Tag: U.S. Constitution

He and his words are despicable

There was a tragedy in Los Angeles last weekend. It was followed hours later by a tragic expression of hate on Truth Social.

I struggled over whether to blog about this. I concluded that if I remained silent, I was complicit. I concluded that if I did not speak out, I was giving the President of the United States permission to continue to demonstrate his lack of humanity.

I am aware that he does not need my permission to do anything. I am merely one citizen. One voter. He does not answer to me. He has proven repeatedly since January 20, 2025, that he does not answer to anyone. I hope that sometime in the next 37 months, he will be answerable to someone. If he will not be held accountable for his behavior by the United States Congress in the next 37 months, he will eventually be held accountable by our Creator.

His words about the murder of Rob and Michele Reiner were shocking but not surprising.

Rob and Michele Reiner were Hollywood icons. As far as I know, neither of them ever hurt anyone. They loved their son and had, no doubt, done everything in their power to help him with his addictions.

Photo of the Seal of the President of the United States.
Photo by Sean Foster on Unsplash

But when “the leader of the free world,” “the most powerful man in the world” due to the political office he holds responded to the news the Reiners had been found murdered in their Los Angeles home with vitriol, I was shocked.

It is shocking that a human being can be so callous and devoid of empathy. It was shocking, but it was not surprising. (Yes, I’ve already said that, but it bears repeating.)

As the current President of the United States always does, he made light of these murders AND he made it all about him. Not only did he say despicable things about the Reiners, he said they were murdered because they had Trump Derangement Syndrome.

I find him so repulsive that I refuse to mention his name today except when I have to.

He more than insinuated in his social media post that the Reiners were murdered because they did not like him. (Can you spell narcissist?)

It turned out that they were apparently murdered by their son, who has a history of drug addiction. We might never know what triggered these acts of violence, but it is doubtful it had anything to do with the Reiners’ political opinions.

As everyone who knew Rob and Michele Reiner or appreciated their work has mourned their untimely deaths and the profound tragedy of the indications that they died at the hands of their son, we are also left to once again deal with the embarrassment caused by the words of the President of the United States.

The President of the United States is supposed to be a person of integrity and character. It is not spelled out in the job description, but in the 236 years we have had a President, it has been or at least evolved into a position in which we expect a level of respect, empathy, leadership, and encouragement. Until 2025. We would like to have it in 2025, but we no longer expect it.

What we expect from the current United States President is disrespect, ridicule, mean-spirited words and actions, name calling, belittling, racism, and a total lack of empathy for anyone in the nation or the world who is struggling, suffering, or grieving.

Therefore, what he said about the murder of Rob and Michele Reiner was shocking, but it was not surprising.

How many more despicable things must he say before someone in a position of authority does something?

How many more despicable things must he say before some people who claim to be Christians stop defending and supporting him?

His behavior would not be tolerated if he were an employee in any other job in America, so why is it tolerated when he has the job of United States President?

Then, the plaques about the former U.S. Presidents

Mr. President, the fact that this week you added plaques under the photographs of yourself and other former U.S. Presidents along that wall you’ve tackied-up at the White House, goes right along with the way you started the week by saying hateful things about Rob and Michele Reiner.

The little bits I’ve heard of what you said about President Biden and President Obama on their plaques are so far beneath the dignity of the office you hold, words fail me. Only a very tiny, insecure person does such a thing.

You have turned the wall beside an outdoor walkway leading to the Oval Office into a Wall of Horrors. We can only hope it and the Oval Office can be returned to their former simple elegance when you are gone.

Then, there was your nationally-televised yell-fest

Wednesday night, those of us who tuned in out of curiosity, heard and watched the U.S. President have a yell-fest. For 18 minutes, you talked yelled as fast as you could. It was a bizarre display, even for you, and you have set the bar incredibly low with your earlier speeches and “weavings” you are so proud of.

Considering the purpose of the yell-fest was apparently to tell us how great you think you are and how cheap groceries are thanks to your leadership, you certainly sounded angry.

If you were lucky enough to not hear Wednesday night’s tirade live, it is quoted in its entirety here: ttps://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/17/read-donald-trumps-speech/87820921007/. To really appreciate it, though, you needed to hear it live with all the anger his tone of voice showed. He was practically gritting his teeth at the end when he spit out, “To each and every one of you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. God bless you all.” He was obviously too angry to even fake a smile.

You are not great, Mr. President. You are a sorry excuse. You are a profound embarrassment to all reasonable Americans.

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Yesterday, Trump claimed to be “surprised” when the trustees he appointed to the board to which he named himself the chairman renamed The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center of the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Since he has been referring to it as the Trump-Kennedy Center for several weeks, claiming it was a slip of the tongue, why would he say it was a surprise yesterday? The truth just is not in him.

Congress named it as a memorial to President John F. Kennedy in 1964, so it is questionable that the Trump-appointed trustees have the authority to change the name. As long as there is a Republican majority in this do-nothing Congress, though, nothing will probably come of this.

This isn’t the first thing Trump has named for himself, of course.

Last week he renamed the United States Institute of Peace the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace and had his name chiseled into the entrance to the building.

The White House ballroom that originally was going to cost $200 million, he now says just months later, will cost $400 million. There is speculation that he will name it The Donald J. Trump Ballroom. Why wouldn’t he?

He’s going to build an arch in Washington, D.C. that will supposedly dwarf the one in Paris. After all, the bigger, the gaudier, the better in Trump World.

It is surprising he renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. I wonder why he didn’t name it the Gulf of Trump?

It will always be the Gulf of Mexico to me. And it will always be the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Anything he names for himself can be changed back to its rightful name when he is gone.

Only 37 more months? Unless he renames the Constitution of the United States of America the Constitution of Donald J. Trump. He said when he was campaigning that he thought the U.S. Constitution should be abolished.

Buckle up, folks, it’s going to continue to be a rough ride. We’re only 11 months in. It just seems like 11 years.

Janet

#OnThisDay: Bill of Rights ratified in 1791

Today is Bill of Rights Day in the United States. The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights. Those amendments were ratified on December 15, 1791, when nine of the 13 states in the union at that time voted for their adoption.

The U.S. Constitution is a living, breathing document. Even when it was written, many people knew it was inadequate for the new nation because it gave the national government too much power and gave individual citizens and states too little power.

In fact, the U.S. Constitution itself was not ratified (adopted by three-fourths of the states) until there were assurances that amendments were going to follow. The process, though, was not as simple as one might imagine.

For Americans in 2025, the first ten amendments to the Constitution are taken for granted. They make sense to us. They appear to us as a neat little package we easily call the Bill of Rights; however, did you know that when the first Congress of the United States convened on March 4, 1789, they considered 145 proposed amendments?

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in their meetings in New York City over the next six and a half months to hear the debates! Can you imagine?

On September 25, 1789, the Congress submitted 12 of those 145 amendments to the states for consideration. Ten of the 12 were approved by the required nine states over the next 27 months and the Bill of Rights became the law of the land on December 15, 1791.

I tried in vain to find a list of those 145 proposed amendments online this weekend. It would be interesting to know what they were about and why only 12 of them were submitted to the states for consideration.

Even without knowing what the other 133 proposed amendments addresses, I can safely say that our lives have been much simpler since 1791 with a ten-amendment Bill of Rights instead of a 145-amendment Bill of Rights!

The Bill of Rights, condensed version

The First Amendment guarantees us freedom of religion, speech, and the press.

The Second Amendment guarantees us the right to bear arms.

The Third Amendment guarantees that in a time of peace, no citizen will be required to house a soldier without their consent, nor during a time of war except as prescribed by the law.

The Fourth Amendment guarantees us to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures. (Unfortunately, I do not believe ICE and the U.S. Border Patrol are currently being held to that.)

The Fifth Amendment is more complex than the first four. It addresses the protection of our rights to life, liberty, and property. It talks about indictments, military actions, double jeopardy, not having to testify against yourself, due process of law, and the taking of private property for public use without just compensation. (The “due process of law” clause has been ignored in some cases this year by the Trump Administration. We have not heard the last of this.)

The Sixth Amendment guarantees us a speedy public trial by an impartial jury in the jurisdiction in which the alleged crime was committed when we are accused of a crime. It also addresses the right to obtain witnesses and assistance of legal counsel for our defense.

The Seventh Amendment addresses our rights in civil cases.

The Eighth Amendment protects us from excessive bail, fines, and “cruel and unusual” punishment.

The Ninth Amendment protects us from being denied our rights or disparaged by the rights that other people have. Just because a right is not listed in the U.S. Constitution, it does not mean that we do not have that right or those rights. Just because a right is not mentioned in the Constitution, the government cannot infringe upon it.

The Tenth Amendment states that powers that are not specifically delegated to the federal government by the Constitution are, therefore, rights of the states or of the people.  

Just for fun, when did the Eleventh Amendment come along?

Thinking about the Bill of Rights today, I was curious to find out how long after December 15, 1791, was the Eleventh Amendment ratified and what is it about? We never hear anything about it.

In 1793, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Chisholm v. Georgia that individuals from one state could sue the government of another state. The Eleventh Amendment was ratified in 1795. It protects states from being sued by individuals from another state or country. It established the principle of state sovereign immunity.

How many amendments have been proposed since 1787?

Since the U.S. Constitution was written in 1787, approximately 11,985 amendments have been introduced in Congress. Most of them never made it off the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives or the floor of the Senate. Twenty-seven amendments to the Constitution have been ratified.

Janet

P.S.    On Friday, the National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to try to stop the construction of President Antionette’s 90,000-square-foot dance hall at the White House. The suit argues that President Antionette did not go through the legal review process for the project.

The courts have not been able to stop him on anything else, so it will be interesting to see where this case goes. I suppose if it goes all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court his buddies who form the majority of the court will vote for Trump to proceed with his little dance hall. Or, if they vote to stop him, he will just ignore their ruling. After all, he has already demolished the East Wing of the White House to make room for it.

 “Let them eat cake.” Or, as he proclaimed last week with the Christmas season fast approaching, a child only needs one pencil.

J.

Happy “No Kings” Day!

I’m not able to participate in a “No Kings” Protest today, but I will be there in spirit. I will continue to voice my protest via my blog.

Photo of a white crown suspended in air
Photo by Megan Watson on Unsplash

The Republican Congressional leaders attacked the demonstrations in advance, calling today’s demonstrations “The Hate America Rally.” Nothing could be further from the truth. It sounds like something a dictator would say.

In America, we have a First Amendment right of freedom of speech. We are free to demonstrate and protest.

Photo of a piece of paper coming out of a typewriter. The words, "Freedom of Speech' are typed on the paper.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Isn’t that what the insurrectionists on January 6, 2021, said they were doing: exercising their First Amendment right? Of course, they went beyond protesting when they tried to kill police officers and broke into the U.S. Capitol as they tried to prevent the certification of the November 2020 Presidential election.

Whatever bizarre or nasty thing Trump says, the Cabinet members all have to repeat. Even Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent jumped on that bandwagon to toe the party line.

The President said participants in “The Hate America Rally” are paid. He said their signs look professionally made and that is proof that they are being paid to protest.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said the participants are members of ANTIFA. Since ANTIFA is an acronym for Anti-Fascist, it seems to me that every American should be ANTIFA. Do you not find it worrisome that the U.S. President and Congressional leaders are against anti-fascists? It indicates to me that they are pro-Fascism. But we aren’t supposed to call them that. It makes them angry and they are offended when they are called Fascists although they claim to hate anti-Fascists.

The “Hate America” rally was held at Donald Trump’s urging on January 6, 2021. That’s the day his followers tried to stop the certification of the November 2020 Presidential election because their guy whined and said he won even though he didn’t win. He convinced them that the election was stolen. And now, almost five years later, he wants that election investigated again. He is so small, he cannot stand to be a loser.

Photo credit: Andra C. Taylor, Jr. on unsplash

The rioters that day physically attacked the police officers the Republicans claim they love and respect so much. They defaced the U.S. Capitol. They erected a gallows and chanted “hang Mike Pence!” They smeared their defecation in the halls of the U.S. Capitol and broke into the offices of U.S. Representatives. They broke things. They stole things. They made a wholesale attack on our form of government

That was the official “Hate America” Insurrection. I watched it live on TV in horror. I can’t imagine the level of hate for the United States those people held in their hearts. Then, the nail in the coffin was when Donald Trump pardoned them.

That is all I need to know about Donald J. Trump, Sr.

The people demonstrating today are doing so out of love for America. They are horrified to see how our democracy being chipped away daily with a sledgehammer.

They are horrified to see the National Guard used as a political pawn and weapon by their President.

They are sick and tired of being called “left wing radical lunatics” and worse by their President.

They are horrified to see masked ICE agents violently attacking people – citizens and non-citizens – and hauling them off to detention centers.

Photo by Mitchel Lensink on Unsplash

They are horrified that their President is ordering boats in the international waters of the Caribbean Sea to be blown to smithereens because they might be transporting drugs to America, and now their President threatens to launch a land attack on Venezuela – ignoring The War Powers Act.

They don’t like that their President is bailing out Argentina to the tune of $20 billion while the American farmer goes bankrupt due to the dismantling of USAID and the tariffs he has issued on China and other countries.

They are furious that public education and public health programs are under attack by the Trump Administration.

They are horrified to see the blatant hate for people of color, the objectifying of women, the homophobia, and the hate for transgender individuals demonstrated by the Trump Administration.

In anticipation for the peaceful “No Kings” demonstrations being held today, the Governors of Virginia and Texas mobilized their states’ National Guard members yesterday.

It’s a shame that the National Guard wasn’t called up to defend the members of Congress and the U.S. Capitol and our form of government on January 6, 2021.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt showed her true colors this week when she said, “The Democrat Party’s main constituency is made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals.”

Photo of the White House, Washingon, D.C.
The White House, Washington, D.C.

The fact that President Trump did not make a statement to reprimand her or disavow her comment, indicates that he agrees with her.

We have reached a dangerous time in our country when the person who was elected to be President of the United States – president of all 50 states – president of all citizens of the United States – thinks it is acceptable to call the citizens who are registered Democrats “Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals.”

I resent being called a Hamas terrorist, an illegal alien, and a violent criminal, but the worst part of this is that such a thing can be said from the official communicator and spokesperson of the White House and no one in the Trump Administration or the Republican Party speaks out to condemn the remarks.

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

And that, my friends, is one more reason why millions of Americans are protesting today. They are sick and tired of being sick and tired and being on the receiving end of a fire hose of attacks since January 20, 2025.

Janet

In case you were getting optimistic about the U.S. Congress…

In case you were getting optimistic about the U.S. Congress (and let me be clear, I have no idea why you would have been), let me share with you a portion of the email I received on Saturday from the man who “represents” my district in the U.S. House of Representatives.

I said “from the man who ‘represents’ my district” because I cannot say “from the man who represents ME in the U.S. House of Representatives.” He does not represent me in any way, shape, or form.

Photo of dark clouds over the dome of the US Capitol Building
The United States Capitol
Photo by Kyle Mills on Unsplash

His hate-filled newsletters and emails do not reflect any of my core values, even though he is a preacher. In fact, that makes his name-calling and prejudiced statements seem that much more vile.

I know from my experience working in local government that electing a minister to a county commission or city council can go sour very quickly. The U.S. Congress is no different. Politics brings out the worst traits in people.

There is an important reason why our country was founded on the idea of separation of church and state. It’s part of the First Amendment – you know, that Amendment that was openly attacked last week by the Trump Administration.

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

Back to Mark Harris’ September 22, 2025, email…

The Biden Administration

This is what U.S. Representative Mark Harris remembers from the four years of the Biden Administration: “Under the Biden administration, the FBI spent more time and resources targeting Christians and churches than violent criminals. But the era of weaponizing our justice department is over!”

What is he talking about?

FBI Director Kash Patel

I watched FBI Director Kash Patel appear before the House Judiciary Committee last week. What I saw was a defiant, rude, nervous man fumbling with a hundred little pieces of paper. What I saw was a man who refused to answer “Yes” and “No” questions. I saw a man who lashed out at members of Congress. I saw a man who performed that day for an audience of one on Pennsylvania Avenue.

This is what U.S. Representative Mark Harris saw: “This week, FBI Director Kash Patel appeared before the House Judiciary Committee, and his testimony made one thing clear: law and order have returned. Joe Biden’s FBI targeted parents at school board meetings, Catholics, pro-lifers, and everyday Americans. But President Trump and Kash Patel put an end to all of it!”

In closing

The icing on the cake was the next sentence in Mr. Harris’s email to me: “America is a safer place than it was 9 months ago.”

Why don’t I feel safer?

He feels safe because he is voting the way Trump wants him to vote and he is saying the things Trump wants him to say. He will feel safe until he learns that his loyalty to Trump is not reciprocated. Trump will eventually turn on Mr. Harris because Trump turns on his supporters when he no longer needs them. Isn’t that what mob bosses do?

And why didn’t Mr. Harris address the fact that freedom of speech is under siege in the United States?

“Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” ~ Brandon Carr, Federal Communications Commissioner, September 17, 2025

I guess Mr. Harris wasn’t paying attention on September 17. He was too busy doing Trump’s bidding and basking in his newfound sense of security.

I have emailed Mr. Harris with various concerns. His responses only serve to remind me that he and Dear Leader are right and I am wrong. Nevertheless, I will keep reminding him who he works for and to what document — not to which man — he pledged his allegiance when he took the oath of office.

“No taxation without representation!” It is 1775 all over again.

Janet

The irony on Constitution Day

It has been a shocking 24 hours in America.

Yesterday, on the 238th anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution, Brandon Carr, the Chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) went on a podcast and showed his true MAGA colors. He did Trump’s bidding. Using the language of a mob boss, he threatened ABC if the network did not fire late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel.

Meme states I saw the death of free speech in America in real time last night.
Meme created by Janet Morrison

Trump once again publicly announced his disdain for the ABC network before he left from Great Britain on Tuesday.

Instead of finally showing a backbone and not caving in to pressure from the Trump Regime, ABC kowtowed to Donald Trump and his minions once again. Trump’s minion du jour yesterday was Brandon Carr.

These people have no shame. Carr was wearing a U.S. Flag on his lapel as he did Trump’s work on that podcast. I’m surprised he wasn’t wearing a big cross necklace like so many of Trump’s people do as they spout hate.

Once you give in to a bully, that bully owns you. Most people learn that on the playground when they’re five years old. The executives of the large corporations, universities, museums, law firms, etc. in the United States did not learn that lesson as children or young adults. They are learning it in 2025, and it is a hideous thing to watch because it means the destruction of the Constitution of the United States.

Yesterday, on the 238th anniversary of the September 17, 1787, signing of the Constitution of the United States of America, the United States reverted to our colonial rule under King George when criticizing the king was against the law.

Here we are. Half the voters voted for this last November. When you vote for a person who has no understanding of right and wrong, no understanding of the Constitution of the United States, and only understands the power of money, this is what you get.

Half of you voted for it and the rest of us are getting slammed with it. Speaking to those of you who are happy about government censorship of free expression, I feel sorry for you because you have no appreciation for the incredible freedoms and opportunities you were handed at birth just by being born in the United States.

When a wannabe dictator tells you he is “going to be a dictator on Day One,” you should believe him.

In the coming days, we will either see Republicans in Congress grow a backbone and speak up for free speech and reel in the FCC, or we will see them continue to be complicit in the dismantling of the Bill of Rights.

Since the official responses from the White House and Trump and his family have been to celebrate, I am not hopeful. There is an old saying in America: “Monkey see, monkey do.”

I’ll keep sounding the alarm as long as I’m allowed to. This is not the country I knew from 1953 through 2024.

Every time I think things can’t get worse….

Janet

Today’s death of free speech

Original meme that says I saw the death of free speech in America in real time tonight.
Meme created by Janet Morrison

Shocked, but not surprised.

One more pillar of the Constitution of the United States of America taken down by the Trump Regime.

Right before our eyes.

They have no shame.

They will not stop.

Janet

Political Jokes and the First Amendment

In the old days, if a king didn’t like the court jester’s jokes, he could have him executed. In some countries, that might still be the case.

Photo of a piece of paper coming out of a typewriter. The words, "Freedom of Speech' are typed on the paper.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

But in America, we have First Amendment rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution… or so we thought until last Thursday.

That was when CBS announced the May 2026 end of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Colbert will not be replaced. The show will cease to exist.

CBS says it was purely a financial decision, but it seemed more than coincidental for it to happen to a show whose host keeps us laughing five nights-a-week as he masterfully puts a humorous spin on that day’s latest pronouncements and blunders made by Donald Trump.

There is nothing coincidental about it, and we all know it – no matter how many of Trump’s minions get on TV and try to convince us that it was.

Here’s the background, as reported by The Washington Post on July 18:

“On July 1, the announcement came that the network’s parent company, Paramount Global — which needs Donald Trump’s administration to approve the pending sale of the company to Skydance Media — was settling (rather than fighting) the president’s lawsuit over a “60 Minutes” interview of then-candidate Kamala Harris. They will be paying the president $16 million. Before the settlement, CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon and “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens both left (or were made to) after registering their disapproval. Those who remain are clearly shaken. “Can you hold power to account after paying it millions?” John Dickerson, the anchor for “CBS Evening News,” said while reporting on the deal the day the settlement was announced. “Can an audience trust you when it thinks you’ve traded away that trust?”

Photo of a microphone.
Photo by DESIGNECOLOGIST on Unsplash

Trump’s cult members go on CNN and try to convince us that Stephen Colbert “isn’t even funny.” The Republicans have lost any sense of humor they ever had. Colbert is hilarious, and he’s been known to poke fun at politicians of all stripes.

Stephen Colbert, from everything I’ve heard, read, and seen is a descent guy. He does not hide his Roman Catholic faith, nor does he use it to shame or beat someone over the head with it. It is just part of his being and he is not ashamed to mention it on occasion when doing so seems appropriate.

He is never mean-spirited in his jokes. He is a consummate professional who goes out in front of a live audience five nights-a-week to offer them a release from the stresses of every day life.

Mr. Colbert’s father and two of his brothers died in a plane crash in 1974 when Colbert was just 10 years old, so he knows loss and grief on a very personal level. It gives him a heartfelt empathy for others. He demonstrates that empathy by sometimes including in the show ways to encourage others to show their empathy and open their wallets to help people in times of a natural disaster.

If you don’t like Stephen Colbert’s jokes, you don’t have to watch his show. As we used to say, “It’s a free country.”

Trump’s track record on humor

Trump proved on live TV in 2016 that he cannot take a joke. When then U.S. President Barack Obama made a light-hearted joke about Trump at the White House Correspondents Dinner, Trump never cracked a smile. If Trump had had even a tiny understanding of the White House Correspondents Dinner, he would have known that (1) it was a huge fundraiser for journalism and related internships and (2) it was an annual dinner dominated by good-hearted political jokes.

There was nothing mean-spirited by Obama’s remarks. He mainly poked fun at himself. That’s what people who have good mental health do. But Trump took it as a serious affront, and he will go to his grave still angry about Obana’s words.

An official photo of President Barack Obama from the Library of Congress
U.S. President Barack Obama.
Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash

A transcript of President Obama’s remarks, along with parenthetical inclusions of when the audience laughed) can be found at https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/05/01/remarks-president-white-house-correspondents-dinner. The live television broadcast of the Obama’s remarks that night can also we found on YouTube. You can judge for yourself if President Obama’s remarks were mean-spirited. Here is the joke read by President Obama that made Trump so angry:

“Sitting at the same table, I see Mike Bloomberg.  (Applause.)  Mike, a combative, controversial New York billionaire is leading the GOP primary and it is not you.  (Laughter.)  That has to sting a little bit.  (Laughter.)  Although it’s not an entirely fair comparison between you and the Donald.  After all, Mike was a big-city mayor.  He knows policy in depth.  And he’s actually worth the amount of money that he says he is.  (Laughter and applause.)”

Trump sat stone-faced while the audience laughed at the joke. Trump couldn’t find the humor in it, I guess because he knew it was true.

Political humor is as old as mankind. It is unbelievable that someone as old as Donald Trump would not have known that. He clearly didn’t know it in 2016, and he hasn’t learned it yet in 2025.

Back to CBS and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” … Trump went on social media within hours of Thursday’s announcement by CBS. He berated Stephen Colbert and belittled his comedic talents. He celebrated Colbert’s “firing,” and announced that Jimmy Kimmel of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on ABC will be next.

The bigger picture

This is much bigger than the cancellation of a television show. This is much bigger than the attempt to silence one comedian.

This, my friends, is an attack on our First Amendment right to free speech.

Photo of a young woman with blue tape across her mouth
Photo by Brian Wangenheim on Unsplash

It puts that ounce of fear in every decision a commercial television network makes, so they will constantly second guess themselves. It makes television producers think twice before they have a certain guest on a show.

It puts that little bit of intimidation in the mind of a comedian who has built a 40-year career poking fun at every United States President because that’s what we do in America. We make fun of our elected leaders.

One-by-one, Trump plans to rid television in America of comedians who dare to make jokes about him. He as much as said so on his social media platform.

It has come to that.

Here in the United States, we now have a President who thinks he has the authority to run roughshod over anyone and everyone.

He even attacked his own supporters last week when some of them dared to ask for the release of the Epstein files. He immediately called them “stupid.” These are the people who have voted for him three times and would happily vote for him again, but he has turned on them and called them names.

You cross Donald Trump, and you pay the price.

He believes he has the right to dictate every facet of our lives – the polluted air we breathe, the medical care we get or don’t get, and now – the television shows we can’t watch.

He has defunded the Corporation for Public Broadcasting because it received federal funds. Now, he has strong-armed CBS into ending a late-night talk show that has been on the air for decades because the host tells political jokes. CBS claims the decision was strictly financial, but we all know the real reason.

On Monday night, Colbert made a joke about CBS paying Donald Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit. Three days later, Colbert’s show gets cancelled. You do the math.

Shame on Trump, but the lion’s share of the shame sits on the shoulders of CBS. First, you let him bully you about “60 Minutes” and now you’ve let him dictate your late-night programming.

Where do you think this will end, CBS? You have given in to a bully!

It is sad when an adult not only cannot laugh at himself but only finds humor in the suffering or misfortune of others. It is tragic when that adult is President of the United States.

Many days, 11:30-11:40 p.m. is the only time during the entire day that I find something to laugh about. I might not know or have an interest in his celebrity guests, but I’m tuning in for the show’s opening monologue.

I will continue to watch “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” every weekday night until May 2026. I’m not sure how I will cope with the Trump regime after that.

Until my next blog post

Keep laughing at politicians.

Keep reading whatever you want to read.

Keep watching whatever you want to watch on TV.

The day may come when you cannot do those things, so don’t take them for granted.

Remember the people of Ukraine. They were living their lives in a democracy one day and the next day Russia started dropping bombs on them.

Remember the people of western North Carolina where people are still recovering from a hurricane and massive flooding that hit ten months ago this week.

Janet