Today is Monday, February 7, 2022. I just learned that it was a year ago that the second impeachment of a one-term president occurred here in Washington and we are still paying the price of a nonconviction of the criminal mob boss in the White House. Ah, what might have been if the repugnican party had voted to convict and had ensured that this monster could never run for office again! But no, that didn’t happen as we all know. Do you think the party of Dumpf regrets how it has embraced an autocratic leader that could possibly consign it to the trash heap of history once the facts truly come out about Dumpf’s depravity during the events of January 6? It looks worse for Dumpf’s culpability from a year ago, but yet his iron grip on the party is sickeningly unshakable. The many reasons for it will obsess historians for years to come!

Another instance of Dumpf’s break with precedent was covered in an online article for The Hill on my smartphone today by Sarakshi Rai entitled “Boxes improperly removed from White House recovered at Trump’s Mar-a-Largo: report.”

The gist of the article is that the former president improperly kept records from his administration at his estate in Florida as recovered from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which was first reported in The Washington Post. The boxes of records reportedly contained important records of communication, gifts and letters from world leaders, which, according to the Post, is a violation of the Presidential Records Act.

The newspaper stated that the boxes retrieved from Dumpf’s Florida estate included correspondence with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un [his new boyfriend during the tumultuous years he was in office] as well as a letter from former President Obama to Trump.

Before we condemn the Orange Menace for supposedly violating even this regulation during his presidency, the Post has noted that recent administrations have all had some Presidential Records Act violations, including the use of unofficial email and telephone accounts as well as destruction of emails.

However, the extent of the record transfer to NARA was “out of the ordinary” coming from the last administration, according to a source that informed the newspaper of this anomaly.

This new development arrives just a week after NARA handed over some of Dumpf’s White House documents to the House Select Committee probing the January 6, 2021, insurrection that were reportedly torn up and taped together. The National Archives said last week that the documents “included paper records that had been torn up by former President Trump.” Would you say these actions are from someone who has nothing to hide? What is the reason for shredding some of those documents? we must wonder. As you know, the former president originally sued to stop the committee from being privy to certain of his documents, with his attorney claiming it was illegal and that Dumpf wanted to preserve privileges over certain documents. The only thing that Dumpf wanted to preserve was his criminality in all of this, I would contend.

Another story that should alarm most of us is the intervention of one governor into what is being taught in our schools and that governor is Florida’s Ron “Death” DeSantis who just signaled his support for a “Don’t Say Gay” bill that would ban certain discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom. Who does this autocrat think he is contending it is now “entirely inappropriate” for teachers and school administrators to have conversations with students about their gender identity? This unnerving story appears in an online CNN article by Steve Contorno entitled “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signals support for ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.” Should any government legislate what schools should teach their students? This looming disaster for Florida’s schools is just another illustration of repugnican interference in matters they have no business being involved in.

The abominable governor had this to say about what schools should be teaching their students. “Schools need to be teaching kids to read, to write. They need to teach them science, history. We need more civics and understanding of the U.S. Constitution [repugnicans should really go back to really learn about this themselves], what makes our country unique, all those basic things.”

“According to the legislation, which opponents have dubbed the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, school districts ‘may not encourage discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.'” Of course, it’s not clear what would be considered “age” or “developmentally” appropriate. Who would make that decision, even, for school districts in this case?

Despite fierce opposition from Democrats and LGBTQ advocates, the terrible bill is gaining momentum in the Florida legislature and is on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting of the Senate Education Committee. A House version of the bill already received a favorable vote from its Education Committee in January.

This is what is truly alarming about the bill if it gains the approval of the dictatorial governor: that it would lead to further stigmatization of gay, lesbian, and transgender children, causing more bullying and suicides within an already marginalized community. Opponents of the bill say that it would eliminate LGBTQ history from the curriculum and prevent teachers from having discussions with their classrooms if questions about sexual orientation and gender identity come up.

Just like the oppressive abortion bill passed in Texas awhile ago, this bill would allow parents to sue school districts if they suspect a violation. That means those in education may not feel safe from the prying eyes of nosy parents.

The only ray of hope in the bill that I see is where the legislation would ban schools from adopting procedures that could lead to school district personnel withholding information about a child’s mental, emotional, or physical health. So this will make information about their children transparent to parents who have a concerted role in their children’s educational development. Otherwise, this is not a wise move, I believe, on the part of DeSantis. I do wish there is vigorous pushback from concerned parties out there towards the legislation being considered for adoption. It will be ruinous for Florida’s LGBTQ community of schoolchildren.

By the way, I just learned that the House Select Committee on January 6 has spoken to at least 479 people and subpoenaed 1,000 individuals on Ali Velshi’s MSNBC show. Where are those public hearings? we must ask.

On a more buoyant note, yesterday marked the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s ascension to the throne. According to an article that appeared in the Daily News yesterday by Danica Kirka entitled “70 years on the throne: U.K. celebrates reign of Queen Elizabeth,” this milestone is assessed by the writer for the Associated Press. In general, Elizabeth is Britain’s longest-serving monarch, the only sovereign most Britons have ever known. During her long reign, Elizabeth has seen the end of the British Empire, the advent of multiculturalism, the rise of international terrorism, and the challenges posed by Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic. Kirka writes, “In a world of relentless change, she has been a constant – representing the U.K.’s interests abroad, applauding the nation’s successes and commiserating in its failures, and always remaining above the fray of politics.”

In the intervening seven decades, the queen has shared confidences with 14 prime ministers and met 13 U.S. presidents. Among them was the infamous Donald Trump. If she had any public thoughts about her meeting with the 45th president, she has never disclosed them; she is that private. We will never know what she thought of the orange buffoon. She kept her stiff upper lip and said nothing defamatory of the uncouth ex-president. That is being queenly, no doubt about it.

Elizabeth has weathered several controversies during her long reign. In the early 1990s, there was criticism of the monarchy amid reports of the queen’s private wealth and concerns about the expense of the monarchy. Thus in 1992, the queen agreed to pay the expenses of most of her family and became the first monarch to pay income taxes since the 1930s.

There was tension again in 1997 when Princess Diana died tragically in France and there were reports of the royal family’s silence when that occurred, which fueled the resentment of many of Princess Diana’s fans.

More recently, the monarchy is struggling to distance itself from the scandal caused by a sex abuse lawsuit filed against Prince Andrew, the queen’s second son, and the fallout after two of the royal family’s most popular members, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, gave up their royal duties to leave for California. All throughout these scandals, the queen has transcended all of it, remaining popular throughout it all.

I’m not sure how the commemoration of Queen Elizabeth II’s 70-year reign went yesterday since I saw nothing on the mainstream news. I would tend to think it was a bittersweet affair for the 95-year-old monarch since it marked the 70th anniversary of her father’s death, King George VI, in 1952 when she ascended to the throne. She also has recently lost the companionship of her husband, Prince Philip, who died during the pandemic at the age of 99. His funeral was held during the second half of the pandemic, in April 2021, where she sat alone, with a black face mask, like everyone else who has had to heed the rules of social distancing and wearing of face coverings.

No matter what one thinks of the British monarchy, the queen’s 70-year reign is astoundingly remarkable for its longevity. Long live the queen!

It’s getting late here.

Stay safe and be well.