Commie scum

Alright, children. Settle down.

Today's civic lesson lesson will be to tell the difference between communism and democratic socialism. 

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of communism is: "a system where goods are owned collectively and are available to all members of society."

Democratic Socialism seeks to move away from capitalism through a multi-party democratic process.

The difference? Communism is based on the Marxist theory that seeks to establish a classless, stateless and moneyless society through the collective ownership of all economic production. 

Democratic socialism, on the other hand, embraces a highly regulated, capitalist free-market economy with high taxes to fuel a robust social safety net. It seeks universal healthcare in a single-payer system, living wages, free college education and wealth distribution

We need to discuss this because in the heat of the current political atmosphere, some ill-informed pundits and politicians are conflating communism with democratic socialism. For some reason, the convicted felon and adjudicated rapist President Trump thinks a resurrected 2026 version of McCarthy era Red Scare tactics will help the Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections.

That is sooo 1950s of him. But then, as he has shown us daily, he's a confused old man who is out of touch with the reality of the times. While he's calling Democrats communists, his closest international friends are Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un. Go figure.

While assailing the Democratic Party as dangerous communists, Trump has yet to identify a single communist.

Meanwhile, he is projecting again.

In the past year or so, the Trump administration has converted federal grants into direct equity stakes in private companies in such sectors as semiconductors, critical minerals and quantum technology. Wait, what? Government ownership of private businesses? Isn't that something like comm...???

Take a look. Some notable government equity holdings feature a 10 percent equity stake in semiconductor giant Intel, turning previously unspent  CHIPS Act subsidies into direct ownership. The government also holds an equity share in MP Materials, which deals in rare earth mining and processing. Then there is the U.S. Commerce Department making equity investments in several quantum technology companies.

Most telling of all, perhaps, is the government's "golden share" in U.S. Steel. Get this: the government now has veto power over specific corporate and supply-chain decisions made by the company.

In all, the government has spent $27 billion in equity stakes so far. 

What do you think farm subsidies are? Social Security actually has the word "social" in it. Where does Medicare come from?

Democratic socialism is in the fabric of American democracy. I once made an argument that Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase was a form of socialism whereby the government made a real estate purchase for the betterment of its people. It was so dicey even Jefferson had his doubts about the deal. But he made it anyway.

The Nordic states are the modern model for social democracy. They feature free trade, strong property rights, a business-friendly regulatory environment, labor protection with high unionization rates and collective bargaining and state-provided healthcare and childcare along with universal education.

It must be working pretty good. Nobody is calling each other "comrade." 

 

 

 

 

I declare...

Both Kim and I were having a little trouble getting cranked up for this year's Fourth of July celebration. It should have been easy. After all, this is the country's 250th birthday. That's pretty special.

But too much Donald Trump was getting in the way:

An unforced war with Iran. The detention and deportation of human beings – some, if not many of them legal citizens. But, hey, when you ignore due process, what does it matter? Inflation. Rogue police (ICE). The physical gutting of Washington DC landmarks, including the destruction of the East Wing of the White House for a grandiose ballroom that nobody asked for. A proposed arch that nobody asked for. An assault of voting rights with the incredibly stupid SAVE America Act.

It's all pretty embarrassing and it virtually sucks whatever pride you have in your country right out from the marrow of your bones.

So Kim and I wondered how we could celebrate with a joy we can't quite find.

Then Kim had a brainstorm.

Let's read the Declaration of Independence. Out loud. To each other. 

So we did. We got up Saturday morning, and a couple hours later, me made some time for ourselves. Kim lit a candle and placed it in the middle of our coffee table. Then I read the first of the document's 1,458 words: "In Congress, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America.

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another..."

I kept reading to the part that famously said, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..."

I teared up at that point. My voice cracked. For a brief, sterling moment, I felt myself channeling Thomas Jefferson, hearing my own voice give provenance to his words.  "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..."

Wow. For the first time in world history, a true democracy (and a republic) was being formed. The declaration was personally directed at England's King George III – and not the British Parliament because the colonies didn't recognize Parliament's legal authority.

In other words, treason.

Kim continued our session. She was into the second half of the DOI (not DEI, although it is a document heavy with diversity, equity and inclusion. Consequently, it subsequently becomes one of the most un-American government policies ever for the Trump administration to disparage DEI. At least, that's what I think), which listed their grievances against the king and providing their reasons for declaring independence.

Here are some of those grievances. See if they don't apply in today's world. Maybe it'll help illustrate what today's protesters mean when they shout "No Kings!" in their righteous resistance:

• "He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good."

Trump refuses to sign into law the an affordable housing bill until his voter suppressive SAVE America act is passed. He's holding legislation hostage.

• "He has erected a multitude of New Offices and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance."

DOGE? ICE?  Holy cow, the founders saw this 250 years ago?

• "He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures."

And...

• "He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power." 

Sounds like calling out the National Guard and the Marines to quell constitutionally permitted protests.

• "For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world."

What have Trump's tariffs done?

• "For depriving us in many cases, the benefits of Trial by Jury."

How many immigrants have been deported by ICE without due process?

• "He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us..."

Jan. 6.

• "He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States, for the purpose of obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands."

The recent suspension of Temporary Protective Status comes to mind. So does the attack on the 14th Amendment and birthright citizenship.

Kim and I read on, both amazed at how current the 250 year old document had become. What goes around comes around? I don't know.

Kim finished with the inspiring "We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the Good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right, ought to be FREE and INDEPENDENT STATES (the use of all caps emphasizes their voice and determination); that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right to do. And for that support of this Declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

That takes my breath away.

Kim and I then read, alternately, the names of each of the signers. There were 56 of them. One of them, Benjamin Franklin, was the only one who signed all four definitive documents that established the United States: The Declaration of Independence (1776); the Treaty of Alliance with France (1778); the Treaty of Paris (1783) and the United States Constitution (1787).

Kim and I looked at each other. In that singular moment, I don't think we ever had a better Fourth of July. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a week

I suppose nothing exemplifies the current stench of Trump administration racism in this country more than Thursday's Supreme Court ruling that removes the Temporary Protective Status (TPS) of perhaps 350,000 Haitian immigrants living and working legally – legally, in case you missed it the first time – in the United States.

Also affected by the ruling are nearly 6,000 Syrian immigrants. 

The common denominator is that both nationalities are predominantly dark skinned. The ruling could be effective immediately, meaning a whole new crop of non-Whites could be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and deported. As if we haven't had enough of ICE.

On the same day, SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) ruled that people seeking asylum in the United States can legally be turned away at the US-Mexican border by physically preventing them from setting foot on US soil.

These are people mostly seeking escape and refuge from murderous regimes in their own countries. 

What the holy hell...

So much for "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breath free..." 

"This is a victory 10 years in the making," said Steve Miller, the deputy chief of staff for the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, you know who gets all the asylum they need? White South Africans, who represent 6 percent of the South African population but own 50 percent of the land. Tell me again how are they being persecuted? 

Whites in, brown-skin out. Now tell me that we are not a country that has lost its way. 

Next target: the 14th amendment and birthright citizenship. SCOTUS is trying its best to rewrite the Constitution in its own image.

•   •   •

On Wednesday, the out-of-touch-with-reality Trump cancelled a bipartisan vote that aims to lower costs for homeowners and home buyers.

He's using that cancellation as a tactic to force Congress to pass his SAVE America Act, which is essentially a voter suppression scheme he wants to implement before the oncoming blue wave strikes the mid-term elections.

The SAVE America Act does not have enough votes to pass in the Senate, and it never will. Recent polling shows that 89 percent of Americans support the hosing bill, compared to 52 percent of voters who support requiring proof of citizenship in order to vote.

If Trump doesn't sign the housing bill within a 10-day period – he's already on the clock – it automatically becomes law. 

•   •   •

On Wednesday, Trump opened the Great America State Fair on the National Mall in Washington DC. Trump declared 45,000 people attended the event, which may or may not have been true. But videos show streams of people leaving while he was spouting one of his tiresome list of grievances.

In addition to Trump's presence, the so-called State Fair was hindered by numerous difficulties, including power outages that melted 200 gallons of ice cream. There were overpriced concessions and a Ferris Wheel as the only ride. Some fair.

There was also a Confederate flag in the North Carolina state booth that had to be removed. No matter how you feel about the Confederacy, it was a failed attempt at being a sovereign nation that never achieved recognition from other countries. The Confederate flag, consequently, has acquired status as representing White supremacy in the South's effort to expand chattel slavery into the newly-admitted Western states. Not a particularly good look for the country's 250th birthday.

•   •   •

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool debacle should be nothing more than an absurd joke, but it's become more than that.

Trump spent $14 million renovating the pool and then patted himself on his back for how great it looked – until pieces of blue liner started separating from pool. The job was done by a contractor who received a no-bid contract, which should tell yo something right there.

Consequently, people are being arrested for vandalism if they stick their hand in the 18-inch deep pond. Also, the area is being patrolled by the National Guard while a wire-mesh fence separates visitors from the pool they paid for.

The pool supposedly will be drained again, repaired and reopened in time for the 250th celebration.

Is this any way to run a country? 

 

 

 

 

White House cage fight

I don't know which plague from heaven I am rooting for the most during the Presidential desecration at the White House this evening: the line of severe thunderstorms predicted for Washington DC, or perhaps the arrival of "extreme" clouds of pesky gnats that could possibly disrupt the event.

The Claw.*

 If the American judicial system can't put a stop to the UFC Freedom 250 mixed martial arts cage match on the South Lawn, maybe God can.

I'm always rooting for God. Maybe He'll throw in an earth tremor or two, just for effect.

I'm not kidding, you know. This unnecessary spectacle is the latest brain fart from convicted felon president and adjudicated rapist Donald Trump. He thinks it's the perfect way to kick off the celebration of the 250th birthday of our country, although I suspect he really thinks it's the perfect way to celebrate his 80th birthday (which is today). 

An attempt to block the cage fight was denied by a Federal judge Saturday, ruling that the plaintiffs – a retired political organizer and an Air Force veteran –  failed to show legal standing or "irreversible harm" from the match.

So now it's up to God. 

Anyway, in case you just beamed in from Alpha Centuri and missed all the excitement, Trump has built a cage-fighting monstrosity on the South Lawn of the White House (you know, where they usually land the presidential helicopters of Marine One).

Nitro Circus with Marine guard.*

 The complex features a massive 92-foot-tall overhead lighting structure dubbed "The Claw", which dominates the local landscape. Trump says he might make it permanent because he thinks it's as grand as the Eiffel Tower. Combined with the razing of the nearby East Wing and the subsequent construction of a controversial $400 million ballroom, it all stands as the perfect metaphor for the destruction of the concept we have of ourselves as a nation and our constitutional government.

Oh, yeah. And it cost $60 million to build. At least seven government agencies have been involved in the construction of the complex, even though the White House says no taxpayer money is involved. Yeah, right. You bet'cha. Because, you know, this is what I voted for. Not.

On Saturday, there was a pre-UFC Freedom event featuring motorcyclists doing trick jumps in the Nitro Circus under Marine guard at the White House. I wonder if there's a ribbon for that duty? I guess it's a blessing these Marines weren't deployed to Iran.   

And, as with anything Trumpian, you know there's got to be a profit somewhere for Trump and his family. Isn't it a bit curious that he is a key-player stockholder in the UFC? He owns stock in TKO Holdings, the parent company of the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). Financial disclosures show that he purchased between $15,000 and $50,000 (your annual salary?) in TKO shares, which could increase exponentially after tonight.

Unless the gnats arrive.

I'm pretty sure somewhere there's a law forbidding presidents to enrich themselves while in office, but like everything else in the Trump administration, who cares? More cybercurrency! Trump needs to get richer! This is what I voted for! Not.

Meanwhile, the circus continues. Algae has returned to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, just days after its $14.2 million renovation was completed. Raise your hands if you want an arch to block your view of Arlington National Cemetery? Is there enough gold-plated decor in the White House? Do you like 4.3 percent inflation as much as Trump says he does? How about never-ending wars?

We have become a dysfunctional family as a nation. We no longer believe in science. We don't see value in empathy. Entitlements that helped us to rise above are now considered evil socialism. We've become neurotic over gender and paranoid over race.

Go gnats. 

*AP photo by Alex Brandon. 

 

Parking perplex

Kim and I tried out the new post office on Main Street yesterday. We had to. The old post office is officially closed now, and Kim needed to get a new set of keys for her company's post office box.

I no sooner pulled into the parking lot than I thought, "Uh, oh. How's this going to work?"

Rant on.

Parking situation is cramped at new post office.

 The parking lot design seems to represent the latest in minimalist parking lot architecture. It features head-in angled parking with spaces for about 12 cars on the right side of the lot and eight cars on the left. The trouble is that there might be five yards (13.3 feet by my measurement) separating the back-up space through the middle of the lot. In other words, customers will be competing for their opportunity to back up with folks parking opposite from them.

This kind of parking-lot forethought requires the complete attention of the driver, who may have just opened a summons to appear in court, or received a heart-rending sympathy card, or an unexpected tax bill, or some other distraction.

So much for having the full attention of the driver. Plus, backing up isn't the easiest of maneuvers to pull off. I'm not sure what has been constructed here is any better than the old post office lot, which required people to back up into moving traffic on West Second Street.

An accompanying issue is that the entrance to the new lot off Main Street requires that you drive down a short ramp and then make a quick left turn toward the parking slots. You know, just in time to meet somebody else who is backing up and who is trying to be careful not to hit the car backing up opposite him.

Can you imagine what this is going to be like at Christmas time? I might have to set up a lawn chair on the sidewalk on Main Street for this fiasco as I sip my hot chocolate.

Driving – and parking – is difficult at best. Why make it more difficult than it needs to be? 

But it's not just the post office.

Odd State Street entrance to First National Bank.

 First National Bank recently completed its new building on the corner of Center and State streets. Its parking lot has eye appeal, but it doesn't seem to be particularly customer friendly. Again, drivers must be extra cautious if they are backing out of some slots that are 90 degrees to each other.

Further complicating the issue is the State Street entrance/exit, which has a triangular island meant to invite entrance for drivers primarily in the northbound lane. But I've seen southbound drivers try to make the awkward turn around the island into the parking lot, sometimes waiting for oncoming traffic to start moving again as the nearby stoplight changes to green. This creates a dangerous bottleneck at the intersection of Center and State. Who designed this? When did aesthetics become more important than function?

Finally, the recent fire on Uptown's Main Street that destroyed two popular establishments – Shoto's Japanese Steakhouse and The Candy Factory – has forced the city to barricade that entire block of Main Street until the demolition of those buildings occurs. Nobody is quite sure when that will happen, but in the meantime, neighboring businesses are suffering from a lack of customers.

What?

It seems some people are complaining that there's no longer convenient places to park uptown because of the barricades and the subsequent rerouting of traffic.

What?

C'mon, people. Lexington's uptown is a walker's paradise. How hard is it to find a parking place and walk two or three blocks to your destination? You have no issue walking the length of the Barbecue Festival. You have no issue walking from store to store during Christmas. Why is walking a few extra steps a problem now? Kim and I live in the historic district and it takes us eight minutes to walk into town. And I'm 75 years old.

Rant over. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Movie review: Pressure

How in the world can something as mundane as forecasting the weather turn into something so spellbinding?

Well, if nearly 300,000 lives are at stake waiting for the excruciating go or no go decision to launch the Allied invasion of Nazi occupied Europe on June 6, 1944, then the movie Pressure is your compelling answer.

The flick focuses on the 72-hour span leading up to the D-Day invasion and the nearly impossible decision that Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower had to make as a once-in-a-century storm threatened to dismantle the entire project.

Brandan Fraser (left) and Andrew Scott

 When I first saw the teasers about this movie on television and learned that Brendan Fraser was going to play Eisenhower, my first thought was "What?" There is hardly a physical resemblance between the two. Fraser is 6-foot-3 and solidly built. Eisenhower was 5-10 and less physically imposing than Fraser. How was this going to work?

But in a movie driven by both dialogue and actual history, the disparity disappears. Fraser, who won an Oscar in 2022 as the lead in The Whale, is a superior talent. Put him in a waist-length military field jacket and, presto, he's Eisenhower. It's that simple.

But the standout performance comes from Andrew Scott, who plays Group Captain James M. Stagg, a specialist in terrestrial magnetism and solar radiation. Okay. A weatherman. A meteorologist. Stagg is the person who says Operation Overlord (the code name for the D-Day invasion of France) must be postponed before it becomes one of the greatest military disasters in history.

The movie's principle conflict is drawn between Stagg and Irving Krick, Eisenhower's trusted meteorologist. Krick has correctly forecast military operations in Africa and Sicily for Ike, but he uses weather patterns from the past to draw his conclusions. Stagg, a British officer who was brought in by Ike to lead the weathermen, goes with science. He launches weather balloons and uses a network of meteorologists under his command to color his forecasts.

Scott, as the dour Stagg, gives us an exceptional performance as a man who knows he's right and who has to convince Eisenhower that he, Stagg, is right. The friction between Stagg and Krick (confidently played by Chris Messina) offers us the heart of the movie. Throw in Eisenhower, who wants answers now as the invasion clock ticks down, and the tension mounts. And it's all dialogue. Wow.

There are two other characters worth noting here. British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery, who wants to go ahead with the invasion come hell or high water (literally), is faithfully played by Damian Lewis. Does that name sound familiar? Yep, he was Lt. Dick Winters in the exceptional Band of Brothers television series. I'm used to Lewis speaking as an American, but he was born in London and is a subject of the Crown. He speaks naturally with a British accent, which is a little unnerving if you are expecting Dick Winters. Lewis must have had a great accent coach in BofB.

And then there's Kerry Condon as Kay Summersby, who was Eisenhower's chauffeur/secretary/possible paramour during the war. She shows up in a lot of the decision-making process here, which I'm not sure happened in real life. She knows a lot. She could have been a security risk. But in the movie, she is the voice of reason that keeps the ever-building tension in balance.

As in nearly all movies like this, history is compressed. Some facts are lost or discarded because of time constraints. Missing in this narrative is Sverre Petterssen, a Norwegian meteorologist under Stagg who actually foresaw the 36-hour window in the storm that allowed D-Day to happen on June 6, not June 5 as originally planned. But in a movie that is 100 minutes long, where is his own window to appear?

As a history buff, I knew the backstory about the storm that nearly cancelled D-Day. I knew of Stagg. I never heard of Krick. It turns out the rub between the two was real. Krick, in fact, was a founding professor of the Department of Meteorology at the California Institute of Technology (1933-48). I didn't know that.

I know a movie is good when I take my wife to see it. She is not a World War II buff like myself, but she appreciates history and even more to the fact, she appreciates a well-made movie. This flick had her attention from start to finish. 

In movies like this one, she is my barometer. 

 

 

What about the kids?

I don't know how this one got under my radar. My attention could have been distracted by the fire that swept through a block of Uptown Lexington Tuesday night, destroying both the iconic Candy Factory and Shoto's Japanese Steakhouse. That disaster was pretty devastating for our community.

But yesterday I learned that more than 100,000 American-citizen children could have been separated from their parents by the Trump administration's immigration detention program during the convicted felon president's 18-month second term in office. 

In a report that came out Monday, ProPublica – which describes itself as a "nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power" – cited the research and calculations of The Brookings Institution, a respected Washington, D.C. think tank that has been around for more than 100 years.

According to Brookings, about 400,000 people have been detained by Trump's accelerated "iIlegal immigrant" removal program, an administration action that mirrored his first term in office when family separation was actual policy. To this day, an estimated 1,360 children remain permanently unaccounted for or separated from their parents. Good God.

ProPublica's own calculations indicate that at least 11,000 children have had a parent detained in the first seven months of the current administration. The publication gathered its data through a public information lawsuit by the University of Washington. ProPublica notes its own figures might be undercounts for several reasons: the government depends on detainees self-reporting whether or not they have children, or agents might not even ask if families have children.

The data is important when considering a child's health, or how many are leaving the country or how many are staying with family members.

Here's a kicker: The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) often tells us that it doesn't separate families and that it gives parents the option of being removed with their kids or to have their children placed with a person the parent chooses. Some option. 

Worse yet, ICE guidelines have changed. Under Trump, the guideline known as the Parental Interests Directive has been retitled to the Detained Parents Directive. In its preamble, which instructed agents to handle immigrant parents in a way that was "humane," the word "humane" has been eliminated.

What does that tell you?

We are in the midst of the Memorial Day weekend, where we take a moment to reflect on those who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country. Now the question arises, would those who gave their last full measure even recognize their country now? Because of a paranoid government administration, we've created detention centers and deportation centers mostly for the removal of brown-skinned people. It's Project 2025 in full bloom. 

It's our latest Trail of Tears.