Shameful Schumer

An absolute blitzkrieg. Like the Panzers rolling across the Polish plains in lightening fashion, ignoring international norms and justice, failing to respect another country’s sovereignty, Donald Trump has been rolling over Democrats at warp speed, ignoring the Constitution and rule of law, failing to respect the other two branches of government.

In 50 days Trump has signed 89 executive orders – most overstepping the boundaries in which the power of the presidency is confined and in violation of our Constitution. Many of them bypassing Congress whose duty it is to make these decisions. Many that do fall within his legal purview cause harm to many people ranging from crippling their health care to costing them their livelihood.

He is laying the foundation for weaponizing the Department of Justice and the FBI, putting people who will carry out his political vendettas; removing those who will not; seeking revenge against those who followed the rule of law in investigating his alleged crimes and those who were preparing to prosecute him when the evidence pointed to his guilt.

“I will be a dictator on Day One,” he smiled to Sean Hannity. He wasn’t kidding.

So, who do we have standing up to Trump, his right-hand-Right-Wing executioner Elon Musk and all the Republican Trump loyalists in Congress?

Not Chuck Schumer.

An abhorrent budget was presented by Trump for Congressional approval…a budget that takes crucial spending decisions away from Congress and steers these decisions to the president, strengthening his authoritarian grip on the nation’s purse and with that power the ability to control the function of government. It puts Medicaid; programs to aid the disabled; programs to feed the poor; programs to assist veterans; education; and environmental protection at DEFCON 5.

“It is not a simple stopgap that keeps the lights on and the doors open,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro. “This is Republican leadership handing over the keys of the government and a blank check to Elon Musk and to President Trump.”

Not just Republicans. Senator Schumer also handed over those keys and that blank check to Trump.

The GOP budget resolution needed eight Democratic senators to cross over and vote for it in order to avoid a filibuster. Many expected the Democrats to filibuster the GOP proposal, forcing the Republicans to compromise or go back to the chalk board and draw up a better budget. Schumer gave Trump those eight senators.

Schumer’s rationale is that if he did not support Trump’s budget, there would be a government shutdown, crippling essential services with the voters blaming the Democrats for the shutdown. That may sound reasonable to Schumer, but if you peel back the skin, the rationale doesn’t necessarily hold up.

Trump is already crippling essential services. In fact, he’s gutting them. That is the danger of his budget: it gives him more latitude to chop away at what services he has yet to dismantle. One of Schumer’s goals was to stop the hemorrhaging.  He accomplished the opposite.

Schumer feared what a government shut down would do both to the people in need of those services and what it could do to his Party politically. He feared the Democrat minority in Congress would be blamed. Recent political history indicates that wouldn’t be what would happen, and Mitch McConnell, the mastermind of exploiting such a situation for his political advantage, must have had difficulty containing his laughter as Schumer made his fatal mistake.

When Barak Obama was president, McConnell met with Republican Congressional leaders and crafted his strategy that the Republicans would commit to. Don’t vote to advance any legislation. Create gridlock. Sure, it’s his Party refusing to work with the other Party, but he theorized that the public’s attention span is on who is president. If gridlock occurs and people suffer, the focus of their frustration will be on the president and the party he represents. They will blame the Democrats. Sure enough, that is exactly what happened, and Republicans gained the legislative branch. Instead of gambling that Schumer and the Democrats would be blamed, Schumer should have gambled that Trump and the GOP would be blamed. Given both past history and the growing skepticism voters have regarding Trump and Musk in recent polling, the odds would have been in his favor.

The opposition party needs to stand up to Trump and deliver, if not a win, at least land a blow and make Mr. Trump feel the sting of energized defiance. Drawing a line on the Senate floor and not crossing over to support the Trump agenda should have been that moment. It most likely would have earned concessions – for how long could Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune endure the failure of their assignment as political leaders to guide a functional government before public scorn pounded on their office doors?

Democrats need a leader who will pick up the gauntlet and speak in defiance – and fight with fury – against the Trump/Musk oligarchy. Schumer is not that person

Shredding the Freedom of the Press

 

“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”  Thomas Jefferson, 1787.

“They (the press) are truly the enemy of the people.” Donald Trump, February 2017.  “Don’t believe the crap you see from these people (the press)…” Trump, July 2018. “I hate ‘em, (but) I would never kill them.” Trump, December 2015.

Donald Trump had declared war on the world’s media from the very beginning. War on those news agencies who dare to report anything that appears unflattering to his actions. Anything that might expose inappropriate behavior. Anything that proves his narrative is riddled with falsehoods. But while in his first term it amounted to a battle of words and an attempt to manipulate public perception – and in effect, the public’s knowledge of events and circumstances – in 2025 it is becoming a matter of survival for independent and honest journalism.

Two days after his inauguration, he called on MSNBC to be shut down. They commit two sins that justify such an action: they advocate a liberal perspective and they make it a mission to hold Trump’s feet to the fire. That may not be totally objective, but their facts aren’t wrong, they don’t lie, and they are hardly subversive. Yet on February 22, 2025, he declared that MSNBC is a threat to democracy and must be brought under control.

He isn’t just picking on MSNBC. In October he specifically called for removing the broadcasting license of CBS because he did not like their coverage of Kamala Harris and during the same outburst he added “as should all other Broadcast Licenses because they are all as corrupt as CBS – maybe worse!”

NBC was the first to be targeted for shut down when in 2017 NBC reported that Trump and his military advisors were having a dispute about the size of America’s nuclear arsenal. Trump wasn’t going to stand for that – shut ‘em down. He called for ABC to be shut down in September. Trump tried to burn CNN at the stake in his first year in office, with him most recently calling them out by name to have their license removed last year.

The threats are moving from rhetoric to physical action. To achieve this, Trump named a Trump loyalist to be Chairman of the FCC. Brendan Carr is a contributor to the Heritage Foundation’s  Project 2025, the blueprint to achieving an ultra-conservative agenda. He has long advocated ferreting out all perceived prejudice against Trump. Therefore, he was a logical pick for Trump to entrust to develop a strategy to bring down network news.

Four weeks into his tenure, Trump’s attack dog has ripped into all major networks including PBS and NPR by using a strategy to remove their licenses without being too transparent that he is protecting Trump. He is going after a San Francisco radio station that chooses not to support Trump’s deportation policies. NBC, through his investigation into Comcast who owns NBC’s parent company NBCUniversal, will lose their license if Carr’s allegations that they practice Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies are true. ABC faces execution for Carr’s allegation of bias in the presidential debate. PBS for their financial sponsorship. CBS he blatantly put on trial for distorting the news.

At some point we need to note that Fox News and Newsmax face no scrutiny much less criticism.

Trump’s bringing the press down to its knees takes other approaches as well. The Associated Press and Reuters are banned from the White House and Air Force One, the AP because they continue to refer to the Gulf of Mexico instead of Trump’s preference of Gulf of America, and Reuters because they were critical of the AP being blackballed. Trump is employing financial stress to get the press to heel by using lawsuits. If he doesn’t like how you reported or what you reported, he will sue you. He currently has a lawsuit against CBS for $10 billion because he didn’t care for their airing of an interview with Kamala Harris. Trump had turned down CBS’ invitation to have equal time in an interview, but nonetheless he claims the interview was deceitful and intended to tip the election in favor of Harris. He is also using this as his platform to revoke CBS’ license. It is obvious this is intended to get the networks to fall in line and cover the Trump administration in the manner he wants it covered.

This is Authoritarian 101. If you can’t control the press, undermine the public’s confidence in the press. When the networks ignored his November 2016 lecture at Trump Tower on how to cover his presidency, he turned to referring to the press as “fake news” and advised the public to turn to him for the truth. Apparently not completely satisfied with his fake news campaign, he seemingly intends to finish them off for good.

When Trump Betrays Ukraine, He Betrays Europe

 

I have never been more ashamed of being an American in my lifetime than while I was watching President Trump and Vice President Vance’s treatment of Ukrainian President Zelensky.

Zelensky is a pillar of strength, a source of inspiration and courage for a people besieged by a military power who invaded their country; kidnapped children; bombs churches, schools and hospitals, logging in a death toll of 12,605 Ukrainian citizens in addition to 43,000 soldiers.

Zelensky is a symbol of Ukrainian pride and resilience that has managed to hold the Russian tanks to the eastern perimeter of their republic in a stunning setback for Russian dictator Putin who expected to overrun Ukrainian soldiers and successfully plant their flag of conquest along the Ukrainian-Polish border within three weeks, but after three years they have not only been unable to advance past Ukraine’s southeastern elbow, they were pushed back from three provinces they had once occupied and had to retreat from their advance on  Ukraine’s capital.

Zelensky, and all Ukrainian people, are heroes.

Trump doesn’t see it that way. He calls the popularly elected Zelensky a dictator while Zelensky is desperately fighting to preserve his people’s freedoms as well as their sovereignty from the insatiable appetite of the former KGB chief made imperialist dictator. And on February 28, in front of the world, he gave it his best shot at bullying and intimidating Zelensky while his toady JD Vance rushed in to give Zelensky a good kick while Trump held Zelensky down.

Trump was disrespectful to Zelensky, making allegations with an angry scowl, a pointed finger and a scathing tone. Every time Zelensky diplomatically attempted to respond, Trump would cut him off. Trump chastised Zelensky for gambling with the start of WWIII – clearly shifting responsibility for such a risk away from Putin who, not satisfied with already having stolen Crimea from Ukraine, decided he wanted all of that nation and threatened to use nuclear weapons if any country dared to militarily help Ukraine. Under Trump’s thinking, Poland started WWII.

In short, Trump was advancing Putin’s narrative of the war.

In the process, Trump was disrespectful to democracy, American values and American history. America fought to defend European democracies against the darkness of fascism. Went to battle to defend South Korea. Fought to protect tiny Kuwait from a ruthless dictator in Iraq. Yet, for the first time, the United States is siding with the oppressors. The US is not only turning its back on the underdog whose crimes are apparently wanting to build upon the democratic foundation they established when they chased Russian stooge Viktor Yanukovych from office in 2014 as well as their return to independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the US is turning its back on Europe who sees Zelensky fighting for all Europe and who fears Russian expansion.

Of course, the Narcissist-in-Chief says it was Zelensky who is disrespectful. Vance said the same. Vance even accused Zelensky of not once saying “thank you” to Trump – even though Zelensky had in fact thanked both Trump and America earlier. Vance leaned forward saying Zelensky is failing to be grateful to Trump when Trump is the one with a proposal to end the war…A proposal that would force Ukraine to accept Putin’s terms of allowing Putin to not only annex the occupied territory, but also cede the provinces Russia once held and would give Trump half of Ukraine’s mineral resources. That’s not a peace settlement, that’s more akin to Stalin and Hitler carving up Poland.

Trump later fumed that it will be impossible to get a peace deal that includes Zelensky because Zelensky “hates” Putin. “It’s very hard for me to make a deal with that kind of hate.”

So, we have a president insensitive to the reasonable feelings of hate one might have towards a foreign dictator who is seizing your land, slaughtered your people and kidnapped your children to indoctrinate them inside Russia. We have a president who thinks it is unreasonable for the victim of a war to have a seat at the negotiating table and who will not sign a peace treaty that has no concessions from the invading party, much less forfeits their land, their people and their mineral resources.

What is the fallout from Trump’s posture?  Every democratic European nation has denounced him. Norway’s fuel supplier refuses to provide fuel to American ships and submarines. Europe now recognizes they can no longer rely on the US as an ally. Leaders such as Germany’s new Chancellor have made it clear that if there would be war with Russia, Europe will be on their own and must create a stronger defense, which means proliferation of nuclear arms.

Trump not only shamed Americans, he has alienated us from our allies and our position as a world leader. He has made the world more dangerous.

Facing Fascism

 

They gathered by the thousands on President’s Day in front of state capitols and city halls. Their purpose?  To denounce fascism. In Latin America? In Russia or Hungary? No…in the United States.

Fascism is a Far Right, authoritarian and ultranationalist political ideology. Its main feature is government authority resting in one individual’s hands centralizing all power, void of judicial and legislative restraints. That leader suppresses the press, attempts to control messaging to the citizenry, seeks control of police powers, acts above any rule of law, pushes political opposition from the table, undermines democratic institutions and retains a hold on people through the use of hate, fear and division.

The demonstrators say that it is developing now. They say it has more than a foothold – they say it occupies the White House.

Donald Trump isn’t disguising it. An authoritarian believes he has absolute authority. Trump is claiming he has a right to that authority declaring “When someone is president of the United States the authority is total."

It is not just a matter of him sharing his personal belief in an autocracy. It is his pattern. Follow his roadmap:

When an authoritarian achieves the role of leadership, their first priority is to control the media to control the message. After being elected in 2016, Trump immediately called the top media executives to Trump Tower explaining to them how he wanted to be covered. The executives would not cooperate, so Trump went to Plan B in the Authoritarian Handbook – destroy the public’s confidence in the press. He preached the American press is all “fake news” and he told a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention to ignore what they read and saw in the media and instead only rely on him for the truth.

Today it’s worse. He recently called for CBS and MSNBC networks to be shut down. Four months ago, he called for revoking the licenses of NBC and ABC. He targeted CNN 13 months ago. His right-hand Elon Musk has made it clearer. Referring to CBS’ 60 Minutes, he declares they all “deserve long prison terms” for daring to be critical of his and Trump’s agenda.

Authoritarians want control of law enforcement and government employees. Trump wants federal employees to take a loyalty oath not to the country they serve, but to Donald Trump. He’s moving forward to purge the Department of Justice, the FBI and the CIA.

On the menu for retribution are any FBI agent or DOJ investigator who researched his alleged crimes ranging from illegally removing classified documents and hiding them in his home to trying to fix the vote in Georgia to pointing his followers in the direction of the Capitol to stop the democratic process as his last-ditch effort to remain in office. So much for rule of law. Names he dropped as planned for political retribution included Liz Chenny, Adam Shiff, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris and Joe Biden with their only alleged crimes being they have spoken critically of Trump. So much for free speech.

A fascist wants to single-handedly enact laws and direct policy, ignoring legislators, courts and the elements of their republic’s constitution. Trump has signed 55 orders in 19 days. Many appear to usurp the role of Congress as it is Congress’ job to pass laws, the Executive Branch’s job is to implement those laws. Many lawsuits have been filed challenging the constitutionality of those actions. “We are in the midst of a constitutional crisis,” University of California Law School Dean Erwin Chermenisky flatly states.

Eight judges have blocked Trump decrees on constitutional grounds. It is appearing that Trump is already ignoring at least one court order while arguing in all cases that he has the right as president to enact any policy he so directs despite the Constitution and our system of checks and balances.

He argues that not only does he have total authority, but whatever he does if in his judgement it is to save the country “it’s not illegal.” That is not only shades of Richard Nixon regarding Watergate, that is the exact argument  Adolph Hitler used as he defended his authoritarianism.  The Supreme Court that carries his brand seems to agree by ruling a president has immunity from laws he may violate while serving, making Trump above the rule of law for the next four years.  “The rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals,” says US Judge John Caughenour. Even Republican Senator Thom Tillis confirmed Trump “runs afoul of the Constitution in the strictest sense.”

Vice President Vance isn’t shy of this administration’s contempt for checks and balances much less the Supreme Court’s role.  “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,” says Vance. But that is exactly what the Supreme Court’s duty is, to rule if a president is working outside the boundaries of the Constitution. 

Add to this authoritarian stew is his past use of encouraging violence to remove protestors from his rallies and to spawn followers to attack the Capitol to stop the democratic process, and his campaign pledge to consider using the military to deal with protesters.

We were warned he is a fascist by conservatives who worked for him. His former Chief of Staff stated, “he prefers the dictator approach” and is “fascist”, his former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he is “a wannabe dictator” and “fascist to the core.” Former National Security Advisor and his former White House attorney agreed that he is “a threat to American democracy.”

Australian Senator Nick McKim lamented “If you can’t see the slide into fascism that is currently happening in the United States, you aren’t paying attention."

We need to start paying attention.

Mourning Democracy

 

This past month I witnessed a funeral procession. The death of American democracy and rule of law. Donald Trump stood with his hand hanging limp by his side near a bible that he once held upside down in a photo op, swore to uphold the Constitution even though he failed to do so in his first term, and was handed the keys to the government. The White House and Congress are under his control, the Supreme Court is branded with his initials. And that is unnerving given what he has pledged to do, which is contrary to what defines American democracy. 

Freedom of the press? He has threatened to seek the removal of licenses of any media outlet that is critical of him – he has specified CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN and MSNBC. When he couldn’t control the press in his first term, he worked to undermine the public’s confidence in the press referring to it as  fake news and stating “Just remember, what you’re seeing and hearing (in  the  news) is not what’s happening” but instead people should only rely on what Trump tells them is what is occurring. Freedom of speech and political thought? He has threatened those who oppose him with prosecution  – he’s already listed Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Chuck Shumer, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff and Liz Cheney. 

Referring to those on the left of the political spectrum as “vermin that must be rooted out” he noted he wouldn’t hesitate to use the military to make arrests if need be. He attempted to sic police powers on his critics in his first term: on August 23, 2018, he gave Attorney General Jeff Sessions a long list of perceived opponents to act on. Freedom of assembly? He has vowed to use the military to remove those who protest. In his first term he wanted the military to disperse protesters outside of the White House and while campaigning encouraged his followers to use violence to eject protesters from his rallies, promising to pay their legal fees if arrested for assault. This is the agenda of an authoritarian. The first clue that he has an authoritarian mindset was when he declared in January 2016  “I could stand in the middle of 5^th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters…” That was his acknowledgment that he now leads a cult of personality, which indeed he is. 

There has never been a leader of a cult that hasn’t been an authoritarian. And to prove his insight, his 5^th Avenue occurred January 6, 2021. He weaponized his followers to assault Congress to stop the democratic process and aid him in staying in power after losing an election that was declared fair by 60 court cases, audits in all states Trump challenged, and even acknowledged by his Attorney General and his daughter Ivanka. Despite the evidence of his motivation his followers ignored or supported the citizen mobilized coup attempt. They also didn’t care that a jury was convinced he sexually assaulted a woman, that he is on tape trying to steal the vote in Georgia, that his campaign sent fake electors to steal the election in swing states he lost, and that he was caught illegally having classified documents he removed when exiting the White House. 

During his first term he displayed characteristics and made decisions that alarmed retired Admiral William McRaven who succeeded in eliminating Osama Bin-Laden and General Stanley McChrystal. In 2019 McRaven shared that after meeting with a number of equally concerned officers “….one retired four-star general grabbed my arm, shook me and shouted, “I don’t like the Democrats, but Trump is destroying the republic!”According to Trump’s Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, Trump wanted to order McRaven and McChrystal back into service and have them court martialed in retaliation.A clearer definition of Trump and his threat to our democracy is provided by many who shared his conservative vision but not his authoritarian means. 

Trump’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff General Mark Milley concluded Trump is “a wannabe dictator” and “is fascist to the core”. Trump’s Chief-of-Staff General John Kelley agreed, saying Trump is “a fascist” and  “prefers the dictator approach…”Esper, Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton and White House lawyer Ty Cobb also warn us Trump is a threat to democracy. Conservative Republican leaders like former Republican National Chairman Michael Steele, Vice President Dick Cheney, GOP presidential adviser David Gergen, Republican campaign strategist Steve Schmidt and conservative patriarch George Will issued similar warnings.   

Trump warned us himself declaring “When someone is president of the United States the authority is total,” to which his Supreme Court eventually collaborated by granting the office total immunity against prosecution for criminal acts making him above the law.  

The American flag should remain at half mast for the next four years, mourning the death of our American values.