We the people of the USA are on the brink of the most important midterm election in US History. Like the Pied Piper of Hamelin Trump has led many, usually decent, people into a 21st century hellscape that threatens freedom at home and abroad.

That he is coziest with dictators and billionaire tech wunderkinds tells us why Americans ignored their inner feelings to give him a second term. Without laws or authority President Trump will order federal resources-- troops, lawyers, ICE thugs to interfere. The response must be an overwhelming turnout--a rejection beyond repudiation. A near absolute vote of no confidence! We must work hard to resurrect the nation at home and abroad. Our children and grandchildren are counting on us.

There are omens that comfort us in times of stress. For example, the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team with a $139 million dollar payroll won the world series to the annoyance of 18 teams that spent as much as three times what the Brewers spend on players’ salaries.

In a runoff election Brazilians looked seriously at their history with dictatorships and voted for the liberal candidate, leaving Flávio Bolsonaro, the loser, fleeing to seek Donald Trump’s help.

Vivek Ramaswamy the erratic and morality free billionaire “tech-bro” running for governor of Ohio committed what will be recorded as political suicide, with a vulgar and coarse advertisement against his female opponent. Ohio Voters will render their judgement, as will Voters around the nation realizing that President Trump and Republicans applauded the advertisement’s content and intent.

It is amazing that Alina Habba, one of his many his former lawyers, forgot the deal she made with Trump while sweet talking him into a pardon for a rich Venezuelan businessman which brought her a $50 million deal. Most of his “friends” understand that you have to share any grift with the boss.

I could go on but we’ve been subjected to enough insulting political behavior.

I want to thank you for reading and supporting my effort.

Early voting turnout suggests many Americans see this Congressional election as a multi-page report card on damage done to America by Trump’s dementia-impaired erratic leadership and dictatorial senior advisors. Because Trump is not on the ballot many previous DJT voters who are angry regarding war, inflation,

immigration, the Epstein issues (among many things), can act from their emotions and not any political allegiance to MAGA.

Those of you who read these essays over time know that I have been observing and writing about Trump for over a decade. This midterm will not put an end to that because we can expect the worst sort of denial emanating from every corner of the MAGA world as well as the government still under Trump control for another 24 months. Congress will probe and whistle blowers will blow, telling us more than what we already suspected.

A serious repudiation of Trump and his Republican enablers is a big win, but its going to take Democrats agreeing to compromise internally to get the county back on track, here at home and around the world.

Are Republicans emotionally capable of understanding why they need to participate constructively?

Trump has spent more than 50 years overestimating his net worth, and appeal to nubile women, especially those who speak English with an accent. All of this has been weaponized by Russian intelligence making the Putin-Trump relationship that of spy master and agent.

The Russians call it “Скомпрометированоout” or Kompromat for compromised Information. Most major nations do some version of this, but trust the Russians have images and audio to substantiate their power.

So we have two corrupt global leaders with similar problems: belief in the superiority of their corrupt military leadership. Vladimir Putin’s “three week and we win” war against Ukraine is a failure with estimated deaths and casualties, to be around 1.4 million. Donald Trump’s “quick win” war with Iran is a dismal failure., contributing to a public perception that this Administration is a hopeless bunch of ideologues. Upcoming midterm elections with multiple issues may be a rout for Republicans in Congress, which puts Trump in a precarious position.

Putin is using the equivalent of an atomic weapon tin turning this Kompromat against Trump.

Trump was a Russian agent even before he ran in 2015 for president. His then opponent Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State and had access to every intelligence document about Trump. She merely called him a Russian Puppet, on the debate stage, which he laughed off. No one is laughing today.

Is there another valid explanation for why Trump is ignoring the fate of Ukraine and western Europe.Putin is aware of just how precarious his own position is, and thus willing to use 50 years of Russian Kompromat that leaves Trump to the will of the US people.

Trump’s decision in 1977 to marry Ivana Zelnickova, a 28 year old model from Czechoslovakia makes this possible today. As a citizen of a communist country She was of interest both to the Czech intelligence service, tthe Russian intelligence agencies, and of course to our FBI and CIA.

A KGB internal document revealed after the fall of the Soviet Union stated the role of intelligence agents in obtaining information on people the Western democracies:.“Compromising information about subject, including illegal acts in financial and commercial affairs, intrigues, speculation, bribes, graft … and exploitation of his position to enrich himself.” Plus “any other information” that would compromise the subject before “the country’s authorities and the general public including

“his attitude towards women. “Is he in the habit of having affairs with women on the side?”

Trump had to waive waive sanctions on Russia that Congress, had recently passed for his late friend Sen. Lindsey Graham. Graham’s sister running as a Republican to replace him the US Senate criticized Trump. Concurrently Putin has proposed that China the USA and Russia have a summit meeting to reframe the international cooperation that came out of World War 2 nearly a century ago.

Trump always refers to suggestions about his Russian ties as the “Russia, RUSSIA Russia Hoax.”

If the USA survives as a democracy the Trump chapters will be shaped by information available but never reported and accepted generally.“We’ll see if Putin’s puppet continues to dance on his strings.

Anecdotal reporting and polling suggests even his most loyal fans now comprehend that his ideological but inexperienced advisors were chosen for appearance not experience. They have led the nation into the hands of its enemies. On a daily basis they fill his head with praise so that he has passed a simple memory test for Alzheimer’s three times.

Trump is ageless, remaining the same nepo bully he was at a age 20 before becoming the supreme leader of a family real estate company that pretended to be high class.

His career is the history of mediocre artistic taste on anything he touches or builds. How can be imagine himself more consequential than President John F. Kennedy, who in Trump’s mind, didn’t even complete a single term. This is a key element in his demand for his name on the Kennedy Center for the performing Arts. If you Stop me, he warned out loud “I’ll close it, or perhaps demolish it.”

Trump believes his name is a brand suitable for everything he supports. One can imagine that If possible he would rename the nation as “Trump’s United States of America.’ Polling reveals his confrontation with Canada is almost as unpopular as his war with Iran.

Like a rattlesnake he can attack with minimal warning: remember demolition equipment showed up on a weekend unannounced and demolished the historic East Wing of the White House insisting it needs a ballroom that it has done without for 226 years.

On the other hand, the president, brings minimal urgency to critical issues:

• Military’s inventory shortfalls, and the damage from Iranian counterattacks to consulates and other diplomatic facilities in the region, admitted to in an Inspector General’s Report at the Pentagon. A minimalist effort at truth telling.

• Saudi Arabia and the USA have become great buds with Trump in the White House, but Riyadh is in strategic shock at zero US military response to an Iranian attack on the Kingdom.

• Gulf States consider direct talks with Iran might be better than depending on the US military presence presence in their nations.

• Houthi militia— rebels against the Yemen government —now use artificial intelligence to produce advanced weaponry. They now control access for oil tankers using Suez Canal to reach Europe. Nothing reminds Americans that inflation is rampant than constantly changing prices for fuel. Diesel fuel for most trucks and farm equipment and those large pick up trucks is headed for $6.50 a gallon, almost twice what it was before Trump was elected.

Nice job Don!- perfect USA approach to a midterm elections seven weeks away.

Republicans in Congress will not be surprised to lose slim majorities in both House and Senate.

His loyal voters are angry about meanly issues but won’t name Trump while explaining this to journalists. A recent campaign style rally in Dallas was lots of barely coherent Trump rantings, with a modest audience starting too leave as he wandered from topic to topic. Losing even slim Congressional majorities creates a huge problem when the new Congress has Democrats in leadership..assuming they still know how to lead. Trump Term 2 has been an exercise in fascist thinking, best described as ‘MAKE AMERICA GROSS AGAIN’. No more fake mister nice guy but still served with the rhetoric and rage he brings to his stewardship of America.

An honest nonpartisan assessment finds very little going Trump’s way in his second term: February’s undeclared war against Iran caused global havoc as did his recent efforts with trade tariffs. Teheran closed tanker traffic in the Straits of Hormuz, driving petroleum prices to levels never previously experienced, but felt in the cost of everything this year.

Trump is the most improbable president in American history: zero political experience, and a business career often financially unsuccessful, a TV career based on a rigged reality contest. Yet, his optimistic salesman’s style fooled viewers who later became his voters. He brought “Supreme Leader” style to the US presidency despite both Constitutional and established traditions regarding the president, Congress, and the courts.

Trump’s tariff war demands on Canada have forced our northern neighbor to negotiate an enhanced relationship with the European Union. Trump’s irate response this week was to threaten even higher tariffs on Canadian exports to the USA. This behavior is not a surprise. Trump as a businessman with multiple legal and financial problems has always attacked the motives of people he fails to dominate.

Persistence in flouting any rule he doesn’t like is a Trump trademark.

Another OWN GOAL!!

Difficulties in his first term we’re written off to his lack of political and cooperative work experience. His revenge and retribution approach this term ignores why the Constitution distributed power among three branches in direct response to English King George III’s behavior toward the colonists in North America. The Voters have stark choice: either the the founding fathers, or for a democracy in name only.

His mental and physical health are questionable. Losing his Congressional majority will be painful, especially for those who serve him without presidential immunity. His usually friendly Republican dominated Supreme Court rejected his efforts to corrupt mail-in voting just weeks before the midterm elections. Trump’s lack of political sophistication glowed red hot, as castigated four Supreme Court justices in a 7-2 decision opposing him as “not the people I interviewed.” All government employment involves an oath of loyalty to the Constitution, not the chief executive.

Certainly his obsessive ‘do anything advisers’ have a Plan B to help maintain a Republican majority in both houses of Congress. No easy task when polling data suggests Trump’s popularity is around 32% of the voters, basically just the MAGA hardcore.

The take away question is this:

“What has Trump touched that has gotten better, less expensive or in a favorable place compared to when he started?”

Nothing, unless you miss a nation with foreign tourists and immigrants in crucial but low paying jobs to support the economy.

A nearly 200 year friendly relationship with Canada has diminished but not extinguished because Donald wanted a 51st state without asking the people who live there. George Washington made the same mistake when a US attack on Canada failed during the American revolution.

The corrosive effect of Trump and his ideologically fascist advisors was crystal clear from his unhinged and factually transparent speech on TV Thursday night.

Most Americans have lost respect for a man whose poor mental and physical health embarrasses the office of the once most powerful nation n earth. His war with Iran is unprovoked , and ill considered is lost. His cabinet is cowardly, acting as “praise singers” for this caricature of a president, unlikely to use the 25th amendment to declare him unfit to lead.

Selected for fealty to the “boss” without regard to knowledge or leadership they are a hopeless lot on paper but might surprise America. \My optimism is tempered by the reality that two appointees we’re before Senate Conformation Committee this past week and both refused to say that President Joe Biden was elected in 2020. One supposes that if Trump \said there was no gravity on earth they would agree.

The Republican dominated Supreme Court has leaned over backwards to give Trump the power referred to as a Unitary Presidency, diminishing the Congressional role, in exact repudiation of what he Founding Fathers held true in 1778.

Yes the world has changed. But truth, justice, empathy, fairness, honesty, loyalty to the law and several other human traits remain important.

This date—July 16— is the point at which the nation and political leaders of all persuasions remember their oath of office to uphold the Constitution. Collectively and individually they can steer this nation back on a path that is fair \to all its citizens, and reestablishes the USA as the guardian of democracy.

Repudiation demands a resounding anti-Trump vote in the Midterm elections in just 13 weeks

This behavior suggests desperation based on terrible polling data that reveals an unprovoked war with Iran is seen as a self-inflicted failure. The behavior of this immigration Gestapo terrorizing and killing people has opened our eyes to the reality of dictatorship. The abysmal lack of competence that is the hallmark of the Trump appointments to key jobs was on display this week in hearings before two Senate confirmation hearings.

There are certain facts—Joe Biden was elected president and served a full term— that cannot be uttered because Donald Trump insists he won. Any apointee understands that, resulting in a verbal dance. Trump wants Todd Blanche, his personal lawyer and now acting attorney general to be the permanent AG, and his Senate hearing perfectly reflected the stalemate in US politics. The Republicans on the panel lobbed softball questions, while the Democrats were relentless. Blanche would not say that Joe Biden was “elected” president in 2020, only agreeing that he did become president, (perhaps ordered from Amazon).

The question that tripped up the smarmy Blanche was a friendly softball from Louisiana Senator John Kennedy, a Republican whose style mimics actor Andy Griffith playing Southern TV lawyer Ben Matlock. Kennedy drawled amiably, asking offhandedly are you a friend of Trump. Blanche quickly answered,’ “ am his lawyer”…..pause… “former lawyer.“ Then spent most of his time ducking and dodging similar questions from Democrats.

A second hearing for Federal prosector Jay Clayton to replace Tulsi Gabbard as director of National Intelligence got hung up on the 2020 election results as well. For Republicans the 2020 presidential election is obviously a matter of divine negative intervention, not the will of the voters.

A MAJORITY OF AMERICANS ARE TIRED WITH THESE SITUATIONS.:

• An American GESTAPO, a barely trained or managed police force of people closer to a street mob than an Army brigade. The domestic war against immigrants will not make America safer or more prosperous. But it gives the federal government street level police power which it has never had. By law the US military is prohibited from local policing activities.

• Trump declared War against Iran ignoring required Congressional approval. The compliant GOP majority accepted it, Trump backed himself into a can’t win position. Big losers are all Middle Eastern and Gulf states that have been American allies. Iran understood that the Strait of Hormuz was its ultimate weapon, controlling 20% of the globe’s crude oil supply. Today Iran’s asymmetrical warfare capability has established that it as the power to be reckoned with on the world’s energy \supply.

• Leadership changes and intent within the US Military have proven the ineptness of it’s civilian leadership. So while Russia strives to defeat the Ukraine— and can’t— any image of the USA as a sensible warrior for peace diminishes.

This is not Mission Accomplished!

America is roughly 13 weeks from a national midterm election for Congress, which may change political calculus, or not. The real issue is that Trump is not a serious person worried about the stewardship of the American nation. His personality is that of a sociopath: TV commentator Laurence O’Donnell, with decades of political experience, declared on national television, “Trump is insane.” His physical health suggests hidocs tors are lying because his mutterings and meandering walkabouts have been obvious at meetings, including a recent NATO gathering in Turkey. Astonished global leaders just publicly pretend nothing is off-kilter.

American courts have not been kind.He lost a defamation suit to E. Jean Carroll, a New York woman who claimed and won a sexual assault case from decades ago. Her $5 million dollar victory was reviewed all the way to The Supreme Court , which let it stand. So she finally got her money along with the $600,000 in interest earned while she was waiting. Trump’s required tax filing for the past tax year suggests $2.2 billion revenue flowed into his businesses, now ostensibly run by his two sons. Must havebeen some profit there, so the loss is only emotionally catastrophic.

With Trump the focus is always money and his image, quite obvious when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained his way around Trump’s imagecan’t be on US paper money: There are two rules“In God We Trust,” and only dead presidents images can appear. However, the Trump scribble signature will shortly appear on every denomination of new paper money— a first for any sitting president in 250 years. Because coins are ‘technically’ different from currency, Trump’s image will appear on a $1 gold coin. President John Kennedy was on a 50 cent coin, but only in 1964 after he had been assassinated.

Trump has given up on trying to extract something that looks like a victory with Iran. For a while it it seemed Trump was going to de facto pull out, give up on the project, while taking advantage of falling oil prices because the Srait of Hormjuz was sort of open. Trump’s ability to spin this Iran war as a victory has disappeared because the Iranians understand how to psychologically manage a man who has never apologized or admitted a mistake in recorded history. For example, He cannot admit his vanity no-bid deal to \make over the National Mall reflecting pool resulted in an own goal debacle.His claim that outside saboteurs did it will fail in court because its an unimaginative fabrication.

Multiple physical and mental ailments have reduced Donald Trump to an international leader well past his ruling age. One analyst describes Trumpas the crazy senile uncle with outrageous demands who is never taken seriously. Making the USA’s 250th birthday all about himself with his name and bad taste on everything diminished it, never to be compared to the 200th celebration in 1976.

The world now recognizes that Trump’s power is a myth, reflecting his atrocious. behavior toward others. How can they trust the USA if its voters have elected him twice and applaud the idea of arresting immigrants, locking them in warehouse style concentration camps before deporting them. This is Holocaust style behavior with the extermination part postponed.

International respect for Trump was limited after his first term. Not so in this term. When he brought up annexing Greenland for the second year in a row silence greeted it. Pity has replaced respect with therealization that an economic superpower can no longer can bully the world by branding a humiliating defeat as a great victory.

His failed tariff efforts showed the limits of US financial power. Now nations can bypass U.S. banks and the dollar using cryptocurrency and Chinese yuan. China’s economy has powered right through, proving escalation dominance in the trade war because we need their rare earths more than they need access to our consumers. Economist Paul Krugman points out that American allies are increasingly avoiding doing business with the USA.

Trump crossed into the soccer World Cup space as the USA was a host nation but It was mean spirited and a failure. Rather than show hospitality to the Iranian team, the Administration forced them to stay in Tijuana, Mexico and fly same day to a game in Oregon and leave immediately after the game ended. When a star on the American team was ruled out of an upcoming match because of a red card the Trump administration succeeded in pressuring FIFA to change the punishment. The player \played, but Belgium beat the USA 4-1 in that match, bouncing them out of the tournament.

Many Americans feel as if we are bit players in a movie about a slow

moving coup to end Constitutional democracy during the 250th

anniversary of Independence from England. Donald Trump’s presidential

behavior is consistent with his entire life spent believing he can do

whatever he wants whenever he wants. Legal and behavioral rules don’t

exist.He’s brought this moral concept to his second term with a

vengeance.

For those of us who served in the Vietnam War we understand the military

failure. This time, the differences in public opinion are muted and strikingly

obvious. Back then a military draft required American men under the age of 30 to fight. Concern and opposition to wartime deaths supported anti-war efforts across the land. Today a volunteer military limits that concern.That along with social networking has changed American attitudes and beliefs.

Broadly speaking, 35% of the voters —MAGA folks—are solidly behind President Trump. In opposition about 40% of the voters— for multiple ]reasons—disagree. Generally 15% of eligible voters don’t vote and/or ]don’t care. This math suggests something like 10% of the eligible citizens decide the winners. But whichn ten percent is the question that explains why millions of dollars are spent on advertising and campaigning. to reinforce beliefs and change a few votes.

In 2024 voters buying into a belief that Donald Trump’s election would be good for them increased, especially among those feeling neglected by their usual allegiances. Some of it was the inherent racism and nationalism underlying Trump’s campaign, but issues surrounding President Biden’s health influenced voters. Without logic there was a belief that Republicans and Trump would be better for their economic well being, having promised to control rising prices. . That misjudgment of Trump’s plan for a second term was influenced by Republican leadership’s clever campaign named Project 2025. This compendium of conservative ideas claimed a return to a wonderful American past, without admitting it was more mythical that real.

The Secret Service made that obvious: it forced Trump to use the 747 backup AF1 plane to fly from Turkey to England. Adults in government realized that the gift Qatari 747-8 he used to get to the NATO meeting in Ankara, Turkey was perhaps unsuited for an area dangerously close to Iran duting wartime.

The White House is furious that a New York Times story pointed out that defensive weapons systems used against a missile attack were not installed on the plane, nor was a refueling system to enable it to stay aloft in an emergency. Just some of the things that are unfinished.

So the new 747-8 flew empty to RAF Mildnhall Air Base in England and waited for Trump to arrive from Turkey on the certifiably defensive minded 747’s that have flown presidents for decades.

Then he flew home in the new plane now painted to look like his aged campaign plane. Just bigger and shinier except with the words “United States” emblazoned on the upper fuselage.

The plane was “donated” by the Emir of Qatar, at which time experts described the numerous systems that it did not have and would cost between $400 million or more dollars to properly install. The time table estimates were between two and four years do do it properly as it is all custom work involving disassembly and rebuilding.

TIMETABLE ISSUES

The Qatari plane arrived in the USA, accepted by the US Air Force in May 2025. Obviously some modifications have been made, using it for its first domestic trip13 months later. Obviously it had a paint job to Trump’s personal taste, all; the necessary presidential seals and interior quick fixes were accomplished. Air Force pilots trained on flight simulators and used two 747-8 planes purchased for training at $400 million. Communications gear changes must have been acomplished, but again this is not like swapping radios in a car.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accepted the luxury jet ignoring the emoluments cause of the Constitution forbidding foreign gifts to US leaders. Aviation experts immediately raised issues about safety and cyber security, but Trump ,who never worries about spending government money ,claimed it would save tax dollars.

Air Force One is not just any aircraft; it is actually many things at once.

It is a flying office, command center, medical bay, and a symbol of US power. The plane must always be ready for emergencies, be capable of refueling while aloft, and has advanced military grade communications systems to stay in contact with US military leaders and international leaders anywhere on the globe.

These are not “off the shelf” systems like what one might buy to change an automobile’s performance. Installation difficulty comes in a plane which already has a full interior to first be dismantled. There is an issue which the newspaper did not disclose which is public knowledge: the plane’s used by the president have a fuselage with a second exterior skin designed to make it impervious to radiation and electronic snooping.

Any plane carrying the president is labeled AF-1. But the specific presidential planes need the capability to refuel while aloft, stay in touch with leaders around the globe, even during the worst crises. This requires the highest levels of redundancy, security and advanced communication systems.

It is absurd that the the Trump regime wants to know how journalists learned that multiple levels of security were skipped to satisfy Trump’s ego. Just google the planes and learn that “Converting” Qatar’s Boeing 747-8 to Air Force One specifications could cost $400–$750 million and take at least two years, probably more because:

1. A complete security overhaul includes the airframe for any “unexpected” technology.

2. All communications and navigation hardware is replaced.

3. Anti-surveillance tools are installed throughout the aircraft structure.

4. Defense Upgrades

   1. include fitting missile warning systems, laser defense, flare/chaff release, and radar-jamming equipment.

   2. Plus adding EMP protection for any burst of electromagnetic radiation created by a nuclear explosion. The resulting rapidly varying electric and magnetic fields may couple with electrical and electronic systems to produce damaging current and voltage surges. The specific characteristics of a particular nuclear EMP event vary according to a number of factors.

   3. the most important of which is the altitude of the detonation.This involves encasing wiring and power systems in special shielding.

5. Communications Technology includes Installing satellite phones, encrypted radio links, and other tools for secure talks. Making sure these devices work all over the world and can’t be jammed or intercepted.

6. Power systems and redundancy are a priority so there is no single point of failure.

   1. Medical Facilities include an advanced medical bay for emergencies, making sure medical gear is fully secure from outside access

   2. Living and Working Spaces for private meetings, secure briefings, and comfortable stays.

   3. Every step requires unique parts, careful handling, and repeated checks. With so many sensitive details and safety standards involved, each change brings extra layers of work and paperwork.

Only technicians with security clearances can work on these planes, including testing every single new system to guarantee it works under extreme conditions. This is not cheap work—most parts, such as security panels and EMP shields, are custom-built and installed.

Considering the plan to eliminate a the small but complete hospital bay on this plane seems stupid with an 80 year old president clearly not in the best of health. The plan to have less kitchen and food storage based on using it for short domestic flights seems equally short-sighted.

So, while President Trump talk about a “gift” may sound appealing, it is actually a multi-billon dollar grift which he expects to take home when his term is over. The per hour cost to crew it, fly it and maintain it is beyond his low cut cheap approach to things. It is difficult tp pin down exact costs but operating a presidential jet plane runs to $200,000 an hour , which includes fuel, consumables, engine and plane maintenance costs and the salaries of the flight crew.. That is per hour., so a round trip Washington Los Angeles is easily $2,000,000. Those weekend presidential fights to a golf course can be $600,000 round trip.

The reason the two previously ordered new 747’s for the government are behind schedule is complicated by the requirement for workers with security clearances creating a personnel problem.A fixed cost deal means Boeing is not willing to lose a lot of money on this rush job concept. There are supply chain bottlenecks, amplified by all the special requirements described above.

Without question, Trump will prove to be the most expensive US President in history figured for costs, impact on Constitutional Government, and changing the reputation of the United States in Proof, as if we needed it, that Donald Trump is not a careful person came this week packaged as a big airplane. Trump is so addicted to getting whatever he wants when he wants it, that he is forcing the US Air Force to ignore safety standards and rules put in place over the last 50 years for airplanes used to fly the president.

The Secret Service made that obvious: it forced Trump to use the 747 backup AF1 plane to fly from Turkey to England. Adults in government realized that the gift Qatari 747-8 he used to get to the NATO meeting in Ankara, Turkey was perhaps unsuited for an area dangerously close to Iran.

The White House is furious that a New York Times story pointed out that defensive weapons systems used against a missile attack were not installed on the plane, nor was a refueling system to enable it to stay aloft in an emergency.Just some of the things that are unfinished.

So the new 747-8 flew empty to RAF Mildnhall Air Base in England and waited for Trump to arrive from Turkey on the certifiably defensive minded 747’s that have flown presidents for decades. Then he flew home in the new plane now painted to look like his aged campaign plane. Just bigger and shinier except with the words “United States” emblazoned on the upper fuselage.

The plane was “donated” by the Emir of Qatar, at which time experts described the numerous systems that it did not have and would cost between $400 million or more dollars to properly install. The time table estimates were between two and four years do do it properly as it is all custom work involving disassembly and rebuilding.

The Qatari plane arrived in the USA, accepted by the US Air Force in May 2025. Obviously some modifications have been made, using it for its first domestic trip13 months later. Obviously it had a paint job to Trump’s personal taste, all; the necessary presidential seals and interior quick fixes were accomplished. Air Force pilots trained on flight simulators and used two 747-8 planes purchased for training at $400 million. Communications gear changes must have been acomplished, but again this is not like swapping radios in a car.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accepted the luxury jet ignoring the emoluments cause of the Constitution forbidding foreign gifts to US leaders. Aviation experts immediately raised issues about safety and cyber security, but Trump ,who never worries about spending government money ,claimed it would save tax dollars.

Air Force One is not just any aircraft; it is actually many things at once.

It is a flying office, command center, medical bay, and a symbol of US power. The plane must always be ready for emergencies, be capable of refueling while aloft, and has advanced military grade communications systems to stay in contact with US military leaders and international leaders anywhere on the globe.

These are not “off the shelf” systems like what one might buy to change an automobile’s performance. Installation difficulty comes in a plane which already has a full interior to first be dismantled. There is an issue which the newspaper did not disclose which is public knowledge: the plane’s used by the president have a fuselage with a second exterior skin designed to make it impervious to radiation and electronic snooping.

Any plane carrying the president is labeled AF-1. But the specific presidential planes need the capability to refuel while aloft, stay in touch with leaders around the globe, even during the worst crises. This requires the highest levels of redundancy, security and advanced communication systems.

It is absurd that the the Trump regime wants to know how journalists learned that multiple levels of security were skipped to satisfy Trump’s ego. Just google the planes and learn that “Converting” Qatar’s Boeing 747-8 to Air Force One specifications could cost $400–$750 million and take at least two years, probably more because:

1. A complete security overhaul includes the airframe for any “unexpected” technology.

2. All communications and navigation hardware is replaced.

3. Anti-surveillance tools are installed throughout the aircraft structure.

4. Defense Upgrades

   1. include fitting missile warning systems, laser defense, flare/chaff release, and radar-jamming equipment.

   2. Plus adding EMP protection for any burst of electromagnetic radiation created by a nuclear explosion. The resulting rapidly varying electric and magnetic fields may couple with electrical and electronic systems to produce damaging current and voltage surges. The specific characteristics of a particular nuclear EMP event vary according to a number of factors.

   3. the most important of which is the altitude of the detonation.This involves encasing wiring and power systems in special shielding.

5. Communications Technology includes Installing satellite phones, encrypted radio links, and other tools for secure talks. Making sure these devices work all over the world and can’t be jammed or intercepted.

6. Power systems and redundancy are a priority so there is no single point of failure.

   1. Medical Facilities include an advanced medical bay for emergencies, making sure medical gear is fully secure from outside access

   2. Living and Working Spaces for private meetings, secure briefings, and comfortable stays.

   3. Every step requires unique parts, careful handling, and repeated checks. With so many sensitive details and safety standards involved, each change brings extra layers of work and paperwork.

Only technicians with security clearances can work on these planes, including testing every single new system to guarantee it works under extreme conditions. This is not cheap work—most parts, such as security panels and EMP shields, are custom-built and installed.

The plan to eliminate a the small but complete hospital bay on this plane seems stupid with an 80 year old president clearly not in the best of health. The plan to have less kitchen and food storage based on using it for short domestic flights seem equally short-sided.

So, while President Trump’s talk about a “gift” may sound appealing, it is actually a multi-billon dollar grift which he expects to take home when his term is over. The per hour cost to crew it, fly it and maintain it is beyond his low cut cheap approach to things. It is difficult to pin down exact costs but operating a presidential jet plane runs to $200,000 an hour , which includes fuel, consumables, engine and plane maintenance costs and the salaries of the flight crew. That is per hour., so a round trip from Washington to Los Angeles is easily $2,000,000. Those weekend presidential fights to a golf course can be $600,000 round trip.

The reason the two previously ordered new 747’s for the government are behind schedule is complicated by the requirement for aircraft workers with security clearances creating a personnel problem.A fixed cost deal means Boeing is not willing to lose a lot of money on this rush job concept. There are supply chain bottlenecks, amplified by all the special requirements described above.

Without question, Trump will prove to be the most expensive US President in history figured for costs, impact on Constitutional Government, and changing the reputation of the United States in global affairs.

Issac Asimov nailed that when he wrote it decades ago. Even more appropriate today because smartphones and the Internet have spread this disease, infecting people with information as false as anything spoken by propagandists on Right Wing AM-talk radio.

This somber 4th of July is hardly the joyous anniversary that was the Bicentennial in 1976. Trump hijacked the official holiday by ignoring the federal program and creating his own. Poor taste and mediocre execution are trademarks of Trump real estate and business ventures. He understands neither “consensus management nor leadership” because in a lifetime at a small family real estate company he was always the BOSS. His Country Fair Celebration on the mall is a failure, emblematic of his Algae Pool Fiasco there a few weeks earlier, and his failure in Iran.

The “Emolument Express”— the royal jet gifted to Trump by Qatar —is an example of Trump’s frustration and reaction to Boeing’s pace and costs in building two new 747-8 planes to government specifications. The president has been using two older (but obviously well-maintained) official 747s. At the transfer of the relatively new 747-8 to the Air Force, aviation experts estimated that to disassemble, inspect, and rebuild to government specifications could cost nearly $1 billion and take 24 to 48 months to accomplish.

Qatar had been trying to sell fthe plane or two years at $400 million. Now the retrofit bill is the part taxpayers pay. As of June 2026, the Air Force had not released a final public invoice but Reuters reported competing public estimates from under $400 million to more than $1 billion in its retrofit cost report.

The conversion package includes modifications for mid-air refueling, all sorts of specialized non- commercial communications gear, anti-weapons weapons systems, a medical unit, and more that is top secret. So the mystery is how the plane was flight worthy for the president in 11 months. To this aviation buff somethings got missed, or ignored, or cost nearly as much as a new plane. Under Air Force regulations all employees working on a presidential plane must have a security clearance. All sub-contractors have to be known. This work of tearing out the palatial trappings and putting in what passes for taste and relevance in Trump’s mind needs some explanation, very little of which has been forthcoming.

What is going to be obvious over the next 16 weeks to the Mid-term Congressional elections is Red-Baiting: accusing people of being Communists. The tactics used by right wing Republicans during the Cold War with Russia has never left their election playbook.

.The anti-communist rhetoric is what President Trump learned 60 years ago from his tutor Roy Cohn. That wunderkind but disgraced lawyer was famous for his belligerence as an aide to the late Wisconsin Sen. McCarthy. Reprising the Cohn role today is Stephen Miller, a noisy racist right winger who pretends he has a law degree. Roy Cohn died in 1986 but for Trump the memory burns brightly.

The necessity of reverting to those cold war Red Scare speeches has everything to do with how Trump started and lost the Iran War with Iran with needless death and destruction there and in multiple Middle East Nations. His “Hegseth led warrior military” spent probably close to $100 billion dollars in un-budgeted funds. Various plans to curtail mail-in voting or and voting in person have been poorly received by Federal Court judges. In contrast, the success of progressive Democrats in New York City and elsewhere creates a problem with midterm elections only 17 weeks away. These 1950’s anti-communist messages are not appealing . Voters have learned that oligarchs and senior management positions have had monster salary improvements while worker pay inches up slowly if at all given inflation. Voters who took a chance on Trump in 2024 and will take it out on Congressional Republicans. Oligarchs appreciate their socialism in the form of favored tax treatment on their wealth. The remainder of Americans would like fair treatment and concern for most of us.

The new addition to presidential air force made its first trip so the president could speak at Mt. Rushmore, where he said, “There is now a resurgence of the communist menace in our land, including from newcomers to our country who embrace ideas totally opposed to our way of life and our great success…Communism is the exact opposite of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It’s death, tyranny and the pursuit of evil.”

His amping up the anti Communist mythology is a sure “tell” that recent election wins by progressive Democrats unyielding inflation, ABSURD immigration policies with concentration style camps for people arrested along with their American citizen children have upset large segments of the nation. Birthright citizenship is here to stay until the Trump administration finds another way to attack the 14th amendment.

Leftwing candidates have won primary elections in Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington state and Wisconsin. Centrist support for Israel, unquestioning faith in capitalism are under threat from frustration with the old way of doing things. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, is a Democratic socialist, (it is not an official political party, but rather a policy segment within the Democrats. He said people are voting based on a “New Deal understanding” of Democratic politics to Congress and on to the “national stage”. He said. It is because to Americans are feeling exhaustion at struggling to make ends meet “every single day, so we don’t have to nationalize that message, it’s a national crisis.”

Mamdani framed these victories as a political jolt of nationwide significance, poses a challenge to the established leadership of the Democratic party of the sort that they fear most. And of course, fifteen self-labelled “moderate” Democrats in the US House signed an open letter that, though it did not mention Mamdani or his endorsed allies, was clearly targeted at them. “We are capitalist, not socialist,” they said. “We are mainstream, not extreme. We are proud, not ashamed, of America.”

While several current Democratic politicians are openly frightened by Mamdani’s rapidly growing influence, others are open to dialogue. Sen. Chris Murphy, of Connecticut, told NBC’s Meet the Press that the party was a big tent. “But we have to understand that people do not believe that this version of capitalism has worked,” Murphy said, adding , “And frankly, it hasn’t.”

Footnote: My apologies dear readers for an absence for several weeeks. Issues with a substack log in and other pressure. In any case, thanks for being here.

In the mid-1970s all terrestrial television was geographically limited but coining record profits (I know because I worked for one). Cable television systems mainly rebroadcast nearby local channels for places too distant from a transmitter. Broadcasters ignored cable seeing only a needy cousin once removed. But Ted Turner in 1976 had to increase audience for his independent channel in Atlanta to make it profitable.

So Turner’s independent WTCG Channel from Atlanta and HB0 were among the first users of the new domestic satellite delivery system that ultimately made cable a rival to terrestrial television.

Turner never thought small. In 1979 a diverse group of TV renegades joined him to create a 24/7 news channel for cable systems, named for what It was: Cable News Network. Turner believed that news available all the time would give people more viewing options and the channel would grow.

My network bosses at ABC News thought CNN was an absurd idea. So did CBS and NBC. All ignored CNN. The first decade was a struggle, but cable was erapidly growingt in homes reached.

tIn 1990 CNN’s impact and (survival) was recognized as remarkable because it was the only network with a coverage team already in a Baghdad hotel when the Iraq war broke out. This burned CNN’s logo into the Global mindset.

About this time Edward Boateng, a Ghanian student, finished his university degree in Atlanta and joined Coca Cola. Then he met Ted Turner. He says what followed changed African television.“You cannot change Africa selling bottled cola water. You must use information, Edward.” Boateng remembers “Those were the direct and visionary words Ted Turner shared with me in January, 1992

They changed my life and, in many ways, helped change Africa’s media landscape forever.” He joined Turner sales with Africa as a market.

At the time, almost every African country operated under a single state-controlled broadcaster. News was censored because Governments controlled the narrative. Citizens had little access to independent information, alternative voices, or global perspectives.

Boateng says, ”CNN shattered that monopoly. My work across Africa involved negotiating with then Ministers of Information and Communication, State broadcasters and in some cases at the Office of the President to use what we called “dead time” unused overnight airtime, often between midnight and dawn. Many stations only broadcast from late afternoon until midnight. We installed satellite dishes, sometimes hired overnight technicians, and transformed silent frequencies into 24-hour windows to the world. Where negotiations became difficult, we paid for the airtime. In return, we also secured access to breaking news footage, sports content, and local reporting”.

Boateng explains the ‘real revolution was not technical. It was psychological.

For the first time, millions of Africans witnessed live global news, open political debate, fearless interviews, investigative journalism, and media willing to question authority without fear.”

The culture of unquestioned state broadcasting began to crack. Across the continent, entrepreneurs saw a new future. In Ghana, Kwasi Twum and Joy FM broke the chain in 1994, pioneering private radio and changing Ghanaian broadcasting forever, Metro TV followed; in Tanzania, Reginald Mengi started with IPP media, Jared Kangwana in Kenya with KTN and Koos Bekker in South Africa with M-Net which grew to become the media juggernut Multihoice bnow DSTV across Africa. Many of these early private broadcasters leveraged on existing state infrastructure, much like CNN had done from afar, but with a bold new vision: media independent of government control.

Across Africa, from Cairo to Cape Town, Dakar to Nairobi, CNN became more than a television network. It became a symbol of openness, accountability, and possibility. It inspired a generation of African journalists, broadcasters, and media owners to believe that African stories could be told boldly, professionally, and without permission from the state.

Ted Turner did not simply build a news channel. He helped democratize information globally and gave Africa a stronger voice on the world stage. For those of us privileged to work directly with him, his vision was transformational. His legacy lives on wherever journalism challenges power, informs citizens, expands freedom, and gives ordinary people the confidence to demand better from their leaders.

In his long CNN career Boateng returned to Ghana to raise a family. In that period I worked with him, and also helped organize channels in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda.Most recently he was Ghana’s ambassador to China.

Ted Turner had a clear vision of his role. There was a point in 2002 when a Saudi Arabian company wanted CNN to participate in a joint venture for a news channel in that nation. Their presentation pointed out that they wanted to invest handsomely. However they explained they wanted it broadcast for 12 hours a day.

Ted stunned sales executives: “Forget it our Brand is 24:7.”

Ted’s enthusiasm and bravado set him apart from most media owners and corporations: I believe staff felt it this way:

In our heads and hearts we worked for Ted. CNN was the product. Ted was our leader.

As a CNN Vice president I brought two colleagues with me in 1995 to an impromptu meeting with Turner to discuss potential internet impact on the news business. He raised good questions and after 45 minutes asked,” How much do you need?” We told him $5 million.” Make it good and make happen quickly.” That was the birth of CNN.COM, 12 years before the smartphone transformed digital news delivery.

Turner understood high risk offered opportunity. This contrasted with the attitude within ABC news 15 years earlier when we learned Ted Turner was planning a Cable News. Network to launch in June,1980.

The ABC news and engineering big boys were dismissive. Cable TV then was considered exclusively suitable for farmers and rural folks. One famously brusque and opinionated ABC news executive told me the News Division spends more than $140,000,000 a year to make national news programs and the Good Morning America Show. Where, he asked, will Turner get funding for a 24-hour cable news channel that defies logic and that almost no one can see! The Atlanta location baffled the New Yorkers. All of this was three decades before clueless media executives watched mobile phones and Internet disrupt the information business as we knew it.

In the mid1980s I did some investigative consulting work for CNN’s Operations Manager John Baker and president Burt Reinhardt, revealing how CNN’s then Washington Bureau Chief was either ignorant or complicit regarding internal theft by service providers. Then Alan Bell, at Freedom Newspapers, asked if I could create a 24- hour news channel in California. The proposed name was the Orange County News Network or OCNN which brought threats of a lawsuit. So We named it Orange County News—OCN. Automation and Apple computers helped a staff of 100 multi-skilled people accomplish the task.

Senior CNN people came from Atlanta to see how we managed that. Astonished, they subsequently poached me to come to Atlanta as Vice President for Television Systems, where I helped drive expansion in America and globally between 1992 and 2003.

.With16 million cable homes at launch, it grew to 66 million by 2003. Turner Broadcasting grew well beyond the original to include Headline News, CNN International, Turner Sports, CNN Financial News, a Sports Network ( short-lived), a Spanish language version of CNN and the Cartoon Network, which was incredibly profitable even before discovering merchandise sales.

Turner also owned the Atlanta Braves baseball team which in this period they played in five World Series 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, and 1999 and winning the championship in 1995.

Turner did not stay in his North Tower top floor office, but often visited the South Tower where most of CNN was located. In contrast to MBA-trained executives focused on shareholders, he made a point to introduce himself to the workforce by name and know what they did.

Especially for the journalism teams risking their lives covering conflicts and disasters, this attitude influenced their refusal to be stopped by obstacles—rewarding Turner for having hired us for an independent & fair news company.

CNN President Burt Reinhardt’s dignified and deliberate style made him a perfect partner for Turner. Reinhardt didn’t waste money, avoided taking credit for guiding the company through tough times, offered polite advice where it was needed. He didn’t gossip about internal people or problems. In my experience television newsrooms are volatile work places, where too many people think they are smarter than the boss and the owners. Turner and Reinhardt were widely respected, if not always initially understood.

Burt had been a WW2 newsfilm cameraman with General McArthur’s return to liberate the Philippine Islands. He spoke only sparingly. It was clear, however, when negotiating with German and Japanese broadcasters for rights packages to each other’s news content that the respect shown reflected their knowing his WW2 history, also respecting Turner for what he had accomplished against the giant American networks.

In 1990 Burt after 30 years in charge was nearly 70 years old, still in good health and swimming laps everyday, so Ted made him vice chairman emeritus keeping the historical knowledge in house. He mentored his replacement, Tom Johnson, while managing the growing portfolio of CNN efforts outside the USA, a position he held until retiring at 82 in 2003.

This was when CNN ownership changed to AOL, producing one of the least sensible mergers in American business history. I too, retired at that stage sensing the future was bleak for CNN. As a footnote, Burt was the same age as my late father, making working for Reinhardt extra special.

My conclusion is that Turner and Reinhardt were exceptional human beings with divergent personalities who made CNN a special place for its first two decades.That perception has been amplified by what has happened to CNN in multiple corporate hands in the last two decades.

It’s really about domination she says, which also describes President Donald Trump since his teenage years being abused and criticized by his father. For some people targeting children makes sense “because children are maximally vulnerable, maximally controllable, and maximally unlikely to be believed.”

Obscuring his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein has been aided and abetted by the mis-named Department of Justice. Trump lacks substantive reason for his war on Iran, undertaken without the required involvement of Congress. So we assume it is a distraction because over the decades Trump has earned a “doctorate in distraction.”

I am convinced that the missing critical emails and documents connect Trump to Epstein who was, in effect, the North American boss of a global Pedophilia ring that serviced mostly very rich and/or famous men. Their emotional shortcomings and needs were similar to Trump.

Beccia writes that, “personality, entitlement, impulsivity, low empathy, high risk tolerance, and a strong orientation toward dominance” are characteristics shared with Trump.

Epstein at some point recognized that his own social desires/needs were probably also held by a potential clientele of rich men who would be discreet. But its hard for Trump to be discreet especially as president surrounded by media and using his own social networking for illiterate messages. The Trump Gang mugs the US Constitution and the Treasury, sidelines Congress, creates a secret police force one step removed from a street gang, contemplates replacing the US dollar with unregulated crypto currency, to name a few things.

The government is hiding the most critical 20% of the Epstein files—millions of items and photographs— so we cannot fully judge the extent to which extremely wealthy individuals share beliefs in unlimited “personal freedom” and are willing to change America for their own benefit.

They believe in the Rule of Wealth. The figurehead for this is a man whose life has been a non stop exercise in domination for wealth and power while disregarding legality and any concepts of conscience. Racism and citizenship played major roles in his attacks against Barrack Obama who won the presidency in 2008. Donald Trump used a fake TV reality program to establish himself as a man with a loud voice, a claim of great wealth, and a willingness to say aloud what voters had heard Senator Joe McCarthy and the John Birch Society preach years earlier. These issues were cornerstones of American fascism, verboten after World War Two but staging a comeback in the hands of today’s authoritarian leaders.

Beccia explains these individuals target asymmetrical relationships that provide a psychological advantage. “One person has options; the other does not. One person can speak; the other will not be believed. One person controls the situation; the other is trapped inside it. Think of it this way. A president who operates above legal accountability gets an ego boost,But a powerful adult who sexually violates a child — someone who is physically small, cognitively dependent, trained to defer to authority, and possessing almost zero social credibility — gets the most extreme asymmetry available in human society. The erotic charge, in these cases, is not coming from youth. It is coming from total dominance.

Despite the sex trafficking conviction in 2008, Epstein did not disappear. Quite the opposite: news networks helped launder his image as did bankers, politicians, scientists, judges, presidents, billionaires, Silicon Valley executives, socialites, traffickers, handlers, government officials, influencers, public figures, and royalty all appeared in his world. At some point, the scandal grew larger. How, or why did people keep making room for him.”

The “Dissent in Bloom” substack points out that when Federal prosecutors in New York arrested Jeffrey Epstein in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges, they leaned more. Operation Chain Reaction was a Drug Enforcement Agency investigation from 2010 but not much discussed. The DEA’s map of Epstein’s financial network included, $50 million in sketchy wire transfers across nine bank accounts in five countries compiled it all into a 69-page memo that was stamped “UNCLASSIFIED” on every single page. While the index promises a lot, most pages are completely redacted.

In response this February to US Senator Ron Widen the DEA apparently revealed a source saying that Epstein’ trafficking went beyond girls. He was bankrolling the distribution of ketamine, ecstasy, and meth. Ketamine causes amnesia and physical incapacitation, often used as a date rape drug.

Federal investigators had evidence that Epstein was systematically drugging victims, many of them minors, to make them compliant and unable to testify later — similar to what his good friend Jean-Luc Brunel in France had done. In 2016, Brunel quietly began negotiating with U.S. prosecutors, that he’d testify about Epstein’s trafficking operation.

Dissent in Bloom writes,”Epstein found out. She writes: “Emails show someone requested $3 million to guarantee Brunel would not cooperate. Brunel was found dead in his cell in 2022, ruled a suicide. Three years after Epstein was found dead in his cell, also ruled a suicide. Two men who knew everything. Neither made it to trial.”

Dissent writes the the DEA then redirected its decades of expertise into “Operation Take Back America,” turning a task force built to dismantle criminal enterprises into another weapon of immigration enforcement.” Its 5,000 open cases were transferred to DHS, and nobody really knows what happened to them after that. Now loyalists control who gets investigated and who doesn’t, The cartel-connected rich guys who donated to the right people can sleep easier. Two massive federal investigations produced years of intelligence and zero accountability for the people involved.”

Conclusion: Epstein was NOT a single monster, but rather the access point to a much bigger network of monsters, wealthy and desiring a USA with immunity. Emboldened because one of their own is president of the USA, envious voters who don’t know better elected Trump.

Imagine the living room of an upscale home in the Queens section of New York City in 1952. A four year old child with a demanding, difficult father, spends a lot of time watching this new fangled radio with pictures called Television.

My brother is Donald Trump’s age. At three years old he’d sit in front of whatever was the clearest signal from a 3-channel choice of black and white content. Today, children can amuse themselves with any iPad style computer device.

For his State of The Union speech I expected a carefully picked list of “accomplishments.” Instead it was a parody of the ‘The Big Top” a 1950s TV staple with Trump’s uncanny recreation of Jack Sterling as ringmaster of the Saturday circus show.

After declaring that “the state of the union has never been stronger” the ringmaster wandered into grievances reflecting a weird knowledge or lack thereof life in these United States. It was disconnected from the things voters actually care about: affordability and the economy. However many MAGA fans thought it was great, as one explained to me:”What a magnificent SOTU speech last night! If it came down to it, I would be willing to take a bullet for President Trump.”

Both post war and cold war propaganda-- overt and subliminal-- dominated the first generation of America’s television content. It had a powerful impact on how we saw ourselves and the world, just as the Internet has changed this century.

Respect for authority, and a reminder of how we won a global war, was the ambition of the Big Picture, an Army TV production glorifying military prowess while showing off Army skills and equipment. Victory at Sea used film taken by military cinematographers in a monumental recounting of the fighting in the Pacific theater. It had a stirring symphonic musical score and lots noise from Naval guns.

Trump’s desire to award medal’s to military personnel seems influenced by that early exposure to TV programs about war.It could not come from his own military career, because he used a medical excuse to dodge the draft during the Vietnam war.

So yes, the early days of TV have influenced how he lives and thinks. Truth or Consequences, a radio game show that migrated to early TV, taught Trump that lying has marginal the consequences. This is true for even serious issues, such as the Epstein Files, NATO, Iran and Greenland as examples.. A comment on a news website from Tommy Meatballs (nom de plume) said,”You guys act like Trump ever dealt in reality to begin with. Did everyone just somehow forget his first term and the disaster that it was?

“The “only I can fix it” mentality Trump holds in such high esteem underpinned every episode of “Have Gun Will Travel“ in which Palidan, a hired gunslinger played by actor Richard Boone, solved problems that went beyond what local law enforcement could do in the nation’s westward growth. This mirrors his judgement for starting a war with Iran without backing from Congress, which he regards as just a huddle of townspeople.

A program with no impact on young Donald Trump was called “The Millionaire,“ exploring the ways that sudden and unexpected wealth changed life, for better or for worse. Trump’s father was already wealthy and probably explained to young Donald that giving away money was absolutely not in the family tradition.

Trump’s frustration was obvious with Democratic senators and representatives went instead to competing events. Trump got verbally meaner as additionalDemocrats left. Tthose remaining neither stood nor applauded anything he said. Republican media managers did take advantage of the empty seats, sitting enthusiastic GOP staffers near specific Democrats to annoy them with the constant standing up and applauding. That on demand applause comes when the House Speaker and Vice President, both seated behind Trump, jump up like jack-in-the-box musical toys. Clearly intentional, a woman in a bright red dress vigorously was seated closest to the cameras and was enthusiastic all night long

.

Trump’s entire life reflects a narcissistic bully, just as predictable as Newton’s laws of physics are regarding the motion of objects.

Trump 1: Talking and lying are interchangeable.

Trump 2: Everything he touches goes bad.

Trump 3: Everything is personal.

Trump 4: His complaints are projections of his own faults.

Trump 5: Trump cheats family, partners, banks and taxpayers.

Trump 6: To work with him you must accept corruption.

Trump cannot (or won’t) explain why a war against Iran is important, having already destroyed its nuclear production facilities with a bombing raid on a mountain laboratory. He dominates news cycles so that it undercuts issues he doesn’t want to talk about, such as his involvement with the pedofile Jeffrey Epstein.

Consider his absurd feud with Robert DeNiro that begin in 2024.

The actordenounced Trump at an alternative State of the Union event. Trump returned fire calling DeNiro “sick and demented.”. When he finally mentioned ICE, Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, shouted at him--You killed Americans--then walked out. Trump called them “Low IQ,” later claiming they “screamed uncontrollably last night at the very elegant State of the Union, such an important and beautiful event. They had the bulging, bloodshot eyes of crazy people, LUNATICS, mentally deranged and sick who, frankly, look like they should be institutionalized.” Elements of Trump projection here. His frequent disparagement of women of color from Africa doesn’t enhance his stature

A columnist for the British newspaper Financial Times, wrote, “That Trump often lies is, in itself, not proof of irrationality. That he is encouraged to believe his own lies is more serious. .People who tell him what he wants to hear, not what he needs to know, are playing a dangerous game. The road to Trumpian recklessness is paved with flattery.”

No clear mention of the 4th anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a war that Vladimir Putin started, believing it would win in less than a week. Trump’s affection for Russia remains unexplained, amplified by his withdrawal of direct aid to Ukraine which leaves a forever stain on his reputation.

Democrats refusal to stand or clap or, except for a few moments, even speak out in protest annoyed Trump. He repeatedly chastised the group for not applauding his belief that police have a responsibility to citizens, not immigrants. Democrats want to avoid out of context quotes or video clips used by Republicans in the November Congressional election. (Constitutional rights apply to everyone in the nation.)

The Epstein Files are a reputational mine field Trump avoids. Researchers “connecting the dots” find evidence of files still locked away by the Justice Department that contain Trump-linked evidence. The irony of course is that disclosures involving British royalty and politicians have been met with loss of royal titles, arrests and resignations.

Fox News gushed over the president’s performance, with its chief opinion writer saying,”virtuoso performance, but it is unclear whether he fundamentally changed the political dynamic in America.” TPM, a more balanced US website, wrote,” The night was a slow plod punctuated by moments that Trump clearly enjoyed introducing various guests, game show style, to laud their accomplishments or detail the horrors that were visited upon them.

Perhaps the most unbelievable statement from Trump was: “As time goes by, I believe the tariffs, paid for by foreign countries, will, like in the past, substantially replace the modern-day system of income tax, taking a great financial burden off the people that I love.” An Internet pundit wrote that,”The convicted felon wants to take the country back over 100 years to the pre-New Deal days of the robber barons and attacks against union workers striking for better pay. The people he loves are not people like you.”

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s Democratic rebuttal was a concise speech debunking Trump’s belief the nation is in a “golden age,” Costs remain high for too many Americans more than a year into his second term,” Struggling Families are a theme ahead of the midterm elections. “In the most innovative and exceptional nation in the history of the world, Americans deserve to know that their leaders are focused on addressing the problems that keep them up at night.” She spoke from Colonial Williamsburg, a living history museum with restored 18th-century buildings to remind America of Virginia’s early opposition to British rule and the Commonwealth’s home to presidents--George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. They were deeply involved in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that enabled 250 years of democracy, flexible enough to fix imperfections and adjust to a changing world.