Activism

I have been reading Russian dissident Alexei Navalny’s memoir and the similarities between Russian and American politics are frightening. It’s no surprise to anyone in this country that we are living under a repressive regime that disrespects free speech and the rule of law. That is the case in many countries around the world today, but I believe most Americans never thought it could get this bad here.

As Navalny outlines political events during his short life, it becomes clear that Putin and Trump have a lot in common. They both are intolerant of any viewpoint not supporting them and they both will do anything to hold on to and increase the power and wealth they have.

When egomaniacal oligarchs assume power they are not satisfied simply bending their own people to their will. Their disease compels them to move to the next level. That means trying to take over countries beyond their borders and starting wars for no other reason than to give them more personal power.

When fighting an unconventional war you have to think out of the box and develop new strategies to defeat the enemy. The war that is being waged in this country by Trump and his people defies logic, morality, ethics and common sense. But he has the ultimate power and, so far, he has been able to do whatever he wants. The only sensible counterattack requires new strategies.

One of the impediments to having a government that should be fair and just for the majority is the two-party system.

The world is hardly black and white, yet we expect our country to operate within an unrealistic system that only offers binary choices. Life is not like that.

This country has faced a critical nursing shortage for years. The situation was made worse as a result of the COVID pandemic when health care workers were burned out and left professions that already needed to increase their numbers. Now, the Trump administration has created a new threat to the nursing profession by changing its definition of a professional degree to exclude nursing.

This a gut punch to the 5.86 million nurses in this country. Of that number, 920,000 are LPNs and 5 million are RNs. These are significant numbers, and I hope that all nurses are reminded of the disrespect that this Republican administration is showing to nurses when it comes time to vote.

The day that the government shutdown of 2025 ended was the day that any hope for preserving the quality of life of millions of Americans ended. On the surface, the shutdown was presumably about extending subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. But there was a lot more at stake.

The Republicans had already had success in shredding the Medicaid program by making sure that millions of people will not be able to access the program. Those changes have not played out yet. When they do, there will be a new epidemic of untreated disease that will have consequences throughout the entire health care industry.

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Just in case the rest of the world needed affirmation, it is now crystal clear that the President of the United States is an arrogant, stupid fool who is in love with himself. There are other mental health issues as well, but his speech in front of the United Nations was painful to listen to, even for a few seconds. It sounded as though there was a lot of derisive laughter as he spoke. As an American, it was an embarrassment. Nothing new.

Trump’s madness is escalating because he has become completely intoxicated with his power. He is able to do whatever he wants and no one else in power is stopping him. There have been a few legal challenges and a few high level politicians have railed against him but, for the most part, his power is unfettered.

A lot of American’s brains have been invaded by a new brain worm that creates a host of symptoms that just won’t go away. You won’t find this disease in any medical book because it has not yet been widely recognized, yet too many of us have felt its effects.

What I am referring to is the unrelenting occupation of our thoughts by the biggest bully and newly anointed American king, Donald Trump. Like it or not, he has been able to weasel his way into almost every aspect of life and, unless you are living under a rock, you are not immune to this infection.

When I was growing up I was bullied a lot. I think it was mostly because I was a fat kid and the bully types looked at me as an easy target. This went on for a number of years until I finally decided to fight back. In the late fifties and early sixties the culture was different than today and when I went to my father to tell him about kids picking on me his only reaction was to tell me to fight back. I don’t think most parents would say that today.

Trump and his amoral, unethical goon squad of cabinet members are doing everything they can to hurt the people they don’t like, which is a big chunk of the American population. They have no respect for people and prioritize ideology and personal profit above the value of human life.

At least 10 million people will lose health insurance and millions, many of the same people, will lose food stamps. It is still to be determined if those same people will no longer have the safety net of federal fuel assistance, but the pattern is clear. “Those people” need to stop relying on federal assistance of any kind because they are making it too hard for rich people to profit enough from American commerce.

I would rather hope for good results from protests against the Trump administration, but my fear is that the reality we may face could be deadly for too many people. Speculating on the future is usually a fruitless activity, much like trying to predict an election. But the times we live in demand that we try to prepare for what may come as the world of Trump transforms this country and the rest of the world.

There are a number of areas where we can expect major change. Local and world economies are preparing for unprecedented disruptions. The U.S. is becoming more of an isolationist nation. Trump thinks that he is making America stronger by operating in the bully mode when it comes to trade and tariffs.

We now live in world where scientific inquiry, research and the development of innovation and things to make our lives better have become the enemy. The reason is clear. When someone does not understand something and when they are primarily fueled by ego and the abuse of power they will work to squash what they are not capable of understanding.

Trump has no clue about the details of research programs that he is defunding. He and his team have decided that research is mostly conducted by left wing liberals who are promoting the support of the LBGTQ community and everything that he personally finds distasteful.