaries just two up from the bottom, charter schools are his solution.

The White Christian nationalists use fear of reprisal to control the non-believers.  To get back to our musical lyrics, “Paranoia strikes deep, Into your life it will creep, It starts when you’re always afraid, Step out of line, the men come and take you away.”

Hurricane Andrew and Hurricane Trump, Lessons Learned

California has its San Andreas fault and is prone to earthquakes and the occasional plate shaker.  Kansas is in tornado alley and once a year around holiday time Dorthy is blown away to Oz.  South Florida hangs beckoningly into the Atlantic and dares hurricanes to test their strength.  My first home in Florida was built right after WWII and was of traditional CBS or concrete block and stucco construction.  The roof trusses were built on-site by carpenters who knew how to use a framing square to calculate roof pitch.  The trusses were topped with tongue-in-groove planks nailed to those trusses and topped with tar paper and heavy cement tiles.  Our second home built in 1959 used pre-fab trusses that used gang nails at joints and these were topped with plywood and the usual tarpaper and cement tiles.  

My current home was built by an old-school builder who followed the same roof techniques that we saw back in 1959 albeit with an asphalt shingle top.  The development right next door to mine was not built the same way.  The "builder" had no license but "rented" one from a business in the Bahamas that got a license for Florida.  Their construction was shoddy, they used substandard materials, and they didn't follow code.  Inspectors were either blind or paid to be myopic.

Hurricane Andrew in blue/orange
Hurricane Trump in red
TBD which disaster did the most damage.

South Florida has some of the most stringent building codes in America. They are sometimes used as a model for other states with coastal exposure to hurricanes. Those strict codes were in place in August of 1992 when hurricane Andrew violated all the normal “rules” that previous hurricanes had followed. Hurricane Andrew came in from the east, was a mostly dry hurricane with less than 14 inches of rain, had gusts recorded up to 177mph, killed 44 people in Florida, and left behind a record $25 billion in damage.  My home suffered comparatively minor damage while the previously mentioned nearby development had major failures.

Damage from 1992 Hurricane Andrew
Building codes were not enforced and were inadequate.

Those “stringent” building codes were put to the test and they were found wanting. The codes of 1992 weren’t strong enough to protect South Floridians from Hurricane Andrew. It was also found that many builders and developers didn’t comply with the codes as they were written. Some cut corners to save money and inspectors were lax with their enforcement. The population explosion of the 70s and 80s brought shortcuts in construction. The community of Country Walk had been built with cheap wafer plywood where roofing was held on with staples instead of nails. That development was destroyed while others survived.

Within two years of Hurricane Andrew, the South Florida Building Code was updated to focus on wind resistance and roof integrity. The revised building code was now strictly enforced. Floridians had learned a hard lesson and responded accordingly.

In 2016, America suffered from another foul wind in the form of Donald J. Trump. He blew in from New York as a massive low-pressure system filled with hot air and won the presidency. Like his predecessor Hurricane Andrew, he did not “play by the rules,” he also didn’t follow established principles of decorum, if policies or laws were unwritten, they didn’t exist, and those laws that did exist were mere suggestions because he was president and king of all that he surveyed. This country had never seen the likes of Donald J Trump.

Before Hurricane Donald, people assumed that all persons occupying the Oval Office would be reasonably intelligent humans who would continue with the traditions and the playbook that had been “written” over our 200+ years of existence as a beacon of democracy. But to Hurricane Donald, laws, rules, and traditions were of no consequence as he bragged on January 23, 2016, that he could "stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody" and not "lose any voters." He was above the law.

Above the law

Not since Julius and Ethel Rosenberg has our national security been so damaged as it has been under Hurricane Trump. We will never know why this president wanted to steal classified documents we just know that he never does anything unless there is a profit in the foreseeable future. He was famous for never reading anything longer than a tweet, so those classified documents weren’t for his own edification. Trump regularly made unsecured phone calls that compromised national security. He called his US ambassador to the EU in Kyiv to discuss his desire to move forward with investigations into Joe Biden. Others in the restaurant heard both ends of the conversation and you must imagine Russia was on that party line.

What's his name with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Trump regularly confided in foreign “strong men” leaders as he did in 2017 when he passed highly classified intelligence to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. That conversation jeopardized a human intelligence source. Trump also used security clearances as either gifts or punishment. Son-in-law Kushner got a top-secret clearance against the advice of his security office, and he took away the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan as punishment for his critical remarks.

Image of documents recovered from Mar a Lago
Trump had stolen public records and government property.
There were Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (need to know)
 documents that are not to be used outside special facilities.

Hurricane Trump has further damaged national security by politicizing the declassification of documents. He ordered the declassification of all documents relating to the FBI’s ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. This would include interviews with sources and the text messages of his perceived personal enemies such as former FBI Director James Comey, former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, former FBI investigators Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, and Justice Department official Bruce Ohr.

Trump’s personal lawyer and former cybersecurity advisor was none other than the infamous Rudy Giuliani. It was Rudy G. in his capacity as Trump's personal envoy who often butt-dialed reporters and left revealing voice messages. Trump also violated security protocols by tweeting, and thereby instantly declassifying, high-resolution imagery of an Iranian space facility damaged in an “accident.”

Trump's ego was more important than national security.
This hi resolution image from Iran gave up valuable data
and taunted the Iranians.

 

Trump and his family regularly used personal cell phones and email accounts to communicate with government officials. Hurricane Trump has been an intelligence bonanza for foreign intelligence agents as he treats our top secrets as casually as a plate of ketchup-topped French fries delivered air mail to the nearest wall.

Bill of Rights, have some Freedom Fries with ketchup!

Hurricane Andrew started out as a tropical depression off the coast of Africa. Hurricane Trump started out as an abomination in the City of New York before blowing through Washington DC and later moving on to Palm Beach, Florida. Hurricane Andrew caused catastrophic damage across the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana. Hurricane Trump caused devastating damage across the entire nation and much of the world.

Just as South Florida revised and began strict enforcement of its building code, perhaps it is time to re-think the laws and powers of the presidency. We should learn from the recent blunders, mistakes, and outright violations of our existing laws and realize that we need to reign in or at least better define what it means to be a proper president in the United States. We can no longer trust that traditions, protocols, and laws that are either vaguely defined or have been left unenforceable, will keep another careless authoritarian from playing fast and loose with our national security and our democracy.

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Postscript 1:  Hurricane Andrew was the only hurricane since the 40s I did not witness firsthand as I was out of town on business in Texas.  In what I assumed would be a normal check-in phone call home, Sue told me she was amazed the phones were still working as she was hunkered down in her walk-in closet with four others.  I had not even heard about this hurricane.  Before I was able to leave Texas I called to see what, if anything, they needed.  Everyone was in desperate need of generators and chainsaws.

I made a trip to the local hardware store and bought a small portable generator and a chainsaw.  I was able to check the generator as baggage and the chainsaw was my carry-on.  Yes, pre-911 I was able to walk onto a flight carrying a chainsaw.  Both the generator and the chainsaw were used around my neighborhood which was now barely recognizable.  Much the same as our country is today.

Postscript 2:  I have held federal, state, and local jobs in the government.  All government employees know that the removal or destruction of ANY government property can get you in serious trouble.  It is a simple rule that is easy to understand.  I held a Secret clearance in the Navy that required a simple background check by the FBI and they visited a few neighbors to vouch for my character.  I would venture a guess that there are elected officials who, if it weren't for their elected status, would not pass a background check.  I would include former President Donald Trump in that group.

The FUD Factor and The Domestic Terrorism of 2020-2021

It should now be clear to all who have been paying attention, Donald J. Trump was the Osama bin Laden of the domestic terror attack of January 6, 2021.  Much like bin Laden, Trump’s efforts didn’t begin and end in a single day.  It took months of planning.  While the events of September 11, 2001, were the culmination of months of preparation by a group of international terrorists, January 6, 2021, was the culmination of a multi-phase plan executed by a group of domestic terrorists.  What makes this latter act so vile is that it was led by the president of the United States.

Domestic Terrorist                     International Terrorist

The groundwork for January 6, 2021, was laid well before the November elections of 2020.  Back then, Trump was already claiming, before any votes had been cast, that if he lost, it was proof the election was fraudulent.  By inference, if he won, it was the will of the people in a completely fair election.  In his mind, Win=Fair, Lose=Fraud.

While bin Laden planned and directed the September 11^th attacks using others as pawns, Donald Trump committed grave atrocities using gullible people in a like fashion.  It would seem that the main difference between the two is that Trump wanted to march with his rioters and was only stopped by his Secret Service staff.  While such ambition is not in keeping with this draft-dodging couch-potato with heel spurs, we may never know if his faux courage was something new.  The Secret Service deemed the events of this day unworthy of saving for posterity.  They willingly deleted all phone data for the day.  We will never know what might have happened if he had been allowed to go to the Capitol with his bodyguards to bravely go where no president had gone before.  He would have been the first president to lead an attack on his own country.

Trump hired and fired advisors and lawyers to get just the right mix of sycophants who shared his vision of win-at-all-costs.  Should that cost include breaking the law, setting aside morality, and ignoring the Constitution, they were ready.  He needed people to look at our laws as mere suggestions to be interpreted in any way necessary to allow him to retain power in the absence of enough votes to win fairly.  In this group of ne'er-do-wells, we find a pillow vendor, a disbarred drunk lawyer, conspiracy theorists, several “flexible” lawyers, a retired military colonel/convicted felon, and an online overstock furniture guy.  Trump always hired the finest.

Trump's Dream Team of Sycophants

This was not one seditious act but a multi-part plan with tentacles that slithered in many directions.  The whole thing was an attempt to create enough chaos to confuse people so that they would believe that Donald Trump won the election, or to at least throw the results into question.  The idea was to use the tried-and-true marketing FUD method to win the presidential election. 

The FUD Factor

For those of you perhaps unfamiliar with FUD, it stands for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.  I bet you thought it had something to do with Elmer but Elmer Fudd is spelled with two d’s and even Elmer couldn't have screwed things up this badly.  It is a common marketing strategy used by a dominant or privileged organization to restrain competition by introducing suspicion and uncertainty into the marketplace to the detriment of other competitors.  FUD is also a propaganda tactic used in public relations, politics, polling, and cults.  It is a strategy developed to influence perception by spreading negative, dubious, or false information to instill fear.

Trump started with lawsuits challenging the vote counts.  He hired his own experts to find anything he could use to challenge the election results.  They gained access to voting machines.  They watched surveillance videos of precinct counts and drew phony conclusions as to what they saw.  They conspired to appoint boards of fake electors to go to Washington to challenge the actual electors.  They tried to coerce governors and election supervisors.  Trump wanted to direct the military to seize state-owned voting machines.  They tried to threaten and intimidate election workers.  They used social media and compliant news sources to spread rumors, stories, falsehoods, half-truths, and outright fabrications to muddy the waters.

Cyber Ninja Examining Ballots for Fraud
They Found None, Repeat..., No Fraud

The claims went from bizarre to ridiculous.  Strange satellites were beaming signals to change election results.  The dead Hugo Chavez used secret information to magically flip votes from Trump to Biden.  Storage bins normally used to carry ballots were described as mysterious suitcases or boxes that contained fraudulent Biden votes. 

A GOP mega-donor from Texas, Steven Hotze, was charged with unlawful restraint and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after an air conditioning repairman was run off the road and held at gunpoint.  One of Hotze’s hired posse of private investigators mistakenly thought the repairman’s van held 750,000 fraudulent mail-in ballots.  Then there is The Sixth Sense version of voter fraud, “I see dead people.”  Claims of widespread fraud by people using the IDs of dead voters are broad and almost always unfounded.

I see dead voters in every state Trump lost.

Their Machiavellian plot had all the essential ingredients.  They had the fake slate of electors standing by, they had 147 Republicans who would vote to object to the certification of the electoral votes, and Trump had intimidated and threatened his vice president to get him to either refuse to certify the results or overturn the election results.  Trump's ace-in-the-hole was his rally mob which would storm the Capitol, stop the certification, and if Mike Pence met his maker hanging from the available gallows, it would just be icing on the presidential cake.

The period between September 11, 2001, and January 6, 2021, is 19 years, 3 months, and 26 days.  That’s the time between the bin Laden attack with his group of international terrorists and the Donald Trump attack with his band of domestic terrorists.  It remains to be seen which terrorist did more damage to this country.  At least we know where Donald is hiding so he won’t be so hard to find.  We all know who is in Jeopardy.  I’ll take Domestic Terrorism for $1,000 Alex.

From 18 USC § 2331(5)

Domestic terrorism:

(5) the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that— (A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; (B) appear to be intended— (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and (C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.

In an example given under the legal expansions created under Section 802 of the USA Patriot Act, they use the case of protestors who trespassed on a Vieques Island military installation to protest military exercises.  Their conduct fit the definition of domestic terrorism because the protesters broke federal law by unlawfully entering the airbase and their acts were for the purpose of influencing a government policy by intimidation or coercion. 

The language in the law is broad enough to authorize the government to seize the assets of any individuals involved in domestic terrorism.  Is anyone interested in a home with a golf course in Palm Beach?   I’ll start the bidding at $5.00.

For Sale, Government Auction