trump – REVIEWS AND VIEWS OF LIFE

TECH FASCISM

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Nerd Reich (Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy)

Author: Gil Duran

Narrated by: Vincent Price & 1 more

Gil Duran (Author, American journalist based in San Francisco.)

Duran has written a provocative book suggesting there is a cabal of tech entrepreneurs like Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and others who are engineering a potential master control system that will influence and eventually dominate society. He argues this system of control and influence is creating a “…Nerd Reich” in the sense of Hitler’s Third Reich that initiated WWII.

Leaders of a “Nerd Reich”?

The weakness of Duran’s argument is that most, if not all, human beings have self-interests that are different in ways that are great and small. Theil has strong opinions about what society gets wrong and seeks tech solutions to change societal belief. In contrast, Musk focuses on specific goals, like exploration of space, rocketry, and driverless cars. On the other hand, both show a desire to control humanity’s future like the biblical belief in God’s infallibility. Thiel pursues independent human thought by entrepreneurs not constrained by formal education. Musk pursues civilization-scale engineering based on technological education of the work force. The point is that these two entrepreneurs, like every human being, looks at life differently and emphasizes their personal biases in achieving their goals. Thiel looks for ways to change society by creating entrepreneurs while Musk looks to build things that do not exist with public/private education of workers. The point is that there is no entrepreneurial Tech cabal. There are Tech individuals looking for ways to change the world but in different ways.

Einstein is among a select group of extraordinary human beings.

Brilliant minds do not pursue the same goals. Revelation comes from different pursuits by those interested in different things. Some look for universal truths of science like Einstein while others look for truth about morality like Friedrich Nietzsche. Technologists will pursue both fields of study. They may agree on one avenue of exploration and not the other. There is no single cabal of interest by technologists, there are many different interest groups. Science and philosophical revelation generally come from an individual, not a consortium of people whether technologists, or scientists, or one person. Franklin Roosevelt and Adolph Hitler were leaders with immense power, but their power came from the people they led. The same is as true today as in the times of Roosevelt and Hitler. It is up to society to decide which path, which leader, we will follow.

Peter Thiel and Elon Musk.

The “Nerd Reich” is an exaggerated view of human revelation, discovery, creation, and execution. It does not give a complete picture but only a sliver of life, a period of temporary societal success or temporary failure. There will be and surely are tech cabals today, but that is and always will be the nature of human association or what is called society. Human beings associate with each other because of common interests and pursuits. Revelation always comes from the individual with hangers on that may have played a role in new discoveries, but social change comes from the “many”; not the “one”.

“Reich” is a harsh word to use in respect to people who have a common interest in technology.

Technology is a widely held interest of millions of citizens of every country in the world. However, it is only one discipline among many. Tech association within society is not a singular controller of action or outcome.

Truth or truthiness?

General human judgments are often based on “confirmation bias”. The nature of thought and belief of human beings is often based on evidence that others say is true without personally investigating the basis for their judgement. In addition, we tend to understand information based on things that are compatible with views we already believe. We also have selective memory and tend to forget contradictory evidence. We often fail to consider alternative explanations because of preconceived beliefs that comport with what is being stated as fact or fiction. Further, many are not willing to clearly look at the evidence that supports or denies drawn conclusions.

Reviewing the “Nerd Reich”, one must ask themselves what they have seen that suggests there is a “Nerd Reich”. Does Musk’s actions as an American government employee who fires Department heads and employees at the general direction of President Trump make him a member of the “Nerd Reich”. I think not, in view of his position of Trump’s Presidential appointment and Trump’s ordered direction. President Trump is not, by any stretch of imagination, a “Nerd…”. Trump is simply an autocrat who has risen to the level of his incompetence.

The world will have driverless cars, robotically produced merchandise, and cultures based on A.I.’ service to others in the future.

The rise of Artificial Intelligence is a concern of both politicians and the “Nerd…” generation. One doubts the American government will endorse or succumb to a “Nerd Reich” despite the threat of AI in the wrong hands. At least to those of us who believe AI is a tool of humanity, not a superior form of intelligence.

DEMOCRACY

Timothy Ryback’s history of Hitler’s rise in Germany is a reminder of how fragile democracy can be.

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

53 Days (How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy)

By: Timothy W. Ryback

Narrated by: Jacques Roy

Timothy W. Ryback (Author, historian, director of the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation in The Hague, former lecturer on Concentration of History and Literature at Harvard.)

In writing “53 Days” Timothy Ryback identifies warning signs of democratic policy violations in Germany by Adolph Hitler in the 1930s. Hitler’s methodology is to attack institutions of government like the court system, the election process, government employment, and the media while blaming communist sympathizers trying to capture the government. The condition of the German economy is dire. Between 24 percent and 30 percent of Germany’s population were unemployed. Industrial output fell by 46%. A growing number of middle-class workers were losing their savings because of job losses. Faith in democracy collapses with citizens turning toward a belief in something different; i.e., either Communism or Nazism.

The Nazi party became the largest political force, though not a majority, in the 1932 election which gave legitimacy to the rise of Adolph Hitler.

Hitler preached power and refuses compromise. This nearly kills his appeal to the German majority but as Hitler exploits divisions among his rivals, their disorganization and infighting creates a vacuum that reduces resistance to the public’s interest in Hitler’s party. Most conservative leaders miscalculated the political appeal of Hitler. They took comfort in the appointment of President Hindenburg who expressed disdain for Hitler and his party platform. The tide soon turns with the suspicious Reichstag fire. (The suspicion is whether the fire is started by Nazis, the communists, or a lone arsonist unassociated with either party. The inference of the author is that it was a lone arsonist, but Hitler used the incident to inflame a political fire among fence sitters who sought governmental change.)

Power is impersonal, sometimes structural and emergent in ways that are non-intentional but significantly more powerful than one individual.

Surprisingly, Rybeck notes Hitler did not defeat democracy or the communist movement through a simple exercise of power but by using legal and constitutional procedures to overthrow a German democracy based on a distortion of democratic principles. Hitler’s rise, in Rybeck’s opinion, was not inevitable. However, many political leaders underestimated Hitler’s ability to undermine democracy by using democratic principles to undermine its efficacy. Rybeck believes democracy is a workable form of government rule in Germany’s time of economic strife, even in the 1930s. If constitutional safeguards, political parties, courts, and leaders upheld democratic norms, Rybeck believes real democracy could have restored the German economy. Of course, that is a road not taken because Hitler’s distortion of democratic norms gains control over the German government that turns into an autocracy. A listener/reader wonders whether America is at risk of being ruled by a clever tyrannical leader like Hitler.

In modern times, Trump’s rhetoric disingenuously appeals to blue-collar workers but with an underlying appeal to the rich who believe in “trickle down” economics.

The erosion of trust in elections is apparent in America from outsized influence of wealthy Americans and corporations that have agendas that are as likely to support as impede democratic ideals. Challenges to American Democracy have appeared from the influence of the politically and financially powerful in America. The independence of the judiciary and restrictions on news media access by the President are examples of challenges to the norms of American Democracy. Actions by today’s American President lean toward making America more autocratic than democratic. Trump’s vilification of the press, arbitrary firing of government employees, reliance on sycophancy as a measure of ability to manage government departments, undermining America’s election system, and the weakening of Constitutional checks and balances are examples of growing autocracy in America.

Ann Petry explains how decaying roots of a democratic government fertilize future generations of poverty-stricken families.

As one listens to Rybeck’s book, one sees parallels between Germany’s economy in the 1930s and rising economic insecurity in America. Like the society in Germany of the 1930s, America shows growing economic inequality, and declining trust in government departments from the arbitrary firing of competent employees. The rising political polarization of America is magnified by the election of an autocrat to govern an America that is founded on the principles of democracy. The wealth of people like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, Michael Dell and corporations like Google, AOL, Meta, Comcast, Walt Disney Company, Fox and other media conglomerates have inordinate power to influence public opinion; largely based on “what government policies benefit them”.

“One person, one vote” as the power of democracy is seriously challenged in today’s America. America’s economic situation is nothing as dire as Germany’s in the 1930s. American democratic institutions are firmly established by the Constitution. We are not recovering from a world war. However, a concern remains because of the rising gap between rich and poor in America.

The rising Gap between the rich and poor in America.

Politicians seem more focused on winning elections than defending democratic norms. Democratic ideals are being undermined by major influencers that have money and power in America. Independence of the courts needs to be reinforced. Elections must remain free and competitive without threats from a President that undermines the integrity of Americans right to vote. News media must retain its independence and a fundamental right of access to public government meetings. Federal government departments must have a level of independence with continuing education to professionalize their management skills. Constitutional limits must be respected by government representatives. Political parties and the elites of America need to constrain political leaders who violate the ideals of democracy.

Ryback’s history of Hitler’s rise in Germany is a reminder of how fragile democracy can be.

CORRUPTION

It is up to this generation to revise the checks and balances of American Democracy to assure the abuses of power by a President will not destroy the fundamental strengths of democracy.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Regime Change (Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump)

Author: Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan

Narration by: Robert Petkoff

Jonathan Swan (Australian and American investigative journalist at NYT, reporter who won the Emmy Award for Best Edited Interview for Axios.)

If only a small percentage of Swan’s and Haberman’s history is objective, Trump’s presidency shows the weaknesses of American democracy. America’s president supervises executive departments, directs cabinet secretaries, orders the firing of employees, sets executive branch priorities, and issues lawful orders to federal agencies. Every American President’s power to hire executive branch employees has the ability to create a managerial ruling class that concentrates wealth and power in a like-minded group with direct reports to the President. Trump, with the character traits of a martinet, allows no disagreement and demands loyalty above all. He hires a cadre of rich Americans to lead the executive branch with total loyalty to one person’s beliefs and actions.

President? Trump.

The President of the United States has direct power over military operations with the right to deploy military force at will. Trump demonstrates that power with the bombing and intended domination of Iran. Trump’s intent is to eliminate Iran’s leadership and its nuclear bomb ambitions; i.e., objectives that fail on many levels. Congress only has the power to declare war, fund the military, and regulate armed forces. Trump did not declare war. He legally uses the military to attack an independent nation; murder alleged drug traffickers without trial and institute an American immigrant deportation policy without either American congressional or judicial endorsement just because, as President of the United States, he can.

January 6, 2021, Trump’s patriots?

The President’s power to pardon leads to the release of hundreds of Americans who had been jailed for attacking the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Over two thousand rioters attacked Capitol Police, damaged the chambers of Congress, and threatened elected officials like the House Speaker and Trump’s chosen Vice President who would not endorse Trump’s belief that his reelection had been fraudulently stolen.

“Regime Change” is a difficult book to be objective about because of a personal distaste for Donald Trump. Much of what Swan and Haberman write reinforces a view of corruption by bullying of a President who is undoubtedly as controversial to some Americans as Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and FDR were in their times. The difference is that Trump is a proven liar whose public statements are proven false by independent fact-checking organizations. An objective judge of Trump’s presidency will only be fairly revealed by historians in future years. Though “Regime Change” seems well documented, the emotion of current times and the rage of citizens who elected this scofflaw will refuse to believe the truth.

Trump’s cabinet updated April 2, 2026

With a second term control of Trump’s election, he handpicks executive department employees and cabinet secretaries principally based on loyalty. Trump proceeds to issue lawful orders to federal agencies as a part of his administrative power. The President’s power to create executive orders requires no legislative oversight. That power is only constrained by constitutional and statutory authority over which a President has no control. That constraint requires time to be enforced, and Trump chooses to do as he wishes until restrained by either congressional or judicial action, neither of which are happening because of time or Constitutional right.

Trump exposes structural weaknesses in American Democratic government.

It is up to this generation to revise the checks and balances of American Democracy to assure the abuses of power by a President will not destroy the fundamental strength of democracy.

Türkiye

As a tourist to Turkey, one does not see an authoritarian’s impact on their society. Hansen lives in Istanbul for ten years to offer her insight to Erdoğan’s reorganization of Turkish society. Her experience reminds one of Trump’s authoritarianisms and its potential reaction to public discontent.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

From Life Itself (Turkey, Istanbul, and a Neighborhood in the Age of Erdoğan)

Author: Suzy Hansen

Narration by: Suzy Hansen

Suzy Hansen (American journalist and author.)

Suzy Hansen was born in New Jersey and earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. She became a journalist and moved to Istanbul in 2007 for ten years. The move is motivated by receiving a fellowship from the Institute of Current World Affairs. She is offered the fellowship to study and write about a two-year cultural immersion in a foreign society. “From Life Itself” is a compilation of her research and experiences in Istanbul that enlighten those who have visited Turkey but only as a tourist, not as an educated journalist.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey.

Hansen’s book is revelatory in explaining Turkey’s more recent history and the rise of its Prime Minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who has been in office since 2003. The growth and reconstruction of Istanbul is part of Hansen’s history of Turkey. She interestingly explains her view of Erdogan’s rise to power and how the political system of Turkey’s capital has been shaped by history and the rise of Erdoğan.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Donald Trump are authoritarians.

Erdoğan is characterized by Hansen as a powerful authoritarian. That authority, in Hansen’s opinion, has led to corruption, questionable elections, and a reshaping of public institutions, public life, and the personal lives of Turkish citizens. Hansen suggests Erdoğan’s rule fits within the long history of Turkish autocracy. She reflects on Turkey’s political history of discrimination against non-Turkish residents from different cultures like Syria and other middle eastern countries.

Muhtar influence by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Hansen notes how village leaders, called muhtars, become sources of both cohesion and disruption of Turkish communities. They are elected by local villages or urban neighborhoods. These muhtars are information sources for newly arrived immigrants who transform communities. Muhtars aid newcomers to understand differences from their cultures and historic Turkish traditions. As immigration increases, tensions rise, immigrants are rounded up, abused, sometimes murdered, and forced to move to other neighborhoods or countries. Erdoğan’s authoritarianism reinforces a kind of fascism that rises from local Turkish citizens. Hansen argues local leadership corruption, questionable elections, and institutional leadership change are methods used by Erdoğan in his authoritarian rule.

Authoritarinism.

Reflecting on Turkey’s history, its Ottoman Empire precursors, and world history Hansen argues Erdoğan fits in with Turkey’s long experience of autocracy. The broader point made by Hansen is that authoritarianism is growing around the world. What Turkey’s citizens are experiencing today are happening in many parts of the world; i.e., including the United States. Her observations carry weight in light of changing immigration policy in America and the election of Donald Trump. Everyday life is changing in Turkey, just as it is in America. Democracy seems to be waning in the face of authoritarianism.

Public Health Agencies in America.

Hansen explains how local service organizations in Turkey are being politized or shut down by elimination or placement of government loyalists that control government and non-government institutions. (This seems similar to President Trump’s appointments at OAS, NSB, Dept. of Defense, Dept. of Education and various public health agency organizations in America.) These new appointments and reorganizations exacerbate social division. Newly appointed leaders by an authoritarian change original institutional purpose. Hansen argues Erdoğan is demographically reengineering Turkish society. Democracy is undermined by authoritarianism. Life becomes less free.

Hansen notes an attempted coup in Turkey in 2016 and the reaction of Erdoğan. Her experience reminds a life-long resident of America of Trump’s authoritarianism and its potential reaction to citizen discontent.

VERIFIABLE TRUTH

Schweizer presents a book that has little substantiated proof about immigration in America. His book has become popular. “The Invisible Coup” has improved his economic well-being at the expense of knowledge based on verifiable fact.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Invisible Coup (How American Elites and Foreign Powers Use Immigration as a Weapon)

Author: Peter Schweizer

Narration by: Charles Constant

Peter Franz Schweizer (American political consultant and writer. Editor-at-large for far-right media organization Breitbart News. Former fellow of the Hoover Institution.)

“The Invisible Coup” is a popular book that explains why world peace is a pipe dream in today’s world. Schweizer shows why Donald Trump has a popular following that continues to support his Presidency despite ICE tactics to identify immigrants based on the color of their skin, and his attack on Iran without authorization from Congress or cooperation from America’s allies.

Schweizer has written a paranoid polemic on the causes and purpose of immigration to the United States by non-white immigrants.

Schweizer argues immigration is a coordinated “weapon” of foreign governments and American power brokers to influence and ultimately overthrow America’s way of life. He refuses to note people come to America to create a better life for themselves and their families. This is not to suggest there is no effort by immigrants to sneak into the U.S. or to game the American welfare system but to realize abuse of welfare is a problem whether American citizens or immigrants abuse the system. This is an American welfare management problem, not an immigrant issue.

America is founded on immigration.

Schweizer argues immigrants from China, Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, and Brazil are gaming America’s welfare system and undermining the national purpose of a democratic government at the direction of foreign government leaders. He suggests the purpose of these foreign government’s leaders is to weaken the national character of America and destabilize its government. Schweizer writes of anonymous U.S. intelligence officials that say China encourages Chinese nationals with military intelligence to cross into America to gather intelligence. He offers no documentary evidence, no named officials, or verifiable data. He cites anonymous sources for all these countries to make his arguments totally unverifiable

Immigrants are seeking a better life in America.

To believe there is a coordinated foreign attack on American democracy by foreign governments through the use of illegal immigration is a distortion of a primary truth, i.e., immigrants are seeking a better life. Conspiracy to destroy American democracy through illegal immigration is absurd on its face. This is not to say some foreign governments would like to see America fail but for reasons of money, power, and world domination which have nothing to do with emigration. Schweizer generalizes real incidents of immigrant criminals to make the absurd argument that a cabal of foreign governments are using illegal immigration to undermine American institutions. His arguments are based on confidential documents and unnamed sources. He writes of “leaked intelligence” or “internal government documents” that are classified and cannot be produced to prove his point. Anonymous intelligence and law-enforcement officials are frequently used to substantiate his claims. Schweizer makes evidence-free assertions with political points that have no basis in verifiable fact.

Immigrant crime rates.

The history of immigration in America has improved economic growth. America is a nation of immigrants. The truth is immigrants commit crime at lower rates than native-born Americans. There is no denying the U.S. immigration system is flawed. Cartels do exploit illegal immigration to make money and some governments pressure America by increasing migration from their countries to the United States. Immigration is a regulatory problem but viewing it as foreign nation-states’ geopolitical attack is ridiculous on its face. The troubling part of Schweizer’s view is that world peace is an ideal that may never be achieved because of the nature of human beings. Mistakes are made when people correlate undocumented facts with causes. Truth has little value without independent verification of facts.

TESTING DEMOCRACY

Does American Democracy have the resilience to adjust to a massive change in its economy from Artificial Intelligence? That is the essence of Turley’s concern about “The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution”.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Rage and the Republic (The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution)

Author: Jonathan Turley

Narration by: Jonathan Turley

Jonathan Turley (Author, American attorney, legal scholar, commentator, professor at George Washington University Law School.)

As George Santayana wrote in “The Life of Reason” in 1905, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Jonathan Turley served on the board that judged whether Clinton and Trump should be impeached. His history in “Rage and the Republic” is a scholarly assessment of America’s struggle with democracy and “rule of the many” rather than the “One”. Turley reviews the histories of the American and French revolutions to show how they were fundamentally different and what that difference shows in the present and implies for the future.

President Trump is testing the limits of democracy.

Trump is not the first nor the last President who has taken liberties with the ideals of Democracy. President Franklin Roosevelt was heavily criticized for his public works decisions during the depression just as President Trump is heavily criticized for his imperial actions on immigration and the bombing of Iran. As one listens/reads to Turley’s “Rage and the Republic”, one is comforted by the history of America’s struggle with the framework of democracy as it is defined by the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Democracy has been challenged by many in the history of its establishment but has managed to right itself from the trials it presents for belief in liberty and equality for all.

An inherent difficulty of Democracy is in balancing freedom with authority.

Turley reminds listener/readers of the early days of American independence and men (because they were mostly men) like Thomas Paine who railed against abuse of power by Governors of independent States like Pennsylvania, and the government of the early American states. Paine’s history is of a flawed human being who rose to be an American patriot. Paine reinforced belief in Democracy with his political actions and beliefs reported in his publication of “Common Sense”. Paine railed against the Governor of Pennsylvania for profiting from his role as a head of state just as many criticize Trump today for doing the same as President of the United States.

Despite Paine’s “Rights of Man”, every President, Republican or Democrat, has sided with corporate interests. Some Presidents undoubtedly benefited from those interests.

Turley explains Paine’s imprisonment in France during the French revolution. The irony of Paine’s imprisonment in France is America’s neglect of his predicament, and the rage of the French Revolution which may be harbingers of a future for American citizens. Just as “Trump’s induced” riot of January 6, 2021, and today’s public reactions to ICE’ immigration and Iran’s bombing, public reactions may be warnings of America’s future.

One hopes America’s rage does not devolve into anything like the French revolution.

America remains a land of immigrants. In today’s world, Turley notes it is common for Americans to have more than one citizenship. He notes a French citizen who becomes an American farmer in the United States. Despite being a French citizen, he adapts to a different way of life and grows to identify himself as an American. That adaptation will be greater for all Americans in the 21st century.

Turley’s interesting history of public rage is a warning about the massive transition governments will have to make because of Artificial Intelligence and its impact on employment. Does American Democracy have the resilience to adjust to a massive change in its economy from Artificial Intelligence? That is the essence of Turley’s concern about “The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution”.

INDIVIDUAL POWER

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. President Trump exemplifies that truth.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

48 Laws of Power

Author: Robert Greene

Narration by: Richard Poe

Robert Greene (American author, wrote seven international bestsellers, received his degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison in classical studies.)

This is a long book that shows a breadth of understanding about the history of power. How power and influence is acquired and wielded by human beings. Power and influence ranges from idealism to pragmatism to nihilism. In some sense, the “48 Laws of Power” is a study of emperors, courtiers, generals, con artists, and others who acquired power over others in history. What Greene reflects on is the social and human art of gaining and wielding power over other human beings. Whether one is low or high in the hierarchy of humanity, the general key to having power according to Greene is “never outshine superiors” but “always court attention that gains either respect, influence, or control of others”.

MAO ZEDONG (1893-1976)ING FATHER OF PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA)

Greene brilliantly summarizes many characteristics of leaders in history to support his fundamental beliefs about power. He suggests all humans are primarily self-interested. One may disagree with that belief as a universal truth because there are many examples of social cooperation to achieve a common good or a stable system of governance. However, there is always a prime mover, a powerful person behind the scenes who drives the effort to succeed or fail.

Greene argues power is the result of interpersonal relationships. There is a great deal of truth in Greene’s analysis of power but from an institutional or organizational point of view, power is spread among departments’ leaders who report to a single leader. This is not to contradict Greene’s examples of interpersonal power but to temper belief that all power rests with one wielder of power. There is a great deal more to power than individual human manipulation. Organizations of the modern world are built around individual departments with singular powers beyond singular organizational leaders.

American Capital.

To give an example: regardless of who is President of the United States, there are Constitutional and legal systems that constrain his/her power. The bureaucracy of governance operates within rules set by law and precedent. In the case of business enterprise, shareholders, boards, and regulatory frameworks diminish the power of its executives. Further, even in the marketplace of business, capital limitation, supply chains, national platforms like Google, Amazon, and credit card companies have major influences on power exercised by any singular entity. Power in every human organization is also influenced by religions, social myths, and societal norms.

In this increasingly interconnected world, power has become impersonal, sometimes structural and emergent in ways that are non-intentional but significantly more powerful than one individual.

The weakness of the “48 Laws of Power” is that it fails to address institutionalized power that multiplies the power of individuals. A leader of a government or corporation works within a framework of historically developed departments that have their own powers and influences on public and private functions. The dynamics of power Greene explains apply within departments of government and corporations that go beyond the power of one leader.

This often leads to unintended consequences. ICE and Trump’s power are a current example of unintended consequence because of the murder of two Minneapolis American citizens who demonstrated against the President’s immigration policy. One doubts that the President of the United States wishes for the murder of American citizens who disagree with his immigration policies. However, power of the individual still matters as is demonstrated by today’s American President. Greene precisely explains how one person gains power over another despite a modern world that complicates individual power.

ICE murder of American citizens in Minneapolis who are protesting Trump immigration policy.

President Trump demonstrates his power over education, government employment, health and human services, birth control, and immigration policy. However, both good and bad government policy is magnified by Departments of Government that report to the President, i.e., bad policy coming from a President’s power is only made worse through implementation by subordinates who create their own power structures.

It is not that Greene’s analysis of power is wrong but that it applies to individual relationships without addressing distortions of power exercised by departments of business and government that have developed their own hierarchies of power.

One doubts any President of the United States who orders elimination of illegal immigration wishes to have ICE agents murder American citizens. This is not to absolve President Trump but to suggest the ICE employees on the ground bare the weight of two unjustified murders in Minneapolis.

Greene’s explanation of power is spot on, but it is about every person’s rise to power, not the reality of one leader’s power. Organizations are made up of many other managers using the same laws of power as their presumed superior. The end result is a level of unintended consequence. Or as Lord Acton noted: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. President Trump exemplifies that truth.

JESUS SAYS

Fugelsang preaches to the choir in writing about Trump’s ignorant Immigration policy. It is not a matter of being or not being Christian but a matter of having a pragmatic and compassionate immigration policy that serves the needs of America’s future.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Separation Church and Hate (A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds)

Author: John Fugelsang

Narration by: John Fugelsang

John Fugelsang (Author, American actor, comedian, television host, political commentator.)

John Fugelsang argues President Trump’s immigration policies are unjust, hypocritic, and unchristian. Fugelsang, as the son of a mother and father who have deep religious backgrounds, appears to have carefully read the Bible. In his Christian’ beliefs about humanity, Fugelsang argues Trump distorts Christian teaching, has no compassion for immigrants, and pursues an immoral immigration policy that exemplifies a false relationship between “…Church and Hate”.

Good government, not religion, is what is needed to solve America’s immigration problem.

As one who is not raised with any particular religious beliefs, much of what Fugelsang argues makes sense. The gestapo tactics of the Trump administration are appalling. Whether one is a Christian or not, the terrorism created by Trump’s policy of home, school, and street attacks on people who may or may not be immigrants is un-American and, according to Fuigelsang, contrary to the teachings of Jesus. Where Fugelsang is off the mark in his criticism is in attacking presumed motives of the President as opposed to the substantive reasons for managing illegal immigration. Trump’s methodology is cruel and unjust. The point of being Christian is superfluous. Fugelsang’s knowledge of the Bible is exemplary but who cares? It is not whether one is following Christian beliefs but whether one with power is acting with compassion and good judgement in addressing what is wrong with America’s immigration policy.

America needs immigration reform.

It is easy to agree with much of what Fugelsang has to say but it is not addressing the complexity of the problem of immigrants’ desire to have a better life. Trump is making the same mistakes past Presidents have made with native Americans. Rather than addressing the reasonable needs of human beings, past American Presidents made deals for Indian land, broke promises, murdered native populations and rejected inherent human rights. Trump is doing the same with today’s immigrants.

The starting point for correcting the problem of illegal immigration is in the creation of a fair, compassionate, and workable immigration policy.

Money is being wasted on gestapo-like actions by our government that terrorizes the public with armed ICE officers who continue to send the wrong message to the world about American democracy. We are not a police state. We are the nation that said, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”.

Trying to turn back time is a waste of American revenue and manpower.

Trump, Congress, and the Judiciary need to back-off from a show of power. Our government needs to get to work on practical solutions that help American gain control of immigration. A show of power will not solve illegal immigration. It is only Trump’s theatrical way of making it look like he is doing something about illegal immigration. What he is doing is making America look like Hitler’s Germany. This is not America or what it stands for.

Fugelsang may be right from a Christian’s perspective about Trump’s lack of Christian belief but that is the easy part. The hard part is creating a compassionate solution by the American government for immigrants that have entered the country illegally. America needs an immigration policy that works for the future. Immigrants made America. American power and prosperity will decline without the help of immigrants. Modernization and a falling birth rate in America will reduce available labor for its future.

POLITICAL REPRESENTATION

Despite John Kennedy’s anti-liberal leaning and conservative populism, his autobiography will make one pay more attention to what he says as a Senator of the United States.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

HOW TO TEST NEGATIVE FOR STUPID (And Why Washington Never Will)

Author: John Kennedy

Narration by: John Kennedy

Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana

“How to Test Negative for Stupid” is an excellent autobiography of Senator John Kennedy. Not the John Kennedy who became President of the United States but a southerner who represents the great state of Louisiana. Having worked and lived for a couple years in New Orleans, experience reminds me of the extraordinary people I met who were as friendly as any strangers I have met around the world. Celebrating a Mardi Gras, seeing Elizabeth Taylor in a local theatre performance, and listening to Al Hirt live at a local bar were experiences one could not forget.

In my mind, Louisiana is an unusual State for Kennedy to represent as a Senator because of its colorful and diverse history.

In the 17th century it was claimed by France but ceded to the Spanish in the 18th century after the Seven Years’ War. France never really left Louisiana with some settling in New Orleans which became a vital port and, at least in my mind, a cultural representative of the State.

Half the state is enslaved by 1860. It joins the Confederacy at the beginning of the Civil War. After the Civil War, Louisiana endures Reconstruction and military occupation, while endorsing Jim Crow Laws that represent legalized segregation. This history is not to vilify or disrespect John Kennedy, but to give some context to the complex society John Kennedy ably represents in Congress.

Louisiana Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 declares the Confederate states “forever free”.

John Kennedy shows himself to be a well-educated, intelligent academic, and honest forthright politician. He is an erudite representative of the Louisiana’ Republican Party. This autobiography is a pleasure to listen to with one great reservation which is his defense of Donald Trump. Trump, like Senator Kennedy, represents a diverse constituency but, to this voter, President Trump is a risk to the health and welfare of America.

Trump’s anti-immigration policies are being enforced in legally suspect ways that should be and are being challenged by the judiciary.

Kennedy is reluctant to criticize Trump because of his belief that when one is elected to office in the United States, the position should be respected because of the election process. The absurdity of that belief is that Kennedy writes of the dishonesty and crookedness of some Louisiana Governors that got away with their corruption like it was just part of life in Louisiana.

Unfair political campaigning.

Kennedy is right about the Democratic Party unfairly vilifying Trump with false stories about Russian interference with electoral process and false reports of sexual activity (the Steele report) in Russia for which he could be blackmailed. False accusations have always been a part of the American election process. Every election for President has had true and false accusations made by opposing parties. None of these accusations kept Trump from being elected.

Presidents of the U.S.

Trump will be our President for the next three years of his second term. He is not the first or last President to abuse the office of the Presidency. His conflicts of interest are in his bond buying spree in 2025, his links to cryptocurrency, his appointments of cabinet members and advisors that have corporate ties, his use of the Presidency for personal branding, his gifts received like a $400 million plane from Qatar as Air Force One, and his personal empire building while being President of the United States.

Trump is not the first President to be accused of conflicts of interest.

George Washington had vast land holdings as the western parts of America that were being acquired by the government. Jefferson supported agriculture while being a large plantation owner dependent on slave labor. Bill and Hilliary Clinton were invested in the Whitewater real estate collapse in Arkansas, meant to sell vacation homes to the public. It went bankrupt and cost taxpayers an estimated $73 million. George Bush’s ties to the oil industry and his V.P.s recommendation to use Cheney’s former employer, Halliburton, to contract for work in Iraq seem questionable.

Migration is the movement of people to new areas of the world for work, better living conditions, and safety. In that process the world economy and American industry are arguably strengthened, not damaged.

Trump’s unadjudicated arrests and deportation of alleged immigrants is appalling. Trump’s anti-immigration policies are being enforced in legally suspect ways that should be and are being challenged by the judiciary. He is not the only President to have instituted policies that are contrary to the interests of America’s citizens. Many opposed Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal with history vindicating many of those decisions as appropriate for the circumstances of that time. Like Roosevelt, Trump tests the limits of his authority. What is appalling about Trump’s supported policies are issues like denying subsidized health care for the poor while maintaining tax reduction for the rich. Of course, history will be the final arbiter of Trump’s presidency.

Despite disagreeing with Kennedy’s support of Trump, the story of John Kennedy’s life is entertaining and enlightening. One comes away with admiration for a person who speaks his mind and who acts in the interests of his constituency and the country with honesty about what he believes to be right or wrong.

Despite John Kennedy’s anti-liberal leaning and conservative populism, his autobiography will make one pay more attention to what he says as a Senator of the United States.

TYRANNY

Arresting people based on their appearance without judicial review puts America on the slippery slope of authoritarian tyranny.

Opinion Page
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Chet Yarbrough

Today, the idea of Aryan endorses the absurd belief in white, Anglo-Saxon supremacy. Research shows a French aristocrat (de Gobineau), and a British-German philosopher named Chamberlain, defined Aryans as a superior white race.

However, there are many ideas and speculations revealed by the Durants’ history of civilization.

In the Durrants’ research, the word Aryan was originally used as a descriptive word for the Brahmin class in ancient India. The Durants noted the word Aryan in their history of civilization meant “noble” or “distinguished”. The criteria of India’s Brahmin class are reprehensible to one who believes in “equality of opportunity” professed by America but not practiced by Americans.

Class identity in ancient India does deny the truth of equal opportunity but not based on the color of one’s skin, but on ritual status, occupation, and social custom.

The injustice of human inequality is as old as the history of civilization.

ICE’s accosting citizens because of the difference in the color of their skin is reprehensible. Of course, that has been the criteria for American Blacks before and after the Civil War.

Emigrant injustice is compounded by the failure to adjudicate immigration status before deportation.

The Administration’s use of force is a reminder of Nazi Germany when Jewish German citizens were being rounded up for believed difference and/or opposition to the government.

This is a picture of the beginning of Jewish discrimination in Nazi Germany with broken windows of businesses owned by Jews.

ICE arrests in America based on his non-white appearance.

Being able to easily identify difference based on physical appearance amplifies the probability of discrimination.

THREE ASIAN AMERICANS BRUTALLIZED IN 2025 BY AMERICAN RACISTS.

What has happened to the principle of “separation of powers” meant to provide a system of checks and balances on the Legislative and Executive branches of the American government? Have we abandoned Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, power sharing between federal and state governments, the Bill of Rights, Judicial Review, and Electoral Safeguards? The idea of our Constitution is to stop a single branch of the government from dominating our system of government. Have we become a third world country? Today’s “NO KINGS” turn-out offers hope that others agree with the sentiment of this disappointed supporter of American Democracy.

Where is the Supreme Court in this injustice?

Arresting people based on their appearance without judicial review puts America on the slippery slope of authoritarian tyranny.

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