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When watching football games this past weekend I noticed an advertisement featuring Donald Trump walking beside some indistinguishable photos with a Trump voice over of MAGA propaganda.  A written message on the screen informed viewers that the ad was paid for by American taxpayers.  The MAGA team have now surpassed the ridiculous DHS ads featuring “Barbi” Noem.  Joseph Goebbels and Leni Riefenstahl would be proud that their legacy continues.  Is this the best way to spend tax dollars at a time when health and nutritional support for the needy is being reduced and the national debt exceeds forty trillion?

On the same day that it is revealed that the Pentagon is underreporting deaths and injuries from the Iran war, Mr. Trump acts to bar three respected news agencies from the White House because he does not like the information they are reporting.  He, who makes contradictory announcements on a daily basis, has the chutzpah to label their reporting as “fake” news.  If he cannot control the narrative, it seems that he will try to eliminate all responsible reporting by ignoring Constitutional requirements for a free press.

In support of the Israeli policies of apartheid in the West Bank and genocide in Gaza, Mr. Kraft has directed that a show scheduled for Gillette Stadium will not include the performer known as Macklemore because of his statement of “free Palestine” at a previous concert.  This threat to free speech is unacceptable.  Macklemore is not spouting antisemitic speech but criticizing the current Israeli leadership in which he is joined by most of the free world.  Mr. Netanyahu has demonstrated that he and his followers are as capable of atrocities as the those who would persecute someone for being Jewish.

I read a Western Journal article which was lamenting the replacement of Americans by immigrants.  The writer was bothered that the Texas student section at the Ohio State football game was composed of many students from the Indian sub-continent.  To the writer, it seems that the traditional American is a white Christian.  Why would this be the traditional American when the ancestry is obviously European immigrant.  The replacement of Americans by immigrants has been happening since the 1600s it seems that the Western Journal is late to this realization.

President Trump has posted opposition to the numerous calls for strict regulations on the development of AI.  He stated that the “high IQ” President would be sufficient to ensure that AI does not go rogue. Would someone on his staff please inform Mr. Trump that Obama is no longer President and we do need a strict legal framework for AI development.

The Environmental Protection Agency has been effectively changed to the Environmental Pollution Agency by the Trump administration.  Our atmosphere will be filled with poison to ensure a good financial return for investors in industries which contribute to the pollution.  After living through a summer with heavy smoke pollution and the accompanying respiratory difficulties I am disappointed.  This is one more factor to consider when you mark your ballot for the November election.

The incumbent President has just exhorted his followers to vote Republican or they will “go to hell.”  He has effectively transformed his “convention” to a cult assembly focused not on matters important to the nation but to his ego.  I am an atheist and do not live my life based on the concepts of heaven and hell.  However, if I held such beliefs, the current administration conditions of continuous lawlessness and pardons for payments could well represent hell.

At his “convention” keynote speech President Trump offered to buy your vote at $5000 for each adult citizen.  Using money from the U.S. treasury, we could see the national debt increased by more than $1 trillion. We often read of rural elections where votes are illegally purchased by a candidate for a local office. Leave it to Trump to make it a national scandal.  My vote is not for sale to anyone especially a politician who earlier in the week celebrated a neo-Nazi victory in a German state election.

Recent news from Idaho concerned a northern Idaho contractor complaining that ICE had arrested and deported two of his experienced workers.  He was blaming one of his customers for informing ICE of the “Mexican” workers both of whom were from Honduras.  Both were deported after living for many years in the U.S. and having no criminal records. The contractor acknowledged that he voted for President Trump.  I am disinclined to object to an illegal immigrant being deported.  Although the deportation often disrupts his/her family we are each responsible for the decisions we make in life.  I am more concerned that legal action was not initiated against the contractor for his hiring decisions which were certainly unlawful.  Be the subject illegal drugs or illegal labor, each is a result of a demand.  Punishing drug users helps to reduce demand.  I am aware of no publicized instance where an employer was so punished.  Why not?

In recent interview President Trump was asked about the war in Iran and he dismissed it as “small potatoes.”  It seems that he places more importance on the Reflecting Pool, the White House ballroom, the D.C. golf course, the Kennedy Center and the White House helipad than the military service members who have died, been wounded or forced into long deployments without adequate food or rest.  It is well documented that Mr. Trump was a coward during the Vietnam War so he must be unable to comprehend the sacrifices made by our military members during the stresses of war.  Remember his remarks when you vote this November!