Category Archives: Trump

Behavior, Brother, Government, Opinion, Personal, Social Rules, Trump

Cut By Cut

01/28/2026 X Teri Leave a comment

My brother Mike sometimes lives in my head for reasons that would irritate the piss out of him. When I listen to AM talk radio, it is his voice I hear, superimposed on whichever oversimplifying demagogue is talking. I used to call him Mike O’Reilly. “I don’t know” was not a phrase you would ever hear from him. “Is there a better way” is a dangerous question for those who are possessed by certainty.

My brother was an authoritarian at heart. There’s no question of this. The tendency escalated as he grow older. Authoritarianism brings dominance and violence.

He loved begging the question. All of this swirls in my head because of what’s going on with all the dubious ICE activity.

“You can’t lawfully stop someone or detain them just because you want to.” My brother’s answer to that was that I was naive. That police everywhere can and do exactly that. Some do. Which of course, is true. He conveniently ignored the word “lawfully” in my observation, just as all the Trump-supporting constitutional simpletons are currently doing.

Almost all of ICE’s abuse would evaporate instantly if they followed the Constitution. But they don’t – and the more people argue that what they’re doing is legally justified is pushing us collectively down a dark road.

Anyone denying the political motivation of choosing Minnesota over Texas is breathing the fumes from their gas tank. I don’t mind a little idiocy because it keeps people like Tom Cotton entertained. The problem is that abuse has tendrils that reach unexpected places. That which we permit anywhere will eventually reach us.

Does anyone believe that if every person not lawfully here left the country today that the huge military apparatus ICE has become would disappear? That their budget would be given back and used appropriately? In the same way that police or prison budgets almost never decrease, ICE isn’t going anywhere because this administration is using it in a way that it wasn’t intended to be used.

If your argument is enforcement, we have the technology and the ability to “solve” that problem for 1/1000th the cost. Without the violence, mayhem, and turmoil. It is so obviously motivated by the desire to engender those consequences.

PS I am in awe of the mental gymnastics some people are employing to justify encroaching on our constitutional rights. Once abridged, they rarely return. You may support those who are currently encroaching them, but you’ll be wondering what happened once the dust settles. We will all be 3/5ths when it’s over.

Government, Humor, Trump

American

01/21/2026 X Teri Leave a comment

I’m so proud of President Trump. When he heard the inner voice calling him, he didn’t just lean into it, he gave himself head trauma and dived in. Not content with being a bad president, he chose instead to be the worst. That takes guts, at least 76 extra pounds of it. When your goal is to become synonymous with half the negative words in a thesaurus, you must be willing to surround yourself with like-minded people. Our president tirelessly turned over every rock to find the kind of people he wanted. You can’t surpass the dubious achievements of Mr. Mustache unless you’re willing to go the extra mile to beat up the homeless guy on the corner. I wish people would stop complaining about Trump. Even though he dodged military service, he’s adopted the old army slogan: Be All You Can Be. If you’re born an ass, it’s your obligation to be the best worst ass possible. As I hear the news each day, I nod with pride, knowing that he is proof that literally anyone can become president. No matter what your criminal record, whether you’ve abused people, or used an entire political apparatus to make yourself and your friends wealthy, you can aspire to be president.

Either way, you still have to go to work, and still pretend that we’re not being governed by the least qualified and most hateful president in our history. We didn’t choose bad. We chose the worst. And that’s the best testament to our broken democracy I can think of. He wants to return our country to the ideals of the Constitution as originally written. Stop complaining that you will have no rights or that you’re counted as a fraction of a person. It’s what the people who stole this country wanted. Trump proves everyday that he’s the man for the job.

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PS That is my wood panel hybrid picture of Zach Galifianakis/Jesus. It reminds me that no matter how hard we work to improve things, there’s always going to be an idiot intent on perverting our goals. And a lot of people who should know better standing behind him while he does it.
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Government, Opinion, Trump

Ugh

01/03/2026 X Teri Leave a comment

For any “Catch-22” fans, the breaking news I woke up to this morning inspired me to write my own Yossarian quote: “Having tried nothing proven or reasonable, the administration decided the only way to keep the foreign country safe was to bomb it.”

If I behaved like this administration behaves, I would be fired, exiled, vilified, and hated, and deservedly so.

Behavior, Government, Justice, Law, Politics, Safety, Security, Social Rules, Trump

The Great Experiment

03/22/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

I was in DC when I was young. Historical monuments and artefacts take on different meanings as you experience more in life. Witnessing the ebb and flow of government and the people who deem themselves worthy to serve us as public servants.

As for the Declaration of Independence, I can’t read it without feeling as if bolts of hypocritical lightning might strike me. Only a small percentage of adults have read the entirety of the document. Read it again if you have a few minutes and tell me that you don’t feel massive cognitive dissonance upon doing so. Regardless of your political affiliation, you will feel twinges of recognition in light of current events.

Most of us were taught that the document embodied the ideals of those who assembled around it. But then we independently learned about the struggles of women and minorities wanting their place at the table along the white men who kept a straight face while signing a document indicating that we are all equal.

Two and a half centuries later, we’re struggling with the consequences of corrupted capitalism, oligarchy, and white christian nationalism, all of which now boil in the crucible focused by someone who has no substantive interest in treating the Constitution as sacred.

It’s strange to me that as individuals we mostly want to be left alone, yet so quickly join forces with movements and groups that collectively seek to accentuate inequality and promote favoritism toward their particular cause.

I’m a liberal and as such, I relish the days when we actually return to following the concepts of the Constitution. That we stop saying words like equality if we are going to behave as if the term applies only to our cohort. If we continue down this road toward marginalization or reduction in freedoms while simultaneously imposing a particular religious viewpoint or worldview, it is a certainty how this great experiment will end.

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Behavior, Government, Justice, Opinion, Personal, Politics, Protest, Racism and Prejudice, Security, Trump

Hate

03/10/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

Earlier today, someone shouted an old Spanish nickname of mine. It was an odd place to hear an old nickname. I remembered him immediately because he had the same smile, although it was hidden behind twenty additional years of hard-earned wrinkles. I will call him Sonrisa.

He told me he works with my old friend Carlos. After joking about the unlikelihood of Carlos working much and sharing a laugh, Sonrisa told me that Carlos was giving up on getting the citizenship that he had been promised for years. Both Carlos and Sonrisa are incredibly hard workers. Sonrisa told me a version of the same story I’ve been hearing repeatedly over the last few months: most of their cohort has given up on the United States being the promised land it once was.

They’ll probably return to El Salvador. It will be a loss for everyone. Not only are they hard workers, but they’re funny even in English.

They didn’t used to be prone to cynicism. Sonrisa remembered that I was one of the few gringos who actively stood out in the crowd in recognition of the contribution of Latinos.

He wasn’t surprised when I told him that there was not much hope in sight to feel respected as long as the current crowd of political idiots get their way.

I’m paraphrasing, but Sonrisa added, “You know he’s an idiot when he starts a fight with a friendly white country like Canada. I know if we go back to El Salvador we’ll experience similar authoritarian BS like we do here. But at least it won’t be based on prejudice.” He added, “I remember years ago when you said it was better for people to curse you directly to your face because then at least you knew who they were. We had a few great years here where the racists mostly kept to theirselves. We always knew it was there. But now? He gave them permission and gasoline to act openly.”

There’s no need to explain what people mean when they use the word ‘HE.”

I waved goodbye to Sonrisa and asked him to tell Carlos hello for me.

I silently hoped that 47 and the people who support him don’t get their way. But on the other hand, as always, a little part of me also hoped that they would continue to f*** around and find out.

Not only about the absence of a sufficient workforce to prop up our economy, but also the unavoidable consequences of believing that you can denigrate one group of people without harming the respect threshold for everyone else

Hate breeds hate, and distrust contaminates everyone.

There is no “them.” They are us and vice versa. You’ve simply avoided being targeted. Yet.

Authoritarians and those who believe they have the right of superiority are never content. Fear-mongering is an appetite that never lessens.

Government, History, Justice, Opinion, Politics, Social Rules, Trump

Over

03/04/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

47 himself said any president who presides over a 1,000 point drop on the DOW should be impeached immediately. We owe it to a man of such high honor to be held accountable to his own words. Unless they were just one in a million examples of the fatuous bullsh*t he’ll say to dupe enough people to be king.

He’ll offer his hateful brand of politics at the State of the Union address. Countless people who know better but feel like they have no choice will line up behind him to defend the nonsense he manages to enunciate.

Meanwhile, the country is in disarray. It certainly was not perfect prior to the second coming of 47, but it was manageable and subject to the terms and conditions of rationality and sometimes broken cooperation.

The carnage he creates will continue. The water will grow hotter and he will continue to create divides among those of us who would otherwise disagree passionately but still proceed about the business of living our lives in this country.

Donald, as Justin Trudeau correctly named him today, will destabilize our government sufficiently to render it unrecognizable. Even to those who support him. He’s already managed to destroy decades of relationships with our allies. Mathematically speaking, two points are sufficient to draw an infinite line. Likewise, the arc and trajectory of what he’s doing can only end in one place.

I catch myself wishing he would just get it over with and succeed in his ultimate goal to destroy the history and authority of the government we’ve all enjoyed until this point. So that in this manner, we would have no choice but to turn our eyes towards survival instead of feeding our souls with the foolish hope that the people we elected will stand up and demand that the Constitution be followed and to tell him that no man has the authority to circumvent the political process.

If we continue on this course, 47 will be the last president of the United States as we know it.

Chicken Little no longer has the energy to run amok and squawk that the sky is falling.

For all his supporters, I hope you get what you wish and deserve in your choices. That this paragraph sounds like a warning should itself be a worthy indicator of what you’ve chosen.

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Government, History, Opinion, Personal, Politics, Safety, Trump

JD And DJ Rage

02/28/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

The lady listening to JD and DJ give a master class on narcissist idiocy accidentally gave the world a recap of what the people in the room were witnessing.

Watching the videos of JD and DJ attacking Zelensky made me embarrassed and infuriated. There’s a reason such behavior shocks. Presidents do not behave that way. Raging alcoholics might. Narcissists definitely do, but usually in private.

How anyone versed in history or politics could see this behavior as anything other than a huge red flag baffles me.

It’s not strength. It’s toxicity.

People who demonstrate this type of behavior have no place in politics or government.

JD was already pissed off because the special sofa he asked for was not made available for the meeting.

DJ oozes the type of demeanor and behavior that defines him.

Our previous allies were already on a razor’s edge about the mountain of incredible things that have come out of the mouths of our administration.

Because I follow a lot of international news, I can tell you that while the United States might be feared, this is the equivalent of waiving a gun around in a room. Our previous allies are no longer looking at Trump as a buffoonish distraction. They understand that he is leading our country toward something unrecognizable and as a threat to world stability.

Government, History, Opinion, Politics, Protest, Trump

The United States Of Gilead

02/25/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

In the TV show Handmaid’s Tale, there’s a scene of the traitorous Gilead commanders bragging about the fact that China, Russia, and North Korea backed them to be included in the world economy. The news out of the UN yesterday made me feel like I had shifted to an alternate reality. In part because it’s the first time the United States has openly sided with dictatorial countries.

Ronald Reagan would spin in his grave like a gyroscope.

JD Vance, meanwhile, has his eye on a new LazyBoy recliner.

Elon Musk is so busy saluting these moves that he probably has tennis elbow.

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Government, History, Justice, Law, Opinion, Politics, Protest, Security, Social Rules, Trump

Dear Us

02/19/2025 X Teri Leave a comment

*Yes, I know that “goodbye” is misspelled.

I’m not Chicken Little, nor am I crying wolf. The wolf that some of you chose has eaten the chicken and now sits in our living room.

You’re wasting time focusing on daily firings, closings, and executive orders. One of his latest orders indicating that he and the attorney general are the sole arbiters of the law and its application needs no further examination to see how dangerous he is to the concept of democracy and governance.

He and his people have said the goal out loud – and I don’t understand why you’re not acknowledging it.

The federal government is being systematically dismantled.

What will take its place?

Several labels are applicable. Each with Trump in charge, absent accountability, court review, or congressional oversight. This sort of governance is never benign, nor is it accountable to or concerned with the will of its populace.

Your right to religious freedom will be upheld only if it aligns with the predominant one – and only if it’s convenient. They’ve repeatedly told us that the government must be deleted and replaced with political religion. (Their description – not mine.)

Civil rights? Gone. Workplace rights:? Vanished. Freedom of Speech? Eliminated.

You don’t have to guess whether I’m right. Our closest allies are saying it unilaterally. I consume a mountain of foreign news. Every country which stood with us is ringing the bell of alarm.

All the people driving these changes are saying it out loud.

It can happen here. And it is.

There will be no safeguards, protections, or system to stop him.

The only solution is to do as much as possible to remove Trump from office by any legal means available. Sometime in the future, a warning post like this will be deemed treasonous, even though my intent is to preserve our democracy, as flawed as it may be.

Anything short of legally removing him from office is a waste of time and effort. Even his removal will inevitably result in a rift that might still break our union. Continuing on this current path certainly will.

I held out judgment. Not long ago, it crystallized.

Courts can’t stop him. Congress won’t.

The Presidency isn’t about one man.

It’s about our collective system of laws. They mean nothing with someone like Trump in charge.

Those who support him will read this and think I’ve lost my mind. That’s expected. They mostly ingest the superficial explanation for what’s happening. The rest do like most of us and ignore politics.

I am not reading between the lines. His people have said the quiet part out loud, and the incremental dissolution of our federal government as we know it can only be explained through the alignment of their stated goals and the daily reality of what is happening.

When our democracy fails, I will fall silent, as people must do once safeguards and the checks and balances of presidential power have fallen.

I’ll be the obedient and angry citizen of whatever comes next.

It’s almost over.