By Bob Gaydos

Trump and Putin in Helsinki.

   Forgive me if I sound a bit testy, but I get frustrated, after 10 years of dealing with Donald Trump, when people, especially people who are supposed to be educated in such matters, express surprise when the dotard says or does something that benefits Vladimir Putin.

   Like announcing a deal to buy 300,000 metric tons of diesel fuel from Russia. Let’s set aside the legality, duplicity and utter stupidity of the deal for a moment. To those not familiar with the details of diesel fuel usage in America — most of us, I suspect — that may sound like a lot of diesel. It is. But it is roughly half the amount of diesel that America uses every day.

    Half a day’s worth of diesel. To help out a financially struggling Russian economy on which the U.S. has placed economic sanctions, including on diesel, and a Russian leader engaged in a costly and unpopular war (half a million dead soldiers, a million wounded) he started with Ukraine, whom the U.S. is supposed to be supporting.

    Which is only half the war story. In the war that Trump started, Russia is on the side of Iran, sharing intelligence. So Trump wants to send money to Russia to help it fight against our ally, Ukraine, even though Russia is helping Iran to kill Americans. Do you get that MAGA? Republicans?

    But, American truckers and farmers are angry that they can’t afford diesel fuel for their trucks because Trump’s war against Iran has resulted in Iran and its allies shutting down the main route for shipment of oil from the Middle East, resulting in a steep increase in the price of diesel available in the U.S. And diesel fuels the trucks that move all those now also more expensive groceries, etc. that Americans are complaining about.

   And the polls show Republicans likely losing control of the House of Representatives in next month’s election, meaning Trump won’t be able to ignore the law, as he is with the diesel deal, and is likely to spend two years, at least, of intense investigation. 

     So (and we’re not through with all the dots here) Trump looked for a quick fix to save his butt with voters and turned to his “friend,” Putin.

      This looks like a good spot to go back to why I’m so cranky about this Trump/Putin thing. It goes back to July 16, 2018. Trump and Putin had a summit meeting in Helsinki. Their third meeting. It began with a private, two-hour meeting between Trump and Putin and their interpreters. That’s it. No one to this day knows what was said behind closed doors for two hours. But the world saw a smiling Putin emerge along with a slumped over Trump looking like he had just been taken to the woodshed. That aura of smiling confidence Trump likes to put on was gone. He was thoroughly whipped. Very unpresidential.

       When asked by reporters what Putin had to say about  charges by Special Counsel Robert Mueller that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to help him, Trump meekly said that Putin had denied it and that he believed him. Case closed.

       It was there for the world to see. Putin had Trump. Or more accurately, something on him. Has had it ever since. It has been reported often and too often forgotten when Trump does something that seems stupid because it helps Putin, who has never been this nation’s friend. Sex tapes, videos, photos of Trump in embarrassing and illegal situations. Believing they don’t exist is to ignore the life histories of the two men. A narcissistic, legally adjudicated sexual predator whose attorney general and FBI are hiding the Epstein files from the public and the former head of the Russian KGB, which is known to have used women to lure men with influence into “compromising” situations.

       Connect the dots. Trump is Putin’s puppet. In spy lingo, he’s a Russian asset. It makes him our liability. 

       Trump doesn’t care who is hurt if he can protect himself. Say that Ukraine should get a new president because Zelinsky refuses to surrender to Putin? Sure. Suggest at a political rally that Iran (with a large, international network of terrorist allies and intelligence help from Russia, remember?) might want to take out San Diego and Los Angeles? Why not? “Small price to pay,” said Trump. People laughed.

      He is solely driven by self-protection. 

      The “deal” with Russia is illegal, ignoring economic sanctions that were in place. In total, it amounts to about two weeks’ worth of diesel in the U.S. and can be gotten cheaper from Canada, our ally until Trump. It will do little to help either Russia or the U.S. economically. It’s political window dressing for two struggling authoritarians. The fact that Russia is helping Iran to fight us, killing Americans, makes the deal incredibly stupid and … maybe treasonous?

      You get the idea. We know all this. Republicans know and refuse to stop it. The media mostly treat it as business as usual. But there’s nothing “usual” about this. That’s why I’m testy.

Xi and Trump on the tarmac.

By Bob Gaydos

   The truest, most insightful thing Donald Trump has ever said is, “I love the poorly educated.”

    The man who has no clue as to how dumb he himself actually is, is actually smart enough to know that his ace in the hole is that there are a lot of other dumb people in America. Dumb enough to think that having a lot of money means you’re smart, rather than lucky at birth. Dumb enough to vote for him three times, even though he did know in the past how to bankrupt three casinos, an airline, a college and steal from his own charity.

     I’m on the “dumb” shtick today because the dotard has spent the last few days demonstrating the depth of his ignorance to the world, first at the United Nations and then back in Washington, D.C., where he has declared open season on members of the press who report accurately on what he says and does. It’s beyond embarrassing and insulting.

     At the U.N., an organization literally created to promote and protect world peace, instead of offering a ceasefire plan, he threatened to “annihilate” Iran (85 million people) if it doesn’t come around and give him what he wants to end the war he started illegally and is losing badly, which is costing him support in the heartland because it has driven the price of diesel oil, which moves everything, through the roof. Truck drivers are not happy. Fertilizer is also at a premium. Farmers are not happy. The Iranians, who control both major international waterways for the shipment of oil and fertilizer, said no deal.

     Back in the cozy, gold-plated confines of the White House, Trump, who uses the word “Communist” as an insult for everyone who disagrees with him, especially Democrats, rolled out the literal red carpet for the most powerful Communist on the planet, Chinese president Xi Jinping, who is actually helping supply Iran in the war against the U.S. No matter. Ever the genial host and chronically deferential to those he perceives as truly powerful, Trump went so far as to mock former President Joe Biden while giving Xi a tour of Trump’s gold-plated hallway of former presidents. A real sign of American unity and dignity.

    He also missed Xi’s cleverly presented timeless message of the ascending power replacing the declining power (guess which is which) and came away with nothing to show on establishing controls on artificial intelligence (which is apparently out to destroy humanity) despite having a bunch of communist-loving tech billionaires (and three duplicitous Supreme Court justices) attend a lavish state dinner with his communist “friend.” Someone probably talked Trump out of having fortune cookies.

    Yes, in a sense it was just another couple of days in Trumpland. But, as usual, it was all a show to no positive results, the kind of events that many of his most loyal supporters applaud at face value.

   While the “mainstream media” may be finally arousing itself to report more thoroughly on Trump’s rapidly declining mental capacity, it remains to independent journalists to get the word out on a daily basis.

    Which is to say, the continuing real story here is that the Republican Party, which controls all three branches of government, has abdicated any responsibility for the pain and suffering and humiliation of the United States being led by an obviously mentally and physically debilitated, seemingly delusional, narcissist who’s getting richer in the process.

    The elected officials who have allowed this are not dumb. They are either of the same mind set with Trump on racism, etc., or too cowardly to oppose him because they fear losing their jobs when the “poorly educated” dutifully vote for the candidates Trump endorses.

   But clearly, even many of those voters pay attention at some point (diesel oil) because Trump doesn’t know how dumb he really is. What he does know is how to threaten and inflict pain on his perceived enemies. This is seen by some of his strongest supporters as a sign of strength and cunning. Actually, it’s a reflex action and he enjoys doing it. He simply doesn’t know any other way.

    Enough. The smart money says that what’s needed is a massive voter turnout for all Democratic candidates in November. A blue wave that will change the power structure in Washington and start to put America back in the hands of realists, not the delusional. While we’re at it, maybe we can even reboot an education system that apparently produces too many of the kind of voters Trump “truly loves.”

   Not doing that would be worse than dumb.

***

—  Trump made the “poorly educated” comment on Feb. 23, 2016, at the Treasure Island Las Vegas Casino after winning the Nevada Republican caucuses.

By Bob Gaydos

Catching up with the good, the bad and the ugly a la Jimmy Cannon.

— Maybe it’s just me, but: It was about time the Supreme Court got one right and boy was it a big one. The unsigned ruling rejecting Trump‘s effort to stifle mail-in voting in the November midterm elections is a major victory for Democrats, the Constitution and common sense. Justice Alito’s long-winded dissent, an attempt to justify the unconstitutional effort by Trump to usurp control of voting from the states, was cosigned by Justice Thomas. Figures. They’ve reaped the most financial benefit from Trump being in the White House. But it also means that the three justices Trump appointed agreed with the ruling, making it a 7 to 2 defeat for Trump and victory for America. Justice Kavanaugh even signed a concurrence. Trump railed, “These aren’t the people I interviewed.“ Yes they are, but they’re also aware that a lifetime appointment allows them to sometimes vote their conscience instead of their political allegiance. With no positive issue to point at, making it difficult for people to vote was Republicans’ best weapon for November.

— Maybe it’s just me, but: You gotta love the Irish. Trump took two huge planeloads of staff, etc. and more aircraft to haul vehicles for his 26-car motorcade to go watch a golf tournament at his golf club in Ireland. It cost hundreds of millions. Bad decision. The entire country told him to buzz off because they’re not fond of pedophiles. The Prime Minister told him she wasn’t fond of so-called leaders that start unnecessary wars that create a world oil crisis while also killing innocent people. She also refused to sit too close to him. If he were a drinking man, he might’ve wanted to try some Guinness.

— Maybe it’s just me, but: With all the progress that Musk et al have made with robots and self-driving vehicles, how can we be sure that it was actually Mitch McConnell wheeling around the U.S. Capitol the other day? He might still be dead. That could be an AI robot sent to vote if needed by Republicans. Democrats should try to hack him.

— Maybe it’s just me, but: Bestiality? Kash Patel is messing around with bestiality? He’s changing FBI job qualifications so that, according to him, victims of bestiality would be eligible to apply for a job as an FBI agent. That’s what he said at a Senate hearing. I wonder, does he mean sheep or goats or donkeys or I don’t know, what other animals might be the usual “victims“ of bestiality? And what job might they perform as FBI agents? Patel incredibly said the people who participate in bestiality are actually the victims. Yeah, the senators couldn’t believe it either. The man is a constant embarrassment and insult to the bureau. Trump appointing him is no surprise. He’s a not-so-bright boot-licker happy to do the boss’s bidding, including investigating reporters and political opponents. The real sin is that Republican senators approved the appointment of this feckless YouTube podcaster and continue to support his ineptitude and extravagant spending (with our money) on his girlfriend. Pathetic.

Addiction and Recovery

By Bob Gaydos

Trump, a ‘dry drunk’?

I wrote a monthly column on addiction and recovery for The Times Herald-Record in Middletown, N.Y. for several years after I retired. When The Record went the way of many local newspapers — cutting “non- essential” features (and people) to increase profits for corporate investors — I continued to write the column on a less regular basis for my Internet blogs. Still do.

All told, it’s been about 20 years. I think it’s an important topic that is often lost in the daily grind of “news.” The other day, sorting through the news looking for a topic for my addiction column, I suddenly realized the news report, full as it is every day with absurd, nasty, childish, selfish, stupid, self-promoting, deceitful, inappropriate, impulsive, arrogant, egomaniacal and often dangerously risky behavior emanating from the White House, was delivering my next topic.

Donald Trump may be an alcoholic. One of the worst kind: Untreated. A “dry drunk.” That’s someone who always thinks he’s better than everyone else because, hey, he doesn’t even drink alcohol. And he certainly doesn’t need to go to those meetings.

Consider. Trump’s brother, Fred, died relatively young as the result of his alcoholism. The drinking had an impact on the family. Trump, who famously does not consume alcohol, cites his brother’s death in connection to his own apparent addiction to Coca Cola. Alcoholism is known as a family disease. Alcohol is merely a symptom of the disease, the tool often used to fit in, feel comfortable, feel ”normal.” Or escape. Fear is the culprit. The behavior is the cue: Arrogant, self-centered, reckless, self-deceiving, childish, spiteful, stupid, uncaring, inappropriate, irresponsible, with an unwillingness to take responsibility and a proclivity for blaming others.

Ummm. Trump.

Let me stop here to note that, before I ventured to make this observation (I’m not qualified to make a diagnosis), I consulted an expert: Google AI. The source of all recorded information. Sure enough. It quickly told me: “Donald Trump does not drink alcohol, but critics and commentators use the informal label ‘dry drunk’ to describe his behavioral patterns, a discussion that resurfaced after his chief of staff Susie Wiles remarked that he has an ‘alcoholic’s personality.’”

I am not alone in my suspicion. And I had written about Wiles and her comments in December. I suggested then that, since her father, NFL Star Pat Summerall, was an alcoholic who found Alcoholics Anonymous and 20 years of sobriety, that Susie would be a good candidate for Al-Anon, AA’s sister program. But I skipped the obvious: Trump’s alcoholic behavior.

It is classic. Self-centeredness, lack of empathy, defensiveness, impulsivity. And denial.

The first step of Alcoholics Anonymous is: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol and our lives had become unmanageable.

The unmanageability of Trump’s life is obvious to the world. However, the key ingredient to many alcoholics making that admission is lacking: Consequences for the behavior. Drinking and trouble. Trump’s wealth has protected him from financial ruin many times in his business dealings. When he lost an election he claimed it was stolen and tried to steal it back. Even when he was convicted of four felonies, he wound up in the White House instead of prison. And he has now surrounded himself with sycophants and people with their own issues who are willing to live with the unmanageability and unwilling to challenge him on his erratic, alcoholic behavior.

So, where are the consequences? As far as he’s concerned, everyone else has a problem. And that’s a problem.

At this point, I don’t see Trump admitting anything, seeking professional help or attending AA meetings. Rigorous honesty is required here. That leaves it up to us.

Divorce. We must separate from Trump and Republican control of the government, since the party is his chief enabler, and reclaim custody of our country before it goes bankrupt or worse. Carry the message. Vote for every Democrat in November. Take a Twelfth Step.

Call it a moment of clarity and a spiritual awakening.

By Bob Gaydos

      The weekly reminder.

Mitch McConnell
… still missing and presumed dead

      The lowest price I saw today for gasoline in our mid-Hudson region of New York was $4:16 per gallon. The Food and Drug Administration, its rank of inspectors sharply reduced by the Trump administration, announced that organic frozen blueberries are being recalled in several states because of the risk of e-coli infection, which has caused vomiting, diarrhea and, well, death. Measles cases are multiplying. The U.S. resumed military action in the illegal war with Iran by attacking a wedding, killing several people including a child. Trump proposed renaming the Strait of Hormuz after himself. He also had a sculpture in front of the Kennedy Center removed and said he still wants to put his name on it if he doesn’t just tear it down and build a better one. Trump also announced a quarter of a million dollar fix up of the White House bowling alley and the U.S. mint released a one dollar gold coin with Trump’s face on it, despite a law prohibiting likenesses of living presidents being placed on U.S. currency. The U.S. debt recently reached $40 trillion, a record. The 50 percent tariffs Trump placed on Canadian goods in his infantile war with our neighboring ally are set to take place next week and will be met dollar for dollar by Canada, sharply increasing the cost of automobiles and steel among other other things. The trade deficit shot up again reaching $88.6 billion in July and the energy secretary blamed Ukraine for high energy prices, ignoring the war in Iran. The secretary of the Army resigned, citing constant conflict with Pete Hegseth over military strategy and the firing of top generals and admirals. The deputy secretary also resigned. Credible reports say that Trump has increased his net worth by $4 billion since taking office last year through a variety of grifts, insider trading and other illicit activity while inflation continues to rise. Trump again tried to do away with birthright citizenship, but another judge rejected it. The Justice Department still has not released the Epstein files as required by Congress. Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell has not been seen in person by any living person for more than 80 days, but still remains a member of the U.S. Senate where Republicans have set a tentative session of three weeks of work between now and November. In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson said his body would be in session this week and the week of September 14 and that’s it until after the November election. The House has been in recess since August 11 and Johnson is clearly in no mood to hang around and answer questions about Trump, much less pass legislation to help average Americans.

    Yes, sadly, that’s what has become a typical week in the Trump administration. But that’s Trump — a new bottom every day. I do not blame him for being who he is; I simply detest him. In truth, I’m sick of him. I do, however, blame the Republican Party for infecting American society (not just politics) with this utterly despicable human being. I mean every elected Republican official, from the House Speaker, Senate Majority Leader, the entire cabinet, to every governor, senator, congressperson, state legislator, attorney general, county executive, county legislator, sheriff, mayor, supervisor, councilman, or candidate who has stood silently by, day after day, and let Trump make a mockery of our laws, our democratic system of government and lay waste to any sense of decency or decorum befitting the office of president of the most powerful nation on the planet. Ladies and gentlemen, you are him. You could stop this. Instead, you own this.

       This message will repeat as necessary. Vote for every Democrat in November.

By Bob Gaydos

Somewhere in the catering crate is Donald Trump.

   He really doesn’t care. Not at all. Not about anyone but himself.

    Two examples from last week should make that clear even to the most gullible Trump loyalists: The decoy plane and the aircraft carrier.

     — Decoy: Ok, so we all know by now that Trump left Turkey following the NATO conference in fear for his life from Iranians, thanks to a report from Israeli Intelligence. This caused him to get on Air Force One with the press and traveling administration personnel, then sneak out in a catering container and get in a somewhat smaller jet standing by. All this without anyone in the press or the rest of the world, except for those government officials, knowing. The press and some government folks would remain on the decoy plane, window shades down.

    Trump, Pete Hegseth and Trump’s “close, personal” White House staff (Natalie Harp for sure, but not Karoline Leavitt), all snuck on to the other plane.

   Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State, remained on the decoy plane, apparently not important enough to protect from a perceived threat, but prominent enough to have his presence avoid press suspicion of shady doings. That also applied to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. They stayed. For appearances apparently.

   Did Marco have a choice? Scott? Could either man have said, “No, I don’t want to die either?” Did other expendable staff, including Stephen Miller, know that Trump’s key Oval Office protectors weren’t aboard? And why did Trump go through this charade even though his own CIA doubted the Israeli report was credible?

   Guess when he thinks his butt is on the line there’s no limit to what must be done to protect it or to whom is expendable. It’s actually pretty much how he acts as president every day.

   — U.S.S. Lincoln Aircraft Carrier: This is unforgivable. When reports surfaced that the crew of the carrier, deployed in the Middle East because of Trump’s disastrous war with Iran, had been at sea for nearly nine months (a record) without seeing shore, were living on barely edible rations, were using filthy bathrooms and that some members were so depressed they had tried to jump overboard, Trump said the crew and members of their families reporting such conditions were lying. Think about that. Asked by a reporter if the crew and the ship had been deployed at sea too long, he said, “Not nearly long enough.”

    The bone spurs draft dodger, never-served-a-day commander-in-chief, embarrassed that Iran had managed to destroy the supply base in Bahrain that served the Lincoln, requiring that supplies be sent from Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, chose to talk tough and deny and lie.  Visiting the ship to check on conditions firsthand was apparently not an option. Of course, he and Hegseth had never told us about the damage to the Bahrain base. Trump had to protect his fragile ego and that made the crew of the Lincoln expendable.

      While all this was going on, Congress was in recess and Republican members were predictably silent even though social media commentary on both topics was plentiful and largely not favorable. Actually, it being primary time across much of the nation, most Republican candidates for any office were also silent or avoidant on the issue of whom Trump regarded as expendable.

   But that’s Trump — a new bottom every day. I do not blame him for being who he is; I simply detest him. In truth, I’m sick of him. I do, however, blame the Republican Party for infecting American society (not just politics) with this utterly despicable human being.

   I mean every elected Republican official, from the House Speaker, Senate Majority Leader, the entire cabinet, to every governor, senator, congressperson, state legislator, attorney general, county executive, county legislator, mayor, supervisor, councilman, or candidate who has stood silently by and let Trump make a mockery of our laws, our democratic system of government and lay waste to any sense of decency or decorum befitting the office of president of the most powerful nation on the planet. Ladies and gentlemen, you are him.

    And the mystifying, sad reality of it all to me is that, despite the long trail of supplicants left behind, none of these Republicans apparently realizes that, on any given day for any ego-protecting reason, Donald Trump would consider any one of them expendable.

By Bob Gaydos

Senator Joe McCarthy, left and Donald Trump. Birds of a feather.
Anna Lefkowitz / MS NOW; Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post via Getty Images; Getty Images

  “Are you now, or have you ever been …”

  It’s come to that already. The sure sign of a desperate man and a desperate party. The “communist” threat.

   Give me a break.

   Stuck with historically low polling numbers, the result of a lost war of choice, high gas prices, high food prices, failed projects all over D.C., a measles outbreak, a diarrhea outbreak, a bleak jobs report, restlessness among the ranks who must face reelection and the always present specter of the actual release of the Epstein files, Trump has fallen back on the oldest Republican gimmick. Calling Democrats communists. “Godless communists.”

    Shades of Joe McCarthy. And shades of Roy Cohn, the Wisconsin senator’s pit bull lawyer during the televised Army-McCarthy congressional hearings in 1954 that pitted neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend, no evidence needed. Just the question: Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?

      Trump learned at Cohn’s side. When in trouble: Accuse, insult, insinuate. Repeat. Take the focus off yourself. With his world and support crumbling around him, clearly more delusional by the day, Trump looked around and saw two popular Democrats with foreign-sounding names, policies at odds with his brand of fascism and identified what he desperately thought were targets of opportunity.

     The new mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, and the new Democratic Senate candidate in the state of Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed are both well-accomplished, intelligent, well -spoken native-born Americans, both Social Democrats, both Muslim with Muslim-sounding names.

     Communists! Clearly. And the Republican sheep in the Congress picked up the cue. Any popular Democrat with proposals that sound like they might be good for people‘s health, wealth and welfare must be communists.

    Head Start, Medicare, Snap. Tax the wealthy. Feed the poor. Communists.

    Not really. Not even close. But the sheep figured maybe the MAGA diehards won’t know the difference. (They won’t). So they picked up the call. But first, the Republican cowards approved Trump‘s personal lawyer to be the top law enforcement official in the country, passed a quickie interim budget so the country wouldn’t have to shut down and then they fled town. No, they didn’t pass Trump‘s Save Act designed to save his butt by making it difficult for a lot of people to vote in November. They didn’t have the votes, so they ran away.

     That left Trump alone in the White House, posting inane comments and photos on social media all night, selling advance access to his posts, reaping money from Bitcoin and anything else with his name on it, a personal lawyer as U.S. attorney general to protect him from the IRS and “communist” state attorneys general, a war with Iran he started and can’t win even though Pete Hegseth used up all our ballistic missiles, Jeanine Pirro deciding she’s an actual lawyer and refusing to prosecute an innocent person for damaging the Reflecting Pool, ICE still roaming the streets, America’s reputation badly tarnished internationally and the Epstein …

    Look! Communists! Over there! Don’t vote for them!

    That’s Trump — a new bottom every day. I do not blame him for being who he is; I simply detest him. In truth, I’m sick of him. I do, however, blame the Republican Party for infecting American society (not just politics) with this utterly despicable human being.

     I mean every elected Republican official, from the House Speaker, Senate Majority Leader, the entire cabinet, to every governor, senator, congressperson, state legislator, attorney general, county executive, county legislator, mayor, supervisor, councilman, who has stood silently by and let Trump make a mockery of our laws, our democratic system of government and lay waste to any sense of decency or decorum befitting the most powerful political leader on the planet. Ladies and gentlemen, you are him.

    I intend to post that last paragraph as much as possible between now and the November election. It can’t be said too much.

    Communist indeed!

    At long last, Republicans, have you left no sense of decency?

Prologue

I wrote the column below on Oct. 20, 2016. It appeared on zestoforange. It’s still there. It was obviously written out of frustration and anger and I’m reposting it a second time and will probably continue to do so from time to time out of frustration and anger that, nearly 10 years later, there are people in this country who still think the Republican Party has any moral standing as a legitimate political party. Even after that craven display of cowardly behavior at the State of the Union. Despite the continued Epstein coverup. And now, the cravenness of Republican Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis in agreeing to approve the promotion of Trump’s personal lawyer, Todd Blanche, from acting attorney general to actual attorney general because he promised that the $1.8 billion slush fund to pay Jan. 6 rioters, a fund he created as part of a phony settlement for Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, would be eliminated. Forget that Trump’s DOJ regularly ignores its own promises. Forget that the main benefit to Trump from that “settlement” is that Trump and his family will be permanently exempt from IRS audits for past years. Forget that this deal was worked out by the acting attorney general who is also the president’s personal lawyer. A judge may still rule on that. Cornyn and Tillis, who aren’t even returning to the Senate in January, held up Blanche’s nomination over the slush fund, but not the exemption from audits, which is the real reason he wrote the settlement for Trump in the first place. It’s a bait and switch. Yet two senior Republicans who aren’t even going to be around couldn’t stand up, show some courage and moral fiber and say “no” to Blanche’s nomination. It cleared the committee to go to the full Senate, which is run by Republican cowards. With Mitch McConnell brain dead, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski could possibly squelch the nomination by voting no. They’re the only two Republicans who may still have a partial spine left. The rest are all dead, like their party.

Look, Trump is Trump. He’s always been the same. Republicans picked him. He has been the death of them. Millions of Americans voted for him simply because he represented one of our two major political parties. Others believed his lies. Many, sorry to say, agreed with his brand of bigotry. Then they did it again. Even after four years of chaos. And then again. More chaos. Yet people still give Republicans a pass for making this vile, now demented, man their leader. He in turn remade them in his image. Finally, one of those shouting TV commentators actually said the other day that Republicans are letting Trump destroy our country. It started 10 years ago, people, when Trump destroyed them. They are dead. Here’s that column. I apologize for the length.

***

By Bob Gaydos

People walk past a mural on a restaurant wall depicting Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin greeting each other with a passionate kiss in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. PETRAS MALUKAS / AFP – Getty Images

That’s all. I’ve had it. I am through with writing about what a sick, repugnant human being Donald Trump is and then watching him reach a new low. Those who know about recovery from addiction, a subject on which I write regularly, say that every bottom has a trapdoor. Trump is living proof of that. Yet, with each new bottom, every poll seems to find 40 percent of those surveyed favoring him for president.

A few days ago, I thought maybe it would be a good idea to give people a reason to vote for Hillary Clinton, rather than against Trump. I stopped writing in mid-column because it seemed to be a waste of time. Who was I going to convince?

Here’s as far as I got …

There I was, having breakfast and rummaging around in my mind to find an angle for this presidential campaign other than don’t vote for Donald Trump because he’s an ignorant, racist, bigoted, misogynistic, cruel, vindictive, vile, narcissistic, xenophobic, quick-tempered, undisciplined, untrustworthy, uninformed, unspeakably crude sexual pervert and birther, who lies as naturally as he breathes.

Somehow, writing that message week after week (me and plenty of others) still hadn’t convinced a lot of people that the only vote that makes sense on Nov. 8 is one for Hillary Clinton. You don’t have to like her, folks, just know that that the future of this nation may well depend on voting for her.

Deaf ears. “Yeah, Trump may be all those things,” comes the unconvincing shrug, “but I can’t vote for her.” I have given up asking for reasons why. You know, reasons based on actual facts that would outweigh the choice at hand.

I set aside a newspaper article about how Trump had managed to actually make insulting comments about Clinton’s body as part of his defense against multiple charges that he is a sexual predator. Instead, I tried to focus on my egg white omelette (Swiss cheese and tomatoes). Then, as fate (or my excellent hearing) would have it, the angle was delivered to me from a nearby table. A reason to vote for Hillary … not that it was presented that way.

“DId you hear that Putin said if Clinton is elected, be prepared for war?”

The point the gentleman was making to his friend was that voting for Clinton would be dangerous because it could mean getting into a war with Russia. This was delivered in all seriousness because Vladimir Putin had said so and, as we know, he always speaks the truth and never has any nefarious plot in mind because that’s the way former heads of the KGB comport themselves when they get elected president of Russia.

The further point would be that voting for Trump would be smart because Putin says nice things about him. And Trump says he’d like to work with Putin.

So there you have it, America, the Republican candidate for president of the United States is now being touted as the better choice because the president of Russia doesn’t like the other candidate. Does this seem backwards to anyone else? When did being pals with Putin all of a sudden become more important than standing up to the Kremlin? When Trump launched his campaign based on lies and fear, that’s when.

Trump, of course, has said that he has met Putin. He has also said that he has not met Putin. You can be sure that Clinton and Putin know each other well. And he apparently does hate her guts. (I’m liking this reason for voting for her even more now.) That’s because, as secretary of state, she publicly called him out on stealing his election, something which Trump has accused Clinton of trying to do. She stood up to Putin. Meanwhile, Trump wants to do business with the man who grabbed Crimea from Ukraine and whose political opponents have a way of ending up dead.

It used to be that Republicans automatically voted for the candidate who was tough on Russia. They wanted someone the Kremlin would have to talk to and would do so with respect. Someone experienced in  diplomacy whose word could be counted on by friend and foe alike. That would be Hillary, not Donald. Donald, who doesn’t know Crimea from Korea, wants to sell out NATO and maybe get a hotel deal in the bargain. Putin has played him — and his followers — perfectly, from the hacked Clinton e-mails to the threat of war. Trump’s entire campaign is based on fear. That’s no way for America to negotiate with Putin, or any other world leader. …

***

I stopped there, wondering whether to go on. Then Trump said in the last debate that he wouldn’t necessarily accept the results of the election if he lost. That’s when I threw in the towel. For a man who has promoted violence at his rallies and some of whose supporters have openly espoused rebelling against any defeat, this is as unacceptable, unpatriotic, indefensible, possibly treasonous a statement as a candidate for president can make.

But that’s Trump — a new bottom every day. His fans cheered. I do not blame him for being who he is; I simply detest him. In truth, I’m sick of him. I do, however, blame the Republican Party for infecting American society (not just politics) with this utterly degrading election campaign. I mean every elected Republican official, from Speaker Paul Ryan to every governor, senator, congressperson, state legislator, county executive, county legislator, mayor, supervisor, councilman who has stood silently by and let Trump make a mockery of our democratic system and lay waste to any sense of decency or decorum in selection of the most powerful political leader on the planet.

A lot of these people went to Cleveland to vote for Trump. Then they stayed mute for months as he … okay, I said I’m not doing that anymore. The world knows what he has done. If you know all that and can still support him, words actually fail me. The same goes for those who say Hillary is just as bad. Not even close. You people need to get serious.

Republicans, Trump is not one of you. He is Trump. Period. You created him. Your hypocrisy and cowardice have emboldened him and his ilk. He has sullied us all. And he has destroyed you. 

***

There it is. Again. A death notice for a political party. Ten years and counting.

By Bob Gaydos

Dr. Anthony Fauci at Senate hearing.

    “Did Fauci help himself?“

    That was the question. It could just as easily have been, “Did Fauci hurt himself?” Actually, I think that really was the question.

      The short answer was and still is, “I don’t know.”

       But we’ll soon find out.

       To me, it seemed obvious that the decision by Dr. Anthony Fauci to respond to every question from the Senate Homeland Security Committee by invoking the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination was simply Fauci following the advice of counsel. No one looks good repeatedly invoking the Fifth Amendment, but no one gets indicted following that procedure either.

         With Senate Republicans, especially committee chairman Rand Paul, looking to make good on Donald Trump‘s desire to get revenge on all his perceived enemies, the hearing was clearly intended as a trap before it began. The big question was where the land mines were planted.

        Fauci having been preemptively pardoned by Joe Biden in 2023 for any and all actions taken while Fauci was in charge of the government’s response to the Covid pandemic, Republicans needed something new with which to charge Fauci.

      That could be contempt of Congress by not showing up at a hearing or lying to Congress about something that happened after the date of the Biden pardon. That’s probably what Paul was looking for and he was aided with a copy of Fauci‘s personal diary which he kept while in office. That was given to the committee, unredacted, by Health Secretary Bobby Kennedy Jr., a notorious anti-Vaxer who disagreed with Fauci’s approach to Covid, which included vaccines.

       Not knowing what material the committee might have and concerned that Fauci might not accurately remember what he wrote in his diary or said to someone at some point, the lawyer said, simply, take the Fifth.

     And Fauci did so, even when other Republican committee members ventured into the absurd by asking about the time of day, what color tie he was wearing and other nonsense in an effort to make Fauci look, well, guilty. One congressman even got obscene. In the process, they just looked petty. Routine for Republicans these days.

       As for the wisdom of Fauci deciding to invoke the Fifth, one might look to an expert, Fauci’s primary protagonist, Donald Trump. The man who once said you should never trust anyone who invokes the Fifth  Amendment, actually followed his counsel’s advice and invoked it more than 400 times in his Stormy Daniels trial in Manhattan. (It didn’t help.) Trump has also invoked the Fifth many times in depositions in a variety of cases over the years. He undoubtedly learned that lesson from his early counsel, Roy Cohn, who also taught it to Mafia goons. Looking guilty to the public doesn’t put you behind bars, Cohn counseled. Saying something stupid (contrary to verifiable facts) to the police, Congress or in court can. There’s a reason for the amendment.

      So, did Fauci help himself? It depends on what you mean by “help.” Some of the heroic bloom is obviously off the rose with Fauci, but that’s life. I still don’t know if he has anything to hide. I don’t think Republican committee members came off looking great and I don’t think Paul gained any points except with the hard core MAGAs. He’s been out to get Fauci ever since the doctor tossed the “liar” charge back at Paul, an ophthalmologist, at a hearing in 2023. He’s now threatening to hold  a contempt vote on Fauci for his “refusal to answer questions.”

     Life is full of choices. We all have to live with them. Help or hurt, Fauci made his.

By Bob Gaydos

Took a break from the daily grind recently to visit the make-believe world of Gilbert and Sullivan in a thoroughly entertaining production of The Mikado presented by the Delaware Valley Opera. They were all there and in fine voice: KoKo, the Lord High Executioner, with an aversion to, among other things, executions; Poo-bah, the malleable Lord High Everything Else; Yum-Yum, the lovely desired one; handsome Nanki-Poo, the root of all the trouble, and, of course, The Mikado of Japan..

The comic opera, a satire on 18th century British government set for no good reason in Japan, adapted easily to modern day institutions and situations. It played to an enthusiastic full house of other music lovers also apparently seeking to escape the daily grind. Everyone left apparently satisfied, including the winner of the drawing for the fifty-fifty, and we exited the music hall to gaze upon beautiful Lake Huntington.

It was all make believe, but it was also reality. Two wonderful hours worth. But now we were back in reality, which was, it soon reminded us, totally make believe.

Yes, we’re living in a land of make-believe. Mitch McConnell’s staff is making believe the senator is alive and, if not well, certainly recovering from whatever mysterious ailment has caused him to be absent from the Senate for more than a month. Republicans in the Senate are making believe they believe that story.

Andy Beshear is making believe he’s Kentucky’s governor by yammering about McConnell’s absence and refusal of his staff to make the senator available in person to at least prove he’s not brain dead, if not totally dead. Beshear is making believe he doesn’t have an entire National Guard — never mind various laws — at his disposal to either force McConnell to come out of hiding or rise from the dead or to kick down the senator’s front door to see whatever is going on behind it because the people of Kentucky are entitled to two living working senators. And the governor is entitled to appoint a temporary replacement for McConnell and set a special election for the post, even though Fox News personalities and some Republicans in Congress have told make-believe stories that they had 10-minute conversations with the AWOL McConnell.

Then there’s the secretary of health making believe Americans aren’t suffering from measles and diarrhea in frightening numbers. There’s the drunken “war” secretary making believe America is winning a war that he and his Mikado started but can’t figure out how to get out of as they make up lower American casualty numbers. And, of course, there’s the daily make believe, fed by make-believe journalists, that the American Mikado, who goes by the name of Trump, is actually capable of anything at this point (when he can stay awake) other than belittling women, insulting our allies, thinking of new ways to scam true believers out of their money and finding new Poo-Bahs to try to keep him out of jail.

It’s all make believe, but without the booming baritones and soaring sopranos. No lively chorus either and no funny Lord High Executioner. No lovely lake. Sorry, no fifty-fifty.

It’s funny how make-believe can sometimes seem so real.

***

Note: The Delaware Valley Opera is a not-for-profit (they love what they do) professional local organization located in Sullivan County in upstate New York. It draws its members and performers locally and from the New York Metropolitan area. I am in no way qualified as a music or theater critic, however, I would like to give special recognition in the recent production to Andrew Wannigmann as Pooh-Bah, Margaux Frohlich as Yum-Yum and Nicholas Wuehrmann, as a hilarious Ko-Ko, Lord High Executioner.  And a special nod to the one-man orchestra, Martin Yadzik, pianist and music director. Again, it was all wonderful and all for real.