No authorization

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My friend, who is a retired financial executive, forwarded the following email and New York Times piece. His introduction and the article need no further explanation.

“Not only has Congress not authorized such a war, but it has barely even debated it. The administration has not bothered to explain, either to Congress or the American people, why it might bomb Iran or what it hopes to achieve. ‘There haven’t been any briefings about a military strategy,’ said the Democratic representative Ro Khanna, who is working with his Republican colleague Thomas Massie to force a vote on an antiwar measure.”

Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

I never imagined I’d miss being lied to by George W. Bush and his henchmen.

When the Bush administration wanted to go to war with Iraq, it undertook a full-court press to propagandize the American people. Administration officials leaked false information about Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, which turned out not to exist. Secretary of State Colin Powell gave a deceptive presentation at the United Nations. In Congress, many Democrats, succumbing either to relentless public pressure or their own hawkish instincts, joined with Republicans to authorize an invasion.

This mendacious campaign was shameful and despicable, and helped create today’s national atmosphere of corrosive cynicism and nihilistic paranoia. But it was, in retrospect, a tacit acknowledgment that public opinion mattered, that a president couldn’t start a war without convincing Americans it was necessary. It was a manipulation of democratic deliberation rather than a negation of it.

Compare that episode with Donald Trump’s threatened war with Iran. On Wednesday, Axios’s well-sourced reporter Barak Ravid warned, “The Trump administration is closer to a major war in the Middle East than most Americans realize. It could begin very soon.” America has undertaken the largest air power buildup in the region since the Iraq war. Outlets including The New York Times have reported that the military has given Trump the option to strike as soon as this weekend.

Not only has Congress not authorized such a war, but it has barely even debated it. The administration has not bothered to explain, either to Congress or the American people, why it might bomb Iran or what it hopes to achieve. “There haven’t been any briefings about a military strategy,” said the Democratic representative Ro Khanna, who is working with his Republican colleague Thomas Massie to force a vote on an antiwar measure.

Most reporting indicates that the White House is planning for a campaign far more intense and sustained than last year’s bombing of Iran or the abduction of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. But we don’t know if Trump and his team are after regime change, and if they are, what they think comes next. This is how an autocracy goes to war, without even a pretense that the consent of the governed matters.

The Premonition: a Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis is a must read (once again with meaning)

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The self-inflicted growing measles outbreak reminds me of what happens when people do not listen to doctors and medical experts. The following is a repost from the time of the COVID outbreak.

************

“You cannot wait for the smoke to clear: once you can see things clearly it is already too late. You can’t outrun an epidemic: by the time you start to run it is already upon you. Identify what is important and drop everything that is not. Figure out the equivalent of an escape fire.”

“James,” she asked, “who exactly is in charge of this pandemic?” “Nobody,” he replied. “But, if you want to know who is sort of in charge, it’s sort of us.” from a conversation between two members of an informal cadre of doctors trying to get to the bottom of things that had no orders to do so from their bosses.

These quotes are from Michael Lewis excellent book on the COVID-19 pandemic called “The Premonition: a Pandemic Story.” Lewis has written another well-researched book breaking down complex topics into a story the reader can understand. He has written about the housing financial crisis in “The Big Short,” baseball’s embracing of data to change the paradigm in “Moneyball,’ how we make decisions in “The Undoing Project,” and how unprepared we were during the Trump presidency in “The Fifth Risk,” among others.

From the inside flap to the book, “For those who could read between the lines, the censored news out of China was terrifying. But, the president insisted there was nothing to worry about. Fortunately, we are still a nation of skeptics. Fortunately, there are those among us who study pandemics and are willing to look unflinchingly at worst case scenarios. Michael Lewis’ taut and brilliant nonfiction thriller pits a band of medical visionaries against the wall of ignorance that was the official response of the Trump administration to the outbreak of COVID-19.”

The book highlights an informal cadre of doctors, data scientists, and epidemiologists who dig deeper into news and data to realize we have an exponentially growing pandemic which is akin to a wildfire. If you do not act early and with strong interventions, it is hard to contain. These folks are acting without permission from their various jobs in governmental health care positions, but share communications regularly even when those communications could get them fired for going against stated public stances.

Several in the group came together at the behest of President George W. Bush after he read a book about the risks of a pandemic to a country like the United States. He formed a pandemic planning team that pulled together resources who had a reputation for solving problems in health care, breaking down preconceived notions. And, they wrote a pandemic response plan after doing much research about the failures and successes in fighting the Spanish Flu outbreak. They actually used data to turn that story on its ear.

While a few stayed around in the administration during the Obama years and were of benefit during other pandemics, they were long gone during the Trump administration who felt the greater risk was from a military or terrorist action. So, they went back to their health care related jobs. That was until they started to see reports out of China and dug deeper.

They saw global exposure and used previous exponential pandemic growth to ascertain that we could be looking at 350,000 US deaths. The key is they made this observation in mid-January, 2020. What they learned later is the exponential growth factor from COVID-19 was higher than that of other diseases. Carter Mecher, the informal head of this group who called themselves “The Wolverines” after a Patrick Swayze movie called “Red Dawn,” noted by the time the president closed incoming travel from China, it was too late as the pandemic had already reached our shores. By the time the US had its first reported death on February 26, it was masking the fact 200 others were already dying.

Acting quickly without all of the data is key as per the quote above. A key data driven lesson from the Spanish Flu response is social distancing, especially with children, is essential. The first thing they would have done is shut the schools down. Why? Kids average a distance apart of only three feet, while adults have wider distance. Kids will transmit any disease faster than adults. This practice was done in some cities during the Spanish Flu outbreak and the data showed it worked, whereas other cities who did not act like this, had worse pandemic responses.

This cadre started getting attention of others beneath the president and in governor’s offices, including Dr. Tony Fauci. So, their informal calls and email chains kept growing. They were the only folks who seemed to know what they were talking about. We also learned the CDC is not the best agency to manage a pandemic, as it is more of a research and report writing entity, not a nimble management group. One of the members of the informal team worked for the CDC and her bosses did not know she did, e.g. Yet, the CDC and White House administration staff would not go against the public positions of the president. Perception mattered more than fixing the problem, so needed change and actions could not get done. In fact, some of these officials encouraged them to keep going, even though they knew the president was not the kind of person who they could contradict without repercussions.

So, at a time when we needed to move quickly, people in positions of authority stood in the way of those who were begging with them to act quickly. A good example is in a public health official named Charity Dean in California, who was used to acting quickly when she saw potential outbreaks, often risking her job in so doing. Her boss came from the CDC and was towing that party line, yet Dean had been drafted into this informal group “The Wolverines.” While her boss disinvited her from internal pandemic meetings, she kept learning and sharing information with the group. Eventually, her boss could not make a press conference with Governor Newsom, and Dean spoke for 45 minutes of her concerns answering many questions. The press said this is the first time they have heard this. The governor acted quickly.

The book is a must read, in my view. It shows how important leadership is in welcoming information from reliable sources to make their decisions. It also shows how important courage is to tell leaders what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. As I read this book, I kept thinking how the former president craves being seen as a good leader, but at the time when we needed him to be one, he whiffed at the ball on the tee. A key to pandemic responses is to tell people the truth – only then will they act. When the so-called leader is telling them it will all go away soon on the same day the first US death is reported or that this is a Democrat hoax, then people hear that and act accordingly. The problem is those statements were far from the truth.

A quick conversation on diversity

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I am headed out the door, but here is a quick conversation between our friend Jill and me.

Jill commented: “I read yesterday that federal agencies have been ordered by Trump to ensure that contractors and others they do business with have no history of DEI or any programs that support anti-discrimination! And the Department of Education now has a website for the public to report anything remotely resembling DEI in schools! Jim Crow has been reincarnated by this fascist, racist regime.”

I responded: “Quite simply, diversity is strength of America. If we let regressive, narrow-minded elected officials like Trump squelch access to talent, experience and ideas, we will hasten our decline.”

Ideas are precious. They come from all over and from all kinds of people. Often, those closest to the customer or production may have elegant ideas to improve things. If we limit idea creation, then we are only shooting ourselves in the foot.

Trump immigration policy rattles hospitality industry

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An article in The Guardian by Michael Sainato called “Trump’s immigration siege is rattling hospitality industry, workers say,” is not an unsurprising piece of news. The subheading tells more:
“Unite Here, the US’s largest hospitality workers’ union, says ICE crackdown is harming tourism and costing jobs.” Here are a few paragraphs:

“Donald Trump’s immigration policies are having a chilling effect on the hospitality industry, where nearly a third of workers are immigrants, according to the largest hospitality union in the US.

The number of employed hospitality workers dropped by 98,000 from December 2024 to December 2025, according to a report from Unite Here, which represents 300,000 workers across the hospitality, food and tourism industries in the US and Canada.

Union leaders say the Trump administration’s brutal immigration crackdown has not only scared workers but has also discouraged international tourism. The US saw a decline of $1.2bn, or a 5.5% drop, in tourism revenue from September 2024 to September 2025, according to the report.

‘We need immigrant workers. They’re an important part of our workforce. They’re my members, they’re my neighbors, and the way they’ve been treated in this time is really abhorrent,’ said Wade Lüneburg, political director for Unite Here Local 17 in Minneapolis, which represents 6,000 workers in Minnesota, including workers at the Minneapolis-St Paul international airport.”

A number I read a few years ago said immigration is accretive to the US economy at a rate of $86 billion per annum. I do not remember the source, but the point is more than several industries tap both documented and undocumented immigrants in their businesses. Cutting undocumented without due process, planning or transition and in a heavy handed manner has an echo effect. Tourism is down, for example, so that impacts travel and hospitality industries.

View of US international impact from a retired British civil servant

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The following is provided by a British blogging friend who had over thirty years as a civil servant. I find people outside the US offer a fresher perspective on our elected officials. I will let you draw your own conclusions.

“One of the yardsticks by which US presidents of the 20th & 21st centuries are measured would naturally be by their International Impact and the manner of their dealings with other nations.

In recent decades:

-Kennedy faced down The USSR over Cuba and Berlin
-Johnson’s efforts for Civil Right and Social reform are blanketed out by the Vietnam War and the bilious ravings of conspiracy junkies still hooked on Kennedy’s death.
-Nixon gets something of a free pass because he was on watch when the Vietnam War ended and the USA and China started talking.
-Bush snr gets a thumbs up because whereas the US intervened to halt Iraq he kept the USA out of their (which was hard luck on the Marsh Arabs)
-Bush jnr in his own way tried to unite the USA but will be remembered for miring the USA in Iraq and Afghanistan.


All these actions were taken as part of thought-out policies and/ or adherence to the political doctrine of the time and for better or for worse had a line which is understandable when set against the backdrop of the long histories of International Relations, Regime Change, Soft Power, Hard Power and so forth. And the world took notice, said to itself ‘This is America- again’ and carried on as before, satisfied that as long as it wasn’t directly happening to them. All was…OK (sort of).

Trump however runs around like toddler who has had too much sugar or a teenager after their first few drinks; on second thoughts much like the guys at the end of the bar everyone avoids. He rants, he raves, he displays petulance, ill judgement, has a very short attention span and very poor perception. He is a danger, and one wonders if should be get too near to those nuclear codes would there be some ‘intervention’ as he had taken a step too far (not that we will ever know).

And as said before he has poked a stick into the militarily quiet herd that are European nations who now realising they no longer have a sort of friendship with the USA will start to strike out on their on, and might not be around when the USA needs them. The damage he has caused there will vibrate down the decades only to be seen in its full troubling scope in later decades.

I do wish the media would stop referring to it as the Trump New World order, for there is no order only the careering around that would be the traditional province of one of the less balanced Third World dictators (Idi Amin comes to mind).”

I shared the above with a retired US financial executive who I have cited before. His brief response is as follows:

”Idi Amin ? Whoa-ah , THAT’S strong ! But the overall message rings true. This guy has no “grand strategy” and those who attribute such nonsense to his intellect and “leadership” must be delusional . How can they credit him with such ?”

I also shared this with our friend Jill. Not knowing this came from our astute friend Roger, here is what she said:

”I think that what your Brit friend says is spot on and is the view of many of our friends from across the pond, such as David, Roger, Pete, and others.. Past presidents made mistakes, yet, but they were mistakes based on lack of information or poor judgement at the time. The mistakes Trump is making are intentional and cruel. He truly seems to believe he can ‘rule the world.’ The sad part … nay, the tragic part is that when it all finally comes crashing down … and it will … it is the people of the world who will pay the price … every single one of us will pay for his perfidy. The Brits already see this, but too many in this country are still wearing blinders. Thanks for sharing your blogging friend’s thoughts, Keith …”

I include these two responses with Roger’s observations as I have long found all three to offer reasoned observations. We have many problems on our planet, but they are made far worse by a faux-populist US president who wants to rule the world funded by his Robber Baron friends. He sees his followers as useful foils to that end. They just don’t realize it.

Four Presidents comment on Reverend Jesse Jackson

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An American icon and a first hand link to the teachings of Martin Luther King, Jr. – Reverend Jesse Jackson – has passed. Per The Guardian, “Three Democratic former presidents led a wealth of tributes to Jesse Jackson, a ‘titan’ of the civil rights movement and ‘one of America’s greatest patriots’ who has died at the age of 84.

Joe Biden said history would remember Jackson as ‘a man of God and of the people’, calling him in a social media post: ‘Determined and tenacious. Unafraid of the work to redeem the soul of our Nation.’

Biden added: ‘I’ve seen how Reverend Jackson has helped lead our Nation forward through tumult and triumph. He’s done it with optimism, and a relentless insistence on what is right and just.’….

Barack Obama called Jackson ‘a true giant’ in a statement posted on Instagram.

‘For more than 60 years, Reverend Jackson helped lead some of the most significant movements for change in human history. From organizing boycotts and sit-ins, to registering millions of voters, to advocating for freedom and democracy around the world, he was relentless in his belief that we are all children of God, deserving of dignity and respect,’ he said….

‘Michelle and I will always be grateful for Jesse’s lifetime of service, and the friendship our families share. We stood on his shoulders. We send our deepest condolences to the Jackson family and everyone in Chicago and beyond who knew and loved him,’ he said….

Bill Clinton said he and former first lady Hillary Clinton were friends with Jackson for more than five decades, and were ‘deeply saddened’ by his passing.

‘Reverend Jackson championed human dignity and helped create opportunities for countless people to live better lives,’ he said in a statementon Instagram.

‘[He] never stopped working for a better America with brighter tomorrows, including his historic campaigns for the presidency in 1984 and 1988 in which he championed the concerns of Black, Latino, Asian, and lower income white Americans.’….

Donald Trump, in a post on his Truth Social social media platform, called Jackson ‘a good man’ and a ‘friend’, also noting he had provided office space in New York for Jackson’s Rainbow Push Coalition.

Trump’s post, as is often the case, quickly turned political, and about himself. The president attacked the ‘scoundrels and Lunatics on the Radical Left’ who, he said, ‘falsely and consistently’ called him a racist, and sought recognition for ‘funding Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which Jesse loved’.“

It should be noted that Trump gave a Presidential Freedom medal to a famous radio broadcaster who routinely mocked Jesse Jackson on his show. Why this divisive broadcaster was so honored is another story. Many have come out with plaudits for the life of service for Jackson. Unlike the incumbent president, these commentators did not denigrate others in so doing. I include his message because he did say a couple of kind words for Jackson before he segued.

Jackson stood up for people. We should never forget that key. To some critics, his oratory deflected from his messaging, but at his heart he was a preacher, so speaking poetically should not be frowned upon, in my view. May he RIP.

Consummate actor Robert Duvall passes away

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Per The Guardian, “Robert Duvall, the veteran actor who had a string of roles in classic American films including Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, M*A*S*H and To Kill a Mockingbird, has died aged 95.

‘Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort,’ wrote his wife, Luciana Duvall, in a message on Facebook.

‘To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything. His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court. For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented. In doing so, he leaves something lasting and unforgettable to us all.’

Duvall was perhaps best known for his role as the cavalry-hatted Kilgore in Apocalypse Now, released in 1979, which yielded two of the most frequently quoted lines of dialogue in cinema history – ‘Charlie don’t surf!’ and ‘I love the smell of napalm in the morning’. But he also made an immense impact as the consigliere Tom Hagen in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, the reclusive Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird at the start of his career, and many supporting and character roles throughout the ensuing decades. He was nominated seven times for an Oscar, winning once, for best actor in 1984 for Tender Mercies as a country-music singer trying to overcome alcoholism.”

I remember all of these movies and more. “A Civil Action” with John Travolta was an excellent movie on a company who knowingly poisoned the water supply, but bankrupted the attorney pursuing them. “Secondhand Lions” with Michael Caine was about tall-telling retirees who make you smile with their pearls of wisdom. I had forgotten he was in the movie “Mash” playing Frank Burns opposite Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould. And, I had forgotten he was the bad guy Ned Pepper in “True Grit,” opposite John Wayne, Kim Darby and Glen Campbell.

But, as Boo Radley in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” he saved the lives of Scout and Jem from the man who wanted to punish their father for trying to save a Black man from conviction for a crime the assailant committed. Duvall played the learning disabled Boo to perfection.

Let me close with a favorite scene as the family attorney in “The Godfather,” as he quickly eats his dinner before the film director (who is black balling Vito Corleone’s God son) erupts in anger at his request. My thinking is he knows he won’t get to eat before his flight back as well as anticipating the director’s eruption. Fans of the movie know what happens after he leaves.

Bipartisan condemnation of Trump’s attacks on allies

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An article by Patrick Wintour, Diplomatic Editor of The Guardian called “Republicans and Democrats unite to condemn Trump’s attacks on allies” is a welcome piece. The subheadline hits home: “American politicians break rank at Munich Security Conference to hit out at ‘destructive’ president and urge Europe to stand up to Trump.”

Here is more of the story:

“Donald Trump’s most unbridled critics at this weekend’s Munich Security Conference have not been Europeans but Americans – and not just Democrat politicians.

A few Republicans, out of earshot of the US president’s favoured Fox News, have had the courage to challenge Trump’s diet of tariffs and unpredictability.

The criticism ends what little remained of the tradition that the US delegation to the conference limits criticism of the commander in chief abroad.

The attacks came thick and fast as Democrats vied to disown Trump, or, in the case of Hillary Clinton, the former US secretary of state, to urge Europe that Trump’s chief weapon – perceived unpredictability – can be neutered by consistent push back.

In the case of Greenland she said the resistance ‘worked because a critical mass of our allies said ‘no, not like, we will negotiate. We’ll do this. We will do that’. There was a well-presented opposition that said No. I hope what people are understanding is that unpredictability is uncomfortable, but it is important to arrive at a response and stick with it because that affects whether a leader thinks he can proceed … With Trump the question is, don’t doubt what he wants to do. Try to figure out how to stop him from doing it. Don’t debate what his intention is because he is telling you what his intention is. He may or may not be able to achieve it, but that is up to forces outside of him.’

Gavin Newsom, the Democrat governor of California, accused Trump of ‘doubling down on stupid’. He said: ‘Never in the history of the US has there been a more destructive president than the current occupant of the White House in Washington. He is trying to recreate the 19th century. He is a wholly owned subsidiary of big oil gas and coal.’”

There is really not much to add. I am enthused by the pushback on the incumbent president as I agree with what is said above. Sadly, there are even more reasons to consider in pushing back.

Between you, me and the lamp post

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I sent a variation of the following note to a Democrat elected official that I know whose daughter is a Republican state representative. The daughter, who used to baby sit for us with her sister, is running for office again.

As an independent voter and former member of both parties, your daughter’s recent TV commercial does not play well with me. I wrote this as a comment to a blog on Trump being an anchor to his party’s future election chances not to mention what has transpired over the last few months with several unexpected Democrat wins in Trump held districts. The Democrats won because they ran good candidates who talked about kitchen table economics.

Here is the comment:

“I was just thinking today how a Republican state legislator wants to be sent back to the state capitol to continue to fight inflation and the radical left. Two reactions: 1) What can a state legislator do to fight inflation? 2) the “radical” concern in our country is supporting an incumbent president who flouts the law and often breaks his oath to the constitution, who has made the US an untrustworthy trading partner and who has made us a rogue nation by denigrating and bullying other countries. Call me crazy, but that seems pretty radical to me vs someone who is merely standing up for people’s rights.”

I am sending this to you as we need a peaceful resolution to “firing” the US president and select others via impeachment and conviction for their violations of the law and constitution. It has to involve Republicans, as twenty Republican senators are needed for a 2/3 vote and the sycophantic Speaker of the House has to be pressured to call a vote. With your daughter having been a Democrat, maybe she could be beseeched to help for a nobler cause. It is not too late for her to alter her focus.

We independents are disillusioned and craving governance as we are not getting it. What Trump, Pam Bondi, Kristi Noem, Pete Hegseth, et al are doing to our country as they thumb their noses at citizens, Congress and Judges is disgraceful. Bondi’s testimony the other day was particularly shameful as she is supposed to be the AG. We truly deserve better than this and are so worried about our country. Editorialist Robert Reich’s letter to Kristi Noem is on point.

And, if it helps, tell your daughter I was a Republican for 25+ years before I changed to an independent around 2008. The RINO is the incumbent president, not the people who give a damn like Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Michael Steele, Rick Wilson, Steve Schmidt, David Brooks, George Will, et al. Even Senator Thom Tillis is pushing back more.

Lest we forget

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The following email (with the above title) was sent to me by my retired financial executive friend. He has tirelessly tried to convince a few MAGA friends that their fealty to the incumbent president is not steeped in the truth or facts. Here are a few of his encapsulating thoughts:

“OR , The More Memorable Quips , Actions and Social Posts of the Trump Era :

OR , 47 reasons you might THINK you have TDS 😁


1. You’re fired. 2. You can just grab ’em by the pu— . 3. I’ll end the war in Ukraine Day One . 3. She’s got a horse-face . 4. Stalking Hillary on debate stage . 5. Love letters to Rocket Man . 6. How about a syringe of Lysol and a very bright light ? 7. 130 drug runners blasted to smithereens in international waters . 8. He’s just a no-talent loser ( pick a guy ). 9. Demolishing the East Wing with no construction plans . 10. I cut some drug prices 6,000% ( ‘splain how ?).

11. His inept Bible reading technique . 12. Chief-of-Staff Marine Corps General Kelly said he was the most unfit person for the office of POTUS he’d ever known . 13. General Mad-Dog Mattis agreed . 14. The abduction of a foreign country’s president , and his wife . 15. And then maybe a good idea to do the same in Colombia. 16. Over a hundred social posts in a night many times . 17. The Obama “monkeys” slipped out , oops ! 18. They’re all shi- hole countries . 19. The alienation of all our allies. 20. So we’re going to make Canada our 51st state now .

21. You all go march down there on the Capitol and fight like Hell or you won’t have a country ! 22. I’ll be there with you . 23 . Getting played constantly by both Putin and Xi . 24. A non-targeted and not worst-of-the-worst as promised deportation tactics . 25. We’ll get Greenland , the easy way or the hard way . 26. The pitiful jobs market of 2025 after four years of growth. 27. Taking credit for decreases in crime rates though the decrease slope remains the same since Covid . 28. I passed my mental physical with flying colors , maybe the best results ever , stuff of genius . 29. Cabinet picks Hegeseth , Kennedy , Noem , Patel and Gabbard for starters. 30. He’s a sleaze ( pick one ).

31. The inexplicable tariff games and all the business and economic uncertainties they create as they swing about helter-skelter . 32. The new global trade partnerships driven by those petulant tariffs with China making huge strides in uncoupling from , and being less dependent on , the U.S. markets . 33. Imported beef from Argentina to fight inflation but taking away a good year from American ranchers . 34. Having to bail out the farmers who lost their export business due to the tariffs , reminding some of those numerous unsuccessful USSR five year agricultural plans . 35. Tulsi , you get your sweet ass down to Georgia now and find those damn’ 12,000 votes ! 36. The Kennedy Fine Arts Performing Arts Center becoming the Trump-Kennedy NON- Performing Arts Center. 37. I know more about war than all MY generals ! 38. I stopped eight wars so deserve the Nobel more than anybody , EVER . 39 . And so where shall I display that other person’s Nobel , among the other tacky gilt in my Oval Office ? 40 . Wanna’ buy a Trump toy train set ? A watch , Christmas tree , steaks , cell phone , meme coins? A seat on the Trump Peace Board for a billion dollars or a gold visa for one million USD ? Everything is transactional and has a price . Did I mention pardons , official Get Out of Jail cards , are an actual “thing ” ?

41. I never , ever , heard of Project 25. 42. Ford takes a $ 900 million tariff hit ! 43. Drill , baby , drill …even if global oil supply/demand are in balance and oil prices don’t warrant investment for expansion . Another USSR five year plan ? 44. Wrestling is coming to the White House Lawn and NASCAR is going to be racing across the 14th Street Bridge . 45.
My gut instincts tell me that climate change is a hoax , fake news , that the poles and mountain peaks are not melting and sea levels are not rising . Just look how cold it’s been this winter ! And wind power turbines are so ugly out on the sea’s horizon beyond hole # 16 . 46. Never before have grand juries refused to take up so many cases brought by the DOJ . 47 . BUT Trump WAS found guilty of 34 felony charges and 1 sexual assault charge , by juries of his peers ( sorta’) .

It kind of blows your mind when you try to absorb an overview like this not-yet-completed listing of Trump-era memories .“

I recognize there are many more, but I think he had the number 47 in mind. By the way, just to add more gravitas to his opinion, he was on a Business Advisory group to a Governor of North Carolina. Please let me know your thoughts.