Posts Tagged ‘NEW YORK CITY’
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In Bureaucracy, History, Politics, Social commentary, Uncategorized on November 25, 2025 at 12:11 am
Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of MeidasNews, probably fell out of his chair while writing his analysis of the November 21 meeting between President Donald J. Trump and Zohran Mamdani, mayor-elect of New York City.
Filipkowski wrote:
“Zohran Mamdani visited Trump today at the WH, and it did not go the way most Republicans thought it would. Trump has always recognized and fawned over star power, and that is exactly the way he treated Mamdani.
“Fox reporter to Mamdani: You referred to Trump as a despot…
“Trump interrupts: I’ve been called much worse than a despot. So it’s not that insulting.
“I was laughing hysterically during this entire meeting with Trump praising Mamdani. It was a one-way love fest from Trump to Mamdani, with Zohran playing it cool the entire time.
Ron Filipkowski
Trump: I tell you, the press has eaten this thing up. I have had a lot of meetings with the heads of major countries, nobody cared. The biggest people come over from other countries and nobody cares but they did care about this meeting, and it was a great meeting.
“Q to Trump – Would you feel comfortable living in NYC under a Mamdani admin?
Trump: Yeah, I would.
“Republican campaign consultants built their entire midterm strategy around making Mamdani into the devil incarnate and the face of Democratic Party, then Trump slobbers all over him today in the Oval!
Donald Trump
“Trump then proceeded to end Elise Stefanik’s campaign for governor”:
Q – Stefanik has campaigned on calling Mamdani a jihadist. Do you think you’re standing next to a jihadist?
Trump: No… but she’s out there campaigning. You say things sometimes in a campaign. You’d have to ask her about that. I met with a man who is a rational person.
“…I’m dying!!! I soooo wish I could see her face right now. (First time I’ve ever said that).”
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani: I told the president that, you know, so much of the focus of our campaign has been on the cost of living crisis and when we asked those New Yorkers who had voted for the president, when we saw an increase in his numbers in NYC, that came back to the same issue: Cost of living, cost of living, cost of living.
Trump: We have to get Con Edison to start lowering their rates.
Mamdani: Absolutely.
“I just pissed my pants laughing. I’m crying!”
Trump: He has a chance to do something great for NY and he does need the help from the fed govt. And we will be helping him. But he’s different than your average candidate. He came out of nowhere.
* * * * *
During Mamdani’scampaign for mayor, he called himself “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare,” and Trumpcalled Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” and “total nut job.” So many Republicans found themselves baffled—if not furious at the outcome of the meeting.
Fox host Brian Kilmeade: Wow, what we just watched. This was a love fest. I think JD Vance is jealous. I think the president wants to use Zohran as a running mate. They got along fantastic.
Trump fanatic Laura Loomer: Why did Zelensky receive a harsher welcome at the WH than Mamdani? Interesting. If socialists are doing a good job, then I guess nobody needs to vote them out during the midterms. If you’re a Republican, why not just stay home in 2026 and 2028 since Mamdani’s policies are amazing? I’m confused. No need to oppose the left I guess. No need to vote for the GOP in 2026 is the message I’m getting from that. Am I missing something?
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY): Based on the election results, we knew Mamdani was charming, but who thought he’d be able to charm the president?
A close friend of Trump’s to Vanity Fair: I think it would’ve been a lot more effective for his base if he threw Mamdani out of the Oval Office…I’m concerned that Trump is turning his back on the base at the moment.
Todd Starnes, Right-wing commentator: SCENARIO: Mamdani enters the Oval Office today only to be greeted by Tom Homan who then personally escorts the Communist back to Uganda. I thought Mamdani was supposed to be a fascist dictator? What the heck is going on at the White House?
Some Right-wing commentators believed that Trump had extended an olive branch to Mamdani. Others felt Mamdani had been nervous, while Trump had been in total control.
Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had a different take: “I think Trump has actually a lot of respect for Mamdani. As they say, game respects game. If you engage Trump and you show him you’re not afraid, he is actually willing to do some give and take.”
On November 4, Trump suffered major defeats in elections for New York City’s mayor, the governorships in New Jersey and Virginia, and Proposition 50, California’s redistricting ballot measure.
“Affordability” was the issue that guided voters—while Trump was gutting the East Wing of the White House for a $300 million ballroom. So his surprisingly affable attitude toward Mamdani could have been a ploy to convince voters he now cared about their needs in an era of rising inequality.
Only time—and election returns—will tell.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Medical, Politics, Social commentary on November 24, 2025 at 12:06 am
On November 2, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani surprised patrons at a gay night club when he stopped by to campaign at 1 am.
Five hours later, he walked across the Brooklyn Bridge at 6 am.
On the social media platform, Bluesky, a post took notice of this:
“To anyone who’s been awestruck by Zohran’s campaigning stamina in being able to end his night at a gay bar at 1 am and then walk across the Brooklyn Bridge at 6 am….
“This is what happens when you don’t have 76 year old candidates running for office.”
Zohran Mamdani is 34.
Zohran Mamdani
Dmitryshein, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
On July 4, 1776, representatives of the original Thirteen Colonies met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to affix their signatures to Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence.
In July, 1776, the ages of key American Revolutionary figures were:
- Marquis de Lafayette, 18
- James Monroe, 18
- Aaron Burr, 20
- John Marshall, 20
- Nathan Hale, 21
- Alexander Hamilton, 21
- James Madison, 25
- John Paul Jones, 28
- Thomas Jefferson, 33
- Benedict Arnold, 35
- Ethan Allen, 38
- John Hancock, 39
- Thomas Paine, 39
- Paul Revere, 41
- George Washington, 44
- Samuel Adams, 53
- Benjamin Franklin, 70
Signing of the Declaration of Independence
Youth was a commonplace among the signers of the Declaration. Their average age was 44.
In the hit play (and later movie) 1776, several members of Congress—including Thomas Jefferson—are surprised to learn that John Adams—who’s 41—still “burns” for his wife Abigail, who’s waiting for him in Boston, Massachusetts.
Today, a nation that once prized youth among its leaders is now moving toward government by gerontocracy.
The average age of members of the House of Representatives is 57.9 years. In the Senate, it’s 64.3.
During 2024, the major Presidential contenders were:
- President Joseph Biden, 81
- Donald Trump, 78
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr, 70
- Jill Stein, 74
- Asa Hutchinson, 72
- Chris Christie, 61
- Doug Burgum, 67
- Marianne Williamson, 71
- Cornel West, 71
- Kamala Harris, 60
A visit to the Soviet Union in the twilight of its 74-year existence reveals where the United States is heading.
In May 1982, 75-year-old General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, suffered a severe stroke. He had ruled the U.S.S.R. since 1964, but by the early 1980s he was essentially a figurehead. On November 10, 1982, he finally died of a heart attack.
The Kremlin
Succeeding Brezhnev was Yuri Andropov, 69, who until May, 1982, had been chief of the KGB.
Andropov suffered from kidney failure and was often on dialysis. By December, 1983, after barely more than a year in office, he was totally bedridden. On February 9, 1984, he joined Brezhnev at the great Party Congress in the sky.
Andropov had realized that the Soviet Union needed a younger and more energetic ruler. Not long before he died he suggested that Mikhail Gorbachev, his aide, succeed him.
But the Central Committee instead chose Konstantin Chernenko, who, at 72, was older than Andropov. On February 13, 1984, he became the U.S.S.R.’s third leader in a year and a half.
Suffering from emphysema, occasional heart failure and liver disease from alcohol, Chernenko died on March 10, 1985.
Only then did Kremlin rulers decide to choose a General Secretary who was likely to live more than one or two years. One day after Chernenko died, the Politburo chose Gorbachev, a relatively young 54.
Mikhail Gorbachev
RIA Novosti archive, image #850809 / Vladimir Vyatkin / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Gorbachev survived to retire as President of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991.
So what does this mean for old men and women seeking the White House?
According to Dr. Michael Roizen, Presidents effectively age twice as fast while in office. Roizen, a chief wellness officer at the Cleveland Clinic and co-founder of RealAge.com, bases his opinion on his research of medical records of previous presidents, back to Theodore Roosevelt.
“The main cause is what we call unrequited stress—they don’t have enough friends to mitigate the stress. The major way most of us handle stress is through a number of techniques, but the most prominent way is to discuss it with friends.
“The problem with presidents is, some of them lose friends, and the closest friend they have is usually the spouse.”
Thus, a person who has been president eight years has the risk of disability or dying of someone who is 16 years older. When you’re already in your late 60s or early 70s, that doesn’t give you much room for risk-taking.
Of course, given America’s Politically Correct social norms, pointing out the disadvantages of combing extreme age with extreme pressure is taboo for many persons.
Julian Castro found this out when, in a debate, he questioned Joseph Biden’s mental acuity.
“In a cultural way, it shocked me,” said Gerson Borrero, a New York City political commentator. “We respect our elders—there may be a point where we smile at their ‘disparates’ (gaffes), but at the same time we stay respectful.”
As the United States approaches the 2028 Presidential election, the perils of gerontocracy loom even larger: Donald Trump has “hinted” he wants to run for a third term in 2028.
Even if he weren’t barred from a third term by the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment, he would be 82 years old when he took office in 2029.
FBI agents have a mandatory retirement age of 57. Airplane pilots must retire at 65. Air traffic controllers must leave at 56.
It’s past time to bring a mandatory retirement age to members of Congress and the Presidency.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Military, Politics, Social commentary on November 19, 2025 at 12:13 am
On November 5, Steve Bannon, former advisor to President Donald J. Trump, issued a warning to his fellow Republicans generally and Stormtrumpers in particular.
He did so at the Conservative Partnership Institute, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit that trains “public policy warriors” who advocate for “conservative principles of liberty and small government.”
“And I will tell you right now, as God is my witness. If we lose the midterms, if we lose 2028, some in this room are going to prison—myself included. They’re not gonna stop. They are getting more and more and more radical.
“And we have to counter that. And what do we have to counter it with? We have to counter it with more action, more intense action, more urgency. We’re burning daylight.”
Steve Bannon
Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Bannon warned that Senate Republicans should heed Trump’s demand to eliminate the chamber’s 60-vote cloture threshold. Republicans needed seven Democratic votes to advance their funding bill, which would give tax breaks to billionaires by gutting Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
But Democrats had refused and demanded an extension of Obamacare healthcare premium subsidies, which are set to expire on Dec. 31.
“If we don’t do that now, we’re gonna lose this chance forever, because you’re never gonna have another Trump, all right?” Bannon continued. “You’re just not going to have him.”
Bannon’s warning came just two days after Democrats trounced Republicans across the nation.
- In California, voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 50 to redraw congressional maps ahead of the 2030 census and give Democrats five new seats in Congress. The reason: To counter Texas’ gerrymandering efforts to give Republicans an illegal majority in Congress.
- In Virginia, the governorship went to Abigail Spanberger, a former Intelligence officer and member of the House of Representatives.
- In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill, a former naval officer, prosecutor and member of the House of Representatives, won the governorship of that state.
- And in what was probably the most-publicized race of all, Zohran Mamdani, a member of the New York State Assembly, won the overwhelming vote of New Yorkers to become mayor of New York City.
Mamdani’s opponents had included not only New York City Mayor Eric Adams and former New York governor Andrew Cuomo but President Donald Trump.
Trump repeatedly called Mamdani a communist and even threatened to withdraw federal funding for New York City if Mamdani were elected mayor.
Throughout 2025, Trump had projected the image of invincibility. Among his outrages:
- Granting clemency to more than 1,500 people convicted of offenses related to the January 6, 2021 United States Capitol attack.
- Ordering the Justice Department to indict his critics such as New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey.
- Shutting down the Federal Government on October 1, when Democrats refused to agree to his gutting Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), causing 10-15 million Americans to lose health insurance coverage.
But the unexpected nationwide sweep of Democratic victories has shattered that image. It’s also shattered Republicans’ certainty that staying loyal to Trump’s agenda guarantees their political futures.
Eerily, Bannon’s address echoed one given 83 years earlier—by another man who warned his audience they faced punishment for their crimes.
On October 4, 1943, SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler addressed SS officers stationed in Posen, Poland, about the ongoing campaign to exterminate the Jews of Europe.
He gave a similar speech two days later to an audience of Reichsleiters (national leaders) and Gauleiters (governors), as well as other government representatives.
Himmler intended to alert Reich officials of the extermination campaign the Schutzstaffel (“Protective Squads”)—otherwise known as the SS—and Wehrmacht (German army) had been waging since June, 1941.
The purpose: To make his listeners accessories to his monumental crimes—and to warn them there was no turning back.
Heinrich Himmler
Either Nazi Germany won the war that its Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, had unintentionally unleashed on September 1, 1939—or its topmost officials would themselves face extinction as war criminals.
Said Himmler:
“I want to also mention a very difficult subject before you, with complete candor. It should be discussed amongst us, yet nevertheless, we will never speak about it in public. I am talking about the evacuation of the Jews, the extermination of the Jewish people.
“It is one of those things that is easily said: ‘The Jewish people is being exterminated.’…Most of you will know what it means when 100 bodies lie together, when 500 are there or when there are 1,000.
“And to have seen this through and—with the exception of human weakness—to have remained decent, has made us hard and is a page of glory never mentioned and never to be mentioned….
“But altogether we can say: We have carried out this most difficult task for the love of our people. And we have suffered no defect within us, in our soul, in our character.”
History has brutally condemned those Germans who, knowing the full extent of Adolf Hitler’s crimes, nevertheless signed on to perpetuate and conceal them.
History will render the same damning verdict against House and Senate Republicans who provided similar cover for the crimes of Donald Trump.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on November 4, 2025 at 12:10 am
“Real power is—I don’t even want to use the word—fear.”
Thus Donald Trump—then a 2016 Presidential candidate—revealed guiding philosophy on rule to legendary journalist Bob Woodward.
It also serves as the thesis of Woodward’s 2018 bestseller: Fear: Trump in the White House, which chronicles the first two years of Trump’s first term as President.
Throughout that term, he showed no interest in compromise: “Do what I want—or I’ll destroy you” proved his go-to method of “negotiation.” And it has remained so during the first nine months of his second term.
On July 4, he signed into law the Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill” which gives huge tax breaks to billionaires—by gutting Medicare and the Affordable Care Act for the poor and middle-class.
When Democrats refused to sign on, he shut down the government on October 1, saying openly he intended to punish them—and their constituents—for their refusal to bow to his will.
The Federal Government remains closed as of this writing.
But there are humane ways to wield power—and these usually leave feelings of lasting gratitude—if not reverence—for those who do.
Two examples follow.
Lesson #!: In Book Three, Chapter 22 of his classic masterwork, The Discourses, Niccolo Machiavelli offers the following: “An Act of Humanity Prevailed More With the Falacians Than All the Power of Rome.”
Marcus Furius Camillus, a Roman general, was besieging the city of the Faliscians, and had surrounded it. A teacher charged with educating the children of some of the city’s noblest families decided to ingratiate himself with Camillus by leading them into the Roman camp.
As Roman hostages, they could be used to compel the city to surrender.
Camillus not only declined the offer but went one step further. He ordered the teacher stripped and his hands tied behind his back. Then Camillus had a rod put into the hands of each of the children and directed them to whip the teacher all the way back to the city.
Upon learning this, the citizens of Faliscia were so much touched by the humanity and integrity of Camillus, that they surrendered the place to him without any further defense.
Summing up the meaning of this, Machiavelli writes: “This example shows that an act of humanity and benevolence will at all times have more influence over the minds of men than violence and ferocity. It also proves that provinces and cities which no armies…could conquer, have yielded to an act of humanity, benevolence, chastity or generosity.
“…History also shows us how much the people desire to find such virtues in great men, and how much they are extolled by historians and biographers of princes….Amongst these, Xenophon takes great pains to show how many victories, how much honor and fame, Cyrus gained by his humanity and affability, and by his not having exhibited a single instance of pride, cruelty or luxuriousness, nor of any of the other vices that are apt to stain the lives of men.”
Niccolo Machiavelli
This lesson—recorded by a master political scientist and practitioner of Realpolitik—remains highly relevant today.
Lesson #2: On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a black unemployed restaurant security guard, was murdered by Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer. While Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest, Chauvin kept his knee on the right side of Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.
Cities across the United States erupted in mass protests over Floyd’s death—and police killings of black victims generally. Most of these demonstrations proved peaceful.
But cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City saw stores looted, vandalized and/or burned.
In response, President Donald Trump called for harsh policing, telling governors in a nationwide conference call that they must “dominate” protesters or be seen as “weak.”
To drive home his point, Trump ordered police and National Guard troops to violently remove peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square, which borders St. John’s Church near the White House.
The purpose of the removal: To allow Trump to have a photo opportunity outside the church.
“I imposed a curfew at 7pm,” tweeted Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. “A full 25 minutes before the curfew & w/o provocation, federal police used munitions on peaceful protestors in front of the White House, an act that will make the job of @DCPoliceDept officers more difficult. Shameful!”
Contrast that with the example of Sheriff Christopher Swanson of Genesee County, Michigan.
Sheriff Christopher Swanson
Confronting a mass of aroused demonstrators in Flint Township on May 30, Swanson responded: “We want to be with you all for real.”
So Swanson took his helmet off. His deputies laid their batons down.
“I want to make this a parade, not a protest. So, you tell us what you need to do.”
“Walk with us!” the protesters shouted.
“Let’s walk, let’s walk,” said Swanson.
Cheering and applause resounded.
“Let’s go, let’s go,” Swanson said as he and the cheering crowd proceeded. “Where do you want to walk? We’ll walk all night.”
And Swanson and his fellow officers walked in sympathy with the protesters.
No rioting followed.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law Enforcement, Military, Politics, Social commentary on April 9, 2025 at 12:11 am
There are literally no limits to which Donald Trump’s fanatical supporters will go to convince others he’s a heroic champion worthy of their reverence.
On Facebook and Twitter, his disciples post images of him that are not only false but laughably so.
One such image posted by “Nick Adams (Alpha Male)” showed the jowly, grotesquely overweight, 77-year-old ex-President as a muscular bodybuilder. And it came with the caption: “President Trump is a TITAN!”
Ironically, the tweet came on the same day—June 18, 2023—when news broke of the implosion of the Titan mini-sub and the loss of its five-man crew. The tragedy occurred during a dive to view the wreckage of the Titanic, which sank in 1912.
Other memes have depicted Trump—a notorious draft-dodger who received no fewer than five deferments to escape the Vietnam war—as a military hero, clad in full military gear.
One even claimed he had killed Osama bin Laden—an act that occurred when Barack Obama was President and Trump was safely presiding over the TV show, “The Apprentice.”
Other propagandists for Trump have depicted him as beloved by Jesus. This despite the fact that Trump is a notorious liar, egomaniac, adulterer, thief and materialist.
Still others have tried to compare Trump to historical titans—like Winston Churchill.
On May 25, 2020, mass protests erupted across the country following the murder of George Floyd, a black unemployed restaurant security guard, by Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer.
Cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City saw stores looted, vandalized and/or burned. In response, President Trump called for harsh policing, telling governors in a nationwide conference call that they must “dominate” protesters or be seen as “weak.”
Death of George Floyd
To drive home his point, on June 1, Trump ordered police, Secret Service agents and National Guard troops to violently remove peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square, which borders St. John’s Church near the White House.
The purpose of the removal: So Trump—holding a Bible upside down—could have a photo-op in front of the church.
On June 3, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany compared Trump’s photo-op in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church to former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s visits to bombed British cities during World War II:
“Through all of time, we have seen presidents and leaders across the world who have had leadership moments and very powerful symbols that were important for a nation to see at any given time to show a message of resilience and determination.
“Like Churchill, we saw him inspecting the bombing damage. It sent a powerful message of leadership to the British people.”
Kayleigh McEnany
Comparing Trump to Churchill proved a triumph of imagination on McEnany’s part:
- Churchill was an avowed and relentless opponent of Fascism—and especially its most infamous exponent, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler.
- During the 1930s, as Europe’s democracies ignored or quailed before Nazi threats, Churchill demanded that England arm for the coming war against Nazi Germany.
- Trump, a Fascistic dictator by nature, tried to rule by fiat and identified with dictators—most notably Communist ones, such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un.
- Throughout World War II, Churchill had only one bodyguard—Inspector Walter Thompson, of Scotland Yard’s Special Branch.
Winston Churchill (testing a submachinegun); Walter Thompson (in black fedora)
- Trump was constantly protected by hundreds of Secret Service agents who were supplemented by platoons of local police.
- During bombing raids, Churchill often climbed atop London buildings to watch the bombardment—or raced to cities he had just learned were under attack.
- During the George Floyd protests, Trump ducked into the White House’s bombproof bunker.
- Trump turned the normally well-protected White House into an armed fortress. Block after block of tall, black reinforced fencing had been erected in recent days. Tan military vehicles rolled along Pennsylvania Avenue and camo-clad troops patrolled the corner where tourists once bought red, white and blue USA sweatshirts.
- As a young man, Churchill had served as a second lieutenant in the Fourth Queen’s Own Hussars regiment of the British Army. He volunteered to campaign against Islamic rebels in the Swat Valley of northwest India. In Egypt, he joined the 21st Lancers and saw action in the Battle of Omdurman.
- Trump had used his father’s influence to win five draft deferments during the Vietnam war—four allowing him to complete college and one for “bone spurs.”
Donald Trump is by no means the first tyrant to be hailed as a hero.
Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler—who almost certainly never rode a horse—was depicted as an armor-clad knight holding a swastika banner while astride a spirited steed.
And the Soviet Union’s Joseph Stalin—whose pockmarked face, short stature and widening girth were visible to all who met him—was depicted in posters as handsome, gigantic and trim.
Tyrants pay close attention to how they are depicted. They want to be seen as forever modest, humble, wise and courageous—the embodiment of virtue and patriotism.
To depict them as they usually are—vain, arrogant, stupid, cowardly—they consider a personal affront and a challenge to their absolute rule.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on March 21, 2025 at 12:12 am
Two stories—one fictitious, the other historical.
Story #1: In the 1961 historical epic, “El Cid,” Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, known as “El Cid”—“The Lord”—besieges the Spanish city of Valencia, which has been captured by the Moors.
Months have passed. The city’s population is starving and without hope.
Then, one day, El Cid (Charlton Heston) calls out over the city’s walls: “Soldiers and citizens of Valencia! We are not your enemy! Ben Yusof [the powerful emir who plans to conquer Spain with an invading army] is your enemy!
“Join us! We bring you peace! We bring you freedom! We bring you bread!”
Suddenly El Cid’s Spanish catapults spring into action—loaded not with stones but loaves of bread. The loaves land in the city’s streets, where starving citizens and soldiers greedily devour them.
Then those citizens attack the bodyguards of the well-fed emir ruling Valencia—and throw the emir himself from a high wall.
The army of El Cid marches peacefully into the city.
Story #2: In Book Three, Chapter 22 of his classic masterwork, The Discourses, Niccolo Machiavelli offers the following: “An Act of Humanity Prevailed More With the Falacians Than All the Power of Rome.”
Marcus Furius Camillus, a Roman general, was besieging the city of the Faliscians, and had surrounded it. A teacher charged with the education of the children of some of the noblest families of that city decided to ingratiate himself with Camillus by leading those children into the Roman camp.
Presenting them to Camillus ,the teacher said to him, “By means of these children as hostages, you will be able to compel the city to surrender.”
Camillus not only declined the offer but went one step further. He ordered the teacher stripped and his hands tied behind his back. Then Camillus had a rod put into the hands of each of the children and directed them to whip the teacher all the way back to the city.
Upon learning this, the citizens of Faliscia were so much touched by the humanity and integrity of Camillus, that they surrendered the place to him without any further defense.
Summing up the meaning of this, Machiavelli writes: “This example shows that an act of humanity and benevolence will at all times have more influence over the minds of men than violence and ferocity. It also proves that provinces and cities which no armies…could conquer, have yielded to an act of humanity, benevolence, chastity or generosity.
“…History also shows us how much the people desire to find such virtues in great men, and how much they are extolled by historians and biographers of princes….Amongst these, Xenophon takes great pains to show how many victories, how much honor and fame, Cyrus gained by his humanity and affability, and by his not having exhibited a single instance of pride, cruelty or luxuriousness, nor of any of the other vices that are apt to stain the lives of men.”
Niccolo Machiavelli
These stories—the first the product of a movie screenwriter’s imagination, the second recorded by a master political scientist and historian—remain highly relevant today.
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a black unemployed restaurant security guard, was murdered by Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer. While Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest, Chauvin kept his knee on the right side of Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.
Cities across the United States erupted in mass protests over Floyd’s death—and police killings of black victims generally. Most of these demonstrations proved peaceful.
But cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City saw stores looted, vandalized and/or burned. In response, President Donald Trump called for harsh policing, telling governors in a nationwide conference call that they must “dominate” protesters or be seen as “weak.”
To drive home his point, Trump ordered police and National Guard troops to violently remove peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square, which borders St. John’s Church near the White House.
The purpose of the removal: To allow Trump to have a photo opportunity outside the church.
“I imposed a curfew at 7pm,” tweeted Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. “A full 25 minutes before the curfew & w/o provocation, federal police used munitions on peaceful protestors in front of the White House, an act that will make the job of @DCPoliceDept officers more difficult. Shameful!”
Contrast that with the example of Sheriff Christopher Swanson of Genesee County, Michigan.
Sheriff Christopher Swanson
Confronting a mass of aroused demonstrators in Flint Township on May 30, Swanson responded: “We want to be with you all for real.”
So Swanson took his helmet off. His deputies laid their batons down.
“I want to make this a parade, not a protest. So, you tell us what you need to do.”
“Walk with us!” the protesters shouted.
“Let’s walk, let’s walk,” said Swanson.
Cheering and applause resounded.
“Let’s go, let’s go,” Swanson said as he and the cheering crowd proceeded. “Where do you want to walk? We’ll walk all night.”
And Swanson and his fellow officers walked in sympathy with the protesters.
No rioting followed.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on January 3, 2025 at 12:13 am
Eighty-six years after Adolf Hitler declared himself “the Supreme Judge of the German people,” the United States faced the same fate under President Donald J. Trump.
On June 1, 2020, Trump declared: ”I am your President of law and order, and an ally of all peaceful protesters.”
But on that same evening, Trump ordered police, Secret Service agents and National Guard troops to violently remove peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square, which borders St. John’s Church near the White House.
They were protesting the murder of George Floyd, a black unemployed restaurant security guard, by a white Minneapolis police officer on May 25.
The purpose of the removal: To allow Trump to have a photo op outside the church.
Donald Trump at St. John’s Church
On September 2, Trump sent a memo to Russell T. Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Attorney General William P. Barr. Its message: Find ways to cut funding to several cities controlled by Democrats.
Trump singled out four cities for defunding: Portland, Oregon; Washington, D.C.; Seattle, Washington; and New York City.
Trump gave his official reason for this move: “Anarchy has recently beset some of our states and cities. My administration will not allow federal tax dollars to fund cities that allow themselves to deteriorate into lawless zones.”
He blamed rising crime rates on Black Lives Matter protesters and blacks who had looted and burned stores during nationwide protests against police brutality. And he claimed that only he could save America from a civil war ignited by such protesters.
At the same time, he totally ignored—or defended—armed white militias who had faced off with Black Lives Matter protesters.
The memo seemed especially aimed at New York City, where Mayor Bill de Blasio and the state’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, had been highly critical of Trump’s failure to stem the Coronavirus pandemic.
On Twitter, Cuomo accused Trump of trying to strip funding that cities and states need to recover from Coronavirus: “He is not a king. He cannot ‘defund’ NYC. It’s an illegal stunt.”
Andrew Cuomo
Bill Neidhardt, a spokesman for de Blasio, tweeted: “As much as Donald Trump wants New York City to drop dead, we will never let this stand. This has nothing to do with ‘law and order’. This is a racist campaign stunt out of the Oval Office to attack millions of people of color.”
Trump’s order was never implemented—and was officially revoked on February 24, 2021, by the Justice Department of President Joe Biden.
As for his claim of being “your President of law and order”:
Trump is only the third United States President—after Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton—to be impeached. And not once but twice.
He is also the only President to be:
- Convicted of sexually assaulting columnist E. Jean Carroll;
- Convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to a porn actress;
- Repeatedly and falsely claiming voter fraud cheated him of re-election in 2020, thus undermining the legitimacy of the electoral system;
- Falsely claiming that Haitian immigrants were “eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats” of Ohio residents.
In addition, Trump waged all-out war on the following institutions:
- The FBI: When FBI Director James Comey dared to pursue a probe into Russia’s subversion of the 2016 Presidential election on Trump’s behalf, Trump fired him without warning on May 9, 2017.
- The Press: Viciously attacking the nation’s free press to report his growing list of crimes and disasters, calling it “the enemy of the American people”—a phrase used by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
- The Justice Department: Trump repeatedly attacked his own Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, for not “protecting” him from agents pursuing the Russia investigation. On November 7, 2018, the day after Democrats won a majority of House seats, Trump fired Sessions.
- The Judiciary: On October 20, 2018, Trump attacked U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar as an “Obama judge.” Tigar had ruled that the administration must consider asylum claims no matter where migrants cross the U.S. border.
- The Department of Health and Human Services: By lying about the dangers of the COVID-19 virus and promoting quack cures, he caused the deaths of 400,000 Americans by the time he left office.
- The Electoral Process: On September 2, 2020 Trump urged residents in the critical political battleground of North Carolina to try to vote twice in the November 3 election, once by mail and once in person—a totally illegal act.
On the private-sector front:
- On December 10, 2019, Trump paid $2 million to eight charities as part of a settlement where he admitted to misusing funds raised by the Donald J. Trump Foundation. These had been used to promote his presidential bid and pay off business debts. He was forced to close the charity as a result.
- Legal action also forced Trump to shut down his unaccredited Trump University, which the conservative magazine National Review described as a “massive scam.” Although he boasted that he never settled lawsuits, he settled this one in November, 2016, for a reported $25 million rather than go to trial.
When Donald Trump calls himself a “law and order President,” he means: “My order is your law.”
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on January 2, 2025 at 12:17 am
On June 30, 1934, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler ordered a massive purge of his private army, the S.A., or Brownshirts. It was carried out by Hitler’s elite army-within-an-army, the Schutzstaffel, or Protective Squads, better known as the SS.
The Brownshirts (also known as “Stiormtroopers”) had been instrumental in securing Hitler’s rise to Chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. They had intimidated political opponents (especially Communists) and organized mass rallies for the Nazi Party.
But after Hitler reached the pinnacle of power, they became a liability.
Ernst Rohm, their commander, had served as a tough army officer during World War 1. He was one of the few men allowed to use “du,” the personal form of “you” in German, when addressing Hitler.
Rohm urged Hitler to disband the regular German army, the Reichswehr, and replace it with his own undisciplined paramilitary legions as the nation’s defense force.
Ernst Rohm
Frightened by Rohm’s ambitions, the generals of the Reichswehr gave Hitler an ultimatum: Get rid of Rohm—or they would get rid of him.
Hitler didn’t hesitate. Backed by armed thugs, he stormed into Rohm’s apartment, catching him in bed with a young S.A. Stormtrooper.
Accusing his onetime friend of treasonously plotting to overthrow him, Hitler screamed: “You’re going to be shot!”
Rohm was not plotting a coup. But the generals had the whip hand—and, for Hitler, that was enough to literally sign Rohm’s death warrant.
Hours later, sitting in a prison cell, Rohm was offered a pistol with a single bullet.
“Adolf himself should do the dirty work,” said Rohm, adding: “All revolutions devour their own children.”
One hour later, Rohm died in a hail of SS bullets.
Earlier throughout that day, so had several hundred of his longtime S.A. cronies. Many of them yelled “Heil Hitler!” as they stood against barracks walls waiting to be shot.
SS firing squad
Thirteen days later, addressing the Reichstag, Germany’s parliament, Hitler justified his purge in a nationally broadcast speech: “If anyone reproaches me and asks why I did not resort to the regular courts of justice, then all I can say is this: In this hour I was responsible for the fate of the German people, and thereby I became the Supreme Judge of the German people!
“I gave the order to shoot the ringleaders in this treason, and I further gave the order to cauterize down to the raw flesh the ulcers of this poisoning of the wells in our domestic life.
“Let the nation know that its existence—which depends on its internal order and security—cannot be threatened with impunity by anyone! And let it be known for all time to come that if anyone raises his hand to strike the State, then certain death is his lot.”
Adolf Hitler addressing parliament
Eighty-six years after Adolf Hitler declared himself “the Supreme Judge of the German people,” the United States faces the same fate under President Donald J. Trump.
On September 2, Trump sent a memo to Russell T. Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Attorney General William P. Barr. Its title: “Reviewing Funding to State and Local Government Recipients That Are Permitting Anarchy, Violence and Destruction in American Cities.”
Both officials were ordered to find ways to cut funding to several cities controlled by Democrats.
Donald Trump
Accusing local and state officials of abdicating their duties, Trump wrote: “Anarchy has recently beset some of our states and cities. My administration will not allow federal tax dollars to fund cities that allow themselves to deteriorate into lawless zones.”
In his memo, Trump ordered Vought to issue guidance in 30 days “to the heads of agencies on restricting eligibility of or otherwise disfavoring, to the maximum extent permitted by law, anarchist jurisdictions in the receipt of Federal grants.”
And he gave Barr 14 days to identify “anarchist jurisdictions” that “permitted violence and the destruction of property to persist and have refused to undertake reasonable measures” to restore order.
Trump singled out four cities for defunding: Portland, Oregon; Washington, D.C.; Seattle, Washington; and New York City.
The move threatened billions of dollars for many of the country’s largest urban cities.
But protecting American citizens from crime was not the real reason for this effort.
Polls showed Trump trailing his Democratic rival, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. As a result, Trump was resorting to the classic Republican tactics of smear and fear.
He wanted to shift public attention from his failure to halt the escalating Coronavirus pandemic—which had already killed more than 189,000 Americans and left 25 million unemployed.
He also wanted to turn Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality into white counter-protest at the ballot box.
Trump had long relied on divide-and-rule tactics to gain and hold power. He hoped to persuade suburban whites that he was the only thing standing between them and a black crime wave about to engulf them.
The hatred that millions of older whites—especially rural ones—felt for most of their fellow Americans gave Trump the White House in 2016. Trump hoped that such hatred—combined with fear—would do it again in 2020.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on August 29, 2024 at 12:12 am
Two stories—one fictitious, the other historical.
Story #1: In the 1961 historical epic, “El Cid,” Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, known as “El Cid”—“The Lord”—besieges the Spanish city of Valencia, which has been captured by the Moors.
Months have passed. The city’s population is starving and without hope.
Then, one day, El Cid (Charlton Heston) calls out over the city’s walls: “Soldiers and citizens of Valencia! We are not your enemy! Ben Yusof [the powerful emir who plans to conquer Spain with an invading army] is your enemy!
“Join us! We bring you peace! We bring you freedom! We bring you bread!”
Suddenly El Cid’s Spanish catapults spring into action—loaded not with stones but loaves of bread. The loaves land in the city’s streets, where starving citizens and soldiers greedily devour them.
Then those citizens attack the bodyguards of the well-fed emir ruling Valencia—and throw the emir himself from a high wall.
The army of El Cid marches peacefully into the city.
Story #2: In Book Three, Chapter 22 of his classic masterwork, The Discourses, Niccolo Machiavelli offers the following: “An Act of Humanity Prevailed More With the Falacians Than All the Power of Rome.”
Marcus Furius Camillus, a Roman general, was besieging the city of the Faliscians, and had surrounded it. A teacher charged with the education of the children of some of the noblest families of that city decided to ingratiate himself with Camillus by leading those children into the Roman camp.
Presenting them to Camillus the teacher said to him, “By means of these children as hostages, you will be able to compel the city to surrender.”
Camillus not only declined the offer but went one step further. He ordered the teacher stripped and his hands tied behind his back. Then Camillus had a rod put into the hands of each of the children and directed them to whip the teacher all the way back to the city.
Upon learning this, the citizens of Faliscia were so much touched by the humanity and integrity of Camillus, that they surrendered the place to him without any further defense.
Summing up the meaning of this, Machiavelli writes: “This example shows that an act of humanity and benevolence will at all times have more influence over the minds of men than violence and ferocity. It also proves that provinces and cities which no armies…could conquer, have yielded to an act of humanity, benevolence, chastity or generosity.
“…History also shows us how much the people desire to find such virtues in great men, and how much they are extolled by historians and biographers of princes….Amongst these, Xenophon takes great pains to show how many victories, how much honor and fame, Cyrus gained by his humanity and affability, and by his not having exhibited a single instance of pride, cruelty or luxuriousness, nor of any of the other vices that are apt to stain the lives of men.”
Niccolo Machiavelli
These stories—the first the product of a movie screenwriter’s imagination, the second recorded by a master political scientist and historian—remain highly relevant today.
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a black unemployed restaurant security guard, was murdered by Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer. While Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest, Chauvin kept his knee on the right side of Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.
Cities across the United States erupted in mass protests over Floyd’s death—and police killings of black victims generally. Most of these demonstrations proved peaceful.
But cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City saw stores looted, vandalized and/or burned. In response, President Donald Trump called for harsh policing, telling governors in a nationwide conference call that they must “dominate” protesters or be seen as “weak.”
To drive home his point, Trump ordered police and National Guard troops to violently remove peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square, which borders St. John’s Church near the White House.
The purpose of the removal: To allow Trump to have a photo opportunity outside the church.
“I imposed a curfew at 7pm,” tweeted Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. “A full 25 minutes before the curfew & w/o provocation, federal police used munitions on peaceful protestors in front of the White House, an act that will make the job of @DCPoliceDept officers more difficult. Shameful!”
Contrast that with the example of Sheriff Christopher Swanson of Genesee County, Michigan.
Sheriff Christopher Swanson
Confronting a mass of aroused demonstrators in Flint Township on May 30, Swanson responded: “We want to be with you all for real.”
So Swanson took his helmet off. His deputies laid their batons down.
“I want to make this a parade, not a protest. So, you tell us what you need to do.”
“Walk with us!” the protesters shouted.
“Let’s walk, let’s walk,” said Swanson.
Cheering and applause resounded.
“Let’s go, let’s go,” Swanson said as he and the cheering crowd proceeded. “Where do you want to walk? We’ll walk all night.”
And Swanson and his fellow officers walked in sympathy with the protesters.
No rioting followed.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law Enforcement, Military, Politics, Social commentary on May 3, 2024 at 12:15 am
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a black unemployed restaurant security guard, was murdered by Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer.
While Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest, Chauvin kept his knee on the right side of Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds.
Cities across the United States erupted in mass protests over Floyd’s death—and police killings of black victims generally.
Most of these demonstrations proved peaceful. But cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City saw stores looted, vandalized and/or burned.
In response, President Donald Trump called for harsh policing, telling governors in a nationwide conference call that they must “dominate” protesters or be seen as “weak.”
Death of George Floyd
To drive home his point, on June 1, Trump ordered police, Secret Service agents and National Guard troops to violently remove peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square, which borders St. John’s Church near the White House.
The purpose of the removal: To allow Trump to have a photo opportunity outside the church.
“I imposed a curfew at 7pm,” tweeted Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. “A full 25 minutes before the curfew & w/o provocation, federal police used munitions on peaceful protestors in front of the White House, an act that will make the job of @DCPoliceDept officers more difficult. Shameful!”
Video of the assault spread quickly on social media and news outlets, sparking outrage. The next day, the US Park Police (USPP) responded to the criticisms: “No tear gas was used by USPP officers or other assisting law enforcement partners to close the area at Lafayette Park.”
But the agency admitted that, while it hadn’t used tear gas, it had used smoke canisters and pepper balls. In addition, police used horses, shields and batons to beat back the demonstrators.
While the protesters were being cleared from the area, Trump appeared in the White House Rose Garden and said: “I will fight to protect you—I am your president of law and order and an ally of all peaceful protesters.”
This from the man who had been impeached by the House of Representatives in December, 2019, for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Only a majority-Republican Senate—fearful of losing their seats if they convicted Trump on the overwhelming evidence presented against him—had saved him from ouster.
On June 3, 2020, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany compared Trump’s photo-op in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church to former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s visits to bombed British cities during World War II:
“Through all of time, we have seen presidents and leaders across the world who have had leadership moments and very powerful symbols that were important for a nation to see at any given time to show a message of resilience and determination.
“Like Churchill, we saw him inspecting the bombing damage. It sent a powerful message of leadership to the British people.”
Kayleigh McEnany
Comparing Trump to Churchill proved a huge leap of propaganda on McEnany’s part.
For starters, Churchill was an avowed and relentless opponent of Fascism—and especially its most infamous exponent, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler.
During the 1930s, as Europe’s democracies ignored or quailed before Nazi threats, Churchill demanded that England arm for the coming war against Nazi Germany.
Trump, a Fascistic dictator by nature, tries to rule by fiat and identifies with dictators—most notably Communist ones, such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un.
Second, throughout World War II, Churchill had only one bodyguard—Inspector Walter Thompson, of Scotland Yard’s Special Branch.
Winston Churchill (testing a submachinegun); Walter Thompson (in black fedora)
During bombing raids, Churchill often climbed atop London buildings to watch the bombardment—or raced to cities he had just learned were under attack.
Trump, on the other hand, is a coward who is constantly protected by scores of Secret Service agents who are supplemented by hundreds of local police.
Moreover, Trump turned the normally well-protected White House into an armed fortress. Block after block of tall, black reinforced fencing was erected. Tan military vehicles roll along Pennsylvania Avenue and camo-clad troops patrolled the corner where tourists used to buy red, white and blue USA sweatshirts.
Lafayette Square, across from the White House—normally full of selfie-taking tourists—was blocked off by a steel fence perimeter and filled with heavily-armed National Guard troops and Secret Service agents.
Third, as a young man, Churchill had served his country as a second lieutenant in the Fourth Queen’s Own Hussars regiment of the British Army. He volunteered to campaign against Islamic rebels in the Swat Valley of north-west India. In Egypt, he joined the 21st Lancers and subsequently saw action in the Battle of Omdurman.
Trump, on the other hand, used his father’s influence to win five draft deferments to sit out the Vietnam war—four allowing him to complete college and one for “bone spurs.”
In a 1997 interview, he equated avoiding STDs as the same as military courage: “It’s like Vietnam, sort of. It is my personal Vietnam. I feel like a great and very brave solider.”
There is a lesson here for Kayleigh McEnany—and all future Trump apologists: Do your homework before you make easily-debunked claims on his behalf.
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TRUMP: TURNING ENEMIES INTO ALLIES–AND VICE VERSA
In Bureaucracy, History, Politics, Social commentary, Uncategorized on November 25, 2025 at 12:11 amRon Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of MeidasNews, probably fell out of his chair while writing his analysis of the November 21 meeting between President Donald J. Trump and Zohran Mamdani, mayor-elect of New York City.
Filipkowski wrote:
“Zohran Mamdani visited Trump today at the WH, and it did not go the way most Republicans thought it would. Trump has always recognized and fawned over star power, and that is exactly the way he treated Mamdani.
“Fox reporter to Mamdani: You referred to Trump as a despot…
“Trump interrupts: I’ve been called much worse than a despot. So it’s not that insulting.
“I was laughing hysterically during this entire meeting with Trump praising Mamdani. It was a one-way love fest from Trump to Mamdani, with Zohran playing it cool the entire time.
Ron Filipkowski
Trump: I tell you, the press has eaten this thing up. I have had a lot of meetings with the heads of major countries, nobody cared. The biggest people come over from other countries and nobody cares but they did care about this meeting, and it was a great meeting.
“Q to Trump – Would you feel comfortable living in NYC under a Mamdani admin?
Trump: Yeah, I would.
“Republican campaign consultants built their entire midterm strategy around making Mamdani into the devil incarnate and the face of Democratic Party, then Trump slobbers all over him today in the Oval!
Donald Trump
“Trump then proceeded to end Elise Stefanik’s campaign for governor”:
Q – Stefanik has campaigned on calling Mamdani a jihadist. Do you think you’re standing next to a jihadist?
Trump: No… but she’s out there campaigning. You say things sometimes in a campaign. You’d have to ask her about that. I met with a man who is a rational person.
“…I’m dying!!! I soooo wish I could see her face right now. (First time I’ve ever said that).”
Zohran Mamdani
Mamdani: I told the president that, you know, so much of the focus of our campaign has been on the cost of living crisis and when we asked those New Yorkers who had voted for the president, when we saw an increase in his numbers in NYC, that came back to the same issue: Cost of living, cost of living, cost of living.
Trump: We have to get Con Edison to start lowering their rates.
Mamdani: Absolutely.
“I just pissed my pants laughing. I’m crying!”
Trump: He has a chance to do something great for NY and he does need the help from the fed govt. And we will be helping him. But he’s different than your average candidate. He came out of nowhere.
* * * * *
During Mamdani’scampaign for mayor, he called himself “Donald Trump’s worst nightmare,” and Trumpcalled Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” and “total nut job.” So many Republicans found themselves baffled—if not furious at the outcome of the meeting.
Fox host Brian Kilmeade: Wow, what we just watched. This was a love fest. I think JD Vance is jealous. I think the president wants to use Zohran as a running mate. They got along fantastic.
Trump fanatic Laura Loomer: Why did Zelensky receive a harsher welcome at the WH than Mamdani? Interesting. If socialists are doing a good job, then I guess nobody needs to vote them out during the midterms. If you’re a Republican, why not just stay home in 2026 and 2028 since Mamdani’s policies are amazing? I’m confused. No need to oppose the left I guess. No need to vote for the GOP in 2026 is the message I’m getting from that. Am I missing something?
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY): Based on the election results, we knew Mamdani was charming, but who thought he’d be able to charm the president?
A close friend of Trump’s to Vanity Fair: I think it would’ve been a lot more effective for his base if he threw Mamdani out of the Oval Office…I’m concerned that Trump is turning his back on the base at the moment.
Todd Starnes, Right-wing commentator: SCENARIO: Mamdani enters the Oval Office today only to be greeted by Tom Homan who then personally escorts the Communist back to Uganda. I thought Mamdani was supposed to be a fascist dictator? What the heck is going on at the White House?
Some Right-wing commentators believed that Trump had extended an olive branch to Mamdani. Others felt Mamdani had been nervous, while Trump had been in total control.
Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had a different take: “I think Trump has actually a lot of respect for Mamdani. As they say, game respects game. If you engage Trump and you show him you’re not afraid, he is actually willing to do some give and take.”
On November 4, Trump suffered major defeats in elections for New York City’s mayor, the governorships in New Jersey and Virginia, and Proposition 50, California’s redistricting ballot measure.
“Affordability” was the issue that guided voters—while Trump was gutting the East Wing of the White House for a $300 million ballroom. So his surprisingly affable attitude toward Mamdani could have been a ploy to convince voters he now cared about their needs in an era of rising inequality.
Only time—and election returns—will tell.
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