At noon today, Donald J. Trump walked toward the wreath-laying ceremony, slapping his right hand against his upper thigh again and again with almost every step. Moments later, as he stood at attention with his hand raised in salute, he wobbled back and forth, unable to hold still. He looked exhausted, unsteady, and vacant, like a man who had slept only a few hours and was being moved through the motions of a ceremony he knew he could not avoid. But today was May 25th, 2026. Memorial Day. And the President of the United States was standing before the families of the fallen, before service members, and before a country that still understands what this day is supposed to mean. He did not need to be inspiring or eloquent. He only needed to be solemn and to give one sacred day the seriousness it deserved. And once again, he could not do it. Because Donald Trump has never...
That's it really. The reason you write, the reason we read.
Thank you for your diligence.
Thank you for your eloquence.
Thank you for helping us understand.
As you say, it will end one day. It always does. May we all get to read your beautiful stories of The Great Recovery that will surely come when the madness subsides. Take care.
Yes Ken, what Heather points out every day is not normal Presidential behavior...it's about the toll the chaos, hate, and destruction that he is imposing on our country and Democracy. Every day he finds a way to take us deeper into his demented, self centered mind. His words and actions are a disgrace to the men and women who fought and died for defending our country. Our silence is not an option.
He is the antithesis of a patriot. I will never understand how folks who love their country, and who may have even fought for it, idolize him. He's a fraud!
Your posts are a documentation of these dark times. A necessary, detailed record of this perverse and despicable man and his sycophants. But it also a lifeline to the real people of America and the wider world. Hope is a rare commodity and it takes almost every ounce of our energy and reserves to combat the onslaught of Fascism and the daily impact of its lies and inhumanity. You are an inspiration. Thank you for all you do and share. The real source of life is inexhaustible and limitless. To give hope is more valuable than any commodity or wealth, again, thank you.
Trump spent the Vietnam years of his life walking his bone spurs around NYC collecting rents with daddy. The same spurs that kept him from being drafted.
And here the big wonder is requiring just young male draft registration again. You can't dream up Trump's dirty psy-ops against our Constitution and his purposeful rotten distractions.
Queens. The Twumps built in their home borough of Queens. Later, when Twump lived in Manhattan, he was spurned by the real New Yorkers and he has always hated those New Yorkers (as much as he hates anyone from the multicultural Queens) because NO ONE LIKES HIM. And New Yorkers like everybody.
And thank you for giving a tribute to our Military.
I want them to come home so badly. They do not belong in this farce of a war.
60,000 US troops, and he and Congress are willing to sacrific them and the fleet to continue to kill people who are not our enemies. Iran is showing restraint in not bombing the hell out of us. Perhaps they can see who they are dealing with
. By leaving, Congress has disrespected our lives, the lives of our Military, and the lives of 70,000 people imprisoned in Concentration camps, who are being abused and tortured. There are people dying that are traveling, trying to come back to America.
I feel like I am slowly dying from empathy.
Ten YEARS. Grinding away, fearful for my granddaughters, and all children.
KAMALA actually won. Smart Elections has been working on it since the election.
Not sure if they can do anything about it.
Thank you again.🦋🌼☀️ I still have hope, it is just nightmarish to watch.
Thank you for this compilation of Memorial Day and the actor. I have only one thing that stumps me and for the life of me, I don’t understand it. Every time the president threw the families a platitude like ‘we are the greatest’ or similar, the crowds cheered and roared for him. And of course it puffs him up to think he’s the greatest. This eludes all my understanding of honesty and compassion.
Even families who have sacrificed are handpicked for Twump's crowds. And there are millions of people who hold onto his words like a lifeline because if they let go, who knows what abyss their lives would fall into. He is actually their sunshine and life giving force. You don't understand it but then again, are you a hard core bigot? An uneducated loser? A backwoods redneck raised with paranoia of any outsiders? Do you and your children spend ten hours a day in rabbit holes and dark corners of the web? If you see someone fall on the street, do you think: Oh, good, it wasn't me, and walk on?
You don't have to get it. We were raised to respect others, to love our neighbor, to tolerate those different from us. We do not need to actively hate to get satisfaction in life because LOVE IS STRONGER THAN HATE. I know right from wrong and I know when to fight and when to let things settle down. As long as Twump keeps stirring up shit, I will stand alert.
(I just reread this and it sounds like my 25 years as a NYC high school teacher taught me a few things.)
Best line in your letter today is this: “You realize the difference between loving your country and simply using it.”
Find those who seem to continue to follow this cretin may not know the difference in loving this country versus idolizing the ones who for decades simply used all that is afforded in this country for their own personal gain.
Let’s be honest tRump has built his multi-billion dollar career and political legacy by consistently leveraging American legal, financial, and political systems to maximize his own personal wealth. Let alone getting out of being drafted for those supposedly “bone spurs” during the Vietnam war. For over more than “five decades” as a real estate developer, media figure, and politician, watchdogs and investigative reports have documented how he has converted public attention, taxpayer resources, and the office of the presidency into lucrative personal revenue streams. It’s not about “loving” this nation it’s about “using” it..
If you do a google search not ONE member of tRump’s family has served in the military spanning “FIVE generations” - Now that should spark a thought process as to how much he or his family ever understood the word “sacrifice”. Just do a google search on Biden’s or even Obama’s family history, yep family members served. There’s no need to do the Bush family history, and if you’re inquiring about the Clinton’s well both of their fathers served in WWII. Even if you go back farther to Reagan he enlisted in the US Army Reserve Corps as a private in the 322nd Cavalry Regiment. We all know Carter graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served seven years on active duty as a naval officer, spending five years in the hazardous submarine service. Now that takes this way back to 1977 as to “service and sacrifices” to this nation as members of the military of these past President’s.
It’s always has been and will always be for this cretin and his entire tRump family knowing “….the difference between loving your country and simply using it.”
How “used” so many should feel but no one wants to ever believe they’ve been “conned”….
TJ, great add to Heather’s. “Leverage” is an understatement for the amount of criminal profiteering by him, his family, technofascists, and EPSTEIN Class, KKKabinet, RepubliKKKans, BeneDickt Fetterman, Dems, six corrupt SCOTUS, wealthy criminal elites and so many others. Also, according to sources like Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, trump is a Russian plant used to launder money through his casinos and trump towers,and a hub for national and international sex traffickers including EPSTEIN and Maxwell.
Now he/they have turned their evil Nazi, fascist regime into the ultimate criminal money laundering machine through stock market manipulation, Polymarket, illegal wars, government contracts with family owned and invested in weapons and technology companies (EPSTEIN Class and Technofascists-Elon, Thiel, Karp, etc), “real estate” deals, extortion, “BORED of Peace” million dollar dues and extra monies and stolen oil money into his account in Qatar, etc.
It is one of the largest Ponzi-Pyramid scheme ever, by the dumbest conman backed by money and intelligence of the Russians, Heritage Foundation-Project 2025-26, EPSTEIN Class, Netanyahu, Putin and “BORED of Peace” members, who have played him for their own money, power and control, and imperialism.
As a former friend said as we parted ways years ago after this pure bullshit of that “Big Lie” and she even went to Jan 6th to listen to all that crap — “She’s not stupid, and never would fall for a con job!” My last response to her was “Honey, there’s a sucker born every minute, it’s the PT Barnum Effect. Good luck with that.”
She moved and has lived in Texas for years and was a big John Cornyn supporter and see now she is backing none other than Ken Paxton… Good grief, just keep drinking that Kool-aide.. Like I said “No one wants to ever believe they’ve been “conned”…
It’s amazing how 1) gullible, 2) illogical, 3) bamboozled some supposedly “smart” people are. They’re in the Trumphukian cult even if they don’t know it. They’re always have a snappy retort, such as: “Well, whatabout Hunter Biden?” or “Obama used extreme Presidential powers to implement X or Y…”. As if anything before this justifies or excuses the massive deceit, the massive corruption, the assault on democracy, the breadth of illegalities of Trumphuk — not to say anything about—wait for it—
THE EPSTEIN FILES and Donnie J’s raping of teenagers.
The MAGA/MAWA KKKult is not much different than others, Jim Jones-Jamestown, David Korean-Branch Davidians, Louis Farrakhan-NOI, Charles Manson, Scientology, NXIVM, Warren Jeffs, etc.
I could not get through your column today without a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. When this physical reaction happens, and you don't let the tears flow, it hurts, physically. But then as I write this, I need to stop and wipe the tears away. If we must fight wars, and sometimes we must, then we must also honor those who gave the fullest measure. To not honor them properly and selflessly is a sham. Twump is a facade and all his broken parts are misfiring. The problem is, there are people who look at Twump and say, yeah, suckers and losers and you won't get me in a uniform as they take the last morning suck off the bong and go to their job stocking shelves at the local megastore. Good luck, fellas.
"But the record has to be kept".
That's it really. The reason you write, the reason we read.
Thank you for your diligence.
Thank you for your eloquence.
Thank you for helping us understand.
As you say, it will end one day. It always does. May we all get to read your beautiful stories of The Great Recovery that will surely come when the madness subsides. Take care.
This! Exactly this! Well said, Ken Chapman!
Yes Ken, what Heather points out every day is not normal Presidential behavior...it's about the toll the chaos, hate, and destruction that he is imposing on our country and Democracy. Every day he finds a way to take us deeper into his demented, self centered mind. His words and actions are a disgrace to the men and women who fought and died for defending our country. Our silence is not an option.
Love your work, hold the line. From Australia.
He is the antithesis of a patriot. I will never understand how folks who love their country, and who may have even fought for it, idolize him. He's a fraud!
Hi Heather,
Your posts are a documentation of these dark times. A necessary, detailed record of this perverse and despicable man and his sycophants. But it also a lifeline to the real people of America and the wider world. Hope is a rare commodity and it takes almost every ounce of our energy and reserves to combat the onslaught of Fascism and the daily impact of its lies and inhumanity. You are an inspiration. Thank you for all you do and share. The real source of life is inexhaustible and limitless. To give hope is more valuable than any commodity or wealth, again, thank you.
Trump is an absolute and utter disgrace to this nation.
Thank you Heather for keeping the record, and for synthesizing all the chaos and insanity into words we can absorb.
Trump spent the Vietnam years of his life walking his bone spurs around NYC collecting rents with daddy. The same spurs that kept him from being drafted.
And here the big wonder is requiring just young male draft registration again. You can't dream up Trump's dirty psy-ops against our Constitution and his purposeful rotten distractions.
Queens. The Twumps built in their home borough of Queens. Later, when Twump lived in Manhattan, he was spurned by the real New Yorkers and he has always hated those New Yorkers (as much as he hates anyone from the multicultural Queens) because NO ONE LIKES HIM. And New Yorkers like everybody.
Thank you!💕💕💕
What a lovely picture.🌸
And thank you for giving a tribute to our Military.
I want them to come home so badly. They do not belong in this farce of a war.
60,000 US troops, and he and Congress are willing to sacrific them and the fleet to continue to kill people who are not our enemies. Iran is showing restraint in not bombing the hell out of us. Perhaps they can see who they are dealing with
. By leaving, Congress has disrespected our lives, the lives of our Military, and the lives of 70,000 people imprisoned in Concentration camps, who are being abused and tortured. There are people dying that are traveling, trying to come back to America.
I feel like I am slowly dying from empathy.
Ten YEARS. Grinding away, fearful for my granddaughters, and all children.
KAMALA actually won. Smart Elections has been working on it since the election.
Not sure if they can do anything about it.
Thank you again.🦋🌼☀️ I still have hope, it is just nightmarish to watch.
We are in this together. FOR AMERICA
🗽🇺🇲🇺🇦
My favorite (?) phrase in this Memorial-Day post: “Loving this country [or] USING it.”
Thank you for this compilation of Memorial Day and the actor. I have only one thing that stumps me and for the life of me, I don’t understand it. Every time the president threw the families a platitude like ‘we are the greatest’ or similar, the crowds cheered and roared for him. And of course it puffs him up to think he’s the greatest. This eludes all my understanding of honesty and compassion.
Even families who have sacrificed are handpicked for Twump's crowds. And there are millions of people who hold onto his words like a lifeline because if they let go, who knows what abyss their lives would fall into. He is actually their sunshine and life giving force. You don't understand it but then again, are you a hard core bigot? An uneducated loser? A backwoods redneck raised with paranoia of any outsiders? Do you and your children spend ten hours a day in rabbit holes and dark corners of the web? If you see someone fall on the street, do you think: Oh, good, it wasn't me, and walk on?
I guess I just don’t get it.
You don't have to get it. We were raised to respect others, to love our neighbor, to tolerate those different from us. We do not need to actively hate to get satisfaction in life because LOVE IS STRONGER THAN HATE. I know right from wrong and I know when to fight and when to let things settle down. As long as Twump keeps stirring up shit, I will stand alert.
(I just reread this and it sounds like my 25 years as a NYC high school teacher taught me a few things.)
His bigraphy after he’s dead will be titled, The Longest Blink.
I look forward eagerly to reading it.
W H Y do we continue to allow this thing to stay in office??
There is more than enough to have him REMOVED.
Best line in your letter today is this: “You realize the difference between loving your country and simply using it.”
Find those who seem to continue to follow this cretin may not know the difference in loving this country versus idolizing the ones who for decades simply used all that is afforded in this country for their own personal gain.
Let’s be honest tRump has built his multi-billion dollar career and political legacy by consistently leveraging American legal, financial, and political systems to maximize his own personal wealth. Let alone getting out of being drafted for those supposedly “bone spurs” during the Vietnam war. For over more than “five decades” as a real estate developer, media figure, and politician, watchdogs and investigative reports have documented how he has converted public attention, taxpayer resources, and the office of the presidency into lucrative personal revenue streams. It’s not about “loving” this nation it’s about “using” it..
If you do a google search not ONE member of tRump’s family has served in the military spanning “FIVE generations” - Now that should spark a thought process as to how much he or his family ever understood the word “sacrifice”. Just do a google search on Biden’s or even Obama’s family history, yep family members served. There’s no need to do the Bush family history, and if you’re inquiring about the Clinton’s well both of their fathers served in WWII. Even if you go back farther to Reagan he enlisted in the US Army Reserve Corps as a private in the 322nd Cavalry Regiment. We all know Carter graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served seven years on active duty as a naval officer, spending five years in the hazardous submarine service. Now that takes this way back to 1977 as to “service and sacrifices” to this nation as members of the military of these past President’s.
It’s always has been and will always be for this cretin and his entire tRump family knowing “….the difference between loving your country and simply using it.”
How “used” so many should feel but no one wants to ever believe they’ve been “conned”….
TJ, great add to Heather’s. “Leverage” is an understatement for the amount of criminal profiteering by him, his family, technofascists, and EPSTEIN Class, KKKabinet, RepubliKKKans, BeneDickt Fetterman, Dems, six corrupt SCOTUS, wealthy criminal elites and so many others. Also, according to sources like Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez, trump is a Russian plant used to launder money through his casinos and trump towers,and a hub for national and international sex traffickers including EPSTEIN and Maxwell.
Now he/they have turned their evil Nazi, fascist regime into the ultimate criminal money laundering machine through stock market manipulation, Polymarket, illegal wars, government contracts with family owned and invested in weapons and technology companies (EPSTEIN Class and Technofascists-Elon, Thiel, Karp, etc), “real estate” deals, extortion, “BORED of Peace” million dollar dues and extra monies and stolen oil money into his account in Qatar, etc.
It is one of the largest Ponzi-Pyramid scheme ever, by the dumbest conman backed by money and intelligence of the Russians, Heritage Foundation-Project 2025-26, EPSTEIN Class, Netanyahu, Putin and “BORED of Peace” members, who have played him for their own money, power and control, and imperialism.
As a former friend said as we parted ways years ago after this pure bullshit of that “Big Lie” and she even went to Jan 6th to listen to all that crap — “She’s not stupid, and never would fall for a con job!” My last response to her was “Honey, there’s a sucker born every minute, it’s the PT Barnum Effect. Good luck with that.”
She moved and has lived in Texas for years and was a big John Cornyn supporter and see now she is backing none other than Ken Paxton… Good grief, just keep drinking that Kool-aide.. Like I said “No one wants to ever believe they’ve been “conned”…
It’s amazing how 1) gullible, 2) illogical, 3) bamboozled some supposedly “smart” people are. They’re in the Trumphukian cult even if they don’t know it. They’re always have a snappy retort, such as: “Well, whatabout Hunter Biden?” or “Obama used extreme Presidential powers to implement X or Y…”. As if anything before this justifies or excuses the massive deceit, the massive corruption, the assault on democracy, the breadth of illegalities of Trumphuk — not to say anything about—wait for it—
THE EPSTEIN FILES and Donnie J’s raping of teenagers.
Truth! They have all been drinking the KKKoolAid.
The MAGA/MAWA KKKult is not much different than others, Jim Jones-Jamestown, David Korean-Branch Davidians, Louis Farrakhan-NOI, Charles Manson, Scientology, NXIVM, Warren Jeffs, etc.
Yes you might recall that his Drumpf grandfather came here to escape being drafted in what is modern day Germany!
Yep nothing like “not sacrificing” it’s a family tradition..
Heather your writing is an inspiration to all of us. Thank you!!!
I could not get through your column today without a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. When this physical reaction happens, and you don't let the tears flow, it hurts, physically. But then as I write this, I need to stop and wipe the tears away. If we must fight wars, and sometimes we must, then we must also honor those who gave the fullest measure. To not honor them properly and selflessly is a sham. Twump is a facade and all his broken parts are misfiring. The problem is, there are people who look at Twump and say, yeah, suckers and losers and you won't get me in a uniform as they take the last morning suck off the bong and go to their job stocking shelves at the local megastore. Good luck, fellas.
Your posts matter, especially as government controlled websites are being whitewashed in real time. Thank you, Heather.