Tag Archives: MAGA

crime news

Hold it, masked men!

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Ask yourself this question, which I believe is pertinent to the issues discussion we are having these days in the U.S. of A.

How would I feel if I were stopped by a burly dude, armed to the teeth, wearing a flak jacket, with the word “ICE” emblazoned on his chest … and all the while he is hiding his face behind a pullover mask that only reveals his eyes?

My first response? I would be scared feces-less at the sight. I wouldn’t know what to say to any question this fellow might pose.

Now, look, under normal circumstances I couldn’t care less what a law enforcement professional is wearing. These days it’s different, so I am going to comment briefly on the public relations image these ICE agents are presenting to a public that has grown angry at their presence.

ICE stands for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It has become a stand-alone word, kinda like MAGA and FUBAR.

These agents charged with finding undocumented immigrants, arresting them and then deporting them present a frightening image not just to those on their target list but to anyone, even those with nothing to fear.

It’s the masks, man, that give these guys their intimidating image.

I guess it must be the type of image Donald Trump wants to project, given his own stated admiration for world leaders who govern with an iron hand. He wishes he could do so in the United States, except for the Constitution that limits the power of the president.

As one of millions of Americans who are paying for this dog-and-pony show, I just have to declare my own disgust at the image these ICE agents are projecting while terrorizing fellow human beings. Those who are being terrorized deserve to see the faces of those who are bullying them.

military news

MAGA loses its original meaning

MAGA is an acronym that’s become a word, kind of like SCUBA, FUBAR, ZIP code and TEA Party … but it has morphed into a new meaning that is getting hammered beyond recognition by the current numbskull in chief.

MAGA means Make America Great Again, as if this nation has lapsed into non-greatness, which it hasn’t.

These days you hear MAGA minions say it means simply to put “America first” over other nations’ interest. What in the world. therefore, is up with the United States sending Army special forces into Caracas to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro? How in the world is that putting America first? Someone tell me, please.

So, we have Maduro and his wife in custody. They have been indicted on drug charges. They’ll stand trial. Any bets on whether they get convicted?

Donald Trump has violated international law by seizing a sovereign head of state and then vowing to “run” a sovereign nation until a reasonable transition can occur. The irony of the transition statement is too rich to ignore, given what he attemped to do on Jan. 6, 2021 by inciting the frontal attack on Congress as it sought to certify the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election … which Trump lost to Joe Biden.

Trump’s invasion of Venezuela, an effort to seize and sell oil from that nation’s rich reserves, is an affront to this nation. He hasn’t made America great in any form or fashion. He has committed this nation possibly to the kind of “endless war” he said he wanted to end.

When in this world is Congress to awaken to what so many of us are witnessing in real time, which is the fundamental usurping of congressional authority to declare war?

national news

Wanted: Basic human decency … please!

Of all the areas where Donald Trump is deficient in the only office he ever has sought and held, I have settled finally on the one aspect of this individual’s being I find most lacking.

Basic human decency!

Trump lacks any semblance of the kind of humanity we have grown to expect from the person sitting in the Oval Office of the White House. Trump has demonstrated his lack of decency in the most profound ways imaginable in the wake of the deaths of Rob and Michelle Reiner.

Instead of remaining silent or at least offering a boiler-plate response that offers good wishes to the loved ones of the acclaimed filmmaker and his wife, Trump exhibited a level of abject boorishness millions of us never have seen in a U.S. president. On top of that, he followed his Reiner response with a hideous reaction to the passing of the daughter of Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, Tatiana Schlossberg, who died of cancer just the other day.

This is the kind of thing too many Americans have grown to expect from Trump. He actually declared in that ghastly Truth Social message that Rob and Michelle Reiner died of what he called Trump Derangement Syndrome. Yep … that’s where it ended for Reiner who admittedly was a stern and ferocious critic of Trump.

Rather than leave the dispute in the dust where it belongs, Trump chose to rub the wound raw while the Reiners’ loved ones were mourning their horrific murders.

This is the kind of individual Americans elected not once, but twice, as president of the United States. What in the world does this say about us, not just about the moron chosen to lead the world’s most indispensable nation?

We are facing an opportunity this coming November to begin to right the ship of state by turning Congress over to the loyal opposition Democrats who stand an excellent chance of seizing back one of the three co-equal branches of government.

Maybe then we might see a return of basic human decency … in the Capitol Building.

national news

Year ends in frustration

I hereby declare that the final post on High Plains Blogger in 2025 will end with my hands thrown into the air accompanied by the sigh of frustration from an American patriot who still cannot grasp what has become of the country he loves more than life itself.

That would be me, of course.

The year that is drawing to a merciful close will give way soon to many new opportunities to correct what has gone so terribly wrong. I await 2026 with undying optimism that we’re going to snap out of it, we’ll come to our senses and we will begin charting the corrective course that will save us all.

Donald John Trump was elected in 2024 to another term as the White House gatekeeper. I am finding it difficult these days even to refer to him as president. I vowed after the 2016 election that I would decline to attach the word “President” directly in front of Trump’s name. I have been faithful to that pledge. I accept your congratulations.

Now that we’re one year into the second term, I cannot even refer to his second victory as a “re-election.” The dude did get his melon thumped in 2020 by President Biden and he debased the office even more by declaring his refusal to accept the result and then incited the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.

The individual is a disgrace.

The year was spent hiring incompetent boobs to run multibillion-dollar government agencies. The more I think about it, the more logical it seems that the imbecile in chief would surround himself with agency heads who at some level make the man in charge seem smarter than he is. It really hasn’t worked.

What is the remedy? Midterm election. We’re going to elect the entire and House one-third of the Senate in November 2026. The notion that the House is likely to flip from R to D when the ballots are counted gives me hope that a competent House speaker will be able to steer that congressional chamber back to doing what we expect of it. The House will return to governing!

We also have to consider that a third Trump impeachment may occur. I don’t want that to happen. If it does, I want the House to produce proof that could persuade enough GOP House members that they have proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump has violated his oath of loyalty to the Constitution.

The reconstruction of our democratic principles can begin in this new year. I will use this blog to do my tiny part to ensure the project gets completed.

political news

Donning the brass knucks … again

Maybe you have noticed that High Plains Blogger went a little soft on Donald Trump and his gang over the past couple of days.

I did so to honor the birth of Jesus Christ and to enjoy the holiday we commemorate in his honor.

The holiday is passed. I am back to my normal fare that some might refer to as a revival of Trump Derangement Syndrome. It’s a crock of dookie!

I merely am calling attention to the existential threat Trump poses to the existence of our democratic republic. I figure if I stir up enough concern, there might be a few thousand voices willing to join in the chorus to get this pretender/charlatan/fraud to cease his assault on the rule of law.

I expect to get some blowback from a handful of critics of this blog. They are dyed-in-wool MAGA cultists, although one fellow insists he dislikes the way Trump conducts himself but stands by the message he delivers. Whatever …

We’re about to complete the first year of Trump’s second term in office. Only three more years to go before we show him out of the White House … for keeps!

entertainment news

Is White House next for Trump brand?

A little more than a decade ago, President Barack Obama stood before the White House Correspondents Dinner audience and joked that Donald Trump might want to hang a huge “Trump” sign on the White House were he elected president of the United States.

The quip drew uproarious laughter. Trump, who was in the audience, wasn’t laughing.

Now, it seems that the joke isn’t so funny. Trump has just agreed to plaster his name on the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The center board has voted to call it the “Trump Kennedy Center … “

Roll that around for a moment and consider why this is so horribly wrong. Trump’s name would appear in front of the slain president for whom the center was named … in his honor! Moreover, it’s not at all clear that the decision is legal, given that the center was named through a congressional act; therefore, it well could require an act of Congress to change the name.

Trump continues to insult the intelligence of Americans — and those around the world — through his callously disrespecful acts. Placing his name on a building intended to honor those who contribute to society’s art is beyond hideous. JFK honored the arts, along with his wife, Jacqueline. The Kennedy name alone should stand forever on the center that seeks to honor a slain — and beloved — leader of this great nation.

I am going to ask something I once thought was unthinkable: Is the White House really immune from this type of PR chicanery?

national news, political news

How can they govern?

You’ve heard me yammer until my puss turns blue about the need to restore collegiality in Congress.

Well, the folks who “represent” us in Washington aren’t listening to little ol’ me. In fact, it’s getting worse one congressional committee hearing at a time.

Congress keeps summoning Donald Trump administration officials to Capitol Hill to tell the public what they know about this and/or that decision. Administration chieftains dummy up. They don’t answer questions. They instead draw the ire of critics who want them to answer yes or no questions. Sen. Adam Schiff of California recently squared off with Attorney General Pam Bondi over a litany of unanswered questions. Bondi responded by asking Schiff whether he attended law school. Spoiler alert: Yes, he did … and practiced law before entering the political world of rough and tumble.

I say all this as someone who has watched political adversaries joust and jeer at each other in the middle of stern debate. When they heard the last call in either the House or the Senate, though, they would leave the floor and have dinner or a drink with each other. I once heard an anecdotal tale of Sens. John Tower and Hubert Humphrey arguing over a policy matter until they ran out of breath while conducting business. Tower, a Republican from Texas, and Humphrey, a Democrat from Minnesota, then walked off the Senate floor arm in arm.

Weird, yes? Well, yeah … especially since both sides always found room to compromise and then get things done.

national news, political news

Trump = racism, cruelty

Donald J. Trump’s penchant for racist and cruel rhetoric was on full display this week and as usual, it was an ugly sight to see and an even uglier message to hear.

The president of the United States of America took particular aim at a member of Congress. She is Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who emigrated to the United States from Somalia when she was a girl. She became a naturalized American and then a few years ago decided to delve into public service by running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Trump has called her garbage. He labels her place of birth a “shithole country.” He wants her deported. He said Somalia is known only for corruption, violence, disease.

Trump’s moronic rant cannot be allowed to stand. Yet his Republican allies in Congress sit on their hands, keep their lips zipped tight and let the POTUS hurl epithets at a woman who chose to move to the Land of Opportunity to escape the dangerous surroundings of the land where she was born.

I’ll never understand why the GOP caucus allows this fecal-brained idiot continue to speak the way he does about one of their colleagues. Nor will I ever grasp why the MAGA cultists guffaw out loud at the tasteless rhetoric that flows freely from the mouth of their exalted leader.

I am not qualified to judge the job Rep. Omar does for her constituents. I do know that she gets re-elected to office every two years, which tells me that the residents of her district think she’s doing well for them. About all I know about Omar is that she is a stern critic of Donald Trump.

However, I am fully qualified to declare that an elected member of Congress, a citizen of this great land, deserves to be treated with respect … even from the man with whom she has serious disagreements.

Omar won’t get it from the man masquerading as president of the United States and it is to his everlasting shame.

national news, political news

The longer he stays …

Gotta make an admission … which is that the longer we have to endure Donald Trump’s ignorant idiocy the more I miss traditional Republicans, the men and women who stood for principles they hold dear.

I have admitted on this blog that for as long as I have voted for president, dating back to 1972, I have voted for Democratic nominees. It hasn’t been a partisan thing but rather based on the candidates’ philosophies and those intangibles we all seek in the individuals we choose to lead our nation.

I came close to flipping, in 1976. I had to hold my breath just a bit to vote for Jimmy Carter. I thought about casting a vote for President Gerald Ford. My feelings for President Ford were more or less based on one of those intangibles. I just liked the man.

Now I am yearning for someone who cares about principle and who acts on some moral authority he or she can claim. That includes Republicans!

We don’t have a principled man in the White House. We have an immoral/amoral moron. He sees every single political relationship he has forged as a transactional event, which he can parlay into something that benefits him. He has demonstrated racist qualities time and again. He is ignorant of the document he was supposed to protect and defend. Trump doesn’t appreciate that dissent not only should be welcomed, but it is guaranteed in the Constitution’s First Amendment.

Trump is a Republican In Name Only. The RINO in chief doesn’t adhere to traditional GOP principles. The Party of Lincoln, which welcomed political diversity, has been shoved aside. The party of Trump is something quite different … and despicable.

If only the real Republicans who are left standing in the political arena could find the backbone to stand up to this fraudster. If only …

national news, political news

World has gone mad!

There can be no getting around what I believe is obvious, which is that our world has gone mad, nuts, bonkers, into the loony bin … and beyond.

I’m going to harken to the 2024 presidential election in which a tiny plurality of Americans decided to ignore the obvious warning signs about the Republican Party nominee for president and elected this guy to a second term in the White House.

Yep. Donald Trump told us what was in store if we elected him. He would be the “retribution” for the MAGA cult and that he would all by himself fix what he said was wrong with the greatest nation on Earth. My goodness! The message could not possibly have been clearer!

He took office on Jan. 20, 2025 and commenced to do precisely what he said he would do. And no one seemed to care! OK, many of us did care. We have been raising holy hell ever since the end of the ’24 campaign. But those in power have blown it off.

It’s getting worse by the day. I read Trump’s “Thanksgiving message” and wanted to puke onto my lap. He hurled racial slurs, insults, epithets and utter rubbish at his opponents. Damn near every word that poured forth from his overfed pie hole was a lie.

Now there appears to be significant evidence of cognitive decline. He’s falling asleep in Oval Office meetings. Try reading transcripts of statements he makes and if you can discern a cogent message out of them, be sure to broadcast it loudly and clearly because no one has been able to make a shred of sense of what this guy is saying.

I’ll say it again, with gusto … which is that we have gone ’round the bend, kids. It is imperative that we collect ourselves and get busy fixing what is fundamentally wrong with our republic.