Author Archives: tom

The Trump Chronicles, Volume 176: Indicting Comey Again?

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President Trump famously does not like former FBI Director James Comey. Last September the Department of Justice indicted Mr. Comey, charging him with lying to Congress. During his testimony in 2020 Mr. Comey denied directing leaks on the FBI’s investigation of Russian interference. Since there’s no proof (or even indication) that he lied the indictment was laughable and the court dismissed the indictment in November.

Hard to imagine but the latest indictment is even more laughable. Last month he was indicted again for an Instagram post from May of 2025. He was walking on a beach and saw that someone had arranged sea shells to read “86 47;” he thought it was funny and posted it. He later removed it. We all know the term “86” as a slang term to discard or reject. Decades ago when I worked in a restaurant we would “86” a menu choice if we ran out of it.

Not to miss an opportunity the Justice department has once again indicted him. It is (and should be) a crime to threaten the President. The indictment claims that Mr. Comey was directing violence against the President and “86” meant to cause him harm.

This is just silly and hopefully this indictment will be denied soon. Mr. Trump, you need to 86 this vendetta.

The Justice Chronicles, Volume 44: Kash Patel: I Am Not A Drunk!

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First off, apologies to President Richard Nixon (1913-1994) who, in the midst of the Watergate Scandal told the American people: “I am not a crook”. Less than a year he resigned.

Current FBI director Kash Patel was the subject of an article in The Atlantic magazine (unfortunately the article is behind a paywall but it’s easy enough to find the highlights for free). The article, based on numerous interviews with numerous sources, claims that Director Patel has shown a pattern of excessive drinking both in Washington D.C. and Las Vegas.

In response Patel is now suing the Atlantic for for $250 million for defamation. Of course the easiest way to defend yourself against a defamation charge is to show that the article was accurate. But for Patel to win he has to show that the magazine either knew the article was false or used “actual malice.” In other words, he has to show the magazine intended to attack Patel and was reckless.

This comes from a now famous Supreme Court case from 1964, New York Times Company v. Sullivan. The Times was sued for minor errors in an ad that ran in the paper. They were sued by someone (Sullivan) who claimed he was defamed but he court unanimously stated that minor, honest errors don’t constitute defamation.

President Trump and many of his supporters want to have this case overturned which would allow public officials to sue more easily if they don’t like the coverage they are receiving. I don’t think Patel really expects to win this case but he knows it will make points with his boss.

Of course, if he doesn’t want this kind of coverage he could also moderate his drinking. Just sayin’

The Trump Chronicles, Volume 175: Now We Know Who Pete Hegseth Worships: Trump

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Last month I wrote that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth worships a dangerous God after he prayed for “unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.” A few days ago President Trump posted an AI generated picture of himself that portrays himself as Jesus healing a sick man. In fairness, Trump removed the post.

Trump claimed he wasn’t portraying himself as Jesus, but as a doctor. So here’s the problem: a doctor would be wearing a lab coat, not robes that we often see Jesus portrayed in. Also, doctors normally use medications or devices to heal and here he doesn’t even have a stethoscope. Instead we see light emanating from his left hand, something we mere humans can’t do.

Interestingly enough, Trump is getting blowback even from his supporters. You can read about it here.

Seriously Donald, get help.

The Trump Chronicles, Volume 174: Threaten, TACO, Repeat

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When President Trump returned to the White House last year he generated all sorts of chaos by promising dozens of tariffs on multiple countries and multiple products, only to walk them back after a day or two. Eventually someone came up with the acronym TACO meaning “Trump always chickens out.”

In late February he began a campaign against Iran and it appears he’s TACO’ing again. He’s been famously all over the map in what he hopes to achieve, but that’s grist for another day. Most of his bombing targets have been military facilities in Iran but earlier this week he promised a major escalation warning that a whole civilization will die tonight.

This was widely interpreted to mean that he would target civilians, a clear war crime. But the next day he walked it back announcing a two week cease fire.

He claimed this was the result of Iran agreeing to negotiate but Iran denies these negotiations are even happening. One of Trump’s conditions is the opening of the Strait of Hormuz; it’s a narrow sea passageway where 30% of the world’s oil passes. It’s still effectively closed.

So where do we go from here? Hard to say. Much like his actions around tariffs he may again threaten to escalate the war. This makes everything more difficult. Our allies are being told they need to step up and “retake” the strait. Trump also claims we don’t need the oil that passes through the strait.

All we really do know is that he’s unpredictable and therefore dangerous. By the way, while it’s true that we produce more oil than we consume, oil prices rise and fall globally. We’re paying more money for gasoline regardless of where the oil comes from.

Stay tuned.

The Trump Chronicles, Volume 173: Conduct Unbecoming

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President Trump famously texts and posts a great deal. I’m avoiding the word “writes” because most of what he pens is of little value and is meant only to build himself up. After he was banned from Twitter (now called X) he began his own social media platform and posts there. A few days ago on Easter he posted 14 times. In fairness six of them did mention Easter.

But one of them used an obscenity that I’ll let you click on. I’ve often noted that Trump lacks a basic respect for the office of Presidency and this is a good example. The words that a President speaks and writes matter. Not all Presidents have been brilliant or eloquent but they’ve all written words that should be read by future generations.

Now we have a President whose words cannot be reasonably shown to children and should offend people of all ages. When asked about it he defended his words by saying he was making a point.

People use profanity are, simply put, lazy. They use shock value instead of finding words that make their point. There’s an interesting article that shows Trump speaks on about a 4th Grade level.

We should expect more, America.

The Justice Chronicles, Volume 43: What’s Wrong With The Save Act? Glad You Asked

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A few days ago I published an article about voter fraud and recognized that as much as President Trump and the Republicans falsely claim that large numbers of non citizens vote, it’s just not true. Simply put, they are developing strategies to suppress voting and sow doubt about the accuracy of elections.

President Trump has gone all in in his call for a bill he calls the Save Act. It requires everyone to show proof of citizenship to register to vote, and he claims he won’t sign another bill until this passes. If you listen to him and his minions they tell you the reason is obvious. Why shouldn’t we demand proof of citizenship before we register someone to vote?

Again, glad you asked. Here’s a partial list of my concerns:

  • It proposes a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. Voter fraud is virtually nonexistent and nearly all cases are simple mistakes. You can read an excellent article here. There’s also no evidence that fraud has changed the results of an election. If you’re not a citizen and attempt to vote (even if you’re here legally) you’re guilty of a felony and are subject to possible deportation. Who would risk that for one vote?
  • It’s not as simple as it sounds. Proponents argue that the bill isn’t retroactive (ie, if you’re already registered to vote you don’t need to do anything) and your Real ID driver’s license will suffice. It’s true that you don’t need to show proof of citizenship, unless you move or change your name (e.g. if you get married). Your Real ID license will only be accepted if you live in a state where your citizenship status is on your ID. Right now only Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington do that. My California Real ID states this: “This license is issued as a license to drive a motor vehicle. It does not establish eligibility for employment, voter registration, or public benefits.” I wasn’t able to find recent data on what percentage of drivers have Real ID but if you don’t board an airplane you don’t need one. A license without Real ID won’t suffice anywhere.
  • If you don’t have a Real ID from those five states or a passport your best alternative is to get a certified copy of your birth certificate. I was born in Washington D.C. and I can apply online. It goes through www.vitalrecords.org. It’s a process but as far as I can tell there is a $125.00 online processing fee, a $38.95 DC State Government Fee, and an optional $12.00 Qualifying Review fee. They recommend you pay an additional $20.00 for UPS Air Shipping Delivery that will allow you to track your shipment. I checked a few other states and it appears the $!25.00 online processing fee uniform but the state government fee is different.
  • OK, still with me? Good. Now if you changed your name when you married you’ll also need a certified marriage certificate to show your new name. Fortunately I didn’t change my name when I got married but if I did I’d need to go through (you guessed it) www.vitalrecords.org. It’s another $125.00 online processing fee and in California a $22.00 State Government Fee.
  • During the Jim Crow era attempts were made to prevent poor people from voting using poll taxes. It was just what it looks like: you had to pay to vote. Opposition to these poll taxes culminated in 1964 with the passage of the 24th Amendment to the Constitution. But if the Save Act requires certified documents to prove citizenship and citizens need to pay to acquire these documents, aren’t these poll taxes?

This isn’t an exhaustive list of my concerns but it’s a good place to start. Obviously if Congress passes it and President Trump signs it into law there will be lawsuits. But I think we can save time and money by just walking away from this now and recognizing that this is a solution in search of a problem.

Pete Hegseth Worships A Dangerous God

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It’s a popular adage that we should never discuss religion or politics in polite company, even though we do it all the time. I think most of us generally accept and respect that others may hold beliefs that differ from us. Thomas Jefferson once famously said: “… it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” And most of our politicians have shied away from claims of knowing God’s will; I’ve always been impressed with Abraham Lincoln who was once asked if God was on his side. He responded with: “My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”

Unfortunately this level of humility and maturity eludes our current Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Politicians (including presidents) have often attended prayer breakfasts in various settings but they don’t normally give the prayer; that’s normally reserved for the chaplain. This makes some sense because chaplains have a deeper understanding of both prayer and Scripture and are more likely to pray appropriately. Not this guy.

Here are some of his words from his prayer: “Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation. Give them wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”

I believe in a God of peace and mercy. I believe in a God that does not take direction from me. I believe in a God who hates war, hates violence, and calls all of his people to peaceful solutions.

I believe in a God who does recognize the need for measured self defense and I belong to a church that has developed the Just War Doctrine.

But Pete believes in a God who appears to revel in vengeance, who roots for the accuracy of bullets and bombs, and shows no mercy to at least some of his creations.

Pete’s God frightens me.

The Trump Chronicles, Volume 172: The Rules Don’t Apply To Me

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President Trump’s opposition to mail in voting has been nothing if not consistent. Last August he vowed to ban it and he calls it mail in cheating. Of course he’s never shown any evidence of voter fraud (though I have: see my last post).

Interestingly enough he’s registered to vote in Florida where he lists his primary residence as Mar A Lago. This past week there was a special election to fill a congressional seat and he voted…by (you guessed it) mail. When asked he claimed it was because he is the president and is busy. So we need to ignore the fact that he had been in Florida the previous weekend and could have voted in person.

But his claim that he was too busy to vote in person belies his belief that he is more important than the rest of us. Many a time I’ve voted on days when I’ve worked. It normally meant I had to wake up earlier and I’ve been blessed that polling places here in California open at 7AM. A democracy depends on the belief that everyone’s vote is important and holds the same weight. If mail in voting is cheating (and it’s not) it’s cheating for him too.

Finally I can’t help but point out that the victor in that congressional election was a Democrat: Emily Gregory and she is Trump’s representative in the House of Representatives. I wonder if he’ll write his congresswoman.

The Justice Chronicles, Volume 42: We’ve Finally Found Evidence Of Voter Fraud

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Ever since the 2016 election President Trump has falsely claimed there is widespread election fraud. He lost the popular vote in 2016 but claimed it was because over 3 million illegal aliens voted. When he lost the 2020 election he demanded that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger “find” enough votes to give him a victory in Georgia.

Of course Trump has never provided evidence of any of his charges and most of us assumed voter fraud is nearly nonexistent and virtually never intentional. But we’re learned recently about Harry Wait. Harry was convicted a few days ago of requesting the ballots of Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Racine (Wisconsin) mayor Cory Manson.

Funny thing, ol’ Harry is a Republican. He claims he did it to show how easy it is to commit voter fraud. Of course, he just proved is isn’t easy as he was easily caught. He attempted to defend himself by claiming his actions were criminal but not nefarious.

Yeah, right. If you rob a bank to show how easy it is to rob a bank, you’re still guilty of bank robbery.

There’s no date for sentencing but he may face up to six years in prison.

The Trump Chronicles, Volume 171: We Still Don’t Know How Low He Will Go

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President Trump is famous for his insults and he gives us tremendous insight into his fears by who he goes after. He’s famously intimidated by strong women: Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris. And smart people: James Comey and Chris Christie.

He also mocks people who live well with disabilities: reporter Serge Kovaleski who lives with a muscular disease called Arthrogryposis was mocked in 2015 after asking an uncomfortable question.

Now we learn about Trump’s next target: Dyslexia. California Governor Gavin Newsom has been public about his struggles with dyslexia. It makes reading and writing difficult. People who live with this are often termed dumb as children before diagnosis. Most of us have learned to have respect for the work it takes for dyslexics to do things that come easily to most of us.

Respect for others, alas, eludes our president. Trump suggested that since Governor Newsom is dyslexic he’s a brain dead moron.

Trump famously calls himself a genius and brags about passing a cognitive test that he claimed was an IQ test. It wasn’t. These tests are given to people who may not be able to care for themselves to see if they need help. I’ve seen these tests given to people who may be in early stages of dementia. Anyone else wonder why they gave this test to the president?

In the meantime I have a new respect for Governor Newsome.