A VISIT TO TRUMPLANDIA

 

By Ruth A. Sheets

August 31, 2026

OMG!  Is there nothing Trump won't lie about. I must admit I am not sure how much of what Trump "tweets" is actually written and sent by Trump.  Now that I know about Natalie Harp, being referred to as Trump’s binky, with her fast fingers on the laptop and portable printer, I am guessing he does very little on his own now, possibly for quite some time.  I get it that Natalie has mastered Trump’s lying, and can put it out here just like her Baby Donnie.  

It is obvious to those who pay attention, Trump is losing his ability to understand much of what is going on.  The things he blurts out in press meetings and when he is on the phone to FoxFraud hosts often make little sense (OK, the things Trump says to FoxFraud have rarely made much sense, leaving the hosts to “fix” them through their Trump translators.).  It becomes more clear each day that Trump is heavily medicated.  When the drugs are working, Trump can rant albeit confusedly for more than an hour.  When they are not, he can hardly stay awake and his voice is barely audible, even with the microphones.  He appears less and less often in public these days, definitely a good thing.

Trump is now nearly totally absorbed with himself and whatever comes into his damaged brain at any moment.  The dementia is increasing despite it rarely being mentioned in our media.  I guess pretending soothes some Americans, but anyone who has lived with someone experiencing dementia knows the truth. 

We have a war going on, 6 months now, started by that old man with dementia who knows little of war and nothing of Iran, its leadership, its people.  He has no empathy or sympathy for our military personnel stuck in the Strait of Hormuz.  He makes up stories about the war as though he is either watching it in a movie in his head or playing the war as a video game, also in his head. 

Trump's picks for candidates for the upcoming election are not winning near 100% of the time anymore, possibly because more people are sick of this old man dictating to them what they should think and feel, who should represent them, and that they should be just fine with this war, gas prices, lack of affordability in general while the rich get richer.  The attacks on heroic Americans like Anthony Fauci and Jack Smith, and the destruction of valuable American properties and monuments are not popular.  Watching immigrant men, women, and children of color dragged off the streets, out of their homes and from in front of schools, churches, and the offices where they are reporting as required to check on their current status is getting to people, even some of Trumplandia’s citizens.  Maybe Trump’s actions and those of other Trumplicans are reaching some of the MAGAs and waking them up to a world they have been pretending isn’t real for over a decade. 

Alas, another Trumpian rule is in the works.  It will, of course, do harm to the American people as usual!  This time, it's about cutting funding for and otherwise interfering with Head Start, a program that has helped millions of our children since its inception.  It has been successful, so of course, Trumplandia has decided to cut it.  Helping disadvantaged children succeed just isn’t what the oligarchs and their minions want; they want a poorly educated servant class.

I have observed, there is honestly not one thing Trumplandia has done or proposed that is a positive for this nation in Trump’s nearly 6 years in office.  He is so desperate to prove he is better than the Democratic presidents (OK all the presidents) who came before him, he spends his time trying to reverse their accomplishments rather than accomplishing something of value on his own, which due to a lack of ideas, he/they simply can’t manage.   

Trumplandia now includes Trump, his white house toddler pool, Trump’s oligarchic buddies who have the money, Republicans in Congress and the Johnny Roberts6 on the Supreme Court.  They all support Trump’s desperate need to create monuments to himself.  That makes them lawbreakers as they ignore the laws against doing anything to our monuments or the white house without congressional approval.  Congressional Trumplicans haven’t gotten around to giving permission yet.  When they do, they will be complicit and can be held accountable by the American people who actually hold those monuments as nearly sacred.

Trump doesn't really need an arch or the Kennedy Center; all he needs is a book or a computer file of his “best” Executive Orders, pardons,  and bills ordered to be passed by Republicans in Congress.  It should also include blueprints of the proposed monuments to Trump and proposed changes to the Kennedy Center and the white house, of course.  These should  suffice to keep the Donald occupied for hours at a time with personal guides to walk him through the material as often as possible.  This fits the task of keeping Trump distracted while the rest of the Klan work to undermine our nation in his name.

We need everyone to be aware that any of Trump's ideas for this nation are poison, just as the one for Head Start is.  It will be hard to get the word out since Trumplandia owns so much of our media and has threatened most of what they don’t own.  There have been points in history when our media has been compromised and people managed to figure out how to get around that.  We can do it too.  One way may be to regularly take people on a visit to Trumplandia, letting us all know just what Trump and the white house toddler pool of sycophants are up to and who is targeted for their venom today.  There are Substack threads that do that, but it isn’t enough!  We need an all-out information barrage to let people know what is really going on!

We must find ways to bridge the gaps between Americans, the divisions mostly deepened by Trumplandia.  Why should anyone either believe or act on anything that comes from Trumplandia’s bunch of child-men and a few child-women?  We need to do smart work arounds to try to limit their power and push harder together for a better nation, not just for Democrats and the other Trumpian targeted groups, but for everyone. 

Maybe, we can try to help people we know get off the drug of FoxFraud and the other Trumpian media.  This will be some of the hardest work we do, but we are America and can do this!  As much as possible, it must be done TOGETHER in community if we are to succeed! 

TAXES AND THE VERY RICH

By Ruth A. Sheets

August 26, 2026

The word that came into my mind when years ago I read about Republican negative responses to paying their fair share of taxes, since Reagan days was "GREED"!  It seems that once one gets more money than he needs, he MUST keep accumulating just to think himself successful.  One house isn't enough, he must have more.  When he has no interest in sailing, he must still have a yacht.  He never has sufficient funds, and thinks his brilliance deserves a ton of children by acceptable women so he can produce a super race (Musk).  If he doesn't think his corporations have gotten to where he thinks they should be, he will bribe or threaten the Department of the Interior to let him take over and drill, mine, log, or otherwise steal our public lands.  He leaves messes for the rest of us to clean up, while his profits rise. 

It never ends, and taxes just get in the way.  It doesn't matter that the white male oligarch and his corporations use the roads, the air space, the utilities, and all the other services of a nation, he just doesn't see that he should have to pay more than a pittance for the peons. And, you know, those peons just demand too much, so we had better cut out the waste (the peons). 

That is still not enough, so those super rich white boys need a paramilitary force that can intimidate everyone into doing whatever those rich white guys want in their rich-boy paranoia targeting:  immigrants, protesters, women, medical folks who provide services to the peons, journalists, and anyone who gets in the way.  The oligarchs need distractions to cover their “bad” behavior, so threaten and lie about trans women, people on the Mall in DC who touch the Reflecting Pool (they must have vandalized it), and an assortment of groups they believe they can use to pacify their MAGA base.  Let’s be clear, it is the oligarchs’ MAGA base!  

Through ownership of our media platforms, those whiny rich white child-men lie, gaslight, misinform, and most of all, disinform everyone that somehow the people are ignorant and need to be ordered about by somewhat attractive men and women whose only talent seems to be that they can read what they are given to read, ask the questions they are told to ask.  The people don't need rights, they don't need to vote, they do need to pay taxes though.  Everyone who doesn't look like Whitelandia is evil or a criminal, depending on the race or gender.  History and science are what those ignorant rich white child-men say they are. 

As one would expect, those super rich guys and their “partners” are nearly all Republicans because that party is easiest to manipulate and keep in line with money and threats.  Republicans under the thumb of the super rich buy candidates and rig elections, while claiming the rigging is all on the part of the Democrats/Communists/left-wing terrorists (all the same thing as far as MAGA is led to believe). They order their purchased legislators to lower taxes for the oligarchs whenever they can get away with it. 

Republicans prodded by the oligarchy heavily promote the myth of wealth which lets ordinary people think they will be rich one day too.   Therefore, they should support those tax cuts for the very rich to make them even richer, because they will be them some day.  There is next to no chance of that, but the myth lives!  It serves those childish rich folks to have a bunch of those wealthy-wannabee peons waiting on them. 

We the People need to stop this insanity!  The question is, HOW?  You might guess I would have some ideas; I do.  Here are a few of them.

• Show less respect for the guys I think of as users.  They use everyone to get what they want and somehow are called “brilliant” for doing it; they’re not, they’re users or in other words, “the takers.”  Among them are Musk, Zuckerberg, Bezos, Theil, Vought, and the owners and CEOs of the other huge media and tech corporations.  They, however, see themselves as “the givers.”

If we are to put those oligarchs in their place, we have to act.

• We need to be aware of where the worst of them operate from, then boycott their operations as much as possible.  We make that boycott public so everyone will know who is being targeted this week/month/year.
• We must laugh at their antics as though they are little spoiled bratty children trying to rule the playground.  We must find ways to avoid revering them.
• Point out loudly, whenever possible, when the truth of their shenanigans has been revealed, that they need to feel shame for what they have done and/or are doing and stop it!  Maybe some strategically-placed signs or billboards would work.
• Journalists should dig more deeply into the activities of the whiny white boy oligarchs.  When the truth is known about their encroachment on people’s rights, or stealing of our public lands, or abuse of people in their prisons comes out, make it more than a one-day news item.  Then say things like, “we give them tax breaks and look what they do to us.”
• Get Congress to clean up the tax law, close rich white boy loopholes, and significantly raise the taxes on everyone whose income is say $10 million and above in a progressive manner as in the past.  Begin with Social Security which should be calculated on all income.  Even tax income that which comes from trading stocks and interest, EVERYTHING.  Maybe, if they have to pay a lot more in taxes, they might be willing to be more careful how they do business. Nah, but we will have more money for critical programs!
• Install a one-time say 5% wealth tax, call it something clever like dignity tax on all income over $2 billion, to be renewed in the future as needed to work down our debt and reestablish the programs Americans need.

These are a few suggestions for dealing with the insanity of people in power.  Whether in politics or business, they think the rest of us are either dust on their shoes or obstacles they need to kick out of the way.  We should not be willing to accept either role.  We need to  work together to end their bullying, then push or vote them out of power.  We have been victims of wealth abuse for a long time.  It’s time now to have enough courage to stand up and say “I’m not going to take it anymore,” and mean it!

A POSSIBLE DEMOCRATIC STRATEGY

By Ruth A. Sheets

There is an enormous amount of lying, cheating, theft, corruption, assault, and disregarding of our laws these days, and it is not done by the people we have been told all our lives are the criminals.  Who is doing this vast damage to our nation?  I call it Trumplandia! 

Many supporters of Trumplandia just want their cut of the spoils.  That is not likely to happen when one considers the level of greed involved with the members of Trumplandia.  Their goal is to rule the United States of America so they can continue to accumulate the wealth and power they crave.  Everyone else is just a pawn in their game or a minion to be used and abused at will.  All of this is clearly an abuse of the American people.  Trumplandia with all its oligarchic support and influence works really hard to hide as much of it as possible behind more lies, insults, blaming, incompetence, and whatever money can buy.  Since these folks pay as little in taxes as they can get away with while stealing government contracts and collecting interest on our national debt,, they have a lot.

I hope we can keep the Trumplican misuse of the American people in the forefront of this midterm election.  It is critical.  We must name names when we have them to let the people know who is orchestrating this appalling attack on our democracy:  Trump, Miller, Vance, Vought, Musk, Bannon, the members of Trump’s cabinet, Republicans in Congress, the Roberts 6 on the Supreme Court, state governors and legislators.  Trump is mostly in the background due to his dementia, but he is trotted out when Trumplandia has something they need him to say:  the war is over; we will obliterate Iran; I got Roberts to OK my ballroom and it is going to be the best . . . .; those criminals wrecked the beautiful reflecting pool,” for example. 

Republicans and a few Democrats in Congress, rubber-stamp the prescribed actions on behalf of Trump and the others.  I suspect they don’t even read the bills they are agreeing to because that might make their fractured moral compass start to nudge them a teensy bit.  Can’t have that!

They all want power and money and think their oligarchic buddies will let them in on the haul.  None of them realize that this insanity/EVIL has been in the works for a half-century and more and it has pushed deep into our lives. 

Back in the ‘70s, it only involved a few power-hungry rich white men, a small number compared to the number of people on board now.

It is essential we expose this Trumplican mess to the American people throughout the entire nation.  Democratic candidates across the country in every level election can get the ball rolling, really fast if they try the approach used by Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Abdul el Said of Michigan. 

Those two and some others have taken to the offense rather than trying to defend themselves against the ridiculous lies and disinformation Trumplandia is tossing out, hoping some will stick.  The most important part is that Democrats must have a united plan  of aggressive action that all candidates will use, adapted for the local and state needs. 

Some of Trumplandia’s most appalling lies are tied to attacks on Muslim candidates with VP J.D. Vance throwing out insults and Nancy Mace saying that every Muslim including candidates is a terrorist.  How does one defend against that insanity?  One stands up proudly and claims Islam as their faith and moves right on, as Omar, Mamdani,  and el Said have been doing.  Then, they hit their opponents hard, with the truth about our economy in stories of peoples’ actual struggles compared to what the “poor” abused oligarchs and their rich friends whine that they are going through.

In addition, rarely mention Trump’s name, but allude to him often as the contrast to the people’s actual issues.  Use phrases like, “You’ll notice that the guy in the white house blames everyone for what he has done while the American people work hard, care for their families, and try to live our democracy while experiencing the results of our Republican congressional inaction or actions designed to do harm to us all.

Then, with humor and empathy,  describe a list of a few of the presidential, congressional, judicial, and oligarchic injustices against the American people and give specific, easy-to-follow examples and the names of those who are participating, particularly those at local, state, or federal-level that people will recognize.  Ask a lot of rhetorical questions:  What do you think of a man  who would leave department heads and journalists on a decoy plane while he took a woman with no credentials, Natalie Harp with him on the "escape plane?"  A few more such questions might be:

• what kind of ‘commander-in-Chief’ would leave sailors in a ship for 9 months without relief on the open ocean, living in appalling conditions, then tell us all that wasn’t long enough;
• why are Republicans so worried about the Epstein Files that they won’t force the DOJ to release all of them as ordered by the courts, Congress, and the president’s signature, and won’t continue investigating Epstein’s collaborators who did enormous damage to the lives of many women and girls;
• who is Natalie Harp and what right does she have to be so close to Trump and advising him when she was never vetted or passed a security check – could she be a plant for a foreign or corporate entity;
• y were Republicans OK with DOGE invading our government and wrecking departments whose job it is to keep us safe, like the Food and Drug Administration that used to inspect for parasites and bacteria on our food;
• why is a paramilitary, ICE allowed to roam our streets, masked and heavily armed to murder, kidnap, separate people from their families and jobs, and run concentration camp prisons for innocent immigrants of color? 

Add, “Inquiring minds want to know!”

You get the idea.  With all the current issues, candidates can find which work best with which audiences.  Iin short videos on YouTube and  social media, in interviews on MS-Now and Substack, and on billboards, flyers, bumper stickers, etc., make comparisons, point out the injustices, the racism, the misogyny, the xenophobia, the homo/transphobia and how those are being used to divide our nation by the representatives of Trumplandia, for their own purposes of course, you know, the old “divide and conquer” tactic.

Our Democratic candidates as a whole must stand up for all of us, not just their donors and rich, white, men as Trumplandia’s candidates do.  Find out the voting record of opponents, then show where the candidate stands on the critical issues and how you know. 

Because we deserve better than what we have running our country with almost no limits on their corruption, Democratic candidates must step up and be their kind, decent, empathetic, competent, intelligent selves, who do honestly want the best for their constituents and this nation, no fakes.  We did that with Manchin and Synema and this time we need to try to keep such self-interested people out of office if we can, although at this point, it is really a bit too late.  Next time, though . . . .

We Democrats do have weapons; it is time our Democratic candidates ignore the "oligarchic quid pro quo donors' wishes" and tell the truth and stand for what is right.  Most of all they must hold the American people, our democracy, and our constitution as paramount, all the time!  IT’s doable!

IS THERE A LINE REPUBLICANS WON’T CROSS?

By Ruth A. Sheets

I can't help but wonder, nearly every day, where is the line that Republicans won't allow their Baby Donnie to cross, and will stop him? 

- One would have thought it would have been when Musk's DOGErs ransacked our government offices and agencies, or when they stopped nearly all government aid to the desperate people around the world who are suffering from treatable diseases as well as severe hunger. 

- It might have been when Trump demanded that they put in place massive cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, and other critical programs. 

- It could have been when Trump put massive tariffs on our allies as well as others for no honest reason. 

- Maybe it could have been when Trump started a war, completely for personal reasons which has cost probably at least $100 billion and killed and wounded thousands in Iran and who knows how many of our own military personnel. 

- It might have been when Trump had a significant part of the white house that he thinks he owns demolished for a gaudy unnecessary ballroom and used our taxpayer money to "decorate" the white house.

- It should have been when Trump and Miller unleashed an army of thugs called ICE on our communities allowing them to commit murder, to run concentration camps, and force innocent immigrants of color to die in custody because, I guess it is fun for those naziesque bratty toddler-men  

- It should have been when Trump tore up a lot of the grounds near the white house and beyond for his personal birthday party and used the mall for a sham "state fair," then wrecked our reflecting pool. 

- It could have been when Trump and his personal DOJ/FBI stole documents from Fulton County, GA and threatened other states and cities too, Democratic of course.

- It could be now that our service men and women are being treated like dispensables who should still serve who knows how much longer on ships that are in terrible condition. 

- Maybe now it will be when Trump tries to deny American citizens the right to vote, ignoring our constitution as he tried to do by getting rid of birthright citizenship which is clearly the first sentence of the 14th Amendment. 

- And, it could also be now when Trump is trying to turn his crypto scam into an official bank. 

Does anyone think any of this will be the stopping point for Republicans?  Not likely!  They have known for many years that Trump is suffering from dementia and that on top of his inability to think clearly and reason, they pushed that he be able to run for office after committing insurrection.  It seems the only way to stop this insanity is to get Democrats, Republicans who care, and Independents to vote in huge numbers this November, so many that if there is AI interference as in 2024, it will be found out and countered. 

Republicans can't or rather won't stop their Baby Donnie because they are getting a whole lot by staying in his corner, probably mostly from the oligarchic donors.  Thank you Johnny Roberts and your Supreme 6 for ignoring our Constitution and giving an utter fool immunity so he could commit his collection of crimes against this nation.  You all are complicit along with the entire Republican Party!  

OUTLANDISH ATTACKS ON THE MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY

By Ruth A. Sheets

Last Tuesday’s column by Heather Cox Richardson on Substack was difficult to read because it presented many false claims about the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History (NMAH), stated by Trump and his minions.  I worked 4 years at the Smithsonian, and found it to be a remarkable place, fairly trying to present an honest overview of our past.  I served as a volunteer weekend docent at the Museum of Natural History.  I guess Trumplandia hasn't gotten to that museum yet; they describe evolution there!  (OMG!  How can they stand knowing the truth!  Oh wait, they can’t!) 

It is clear the truth about American history is not what Trumplandia, in its ignorance and fear of reality wish to know.  If NMAH were telling the full truth about White America, and had enough space to do it, those whiny white boys and girls of Trumplandia would learn of some real horrors. 

• the tortures and murders committed from the beginning, against Native peoples because white men wanted their land and shaped the law to do whatever they could to get it, even driving whole communities from their land and holding massacres regularly. 

• The museum would show enslavement as a business proposition with torture chambers for any enslaved persons who didn't do exactly as their "masters/owners demanded, including amputations, beatings, and tortures that my brain just can't contemplate and my fingers can’t type here. 

• It would show the massive rapes committed by white men on enslaved women, Native women, and nearly any other women white men could get hold of without being accused of rape, even their own wives. 

• The museum would show the white male use of religion as a cudgel against women and poor folks to make them believe that being treated like slaves, like dirt or ignored altogether was god's will and tolerating it would get them into Heaven, along with their abusers, of course. 

• They would see how the people of Hawaii, Cuba, the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and other locations were beaten into submission and white men put in charge of those people's lives.  Now Cuba is being blamed for American unrest?  Are you kidding me! 

• No, the United States was not where the beginnings of the end of slavery happened; it was Britain, then Spain.  Brazil kept enslavement after us, but we only had it "officially" dumped after a horrific war led by white men, half of whom thought slavery was god's will and doing massive harm to Black and Native people somehow drove out their savagery or something.    Whitelandia still can’t all agree that people of color are worthy American citizens.

• The museum would have the myriad of inventions by Black Americans, examples of the architecture designed and build by Black Americans, the foods that came from the creativity of Black women trying to figure out how to use everything they could to survive.  There would be the evidence that often white men claimed those inventions and innovations as their own.  It would also show the effective Native farmers’ use of the land in contrast to the ways white farmers along with drought caused the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. 

Some of this information is in the Museum of African-American History and the Museum of the American Indian.  I am guessing the Museum of American History for Trumplandia is supposed to be the white male museum.  Well, white male American history is incomplete, violent, sometimes has some courage, some invention, some creativity, but a whole lot of violence and dismissal of everyone who is not rich, white, and male, pretending that white men did everything by themselves; of course, they didn't and the "supporters" were not just enslaved persons, handmaids, and apprentices.  They were full actors in the history of America!

I thank Historian, Heather Cox Richardson for spotlighting this.  It took a long time for me to read the disgusting lies being told about NMAH’s curator/director who knows far more about America's history then the entire Klan of Trumplandia combined.  Then Republican Reps. Mace and Boebert had to prove their anti-woman Bonafides to please their master, Donald Trump.  The writers of the ridiculous anti-Smithsonian report got all the buzzwords in:  slavery, transgender, founders (about whom they know nothing), and demonstrated their racism, misogyny , xenophobia (all of which they protest the museum shows when it is they who exhibit them every day).  These are trigger words for the ignorant MAGAs who want so badly to believe they are superior to everyone else when they are just mediocre whiny white people who have privilege but can't stand anyone else having anything.      

Signs are being produced that will be posted outside the National Museum of American History.  They will tell everyone to go to other museums to get “the truth.”  I hope the employees and visitors to NMAH will look at those signs and be reminded of the utter ignorance, power-grubbing nature of those who forced them to be posted.  I hope people will just laugh out loud when they see them.  That might be the best way to handle this childish toddleresque sign-posting.  JUST LAUGH OUT LOUD IN FRONT OF THOSE SIGNS, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM!!, EVERY DAY, then march right into the museum to learn about us, the American people! 

PURSUING A HERO

By Ruth A. Sheets

In the years since COVID, Trump, Senate Republicans, and others have been trying to prove some kind of criminal activity on the part of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the long-time head of the National Institutes for Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services.  His service to our government spanned 54 years in both Democratic and Republican administrations.  It seems, just as one might expect from today’s Republicans, they would prefer to ignore science and truth in favor of their chosen beliefs in conspiracy theories while they perpetrate their own conspiracies.

Anthony Fauci is a true American hero, although he would not say that about himself.  In his half-century of service to this nation and the world, he helped to save hundreds of thousands of lives, probably far more than that.  I can't think of one Republican in office who is now trying so hard to smear Fauci's name who has saved even one life, and has most likely been assisting in the deaths of many: 

• allowing US-AID to be dismantled (by a troop of unelected DOGErs), an organization whose loss is probably responsible for 700,000+ lives lost in the past 18 months;
• supporting utterly unnecessary but destructive wars in the Middle East -at least 4 in the past 37 years;
• sitting back while our military blows up small boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, killing at least 200, claiming they were running drugs, with no proof;
• permitting a masked, heavily armed paramilitary force, ICE to terrorize our communities causing havoc, disruption, and murder, dragging off the streets, people who have lived here often for decades, and just gave that poorly trained bunch of thugs  a huge financial injection of money to do more;
• keeping concentration camp prisons operating in the United States where the imprisoned, nearly all innocent victims are being treated far worse than decent people would treat animals, where they die of torture, beatings, and lack of medical attention;
• permitting a bunch of sex traffickers who hung out with Jeffrey Epstein to have their names concealed while outing and dyssing their victims leading to more than one suicide;
• encouraging American families not to be vaccinated for horrific diseases because a total ignoramus RFK,Jr. was approved by Republicans in our Senate to be in charge of medical research and vaccines. 

Republicans, following the orders of an old fool with dementia should be ashamed of themselves for targeting Dr. Fauci.  I do know that one of the qualities necessary for anyone in this administration who has any authority is that they MUST do whatever their ignoramus of a leader, Donald Trump and his white house toddler pool of Vance, Vought, Miller, Musk, Bannon, and the rest tell them to do.  Actual logical thinking or rather thinking in general is not permitted.   

I had the honor of hearing Dr. Fauci speak about HIV/AIDS nearly 40 years ago at a conference and to briefly meet him.  He and his colleagues were working hard to understand the disease and find ways to fight it.  He listened to people living with HIV/AIDS and his team around the world worked with them to get a better idea of what the disease was and how to serve those living with HIV/AIDS.  Their efforts have led to medications that keep people with the disease living full lives, well, except in places where US-AID is no longer present and neither are the drugs the people need to live. 

We have medical men in Congress who are Republicans, yet they have done nothing to stop the white house assault on universities, medical research, and you know, the truth.

Last week, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky led a witch hunt trial against Fauci.  They called it a hearing, but the lies Paul and the other Republicans on the committee who have no clue, spewed,  were  about Fauci’s handling of the COVID pandemic and developing a vaccine, THE VACCINE THEY NOW SCORN WHILE SOME PEOPLE STILL GET SICK AND DIE.  The COVID vaccine was developed more quickly than anyone should have expected due to massive research on similar vaccines for 2 decades and Fauci was involved with that among many other TALENTED RESEARCHERS.  The utter ignorance AND HATE displayed by the Republicans at that “hearing” just proved that Trump and his fan Klub were trying to find someone they could use to distract the nation from Trump’s massive failures.  Those Repubs came off sounding like a bunch of bratty toddlers trying to bully someone they knew was better than they are. 

I have some advice to Senators and other Republicans who see Fauci as a worthy target of their ignorance and hate.  Drop your attacks!  Leave Anthony Fauci alone unless you plan to honor his incredible service to this nation and the world.   Then, work a teensy bit harder to become decent human beings yourselves.  That will take all the time you would otherwise use to pursue this ridiculous action against a real hero.  In the meantime, growing up would help too.

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!

PATRIOTISM FOR ME IS . . .

By Ruth A. Sheets

Lucas Kunce of Missouri and his group Heartland Patriots asked people to comment on what we think patriotism is.  This is my response.  I am sure it is not complete because I wrote it in about 15 minutes and took another 20 minutes or so to edit, but I believe I got some of the main points I think are critical, at least for me.  I am hoping every American has a realistic sense of what it means to be patriotic, particularly in this 250^th anniversary of our “Declaration of Independence” and it’s only partly related to our military.

For me, a patriot:

-cares what happens to the people of this nation. 

• believes peace is what everyone should be working for and war should never be a personal choice by anyone, not a president who has proven he cares for no one and nothing but himself. 
• believes in equality/equity for all, not just for rich white men. 
• believes in basic human rights as well as the rights our Constitution gives us which include bodily autonomy for everyone, the right to a fair wage/salary, universal healthcare, respect for everyone no matter their gender or gender preference, the right for immigrants to be in this nation and a respect for the many contributions they have made here over the past 250+ years, appreciation for the indigenous peoples of this nation and their right to have their treaties and other agreements honored.
• acknowledges that racism, misogyny, homo/transphobia, classism, and xenophobia exist in this nation and need to be seriously addressed to try to avoid electing those who drink from the mug of hatred and dismissal of others to any significant offices. 
• Runs for office to serve, not to be served.  Is Aware that they need help and knows when to ask for it when in over their head with the complexities of a situation. 
• values public education and supports it at every opportunity. 
• values our children, all of our children and works to make their lives and those of their families successful. 
• acknowledges that global warming and environmental devastation are real and that all of us have a responsibility to do everything possible to slow their destruction, to limit using fossil fuels, work to re-forest and protect the many environments that we share with the plants and animals of this world, to conserve water and cut pollution. 
• believes in science and what it teaches us about how the world works, how to ease suffering, how to make life safer and more joyful for all of us, and that it is essential to update knowledge as new information comes to light.  
• appreciates the gifts and talents of others, particularly in the arts and supports them.
• demands honesty and integrity in our media and refuses to connect with media that choose to lie, dish out misinformation, and create disinformation.
• votes in every election once the age of 18 has been reached until they can't vote anymore due to age, illness, or death. 
• reveres the first Amendment of our Constitution and does not try to limit the rights of others while trying to say that their own rights are more important.  
• values, honors, and will stand up for our Constitution and those laws that support it, not counter it. more that support our rights as human beings and as Americans. 
• This all means that a patriot is a kind of hero that comes in all colors, religions,  genders, ages, education levels, cultures, and with many languages and practices, serves in our military if they choose, knowing the risks involved, and knows how to refuse an illegal order. 

Hail to our patriots all of the many millions of them, including those we remember this last week in May for their sacrifices, even death  in the name of this nation. 

 

LAYING IT OUT

By Ruth A. Sheets

May 20, 2026

I do believe our various media gave Donald Trump the tools he needed to become a national, then global menace.  Trump was "glib," a New Yorker with money and properties (didn't matter how he got them or what was being done with them), and he had friends. 

This trio of circumstances launched an ignorant, narcissistic, hateful charlatan onto a stage where he didn’t belong.  Unfortunately, the various media found a lot for themselves in what he was doing, and kept promoting him ("The Apprentice, Miss Universe, The Regis and Kathy Lee Show” ).  They enhanced Trump's actions and created a “star” who could travel in all sorts of circles plugging himself and his supposed greatness. 

However while Trump was being lauded by  the media, he was involved in let’s call them “crimes” that included theft, rape, fraud, rape of minors, lying, cheating contractors for his properties, red lining, and more, on to the present.  Some people knew about Trump’s behavior, but just considered him one of the “bad boys” who were to be tolerated.  There were rumors of his involvement with the New York Mafia, though people rarely talk about it. 

Developing a “connection” with New York’s media was critical to Trump’s rise.  From the day of Trump’s ride down the “golden escalator” in 2015, Trump or his actions were the first or second phrase or story in nearly every newscast.  That was true even when he wasn’t president or anything else official, and it is still happening.  That was primarily because he did or said things designed to direct attention to himself.

Trump’s dementia now makes it harder for him to even know what is going on, but that doesn't matter since he,  Toddler-Trump (as I refer to him), has an entire toddler pool of sycophants surrounding him that we pay for that includes a  traitorous white house staff (Miller, Vought, Wiles, Vance, etc.; 6 Supreme Court justices, Republicans in Congress; all cabinet heads; all whom Trumplandia nominated for any government position with Senate approval; Republicans throughout state legislatures; the Heritage Foundation, The Federalist Society, and other similar right-wing political organizations; many white evangelical fundamentalists; the oligarchs, including Musk, Theil, the Ellisons, and more, who use Trump as much as he uses them. 

That sounds like a lot, but in reality, it is a small minority of Americans.  However, they are in power and as they say, "have all the weapons."  It seems to me we are going to need a significant resistance group formed everywhere in this nation to stand up to these anti-American, anti-democratic thugs who have an ignoramus at their head and a lot of money in their pockets.  We need to be louder, broader, and more demanding in protest of Trumplandia.

This group of Conservative, Republican, amoral entities are doing their best to undermine our government.  They began in Trump’s first term with a huge tax cut that went nearly all to the super rich who already have far far too much.  Then in the second term, Trump released the illegal DOGErs (Department of Government Efficiency) young computer guys   under Elon Musk, to tear apart many of our government agencies and departments.  They are responsible for the deaths of at least 700,000 people around the world who depended on the food, medicines, and healthcare provided by US-AId.  We don’t have a count yet of the deaths here from programs cut and conspiracy theorists in important offices making false pronouncements. 

Trump and the Dept. of Homeland Security (Dhs) set ICE on innocent immigrants in our communities, while lying they were only going after serious criminals.  Alas, lies are Trumplandia’s coin of the realm, and Republicans these days must be able to lie with skill all the time if necessary (if Trump orders them to do it). 

Trump now owns the Republican Party and  our amoral Supreme Court Roberts 6. 

 

Each member of Trumplandia has their “job.”  Congressional Republicans push through every stupid, illegal bill Trump and his white house toddler pool give them.  The Roberts 6 rule on cases in ways that will give Republicans more seats in congress and enhance the racial, gender, and other differences among us.  Republicans in legislatures across the country must take their states to levels of racism and misogyny that haven’t been seen for decades.

 

Trump’s cabinet was nominated and approved because they will permit Trump to do as much damage to this nation as possible.  Trump ordered the start of a stupid deadly war for his own ego and he and Pete Hegseth of DOD have been playing it as though it were a video game, adding destroying small boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific as their bonus plays.  All of this is illegal internationally, but who is going to charge them or hold them accountable, particularly now that Trump is building a white house fortress as described by Heather Cox Richardson (and Trump himself, although not in those exact words).  Trump is also trying to reward the January 6^th insurrectionists for their something:  bravery, loyalty to Trump, willingness to “stand ready?”

 

I suspect everyone I write to knows all of this, so I want to provide some suggestions for things we can do to surround these thugs with a wall of disapproval created by the diversity that is America, something that really scares Trumplandia.

• Make a list of the issues most important to you.  Figure out who to contact regarding that issue, then write, call, sign petitions, etc. related to each issue.
• Find and support organizations with similar values to yours, read their publications, and support them financially if you can, even if it is only a tiny donation.
• Attend public protests, townhalls, and local actions related to the issues that concern you and your community most.  You can’t do everything, so do what you can when you can.
• Talk to young people about what is going on and encourage them to pay attention, to work hard to get a good education, even if they are a little bored.  Those in power now don’t want them to become educated at all, so do it to spite them.
• Read books from different cultures, particularly those the right-wing fearmongers want to ban, then share favorites with others.
• Use public transportation when possible.  Walk when it makes sense.  Use your car less often.  Encourage others to do this too.
• Stand with neighbors to stop ICE, using a warning system if you see them.  Protest them when you can.
• Attend school board meetings when possible to say your piece about what is happening in the schools in your area. 
• VOTE IN EVERY SINGLE ELECTION!!!  Don’t tell yourself “ah this election is just a primary; it doesn’t matter”; it does!  Those In power want us to stay home so their pathetic whiny white candidates can get into or stay in power; we don’t need them!

 

I bet you have lots more ideas.  When we pool them together, we can have a set of strategies to stand against the authoritarians, the would be kings.  We can stand strong in this 250^th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, and tell Trump and his toddler pool that We the People of the United States aren’t gonna take them and their anti-American bullying anymore”!