In Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 19th-century novel, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” slave owner Simon Legree — in an uncontrolled rage at Tom’s refusal to obey an order to punish a fellow slave — has Tom flogged to death.

I’m inclined to believe that Uncle Tom’s Cabin may be one of the few books that Donald Trump has actually read and retained, in light of his own inexcusably inhumane treatment of the citizens of the country he has sworn to protect and defend. He has merely refined the methods and extended the reach of his cruelty.

With the White House as his metaphorical plantation, “Simon Trump” rules this country as Simon Legree ruled his piece of the world. And Trump’s latest victims — hundreds of thousands of them — are the government workers who have been involuntarily furloughed or forced to work without pay, and now — in the mother of all double-whammies — are threatened with unwarranted, unjustified layoffs as punishment for Congress’ failure to pass a budget bill for the coming year.

And all while the members of Congress, and Fat Simon himself, sit safely ensconced on their thrones, supported by the taxes already collected from those selfsame workers.

“Pissed off” doesn’t even begin to describe what We the People are feeling right now. I’m reminded of the famous scene from the 1976 classic film “Network,” where the character Howard Beale — fed up with the state of the country — implores the American people:

“I want you to go to the window, open it, stick your head out and yell: ‘I’m as mad as hell and I’m not gonna take this anymore.’”

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/8/25

I am not a hyphenated American.

My grandparents emigrated in 1905 from that part of the Russian Empire now known as the sovereign nation of Ukraine. Their immigration records list them as being of Russian nationality; my DNA says I am 99% Russian, 0.4% Norwegian, and 0.6% either Middle Eastern or East African (for some reason, that is a bit muddled).

I could, in accordance with current trends, call myself a Russian-American or Ukrainian-American; but I don’t. I am an American of Ukrainian heritage.

I was born in the United States, as were both of my parents. I grew up surrounded by other children whose parents or grandparents were immigrants from all over the world. But we were, without question, 100% American.

End of discussion . . . or so I thought.

Now, it seems, a new category of Americans has been created: so-called “heritage Americans.” As snobbish and exclusionary as it sounds, that’s just how bad it is. And it seems to be gaining favor among far-right conservatives, though there isn’t one clear definition of the term.

For example, speaking on a Tucker Carlson podcast, Blaze Media columnist Auron MacIntyre explained his concept of the term as follows:

“You could find their names in the Civil War registry.” He said that America is not “a collection of abstract things agreed to in some social contract,” but rather is a specific set of people embodying an “Anglo-Protestant spirit [and having] a tie to history and to the land. If you change the people, you change the culture.” [Ali Breland, The Atlantic, October 7, 2025.]

And Senator Eric Schmitt (R.-Missouri), speaking at a National Conservative Conference last month, had this to offer:

“We Americans are the sons and daughters of the Christian Pilgrims that poured out from Europe’s shores to baptize a new world in their ancient faith. [America] is our birthright. It’s our heritage, our destiny.” [Id.]

And Christian nationalist C. Jay Engel, while describing himself as a “heritage American,” still claims that he is not a “racial essentialist,” and magnanimously allows that “blacks of the Old South [and] integrated Native Americans” also count as heritage Americans.

Well, I’m sure that all of the Sioux, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Wampanoag, Seminole, Creek, and hundreds of other indigenous peoples who were displaced and robbed of their lands by Mr. Engel’s pure white Christian ancestors will be thrilled to learn that they are, after all, worthy of being considered Americans.

Then, to add insult to injury, Engel went on to say that “the majority of blacks have demonstrated that they canot function within the old European cultural standards,” and that the concept of heritage Americans affirms “the domination and pre-eminence of the European derived peoples, their institutions, and their way of life.” [Id.]

Well, there went the last 160 years of progress.

*. *. *

As with most cockeyed, self-serving theories, this one is full of holes. To begin with, the so-called “non-racist” “heritage Americans” have conveniently ignored the obvious fact that their ancestors literally stole this country from the only people who actually have a legitimate claim to the title: the 500-plus recognized Native American tribes, some of whom date back an estimated 10,000 years or longer.

And I wonder whether they have considered that among those lily-white early European settlers were as many as 50,000 to 120,000 convicted criminals sent by the British government to the American “penal colonies” as convict labor during the 17th and 18th centuries — any of whom might even have been the ancestors of Messrs. MacIntyre, Schmitt or Engel.

Then they might also want to start explaining where people like Secretary of State Marco Rubio (whose parents came from Cuba), JD Vance’s wife Usha (the daughter of Indian parents), and Melania Trump (an emigre from Slovenia) fit into their exclusive club.

*. *. *

I could go on, but I’m sure I’ve made my point. If you want to talk about real Americans, you’re going to have to look past this group of elitist, racist, pseudo-Christian hypocrites . . . and into your own mirrors.

Because we are the Americans, and they can’t convince us otherwise.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/8/25

I just called my local pharmacy to confirm that they are ready with this year’s flu and COVID vaccines, and happily they told me they are well supplied. However . . .

I was quickly informed that the COVID vaccine is available only to persons aged 65 or above. Luckily for me — if you believe that being old and decrepit is lucky — I am in that category, and so am eligible for my free shots. I will get both this week.

But for the rest of the population, the clock has been turned back to 2019, when we were first hit by the newly-identified coronavirus, and no vaccine existed to prevent or combat it. Since January of 2020, following release of the first vaccine, the CDC has logged 1,235,651 COVID-related deaths in the United States, out of a total of 2,216,648 deaths due to influenza, pneumonia and COVID-19 combined. [CDC.gov, as of September 25, 2025.]

Those numbers most likely include many cases involving people with other underlying health problems who might otherwise have survived. But imagine how many more might have died without the preventive vaccine . . . and how many more will now succumb to what is essentially a disease that is preventable or at least capable of being reduced in severity.

There are also millions of others who suffered horribly through the illness and survived, but still bear the pain of Long COVID. I doubt they would agree with those who claim it is no worse than “ordinary” flu.

I have been very fortunate, and have — since the advent of the very first flu shots many, many decades ago — been able to escape unscathed. I attribute that to the availability of vaccines, which I began getting every year after one horrendous bout of the Asian Flu, when I actually was afraid I wouldn’t die. But I now fear for all of those younger, supposedly less at-risk people around me who may not be so lucky.

And it’s all because of an unqualified, superstitious conspiracy nut who somehow managed to be appointed head of the Department of Health and Human Services by an equally unqualified, superstitious conspiracy nut — neither of whom gives a damn about the health and well-being of the people of the country they claim to love.

No one should be able to force you to take preventive measures for your own protection. But neither should anyone be able to prevent you from making those decisions for yourself, or keep you from accessing available health care when you want it.

But that is what’s happening. And I shudder to think of what the coming winter is going to bring.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/7/25

Where Donald Trump is concerned: probably never.

Because he continues to be outmaneuvered at every turn, on every subject. And he keeps coming back for more.

This time the subject is nuclear arms control. The last five-year extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) between Russia and the United States is due to expire on February 5, 2026. Looking ahead, Putin announced at a Russian Security Council meeting on September 22nd that Russia is “prepared to continue observing the … central quantitative restrictions” of the Treaty, provided the U.S. “acts in a similar spirit.” [Xiaodon Liang, Armscontrol.org, October 2025.]

Putin added that “a complete renunciation of New START’s legacy would, from many points, be a grave and short-sighted mistake [with] adverse implications for the objectives of the [nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty].” Following the proposed extension, he said that Russia would make “a careful assessment of the situation [and] a definite decision on whether to uphold these voluntary self-limitations.” [Id.]

And, while he did not mention whether U.S. agreement was required in order for Russia possibly to adopt a unilateral freeze, he did say that the measure would not be viable if the United States were to take “steps that would undermine or disrupt the existing balance of deterrence.” [Id.]

Despite the veiled threat implicit in Putin’s remarks, at a news conference on the same day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said only that the proposal sounded “pretty good.” [Id.]

While still not responding to Putin’s proposal, Trump — following a sideline meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the United Nations in New York on September 23rd — issued his surprising social media post stating that he now believed Ukraine could win back its entire territory and restore its pre-2014 borders, and that the U.S. “will continue to supply weapons to NATO to do what they want with them.” [Id.]

On September 24th, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting and “compared their positions on the entire bilateral agenda.” [Id.]

Last week, Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said that the Kremlin was still waiting for Trump to respond to Putin’s offer.

But there was no response from Trump himself until Sunday, October 5th, when a TASS (Russian News Agency) reporter queried him about it. His non-committal answer was that “ … it sounds like a good idea to me.” [Id.]

Perhaps he was late for a golf game, or busy ordering troops onto the streets of more U.S. cities, or scrolling through his enemies list for the name of his next revenge victim. But he probably should have been paying attention to the real business of the White House, because Putin was focused on the issue of whether the U.S. might be considering supplying Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles.

In a video released on Sunday on Russian state television, Putin said:

“This [supplying Tomahawk missiles] will lead to the destruction of our relations, or at least the positive trends that have emerged in these relations.” [Andrea Shalal, Reuters, October 5, 2025.]

Once again, Putin has Trump in check. He made the first offer to extend the New START Treaty for another year; he waited patiently for two weeks to receive a reply; and, hearing nothing, he pounced on Trump’s sudden reversal of position on U.S. support of Ukraine — a reversal, not for the first time, based on his most recent conversation, which in this case happened to be with Zelensky.

Because that’s how he does business, and that’s how he formulates U.S. policy: not by careful consideration of facts and recommendations from experienced advisers, but by what his gut instincts tell him.

And that’s no way to run a country.

So once again he has painted himself into a corner, where he has to figure out how to keep his word to Zelensky without giving Putin grounds to back off, yet again, on ceasefire talks . . . and now also on nuclear nonproliferation.

That is, if he’s not too busy trying to keep the Epstein files buried.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/7/25

Please raise your hand if you know what a frappe is.

Well, it’s nice to see at least one New Englander in the room. Because here in the U.S., that’s the only place you’re likely to come across a frappe on the menu of your local ice cream parlor.

For the edification of those not fortunate enough to have grown up in the northeast corner of the United States — also known as “God’s country” — a frappe is what the rest of you probably refer to as a milk shake: milk, syrup and ice cream, all whipped to a thick, frothy nectar fit for the gods on Olympus.

But not in New England. Oh, no. There, a milk shake is a simpler, thinner (though still frothy) mix of milk and syrup — usually chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, or (my particular favorite) coffee. No ice cream.

If you add the ice cream, it becomes a frappe . . .

. . . except in Rhode Island, where it’s called a “cabinet,” and please don’t ask me why because I have no idea — nor, apparently, does anyone else. But having lived my first nine years in Rhode Island, I will say that nothing they do surprises me. They seem to enjoy being different just for the hell of it, possibly to avoid being overlooked because it’s the smallest state . . . much like the runt of the litter who barks the loudest.

Anyway, enough about that.

But speaking of “cabinets,” I see that the day after tomorrow — Wednesday, October 8th — is National Stop Bullying Day, which naturally brings to mind that band of bullies known as the Presidential Cabinet in the Washington White House. (Get the subtle segue?)

Don’t you agree that this would be the perfect time to bind and gag them all — together with their leader, of course — and ride them out of town on a rail?

Wow! That got a much bigger show of hands than the frappe question.

That’s it for now, folks. Feel free to applaud, and thank you for your attention to this matter.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/6/25

Each day, I write whatever happens to be on my mind, with the goal of posting it to my blog shortly after midnight. It is now 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 5th (EDT), and I have spent the last 12 hours doing absolutely nothing. In fact, if my bladder hadn’t been screaming at me to pay attention, I might not have bothered getting out of bed at all.

I have days like this occasionally, when the news is either so horrific, or merely repetitious, that I can’t bear to dwell on it. I did try to think of something — perhaps a childhood memory or embarrassing experience — with which to amuse you, but nothing leapt to mind.

Instead, I have over-indulged in cookies, ice cream, and other sweets between meals; watched a half dozen episodes of “Would I Lie To You?” (on BritBox, highly recommended); sorted my pills for the coming week (five prescriptions and five supplements daily, if you must know); enjoyed a two-hour chair nap; made my to-do list for the coming week, most of which will undoubtedly be carried over to the following week; and got out the Gorilla Glue to re-attach two little rubber feet that had worked their way free of my iPad case.

And I’m exhausted.

I also re-educated myself on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which runs for a week beginning today (Monday), and is one of the few Jewish holidays that is actually joyous.

If you’re at all familiar with the history of the Jews, you know that we have had more than our fair share of troubles — in fact, 5,786 years of them — so we’ll take all the pleasure we can muster.

I’m reminded of the lines from “Fiddler On the Roof,” when the entire Jewish community is being expelled from their Russian village of Anatevka, and someone says, with a deep sigh of resignation:

“Our forefathers have been forced out of many, many places at a moment’s notice” . . . to which Tevye the Milkman philosophically responds:

“Maybe that’s why we always wear our hats.”

So a week of celebrating the autumn harvest and recalling the miracle of the exodus to the Promised Land is most welcome — especially when we’ve just survived the 24-hour fast of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, earlier this week.

(And to all of my Christian and Muslim friends: Yes, I know one day is nothing compared to the 40 days of Lent, or the month-long observance of Ramadan; but I didn’t make the rules, so please find someone else to yell at.)

To sum it up, I find I am able to justify my one day of sybaritic self-indulgence by recalling this brilliant summation of the entire history of the Jews (original author unknown):

“They tried to kill us.
They didn’t succeed.
Let’s eat.”

*. *. *

And now, it seems, I have actually completed a submission for my Monday blog, so it wasn’t a totally wasted day after all. I think that calls for some more Haagen-Dazs.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/6/25 – 12:01 a.m.

Remember late last year, when the U.S. east coast was plagued by mystery drones buzzing military installations, Donald Trump’s Bedminster (N.J.) golf course, and other sensitive areas, and the government assured us that — while they hadn’t the foggiest notion of what those things actually were — they definitely were not a threat to our security?

One particularly interesting hypothesis came from New Jersey’s Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew, who claimed he had heard from “high sources” that the drones detected over his state were originating from an Iranian “mothership” in the Atlantic:

“That mothership … is off the East Coast of the United States of America. They’ve launched drones into everything that we can see or hear. These are from high sources. I don’t say this lightly. [They should be] shot down.” [Bernd Debusmann, Jr., BBC News, December 12, 2024.]

But we were reassured by Connecticut’s Democrat Representative James Himes — on the always-reliable Fox News Sunday show — that he had good news:

“Now, let me say something that I know with confidence. It is not the Iranians. It is not the Chinese. They aren’t Martians. I know that’s very unsatisfying for people who want a Hollywood movie out of this.” [John Bacon and Thao Nguyen, USA Today, December 16, 2024.]

What a relief that was! But still, what were they?

Then things quieted down, the drones swhooshed out of the news, and in April of this year we learned that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was testing systems to detect drones in New Jersey . . . presumably the same drones we had been told not to worry about.

By that time, the Trump team had taken over the lunatic asylum in Washington, and the new Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, told us the earlier sightings in New Jersey were a “drone fiasco under the last administration,” assuring the public:

“This administration has taken a completely different approach, radical transparency. The FAA is doing this to ensure we can properly detect drones in our airspace and make sure they don’t interfere with airplane navigation systems … This is about protecting our national security and American safety.” [Pete Muntean, CNN, April 15, 2025.]

And we’ve all slept more soundly since then, haven’t we?

*. *. *

But wait . . . What’s happening now in Europe? The past few weeks have seen a drone invasion that leaves last year’s U.S. experience in the shade. It started in Poland on September 10th, when a swarm of Russian drones overflew Polish airspace, prompting NATO to scramble military aircraft to intercept them and shoot some of them down.

The logical assumption here is that this was entirely unrelated to last year’s U.S. sightings; these were not Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UPAs, formerly referred to as UFOs), but were related to Russia’s ongoing invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

But then Denmark began reporting sightings in various areas, including above or near the Karup Air Base, the country’s biggest military base. On September 22nd, Copenhagen Airport — Scandinavia’s largest airport — was forced to shut down temporarily, creating major delays.

And now Germany is investigating claims of unidentified drones that appear to have been spying on critical infrastructure in multiple areas. Regional Interior Minister Sabine Sutterlin-Waack told a parliamentary committee that flying objects of “various types and sizes” had been spotted, including a “combined drone formation” over a university hospital and a power plant, as well as sightings over government buildings, an oil refinery, and military bases. [Associated Press, October 4, 2025.]

Munich Airport has been shut down twice in less than 24 hours following two additional drone sightings, causing serious delays for at least 6,500 passengers. [Id.]

*. *. *

So, of course, the question inevitably arises: “WTF??!!!”

Well, don’t look at me; I don’t have the answer. But there seem to be a few possibilities.

First, this rash of sightings might be, as some suspect, a Russian attempt to gauge NATO’s defensive capabilities in the event of a real invasion. That, to me, makes eminently good sense, and could actually have an advantageous effect in that it has spurred many European countries to increase their defensive positions . . . just in case “Mad Vlad” Putin is up to something even more malevolent.

Second, it could conceivably be a whole bunch of civilian mischief-makers being really stupid. But that’s doubtful — there are just too many of them, they’re too widespread, and they’re too sophisticated.

Which still leaves us with the unanswered questions about last year’s U.S. sightings. Maybe . . . just maybe . . . those really were extraterrestrials; and when they got a look at the incoming U.S. administration, they realized we were beyond salvation, left us alone, and decided to focus instead on the lovely cities of Europe, where they hoped to find that the older, more entrenched civilizations are . . . well . . . more civilized.

But then . . .

*. *. *

On second thought, maybe E.T. would be better off staying at home. We Earthlings have obviously gone batshit crazy.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/5/25

I love these times when I can report on the release of hostages or prisoners of war, instead of adding to the numbers of those still imprisoned.

And this week, it was another swap between Russia and Ukraine — each side sending home 185 POWs and 20 civilians, most of whom have been incarcerated since early in the war that began in February 2022.

To add to the excitement, I am able today to delete from my list of known POW’s the group I call “The Azov 12” — a dozen members of the Ukrainian Army’s Azov Brigade, taken prisoner after one of the most brutal standoffs of the war at Mariupol near the Sea of Azov and finally included in this latest exchange.

A joyous day indeed!

*. *. *

But of course, never to be forgotten are the tens — perhaps hundreds — of thousands of those still awaiting release.

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 have not been overlooked; please stay strong, and have faith that your turn will come soon.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/5/25

What is Aleksandr Lukashenko up to now?

Despite being known as “Europe’s last dictator”; and despite his record of brutal authoritarianism since assuming the presidency of Belarus in 1994; and despite the questionable legitimacy of his subsequent re-elections; and despite his willingness to allow his country to be used as a staging ground for Russian troops and armaments in pursuance of Putin’s war against Ukraine . . . despite all of that, we now see Lukashenko openly making overtures to the U.S. But to what end?

In mid-August, as Donald Trump was en route to his now infamous meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, he took the time to speak by phone with Lukashenko — the first-ever such conversation for the Belarusian leader. In a social media post following that call, Trump, believing that Lukashenko might be of help in U.S.-Russian negotiations concerning the war in Ukraine, referred to the long-ostracized dictator as “highly respected President” — even though officially the West does not recognize Lukashenko as the legitimate president of his country. [Artyom Shraibman, Carnegie Politika, August 21, 2025.]

Trump also expressed appreciation for the release of 16 prisoners (though not referring to them as “political” prisoners), and agreed to meet with Lukashenko in person at some unspecified time . . . even saying he would come to Belarus with his family. Trump’s objective was said to be the release of additional prisoners being held in Belarus, who may number as many as 1,300 in total. [Id.]

Four weeks later, on September 11th, Lukashenko met with U.S. envoy John Coale in Minsk, where Coale handed him a letter from Trump, written in English and signed simply “Donald.” At that time, Lukashenko announced that he was ready to make a deal on the release of prisoners, saying:

“If Donald insists that he is ready to take in all these released prisoners, God bless you, let’s try to work out a global deal, as Mr. Trump likes to say, a big deal.” [Marina Bobrova, Reuters, September 11, 2025.]

Coale referred to Trump’s letter, and the first-name-only signature, as “a rare act of personal friendship.” [Id.]

Later that day, Belarus released 52 prisoners of various nationalities, who then traveled to Lithuania with the U.S. negotiating team.

Again, Trump’s intentions may be twofold, and perfectly legitimate: seeking the release of as many prisoners as possible, and trying to use Lukashenko’s presumed influence with Putin as leverage in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

But what is Lukashenko really up to? Is he merely currying favor to improve his standing in the international political hierarchy? Or is he growing weary of being under Putin’s thumb and genuinely turning Westward?

It has now come to light that on September 10th, as an estimated 700 Russian drones entered Belarusian airspace en route to the Polish border, a Belarusian military officer — not for the first time — used a dedicated phone line to call his Polish counterpart and warn him. And a similar call was made to military officials in neighboring Lithuania as well. [Mike Eckel and Andnrei Shauliuha, RFE/RL, October 3, 2025.]

In addition, there have been unconfirmed reports that a number of those drones have been shot down by Belarusian defense forces, though most have gone unreported by official sources. [Id.]

Now, that seems certain to infuriate Vladimir Putin. So why risk it?

I certainly don’t have the answer to that. But Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the exiled leader of Belarus’ opposition party — whose husband Syarhei is himself a recently-released political prisoner of Lukashenko — warned that the dictator is trying to fool Trump with gestures such as the release of a handful of prisoners, in exchange for which Trump has already eased some sanctions against Belarus.

While expressing appreciation for having won the recent prisoner releases, Tsikhanouskaya cautioned the U.S. “not to pay too much” for the relatively small number of people freed thus far. Noting that Lukashenko’s brutal crackdowns and mass arrests are continuing in what she called a “revolving door,” she urged that the U.S. should continue working to free prisoners while the opportunity presents itself, saying that:

. . . “people are dying in prisons. That’s why we need . . . consistent and irreversible changes, not to let this regime to take more and more and more hostages to sell them for higher price [sic].” [Michael Weissenstein, AP, September 25, 2025.]

Again, it all boils down to a question of trust . . . and Aleksandr Lukashenko is a man who has proven many times over that he cannot, under any circumstances, be trusted. One possible scenario is that he is doing Putin’s bidding — playing up to Trump to gain an easing of sanctions or other favors that would ultimately be of benefit to Russia, if only indirectly.

In the meantime, we can only hope that Trump’s common sense — if he still has any — will for once outweigh his ego’s susceptibility to flattery.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/4/25

. . . that during a government shutdown, Congress continues to receive full pay and benefits?

As of October 1st, “non-essential” government employees were furloughed, without pay, for an indefinite period of time . . . until the Senate makes up its collective mind as to whether it’s okay to render medical insurance unaffordable for millions of low- to middle-income Americans.

As for the “essential” federal workers, they continue to work . . . but also without pay. This is because all of those loyal employees — legislative assistants, administrative assistants, maintenance workers, cafeteria workers, national park rangers, etc. — are paid in accordance with a budget that has to be renewed annually.

But Congressional members’ salaries are governed by Article I, Section 6 of the U.S. Constitution. And since 1983, they have been funded by a permanent appropriation outside of the annual budget.

So, while they sit and haggle over our current and future well-being, and send hundreds of thousands of people home without a source of income — and with the threat of permanent dismissal hanging over their heads, thanks to Donald Trump and OMB director Russell Vought’s latest diabolical scheme — those Senators have no clue as to how we feel when we have to wonder how long we’ll be able to put food on the table, make tuition and car payments, or hold onto our homes.

Thanks a lot, Congress. We’ll remember you at election time.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/4/25