Category: Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology Page 1 of 15

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“The Beguiling” Screens at SXSW on March 9, 2025

By Connie Wilson

On March 9, 2025

In Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, Movies, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Politics, Pop Culture, Reviews

A United States Premiere of “The Beguiling,” a 15 and ½ minute short about native American Indians, premieres at SXSW Film and TV Festival Sunday, March 9, at the Rollins Theater at the Long Center. The shorts start at 9:45 and run until 11:30 p.m. A second showing will be held at the Alamo on South Lamar on March 13^th, Alamo Theater #9, 10:15 p.m. until 12:06 a.m. (Midnight Shorts Category).

The film, written and directed by Ishkwaazhe Shane McSauby, explores the romance between two young native Americans, portrayed by Benairin Kane as Billy and Kim Savarino as Riley. As the plot summary put it, “Deceit turns their romantic evening into a darkly comedic nightmare.”

Reviewer Alex Heeney (“Seventh Row”) said: “This horror-inflected film addresses some hard-to-discuss-without-stepping-in-it issues. Wait for the fantastic needle drop, which offers a lot to unpack..”

Attempting to address some of the plot points, without stepping in it, here is my unpacking.

SYNOPSIS

The plot summary might more accurately have described this short as being an investigation into the phenomenon of “Pretendians” or “self-Indigenizers,” people who are not of Indian ancestry misrepresenting themselves as Indian. If you don’t remember Senator Elizabeth Warren’s claims to have some native American ancestry, those remarks caused her to be belittled at Trump’s March 4^th Address to Congress (DJT’s “Pocahontas” jab. (Leave it to Donald J. Trump to attack a respected female United States Senator with what he apparently intended to be a racist jab.) That makes “The Beguiling” an even more timely topic.

PRETENDIANS

A New Yorker article by Jay Caspian Kang laid out the case of a Professor at Berkeley, Elizabeth Hoover, who rose quickly through academia based on her claimed Indian heritage. One observer, who described the woman as showing up at every faculty meeting to spend the entire meeting beading said, “It looked like an entire Etsy store had exploded on her.” So, “Pretendians” or “self-Indigenizers” are a fact of life if you are of native American Indian ancestry.

Hoover (one of many, it should be noted) ultimately released a “Letter of Apology and Accountability” for the “broken trust” that she had caused. She maintained that her deception was in no way intentional. She insisted that posing as native American was simply what she had been told about her heritage as a young child, ancestry which she had accepted without questioning it or investigating it more fully. Hoover’s public apology labeled “Identity Crisis” was released on March 4, 2024.

Therefore, the background for this 15-minute short has its roots in recent history. In the pre-Trump days, when diversity and inclusion mattered, sometimes it was advantageous (especially in academia) if a white person had Indian blood.

DENOUEMENT

“The Beguiling” at SXSW. (Photo by Shaandiin Tome)

In the lead-up to an emerging romantic tryst between Riley (Kim Savarino) and Billy (Benairin Kane) in “The Beguiling,” Riley bites Billy a bit too aggressively in the neck. Billy goes in search of a bandaid. What he finds while searching for a bandaid in Riley’s bathroom medicine drawer and cabinet makes him suspicious about Riley’s authenticity.

Is Riley trying to convince Billy she is “a real Indian” when she’s not? If so, why?

You’ll have to journey to the Midnight Shorts at SXSW for those answers.

COMEDY OR DRAMA?

The young lovers’ romantic tryst veered a bit off the romance trail and into thriller, drama and comic territory, merging all three. For me, with my sympathies heavily on the side of the Anishimabemowin natives, the short was another sobering moment in considering the injustices of early West settlement and colonization in this country. I’ve toured the Holocaust Museum in Skokie, Illinois. Nothing funny there on that Museum’s lower level, which is devoted to Indian interment camps in Canada where indigenous Indian youth were imprisoned and mistreated.

The still-emerging details make instances of whites mistreating American (or Canadian) Indians in more modern times a hard sell for humor, for me. Don’t get me started on the rest of history! I used to teach at Black Hawk Junior College. Looking back on our historical treatment of Indian tribes just makes me mad, much like the DJT speech remark on March 4^th, 2025 makes me both mad and sad. In other words, to me, it’s not “funny;” it’s just a continuing injustice that should be stopped and redressed. Historically, I’m with Marlon Brando on this (despite the unfortunate Sacheen Littlefeather Pretender incident at the 1973 Oscars.)

CONCLUSION

Writer/Director Ishkwaahe-shane-mcsauby of “The Beguiling” short at SXSW. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole).

The heavy-duty emphasis on native Indian history on “date night” (Which camp: Carlisle or Haskell? Genocide. Colonization. Wild rice /manoomin) made me wonder about Billy’s taste in women. Flirtation has definitely changed. In today’s America, I’m told, there are Big Discussions about party affiliation before a girl even accepts that date with the cute guy hitting on her. An interesting peek into how divided things have become in the United States of America. And it seems to be getting much, much worse. Hmmmm…I wonder what we can all do about that, as voters?

The synopsis asserted that the piece was “darkly comedic.” For me, the film leaned more heavily to the former (“Dark”) than the latter (“Comedic”). If anyone doubts the timeliness of the underlying debate about authenticity and the issue of dubious claims of native American Indian heritage, we need only direct them to rewatch the supposed Leader of the Free World (is he still?) baiting a female United States Senator Elizabeth Warren on live television (March 4^th, 2025), with a snide remark (“Pocahontas”) during a live Address to Congress. That was just a few short days ago. I’m still upset about it (so was Jimmy Kimmel on his March 5th monologue).

Let’s keep fighting for diversity and inclusion and fair and civilized treatment for all. This short has exposed one small example of exploitation of a minority amidst the cultural mosaic that is the United States of America. Let’s hope that by highlighting such injustices, they can be eradicated. “The Beguiling” calls this particular version of inequality out for what it is: wrong now, then, and forever. A good effort in the fight to restore dignity and equality for everyone by making the public more aware.

Justin Trudeau Addresses Tariffs on Canada on March 4, 2025

By Connie Wilson

On March 4, 2025

In Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, Local, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Politics, Pop Culture, Television

Canadian Primer Minister Justin Trudeau.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unleashed a historic speech scorching Donald Trump’s idiocy over his disastrous new tariffs: “This is a very dumb thing to do.”

“The United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, their closest friend. At the same time, they’re talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying murderous dictator,” began Trudeau.

“Make that make sense.”

Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico took effect today and the markets are in free fall. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has already plummeted 662 points after plunging 650 points on Monday. The S&P 500 lost 1.3% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9%

The gullible fools who thought that Trump would be “good for the economy” have had the rug pulled out from under them in record time.

“Canadians are reasonable and we are polite,” Trudeau continued. “But we will not back down from a fight, not when our country and the well-being of everyone in it is at stake. At the moment, the U.S. tariffs came into effect in the early hours of this morning and so did the Canadian response.”

“Canada will be implementing 25% tariffs against $155 billion worth of American goods starting with tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods immediately and tariffs on the remaining $125 billion of American products in twenty-one days time,” said Trudeau. “Our tariffs will remain in place until the U.S. tariffs are withdrawn and not a moment sooner.”

“And should these tariffs not cease, we are in active and ongoing discussions with provinces and territories to pursue several non-tariff measures, measures which will demonstrate that there are no winners in a trade war,” he threatened.

“Now just like I did a month ago, I want to speak first directly to the American people. We don’t want this,” said Trudeau. “We want to work with you as a friend and ally and we don’t want to see you hurt either.”

BEE GONE

“But your government has chosen to do this to you,” he stated bluntly. “As of this morning, markets are down and inflation is set to rise dramatically all across your country.”

“Your government has chosen to put American jobs at risk at the thousands of workplaces that succeed because of materials from Canada or because of consumers in Canada or both,” he went on.

“They’ve chosen to raise costs for American consumers on everyday essential items like groceries and gas, on major purchases like cars and homes, and everything in between,” he continued.

“They’ve chosen to harm American national security, impeding access to the abundant critical minerals, energy, building materials, and fertilizers that we have and that the United States needs to grow and prosper,” he explained.

“They’ve chosen to launch a trade war that will first and foremost harm American families. They’ve chosen to sabotage their own agenda that was supposed to usher in a new ‘Golden Age’ for the United States,” said Trudeau, taking a direct shot at MAGA’s latest inane rhetoric.

“And they’ve chosen to undermine the incredible work that we’ve done together to tackle the scourge that is fentanyl, a drug that must be wiped from the face of the Earth,” he added. “So on that point, let me be crystal clear. There is absolutely no justification or need whatsoever for these tariffs today.”

Trudeau then shifted gears to go after Donald Trump directly, the clueless mastermind behind this entire disaster—

“Now I want to speak directly to one specific American: Donald. In the over eight years you and I have worked together, we’ve done big things,” said Trudeau, appealing to Trump’s ego.

“We signed a historic deal that has created record jobs and growth in both of our countries. We’ve done big things together on the world stage as Canada and the U.S. have done together for decades, for generations,” he continued. “And now we should be working together to ensure even greater prosperity for North Americans in a very uncertain and challenging world.”

“Now, it’s not in my habit to agree with The Wall Street Journal but Donald, they point out that even though you’re a very smart guy this is a very dumb thing to do. We two friends fighting is exactly what our opponents around the world want to see,” said Trudeau.

“And now to my fellow Canadians: I won’t sugarcoat it. This is going to be tough even though we’re all going to pull together because that’s what we do,” he added. “We will use every tool at our disposal so Canadian workers and businesses can weather this storm.”

(*A last-minute exchange on Trump’s Truth Social Network suggests that Trump might now use this 25% tariff, scheduled to go into effect on March 5th, as a bullying tactic against Canada, much as he used the threat of discontinuing Ukrainian military aid to extract a promise from that war-torn country to hand over precious minerals to the U.S.

CNN called Trump’s threats “a game of economic chicken.”

Trump sees everything in terms of money and power and will use any means to seize and hold both, even if it means abandoning moral principles our country has espoused for many

generations, such as USAID. To put it in simpler terms, DJT finds the far-right groups easier to manipulate, since they will blindly follow a figurehead without thinking through that Talking Head’s positions to determine if they are really advantageous to them, personally. DJT and Elon Musk are overthrowing the traditional values of free speech (and, soon, free elections) because a “free” election might throw them out of power. And, as mentioned, DJT is all about seizing and maintaining their power and wealth. There is no morality to thinking this way, but, then, we’re talking about a man not known for his morality or his compassion or his concern for anyone but Donald J. Trump.

We are talking about a man who is squandering our (former) position as the Leader of the Free World. The message to the world is that the U.S. cannot be counted on. This is not about DJT. This is about the American people and DJT is not keeping the American people (and America) safe on any level.)

A.I. Analyzes the 2/28/2025 Meeting Between Trump & Zelenskyy

By Connie Wilson

On March 2, 2025

In Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Politics

An intriguing analysis has been circulating online regarding the psychological aspects of Zelensky’s meeting with Trump and Vance, conducted using ChatGPT.

From this analysis, it becomes evident that we have witnessed a true masterclass in gaslighting, manipulation, and coercion on the part of Trump and his entourage.

Let’s break down the key points:

1. Blaming the victim for their own situation

Trump explicitly tells Zelensky: “You have allowed yourself to be in a very bad position.” This is classic abuser rhetoric—blaming the victim for their suffering. The implication is that Ukraine itself is responsible for being occupied by Russia and for the deaths of its people.

2. Pressure and coercion into ‘gratitude’

Vance demands that Zelensky say “thank you.” This is an extremely toxic tactic—forcing the victim to express gratitude for the help they desperately need, only to later accuse them of ingratitude if they attempt to assert their rights. (Zelenskyy had actually expressed gratitude to the U.S. at least 33 times.)

3. Manipulating the concept of ‘peace’

Trump claims that Zelensky is “not ready for peace.” However, what he actually means is Ukraine’s capitulation. This is a classic manipulation technique—substituting the idea of a just peace with the notion of surrender.

4. Refusing to acknowledge the reality of war

Trump repeatedly insists that Zelensky has “no cards to play” and that “without us, you have nothing.” This is yet another abusive tactic—undermining the victim’s efforts by asserting that they are powerless without the mercy of their ‘saviour.’

5. Devaluing the victims of war

“If you get a ceasefire, you must accept it so that bullets stop flying and your people stop dying,” Trump says. Yet, he ignores the fact that a ceasefire without guarantees is merely an opportunity for Russia to regroup and strike again.

6. Dominance tactics

Trump constantly interrupts Zelensky, cutting him off: “No, no, you’ve already said enough,” and “You’re not in a position to dictate to us.” This is deliberate psychological pressure designed to establish a hierarchy in which Zelenskyy is the subordinate.

7. Forcing capitulation under the guise of ‘diplomacy’

Vance asserts that “the path to peace lies through diplomacy.” This is a classic strategy where the aggressor is given the opportunity to continue their aggression unchallenged.

8. Projection and distortion of reality

Trump declares: “You are playing with the lives of millions of people.” Yet, in reality, it is he who is doing exactly that—shifting responsibility onto Zelenskyy.

9. Creating the illusion that Ukraine ‘owes’ the US

Yes, the US is assisting Ukraine, but presenting this aid as “you must obey, or you will receive nothing” is not a partnership—it is financial and military coercion. It was similar coercion during a phone call between the two men (DJT asking Zelenskyy to investigate the Bidens) that led to Trump’s first impeachment. A notoriously thin-skinned man, he has not forgotten this snub and the set-up on 2/28 reflected that.

10. Undermining Ukraine’s resistance

Trump states that “if it weren’t for our weapons, this war would have ended in two weeks.” This is an attempt to erase Ukraine’s achievements and portray its efforts as entirely dependent on US support.

Conclusion

Trump and his team employed the full spectrum of abusive tactics: gaslighting, victim-blaming, coercion into gratitude, and manipulation of the concepts of peace and diplomacy. This was not a negotiation—it was an attempt to force Zelenskyy into accepting terms beneficial to Russia but potentially fatal for Ukraine. (Who negotiates peace without inviting both warring parties to the table?) No less a GOP voice than former Security Advisor and Ambassador Susan Rice immediately called out the embarrassing display for what it was: a set-up intended to “get even” with Zelenskyy for not submitting to DJT’s wishes at every turn and a backing of his favorite strongman, Putin.

All of what has been happening makes perfect sense if we remember that Russia has been “stroking” Trump in an attempt to convert him to a Russian asset for years. It seems to have worked better than Vladimir Putin could have imagined. Now the oligarchs will divide up the wealth and go about their business, completely ignoring the average citizen, for whom Trump seems to have absolute contempt, since he lied to all of us repeatedly. (How do you feel about your grocery bills now that eggs and beef are more valuable than some precious gems?)

I have some small hope that all of the destruction we have seen being inflicted on all institutions can be reversed, but it will take years. This is one of the few times that I honestly am grateful that I am not going to be around for decades to see all the hard work that it is going to take to UNdo the damage Trump is doing. I came in on JFK, campaigning for him as a high school girl (not old enough to vote). Now I will probably go out on Trump and his band of corrupt cronies. I’ll be bringing out my hopeful feelings of 2008 (expressed in my 2 volumes “Obama’s Odyssey: The 2008 Race for the White House”) when we elected a decent, intelligent, compassionate man President. And now we have Trump. From the sublime to the ridiculous.

Feb. 28, 2025: Democracy in Peril

By Connie Wilson

On February 28, 2025

In Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, News, Politics

There are moments in history where you can feel the tectonic plates of power shifting under your feet, the precise seconds when empires declare themselves rotten and ready to collapse. February 28, 2025, was one of those moments—a grotesque display of unchecked narcissism, geopolitical idiocy, and the full-throttle transformation of American foreign policy into a Mafia shakedown.

Donald Trump, the world’s loudest and dumbest charlatan, decided to hold a public execution of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, not with bullets, but with bullying. This was not diplomacy. This was not strategy. This was the kind of goonish humiliation typically reserved for reality television, except now the stakes were measured in millions of lives and the looming specter of World War III.

“YOU’RE GAMBLING WITH WORLD WAR III”

Trump—flanked by his yes-man JD Vance and an eerily silent Marco Rubio—welcomed Zelenskyy to the Oval Office only to berate, belittle, and ultimately dismiss him like a waiter who forgot to refill his Diet Coke. The Ukrainian president had made the grave mistake of advocating for his people, for his country, for his soldiers dying daily on the front lines against Russian invaders. But in Trump’s world, there is no room for dignity or resistance—only total submission to the Don.

“You’re gambling with World War III,” Trump barked at Zelenskyy, acting like a discount Tony Soprano shaking down a local shopkeeper. “You either make a deal, or we are out.” The message was crystal clear: Surrender to Putin, or America lets you rot.

When Zelenskyy pushed back—trying to explain, like a rational human being, that diplomacy requires more than rolling over and exposing your belly to a psychotic autocrat like Vladimir Putin—Vance chimed in, whining that it was “disrespectful” to discuss such things in front of the American media. Disrespectful! As if the real problem here was the optics, not the grotesque moral betrayal unfolding in real time. One might ask if J.D. was, indeed, brought in on purpose to “poke the bear.” Susan Rice, “W’s” Ambassador and advisor, certainly felt that Zelinskyy was set up.

TRUMP’S FIXATION WITH GRATITUDE: A MOB BOSS DEMANDING TRIBUTE

“Have you ever said thank you once?” Vance sneered at Zelenskyy, echoing his master’s worldview that all human interactions are transactional (By actual count, Zelenskyy has thanked the United States publicly at least 33 times.)

“You have to be thankful,” Trump added, “you don’t have the cards. You’re buried there.” (Zelenskyy responded, sotto voce, “I’m not playing cards.”)

This is what American diplomacy has become: an extortion racket.

Forget alliances, forget history, forget standing up to despots—Trump views everything through the lens of a cheap con artist running a rigged casino. Ukraine, in his mind, is a desperate gambler, and Trump is the pit boss deciding whether to extend another round of credit.

If Zelenskyy had gotten on his knees and kissed Trump’s golden slippers, maybe he’d have left with something. But instead, he left with nothing, because he had the audacity to act like the elected leader of a sovereign nation, rather than a groveling servant.

THE CANCELED PRESS CONFERENCE: WHEN THE HUMILIATION IS TOO MUCH TO SPIN

After the carnage, Trump did what he always does: He took to Truth Social to declare victory.

“I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace,” he wrote, as if the real issue is Ukraine’s unwillingness to surrender, rather than Russia’s ongoing campaign of war crimes and territorial theft.

The joint press conference was canceled—which in diplomatic terms is the equivalent of overturning the table and storming out of the restaurant. Zelenskyy was seen leaving the White House, no deal signed, no support secured. Just the bitter taste of betrayal in his mouth.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian ambassador literally face-palmed in the middle of the meeting. She couldn’t even hide her disgust. This was the international equivalent of watching your boss drunkenly scream at a client in a meeting while you rub your temples and quietly plan your resignation.

TRUMP’S ‘PEACE’ PLAN IS A SURRENDER PLAN

This is all part of a deliberate pivot in American foreign policy. Trump has always sided with Russia, whether it’s calling Putin “a very smart guy,” ignoring his war crimes, or pretending Ukraine started the war. Now, his administration is pushing a so-called “peace plan” that amounts to a glorified land grab for Moscow.

The Wall Street Journal has already reported that Trump’s advisers are split on how exactly to force Ukraine to submit. Some want a “frozen conflict”—which translates to “Russia keeps what it stole”—while others are pushing for a formal deal that outright cedes Ukrainian land and resources to Putin. Either way, the outcome is the same: Ukraine loses, Russia wins, and Trump gets to preen about his ‘deal-making.’

THE DEATH OF AMERICA’S WORD

The entire world saw this Oval Office debacle. If you’re an ally of the United States, you just learned a very clear lesson: You cannot trust America under Donald Trump. Your security, your sovereignty, and your survival are all secondary to whether Trump personally feels flattered. If you are not groveling at his feet, you’re expendable. And this very small man will always seek to “get even” with those he believes, rightly or wrongly, have not sided with him. Trump is still mad at Zelenskyy for failing to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden when asked during the 2020 election. Just as he is still honked off over his loss of a Trump hotel to a Marriott in the Panama Canal Zone.

Meanwhile, Putin is watching. And he’s grinning. Because now he knows that Trump will do his dirty work for him. All that stroking of DJT and the money spent on his elections has provided a Russian asset who would sell his soul for money. Now, it is U.S. citizenships for wealthy Russian oligarchs that he is planning on peddling next.

Zelenskyy was just the first ally to be fed to the wolves. He won’t be the last.

Welcome to America, 2025. This is what losing everything looks like.

Trump Data: The Past Is Predictive of the Future

By Connie Wilson

On February 23, 2025

In Books, Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Politics

A real question from a Trump supporter: ‘Why do many say Trump supporters are stupid?’

(from Adam Troy Castro)

THE SERIOUS ANSWER: Here’s what the majority of anti-Trump voters honestly seem to feel about Trump supporters:

That when you saw a man who had owned a fraudulent University, intent on scamming poor people, you thought “Fine.” (https://www.usatoday.com/…/trump-university…/502387002/)

That when you saw a man who had made it his business practice to stiff his creditors, you said, “Okay.” (https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-hotel-paid-millions…)

That when you heard him proudly brag about his own history of sexual abuse, you said, “No problem.” (https://abcnews.go.com/…/list-trumps-accusers…/story…)

January 6th: Trump-inspired invasion of the Capitol. All pardoned, with no cogent plan to separate those who had attacked police officers and headed militia organizations.

That when he made up stories about seeing Muslim-Americans in the thousands cheering the destruction of the World Trade Center, you said, “Not an issue.” (https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/donald-trumps…/)

That when you saw him brag that he could shoot a man on Fifth Avenue and you wouldn’t care, you exclaimed, “He sure knows me.”

(https://www.usatoday.com/…/president-donald…/4073405002/)

That when you heard him relating a story of an elderly guest of his country club, an 80-year old man, who fell off a stage and hit his head, to Trump replied: “‘Oh my God, that’s disgusting,’ and I turned away. I couldn’t—you know, he was right in front of me, and I turned away. I didn’t want to touch him. He was bleeding all over the place. And I felt terrible, because it was a beautiful white marble floor, and now it had changed color. Became very red.” You said, “That’s cool!” (https://www.gq.com/story/donald-trump-howard-stern-story)

That when you saw him mock the disabled, you thought it was the funniest thing you ever saw. (https://www.nbcnews.com/…/donald-trump-criticized-after…)

That when you heard him brag that he doesn’t read books, you said, “Well, who has time?” (https://www.theatlantic.com/…/americas-first…/549794/)

That when the Central Park Five were compensated as innocent men convicted of a crime they didn’t commit, and he angrily said that they should still be in prison, you said, “That makes sense.” (https://www.usatoday.com/…/what-trump-has…/1501321001/)

That when you heard him tell his supporters to beat up protesters and that he would hire attorneys, you thought, “Yes!” (https://www.latimes.com/…/la-na-trump-campaign-protests…)

That when you heard him tell one rally to confiscate a man’s coat before throwing him out into the freezing cold, you said, “What a great guy!” (https://www.independent.co.uk/…/donald-trump-orders…)

Liz Cheney amidst backlash over her anti-Trump stance.

That you have watched the parade of neo-Nazis and white supremacists with whom he curries favor, while refusing to condemn outright Nazis, and you have said, “Thumbs up!” (https://www.theatlantic.com/…/why-cant-trump…/567320/)

That you hear him unable to talk to foreign dignitaries without insulting their countries and demanding that they praise his electoral win, you said, “That’s the way I want my President to be.” (https://www.huffpost.com/…/trump-insult-foreign…)

That you have watched him remove expertise from all layers of government in favor of people who make money off of eliminating protections in the industries they’re supposed to be regulating and you have said, “What a genius!” (https://www.politico.com/…/138-trump-policy-changes…)

That you have heard him continue to profit from his businesses, in part by leveraging his position as President, to the point of overcharging the Secret Service for space in the properties he owns, and you have said, “That’s smart!” (https://www.usnews.com/…/how-is-donald-trump-profiting…)

That you have heard him say that it was difficult to help Puerto Rico because it was in the middle of water and you have said, “That makes sense.” (https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/the-very-big-ocean…/)

That you have seen him start fights with every country from Canada to New Zealand while praising Russia and quote, “falling in love” with the dictator of North Korea, and you have said, “That’s statesmanship!” (https://www.cnn.com/…/donald-trump-dictators…/index.html)

That Trump separated children from their families and put them in cages, managed to lose track of 1500 kids, has opened a tent city incarceration camp in the desert in Texas – he explains that they’re just “animals” – and you say, “Well, OK then.” (https://www.nbcnews.com/…/more-5-400-children-split…)

That you have witnessed all the thousand and one other manifestations of corruption and low moral character and outright animalistic rudeness and contempt for you, the working American voter, and you still show up grinning and wearing your MAGA hats and threatening to beat up anybody who says otherwise. (https://www.americanprogress.org/…/confronting-cost…/)

What you don’t get, Trump supporters, is that our succumbing to frustration and shaking our heads, thinking of you as stupid, may very well be wrong and unhelpful, but it’s also… hear me… charitable.

Because if you’re NOT stupid, we must turn to other explanations, and most of them are less flattering.

– Adam-Troy Castro

And, if I may add a personal note from a recent discussion, an intelligent friend with whom I was speaking wrote a defense of his Trump vote, when I made the comment that, historically, Dems were often “too nice” (as we were in Florida when Gore stepped aside for the good of the country and let “W” be handed the presidency by his brother, Jeb.)

His response? (And, yes, this person is well-educated and intelligent, so the statement that Adam (above) ends his data with does rear its ugly head.) Everything that was mentioned in “BEE GONE” is coming to pass now under Trump 2.0 and our democracy is at stake if we don’t defend it and if the (stacked) courts don’t stand up to this wannabe dictator. The price of eggs and beef has shot through the roof (so much for lowering the price of groceries). Inflation is increasing. Economists warn of a coming recession. We’ve pissed off our two closest allies, who are probably going to be boycotting American goods for a very long time. The bird flu, nuclear weapons arsenal, and people that might protect us from ebola, tuberculosis and measles epidemics are in free fall as the CDC is under attack. The 100,000 or more federal employees who have been summarily fired, without due process and possibly axed by an A.I. robot, are justifiably angry and demoralized. The positions like FBI and FAA that require extensive training, as well as places like the IRS that were already understaffed, are struggling. The United States insulted the leader of Ukraine and voted “No” along with North Korea and Russia to a U.N, resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine without cause. Our President is barely even conducting meetings, preferring to let Elon Musk and a toddler do the honors. Veteran analysts, seeing all of what is happening, have declared that it is their professional opinion that DJT was being groomed as a Russian asset from many years back and that the Manchurian Candidate may have moved from fiction to fact.

Most experts predict a Constitutional crisis, when these many questions of illegality reach the Supreme Court and we find out whether Chief Justice Roberts will stand up to the malignant narcissist who has completely ruined the United States’ reputation on the international front. European (and other) allies no longer believe in the United States as a steady-in-the-traces ally, and NATO—which Trump had attacked verbally as related in John Bolton’s book—-is now not the bulwark against Soviet aggression that it had been since WWII. (Trump, while in Air Force One on his way to a NATO meeting with Bolton, complained about the organization and revealed an almost complete lack of knowledge of its importance.)

Not everything can be judged or weighed in terms of money to be made. Perhaps that is what our current President thinks, but there was real value in being “the shining beacon on the hill” that Reagan eulogized. The dismantling of the USAID, the Department of Education, and too many other organization to mention by name has left us vulnerable to aggression from abroad as well as to plummeting faith in our institutions and the organizations, like FEMA, that serve Americans in crisis. The entire change of personnel is going so poorly that it is a wonder that we are maintaining whatever position we had as a world power, since all of this chaos and these poorly chosen federal employees, have plunged us into becoming a kakistocracy. Yes, it gives late-night comedians material, but at what price glory?

The book (above), BEE GONE, is a classic parable for our times, as it predicted what might happen if a drone in the hive tried to take over from the Queen Bee (*this was 2016’s election). As the book makes clear, “So the hive lost its honey, its Queen and its money. It was really a mess, and that isn’t funny.” The book really nailed some important facets of the fight today in 2025, following the election of 2024. It is available on Amazon. DJT killed it the first time (he was in office).

TRUMP VOTER, to me:, in defense of DJT: (I had said that Al Gore and the Dems were “too nice” in stepping aside for the good of the country in Florida (the “hanging chads”) back in 2000, therefore dooming us to 8 years of “W” when his brother, Jeb, handed him the presidency. This person felt that it was awful that Democrats were saying that Trump’s supporters were Nazis, but what else can be inferred from Elon Musk giving the Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration?

His defense:

“Too nice?”

I see one side calling the other side Nazis and fascists. The other side just wants what we had under 45. The lowest poverty rate in the history of the stat in America and the associated childhood poverty rate. It’s as if childhood poverty doesn’t matter to some people. Also the most impressive increase in household income that we’ve seen in our lifetimes. That’s food on our most at-risk peoples’ tables. I guess I don’t understand the name-calling when it’s clear that empowering people is far better than entitling them.”

First, let me say that the “calling of the other side Nazis” may well have come from the Nazi salute Elon Musk gave at Trump’s inauguration. And were it only true that just ONE side has resorted to name-calling. You must have some pretty selective hearing if you only hear the comments aimed at Trump and his supporters. I not only heard worse things aimed at me (Trump Rally, Davenport Iowa Fairgrounds, 2016) but was physically threatened simply because I was wearing a Press badge. That was the last of my following of the candidates across the country, which I had done in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and part of 2016. You are a very tough MAGA follower if you feel it is appropriate to physically threaten a 5’2″ retired 70-something retired English teacher simply for trying to report on a rally. But it was consistent with what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, when the MAGA crowd seemed to blame the crowd for the youthful would-be assassin’s shots at DJT. Hostility was aimed at the enclosure that held the Press. Trump is actively banning the AP from press conferences now, because they did not rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

Second:

It’s really reaching to pretend that the incumbent really cares about childhood poverty, when Trump has just dismantled the USAID, which is responsible for less than 1% of the U.S. budget.

And we liberals/independents/anti-Trumpites are the bad guys because WE are the ones who don’t care about childhood poverty?

Absolutely incomprehensible that anyone would try to mount a defense using THAT

We’re In the Middle of A Hostile Government Take-Over

By Connie Wilson

On February 17, 2025

In Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, Local, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Politics

Character Matters, But Does It Matter in 2025?

By Connie Wilson

On February 6, 2025

In Books, Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Politics

Bee Gone book by Connie Corcoran Wilson

Something that the MAGA group seems to need to be reminded about is that CHARACTER MATTERS. A person’s past actions are the single best predictor of their future actions, as I was once told by a job recruiter running “mock” interviews for my Rhetoric students at Eastern Iowa Community College,

CHARACTER, DOES INDEED MATTER. A Washington Post reporter interviewed a former aide to Senator John McCain and the news from the front was not pretty.

“Karen Tumulty writes that we have catapulted past constitutional crisis and are now in the domain of constitutional collapse. She is also writing about the shadow emperor, whose designs lurk behind an executive branch “run-a-Musk.”

Of course, the president is at fault for this collapse, Karen writes, but so, too, is Congress, which the nation’s Founders could never have imagined would be “so supine in the face of such a barrage.”

Karen writes wistfully of the “statesmen of an earlier era, all Republicans,” who stood up for Congress’s authority when presidents overstepped. One of those was Sen. John McCain, whose former chief of staff Karen interviews.

He tells her: “We’re getting a pretty intense lesson in how much our constitutional order depended on people’s character. … Republicans, almost to a person, have failed.”

America, We Have A Problem. WAKE UP!

By Connie Wilson

On February 4, 2025

In Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Politics, Pop Culture

“Why Musk’s Nazi Salute Matters” –from Zach Beauchamp of “Vox”

“Elon Musk doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt,” said Zack Beauchamp. While speaking at President Trump’s inauguration, Musk twice thrust his arm out in a Nazi salute—there’s “no other plausible interpretation of his gesture.”

Some tried to dismiss it as merely an awkward moment, but context matters, and Musk has an “extensive track record of extreme right policies, flirtations with antisemitism, and juvenile trolling.”

Elon Musk

Musk responded to the uproar not with an apology, but by mocking critics with snide Nazi-themed puns, including “Bet you did nazi that coming.” Not surprisingly, neo-Nazis were giddy about Musk’s salute; the fact that it occurred at a presidential inauguration signals “a deeper rot.”

The tech oligarch is promoting Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party, urging party members to move “past guilt” over Nazism’s horrors, and he personally restored neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes’ account on “X”. It’s all part of “the Trump era ‘vile shift,” in which there’s no accountability for extremist rhetoric and performative cruelty. As we descend this slippery slope, it’s vital that decent people “assert that there are real moral standards” and that Nazi play-acting violates them. Those standards may be our only bulwarks against the return of “honest-to-goodness Nazism.”

“Mr. Nobody Against Putin” Screens at Sundance Film Festival

By Connie Wilson

On February 1, 2025

In Education, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, Movies, Politics, Reviews

Pavel Talankin, director of Mr. Nobody Against Putin, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Helle Moos.

“Mr. Nobody Against Putin” about the Putin-dictated shift in Russia’s schools was made possible by a young Russian schoolteacher named Pavel (“Pasha”) Talankin. At the time of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pasha was serving as the school videotographer and event coordinator for Karabash Elementary School, the biggest school in what is a very small town of 10,000 people deep in the Ural Mountains, Russia’s industrial heartland. Karabash was world famous because it was once dubbed “the most toxic place on Earth,” with an average life expectancy of 38 and a huge copper mining plant that has blackened the mountaintop with pollution. One commentator called it “the most depressing place I’ve ever been” and “the darkest place on the planet.” But to Pasha it was home, where he lived near his widowed mother (his father drowned in a lake when Pasha was 9) in a two-bedroom apartment in the city center. Pasha’s humble flat contained 427 books, carefully arranged by color coding, and he has a dog named Nebraska.

NEW RUSSIAN PROGRAM

At the outset of the Russian invasion, Pasha sent out an e-mail ( described as “an overly long e-mail”) about the exhaustive program Putin’s government was pushing on Russian schools. The New Federal Patriotic Education Program was an impediment to actual teaching. Said Pasha, “Few of us were prepared for such an effort to interfere in our ability to teach…I am a teacher forced to do the exact opposite of what a teacher should do.” I could relate to Pasha’s dismay, because I lived through a push from those above me in pay grade to make all of us jump through hoops to select students for the Scripps Spelling Bee Competition. It soon became clear that 75% of my classroom time would have had to be spent doing spelling bee trials to select the finalists. The other things I was supposed to be teaching, which included, at that time, literature, grammar, composition and spelling, were to be shunted aside in favor of the Spelling Bee lady, who apparently outranked me on the food chain (even though I was ostensibly Department Chairperson and had been there many more years and had an actual degree in my subject area, which this woman did not. She, however, was married to a fellow School Superintendent; I was not). I soon cut to the chase and selected my contestants based on abbreviated preliminary bees, which left me free to go back to actual teaching. Things did not go quite as smoothly for the woman who insisted that ALL of our classroom time be spent running things the way the local newspaper dictated and she soon ran in a ringer who had not competed at all, as he was in the hospital with a broken leg during her many elimination bees. But he had an I.Q. of 152, so the rules that Mrs. Superintendent had imposed on us all soon went out the window, given the upset wins her trials were creating.

But for Pasha, the restrictions were going to get worse, and they came from much higher up.

NEW RUSSIAN TREASON LAWS

A still from Mr. Nobody Against Putin by David Borestein and Pavel Talankin, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Pavel Talankin

Initially, shooting the film for this documentary was risky, but not illegal. But in April of 2023 Putin and his government passed a law mandating life imprisonment for treason and strengthening the laws about “treason.” Things would become increasingly dangerous for Pasha as he filmed what was happening in Karabash.

Pasha: “It’s a very unpleasant feeling. It’s like you’re in a room and the walls are closing in and the air is leaving. You remain trapped in the system. I love my job, but I don’t want to be a pawn of the regime.” Pasha actually resigned his position at one point, but when director collaborator David Borenstein contacted him, suggesting they act on Pasha’s idea, he withdrew his resignation and set about documenting what was going on in Russian schools. Pasha: “I’ll use my camera to film the abyss this school is sinking into.”

Others in the town mention how even first graders are being asked to recite war poems.

Pasha: “Since last year there is no freedom to be found here. All Russian movement is for the children’s movement.” Every day there are clubs being formed that resemble the Nazi Youth Clubs of Hitler’s day/ Victory Day, the holiest day of the year when parading crowds carry pictures of their dead veterans, seems to suggest, “Maybe one day you can be a dead soldier, too.” Pasha notes that the young people will have to carry the burden of victory over evil. Pasha: “All of you will die, but know one thing: Mother Russia will never forget you. Every warrior’s name will be carved into a plaque.”

At this point, Russia is losing 1,000 soldiers a day in the Ukrainian conflict. Says Pasha, “It’s now time for the mercenaries to teach: marching drills, grenade throwing competitions, shooting competition.” The film of boys as young as 10 being handed guns and sighting down the length of them is frightening. They are shown handling weapons of the Great Patriotic War, including Mosin, SVT machine guns, etc.

There are scripted lessons after scripted lessons. Proof that the school is complying with the directive is required. Soon, the scripts are given to the students, as well. They are being brainwashed by the state in the New Federal Patriotic Education Program.

KARABASH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL HISTORY TEACHER

David Borestein, director of Mr. Nobody Against Putin, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Helle Moos

Pasha films history teacher Pavel Abdulmanov. Abdulmanov is strictly by the Russian book. He suggests that, “It’s so crucial to eliminate dissenting views so there is no split in our Mother Country. If you don’t like it, go to the country that you think is better.” When asked to name the Russian historical figures he admires most, he names Lavrentiy Beria, Stalin’s father of the Gulag system; Viktor Abakumov, Stalin’s spy hunter; and Pavel Sudoplatov, Stalin’s assassin for enemies. Sudoplatov masterminded the murder of Leon Trotsky from an ice pick driven into Leon Trotsky’s brain. Abdulmanov tells his students daily that “Russia could destroy Ukraine in a couple of days” and warns that countries in Europe will “soon be riding horses” as there will be no wheat or oil from Russia. He also tells the students that “state policy in Ukraine is decided by radicals and Nazis,” suggesting that Russia must eliminate the Nazis in power in Ukraine. Abdulmanov was given a luxury apartment as a reward for being named Teacher of the Year at the school.

LASHING OUT

Feeling an uncontrollable urge to lash out, one morning Pasha plays a recording of Lady Gaga singing the United States National Anthem, rather than the Soviet anthem. Soon thereafter, a police car is parked outside of Pasha’s apartment.

PASHA’S MOTHER

Throughout the film Pasha is shown bringing his mother flowers as she works to repair damaged school books in the school library. He repeatedly praises his mother. She is a particularly dour woman who never expresses any warmth towards her only son. At one point, he says he is going to stop over with something for her that evening and she tells him “Forget it.” Her view on the changes in the school’s atmosphere : “I am sorry, but people love war. It’s always been like that. People love to shoot each other.” Also representative of the town’s collective feelings is Masha, one of Pasha’s students, whose brother is drafted into the war effort. She says, “I could care less about the war as long as it doesn’t impact me personally.” This seems to be the main opinion of the town. (Masha’s brother eventually defects and is killed.)

GRADUATION

Pasha is in charge of arranging for Graduation Day. He addresses the assembled crowd, saying, “My dear friends: wherever your life takes you, I wish you solid ground under your feet. There’ll be turning points you’ll have to choose. Sometimes to express your love, you must sacrifice everything, but I know that your choice will come from your heart. Thank you so much for working with me through this year. I love you very much. The time for the last bell has come.” This heartfelt speech is followed by dancing in the most toxic town on Earth and students tossing Pasha into the air in celebration.

That night, he flees Russia. He is being paid as co-director of this impressive effort for the BBC’s Storyville, but he was not present at the Q&A at Sundance.

Mr. Nobody Against Putin: Graduation Day

A still from Mr. Nobody Against Putin by David Borestein and Pavel Talankin, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute.

CONCLUSION

Pasha put in three years of work on the project. He tells the camera, “Even a guy like me should have some principles. By June I am done here.”

This was a brave act of principle in the face of an oppressive autocratic regime. Having just completed a University of Texas class entitled “Putin’s Rise to Power” that laid out the ways in which Putin has closed down and expelled Western journalists from Russia. I am now enrolled in a class entitled “Misinformation and Disinformation.” Our first lecture went into a great deal of detail about how difficult it is to get truthful reporting out of Russia.

This documentary is a real treasure and should be seen by anyone who loves democracy. It was a courageous and brave act by someone who has risked his entire life to help alert the world to the truth of Vladimir Putin’s plans for world domination.

“2000 Meters to Andriivka” Premieres at Sundance, 2025

By Connie Wilson

On January 31, 2025

In Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, Movies, Reviews

A still from 2000 Meters to Andriivka by Mstyslav Chernov, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Mstyslav Chernov

AP journalist Mstyslav Chernov filmed “20 Days in Mariupol” two years ago. His first documentary showing the Russian invasion of Mariupol won the Oscar as Best Documentary of the year at the 2024 Academy Awards.

At Sundance this year the 97-minute documentary “2000 Meters to Andriivka” embeds Chernov and Cinematographer Alex Babenko with troops advancing approximately one mile to the embattled town of Andriivka in Ukraine. Andriivka is representative of so many Ukrainian towns and villages seized by Russian troops. Onscreen, as they get closer to the town, the distance still to be traveled is shown in a kind of count-down fashion.

THE GOAL

The Russians have mined each of the sides of a forested area, the Zhyzhky forest, where the enemy has dug in. If the 93^rd brigade can make its way to the town, it will help cut the Russian supply line to the Russian-occupied city of Bakhmut. The Zhyzhky forest has had three previous Ukrainian attempts to make it to Andriivka, in June, July and August, only to see the front line of brave Ukrainian soldiers mowed down by Russian troops.

The goal? “If we are lucky, we’ll get there and see the raising of the Ukrainian flag.”

They do get there, but the town is totally destroyed.

THE FIGHTERS

The bravery of the Ukrainian men is admirable, but it all seems so futile.

Mstyslav Chernov, director of 2000 Meters to Andriivka, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jeff Vespa

Chernov has conversations with individual fighters—Freak, Kavun, Gagarin—and we see bodies littered everywhere on the hellscape that was once a forest leading towards the small village. The village of Andriivka, itself, when they finally reach it, is as decimated as the Gaza Strip. There really isn’t a building, as such, to hang a flag on or over. When Chernov is asked during the audience Q&A how things changed after the men reached Andriivka and raised the Ukrainian flag, he said, “It became sort of anti-climactic and climactic.” There is a small moment of humanity when one of the Ukrainian fighters finds a small kitten and smuggles it out with him.

FREAK ET. AL.

Freak is one of the fighters we get to know. He is only 22 years old and talks about his previous time at university. He says his plan is to “go in with the thought that I’m going to stay alive.” (Freak is injured 6 months later and his body is never recovered.)

A 46-year old military policeman (and a grandfather) who volunteered to defend Ukraine says that he should not be made out to be a hero. “I haven’t done anything heroic , yet here I am on camera. It shouldn’t be like that. There are those who have done so much.” He worries that his wife back home won’t have clean water and that he didn’t fix the toilet well enough before he left for war.

Gagarin is shot and falls, onscreen. (Later, the soldier who held Gagarin’s hand as he died, will also be killed in a drone strike in his village). Gagarin’s funeral is the 56^th funeral in his small town. The town turns out en masse and there is much mourning and crying. One of the mourners says, “We are burying our children. Women bury their husbands. Our boys still had everything ahead of them. They could have been entrepreneurs, agriculturists. When the time came, they took up arms to defend us.”

CONCLUSION

Where “20 Days in Mariupol” was optimistic, now, with a new administration in place, one that seems much less interested in supporting Ukraine in its struggle against Russia (and much friendlier towards Putin), the counter-offensive does not seem to be viable. Russia now controls abut 20% of Ukraine as of January, 2025.

Director Chernov said, “I don’t want to to speak to any of my relatives right now, because I would want to tell them that everything is okay and it’s not.”

I felt depressed after the November presidential election and on January 20th. I’m even more depressed after viewing this remarkable film about what is actually happening in Ukraine. It should be seen in a double viewing with another remarkable Sundance film, “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” which depicts how Russian schools are being told to brainwash students and turn them into soldiers at increasingly young ages.