Me.

Today is solemn, and the speeches by the former presidents reflected the introspection of the day. However, the current president and his cabinet made it about the current political situation. Trump and Hegseth at the Pentagon both linked the war in Iran to their ongoing military actions.

In Trump's speech, he made references to "domestic terrorists," and that made my ears pick up, since in the past Trump has labeled trans activists as terrorists.

Formerly at remembrances at the Pentagon, the presidents didn't make it political.

When ask Gemini wrote...

Presidents who have spoken at the Pentagon memorial observances over the years include:

• Barack Obama: Spoke at the Pentagon ceremony on multiple anniversaries (such as the 11th anniversary in 2012), focusing on national resilience, community service, and honoring the victims and first responders.
• Donald Trump: Also delivered major addresses at the Pentagon during his first term (such as in 2017), as well as during subsequent anniversaries, using the platform to honor the fallen while emphasizing national strength and counterterrorism efforts. 
• George W. Bush: Regularly delivered addresses honoring the Pentagon victims in the years immediately following the 2001 attacks, given that the Department of Defense was one of the primary sites struck.
• Joe Biden: During his term, he also participated in Pentagon and Flight 93 observances, delivering remarks centered heavily on the endurance of American democracy and supporting military families.

Because the Pentagon is a federal military facility rather than a private memorial site like Ground Zero in New York, it has traditionally hosted a formal government-led ceremony featuring speeches from the sitting commander-in-chief and the secretary of defense.

 Trump always makes it about "Me."

Family Values... Whose?

[Essay]

Here we go again with "Family Values." How many times have you heard Republicans harp on "Family Values"? I don't know about you, but I don't like JD Vance's family values of hate.

Vance's speech at the Republican lovefest was an eye-opener!

USA Today reported...

Vance says Democrats are 'party of hatred'

Vance declared Democrats the "party of hatred" as he led the charge among Republican convention speakers to paint their midterm opposition as a dangerous threat to the country.

It was Vance’s debut at the convention, and it might have been one of the most pivotal speeches he will make ahead of a widely expected presidential bid in 2028. He arrived on stage to chants of "JD."

Whoa! The Republican party is a party of lies.

Fresh off a recent campaign visit to Michigan, Vance above all aimed at Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, who the vice president has attacked aggressively for invoking his wife, Usha Vance, on the campaign trail.

El-Sayed wrote in an Aug. 22 post on X: "So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no…" To El-Sayed’s critics, his remarks seemed to imply Vance’s white grandfather would not accept Usha Vance because of her Indian heritage.

Now he just got finished saying that the Democrats are a "party of hate" but what does he say next?

Fresh off a recent campaign visit to Michigan, Vance above all aimed at Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, who the vice president has attacked aggressively for invoking his wife, Usha Vance, on the campaign trail.

El-Sayed wrote in an Aug. 22 post on X: "So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no…" To El-Sayed’s critics, his remarks seemed to imply Vance’s white grandfather would not accept Usha Vance because of her Indian heritage.

To me, that seems xenophobic and racist!

Then we have JD's family values... which are not mine.

Vance positions himself as a fighter for family values and a ‘national birthright’

The vice president drew on the recent birth of his fourth child, a son, and the first anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s death in his speech at the Republican midterm convention.

NBC News

Sept. 10, 2026

By Henry J. Gomez

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday offered his young family — in particular, his newborn son — as a model and a window to the future that the potential 2028 presidential contender envisions for America.

In a speech here at the Republicans’ midterm convention, Vance broadly criticized Democrats who he said do not share his values.

I will second that!

My family values are love and acceptance, not authoritarianism.

He added a moment later, “To the radicals who wish to abolish my family and the thousands and millions of other families all across our country, we have a simple message for them: Stay the hell away from our kids!”

Ah... but it is okay to force our kids into models of your family image? It is okay to force a trans child into a body image that is not theirs? It is okay to mold them into little images of "Dick and Jane" with Spot and their cat Puff?

And then... good grief! He says he might run in '28!

Vance reserved his vitriol for Democrats and the progressive left. He went on an extended riff against El-Sayed, who last month mockingly wondered whether Vance would take his Indian American wife, Usha Vance, back in time to meet his late grandfather. Vance also alluded to El-Sayed’s alliance with Hasan Piker, a Twitch streamer who previously said on a livestream that “America deserved 9/11.” Piker has since apologized for the remark, which has become a staple of Republican campaigning this year.

That is playing to a xenophobic and Islamophobic audience! I don't know about you, but those are not my family values!

My family values are about love and acceptance; it is about the Golden Rule and helping others.

My family values are not about seeking vengeance on those he thinks "wronged" him.

My family values do not involve seeing women as sex objects.

My family values are not about cheating your contractors.

My family values are not to cheat on your taxes.

I see the whole Republican convention as a "hate fest." It was not about "Family Values," but rather who to hate. Hate the immigrant. Hate the trans children. Hate those who worship differently.

No, those are not my family values.

[/Essay]

Ask Them How?

Just a simple question: How?

"I'm going to cut your utility bills."... How?

"I'm going to cut the price of drugs."... How?

"I'm going to lower grocery prices."... How?

"I'm going to make housing more affordable."... How?

The devil is in the details!

That’s something no politician tells you. Why? Because they can’t! They don’t know either. But they’ll tell you what you want to hear.

Republicans Float $2B Cuts In Taxes, Costs

CT News Junkie

by Donald Eng

September 9, 2026

Legislative Republicans made their plea for voters to elect more members of their party in November, offering reductions or outright elimination of about a half-dozen taxes or fees in return.

“Affordability has become a buzzword for the Democrats we serve alongside, and they’ve spent the summer pointing fingers at Washington instead of looking in the mirror,” said House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford. “Connecticut didn’t become one of the most expensive states in the country the day President Trump took office. It got that way over years of decisions made in this building, by the people and party that have controlled it,”

[...]

Among the measures were an elimination on sales tax on meals sold in grocery stores, elimination of the public benefits charge on utility bills, a one-year gas tax holiday and an elimination of the highway use tax – a mileage-based tax on heavy commercial vehicles that helps fund road and bridge maintenance.

The centerpiece, though, is a scaled reduction in the state income tax for those earning $200,000 or less. That one proposal represents about half of what the group said was the $2 billion total.

So the question asks to be asked... HOW?

They are cutting taxes by 2 billion dollars... but where are they going to cut? All I hear is crickets.

What they did say is that they will take it from the budget surplus. However—and you know darn well that there is always a "however" or a "but" in politics—the budget surplus varies from year to year depending on the economy! The surplus is also used to pay down our long-term debt and the two major state pension obligations: the State Employees Retirement System (SERS) and the Teachers' Retirement System (STRS).

The Republicans haven't said anything about that! And if that isn't enough... what in the budget are they planning to cut? They Republicans want to treat the volatile surpluses as a bottomless piggy bank for sweeping tax cuts without explaining how they'll balance the math,

The Party's Over!

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

How many thousands of times have we said that?

Well, Trump has a new pledge of allegiance: “I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the United States..."

‘I’m on the ticket’: Trump implores Republicans to vote in November at unusual midterm convention

The president demonised Democrats in an attempt to wangle votes in midterms despite backlash over Iran war

The Guardian

David Smith in Dallas, Texas

Fri 11 Sep 2026

With his approval rating at a historic low, Donald Trump has brought down the curtain on the Republicans’ first ever midterm convention by pleading with supporters to do him “the biggest favour” and “pretend” they are voting for him in November’s US elections.

The president is facing a growing backlash over rising prices and the war in Iran. Sweeping losses for the Republican party could effectively turn Trump into a lame duck for his final two years in the White House.

[...]

The convention had been aimed at turning around Republicans’ fortunes. Opinion polls suggest they are on course to lose the US House of Representatives, and possibly the Senate.

In what was effectively an abridged version of his rambling keynote address on Wednesday, the president reiterated his promise of “Trump dividend” of $5,000 for every US adult if Republicans win both chambers of Congress. Democrats have dismissed the pledge as a bribe while economists have warned it would cost more than $1tn.

They are really nervous... their whole house of cards could come tumbling down on them. So they fall back on their game plan... blame the Democrats.

The president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, delivered a fiery address setting Republican “common sense” against a “dystopian hellscape” of leftwing ideology.

“As we speak, Democrat candidates across the country are openly embracing the radical ideology of democratic socialism,” suggested Trump Jr. “They claim that their socialism is for the people, but that’s the exact same story we’ve heard from every communist in human history.”

To unpack his claims... what programs is the Trump adminstration are ending or being defunded?

Why it is Social Security, they are just letting it go bankrupt... oh sorry about that cheif.

SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, and other "social programs," those are the programs that the conservatives object to.

The Republicans favor oligarchism. What, I never heard of that? Well, a oligarchy is...

Key Characteristics of Oligarchy:

• Concentrated Power: Decisions are dominated by a select minority rather than the broader population or a single absolute ruler.
• Self-Serving Governance: Power is frequently exercised for corrupt, selfish, or dynastic purposes to maintain or grow the elite class's wealth. 
• Wealth as Influence: While ancient oligarchies were sometimes built on nobility or military dominance, modern oligarchism is heavily tied to plutocracy, where vast financial resources are converted into political influence

Does that sound like any political party that we know?

You Know What They Say About The Democrats?

[Essay}

They say it is a political tug-of-war caused by too much ideological diversity and that they are trying to please too many factions. But nothing is ever said about the Republicans being split apart by all of their factions.

The GOP’s Weed Crackdown Is Blowing Up in Its Face

Republicans revived reefer madness just as legal cannabis became popular with their own voters.

Slate

By Nitish Pahwa

Sept 02, 2026

Once again, government officials are trying to restrict marijuana products around the United States. And once again, Americans of all political stripes are pissed off—plausibly enough to shake up this fall’s midterms.

At the federal level, Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration are attempting to rectify a huge mistake they made last November, when they passed an ill-advised bill that, if allowed to go into effect, would all but smother the United States’ flowering hemp industry. In red states like Iowa, Kansas, and Ohio—where polls have shown Democratic momentum in the gubernatorial races—promising candidates are insisting on the need to finally, belatedly legalize it. A bid in blue Massachusetts to have voters approve a rollback of the state’s recreational industry faces overwhelming popular opposition. And the anger is especially boiling down in Texas, where even Joe Rogan is warning that GOP intransigence on weed could well cause the Lone Star State to vote Democratic in the upcoming midterms.

Both parties are fractured... the Democrats are fractured or liberal causes while the Republicans are just as fractured but over conservative causes. 

I am going to tell you a parable. Since all parables must have a title, it is called: "A Tale of Two Towns: To Bud or Not To Bud."

One little town thinks that marijuana is the evil weed. They stand up and proudly hail, “We will not allow that Satan’s weed here in our town!” While the other town thinks, "Well, it is here, we might as well make a profit off it!"

The first town is left wondering… how do we pay for a community center? While the other town says… "Hey, we can use the tax money from them selling pot to dredge the harbor!"

One town has a lot of sad faces, and the other town has a lot of smiley faces.

[/Essay]

To Me This Sounds An Awful Lot...

Like vote buying!

Trump promises $5,000 dividend to every adult American citizen if Republicans win the midterm elections

New York Post

By Victor Nava

Sept. 9, 2026

President Trump pledged to give every US citizen a $5,000 dividend Wednesday if Republicans keep the House and Senate after the midterm elections. 

“Here is my promise: If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them, because of our economic, tremendous economic success …. I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000,” Trump said at the GOP midterm convention in Dallas. 

The president said the so-called “Trump dividend” money must be spent in the US.

While everyone else calls it vote buying!

The Daily Beast wrote in the Desperate Trump Offers Brazen Cash Bribe in Bonkers Speech article;

However Trump’s promise would not only require congressional approval, it would likely spike inflation. With just under 270 million adults living in the U.S., Trump’s $5,000 handout would lead to a budget blowout of up to $1.3 trillion, blowing out America’s existing $1.8 trillion annual budget deficit.

The current U.S. debt is around $40 trillion.

Speaking on Fox News, host Bret Baier raised the $1.3 trillion cost with Vice President JD Vance.

Baier suggested “critics” would say “the president is bribing voters to vote for Republicans... and he is bankrupting the country because the debt is huge and inflation would come back if this comes to play.”

Now get a load of JD's reply, it is a doozy...

Vance called the $5,000 “fundamentally a dividend for American workers” and said it could be funded by revenues raised by U.S. tariffs.

So... who pays for the tariffs? We do.

So, in Republican logic... we get taxed so they can give us our money back... minus shipping and handling charges.

Besides the fuzzy logic, there is also the issue of vote buying!

The British Independent write...

Commentators accused the president of attempting to bribe voters to back Republicans, who are forecast to suffer heavy losses in November.

In a post on X, reporter Sam Stein accused the president of describing "openly bribing people to vote for Republicans."

We have the best government money can buy!

---

I noticed something in writing this... not one American mainstream news outlet used the word “bribe.”

NPR pussy-footed around it by calling it: “To incentivize voters to cast ballots for Republicans.”

online polls

He's An Art Critic Now

Trump's an art critic now. He hated Blue, the work by world-renowned sculptor Joel Shapiro. But Trump hated it with a passion!

NPR wrote,

A big blue presence has vanished from the landscape of Washington DC.

On Wednesday a crew removed a 24-foot-tall metal sculpture called Blue, by Joel Shapiro, from the grounds of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Our family turned out to say goodbye.

Blue is a giant stick figure with what seems to be four limbs, standing on what might be one leg, while the other is lifted. To walk, to leap, to dance? The upper-most limbs, which look like arms, are extended. To welcome, twirl, swing or sway?

The work was installed on that part of the Kennedy Center's grounds called The REACH, which opened in 2019. I've always thought it seemed an artful fit in that place, which before the Center became a source of controversy during the Trump presidency, abounded just about every night with music, dance, and all kinds of shows — available to the public for free.

[...]

But Josef Palermo, who was let go this past March as curator of visual arts and special programming at the Kennedy Center, told the New York Times this week that Blue had been "targeted early on" for removal by the Trump administration, which might have seen something else in the sculpture. Well, isn't "seeing something else" art?

This reminds me of the communist countries of old... where only proletariat art was allowed. Maybe if it was red and not blue? The Atlantic magazine wrote,

Shapiro—one of the most important American sculptors of his generation—died last summer. He spent decades coaxing human gesture and emotion from the austere geometry of minimalism. His abstract shapes and forms have strong personalities. They lie in wait for their audience, then suddenly come alive.

But the Kommissar didn't like it.

Josef Palermo was the Kennedy Center's first-ever Curator of Visual Arts and was not replaced.

Mr. Palermo's background included:

A working artist and arts producer

Cofounder of VESTIBULE, an interdisciplinary artists' collective/collaborative

Service on the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities

The new Kennedy Center is being run by people whose professional backgrounds are not in the arts. Their qualifications are in politics, diplomacy, communications, facilities, construction, and operations. At the same time, Trump's allies have taken control of the board.

The contrast with the previous leadership is striking.

The old board was bipartisan, with substantial representation from the worlds of business, philanthropy, government, and the arts. The new board has a much stronger political connection to Trump.

Just look at some of the new board members:

Donald Trump — president of the United States and now board chair.

Susie Wiles — Trump's White House chief of staff.

Dan Scavino — Trump's deputy chief of staff.

Usha Vance — wife of Vice President JD Vance.

Allison Lutnick — wife of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

John Falconetti — businessman and Trump supporter.

Cheri Summerall — Trump appointee.

Trump filled the board with some real art aficionados!

A New Law To Protect The Voting Booth!

No, I am not talking about newer laws like the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 or the Insurrection Act of 1807. Those don't really address polling places. But even before those, there was:

The Act of February 25, 1865, commonly called the “Troops at the Polls” Act.

What the heck is that law? The website Uncensored Objection writes;

A polling place is the one room in America where the government has to wait outside.

Congress wrote this rule in the middle of the Civil War, and it has stayed on the books for 161 years because every generation since understood the danger. Federal law makes it a crime for any officer of the military, or any person in the civil service of the United States, to order, bring, keep, or control troops or armed men at any place where a general or special election is held. The only exception covers force needed to repel armed enemies of the United States. Break that law and you face up to five years in prison and a permanent ban from holding federal office.

Read those words again. Armed men in the civil service of the United States. That is ICE.

In 1909 Congress went back and removed a second exception that had allowed troops to “keep the peace at the polls.” Lawmakers deleted it because they understood that a president who wants soldiers at the ballot box will always find a disturbance to point at. They closed the loophole on purpose, and it has stayed closed for 117 years.

So, if the "Donald" sends troops, he will be breaking a 161-year-old law that was designed to prevent just that!

Trump Had No Idea

"NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES! Their products aren't good enough! If they want our Market, they must build here, and stop treating America like a 'piggybank.'

CBS New reported that is what Trump wrote on Truth Social!

But in reality...

In a statement on Monday following Mr. Trump's post, Bombardier sought to underline its contributions to the American economy, saying it accounts for "tens of thousands of jobs across the United States."

Bombardier said it has workers in 20 U.S. states and plants in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, New Jersey, Texas and Washington, D.C. The company's supply chain also comprises 2,800 U.S. companies in 47 states, according to Bombardier.

"Bombardier values its great partnership with American companies and its U.S. employees. Our plan is to continue to invest in our people, our customers and the communities in which we operate across the country," the company said. 

A labor union representing machinists and aerospace workers said on Tuesday that it opposes any move to bar Bombardier from selling aircraft in the U.S.

"Anything that undermines the stability and continued growth of these jobs is counterproductive to protecting workers and strengthening the aerospace industry in both the United States and Canada," the IAM union said in a statement. "The war on workers in the United States, Canada and elsewhere must come to an end."

I think this is really scary that Trump is making policy without knowing the facts! And it's not just Trump, but his entire staff! Not one of them even thought to google it to see if they had any plants here.

I think that's a serious problem in policymaking when the White House staff doesn't appear to have questioned the policy. It means a sweeping economic threat may have been formulated around an incomplete understanding of the company being targeted. That doesn't bode well for the administration!

Catch 22

That is what the Twenty-fifth Amendment is. A Catch 22.

Section 4: says that only the Vice President or the Cabinet can initiate Section 4 of the 25th Amendment and there in lies the rub.

Following Trump’s Iran social media post, could the 25th Amendment be invoked against him?

PolitiFact

By Amy Sherman & Louis Jacobson

April 6, 2026

President Donald Trump’s profanity-laced Easter Sunday social media post threatening to bomb civilian infrastructure in Iran led some Democratic lawmakers to call for his removal via the 25th Amendment.

Trump wrote on Truth Social, spelling out the f-word: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F—–’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Reacting to Trump’s post, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., wrote on X, “If I were in Trump’s Cabinet, I would spend Easter calling constitutional lawyers about the 25th Amendment. This is completely, utterly unhinged. He’s already killed thousands. He’s going to kill thousands more.”

Other Democrats including U.S. Reps. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico also called for using the amendment to remove Trump.

But you know what? Congress can jaw about this all they want! It is JD Vance and the Cabinet who can only initiate a “25”! However, there might be another way around the roadblock, and that is Congress cannot initiate Section 4 itself, but the text does allow Congress to create another body by law that could participate in the Section 4 process. Something like a special impeachment commission, but it needs backbone to do it.

Section four authorizes the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet, or the vice president and a majority of an “other body” created by Congress, to declare a president “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” Doing so would elevate the vice president to acting president.

Notice it doesn’t say “Congress.”

So how likely is the Cabinet and the VP to start the ball rolling? 

Well the amendment says "unable to discharge the powers and duties" that is a high bar to meet! It doesn’t mean if the president making bad decisions, it doesn’t mean if the president if the president is unpopular, or breaking the law.

But on the other hand, impeachment can be for corruption! Abuse of power, obstruction, political retaliation, and election interference nad I think they could find something on Trump that fits those categories. However, it takes one more thing, Congress with a backbone.

Priorities.

[Editorial]

One of the things a new administrator has to do is set priorities, and the new head of Homeland Security set his to making the eagle look to the right.

DHS chief announces changes to its seal to reflect that department is 'at war every single day'

The shift comes as Markwayne Mullin warns of Islamic terrorists joining with Mexican cartels, rising drone attacks

By Max Bacall Fox News

September 7, 2026

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin revealed on "The Sunday Briefing" that DHS is changing its seal, which depicts an eagle holding a palm leaf in one talon and a bundle of arrows in the other. The new seal will show the eagle facing toward the arrows rather than the palm, a symbolic shift Mullin said reflects the department’s daily fight against threats to the country.

Ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Mullin declared that the department is "at war every single day" against bad actors targeting the United States, from Islamic terrorists to drug cartels.

Stop right there! How much is it going to cost? How much is it going to cost to change all their signs and letterheads? Just think of all the signs on the podiums!

When the Secretary of Defense ordered his vanity name change, it cost according to CBS News, a whopping 125 million dollars for the rebrand!

Secretary Markwayne Mullin is spending millions to do this so the freaking bird is looking toward the f... ing right!

[/Editorial]

Trump Is So Readable

One of the things about Trump is that he is so predictable! The state of New Mexico voted Democratic last election, so on Trump's radar, it became a fair target. One of the things that could be getting under Trump's collar is...

New Mexico Epstein commission releases report on investigation so far

Commission announces 4 new subpoenas to state agencies, Santa Fe-area spa

Source NM

By Julia Goldberg

August 5, 2026

The chair of a New Mexico House investigatory subcommittee created to probe the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s activities in the state acknowledged Wednesday its first report does not contain major revelations or final findings.

[...]

“In the seven years since Jeffrey Epstein died, in the two decades since his crimes first drew attention of law enforcement, no government, federal, state, or local, has ever compiled an account of what he did in New Mexico,” Romero said. “There are some court records that tell pieces of the story in other states’ cases for other states’ victims, but there has never been an official narrative for New Mexico. This report is the first.”

This is what got Trump worried. So what does Trump do?

New Mexico Democrats push back over Trump posts about renaming the state ‘New America’

The president posted repeatedly on social media over the weekend, and New Mexico Democrats leaped to respond to the ones about their state.

NBC News

By Scott Wong and Megan Shannon

Sept. 7, 2026

New Mexico Democratic leaders are aggressively pushing back on President Donald Trump’s social media posts about renaming the state of New Mexico as “New America.”

“New Mexico’s name isn’t up for debate — it’s been ours since before the United States existed,” New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, said in a post on X featuring an image of the state labeled with “New Mexico.” “While the President tries to distract Americans from his disastrous war in Iran, the price of gas —and everything else — keeps rising.

So why is he doing this? 

Well, from what I can figure out, it is for a few reasons:

• The most obvious reason is that it is a blue state. 
• It is also Trump's classic strategy: if you can't win, baffle them with BS by creating a manufactured crisis and a political smokescreen."
• Lastly, it is to rally his base. His MAGA base is cheering him on!

P.S. The state's  criminal investigation into child sex trafficking, the state accuses the federal government of stonewalling and blocking the state’s active criminal investigation! 

Trump is worried about what will come out in the investigations, so this is a distraction.

Back When I…

I was growing up, they didn’t test you for any learning disorders. I was labeled a “slow learner,” “dull,” “backward,” and “underachiever.”

Electronics was a godsend… it was so orderly and logical. I got all the way through college, just squeaking by… no one ever questioned why.

I went to grad school for my MSW and one of my professors’ day jobs was to evaluate convicted persons before they got incarcerated. When he handed back my midterm exam, he said, “See me after class!” Yikes… I must have bombed the midterm!

He asked if I had ever been evaluated for a learning disorder.

All it took was for him to see my writing on those 10 questions to see what I had been struggling with all my life.

You know that this blog is about the intersections of trans stuff and politics, so what’s political about this post?

Well, Trump, RFK Jr., and company all are saying learning disorders like ADHD, ADD, and ASD are a new phenomenon. They blame it on chemical food additives, preservatives, ultra-processed foods, and stuff like artificial food dyes.

Well, folks… it is the name that is new. It is the realization that it is a disorder of the brain… not laziness. Not “slow learners,” and not all the other things that they called it. It has always been here; we just called it different names.

Now we have the government and conspiracists pushing all these quack reasons for this epidemic of learning disorders, but they have been here all along, just without the names. Just like us.