Anti-Trump pundits and Marjorie Taylor Green whine about
how Trump is violating America first which he ran on -- they don't get
it - he meant the entire North and South America First. Look for a name change for Venezuela, in gold leaf. Maybe Trump sees Putin being popular after starting a war and thinks he can turn around his numbers.Remember United States invasion of Grenada in the 80s?Maurice Bishop, who sought to prioritise socio-economic development, education and true black liberation, was murdered: Too much collectivism, not enough dog-eat-dog rugged individualism. Funny thing is Mamdani wants to put Bibbi in the same place. They could room with Luigi. 1898–1935:
The United States launched multiple minor interventions into Latin
America, resulting in U.S. military presence in Cuba, Honduras, Panama
(via the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty and Isthmian Canal Commission), Haiti
(1915–1935), the Dominican Republic (1916–1924) and Nicaragua
(1912–1925) & (1926–1933).  | | This goes way beyond Epstein |
Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026 Consider this post a history lesson. I've become a political junkie -- no more sports for me - politics is the real sport. I spend too much of the day listening to podcasts. I am having trouble focusing on UFT politics and Unity Trump-like behavior. UFT and oppo politics is getting boring. The Delegate Assembly is blah and the RTC Meetings are getting close to blah with the RTC leadership not fighting back against Unity to my satisfaction, though both meetings are opportunities for social interaction. I'm also in close touch with the ABC and former ICE crew, which I will write more the great in-person meeting we had last week with about 15 people. I'm not justifying or endorsing the Trump invasion(s), as so many Dems are doing, just putting them into historical context. Trump, like most presidents, has to pull a Putin and invade somewhere. His invasion is an endorsement of sorts for Putin's invasion of Ukraine due to Russian sphere of influence. And gives China justification for invading Taiwan. Since Trump is incapable of standing up to both of them, he decides to do what they do --- pick on the weak locally. He stays out of their spheres. Anti-Trump pundits and Marjorie Taylor Green, who actually is making some sense, whine about how Trump is violating America first which he ran on -- they don't get it - he meant the entire North and South America First. The Trump agenda: Panama canal, Canada 51st state -- Israel an exception, is the de-facto 51st state. How about Greenland? And next to come Cuba and Columbia? Trumpies don't have to worry about the left in Argentina and Chile and pretty much the west coast of South America. Only Columbia and Brazil is left and too big to invade but isolation would be a goal. In Central, maybe Nicaragua which is quasi left with another dictator. Nations run by the left are always a danger to capitalists -- what next? Invade NYC and deport Zohran? Only if he's successful. All the hand-ringing and rending of garments, as if this Venezuela thing is something new.
How many times have we sent troops or intervened in Haiti, Nicaragua,
the DR, wars with Mexico? This is not about the Monroe Doctrine, which
was directed at European intervention in our "sphere." The war of 1848 and the invasion of Mexico, which brought us Texas, unfortunately. Remember how France tried to take over Mexico during the Civil War when
we were otherwise engaged? Any leftist government led to neocon dreams of regime change. This was not just Republicans but both parties. Vietnam anyone? Some think Kennedy was killed because he was going to pull out of Vietnam and as retaliation for not supporting the Bay of Pigs. I don't believe the son of Joe Kennedy would be an anti-imperialist.
Almost every president since McKinley has pretty much had to invade somewhere to establish tough guy bona fides. Some Dem presidents were only marginally better.
The Dem response has been so weak -- let us vote to endorse the Trump intervention. Dems are OK with regime change if they can vote YES as they did with Iraq. And remember the murder of Patrice Lumumba? And Dag Hammerschold? I'm old and was a political junkie in HS. Only FDR seemed to change policy toward Latin America but I'd bet there were some hidden factors and some interventions. From AI: Key Aspects of FDR's Approach:
Reagan used the excuse of protecting American medical students to cover for the real reason: Following the execution of Marxist Prime Minister Maurice Bishop
and the seizure of power by hardline Marxists, the U.S. cited imminent
danger to approximately 1,000 American citizens, many studying medicine,
fearing they could become hostages. Containing Soviet/Cuban Influence: Grenada,
under Bishop and then the new regime, had growing ties with Cuba and
the USSR, with a large airport under construction by Cuban engineers. Reagan feared this could become a Soviet military base in the Caribbean, challenging U.S. dominance
The United States has been involved in hundreds of interventions in foreign countries throughout its history,
engaging in nearly 400 military interventions between 1776 and 2026,
with half of these operations occurring since 1950 and over 25%
occurring in the post-Cold War period.[1] ----- U.S.
intervention in the Americas spans from 19th-century expansionism
(Monroe Doctrine, Mexican-American War) to 20th-century Cold War
actions, often driven by strategic/economic interests, with congressional approval varying significantly; while formal declarations of war are rare (e.g., Mexico 1846, Spain 1898), the War Powers Resolution of 1973,
requiring President notification and limiting troop deployment without
Congress's authorization, emerged from Vietnam-era conflicts where
presidents acted without explicit approval, leading to ongoing tension
over executive vs. legislative war powers.
Early Interventions (19th Century)
- Monroe Doctrine (1823): Asserted U.S. opposition to European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere, setting a precedent for U.S. regional influence.
- Manifest Destiny & Expansion: Driven by economic opportunity and continental ambition, leading to conflicts like the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), where Congress declared war.
- Punitive Expeditions:
The U.S. Navy conducted numerous interventions, often involving
Marines, for protecting trade or punishing actions, such as in Sumatra
or Argentina.
Rise of U.S. Hegemony (Late 19th - Early 20th Century)
- Spanish-American War (1898):
A formal declaration of war by Congress following the sinking of the
USS Maine, resulting in U.S. control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the
Philippines.
- Roosevelt Corollary (1904):
Expanded the Monroe Doctrine, justifying U.S. intervention in Latin
American countries to prevent instability and European debt collection.
20th Century & Cold War Interventions
- "Big Stick" Diplomacy & Banana Wars:
Numerous interventions (e.g., Nicaragua, Haiti, Dominican Republic) to
protect U.S. interests, often without formal declarations, blurring
lines of power.
- World Wars: The U.S. entered WWI and WWII following Congressional declarations, joining global conflicts.
- Cold War Era:
Interventions in Latin America (e.g., Guatemala, Chile, Grenada) often
supported anti-communist forces, with varied congressional involvement,
sometimes covertly (Iran-Contra affair).
Post-Vietnam Era & The War Powers Resolution (1973)
- Context: Secret bombings in Cambodia and prolonged Vietnam conflict without formal declarations spurred Congress to act.
- Key Provisions:
Requires the President to notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying
troops into hostilities and mandates withdrawal after 60-90 days unless
Congress authorizes the action or declares war.
- Ongoing Debate:
Presidents have often bypassed or interpreted the Resolution loosely,
citing funding as implicit approval, highlighting the persistent
struggle over war powers.
Contemporary Examples
- Panama (1989): Invasion to depose Noriega, authorized under different legal frameworks, bypassing typical WPR procedures.
- Syria (2017): Missile strikes occurred without explicit Congressional authorization, sparking debate over the Resolution's application
The
U.S. has imposed regime change in the Americas numerous times,
beginning with overt military actions in the early 20th century (like in
Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua) and shifting to covert CIA-backed coups during
the Cold War (e.g., Guatemala 1954, Brazil 1964, Chile 1973), often
citing anti-communism or protecting U.S. interests, with historical
examples also including the 1893 overthrow of Hawaii's monarchy .
These interventions, ranging from direct invasions to clandestine
operations, have occurred across Latin America and the Caribbean for
over a century. Key Examples in Latin America & Caribbean: - Cuba (Early 20th Century): Multiple interventions and occupations to install or support governments favorable to U.S. interests during the "Banana Wars".
- Mexico (1914): Invasion of Veracruz to oust President Victoriano Huerta during the Mexican Revolution.
- Dominican Republic (1916-1924): Eight-year military occupation to force government reforms.
- Guatemala (1954): CIA-organized coup overthrew President Jacobo Arbenz, who enacted land reforms affecting U.S. business.
- Brazil (1964): CIA supported the coup that deposed President João Goulart.
- Chile (1973): U.S. involvement in the coup that overthrew democratically elected President Salvador Allende.
- Grenada (1983): U.S. invasion to prevent a Marxist government from consolidating power.
- Panama (1989): U.S. invasion to depose military dictator Manuel Noriega.
Other Notable Cases: - Hawaii (1893): Overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani by U.S.-backed businessmen, leading to annexation.
December 18, 2025
The truculent trio—Trump, Hegseth, and Rubio—do Venezuela.
Since the early 20th century, the United
States has commandeered coups around the world, helping opposition
figures and their mutinous militaries topple leaders whose policies they
abhor. Why? These heads of state launched programs to redistribute
land; strengthen labor unions, health and education systems; and
nationalize industries. Washington insists they are “communist” or
“socialist” and will threaten American dominance and corporate
interests.
In the good old days, the hanky-panky was hidden, since the United
States signed both the United Nations and Organization of American
States charters, which stated that forced regime change was illegal. But by the 1990s, US politicos scrapped the secrecy and told it like
it was. For example, right-wing thinkers such as William Kristol and
Robert Kagan, pilots of the Project for a New American Century, had no
qualms writing a 1998 New York Times op-ed about the US and
Iraq: They insisted that the US should overthrow Saddam Hussein’s regime
“to ensure America’s greatness.”
Since then, everything has been on the table. Along with Kristol and
Kagan, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Lewis “Scooter”
Libby, and Richard Perle joined the Bush II team. Finding no need to
pussyfoot around, they insisted that the US should intervene wherever
regimes rejected Washington’s road map. Venezuela is just the latest country the US considers a threat. Since
it sits on the world’s largest oil reserves (five times that of the
US), former president Hugo Chávez and, after him, Nicolás Maduro chose
an independent course. Despite US sanctions, Venezuela has sent its oil
to countries such as China (which gets the lion’s share) as well as
India, Cuba, Turkey, and even small amounts to Italy and Spain. Such
goings-on cannot continue.
Though the geography has changed, none of this is new. During the
Cold War, the CIA cast cloaks and daggers to remove regimes, bankroll
opposition figures, and train forces, as it did with the Nicaraguan
contras in the early 1980s.
The number of interventions is huge. In some countries, the CIA
meddled in elections. Dov Levin, a political scientist at the University
of Hong Kong, wrote that since the end of World War II, the United
States interfered in 81 countries’ elections. He added that if the list
were backdated to the end of the 19th century, it would be twice as
long. Russia, he noted, came in second, interfering in 36 elections. For example, before the 1948 elections in Italy, the CIA sought to
discredit candidates who were Communists (the party was legal). Since
they were the backbone of the resistance in World War II, many could
have won. Thus, the CIA circulated millions of embarrassing forged
letters and aired broadcasts warning of the catastrophe to come if the
Communists won. The tactics mainly succeeded.
But election meddling was the least deadly of the CIA’s cloaks and
daggers. For the next seven decades, it helped topple or kill both
elected and non-elected leaders in Panama (in 1941 and 1989), Iran
(1953), Guatemala (1954), the Congo (1960), Brazil (1964), Indonesia
(1965–67), the Dominican Republic (1965), Bolivia (1971), Chile (1973),
Argentina (1976), Grenada (1983), Haiti (1991), Libya (2011), and
Ukraine (2014). For example, in Indonesia, the CIA helped oust President Sukarno and
install General Suharto. It financed opposition groups and
anti-communist propaganda, trained military factions, and ran
psychological operations to create instability—and revealed the names of
insurgents. It also produced a pornographic film in which the lead wore
a mask of Sukarno. After the coup, the Suharto regime killed between
750,000 and 1,000,000 individuals. In Brazil, the CIA supported the generals’ coup, since it and the US
thought President João Goulart was a leftist threat that had to be
squashed. This led to a 24-year military dictatorship that killed or
“disappeared” at least 1,000 political dissidents and activists. It also
promoted the broader US strategy of intervening in the region.
In Chile, Richard Nixon, the CIA, and Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger supported the 1973 Pinochet coup that toppled Salvador
Allende, the democratically elected president, who committed suicide
during the attack. Kissinger warned President Nixon that “the example of
a successful Marxist government in Chile would surely have an impact on
other parts of the world and significantly balance our own position in
it.” Similarly, in Argentina, the US supported the 1976 military coup to
counter “leftist” threats. Here, the CIA provided intelligence and
logistical support to the military junta to destroy its opposition. And
the tactics succeeded. Afterward, at least 30,000 people were
“disappeared” as the generals systematically abducted, tortured, and
murdered them—even tossing some out of airplanes. The US looked the
other way because it wanted the junta to stabilize the region and
protect American interests.
On very few occasions, the schemes failed. For example, the CIA tried
to kill Fidel Castro for decades. Through Operation Mongoose, the
agency sent him explosive cigars or poisoned food, ballpoint pens, and
scuba diving suits. But Castro survived until his death in 2016 at the
age of 90. Decades earlier, the United States, Britain, France, and Japan sent
troops to Russia in the 1918 civil war to block a Bolshevik victory.
They failed, and the Soviets retained power until 1989.
Interestingly, when Smedley Butler, a US Marine Corps general,
retired in 1935, he famously announced, “I spent most of my time being a
high-class muscle man for big business and the bankers. I was a
gangster for capitalism.”
In April 2025, Dr. David Kirk, an assistant chair of intelligence
studies at the American Military University, frankly said the US will
“engage in denial and deceptions” to hide its plans from its enemies. However, over the past few decades, secrecy strategies have been scrapped.
But fine-tuned secrecy habits die hard. When I asked the Pentagon’s
spokesman, Lt. Col. Bryon McGarry, about the weapons the US has sent to
Israel and Ukraine since 2023, he said, “We don’t comment on specifics.”
As Kurt Vonnegut often wrote, “and so it goes.”
Don’t be fooled by the anti-interventionist language. The Trump administration is only too eager to use military force.
William D. Hartung They (the City + MLC) lied to us and misused the Healthcare Stabilization Fund. This has ultimately affected our healthcare benefits and us paying more and more out of pocket. Contact the NYS AG’s office, the DOL and Congress representatives. | | Name the fish and win a free sub to Ed Notes |
Demand further investigation, increased transparency, and increased oversight and regulation. These are our dues and tax dollars. Now they want a self-funded NYCEPPO plan? Why would anyone trust them to manage this properly?
This
vindicates our reporting abt the bulk transfers of cash to @DC37nyc
& @UFT’s welfare funds. Both now sit on a billion $ in assets —
while members not seeing much more in benefits.
Also from the audit: The new self funded NYCEPPO plan is still not enough to pay for how much they are in the RED! Why would anyone trust these 2 parties as constituted to manage this new self-funded plan properly? Meanwhile @UFT and @DC37nyc sit on a billion dollars in their welfare funds from HSF?!
Daniel Alicea, EONYC and ABC
What next? $1000 dollar co-pays?
| Now as then, they demand we TRUST them |
They took a fund designed to keep member health costs down, made
ridiculous deals with the city to fund raises with it, and watched it
dwindle down to nothing. This has now been confirmed in an audit by city
Comptroller Brad Lander. In 2014, MLC geniuses decided to fund raises
by giving the city a billion dollars from the Stabilization Fund.
Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025 This broke today and luckily we are having an in-person group getting together for lunch this afternoon and can reaffirm the history even as Mulgrew will claim a "false and biased probe
from the comptroller." I remember him mocking us for claiming he wiped out the stabilization fund --"You think cops would let me take out millions?" Apparently they did. This is what RTC/RA should be raising hell about but most of them do not see Unity as an enemy. And when I get up and scream at the Unity gang that have stabbed us in the back while defending Mulgrew at every turn -- like the Trumpies do for their leader no matter what he does --- I get yelled at by both Unity and some of the leadership of RTC for being "uncivil." I intend to be uncivil to people who tried to kill me. And let's give some credit to the gang at ABC who have been digging at the healthcare issue from the very beginning while some retiree leaders bought the Mulgrew line hook, line and sinker. Arthur:
remember
all that talk about how this scheme was better than Medicare, which
city employees had for years? Remember Mulgrew, lying that all the
doctors who took Medicare would accept it? It’s now official—this whole
dance was about covering their dumb asses for the stupid deals they made behind our backs. Meanwhile,
as the Stabilization Fund is broke, our Welfare Fund sits on a billion
dollars. Mulgrew and his MLC cronies oppose 1096, claiming they need to
negotiate our health care for us. After all, who else but they have had
the vision to run it into the ground?
And more from Daniel at Educators of NYC also posted The Healthcare Fund They Quietly Decided to KillLeaked
audio featuring MLC lawyer, Alan Klinger, leaves many asking: Did
‘Three Men in A Room’ collude to kill the NYC Healthcare Stabilization
Fund?For years, city workers and retirees have been told a familiar story: Healthcare
concessions were necessary, painful but unavoidable, and required to
generate “cost savings” for the City. We were told these sacrifices were
about sustainability. About protecting benefits. About avoiding worse
outcomes. We needed to save and replenish the depleted
NYC Healthcare Stabilization Fund – or it would collapse, and we would
have no choice but to pay healthcare premiums. But buried in plain sight is an admission that turns that entire narrative on its head. In a recent closed-door Municipal Labor Committee meeting, MLC and UFT attorney Alan Klinger
acknowledged that a central goal of the City–Union Tripartite Health
Committee was not to save the Healthcare Stabilization Fund (HSF)—but to
eliminate it altogether. Not through open debate. Not
through a vote of the MLC body. But through a quiet, structural decision
made by a tiny group of three individuals operating far from
rank-and-file eyes and ears.
And THE CITY SCOOP.
An explosive audit from City Comptroller Brad Lander released today
urges dissolving a fund that helps finance city employees health
benefits, concluding that it is billions of dollars in the red after
being tapped for years by municipal unions and mayors in labor
bargaining.
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Declaring the Health Insurance Stabilization Fund "insolvent,"
Lander’s auditors determined that the Health Insurance Stabilization
Fund owes the city $3.1 billion, not counting obligations to vendors
that have yet to be tallied for fiscal years 2024 and 2025.
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The probe paints a picture of the city and municipal unions using the
fund as a virtual piggy bank, authorizing $4.3 billion in payments from
2001 to 2024. Meanwhile a 2014 labor deal reduced the city’s
obligations to pay into the health fund — ultimately shrinking the
fund’s balance by $3.3 billion.
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And it reveals that the city unions scrambled to set up Medicare
Advantage as a cost-savings health plan for retirees as part of a
gameplan to replenish the rapidly depleting
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The audit’s existence spilled into public view when THE CITY obtained
audio of an internal union meeting — and prompted the municipal unions
in an internal memo to decry what they called a "false and biased" probe
from the comptroller.
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Friday, Dec. 26, 2025 Every year since, forever, Fred Smith has posted his Xmas message. You can read them all at Ed Notes archives and they are all worth it being so topical. Another year, another poem from Fred.
Not a lot of cheer in a dismal year. But do not fear, We have Fred's Photo with NY Jets Dancers For us to share
--- Norm's feeble attempt at rhyme
Fred
Smith has been posting his xmas messages here and elsewhere for many
years. The message may be a bit gloomy, but have no fear, Fred always has a cheer.
I first met Fred, a testing expert who used to work as a statistician
for the old NYCBOE, when
he contacted me about getting ICE members to assist in gathering data
for his exposures of the evils of testing I think sometime around 2008.
He then got involved with groups like GEM and Change the Stakes and was a
co-winner with me and Danny Dromm of Leonie Haimson's Skinny Award in
2018 - (June 19 - I'm a Skinny: Honored to be honored by )
Fred Smith has done it again with his yearly Xmas special. If it's Christmas, it must be Fred at Ed Notes. Here is Fred's message for 2025: I wanted to use AI to compose a spoofy version of “A Visit from St.
Nicholas” that would focus on New York City politicos and the gifts Santa would
bring them tonight. I charged Chatgpt the task
of creating couplets designed to incorporate snippets about each personality,
hoping this faceless poet would parody the beloved classic.
With
impressive speed, the flash of a few seconds, Chatgpt returned rhymes based on its
“understanding” of my choppy input. These
seeds required my limited intelligence to sprout. Here’s the result of our collaboration.
SAInt Nick’s Visit to
New York
Christmas Eve came and went, although Santa was sad. There were good kids in Gotham but some who were bad; His elves were tired, the deer a year older, And he now bore his sack on a sore shoulder. Why bother to make a list or check it twice; His heart not in it, he sought AI’s advice. When all at once, this burden turned into a game, As rhymes and gifts appeared next to each person’s name. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For Andrew Cuomo: A book filled with the lessons he hasn’t yet learned, Not bundles of accolades which he never earned. A mirror for moments he’d rather not face, And a clock ticking loud on man’s power and place; A humility pill to swallow each day, With a card from St. Nick: “Think of staying away.” For Zohran Mamdani: Energies to take on the battles ahead Brought by enemies who fear he’ll do what he said. He’ll need advisors tuned to his working-class call For its fair share of the pie even if small. And last from Santa, with a half-cup of cheer— A phonetic name plate to start out the New Year.
For Curtis Sliwa: Santa winked upon Curtis this Xmas eve, Red beret blazing and without tricks up his sleeve. From Guardian Angels to mayor’s debate, This cat-loving crusader spoke to us straight. While Cuomo grumbles and blames Sliwa for losing, Nick gave him props—he was not merely amusing. For Jessica Tisch: He sent the Commish wishes this season of light, Whose proud Chanukah heritage keeps burning bright. When she and Zohran shared a meal of shawarma, She soon warmed up to this prison reformer. Claus hoped when their views about Israel burst, They could differ but have city safety come first. For Michael Mulgrew: Santa has a weathervane that helps guide his sled. Wryly, he gave it to Michael Mulgrew instead. This gift fits his ever-quick shifts ‘tween to and fro, For which way the wind blows Mulgrew always must know. A rigged voting process ensures re-election; Union members sold out can’t force his rejection. For Eric Adams: Hizzoner skipped town, so no Christmas visit, Closing out his everyday fashion exhibit. His record was dimmed by dishonest cronies With one thing in common, they had big cojones. Adams’ goodbye was sealed by a deal made with Trump; Had he remained home, Claus would have dropped off a lump. For former mayors: Santa remembered gifts left ’neath past mayors’ trees: A Prospect Y gym pass to adorn BdB’s; Nothing for Bloomie—he had all he needed; Anger control warnings Rudy unheeded; Tennis white shorts Dinkins would look like new in; A scorebook telling Koch how he was doin’. For faithful civil servants: St. Nick beamed for those who keep New York running, Who do upright work, unsung without cunning. In every job title, in every condition, The public good is their hon’rable full-time mission. Upholding the banner of orange and blue, Santa’s uplifting peeps, “Merry Christmas to you.” Chatgpt as told to Fred Smith, who retired as an administrative analyst for the NYC public school system.
Last year I missed Fred's missive probably due to chemo brain. He did not do his usual xmas but an election pre-quel in Sept that did not turn out exactly as he wished. He shoulda used AI then. The Weeks Before Christmas by Fred Smith – September 16, 2024
The days are swift passing until it’s December, But Christmas will dawn on the 5th of November. Two months ‘fore Election Day and throughout the land Joy has been stirring, hopeful relief near at hand.
As late as July, there was a sense of despair. Optimism was fading and breathing foul air. Then Biden withdrew; ‘twas all of a sudden. Harris stepped up, and light started to flood in.
Cheerful Kamala smiled without missing a beat, Catching a bone-spurred bully off guard on flat feet. She’s a Black-Asian woman who married a Jew. See your priest or your rabbi if that troubles you.
So, Karma took over when Joe lost a debate; Poetic justice, at last, dictating Trump’s fate. Running strong against Donald whose gospel is hate, Whose bloody rage keeps him in a constant red state.
She picked as her running mate, Governor Walz, A true everyman, who responds to all calls. When fast off they flew to swing states and rallied, As Trump more and more scowled and dilly dallied.
He who had chosen JD Vance as his veep, Whose obeisance displayed how much he’s a creep. A wide-eyed senator dreaming on his love couch; A perfect match partner for the impious grouch. And as Grumpy campaigns with his sidekick Goofy, This ragged tag team has been double down doofy.
Years back, there were signs Trump was non compos mentis, Strutting ruthlessness skills on the Apprentice, Firing everyone at his ultimate whim With unchecked power reserved only to him.
And twenty years ere that reality show, Wayne Barrett mapped the deets of Donald’s M.O.: His deep-seated racism; the shield of Roy Cohn; Dirty dealing and cheating, these all were well known. This self-proclaimed titan whose casinos went bust; A big entrepreneur no contractor could trust.
Now Trump’s mainly consumed by the size of each crowd, Ranting in blue whale-ish suits that fit like a shroud. Carrot-faced, his puss locked into a grimace, Stewing up gripes in a big steamy tsimmes That he feeds to his base in a crock full of lies, Which he always refills with unending supplies:
About how he built walls to bar immigration That’s turning us into a third world nation; And why it made sense to oppose vaccination; Or how he lowered our high rate of inflation. Try figuring where he stands on abortions, As he twists yes – no – maybes into contortions.
And he’s only become more misogynistic With a baseline temper that starts at ballistic. Who’s used the court system to dodge Judgment Day; But like Yertle, he’s doomed to crash down the same way.
While Karismatic Harris along with the Coach Continued to roll out, facing minor reproach. After last month’s convention billowed their sails, Felonious Trump pondered his choice of jails.
Then Trump and JD took their road show on tour. We got a chance to suffer each faux pas du jour. Effronteries and distractions almost non-stop: Making losers at Arlington serve as a prop; Blaming incomplete women for going bats For not birthing children, who instead adopt cats. And if he debated, would the show be on FOX, With no questions allowed about man-eating sharks?
With the big DEBATE looming he put out new stuff, Pulling ugly assertions straight out of his duff: Haitians dining on take-out (kidnapped dogs and geese), A claim debunked by Springfield’s Chief of Police.
And then the DEBATE—Trump unable to face her; Harris owned this coward who’s tried to debase her. He fumed when she treated his rallies with scorn, And went off on killing babies once they were born.
Harris scored point after point ad infinitum. Her words and her “looks” combined to smite him. A minute later Trump spun that he’d won the night But refused to give Harris a second fight.
It’s hard to keep up with the stream of offenses; The barrage of untruths that assault our senses With conspiracy theories that come abounding, Each one more bizarre and beyond astounding.
Countless the lies exceeding verses and rhymes. The volume and scope of his numerous crimes; Perverting O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi,” Trump’s Christmas tale is, The “Grift of the MAG Guy.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Be careful Kamala! Victory’s not in the bag With twisted judges flying the upside-down flag, Abetting Trump, concocting legal protections Re the insurrection and stealing elections.
We know the one Harris Poll that counts most of all, Is when people show up to cast ballots this fall, And tell Donald Trump what they think of his fury. Voters render the verdict. We are the jury.
Fred Smith retired from the New York City public school system as an administrative analyst. His occasional poems and op-eds have appeared in the New York Daily News and other newspapers.
Here is my post from two years ago, Dec. 25, 2023:
December 25, 2023 --
Another year, another poem from Fred.
Not a lot of cheer in a dismal year. But do not fear, We have Fred's Photo with NY Jets Dancers For us to share
--- Norm's feeble attempt at rhyme
Fred
Smith has been posting his xmas messages here and elsewhere for many
years. This year's message is a bit gloomy but have no fear, Fred ends
with a cheer.
I first met Fred, a testing expert who used to work as a statistician
for the old NYCBOE, when
he contacted me about getting ICE members to assist in gathering data
for his exposures of the evils of testing I think sometime around 2008.
He then got involved with groups like GEM and Change the Stakes and was a
co-winner with me and Danny Dromm of Leonie Haimson's Skinny Award in
2018 - (June 19 - I'm a Skinny: Honored to be honored by )
Fred Smith has done it again for 2023 with his yearly Xmas special. If it's Christmas, it must be Fred Smith at Ed Notes. Here are his previous years, each with a different theme. 2019 seems to be absent.
Fred is also a statistician for the NY Jets - don't blame him for their absence from the Super Bowl for over 50 years.
 | Fred Smith convincing Jets dancers to boycott field tests - he's the one in the middle |
How about this xmas song? I'm dreaming of a white Christian Nation December 24 - Christmas Eve - in the old days this would be a joyous day for me, not because of religion, but because school is over. In the years when I had my own classes - grades 4-6 - I spent a hectic few weeks organizing gifts and a class party. More than once, I remember getting into my car on the last day of schools and my throat started hurting which led to being sick for the vacation. It was due to the body let down after intense activity and a lesson for me on how to avoid getting colds when your body reacts to over-activity.
Jews and Xmas: Now the last day of school is just another day for me - but - We already booked a movie and Chinese restaurant for tomorrow. You have to book a movie in advance on Xmas day? We did and it's sold out. This post is likely to get me in some trouble. It is a mess as I change my views every few minutes in trying to see various points of view - a way to get in trouble in today's world where being morally unequivocal is required. I've been working on this since I heard Vance spouting his nonsense and in the process my views are evolving. Or devolving. I was about to finish this up this morning but Brian Lehrer opened his show by talking about some of the issues I raise here regarding the repeated declaration that this is a Christian nation, which it is in a sense in that Brian pointed out only 6-7% are religiously identified non-Christians -- that includes Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. But -- 22% identify as no faith. Jews make up 2.4% of the total population - 7.5 million of us. Yet Jews occupy a lot of the conversation with attention focused due to what is happening in Israel.
Yes, Virginia, there is such a thing aa anti-semitism - always has been and always will be. It is made to seem worse than ever. There has been an uptick but pogroms have not been. My school district leadership - Italian and Irish in the 70s, while allied with the Satmar Hasidics, definitely had an anti-Semitic bent. Even between the Irish and Italians there was friction, with the Italians ultimately winning out. When someone became a principal or AP, they were considered "made" and taken out to a restaurant known as a mob joint. My friend was Jewish and a principal in that crowd and the Supt once told him he doesn't trust anyone who is not Italian. And how interesting that at one point Italians, Irish and Jew were attacked as not being pure enough to be in this country. White Christian nationalism goes back almost 200 years. Remember how Al Smith was attacked for being Catholic in the 1928 election and even Kennedy in 1960?
Has anyone looked at the crucifixion of Christ as as anti-antisemitism, Roman style? I identify as Jewish without the religion - so the line is fuzzy -- but in this "Christian" nation, 30% do not id as practicing Christian. And then among Christians, there are so many sects - Catholic is the largest - I can imagine the battles for primacy because as we become more intoletant of political differences, how far behind are intolerance to other religious sects, even within Christianity? But there is a common denominator - Jesus Christ -- yet as I heard on Brian Lehrer, the "love everyone" message of Jesus often gets lost. The theory of progressive Christians is that Jesus would be a leftist - probably DSA today. If they had their pure white Christian nation how long before one sect attacks the others? Like Christians never went to war against each other? Henry the 8th I am I am. England was a religious war zone in the time of Shakespeare.
Here is the vice-president: Speaking today at Turning Point USA’s annual “AmericaFest” conference,
Vice President J.D. Vance said, to great applause: “The only thing that
has truly served as an anchor of the United States of America is that we
have been, and by the grace of God we always will be, a Christian
nation.” Whenever I hear the "we are a Christian nation" trope, I see an ethnic state and dangers to non-Christians, though ironically, the basis of Christianity was a Jew. I often think that one root of anti-antisemitism is resentment at praying to a Jew. How can one love Jesus and not love Jews? I don't get it. I see all this festive stuff Jews don't take part in and it's all about a guy who was killed because he advocated a sect of Judaism - and there were many sects at that time, one of the lovely things about religion -- they split more then Trotskyists -- and Trotsky was also a Jew that many on the left pray too - and he was sort of crucified - or ICE Picked - by Stalin, who had his own brand of antisemitism. Ethno states faced opposition for ages. I don't care what religion people have -- I am opposed to ethnic states - Saudi Arabia or Israel or the United States. The founding of this country was based on being tolerant of other religions since so many came here to run away from persecution - yes mostly Christian -- but Jews too. Armenians also suffered a genocide after WW1 and also want
their own state. Their arguments seem to make sense but that is another slippery slope. I would agree with some critics of the left for
ignoring situations around the world to focus on Israel. A guy I know
who is involved in the NYC based Educators for Palestine told me there
was a discussion to broaden beyond the focus on Israel and include other
states oppressing populations but that position was rejected --- the
focus on Israel alone is one of the major arguments Zionists use to claim people on the left are antisemitic. I say they are more rigid ideologues. The extremes on the right are outright bordering on fascism -- which seem to becoming more and more mainstream- this is a white Christian nation - which means Jews (who they don't consider to be white), are a target --- the major antisemitism is coming from the right, which generally supports Israel while on the left we see a lot of anti-Israel which is not anti-semitism but Zionists try to brand that as anti-semitism. My thinking has evolved from being a mild Zionist to having had enough. The Vance Christian stuff has lots of baggage when it comes to women. Going back to Germany in the 30s when there was enormous unemployment, Hitler "solved" the problem not only with massive rearmament but also ordering woman back to the home to raise babies for the Reich.
And in this country, raising white babies to counter the possibility the majority of people will not be white one day is part of the ideology. Note the calls from Vance and others for women to not work and have babies to keep this nation white by banning immigration from non-white places. South African whites are hot. Why won't people from Scandinavia who have all sorts of healthcare and other protections come here to die in emergency rooms? I have a friend from Japan who has been here 25 years on a visa and won't become a citizen because she doesn't want to be subject to the harshness of a weak safety net that she has in Japan. Irony in that Vance has non-white kids and his Indian wife has been trashed by the Groypers. The Nick Fuentes-led Groypers want a pure white Christian nation - which
means the Jews have to go - and where can they go? I
was brought up thinking that a holocaust can come to us here and used
to see Israel as my escape route. No longer. I don't want to go from one
fascist to another, even if it's my sect that's being fascist. There is no free speech in Israel, even for Jew. And it's not just an ethnic Jewish state but increasingly a religious state as the power of ultra Orthodox grows. Israel wants to be a pure Jewish nation. Fuentes wants the same for this nation - just substitute Christian for Jewish. Fuentes on a recent broadcast
said he admired Israel for being the same kind of place he wants America
to be. And why not he asks? Why do Jews get to have an ethnic state and
Christians don't? On an episode of his show in March, he summarized his politics as: “Jews
are running society, women need to shut the fuck up, blacks need to be
imprisoned for the most part, and we would live in paradise. It’s that
simple.” He has also repeatedly described Hitler as “cool”. Support for an ethnic and religious hierarchy with white Christian men
at the top; a belief that black people are inclined to criminality;
opposition to legal as well as illegal immigration; vehement
anti-feminism; respect for authoritarianism; disdain for democracy. What next? A revival of the Ku Klux Klan to enforce Christianity? And don't forget, the racist KKK was also anti-Catholic because it was not the right sect of Christianity.  | | Republican outing |
So, Fuentes says he admires Israel for its ethnic centric policy -- he has said that in 50 years Israel will still be a Jewish state while America if it doesn't reverse direction will be totally bastardized. He wants us to be like Israel. But Christian.
Zionists say Israel has has to be a Jewish state and most Jews seem to go along with that and if you object you are branded anti-semitic and if you are a Jewish objector, you are a self-hating Jew. There is a massive Zionist lobby pushing these lines and of course they will be focused on anything Mamdani does to attack him -- note the extreme scrutiny of his appointments -- like the woman married to a Jew with two Jewish kids who made some anti-semitic comments in 2011 when she was a teen. Rabid Zionists will do anything they can to make Mamdani fail and emphasize any negatives they can because of a Muslim who is critical of Israel succeeds it is a threat to them. The Anti Defamation League will do anything it can to undermine Mamdani. Zionists think Jews are special and due so the Holocaust they must have their own state - which is where I have been at most of my life but draw the line that that state is entitled to do anything it wants. Now I have to question the very nature of a fascistic, apartheid state. I talk to all levels of Zionists. Some are rabid --- no kids are dying in Gaza and if they are they are being used as shields by Hamas which then justifies Israel to wipe out an entire building to kill one Hamas. One relative recently used the argument that Jews are moral while Muslims are not. I know too many Jews to make that judgement. I never say Hamas is good -- though some I argue with on the left defend them and compare them to the Irish IRA resisters to Britain -- I was always disturbed by them too. On the other hand, Jews have been a minority for 2000 years wherever they have been and that has not turned out so good for them. So when people say Israel should just be a peaceful multiethnic state and let the chips fall where they may, history does not look good if they were to be a minority -- people seem to think Palestinians in the majority would just live and let live. That is dreamland. Remember when Nasser expelled Jews from Egypt? He also expelled Greeks. Probably too many diners. I could see a reversal over decades if Jews became a minority where the shoe is on the other foot. The left will say good riddance -- they are settler colonialists.
So I am confused as I try to see all sides.
Recently, we saw Ken Burns American Revolution and I was a history major and took a one semester course in that period and that was a political, and not a social revolution - mostly - though supporters of England were often exiled and had their property seized. The Declaration states: "When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people
to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another...." Can you name one such separation without violence?
Around the same time as the founding of Israel, the India/Pakistan partition took place and they are still having issues, as is Israel and Palestinians. Religion played a part there too - Muslim and Hindu friction. There was massive forced migration in both cases. In Israel the idea that if Palestinians would just disappear, their problems would be solved. Oct. 7 made this possible by making life so miserable people would have to leave -- at least those left alive. A growing number of Jews and Democrats have turned against the Israeli government. Remember the reaction against Amy Arundell when she announced she was running for UFT president last February because of her views on Palestine? ABC still got 32% of the vote and I'd guess we lost 2% while she was a key to making ABC viable. I'd guess that between February and the election in May minds were changing as the atrocities piled up. And a month later Mamdani won the primary and views like Amy's were becoming mainstream in NYC, even among Jews.
But it's hard to let go if you think Israel is your out when this place goes full fascist. And now a portion of MAGA has also turned against Israel, but I suspect there is more antisemitism than in the Dems. Most Zionists I know support the idea of Israel -- if only we got rid of Netanyahu - which is a mistake as there are even more far right people in Israel -- there will be no going back to more tolerant days. They are moving toward removing or killing as many Palestinians as they can - killing children is part of the plan to prevent future opposition -- one Zionist told me she doesn't care how many kids they kill as they are all future terrorists. The idea is to make conditions so bad people will leave - but where will they go? Probably the Ellisons will throw a few billion to some desperate nations to take them. The Mamdani win in the biggest Jewish city, considering his position on Israel, has sent shock waves throughout the nation -- a crisis of sorts for zionists, a number of whom are critical of the Netanyahu government, but still defend the concept of a Jewish state. However, it looks like the Israeli population on the whole are fine with whatever is done to Palestinians - look at the West Bank outrages - and the fact that Israel will never treat Palestinians decently is resonating deeply and causing even some zionists to question the validity of a Jewish state continuing in an apartheid situation - or eliminating the Palestinian people as a solution. Maybe a final solution. They don't see the dangers to themselves as they did see when many Jews were forced to leave Muslim states and declare that if Muslims have states, Jews should too. But why not Christian states too? Which is a point Fuentes makes when he says he admires Israeli Jewish nationalism and says he wants the same thing for this country, In this video, Krystal Ball and Segar Enjeti delve into the Fuentes issue and tie to the Israeli situation and how the calls for an Israeli ethnic state lead inevitably to a Christian state here.
The United States was founded on being a non-single religion state. Let's
not forget that many of the earliest settlers going back to 1620 were
escaping religious persecution in Europe. The ultimate outcome of the
Vance position of Christian nationalism is, of course, more
antisemitism. Jews were place the fault on the left are certainly
ignoring 500 years (at least) of history of right wing antisemitism and
pogroms. Does anyone think that Heather Cox Richardson goes into some details on our history, but Christian white nationalists will call it fake news.
In 1790, the year after he took office as the nation’s first president, George Washington assured a Jewish congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, that in the United States of America, “[a]ll possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship.” The government of the United States, he wrote, “gives to bigotry no sanction” and “to persecution no assistance.” He wished that Jewish Americans “continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants— while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.”
The next year, the states ratified the First Amendment to the Constitution. In order to ensure men had the right of conscience, it reads: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof….”
In 1802, President Thomas Jefferson called this amendment “a wall of separation between Church & State.” In a letter of January 1, 1802, he explained to a group of Baptists from Danbury, Connecticut, how that principle made him refuse to call for national religious days of fasting and thanksgiving in his role as head of the government.
Like Madison, he maintained that “religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship.” “[T]he legitimate powers of government reach actions only,” he wrote, “[and] not [religious] opinions.”
“[T]hat act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’” he wrote, built “a wall of separation between Church & State.”
In the early years of the nation, Americans zealously guarded that wall. They strictly limited the power of the federal government to reflect religion, refusing even to permit the government to stop delivery of the U.S. mails on Sunday out of concern that Jews and Christians did not share the same Sabbath and the government could not choose one over the other. The Constitution, a congressional report noted, gave Congress no authority “to inquire and determine what part of time, or whether any has been set apart by the Almighty for religious exercises.”
But the Civil War marked a change. As early as the 1830s, southern white enslavers relied on religious justification for their hierarchical system that rested on white supremacy. God, they argued, had made Black Americans for enslavement and women for marriage, and society must recognize those facts.
When reformers in the United States tried to change the preamble of the U.S. Constitution to read, “We, the people of the United States, humbly acknowledging Almighty God as the sources of all authority and power in civil government, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Ruler among nations, and His revealed will as of supreme authority, in order to constitute a Christian government, and in order to form a more perfect union,” the House Committee on the Judiciary concluded that “the Constitution of the United States does not recognize a Supreme Being.”
That defense of democracy—the will of the majority—continued to hold religious extremists at bay.
Reformers continued to try to add a Christian amendment to the Constitution, Foster explains, and in March 1896 once again got so far as the House Committee on the Judiciary. One reformer stressed that turning the Constitution into a Christian document would provide a source of authority for the government that, he implied, it lacked when it simply relied on a voting majority. A religious amendment “asks the Bible to decide moral issues in political life; not all moral questions, but simply those that have become political questions.”
Opponents recognized this attempt as a revolutionary attack that would dissolve the separation of church and state, and hand power to a religious minority. One reformer said that Congress had no right to enact laws that were not in “harmony with the justice of God” and that the voice of the people should prevail only when it was “right.” Congressmen then asked who would decide what was right, and what would happen if the majority was wrong. Would the Supreme Court turn into an interpreter of the Bible?
The committee set the proposal aside.
Now, once again, we are watching a minority trying to impose its will on the majority, with leaders like Vice President J.D. Vance trying to rewrite American history.
Letters from an American
December 21, 2025
Heather Cox Richardson
Saturday, December 13, 2025 - Don't get run over by a faux Santa today I love trains - and gardens. So Thursday I went up to the train show in the Bronx Botanic Garden, which is so far out of my normal range of travel - I've barely been in the Bronx - though I used to distribute Ed Notes to the big high schools, before they were wiped out by Bloomberg. Years ago I drove up to the train show with a friend but I hear they change it somewhat every year. And now with my training as a tour guide at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, I wanted to see what the competition looked like in the green houses. I had signed up to go on a tour with one of the UFT courses a few weeks ago but had a conflict that day. I stayed over in my apartment after the Ugly sweater Delicate Assembly on Wednesday, so I was leaving from Grand Central and had two choices - Metro North which I had never used before or the subway and bus. I began looking for Metro North timetables but switched to the 4 train. I spent the entire trip standing at the front window of the train, like I used to do as a kid, watching the tracks fly by. I had the same thrill I always have when we emerge into the daylight as we hit Yankee Stadium, but had never taken the 4 past that station before and got to see a slice of the Bronx. I got off at Bedford Blvd and waited in the cold for a bus, which then dropped me off near the gate and I had a bit of a walk - did I say it was cold? Okay, so I'm finally in the warmth of the train show - but the trains and their routes were not as interesting - I was waiting for a crash. The major interest are the buildings and I posted a few pics below. I loved the Penn Station building and at the end of the show we see the view I posted above of major Manhattan buildings. But I was also fascinated by the plants - the 200 million year Cycads display, the desert greenhouse. I have an assignment for the BBG to go to the greenhouses so I can do a tour and until my knee started bothering me, I could have spent hours there. But I was also hungry and had to find the cafeteria which happened to be a bit of a walk. After eating, I had a longer walk back - did I say it was cold -- and my knee ached, so I decided I would try to take Metro North which was across the street.
So I got there and asked a guy how to get to the station to Grand Central and he said I had to go up the stairs, walk across the tracks and down the stairs and a bit of a walk to a temporary station because of construction. Oy, my aching knee.
A Serendipitous meeting I got to the top of the stairs and there was woman walking in front of me and I asked her where I had to go. She said she was not going to the train but taking a short cut to the other side and was walking to the subway. I said I thought the subway was far away and she said it was only 10 blocks or so to the D train, so I decided to do that too and walked with her since she knew the way. So it turns out she is a second year law student, comes from Colorado (she no longer skis) and turned out to be a delightful companion through our walk and the train ride to Grand Central where we parted and I walked home through the holiday goodies at Bryant Park. But my knee ached less and the cold was no longer so bad.
What does an 80 year old man have to talk about with a 24 year old woman? How about everything. She was interested in gardening, she goes to BBG often, she likes trains - naturally - she had a day off after finishing her courses so going to the train show was a priority -- she had done some theater work on a construction crew like I do, she likes cats through her boyfriend's family, she is a Zohran fan and into social justice and is focused on health issues --- I expect her to become a factor as a lawyer in the health care struggle. In addition to the train show, meeting this young lady added so much to the day. I told her that we had just finished Hair at the RTC and she said she'd come to shows next year at the Rockaway Theater. I feel awkward about asking a young lady for her contact info, so I gave her mine. I don't really expect to hear from her, but was happy to spend an hour with her. You hear people say so many negative things about her particular generation, but I have a lot of contact with young people in her age range at the Rockaway Theater and they have been delightful too. It is important for people my age to engage with younger people and most do so with their kids. But I don't have kids to sponge cultural contact with, so interacting with people at the theater or in the younger crowd at ABC is important. But when you run into someone accidentaly and the meeting turnedsn out to be so enriching, I'd say that the cold and aching knee seemed to disappear. Here are some pics from the day:
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