Musings:
•The Sins of Donald J. Trump (chapter 10). He has:
Closed the agency which prevents human trafficking;
Stripped funds for high-speed rail in California in order to tweak governor Gavin Newsom’s nose;
Gutted funding for public broadcasting (PBS and NPR);
Stopped enforcing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act;
Withdrawn the U.S. from UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) because of “anti-Israel” and “pro-Palestine” stances;
Cancelled financing for a U.S. transmission project with ties to wind energy;
Dropped the plan to limit the national speed limit for trucks and buses to 65 miles per hour;
Gutted the U.S. Inter-Agency Council on Homelessness;
Curtailed Federal tax incentives for the solar industry and for individuals/companies who purchase solar panels;
Suspended Job Corp’s program targeting low-income young people;
Sought to open sensitive parts of Alaska to oil drilling; and
Fired Erika McEntarfer, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, who released low job data for July 2025.
•Trump is campaigning to get a Nobel Peace Prize because, as he says it, he “deserves” one. The trouble is that he hasn’t stopped any wars. The war in Eastern Europe is now in its fourth year despite the “Peacemaker’s” efforts to change Vladimir Putin’s (a.k.a. “Vladimir I, the Great”) mind on a cease-fire. The genocide in Gaza continues unabated because the “Peacemaker’’ is on Netanyahu’s “buddy list” and will remain there until one or the other departs this veil of tears. The “Peacemaker” bombed Iranian nuclear facilities because he had nothing better to do (unless it was playing golf). The “Peacemaker” is risking war with the People’s Republic of China over tariffs. The “Peacemaker” has threatened to invade Greenland in order to seize its mineral wealth, Panama in order to take back “America’s Canal” and its lucrative shipping fees, and Canada in order to make it the 51st State and collect its income and import/export taxes.
•Trump’s colossal ego has envisioned himself as the “Pope” (!) and as “Batman,” cleaning up the “crime-ridden” streets of “Gotham City,” a.k.a. Washington. D.C. (although “Battyman” would be closer to the truth). Either would still not get him a Nobel, unless he “fired” the present judges and replaced them with friendly persons.
•A Republican Senator (imagine that!) has proposed term limits for that chamber. Specifically, he has in mind senator Charles Grassley, chair of the Judiciary Committee, who has been in the Congress like forever (he’s 91 years old), over who should approve/disapprove Federal judge nominees. That would be a significant beginning.
Just a thought.