MAGA in Wonderland

Governing by improvisation is dangerous. War by improv is much worse. In Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Alice meets the Cheshire Cat and asks him which way she should go. The cat then asks her for her destination and Alice tells him she has none. The Cheshire Cat then tells her that she can take any path and end up nowhere in particular.

The message from the Cheshire Cat is that you must define your objective for success before taking action. Our president has recently reversed his “America First” campaign rhetoric of “No new wars” and has justified starting them by telling us that they are not wars. In the case of Iran, he is calling it an “excursion.”

By definition, “An excursion is a short, often leisurely, trip or outing taken for pleasure, education, or a specific purpose, usually with the intention of returning promptly.” Calling a military campaign that is costing taxpayers over a billion dollars a day and thousands of lives an excursion, tests the limits of the intelligence of the American public.

The bombing of Iran is certainly not a leisurely trip, it is not for pleasure or education, and it lacks specific purpose. When questioned about its specific purpose, the president’s answers are vague and shifting. He proclaimed Iran’s nuclear threat “obliterated” back in June of last year (Operation Midnight Hammer), but now claims this “excursion” is to eliminate their nuclear threat. He then shifts the reason to be a defensive measure against “47 years of Iranian aggression.” He then shifts the reasoning to be one of regime change where he hopes the Iranian people will rise and overthrow their government.

The advantage to this war by improv with no expressed end game, is that the president can stop at any time, pull a George Bush, and claim “mission accomplished.” Since no one knows what the mission is, any ending can be declared a victory. Without a defined objective or destination, no one can question the path he takes.

Perhaps Trump is taking direction from a hookah-smoking caterpillar and that magic mushroom pizza is making him feel taller. Whatever his excuse, if he doesn’t end this war quickly, Iran may be his Waterloo.

I leave you with a quote from Octavia Butler’s novel, Parable of the Sower, “That's all anybody can do right now. Live. Hold out. Survive. I don't know whether good times are coming back again. But I know that won't matter if we don't survive these times."

Who to "Root" For

 

In a recent post a friend from the right he wrote, "If you're rooting against the President, you're rooting against the nation." He then went on to correctly state that we could oppose policy, vote against him, and demand oversight. He also inferred that, by not "rooting for" the president meant that we were hoping for a tanking economy, foreign policy disasters, and national humiliation on the world stage. His general statement was that, hoping for the collapse of this administration was…, “reckless and it is anti American.”

His post presents a common theme that blindly accepts the actions of a leader because he is the leader. All opposition beyond the voting booth or disagreeing with simple policy is equated with being anti-American. I wrote a reply.

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When you say, “root for” our president, that infers that one actively supports that person and encourages them in their endeavors. Given that we are still living in a democracy, I will not “kiss the ring” of a self-declared authoritarian actively ignoring the rule of law, defying judicial rulings, and trampling on the rights of our citizens. I will support our police and military while they do their jobs and work within the law. I do not support the thugs within ICE who, under the guise of immigration enforcement and unspecified national emergencies, shred the Bill of Rights.

As for a tanking economy, foreign policy disasters, and national humiliation on the world stage, this president needs no help as he is doing what he can to bring all of that upon us. I would also ask, what does overthrowing oppressive regimes in other countries have to do with his nationalist America First promises.

So far, he used the U.S. military in Venezuela, at the cost of over $700,000,000, to capture two people. That’s over $350 million per person. The Maduro regime is now run by Delcy Rodriguez and her brother Jorge Rodriguez. How is this an improvement?

The WAR in Iran initially cost over $5 billion and continues to cost taxpayers $900 million to $1 billion per day. The political cost exceeds even that. It has triggered significant economic instability, caused a sharp rise in oil and gas prices, stock market volatility, and has placed a major strain on military ammunition stockpiles. It has added to geopolitical instability and the civilian collateral damage losses will raise the threat level for Americans.

While Donald Trump won the last election with a plurality of 49.8%, today’s disapproval rating is at 56%. Nobody is “rooting” for America to fail. This president is failing by his own actions. He is his own worst enemy. No amount of cheering him on will help. So, pointing out his failures and mistakes is not “anti American”, in fact it is the most American thing a person living in a democracy can do.

1984 in the Age of AI

 

George Orwell’s 1984 dystopian image of a totalitarian state ruled by an omnipresent government, seems almost quaint when compared to 2026 reality. When Orwell wrote in 1949, of the constant surveillance of all citizens, he did not envision the future that was a mere 77 years away.

In his novel, 1984, Orwell’s character Winston was charged with rewriting history at the Ministry of Truth. Facts were manipulated to allow the government to maintain power governing the superstate, Oceania. Citizens were under constant surveillance through telescreens. There was no privacy.

In the novel, 2026, yet to be written, we find that those “telescreens” are now cellphones, computers, CCTV, and smart home devices. People willingly give up their privacy in exchange for a seat at the social media table. Data gleaned from those devices now contain mountains of datapoints on every “connected” citizen.

The enormous volume of data would take more human analysis than would be practical in order for it to be useful. Enter Artificial Intelligence, or AI. This emerging technology can now do that work in a fraction of the time. It is now possible for an interested party to use AI to predict where you are or will be at any moment, where you work, where you shop, what you like to eat, how you vote, how much money you have, how much debt your have, where you like to eat, your medical conditions, your political positions - almost every aspect of your life is recorded.

The most sophisticated AI engines are owned by corporations, but our government can contract with them to spy on its own citizens. They will cite terrorism and national security in their justification, but its use for political purposes is well within its grasp.

Up to now, the business of AI has been concerned with the technology and the monetization of that effort. The ethics of its use fell largely to “others,” as that was outside their business model. This is not unlike a gun manufacturer who only builds the guns and leaves the ethics of the use of its products to the end consumer.

When Anthropic was negotiating government contracts for its AI model, Claude, especially with the defense departments, it finally raised the questions of ethics. They wanted only two restrictions placed on their product’s use.

First, they didn’t want the information to be used in lethal weapon systems that can engage targets without human oversight. Their concern was that current AI models are not reliable enough for life and death decisions. The company thought such use would pose significant dangers.

Secondly, Anthropic did not want Claude to be used for the widespread surveillance of American citizens. They thought it would be unethical for the government to use its product to violate fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

The U.S. Department of Defense wanted these restrictions removed. They preferred the less restrictive terminology like “all lawful use.” As we have seen with the current administration, the term “lawful use” would mean unlimited use as the law is what they say it is, not those pesky written laws.

When Anthropic refused to remove these restrictions, the Trump administration (2/27/2026), designated them to be a “supply chain risk” and ordered all federal agencies to cease using the Anthropic technology. The term “supply chain risk” is normally reserved for foreign adversaries. Are Dario and Daniela Amodei headed for Room 101*?

Other companies like OpenAI and xAI signed agreements using the “all legal purposes” stamdard. The government is also now trying to enforce the restrictions on using Anthropic on its military contractors.

This calls into question the true nature of the government’s objections to the two Anthropic restrictions which would both seem to fall within the scope of “legal purposes.” Does this seem like our government wants to surveil its citizens without legal cause? We already learned what they think about obtaining legal warrants as everything seems to be exigent circumstances, national security, or my mother’s favorite, “because I said so.”

*Room 101 was the Party’s torture chamber in 1984. Dario and Daniela Amodei are the co-founders of Antrhopic.

What Are the Warning Signs?

I asked AI to describe a sociopath. I won’t bore you with their lengthy response, but my takeaway was that such a person would be:

1. Dismissive of the rights of others, social norms, and the law,

2. Impulsive and emotionally volatile,

3. Unable to maintain long-term relationships,

4. Unpredictable and their behavior often results in aggression or irritability,

5. A frequent liar,

6. Likely to con others for personal gain,

7. Impulsive and fail to plan ahead,

8. Unremorseful when hurting, mistreating or stealing from others,

9. Volatile, often with verbal outbursts,

10. Dishonest with regard to financial obligations,

11. Dismissive of the safety of others,

12. A flatterer in order to manipulate others for personal gain.

If you objectively read the above list, you will probably be able to find an example of someone who fits this description. To think that someone in such a position of great political power is a sociopath, should give us all pause.

Such individuals may appear to be effective leaders, as they are decisive and exhibit confidence. The consensus is that, in the short term, sociopaths’ adaptive qualities may help them ascend to power, but their leadership style is unsustainable in the long-term. They look good only so long as they get lucky in their decisions or can get away with dismissive explanations.

Their superficial charm can be seen as charismatic and persuasive, and their emotional detachment can be mistaken for “coolness under pressure.” The bottom line, however, is that they don’t care enough to be concerned. They are more enamored with short-term gains over the achievement of long-term benefits.

In the corporate world such individuals rule in a culture of fear, their constant lying erodes innovation, their businesses suffer high turnover, and their “win at all costs” attitude will lead to scandals, fraud, and problems with the law. Within this culture of fear, they will use bullying, gaslighting, and intimidation for control, leading to subordinate stress and burnout.

At the conclusion of the AI response it asked the question, “would you like to learn about the psychological difference between a sociopathic leader and a “dark triad” leader?” This is where it truly got scary.

The “dark triad” of personality disorders combines narcissism, Machiavellianism, and true psychopathic behavior. I doubt that even the MAGA crowd would disagree that the person we are all thinking of is a narcissist. He is in fine company with Hitler, Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Stalin, and King Louis XIV in that regard.

As to his Machiavellian skill set, I find him wanting. This requires long term political strategy and deception to consolidate power. While he doesn’t seem to possess the ability for long-term planning, I think others around him (say, Stephen Miller) have such a plan.

On the psychopathic front, this is a matter of degree. I think our “anonymous leader” lacks the ability to be a true psychopath. Psychopaths can maintain the facade of normalcy whereas sociopaths are impulsive, erratic, and hot-headed. Our unnamed leader seems to fall into this latter category as he can’t be bothered to fake empathy.

In a separate but related search I asked if sexual deviance is linked to either narcissism or sociopathy.

The AI response:

“Sexual deviance, particularly behaviors involving exploitation, aggression, and lack of empathy, is strongly linked to both narcissism and psychopathy/sociopathy. Research suggests these traits, often part of the "Dark Triad," predict a higher likelihood of engaging in coercive or non-normative sexual behaviors. Psychopathic traits, particularly the "antisocial" and "lifestyle" facets, are strongly associated with a wide range of deviant sexual interests. This includes high-risk sexual behaviors and a lack of emotional attachment, often driven by a low capacity for empathy.”

After much research and only one college-level course in abnormal psychology, my non-clinical diagnosis is that this “leader of the free world” is merely a narcissistic sociopath. As to his ephebophilia or sexual deviance, much of that evidence remains redacted in those pesky Epstein files. We don’t necessarily get the Dark Triad Trifecta, but we certainly win the Daily Double. Whew! Are you relieved?

They Walk Among Us

I often marvel at the variety of folks we have in this country. In my eight decades of life, I’ve seen all kinds and just when I think I’ve seen it all, someone surprises me. Case in point, a recent post ended up in my FB feed, left to me by some major hiccup in their artificial intelligence algorithm, where a MAGA fanatic glorified the war in Iran.

His post was steeped in testosterone and talk of war, our strategic might, and how Donald Trump is a master of all he attempts as he is a spokesperson for God. He bragged about the specifics of our B1, B2, and B52 bombers, their bomb payloads, and how these instruments of war are instruments of peace destined to restore order to the world.

[The included graphic is a small portion of his writing blurred to not reinforce his message showing only tidbits]

His writing was peppered with two and three emojis on almost every line. They were of Bibles, and flags with Christian crosses, American flags, fire, praying hands, and flexing muscles. He reveled in target destruction, and talked like he had some secret insight into military strategy. He described how the B-2 bombers would destroy hardened defenses, then B-1 bombers would “exploit the degraded defenses” going deeper into the country, and in Phase 3 the old B-52s would rain down “70,000 lbs of ordinance per sortie.”

He went on to praise the sacrifice of four soldiers by name who had lost their lives and that they would be avenged. Then he quoted Scripture and reveled in the glory of war. He closed his 718-word diatribe with a series of “God blesses” for pilots, warriors, and the US of A. He then included a series of hashtags: B52; OperationEpicFury; AmericaFirst; MAGA; PeaceThroughStrength; GodAndCountry; AirPower.

I must wonder what happened in this person’s life for them to end up so deranged. I doubt this person ever served in combat, let alone the armed forces. I doubt this because I feel he would have worked that into his statement if he had. I also doubt his military service because I have been in and around military people my entire life and I never met anyone who talked like this.

If I had to hazard a guess, this person grew up playing Call of Duty on his PlayStation. The religious Christian warrior nonsense has been with us for centuries, but this new breed seems to have taken it to another level.

In my five years of early formal religious training, I must have missed Jesus the Warrior seeking world domination. I seem to remember a more peaceful fellow who wanted to turn the other cheek, not someone who wanted to quickly drop 70,000 lbs. of ordinance on an unsuspecting citizenry. Yes, they truly walk among us.

Circular Logic

Israel couldn’t attack Iran without U.S. support. The U.S. had no reason to attack Iran. Then the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran because, if Israel attacked Iran, Iran would retaliate against the U.S. Huh?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others have tried to sell this logic with a straight face. Unlike Donald Trump, Marco Rubio is no dummy. He knows what he is selling is mierda, aka excremento, defecación, and il residuo de los alimentos. English translation, caca.

There were no weapons of mass destruction, the nuclear program was claimed to have been “obliterated” in Trump’s military operation in June 2025, and there was no imminent threat from their conventional ballistic missiles. Obama had negotiated a nuclear treaty with Iran, Trump tore it up, then in the middle of peace negotiations with Iran he attacked them with his circular logic.

Challenging Trump’s military attack on Iran was futile as all but one Republican voted against the war powers resolution. The final tally was 47-53. Trump has de-facto support for his war. There is no announced objective beyond regime change. So far, Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has emerged as the clear front-runner to rule Iran, supported by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Mission accomplished???

The war is costing U.S. taxpayers at least $1billion a day with the initial cost estimated between $5b and $10b. We spent over $600m before the first strikes were carried out. Estimates for the national debt show a potential for $210b. Oil prices may hit $100 barrel. If the Fed is forced to pause interest rate cuts increasing federal borrowing costs. Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz will have a domino effect.

In 2026, the Midterm General Election will be held on Tuesday, November 3.

Yosemite Trump

Donald Trump is the Yosemite Sam of presidents. If you remember the western antics of Bugs Bunny, his constant nemesis was Yosemite Sam. Yosemite fashioned himself to be a gunslinger and would regularly identify himself as, "the meanest, toughest, rip-roaringest hombre that ever packed a six-shooter".

Yosemite Sam would fire his two six-shooters wildly in all directions rarely hitting his intended target. The guns were a show of temper often resulting in him losing his clothes or being humiliated. Are we beginning to see the analogy?

Our very own president Yosemite Sam, aka Yosemite Trump, is quick to act without assessing the consequences. He rarely plans beyond his own temperament which is erratic and volatile. He will threaten tariffs, shoot at boats, invade a country to snatch its leader, bomb another country to kill their leaders, remove medical benefits, and make promises that are empty. He thinks he is a “tough guy” but he regularly ends up like our cartoon gunslinger. The problem here is that, not only does he look the fool, but our once proud country is also now a laughingstock on the world stage. Who better to manage our country than a man who filed for bankruptcy six times and partied with Jeffrey Epstein and his girls.

He removed the president of Venezuela on the pretext of him being a drug czar, but then stated that we would “retake” our oil. If he had wanted Venezuelan oil, perhaps he should have consulted with those in the oil business who would have told him why they wouldn’t heavily invest in an unstable country.

Most recently, he bombed Iran without a plan beyond killing many of its leaders. He didn’t coordinate this plan with anyone save our military and Israel, which left American citizens to deal with running to escape 14 countries in the Middle East to avoid Iran’s retaliatory fire. Shoot first, plan later.

He placed more than a million Americans at risk in Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. U.S. citizens in Riyadh and the key commercial cities of Dhahran and Jeddah were told to shelter in place. Yosemite Trump strikes again.

No coordination with the State Department or Congress. It would seem that our FBI director was too busy slamming beers in the Olympic locker room to know anything either. He returned home to fire a dozen counterintelligence staffers who specialized in global intelligence and monitoring threats from Iran.

Yes, the FBI's CI-12 personnel including their section chief were dismissed just days before Trump and his “Operation Epic Fury,” bombed Iran. The excuse given was that this group dared to investigate Donald Trump’s retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Perhaps they knew that Iran didn’t really pose a significant ballistic missile or nuclear threat to the U.S. Yosemite Trump doesn’t want to be bothered by facts, he just wants to shoot stuff. To quote the original Yosemite, "I'm a-thinkin'... and my head hurts."

“Trumperialism”

Imperialism is a policy or practice where a dominant nation extends its power and influence over other territories, nations, or peoples through direct territorial acquisition, military force, or economic and political control. It involves exploiting foreign lands for resources, labor, and markets, often resulting in unequal power relations. This accurately describes Trump 2.0 and his new “Trumperialism.”

History is rife with examples of nations with imperialistic aspirations brought to fruition. In the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, and France colonized the Americas. Nazi Germany, Japan, and Fascist Italy formed the Axis during the 30s and 40s. Their expansionist aggression resulted in World War II. What may have started as colonization morphed into imperialism and eventually all out war.

The United States, after expanding across North America, eventually acquired Hawaii, the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. William McKinley, Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft used the excuse of “economic interests” resulting in the Monroe Doctrine of1823, to control European interests in the western hemisphere.

Now, Donald Trump, after campaigning to be against war and military action so he could dedicate himself to improving our economy, has made American expansion and interference in other nations his new mantra. Trumperialism is his own form of American expansion. It represents a return to exploitation, cultural destruction, conflict, and economic inequality. The promise of "America First" with a focus on internal matters has been abandoned for the glory of war and conquest. With meat and other grocery prices at all time highs, a distracting war was needed.

He has threatened to “acquire” Greenland and Canada and wants to control the Panama Canal. He has used military force to try to overthrow the regimes of Venezuela and Iran. He has removed leaders but not much else has changed. Trump’s view is one of political subjugation and theft of natural resources in the name of US “national security.”

The president claims that the United States should be free to remove foreign leaders and dominate foreign lands without regard to national sovereignty and the conventions of international law. “My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

He is fast becoming America’s despot. He will use military force and economic domination for control. He will quickly abandon cultural or diplomatic activities for quick gratification through military might. He seems to hold Vladimir Lenin’s view that imperialism is the pinnacle of capitalism whereby dominant military powers divide the world into international monopoly businesses. This is not colonialism where one nation settles into the new land, but where satisfaction comes with indirect control of that nation and its resources.

It would seem that Trump is playing his own version of Risk (often subtitled “The Game of Global Domination”), where up to six players seek to occupy every territory on the board (the world) by managing armies and engaging in battles. The winner is the one who eliminates all rivals. He rolls the dice and people die.

Trump’s interest in imperialism may just be a distraction from his waning popularity and the Epstein files debacle, or it may just be another thinly veiled money grab. Quite possibly, it is both.

Big Brother’s Naughty/Nice List

Since 1934, we have known that Santa Claus made a list and checked it twice. Santa had been doing this in secret, but Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots were the whistleblowers who wrote about Santa’s list of good and naughty boys and girls. They put this information in song lyrics in Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town. Eddie Cantor sang the song for the first time on his radio show in November of 1934. Santa’s naughty/nice list was based on verified (parental) facts and verified not once, but twice. Oh, if only our government were as conscientious as Santa.

The Trump administration has been systematically gathering reams of data on everyone in the US. It seems that one of the many insidious things included in the Big Beautiful Bill passed in 2025, was a funding effort to equip Big Brother with a searchable database for use by the Trump government across all agencies. The New York Times identified at least 314 pieces of information available across various government databases that the government could now put into one single bin. We all know how well the government protects its data. Did Michael Waltz really add a reporter to a Signal chat where he announced plans for an upcoming military strike on Yemen? Yes, he did. Feel better?

To consolodate this data, they repurposed the DHS Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program information. They have aggregated Social Security, IRS, and other government databases that have been hoovered up with the help of DOGE and other efforts. They have even gone outside government sources and recently sued the University of Pennsylvania to force it to hand over a list of all Jewish faculty, staff, and students. The EEOC also sent text messages to Barnard College current and former students and employees and asked if they were Jewish or Israeli. The pretense was that they wanted to assess if there was discrimination.

To assist in its massive data consolidation of all US citizens, Trump tapped Palantir Technologies, Inc., in an executive order to compile this master list to be shared between all government agencies. At least three DOGE members had worked at Palantir.

The system called Foundry, is being implemented at DHS and Health and Human Services. The product, if Trump gets his way, will have hundreds of data points on all US citizens including their bank account numbers, amount of student debt, and medical data including disability status. The Foundry program uses AI to find patterns in data to draw conclusions from data for security and defense purposes. According to their CEO, Alex Karp, the program is good at “finding hidden things.”

At least 13 former employees of Palantir expressed concern and urged the company to stop its endeavors with Trump. In a signed letter to the company they said, “Data that is collected for one reason should not be repurposed for other uses,” they went on to say, “Combining all that data, even with the noblest of intentions, significantly increases the risk of misuse.”

Similar data aggregations in India and China have resulted in broad behavioral profiling. Palantir is using machine learning to identify patterns, fraud and threats, the religious, racial, economic, and immigration data can introduce biases just like the humans they are trained to analyze. Errors and false positives could flag innocent people that result in ICE or FBI investigations and be used to freeze benefits without recourse. The data sources and algorithms are proprietary and would be difficult to challenge. The erosion of privacy and the normalization of government monitoring would have a chilling effect.

Santa’s list of naughty/nice children resulted in either a toy at Christmas or a lump of coal in a stocking. This massive invasion of privacy and this much data in the hands of politicians bent on achieving dominance, will almost certainly result in its misuse. If anyone thinks the recent collection of voter data by federal mandate isn’t a step in that direction, I hear that George C. Parker has a bridge for sale. Mr. Parker died in 1936 but if you go to Brooklyn, New York, and ask around I’m sure someone will help you.

The federal government is generally prohibited by the Privacy Act of 1974 from using personal information outside the purpose of its initial collection without individual consent. Agencies must publish "routine uses" in the Federal Register, allowing data to be shared only for purposes compatible with the original collection. But we all know what Trump thinks about pesky laws and rules.

The consolidation of both public and private personal information about all citizens of the US into a singular database which can also then be analyzed by AI to draw unvalidated conclusions, which will then be used to initiate other government actions, is Big Brother on steroids. We can all rest assured that, to quote the HAL 9000 in 2001 Space Odyssey, “No 9000 computer has ever made a mistake or distorted information.”

Since we are now watching science fiction evolve into science reality, another quote comes to mind. This one from the sci-fi thriller Westworld where its Arrivals Announcer reassures guests about the safety of the robotic theme park with its iconic line, “Nothing can go wrong.” This is repeated as the theme park’s AI tagline while everything that can go wrong, does. So, in Trumpworld, we can all trust the fact that, “Nothing can go wrong…go wrong…go wrong…”

Postscript: For those who have theorized that Trump’s interest in Greenland was only because he thought Santa lived there, and he wanted his list, you may be on to something. He just killed an old man with white hair and a long white beard in Iran. Trump fears lists, any list, Santa’s, Epstein’s, Putin’s…

Take A Stand

 The Trump MAGA advocates are upset that Democrats didn’t stand when asked to in support of the president saying that his government duty was protecting “American citizens and not illegal aliens.” When one woman DID stand in silent protest at another point, she was forcibly removed from the SOTU event. She was a guest of Ilhan Omar. Her story below…

Aliya Rahman, a brain-damaged autistic Minnesota woman whose story went viral when ICE dragged her from a car and tore both her shoulders, was Ilhan Omar's guest at the State of the Union, when she was arrested, detained, and INJURED by Mike Johnson's officers.

She had to be sent to the hospital, where she wasn't discharged until 4 AM, when police charged HER with unlawful conduct.

“The heavy-handed response to a peaceful guest sends a chilling message about the state of our democracy,” Omar said in a statement.

From Aliya Rahman's lawyer: She was targeted at the State of the Union last night. After standing up in silence during the speech, Aliya was quickly taken away and arrested for ‘unlawful conduct’ and released just before 4 a.m. today. There is nothing unlawful about standing in silence and this is a blatant abuse of power. She was not disruptive or disrespectful. She was not holding a sign, making gestures, or wearing protest gear. She was simply standing in silence.

The statement below describes the incident where she was stuck in traffic and confronted by ICE:

My name is Aliya Rahman, and I am a resident of Minneapolis. I am a Bangladeshi American, and a disabled person with autism and a traumatic brain injury. On January 13, on the way to my 39th appointment at Hennepin County’s Traumatic Brain Injury Center, I encountered a traffic jam caused by ICE vehicles and no signs indicating how to get around it. I had not wanted to pull into a blocked, chaotic intersection, but verbally agreed to do so and rolled down my window after an agent yelled: “MOVE. I WILL BREAK YOUR F***ING WINDOW.” Agents on all sides of my vehicle yelled conflicting threats and instructions that I could not process while watching for pedestrians. Then, the glass of the passenger side window flew across my face. I yelled "I'm disabled!" at the hands grabbing me. An agent said, "TOO LATE." Not all autistic brains do this, but mine fixates on sounds, numbers, and patterns. In that moment the pattern felt very strong to me, and I thought of Jenoah Donald, an autistic Black man killed by police during a traffic stop in 2021. I remembered Mr. Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, who was killed by ICE in his vehicle last year. An agent pulled a large combat knife in front of my face. Shooting pain went through my head, neck, and wrists when I hit the ground and people leaned on my back. I felt the pattern and thought of Mr. George Floyd, who was killed four blocks away. I was carried face down through the street by my cuffed arms and legs while yelling that I had a brain injury. I now cannot lift my arms normally. I was never asked for ID, never told I was under arrest, never read my rights, and never charged with a crime. Approaching the Whipple Center, I saw Black and brown people shackled together and being marched by yelling agents. I continue to hear the word "bodies," as agents referred to us. "They’re bringing in bodies 7-8 at a time!" "We can't use that room, there's already a body in there.” Agents repeatedly had to stop and ask how to do tasks. I received no medical screening, phone call, or access to a lawyer. I was denied a communication navigator when my speech began to slur. Agents laughed as I tried to immobilize my own neck. I asked for my cane and was told no, pulled up by my arms, and prodded forward in leg irons by an agent saying "Walk! You can do it. Walk." Agents did not know if the facility had a wheelchair. When I was finally placed in one to be taken to interrogation, an agent taunted: "You were driving right? So your legs do work." Before I blacked out on the cell floor, my cell mate pleaded over and over to get me emergency medical care. A voice outside said "We don't want to step on ICE's toes." When I opened my eyes at Hennepin County’s emergency room, I learned I was brought there to be treated for assault. The impacts of DHS detention on my physical, mental, and financial wellbeing and safety have been very severe. But I do not deserve more humane treatment than anyone else, and I am here today with a strong spirit and a duty to the many people who haven’t had the privilege of being released or seeing their loved ones come home. I am extremely distressed that violence from law enforcement has been happening to Black and indigenous communities for centuries, and to DHS survivors for over 20 years. Our nation lacks rules and accountability around what a person claiming to be law enforcement can do to another human being, and I am not afraid to keep working on this problem even after ICE is gone.

The State of the Onion

The president gives his State of the Onion tonight. If I were to watch it, I'm sure it would bring a tear to my eye. I say onion rather than union because this president does not know the meaning of the word union. He is all about dividing, like slicing an onion. The further you cut into this presidency the more it makes you want to cry.

Like the onion, this president is thin skinned. I won't watch the official address because it would be as painful as dicing an onion with your forehead. I’m sure clips of it will be repeated ad nauseam for days after and they will be unavoidable so why put yourself through the agony more than necessary.

Onions grow best with plenty fertilizer, and a well-rotted or aged manure is a good one. As this president is good at spreading manure, his State of the Onion will be filled with lots of it. While onions are white, yellow, and red, his speech will be about white onions and how successful they will be once those “foreign” varieties are gone.

I will make my prediction here before his State of the Onion address to say he will blame Democrats for all the nation’s problems even though we have a Republican president, and they control both houses of Congress. His will be one of the longest addresses in history, if not the longest. He will ignore the facts about the economy and will tell people the road ahead is lined with roses. He will have no plan for the future. He will continue to villainize immigrants. I will reread this after I begin to hear the inevitable clips and analysis.

I laud the women’s Olympic hockey team for dodging this painful event. On the other hand, I do not disparage the men’s Olympic team for attending. Perhaps one of them could take this opportunity to tell him, “puck you.”

The Fringe Element

The American Deity environment that is Donald Trump, has been integrated with more of the nation’s fringe element than that famous surrey of Oklahoma fame. His will be known as the Administration “with the fringe on top.” Within this assemblage are science deniers, conspiracy theorists, and unqualified operatives who cloud public discourse with speculation and spectacle. In doing so, they have weakened America’s standing in global health and scientific communities, placing lives at risk amid confusion and mistrust.

We are now deep into what supporters frame as a political “second coming,” led by a self-styled champion of grievance and disruption. This coalition of ideologues and opportunists has embraced a wrecking-ball approach to governance—fueling conspiracies while undermining credible research and innovation. The cumulative effect threatens to set back American science and technological leadership by decades.

Science has never claimed perfection. Its strength lies precisely in its willingness to question, test, and revise itself. Historically, Americans have embraced that process. Without scientific innovation, the modern world—from antibiotics and vaccines to semiconductors and the architecture of the internet—would not exist. Discoveries such as penicillin, the polio vaccine, nuclear fission, integrated circuits, and the mapping of DNA have reshaped human life across the globe.

The United States has often led these breakthroughs. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), for example, stands among the world’s premier publicly funded biomedical research institutions, widely recognized for generating economic and societal returns that exceed its public investment. For every dollar spent, it is estimated that the NIH returns $2.50 to the economy. It is the largest government-funded biomedical research agency in the world.

Yet these foundations now face mounting pressure. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has elevated long-held vaccine skepticism into mainstream political debate, prioritizing conjecture over scientific consensus. Meanwhile, Elon Musk in his role as the national Grim Reaper, has been granted extraordinary influence wielding his scythe in reshaping federal priorities. He has done this with sweeping disruptions affecting agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration. Institutions built over decades can be destabilized far more quickly than they can be restored.

Scientific progress is not without risk. The tragedy of thalidomide is a sobering example. Yet it was the vigilance of Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey at the FDA that prevented widespread catastrophe in the United States, despite intense pressure from manufacturers. Her insistence on rigorous evidence spared countless American families from the devastation seen elsewhere. Her story illustrates not the failure of science, but the importance of strong, evidence-based oversight. It is doubful the good doctor would have succeeded in today's environment of distrust and profit above all else,

It is estimated that the COVID-19 vaccine saved 2.5 million people worldwide. It was the FDA-approved mRNA vaccines that made this possible. The mRNA research that was the foundation of these vaccines were a product of NIH scientists working on HIV/AIDS research.

Much of this research ecosystem depends on American universities, several of which—including Harvard University, Columbia University, Penn, Brown, Cornell, Princeton University, and Yale University—have faced political scrutiny and funding threats. Critics argue that such measures aim less at fiscal responsibility than at reshaping academic culture, particularly around issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Anything that hints at promoting “inclusion criteria” or advancing the acceptance of gay or transgender causes must be stripped from all areas of higher learning.

Science should indeed be questioned—that is its essence. But those challenges must be grounded in evidence and reason, not partisan agendas. America’s strength has long depended on figures like Jonas Salk, Linus Pauling, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Nikola Tesla—individuals who advanced knowledge through disciplined inquiry and imagination. The nation’s future depends on ensuring that political ideology does not dictate what qualifies as legitimate science. We don’t need politics mandating what is and what isn’t accepted science.

Making America great should not be a march back to the Gilded Age where titans of industry and those with family wealth dictated the fate of the entire nation. We should not allow ourselves to see the advances of science, technology, and medicine be squandered in the name of religious fear and misinformation. The ensuing chaos may be good to divert attention for political gain, but it will never result in even a mediocre America, let alone a great one.

Silver Lining

If Donald Trump’s presidency is a dark cloud over America, perhaps there is a silver lining. His second term has highlighted the vulnerability of our democracy and its institutions. Our government relies on laws and the expectation that politicians will act in their constituents' interests to gain electoral support.

Three things happened, Donald Trump got elected to a second term and will not be legally eligible for a third. He is not worrying about anyone but himself. Nothing new there. Compounding this was the SCOTUS decision in Trump v. United States (2024), where the Supreme Court did not explicitly grant legal "sovereignty" to the President, but it significantly expanded presidential power by holding that presidents have absolute immunity for actions within their core constitutional powers and at least presumptive immunity for all official acts. The third thing he did was to ignore our laws and claim that everything was an “emergency” requiring him to suspend such laws as he deemed necessary.

His recent “hand slap” by SCOTUS regarding tariffs being used as a weapon and negotiating tool, has forced him to begin working around that legal ruling. It would seem all our laws have loopholes, and this president is adept at finding such weaknesses and exploiting them. Even if such loopholes are vague or don’t legally exist, he will keep trying to force his will like any authoritarian ruler.

The “silver lining,” if there is one, will only come after he is gone and we are able to enact changes that would make it difficult or impossible for a future despot to take advantage of our system. Such changes will only happen when a majority of all elected officials see that a level playing field works for both parties.

Collaboration and compromise have consistently guided us forward, even if progress is slow. As demonstrated by ICE's rapid expansion problems, speed can be detrimental. Immigration change could have been achieved efficiently, but without the loss of life and personal freedoms.

The old ways require revision, taking into account the issues seen in the current presidency. Improvement is both possible and necessary. America can be “Great” without becoming a pariah. We are better than this.