donald-trump

Corruption

| ERA

follow the money

The country that was built by immigrants is now being sold to oligarchs.

IT’S A PAY TO PLAY GOVERNMENT

If you pay dearly, you may have your status as a US resident fast-tracked. 

Trump signed an Executive Order in September 2025 which created a GOLD CARD and PLATINUM CARD visa program.

Any foreign national who makes a $1 million gift to the Commerce Department you will be fast-tracked for residency here. In the case of a corporations $2 million does the trick.

There is a Platinum visa program as well where a $5 million contribution allows you extended stays without US tax liability on foreign income. 

Sweet sweet deal. As of June 2025 more than 70,000 people have joined the list for this program. 

What you get for your money:

  • Unlimited right of residence in the U.S., similar to a green card
  • A possible path to U.S. citizenship, what Trump calls “privileges plus”
  • Legal residency without the need to invest in specific businesses or projects, as is the case with the existing EB-5 program
  • Faster and more direct path to residency compared to other immigration programs
  • Opportunity for oligarchs and other wealthy foreigners to immigrate to the U.S. more easily
  • Potential attractiveness for companies looking to bring highly skilled workers to the U.S.
  • Tax exemption for up to 270 days with the Trump Platinum Card

Wonder what type of vetting is being done. We accept oligarchs but not immigrants or those fleeing violence. The country that was built by immigrants is now being sold to oligarchs.

PLEASE ALLOW ME TO introduce myself

| ERA

Trump has introduced himself to us many times and the lyrics of Sympathy for the Devil present his actions to us. For all the evil in the world, this man has brought us new evil and new shame.

I am a devout left catholic who takes my freedom seriously and I can attach myself to many freedom songs from the 60’s era, but the Rolling Stones lyrics stand apart from other songwriters of that time period.

In the first verse, Trump describes himself — “Please allow me to introduce myself ….

I’m a man of wealth and taste
I’ve been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man’s soul and faith”

That is all you need to know about this man, his purpose is to steal souls and your faith. He has succeeded in turning a party with conservative values into a soulless group of men and women who have sided with the devil and his evil policies.

If you are not afraid, you should be. If you are not paying attention, you should be. If you are not doing anything, you should be. I cannot cure your fear, because I am as afraid as you.

The devil is a powerful defender of all that is wrong with America. Those who believe immigrants do not belong here, those who have abandoned the science that has healed us, those who think that abuse of women is OK as long as you don’t get caught. Fraud and dishonesty are values to be promoted in this administration as many who are serving as department heads have committed crimes of abuse and fraud.

If you are not paying attention, I might be able to help you. I can talk to you in the street, I can write you letters. And if you are not doing anything, and think “oh, I just can’t, its too depressing, I’m too young, I’m too old, I have too many things to do–then I feel sorry for you–because when the shit goes down, your conscience will be bugging you.

Trump is now pushing the buttons to start a revolution. He is causing chaos beyond anything I have seen to many families in Chicago and other cities. In order for him to declare an insurrection, he needs to cause chaos–and that he is. The GOP has turned their backs on you and me. They have decided that power is more important to them, then representation and legislation. They have bought into

I am a man of wealth and taste

Are you OK with masked men with large guns stopping children walking home on suburban streets of Chicago.

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, …
But what’s puzzlin’ you
Is the nature of my game …

The nature of the game is not puzzling. The game of separation of families, military in the streets of American cities, denying healthcare to millions is the game. The cruelty is the game.

GOP must wake up and know that they have joined ranks with the devil

So if you meet me, have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politeness
Or I’ll lay your soul to waste …

I hope they wake up before their souls are laid to waste for right now they are soulless sycophants to the devil in the White House.

Crickets!

| ERA

Nicole Malliotakis refuses to answer questions

I have been making videos for a few months to ask Rep. Malliotakis questions because there are so few issues that I know where she stands. Let me say before I went public with the videos I tried making an appointment to meet with her, wrote to her, called her office, protested in front of her office and now, made many videos.

I mostly call the Representative out on the lies she tells us about legislation on conservative news channels and sometimes on CNN where they call her out as well.

I am unsure whether she ever sees the videos, but at least a lot of her constituents do. Sometimes when I meet people in Staten Island, they say I saw your video and then want to discuss it.

In a way I know that someone in her office listens otherwise they would be remiss in their job. After all if you work for a politician you need to know what her constituents think. They also know that some of them trend and this is a very small island.

Anyway, I just wanted you all to know the questions I want answers to because I am only getting

Crickets!

Maybe some of you know the answers or have other questions, and if you do, please comment to this post. These questions are the most important questions facing this country right now and if I have a representative who cannot tell me where she stands on these items, there is a problem.

Here they are:

  • How do you feel about Trump pardoning the convicted January 6th terrorists?
  • How do you feel that some of those convicted felons now work in the Department of Justice?
  • How do you feel that the man running our Department of Health and Human Services is an extreme conspiracy theorist who has cancelled so much important research and fired the entire vaccine commission?
  • How do you feel about a third-rate Fox News Saturday host running the Department of Defense [now called the Dept. of War]?
  • How do you feel about Trump demanding the Department of Justice to go after his political enemies?
  • How do you feel about the military or the National Guard coming to New York to police us?
  • How do you feel about Trump eliminating many exhibits from the Smithsonian because he doesn’t want to acknowledge our history?
  • How do you feel about those who invaded a private lunch with Mr. Mamdani who is running for mayor?
  • How do you feel about Trump calling Gov. Abbott in Texas to say “please redistrict” I might need three seats?
  • How do you feel about this administration eliminating the Department of Education and of course the banning of books?
  • Do you believe children should be separated from their parents?
  • Do you believe that Trump should eliminate the history of his impeachment from the Smithsonian?
  • Do you believe that Trump should take money from foreign governments for personal use?
  • How do you feel about Trump intimidating law firms, universities, corporations and others to bend to his wishes on DEI initiatives and other items?
  • How do you feel about Laura Loomer having a say about who works in the White House?
  • How do you feel about renaming of universities and forts with names of Confederate generals who were treasonous and killed many?
  • How do you feel about Trump sending a Justice Department lawyer [once his lawyer] to interview convicted child abuser, Ghislaine Maxwell, who abused so many teens witih Jeffrey Epstein. She refused to speak at her trial so why should she have a voice now.
  • How do you feel about Kristi Noem’s statement of dismantling FEMA and putting the onus on the states to fix emergencies?
  • How do you feel about defunding NPR and PBS?
  • How do you feel about Trump wanting to designate left organizations and transfolks as terrorists?

This is not all of them and maybe I will start a “Crickets” column.

The reason Nicole cannot escape these questions is because Trump says the quiet part out loud now so we all know where he stands. There is nothing obscure about his statements. We just don’t know where Nicole stands.

Like, I said Crickets.

Authoritarianism creeps up on you

| ERA

Trump sends National Guard to clean up crime in Washington DC

There is crime in Washington DC, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore, etc etc. Those are all Democratically-governed cities. But there is crime in every other major city in America.

Crime in all those cities are at record lows. We have mentally ill people living in the streets of every major city. Homeless people are not criminals, they are homeless. I don’t believe those words are defined the same.

A Republican strategist on CNN just mentioned that he sees men and women peeing near the Union Station in DC–and he is afraid. [shaking head emoji here]. Because one of Musk’s DOGE kids was mugged [sorry about that] and took great photos of how beat up he was, Trump has decided that he is going to send the National Guard to take over DC and clean up all the crime.

Scenario: man pees in the street. National Guards does what exactly? If the man has no where to pee, the problem will continue to exist. Trump has no idea what is needed to fix what is wrong with the cities.

If people are hungry,

if mental illness is not addressed,

if people have no where to pee,

the problem continues.

Trump needs distractions to avert people’s attention from the Epstein files. Every day the distraction moves us closer to authoritarianism. Today Trump declares “Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people,”  The police will have authority to do “whatever the hell they want,” says Trump in a press conference. The National Guard will be taking over the policing of the District of Columbia.

The irony of this: the people who committed crimes on January 6th were pardoned by the man who wants to clean up crime in DC. Seems like peeing is a crime but attacking the capitol is not.

AI defines authoritarianism as a political system where power is concentrated in a leader or a small group, and individual freedoms are limited in favor of state control. It’s characterized by a lack of checks and balances on those in power, with little to no accountability to the people. 

#thisiswhereweare #theauthoritariancreep #beloud

Is there no end to the cruelty?

| ERA

NOPE, I DON’T THINK SO

As your GOP reps flaunt the Big Beautiful [BS] Bill, they would like to pass before the 4th of July, they tout that it will increase the budget of ICE by $8million. That is the money they will use to put masked armed men in the streets to disappear people. Yes, that is exactly what they have been doing. The undocumented father of 3 marines in Los Angeles was detained and beaten. There have been mothers dragged from the safety of their homes.

Here are the stats on this as of June 15:  

  • 56,397 immigrants in detention.
  • 72% have no criminal record
  • Many of the 30%’s crime were minor offenses such as traffic violations
  • 80% of the immigrant population are no threat to the population
  • 7% of the detained population are violent criminals

And now Alligator Alcatraz.

Yesterday the Trump administration sank to new depths of cruelty to humans. Trump went to Florida with his sycophant Kristi Noem to look over a tent prison in Florida’s alligator alley that will house undocumented people.

These poor people were landscapers, farmers, bodega owners, waiters, doctors, students, health care workers, professors, and I can go on and on. Some of their crimes were to speak out. Another was to go to the courts to check in on their status [which you are required to do by law]. At that point they are snatched up and their families might never see them again.

Firstly let’s talk about the corruption involved. The two contractors who worked to build what they are referring to as “Alligator Alcatraz” are significant donors to DeSantis and Trump. They have donated over $1 million to both men’s campaigns under various PACs. This is the beginning of privatizing prisons to make Trump’s friends rich.

DeSantis and the Florida state party Republicans tout the deadly alligators and pythons that will pose danger to those detained. The state GOP has a merch shop selling disturbing swamp-themed merchandise. Amazon is selling it as well.

Trump said about the prison ” . . .very soon, this facility will house some of the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet.” He is talking about our neighbors, people who have lived in our neighborhoods for many years, whose children attended school with our children, who go to parent teacher meetings to assure their children are doing well. They are not menacing and they are not vicious.

The one-year cost of running the facility is $450 million, which will come from FEMA’s shelter and services program. So when a horrible storm hits Florida, I’m unsure whether FEMA will have any funds to house those who need temporary housing.

You might be watching a cable show who have hosts who are laughing about detainees trying to escape and being torn to pieces by alligators. The GOP certainly have Senators and Representatives joking about it. This is what has become of America. Cruelty to those less fortunate, cruelty to those who are black and brown, cruelty to those who have stolen food to feed their children; cruelty to those who are here to make a better life for their families–the same reason our families came here.

The cruelty continues as Trump and his authoritarian government takes shape. The GOP are all in on this–there is no doubt about that. When my rep Nicole Malliotakis posts, it is always about the criminal immigrants and how increased funding of ICE will imprison all of them. She is complicit in the cruelty as are the rest of the GOP.

CABINET OF CLOWNS Part I

| ERA

WE HAVE BEEN CLOWN-I-FIED

If I look at each of the appointments for Trump’s cabinet I start to fully realize this country is being run by clowns. Each of the appointees [confirmed by Senate GOP] adds a certain amount of clownishness to our government. I write this to detail the chaos of our situation and to familiarize others with the clown car.

Clowns can be defined as many things: funny and scary are the first two that come to mind. There is nothing funny about his article but there is plenty to be frightened about.

THE CLOWN CAR OF APPOINTMENTS

As we started to see and hear the results of the confirmation hearings for Trump’s cabinet positions, I thought I would start to understand what those people have to do with the program that Trump has in mind for our country. I could not.

Fox News host Pete Hegseth was nominated for the Secretary of Defense. Some believe that defense of our country is the most important issue, then I wonder why Trump would select someone with no experience in that position.  He was a TV commentator and now he will run the largest employer in the world. It manages just under 3 million people. In addition to lack of experience which probably is the most disqualifying aspect, he has mis-managed two small veteran groups, allowing one to go bankrupt. He was also accused by many at FOX that he was a drunk. Pete also paid $50,000 to silence a woman he raped. That does not surprise me since the majority of people in Trump’s circle have abused and raped women. But now during this very dangerous time, we have Pete Hegseth in charge. He is a terrifying clown for sure.

Tulsi Gabbard was selected as Director of National Intelligence. Former Representative Gabbard has met and associated with Syrian’s Bashar al-Assad, considered one of the most violent men in the world and Putin who easily manipulates Trump daily. She has no business handling our National Intelligence. We must have someone who cannot be manipulated–as she was with both al-Assad and Putin. Ukraine’s defense will not be forthcoming in a Gabbard world since she has consistently been a Putin advocate. Clowns are intelligent folks, this though was a clown-y appointment without the laughs or the smarts.

Robert Kennedy Jr., was nominated for Secretary for Health and Human Services. He is a conspiracist and an anti-vaccine activist. The HHS secretary overseas 11 agencies all concerned with the health and welfare of Americans. If RFK Jr were HHS secretary when the polio vaccine or measles/mumps vaccines were instituted, we would not have them. All our children would still be at risk for these diseases, but the vaccines have eliminated most of the infections in the world. After a widespread vaccination effort polio has been eradicated in most of the world. RFK Jr. insists that vaccines cause autism. This belief has been debunked for years. If RFK Jr. was HHS Secretary during COVID, the vaccine would not have been developed because the Secretary does not believe in vaccines. This alone should disqualify him from this position. In the last four years, RFK Jr. has spoken more than 100 times on the inefficacy of vaccines. But of course there is more. Some personality traits are telltale signs of who a person is. We should know that in the case of RFK Jr. there are many of those signs. To be brief, he stopped on the NYS Thruway and picked up a bear that was hit by a car. He drove to NYC, got busy with something else, and dumped the bear in Central Park. I will leave this link here for those who need to see additional reasons why this man should not be confirmed because the bear incident is certainly not the only telltale sign of his total incompetence to run this agency. [https://theweek.com/2024-presidential-election/1025265/a-running-list-of-rfk-jrs-controversies]

Pam Bondi was nominated as Attorney General. Pam Bondi was the Attorney General for the State of Florida as well as a personal lawyer for Trump. She is a Trump sycophant. She took a $25,000 contribution to her local campaign for AG office in Florida from a Trump PAC and then ruled to end a lawsuit against Trump University for lack of evidence–clearly a conflict of interest here. Pam Bondi then ran the Trump’s Super Pac. As AG she has gone after anyone Trump considers an enemy. She is not an independent AG working for us; she works for Trump alone. Her appearances on FOX news touting all the people she is investigating is against every tenet in the FBI where no one being investigated is named before there is some indictment against that person. And even then, the information is not shared with the press.

There will be a Part 2 Cabinet of Clowns–there are a lot of them.

WE OR THEY?

| ERA

trump papers #3

Media talks about “we” and “they” frequently now that Trump has been around for a decade. Yes, it has been a decade since he first came on the national/international scene. Before that he was just a celebrity host, a developer in New York and man who went bankrupt many times. What we are experiencing now is history developing and history revised in real time. I can hardly breathe as this is happening–everyday. It used to be a year or two before you could effectively change history…but now, give it a 24-hour news cycle.

In a recent interview Trump spoke about the January 6th insurrectionists and referred to them as “we” confirming that although he was not at the Capitol in person, he was definitely at the Capitol in spirit and in agreement with their plan. He said “we.”

Trump categorizes a lot. If you are not loyal to a fault, you are “they” if you consistently praise Trump you are a “we.” Let’s take the case of John Kelly. He was appointed by Trump as Secretary of Homeland Security. Trump liked the job he was doing with immigration and the border. He promoted him to Chief of Staff. He liked John Kelly. He thought John Kelly did a good job. John Kelly was a “we.” But, this week, John Kelly became a “they.” He was interviewed and spoke freely about Trump behavior and how it mirrored fascism. John Kelly is definitely a “they” in Trump world.

If you think that you could never have a status to be a “they” you should rethink that premise. Trump categorizes entire groups of people as “they.” Democrats are definitely “they”; Never Trumpers are “they”; LGBTQA+ people “they”; immigrants “they”; journalists a “they”; groups fighting for the freedom to have safe healthcare: “they”; someone who criticizes Trump, “they”; political opponents “they” as well and Capitol police are “they” I can go on and on. But I think the point is made. You are “for him or agin him” and that changes from day to day.

Then there is the language Trump employs when speaking of the “they’s”. He subcategorizes as well: if “they” are migrants they are “rapists, murderers or were in a mental institution”. If “they” are journalists they are “enemies of the people.” For politicians who are from a different party or from the Republican party but do not support Trump are “enemies from within.” Slight change of wording but always in a fear-evoking sense. Trump evokes hate for the press and in his administration journalists, broadcast networks and newspapers might lose their licenses. He also believes in prosecution for those brave journalists who have consistently brought the truth to the public. And, sometimes “they” are “vermin” using language that the Nazis used during World War II when referring to Jews. As I said–just a sampling.

Trump is not subtle in his choice of words. They are deliberate and have an underlying context to them. If speaking of migrants, “they” are invaders and need to be stopped, so let’s round them up into camps and deport them back to place of origin. That is possibly your neighbor’s dad who has been in this country for more than 50 years, but has no documentation. Or that might be the mom with two small children who came for asylum. Children will once again be separated from their parents. A Bush appointed judge ruled against the separation policy stating that it “represents one of the most shameful chapters in the history of our country.”  There are still 1,400 children who have not been reunited to their parents after more than 5-6 years. These small children will not remember their parents. Trump’s policy was inhumane and does shed light on what will happen in the future. DACA children who were brought to the US as children continue to be considered non documented. There are no policies that allow them to become citizens. They have lived here for 40-50 years and some have never lived in their native country. They could be deported.

We are experiencing this “we”-“they” labeling game but the game becomes stark reality if Trump becomes President. If you are “we” today, you might be “they” tomorrow.

Put aside the hate and think politically about what a Trump presidency suggests. If he wins we stand to lose our health care [oh wait half of us have lost that already.] We will live under an economic system that includes oligarchs [yes we have them now but they will have overall power over us] When do we say enough is enough? If I had to point a finger at anyone or anything, top of the list would be Mitch McConnell and second would be FOX news.

Maybe if you get to see your representative this week [mine is Nicole Malliotakis], look them in the eye and ask them when they decided to lie to us and bring us to the brink of an authoritarian government. For Malliotakis it was on the 4th day of her being seated. She denied certification of electoral votes for President Biden in 2 states after 66 courts ruled that there was no evidence of voter fraud or the people bringing the case had no standing. Be honest and assured when you ask them. Don’t allow the liars who are looking to stay in power revise your history. You lived the history and are entitled to clearly see it as reality. What you saw on January 6th was not a peaceful gathering at the Capitol–it was a violent insurrection that took lives–that is our history unrevised.

Be the “they” for we truly are the “we” as in “we the people.” Vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

Help me understand

| ERA

When I booked this transatlantic cruise to Barcelona I was aware that I would be away for the election of 2024. Actually part of the reason I booked was to be away at this time and my desire to see Barcelona.

I knew if I went away I would come back and face either of two situations: Kamala Harris or Donald Trump would be President. I felt that it didn’t matter what I did, one of these two situations would be true on my return. Could I make a difference if I stayed home? I didn’t think so. Canvassing was out of the question, phone calls would be possible, but I thought what would help me the most and possible others is writing about this moment in time when our disbelief in what is happening is the reality. If you can use any of this information to convince a person on the fence about who to vote for, please do. The information is factual.

Please please help me understand

So you are watching this ad and thinking, look at what a regular guy this is, working the window of a MacDonald’s…..he’s just like me. I heard a few jokes he made at a rally—he was poking fun at the incident of Paul Pelosi being assaulted. I just realized I used the word “joke”—that kinda confirms my believe that Trump’s behavior has been normalized. Who would poke fun at someone else’s harm? I know it is definitely not 70 million people. No one would want their children to behave with that meanness and disregard of others welfare–that’s a given.

If you ask a Trump voter about this behavior they might say “that is just the way he talks—he will be a tough leader and I am in favor of his policies” [a bit more about policies later in the week]. 

Then you might add: does that include the content of the “talk”. Can you accept the content of the “way he talks”. Can you accept that the joke was about someone who was assaulted. Someone please tell me who the fuck thinks that is funny. Well in this moment there are more than 70 million people who will vote for Trump and probably have laughed at that “joke.” I step back for a moment to think maybe not all 70 million Trump voters thought the “joke” was funny—maybe some laughed because of their nervousness, or others because the person next to them did, or others who were surprised by the comment and, sadly, others who thought it was a “joke” and a “joke” that they thought was funny.  So possibly about 22 million of our neighbors think poking fun at someone’s else harm is okay and funny. Trump thinks it is funny—that is who he is and I guess about 22 million of my countryfolk are as well.

Oh BTW, do some of those people go to church as well. What hypocrisy! Damn, I didn’t think I would get to this state of ranting but it is beyond all of my intellect to accept the polar opposites of Churchgoers and Trump on this particular issue of hateful jokes.

So what about the other 44 million citizens who don’t think Trump is funny—why would they vote for him.  

Well there is Mike Johnson, Speaker of the House. He does not think that Trump is funny. When he was on CNN SOTU this past Sunday he avoided every question that was asked of him. Jake Tapper was following up on the Trump rally speech that focused a bit of time on Arnold Palmer’s “junk”. Tapper decided he would use the word “penis” so there be no misunderstanding. Johnson shied away from any talk of penises and put that sardonic smile on his face. His smile informs us that Mike is under the impression that his policies and ideas will carry over to a new Trump administration. It matters not that Trump’s behavior would never be normalized in his coterie. This is a man who tracks his son’s activity on the internet to keep him honest about how many times he visits a porn site—he is not now, nor never will be, a man who uses bad language or makes hateful jokes in public places. He is a confirmed card- carrying Christian Nationalist who makes no excuses for his ideology.  After all Mike believes that as long as he smiles while mildly scolding his candidate about language and never admits that Trump did not win in 2020—his loyalty to Trump will not be questioned. 

The Speaker believes his loyalty will be rewarded and abortion will be outlawed everywhere, and possibly that might happen. But, he will be surprised when Trump decides to abandon the abortion issue because it does not serve his pursuit of power. Trump cares nothing about whether women have self determination about their bodies, he cares about being on the right side of the issue. The “right side” is the side that brings the power to him. It is the “Mike Johnsons” who will put aside their distaste of Trump in pursuit of their ideology.

So let us assume that there are about 22 million “Mike Johnsons” out there.

And now to the last 22 million Trump voters. Who are they? I think they can be broken down into 3 or possibly 4 groups. There are the Elon Musks of the world—those who actually understand Trump and know he is their path to acquiring power and influence in his administration. A Trump administration would definitely reward those wealthy few with generous tax breaks. Possibly a second group are those who cannot under any circumstance vote against a Republican. This group has fallen into the “label” hole. Their attachment to the label “Republican” blinds them to the label change. Beware of those labelled Republicans–they are no longer Republicans. 

A third group might be the misinformed, uninformed and I don’t really care enough about elections.

Oh indeed, talking about Arnold Palmer’s “junk” is such a fresh approach to attracting voters.  Now for sure, this is the guy I want for President. This is the guy I want to represent American interests to the rest of the world.

The media has helped us transition to the normalization of Trump. When once there would be an uproar so loud, so forceful, so impactful to Trump’s behavior—we now talk “penises” on CNN SOTU. 

I assure you that Trump and the action of 70 million+ voters is not normal and should never be considered normal for then it becomes true.

I need to understand, maybe you can help.

THE TRUMP PAPERS

| ERA

JULY 15, 2024 — mixed emotions

Trump is alive and well, how do we feel about that?

I was in the car driving home from pizza Saturday when I heard that Trump was shot. I was immediately told he was not dead. I sighed–I was immediately sorry that was my first emotion, but this is a truthful post.

I think a lot of people felt the same emotion–one that was mixed. I write when I need to sort through emotions. I feel it is the best way to be truthful with myself. I would not put anything in writing that was not accurate in my eye.

My immediate thought was “the shooter missed.” I immediately thought: “oh wow that was not the emotion I wanted to feel.” But really, that was the emotion I felt. Emotions are defined as a “naturally instinctive state of mind.” And that thought was my state of mind at the time.

Can you combat emotions? I am unsure at this point. I thought I was able to combat those emotions as not the ones I wanted to have, but alas, they still cross my mind today.

I went to mass on Sunday and wondered if they would mention this shooting. They did but it was in the Prayer of the Faithful or General Intercessions which is a collection of short prayers of petition. After each petition is spoken the congregation responds by saying, “Lord, hear our prayer” or something similar. It was the last petition and I immediately thought would I say the response. I did because it included the people who took the bullets that were meant for Trump and I am indeed sorry that those people died or were injured.

I decided I am allowed to have mixed emotions–emotions that help me find a path for me to move forward. I think the initial emotions help me move to the emotions that will stay with me.

Former President Trump is alive and well. Today two days after this shooting, I am OK with that. I never want to wish people harm, not even those who wish harm on many.

What I worry about is that people don’t always sort their emotions and think they feel so sorry for former President Trump that they now need to support him. Hell no, I can never support a man who talks shit about people in every single rally. Trump had the wherewithall to push the Secret Service people so he could push up his fist in triumph and yell “fight, fight, fight.” That was his first response….before the unity statement. What was first in his mind, was “fight” not “unity.”

His first statement was about unity in the country. We are smart people; we all know Trump is not looking for unity in the country, but this is a good opportunity for him to look like a martyr shot by a young man who we do not know enough about. I did hear the shooter was bullied in high school. We will need to wait to know, or maybe never know why this young man decided to take a AK-15 and attempt to shoot Trump.

I was slightly pissed off that MSNBC changed their Monday morning coverage and put on NBC correspondents and not Morning Joe. Why was that? What is the media thinking? I could understand on Sunday that coverage was picked up from NBC, but why Monday. It scared me that the media is looking at this as an attempt on a former President’s life. Well sort of and sort of not. The man refused to graciously transfer power to Joe Biden as president. He has intimidated all of his followers to conform to his alternate reality that he won the election. He did not. Most of us understand that. Believe me, Jamie Dimon knows that and Elon Musk know that, but they will benefit from a Trump presidency so they are OK with him in a second term.

Trump is alive and well and I am OK with that–I wish no one harm. What I am not OK with is with Trump in a second term as president. Project 2025 is his manifesto. He has tried to move away from that document but most of us understand that the people who wrote that document are Trump people who worked in his administration and people he admires. The authors of Project 2025 understand that Trump might need to move away from them in the short term to win the election, but they also understand that Trump will move to endorse and legislate that manifesto. After all Trump has no ideology other than power and money. If the Democratic party had policies that tempted his base, he would do that. He is publicly moving away from a strict abortion ban because he knows that might be the GOP’s folly. Though he really doesn’t care about women’s health or care, he cares about winning an election.

I just heard he selected JD Vance to be his vice president. I was actually surprised….I thought it would be Doug Burgum. Of course the first statement from JD Vance after the shooting was “Today is not just some isolated incident, . . . The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.” Of course, there was no mention of Trump’s calls for violence at every rally for anyone that opposes him. There was no mention that there were at least 3 manifestos from mass shooters who mentioned Trump as their reason for violence. Unfortunately Vance’s statement will be relied upon by the GOP to win the election.

I disagree. I believe we need to continue to call out Trump’s authoritarian’s tendencies. We need too assure that this man does not become President again. There are too many people at risk in the scenario that he is president.

So former President Trump is not dead and we, who believe in democracy and freedom, need to keep vigilant and work hard to assure he does not win in November. We do that by going to vote against him. I think we can beat him. I think there are enough people who understand that Trump would be a disaster for this country….and the world.