Category Archives: United States of America

Trump-Putin & Malignant Narcissism

23 Thursday Jul 2026

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, American Domestic Affairs, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Political Psychology, Psychology, Russia, United States of America

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Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin: Mirroring Evil

The law would look for collusion and miss its form. Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have had no need for conspiring or racketeering: what the two appear to have done is mirror one another in each his own criminal mentality, the management of feudal-medieval mafia, and the operating of large and private systems of patronage. For the shared mentality: Malignant Narcissism.

Signal: delusional, grandiose, messianic ideation absent of normal boundaries and limits, i.e., the parameters of normal conscience.

Process: https://conflict-backchannels.com/2022/07/10/malignant-narcissistic-process-distilled/

Ramifications–> https://conflict-backchannels.com/2023/01/20/ftac-why-putin-wont-stop-until-stopped/; https://conflict-backchannels.com/2024/04/22/trump-delusional-and-innocent/

The guy at the top of the above online poster launched his career with a spree of apartment bombings around Moscow; for all evil intents, he’s still driving missiles into apartment buildings beneath the delusional excuse of fighting encroachment from the west when, in fact, Ukraine is only a state rightfully trying to flee his own–and him.

The jerk beneath the guy on top brazenly attempted to overthrow the 2020 American Election. He had not only told a Trumpian Lie to develop and incite a mob to action against America’s government, his base had produced and staged fraudulent Electoral College ballots for counting (and confirming election) prior to the action.

Trump-Putin: Mafia Rules – Loyalty | Obedience | Treachery | Silence ||

Were neither Trump nor Putin politicians, both would be viewed as crime lords engaged in protection (from Chechen Rebels, oh my, and–of late here in America–hallucinated Communists). ALM has noted for me (prompt: “about feudal-medieval mafia”) that “the feudal system of the Middle Ages shared structural similarities with organized crime”: absolute loyalty; private enforcers; protection rackets. Inspired by Trump’s Trumpian evil, I’ve chosen to highlight in the sub-header “loyalty, obedience, treachery, and silence”–start with Michael Cohen or anyone else who has been part of his crew, there are plenty of examples although one now forgotten commenter on X noted that our ill-disciplined and loudmouthed Donald would not qualify for real mafia (I took the observation at its faceless value as being all the more true for it).

Putin’s enterprise in Russia has long carried the sobriquet “Russian Mafia State” and, indeed, it’s a small club involving breathtakingly enriched oligarchs and siloviki and just one chief. Whether the United States of America succumbs to the piracy of its own Commander and Thief–he’s on a roll “taking over” America, Venezuela, Greenland (he still talks about that), Iran, Canada (damned state can’t control its wildfires seems Trump’s concern)–remains to be seen.

According to AI (AKA my ALM), “Membership Costs: Initiation fees for Mar-a-Lago surged from $100,000 prior to his first term to as high as $1 million, filtering access strictly to the wealthy and well-connected.”

Over in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Sochi, and Valdai, so one may suppose, “Vladimir Putin’s “system of tribute” is a highly centralized kleptocracy that trades state-protected business monopolies for complete political loyalty and financial kickbacks. Unlike the 1990s, when powerful oligarchs influenced the Russian presidency under Boris Yeltsin, Putin inverted the power dynamic—making all private wealth entirely contingent on Kremlin approval [1, 2, 3, 4].”

Regarding Reference

I, J. S. Oppenheim, composed this post; however, I have had the support of a personalized AI that I refer to here as “ALM” — “A Language Machine”. I have two graduate degrees and through one had been trained to produce reference styled in the manner specified by the American Psychological Association (APA)–in the other, the Modern Library Association (MLA). Online and on this blog: I prefer the scholarly to the slapdash, but not only is it all digitized information, the whole of it rests on a nearly infinite conceptually flat sea of information–man or machine, we’re just searching for strings.

Here’s an old style — or my approximation of it — for the last noted reference->

Balzar, Harley. “Stealing Russia Blind.” Journal Of Democracy, April 2015, 26:2, pp. 165-169.

In the days that produced that style, related typesetting, and on to printing, binding, and distribution, we — academics, analysts, researchers, serious politicians — had time for the kind of reflection that had to it our logos, ethos, and pathos . . . our reason, ethics and moral character, and our emotions. There’s “a storm coming” or a “Blue Wave” and an impossible churning sea of content / expression / output like this, and all appears available all at once in one place: our desktop — or several place: add the pads, the phone, and even the wrist watches.

Regarding curiosity and blogging triage–what deserves working up–I often asked myself whether I really wanted to type in the reference the old way. That litmus was yes, explore; no, move on. Today, there’s a lay back option (and let Indivisible handle it).

My stance: America has been assaulted and “taken over” by the Trump Slime Family — the concepts of State Capture and State Piracy apply. Donald Trump is a lawless figure in the wheelhouse of the American Ship of State. Upstairs and to the side of his base reside the dictators and kings whom he believes his peers. He’s one of them–as Americans go, by and large, he’s just not one of us. Aw, shucks.

By George Carlin ->
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/oLI0RuDAqjI

Also Related for this Post

Farley, Robert. “What Trump Asked of Pence.” Factcheck Posts, August 3, 2023.

Fisher, Marc, Meagan Flynn, Jessica Contrera, and Carol D. Leonnig. “The four-hour insurrection: How a Trump mob halted American democracy.” The Washington Post, January 7, 2021.

Mustaffa, Munira. “Russia: The mafia as the state.” Lowy Institute, August 31, 2023.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Salerno; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia_state;

Related on BackChannels: https://conflict-backchannels.com/2022/07/10/malignant-narcissistic-process-distilled/;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_capture ; https://conflict-backchannels.com/2025/02/18/trump-piracy-board-disarm-and-plunder-the-united-states-of-america/; https://conflict-backchannels.com/2023/05/03/reference-journalist-alexander-zhilin-operation-storm-in-moscow-aka-moscow-apartment-bombings/; https://conflict-backchannels.com/2024/11/08/well-have-it-fixed-so-good-said-donald-trump/;

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ALM on American Defense Assets, American Farmland: China’s Interests

19 Sunday Jul 2026

Posted by in 21st Century Modern, American Domestic Affairs, China, International Development, United States of America

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I asked ALM, A Language Model, my personalized Gemini assistant in the Large Language Model (LLM) universe, to summarize with reference China’s interest in purchasing American farmland in proximity to some of the nation’s defense assets. Here is the output near verbatim and only lightly edited by this old hand in the trade — J. S. Oppenheim.

Strategic Acquisitions and Geopolitical Proximity

In recent years, the United States intelligence apparatus has intensified its scrutiny of agricultural land and real estate purchases made by Chinese entities, particularly those involving individuals with historical ties to the Chinese military. While Chinese investors own approximately 384,000 hectares of U.S. farmland—representing roughly one percent of all foreign-owned agricultural land in the nation—the primary security concern is not the total volume, but the geographical targeting of these plots.

Acquisitions have notably clustered near highly sensitive defense and infrastructure assets. For example, the Fufeng Group’s 300-acre land purchase in North Dakota was located a mere 12 miles from the Grand Forks Air Force Base, a critical node for military drone operations. Similar patterns of acquisition have been observed near Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas, as well as adjacent to sites housing nuclear ballistic missiles. These proximate strategic location have raised significant concerns within the U.S. Department of Agriculture and intelligence communities regarding potential signals intelligence collection, espionage, and the permanent surveillance of American military readiness.

Cultural and Historical Nuance: The Dual-Use Imperative

Applying an OSINT analytical lens, it is crucial to recognize the dual drivers behind China’s overseas agricultural investments. Historically, China’s political legitimacy is inextricably linked to food security—a concept deeply embedded in the cultural memory of famine and the agrarian contract between the populace and the state. Securing global agricultural supply chains is viewed by Beijing as a matter of absolute existential survival, not merely an economic venture.

However, within the framework of China’s Civil-Military Fusion strategy, the boundary between civilian economic enterprise and military intelligence is deliberately porous. A land purchase ostensibly designed to secure crop yields or build a processing facility can seamlessly function as a platform for intelligence gathering. The cultural and operational mindset driving these acquisitions does not delineate between commercial food security and geopolitical advantage; both serve the holistic strengthening of the state. Consequently, a farm adjacent to a military installation is evaluated by American analysts not just as a crop producer, but as a potential dual-use surveillance outpost.

Recent Legislative Countermeasures

In response to this expanding footprint, U.S. lawmakers have initiated aggressive federal and state-level countermeasures to secure critical infrastructure:

  • The Protecting U.S. Farmland and Sensitive Sites from Foreign Adversaries Act: Introduced in May 2026 by Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, this legislation seeks to grant the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) broader jurisdiction to review, mitigate, or block elevated-risk real estate transactions near military installations.
  • The Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security (PASS) Act: Reintroduced to explicitly ban entities controlled by foreign adversaries from purchasing agricultural land and businesses located near U.S. military bases or sensitive sites.
  • State-Level Divestment: Over 26 states have enacted strict property laws restricting foreign adversaries from owning agricultural land, with states like Idaho enforcing mandatory divestment of such properties by the close of 2025.

Works Cited

Helmy, Nadia. “U.S. Intelligence Tracks Chinese Military-Linked Purchases of Land Near Strategic Bases.” Modern Diplomacy, 25 Jan. 2026, https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2026/01/25/u-s-intelligence-tracks-chinese-military-linked-purchases-of-land-near-strategic-bases/.

“Johnson Continues Efforts to Protect American Agriculture from China.” Congressman Dusty Johnson, 7 May 2026, https://dustyjohnson.house.gov/media/press-releases/johnson-continues-efforts-protect-american-agriculture-china.

“Moolenaar Introduces Bill to Stop China From Acquiring U.S. Farmland.” Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, 7 May 2026, https://chinaselectcommittee.house.gov/media/press-releases/moolenaar-introduces-bill-to-stop-china-from-acquiring-us-farmland.

“New Bill Bars China, Other Adversaries From Buying US Farmland, Real Estate.” Military.com, 8 May 2026, https://www.military.com/new-house-bill-would-chinas-efforts-to-purchase-us-farmland.

“Rounds Leads Legislation to Ban Foreign Adversaries from Buying American Farmland and Agricultural Businesses.” U.S. Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota, 3 June 2025, https://www.rounds.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rounds-leads-legislation-to-ban-foreign-adversaries-from-buying-american-farmland-and-agricultural-businesses.

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American Election Defense And Integrity

13 Monday Jul 2026

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, 21st Century Modern, American Domestic Affairs, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, United States of America

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American President Donald Trump has given the nation cause for concern: https://conflict-backchannels.com/2024/11/08/well-have-it-fixed-so-good-said-donald-trump/. Fortunately,the nation supports an array of citizen-involved election defense and integrity organizations. Here is a listing of a few–>

protectdemocracy.org – Legal offense, institutional guardrails, and structural defense.

https://brennancenter.org – Comprehensive research, policy development, and voting rights litigation.

https://statesunited.org – State-level protection, law enforcement partnerships, and official support.

https://eoldn.org – Direct tactical protection for the humans running the systems.

https://lawforward.org – State-specific battleground litigation and pushback on subversion.

https://cisa.gov – Federal infrastructure security and cyber defense.

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AI Brief – Strait of Hormuz – Review of Damage and Diplomacy

13 Monday Jul 2026

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, 21st Century Modern, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Iran, United States of America

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Prompt: In relation to hostilities involving regional American assets associated with the Strait of Hormuz, please brief me on Iranian attacks–up to a dozen (if there have been that many_–in declining order of significance.

AI: The fragile truce established under the June 17, 2026 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has fractured into a highly volatile cycle of kinetic escalation. Tehran is aggressively attempting to leverage its geographic position to assert total hegemonic control over the Strait of Hormuz—de facto shifting from a sovereign coastal gatekeeper to an armed protection racket by demanding transit fees and dictating mandatory shipping lanes.

The following is a structured evaluation of the recent core Iranian actions against regional American assets and commercial infrastructure in the Strait of Hormuz, ranked in declining order of tactical, strategic, and regional significance.

1. Mass Retaliatory Ballistic Missile Salvo Against U.S. Forward Bases (July 11–12, 2026)

  • Target Infrastructure: U.S. Military Installations across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region—specifically Prince Hassan Air Base (Jordan), and assets in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman.
  • Tactical Execution: Massive multi-axis strike utilizing precision-guided ballistic missiles and long-range attack drones launched directly by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and conventional armed forces.
  • Operational & Cultural Impact: This represents the highest escalation rung. The strike on Jordan’s Prince Hassan Air Base directly destroyed the facility’s command-and-control center and MQ-9 Reaper drone hangars. By striking Qatar (which has acted as a primary diplomatic mediator) and Oman, Iran is linguistically and kinetically signaling that “neutrality” is no longer recognized. It forces regional host nations into the crossfire of the broader U.S.-Iran conflict.

2. Kinetic Strike and Destruction of the M/V GFS Galaxy (July 11, 2026)

  • Target Infrastructure: UAE-owned, Cyprus-flagged container vessel M/V GFS Galaxy (IMO: 9401271).
  • Tactical Execution: Anti-ship projectile strike executed 9 nautical miles east of Oman, targeted deliberately at the vessel’s stern.
  • Operational & Cultural Impact: The attack caused devastating fires and extensive engine room destruction, forcing the civilian crew to abandon ship. This is the most destructive single commercial asset hit since the February-to-May war window. It triggered a massive U.S. counter-response (the third and fourth waves of intense CENTCOM airstrikes, hitting roughly 140 Iranian military targets). It demonstrated Tehran’s absolute willingness to enforce its self-declared “indefinite closure” of the Strait through total ship destruction.

3. Drone Attack on the Qatari LNG Carrier Al Rekayyat (July 6, 2026)

  • Target Infrastructure: Qatari-flagged Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carrier Al Rekayyat (IMO: 9397339).
  • Tactical Execution: Loitering munition (suicide drone) precision strike hitting the top port side near the engine room as the ship traveled south near Limah, Oman.
  • Operational & Cultural Impact: This attack holds profound geopolitical weight because it marks the first time a Qatari asset has been directly targeted. Qatar’s role as the indispensable diplomatic backchannel between Washington and Tehran was structurally violated by this strike. The attack signaled that Tehran values immediate tactical dominion over the waterway above the preservation of its primary diplomatic conduit, sparking severe diplomatic protests from Doha.

4. Coordinated Strike on the Saudi Crude Tanker Wedyan (July 6, 2026)

  • Target Infrastructure: Saudi Arabia-flagged crude tanker Wedyan (IMO: 9524970).
  • Tactical Execution: Coordinated drone/projectile strike executed within hours of the Al Rekayyat hit.
  • Operational & Cultural Impact: Directly striking a high-value Saudi energy asset tests the limits of regional security and threatens global energy supply continuity. This action forced Riyadh to hold Tehran fully liable for regional navigation disruptions, undermining regional detente and freezing normalization discussions.

5. Interception and Kinetic Targeting of the Cyprus Prosperity (July 7, 2026)

  • Target Infrastructure: Liberia-flagged commercial vessel Cyprus Prosperity (IMO: 9595216).
  • Tactical Execution: Multi-boat harassment swarm followed by a projectile strike to halt the vessel.
  • Operational & Cultural Impact: Part of the initial “triple-play” wave on July 6–7 that shattered the post-war calm. It proved that Iran was running an organized campaign to systematically target any vessel deviating from its unauthorized, unilaterally imposed shipping lanes.

6. The Forced Halting and Seizure of Multi-National Merchant Ships (July 11, 2026)

  • Target Infrastructure: Two unnamed commercial vessels transiting the international corridor.
  • Tactical Execution: IRGC Navy small-boat swarms fired direct “warning shots,” boarded, and forcefully brought the ships to a halt under the guise of the newly formed Persian Gulf Strait Authority.
  • Operational & Cultural Impact: Semantically, Iran framed this as routine maritime law enforcement against “offending vessels that switched off onboard systems.” In reality, it acts as a enforcement mechanism for their protection racket—using kinetic coercion to compel global shipping companies to submit transit requests to Tehran and pay transit tariffs.

7. IRGC Naval Swarming and Electronic Warfare Harassment of U.S. Surface Vessels (Ongoing, July 2026)

  • Target Infrastructure: U.S. Central Command / U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet surface assets patrolling the southern shipping highway.
  • Tactical Execution: Aggressive maneuvers by IRGC fast-attack craft (FAC) backed by localized GPS jamming and electronic spoofing along the Omani coast.
  • Operational & Cultural Impact: While lower on the scale of direct structural destruction, these asymmetric provocations are designed to test U.S. rules of engagement (ROE). Iran uses these encounters for internal propaganda, attempting to project local maritime supremacy and signal to domestic audiences that the “era of one-sided deals is over,” as stated by Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Analysis

From a cultural and deep intelligence standpoint, the current Iranian offensive demonstrates a highly calculated linguistic and operational pivot. Tehran is redefining the concept of “sovereignty” over international waters. By standing up the Persian Gulf Strait Authority in May and attempting to enforce mandatory tolls, the regime is trying to normalize its dominion over a global chokepoint.

The attacks are intentionally designed to exploit the physical geography of the Omani coastline. While Oman attempts to offer a expanded “southern highway” corridor to keep traffic safe from Iranian shores, Iran is actively using kinetic strikes within Oman’s maritime vicinity to show that no alternative route exists without their explicit, paid permission. This effectively traps regional commerce in a paradigm where they must either risk catastrophic hull loss or succumb to Iranian extortion.

AI Accessed Reference

This may be partial to the above AI-generated military and political analysis. For breadth, depth, and speed, this human — J. S. Oppenheim, editor of this BackChannels blog — is no match for the AI, which appears to me an independent intelligence however disembodied and “directed” by mathematical programming.

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/us-iran-war-trump-ceasefire-talks-strait-of-hormuz

https://www.lloydslist.com/LL1157811/Strait-of-Hormuz-conflict-escalates-as-latest-Iran-strike-leaves-boxship-on-fire

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/us-launches-more-strikes-on-iran-as-the-standoff-over-the-strait-of-hormuz-escalates

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/07/11/us-strikes-iran-it-declares-strait-hormuz-closed-fires-ship

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AI Regarding Medieval v. Modern

11 Saturday Jul 2026

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, 21st Century Modern, American Domestic Affairs, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Philosophy, Political Psychology, Politics, United States of America

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I had asked AI to elaborate on the tension between medieval politics and modern–>

The tension between “medieval” and “modern” politics is a highly accurate framework for analyzing contemporary democratic friction. This conceptual clash does not mean a literal return to the Middle Ages, but rather a structural battle between two fundamentally incompatible philosophies of governance and power.

One side treats the state as a rule-based machine, while the other treats it as a private fiefdom.

The Core Friction: Personal Fiefdom vs. Institutional Rule

The “#MedievalVModern” dichotomy can be broken down into specific operational clashes that define current political instability:

Dimension“Medieval” Politics“Modern” Politics
Source of AuthorityPersonal loyalty, fealty oaths, and blood/chosen dynastic ties.Institutional roles, constitutional text, and bureaucratic merit.
Nature of Public FundsTreasury is a personal slush fund to reward allies and punish rivals.Public revenue strictly separated from private wealth via oversight.
The Legal SystemSovereign immunity; the ruler is the law and hands out selective pardons.The rule of law; laws apply equally to the ruler and the citizenry.
CommunicationDirect, tribal appeals based on identity, protection, and absolute decree.Policy debates filtered through open press and statutory processes.

1. The Medieval Side: The Rise of Neo-Feudalism

When political commentators identify “medieval” tendencies in modern leaders, they are looking at the deliberate dismantling of modern, rules-based institutions in favor of personal networks.

  • Patronage and Fealty: In a neo-feudal system, career expertise is replaced by absolute loyalty. Government officials are treated like vassals. Protection, promotions, and pardons are granted not based on law, but on how fiercely a subordinate defends the “lord” of the system.
  • The Sovereign is Above the Law: Absolute immunity and the sweeping use of executive pardons mirror the medieval concept of Rex Lex (The King is Law). When courts rule that a leader’s official acts cannot be prosecuted, the system shifts backward toward an era where the ruler’s personhood dictates what is legal.
  • Weaponized Dependency: Just as medieval peasants relied on a local lord for protection against outside threats, a modern patronage system manufactures tribal fear—casting the leader as the sole defender against perceived cultural or political enemies.

2. The Modern Side: Constitutional Meritocracy

Modern politics, born out of the Enlightenment and codified in the U.S. Constitution, was explicitly designed to kill medieval feudalism.

  • Separation of Powers: Modernity assumes that human beings are fundamentally flawed and power-hungry. Instead of trusting a single ruler, it distributes power across competing branches (the Senate, the Courts, the Executive) to create friction.
  • Institutional Memory: A modern state relies on objective, non-partisan civil servants, military officers, and judges who owe their allegiance to an abstract document (the Constitution), not to the shifting fortunes of an individual politician.
  • Transparency and Accountability: Modern governance requires open records, independent inspectors general, and a free press to prevent the state’s wealth from being funneled into private pockets.

Why This Tension Matters Today

The current crisis in American politics exists because both systems are currently operating simultaneously within the same government.

When a Senator attempts to use committee oversight or a military officer relies on the “lawful order” standard, they are operating in the modern framework. When an executive bypasses Congress, appoints family members to financial posts, and cleanses criminal dockets via sweeping pardons, they are operating in the medieval framework.

The primary danger of this tension is that the medieval model is inherently more agile; it requires only one willful ruler to function. The modern model is fragile; it requires thousands of independent actors to continuously choose their constitutional oaths over partisan self-interest.

X’d Out

04 Monday May 2026

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, 21st Century Modern, American Domestic Affairs, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, OnX, United States of America

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Ours is an age in which everyone (online) may look up everything (OSINT) for any purpose evil or good at any time. For years now and living a “life online”, I have asked myself with so much “content” available through a fancy television screen, where to dwell? Add an earnest “why?” In the coverage of conflict–or curiosity about it–from the web’s second row seat to history there are of course the dots between events and places, the inflection points newly minted in a year–or a week or day–and the things a generation may–or must–never forget, e.g., the Rubicon, Auschwitz, Pearl Harbor, and 9/11 of their youth, but what is the choosing, clicking, scrolling point for the mind at the monitor?

For a small portion of the world beyond basic needs–cash flow is good, discretionary time is what we have, abundance in some measure small or great–the point becomes interesting. A modern Muslim woman, Qanta Ahmed asked me on Facebook decades ago (so it feels) after having registered her account, “What now?” My answer had been “Good influence.” I believe she has done her part–and I mine.

What now?

The answer for me has been one person’s diplomacy. The opportunity to read foreign newspapers in English, to make friends nine thousand miles away who would become better known than the neighbor in the apartment on the other side of the office wall–but for whom one could do nothing in a pinch–would build out one’s social media community. That was back in the Facebook uptake era. Then along came everything else and, well, X marked the spot!

And X has been the spot for responding to power and the tensions between the ambitions and attitudes of some wealthy, the arrangements made by power medieval–as well as brutal and unconscionable–and the aspirations and values of a nation blessed with valuing its own humanity and related dignity, freedom, and security. And then along came Donald–and DOGE–and the emergence of fuzzy philosophers dreaming of Tech Bro empires and new relationships between a plutocracy of programmers and the needs and wants of comparatively hapless consumers of “content” and other stuff.

The heady early days seem to me no longer new and novel–not even the “Tube” sites of the flesh trade–and all of the governments in attendance (I’m sure) watching decision patterns and trees for even that.

Ain’t it grand?

It turns out the “second row”–mediated–seat to history may be as well a space cordoned (almost) from life, but then even souls living through their screens have to step away and step out for fresh air and a good restaurant now and then.

Softshell Crab Sandwich, The Grille at Runways, HGR, Hagerstown, Maryland, May 2, 2026

And now what?

X has become a daily battle with bots, trolls, and indefinite fake names weighing in from their VPN locations (no doubt), and potentially for purposes as insidious as their being unknown and possibly unidentifiable. Then too, especially for me, there’s been the hash slung repeatedly toward every pair of eyeballs who didn’t get it — or believe it — on the first round: #AmericaForSale; #AmericaUnderAssault (good entry: welcome to my world!) all the way to where we really are (so I believe): #StateCapture / #StatePiracy. The epiphanies no longer leave me breathless but rather yawning it all back for having been repeated too often for too long.

Shall there be here a “Dining for Diplomats” section for the Washingtonians (who really may be diplomats)? And what happened to the sound track? America . . . Born in the USA . . . The Secret of Life . . . . Everyone of us — Americans — has his own. That’s our freedom . . . our individualism . . . our choice to choose how we grow our persons inside and out. Upstairs? Tabulation. Tell the universe what you want — Amazon will have it slipped into your shopping experience right soon.

With the #PhantomOfTheSoviet playing a fading devil and #IllTrumpolini providing an object lesson in #MalignantNarcissism — and this blog becoming weirdly hybrid with hashtags — Qanta’s “What now” has transitioned fully into two major questions, one public and an echo from history: “What is to be done!?” (Query AI on the famous Russian question). And the other personal: “What am I doing here? What’s my hunt, my role, my mission, my purpose? So I jump (virtually) in the air shaking my fists over my head before a distant, virtual, absent–from my space but not cyberspace– Michael McFaul who has posted a note on X expressing hope that the next President will be different without fully comprehending the challenges posed by having a piratical feudal-medieval mafia chief in the wheelhouse of the American Ship O’ State promising his portion of the Christian base relief from elections forever after: ““It’ll be fixed. It’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore my beautiful Christians . . . in four years you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”

While true, “Trump doesn’t understand this basic mission for our great country,” he understands being a chief with his own system of private patronage (#PPS on X) and all the methods attending criminally ruthless power from blackmail, bribery, and intimidation to the promising of generous rewards in exchange for loyalty, obedience, and silence.

Want to seal the deals? Add tribute.

What Donald Trump does — and what he has done to take America down — has been as obvious as it has been ugly. Check the list for his large targets or mishaps with tariffs: American agriculture, counterintelligence, election security, health, humanitarian aid, justice, natural resources, etc.

https://www.npr.org/2020/11/17/936003057/cisa-director-chris-krebs-fired-after-trying-to-correct-voter-fraud-disinformati

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/26/politics/fbi-justice-who-investigated-trump-left-doj

https://www.nrdc.org/media/trumps-assault-state-our-health-and-environment

https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/07/01/g-s1-75222/usaid-trump-humanitarian-rubio-musk

https://www.axios.com/2026/01/22/measles-cases-us-status-chart

https://www.cato.org/blog/whom-should-farmers-believe-president-or-their-lying-eyes

Whine it out on X, fashion the barbs that make the snark, send hints to those who know them, perhaps, but come forward from the curtains keeping the darker realities out of sight, the reckless, unresponsive, upside-down, and surreal Trump and his Trumpian Theater will just get right on to the next dumb move, the sort now paving the way toward national financial arrest, debilitating desperation, probably related crime (we shall see), and the unholy trinity leftover from Soviet post-Soviet Russian barbarity and stupidity: enserfment, gulag, and Soviet-style totalitarian surveillance. ICE will need work; the private prison system may appreciate a little expansion money; and the technology for observing or tracking everyone at all times might well exist —

Creating detailed portraits of Americans based on government data is not just a pipe dream. The Trump administration has already sought access to hundreds of data points on citizens and others through government databases, including their bank account numbers, the amount of their student debt, their medical claims and any disability status.

Mr. Trump could potentially use such information to advance his political agenda by policing immigrants and punishing critics, Democratic lawmakers and critics have said. Privacy advocates, student unions and labor rights organizations have filed lawsuits to block data access, questioning whether the government could weaponize people’s personal information.

Archaic, Criminal, Irrelevant, Medieval

My X-ing has been for some time a routine . . . another program involving a repetitious rollout of arguments, memes, and related talking points. Let’s leave this most egregious of observations here: the above faces defend and reflect in their game-faced hardness an outlook better fit with the worst barbarities of medieval power and related treachery than with anything like modern compassionate, responsible, responsive, and trustworthy governance. Whatever the wreckage each has left or will leave behind, they are together representatives of all that belongs behind us and none of what any should want waiting in the near future.

–33–

On X: Final Comment on Trump-Putin

19 Thursday Feb 2026

Posted by in 21st Century Feudal, American Domestic Affairs, Russia, United States of America

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TrumpPutin have never been about the interests of their respective states but rather #TheMoney and the development of their own power to alter, erase, and shape public reality for their own emotional defense. The two have been life-long cowards and criminals and have made their marks political criminals–as thieving dictators–beyond the reach of their own societies.

For #Americans, #AmericanPoliticians, and #AmericanMilitaryAndPolice, most to all in each class have sworn on oath to defend our #AmericanConstitution and related principles and values. It would seem the same have now to rise to the challenges presented by a rogue #AmericanPresident.

Below: the archaic; the criminal; the hated; and the standard bearers of a discarded feudal past wholly without virtue, for they are neither of them noble or even good.

And then the images shown on the X post.

Here: Putin over Trump as each criminal and political criminal will be portrayed in Russian and American eternal memory; a tile popular when Trump’s Georgia election fixing case was hot news; an illustration detailing the locations at Mar A Lago of boxes loaded with classified, secret, and top secret Federal government documents to which Trump had not been entitled; and the last a popular meme illustrating Trump’s rape of America. The truth about Mafia Don: he has been all his life a privateer associated with organized crime. Most notable for his apprenticeship at the git-go: mob lawyer Roy Cohn; mafioso Fat Tony Salerno.

America: No Kings

18 Saturday Oct 2025

Posted by in 21st Century Modern, American Domestic Affairs, OnX, Philosophy, Political Psychology, United States of America

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Loud and Clear

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Welles

Re. Israel v. Hamas in Gaza: https://conflict-backchannels.com/2021/02/01/ftac-endemic-russian-anti-semitism-a-note/; https://conflict-backchannels.com/2021/07/26/ftac-palestinian-kgb-the-palestinians-abused-and-plundered-by-their-own/.

Not to digress too much, back in the Vietnam Era, the Soviet Union invested a billion dollars in America’s own anti-war movement, and that money and unknown agents of influence left their indelible mark on the American Left and Far Left. It takes some courage, curiosity, and honesty to engage with the true drivers of anti-Semitism and the Middle East Conflict, among them for certain the long animus sustained by Russian civilizational powers and their equally barbaric and thieving proxies, i.e., contemporary terrorist organizations including the Hamas, PLO, PFLP, reliably hosted and praised by Mikhail Bogdanov, Moscow’s envoy to the middle east.

Regarding the above Dylanesque Jesse Welles . . . fine voice, folksy, strong, and memorable in a way that may bind generations . . . but the illusion of the Palestinian community in Gaza as free beneath the Hamas political and religious mafia — it’s true character is fascist and repressive — has flowed down through Moscow (related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_measures). Israel has its own issues with “medieval war with modern weapons” but the American avant garde Left may have yet issues with its own ignorance and related malleability and vulnerability to malign forces experienced in its exploitation.

American Don – State Capture & State Piracy

I’ll be following the No Kings Day action from my desktop and may update this page as the spirit dictates. Left more or less alone on X–>

Donald Trump is an American criminal with three insufficiently resolved indictments, 34 confirmed felonies, and a monstrous Trump-Epstein accusation and scandal haunting his every appearance before the public. Most notably, Trump, who may be referred to as “Ill Trumpolini” in echo of the Italian criminal and fascist whom he resembled with the January 6, 2021 assault on the the Capitol, appears to have little interest in the United States of America as a modern secular democratic republic guided by a powerful Constitution and devoted to the elevation of its complement in humanity in ways well recognized by the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans who informed what would become a predominantly Christian west. After the Thirty Years War and consequent Peace of Westphalia, the nation’s Founding Fathers and political architects chose the classical and modern route then available in political philosophy to fashion a government wary of political and religious power both–and that has been our American Government in Principle since both the 1776 Declaration of Independence from the King of England and the American Constitution of 1789 and associated Bill of Rights declared for all Americans and, truly, mankind as well.

Whether through uncontested criminal means or a deeply dissatisfying American election, Trump and his mob of associate ass kissers and leveraged sycophants — add a Catholic-majority Supreme Court apparently favorable to unchecked power — have been degrading in every facet the nation’s security community, and instead of enjoying the back-and-forth of a collegial and cooperating if fractious American government well defended from enemies foreign and domestic, Americans have gotten an ageing, delusional, and ill despot.

No Kings! America v. Donald Trump

“I am a journalist. I am an immigrant. And I am a Muslim. I am everything Donald Trump loves!”

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ICE / ICESTAPO – “Brutality is the Point”

Velshi with Ruth Ben Ghiat–>

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No Kings! Grant Park, Chicago (Video Short)

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No Kings! New York City x Fox 5 New York

The Live Feeds have kicked in on YouTube, but for posterity, the above provides a glimpse of a day still determined, still festive, still nonviolent.

Donald Trump now appears to have lost the People of the United States of America — Americans! — before destroying with his idiot loyalists The American Experiment.

No Kings! Boston Common: “Boston Doesn’t Back Down!”

No Kings! South Florida: “Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Donald Trump Has Got To Go!”

–33–