MAGA Martyrs

 

Trump has ordered flags to be flown at half-staff until Sunday. Another MAGA martyr has joined Ashli “Q-Anon” Babbitt in the sacred Valhalla of MAGA Martyrdom.

MAGA has been demanding that their female martyr receives the full military honors the Pentagon rightfully denied her. After all, Trump granted her clemency and therefore restored her honor, right? One Democrat wants Republicans to go on the record for this travesty and insult to military honor.

Raw Story reports:

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) will introduce a formal resolution to prevent the Department of Defense from offering full military honors to Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed by a Capitol police officer as she attempted to crawl through a smashed window into the House Speaker's Lobby as Donald Trump supporters tried to overturn his 2020 election loss, reported CBS News.

"The idea that they're giving this to a person who actively tried to overthrow the government, who was violent in nature, who knowingly was entering a restrictive zone while we were trying to conduct the safe passage of democracy, and the idea that they're just going to give this without a fight, it's just not going to happen," Gallego said.

The Pentagon initially denied the Babbitt family's request for a military funeral, stating that she was killed after "illegally" entering the Capitol, but the right-wing Judicial Watch lobbied Hegseth to reconsider, pointing to Trump's immediate pardon for more than 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants upon returning to office.

"[The government's] refusal to provide military funeral honors was part of the 'grave national injustice' that President Trump ended by granting clemency," Judicial Watch wrote in its request. "The 'process of national reconciliation' that began with presidential clemency demands a new determination granting military funeral honor for Ashli and her family."

But Gallego said those honors are meant "for those who defend the Constitution, not traitors," and his resolution cites the specific violation of federal law she was committing when she was killed.

"Ashli Babbitt's actions on January 6, 2021, constitute disqualifying conduct under section 985 of 4 title 10, United States Code, the rendering of military funeral honors to her would bring discredit upon the Air Force, and she is not eligible for such honors," Gallego's resolution reads.

The murder of Kirk is absolutely inexcusable. I too, extend condolences to his family. Nobody should have to suffer such horrible grief. They deserve our empathy. 

Now we’re hearing the usual chorus, mostly from Democrats, “There’s no place for political violence”.

But that ship sailed on January 6, 2021. Political violence is here to stay since Americans REWARDED a Criminal who incited a violent coup. Our next Medal of Freedom winner Charlie Kirk urged his fans to help bail out Nancy Pelosi's husband's assailant. 

Some Republicans have also echoed the condemnation of political violence, but none of them, including the extremists on the Supreme Court, seem to have a problem with Trump inciting, praising, and pardoning his thugs for beating cops bloody in their attempt to steal the 2020 election for him.

But that doesn’t mute their blatant hypocrisy. House Speaker Mike Johnson once told reporters. “And we need every political leader to decry the violence and to do it loudly. The problem is in the human heart, and it’s gotten out of hand.”

Gee, why IS that, Mr. Speaker?

But with Trump and his white Christian nationalist base, political violence ISN’T really denounced. It’s in their wheelhouse. It’s ALWAYS about demonizing and punishing people they hate.

After his standard fascist smear of him, Johnson advocated violence upon the Democratic California governor, Gavin Newsom.

“He is applauding the bad guys and standing in the way of the good guys,” Johnson said. “He is a participant, an accomplice.”

“I’m not going to give you legal analysis on whether Gavin Newsom should be arrested. But he ought to be tarred and feathered, I’ll say that.”

Newsom aptly replied: “Good to know we’re skipping the arrest and going straight for the 1700’s style forms of punishment. A fitting threat given the [Republicans] want to bring our country back to the 18th century.” 

Newsom’s response to Kirk’s murder demonstrated a level of empathy, (the word Kirk can’t stand,) we never hear from Trump and his MAGA mob.

“The best way to honor Charlie’s memory is to continue his work: engage with each other, across ideology, through spirited discourse. In a democracy, ideas are tested through words and good-faith debate – never through violence.”

Let’s contrast that with what Trump had to say after a Minnesota state representative and her husband were killed, while another state legislator and his wife were wounded. "I think the governor of Minnesota is so whacked out. I'm not calling him," Trump said. "Why would I call him? I could call and say, 'Hi, how you doing?' Uh, the guy doesn't have a clue. He's a mess. I could be nice and call, but why waste time?"

Yes, like Kirk, Trump can’t stand the word “empathy”. Tyrants and authoritarians along with their followers have no use for empathy. It neither enriches nor empowers them.

Ignoring what happened in Minnesota and his cold-blooded hateful response to the assassinations, Trump doubled down on his fascist rhetoric and projection in praise of his propagandist, "Radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives. Tonight, I ask all Americans to commit themselves to the American values for which Charlie Kirk lived and died. For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis ("very fine people") and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now.”

This comes from the neo-Nazi fascist whose "values" include smearing Democrats as "communists destroying America" and "vermin". I can almost hear the strains of the "Horst Wessel Song" in the background. That was the Nazi Party anthem to their most famous early martyr and Brownshirt thug.

Now what concerns me are the rabid neo-Nazi elements of MAGA who would be emboldened to become vigilantes hunting Democrats, like the assassin in Minnesota.

Let the radical Right and corporate media dutifully sing their accolades for Kirk, for I have come to bury Kirk, not to praise him.

His own vile neo-Nazi white nationalist words will suffice for this memorial. As Kirk framed his speaking tour, "Prove me wrong".

~~~~~~

Kamala Harris says her values haven't changed. So your Marxist values haven't changed?... She has deep father issues. Her father, who is a communist.

(Economist Donald Harris is married to Carol Kirlew, a former communications specialist for the World Bank.)

In August 2024, Kirk published an episode of The Charlie Kirk Show titled "Kamala the Communist Wants Soviet-Style Grocery Stores".

“Woke is the new word for Communism. And Trump needs to exploit that Kamala Harris is a communist.”

The great replacement of white people is far more sinister than any redistricting project. That is at the core of the Democrat project, at the core. And Jasmine Crockett is just some circus act in that entire operation. But it's deathly serious. She — you shouldn't take what she says seriously. It's just a joke. What she represents is very serious, which is the continue attempt to eliminate the white population in this country.

Enjoy Charlie and Jack Posobiec's conversation from The People's Convention, where they discuss Jack's new book, 'Unhumans,' alongside Joshua Lisec. They dive into the history of Communist revolutions, socialism and Marxism, the links between Communists and today's liberals, and other history you may not know, but should.

Ketanji Brown Jackson - is what your country looks like on critical race theory. KBJ is your country on CRT. KBJ - Ketanji Brown Jackson - is an embodiment of the tyranny that we currently live under. She's an ideological, unintelligent, yet confident fanatic who is so dismissive that you might even ask the question of what a woman is.

The Civil Rights Act, though, let's be clear, created a beast, and that beast has now turned into an anti-white weapon. 

And:

"I think it's worth it. I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights."

Is it really worth it to his family? Maybe if you hate the word "empathy", I suppose. 

Moral Cowardice

 

The last honorable Republican president left office over three score years ago. No other Republican since then has cautioned the country of the “undue influence of the military/industrial complex”. For his opposition to AK-47s Ronald Reagan would be cast aside as a RINO in Trump’s criminal dictatorship.

FDR was labeled a "traitor to his class” for reigning in the abuses of Wall Street banks and greedy industrialists and economic elites. As with today’s MAGA Republicans, FDR and his party were, and are, hated by the economic elites as well the most racist and fascistic elements in our country.

The radical Right has constantly been at odds with our Constitution, from corrupting elections, suppressing minority voters, demonizing the press, to eliminating our Constitutional taxes, regulation of commerce, and provision for the general welfare. Just look at their targets. Urban voters, news media, universities, the IRS, the NIH, the VA, and CDC, to mention only a few, have been decimated by their neo-fascist ideology.

The indoctrination is reaching public schools. Oklahoma is mandating the defense of Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 election was rigged against him. Hitler Youth indoctrination is now manifested as Trump Youth indoctrination.

Public health, public education, and even the Smithsonian museums are being coerced into an ideological prison of conformity to authoritarian radical right ideology. There is no moral grounding in Trumpistan. It’s always about power and punishment for those they fear and hate. It is fascism wrapped in an American flag and paraded by vulgar red hats covering duped and hateful minds.

Every Republican has surrendered to Trump what remnants they had of free will and a conscience. As with Nazi Germany, “Fealty to the Fuhrer” is their path to power and only requirement to remain in Congress, to be appointed to the bench, and to manage federal agencies. Few dare to consider any other option, let alone question or challenge their CRIMINAL mob boss.

Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern spells it out in the New Republic:

"I think that they’re scared shitless of Trump—period. Every Republican is. One of the most disappointing realities that we’re dealing with here is that Republicans who we used to be able to work with in a bipartisan way, who always seem reasonable on stuff and could be dependent on to do the right thing occasionally, they’re no longer there. They’re all afraid of a primary challenge. They’re all afraid of being on the wrong side of this president’s favor. And so they’re terrified.

I’ll tell you a story. When we were debating the big ugly bill that Trump was pushing, I was handling the debate on the rule side. I had a number of Republicans come up to me and tell me that I was right. This is a terrible bill. This is going to screw their constituents over. This is an awful thing to do to the American people. And I responded to them by saying, Look, I’m not wearing a collar. I’m not a priest. I don’t do confessions. And I certainly don’t do absolution. But I’d respect you more if you told me you actually believe in this crap and that’s why you were supporting the bill. But to tell me you don’t believe in this stuff, you think it’s going to hurt your own constituents, and vote for it anyway, that’s cowardice. That’s moral cowardice."

"Specialized Units"

 

A little History:

New York Times, August 7, 1936

HITLER SEES PEACE 'BY COMMON SENSE'; Would Supplant League System With New One 'Based on Reason and Justice.'

BERLIN, Aug. 6. -- Chancellor Adolf Hitler believes that a general European war can be averted "by common sense," and he is also convinced that a new peace system "based on reason and justice" must supplant the League of Nations.

 ~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile in 21^st Century USA, a little news:

The Daily Beast, August 25, 2025

Three weeks into his federal takeover in Washington D.C., the president signed new executive orders tasking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to establish “specialized units” in the National Guard to assist officers in the city, and potentially across the country, to quell civil disturbances and boost public safety “whenever the circumstances necessitate.”

“Freedom. Freedom. He's a dictator," Trump paraphrased those opposed to military occupation. "A lot of people are saying maybe we’d like a dictator,” Trump told reporters.

“I don’t like a dictator. I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with common sense and a very smart person.”

Trump’s executive order also authorizes Attorney General Pam Bondi to unwind metropolitan police orders in D.C. if she believes they are impeding the administration’s crackdown.

In addition, federal agencies will be given more power to surge officers into the capital, potentially adding to the thousands of troops that have already been deployed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trump's "Common Sense" = “Specialized Units” = America's Schutzstaffel (SS)

Trump proudly showing off his gift photo from Putin a week after praising him and greeting him with a red carpet, and days before saying, “I don’t like a dictator."

Right.

Just ask Kim Jong Don:

And also today, August 25, 2025:

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung knows how Trump’s fondness for dictators gets easily played in the Oval Office. “I look forward to your meeting with the chairman Kim Jong-un and construction of a Trump Tower in North Korea and playing golf at that place.”

Of course this clever trolling went completely over Trump's ego-swelled "very smart" head.

~~~~~~~~~~

August 26, 2025 Update:

Indicted and convicted criminal Trump: "The line is that I'm a dictator, but I stop crime. So a lot of people say, 'You know, if that's the case, I'd rather have a dictator.'"

Trump on deploying the National Guard to Chicago: "I have the right to do anything I want to do. I'm the president of the United States."

Art of the Kneel*

 

Breakthrough! Since he honored Putin with a red carpet welcome, lavish dinner, a flyover, and ride in the presidential limousine, Trump tells it like it is.

After slamming "fake news" for their dishonesty and treachery, we have finally learned that it's not Putin's war.

It's up to Ukraine to surrender to to the tyrannical war criminal Joe Biden.

Peace in our time. If only Biden would cease his imperialist aggression and order Putin's military to withdraw from Ukraine. 

So why did Trump have a summit with Putin instead of Joe Biden? Only a stable genius could have worked that out. Trump may not even need to ask for the Nobel Peace Prize any more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Credit to Mrs. Betty Bowers

 

"THE ART OF THE KNEEL"

TRUMP: "You have to agree to a ceasefire or there will be sanctions."

PUTIN: "No ceasefire."

TRUMP: "OK."

PUTIN: "And no sanctions."

TRUMP: "OK."

PUTIN: "We're done. Thanks for the red carpet and photo ops."

UPDATE!!

THE WAR IS ZELENSKYY'S FAULT! HE DOESN'T WANT PEACE! 

NO KNEELING HERE! FAKE NEWS! 

BIDEN'S KNEELING!! OBAMA KNEELED!!

Mein Font

 

Trump's Homeland Security recruitment ad for ICE reads, “Serve your country! Defend your culture!”

Hmm. And what "culture" would that be? 

Would it be a culture of diversity, equal justice under law, inclusion, and asylum for the oppressed? No, I'm quite sure that's not it. 

Or is it a culture of protecting voter rights and civil rights with fair representation in a democratic representative government? Something tells me that's not it either. 

How about a culture of free speech in higher education, free of politicized scientific research and curriculums? 

Or a culture of lawful due process free of personal vendettas by politicized law enforcement? No, I don't think that's it at all.

Could it be a culture of mercy and benevolence for the downtrodden? A culture of provision for the general welfare, universal healthcare, and regulation of commerce?

Let's get real.

It's quite clear the "culture" they want to "defend" is one of radical Right minority rule paired with white "Christian" nationalism. They call it MAGA.

Their culture would look more like this:

“In this world human culture and civilization are inseparably bound up with the existence of the Aryan. His dying off or his decline would again lower upon this earth the dark veils of a time without culture.” Adolf Hitler - "Mein Kampf" 

"The National Government...regards Christianity as the foundation of our national morality, and the family as the basis of national life" Adolf Hitler - "My New Order"- Proclamation to the German Nation, Berlin, February 1, 1933

Since Trumpers seem so fond of a militarized police state where cops can "do whatever the hell they want", it's no surprise their culture is attracted to the same old English style font Hitler used for his book "Mein Kampf".

Mere coincidence, I'm sure, but it does seem to suit their mutual ideological image. 

As the Felonious Fuhrer said, "Hitler did a lot of good things". 

Catastrophic Con-servatism

 

History shows conservatism reveres wealth and protects the interests of the wealthy. It always has. Democracy, equality, higher education, the arts, voting rights, investigative journalism, and critical thinking itself are loathed by today's American radical Right and have always been seen as major threats to American conservatism.

Conservatism is essentially coddling the rich and privileged while marginalizing and punishing the poor and downtrodden. This explains historical support by conservatives for monarchy, dictators, inequality, and slavery.

Only white male property owners could vote in the US originally. Women and Blacks had to wait their turn for progress, which was always opposed by conservatives. Greed, misogyny, racism and minority rule have long been the dark underbelly of conservatism.

I'm not accusing individuals so much as the cold amoral machinery and economic leverage of political conservatism. Granted too many of those individuals are incurious or oblivious to the harms and adverse effects of political conservatism.

Rich white Southern conservatives waged a bloody civil war to keep slavery as their means to wealth. To this day the plague of American racism has roots in this morally sick Southern white “heritage”.

The essence of conservatism is maintaining the power of an established authoritarian racial/economic hierarchy. The ends justify any means, including stoking fear and hate against people who oppose them. Demonizing, persecuting, and scapegoating those they fear, don't understand, or hate are essential to their conservative "values". Their endless culture wars are an important divide and conquer means to their permanent grip on power.

This is why fear, anger and hate are relentlessly stoked by conservative voices. It is where the con in conservatism finds its purpose and function. It is expressed in white nationalism and masked in Christianity. It has grown into one of the major industries of today’s mass media. We’re watching corporations, law firms, courts, medical and scientific research, news media, and universities being blackmailed, extorted, and coerced into promoting conservative dogma.

Trump’s scorn and hate for journalists is a prime indicator of fascism.

News flash: Journalism is Not “fake news”.

“Journalism is a public service, first and foremost. Journalism is about the truth, first and foremost.

Be truthful, but not neutral. Both-siderism, (on the one hand, on the other hand,) is not always objectivity. It does not get you to the truth. Drawing false moral or factual equivalence is neither objective nor truthful. Objectivity is our golden rule. And it is in weighing all the sides and all the evidence. Hearing everyone, quoting everything, but not rushing to equate them when there is no equating. And look at the damage that has done.”

Ignoring Christiane Amanpour’s words can only lead to the death and burial of truth.

But now CNN keeps a Trumpist on their payroll to spew his lies, deny his criminality, and defend his treachery. 

Greenhouse gasses are now being denied as a public health issue. Climate and environmental regulations are being erased, and words like “justice”, “equality”, and “diversity” are purged from from the federal government.

The great con has been a resounding success. The indoctrinated consumer of radial Right propaganda has shown us how conservatives have been conditioned into demanding lies that confirm their bias and elicit reactive negative emotions.

And here we are. We've seen Orwell's Big Brother slogan transformed from "Ignorance is strength" into, "I love the poorly educated". Trump’s Big Lie and thousands of other lies have been transformed into the gospel of an evil prophet they believe was sent by Jesus to save America.

His criminal and authoritarian strangle on our federal government is American conservatism’s endgame. The conservative Supreme Court and one federal judge in Florida obstructed justice by blocking Trump’s criminal indictments on his behalf. The Six corrupt justices on the Supreme Court then went on to bestow upon him an unconstitutional and dictatorial “presidential immunity” to facilitate his latest rise to power.

Trumpism is the fetid fruit of American conservatism.

We were warned, but the public has become indifferent, incurious, or functionally illiterate.

Some old and new adages come to mind:

~~~~~~~

Composer Frank Wilhoit said: "Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect. There is nothing more or else to it, and there never has been, in any place or time.”

“While Liberals are afraid that somewhere, someone is not getting what they need, conservatives are afraid that somewhere, someone is getting something they don't deserve.” Unknown

“Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” - HL Mencken

“Conservatism is the dread fear that somewhere, somehow, someone you think is your inferior is being treated as an equal.” -  Dave Vescio

“Conservatism is the blind and fear-filled worship of dead radicals.” - Mark Twain

"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." - John Kenneth Galbraith

“I cannot help fearing that men may reach a point where they look on every new theory as a danger, every innovation as a toilsome trouble, every social advance as a first step toward revolution, and that they may absolutely refuse to move at all.” - Alexis de Tocqueville

“Social conservatism and neoconservatism have revived authoritarian conservatism, and not for the better of conservatism or American democracy.” - John W. Dean, Conservatives Without Conscience

“There are few genuine conservatives within the U.S. political system, and it is a sign of the intellectual corruption of the age that the honorable term 'conservatism' can be appropriated to disguise the advocacy of a powerful, lawless, aggressive and violent state, a welfare state for the rich dedicated to a lunatic form of Keynesian economic intervention that enhances state and private power while mortgaging the country's future.” - Noam Chomsky, The Culture of Terrorism

“The media are desperately afraid of being accused of bias. And that's partly because there's a whole machine out there, an organized attempt to accuse them of bias whenever they say anything that the Right doesn't like. So rather than really try to report things objectively, they settle for being even-handed, which is not the same thing. One of my lines in a column—in which a number of people thought I was insulting them personally—was that if Bush said the Earth was flat, the mainstream media would have stories with the headline: 'Shape of Earth—Views Differ.' Then they'd quote some Democrats saying that it was round.” - Paul Krugman

“Conservatism, however, is too often a welcome excuse for lazy minds, loath to adapt themselves to fast changing conditions.” - Sigmund Freud

“Conservatives are more religious than liberals--although there is no evidence that they're nicer people because of it.” - Andy Rooney

"If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy.” - David Frum

Corollary:

”If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win by fairness, facts and reason, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject fairness, facts and reason.” - Dave Dubya

Modern American Conservatism is Trumpism. It requires neither conscience nor critical thinking. Introspection and concern for others are not needed to believe everything is just fine. The status quo is the way it's supposed to be, and it provides the best of all possible social and economic systems.- Dave Dubya 

~~~~~~

I will conclude with these three primary pillars of con-servatism.

1. Racism and bigotry for the most ignorant white nationalist bottom feeders wallowing in their white fright and resentments.

2. Authoritarianism for the fascists, paranoid militia gun nuts, and religious fanatics who are not fully embedded in, but tolerant, or dismissive, of racism and bigotry. This is all presented in the guise of "liberty and faith". Yes, American fascism comes carrying a Bible and wrapped in the flag.

3. Insatiable greed and lust for power by rigging government, the law, and the economy to favor the economic elites.

And there it is, the unwritten and unspoken platform of the conservative American radical Right.

Bigotry, authoritarianism, and greed.

Never Before

 

The Letter from Editor seemed a rather pollyannaish dream of a better outcome for the United States under the unprecedented autocratic rule of Donald Trump.

I invite you to consider his optimistic view of this New Dark Age of Trumpism. I hope it makes you feel comforted. Spoiler: It didn't comfort me.

~~~~~~~~

The future seems scary, but we've been here before

 

I read something recently that was mindboggling: As of July 2, we are closer to the year 2050 than we are to the year 2000. 

Once I confirmed the math – it’s correct if you count from Dec. 31, 2000 – I was left dizzy. A whole generation has passed in a blink, and it’s easy to feel like we are living in dire times.  

Climate change, political turmoil, threats of global warfare, economic uncertainty, runaway technology – the next 25 years can seem overwhelming. 

But if you look backward rather than forward, a different picture emerges. In many ways what we are experiencing is not the exception but the norm. And that gives me hope.  

Why? History is full of upheaval. Every 25-year stretch is marked by seismic shifts.   

1900-1925: The First World War; the collapse of empires and rise of communism and fascism; a global flu pandemic.  

1926-1950: A stock market collapse and Great Depression; World War II; polio outbreaks; the advent of nuclear weapons and the Cold War. 

1951-1975: The Korean and Vietnam wars; civil rights struggles; political assassinations; fears of overpopulation and famine. 

1975-2000: Regional wars in the Gulf and the Balkans; drug wars in the U.S. and Central America; the HIV/AIDS crisis; nuclear accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl.  

And then came the 25 years we just lived through. When the Y2K scare fizzled and I came to work on Jan. 2, 2000, there were no iPhones, no widespread social media, no Uber or DoorDash. Netflix? It was DVDs that came in the mail. It seems like a simpler time. 

But then we had 9/11, which changed our national psyche forever and led to America’s longest war. The 2008 financial crisis. The election of our first Black president – which sparked celebration and backlash. We faced a global pandemic, cultural spasms over race and gender and sexuality, political polarization and a digital revolution that has changed how we live, work and relate to one another. 

With a 24/7 news cycle and social media amping news into crises, it's easy to feel like things are spinning out of control. But if you zoom out, you realize every generation has stood at the edge of the unknown and faced challenges that seem insurmountable. And yet, we’ve always found a way forward. 

In each crisis, there has been progress: vaccines and medical advances, space exploration, civil rights gains and technologies that lived only in science fiction decades ago. There are dark sides to the internet and social media, but they have also connected families, democratized information, and provided opportunities for creators and small businesses.  

We’ve avoided a doomsday war, lifted millions out of poverty, made everyday life more convenient, and connected countries and cultures in ways we could have never imagined. So yes, the future is uncertain. It always has been. But that doesn’t spell doom. 

When the present feels overwhelming, I think of something the late radio commentator Paul Harvey said: “In times like these, it is helpful to remember there have always been times like these.” 

That perspective doesn’t erase our problems, but it reminds us that we’re not uniquely burdened. We’re part of a long, unbroken string of human challenges, inventions and advances.  

How do you want to shape this ongoing story? You have a choice in how you view the world and how you participate in it. 

I wish at times it was less tumultuous. But then again, it never has been. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, I considered responding to his letter with a few facts:

No. Mr. Editor, I vehemently disagree. We have definitely NOT been here before.

Never before has an admitted sex offender been elected president.

Never before has a presidential candidate questioned his predecessor’s citizenship and still be elected.

Never before has a president had a massive civil fraud judgment against him.

Never before has a criminal president lied about winning an election he clearly lost.

Never before has a criminal president tried to overturn an election by organizing fraudulent electors.

Never before has a criminal president controlled a national media corporation willing to parrot his lies, hate, and false accusations, only to offer them jobs in his administration.

Never before has a criminal president sent a violent mob to desecrate the Capitol and terrorize Congress to overturn an election.

Never before has a criminal president demanded DOJ agents and prosecutors who worked to convict his thugs be fired.

Never before has a criminal insurrectionist been elected for a second term.

Never before has a criminal president praised and pardoned thugs for beating police officers bloody to overturn an election.

Never before has a criminal president fired without cause thousands of federal employees.

Never before has a criminal president shut down USAID and let 500 metric tons of food rot instead of going to hungry children.

Never before has a criminal president deprived the poor of food stamps and healthcare so his billionaire cronies and rich oligarchs could pay lower taxes.

Never before has a criminal president blackmailed and extorted the press, broadcast networks, law firms, and universities.

Never before has a criminal president crippled the CDC by appointing an unqualified Secretary of Health and Human services.

Never before has a criminal president shut down childhood cancer and other medical research out of spite for science and education. 

Never before has a corrupt Supreme Court granted a criminal president unconstitutional "presidential immunity", enabling him dictatorial power without legal accountability under the rule of law.

Never before has a corrupt Supreme Court granted a criminal president the power to dismantle public service agencies previously funded by Congress.

And never before has a criminal president written a birthday note to pedophile Jeffry Epstein saying, "We have certain things in common, Jeffrey".

Shall I go on, or am I overreacting?