Does Russell Vought go home at night, satisfied that he’s put in a good day’s work for the people of this country? Or is it more that he knows he’s doing his part to make a mess of things?

I may never fully understand the prevalent mindset of resentment and hate that this latest presidential administration exhibits on a daily basis. In broad terms, it has something to do with burning bridges, controlling the purse strings, concentrated executive power, oppressive views on women’s rights, a misguided and convenient reading of primarily Old Testament scripture, devaluation and resentment of any race except Caucasian, a thoroughly irrational dismembering of healthcare and environmental concerns, an attack on higher education, a seemingly intentional emasculation of military readiness under the guise of creating a “warrior ethos”—all of which may seem right and proper to Vought and Vance and Miller and Hegseth, and others in the Heritage Foundation orbit, but which flies in the face of what was once thought an acceptable and longstanding interpretation of what the founding fathers had in mind. Well, apart from the endemic slavery.

It seems that the goal of this current nightmare gathering of incompetent stooges and moustache-twirling villains is a tenacious effort to sow chaos and bring a constitutional federal republic to its knees. It’s difficult to believe that all 77 million people knowingly voted for this in 2024, since many likely voted myopically, with their stomachs and their pocketbooks and narrow world views, and the empty promise of some equivalent of a chicken in every pot dancing around in their heads.

Many believed that Donald Trump would actually deliver.

Does it bother anyone else that the U.S. is moving B-1 bombers from a base in England because of a vague threat from Iran? Trump says it’s because of intelligence pointing to Iran, but there are few specifics.

Why should we believe him?

This couldn’t have anything to do with being in Putin’s pocket and compromising our capabilities in light of Putin’s constant threats to test NATO?  Who knows what gets said behind closed doors when these two get together or talk on the phone?

Epstein.

Flood the zone.

By the time November 3 gets here, it seems most of us will have a much clearer sense of what that means. If the Republicans can’t find their backbone in the next month or so, then we may be in for the tussle of our lives if Democrats carry the day and Donald Trump’s desperation explodes into truly maniacal behavior.

His authoritarian tendencies will be in full view, and we could have a Constitutional crisis on our hands. The “cornered rat” analogy will come to life, and Trump will lash out in ways we’ve feared since he took office 10 years ago. The S will hit the F and all bets will be off.

Variables include if the military will follow orders, if the Supreme Court will give some green light to hastily developed injunctions and oppressive prohibitions, and if the general public will throw down the gauntlet and say, “No more.”

The exasperating, truly tragic thing is that it didn’t have to be this way. Still, if this is the price we must pay for an uneasy truce after Appomattox, then so be it. If it goes even deeper than that, and we must face down this latest assault on our republic from the far right, well, buckle up everyone. It might be a long, cold winter.

Fuck you, Donald, and the escalator on which you’ve descended. And shame on you, Republicans and MAGA disciples, for aiding and abetting.

Epstein

What still boggles the mind but shouldn’t anymore is the fact that the Trump administration has a seemingly endless supply of distractions to roll out. Not only that, but he and the rest appear unfazed by much of anything we can throw at them.

I assume some of our demonstrations and vocal dissatisfaction get through, but it has long felt like no matter how angry we get, how loud we get, how often a judge puts a stop to some hair-brained action floated or taken, Trump and Hegseth and Miller, etc. never really get derailed.

They’re like those toys that bump into a wall but just keep moving in a different direction—undeterred, relentless, built for perpetual motion.

Still, we won’t forget about the Epstein files.

I might be suspicious of pretty much everything anymore, but I wonder about the FlyDubai incident. The first thing that came to mind was Bibi had something to do with it.

A plumber (undercover security?) apprehends the assailant and employs knowledge gained from a TV show to pull the plane out of a dive? And there just happens to be a third capable pilot on board (actual airline policy?) who can land the plane safely?

I suppose this could be a genuine hero story, but the fact that my first inclination was to discount the whole thing says something about me, I guess. But it also says something about the times we’re living in—that not much of anything is as it appears or as someone reports it. I can’t just hear this story and take it at face value. There must be something more, something that takes the shine off.

Something we’re gonna learn down the road that changes it from a miraculous turn of events to some choreographed, politically motivated, and shockingly depraved plot.

Europe suffered through a blazing hot summer with wildfires galore, Iguazu Falls is running high, Arizona is keeping an eye on a stressed dam and people are facing flooded highways and dwellings, the Outer Banks and other east coast spots are assessing damage after a massive, lingering nor’easter unleashed strong winds and dumped massive amounts of water.

I suppose it could all be coincidental. After all, droughts happen, heat happens, this is the season for tropical wind and rain, along with clashing warm and cold fronts at the change of seasons. But let’s leave some room for the likelihood that this collection of instances of excess is something more than coincidence, that there’s rhyme and reason to it.

Maybe the increased volatility and strength of some of these systems is indeed because the atmosphere continues to warm at an accelerated rate, as it has since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution and more strikingly since the late 1950s.

In the long—or maybe not-so-long—run, we won’t be able to handle it. The water will keep getting deeper and reaching places it previously never reached. The heat will reach a point where crops won’t grow and there will be no place for us to hide.

The current administration is acting as if none of this is real. Donald Trump conveniently and ignorantly calls it all a hoax, as do other elected officials beholden to Exxon and BP and oil sheiks everywhere. We should be incensed by this purposeful neglect. Besides not deserving one more vote, maybe it’s just time to put our faith in the private sector and concerned citizens who know a problem when they see it and apply themselves to finding solutions. While they still can.