@drcesmith.bsky.social
Author--former leader of Michigan Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence--four decades of college teaching. Recent book on the Roberts Court: https://www.siupress.com/9780809339730/evolving-constitutional-rights/ Website: www.ChristopherSmithJDPhD.com
Trump's response (reported by Heather Cox Richardson) when asked why the U.S. did not plan for helping its citizens leave the Middle East. The rambling non-answer shows: Confusion? Dementia? Time for the 25th Amendment removal process? ALL. OF. ABOVE.
"Trump...picked out several candidates to lead a more pliant Iranian govt, but the bombing campaign had killed them all. When planning a war to install a puppet regime,...even [a prez] of avg IQ, would grasp the importance of not killing the puppets beforehand." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Good phrase/description: "...the nation’s capital, which itself would be adorned with images of a glowering Trump as our dear leader — Big Brother with a spray tan." -- Jamelle Bouie, NYT
"Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech dragged on for 1hr 47min last night. That’s about 20 minutes longer than the 1997 Jim Carrey [film] Liar Liar, in which a chronically dishonest man is forced to only speak the truth for a whole day."--Adam Gabbatt, The Guardian
Sen Graham complains about that those counseling restraint on Iran:"seem to ignore the consequences of letting evil go unchecked" Hey, Lindsey--Why don't you apply same complaint against Trump's overt racism, the brutality of ICE/Border Patrol, the admin's lawlessness etc? Cuz you don't really care?
Trump insulted intelligence & patriotism of three GOP Sup Ct justices (Roberts Gorsuch Barrett) for daring to stop current tariffs. Do they have enough self-respect to stop giving him benefit of doubt on issues? If there are death threats by MAGA cultists, will they see Trump in a new light?
"Hegseth invited Christian nationalist Doug Wilson to preach @ Pentagon: The self-described 'paleo-Confederate' has argued that wives should submit to their husbands, women should be denied the vote & Christian enslavers were on 'firm scriptural ground.' SICK! www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
"The Trumpists, like the...segregationists and the Soviet-bloc communists,..mobiliz[ed] the exec branch & associated orgs behind their deplorable actions... so we need all-of-society resistance to defeat the all-of-government conspiracy against our liberties & democracy." Bill Kristol, The Bulwark
"Certainly, the Trump family and his billionaire pals have had the 'greatest' accumulation of wealth in the shortest amount of time during the worst period of corruption the country has ever known."--Jennifer Rubin, The Contrarian
We need daily attention to & demands re the Epstein files. Can't let this get lost in other Trump distractions.
Rep. Khanna: “We still don’t have the most potent thing, which is the survivors’ statements to the F.B.I. over who raped them and who committed these acts." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/o...
This is SO un-American: Trump "regularly depicts himself in a heroic, almost godly fashion, as a monarch, as a Superman, as a Jedi knight, as a military hero, even as a pope..to create a mythologized, superhuman & omnipresent persona leading to idolatry." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/15/u...
re: "Hegseth charged Harvard is graduating officers w/ 'heads full of globalist & radical ideologies that do not improve our fighting ranks.'” My Harvard grad son-former infantry capt & MidEast vet got Leadership Award @ OCS & 1st-try Ranger School grad-& he's Black. More proof Hegseth is an idiot.
"...to a fair number of people in this country, racism starts and stops with spitting in the face of a Black woman and calling her a dirty ni**er. And if you aren’t walking the streets of your town doing that, then, by golly, there’s no way you can be racist." contrarian.substack.com/p/the-sad-tr...
The bullying and irrational raving are beyond ridiculous: "...and [Trump] made a bizarre false claim that increased trade between Canada and China would include a ban on Canadians playing ice hockey." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
WaPo:"according to ICE’s own oversight...Camp East Montana (TX)...,violated...60 fed standards for immigrant detention. The...$1.24 billion project [run by] a small business operat[ing] out of a residential address [w/]...'little to no publicly available record of managing immigration facilities.'"
Con man: "More than 1/2 the drugs ..on the new TrumpRx site have cheaper generic versions elsewhere--Pristiq a Pfizer antidepressant, costs about $200 with a TrumpRx coupon...But a comparable generic [is] less than $30 on GoodRx and just $16.65 on Mark Cuban's CostPlusDrugs." Maya Goldman (Axios)
How can anyone of sound mind and human values actually disagree with Hakeem Jeffries statement?: "F*** Donald Trump and his vile, racist, malignant behavior. This guy is an unhinged bottom feeder." www.yahoo.com/news/article...
"Prez Trump signed an exec order Fri that quadruples amount of beef imported into U.S. from Argentina under a new trade agreement..." Sacrifice US ranchers to prop up right-wing Argentine prez--just as his $40 billion in guarantees to Argentina sacrifice US taxpayers www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-a...
"Kennedy Makes Unfounded Claim That Keto Diet Can ‘Cure’ Schizophrenia: ..vastly overstates preliminary research..." He needs to shut up--no wait, HE NEEDS TO RESIGN. He is harming people with his beliefs. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/u...
Racist images on DONALD TRUMP's TruthSocial acct-but Tim Scott only criticizes "this White House"-won't criticize Trump by name & still obediently votes for everything Trump tells him to vote for. Rare pushback but Tim Scott is a long way from showing principles/backbone www.msn.com/en-us/politi...
Reyes [debunked govt's] smear... “Plaintiffs [inclu] 5 Haitian TPS holders. They are not...‘killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies.’ [T]hey are a neuroscientist..., engineer...& nurse....constant lies & dehumanization of immigrants are...a moral disgrace... contrarian.substack.com/p/undaunted-...
An apt comparison of ICE's roving patrols and violence with the Fugitive Slave Act--and attendant public reactions. www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
Perhaps there is hope.... (these days I figure whatever comes from Canada must be more trustworthy than anything from the USA) www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
An especially disturbing development: Write a letter to a fed official expressing your opinion-and the govt issues an administrative warrant demanding Google provide your internet communications, financial records, etc AND sends agents to question you. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
Go ahead and be more precise: "murdered by ICE"
Something about bears in the backyard is so striking and impressive to me--REAL up-close views of the natural world (deer are so common in Michigan that they are no more remarkable than squirrels). Thanks!
And while we are at it, we need to overhaul Border Patrol, too. Leadership and organizational culture have poisoned ICE and Border Patrol in irreparable ways. Need to start over.
let me know if you get good suggestions. I'm feeling a bit directionless as a new retiree--compounded by each week's new disheartening developments. Hope you are well. (maybe if you had photos to post of bears in your backyard, that would be an interesting distraction for me--albeit not for you)
"randomness is difference between a regime based on terror & regime that is plainly repressive...regime based on terror...deploys violence...to reinforce message that anyone can be subjected to it" Author who experienced Soviet life declares "State Terror Has Arrived" www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/o...