Month: October 2024

Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that, if Kamala Harris is elected President, we will find ourselves in the midst of World War III. The reality is that electing Trump is more likely to trigger World War III.

Trump has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Vladimir Putin. He has threatened to withdraw the United States from NATO. He has said that if NATO did not meet his financial demands the United States would not honor its Article 5 obligation to come to the defense of its members and that Russia could ”do the hell whatever it wants.” He has refused to say that he wants Ukraine to win its war against the Russian invasion.

Incredibly, Trump has recently blamed Ukraine’s President, Voldomyr Zelensky, for Russia’s invasion of his country, saying Zelensky “should never have let that war start.” [1]Trump has claimed that if elected he has a secret plan to end the Russian Ukrainian war before taking office and has refused to disclose any elements of this plan.

One does not have to be a clairvoyant to predict that Trump will abandon Ukraine and require that it give up much of its land in order to bring an end to the war. Since Ukraine has already lost Crimea during the Russian invasion of 2014; it makes sense that Trump foresees the Ukrainians giving up the Donbas region of their country.

We have seen this movie before.

In 1938 Britain, France and other European nations acquiesced in Hitler’s invasion of the Sudetenland to avoid war with Germany. Hitler, like Putin, justified annexing these countries on the pretext of” protecting the ten million Germans living outside the Reich’s borders.”[2] The fruits of this appeasement spoiled quickly as an emboldened Hitler invaded Belgium, Poland, and France. The following year, Russia, an ally of Germany at this time, proceeded to invade Finland.[3]

In 2014, Putin, echoing Hitler’s justification for his invasion of the Sudetenland, justified his invasion of Ukraine’s Crimea, by claiming he was trying to restore order and protect Russians living there, after his puppet government led by Viktor Yanukovich, was overthrown.[4]

In its latest invasion of Ukraine, Putin has spouted this false justification in attempting to occupy the Donbas region.[5]

It is no surprise, that Sweden and Finland, which has a border with Russia, sought and gained admission to NATO and Ukraine is seeking to do the same.

Regrettably, the United States and its NATO allies stood by and took no action when Russia seized Crimea in 2014. Clearly, this emboldened Putin to try and seize all or more of Ukraine. Thankfully, the United States and NATO allies have come to the aid of the Zelensky government in its effort to repel the Russian invaders. The Ukrainians have fought valiantly and have made enormous sacrifices in fighting the Russians to a stalemate although being vastly outnumbered. Unfortunately, this heroic effort could end on January 20, 2025.

On November 5^th, Americans will choose between two starkly different candidates to become the next President of the United States. Vice President, Kamala Harris, has pledged to honor our commitments to our NATO allies while Donald Trump has questioned that commitment, and the United States continued membership in NATO.

If Trump is re-elected and Ukraine is forced to capitulate to Putin and give up more of its territory, Putin, like Hitler, will be emboldened to pursue more territory and even invade neighboring countries that are members of the NATO alliance. In that event the United States will be duty-bound, along with other NATO members, to defend their allies. War with Russia would be inevitable. Almost every General and National Security Expert that served in the previous Trump Administration has characterized Trump as a threat to national security. Heads of State, worldwide, have expressed misgivings and concerns about a second Trump Administration. Trump’s lionization of dictators and despots like Putin, Kim Jong-Un, Xi Jiping and Viktor Orban[6] stands in sharp contrast to his strained relationships with European leaders like Angela Merkel, Theresa May, Emmanuel Macron, and Canadian Prime minister, Justin Trudeau. If Trump were to be re-elected and capitulate to Putin on Ukraine, World War III will be at hand.

---

[1] Trump Blames Zelensky for the War I Ukraine. He rarely blames Putin,” Aaron Blake, Washington Post, October 18, 2024

[2] Shirer, William L. Berlin Diaries 1934-1941, Galahad Press (New York 1915) p.93-4.

[3] Shirer, William L. Berlin Diaries, 1934-1941, p.253.

[4] Putin Says He Reserves Right to Protect Russians in Ukraine., Kathy Lally and Will Englund, NBC News, March 4, 2014.

[5] Russia’s War is ravaging Donbas, Ukraine’s Beleaguered Heartland. Here’s What the Region Means to Putin, CNN by Rob Picheta, May 31, 2022

[6] Trump Again Praises Authoritarian Leaders at Bronx Rally, Praveena Somasundaram and Frances Vinall, Washington Post, May 24, 2024.Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that, if Kamala Harris is elected President, we will find ourselves in the midst of World War III. The reality is that electing Trump is more likely to trigger World War III.

Trump has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Vladimir Putin. He has threatened to withdraw the United States from NATO. He has said that if NATO did not meet his financial demands the United States would not honor its article 5 obligation to come to the defense of its members and that Russia could ”do the hell whatever it wants.” He has refused to say that he wants Ukraine to win its war against the Russian invasion.

Incredibly, Trump has recently blamed Ukraine’s President, Voldomyr Zelensky, for Russia’s invasion of his country, saying Zelensky “should never have let that war start.” [1]Trump has claimed that if elected he has a secret plan to end the Russian Ukrainian war before taking office and has refused to disclose any elements of this plan.

One does not have to be a clairvoyant to predict that Trump will abandon Ukraine and require that it give up much of its land in order to bring an end to the war. Since Ukraine has already lost Crimea during the Russian invasion of 2014; it makes sense that Trump foresees the Ukrainians giving up the Donbas region of their country.

We have seen this movie before.

In 1938 Britain, France and other European nations acquiesced in Hitler’s invasion of the Sudetenland to avoid war with Germany. Hitler, like Putin, justified annexing these countries on the pretext of” protecting the ten million Germans living outside the Reich’s borders.”[2] The fruits of this appeasement spoiled quickly as an emboldened Hitler invaded Belgium, Poland, and France. The following year, Russia, an ally of Germany at this time, proceeded to invade Finland.[3]

In 2014, Putin, echoing Hitler’s justification for his invasion of the Sudetenland, justified his invasion of Ukraine’s Crimea, by claiming he was trying to restore order and protect Russians living there, after his puppet government led by Viktor Yanukovich, was overthrown.[4]

In its latest invasion of Ukraine, Putin has spouted this false justification in attempting to occupy the Donbas region.[5]

It is no surprise, that Sweden and Finland, which has a border with Russia, sought and gained admission to NATO and Ukraine is seeking to do the same.

Regrettably, the United States and its NATO allies stood by and took no action when Russia seized Crimea in 2014. Clearly, this emboldened Putin to try and seize all or more of Ukraine. Thankfully, the United States and NATO allies have come to the aid of the Zelensky government in its effort to repel the Russian invaders. The Ukrainians have fought valiantly and have made enormous sacrifices in fighting the Russians to a stalemate although being vastly outnumbered. Unfortunately, this heroic effort could end on January 20, 2025.

On November 5^th, Americans will choose between two starkly different candidates to become the next President of the United States. Vice President, Kamala Harris, has pledged to honor our commitments to our NATO allies while Donald Trump has questioned that commitment, and the United States continued membership in NATO.

If Trump is re-elected and Ukraine is forced to capitulate to Putin and give up more of its territory, Putin, like Hitler, will be emboldened to pursue more territory and even invade neighboring countries that are members of the NATO alliance. In that event the United States will be duty-bound, along with other NATO members, to defend their allies. War with Russia would be inevitable. Almost every General and National Security Expert that served in the previous Trump Administration has characterized Trump as a threat to national security. Heads of State, worldwide, have expressed misgivings and concerns about a second Trump Administration. Trump’s lionization of dictators and despots like Putin, Kim Jong-Un, Xi Jiping and Viktor Orban[6] stands in sharp contrast to his strained relationships with European leaders like Angela Merkel, Theresa May, Emmanuel Macron, and Canadian Prime minister, Justin Trudeau. If Trump were to be re-elected and capitulate to Putin on Ukraine, World War III will be at hand.

---

[1] Trump Blames Zelensky for the War I Ukraine. He rarely blames Putin,” Aaron Blake, Washington Post, October 18, 2024

[2] Shirer, William L. Berlin Diaries 1934-1941, Galahad Press (New York 1915) p.93-4.

[3] Shirer, William L. Berlin Diaries, 1934-1941, p.253.

[4] Putin Says He Reserves Right to Protect Russians in Ukraine., Kathy Lally and Will Englund, NBC News, March 4, 2014.

[5] Russia’s War is ravaging Donbas, Ukraine’s Beleaguered Heartland. Here’s What the Region Means to Putin, CNN by Rob Picheta, May 31, 2022

[6] Trump Again Praises Authoritarian Leaders at Bronx Rally, Praveena Somasundaram and Frances Vinall, Washington Post, May 24, 2024.

The writer-philosopher George Santayana is credited with the phrase: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” 

Donald Trump has strived mightily to distance himself from Project 2025, the 900 plus page playbook that outlines his policies and goals should he return to the White House. Trump repeatedly claims that he “knows nothing” about Project 2025 while his campaign makes the claim that no one speaks for them. It’s no surprise that Trump and the campaign would try to distance themselves from Project 2025 since it contains ideas and plans that are anathema to democracy and near and dear to the heart of one who professes he will be a “Dictator on day one.”

Trump and the Trump Campaigns’ denials fly in the face of what we know about the people who participate in Project 2025’s authorship. While the document is ostensibly prepared by the Heritage Foundation, a right- wing Christian policy Institute, the Washington Post in its analysis of the plan reports that “28 of the projects 38 primary authors-nearly 75%-worked in the Trump administration.”[1] A leading architect of the project is Russell Vaught, who served as Budget Director during the Trump administration and is widely viewed as a potential Chief of Staff should Trump be reelected.

            While Trump professes to know nothing about Project 2025 even a cursory review of it reveals its contents to be a mirror image of Trump’s campaign rhetoric. The Section outlining Executive Power proposes eliminating civil service protection for thousands of federal government employees, such as Jay Bratt, Justice Department Chief of Counterintelligence, allowing Trump to hire and fire at will. One will recall that in the waning days of the Trump administration he authorized “Schedule F” to be created which if adopted would have achieved this result. Fortunately, it was abandoned during the earliest days of the Biden administration.

Project 2025 would bring the Department of Justice directly under Trump’s supervision. The chapter outlining how the Department would be administered includes plans to bring the FBI under the supervision of the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division and the Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division noting,” revelations regarding the FBI’s role in the Russia hoax of 2016, big tech version, and suppression of Hunter Biden’s laptop in 2020 strongly suggest that the FBI is completely out of control. To protect the Constitution, fight crime effectively, and protect the nation from foreign adversaries, the next conservative administration should begin to restore the FBI’s domestic reputation and integrity and enhance its effectiveness in meeting actual foreign threats.” To carry out this directive the administration would conduct, “ a comprehensive review of all major FBI investigations and activities and terminate any that are unlawful or contrary to national interest”[2]. The document goes on to recite “the director of the FBI must remain politically accountable to the president in the same manner as the head of any other federal department or agency. To ensure prompt political accountability and to reign in perceived or actual abuses, the next conservative administration should seek a legislative change to align the FBI director’s position with those of the heads of all other major departments and agencies.”[3] Clearly the intent of this proposal is to enable Trump to fulfill his pledge to his supporters when he promises them, “ I will be your retribution.”

In this chapter, Project 2025 outlines specific mandates it envisions the Department of Justice conducting. One is, “Announcing a Campaign to Enforce the Criminal Prohibitions in 18 USC Code Sections 1461 and 1462 Against Providers and Distributors of Abortion Pills that Use the Mail.”[4]

Another, is to “pursue appropriate steps to assist the Department of Homeland Security in obtaining information about criminal aliens and jurisdictions across the United States, particularly those inside ’sanctuary jurisdictions.’ Examine and consider the appropriateness of withdrawing or overturning every immigration decision rendered by Atty. Gen. Garland and any successor Atty. Gen. during Pres. Biden’s term.” This is clearly a prelude to Trump’s launching “the largest deportation of “illegal immigrants” that he has announced repeatedly on the campaign trail.

Project 2025 in its Homeland Security Chapter proposes repealing protections established by the Biden administration for unaccompanied children and would allow them to be detained and “returned to their country of origin.”[5] It would further amend the Homeland Security Act to remove the detention of alien children from the Department of Health and Human Services and transfer it to the Department of Homeland Security. Both these measures, and even more draconian ones proposed by Trump’s “advisor,” Stephen Miller that include large-scale defense detention camps, would be resurrected in a Trump administration.[6] This, despite the fact, that over a thousand children separated from their parents during the Trump administration remain unaccounted for.[7]

Beginning in 1933, Hitler and the Nazis vilified the Jews in Germany and its occupied territories as a prelude to confining them in camps after the invasion of Poland, ultimately leading to their attempted extermination known as the “Final Solution.” Trump has vilified migrants from Mexico, Latin America and other countries beginning in 2016 and currently vilifies Haitian  immigrants with false tales of their “eating the pets,” as he vows to rid them from this country.[8] Most recently Trump has begun to rail against immigrant being ”genetically inferior.”[9]

The echos from the past resonates louder with each passing day.

Trump and his campaign’s disavowals of Project 2025 are belied by the document itself. The online version, which the public is invited to read, declares at the top of each page that it is the “2025 Presidential Transition Project.”[10] Clearly it wasn’t drafted for either the Biden or Harris campaign. Trump’s attempts to distance himself and his campaign from the document is reminiscent of Hitler’s prohibition on Mein Kampf being translated into French or English in 1936 as recounted in William Schirer’s Berlin Diaries.[11]

Recently I listened to a broadcast of a Trump rally at which the crowd chanted “Send them back” as Trump vowed to remove the Haitian immigrants that he falsely was accusing of eating peoples’ pets. When I first heard the chant it sounded, disturbingly, like “Sieg Heil.”

As William Shakespeare wrote in The Tempest, “What is past is prologue.”

---

[1] How Democrats Made Project 2025 one of their top anti-GOP Attacks, Washington Post, September 4, 2024

[2] Project 2025, p.548-9.

[3] Project 2025, p.551-2

[4] Project 2025, p.562.

[5] Project 2025 p.148.

[6] Trump’s Plan for Giant Detention Camps Points to a Brutal 2024 Reality, Washington Post, November 14, 2023.

[7] The Biden Administration Is Still looking For Migrant families Separated Under Trump, Mother Jones, October 17, 2023.

[8] Trump Falsely Accuses Immigrants in Ohio of Abducting and Eating Pets, Mike Catalini, Julie Carr Smyth and Bruce Shipkowski, Associated Press, September 11, 2024.

[9] “Trump Suggests ‘bad genes’ to Blame for Undocumented Immigrants Who Commit Murder,” Washington Post, October 7, 2024.

[10] Project 2025, p.7.

[11] Shirer, William L., Berlin Diaries, The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent 1934-1941, Galahad Books, New York (1995)p.85.The writer-philosopher George Santayana is credited with the phrase: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” 

Donald Trump has strived mightily to distance himself from Project 2025, the 900 plus page playbook that outlines his policies and goals should he return to the White House. Trump repeatedly claims that he “knows nothing” about Project 2025 while his campaign makes the claim that no one speaks for them. It’s no surprise that Trump and the campaign would try to distance themselves from Project 2025 since it contains ideas and plans that are anathema to democracy and near and dear to the heart of one who professes he will be a “Dictator on day one.”

Trump and the Trump Campaigns’ denials fly in the face of what we know about the people who participate in Project 2025’s authorship. While the document is ostensibly prepared by the Heritage Foundation, a right- wing Christian policy Institute, the Washington Post in its analysis of the plan reports that “28 of the projects 38 primary authors-nearly 75%-worked in the Trump administration.”[1] A leading architect of the project is Russell Vaught, who served as Budget Director during the Trump administration and is widely viewed as a potential Chief of Staff should Trump be reelected.

            While Trump professes to know nothing about Project 2025 even a cursory review of it reveals its contents to be a mirror image of Trump’s campaign rhetoric. The Section outlining Executive Power proposes eliminating civil service protection for thousands of federal government employees, such as Jay Bratt, Justice Department Chief of Counterintelligence, allowing Trump to hire and fire at will. One will recall that in the waning days of the Trump administration he authorized “Schedule F” to be created which if adopted would have achieved this result. Fortunately, it was abandoned during the earliest days of the Biden administration.

Project 2025 would bring the Department of Justice directly under Trump’s supervision. The chapter outlining how the Department would be administered includes plans to bring the FBI under the supervision of the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division and the Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division noting,” revelations regarding the FBI’s role in the Russia hoax of 2016, big tech version, and suppression of Hunter Biden’s laptop in 2020 strongly suggest that the FBI is completely out of control. To protect the Constitution, fight crime effectively, and protect the nation from foreign adversaries, the next conservative administration should begin to restore the FBI’s domestic reputation and integrity and enhance its effectiveness in meeting actual foreign threats.” To carry out this directive the administration would conduct, “ a comprehensive review of all major FBI investigations and activities and terminate any that are unlawful or contrary to national interest”[2]. The document goes on to recite “the director of the FBI must remain politically accountable to the president in the same manner as the head of any other federal department or agency. To ensure prompt political accountability and to reign in perceived or actual abuses, the next conservative administration should seek a legislative change to align the FBI director’s position with those of the heads of all other major departments and agencies.”[3] Clearly the intent of this proposal is to enable Trump to fulfill his pledge to his supporters when he promises them, “ I will be your retribution.”

In this chapter, Project 2025 outlines specific mandates it envisions the Department of Justice conducting. One is, “Announcing a Campaign to Enforce the Criminal Prohibitions in 18 USC Code Sections 1461 and 1462 Against Providers and Distributors of Abortion Pills that Use the Mail.”[4]

Another, is to “pursue appropriate steps to assist the Department of Homeland Security in obtaining information about criminal aliens and jurisdictions across the United States, particularly those inside ’sanctuary jurisdictions.’ Examine and consider the appropriateness of withdrawing or overturning every immigration decision rendered by Atty. Gen. Garland and any successor Atty. Gen. during Pres. Biden’s term.” This is clearly a prelude to Trump’s launching “the largest deportation of “illegal immigrants” that he has announced repeatedly on the campaign trail.

Project 2025 in its Homeland Security Chapter proposes repealing protections established by the Biden administration for unaccompanied children and would allow them to be detained and “returned to their country of origin.”[5] It would further amend the Homeland Security Act to remove the detention of alien children from the Department of Health and Human Services and transfer it to the Department of Homeland Security. Both these measures, and even more draconian ones proposed by Trump’s “advisor,” Stephen Miller that include large-scale defense detention camps, would be resurrected in a Trump administration.[6] This, despite the fact, that over a thousand children separated from their parents during the Trump administration remain unaccounted for.[7]

Beginning in 1933, Hitler and the Nazis vilified the Jews in Germany and its occupied territories as a prelude to confining them in camps after the invasion of Poland, ultimately leading to their attempted extermination known as the “Final Solution.” Trump has vilified migrants from Mexico, Latin America and other countries beginning in 2016 and currently vilifies Haitian  immigrants with false tales of their “eating the pets,” as he vows to rid them from this country.[8] Most recently Trump has begun to rail against immigrant being ”genetically inferior.”[9]

The echos from the past resonates louder with each passing day.

Trump and his campaign’s disavowals of Project 2025 are belied by the document itself. The online version, which the public is invited to read, declares at the top of each page that it is the “2025 Presidential Transition Project.”[10] Clearly it wasn’t drafted for either the Biden or Harris campaign. Trump’s attempts to distance himself and his campaign from the document is reminiscent of Hitler’s prohibition on Mein Kampf being translated into French or English in 1936 as recounted in William Schirer’s Berlin Diaries.[11]

Recently I listened to a broadcast of a Trump rally at which the crowd chanted “Send them back” as Trump vowed to remove the Haitian immigrants that he falsely was accusing of eating peoples’ pets. When I first heard the chant it sounded, disturbingly, like “Sieg Heil.”

As William Shakespeare wrote in The Tempest, “What is past is prologue.”

---

[1] How Democrats Made Project 2025 one of their top anti-GOP Attacks, Washington Post, September 4, 2024

[2] Project 2025, p.548-9.

[3] Project 2025, p.551-2

[4] Project 2025, p.562.

[5] Project 2025 p.148.

[6] Trump’s Plan for Giant Detention Camps Points to a Brutal 2024 Reality, Washington Post, November 14, 2023.

[7] The Biden Administration Is Still looking For Migrant families Separated Under Trump, Mother Jones, October 17, 2023.

[8] Trump Falsely Accuses Immigrants in Ohio of Abducting and Eating Pets, Mike Catalini, Julie Carr Smyth and Bruce Shipkowski, Associated Press, September 11, 2024.

[9] “Trump Suggests ‘bad genes’ to Blame for Undocumented Immigrants Who Commit Murder,” Washington Post, October 7, 2024.

[10] Project 2025, p.7.

[11] Shirer, William L., Berlin Diaries, The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent 1934-1941, Galahad Books, New York (1995)p.85.