I write southern historical fiction, local history, and I've written a devotional book. The two novels I'm writing are set in Virginia and the Carolinas in the 1760s. My weekly blog started out to follow my journey as a writer and a reader, but in 2025 it has been greatly expanded to include current events and politics in the United States as I see our democracy under attack from within. The political science major in me cannot sit idly by and remain silent.
Here are a few random things Trump and his administration have going on this week, in case you have turned off the news.
Bison
The Trump Administration wants to move more than 1,000 bison off federally-owned grazing lands in Montana so the land can be sold to individuals. We’ll be lucky if we have 100 acres of federal land left when Trump vacates the White House.
Ballroom
After telling us for more than a year that the $100 million$200 million $400 million ballroom would not cost the American taxpayer one cent (if you don’t count maintenance – which apparently doesn’t count), Trump now has supporters in Congress proposing that we pay $1 billion for it. Don’t forget that Trump sees the White House as his personal property and tore down the East Wing almost overnight without permission from anyone. If I so much as wrote graffiti on a federal government building, I would be fined and imprisoned. Must be nice to be above the law.
“Magic Paint”
President Trump wants to use some selicate-based “magic paint” to brighten up the granite exterior of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, ignoring some experts who have said it might not be compatible with granite.
This may or may not be magic paint. Photo by Taelynn Christopher on Unsplash
The War in Iran
Trump flipflops between saying we won the war, the war is over, the ceasefire is working, the Strait of Hormuz is open, the Strait of Hormuz is closed, the price of gasoline isn’t up, the price of gasoline will plummet when the war is over. (Wait! I thought in March you said it was over.) He even said this week that the war started six weeks ago, although it started ten weeks ago. Perhaps he stopped calling it “an excursion” and started calling it a war six weeks ago. No one knows what he means or what he thinks. He says he’s talking to the leadership in Iran. The Iranian leadership says they haven’t talked to him. When both parties deal regularly in lies, we are left with no one to believe.
Another key problem, in addition to Trump getting us into this war without Congressional approval or a forthright reason for going to war, is that he insists on talking about the ending of the war as “a deal.” Mr. Trump, it takes diplomacy to end wars in which there will be no military victory. That’s what the U.S. Department of State did for almost 250 years. It’s called diplomacy. It’s called negotiations. It is not and has never been called “a deal.” It is not a business transaction. It is international relations. Perhaps you should have stayed out of politics and continued to just try to enter business deals. You obviously don’t know the difference. A few civics and history classes would serve you well.
After weeks of this “excursion,” all we have accomplished is the closing of the Strait of Hormuz and probably gaining more enemies around the world.
Continued Oil Embargo of Cuba
Trump is almost silently enforcing an oil embargo in Cuba. Although he seems to think it will bring the Cuban government to its knees, what it is accomplishing so far is an almost complete lack of electricity on the island nation and $40-a-gallon gasoline. And Americans are complaining about $4.50-a-gallon gasoline. I guess the endgame is to take Cuba in as part of the United States. One must wonder if the Cubans who survive the embargo will desire to become citizens of a country that elected Donald Trump as President … twice.
Children in the Oval Office
This week Trump regaled a group of children with details of the murder of 42,000 protesters in Iran. Seems like unusual behavior for someone who brags about making a perfect score on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test three times. Just because he can identify a horse, a tiger, and a duck and draw the face of a clock doesn’t mean he should be turned lose unfiltered to talk to children. He went on to brag that his doctor gives that test for a living and told him that he rarely sees someone ace it.
A note about my Congressman
I occasionally mention my Congressman’s e-newsletters in my blogs. I’m not a fan of his, so I thought it was appropriate that his weekly newsletter last Saturday went to my spam box with a bright red warning: “This message might be dangerous. It contains a suspicious link that was used to steal people’s personal information. Avoid clicking links or replying with personal information.”
You can’t make this stuff up.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
This weekend I finished reading and taking copious notes from an excellent new nonfiction book, The Regulator Movement in North Carolina: Prelude to the Revolution, by Marcia D. Phillips.
Today is National Tell a Story Day, and this nonfiction book tells quite a story!
The Regulator Movement in North Carolina: Prelude to the Revolution, by Marcia D. Phillips
If you want to know some of the little-known background leading up to the American Revolution, I highly recommend this book. As a native North Carolinian, I learned about the Regulators in North Carolina History classes; however, to read the details of it as an adult is to better grasp the terror that many residents of my state were living under in the late 1760s and early 1770s.
The author did an amazing job, like no one else I’ve read, of giving hundreds of years of history leading up to the Regulator Movement in North Carolina. She wrote about how the feudal system in Europe and even the Magna Carta laid the groundwork for what happened here in the mid-1700s!
I had never connected some of the dots that Ms. Phillips connected, but it all fits together now in my mind.
The book also does a great job of explaining the differences between the Regulator Movement in North Carolina and the Regulator Movement in South Carolina. That’s something important for me to keep in mind as I write my historical novels in progress.
Quoting from The Regulator Movement in North Carolina: Prelude to the Revolution, by Marcia D. Phillips,
“In a nutshell, the North Carolina Regulators were not attempting to overthrow the colonial government, just convince it to be the same one they had for years and true to British common law. Their actions were not intended to disrupt the law but to ensure the government’s actions were regulated, to promote uniformity and fairness. The issues of the day – excessive taxation and fees with limited recourse in the assembly, lack of justice in court rulings, and forced taxation for the Anglican Church, which none of the Regulators attended – were the sticking points but also indicative of underlying principles being violated. These discontented farmers were even willing to self-regulate if the colonial government would allow it.”
The Regulators signed petitions in an effort to get Governor Tryon to address their grievances. His appointed officials in the North Carolina Piedmont – particularly in the northern Piedmont part of the province owned by Lord Granville – were robbing the citizens blind and pocketing the money they collected.
They were sick and tired of paying tax to support the Anglican Church. They were Presbyterians and Baptists, and they wanted the right to pay their own clergy. Their clergy were not allowed to officiate over marriages or funerals. For people who had left Europe for religious freedom, this was unacceptable.
The Regulator Movement in North Carolina came to a head in Alamance County on May 16, 1771, when Governor Tryon ordered eight cannons to fire upon a group of Regulators who had asked to be heard. Under the Johnston Riot Act, Tryon gave them until noon to disperse; however, instead of arresting them at noon when they did not disperse, he turned eight cannons on them. It is called the Battle of Alamance, but it was really an ambush.
As the book gives in detail, that was not the end of Tryon’s reign of terror. He had a number of Regulators hanged and had many of their farms burned to the ground.
The book includes an extensive bibliography for readers wanting to do additional research. Thank you, Ms. Phillips, for giving us such a concise and well-researched account of the Regulator Movement in North Carolina.
Perhaps it is partly because of our current political environment that, but while reading this book, it struck me how similar Governor William Tryon of North Carolina was to Donald Trump. I’m not just referring to the fact that he built an extravagant palace for himself while in office.
Some leaders build palaces. Others build ballrooms and triumphal arches.
But it is the pattern of retribution demonstrated by Tryon and by Trump that hit me as an undeniable and frightening similarity between the two men.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
When I read or hear about something that’s not making “the news,” I jot down notes, in case I want to use that information in a blog post. I haven’t blogged since last Friday, so it felt like I needed to put in an appearance today.
This post is going to be a bit disjointed, but isn’t that indicative of our lives now? Nothing makes sense, and sometimes it is impossible to connect the dots. This week, it has been easy to connect the dots.
Photo by David Thielen on Unsplash
There have been several events in the last week or so that trouble me. More than that, though, it troubles me that none of these events got the attention they deserved by the national media.
Is that because the Trump Administration has a fire hose of abuses and flip-flopping aimed at us 24/7? Perhaps. I thought it was the Democrats who were always accused of “flip-flopping,” but I think Trump could be the poster boy for it since he started the war in Iran.
One thing Trump does not flip-flop on is the destruction of the environment. It is the one issue he is consistent on.
Here’s my list of concerns this week:
U.S. Forest Service
The U.S. Forest Service is pretty much being dismantled. The agency oversees 193 million acres of national forests, protects ecosystems, manages wildfire (and that “season” just started), and conducts research. All ten regional offices and more than 50 research labs are set to close. The national headquarters being moved from Washington, DC to Utah.
Boundary Waters Wilderness
Fifty Republicans in the U.S. Senate voted in favor of letting a Chilean company set up copper and nickel mining in the watershed of northern Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Wilderness. The vote was 50-49. Again, all “aye” votes were by Republicans. Senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Senator Susan Collins of Maine were the two Republicans who voted against it. At least Tillis got it right, but Ted Budd of North Carolina got it wrong. The Boundary Waters Wilderness is the most visited wilderness in America. The waters that flow through it are a watershed for thousands of people.
The name of the company is Twin Metals Minnesota. Sounds like an American company, doesn’t it? It is a subsidiary of Antofagata, a Chilean mining company fined almost $775,000 in January for dumping 13,000 liters of copper concentrate into the Choapa River in Chile.
So why do 50 Republican U.S. Senators think that would be a great thing to have in Minnesota? I can’t help but think this is retribution for the way Minnesotans have stood up to Trump and his ICE agents.
If your Senators votes against the bill, write and thank them.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah might be on the chopping block soon. The Trump Administration has its eyes on it for more oil drilling and mining. Write your U.S. Senators even though it seems the vast majority of Republicans have a vendetta against the environment and wildlife it supports. Who knows? It might make a difference.
Uranium Mining in Carson National Forest
U.S. Senator Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico is leading opposition to the Mesa Arc Project, proposed by Gamma Resources, Ltd., a Canadian company. The project aims to explore for uranium in the Chama Basin in Carson National Forest.
The Chama Basin is a watershed. (The Trump Administration seems to have a vendetta against watersheds. I’m beginning to connect the dots!)
I have never had the opportunity to visit Carson National Forest, but it is described as a pristine area with clean air and water, beautiful land, and magnificent wildlife, just 20 miles north of Ghost Ranch – Georgia O’Keefe’s Museum and former home.
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
President Trump announced that oil companies can lease land inside the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling on June 5. It is the largest wildlife refuge in the United States. It is the calving ground for the Porcupine Caribou herd.
Canada and the United States have an agreement to manage and protect the herd. The indigenous peoples in Alaska and Yukon and Northwest Territories depend on the herd and are allowed to hunt them as they have for thousands of years.
Specifically, the Gwich’in peoples depend on the herd for their existence. The Arctic Village Council, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Friends of the Earth are suing to try to stop the oil drilling leases from being approved.
The following item has nothing to do with nature, but it demands attention.
The North Carolina Board of Elections
The North Carolina General Assembly recently took away the Governor’s right and responsibility to appoint people to the NC Board of Elections, so now there are three Republicans and two Democrats on it. The only surprise is that there aren’t five Republicans. Yes, Gov. Josh Stein just happens to be a Democrat, in case you were wondering what prompted this change in state elections governance.
Last week (or was that this week?) The NC Board of Elections voted along party lines to adopt voter purge rules that might disenfranchise thousands of legal citizens.
It is another case of the Republicans inventing a remedy for a problem that does not exist. They are so used to crying “voter fraud,” they just can’t help themselves. They cannot be bothered by facts.
Some 15,000 North Carolinians voiced opposition to this move, but the Republicans pushed it through. This takes effect in May, less than six months before this year’s important mid-term election. What a coincidence!
In conclusion
Here we are. One day Trump wants a cease fire in Iran. The next day (or the next hour) he doesn’t want a cease fire. One minute he wants the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping traffic. The next minute he doesn’t. One minute he says the U.S. will blockade the Strait. The next minute he says he won’t. One day he is going to bomb Iran out of existence at a stated time, but five minutes before that time he changes his mind. TACO.
Can you imagine what would be said if we had a female U.S. President who changed her mind every five minutes?
That is no way to conduct a war. It is certainly no way to negotiate a peace agreement, but that’s what you get when you have self-proclaimed businessmen conducting the negotiations instead of U.S. State Department professionals. I guess this kind of chaos works in the business world. It is not the way to conduct international governmental relations.
I honestly hope I never again hear anyone say, “We need a businessman in the White House.”
Did you see the photo of Trump honoring the national champion women’s tennis team from the University of Georgia? I hope the women enjoyed their trip to the White House, but the official White House photograph of Trump with the team is worth a thousand words. If you want to know how Trump really feels about women, take a look at the picture. Trump is standing front and center in front of the nine women athletes who are in three rows. Flanking Trump are five more white men. If you squint, you can see that there are nine female tennis players in the background. One of them is literally leaning over to peek out between Trump and one of the other men.
The icing on the cake this week is the video clip I saw of Trump reading a Bible verse as part of a Republican Bible Reading Marathon. You can’t make this stuff up, although the first two times I heard about it, I thought it was surely a joke.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
I have not blogged this week. I had planned to post on Monday and again on Tuesday, but the topics I had planned seemed frivolous in light of world events.
Photo by Rostislav Uzunov on Unsplash
Here in the United States, we find ourselves in a war no one wanted. We find ourselves with a President and Vice President who have no internal restraint when it comes to saying stupid things.
My last blog post (When the U.S. President has no moral compass on April 8) was written several days before Donald Trump decided to publish an AI-generated image of himself pretending to be Jesus Christ. That was a few days before he criticized Pope Leo for being “weak crime.”
If one needed proof that the totality of what Trump knows about Christianity would fit on the head of a pin with enough room left over for his 90,000-square-foot ballroom, that image should suffice.
That was a few days before he criticized Pope Leo for being “weak crime.”
He is attacks Pope Leo as if the Pope is running for political office against him. He insults Pope Leo as if the Pope is the President, Prime Minister, or Dictator of a country he wants to take over. (Trump, please don’t start calling The Vatican the 51st state! You already have too many countries on that list. You don’t need to start going after city-states.)
That wasn’t enough, though. Vice President J.D. Vance said that Pope Leo needed to be careful what he says about theology and should try to speak the truth… like he (J.D. Vance) does. As if J.D. Vance is a theological authority!
Vance works for a man who sells Bibles that include the U.S. Declaration of Independence, who autographs copies of that Bible, who holds the Bible upside down for photo ops in front of churches he knows nothing about, who tried to quote Second Corinthians but called it “Two Corinthians” and then said lots of people call it that.
In less than a week, the U.S. President and U.S. Vice President have scolded Pope Leo for during exactly what he is called on to do in his role as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.
Trump is not a member of any denomination and Vance claims to have converted to Roman Catholicism five years ago.
Trump eventually took down his image pretending to be Jesus. He explained it away with a lie. He claimed he wasn’t portraying Jesus, he was portraying a doctor. If his doctor dresses like that, I think we now have a good idea of why Trump keeps “acing” cognitive tests.
If I opened my eyes and my doctor was dressed like that, I would think I had died and gone to heaven. If he had Trump’s face, I would know I was not in heaven.
Yesterday, Trump poured salt in the wound his Jesus image had among caused among real Christians (and some atheists!) last week by posting a new AI-generated image of Jesus embracing Trump around the shoulders. Trump doesn’t know when or how to stop. His advisors are just as misguided as he is.
That’s all just in less than a week. If you go back eleven days, you have Trump posting “Praise be to Allah” on social media on Easter Sunday. Can you imagine if President Obama had ever done that?
The White House Press Secretary told us yesterday that Trump’s sense of humor is the most underreported thing about him. He thought it was funny to mock a disabled journalist. He thinks it is funny to call people names and mispronounce people’s names. You know… the types of things that are funny to 12-year-old boys. It’s not a sense of humor I want to see in a U.S. President or any 79-year-old man.
Trump told a reporter yesterday, “I hate to be controversial.”
My question: “Since when?”
I wish I could visit the future for just one day so I could read what historians will write about “the golden age of Trump.” No doubt, it will be looked back on as one of the lowest points in the history of the United States. Right down there with the American Civil War, slavery, and the almost 100 years of Jim Crow laws.
Of course, my train of thought is in direct opposition to the Republican who represents me in the U.S. House of Representatives. His newsletter on Saturday stated, “There is no better time to be an American.” I’m not feeling it.
No doubt, future human beings will puzzle over how the American people elected such an incompetent narcissist not once, but twice. They will, no doubt, be baffled that such an incompetent little man could hoodwink half the voters into thinking he was a better candidate than either of the two highly-qualified women he defeated.
I am sure future human beings will wonder how this could have happened, because for the first 65+ years of my life I wondered how Hitler tricked the Germans.
I no longer wonder. I have now witnessed such a massive brainwashing in real time.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
Christian Nationalists love to say that the United States was founded as a Christian nation. That is simply not true.
Read the Declaration of Independence. Read the U.S. Constitution.
You will not find the word, “Christian.” You will not find the name “Jesus.”
The documents acknowledge a creator, but they do not in any way call for a national religion. In fact, read the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It makes it illegal for the United States to make any laws respecting the establishment of religion. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
That is the First Amendment. Our country’s founders were so adamant about that issue, they made it the First Amendment.
Americans, under our Constitution, are free to practice any religion they choose. They are free to practice no religion whatsoever.
Americans have the First Amendment, but there are forces working in the background and in the not so “back” background who are determined to make the United States a Christian nation. Stay tuned. Even when President Trump is no more, the Christian Nationalists who prop him up will still be among us.
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America
One example of how Christian Nationalists are not-so-silently imposing their extreme beliefs through their positions in government is Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. He holds a monthly Christian service at the Pentagon. Attendance is technically not mandatory, but we all know how such an event at one’s place of employment can be in actuality.
We have an all-volunteer military since the draft was ended on January 27, 1973. Our military personnel come from various religious backgrounds. In other words, they are not all Christians, and besides, all Christians are not in agreement on details of the faith. The number of Christian denominations proves that.
At the Pentagon service on March 25, 2026, Hegseth prayed for “righteous targets for violence” and “overwhelming violence against those who deserve no mercy.”
Photo by Deb Dowd on Unsplash
“Righteous targets for violence” and “overwhelming violence against those who deserve no mercy.” Let those words sink in. As a member of a congregation affiliated with the Presbyterian Church USA, I find that prayer offensive.
As I interpret it, a “righteous target” for our Department of Defense would be a target acceptable to God. The insinuation of Hegseth’s prayer is that God is on our side. Even if Hegseth believes that in his heart, it runs counter to United States tradition and principles. We do not see our wars as “holy wars,” but that is the impression Hegseth’s prayer gives.
(In contrast, it is my understanding that Iran sees its war against Israel and the United States as a holy war. In Iran today, there is no separation of church and state.)
It is not in the tradition or history of the U.S. for the Secretary of Defense to use words like “righteous target” or pray for “overwhelming violence against those who deserve no mercy.” If that is the mindset of our Secretary of Defense, he has a frightening interpretation of the foundation of our nation and the religious position of the U.S. military. The U.S. military has never had a religious position or religious mission.
“Overwhelming violence against those who deserve no mercy” goes along with Hegseth’s earlier statement that we will “give no quarter.” “Give no quarter” translates to “take no prisoners alive.” In addition to being against international law, that is not the way the United States operates. If it is, that is not what we’ve been told.
Does Hegseth want the Iranians to “give no quarter” if they capture members of our military? I doubt it. But what message does it send for our Secretary of Defense to make such statements?
The Washington Post reported, “Later that day, his department announced military chaplains would no longer wear their rank on their uniform and instead would wear religious insignia.”
On Sunday, March 29, The Washington Post reported, “Retired Army Maj. Gen. Randy Manner, who was second-in-command of the National Guard from 2011 to 2012, has worked in recent years to train hundreds of interfaith military chaplains. Manner said he has talked with ‘dozens and dozens’ of active-duty chaplains in recent weeks who say those who don’t identify with Hegseth ‘are being marginalized.’ They feel they can’t voice their concerns to their own superiors, he said, and feel their work as the primary advocate for troops’ spiritual, mental and moral health is being threatened.”
It has been reported that Hegseth has cut the number of faith codes within the military from 200 to 31 to remove “political correctness and secular humanism” from the Chaplain Corps.
Hegseth has brought his pastor into presentations at the Pentagon. This is a narrow-minded man who says women should not have the right to vote. That tells me all I need to know about Hegseth’s very small Christian denomination and its views about more the half the world’s population.
The Washington Post reported that the traditional norms that kept religious beliefs and individual religious affiliations of the top brass at the Pentagon out of their official dealings, “are being upended by the proselytizing Christian campaign of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, say multiple former high-ranking military officials and experts on religion and law. Rather than boosting cohesion through a more universal spiritual uplift, they say, the new approach violates the Constitution and undermines the bonds of mutual respect between troops that are essential, especially in wartime.”
Religion and government are not a match made in heaven. Everyone in government – and that includes the military — brings their beliefs with them, but they are never to force their religious beliefs on another person, co-workers, or the entire nation through their position of power or influence.
It appears that Secretary Hegseth’s possible affinity for alcohol, which was a topic of concern emphasized during his Congressional confirmation hearings, is turning out to be the least of our concerns about him.
Watch for Part 2 of this blog topic tomorrow, when I will look into what Jesus had to say about the government.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
It was on this date 156 years ago that African American men were given the right to vote when the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified.
Section 1 of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
You might be surprised to know that it was the Republicans who pushed for this amendment. Yes, the same party which today turns itself into a pretzel dreaming up ways to make it more difficult for citizens to vote is the party that fought to give black American men the right to vote in 1870. The irony!
The 15th Amendment did not address the fact that women of any skin color did not have the right to vote.
Section 1 of the 15th Amendment states: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude–.”
Although ratified in 1870, it would take the Voting Rights Act of 1965 before many black people were registered to vote. Laws varied by state and state legislatures – much like today – resorted to creative ways and wording in laws to restrict voting rights.
Popular opinion is that it was only southern states that restricted voting to white people, so I decided to do a little research into state laws prior to 1870. (Keep in mind that women were not given the right to vote by the U.S. Constitution until the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920.)
I wanted to know if black men were allowed to vote in states outside the South before passage of the 15th Amendment in 1870. Out of curiosity, I randomly looked at New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
In the State of New York, there was a mish-mash of voting rights for black men. In the 1820’s it was unlawful for a black person who did not own property valued at $250 or more to vote. Slave owners along the Hudson River (yes, even New Yorkers owned slaves!) did not let their slaves vote. Some black men in the state’s cities were able to vote.
Although the “Black Laws” in the state of Ohio were repealed in 1849, African Americans were still not allowed to vote. An informative article about the history of laws regarding African Americans in Ohio can be found here: https://eji.org/news/ohios-black-laws/.
What about Pennsylvania? Quoting from “The Disenfranchisement of Black Pennsylvanians in the 1838 State Constitution: Racism, Politics, or Economics? – A Statistical Analysis,” by David A. Latzko of Pennsylvania State University’s York campus, as found at https//:tupjournals.temple.edu: “In 1838, Pennsylvania’s voters approved a state constitution that restricted the right to vote to ‘white freemen.’ Blacks had voted for many years in some parts of the state, but under the new constitution Pennsylvania’s black males could no longer vote.”
I found the following information on https://libguides.njstatelib.org/votesforwomen/timeline: In 1807, a new law restricting voting was passed by the New Jersey General Assembly: “Whereas doubts have been raised, and Great diversities in practice obtained through-out the state in regard to the admission of aliens, females and persons of color, or negroes to vote in elections… Sec. 1. Be it enacted …That … no person shall vote in any state or county election… unless such person be a free, white, male … of the age of twenty-one years, worth fifty pounds proclamation money….”
New Jersey adopted a new State Constitution in 1844, and people of color were still not allowed to vote.
In the decades after the ratification of the 15th Amendment, racists in various states passed laws to make it hard for minorities to vote. Such things as poll taxes and literacy tests were codified.
This was still in the decades of Reconstruction following the Civil War. Most of the former slaves had not been allowed to learn how to read or write, so the passage of literacy laws was a not-so-subtle way to prevent many black people from voting.
My conclusion is that people of color have been discriminated against in every state in the United States of America. Our nation has a long and sorted history of dividing ourselves based on the color of our skin.
It is that 250-year history that has brought us to 2026 – a year in which the U.S. Constitution gives all citizens — regardless of skin color or gender – the right to vote. But women and people of color must remain vigilant in every State to guard our right to vote.
In 2026, various State legislatures and even the United States Congress are working behind the scenes as well as blatantly in public to make it more difficult for all citizens to exercise their right to vote. The so-called SAVE America Act is currently being batted back and forth between the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.
A segment of our society has been convinced by Conservatives that there is rampant voting by undocumented immigrants. Under the guise of putting an end to that problem — which has been proven not to exist — through passage of the SAVE America Act the Conservatives in Congress are working very hard to codify wording that will once again make it more difficult for many women and many people of color to vote.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. White men in America continue to be afraid of losing their power. It is a history much older and more widespread than the United States of America.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
Every single time I think Trump can’t go any lower, he goes much lower. Today’s blog post hits a few of the highlight (or lowlights!) of the past week.
I tried to be a good blogger this week. I made an effort Monday through yesterday to not post about Trump, but I can only remain silent for so long. If you read my blog on a regular basis, you know that.
I cannot and will not sit idly by while I have this platform. I’m sorry this is long, but please stay with it to the end.
Death of former FBI Director Robert Mueller
We found out last weekend just how small and callous Donald Trump is.
Former FBI Director Robert Mueller died at the age of 81. He was respected by people of both political parties. He was a lifelong servant of the people. He volunteered for military duty during the Vietnam War and received a Purple Heart after being shot in the leg.
Upon hearing the news of Mueller’s death from Parkinson’s Disease, President Trump put on his Truth Social account: “Robert Mueller just died. Good. I’m glad he’s dead.”
It is sad that such a civil servant died of a devastating disease at the age of 81; however, it is tragic that the little man sitting in the Oval Office is so self-absorbed and evil-spirited that he wrote such an abhorrent thing.
It was that same Vietnam War Robert Mueller got wounded in that Donald Trump weaseled out of going to after he and his father got a doctor to claim he had bone spurs. He has been ridiculing the veterans of that war ever since.
When a person shows you what they are, believe them. If there is anyone out there who still thinks Trump was sent by God to save America… you might want to look in the mirror and ask yourself which god you and Trump believe in.
Speaking of religion… “Make it for Jesus!”
Has there ever been a U.S. President more devoid of knowledge of Christianity?
On Monday, Trump said he wants photo voter ID with proof of citizenship to be par to the Homeland Security bill. He addressed his remarks to the Republicans and said, “You don’t have to worry about going home for Easter break. Make this one for Jesus. Make it for Jesus. That’s what I tell ‘em. It would be a d_mn good thing.”
Jesus was all about loving your neighbor – and everyone is your neighbor. He was all about taking care of the sick, the poor, the lonely.
Trump is all about hating his neighbors – which is everyone who doesn’t lick his boots. He is all about taking healthcare away from the sick, making poor people pay higher prices for necessities, and ignoring the lonely.
Every single thing I can think of that Jesus demonstrated and asked us to do, Trump demonstrates the opposite and spouts out hate for everyone.
The irony of it all is that the movement is being led by a little orange man who would not know a Christian if he met one.
Can someone please tell Trump that Jesus is not concerned about voter ID or citizenship in the United States? My hunch is that Jesus is more concerned about the way Christians are treating people. For the Republicans to vote a requirement into law that in order to vote in the United States one must present a certified birth certificate would not be a gift for Jesus. Voting for photo voter ID or voter proof of citizenship will not get a single Republican into heaven.
Yet again, the U.S. President is pushing for a solution to a problem that has been proven not to exist.
The United States of America is not a theocracy… yet.
The Inaugural America First Award
Knowing that we have the neediest U.S. President ever, the Republican Party invented a new award this week.
At the National Republican Congressional Committee fundraising dinner on March 25, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, with Congressman Richard Hudson of North Carolina proudly standing by his side, announced the creation of the America First Award to be bestowed upon Donald Trump.
It seems that the Republicans in Congress are so enamored with Donald Trump that they must go above and beyond supporting him through thick and thin, through peace time and war, through government shutdowns, and through the dismantling of our medical research, public education, museums, national parks, clean air, and the East Wing of the White House.
Their unflinching support of their puppet master is not enough. They couldn’t help themselves. They had to create a new award with Trump in mind, claiming it will be an annual award. It boggles the mind to think just how many years they will give Donald Trump the America First Award.
Of course, as everything Trumpian requires, the award comes complete with a gold trophy. It can be proudly displayed in the Oval Office next to the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize he was given in December to soothe his ego for not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.
Please remember that Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was the recipient of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize and, even though she literally gave him the physical part of that honor, the Nobel Committee was quick to assert that Ms. Machado is still the recipient and it in no way belongs to Donald Trump.
U.S. Department of the Treasury bowing to Trump
The U.S. Treasury Department “has considered” minting a new one-dollar coin with Trump’s image on both sides. Well, isn’t that special?
Fortunately, Americans don’t want to carry around heavy coins. Most Americans don’t even carry paper currency now. They sure don’t want a pocket full of big ugly coins bearing Trump’s likeness!
In another development yesterday afternoon, the Treasury Department announced the printing of a new $100 bill which will have the iconic Donald Trump signature on it. This goes against tradition, to say the least.
It will be the first time in 165 years that the signature of a sitting U.S. President will be printed on a piece of paper currency in the United States.
Since his signature resembles a toddler’s angry scrawling (my apologies to all toddlers), won’t that be a wondrous thing to behold?
Trump’s views on children and adults with dyslexia
Photo by Rob Hobson on Unsplash
Trump has belittled California Governor Gavin Newsome many times for admitting that he has dyslexia. Newsome compensates having dyslexia by memorizing speeches and speaking extemporaneously.
But Trump sees that as a weakness, and he always attacks a person where he sees a weakness. That’s just the great guy he is.
This week, Trump attacked Gov. Newsome at least twice for having dyslexia and, in so doing, he attacked every child in our country who struggles to compensate for having it.
Trump labels dyslexia as “a learning disability” and the insinuation is that having a learning disability is something to be ashamed of. To be hidden. To never be admitted to having.
Trump using the term “learning disability” and “dyslexia” as a cudgel. It is a label he can proclaim to try to ruin an opponent’s political aspirations.
Every time Trump talks about dyslexia he shows his ignorance.
Or perhaps he says it because he knows that U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was thought to have had dyslexia, but Wilson went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
We all know how jealous Trump is of every recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
What the U.S. President Worries About
In case you wonder what the President of the United States worries about, I found out last Saturday.
One would think the U.S. President had pressing things to worry about like how to get out a war he started in Iran, but that was not the case last Friday.
On Friday, March 20, 2026, President Trump signed a two-page Executive Order dictating that no other NCAA football games can be scheduled during the time slot for the Army-Navy game.
Since they don’t have anything else to do, the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce are to make sure all colleges, universities, conferences, and broadcasters comply.
In a White House press released titled “Preserving America’s Game,” Trump said, “Such scheduling conflicts weaken the national focus on our Military Service Academies and detract from a morale-building event of vital interest to the Department of War. Accordingly, it is the policy of the United States that no college football game, specifically college football’s CFP or other postseason games, be broadcast in a manner that directly conflicts with the Army-Navy Game.”
Besides being a ludicrous thing for the U.S. President to be thinking about, it is a nice gift to CBS Sports which is under contract to televise the Army-Navy game through 2038.
It looks like CBS is going to be in competition with FoxNews to be the official broadcaster for the Trump Administration. Every authoritarian regime needs one.
You can’t make this stuff up.
Meanwhile, the war continues in Iran and Trump is begging other countries to help get him out of it… even as he declares almost every day that we won the war in the first hour.
On Monday, Trump all but said Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth started the war. Later in the week, Hegseth said, “We negotiate with bombs.”
Trump claims the peace negotiations with Iran are “going well,” while Iran says the US must be negotiating with itself because there are no such talks taking place with Iran.
Trump claims the peace negotiations with Iran are “going fairly well,” while Iran says the US must be negotiating with itself because there are no such talks taking place with Iran.
Sadly, no one on the planet can believe what either side says.
Trump continues the oil embargo against Venezuela, which is bringing Cuba to its knees… so he can take over … you guessed it: Cuba.
Yesterday, Trump announced in relation to the war in Iran that a “Trump day” is not 24 hours. “A Trump day is eternity.”
For those of us living under his regime, it certainly feels like it!
Looking toward the November Mid-Term Elections
If I were a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, I would be more than a little worried about the mid-term elections coming up in November. Even though it appears that all the Republicans in the House want the United States to have a monarchy at the very least, they believe a dictator would serve them better. But that’s not what the American people want.
Deep down in their hearts, I don’t think the MAGA voters really want a dictator. They might think they do but, when push comes to shove, I don’t think they will be happy with the outcome after 34 more months of this firehose form of governance.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
We have a Secretary of Health and Human Services who does not believe in science or medicine, including time-honored and scientifically-proven vaccines.
We have a Secretary of Defense who mixes a conservative evangelical religion with a statement that the U.S. will show “no quarter” as the war in Iran continues. “Giving no quarter” is in violation of international law. If the U.S. starts slaughtering its prisoners of war, we have surely lost our humanity.
The U.S. has an all-volunteer armed forces made up of people of various religions and no religious beliefs. It is not the Secretary’s place to inflict his religious beliefs on the troops. If the Secretary is a Christian, as he claims to be, I would like for him to tell me where in the Bible it quotes Jesus as advocating giving no quarter to anyone.
We have a Director of National Intelligence who said that only the U.S. President – and not the intelligence community — can determine when there is an imminent threat to our national security. It is ultimately the President’s call, but her answer on Capitol Hill yesterday made it sound like she and the intelligence community have no part to play in the process.
We have a chairman of the Federal Communications Commission who warned TV networks that they run the risk of not having their broadcast licenses renewed if they continue to report the full picture of the war in Iran. He also wants them to concentrate on “patriotic” programming this year.
We have a Secretary of Education who thinks so little of public education that she vowed to shut down the Department of Education. Perhaps she should go back to her former career in pro wrestling administration.
We have a Secretary of the Interior who is okay with opening national parks for extensive logging and oil drilling while taking down informational park displays that tell not only the good but also the bad and the ugly of our nation’s history.
We have an Attorney General who has difficulty answering questions in a way that might not align with what the President wants her to say. In fact, every Cabinet Secretary has that same problem.
All these people were hand-picked by Donald Trump to “serve” in those positions of power and influence. They also had almost 100% approval of the Republicans in Congress.
We have a U.S. President who clearly has no filter. If a segment of a thought or fantasy pops in his head, it comes out of his mouth or gets splattered all over his Truth Social account in all capital letters.
We have a U.S. President who has repeatedly called the war in Iran an “excursion” instead of an “incursion.”
On Monday, Trump said, “The President of the United States, Gavin Newscom, said that he has learning disabilities, dyslexia, everything about him is dumb.” That statement is wrong on so many levels, in addition to the fact that Trump called Gavin Newsom “the President of the United States.”
We have a U.S. President who orders shoes for his rich Cabinet members. That would have been ludicrous and inappropriate even if he had bothered to ask them their shoe size… which he did not.
We have a U.S. President who has “decorated” the Oval Office like a house of horrors… which, come to think of it… that’s what it is now.
Our closest ally, Great Britain, is now in the awkward position of advising their King not to visit the White House in April because the U.S. President might embarrass him. (I think we can guarantee that Trump will embarrass King Charles. Belittle and embarrass others is what he does best.)
We have a U.S. President who started a war without the blessing of Congress or seeking the support of the American people. Then, in the middle of a sticky situation in the Strait of Hormuz and a worldwide oil crisis, he begged our NATO allies for their help.
When our allies said, “No,” Trump said, “We don’t need NATO…. We do not need the help of anyone.” What an arrogant and short-sighted thing to say!
He said this was a test to see if NATO would ever help us. How ill-informed he is if he is not aware of NATO’s response after September 11, 2001!
Donald Trump said, “I can take Cuba… It’s a failed nation…. I can do whatever I want to with it.” What an arrogant and egotistical thing to say about a sovereign nation, even if it is on the verge of collapse!
I hope I never again hear Americans say, “We need a businessman in the White House.”
Just how bad does it have to get before we use the 25th Amendment?
If the 25th Amendment is not called for now, I shudder to think under what circumstances it would be put into force.
Part of Section 4, 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Of course, if we use the 25th Amendment now, we get J.D. Vance as our President. Vance was hand-picked by Donald Trump. Again, I shudder to think about that.
Perhaps that outcome is what is holding back everyone on both sides of the aisle from seriously pursuing the 25th Amendment.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
Today’s blog post is a continuation of Sunday’s, Various telling things about Trump Administration, (which I meant to schedule for today but hit the “publish” button instead of the “schedule” button my mistake.)
As I said in Sunday’s blog, the nightly TV network news programs cannot cover everything in a half hour. Here are some things you might have missed hearing about.
Columns at what’s left of the White House
President Trump wants Corinthian columns on the new White House ballroom. Rodney Mims Cook, Jr., Trump’s appointee who chairs the Commission of Fine Arts, says there are Corinthian columns at the U.S. Capitol and the U.S. Supreme Court building, so he can’t imagine why the lowly Ionic columns were put on the White House 200 years ago.
The White House, Washington, DC. (Photo by Melo Liu on Unsplash)
Cook says he has not yet discussed with the President that the existing Ionic columns on the North Portico and South Portico of the White House should be replaced with Corinthian columns.
Example of an Ionic column. (Photo by Maik Winnecke on unsplash.com.)
As reported by The Washington Post, “The Corinthian would be inappropriate for the Executive Residence,” said Steven Semes, a professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Notre Dame and an expert in classical architecture, warning that it would ‘harm’ the original design of a building long known as the ‘People’s House.’
Example of a Corinthian column. (Photo by Ruben Hanssen on Unsplash)
“He added that the White House’s Ionic columns evoke ‘the character of dignity, grace and a kind of intimacy or domesticity,’ whereas Corinthian columns are ‘used to express the height of formality and monumentality’ for buildings such as the Capitol.”
The official White House response earlier this week was that there are no plans to replace the Ionic columns at the White House. How many times have we heard the Trump Administration say, “There are no plans,” only to see something like the East Wing of the White House become a pile of rubble?
The truth is not in these people.
Just you wait. We will wake up one morning to see piles of rubble where the Ionic columns now stand. Money is no object to the Trump Administration, unless you want to spend money to benefit human beings.
The wrecking ball being used at the White House is a metaphor for what the Trump Administration has done to our country and everything it stands/stood for.
Shoes
Perhaps the latest fiasco within Trump’s inner circle is that he decided to order wingtip shoes for each of the cabinet members (or, I’m assuming, only the male cabinet members), but he overlooked one detail. Shoe size.
He (or one of his minions) guessed at what shoe size each person needed. It seems that Secretary of State Marco Rubio now must wear shoes several sizes too big. The pictures are laughable, but I doubt Secretary Rubio is laughing as he tries not to walk out of his gigantic shoes.
Do we not have one single department head in the Trump Administration who is brave enough to tell the President that they aren’t going to wear the shoes?
I read that he has also given these shoes to other VIPs and lawmakers he likes. I refuse to say the brand name and give the company any more free publicity.
It’s not enough that his people must mimic Trump’s every word; they must also wear the shoe brand he prefers, no matter what size they are.
It is more than a little jarring to know that in the middle of an illegal war, the U.S. President is thinking about buying shoes for his rich friends.
Has there ever been a more out-of-touch U.S. President?
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Since President Trump put his own name on The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts last year, numerous artists have cancelled their appearances in protest.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC. (Photo by MIKE STOLL on Unsplash)
As a result, Richard Grenell, Trump’s appointed director of the facility, has now lost his job.
Trump could not let us think that the cancellations were a result of his naming the building for himself. It had to be someone else’s fault. It just had to be.
The beautiful, iconic living memorial to President John F. Kennedy will close on July 5 for two years for “renovations” and “upgrades.” I doubt it will resemble its old self when Trump gets through with it.
I choose to remember it the way it was. Trump can put his name all over it in flashing neon lights if he wants to, but it will always be remembered as it was in its original elegant form, and it will NEVER be thought of as “The Trump Center.”
Another baseball cap faux pas
It wasn’t enough that President Trump wore a baseball cap to the Dignified Transfer of the remains of the first five Americans killed in the war in Iran. Even after receiving criticism – or perhaps because he received criticism – for his inappropriate choice of head gear, he then used a photo of himself at the somber event to launch a “pay-to-play” scheme.
It begs the question, “Was the white “USA” baseball cap all part of a grander money-raising plan?”
It is inappropriate and disrespectful to our fallen military personnel and their families to use photographs of one of their flag-draped coffins and his baseball cap adorned head to raise money, and it is beyond the pale that he is using this photograph to offer donors national security briefings.
You didn’t know that? Please keep reading.
The soldiers killed in the first day of Trump’s war were Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Sgt. 1stt Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Spotsylvania, Virginia.
Mr. President, they were human beings. They were part of our all-volunteer armed forces. They volunteered to put their lives on the line from the people of the United States of America. They swore to defend the United States Constitution. Unlike you, they took their pledge seriously.
And now, Mr. President, you use a photograph of yourself in a ridiculous baseball cap along with the top of one of their flag-draped coffins in a pay-to-play scheme.
The request was signed “President Donald J. Trump.” Never Surrender Inc. paid to send it out for him. By paying to play, donors were told they would have “National Security Briefing Membership.”
“’I’m the strong commander who stares down tyrants, obliterates terrorists, and never backs down,’ Trump states in the email. ‘This is for patriots ready to stand with that kind of unbreakable strength. Not for the weak or the wavering.’
“The email promises donors a series of private national security briefings and updates on ‘threats facing America… border invasions, foreign adversaries, deep state sabotage, and every danger the fake news hides.’
“’You’ll get the inside scoop DIRECT from me, President Trump,’ the email continues, ‘the leaders who’s rebuilt the greatest military in history, and put America First like no one else.’”
This scheme goes way beyond being inappropriate. What national security briefing details does Trump and/or Surrender Inc plan to share with donors? This goes beyond stupid and reckless.
Add this scheme to the trash pile of never-ending Trump money-making schemes. We can only hope this scheme fails like many of his other schemes. I mean, you have to be pretty inept to bankrupt a gambling casino, don’t you?
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
I really try not to write about politics every day on my blog, but there are things happening that do not get coverage on the nightly news programs because there are just too many things for journalists to report on.
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America
There’s the war in Iran. There are shootings and terrorist attacks. There’s Punch the monkey and his stuffed animal from IKEA in Tokyo. There’s the Kīlauea volcano blowing its stack in Hawaii. There are the women who were abused by Jeffrey Epstein and his rich friends who apparently are not going to face consequences in the United States like they are in Great Britain.
In a 30-minute news broadcast, minus eight to ten minutes of commercials, a host of happenings fall on the editor’s floor. Today I will touch on a few of those.
Trump’s attitude about the war in Iran
President Trump wants other countries to police the Strait of Hormuz. We’ll see how that goes. He also wants the crews on oil tankers to just be brave and go through the strait. Easy for him to say.
He wants China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and “others” to send warships there to secure the two-mile wide passage. He says things will go “well” with the U.S. coordinating things.
The President said the U.S. may hit Iran’s Kharg Island a few more times “just for fun.” His cavalier attitude over putting American military personnel is harm’s way and spending U.S. tax dollars is deplorable. This is not a video game.
President Trump says he will know when the war is over because he “will feel it in his bones.” He started the war because he “had a feeling.” As a student of history, I don’t recall any other U.S. President approaching a war based on “feelings.”
Can you imagine the misogynistic outcry there would be if a female U.S. President ever said such a thing? She would be the last female U.S. President!
One day he calls the war “a war.” The next day he calls it “an excursion.” The objectives of the war change hourly.
If we get to have a Presidential election in 2028, I hope voters will remember the ramifications when we elect a President who is unable to communicate their objectives or their dependence on facts.
The FCC
After President Trump accused the news media of “intentionally misleading” the public in their coverage of the war in Iran, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr threatened to revoke broadcasters’ licenses.
We’ve heard these threats before from the Trump Administration, as they try to dictate news coverage.
This is an attack on the free press and a major foundation of our nation. Countries like Russia, China, and North Korea have state-controlled television. We cannot allow this to happen in the United States! If you want to watch and listen to state-controlled TV, you can watch Fox News.
Carr warned that a network’s coverage of the war in Iran will be taken into consideration when their broadcast licenses come up for renewal. In a social media post, Carr warned them that they still had a chance to “correct course” and stop broadcasting “fake news” and distortions of the war.
Carr wrote, “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”
He accused broadcast networks of “running hoaxes.”
Carr doubled down on this in an interview with CBS News later on Saturday.
The trouble is that the law is left to interpretation now. Until recently, it was generally agreed that the news media should be free to report facts. Under the Trump Administration, they are being pressured to only report things that put Trump in a good light. This is what they have in autocracies like Russia, China, and North Korea.
Carr has encouraged broadcast networks to air “patriotic pro-America content” this year as we mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. But when a politically-appointed FCC Chair starts to dictate broadcast content, we and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution are under attack.
When the politician in power gets to decide the definition of “public interest,” freedom of the press is in peril.
We have not heard the last of this. If push comes to shove, I imagine we will see a case going before the U.S. Supreme Court.
I only took one Constitutional Law course in college, so I’m no expert; however, I know under the First Amendment to the Constitution it is illegal for the government to censor free speech.
Print media
The President criticized The Wall Street Journal for reporting last Friday that Iran had damaged five U.S. Air Force tanker planes in Saudi Arabia. It seems he did not want that reported to the public. He insisted that four of those planes had “virtually no damage and are already back in service.”
He is so thin-skinned that he takes honest journalism as a personal affront.
He called The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal “Lowlife ‘Papers’ and accused them of wanting the U.S. to lose the war. He called journalists “sick and demented people.”
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
Janet's Writing Blog 