Russia-Ukraine War

Ten Days Away, Coming Back To New Controversies Surrounding Donald Trump! :(

Ronald 19 Comments

This author and blogger took a vacation, visiting my old “haunts” in New York City, where he lived until 1989.

While it was great getting back to “my origins”, for only the third time in the past 36 years, new controversies erupted around Donald Trump and his administration while I was away.

At least ten areas of crisis grew while this author and blogger was away on vacation.

The earlier decision of CBS to cancel Stephen Colbert, occurring days before this author and blogger took a break, just to gain the ability to merge with new ownership accepted by Donald Trump, was just the beginning. And Trump celebrating Colbert’s show ending next May was a moment of total disgust!

Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because she revealed a report of weak employment growth in July, and massive revision downward of May and June figures, numbers she had no control over adjusting.

Trump’s tariffs, which will raise the cost of living dramatically in future months, are due to take place on August 7, with some nations being “punished” more than others, including Canada and Brazil, and all Americans paying the price for this insanity, as tariffs cause economic collapses historically!

Ghislane Maxwell, in prison for 20 years for sexual abuse of young girls, connected with the Jeffrey Epstein Scandal, was moved to a minimum security prison, after being interviewed by Trump’s Deputy Attorney General. This is seen as an attempt to move to pardon her, and avoid revelations of whether Donald Trump was involved in the sexual abuse, another sign of a coverup to protect Trump.

Texas is attempting to use the abuses of gerrymandering to insure possibly five more House seats to go to the Republican Party, an effort to insure Republican control of the House of Representatives, with the support of Donald Trump. Democrats have left the state, to try to avoid such abuses from occurring.

The National Museum of American History, connected with the Smithsonian Institution, temporarly removed an exhibit showing Trump’s two impeachments, although it now claims it will be restored in the future.

The number of ICE arrests is multiplying, including at immigration hearings, when people show up at their required appointments, gain a new court date, but then are grabbed by multiple ICE agents wearing masks, acting like the Nazi Gestapo!

The number of government workers are being decimated, which makes a future set of shortcomings that will affect Americans in many areas of government involvement, most notably the National Weather Serivce and the upcoming hurricane season, as well as air traffic control, which delayed this author and blogger’s flight to New York City by a TEN hour delay! 🙁

Trump has moved nuclear submarines closer to Russia, as relations between Trump and Vladimir Putin worsen, and as the Russian war against Ukraine continues unabated.

The mass starvation of Gaza residents by Israel continues, and Trump’s inability or lack of concern about what is seen by many as a growing Holocaust.

So trying to “escape” from the news really is not truly possible, as the nightmare of Donald Trump continues! 🙁

Trump Cabinet Officers Center Of Controversy And Incompetency!

Ronald 35 Comments

The Donald Trump Cabinet is rapidly imploding.

Attorney General Pam Bondi is under attack from the MAGA crowd and Deputy FBI Head Don Bongino for allegedly covering up the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, with the indication that Donald Trump and many other prominent figures were involved in a pedophilia scandal.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took it upon himself to pause arms to Ukraine in its war against Russia, without Trump being informed of such action.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is undermining Americans’ health care in so many ways, including the fact that we have a massive Measles outbreak in several Western states, the largest in three decades, and Kennedy’s incessant war on vaccines.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has been shown to have provided delayed support for the victims of the tragic Texas floods last week, and for still advocating the end of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).

Also, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency under Noem and Thomas Homan, and the intervention of Stephen Miller, is violating the Constitution in its mad rush to deport immigrants, which in most cases, have committed no crimes.

And Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins claims that people who are disabled, elderly, and children, who will be harmed by Medicaid cuts, can fill the jobs of migrant farm workers, to replace such deported individuals.

And Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick is backing Donald Trump’s crazy tariff wars against American trade partners, while he certainly knows from history, that high tariffs undermine the American economy, and helped to cause the Panic of 1893 and the Great Depression of the 1930s.

While America has experienced corrupt and disgraceful Cabinet officers under other Presidents in American history, NEVER have we had so many such incompetent and unqualified members of a President’s cabinet as under Donald Trump!

Trump Foreign Policy In Disarray, Particularly With Russia And Israel

Ronald 39 Comments

The idea that Donald Trump is “in charge” on American foreign policy has now been proved to be incorrect.

Trump came in with a pro Russian and pro Israel foreign policy, but now he is demonstrating disagreements with both Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu.

Both autocratic leaders are clearly NOT allowing the American autocrat to dictate to them what they should do regarding the Russia-Ukraine War and the Israel-Gaza War.

Trump had thought he would accomplish his goals of ending both wars on “Day One”!

Reality is otherwise, and is making Trump look weak and ineffective in foreign policy, as much as he is causing disarray with our long term allies in NATO.

America’s role in the world is in flux, and not for the better!

The Accession Of Pope Leo XIV A Moment To Have Hope About The Future!

Ronald 2 Comments

The accession of Pope Leo XIV on the 80th Anniversary of VE Day, the end of World War II in Europe, and defeating the evil of Nazi Germany, is a moment to have hope for the future, at a time when there are so many gloomy realities that have occurred in 2025.

Not only the continuation of the Russia-Ukraine War and the Israel-Gaza War, and the possible war between India and Pakistan, but also the unrelenting gloom and negativism of the first nearly 16 weeks of the second Trump Presidency, has made for a very difficult few months for those people who have a sense of compassion, decency, empathy, morality and ethics!

This author and blogger is Jewish, but had tears of joy at the accession of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost to the Papacy, as he is truly a man of the people, of ordinary citizens of all nations, and stands out as a totally different mentality than Donald Trump, JD Vance, and the rest of the criminal crowd governing America in these times.

It is already clear that Pope Leo XIV will become “controversial” in his utterances and actions, and will cause the American government to lash out against him, but he will be a beacon against the evil of Trump and his minions.

The Pope is not just for Catholics, but for people of all religions, nationalities, races, and genders, and he will be an advocate for the poor, the disadvantaged, the marginalized, the needy, and promote dialogue and build bridges for all mankind!

Signal Gate Scandal Made Worse By Forced Removal Of Michael Waltz!

Ronald 2 Comments

The move by Donald Trump to oust National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, due to the Signal Chat Leak Crisis, is a bad omen for the future of American National Security.

Waltz was a traditional conservative Republican, who gave up his House seat in Florida to take on the challenge of engaging in promoting American national security.

But in the Trump White House, which is bending over backwards to please Vladimir Putin and to abandon Ukraine, Waltz was seen as a “problem”.

What should have happened was the dismissal of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, not Waltz, and putting Waltz in as United Nations Ambassador is an indication that his status is much reduced.

Meanwhile, Marco Rubio taking on the position of National Security Adviser temporarily is totally crazy, as being Secretary of State is more than enough work for one man.

And Rubio is no Henry Kissinger, who held both jobs, but in reverse in the Nixon and Ford Administrations.

This whole situation is an indication early on that Trump is on the way, possibly, to more turnover in his second term, than in his first term, which set a record of such turnovers in American history.

The international order is going to be in great danger, with an unstable, unpredictable, and unreliable Chief Executive in the Oval Office!

Trump, Vance, Rubio Are The New Appeasers, A La Neville Chamberlain!

Ronald 28 Comments

It is very sad and disturbing that Donald Trump, JD Vance, Marco Rubio and the rest of the Trump foreign policy and national security team are defying the Republican record on Russia, which has always been strongly to repel the Russians, whether the old Soviet Union, or the present Russian Federation under Vladimir Putin.

The Republican Party prided itself historically as being tough on Russia, trying mightily to surpass the Democratic Party in that regard.

But really, all Presidents of both parties saw Russia as the ultimate rival that was a threat to world peace, and specifically to our European allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

But now, the Trump team is demanding that Ukraine concede the loss of territory to Russia in Crimea from 2014 and the more recent losses since 2022.

They also demand that Ukraine never be allowed to be a member of NATO.

What Trump and his team are doing is catering to Russia, and asking Ukraine to give up its sovereignty.

And for Trump to claim, wrongfully, that Ukraine started the war against Russia in February 2022 is an absolute outrage!

Trump, Vance, Rubio et al are practicing appeasment as Neville Chamberlain of Great Britain did toward Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany over Czechoslovakia in 1938, but that led to World War II the following year.

Giving in to bullies emboldens them further, but Trump and his team are not learning from history, and are endangering American national security as well as all of the NATO nations and our Asian allies!

This appeasement will only embolden China toward aggression against Taiwan, and North Korea to become a threat to South Korea and Japan!

Imagining A Ronald Reagan-Donald Trump Meeting!

Ronald 14 Comments

Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, is honored and really worshipped by tens of millions of conservatives, seen as an icon of their beliefs in limited government.

But if Ronald Reagan was alive today, it seems very clear that he would be vehemently opposed to everything Donald Trump believes in and promotes.

Ronald Reagan believed in dialogue, and managed to work with opposition Democrats on major issues, and had Democratic Speaker of the House Thomas “Tip” O’Neill at the White House on a regular, friendly basis. Most famously, on the crucial issue of Social Security reform, the two men came up with an agreement in 1983 that helped promote the long term survival and extension of Social Security.

Ronald Reagan believed the solution to undocumented immigration, a constant reality over the decades at the US-Mexico border, was to promote immigration reform, as was agreed to in 1986.

Ronald Reagan understood the threat of the Soviet Union, and while supporting all efforts for dialogue and diplomacy, he knew that the nation needed to work to undermine Russian aggression as part of the Cold War.

Ronald Reagan clearly knew the danger of high protective tariffs, having lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s, with a major cause of that horrific economic disaster being the Smoot_Hawley Tariff signed by President Herbert Hoover in 1930, despite the entreaties of hundreds of economists.

Ronald Reagan believed in the power of oratory, and avoided “stirring the pot” of turmoil, and worked to unify the nation through his speeches and public utterances in times of celebration and also, of tragedy.

Ronald Reagan’s children, Ron Reagan Jr. and Patti Davis, have made clear their vehement opposition to everything MAGA Republicans promote under Donald Trump, and as do multitudes of conservative commentators, assert that Donald Trump is NOT a conservative of the Ronald Reagan stripe in any way!

Donald Trump lies incessantly, more than any President in American history.

Donald Trump works to divide and denounce anyone in his Republican party who dares to challenge him, as well as any opposition in the nation, as he conducts himself as an authoritarian figure.

Donald Trump is extremely nativist, connected to racism, and has no concern for the plight or the rights of any undocumented immigrant, and even is out to remove any foreign born individual that has moved toward citizenship, instilling fear by his massive deportation efforts without any common decency, compassion, or empathy.

Donald Trump is a known collaborator with the Russian Federation uncer Vladimir Putin, and is ready to give up our alliances with democratic nations around the world. He and his team, including JD Vance, Marco Rubio, and others in the Cabinet engaged in national security, are ready to abandon Ukraine, and cozy up to our long term rival that does not have our safety and security as their goal.

Donald Trump is ready to cause a new Second Great Depression in his incessant drive to impose high tariffs, which history tells us is suicidal economic policy. And Trump representa a threat to the longevity of Social Security, in his quest to cut government spending.

This author and blogger is NOT defending Ronald Reagan, who he considers terrible in many ways, BUT in comparison to Donald Trump, he is to be seen as in the main wave of conservatism, while Trump is clearly NOT a conservative, just an unprincipled opportunist, who is conducting himself in a Fascist authoritarian manner!

The Passing Of Pope Francis A Loss For The World!

Ronald 5 Comments

The passing of Pope Francis this morning at age 88 is a loss for the world, not just for Catholics or Christians, but for all mankind.

He was a promoter of compassion, empathy, decency, and unity for all people, including people of all religions, of no religion, the poor and marginalized, the people who were outside the mainstream, whether in their economic circumstances or their sexual orientations.

He was a visionary on climate change, and the plight of refugees escaping persecution, violence, and hoping for a better life.

He also called for peace and reconciliation regarding the Russia-Ukraine War and the Israel-Gaza War.

Pope Francis humanized the Catholic Church, and it is hoped, but not guaranteed, that his successor will continue to promote the progressive trend that he advocated and promoted in his 12 years as Pope.

JD Vance, An Opportunist And Untrustworthy Heir Apparent To Presidency! :(

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Vice President JD Vance, in his first three months as the 50th Vice President, has demonstrated that he is an opportunist who is untrustworthy.

Vance has stirred a lot of controversy with his statements and actions, making clear of his goal of being Donald Trump’s successor in the White House.

With Donald Trump’s often irrational and contradictory statements and policy changes, stirring a lot of chaos, the sense is that Vance might, at some point, succeed to the Oval Office during this term.

This is a man who has completely reversed himself from his views and thoughts about Donald Trump.

Vance has antagonized our traditional NATO allies with his anti Ukraine utterances, and his pro Russian and anti immigrant leanings make him clearly a man of no decency and compassion.

His nasty and aggressive interaction with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office was highly inappropriate!

Also, his uninvited trip to Greenland, and his aggressive stance toward Denmark, has made that nation and NATO very uneasy.

As the third youngest Vice President, after John C Breckinridge (1857-1861) and Richard Nixon (1953-1961), he is perceived as the likely MAGA Republican front runner in 2028.

The thought of Vance as the likely successor to Trump is a horror, and makes former Vice President Mike Pence look a lot better!

At least, Pence did the right thing in counting the Electoral Vote results at the time of the US Capitol Insurrection, while Vance has said he would not have accepted those results, which are meant to be ceremonial.

Imagining A Theodore Roosevelt-Donald Trump Meeting!

Ronald 8 Comments

At a tumultuous time like now, in late March 2025, after two months of the second Donald Trump Presidency, it seems appropriate to make a comparison between a past President, Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President, and Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th President.

First, the similarities:

Both TR and Trump were Republican Presidents, although massively different in philosophy and outlook.

Both TR and Trump ushered in massive change, revolutionary in many ways.

Both TR and Trump were attention grabbers on a daily basis, constantly creating news and publicity.

Both TR and Trump were egomanics, having an element of insecurity that required them to insist on “rocking the boat” on a regular basis.

Both TR and Trump could be described as “characters”, highly outspoken more than any other combination of Presidents.

It has been said that TR wanted to be “the bride at every wedding, and the groom on every wedding cake”, and that Trump wanted to be equally admired and noticed constantly.

TR was toasted by Great Britain as a great man during and after his Presidency, and loved every minute of it, while Donald Trump was toasted as a great man during his first Presidency by the Saudi Arabian government, and loved every minute of it!

Both TR and Trump were born to wealth and in New York City, with TR in Manhattan, and Trump in Queens County, and with TR’s vacation home in Nassau County, Long Island, at Oyster Bay, and Trump’s vacation home in Palm Beach County, Florida at Mar a Lago.

As former Presidents running again for reelection in 1912 for TR and 2024 for Trump, both were victims of assassination attempts, with TR more seriously wounded than Trump, but both showing a defiant spirit at the time of their being victims.

Now, the massive differences between TR and Trump!

TR was our youngest President ever at age 42 and ten and a half months of age in September 1901, while Trump was our oldest inagurated President age 78 and 7 months in January 2025, and he will be the oldest President when he leaves office in 2029, surpassing Joe Biden in that statistic if it occurs.

TR believed in a need for a stronger, more engaged national government, challenging the conservative, laissez faire philosophy of the Republican Party, and proudly asserting he was a “progressive”.

Trump has declared “war” on the federal government, wanting to cut down the involvement of the national government in a wide variety of ways, promoting a return to state and local government control as in the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.

TR was the promoter of environmental reform and conservation of natural resources, regarded as the single most significant President in that area of policy.

Trump has made clear his desire to shut down most environmental and conservation efforts, and promote more drilling and more industrial use of natural resources, despite the reality of climate change and global warming. He is attempting to cut back on national parks, national conservation lands and national monuments in a dramatic fashion.

TR believed in the need for federal government regulation for consumers, regarding food and drug protection, while Trump has allowed himself to appoint a Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, who is reckless and unstable, and has created great concerns about the protection of health for the American people.

TR promoted openmindedness on workers’s rights, while Trump has demonstrated that he is unconcerned about the average working man and the significance of labor unions.

TR believed in the concept of corporate regulation and responsibility, while Trump has the belief that corporations should not be regulated, and corporate taxes should be cut, both in his first term, and now in his second term. So TR utilized the anti trust laws, while Trump has not and will not do so.

TR and Trump both were involved in the issue of the Panama Canal, with TR promoting a revolution in the area of Colombia which broke away, became independent with US support, and agreed to the building of the Canal, while Trump is now promoting US takeover the Canal, which was given back by treaty in 1977 under Jimmy Carter, and returning to Panamanian control in the year 2000.

TR was aggressive in his relations with the rest of Latin America, promoting the “Big Stick” policy, with intervention in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, while Trump has created tensions in the entire Western Hemisphere, and including our Canadian neighbors to the North, as well as the nations south of the US.

TR cultivated good relations with Japan, while looking down on China, while Trump is being aggressive in his policies toward China, and ready to use tariffs against all nations, including those in Asia.

TR wanted good relations with Europe, particularly with Great Britain and France; was suspicious of Germany; and critical of Russia and its mistreatment of Jews and other minorities. Trump, on the other hand, seems ready to abandon NATO and our close alliances with Western democracies since World War II, and is cozying up with our traditional antagonist, the Russian Federation..

TR won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping to negotiate the treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War, while Trump is hoping for a Nobel Peace Prize by resolving the Russia-Ukraine War.

It is very clear that TR, were he alive today, would be a major critic of Donald Trump, and would have no issue in confronting him openly and “in his face”.

The question is how would Trump react to such scathing and extreme criticism!