Opinions to go Online

 

Donald Trump, as we all know all too well, has checked all the ego-driven authoritarian boxes: from demeaning the constitution and undermining the peaceful transfer of power to scapegoating the media, weaponizing the Department of Justice and unleashing the Gestapo ICE Picks. Remember when the bully pulpit wasn’t a MAGA cudgel? TR would.

Trump is Trump, an authoritarian. He’s had historic predecessors; none have been this impactful. All authoritarians have things in common: from narcissistic personalities to brute power cravings.

But they all have help. In the case of Trump, from Congressional invertebrates to Administration sycophants and enforcers.

But some are just street-smart, self-serving, amoral opportunists who have fully supported the despot along the way: from in-house vile enablers like national security assistant Stephen Miller to Secretary of State Marco Rubio who knows he works for a “con man.” Then there’s Attorney General Pam Bondi, whose position of institutional power is supposed to be insulated from any partisan politicking emanating from the White House. Now she’s the Redaction Queen.

We could see it coming.

While still a Florida prosecutor, she became a regular Fox guest. When first running for attorney general in 2010, she was endorsed by Sarah Palin. Trump contributed to her campaign. Not coincidentally, she shielded the sham Trump University from fraud charges. She endorsed Trump in the 2016 Florida presidential primary. She was one of his impeachment attorneys and was appointed by Trump to the (then) JFK Center for the Performing Arts board of directors. She spoke in Trump’s support at the 2020 GOP convention and supported voter fraud accusations in the 2020 election won by Joe Biden.

Bondi turned the AG role into that of a de facto Trump fixer, a DOJ successor to Michael Cohen. A moral compass that was once aimed at human trafficking and pill mills had now morphed into MAGA magnetics.

Her Judiciary Committee performance was all too fitting. She had her unrelated talking points about the stock market and Trump (“The greatest president in American history”) fealty. She had snarky (“You’re a failed politician!”) punch lines at the ready. It was an embarrassment for the DOJ, for the country and for Tampa. Maybe Matt Gaetz would have been the better choice.

 

The president’s State of the Union speech is a familiar, ceremonial fixture. It’s a constitutionally-mandated, annual report to Congress. Calvin Coolidge took it live on radio in 1923, and Harry Truman brought it to television in 1947. LBJ moved it to prime time in 1965 and ever since, it’s been game-on for presidents who can use the mega spotlight for self-serving political interests—from cherry-picking data to honoring and highlighting special guests.

The president has both a live Congressional audience and millions of TV viewer-voters. He has applause lines for his side of the aisle and his side of the electorate. We’re used to it.

What we shouldn’t be inured to, however, is the de facto political performance act that this event has devolved into. It is enabled by off-putting optics, resulting from a reaction shot-obsessed media. We see whack-a-mole partisans hopping up and down for deferential ovations, while the opposition party sits uncomfortably taciturn, eye-rolling and text-checking.

But this isn’t, of course, just about “What-a-difference-a-president-makes” Trump, MAGA shout-outs and GOPster-minion ovations over “the golden age of America.” This is about a consequential American moment that has morphed into an indecorous, politically punctuated spectacle unworthy of a serious democracy.

The SOTU speech needs a reset if it is to seen as anything but democracy-debasing, political show business. It wouldn’t be hard. Keep the president in a tight frame and do a little furniture rearrangement behind him. No need to show the Speaker and the VP, especially when they are of different parties. Awkward would be an upgrade. And no routine reaction shots—whether of uncomfortable Supreme Court Justices or role-playing partisans of either party. If it doesn’t make for good TV, too bad. Save the optics for NFL and hurricane coverage.

BTW, the U.S. WOMEN’S Gold Medal-Winning Hockey Team declined an invitation from President Trump to attend his SOTU speech. Logistics was a problem. The bigger problem, left unquoted but not unnoted, is that Trump doesn’t deserve patriotic Olympic puppets.

 

* According to Bill Kristol, neoconservative writer and founder of The Weekly Standard, the Dems are “almost certain to win the House, could possibly win the Senate” and have “a good chance to win the presidency” in 2028. Hope that Kristol Ball is spot on.

* Nancy Pelosi has endorsed Jack Schlossberg, grandson of JFK, for the U.S. House seat being vacated by New York’s Jerrold Nadler.

* High-profile California Gov. Gavin Newsom is on a book tour that keeps him in the 2028 conversation. Those conversations will likely include his recent dyxlexia revelations. “You’ve never seen me read a speech, because I cannot read a speech,” he acknowledged in an Atlanta gathering. “I haven’t overcome dyslexia. I’m living with it.”

 

* Printing made the Reformation possible. Wonder what instantaneous global communication presages?

* It wouldn’t take a deep Epstein Files dig to turn up names such as Donald Trump, global politicos, tycoons and moguls. Hardly revelatory. It’s human nature at its VIP sleaziest. But Noam Chomsky? Hardly a red-letter day for his legacy.

* I can’t be the only one. When buying a Valentine’s Card for the love of your life, you shuffle through a number of choices before finally selecting one that seems to particularly resonate. Then you turn it over to see what it costs. A reflex–or could it be a price gouge too far? Then you feel kind of embarrassed. Kind of. At least you’re not paying in Canadian dollars.

* Times’ signage: “Democracy is not a spectator sport.”

* Finishing touch: “If I’m too much, go find less.”

 

* “The Epstein files have turned a lot of the base against Trump. They’re not happy with Bondi.”—Jake Hoffman, executive director of the Tampa Bay Young Republicans.

 

* “Florida has led the nation on DEI elimination.”—More nativist swag from Gov. Ron DisAstrous.

* Hallandale is hot. Hallandale Beach, a small, gritty city between Miami and Fort Lauderdale is now notably heating up as a luxury condo market. Among the buyers: sports fans who can avail themselves of relatively proximate stadium venues such as Hard Rock Stadium, which will be hosting multiple FIFA World Cup matches this summer. Hallandale Beach has morphed from its previous identity as a hub for illegal gambling and organized crime.

 

* The editors of The Nation magazine officially nominated the city of Minneapolis and its people for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.

* Pluralistic update: Bad Bunny is the most streamed artist on Spotify in four separate years.

* Wall Street Journal headline after the SOTU speech: “Trump Hails an Economic Turnaround Many Voters Don’t See.”

 

* The U.S. beat Canada in overtime to win the Olympic gold medal in hockey. Most highly-hyped match-ups don’t measure up to the over-the-top anticipation. This one did. Including the replay.

* BTW, all that Olympic buzz—including nearly half the Lightning players making various national teams—had to have impacted the locker room. But there was an elephant in that room: Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasyleskiy. They are two of the best players in the world but were unable to participate because their country, Russia, was banned. Nothing was said in the media, which was prudent–and rare–but you can imagine it had its awkward moments.

* Over the winter, Rays All-Star Junior Caminero worked hard on his English, and he’s now prepared to do interviews without team translator Kevin Vera. Would that others follow his lead. Players, especially prominent ones, can’t truly connect to a community through a translator. Just ask the Lightning.

* “We believe in a meritocracy.” That was Bruce Meyer, executive director of the MLB Players Association. In other words: Don’t even think about a salary cap for Major League Baseball.

 

* “The Framers did not vest any part of the taxing power in the Executive Branch.”– That was Chief Justice John Roberts after SCOTUS struck down Trump’s tariffs.

* True that: “Only those Americans with no knowledge or who are self-deluded celebrate the start of the presidency of Donald John Trump, the most unqualified man ever to be elected to our highest office.” That was former Nixon White House counsel John Dean, on the day of Trump’s initial inauguration.

* The Trumpocalypse has distorted so much about America—its constitution, its ideals, its rule of law, its global reputation, that we forget that we still have a tool box. Impeachment hasn’t worked, but there’s still the 25^th Amendment. But it would take a country-first, vertebrate cabinet to employ it.

* The Big BOPPER: Trump’s Board of Peace members–Egypt, Israel, Turkey, Cambodia—each ponied up $1 billion to join. Sounds more Ponzi than peace-mongering.

* Donroe Doctrine: Encouraged, to to speak, by President Trump, the government of Guatamala is phasing out its use of Cuban doctors. The program has long provided valued income for Cuba.

* Iran-attack assessment: “Well done, Mr. President.”—Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S,C,

* “Presidential graffiti”: How House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries labeled Trump’s renaming efforts.

* Trump legacy update: For the record, the under-construction gilded ballroom that’s replacing the razed East Wing, will actually be larger than the White House itself.

* “Elements might endure, but the MAGA movement is at heart a cult of personality unlikely to outlast its singular leader for very long in its existing form.”—Michelle Cottle, NYT.

* “This is a political investment, not a for-profit movie venture.”—David A. Gross, a film consultant on the documentary-infomercial “Melania.”

* DOGE reality: The IRS has more than 25% fewer staffers than last tax season.

* “A people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”—President James Madison.

* “Forgiving serves to undo the deeds of the past, whose ‘sins’ hang like Damocles’ sword over every new generation.”—Hannah Arendt.

* “In terms of security, our asymmetrical advantage as Americans has always been our strong international network of alliances and partners.”–Retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral William McQuilkin.

* “History shows that the consequences of entering conflicts without defined objectives or a realistic plan to conclude them cost our nation dearly.”—U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor.

* “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”—President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

* “The refund process is likely to be a mess.”—Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on what ultimately results from SCOTUS striking down President Trump’s import tariffs.

* “No man ever forgets—where he buried the hatchet.”—Ogden Nash.

* “Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV because all Trump does is watch TV.”—CBS’s Stephen Colbert.

* “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.”—Margaret Thatcher.

* “If we want change, we must be agents of change.”—Laila Lalani, author of “Conditional Citizens.”

* “There’s that proverb ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ I think we’ve learned that it takes a very powerful network to abuse so many children.”—Anand Giridharadas, author of “Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World.”

* “They put (Ashley) Moody in the Senate to be a ‘yes’ vote for Trump and the billionaires. She’s not Florida’s senator. She’s theirs.”—Retired Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, a Democrat and the whistleblower who triggered Donald Trump’s first impeachment, who is now challenging Moody for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Marco Rubio.

* “I’m excited to update our History of Communism standards detailing the fall of the Maduro regime.”—Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas.

* “Let’s go from being that rising star to being the star.”—USF’s new president, Moez Limayem.

* “Major League Baseball belongs in Tampa Bay.”—MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.