TRUMP’S QUEST FOR THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE: Pick Me, Pick Me, Pick Me!!

 

     Trump does not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.  It seems like a no-brainer to state this, but apparently there are a multitude of “no-brainers” who are stoking the debate.

     Trump and MAGA can wail and gnash their teeth but the Nobel Peace Prize selection committee, in all its wisdom, got it right.  The committee did something that MAGA apparently cannot do:  the committee recognized and understood the incongruity of awarding the prize to a nation’s leader who is waging war on his own citizens while posturing for international peace.

     No, the Peace Prize should not go to an autocrat who sends troops to select cities in his own country with political pretext.

     Additionally, although the timing of Trump’s military strikes on Venezuelan and Colombian boats in international waters was such that they were not a factor in the Selection Committee’s decision, these actions can reasonably be construed as acts of war.  His pronouncements that military land strikes and CIA incursions into Venezuela are being contemplated, are also reflections of Trump’s patent war mongering and further proof of Trump’s unfitness for the Peace Prize.

     No reasonable person will argue that the smuggling of illicit drugs into the US is not a dire problem that must be stopped…or that those who commit these acts should not be brought to justice.

     But even Republicans are disconcerted by Trump acting as judge, juror and executioner in waging this drug war and meting out “Trump justice.”

     Said Republican Senator Rand Paul, R-KY, “You have to present evidence….all these people have been blown up without us knowing their names, without having evidence of a crime.” 

     Trump can color it as a war on drugs, but this is a war on human beings, on the citizens of sovereign countries.  Trump and his newly named Department of WAR are not scanning the globe for places they can instill peace but for places they can flex US military muscle.

     A look at Trump’s “peace making” score card:

Waging war on American cities.  Waging war on Venezuelan and Colombian vessels.  Contemplating strikes on Venezuelan soil.  Ordering the recent bombing of Iran and ordering the 2017 strikes within Syria. 

     Although Mexican President Sheinbaum felt compelled to declare that there would be no invasion of Mexico by the US in response to reports circulating that the Trump administration was contemplating strikes against cartels, who would be surprised to see masked US troops trodding the beaches of Cancun?

     Trump, it seems, is going full speed with his overcompensation for not personally serving his country in the military.  Those crippling bone spurs prevented him from glory on the battlefield so he now plays soldier by asserting his command of the US military.

     One can imagine Trump sitting on the floor of the Oval Office with an array of toy soldiers, toy airplanes and drones and tanks in hand. “Zoooom, take that Venezuela.  Booom, take that Iran.”  A dearth of foreign targets has him squealing with glee as he moves his masked toy soldiers into American cities.  “Hah, whaddaya say now Portland, whaddaya say now Memphis, Take that Chicago,” he screams.

     Whether he’s playing war or perpetrating war, Trump is no peacemaker.  If any of his actions on the world stage resolve any level of conflict between combatants, those results are only ancillary to his true goals.  Personal aggrandizement and the quest for personal glory—including the elusive Nobel Peace Prize—are what motivates him.

     Trump, no matter the size of his feet, will never fill the shoes of Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King or other deserving recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize.

     But if you aren’t chosen the next time around Donald, you can order American warplanes to fly over Norway and spew sewage on the Nobel Selection Committee.  That’ll teach them to mess with The Donald! 

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******

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The Tortuous Death

Of the Republican “Compassionate Conservative”

 

“Conservatives should be compassionate because compassion is a virtue and conservatives should be virtuous.”  Martin Morse Wooster in Whatever Happened to Compassionate Conservatism?” Philanthropy Daily, May 16, 2018

 

            I date myself by using the phrase “compassionate conservative.”  It has been several political life times since the phrase was a part of the Republican lexicon.

            Although two political figures (George Wead and Marvin Olansky) have been credited with coining the phrase and/or championing the concept four decades ago, Republican president George Bush has been credited with attempting to make the concept a part of Republican policy and aspiration.

            In a White House Fact Sheet Entitled “Compassionate Conservatism, April 30, 2002 President George W. Bush was quoted as saying:  “I call my philosophy and approach compassionate conservatism.  It is compassionate to actively help our fellow citizens in need.  It is conservative to insist on responsibility and results.  And with this hopeful approach, we will make a real difference in people’s lives.”

            Although many took the narrow view that compassionate conservatism merely reflected initiatives that would empower local faith-based charities and programs to address societal problems of poverty, homelessness and drug addiction, others took a broader view.  

     I was a knee-jerk liberal and registered Democrat at the time, but hoped that compassionate conservatism was being championed by a growing number of Republicans who did not wish to be thought of as the party of the wealthy, with no compassion for the needy. 

      I fervently hoped that these Republicans were people of character and conscience who, consistent with Wooster’s quote, above, felt compassion was a virtue, and aspired to virtuousness.  

     I fervently hoped that a majority of Republicans, some day, would agree that efficient and responsible government was not mutually exclusive with concepts of compassion, conciliation and compromise. 

But time, and Trump have proved me wrong.

     As it turns out, compassionate conservatism was short lived within Republican circles.  It may have been an incremental demise, accelerated by fiscal priorities and the social environment after 9/11.  

     Few would deny, however, that any vestige of compassionate conservatism that may have remained when Donald Trump made his entrance was brutally liquidated by a man who is neither compassionate nor conservative (as that term has historically been used by Republicans to pertain to big government).

     Compassion, and related sentiments such as empathy, sympathy, compromise and concession have become anathema to the Republican Party largely at the behest of Trump. 

     And the once grand, and perhaps genteel, party has disintegrated into a cult that has acceded to Trump’s demands that they refrain from exhibiting compassion or even common courtesy.   Trump bullies, threatens and punishes subordinates who don’t manifest callousness and truculence and who don’t mold themselves into his image.

     Trump’s henchmen curry favor with their leader by trying to out-Trump Trump on every occasion they can.  Whether it be snarky and mean-spirited pronouncements from a podium, or enthusiastic and unwavering support for any ugly and mean-spirited policy or pronouncement from their standard bearer, these mini/meanie Trumps--- Miller, Cheung, Vance, Bondi, Leavitt, Carr and others, make almost daily display of their vitriol.  No compassionate conservatives among this bunch.

            There may be a handful of remaining compassionate conservatives in Republican ranks although they are outliers---Romney, Cheney, Kinzinger, Murkowsy, Collins and a few others.   But all of them have incurred Trump’s wrath at one time or another for simply daring to exhibit American freedoms, such as freedom of opinion and freedom of dissent and have become outsiders within their own party.

Looking in Vain for Compassionate Conservative Faces in the Crowd

     A few magazines and newspapers over the years have had a feature they called “Faces in the Crowd.”  Although they used the feature, typically, to laud individual achievement, I recall a recent time that I consciously exercised my own brand of “Faces in the Crowd.” 

     I was watching a Civil Rights video presentation that included images of people in crowds who were demonstrating against integration in the South in the 60s. 

     Crowds of men, women and even children, screaming racial epithets and vulgarities at little children who were walking into their newly integrated Southern schools.  Crowds of people screaming at busloads of Freedom Riders, throwing rocks and even Molotov cocktails at the buses.

            In my exercise, I would isolate someone in the crowd.  It was always a red-faced man or woman, his or her features contorted in anger.  This one, I thought, is a mother to a few children, perhaps a church goer and community volunteer.  She was mouthing vulgarities at the black children. 

Another.  He was a local store owner, with a sizeable black clientele.  He was shaking his fist and screaming racial epithets at the black children.

            These were ugly faces from the crowd who, although they may have fancied themselves as model citizens and perhaps people of faith, were capable of distinctly un-Christian behavior.

            As I examine the faces in Trump’s orbit (crowd) I see many of the same faces.  When Miller and company curdle their lips with name calling, derision and disparagement of those who don’t grovel to Trump,  their faces bear a striking resemblance to the faces that comprised the racist mobs in the civil-rights tapes.

            So if anyone has a delusion that even an ounce of compassionate conservatism resides within Trump’s party, a glance at the Faces in Trump’s Crowd will dispel that. 

     The short-lived trickle of compassionate conservatism has been swept away by Trump’s wave of repulsive Republicans…and the GOP may never be the same.

 

******

 

 

CHANGE THE NARRATIVE

 

     One of the greatest failings of Democrats and those who oppose Trump and his MAGA-ts is that they’ve allowed Trump to control the narrative.

     MAGA—Make America Great Again? 

     America is the Noble Experiment that succeeded and has been great since its birth as a nation--largely because of its diversity.

     But implicit in the MAGA message is that somehow America got it wrong. That homogeneity, not diversity is the Holy Grail.  Homogeneity?  How did that work for Hitler’s Germany and the Aryan myth?

 

DEI...Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are American Values and Human Values

​

     Another way that MAGA-ts have been allowed to control the narrative is by attacking DEI.  There is absolutely NOTHING inherently negative about the phrase.  It advances the concept of sharing…sharing America’s bounties, sharing America’s opportunities. 

     But Trump and his minions have bastardized the phrase and turned it into a negative. 

     DEI was never meant as a means for undeserving or unqualified individuals to secure employment or educational opportunities. 

     It was meant as a mechanism for ensuring that all DESERVING and QUALIFIED individuals, from all of America’s diverse groups, are given a seat at the table.

     The anti-Trump drumbeat should be that DEI critics are fostering DISCRIMINATION, EXCLUSION AND ISOLATION…That government and corporate players can either DO THE RIGHT THING, OR DO THE FAR-RIGHT THING.

     The largest absurdity of the anti-DEI narrative is, as I indicated in my TEI Hires piece, is that NO ONE in the GOP Hierarchy, from Trump, to his cabinet to all his sycophant-subordinates, is in a position of authority  because of merit.  TEI Hires all.

     So, change the narrative.  Put the following on t-shirts, bumper stickers and baseball caps: 

 

AMerica is and has always been great !

​

America needs fine-tuning, not AN overhaul !

​

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are American values and Human Values !

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Anti DEI is Anti-American !

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Anti DEI is Discrimination, Exclusion and Isolation !

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Trump’s Ethnic Cleansing !

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Trump’s Apartheid policy of Apart-Hate !

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Trump:  Changing the American character to Trump caricature !

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Trump and his AINOS—Americans in Name Only !

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Do the Right Thing, Not the Far-right Thing !

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And, in tune with my push for interactive discourse, I will publish other cogent slogans from readers.

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TRUMP

SUPPORTERS:

YES, THERE IS SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH YOU

 

     Trump supporters, there is something seriously wrong with you.

     Okay, let me get the even more provocative out of the way first.

     There is something wrong with you, Trump supporters,  in the same sense that there was something wrong with the German population in the Hitler era.

     No, I’m not comparing Trump to Hitler.  That comparison is absurd.  There is no contemporary figure, with the possible exception of Mass Murderer Putin who can be mentioned in the same breath as Hitler.   But there are a multitude of similarities between Hitler supporters and Trump supporters. 

     Although the suffering of migrants does not approach the suffering of Jews under Nazi Germany, in many respects migrants are the new Jews.                  Migrants are Trump’s scapegoats for all America’s real or imagined woes just as Jews were Hitler’s scapegoats for all that ailed Nazi Germany.

     But perhaps the signature similarity between Hitler supporters and Trump supporters is the suspension of disbelief among both groups. A transparently disingenuous suspension of disbelief that allows Trumpers to not only abandon the moral high ground, but to leap from the moral high ground.

     Germany’s moral decline began as it became ever more apparent that depravity and atrocities were being perpetrated by Nazi Germany.   The German populace pretended not to know.  Even as the whispers of the mass murder of innocent men, women and children became shouts of outrage, they feigned disbelief.  

     They averted their gaze as millions of bodies vanished into mass graves or into curling black smoke from human ovens.   And these Germans, cowed and cowering at war’s end, often clung to their intentional ignorance even as they were marched through concentration camps by allied soldiers, forced to look at the mangled bodies of Hitler’s victims.  The braver or more repentant among them acknowledged their moral lapse. 

    The moral rot of Trump America began as Trumpers also averted their gaze and feigned disbelief.   They claimed to have no knowledge of Trump’s lifetime of depravities. 

     Trump has rampaged through life, bullying and threatening all he encountered,  in every aspect of life.  Fueled by wealth and privilege, he ignored the rules, and societal mores and simply took what he wanted.  He took what he wanted in scorched earth business dealings.  He took what he wanted when he decided women would be his personal playgrounds.  His obsessive self- indulgence and self-aggrandizement left a trail of victims decades long.

     When Trump supporters are faced with ample evidence of Trump’s misdeeds they feign disbelief, as did Hitler’s supporters.   

     Dozens of women document Trump’s sexual predations but Trumpers choose to believe the denials of a pathological liar over assertions of his innocent female victims. 

     Scores of one-time Trump supporters relate sexist, racist or unAmerican drivel that came from Trump’s lips only to be called liars by the supporters of the pathological- liar-in -chief.

     Trump’s Qatari-funded presidential library could be filled with grab-them-by-the-p**y audio…or unending video of his blustering, threatening and name calling but Trump supporters would remain indifferent to his transgressions.

     In Nazi Germany, racism, anti-semitism and greed for material gain or power motivated Hitler’s supporters.

     Trump supporters have similar motivations.   They decry the “brown hordes” at the border, or shout “Jews will not replace us.” And GOP leaders are so hungry for political gain that they indulge and enable a despot who is intent on distorting the American character into his own garish image.

     History will adjudge the Trump era as a chapter in American political history equivalent to Nazi Germany in these and other respects. 

     Hilary’s basket of deplorables—which included white supremacists, misogynists and homophobes—has been joined by a bushel of despicables comprised of  Republicans whose lust for power and political gain make them willing to discard traditional American values for Trump-inspired, un-American perversions.

     So, yes Trump supporters, whether it be self-serving mass delusion or some type of incremental moral decay, there is something seriously wrong with you. 

     And if you want to wear this as a badge of honor, as did those who donned “I’m a Deplorable” T-shirts after Hilary’s labeling, by all means do so. 

     Perhaps you can wear a jacket or T-shirt that says:  “ I don’t care.”  Short and sweet and eloquently stating your self-indulgent morality.

 

*******

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   TRUMP ISSUES EXECUTIVE     ORDER ESTABLISHING THE     DOEC: THE DEPARTMENT OF           ETHNIC CLEANSING

 

     Surrounded by cabinet members in the oval office, Donald Trump announced, by executive order, the establishment of a new department within his administration.  The new entity will be called the Department of Ethnic Cleansing and will be tasked with rooting out what Trump called “all things ethnic and evil that divide patriotic Americans.”

     Trump noted that the DOJ, the State department and “all other departments and cabinet members” have been part of his push to eliminate “divisive ethnic evil” but by establishing this new department, to be headed by long time Trump crony Stephen Miller, the push will go into overdrive, Trump said. 

     “The DOEC has a lotta work to do” Trump noted, indicating that schools, libraries, museums and what Trump characterized as “so-called institutes of higher learning-- I like to call them “DEI-Hire learning” institutes,” Trump said,  "have been “cesspools of divisive ethnicity.”

     Trump ended his announcement with this statement: 

“You know, I think the term “ethnic cleansing” has gotten a bad rap.  We’re gonna put a positive spin on the phrase. You know, cleansing means making something clean, and that’s what we’re gonna do. Yes,  we’re going to clean up America,  get rid of the DEI crap, get rid of all the books that tell our kids about the so-called bad things we did to blacks and Indians, get rid of statues or awards that emphasize black-ness or brown-ness or other ethnic-ness.   We’re going to emphasize American-ness…America first!  And it’s gonna be a beautiful thing…you’ll see.”

     New department head, Stephen Miller, then stepped to the podium to announce the first significant initiative of the new DOEC.

     Said Miller:  “It’s a disgrace that a state in these great United States is named after another country, and a much lesser country at that.  Of course I’m talking about ‘New Mexico.’  Really?  One of our states referred to as ‘Mexico?’  Should never have happened and wouldn’t have happened if our great president Trump had been president when the state was named.  So, with President Trump’s blessing, we will rename the state of New Mexico….West Texas!!

     At this point cabinet members rose as one to applaud, as “The eyes of Texas are upon us” played in the background.  When the applause died down and the cabinet members sat, Miller continued.

     “Yes, this will be a tribute to the great state of Texas and to its great, supportive governor, Greg Abbott, who as you know is restricted to a wheel chair but who has absolutely no problem jumping on this initiative, right governor?” The screen switched to  Governor Abbot, in his wheelchair, waving and nodding to the camera.

     Miller continued: “We’ll work out the details with what will now be the West Texas governor’s office, and the West Texas legislature, but we’ve already heard from that great, patriotic American company, Google, which has indicated that all Google maps will purge references to New Mexico.  It’s now West Texas,” he shouted, to applause from the cabinet members. 

     “And along these lines,” Miller continued, we’ll soon have another announcement about changing the names of all American cities that have Mexican language names, like San Antonio…or San Francisco…Soon to be St. Anthony, Texas and St. Francis, California. More about that later, thank you.”

​

        A nod to G. Hanson, Santa Fe New Mexican, 1/11/25

 

*****

 

 

 

THE DNC RESPONDS TO TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ESTABLISHING THE                        DOEC

 

     Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, on behalf of the Democratic National Committee,   issued a brief, almost terse statement on the steps of the Capitol in response to Trump’s executive order establishing the Department of Ethnic Cleansing. Jeffries said:

     “America is the noble experiment that succeeded.  The experiment was whether a nation comprised of immigrants from all over the globe, coming from different cultures, speaking different languages, practicing different religions could MELD—not melt—into a nation of freedom and liberty for all and a leader of the free world.  The United States endured often terrible growing pains to evolve into the greatest nation in the world, with no need to be “great again” because it has been great from its inception.”

     Jeffries paused and seemed to stare through the small group of journalists who had hastily assembled.

     “We celebrate our diversity.  We celebrate the fact that ALL Americans have a seat at the table.  We will not go back to Africa…we will not go back to Mexico”   He breathed deeply, then raised his voice.   “And we will not go back to 1963!  Thank you ladies and gentlemen.”

     A CNN commentator noted that 1963 was an apparent reference to the year before the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.

 

*****

 

 

 

 

​​​​WWJD--WOULD JESUS HAVE

VOTED FOR TRUMP?

 

     Those who know me chuckled when they first saw me wearing a “What Would Jesus Do” T-shirt.  Right, this agnostic, with chapters of his life replete with (mild) depravity and debauchery, has found Jesus?

     They thought it was a joke.  And even after an earnest explanation that this was not a religious epiphany but more of a lifestyle choice, they still think it’s a joke.

     No matter. In the twilight of my life I no longer feel compelled to convince others of anything, much less of my belated attempt to right my life’s wrongs

     But let’s address the question:  Would Jesus have voted for Trump in the 2024 election?

     The answer is apparent whether or not you are a person of faith.  No, Jesus would not have voted for Trump.  But then, Jesus wouldn’t have voted for anyone.  Jesus is non-partisan and has much better things to do than support any political candidate.

     Seems silly that this question would even be voiced.  But recent pronouncements from many who claim to follow Jesus are even beyond silly.

     A person who claims to be a person of faith announces, on the evening news,  that Trump was sent by God.  I had to rewind the video.  Did I hear her right?

     Her words would have been more credible had she announced that God has visited a plague upon America in the form of Trump.  But no, apparently she really believes that God affixed little wings to Trump’s sizeable body and sent him to deliver us from Democrats!

     I suppose I shouldn’t have been startled.  I have great respect for many Evangelicals and other people of faith who actually live and adhere to their professed values.  But it has become ever more apparent that evangelical and other faith-based movements have been infested by charlatans, hypocrites and cult-like individuals whose “Christian” morality is a morality of convenience.

     Anyone who would suggest that any God would visit someone as morally bereft and un-Christian-like as Trump upon us as some type of savior, obviously suffers a morality of convenience.

     God would not choose as a savior someone who grabs women by the p**sy.  God would not choose as a savior someone who has violated many of the Ten Commandments.  God would not choose as a savior someone whose mouth drips with hatred.

     Okay, don’t take it from me.  Take it from scripture.

     Quoting scripture is almost as foreign to me as it is to Trump.  But I was able to find the following scripture that pretty much sums up why Trump lacks the qualifications to be anyone’s savior.

 

Proverbs 6:16

     “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him:  haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”

     Haughty eyes and a lying tongue?  A heart that devises wicked plans and feet that make haste to run to evil?  One who bears false witness and sows discord among others? 

     Sounds like the crafter of this proverb had Trump in mind.  Although “hands that shed innocent blood” may be a stretch, if he attains the presidency a second time Trump’s romance with Mass Murderer Putin and other world tyrants and dictators will make him complicit in the shedding of innocent blood.

     So, What Would Jesus Do when contending with people whose faith and morality twist in the winds of political expedience and gain?  He might not condemn them for worshipping false gods, as I have.   But I think he would recognize them as worshippers of false gods.   And point them to a path that is more consistent with his teachings.

 

                     **********

       

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