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If it were empirically possible to construct a huge spinner wheel on which to painstakingly list, along its wide circumference, the countless facets of miscreance and delusional incapability of Donald Trump, we would propose that the selection du jour indicate Donald Trump’s singular delusional conception of the extent of hisrole as Commander-in-Chief of the Nation’s Armed Forces; unmitigated by his personally selrcted menagerie of incompetent, but sycofantic cabinet; members, notably his alcoholic, macho-, mentality, womanizing Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth.

Consistent with his profound ignorance, exacerbated by a systemically hubristic delusion of unlimited power, Trump recently called for the imprisonment and even the “execution of six Democratic legislators for ‘seditious behavior” resulting from a video advising military personnel that they should responsibly refuse “iIlegal Orders.”

It is difficult to restrain our emotional response to such evident ignorance of the Nation’s definitional “Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces,” whose delusion of unlimited power and relevant ignorance exceeds the most pessimistic judgment of his inapt and egocentric performance.

For “starters,” the U.S Uniform Code of Military Justice, Articles “10 ” and “92” direct serving members of the military to refuse orders that seem patently illegal. Analogous to Trump’s ubiquitous denigration of the United States Constitution, he is sight-challenged as to this Statutory grant of ethical franchise.

Empirically sickening and bizarre are the ambient facts surrounding Trump’s uninformed and delusional charges of Sedition. All six of the accused legislators, notably, have distinguished military combat records; for example, Mark Kelly is a recognized military hero, having flown 39 combat missions and, as well, is a distinguished American astronaut. Jason Crow has served the Nation as a multi-decorated combat-experienced Marine.

Remarkably, the orange-dyed, ego-centric Chief Executive who bllithly and ignorantly assailed these war heroes is, in fact, inarguably guilty of sedition in organizing and maintaining a violent and bloody insurrection against the Washington Capitol Building. It is, additionally, a matter of record that Trump wangled a Doctor’s letter alleging that he has “heel spurs,” which enabled him to be a draft dodger.”

It is additionally revealing to recall Trump’s obnoxious televised remarks on Memorial Day, referring to the thousands of marked graves of military dead who sacrificed their young lives for the country, as “suckers” and “losers.” We can unforgettably recall his egocentric question, “What was in it for them?”

It might amount to a personal badge of honor to be charged with a perceived offense by Donald J. Trump.

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It appears that the traditional holiday of Thanksgiving is upon us; the festive occasion is calendared for the fourth Thursday of each November. The celebratory occasion features family and friends assembling for the traditional celebratory meal of turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and harvest vegetables.

On this occasion, we perennially find ourselves inclined to disturbingly ruminate on the nationwide acceptance of the holiday’s “Hallmark Card Company”-style,” convenient, comforting, contextual, but cognitively dissonant version of its historical etiology and significance.

One does not afford the American Nation’s convenient concept of a quasi-religious duty of “Manifest Destiny,” to expand to the Pacific, to the Spanish and Portuguese Conquistadors, for their murderous quest for gold and wealth in South America, to the Belgians, for their rubber-rich travesties in the Congo, to other countries like England and France, for their ubiquitous colonization of foreign indigenous peoples. What is the conceivable magic that sanitizes our Nation’s expansion at the cost of the indigenous North American peoples?

Those who care to study history will undoubtedly be aware of the tragic history of the indigenous, “First Americans,” who, under the Presidency of Andrew Jackson, were wrongfully evicted from their traditional tribal homes in fertile Southwest America ( “The Indian Removal Act” of 1830) to “more suitable” “injun” lands in the arid infertile lands of Oklahoma (‘Trail of Tears,”)

There is a clear and disturbing cognitive dissonance between a nation that has practiced a history of repression against its conquered national predecessors and the exaltation of the fictional portrayal of “The First Thanksgiving.” It is undeniable that our great and traditionally moral and empathic Nation has had its shameful moments. These should not be removed from our textbooks or curricula by sophomoric critics, but certainly not celebrated, or indeed, replicated; nor should they be whitewashed in the interest of moral advancement or discomfort; they are teachable. history

Americans have much for which to be recognizably thankful and celebratory on Thanksgiving Day, without coloring its (otherwise commendable) history.

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The demagogic “Snake Oil” salesman, presently squatting in the Nation’s Oval Office, has eternally employed the tactical meme, “Make America Great Again.” Far more misleading than its demagogic implication that the American Nation has ever been less than “Great” have been his dystopian and self-centered policies, which in empirical reality make our American Nation less potent and morally influential.

History has shown that a nation’s most impactful resource is not its oil, minerals, terrain, or geographic location, but, empirically, its people. Recent history has confirmed our thematic observation by the instructive example of World War II Germany; the latter, a relatively small or medium-sized country, came frighteningly close to conquering the World. Its strength and military prowess were attributable to its educated, well-organized, and readily mobilizable population.

In contrast to its tactically employed, “snake oil” assertion: “Make America Great Again” (“MAGA”), the Trump Administration has ubiquitously damaged the Nation’s historic standing, reputation, and capabilities, including its military prowess, by, inter alia, attacking the Nation’s institutions of learning and, thereby, weakening its systemic strength and security.

The Trump Administration’s assault on higher education, inclusive of the malign threats of withholdfing federal funding and the assertion of regulatory power to influence socially beneficial institutional policies, especially diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”), academic freedom, as well a perceived campus political life, its cutting off of research grants, and the harebrained act of elimination of the National Education Department, are policies and actions inarguably antithetical to the strength and well-being of the Nation; and, sadly, consistent with its hapless incapability and profound iignorance.

The Trump Administration’s attack on higher education involves a multi-pronged approach using federal funding and asserted regulatory power to politically influence the Nation’s existentially vital University system. Such an inappropriate and unwise attack on the nation’s institutions of higher learning has included the arbitrary, political threat of the withholding of federal funding and other inimical and asserted detrimental regulatory policies. These assaults upon academic freedom and the Nation’s Constitution have been employed by the current Administration to deter salubriously utilitarian and morally appropriate policies of “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” (DEI). Such unfair and unwise extortionate policies have included the suicidal cutting off of funds for medical and scientific research, as well as the ubiquitous elimination of academic. research grants.

The unwise and perverse practice of politically driven governmental influence on the Nation’s academic life and progress is fundamentally inconsistent with Man’s aspirational advancement and inimical to the strength and endurance of the Nation.

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An apprehensive woodland waits,
The onslaught of Winter’s war machine
The iron-hard soil, the numbing cold
Gales, chanting pitched manic arias
Snap-crack sounds of arbor amputation-
Dull, snowy thuds of severed limbs.
The cold, perennial taker of life
Points its icy fingers downward-
To the hapless, shivering critters,
Left behind by the Autumn Exodus.

Evergreens, tho’ seem tranquil no doubt,
In meditation on the coming Spring
The blue skies, the billowed clouds
Empathic breezes heal winter’s wounds
Small green buds that manifest eternally,
Making solemn vows of new life and increase

With wisdom taught by evergreens,
We too await the coming Spring,
Woodland’s lover and restorer
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(Winter, 2018, Leonard N. Shapiro

The dystopic authoritarian morass in which our Democratic Republic is deeply embedded makes conducive a metaphysical examination of the general nature of the relevant relationship between citizen and the polity; i.e., between the governed and the government.

Winston Churchill famously (and wisely) said: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the rest.” Despite its vulnerabilities, the citizen-run form of governance, despite its systemic shortcomings, is inarguably preferable to other alternative, repressive and authoritarian forms of rule. We are confident that the concept, if not the words of Thomas Jefferson, that a literate and well-informed citizenry is requisite to the success of a democracy. It is obvious that a government “by and for the People” requires a capable and appropriately dedicated elected governance.

The wry reservation expressed by Winston Churchill and the prescient admonition of Thomas Jefferson were sadly confirmed by the “populist” election of Donald J. Trump to the American Presidency. The plethora of egregious results of such an election, as painfully and specifically discussed in our earlier writings, is obvious and empirically irrefutable. The fundamental Churchillian and Jeffersonian comments are indisputably relevant to the nature and quality of the millions of voters who put him in office.

It has long been our (expressed) view that the ignominious spate of governmental problems currently besetting the Republic has two determinate etiologies, one of which is readily curable, the other problematic, but, ultimately citizen possible

To take the second, more difficult problem, viz., the lack of adequate education and an informed state of mind, is fundamentally stereotypical of the populist, Trump supporter. The amelioration of the ubiquitous threat to democracy would require, in addition to willingness, a fundamental alteration in citizen persona and a long-term program of education; factors which, as a practical matter, if feasible, would necessarily take years of dedication.

The other panacea against the future election of an unsuitable President would be relatively easier and more effective. We have consistently urged a process by which, regardless of the state of success in increasing the educational judgment of the relevant voter, would be a shield against the election of another incapable, tyrannical, or otherwise objectionable Head of State.

We have, for years, emphatically recommended the fiduciarily responsible procedure of non-partisan vetting of all potential nominees for the American Presidency. An applicant for any mundane civilian job, such as a shoe or insurance salesperson, would necessarily need to submit to a mandated interview and be hired only if deemed acceptable. It is truly bizarre and tragically ironic that it has not been deemed necessary regarding the vastly more profound American Presidency. Such a vetting would presumably have averted a disastrous Trump Presidency.

On the assumption that the Jeffersonian standard is not fully satisfied, such fiduciary procedural responsibility to the Democratic Republic and its citizenry would avert the possibility of another miscreant interloper to the venerable American Presidency.

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Regular followers of this (approximately) five-year-old blogspace are undoubtedly aware of our adamant reservations concerning the surrender of humanistic capabilities to the more facile and efficient digital facilities. We have expressed our affirmative support of general advancement, but have expressed our profound concern regarding the irresponsible lack of attention accorded by Silicon Valley to the humanistic impact of their ubiquitous “advancements.” Plainly expressed, we have been concerned that the exaltation of capability is far above that of the empirical, humanistic impact; i.e., the vital concepts of “can,” and “should.”

Regular readers are, predictably, surfeited with our ubiquitous observations of societal and individual damage (especially to the personality-formative young) resulting from the surrender of salubrious, interactive, human conversation to the presumably more facile “smartphone,” resulting in a notably impactful lack of intellectual and communicative capability; the sine qua non of society.

To responsibly audit our expressed views on the subject of Man’s digital substitution of human activities, we performed some cursory, armchair research into various authoritative publications on the subject, and were profoundly shaken by the reported extent of adverse empirical impact ot such digitalized, algorithmic “advances” on society and individual sapient life.

Our previous writings emphasized the societal degradation and personal loss of humanism, specifically brought about by the use of hand-held appliances (“smartphones”); the context of this writing (with the aid of our aforementioned “armchair” readings) is relative to the authoritative findings of mental and intellectual regression implicated in the ubiquitous use of computers, especially A.I., on the human brain.

It has been reportedly determined, with the aid of electro-encephalograms, that the popular use of A.I.K. in the writing of essays and reports, lowers the activity in the brain networks associated with cognitive processing, attention, and creativity. An additional and worrisome finding is a notable lack of recall of what was written.Such external assistance reportedly limits the ability to synthesize information and that of weighing competing views to enable the formulation of an opinion. We are creating dystopic generations that have a limited capability of understanding, of relevant subject matter, nor, indeed, an empirical perception of the world and its place in it.

Professional sources advise that while the human brain likes shortcuts, it needs “”friction to learn. We must, in the interest of the salubrious existence of man and his society, responsibly consider the vital difference between “can” and “should” in the profit-making aspiration for innovation and profit; otherwise, we will harvest a bumper crop of haplessly ineffectual, stupid progeny.

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Artistic renditions of famous individuals are often capable of being adequately conveyed by a relevantly representative picture, sufficient to furnish a singularly accurate portrayal of the character or unique accomplishment of the recognizable subject. Illustrative examples are: Benjamin Franklin flying a kite in a lightning storm, Abraham Lincoln passionately delivering the Gettysburg Address, George Washington crossing the Delaware River, Jonas Salk peering into a microscope, or, memorably, FDR with his beloved dog, “Fala.”

There are certain depictions of personalities, foreign and domestic, whose cognizable portrayal evokes feelings of anger and repulsion, such as Adolph Hitler, Hirohito, Joseph McCarthy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Fred Bundy. Recent events would appropriately include Jeffrey Epstein, the “Box Store” entrepreneur of childhood prostitution. Included in this category of repugnant personalities is our thematic “poster boy” depiction of hubris, defilement of the Nation’s Constitution, Rule of Law, and moral compass, the orange-dyed-haired, egocentric President, Donald Trump.

The latter, darling of the Nation’s substantial populist horde of citizens, and the enabler of irresponsible industrial polluters, has recealed himself to be a demagogic “snake oil” salesman, justifying his idiosyncratic lust for unlimited power, and pursuing policies, domestic and international, which have internationally degraded the historicly admirable reputation of our Nation, as well as its institutionally, democratic way of life.” His reprehensible policies are legion, as painfully specified in prior writings. In sum, we can empirically state that his hubristic, dictatorially autocratic Presidency has been inarguably inconsistent with the salubrious policies traditionally typifying the American Nation.

Donald Trump’s singular preoccupation with his own perceived interests, to the detriment of other dutiful responsibilities, relative to the Nation’s safety and its economic interests, as well as its tradition of humanistic policies, both domestic and foreign. is metastasized by a notable disrespect for the Nation’s Constitution, Rule of Law, and societally established moral compass; such impediment in authoritarian fashion, demonstrated by his lack of appropriate respect for the metaphysical existence of objective “truth,” existential to the endurance of human society.

In his flagrant disregard of the Constitutional architecture of the “Separation of Powers,” Trump has arrogated to himself, in his hubristic perception of Presidential power, the Constitutionally designated authority of the Nation’s Legislature, toxically infected the U.S. Supreme Court, and ubiquitously overstepped the constitutional pale of authority of the American Presidency. Sadly, a compliant Republican Congress has, disappointingly, ceded its legislative responsibilities and authority to the power-hungry Chief Executive, who improperly egocentrally chooses to legislate by”Executive Orders,” with the egoistic flourish of his thick and neurotically assertive, black felt-tipped ” Sharpie.” The autocratic orange “Hasmat” has also arrogated to himself the legal authority to unilaterally wage war in the high seas, impose tariffs on trading partners, illegally employ the military for perceived domestic needs, suthorized and financed a private, military styled uniformed and dystopic masked military-like force to xenophobically harass, imprison and deport peaceful Hispanic Americans, without a scintilla of legally mandated “due process.”

As more specifically enumerated, a multitude of fetid dum[pster-full loads of unconstitutional, illegal, and inappropriate acts, perversely including the heartless denial of empathic relief to the needy, while in incomparable violation of the Constitution’s ” Emolument Clause” enriching himself and family beyond the golden fortune of Croesus, prosecuting political opponents, interfering with the intellectual freedom of the Nation’s Universities, pardoning serious criminals who politically support him, befriending foreign dictators and publicly articulating, imperialist thteats to sovereign nations like Greenland and Americas’ “first cousin,” Canada.

Of all the plethora of repugnant, egregious, outrageously hubristic acts of the thematic Orange hazmat, we are singularly disturbed by his unpeakable vandalism and egocentricly obscene act of defilement and demolition of the East Wing of The Nation’s (the People’s) venerated White House, for his delusionallky declared purpose of constructing a three hundred-million-dollar ballroom; presumably, to satisfy his grandiose hubrism and neurotic thirst for self-esteem. Such lunacy is notably occurs at a time in our Nation, when working-class Americans are experiencing severe financial difficulties; the latter, an irrefutable consequence of Trump’s incompetence in the sophom imposition of illegal tariff policies. The revered institution is the historic symbolic property of the American People and recorded title of the governmental Parks Department. T

Trump’s defilement and insatiable, hubristic, and historically obscene demolition of the East Wing has rendered it in a Gaza-like rubble. Ironically, such vandalism and devastation are empirically analogous to Trump’s self-interested defilement of the Constitution.

Returning to our earlier declared context, viz., the recognizability of conceived depictions of popularly known personalities, we would thematically contemplate as an appropriate representational and popularly identifiable image of Donald Trump, as follows; artistically rendered as an overweight old man with vsarious smears oif ketchup on his face, dressed in dusty workman’s overalls, the latter, liberally besmirched with marble dust and other demolitional residue, grasping a sledgehammer in his right hand and a McDonald’s hamburger in the left, wearing jeweled Golden Crown on his head through which sdtrands of unruly orange-dyed hair juts out, and with wet, puckered lips and a smug but vacant look.

It is our conception that the suggested depiction of such a temporal, egregious despoiler of our venerable Nation would have commercial acceptability and pragmatic utility as a holiday “penata” or local saloon dart board.

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If permitted an anthropomorphic, but contextually relevant, statement, we would express the sentiment that ” The Natural process of evolutionary development of an upright, sentient being did not portend its irresponsible self-destruction.”

Our declarations in earlier writings that it is imperative to consider the thoughtful balance between the desire for advanced capability and the cogent consideration of the empirical impact of the successful result, i.e., between “can” and “should.” In our view, the contemporary lust for profitable algorithmic developments has evinced great ingenuity, but insufficient concern for its humanistic impact.

Our contextual anxiety was initiated by the facile, albeit humanistically harmful, substitution of the handheld “smartphone” for natural, salubrious interaction (personal, telephonic, or letter correspondence). Its impact initiated Man’s extant journey toward empirical impersonality and personal loneliness. Gone was the salutary assurance of friendly voice recognition, spontaneity, and timeliness of response. One notable consequence was the resultant inability of the maturing individual to interactively develop an interactive, referable self-image, empirically responsible for the reported development of anxiety and depression among the young.

To be clear, we are affirmative supporters of all general salubrious advancement; the development of medically efficient devices, efficacious and utilitarian capabilities, and the advancement of elemental science and human knowledge. However, Silicon Valley’s eternal demonstration of omission to responsibly consider the humanistic downside of many of its achievements has effectively led to our concern regarding the dystopic possibility of the ultimate devastation of human society. (N.B.) We are aware of the possible perception of the latter statement as unduly morbid and fearful, and would offer some empirical elucidation of our concern.

Human society has lately been introduced to robotics such as “Alexa,” vacuum cleaners, automobile operation and navigation, security services, identification devices, and remote control devices. Sadly, it must be observed that, respecting each development, a destructive application has been empirically devised.

The most devastating and frightening are the robotic weapons of war, notably air force drones, capable of efficiently and unemotionally bombing targets, human and civilizational. In this context, we have, in previous writings, offered the fictional nightmare scenario of a planet, devoid of inhabitants by reason of nuclear war, on which robotic warfare and bombing eternally continue, day and night, between contending non-human and robotic national enemies. [It is notably sad to observe that with each new miraculous advance, an insalubrious and harmful use is discovered and employed. In a better context, drones might be beneficially employed in search and rescue operations, land and animal studies, meteorological and geological inquiry, and life-saving assistance in catastrophes.

We, admittedly, are not well-versed in “computer-tech” subjects and only recently became aware of the existence of A.I. “chatboxes.” Our systemic concern with such dystopic phenomena was the catalyst for our (hopefully forgivable) thematic fear of the ultimate demise of modern society, if not, indeed, sentient humanity as we have come to know it. As lifetime” members in good standing” of the “non-nerd” minority of homo sapiens, we were amazed and terrified of this A.I. facility and confess to the perception that it is the ultimate, fatal threat to the subsistence of normal society.

It appears that the employment of algorithmic genius has been successful in the production of the ability of an individual to conduct, what we would call, a “facsimile” of a human interaction by speaking to a non-existent, artificial voice (simulation) that is not only topically responsive to the user, but soon contextually familiar with his persona and relevant life situation. This counterfeit interaction may be desirable and useful, but in reality and essence, one is effectively and antisocially conversing with oneself; a temporarily satisfying phenomenon, but an ultimate dagger in the heart of social interaction; an existential and defined feature of living in human society; it is factually analogous to primitive loneliness and singular solitude. Like prehistoric homo sapiens, one atavistically lives in his own singular company, i.e., such technological “advancement” results in the retardation of anthropological progress by the suppression of human, interactive contact, the existential anthropological phenomenon of interactive society.

It requires no unique talent for circumspection to confidently declare that no conceivable “marvel” is comparable to the vital anthropological progress society.

It is of existential importance to distinguish between the desire for innovative capability (“can”) and the responsible consideration (“should”) of its effect on Mankind.

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The publicised relationship between Donald Trump and the “box store” entrepreneur of underage childhood sex (and presumed blackmailer), Jeffrey Epstein, is the most likely matter in the multi-dumpster quantity of detritus from Trump’s misrule, to undermine him. We affirmatively hope so, before the orange autocrat can wreak further damage upon our Democratic Republic.

However, a disturbing question arises as to the Nation’s ethical or moral priorities: “What does the above empirical observation notably disclose relative to our societal priorities, in the face of the plethora of inhumane, unconstitutional, and immoral acts observably, ‘trumped’ by the more populist- appealing scandalThe public has been fully aware of Trump’s multitude of unconstitutional and autocratic offenses against the nation’s legal governance, inclusive of his autocratic policy of retribution against perceived political enemies, the neurotiuc election denial and consequent support of an unprecedented, bloody insurrection against the Capitol Building (therafter pardoning the criminal insurrectionists), his inhumane elimination of existing humane programs of food and medical relief to the needy, both domestic and foreign, his dessimation of the Federal Civil Service, his his unauthorized waging of war agains Vnezusalan vessels on the high seas, his use of a private, masked army to intimidate, arrest and incarcerate, peacefdul and productive Hispanic Americans, his illegal and autocratic use of the military for domestic purposes, his supporft of White Christian militias and ubiquitous bigoted statements, his adjudicated and boastful abuse of women, his unconstitutional imposition of international tariffs (resulting in the exorbitant rise in the American ctizens/’ cost of living,), his treason. including the purloining of ultra-secret documents and intimate relationships with America’s enemy heads of State, his total usurpation of the constitutional function of the Legidslative Branch of government by bizarrely decreeing legislation by way of felt-tipped “RExecutive Orders, and his general undermining of the “Separation of Powers,” his voter interference, his inconsistent policies regarding the Nation’s defensive assistance to the attacked nation of Ukraine, his attacks on Social Security and Medicare, his elimination of USAID, withdrawal from the Paris Accords concerning global warming and the protection of the Planetary environment, his barbaric and unauthorized act of destruction of the East Wing of thed White House and a further cornicopoia of egregious acts, inconsistent with the constitution, rule of law and the societal moral compass. Donald Trump has shown himself to be guilty of serial mendacity and tactically manipulative to effect his public declaration of intention to be a dictator, by his programmatic attack on the free press and the media. The most societally metaphysical offense against humanity was his autocratic attack on “factual truth,” in favor of subjectively useful, “Alternative Facts.”

Incredible as it may seem, there are yet further observable instances of presidential mismanagement and illegality which are noted in earlier writings; however, the many listed offensive matters, presumably, are sufficient to enunciate our present thematic concern. We will, in contrast to the model of the stereotypical essay which, concludes with a declaration, by contrast, end this writingey with our thematic question: “What is the nature and quality of a population which solely directs its critical ire at the errant act of the President in befriending a sexual predator like Je Epstein, to the exclusion of his known acts of inhumanity and metaphysical evil.

Even more disturbing is the question as to whether such a worrisome inclination portends the nightmarish possibility of the election of another Trump-like malefactor?

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The mere mention of the name “Adolph Hitler,” or of the repulsive nouns, “Nazi” or “Fascist,” reflexively evokes an emotional sense of abhorrence. Unavoidable references to the eerie “death camps, or the monstrous “Holocaust” are painful reminders of Man’s nascent potential for morally abominable action.

By empirical contrast, the human inclination towards moral and humanistic behavior is vital for the pragmatic and rational endurance of society. Said existentially important concept is fundamentally anthropological and sociological, and inarguably, non-partisan. Authoritarian restrictions on liberty and human rights are an empirical anathema to the healthy exercise of individual reason, societal morality, and its successful endurance.

Lamentably, the bizarre, catatonic-like failure of moral responsibility of the Republican Congress, presumably founded upon fearful submission to the autocratic devices of Donald Trump, has empirically exposed a subtle, sub-rosa fissure in the American body politic; the latter, affording the toxic entry of an unprecedented assault upon the systemic nature of our venerated Republican Democracy.

By illustration, it is reported that the official youth organization of the Republican Party, reportedly, has ubiquitously adopted such fascist terminology as “faggot,” “retarded,” has casually employed the “N” word, referred to black Americans as “monkeys’ or “Watermelon People, joked about death camps, “gas chambers,” and “ovens.” Principled opposition to the latter epithets and disagreeable references has been, most notably, dismissed by the Nation’s loathsome and observably bigoted Vice President, J.D. Vance to as “pearl clutching, over a few kids telling edgy jokes.” The referenced “kids,” reportedly, are in their 20s and 30s. The outre V.P. has forever distinguished himself by publicly declaring, “Hate is not a deal breaker.” It appears that the modern Republican Party prizes cruelty and bigotry as badges of party loyalty.

It is our ubiquitous experience that what starts out as crude, casual comments often eventuate into perverse conviction. We are sadly and alarmingly obliged to observe that the extant Republican Party appears to prize cruelty and bigotry as badges of party loyalty.

The media has revealed that Donald Trump has appointed an individual to head a federal watchdog agency who has overtly admitted that he has a “Nazi Streak,” and remains in office despite his reprehensible practice of racially bigoted remarks.

In this context, we cannot ignore the publicly demonstrated Nazi salute given by the autistic savant and trillionaire, Elon Musk, the Eichmann-like Steven Miller’s embrace of White Supremacy, nor the Holocaust denial expressed by the petulant enfant-terrible, Tucker Carlson.

Our Republican Democracy ignores such 1930s Munich-like toxicity at its existential peril.

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