Untouchable
A Little Longer
Donald John Trump is enamored of Vladmir Vladimirovich Putin.
The 47th president of these barely United States of America is a pathetic putz. He’s in over his lousy transactional head with something that has confounded even wise, canny, and experienced politicians.
In 1939, Winston Churchill famously described Russia as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” In short, something just not right in its nature or its actions. A nation represented by persons wielding its immense force in manners defying prediction or control.
The situation has not improved over time.
We Have a Problem, Houston
China is playing Mother Russia and the rest of the global powers and markets like a cheap banjo at a backwoods hootenanny.
And our mad and avaricious king can’t separate the orchestra from the conductor. He too bedazzled to protect even his own interests adequately. Our national security and reputation are toast.
What’s a Mother to Do?
Election 2024 and its consequences both beg and resist correction.
Where does reliable guidance lie?
Follow the Money
Richard Milhous Nixon was experienced and strategic in foreign affairs. He curried favor with China to weaken the position of Russia. His insecurities and resentments made him vulnerable domestically. By “following the money” journalists excavated the facts of his misconduct by identifying and tracing secret contributions to his successful campaign in 1972 for reelection. He made the classic mistake of lying about criminal acts taken at his direction and on his behalf. He chose to resign from high office rather than be impeached for breaches of his oath. His resignation took effect on 09 Aug 74.
Election 2024 returned an adjudicated criminal to high office.
Within the last century, America has dealt with the challenge of confronting and contesting a powerful and popular criminal.
The recipe for remediation was the same. Follow the money.
What Worked Then
World War One lasted 4 years, 3 months, and 14 days—from 28 July 14 to 11 Nov 18. The United States entered the conflict in April of 1917 in response to Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare against sea traffic transiting the Atlantic Ocean. Returning soldiers re-entered the labor force. Munitions factories were retooled to produce consumer goods. By the early 1920s, the American economy rebounded from the post-war recession. Its peacetime economy boomed, fueled by transition from an agrarian rural to an urban industrial production model. Ya ain’t gonna keep ‘em down on the farm after they’ve seen Paree. A spirit of strength and celebration swept through the culture of the land. Dancing, singing, swinging, and booze were in.
Moral backlash was inevitable.
On 27 Oct 1919, President Woodrow Wilson vetoed the National War Act. Within 48 hours, the 66th congress overrode his veto. Here is what became the law of the land:
An Act to prohibit intoxicating beverages, and to regulate the manufacture, production, use, and sale of high-proof spirits for other than beverage purposes, and to ensure an ample supply of alcohol and promote its use in scientific research and in the development of fuel, dye, and other lawful industries.
Party persons were challenged by the overreach. Crime fed upon their discontent.
Enforcement of the Act was initially assigned to Bureau of Internal Revenue within the Department of the Treasury. The commissioner objected strenuously that policing prohibited beverages interfered with the department’s primary scope and mandate to investigate tax violations. On 03 Mar 27, the 66th congress transferred compliance responsibilities to two new bureaus: the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Prohibition. On 01 July 1930, the Bureau of Prohibition was transferred to the Department of Justice.
Herbert Hoover became the 31st president of the United States on 04 Mar 29. Shortly thereafter, he directed his Secretary of the Treasury and his Attorney General to consider a plan for attacking large bootlegging gangs with small teams of Prohibition agents working under special United States attorneys. They may have considered the notion. They did not implement it.
Shares traded on Wall Street crashed in October of 1929. In June of 1930, Hoover accepted a plea from the Chicago Crime Commission to assist with the prosecution of Al Capone on charges of tax evasion. Before the end of that year, Attorney General Mitchell got off the dime. He implemented Hoover’s notion of sending a small squad of Prohibition agents to break up the Capone gang. He tapped 27-year-old Eliot Ness to head the elite enforcement unit. He directed Ness to lead raids against the Outfit’s illegal breweries and distilleries. This strategy would deprive Capone of the income he needed to pay the graft that protected him against prosecution for his crimes.
At that time, corruption was endemic among law enforcement officials. Ness searched the records of all Prohibition agents to create a reliable team. He identified six agents he felt to be worthy of his trust. They proved able to withstand political posturing and criminal pressure. Their resistance to offers of illegal enrichment led Charles Scwartz of the Chicago Daily News to call them “untouchable.”
Enforcement efforts began with extensive wire-tapping operations which gathered information needed to target and schedule raids. By 1931 the Federal government had gathered enough evidence to charge Alphonse Gabriel Capone with 22 counts of tax evasion. Negotiations to pay back taxes failed. Grounds for appeal ultimately failed, even though his efforts to escape punishment were strengthened by a favorable Supreme Court ruling that tax evasion was not fraud.
Al was convicted on five of the 22 counts brought against him. As a reward for good behavior, he was allowed to play the banjo in the Alcatraz prison band. In 1938, a formal diagnosis confirmed Al’s declining mentality was due to an advancing case of syphilis. He died diseased and gibbering on 27 Jan 47 of a cardiac arrest following a stroke, at the age of 48, on Palm Island in Florida.
What Will Work Now?
1930’s.
Al Capone was a true anti-hero. He swaggered through the best parts of his life as a crime boss with such panache that the public approved and applauded him. Until he gunned down seven rivals in broad daylight on Valentine’s Day, 14 Feb 29. Seven uncorruptible men and a justice department true to its oaths of office and mission statement brought him down for lying about income. His conduct toward and disrespect for justice earned him additional years of incarceration for contempt of court.
1970s.
Richard Nixon was returned to office in 1972 in one of the largest landslide victories in history. He was given a mandate to continue to rule according to the beliefs and principles of a “Silent Majority.” Reporters, an informant, several scared staff members, an unfortunate recording of his profane, high-handed, corrupt Oval Office conversations, and congressional alarm about his damage to the Republican Party brand chased him from office.
2010-25.
Donald John Trump has resisted efforts to force him to file his record of income received. He does not want knowledgeable eyes evaluating the integrity of his claims of taxes calculated honestly and paid promptly. He is making it as difficult as possible to apply the Capone and Nixon remedy to his case.
Applying the 2025 playbook to his self-serving interests, Donald John Trump has taken bold, swift steps to convert a democracy into a monarchy. This is just fine by his faithful MAGA cult members. Not so good by me and other citizens disappointed in the results and consequences of Election 2024.
A recipe for remedy is impossible at worst, elusive at best.
The press is bought and cowed. The congress has broken its oath of office and lost the will and/or courage to fulfill its Article One duties. Within the executive branch, the justice system is a weaponized tool of revenge and retribution. Internal revenue oversight and collection services are gutted or filled with loyalists. The Supreme Court has a partisan majority of unethical conservative justices owing and delivering on friendship favors to members of the Billionaire Boys Club.
Old 20th century tricks won’t work to catch, much less control, Bad Dog Donny.
To make a sad situation worse, his grandiose and toxic “memos to staff” styled as executive orders give him clear cover for the consequences of the fact and execution of his directives. The last paragraph of every one reads:
Sec. 4. (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Anthem
I have no reason to doubt that the human mind seeks freedom, even when circumstances of the immediate moment conspire to compromise or extinguish that strong yearning.
I believe in the beneficent myth of America and I count on the Power of One.
The guile and madness of Trump 2.0 will continue until restrained.
Throughout recorded history, in times this desperate, voices rise in protest. Some are false and self-serving. Others are well-meaning but unsuited to leadership. There is one that rings true to the ear, the mind, the soul, and the will as a candidate for actionable remedy. Listen for that true speaker. Support him/her when he/she calls for an action you can accomplish.
Understand and accept the strong possibility that fate will deal with Donald John Trump before Resistance 2.0 neutralizes him. But be not paralyzed or faithless.
Rise from shock and despair. Cease the wringing of hands, the holding of heads, and/or the clutching of pearls. Action is the antidote. Resistance is required.
Let us pull up our socks and step into the breach now, every Power of One person dissatisfied with the results and consequences of Election 2024. Let us put into play our persons and our purses to demand:
A return to positions of principle those persons, institutions, and organizations betraying a public trust in their integrity when bending a knee, kissing the ring, funding the personal wealth, or furthering the ambitions of Donald John Trump.
The bringing of criminal charges against Musk and articles of impeachment against Trump.
The bringing of articles of impeachment against corrupt justices now contaminating the opinions of the high court.
Referendum and recall of congressional representatives not faithful to their oath of office and/or unresponsive to the concerns and wishes of their constituents.
Creation of a Shadow Cabinet charged with daily briefings of administrative assaults upon the rule of law, the health, safety, and welfare of We the People, and simple decency.
Course correction on the conduct of matters related to national security.
Go, team, go.
There must be someone out there who can steal Trump's spotlight… someone who has the power of mind to speak and simultaneously be funny and witty and visionary. Someone who dresses outrageously - because it's all about the visuals on television. I know! How about Randy Rainbow?
Fantastic presentation of history, reality, and where we are now.
The forces of nature, global economics, the spirit and will of more than 8 BILLION humans, and time--all of these are far bigger than Trump. Did I mention 6 billion of those humans have cell phones and communicate all day long with each other?
Ah yes... free will. That's been a problem for every authority, starting with the Garden of Eden. Your perspective makes clear that, as horrific as the current flood of Executive Orders are, Don the Felon cannot win at Whack-A-Mole with 193 countries in the world (all 193 are member states of the United Nations), 193 economic interests, 8 billion individuals, Mother Nature, and Father Time.