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The Desecration of America

When I first began posting these blogs, there was no shortage of topics. The outrageous behavior of Trump and his minions provided what photographers call a “target rich environment.” The problem was that, as I was spending a day or two writing a blog about one day’s developments, they would commit even more outrageous acts the next day. A number of times, I left one screed unfinished in order to tackle another more-current subject. It was very frustrating. Finally, it just became too exhausting to try and keep up with them.

But Trump’s latest acts that are so egregious as to warrant discussion. I’m talking about his renaming of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts to include his own name. This is doubly disturbing, firstly from the standpoint of the desecration of an iconic American monument and, secondly, being done by a man with absolutely no artistic credentials or even good taste. This is the man, after all, who has redecorated the Oval Office to look like a cheap imitation throne room set from a movie.

He also renamed the United States Institute of Peace to the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. This is a gross abomination given that he is waging a fake “war” against fishing boats and is planning to soon invade another country in order to steal their oil.

This comes after his plans to release a U.S. coin with his image on both sides, to construct the Trump Ballroom, and to create “Trump accounts” for children.

Regrettably, this is probably not the end of his desecration of American icons. Trump has a deep narcissistic need to put his name on everything he can. Over the next three years, I think we can expect to see the following:

The Trump-Washington Monument (with his enlarged image in bronze plaques attached at the base to all four sides)

The Trump-Lincoln Memorial (with Lincoln’s immortal words chiseled away and replaced by “President Donald J. Trump – AMERICA’S GREATEST PRESIDENT!”)

The Trump-Arlington National Cemetery

The Trump-Reagan National Airport

The Trump National Mall

The Trump-Smithsonian Museums

Trump Boulevard (formerly Pennsylvania Ave)

The Trump-Pentagon

The Trump National Zoological Park

The Trump Capitol Building

Trump Plaza (formerly Black Lives Matter Plaza)

Trump-Franklin Square

and “The Trump…” on the various other public spaces and the 70 or so government buildings In Washington D.C. (especially The Trump Supreme Court Building).

Not to forget the Trump Triumphal Arch that he’s also planning to build.

In fact, I would not be surprised if he were to rename the whole town to Trump City. And since that is merely a city, he will probably pressure the Republicans in the Texas legislature to rename Texas to The State of Trump. They would, undoubtedly, be happy to do it.

This just goes to prove that there is no bottom for Trump or the GOP. They are willing to sink to whatever the lowest level of fifth-grade behavior they can reach in their efforts to glorify Trump.

Interview: JB Pritzker

One of the most popular topics among Democrats is who is running for president in 2028. I am often asked “who do you want to be our next nominee?” My answer is “whoever can win.”

We will have many high quality candidates when the time comes. It isn’t too early to become familiar with them.

I came across this interview with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker on Pod Save America. I encourage you to watch or listen to it in order to inform yourself about the topics that we should be talking about and how they are framed by Pritzker who many consider to be a viable presidential nominee.

This is the first of a series of online interviews I will be posting with elected officials in our party. No order, no time frame. As I find interviews that I think are worthy of your time, they will be posted here.

https://youtu.be/jraRu00p5mc?si=HQ1zyBEnoSRiPDlN

A Lightening Strike

Give credit to House Democrats who struck with a document dump of Epstein material subpoenaed from his estate yesterday — before the Speaker even gaveled the House into session.

A special shout out to Congressmen Ro Khanna and Jamie Raskin who are taking the messaging lead and providing fire behind the scenes. The discharge petition is now in place since Adelita Grijalva (AZ) was finally sworn in and the 218th Congressional signature was put onto the petition.

We have been through two months of distraction orchestrated by the White House to keep the nation’s attention away from Donald Trump’s slimy relationship with a child sex trafficker who died in prison during Trump’s first term in office. The Democrats have been quietly working and were waiting to pounce. The government had to re-open and the House had to be called back into session for this to happen.

Is this it? Or is it just the beginning? None of us knows. But we do know that there is a treasure trove of financial documents that may definitely finger those closest to Epstein and his criminal enterprise. There are reports that pictures and videos exist.

Operatives in the White House were in panic mode yesterday putting pressure on Congresswoman Lauren Boebert to remove her signature from the discharge petition. She didn’t budge. And we do know that Epstein unglues Trump and his inner circle more than any other issue.

Stay alert …. there may be more strikes by Democrats in the days ahead that could cause real damage to this president and his acolytes.

I enjoy watching a lightening storm. Do you?

Horsford Steadfast in Demanding Affordable Health Care for Working Nevadans

This is a press release issued on November 12, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steven Horsford (NV-04) today announced that he will vote against a temporary government funding proposal that failed to provide working families with any assurances about their future access to affordable health care.

The proposal, which was developed by Senate Republicans without a single House Democrat involved, would fund the government through January 30, 2026, in exchange for Senate Republicans agreeing to hold a vote on extending the health care tax credit that expires this year.

Extending the advanced premium tax credit is critical to protecting affordable health care, but the Senate Republican commitment to merely hold a vote without agreeing to support an extension leaves the outcome far from certain. Furthermore, Speaker Johnson has made no commitments to hold a vote in the House of Representatives on any tax credit extension that the Senate considers.

Rep. Horsford released the following statement:

“Simply holding a vote is not the same thing as voting for a policy,” Rep. Horsford said. “Given how hard Republicans have worked to undermine affordable health care, my constituents deserve more than vague commitments about procedural actions – they deserve to know their health care is secure.

“I opposed this shutdown from the start and have been in Washington every week to help bring about its end,” Rep. Horsford continued. “But I also oppose any proposal that fails my constituents after they’ve endured 43 days of this Republican failure to govern. Each passing day is another day federal employees go without pay, SNAP recipients go without food, the American people go without government services, and our economy suffers a self-inflicted wound. It’s time for Republicans to end their assault on health care, negotiate with Democrats in good faith, and put the American people first for a change.”

Rep. Horsford raised alarms early about Republican health care plans, devoting his annual address to the Nevada State Legislature on February 19, 2025 to the threat of Medicaid cuts as the Republican budget took shape.

Since then, he has worked with constituents, advocates, and lawmakers to elevate the real-world harm the cuts would inflict on Nevadans, and published an op-ed warning that Republicans were closer than ever to making the cuts a reality.

When the Republican “Big Beautiful” bill with health care cuts came up for consideration in the House Ways and Means Committee, Horsford offered an amendment to make the health care tax credit permanent.

Most recently, Rep. Horsford used his position on prestigious House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee to elevate the unique challenges that rural health care providers face from Republican health care cuts, and highlight how those cuts will erode the quality of care for local patients.

More information is available here.

Know your enemy

When Nevada Senators Jackie Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto joined with six other Democratic Senators (i) to abandon their party’s majority and hold the line against the recent Congressional shutdown they aided and abetted, Donald Trump’s corrupt move to take 2026 appropriations authority away from Congress (ii) while illegally impounding 2025 funds to support only his own personal policy choices.

The over 40-day 2025 shutdown began when fiscal 2026 appropriations negotiations collapsed, primarily over Trump’s desire not to extend the healthcare subsidy extensions while pushing for Medicaid cuts.

Without appropriations, a shutdown became inevidable allowing Trump managed Senate Republicians to coerce Masto and Rosen, and six other Democats to join with them to end the shutdown on a Trump corruption based promise to hold a vote on extending Affordable Care Act tax credits, possibly in December along with a promise that Trump will allow the rehiring federal workers (including air traffic controllers) laid off during the shutdown, with backdpay, at least through January.

Those alleged benefits come with a near certainty that Trump will not allow Republicans to keep their promises, while simultaneously continuing policies that, among other things, decrease federal employment, reduce food assistance, and increase healthcare costs.

Further, withholding food assistance payments had already drawn court disapproval, and Trump appeared to be backing down on that issue. And, the potential rehiring of furloughed federal workers during the shutdown was an inevitable action anyway, as pressure continued to build. All of which makes the decision to support Trump-managed Republicans all the more disengenous.

More importantly, voting in favor of funding a corrupt Trump government is an act of complicity in that corruption, whereas the resistance, as supported by the majority of Senate Democrats, was an attempt to hold the line against such corruption. At the same time, it simultaneously draws media attention to the negative traits of Trump’s funding policies.

The Republicans, led by Trump, are on a roll to dismantle government, replace it with an autocracy, while ending beneficial federal programs to increase income disparity (through tax relief), with the benefits given to the top 0.01 percent.

Rosen and Masto lack the stamina to resist corruption and govern; they have hidden behind their desks in Washington, instead of standing against the Trump agenda, so their abandonment of their party is no surprise.

Rosen’s term ends in 2031, and Masto’s in 2029; both will go down in history as individuals who abandoned Democracy in favor of autocracy and corruption at a critical time, gaining nothing except the disgust of those who had hoped for better.

i.) Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, Sen Tim Kaine, Virginia, Sen. Maggie Hassan, New Hampshire, Sen Angus King, Maine, and Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania

ii.) Article One of the United States Constitution grants the U.S. Congress the authority to appropriate funds from the Treasury.

Might Makes Right

Opinion

Donald Trump and Republicans have proven – yet again — that they can bludgeon the (air) safety and (food) security and (financial) stability of the American people and win. That’s right – win.

Thanks to eight Democrats in the U.S. Senate, Republicans today can celebrate that they rolled the Democrats who won bigly in this past Tuesday’s elections. Republicans were being blamed by the American people for the federal shutdown, since they control every lever of the federal government.

Senator Jacky Rosen, who had voted against ending the shutdown all along, joined fellow Senator Catherine Cortez Masto who didn’t vote for the shutdown once. Eight Democrats were required to cross over to the other side — Nevada provided 25% of those votes. Nevada and New Hampshire are the only states whose Democratic Senators, all women, had both to vote to throw in the towel and give the Republicans the win. These are two of the smallest states in the country and together they provided 50% of the votes needed for the great cave.

What did the Democrats get? A promise to have a vote in the Senate (only) on extending tax subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, which will fail because the Republicans will vote against that. So, those who now can’t afford the huge premium increases in the ACA will presumably do without health insurance. (There were some other concessions Republicans made about ensuring government workers get back pay and would not be furloughed).

The Republicans in the House and Senate have voted more than 40 times to kill the Affordable Care Act since Democrats pushed this through under the leadership of Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi more than 10 years ago — saving countless lives of Americans who could afford health care for the first time. Republicans could not win that vote to end it — but they did win de-funding much of it this year and eventually drowning it in the bathtub.

I have no doubt that Cortez Masto and Rosen were under enormous pressure from the Tourism Industrial Complex in Nevada who are being impacted by the air travel snarling orchestrated by Trump’s Transportation Department, thereby depressing visitors to Las Vegas and Reno. That affects jobs for Nevadans. There is the matter of air safety to consider — would you feel safe flying today with this mess in the sky created by Republicans? And food insecurity is a real issue. I’m sure neither could bear that children in Nevada were going hungry despite the best efforts — including our club’s — in stepping in to support food banks which has volunteers who work very hard feeding the vulnerable. The Republicans came off downright ghoulish fighting in the courts to stop SNAP benefits from being distributed.

So what do you think? There is a comments section below. Did Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto do the right thing in voting to open the government without winning any health care concessions for the millions of people who will now go without health insurance? Was it time to give up the fight? Was the pain worth it? How do you think Democrats look today — like the adults in the room?

If you have an opinion, I welcome you to express it here on our website blog. (click on “leave a comment” on the left). We also have a Facebook where you can comment.

The Great Gatsby Presidency

You know the premise of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, right?

Gatsby is relentless in his pursuit of wealth. He throws lavish parties and amasses a fortune through illicit business dealings. He loves Daisy and gets caught up in a love triangle which leads to tragedy. Eventually the destructiveness of Gatsby’s obsession is exposed along with the moral emptiness of the wealthy elite. The story takes place in the Roaring 20’s before the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression.

Which leads us to the Halloween Great Gatsby themed party at Maralago on Friday night, on the eve of 42 million Americans losing their food benefits, during the fourth week of a federal government shutdown.

If ever there was a decadent “let them eat cake” moment from the Presidency of Donald Trump — this was it.

My description can’t do it justice — but Sam Stein at the Bulwark can. Here is the video whereby he describes The Great Gatsby party.

Using Food As A Weapon

Opinion

Hunger is not a crime. A person who is unemployed, down on his luck, homeless, elderly, disabled or ill, a child, or any circumstance whereby one needs a government subsidy to stave off hunger — that person is not a criminal.

Food should not be a reward or punishment in the wealthiest nation on earth.

Earlier this year the (supposed) richest man on earth gleefully cut our government’s food distribution to the poorest people on the planet through USAID. He wielded a bejeweled chain saw onstage to celebrate, ignoring that he had no mandate from the people or authorization from Congress to do that.

This week we’ve been treated to the spectacle of gilded gifts, including an ACTUAL GOLD CROWN being bestowed on our wannabee monarch who is on an Asian tour. This is the fourth week of a federal government shutdown which is hurting all Americans, but mostly government workers and agencies which rely on a functioning government, which has stopped functioning. On purpose.

Food subsidies (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP) get cut off tomorrow, Saturday, November 1. Food is now a weapon in the hands of the sociopaths atop our government.

Here is what we must do. Support our food banks. N.O.W. They are more reliant on donors than ever before. One food bank manager said she senses panic setting in, much like we experienced during COVID, but she calmly stated that we cannot panic. No, we cannot. We can take action instead.

Food banks cannot fully step into the breach of the impact of SNAP benefits being cut, but they can help — if we help them.

Mesquite to Moapa Democrats are collecting checks for the Virgin Valley Food Bank, Parade of Lights Corporation (Salvation Army in Mesquite) and the Cappalappa Family Resource Center in Moapa Valley.

If you prefer bringing food or personal items, they are requesting canned tuna, chicken, soups, Progresso soup, beans, fruit, pasta sauce, spaghetti, mac and cheese, Hamburger Helper, peanut butter, jam, cereal or toothpaste, soap, laundry detergent, shampoo, toilet paper, tissue, paper towels, diapers, baby wipes, feminine hygiene, disposable razors and hand sanitizers.

You can drop off to The Meeting Spot, 312 West Mesquite Boulevard, Suite 103 (next to the Virgin Valley Food Bank, facing 1st Street South) on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday from 10 a.m. until noon during Democrats business hours. If you need a special drop off time, call or text 702-715-8403 and one of our volunteers will meet you there.

We can’t let them beat us at this cruel game. This is an emergency. We are asking you to help in whatever way you can to feed those who need us.

Thank you.

Legal Update – This afternoon a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to continue paying food stamps to the 42 million Americans who rely on them to purchase groceries. Another federal judge is weighing in on a different complaint on Monday. The courts may come through, there may be appeals which hold up distribution, the government may refuse to comply — we have an array of unknowns. For now, let’s take action steps and help our neighbors.

Horsford: Pausing SNAP Despite Emergency Fund is a Choice

This is a press release issued on October 30, 2025

Lawmaker Urges Administration to Protect SNAP Recipients Immediately

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steven Horsford (NV-04) today sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins urging her to use the $6 billion contingency fund for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) before benefits end on November 1st for more than 42 million vulnerable Americans.

“As we enter the holiday season, House Republicans are on their fifth week of a taxpayer-funded vacation and America’s largest food assistance program is about to shut down,” Rep. Horsford said. “Congress created the contingency fund to prevent this exact crisis – the administration’s ongoing refusal to use it contradicts Congressional intent and worsens food insecurity for half-a-million Nevadans who depend on SNAP. The politics of incompetence and cruelty must end. When Trump and Republicans control all branches of government, this isn’t merely an unfortunate series of events – this is their plan.”

Congress created the SNAP contingency fund to ensure operations could continue during lapses in appropriations. Both the Government Accountability Office and prior shutdown contingency plans – including one issued during President Trump’s previous administration – affirm that these funds are legally available to pay benefits during a lapse in appropriations.

Key letter excerpt:

A lapse in benefits would harm one in eight Americans – and in my home state of Nevada, one in six. Such a failure would not only endanger already hungry households but would also send shockwaves through entire communities. Yet, despite having both the clear statutory authority and the available funding to provide relief, your Department has chosen to withhold these critical benefits at the direction of President Trump. I am deeply concerned by your refusal to release the funds necessary to sustain SNAP beginning November 1, 2025.

The threat to SNAP comes as the program is already experiencing deep cuts as a result of the Republican’s “Big Beautiful” bill in July. Approximately 4 million people in a typical month will lose some or all of their SNAP food benefits once the GOP’s changes are fully implemented, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

On October 24th, Rep. Horsford led a letter to Governor Lombardo signed by his fellow Nevada Congressional Democrats, Reps. Titus (NV-01) and Lee (NV-03), urging he do everything within his power, including calling for a Special Session of the Legislature, to protect SNAP recipients.

Nevada’s Attorney General, Aaron Ford, has also pushed to protect SNAP recipients in the Silver State. Earlier this week, he joined 25 other Attorneys General in a lawsuit to force the Trump administration to use SNAP’s emergency fund.

Full text of Rep. Horsford’s letter to Secretary Rollins is available here.

Podcasts Are Better Than TV

OPINION

If you haven’t spent time exploring the expanding world of podcasts, I suggest you do so. You can get the news in real time, or close to it, with smart analysis from trustworthy sources.

I have mostly turned off TV news. I catch a few favorite shows periodically, but I turn to YouTube with an array of choices to fit my time and mood. I am amazed at how dedicated these podcasters are to bringing truth to their audiences in light of how little they are paid compared to what they could (and did) command in mainstream media. The shows are different and reflect the personalities of the hosts who can be quite creative.

Who are my go-to’s? Well, it depends. I love what Don Lemon is doing. He is unleashed and spent last weekend trekking around Chicago and bringing the conflict between ICE, police and protesters to the viewer in real time. It was fascinating. You didn’t see any of this on legacy media. Each day, he does a live broadcast at 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. Pacific Time. Lemon is a pro who built up his credentials on CNN for years.

I also love watching Jim Acosta, another trusted CNN alum. He spends time on long form interviews and he can now express his opinion without media overlords. Acosta covered the first Trump administration and his perspective is priceless.

If you have time to listen to one person each day, make that Heather Cox Richardson. She is a renown historian who puts what is happening into historical context. Richardson broadcasts nearly every day.

I am hooked on former Republican political operatives and opinion writers who are Never Trumpers. These include Tim Miller, Sarah Longwell, Jonathan V. Last, Bill Kristol, and Mona Charen at The Bulwark as well as Rick Wilson and Stuart Stevens at The Lincoln Project. These are the ones who bucked their party, ended friendships and have firmly stood on the side of preserving Democracy. They have a moral compass.

The biggest of them all is MeidasTouch. Founded by three brothers during COVID, led by attorney Ben Meiselas, this format is hard hitting opinion and news updates. New material is dropped all day and night long. Occasionally they will go live for important news. This is the only “liberal” podcast that breaks the top ten in viewers on YouTube. I check in every day.

Other notable mentions that I peruse regularly include Pod Save America, with former Obama staffers, Harry Litman for legal analysis, media mainstays Charlie Sykes and Steve Schmidt, Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway to find out what the Silicon Valley oligarchs are up to, and I really enjoy Keith Edwards for quick updates and Trae Crowder for humor. There are others, which I will list below. You will figure out what appeals to you once you view their content.

How best to watch? I subscribe to YouTube. I pay a monthly fee because I detest commercials and am willing to fork over cash to eliminate them. There are commercials embedded into many podcasts because they’ve got to pay their bills. Simply hit “subscribe” and you will get a menu of those you follow. A blue dot will appear when there is new content. A red dot indicates that the podcast is live. You can upvote and comment, follow comments of other viewers and otherwise engage.

You can also follow podcasts on Substack, Spotify, Apple and other platforms but I find YouTube to be the easiest to access.

Here is my tip — check in on these podcast during No Kings weekend. You will get more information than you will find on regular TV.

These are the podcasts that are in my “subscriber” menu. I’m sure you will find others and I welcome you to share them with me. The podcast landscape is fluid and my hat is off to everyone who works hard to bring us news and commentary in this evolving format.

MeidasTouch

The Bulwark

Heather Cox Richardson

Pod Save America

The Lincoln Project

Don Lemon

Jim Acosta

Keith Edwards

Talking Feds with Harry Litman

Lincoln Square

Democracy Docket

The Warning with Steve Schmidt

Rick Wilson’s Against All Enemies

The Mark Thompson Show

Legal AF

To The Contrary with Charlie Sykes

The Contrarian

Terry Moran

Simon Rosenberg

Thom Hartman

Al Franken

Politicon

Democracy Now!

Secular Talk

Katie Phang

The Ezra Klein Show

Christine Amanpour Presents: The Ex-Files

Pivot with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway

The Joy Reid Show

Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams

Keith Olberman

Fast Politics with Molly Jang-Fast

Stay Tuned with Preet Bharara

Trae Crowder

The Enemy from Within

Katie Couric

This Is Gavin Newsome