Fred’s Weekly Note Archive

Trump’s Lies Keep Coming. Republican Officeholders Keep Staying Silent.

Former President Donald Trump is well known as a serial liar. He may well be the most prolific liar in American history. During his four years in office, according to The Washington Post, Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims. Politifact tracks Trump’s more recent lies, such as his false claim that Nikki Haley opposed both Trump’s border wall and his […]

Trump’s Frivolous Immunity Claim

Throughout his professional career, when Donald Trump has been challenged in court, his litigation strategy has invariably been “Delay. Delay. More Delay.” That apparently is his goal for the federal criminal cases pending against him in Washington, DC and Florida, and for the cases pending in Georgia and New York. If Trump can delay the […]

Two Presidents

This has been a consequential week for both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. In the case of Biden, House Republicans on Wednesday, by a party-line vote of 221-to-212, opened a formal inquiry into whether Biden should be impeached. This inquiry is a response by House Republicans to Trump’s desire for revenge and retribution. […]

Trump’s Dictator Warning

In a Town Hall this week, former President Donald Trump told Sean Hannity he wouldn’t be a dictator “except for Day One,” if he regains the presidency. Some dismissed this as Trump joking – just “Trump being Trump.” But, others believe he was signaling his future plans, broader than just one day, in the same […]

The Silent Republicans

Why are so many Republican officeholders being silent as former President Donald Trump threatens to create an autocracy, if not a dictatorship, if elected again as President? Why aren’t these Republicans calling out former President Trump for his off-the-rails and dangerous political rhetoric, and for his threats to root out “vermin” groups and create “detention […]

Trump’s Dangerous Rhetoric

In this week’s note, Fred examines two issues in the news — first, the growing dangerous rhetoric coming from former President Donald Trump, and second, Washington’s corrupting campaign finance system and the record-breaking growth of influence-seeking money in politics.  >> Trump’s Dangerous Rhetoric An adage among lawyers goes like this: “If the facts are on […]

Chaos Returns To Capitol Hill

Chaos returns to Capitol Hill next week. The chaos began in January when it took House Republicans 15 floor votes to elect Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker. Chaos returned last month when eight House Republicans triggered McCarthy’s ouster. It took three weeks to finally replace him with the virtually unknown Rep. Mike Johnson. Those were […]

“There Is Nothing Uplifting About American Politics Today.”

There is nothing uplifting about American politics today. Here are just a few examples. Sen. Tuberville’s Enormous Damage To Our Military Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) never spent a single day in military service and yet in his short career as a Senator he has done unprecedented damage to our military and national security. Tuberville has […]

They Call Him “MAGA Mike”

Before Wednesday, when Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) was elected Speaker of the House, he was one of those “under the radar” Members of Congress. But Johnson’s influence now as Speaker is a major problem for the country and a serious threat for those who choose democracy over autocracy. Speaker Johnson is an extreme right-wing MAGA […]

Jim Jordan Is Unfit To Be Speaker Of The House

There may be no better example of how badly our national politics are polarized than the case of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH). Jordan is anything but a leader. He is an extremist and attack dog who uses hardline pressure tactics, has no track record as a consensus builder, and has failed in his 16-year congressional career […]