GoodFellas, Part 2
Only 1,424 days to go...
I woke up yesterday morning at 1:00am and couldn’t get back to sleep. Maybe it’s because I went out to dinner and had a glass of wine and a dessert. Or maybe it was because Spectrum was out, and I didn’t feel like doing much except watching TV, so I went to bed earlier than usual. But I tend to think, that I woke up, because I couldn’t stop thinking about Jonathan Rauch’s The Atlantic article that I posted, One Word Describes Trump. I really encourage you to read it, if you haven’t already.
For the first time, everything has finally made sense. As someone, who tends to think analytically, everything #FOTUS has been doing for the last four weeks has seemed incredibly shortsighted, moronic and illogical. I mean really, why would any US president want to weaken our military the way Trump has? Why would he be letting Elon Musk gut the basic functions of government in such a callous and destructive manner? Why would he be endangering our country’s security by denunciating NATO and putting dangerously incompetent loyalists like Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem, Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard in key positions? Why would he be filling his cabinet with such clearly ill-qualified people and selecting pardoned criminals to be foreign ambassadors? Why would he be destroying the Justice Department and the FBI? Why would he be intimidating the big media companies into settling bogus lawsuits? Why would he be threatening Republican senators and congressmen into submission by putting his brown shirts on them? Why would he want to turn on our long term allies and empower the thug in Moscow? The list is goes on and on and on…. None of it made sense to me.
We keep talking about Trump wanting to be a king or dictator. But that’s not what is happening. Unlike well-run monarchies or even authoritarian governments, like Hitler’s Third Reich or Stalin’s USSR, #FOTUS has no interest in having a functioning government. As Rauch wrote:
There is an answer, and it is not classic authoritarianism—nor is it autocracy, oligarchy, or monarchy. Trump is installing… patrimonialism...
Patrimonialism is less a form of government than a style of governing. It is not defined by institutions or rules; rather, it can infect all forms of government by replacing impersonal, formal lines of authority with personalized, informal ones. Based on individual loyalty and connections, and on rewarding friends and punishing enemies (real or perceived), it can be found not just in states but also among tribes, street gangs, and criminal organizations. In its governmental guise, patrimonialism is distinguished by running the state as if it were the leader’s personal property or family business.
It’s all so clear now. It’s all so obvious. Trump is not a wanna-a-be king or dictator. He’s nothing but a gangster.
I guess we always knew that on some level. I mean the guy is a convicted felon, stole classified documents, incited a riot, etc. He certainly ran his first administration corruptly with the intention of enriching his family business. How Trump fused his business empire to the presidency. And how can we forget his antics in 2020 when he held the Republican convention at the White House: Ethics Concerns Raised as Trump Uses White House as Convention Prop or when he appeared on the White House balcony after returning from Walter Reed and posed for the cameras like he was Benito Mussolini.
However, there have been a few articles lately that beg the question: Is he is actually a Don or merely a Capo?
Trump Shows His True Colors as Another ex-KGB Officer Nails Him as a Russian Asset
Donald Trump Was Recruited by the KGB Under Codename ‘Krasnov’ Claims Former Soviet Spy Chief
And what does this mean for the USA? Are we the “family” or merely a “regime?” Hum…. to be determined.
Finally, everything makes sense. So I now I understand.
The Donald is simply The Don. The really depressing thing is that unlike Vladimir, who actually has the skill and ruthlessness of Vito, our #FOTUS has about as much competency as Fredo.
Dio ci aiuti.
You may have noticed, I changed the name of my Substack. A friend suggested that I do that. I didn’t really know what I wanted to change it to, but it came to me, when I finally got out of bed yesterday, because I couldn’t sleep. I was surprised, that no one else had already claimed the title, Character Matters, so I did at 2:00am. I like the title because it can be interpreted two ways. Character matters (verb), particularly as we are dealing with a president, who has none. And I like to consider topics about character matters (noun).
Thought for the day in honor of his birthday…
“No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.” ~Douglas McArthur
Must Read Article:
Trust Was Once an American Superpower
It’s as though the current administration is running Franklin Roosevelt’s first 100 days in reverse: Instead of rebuilding institutions and public trust at a moment of national peril, it seems to be trying to unravel both — and is creating a moment of national peril…This promises to be a tough way for Americans to learn a critical fact too often overlooked — that one of our country’s greatest and least-appreciated assets has been public faith and trust in a variety of highly complex systems staffed by experts whose names we’ll never know. In fact, high levels of trust used to be one of our superpowers in the United States: specifically, that meant trust in our government to operate with reasonable competence and stability, and without the kind of corruption that has hobbled other societies…That is what is now at risk. Just before Mr. Trump took office the first time in 2017, Transparency International ranked the United States among the top 20 countries in the world for least corrupt government. Now the United States has plunged in those rankings to its lowest level ever... DOGE, with Mr. Musk’s leadership and the blessing of the Trump administration, seems determined to violate public trust on an unprecedented scale. The organization still operates with no clear legal authority to make the sweeping budgetary and personnel changes it is carrying out… Trust is the glue holding together our nearly 250-year-old democracy. But once it is lost for many Americans, trust is exceedingly difficult to win back.
Quote of the day:
“What a disgrace for our nation. On the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Trump has put America firmly on the side of the bad guys. With Russia, North Korea, Belarus, and Hungary. Americans are embarrassed, our allies are stunned and #OurEnemiesAreCelebrating. Trump does not speak for most Americans on Ukraine with votes like this. Most Americans support Ukraine. And an overwhelming majority of American veterans support Ukraine. Even if our radical and reckless President does not.”
~ Paul Rieckhoff, the founder of Independent Veterans of America
What I’m reading today…
So, where are the Democrats? Inquiring minds want to know. They are snuggled deep in irrelevance. Donald Trump is trying to tear down the government—it gets really dangerous when the Muskrat tentacles reach the Pentagon—and I haven’t heard a single Democratic voice say anything compelling about how to counter.
Europe learns to take Trump at his word
But today, three years exactly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States’ relationship with Europe has officially hit the skids. The international order is rapidly and radically realigning. And Europe appears to be learning the hard lesson that many of Trump’s domestic enemies have already internalized — take Trump both seriously and literally… How long any sort of strategic partnership can last between the U.S. and Europe is now an open question. After almost 80 years of direct collaboration and security guarantees, Europe is now measuring a potential end to its strong strategic relationship with the United States in a matter of months.
Judge blocks OPM, Education Department from sharing personal info with DOGE
A federal judge has barred the Education Department and the Office of Personnel Management — the government’s massive HR department — from sharing sensitive information with Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” saying the decision to grant DOGE access appears to breach federal privacy laws.
Trump’s Most Dangerous Move Yet?
Trump purged the U.S. military leadership of officers he believes are loyal to the Constitution, instead of to him personally. This is a very big deal, with short- and long- term consequences for America’s defense… “What was also startling in the weekend was firing all the advocate generals of the armed forces. If you’re going to break the law, the first thing you do is you get rid of the lawyers. So we’re looking at a very dangerous undermining of the values of our military.”
Republicans Face Angry Voters at Town Halls, Hinting at Broader Backlash
“The executive can only enforce laws passed by Congress; they cannot make laws. When are you going to wrest control back from the executive and stop hurting your constituents?”…“How can you tell me that DOGE with some college whiz kids from a computer terminal in Washington, D.C., without even getting into the field, after about a week or maybe two, have determined that it’s OK to cut veterans benefits?” What Would a Liberal Tea Party Look Like?
America’s Food Safety Is Now in the Hands of Don Jr.’s Hunting Buddy
Late last week, amid mass purges of key personnel at the nation’s health agencies, a Florida attorney with a surprisingly slim résumé was named acting deputy commissioner for human foods at the Food and Drug Administration. The role, which is not subject to Senate approval, is an important one. In it, Kyle Diamantas, 37, will be responsible for ensuring the safety of roughly 80% of the nation’s food supply. Diamantas’s limited experience for such a major regulatory position, when compared with the experience of his predecessor, appears to have been offset by another significant qualification. The young attorney is a friend and hunting buddy of Donald Trump Jr.
U.S. Army Chorus Belts Out Strange Choice of Anthem at White House
“The whole point of the show (and the French Revolution) was to free themselves of this sort of rule or in this case, a performance for the MAGA king,” as one person put it. “Gosh, it probably went right over their damn heads,” another said.
What I am listening to…
We are the bad guys now….
