Trusting America

 I choose to trust in the basic goodness and Spirit of America.  I choose to trust that America will be run by the Rule of Law rather than the Rule of Autocrat.  

I trust that The Former Guy, and his law-breaking cohorts, will be prosecuted and imprisoned for their violent attempt to overthrow democracy.  And in the case of the lifelong criminal and fraud - The Former Guy - I expect prosecution and punishment for a lifelong pattern of tax evasion, bank fraud, money laundering, witness intimidation and tampering, fraudulent fleecing of political donors, etc. etc. etc.  

And I expect The Former Guy to be tried and convicted of espionage for stealing and likely selling top secret military secrets and plans.

America has seen fascists try to overthrow American democracy in the runup to WWII as a very powerful Nazi and fascist movement masqueraded as "America First" people who were actually trying to destroy democracy in America and join with Hitler and Mussolini to create a country based on the Rule of Autocrat and destroy the Rule of Law.

They failed then, and they will fail now. 

America, and the dream and vision of America - where all people are created equal and endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights and freedoms - shall prevail. Trump doesn't get to destroy democracy.  DeSantis doesn't get to destroy the personal freedoms of women, couples, people of color, gays and transgenders.

America is going to prevail over the bigotry and hatred being pumped into its people by those who think they can create a Russian/Chinese/Hungarian/Saudi Arabian/Turkish/North Korean autocracy.  The Rule of Law will stand.

Or so I believe.

Would Putin be replaced by someone worse?

 Yevgeniy Prigozhin is warning of a Russian revolution if Putin doesn't get the entire nation fully committed to the obliteration of Ukraine.  Does that mean nukes?

“We must introduce martial law. We unfortunately … must announce new waves of mobilization; we must put everyone who is capable to work on increasing the production of ammunition,” he said. “Russia needs to live like North Korea for a few years, so to say, close the borders … and work hard.”...“This division might end as in 1917, with a revolution — when first the soldiers rise up, and then their loved ones follow.”

I am hoping Putin is overthrown by forces that want to stop the war, but he could be overthrown by forces that want to escalate the war.  Russia has a very long history of dictatorship oppression.  

Extortion is not negotiation

 The "negotiating" advice that the deeply corrupt, lifelong criminal Former Guy is demanding of the Republican Party is not actual negotiating, it is extortion, it is  blackmail. It is how this cheat has cheated in business all of his adult life.  He signs contracts and breaks them and has done so all of his life. He refuses to pay vendors and has done so all of his life.  

He is a man of zero character.  His word is not his bond; his word is his promise that whatever he does it will not be what he says he will do, and will not be according to the contracts he signs.  It will be a promise to break his make believe promise and blackmail and extort and cheat and steal.  

That is who he is, and that is who the MAGA Cult party is becoming.  Because they admire and copy him.  Character is the biggest predictor of behavior and we see his character, and the character (lack of it) in his slavish MAGA Cult.

I deeply hope that the Republican House does not stick to its extortion, and ends up with a negotiation and continues to pay the country's bills and funds the government.  That they say no to the Former Guy and his cult following.

Trump's enemies are Putin's enemies

In case you were wondering if Putin helped Trump win in 2016, and wonder if Putin's Russia is helping/will help the traitorous Former Guy in the 2024 presidential election, here is your proof.

Putin has published a list of enemies of Putin, and surprise! surprise!  they include "enemies" of the Former Guy:

"Among the 500 people singled out for travel and financial restrictions on Friday were Americans seen as adversaries by Mr. Trump, including Letitia James, the state attorney general of New York who has sued him for alleged fraud, and Jack Smith, the Justice Department special counsel investigating his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents after leaving office.

Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state of Georgia who rebuffed Mr. Trump’s pressure to “find” enough votes to reverse the outcome of the election, also made the list. So did Lt. Michael Byrd, the Capitol Police officer who shot the pro-Trump rioter Ashli Babbitt on Jan. 6, 2021."

Enemies of Putin inside Russia get poisoned or pushed out of windows - dozens of them.  

It is blindingly obvious that Putin wants the dimwitted Former Guy to be president because he is so easily manipulated/bribed/blackmailed/fooled that Putin gets exactly what he wants from this embarrassing excuse of an American.

Clarity, in case any were unclear.

The Right Wing Extremist violators

 Right wing extremists displayed themselves in their full, foul plumage during the CNN Trump "Town Hall" where The Former Guy spewed his fire hose of lies, vitriol, and threats to the applause, laughter, and amusement of the adoring MAGA cult "audience". 

What has happened to the Republican Party that I was once part of?  

• They violate the Constitution by claiming to defend the Constitution - for example:
• This was the only presidency that tried to violently overthrow a presidential election
• The Former Guy stole classified military and espionage secrets with a likely aim of selling them to hostile foreign powers
• They do all they can to limit the voting of blacks, browns, reds, yellows, the young

• They violate Christ's teachings and life by claiming to be Christians - for example:
• They openly and proudly proclaim their bigotries:
• against blacks, browns, yellows, and reds
• against gays and transgenders
• against women's right to empower their own lives with reproductive choices
• By choosing threats, guns, and violence in total repudiation of The Sermon on the Mount

• They violate the law and celebrate the lawless while claiming to be the "Law and Order Party"
• They assaulted the police on January 6, 2020 and praise those violent thugs sent to prison
• They worship the Former Guy and his multiple financial corruptions 
• They worship the Former Guy and his multiple sexual assaults on women
• They send armed, threatening MAGA cultists to voting locations to intimidate liberal voters

• They violate the environment and the balance and health of nature, for example:
• Are dedicated to reducing environmental regulations on manufacturing and mining discharges
• Are dedicated to reducing environmental regulations on air pollution
• Are dedicated to reducing environmental regulations protecting species extinctions
• Are dedicated to promoting fossil fuels and impeding green energies
• Are dedicated to promoting giant chemical farming practices which, when abused, despoil the soil and reduce nutrition and sustainability

• They violate democracy claiming democracy isn't as important as forcing the country to do what they demand.  For example:
• The Former Guy tried to violently overthrow a presidential election
• An Arizona governor candidate still refuses to concede her loss
• Election deniers after election deniers are nominated and sometimes elected by them
• They do all they can to limit the votes of blacks, browns, reds, yellows, and the young

• The violate personal freedoms and claim to be the Party of Freedom
• No freedom for women and couples to control their reproductive lives
• No freedom to live a harassment free life if you are gay
• No freedom to live a harassment free life if you are transexual
• No freedom to read books that the extremist fanatics disapprove of
• No freedom to teach about the history and presence of racism in America
• No freedom to teach about gays
• No freedom to teach about the atrocities of slavery
• No freedom to teach about the atrocities of Jim Crow 
• No freedom to ---- more to come I am sure, just give them more time.

This is just a half hour top of the head listing of the violations of the Right Wing Extremists.

You could say they are hypocritical, but that is too kind.  I think they are just corrupt and righteous tyrants with a good enough propaganda system that they fool enough people so that they can get away with it.  For a short time, anyhow.  

Their time will be over, and goodness truth and beauty will prevail.

This is America, not the Confederacy, not Russia.

The jurors have to hide from MAGA Trump

Trump was tried and found guilty for his sexual assault, and disturbingly, the judge felt he had to warn the jurors to hide from Trump’s violence.  In America.  

“…U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan advised the jurors not to identify themselves—“not now and not for a long time”—out of concerns for their safety. National security analyst Juliette Kayyem reported the judge’s warning and noted that “Trump’s strongest legacy will always be violence…”

The threat of violence from The Former Guy is very real.  He threatens harm overtly and consistently.  

And 74 million Republicans voted for this violent person. What has happened to America?

$5,000,000 … sexual abuse … guilty

 The Former Guy was found guilty … “ Donald Trump must pay $5 million in damages for sexually abusing magazine writer E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s and then defaming her by branding her a liar, a jury decided on Tuesday.”

This excuse of a man has a life long history of multiple crimes, and sexual assault is one of them. And a jury convicted him. Today. 

There are two paths forward for America - rule of law or rule of autocrat.  Democrats stand for the rule of law, the MAGA Cult is trying to enforce rule of autocrat. 

Today the rule of law won.

A good day for America. 

Our broken Primaries Election System

Republican politicians have no regard for the desires of the people. Here is an example regarding gun safety:

“A new Fox News poll out yesterday shows that:

• 87% of voters favor background checks for gun purchases, 
• 81% favor making 21 the minimum age to buy a gun, 
• 80% want mental health care checks on all gun buyers, 
• 80% want flags for people who are dangerous to themselves or others, 
• 77% want a 30-day waiting period to buy a gun, and 
• 61% want an assault weapons ban.

And yet, Republican majorities in state legislatures are rapidly rolling back gun laws.”

Why?  Because of our broken primary election system where only the most rabidly political people vote in primaries, and that includes fanatical gun nuts. The 20% who oppose all gun responsibility laws are the ones who elect Republican candidates. 

So children are trained in how to stay alive when killers come for them, and deranged men kill families if five, including a child, when he is asked to stop firing his AR15 in the backyard. 

I do not know how assault weapons manufacturers can live with themselves. Or Republican lawmakers. 

Assault weapons are for war. Not neighborhoods. Obvious. 

And, lest I forget why — 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

The Putin Wing of the Republican Party is trying to destroy the American dollar

It is possible to believe that the Republican Party is trying very hard to blackmail the Democratic Administration with a promise to refuse to pay America's debts because they are dedicated to an ideology that says two things - lowering the cost of government spurs the economy, and reducing the dependency of the poor and middle class on government help makes them stronger.  But I don't believe that - anymore.  In my Republican days I did, but it seems nonsense to me now.

Rather, it seems to me, that the blackmail is coming from the Putin Wing of the Republican Party - and the purpose is to destroy the American economy, destroy American credit around the world, and remove the American dollar as the world currency.  

I understand Putin's desire to destroy America, it is what he has been doing all of his life.  

It is harder for me to understand the Putin Wing of the Republican Party. They openly admire the murderous autocrat, they support the Putin invasion of Ukraine, and they seem dedicated to defaulting on American debt - i.e. dedicated to stop paying America's bills.  (Actually, about 25% of the national debt came from Trump's four-year reign of incompetence)  And, of course, the Republicans never threatened default during the presidency of Trump - nor of any Republican president. 

And, of course, they threaten default every year for every Democratic president.  Mostly, in the past, this was simply to do what they love the most to do - cut spending on the middle class, and on poor people (read that as black and brown and red people).

But this year seems different to me.  This year has people in Congress even more extreme than the cut-the-cost-of-caring-about-people-Tea Party.  Congress now has active Putin supporters.  And I am starting to believe they are following orders from Russia.  I don't trust that they are operating in good faith.  I am starting to believe that bribery and/or blackmail is involved.  Or, perhaps, it is simply the admiration of a fellow traveler autocrat by wannabe autocrats.  But my bet is obedience to their master.

The way this year seems different to me is that I don't think it is possible for the Putin controlled House of Representatives to agree on a budget, and I think they will default on the debt - on purpose - and shut the Federal Government down.  They seem to be trying to harm America as part of their plan to establish an authoritarian, autocratic, fascist rule that will or won't be led by Trump.  If not Trump, there are more in the wings of the Republican Party ready to dominate.  

Autocrats of a feather flock together.

But this is still America.  And I refuse to believe that it will fall to fascists.

The lying will continue

 Tucker Carlson was fired from the “Lies-R-Us” Fox News network.  

Fear not MAGA Cult faithful, the lies will continue, just like you want them to.  It’s their business model. As was proven in the discovery phase of the Dominion lawsuit that cost them $787.5 million. 

I think he was fired for workplace and sexual misconduct and finally being sick of having to deal with a jackass asshole.

Breakthrough in nuclear fission power - small modular plants

 As more and more people demand electric vehicles there will be greater and greater demand for power to be supplied to the electric grid.  One solution is breakthroughs in energy storage, and as I wrote yesterday, rechargeable Sodium batteries may be one of those breakthroughs.

But what about producing more power?  In addition to wind and solar, I am hopeful that modular nuclear power plants can be a breakthrough in providing non-fossil-fuel-based power.  

There have always been two big problems with nuclear power - disposing of the nuclear waste and the danger of runaway nuclear power plants in case of power plant failure - like the Fukushima power plant in Japan, which had the cooling water pumps incapacitated by a tsunami which allowed the plant to spew radiation uncontrolled.

The runaway plant problem may have been solved by new design small modular nuclear power plants, recently approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).  

"Unlike current plants, though, the water used to cool the reactor doesn't rely on a pump, which can fail....Instead, the SMR uses natural convection to keep cold and hot water flowing inside the containment vessel."

These are about 50 MW plants (compared to about 1000 MW old style plants).  They can be built and installed much more quickly and linked together for more power demand.  They could be installed locally near smaller cities and rural areas.  

Disposal of the spent nuclear waste remains a problem but that seems to be more political than technical to me.  If nobody is willing to store it in remote desert areas, maybe the Energy Department puts it on rockets and shoots it up into the sun?

Energy storage is the next giant step to decarbonization - rechargeable sodium batteries?

I have been thinking for some time that the smartest kids in MIT, Stanford, England, China, Japan are dreaming of breakthroughs in green energy.  It is clear that fossil fuels is a major part of Global Warming and Climate Change.  So, what to do?  

Energy storage can be a big step in decarbonizing the world.  Store the energy in the grid when the sun shines and the wind blows and release it into the grid when they don't.  Turns out China is making big strides in that direction already.

"...China is positioning itself to command the next big innovation in rechargeable batteries: replacing lithium with sodium, a far cheaper and more abundant material...They keep almost all of their charge when temperatures fall far below freezing, something lithium batteries typically do not do...The most immediately promising use for sodium batteries is for electric grids, ... Sodium batteries need to be bigger than lithium ones to hold the same electrical charge. That is a problem for cars, which have limited space, but not for electricity grid storage."

The oldest Econ 101 truth is that the demand for buggy whips declined dramatically with the rise of the demand for automobiles.  Well, the demand for fossil fuels could start to decline if we get good energy storage to make solar and wind power available 24/7.  

Go for it.

Republican Party taken over by anti-democracy Christian dogmatists

 I usually read historian Heather Cox Richardson's Substack "Letters from an American" each day.  She gives an excellent historical perspective to today's world.  Her April 1, 2023 missive does a good job of presenting an historical observation of the differences between today's conservatives and today's liberals.

"They (White Christian Nationalist conservatives) argue that the ideas that underpin democracy—

• equality before the law, 
• separation of church and state, 
• academic freedom, a 
• market-driven economy, 
• free speech—

have undermined virtue. These values are “liberal” values because they are based on the idea of the importance of individual freedom from an oppressive government, and they are at the heart of American democracy. But post-liberal thinkers say that liberalism’s defense of individual rights has destroyed 

• the family,
• communities, and even the 
• fundamental differences between men and women, 
• throwing society into chaos. 

They propose to restore the values of traditional Christianity, which would, they believe, restore traditional family structures and supportive communities, and promote the virtue of self-sacrifice as people give up their individualism for their children (their worldview utterly rejects abortion). 

The position of those embracing a post-liberal order is a far cry from the Reagan Republicans’ claim to want small government and free markets. The new ideologues want a strong government to enforce their religious values on American society, and they reject those of both parties who support democratic norms—for it is those very norms they see as destructive. They urge their leaders to “dare to rule.”

Those who call for a new post-liberal order want to “reconquer public institutions all over the United States,” as Christopher Rufo put it after Florida governor Ron DeSantis appointed him to the board of New College as part of a mission to turn the progressive school into a right-wing bastion.  ... To spur that process, Republicans have turned to so-called culture wars"

I see this as Christian fanaticism and I see the government imposition of a religion to be a violation of the First Amendment.  But clearly, these Christians think that their interpretation of the Bible supersedes the dictates of the Constitution of the United States of America.  

I believe they are fundamentally anti-American, and I recall that the British who fled to America in the pre-Revolutionary war decades came to America to flee religious persecution in the old country where their brand of Christianity was oppressed and brutalized by more dominant brands of Christianity.  It seems to me that those who claim the mantle of Christian morals to themselves have a long history of oppressing others and forcing conformity to their very limited notion of spirituality.

And they are running the Republican Party.  But I believe the foundations of America rest upon the Constitution rather than on some particular religious dogma.

Roy Cohn - Joe McCarthy - the Former Guy

Roy Cohn first prosecuted the Rosenbergs for espionage.  Then he was the prosecuting attorney behind McCarthyism. Then he was the mentor to The Former Guy.  

Roy Cohn taught The Former Guy three rules:

1. Never surrender

2. Always counterattack

3.  Always declare victory, no matter the outcome 

These three rules have been the very foundation of The Former Guy’s life.  He has lived a life of financial and personal fraud and crime, and he has “gotten away with it”. That is, he has stayed out of prison and became “successful “ - meaning he got rich, or was seen to be rich at least, and he became president of the United States. 

For one term. 

But…

Roy Cohn’s life of vicious hatred and intimidation was deeply etched on the mask of menace and threat that replaced his face.  And he openly defied all law.  And he “got away with it.”  Until he didn’t.  He died a broken and crushed man, legally, morally, career wise, and physically, died of aids. 

Roy Cohn got away with it, until he didn’t. 

Just like The Former Guy is about to. His time has come, and All the King’s Horses and All The King’s Men Are Not Going to Put the orange Humpty Dumpty  Back Together Again.  

The Former Guy indicted for financial fraud in New York City

 The Former Guy was indicted yesterday by New York City.  The headlines say he was indicted for the hush money he paid to a porn star and Playboy bunny for blow jobs.  Does his cult care that this unfaithful "Grab 'em by the pussy" pig had sex with these women?  They seem to admire his piggishness.

The details of the indictment haven't been released yet, but my money is on financial fraud.  He covered up his $130,000 and $150,000 hush money payments by cooking the books.  And I think this may be the window of opportunity for Alvin Bragg, New York DA, to go deeply into his long, long, long history of bank fraud and tax evasion.  Bragg refused to charge him about a year ago and his chief prosecutors were so incensed that they resigned in protest. But...

I am thinking the charges will start with covering up these payments and go on to the lifetime of swindling that this lifetime criminal has done over decades in New York City.

This is the first of at least four indictments for this entitled madman trying to overthrow American democracy.

April 7, 2023 update - the 34 felony charges all relate to the Stormy Daniels hush money payoffs, and do not seem to be aimed at other financial frauds of the Former Guy.  

Just turn away and turn the dial

Just a brief summary of the character of the Republican front runner for the 2024 presidential nomination from Michael Bender and David Goodman of the New York Times.  “In the last 28 months, former President Donald J. Trump:

• has been voted out of the White House, 
• impeached for his role in the Capitol riot and 
• criticized for marching many of his fellow Republicans off an electoral cliff in the 2022 midterms with his drumbeat of election-fraud lies.
• He dined at home with a white supremacist in November. 
• He called for the termination of the Constitution in December. 
• He declared himself “more angry” than ever in January. 
• He vowed to make retribution a hallmark of a second term in the White House in March.
• He has embraced the QAnon conspiracy theory movement, 
• described President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia as a genius and 
• used a gay joke to mock a fellow Republican. 
• He has become the target of four criminal investigations, including one in New York that 
• he warned might result in “potential death & destruction.”

Still, Mr. Trump remains a strong front-runner for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination.”

What on earth happened to the Republican Party that I once was part of?  This is nuts. But his Cult is drinking the kool aid.  And some have guns. 

I beg Republicans to just turn away.  Change the dial.  Just like The Apprentice fans finally grew weary of the ever more boring show and went elsewhere. Please, go elsewhere. Stop nominating mentally ill people. 

The Former Guy threatens Death and Destruction if indicted

  The Former Guy is upping his threats, upping his call for violence - specifically, he is calling for "death and destruction".  I don't think we need to be hesitant to say that this man is a violent fascist anymore.  There is no nuance here.  He called for the violent overthrow of the duly elected government, and now he is calling for "death and destruction" of law enforcement and the New York DA.  

"What kind of person can charge another person, in this case a former President of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting President in history, and leading candidate (by far!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a Crime, when it is known by all that NO Crime has been committed, & also known that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our Country? “Why & who would do such a thing? Only a degenerate psychopath that truely (sic) hates the USA!” Trump wrote. 

And he included a photo of himself holding a bat ready to strike DA Alvin Bragg.

I hope this is just a cornered maniac trying to get others to risk their freedom and their lives to save his corrupt skin.  I hope his cult sees the prison terms of those who answered his call to violence January 6, 2021 and tried to violently assault Congress and overthrow the election.  

To paraphrase a Vietnam protest slogan - What if they threw a revolution and nobody came?

By the way, this tweet in and of itself is a felony.  Legal expert Norm Eisen tweets:

Norm Eisen

@NormEisen

Threatening a prosecutor is a crime in NY. In fact MULTIPLE crimes: Harassment in the first degree NYPL 240.25; menacing in the second degree NYPL 120.14; stalking in the fourth or third degree NYPL 120.45 & 120.50 And that’s just for starters….

Why disinformation and propaganda are so powerful

 “ Lies are often much more plausible, more appealing to reason, than reality, since the liar has the great advantage of knowing beforehand what the audience wishes or expects to hear.” — Hannah Arendt.

Hannah Arendt did a deep study on the authoritarian Nazi and Stalinist regimes. Her insights help us today. The current example of the application of this principle of lies is Fox News, which chose to tell its audience what Fox News knew what it’s audiences wanted to hear - that Trump won the election and it was stolen from him by the socialist/communist/anti-capitalist/anti-Christian/anti-white/ anti-man/woke deep state. And, as sworn testimony and discovered communications revealed, Fox News knew that Biden had won, and Trump had lost, and they disdained and hated Trump BUT they told the lie that their audience wanted to hear.  

And some of their audience tried to overthrow the government.  And about a thousand of those who did so have been arrested and charged with crimes, about half of them have pled guilty, and nearly two hundred of them are in prison.  And some police died, by the way.

But, what the heck, Fox News kept its audience. 

And the Trump Cult believes what the Trump Cult wants to believe. 

Propaganda.  A deadly weapon. Watch out.