Trump

ICEcapades

Before

the lure

of a military 

parade,

Trump unleashed

an escapade

of Immigration

and Customs

Enforcement.

Without endorsement

from 

Governor Newsom,

the ICE raids

then 

had shades

of authoritarianism 

when,

without state’s request,

at the behest

of the Trump administration,

The National Guard

was deployed

so ICE could raid

where immigrants

have been 

long employed.

The showdown

in downtown

LA 

with marines

on their way,

had it’s day

in court

yesterday.

Gavin won

round one.

But we know

how Trump

likes to play.

He’ll ask

for a stay

and go

all the way

to the Supreme 

Court.

While that

was unfolding

Kristi Noem

was holding

a  presser

on Homeland

Security.

Feigning purity

of purpose

against 

the “Socialist”

governor

and mayor,

the California

senior Senator

posed a question-

or tried to.

Abruptly

and aggressively,

he was whisked

away,

manhandled

and cuffed,

as Noem

bluffed

her way

around

and through

this new

way

of silencing

opposition.

Such escapades:

ICE raids,

and parades

of military,

while roughing

up a dignitary,

and anybody

deemed

a foe

can quickly

grow

worse.

Five months

in

to this administration,

look where 

we are.

Is this the tip

of the ICEberg?

Right Guard

In that arid,

extra dry

city

of angels,

a legal

and  peaceful

demonstration

met recrimination

by  the criminal

White House.

Sure,

it’s no secret

that any rally

in blue Cali

makes Trump

go bat-bleep crazy.

He picks ICE
to make 

all immigrants

pay a price

which won’t

suffice.

Fake video

seems

to show

the protests

becoming

violent.

It’s the pretext

for

the pretend

savior

to call

the National

Guard.

The guy

who ignored

the pleas

for order

restored

at The Capitol

at the 1/6

insurrection,

has decided

that at 

his direction,

LA

needs

the National Guard

to prove

how right

he is.

But the right

guard

is not hard

to see

particularly

as the citizenry

is mobilized

to demonstrate

for democracy.

The whole 

immigration

situation

needs 

an overhaul.

But not at all

what we’ve 

seen thus far

by this 

White House

reality star.

What’s next?

Will the new

LA Law

be 

martial law

or some straw

man

argument

against

any immigrant

regardless

of how innocent?

There’s more

in store,

you can 

be sure.

It’s enough

to make

you sweat.

Our perspiration

is his

satiation,

and he’ll go

to the nth

degree

as he

disregards

constitutional 

rights,

much less, 

humanity.

A Classless Society

A decade ago, 

when Trump

made a go

at politics,

the heretics

rose

to close

the deal

to reveal

the fault 

lines

beneath us.

It’s been

everyone

else’s fault

since then;

never

a mia

culpa.

A witch hunt,

political stunt,

or cries

of lies

no matter

how it defies,

now

no surprise;

Nonetheless appalling.

The most 

galling

is no longer

name 

calling.

It’s to be

expected.

Protected 

speech,

unless you 

teach

or learn

about

oppression,

is a matter

of opinion.

The dominion

over everything

that power

and money

can possibly

bring

is ushering

in

autocracy

in a now

crass

and classless

society.

I don’t

mean

the kind

that Bernie

and A.O.C.

have 

in mind,

but the 

cheap 

and tasteless,

undignified,

rapacious,

Trump

brand

that his

command

has forced

us to

withstand.

Checking

privilege 

and elitism

is unfolding

into quite

a schism

suggesting

that the

evolution

of civilization

has been

a hoax,

folks.

Proof

that money

can’t by

class,

the ass

in chief,

like a thief,

takes

whatever

he wants.

His taunts,

now dangerous,

and increasingly

outrageous,

threatening

to deport

citizens

after the precedents

of sending

legal residents

to Salvadoran

and Libyan

prisons.

The callousness

of this classlessness

as with everything

else he says 

and does

does

harm 

to all of us.

Our classless

society

with faux

piety,

now run

as an

oligarchy

with remnants

of democracy,

can’t wait

for half

to discover

decency.

This is an

emergency.

This class

is pass/

fail. 

May Day! May Day!

Signal 

of distress;

SOS!!

Help 

rectify

this mess!!

Contact

Congress!!

It’s work,

and feels

less 

than compelling

when the MAGA

contingent

has bought

what

Trump’s been

selling.

But maintaining

democracy

requires

sustaining

the doing

of democracy.

Giving up

on living

up

to imperfect

but just,

is just

unimaginable

for a habitable

US.

May Day! May Day!

This May Day

may be

an ideal opportunity

to stand in solidarity

for dignity

and democracy

with workers

internationally

and certainly,

locally.

Don’t let the perfect

be the enemy

of the good.

In fact,

that’s caused

our situation.

Infatuation

with mere rhetoric

allowed a heretic

with a flare

for the dramatic

(and toxic)

enter the real

politic.

But resistance

matters now.

And then

when 

history

looks back

and asks

what happened,

“May Day! May Day!”

it will say.

People resisted

and insisted

on democratic

process,

under duress,

as multitudes

did the work

of making

progress,

in the face

of the disgraceful

president.

The Stunt Man

100 days 

down;

1300 to go,

(as far

as we

know).

At least,

I hope

so.

“It could

always

be worse”

does not

reverse

the curse

of the perverse

POTUS.

Once famous,

now infamous

for inflicting 

upon us

his lust 

for just

about 

anything

you shouldn’t

trust,

made

the first

100 Days

craze

crazy.

The invention

of the first

100 Days

convention

came with

a New

Deal.

But making

laws,

not breaking

them

was truly

the art

of the 

deal.

The now 

old

New Deal

was the 

real deal;

not this

brand

new deal

with a grand

Trump brand

seal

that is no

deal

at all.

No legislating;

just defenestrating—

throwing

it all

out the

window.

The reality

showman

knows

how to make

a fake

reality,

while

in actuality,

real

victims

of false

assertions

and distortions

have lost

their lives

as they’ve 

known them.

Leveraging

chaos

and threats,

his bets

have paid 

off,

as nary

a scoff

can be heard

from the absurd

right.

Each

independent

institution,

not to mention

the Constitution,

has seen

its standing

diminished.

But he’s

not finished.

He’ll never be

as long as 

he’s 

the guy

on tv

even

remotely

controlling

the autocracy.

He’ll

pull

any stunt

to front

this show

for as long

as possible

as it can go.

He’ll leap

and dive

and remain

alive

and it’s

still

only 2025.

But the stunt

double

can get into

trouble

without

proper

precautions.

Exhaustions

aside,

do not

abide

by the stunts

this guy

can only

provide.

Savior

The irony

is not lost

on me

that

this season

of sacrifice

and redemption

was ushered in

with preemption.

Immigration.

Justice.

Education.

And the most

severe

tariffs

upsetting

economics,

then a carve

out

for our 

electronics,

because some 

sacrifice 

is just 

too much

to bear.

Still,

so many swear

on the 

bible

that their

tribal

behavior

and support

for their

savior

will redeem

their

Project

2025 

American

wet dream.

A witch hunt

or crucifixion,

choose

your

metaphor.

He’s 

the victim’s

victim,

no matter

what

hits him

in reaction

to each 

action

and utterance.

Each  word

salad

sentence

has the pretense

of solution

or dissolution

of some illusion

(or delusion)

of each institution.

And yet

he’s also

met

with evangelical

zeal

and his appeal

hasn’t changed

at all.

He redeems

himself

to himself,

if redemption

is merely

an exchange.

Sacrifice

may sound

nice,

but only 

if others

pay the

price.

When everyone’s

a Judas,

and Moses

doesn’t exist,

becoming

second

to only 

Jesus

suggesting

that this 

sacrifice

will free us,

leaves us

with his avarice

leading us.

We need

an exodus,

without

wandering

in the desert

for 40 years.

We,

including those

who represent 

us,

must lead us.

Moses

and Jesus

are not

among us.

“He puts

the mess

in messiah”,

encapsulates

the United

States

desperately

looking

to be saved.

Bearing the Bull

It’s no surprise

that the handsy

guys,

now the most

powerful

in the world,

assume that

ties and lies

are part of 

enterprise,

and the skies

are not even

the limit. 

They scoff

at “Hands Off”

protests

in each state,

recklessly

wrecking

the economy

globally,

and honestly,

I have no

idea why,

other than

retribution.

I don’t get

the vision

for this nutty

tariff decision

other than

incomprehension

of the value

of trade.

Afraid 

of not being

the ultimate,

or being

in proximate

company

to the 

most wealthy,

he writes

his history,

now ours.

His bull

unending,

pretending

to know

everything

or nothing,

depending

on the situation;

his solution-

“an economic

revolution”-

will leave

people

barely

able to 

bear

the bear market.

His target

is anything

and anyone

he perceives

as having been

or could be

a threat.

Most remarkable 

yet,

are those

still willing

to abide

the chilling

destructiveness

and bear

the bull 

of “success”.

Tariffied

The duty-free

presidency,

except

to his own

constituency

of sycophancy,

who stigmatize

and compartmentalize,

can’t help

but

antagonize

for the

ego prize

and power.

Self aggrandizing,

without compromising,

he’s tariffizing

because 

he can.

It’s hard

to know

how this

will go

and lead

to a reasonable

end.

And while

we’re on

the subject

of ending,

he’s sending

every hint

that his stint

as POTUS
will be continuous-

his happily

ever 

after.

At least

Corey

Booker

and his 

filibuster

took some

attention

away from

the Trump

bluster

to muster

energy-

the longest

in history-

to stand 

up and

be heard.

The absurd

tariff policy

will directly

affect

everybody,

although

obviously,

some

much more 

harshly

than others.

In his own

duty-free

universe,

only

the perverse

can reverse

what’s

been built

without guilt

as long

as his support

remains

strong.

But the insistence

of the resistance

requires

persistance.

That’s how

they brought

us here,

now tariffed.

Never Mind

If Bush’s

Brain

was nicknamed

Turd Blossom,

then what should

The Boss Man

name

the insane

DOGE guy,

Trump’s

AI?

Musk Rat?

That lacks 

the punch

that

“Turd Blossom”

packs.

But the

so-called

genius serial

entrepreneur

will demur

to the hefty

jefe

the way

they all do,

regardless

of epithet

or slur

that did

ever

occur,

because

each one

consolidates

power.

Forget

their heartless-

ness;

their mindless-

ness

is worse.

The curse

of these 

billionaires

now running

the show

and showing

US

how to ruin

everything,

is their

lack 

of understanding,

never mind

caring.

The genius

of The US

has been

the power

of grace

and plurality

in our polity

and collective 

identity;

in reality,

literally

work

in progress.

Not to digress,

but I suggest

that these

unstable

geniuses’

malfeasances

will be

not exactly

what they

have

in mind.

They never

consider

what isn’t 

for them.

They are not

US.

Trump’s

artificial

intelligence

shows his

allegiance

with 

a chain saw.

How macho

the show,

that will

grow

like a weed,

until

they succeed

in nothing

but bloodletting.

Aiding

and abetting

seems like

getting

and keeping

more power,

never mind,

financial

gain.

But the 

economic

drain

won’t retrain

the mind

of this

wrecking

crew.

It’s what

they do,

never mind

what

they can

afford.

They hoard

and demand

for some

grand

faux theory

of efficiency,

by the 

least

efficient

faux

omniscient 

president

and co-

to co-

opt

it all

until

the fall,

which,

I wonder

if they

will ever

mind.

The Enemy of The Good

Forget

perfect.

The enemy

of the good

stood

in front

of the world

and hurled

lies

whopper

size.

The prize

denies

safety and

security

and the maturity

of institutions

for the immaturity

of the delusions

of grandeur.

To be sure,

the loyal

opposition

is in no

position

to continue

the sad

display

of cosplay-

so yesterday.

The enemy

of the good

has withstood

nearly

everything,

and the best

we can bring

are pink

and mini signs

and yelling?

We could

learn 

a thing

or two

from those

who

craft

creatively.

The artistry

is in the policy,

not the display

of crazy

on the floor.

We may be

our own 

worst enemy

unless

you forget

the enemy

of the good.

When people

forget

to bet on

the good,

for the sake

of the image

of strength,

the length

he’ll go

could forgo

what we know

and depend

upon.

For one

whose

encouragement

rests upon

punishment,

we can imagine

the torment.

But mere

lament

is losing

our way.

Who’s to

say what

will work?

But I know

what doesn’t.

It’s not a good

look

to use

the old

playbook,

when the guy

who reads

the room

better than

you assume,

suggests

the good guys

are the enemies.

Much 

has been said

about what

has lead

to now. 

How 

could

we maintain

the good

when the enemy

of the good

is the status quo?