"How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them" by Jason Stanley

 

The original edition of this book was published in 2018, The current edition of the book which I am discussing today was published in paperback format in 2020 due to the fact that it was a best seller and the upcoming election of 2020 made it both necessary and advantageous for the author and publisher to reissue the book in paperback due to the danger being presented to the country by TRAITOR Trump at that time.  Today, that danger still persists in even greater form than four years ago.  We now have major public figures who have worked closely with TRAITOR Trump actually using the words "Fascist" and "Facism" to describe him and his goals.  This version of the book was released with a new preface by Jason Stanley.  In the Preface on page IX, Stanley states that "I wrote this book as a warning against fascist politics, essentially the danger of rhetoric that encourages fear and anger as a means to foment ethnic and religious division, seeping into public discourse." (Jason Stanley, "How Fascism Works..." Page IX)    Later in the Preface on page XII, he writes: "A distinguishing mark of fascism is the targeting of ideological enemies and the freeing of all restraints in combating them."(Stanley, Ibid, Page XII). That is exactly what TRAITOR Trump has been doing in this 2024 election campaign when he has discussed jailing his political enemies if the tragedy of his actual election should occur. TRAITOR Trump has even exceeded his own previous levels of fascist speech this week by stating on multiple occasions that Liz Cheney, one of only two Republicans in the entire country fit to hold public office at any level, should be forced to face "nine rifles pointed at her face".  That kind of speech is not only fasicst, it is illegal in every state in the union and should be prosecuted to the highest level of the law. Even years before these kind of incredibly derogatory statements started coming regularly from TRAITOR Trump in 2024, Jason Stanley was seeing evidence of fascism in TRAITOR Trump's rhetoric: 

"In the United States, as Donald Trump's campaign against immigration intensifies, it is sweeping untold numbers of undocumented workers of all backgrounds into anonymously run private detention centers, where they are concealed form view and public concern." (Jason Stanley, "Ibid, Page XV.)

Throughout the book, Stanley, who is a professor of philosophy at Yale University in an endowed chair, documents and discusses actions, speeches, and threats by TRAITOR Trump which are clearly fascist in nature.  While this book was reissued in 2020, recent statements by several American generals who have worked closely with TRAITOR Trump about his fascist tendencies fully support what Stanley has to say about him and his danger to the country.  In Bob Woodward's new book, "War", he tells a story of meeting General Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at a party:

“We have got to stop him!” Milley said. “You have got to stop him!” By “you” he meant the press broadly. “He is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is the most dangerous person to this country.” His eyes darted around the room filled with 200 guests of the Cohen Group, a global business consulting firm headed by former defense secretary William Cohen. Cohen and former defense secretary James Mattis spoke at the reception.  “A fascist to the core!” Milley repeated to me.  I will never forget the intensity of his worry."  (The Atlantic, October 16, 2024, "The General's Warning".  https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/10/the-generals-warning/680279/ ) 

 In the book, Stanley writes in chapters which are descriptive of the key elements of fascist thinking and acts including Propaganda, Anti-intellectual, Unreality, Hierarchy, Victimhood, Law and Order, Sexual Anxiety, and Sodom and Gomorrah.  In the 2003 issue of "Free Inquiry Magazine, Lawrence Britt discussed key elements of fascism under slightly different titles and I have written about that examination of fascism at this link six years ago.  The fascism of TRAITOR Trump is not a new thing just because several American generals and other staff members who worked under him have suddenly begun to use the word "Fascist" about him in public. It has been existent many years and many of us who have been aware of it have also been making frequent studious attempts to educate the rest of the world about his fascism.  Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright actually published a book "Fascism A Warning" in 2018 and I wrote about her book that same year.   Television personality Rachel Maddow, who also happens to be Dr. Rachel Maddow since she holds  a Ph. D. in Political Science from the University of Oxford wrote a book in 2023 entitled "Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism" which I have written about at this link.  In that interview, the two women actually read Stormy Daniels' testimony in her civil trial against TRAITOR Trump with Daniels playing herself and Maddow reading the parts of the several attorneys.  It is an enlightening show and was the first opportunity the general public had to actually see the testimony from the "Hush Money Trial" since it was held without television cameras present.  Let me suggest that you watch that interview after you have learned at least the basics of fascism which will make TRAITOR Trump's actions toward Daniels much more clearly understood for what they are: Fascism In Action.  I have made reference to all these discussions of fascism to help the reader understand that Donald Trump's devotion to and practice of fascism is nothing new and Jason Stanley and I are not the only people working diligently to make all of America aware of the problem it presents on a daily basis to the country and the world.  

 

In the epilogue to his book, Jason Stanley refers to the work of Yale professors Joshua Knobe and Adam Bear by saying that in a New York Times article they have found that "...Trump's continuing behavior-- actions and speech that used to be considered remarkable--have real and disturbing consequences:  "These actions are not simply coming to be regarded as more typical; they are coming to be seen as more normal.  As a result, they will come to be seen as less bad and hence less worthy of outrage."  (Jason Stanley, "How Fascism Works...", Page188.)

 

A case in point which perfectly illustrates what Stanley is saying about the change over time in the public perceptions of TRAITOR Traitor Trump's fascist statements and intentons is the famous statement he made in 2016 saying "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?"(CBS News, January 23, 2016, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-i-could-shoot-somebody-and-i-wouldnt-lose-any-voters/ )  has now morphed into this death threat against Liz Cheney which is being investigated as a crime by the Attorney General of Arizona: “Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, okay? Let’s see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face.” (Deseret News, November 2, 2024, https://www.deseret.com/politics/2024/11/02/donald-trump-liz-cheney-war-hawk/ ) That statement was not rhetorical, harmless, or "just politics".  It was intentional incitement of his most virulent and dangerous followers in the hope that one of them would do his bidding and assassinate Liz Cheney. It was  a crime and should be prosecuted to  the fullest extent of the law.  

Read Jason Stanley's book, GO VOTE if you have not already, and fight Donald Trump and his fascism until he can be convicted of at least part of his crimes, sentenced, and imprisoned as he should have been years ago.   

 

 

"Rocket Man: Nuclear Madness And The Mind Of Donald Trump", edited by John Gartner, Steven Buser, and Leonard Cruz,

 

This book was published in 2018, and edited by John Gartner, Steven Buser, and Leonard Cruz.  It is just as important, perhaps even more important, today as it was was on the day the first copy rolled off the presses.  I will repeat myself from an earlier post about a book called "How Democracies Die" by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt.  As any intelligent, well read, politically aware American knows instinctively, this book would not have been written if TRAITOR Trump had never occupied the White House.  I have to admit that I have not read the entire book but have read key chapters and independent, unbiased reviews of the book.  This has been necessary due to both the speed with which we are approaching the most important election in American History again, just as we have been in the two previous election cycles and, because I have far too many books to important books to read and write about before the date of the election on November 5, 2024.  

This is a unique book because it was written in separate but existentially connected chapters by the authors, a cross section of mental health professionals and nuclear weapons and military experts.  This method of having several chapters written by different experts on the topic at hand was also utilized by Dr. Bandy X. Lee, M. D.; M. Div. when she edited the very important book, "The Dangerous Case Of Donald Trump".  These could not be more important books at any time other than today with the 2024 presidential election coming just six days from now.  Any well written and well reviewed which attempts to warn the American electorate of the dangers presented by TRAITOR Trump, his owner Vladimir Putin, and those who support his TREASON, is an important book today.  I am certain that there are several others which I have not been able to read and write about and, perhaps, even some of which I have not learned which are equally important if they share these authors' common goals of warning the electorate, protecting the country, and educating the reader about the dangers TRAITOR Trump presents every day he walks free.  

John Gartner is a doctoral level psychologist who previously taught at Johns Hopkins University.  Leonard Cruz, M. D. is the co-founder of the Asheville Jung Center and a practicing psychiatrist.  The third co-editor, Steven Buser, M. D., is also a co-founder of the Asheville Jung Center and a practicing psychiatrist  They pulled together a fine group of military and psychiatric experts to co-author the book.  Major General (Ret.) William L. Enyart, a former Illinois congressman, and a graduate of the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.  Gordon Humphrey was a United States Senator from 1979 to 1990.  He served on the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees.  These individuals are just a few of the more than two dozen highly qualified authors of the chapters/articles in the book.  Collectively and individually, they are people whose opinions should be sought at times of potential nuclear crisis in America and the world.  

Now, let's look at just a few examples of what they have to say about the danger TRAITOR Trump presents to the country and the world.  Chapter 4 of the book is written by David Reiss, M. D., and entitled "If Trump Were a Policeman I Would Have to Take Away His Gun".  The second sentence of his article tells you nearly everything you need to know about TRAITOR Trump which the anxiety producing title does not.  "If I were being asked to evalute Trump's fitness for duty as commander in chief there are behaviors that would trouble me."   But Dr. Reiss goes even further when he says this: "If Donald Trump were a police officer who had been referred to me for a Fitness-for-Duty evaluation...my recommendation would be removal of the officer from any position of responsibility pending a complete evaluation."  

Chapter 5 from Major General (Ret.) Enyart  is just as blunt in its title: "If Trump was entering the Military, he would not recieve a Security Clearance." He is even more blunt in the article in which he discusses the possibility that TRAITOR Trump could be or could have been the target of a Russian "honey pot trap", an offer of free sex from a beautiful woman who would be working with or for Russian intelligence agents, a common practice in their tool box. I quote from the article: "President Trump has shown a remarkable lack of judgment."  I quote further: "Knowing Trump's well-publicized sexual behavior, it seems unlikely that he could refuse such a tantalizing offer [an offer of sex, a honey pot trap].  "...if Donald Trump were undergoing a standard security clearance investigation, any credible suspicion of such kompromat would be enough to sink his application.  Period."   

Chapter 17, written by Bard Larsen, has an equally provocative title, "Is Donald Trump A Fascist?".  It concludes with this sentence "...America will have to reinforce the democratic institutions and repair the divided society and broken public discourse Trump has sought to destroy."   While Larsen does not flly answer the key question he presents in his title, he also did not have the amount of information on his topic in 2018 when the book was published.  Bard Larsen had never heard former Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley say in a recorded interview with Bob Woodward that “No one has ever been as dangerous to this country as Donald Trump.  Now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is the most dangerous person to this country.”  

This book is a bit dated.  TRAITOR Trump had not said and done many of the things at the time the book was published that he has said and done in the intervening six years.  He had not been convicted of 34 felonies or indicted, but yet untried, for 60 more.  He had not ordered police to tear gas non-violent protestors in front of the White House.  He had not stated publicly that he "would only be a dictator on the first day". Yet, the group of outstanding psychiatric and military personnel who wrote this book had already found enough evidence to say in print that TRAITOR Trump was unfit to hold any position of responsibility, not an acceptable candidate for a security clearance and, definitely, not a fit candidate to be the commander in chief.  Read the book no matter what happens on November 5, 2024.  Regardless of what happens in the election, TRAITOR Trump will always be a threat to America, American Democracy, and the entire world so long as he walks free.  And, God forbid, if he wins that election, no one in the world will be safe until he is held responsible for both the crimes he has committed in the past, and for any crimes he will commit in the future. 

Fantasies Of A Trump Cult Member!

 

I'm a Trump voter and I'm proud of that!

I go everywhere in my Maga hat.

I bought it from a man on the side of the road.

He must have had a whole car load.

He had them Trump flags four feet long,

Almost as big as Arnold Palmer's dong.

I wanted to buy one but couldn't right then.

I was outta money,  My welfare check hadn't come in.

I stood and looked at them big flags, 

Wished I had enough nerve to rob some fags.  

When all them wetbacks get shipped out, 

I'm gonna stand up and shout

When the rich people don't have to pay their bills,

They'll help us all cause they're having thrills. 

I know I'll get go be Trump's friend.

He's going to love me in the end.

I'll go vote ten or twelve times.

I'll spend election day standing in line.  

When Trump wins this election for the third time, 

He'll take back the country and treat us fine.

He's my hero.  He's my friend.

He'll put all things right in the end.

I had a dream the other night.

We were all in a great big fight.

I was the first through the Capitol door.

I was the first to shit in the floor.

I was the one to kidnap Pence.

I helped push him into an electric fence.

He lit up like the Fourth of July.

I saw sparks come out of his eye.  

Then we got all the Democrats, 

Even Jamie Raskin wearing his spats.  

Then we marched across town in our Maga hats, 

Dancing, and smiling, and killing all cats.

It really wasn't the fault of the cats

But they love Democrats and we can't have that.  

When I woke up I was so sad

Because in the dream I never had

Met my hero Trump, my dear God Dad

I wish I could see him, and Arnold Palmer, and me

Playing golf together off really short tees,

On greens as smooth as Trump's bald head

Hid by the wig he keeps under his bed.

In my dream, the last thing he said

Was please buy my Bibles, shoes, and stuff,

If you don't I'll have to play rough.  

Cause I need your money for women and stuff.

Then he left in a great big huff.

And I was crying when I woke up

And felt just like a little whipped pup.

I'll have a better dream tomorrow

Cause Trump is going to fix all my sorrow.

He'll cure my disease, he'll heal my heart.

He'll give me a brand new start.

He'll take me south to his big house.

He'll help me find a whole new spouse.

He'll give me money, friends, and fame.

He'll help me get in a whole new game.

Everything I need, I will receive. 

Because in Trump I do believe.   

 

A Shallow Examination of "How Democracies Die" by Steven Livitsky & Daniel Ziblatt

 

This book was released on January 8, 2019, in a reprinted and edited version.  The authors are Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt.Both are professors at Harvard and have studied how democracies function, fail, and die for more than twenty years.  This book addresses the multiple questions of 1) how democracy is functioning in the United States, 2) is democracy endangered in the United States, 3) is Donald Trump a danger to American democracy, and, 4) what can be done to save American democracy.  As any intelligent, well read, politically aware American knows instinctively, this book would not have been written if TRAITOR Trump had never occupied the White House.  I have to admit that I have not read the entire book but have read the key chapters and independent, unbiased reviews of the book.  This has been necessary due to both the speed with which we are approaching the most important election in American History again, just as we have been in the two previous election cycles and, because I have far too many books to important books to read and write about before the date of the election on November 5, 2024.  

The authors of the book, in the early chapters, introduce their readers to several key actions which despots and would be despots take leading up to, and throughout, their attacks on democracy. They also describe , on page 2 of the book, ways in which American politicians and their actions worry them, "American politicians now treat their rivals as enemies intimidate the free press, and threaten to reject the results of elections.  They try to weaken the institutional buffers of our democracy, including the courts, intelligence services, and ethics offices. American states...are in danger of becoming laboratories of authoritarianism as those in power rewrite electoral rules, redraw constituencies, and even rescind voting rights to ensure that they do not lose."   On page 2 of the book they also describe TRAITOR Trump as "...a man with no experience in public office, little observable commitment to constitutional rights, and clear authoritarian tendencies".  The authors were absolutely correct in their assessment of TRAITOR Trump in 2019 when this book was published.  They also published a second book together in 2023, "The Tyranny of the Minority", which I do not own at this point but will purchase, read and write about regardless of the outcome of this election.  That will be necessary even if Kamala Harris wins this election because TRAITOR Trump and his Right Wing Radical supporters have already made it abundantly clear that they will do anything within their power to prevent the peaceful change of power unless they are the TRAITORS in power.  

Chapter 8 of the books is entitled "Trump Against The Guardrails" and directly discusses the ways TRAITOR Trump and his allies had attempted to destroy democracy in America in the first year plus of his occupancy of the White House.  

"Donald Trump's first year in office followed a familiar script...He called the media "the enemy of the American people," questioned judges' legitimacy, and threatened to cut federal funding to major cities."  (Levitsky and Ziblatt, "How Democracies Die", page176.)

On the following page, 177, the authors go further: 

"President Trump exhibited clear authoritarian instincts during his first year in office. In Chapter 4, we presented three strategies by which elected authoritarians seek to consolidate power: capturing the referees, sidelining the key players, and rewriting the rules to tilt the playing field against opponents.  Trump attempted all three of these strategies." (Levitsky and Ziblatt, "How Democracies Die", page 177.)

In the intervening five years since this book was published, we have seen and heard numerous others agree with Levitsky and Ziblatt including General Mark Kelly, General James Mattis, and General Mark Milley have all endorsed Kamala Harris for president and called TRAITOR Trump  "fascist to the core" and "the most dangerous person to this country".  TRAITOR Trump has also been quoted by NPR as saying "I need the kind of generals Hitler had."   Obviously, no such would be despot, dictator, tyrant, or genocidal maniac needs to be anywhere near the seat of American government.  He needs to be tried, convicted of at least part of his thousands of crimes, sentenced, and incarcerated for life in the supermax prison in Colorado where the other enemies of the nation are incarcerated. 

"The Diving Bell And The Butterfly" by Jean-Dominique Bauby

 

My wife Candice and I just finished reading this fine little book by Jean-Dominique Bauby in the manner in which we have been reading books regularly for several years now.  While Candice washes our breakfast dishes, I read aloud from whatever book we are reading at the time.  When she finishes washing the dishes, I stop reading and rinse them.  I put them away later.  We alternate who chooses the next book we read, and this one was her choice.  Our previous book which I chose was "Band Of Angels", a novel by Robert Penn Warren which I wrote about at this link.  For us, this book is personal.  Bauby was the editor of "Elle", the French fashion magazine, when he suddenly, and apparently without any warning, suffered a severe stroke in his early forties which left him with "Locked In Syndrome".  Locked In Syndrome is a condition due to a stroke or other form of brain damage which leaves the patient completely paralyzed, unable to move or speak, and without any realistic hope of recovery.  Usually, the patients mind is working perfectly well inside a completely dysfunctional body.  Sometimes, as in Bauby's case, the patient is able to blink one or both eyes which is utilized to facilitate a form of communication.  Bauby, his friends, family, and providers were trained to use an alphabet system with the letters of the alphabet arranged in order according to their frequency of use in French, his native language.  The person communicating with such a patient is required to read the letters one at a time, wait until the patient blinks in response to a letter, write that letter down, and repeat the process until a word is spelled.  Then a sentence, and thus a conversation.  Bauby and a young female employee of his publisher utilized the system for him to write this book which is, understandably, only 132 short pages of about 175 words each for a total of approximately 23,000 words. Admittedly, that is a small word total for most adult non-fiction books.  But for a book which was produced using the method described above, it is a phenomenal piece of work for both Bauby and his publisher's employee.  

 

For my wife and I, the book is a personal matter for two reasons: 1) my wife has been in a wheelchair for about 26 years, and in a power chair for about 5 years due to a rare genetic disorder; 2) when I was an undergraduate at Morehead State University, I had a professor whose husband, a retired psychiatrist, suffered a massive stroke which left him with "Locked In Syndrome".  On one occasion, my former professor told me the story of her husband's stroke and eventual death.  They utilized some such system of eye blinking to discuss his condition, absolutely devastating prognosis, and their possible options in the matter.  Admittedly, they were a couple who were unusually prepared by their professional lives to deal with such an issue in their private lives.  Her husband was a retired medical doctor and psychiatrist who had run a large state operated mental health treatment system.  His wife was a doctoral level professor of social work who had also worked in mental health setting in the past.  But, as she told me the story, it was obvious that she was still totally devastated by the decision they had reached in his case.  They had discussed their problem and their options, as I described above, and her husband chose to be disconnected from life support and to die rather than to linger for whatever time the health care system could have kept him alive.  Admittedly, my wife and I have a very unique perspective from which to assess Bauby's incredible little book.  

 

The book is written in very short chapters, very little pages, and is an incredible read both for its brevity and its breadth in how much information it contains.  Bauby says little until almost the end of the book about the actual event of his stroke.  It moves from short segments about his life in a state government operated system for very difficult neurological cases in France to segments about his life before his stroke to other segments about how he spends his time when he is alone in his hospital bed.  He discusses his creation of fantasies about what had previously been his goals and dreams, his life with his young children and wife, and his professional life as the editor of a major French fashion magazine.  This is a book which a good reader can finish in a single sitting.  But it is also a book which can require some time between sittings for the reader to absorb and process the information it contains.  This is an incredible book and well worth reading by every reader  

Have You Ever Called Vladimr Putin? I Never Have!

 

 As pre-release copies of Bob Woodward's new book "War" were sent out in advance of its October 15, 2024, release date, nearly every legitimate, ethical news agency in the  nation began to report on some of the most important revelations the book contains.  Most of those news stories were similar to the one which PBS ran on October 8, 2024, one week before the book's release.  I quote from that story below: 

"Donald Trump has had as many as seven private phone calls with Vladimir Putin since leaving office and secretly sent the Russian president COVID-19 test machines during the height of the pandemic, Bob Woodward reported in his new book “War.”"  (PBS via AP, October 8, 2024.  https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-had-as-many-as-7-private-calls-with-putin-since-leaving-office-bob-woodward-writes-in-new-book )

I received my copy of the book on October 19, 2024, and have not read the entire book yet.  I am currently snowed under with a pile of new books on my "To Be Read" shelf, and was forced to simply use the index to check all the book's references to both TRAITOR Trump and Putin, the man who has owned him for forty years.  The book is stunning in what it says about TRAITOR Trump and his deep connections and indebtedness to the worst dictator in the world. You must also consider who Bob Woodward is when you examine what he says in this book.  Bob Woodward, along with Carl Bernstein, was responsible for breaking the story of Watergate which resulted in the end of the political career of former President Richard Nixon.  Woodward has been a fixture in Washington, DC, and world politics and literature since the early 1970's. He has published about 20 other books in his career, nearly all have been best sellers, and his integrity has never been questioned.  His reputation is impeccable.  If he prints it, it is a fact!  But what I find stunning is not that TRAITOR Trump was maintaining contact with Vladimir Putin.  For years now, a large number of other honest, ethical journalists have been telling you and the rest of the world that TRAITOR Trump is just that, a TRAITOR.  I have published on this blog numerous discussions of other books by other writers about the thousands of crimes of TRAITOR Trump.  He is a TRAITOR, nothing more, nothing less, and he has been for at least forty years.  But I have known several retired military personnel in the last 10 to 20 years who have all been saying exactly what I have been saying.  We have universally believed that for some long period of time some covert channel of communication existed between TRAITOR Trump and his Russian handlers who were probably not Putin until after Putin and Russia managed to steal the 2016 election and place TRAITOR Trump inside the White House.  Timothy Snyder has actually compiled and posted a list of 50 times TRAITOR  Trump was involved in exchanges of power, money, or influence with Putin and Russia. I have quoted and cited numerous authors over the last 9 years who have said the same thing.  In this blog post, I quoted the entirety of page 220 of Timothy Snyder's excellent book "The Road To Unfreedom" in which Snyder provides another long list of the incidents in which TRAITOR Trump has interacted with Russia, Putin, and other Russian agents.  What Bob Woodward tells us in his new book is nothing new! It just comes from his contacts with a different source, an employee of TRAITOR Trump who spilled the beans.  And when we consider if Bob Woodward knows how to develop and utilize a source, just remember that he and Bernstein were the men who got a Deputy Director of the FBI to divulge what he knew about Richard Nixon's crimes, to become known as Deep Throat, and to admit it publicly before his death.  If Bob Woodward says it, he can prove it.  

So now let's look at what Bob Woodward is saying about TRAITOR Trump and his contacts with Vladimir Putin.  First, let's look at the second half of the allegation from the PBS story quoted and cited above, that TRAITOR Trump sent Putin "COVID-19 test machines during the height of the pandemic".  Woodward discuses that fact on page 33 of his book in this manner: 

"President Trump had secretly sent a bunch of Abbott Point of Care Covid test machines for his personal use as the virus spread rapidly through Russia.  "Please don't tell anybody you sent these to me," Putin said to Trump.  "I don't care", Trump said. "Fine."  "No, no," Putin said, I don't want you to tell anybody, because people will get mad at you, not me.They don't care about me."  (Bob Woodward, "War", page 33.)

Then on page 98 of "War", Woodward writes directly about an interview he had with TRAITOR Trump at Mar-a-Lago:

"Putin respects me.  And I respect Putin. I think Putin likes me.  I think I like him.  I do like him", Trump concluded.  "Bob Woodward, "War", page 98.)

And there we have another repetition of the kind of ignorance contained in TRAITOR Trump's famous Love Letters to Kim Jung Un.  His desire to please a dictator, especially a dictator whose banks saved him from financial disaster many years ago, is the ruling element in his psyche.  Woodward begins chapter Seventy-Five of his book on page 356 with the discussion of the phone calls TRAITOR Trump has had with Vladimir Putin since leaving the White House on January 20, 2021.  This discussion of the telephone calls is what shocked much of the journalistic world since, after leaving the White House, even a legitimately elected president, which TRAITOR Trump never was, cannot conduct, or attempt to conduct foreign policy with legitimate world leaders without the clear approval of the sitting government.  It is a clear cut violation of The Logan Act of 1799.  It is a felony under federal law.  Here is what Woodward has to say about those telephone calls: 

"In early 2024, a Trump aide loitered outside the former president's office.  Trump had sent the aide out of the room so he could have what he said was a private phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.  According to Trump's aide, there have been multiple phone calls between Trump and Putin, maybe as many as seven in the period since Trump left the White House in 2021.  When I asked Trump's campaign aide Jason Miller, in July if he knew about phone calls between Trump and Putin, Miller's answer was, "Um, ah, not that, ah, not that I'm aware of."  Is Trump able to talk to Putin now? "I'm sure they know how to get in touch with each other," Miller said."  (Bob Woodward, "War", page 356.)  

A little farther down the page, Woodward says, "The Logan Act makes it illegal for private citizens to negotiate disputes without the clear authorization of the sitting US government."  And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the problem!  Traitor Trump has clearly committed multiple violations of The Logan Act.  It is highly likely that in the process of those violations he has also committed multiple violations of The Espionage Act. And, without a doubt, he also committed violations of the Sedition Act during his involvement in and orchestration of January 6.  But additionally, we need to ask ourselves this: "if he has maintained regular contact with Vladimir Putin, the most dangerous enemy of the United States, in addition to having stolen and lied to the FBI about hundreds of classified federal documents, what has he passed on to Putin from the contents of those documents".  As a citizen of the United States of America, you need to accept the fact that TRAITOR Trump is an agent of Russia, a TRAITOR, and an existential threat to the existence of American Democracy.  And you need to vote accordingly on November 5, 2024. 

 

 

 

TRAITOR Trump's Fixation With Penises Is A Symptom Of His Mental Illness!

On Saturday, October 19, 2024, TRAITOR Trump shocked a few million more people worldwide who did not already understand that he is not only strange, WEIRD, or odd, but also seriously mentally ill. He managed to shock those new people by speaking during a campaign about the supposed large size of the penis of the golfer Arnold Palmer, and delivered that speech in Palmer's hometown.  His mental illness has not just happened overnight this year.  His mental illness and absolute mental unfitness to hold any position of public trust at any level has been widely written about and discussed by mental health professionals at least since 2017 when "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump" was released by Saint Martin's Press and became an instant best seller.  It was written by 27 of the best, most experienced, most respected psychiatrists and mental health experts around the nation, and edited by Dr. Bandy X. Lee, M. D. who, at the time, was a professor of psychiatry at Yale University.  She has since left Yale to become director of a program at Harvard.  In 2018, the book "Rocket Man: Nuclear Madness And The Mind Of Donald Trump" which was edited by John Gartner, Steven Buser, and Leonard Cruz, and written in much the same type of format at "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump" in individual chapters by  a broad assortment of experts in the fields of psychiatry, nuclear weaponry, and some other areas of military expertise. The co-editor John Gartner is the founder of Duty To Warn, a professional organization dedicated to solving the conflict between  professional mental health worker's duty to warn when people present great danger to others and the professionals' responsibility to honor clients' right to confidentiality.  That book was focusing simply on TRAITOR Trump's unfitness to be in charge of the nation's nuclear arsenal.  But it is just as important an assessment of his totally compelling psychiatric instability as the Lee book. I have been remiss in not having already written about the book by Gartner, Buser, and Cruz, et. al.  I hope to be able to do so before the rapidly approaching election.  Additionally, in 2020, TRAITOR Trump's niece Mary L. Trump, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist who has known TRAITOR Trump all her life, released the book, "Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created The World's Most Dangerous Man".   Dr. Trump's book is a much more personal book than the other two since it is based on a lifetime of contact with TRAITOR Trump in family settings and she has had a great deal more contact with him than the other authors although it can be said that her contacts were not in a professional setting.   

 

As a retired mental health and substance abuse professional, I can assure you that none of the authors of these three books were even mildly surprised that TRAITOR Trump lapsed into a bizarre rant about Arnold Palmer's mythical penis or that he claimed that penis  was of gigantic proportions.  What TRAITOR Trump said about Palmer's penis in his speech was, according to CB News: 

"He was an incredible man, he was an incredible champion, and he came from Latrobe," Trump said.  Then his comments appeared to go off script. "This is a guy that was all man," the former president said. "This man was strong and tough, and I refuse to say it, but when he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there, they said, 'Oh my God, that's unbelievable.'" To laughter, Trump added, "I had to say it."  (CBS News, October 22, 2024, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-arnold-palmer-latrobe-pennsylvania-rally/) 

Apparently, many people, both professionals and laymen, were surprised that TRAITOR Trump said such things.  But the Yale professor of history and author Timothy Snyder documented in his 2018 book, "The Road To Unfreedom" that TRAITOR Trump has expressed previous fascination with speaking in public about penises.  On page 271 of Snyder's excellent book, he has this to say about these bizarre speeches by TRAITOR Trump and their connection to Putin and his hero, the Russian political philosopher Ivan Ilyin: 

"Like his Russian patrons, Trump portrayed the presidency of Barack Obama as an aberration.  Along with RT, Trump promoted the fiction that Obama was not an American, an idea meant to strengthen the  notion that "the people" are whites.  Like Putin with his monkey imitation, like Ilyin and his obsession with jazz as white emasculation. Like Prokhanov with his nightmares of black milk and black sperm, Trump dwelled in fantasies of black power.  When Trump won the presidency, Kiselev exulted that Obama was "now like a eunuch who cannot do anything."  Trump was the only presidential candidate in American history to brag publicly about his penis.  His white supremacist supporters called Republicans who would not support Trump's racism "cuckservatives."  The reference was to the pornographic meme of a white husband, cuckold to a white wife, who watches her perform fellatio on a black man.  To sexualize the enemy was to make politics into biological conflict, and to trade the hard work of reform and freedom for endless anxious preening."  Timothy Snyder, "The Road To Unfreedom", page 271.)

When we examine TRAITOR Trump's public exaltation of Arnold Palmer's mythical and supposedly gargantuan penis under the light provided by the fifty plus professionals in the books I have cited and quoted above, we get a much more clear understanding of the likely thinking which justified his penile rant.   It is most likely that TRAITOR Trump who sees both Kamala Harris and all those of us who support her as "the enemy" he is making an attempt to hold Palmer and his mythical penis up to the world as a heroic pair of figures which can protect the white people he sees as his supporters from all his other imagined evils which, in his overwhelming mental illness, he sees as the evidences and works of "the enemy".  He is a sick man, a VERY SICK man, a seriously mentally ill man who, even if he were totally sane, would still be unfit to hold any position of public trust at any level.  

"

Dr. Anthony Fauci, TRAITOR Trump, and 1 Million Dead Innocent Victims Of Covid 19

 

I have Dr.Anthony Fauci's recent memoir, "On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service", on my desk right now and actually did something I rarely do and didn't read from the front to the back. I actually began with the section on Covid and Fauci is totally honest in what he has to say about TRAITOR Trump. It is very enlightening. I should also say, in the spirit of full disclosure, that I spent many days at NIH in the mid to late 1990's, two to three trips a year, a week at a time because my wife was a patient there. I met people at all levels of NIH from food service, maintenance, and grounds keeping up to one director of one of the institutes. Everything about NIH is personal to me. I never met anyone there I never liked and respected. Many of the greatest medical and scientific minds in the world work there and Dr. Fauci was one of them. He could have left 20-25 years ago for a multi-million dollar salary with a drug company and stayed because he was committed to making the world a better place. He tells a story in the book about receiving a white powder in an envelope at his desk in the middle of Covid and what he and his family had to go through because of it even though it was nothing. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Dr. Fauci received that, and many other pieces of hate mail and attempts at intimidation, because of the words and deeds of TRAITOR Trump. My knowledge of NIH and the people who make it one of the greatest medical and scientific institutions in the world on a daily basis was one of the most productive learning experiences in my life, a life in which I have consistently moved from one learning experience to another in an attempt to make myself a better, better educated human being who might be worthy of making some contribution, however insignificant, to make the the world a better place. 

So, with that preface, let's now examine what I learned from reading that section of Dr. Fauci's memoir, that 66 page story about his efforts to help the world win the war against our most recent plague, Covid 19, and his deeply personal disclosures about how TRAITOR Trump impeded that effort on a daily basis which complicated the lives of every employee of NIH and endangered the lives of every citizen of the United States and, ultimately, the world. Dr. Fauci begins his section on Covid 19 with a description of events which occurred in a meeting at the White House on January 29, 2020, at a time when Covid infections in the US had just passed the 7,700 mark and 170 victims had already died. He describes how TRAITOR Trump, whom he consistently refers to with the totally undeserved honorific "President Trump", came into the meeting and began to butter him up, as has always been TRAITOR Trump's way until he decides to move on to sooner or later denigrating anyone he has previously flattered. But, in the spirit of what has always been Dr. Fauci's absolute honesty, he moves on to say that "...he shocked me on day one of his presidency with his disregard of facts such as the size of the crowd at his inauguration. His apocalyptic inaugural speech had also taken me aback, as had his aggressive disrespect for the press." (Fauci, page 346) 

It is also very pertinent to know that meeting in which Dr. Fauci first met TRAITOR Trump took place on January 29, 2020, because NPR reported on May 2, 2020, that TRAITOR Trump was told in intelligence briefings on January 23 & 28, 2020, that

"...the coronavirus was potentially going to 'spread globally,' " the official said of the first briefing, which came two days after the first case of the virus was reported in the United States...Five days after that initial briefing, the president was briefed again, according to the official. This time, he was told the virus "was spreading outside of China, but that deaths from the disease were happening only in China," the official said. (NPR, May 2, 2020, https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/05/02/849619486/trump-received-intelligence-briefings-on-coronavirus-twice-in-january)

Just the day before the meeting in which Dr. Fauci met TRAITOR Trump for the first time, TRAITOR Trump had been told that Covid 19 was likely to "spread globally".  At that January 29, 2020, meeting he was also told that 170 US victims had already died.  Obviously, information about Covid 19 was moving and changing rapidly, but what any well run White House is supposed to be best at is gathering, analyzing, and making decisions regarding fast moving crises of any kind.  From January 20, 2017 to January 20, 2021, the White House was anything but well run which has been reported on by every ethical news agency in the world thousands of times.  Dr. Fauci then reports that on February 25, 2020, Nancy Messonier, the head of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said in a conference call with reporters that "...a pandemic in the United States was no longer a matter of if but when and that we should prepare to do things like close schools and work remotely...The media erupted.  The stock market plummeted, and President Trump was furious." (Fauci, Page 358) 

At that point, TRAITOR Trump had a choice to make about Covid 19, and he had two options: 1) he could and should have chosen to listen to the best scientific minds in America and begin to do what they were telling him, or, 2) he could just ignore the scientists, do nothing effective about Covid 19 in a vain and murderous manner which was intended to protect an economy which his tax cuts for the rich was already destroying.  His choice to do that later resulted in the unnecessary deaths of more than a million innocent American victims.  Yes, we would have been likely to have a relatively mild epidemic of Covid 19 no matter what the official response was.  But, it is highly unlikely that we would have had more than a million deaths if the response had been competently directed from the White House and left in the hands of the scientists throughout the decision making process.  It is highly likely that the great majority of the victims would have survived.  

Dr. Fauci then moves on in the book to discussion of how the Covid 19 Task Force which was being headed by Vice President Mike Pence was operated.  "Vice presidents are always publicly loyal to the president.  But, in my opinion, Vice President Pence sometimes overdid it.  During Task Force meetings, he often said some version of "There are a lot of smart people around here, but we all know that the smartest person in the building is upstairs.  He was of course talking about the man sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office." (Fauci, Page 359)

We all know what price Mike Pence paid for that misplaced loyalty on January 6, 2021.  Dr. Fauci then goes on to describe a telephone call he received from TRAITOR Trump a few days later: 

"What I did do during our twenty minute conversation about Covid 19 was to lay out the facts.  I encouraged him not to underplay the seriousness of the situation.  "That almost always comes back to bite you, Mr. President," I said.  "If you are totally honest about what is happening with Covid, the country will respect you for it."  (Fauci, Page 359) 

We all know that didn't happen, don't we?  At no time in his life, has TRAITOR Trump ever been totally honest with anyone about anything anytime anywhere.  The misrepresentation of a deadly disease and its potential destruction of the country and the world had only just begun.  TRAITOR Trump was now in his favorite and most beloved arena, the creation and propagation of lies, prevarications, fabrications, misrepresentations, and delusions which would become more and more bizarre as the bodies piled up, refrigerated trucks became morgues, and the country began to watch our loved ones dying.  Dr. Fauci then discusses some of the bizarre ways in which TRAITOR Trump responded to a situation in which he proved on a daily basis that he was unfit to be in the position which Russia's election tampering had placed him.  On page 365 of the book, Dr Fauci says

"And so with the ghastly reality setting in that COVID was not going to go away, Trump began to grab for an elixir that was going to cure this disease.  Along came hydroxychloroquine...The fact was, however, there were no clinical studies proving that this antimalarial drug would help people.  And it might hurt them.  The president seemed unable to grasp that anecdotes of how hydroxychloroquine might have helped some people with COVID did not translate into solid medical advice.  This is when I realized that sooner or later I would have to refute him publicly."  (Fauci, Pages 365-366) 

Farther along in page 366, Dr. Fauci then discusses the way TRAITOR Trump has always attacked and denigrated members of the press corps. 

"...even when I did not know the journalists the president insulted, I was still taken aback by his behavior.  I was also concerned that my very presence at the lectern or sitting against the wall of the press room would be interpreted as acceptance on my part of his behavior."(Fauci, Page 366)

Those two sentences clearly demonstrate the differences between a consummate professional scientist like Dr. Anthony Fauci and a blustering, aggressive, argumentative, and ignorant individual like TRAITOR Trump especially when such an individual is in a position for which they have always been horribly unqualified and never actually attained in a legal manner.   After that discussion of TRAITOR Trump's abuses of many of the best, most professional journalists alive, Dr. Fauci goes on to become more direct in his assessments of the horrible failures of TRAITOR Trump in the remainder of the COVID section of the book.  He then moves on to a time late in the fall of 2020, as the presidential election campaign was in full swing and says

"By this time, the virus had infected more than 9 million Americans and killed 230,000.  New daily cases were hitting record highs.  But out on the campaign trail, Donald Trump insisted, "We're turning the corner.  We're turning the corner.  We're rounding...the curve.  We will vanquish  the virus."  (Fauci, Page 406)

Thank God, the American people realized what was  happening.  They knew the country was dying, one COVID case, one beloved relative at a time.  President Biden was elected on November 3, 2020, and sworn into office on January 20, 2021.  To misquote former President Gerald Ford "Our long national nightmare was over."  Now in 2024, we are once again facing the most important and most dangerous election in our nation's history.  We have a choice to actually, for the first time, to elect TRAITOR Trump to the highest office in the land, and create God only knows what future disasters which could well make the COVID epidemic look like only a warmup.  TRAITOR Trump has already proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is unfit to hold any position of public trust at any level.  God Help Us, if we make that fatal mistake and allow him near the White House again. 

 

 

"Band Of Angels" by Robert Penn Warren, A Wonderful Old Novel And Still Worth Reading!

 

"Band Of Angels" is a 1955 novel by Robert Penn Warren, one of the handful of American writers who was never awarded a Nobel Prize and probably should have been.  But he was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel "All The King's Men", and the second for his poetry.  He was also a Rhodes Scholar and taught at both Vanderbilt University and Yale.  He also worked as a Consultant In Poetry for the Library of Congress.  He was an amazingly prolific writer and produced 12 novels, 15 non-fiction books on a variety of subjects, 3 children's books, 2 major dramatic versions of his novel "All The King's Men", 1 short story collection, and 21 collections of poetry.  

 

"Band Of Angels" was made into a 1957 movie which starred Clark Gable, Sidney Poitier, and Yvonne de Carlo.  The heroine and narrator of the book is Amantha "Manty" Starr, a woman who was raised by her father on a Central Kentucky plantation in the years preceding the Civil War.  Her mother is dead and buried near the house instead of in the plantation cemetery some distance farther away.  Her father who pampers her, apparently loves her deeply, and regularly takes her to Cincinnati to meet his friends there.  He also enrolls her in Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio.  But he never tells her much about her mother, and the primary female influence in her childhood is an older slave woman.  The father dies suddenly while Manty is still in college and, when she returns to the plantation just in time to see the end of his funeral proceedings in the cemetery, she learns that her mother was a slave, that she was never freed by her father, and is seized, as part of his personal property, at the graveside by a local loan shark who has loaned her father large sums of money.  She is shipped to New Orleans to be sold as a slave in the slave market there and bought by an older man who pays $2,000 for her to keep her from falling into the hands of a young southern ne'er do well.  She becomes the mistress of her owner who turns out to be a former slave trading ship's captain.  He also owns a unique male slave who is the actual overseer of his plantations but has been raised much like his son and holds a great deal of power over the other slaves.  

This book is full of one surprise twist after another and flows with wonderful prose which is the trademark of Robert Penn Warren.  Modern readers, especially readers of color, are likely to be deeply offended to the prolific use of racial slurs in the book which are not just limited to the "N" word.  But it is an accurate book for the times which it describes in the slave holding south both before and after the Civil War.  Manty is eventually set free, marries a former Union Army captain, and lives for a time in New Orleans high society.  She also eventually joins her husband in a long westward migration as he seeks a career as a lawyer but finds one reason after another to fail in town after town.  There is a great deal to love in this book along with a somewhat sizeable portion of things some readers will hate.  But it has survived, as every word Robert Penn Warren published has and should have survived.  It's arguable weaknesses are clearly overcome by its powerful strengths.  Put aside any negative emotions you might have for Warren's broad usage of language which is historically accurate but despised today and read the book.  In fact, I would say that any reader who likes to read broadly of the best writers in the world would be remiss to avoid reading Warren as broadly as possible.  He is one of America's great masters of literature.  

"The Road To Unfreedom" by Timothy Snyder, Page 220--One Page Of Truths About TRAITOR Trump And Russia!

 

This is one of the best non-fiction books to be released in the United States in the last several years.  It was published in 2018 and should be read by every voter in America before the November 5, 2024, election.  I have given it a prominent place in my list of several such books which every American should read even if it takes you several months to complete that list.  But right now I'm going to make it easy on most of you to come to understand just how important this book by Timothy Snyder is with regard to the upcoming US election by discussing and copying one page from the book, page 220.  Snyder has discussed this page in his feed on X, or Twitter, or whatever Elon Musk, TRAITOR Trump's latest version of Hitler's co-conspirator Joseph Goebbels is calling that website now.  So, let's look at page 220 from the book and then discuss it.  

"From an American point of view, Trump Tower is a garish building on Fifth Avenue in New York City.  From a Russian point of view, Trump Tower is an inviting site for international crime.  Russian gangsters began to launder money by buying and selling apartment units in Trump Tower in 1984.  Beginning in 1986, Trump was courted and flattered by Russian diplomats, who suggested to him that he had a future as a mogul in Moscow.  In 1987, the Soviet state paid for Trump and his then-wife Ivana to visit Moscow and stay in the Lenin Suite of the National Hotel.  This room was certainly bugged and monitored; the normal KGB procedure was to collect compromising material on figures who might later become important.  Interestingly, it was only after his return that Trump began to speak of running for president, and to place advertisements advocating U. S. isolationism.  After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian mob extended its reach in New York.  The most notorious Russian hit man, long sought by the FBI, resided in Trump Tower.  Russians were arrested for running a gambling ring from the apartment beneath Trump's own.  In Trump World Tower, constructed between 1999 and 2001 on the east side of Manhattan near the United Nations, a third of the luxury units were bought by people or entities from the Soviet Union.  A man investigated by the Treasury Department for money laundering lived in Trump World Tower directly beneath Kellyanne Conway,  who would become the press spokesman for the Trump campaign.  Seven hundred units of Trump properties in South Florida were purchased by shell companies.  Two men associated with those shell companies were convicted of running a gambling and (money) laundering scheme from Trump Tower.  Perhaps Trump was entirely unaware of what was happening on his properties.  By the late 1990's, Trump was considered to be uncreditworthy and bankrupt.  He owed about four billion dollars to more than seventy banks, of which some $800 million dollars was personally guaranteed.  He never showed any inclination or capacity to pay back this after this debt.  After his 2004 bankruptcy, no American bank would lend him money.  The only bank that did so was Deutsche Bank, whose colorful history of scandal belied its staid name.  Interestingly, Deutsche Bank also laundered about $10billion  for Russian clients between 2011 and 2015. Interestingly, Trump declined to pay back his debts to Deutsche Bank."  ("The Road To Unfreedom" by Timothy Snyder, pages 220-221.) 

That is some might interesting writing from the best historian and political history writer in America today. Snyder is a professor of history at Yale University in an endowed chair and still manages to research and write at least one book a year every year.  Every word in every one of his books has been impeccably and irrefutably researched and verified.  His reputation, both as a professor and an author, is impeccable and unimpeachable. If he writes and publishes it, he can prove it.  

 

So what does that have to tell you about TRAITOR Trump? First and foremost, it tells you that he is in far too deep with Russia and Putin.  In light of the fact that TRAITOR Trump is facing multiple federal felonies over having stolen a truck load of classified documents from the government, and having made at least seven telephone calls to Vladimir Putin over the last 4 years, it tells you that everyone of those telephone calls is a violation of the Logan Act.  It also tells you that there is a very high degree of probability that everyone of those telephone calls also involved violations of the Espionage Act.  It tells you that TRAITOR Trump is a TRAITOR, no doubt, not even a little.  

Every American Voter Should Read One Of These Books Before November 5, 2024!

 

“These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." Thomas Paine  

 

I first began posting these book lists sometime shortly after it became apparent to most intelligent, politically aware people in America that TRAITOR Trump was just that, a TRAITOR, nothing more, nothing less.  He was that long before I ever posted one of these reading lists.  He is still a TRAITOR today.  He will still be a TRAITOR on the day he dies and finally leaves America and Americans to live in peace after he has destroyed everything he can on the way.  It is imperative, if America is to remain a democracy, that TRAITOR Trump must never be allowed anywhere near the White House or any other active component of government in this country.  He is unfit to hold any position of public trust at any level, all the way down to dogcatcher and constable in a small, poverty stricken district.  Do both yourself and the country a much needed favor and read at least one of these books on this list before you vote on November 5, 2024.  This is an election between Good and Evil, Patriotism and TREASON, Peace and Total Destruction of Everything Valuable in America.   

 

On Democracy by Timothy Snyder  This is Timothy Snyder's latest book, just having been releases a short while ago.  Like everything Snyder writes, it is described as being a book which "will allow us to design a government in which we and future generations can flourish."  It is a continuation of Snyder's deep concerns and fears for America and American Democracy if the voters of this country allow TRAITOR Trump to return to another TREASONOUS occupation of the White House.  In my opinion, Snyder is the greatest historian and historical writer in America today.  He is a professor of history at Yale University in an endowed chair and still manages to write at least one important book a year or more.  This is the link to his official website.  Anything which Snyder writes is a must read for any citizen of America who wishes to see our Democracy survive.  I will add a couple of his other books below with less commentary about them.  Just assume if he wrote it, you need to read it. 

 

The Dangerous Case Of Donald Trump Edited by Bandy Lee, M. D. I reviewed this book here.  This is one of those books that every reasonably intelligent citizen of this country should read.  I have been promoting this book ever since the day the initial publicity campaign began when it was released.  This book was written in individual articles by 27 of the best, best known, most experienced, most respected psychiatrists in the country and edited by Dr. Bandy X. Lee, M. D. who is a psychiatrist and professor at Yale University.  Her credentials are incredible and so is this book.  Just as the letter to the senate from 2,400 law professors should have put an end to the legal career of Brett Kavanaugh, this book should have put an end to the public life of TRAITOR Trump.  Read this book even if you do not choose to read another book on this list or another book of any kind for the rest of your life. Do not let the fact that it is written by a bevy of psychiatrists deter you from reading it.  When you are done you will have a far better understanding of the serious and danger mental illness of TRAITOR Trump. 

 

The Road To Unfreedom by Timothy Snyder  This is Snyder's most recent book excluding the release last month of his latest, On Freedom.  The Road To Unfreedom is an excellent and well documented study of how Fascism has been spread by Russia and other countries in Eastern Europe.  It discusses Putin's dream of putting together a Russian empire extending all the way from Vladivostok to Lisbon covering most of Eastern Europe and Northern Asia.  Do not for a minute believe TRAITOR Trump when he tells you that he could "stop the war in Ukraine before" he took office if he should actually win an American election for the first time in his life.  Putin has expressed this plan for quite a few years in magazine and newspaper articles published under his name, in public speeches, and in all forms of media.  His attempt to subjugate Ukraine is geared toward giving Russia an open door to proceed further in this plan.  If he is allowed to overpower Ukraine, Poland will be next.  World War 3 will have begun and Putin will proceed until he is forcefully stopped, if that is even possible at that point.  

 

On Call by Anthony Fauci, M. D.  is the recently published memoir of Dr. Fauci who recently retired as the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.  He was also the public face of the scientific fight against Covid and was daily defamed, insulted, minimized, and abused by TRAITOR Trump who is not now and never was fit to be a pimple on Dr. Fauci's ass.   More than 1million innocent American victims of Covid died because TRAITOR Trump refused to do anything to stop the pandemic after being informed by the intelligence and healthcare communities in January and February 2020 that the pandemic was coming and could destroy the country.  If NIH and the CDC had been allowed to fully do their jobs in early 2020, Covid would have been far less destructive and would have been confronted and dealt with successfully far sooner if TRAITOR Trump had not attempted to hamper every effort the scientific community made to do their jobs.  How do I know this?  For 5 years in the middle to late 1990's I spent many days at NIH.  My wife was a patient there during that period and we traveled there 2 or 3 times a year for a week at a time during that 5 year period.  So did my father-in-law.  I have never met Dr. Fauci, but I have met one other chair of an institute there.  I know NIH.  I have known people there at every level of employment from grounds keepers, food service workers, nurses, research staff, doctors, and one director of an institute.  Every one of them is a hero working daily in their own unique ways to help save the world.  If you don't read another word of Dr. Fauci's book read the section on Covid 19 and the pandemic which is only 67 pages long and will show you exactly what a TRAITOR TRAITOR Trump is and exactly what heroes the men and women of NIH  are.  It will also give you a great deal of insight into how greatly TRAITOR Trump has damaged this country morally and ethically over the last 10 years.

 

 Fascism by Madeleine Albright  Former Secretary of State Albright's book has been postively reviewed by most of the media people who have read it.  Secretary Albright was born in Czechoslovakia and immigrated to the US to become our first female Secretary of State and one of our best.  This is her description of a Fascist: "A Fascist is someone who claims to speak for a whole nation or group, is utterly unconcerned with the rights of others, and is willing to use violence and whatever other means are necessary to achieve the goals he or she might have.”  There is no more accurate description of TRAITOR Trump.  Read this book and if you finish it before I do send me an e-mail or a comment on this blog post.

 

  
Trump/Russia by Seth Hettena  This book provides an excellently researched timeline of the more than 30 year history of interactions between TRAITOR Trump and Russia.  Hettena's reputation as a reporter, researcher, and writer are excellent.  He is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and that, in itself, is a recommendation of his mind and ability to function successfully in a high pressure environment.

 

 

The Restless Wave by John McCain  "Worse misfits have not been seen in a White House since William Taft got stuck in his bathtub."  (John McCain, p. 327)  When I read that sentence in John McCain's last book, I laughed out loud.  I have not reviewed this book yet, and have a few pages left to read before I finish it but this book is the most pleasant surprise I have had in a book in quite some time.  I began reading it since McCain has recently died and he had up put some level of public resistance to TRAITOR Trump.  However, in 2016, he had failed to go the full mile and endorse Hillary Clinton for president instead of just refusing to endorse TRAITOR Trump. Yet this book is far more positive about Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama than toward TRAITOR Trump.  I had begun the book expecting to hear a pretty standard espousal of fairly Right Wing Repugnican politics and a play by play of McCain's career.  But the book is often very honest about McCain's serious misgivings, distrust, and opposition to TRAITOR Trump.  But once again, he fell short of taking the full step and calling a spade a spade.  But the book is very well worth reading.   

 

The Plot To Destroy America by Malcolm Nance Malcolm Nance is a career US Navy man and the author of several books on counter terrorism, intelligence, national security, and Islamic extremism.  He is a trained intelligence expert and cryptologist.  His unique perspective and ability to write about what he knows without endangering his security clearance or his reputation is remarkable.  Malcolm Nance is the kind of person you could expect someday to be a national security adviser to the next duly elected, legitimate administration to occupy the White House.

Russian Roulette by Michael Issikoff & David Corn  These two authors are writers for Yahoo News and Mother Jones Magazine respectively.  This book is another examination of the Russian interference in the 2016 election.  While I consider Mother Jones to be a far more reputable source of news than Yahoo, these two authors also have excellent reputations and their work is well respected.

Fear by Bob Woodward Bob Woodward needs no introductions anywhere in the world.  He is one of the two men who broke the story of the Watergate Conspiracy and eventually could be said to have helped bring about the resignation of Richard Nixon.  His reputation is flawless and he has steadily written political works since the 1970's.  Nearly all his books, more than a dozen, have been best sellers and above average works.  His ability to develop sources deep within sheltered organizations was first seen in the information he and his co-author Carl Bernstein obtained from Deep Throat who eventually revealed himself as a Deputy Director of The FBI.  This might be the first book some of you read or may have already read.  Tell me about it if you have.

The Apprentice: Trump, Russia and the Subversion of American Democracy by Greg Miller This book was written by Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post reporter Greg Miller.  No author should ever need to have their resume bolstered after having been employed at the best newspaper in the nation and winning a Pulitzer Prize.  Place this book high on your list of works to be read as I have.  I can't wait to get to it and neither should you. 

Everything Trump Touches Dies: A Republican Strategist Gets Real About the Worst President Ever by Rick Wilson  Numerous reputable Republicans who desire to keep their reputations intact have spoken out over the last three years about the crimes and ignorance of TRAITOR Trump.  Many have left the Republican Party over his actions.  The rest should do the same.  Rick Wilson has a more than thirty year career as a Republican political operative and worked in the Department of Defense under Dick Cheney.  His resume and his political roots make this book worth examining. 

House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia by Craig Unger Craig Unger has a Harvard education and a growing list of books written primarily about connections between Republican politicians and less than desirable partners. This book examines the long history between TRAITOR Trump and the Russian Mafia whose upper echelon members own many of the apartments in Trump Tower.  Nothing more need be said about that connection when you look at the list of business deals and money laundering schemes which have been perpetrated between these prinicpals. This book seems to be worth the time to read it.  Let me know what you think if you get to it before I do. 

 

 

Collusion Secret Meetings, Dirty Money And How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win by Luke Harding  I have reviewed this book here.  This is the first historical book that I read about the crimes of the TRAITOR Trump. It was well worth the experience and has often guided me in my choices about other subsequent reading.  Luke Harding is a writer for The Guardian and is a tremendous writer, researcher, and fact finder in the very dangerous world of international politics.  He and his colleagues are on that list of journalists whom every American citizen should read regularly.  This book goes a very long way to explain and corroborate the information contained in the Steele Dossier which literally began the revelations about the crimes of TRAITOR Trump.  This book also does a great job of putting the timeline of the crimes of TRAITOR Trump into a logical frame for the less aware reader.  This book "reads like a spy novel" is what my friend and follower of this blog Steve Sargent said about it.  My response to that was "it is a spy novel". However, it is also the farthest thing in the world from fiction.  

Facts And Fears by James Clapper This book continues James Clapper's public denunciation of the crimes of TRAITOR Trump.  I have reviewed it here.  The one glaring shortcoming in the book is the use of acronyms for literally dozens of branches of the federal government and international agencies which Mr. Clapper worked with or for during his lifetime of public service.  For the person not well versed in the federal bureaucracy, this use of hundreds of acronyms is confusing and irritating in spite of the insertion of a list of full names in the back of the book.  But this book is one of the first on the list that I would suggest that you read.  It is a fine historical perspective on American intelligence efforts over the last forty years and brutally honest, especially so about the Russian collusion and hacking of our 2016 election.   

A Higher Loyalty Truth Lies And Leadership by James Comey  First and foremost, I want to say that this book is about James Comey and his life of public service much more than it is about his firing and public victimization by TRAITOR Trump.  I have reviewed it here.  This book, just as is true of James Clapper's is much more about facts and history than it is about any emotion the author might feel toward the current illegal occupant of the White House.  It is an excellent piece of work which I do not believe would have ever been written if Mr. Comey had not felt that it was his duty as a patriot and lifetime public servant to do so because of the criminality of TRAITOR Trump.  Read it!  Learn from it!  Familiarize yourself with and utilize the truths it contains. 

 

United States Constitution The US Constitution and individual rights will be under attack from the first second the Republicans take control of the US government.  Donald Trump has already, on numerous occasions, stated a desire to restrict freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and all rights of Muslim citizens and immigrants in general.  Every citizen should have a solid understanding of the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence.  Every citizen should also be willing to stand up and speak out in defense of these basic principles of American Democracy at any time Trump or his generally uneducated, ignorant, and unprincipled followers make attacks on these concepts.  The Capitol Net publishes pocket copies of the Constitution and many other important American political documents which are cheap and easily ordered from their web site.   Capitol Net will actually send you a free pocket copy of the Constitution upon request. Get a copy, read it, study it, understand it, carry it with you wherever you go, and be prepared to confront ignorance about the foundations of American Democracy wherever you encounter it. 

The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay Do not ever listen to and accept the opinion of another about what the Founding Fathers thought, intended, or wanted.  Read what they said for yourself and form your own opinion.  

"Mein Kampf" by Adolph Hitler Donald Trump's campaign was a carbon copy of the campaign Hitler used to gain power in Germany.  One of Trump's ex-wives has stated that he kept a copy of Hitler's speeches by his bed.  Many of the same techniques Adolph Hitler and Vladimir Putin have used to gain and maintain power are the same being used by Donald Trump today and that use is not accidental. The Big Lie is being used every day by TRAITOR Trump just as it was used by Adolph Hitler.  It is deliberate emulation of Adolph Hitler. 

Black Earth The Holocaust As History And Warning by Timothy Snyder One of the most cogent quotations from history comes from the philosopher George Santayana:  "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."  Donald Trump is backed by a coalition of extremist groups ranging from the Ku Klux Klan to the American Nazi Party.  Trump has consistently refused to condemn them, their ideologies, or their actions.  Here is a link to a great story from Mother Jones about those groups.  Most of the followers of these groups are psychologically very similar to the German citizens who became Hitler's Brown Shirts and SS Troopers.  And the most important thing to remember about the Germans who carried out Adolph Hitler's crimes against humanity is that before Adolph Hitler rose to power those people were considered to be ordinary German citizens just as most of Trump's followers would have us believe they are ordinary American citizens.  This book by Timothy Snyder looks at the Holocaust both as a historical event and as an event that could be repeated if the people of today do not heed the warnings provided by the Holocaust.  This is one of the most important books to have been written in the last 25 years. 

Stubborn Twig: Three Generations In The Life Of A Japanese American Family For those of you who do not believe that anything remotely resembling the crimes of the Holocaust could happen in America, this book is a must read as Donald Trump rises to power after having preached disrespect, disregard, and unconstitutional labeling of groups in America such as the media, Muslims and immigrants.  It details the life of a very successful and patriotic Japanese American family which had their land and property seized during World War II and were sent off to interment camps simply because of their ethnicity.  Yes, it can happen in America and it already has under the administration of one of the greatest American Presidents, Franklin D. Roosevelt.  

The Cherokee Removal A Brief History With Documents edited by Theda Perdue & Michael Green  For those of you who have read "Stubborn Twig..." and still find yourselves saying it couldn't happen here, it already has...twice, once to the Japanese Americans and once to the Cherokee.  In many ways, the disrespect that Trump shows to Muslims and immigrants is a lot like the attitude which Andrew Jackson showed the Native Americans.  

The United States Of Appalachia How Southern Mountaineers Brought Independence, Culture, and Enlightenment To America by Jeff Biggers  This book will teach you a great deal about the birth of American Democracy, especially for those of you who have never heard of the State Of Franklin.  Jeff Biggers will also show you a lot about how a few dedicated citizens can change a country for the better. 

A Nation Defiant Polish Resistance To The German Occupation Of Poland by Richard S. Fuegner  The only way the country will be able to successfully resist, confront, and stop the destruction of American Democracy by Traitor Trump and his henchmen will be by utilizing a committed, determined, and well organized populist resistance.  Such a resistance is forming in America and can win this battle in the long run but that resistance must learn techniques which have been successful in other periods and other places.  This is an excellent book about the Polish resistance and will teach you a lot.

When Even Angels Wept by Lately Thomas During 1954, Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin led an effort known as the Communist Witch Hunts which destroyed the lives and careers of many thousand falsely accused Americans.  Senator McCarthy, another classic megalomaniac, led a senate investigation into alleged communism in the country and dragged hundreds and thousands of innocent socially active people in front of the committee where they were pilloried, denigrated, and defamed with little to no evidence in most cases.  Many of these people spent the rest of their lives unemployed, defamed, and in poverty.  But Senator McCarthy was confronted and stopped before he could completely destroy the country and American Democracy.  This is a great book to learn about one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the country and to utilize that knowledge to prevent TRAITOR Trump and his henchmen from perpetrating another such crime.  

I hope every person who reads this post will go on to read at least one of the listed works, especially the United States Constitution, which will be under attack for the next four years by the Republican Party whether or not Donald Trump is successfully prosecuted for treason.