Yesterday I quoted from a work of fiction on the subject of tyrants. Today, I turn to a very real person . . . one of the greatest, most revered political ethicists of modern times . . . a peacemaker who was assassinated for his views on freedom and civil rights: Mahatma Gandhi.
Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
Known in India as the “Father of the Nation,” he led the drive for his country’s independence from British rule, and inspired worldwide civil rights movements through non-violent resistance.
And on the subject of tyrants, he offered these words of hope:
“Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.”
– Mahatma Gandhi, “Gandhi: An Autobiography”
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My question remains: How long do we have to wait before the fall?
Yesterday — after actually working over the weekend! — and after 41 days of internecine battling and agonizing suspense — the U.S. Senate finally agreed to a compromise bill that would end the longest government shutdown in this country’s history.
Now it just has to pass the House of Representatives, hopefully sometime this week.
U.S. Senate in Session – November 10, 2025
But it took eight former holdouts — seven Democrats and an Independent — to break the stalemate. They were Democrats Dick Durbin, Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine, Jeanne Shaheen, Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman and Jacky Rosen, and Independent Angus King, who caucuses with the Democrats.
Many are now castigating them as traitors to the people who still may lose their medical insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). But they did not give up everything; and with so many lower-income Americans in danger of going hungry because of Donald Trump’s punitive defunding of benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), they are saying they felt it was essential to get food back onto people’s tables, re-open the government, send hundreds of thousands of workers back to their jobs and on salary, and deal with the ACA issue after that.
Food Lines in America in 2025
So, exactly what did the compromise bill cover?
First, although no one likes to be the one to swerve in a game of chicken, it had become obvious that Trump was pulling the Republican strings (as always), and didn’t care how many children or old folks starved or died of disease; he simply wasn’t going to give an inch on health care. Maybe because it was originally called Obamacare, after his arch nemesis (or one of them), former President Barack Obama.
Whatever his reasoning, ACA was the principal roadblock, and nothing was going to move until it was resolved. So the eight Democrats finally agreed to put it on the back burner — not to surrender it, but to table it until after the wheels of government were turning once more.
In exchange, the Republicans agreed to fund the government through January 2026, in addition to an extension of funding through fiscal year 2026 — ending September 30th — for several key agencies, including those that control federal food aid, veterans programs, military affairs, and others.
Interestingly, the extended bill includes $203.5 million in new funding for enhanced security measures and protection for members of Congress, in addition to $852 million for U.S. Capitol Police. [Annie Grayer and Sarah Ferris, CNN, November 10, 2025.]
Methinks the legislators are feeling, shall we say, somewhat unpopular with their constituents at present, and more than a little vulnerable.
Of course, the compromise bill still has to be passed by the House of Representatives, so there are no guarantees. But with the recent surge of Democratic wins, and mid-term elections coming up, let’s hope they’re smart enough to see the writing on the wall if they cause this shutdown to drag on any longer.
And then, of course, it will have to be approved by Donald Trump . . . though it’s hardly likely that he would veto it when he’s been controlling it all along. And he’ll still have the fight over ACA to keep him occupied.
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In brief, I can see both sides of the argument for and against the compromise, and whether the eight Democrats were right to call a halt to the shutdown.
Happily, I am not a recipient of SNAP benefits. But as a single, senior woman on a fixed income, I can empathize with those who are dependent on that assistance in order to feed their families because their incomes are not sufficient to keep up with ever-increasing costs. And my Medicare supplemental insurance premiums have become a tremendous burden on my budget; but I can’t afford to be without the coverage, because Medicare covers so little. So I concur with those who decided it is essential that everyone get back to work as soon as possible, and the salaries and benefits that are covered by our tax dollars begin to flow again.
On the other hand, I despise the thought of having to give in to an administration that looks after itself and its friends, and doesn’t give a damn about the welfare of the people who voted them into office, and whom they are sworn to serve and protect.
Who doesn’t love Harry Potter? And who hasn’t trembled at the sight of the evil Voldemort? As villains and tyrants go — real or fictitious — he is surely one of the most terrifying.
Lord Voldemort
And his creator, J.K. Rowling, explained his ultimate downfall in a manner that serves as a message to all of the world’s villains.
Pointing out that Voldemort had himself created his own worst enemy, “just as tyrants everywhere do,” she wrote:
“Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realize that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back!”
– J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
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Thanks, J.K. We’re all waiting for that day to arrive.
“Donald Trump has said the US will not attend the G20 summit in South Africa over widely discredited claims that white people are being persecuted in the country.” [Andre Rhoden-Paul, BBC, November 8, 2025.]
The King Is Missing
I don’t even know where to begin with this one.
I haven’t yet gotten over Trump’s fixation with the White South Africans (Afrikaners) who claim persecution by their government, or his fast-tracking their immigration to the U.S. while blocking entry of asylum-seekers from nearly every other country.
But now he is spitefully refusing to attend the all-important upcoming G20 summit because it is being held in Johannesburg — as though he is in a position to lecture others on the subjects of fairness, morals, ethics, or human rights.
Yet somehow, he, in his perpetual delusional state, truly believes that he is. After first announcing that JD Vance would attend in his place, he changed his mind again and wrote on social media:
“Afrikaners (people who are descended from Dutch settlers, and also French and German immigrants) are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated. No US government official will attend as long as these human rights abuses continue.” [Id.]
Does he even know what’s going on right here at home?!! Apparently not; he’s too busy adding more tacky gold to his Billionaires’ Ballroom.
Meanwhile, there has been no evidence of a White genocide taking place in South Africa, whose foreign ministry issued the following statement:
“The South African government wishes to state, for the record, that the characterisation of Afrikaners as an exclusively white group is ahistorical. Furthermore, the claim that this community faces persecution, is not substantiated by fact.” [Id.]
Fertile South Africa
So, as the titular leader of the world’s most powerful country — in control of the world’s largest economy — Donald Trump is abdicating his responsibility to attend a vital economic conference with the world’s other major powers because he disapproves of something that may, or may not, be happening in the host country. Wouldn’t you think he’d welcome the opportunity to check out the situation in person?
But no . . . he’s already made up his mind. And in any event, he’s engrossed in negotiating business deals with Russia, China, North Korea, and other totalitarian governments. There’s no time for fact-checking.
Could someone please explain his reasoning to me? Because I am at a total loss.
And lest he should think he will be gaining any leverage over the South African government by threatening to absent himself from the summit, he should consider the statement of Foreign Ministry spokesman Chrispin Phiri, who called Trump’s decision “regrettable,” but said that the success of the summit will not “rest on one member state.”
He added that Trump was “orchestrating an imagined crisis . . . using the painful history of South Africa’s colonial past,” and that there was “absolutely no evidence of white persecution in South Africa. South Africa does have its problems and we are dealing with those. I think crime affects everyone, regardless of their race.” [Id.]
And then he concluded:
“We will move on without the United States.” [Id.]
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And that, in just eight words, is where Donald Trump’s so-called foreign and domestic policies have taken the United States: from the world’s most trusted, respected, relied-upon model of freedom and democracy to expendable has-been — just another “member state.” All in ten short months.
Is it time to worry? Or is there a simple reason for the absence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov from the most recent meeting of Vladimir Putin’s Security Council, and the cancellation of his scheduled attendance at the upcoming G20 session in Johannesburg, South Africa?
November 5th Security Council Meeting … without Sergey Lavrov
Lavrov was the only permanent member of the Security Council to miss the meeting on Wednesday, November 5th — the day after Putin had signed a decree appointing a more junior official — economist and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Maksim Oreshkin — to head the delegation to the G20.
There could, of course, be any number of reasons for his absence. He might have been assigned a task by Putin that would take him elsewhere for a while; he might, at age 75, have been taken ill; or — as anyone familiar with Russian history and political intrigues would be likely to suspect — there might be some major changes underway in the Kremlin hierarchy.
At least that was the rumor circulating around Moscow on Wednesday when the daily business publication Kommersant noted the two coinciding events, citing “informed sources” who reported that Lavrov “was absent by agreement” from the Security Council meeting. [Nathan Hodge, CNN, November 7, 2025.]
Was this Kremlin-speak for “it’s no one’s business”? In true Soviet style, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attempted to dispel the rumors by telling reporters on Friday:
“There is no truth to these reports whatsoever. Lavrov continues to serve as foreign minister, of course.” [Id.]
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov
And Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Lavrov was still on the job, but confirmed that he had indeed missed Wednesday’s meeting, adding: “ . . . but that happens.” [Id.]
Well, no . . . it doesn’t just happen. Not in Moscow, at any rate. Or not without a very good reason.
First, there has been speculation that Lavrov may have fallen into disfavor when his phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month failed to produce a plan for an in-person summit in Budapest between Putin and Donald Trump to discuss a solution to the war in Ukraine.
But there are also recent photographs of Lavrov in which he has been looking very tired, and not at all healthy.
Sergey Lavrov, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the UN General Assembly Meeting – New York, September 24, 2025
And if the answer to the riddle is something much simpler and more benign than either of those two possibilities, then why hasn’t he shown his face to allay suspicions?
Whatever the reason, Moscow is keeping silent for the time being, which is standard procedure when there is a problem to which they’re still working out a solution. It’s sort of a Kremlin mantra:
Today’s inspiration comes from award-winning African-American science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler.
Raised in poverty in segregated America, she fought against traditional beliefs of the day that Black people were not capable of intellectual achievement. She worked days and attended college at night, writing in her spare time and eventually achieving success with such novels as “Speech Sounds,” “Bloodchild,” and “Parable of the Talents.”
Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006)
It is from the last that this insightful quote is taken. Its relevance to today’s world should be obvious:
“Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought.
To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears.
To be led by a fool is to be led by the opportunists who control the fool.
To be led by a thief is to offer up your most precious treasures to be stolen.
To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies.
To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery.”
– Octavia E. Butler, “Parable of the Talents” (1998)
Today is World Freedom Day, established in 2001 by then U.S. President George W. Bush to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, and the supposed end of communist rule in Eastern and Central Europe.
Fall of the Berlin Wall – November 9, 1989
But totalitarianism has not died. Throughout the 25 years (thus far) of Vladimir Putin’s autocratic rule of the Russian Federation, increasingly oppressive laws have chipped away at individual freedoms; dissidents have been rounded up and imprisoned or exterminated; acts of terror are periodically blamed on ethnic minorities; and wars have been waged . . . most notably, the ongoing “special military operation” against Ukraine.
For nearly four years — since February 24, 2022 — the people of Ukraine have been held hostage to Putin’s ambition to re-absorb the former Soviet republics and vassal states . . . even, if necessary, by first destroying them.
Despite international efforts at resolving the conflict, Putin has refused to agree to a ceasefire, and continues his deadly attacks day after day after day. Yesterday alone, Russia launched hundreds of missile and drone attacks on residential targets and civilian infrastructure in 25 locations across Ukraine, including Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Poltava, Chernihiv, Odesa, Kirovohrad and Kharkiv, in which at least six people were killed and countless thousands left without electricity, water, and — in many cases — without shelter against the coming winter. [James Landale and Alex Kleiderman, BBC, November 8, 2025.]
Apartment Building in Dnipro – Two People Killed, November 8, 2025
So today — World Freedom Day — it is especially appropriate to recognize the entire population of the sovereign nation of Ukraine as political hostages of Vladimir Putin, and call once more for increased measures to stop the slaughter of its innocent citizens and expedite the return of its nearly 20,000 kidnapped children being held in Russian territory.
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Of course, we also remember those individuals who continue to suffer in prisons and penal colonies in Russia and elsewhere — convicted, for purely political reasons, of crimes they did not commit:
Prisoners of War:
The 19,500 Kidnapped Ukrainian Children The People of Ukraine
Immigrant Detainees in Russia:
Migrants from the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
Endangered Exiles:
Mikita Losik Yulia Navalnaya Countless Journalists and Other Dissidents
Ales Bialiatski Andrei Chapiuk Marya Kalesnikava Uladzimir Labkovich Andrzej Poczobut Marfa Rabkova Valiantsin Stafanovic Yuras Zyankovich
In Georgia:
Mzia Amaglobeli
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 Leonid Pshenychnov(in Russian-occupied Crimea) 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)
Founded in 1993, UNITED for Intercultural Action is “the European network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of migrants, refugees and minorities. Together with over 560 supporter organisations all around Europe, ranging from local grassroots associations to national and international NGOs, UNITED coordinates campaigns, organises conferences, takes part in projects, produces publications and undertakes advocacy work to protest against discrimination and promote our shared vision for a diverse and inclusive society.” [Unitedfia.org.]
Logo of UNITED for Intercultural Action
And they have declared tomorrow, November 9th, to be a day to speak out against fascism and antisemitism.
I would go one step further, and suggest extending it to every day of every year. But we have to start somewhere.
So, from here in the U.S., in solidarity with our old and valued friends across the Pond, I wish us all a very peaceful — and free — November 9th.
Today’s quote comes from English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist and critic Eric Arthur Blair — better known to the world as George Orwell.
George Orwell (1903-50)
Best remembered for his dystopian novel “1984,” Orwell was born into a respectable family, attended Eton on scholarship, and foreswore the comforts of the life for which he seemed destined, to live instead for his writing. As research into the lives of the lower economic classes, he sometimes lived in squalor, sometimes with family members or friends, and almost always in penury.
His voluntary service in the Spanish Civil War solidified his hatred of totalitarianism in all of its forms, and greatly influenced his later writings: most famously, “Animal Farm” and the immortal “1984.”
It is from that latter work — his final one, as it turned out — that this brief quote is taken . . . as relevant in today’s turbulent political environment as it was in 1949:
“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
Remember this incident in October 2017, when Donald Trump — then in his first term as occupant of the Oval Office — finally visited Puerto Rico after it had been hit by hurricanes Irma and Maria?
San Juan, Puerto Rico – October 3, 2017
Because of the extent of the damage, there had been some delay in delivery of recovery aid. To show what a caring individual he is, he showed up at a relief center where food and supplies were at last becoming available, and began tossing paper towels to the local citizens gathered there . . . as though that would help them blot up the water in what was left of their flooded homes.
Speaking to Mike Huckabee during an interview afterward, he said:
“They had these beautiful, soft towels. Very good towels. And I came in and there was a crowd of a lot of people. And they were screaming and they were loving everything. I was having fun, they were having fun. They said, ‘Throw ‘em to me! Throw ‘em to me Mr. President!” [Daniella Silva, NBC News, October 8, 2017.]
They had no homes; no food or drinking water; no utilities; no businesses; and nearly 3,000 people dead. But they were “having fun” watching Marie Antoinette tossing the beautiful, soft paper towels at them.
What class! What heart! What a guy!
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Now it’s 2025, and we’re in the tenth month of his second, non-consecutive term. Has he managed to grow a heart in the interim? Well, let’s see . . .
He is currently . . .
> overseeing the brutal arrest, imprisonment and deportation of masses of immigrants without due process;
> the firing by DOGE of hundreds of thousands of government employees without cause;
> the furloughing of nearly a million more, and requiring hundreds of thousands to work without pay, due to a Republican-created government shutdown because they’re determined to rob the American people of affordable health care;
> the cancelling of food assistance to low-income families because of a falsely-claimed lack of government funds, while he builds a gaudy ballroom at the White House and parties like Gatsby at Mar-a-Lago;
> the blowing up of suspected drug runners in small boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific without prior proof of guilt . . .
> and all while lecturing other countries on their poor human rights records.
Oh, yeah . . . he’s all heart, all right.
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And then, on a more personal level, there was this on Thursday:
Oval Office – November 6, 2025
During a press conference attended by Health & Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, and several others, one of the attendees suddenly went limp and began to fall to the floor. Dr. Oz was able to grab the man and ease him to the floor as he passed out.
As the above photo shows, several people rushed to the man’s aid, while Trump stood staring helplessly at what was happening. At the same time, videos of the incident show Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and another woman rushing the press out of the room — though they kept photographing as they left, producing this follow-up picture of Trump, now turned completely away from the patient and in the direction of the retreating press corps.
Oval Office – Seconds Later
Look at his expression, and tell me what you see. What I see is a spoiled child, upset — not out of concern for the man lying ill on the floor of his office not six feet away — but pissed off at the interruption of his big, beautiful press conference.
I did hear a report that he remembered — or was reminded — to call the man’s wife later to check on his condition. (He is apparently all right.) But that was after the fact; it is the initial reaction that is most telling of the priorities of an individual who always, without fail, thinks first and exclusively of himself.
And that, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with this administration.
The Blog About Everything … and Sometimes Nothing 