The Payoff of Hate: Where We Stand Today

[Sort of a Synopsis:  This post covers a lot of issues that are entangled and usually handled separately, if at all.  But it does make it seem like I'm throwing in lots of different issues and can't get focused.  Let me try

Hate is the basic tactic and underlying disease of the Trump administration.  It's a symptom of how in "the greatest country the world has ever seen' something terribly wrong is happening in families and how kids are being raised.  Without the love and basic decency a happy society needs.  

Enough voters have been raised in dysfunctional families to elect a Trump.  (Assuming Trump's comments about Elon having fixed the election are just bluster.)  The leader of the kids raised without the love and approval all kids deserve is a terrible president.Iran is  like Trump University - it was a threat to something else Trump valued more:  an upcoming election.   

But Iran - and the reflecting pool - another conspicuous and highly visible failure - are only diversions from the Epstein files.  The Epstein files themselves are a diversion from the far right conservative organizations that have filled the Supreme Court with their puppets and had the blueprint for dismantling the US bureaucracy.  

And finally, coming back to hate.  We need to recognize the source of MAGA anger and give them legitimate options to heal.  Many of them probably are too far gone, but fighting hate with hate is to lose to hate.  And to miss the power behind the throne.  

I hope that's a fairly reasonable overview.  The rest is basically the same idea with more detail.]

Post begins here:

Hate.  Slurs.  Constantly demeaning people who don't adore you.  You've heard enough of Trump's invective to know what I'm talking about, so I needn't repeat it.

We're basically shaped by our genes and our environment.  I would argue that it was the hate and nastiness experienced by tens of millions of US voters that drew them to vote for Trump.  People who grew up hating people whose skin color was darker than theirs.  People who watched their fathers verbally and physically abuse their mothers.  People who grew up in households where fights - verbal and physical - were the way to solve problems.  People whose religious leaders lashed out at people who were sexually attracted by people the church thought sinful.  People who suffered at the hands of their fathers, but nevertheless, copied his child-rearing practices.  

Such folks get both genes and environment pushing them toward a life of difficult relationships, lack of skills for peacefully resolving problems.  And that leads to hard lives, to feelings that one is on one's own, that no one will help you.  Some of these folks will lead an economically perilous life. Some will have skills and (maybe an inheritance) that allows them financial security, even serious wealth.  But they are all hurting.   Until a hand reaches out to help them - an addiction recovery group, an evangelical church, or a cult movement led by a bully.  

Despite the odds, not all those folks are fated to repeat what they learned at home.  Some may just figure it out.  That there's a better way.  That they don't want to inflict on their kids what they received.  They may have a teacher who shows them better interpersonal skills.  A pastor or other mentor who cares without expecting something in return.  Or in other ways, discover options they didn't learn at home.  

If I'm right on this, there are millions of women who were not treated well by their fathers, but through some twisted human flaw, seeing those traits in Trump draws them to him.  He may be problematic but he reminds them of their father, who despite his issues, was still their father.

And so today, we have a president who never gives up, never loses.  Heather Cox Richardson has pointed out that even though it appears that his name was taken down from the Kennedy Center, he's covered the space with a tarp so that his missing name is not visible.  Nor is Kennedy's.   He always tries to find a way pretend he didn't lose.  

But there are a couple of examples that would seem to belie this:  The Trump University $25 million settlement and the Iran War.  In both cases I think the same thing happened.  

Pursuing the issue further conflicted with something else he wanted more.  

The Trump University court case was threatening his presidential election bid.  By paying the settlement, he made it go away.  

The Iran War was crumbling Trump's ratings and promising to hurt him badly in the 2026  midterm election.  The blocking of the Strait of Hormuz was causing oil prices to rise and people could see it at the gas station.  He kept announcing victory and peace deals that weren't happening.  That too was getting humiliating (the worst thing that can happen to Trump).  So, like with Trump University, he instructed Vance (I think) to do whatever was necessary to make it go away.  

But even Republican politicians - usually Trump's most obedient sycophants - are pointing out that Trump's peace deal left Iran in a better position than before the war.  A more hardline leadership is now in place, Iran realized that control of the Strait of Hormuz was a great weapon, their nuclear capability was resurrectable, AND Trump was handing them $300 billion in taxpayer dollars to repair the damage the US did with the bombing.  [That's probably, in humanitarian terms, a reasonable thing to do.  After all the US did the damage.  Was it $300 billion worth?  That I don't know.  But it's a good international precedent for Russia when Putin's war on Ukraine is settled.]

But, of course we don't know that this war is actually settled.  Israel is not going to honor the clause that ends their war on Lebanon.  [Years ago when I mentioned how Israel's treatment of Palestinians was costing Israel world opinion, a strong supporter of Israel responded:  "We don't care.  The world will attack us no matter what we do."  And while there is probably some truth in that, it's not a long term winning strategy, but it does seem like it's part of Israeli leaders' thinking.]

Many of the actions of this administration are visible to a relatively few people who are directly affected and the media are doing a terrible job of rooting them out and making them better known.  And they are relatively abstract.  Hard to comprehend. There are so many of them every day that they are quickly forgotten as new outrages replace them in one’s awareness  

But the Iran War has dominated the news and its consequences are clear.  

Trump promised not to start any wars.

Trump criticized Obama for paying Iran $1.5 billion in frozen Iranian assets when they agreed to limit their nuclear program and allow international monitors.  

So now Trump is paying them $300 billion, not in frozen Iranian assets, and there is no real agreement on nuclear weapons.

And the Strait of Hormuz is under Iranian control.  And gas prices have spiked.

All pretty visible.  

Trump started a war at the behest of Netanyahu, and has lost badly.  

Getting out of the war and making it go away was better than letting it drag on through election season.  It's just that Mr. Art of the Deal came out with the short end of the stick.  

And while the Iran War diversion is crumbling, we get the most concrete (as in the opposite of abstract) example of Trump's incompetence, as the blue paint peels off the bottom of the reflecting pool and the pool itself fills with green algae.  This is a relatively cheap (in Trump terms) boondoggle.  

Except.  Except that Trump told us himself that he knows the pool guy and he does great work. [I've tried to change the coding so that it just covers a short portion of this long video.  If it didn't work, I'll try again.  If it does, I'll delete this note.] [It did work, but I'll leave the note anyway because the video on the embed from Bluesky doesn't seem to work here.  But you can click on the Bluesky icon in the lower right and see the video on Bluesky.  He shows us the algae in the pool and pulls out a piece of paint that peeled off the bottom.]

But now, about 49 years and 355 days sooner than Trump predicted (his low end estimate of 50 years) in the video, the pool is covered with algae and the paint is peeling off the bottom in large chunks..  

New blue paint appears to be peeling from the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. So far the algae seems to be winning.

[image or embed]

— Mickey Kuhns (@mickeykuhns.bsky.social) June 18, 2026 at 8:05 PM

I've added the reflecting pool example because this is so very tangible and no one can get lost in the complexity.  "I'm going to fix this pool that no one else has been able to fix and it will last for fifty to one hundred years" and then we see the algae and pieces of the 50 year paint floating in the pool days later.  (Though Trump supporters can claim the algae and paint video is fake, in their heart of hearts, they know it isn't.)

This post started with focus on hate.  Trump and the Republicans have been spewing hate and stirring fear among the MAGA.  And in contrast to Trump's ridiculously expensive, testosterone dripping  cage fight, yesterday's opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago was an example of hope and caring and decency.  

I'm just hoping that even those attracted to Trump because of the hate, can see the utter failure of the Iran war and the reflecting pool paint job.

Afterward:  There is enough content already and this post should end already  so consider this post finished.  But everything is connected  - and that’s partly why it’s so hard to comprehend how terrible the Trump presidency is.  

But as satisfyingly understandable as the Iran war and reflecting pool debacles are, they’re just distraction from Epstein.  

And Epstein is just a distraction from the structure hiding behind Trump that is dismantling our democracy and installing themselves as the new rulers of the United States  Organizations like the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society, the billionaire oligarchs.  

Chris Hedges makes this point when he criticizes the late night satirists for heaping scorn on Trump and ignoring the power brokers behind him.   Not only does bullying the president move the focus from the people who will take over when Trump is gone, he asserts, it also makes his followers support him more. Clinton wasn't wrong when she called them deplorable, but by insulting them collectively, she united them even more behind Trump.  And that's why I think recognizing them as troubled rather than deplorable is a better approach.  Bernie Sanders and Pete  Buttigieg seem to better understand the pain of the working class and the need to include them in the Democratic messages.

After afterward:  For the folks who want to jump all over me for mentioning Sanders and Buttigieg, I'm just saying one thing about them.  Don't leave messages about them unless it's to provide evidence to disprove the point that they have recognized that Democrats haven't taken working men's grievances seriously.  Thank you.

Epstein Files - An Archeological Find That Will Be Dissected Forever

There are so many pages of documents in the Epstein files that have been released so far, that any kind of definitive conclusions are a long way off.  They have to be read, put into some kind of context, and links between documents have to be figured out.  Then links between the Epstein files and other data bases - court records, news articles, and other breaches like the Panama Papers.  Plus, many released files are still redacted and unredacted in ways they shouldn't be (hiding names other than victims, not hiding all the victim data.) 

What's public so far is about 50%. There are millions of files left,  which the administration seems to hope they won’t have to release.  People speculate these have more damning information in them.  That’s one logical train of thought.  Another is that the DOJ staff aren’t that organized that they can separate out the worst.  Another strategy would be to have them be nothing revealing as a way to tease, and then shut this all down.  That doesn’t seem too likely either.  

When I looked into one set of the Epstein files - court documents - there were hundreds of pages of routine court documents as lawyers made motions and set deadlines that seemed to be of little consequence, with a few more substantial documents about the specific court case (Epstein suing someone, Wexner?,  but nothing terribly revealing stood out to me at first glance.  Boring procedural motions and rulings mostly.  

Some online commentators are writing breathtaking headlines, overusing words like "BREAKING" and "BOMBSHELL" (all caps in originals) pointing to a newly revealed name, or evidence of the very sexual nature of Epstein and his clients/friends.  

Whether there is an important story or it's just more clickbait can be discerned by whether the 'punchline' is revealed in the social media post or whether you have to click to find out the allegedly important nugget.  Most of those nuggets will be micro level news.  

The meaning and context of everything will take a while to tease out.  After all, historians are still finding new twists to justify new biographies of people like Abraham Lincoln and there is far less actual information about Lincoln than there is, probably, about Epstein and his buddy Donald.  

The Bigger Picture

It’s clear to me that there is a bigger, complicated web of connections, influence, and crime.  Some sex trade related, some financial, some political, some national security related.  And while I write ‘some’ as

though these are all separate categories, I’m sure the Venn Diagrams will show a lot of overlap.  

I’ve seen several story lines that seem pretty likely and worth thinking about already:  The first is the idea that the culture of male power (sexual and otherwise) over young (and even older) females is not restricted to Epstein’s island and other properties or Mar-a-lago.  

1.  Rather it IS the culture of the US and probably most of the world.    

From Carole Cadwalladr's Substack, How to Survive the Broligarchy, We all live in Jeffrey Epstein's world , here are a couple of excerpts to give you a sense of her story (and which will come as no surprise to most women and the men they trust to talk to):

“Epstein has given us an extraordinary portal through which we can now see how hostile state influence, criminality and the impunity of the billionaire class are intimately enmeshed. That’s the piece I still want to write. But we can’t understand any of this until we realise that Epstein isn’t just a doorway, he’s also a mirror.  His culture is our culture.

The latest tranche of Epstein documents made it obvious. Consider all the “contrarians” and “anti-woke” warriors who show up in the latest dump: Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Larry Summers, Steve Bannon, and of course, Donald Trump. With apologies to George Carlin: It’s a big club, and the worst people are in it — because their interests are all aligned. Pushing back on social justice, it turns out, was coordinated.

Being able to see their emails makes something very clear: The “anti-woke” movement was not a genteel intellectual inquiry, made by disinterested parties who cared deeply about free speech. It is a social circle of powerful people who feel threatened by #MeToo. Reading through the emails, it’s possible to see that Epstein himself coordinated pushback against #MeToo. Looking back, it seems obvious that sinking #MeToo also led to where we are now: a place where laws simply don’t apply if you have enough money and power. The same players are involved.”  (Emphasis added)

2.  "kind of a super concierge"  In this one, Epstein is a fixer for powerful people, to the point that a lot of people owe him favors.  This one gets into financial issues (to an extreme with Wexner) and politics

Molly Jong Fast's New York Times opinion piece, says the Epstein files show that it's more than just sex, "Mr. Epstein won favor and friendships by acting as a kind of superconcierge."  Here's an excerpt:

"Many people stuck with him even after he had gone to jail in 2008 in Florida for sex crimes, and in some cases even after he landed in jail again in 2019 on sex-trafficking charges. Back then, the plight of the victims often seemed to be an afterthought. That’s most likely because whatever they received from him in the past — access to career-enhancing people, access to young girls and an endless supply of freebies — might still be on offer. This is the nature of the Epstein files: It’s the record of what a global class of very privileged, accomplished and self-important people want to get gifted.

Sometimes it was a Prada bag. Other times it was a flight on Mr. Epstein’s jet, or a weekend at his island. Sometimes it was a donation to a charity or school. Or a job for their kid working on a Woody Allen film, or a shortcut for Mr. Allen’s own kid to get into Bard. Sometimes it was a “tall, Swedish blonde.” Other times it was a young woman who might be a “a little freaked by the age difference.”

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In writing about an earlier tranche of emails, in The Times, Anand Giridharadas asked: “How did Mr. Epstein manage to pull so many strangers close? The emails reveal a barter economy of nonpublic information that was a big draw. This is not a world where you bring a bottle of wine to dinner.”

Inside dope wasn’t the only thing Mr. Epstein had on hand. The picture provided by the latest files shows how Mr. Epstein won favor and friendships by acting as a kind of superconcierge. Sometimes that meant sending the helicopter to pick up guests, as Mr. Epstein offered to do for Elon Musk in a 2012 email, writing, “How many people will you be for the heli to island?” On another occasion, Mr. Musk asks his concierge Epstein, “Do you have any parties planned?” Mr. Epstein provided private plane trips, internships, Apple Watches, Hermès bags, extra-large zipper sweatshirts (those went to Steve Bannon), nearly $10,000 worth of boxers and T-shirts (Woody Allen) and an XXL cashmere sweater (Noam Chomsky). And then there’s the resistance Substack star Michael Wolff, who is all over the Epstein files, who emails Mr. Epstein, 'Shoes are very nice. Thanks.'”

3.  Epstein's Russian connections  - This one takes us into national security and politics

From Phillips P. O'Brien's Substack, Phillips's Newsletter, we get: "Why Does A Narcissist Accept Humiliation? Epstein Might Be The Answer."

"... another batch of millions of documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files were released and they made a very strong case that Epstein was closely linked to elements in Russian intelligence. There were trips, emails, and other assorted hints that Epstein was associated with and even coordinated activities with members of the Russian intelligence service. The evidence was strong enough that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a man not prone to histrionics or overstatement, said that the Poles were investigating whether Epstein had been a Russian agent. Tusk’s exact words in a government meeting were:"

Even if the next set of documents released by the Department of Justice includes a video tape with a naked Donald Trump humping a 14 year old, that won't be the end of the insights we learn about the United States, about the very rich, about male privilege, especially while male privilege, about the network of ultra rich, and even international links to nations that are not considered our friends that amount to serious breaches of national security.  

It's going to take many years to map out all the connections and how those connections set up a class of people who, for the most part, have been above the law, and have perverted democracy in many ways.  

Stay tuned.  But don't hold your breath.  This is not a television mystery that ends with a neat conclusion after 90 minutes.  This is more like an archeological dig that will take decades to tie up the many threads and loose ends.

What's Keeping Me From Blogging?

So much . . .

Weekly trips to pick up our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) [It's a USDA website so go quick before the regime either takes it down because it's too 'woke' or it crashes from neglect or incompetence.]

They use salt - some Alaska salt - and mix it with things for use in cooking, eating, and making your house smell better, like in the simmer pots.  

I've highlighted soap artist (seriously, what she does is art!)  Kit before.  She showed me a prototype of a soap she's working on that will have a Rorschach test on it.  I asked if there are psychiatrist interpretations included.  Those, she assured me, would cost a lot more.  Learn more at MirthAlaska.com. 

There was a long line at the WIC table.  This market is in the lowest income area of Anchorage and the Grow North Farm here - sponsored by RAIS (Refugee Assistance and Immigration Service), a part of Catholic Social Services - is an urban farm worked by refugees.  

It was gray and threatening, but not raining all that day, but it finally came down on the ride home.  It was so light it really only got my clothes slightly damp.  And my odometer with drops.

I've gone past my 1600 km goal for the summer - one reason I guess I haven't blogged as much.  All that biking along Anchorage's green bike paths has been good for my physical and mental health during this disastrous time in US history.  

The picture below was on an earlier ride on the Campbell Creek south trail.  And I'm delaying today's ride to get this post up.

The mushroom isn't connected to anything else in this post, but of course mushrooms and fungus in general are connected to everything underground.  You can't really tell but this one was five or six inches across.  Growing right next to the compost pile.  

  
                                                                      

Again, a somewhat random picture here.  Walking down the steps after a routine doctor visit at Providence, I was greeted with the lovely sounds of live piano music.  The acoustics in the huge atrium entrance are great and the notes pulled me over to listen to the end and thank the musician.

Our power, phone/internet went out during the windstorm a week ago Friday.  This downed cottonwood was the culprit.  Chugach Electric had the power back on the next morning when we woke up.  Alaska Communications took until Tuesday or Wednesday to come out and then they didn't have the equipment to fix it right, so while the phone line and internet are back on, the wire is lying on the ground and about two feet off the ground in some places I have to walk.  In what world is that acceptable?  Alaska Communications is so terrible!  The techs I have to call now and then and those who come out to the house are generally very good.  It's just the management that has promised me fiber every summer since 2023 and not delivered that pisses me off.  And the website that has the circle of death spinning hopelessly when I try to pay online, and then they charge me a %25 late fee because I couldn't pay online.  With no grace period.  None.  Visa emails me three days before to remind me to pay my bill.  ACS emails three days after it's due to say, "We screwed you again."  I'm ready to cut that cord forever.  

Got that off my chest.  

Our neighbor did hook us up to his power with a series of extension cords to power the refrigerator since we didn't know how long it was going to take to get the power back.  We decided to go to Queen of Sheba for dinner that night.  Here's David, the owner and chef, chatting with us after our meal.  

Ethiopian food is truly special and delicious.  Anchorage folks, go eat there and keep them in business.  The prices are reasonable for this day and age.  

It's between Northern Lights and Benson - on Dawson.  

So, probably this should have been three or four blog post spread over the week.  

But I'm not done.  I've been reading several books at once, but I'll just highlight Caraval.  This was a recommendation from my 12 year old granddaughter.  When I told her I was number 25 on the waiting list at Loussac Library, she said, "I told you that you'll never get it."

But I got an email saying it was mine to pick up.  I understand why people read it.  Each chapter ends with a cliffhanger of sorts.  And I think the author has synesthesia, because every feeling is associated with a color, some vibrating.  Lots more descriptions of odors than you normally see too.  And I don't think Nancy Drew ever had chills from the touch of a young man's bare chest leaning against her. 

I'd say this teen fiction is the gateway drug to adult romance fiction.  

Moving along - I'm still overwhelmed with the barrage of outrageous statements and actions spewing from the White House.  Here are a few images that I've saved as I try to find new ways to ask my junior US Senator how long he thinks he can wade in this filth before he is sucked under completely.  He gleefully points at what he sees as 'wins' for Alaska, while the president tramples the constitution by kidnapping people off the streets, invading US cities with our military, ignoring judge's orders, bombing boaters in international waters, gerrymandering Texas to squeeze out Democratic house seats, and on and on and on.  I didn't even mention Epstein.  And Dan Sullivan turns a blind eye to all of that in exchange for some oil drilling permits.  

My previous post was on the normalization of the word normalization.  Nothing could illustrate that point better than this post by His Travesty.   

What previous president could have done something like this and not been impeached?  Some say it's just 'a humorous bit' but I did a paper on government humor once.  What I learned was that government humor that is self deprecating is fine, but government humor that punches down is NOT fine.  

And then his Vice Travesty defends another military operation off the coast of Venezuela:

Has anyone seen any evidence that these are cartel members (just like we haven't seen any evidence that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was a member of Tren de Aragua gang)?

I copied this one for Labor Day.  We're back to the time when business owners could call on the government to bring in troops to break up labor unions.  And when I say 'break up' I mean that literally.  But they stood in solidarity until they won their rights which have benefited most of us.  (You know, 40 day weeks, paid overtime, health benefits, the right to grieve bad treatment, etc.)  We have to be as brave and persistent now to prevent what's happening today.  

I don't believe ignorance is greater now than it was.  But the propaganda forces of the fascists have powerfully taken advantage of that ignorance, and the latent fears of white America.  They've taken all the damage to the working classes done by exporting jobs and increasing the income gap and blamed it on Black people and immigrants.  

 I remember when the first polio vaccines became available and we got poked at school.  My small pox vaccine scar no longer really shows, but I was inoculated.  

Public health programs have saved more lives than medical treatment of individuals.   As I look for good links to explain the importance of public health to society, I see that some of the most important public health initiatives - clean water and sewage systems - are so taken for granted that they aren't even mentioned.  But we haven't always had clean water and sewage systems.  And parts of the world still don't have them.  

President Nixon famously had an enemies list.  But no president has ever, so blatantly used the powers of the federal government to go after his perceived enemies.  The president is publicly telling the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute people who oppose him.  And as a blogger, I found this cartoon a bit close to home.  

I tell myself I'm just a tiny voice out in the wilderness and they have much bigger targets than me.  But I also notice that Google says my recent posts have way more hits that I usually get.  Stat Counter has always shown far fewer hits than Google, but they also track individual visitors.  I can't tell if I really have more hits or whether there are more bots.  In times past when there were lots more hits, it looked like someone scraping my blog for content, and more recently for AI.  But when that happens you can see a single user going to thirty or more different pages per day.  So many hits on a single page is different.  

In any case, I want people to stay strong and be engaged in fighting this regime to preserve our democracy (not to mention our health and economy and general well being.)  Do what you can.  And take breaks to laugh, enjoy nature, good friends.   Find like minded people.  And know your rights.  

And a teaser for a post I hope to put up this week.  

From Animalspot.net

Anchorage Stands With Ukraine As Trump and Putin Seem To Be Heading Here

I say seem because so many people think that one or the other or both will pull out at the last minute.  But the first protest (that I know of) was this afternoon.  Lots of peoples, lots of rumors, lots of questions, lots of noise, lots of cars and trucks honking with the protestors, cars with Ukrainian flags. 

You'd think that Putin and Trump meeting in Alaska to discuss a cease fire in Ukraine would be at the top of the news, but Trump leaves so much debris in his wake, that there are a dozen stories competing.  And so none get the attention and outrage they deserve.  

• Texas redistricting and California's response.  
• Federal troops taking over Washington DC.  
• Masked and armed thugs claiming to be ICE continuing to sweep up dark people without regard to their legal status, including US citizens, and shipping them off to distant detention centers, and possibly off to countries which apparently are getting payoffs to take them from Trump, 
• The massive wealth vacuum in the White House, cementing the Rose Garden and making the East Wing of the White House into a glitzy ballroom
• Shaking down universities and other institutions that pursue truth
• Firing the head of the BLS because he doesn't like her employment data
• Leaning on institutions to erase all history of people who aren't white

I could go on, but you get the point.  But much of what Trump does these days is terrible by itself, and a distraction from releasing the Epstein files.  Is that what this trip to Alaska is?  

It was supposed to go from 4:30-6;00 on one of the busiest corners in rush hour Anchorage - Northern Lights and Seward Highway.  I got there about 5:20 after picking up our weekly CSA vegetables at Grow North Farm in Mountain View.  

I couldn't tell you how many people were there altogether - 500?  1000? 1500?  Couldn't say.  Lots.  Planning really started at a meeting on Monday!

There were lots of rumors flying and I'm going to check out one right after I post this.  That rumor was that the Russian delegation asked for 400 visas and then for rooms.  They finally got put up at the University of Alaska Anchorage dorms.  I'll go over there shortly and see if I see any Russians.  

Rooms are scarce.  It's high tourist season.  So pictures for now and I'll fill in when I get back from the UAA dorms.  

[UPDATE: 11:10pm - Back from campus. The rumors are true.  See the next post for more details and pictures.]

This is an Estonian journalist.  Estonians have a strong interest in what happens in Ukraine.  They have lots of Russians and are a very small country that borders Russia.  

And below a Polish journalist asked my friend John some questions.  

Her 

I understand that this flag was sewn here in Anchorage this week.  It has a lot of smaller pieces sewn together sort of like a quilt.  

This guy was still there well after six when most folks had gone home already.  

This is Erin Jackson-Hill who heads Stand Up Alaska and was the driving force at the center of this rally.

 

Some Of The Best Commentary At The Moment

Time is passing on fast forward.  Today is April Fools Day, 2025, but it's hard to come up with anything crazier than what the US president and his team of thugs do every day.  But a few things that happened on this day:

Cory Booker completed his 24 hour plus speech to Congress.  

Wisconsin voters reelected the left-leaning Susan Crawford  to the Wisconsin Supreme Court with 55% of the vote (with 95% of the votes counted) despite (or maybe because of) Elon Musk's various schemes to shower those who voted for her opponent with millions of dollars.

The GOP retained the two Florida seats, vacated so Matt Gaetz could be nominated (unsuccessfully) for Attorney General, and Michael George Glen Waltz could become the U.S. national security advisor and just last week managed to invite Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg into a Signal chat to plan an attack on the Houthis rebels in Yemen.  These are heavily Republican districts - Waltz got 67% of the vote in 2024 - but his replacement only got 56% of the vote this time.  That's still a decisive margin.  

The first video is an interview with Atlantic editor, Jeffrey Goldberg,  byAnne Applebaum, one of his writers at the New Orleans Book Festival.  Those who are attentive to the news, already know most of the information. 

In the second video, Goldberg is the moderator and asks questions of four of his writers, in conversation with Atlantic staff writers  Anne Applebaum, McKay Coppins, Elaina Plott-Calabro, and Adam Serwer.

This one is bubbling with insights about what is happening in the second Trump administration.  Serwer, especially, boils things down to what seem like accurate takes to me. 

Some of the key points:

• speed of destruction - in the first administration, Trump had traditional Republicans keeping him from straying too far beyond the normal boundaries.  Not this time.  Those around him believe in their mission to tear down the evil bureaucracy.
• institutions were slow to accept how much things would change and for the most part hadn't prepared strategies to resist.

I would add that destroying the government in the information age, isn't about destroying buildings, but messing around in the computers - to destroy files, to steal data, to identify 'enemies.'  

If DOGE were blowing up buildings, I suspect Congress would be trying to stop them.  But what they are doing is basically off camera and beyond most people's ability to conceive as 'destroying the United States" as we know it.  People know something bad is happening - particularly when they are directly affected, like when they themselves, or people they know well, lose jobs, their benefits, or people they know get disappeared.  But most of us still haven't felt the real impact yet.  

How Does Trump Screw Us? Let Me Count The Ways

That wasn't the original title, but as I started writing, it just seemed more apt.  

This post is about two videos - one by Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut who lays out the details of the unprecedented level of corruption in the first six weeks of the Trump administration.    (Thus the title of this post.)  

The second is a woman from Oklahoma venting her anger over the botched Signal chat that put her husband (stationed in the Middle East) in potential danger.  

I was struck by the contrast between these two approaches to criticizing the Trump administration - one highly factual and rational, almost like a college lecture.  The other focused, but almost unhinged in the level of anger and invective.  

I'd argue that we should all be at the level of anger and resistance that woman is at.  We shouldn't wait until we are directly impacted.  100,000 people raging like she does would probably pry enough US Senators away from Trump to stop the venal actions that Senator Murphy describes in detail.  

We need the facts and details to understand how we're being screwed to raise our level of anger and resistance.  And we need her passion and fury to get us to stop pretending life will not be completely disrupted if we don't stop this horror right now.  

Murphy Video

There's a lot of content and detail here.  You can skip down to the video, or you can first look at my outline of the ways Murphy lists that Trump is corrupting government and enriching himself and his oligarch supporters - from streamlining the art of the bribe to dismantling agencies that have investigations that hurt Trump supporters.  Here are some of them, to help you keep track.  I've added links if you want to find out more about each.  

1.  Memecoins - He starts out talking about Trump meme coins that can be used to transfer money, unreported, directly into Trump's account.  This is the latest in bribe technology. 

What are Meme Coins?

I had to look up meme coins to try to understand what they are.  Here's a link to investopedia.com and one to wikipedia to help you understand.  The first link even offers ways to invest.  The Wikipedia link is more contextual and historical.  One thing I learned looking this up is that DOGE - the Department Of Government Efficiency - the rogue mob that Elon Musk is leading, is also the name of one of the more popular memecoins, one that Musk promoted.

2. Pays off Oil/Gas Industry's $1 billion bribe.   On day one Trump privileges oil and gas and hurts their competition- wind, solar etc.  This article documents the billion dollar ask, but the actual money count doesn't get that high.  But the benefits were given.  

3.  Jan 25  Fires the watch dogs - all the Inspectors General - the people who investigate corruption

4.  Jan 27 - Fires head of National Labor Relations Board.  This means NLRB cannot investigate cases.  Musk has lots of cases before the NLRB.  And many others around Trump have cases pending.

5.  Jan 30 - awards $800K stock of Trump Media platform  to  cabinet members, which Murphy says is another way for people to move cash to bank accounts of cabinet members in order to get favors.  

6.  Feb 23 - Weaponization of DOJ  - Drops case against Musk SpaceX    Then drops case against a GOP congressman.  Then Operation Whirlwind that targets anyone critical of Musk or DOGE.   DOJ turned into entity that drops cases of Trump loyalists and attacks those who criticize Trump.

7.  Feb 1  - Shut down Consumer Finance Protection Board  which was investigating Musk and Trump backers - consumer protection actions now gone

8.  Feb 4.  Meetings in White House with Business Partners - Saudi Gulf League and PGA - Saudis play torunaments at Trump golf course 

9.  Feb 6 - Pam Bondi - dulls foreign government agent act - No longer registering as foreign government represenatives  = now his friends can lobby government while secretly getting paid by foreign governments.  

10.  Feb 10 - Eric Adams case dropped and publicly announced that gettting rid of the charges against Adams if he pledges loyalty to Trump.Six  people in DOJ refused and resigned and finally the seventh agreed.  

11.  Buying $400 million Tesla’s.  Biden admin was going to buy $483K, Trump bumps it up to $400 million.  This seems to have been scuttled.

This is only a partial list.  The rest are in the video.  

 The Murphy Video

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The second video is just sheer anger at Trump's inept appointees jeopardizing the life of the lady's husband as well as of those of his fellow Middle East stationed military men.  [This is supposed to end after about 4 minutes 30 seconds - I added instructions into the code.  But it didn't work.  I'm not recommending you watch the whole thing.]

The original video I saw, but couldn't find a way to embed, was sharply directed to Sen. Lankford of Oklahoma.  She vows to end his career.  Very powerful messaging.  You can see it at this link to a Bluesky post.

As I said above, we should all be at the level of anger and resistance that woman is at.  We shouldn't wait until we are directly impacted.  Murphy offers us just a few of the reasons we should be angry as hell.   100,000 people raging like the woman in the video does would probably cause enough GOP Senators and Members of Congress away from Trump to stop the horrors that Senator Murphy describes in detail.  

How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806 – 1861

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

I love thee to the level of every day’s

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right.

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

This poem is in the public domain.