Robert Mueller just died, Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!” – Donald Trump, March 21, 2026
Our Times
I’ve had the conversation literally hundreds of times. What’s happened to America? Why are we so different, so divided, so much more damaged then we ever felt before? How will we survive today’s government, or, will we survive it at all?
In the first Trump Administration, many Americans were aware that the President (and those advising him) took great pride in breaking “norms”. Those are the unwritten rules that the United States has accepted for almost 250 years. For example, George Washington left office after two terms as President. Every other President, until Franklin Roosevelt, honored that “norm”. And after Roosevelt was elected to four terms, dying in office; Americans put that “norm” into “black letter law”, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. It was two terms only.
Another sign of our times: as you read that last paragraph, maybe you had these answers in your head. “Trump was elected to break norms, that was the whole point. Roosevelt, just another Democrat, what-about that? And finally, will the ‘Black letter law’ of the 22nd really hold up in a super-majority Supreme Court?”
Unfettered
The Second Trump Administration is unfettered by norms. From day one, they slashed foreign aid, sent in the “DOGE” boys, literally knocked down part of the White House, and used the most powerful office to enrich the President (and family). (Knock, knock; who is there? Jared. Jared Who? The Jared who wants five billion dollars to play with, to settle the war, and to build a resort in Gaza and Dubai). And then there’s ICE, the reprisals on FBI agents involved in investigations against Trump, and our “little excursion” in Iran that’s costing American lives today.
There really is no limit to Trump’s power grab. It goes from the ridiculous to the outrageous. Ridiculous: he just wrote an Executive Order demanding that college football “clear” the hours when the Army-Navy game is played. He seems to be willing to use the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to try to force over-the-air TV networks to clear the air for the game. There’s no precedent, no law which allows that power. But he signed it anyway.
Outrageous: Trump’s still “floating” the idea of sending ICE to the polls in November to “protect” the election. I’m sure there’s a target list the includes Atlanta, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Detroit, Milwaukee, and of course, Minneapolis. They won’t be there to “catch undocumented migrants”. A polling place is the last place those folks would be. But they will serve to intimidate real voters.
Mueller
Robert Mueller died yesterday. He was an American hero: a decorated combat Marine officer in Vietnam, a prosecutor, a United States Attorney under both Clinton and Bush’s Presidencies, and a Deputy Attorney General of the United States. He became Director of the FBI seven days before the 9-11 attacks. His greatest service was turning the FBI from an organization designed to solve past crimes, to a modern counter-intelligence agency that could stop a future 9-11. The proof of his success is obvious: while there have been “minor” terrorist acts in the US, the scale of the attacks of 9-11 was never repeated in the twenty-five years since.
Mueller came back to serve in the Trump Administration. The Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein brought Mueller in to investigate Trump’s campaign actions in the 2016 election. And Mueller, hamstrung as he was by later Attorney General Bill Barr, put out a clear report, outlining exactly how the Trump campaign was linked in multiple ways to Russian intelligence, as well as the ongoing campaign by Russia to influence the American election.
Mueller did not just do his duty. He led a team that told America what happened in 2016, and what continues to happen even today. And he did that as his health started failing. Soon after the Trump investigation ended, Mueller was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, the illness that ultimately took his life.
Decency
There’s an old expression from the McCarthy Era (a “forgotten time” when America turned on itself, much as we are doing today). In a Senate hearing on “Communists in the Government”, Senator Joseph McCarthy turned on the attorney for the accused, calling him a Communist. That attorney’s lawyer, Joseph Welch, responded with this:
“Until this moment, senator, I think I never gauged your cruelty or recklessness . . . . Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”
It’s not “new news” that Donald Trump has “…no sense of decency”. So it isn’t a surprise that he would post such a coarse, inhumane statement as “…I’m glad he’s dead”. There certainly is some irony. This from the man who gladly used inappropriate positive reaction to Conservative/Christian influencer Charlie Kirk’s death as a cudgel, demanding those who made such comments be censured, fired, and silence.
Here’s my “cudgel”. The President of the United States should resign. He has stationed standing armies in our cities (ICE). He entered us into a war without preparation, discussion, or Congressional action. Our dead servicemen are returning in flag draped coffins. He is wrecking our economy, and pretending it’s all for the good. He is threatening our free and fair elections.
And as the “moral leader” of the United States, his own personal vindictiveness, “I’m glad he’s dead”, is transforming us. America is turning into a place where no one would want to live.
