Iare Trump's policies toward Euroope finally facing reality? There are some welcomed. shoots of green.

Are Trump's policies toward Europe finally facing reality?  Trump's isolationist policies and disdain for Europe are chickens coming home to roost. It may portend a shift in policy and attitudes toward NATO, a realization that Putin is not his best buddy, and a coming to grips with reality.   Europe's change in attitude is also an unanticipated fallout from Trump's quagmire in Iran and from friends and foes alike following Trump's low polls at home. For some, it is a time to stand up to Trump's bullying and the opportunity to "kick him while he is down". 

A secret trip to Russia by the US CIA chief, rumors that Russia was planning to attack some NATO ally to take advantage of Trump's home and Iran troubles, and Canada, aggressively pushing back on Trump's tariff bullying, may be hitting Trump in the face. It could all result in some not-so-subtle, but welcome, US policy changes toward NATO and strengthen that alliance instead of weakening it.  Hopefully this means greater understanding by Trump that the fall of Ukraine or the neutering of NATO were matters of national security importance to the USA itself. Canada's pushback against Trump's tariff war may also signal and end to European leaders licking Trump's boots and showing their own stiffening backbone.  

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Jpdate: 8/30/2026:  There is a darker view of why the CIA director went in person to Moscow with an entourage of y CIA operatives. John Brennan, a former CIA director, on MSNOW this AM feared there was an attempt to carve out what Russia would get in a peace deal in trade for Russia stop helping Iran. The problemwhy that was a long shot secret deal is that Trump no longer has the cards to deal with Ukraine, having promised aid that has not been delivered in the face of Europe "stepping up to the plate" and Ukraine itself able to ue drones to take the war to deep inside Russia.  Ukraine, however, needs US anti missile defense to do more that just play tit for tat with Russia in their destructive attacks.  Putiin on the otherhand is also driven by the line he has fed his citizens that Uraine is part of mother Russia and he is not ready to throw in the towel yet.  We may never know unless if there is no change in what Trump is already doing, but if he makes public the "deal" is on the table.

 There are some events this week that need to be carefully monitored, in addition to Trump's signal earlier this month that he is beginning to understand that it was Ukraine that had the cards and was at least giving Russia as good as it got.  While weapons from the US had not yet been sent, the Trump regime signaled to Putin that the US was no longer playing footsies with Putin on Ukraine. https://www.csis.org/analysis/trump-administration-boosts-immediate-military-aid-deliveries-ukraine

Today we learned that Trump's CIA director had made a secret visit to Russia with a message. on NATO resolve and Iran. https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/26/cia-russia-nato-moscow-ratcliffe-01051848  It appeared the USA got wind that Russia was planning an attack against the Baltics or Poland to take advantage of US preoccupation with Iran and public acknowledgment that the US had run through some very important weapon stockpiles.    The message delivered was that it appeared the US would trigger the mutual defense clause of NATO after all, and they underscored this with joint NATO military exercises with Poland. Europe has stepped up to the plate. Even Germany is significantly rearming itself.  If Putin had thought the US had abandoned  NATO, he should rethink that. 

Something not foreseen by Trump was the impact of his aggressive "tariff war" with Canada. Canada retaliated with its own tariffs against the US as it stood up to the bullying. This may also have inspired a change of heart in the EU.  Until now, France and others have played the game of flattery and subservience to Trump's anti-European posture, but Canada has shown a different way. The response from influential German magazine editors on Der Spiegel's Substack was that the time was right for Europe to also stand up to bully Trump, because he was showing weakness at home in a wide variety of polls, domestic issues, and the Iran war... European leaders have frequently preferred a strategy of kowtowing and ego-flattering in dealing with President Donald Trump. Canadian Premier Carney has taken the opposite tack. Europe should do the same.  The banner from Der Spiegel this morning read:

"DER SPIEGEL - The German View

It’s Time for Europe to Hit Trump While He’s Down

Cracks in the MAGA base and lessons Democrats can learn from Democratic Socialists

A bevvy of polls this past week consistently show that Trump's approval ratings are sinking to his core base of true believers and core followers. https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/steve-kornacki-new-poll-shows-cracks-forming-in-trump-s-maga-base-254388805882 

 It remains to be seen how many of those left in Trump's 2024 winning coalition will suck it up like good patriots. The conclusions of a variety of pollsters are that some pretty angry and disillusioned MAGA voters feel Trump failed them to make good on the cost-of-living issues and feel he lied to them. However, there is also a word of warning for Democrats in the MAGA unrest. Democrats could also fail to deliver, as well, if they ever get both houses of Congress and the Oval Office again. The lesson is: do not make promises you know you cannot keep. The success of Democrat Socialists in the primaries contain some very good pointers for traditional Democrats as well.

The "old 'house built on sand is the first to perish ' "is as good as any old saying ever devised. That sand is what Trump promised to do what he did not have the power to do in 2024. He then doubled down on the inevitable failure by shoveling more sand into a developing sinkhole of quicksand while blaming Biden for it. (Given Biden left the economy with 3 percent inflation, now creeping up, and under $4 a gallon gas seems to have been conveniently forgotten by MAGA. )Wth Trump, the buck never stops at the Oval Office desk.  

The issues that poll the worst are the management of the economy (the poor get poorer, and the oligarchs and the Trump family get richer). Even foreign policy, launching the Iran war, is hitting the part of the economy l already left in the dust, and most of them get the connection. In the price of oil per barrel raising costs to farmers). The tax cuts to benefit the rich obviously did not trickle down to the rest of us.  Subverting Obamacare and cutting health insurance coverage do not lower, but raise the cost of insurance. (Clever of the GOP to implement it after the midterms, but a warning will be mailed just before Nov. 3.) Launching foreign war ads to the cost of groceries, as well.  

Bitten once, voters are not inclined to be bitten again soon. They rightly should be sceptical of anyone of any political stripe promising what they cannot deliver. The Democrats need to be specific about solutions that also sound plausible and limited to the doable.   A vague insinuation that voting for Democrats, instead,  will simply reverse the trend and punish the person causing it may sound appealing, but those who are specific about exactly what they plan to do and have the power and ability to do it will have the most credibility. The most disillusioned are the younger voters who have the sword of Damocles of student debt hanging over their ability to buy a home or even make day-to-day ends meet. It would be wise for Democrats to address these problems, too, if they fear the disillusioned younger generation flees our form of democracy and the wake of a run-amok capitalism that they feel failed them.

A reader responded that at least Trump is transparent when it comes to potential charges: what he is doing is criminal or in violation of the Constitution. Careful there: Transparency with Trump is not because he is honest. With him, it is a strategy to make you think that since it is in the open, it is not a crime. 1) We do not know what or if, anything else is not disclosed or if he is hiding it; especially any tit-for-tat, quid pro quo, and bribery. 2) he has immunity from prosecution thanks to SCOTUS. 3) He knows his immunity ends when he leaves office so he is trying to get immunity from IRS audits and other potential prosecutions.

There is much handwringing and fear permeating moderates in the Democratic Party, and all in MAGAland. Instead of quaking, there are some lessons for all to learn from these upstarts of Democratic Socialists (DA). Democratic Socialists have had some success in primaries, and here is what Democrats should take a page from their playbook. They are plainspoken, ID the winning issues, and give specific achievable solutions. Democratic Socialists have not promised blue sky, but they have been very specific in what they promise, while sounding feasible, too. (Yes, that current DSA message eclipses some of their very unpopular platform planks). They proposed Medicare for all, an easy-to-understand solution to the cost of health care, for example.  They propose building more low-income housing and flooding the market with availability and competition to lower rent costs or the ability to buy the American dream of homeownership., They propose fighting greedy corporations who try to buy up all of the housing they can to control the market, both purchase price and rental. That is another concept voters can grasp.   Getting the heck out of futile wars of choice in the Middle East may be a tough one, given the predicted Iranian chokehold on Hormuz. Simply declaring victory and withdrawing will leave Iran having the Western world slung over the high price per barrel for years is not a good outcome. 

Update 8/31/26  Some on the right are trying to brand all Democrats as "communists". While the planks of the Democratic Socialists of America are closer to Marx than to FDR, their embrace of the GAZA issue, their impact has been limited, mostly in local or district races. Even many who look or talk like them on some issues are quick to say they do not agree with all of DSA's specific planks. However, their success has given MAGA a talking point and a scare tactic.

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/democratic-socialist-candidates-show-gains-but-limited-reach-in-2026/.

Before falling into the trap of swallowing the MAGA line hook, line, and sinker, understand that the DSA appeal centers on affordability, which cuts across ideological and practical concerns for many voters. Consider and accept or reject each candidate's solutions to affordability concerns, Part of DSA's success is that they have been specific in their proposals, limited to popular legislation like Medicare for All and building more low-income housing. Both moderate Democrats and Republicans have failed to provide their plans to tackle the affordability issue, relying instead on anti-this or anti-that.

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However, the price of groceries and gas at the pump was never totally in Trump's power to make good on his promises, but they were in his power to make it worse, which he has done. We do not have a centrally planned economy, so "Zap", he could not edict prices, but he could monkey with elements that would affect grocery prices a bit. Instead, what he did do was tariffs, and Hormuz caused prices to rise. Voters seem to get that. He is right now proposing to flood the market with Argentine hamburger meat to force the price of beef down. In so doing, he is really ticking off ranchers and agriculture-related MAGAs within his base. I feel their pain living in an ag community, and I feel mine at the grocery store, too. 

Update 9/4/2026: Not only did Trump tick off his rural ag supporters by intending to flood the markets with Argentine beef (and Brazilian beef that went uninspected) earlier, he had cut the program to inspect beef coming into the USA. Imported beef must meet the same standards and pass inspection for contaminants as domestic beef; they also must meet packaging requirements and disclose the country of origin. But when those inspectors are understaffed, what then? https://www.propublica.org/article/foreign-food-safety-inspections-historic-low-fda?fbclid=IwY2xjawUHk1RwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMXNGODJTcnBwcjd3OHM1UDFzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeIk3AgXMSJ5kDzDpmpAzEiTjQPxJIBzlyFOC0hMz9LTBVjtd1SlORYCOzW1Y_aem_ufrN43wR1F7EYkLKOmOSRg

To add insult to injury, when the EU banned Brazilian beef because of evidence of antibiotic use and contamination, Trump immediately removed tariffs on imports of Brazilian beef USA, likely per Forbes, in support of his billionaire donor. Not only did Trump tick off his rural ag supporters by intending to flood the markets with Argentine beef (and Brazilian beef that went uninspected) earlier, he had cut the program to inspect beef coming into the USA. Imported beef must meet the same standards and pass inspection for contaminants as domestic beef; they also must meet packaging requirements and disclose the country of origin. But when those inspectors are understaffed, what then? https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/09/03/how-a-brazilian-billionaire-won-a-us-tariff-exemption-for-beef-the-eu-wont-buy/

The price per barrel of oil is, and never was, in Trump'scontrol. It is a commodity that is marketed worldwide, immediately sensitive to the forces of supply and demand, and under the control of oil cartels.  One part of the world sneezes, and the rest of the world, including us in America, gets sick, too. Trump has already released oil reserves, and now our reserves are among the lowest in our post WWII history.

Parts of the following also appear in my Substack and Facebook posts and comments :

Semantics:: Democrats do have a problem in messaging. They sometimes use more than 3-syllable words or words not in common usage by "ordinary" people. Trump ridiculed "affordability". Whoever used that in a conversation, he asked.. Maybe it works (and so far it has) because the first four syllables are in plain English. (affordable, get it?). The other pet peeve I have is the use of "grift".  Even I had to run to Webster's for that one to see what it encompassed. However, "grift " for sure was never used as a common term in our family, but it covers much,  from padding one's pockets, greed, to bribery and a lot of dirt in between.  Corruption comes close enough to be nearly encompassing. (Being greedy does not always result in getting rich) . Whatever both are, affordability and corruption, they are part of the same: unfairness. ...which is very much in common usage. "Fairness" brings up another overriding issue: the rich are getting very rich, and the rest of us are seeing our standard of living decrease.  There is a growing outrage that "It just ain't fair!"

"No Kings" served for a time as a substitute for Trump's non-democratic behavior and power grabs, but that sounds quaint, even if it is a non-hackle-raising accusation. Actually, the best parallel to Trump's obsession with gathering all the wealth he can while he can, issuing his own laws, ignoring laws that stand in his way, and punishing those who disobey them or him, or do not comply,  fits the "mob boss" role model the best. Since the venue is government, the best tag is "political mobster" or "political mob boss". Dictator or autocrat he may aspire to be, but he has not beaten down the lower courts totally yet. His preoccupation with vengeance, punishment,  and greed for power and wealth, only for him and those loyal to him, qualifies him as a "mob boss" the best. His corruption is in your face and in the open. The problem with tagging him as a mob boss is he does not look like one; he just acts like one.  The failure of the GOP-dominated Congress and the 6 Trump loyal justices on the Supreme Court who have not put the brakes on him, who have approved his power grabs, are this political mobster's enablers.

The elephant in the room of Colorado elections : who controls elections:Trump or Colorado

 Jena Griswold, current Colorado Secretary of State and now the Democratic Party winner in the primaries for Attorney General, is engaged in a very strange campaign.  She faced three opponents in the primary, none of whom garnered more than around 15-17% of the vote and who attempted to defeat her based on her management style. However, none of them even acknowledged the national debate on who controls elections in the face of Trump's ongoing attempt to federalize elections and control the outcome on his behalf. Griswold served as the leader of the nation's Democratic Secretaries of State (at the state level) and did much to protect genuine voter integrity from election deniers and from Trump's attempt to seize control of the election process. State control of elections (not by the federal government) was granted in the Constitution. 

In the primary this year, Griswold didn't raise the issue of who controls elections;  the state Democratic Party didn't raise it; her opponents didn't raise it; and the GOP itself did not either. There is a very big elephant in the room that is getting tiptoed around,  and I don't get it. Now, the same anti-Griswold campaign has appeared on social media today in time to kick off the general election in Colorado in November, in which Griswold is on the ballot for Attorney General.  That line of attack failed before in the primary, and there is no reason to believe it will succeed in the general. They are while referring to a 5-year-old negative report on her management style and claim she hid it. What is at stake is a national story..This is a deep blue state.  I, in all of my years in politics, have never seen anything like it when a state election's national implications are ignored as if they did not exist.

As a former election official myself, I have prided myself on supporting the clean election system that Colorado has (including that over 80% of ballots are "mailed in"). The mail-in system was constructed by GOP leadership and administered to the T by subsequent Secretaries of State, including Democrats like Griswold.  Colorado has had the most controversial free elections in the US. Its mail-in system uses, I hear, FBI-trained handwriting clerks of both parties to verify the ballots, and it is considered the gold standard in the US. For that reason alone, Griswold deserves accolades for her administrative skills and adherence to the rule of law. For an alleged  Gov. Polis or gubernatorial candidate/AG Phil Weiser or name identification for Griswold’s win in the primary, totally ignoring the elephant in the room: who controls elections- Trump or the state of Colorado. There was national focus on the big issue of whether election deniers could get away with grabbing the ballots and tabulation of the vote and sequestering them and giving authorized access to partisans because their allegiance was to Trump.. She disciplined county clerks for not following the carefully laid out rules of the state they were sworn to uphold on taking office. The most famous case was concerning Tina Peters. Griswold, with the help of the AG's office attorneys, beat Trump at his game. She had locked up the ballots in her county and gave access to a Trump partisan, putting up a co-worker to help her do it, and then covered it up with lies. This destroyed the chain of evidence and the required surveillance by others not in her party. Trump intervened to "free her" from a jury trial conviction, putting her in prison because she had committed a crime and a cover-up.  Peters became Trump's icon of the ideal county clerk: "defy local rules and do as I say", instead. Now it is no secret that Trump wants all election officials to act like Peters and control the election count to his benefit. Peters is his role model. There appear to have been election deniers placed in official positions all over the country. In Colorado, all GOP candidates for state offices- AG, SOS, governor- are election deniers, sworn to rectify the "stolen 2020 election."

  On the issue of Trump's demand that the details of all registered voters on state rolls be turned over to the feds, Griswold defied him, too, and that is another reason to admire her. Yesterday, Trump's demands to turn over voter rolls to the feds met their 23rd defeat in federal courts... as courts denied Trump's demand. We are now awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on Trump's demand to make the post office the agency to deny mail-in ballot delivery using those voter rolls. Trump has declared war on mail-in ballots, and that he uses them was yesterday’s headline. In the meantime, Trump has attempted to force Colorado to bend to his will by denying federal funds to Colorado, from food stamps to fighting wildfires, because we defied his demands as he tries to control the Nov midterm outcomes and lay the groundwork for another attempt to claim the election was stolen, as he told you in advance it was going to happen. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/06/us/politics/a-growing-number-of-election-deniers-hold-key-local-roles-in-midterms.htm

lhttps://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/trump-threatened-colorado-funding-as-punishment-over-tina-peters-judge-finds/https://www.denverpost.com/2026/08/14/colorado-donald-trump-tina-peters/

https://coloradonewsline.com/briefs/trump-colorado-voter-data-federal-judge

/https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/analyzing-presidents-executive-order-mail-voting

https://www.cpr.org/2026/08/14/trump-retaliation-colorado-email-tina-peters/?

https://www.denverpost.com/2026/08/14/colorado-donald-trump-tina-peters/

Trump and Tina Peters:  Trump takes care of his criminally convicted loyalists. Peters lands a job in California. https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/california-senators-call-for-maximum-oversight-over-conspiracist-tina-peters-new-election-job/?

How Colorado detects fraud: https://coloradonewsline.com/2024/10/24/fraudulent-ballots-mesa-county-colorado/

Crowley beats Hong ; moderates surge in squeakers over democratic socialists. Now what, Dems?

This morning, young voters probably feel like the air was let out of their tires. The "progressive" movement vs the establishment, the enthusiasm this generated in recent primaries, and the appeal to grassroots activism have suddenly met resistance, with squeaker results of some close wins and some close losses. El-Sayed in Michigan's close win and Hong's in Wisconsin's close loss show the limits of the "progressive left".  https://www.npr.org/2026/08/12/nx-s1-5927119/2026-minnesota-governor-primary-election-crowley-hong  

Take heart, young voters. A message to younger generations from one of the (not so) silent generation.   Realize that, win or lose, the Democratic Party cannot win without your support because you did so well in bringing new blood of ideas,  young legs,  and talented candidates into a "big tent" that had become filled with the old, creaky, cranky, and geriatric. Your success will and cannot be ignored. Take a deep breath and know that a MAGA victory in November would be the worst outcome you could experience.  Also realize that to win those close races in November,  the "establishment" will have to embrace so many of the issues you raised, like affordability, or they, too, will lose to MAGA if they do not. 

 Pollsters took a bath, failing to pick up on last-minute waves of pragmatism driving ." the establishment" to crash the party's growing infatuation with Democratic Socialists and those progressives who embraced parts of the DSA plank. It appeared to the pragmatists that the rise of the progressive left and the ideology of Democratic socialism were a gift to MAGA in the general election, setting up their defense loaded with messages of fear and hate.   There is a split in the progressives: those who do support the platform of the DSA and those who still support capitalism with reforms. Reform or revolution is a dividing distinction. However, both share the pocketbook issues and offer similar legislative solutions for those who saw their inability to cope with day-to-day economic demands. Call those left behind "workers", the "middle class", or " ordinary Americans", both DSA and the establishment wings of the Democratic Party are in sync on pocketbook issues, and if all factions keep their messaging focused on solutions to those issues, they will still succeed in November. 

 It also appears that older and wiser moderates awoke at the last minute to the danger of the extremism of the DSA's plank, with its anti-capitalist and pro-Gaza message.  "Moderates and establishment feared the very progressive candidates were a gift of attack ads material to MAGA candidates in purple states in the November general election.  The demise of MAGA power had been the assumption that fueled Democrats' hopes of a takeover of the House, Senate, and state houses, but now the fear was that too-progressive candidates would be more easily defeated in the upcoming general election.  MAGA was beginning to see some blood in the water and was salivating at the prospect of keeping control of DC as they began to paint the entire Democratic Party as a bunch of communists.  If any air was let out of the tires, the strength of the establishment in the Democratic Party and the willingness of the factions to work to gather in a common cause of a Democratic Party victory, MAGA may be feeling a letdown, too, today.

This moment reminded me of the early years of my own political activism in the 1960's and 1970's. I, too, embraced candidates with cutting ideas that shook "the establishment" out of their post world war II slumber: What I did realize, however, if any of my ideas had a chance to succeed, it would take compromise and many half a loaf victories for the issues I  and so many of those like me, had supported   Those ssues many of us supported were consumer rights, city is for people, mass transit, fighting destruction of neighborhoods,  more sensitivity to environmental and quality of life issues, and, of course, civil rights and inclusiveness. The brown cloud of air pollution had become the city's infamous hallmark nationwide. Many of these issues and their solutions were absorbed into the goals and policies of subsequent leaders in Denver, thanks first to the election of Mayor  Federico Peña and then all those who succeeded him to this day.  

There is an issue that cannot be overlooked in these next few months: the reasons these liberal urban ideas took root were that we had a democratic form of government that permitted equal time media coverage and the political organization skills of those who initially challenged the existing big-city boss form of government.  For that reason, fundamentally, supporting democracy in the form we have known it and democratic institutions allows new ideas to be accepted.  The idea of autocracy, dictatorship, and suppression of political opposition are the basic enemies that will cripple reform and the implementation of new goals.  MAGA and Trump himself are the enemies of this vision of democracy, because they try to upend our democratic form of government that enables good ideas to rise like cream to the top.  Young progressives should not lose sight of that fact and include the defense of democracy in their priorities. 

Updaate: 8/14/2026 If there were any doubts about the importance of democracy to those who want to protest,  look at what happened in Minnesota. After the murder of two demonstrators by ICE, Homeland Security investigated the protestors, not the ICE agents, using techniques and tactics characteristic of communist and fascist regimes, including modern technology, infiltration, espionage, and name gathering/finances of organizing entities. They found nothing to use to publish or to even prosecute, but they now know, for future reference, who they can suppress or prosecute on bogus charges in the future. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/briefing/immigration-supremecourt-jews.html

To believe that government is for one economic class or race or religion is the greatest enemy we face today if we want a peaceful, prosperous tomorrow in our multi-cultural, multi-racial nation. Elements in both the DSA and MAGA are guilty of promoting to powerful positions only those who are very much like them and suppressing or disadvantaging the " others".   All need a fair shot at getting their voices heard. Democracy provides the mechanics and hope for that to occur.

The American political system forces compromise and embracing of new ideas at the local and national level early in the election cycle.   Primaries are very important, and in the long run, the math counts. The bigger the tent, the more the numbers add up, and it is more likely that those appealing to the most voters win the seats of power that enable the implementation of their agenda.

Pointing fingers in conflicts, Israel/Gaza, and Iran raises political passions but miisses a bigger issue.

 Pointing fingers in conflicts raises passions, but misses a bigger issue. Immediately, I  predict that this post heading sounds like I am about to address the Gaza issue that the Democratic Socialists support: Hamas over Israel.  Wrong.  So am I a partisan of Netanyahu's reducing Gaza to rubble and the death of women and children by starvation or bombing? No. Do I think we can bomb Iran to force it to change direction? What we lose sight of is a bigger issue. commission of war crimes. The recent conflict's political and military leadership do not care a whit about the fate of those who are the victims, regardless of the regime or politics they support. They then use their suffering and death as propaganda tools to gain support for the actions of their leaders.   In recent times, we have seen this at play not only in Gaza/Israel but in Iran, as well.   The focus of our condemnation should be directed at the leadership if we profess to care about the innocents, the women and children. The evil forces at play in those related conflicts are the leadership of those on "either side" who care more about their power and military success than their concern about humanity and commit war crimes. It does not stop with Israel/GazaIran. We in the US have a political leadership who wants the freedom from accountability to commit war crimes, too.

The plight of women and children in Gaza in Israel's campaign and the raped and murdered victims of Oct. 7 of Hamas is the fault of their leaders who do not care or and later who see playing on the rest of the world's care for victims of such violence used as a propaganda tool. At the same time, the Trump administration has learned, or should have learned, that making the everyday people of Iran the victims of a bombing campaign has been ineffective because the  Iranian leadership, clerics, and IRG do not care about the suffering of non-combatants, women, children, and men, either.  Iran, it has appeared, had anticipated that the US would attack, but slaughtering as many demonstrators against the regime as they could. The death toll of those mowed down in Iran is at least in the thousands, though. 

  I have not forgotten Oct. 7 and Hamas beginning the conflict in that horrific rape and massacre of young Israelis attending, of all things, a concert in support of peace.  I have not forgotten that Hamas leadership in effect used their own women and children as human shields by refusing to give them access to their tunnels as refuge from Israel's attempt to bomb Gaza to rubble.  We do not have access to the total suffering of the Iranian civilians, but there is a stand-in icon for that: the horrible killing of over 150 school girls (whether it was a mistake or not) in Iran. 

The rest of us who are observers, if not partisans, of these conflicts still have the responsibility to raise our voices against such crimes against humanity, to try to bring those who commit them to justice in world court tribunals, and to provide aid and compassion for the victims.  We also should take the personal responsibility to realize and to condemn leaders who use the suffering of their own people, suffering their policies caused, as a propaganda weapon.   Instead of pointing fingers at who is the worst war criminal, we should not fall for such messages that abuse the reports of the suffering of their own people to convince others of their rectitude.  Instead,. we need to support institutions that enforce the law and hold accountable those who commit crimes against humanity, regardless of the "side" involved.  

The establishment of the UN (providing a forum for talking is better than military fighting) and the World Court of Justice were founded after World War II's air and bombing with modern weapons that wiped out millions of non-combatants. Rules were devised  inthe Geneva Convention for combatants to take care of civilians., War crimes were defined. And now we have our own president who no longer wants our armed forces to abide by the Geneva Conventions and wants to do away with the world court tribunals. We are not members but want it ended, anyway.  It sounds like Trump wants to commit war crimes without any accountability or shame.  Trump is constantly threatening to bomb Iranian infrastructure to bring more pain and suffering to non-combatant civilians, even though he should understand that would not change the behavior of the IRG and clerical leadership. (They have not suffered enough, he opines)  . That, for the sake of humanity, needs to be nipped in the bud, and that is what we at home can and should stop now. 

https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2026/04/trump-advocating-war-crime-t-when-hague.html

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/31/donald-trump-geneva-conventions-the-problem-military-foreign-policy

Trump and Rubio proposing dismantling the world courts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjGcWLFmTnk

see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjGcWLFmTnk.  Why the world court tribunals?

Abdul El-Sayed says he is a progressive and not a democratic socialist, but will it make a difference in November?

Update: 8/31/26 Some on the right are trying to brand all Democrats as "communists". While the planks of the Democratic Socialists of America are closer to Marx than to FDR, their embrace of the GAZA issue, their impact has been limited impact, mostly in local or district races. Even many who look or talk like them on some issues are quick to say they do not agree with all of DSA's specific planks. However, their success has given MAGA a talking point and a scare tactic.

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/democratic-socialist-candidates-show-gains-but-limited-reach-in-2026/.

Before falling into the trap of swallowing the MAGA line hook, line, and sinker, understand that the DSA appeal centers on affordability, which cuts across ideological and practical concerns for many voters. Consider and accept or reject each candidate's solutions to affordability concerns, Part of DSA's success is that they have been specific in their proposals, limited to popular legislation like Medicare for All and building more low-income housing. Both moderate Democrats and Republicans have failed to provide their plans to tackle the affordability issue, relying instead on anti-this or anti-that.

Updated: 8/7/-10 /2026 from my Muftic Forum Facebook post: I've always suspected white " Christian " nationalists and white supremacists had a home in the MAGA base, but what percentage of the MAGA base they were was difficult to grasp by pollsters. The racist, Muslimaphobia scree hurled at El-Sayed after the Michigan Senate primary narrow victory brought them out of the closet with no blowback from anyone in the GOP I could see. If you who plan to run on hate campaign planks in November are a whole party, either you are a silent supporter or an instigator.. Please, do not call yourselves Christian, at least.. Hate of neighbors or those of another religion like the one helped by the good Samaritan wer, were never Christ's values, were they? Nor was El-Sayed a jihadist, a member of the Democratic Socialist of America, or endorsed by them, and he was clear he was a supporter of capitalism (with some reforms). Attack him for being a progressive and for his position on issues if you disagree, but do not make it based on hatred of his race or religion that you have so hatefully stereotyped. Also be aware how political leaders will try to cater to your own closely held hate, as Ted Cruz did ar once .and : Donald Trump unleashed a racist, bigoted Islamophobic vitriol from the Oval Office on August 10. If there was any question whether Trump himself, he who rose to the White House on birtherism and sneering at Obama's given names, is a bigot and a racist, there should no longer be any doubt. The other question is, how many are there like him in America? We will soon see in 2026 and 2028.

Updated 8/6/2026 from a Facebook post: Whipping up the Red Scare in the wake of Abdul ElSayed's narrow Michigan Democrat Pirmary victory, the GOP hopes that branding all Democrats as communists will offset the negatives of the mess Trump and MAGA have made in Iran, and the actions like illegal tariffs will have on the cost of living. It is a deceptive diversion, and they hope voters will fall for it. FYI, El Sayed was not endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, and he does not subscribe to or is a member of them. He supports capitalism, and he is a progressive who believes in "big tent" participation in the Democratic Party, but a DSA?, no.

The use of the Red Scare is an old one made by the 1950s by paranoid and later discredited Sen.Joseph McCarthy. To succeed, the GOP will have to hope the recipients of their red scare only listen to FOX and are low-information voters. and the Democrats hope voters realize that a campaign based on this will not make their lives more affordable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSvnGRAp4o0.  

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continuing with original post:

On the news this morning, the not-yet-called Democratic Michigan Senate Primary...a very close victory for Abdul El-Sayed. El-Sayed says he is a progressive and not a democratic socialist, but will it make a difference in November? The question that is hanging out there is whether El-Sayed will be painted as a democratic socialist and ripe for deceptive and vicious attack ads by GOP candidate Mike Rogers, which will doom the seat for Democrats. It will take an enormous effort on behalf of El-Sayed to educate unsophisticated voters that he is not a democratic socialist but is indeed a pro-capitalism progressive seeking reforms, not revolution. El Sayed has made it clear and is on the record as being in favor of capitalism, the kind of democracy, and the form of government we once had for 250 years.

El Sayed was not endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), whose platform proposes to upend both, replacing capitalism with socialism and replacing our checks-and-balances system with a parliamentary form of governance, among other very controversial planks. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AJCcNbFfLd4

The GOP is already salivating at their prospects by attacking those adhering to or looking like they are adhering to the Democratic Socialists of America's platform.' There is beginning to be a realization among voters that the Democratic Socialists of America's platform is very close to communism and is very vulnerable to being charged as that.

The DSA is more extreme than their kin in Europe and is nothing like Bernie Sanders' benign version. This is why we are seeing more and more progressive candidates distancing themselves from the DSA as fast as they can and self-described moderate and progressive Democrats positioning themselves as "not the DSA."

The media is reporting this controversy as a self-defeating internal party fight. There is one, but the Democratic Party can survive if DSA candidates clarify what parts of the DSA plank they do not support.

The theater of the absurd performed by Trump and supporters as they abuse power and the legal system

Sometimes I get the feeling that politics is the Theatre of the Absurd, as drama and playacting fuel hyperbolic lies, half-truths, outrageous, unproved, unevidenced accusations, manufactured issues, show-trial-like hearings, and crises to grab headlines. It just adds to the frustration and feeling that politics is hopeless and bewildering, and makes you feel anxious, so why bother to care or counter?  Despite this, those who support the rule of law have no choice but to soldier on and call out such abuses of power and the legal system if democracy is to survive intact.

Case in point: The hearing held recently in which  Dr. Anthony Fauci and MAHA locked horns was the GOP at their"performative" best to cater to the hardcore supporters of the anti-vaxx movement. Nothing substantive was accomplished, and by taking the 5th, Dr. Fauci avoided traps the GOP tried to lay for him to make a statement they could use and manipulate in a state court hearing.  That's what the initial spat at the beginning of the hearing, resulting in removal of Fauci's attorney, was about.  There are still MAHA-inspired cases accusing Fauci of unevidenced wrongdoing pending in state courts, even though Fauci has the protection from federal cases due to the pardons Biden provided. He is not shielded from state laws.  Not to let go of this debacle, the GOP is planning to hold Fauci in contempt, compounding one abuse of power with another one.

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/29/anthony-fauci-senate-covid-hearing-takeaways

 Like so much of Trump's revenge tour, with nearly all such accusations presented without supporting evidence or legal basis being thrown out by judges, it is just another tool to use in political propaganda warfare. It is used to make a point and to punish the disloyal to Trump and MAGA by forcing their targets to spend emotional energy and money on their defense. The practice is plain and simple: an abuse of power to which the judicial system has wised up to and is referring Trump's attorneys to local bar associations for disbarment. 

 Since the 2020 election, judges have not tolerated the political theatre of the absurd in their courtrooms, though disciplinary action takes time. Disbarment of lawyers has resulted,, first in the wake of 2020's "stop the steal" ,  and now again in numerous cases in Trump's second term.

 https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/trump-2020-attorneys-face-disbarment-suspension-ahead-of-2024-election/     

 Last month, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s alleged misbehavior was referred to the New York State Bar for disciplinary review regarding a pending "fraud upon the court" inquiry.  A separate IRS litigation ruling and complaints also targeted Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward at the District of Columbia Bar. 

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/26/rudy-giuliani-disbarred-washington-00181183

"Theatre of the Absurd, dramatic works of certain European and American dramatists of the 1950s and early ’60s who agreed with the Existentialist philosopher Albert Camus’s assessment, in his essay “The Myth of Sisyphus” (1942), that the human situation is essentially absurd, devoid of purpose. The term is also loosely applied to those dramatists and the production of those works. Though no formal Absurdist movement existed as such, dramatists as diverse as Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, Jean Genet, Arthur Adamov, Harold Pinter, and a few others shared a pessimistic vision of humanity struggling vainly to find a purpose and to control its fate. Humankind in this view is left feeling hopeless, bewildered, and anxious." Enclopedia Britannica.     

Some personal reflections on the anti vaxx movement

Here is my view of MAHA anti-vaxxers. Some diseases can kill or leave you seriously disabled if you survive. Millions have been saved by vaccines. I spent summers confined to a few in my immediate neighborhood in my youth to avoid polio, and only after the vaccine could I again attend movies, go swimming, and even go to church gatherings. In my membership beginning in the 1990's in Rotary, there were still members who were survivors of polio, so Denver Rotary led Rotary's worldwide attempt to stamp out the disease with our Polio Plus project carried forth by Rotary International.. We did, and the Gates Foundation helped, but now some want to reverse that. It is sure insanity. Fauci almost single-handedly broke through and found the treatments for AIDS. However, MAHA wants you to risk your lives because of a few paranoid, uneducated science deniers, parents looking for a culprit other than themselves or their own DNA to blame for the learning disabilities of their kids, and then launch a disinformation campaign to duck data and research results  that debunked their theories or find someone to blame... If they want to put their own children in danger, that is their choice, but to try to force us to swallow their dangerous BS is the problem. Some people do not believe in science or have other motivations, religious, or just plain failed high school biology, or forgot or never learned anything about viruses.(When I was a child, we did not even know about viruses.) They, the uneducate and those looking for an explanation that makes them feel good about themselves, are the victims of this anti-vaxxing proselytizers. Then there are those like political opportunists who ride this issue because it is another one they can falsely lob at those who do not support Trump. They were on display at these recent hearings. Rand Paul is a libertarian who never found a government program he liked and is an ophthalmologist, but he puts his ideologically based politics first and ignores whatever he learned in med school. The eyes may have got it, but infectious diseases, viruses, seemed to have been forgotten. 

What I do appreciate is the ability and freedom to refuse a vaccine to which I am allergic...and my allergist told me not to get: the flu vaccines based on eggs.I am allergic to eggs...seriously. The result would be worse than the flu. I learned that he wasn't kidding when I took the swine flu vaccine. That was the last flu shot I ever took. The new methods used for COVID that avoid the egg stuff are a savior. I am so grateful that mNRA technology works.(MAHA paranoids fear this one) I am high risk for COVID, mostly due to my advanced age, and I had no reaction at all. MNRA may also let me take a flu vaccine someday. Each to his own, but what is good for you and me should be based on recommendations of a person's physician, not on some politically motivated anti-science advocate looking for a political opportunity to thump the table and mislead the public because it serves a political purpose, as it was in that disgusting hearing attempt the other day.. Trump's greatest accomplishment was the fast-track COVID vaccine, but he cannot even boast about it because of the MAHA ideological and science-deniers involved in politics who are so grateful for RFK, Jr. spreading the same dangerous message..

So far as searching for blame for a child's learning disabilities, a parent's time is better spent in providing therapy and help and a whole lot of patience and understanding.  Leave that search for cause in the hands of professionals, instead. 

Stop blaming yourself or trying to find someone else to blame.  It is a far better way to spend time and effort to concentrate on helping a child and other children succeed than to be off on a blame crusade..  I fear that motivates much of the anti-vaxxer's interests.  I can say that because as a mother of 3 and 4 grandchildren, I have been there with diagnosis and therapy at a time before and during the discovery of such disabilities in my own family. They may not turn out to be your ditto or what you wished, but success and talents come in many different packages.

I saw a time when a child tested so low, she was considered "a slow learner, learning challenged" in the terms of the time. But with new techniques of diagnosis and with intense therapy privately and in specialized schools, and the use of the ADA disabilities act, she graduated from public high school and later from a 4-year college. She found a profession where her disabilities were an asset, and she had compensated with other talents::  focus, memory, patience, learning from watching what others were doing, creativity,  and applying these to her own tasks.

She was fortunate: we had the means to afford what seemed best therapy at the time....and for that reason, I am such an advocate for such publicly funded schools that provide those alternative ways to learn, such as the Montessori methods, and for learning disabled specialists to be on hand at all schools. I am particularly grateful for the ADA legislation that permitted her to take exams in ways that let her use her compensating talents to show she had indeed learned the subject matter.