Subscribe to the IHARE Blog

Donald Trump

History Wars: The Declaration of Independence

July 27, 2026
by Peter Feinman
Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull

History is a battleground. By history, I am not referring to simply an abstract concept of an academic discipline. I am referring to people, buildings, and artifacts which are the physical manifestations of history. The people involved include historians, archivists, librarians, preservationists, archaeologists, teachers, museum curators and their organizations, and cultural heritage among others.

The attack from without comes from Donald Trump, President of the United States. He launched his assault in March 2025. It continues to this very day such as with his direct attacks on the Smithsonian and his indirect attack on historic buildings and landscapes through revisions to Section 106.

This history is always in a reactive state. It never knows when Trump will attack, where, and in what way. Its position is a little like that of an abused victim waiting for the next assault by the abuser.

The war from within the history community derives from Christian Nationalism and the Woke.

I propose to write about the history wars in a series of blogs.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

This series begins with the Declaration of Independence, the birth certificate of the Country.There is a disconnect between what the general public knows about the Declaration and the American Revolution and what teachers teach about it. In the space here, I will examine two recent books.

The Greatest Sentence Ever Written by Walter Isaacson (2025)

The focus of this book is the second line of the Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

Isaacson calls that sentence “the mission statement for what the country can be.” He wants people “to have a slightly deeper appreciation for a sentence most of us know almost by heart, but haven’t reflected on what each word means and how we can live up to the aspiration.”

Franklin replaced Jefferson’s “sacred” with “self-evident” to “create a new type of nation in which rights were based on rationality, not on the dictates of dogma or religion.” When Adams added “endowed by their Creator,” we can serve the balancing act between the role of divine providence and rationality in the creation of our rights.

He claims the Founders knew the phrase “all men are created equal” was aspirational.

Unspoken is the reality of the need to compose a document that would pass.

Later these words (and Lady Liberty) became a vision of this country that drew millions to it. They became the basis of what is called the American Dream.

(Quotations are from an interview in the Harvard Gazette, November 21, 2025).

The American Revolution and the Fate of the World by Richard Bell (2025)

The American Revolution and the Fate of the World by Richard Bell

This book won the Book of the Year award at the annual conference of SHEAR (Society for Historians of the Early American Republic) (July 18,2026). I attended to conference and award presentations.

Frequently American historians refer to the I-95 or Accela Corridor American Revolution. In the public mind the events from Lexington and Concord (MA) to Yorktown (VA) define the geographic range of the war. In scholarship that range has expanded first to Atlantic history, then to Continental history including the southeast and western United States, and finally to global history.

Bells deliberate choice to use the world “global” is intended to expand the consciousness of Americans. The American Revolution included events in India and the Indian ocean even after Yorktown. The Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution provided some of the inspiration for the Indian revolt against British imperialism.

Indeed the ripple effects of the American Revolution impacted the British, French, and the Spanish empires. He cites the work of David Armitage who identified over 100 nations who have had declarations of independence in some form. The United States led the way in insurrections against imperial powers and we were successful one.

SHEAR CONFERENCE

At the SHEAR conference, the opening session on July 17, 2026, was “ Roundtable: The American Revolution Around the World.” Bell was a participant in the session.

Zara Anishanslin, University of Delaware, used the famous painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware as a way to teach the American Revolution precisely because of its inaccuracies. In other words, there is a gap between what people think they know about the American Revolution and what the scholars think. Therefore there is a need to bridge the gap between the popular images and the academic understandings.

One could add Trumbull’s painting of the ratification of the Declaration which culminated a more raucous setting than the stiff sedate painting shows.

I asked her if anyone had produced a book compiling the different paintings that define the American Revolution to the general public. She said, “No.” Here is where there is an opportunity for SHEAR: to have monthly webinars for teachers and the public on the famous paintings that create the popular images of the American Revolution.

Tom Cutterham, University of Birmingham (Great Britain) observed that many people in England didn’t simply support the American Revolution, they wanted one to transform England as well.

The final session of the conference on July 19, 2026, was “Roundtable: Writing about the Declaration of Independence 250 Years Later.” Here five scholars spoke about their recent books on the Declaration of Independence. During the free-flowing conversation, one of them observed that large swaths of the American people do not hold the Founding Fathers or the document they created in high regard. As an example consider this exchange from the Democratic Senate primary campaign on July 29, 2026

Just before the Fourth of July, Abdul El-Sayed, the son of Egyptian immigrants and a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, looked out at a few hundred people at a rally at a community college in Detroit and talked about the country’s momentous birthday.

“We’re on the cusp of our 250th anniversary,” he said.

“Boo,” someone scoffed from the front of the crowd, and Dr. El-Sayed stopped to make clear his disapproval.

“We don’t boo,” he said. (“Michigan Progressive in Senate Race Thrills and Rattles Democrats,” Michael Kruse, The New York Times, 7/29/26.)

Here we may observe the dilemma the history community in reaching out so Americans don’t boo but cheer.

Ignore everything about the Declaration of Independence being an inspiration to the world.
Sally Hemings. The Founding Fathers were hypocrites. The United States is a racist, imperialist genocidal country.

Ignore everything about the Declaration of Independence being an inspiration to millions of immigrants.
Sally Hemings. The Founding Fathers were hypocrites. The United States is a racist, imperialist genocidal country.

Ignore everything about Abraham Lincoln redefining the country based on what had happened four-score and seven years ago.
Sally Hemings. The Founding Fathers were hypocrites. The United States is a racist, imperialist genocidal country.

Sally Hemings alone negates everything that was written above about the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence as forces for good in the world.
America is a racist, imperialist, genocidal country. Case closed.

Here we see the challenge to the history community to speak out to the general public and teachers about the global impact of the Declaration of Independence as a force for good in human history. Is it up to the challenge?

 

 

Trump’s Arch versus Hudson River Art: The Legal Value of a Scenic View

July 23, 2026
by Peter Feinman
View from Olana, Hudson NY (Peter Aaron)

Normally, Hudson River Art and Trump’s Arch are not linked together. The Hudson River artists painted the sublime and the beautiful, as if the scene was part of God’s Eden. By contrast the arch is a monstrosity dedicated to the vanity by his own admission of one person. The artists sought to record the view of what they saw; the President is seeking to disrupt the existing view linking hallowed sites of our history with his alien arch. In both cases the view is involved.

What is the value of a view? On October 26, 2023, Michael Kimmelman asked “Regulate the Skyline? What’s Your View? (NYT). Note the play on words in asking for view/opinion and asking for your view/what can you see. The subtitle is “It’s not a new question, but it seems more important than it ever has before.”

The article was mainly about Manhattan. Views of the Empire State Building figured prominently. Not only is the famed building iconic, it also is physically isolated from any nearby rivals. That view was jeopardized by what the author characterized as “yet another anorexic supertall for squillionaires.”

This article triggered something in my mind. It reminded me of view stories in the Hudson Valley. One of the oldest if not the oldest view stories literally is that from James Fenimore Cooper in The Pioneers.

“There’s a place in them hills that I used to climb to, when I wanted to see the carryings on of the world, that would well pay any man for a barked shin or a torn moccasin. You know the Catskills, lad, for you must have seen them on your left, as you followed the river up from York, looking as blue as a piece of clear sky, and holding up the clouds on their tops, as the smoke curls over the head of an Indian chief at the council fire. Well, there’s the High-peak and Round-top, which lay back, like a father and mother among their children, seeing they are high above all the other hills. But the place I mean is next to the river, where one of the ridges juts out a little from the rest, and where the rocks fall for the best part of a thousand feet, so much up and down, that a man standing on their edges is fool enough to think he can jump from top to bottom.”

“What see you when you get there?” asked Edwards.

“Creation!” said Natty, dropping the end of his rod into the water, and sweeping one hand around him in a circle — “all creation, lad…”

To see the creation as sun rise was grand sight indeed. It is still possible to stand at the footprint of the Catskill Mountain House and experience that view.

In 1825, Thomas Cole launched what became the Hudson River school with his painting a “View of Fort Putnam (West Point).” True it was not a view in nature, but the operative word here is “view.”

The first threat to the Hudson River view was from the proposed Storm King project by Con Ed. In 1962, Consolidated Edison applied to the Federal Power Commission for a license to construct a hydroelectric storage plant in the Hudson Highlands. The drawing of the proposed plant cutting into the highlands became memorable in its own right. Just as the demolition of Penn Station spurred an historic preservation movement in New York, so to the proposed hydroelectric plant spurred an effort to preserve the scenic Hudson view and the creation of the organization Scenic Hudson.

In 1965, three presiding judges ruled that the Federal Power Commission had to reconsider Con Edison’s license request, and that the “renewed proceedings must include as a basic concern the preservation of natural beauty and national historic sites, keeping in mind that in our affluent society, the cost of a project is only one of several factors to be considered.” The plant’s impact on such intangible values was just as important as its impact on fisheries, and all had to be properly assessed. This requirement was institutionalized in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, which mandated that all license applications at the state and federal levels include an environmental impact statement (EIS). Second, the court ruled that citizens are able to sue on behalf of land that they do not own. According to historian David Schuyler, these decisions “revolutionized environmental law” in the United States. (A Publication of the Architectural League of New York https://urbanomnibus.net/2019/04/reflections-on-a-rising-hudson/)

There is more to a construction proposal than cost. More than even the environment. There is something intangible: the view. That view belongs to people who do not own the land but whose right to enjoy the view of it needs to be taken into account.

View-from-Olana-with-Superimposed-Simulated-Nuclear-Cooling-Towers-detail-1979-photograph-4363-77-Courtesy-of-Oak-Ridge-National-Laboratory-US-Dept-of-Energy.jpg

Years later in 1979 another power plant threatened the view. This time it was a nuclear plant. And with no sense of irony, it was to be built in view of the home of Hudson River Art painter Frederic Church. This time, cultural geographer, Harvey Flad, Vassar College, who has presented in IHARE Teacherhostels/Historyhostels, testified on behalf of the view. He made me aware of the issue. He and others took “visual preference surveys” to determine the preference of those people who would view the construction. The “no nuclear plant view” prevailed. It changed the legal landscape as well.

Flad’s testimony was cited as “crucial” in the determination to deny the proposed Greene County Nuclear Power Plant (1979) by the Nuclear Power Commission and the Power Authority of the State of New York, which led to the State’s development of Visual Impact Analysis in the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). The decision saved the viewscape of Olana State Historic Site, and decades later, further testimony on the visual impact on Olana of the proposed St. Lawrence Cement Plant led to a similar negative determination. (https://harveyflad.wordpress.com/)

With the cement plant, Secretary of State Randy A. Daniels, decided

Hudson relies on the area’s high quality of life, contributed to by the visual appeal of the area, its historic fabric and texture, its pastoral setting, and attractions such as its waterfront park and Olana as the basis for continued economic growth. (“Cement Plant Along Hudson Is Rejected as Unsightly,” Michael Cooper, April 20, 2005 NYT).

In the Hudson Valley, the view has prevailed.

The same considerations apply to Trump’s arch. It will not standalone structure but will be part of the architectural fabric of the community. It would stand on the west bank of the Potomac River on Memorial Circle across from the Lincoln Memorial. The 1901 McMillan Plan expanded the capital’s basic grid and concept to transform the National Mall into a unified landscape. It reinforced the axial relationship that connects the U.S. Capitol, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial and the Arlington National Cemetery. Now Trump would violate and assault that unity by making himself the center of the capital and the country.

Unfortunately there is more. Not only has Trump rigged the vote on all the relevant councils which need to approve the monstrosity dedicated to himself. Now he is seeking to change the rules governing Section 106 under the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. According to Sara Bronin, law professor at the George Washington Law School who previously chaired the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation:

1. the changes would narrow the types of historic properties protected
2. weaken consultation with tribal nations
3. dramatically curtail public participation
4. exempt large categories of federally backed state and local projects from Section 106.

She anticipates a successful legal challenge. Even the assessments by the NPS acknowledge that the arch would adversely affect the landscape by altering the character-defining views, settings and spatial relationships. Already Vietnam War veterans have sued to stop the project. Who would have though a failed nuclear power plant decades ago on the Hudson River would provide another weapon in the quest to save the view in the nation’s capital.

This blog is indebted to “Inside Trump’s Rush Job to Build His Arch,” by Janay Kingberry (July 19, 2026, The Atlantic).

Trump’s Mental Necessities: Captain Queeg

July 22, 2026
by Peter Feinman
When a U.S. Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardises the ship, the first officer is urged to consider relieving him of command. (IMDb)

The fictional figure of Captain Queeg is a well-known, not beloved figure from the book, play and movie “The Caine Mutiny.” Only recently did I realize the resemblance with Donald Trump. It was his reflecting pool obsession that sealed the comparison.

Here are some paraphrased excerpts from Wikipedia about Queeg including incidents that people may have forgotten.

Lieutenant Commander Philip Francis Queeg was a strong, by-the-book figure. Queeg, though, had never handled a ship like the Caine before, and he soon makes errors of judgment that he was unwilling to admit. He found ways to lay blame on others. As the Caine began its missions in the Pacific under his command, Queeg began to lose the respect of the crew and the loyalty of the wardroom through a series of increasingly unusual incidents. These included running aground and damaging another ship, and later running over and severing the cable to a valuable towed gunnery target, which he blamed on someone else. These two incidents revealed his cowardice, paranoia, and inability to accept responsibility.

Sound familiar?

The officers nicknamed him “Old Yellowstain.” He became increasingly isolated from the other officers, who came to dread his rages and unreasonable demands. They often entailed the loss of leave privileges, and at one low point, a 48-hour moratorium on drinking water while the ship was sweltering near the equator.

Queeg’s next act of paranoia began when over half a container of prized strawberries was discovered to be empty. He concocted elaborate and time-consuming procedures in which to catch the thief. These occupied all of the officers and crew for long hours and further eroded confidence in and respect for the captain. When Queeg’s pet theory was finally decisively flouted, he disappeared into his cabin.

The strawberry incident is the one which reminded me of the reflecting pool.

In the subsequent trial over other matters, Queeg was unrelentingly cross-examined. The increasingly defensive Queeg started to display the erratic and unreasonable behavior under oath that the officers had previously reported. The scene with Humphrey Bogart playing with his marbles while cross-examined convinced everyone that he lost his. The most effective technique appeared to be just letting Queeg talk and hang himself.

While there are limits to the similarities between Trump and Queeg, they have enough in common for there to be cause for concern. Both are out of their league when given command positions be it the ship of state or the Caine (named after the biblical Cain.) Both can never admit that they are wrong. Both always need to find someone to blame when things do go wrong. Both have their excuses and his blame-passing blows up in their faces when finally forced to participate in legal proceedings.

The strawberry incident is the most colorful and absurd. It makes for great visuals as the officers and crew are forced to participate in harebrained efforts to catch the alleged and imaginary strawberry thief.

So how many strawberries does Trump have?

STRAWBERRY #1 THE REFLECTING POOL

Put aside for the moment, Trump’s ignorance about the size of the reflecting pool.

Put aside for the moment, Trump’s criminal actions in awarding the contracts.

Instead focus on what happens when things go wrong. Somebody else has to be at fault. It must be the work of terrorists. He arrests people. He has fencing put up. He has the area patrolled. How much does all this cost the taxpayer? Queeg’s actions on the Caine to catch a thief match the absurdity in Trump trying to catch the imaginary terrorists. Then he arrests a three-time Olympian and presses charges against him. The case is thrown out but the obsession doesn’t end. How much more will Trump cost the American taxpayer if the victims of Trump’s obsessions decide to sue him?

STRAWBERRY #2 ANTIFAH

Antifah is back in the news. This imaginary entity is a MAGA construct. It is designed to find someone to blame for actions MAGA doesn’t like such as wrong voting results. Sometimes the terrorist organization is responsible for bad things that happen like the attack on January 6. But when the assault on the Capital became an action of patriots who are pardoned, suddenly Antifah was no where to be found. Perhaps one day if charges are brought in the latest search for the people who stole the election, Trump will be asked to provide evidence that Antifah really exists. Of course, if he ever is that stupid, he can anticipate being sued by everyone he names.

STRAWBERRY #3 ICE KILLINGS

Under new management, ICE has become much more effective in rounding people up below the radar. The figure of 2000 people per day is an impressive achievement. Sill, there are incidents of murder that have put ICE back in the news. Targets were always fleeing and the lives of the agents were always at risk. And the targets were always terrorists. Trump’s first reaction is never one of empathy or sympathy. It is always what terrorist organizations the victim can be linked to. Even the crime scene does not need to be preserved.

But ICE has made the mistake of naming names. Or least countries. When citizens of Mexico or Columbia have been gunned down, it is not unreasonable for those countries to seek accountability.

ICE is supposed to deporting criminals, drug dealers and vicious people. Instead they seem to targeting people who have been here for years, have jobs and families. Where are all the criminals Trump promised to round up? Where are the reflecting pool terrorists?

STRAWBERRY #4 THE STOLEN ELECTION

Of course, the number 1 incident is the stolen election. We have just witnessed adult white males under oath in the confirmation hearings prove unable to tell the truth about Joe Biden winning the election. We have just witnessed Arizona Republicans vote a sweep of election-deniers to victory in the state primary. We are witnessing the dispatch of hundreds of federal agents to Georgia to once again investigate the 2020 elections. And the President gave a primetime TV performance naming China as the foreign manipulator of the 2020 election on a scale never before seen in American history. Finally let’s not forget the hundreds of thousands unnamed illegal aliens who have voted in American elections. Perhaps one day Trump will have to put up or shut in court. DOJ lawyers may be gun-shy about bringing frivolous cases based on bogus evidence to court. They have seen how judges read Trump lawyers the riot act even to the point of recommending disbarment. Perhaps there will come a day when there are no DOJ lawyers left willing to humiliate themselves in the search for the missing strawberries for a person who has lost his marbles.

Regardless of any possible dementia today, his obsessions of his “strawberries” exposes him as being unfit for the office of President of the United States. The biggest difference between Queeg and Trump is that the former was an adult while the other is an immature child.

Trump Closes Portland Airport to Cutoff Antifa Reinforcements

October 24, 2025
by Peter Feinman
When a U.S. Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardises the ship, the first officer is urged to consider relieving him of command. (IMDb)

The MAGA mind at work: Before the start of the 2024 Superbowl, broadcaster Mike Crispi claimed that the National Football League is “rigged” in order to spread “Democratic propaganda. He called what would happen”: KC wins, goes to the Superbowl, Swift comes out at the halftime show and ‘endorses’ Joe Biden with [now fiancé] Kelce at midfield. “Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce and a MAGA Meltdown” (January 30, 2024, NYT, print).

WORSE THAN THE BRITISH IN THE WAR OF 1812

According to the President of the United States, the city of Portland will go down in history as one of the worst assaults on an American city. It will rival the British burning of the nation’s capital in the War of 1812, Pearl Harbor, and 9/11. The following snippets express the damage being inflicted on the American city by the dreaded foe Antifa:

“a mess,”

“hell,”

“a hellhole,”

“protect war-ravaged”

“where they kill people and destroy the city,”

“burning to the ground,” with “insurrectionists all over the place,”

“where they kill people and destroy the city.”

“Portland is burning to the ground. It’s insurrectionists all over the place- at White house.”

Therefore the Commander in-Chief has no choice but to deploy the forces at his disposal to defeat this horrific assault by Antifa and to end the carnage.

TRUMP INVASION

In order to defeat the Antifa invasion of Portland which has turned the city into a hell hole, our Commander in-Chief has implemented the following the actions:

1. Closure of the Portland airport – the only reason people would fly into this burning-to-the- ground hell hole where insurrectionists are even more numerous and violent then they were on January 6 is to join the Antifa resistance against America. Why else would anyone fly into Portland.To allow planes to continue to fly in Antifa reinforcements makes no sense what so ever. Therefore by the power invested to the President according to his own mind, he has ordered the Portland airport to be shut down effective immediately.
2. Similarly, roadblocks have been established at all major thoroughfares into the city. Again, the only reason people would drive into the burning to the ground hell hole would be to reinforce the insurrectionists. The closing of these roads will put a crimp into the efforts by the terrorists to reinforce their forces.
3. Effective immediately all Portland Trailblazers basketball games have been cancelled. Large gatherings of innocent people will not be tolerated. They are vulnerable targets not only for ICE but for the insurrectionists as well.
4. Refugee centers will be established outside the zone of terror where people are being killed all over the place. These refugee centers have been established so the good and decent real Americans fleeing the brutal carnage unleashed by Antifa have a place to go where they will be safe and can receive the food, water, shelter, and medical care they need once the government reopens.

It would be folly to allow large gatherings of people in a war zone like for a parade or demonstration.

5. KGW-TV Portland has been forced off the air so as not to provide free media coverage to the terrorists.

‘No Kings’ rallies end peacefully in Portland with resounding message: ‘We cannot be silent’ (October 18, 2025, KGW-TV Portland)

Tens of thousands across Oregon and Washington — and nationwide — peacefully marched in the “No Kings” demonstrations; Portland police

PORTLAND, Ore. — For the second time, tens of thousands hit the streets across Oregon and Washington as part of the nationwide “No Kings” demonstrations. 

More than 30 separate rallies and demonstrations were planned throughout the region, with the largest Portland-area gathering at Tom McCall Waterfront Park at the Battleship Memorial. 

The Portland Police Bureau had told KGW Friday that they aren’t anticipating major issues and are expecting these protests to be similar to peaceful rallies that the area saw earlier this year. 

Even though the airport, the roads, and the basketball games continue as usual, that has not caused the President who is never wrong to change his mind about the situation. So far our President is not capable of learning from the evidence or facts on the ground that he has been as wrong as it is possible to be. His ability to analyze information and make sound reasoned decisions is nonexistent … assuming anyone even tells him the truth in the first place.

“Using the British military to act as a police force was almost always a mistake in the eighteenth century, and the military knew it,” Serena Zabin, “The Revolution at 250: A Conversation,” Journal of the Early Republic (44:4 2024:564).

MEDIA COVERAGE

The media coverage of President Trump’s efforts to quash the insurrection in Portland has missed the critical point of the story. The legal actions, of course, are important. Judges are much more likely to realize that no such insurrection is underway, that life in Portland is proceeding as normal, and that the entire Antifa terrorist activity creating a hell hole of wanton carnage and death is a figment of the mind of the Commander in-Chief.

That is precisely the point. The commander in-chief of the most powerful military force on this planet, is as ignorant about nuclear weapons as he is about Portland.

1. “But with others doing testing, I think it is appropriate that we do so also.” – No one is conducting nuclear testing now, not even his North Korean lover. Testing missiles is not testing weapons. A President of the United States should know this.
2. “the United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country.” Wrong Russia has more. A President of the United States should know this.
3. The Department of War has been ordered to resume testing immediately. Good luck with that. The Energy Department is responsible for testing and underground sites would need to be prepared for resumption of testing after years of non-use. A President of the United States should know this.

The person whose finger is on the bomb is making decisions based on an artificial reality and not the real world.

I am not sure which is worse: to have a Commander in-Chief who is ignorant in Earth 1 about nuclear weapons or one who is making decisions based on the artificial reality of Earth 2. Either way he is not qualified to be Commander in-Chief. His hand is not just playing with marbles but on the nuclear button.

MAGA

Unfortunately the problem is even worse. The MAGA cult believes what its lord and savior the chosen one blessed be his name says about the Antifa insurrection in Portland is true. Consider this well-known story:

One day, two con-men visit the emperor’s capital. Posing as weavers, they offer to supply him with magnificent clothes that are invisible to those who are either incompetent or stupid. The gullible emperor hires them, and they set up looms and pretend to go to work. A succession of officials, starting with the emperor’s wise and competent minister, and then ending with the emperor himself, visit them to check their progress. Each sees that the looms are empty but pretends otherwise to avoid being thought a fool.

Finally, the “weavers” report that the emperor’s suit is finished. They mime dressing him and he sets off in a procession before the whole city. The townsfolk uncomfortably go along with the pretense, not wanting to appear inept or stupid, until a child blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all. The entire town then cries out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all. The emperor is startled, but opts to continue the procession. (Wikipedia)

No MAGA in the Senate is willing to blurt out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all.

No MAGA in the House is willing to blurt out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all.

No MAGA in the White House is willing to blurt out that emperor is wearing nothing at all.

The Vice President is not willing to blurt out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all or to activate the 25th Amendment Section 4: Involuntary presidential disability.

The result is an ignorant President capable of learning that he is wrong and that there is no Antifa insurrection in the real world.

And the Democrats let him get away with it. The Democrats should be conducting daily bus tours of war-ravaged Portland. MAGA influences and podcast hosts should be invited. Democrats should be reminding the voting public that our President lacks the mental necessities to do the job.

Visions for America: 1630 to Today

October 6, 2025
by Peter Feinman
Half full or half empty? (The chair of George Washington in 1787)

If a picture is worth one thousand words, then a good slogan or branding is for winning an election. Political parties are asked what they stand for, why someone should vote for them, what is their vision for the future.

Such branding needs to be short. No one is going to read a 900+ page party platform even if it will be the governing document for the administration. Think short. Something easy to remember but which packs a punch far in excess of its brevity.

In American history some phases and slogans come to mind as having a powerful appeal.

1600s

We are “as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us” (John Winthrop, 1630)

This lay sermon originally delivered regarding the Puritan city of Boston to which Winthrop was sailing, more or less remained in hibernation until Ronald Reagan. Then it became a bold statement of optimism about the destiny of the United States and its role on this planet.

1700s

“it is a rising and not a setting sun” (Ben Franklin, 1787)

At the close of the Constitutional Convention, this quintessential American voiced these words of optimism over what the Founding Fathers had wrought. The chair Washington sat on as he presided over the convention had an emblem of half of a sun. “Half full or half empty” as we still ask about a glass today. Franklin answered in the positive:

“I have often and often, in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting: but now at length, I have the happiness to know, that it is a rising and not a setting sun.”

1800s

“Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable,” (Daniel Webster, January 26-27, 1830)

Excerpt from his Second Reply to Senator Hayne (D SC). It was during a time of nullification and the struggle to hold together a country that had recently celebrated its 50th anniversary and its Founding Fathers were dead. It was a defining speech for the second quarter of the 19th century. Although it did not vault him into the White House, it did impress young Mr. Lincoln who did succeed and had a special way with words.

“We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth,” (Abraham Lincoln, December 1, 1862, annual message to Congress).

With, Lincoln, of course there are other memorable phrases which one could choose. Although Lincoln did not refer to the United States as a city on a hill in a passive role that the world is watching. His words were more active as if We the People had been called to a global mission and divine destiny. Despite the carnage all around him and the despair he endured during the Civil War, he remained optimistic about the future of the country.

1900s

In the 20th century, presidents often became better known for the programs that branded their administration.

SQUARE DEAL – Teddy Roosevelt

Roosevelt was no longer president but he hoped to become one again in the upcoming election. After he failed to gain the Republican nomination at the Chicago convention (June 18-22, 1912), he issued this call to action:

“We fight in honorable fashion for the good of mankind; fearless of the future; unheeding of our individual fates; with unflinching hearts and undimmed eyes; we stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord.”

As his third party took shape, he delivered his own platform.

“You are taking a bold and a greatly needed step for the service of our beloved country. The old parties are husks, with no real soul within either, divided on artificial lines, boss-ridden and privilege-controlled, each a jumble of incongruous elements, and neither daring to speak out wisely and fearlessly what should be said on the vital issues of the day. This new movement is a movement of truth, sincerity, and wisdom, a movement which proposes to put at the service of all our people the collective power of the people, through their Governmental agencies, alike in the Nation and in the several States….

“Now to you men, who, in your turn, have come together to spend and be spent in the endless crusade against wrong, to you who face the future resolute and confident, to you who strive in a spirit of brotherhood for the betterment of our Nation, to you who gird yourselves for this great new fight in the never-ending warfare for the good of humankind, I say in closing what in that speech I said in closing: We stand at Armageddon, and we battle for the Lord.” (Excerpted from A Confession of Faith, delivered in Chicago, Illinois, August 6, 1912)

NEW DEAL Franklin Delano Roosevelt

FDR responded to his distant cousin’s call in his first inaugural address:

“Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself” (March 4, 1933)

A fairly bold and optimistic declaration during a depression. But as with Lincoln during the Civil War, Roosevelt during the depression did not dwell in the carnage or proclaim himself a savior.

FAIR DEAL Harry Truman

NEW FRONTIER John Fitzgerald Kennedy

GREAT SOCIETY Lyndon Baines Johnson

IT’S MORNING IN AMERICA Ronald Reagan

For the optimistic President, America was still a city on a hill.

2000s

“American carnage,” Donald Trump, 2017 inaugural

Going where Lincoln did not go during the Civil War and Roosevelt did not go during the depression, Trump for years has wallowed in the carnage and his role in ending it:

‘This American carnage stops right here and stops right now’

MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN

No “We the People” in sight. No “city on a hill.” No “last best hope of earth.” No “rising sun.”

Perhaps We the People want something better.

I was talking about this the other day with Tim Shriver, the longtime head of Special Olympics, and he remarked to me: “I interact with enough Republicans and Democrats through Special Olympics to know how starved they both are for the country to be pulled back together, so we can do big stuff together again.”

The disunity in the country, Shriver noted, “is literally making people sick and depressed.” Today, he added, “a huge number of Americans have a family member, work colleague or friend whom they are not talking to because of politics.”

It’s just not who we want to be.

“How could it be,” Shriver asked, “that the country that produced an Abraham Lincoln, who, in the middle of a civil war, could utter the words of his second inaugural” — “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds” — “is now a place where the more politically engaged you are today the more you hate your neighbor?”

That’s why, more than anything else now, Shriver argued, “we need leaders and ideas that unite us. A lot of Americans are starving to be part of something larger than ourselves, something that loves us and needs us, like building America together again, solving big problems together again, dreaming big dreams together again.” (Thomas L. Friedman, “It’s Super Wednesday,” March 4, 2020, NYT print)

“People are hungry for a sense of community and unity.” (David Axelrod, “Biden vs. Trump: The General Election Is Here, and Transformed,” September 29, 2020, NYT, print, updated from April 9, 2020 print)

“We need a social vision that is as morally compelling as identity politics but does a better job of describing reality. We need a national narrative that points us to some ideal and gives each of us a noble role in pursuing it. That’s the gigantic cultural task that lies ahead.” (David Brooks, “Why We Got It So Wrong,” Nov. 15, 2024, NYT, print)

What does the Democratic Party stand for?

What is its vision?

MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN: END THE CARNAGE

Who will offer We the People an optimistic vision of a divine destiny?

The Attack on the Smithsonian Previews His Presidential Library

August 6, 2025
by Peter Feinman

The Sound of Music on Trump’s attempt to steal the election

The Smithsonian is one of the premier educational and cultural institutions in the country and the world. When it is in the news it usually because of a donation it received either in money or an object. It conducts symposia on important cultural and historical objects. The Smithsonian museums are annually visited by millions of people. It publishes a popular magazine (I am a subscriber).

However when it has been in the news lately it has been for an entirely different reason. Our immature child president who lacks the mental necessities to connect the dots has declared himself to be Chief Historian of the United States just as he recently became the Chief Cultural director of the John F. Kennedy Cultural Center.

As chief historian, he has set about reviewing the exhibits of the Smithsonian to ensure that every line on display or on the web is in agreement with his view of American history. Thus the simple-minded person is working to impose his view of American history on the Smithsonian just as he has done with the National Park Service and with the funding of large and small historical and cultural organizations throughout the land.

Naturally, the history and museum community has resisted these efforts. As a member of multiple history and museum organizations, I have been the recipient of multiple proclamations on behalf of historical integrity. So far these have been to no avail. Trump is no more interested in historical integrity than he is in voter integrity.

PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY

One item which has been overlooked in all the attention directed against existing organizations has been the ignoring of the meaning for the not-yet-built or planned presidential library. He knows that he is not going to run in 2028. He knows that if the Democrats prevail in the 2026 elections that he will be impeached in 2027 and it may stretch out to 2028. He knows that if the Democrats prevail in the Senate in the 2026 elections that he may be removed from office in 2027 or 2028.

VANCE 2027 or 2028

He knows that if some MAGA Senators revert to being Republicans after the 2026 elections making his conviction and removal even more likely. This would make the Republican presidential convention wide-open with Vance and Rubio as the leading candidates at this point.

This means he is starting to think more about the Presidential Library than he has in the past … especially if his health is deteriorating.

The issue for historians is what will be included in his Presidential Library and what will be omitted. Traditionally, the Library has served two purposes. First it exists as a tourist site where Americans can visit and see exhibits much as they do at the Smithsonian right now. Second it functions as a resource center for scholars. It holds conferences and symposia. It awards fellowships. It makes available to scholars who are writing biographies, about American history, or about world history, information, especially primary source documents, that the scholars 0need to write these histories.

Given what we have been seeing at the Smithsonian, the National Park Service, and the funding to individuals, colleges, and history organizations, what should we expect from his Presidential Library? What rooms and exhibits will be dedicated to the following?

The business failure room
The first impeachment room
The second impeachment room
The third impeachment (and possible removal) room
The retribution room and politicization of the Department of Justice
The worst cabinet in American history room
The Epstein room for all his sexual escapades
The fire the messenger room
The Immaturity room for his social media and public speaking expressions that reveal him to be an immature child with the emotional maturity of a 3-year old – this includes the mean and nasty room for his seventh-grade smart-alec-dumb-alec sayings
The moron room displaying all the examples of his expressions of ignorance about American and global history and politics
The dishonesty room for when he knows the truth (how many rooms in the apartment or floors in the building, his golf scores, his grades, his health…) but doesn’t say it
The military campaign room covering his campaigns from Lafayette Park to Los Angeles to Washington DC., to Chicago to who knows where else
The extortion or shake-down room for all the extortions against universities, businesses, and law firms
The grift room for all the money he made in the private sector by exploiting his position in the public sector
The flying monkey room for all the people who assisted his effort to steal the election in 2020 and who keep saying the election was stolen
The unqualified room for all the appointments as judges and/or attorneys of people who never should have been considered
The rewrite history room for his attempt to steal the 2026 election and to prevent the Democrats from ever winning again.

I am sure that there are other rooms which can be considered but I think the point is clear. If you are a scholar conducting research into the presidency or life of Donald Trump, how useful will his Presidential Library be? Where will this information be available in an accessible format?

This is why I have repeatedly call for the need to build the Unpresidential Library. This library would serve as a repository for all the information Trump chooses to exclude from his official library. I have suggested the Solow property of the East Side of Manhattan south of the United Nations. With Solow’s death, I don’t know what the status of the property is. The Unpresidential Library could be built elsewhere.

Now is the time to establish an Unpresidential Library commission highlighting everything that will be omitted in the official one. Unfortunately the Democrats are a party of no brains, no vision, and no war room who will let this opportunity pass.

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.