Author: Andrew

THE BERNHARD PERSPECTIVE

Patriotism is not obedience to those we elect to office, high or low. It is not silence. It is not quiet acceptance of unconscionable power. True patriotism is a noisy, messy, and deeply uncomfortable thing. It is the courage to hold our leaders to the ideals upon which this nation was founded.

The first lesson of American history is that patriotism does not require nor is reflected in a pledge of loyalty to a president, a party, or even a flag. True patriotism is to respect and hold dear what our elected leaders and our military all vow: to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.

The next lesson is that all power belongs to the people. Only we are sovereign. And we must never, ever cede that to an autocrat, an oligarch, a strong man or dictator. There are no kings here.

What the MAGA’s are trying to sell us today is a new kind of patriotism. It is quiet. It is convenient; it suggests that we all just go about our business. It concedes power to the executive, salutes and never asks why. But American patriotism stemming as it did from rebellion against tyranny, is loud. It is demanding. It holds the Constitution in one hand and a protest sign as a symbolic sword in the other.

In the context of what is happening today under the increasingly autocratic rule of Donald T****, I always harken back to the words spoken by Mario Savio during the UC Berkeley Free Speech Protests in 1964 as he stood atop a police car surrounded and impounded by hundreds of righteously angry students. This is how patriots respond:

“There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part. You can’t even passively take part. And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop. And you’ve got to indicate to the people who own it, to the people who run it, that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.”

True patriotism cannot abide quiet acquiescence. Donald T**** and his MAGA’s cannot ignore the truth of our nation’s violent birth nor the uprising of protest against his lust for tyrannical power. And they cannot ignore us.

\When you look back on our country’s history, it would seem that perhaps the most important lesson America must remember is encapsulated in these words from Thomas Jefferson: ”The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

No. Freedom isn’t free. And in the struggle for freedom there is always an element of risk. True patriots must always accept that risk. Because in the final analysis, it is better to live with one leg than to spend your life on your knees.

Neither Donald T**** nor his MAGA’s nor his private army nor any soldiers on the streets can silence our voices. We will not be quiet. We will not go away. We will never forget that an American’s first loyalty is to the Constitution and first love is freedom.

Questioning is our right. Rebellion is in our blood.

Resistance is our duty.

At the No Kings protest I went to the other day there was this one guy, all alone, standing on the corner with a sign that read “I support President T****”. And in a crowd of thousands of people all of whom disagreed – many vehemently – with him, no one talked trash to hm, threatened him, assaulted him or tried to hurt him. A few people exchanged greetings and there were some brief conversation with him, but that was about all. He was safe standing there all alone. 

And it struck me that if he had been one of us at a MAGA rally, he would not have been safe. I have seen what MAGA rallies are like, and In fact, he would have been screamed at, vilified, bullied, assaulted verbally and almost certainly battered physically. He would have been in such real physical danger that it probably would have been better and safer for him stay away. 

And that’s the difference between them and us. In spite of the MAGA’s characterization of the No Kings protesters as violent criminals, terrorists and America-haters, we peacefully, almost joyfully channeled the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King. We practiced non-violence and were protesting for the rights of everyone. Even the one T**** guy. 

On the other hand, through their private armies of ICE officers and Border Patrol agents, the MAGA’s use violence as a means to their end. It is their goal to suppress the rights of all people of color, of anyone who looks Hispanic, speaks Spanish or looks like they work at a low-paying jobs. And they do it with the Supreme Court’s blessings. 

Through their semi-official militia like the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, and their violent, hateful followers liie the ones who stormed the Capital, MAGA’s almost gleefully assault and batter anyone who doesn’t look like them, act like them or appear to believe as they do.

They channel the bigotry and hatred of the Nazi Brownshirts. They take umbrage when called Nazis, but I suggest that fascist by any other name…. 

And they follow the philosophy of Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda, Herman Goebbels who advised, ”Always accuse the enemy of that which you are guilty.” This is who they are and this is what they do. They are  not us. 

We are not the same.

THE BERNHARD PERSPECTIVE

The Republican playbook for the government shutdown is based on a sham and a lie. They hold all the card and they damn well know it. The Democrats are caught between a rock and a hard place.

The Democrats can do little more than play the game. All they really say they want is for the Republicans to sit down and negotiate on the issues of healthcare and stuff. Then they tack that agreement onto a continuing resolution either before they re-open the government or after. 

But so what if they do. 

The problem is that the Republicans negotiate in bad faith. That’s because they are little more than puppets of the president, and do only what Donald T**** tells them to do. And he’s nit likely to tell them to give away the farm. And even if negotiations do produce a compromise, it still has to be passed by the Senate, which is no guarantee. 

Then it goes to the president, and  T**** will veto anything he doesn’t like. And he’s not going to like anything that saves healthcare for so many tens of millions of Americans. 

So in the best/worst case scenario goes like this: Republican legislators in the House negotiate a deal with the Democrats but it stalls in the Senate. Or it get it through both houses of Congress, and the president vetoes it. Either way, T**** wins, the Democrats and Americans lose. Which was the plan all along. 

Democrats negotiating with the Republicans is little more than legislative masturbation. It may feel good at the time and seem like they’re getting something worthwhile accomplished. But in the end, it all goes down the toidy.

After all, running with the Devil is touch and go. 

                               IF THE SHOE FITS

From the New York Times:

“The T**** administration is considering a radical overhaul of the U.S. refugee system that would slash the program to its bare bones while giving preference to English speakers, white South Africans and Europeans who oppose migration, according to documents obtained by The New York Times.

“The proposals, some of which already have gone into effect, would transform a decades-old program aimed at helping the world’s most desperate people into one that conforms to Mr. T*****’s vision of immigration — which is to help mostly white people ‘targeted for peaceful expression of views such as opposition to mass migration or support for ‘populist’ political parties who say they are being persecuted’ while keeping the vast majority of other people out.

“The proposals also advise Mr. T***** to prioritize the European far-right political party Alternative for Germany, whose leaders have trivialized the Holocaust, revived Nazi slogans and denigrated foreigners.”

T**** had suspended refugee admissions on his first day in office and solicited the proposals about how and whether the administration should continue the program. This is what they’ve come up with. 

So. Is Donald T**** a racist and anti-semitic bigot? Damn right he is. And the Republicans and MAGA clones who follow him, are they racists and anti-semitic  bigots, too? Huh. Just watch’em try and deny it. But of course, the shoe fits like a glove.

So they just have to wear it. 

The Bernhard Perspective

As T**** finishes up with his self-obsessed “Victory” tour of the Mid-East, we should not forget that this is not his first rodeo with a Gaza cease fire. Because, in point of fact, there was one already in place when he took office in January. It had been negotiated by then-President, Joe Biden.

Biden’s plan called for a three-phase approach. The phases emphasized a gradual but comprehensive pathway from ceasefire (phase 1), hostage and prisoner release and withdrawal of forces (phase 2), and ultimately, reconstruction and stability for Gaza (phase 3). Phase 1, the ceasefire, was in effect on January 21 when T**** took office. 

If this all sounds familiar, it should. Biden’s phases 1 and 2 combined are what T****  is touring the area celebrating now.

So what happened? With a ceasefire in place at the beginning of the year, why were there another ten months of war and death between then and now? We have Donald T**** to thank for that.

This is because, although he claimed to support it, he gave only lip-service to the plan, T****’s administration pointedly did not emphasize a push for phase two and phase three. Rather, he let them slide. Instead, there were statements by T**** about forcibly relocating Palestinians from Gaza or taking administrative control of Gaza in ways that alarmed observers.

Some of his public remarks, like  talking about “owning” Gaza and creating a ”Mid-East Riviera” with T***’owned resorts and casinos, or making demands that weren’t in the negotiated terms, created confusion about U.S. commitment to the deal.

T****’s contradictory rhetoric; contrived brinksmanship and failure to secure or insist on later phases, and his undermining trust with extreme proposals, were essential to the failure of Biden’t plan. 

And in fact, that was Donald’s plan all along.  It all began when he assumed the presidency in 2017. His deficiency of character lead to his extreme anger and jealousy over the fact that Barak Obama, a Black man, had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. So Donald T**** determined that he deserved and contrived to get one, no matter what. 

It began when he assumed office again this year as he claimed to have already stopped seven wars. They included conflicts between Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, Israel and Iran, India and Pakistan, Egypt and Ethiopia and Armenia and Azerbaijan. He also threw in three additional conflicts that had not yet taken place. 

There are, however, many problems with these claims. Some of the “wars” were not full-blown conflicts at the time. In some cases, the fighting resumed after T****’s alleged efforts. And in others, the extent of T****’s personal role was either minimal at best, or non-existent. In point of fact, T**** was lying about all of it. 

In any event, T**** was livid because the Nobel Committee had not recognized his so-called peace-keeping efforts with “his” prize. So for years, he claimed that he deserved a Nobel Peace Prize when in face he simply did not 

And then, with a ceasefire deal in place as he re-assumed the office in January, and with his well-known derisive hatred of Democrats in general and Obama in particular, T****’s obsession with the Prize and his fragile ego could not allow the possibility that Joe Biden might be awarded what he self-righteously believed belonged to him. 

And so Donald T**** deliberately set out to tank the deal. And by doing so, he condemned Gaza to an additional ten months of warfare. That meant an additional ten months of obscene destruction. An additional ten months of hunger and starvation, and an additional tens of thousands of maimed and dead Gaza civilians.

And all because this deeply flawed person, this man with a seriously deficient and fragile character, this self-proclaimed practicing Christian did, with a perverse passion, break the Tenth Commandment: he coveted. He coveted something he did not deserve and could not have. 

And in doing so, so he broke the First Commandment as well.

The Bernhard Perspective.                                   

It is important to recognize that Donald  T**** is not simply. giving Argentina $20 billion. The money comes from a currency swap arrangement executed through the U.S. Treasury; it is not a simple cash transfer or loan. But in a way, it is even worse. 

The Treasury first acquired $20 billion worth of Argentine pesos, and then exchanged the pesos for U.S. dollars. The transaction is intended to provide Argentina’s chaotic economy with immediate market stability. 

This works because US dollars generally have more liquidity in Argentinian than their own currency. In fact, Argentines have long preferred to exchange their pesos for U.S. dollars as quickly as possible because dollars are much easier to use for large transactions, savings, and even everyday commerce.

So what really happened is that T**** did Argentina’s president Javier Milei, a huge favor and screwed American at the same time.  Milei got $20 billion in American dollars, the most dominant and influential currency in the world. We got  a pile of almost worthless Argentinian pesos. 

But above all else, we have to remember that Donald T**** is a con man and a grifter, and he never gives without getting first. No-one knows what part of Argentina Meili had to give up to T**** for his stack of American money. 

UNCLEAR ON THE CONCEPT

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. made an absolute fool of himself at the latest cabinet meeting. It is doubtful that he even knew it. 

He began by lying to the president concerning a video he had seen about a pregnant woman taking Tylenol. He then referred to the trouble she may be causing to “her baby in her placenta.” 

If this was a simple mistake on his part, Kennedy was not self-aware enough to recognize it. The womb in which babies grow is the woman’s uterus. The H.H.S. director apparently does not know this.

Then he gravely warned: “There are two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism.” He continued, “It’s highly likely because they are given Tylenol.” 

Apparently conceding that there’s no evidence Tylenol causes autism, Kennedy was seemingly taking back his earlier unsubstantiated claims about the connection between the two. However, he assured T**** that “We’re doing the studies to make the proof.”

Kennedy’s earlier claim was supposedly that mothers taking the drug caused autism in their babies. But because the “they” to which Kennedy was referring to here was the babies, the clear but totally absurd inference that infants given acetaminophen is what causes autism staggers belief. The connection between Jews and early circumcision makes this ridiculous assertion borderline anti-semitic as well.

Even more absurd is Kennedy’s ignorance of how science works. In legitimate research, you don’t set out to ‘make the proof.’ You set out to test a hypothesis. Saying you’re “doing studies to make the proof” means you’ve already decided what you want the results to be.

This is the exact opposite of the acknowledged scientific method. Kennedy’s blithering stupidity here is scientifically illiterate, medically irresponsible and ethically reckless. 

For a brief moment after his presentation, the Secretary’s humiliation hung in the air like smoke, but he remained untouched by it. At the highest level of government, he had made a complete fool of himself. 

Yet humiliation requires self-awareness, and that, alas, is a luxury he does not seem to possess. This man is an affront to the concept of human intelligence. 

But, then, what would you expect from a T**** appointee? 

THE IRONIC FATE OF STEPHEN MILLER

All you citizens of a beloved, multi-cultural America, just listen to T**** advisor Stephen Miller’s rage-induced defense of civilization. Listen to him using the term “our” when mentioning ancestry that dates back to places with predominantly white populations. Just listen:

”Our lineage and our legacy hails back to Athens, to Rome, to Philadelphia, to Monticello. Our ancestors built the cities, they produced the architecture, they built the industry. [people like him and Charlie Kirk] stand for what is good. And to those trying to incite violence against us, those trying to foment hate against us, what do you have? You have nothing, you are nothing, You are wickedness, you are jealousy, you are envy, you are hatred. You are nothing. You can build nothing, you can produce nothing, you can create nothing. We are the ones who build, we are the ones who create, we are the ones who lift up humanity.”

So who are the “us” and the “we” that Miller refers to? That is important because he is clearly separating humanity into two categories, those who can and those who cannot. Looking at the history of Western civilization over the last millennium and a half, and in the contemporary context of T****’s ascension to autocratic power, Miller is clearly referring to white Christians.

And just who are the “you” that Miller castigates so mercilessly? Who are the wicked? the jealous? those who have nothing? Well, it’s certainly not white people, so it has to be people of color: Black and Brown people. Asians. It has to be Hindus and Moslems as well. And so it is. Now, Miller evidences a profound ignorance of human history when he makes these assertions. That, however, is grist for another mill.

But Miller has a severe case of self-denial, here. That is because Stephen Miller is a Jew. And one truth that Miller apparently will not acknowledge is that for T**** and the MAGA’s, the Christian Nationalists, the white supremacists and anti-semitics who make up his base of support, Jews are not considered to be white. To them they are a separate, inferior race, the hatred of which extends back over a millennium. He choses to forget that Jews were so-defined by no less than Adolph Hitler.

The purges have already begun, and the list of this administration’s enemies includes not just individuals. T**** and his MAGA’s are in the process of suppressing Black people and are already coming after Brown people. They have been vilifying Moslems for decades. It does not end there.

Because although Stephen Miller may have convinced himself that his whole-hearted MAGA advocacy will protect him, some fourteen hundred years of Western civilization strongly suggests otherwise. And if they cannot be stopped, with or without his personal acknowledgment T****’s ruling class of Christian Nationalists, racists and anti-Semitic bigots will eventually come for the Jews.

And when they do, they will come for Stephen Miller, too.

   MURDER 

The U.S. government and Donald T**** must be held accountable. Blowing up vessels in international waters is a violation of international law and, without the consent of Congress, a violation of U.S. law as well. And if it can happen at sea it can happen anywhere. 

T**** has offered no defining or limiting principle for who can be labeled a “terrorist” or why he can summarily act as judge, jury and executioner. Nor has he offered any plausible legal theory for why an armed conflict exists. 

These actions are not covered by the Supreme Court’s ruling that he cannot be held accountable because they are clearly outside his normal duties as president. In truth, Donald T**** has gone from convicted domestic felon to international felon.

This is murder, plain and simple

LESSON TIME FOR JD

“If you’re an American citizen, and you’ve been to a hospital in the last few years, you probably noticed that wait times are especially large and very often somebody who’s there in the emergency room waiting is an illegal alien. Very often, a person who can’t even speak English. Why do those people get health care benefits at hospitals paid for by American citizens?” — Vice President JD Vance.

Dear JD: The answer to your question is quite simple. I am sure you would agree that America is a Christian nation. And in case you have forgotten, your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, commands you to heal the sick. This is not a suggestion on his part, and He does not mention any any exceptions. 

So either you are prepared to admit that He is as selfish as you are,  or you must acknowledge that He commands you to heal the sick, feed the hungry and care for the needy, and you just don’t want to. And what kind of a blaspheming heretic does that make you?

Besides, other than the fact that they are Brown and speak Spanish, how can you tell who is and who is not an “illegal alien.” Or are you that kind of bigot, too? 

Signed, 

Andrew J Bernhard