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Donald Trump

Have Trump, Hegseth, or Johnson Actually Read the Bible?

July 27, 2025
by Peter Feinman
Spencer Tracy holding the Bible right-side up during his cross-examination of William Jennings Bryan in "Inherit the Wind"

The Bible is the news today. Perhaps not since the Scopes trial has it received this much public attention. (The centennial of that trial of the century will be the subject of a future blog.) But what do the Mean AGainst Americans mean when they refer to the Bible? And what do they mean about their knowledge of the Bible?

DONALD TRUMP AND THE BIBLE

Donald Trump can’t read a book so it should be no surprise that he has not read the Bible. So what does it mean when he refers to the Bible?

Donald Trump regularly tells crowds that his memoir is only his second favorite book.

His first? The Bible.

“As much as I love ‘The Art of the Deal,’ it’s not even close,” he said Friday. “We take the Bible all the way.”

But when asked Wednesday on Bloomberg’s “With All Due Respect” to share his favorite verses, Trump, a Presbyterian, was not as direct.

“I wouldn’t want to get into it. Because to me, that’s very personal,” he said. “The Bible means a lot to me, but I don’t want to get into specifics.”

Trump, who once referred to communion as “my little wine and my little cracker,” was asked if he prefers the New or Old Testaments.

“Probably equal. I think it’s just incredible,” he said.

(“Trump says Bible is his favorite book, but declines to share favorite verse” Eugene Scott, CNN, August 27, 2015)

The following year he could identify his favorite biblical verse.

The Bible verse that really resonates with Donald Trump is “an eye for an eye,” from the Old Testament.

In a radio interview on WHAM 1180AM, host Bob Lonsberry asked the GOP presidential front-runner if there is a favorite Bible verse or story that has informed his thinking or his character throughout his life.

“Well, I think many. I mean, when we get into the Bible, I think many, so many. And some people, look, an eye for an eye, you can almost say that,” Trump said. “That’s not a particularly nice thing. But you know, if you look at what’s happening to our country, I mean, when you see what’s going on with our country, how people are taking advantage of us, and how they scoff at us and laugh at us. And they laugh at our face, and they’re taking our jobs, they’re taking our money, they’re taking the health of our country. And we have to be very firm and have to be very strong. And we can learn a lot from the Bible, that I can tell you.” (“Donald Trump names his favorite Bible verse” Rebecca Shabad, April 14, 2016 / 2:16 PM EDT / CBS News).

Here is the biblical verse that Trump apparently is referring to:

Exodus 21:22 “When men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no harm follows, the one who hurt her shall be fined, according as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

Without engaging in biblical exegesis of this verse, one response seems readily clear. The verse in not a general legal precept. It applies to a specific situation involving a pregnant woman who is harmed.

The verse illustrates the difference between the Bible in popular culture and the Bible itself. The phrase has been removed from its particular context and has been generalized. That is the verse Trump knows.

Consider this more famous example.

Genesis 3:2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but God said, `You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.

Most people would say Adam and Eve at an apple. But the biblical passages say “fruit” and not “apple.” This makes more sense. Apple orchards were rare at best in the ancient Near East; date orchards were the fruit most familiar to the original audience. The likelihood is that the original audience would have interpreted the story to mean apple. The Bible and popular culture about what is in the Bible are not one and the same.

Trump’s knowledge of the Bible is suspect.

Speaking to students at Liberty University in January, Trump attempted to show his knowledge of the Bible with multiple religious references. But he bungled one.

“Two Corinthians, right? 3:17, that’s the whole ballgame,” Trump said. “Where the spirit of the Lord, right…there is liberty. Here, there is liberty…Liberty University, but it is so true. You know when I think, and that’s really – is that the one? Is that the one you like?”

The correct reference is “Second Corinthians,” which refers to the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians.

(“Donald Trump names his favorite Bible verse” Rebecca Shabad, April 14, 2016 / 2:16 PM EDT / CBS News).Rebecca Shabad is a video reporter for CBS News Digital https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-names-his-favorite-bible-verse/© 2016).

Of course there is the famous example of when Trump held the Bible upside down in Lafayette Park. The Bible was a prop and not a book with which he is familiar.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE PETE HEGSETH

A memorable exchange occurred between Democratic senator Elissa Slotkin and the worst Secretary of Defense in American history. The issue was whether troops deployed to southern California were allowed to arrest protesters or shoot them in the legs.

Hegseth laughed in response to the question and said: “Senator, I’d be careful what you read in books and believing in, except for the Bible.”

The stunned Senator replied at the absurdity of the response with: “Oh my God.”

Here was a missed opportunity. The Senator might have inquired which Bible – the Jewish Bible, the longer Protestant Bible, the even longer Catholic Bible, or finally the even longer Eastern Orthodox Bible Hegseth meant. Remember the battles between Protestants and Catholics in Philadelphia in the 1840s over which Bible should be used in the classroom.

What would the Secretary says about this verse

Isaiah 45:1 Thus says Yahweh [often translated as the LORD] to his messiah [generally translated as “anointed”], to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and ungird the loins of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed.

When people think of “messiah”, they generally think of a descendant of David. They overlook that even non-Davidic descendants can be the anointed one. David refers to Saul as Yahweh’s anointed. Cyrus is a savior because he permitted the Jews in Exile in Babylon to return home. It would be interesting to hear what Hegseth thinks about the Persian Cyrus as an anointed one, a savior. How would that affect his attitude towards the Persian people today?

THE WORLD VIEW OF MICHAEL JOHNSON

Johnson: “Go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my world view.”

Please elaborate. Remember Israel and Judah engaged in international diplomacy and wars with multiple countries such as Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia. There were pros and cons about defying them, submitting to them, seeking allies against them, and the folly of seeking allies against them. Please elaborate what you mean by your world view in the real world of geopolitics today.

 

 

 

 

 

Make America Great Again: Play the Persian Card

July 1, 2025
by Peter Feinman

Is America becoming Exceptional? No.
Is America becoming the last best hope of humanity? No.
Is the President of the United States becoming Commander in Chief and Leader of the Free World? No.

Could all these questions be answered in the reverse due to the war in Iran? Yes.

War provides an opportunity for leadership not always available in peacetime. Suddenly armchair and ivory tower discussions become an immediate physical reality. The decisions made really matter. Now! Does a person have the right stuff to go into the arena and rise to the occasion or is he limited to playing “I want to be a macho macho man” in professional political arenas?

The war in Iran provides a textbook chance to examine the role of the individual in history, to examine the path not taken.

PERSIANS

Demographically, the overwhelming majority of people in Iran are Persian. Even Ted Cruz knows that as was made clear in a memorable debate with Tucker. The Persians take great pride in their pre-Moslem heritage just as Egyptians do in their pre-Moslem heritage. In this sense the Iranian theocrats have attempted to layer a new civilization upon the Persians following the takeover of the country in 1979 just as the Arabs did when then swept across the ancient Near East and northern Africa in the 7th century CE settler colonialism. The pyramids are a little more difficult to make disappear.

The Persian people are still around. The new civilization they are attracted to is the American one, the very one the theocratic Iran continually chants “Death to America.” Many Persians have voted with their feet to come to the United States. Many more would if they could.

In the op-ed piece “The Iranian Revolution Guard Who Loved ‘Titanic’” (NYT June 29, 2025, print), Nicholas Kristof recounts one conversation with a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard admittedly a few decades ago. Standing surrounded by “Great Satan” signs, the guard confided that his favorite movie was “Titanic” (the power of “soft power”). He said to Kristof

“To hell with the mullahs. If I could manage it, I’d go to America tomorrow.”       

Kristof commented that the Persian people are seething all the more today with frustration and misrule at the oppression and misrule of the Iranian theorcrats. He notes that the Persian people are proud of their ancient civilization and know that their biggest problem is that they are led by extremists.

REGIME CHANGE

The Iranian theocrats are well aware that they are not loved by the people they rule. Part of the reason for the Israeli success in its pinpoint strikes against Iranian theocrat targets was the information it had from people of the ground. Instead of thinking about 007 spies, we should recognize that that Mossad had a wide network of local spies consisting of disaffected Persians who have had enough of the oppressive rule by Iranian theorcrats. Persians have been eager, willing and able to provide Israel with information it needs.

The reaction to no one’s surprise by the Iranian theocrats has been a crackdown on the Persians who aided the Israelis. Shades of ICE without the alligators! They have engaged in sweeps, passed fast-track laws to expand the use of the death penalty, and held quick trials. As one Persian noted, “The regime’s main fear is that people will perceive it as weak. Because if people know it lacks power, they will revolt” (quoted in “Iran Seeks the Public’s Help in its Push to Root Out Spies and Infiltrator” (NYT June 29, 2025, print).

So far there is no leader to take on the Iranian theorcrats as there was in Putin’s Russia (see “Suspense Builds in Iran as Theocracy Staggers,” (frontpage, June 30, 2025, NYT print). Thomas Friedman observes the Iranian theocrats only know how to repress their own people. Meanwhile the great Persian civilization is destitute, broken, and miles behind the rest of the world. He comments, “Israel is the kind of democracy that Iran’s secular educated elite — part of a rich Persian civilizational legacy — hope this war will pave the way for in Tehran” (“If This Mideast War Is Over, Get Ready for Interesting Politics” (June 26, 2026, NYT print).

AMERICA BOMBED THE WRONG TARGETS   

The military operation was flawless. It demonstrates the professional excellence in the military. It shows what can be achieved when the stupidest Secretary of Defense in American history. It also shows the longterm thinking and planning which into the operation without the moron who does not even know about D-Day, the Six Day War in 1967 by Israel, yet alone Washington crossing the Delaware is in charge.

Still for all the talk about regime change, the wrong targets were bombed. True there are Constitutional issues to be addressed about this unilateral bombing by the United States taking advantage of what Israel had achieved. Remember how after 9/11 Trump had to get in the act to make himself the center of attention about the height of the Trump building in lower Manhattan and his time at Ground Zero.

Putting aside his need for the camera, let’s consider what might happen if the buildings and facilities of the Iranian theocrats were bombed now. Suppose the offices and bases of the

Intelligence Ministry
Elite Quds force
Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Basij militia

were destroyed. Suppose the instruments of power to suppress and repress the Persian people were destroyed. Suppose the Persian people had the opportunity for their own “Arab” spring or color revolution. Suppose the Iranian theocrats were removed from power by the Persian people themselves.

1. Persia would be welcomed into the Western community. Sanctions would be dropped. Travel and communication would be facilitated.
2. Persia would open its nuclear facilities for inspection and an agreement would be signed.
3. Funding for the axis of resistance, or what’s left of it, would cease.
4. Drones would no longer be shipped to Russia for use against Ukraine.
5. The oil spigot to China would be at risk thereby complicating the plans to invade Taiwan in 2027.

In short the entire map of the Middle East would be redrawn. But the American president is not interested in making the world safe for democracy. He isn’t even interested in making the United States safe for democracy.

What Artifacts Did you Save from June 14?: Teaching History as It Is Happening

June 18, 2025
by Peter Feinman
Over 53,000 people put their lives on the line to watch a baseball game (USA Today, AP)

History organizations do not have the option of operating in isolation from the world around them. June 14, 2025, was an historic day:

It was the 250th anniversary of the founding of the army celebrated with a parade in the nation’s capital.

It was the 79th birthday of the president of the United States celebrated with the parade for the anniversary of the army.

It was a nation-wide protest by over five million people of “No Kings Day” probably the largest such protest in American history.

America’s third civil war then ratcheted up with the deployment of troops to Los Angeles. Remember we are not only celebrating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, we are reliving it. History may not repeat itself but it certainly does rhyme.

The current civil war combines elements of all three American civil wars.

First there is the king versus no king confrontation.

Second there is the renaming of the American bases after Confederate generals combined with the ongoing suppression of the supposedly enfranchised voters of the wrong skin color.

Third there is MAGA versus Woke.

As John Adams claimed, the population is divided into thirds among Loyalists, Patriots, and “just leave me alone so I can get on with my life without having my farm ravaged, so too, today one may speak of We the People as the perhaps not so silent majority. Whichever side can claim the loyalty of We the People wins.

LOYALISTS

The Loyalists today are following a similar strategy to the one initially followed by the British – occupy the cities beginning in 1775, 250 years ago. Britain first targeted Boston (Harvard), New York (King’s College/Columbia), and Philadelphia (Pennsylvania). This time Los Angeles is the first to be occupied by loyalist forces as an admittedly trial run for other major cities in the now larger United States. In fact, Trump has specifically designated Democratic-run cities as the source of the rebellion.

The policy is encountering some problems.

First ICE does not have manpower to capture the requisite number of illegal aliens to meet the 3000/day standard for deportation which the Loyalist faction has set. So far in 2025, it has not come even remotely close to deporting the millions the King stated would be deported. Even with the mobilization or cannibalization of armed personnel from every federal institution under the sun, the reduced goal of 3000/day seems unattainable. Finding locations for the captured people seems more of a challenge than ICE can reach at present. The new budget includes tens of billions to build such facilities such as with Alligator Alcatraz.

Second, even identifying the people to be deported has been problematic. Such identification is a retail operation. Besides being time consuming and prone to error, it rips people from local communities where they have long-lived and are welcome. The people being deported are not some nameless horde of subhuman violent criminal barbarians invading this country as originally promised but people from next door, hard-working people in the community who pay taxes, send their kids to school where they participate in school activities, and are members of a local church. The idea that they are terrorists simply is nonsense.

Third, local businesses are often bearing the brunt of ICE’s sweeps as their workers are forcibly removed. They want it stopped.

Fourth, ICE’s actions are arousing even more opposition.

This brazen exercise of power has several complications.

First, it is illegal.

Second, it is stupid as Marines are forced to wile away their time in the dreaded activity of “wait.”

Third, it has been poorly executed. National Guard people have lives, they have families, they have jobs. They have been abruptly removed from all that without even being paid for their new assignment (so far).

Fourth, despite all the talk of invasion, occupation, and a city out of control, over 53,000 people braved the trek to Chavez Ravine, to watch the Dodgers and Giants battle for first place in their division. The number of people living their normal lives far exceeds the wild claims of the Loyalist forces.

Five, the abduction of women and children has taken a toll on ICE. True they wear masks but underneath those masks are regular Americans who also have been removed from their homes, work long hours, and did not sign up for this. They would rather be doing the work the work they were hired to do.

The longer the Loyalist forces remain in Los Angeles, the weaker their position becomes and the stronger the rebel position becomes.

REBELS

We have already seen the first glimmerings of the Rebel cause with the celebration of the ride of Paul Revere (Ride Paul Ride: The 2025 Showdown between Patriots and Loyalists). At that time, the rebels wisely embraced the language and flags of the patriots from the American Revolution.

USA Today

Now the No Kings Day is here and not simply an announcement as it was in April. Over 2000 events were held nationwide. The Loyalists simply do not have the forces to occupy so many communities. So although the day coincidentally is Flag Day, the anniversary of the origin of the army, and the birthday of the President, the event that garnered the biggest numbers in the millions was the protests against the rule of a king. For someone infatuated with crowd size to the point of even lying about the crowd size on his very first day in office in 2017, this nationwide expression of opposition to the his rule must be a bitter pill to swallow.

Of course, the actions June 14 are not the end of the story. The rebel position will continue to increase. Just as King George was mocked for his mental health, so too his American counterpart. His deranged rhetoric about an invasion, about occupied cites, about the need for military force to take back our country will become more and more hollow to anyone who actually visits, works in, or lives in those cities. People will commute, people will attend ball games, people will attend concerts. The only carnage is when ICE continues to subdue elected Democratic officials from New York to California.  His takeover of the American 250th at the federal level as a bungled celebration to himself will only serve to spur more celebrations at the grass roots level.

Right now schools are in recess. But NPS history sites are busy scrubbing their websites to present a cleansed view of American history. Just in time for people who want to visit sites where staff has been Muskacred, websites have been scrubbed, and history is being rewritten.

So what artifacts are you saving for your community?

June 14, It Will Be Wild

June 14, 2025
by Peter Feinman

America’s third civil war ratcheted up with the deployment of troops to Los Angeles. Remember we are not only celebrating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, we are reliving it. History may not repeat itself but it certainly does rhyme.

The current civil war combines elements of all three civil wars.

First there is the king versus no king confrontation.

 

Second there is the renaming of the American bases after Confederate generals combined with the ongoing suppression of the supposedly enfranchised voters of the wrong skin color.

Third there is MAGA versus Woke.

As John Adams claimed, the population is divided into thirds among Loyalists, Patriots, and “just leave me alone so I can get on with my life without having my farm ravaged, so too, today one may speak of We the People as the perhaps not so silent majority. Whichever side can claim the loyalty of We the People wins.

LOYALISTS

The Loyalists today are following a similar strategy to the one initially followed by the British – occupy the cities. Britain first targeted Boston (Harvard), New York (King’s College/Columbia), and Philadelphia (Pennsylvania). This time Los Angeles is the first to be occupied by loyalist forces as an admittedly trial run for other major cities in the now larger United States.

The policy is encountering some problems.

First ICE does not have manpower to capture the requisite number of illegal aliens to meet the 3000/day standard which the Loyalist faction has set. So far in 2025, it has not come even remotely close to deporting the millions the King stated would be deported. Even with the mobilization or cannibalization of armed personnel from every federal institution under the sun, the reduced goal of 3000/day seems unattainable. Finding locations for the captured people seems more of a challenge than ICE can reach at present.

Second, even identifying the people to be deported has been problematic. Such identification is a retail operation. Besides being time consuming and prone to error, it rips people from local communities where they have long-lived and are welcome. The people being deported are not some nameless horde of subhuman violent criminal barbarians invading this country but people from next door, hard-working people in the community who pay taxes, send their kids to school where they participate in school activities, and are members of a local church.

Third, local businesses are often bearing the brunt of ICE’s sweeps as their workers are forcibly removed. They want it stopped.

Fourth, ICE’s actions are arousing even more opposition.

We are now in the ludicrous position, where the King is ranting and raving about an invasion force that has occupied Los Angeles. The situation is so dire that it necessitated activating the California National Guard and sending in the Marines against the wishes of the Mayor and the Governor.

This brazen exercise of power has several complications.

First, it is illegal.
Second, it is stupid as Marines are forced to wile away their time in the dreaded activity of “wait.”
Third, it has been poorly executed. National Guard people have lives, they have families, they have jobs. They have been abruptly removed from all that without even being paid for their new assignment (so far).
Fourth, despite all the talk of invasion, occupation, and a city out of control, over 53,000 people braved the trek to Chavez Ravine, to watch the Dodgers and Giants battle for first place in their division. The number of people living their normal lives far exceeds the wild claims of the Loyalist forces.

The longer the Loyalist forces remain in Los Angeles, the weaker their position becomes and the stronger the rebel position becomes.

REBELS

We have already seen the first glimmerings of the Rebel cause with the celebration of the ride of Paul Revere (Ride Paul Ride: The 2025 Showdown between Patriots and Loyalists). At that time, the rebels wisely embraced the language and flags of the patriots from the American Revolution.

(USA TODAY)

Now the No Kings Day is here and not simply an announcement as it was in April. Over 2000 events are scheduled nationwide. The Loyalists simply do not have the forces to occupy so many communities. So although the day coincidentally is Flag Day, the anniversary of the origin of the army, and the birthday of the President, the event that will garner the biggest numbers will be the protests against the rule of a king. For someone infatuated with crowd size to the point of even lying about the crowd size on his very first day in office in 2016, this nationwide expression of opposition to the rule of the King will be a bitter pill to swallow.

Of course, the actions today are not the end of the story. The rebel position will continue to increase. As the TACO President backs down against China and in Los Angeles, his deranged rhetoric about an invasion, about occupied cites, about the need for military force to take back our country will become more and more hollow. He increasingly will be a laughingstock taken seriously only on Foxhub. And his takeover of the American 250th at the federal level as a bungled celebration to himself will only serve to spur celebrations at the grass roots level.

President for Life: Is the Fat Lady Singing?

May 29, 2025
by Peter Feinman

Is it 2028 already? It seems like only yesterday when it was the First 100 days. At that point, everything seem to be going well for the President. He along with his sidekick Elon Musk were running roughshod over the government bureaucracy. They were doing everything they could to decimate the American position in the world. From Inauguration Day to Liberation Day, the President was riding high, fulfilling the hopes and dreams of the creators of Project 2025.

It’s no wonder that at that point we became to hear murmurings about 2028. Here we have the anomalous situation of scarcely 100 days into the administration when the clamor for 2028 began. Suddenly there were hats to buy along with other paraphernalia. The man of the moment let slip that “people” were talking to him about 2028. He knows about the 22nd Amendment prohibiting a third term but he has very smart lawyers. Presumably, these are not the lawyers routinely denigrated as idiots and morons for the lunacy of the legal arguments they put forth to the courts now.

At this point there is nothing he needs to do legally for a hypothetical 2028 campaign. There are no papers which need to be filed. He has the leeway of simply waiting until such time as actual action needs to be taken.

What do we know now?

1. He wants to run in 2028.
2. He will try to figure out a way to do so. One should keep in mind the MAGA Party is free to nominate anyone it wants following whatever rules it wants regardless of the 22nd amendment. It can nominate Trump by acclimation if it wants to without even holding any primaries.

Who in the MAGA party is going to challenge him?
Who in the Republican party is going to challenge him? Liz Chaney?

3. If there appears to be any hiccup in this process, not to worry. He already has designated two people as possible successors. Contestant #1 in the game of Apprentice is the Vice President of the United States. Contestant #2 is the Secretary of State (among other roles).

So what if Democrats prohibit Trump’s name from appearing on the ballot, he has two people who make Mike Pence seem independent waiting in the wings who can appear instead.

What could go wrong?

1. What will his medical state be in 2028 when he will be 82 and what would it be when he is 86? Notice how he holds the railing when climbing into a plane or disembarking. There is nothing particularly unusual in a nearly 79-year old person using a railing steady himself. What else is going on? He never releases medical reports so there is no way of knowing. How about his hearing?

2. What will his mental state be in 2028? The immature child with the emotional maturity of a three year-old presents a challenging subject. He always had demonstrated reduced mental necessities and has done so for decades. He is not even capable of reading a book including Project 2025.  He is not capable of reading a briefing book. Apparently he can read the word “TACO.” Unfortunately, when he delivers another in a series of incoherent speeches, is it a sign of deterioration or simply more of the same?

3. What will his political state be in 2028? There are actual Republican Senators who are not enamored of Putin and who support Ukraine. They may be in luck in not needing to defy Trump over American action given since even Trump is gradually coming to realize that Putin’s negotiating position is he wins and you lose. Putin’s defiance of Trump’s hissy fit tweets may mean the Senate will begin to develop a backbone and stand-up to Trump’s position. Similarly, they may find the strength to oppose the big beautiful tax bill as well. Once the bully loses his bully aura, his power can collapse rather quickly particularly after the court just eviscerated his tariffs. More anti-Trump rulings to follow. By 2028, Trump’s control over the Republican Party may be substantially diminished from what it is now. There is a limit to even how many defeats Foxhub can spin into victories.

4. What will his political state be in 2027/2028 is a long way off. His big beautiful tax cut for the rich and elimination of social programs for everyone else comes with a price. How many disasters in MAGA states from tornadoes, flooding and hurricanes do there have to be before even MAGAs come to realize the advantages of a robust national safety net and weather forecast models? Even though the courts may have rescued him from sticker-shock price increases and stopped a recession in its tracks, there is a good chance that even the Democratic Party can make gains in 2026. Republican-elected officials who cannot face their constituents in town meetings may choose to retire.

In short, 2027, may be the year of the fourth impeachment. There will be so many charges against him, the hearings in the House may take months. Even the Senate may have enough votes to convict him. His removal from office will render the third term candidacy question moot. The only question may be how long to the Democrats want Vance to be in office and get a head start for 2028 and how soon Republicans want to move on under Vance .

Time moves quickly. At one moment for 100 days, all was going well for the would-be king wreaking havoc everywhere. In the next moment it is Liberation Day. Court decision after court decision goes against him. Putin continues to defy him. Cleaning up the mess created by the Trump Muskacre will be a nightmare. Future court decisions will further complicate his life. And finally, finally, finally, someone in a position of media power has come up with a nasty nickname that really gets under Trump’s skin. It will be interesting to compare the MAGA’s and TACO’s at Trump’s birthday parade.

Trump Muskacre: Inauguration Day to Liberation Day

April 22, 2025
by Peter Feinman
The Trump Muskacre

The Trump Muskacre will become a distinct period in American history. True it continues to unfold so determining the true cost of the purported cost-savings project will take time. But it appears that its days are waning although its affects will be ongoing. Ostensibly it is commissioned to detect cost savings, inefficiencies and waste in the federal government in the amount of $2 trillion. In practice it brought a chainsaw to the federal government. It did so except perhaps based on the government programs and departments Trump does not like and then brutalizes them devoid of any intelligent thought.

In this Trump Muskacre, there was no indication of any identification of fraud, waste, or inefficiencies. Instead, its accomplishments are in imagination and ignorance. It has unleashed no-nothings on the government except for the desire to download personal data on American citizens and perhaps to make databases accessible to Russians and who know who else. Its alleged savings fall far short of the stated goal and are inaccurate. They display ignorance about how the government operates and a lack of desire to learn.

Still, there are lessons We the People can learn from the Trump Muskacre.

AREAS NOT TOUCHED

The areas not touched in the Trump Muskacre are an indicator of the goals of the assault.

“The Big Federal Contracts Musk’s Team Hasn’t Touched” NYT 3/7/25 full page article

“Psst, Musk, Look Over Hear” NYT 3/8/25 Michael Grunwald – Department of Agriculture

“Budget Ax May Benefit Contractors” NYT 3/15/25

The ten highest paid consulting firms scheduled to receive $65 billion in fees this year.
The government has cancelled few large contracts so far.
The increase in cutbacks up will increase the reliance on private firms.

The cutbacks have been imposed on the people who need help the most and where research can make the most difference.

HUMANITARIAN

“America Is Silent on the World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis” Nicholas Kristof March 20, 2025

“the Trump administration is now cutting back on humanitarian assistance, aggravating the situation” in Sudan. Soup kitchens are closed

“Our cutting of humanitarian means more children starving, and our silence about the U.A.E. probably means more atrocities.”

“Feds no longer offering free COVID home tests” USA Today March 19, 2025

“Experts Doubt Kennedy Timetable on Autism Cause” NYT April 12, 2025

“Children With Cholera Die Seeking Aid After U.S. Cuts” NYT April 12, 2025

This list could be expanded exponentially. It only increases with each passing day. While big contracts and agriculture are off limits, the people in need at home and abroad have suffered the most from the assault. Indeed scientific research seems to be a particularly favorite target whether it is directly by the government or funded by it at a university. These excludes all the cultural institutions who are being decimated either directly as federal organizations or indirectly as small museums, historical societies, and arts organizations throughout the country who receive federal funding. It used to be said that the Pentagon shared the wealth on large contracts nationwide to individual Congressional districts. The Trump Muskacre works in reverse: it spreads the pain nationally or wherever there are day-care centers or libraries. And this excludes national programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and Veterans.

DOES THE RIGHT HAND KNOW WHAT THE LEFT HAND IS DOING?

“DOGE Cuts Hobble Experts in Moon and Mars Landing” (NYT April 16, 2025)

GPS doesn’t work so well on Mars and the Moon. In its place is the Astrogeology Science, part of the U.S. Geological Survey Center in the Department of the Interior. So in case the United States wanted to return to the Moon before China arrives or wanted to go to Mars, a Musk goal, there are people charged with mapping the landing sites and locating the hidden water-ice deposits that would make the journey a success. At least there were. And when the experienced people left due to retirement offers or simply being cut, they take that experience with them. Score one for China.

It’s a little like mandating k-12 schools to do something and then eliminating the Department of Education which would monitor it.

“A Story about the Environment that Almost Had a Happy Ending” (NYT March 23, 2025)

This article is about the restoration of the Klamath River valley through dam removal. It would bring back salmon and the small farms that have been suffering for so long. Just as these small rural communities and the Klamath Tribes of Oregon were on the brink of success from funding authorized in 2021 under President Biden, the funding was suspended. So close but so far away.

“Musk’s NOAA Staffing Cuts Put Salmon Harvests as Risk” (NYT April 11. 2025)

The Chinook salmon ecosystem is at risk. This affects tribal, commercial, and recreational fishing and they are a main source of food for endangered whale.

“But this year, almost a dozen hatcheries in the Puget Sound region are in limbo because a single employee from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was terminated in February.”

This example is but one that the elimination of the scientific research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This cessation was of scientific work comes on the centennial of the infamous Scopes Trial as a sign of how much things haven’t changed. We may not only be marching back to the 1950s in lifestyles and to 1932 in the financial markets but to the 1920s. If you were an up and coming scientist why would you want to come here assuming you were even allowed into the country?

SOLUTIONS

Suppose we were serious about wanting to cut waste, reduce inefficiency, and save money, what would we do?

“Don’t Kill Fema. Find a Way to Fix It” Senator Peter Welch NYT op-ed January 28, 2025

Welch shows there is another way. It is slower, less flashy, and smaller, but it would get the job done. He agrees with President Trump that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is broken and needs serious reform. But he thinks it is crucial that FEMA helps all Americans in times of chaos and crisis. All Americans deserve to know that Washington will have their back when disaster strikes

He recommends what needs to change is the agency’s long-term recovery process, which kicks in months after the floodwaters recede. There is far too much delay and bureaucracy. More control, leadership and resources must be given to local governments to ensure that disaster recovery efforts are carried out in a timely way. He notes that administrative costs have greatly outpaced the distribution of disaster aid in Vermont.

One notes that in the Trump Muskacre, there have been no recommendations about how to streamline operations to make them more efficient. All there has been has been the elimination of projects and people.

Others have noted the need to end business as usual.

In the Sean Duffy Transportation Secretary confirmation, he noted that another priority is to reduce the red tape that “slows critical infrastructure projects.”  (“Senate conforms Trump picks Bessent, Duff7” USA Today January 29, 2025).

“Russell Vought Is Probably the Most Important Person in Trump 2.0” Damon Linker NYT January 26, 2025

Strangely enough, even Russell Vought of all people offers sage advice.

What we need are not plans to burn down the federal bureaucracy — or to transform the presidency into a quasi-authoritarian office empowered to micromanage regulatory policy across the entirety of the executive branch. We need smart ideas for incremental reforms that make the bureaucracy at once more nimble and more humble.

DEMOCRAT FAILURES

The Democrats bring years of failure to the problem of government management.

“Farewell to Foreign Aid as We Know it” Farah Stockman NYT op-ed March 22, 2025

“If you think the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan was bad, consider the chaos and death since this administration’s abrupt withdrawal from the entire world.”

We do need to re-imagine foreign aid. It should be leaner and less bureaucratic. It should be based on partnerships that respond to local needs, not pronouncements from Washington. The first step is the acknowledging that the old system had flaws. “Let’s be honest. U.S.A.I.D. could be inefficient and wasteful.”

– Congress, loaded up U.S.A.I.D. with burdensome regulations.
– Year after year grants and conflicts flowed to the same American behemoths that perfected the art of federal fund raising – rent, overhead, salaries and not local partners.
– Local groups are far more cost-effective and attuned to what communities need.

The Democrats did nothing to address these shortcomings leaving it to MAGAs who have been clamoring for reductions/eliminations to fill the void.

“The Republican Party’s NPC Problem — and Ours” Ezra Klein op-ed full page February 26, 2025

It’s a genuine failure of Democrats that they didn’t put more energy into making the government faster and better when they were in charge.

Democrats became champions of a government that didn’t work.

[Trump] didn’t want policy. They didn’t want to go line by line through U.S.A.I.D. and figure out what worked and what didn’t.

They did not want to think through new civil service regulations.

The weak point is Congress.

“Democrats Must Think Beyond Musk” NYT February, 2025

Their goal must be a muscular, lean, effective administrative state that works for Americans.

            Mr. Musk’s reckless will not get us there, but neither will the excessive caution and addiction to procedure that Democrats exhibited under President Joe Biden’s leadership.

For example:

$42 billion program for broadband internet in 2021 – has not connected a single household as of December 2024

$7.5 billion electric charging stations – 47 in 15 sites as of December 2024

More than half of the $1.6 trillion appropriated under Mr. Biden’s four signature bills remain unspent and vulnerable to clawback

Imagine designing simple web form to allow companies to express interest in funding under CHIPS and Science Act. It would require:

– Extensive review by lawyers and dozens of others in your agency and the federal government
– Review by the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 9 months
– Posting plans to the Federal Register
– Addressing comments from the public
– Posting it again

One soon realizes all one’s energy goes into navigating the bureaucracy for months on end. The

1980 Paperwork Reduction Act has not been updated.

“It’s Not Too Late for Congress to Stand Up for Itself” Brendan Buck NYT February 26, 2025.

The failure of Congress to assert itself makes it easier for some members of Congress to support the plundering of an agency.

As it turns out, providing oversight is hard plodding work. It requires intense study, pulling in experts and questioning agency leaders. It requires digging through reports from the Government Accountability Office and an agency inspector general both of which help to identify waste, fraud and programmatic failures.

Needless-to-say, in the Trump Muskacre, none of this occurred.

Perhaps the goal for Americans can be seen in the comments of Scott Siskind who blogs about Silicon Valley under the pseudonym Scott Alexander (“The Vibe Shifts Against the Right” Michelle Goldberg, NYT April 17, 2025). He wrote:

We wanted a swift, lean government that stopped strangling innovation and infrastructure. Instead we got chainsaw-style firings, total devastations of state capacity in exactly the way most likely to strangle innovation more than ever, and the worst and dumbest people in the world gloating about how they solved the “grift” of sending lifesaving medications to dying babies.

Ride Paul Ride: The 2025 Showdown between Patriots and Loyalists

April 18, 2025
by Peter Feinman
Paul Revere, 2025

The America 250th is alive and well. For so long the celebration has been in the doldrums. With that funny hard to pronounce name – semiquincentennial – the 250th has had a tough time competing with the Bicentennial. The 250th was a pale imitation of what had transpired a mere 50 years ago. The national organization was in turmoil. The federal funding was non-existent. Time was slipping by with little to show.

Last June, I wrote a blog suggesting that a mock First Continental Congress be held in  recognition of its 250th anniversary. I concluded the blog with the following:

Hold a Mock First Continental Congress

The way things are going, 1774 is going to pass by without any national or statewide activities as if the First Continental Congress didn’t exist. Yes, the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR) will have roundtable of July 19 on the First Continental Congress at the semiquincentennial for the scholars in attendance at its annual conference. Yes it will follow with a private tour on July 20 of Carpenter’s Hall where the First Continental Congress was held. But these are hardly national events. Mock congresses where students debate on being a Loyalist or a Patriot in October when the 2024 Presidential election heats up surely will bring home the mood and atmosphere of the First Continental Congress more than any academic paper, journal article, or book will. Imagine televising those debates.

But now after a slow start, the 250th is ready to enter the national consciousness. The presidential election has been held. The self-proclaimed would-be king has taken office. Suddenly the 250th is front-page news and on cable talk shows. The catalyst for this transformation from peripheral to center stage is President Donald Trump along with an assist from Elon Musk.

PATRICK HENRY

The warm-up act occurred a scant few weeks ago on the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s famous speech. At that time, Virginia held its annual 250th conference. I reported on the event in my blog Patrick Henry vs. Glenn Youngkin: Déjà vu All Over Again

As part of the conference to mark the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s famous “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech, VA250 and St. John’s Church livestreamed the historical reenactment event that took place on March 23, 2025. But something unexpected occurred as reported by Fox News.

After delivering remarks at the annual enactment of Henry’s iconic speech, Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va., was met by loud boos, “shame” chants and protest cries while exiting St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia. Protesters held up signs like “deport Musk” and “Youngkin is a Trumpkin” as the governor was escorted through the raucous crowd by law enforcement. 

Someone who attended the conference told me she had no idea what was happening outside the church.

“We resisted King George. We will resist Trump,” the flier for Sunday’s protest said, comparing the resistance of President Donald Trump to the American Revolution.

The Reddit user who organized the protest said: “Trump continuously violated the Constitution, declared himself the sole legal authority in the land, and called himself ‘KING.’ Trump must be removed from office!”

I concluded the blog with some predictions:

1. The more events are held, the more 1775 and 2025 will merge together. The war by patriots against loyalists to the king will become part of the political discourse. It will become part of the political campaign in 2026.
2. Related to the above, a new Declaration of Independence will be written. In this one the charges will be against Trump and Musk especially if the Democrats ever catch on to the opportunity they have been given.

In other words, we will not only remember, commemorate and celebrate the events of the American Revolution, we will live them. The event for Patrick Henry may only be a harbinger for the events of April 18-19 for the ride of Paul Revere and the Battle of Lexington and Concord.

Now here we are on the eve of that famous ride.

In-between, at the annual conference of the Organization of American History which I did attend, there was a session on April 4, 2025, “How Do We Defend Historians & Higher Education from Today’s War on Knowledge?” At that session, the chair Professor Nancy MacLean, Duke University, said “We will not go gentle into the night” or words to that effect. She was referring to the poem by Dylan Thomas “Do not go gentle into that good night.”

Those words immediately triggered in my mind the stirring speech by President Bill Pullman:

In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world, and you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. Mankind, that word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interest. Perhaps it’s fate that today is the 4th of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom. Not from tyranny, oppression or persecution, but from annihilation. We’re fighting for our right to live, to exist. And should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world declared in one voice, we will not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish without a fight. We’re going to live on. We’re going to survive. Today, we celebrate our independence day. (Independence Day, 1996)

They also called to mind the words of an actual president, Lyndon Baines Johnson. In his March 16, 1965, address on Voting Rights to Joint Session of Congress. In that speech, he said:

At times, history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man’s unending search for freedom.

So it was at Lexington and Concord. So it was a century ago at Appomattox. So it was last week in Selma, Ala….

Our mission is at once the oldest and the most basic of this country–to right wrong, to do justice, to serve man.

The bulk of the speech was about voting but this snippet about Lexington and Concord still rings true today. So at the risk of going out on the limb again, I predict the ride of Paul Revere and the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 2025 will again serve as a patriotic call in 2025 against our current king. There are many issues to be addressed about our would-be king. They are all simultaneously coalescing at this particular point in time against someone who has no intention of blinking but will double-down. They will have wait for subsequent blogs to be addressed. In the meantime:

RIDE PAUL RIDE

P.S The next big 250th event is the Second Continental Congress which began in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775.

Trump’s Riviera versus Gaza’s Riviera: River to the Sea

February 19, 2025
by Peter Feinman
Another One Bites the Dust (Trump Casino) (PHOTO BY JOSEPH GRANT JR., COURTESY CONTROLLED DEMOLITION INC.)
From out of nowhere our President has wreaked havoc in the Middle East with his suggestion to create a Riviera on the Mediterranean without the people who live there now. This suggestion from Earth 2 is so off-the-wall he neglected to even to mention it to anyone before springing it upon an unsuspecting world.

At some level he may have realized that even to mention it to anyone on Earth 1 would subject him to ridicule. Even when surrounded by his Flying Monkeys who support whatever he says and does, Trump has the skill to recognize when people are laughing inside at the lunacy of his suggestion. Hence the need to spring it on the world so even the Flying Monkeys have to rally round their leader while the rest of the world remains aghast.

Somehow in his child-like understanding of the real world:

1. Over 2,000,000 would peacefully and happily relocate to a place that is nice and beautiful even though it is not their home
2. Land somewhere would be found perhaps in one of the neighboring countries which are more than willing to accept over 2,000,000 Palestinians… except that they are not.
3. And once the land had been cleared of rubble, debris, and military ordinance a sparkling new Riviera could arise from the ashes, a Trumpviera that would put everything he has built so far in his life to shame.

Right now all the Arab and Palestinian Americans who refrained from voting for Harris must be jumping up and down in joy for what God’s gift to humanity is offering them. So too all the progressives who must be thankful that they did not vote for Harris either. Little did they know what Trump had in store for them.

GAZA RIVIERA

Let’s stop and think for a moment before throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Right now there is a stalemate between two opposing ideas for Gaza: will it be occupied by Israel or ruled by Hamas. Either way the people of Gaza lose. Yet no one has any idea how to break the stalemate with a plan for the future.

The Gazans themselves are almost always overlooked. All Gazans are not Hamas. In fact very few are. The Gazans suffer at the hands of the Israelis only during the intermittent wars plus from the blockades. The Gazans suffer at the hands of Hamas every day.

The Gazans did not want October 7. The Gazans know that if Hamas remains in power it is only a matter of time before the next round of fighting. The Gazans know that they will bear the brunt of the next round. Even now, there are many Gazans who would like to vote with their feet and leave Gaza hopefully for a place without ruins and the sword of Damocles perpetually hanging over their head. Yet for some strange reason, American college campuses think the Gazans want to be ruled by Hamas and that the chant “river to the sea” applies only to Gazans. Apparently it never occurred to them that Gazans do not want to be ruled by Hamas and that Israelis support “river to the sea” too.

Suppose our President instead had proposed a Gaza Riviera instead of a Trump Riviera. Suppose the resort builder had presented to the world a plan to create a Gaza Riviera, something no has suggested so far. Suppose he proposed a vision with beaches, hotels, stores, restaurants, recreation areas, a port for tourist ships, an airport for tourist flights, and roadways and transportation links to connect them. Suppose he had suggested connecting Gaza to the West as Tel Aviv is and Beirut once was. What would the reaction have been then?

How many people (Gaza jobs) would it take to clear the area so this vision could be fulfilled?

How many people (Gaza jobs) would it take to build the vision?

How many people (Gaza jobs) would it take to operate the vision?

True he had failed in Atlantic City but this time he would not be on his own.

Think of the difference in the response, if he had proposed an adult vision to bring peace to the area. Biden had rallied nations to the cause to resist the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Bush had rallied a coalition of the willing in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. Now an American president would create a coalition of nations and international organizations to build a better tomorrow in Gaza. Even China might want in on the gargantuan project. For creating such a coalition on behalf of the Gazans, he might even win a Nobel Peace Prize.

CONCLUSION

As a gesture of good faith towards the construction of a beautiful and nice place where the Gazans could live in peace and with hope for the future, the Democrats should pledge $100 billion in the next budget to build such a place for the Gazans. Since neither Jordan nor Egypt wants 2 million Gazans in the land, another location needs to be found. The best location is Gaza itself where the people living there could help build a better tomorrow for themselves.

When all is said and done, the American President has shown a path forward towards peace in the Middle East. Democrats should not waste this opportunity.

Election Postmortem #1: Where’s the Civil War?

November 8, 2024
by Peter Feinman
America's Third Civil War (The Atlantic)

This post in the first in a series of posts analyzing the results of the 2024 Presidential Election. I am starting with something that as of November 8, 2024, does not appear to have happened. To the best of knowledge there is no civil war at this time. In fact the country seems remarkably peaceful with no carnage in sight.

Let’s start by reviewing what did not happen. I will focus on articles and issues from The Atlantic which I have been patiently saving for this moment. I have lots of articles fully highlighted in yellow that I expected to serve as the basis for many blogs to come. I intended to review those articles and compare them to what was happening in Earth 1. Now it appears as if these well-meaning articles are the ones from Earth 2 and I have to decide whether to save them for posterity or to recycle them.

HOW TO STOP A CIVIL WAR

“How to Stop a Civil War” was the title on the cover of the December 2019 issue, just about five years ago. Editor Jeffrey Goldberg opened the issue with some comments by me from “America’s Third Civil War: An Update” (December 13, 2020)

A NATION COMING APART BY JEFFREY GOLDBERG

Goldberg tactfully opens his “Editor’s Note” with:

The 45th president of the United States of America is uniquely unfit for the office and poses a multifaceted threat to our country’s democratic institutions.

Truer words were never written, but I suspect they understate the problem. I doubt that Goldberg anticipated a frontal assault on the democratic process including an attempted coup to steal the election with the support of the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives and 125 accomplices. To imagine an attempted coup by this particular President requires no stretch of the imagination. To see how widespread the support was and is would have been unimaginable. These 126 traitors are from the present House of Representatives. It is quite likely that in the new House where the Democrats will have only the slimmest of margins, that the number of representatives who support the President in-exile will be even greater. There is no margin of error.

Goldberg went on to write:

The structural failures in our democratic system that allowed a grifter into the White House in the first place⸺this might be our greatest challenge.

I strongly doubt that Goldberg anticipated that the con artist only needed to ask for money to receive over $200 million from his Trumpican base. That is an astonishing achievement in the history of scam annals. He has perfected the ability to raise enormous sums of money in small amounts without having to fleece few bigtime marks.

Finally, Goldberg announced as the editor, the purpose for the special issue.

Out of our conversations, and others like it, emerged the idea for the special issue you are now reading, what we have called “How to Stop a Civil War.” … (W)e worry that the ties that bind us are fraying at alarming speed ⸺ we are becoming contemptuous of each other in ways that are both dire and possibly irreversible.

If these words reflect Goldberg’s assessment of the situation in December 2019, then one can only imagine what he must think in December 2020. For now the coup to steal the election temporarily has been stopped by the Supreme Court. One should expect the final stand where the last ditch effort to overturn the election will be undertaken will be when the new House convenes to ratify the vote of the Electoral College. He still thinks he can overturn the election and has roughly 126 people who will help him. The fat lady still hasn’t sung yet.

REMAINING ARTICLES

This issue and my comments above were written prior to the peaceful political discourse on January 6 by patriots who deserve to be pardoned because the election was stolen. The articles in order of appearance in the “How to Stop a Civil War” issue consists of a series of dispatches, a nice military term to convey the war atmosphere.

Opening Argument: When Trump Goes – Somehow, sometime, he will leave office. Will our politics get better or worse? By David Frum.

Sketch: The Secessionist – Daniel Miller, the leader of the Texas Nationalist Movement, wants to divorce the state from the union once and for all. By Graeme Wood.

Part 1 On the forces that Pull Us Apart

“How America Ends: A Tectonic Demographic Shift is Under Way. Can the Country Hold Together,” by Yoni Appelbaum

“Left Behind: The Real Roots of the Urban/Rural Divide,” by Tara Westover in conversation with Jeffrey Goldberg.

“Why It Feels Like Everything Is Going Haywire: Social Media Rapidly Changed How We Communicate, in Ways the Destabilize Democracy: What Can We Do about That?” by Jonathan Haidt and Tobias Rose-Stockwell.

Too Much Democracy Is bad for Democracy: The Major Parties Have Ceded Unprecedented Power of Primary Voters. It’s a Radical Experiment – and It’s Failing,” by Jonathan Rauch and Ray La Raja.

Part 2 Appeals to Our Better Nature  

“The Things We Can’t Face: What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk about Abortion,” by Caitlin Flanagan.

“What Would Mister Rogers Do?: I First Met Him 21 Years Ago, and Now Our Friendship Is the Subject of a new Movie. He’s never been More Revered — or More Misunderstood” by Tom Junod.

“Can this Marriage Be Saved? Applying the Techniques of Couples Counseling to Bring Reds and Blues Back Together Again,” by Andrew Ferguson.

Part 3 Reconciliation and Its Alternatives

“The Road from Serfdom: How Americans Can Become Citizens Again,” by Danielle Allen.

“The Enemy Within: Have We Taught Our Children the Principles of this Democracy Must Live By? Do We Even Remember those Principles Ourselves? by James Mattis.

“Against Reconciliation: The Gravest Danger to American Democracy Isn’t an Excess of Vitriol — It’s the False Promise of Civility,” by Adam Server.

There is much food for thought in these articles. I used a lot of yellow highlighter when reading them. A glance at these pre-January 6, pre abortion ruling, pre “the enemy within” suggests how easy it would be a write of series of blogs just dedicated to the articles in The Atlantic from nearly five years ago. They would provide an update now that the battle is engaged. However, the battle is not engaged.

GEORGE PACKER

George Packer contributed two articles in The Atlantic relevant to this issue.

“The Four Americas: Competing Visions of the Country’s Purpose and Meaning Are Tearing It Apart. Is Reconciliation Possible? (July/August 2021)

“Imagine the Worst: How to Head off the Next Insurrection,” (January/February 2022) the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection.

BARTON GELLMAN  

In the same anniversary issue, Barton Gellman wrote a piece which garnered widespread notice among the chattering class:

“January 6 Was Practice: Donald Trump Is Better Position to subvert an Election Now that He Was in 2020.”

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE

Way back on President’s Day in 2023, acclaimed scholar Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted that we need a divorce. The time had come to separate red states from blue. “From the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats to the Democrat’s traitorous America Last polices, we are done.”

Peter Wehner responded on February 21, 2023, in an on-line piece in The Atlantic.

David French responded “Take Threats of ‘National Divorce’ Seriously,” (NYT March 6, 2023, print).

So now I have this folder of articles clamoring for attention. It should be possible to write more than a dozen blogs on the subjects of the looming Civil War and/or the divorce. Yet what would be the point? One concern, of course, is taking seriously these people as prognosticators. Perhaps authors should have their articles accompanied by a batting average.

But the topic now is a postmortem on the recent presidential election. At this point I don’t have time to be distracted. There are a plethora of blogs to be written about the election. This is only the first one.

New York Times Magazine, November 10, 2019, by Paul Sahre

Why Vote for Donald Trump?

November 4, 2024
by Peter Feinman
He never grew up.

“Teaching, Anti-bullying Policies and Trump” was an op-ed piece in the Sunday paper in Westchester by Tony Monchinski, a local high school teacher. He states:

… the biggest issue I have with my fellow Queens native is that he’s a bully.

I have always located him in middle school as a seventh-grade-smart-aleck-dumb-aleck. Think of the pleasure he receives when he can act out in front of the class and say the words you are not supposed to say. Think of all the crass behaviors he exhibits.

Any of these behaviors exhibited by a student in my school would lead to disciplinary action and possible expulsion; any exhibited by a teacher would lead to an investigation, removal from the classroom, and probable termination of employment. All would violated my district’s anti-bullying policy.  

Think about it. On the one had due to his deteriorating mental necessities you would take the car keys from a parent or grandparent who displayed these behaviors. On the other hand, such behaviors would not be tolerated in the classroom.

Trump has always been this way and always will be.

“When I look at myself in the first grade and I look at myself , I’m basically the same.” 

Exactly.

In the book “The Toddler in Chief,” political scientist Daniel Drezner collect the over 1,000 instances in which Trump was described by those around him in terms befitting an impetuous child (Ezra Klein, “What’s Wrong with Trump?” NYT October 27, 2024, print). Klein then cites a few examples:

1. Deputy Chief of Staff Katie Walsh described working with the President as “trying to figure out what a child wants.

2. Steve Bannon, co-conspirator in the January 6 attempt to overthrow the government said, “I’m sick of being a wet nurse for a 71-year old.”

3. James Mattis and John Kelly “often described themselves like babysitters; they made a pact to never be overseas at the same time, lest Trump do something truly deranged.”

Klein observes that under pressure he loses control of the ability to inhibit himself.

That is why he lost the debate with Harris so decisively. When he is pressured, when he is emotional, he cannot stop himself. He cannot stop himself. He can’t inhibit himself.

            The man cannot help himself. HE IS MISSING THE PART OF HIS MIND THAT TELLS HIM WHAT NOT TO SAY, WHAT NOT TO DO….. But he cannot control himself.

Exactly. Brain scans would show that the portions of the brain that would do that are missing. That is why a child psychologist should be one interviewed on the talk shows. There is the normal brain in adolescence that reflects the growing maturity of the child so that as an adult, he does know how to behave. Then there is the brain of the arrested development child who never matures into being a responsible adult. Go to a high school reunion and see if you cannot pick out the physical adult who still behaves like an immature child in middle school or high school.

For Klein, Trump’s age only makes things worse. Aging can make disinhibition worse.

The August 2020 edition of the journal Psychology and Aging was entirely devoted to research on how the ability to control our behavior appears, in many studies to decline as we get older.    

Trump rambles for even longer on stage today. It is not a sign of his continued vigor.

I think it it’s the opposite. I think his inability to stop rambling on stage is evidence that what little capacity he once had to control himself is weakening.

The Arnold Palmer incident is right out of junior high school.

Donald Trump is not cognitively fit to be president.

Unfortunately the Constitutional requirement to be at least 35 years old only applies to physical years. It never occurred to the Founding Fathers that the president should be tested for mental acuity to demonstrate the mental necessities to function as an adult. All the focus now on the age of the president disqualifying him to act as president, focuses on the wrong age in Trump’s case. He never had the mental necessities in the first place. In his administration, there were guard rails, not always successful, to ensure the immature child did not go off the rails in the first place. But now it is taken for granted there would be no such guardrails in the second administration. The more they are needed as he continues to deteriorate, the less checks and balances on his personal behavior there will be.

THE MAGA BASE   

Trump feeds off the energy of the MAGA base. He is even wistful because he knows this is his last hurrah. He will never run for president again. He would be a lame duck president from Day 1. Today, Monday, November 4, 2024, marks the end of the line for his campaign rallies. Yes, he would still make public appearances but he would not be campaigning for himself. Already the more he rambles and weaves right now, the more his audiences dwindle. They have seen the act before. They have heard his act before. They have read his tweets before.

And if he doesn’t win, the degeneration will be even worse. He will no longer be the center of attention except when he is in court and is advised by his lawyers to remain silent. Then at last peace will come to the shire. On the other hand, he could win and then all hell will break loose.

CONCLUSION

Why then should anyone vote for this immature child?

To return to Ezra Klein,

He is saying what many people want somebody to be saying. He’s saying what people are saying in private but often re not saying in public.

Trump is not an inauthentic candidate. He does not use algorithms to calculate what he is going to say. It is unlikely even knows where his mouth will take him during his rambling weave.

But there is something undeniably electric to watch someone unchained from the bundle of inhibitions the rest of us carry around.

He has no use for briefing books and position papers which he can’t read anyway.

“I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else’s brain can ever tell me.”

 That same gut enables the con artist to connect with audiences in a way no other politician in the United States can do today. He is unique and it is not a talent that he can pass on to anyone. He knows what his audience wants and he knows how to exploit it. He can reaches audiences that no Republican has before and which Democrats are scrambling to retain with their more conventional candidate. If only Trump wasn’t an immature narcissistic criminal, he could be a powerful force for building a better tomorrow. But then he wouldn’t be Donald Trump.