JOY IN THE MOMENT

By Ruth A. Sheets

Life is tough right now for so many and with little improvement on the horizon.  In this moment, it is critical that we all find moments, hours, events of joy where it occurs and not ignore it when it shows up for us.  I just finished the book "Joyful Anyway" by Kate Bowler.  She is a cancer survivor who has had numerous difficulties in her life and had to teach herself to take in joy where it is, often unexpected, unprepared for, and startling. 

I have been trying to do that and it truly helps since I plan to stay connected with what this ignorant, heartless, blustering, hateful, disgusting Trumplandia is doing to us, our communities, our nation, and the world and respond to it wherever I can.  I admit that sometimes I find joy in responding to their toddleresque behavior with comments about them being rich white toddler-men with a few toddler-women on the side.  They have nothing positive to offer anyone and seem to get their "joy" from hurting others, particularly vulnerable people, people of color and women.  That’s just what one should expect of whiny bratty rich white toddler-adults who somehow never had to grow up. 

The reality is that if people who don't pay attention hadn't given them far more power than they deserve, they would be nothing, just small men pushing people around locally and seen for what they are, nobodies who deserve no power. 

When I need a lift, I imagine Miller, Vought, Mullins, Musk, Vance, and the flavor of the moment in one of the concentration camp prisons they have cobbled together to destroy immigrants of color and our communities.  (I don’t imagine Trump there only because of his serious illnesses and dementia.)  Republicans' backbones have been melted down to create Trumplandia.  The Pathetic Republican members of Congress have no place there because they are just fodder for those whose goal in life is to use people and to gain as much of everything as they can, and at everyone else's expense, even Congressional and state legislature Republicans and the MAGAs.  They prove this every single day.

Working together to build better after we have removed these appalling examples of humanity from our government is a strong source of joy, hope, and well-being, as are the commentors I follow like Prof. Robert Reich on Substack.  A couple of years ago, I attended online each week Prof. Reich's "last class" at Berkley on the economy, and learned a lot to add to what I had already learned from an amazing economics professor back in undergrad days.  It gives me joy to remember Prof. Shirley Newton, an extraordinary woman who believed and taught that the government and our economy should work for the people not just for the lucky and the rich. 

In these difficult times, for the sake of our mental and physical health, let's all go find joy; it's out there just waiting for us!  Oh wait, we can help to create it for others too!

It is critical that we all find moments, hours, events of joy where it occurs and not ignore it when it shows up for us.  I just finished the book "Joyful Anyway" by Kate Bowler.  She is a cancer survivor who has had numerous difficulties in her life and had to teach herself to take in joy where it is, often unexpected, unprepared for, and startling. 

I have been trying to do that and it truly helps because I plan to stay connected with what this ignorant, heartless, blustering, hateful, disgusting Trumplandia is doing to us, our communities, our nation, and the world.  I admit that sometimes I find joy in responding to their toddleresque behavior with comments about them being rich white toddler-men with a few toddler-women on the side.  They have nothing positive to offer anyone and seem to get their "joy" from hurting others, particularly vulnerable people, people of color and women.  The reality is that if people who don't pay attention hadn't given them far more power than they deserve, they would be nothing, just small men pushing people around locally and seen for what they are, nobodies who deserve no power. 

When I need a lift, I imagine Miller, Vought, Mullins, Musk, Vance, and the flavor of the moment in one of the concentration camp prisons they have cobbled together because Republicans' backbones have been melted down to create Trumplandia.  That is where those pathetic Republican members of Congress have no place because they are just fodder for those whose goal in life is to use people and to gain as much of everything as they can, and at everyone else's expense, even the MAGAs.  They prove this every single day.

Working together to build better after we have removed these appalling examples of humanity from our government is a potential source of joy and well-being, as are the commentors I follow like Prof. Reich.  I attended online each week of Prof. Reich's "last class" at Berkley and learned a lot to add to what I had already learned from an amazing economics professor back in undergrad days.  It gives me joy to remember Prof. Shirley Newton, an extraordinary woman who believed and taught that the government and our economy should work for the people not just for the lucky and the rich. 

Let's all go find joy; it's out there waiting for us!  Oh wait, we can help to create it for others too!

WHITE HISTORY - WHY

By Ruth A. Sheets

Way back in the 1950s, I faced a challenge.  I started kindergarten and thought I was just like other kids until some of my classmates started calling me “Four Eyes.”  I had no idea what that meant until one of my friends told me “you know, your glasses.”  I still didn’t get it.  My parents explained that this was an insult.  I didn’t get it  because my glasses let me see stuff better.  Over time, though I got it.

I was carefully put in my place as inferior.  I was supposed to stay out of everyone else’s way because I couldn’t see as well as they could, so shouldn’t try for anything more than what I was given, sometimes sitting in front of the class to see the board.

History is filled with people being told covertly or brazenly that those doing the speaking were superior and that the receiver of the comments, insults, dismissal was inferior and worthy of what the superior chose to say or do to them.  The inferior is never supposed to object, try to escape the judgment, or go beyond what is expected/permitted as Black people, indigenous persons, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY, WOMEN, and others HAVE DONE AT VARIOUS TIMES THROUGHOUT HISTORY.  All of our groups have been targeted at one point or other by those “conservative” white men, some white women and a very few token others.

There are a lot of markers in society to divide people:  race, gender, ethnicity, language, religion, education level, wealth, job, parentage, place of origin, height, weight, physical ability, disability, intelligence, and more.  There are supposed superiors and inferiors in each of these categories.  ?Who determines who is which?  In our society from the beginning, it has been mostly white men in power. They like having this power.  It has enabled them to decide who belongs here in the good old USA, who can live in certain parts of town, who can shop, and where, who can walk on this sidewalk, who can own a home or car, who can attend quality schools, who can serve in certain offices. 

Those “superior white guys” have made a lot of money, influenced a lot of people, and done enormous harm because of their supposed superiority.  They have used their wiles and privilege to gain control throughout our government.  They think it is what the American people want because no one has actually stopped them yet.   

Now, and for decades, those rich white boys think it is not enough to decide who is superior and inferior throughout the society and broadcast it everywhere, they want to “alter” our history with what they are calling “the Real American History.”  They want that history to be white and male, kind of what it was when I first started learning history in 3^rd grade, 65 years ago.  Their expressed reason, so white children won’t feel uncomfortable!

That of course is a lie.  It is not their kiddies they are worried about because it is likely they have already indoctrinated them into whatever stories of history their white dads want to push on them.  This is about the white men feeling uncomfortable and they just can’t stand it.  They might be related to those white men who perpetrated enormous crimes throughout our history.

I am reading two books right now that make this pretty clear.  The first is Mother Emmanuel, Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness in One Charleston Church by Kevin Sack.  The second is The Killing of Crazy Horse by Thomas Powers.  In the first book, a horrific crime was committed 11 years ago when a young white man killed parishioners in a Black church, Mother Emmanuel A.M.E. in Charlston, SC.  The author describes the history of the work and struggles of the church, its members, and the segregation, lynchings, and other violence perpetrated on Black residents of the city, until very recently with no accountability.  The murderer of the members, who had invited them into their Bible Study,  had no remorse, claiming those he killed deserved it.  This is not even ancient history.  Where did the killer’s intense hate come from?  Hmmm!

White male relations with the various indigenous populations of North America have been fraught at best. If white men wanted land the people inhabited, too bad for the people because they would be driven out, murdered, or imprisoned so those white men could get hold of the land and its resources, Again, no accountability, even today. 

People were horrified when Custer’s troops were killed at the Little Big Horn, but those troops were out to murder as many of the Lakota as they could, assuming their superiority would give them automatic victory. That was in 1876.  Fourteen years later, other white troops massacred some old men, women, and children at Wounded Knee, for nothing, just because they could.  They imprisoned Native children and people with disabilities in horrible schools where the children were used and abused which should have been shocking, well, maybe they wouldn’t.  For all the cruelties done over time, they made up excuses, and  still do, just check out ICE and its attacks on immigrants of color, again with impunity!    As has often  happened, the military leader who ordered the massacre at Wounded Knee has been made a hero.

Yep, that’s how it has gone throughout history.  White men have raped and murdered women while blaming those women for “making them do it.”  They shoot LGBTQ+ people, leaving them to die, not because the person did anything to them, just because they exist.

The problem for rich and other conservative white men is that they are scared everyone else will learn the truth that they are just scared children who have learned to use privilege, money, and power to keep themselves from the knowledge that they are not superior, in fact, like everyone else, just ordinary.  They can’t have that, so they must rewrite history to suit their desperate need to be superior and have everyone around them under their heel.

Yo Conservative white men, we know who and what you are!  You are only fooling yourselves.  You forget that we the vast majority, have had to live with you forever.  We know!  You don’t need to white wash history because there will always be people who know the truth no matter how much you try to escape it.

This is not a condemnation of white men in general, just a chance to let those white supremacists who want to do harm to everyone who is not them, know that we a are not going to take it anymore.  We will be calling you out on your childish narcissistic need for recognition you don’t deserve. 

And, women, teachers, mothers, aunts, and grandmothers of white boys, do your best to keep those boys from developing the ego that puts all of us at risk, even themselves.  Help them develop a strong positive moral compass and encourage them to ask questions, Listen to others, communicate with and respect people different from themselves, and read them all sorts of stories, poems, and articles about or written by members of those groups.  The earlier you begin, the better.

I did learn I was different, but my family and friends will say that I didn’t let it stop me and nor should our differences stop anyone else from being the person you need to be, doing the things you need to do.  Then, we need to find ways to, as often as possible, remind the “superior” white boys they aren’t superior to us, no matter how hard they wish it to be true. 

EMBARRASSED, HORRIFIED, DISGUSTED!

Ruth A. Sheets

July 9, 2026

I once thought I just had some differences with Republicans and things could be worked out THROUGH HONEST DISCUSSION.  That is no longer the case no matter what Republicans may plead.  I realized that I now have 3 basic responses to whatever Republicans come up with since Trumplandia absorbed the Republican Party:  embarrassment, Horror, and Disgust, sometimes all present in a single speech, action, or declaration of Trumplandia.

This morning, I learned that our dear Congressional Republicans and possibly some Democrats too are planning to lower safety REGULATIONS on toxic chemicals, putting all of us, even the bribed recipients from chemical lobbyists AT RISK.  In my note to Congress below, I indicate which of the 3 (E,H,D) is my response to the statements.

“Do you all realize, particularly my senators, that lowering chemical safety standards will impact you too (D).  I think Republicans have forgotten to reason clearly while blinded by Trump's "glory" or something.  The earth is a closed ecosystem for the most part and when bad chemicals are released somewhere, they will eventually do harm other than at their starting point (D).  Those chemicals are often released on unsuspecting people,usually folks who are poor, non-white, or women and children (H). 

In my begging mode, I ask you to please oppose any effort to roll back the health protections in the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (E).  That is really the least you should be doing in this time of environmental destruction and global warming.  Alas, you might need to take things a tiny bit at a time, just not making things worse. 

As you would know if you cared, current proposals being pushed by the chemical industry would dramatically weaken our nation's chemical safety law, making it easier for dangerous chemicals to enter the market (H).  It would also be harder for EPA and states to protect people from toxic chemicals linked to cancer, Parkinson's disease, impaired brain development, and other serious health problems (H).

In some cases, these proposals would provide fewer safeguards than Americans had more than 50 years ago.  Yeah, it is just so superior to go backward!  Even children know that makes no sense, but alas . . . (D).

As I mentioned, We the people need stronger protections from toxic chemicals—not weaker ones. OK, here comes the  begging again, please oppose any legislation that rolls back TSCA's health protections and stand up for the health of our families, workers, and communities (E).  We will be paying attention because it may well be our lives you are putting at risk.” 

There are many other instances of E,H,D.  The E is ever-present when Donald Trump speaks these days; he has no clue what he is talking about and simply does not care:  calling Democrats Communists, saying the war is over or will be over or something, getting the president of FIFA to release a player from a red card penalty, representing the US at a NATO meeting in Turkey. 

The H relates to the regime’s violence perpetrated without congressional approval:  Trump’s vanity war with Iran that our Baby Donnie and his inept, incompetent “negotiators” can’t figure out how to end if they even want to end it:  bombing a girls’ school on Netanyahu’s orders, using missiles to destroy small boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific claiming they were drug smuggling but with no proof, setting masked ICE nuts on immigrants and peaceful protesters.

The wrecking of our 250^th Birthday celebration of the “Declaration of Independence” was a resounding “D,” along with his reflecting pool stupidity and blaming innocent people for the destruction caused by an incompetent pool company and Trump’s need to run a motorcade over unset materials, etc.  I thought these would be embarrassing, but when the person orchestrating the events is an ignoramus with dementia, surrounded by a pool of incompetents, disgust is the thing I feel.  There is also some anger that Republicans, Musk‘s AIers, and some judges, returned Trump, an insurrectionist, to office.

Identifying whether this regime’s actions are E, H, or D, is like keeping score.  It helps me remember, when one votes for incompetence and incompetents, that is what we get.  Keep that in mind as the primaries wind down and the November midterm elections near.  We must be aware that Trump and his white house toddler pool are scared they might lose, so will do anything, including wrecking or stopping our elections to keep their ignorant, undeserved power.  They are already actively pushing again, the lie that non-citizens are voting.  They are threatening members of Congress that they must vote for the SAVE Act which would keep many American citizens from voting.  Their desperation is embarrassing, but disgusting and could be horrific if they win in November.  Beware!

THE DEMOCRATIC BLAME GAME STILL GOING ON

By Ruth A. Sheets

Last month, I joined the 73 year-old-club.  I couldn’t imagine I would ever get to this age.  I hoped I would, but didn’t think it would happen, yet, here I am, and my age is a prime number!. I did hope the world would be a less violent, less greedy, less vengeful, more livable place by the time I reached this age.

I have been obsessed with American history from around age 10.  I am furious that We the People have permitted a bunch of whiny white toddler-men and a few toddler-women to work to worsen our nation and our relationships with the rest of the world even though those relationships have not been great for a while. 

Over the decades, when Democrats can't fix all the harms the previous Republicans have caused, and in a few weeks, getting folks everything they need, it is assumed the Democrats did a horrible job and must be replaced at the next election.  Unfortunately, to tackle the task, Biden never had more than a tiny majority in the House and Senate and then only for 2 years.  And, among the Democrats were saboteurs:  Joe Manchin and Kirstin Sinema.  I am amazed Biden and his crew were able to accomplish as much as they did with that kind of undermining.  Trump and his white house toddler pool are doing their best to eliminate even that progress. 

It seems Republicans are in it for the money and power and any Republican will vote for the sacred "R" even when that “R” represents incompetence, ignorance, and sycophancy.  Democrats, on the other hand, want perfection.  They want a candidate to agree with every teensy thing they stand for, or they won't vote for them, or at all, I believe, the reason Dems lose so often.    

In 2016, after two terms of an intelligent skilled President Obama, Republicans needed someone they and their oligarchic buddies could manipulate to do serious damage to this nation to get even more money for themselves and their yachts.  They settled on “reality TV” bully, Donald Trump.  He got into office by electoral college rather than popular vote.  The Liar-in-Chief  still needed a lot of Russian interference on his behalf and tons of that oligarchic money.  The misogyny and racism that are alive and well in this nation helped too.

Trump is not used to losing because of his family wealth, so he lied and claimed he won the 2020 election and got a lot of sycophants and media to go along with the BS.  That with his insurrection and stolen documents put Trump in the headlines nearly every day while Biden was president, so it was hard to get much out to the nation about what Biden and his highly-qualified team were up to. 

In 2024 the oligarchs needed something because Trump's dementia and other health problems were becoming more obvious so as a distraction, it is likely they staged the "assassination attempts" for the pity vote. (Interesting the supposed assassins were Trumpers!)  When Biden failed at one debate, he was written off.  Trump failed at every single debate, but no Republican demanded he drop out. 

As I look back over the 2024 election, it seems to me Trump was not as much elected as selected along with certain Republicans in other key offices.  That was likely done by AI algorithms and Musk's what I call "pre-DOGE" team attaching devices to tallying machines that would change just enough votes to make sure Trump won, but not by too large a margin in every single swing state and just over the amount required for a recount.  No recounts were done even though winning every swing state at nearly the same percentage is not likely without some kind of cheating, and AI fit the bill. 

So, the Democrats blame themselves for what happened in 2024 and that is partially true since so many wouldn't get off their butts to vote for a competent qualified woman of color.  In the parts of their “election autopsy” that I read, they neglect to mention the near-certain stolen votes.  Maybe they were scared that voters would lose faith in the system if they knew what really happened, then not vote again. 

I suspect Musk and his AIers were practicing in Texas and maybe Florida in 2022 and perhaps other elections until they could get their AI “intervention” perfected.  No one is going to check votes in red states, although they might now in Texas because of corrupt Paxton's win in the primary.

We have a lot of work to do and even we, the 70s club and older are going to have to jump in to support young candidates as they recognize and try to fix things.  Getting the congress back into the hands of people who believe in their oath of office is a priority, and putting the word out about the cheating, fraud, and general corruption of this Trumpian Regime is critical. The media won’t do that because they are owned by the oligarchs who chose to use our Baby Donnie for their own self-enrichment and cover him as some kind of savior; he isn’t.

Democrats need to dump the blame game where we blame ourselves for so much.  We need to get active and stand for and with our candidates, particularly the progressives.  The progressive position is really popular in this nation, yet we let the old guys at the “top” of the party dictate who should run and if they should be supported. 

New York’s primary has proven that people want better.  We have the talent to reach folks, so must do it, even if candidates call themselves “Social Democrats.”  The American people want action, not the status quo, a position that has kept Democrats from doing so much more for this nation for decades.  The old guard needs to wake up and listen to the newbies who have some powerful ideas and know tech and AI. 

These newbies can steer us into a place where we can put the blame where it belongs, on oligarchs who would steal everything we have if they could, Republicans who have allowed personal hatreds of people different from themselves to shape our lives while they target women, immigrants of color, people of color in general, trans persons, non-christians, and whoever they think will get in the way of their powermongering and greed. 

Trump has surrounded himself with fools, the greedy, the haters, the fearful of change, those who choose ignorance over reality, and would-be Medieval kings/dictators if we let them.  Our nation doesn’t need or want them in charge!

On the 250^th anniversary of the signing of our “Declaration of Independence,” we need to stop the navel-gazing and stand up to the oligarchic bullies, many of whom came to the US for what they could take from us for their own gain.  They aren’t worthy of being Americans, but they are citizens, so we need to employ our laws to stop their corruption, theft, disinformation, bullying, and the rest.  It’s time! 

A CASE FOR IMPEACHMENT

By Ruth A. Sheets       

June 21, 2026

Cheating and lying are wrong no matter who does it and when the president does it, it is especially BAD.  That person has taken an oath of office that requires them to stand with and for our Constitution.  in addition, they hold a high office, so people look to them as a model for integrity on behalf of this nation. 

Donald Trump has not been a positive example for this nation since the first minute after he swore that oath the first time.  He lied about the size of the crowd who attended.  That should have let everyone know just who he is and what to expect. 

He has not improved with time, in fact he has done far more to damage this country and

with the help of his Project 2025ers, the DOGErs and his white house toddler pool, has put many people's lives at risk here and around the world. 

• He planned and ordered an insurrection, and now is trying to, with the help of Acting Attorney General Blanche and the Sec. of Treasure Bessent, to steal nearly $2 billion from taxpayers to pay off the insurrectionists, keeping them on board so they can potentially commit another insurrection, and who knows who will be harmed or killed this time! 
• sued the IRS, the nation for a bogus release of his tax return which should have been released by himself as he promised;
• Trump has been convicted on 34 counts in a court of law, has been found to be an adjudicated rapist and defamer,  stole classified documents, and somehow just somehow, managed to be re-elected?
• Trump lies about nearly everything with little to no thought. 
• He damaged the white house that he doesn't own but thinks he does, then wrecked the DC Reflecting Pool, puts his name or image on many buildings around the city as though he owns them; he doesn’t. 
• He released an unelected, unapproved group of young computer geeks under the command of Elon Musk on the various departments of our government, stealing personal information and probably classified documents, firing people they knew nothing about and without cause, and closed agencies that were doing critical work around the world (UsAID) that puts the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, SOMETIMES including Americans at risk of serious disease, EVEN STARVATION.
• He started an illegal war with Iran for nothing but his own ego and put Americans' and Iranians' lives at risk for nothing.  His excuse changes regularly as do the reports of an end of the war coming soon, WELL, IF Israel cooperates.
• He attacks the press when they report on his bad behavior and that of his minions.
• He allows media monopolies by billionaires as long as they do not permit their platform to criticize him.  This includes getting some of the press fired, and calling any who don't agree with his foolish and harmful pronouncements "enemies of the people," which they are not. 
• Trump has set the FBI and other Dept. of Justice entities to raid the offices of voter registration groups and journalists for no recognizable reason.
• He nominated utterly incompetent people for every office for which he can make nominations, then threatened Republican senators that they must vote for them “or else.”  This includes nominees for Federal judgeships.

 

In short, I want members of Congress to introduce Articles of Impeachment against President Donald Trump.  They are long in coming.  A lot of people have been harmed because it has taken so long.  In addition, Trump has dementia and other serious medical problems that make him unfit for office. 

We witnessed on Sunday, June 7, 2026, an anger breakdown by Trump because he lost control of an interview with Kristen Welker and couldn't figure out what to do.  Trump’s dementia probably added to the childish angry behavior he exhibited.  He stood up, threw the microphone down, stomped on it, then walked off the set.

As you know, among other things, last month, the Trump administration "settled" a $10 billion frivolous lawsuit filed by Trump against his own IRS.  His acting A.G. Blanche put together a “deal” that creates a $1.8 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" using American taxpayer dollars, designed to enrich him and court and support the January 6th insurrectionists who are traitors to this nation.  The “deal” they worked out, Of course because of its illegal nature, means this fund has no public disclosure requirements, no Congressional oversight, and is expected to pay out to Trump’s political allies (his white house toddler pool), and himself.  Some of the January 6^th insurrectionists are already contacting lawyers to file claims.  Yes, we should be paying traitors to this nation. No one who cares about this nation should approve of that and if they do, should be removed from office.    Just considering giving a huge amount of money to traitors is a kind of treason too.

 

As if that were not enough, as part of that “deal” the US IRS would be declared "forever barred and precluded" from auditing the President, his family members, or any of his businesses for all tax filings made prior to May 19, 2026 (one wonders if that is the date after completion of some kind of family theft from the IRS). Despite Trump thinking he is king or god or whatever, he is not entitled to anything like that ban on being audited.  We know he has failed to pay taxes in the past and probably his family has too.  That is giving a criminal a free pass to break the law whenever he wishes, and Trump and his crew have a lot of wishes! 

 

Trump needs Congress to impeach and convict him.  Then he can go home to Florida and play golf all day until his administration is gone and he can be held accountable unless his dementia has totally taken his mind the rest of the way to incomprehension.

 

This is not a partisan disagreement about policy. This is the President of the United States using the machinery of government to enrich himself, shield himself from legal accountability, and reward those who were willing to attack our democracy on his behalf. The Constitution provides Congress with the tools to respond to exactly this kind of conduct. I urge you to use them. 

 

Now we need to see Congress acting like the adults in the room, even the Republicans and stop this insanity, this destruction.

 

We the People need you to introduce Articles of Impeachment against President Donald Trump.  Then we need the Senate to act like adults and convict him of the many crimes he and his toddler pool have committed since taking office, and that includes those done with Musk and Theil.  Just because they are not in DC anymore does not mean they are not still messing with our nation's regulations, laws, and doing harm to the people who live here, you know, like stealing private information, messing with Social Security files, cutting US AID with permission from no one but Donald Trump, when Congress should have been involved.  We the people, including Congress, deserve better and demand that Congress gives that “better” to We the People of the United States.

SOME CHANGES I WANT TO SEE

By Ruth A. Sheets

June 11, 2026

When this Trumpian/oligarchical insanity has passed, I would like to see some serious changes to our current government.  Ahead are some of my suggestions.

1. Our full legal code needs to be thoroughly combed.  Laws that oppose human rights (the Comstock Act and others) voted down permanently and discarded.  Then a second combing to dump laws that are too vague and can be interpreted in ways to harm people a group like the Trumplicans can use as a weapon.  Our laws should acknowledge our wonderful diversity and that We the People are the most important factor in our democracy.

2. Immigrants who have lived in this nation for 10 or more years and have worked and contributed should have a path to citizenship that is quick and fair.  This should include the DACA young people.  ICE is abolished and rules set up or a Constitutional amendment that would outlaw the construction of a paramilitary such as ICE and the Border Patrol have become.  All concentration camp prisons are closed permanently and deportations to 3rd countries are totally stopped.  No one is imprisoned without due process.

3. Caring for our planet, cleaning up our environment, and developing renewable/clean energy with support to make it affordable and cheaper than fossil fuels are critical for our planet's survival.  Connections like the Paris Agreement are reinstated and seriously followed and other nations are encouraged to follow them too.

4. No top-level positions in our government can be filled with people who have no experience in the area they are nominated for:  HHS Sec. must be a medical expert and have medical experts under them who actually know what they are doing; a Sec. of Defense must have not only some military experience, but diplomatic and management skills too.

5. The Supreme Court will have 18-20 year term limits at which point they may choose to stay in a lower court.  They will have a code of ethics and be held to it on penalty of suspension, just as lower court judges do.  The Supreme Court will be expanded to 13 (I’ve also heard 15 suggested to expand the number of districts too) one justice for each district court.  A nominee must already be a judge on a lower court and will need approval from at least 3 non-partisan professional legal organizations like the ABA and have a record of fairness in any previous court position.

6. The Federal government and state governments will support elections and pass severe limits on how much money any person, including corporations can contribute to a campaign, less for the narrower the position in territory.  Every single penny donated to a PAC or campaign will be recorded with the name of the person that donated it and no foreign contributions and no “dark” money will be permitted on penalty of the candidate being removed from the ballot if there is evidence the campaign knew of the “donation.”  Automatic voter registration will take place for every American citizen upon reaching age 18.  Incentives will be given for people to vote, perhaps a small tax break that will increase after a significant number of elections.  Vote by mail would be available for everyone who wants it no questions asked.  

7. All gerrymandering for any reason, political, race, religion, etc. will be halted.  Agreed-upon independent groups will design the districts using fair computer algorithms, keeping towns intact when possible. 

8. The minimum wage around the country will be set to go with the cost of living average in each state where possible starting with $18 per hour and gradually moving up to reach $25 in 5 or 6 years.  There will be overtime pay increases too.

9. The entire tax code will be carefully examined by people who understand economics and taxes from both parties and independents, cleaning it up, making it more fair, dumping tax breaks for the very rich who do some shady practices to avoid paying taxes.  Millionaires and Billionaires will pay their fair share of taxes up to 50% for the folks at the very top.  Free online submission of tax forms will be available for anyone who wants to use them.  The tax code needs to be completely overhauled with citizen input at every stage.

10. Public Education is a common good that needs to be expanded and encouraged.  Charter schools should be reincorporated into the regular public school system to make funding fair.  Voucher programs would be gone since they only serve to give rich people more money they don't need to support private and religious schools.  Civics education should begin in Kindergarten and be age appropriate through grade 12.

11. End monopolies in nearly all areas with specific exceptions, some utilities, for example.  Then make sure that no billionaires can own more than 1 media platform and no more than 10 radio or TV stations or newspapers around the country.  Local news coverage should be encouraged with some assistance when needed.  We need good journalism not a pack of oligarchical lies, disinformation, and ignorance to rule our airwaves or computers/phones.

12. Above all, there must be universal healthcare!  No one should have to forgo treatment because they can't afford it.  We have the tech and the ability to make this happen.  Private insurance corporations can be assisted to cover areas other than healthcare.  There are several other nations that have such healthcare programs and we could learn from them how to do it well. 

Probably the first thing we will need to do, though, hard as it will be, we must hold accountable, the people who have caused this chaos, this harm to the people of our communities The targeted could begin with DOGE, the various department secretaries who chose to dismantle needed programs and services without permission, ICE guys on the streets who killed and otherwise harmed people, those who proposed and developed the concentration camp prisons which they allowed to treat people worse than one would treat animals (and no one should be treating animals that badly). 

Trump and his white house toddler pool and the Trump relatives should be first in line for investigation and indictment.  No blanket pardons for these people.  The country needs to know what they have done, to whom, and what they themselves gained financially and otherwise from their efforts. 

So, these are some things I and others have been thinking about and what we need to do.  We must get things started as soon as we can because Republicans have a way of sabotaging every positive thing that Democrats and independents do to make things better.  Repubs screw things up and Dems have to clean up their mess and if they take more than a couple of months to fix something Repubs have screwed up for 4+ years, people vote the party that made the messes back into office.  It is nuts, but just what happens.

We can do this if we have the will and the quality reps and senators in office.  Even if we have to wait until 2028, we can at least get started and let the American people know what we are up to, how they can help, and where they can share their ideas for what they would like to see happen.  As lawyer Joyce Vance always says, “We’re in this together.”

FEAR AND EVIL IN TRUMPLANDIA

 By Ruth A. Sheets

June 3, 2026

I like responding to comments on my several threads.  One commenter said that people are trying to be a bit better because of some of the ridiculous, even appalling things this current Trumpian regime (my term) has been doing.  This was my response.

 I do hope you are right about people wanting to do better, but it seems EVIL like that displayed by Trump and his white house toddler pool is not easy to stop.  They get their hooks into so many places and people who then feel they must be loyal to the hookers.

 They proceed by proving their moral compass doesn't exist or is in the shop being repaired  (maybe permanently).  Integrity is an unnecessary burden.  Kindness just gets in the way.

 Trump and his toddler pool can’t make their takeover on their own; they have to get media involved so they can pass the message on and forge the chain that ends up giving power to people who do not deserve it, people who promote fear in ways I consider evil.

 The target of Trump and his “friends is not what one might expect since he is a racist, misogynistic fool.  His target, white men.  He knew there are a lot of scared white people who have been groomed over time to believe they are the ones being treated badly by those people, the ones who don’t look like them.  They were and are angry and often afraid.  They needed to be seen by people in power as the put-upon guys being abused by the people who are just cheating; they’re “welfare queens” and “affirmative action hires.”

 Donald Trump was just the guy they wanted for their salvation.  Now they are desperately clinging to Trump, an ignoramus with dementia because they bought the message that Trump would save them from the libs, the woke who have “done them wrong,” that they are being replaced by those people, you know, the ones that don’t look like them. 

 I suspect those scared white folks don’t really have a clue what replacement would mean for them, but it doesn’t matter.  There is a whole cadre of folks out here, willing to plant seeds of something that sounds horrible, and the imaginations of the scared are off and running and there is no opportunity in their minds to stop and actually consider the implications, the fact that they are being used.  Why should they wonder about what that means?  Why would they want to know that for decades, Donald Trump has been one of the masters of the con, and he and his buddies are conning them, conning all of us. 

 Trump is a rich white man as are most members of the white house toddler pool (a bunch of whiny white people, mostly men who complain, blame, insult with the goal of intimidating and silencing their targets), afraid someone will find out that they might not be the brightest bulbs in any string.  Being rich, white, and male are the only requirements for those scared white folks to guarantee their superiority.  They have been convinced nothing can be worse than being “replaced” by those people!

 The real problem,  they don’t want to notice that they and all of us are already targets of the rich white males in power.  Those rich white men want us all to be replaced by AI machines on the job, rather than messy people/workers those rich corporate masters don’t want to deal with.  Those humans  might demand higher taxes on the rich, better wages, more caring behavior on the part of the corporations, more integrity, stopping their cheating.  The folks in power are not willing to give these up, so everyone suffers, including those scared white residents of Trumplandia.  The rich white men in power don't even think of them except when they need their votes and can lie their way into the hearts of Wwhiteland. 

 Black, Hispanic, native American, LGBTQ, and other groups are aware of how those in power feel about them and are working on ways to stop the onslaught.  Scared white folks think they are safe from this Trumpian/rich guy insanity, and will someday be those rich white guys themselves  (they won't).  Their dreams make them “work” to keep those who care for nothing and no one in power, hoping they will get rewarded for giving up any integrity they might have had. 

 For Trump, his toddler pool, and the oligarchs, those scared white people exist only in November every even year when they can be handily used to vote to keep the uncaring, money and power addicts in charge.  It would be great if we could get the scared white folks to look at their racism, misogyny, homo/transphobia, xenophobia to see the damage it is doing to them and their families, while they are being told they are keeping those people in their place.  The people they target have done nothing to harm them while the members of Trump’s toddler pool have done a lot of harm. 

 Right now,  scared white folks think they have truth on their side, sure everyone not like them is evil, trying to steal from them (getting a free ride), all the things the evil-rich in charge keep feeding them, their banquet of lies.  Unfortunately, their religious leaders often reinforce that, identifying Trump as “god’s messenger” (not likely).   

How do we reach people who are too scared to even begin to look at their lives and what they are doing and agreeing to?  I think any approach needs to be from many different angles depending who is being addressed.

• Listen more than speaking.  A lot of Trumplandia is used to being told what to do and not listened to
• Say things like (and mean them), I understand your position.  Have you thought that:  you are helping to pay for a war you did not agree to-  that is raising gas prices a lot; really, tariffs are taxes on us, you too, not the countries the products and services are from; immigrants are your neighbors and do a lot of the work you and I most likely wouldn’t do and are not skilled at. 
• Ask people, what is it within your faith that makes it acceptable to starve, abuse, and imprison innocent people, to pollute our air and water, allow the rich folks to dictate what happens to the rest of us;  ignore global warming when it is God who is the creator?  What role does love have in your life as a Christian or Jew?
• What do you think your taxes should pay for?  Who should decide?
• Are you familiar with our Constitution?  Would you like a copy (give them a pocket Constitution if they would like one.) 

I think you get the idea.  Accusing the scared folks will not make any points.  I suspect many of them know they are being used and feel the anger of knowing that.  Bringing them to a place where they can start to see how they “are being used” by their “heroes,” without saying those words can make a positive, maybe even freeing difference for them and for us all.

 This is complicated and will take effort on our part, but it can work.  It’s worth a try!