Okay, class, we are going to start the day with a pop quiz. Simple two question test on current affairs. Ready?
Who WAS Alejandro Carranza?
Who IS Juan Orlando Hernández?
Come on, now. This should be easy. Okay, times up. Can anybody tell me the answers? No? Okay, I’ll explain.
Alejandro Carranza was the name of a Columbian fisherman on a boat allegedly smuggling cocaine into the United States. While the identification is unconfirmed, as is the allegation of drug smuggling, Mr. Carranza now resides in the digestive tract of any number of species of fish or other ocean going carnivores having been obliterated by a US Navy missile(s).
Juan Orlando Hernández, on the other hand, is the former president of the Honduras arrested, tried, and convicted under our due process procedures after an extensive multi-year investigation by the Department of Justice for orchestrating and benefitting from smuggling 400 ton of cocaine into the United States.
Now, here’s an easy bonus question. Besides one being alive and breathing and one being disintegrated, what is the difference between them?
In Mr. Carranza’s case, the President of the United States unilaterally ordered him executed. In Mr. Hernández’s case, the President ordered him pardoned and released.
So the policy of the United States government, this most Christian nation born of the doctrine of Jesus of Nazareth and, apparently, less than enthusiastic about innocent until proven guilty, is to kill people on the lower end of the drug cartel hierarchy we “think” might be smuggling drugs and to pardon those of the upper echelon we CONVICTED of smuggling drugs.
I can see how this will indeed make us great again.
While we are at it, in keeping with our new naming policy of various departments within government, i.e. Department of War, let’s rename the Department of Justice to the Department of Smiting Offenders without Having a Trial (SO WHAT)
A lightly sarcastic post on Facebook about the ineptness of certain members of the Trump administration, illustrated with an image of the Three Stooges, brought an unusually virulent torrent of criticism from those who blindly and enthusiastically support this administration.
Now I enjoy these moments, but I thought I should explain the facts and reasons behind the sarcasm and criticism of the administration.
These individuals rising to the defense of the President seem to be thrilled by the specter of the American military being tasked with blowing up boats, ostensibly trafficking in narcotics, with little evidence other than a few war whoops from the Secretary of War and similar chest pounding by Mr. Trump.
So, let’s play devil’s advocate here.
Assuming these boats are transporting drugs—and in all likelihood they are, but that is beside the point—how effective will this policy be in interdicting the flow of narcotics into the United States?
Here are some interesting facts from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
According to ICE, 95% of Fentanyl is seized at Points of Entry (P.O.E.). The overwhelming majority of which are land-based border crossings or airports.
Of the Sea-based routes, 75% are Pacific Marine Routes.
China plays an integral part in providing precursor chemicals to Mexico, where the majority of Fentanyl is produced and then smuggled into the US through P.O.E.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics, 90 percent of heroin seized along the border, 88 percent of cocaine, 87 percent of methamphetamine, and 80 percent of fentanyl in the first 11 months of the 2018 fiscal year were caught trying to be smuggled in at legal crossing points, and that trend has continued.
While other means are certainly used, including boats offloading offshore and coming in under cover of darkness, the statistics are a good indication of the preferred methods of smuggling.
Because most fentanyl seizures occur at ports of entry, the majority of fentanyl is smuggled by people who can enter the United States legally. These individuals can evade detection by posing as normal travelers entering or re-entering the United States. As a result, transnational criminal organizations tend to recruit U.S. citizens, who receive the least scrutiny on entry.
From FY 2018 through FY 2024, over 92 percent of all fentanyl was seized either at a port of entry or at a Border Patrol vehicle checkpoint.
Importantly, fentanyl seizures peaked in spring 2023 and have been declining since. CBP fentanyl seizures hit record levels in April 2023 at 3,220 pounds. Although the exact reason is not yet clear, seizures fell nearly every month after that, and by March 2025, had dropped to just 760 pounds. This drop in seizures occurred almost entirely at ports of entry, with nationwide Border Patrol fentanyl seizures in April 2025 (133 pounds) remaining at roughly the same levels as April 2024 (140 pounds) and April 2023 (137 pounds), despite dramatically fewer migrant crossings.
Evidence suggests that less fentanyl may be coming into the country because there is less demand for it in the U.S. as opioid overdoses fell dramatically in 2024, with official CDC data through November 2024 showing that overdose deaths dropped in all but two states (Arizona and Hawaii). Should these trends continue, it suggests the worst of the fentanyl crisis may be behind us.https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/fact-sheet/fentanyl-smuggling/
This policy of targeting drug boats in international waters focuses on the least common method of smuggling drugs into the country. Perhaps, if one can believe the information from DEA and ICE, by not stripping resources away from P.O.E. and redirecting them to capturing Walmart shelf stockers and McDonald’s hamburger flippers, we could focus on the routes delivering the overwhelming majority of drugs to the US and, perhaps, catch more Americans who are active and willing participants.
Mr. Trump’s administration may lack many things, but creativity is not one of them. They crafted a convenient end run around domestic law and inconvenient principles like Posse Comitatus and designated organizations like Tren de Aqua as terrorist organizations and declared them as enemies engaged in attacks on US sovereignty.
In this particular instance, I agree with them. When Nixon declared drugs to be “public enemy number one” and started the War on Drugs campaign, it was anything but a war. Like other failed policies with good intentions, it lacked a clear purpose, a clear method of application, and a clear goal.
It was never a war.
Mr. Trump’s designating the issue as one of armed aggression against the United States is a wise one, but it shouldn’t be the basis for derailing our system of justice and, at the very least, should operate under the rules of war.
The United States, unlike many other nations, always weighs the value and purpose of a military action against the risk to innocent civilians. The history of the world reflects very few countries that do so. Yet even the United States resists some limits imposed by well-articulated international law.
One of those is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. This defines the principle of self-defense in international waters. UNCLOS+ANNEXES+RES.+AGREEMENT
The principle of self-defense under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter only allows the use of force against an imminent threat. It is hard to see how a drug-laden speedboat in international waters hundreds of miles from U.S. territory posed an imminent threat to the United States. (Interestingly enough, the US Congress, despite decades of lobbying by other Presidents and supporters, refuses to ratify this treaty.)
With the level of surveillance sophistication available to the military, tracking these boats to our territorial waters, then interdicting them by whatever means necessary, including destruction, would not only be lawful but also offer the kind of proof needed to justify the actions.
And maybe, in our on-again off-again relationship with China, our on-again agreement on trade can be expanded to get the Chinese to cooperate in stopping the flow of precursor chemicals.
Thus, my criticism and sarcasm are based not on the method or goal of this policy, but that they are focusing on the least effective methods and areas at risk. And the process and willingness to ignore accepted military and civilian law enforcement protocols is clearly un-American.
Why, you might ask, should we care about some smugglers getting blasted out of the water when it is clear they are trafficking? Because if we are willing to accept that blurring of the lines, where does it end?
The Founding Fathers were wise in devising our form of government. Power is not concentrated in any one branch. If we allow one branch to ignore that balance, and subvert the equal parts of government, we face a reduction in our rights and an inexorable march toward totalitarianism.
In simplest terms, you can blow up all the boats you like, twelve miles off the coast, as long as you follow our laws.
“Fortunately, I keep my feather numbered for just such an occasion.”
By most estimates (except, of course, by those who routinely produce attendance numbers of the crowds at MAGA Events that are beyond believable), seven million Americans took to the streets all across the country to protest the abomination that is the Trump Administration.
And the reactions of those who support Mr. Trump were pathetically predictable.
Speaker Mike Johnson called them “unAmerican.”
Veterans Affairs Secretary Douglas Collins wrote on X,
“Good Morning to my fellow Americans who are celebrating No Kings Day today. While most of us celebrate this reality on July Fourth, you do you.”
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Douglas Collins.
Note to Mr. Collins and Mr. Johnson.
The Fourth of July celebrates the end of the Revolutionary War where we fought to rid ourselves of a King. It was the culmination of decades of protests and resistance over unfair government policies and the use of military troops occupying the cities and towns in America. Actions that ultimately ended with troops firing upon protesting civilians under orders of this Monarch.
Perhaps you missed this in history class. Perhaps you prefer willful ignorance. Perhaps, since you enjoy the favor of this wannabe King, you long for a return to a monarchy.
Does any of this sound familiar? Could this be one of those moments of history that rhyme?
There is nothing more American than peacefully protesting the wrongful actions of the government. You’ll also notice the lack of violence by these millions of Americans and the low number of arrests. These protests are clearly anti-fascist in nature, yet none of these protests in any way resembled the actions of a “militarist, anarchist enterprise that calls for the overthrow of the U.S. government…” as Mr. Trump has designated them.
Mr. Trump sees opposition to his policies as anarchy, something to be suppressed by all means. Those of us who have actually read the Constitution and support it understand better that these disagreements are the very foundation of our success.
At least up to this point in history, the future is more precarious.
Perhaps Mr. Johnson would have preferred these protests take the form of violent storming of the US Capitol building and the threatened lynching of government officials? It is clear Mr. Trump, by pardoning the J6 insurrectionists, and Mr. Johnson, by supporting such actions, prefer that form of “American” protests.
Their concept of a patriot also has precedents in history, generally attired in brown shirts and particularly proficient at breaking glass.
We should take heart in the number of Americans peacefully voicing their open disgust at this march toward totalitarianism. Seven million Americans of courage and conviction took the most patriotic of actions and “petitioned their government for a redress of their grievances.” Something those patriots of the Revolutionary War gave their lives to obtain for future generations, Mr. Collins, but you’ll ignore that reality out of blind fealty to your dear leader.
Take heart, for this large gathering of Americans is the sign of hope rising.
Come this mid-term election, and, more importantly, the next Presidential election, the world we see that the American people can weather the worst of storms raging against us, even those we create ourselves, and restore these United States to the country our forebearers intended it to be.
Mr. Trump and his maniacal band of charlatans will become just another scab on a long history of self-inflicted wounds in this country, soon enough to heal and fade away.
Free Speech in this country is apparently about as solid a concept as an ice cube in the desert.
The President of the United States, the Attorney General of the United States, and the Director of the FBI all said they will investigate groups based on the sole criteria of, in their determination, left-leaning organizations. They intend to scour websites, publications, social media, speeches, etc, looking for evidence that these groups encourage or support political violence.
Now to play Advocatus Diaboli, any organization that encourages or supports political violence should be investigated.
But this is the height of hypocrisy.
These are proud (dare I say Proud Boys?) supporters of the most recent organized and orchestrated attempt of a violent takeover of the government of the United States that happened on January 6, 2021.
But let’s use their logic in how they rationalize that event into something it was not.
On January 6, 2021, an assembly of American citizens joined together in solidarity to support and defend the Constitution of the United States by the exercise of their First Amendment-protected right to protest the government for a redress of grievances. A select portion of this group was exploited by a corrupt and weaponized government operation which entrapped, targeted, defamed, violently arrested, maliciously and falsely charged, fraudulently convicted, and unjustly punished and imprisoned them. (https://www.wearej6.com/the-story)
If that was an expression of their First Amendment rights to free speech, freedom of assembly, and to redress grievances, and does not rise to the level of encouraging political violence, let alone engaging in it, how does a monologue on late-night television foster something the federal government need investigate?
Or, more troubling, what argument does the government make that statements made by Jimmy Kimmel warrant government-imposed censorship?
Kimmel said “”We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trg to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,”
When the government says it will investigate organizations based on the government’s determination of its political affiliation or policies, absent any reasonable and articulable suspicion of criminality, i.e. probable cause, we should all be gravely concerned.
“…upon the death of a principal government figure or in the aftermath of a national tragedy.”
Let’s call this what it is. This involves using the power of the government to investigate and prosecute crimes and turning it into a means to suppress political opposition. If those who shouted from the mountaintops that prosecuting the J6 defendants was weaponizing the Justice system against “innocent” citizens, absent any actual proof of such, here it is in real time.
That any American sees this as a legitimate means to “Make America Great Again” is astounding. But if you need more evidence of this troubling government trend targeting those who do not support this president, here it is.
DOJ removed a study showing far-right extremists are responsible for higher levels of violence than far-left groups or Islamic Jihadists. (Deity of your choice) forbid we have information to base our opinions and actions on.
Since 1990, far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists, including 227 events that took more than 520 lives,” the study said. “In this same period, far-left extremists committed 42 ideologically motivated attacks that took 78 lives.
This is an image of the report from archive searches. Why conceal a report if one is interested in the truth? Because they’e not interested in the truth, they’re interested in suppressing dissent. And every American who doesn’t realize that dissent from government policy is the very foundation of our power over the government is suffering from delusions.
All this came about, or at least was brought into the light of day, with the murder of Mr. Kirk. The leadership of the FBI, the Justice Department, and political allies of the President have worked themselves into a frenzy trying to paint the suspect as a left-wing ideologue programmed by NPR, Sesame Street, and other “left-leaning organizations.
Which brings me to my final point. By what measure do we determine a situation requires the flag to be flown at half staff? From various organizations (none of them left-leaning if that gives you comfort) “The President of the United States can order the flag to be flown at half-staff. This happens upon the death of a principal government figure or in the aftermath of a national tragedy.”
Mr. Kirk was a controversial individual who made frequent and outrageous remarks that were homophobic, xenophobic, disparaging of individuals and groups, and promoted clearly false theories of election fraud and the great replacement concept.
And he had every right to do so under our principle of Free Speech.
However, to accord such an individual with the honor of flags being flown at half-staff, transportation on official government aircraft, and the trappings of an official state funeral is to sully the purpose of such honors.
Mr. Kirk’s death was a criminal act, tragic, unfortunate, and horrifying. But it was not a national tragedy any more than any other violent act. If the deaths on the same day of two young children in school who were also murdered aren’t even mentioned, how is that the appropriate use of this practice? Perhaps, if it were, the flag would never be flown at top staff again, and that might be too painful a reminder of our continued violent tendencies.
Having seen over the years how Mr. Trump treats those in his circle when they no longer suit his purpose, there is only one conclusion here. Mr. Kirk served the president well in his campaign, and now his death is a convenient way for Mr. Trump to foment more government control over those who would challenge him.
If that were not the case, none of this would be happening.
Mr. Kirk was not a saint or someone to be venerated any more than any other human being. Mr. Trump should not be empowered to target his enemies in such a manner. And those who are blind to this virus will come to regret it.
The following is a priceless example of the nonsensical, unoriginal, and idiotic pablum being offered by and to Trump supporters. Like a call for the government to come clean on UFOs and the aliens we have in custody and asking people to share the absolute truth of this deep government conspiracy, this stuff floods social media like a tidal wave of noxious effluence too toxic for a waste treatment facility.
Without further adieu, here it is in all its unedited glory…
I offer no apology for what I am posting for this is truly how I feel. Please know this is my opinion and not open for debate. If you don’t agree that’s your prerogative but I will not be responding to any or all comments. I have lived through several United States Presidents prior to our current President Trump. In my lifetime I have never seen or heard of a President being scrutinized over every word he speaks, demeaned by the public to the point of disgrace, slandered, ridiculed, insulted, lied to, threatened with death, threatened by some to rape our First Lady, and have his children also insulted and humiliated.I am truly ashamed of the people of MY country. I am ashamed of the ruthless, insufferable, cruel, Trump haters who have no morals, ethics or values and the irresponsibility of the reporters who feel they have the right to deliver personal opinions just to sway their audiences in a negative direction even if there is no truth in their message. After every other President was elected and took the oath of office they were allowed to try to serve this country without constant negative scrutiny from our news sources. ALWAYS BEING PRESSURED while news sources search only for negative results from our President will not serve the people of our country. Nor will it create informed Americans. ENOUGH is ENOUGH is ENOUGH. Nor have I ever known a President to serve in that capacity at no salary to line their bank accounts until PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP! He gave to other departments those funds! I am very proud to have and I still do stand with my PRESIDENT!
Now, leaving aside the horrific grammar, run-on sentences, apparent aversion to paragraphs, rampant cognitive dissonance, inconsistency of thought, not to mention a complete absence of originality or creativity, it offers a perfect view inside the mind (or lack thereof) of the most common of Mr. Trump’s supporters, the willfully ignorant.
They are part of a phenomenon in this country where ignorance is seen as a badge of honor. Education beyond the most basic seems to be a reach for them. Those who post this nonsense are witless valedictorians with a Summa cum Laude in incomprehension.
Now, by education, I do not necessarily mean college, but for the love of all that is precious, read a history book once in a while.
It was challenging to resist interjecting comments directly into the text, but why bother? They would be ignored or misunderstood.
It’s not that most of those who post this idiocy do not know better; it is an intentional disregard of the clear contradictory evidence right before their eyes. The motivations are varied: intellectual laziness, a myopic view of current affairs, or a lack of understanding and historical ignorance.
There’s a phenomenon in this country where many celebrate ignorance. Education beyond basics seems to be a reach for them. Those who post this nonsense are witless valedictorians with a Summa cum Laude in incomprehension.
Joe Broadmeadow
The main point of this inexplicably viral post is that Mr. Trump faces a level of criticism for his actions that previous administrations did not. This is just one example of a falsehood within the piece.
Pointed and intelligent criticism of the President, or any government official, is a necessary tool in balancing the power of government and the rights of the governed.
Lyndon Johnson (perhaps one of the presidents the author of this nonsense references) had an almost psychotic dislike of the media. When asked about this relationship to the press, Johnson said this.
“I could walk across the Potomac on a bright sunny summer day, and the headline would read, ‘Johnson Can’t Swim!’
I will continue to take great pleasure in reading these postings and savaging them. Although the joy is tempered by the thought that these people are out there, perhaps unmedicated, congratulating themselves in their ignorance, embracing the Second Amendment, wrapping themselves in the flag, and ignoring the reality right before their eyes.
And they somehow managed to vote.
(Insert name of your personal favorite miraculous being here) Save Us!
Two fires are burning in America, both fueled by ignorance, indifference, and plain old stupidity.
In the western US, wildfires burn out of control, consuming millions of acres of forests, entire towns, killing unknown numbers of wildlife, and destroying humans. Many of our fellow Americans push aside the overwhelming evidence of climate change—the intensity of these fires and resulting firestorms are a symptom of the problem—for politics or because of a vested interest in ignoring the science.
Despite the enormous evidence of anthropogenic climate change, we have a President who ignores it all and tells people to “rake their leaves.” That such an unsophisticated, uninformed, scientifically bereft attitude exists in 21st century America is astounding.
We are returning to the Dark Ages where mystics and charlatans guided decisions absent any rational basis. They hide their actions from us by the smoke of fires of our own creation.
We ignore these signs at our own peril, for the earth is resilient. Like any sophisticated, self-sustaining system, our planet has an immune system. If we continue down this path, the earth may come to see us not as the most fantastic product of evolution, but a dangerous one. The signs are already there with glaciers disappearing, sea levels rising, temperatures climbing, and storm intensities increasing.
The planet will protect itself either with us… or from us.
We repeat the pattern of ignoring problems in hopes they will just go away in other matters, the other fire burning across this country—the fire of racism, intolerance, and violent resistance to acknowleding the inequalities in our society.
Despite the mounds of evidence of climate change and racism, we continue to ignore the signs. The only difference between these two issues is we have been ignoring racism for a much longer period, despite having documented it with our own words. Words written by well-intentioned (mostly) individuals or commissions, published with a grand ceremony, then forgotten when the attention fades,
In 1922, the Chicago Commission of Race Relations published a seven-hundred-page report entitled “The Negro in Chicago: A Study of Race Relations and Race Riot.” The report documented evidence of housing and employment discrimination and brutal mistreatment at the hands of the police and the criminal justice system.
(From the report) “… investigations indicate that Negroes are more commonly arrested, subjected to police identification, and convicted than white offenders, that on similar evidence they are generally held and convicted on more serious charges, and that they are given longer sentence… These practices and tendencies are not only unfair to Negroes, but weaken the machinery of Justice and, when taken with the greater inability of Negroes to pay fines in addition to or in lieu of terms of jail, produce misleading statistics of Negro crime.” (emphasis mine)
Nothing changed.
In 1935, following riots in Harlem, another report said.
“… The sudden breach of the public order was the result of a highly emotional situation among the colored people of Harlem, due in large part to the nervous strain of years of unemployment and insecurity…it is probable that their justifiable pent-up feelings, that they were victims of gross injustice and prejudice, would sooner or later have brought about an explosion…
The blame belongs to a society that tolerates inadequate and often wretched housing, inadequate and inefficient schools and other public facilities, unemployment, unduly high rents, lack of recreational grounds, discrimination in industry and public utilities against colored people, brutality and lack of courtesy of the police.” (emphasis mine)
Nothing changed.
In 1977, Michael Lipsky and David J. Olson published a study entitled “Commission Politics: The Processing of Racial Crisis in America.” They said between 1917 and 1943, at least twenty-one commissions were appointed to investigate race riots.
Take a look at you and me,
are we too blind to see,
do we simply turn our heads
and look the other way
Well the world turns
Despite the sincerity and good intentions of theses twenty-one commissions, nothing changed. The reports were printed, distributed, read, and forgotten.
The Kerner Commission, the grandaddy of race riot reports written after the Watts Riot in LA in the 1960s, is another example. Well written and meticulously researched, it documented the conditions leading to the riot and was largely ignored.
President Lyndon Johnson, who could not understand why his Great Society initiative—Voter Rights Act, Welfare Reform, and other programs—did not solve the problem, refused to accept it.
Nothing changed.
In 1969, Elvis Presley had a hit record called In the Ghetto, written by Mac Davis. A prophetic tune then, and now.
As the snow flies On a cold and gray Chicago mornin‘ A poor little baby child is born In the ghetto And his mama cries ’cause if there’s one thing that she don’t need it’s another hungry mouth to feed In the ghetto People, don’t you understand the child needs a helping hand or he’ll grow to be an angry young man some day Take a look at you and me, are we too blind to see, do we simply turn our heads and look the other way Well the world turns and a hungry little boy with a runny nose plays in the street as the cold wind blows In the ghetto And his hunger burns so he starts to roam the streets at night and he learns how to steal and he learns how to fight In the ghetto Then one night in desperation a young man breaks away He buys a gun, steals a car, tries to run, but he don’t get far And his mama cries As a crowd gathers ’round an angry young man face down on the street with a gun in his hand In the ghetto As her young man dies, on a cold and gray Chicago mornin’, another little baby child is born In the ghetto
We face a turning point in America. The challenges we face– the raging inferno of wildfires amplified by climate change, and the hellish nightmare of our failure to address racism and discrimination against our fellow Americans–can be our descent into Armageddon or our rise to Enlightenment.
There have been times in our history when a leader emerged—often one we might least suspect of having the courage or ability—to guide and unite us in a time of need.
George Washington, a surveyor and soldier, who rose to become the epitome of a selfless statesman dedicated to the good of the country, led us through the birth of a nation.
Abraham Lincoln, a Kentucky woodsman who rose to lead us toward reunifying the country and abolishing slavery. Who knows how different we might have been if he had lived out his second term?
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, once seen as weak and ineffectual, rose to lead us out of not one, but two dangerous dark times in our history, the Great Depression and World War II.
We face such a choice this November. Can Joe Biden rise to this moment in history and lead this country out of the conflagration we face? I am uncertain. But I am sure of this; Mr. Trump will not. He is not the leader we desperately need at this moment in history.
We need someone to quell the flames, not fan them.
We need someone who embraces science and reason, not disparages it,
We need someone with compassion for the challenges facing people of color, not one who openly encourages white supremacy and fear-mongering.
There is one other thing I am confident we do not need. We do not need another commission to study these problems. We need a leader who will gather the best and the brightest among us and craft solutions.
Or the song will just repeat itself all over again and the country will continue to burn until there is nothing left of America…
As her young man dies, on a cold and gray Chicago mornin’, another little baby child is born In the ghetto
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