Columbia refugee flights

 On Sunday (January 26) two planes carrying Columbians being deported from the United States were barred from landing in Columbia and instead landed in Honduras (where they were met and picked up by the Columbian presidential plane). President Trump responded by threatening to place tariffs on Columbian exports to the US (including about $6b of crude oil, $1.8b of coffee and $1.6b of cut flowers). Columbian’s socialist President Gustavo Petro countered with his own tariff threats. By Sunday evening an agreement was reached between the two countries.

This is another example of Republican spin (like the three I wrote about yesterday) making Donald Trump out as the hero.

A Whitehouse statement read: “The government of Columbia has agreed to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Columbia returned from the United States, including on US military aircraft…” and “Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again” adding that the threatened tariffs and sanctions would be “held in reserve…unless Columbia fails to honor this agreement”.

Mainstream news repeated this idea, at least at first glance. Headlines read “Columbia backs down on accepting deportees on military planes after Trump’s tariffs threat” (CNN); and “Columbia agrees to accept deportation flights after Trump threatens tariffs” (NYT). Even BBC had “Columbia yields on US deportation flights to avert trade war”. Reuters was only slightly more accurate with “US, Columbia reach deal on deportations; tariff, sanctions put on hold”.

The impression given in the Whitehouse statements is that Columbia dared to thwart the US on accepting deported migrants, Trump threatened them, and they caved. The impression was also given that these deportations began with Trump - Leavitt announced that “deportation flights have begun”. Another impression in the news was that the caving was all on Columbia’s side. In fact none of these are accurate.

Now for the rest of the story: Columbia and the US had an existing agreement for deportations under President Biden, accepting 475 flights between 2020 and 2024, with an average of more than two per week during 2024. In fact all the deportees in this week’s case were arrested and detained under the Biden administration.

The Biden administration used commercial and charter flights while Trump’s used military planes. Part of the agreement between Columbia and the Biden administration was that sufficient notice of flights would be provided and that the migrants be treated with dignity and not shackled. Trump’s flights were unannounced and with military planes (attempting to land a military plane in another country without notice is considered “an infringement of sovereignty”). President Petro also had a recent video of migrants being deported to Brazil in handcuffs and leg restraints, and expected similar treatment for the deported Columbians. Before agreeing to allow American planes back in Columbia Petro requested and received assurances from the Trump regime that proper notice be given and the deportees be treated with respect, as per the previous agreement.

In addition to the tariff threats, Trump also threatened to revoke the visas of all Columbian government officials and to immediately deport Columbian staff members of the World Bank. President Petro countered by threatening to place tariffs on imported American products which includes over $1b in corn for livestock feed. That would have made some American farmers very unhappy as Columbia is one of the top five export markets for American corn.

Threatening Columbia isn’t a good diplomatic move for America. Columbia is historically the strongest and longest standing ally in South America and has worked closely with the US to control drug trafficking and managing migration. China would love to move in should relations with America sour, and Petra seems open to that idea. Trump’s diplomatic strategies of bluster and bullying seldom work in America’s favor.

Heather Cox Richardson goes into this issue in more detail in her January 27 Substack post (link below). She also explains the complicated pre- and post-pandemic inter-migration patterns in Central and South America and writes about the formation of the new Western Hemisphere migration pact signed by 21 countries after 9 months of negotiations. This pact was working well and brought arrests at the Mexican U.S. border down to levels lower than at the end of Trump’s first administration. This is what “Border Czar” Kamala Harris was working on while the Republicans were hollering “Open border!”.

Sources

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/26/colombia-gustavo-petro-trump-deportation-flights

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20p36e62gyo

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-27-2025

Firehose of BS

The Trump regime has been spewing out one outrageous lie after another in what some commentators have called a “Firehose of B---s----“. While journalists and opposition politicians are trying to fact check one lie, they fire out two more. It’s whack-a mole on high speed. Here are three of them.

Condoms for Gaza

The latest was Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s claim that the US spent $50 million on condoms for Gaza. Trump repeated it the next day. Leavitt used this outrageous sounding claim to justify Trump’s funding freeze and Musk’s DOGE (department of government efficiency).

Here are the facts. In 2023, the most recent year for which data is available, about $7 million worth of condoms were distributed by USAid (United States Agency for International Development) with nearly 90% going to Africa to combat AIDS and none to the Middle East. One USAid shipment of $45,000 went to Jordan but did not include any condoms. The International Medical Corps, a US organization, was to get $102 million for operating two field hospitals in Gaza; none of that money would be spend on condoms. Anera, a non-profit has a 5 year $50 million contract to provide health care in Gaza, none of which will be for condoms.

Mackey points out that the contraceptive aid program was not just Biden’s program; $40 million was spent on contraceptive foreign aid in 2019 by the Trump administration.

Rescuing Astronauts                                                             

Early Wednesday Trump posted to Truth Social “I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to ‘go get’ the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration. They have been waiting for many months on @Space Station. Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!”

Musk played along with the charade posting on X “The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @Space Station as soon as possible. We will do so. Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long.”

Here are the facts. The NASA astronauts in question are Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. They are not stranded and certainly not abandoned. NASA has had a plan for months to return them to Earth using Space-X. The astronauts were prepared for a possible lengthy stay and their health is being monitored by NASA medical staff.

A Danish astronaut Andreas Morgensen rebuked Elon Musk for claiming that the two astronauts were stranded for political reasons: “Elon, I have long admired you and what you have accomplished, especially at SpaceX and Tesla. You know as well as I do, that Butch and Suni are returning with Crew-9, as has been the plan since last September. Even now, you are not sending up a rescue ship to bring them home. They are returning on the Dragon capsule that has been on ISS since last September.” 

Next Trump will take credit for the sun rising in the morning.

Military turned on the water in California

On Monday night (January 27) Trump announced on Truth Social that “The United States Military just entered the great state of California and, under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER flowing abundantly from the Pacific Northwest, and beyond. The days of putting a Fake Environmental argument over the PEOPLE are OVER! Enjoy the water California!!!”

Here are the facts. First a little background. For weeks Donald Trump has been blaming the Los Angeles fire on California state government incompetence and offered his brilliant and simple advice to bring more water from northern part of the state to the south. I will deal with the LA fires in more detail in another post but all you need to know for this story is that a water shortage is not the problem.

The California Department of Water Resources responded in a post on X that “the military did not enter California”. “The federal government restarted federal water pumps after they were offline for maintenance for three days. State water supplies in Southern California remain plentiful”.

When questioned Tuesday about the military turning on the water, Press Secretary Leavitt said “The Army Corps of Engineers has been on the ground to respond to the devastation from these wildfires” and added that the changes occurred after Trump “applied tremendous pressure on state and local officials”.

Yes the Army Corps of Engineers has been on the ground in California – since 1849. They are a civilian organization, not military. And it isn’t the ACE that run the federal pumping system, it’s the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

There are many more examples. Tomorrow I’ll talk about the Columbia deportation situation.

Sources

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/29/trump-condoms-gaza

https://www.anera.org/press/usaid-partners-with-anera-to-launch-gaza-health-recovery-activity-to-improve-health-services-in-gaza/

https://abc7.com/post/california-water-regulators-deny-trumps-claim-us-military-turned-state/15845675/

https://tcinla757.substack.com/p/unpresident-norbert-j-dimbulb-screws

NLRB Hamstrung

 

Steven Greenhouse in an October 23, 2024 Guardian article (a week before the presidential election) listed 10 things Donald Trump said about American workers:

1.       The wages of US workers are too high

2.       Automakers in the Midwest should move some of their factories to the south to take advantage of lower wages there, forcing wages down in the Midwest too.

3.       Trump praised Elon Musk for firing workers that went on strike

4.       He pretended to be sympathetic to workers by donning an apron and posing for a photo op at a McDonald’s, but he has never in his life been a worker, only a business owner.

5.       Trump insulted factory workers saying that children could do their jobs

6.       He admitted that he hates to pay overtime and always avoided it.

7.       In 2017, his first year in office, he told unemployed factory workers not to sell their house and move, that he would bring all their jobs back. He did not.

8.       Shawn Fain, president of UAW, is a successful and highly respected union leader who led a 2023 strike that won 25% raises across the auto industry. Donald Trump said at the Republican convention that Fain should be fired immediately.

9.       During his years in real estate development Trump was notorious for paying his contractors late, less than was contracted for, or not at all. In his campaign he insulted workers’ intelligence by bragging that he always paid contractors on time and the full amount they were owed.

10.   Trump told union members that they shouldn’t pay their union dues. His objective here of course is to weaken the unions and their ability to get fair compensation and working conditions.

Evidently not enough workers read the article (or believed it) and here we are.

Just in case they still need convincing, during the chaos and confusion created by the OMB memo “pausing” all federal grants and loans, Trump hamstrung (beheaded might be more accurate) the National Labor Relations Board.

Robert Reich in today’s Substack post (January 29, 2025) writes:

Trump yesterday fired National Labor Relations Board acting chair Gwynne Wilcox — despite her congressional appointment not being up until 2028.

Wilcox’s firing closes down the NLRB, because it’s left with just two members, and the Supreme Court has ruled that the board needs at least three to issue any rulings.

Trump also fired NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, leaving board attorneys who investigate employee and employer complaints without any guidance.

Presto — American workers are no longer protected from illegal firings or unfair labor practices by their employers. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 is effectively gone. Employers can now wreak havoc on their workers.

Robert Reich ends with this question:

How much more proof does the American working class need that Trump is not on their side but on the side of the oligarchs, who are siphoning more and more of the nation’s wealth to themselves from everyone else?

Sources

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/23/trump-anti-worker-union-statements

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/if-anyone-needed-more-proof-that

 

Trump’s Mandate

 The big news today is Trump’s OMB (Office of Management and Budget) memo to pause disbursement of federal funds effective at 5pm EST today (10 minutes from when I am typing this). I won’t go into the illegality and unconstitutionality of the memo interfering with funds appropriated by Congress. Instead I want to examine the rationale given for this and all the other sweeping changes, many like this one illegal and unconstitutional, that the Trump regime has initiated in the first few days – his mandate.

The memo begins with “The American people elected Donald J. Trump to be President of the United States and gave him a mandate to increase the impact of every federal taxpayer dollar…”

Just how strong was Trump’s “landslide” victory (as he calls it)? The counted votes were Trump 77.3 million (49.8%), Harris 75.0 million (48.3%), a difference of 2.3 million (1.5%). This was the closest presidential race since 2000 when Al Gore won the popular vote by 0.52% (but lost the presidency to Bush thanks to the Supreme Court decision to stop a recount).

Of the 244 million eligible voters, 31.6% voted for  Trump, 30.6% voted for Harris, and 37.8 did not vote. Both receivede less than 1/3 of the eligible votes with a difference of only 1%.

So, not a very strong mandate on which to turn the whole government upside down.

How about Trump’s policies – how popular are they?

Most of his policies are favored by the majority of Republican supporters but not by American adults as a whole. Here are some examples from a January poll (numbers are % of favor/oppose for US adults and for Republican supporters):

• Leaving the Paris climate treaty - A: 21/52; R: 45/22
• Ending birthright citizenship - A: 28/51; R: 53/26
• Deporting undocumented immigrants who have not been convicted of a crime – A: 37/44; R: 61/20

Another poll on the pardons of convicted January 6 participants gave % opposed by Americans and by Republican supporters (% in favor not provided):

• Pardons for those convicted of using a deadly weapon – A: 75; R: 55
• Pardons for those convicted of assaulting police officers – A: 73; R: 54

Another January poll looked at the popularity of Elon Musk’s role in DOGE (or whatever it’s called now).

• 29% of Americans and 58% of Republicans approve of the creation of DOGE
• 36% of Americans have a favorable view of Musk; 52% an unfavorable view
• About 60% of Americans think Trump getting policy advice from billionaires would be bad; 12% thought it would be good. Even with Republicans only 20% approved.

Finally, a poll asked Americans what they thought the government isn’t spending enough money on:

• Social Security – 67%
• Education – 65%
• Assistance to the poor – 62%
• Medicare – 61% and Medicaid - 55%
• Giving more money to billionaires [this wasn’t actually in the poll but I expect that support would be close to 1% if it was]

It appears to me that Trump does not have a strong mandate from the American people. And for some of his policies he doesn’t have a mandate at all, even from his own supporters.

There are no doubt many reasons why a majority, however slim, of Americans voted for Trump (or didn’t vote for Harris) but it’s clear to me that giving Donald J. Trump a strong enough mandate to break laws and ignore the Constitution in order to carry out his policies was not one of them.

Update - March 17, 2025

Just found this poll, taken shortly after inauguration.

Trump voters were asked for their two most important issues for the government. The top issue with 46% was Cost of Living. Immigration was second with 29% (which explains why his approval rating is still in the 40-50% range). Here are a few more (in declining importance):

18%    political corruption
10%    climate change
8%     crime
6%      abortion
5%      taxes

3%     gun rights

Note that climate change exceeded the total of abortion and gun rights. Tariffs and mass firing of government employees and shutting of agencies aren't on the list but lowering taxes, which is Trump's excuse for the tariffs and firings, is pretty low.

Trump does not have a mandate to turn America into a dictatorship. He does have a mandate to lower the price of eggs. How is that working out?

Sources

https://protectdemocracy.org/work/new-poll-republicans-oppose-jan-6-pardons/

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5105472-donald-trump-doge-support-survey/

https://echeloninsights.com/in-the-news/jan-2025-verified-voter-omnibus-2/

Friday Night Massacre

Late Friday evening about 17 Inspectors General received notices that they were fired, effective immediately. They were from the Departments of Defense, State, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Energy, Commerce and Agriculture plus the Environmental Protection Agency, Small Business Administration and the Social Security Administration.

As Inspector General Mark Greenblatt explained in an interview for the Contrarian, the purge was more comprehensive than it might appear. While there are 73 inspectors general in different departments of the US government, only 34 are Presidentially Appointed, Senate Confirmed (PASC), the rest are agency appointed. And many of the PASC positions were already vacant, so Trump removed the majority of those in his power leaving 5 or 6 who survived the purge. Two of the survivors are Michael Horowitz (Justice) who had criticized the FBI over their 2016 investigation of Russian influence in the Trump campaign; and Joseph Cuffari Jr. (Homeland Security) who was appointed by Trump and who has been accused of misleading the Senate during his nomination hearings and of other instances of misconduct.

There are two issues here.

First, the firing is blatantly illegal. The law creating the independent inspectors general in 1978 to identify fraud, waste and abuse in the government, allows the president to fire them provided they give Congress “the reasons for any such removal” at least 30 days ahead of time. Trump did just that in his first term but with rather flimsy reasoning. In 2022 the law was tightened required the president to provide “substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons” for any such dismissals. By not providing the 30 days’ notice nor giving any reasons (at all) for the firings, Trump shows his utter disdain for the law (not just this law but the Law in general).

The second issue is even more serious. In his interview Greenblatt said that the 30 days’ notice was not as significant as the potential loss of independence of the Inspectors General. It’s now up to the Senate in the nomination hearings to determine if the replacements for the Inspectors General positions, whoever they turn out to be, will be the “comprehensive, fair, objective, independent overseers that we need” or “lackeys” willing to overlook the corruption of the new regime.

We will find out soon enough.

Sources

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/01/25/trump-firing-14-inspectors-general-illegal/

https://contrarian.substack.com/p/breaking-inspector-general-mark-greenblatt

A Plea for Mercy

On Tuesday January 21 at the National Cathedral prayer service in Washington the Right Rev Mariann Edgar Budde, Episcopal bishop of Washington, took the opportunity to appeal to President Trump for mercy.

After a brief opening prayer Bishop Budde began her message by quoting part of Jesus’sermon on the mount about building a house on the rock. She then spoke at length about three foundations of unity – honoring the dignity of every human; honesty in private and public; and the need for humility. She ended with an appeal to mercy for immigrants and transgender chidren. The Trumps and Vances were seated in the front pew and she looked President Trump right in the eye when she said:

Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you. As you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families who fear for their lives.

And the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in our poultry farms and meat-packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shift in hospitals – they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes, and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.

Have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land.

May God grant us all the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, speak the truth in love, and walk humbly with one another and our God, for the good of all the people of this nation and the world.

To put it mildly, President Trump was not impressed by the message. He attacked Bishop Budde in a lengthy social media post among other things called her “nasty” and a “radical Left hard line Trump hater” and that she and her church owes the public an apology. Trump’s followers jumped in with congressman Mike Collins suggesting she be added to the deportation list. Bishop Budde has received attacks including death threats from people who no doubt consider themselves Christians but who evidently reject the teachings of Christ.

On Friday Oklahoma Congressman Josh Brecheen on behalf of himself and 20 other Republican congressmen submitted House Resolution 59 to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The resolution condemned Bishop Budde’s sermon as “a display of political activism” which traditionally “affirms dependence upon God and prays for the success of our President and Vice President” but instead inappropriately promoted “political bias instead of advocating the full counsel of biblical teaching.”

Apparently in the view of these 21 Republicans the “full counsel of biblical teaching” doesn’t include mercy. But what about the lines in the Lord’s Prayer (that they want recited daily by every student): “…forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”?

In an interview about her sermon Budde said “I don’t hate the president, and I pray for him. I don’t feel there’s a need to apologize for a request for mercy.”

I wonder – if quoting the words of Jesus makes Bishop Budde a Trump hater, wouldn’t that also make Jesus a Trump hater?

I’ve often thought that if Christ were to return to America today, He would have nothing to do with the Republicans. And even more significantly, the Republicans would have nothing to do with Him. I can just hear them: “What!! Sell everything I have and give it to the poor? What kind of woke Commie are you?”

Sources

You can read Bishop Budde's entire sermon here 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/24/bishop-mariann-edgar-budde-sermon-that-enraged-donald-trump

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/23/mariann-edgar-budde-trump-sermon-defense

https://www.facebook.com/groups/impcourt/posts/10163426545508338/

Secretary of Defense

 Pete Hegseth was confirmed by the Senate last night. The vote was tied with three Republican Senators (Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowsky and Susan Collins) voting “no” with the Democrats. Vice President Vance broke the tie to make Hegseth the new secretary of defense.

There are three things I want to unpack from this announcement.

One is the threats to “primary” (that’s a verb) any senator who doesn’t vote for Trump’s picks. Elon Musk, and others, have threatened the senators that they will fund a more “loyal” candidate in the next primary election with as much money as needed to ensure that they win. Joni Ernst (Iowa) was one who was thus threatened. Ernst is a combat veteran who served in Kuwait and Iraq and is a sexual assault survivor. She was naturally reluctant to support Pete Hegseth who has strongly opposed women in combat duty and also has credible allegations of committing sexual assault. Apparently it worked; she voted "yes".

This primaries threat is a blatant example of how wealth can be used to influence government, even by an unelected billionaire. This goes far beyond bribing politicians with campaign donations, or Supreme Court judges with extravagant holidays.

A second issue with Hegseth was the FBI background check which each candidate for presidential appointees undergoes. The FBI reports are first sent to the White House for the transition team (incoming president’s people) to review, then passed on to the Senate committee. The transition team sets the parameters of the investigation, even who gets investigated and who doesn’t. That has worked well in the past because it’s to the advantage of the nominating party to discover and eliminate candidates with secrets that could embarrass the government, turn off voters, or lead to blackmail by enemy agencies (think KGB).

In Hegseth’s case, the FBI were instructed not to talk to his ex-wives or the woman accusing him of sexual assault. A similar situation occurred in the FBI check of Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court in 2018, which a recent investigative report by the Judiciary Committee called “a sham”.

For the MAGA Republicans it appears the object is to get the nominees appointed despite any such embarrassing secrets. They aren’t worried about their voters, for whom sexual assault is evidently not an issue, and MAGA’s concern for national security, given the Mar-a-Lago documents scandal, is practically nil. No, their only concern is getting the nominee past the Democrats and the few Republicans who still have a smidgen of ethics. Once in power, nothing else matters. The MAGA Trumpians have no shame.

The primaries threat and the inadequate FBI check aren’t the only tactics that the Republicans used to get Pete Hegseth confirmed. Here is a quote from a January 16 article in the Guardian by Moira Donegan: 

Witnesses who might cast Hegseth in an unflattering light – including the woman who accused him of rape and several whistleblowers who exposed his drunkenness and alleged financial mismanagement as the leader of two veterans’ non-profits – have been smeared in the rightwing media and threatened with lawsuits and public ruin; they have ultimately made the reasonable, and intended, decision not to testify.

The third point I want to make from this news item has to do with DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion). The MAGA Trumpians oppose DEI arguing that it forces governments and corporations to hire minorities (racial, women, LGBQ+) who are less qualified than the white men they replace. They call it a form of reverse discrimination. I believe that its purpose is just the opposite – to allow and encourage governments and corporations to hire members of a minority with superior qualifications over less qualified white men. Pete Hegseth is a perfect example.

Hegseth is without doubt the least qualified Secretary of Defense in American history. In the article quoted above, Donegan wrote that his abuse of alcohol and misconduct would disqualify him from holding any leadership position in the military, much less that of principal defense policy advisor to the President. And who does Pete Hegseth replace? The Secretary of Defense under President Joe Biden (confirmed by the way with a vote of 98-1) was Lloyd Austin, a four-star general who happens to be Black.

Sources               

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/16/pete-hegseth-confirmation-hearing

 

Pardoned January 6 Rioters

Pam Bondi, in her January 15 Senate hearing as Trump's nominee for Attorney General, when asked about pardons for the January 6 rioters assured the Senators there would be no blanket pardons - they would all be examined on a case by case basis.

We know of course that that is not what happened. So how was the decision made on who to pardon?

Eight days before the inauguration, JD Vance said in a Fox News interview that the January 6 convicts who had assaulted police officers would not be pardoned. "If you committed violence that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned." [Recall that one of the MAGA spins on the January 6 riot was that these were just peaceful tourists visiting the Capitol]. But there was a backlash to this announcement from the MAGA base that made the Trump team reconsider. 

During a debate by Trump's team planning the Day 1 executive orders, on who to pardon and who not, Donald Trump became impatient and reputedly said "Fuck it, release 'em all". [If you find the president's language offensive, as I do, I hope you did all you could to keep him out of the White House.]

And there you have it - that's how the decision was made.

We can't blame Bondi for this one since she hadn't been confirmed as AG yet. But it does make one wonder just how firmly she will stand up to Trump should he demand the DOJ to do something illegal, unconstitutional, or just plain unethical.

In his interview with Sean Hanity on Fox January 22, Trump tried to defend his pardon of the January 6 rioters, 200 of whom were convicted of felony assault on police officers. He described the attacks as "very minor incidents" and said "most of the people were absolutely innocent, okay?" Trump also said that their punishment was too severe. "Nobody's ever been treated so badly...like the worst criminals in history" He then explained why they shouldn't be punished at all - because they were doing it for him "...they were protesting the vote because they knew the election was rigged". 

So now that they are freed, are these people going to go home and start living as peaceful model citizens? 

At least one convicted rioter learned from her experience. Pamela Hemphill, age 71, now realizes that she had been caught up in the cult of MAGA and has refused to accept a pardon. MAGA Granny, as she was once known, now has this to say about the pardon:

“It’s an insult to the Capitol police officers and to the rule of law and to the nation. It contributes to the propaganda that it was a peaceful protest, that the DoJ is weaponized against them and against Trump.”

She also had this message for Donald Trump:

“Other people around you told you the election had not been stolen. You went out anyway, and lied to the world that the election was stolen. But we know it wasn’t and you know it wasn’t.”

But sadly Hemphill is in the minority. Possibly the most well known rioter, Jacob Chansley, aka the QAnon Shaman, had this to say on the news of his release: 

“I JUST GOT THE NEWS FROM MY LAWYER… I GOT A PARDON BABY! THANK YOU PRESIDENT TRUMP!!! NOW I AM GONNA BY SOME MOTHA FU*KIN GUNS!!! I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!”

Sources

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/23/maga-granny-trump-pardon

Trump's Imperialism

A month or so ago I remember thinking that, yes, Donald Trump will turn America into Russia with an oligarchic government, a dictator-like leader, and KGB-like raids by ICE, but at least he doesn't have any imperialist ambitions. There wouldn't, I was sure, be any invasion of Canada or Mexico like Putin's war to regain Ukraine as part of the former USSR and make him a national hero.

Then just a few weeks ago, before his inauguration even, Trump started talking about Greenland, Panama and Canada.

Greenland is fairly safe. NATO would back up Denmark if Trump tried anything there. Denmark should kick the American military base off Greenland or, if the US withdraws from NATO, have NATO take it over.

Canada is safe from a military invasion, at least for now. It will be interesting to see what happens with the threatened tariffs and other undefined economic pressures. But when the American west runs out of water due to mismanagement of ground water aquifers exacerbated by global heating, Canada will be asked to share our water by diverting rivers south. And if we don't comply to their satisfaction I wouldn't rule out tanks rolling across what we used to brag about being the longest undefended border in the world. When Trump was building his Mexican wall during his first term I recall suggesting that Canada should be building a wall on our southern border too.

While Canada should take seriously Trump's threats to annex Canada as a 51st State, we should treat it like a joke. Make a counter offer of inviting the USA to become Canada's 11th province. List the  advantages for the American people - no more medical bankruptcies; parents can send their children to school without worrying they will come home in a body bag; and dairy farmers will get a decent price for their milk without depending on government handouts. We could even suggest that Canada buy Alaska because it's in our "national security interest".

So, no, it's Panama that I think is the most vulnerable. Once Trump has all his loyal people in place in authority over the military he could just decide to take over the canal and who would stop him. American ships would be given preference in queues and be charged lower fees, but if he put Republicans in charge of running it there would be chaos and delays far worse than anything he imagines there is now. 

President William McKinley is Donald's latest hero. He was the 25th president, serving from 1897 until 1901. One reason for Trump's obsession with McKinley was his fondness for tariffs to protect American industry. Another possible reason is that it was during McKinley's presidency that America annexed Hawaii and, as a result of victory in the Spanish-American War, added Guam, the Phillipines and Puerto Rico to American territory. To honor his hero, Trump is renaming Mt. Denali (the highest peak in North America) back to Mt. McKinley, reversing the name change made in 2015 by President Obama (which the State of Alaska had been asking for since 1975).

Donald Trump should take to heart William McKinley's most famous quote: 

We want no wars of conquest; we must avoid the temptation of territorial aggression. War should never be entered upon until every agency of peace has failed; peace is preferable to war in almost every contingency.

Donald should also keep in mind why McKinley's presidency ended in 1901 - he died from an assassins bullet.

Sources

"America has an imperialist presidency" - the Economist, 25 January 2025 

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/01/23/america-has-an-imperial-presidency

Pardon Me!

 

There have been a lot of controversial presidential pardons in the last few weeks and days.

It began on December 1, 2024, with President Joe Biden issuing preemptive pardons for his son Hunter. Hunter Biden had been convicted and was awaiting sentencing on three charges - tax evasion, lying on a gun acquisition form and owning a gun while using illicit drugs.

President Biden claimed that Hunter was “singled out” for prosecution only because his last name is Biden. This particular charge is rarely made unless the gun in question has been used in committing a crime such as armed robbery. Hunter owned the gun for about a week in October 2018 before his girlfriend found it and got rid of it, concerned about possible suicide. The gun was never fired and I don’t believe was ever loaded while in Hunter’s possession.

So, should he be treated like every other American and never charged? Or should every American gun owner that ever got drunk on a Saturday night also have their guns confiscated and be charged, facing up to 25 years in prison? In that case there would be a lot of unhappy Trump voters.

As for his tax evasion – he has paid up in full including penalties. Why was he charged while a prominent Republican like Roger Stone, who owed more than Hunter, was not?

The main criticism of Joe Biden here is that he had promised that he would not pardon Hunter. And had Harris won the election I’m sure he would have stuck to that, confident that the sentencing would be fair and that would be the end of it. But with Trump in the White House, he had no such confidence, so just to be safe he extended the pardon to cover anything else the Republicans might accuse him of.

Another criticisms of Hunter’s pardon was that it set a precedent for Trump to pardon the January 6 rioters. But Trump had been promising this for some time already and hardly needed an excuse. Only a fool continues to play by the old rules when your opponent no longer does.

Then on his last day of office, President Biden offered broad preemptive pardons to a large number of people who have not been charged with any crimes but who were on, or suspected of being on, a list of Trump’s enemies whom he had sworn to exact revenge. The list included Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired General Mark Milley, and members of the January 6 House Committee. It also included members of Biden’s family - his brother James Biden and his wife, his sister Valerie and her husband, and his brother Francis.

This was an extraordinary use of the presidential pardon, issuing blanket pardons for people who have not yet been charged. Biden himself said that "The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offence”. Liz Cheney’s response to the news of the pardon: “We are not being pardoned for breaking the law but for upholding it”.

Were these pardons necessary? One would hope not. But experience has shown that Trump’s assurances, and that of Trump’s nominee for Attorney General Pam Bondi, that the Justice Department under the Trump administration would be “fair, equal and impartial”, cannot be trusted.

I was kind of hoping that Cheney would decline her pardon – I’d love to watch her eviscerate the Republican prosecutors.

This brings us to Trump’s pardons.

President Trump keeps referring to his strong mandate to carry out his agenda. But just how many Americans support the pardon of the people who invaded the Capital Building, battling police and damaging the building? Not a majority of Americans. A recent poll found 73% of American adults, including 55% of Republicans, oppose pardons for those convicted of assaulting Capitol Police officers. At first he was only going to pardon the non-violent rioters but backlash to Vance’s assertion of this changed the tune to nearly all.

Trump’s act of pardoning the January 6 rioters sends several messages:

·         He doesn’t care about the opinion of the American people, only that of his base

·         Trump admits that they were following his wishes (if not orders) in the attack, calling them “patriots” (so much for the story they were planted FBI agents)

·         He insulted the police officers who risked their lives to protect the Capital and the Senators and Congressmen inside it, and relinquishes any notion that MAGA is the party of law and order

·         He gets 1,500 more violent unofficial soldiers to carry out his hinted wishes

·         He assures his followers that if they commit crimes on his behalf that they will not face consequences.

Possibly the most controversial pardon (so far) was the full and unconditional pardon by President Trump to Ross Ulbricht, founder of the criminal drug marketplace called The Silk Road. In a phone call to Ulbricht’s mother Trump told her that this was repayment to “the Libertarian Movement which supported me so strongly”. As long as you vote for Trump and give him enough money, is there any crime that he wouldn’t overlook?

In contrast, the last minute (literally, the inauguration process had already started) commute by Joe Biden of Native American Rights activist Leonard Peltier should not be controversial and is long overdue. Peltier was convicted nearly 50 years ago of murdering two FBI agents with no evidence, lying witnesses, and hidden evidence that would have exonerated him. The prosecutor has since admitted the conviction was a mistake and personally asked Biden for clemency. Peltier, now 80 and in declining health, will serve the rest of his life sentence in home confinement.

This is what presidential pardons are for.

Sources

https://protectdemocracy.org/work/new-poll-republicans-oppose-jan-6-pardons/

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/biden-last-minute-pardons-1.7435857

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/21/ross-ulbricht-silk-road-trump-pardon

https://tcinla757.substack.com/p/poking-around-48-hours-after-the

Quotes from T’s inauguration speech January 20, 2025

 

Man, oh man – where to start.

There were enough egregious lies in his inauguration speech yesterday, and egregious acts in his first half day of office to write about for a month. I’ll pick out two things from the speech and will try to pick up on a few others such as tariffs, Federal disaster aid and the LA fire, inflation, and political corruption later, time and Trump permitting.

First the weaponization of the Department of Justice.

The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end.

Under my leadership, we will restore fair, equal and impartial justice under the Constitution and the rule of law.

This was just a quick mention near the beginning of the speech, and picked up again near the end, but it’s a mantra that the MAGA Trumpians have been expounding for years. He’s trying to imply that the many charges against Trump, including the two impeachments, were “witch hunts” with no basis in law. This completely ignores the fact that no other presidential candidate or sitting president has committed the number or types of crimes that Donald has, and that the DOJ has bent over backwards to accommodate him. The other high-profile Republicans who have been charged, and mostly convicted, were also guilty of serious crimes and deserved everything they got. I will expound on these another time for those who aren’t yet convinced.

The second part of this short sentence is Trump’s promise that such weaponization has ended and that his government would never do such a vile thing as charge an opposition politician with a crime. But that is exactly what he has been promising to his followers “I will be your retribution”. Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee for FBI Director, even has a long list of names of Trump’s enemies that he intends to go after, whose only crime is opposition, or insufficient loyalty, to Trump. And it doesn’t matter if an honest judge exonerates them, the harassment and the monetary cost of the charges and court case will be devastating. And if that’s not enough to satisfy Trump he can always sic his informal “army” on them (remember Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss?). And Trump just let another 1,500 of them out of prison. So, will Trump keep his promise not to weaponize the DOJ? I predict that we won’t have to wait long to find out.

Secondly, freedom of speech. Here is what Trump said near the end of his speech.

After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional federal efforts to restrict free expression, I will also sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America. Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents. Something I know something about. We will not allow that to happen. It will not happen again.

Two things here – what Trump means when he complains about government censorship and restriction is that he hasn’t been able to lie with complete impunity. People have been (gasp!) fact-checking and correcting a few of his many lies. That, he says, must stop!

Trump’s version of free speech is to attack anyone in the media who criticizes him. That’s what the FBI and DOJ are for, after all. Refer back to point #1.

One more quick item – inflation.

Next, I will direct all members of my cabinet to marshal the vast powers at their disposal to defeat what was record inflation and rapidly bring down costs and prices. The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices. 

I was pleased to see that he hasn’t forgotten his election promise to bring down inflation on day one. I expected he would just drop it and hope his followers forgot all about it. Never mind the lies about the cause of inflation or about how bad it is. Trump’s two major promises – tariffs and deportation – if allowed to be carried out to the extent that he has promised – would lead to double digit inflation and possibly recession as well, something that even his most die-hard followers would notice. Anyway, I wish him luck with that.

You can read his entire speech here (if for some strange reason you want to) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transcript-trump-inauguration-speech-2025/    

Introduction

 What qualifications does a 70 year old man in Saskatchewan, Canada, have to write a blog about American politics? Well, maybe a few.

First, I have followed American politics for the last 8 years since before the 2016 presidential election. I have my wife to thank for getting me interested. She comes from a family of Albertans who take their religion and politics seriously. The television in their Alberta farm home plays Fox News 24/7; they are fans of Rush Limbaugh and Donald Trump in America, and support whichever party is the farthest Right provincially. My wife binge-watches Fox videos on You-Tube and is a fan of Jordan Peterson, etc. So in self-defense I subscribed to a few newspapers and substacks and watch a few videos:

• The Washington Post - Jennifer Rubin was a favorite writer until her recent retirement from WaPo
• The New York Times
• The Guardian - the best independent news source I have found
• The Economist - for a few years, now unsubscribed
• Heather Cox Richardson - a wonderful historian of American politics
• Thom Hartmann - if you want to know what's happening in America, read his books
• Robert Reich Koffee Klatch - weekly half-hour video
• Mary Trump & Nerd Avengers - twice weekly one-hour video

Second, living in small town rural Saskatchewan, Canada, I have a clearer perspective on things American than I might have if I lived in the USA. An example I like to give is that if Bush Jr really wanted to know if Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, he could have asked a Canadian. Almost any of us could have told him that no, Iraq did NOT have any WMD. But Bush needed an excuse for a war so he didn't ask.

The third qualification is that I'm a Christian. So while most Christians of my acquaintance feel they have to support the Republican Party in the US and the Conservative Party (or equivalent provincially) in Canada, I'm a rare Christian socialist and will bring that viewpoint to the blog. I have two brothers who are at opposite ends of the political spectrum and I manage to get along with both.

I'm hoping this blog will provide an opportunity for me to share some of the knowledge that I've accumulated over the last 8 years. I don't expect it will change anyone's mind but might perhaps introduce them to another viewpoint.

Day 1 of Trump 2

Today is Donald Trump's second inauguration as president of the United States of America.

Will today mark the beginning of a new era of a Christian nation in the USA as many hope, or the end of a nearly 250 year experiment in democracy as many others fear? This is one of a number of questions that I plan to explore over the next few years.

Ironically today is also Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Here is a quote from King that seems relevant today.

"... I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”

― Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail; April 16, 1963