DCUM Weblog

I am going to stick with the topic of the federal intervention in Washington, D.C. This is a topic that affects me personally and, depending on how things go, could be an important harbinger of America's future. The big question that I have is, "what is the end game?" Even while additional National Guard units arrive from red states, cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump is already declaring victory. If he has already made the city safe, as he says, then what is the need for additional troops? What are Trump's goals and when will this operation end? It is really remarkable that there are no answers for such basic questions.

Trump, perhaps more than any other figure, is the perfect personification of the joke, "How do you know that he is lying? Because his lips are moving." Trump lives in his own reality — another indication of his cognitive impairment that I feel is necessary to continually mention. One of the biggest giveaways that he is going to tell a lie is when he begins a story by describing someone who approaches him and addresses him as "sir". Often this is a big, strong man who is in tears, but not always. In Trump's latest imaginary conversation, it was actually Democrats. During a press availability with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump claimed that "Democrats are calling me up and they're saying 'sir, I want to thank you. My wife and I went out to dinner last night for the first time in four years and Washington, D.C. is safe." Appearing on Fox News, Trump claimed, "I have friends that say they're going out to dinner. Did you see what's happening with the restaurants? They're bursting."

Yesterday, three more states announced that they would send members of their National Guard units to the District of Columbia. With announcements by Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, a total of six states are now providing troops. The others are West Virginia, South Carolina, and Ohio. While the Confederacy was not able to occupy Washington, DC during the Civil War, cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump seems to be providing that opportunity now. As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, National Guard troops will also begin carrying weapons during their deployment. Documented activities by the federal agencies active in D.C. continue to suggest that the operation is not primarily aimed at fighting crime. Rather, the emphasis continues to be on immigration arrests and removing tent encampments.

Today I am going to address a few topics that came up over the weekend. First, I will update developments regarding the federal intervention in the District of Columbia. I made a late update to my post on Friday that dealt with the attempt by cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump to appoint a new head of the Metropolitan Police Department. As I had discussed in that post, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwab had sued Trump in order to stop that effort. After the judge in the case showed strong skepticism of the federal government's actions, Department of Justice lawyers asked for time to modify the directive that had been issued by Attorney General Pam Bondi. Subsequently, Bondi rescinded her initial directive and provided a replacement. The new directive did not include a change of MPD leadership but, instead, concentrated on the MPD providing assistance with immigration arrests and removing the unhoused population from tent encampments. Not surprisingly, therefore, that over the weekend, federal activities heavily concentrated on immigration arrests and tent clearing.

There have been some important developments regarding the steps that cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump has taken with regard to the District of Columbia. When I wrote about this on Tuesday, I noted that Trump had taken three steps that were legally within his power: increase the number of federal agents assigned to the District; deploy members of the D.C. National Guard, and; invoke emergency power to direct services from the Metropolitan Police Department for federal purposes. I also noted that there was a wide gulf between the stated aspirations indicated by Trump in his press conference the previous day and the legal authority available to him. As a result, I foresaw the possibility of conflict between D.C. and federal officials and predicted that Attorney General Brian Schwab would be spending time in federal court contesting future Trump actions. Late yesterday, that conflict arrived, and Schwab has already filed his first court case. Now, home rule in D.C. is facing a grave threat.

I am going to keep hammering on the fact that cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump is cognitively impaired. I know that former President Joe Biden struggled with his own cognitive challenges, and there has since been considerable focus on an alleged cover-up of his issues. But whatever happened or did not happen with Biden in no way justifies ignoring Trump's clear mental deterioration. Simply put, Trump's cognitive impairment is leading to policies that reflect that impairment. I am not talking about simple policy disagreements such as different positions regarding tax brackets. Rather, I am referring to policies that are based on the irrational thinking of a man whose brain no longer functions as it should. Not surprisingly, such policies have poor outcomes. Today, I will focus on Trump's energy policy, specifically with regard to renewable energy, and how that policy is largely grounded in Trump's bizarre hatred of windmills.

One of the biggest challenges I have faced when writing about current Republican politics is how to tell the truth about what Republicans are doing without sounding crazy. Cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump routinely makes insane statements which are generally ignored by the media and brushed off as jokes by his supporters. Even Trump opponents will adamantly argue that discussing such statements is falling for Trump's attempt to distract from more important issues. So, the level of crazy that is routine for this administration may not be widely known. Prior to last November's election, the DCUM Political Discussion forum was full of posts by an individual who was fixated on Project 2025. Frankly, the poster generally sounded in need of mental health assistance. Now, I am forced to acknowledge that poster had the most accurate predictions of anyone. The dilemma that I face is how to provide necessary commentary on what is factually true without ending up like that poster and sounding like a raving lunatic. The simple truth is that accurate reporting on today's Republican politics sounds insane and makes the messenger appear crazy. Today I am going to step directly into this predicament and address increasing signs that Republicans see women as second-class citizens.

As I suggested would be the case yesterday, today I am going to discuss the actions of cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump with regard to the District of Columbia. I have been unsure about whether I should stick to a simple play-by-play about what Trump is doing or provide my own commentary about his actions. Ultimately, I decided to do a bit of both, while still attempting to keep this post at a reasonable length. The bottom line from my perspective is that it is far too early to understand the importance of Trump's actions. Yesterday's moves by Trump could turn out to be a brief flash in the pan or they might end up being extremely consequential. In the parlance of election results, it is too early to call.

By way of background, while I am not a D.C.-native, I have lived in the District for nearly 40 years and long considered it home. So, I am not writing as an outsider, but rather as someone who will probably be personally affected by Trump's actions. This, of course, informs my perspective.

I had a long list of topics about which I wanted to write today, including the actions of cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump involving the District of Columbia. I will probably address that tomorrow when we have more details following his planned press conference today. But, in the meantime, I am again compelled to use my very small platform to address what is happening in Gaza, specifically, the Israeli murder of five Al Jazeera journalists and a sixth freelance journalist. It would be naive to believe that Israel will suffer even the slightest repercussions for its wanton killing of journalists, and certainly my meager words of protest will have no impact, but, nevertheless, I think it is important to draw attention to this latest outrage.

The names of those killed yesterday will soon be forgotten by most of the world. But I want to give them one last moment of recognition. The primary target of the Israeli attack appears to have been Anas Al-Sharif, one of the leading reporters still remaining in Gaza. A second reporter, Mohammed Qreiqeh, was also killed. The victims included three Al Jazeera cameramen, Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa. Mohammad al-Khaldi, a freelance reporter, was the final victim. The facts of the murders are not really in dispute. Israel struck a tent at the Al Shifa medical complex in Gaza City in which journalists were sheltering. Far from denying the attack, Israel proudly took credit for it.

Today we will ponder the question, "How much trouble can a Congressman get into and still remain a Congressman?" Spoiler alert: If you are a Republican and represent the 7th District of Florida, the answer appears to be "unlimited." At least that seems to be the case with Representative Cory Mills, who may or may not have 99 problems, but women make up quite a few of them. Or, more accurately, Mills is the problem where a number of women are concerned.

If you were casting for the evil character in a political drama, you could hardly do better than Cory Mills. Mills served four years in the Army, including a stint in Iraq during which he received a Bronze Star. However, there have been allegations of stolen valor made against Mills and soldiers involved in the events that led to his award deny Mills' account of what happened. After leaving the military, Mills became an international arms dealer. One of his weapons deals was a $228 million arms sale to the government of Iraq. However, his company, PACM, soon ran into financial problems and has been plagued with large debts that the company has been unable to service. Mills' company has also supplied less-lethal munitions to domestic law enforcement agencies, and Mills has bragged that he supplied tear gas that was used against Black Lives Matter protesters.

The battle between the administration of cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump and Harvard University is shaping up to be more fit for a dramatic novel than an example of the proper implementation of government policies. Events also raise the age-old question involving the Trump administration about whether officials are acting due to malice or incompetence. Of course, with this administration, the answer could easily be "both." Regardless, in the dispute between the Trump administration and Harvard regarding antisemitism, Trump officials appear to have engaged in repeated episodes of shooting themselves in the foot, which have undermined potential settlements with Harvard and pushed the university towards fighting the administration in court.

Soon after taking office for his second term, Trump issued a series of executive actions, some of which dealt with combating antisemitism on college campuses. For the record, anyone who believes that this administration is authentically committed to fighting antisemitism must be seriously deluded. As I have previously documented, Trump has appointed a number of notorious antisemites to positions within his government. Trump himself recently engaged in the antisemitic trope of referring to unscrupulous bankers as "Shylocks." Nevertheless, the specter of challenging antisemitism has provided the Trump administration with a convenient cudgel with which to beat universities into submission. Based on allegations of antisemitism on college campuses, Trump has frozen billions of dollars worth of federal grants that had been committed to colleges and universities. Then, the administration has attempted to negotiate onerous terms with schools in order to reinstate the funding. Trump has so far concluded settlements with Columbia University, Brown University, and the University of Pennsylvania.