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"Either this nation shall kill racism, or racism shall kill this nation." (S. Jonas, August 2018)
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"How do you spell ICE in German? GESTAPO." (S. Jonas, July 2025)
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"First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.
"Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
"Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
"Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me." Pastor Martin Niemoller (c. 1946)
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D.J. Trump has out-catted any cat in terms of the number of lives he has had. From managing to skip the Viet Nam War draft with his well-known bone spurs (or was it "bone spurs"[?]), to his multiple marriages to, his who-knows-how-many affairs (most likely, one-two-night stands), to the multiple business failures/bankruptcies. And as is all-too-well-known, he made it to the U.S. Presidency (a job for which he is uniquely unqualified in the conventional sense) twice (and if he were to have his way, in one way or another [violence not excluded], three or four times). So how did he do it?
Many, many academics, political commentators, politicians, and journalists have written on this subject. I myself have published (mainly in this space) over 200 columns on the man. (A collection of them is published in a Kindle edition on Amazon.) As my regular readers know, because I refer to them on a regular basis, I have attributed his success to what I call his "Seven Magic Tricks:" (click here):
1. He has always had one or more protectors and enablers, either personal, or financial or both.
2. Learned from Sen. Joe McCarthy's right-hand man, Roy Cohn: "Always attack; Never defend." A more recent variant is: "Look. Over there."
3. Also learned from Roy Cohn is the mantra: "when you run into a problem, just sue."
4. Trump has never been responsible to anyone else (except for Dad, of course).
5. Trump has lived his life surrounded by enemies (many of them enemies of his choosing).
6. Trump is history's greatest con man (Click Here), and he knows it.
7. Said over-and-over again: "Oh woe is me; everyone's against me, and it's so unfair[!]"
The Tricks have worked brilliantly for him, so far. But will they continue to work? That is of course the big question.
Possibly the least qualified-for-the-job of any previous candidate for it, he made it to the Presidency for three reasons: 1) Being able to use the Seven Magic Tricks masterfully over time. 2) Being a Master Showman (see Trick 6). 3) He has served the interests of the currently dominant economic sector of the US ruling class --- finance, communications, electronics, oil-and-natural-gas, wholesale-and-retail-sales, and military equipment --- extremely well. 4) Finally, he is fully in synch with the drive of P2025 and the ruling class forces behind it who are determined to overthrow the present tri-partite U.S. Constitutional Democracy and create a Unitary, all-powerful, Executive. Historically, and conventionally, this latter method of governance is called a Fascist State. It usually concentrates all State Power (Legislative, Executive, and Judicial) in the hands of one individual, usually called Dictator.
However, there are the other powerful elements of the, U.S. ruling class for which parliamentary democracy with Separation of Powers has worked very well for over 200 years: manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, tourism, conventional banking, conventional finance, and so on and so forth. They do not want fascism instituted for several reasons. First, as just noted, the current system works very well for them. Second, under fascism there are the "ins" and the "outs," and that wing of the ruling class which believes in parliamentary democracy would obviously be the "outs." Third, the members of that class sector which have any knowledge of history and politics know that fascism never ends well. And so, for that reason alone they want no part of it.
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The Intercept, of March 11, 2026, focusing especially on the communications industry, which is so central to maintaining fascist governments in power, summarized the current situation very well:
"Under the ownership of pro-Trump billionaires Larry and David Ellison, CBS News coverage of the Iran war has been so one-sided that CBS's own staffers are calling it 'propaganda-palooza.'
"Another network insider described a CBS Evening News segment on the history of U.S.-Iran relations as 'the craziest s--t I've ever seen.'
"Now these same MAGA oligarchs are on the verge of taking control of the Warner Bros. Discovery media empire, including CNN and about two dozen other cable TV channels.
"And the Ellisons aren't the only ones. Trump-aligned billionaires and corporations -- including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Rupert Murdoch, Nexstar, and Sinclair -- are rapidly gobbling up virtually every major media outlet they can get their hands on.
"It's the step-by-step authoritarian takeover of the entire American news media to control everything that Americans see, hear, and read.
"Because if we [that is, "The Intercept"] go down, who will be left to tell the truth?"
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That Trump has been able to dominate the "Scene in Washington," whether as President or not (more, of course, when in office), since 2016, has been in part because of the force of his personality, in part because of his very clever use of The Seven Magic Tricks, in part because of his equally talented use of his central message, from which he never waivers, "Racism, Sexism, and Xenophobia," and in major part because of his usefulness to the P2025/Republo-Fascist sector of the U.S. ruling Class.
But now he is running into a set of serious problems --- national, international, and personal --- most (but not all) of which have been "around," off-and-on, since he came on the national scene, but usually no more than one to three at a time. But now they are piling up. Here's a partial list:
The Epstein Files: content and process (what the DOJ is doing/not-doing). (Or, as Jimmy Kimmel calls them, the "Trump-Epstein Files, TM.")
Unilateral, often un-Constitutional, actions both Substantive and Procedural: e.g.: Tariffs, the Attack-on-Iran (with no Declaration of War --- which, according to the Constitution --- would have had to been approved by Congress, but acting as if he had one), Venezuela (kidnapping of a foreign leader), establishing a new "of the Americas."
Iran (substantive): "It's a war;" no, "it's an excursion" (at one time both terms were used in the same press-quiz). And since when is trying to effectuate "regime change" in another country an acceptable reason for going to war? And, oh yes, attacking while negotiating. For an historical precedent, see "Pearl Harbor." The surprise attack occurred while Japanese diplomats were in Washington, negotiating over policy in the Western Pacific at the highest level. (As it happened, unlike the Iran-situation, those diplomats knew nothing about the coming attack.)
Continuing the primary P2025 focus of destroying Constitutional Democracy.
His relationship with Putin, what Putin "has on him," REF. , recent one-hour "phone call."
His cabinet is filled with unqualified people for their title jobs. While, e.g.:
Foreign policy being carried out by unqualified/unconfirmed/not-security-cleared people.
"Health policies" --- actually from the scientific point-of-view, in which field --- public health --- I spent my whole career --- for the most part a set of anti-health policies, e.g. the return of childhood infectious diseases.
The ICE/Noem/Bondi ICE outrage.
As for "what Putin has on Trump," among other items there are: the details the "Deutsche Bank" affair; the details (of course) of Russian interference in the 2016 election (from the U.S. side, see the Mueller Report); Putin's interpreter's notes from the famous "2018 Helsinki meeting" (Trump had his interpreter's notes destroyed); and Roger Stone and the "DNC tapes," supplied to him by Julian Assange (who got them from where?), which Stone then conveniently "dropped" a couple of hours after the "Access Hollywood" tape was released. And then further, one has to wonder just what went on in that one-hour telephone conversation Trump had with Putin on 3-9-26 (click here).
His personal corruption (?4 billion$ so far; click here)
Then there is Trump's health. For example, the swollen ankles (have you noticed that he is wearing longer trousers?), which most likely indicate either venous insufficiency in the legs (which can lead to potentially fatal blood clots going up to the heart) or cardiovascular disease of one sort or another, the mental issues (e.g., falling asleep during public meetings, getting up from a meeting to look out of a White House window, and etc.), confusing terms --- how can there be a "war" and "an excursion" into another country going on at the same time (said at least once in the same paragraph)?
Finally, (for this list, at any rate) --- claiming "victory" in his War (of some sort) on Iran, when, for example, the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed to oil tanker traffic and some of the Gulf States are coming under aerial attack, in a war which is apparently costing the U.S. $1billion per day, for which there has been no consultation with Congress on where that money is coming from. And so on and so forth.
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Both sides know that the obviously critical event coming up is the set of 2026 Mid-Term Elections. The Pro-Constitutional Democracy Forces are likely to win a Majority in the House, and possibly even in the Senate. Less important there because of the Filibuster rule (Click Here). But it's complicated. For the TrumpRepubloFascists, as I have been calling them for quite some time now, now want to get rid of the Filibuster (which has always been the darling of the Republicans in the Senate). Why? Well, as is well known, they want to end voting nationally as it has been known since the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Currently, it is Trump's No. 1 political objective. Right now, "change-how-voting-has traditionally-been-done" Act might pass in the House. BUT (for them) if the filibuster rule as it now stands remains in place, the Democrats would kill it in the Senate. Desperation is the Name of the Game.
Without going into any detail here (of course I will, as so many others are doing and will be doing, to be sure) the 2026 elections will be the most critical set of events in U.S. history since South Carolina began the First U.S. Civil War. And as I have written on more than one occasion, it could happen here, again. And I will leave that matter here, for now.
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So, is Trumped Trumped? Well, as listed above there are many problems/issues facing him all at once, more than there ever have been collectively, the most critical being what will happen in the 2026 elections. The presently Controlling Section of the U.S. ruling class knows this better than anyone or anything else. And if they, and they alone, think that the only way they can be won by the Republicans is without Trump in the White House, then believe you me, that Controlling Section will use as much of the Trump-Troubles list above as they need to, and he won't be there. Of course, who would replace him as the leader of TrumpRepubloFascism is another question, which we will leave for a future time.
(Article changed on Mar 13, 2026 at 1:09 PM EDT)
(Article changed on Mar 14, 2026 at 9:56 AM EDT)
(Article changed on Mar 17, 2026 at 3:18 PM EDT)
