I haven’t blogged since last Monday because my computer monitor died on Tuesday. I couldn’t get a new one installed until over the weekend. As a blogger and writer, I was like a fish out of water while I didn’t have a computer. I’m “old school.” There’s only so much I can do on my cell phone and tablet. The up-side of that situation was that I used my newfound free time to do some decluttering.
I was sorry not to get to blog last week about one of the stories in my new book, Traveling Through History: A Collection of Historical Short Stories. I will blog about another story in a day or two.
The highlight last week was the Peace Walk by monks from Texas. I did not get to see them, but I’ve been following their 2,300-mile journey to Washington, DC on social media and the news. They spent one night a few miles from here. They and their dog, Aloka, walk quietly and in peace. That’s something in short supply in the world these days. Reports say that Aloka is recovering nicely from having leg surgery in South Carolina. We’ve all fallen in love with Aloka – the street dog from India. What an inspiration Aloka and the monks are! They’re expected to arrive in Greensboro, North Carolina today.
What to blog about today?
I could take today’s blog post in one of many directions, considering all that Donald Trump has done and said in the last week. Where would I start? I’m running out of words to write about the abuses committed by the Trump Administration. My blog posts risk sounding like a broken record. (If you’re too young to know what that means, Google it.)
Minneapolis, Minnesota
If you are reading this in Minnesota, please know that you are in my prayers. I am with you in spirit. The nation is behind you. The photos and news reports coming out of Minneapolis are appalling.
If Minneapolis is the testing ground for the police state Trump has planned for us, I guess I need to update my passport application. I hoped I wouldn’t need to always have my birth certificate or passport with me, in case I had to prove my citizenship, but it looks like that was wishful thinking.
Trump said he was sending immigration agents and border patrol agents to hunt down and deport “the worst of the worst,” but 73% of the people held in his detention centers have no criminal record.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents keep shooting American citizens. Of the four shootings that occurred in Minneapolis in the first couple of weeks of this year, two of them were committed by ICE agents! And now Trump’s Department of “Justice” has been ordered to investigate the mayor of Minneapolis and the Governor of Minnesota. (It is basically Trump’s Department of Justice and not the U.S. Department of Justice, since he treats it like his personal legal team.)
News reports indicate that Renee Good and her wife will be investigated, but not the ICE agent who shot Ms. Good in the face while she was driving. I have not heard any law enforcement officer say it is recommended that they shoot the driver of a moving vehicle. It’s a miracle no one else died in that incident as Ms. Good’s vehicle continued down the street until it plowed into a parked car and utility pole.
And why was she denied medical attention for at least ten minutes even after a nearby physician offered to lend her aid but was not allowed?
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said that her ICE agents have complete legal immunity.
Only Trump supporters will put any trust in the FBI’s “investigation” of the incident.
ICE agents keep accosting Native Americans on the streets because of the color of their skin. Too bad they weren’t taught in school that North America was originally populated by non-Europeans. The indigenous peoples have more right to be here than the rest of us. There have been reports of ICE agents not recognizing citizenship papers from Indian tribes as legal proof of American citizenship.
Trump has two battalions of U.S. Army paratroopers on standby and is threatening to send them to Minneapolis. He already has 3,000 ICE and Border Patrol agents there creating intimidation and chaos. U.S. military personnel are never supposed to be turned on the American people. Will that be a bridge too far if Trump crosses it?
There have been so many actions and words that I thought would end his political career, but he always comes out unscathed. On Tuesday, he told the people of Minnesota that “the day of reckoning and retribution is coming.” How Presidential!
Of course, he also told the protesters in Iran that “help is on the way.” Funny how he wants to punish Iran for killing protesters, but his own agents are killing protesters in the U.S.
Greenland
If you are reading this in Greenland, Denmark, The Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, or Germany… all I can say is I’m sorry, and please don’t give up on the people of the United States of America. The vast majority of Americans don’t want to steal or purchase Greenland. We absolutely don’t want our country to take it by military force! We don’t want to see NATO destroyed! We’re sick and tired of all the tariffs. They aren’t making anyone rich but Trump.
Venezuela
We didn’t want Venezuela, but we are enjoying the flood of cartoons springing up all over social media about Trump’s second-hand Nobel Peace Prize.
I don’t think anyone expected “America First” to entail any of this when Trump was campaigning.
What Trump does next is anyone’s guess. A year ago, he talked like an isolationist, but now he seems to want to rule the world.
Since the majority of Congress members don’t have the guts to remove him from office, the ballot box in November looks like our only option… unless he declares a national emergency and cancels the mid-term elections. He admitted last week that he is afraid Democrats will hold the majority of Senate and House seats after the election and he expects to be impeached. We all know he won’t allow that to happen. Chances are, with that fear eating at him, he would wreak as much havoc as possible before November.
My plans for 2026
I shall keep blogging – not always about politics, but I will not be silenced about the things Trump does. To remain quiet when I have this platform is to be complicit.
I shall keep writing my U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative, even though they are Republicans and two of the three have never said one critical word about Trump. The other one speaks out occasionally, but only because he is not running for reelection.
I shall keep writing my novel.
Most of us will just keep doing the best we can.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
Janet's Writing Blog 
While I have not seen this picked up by any news source, but I did see an article in Rolling Stone, where Trump threatened to cancel 2026 midterm elections for the very reasons you have mentioned.
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Yes, there is a great deal of concern here about Greenland and the future of NATO. We clearly distinguish between the American people and Trump. His actions are damaging not only to his own country, but also to alliances that have brought stability for decades. That is deeply concerning to us.
Greetings from The Netherlands.
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It’s just a never-ending cycle of new outrages and no accountability or consequences.
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I wish more people are like you, Janet, who will speak up against Trump’s Tyranny. It seems as if more people are for him than against him. May God help us. We will continue to pray.
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He is just evil and self-serving enough to do it. He could simply announce the mid-terms are cancelled because he did not get the Nobel Peace Prize. Words are starting to fail me.
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Greetings from North Carolina, Matroos. I’ve thought about you and your fellow citizens a lot over the past days. Trump seems bound and determined to destroy NATO. It’s like watching a horror show and not being able to do anything about it. It defies logic that anyone who had the security of being born and growing up in the era of NATO could want to see it crumble. He is a spoiled brat. I feel bad for the leaders of Norway who are trying to explain to him how the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded. How does one explain something to a rock? Word is that removing Maduro from Venezuela emboldened him to really go after Greenland. Americans are frustrated that he is spending his time on the destruction of NATO instead of doing something to lower the cost of healthcare. I keep thinking he will eventually anger even his staunchest supporters, but it’s difficult to hang onto that hope. How can so many people be so narrow-minded? How can so many people who claim to be Christians continue to support his evil ways? I will never figure it out. His putting two battalions of paratroopers in Alaska on stand-by for deployment to Greenland is beyond comprehension. He has surrounded himself with “yes men” and “yes women” and he listens to no one who dares to disagree with him. I’m not saying anything you don’t already know. We are in a bad place now. We worry every day about what terrible thing he will do that day or the next. A U.S. Senator was interviewed on TV on Sunday. He said NATO has been around for “four or five decades.” With that level of ignorance in the U.S. Senate, no wonder we are in so much trouble! We must all try to be optimistic, but it is more difficult each week. I heard a member of the Norway Parliament say he doesn’t recognize America now. Neither do Americans! I feel so bad for the remaining World War II veterans who sacrificed so very much. It’s horrible for them to see what Trump is doing to destroy everything they risked their lives for.
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Can someone please get us off this horror show merry-go-round?
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Thank you, Beverley. I feel compelled to speak out in my blog, fully realizing that if things continue on this track for three more years, federal agents could show up at my door and put an end to my blog and to me. That was unimaginable a mere year ago. So be it. Yes, we must continue to pray. I often pray that Trump will accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and turn from his evil ways. It could happen! I have to cling to that hope.
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