After I settled on the title for today’s blog post, I realized you might think this is going to be about cosmetics and shades of makeup. That’s not where this is going.
Saturday’s parade
I think we all know what Saturday’s parade in Washington, DC was about, and it wasn’t for the US Army’s 250th birthday. The reason for the parade was to stroke President Trump’s fragile ego. He wanted a North Korean-style military parade and he was finally about to finagle a parade of sorts under the guise of celebrating the US Army. Oh, and it was also Flag Day. And, by the way, it was his birthday.
The adoring crowd was not what he expected. It turned out that the patriotic and enthusiastic crowds were too buy participating in the “No Kings” protests all across the country to be bothered by Trump’s birthday parade.
I understand from a former US Army NCO that the lack of crispness and precision in the soldiers’ marching in the parade was a sign of low morale and their way to have a silent protest against Trump. It was quite noticeable in the photos I saw. I did not watch the parade.
That gives me hope that at least some members of the US military remember that they do not have to follow an order if it is for them to do something illegal. I don’t think their commander-in-chief understands that or cares.
I couldn’t help but wonder why the soldiers representing the Revolutionary War were wearing red jackets and white wigs. I thought the British were the “redcoats,” and I really don’t think our soldiers were issued white wigs! It just looked odd.
We can all hope that’s Trump’s last attempt at a grand military parade. That kind of thing really rubs Americans the wrong way. He didn’t know, even though his military advisors during his first term in office tried to explain it to him.
Why the “About Face!” on US Steel-Nippon Steel Merger?
In case you wondered why President Trump was against the merger of US Steel and Nippon Steel until he was suddenly in favor of it, the truth came out last Thursday. According to The Associated Press, “President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will gain control of U.S. Steel as part of a merger deal with Japan’s largest steelmaker.”
The report quoted Trump as saying, “We have a golden share, which I control.” He went on to say he was “‘a little concerned’ about what future presidents would do with their golden share, ‘but that gives you total control.'”
The New York Times reported the so-called “golden share” “would effectively allow Washington to inject itself into the fabric of a foreign-owned, yet strategically critical, American enterprise.”
I have not read the agreement, but what jumps out at me is how The New York Times is reporting “Washington” will have some say so in how the new company is run, but Donald Trump said he will control the company.
That’s cringe-worthy, especially considering how many businesses Trump has bankrupted. It is cringe-worthy since doing the merger talks Trumps referred to Nippon Steel as Nissan three times. Does he think Nippon Steel makes steel, or does he think it makes cars? It’s also cringe-worthy if by “Washington” The New York Times means the US Government will control it. That sounds like the nationalization of a company.
What happened to the Republican Party’s support of private enterprise? The Biden Administration opposed the merger due to national security concerns. Did those concerns magically disappear on January 20?
It is a done deal, so it remains to be seen how it plays out.
Trump’s true colors
We saw two political assassinations and two attempted political assassinations in the United States in the wee small hours on Saturday morning.
President Trump and the White House were silent about the events for hours. And hours. Would Trump and his spokespeople have been silent for so long if the Minnesota elected officials had not been Democrats? Or maybe Trump would have picked up the phone to call the Minnesota governor if that governor were a Republican?
Trump showed his true colors on Sunday morning when ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott reached him by telephone more than 24 hours after the assassination. Scott reported on ABC’s Sunday morning news commentary show that when she asked him if he would call Minnesota Governor Tim Walz regarding the tragedy, he responded by saying he “might call him” and then immediately said that Governor Walz is a “terrible governor” and “grossly incompetent.”
Those were Trump’s personal, political opinions and they had nothing to do with the truth or Saturday’s horrific assassinations. His words were tacky and small-minded.
Trump’s reckless rhetoric fuels political violence.
As of yesterday, Trump still had not called Governor Walz. Former President Joe Biden called Walz early Saturday morning.
The assassin was apprehended on Sunday night.
Until my next blog post
I hope you have a good book to read.
Take care and stay informed. As I write this on Monday night, June 16, it appears that the United States is gearing up to get directly involved in the war between Israel and Iran. Israel started the war, and we’re being told “the United States will have to finish it.” Thanks a lot, Netanyahu! The US Government supports Israel, no matter what it does. Trump is suddenly leaving the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta tonight to return to Washington, DC without meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.
Don’t forget the people of Ukraine and western North Carolina.
Janet
Janet's Writing Blog 
His true colors have been there for all to see from long before he ran for office,
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He once again shows that he has not a shred of empathy and only cares about himself — but we already knew that. What’s even clearer now is how little he understands about history or facts. He claimed that Putin fought alongside us in World War II and lost 51 million people. Putin was born in 1952! A mistake like that isn’t just embarrassing — it’s disgraceful for a president.
He can’t tell the difference between truth and fantasy, between responsibility and self-glorification.
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Janet, did the red uniforms happen to be worn by fife and drum players? I worked at Ft Myer for years where this group is part of the Old Guard. The red uniforms were worn by military bands in the colonial era. I agree with everything else you wrote.
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On s more humorous note, my husband told me that he had read where Trump reamed out his Secretary of Defense for the lackluster parade. Could not happen to two more deserving people.
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Due to the variety of huge news stories over the weekend, we didn’t get blanket coverage of the military parade which made me quite happy! And you’ve made me even happier by telling me that the attendance wasn’t great. What an interesting idea that the troops may have been making a silent protest. As for Trump leaving the G7 early, I can’t help wondering if that really had anything to do with Israel and Iran. It seems he doesn’t like to be in a room with a group of his fellow leaders, especially since their views on so many of the big subjects of the day don’t align with his. At least this time he didn’t walk out in a huff like last time. He tried to show a bit of courtesy which is almost unique for him! I gather some of the MAGA types aren’t best pleased at the idea that he might be about to insert the US into yet another war in the Middle East. Do you think he’s being controlled by Vance? I sometimes get that impression…
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Trump will make things in the Middle East much worse, I’m sure.
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Thank you, Janet, for always sharing very informative and truthful blogs that we might not otherwise see. I am now using JetPack and hope this comment posts. Have a great evening.
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Yes, they have, Vicki. I’m still baffled over how half the people did not see it and how so many are still blinded to it. I’m trying not to spend any more time or energy trying to figure it out.
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Matroos, your words are true and chilling. His ignorance is beyond embarrassing. It is gravely dangerous… as we are seeing it played out this week. Ignorance combined with arrogance is going to be the end of us. He delights in being the center of attention and keeping people guessing. It is a game to him. He does not care that millions of lives hang in the balance. I cannot forgive the people who voted for him. The way he has ICE agents rounding up immigrants and manhandling Democrat members of Congress if they dare to ask a question at a press conference or even at a courthouse where immigrants are attending their scheduled immigration appointments is nothing short of Gestapo tactics. The way he and his Secretary of Defense have deployed active-duty US Marines to assist ICE agents is way over the line, yet our Republican-dominated Congress does nothing. Every week, every day gets worse, yet life goes on. He is unstable and power hungry. I understand he is embarrassed over the way last Saturday’s parade went… and he will surely take out his anger on somebody… or all of us. Today he happily proclaimed, “No one knows what I’m going to do!” He has no concern whatsoever about the ramifications if he orders that “bunker-busting” 30,000-pound bomb to destroy that underground facility in Iran. The retired US Generals are all speaking out against our doing that, but Trump is not listening to any of them. He thinks he knows better than they do, but I doubt if he could even find Iran on a map if his life depended on it. I don’t think he considers the Iranians to be people. He certainly doesn’t consider undocumented immigrants in the United States as human beings. He said the millions of people who protested against his policies across the US last Saturday were horrible people who hate America. God help us!
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Perhaps you are right. I didn’t think of that. It has a lot of people online asking why they were wearing red jackets. I was more struck by their white wigs.
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I heard that, too. Two peas in a pod. History will not be kind to either of them.
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There are various unflattering pictures of Trump and Hegseth during the parade. They look like two little boys who just lost their little baseball game and they think it is the end of their world. Trump appears to be asleep in some of the pictures. The word circulating is that none of the military people wanted to be there. They had to sleep on the floor in a warehouse and eat rations. And Sunday being Father’s Day, meant those who had children or fathers did not get to have any opportunity for family time over the week or weekend. The word is that he reamed out Defense Secretary Hegseth afterward for the display being so pitiful. Too bad he’s not angry enough to fire Hegseth. What a pathetic Secretary of Defense at a time when we need military experience, intelligence, and a cool head in charge. We’ll never know the truth of why he left the G7, but it is probably because he had been humiliated. He doesn’t get along with anyone in attendance, so it must have been very uncomfortable for him even before he made a fool of himself at the press conference or dropped most of the pages of that agreement he was so proud to try to hold up for the cameras. We are in a very bad place today, praying he does not order that “bunker-busting” 30,000-pound bomb on Iran’s underground facility. He’s liable to do it just to show the world that he can, regardless of the ramifications. I don’t think Vance is controlling him. I’m afraid it is Stephen Miller, his Deputy Chief-of-Staff. Miller is a certifiable White Nationalist madman.
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He seems hellbent on making things worse here and in the Middle East. He is a loose cannon, if there ever was one.
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Yes, it posted, Tangie. I was away last night and I’m just now getting a chance to check yesterday’s blog comments.
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Almost everyone wore wigs or powdered their hair during the late colonial and early Republic eras. I have never seen a portrait of Washington with his natural red hair showing. For them to make uninformed suppositions is the type of behavior that Trump is hoping for.
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I know about the white wigs, but I really didn’t think soldiers in the Continental Army wore them.
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This is so incredibly disturbing, Jeanet. I’ve often and deeply immersed myself in the history of the Second World War — in how it was even possible that Hitler did what he did, to so many people, to Jews, to homosexuals. He had not a shred of humanity in him. It was so horrific that the German people still carry a collective sense of guilt to this day. It remains a deeply sensitive and painful subject.
Please, let it never come to that again. What happened back then is too terrible for words. What frightens me so much is how it crept in — bit by bit — and then suddenly escalated. And it’s precisely those parallels that I’m seeing again now. That coldness, the dehumanization, the abuse of power… it terrifies me.
Because of Trump, I can no longer watch or read about WWII without getting a sick feeling inside. It affects me so deeply. I completely understand your despair.
God help us, indeed.
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They were more likely to powder their hair which was tied back in a queue. Today’s military would have to wear a wig achieve that look since only the women would have hair long enough to pull back. They are over thinking this
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And no one will lash him to the deck to protect the ship and its crew.
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I am the same way, Matroos. There are so many parallels that I get a chilling sensation with everything I read or watch about World War II. I recently watched a documentary on PBS (the Public Broadcasting System) here about the rise of fascism in the 1930s-40s. It was several weeks ago, and I still cannot get it off my mind. The pictures of the way the ICE agents are arresting immigrants is the worst thing so far here. The agents wear dark glasses and masks over their mouth and nose so they cannot be identified. They often show no identification or a badge. For all we know, they could just be thugs kidnapping people. The Trump Administration says they must be masked to protect their identity and their families. If a bystander steps up and asks them to produce identification or any proof that they are customs agents, the bystander is then in danger of also being arrested. This is happening in the big cities and at farms and industrial facilities known to employ a lot of immigrants. A few days ago, Trump said ICE needed to lighten up on raids at hotels and large farms that depended on immigrant employees. I suppose that is because he owns hotels and someone must have finally told him that the food he eats comes from farms… not the supermarket! But I don’t think immigrants who work at places other than hotels and large farms she now be targeted because Trump wants the hotels and farms left alone. It is insane. Some of the immigrants have lived and worked in the US for 20 years and have paid taxes. Many of them have been trying to work within the system for years toward gaining citizenship. They have children who came her as infants or toddlers and this is the only home they know. Trump says he’s deporting those children who are now maybe students in universities and desire to be productive American citizens. It’s horrible. He has labeled all immigrants (except his numerous wives) as criminals. Coming into the US without proper paperwork is a misdemeanor. It is not a crime. So many of the things Trump has done are actual crimes, yet here he is deporting people who have committed a misdemeanor! This is a large country. There is room for all of us here. We sit here tonight wondering if Trump will order the bombing of that Fordow nuclear processing facility in Iran tonight… or tomorrow… or the next day. I pray this is all talk and no action. Netanyahu is responsible for this war and I don’t think the United States should rescue his recklessness. The size of the bunker-busting bomb he is talking about using is beyond my comprehension. This is insanity, and I fear Trump is giving no serious thought about what will happen after we drop that bomb. It will turn 90 million Iranians against Americans even more than they already hate us. As far as I’m concerned, this is Israel’s war and not America’s. I am not antisemitic. I am anti-the government of the State of Israel. Americans have no stomach for another non-ending war in the Middle East. But there’s no telling what Trump will do to distract us from the piece-by-piece dismantling of our democracy. Thank you for letting me blow off some steam! Tomorrow is another day.
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I guess you’re right, for you know more about this than I do, but I just never imagined the Continental Army soldiers wearing wigs or powdering their hair. I thought they had more pressing things to think about. My g-g-g-g-grandfather’s brother was in the Continental Army for seven years. I have trouble visualizing a farmer from the North Carolina backcountry wearing a white wig or putting white powder in his hair. Just never had considered that as a possibility.
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I really think after we drop those two bunker-busting bombs on the Fordow facility, Trump and Netanyahu should have to dig their way into the crater to see if the mission has been accomplished. Works for me.
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Yes, Miller is the scariest of them all – he’s got that look of a real fanatic, hasn’t he?
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For me as well.
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Yes, he’s creepy looking. He has a short fuse and very whacko ideas and philosophies. He tends to jump in to add to what Trump has said in a press conference. Always sounds like he’s about to snap. More highly educated than Trump (who isn’t?). I think he writes the Trump things on social media that are in complete sentences. You can tell when Trump didn’t write something — the complete sentences and vocabulary.
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