From Grumpy's Garage

Image: Leonardo.ai Whenever I hear that the Christian right supports Donald Trump, I cringe. Jesus didn't teach what Trump is preaching to the world. Even when he doesn't say anything, Trump's actions speak volumes about his worldview. Jesus called his followers to be humble, forgiving, generous, and loving to one another. He didn't call for followers to spend their time and energy preparing for life after death. Focus on the here and now, not the hereafter. It was about living what you believe by serving others. I especially appreciated how this was captured at the church I attended before COVID. Their motto: "Life is a gift, and love is the point." That pretty much summarizes what Jesus was getting at. Here are a few of Jesus' teachings from the Gospel of Matthew (with one deviation into the Old Testament Book of Leviticus). Compare them with how Trump manifests these Christian values: Turn the other cheek "But I tell you, do not resist an evil pers...

Robert E. Lee statue on a pedestel. Image: Public Domain I've just finished reading Chapter 5 of Naomi Klein's book, No is Not Enough . In that chapter, she outlines how Donald Trump leverages social divides in his predominantly white, sexist, bigoted voter base and the "others," those groups who have historically enjoyed less privilege. Klein, writing in 2017 about the rise of the MAGA movement in America, tries to paint a picture of why Hillary Clinton failed to win the 2016 presidential election. Clinton leaned into identity politics, explicitly calling out women, Black and Brown minorities, LGBTQ voters, and others who have been marginalized by the white majority. In doing so, according to Klein, Clinton alienated white, Christian voters who then cast their votes for Trump. But that's not what I found most impactful. At one point, Klein wrote something that struck me hard. In a section titled  "Racial Capitalism" , she describes how America's cap...

Image: Created by Google Gemini AI As I watch the news, I can't help but be overwhelmed by the leadership counterexample that Donald Trump is presenting to the world. He does not seem to be consulting with people around him. He does not seem to be taking the impact of his actions on other people into account. He certainly is not delegating power to others. (Exercising power is not an inherent attribute of leadership. Quite the opposite: exercising power is usually a sign of the absence of leadership.) Trump's actions as the "Leader of the Free World" are comical. When asked about the impacts of his recent tariffs on imported automobiles, he is quoted as saying, "I don't care if they increase prices on imported cars." No recognition of how this will likely result in somewhat higher prices for domestically manufactured cars. No acknowledgement that this will be a shock to the entire automobile market. No apparent realization that this will impact the lives...

Protestors rally in front of the Capitol in DC. Ted Eytan. CC BY-SA 4.0 I don't think I've ever called my U.S. Representative before. Well, today, after seeing Cory Booker complete 25 hours and 4 minutes in a speech on the Senate floor, I felt I had to do something , no matter how ineffectual it might feel at the moment. So I followed a link to 5calls.org , chose a topic (firing federal workers willy-nilly), and called Rep. Susan DelBene's office in Washington, DC. I didn't follow the 5calls script precisely. I identified myself and where I lived, then shared my personal experience as a federal employee in DoD, and that I had felt like I was doing something worthwhile for my country. I asked that DelBene do something to rein in Trump, Musk, and DOGE. The staffer asked me to provide a few more personal details (name and email address -- which means I'm on her mailing list now), then we ended the call. So I got my name on a list of potential campaign donors for the 2...

 I've started reading Naomi Klein's book,  No Is Not Enough . After an introductory chapter in which she gives an overview of how Trump is (in 2017) shocking the political landscape in the U.S. (and, she forecasts, will continue to do so), she points out that Donald J. Trump is a well-crafted "Superbrand," a type of phenomenon that emerged from the rise of business mega-branding in the 1980s. To understand Trump and his strategies, Klein says that one must understand how Trump leverages the psychology of modern commercial branding to influence large populations. Mega-branding gets people to attach their sense of personal identity to the brand. The human psyche has a fundamental need to connect with others, to belong to tribes. Corporate brands seek to create a tribe for their followers to join. It's brand loyalty on steroids. That is the premise of Chapter 1, How Trump Won by Becoming the Ultimate Brand. She starts with the history of how, in the 1980s, corporatio...