Category: Progressive Commentary

T****’S ACT OF CORRUPTION

Following President Donald T****’s announcement on 2 March regarding the establishment of a “U.S. Crypto Strategic Reserve,” there have been concerns about potential conflicts of interest. This is because both T**** and some of his advisers have investments tied to the cryptocurrency  market.

T****’s announcements have spurred the market upwards. The two major major cryptos, Bitcoin and Ethereum, experienced significant price increases. Bitcoin surged by approximately 20%, Ethereum by 12%. The lesser known Ripple’s value increased 25% after the announcement. The reserve is set to include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and three other cryptos. 

It should come as no surprise that President Donald T*****’s personal cryptocurrency portfolio includes investments in Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple.

Corruption is defined as the dishonest or fraudulent abuse of entrusted power for private gain. Let’s just look at this. Is a president entrusted with the power to make decisions such as creating a crypto reserve? Yes, he is. Is this action by Donald T**** dishonest? Because he pointedly has not revealed his personal stake in the crypto market, yes it is. And does this action result in personnel gain for T****? Yes it does. 

The syllogistic logic behind this chain of implications is irrefutable; the conclusion is valid. So. Is Donald T****’s creation of a U.S. Crypto Strategic Reserve a corrupt act by a sitting president? 

Yes. It is.  

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T****’S BETRAYAL OF DUTY

At his inauguration, Donald T*** raised his right hand and swore that he would faithfully uphold  laws of the United States. However, being a man of little faith, he clearly had no intention of doing anything of the kind. 

Some examples: Since he took office, he has illegally impounded billions of dollars signed into law by Congress. He has shut down and purported to eliminate agencies lawfully created by Congress. He has illegally fired tens of thousands of government officials and employees without the authority to do so. He has claimed to have to altered or eliminated Constitutional amendments, something which no one person can do.

All these things he has done simply by fiat, by a wave of his hand, by issuing orders, “edicts” and “proclamations” as if he were royalty or worse. And all in contravention of laws that he had sworn he would uphold.

Virtually all of these actions are being challenged in court. Most of these challenges are being upheld in lower courts for the simple reason that T**** is acting in violation of the law. 

However, since he obviously has no concern for the rule of law, It is likely that he will simply ignore the lawful orders of the lower courts, something has already begun to do so. Appeals will ultimately go to the Supreme Court.

T**** would appear to believe he has that court on his side. And if not, to paraphrase Andrew Jackson on a state’s rights ruling, T****’s position will likely be “[the courts} have made their decisions, now let them enforce them.”

The Executive branch is expected to enforce the rulings of the Supreme Court. Outright refusal is quite rare; such action by a president in peacetime has occurred only once, by Andrew Jackson in 1832. (President Lincoln suspended the right of habeas corpus during the Civil War in 1861 in violation of a Supreme Court ruling.) In modern times, no U.S. President has flatly refused to execute a Supreme Court order. 

One of the bedrock principles of the American way of life is that no man is above the law. If the president deliberately and with malice fails to preform his Constitutional duty, he is putting himself above the law, and our system of governance teeters on the edge.

However, the destruction of our democracy is T****’s objective so that he can achieve his goal: full autocratic, dictatorial power. That is Donald T****’s objective; that is his goal.

The goal of those who love our American democracy and way of government must necessarily be to stop him. This is best done at the ballot box. In the meantime, there is another necessary way. Another path to follow. One Path Forward. 

STAND UP        SHOUT OUT        RESIST

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VANCE’S DISGRACE

Vice President JD Vance, along with his wife and their three children, headed off to a ski resort in Vermont as part of a planned vacation.They were met by hundreds of loud protesters standing in the cold and snow, lining the road and holding a sea of signs calling Vance a “traitor,” telling him, among other things, to “f**k” off” and “go ski in Russia.”

This is as it should be.

I do feel badly for his family. His kids are quite young, cannot understand and did not pick this slimy jerk as their father. And his wife most likely had a completely different idea of what her life was going to be.

But Vance? Not in the slightest. In fact, I believe he needs to be reminded every time he dares to show his face in public what a small-minded, mealy mouthed and pathetic excuse he is for a vice president he really is. His boss has already figured it out.

It is a lesson learned decades ago by another much reviled, vilified and disdained president, Lyndon Johnson. It got so bad for Lyndon that the only way he could travel around the country was from one Air Force Base to another, and then sweep into town protected by a huge motorcade. And even then, lines of police had to keep angry crowds back in front of his hotel.

This needs to happen to both these guys, all the time. They need to be reminded every time they stick their heads out in public that we know they lied to the American people during the campaign, we know they’re lying to us now and we know they will always lie to us. We know the they are little more than pathetic excuses for autocratic wannabes.

They must be remind that we know they have abandoned the concept of free, democratic rule, and that they have aligned themselves and our country with the most vile and murderous dictators in the world. And that we know they are trashing our country’s singular, sterling reputation as Ronald Reagan’s “Shining city on a hill.”

We know that this must stop and we know that we must be the ones to stop it. We know that we cannot be afraid and we know that we have no choice. We know there is only one course of action for us to take. There is only One Path Forward.

STAND UP SHOUT OUT RESIST

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T**** GRABS FOR POWER

President T**** made his claim to autocracy clear on Saturday, February 15, in this social media post: “He who saves his Country violates no Law.” This phrase, attributed to Napoleon, signals Trump’s  intention to assume one-man rule. This is Trump’s leadership principle,

This principle goes by another name — The Führer Principle. This was the foundation of Nazi Germany’s government and a key characteristic of a fascist state. It was how the Supreme Leader’s will was transformed into law, and how a duly elected Chancellor became a tyrant. 

In pursuit of this power, T**** has issued an executive order giving himself and the attorney general direct authority over numerous regulatory agencies. These agencies will be required to take orders from the president and gain approval from him for regulations or actions they propose. The president and attorney general will also retain the power to interpret the law for executive branch actions. 

These agencies were established by Congress as semi-independent, and T****’s actions will be challenged in the courts. T***** is assuming that the Supreme Court is on his side. 

That may very well be true. But the Court has not ruled that a president can violate the law, only that he cannot be held criminally accountable if he does. T**** has said that he will abide by decisions of the courts, but T**** is a liar.

After first denying any knowledge of it, T**** has admitted that he is following the Project 2025 plan for a Conservative coup and his ascension to autocratic rule. That is what is happening now. 

Those who love our democracy and wish to keep it have only one way to stop this naked grab for dictatorial power. Only one way to fight back. Only One Path Forward.

STAND UP     SPEAK OUT      RESIST

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thebernhardperspective.com

“Democracies can’t survive if people are hungry or out of a job. They [the T**** administration] want Americans hungry.”—Rep. Sarah McBrice (D-Del.). 

McBride also noted that for the T**** administration to “illegally freeze funding” and “gut the federal workforce has chaos as its goal. “They want Americans scared for their future. That is how Donald T**** keeps his power.” 

She is correct. 

With people struggling to pay their bills, feed their families, and grabbing for the pittance that’s left of the government programs designed to mitigate against homelessness, hunger and privation, they won’t have the time or energy to recognize or fight back against the Dictator T**** and his MAGA oligarchs who have stolen our country in order to line their pockets.

And if we want out country back, we’ll have to take it back. There is only one way to defeat them. Only one way to reserve our democracy. Only one path forward.

STAND UP      SHOUT OUT      RESIST

#1PathForward

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“First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for…..……”  —Marton Neimöller, 1946.

These infamous words illustrate the essence of Edward Burke’s warning that the only thing needed for evil to rise is for good people to do nothing. However, history suggests to me a contemporary take on Neimòller’s warning. I submit: 

“First he came for the undocumented immigrants and I spoke out even though I am not an undocumented immigrant.

Then he came for the Muslims and I spoke out even though I am not Muslim.

Then he came for LBGTQ+ people and I spoke out even though I am not lesbian, bisexual, gay or trans. 

Then he came for those who had spoken or worked against him and I spoke out because I have spoken against him. 

Then he came for me, and I will never stop speaking out against him, not ever, even if there is no-one left so speak for me. — Andrew J Bernhard, 2025. 

And one more famous quote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” – George Santayana.

With the rise of Donald T****’s pretensions of dictatorship, we must believe Burke’s wisdom, take heed of Santayana’s warning and rise above Neimöller’s weakness; there is only one way to synthesize these three quotations. Only one way to protect and preserve the freedoms our Founding Fathers so hopefully bequeathed to us. Only One Path Forward.

STAND UP     SPEAK OUT     RESIST

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thebernhardperspective.com

President Donald T****’s attempt to blame last week’s midair collision of a passenger jet with a military helicopter on diversity hiring illustrates how he views virtually everything through his own political filter.

That’s why, without a hint of decency or conscience, he attempts to turn disasters like hurricanes, fires and  aviation tragedies to his advantage. In truth, the president didn’t know squat about why the disaster occurred, but following his usual playbook, he turned a catastrophe into a political hit piece. 

But more than that, this was a calculated decision to distract the press and the public from his own administration’s failings. Thus, his utterly stupid assertion that he knew just hours after the crash that DEI hiring, and by extension Joe Biden, was the cause, and that he knew that because he was so damn smart.Of course, he knew he was full of it. 

In reality, the president didn’t want to be asked tough questions like, why did he let Elon Musk attack the FAA administrator, causing him to resign? Not wanting to be asked questions about his own policies and the actions of his own people, he endeavored to control the narrative by having everybody chase him down a rabbit hole with DEI allegations made, of course, without a shred of evidence.

Such diversionary tactics should not have been entirely unexpected. Indeed, for Donald T****, this evasiveness comes naturally. They are time-honored traditions and practices of shuck-and-jive grifters and con artists like him. In the immortal words of W. C. Fields, “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.” 

And T****, of course, is full of it. 

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On Friday, January 31, T**** administration officials began releasing water from two dams in California in a move that is  intended to take political advantage of a disaster.

Claiming that California has access to great amounts of water from the Pacific Northwest and Canada,T**** has repeatedly insisted that the Los Angeles fires could have been extinguished had California Governor Gavin Newsom released more water from the north. 

That is a lie. Californias has no access to water in other states or nations, and there are no pipelines or viaducts to bring it into the state even if it did.

T**** has also claimed that the governor could have solved water shortages with the turn of a valve if California were less concerned about endangered fish species. That, too, is a lie.

The releases have sent water not to Los Angeles, but into low-lying farmland in the Central Valley. None of it will reach Southern California. Boasting that he had “just entered the Great State of California and, “under Emergency Powers, TURNED ON THE WATER,” T*** has claimed “victory,”

Experts expressed both surprise and dismay, saying that releasing water now, in the middle of winter, served little use for its intended recipients, farmers who will need it in the spring

Once again, T**** tells lies in order to create a fantasy situation that doesn’t exist. Then he makes divisive pronouncements and takes needles and dangerous actions which wouldn’t help even if he wasn’t lying. Then, with smug satisfaction, he proclaims himself a genius, a savior and a victor. 

However, Donald T**** is neither savior nor genius nor victor. He is a lying, stupid idiot. 

#1!PathForward

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One of the MAGA myths about American foreign aid in general and the the war in Europe in particular is that the U.S. can’t afford to keep sending weapons and money overseas. But the fact is that foreign aid is not for the most part simply America tax dollars being sent abroad. 

A significant portion of American foreign aid is “tied aid,” meaning it must be spent on American-made goods or services. This practice benefits the U.S. economy while providing foreign economic assistance. Some 75%` of American foreign aid consists, as in the case of virtually all military aid, of goods made in America by American workers in American factories.

The remaining 25% of foreign aid, loosely categorized as “Humanitarian Assistance,” is channeled through U.S.-based agencies which then work with a mix of nonprofits and local organizations to implement specific projects. Most of this work is done in American as well.

True, there are cash disbursements. This occurs when a direct cash transfer is the most efficient manner of providing the assistance called for. Such disbursements are not the norm and are scrutinized and monitored closely.

Thus, T****’s isolationist, “America First” policies would have a negative impact on the American economy in general and the workingclass in particular. Also, It’s important to note that foreign aid spending accounts for about 1% of the U.S. Federal budget, significantly less than many Americans believe.

No country exists in isolation. America is the richest, most powerful and influential country in the world. In truth, our economic and political realities are tightly woven into the fabric of the rest of the world’s.

Those who support T****s America First mantra are led to believe the opposite, and that our taxpayer dollars need to remain here. But the overwhelming majority of our foreign aid dollars do remain here, and benefit both the American economy, the nations who receive our aid, and demonstrate our standing as the world’s leader and moral compass. But because of T****’s lying brand of isolationist populism preaches a different tune, they don’t know any of this. 

Or perhaps they just don’t want to know. 

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Donald T****’s cruel and unusual treatment of the children of undocumented immigrants during his first administration has been well-documented. Who, except the Republicans who refused to look, can forget images of helpless children locked in cages, sitting on cold floors with only plastic blankets for warmth and comfort? Or of children denied basic medical care? Or of children dying in our names while in American custody?

All these things and more happened.

The worst of these depravities had been halted by a court order put in place just two years ago, establishing a system for protecting the health of children detained at the border. Now, however, Donald T****  has an opportunity to continue his previous inhumane treatment of immigrant children without court interference and without lifting a finger.

The system, part of a legal settlement between the government and lawyers representing migrant children in custody, detailed protocols for detaining minors at Border Protection facilities. It required agents to provide them with access to regular and emergency medical care and basic hygiene items. It forbade agents to separate children from their parents for extended periods of time.

The court order that created this system is set to expire nine days after T**** takes office. And under the hateful eye of Tom Homan, T****’s crass and heartless “border czar,” all those crimes against innocent children that happened before will happen again.

All it needs is for T**** to do nothing. 

RESIST

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