The Life in My Years

47 – America’s Nightmare: This is What Democracy Looks Like. A Pictorial Essay

Paul

March 24, 2025

March 22, 2025
Walnut Creek CA.

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” ~ Desmond Tutu

It’s the third straight week that Cora and I have joined the Saturday protest at the Tesla dealership in Walnut Creek. On March 8th, the crowd was estimated at around 500. The following week the crowd was estimated at 700. On this, the third week, the crowd size was estimated at 1000.

These are the faces of democracy.

Cora and I and our good friend Ramon have arrived at the site a few minutes early and already we’re feeling optimistic about the crowd size. Because as is true with many things, when it comes to a protest, size matters. It isn’t even the appointed time and the crowd is already larger than last week’s protest at its peak.

“You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man’s freedom. You can only be free if I am free.” ~ Clarence Darrow

A Navy veteran from the submarine service

The protest begins near the Tesla dealership and marches to South Main Street, a major thoroughfare. We’re just behind the front of the march and when I glance back I see a throng behind us.

Cora and I exchange looks and we both feel the same surge of emotion. Almost daily, Trump, Musk and a band of pirates looking to pillage the republic leave me feeling ashamed and in despair. But out here, I feel pride and optimism. I’m almost in tears. Out here impending subordination is replaced by the surge of power.

“I am your justice…I am your retribution.” ~ Donald J. Trump

“They want us to be afraid.
They want us to be afraid of leaving our homes.
They want us to barricade our doors
and hide our children.
Their aim is to make us fear life itself!
They want us to hate.
They want us to hate ‘the other’ …” ~ Kamand Kojouri

“The future of this republic is in the hands of the American voter.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1949

In November of 2024 the American voter, or at least the American voter who sat it out or cast a protest vote, underestimating the threat of Trump, dropped the ball. And so here we are, trying to recover the fumble.

Their aim is to divide us all!
They want us to be inhuman.
They want us to throw out our kindness.
They want us to bury our love
and burn our hope.
Their aim is to take all our light! ~ Kamand Kojouri

Our demonstration is loud and boisterous. Horns, drums, whistles, the honking horns of support from drivers passing by. And of course there are the human voices. Democracy isn’t words scrawled on yellowed parchment with a quill pen. Democracy is the voice of the people. And out here the voice is a crescendo. Right now it’s a growing movement, but we have to be vigilant and persistent. I’ve seen movements sputter and die until they’ve been relegated to a sentence in a history book instead of being the book itself.

47 – America’s Nightmare: The Booming Silence

Paul

3 comments

March 21, 2025

“To say nothing is saying something. You must denounce things you are against or one might believe that you support things you really do not.” ~ Germany Kent

Silence.

They say it’s golden.

Except when silence is complicity.

These days the silence screams approbation. “Nothing to see here,” shouts the stillness. “It’s all cool, carry on please,” shouts the hush. “Just you wait. We’ll get ‘em in the midterms,” roars the muteness.

Well, that’s if we get to the midterms.

The silence.

Its like falling snow in the wilderness.

At various times on this site, I’ve written about the silence and condemned it, in no uncertain terms. In almost daily posts on social media I’ve begged, cajoled, challenged and confronted people to get involved and it’s all largely fallen on deaf, and likely by now, angry ears. I imagine that more than a few people take exception to my telling them to enjoy their lattes while the country is burning down. As I expressed in a recent piece, I don’t care what they think.

I resent carrying their share of the burden. But I’ve recently realized that I resent even more, the fact that I and concerned people like me are carrying the burden of people who have the horsepower to carry a much larger share of the load.

There are people in our society whose voices resonate from coast to coast, and beyond. Their words have true weight. Where my voice and those like mine carry a mere ounce of weight, theirs carry untold tons. And yet they remain mute.

Who are these clarions?

47 – America’s Nightmare: Protest, FAFO and Resentment

Paul

11 comments

March 17, 2025

March 15. 2025
It’s Saturday, noontime. Cora and I walking to the Tesla dealership in Walnut Creek, California.

Walnut Creek is a tony little town located at the northern end of the Tri-Valley, but isn’t really considered a part of Tri-Valley. That’s because Tri-Valley is stinking rich and Walnut Creek is only – tony. The long ridge known as the East Bay Hills separates Walnut Creek, and the Tri-Valley area from West Contra Costa County. It’s not just a physical divide, it’s a cultural and economic one.

Walnut Creek is Nordstrom, Chanel, Apple, Whole Foods and Lululemon. West County is Target, Lucky and, once you’re into Richmond and San Pablo, a lot of ethnic businesses; Black, Hispanic, and a spectrum of Asian. When you pause for a moment and think about it, West County is a hell of a lot more interesting than Tri-Valley.

West County’s only big shopping mall, Hilltop, was shut down years ago and sits as a sad, abandoned, decaying paean to the death of malls. It was a victim of apathy, a measure of crime, and the rampant plague of Jeff Bezos. The City of Richmond is trying to decide what to do with it. I’m betting on a fringe evangelical church taking over part of it.

The other way to view the divide is to visit the schools. West County schools get by, while some Tri-Valley and Walnut Creek high schools could be mistaken for JCs. America is supposed to be a nation of equal opportunity in education but that’s a myth. Both areas get funding from the tax base but that funding is much higher in affluent communities. In the more affluent communities funding shortfalls are made up for by donations and silent auctions that fetch big ticket items and equally large bids from families with big bank accounts. Many West County families, particularly in San Pablo, Richmond and El Sobrante are living paycheck to paycheck and you won’t find as much parent participation as you would in an affluent community because, well, there are only so many hours in a day. Of course the Trump administration’s slash and burn policies are moving towards a different kind of equality – “nobody gets nothing.” It’s clear which side of the East Bay Hills will suffer more.

We’re walking from the parking garage of Broadway Plaza, past said Macy’s and Lululemon and Apple, to the Tesla dealership.

The previous week I’d hesitated – because, shame on me, I’d stereotyped. Given the economic and social makeup of Walnut Creek, I wondered how a protest would be received.

Quite well actually.

The protesters were local or, like Cora and I, from surrounding areas.

As we lined South Main Street, people driving rich people cars honked their horns in support – even those driving Teslas (who,about this time, are likely regretting their choice in cars).

The crowd is larger this week than last week. Last week’s crowd was estimated at 500+ at its peak. Today the demonstration hasn’t even started at it appears we’ve eclipsed 500 already. Four of this week’s new comers include my son, my daughter-in-law, and our grandchildren, ages 17 and 7 (I’m glad for their participation and even gladder that the two youngest are getting a first hand lesson in democracy).

This is going to become our weekly ritual. Tesla on Saturdays to protest Elon Musk, DOGE, and the Trump Administration in general. This week you could add Democratic Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer.

47 – America’s Nightmare: The Lazy President’s Agenda

Paul

13 comments

March 12, 2025

The question was posed to writer, academician, and former professor at the U.S. Naval War College, Tom Nichols, “What is Donald Trump’s agenda?”

Nichols answered, “Trump is going through and he is kind of checking boxes and paying dues, you know, of Yeah. If you help me get in, I’ll set up all these schemes. You guys can, I mean, Trump, in a way, I, I don’t want people to attribute too much purposefulness to this, because I think what he’s really doing is saying, I achieved the thing I needed to achieve. You and I talked about this after the inauguration. I’m not in jail. Right. I’ve defeated all my legal cases. Thank you all. You may all now indulge yourselves. Just go do what you want. And I think that’s what’s happening. Hey, can you give us a crypto reserve? Sure.” (emphasis mine)

It was never a dark secret that Trump’s goal in running for president, and winning, was ultimately to stay out of jail. Everything else, including, grifting, gaming the system for profit, and bilking the taxpayers was gravy. And of course there was retribution.

Donald Trump has no domestic plan for improving the lives of all Americans. Nearly two months into his presidency, it’s clear that he has no cogent economic policy, as he’s whipsawed on tariffs to the point that investors are frozen in confusion and fear, and as a result the market is cratering. He’s not a deep thinker when it comes to geopolitics. In fact he’s not a deep thinker when it comes to anything. I believe that he’s not even a deep thinker when it comes to fraud and grifting. And in that regard he’s the idiot savant. Swindling and racketeering simply come naturally. He’s the flim-flam man in whose head inspirations of double-dealing sprout organically.

47 – America’s Nightmare: The Sorry State of the Union

Paul

8 comments

March 6, 2025

March 4, 2025.
Aspiring Fuehrer Donald J. Trump gave a State of the Union Speech before the usual gaggle; members of Congress, the Supreme Court, the Cabinet, a bunch of bemedaled generals and anyone in the world who had nothing better to do. Nothing better to do sounds rather apathetic, but the fact of the matter is that after Trump’s 100 minute harangue, nothing better would have been better.

In general, the State of the Union speech has become an anachronism, a holdover from the olden days that goes back to the early twentieth century. It’s kabuki that’s as yesterday as the telegraph and the Model T.

There’s the traditional grand entrance where members of Congress crowd towards the president, supplicating for the honor to shake the regal hand or touch his sleeve or to be recognized by name by whichever fearless leader is in charge at the time (one would think that Jesus himself was entering the building). During the address, members of the President’s party wait for the perfect pauses so that they can rise as one with thundering applause and huzzahs while the other side sits in smug, seated on their hands, silence.

Beginning with Ronald Reagan, the speech now includes props. Props in the form of people who are supposed to add some sort of real life context to the message. The human prop seated in the gallery stands and waves, while the President relates the human prop’s heartrending story of triumph or tragedy. At the end of the President’s tale, men are shouting praises and women are dabbing their eyes.

At the end of the speech, the President’s party proclaims the speech to be Churchillian, while the other party calls it a collection of hogwash, and the pundits analyze it to death while revealing the misrepresentations, and the outright lies. Afterwards, the opposing party chooses someone to give a televised response.

Historically the State of the Union has been a President’s annual message to Congress and the nation, that is meant to communicate the current condition of the country, and the President’s proposals for the coming year. Until 1912, the State of the Union was not an oratory but a written report submitted to Congress. Given the partisan theater that the State of the Union has become, perhaps the whole thing should revert to a written report.

47 – America’s Nightmare: The Mobbed UP White House

Paul

9 comments

March 4, 2025

Jason Barone: “I’m starting to feel a little intimidated.”
Paulie ‘Walnuts’ Gualtieri (Tony Soprano’s brutal henchman): “As well you should my friend. A man who teaches skiing for a living, ought to look after his physical condition. Wouldn’t you say? His knees. You wouldn’t be in this situation had you listened to Tony in the first place.”
A scene from The Sopranos

Unless you live in the State of Indiana, you can be excused if you don’t recognize the name, Victoria Spartz. Victoria Spartz is the Republican U.S. representative for Indiana’s 5th congressional district.

Congresswoman Spartz was of a mind to bravely vote a “hard no” (her words) against House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (and Trump’s) budget reconciliation bill. I say bravely because for a Republican to try to swim upstream against the river Trump is to risk drowning in scorn and threats. CNN’s Manu Raju asked Spartz whether she would give in to pressure from her GOP colleagues. Spartz replied, “You don’t know me well enough.… You should know better than that by now. We cannot be weak, and we have to do the right thing for the people.”

That was until Donald Trump got Victoria Spartz on the phone.

Spartz was in the Republican cloakroom when she took the call. Her colleagues heard Trump screaming and berating Sparks, calling her a “fake Republican” and reminding her that he was the president.

As Spartz left the cloakroom, Speaker Johnson put a hand on her shoulder and said, “You know what you have to do.” There were no reports about whether or not Johnson was holding a lead pipe when he approached Spartz, or whether Johnson was accompanied by a guy named Silvio, wearing a tacky white gym suit, sporting slicked back hair and a menacing scowl.

Spartz flipped. Apparently doing “the right thing for the people,” took a back seat to the idea of getting politically “knee capped.” In the end, Spartz said, “I trust his (Trump’s) word.” Yeah, how many betrayed associates and stiffed contractors have uttered those words? “I trust his word.” Victoria Spartz is a liar, or a coward, or an imbecile.

Trump’s word. As reliable as Monopoly money. Given the fact that she’s facing the threat of the President of the United States, I’d like to give Spartz a pass, but no. At some point someone has got to stand up to Trump. Okay, you get primaried, you lose your congressional job, you’re out of work – find another job. Your own constituents who work for the government are being summarily fired in unheard of numbers, while being told, in insulting, ‘you didn’t do your job,’ terms, to go work someplace else and you, Ms. Spartz, are afraid of being primaried. Shame on you. You, as a congresswoman, have unlimited job prospects as opposed to those recently fired constituents who are staring into the void.

47 – America’s Nightmare: The Current Life in My Years

Paul

26 comments

February 26, 2025

What’s happened to The Life in My Years? It used to be a semi-biographical blog about travel, nostalgia, and history. There were posts about San Francisco as it was back before the techies and short sighted politicians ruined it; you know Summer of Love, the good old days. It used to include posts dedicated to photography; flowers, food, people, places, architecture and landscape. There was even a post with a guacamole recipe. Politics was just a sideshow.

Now it’s straight up politics. What happened to The Life in My Years?

Donald Trump happened – again. And with a vengeance – literally with a vengeance. The Donald Trump Administration and all of the ramifications; the fallout, the cruelty and that fact that we are witnessing and living through the disintegration of America’s democracy and the repudiation of everything good that America ever stood for. This is what’s become of The Life in My Years.

This is the new and present life.

I get up in the morning, usually around five, and then I ask myself if I want to watch the news, or Morning Joe, or Sports Center. If I opt for the latter I know that I’m just forestalling the anxiety – and sometimes that’s the best choice. The two former options mean that I’m probably going to start off the day on the wrong foot.

Do I listen to a podcast during my walk with the dog or do I just go with the sound of the bayfront?

There are days when I vow not to watch news or even get news second hand. My wife Cora is a news junkie and sometimes the conversation goes like this:
Cora: “That Trump, he’s just an evil person. Did you hear …”
Me: “Nope, I don’t wanna hear it.”
Cora: “But … “
Me: “No, no and no. Not today.”

47 – America’s Nightmare: Dispatches From The Ruins of Democracy

Paul

10 comments

February 19, 2025

“But it might be argued that had more non-Nazi Germans read it (Hitler’s Mein Kampf) before 1933 and had the foreign statesmen of the world perused it carefully while there was still time, both Germany and the world might have been saved from catastrophe. For whatever accusations can be made against Adolf Hitler, no one can accuse him of not putting down in writing exactly the kind of Germany he intended to make if he ever came to power and the kind of world he meant to create by armed German conquest.” William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich.

Mr. Shirer’s words can be borrowed for the present.

But it might be argued that had more American voters read Project 2025 and listened to Donald Trump’s very words, and had Joe Biden perused the polls carefully while there was still time, both America and the world might have been saved from catastrophe. For whatever accusations can be made against him, no one can accuse Donald Trump and his associates of not putting down in writing, or in words, exactly the kind of America they intended to make if Trump ever came back to power.

“The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.” – Montesquieu, Spirit of the laws, 1748

“I don’t like politics.
“Politics is depressing.”
“I avoid politics.”
“Talking about politics always leads to arguments and bad feelings.”
“No political talk in the house.”
“Politics is ruining Facebook.’

I see that last one a lot.

I’m pretty certain that I’ve been unfollowed by a few of the friends on my Facebook feed. I’m no fun, and I’m too depressing with all this political stuff. Yep – guilty as charged. Since that day, January 20th, most of what I’ve posted has been politics related.

What are those trite rejoinders? Oh yeah, “Too bad, so sad.” “Sorry, not sorry.”

It’s not as if I’m not showing up on lots of feeds. Put up a photo of my grandson playing basketball, or of a Sacher torte in Vienna, or a photo of a castle in Bavaria and the like-o-meter lights up like the DC skies on the Fourth of July.

A post about USAID food meant for starving kids, rotting on a dock because the administration has frozen distribution and –

crickets.

Too depresing.

The silence is deafening

and discouraging.

But guess what. It’s not really politics. Not anymore.

What is politics? Webster defines politics (in part) as:
a: the art or science of government
b: the art or science concerned with guiding or influencing governmental policy
c: the art or science concerned with winning and holding control over a government

Hell we’re beyond those banalities. Right now it’s all about decency, fairness, morality, charity, empathy, propriety, humanity and a whole lot of other “ities.” Because all of those things are absent from the current administration.

And nobody seems to care.

Crickets.

So I have to assume that all of the people who are “above” politics don’t really care about the grotesqueries that the administration is perpetrating in our names. I assume that they are okay that:
The United States is no longer feeding the hungry.
The United States has stopped delivering medicine to the sick.
The Secretary of State worked out a deal that could send American prisoners to a penal colony in El Salvador.
Trans people have gone from being marginalized to being victims of a policy that is literally trying to erase them from society.

There’s nothing political about the list above. You are either a decent person with a functioning moral compass who decides to speak out, or your soul is a silent, empty, unprincipled desert.

Everyone is comfy-cosy about a cabinet composed entirely of ideological imbeciles, sycophants, and unqualified nincompoops who are not beholden to their duties to work for the good of the nation but rather are serving as unyielding loyalists to a vindictive president who is off his rocker? Everyone’s cool with a clown show running most of the agencies that affect daily life from everything we consume, to the air we breathe, to the stewardship of the national parks we visit, to education, medicine, research, and national, personal and financial security. And that’s just a start? I have to assume that everyone, save a select few, are good with the calamity.

47 – America’s Nightmare: They Hate Us

Paul

15 comments

February 14, 2025

At the end of this short post is a link to another short blog written by Jane Fritz, an American expat, now a Canadian citizen. Her piece and the op-ed included in her piece describe what I feared would happen with the election of Donald Trump

The “king” on his throne boasted of “a golden age.” “The golden age of America begins right now,” said the newly minted “king.”

Let’s pause to reflect on some recent ages in American history.

Post-World War II: America had helped to save the world from tyranny. Lady Liberty had beaten back the villain and was helping to rebuild Europe. America could do no wrong. Granted America had plenty of problems of its own but by and large it was as close to a future president’s vision of a “shining city,” as it could achieve.

Vietnam and the 1960’s and 1970’s: The luster had worn off. America, in its paranoia of Communism, meddled in the affairs of sovereign nations around the world, while waging an unpopular war in Southeast Asia. I remember those days. I remember the massive demonstrations, complete with burning flags and effigies, amassed in front of U.S. embassies. It was iffy for Americans to travel to certain areas of the world. “They hate us,” we used to say.

September 11, 2001: It took some time to put a shine back on a tarnished image. America had regained some respect around the world, but she was still not the most popular kid on the block. And then on that horrific morning of September 11, 2001, America learned that it had friends aplenty. Friends that offered aid and comfort. During the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attack, thirty-eight planes carrying over 6,000 passengers were allowed to land in various airports around Canada. Americans were given shelter and comfort. It was called Operation Yellow Ribbon.

A short time later, many of our friends and allies offered more than safe harbor. They offered their lives, their national treasures and their reputations, taking part in two endless wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (in the latter they even humored President George W. Bush’s bogus claim of WMD).

And now through the irresponsible actions and belligerent rhetoric of its “king,” who was chosen by a small minority of the electorate, and is backed by a feckless party of forelock tuggers and bootlickers, America has embarked on a course bullying and isolationism. Despite what the “king” proclaims, America is more vulnerable than it has been in decades, maybe in its entire history. America’s “king” has appointed a cabinet of worthless and unqualified sycophants, particularly in the areas of defense and national security. Another 9/11 is easily within the realm of possibility and if and when that new assault occurs it is also within the realm of possibility that our former friends will tell us to ‘go kick rocks.’

Once again, we can sadly say, “They hate us.” Some in MAGA wear that as a badge of honor. America as the Western anti-hero, the world’s Clint Eastwood portraying, The Outlaw Josey Wales. There’s no honor or heroism in being hated.

My wife and I have been travelling during our retirement years. We’d planned a trip to Vietnam but we’ve scrapped those plans. We cancelled partially because of money concerns, but also because we’re mortified over America’s disgrace.

Because once again, “They hate us.”

I’m angry. But more so, I’m saddened. Americans who travel abroad, either for business or for pleasure, will carry the stain of its monstrous “king.”

I suppose that at some point, America will regain some measure of respect and win back some of its friends. Just as in any relationship, trust has to be earned back. It will take decades. It will take hard work. And it will take a large – a gargantuan – dose or humility. And truth be told, the trust and friendship may never return.

Should we have expected anything different from a “king” who has, throughtout his lifetime, mistreated his friends?

From the bottom of my heart – I am sorry, world.

Something I think Americans really need to read

47 – America’s Nightmare: Crickets and Blue Sheep

Paul

14 comments

January 31, 2025

“You play to win the game. Hello. You play to win the game.” ~ Herm Edwards, American football coach.

Coach Edwards’ point is well taken. That being said, in order to win you have to play and in order to play you have to take the field. And as I look about me I feel pangs of loneliness on the political playing field.

On January 20th, 2025, Donald Trump pardoned approximately 1500 insurrectionist felons who stormed the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. With their felony charges expunged they left the jailhouse, and went out and promptly rearmed themselves. It took only one week for one of the perps to be shot and killed by a police officer for resisting arrest. Another is wanted for the crime of soliciting a minor in 2016 (Apparently nobody in the administration bothered to check outstanding warrants before letting him out,). Some of the released prisoners are vowing retribution on judges, witnesses and prosecutors. The President of the United States, in no uncertain terms, told right wing nationalists and militias that insurrection is good – law enforcement is bad.

A full week passed. Crickets.

One week and a day after the pardons, Senate Democrats introduced a resolution condemning the pardons. Leader Chuck Schumer took to the floor of the Senate and harrumphed about the pardons. One insurrectionist ran afoul of the law and got killed before the Democratic Senate Leader droned at the podium.

One – week – and – a – day.

What took so long? Were Democrats taken by surprise that Trump did the outrageous thing that he literally promised he would do? Did they think that Russ Vought, his OMB Director, was playing golf for the last four years instead of doing his research and crafting the executive orders that Trump promised to unleash on day one? One of those orders being to pardon the people he called political prisoners and patriots? The very traitors who sang a perverted national anthem that was played at Trump rallies. I certainly expected it. Maybe it was the Democratic leadership that was playing golf.

It appears that Democrats have done what they’ve come to be known for, and that is to clutch their pearls and painstakingly craft a document that they are certain won’t offend a single solitary soul.

One – week – and – a – day.

“Hello. You play to win the game.”

Long before the tardy resolution had been released, the entire world had moved on to any number of the other outrages being perpetrated by the administration.

Immediately after the pardons, my own Congressman, John Garamendi, put out a press release expressing his displeasure over the pardons. Outraged he was – outraged. I’m confident that most Democratic members of Congress put out similar huffy press releases.

I’m confident – but not at all satisfied.

Because?

Because more people pay more attention to press releases from Lebron James than they do their local congressman and literally almost nobody turns on the television to watch a senator drone and harrumph on the floor of the Senate.

“Hello. You play to win the game.”

Two Democratic members of Congress have been outspoken and they’re the two usual suspects, Jasmine Crockett, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (who was notably passed over to be Democratic leader of the House Oversight Committee in favor of the perennial old white guy, Gerry Connolly who was described by a colleague as being a “young 74.”).

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