Your Independent Journal from the Heartland
Donald Trump at his core is a real estate developer with a mixed record in business deals, who went through four business bankruptcies while he became famous portraying a master of business as TV host of “Apprentice” and “Celebrity Apprentice.”
Trump University was a for profit school that failed in 2011 amid fraud claims. His family charity came under scrutiny in 2016 for ethical and legal violations. In 2024 he was found liable for fraudulently misrepresenting assets to obtain loans, in in a lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Leticia James in federal court in New York. Trump was found guilty in 2024 in New York state court of felony charges for his use of business assets to keep a porn actress silent about their past affair, while he was running for president in 2016. And he was indicted on federal charges relating to his attempts to tamper with election results in a failed attempt to overturn his 2020 defeat and his role in mounting an insurrection at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in a failed attempt to stop the certification of the election results.
Despite all this, the Republican Party thought Trump was the best man to carry their banner again in 2024, as the GOP made the transition to Greedy Oligarch Party. Trump returned to the White House with a mere plurality of the national vote and narrow control of Congress, but plenty of scores to settle by whatever means necessary.
What’s the worst that could happen? We have found out during the first 10 months of Trump’s retribution tour.
First, of course. Trump nominated radical Congressmen Matt Gaetz to be attorney general, but Gaetz had to withdraw from the nomination amid sexual misconduct allegations, so former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a longtime Trump loyalist, got the nod.
Trump went on to assemble what may be the least competent Cabinet in modern history. While most nominees were confirmed on near-party-line votes, where Republicans rule with 53 senators, Fox News weekend host Pete Hegseth needed Vice President JD Vance’s tiebreaker vote to become Defense Secretary.
Then, steered by the Heritage Institute’s Project 25 guidelines, Trump ignored the separation of powers and other limitations of presidential power. He (and his key advisers) started ruling by executive orders and social media. In late September, Trump ordered Attorney General Bondi to move faster in prosecuting three perceived enemies, former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Leticia James and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who led the first impeachment of Trump in 2020, when Schiff was in the House. In a Truth Social text on Sept. 10 that apparently was meant as a private message, Trump asked Bondi, “What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.” He added, “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!! President DJT.”
Within a few weeks, Erik Siebert, the experienced career prosecutor was replaced by Lindsey Halligan, a former Trump lawyer who had never prosecuted a criminal case. Comey was indicted on a charge of making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding, over the objections of veteran prosecutors who said there was no probable cause for the charges. James was indicted on a charge of mortgage fraud. Comey and James have denied the charges. Schiff said he will not be intimidated, or deterred. “We will do our jobs. We will stand up to this president,” he told reporters.
If there is any doubt about Trump’s increasing dementia, his Truth Social posting at 12:38 a.m. Oct. 12 offers proof. “THE BIDEN FBI PLACED 274 AGENTS INTO THE CROWD ON JANUARY 6,” he wrote. “If this is so, which it is, a lot of very good people will be owed big apologies. What a SCAM – DO SOMETHING!!! President DJT”
Trump was president on Jan. 6, 2021, and he was in control of the FBI during the riot, which he watched on TV as he rebuffed pleas to send the D.C. National Guard to relieve embattled Capitol police. He either forgot that experience, or he is lying again.
Trump also has called for the jailing of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for opposing his efforts to deploy military there to “restore order.” A federal judge in Illinois who blocked Trump from deploying Texas National Guard troops in Chicago Oct. 10 questioned Trump’s grasp on reality. Judge April Perry noted lawyers for the state and the city of Chicago argue that “National Guard troops from both Illinois and Texas have been deployed to Illinois because the president of the United States wants to punish state elected officials whose policies are different from his own.”
Perry noted that the president may federalize the National Guard if “there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority” of the US government, but that is not justified by current circumstances.
The judge noted a “troubling trend” of the Trump administration “equating protests with riots” and “a lack of appreciation for the wide spectrum that exists between citizens who are observing, questioning, and criticizing their government, and those who are obstructing, assaulting, or doing violence. ... Ultimately, this court must conclude that Defendants’ ... perceptions are not reliable.”
Whether Trump is really sinking into dementia or he is simply misleading the nation, Republicans who stand by in Congress and watch Trump’s abuse of office share his guilt or derangement..
One more reason to be skeptical about what you see on the Internet: A few weeks ago a reader called us on the phone and asked if The Progressive Populist was still in business. “Yes,” I responded. “We cut back our frequency in May from twice-monthly to a monthly publication schedule to help stabilize our finances, but we have kept publishing a monthly printed newspaper and we have expanded our digital offerings.”
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