America: What's It All About?

The late historian David McCullough (1933-2022), renowned author of presidential biographies and other best-selling books, discusses American ideas and ideals - and then-president Trump - with interviewer Charlie Rose in 2017.  One cannot understand the present without understanding the past.

This interview is well worth your time.  McCullough is easy to listen to, and his voice may sound familiar.  He has has narrated many Ken Burns miniseries and other PBS documentaries.

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Our Darkest Hour Will Be Tweeted

Trump, this morning 4/7/26 (via Joe.My.God.):

Paul Krugman again states the plain truth: if a civilization dies tonight it will be ours - all that America has ever stood for.

I won't ask where the Republican voices are - they sold their souls to the Devil a long time back when they swore allegiance to Trump.  But where are the protests?  Where are the voices of sanity and outraged conscience?  If there is any is outcry, in the streets or in the TV studios, the news feeds I see way down here in Texas sure aren't reporting any.  The train is about to fall off the bridge, and no one seems upset in the U.S. of A., where life is humming along as usual.

For God's sake, will no one tell this maniac to his face to just stop it?  Will no one stay his evil hand from this monstrous crime?  No one at all?

God have mercy on us all, the whole human race.

Update, 7 p.m.:

Trump "Agrees" to Two-Week Ceasefire

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Living in Hell (Formerly Known as America)

Saturday morning, 4/4/26 (via Joe.My.God.):

Sunday morning, 4/5/26 (via Joe.My.God.):

Just the extreme profanity of that last message alone would have meant instant political death for any previous president.  But the horrific threat is unconscionable and unpardonable.

Paul Krugman:

Your Head Trucker asks:  Why are there not millions in the streets right now, all over this country, demanding an end to these evil threats?  Destroying a whole country?  Killing millions of people?  If that isn't the Devil talking, what is it?

And you know, what goes around, comes around.  Don't think this country or its leaders are invulnerable.  And there would be a chain reaction of events, probably, that just might devastate the whole world.  Is there anyone in Washington with enough guts to stand up and say NO to that maniac?

Time's a-wasting.  We're standing on the edge of a bottomless abyss.

BTW:  There's a lot of talk online about invoking the 25th Amendment.  But that would only make J.D. Vance president.  How do you feel about that?

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Today's Meditation

Paul Krugman:

Matthew 7:15-23:

15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

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The 80-Year-Old Crybaby Is Wrecking the World

Three commentaries on the latest Oval Office tantrum by observers who need no introduction here:

Adam Kinzinger:

Paul Krugman:

The George Orwell essay that Krugman quotes from can be found here.

Mary Trump:

And finally, a Pennsylvania voter puts the blame squarely on herself:

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I Have No Words

From the Book of Common Prayer:

Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn

but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the

strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that

all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of

Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and

glory, now and for ever. Amen.

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Kinzinger to Trump: I'm Not Afraid of You

Wow, what a put-down!  Bravo!

Adam Kinzinger, former Republican congressman and member of the January 6th Committee that investigated the attack on the Capitol in 2021, throws down the gauntlet, calling Trump "the biggest victim, the biggest crybaby, the biggest sissy to ever exist . . . a corrupt, evil man . . . a disgrace to everything America stands for."  

It does your Head Trucker's heart good to hear a real man, brave and true, call out Trump no uncertain terms.  I hope there will be many more good men and women who heed the call.

And then there's this:

Hillary Clinton To Comer: “If You Want This Fight, Let’s Hold It In Public, We’ll Be There With The Cameras On”

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Hillary Comes Out

. . as a believing Christian, that is.  Here is an excerpt from her brilliant essay just published in the Atlantic, which is a bit long but a powerful indictment of Trumpism, and well worth your time:

When I first saw the video of the killing of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital, I immediately thought of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Federal agents shot Pretti after he tried to help a woman they had thrown to the ground and pepper-sprayed. Jesus tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves and help those in need. “Do this and you will live,” he says. Not in Donald Trump’s America.

Americans have now seen with their own eyes the cost of President Trump’s abuse of power and disregard for the Constitution. Videos of the killing of Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents have exposed the lies of Trump-administration officials who were quick to smear the victims as “domestic terrorists.” Even Americans who have grown habituated to Trump’s excesses have been shaken by these killings and the reflexively cruel and dishonest response from the administration.

This crisis also reveals a deeper moral rot at the heart of Trump’s MAGA movement. Whatever you think about immigration policy, how can a person of conscience justify the lack of compassion and empathy for the victims in Minnesota, and for the families torn apart or hiding in fear, for the children separated from their parents or afraid to go to school?

That compassion is weak and cruelty is strong has become an article of MAGA faith. Trump and his allies believe that the more inhumane the treatment, the more likely it is to spread fear. That’s the goal of surging heavily armed federal forces into blue states such as Minnesota and Maine—street theater of the most dangerous kind. Other recent presidents, including Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, managed to deport millions of undocumented immigrants without turning American cities into battlegrounds or making a show of keeping children in cages. . . .

The glorification of cruelty and rejection of compassion don’t just shape the Trump administration’s policies. Those values are also at the core of Trump’s own character and worldview. And they have become a rallying cry for a cadre of hard-right “Christian influencers” who are waging a war on empathy. . .

This is certainly not what I was taught in Sunday school, not what my reading of the Bible teaches me, and not what I believe Jesus preached in his short time on Earth. Yes, I went to Sunday school. In fact, my mother taught Sunday school at our Methodist church in Park Ridge, Illinois. As an adult, I occasionally taught at our church in Little Rock, Arkansas. Some people—such as the Republican congressman who once called me the Antichrist—might find this surprising. (When I confronted him, he mumbled something about not having meant it. Trump later appointed him to his Cabinet.)

I’ve never been one to wear my faith on my sleeve, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important to me. Quite the opposite: My faith has sustained me, informed me, saved me, chided me, and challenged me. I don’t know who I would be or where I would have ended up without it. So I am not a disinterested observer here. I believe that Christians like me—and people of faith more generally—have a responsibility to stand up to the extremists who use religion to divide our society and undermine our democracy. . . .

What I  Say:

It is not necessary to be a Christian to be a good citizen in America; but can America survive without Christian morality?  I don't mean who sleeps with whom, which is a non-issue in the scheme of things - I mean the essential teachings of Christ as found in the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Golden Rule, and the Sermon on the Mount, to name a few.  True Christianity is about loving your neighbor as yourself - the polar opposite of the rampant narcissism of the modern world - not to mention the perverted Christianism of the far right, hate-filled and self-serving.

Liberal-minded people have been fleeing from the churches en masse in recent decades - but I really don't think they will like a "post-Christian" world as much as they expect.  In fact, it's already here - in Minneapolis, in Silicon Valley, and in Washington, D. C.  

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Pete B.: The Ground Is Shifting

"Hope can be the consequence of action, not just its cause."

Bonus: In this opinion piece for The Atlantic, conservative gay author and political analyst Jonathan Rauch says its okay to use the F-word now:  "Yes, It's Fascism"

Also well worth your time:  another Atlantic piece about "The Four Types of Trump Supporter" and the different ways he appeals to each type.

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Gimme Your Bike or I'll Beat You Up!

Bizarro World:  The American president just threatened to make war on Europe - our own allies - because he didn't get the Nobel Peace Prize.  I wish this were the premise of a Saturday Night Live skit - but it's not.

France 24 reports:

Secretary Pete says we don't have to accept this craziness:

Danish comedian Huxi Bach wants to speak to the manager:

Bach says we have always bragged about the checks and balances in our system, and it's true they have worked well for a long time. But what he and all of Europe need to understand is that the USA they knew and admired no longer exists, except on paper. It was the victim of a hostile takeover last year, which is still d/b/a (doing business as) the USA - but in name only. The Congress, which can indeed "fire the president," is populated with a majority of supine sycophants who are only too glad to shirk their duties and let the infantile CEO run wild. They are enablers of all the craziness, and will continue to be unless and until the voters turn them out.

But will they? Can they? I'd be deeply saddened, though not at all surprised, if there were no more elections in my lifetime - real elections, not phony ones. For anyone who's read history, the present state of affairs in America has a familiar ring. The august Senate of Rome, proud guardians of their republican traditions, all acquiesced meekly (with financial advantage) to the supremacy of the Caesars when the imperial government began, and though they continued to meet and debate with all due decorum for several more centuries, they were just a rubber stamp for whoever sat on the imperial throne.

Likewise in Germany when the Nazis came to power. Hitler expelled all the other parties from the Reichstag, and thereafter did as he pleased, with the Nazi members of the legislature gladly doing his bidding as required. It's important to remember that dictators, as a general rule, like to maintain the trappings of law and legitimacy - then they can say, "See? I'm only doing what I was supposed to do."  This sort of don't-blame-me charade has occurred many times in many lands, all over the world.

But as Europeans should remember, once Hitler came to power, he kept making incessant, outrageous demands on all his neighbors, blaming them for "provoking" confrontations, and demanding more territory for national security and industrial expansion. And constantly spouting one outrageous lie after another.  But the Europeans were afraid of him, and didn't want to get into another catastrophic war, so they kept timidly backing away from the fight, doing all they could to make nice and appease the insatiable dictator - who could never be appeased enough.  We all know where that led.

I have no diplomatic expertise, so I can't say what Europe should or could do if push came to shove in Greenland or anywhere else. But what I feel sure of is that if they cave in to this outrageous demand, there will quickly be another one, and another, and another, until Europe is overwhelmed and fragmented and prostrate beneath the heels of the billionaire cronies of the Emperor of the West.

The only thing a bully of any age understands, and grudgingly respects, is a swift punch in the nose! Enuf said.

Bonus:  Here is Franklin D. Roosevelt in early 1944, speaking as an American president ought always to speak:

"The doctrine that the strong shall dominate the weak is the doctrine of our enemies, and we reject it."

Wow, what a concept, huh?

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Trump and Mamdani: Who's Fooling Whom?

Well, fellas, truth is certainly stranger than fiction in this deranged modern world.  Y'all remember last week, I predicted Mamdani would play David to Trump's Goliath.  Yesterday's meeting in the White House might have been a remake of Daniel in the lions' den.  But oh, was I ever wrong.  Turns out, it was Beauty and the Beast all over again. Love has bloomed, and life is beautiful.  Ain't that grand?

Ain't love grand?

I'm going to keep my predictions to myself in future. When you get two New Yorkers in a room together, there's no telling what the result will be -- love or murder, or who knows what. But I'll say this:  I don't believe a fucking word either of them said. There's a devil's game being played for the cameras, and it stinks. But I'll stop right there.

Put not your trust in princes . . . 

Bonus:  Republican Curtis Sliwa, who came in a distant third in the NYC mayoral race, agrees with your Head Trucker, saying "everyone got played" by these two fakers.  (Can't embed the short here.)

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Father David: On the Road Again

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the

Second Sunday of Pentecost

Father David shares a very timely message today, as the world recoils in shock from Trump's overnight bombing of Iran.

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The Next Pope

I guess the College of Cardinals can all pack up and go home now.  Via Joe.My.God.:

Click to enlarge.

Tomorrow Graham will say he was just kidding; but this boot-licking, two-faced chameleon wasn't kidding ten years ago when Trump started his campaign. Take a listen to just one of many videos of Graham from that time, denouncing Trump in no uncertain terms, staring with jackass:

Update, 5/3/25:

The Tyrant's hubris knows no bounds.  Just one week after he put himself front and center at the funeral of Pope Francis, whose life of humble service and compassion for the poor was admired by all the world, the arrogant Narcissist-in-Chief has posted a picture of himself in full papal regalia - on the official White House account.  I'm not reproducing it on ny blog, but you can see it for yourself over on Joe.My.God.

All I can say is, God is not mocked.  See the book of Proverbs, chapter 16:

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

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Touch Up Time

No comment.

Click to enlrage.

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From Canada with Hurt and Anger

Jim runs a vintage radio repair shop in a small town north of Toronto. He rightly feels utterly betrayed by America right now. 

[America] has become a predator and we have become prey. . . The trust between me and Americans is gone, and it will never come back. I won't live long enough to ever trust them again. We've been played for fools by the Americans.

 

This American is deeply ashamed and totally disgusted, Jim, by what the American Tyrant is doing to your country and all our friends around the world. There is no excuse, no good reason for it, just one evil man's greed and lust for supreme power over the whole North American continent. I know saying "I'm sorry" isnt good enough. 

But please remember, all of you out there, that half of us VOTED AGAINST THE TYRANT.  We foresaw clearly what he would do if elected.  And we are all outraged at the way he is destroying our own government day by day. We share your hurt, your anger, and your dismay. We just don't know how to stop him yet.  We are sheep without a shepherd at the moment.

Notice the difference in the popular vote - only 1.5 percent.
So never forget there are many millions of Americans who oppose the tyranny.
From Wikipedia.

But you have to stand up to the bully.  The only thing any bully respects is strength, and a punch in the nose.  We know you have to protect yourselves, so do what you have to do.  Don't go down without a fight.  We'll understand, and keep praying for a speedy return to "sunny ways" between our nations.

P. S. -- I must not omit to say Thank You, Canada for all your many acts of kindness and brotherhood over the years.  I well recall that your people in Tehran sheltered some of our people during the hostage crisis back in the 70s.  And how you sheltered hundreds of our stranded citizens during the no-fly period after 9/11.  And how I watched and wept with joy when your Parliament legalized gay marriage long before it was possible down here.  This Southerner couldn't live in your fierce winter climate - but I've kept a friendly eye on Canada for many years now.  You're my secret valentine.  God bless and protect you all.

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"Two Cowardly Puppets and a Hero"

Rep. Seth Moulton (D -  Mass.), Marine veteran and Bronze Star recipient, commenting on yesterday's disgraceful, disgusting bullying of Ukrainian President Zelensky by the Tyrant and his mini-me in the Oval Office:

Moulton, you may remember, made an unauthorized trip with former Rep. Peter Meijer to see firsthand the conditions facing our troops during the Afghanistan withdrawal in August 2021, which I blogged about here.  

I could say more, but I cannot improve on the eloquence of the Blue Dot in Texas, who tells it like it is:

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THIS JUST HAPPENED

From the official White House Twitter/X account:

"CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!"
–President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/IMr4tq0sMB

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 19, 2025

The Independent (UK) reports: 

Donald Trump declares himself ‘king’ after striking down New York congestion pricing 

Pride goeth before a fall.--Proverbs 16:18

What did I tell you just yesterday about the REIGN OF TRUMP?  What more proof do you want?  And just what will the Republicans have to say about this?  Just wait and see how they twist and turn, hem and haw, and try to laugh it off.  THEY HAVE NO BALLS.

But of course, that's just what they want:  an all-powerful king to completely remake American government and society, sweeping away all opposition.  And that's what a majority voted for, too.  Oh, what weeping and wailing there will be when their fantasy turns into nightmare.

So stop trying to figure out the whys and wherefores of shithead's pronouncements:  there's only one purpose to it all, and you see it in the picture above.  He wants to be the Emperor of America, from the North Pole to the Equator.  Meanwhile enriching his billionaire buddies beyond the dreams of avarice, to use an antique phrase, and getting endless praise for himself from millions of adoring fanatics or slaves.  (Just like the dick daddy dictators he admires so much - they are the father figures whose approval he desperately craves.)

THAT is his one and only ambition - limitless power and worship to fill the gaping hole where his soul ought to be.  And the gutless wonders in Congress are lapping it all up.  No one else in all of American history would have lasted five minutes in office if they put out something like the image above.  No one else in American history would have dared even to think of it.  But here we are.

Fasten your seat belts, boys - it's going to be a bumpy ride.

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Borowitz: The New Ballerina

 No comment.

Trump Names Himself Principal Ballerina 

of Kennedy Center Ballet

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"A Tiger in a Petting Zoo": What's the Endgame?

The naked truth is plain to see.

I can't keep up with all the news, and you fellas don't expect me to.  So here's just a few items worth noting.  But first, the legit weather report from the Washington Post, off my Google newsfeed:

Senators Schumer and Warren sound the alarm about that overgrown juvenile delinquent and his geek squad who now have their grubby fingers in all your government records and on your bank account:

 

And because they know all about you, they could tailor your Social Security check as they please - or withhold it for "undersirable" behavior. Does your retired Aunt Sadie, so upset about the price of eggs, know about this? What about disabled, gun-loving Cousin Clem in his red cap? Whenever the news finally trickles down to them and their pocketbooks, I hope they choke on it. 

Senator Adam Schiff tells it plainly: "this is a corrupt scheme to turn this country into one-man rule, and enrich Donald Trump and his wealthy friends like Elon Musk."

And now, not content with scooping up Canada, Greenland, and Panama - a costly invasion is not necessary; economic terror is enough to bring them all into submission - the Very Stable Genius wants to take over Gaza and rebuild it as "the Riviera of the Middle East" - after expelling the 2 million people who live there:

 

And here's a headline from Canada, which just got played like a hockey puck over tariffs, where all those nice, polite, friendly folks are trying to figure out the game plan:

 

Now you can watch the video if you like; suave Andy Chang has some very good charts and facts to show the big picture, but he misses the really big picture.  So your Head Trucker is going to cut to the chase here.

iT'S NOT ABOUT DRUGS.  IT'S NOT ABOUT TRADE BALANCES.  IT'S ALL ABOUT TOTAL DOMINATION BY GLORIOUS LEADER:  EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE, ALWAYS.

Why am I the only one who sees this?

Canada, stop trying to find a logical reason for the tariffs; there is none. If it's not one issue, the Orange One will make up another.  Any hammer will do to beat you into submission while he takes all your valuables.

People, it's all right out of Hitler's playbook:  Border problems.  Fake outrage about neighboring countries.  Scare tactics.  A police state.  Removal of civil servants and political opponents.  Demonizing one section or another of the citizenry.  A constant barrage of lies from state mouthpieces.  Scrubbing away facts from books and schools.  Keeping other states in perpetual fear of what might happen next.  Lebensraum - i. e., fake justification for seizing foreign territory.  Redrawing the map, renaming things.  Deportations.  Concentration camps.  And there is more yet to come!  It's only just begun . . . 

And fellas, cut the crap about "Oh my, we still have 1400+ days to go before his term ends."  HIS TERM WILL NEVER FUCKING END.  If good ol' Joe Biden had to be prised out of the Oval Office with a crowbar, do you really think Tyrant Trump will just quietly walk away from the power and glory?

Seriously, people??  HE'LL NEVER LEAVE.  HE WANTS TO BE KING OF THE WHOLE WORLD.

There now, I've said it.  You have been warned.  What to do about it, I don't know.  You'll have to figure that out for yourself.

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Sunday Drive: Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

Dear Canadian friends - chers amis canadiens - queridos amigos mexicanos:

I apologize with a heavy heart for what is being done to you by America's self-proclaimed dictator.  Not in my name!  

As I type these lines, I weep - actually, I am sobbing - to see what is happening to my country, and soon to happen, I expect, to many other nations.  My father fought against the Nazi tyranny in World War II, when America and the Allied nations fought a titanic struggle to rid the world of that evil.  The democracies in that day were the sane middle way between communism and fascism; but where is the via media today?

In my old-fashioned mind, America is still, despite all its flaws and sometimes egregious mistakes, the torchbearer for liberty, justice, democracy, and human decency.  Why else do all the world's refugees want to come here, or to Canada or one of the other Western democracies?  Nobody's breaking down the gates to get into Putin's Russia or the other dictatorships, are they?

Say what you will about our politics and politicians, the fact is undeniable that America in many ways, many times, and many places has led, fed, and healed the world:  a magnificent record of good deeds to counterbalance the bad. But now it seems the long golden afternoon of postwar peace and America's benign dominance of the free world has come to an end.  It may be that a long dark night will follow.  I hope not.

There is no need for me to repeat the news reports out of Washington, but I will say this:  You do not deserve to be mistreated, bullied, or perhaps bludgeoned into submission to the tyrant's whims.  Nor do most of us American people.  Please remember that half of us voted against the dictator.  But now all of us must live with the terrible consequences.

Click to enlarge.  From Wikipedia.

Of course, you all must do what you have to do to protect yourselves.  But there is no good reason for our peoples to hate one other after many long years of peace and friendship, north and south.  One day, the sun will rise again, the clouds will part, and the upward path of civilization will begin anew - sooner rather than later, I pray.  Whether this old man will live to see it, who knows.

But do not be deceived;  the only thing a bully respects is strength, and a punch in the nose.  Appeasement only feeds the appetite for conquest.  And no doubt there will be quislings in your own countries, ready and willing to sell you into slavery.  Do not submit without a fight for your freedom and dignity, though the price be steep. God bless you, friends and neighbors, and God help us all.

This song fits my mood today - more the vibe than the vague lyrics - perhaps it will speak to you, too.

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