DCUM Weblog

Earlier this week I wrote about the failures of the Democratic establishment and specifically mentioned the New York City Democratic mayoral primary in which almost the entire Democratic establishment had lined up in favor of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and against New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani. As it turned out, the Democratic establishment was more out-of-touch than even I had believed. Mamdani easily dispatched Cuomo in the first round of the ranked choice voting system used in New York City and will likely be the overwhelming victor once votes are distributed through other rounds. Mamdani's victory created considerable consternation among many Democrats, as well as Republicans and independents. It also unleashed a wave of Islamophobia that spread across political divisions.

One area in which the administration of cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump has been particularly destructive has been science. Cuts and disruptions at the Department of Health and Human Services and its associated agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have severely harmed the ability of the U.S. government to conduct medical research. Last month, the minority staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) issued a report documenting the impact of Trump's actions on public health. Senator Bernie Sanders, the ranking member of the Committee, said upon releasing the report that, "Since January, Trump has launched an unprecedented, illegal, and outrageous attack on science and scientists. Trump is not only denying scientific truth but actively seeking to undermine it". Sanders went on to say, "Let’s be clear. Trump’s war on science is not making America healthy again. It is making Americans and people throughout the world sicker".

Roughly five years ago, the international economy began a period of turmoil as a result of the COVID pandemic. This led to supply chains being disrupted and increased prices for a number of goods, if you could find them at all. Then the government's reaction to that economic upheaval resulted in increased inflation. Whether the government intervention caused or simply amplified existing inflation is something often seen through a political lens, but the outcome was the same regardless: higher prices. Things were just getting under control when cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump was elected. His on-again, off-again, tariff policies and other trade-related activities have caused tremendous market upheaval. Once again, prices are rising. On top of that, the "One Big Beautiful Bill" being considered in Congress is likely to increase other costs for most families. I am going to do something a little different today and discuss the impact of the Trump presidency on our financial bottom line. Simply put, Trump and the Republicans are doing significant financial damage to my family and, in all probability, yours as well.

Cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump presents a grave threat to the democracy of the United States. However, Trump does not exist in a vacuum. He is only able to implement his autocratic rule due to the complicity of many others. In that regard, there is plenty of blame to go around and among those responsible is the Democratic Party establishment. Former Vice President Kamala Harris ran for President on the message that Trump constituted an unprecedented danger to our system of government. So important did Harris consider countering the threat of Trump that she campaigned side-by-side with former Republican Member of Congress Liz Cheney. Harris and Cheney together attempted to convince voters that our country could not risk a second Trump term. Yet, when Trump prevailed, the Democratic establishment reacted as if Harris's and Cheney's warnings were nothing but hollow campaign slogans. For the establishment, it was business as usual. The result has been a nearly complete dereliction of responsibility bordering on collaboration.

Last Wednesday, I wrote about Israel's attempt to drag the United States into its war with Iran. Then, on Saturday, cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump launched bombing and missile attacks on sites involved in Iran's nuclear program, effectively putting the U.S. at war with Iran. Following the attack, Trump administration officials were quick to argue that the U.S. attacks on Iran were limited to stopping its nuclear weapons program and not aimed at broader goals such as regime change. However, at nearly the same time, Israeli officials began to argue in favor of regime change. Appearing to contradict his own officials, Trump then posted on his Truth Social social media platform that "It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!" On the face of it, Trump appearing to side with Israelis against his own officials, especially on the topic of regime change which Trump has explicitly campaigned against, might seem strange. However, it follows a very consistent pattern of Trump putting Israel first.

Last month the New York Times ran a long article about work the company Palantir Technologies was doing for the administration of cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump. As the Times reported, "In March, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the federal government to share data across agencies, raising questions over whether he might compile a master list of personal information on Americans that could give him untold surveillance power." As Trump administration officials worked to implement this plan, "they have turned to one company: Palantir, the data analysis and technology firm."

According to the Times, Palantir has contracts with the Department of Homeland Security, the Health and Human Services Department, and the Pentagon. In addition, Palantir is in talks with the Social Security Administration about buying its technology. The paper also says that "At the I.R.S., Palantir engineers joined in April to use Foundry to organize data gathered on American taxpayers...Their work began as a way to create a single, searchable database for the I.R.S., but has since expanded". This raises concerns that the Trump administration may be "Creating detailed portraits of Americans based on government data". Moreover, there are fears that "Mr. Trump could potentially use such information to advance his political agenda by policing immigrants and punishing critics".

An article in yesterday's New York Times titled, "How Trump Shifted on Iran Under Pressure From Israel", contained this paragraph:

For Mr. Netanyahu, the last several months brought to an end years of trying to cajole the United States into backing or at least tolerating his long-held desire to deal Iran’s nuclear program a crippling blow. He appears to have judged, correctly, that Mr. Trump would ultimately come around, if only grudgingly.

These two sentences touch on two undeniable facts that will likely play a crucial role in public perceptions of the Israel-Iran War if the United States becomes further involved, which seems likely to happen within the next few days. The first is that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long wanted to attack Iran's nuclear program and has consistently warned that Iran was very close to obtaining nuclear weapons. CNN recently put together a collection of video clips showing Netanyahu making such warnings as far back as 1996. The Daily Show did even better, creating its own compilation of clips that included one showing Netanyahu claiming in 1995 that Iran could produce a nuclear bomb in three to five years. The second fact is that cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump has opposed attacks on Iran and had to be very publicly pressured by the Israelis into condoning an Israeli attack and potentially launching U.S. attacks on Iran as well.

Today's Republican Party might be viewed as a merger of the Tea Party movement of a decade ago and QAnon conspiracy theorists. With cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump at its head and powered by its own self-contained media ecosystem, the movement has little value for facts, instead preferring "alternative truths". Therefore, while it is disappointing, it is not surprising that in the wake of the murder of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband and the wounding of State Senator John Hoffman and his wife this past Saturday, MAGA supporters have indulged in spreading disinformation and falsehoods about the attack.

First, the facts as outlined in the FBI affidavit submitted in U.S. District Court. Shortly before 2:00 a.m. Saturday morning, Vance Luther Boelter pounded on the door of the Hoffman's house. When the door was opened, he entered the home and subsequently shot both Hoffmans. Their daughter called 911 to report the shooting. Police reviewed security camera footage and observed that Boelter had been dressed as a police officer and was driving a vehicle that resembled a police SUV.

For months I have been stressing in these posts that the administration of cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump's actions against immigrants were the most obvious indications of Trump's autocratic intentions. Autocratic leaders generally don't start with head-on attacks on liberty. Rather, they begin on the margins, targeting the unpopular. They are able to normalize their methods before expanding their dictatorial rule. Trump promised that his administration would target violent criminals for deportation. The specter of undocumented residents who are threats to our communities being removed raised little opposition. But almost immediately, the same procedures were used against undocumented residents who had no criminal record.

Trump soon went after non-citizens who were legally in the United States and who had broken no laws whatsoever. Legal residents were seized off the street by masked government agents, whisked into unmarked cars, and secreted off to far-away detention centers. The government openly admitted that these individuals had committed no criminal acts or violations of civil law. I want to stress again that these were individuals who were legally in the country — including Green Card holders — who had done nothing illegal. This is the stuff of dictatorship. But Trump and his associates did not stop there.

Last night, Israel launched a large-scale attack on Iran. There is not a lot of information about the scope of the attack at this moment. Clearly, Israel has killed a number of senior military figures as well as scientists involved in Iran's nuclear program. There are reports of military installations being hit as well. What we don't know is whether Israel has been successful in destroying the underground nuclear labs and research centers. While Israel has struck human resources, what about the physical nuclear resources? It is also not clear at this point how much of Iran's retaliatory capability has been eliminated. According to Israeli statements, the attacks will continue for several days, if not longer. The bottom line is that, at this point, it is impossible to evaluate the overall success of Israel's attack.