They are the engine that keeps our government running: the hundreds of thousands of federal workers across the country — those who survived DOGE’s slash-and-burn rampage earlier in the year — who show up every day to do the jobs the rest of us are largely unaware of, but on whose efforts we depend to shore up this country’s economic and physical infrastructure . . . and who, in turn, depend upon those jobs to support themselves and their families.

And they are once again — in what has become a regular annual ritual — being held hostage to the passage of a federal budget for 2026 that will make just one man in the Oval Office happy. If Congress cannot pass that budget bill by midnight on September 30th, the U.S. government — with the exception of essential services — will shut down on October 1st, and perhaps as many as half of those workers (based on the numbers from Donald Trump’s first-term record) could be placed on involuntary unpaid leave for an indeterminate length of time.

Members of Congress, of course, will continue to receive their full salaries and perks, as mandated by the U.S. Constitution.

And while Congress argues and threatens and nitpicks, those hundreds of thousands of loyal government employees, while not in a literal prison, are in limbo, scrambling to figure out how they will pay the rent and put food on the table if the shutdown does become a reality.

They are the innocent hostages of their own government, imprisoned without bars by the avarice of the leaders for whom some (but certainly not all) of them voted.

If the words of French philosopher Joseph de Maistre are true — if indeed “Every country has the government it deserves” — we must at some time have done something really terrible to deserve what we are being dragged through now.

*. *. *

But in this, our own Time of Troubles, let us not forget the literal hostages in prisons and penal colonies throughout Russia, Belarus and elsewhere, praying for a breakthrough in the negotiations that will set them free at last.

Once again, here is the list of the ones I know of:

Immigrant Detainees in Russia:

Migrants from the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

Prisoners of War:

The 19,500 Kidnapped Ukrainian Children
The People of Ukraine
The Azov 12

Endangered Exiles:

Mikita Losik
Yulia Navalnaya
Countless Journalists and Other Dissidents

Political Prisoners:

In Azerbaijan:

The “Azerbaijan 7”:
— Farid Mehralizada
— Ulvi Hasanli
— Sevinj Abbasova (Vagifqiai)
— Mahammad Kekalov
— Hafiz Babali
— Nargiz Absalamova
— Elnara Gasimova

In Belarus:

Ales Bialiatski
Andrei Chapiuk
Marya Kalesnikava
Uladzimir Labkovich
Marfa Rabkova
Valiantsin Stafanovic
Yuras Zyankovich

In China:

Chenyue Mao (American)

In Russia:

David Barnes (American)
Gordon Black (American)
Antonina Favorskaya
Konstantin Gabov
Robert Gilman (American)
Stephen James Hubbard (American)
Sergey Karelin
Timur Kishukov
Vadim Kobzev
Darya Kozyreva
Artyom Kriger
Michael Travis Leake (American)
Aleksei Liptser
Grigory Melkonyants
Nika Novak
Nadezhda Rossinskaya (a.k.a. Nadin Geisler)
Sofiane Sehili (French)
Igor Sergunin
Dmitry Shatresov
Robert Shonov
Grigory Skvortsov
Eugene Spector (American)
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland (American)

You are not forgotten.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/28/25

When did the United States become a nation of heartless, sadistic, stone-cold killers?

Apparently, on January 20th.

It started with immigrants. Some of them were here illegally, and some may have committed crimes; so they said let’s just send them all to third-world countries, or to our own private hellhole, Alligator Alcatraz.

*. *. *

But why stop there? Let’s clean up our city streets, beginning with the homeless. They’re mostly harmless folks, down on their luck. But can they prove that? No? Well, then, let’s just label them a danger to society, drag them out of their tents, and move them to . . .

Wait a minute. Where were they taken? Are they all right? We haven’t heard anything about that, have we?

Come to think of it, Fox News host Brian Kilmeade did comment on Fox & Friends that those who didn’t accept the services offered to them (whatever “services” he’s talking about) should be jailed . . .

“Or involuntary lethal injection, or something. Just kill ‘em.” [CBS News, September 15, 2025.]

He did later apologize . . . but how can you expect people to forget a statement taken right out of Adolph Hitler’s playbook?

*. *. *

Then Attorney General Pam Bondi happily echoed Donald Trump’s “suggestion” that the death penalty be reinstated in Washington, D.C. She even upped the ante by announcing that her Justice Department would be seeking capital punishment across the country . . . ignoring, as usual, any and all legal impediments to such a move, as well as verified statistics proving that the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime.

And in order not to overlook any other potential targets of their sadistic spree, Bondi further stated that prison inmates who had been moved off of death row by former President Joe Biden were now being relocated into maximum security facilities:

“We’re moving them to Supermax facilities where they will be treated like they’re on death row for the rest of their lives.” [Alayna Treene, CNN, September 25, 2025.]

Nice one, Cruella. You get to watch the inmates suffer, while at the same time giving your boss the thrill of reversing another of Biden’s humanitarian acts.

*. *. *

So where does the killing enter the picture? In the Caribbean, of course, with the point-blank murders of at least 17 alleged drug runners from Venezuela, in missile or drone strikes on three (or more) separate boats on separate days, in international waters.

Trump had this to say during his rambling presentation to the United Nations on September 23rd:

“To every terrorist thug smuggling poisonous drugs into the United States of America, please be warned that we will blow you out of existence.” [Reuters, September 23, 2025.]

That’s telling ‘em, mister!

There are also unverified indications (from anonymous sources familiar with the situation) that Trump is attempting to reach agreement with Venezuelan authorities whereby he could target drug traffickers inside their country. [Courtney Kube, Gabe Gutierrez and Katherine Doyle, NBC News, September 26, 2025.]

And he still thinks he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.

*. *. *

And last, but far from least, is this from the Department of Defense, where Secretary Pete Hegseth has called hundreds of generals and admirals to an urgent meeting in Virginia next week, without providing any details.

However, according to several people with knowledge of the plan, Hegseth’s purpose is to describe the Trump administration’s “reinvention” of the DOD as the “Department of War,” and to outline new standards for military personnel. A White House official has said:

“It’s meant to be a show of force of what the new military now looks like under the president.” [Natasha Bertrand and Alayna Treene, CNN, September 26, 2025.]

Portrayed as a sort of “pep rally” designed to emphasize the importance of a “warrior ethos,” the event is intended to instruct the captive audience as to new readiness, fitness and grooming standards that the officers are expected to adhere to and enforce.

One defense official had this to say:

“It’s about getting the horses into the stable and whipping them into shape. And the guys with the stars on their shoulders make for a better audience from an optics standpoint. This is a showcase for Hegseth to tell them: get on board, or potentially have your career shortened.” [Id.]

Are we preparing to go to war? Because this is what Herr Hegseth’s showcase calls to my mind:

It’s all about the optics: scare the masses, and they will submit.

*. *. *

Had enough? If not, I’m fairly certain we won’t have long to wait for the next installment of Murder, Inc. Just give me a few minutes to digest today’s news.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/27/25

The following warning has been issued by the Polish Embassy in Minsk to its citizens in Belarus:

From the text: “The Embassy reiterates that due to the escalating tensions, the ongoing war in the region, and the repeated arbitrary arrests of Polish citizens, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises against all travel to the Republic of Belarus. In the event of a drastic deterioration in the security situation, border closures, or other unforeseen circumstances, evacuation may prove significantly more difficult or even impossible. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs appeals to Polish citizens remaining in the Republic of Belarus to immediately leave its territory using available commercial and private means.” [Source: Aid Ukraine UK, September 26, 2025]

***

Following on the heels of Russian drone incursions into Polish airspace, this may or may not be simply a precautionary measure. Let’s hope it’s nothing more.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka

9/27/25

I never got past gin rummy, which I learned to play as a kid because my whole family was into it, and I must have absorbed it through some sort of mental osmosis. In general, though, card games just don’t hold any interest for me.

My mother, on the other hand, was an avid bridge player, and belonged to a bridge club that met once a week to play, not for money, but because they really loved it. I still remember hearing them — when it was my mother’s turn to host the game at our house — calling out their bids. I always wondered what a “trick” was, and what “three-no-trump” meant; but I honestly didn’t care enough to find out.

What brought on this little surge of nostalgia was the day’s surfeit of news about you-know-who, which in some circuitous manner reminded me of those long-ago bridge games. So I looked it up, and this is what Google gave me as a definition for the term “trump” as it relates to the card game:

“In Bridge, a trump refers to any card from a designated trump suit, which has special powers that allow it to win tricks over any card of a non-trump (plain) suit.”

And suddenly it all became blindingly clear . . . the key to Donald Trump’s psyche:

“ . . . trump . . . has special powers that allow it to win tricks . . .”

He sees life as a f**king card game, with unlimited stakes and himself holding all the winning tricks!

It’s so unbelievably simple. Now all we have to do is figure out how to trump Trump’s trump card. Where is Charles Goren when we really need him? (Sadly, dead.)

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/27/25

There have been several times, throughout the more than two years since I began writing this blog, when I’ve thought of quitting for one reason or another — a couple of times because I felt I was becoming stale and uninspired, and other times because of a scarcity of unique news items to inspire me.

I never thought it would happen as the result of too much material. But it has.

As I sat with my hands poised on the keyboard today, looking through the headlines I’d saved as possible subject matter, these are what I saw:

> Comey indictment shows how Trump has taken a radical turn – even by his own standards. [CNN Politics]

> Live updates: Netanyahu calls Palestinian recognition ‘disgraceful,’ as dozens walk out of UN speech – live updates. [BBC]

> As Trump seeks death penalty in DC, Bondi says administration also wants it across the country. [CNN Politics]

> Fox News host Brian Kilmeade apologizes for saying mentally ill homeless people should be executed. [CBS News]

> Fighter jets scrambled to intercept Russian warplanes near Alaska. [The Hill]

> Drone attacks leave Denmark exposed — and searching for response. [BBC]

> Exclusive: Moldova’s Most Notorious Oligarch Has Been In the U.S. Despite Sanctions, Officials Say. [RFE/RL)

> White House budget office threatens mass firings if government shuts down. [CNN Politics.]

> Colombia’s president calls US attacks on alleged drug boats ‘act of tyranny.’ [BBC]

*. *. *

And it was then that I realized the meltdown I had written about earlier today was not caused by any physical malfunction, nor was it a symptom of a psychological disorder.

It was, in simplest terms, a case of what I now call Anguish Overload.

The world, as we are all aware, is rapidly going to hell in a proverbial handbasket. And as an admitted news junkie, that’s the bulk of what I’ve been reading — and writing — about for months on end. It has been one interminable shitstorm of death and destruction, lies and corruption, hate and vengeance. And there is no discernible light at the end of what appears to be a long, long tunnel.

I’ve had enough. To quote Danny Glover’s character in the “Lethal Weapon” movie series: “I’m too old for this shit!”

I can’t say that I will give up reading or commenting on the daily news reports; I know myself better than that. But I need to find a new focus, at least for a while.

Anyone have any ideas . . . anything that doesn’t include the word “trump”?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/26/25

The first signs appeared a couple of weeks ago.

I have this dear friend of some 35 years’ standing for whom I write a satirical birthday poem each year. We’re both political animals, so the theme usually centers around world events of the previous year, focused mainly on the inane and ridiculous.

Since I began trying to conjure up this year’s masterwork, I have gone through an entire notebook of lined paper (sometimes I still prefer to write the old-fashioned way), dried out two ballpoint pens, and had to empty my shredder when it began spitting little bits of paper back at me.

At first I thought it was writer’s block. But no . . . I was still cranking out my daily blog posts without any obvious problem. And then it hit me: it’s those daily dispatches themselves that are driving me around the bend.

Or rather, it’s the news articles on which they’re based.

I’ve lived a long, long time. I’ve seen and survived wars, pandemics, recessions, acts of terrorism, urban riots, natural disasters, the Kardashians, and colossal failures like the Edsel and New Coke. I made it through the Cold War, McCarthyism, the hippie era, the British invasion of the Beatles and the Stones, both Bush administrations, and Reaganomics.

Hell, I even survived living in Moscow — the one in Russia, not Idaho — at the height of the so-called “Great Mafia Wars” of 1993.

And through all of that, and more, I always felt that life was a grand adventure, filled with endless possibilities, and that any problems could eventually be solved . . . because I was an American. I was one of the lucky ones for whom all doors were open because I lived in the greatest, most prosperous, most respected country in the world: the land where the great experiment known as Democracy had taken hold.

We Americans are not perfect. One of our worst faults, as it turns out, is our tendency to become complacent — even arrogant — about our privileged lives. We have been so accustomed to having so much, that we never saw the avalanche coming.

It hit with its full force on January 20, 2025: Inauguration Day. It had been building since the previous November’s election, and suddenly we found ourselves being buried in executive orders and news reports of attacks on the very principles on which our government has rested for nearly 250 years. And those attacks were not coming from our traditional adversaries, but from within. From the White House itself.

For eight months, it has gotten steadily worse, until it seems the world can’t bear much more. There is hardly a country anywhere that isn’t at loggerheads with some other country. The threat of nuclear war hangs over us like the Sword of Damocles. The natural environment is on the precipice of unimaginable disaster because of our decades of neglect and denial. Soviet-style autocracy is creeping back in nations that only 30 years ago fought so bravely to escape its shackles.

And the one country that has been relied upon to lead the way to peace, freedom and sanity — the United States of America — is itself giving in to the most dangerous, sociopathic autocrat of them all.

Is it any wonder, then, that I have found it impossible to make my usual jokes about . . . well, about anything, really?

I can’t not read the news; I can’t not know what’s going on in the world I inhabit. But — unlike those wonderful late-night comedians who themselves are under fire for exercising their constitutional right to free speech — I find myself unable to make light of it. I’m worn out.

So, there will be no birthday poem for my friend this year . . . just a prosaic, though heartfelt, “Happy Birthday” greeting. And, since his day also happens to coincide with the Jewish New Year, I will offer my fervent wishes for a better year to come.

As my beloved Ukrainian grandmother used to say, and as I have quoted and paraphrased many times before . . .

“From [my] mouth to God’s ears.”

And now I will call it a night, and perhaps dream of a better world.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/26/25

Two days ago, following a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly session in New York, Donald Trump posted a shocking 180-degree turn-around of his assessment of Ukraine’s position vis-a-vis Vladimir Putin’s ongoing invasion.

After months of telling Zelensky that he didn’t “have the cards” to prevail against Putin, he now seems to think that Ukraine “is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.” [Zeeshan Aleem, MSNBC Daily, September 25, 2025.]

He even called Russia a “paper tiger.” [Id.]

After presumably seething for a couple of days, Putin has now — through his spokesman Dmitry Peskov — responded:

“Russia is more compared with a bear. There are no paper bears.” [Id.]

Vladimir Putin does not tolerate criticism of himself or his country . . . anymore than Trump does. He will not slink off into a corner and lick his wounds. He will back up his words with action, most likely directed at the already beleaguered citizens of Ukraine.

While I applaud Trump’s support of Ukraine (and hope it lasts), I doubt that name-calling was the best way to get through to Putin. But that’s what Trump does when diplomacy fails . . . he resorts to insults and bullying.

Only his intended victim in this case is no pushover.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/25/25

So said the ostrich, as he buried his head in the sand.

And so said Donald Trump, as he omitted a portrait of President Joe Biden from his new “Presidential Walk of Fame” along the West Wing Colonnade.

They’re all there, from George Washington to the present. But in a petty, childish, vengeful, and revoltingly unstatesmanlike move, Trump substituted for Biden’s photograph — in a gilt frame to match all of the others — a picture of an autopen.

While many modern-day presidents and other officials have resorted to using the autopen on occasion, Trump has accused Biden of relying on it to hide his alleged (alleged by Trump) cognitive decline while in office.

And therein lies the real reason for this shameful display of hatred and meanness: In trying to “prove” that Biden was, for at least part of his presidency, mentally diminished, Trump hopes to be able to negate any of Biden’s executive orders and other actions that may not be to his (Trump’s) liking. In omitting his portrait, Trump symbolically erases Biden’s presidency . . . and as an added bonus, he doesn’t have to look at the face of a man who, for whatever reason, infuriates him beyond belief.

So there they are: A missing president, represented by a piece of mechanical equipment, stuck between two angry, scowling images of a tyrant whose vengeance knows no bounds.

And here he is, admiring his handiwork. I wonder what that young aide was thinking.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/25/25

It was only a matter of time, really. It’s just a shame that it took so long; but the folks in the White House have been busy with more urgent matters, like breaking up immigrant families, building a new $200 million ballroom, alienating our staunchest allies, and retrofitting that Qatari jet.

But the party seems to be winding down for all those pre-pubescent, chainsaw-wielding, power-crazed idiots brought to Washington by Elon Musk to carry out his extermination of the U.S. government’s operating workforce. In fact, I haven’t heard anything about the DOGE gang since Musk himself stormed out of the White House following the bromance breakup of the century.

Now word has leaked out — rather more quietly than the initial DOGE invasion — that hundreds of those federal employees who were given the axe by DOGE are being asked to return to work. [The Associated Press, September 24, 2025.]

The General Services Administration (GSA) was established in the 1940s for the purpose of centralizing the acquisition and management of thousands of federal workplaces. According to Chad Becker, a former GSA real estate official, since DOGE’s slashing of GSA’s staff, “the agency was left broken and understaffed. They didn’t have the people they needed to carry out basic functions.” Describing the agency as having been in “triage mode” for months, he said the downsizing is a clear indication of how Musk and DOGE had gone too far, too fast. {Id.]

Now, there’s a fine example of understatement!

But the GSA has now given the employees who have been invited back until the end of the week to accept or decline reinstatement, and until October 6th to return to work. In essence, those who had accepted buyouts would now become the beneficiaries of a seven-month paid vacation. The IRS, Labor Department and National Park Service have reportedly already reinstated a number of terminated employees.

The GSA has also been incurring huge costs for the continued leasing of properties that have remained unused for the past several months. [Id.]

While the agency has declined to provide information about the return-to-work notice, staffing decisions or potential cost overruns, a GSA spokesman said in an email:

“GSA’s leadership team has reviewed workforce actions and is making adjustments in the best interest of the customer agencies we serve and the American taxpayers.” [Id.]

In the best interest of American taxpayers? Really?

Meanwhile, Congressman Greg Stanton, the top Democrat on the subcommittee that oversees the GSA, said there is no evidence that DOGE’s initial reductions “delivered any savings. . . . It’s created costly confusion while undermining the very services taxpayers depend on.” [Id.]

In the aftermath of the hugely-publicized unleashing of DOGE’s forces in January, this partial retreat is being handled in an uncharacteristically low-key manner. But it’s not surprising that the Trump administration would choose to downplay one of its most ludicrous, destructive, and expensive mistakes. Eating crow isn’t easy.

The term “government efficiency” has long been considered an oxymoron; it took a couple of real-life morons to finally prove the point.

They’re both supposed to be businessmen, right? Did they ever ask themselves how they would operate a restaurant without a chef and cooks, an auto repair shop without qualified mechanics, or a hospital without doctors and nurses? Or that a government was no different . . . just bigger?

Did it ever occur to either of them that cost-cutting can be accomplished without demolishing the very underpinnings of an organization? Or that it might be a good idea to do an in-depth study of an agency’s operations before decimating it?

I wonder if there’s a Nobel Prize for stupidity.

But here’s an idea. If I went into a shop and clumsily broke a merchandise display, I would be expected to pay for it — and I would do so without question. So why shouldn’t Elon Musk . . . ?

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/25/25

I’m beginning to wonder whether there is some sort of gremlin in the White House who sneaks into Donald Trump’s bedroom at night and whispers subliminal messages into his ear while he sleeps, telling him what specific load of bullshit he is going to dump on the world the next day.

Because I honestly can’t think of any other explanation for his turn-on-a-dime changes of thought, opinion and policy concerning every conceivable subject, from his personal relationships to U.S. assistance for Ukraine.

And that latter topic is the one on which he did a complete about-face following the U.N. General Assembly session in New York yesterday.

As Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were heading into a face-to-face meeting, reporters asked Trump whether he would support shooting down Russian aircraft if they violated NATO airspace. His answer was short and simple:

“Yes I do.”

(Ed. Note: Those are fighting words from the “peace president.” From ICE raids to Venezuelan drug dealers to Russian aircraft, he’s looking less and less peaceable by the minute.)

And after sitting down with Zelensky, Trump suddenly turned his ire on his long-time “friend” and would-be trade partner Vladimir Putin, posting on Truth Social:

“Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years, a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win. This is not distinguishing Russia. In fact, it is very much making them look like ‘a paper tiger.’ Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act . . . [to] take back their Country in its original form and, who knows, maybe even go further than that!” [Farrah Tomazin, The Daily Beast, September 23, 2025.]

(Ed. Note: “Paper tiger”? “Go further than that”? Uh-oh! Has the gauntlet been thrown?)

Then he added that, “After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.” [RFE/RL, September 23, 2025.]

It only took him three and a half years to “fully understand” the situation — not to mention the entire length of his presidential campaign during which he said he would be able to end the war within 24 hours of being elected. And he seems to have forgotten that, having failed to produce that little miracle, he has spent months urging Zelensky to cede some 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory to Russia in order to put a stop to the slaughter . . . which, by the way, he implied Ukraine had brought upon itself.

Later, in a solo news conference, Zelensky talked about the “big shift” in Trump’s position, and the fact that his understanding of the situation in Ukraine is now much clearer:

“Trump had a relationship with Putin and he trusted him. Putin was telling Trump fairytales…. I told Trump that Putin will not wait for the end of his war in Ukraine — he will try to find a weak spot in NATO and this is already happening … Putin will want to ‘exchange’ one war for another.” [Id.]

Aha! So, about those recent Russian incursions into NATO airspace . . .

So, for today at least, the U.S. is officially pro-Ukraine and anti-Russia. I can hardly wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us.

I wish I knew how to contact that White House gremlin.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/24/25