This Week’s List
- 100% Tariff on China
- US bombs boats in Caribbean and Pacific
- Government Shutdown
- No Kings March
- Sanctions on Russian Energy Companies
- Teetering Ceasefire in Gaza
- Poster kerfuffle in Washington
- Where did the East Wing of the White House go?
- Trump’s screams at Zelenskyy, again
- Immigration Czar Homan took an FBI $50,000 bribe, Vice President doesn’t know
- Trump wants to “bill” Department of Justice $230,000,000
- Trump threatens to jail Illinois Governor and Chicago Mayor
- Trump threatens to sue Ontario, Canada
- NBA gambling scandal
- NY Attorney General Leticia James arraigned in Federal Court
- President suggests we might attack Venezuelan territory
- Trump leaves to tour Asia
- And, of course, The EPSTEIN FILES
Firehose
One thing for sure – Donald Trump leads by “volume”. There’s an overflow of information and events, so much that’s a difficult to “keep up”. The public impact of the “No Kings March” just six days ago, with more than seven million Americans protesting this President, is drowned in the flurry of events since.
All of that’s not a coincidence, not a mistake. It’s a well-conceived effort by the Trump Administration to keep “the opposition” off balance. And it works. Congressional opposition is forced to “pick and choose” which outrageous action to attack. And when different leaders choose different issues, it makes the Democrats look unorganized and scattered.
The “firehose” of events even keeps Republicans off balance. They become afraid to say anything, because so much is going on they can’t keep up. As the old saying goes, “Better to be silent and look stupid, then open your mouth and prove it”. And for the general public, it’s simply exhausting. We’re drawn like a moth from candle flame to fireplace to inferno, unable to focus on a single issue. It provides cover for whatever else the Administration does that might be objectionable. (Perhaps I should say whatever the Administration does that is not objectionable).
Across the Bow
In other discussion forums, I’ve been waging a debate over the American actions on the “high seas”. We are sending both drones and USAF Fighters to destroy boats in international waters. The Administration claims those boats are transporting illegal drugs, mostly Fentanyl. Since Trump has declared a war (a Presidential action not sanctioned by Congress) on both drugs and on international gangs like Tren de Aragua, he claims that those boats are “fair game” for destruction. Dozens on those boats have already been killed.
The US Coast Guard has “interdicted” drug boats for centuries. Before it was drugs, it was illegal alcohol in the “rum runner” days of Prohibition. In fact, the Coast Guard was established in the 1790’s to collect taxes from incoming commercial shipping. Interdiction means stop, search, seize and arrest. It’s the ancient Naval action of “firing a shot across the bow”, threatening destruction unless the boat allows the Coast Guard (or Navy) to board.
It’s a matter of humanity. Even drug dealers in the United States aren’t subject to the death penalty. There should be some form of “due process”, of providing evidence of criminal activity. And the Coast Guard interdiction is that same process, this time under “International Law” on the high seas.
But just blowing up a boat; without any “shot across the bow”, without direct knowledge of their actions and cargo, is barbaric. It’s not the action of a civilized nation, in fact, it the kind of rogue behavior we’d attribute to terrorists of the past. Add to that; the Trump Administration then proudly shows video of these executions on television for Americans to be “proud of”. It’s just another part of the tsunami of actions.
Kerfuffle
Steve Schmidt is a former Republican campaign operative, including as senior advisor to John McCain. After the rise of Donald Trump he led the Republican opposition, then left the Party to help found the “Lincoln Project” opposing Trump. Since that time he set up another political opposition group, called the “Save America Movement”. At the moment, Save America is trying to be a gadfly to Trump’s advisors.
Save America plastered Washington, DC with posters of Trump Deputy Chief of Staff Steven Miller, with the phrase, “Fascism Isn’t Pretty” across the bottom. It worked. Miller “ordered” the posters removed. Now Save America has come back with posters that are glued to poles and locations in DC, requiring them to be scraped off, instead of just pulled. It’s all “light hearted”, but of course it’s not. But, at least this time, it’s keeping the Trump folks dealing with “nonsense”, instead of the rest of the Nation.
EPSTEIN FILES
And, like a riptide off the beach, the EPSTEIN FILES still lurks below the waters. Is Speaker Johnson keeping the House closed because of the shutdown (not required)? Or is he just avoiding swearing in the newly elected Democratic Congressman from Arizona, to prevent a majority vote requiring the Department of Justice to release the full EPSTEIN FILES.
The United States is in crisis. The Government is shutdown. Most Federal employees are furloughed, and most of the ones still working aren’t getting paid. Air Traffic Controllers, the US Military, the FBI, all “essential workers”, are missing paychecks. And what is the President of the United States doing? He’s leaving town, going to Asia for a week, allowing the shutdown to fester.
Clearly that’s not in the Nation’s best interest. But maybe it’s in the best interest of Donald Trump, when it comes to the EPSTEIN FILES. How much is Trump involved, and how many of his friends are involved as well? We don’t know. But one concern is that American actions in the world, from Venezuela to the East Wing of the White House, might be to cover his involvement. And for those who say Trump wasn’t involved – the answer is simple. Release the EPSTEIN FILES and prove it.
PS – this just in: Steve Bannon says Trump is running in 2028 – the Constitution be damned!!
