President Trump's order to close the skys over Venezuela must be illegal since there is no Congressional declaration of war. I hope that Air Force pilots will recognize that it is illegal and refuse to attack anyone flying over that country.

I am not worried about whether the Democrats will do will in the voting in a year, but I do worry whether President Trump and his Republican colleagues will look for excuses not to let the winners take office. There needs to be a plan!

As an historian of the Nazi era, it troubles me to see that Department of Labor is featuring "young idealized patriots [that] are uniformly white and have hair styled unmistakably like the Hitler Youth." Is that what President Trump wants for the US? substack.com/redirect/a09...

NY Times: "...the president posted an A.I.-generated video to his Truth Social account depicting himself as a fighter pilot, careening through major cities and dropping excrement on protesters." : www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/u... Poor Donald: is this is not the action of a sick mind that needs help?

The no kings demo by US citizens in Berlin was quite peaceful. A person in a frog costume was there too.

From the New Republic: "ICE agents kidnapped a U.S. citizen in Chicago who had just finished working a double shift because she didn’t “look” American to them." newrepublic.com/post/201745/... Surely this is illegal and should be stopped.

One day after the court order protecting journalists: "masked border patrol agents pinned WGN-TV producer Debbie Brockman to the ground and arrested her after she recorded agents detaining a Latino man. "

"..., U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis granted a two-week temporary restraining order prohibiting federal agents in Chicago from “[d]ispersing, arresting, threatening to arrest, threatening or using physical force against any person whom they know or reasonably should know is a Journalist..."

I have just subscribed to Heather Cox Richardson's letters from an American. Here is a link for others who might want to subscribe: heathercoxrichardson.substack.com?r=4j2oxj&utm...

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's lack of respect for congressional oversight is unacceptable. If a democratic AG behaved that way, Republican members would call for her removal. Why are they silent now?

Donald Trump may be seriously dement. According to the Guardian (5. Oct 2025) Madeleine Dean, a Democratic congresswoman from Pennsylvania, said: “The president is unhinged. He is unwell.” Certainly his social media posts and recent speeches suggest that. Congress has a responsibility to act.

At 1:00 AM Tueday Federal agents raided a building on Chicago’s South Shore Drive. Agents said that they believed that it was a drug trafficking site. ABC News reported that people were terrified. Even children were zip-tied together. No evidence of any crime was offered. Is the rule of law dead?

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Remind Donald Trump!

According to Guardian, President Trump said: "We should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military – national guard, but military – because we’re going into Chicago very soon, that’s a big city with an incompetent governor." Surely that suggestion is unconstitutional?

Robert Reich wrote: "Trump is showing growing signs of dementia. He’s increasingly unhinged. He’s 79 years old with a family history of dementia. He could well be going nuts... Perhaps the most telling evidence of Trump’s growing dementia is his paranoid thirst for revenge..." Congress needs to act!

The prosecution of former FBI director James Comey gives new life to the old phrase "Trumped up charges". :-)

The Guardian just published an article about the National Railway Museum: www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Why did Khalil not get due process?

Robert Reich writes: "On March 8, immigration agents appeared at Khalil’s apartment building and told him he was being detained. They then revoked Khalil’s green card and student visa and held him at a Louisiana detention facility for 104 days before a federal judge ordered him released."

William Kristol wrote: "In an undercover operation last year, the FBI recorded Tom Homan, now the White House border czar, accepting $50,000 in cash after indicating he could help the agents — who were posing as business executives — win government contracts ...." Sounds like corruption.

Donald Trump's attacks on the constitutional right to free speech ought to alarm citizens. News sources report: "Trump pushes justice department to prosecute his political opponents". That is a violation of the US constitution, for which a president can be impeached.

Robert Reich ([email protected]) writes that Amazon is marketing a fake version of his Book "Coming up Short". He wrote: "I’ve repeatedly alerted Amazon to these frauds, but they’ve done nothing."

Robert Reich quoted William Butler Yeats today; "Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,... The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity."

It is interesting to watch Republicans violate the law and the constitution out of fear that Trump's poll numbers have fallen so low that they are sure they will lose badly in any mid-term elections that are not rigged. And this was once the party of law and order.

From the Washington Post: "Oklahoma will test some incoming teachers with ‘America-first’ exam" This sounds dangerously like fascism. It seems that teachers no longer have freedom of speech or of opinion.

Today Robert Reich posted a cartoon of people holding a sign where the M in Trump's name was replaced by a swastika. See: robertreich.substack.com/p/office-hou...

From a US American friend in Los Angeles: "ICE slammed US citizen Andrea Velez to the ground. No probable cause, no warrant. They arrested her to cover it up, throwing her in a cell. No water for 24 hours." This is not acceptable behaviour and deserves punishment.

Trump seems to want to repeat the errors of the 1938 Munich Agreement with Hitler. where the western powers allowed Nazi Germany to take key parts of Czechoslovakia. In this case it would mean giving defensible Ukrainian territory to Russia. How quickly people forget history and its consequences.

That message was sent to my Republican representative.

"Why do you not force the government to reveal the Epstein papers? As a Republican you must want evidence that President Trump was not involved in trafficking underaged girls. Not revealing the papers just reinforces the suspicion that he was involved at some level. You don't want that, do you?"

Continuing from Guardian (8 Aug 2025): “Secretary Wright just confirmed our worst fears – this administration plans to not just bury the scientific evidence but replace it with outright lies to downplay the worsening climate crisis and evade responsibility for addressing it."

From the Guardian 8.Aug.2025: "Asked about Wright’s comments on the national climate assessment reports, respected climate scientist Michael Mann said in an emailed comment to the Guardian: 'This is exactly what Joseph Stalin did.'"

There is increasing evidence that Donald Trump has dementia. See: thehill.com/opinion/camp...

It seems implausible that CBS killed Stephen Colberts "Late Show" for financial reasons, since the show was highly popular. I suspect CBS was bowing to a Trump as a would-be dictator who wants to eliminate a successful critic. Why do US Americans put up with this assault on free speech?

from Andy Beckett Opinion column in the Guardian. "Why is Labour so afraid to admit that we must tax the rich?" In NYC Zohran Mamdan is not afraid and others should not be.

Joyce Vance writes on "Civil Disourse": "Edmund Burke, the 18th century political philosopher, is frequently attributed with saying, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

from the Guardian: "Nationwide is under fire for refusing to give members a binding vote on a 43% pay rise for its chief executive, Debbie Crosbie, that could mean her pay package reaches up to £7m." The solution to government finance problems is to tax the rich, especially billionaires!

I see references to Yeats poem "The Second Coming" more and more often: "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world..." Perhaps Yeats anticipated Trump. My question is: how many senators like Thom Tillis will have the courage to vote no in the senate?

Attacking Iran or any other country without congressional authorisation and/ or a declaration of war is unconstitutional. This is a basis for impeachment and conviction.

According to the Guardian, Defense Secretary "Hegseth refuses to commit to obeying courts on marines in LA." That sound like grounds for sending him to prison and certainly for removing him from office.

And now I am back on Facebook. This whole process is very suspicious. I wonder whether it has happened to anyone else? Facebook showed me recent posts, which only included message to greet a former staff member.

I have just been banned from Facebook for "violating community standards". No explanation. And I have not even posted a comment about Trump in the last month or so. I think the "1984" thought police are coming for me. What is especially eerie is that they wanted a video of me for the appeal.

The solution for those US Americans concerned about balancing the budget is simple enough: tax the rich, especially billionaires. They will not starve or lack medical attention, but some poor are already going hungry and could die if they lose Medicare or Medicaid.

Trump's Tax bill might best be called the Republican Party Death Wish bill. If it really passes both houses, it will materially damage the Republican Party's chances in the next election.

The budget bill includes "a significant restriction on “the authority of federal courts to hold government officials in contempt when they violate court orders... ” This threatens the Rule of Law in the US. Where are the protesters?

According to Heather Cox Richardson: "Tobias Burns of The Hill summed it up: “Republicans’ tax-and-spending cut bill will take from the poor and give to the rich, Congress’s official scoring body has found.” Robin Hood would not approve.

NY Times: "Noem Incorrectly Defines Habeas Corpus as the President’s Right to Deport People ... [in fact]The right allows people to legally challenge their detentions by the government and is guaranteed in the Constitution." Amazing that the Senate confirmed her in office. She should be removed!

President Trump has fired the Librarian of Congress. It is important not to let him use the books to start a fire.