Every morning I wake up, and for a brief moment I can focus on my day. Then Atticus, our white Lab (loveable, but not the brightest bulb in the box) realizes my eyes are open. That means, he can go outside, and more importantly, start the breakfast process (there\u2019s four dogs, eating in three shifts, he\u2019s on second). So he burrows into my side, getting me to roll over, get an unexpected kiss (he goes for the lips) then gently shoves me out of bed. The day begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somewhere in the process I turn on the news, and the reality of the Trump Administration crashes down on me once again. Whether their talking about Pete Hegseth (a wholly unqualified candidate for Secretary of Defense), or Kash Patel, (a confused and mistaken intelligence \u201cexpert\u201d) leading the FBI: it\u2019s as if leading the Nation is just a Trumpian joke. Sure, Matt Gaetz abandoning his Attorney General bid helped. But it simply made Pam Bondi, another \u201cFox (animal and media) in charge of the chicken coop\u201d. And two other remaining whack-a-doodles, Tulsi Gabbard and Bobby Kennedy, quietly proceed to high office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do we have to pick our battles? Maybe give up the FBI to protect Dreamers, or accept a simply brutal and cruel man as \u201cBorder Czar\u201d in return for putting responsible people in charge of our intelligence apparatus. Trade off\u2019s \u2013 in what America is and should be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it\u2019s all been normalized. Senators (even Democrats) walking in the Senate halls, talking about the wonderful conversations they\u2019re having with Hegseth or Patel or Kennedy; folks dragged from the extreme to now appear as \u201cmoderate choices\u201d. And in the background, billionaire \u201cenforcers\u201d. Vote for Trump\u2019s guys, or face a multi-million dollar challenge in the next primary election, with Elon Musk\u2019s imprimatur and cash in hand. Musk, Ramaswamy, Zuckerberg, Bezos: are we still a democracy, or have we already descended into a billionaires\u2019 oligarchy, where money talks and the rest of us walk?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not surprising , it\u2019s the Republican women: Ernst, Murkowski, Collins (don\u2019t trust her though) who are resisting. The men don\u2019t have the cojones to stand up to Trump, or Musk, or the MAGA base. The women may not either (Murkowski is tough), but at least their holding things up for the minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And normal: Donald Trump is Times <\/em>\u201cPerson of the Year\u201d. I know, I know; Hitler, Stalin, and the Ayatollah Khomeini were all once Man of the Year too. But the media and seemingly the world has accepted the normalization of Donald Trump. The international world, from Zelenskyy to Prince William to Justin Trudeau doesn\u2019t have a choice. But the rest of us do. And we should look with skepticism at any effort to say this guy and his MAGA crowd are normal. They aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We try to change the subject. Luigi Mangione the assassin made a big splash, killing the CEO of United Health Care in broad daylight on the Avenue of the Americas. I guess only Trump can shoot someone on the streets of Manhattan and no one would care. And we all are fascinated with the assassin, his escape, his resume. How did a brilliant, good looking, Ivy League millionaire-child, turn into a hooded figure shooting a man in the back?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or if that doesn\u2019t provide enough distraction; there\u2019s the drones over New Jersey. Is there really an Iranian \u201cMothership\u201d somewhere in the Atlantic (isn\u2019t that from Independence Day)<\/em>? Or are there a bunch of newly minted FAA \u201cAirmen\u201d, drone licensees, having a few afternoon brews and sending car-sized pilot-less vehicles over the New Jersey (and Maryland too) landscape? Be careful, maybe it\u2019s really Santa Claus, with a whole new way of; \u201cHe knows when you are sleeping, he knows when your awake!!\u201d Don\u2019t stop the drones or \u201cno presents for you!!!!\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDistract<\/h3>\n\n\n\n