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There is no greater gift than my son, Luke. This seems trite, I know; what decent parent doesn’t say that about their child? Yet and still, Luke is very special. God gave him to my wife, Sue and I because he had faith in us to protect and nurture one of his greatest treasures. Not sure why, but who am I to quibble with the almighty.

A tall and strikingly handsome 18 year old, Luke is as close to a sinless human being as you will find. He has no malice in his make up, no personal agendas that include lessening somebody else, and telling a lie is close to impossible for him. Now, he will fib for an advantage in scrabble or some other board game, but dishonesty in the service of intrigue is fully alien to him.

Luke falls into what they call the autism spectrum, but his primary deficit is his inability to innately grasp time. What does this mean? If I asked you when you first understood time; you would shrug and have no answer. Like talking, it was simply a concept you grasped from earliest memory, like breathing or taking a leak. Tuesday has always followed Monday, July has always come after June, and you have effortlessly structured your very existence around that understanding. If I came up to you, snapped my fingers, and suddenly that instinctual grasp of this universal continuum was gone, I can assure you things would get very confusing.

Back in the day my friends and I were given to … er, experimenting with certain substances. Once, down in Ocean City, in the wee hours of a long night, a fellow traveler was having a rough go of it. I asked what was wrong; he looked at me in abject terror and declared… “I’m f**cking freaking out! I forget how to tell time!” Welcome to Luke’s world.

Everything Luke does from dawn to dark aims to cope with this deficit. The world he sees is fully fragmented, like a 10,000 piece puzzle. He gets a bit of order here, a bit there, an idea that makes sense here, a piece that doesn’t fit at all there… often never enough, but sometimes way too much. And whatever he hears from us in the way of help is always unclear because he simply can’t tell us what he needs. It is a life lived by relentless trial and error, with no effective way to discuss the outcomes. A science project without an agreed on conclusion, just vague theories…over and over.

In an ironic way Luke lives as so many life coaches preach – always in the moment. This is perhaps the most painful and frustrating part of loving him; he cannot take the life he just experienced into the next frame. We can spend an hour surfing in ideal conditions, me pushing him into wave after wave that he rides all the way to shore, followed by the indisputable progress of him deftly paddling back out to the line up. During this time he will laugh, and even high five. He will accept my accolades and enthusiastically jump on the next wave. But the minute I see him reach down to undo his leash and walk the board back to our spot on the beach I know it’s over. By the time I get to him the whole thing is miles in the rear view.

“That was great buddy; I’m so proud of you. You caught some fantastic waves. Wasn’t that fun?”

…..

“Hello?”

“Yes, it was good. Dad, I just want to go to the jetty now.”

Life in an endless series of clips, each framed and inaccessible once completed. The hell of it. Of course Sue and I have adapted to this, and take whatever we can get; she won’t allow it get in the way, and lives life dedicated to being her son’s best friend. It may not ever be enough, but it will have to do. Wonderful mothers don’t complain, they adapt…and love with all their heart.

Luke’s big sister, Issie, the only other person in this world he can fully count on… we hope… because someday she will be all he has, has also bent to his limitations, but sometimes still gets frustrated that what just happened stops cold. Yet and still, he is the best sibling one could have, always there, and unconditional in everything toward his sister. There is no greater love.

Luke has forced us all to take it a day at a time. Yet, that doesn’t stop me from lying in bed at 3AM wide awake, ever worse since my aging prostate has expanded and requires two-three trips to the bathroom each night, and contemplating his future once his folks are in the ground. The world is unforgiving and will surely have him by the short hairs when I am gone. My daughter is only 20 and should not have such a burden when her peers are only indulging their own paths.

Whatever plans we formulate can never be enough, and the idea of my son institutionalized and mistreated is what turns insomnia to a panic attack. And just know, because this is really the point of this post, there are thousands upon thousands of parents sharing my life, my exact concerns. Whatever the numbers – 1 in 100, 1 in 85, doesn’t matter – a wave is coming, and my beloved son is part of it. They will surely suffer without community patience and understanding. They can’t ask for it. They shouldn’t have to. BC

History’s Latest Arsonist

By: Jon Schwartz

“People will tell you it can’t happen here. Trust me, they’re wrong.”—Ted Schwartz, US Soldier, Liberator of Dachau, my father.

Marketing research shows that books about World War II sell 20% better if there is a swastika and/or photo of Hitler on the cover. Nothing, it seems, captures our attention and imagination quite like evil.

We’ve all pondered the essence of evil. How, for example, does one go from tyrant to “genocidist”? De-humanizing others is perhaps the most popular explanation for the pure evil of genocide. If we can see another as less than we are, we can excuse horrible acts against them. Certainly we’ve seen this de-humanization technique employed alongside history’s most horrific pogroms.

While de-humanization is an ingredient in the killing of others and arson of a society, it requires much more than just that. A child holding a magnifying glass to an ant is one thing, but killing millions demands more of an explanation.

What do history’s arsonists have in common besides reducing others to a life not worth living? What primary traits do Hitler, Stalin, Saddam, Pol Pot, etc. share? What other vital component did their totalitarian treks exhibit? The answer is clear in all their ugly screeds:

I AM A VICTIM!

WE ARE THE VICTIMS!

WE WILL FIGHT FOR WHAT IS OURS!!!

Perceived victimhood is the totalitarian’s best friend and lifelong companion. The delusion of righteousness always precedes the tyrant’s pitch that he alone is endowed with inexplicable power to lead his tribesmen from victim to victor. Genocide becomes merely the “necessary work” to complete the victory.

Saddam, Pol Pot, Hitler, and Stalin surely all believed that “I AM THE VICTIM, AND I AM THE AVENGER!” History’s arsonists never worried about acknowledging their evil because from the start their cruelty was defensive, the fault of their would be oppressors. Whatever actions they were “forced” to take became heroic reactions to conspiracies they concocted and validated through relentless propaganda, another necessity to carry out mass murder.

As they say, one person’s freedom fighter is another person’s terrorist.

Hitler spent his lifetime emotionally ensconced in a dual belief system of de—humanization (Jews are parasites) and victimhood (Germany is surrounded by the Jewish Bolsheviks to the east and the imperialist Jews to the west). This narrative took root before he ever set foot on World War I soil and 20 years later became the tsunami of hatred Germans set their watches by and went to war for.

And of course this is what incenses us when we look back at 1930’s and 40’s Germany. The people followed. Why? How could they be so servile to such a vision?

I wish I knew, but I suspect there are two societal cornerstones of the spread of evil in this, and all other such episodes: first, to MLK’s point, “in the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” The decent majority chose the comfort of silence over the necessity of righteous counterattack against the malignant minority. Second, the application of repetitive propaganda is the marinade of every societal barbeque. Keep saying the same thing over and over, and people will eventually believe it.

Enter today’s United States of America. And Trump… And his followers.

Of course today’s America is not Nazi Germany, Baathist Iraq, Khmer Rouge Cambodia, or Stalinist Russia. However, if you believe “it can’t happen here” then you are a fortunate fool, and if you believe that powerful elements of our country aren’t sliding toward evil in active and passive forms alike, you are mistaken.

Is Donald Trump our next historical arsonist? I don’t know, but I am certain he will be unless he’s stopped. We must cease pretending that this isn’t so. While the content of his narrative may not match Hitler’s sentence for sentence, his process is disturbingly similar.

De-humanize his perceived foes? We need not count the ways.

Mold himself as the victim? Check.

Cast himself as the avenger? “I alone can fix this.”

The silence of the masses? Oh God yes!

The “righteous indignation” of the frothing few? Watch a Trump rally.

Assaults on the media? Every minute of every day. “Enemy of the people.”

Use of repetitive, false propaganda? The lyingest liar that ever lied, and it’s not even close.

So what is his end game? King of the world will suffice. Nothing else will do.

And what of his political base? Do they see themselves as victims and Trump as deliverer? Where do they find the emotional fuel required to subjugate facts, vote against their own interests, and lustily inhale the funk of bad deeds all around them?

Who are the Trump supporters reeling from? Who is soiling their ideal, denying them their pursuit of happiness? Two principle villians have emerged, feeding each other and together constituting an existential threat to “the country I knew.”

First, there are the “others”, and the list is long… and expanding. Immigrants, Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, Asians, and everyone else who doesn’t symbolize or respect what America should be – a white nation sprung from Anglo-Europe heritage. We speak English, we forged our constitution from British ideals, and we created the greatest country ever by the toil and moxie of people who need sunscreen. For Trump’s base the apocalypse is scheduled for 2050, when White officially becomes minority status on census sheets.

Second, of course, there is the mainstream media, coastal Ivy League elites, bent on their “celebrate diversity/stronger together” mythology that will subjugate real Americans.

And what is the media’s culpability in all of this? Enter CNN. While Fox News unabashedly serves as Trump’s propaganda platform, CNN also does his bidding, albeit in a cloaked fashion. Just like Fox, Trumpism has been economic boom times for the network which has branded itself the noble resistance. Nonsense! Far from being The Old Man and the Sea, fighting the ocean beast to his last breath, CNN gladly enables Trumpism’s dangerous narrative. If Trump is the Shark, CNN is but the remora hitching a ride on his gills. Their symbiosis is as complete as a tick on a dog’s neck. When Trump crows he is “the best thing that ever happened to CNN,” he stumbles into territory he seldom visits…the truth. Truth to Power? Nonsense! It’s ratings dressed up as the noble warrior.

As the elitist CNN host/ess “turns to the panel” we see a lonely Trump supporter flanked by several ardent anti-Trumpists. it doesn’t matter when each of these outraged elites thrusts perspicacity and moral authority at the Trump surrogate because the Trump viewer isn’t listening. Rather, the Trump viewer watches the Trump surrogate surrounded and “bullied,” and voila: victim narrative confirmed!

While serving snifters of cognitive cognac to those who oppose, CNN simultaneously pours shots of Jack Daniels confirmation bias for the Trump base. CNN cynically gives us all what we seek through this manipulative formula which, in the end, serves Trump in his never ending quest to rain fire and fury on the remnants of our national unity.

Facts and reason are not the amino acid chains of the Trump supporter. Their fuel is victimhood and the enemies responsible for it. Fox News is spinning Trump’s worst for them to be able to digest. But CNN and other media outlets seem to be knowingly playing their role too, with a lack of concern in proportion to increased viewership and more expensive ad spots. The truly awful places Trump may yet take us are unclear; those who will bear responsibility if we go there far more so. JS

Last night my wife dragged me to see Won’t You Be My Neighbor, the recently released documentary about Fred Rogers and his iconic childrens’ show. By the closing credits I was damn glad she did. While I was not an avid Mr. Rogers fan before, my kids came along in the Barney (God help us) and Wiggles era, I sure am now.

Fred Rogers was a gift to us all, and like most good things was taken for granted when he was here. His show was as important as it was simple and straightforward, an enlightened alternative to the swamp of inane and often violent childrens’ programming. And while Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood was easy pickings for parody and cheap shots, the documentary fleshes out an American treasure, the leader of a group of extraordinarily dedicated individuals, who produced magic day in and day out from 1968 to 2001.

Roger’s message was at its heart a Christian one… children are created by God, and each is special. We are born with nothing to prove, our existence is enough to be a blessing to the world. And while Rogers was at the forefront of social progress, for example bringing in from the start a black man as a regular in the neighborhood, and actually explaining the assassination of Robert Kennedy to his young audience, his mission was to take pressure off of kids through relentless empathy and understanding.

He became one of the faces of PBS after ensuring funding early on with heartfelt Senate testimony. Incredibly, right wing critics would later target Rogers as PBS was added to Fox/AM’s ever expanding list of grievances. Watching clips of Brian Kilmeade going after Rogers for telling kids they are special “and don’t have to earn their position in life” has to be seen to be believed.

But ultimately what Won’t You Be My Neighbor leaves one with is both a deep appreciation of a man committed to an idea…a good and necessary idea, and regret, at least for me, that we didn’t appreciate him enough before he died of stomach cancer in 2003. Certainly nobody has filled those blue boat sneakers he changed into each day for 33 years since.

When Dances With Wolves hit theaters in the early 90s, I loved it, saw it three different times with three different dates. It struck me as an indisputable good. A few weeks later I was at a party and was introduced to some guy, the boyfriend of my girl’s best friend. I brought up Wolves and before I could declare how much I liked it, this guy blathered it was the worst flick he had ever seen. Phoney, bleeding-heart liberal blah blah blah. The other people in the group glanced at each other and came to silent agreement about how much of an AHole the guy was, much to the embarrassment of his girlfriend. For years after that, I would often give new acquaintances the Dances With Wolves test to screen for vexatious types.

With the cleavage that now runs through our national life, and the trauma tribal cues frequently cause, perhaps it’s time for a simple Mr. Rogers test to clarify who among us portends decency. Anybody given to gratuitously dissing Fred Rogers doesn’t have much to offer; that’s a profile I can rely on.

Fred Rogers offered everything sorely wanting these days, particularly in high places of our public sector. Kindness, selflessness, tolerance and simple decency pervaded his wonderful enterprise. The documentary is told through the eyes of the people who loved him, those lucky enough to be regular parts of his life. They all understand how special he was and lovingly reflect the lessons he taught, usually by personal example. What he gave us was a gift. The glaring absence today of what he embodied punctuates the crisis we face. There are far worse aspirations we can pursue than working at being better neighbors. BC

“The evolution of caesium-134 and caesium-137 deposited on the territories, and the ensuing dose rates in the air, are decisive elements in guiding strategies with regard to the return of inhabitants to the evacuated zones and decontamination measures.”

This is science speak for everything near the doomed Fukushima Nuclear site is going to throw out rads for a long long time. Anybody wondering just how long can go camp in the Chernobyl region… not a particularly healthful idea. Why is this relevant right now, right here? Because anybody who wants to argue for the proliferation of new nuclear plants in Europe better be one hell of a snake oil salesman.

But what about coal, or as our POTUS likes to slur… cleeaan coal. Turns out it’s not that clean and, along with the rest of Europe, Germany has phased out much of its coal-fired energy capacity in line with other prudent measures to address climate change.

The Nord Stream natural gas pipeline, put on the chalk board back in 97’ when Russia still offered pretensions of partner rather than adversary, has helped make much of Europe’s move away from nukes and coal possible, but not without a cost. Vulnerability to Russia.

To that end, aggressive wind, biomass and solar development efforts have helped create entire cottage industries, complete with the jobs Obama often cited in his rhetoric extolling similar projects in the US. Point is, European, and most particularly German, dependence on the Russian natural gas tap is not a new concern, nor is it something affected governments have taken lightly.

It’s a certainty Donald Trump is a terrible poker player. His tells are apparent almost immediately, and he has no ability to modulate his thinking. Childlike would be the best discription of his body language when interacting with others, particularly as the situation becomes more stressful.

Thus, one needs no degree in psychology, or a seat at the final table in Vegas, to connect the dots of his shameful international incident in Brussels today. He might as well have had a thought bubble above his head.

Equating Germany’s dependence on Russian natural gas with subservience to Moscow was as ridiculous as it was gratuitously insulting. It was also stilted and poorly delivered, contrived by a man notorious for his aversion to adequate preparation. That Trump’s addled mind was desperately spinning to lay out his grievances was palpable. As was the piss ant game plan behind the whole shameful exchange.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg started the meeting by ever graciously attending to Trump’s gripe about expenditures, making it clear “billions” have been added to member country contributions and structural commitments are in place. Of course, this wasn’t enough for our Veruca Salt, who first demanded Stoltenberg give him full credit for the increase, illiciting awkward laughter from his lackeys Kay Bailey Hutchinson and Mike Pompeo (John Kelly appeared to be holding back a seizure throughout the whole affair), and promptly complaining it wasn’t enough. Trump being Trump, he then clumsily started in on the Germany-as-Russian-puppet bilge, and lied that he has been pointing out the issue “from the beginning.”

One could almost see the corroded gears of our blackmailer-in-chief’s lil brain tortoriously cranking away and envisioning fresh new material for his rallies back home: “Did you see me give it to what’s his name at the NATO meeting? Germany gets all of its energy from Russia and the fake media says I’m in bed with Putin. They want us to pay to protect them from the country they give billions to! Not going to happen folks!”

It’s even money Trump didn’t come up with this fresh red grievance meat himself, and even Miller would think twice before giving Trump more nitro to blow things up in Brussels… or not. Outside suspects, who would coach up Bevis on this angle? Steve Bannon? Sean Hannity? Gorka? Whoever! The list’s length makes your back hurt.

Our country is currently represented by a vacant nihilist, solely concerned with impressing his micro constituency at the expense of… everything else. It’s not unreasonable to think Trump fully believes the guff he spouts; it all makes sense when it’s hissed to him. Like every other issue our POTUS digests, stopping at C with zero interest in thinking it through to Z, and then allowing Fox/AM to corrupt A and B, it becomes only so much more inane fodder, just another example of the moronic synergy between Trump and his wretched core.

Whatever validity an issue carries, whatever room there is to agree or disagree, will be rendered meaningless by the time Trump is finished. Burden sharing and energy dependence on Moscow, particularly by East European nations, are exactly the questions the annual Brussels conference is meant to address. That they have become cheap throwaway lines of our globally despised President’s transparent preening to a servile political base clarifies the awful damage even only 18 months has wrought. A second Trump term is unimaginable; European leaders are now pondering just that specter and mumbling a tragic new truth… with friends like us, who needs enemies? BC

The Cold War, now actually forgotten or revised by so many, was the direct result of broken promises made at the negotiating table. Had Stalin condoned even half-hearted efforts at democratic autonomy in Eastern Europe, particularly Poland, who Churchill felt a special duty toward, US history may have been radically different.

Containment strategy, with its inevitable escalation of both blood and treasure, was born from Soviet actions validating the pessimism of George Kennan, who’s telegram from Eastern Europe detailing the folly of believing in Soviet promises gained prescience with every Stalinist doublecross. As the hopes of Yalta gave way to the sober pragmatism of Potsdam, and then the new reality of the Truman Doctrine, Uncle Joe morphed into the enemy he didn’t mind becoming, ready and able to start upsetting the dominoes.

It need never have come to that. Had US negotiators better understood Stalin’s mindset coming into Yalta, and kept in perspective those pocket aces in his hand Red Army occupation of most of Eastern Europe embodied, they may have come to the table more clear-eyed and not have been so taken aback by the result. Fifty years of hostility and the nerve wracking tension of Mutually Asssured Destruction, not to mention the Military Industrial Complex Eisenhower feared, was what we got for our troubles. That said, Europe has enjoyed mostly peace; and that’s a good thing.

All of this is worth mentioning now because we made the ruinous mistake
of electing, perhaps with active Russian intrigue, a nihilist fully unconcerned with the maintenance of the principle military alliance and economic collective forged as a result US-Soviet estrangement.

Whatever one’s worst case scenario of Trump’s meeting this week with NATO leaders, it’s imaginable. After the G-7, anything is possible, nothing too out there to conjure. The only two things in which we can really be sure are the leader of the free world won’t have a clue what he’s talking about, and that won’t stop him from doing it incessantly, in the most boorish fashion possible.

At his Montana rally, our anti-statesman spewed trash like he was itching for a fight, ready to do more than lecture about Europe living up to its obligations. I may just have to tell Angela we can’t protect her anymore, Trump slurred to his wretched core. What could go wrong?

European leaders are losing faith they can outlast our albatross, watching with horror GOP capitulation and acknowledging the awful specter of a possible second term. They are not served in any domestic political climate being seen as Trump lackeys; if he repeats his G-7 outrages, things may get very ugly. Macron learned the hard way the futility of swallowing pride in hopes of encouraging rationality. A unified middle finger on the world stage may become unavoidable.

And then L’Enfant Terrible will be off to meet with Putin, the only true friend he can count on. Hard to imagine what part of the store will be given away as he’s fuming about being dissed by the ingrates we’ve been carrying all these years. So what about Crimea, most of em speak Russian anyway! At least Vlad understands strength and doesn’t mooch off my good graces! Poisoning British citizens? Fake news! I don’t owe Europe a thing, and my Russian friends came through when… er, ah.. forget it! Nothing wrong with peace!

When the Berlin Wall was being beaten up by wild celebrants in 89’ we all assumed the West had won the Cold War; optimists even hoped Russia could become more partner than foe. But just as Stalin did after Yalta, Putin and the oligarchs he champions have dashed such aspirations. And after wandering in the desert for years, they are now poised, like Stalin before them, to outperform the odds their military and economic weaknesses should dictate. And why not be confident in the Kremlin? Unlike the Generalissimo, Putin has a flush draw…a useful idiot with his own propaganda operation. A dolt named Trump. BC

The President of the United States would rather do anything other than work. It is not pejorative to say Donald Trump is probably the laziest President in American history; it is simply an observation of the obvious, like looking up at pitch black skies and saying “looks like rain.”

After declaring on the stump he would “never see Doral again” because he would never leave the White House – working non stop negotiating deals for the country – Trump has played more than 160 rounds of golf, many at his Doral course near the “Southern White House.”To put that in perspective, since Inauguration Day, he has played more than five months of golf. Were he a touring golf pro, Trump would have played 40 full tournaments! Think about that!

Moreover, it is clear from countless interviews with White House staff, at least those available before they left – the turnover rate in the Trump Administration is an unprecedented 61 percent – the President has zero desire to either brief himself or, more incredibly, be informed by staff on the issues he was presumably elected to address. One staffer, when asked how Trump quizzes those presenting information to him, said simply it is assumed he is not paying attention.

Finally, the spare number of hours our Chief Executive actually clocks in on a typical work day is well documented. The mornings appear devoted to watching Fox News from the residence and then tweeting accordingly. Actual time in the West Wing seems limited to four hours at most, often spent on the phone to “outside advisors” setting the President straight on the bad counsel he is getting from the people paid to… er, counsel him.

An executive decision-making process does not seem to exist, and access to the President is said to be very limited these days, with Stephen Miller and John Bolton apparently now enjoying the most alone time to hiss in his ear. By all accounts he can’t get out of his office fast enough, and exhibits little focus on anything substantive, usually distracted by some enemy of the moment.

But one thing Trump adores are rallies before his wretched core. To that end he has made clear to staff he wants to be on the road several times a week stumping for GOP candidates. Unfortunately for the candidates, the amount of time he actually devotes to their prospects fluctuates between sparse and sparser.

What the rallies have become, fully illustrated at Thursday’s Montana event, are the unhinged rantings of a pathological narcissist, unencumbered by any responsibility to anything other than his delusions. What this says about the thousands, who wait in broiling heat for hours to applaud his every ugly inanity, is as obvious as his disdain for work, but even more of a crisis to the country.

Trump rallies are first and foremost attacks on the press. Reporters on the ground have grown increasingly alarmed at the vitriol hurled their way by attendees, who undergo a metamorphosis from neighbor to rabid nihilist on the way to their seats.

Forced to locate in a central penned area, the media endures a near constant stream of derision throughout Trump’s monologue. Almost everything he rants is couched within his version – often near unintelligible – and his description of what the conniving, lying media reported.

In Montana, as he has for some time now, no distinctions were made, only holding out the New York Times and Washington Post as particularly egregious examples, fully dependent on covering him to continue as going concerns. So, not only is Trump the victim of their constant lies, but standard bearers of the American press now fully depend on Trump to sell enough papers to survive. Narcissism anyone?

Trump enemies get plenty of attention at his rallies. Montana Democratic Senator John Tester, who has called out the Administration on a number of issues ranging from VA incompetence to agriculture policy, was signaled out for the Trump treatment – equal parts lies and derision, with yet another ugly jab at dying John McCain for good measure.

Perhaps no sitting US Senator has ever been abased in so disgusting a manner by ANY elected official, let alone the POTUS, as Elizabeth Warren was to rousing applause in Montana. It’s not possible to describe the infantile yet thoroughly racist and misogynistic abuse our President heaped on Warren. Of all the outrages normalized since last January, this disgrace may be the worst. Yet it now seems impossible for any one outrage to stand out, such is the torrent of indignities from this President.

Our allies act worse than our enemies; Russia and China are fine; NATO is ripping us off; Democrats love MS-13; it may be time to stop defending Europe; Kim and I signed “this great piece of paper”. And on and on it goes. All qualifying for applause by the bored senseless, but ever dutiful Big Sky branch of the wretched core.

Trump’s rally in Montana was the worst yet, setting new low points for Presidential behavior and servility of his supporters. But Trump is less the issue than his following, who in Montana demonstrated there is not a crevice their champion can descend to without their mindless approval.

Trump’s gibberish from the stump is almost reassuring because it underscores his profound limitations as a tyrant. He is more idiot than totalitarian, too shiftless for a thousand year anything. Yet and still, his millions aren’t going away, and want to follow somebody. They are there for the leading. The next deliverer may not be an orange moron losing his faculties; he may be young and strong and handsome, a veteran of high intelligence and quick wit, without the need to praise himself every sentence. He may be disciplined and subtle, willing to play the long game. And the 35% he inherits from Trump may only be a starting point. Montana is where we are. Where we end up depends on how fully we grasp its significance.

I doubt the US produced many greater than ol’ Harry Truman. A more genuine made in America product you never did see. Raised in Missouri, he grew up absorbing the best and worst characteristics of one of this country’s bloodiest Civil War frontiers. While he failed to rise fully above the ugly bigotry ensconced in his upbringing, he held himself to the highest character standards. Faith, virtue, an incredible work ethic, humility, fairness, unabashed patriotism and fidelity guided him from youth. And while it is surely true and readily apparent he shared what was conventional racism of white rural Missourians at the turn of the 20th century, as a legislator and POTUS he championed civil rights initiatives he perceived as common sense fairness. But, if nobody is perfect, surely Truman’s racial bias was chief among his frailties.

Yet and still, in the pantheon of US Presidents, it is very hard to find a more industrious, better read, or grounded soul than Harry Truman. Whether working dawn to dark in fields he was forced to cultivate after his father lost everything speculating on grain, or vowing with his high school friend to read every one of 2000 volumes stocked by his local library, Truman was self-made from start to finish.

A beloved and decorated Captain of WWI, Truman spoke nary a word in public of his service, yet was always there for reunions or funerals. On war, he was clear: sending boys to battle could only ever be a last resort. And while respectful of the experience of military brass, Truman was up to the task of firing the country’s most famous general after he flouted civilian authority.

Thrust into the highest office under the most dire of circumstances at exactly the most pivotal time in US history, Truman called on everything that had shaped him and did not let his country or the world down. Whatever mistakes he made in office he readily owned, whatever successes he achieved were shared with others below him. History paints an exceptional leader with the broadest shoulders imaginable, necessary to accept the burden of momentous decisions.

Yes, on the 4th of July, celebrating the likes of Harry Truman is as pure a show of patriotism as any, I suppose. One last thing… as a Trumanphile, one enrapt by his Presidency and personal story since my college days, I can say with the confidence of a weatherman under clear blue skies; there is nobody HST would have loathed more than Trump. Every action, every tweet, every word this POTUS puts forth would have enraged Harry’s sensibilities. It simply is not possible to create a caricature more at odds with the life and record of Harry Truman than the imposter we are inflicted with for yet another 4th.

Fly your flags and love your country, and harken back to great public servants, who crafted our destiny. Just know that few of them, least of all Harry Truman, pointed their fingers at others and whined “ it’s their fault”. The buck should never stop there. When you get your hot dog, or pop open your 8th cold one, understand this: we have a POTUS incapable of saying anything else! Happy 4th! BC

If democracy is about choices, then it’s survival involves accepting the better at the expense of the ideal. At the same time, abiding such reasoning requires faith the process offers viable options that distinguish themselves from each other. We got Trump because many on one side lost faith in that proposition and figured what the hell. How wrong they were is now on display hourly. Astonishingly, many still hold to their November, 16’ outlook, but just as incredibly, Democratic leaders still seem intent on providing the same reasons to do so.

The concept of common sense suggests the obvious exists and should be recognizable to most. How anyone who watches Trump in public comes to any conclusion other than the nation has a monsterous problem, either challenges the existence of that idea, or means many have lost their bearings.

Trump is so alien to any of his predecessors, so bare in his disdain for established protocol, so wedded to his contrarian impulses, so divorced from a coherent vision of governance, accepting him is either a full and shared indictment of everything before, or an expression of complete apathy.

That 35 percent of America, 85 percent of the GOP, approve of behavior so at odds with established standards, means either Trump is exceptional enough to create new metrics, or something has convinced them the alternative is bad enough that anything else is acceptable… the least is not as bad as the worst, which the other choice certainly is.

Of course Trump exists to promote the former contention, making virtually every sentence he utters about his unique greatness. His rallies ring more of cultist Jim Jones than any previous POTUS, almost entirely in service to his megalomania. Yet attendees, aside from fatigued by having to stand and sheer boredom, don’t see any reason at all for pause.

That both national and local Republican candidates now embrace far more than distance themselves from him reflects two simple truths: they can read polls; and they, not only can accept his behavior, but also wed their political brands to it. So much for common sense on the GOP side. But what of the Democratic alternatives?

It’s hard to argue with anyone promising a simple return to sanity and abidence of previous standards, targeted by Trump for no other reason than to demonstrate his power to do so. Yet there is the emerging wing of the party demanding its own war on the status quo, come what may. Clinton and her machinery denied them; they made us pay. Coming into November they seem uninterested in simply a general resistence to the crisis they created, yet their agenda is evolving. Universal healthcare, a livable wage, higher taxes on the 1% and addressing corporate greed are the broad strokes. Righting immigration injustices and doing in ICE now appear to be added to the list. In short, fast action on intractable political issues… sound familiar?

Kicking the can down the road is no longer tolerated by either side of the populist yellow brick road, but what both sides seek can’t be achieved through compromise, which has always been required for big US legislative changes. Democrats refused to allow GOP refusal to participate stop Obamacare, and gave birth to the dark forces plagueing us now. Trump, as the most grotesque manifestation of Tea Party nihilism, has no political identity giving away ground necessary for compromise. So what are we left with?

Schumer, Pelosi et al seem intent on believing that both of the most powerful forces available to harness are too dangerous to fully embrace. Calling out Trump as the existential danger he shows himself to be on the hour risks alienating soft independents, who he turns off, but don’t have any stomach for a battle to remove him. Moreover, it risks invigorating Trump’s wretched core, who will TiVo Outnumbered and hit the polls to protect their champion from the deep state. Better to go slow and keep powder dry for 2020.

Meanwhile, anything more than humoring the Bernie crowd risks further alienation of undecideds with no stomach for socialism, better the devil they’ve normalized already than another wave of big changes. Again, no need to press too hard. We’ll work to reunite the families, absolutely no to any NEW tax cuts. And let’s fix this flawed Obamacare because the GOP failed to repeal and just wants the issue to go away. Talk about a solid platform!

The GOP worked out its internal differences by allowing the Fox/AM fringe to destroy all reason and compassion within its ranks. The Tea Party morphed from an electoral asset to a nihilist albatross in the blink of an eye. Trump came along and simply fully defined himself in line with those ugly traits, rendering them non distinguishable from his hideous cult of personality.

Now the Dems seem paralyzed on how to proceed. One of the short list of usurpers of Pelosi was decisively trounced in his primary by as dynamic and attractive a progressive face as one could ask for. Yet they seem intent on nibbling at the edges rather than creating any wave required to either deliver us from our pestilence or pursue anything more than gridlock, which would suit Trump just fine.

Collective angst toward our system’s warts was responsible for electing America’s worst, who now daily provides a stress test for our democracy’s survival. Whether this bloc subordinates its demands that the Democratic Party move on from the 1990s, and makes peace with simply throwing water on the fire we all see burning, will determine if the current criminal enterprise continues. One can only hope they employ the common sense they were born with. BC

In Maine, two news headlines illustrate our bipolar nation. One story highlights the finishing touches the Maine legislature is putting on its voters’ decisive support of a referendum legalizing cannibis.

After overriding Trumpie Governor Paul Le Page’s effort to nullify the popular will, Vacation State lawmakers are sorting out the specifics of recreational and medical pot use, culminating in a 2019 roll out of a functioning marketplace for marijuana sales and regulation. For now a citizen can possess up to 2 1/2 ounces or grow up to six plants of ganja without penalty. By 2019 boutiques should begin full operations, tax paying enterprises on the cutting edge of medicinal and recreational weed consumption.

Meanwhile, with the announcement of SCOTUS Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement, all eyes are on Maine’s own Susan Collins, who now passes for GOP moderate in the US Senate, and along with Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, suddenly has a very strong hand to play regarding any Trump nominee to the Court. Today’s editorial in the Portland Press Herald called on Collins to show “less deference to the President than (she) usually demonstrates”, while appreciating Kennedy’s “unique position on the court over the last three decades.”

Whether Collins, who despite nurturing a political brand of independence, has been as reliable a yes vote for Trump initiatives as Ted Cruz or Orrin Hatch, decides to actually approach the nomination process with fealty to womens’ reproductive rights as a guidepost, there is little doubt that who she will be considering will have no regard for such concerns. And the likely ascendence of a newly solid vote against Roe v Wade means in 2019 Maine women will be able to do bong hits in their back yard without fear of incarceration, but if they take a “morning after” pill may be ripe for felony prosecution. Talk about one step forward and two steps backward! Trump’s America in a nutshell.

What the new SCOTUS reality clarifies is this will fully become John Robert’s court. With his breezy assent of Trump’s travel ban, and servile participation in deleting 70 years of established labor law, Neal Gorsuch confirmed he is Scalia with a fraction of the intellect. Alito joined Thomas in the “originalist” section long ago, and it’s sadly doubtful Trump’s latest nominee won’t follow along. So that leaves Roberts as the sole hope for any sort of discretion in what will surely be a wave of challenges to what were established cases. Reproductive and gay rights, minority protections, voting rights and limits on police conduct are likely to fill the docket.

Only Roberts appears to any degree amendable to something other than a rubber stamp. Of course the long term implications are enormous and will define how far social progress, paid for with blood and toil, will be rolled back by those imbibed only with grievance and resentment of groups they have no problem excluding from protections they take for granted.

So how reasonable is it to hope the Chief Justice will abide stare decisis at the expense of political ideology…in other words what he promised up and down to do during his own confirmation? In short, not very. The travel ban opinion Roberts himself authored requires one to ignore the most divisive political figure in US history and focus only on the authority previously granted by the court to his station. Roberts stipulates that, since the formal wording of the ban is “neutral”, Trump’s endless, fully documented, rants and rages behind the action are irrelevant. In other words, tidy legalese inoculates malignant intent.

While it certainly is true past SCOTUS rulings have sided with broad Executive power, considering action without intent makes no sense unless one accepts the democracy killing proposition that any POTUS can define “national security emergency” as he sees fit and all constitutional bets are off. The fact that Roberts declared Korematsu, the basis for Japanese WWII internment made exactly under such circumstances, unconstitutional 70 years too late, demonstrated breathtaking inconsistency by the Chief Justice on exactly that subject. Such constitutional acrobatics will come in handy if he decides to rule against Roe V Wade.

The American ship is sailing in the midst of a mutiny by the old and drunken tars of its crew. While the course of its voyage has yet to be brought about face, a war for control of its helm rages on; and right now the mutineers are pushing their advantage. Whether, after so long and costly a journey, they will be able to force heading back toward the nothingness of past failures we moved away from now seems to be in the hands of a very few, who have yet to inspire in their service to the mission’s success. We need to more fully engage the battle and tilt the balance. BC

It’s entirely possible that separating families at the border cooked the GOP’s goose in November. The images and audio coming from the southwest won’t be forgotten soon, and it was only a matter of time before otherwise indifferent fence sitters, acquiescent to a POTUS as unable to keep his mouth shut as he is to convey the least bit of empathy, would finally have enough. So what does a wave landslide in November look like and how will the vanquished react?

Trump’s rally in Minnesota and his unhinged cabinet meeting last week betray concern that November might be very ugly for GOP enablers. The more he repeats himself on a subject, the more preoccupied by it he is, such are the tells of a mental midget.

The primary season has brought good news and bad news for Trump. On the plus side loud and proud Trumpie nihilists have proliferated and sent a number of what passes for “moderates” in today’s Grand Old Party – or put another way, those who can read without moving their lips -packing. And the Neanderthal newbies are all in with Der Donald, bathing him in the props he requires to tweet for their cause. What was unimaginable two years ago is now a fact: this is Trump’s GOP. Even shameless Dems like West Virginia’s Joe Manchin are talking the talk (he may vote for Trump in 2020!), and walking the walk (enthusiastically voting for Gina Haspel for CIA.)

But Trump’s paving of the shockingly feckless GOP leadership and rank and file makes November’s elections unmistakenly a referendum about his constant obsession…him! And that’s a campaign few should be excited to run.

Incredibly, it’s salvation may come from the Democrats themselves, who appear skittish about going to war against unhinged nihilism, proffering parlor debates about what’s best for America’s middle class instead. Whether Trump will allow GOP candidates to accept that gift is doubtful, as he has made clear his schedule is wide open for regular rallies, where actually discussing policy differences with Democrats will surely suffer to his lust for inane self-promotion, spiced with a torrent of ugly lies and bigotry. And while that may turn on the wretched 35%, it’s unlikely anyone looking for an excuse to atone for holding their nose the last election cycle will be swayed.

But what if the chickens come home to roost earlier than expected? It’s a certainty an aggressive tariff regime will harm the economy quickly, as trading partners respond in kind, intent on sending the message they will not be cowed by a bully. Inflation and job losses may start spiking by August. And the border now has America’s attention, the fate of families torn apart should remain in the spotlight, with fresh polling placing the blame squarely on Trump. Add to that his knack for digging new holes with divisive gibberish, and a wave trouncing could go from a strong possibility to inevitable by September, no longer if but how bad. And Trump’s response to reality he can’t deny, but surely sees as an existential threat? The abyss is the limit.

What if Trump decides, as he did in the run up to November 16’, when he was convinced defeat was a certainty, to attack the integrity of the electoral system itself? What if the twice a week rallies become dominated by the “rigged system” narrative? What if he takes it to the next level and calls on his lemmings to boycott the election, stay home and be a patriot; don’t participate in this sham. And what if Fox/AM falls in line, bestowing on his sedition crusade status?
If you think this scenario is outlandishly impossible, you haven’t been paying attention.

There exists no dichotomy for identifying which Trump stump vomit is more malignant to the nation because he has been unhinged from the start. Yet and still, we know the country’s well being pales in importance to him when cast against his own rabid survival instincts. Democratic control of the Hill is game over, so why not do what he always does… fully discredit the threat to his wretched core? It is a tried and true standard operating procedure that has served him well to this point. Seems unreasonable to expect anything else.

The soundness of the American electoral process has been the currency of global order since World War II. Trump has been relentlessly attacking that status quo since he took office, with complete obedience from the body our founders assumed would stop him in his tracks. In fact, it now seems tragically certain that the GOP will fully abet Trumpism, if not actively promote it. So where is the logic in assuming this enterprise, when facing certain electoral repudiation and the loss of control of its fate which accompanies it, won’t try to burn down the house to save the plantation?

My father was wise and told me many sensible things, but none more apt for our purposes here than this: “never assume an asshole can’t be even more of an asshole!” BC