April 30, 2026 (Vol. 20 No. 17) - There he was yesterday, sitting all smug and cocky in his deliberately undersized suit. Puffed-Up Petey Hegseth, the self-proclaimed "Secretary of War," was gracing Congress with his presence and wisdom for the first time since the Trump Administration launched its unnecessary and unconstitutional war against Iran. While Republican members of the House Armed Service Committee lobbed softball questions to the former Fox TV host, Democrats lobbed hand grenades. In his typical arrogant bastard tone, Hegseth didn't answer their questions. Instead, starting with his opening statement, Puffed-Up Petey hurled insults and invective in a manner none of his predecessors would have imagined.

During his first term, President Donald Jackass Trump claimed he hired "the best people" for his Cabinet. He made no claim his time around - for good reason. As I have often cataloged in this space, Trump has himself a Klown Kabinet, a motley crew of misfits, miscreants and sycophants. None is more emblematic of this descent into chaos than our 45-year-old former National Guardsman turned into a self-proclaimed "war fighter." To be fair, Hegseth earned a Bronze Star while his Minnesota guard unit was deployed to Iraq. For that sir, I honor you for your service. However, once the Princeton-educated conservative left the service, he veered off into Neo-Nazi-like think tanks, eventually landing at that paragon of broadcast journalism, Fox News. Never in the history of this country have we had someone in such a critical position who was so under-qualified - with the exception of Donald Trump, himself. During his confirmation hearings, Hegseth faced allegations of sexual misconduct, financial mismanagement and excessive drinking. He needed Vice President J.D. Vance's - another under-qualified miscreant - to cast the tie-breaking vote to be confirmed by the Senate.

We were treated to classic Puffed-Up Petey in yesterday's hearing. He announced that the widely unpopular war, which has no end in sight, has cost the American taxpayer $25 billion. He was on Capitol Hill to push for the Pentagon's $1.45 trillion budget request. He brushed off the very real concern that Trump's version of "shock and awe" had critically depleted the supply of essential munitions such as air-launched cruise missiles and ground-launched precision strike missiles. At one point, Puffed-Up Petey lied to committee when he said that the Biden administration had spent "hundreds of billions of dollars" in defense of Ukraine. The actual figure is closer to $67 billion. He also defended actions that even first-year law students can identify as war crimes by saying the administration will give Iran "no quarter and no mercy." (That's the kind of language that sounds like it came out of Mein Kampf.) He was dismissive of the impact that Trump administration's war had cost the global economy. Puffed-Up Petey's response was to pose the false question of whether the Democrat Congressmen would prefer Iran have a nuclear weapon. My response: If you, as you claimed, "obliterated" Iran's nuclear program last summer, why was any of this necessary? What was the urgency? Did it have anything with Trump's record low approval ratings and the Epstein files? If so, this was one distraction that royally backfired.

So, what's the status of the war? Both sides have blockaded the Strait of Hormuz. As of this morning, this globally important waterway's traffic has been reduced to just five percent of normal. The two sides are not talking. Instead, they are willing to play "chicken" with each other at the expense of the global economy. Trump says he has "all of the cards." Yet, I am willing to bet that it will be the U.S. that will be the first to blink. As for the enriched uranium Iran has stored away deep inside of the mountain, I seriously doubt they would ever give it up. Would you, considering America's actions of the past two months? The only way the U.S. can secure the uranium is through the introduction of ground troops. Trump doesn't have the backbone to do that and the American people will not stand for it.

In his opening statement yesterday, Puffed-Up Petey said Congressional Democrats and some Republicans pose the greatest threat to peace. To that, I call "bullshit." Iran would not have a nuclear program today if our demented and defecating president had not torn up the nuclear agreement his processor had negotiated. By all independent accounts, the deal President Obama made was working. Now, in the face of American aggression and war crimes, there is not a snowball's chance in hell that Iran will give up its dream of becoming a nuclear power. Trump and Puffed-Up Petey haven't made us safer. If anything, we are now in more danger than ever before. Trump and his Klown Kabinet may talk big and bold, but they are dumbest people in the room. And as comedian Ron White had famously said, "There's just no fixin' stupid." That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.

April 26, 2026 (Vol. 20 No. 16) - I have been deeply involved in emergency management for most of the past half-century. That involvement was on many levels: as a reporter, as a member of the North Carolina State Emergency Response Team, as an instructor, as an academic researcher and as a volunteer. I am retired. But that doesn't mean that I don't continue to care about how people prepare for and deal with crises.

With this background, I couldn't help but take note of an action taken yesterday by Rep. Shanice Davids (D-Kansas). A news release distributed by her office said she has "demanded" answers from the National Weather Service following tornadoes that struck her district last week. Particularly hard hit was Ottawa (pictured above). Fortunately, no one was killed. Davids said she had "serious concerns" about Trump Administration budget cuts that have created "potential breakdowns" in forecasting and warning systems. In part, she was reacting to reports that multiple NWS offices in the region failed to conduct standard morning weather balloon launches and that the Storm Prediction Center failed to identify the weather threat in a timely matter. "These irresponsible decisions at the NWS have direct, real-world consequences for the safety of communities across Kansas and the country," Davids said.

Because of reckless cuts by Elon Musk's DOGE thugs, there are hundreds of staffing vacancies in NWS offices nationwide, At one point, 30 offices lacked a chief meteorologist. Critical roles such as "warning coordination meteorologists" were eliminated. These cuts have damaged the NWS's ability to help the public prepare for extreme weather events. Additionally, the cutting of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research programs will create long-term scientific and technological setbacks.

Unfortunately, DOGE's slash and burn approach to budgeting also gutted FEMA, which has lost 20 percent of its workforce. That translates Into irreplaceable lost expertise, a slow response to disasters, reduced planning and training activities, and increased pressure on local and state governments. We saw how these cuts impacted disaster responses in North Carolina, Tennessee, and California. I also believe these cuts played a critical role last year when 137 people died, including 27 children at a summer camp, during the July 4 flood in Texas.

The actions of the Trump Administration constitute criminal negligence. Cutting public safety agencies in order to bankroll the President's ICE raids, tax cuts for the uber-rich, and his unnecessary and unpopular war is immoral. Until the Democrats take control of the House and the Senate in the midterm elections, there is little were can do about it. I live in an area where potentially dangerous storms are forecast for this evening. Thanks the Musk and Trump, I understand the essence of federal government emergency preparedness and response: Pray for good weather. Otherwise, you are on your own. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.

April 15, 2026 (Vol. 20 No. 15) - "I am the Lord thy God. Thou shall not have strange gods before Me," is the First Commandment of the Ten Commandments. Based on the give and take of recent days between Pope Leo and President Trump, it is apparent that the Current Occupant of the Oval Office does his worshiping in front of a mirror. After the Pontiff dared to quote gospel against war during his Easter message, America's own Pompous Pilate took offense and made his hurt feelings known on his Truth Social platform. The confrontation then escalated following a 60 Minutes interview featuring three prominent American Catholic Cardinals highly critical of the president. In response, Trump wrote his longest tweet, with three times as many words as in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address:

That was just the beginning of the weird. Trump next tweeted an A-I image that was widely depicting him as Jesus Christ. After intense criticism from both sides of the aisle, he unapologettically pulled the image from the Internet, His Unholiness said that the image actually depicted him as a doctor. It has since been followed by other A-I imagery showing Trump being embraced by Jesus. This is the kind of crap we've known to expect from our fat ass president. But it has been painful to watch sycophantic Republicans like House Speaker Mini-Mike Johnson and Vice President J.D. Vance get their panties in a twist trying to justify Trump's outrageous conduct. Johnson said he believes Trump's explanation for his tweets while the spineless Vance, about to release a book about his conversion to Catholicism, basically told the Pope to "be careful" when talking about Trump's Trumped-Up War.

"Remember to keep holy the Lord's day," Commandment 3. Of course, that means nothing to Cardinal Sin. Trump saved one of this most profane tweets for Easter, the holiest day on the Christian calendar:

In my last post, I made my case for removal of Trump from office. Nothing has really changed since then, so I will not repeat it here. I invite you to follow this link if you are interested in reading it. In the spirit of a full disclosure, I also invite you to read (or reread) this post that explained my recent conversion to Catholicism. The focus of this post is to speak to the hypocrisy of the Mini-Mike Johnsons and the J.D. (Jokingly Devine) Vances of the world. These folks, all of whom profess deep Christian faith, regularly violate the First and Third Commandment, as well as Number Eight, "Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor." Nor do they concern themselves with Trump's well documented violation of Number Six, "Thou shall not commit adultery." (I am confident pedophilia is covered under that Commandment.) The same could be said for Trump's adherence to most of the remaining Commandments.

I know that no one is completely above reproach. I acknowledge that, as a mortal human being, I have sinned and have, in my own way, sought penance, This begs the central question: Why have so many people who claim to be devote Christians continue to blindly follow the man who has scorned the Constitution, the law of the land, and the Ten Commandments, the word of God? Before the Johnsons and the Vances of the evangelistic right wrap themselves up in blankets of holy hypocrisy, they must remember that their actions speak louder than their words. If you are a devote Christian, you have to walk the walk if you are going to talk the talk. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.

April 11,2026 (Vol. 20 No. 14) - The question of whether Donald J. Trump should be removed from office is one of the most serious constitutional issues American democracy has ever faced. It has centered on concerns about constitutional limits, abuse of power, the rule of law, the long-term stability of democratic institutions, truthfulness, and the President’s personal physical and mental stability. Beyond that, the Congress or the Cabinet must remember that no individual, regardless of position, is above the law and that the presidency must be exercised in a manner consistent with democratic norms and constitutional obligations.

Trump’s lack of accountability is at the heart of the matter. It is bad enough that this wannabe dictator takes impulsive actions such as gutting agencies such as FEMA or the Centers for Disease Control. He also wants to interfere in the administration of elections, a power the Constitution explicitly and exclusively reserves for the states. Now, the U.S. is engaged in an undeclared war without constitutionally required congressional approval. In a constitutional system built on checks and balances, the executive branch is not meant to operate without oversight. Congress is in the best position ensure in that presidential power is not abused.  Unfortunately, the Republican-led Congress has behaved like sycophantic minions subserviently bowing out of fear to President Manchild’s latest whim.

Another key argument involves the concept of precedent. The actions of any president set examples for future leaders. If certain behaviors are tolerated or go unpunished, they may become normalized, potentially eroding democratic standards over time. For example, let’s look at the President’s recent tweets on the ironically named Truth Social platform. Trump chose Easter morning, the holiest day on the Christian calendar, to release a profanity-laced threat against Iran. Then, on Monday, Trump angerly and profanely tweeted that he was prepared wipe out Iranian civilization by attacking civilian infrastructure – in other words, a war crime.

The issue of public trust is also central to this debate. A functioning democracy depends on the confidence of its citizens in their institutions and leaders. When a president’s actions lead to widespread skepticism or distrust—whether justified or not—it can have lasting effects on civic engagement and political stability. A large percentage of his fellow citizens believe the President’s main goal for this morally and constitutionally questionable “excursion” is to distract the public from the Epstein files. Ironically, it was Melania Trump, the pole-dancer turned First Lady, who thrust Epstein back on the front pages with her own unsolicited denials of involvement with her husband’s “best friend” turned sexual marauder. Critics argue that restoring public trust may require decisive action, including removal from office if warranted by the circumstances. Without such measures, the gap between the government and the governed may continue to widen.

Then there is the central tenant of leadership – the need for truthful, credible communication. The Washington Post recorded more than 30,000 presidential lies in this first term. I’ve not seen a count of how many lies Trump has told during the first 15 month of his second term, but I am confident he will surpass the “pants-on-fire” count from his first term if he is allowed to complete his second term.

Trump apologists say his crazy Easter tweets were strategic communications designed to force Iran into negotiations. Even if we accept that questionable assumption as gospel truth, it ignored the fact that the rest of the world gets very nervous with the thought of madman in the Oval Office with his plump, discolored finger on the nuclear button.

What does that matter that the President lies through his teeth? Ask yourself this question: When Iran and Trump announced conflicting versions of the so-called ceasefire agreement, did you wonder which version you should believe?

And then there’s TACO, “Trump always chickens out.” After threatening to the blow Iran off the face of the earth if it didn’t open the Strait of Hormuz, President TACO said it wasn’t all that important to him. Now he says keeping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is his main concern – one he raised only after intense public criticism about his failure to focus on it in the first place.

It is also important to consider the international dimension. The president of the United States is not only a domestic leader but also a global figure whose actions influence the country’s standing in the world. Almost everything this president does has the effect of giving aid and comfort to our enemies while alienating our friends. Allegations of misconduct or instability at the highest levels of government can affect diplomatic relationships, alliances, and the perception of the United States as a model of democratic governance.

In conclusion, the case for removing President Trump through impeachment or the 25th amendment is compelling. The United States is approaching a period of maximum danger. Our enemies are getting strong while Trump is rotting the nation’s resolve from within. We need to remove Trump from office now. Absent the necessary congressional and cabinet action, there is a compelling case for removing congressional obstructionists in the November elections. That’s it for now. Fear the Turtle.