Remember, Americans: Pearl Harbor Proved Isolationism’s Folly

Americans today observe Pearl Harbor Day, the 84th anniversary of the “day that will live in infamy,” when the fascist Japanese Empire suddenly attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack on December 7, 1941 thrust Americans into war against Japan and the rest of its fascist Axis allies, as part of the Second World War that had begun in September 1939, with the Axis Nazi German and Soviet invasion of Poland. Pearl Harbor Day also was a watershed in American politics, as it ended the isolationist movement that either sympathized with the Axis, or at least, in the name of being pacifist, opposed any meaningful policies to resist the advance of totalitarian imperialism. The folly of the isolationist slogan that “our oceans will protect us” was disproven and the movement was destroyed by the Japanese bombs at Pearl Harbor, along with the ships, aircraft and thousands of military personnel and civilians who were killed. During the Cold War, a remnant of isolationists or Communist sympathizers on the left and even some isolationists on the far right opposed meaningful measures to contain the Soviet Union and International Communism, foolishly again placing their trust in the oceans while the Soviets developed nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles. After the fall of Soviet Communism, which was achieved by not adopting isolationist policies, a second Pearl Harbor-scale attack occurred on September 11, 2001, when Islamist terrorists hijacked civilian aircraft and crashed them into New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania, killed even more people than at Pearl Harbor. And once again, isolationists on the far left and far right were proven foolish by the attacks the showed how oceans and even military and economic might afford little protection against such an evil and determined foe. But isolationists opposed the Global War on Terrorism and demanded an end to the wars that the Islamist enemy has been willing to engage in endlessly. Each time America or its allies and interests are threatened, the isolationists present an argument that superficially appears patriotic: that lives and treasure would be spared by not becoming involved in wars. But it is one that is either influenced by sympathy for the enemy or naivety at best. Furthermore, isolationism is based on the hope that foreign States would be equally or more powerful than the U.S. to defend their own interests, instead of in support for and confidence in American might and leadership. Isolationists would look the other way, instead of proactively defending abroad against threats that would eventually threaten the American homeland. They would focus in American economic well-being while our trading partners were attacked and invaded, millions would be internally displaced or become international refugees, and the freedom of Americans to travel abroad to engage in commerce, study, religious pilgrimage, or any other valid purpose would be curtailed, all while a cloud of uncertainty would hang over the global economy that is ever-increasingly linked. Yet today – once again – isolationists on the far left and especially on the far right oppose any meaningful measures to stop the imperialism of the Russian Federation, led by a former Soviet intelligence agent who is trying to restore the Soviet Union and Russian Empire. The Russians have invaded the former Soviet Republics of Georgia and Ukraine and stationed troops in Moldova against its will, while engaging in machinations abroad, such as cyberattacks, election interference, sabotage and assassinations. They have thus attacked U.S. allies and Americans and even the American homeland itself, while Russia possesses the most nuclear warheads in the world and the missiles to strike every part of the American homeland. Just as every other time when the U.S. has been threatened, most Americans disagreed with the isolationists, although less decisively in regard to the major battles of the War on Terrorism, but at least not to the opposition to terrorism overall, but never has a presidential administration been guided by isolationists or collaborationists until now, which makes the current threat especially grave. The American people must continue to demand that Congress act to continue to defend U.S. interests, maintain American influence and exercise responsible world leadership to stop Russian aggression and defend the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all States, foreign and American.

Foreign Digest: Russia, Georgia, Botswana, Brazil and Peru

Russia: The former leader in Wales of the anti-migrant pro-Russian Reform UK Party and European Parliament Member was convicted of accepting a Russian bribe. This evidence is the latest proof of Russian interference in the politics of the United Kingdom, as well as throughout Europe and in America, especially since Russia began invading Ukraine in 2014. Another example recently revealed that many of the most-followed Trumpist accounts on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), including some with tens of thousands of followers, are based abroad, including in multiple continents, even though they typically pose as Americans. About half of such accounts have been estimated to be either of Russian origin or Russian troll farms abroad. The Russian accounts spread propaganda and disinformation, and are especially associated with anti-vaccination disinformation. Russian accounts, in addition to promoting Kremlin policies, amplify Trumpists and their misleading or false statements, as well as conspiracy theories, and foment division, doubt in the integrity of elections or in the truth. Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin is an ex-Soviet intelligence officer who is trying to restore the Soviet Union and Russian Empire. Georgia: Georgians marked one year of daily peaceful protests against the pro-Russian and increasingly authoritarian Government of Georgia on November 28. There were protests in the capital and in other major cities across the former Soviet Republic in the southern Caucuses region. Georgians are demanding the release of political prisoners who were arrested for peaceful protests, and for membership in the European Union. Georgia’s Government reneged on a promise to pursue membership. Botswana: Botswana recently completed the first peaceful transfer of power since independence from the United Kingdom in 196 . The southern African State has been an oasis of peace, stability, elective representative government and liberty. But unlike neighboring States where one party has ruled through authoritarian means or rigged elections, Botswanans had elected one party for decades, which yielded power upon defeat and the certification of the votes. Botswana is now even more of a good example to other States in the Dark Continent. Brazil: Former far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced last week to prison to serve out his 27-year sentence for attempting to overturn the presidential election three years ago, after he had recently attempted to escape. Peru: The former center-left Peruvian President Pedro Castillo was convicted of conspiracy for trying to dissolve Congress and rule by decree to avoid impeachment for a corruption scandal, and sentenced to 11 years in prison. He had been impeached and removed from office in 2022 for “moral incapacity” for corruption, after taking office the year before. Castillo is the fourth former Peruvian President in a little over a year and the fifth in recent decades across the political spectrum to be sentenced to prison for corruption or oppression, while others have been forced from office for corruption, such as Castillo’s center-left successor, whom I posted about a few months ago.

17th Blog Anniversary and Pageview Report

Today is the seventeenth anniversary of the launch of this blog. Thank you for following or commenting, or for your offline expressions of appreciation, which encourage me to continue to post. It coincides with the date for the annual report of pageviews, as tracked by the blog host, Blogger. Although the tracking is less specific than StatCounter’s, Blogger tracks far more pageviews. There are usually between hundreds to thousands of daily pageviews of this blog from around the world, especially outside America. Please continue to visit this blog regularly to keep up matters of interest to conservatives, especially for this particularly challenging time for the defenders of liberty and the rule of law in America.

Happy Thanksgiving, 2025!

In the tradition of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, and in celebration of the federal holiday of Thanksgiving established by President George Washington, we Americans give thanks today to God for the blessings He has given us. We are grateful to the Europeans who colonized the Americas and for their friendship with the Native Americans who helped the Pilgrims survive the harsh winter in the New World by teaching them agricultural practices for native plants that produced a bountiful harvest. In giving thanks publicly and in a civic manner through federal and state holidays, Americans acknowledge that their liberty comes not from man, but from God, as expressed in the American Creed in the Declaration of Independence. And like the Pilgrims and their Native American friends, we give thanks for the individual blessings we each enjoy. This year, we Americans should give thanks particularly not only for the military servicemen, intelligence and security agents, and emergency responders who keep us safe, but for the United States Constitution that formed the Union of States and safeguards our freedom and rights, and for the state Constitutions that similarly guarantee liberty. Americans should be especially grateful for federalism, the separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary, and the rule of law, and for those federal and state officials who keep their oaths not to any man, but to the federal Constitution. May God continue to bless America and every American citizen, national and permanent resident (especially those aspiring to citizenship), as well as the refugees who believe in the American Creed who are seeking asylum from persecution, and each of the American States and territories!

Former Vice President of the United States Richard B. Cheney, in Memoriam

Former Vice President of the Unted States Richard Bruce Cheney, a staunch conservative Republican with a long career of public service, died November 3 at the age of 84 in Northern Virginia. He was born in Lincoln Nebraska on January 30, 1941. His family later moved to Wyoming, where he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Wyoming. Cheney then began serving in various roles in the administrations of Republican Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford: in the Office of Economic Opportunity, from 1969 to 1970, as White House Staff Assistant in 1971, as Assistant Director of the Cost of Living Council, from 1971 to 1973, as Deputy Assistant to the President, from 1974 to 1975, rising to Chief of Staff to President Gerald R. Ford, from 1975 to 1976. He then managed Ford’s reelection campaign in 1976 that almost came all the way back from being well behind in the polls. Cheney was elected U.S. Representative from Wyoming in 1978 and was re-elected four times, serving from 1979 to 1989. He held leadership positions as Chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, 1981 to 1987, Chairman of the House Republican Conference in 1987, and House Minority Whip the following year. Meanwhile, he was an early supporter of Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential candidacy and supported Reagan’s defense and foreign policies while serving in Congress. Cheney was appointed Secretary of Defense by President George H.W. Bush in 1989 and served until the end of the Bush Administration in 1993. He was Defense Secretary during the overthrow of Panamanian Dictator Manuel Noriega in 1989, the 1991 Liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi aggression in 1990, and the intervention in the Somali Civil War in 1991. Secretary Cheney implemented post-Cold War military reductions, but with the provision of necessary new weapons systems. He supported the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as a bulwark of European and American security versus Russia. Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush asked Cheney to lead the search for a vice-presidential nominee and general election running mate. Bush then recommended Cheney, who was nominated at the Republican National Convention in 2000. Cheney was elected Vice President of the United States and renominated four years later, serving from 2001 to 2009, becoming the only person ever from the Mountain West to be elected either Vice President or President, loyally supporting Bush’s conservative policies and providing wise counsel during the War on Terrorism. Throughout his career, he was a strong advocate for conservative policies, particularly in defense and foreign policy. Although Cheney supported the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, the principled conservative characterized Russian interference in American politics and particularly on behalf of Trump’s candidacy as an “act of war.” Cheney publicly broke with Trump after Trump’s attempted insurrection on January 6, 2021, after the incumbent refused to accept the results of the 2020 election, which he lost. He backed his daughter, Rep. Lynn Cheney of Wyoming, in her criticisms of Trump and especially her participation in the House Committee that investigated the January 6th Insurrection. May Cheney’s legacy of public service and integrity inspire principled conservatives and Republicans and all Americans.

Conservative Analysis of the 2025 General Election Results in Pennsylvania and across America

Now that the election results for the 2025 General Election are being certified, a conservative analysis can be made. Republican Party leader Donald Trump and his populist non-conservative Trumpist policies of protectionism, nativism, isolationism and authoritarianism provoked a voter rebuke against the GOP in Pennsylvania and across the American Union. In the Keystone State, Republicans failed in their main goal of opposing the retention for another ten-year term for three Democratic Supreme Court Justices, based on the Justices’ upholding of Pennsylvania’s reasonable public health restrictions during the Coronavirus 2019 Pandemic. The Trumpist Pennsylvania GOP was attempting to gain control of the state’s highest court by creating vacancies on the State’s highest court, but the results were not even close. As I had posted before the election, a campaign against the Democratic Justices for liberal opinions might have been justified, but not for an anti-public health reason. Pennsylvanians nearly always retain judges. Similarly, they usually vote in favor of referendums, which the State’s Republicans took advantage of in the 2021 Primary Election to get Pennsylvanians to vote in favor of weakening the Governor’s emergency powers, based on their opposition to reasonable public health policies. The GOP’s failure in the 2025 judicial retention vote suggests their anti-public health policy was not as popular as they thought the 2021 Primary vote in favor of the referendums suggested. There were also two other statewide judicial offices on the ballot, in which Democrats held seats on lower appellate courts. There were significant Republican losses in Counties and municipal elections across the Keystone State. In other States, Trump and his supporters backed a liberal Democratic candidate for Mayor of New York City over a conservative Republican. An socialist Democratic candidate was instead elected. Republicans were not only unsuccessful in capturing control of the office of Governor in New Jersey, but lost control of the Governor’s office in Virginia. There were heavy GOP losses in other statewide, legislative and municipal offices across America. Every candidate endorsed by Republican Party leader Donald Trump lost election. Among those candidates were several Trumpists who denied Trump’s loss of the 2020 election, despite the lack of evidence for their claim. The Trump Administration’s protectionist tariffs and harsh anti-migrant policies, violations of the rule of law both at home and abroad, and the federal government shutdown weighed heavily against the Grand Old Party. Voters particularly blamed Trump for the increase of prices from tariffs and labor shortages exacerbated by the targeting of working immigrants without criminal records while Trump focused on aiding Argentina and punishing Brazil for business or personal reasons, and on his White House renovations. They also blamed the GOP leader for the budget impasse, while reacting negatively to his policies of retribution while rewarding political supporters and business associates through is pardon power. Although the 2025 General Election was an off-year election, it is often a harbinger of further losses for the party holding the presidency in the mid-term elections the following year. A return to conservatism and away from Trumpism is needed for the Republican Party to avoid a devastating loss in the 2026 mid-term elections, when every seat in the United States House of Representatives and one third of the Senate will be on the ballot.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Has Issued an Extraordinary Rebuke of the Trump Administration’s Anti-Migrant Policies

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the organization that includes all the Catholic Bishops in America, issued an extraordinary and unprecedented rebuke of the policies of a sitting President of the United States. The body of over 200 Bishops, in whose Dioceses reside tens of millions of Catholics – the largest Christian denomination in America – voted nearly unanimously for a statement criticizing the immigration polices of the Trump Administration. In their statement and a video that featured readings of the statement by Bishops, including conservative ones, they observed profiling, the creation of a climate of fear, and dehumanizing and violent language. The USCCB, particularly cited a loss of access to pastoral care by migrants and refugees caused by the Trump policies, as well as the policy of arrests at churches, and hospitals and schools. The Catholic Church operates many hospitals and schools across America. The conference of American Bishops noted the loss of legal status of some refugees, meaning that their legal permission to stay in America had been taken away. The USCCB urged comprehensive immigration reform in the statement that considers both security and the scriptural and moral obligation to fellow human beings, which they said are not contradictory goals. Trumpists responded with their usual whataboutism, complaining that the Bishops had not made such a statement against the abortion policies of previous Administrations, as if to imply the Bishops were partisan or ideological, but the Bishops had repeatedly and consistently expressed a pro-life message. Trumpists also made their typical cynical ad hominem arguments against the Bishops, falsely claiming that these shepherds were concerned primarily for the loss of money, and not for the spiritual, moral and material wellbeing of their flocks. As I have posted, the Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church and other religious and secular non-profit organizations had been contracted by the U.S. to provide for the needs of migrants, particularly for integrating refugees, but the Trump Administration cut off the funding, even declining to pay for services already rendered. But the Catholics and other Christians were motivated to provide for the refugees in the first place for religious reasons and the payments were not for profit. Thus, the Trump Administration’s policies decrease religious freedom in multiple ways, by diminishing the ability of churches and religious organizations in carrying out their spiritual vocations to care materially for those in need, by denying pastoral care to migrants, and by intimidating migrants from attending religious services at places of worship without fear of being arrested, even if they are refugees legally permitted to stay. It is necessary for all Americans to continue to speak out against the un-Christian, un-American and non-conservative anti-migrant policies of the Trump Administration, and to encourage Congress to enact comprehensive immigration reform.

2025 General Elections in Pennsylvania and Other American States

Tuesday, November 4 is General Election Day in Pennsylvania and in some of the other States of the American Union. On the ballot in the Keystone State, where polls are open from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM, are statewide judicial offices, county and municipal, offices, as well as the offices of school director, magisterial district judge, and constable. Two States, New Jersey and Virginia, are electing Governors and legislators, while there are important contests elsewhere, including a redistricting ballot question in California, among others. Pennsylvanians will choose whether to retain three State Supreme Court Justices. State voters almost always vote to retain judges, but the state Republicans are campaigning against retention, to gain control of Pennsylvania’s highest court. But their justification is not conservative, and therefore, disqualifying, as they are complaining that the Justices had approved the State’s emergency public health policy of imposing reasonable restrictions because of the deadly Coronavirus 2019 Pandemic. Protecting people from contagious illness and death through reasonably limited and temporary restrictions is morally responsible and consistent with conservative beliefs about past outbreaks of contagion, such as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and Ebola, when they favored quarantines and restrictions on the freedom of travel, respectively, for example. Governments across America and the globe from right to left imposed similar restrictions, based upon advice from scientists and public health officials, as I have posted, starting in Italy, where the Trumpist right-wing parties first demanded closures. I have further observed that although the extraordinary restrictions were implemented by governments were late, insufficient and poorly enforced, and prematurely lifted, they did prevent many cases and deaths. But, as I posted, Donald Trump politicized the pandemic by denying and minimizing the threat, doubting and undermining public health policy and suggesting unproven and dangerous cures because of his concern about the economy. His concern was both because of his family business and his reelection and thus his protection from federal prosecution for crimes. Many of Trump’s supporters similarly doubted the public health officials, whom they baselessly thought were liberal engaged in some kind of political conspiracy, or presumptuously rejected science in favor of faith-healing, or held libertarian views such as that there is some right to spread disease during a pandemic of a deadly illness with no cure at the time, which combined to cause the contagion to spread and thus more illnesses, including long-term symptoms, and deaths. More Republicans died than Democrats because of the rejection of public health policy and vaccine hesitancy that I have also been posting about. Trumpism is a populist mix of protectionism, nativism and isolationism, none of which are conservative principles, as I often note. But the rejection of reasonable public health is another example, among others, of Trump’s lack of conservative principles and the abandonment by his supporters’ who claim to be conservatives of their own principles, or at least their exposure for also having lacked them in the first place, although it is noteworthy that some of his far-right supporters admit they oppose conservatism. Despite public support from Pennsylvanians for the Commonwealth’s public health policy during the pandemic, the Republicans successfully campaigned for referendums in the low-turnout 2021 Primary Election that limited executive power to respond to such emergencies, as the public tends to vote for referendums, unless there is organized opposition, which there was none. The Pennsylvania GOP took the vote as a validation for their opposition to reasonable public health policy. This time, however, there is some opposition to their campaign against the judicial retentions, as the Trumpist state Republicans would again take a No vote as validation for their opposition to reasonable public health policy. Therefore, although it would benefit conservatism to reject retention of the liberal Democratic Justices, doing so for the wrong reason would undermine the conservative movement. A vote of neither Yes, nor No would thus be justified for non-Trumpist conservatives, just as I advise every election not to vote either for liberal Democratic or Trumpist Republican candidates on the ballot and instead write in the names of better candidates or skip the race, as it is necessary to continue to try to restore the GOP to its center-right core, instead of acquiescing to Trumpism by trying to justify one’s vote as “the lesser of two evils,” or justifying a vote for Democrats, unless they are centrist or pro-life, as an emergency option for principled conservatives to force the Republicans to turn back to their own beliefs. Non-Trumpist conservatives or moderates should consider seeking office, whether as Republicans, non-partisan or third party candidates, or even as Democrats, instead of accepting the absence of the names of principled conservatives on the general election ballot.

Trump’s Demolition of the White House East Wing Is Symbolic of His Autocracy

The Trump Administration ordered the complete demolition of the East Wing of the White House, including the colonnaded breezeway connecting the addition to the Executive Mansion. It also uprooted historic trees and the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, to make room for a ballroom, after recently having cemented over the Rose Garden for use as a patio. The East Wing was a 1942 Neo-Classical addition, matching the Federal Style of the White House. It has served various purposes over the years, from a swimming pool for then-President Franklin Roosevelt, who was afflicted with paralysis, to offices and an entrance for visitors and public tours. The demolition was conducted without proper authorization and review by the required agencies for the proposed plans. It appears also that none of the historic architectural details were salvaged, as is typical for the demolition of a historic property, especially one designated as historic like the East Wing, and especially when the building was in excellent condition and its features thus were salvageable. Such architectural details, which are highly sought, like doors, windows, moldings, columns, flooring, etc., which were constructed in materials not usually used in modern construction, could either have been incorporated into the proposed structure, as is typical when replacing a historic property, or other federal buildings, or sold. Therefore, the demolition is not only disrespectful of American history and tradition, but fiscally wasteful. Many observers across the political spectrum viewed the demolition of the East Wing as yet another symbol of Donald Trump's disrespect for America, like his gilding of the Oval Office I had posted about, but because of the violation of the standard process, as also exemplary of his autocracy. Thus, Trump’s demolition of the East Wing and Oval Office gilding, like the proposed Trump coin and arch I also posted about, are visible signs of the trend away from the Republican restraint of the Chief Executive and deference to Congress, the Constitution and the law, and toward the imperialism and authoritarianism of the Caesars. Trump is symbolically demolishing the American experiment and supplanting it with unchecked autocratic excess. It is time for Legislative and Judicial Branches to do more to exercise their powers as co-equal Branches of Government to restrain Trump and his Administration in defense of the constitutional principle of the Separation of Powers, and the rule of law.

Foreign Digest: Slovakia, Peru, Bolivia, Iraq, Belarus and Georgia

Slovakia: The European Union’s main center-left parliamentary group, the Party of European Socialists, expelled the ruling left-wing party of Slovakia for violating its principles. The populist Prime Minister of Slovakia is pro-Russian and undermines the rule of law. Slovakia is an ally of the United States as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but is a weak link in the chain of defense against Russian aggression. Peru: The center-left President of Peru was impeached and removed from office for “moral incapacity” for corruption, in votes by the national assembly from across the political spectrum earlier this month. After a series of corruption allegations and a violent response against protestors, she had lost support from her own party. The Peruvian President had taken office after the impeachment of her predecessor for corruption. The President of Congress has acceded to the presidency—the seventh person to hold the office since a center-right President’s term ended in 2018. Bolivia: The presidential run-off between two conservatives was held in Bolivia last week. A conservative was elected, after 20 years of Socialist election wins. The Socialists had led, except for a brief interruption after the increasingly authoritarian President fled the capital after a popular uprising when he sought a fourth term, despite a two-term limit. The Senator who was elected, was referred to by the liberal professional media as a “centrist,” but he is center-right and pro-free market. The election result in Bolivia is a major blow to the left-wing revolution fomented across Latin America by the late Socialist dictator Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who was elected in 2004 and became increasingly authoritarian. Iraq: As per an agreement with the Iraqi Government, the United States is keeping a presence of several hundred advisors in parts of Iraq beyond northern Iraq, to continue to coordinate with Iraq versus Islamist terrorists in Syria, such as al-Qaeda and its offshoot, the Islamic State. Belarus and Georgia: Two imprisoned journalists, one Belarusian and the other Georgian, won the Andrei Sakharov prize, the European Parliament’s human rights prize. Andrej Poczobut of Belarus, was arrested in 2021 and convicted for covering protests against the authoritarian regime of the pro-Russian Belarusian dictator and the dictatorship’s violent response, and has been held under inhuman conditions. Mzia Amaglobeli of Georgia, was arrested early this year and convicted for her reaction against state violence in a protest against the increasingly authoritarian pro-Russian Georgian Government. Both arrests have been condemned by media outlets, human rights organizations and the opposition.

The New Caesarism: The Proposed Trump Coin and Arch Would Symbolize an Imperial Presidency

The Trump Administration is proposing a coin featuring the image of the current holder of the office of the presidency while Donald Trump is proposing a public-private partnership to build a commemorative arch in Washington for the 250th anniversary of American Independence that the real estate tycoon admits would be partly a monument to himself. The coin and arch would be tangible examples of the autocratic Trump’s Caesarism, as both are examples of practices of the Roman Emperors that were eschewed by the American Founding Fathers in favor of symbols of the Roman Republic. I had posted recently about Trump’s symbolic rejection of the Republican vales of the Founders in his gilding of the Oval Office, but the Trump coin and arch would be more than symbolic. An image of an incumbent president on a general circulation coin minted by the United States would be unprecedented. The only coin ever minted to bear the image of a sitting president was a joint image of the incumbent and another figure on a commemorative coin (i.e. not a general circulation coin, but one minted for collectors) for the Sesquicentennial in 1926. As I have posted previously, the Founders did not want the images of any living person, on coins. The Roman Emperors had used coins bearing their own images, or those of their family, to promote themselves as a form of state propaganda. The first U.S. coins minted thus featured images of the Roman allegorical figure of Liberty on their obverses, with eagles or wreaths on the reverses. Other devices were featured in the later Nineteenth Century, but it was not until 1893 when even a commemorative coin was struck for the 400th Anniversary of Columbus’ Discovery of the New World, and not until 1909 when the Lincoln Cent was first minted on the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s death that any images of real individuals appeared on any American coins. Federal law later forbade the minting of coins with the incumbent president’s image. Even commemorative coins do not feature the incumbent Chief Executive’s image, as there is a five-year waiting period until after a former president’s death. Congress would have to vote for an exception. The Trump Administration would be using the coin minted with public money to promote Trump’s popular image for political purposes or in the interest of Trump’s private businesses. In a similar way, the Roman Caesars would construct commemorative arches that bore the Emperors’ names in honor of their military conquests. An arch commemorating American independence, or those who died in the Revolutionary War or all the wars since independence would be appropriate, but not one that would be at least partly in honor of an incumbent president or associated with him as much or even more than those it would be ostensibly intended to honor. Otherwise, a president would be tempted to use public dollars to construct monuments to himself to promote himself politically, perhaps in a way that is not appropriate. The National Monuments Commission would by law have to approve any such plan, but if the autocratic Trump engages in his typical practice of stacking such bodies by dismissing the current members, or ignoring such legal safeguards altogether, and the supine Congress and overly deferential Supreme Court allow him to get away with it, then Trump would thereby crown himself the American Caesar. The Republican virtues of executive restraint, the separation of powers, the rule of law, and representative governance would have been violated and cast aside in favor of an imperial presidency and all the dangers it poses.

Measles Outbreak Update

There have been 1,600 cases of measles in the ongoing outbreak in America, according to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control, with 44 individual outbreaks in 41 States. The case total is the worst in 30 years, since measles was declared eliminated in America in 2000. In 90% of these cases, the patients were unvaccinated. Vaccines are the effective and safe way to prevent measles, which can be debilitating (e.g. causes deafness) or fatal. But vaccine hesitancy as dropped the vaccination rate in America for children, who are the most vulnerable, below the 95% needed for herd immunity to protect those who are immune compromised, as I have been posting. And as I have been posting, anti-vax ideology from the far-left and the far-right, based on misinformation, as well as Russian-promoted vaccine disinformation, as well as libertarian opposition to public health policies like requiring immunization for school attendance have caused a decrease in vaccination and an increase in preventable contagious diseases in Europe and America.

Keep the Purpose of the Columbus Day Holiday as A Rejection of Nativism, Xenophobia and Bigotry

Recognizing Columbus’ True Discovery Is No Slight against Indigenous Americans The federal and state holiday of Columbus Day has significance for all Americans because the European discovery of the Americas, which rejoined the two hemispheres of the world that had been separated since the Ice Age, led to the independence of most of the Americas, including the States of the American Union, and the freedoms that most inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere enjoy. But it also has particular significance well beyond the Italian-American community or American Catholics, as the current controversy over the holiday seems to imply. Columbus Day is not any slight against Indigenous Americans, but is a celebration of the contribution of all immigrants. A misunderstanding of the word discovery (“to uncover”) causes some people to believe that credit for a discovering anything belongs only to those who were first to discover anything and thus by crediting the Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus, the Indigenous Americans are somehow being slighted. Through his great navigational skills, Columbus, who had correctly theorized there was a large, inhabited landmass nearer to Europe than anyone else knew, lifted the cover that was the Atlantic Ocean and permanently reunited the two halves of the globe. He is also unquestionably credited with discovered a western and oceanic route to the Americas, among other scientific discoveries for which he is credited. Origin of the Columbus Day Holiday against Nativism, Xenophobia and Bigotry Because of nativism, xenophobia and racial and religious bigotry, the Ku Klux Klan particularly opposed the wave of mass immigration to America in the second half of the Nineteenth Century from Southern and Eastern Europeans (Catholic and Orthodox Christians) and Jews. Because of their hatred, American nativists began to promote the legend of the Viking discovery of the Americas before Columbus to minimize the essential role of the Southern European Catholic in American history. Though the Vikings deserve credit for discovering Greenland, at least, they did establish a permanent connection between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres like Columbus did. An Irish-American Catholic Priest with a ministry for immigrants led the effort that culminated in the foundation of the Columbus Day holiday as a recognition of the contribution of all immigrants to America, not only those who were white, northern European and Protestant. Thus, renaming the holiday for the Indigenous Americans takes away the appropriate purpose of Columbus Day, while Thanksgiving is the holiday to thank God for his bounty and the contributions of Indigenous Americans. Therefore, it is right to keep the holiday name of Columbus Day to credit the one who made the discovery and to honor the contributions of all immigrants, not only those of a certain race, ethnicity or religion. Nativist Trumpism Risks Tainting the Holiday, Instead of Recalling its True Meaning As I have posted, any conservative accomplishments of Donald Trump, which could have been achieved by a principled conservative Republican President, are tainted by his poor character and populism. And sometimes, one may do the right thing for the wrong reason. His promotion of Columbus Day amidst his nativist, inhumane, un-Christian and un-American policies against immigrants and refugees is contradictory to the intent of the holiday, which he seems to be attempting to use as a basis for his broader policy views, while the nativism, xenophobia and bigotry of many Trumpists is all-too familiar. Because Trump and his supporters thereby risk tainting the holiday as based upon bigotry and hatred against non-Europeans or non-Christians, it is especially necessary and timely to recall the true purpose of Columbus Day as a celebration of the contribution of immigrants and of love for fellow human beings who seek liberty in our land. May the Columbus Day holiday instead serve clearly again as intended as a rejection of nativism and xenophobia.

2024 Freedom House Report: 19th Straight Year of the Decline of Freedom Globally

Freedom House’s 2024 Annual Report observes a decline in freedom around the world for the 19th consecutive year. The report observed a decline in freedom in nearly twice as many States than those that registered increases. Widespread armed conflicts and threats from non-state actors contributed to the decline, along with increased repression, including those States that hold elections, and increased election violence around the world. Terrorism and Russian mercenaries have decreased liberty in the Sahel after military coups overthrow elected governments in Malli, Burkina Faso and Niger, while organized crime affects some Latin American States and Haiti. As in El Salvador, some States, like Ecuador violate basic rights against criminal gangs. Undermining free elections, the rule of law (including persecution of lawyers, particularly in Russia and Belarus) by persecuting opposition leaders and critics, the independence of the judiciary and the freedoms of the press and assembly were the typical tools of oppressors. Populist leaders were often able to use public support to erode constitutional safeguards. The Freedom House report particularly cited decreased liberty in El Salvador by its populist right-wing President who has remained in office beyond the constitutional term limit, while Tunisia’s President has usurped the constitution to exercise authoritarian control. The elected parliament under Kuwait’s constitutional monarchy has been undermined by a retraction of power by the Emir, while Thailand’s pro-monarchy party also either removed from office or banned opposition parties. In contrast, Bhutan has transitioned from an absolute to a constitutional parliamentary monarchy. The overthrow of the Baathist Assad regime in Syria, popular uprisings in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have increased freedom and elections in Senegal has restored the West African State to the status of free. Freedom House noted the first peaceful transfer of power from one party to another in Botswana, long a free and peaceful State, which is also a first in Southern Africa. In Eastern Europe, the election defeat of Poland’s illiberal authoritarian Government by a centrist coalition was noted, as was increased authoritarianism in Serbia and corruption in Slovakia. Freedom House reported corruption as undermining freedom in various States around the world. The current lack of American leadership for freedom and its poor example of undermining safeguards is damaging the Free World’s efforts to reverse the global decline of freedom. Because increased global freedom leads to more peace, security and prosperity, the United States and supporters of liberty around the world should make it a priority to increase freedom globally.

Foreign Digest: Syria, Sudan and Hungary

Syria: Elections were held in Syria last week for the first time since the overthrow of the Baathist dictatorship of Bashar Assad. The vote — the first free elections in Syrian history — were for a popular assembly to draft laws and a new constitution. Electoral colleges were appointed in each participating province (except in the provinces inhabited primarily by Kurdish and Druse because of divisions with the provisional Syrian government). Popular elections were impossible because of the displacement of millions of Syrians from the Syrian Civil War and lost records. The war began in 2011 as a popular uprising against the Assad tyranny and claimed over half a million lives and displaced around a quarter of the population of 20 million, causing the largest refugee surge in Europe since the Second World War. The Assad family, of the minority Alawite Shi’ite sect, had ruled Syria since 1970. They were backed in the war by Iran, Hezbollah (the Lebanese terrorist organization) and Russia. Each religious and ethnic group, as well as women, were represented in the Electoral Colleges. The diversity was reflected in the election of women and minorities in the assembly for the religiously and ethnically diverse Arab State. Sudan: The International Criminal Court convicted a senior Janjaweed militia leader for crimes against humanity in Sudan in 2003 to 2004, including destruction, rapes, and killings. He had surrendered in Central African Republic in 2020. The war began in 2003 in the western Darfur Province as an insurgency by ethnic groups against the oppressive Arab-led Government. It killed 300,000 people. Sudan’s Islamist tyrant was overthrown in 2019 and detained, but has not been turned over to the ICC for trial. The new civil war since 2023 between the Janjaweed’s paramilitary successors and the Sudanese military has disrupted Sudan’s political transition and killed 40,000 people in the African State. Hungary: The European Parliament last week rejected Hungary’s request to revoke immunity to center-right Hungarian Member of the European Parliament Peter Magyar from charges based on political persecution, and a leftist Italian MEP who had been imprisoned in Hungary for 16 months until last year on “terrorism” accusations stemming from a protest. Magyar had served in the Hungarian Government, but broke away because of its corruption and now leads the conservative opposition party that is leading the polls in next April’s parliamentary elections against the authoritarian anti-migrant pro-Russian far-right ruling party of Viktor Orban. Orban, whom the EU describes as an “autocrat” and has withheld funds to Hungary for authoritarianism and corruption, is the darling of American Trumpists. Orban’s party left the center-right European People’s Party, a European parliamentary group, after violating its principles. The vote of the EPP were decisive. Hungary, a former Communist and Soviet satellite State in Eastern Euorope is an ally of the United States as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but has opposed aid to Ukraine to defend against Russian aggression.

The Pro-Europeans Defeated the Pro-Russians in the Moldovan Parliamentary Elections

The ruling pro-European party won the most votes and seats in the Moldovan parliamentary elections over the pro-Russian party, despite the heavy Russian interference I had posted about last week. The pro-Europeans nearly won a majority of votes, besting the pro-Russian party by a more than 2:1 margin. The ruling party won a majority of seats in Moldova’s Parliament, thereby avoiding the necessity of forming a coalition government with smaller parties. There were bomb threats not only in Moldova, but Romania, Italy, Spain and America where the Moldovan diaspora was voting, just like when the Russians made bomb threats during the 2024 United States elections. A breakaway part of the former Soviet Republic is populated by Russian speakers and occupied by Russian troops against Moldova’s will. The Russian Federation, which invaded the former Soviet Republics of Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014, as ex-Soviet intelligence officer Vladimir Putin, the Russian tyrant, is trying to restore the Soviet Union and Russian Empire. As I have been posting, Russia uses many methods to engage in political interference in European States and America, among various other machinations. Moldova is a candidate for joining the European Union, which was a major issue in the campaign, as membership would reduce Russian influence. Moldova, like Romania earlier this year, now provides a model for defending against Russian interference. Moldova exposed Russian interference, conducted hundreds of raids and scores of arrests, and banned two Russian-financed political parties. Moreover, Moldova and its ruling party framed the election as a choice between being under Russian influence versus independence and alignment with Europe.

Foreign Digest: Russian and Serbian Interference in Moldova and Montenegro

Moldova: Moldova has reported heavy Russian interference in the Moldovan parliamentary elections this week and has conducted hundreds of searches and scores of arrests. Russia’s interference includes cyberattacks, fake news, influencing polls, bribing voters in the Moldovan diaspora, intimidation, and even training to cause riots. Moldovans and Romanians were trained in Moldova and Serbia. Orthodox Serbia is a traditional ally of Russia. The Serbian opposition validated the Moldovan accusations about training Moldovans and Romanians to riot against the Moldovan government on election day, and Serbia did arrest two Serbs for conducting the training. The Russian interference in Moldova also included paying Orthodox Priests to preach against the West. Russia’s interference is an attempt to disrupt Moldova’s accession to the European Union. The fake news is disinformation aimed against the West and the EU and in favor of cultural and religious ties with Russia. Moldova is a former Soviet Republic. Russian troops occupy a breakaway territory populated by Russian-speakers. Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin is a former Soviet intelligence officer who is trying to restore the Soviet Union. Montenegro: Montenegro’s only fact-checking platform cites disinformation from Russia and neighboring Serbia as attempting to undermine the former Yugoslav Republic’s integration with the European Union, versus being oriented toward Russia. Serbia had dominated Yugoslavia under Communist rule, until its breakup began in 1991, which led to several wars as the Communist Serbian dictator fomented Serb nationalism, both in Serbia and the other former Yugoslav Republics that became independent. The German Federal Information Office also identified Serbia as the reginal hub for disinformation and misleading information.

Foreign Digest: India, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, Syria and Russia

India: The Indian Maoists announced last week that they are giving up armed struggle, after a recent government offensive, thereby ending the “Naxalite” rebellion, which began in 1967 and claimed 12,000 lives. The Communist Party of India (Maoist) will enter into dialogue with the Indian Government. Iran: The United Nations Security Council rejected a resolution last week that would have extended the delay since 2015 on the reimposition of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran for advancing its nuclear weapons program. The sanctions will be reimposed later this month, absent any agreement. Cuba: There have often been spontaneous protests by Cubans against the frequent and lengthy electricity blackouts in the failed socialist State and for liberty. As usual, however, the Communist Cuban dictatorship does not tolerate the freedom to assemble peacefully and arrests protestors. Cuba’s energy crisis has been worsening, with often most of the Caribbean island plunged into the dark. Venezuela: An international U.N. Mission sent to Venezuela has reported state repression by the South American State’s Socialist dictatorship. It observes the absence of an independent judiciary and the rule of law, which allows arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances and torture, and then gives impunity to those who commit such acts. Thus, the report determines the state repression is a “crime against humanity.” The Mission’s report calls for international action to restore human rights and justice for victims. Syria: United States forces killed a terrorist leader of the Islamic State terrorist organization in Syria a few days ago. The Islamic State is an offshoot of al-Qaeda, the Islamist terrorist organization responsible for killing nearly 3,000 people in the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on America, among many other attacks around the Islamic world and beyond. The U.S. led an international mission since 2015 against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, as it had globally against al-Qaeda since 2001 in the War on Terrorism, which succeeded in taking away all of the organization’s territory in Syria and Iraq and killing its leader, who had claimed a caliphate. Some American forces have remained in Syria in support of the Syrian Democratic Forces since the fall of Syria’s tyrannical Assad regime, with the acceptance by the new Syrian Government, and in Iraq in support of the Iraqi Government. In both cases, the U.S. helps protect its ethnic Kurdish allies. Several of al-Qaeda’s affiliates around the Islamic world switched allegiance to the more brutal Islamic State. Despite suffering many hard blows, both organizations remain a threat to America and the world. Russia: The Trump Administration has announced that is cutting back U.S. support for the defense of the Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia against Russian aggression, even after recent Russian incursions onto the territory of members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization during the Russo-Ukrainian War. NATO is the defensive alliance led by the United States that has deterred Soviet and Russian aggression against its members since 1949. The Baltic States are NATO members. Russian Federation tyrant Vladimir Putin is an ex-Soviet intelligence officer intent on restoring the Soviet Union and Russian Empire. The Baltic States were the first Soviet Republics to gain independence from the Soviet Union. Russia has invaded the former Soviet Republics of Georgia and Ukraine and kept troops in a breakaway part of the former Soviet Republic of Moldova, while trying to maintain its dominance over other former Soviet Republics and satellite states. Russia had successfully backed the isolationist Trump’s presidential candidacies in 2016 and 2024, as I have posted. The real estate tycoon had done a considerable amount of business with Russians, which, as I have also posted, he falsely denied continuing to do during his first campaign.

Foreign Digest: Guyana, Nicaragua, Nepal, Russia and Brazil

Guyana: The incumbent President of Guyana was reelected in last week’s election I had posted about. He defeated an upstart corrupt businessman who was favorable to the Venezuelan Socialist dictatorship. Venezuela claims most of its South American neighbor’s territory, despite international rulings against it. Nicaragua: Marxist Nicaragua signed commercial agreements with the Russian Federation last week for the Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine that it has conquered and annexed. As I have posted, the Central American State’s dictatorship is one of the few in the world to recognize Russia’s conquest of Ukrainian territory through aggression. Nepal: The Nepalese coalition government of Marxist-Leninists and center-left republicans was overthrown last week in a popular revolution against rampant nepotism and corruption amidst widespread poverty that forced the resignation of the Marxist-Leninist Prime Minister and other officials. The trigger for the uprising was a social media ban because of government policy for regulation that limited free expression and also remittances from Nepalese working abroad sent back to their families in the predominately Hindu State in the Himalayas. The protest met with deadly force, which increased the opposition. Government buildings were burned. I have posted of the rotation between Marxist-Leninist and Maoist-led coalition governments since the decade-long Maoist rebellion and takeover of Nepal and the abolishment of the monarchy in 2008 and establishment of a constitutional parliamentary republic. A former supreme court justice with an anti-corruption record was sworn in as interim prime minister after the military reestablished order. The Nepalese popular overthrow is part of a trend in South Asia, as the governments of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were also overthrown in popular rebellions in the last few years. Russia: Russia violated Polish airspace last week by launching an attack by 19 drones through Belarus to attack Ukraine, one of which was downed, causing damage to a house. Ukraine, Poland and the European Union determined the incursion was deliberate, not an accidental stray, because of the number of drones and their route. Russia is not only trying to use additional flight corridors for attacking Ukraine, but tests NATO’s defenses. Russia has been engaged in a sabotage campaign against NATO and European Union members during its aggression against Ukraine, in addition to its usual cyberattacks, election interference and attacks on exiles. Russia invaded the former Soviet Republic in 2014 and in a full-scale manner in 2022. Aircraft from Poland’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies helped defend the former Soviet satellite State, which was the first time that NATO has engaged in defensive action over its own territory in the defensive pact’s its 76-year history. NATO responded with a mission for better coordination of its air defense along its eastern flank. Russia violated Romanian airspace yesterday with another drone aimed at Ukraine. Romania is also a NATO member. Brazil: The pro-Trump far-right former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was convicted last week and sentenced to over 27 years imprisonment by a panel of five Supreme Court Justices for leading an attempted coup d’etat in 2022. Bolsonaro had lost re-election in the presidential election, but like Donald Trump after the 2020 United States presidential election, would not accept the results, despite a lack of convincing evidence of fraud, and inspired a mob to take over government buildings. Prosecutors developed abundant evidence of the breadth of the coup. Bolsonaro also plotted a military coup. Part of the conspiracy included murdering the winning presidential candidate and other government officials. His conviction was upheld by the fuller body of Brazil’s highest court. The ex-leader of the South American State already been convicted of fraud and banned from serving in elective office for three years. Bolsonaro was under house arrest for bail violations. Seven military and civilian officials who were leaders of the coup were also convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Most military stayed loyal to the constitutional representative republic. The Trump Administration interfered in Brazil’s judicial system with sanctions against one of its Supreme Court Justices and increased tariffs against Brazil. As Bolsonaro and his supporters favored the sanctions, the public blamed them for the interference and supported Brazil’s exercise of its independence and sovereignty.

Twenty-Fourth Anniversary of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on America

Today is the twenty-fourth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on America by the Islamist terrorist organization al-Qaeda, which killed nearly 3,00 people. The hijacking of civilian airliners and the crashing of them into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Virginia and a field in Pennsylvania (after the passengers attempted to overtake the hijackers) were the deadliest terrorist attacks in world history. The attacks sparked the United States-led War on Terrorism, in which the Taliban militia that was the de facto ruler of most of Aghanistan was overthrown by 2021 for harboring al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda’s leadership has been decimated, but it remains a threat, as does its offshoot, the Islamic State, even though the latter was deprived of its territory and like its parent organization, its leader was killed. The two Islamist terror organizations have affiliates around the Islamic world. The U.S., which led an international coalition that overthrew the Taliban, is still engaged in military missions, although usually not combat missions, against these and other terrorists in several predominately Muslim States. The U.S. also shares intelligence with allies and leads efforts against the financing of terrorism. The sucess of these efforts and those of the military, intelligence and security agencies, policymakers and even private citizens have prevented any other attack on such a scale. But a major concern is the return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2021, after the U.S. withdrawal of the 2,500 American troops engaged in a non-combat mission since 2014, after a partial U.S. withdrawal and an end of its combat mission, in support of the Afghan government that was an ally of the U.S. There had been no American troop losses since February 2020. The deal that the Trump Administration negotiated with the Taliban terrorist sponsors legitimized them, undermined the Afghan government that was excluded from the negotiations and reduced Agfhan military morale. Trump’s deal also included the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners of war and hamstrung the American-led coalition from engaging the Taliban ahead of the promised withdrawal of American forces by August 2021. The Taliban, who are intertwined with Islamist terrorists, promised only not to harbor al-Qaeda again. The head of al-Qaeda took up residence in the Afghan capital of Kabul, however, until the U.S. killed him in a raid under Trump’s successor. The lack of an American presence on the ground in Afghanistan inhibits the ability to gain intelligence against terrorists and to strike al-Qaeda targets along the Afghan-Pakistan border. One consolation was the rescue of many Afghans who had worked for the U.S. or its international or Afghan allies, but the first Trump Administration put up obstacles to refugees trying to flee Afghanistan and the second has ended protections for Afghans in America, leaving them vulnerable to deportation and thus persecution and death at the hands of the Taliban, thereby undermining U.S. security by undermining confidence in the U.S. because of its failure under Trump to protect those who work with us from risk. The second Trump Administration has engaged in combat with other terrorists and talks toughly against other terrorists or overly broadly labels others “terrorists” to invoke measures against them, after Donald Trump had focused on ending (i.e. losing) the War on Terrorism, including the Afghan campaign because of his isolationist views. The threat from al-Qaeda and its affiliates has hardly been mentioned by the Administration, as it had hardly arisen in the 2024 presidential election campaign. Moreover, the Trump deal with the Taliban and the subsequent withdrawal under his liberal Democratic sucessor encourages terrorists to continue to fight the U.S. and ocassionally inflict casualties, as Islamist terrorists believe the American people will tire of what they regard as lengthy wars, or even non-combat support missions, especially if there is not a clear goal of victory, such as destroying the Taliban, which should have been the goal. The Trump deal with the Taliban, based on a lack of American patience, thus rewards the patience of the Islamist terrorists who regard even twenty years as only a brief warin the long course of history, and their sporadic attacks for intimidating Americans to give into their demands of withdrawal so they could sieze power. Greater confidence, patience and willingness to sacrifice are necessary to prevent more deaths and injuries from terrorists. To win the war against Islamist terrorism, instead of only a strategy of defensive vigilance and responding ad hoc to threats from terrorists, a more comprehensive strategy of defeating the terrorists must be adopted. Americans were hit in the bloodiest way in their history 24 years ago, but the day is not only a sad commemoration of a massacre, but the beginning of American-led resistance to global terrorist threats. To prevent another attack on the scale of September 11, or many smaller-scale attacks on Americans and others around the world, the terrorist enemy must be defeated and the threat eliminiated.

Foreign Digest: Russia, Guyana and Venezuela

Russia: The Russian Federation jammed the navigation of the European Union President’s airplane over Bulgaria. The Russians increasingly jam the global positioning system (GPS) navigation of aircraft, ships and drones in Finland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia since the full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2022. The navigation of an aircraft carrying the British Defense Secretary was jammed last year over Eastern Europe and the German Defense Secretary twice this year over the Baltics. Europeans near Russia have been forced to use backup systems to GPS. The jamming is part of Russia’s sabotage campaign that includes vandalism, arson and even attempted assassination. Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin, an ex-Soviet intelligence officer, is trying to restore the Soviet Union/Russian Empire. Guyana and Venezuela: Guyana is conducting its presidential and parliamentary elections today. Two major ethnic-based parties have traded power since independence from the United Kingdom in 1966 in the South American State, but a wealthy gold mine-owning upstart is a major challenger, despite being under United States sanctions for bribery. Control over Guyana’s relatively new oil major resources, which have recently fueled its world-leading economic growth, is at stake. Meanwhile, election commission officials came under fire from Venezuela in the territory the Socialist dictatorship of Venezuela claims. The Venezuelan claim is one of the major issues in the election campaign. As I mentioned in my last post, the United States has dispatched a naval flotilla to the southern Caribbean for anti-drug trafficking operations and also to deter Venezuelan aggression.

Foreign Digest: Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia

Venezuela: Trinidad and Tobago offered the United States military access if it were necessary to defend Guyana against the Socialist dictatorship of Venezuela, with which the island State in the Caribbean Sea shares a maritime border. Trinidad and other States in the Caribbean are adversely affected by the drug trafficking from Venezuela. As I had noted in my last post, the U.S. has increased its bounty for the Socialist dictator of the South American State, Nicolas Maduro, who is wanted for drug trafficking. An American flotilla of warships has been dispatched for anti-drug trafficking operations, but which could also strike Venezuela. Ecuador and Colombia: Ecuador and the United States have intercepted shipments of tons of cocaine, as well as explosives coming from the neighboring South American State of Peru that officials believe would have been sent to the Marxist narco-terrorists in neighboring Colombia. As I noted in my last post, the Colombian narco-terrorists are holdouts of a rebel organization that had fought for over four decades until signing an agreement to end hostilities nine years ago. They have recently increased their activity. Meanwhile, a seventh suspect has been arrested in Colombia for his role in the assassination plot against a conservative Senator and presidential aspirant who died earlier this month from his wounds in June. Bolivia: Even ahead of the Bolivian presidential runoff election, in which a center-right political leader faces off against a conservative former President, thereby marking the two-decade streak of election wins by the Socialists in the South American State, Bolivia’s courts have been reviewing the criminal cases against conservative leaders, The conservatives were prosecuted in connection with the popular uprising against a Socialist Bolivian President. The increasingly authoritarian President, who was seeking a fourth term, despite a two-term constitutional limit and the rejection of a popular referendum to end term limits, was forced to flee the capital. One conservative leader has been released after his conviction was overturned and one of the cases of former interim President Jeannine Anez has been thrown out, but she remains imprisoned on other related charges.

Foreign Digest: Venezuela and Colombia

Venezuela: The United States increased the reward to $50 million for the capture of Nicolas Maduro, the Socialist Venezuelan dictator, for drug trafficking charges. It also advised Americans not to travel to the South American State for any reason. The Socialist regime released some political prisoners and sent others to house arrest, but many others remain behind bars. Colombia: There were deadly attacks in different regions of Colombia by dissident holdouts of the Marxist narco-terrorists who had signed a peace deal in 2016 after a nearly 40-year-long rebellion. The elected leftist Colombian Government has launched a counteroffensive. The Government of the South American State has failed to end the insurgency, despite its attempts to negotiate with the dissidents. The narco-terrorists rely on trafficking cocaine. The cultivation of coca leaves has reached record levels in Colombia.

Trump’s Oval Office Re-Design Is a Symbolic Rejection of its Federal Revival Style and the Founders’ Values It Represents

Donald Trump’s recent changes to the interior design style of the Oval Office are highlighted by the controversial use of gilding and golden décor items. This change in style represents a significant symbolic rejection of the values of the Founding Fathers reflected in the room’s original Federal Revival style. Architecture is a language, through which architects speak the spirit of their age. The elements that characterize a particular design style symbolize the values of its era. Architectural styles are mirrored also in the styles of furniture and décor items, which are inspired by similar structures and motifs. Together with architectural design, they form a consistent interior design style. The Oval Office is in the West Wing extension of the Executive Mansion, commonly called the “White House.” It was built during Theodore Roosevelt’s administration in the Federal Revival style. An understanding of the origins of the style reveals the values it represents. Neo-Classical Origins of the Federal Style as the “American Style” The origins of the Federal Revival style begin in the late Italian Renaissance, with the Neo-Classical style, named for its new interpretation of the styles of the Classical civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome, the ideals of which the Renaissance esteemed. Neo-Classical is typified by such design elements as classical columns, pediments and arches, and by the color white. The inspiration for white arose from the color of ancient structures and sculptures, some of which were white, while others had simply lost their paint, unbeknownst at the time of the Renaissance. The British substyle of the Neo-Classical is the Georgian style, named for the three Kings named George of the House of Hanover from the early Eighteenth to the early Nineteenth Centuries. The American version is the Federal style, which arose after the establishment of the federal Union of States under the Constitution. As it differs slightly from the Georgian style, it is the true “American Style.” Federal style is inspired by the Roman Republic, which was fitting for the new American Republic based on the ideals of equality, liberty and representative government. It thus emphasizes more curvilinear forms than the rectilinear Georgian. The Romans had not invented the arch, but they had taken it to new heights, both literally and figuratively, expanding them into vaults and domes. Federal style emphasizes columns, arches (which are often elliptical instead of rounded), and domes. Ellipses are a defining shape of the style. Architect Thomas Jefferson’s dome over his home Monticello and the rotunda of the main edifice of the University of Virginia he founded and the serpentine walls of its campus are archetypal examples of the style the Founding Father pioneered. The Federal style’s emphasis on symmetry and proportion is symbolic of the balance between the three Branches of Government. Its restrained elegance and understated characteristic symbolize the restraint expected of a chief executive in a constitutional republic, versus the excessive power of a monarch. The style’s Classical-inspired color of white represents the chasteness of the young Republic. As one of the colors of the American Flag, white also represents purity. The choice of color for the “White House” was thus obvious. Roman-inspired design motifs for architecture, furnishings and décor typical of Federal style include the eagle, the mace and the goddess Liberty. The Federal style lasted until it was supplanted in part by the Greek Revival style, which symbolized the democratizing trend of the populist Jacksonian Democrats, who took their inspiration from the democracy of the ancient Greek city states, in preference for that form of government over the representative governance of the Roman Republic. The Federal Revival Style Renewed interest in America’s Colonial and Federal era heritage during the American Centennial of 1876 led to the Colonial and Georgian Revival styles and the Federal Revival style. These revival styles had their own distinct features and modern elements that differentiated them from the original styles they were reviving, but they were at least somewhat faithful to the styles that inspired them. The Federal Revival style for the West Wing fittingly matches the Federal style of the Executive Mansion. The Oval office, with its elliptical shape and white interior, is particularly representative of the style. Theodore Roosevelt’s selection of the style was in sharp contrast to the “Gilded Age” style of the era, which literally takes its name from its characteristic gilding of interior spaces with gold leaf paint. The Gilded style reflects the extreme ornateness of the late Victorian Era, which is not an American style. Its excessive ornamentation communicates ostentatiousness, which was a status symbol of American industrialists during the turn of the Twentieth Century. Trump’s Gilded Design Symbolically Clashes with the Federal Revival Style Trump makes use of both gilding and golden décor items as status symbols to prove his wealth, which is his characteristic marketing strategy and reflective of his narcissist ego. He once said, for example, that one had to be wealthy to be considered “great.” The real estate tycoon’s heavily gilded Trump Tower penthouse interior is thus as over the top figuratively as it is literally. Restraint is not one of Trump’s qualities and chasteness is not associated with him. Trump’s gilding of the Oval Office and motif of golden decor clashes with its Federal Revival design. Although some gilding could be incorporated into the style to highlight its architectural features, Trump’s is too excessive to be consistent with the style. His imitation of the Gilded Age industrialists’ mansions reflects his lack of respect for the Federal style and the Founders’ federal principles it symbolizes. All the glitter makes a statement, versus being understated, thereby symbolizing the excessive exercise of power versus restraint. The heavy use of the yellow metal greatly detracts from the characteristic white of the Federal Revival style, symbolizing brashness versus chasteness. Trump, who admires Andrew Jackson, could have chosen Greek-style décor to symbolize the populist Trumpist emphasis of democracy over representative government as a more subtle change. Instead, Trump has chosen a style that is based neither on Classical democratic or republican ideals, nor even completely American in its heritage, but which most clearly represents a display of wealth and power. Trump’s gilded style is thus the design equivalent of squaring the walls of the Oval Office. Moreover, instead of conserving the American Style, Trump’s rejection of the Federal style reveals his general lack of conservative inclination. Restoring the Oval Office to its intended design would be one of the most symbolic means for a future occupant to supplant Trumpism.

Foreign Digest: Colombia and Bolivia

Colombia: A center-right Colombian Senator died last week of wounds suffered in June by an assassin. The murdered Senator had been a leading possible presidential candidate. The leftwing Government of Colombia has arrested the juvenile assassin and several of the other conspirators. The ruling party won the elections two years ago for the first time in the South American State. Bolivia: Bolivia is holding the first round of presidential elections today. The ruling Socialist party has been in power for 20 years, but is split three ways between a candidate favored by the incumbent President, a second candidate who is a former authoritarian President who is term-limited but advocating for Bolivians to cast blank ballots to undermine the legitimacy of the vote, and a third candidate who is a legislator who offers himself as a conciliatory choice between the other two Socialist candidates. A conservative former President and a center-right legislator are the two candidates leading in the polls. Bolivia was swept up by the Socialist revolution in Latin America that emanated from Venezuela in 2002, but which has since been set back in several States. The revolution led to the election of socialists and far-left anti-American leaders who became increasingly authoritarian and eliminated or tried to eliminate presidential term limits, while wrecking their economies with socialist policies, and often fostering public corruption. As no candidate is expected to win a majority in today’s balloting, Bolivians will head to the polls for a runoff election in several weeks.