The black-and-white photos of small boats exploding in international waters are grainy, but the color photos of ICE officers with their knees on the backs of protesters in Chicago and elsewhere are clear as day. Also clear were the films of excavator machines ripping down the historic East Wing of the White House on the orders of Donald Trump.  It’s hard to tell whether the Trump Administration is governing or playing video games.  The daily news reports look more and more like the video game ads that pop up on my computer screen.  

Those images preceded Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s announcement that the National Guard has been ordered to create “quick reaction forces” to handle civil unrest in all 50 states and four territories.  The goal is to train 500 troops in each jurisdiction, or 23,500 citizen-soldiers, equipped with tear gas, nightsticks, shields, and masks by January 1. Never mind that most protests against the overreach of the Trump Administration have been peaceful and are protected by the U.S. Constitution.  That directive came after the Department of Homeland Security advertised for 10,000 new ICE and Border Patrol officers, offering expensive signing bonuses to sweeten the deal.  According to some reports, vetting of the applicants has fallen far short – many applicants are unable to meet simple educational and physical requirements, and some candidates have criminal records.  

The White House press office insists that the Trump Administration is the most transparent in history. Hmm? Hasn’t the press covering the White House been restricted from accessing the press office and staff there?  Pentagon reporters have been evicted from their offices and Pentagon staff were directed not to speak to the press or provide any information that wasn’t approved by Secretary Hegseth.  Pentagon officials have been told that they cannot communicate with Members of Congress without prior authorization, and that restriction applies all the way up to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  There are reports that various agencies are requiring non-disclosure agreements (NDA’s) from staff.  Controlling what information is made available and who gets it is conniving and reeks of propaganda, not transparency.  It appears that Trump’s executive branch is minimizing the legislative branch (and ignoring the judicial branch) as well as the American people in its grasp for supreme power.

The government shutdown that began on October 1 is on track to be the longest closure in history.  Tens of thousands of government employees are not getting paid even though some, such as military personnel and air traffic controllers, are required to report to work.  When an elderly Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) recipient asked me if the President and Members of Congress are getting paid during the shutdown, I told her that, unfortunately, their salaries are protected by law.  Somewhat agitated, she said “That’s not right. My food benefits are being cut off and they still are getting their big salaries.” She added that if Members of Congress had to depend on Social Security, Medicaid, and SNAP benefits, as she does, they would have settled the standoff weeks ago.  

As ordinary Americans work to make ends meet and keep alive the American dream of democracy and progress, the Trump Administration is destroying America’s reputation around the world.  Blowing up private vessels in international waters, deploying an entire aircraft carrier group to the Gulf of Mexico to intimidate Latin America, threatening Nigeria with military intervention, and reopening nuclear weapons testing, along with his multiple bizarre comments in his expensive Asian tour – all in just the past ten days or so – don’t make us safer or respected.  They make America untrustworthy and a laughingstock as world leaders scratch their collective heads to figure out how to handle the dangerous buffoon in the White House and his video game tactics.