Tag Archives: politics

And So It Goes

Today is Friday, October 17, 2025, the eve of our upcoming “No Kings” rally tomorrow. I’m going to make this entry brief since I’m prepared to join thousands of others on the street tomorrow early in the morning.

Maybe in preparation for attending this nationwide event, I saw Raoul Peck’s new documentary on that revolutionary and prescient writer George Orwell entitled Orwell: 2 +2=5 at the IFC Center today. The close-to-two-hour documentary unspools scene after scene of present- and past-day abuses of power as witnessed in totalitarian governments, the U.S. included here, with the rendering of MAGA world embodied in President Dump’s first term. Peck is the director of I Am Not Your Negro, chronicling the writings of James Baldwin.

In this timely documentary, Orwell is heard in voiceover by actor Damian Lewis detailing scenes from his life, beginning with his birth in 1903 during the Bengal Presidency of India. He was the son of a career civil servant who held the post of Sub-Deputy Opium Agent, and when he was born, he was known as Eric Arthur Blair. He adopted the Orwell pen name in 1932. At one point , he served as a police officer in Burma, an experience that opened his eyes to colonial imperialism and aggression toward a country’s native population. As he wrote later, “In order to hate imperialism, you have got to be part of it.” And he certainly was and always regretted it.

Peck’s biodocumentary is drawn from the author’s diary as well as his published writings and proceeds in chronological fashion across a minefield of Orwell’s political and literary provocations, from Hitler to Stalin to Franco to M16 to rival leftist journalists to his own ill health. The injustices Orwell saw raised hackles that stayed with him for the rest of his life. He is credited with writing, “Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism.”

The film unearths a large trove of clips of films that illustrate the Orwellian antipathy toward authoritarian societies. His one famous work, adapted several times for the cinema, and a television production (which I never knew existed) was 1984. The most recent adaptation was released in 1984 and starred Richard Burton and John Hurt as Winston Smith. The TV production starred Eddie Albert as Winston and another 1956 adaptation starred Edmond O’Brien as Winston. There are also numerous animated treatment of Orwell’s animal fable called Animal Farm, most noticeably by John Stephenson and Ralph Steadman.

In his comments on Nazism, Orwell pondered how the “goosestep is one of the most horrible sights in the world. It is simply the affirmation of naked power.”

The images of Dump and his clueless supporters drew guffaws and sneers from me in the audience. I was surprised no one said to hush up. Actually, I wanted to throw my nonexistent popcorn at the screen, but I didn’t.

Some of Orwell’s entries were written on the Isle of Jura in Scotland, where he wrote his masterpiece, 1984, and in sanatoriums, where Orwell was treated for the tuberculosis that took his life in 1950.

The origin of the documentary’s title comes from an infamous scene from 1984 where the protagonist, Winston Smith, is shown four fingers, and told it’s actually five by his tormentor. This is the 1956 version starring Edmond O’Brien as Smith.

It’s the applications of the themes inherent in the book to today’s world that burn the brightest. It starts with the way Orwell described the malleable nature of language and how regimes have always twisted their words to hide their crimes. Does this sound familiar? A more recent example was in 2022 when monster Vladimir Putin called the invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation.”

Our own country is not spared either from using “Doublespeak,” a central tenet in 1984, in a montage of former President George W. Bush’s orders to invade Iraq, which were later to be debunked by reality. There are examples of doublespeak in such authoritarian countries like China, Sudan, even Israel, and right here in the United States.

One particularly disturbing montage displays the thousands of books that are banned in this nascent totalitarian country; I believe the actual number was over 3,000. One list that scrolls on the screen shows book bans in U.S. states from 2022 to 2023, and the list is so long that it only gets through the authors whose names start with “A.” Contemplate that little kernel of truth here! We’re now a country that bans books.

Censorship, like rewriting history which is the province of today’s Republican Party, is of a piece of the totalitarianism playbook. Then we see the footage from the January 6th storming of the U.S. Capitol and attempts to rewrite the history of this event ever since it occurred. A chilling quote from this prescient writer on this phenomenon, “From the totalitarian point of view, history is something to be created rather than learned.”

The scariest observation Orwell made in 1984 is the notion that “no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it.” It’s almost 80 years since Orwell wrote that and it’s just as true today as when Orwell wrote it, and it will become more true unless the people speak up, march, and vote.

For those marching tomorrow, I wish a safe and enjoyable experience.

Depending on how I feel, I’m not sure I will post my blog tomorrow. I might stay in the city after the demonstration breaks up. It’s not definite.

Anyway, have a great weekend.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Thursday, October 16, 2025. In just two days, the nation will witness the largest protest rally during the Orange Turd’s second term, and this one might prove to be the largest ever. You can thank these ugly repugnicans who are addressing the spectacle of millions of people demonstrating on the street with loathsome lies and misinformation regarding as to who is actually demonstrating. To a man, all of those in this neofascistic party are describing the demonstrators as belonging to “Antifa” (which is not even a centralized group with any leader), pro-Hamas, and even Marxists, which many of these lawmakers could not even define for you if their lives depended on it. Also, as a result of drawing attention to these protests across the country, they are actually doing the opposite: emboldening even more people like myself to sign on to one of these protests in their community. Which means that this Saturday could see millions protesting this brutal regime modeling itself on Nazi Germany, as I’ve mentioned before.

Today the retribution campaign of the Orange Turd turned even uglier with yet another superfluous indictment, this time in which Chump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, has been indicted on eight counts of transmission of national defense information and 10 counts of retention of national defense information. This whole series of charges are laughable, considering that Drumpf himself should have been indicted on similar charges by former special counsel Jack Smith years ago – but wasn’t.

Allegedly, part of Dump’s Justice Department’s investigation centers around notes Bolton was making to himself in an AOL email account – at times writing summaries of his activities like diary entries – when he was working for Drumpf.

Bolton asserts he is a victim of Dump’s weaponization of the Department of Justice. In a statement, Bolton said, “When my e-mail was hacked in 2021, the FBI was made fully aware. In four years of the prior administration, after these reviews, no charges were ever filed. Then came Trump 2 who embodies what Joseph Stalin’s head of secret police once said, ‘You show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.'”

This weaponization of the Justice Department is just one reason why millions of disgusted Americans are taking to the streets on Saturday. There are a million others as to why people are protesting this Saturday. I can’t list them here. I’m sure you have some idea as to what they are.

An article in my online edition of the Daily News is quite unsettling. It concerns what the current “Extreme” Court could do to the landmark Voting Rights Act, passed during Lyndon B. Johnson’s tenure. Every American should fear the potential decision from this right-leaning court that has given the current president too much damn power. The article is written by Dave Goldiner and there seems to be no title for some reason.

As of now, this disreputable court has heard a challenge to the landmark legislation yesterday that could erase many Black-held congressional seats and help the hideous GOP keep control of the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterms and beyond. The possible result of this challenge is totally frightening if this court sides with the challengers to the Voting Rights Act which was designed supposedly to even the scales in minority voting rights.

If this patently conservative court agrees to gut provisions barring racial discrimination in redistricting, this could then open the door for Republican-held legislatures to redraw congressional maps across the South and potentially eliminate 10 or more seats held by Black or Latino Democrats. This would be a total disaster.

Such a decision would amount to a political and racial earthquake that could conceivably tip the scales of control of Congress in favor of the Orange Turd and repugnicans.

As expected, Democrats warned the court not to eviscerate the law that formed the centerpiece of the civil rights movement. Talking about this, Representative Hakeem Jeffries said, “The unfettered right to vote is as American as motherhood, baseball and apple pie. It’s the cornerstone of our democracy.”

Republicans this week moved to grab another Democratic-held seat in North Carolina and could seek to eliminate two such seats in deep-red Indiana.

The case before the Extreme Court concerns the congressional map in Louisiana, which has two majority Black districts and has four other seats held by white Republicans.

If the court now weakens or strikes down the legislation, states would not be bound by any limits in how they draw electoral districts, potentially setting off a new rush to extreme gerrymandering.

Even though this matter does sound dreadful as to what the court’s potential decision could be, the justices are not expected to rule anytime soon, and it’s unclear how quickly any decision could be implemented, although it could be in time for the 2026 midterms. Let’s hope these radical justices see the error of their ways before they even consider weakening or gutting this legislation. How could they live with themselves if they give this country away to these disgusting repugnicans for far more than they should be in charge? Don’t they see what their little Donnie is doing as president? Are they fucking asleep all through his second administration?

Today I worked on my protest sign that I will proudly carry on Saturday. It’s a little offensive, (it shows Dump – not really him at all – taking a dump on a toilet seat, with the caption, “The only throne for this asshole!” written across it, with a “No Kings” crown above it), but it certainly delivers the message that this country had a revolution against a king close to 250 years ago, and this is a good time as any to register our disgust with our president displaying monarchical tendencies at this present moment.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Wednesday, October 15, 2025. In just three days, the nation will rise up in massive protests throughout the land to demonstrate against the sliding authoritarianism being practiced by the current regime led by the Orange Idiot. Today I went to a local hardware store on Metropolitan Avenue to buy paint stirrers to use as handles on my protest signs. Today an online article for Who What Why, written by Klaus Marre, covers how the fascist party, formerly known as the Republican Party, views these protests and it is called “Republicans Are Terrified of the ‘No Kings’ Mass Protest.”

Though the article states that the Republican Party may not have been committed authoritarians themselves before Trump 2.0, “these Republicans are now accessories to upending American democracy.”

“And the one thing authoritarians fear more than anything else is that the people rise up against them, because, while they may control all of the levers of power, there is a strength in numbers that they can only match with excessive violence.”

This explains why repugnicans are so worried about the “No Kings” demonstrations that are scheduled for this Saturday and are expected to draw millions of participants in more than 2,000 separate events.

To counteract what may turn out to be a record-breaking protest, they have settled on the talking point that this will be a “hate America” rally. This type of garbage is being peddled by that hidden pedophile in the House, House Speaker MAGA Johnson, who is Dump’s personal toady. This is the actual shit that “Clark Kent”ish Johnson spewed out and it should be condemned by rational people everywhere: “We call it the Hate America Rally that will happen Saturday. Let’s see who shows up for that. I bet you’ll see Hamas supporters, I bet you’ll see the Marxists on full display, the people who don’t want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this republic.”

Here of course, Johnson has no fucking idea on what this country is founded on: people coming together to peacefully protest a monarch (in this case, Dictator Don), and exercise their First Amendment rights.

The plan that these ugly repugnicans is pursuing is to pretend that the people attending the protests will be a bunch of radicals hellbent on destroying the country. How can they dismiss then millions of disgruntled Americans who take to the streets to protest this harsh administration.

To help counteract this alternate vision of these protests, it’s important that demonstrators this Saturday not commit any violent acts or destroy any property. Because it’s these repugnicans who truly do hope that violence and chaos erupts on Saturday, but I strongly believe that this won’t happen. All of the demonstrations I attended here in New York were extremely peaceful.

The article ends with detailing what a true “Hate America” really looks like: It occurred on January 6, 2021, during Donald Chump’s first administration.

And if you still believe this rotten party isn’t a fascist party, a new scandal is swirling through the repugnican party involving 2,900 pages of chats between leaders of Young Republican groups in which members of the group chat spoke freely about “the love of Nazis within their party’s right wing,” which is actually an accurate observation. As the chat’s contacts were leaked, it was discovered that members referred to Black people as “monkeys” and “the watermelon people,” all the while musing about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies and driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.

Confronted with this ghastly scandal, the repulsive person known as JD Vance did not just condemn the texts as racist and violent, his first instinct was to downplay the imbroglio and go after a Democrat. He went after Virginia’s Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for state attorney general this year, for sending violent texts in 2022. If this were true, those texts first appeared three years ago, not today, with the publication of these vile texts written by young Republicans in their 30s and currently working for elected officials, ostensibly serving the public. These were not random high school or college students exchanging silly, male bravado in hugely offensive texts. These could be future elected officials – hope not!

Vance’s fucking weak response to this scandal just illustrates how bad he would be as president also if the Orange Guy ever leaves the public stage. Boy, are we fucked!

And so it went!

Here is a huge skeleton appearing as a Halloween display at Austin Street Pizza. Doesn’t it send shivers down your spine?

And So It Goes

Today is Monday, October 13, 2025, Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Of course, the purists out there prefer to cling to its old name, Columbus Day. And here, the day was marked by intermittent rain, bringing to three the number of days it has rained here. However, few away in the Middle East, the dumbskulled president heralded a new beginning for the war-torn region in remarks delivered to Israel’s Knesset, its parliament. In an online article for NBC Politics entitled “Celebrating a hard-won ceasefire, Trump pushes for ‘lasting harmony’ in the Middle East,” and it’s written by Peter Nicholas.

As all of the 20 living hostages rejoined their families in Israel, Dump spoke to the nation’s parliament in Jerusalem and marked a momentous breakthrough in a war that began just over two years ago.

The U.S. president stated that “the long and painful nightmare is finally over.” But is it?

Being overjubilant , Dump rejoiced, “This is not only the end of a war. This is the end of an age of terror and death and the beginning of the age of faith and hope and of God.” (Little does he know of the Divine One!)

Already, an accusation of bad faith came immediately when family members said Monday that Hamas had released the remains of only four of 28 deceased hostages, breaking what they felt was a commitment to release all of the remains. These families called for an “immediate suspension” of the ceasefire agreement until all of the bodies are returned.

When hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on television yesterday, he clearly indicated “The campaign is not over,” thus breaking Dump’s jubilant bubble of peace right away. He also indicated that “some of our enemies are trying to recover in order to attack us again.” Does this sound as if the matter has been completely resolved in favor of peace? I would dare say no here.

Of course, when the delusional president was confronted with Netanyahu’s comments on Air Force One, Dump repeated to reporters: “The war is over. The war is over. The war is over, OK? You understand that?” As if repeating this mantra three times makes it so!

When addressing the Knesset, Chump chastised Netanyahu, saying, “Now, you can be a little nicer, Bibi, because you’re not at war anymore, Bibi,” using Netanyahu’s nickname.

After finishing his speech (which I refused to watch), Dump flew to Egypt to take part in a peace conference with the leaders of 20 nations, posing for pictures in front of a sign proclaiming, “Peace in the Middle East.”

Notably absent from the signing ceremony were the two factions who had been at war: Hamas and Israel. Netanyahu was indeed invited to the ceremony in Sharm el-Sheikh, but he declined to attend because of observing the holiday of Simchat Torah. And there was no representative from Hamas there either. Thus the day lacked what often turns out to be an iconic picture at such Middle East peace observances: the U.S. president and the combatants linking arms.

As for maintaining that peace long term, the Dump administration has less of a specific plan for achieving that. In the 20-point plan that was released last month, the administration’s 19th point lays out certain conditions that include reconstruction of Gaza and political reform that must be met first and then, once that happens, “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.” The authors set no hard deadlines or timetables for deciding the Palestinians’ fate.

I now learned that Dump inevitably went on for far too long: a full hour. During this longwinded speech, Dump went so far as to beseech the Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon his other Trumpian Little Me, Benjamin Netanyahu, which is definitely an abnormal thing to say during such an address proclaiming the end of hostilities between two hostile foes.

Foreign policy analysts now say that this “leader” needs to stay involved in the situation even if the fighting has temporarily stopped and the hostages have been returned to make progress on his vision of a transformed Middle East.

If he doesn’t, then things can easily fall apart. Aaron David Miller, a former State Department Middle East analyst and negotiator in Republican and Democratic administrations, says, “You have to wonder whether he stays with this. That will depend primarily on whether there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow: the elusive Nobel, which he believes he deserves.” So, as former President Ronald Reagan famously said during that presidential debate with Jimmy Carter, “There you go again!” Could this jockeying for peace be just another ploy in order to snag the Nobel Peace Prize in 2026, given if he’s still around by then?

I will probably be absent here tomorrow since Elliot and I are meeting our two adopted “nieces,” “Esther” and “Rebecca,” for dinner in Astoria at 7. We haven’t seen them in a while and we might just stay late catching up with current developments in all of our lives.

So have a good Tuesday. Let’s hope it won’t be marred by more rain, even though it seems it has been forecasted again.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Sunday, October 12, 2025. A good piece of news finally, given the horrible news coming out of Washington these days, and that is the remaining 20 hostages still held by Hamas are expected to be released tomorrow, as this buffoon of a president is preparing to fly to Tel Aviv on Monday to address the Knesset, Israeli’s parliament, before traveling to Sharm El Sheikh for what is described as a “Middle East Peace Ceremony.” This breaking news is covered in USA Today in an article by Kathryn Palmer and Bart Jansen entitled “President Trump heads to Israel ahead of hostage, prisoner release: Live updates.”

I didn’t report this news yet because I was skeptical of a reported ceasefire being negotiated between the United States and Israel over the conflict in Hamas which has passed more than two years.

Fighting actually paused in Gaza for a third day on Sunday in advance of the expected release of the 20 Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, in the first phase of the president’s 20-point peace proposal intended to end the more than two-year-long Israel-Hamas war.

Dump called the trip a “special event” because Muslims and Arabs were joining in the celebration of the ceasefire, along with Israel. Speaking like an overjoyed child, Dump said, “Everybody is cheering at one time. That’s never happened before. This is the first time. Everybody is amazed and they’re thrilled.”

The United States, along with Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, mediated the agreement between Israel and Hamas, following Dump’s September 29 unveiling of a peace proposal alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is generally disliked by most Israelis.

Interrogated by reporters about how this agreement fit into his legacy, Drumpf went on about his being able to solve wars and at making peace. Again, a very blatant pitch for a Nobel Peace Prize, even though it was awarded to a true democracy fighter, Maria Corina Machado, an opposition leader in Venezuela.

Before we throw laurel wreaths at Dump’s head, we will have to see if this peace deal holds and that there are no more skirmishes between these two enemies. I can’t wait to see if his speech at the Knesset will bear the quintessential Dump touch: long, incoherent, and nonsensical.

Today, as forecasted, was a sopping wet day. I was going to see a film, Roofman starring Channing Tatum and Kirsten Durst, but became too entangled in discussing other times to see it with my friend “Seth” that the time came and went. I was going to see it at the Kew Gardens Cinema at 1:15. At that time, it hadn’t begun to rain.

Instead of going to the movies, I went to La Boulangerie after Elliot prepared scrambled eggs in the morning. There I met a nice couple who engaged me in rather a long conversation. They started talking to me after I suggested to the staff that there was a quintet of people sitting at the communal table who were not drinking or eating. The interior of the eatery was filled to the brim, and there was no reason to sit outside since the weather was so inclement. So I decided to complain about this group of people just sitting at the table who looked like they were finished with their repasts.

Therefore, the young man in back of me who introduced himself as “Joshua” complimented me on raising my voice in protest in the patisserie. Now that the five people finally walked out, it opened up several spaces for us, so I sat down next to this couple who claimed they drove to Forest Hills from Cypress Hills, Brooklyn.

Our conversation centered on quite a number of topics like the lack of reading among young people, the degree of surveillance in our lives, and the joy of traveling, as I mentioned that I enjoy doing this. Joshua mentioned having traveled to Italy and how he loved it.

My head was spinning when he offered me the highest compliment: he said I looked 45, which made me giggle and giggle. I did not say what birthday I was celebrating next month because it might have shocked them. It could just be their age that explains it; they couldn’t have been more than in their late 20s or early 30s. And we know that people in this age cohort have no conception of true age. I should have recommended that they see The Substance then. Then we can talk about age.

For most of the afternoon, I rediscovered my stereo system since I played the Petula Clark album on it yesterday. Sadly, the album could not be played. At first, I thought my machine or the stylus was defective, but I put on other albums, and they played with no issue. I eventually threw out this $2.99 used album. But I played many of my old records for the first time in a long time, and I enjoyed it quite nicely.

Tomorrow is forecasted to be a mirror image of today. Let’s see if I stay inside again because of the pelting rain.

Let’s cross our fingers that tomorrow’s hostage exchange proceeds without any problems. It’s about time that this terrible conflict finally ends.

Then we can move on to Ukraine and Russia.

Have a good week.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Friday, October 10, 2025. One day after the monster-in-chief gave the go-ahead to indict a sitting attorney general in New York for absolutely nothing, that Attorney General, Letitia James, achieved the best single day of fundraising in a nearly 30-year political career. This stunning reality is covered in an online CNN article entitled “Letitia James sees a record fundraising surge and Democratic support after indictment.”

A source familiar with James’s political operation told CNN she brought in $567,000 from over 24,000 donors in the 24 hours after she was indicted yesterday afternoon on felony charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. A little reminder: this monster-in-chief was actually indicted some years back by this same attorney general for doing exactly the same thing. Sounds quite rich to me, don’t you think? Most of the same fundraising came in response to emails her political operation was sending out to capitalize on the news, though some donations came in on their own.

James’s prepared video response to the indictment drew 4.3 million views on X in that same 24 hours.

In the immediate aftermath of the announcement, national and New York Democrats rushed to support her, led by mayoralty candidate Zohran Mamdani, whom James has been helping both on the New York City mayoralty campaign and in gearing up for governing if he wins.

That same candidate for mayor, Zohran Mamdani, spoke in front of the same courthouse where Attorney General James was doing her job – indicting and thrusting the monster-in-chief in front of a jury that eventually ruled against him – and said, “This is a blatant miscarriage of justice; this is a shameless act of political retribution.”

If Mamdani wins the race, it is the avowed promise of the monster-in-chief to pull billions in funding from the nation’s largest city if the 33-year-old candidate is victorious, which seems to be the case. I forgot to mention that the current mayor Eric Adams dropped out of the race sometime last week, and I say, “Good riddance!” He is inextricably connected with the monster-in-chief and many staffers in his administration have been arrested and charged for financial crimes. This does not look good in a candidate for mayor, and he probably knew his chances of winning a second term slid into the toilet when the Dump administration dropped charges against him last year. I disliked him for this very reason and his about-face on removing Medicare from over 250,000 city retirees, which he initially said he wouldn’t but when he took office, he did an about-face and changed his mind to deciding to throw all of us in a Managed Care program that met with opposition for many years. This alone turned me on him, and this happened very early in his first – and only – term.

The other candidate for mayor, Andrew Cuomo, was a little reticent when it came to defending the attorney general in her upcoming legal case. It’s very apparent why this was so since it was James who led the investigation and release of a report into sexual misconduct allegations that ultimately resulted in Cuomo’s resignation as New York governor. So it doesn’t seem too farfetched if he is reticent in condemning these charges since James would be considered his opponent who drove him out of office in the first place.

Hours after Mamdani’s rally in Manhattan, Cuomo did issue a new statement calling for universal condemnation of politicizing the justice system. The statement now included a mention of James’s name, but said Cuomo too had been the victim of politically motivated investigations.

In the statement, Cuomo said, “The weaponization and politicization of the justice system is wrong no matter which side you are on – period.” Then he plays the poor victim, saying, “I know firsthand as the White House weaponized the DOJ against me when I was governor of New York and three other democratic states during the height of COVID and it’s wrong that it appears to be happening with AG James and Former FBI Director Comey – it is part of why people have lost faith in the Justice system, the cornerstone of our democracy.”

Mamdani said he had spoken to James shortly after the indictment became public to reassure her of the support she had.

“She told me, ‘Don’t worry about me,'” Mamdani said. He added, “That’s indicative of an attorney general who has spent all of her time worrying about the people of the state.”

Maybe then this monster-in-chief should be worried that James will emerge victorious after these baseless charges against her are either dismissed or she is declared innocent of all of the drummed-up charges against her. She’ll be more powerful after this, not less, and the little, fearful man sitting in the White House will appear ever more weakened altogether.

Dump is the smallest of men who must be stewing in his own Adult Diapers after it was revealed today that he lost the Nobel Peace Prize. The award was given to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, a Latina and a woman, which should enrage the small, petty man in the White House to no end. She was given the prize “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy,” according to a statement from the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Today Elliot and I performed a mitzvah by driving to Long Island to pay a visit to our friend “Joseph,” who is recovering at a rehabilitation center after having surgery for a broken hip sustained in a fall there. We spent less than a hour visiting him since we were parked by a one-hour parking stand. We spoke about our last trip with Joseph and he mentioned how he got into his current predicament. He was sitting in a wheelchair and seemed quite shvach, which is to be expected. He couldn’t tell us precisely when he might be discharged, but he did posit that it could be another four weeks or longer. So there will definitely be further visits with him in the near future.

Have a good weekend, everyone. Unfortunately, it might be quite a wet one this time.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Thursday, October 9, 2025. Today is another sad day of mourning in America, as the Orange Turd ratcheted up his campaign of terrorism against his political adversaries by now indicting New York Attorney General Letitia James on – forgive the pun – trumped-up charges, which should outrage every American again, as this is now the second person indicted under Dictator Don’s vengeance campaign. The first was former FBI Director James B. Comey the other day. This sad story is offered in a CNN online article by Kristen Holmes, Hannah Rabinowitz, and Kara Scannell entitled “Letitia James, the New York attorney general who defeated Trump in court, indicted by Justice Department.” The sorry details follow below.

Ms. James was indicted today in Alexandria, Virginia, allegedly on charges of mortgage fraud. She has been under investigation since May over a 2023 mortgage she took out to buy a home in Norfolk, Virginia.

The grand jury returned two felony charges: bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. Her first court appearance is scheduled for October 24 in Norfolk.

Comey has already pleaded not guilty yesterday to allegedly making a false statement in a congressional proceeding. Naturally, this Orange Turd has others on his political “hit list,” and they include former Chump national security adviser John Bolton and California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, plus others.

James herself had choice words for this pointless indictment: “These charges are baseless, and the president’s own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost.” She added, “The president’s actions are a grave violation of our Constitutional order and have drawn sharp criticism from members of both parties.”

As you must know, James’ relationship with the Orange Menace has been adversarial for years as she campaigned on promises to investigate Dictator Don and ultimately won a civil fraud case against the Manhattan real estate “mogul,” his adult sons, and his real estate business. A judge found them liable for fraud for inflating the value of their properties and ordered Dump to pay $355 million in penalties.

Unfortunately, a New York appeals court tossed the penalties (which I had forgotten) and Dump has appealed the verdict. So what the fuck is he still angry about? That a Black woman bested him in court? That’s the true reason.

During the 11-week trial, Dump’s anger toward James was very palpable. He railed against her in the courthouse hallways and from the witness stand. Drumpf testified as James sat across from him in the courtroom galley.

However, last month CNN reported that Justice Department prosecutors in Virginia, led at the time by Erik Seibert, interviewed dozens of witnesses and did not believe they gathered enough evidence to support criminal charges against James.

Get this? That prosecutor Erik Seibert resigned after he was pressured by the Orange Turd to bring charges against his political foe, Letitia James. He was then replaced by the most unqualified, incompetent former personal attorney of Dump, Lindsey Halligan, who was raked over the coals last night by Lawrence O’Donnell on his show for her glaring lack of knowledge regarding the law.

This idiot said in a statement, “No one is above the law [rich thing for her to say when she should really be looking in the direction of the person sitting in the White House]. The charges as alleged in this case represent intentional, criminal acts and tremendous breaches of the public’s trust.” She added, “The facts and the law in this case are clear, and we will continue following them to ensure that justice is served.” Pure bullshit, in my opinion.

As for those allegations, her lawyers provided a document to the Justice Department in April to push back on what they called “threadbare” charges.

They said that one document in the mortgage application “mistakenly” said the property would be James’s primary residence. But they submitted other documents to argue there was no fraud. James actually checked a box on her mortgage application that indicated the property would not be her primary residence. So these “allegations” seem just as false as the ones attributed to James Comey.

I’ve seen pictures of this Lindsey Halligan who is the prosecutor in this case and she looks like the beauty queen contestant that she actually was before getting her law degree at the University of Phoenix. Actually, she didn’t go there. I was just teasing you. She has never prosecuted a case before getting this high-profile case, and James’s attorneys will shred her to pieces if it ever goes to trial. It will be a resounding humiliation for the man in the White House, that’s for sure!

These new developments in the politicization of the Justice Department will sadly continue until there is pushback against this bastard in the White House from members in Congress, and I still don’t see anything remotely approaching that kind of resistance. That is why we the people must resist this perverted regime – on the streets and in the courts.

If this is not an authoritarian regime operating in America at the moment, then I don’t know what else to call it!

In the meantime, Attorney General Pam Bondi and many others are protecting this pedophile in the White House, refusing to release the Epstein files. What is this House afraid of then?

Today I got my latest COVID booster at CVS around 2:45 p.m. So far, I have no side effects from the inoculation.

Also, our television guy “Ernest” returned for one last time to restore my streaming services to the Sony which took as long as 2 hours since I had to reregister for many of the services, and I had quite a few problems with inputting my data, including email and passwords for several of the apps. Ernest actually had to calm me down when the process didn’t work. Don’t you hate it when there is such an extra layer of security involved with getting anything these days? Like when you are told a code will be sent to your phone or email and you have to rush to get that code before it expires and before you have to do it again. I was losing the screen with the code and the screen where you had to register, so Ernest had to intervene and show me the proper way to do it. But now I believe I have all of the apps that existed on the set before. Ernest also helped Elliot erase over thousands of emails which he never deleted over an extended length of time. That took time also.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Monday, October 6, 2025, one day before the horrific anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas. Is there even a peace deal being negotiated by the stupid president and far smarter but just as Trumpian Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu? There’s a flurry of CNN updates on the ongoing talks between Israel and Palestinian negotiators as the two-year anniversary nears. Here’s a summary of just a few of them.

One of those updates is entitled “Israeli and Hamas delegations in Egypt for ceasefire and hostage talks,” and it’s by Laura Sharman, Deva Lee, Luke Jacobs, Sana Noor Haq. This piece comments on the indirect talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators that began Monday evening in Egypt over finalizing a deal based on president Donald Chump’s ceasefire plan. An official with knowledge of the negotiations told CNN that the talks are expected to last “a few days,” so don’t expect a resolution to be announced tomorrow, it seems.

Dump said he expects the negotiations to take place”a couple of days” and urged those negotiators to “MOVE FAST [sic].” He earlier told CNN Hamas faces “obliteration” if it refuse to cede power to Gaza. Oh, there he goes again – acting like the strongman he ain’t.

On Friday, Dump told Israel to stop bombing the enclave, but more than 100 people have been killed since he warned Israel to stop. Palestinians spoke to CNN about devastation on the ground and their tempered optimism for a truce.

Talks between Hamas and mediators will continue in Sharm El-Sheikh tomorrow “amid a positive atmosphere,” Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News reported.

Also, on the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for the release of the hostages, more aid for Gaza, and progress towards a lasting peace.

Talking about the October 7 massacre, which Elliot and I saw firsthand when we visited Elliot’s relatives in Tel Aviv this past September, Starmer said, “Time does not diminish the evil we saw that day.” He added, “The brutal, cold blooded torture and murder of Jews in their own homes. And the taking of hostages, including British citizens, some of whom remain in Gaza today.”

In a related story, families of Israeli hostages gathered outside the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, holding a prayer service on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. This year, Sukkot coincides with the second anniversary of the October 7 massacre. Hostage families said the day marked “another Jewish holiday without their loved ones.”

One of those taking part in the prayer vigil is Einav Zangauker, the mother of 25-year-old hostage Matan Zangauker, who said a prayer for the hostages, asking God to “break their chains, deliver them from their distress, and return them swiftly to the embrace of their families.” If only her prayer were promptly answered. It’s been too long already. Bring the hostages home!

In the meantime, the shitwipe president’s efforts to send National Guard troops to an American city, this time, Portland, Oregon, have been thwarted by a Dump-appointed judge in Oregon who has temporarily blocked the deployment of National Guard members from anywhere in the United States to the city. This won’t sit well with this fascistic regime, I’m sure of that.

This late-breaking news is contained in another CNN article entitled “A federal judge blocked Trump from sending the National Guard to Oregon – again. Here’s what we know,” and it’s by Kelly McCleary, Josh Campbell, Danya Gainor, and Hanna Park.

The delusional president has falsely claimed that the Guard was necessary to quell protests at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – Dump’s version of the Gestapo – facility – a claim strongly disputed by local and state officials.

The hastily scheduled hearing on Sunday came after officials in both Oregon and California objected in court to Chump reassigning federalized guard troops in Los Angeles to Portland in an apparent effort to get around the judge’s Saturday order.

Both states said in a motion asking for the expanded order, “There is no rebellion in Portland.”

The name of the judge who stood against Dump and his fascistic regime is Judge Karin Immergut who pressed and occasionally interrupted the Justice Department’s lawyer, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Eric Hamilton, during Sunday’s hearing, which lasted less than 30 minutes, and who expressed frustration over what she characterized as an apparent effort to sidestep her Saturday order.


In granting the second temporary restraining order Sunday, Immergut correctly blocked the Dump administration “from deploying federalized members of the National Guard in Oregon.”

The temporary restraining order is in effect until October 19, and a hearing will be scheduled for October 17 to decide whether it should be extended for another two weeks.

However, there have been protests outside of the South Portland ICE facility that have continued through Sunday night. Two people were arrested by the Portland Police Bureau overnight, the department said, bringing its total arrest count outside the building to 36 since nightly protests began in June. Again, this figure is not as enormous as Dictator Don’s administration would have you believe. To them, the entire city is burning.

Showing true grit and defiance, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek said in a statement Sunday night, “The President can expect Oregon to stand up to him at every turn.”

Longtime foe to Dictator Don, California Governor Gavin Newsom, said, “We just won in court – again.” He posted this on X referencing the Sunday ruling. “Trump’s abuse of power won’t stand.”

Before Sunday’s ruling, Newsom vowed to sue over the deployment of California troops in Portland. “This isn’t about public safety, it’s about power. The commander-in-chief is using the U.S. military as a political weapon against American citizens,” Newsom thundered.

I won’t repeat what White House Deputy Chief of Staff “Nazi” Stephen Miller said about the ruling. It’s totally disgusting and warps the truth altogether.

With this ruling, I wonder what blue state is next on this asswipe’s agenda: New York, possibly. Boy, will that not go down well here if Dump even tries to do the same thing as he’s done in California and Portland.

Also, the cowardly Clark Kent of the House, MAGA Johnson, still refuses to swear in newly elected Representative Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) because she has pledged to sign a petition the first day she’s sworn in to fucking release the Epstein files with Dump’s name emblazoned all throughout it. He is another asswipe who needs to go!

What a fucking clown show of a government, wouldn’t you say?

Tomorrow I will be taking a break from writing my blog since I’ll be attending my gay men’s reading discussion to expound on Saleem Haddad’s Guapa. I’ll be attending the meeting with my friend “Harvey” and I don’t know when I’ll be home.

Our television set was NOT brought back from the TV hospital as promised. Our technician texted me saying he forgot to bring the power adapter with him today. Thus he will come tomorrow when I’m not here, at 5:15. I surely hope so! This is so freaking long to wait for a set; we could have bought another one in less time.

Have a great Tuesday. The warm weather lingers for at least one more day.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Friday, October 3, 2025. As the world wrestles with the scumbag known as Donald J. Dump’s declining health and mental acuity, one online article truly paints a very vulnerable despot on AlterNet by Lesley Abravanel entitled “‘Never seen the president this scared’: correspondent unmasks ‘maniacal’ Trump.”

That White House correspondent is seasoned journalist Brian Karem, who has covered president Donald Chump full-time since 2016, says in a piece for Salon that he’s “never seen the president this scared.”

Karem, who has covered every presidential administration since Ronald Reagan, “sued Donald Trump three times successfully to keep his press pass,” he says in his bio.

Though he had a front-row seat to “the carnage” of Dump’s first term, this time around, it’s different, Karem writes, noting Dump is playing the “victim.”

The president’s actions, Karem says, are “those of a despot trying to seize power.” The White House correspondent pointed to Dump’s demand for the military to use American cities as training grounds for the U.S. military and his proliferation of ICE agents who beat and detain American citizens.

Karem adds here, “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump’s dog of war, has instituted some of the most racist regulations seen in the military since it was integrated nearly 80 years ago.”

The seasoned pro sees a deeper reason for why Dump is acting more maniacal lately.

“He is the proverbial New York sewer rat, cornered and lashing out in a desperate attempt to survive. He also knows he is becoming more vulnerable. But it’s not just his own mortality, shrinking mental acuity and the Jeffrey Epstein case that is scaring him,” Karem states.

Karem feels what is setting Dictator Don off like “a wild animal with its leg caught in a trap” is his 2023 indictment on 37 felony counts stemming from a nonpartisan FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago that turned up classified documents. Remember that case, folks? I sure haven’t forgotten and neither has he!

Karem writes about the case, “He’s apparently still so worried about the case that he’s trying to put up costly roadblocks against someone who has only a chance of getting the information revealed.” Look, someone even revealed that horrible impending “Extreme” Court ruling knocking down Roe v. Wade in June 2022. So there’s someone out there with a vendetta against this subhuman who can do the same thing regarding his 2023 indictment.

Karem writes, “Trump’s fear is palpable, and like a New York sewer rat, that’s when he’s at his most dangerous.”

The White House correspondent further notes Dump has a “desire for total control before he loses all command of his mental and physical health.” Which couldn’t come any sooner in my opinion.

Meanwhile, while all of this is going on, Vice President JD Vance, nicknamed the “Maybelline Mascara Man” by a staffer from Forest Hills Indivisible, is waiting eagerly in the wings, having proven he “is capable of pinch hitting for the sultan of political swat.”

According to a source close to Dictator Don, “there is a growing fear that someone in his own inner-circle may whisper the words ’25th Amendment,’ end the Dump presidency, and usher in the ‘The Age of Ultron’ – I mean Vance. That, more than anything else, has Puff Donny scared,” Karem posits. This is not so infeasible since a good swath of the American public is now disliking Republicans more than Democrats for the government shutdown and if things get worse, which they certainly will, someone could come out of the shadows and more than whisper the 25th Amendment, they could shout it. And we are then stuck with the Maybelline Mascara Man until 2028. Which could be worse than having buffoonish Demented Don until that time, but I don’t think so. Vance will not have the almost slavish support of MAGA like this clown did.

You must love MSNBC news host Lawrence O’Donnell who is the lone man of outrage when it comes to criticizing Demented Don’s lack of mental acuity. He consistently goes on the warpath against the legacy press for its lack of outrage over what he calls Dictator Don’s “publicly flaring madness” this week.

In another online article this time for MediaITE, Tommy Christopher writes “MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell Rages At Press ‘Sleeping’ Through Trump’s ‘Publicly Flaring Madness.'”

If you ever watch O’Donnell, you know he calls Demented Don the stupidest president every chance he gets. He has consistently called out Trump’s growing incapacity, growing to a crescendo this week amid a series of escalating stumbles, a speech to military leaders that was cringeworthy, and social media antics around the government shutdown.

On Wednesday’s edition of MSNBC’s The Last Word, the host trained his journalistic eye on The New York Times over an editorial that insufficiently assessed Dump’s “insanity” and a Washington press corps that is “sleeping” through Little Donnie’s “madness.”

O’Donnell made light of The Times’ characterization of Dump’s “bombastic tweets” immediately following the government shutdown which this pathological liar blamed on the Democrats and which he threatened to fire thousands of federal workers if Democrats did not provide the votes to keep the government open. He felt these tweets were not just “bombastic,” they were really insane.

Then O’Donnell provided a video clip of Rep. Madeline Dean (D-PA) confronting the lapdog of Dump, House Speaker MAGA Johnson, about how unhinged and unwell the damn president is. Then the following fucking admission was made by this false Christian in the House Speakership when he said, “A lot on your side, too.” Here is the Speaker actually admitting that the Supreme Leader is indeed unwell, and all he can muster as a response to Dean’s accurate characterization of Donnie being unwell is that people on the Democratic side are unwell too. Fuck, who was he referring to here? .She should have pressed him on that weak and childish response. But she didn’t; however, we did get an admission of truth from the creepy House Speaker right here.

With this admission, O’Donnell called MAGA Johnson a “coward” and that “he has taken an oath of cowardice to Donald Trump.” Pretty strong words, you would say. O’Donnell added, “He’s not the Speaker of the House. He’s the Speaker of Trump in the House.” So true! It’s the entire repugnican party right now.

Then the veteran MSNBC host ridiculed the liberal newspaper for not stating the obvious about the president – that he’s losing it.

O’Donnell then mocked Vance and the White House for making the government shutdown funny, which will definitely not work in middle America. He talks about a video regarding a sombrero which I haven’t seen, but if the fucking White House released it with Vance’s imprimatur, then it is childish and stupid. This you would never see from any serious administration if the government ever shut down, but this is a very different White House. This is an insane White House and an abnormal one in every fucking way!

O’Donnell ends by scorching the Washington press corps for regarding the crisis at the White House as “business as usual.” He adds, “They have internalized Trump madness in their coverage. They have lost their ability to react to it, but their outrage will be fully revived if a Democratic candidate for president, or if a Democratic president ever says a single negative thing about any kind of American voters, ever, anywhere.” Ain’t that the truth! And Mr. O’Donnell shined a bright light on it on his show Wednesday night.

Today I resumed my usual eating schedule by going out for breakfast and drinking several cups of coffee. I’m amazed over how easily I can give up caffeine these days without experiencing any ill side effects. When I was younger, I had to wean myself off caffeine by drinking decaffeinated coffee a day or two before fasting. Now I can have one last cup of coffee on Wednesday evening and then just give up drinking the elixir for over 25 hours. And I thought it would be harder as I aged, but it isn’t. That’s good for me, I guess.

Tomorrow I might not be writing my blog since I could be traveling into the city with Elliot to first buy tickets for a New York Philharmonic concert on October 30 that showcases Alfred Hitchcock’s groundbreaking Psycho with the terrifying Bernard Hermann score being played by the world-famous orchestra on stage. I thought this seemed like a cool thing to do before Halloween. And for those who know about the genesis of this 1960 shocker, Netflix is now playing a series on the original inspiration for the film, Ed Gein. He served as the inspiration for Robert Bloch’s treatment of the gothic story in his book by the same name which was optioned by Sir Alfred Hitchcock who was looking for another property to put on the big screen. If I can, I would like to see the Netflix series if I can stomach it. What Gein did to his victims in rural La Crosse County, Wisconsin, never got on the screen in Psycho. I can’t repeat what he did then – it’s too horrible to imagine. Just watch the series and see for yourself and see why Gein was declared insane and remanded to a mental institution for the rest of his life. He died at the age of 77 at that mental institution in 1984.

And we might do something else afterward like see a film. I don’t know which yet.

Have a good weekend then.

And so it went!

And So It Goes

Today is Monday, September 29, 2025. Back to a repeated yet necessary topic of discussion here, which is the delusional commander in chief who is collapsing in inchoate dementia right in front of America these days. An online opinion by former Secretary of Labor under former President Bill Clinton, Robert Reich, appears in Raw Story today entitled “This tipping point will bring Trump’s reign crashing down -and it’s close” outlines the insane things this pretender to the throne has done in just the last week.

Reich revels over the gigantic audience that watched Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue last week after he was reinstated to ABC by Disney. Apparently, over 6 million people watched Kimmel’s return to late-night television, whereas another 26 million watched it on social media, including YouTube. Kimmel’s ratings that night were a direct affront to the president’s false proclamation that his ratings were much lower than that.

Also, Dump’s dictatorial narcissism revealed itself nearly as dramatically in the criminal indictment of former FBI director James Comey, which comes directly after Chump fired the U.S. attorney who refused to indict him.

That dictatorial narcissism was evident in his directive to the drunkard Pete Hegseth, the new “Secretary of War,” to use “full force, if necessary” to “protect War [sic] ravaged Portland, Oregon” and any “ICE Facilities under siege from attack from Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.” All of this is pure bullshit, folks. This is pure fantasy arising from the warped mind of Dictator Don. There is no concerted effort from Antifa to sow violence in Portland, Oregon. It’s another distraction from not releasing the Epstein files.

There was also his crazy speech to the United Nations telling delegates that their nations are “going to hell.” What a surefire way to win allies, you must say. Then there is his much-ballyhooed press conference with quack Dr. Oz and brain-worm HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in which it was announced that Tylenol is the cause of childhood autism, even though there is no damn scientific proof of this. As a result, the makers of Tylenol should sue the hell out of Dump’s government as a result of this massive smear.

Because of these measures, Dump’s approval ratings continue to drop precipitously.

Reich writes, “Voters are turning against him and his Republican Party.”

Amidst all of this chaos brought on by Dump and his stupid minions, a government shutdown is looming. This time I support Democrats not playing hardball with their fascist colleagues since these ugly repugnicans refuse to agree to extending Affordable Care Act subsidies which are now set to expire at the end of the year and to cause 24 million people to lose coverage or pay skyrocketing premiums. Therefore, there can be no compromise with these cruel members in Congress, folks. We will have to sustain some hardship now in order to show Dump and his useless cabinet that we are not capitulating – like we always sadly do at the final hour.

The former labor secretary doesn’t know exactly when there will come a tipping point when elected repugnicans will actually rebel against him or when his dementia will become so apparent that he’s forced to resign or when much of the country rises up against his dictatorship that he’s impeached and convicted of high crimes – which I find more unreasonable as time wears on, but you never know the fury of the American electorate when they realize they’ve been conned all these many years by a consummate charlatan. Reich believes that that point is coming ever closer, though.

In conclusion, Reich believes that the nation’s activism is working and believes “the slumbering giant of America” will be reawakening soon. He feels it’s about to stand and is angry. “Soon he will roar.”

Tomorrow Elliot and I are having dinner with my Manhattan cousins, “Rivka” and “Dillon.” We’re meeting them at 7 at a restaurant on 79th Street, so I doubt I’ll be writing this blog since we usually spend a good three hours or more chatting up a storm. I haven’t seen them in several months, not since they went to Mexico in late August. We haven’t seen them since July, I believe.

I just remembered: Wednesday marks Yom Kippur Eve, so I won’t be here either. I’m traveling to Jersey City to participate in evening services at Elliot’s late aunt’s synagogue on John F. Kennedy Boulevard. We won’t drive; it’s easier to take mass transit. This is the first time I won’t be attending Kol Nidre services at the Jacob Javits Center. Oh well, life is change! Something we should all embrace.

So have a good Tuesday and a good holiday for those who observe. Also, have an easy fast for those who fast during this holiday.

And so it went!