The Check Ain't In the Mail

at the "packed" GOP convention

Over in Fantasyland, President Felon promised the country that if the GOP retains control of Congress after the midterms, each US adult would get a "dividend" of $5,000. Now, I don't know how they're planning on determining what constitutes an adult, but I'm guessing there may be some interesting factors involved. Nevertheless, considering that if there are around 260 million "adults," the payout would be in the neighborhood of $1.3 trillion dollars. Surely there would be questions about where it's gonna come from? NBC News posed the question to Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick:

“Together we’re going to deliver that plan and we’re going to pay that money to the Americans, and not from taxpayer money,” Lutnick said.

He referenced the Trump Platinum Card, an upcoming Commerce Department program allowing wealthy individuals to sign up to pay $5 million in order to extend their U.S. visas for an additional 270 days.

“We have a waitlist of more than 100,000 people who want to come,” Lutnick said. “That’s $500 billion.”

Lutnick also cited an investment in Intel the administration made last year. “Everybody knows we got just about 500 million shares, and the stock was $20, and now it’s $100, so we’re up $50 billion,” he said.

The administration spent $8.9 billion from appropriated CHIPS Act funds to make the investment in Intel. While the stock has appreciated from the government’s purchase price of $20.47 to $100.32 as of Thursday, the administration has not sold those shares — meaning the gain is merely on paper.

Remember, this promise comes from the same Goldleaf House that promised us We, the People would reap great benefits from Elon Musk and DOGE efficiency implementation:

President Trump said on Wednesday evening that the newly established Department of Government Efficiency might return a portion of the savings accrued through job cuts and other budget curbs to American taxpayers.

The idea of giving back 20 percent of the money saved as a result of initiatives recommended by the new department, known as DOGE, is “under consideration,” said Mr. Trump. The potential initiative, he said, was “a new concept” under which his administration would give “20 percent of the DOGE savings to American citizens” and “20 percent goes to paying down debt.” (He didn’t mention what would be done with the other 60 percent of the money.)

If you're wondering what happened to that other 60%, let me assure you it didn't go into public coffers. 

But, wait! There's more! With pledges and promises that an economy so robust would be produced by tariffs, President Felon promised freedom from income tax! A December 3, 2025 article in Politifact reported that President Felon said, 

...Americans could soon stop paying federal income taxes. But experts say he’s overpromised. 

“Over the next couple of years, I think we’ll … be cutting income tax — could be almost completely cutting it, because the money we’re taking in is going to be so large,” Trump told service members in a Thanksgiving video. 

He repeated the idea in a Dec. 2 Cabinet meeting.   

“I believe at some point in the not too distant future, you wouldn’t even have income tax to pay because the money we’re taking in is so great,” Trump said. “It’s so enormous that you’re not going to have income tax to pay. Whether you get rid of it or just keep it around for fun or have it really low, much lower than it is now, but you won’t be paying income tax.”

According to several sources, the amount collected from U.S. customs duties and tariffs in 2025 reached approximately $264 billion. Those cost of those tariffs were absorbed not by foreign exporters, but by U.S. firms, importers, and consumers via higher prices. And if that wasn't enough to rock that free-money boat, in February of 2026, SCOTUS struck down the emergency powers tariffs as illegal. Subsequently, approximately $166 billion in illegal gains need to be returned. Sure, some refunds went to corporations, importers, and retail doors, but nothing was refunded to consumers.

How much did you get in your income-tax-eliminating-tariff-windfall? Probably the same amount I did.

I am certain none of the above is news, gentle readers. I'm equally certain none of you actually believed you getting anything in that fictitious pay envelope he waves around. And I am absolutely certain that President Felon is a lying sack of rubbish. This past weekend, he was going on about how he could put together a unified Ireland. Really? Whose flagpole did he run that one up? Apparently no one's. 

Donald Trump has reiterated his support for Irish unification and brushed off Andy Burnham’s opposition to a referendum.

“Everybody says that. Then things happen,” the US president said on Sunday of the British prime minister’s response.

“It seems to me that one of the naturals of all time is to put them together,” Trump said of the unification of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Trump caused consternation on both sides of the Irish Sea on Saturday when, at the start of a two-day visit to Ireland, he said he would “love” to see a united Ireland and “it may as well happen now”.

I'm just wondering when he's gonna send "advisors" in to make that happen. This guy is not simply a feckin' eejit, which is Irish slang for whatever you think it means, he's a feckin' meddling dilettante with neither smarts nor understanding of world politics. What's he gonna do next? Attempt to free Scotland? Oh, wait, there are some who would welcome that. But never you mind; this is just another feckin' attempt to buy himself a Nobel Peace Prize....or is that Piece Prize? I forget. It's not enough to screw up Ukraine, Iran, or Venezuela...he's now setting his sights on Europe. 

Meanwhile, back at the Arch d'Trump L'oiel, and his self aggrandizement of our impeccably planned nation's capital, remember all those promises that We, the Tax-Paying People, weren't paying for this stuff?

Au contraire, mes amis! 

Turns out We, the Tax-Paying People, are indeed paying for the demolition of the White House and its transformation into the Gold Leaf House. Apparently, over half of the $600 million needed is being paid for by us because they didn't raise enough money. 

And that eyesore arch he's planning? As reported in the NY Times:

Mr. Trump suggested in October of last year that the arch might be funded by money left over from the ballroom project, but documents show that the National Endowment for the Humanities, an independent federal agency, is reserving $15 million for the project. The overall cost is likely to be much higher. Already, $500,000 has been awarded to an Oregon-based firm for an environmental assessment of the site.

Christ the Redeemer Rio

They didn't have money for Children's Television Network and Public Broadcasting that services the entire nation, but they have money for this garbage. None of the normal channels and provisions for protection have been observed in any of this. They might as well just erect a gold plated Don-The-Felon statue with outstretched arms overlooking Washington DC. 

If, by some remote, inexplicable chance you harbor the idea that there are not machinations taking place as I type to upend the midterms in some way, shape, or form, I would suggest you think about your future expectations for this country. Maybe enough benighted souls will vote GOP in the foolish belief they're gonna get $5k? Not bloody likely.

We are poised at a perilous edge, and given the direction the three branches of government are headed, we will sail over as the country we once knew becomes a third-world-dictator-run banana republic faster than you can say, We, The People.

See, sometimes the self aggrandizement is a red-herring, a distraction to get your arguing over nonsense so the really bad stuff can happen. Like the Wizard of Oz.  Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. In the end, however, that's precisely whom you should be looking for. The Stephen Millers. The Elon Musks. Even the Vlad-the-Impaler Putin. The guys who pull the strings to make the feckin' eejit dance. Cuz it sure as hell isn't We, the People.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week 

For those who will observe Yom Kippur:

May you have an east fast,

and 

may you all be sealed in the Book of Life

for a happy, healthy new year. 

!גמר חתימה טובה

What Is the Speed of Dark?

If everyone talks about the speed of light, how come no one really talks about the speed of dark? Stored somewhere in my high school brain, I happen to know that the speed of light is approximately 186,000 miles per second. Which is pretty fast. But the speed of light is the stuff of space age advancement. Or science fiction...hyperdrive, warp speed, ludicrous or plaid speed....You know what I mean. 

But what about the speed of dark? How long does it take a devastatingly bad action to travel from idea to horrifying reality? I thought a brief timeline dive into early Nazi Germany might be useful:

1928: The Nazis got less than 3% of the national vote in the parliamentary election

1930: The Nazis won 18% of the national vote. They promised to

• fix the economy and put people back to work;
• return Germany to the status of a great European and world power
• regain territory Germany had lost in World War I
• create a strong authoritarian German government

1933: 

• January 30th, German President Paul von Hindenburg appoints Hitler Chancellor of Germany.
• March 22nd: Dachau opened to contain Nazi regime opponents
• April 1:  Nazis initiate nationwide boycott of Jewish-owned businesses and  professionals,
• April 7th: Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service is used to bar Jews and other political opponents from government employment, universities, and state positions.

That's just 66 days between the elevation of Hitler to Chancellor and the first laws to be put in place. 

It took a took another 859 days until September 15, 1933, the date The Nuremburg Laws stripping German citizenship from all Jews was enacted. 

Another 2,276 days days passed before Chełmno, one of the five camps designated for the Final Solution, began exterminating Jew on December 8th, 1941. Just so you know, on September 2, 1942, the Nazi called for the children under ten, the elderly, and the ill to be surrendered for "relocation." They were all summarily executed at Chełmno

That's a grand total of 3,234 days between the elevation of Hitler to Chancellor to the operation of the first Final Solution camp. 

8 years.

 10 months. 

8 days.  

Just a little more than 2 consecutive presidential terms. 

But that was then, this is now, you say. 

Since January 20th, 2025, Feckless Felon has signed over 277 executive orders. You can read about the scope on Ballotpedia's Donald Trump's executive orders and actions, 2025-2026. I just read through a bunch of them and, quite frankly, many of them do not serve the health and welfare of this nation...they bolster his personal wealth, his friends' personal wealth, and target the least able to afford basics like health care.  

Just to cite an example, my absolute favorite has to be Executive Order 14183 of January 27, 2025 Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness. This is a life-destroying, anti-military order predicated on his personal fear of homosexuality and transgender recognition. It is possibly the most heinous, neanderthal vivisection, most bullshit attack on our own fighting forces:

Recently, however, the Armed Forces have been afflicted with radical gender ideology to appease activists unconcerned with the requirements of military service like physical and mental health, selflessness, and unit cohesion. Longstanding Department of Defense (DoD) policy (DoD Instruction (DoDI) 6130.03) provides that it is the policy of the DoD to ensure that service members are “[f]ree of medical conditions or physical defects that may reasonably be expected to require excessive time lost from duty for necessary treatment or hospitalization.” As a result, many mental and physical health conditions are incompatible with active duty, from conditions that require substantial medication or medical treatment to bipolar and related disorders, eating disorders, suicidality, and prior psychiatric hospitalization.

Using this categorically lie-laden excuse, he has terminated ultra-qualifies officers, leaving gaping holes in our nation's preparedness. This is nothing more than a Nuremberg law dressed in 21st century clothing. What's next for the non-hetero population? Repealing marriage laws? Oh, wait, there are people already trying to do that. SCOTUS has, amazingly enough, declined to hear the Kim Davis Appeal. The former Kentucky county clerk asked the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, but the justices declined to hear the case in November 2025, leaving marriage equality as the law of the land. But we all know it ain't gonna stop there. In at least 9 states, legislators have filed bills and resolutions trying to get state law to overturn same-sex marriage. 

But that's not enough damage for him  because it doesn't directly fill his own pockets. Nope. To do that, he has to create EOs that apply directly to him and his cronies.

 

Executive Order 14233 on March 6, 2025 Establishment of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and United States Digital Asset Stockpile is one that defies any pretense at logic. Serious legal and ethical issues are raised by this executive order since it allows Feckless Felon and his family to profit massively. But did that stop him? Nope. The House Judiciary Committee issued a report, Trump, Crypto, and a New Age of Corruption, excoriating this EO. They raise the following concerns:

• President Trump and his family have earned hundreds of millions of dollars and added billions to their net worth through a network of cryptocurrency ventures launched during and after the 2024 campaign, including World Liberty Financial and the $TRUMP memecoin.
   
• The Trump family’s crypto ventures have attracted substantial investments from foreign nationals and state-linked entities seeking to curry favor with the Administration—raising severe constitutional, ethical, and national security concerns.
   
• The Trump Administration has intervened to halt or terminate federal investigations and enforcement actions involving multiple cryptocurrency firms that have donated to the President or invested in his companies, including Coinbase, Gemini, Robinhood, Ripple, Crypto.com, Uniswap, Yuga Labs, and Kraken.
   
• Trump has issued pardons and rolled back sanctions for known bad actors that have provided financial support to his ventures.
   
• The Administration has systematically dismantled anti-corruption and financial integrity safeguards, including dissolving the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), and repealing investor protection rules adopted during the Biden Administration—moves that have directly advanced the President’s personal financial interests. 

And it's also worth noting, President Felon has revoked over 100 Executive Orders from previous administrations, mostly dealing with civil rights and equal opportunity actions, rollbacks of multilingual services, mandate rollbacks for medical services including COVID and other vaccinations. The list keeps rolling along, killing shorelines, wildlife habitat, sacred lands, whatever stands in the way of the almighty buck.

Look, no empire has survived into the modern age. The most recent examples...the British, the Ottoman, the Austro-Hungarian, or even the Chinese all crumbled in the face of growing technology. Power to the people wasn't about physical prowess; power was the intellectual and scientific capabilities that plowed under the old regimes. Just look at Russia struggling to regain its former expansionist existence. It can't do it. 

Feckless seems to think annexing Greenland or renaming the Gulf of Mexico or Lake Ontario, or even Canada will give him power, will make him look like a conquering hero. Not even Viagra will help him look like anything but a doddering old fool with delusions of grandeur.

But that still doesn't answer my original question. What is the speed of dark? 

The speed of dark happens when the social safety nets collapse around the population and the population must seek survival elsewhere. That can happen fast...or it can be a prolonged experience made infinitely worse by the refusal of those in power to recognize this is a real problem. Like Social Security running outta money by 2033. We, the People, pay for Social Security by investing our own money in the program. Occam's razor could apply here... that the simplest fix is probably the right one: adjust the wage cap to have more people on the higher end paying in. It's not like they cannot afford to keep paying in like the rest of us working stiffs.  But that would significantly impact the longevity of the program for those who need it and rely on it most. The speed of dark will happen when that social safety net breaks and millions die as a result of a new, unnecessary form of poverty. 

Maybe, the speed of dark is the time it takes for a government to stop caring about its citizens enough to protect them. Living spaces...be they empires, countries, city states, towns, or villages  collapse when the residents can no longer afford to live there. When living in a particular place becomes so much of a hardship that safety is completely and totally compromised, people leave. Fast. They don't hang around for the afterparty UNLESS they are prevented from leaving altogether. But that's a different story.

In my most humble opinion, I do think the speed of dark in any society is predicated on its inability to respond to the basic needs of its population. That apparently is a lesson no one is willing to learn.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Friday night begins Rosh HaShanah, our Jewish New Year.

Out goes 5787 and in comes 5788.

May you all be inscribed in the Book of Life

for a happy, healthy, and sweet New Year.

Such A Busy Week

In this morning's FORWARD, there was a very interesting op-ed piece by Rabbi Asher Lopatin. He's a Modern Orthodox rabbi, and currently serves as rabbi at Kehillat Etz Chayim in Oak Park, Michigan, as well as Director of Community Relations of the Jewish Federation in Ann Arbor...the state where Abdul El-Sayed is running for Senate. 

If you're not familiar with El-Sayed, you should be. He's a "progressive," aka Democratic Socialist who is a buddy of Hasan Pike while claiming he is not an anti-Semite. After the attack on Temple Israel in suburban Detroit, he appeared to excuse the attempted bomb as "hurt people hurt people." His remarks echoed his affinity for guys like Piker and Mamdani and sounded like justification for trying to blow up a pre-school full of Jewish kids. 

While El-Sayed has apologized for his remarks concerning the events at Temple Israel, he has not disassociated himself from those who view Israel as a genocidal, colonialist predator. His words don't exactly mirror his social circle. In an interview in the New Yorker, he asserted: 

I believe in equal rights to peace, dignity, and self-determination, for Palestinians and Jewish Israelis alike. And I believe that it is not my job as an American policymaker to decide what the ultimate peace should be.

Yet on his campaign website, he says:

Right now, our tax dollars and American-made weapons are being used to perpetrate a genocide in Gaza, illegal settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and the attempted annexation of Southern Lebanon. That must end. I support immediate and comprehensive enforcement of U.S. laws that condition the provision of military aid and sales. And I support an immediate arms embargo on Israel and reject the false differentiation between “offensive” and “defensive” weapons.

The secret code there is that Israel does not have the right to defend itself, that terrorist attacks are not terrorist but something else, and Arab colonialism in the Middle East is okay. None of those things have room for Israel as an independent democracy.

Rabbi Lopatin, in his essay, Republican Mike Rogers is the Senate candidate Democrats need to save their party,  observes, 

For me, the disdain that El-Sayed has shown for the Jewish community, especially in his continuing refusal to disavow his relationship with Piker, puts him in the same category as candidates who are openly racist and homophobic. Even the most loyal progressive would reject a racist, even if that meant risking a Republican Senate.  

To show the Democrats that such candidates should never be nominated, we must show them that such candidates can never win. Such a candidate winning would be a disaster for the most fundamental requirements we have for any candidate of any party.

I'm not getting on Rabbi Lopatin's bandwagon, but I do think he makes a valid case for voting elsewhere. For the first time in my voting life, I am seriously considering what options I actually have. Not voting is not one of them, but the choices are horrendous.

Peggy Flanagan

I look at Peggy Flanagan, the do-nothing lieutenant governor, and wonder why she, an enrolled member of White Earth Nation (Ojibwe/Anishinaabe,) doesn't recognize the indigenous rights of Jews in Israel. We are the poster-children for decolonization, yet she is silent about our right to live in our homeland. She lines up with the Democratic Socialists on this issue, claims she wants a two-state solution but not one that allows Israel to defend itself. 

Matt Little, the DFL candidate for MN-2, at least came out calling October 7th an "act of wanton slaughter against innocent civilians," yet decries Israel's response as disproportionate and one of human deprivation, never leveling any responsibility at Hamas for their treatment of their own citizens. 

Sports reporter Tafoya

Do I want to vote Republican in those two races? Lord knows I've thought about it. But Michele, (the hair-do) Tafoya's positions on other issues are way too MAGA-right wing for me. As for Eric Pratt? His campaign website is useless. He seems to be in the same ideological ballpark as Tafoya, but it's hard to figure out where he stands on other issues, which sorta tells me he doesn't know either. But that's not really surprising since I don't recall seeing a single advert for him. So I guess the answer is no. And honestly? I have no idea what I'm going to do. I mean, if the choice is between Hitler and Stalin, how do you pick one??????

And just to be clear, in Other Things That Scare Me, add the following to the list: The 2028 Presidential race. Why, you ask? 

• President Felon still seems to think he can run for a third term...or declare himself president-for-life. That's assuming he's still alive. Or we think he's still alive....
• Abdul El-Sayed, unlike Zohran Mamdani, is American born. He can run for president
• Pete Hegseth is also American born and seems to be consolidating his power base. I'm too afraid of the answer to ask why.
• Vice President J.D. Bedbug seems to have lost his momentum as front runner

In other news worth noting, in today's edition of THE HARTMANN REPORT, Thom Hartman wrote about personalism in governance. It's a fascinating column and I highly recommend you read it. Sex, Money, and Revenge: What Happens When a Country Becomes One Man’s Property takes a dive into the idea that President Felon is being coached on how to use personalism to run a country. He writes:

Personalist rulers invariably — always, really — leave the countries they’ve ruled worse off than when they started and their damage typically long outlives them. Social scientist Max Weber called this patrimonialism: it’s when a ruler treats the nation, its commons, and its collective wealth as his own personal property to loot and share with his closest relatives and cronies.

Like converting the Department of Justice into your own personal instrument for revenge, blinding the IRS to your crimes, and tearing down the East Wing without asking anybody’s permission or advice. Or taking a country to war without congressional authorization. Or giving away federal lands to major donors and killing regulations to enhance their profits. Or his kids becoming defense contractors.

Once a country is essentially converted into the personalist property of one man, his family, and his billionaire cronies, his private lusts and grudges become public policy and the line defining the difference between his desires and the nation’s interests vanishes.

The weaponization of various departments like Justice, State, and Defense should be giving every American pause. Between renaming international bodies to water to demanding changes to USPS that will inhibit voting by mail, or even demanding voter rolls are all reasons enough to suspect the guy is unhinged. His tutor, Putin, makes sure he's giving lessons in weekly hour-long phone calls and assorted "meetings." Putin. Chief Oligarch. Sworn enemy of the United States...and this guy appears to be calling a whole lotta shots. 

Hartmann goes on to posit:

In Federalist 51, James Madison notes that if men were angels we’d have no need for the checks on presidential power that he and his colleagues had written into the Constitution. They thought they’d built a system that could survive a bad president and, for the first 250 years, they appeared to be right.

Now, with [Idi] Amin as a role model and Putin as a mentor, Trump is testing that system and the entire world is watching, aghast. Republicans in Congress and the states, who have the tools Madison gave them to stop our slide from democracy into personalist authoritarian rule, are simply standing around terrified while making up excuses and rationalizations for doing nothing or collecting their own shares of the loot.

I'd love to tell you all this is a fantasy land, but I suspect we all know better.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....

photo credit - the senior son

There were big doings over in the WP world. The new Ner Tamid (Eternal Light) is up and glowing over the ark in the chapel. This morning, I walked into minyan and just smiled. It's lovely. 

The dedication on Friday was smooth as silk. The whole fam was there for morning minyan...Mr. and Mrs. Senior Son, Mr. and Mrs. Junior Son, and their progeny, Little Miss and Young Sir. Even my Big Bro was there, albeit on zoom. I still ran the zoom-room, assigned parts, and did my usual morning minyan job, but it was with a giant smile plastered on my face. I think Ziggy would've been really happy with the turnout....it was quite the crowd...and he would've enjoyed the bagels, lox, herring, and sweets as he talked to everyone. But he wasn't there...at least not in person. I, however, will now see him every time I walk into the chapel...and I'm okay with that. 

For those of you who don't know this history, here's the short version. Ziggy was a member of the building committee when we decided to build a shul in Mendota Heights. He was very involved, and went on to become house chairman for a whole lotta years...which meant every time someone set off the building alarm it woke us up. He particularly loved the Saide Chapel, named for Holocaust survivor Sam Saide and his family. Ever since Ziggy had the poor form to leave the building, I've been trying to figure out something I wanted to do in his memory. 

Enter Claude Riedel, glass artist and creator of spectacular Ner Tamid. But that wasn't enough. You see, Claude was Ziggy's RA in Middlebrook Hall his freshman year at the U. The guys would go up to the Riedels' cabin, and there, Ziggy got to know Dr. Riedel, a musicology professor, Holocaust survivor, and, according to Ziggy, great philosopher. Let's just say he had a profound influence on how Ziggy sought his place in the world. When Claude taught a class here in town, I signed up...and approached him. Clearly, he accepted the commission.

I am deeply indebted to Claude's willingness and patience in helping to create something that Ziggy would've loved. I am grateful for my family and everyone who came to honor Ziggy's memory on Friday morning. And I am profoundly grateful for Beth Jacob, our little shul. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

If you don't already have one,

find a community that shares 

your values

your passions,

your heart.

When times are tough, this stuff matters.