Land of the Free? Home of the Brave?

It’s gutting—and deeply humiliating—to hear Canadians booing our national anthem at recent sporting events. But I don’t blame them. Not one bit.

Given the economic, political, and moral wreckage left behind by our twice-elected president, their disgust is understandable. The confusion and contempt from our allies aren’t aimed solely at the man in the Oval Office—they’re aimed at the people who put him there. Twice.

Let’s call it what it is: the United States has betrayed its friends, waged economic war on its own citizens, and devolved into a carnival of cowardice. The respect of our allies? That ship has sailed—and may not return in our lifetimes.

The Republican Party is a gelatinous mass of fear and sycophancy, devoid of courage or principle. The Democratic Party? A staggering monument to incompetence, still fumbling through the aftermath of letting a failed businessman and convicted felon stroll back into power.

And democracy? Please. We are no longer a beacon of anything. The Constitution has become a quaint relic, a yellowing parchment trotted out for ceremonial purposes while those in power treat it like a suggestion menu at a diner they never plan to pay for.

Maybe—just maybe—a sliver of Trump voters feel some remorse. But let’s be clear: 77 million people helped break this country. They owe their children, their neighbors, and the world an apology.

The red MAGA cap is no longer a slogan. It’s a symbol—loud, defiant, and chilling. Our allies don’t see us as brave. They see us as brainwashed. And in the eyes of much of the world, that crimson hat might as well be a swastika.

We have not simply lost our way. We’ve torched the map and handed the match to a mob.

Backbone

So, you’re talking about a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist who’s made a profession of peddling hoaxes time and time again to include the, I don’t know, the hoaxes of Russia, Russia, Russia! Or the fine people on both sides hoax. Or suckers and losers hoax. So, this is a guy that peddles in garbage. This is what he does…Nobody was texting war plans. And that’s all I have to say about that. Thank you.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth

“This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.”

National Security Council Member

Like many of my friends who are MAGA supporters, I too wish for a return to the 1950s and 1960s. But for a different reason and perspective…I have listed a small group of political leaders and journalists who showed courage, integrity and judgement in the performance of their duties. They all possessed “backbone”, a quality that is so lacking in Washington D.C. and in many press rooms. These are individuals who did not necessarily toe the party line and displayed personal and professional courage in their political stands.

At my age, I wax nostalgic for the candor and probity in my youth as opposed to the pablum and lies I am subjected in my seasoned years.

Political Leadership:

Martin Luther King Jr. – moral leadership.

Robert F. Kennedy – major advocate for civil rights, poverty alleviation, and social justice before his assassination.

Barry Goldwater – though conservative, he was fiercely independent, opposed religious extremism, and later supported LGBTQ+ rights.

Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) – A trailblazer, she was the first woman to serve in both the House and Senate. She stood up to McCarthyism with her Declaration of Conscience speech in 1950, warning against the dangers of demagoguery and political extremism.

Frank Church (D-ID) – A leader in investigating government overreach and abuses of power (Church Committee). He’d be crucial in today’s discussions on government surveillance.

Howard Baker (R-TN) – Although his prime influence came in the 1970s, his approach to bipartisan leadership and honesty in government (Watergate hearings) would be crucial today.

Journalists

Edward R. Murrow– fearless in confronting McCarthyism, a standard-bearer for integrity in journalism.

Walter Cronkite – “the most trusted man in America,” his objective reporting shaped public opinion.

William F. Buckley Jr. – Founder of National Review, he shaped modern conservatism with sharp wit, deep intellect, and respect for debate

Mike Royko – A tough, blue-collar newspaper columnist from Chicago who took on corrupt politicians, injustice, and hypocrisy with biting humor.

Eric Sevareid- Candid and biting essays on political topics.

Mike Wallace (CBS) – Before 60 Minutes, he was an aggressive interviewer who exposed political deception.

James Reston (New York Times) – A Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist who had a major influence on political journalism.

Mary McCarthy (The New Republic, The New York Review of Books) – A brilliant and sharp political writer, she was an outspoken critic of U.S. foreign policy, McCarthyism, and the Vietnam War.

Dorothy Thompson (New York Herald Tribune, Ladies’ Home Journal) – One of the most influential political columnists of the mid-20th century. She was a fierce critic of fascism before and after WWII and tackled McCarthyism and Cold War paranoia.

State of the Dis-Union

A few fast observations:

The old Democratic strategy of “when they go low, we go high” is a loser.

While I appreciate its intent, peaceful demonstrations, petitions, and letter writing campaigns are passé and ineffective. The age of civil persuasion is dead.

A new political party (Democratic or other) needs a Machiavellian leader, a bit evil but unlike the Republican version, smart. (Maybe Mark Cuban?)

Now the Republicans are concerned about decorum?! Why didn’t this concern apply during Joe Biden’s State of the Union when Lauren Bobert and Marjorie Taylor Greene acted up like spoiled high school sophomores screeching for attention at a school dance.

Congressman Al Green was the only one Democrat with a backbone? When he was removed, all other Democrats should have walked out too.

Likewise, when the Associated Press was barred from White House press room, other legitimate press and news outlets should have left too.

The biggest slaughter this winter was not the Eagles beating the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, but the political thumping Republicans have handed the Democrats since Inauguration Day.

Joe Biden (or his enablers) and Merrick Garland are hugely responsible for the current political mess. They engaged in pillow throwing while Trump and the GOP went MMA.

The “reporter” who asked Zelensky why he was not wearing a suit to the White House must have received his journalism degree from Trump University.

Death knells have been announced periodically for both parties over the decades. However I hear a rattle anytime a Democrat politician speaks.

Communications from Democratic congressmen and women to constituents about how bad Trump is are useless. We get it. Things are bad and about to get worse. Create a plan or strategy and tell us what you are going to do as a party. How about someone stepping up as an effective opposition leader?

I would not count on midterms or any other future elections to change the political direction. First, not sure that they will take place. And second, very uncertain if they take place, whether the results will be “accurate.”

A Vote for Epistocracy

Epistocracy is a system in which the votes of people who can prove their political knowledge count more than the votes of people who can’t. In other words, it’s a system that privileges the most politically informed citizens.

Given the notable failures of US democracy in the past, few decades, I seek a new political system alternative. Epistocracy appeals to me as it rewards a demonstration of competence in judgment when voting. For example, a voter should have more than a passing knowledge of American history, its political system and the ability to discern facts and truth from disinformation.

I recognize that it would be very hard to implement this type of political system. Two big issues: First, determining what the criteria is for voter competence. Lord knows that the bar would be very low if the Republican Party had any input into this criteria. Second, getting the buy in from the American people that this system is better and would result in better candidates and better results from our elected representatives.

This idea may be a disillusioned man’s dream. But given the sad circumstance of our national Administration, its incompetence and the mediocrity of our elected national representatives, I am a poor man’s “Elon Musk” looking to improve government.

Here is my contribution for a simple introductory test to see if a voter merits competence consideration…

Amateur Hour in America

I’m waiting patiently to see this generation’s Edward R. Murrow in media and the press.

***

I have already seen this Administration’s Joe McCarthys.

***

However there are a few “profiles in courage”…For example, Hagan Scotten told Justice Department officials that he would not be party to a political prosecution (below)….

But any assistant U.S. attorney would know that our laws and traditions do not allow using the prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected officials, in this way. If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me.

Hagan Scotten, Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of New York

***

When Trump offered the severance package to federal employees, I did not realize that just about all of Congress decided to cash in and abandon their responsibilities too.

***

When Associated Press was denied access to the White House press room I was disappointed other media members did not walk out to show their support.

***

Just a thought, but a long moratorium on reporting news about this Administration and members would be mentally healthy for this country.

***

Appropriate Aphorisms for Our Times

“A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves.”

— Bertrand de Jouvenel

“Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian.”

— Robert Orben

“A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.”

— George Bernard Shaw

U.S. is Not “Woke”; It’s in a Wake

…” too many assume soft despotism can’t happen here. That we are better than that. Well, American exceptionalists, it turns out, we’re just like everybody else: susceptible to conmen and tyrants and kleptocrats. It is happening here, right before your eyes, even if yours are shut tight.

“And yet, even with all this tumult, comes the news that Trump, while still the most unpopular president ever, or at least since 1953 when such measures started being taken, has attained his highest favorability rating. Leaving me with some existential questions like: Who am I? Who are half these people I call countrymen? What alternative universe do they reside in, and is there any chance we could make them stay there, then build a wall and make the aliens pay for it? They often remind me of those stories we’d read during the worst of COVID, when patients who had been propagandized to within an inch of their lives after being told by their conspiracy-slingers of choice that it was all some giant hoax, would be in the ICU on respirators, their lungs failing, arguing with their doctors on their deathbeds that surely they don’t have COVID, since it doesn’t even exist.”

When Your Country Hits the Skids Matt Labash

One of the things that I have experienced and come to grips with in my late stage of life is death. I have buried parents, a sister, relatives and friends so why should democracy be any different?

My expectation is that democracy would have at least survived me. Democracy did not die suddenly. I watched helplessy as a cancer of greed, corruption and stupidity weakened the patient. Many urged remediative care to ensure the patient survived and prospered. Instead the patient succumbed to a prescription based on misinformation, racism, sexism and superstition.

I am not indifferent to those who mourn or are suffering from democracy’s demise. Many are in shock; many are in denial. Power is now seized or bought. Caucuses, conventions and elections are not the bromides to resurrect or replace what we have experienced for so long. The guardrails of a Constitution, free press, independent judiciary and vigilant Congress no longer exist. I seriously question how accurate election results will be in the future. So much data and information is so easily manipulated, so can numbers.

The divide in this country is deeper than the hatred between North and South for so many years. I had hopes that a younger generation would change the tenor of our politics and culture as Baby Boomers need to step aside and allow our children and grandchildren to determine their future. Instead I sadly question whether they will be able to enjoy the opportunities and freedoms that once existed. Our school systems cannot educate students to read and write, how can we expect people to make right decisions and judgements?

I watch all of this numb and in sorrow. One expects to lose his family and friends. No one expects to lose his country.

Muses on Aging and Decline

Riches in youth measured by wealth; riches in maturity measured by health.

“Alarm clock: once for work, now for timely pickleball registration.”

Deterioration, diminishment, death and disability, Damocles’ swords for the older generation.

Lament of an older athlete: Often what the mind can conceive, the body can’t achieve.

Lost in cyberspace: the Sunday papers, complete with sports pages, TV section, crosswords and comic strips.”

77 million voters created 346 million “Anne Franks.”

Like humans, democracies can deteriorate—toward dementia or, politically, tyranny.

Start of the Rout?

If America is a stock, is it time to dump it and sell?

Like the ouroboros, I believe Big Tech is eating itself alive with its component companies throwing more and more cash at investments in one another that are most likely to generate less and less of a return. Monday’s correction shows that our financial markets — and possibly your retirement portfolio — may be starting to reflect an understanding of this dynamic. New York Times 1/28/25 I Study Financial Markets. The Nvidia Rout Is Only the Start. Mihir A. Desai is a professor at Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School.

If Trump’s all-in-on-fossil-fuels, “drill, baby, drill” rallying cry — at the dawn of this era of artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, batteries and autonomous cars — really becomes our strategy, it will not make America great again. But it will definitely help make China great again. New York Times 1/28/25 Trump Is Going Woke Thomas Friedman

The bond market is telling us something about the dawn of the second Trump presidency, and it’s not pretty….Most of the policies proposed by President Trump, from tariffs to additional fiscal stimulus to deportations that tighten the labor market, are expected to add to inflation. And to the degree they are enacted, they will combine with an inflation rate that has declined rapidly, but which remains above the Federal Reserve’s target and is still higher than it was during most of the decade leading up to the pandemic. Rising long-term rates are bad for businesses and households that need to borrow, since the cost of loans such as mortgages and auto loans are directly linked to 10-year Treasury yields. New York Times 1/29/25 Trump’s Plans Are Already Making Your Life More Expensive Rebecca Patterson (is an economist and market strategist)

Send in the Clowns…

I am less agitated by the pardons of two men within the past few weeks than the pardons granted by 77.3 million voters last November.

I have no sympathy for Buyer’s remorse. I note the surprise and consternation as the curtain opened and the opening acts started. The fine print was clear: no returns, no exchanges, and no refunds on this runaway circus of calamity. You bought the ticket, and now you’re strapped in for the whole ghastly ride, derailments and all.

Upset that his hand wasn’t on the Bible during the oath of office? Why bother with a prop for principles he neither understands nor respects!

“We criticized the German people for allowing a Hitler to rise, but in the early 1930s, Germany was reeling from a global economic depression, compounded by severe unemployment and the crushing reparations imposed after World War I. Restricted in rebuilding its military and manufacturing, Germany was a demoralized and defeated nation. In contrast, the United States in 2024 elected Trump amidst economic prosperity, low unemployment, and a position of military and political strength, fully in control of its destiny.”

What would Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, Douglas McArthur, Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite opine if they were at the Inauguration ceremonies last Monday?

A Certain Idea of America: Selected Writings by Peggy Noonan (Book Review)

Peggy Noonan is one of the very few Republicans with whom I feel I could sit down and have a civil conversation about politics, history, and current events. My belief is affirmed after reading her book, A Certain Idea of America: Selected Writings, a collection of recent commentaries on politics, personalities, culture, and contemporary issues. Her writing is measured, thoughtful, and often insightful.

For instance, in a column written in 2019, Noonan offered advice to Joe Biden, attempting to dissuade him from running for president in 2020. Her words, in hindsight, appear not only as good counsel but also as prophetic given Biden’s mixed success as president:

“Your very strength – that you enjoy talking to both sides, that deep in your heart you see no one as deplorable – will be your weakness. You aren’t enough of a warrior. You’re sweet, you’re weak, you’re half daffy. You’re meh.”

Noonan stands as an outlier within the Republican Party. Her style of writing seeks to inform, inspire, and not inflame. She is no supporter of Trump. Even her criticism of Trump’s antics and leadership is measured—acerbic yet never descending into vitriol.

One passage in particular may encapsulate her sharp perspective on America’s present and future trajectory:

“In time, we’ll see you lose something when you go post-heroic. Colorful characters will make things more divided, not less. They’ll entertain, but not ennoble. And the world will think less of us – America has become a clownish, unserious country with clownish, unserious leaders – which will have an impact on our ability to influence events.”

This observation feels prescient and poignant, capturing a sense of national disquiet. Unfortunately, not enough Americans shared this view during the last election. Perhaps Noonan could have lent her rhetorical skills to Kamala Harris and the Democrats to sharpen their messaging.

While I don’t agree with all her views—for instance, I’m not as enamored with Billy Graham or Ronald Reagan as she is—I respect her opinions. Her prose is engaging, and the short commentaries, originally published in The Wall Street Journal, make for an easy yet thought-provoking read.