by Tulsi Gabbard, 2024
Adam asked me to read this book. He forewarned me that it would make me mad. I should have asked him why he thought it would make me mad. I think the thing that makes him mad is how when Tulsi was running for President, and had completed her first debate for the Democrats, something happened with Google so people could not find her campaign ad when they looked her up. She thinks the “Democrat elite” were behind this. She sued Google for $50,000,000 but lost. The same thing would have happened if she had been a Republican candidate for President and done a debate with the Republicans. A little known website all of the sudden starts having tons of activity and money, Google shuts it down until they can determine if it’s legal. That’s all. So, had she been a Republican candidate, the same thing would have happened. She blames the “Democrat elite,” the same ones who didn’t realize that the Russians had infiltrated Facebook and flooded social media with trolls spreading lies and disinformation about Hillary. So, now Tulsi has aligned herself with, and is working for, Trump, who is the antithesis of honesty and decency, who is doing everything he can to end democracy in America; ignoring the rule of law and the Constitution, not caring about the American people at all, befriending dictators, causing chaos and destruction and hurting people. The fears she has about the Democrat elites are the exact things we are experiencing under Trump: Someone who ignores the rule of law, is doing all he can to remain in power, wants to change the Constitution so that can happen, alienating the world, silencing dissent, trying to destroy our free speech, unlawfully rounding people up and shipping them off, working to undo any hope we had for curbing climate change, destroying the world economy, calling evil good (Putin) and good, evil. And on and on and on. Today is April 5th. I’ve been writing on this since April 1st. There is something new everyday, but I will end this on April 5th, 2025.
What makes me angry about this book is how blind and deceived she is to the evil Trump is doing. She writes over and over again about how much she cares about our country, that there is a threat to our democracy. In the Prologue: “The insanity and threats to our constitutional democracy will not fade away and will only increase unless we stand up and remind those trying to destroy this country that ours is a government of, by, and for the people.” There is one person who is a threat to our democracy and is trying to destroy our country, and that is Trump. He has now been in office for 75 days. In that 75 days, we have turned our back on our allies. He is attempting to silence all dissent. He is attempting to undermine fair and free elections. He is trying to become President for life – just like Putin. He wants us to be like Russia, a country where millions live below the poverty level while the ruler and his men are fabulously wealthy with palaces, yachts, luxuries. Where there is only one television station, Russia Today, which spews propaganda all day, and which Tulsi Gabbard believes tells the truth. Where anyone who tries to reveal the corruption is poisoned, and if that doesn’t work, put in prison under false charges, and murdered. Where there is no truth, only lies, from the top down, invading every part of life. Where there is hopelessness, despair, alcoholism. That is where America is headed under Trump. There is so much hatred and division now, we are going to be a nation high in suicides, divorces, alcoholism, and domestic terrorism. And all this because some people are so afraid of transgender rights that they are willing to vote for a despicable person who cares absolutely nothing for them, who has not one iota of integrity, dignity, grace, or heart.
Trump and the Republican Congress want to punish “sanctuary cities” for taking in the migrants (over 100,000) whom Texas Governor Greg Abbott bused to them over and over again. There was a bipartisan bill before Congress to tighten border security while Biden was president but the Republicans killed it as Trump was running for President again and he wanted to be able to use immigration against Biden. So, migrants were bused to sanctuary cities and Trump wants to punish these cities for taking them in. Congress convened a hearing for the mayors of these cities. The Mayor of Denver, Mike Johnston, was called to testify in early March 2025. Here is what he said to them:
This committee convened this hearing on the critical topic of immigration. I want to tell you Denver’s story. When I became mayor 20 months ago, Denver was already receiving buses of immigrants with little to no notice or coordination. At one point we were receiving 10 to 11 buses a day, dropping off as many as 300 people, mostly women and children, in 10 degree weather, with only sandals and a t-shirt, leaving them in danger of freezing to death on our streets. All told, 42,000 people arrived in Denver over 18 months, the largest per capita influx of any city in America. We are each entitled to our own opinion about what should happen at the border. But that was not the question facing Denver. The question Denver faced was, “what will you do with a mom and two kids dropped on the streets of our city with no warm clothes, no food, and no place to stay?” As mayor I have to protect the health and safety of everyone in our city. As a man of faith I have a moral obligation to care for those in need. As Scripture says, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you invited me in.” So that’s what we did. In Denver we believe our problems are solvable and we are the ones to solve them. So we went to work. When we started we had the largest encampment in Denver history with more than 200 migrant families living in freezing temperatures. So we opened 8 different city shelters, housing 5000 people. City employees volunteered to take extra shifts and Denver residents stepped up: Making meals, donating clothes, furniture, school supplies. Some even welcomed families into their own homes. We helped 8700 eligible individuals apply for work authorization so they could put food on their own table, pay their own rent, and reduce the strain on public resources. As a result a year later there is not a single migrant encampment left in the city. We have closed all of our shelters. We have connected people to jobs and housing and the city’s immigrant support budget has dropped by nearly 90%.
And in the midst of this migrants did not bring a wave of crime to Denver. In fact, crime went down: Homicides dropped 17%, shooting victims dropped 24%, auto theft down 29%. America is not just a place. It’s a belief. Some people are born into it, some fight their whole life to get to it. It’s a belief that all are created equal.
What Trump did to immigrants at our Southern border during his first term was reprehensible – he separated families and put children and infants in cages. “Under the policy, federal authorities separated children and infants from parents or guardians with whom they had entered the US. The adults were prosecuted and held in federal jails or deported, and the children were placed under the supervision of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Prior to their transfer to HHS, some children spent three weeks or more in overcrowded border control centers, where they reported minimal food, no access to clean clothes or bathing facilities, and no adult caretakers; girls as young as ten were taking care of younger children.
“Family separations began in the summer of 2017, prior to the public announcement of the “zero tolerance” policy in April 2018. The policy was officially adopted across the entire US–Mexico border from April 2018 until June 2018. The practice of family separation continued for at least eighteen months after the policy’s official end, with an estimated 1,100 families separated between June 2018 and the end of 2019. In total, more than 5,500 children, including infants, were separated from their families.
“By early June 2018, it emerged that the policy did not include measures to reunite the families that it had separated. Scott Lloyd, director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, had directed his staff not to maintain a list of children who had been separated from their parents. Matthew Albence, head of enforcement and removal operations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, had told his colleagues to prevent reunification even after the parents had been processed by the judicial system, saying that reunification “undermines the entire effort”. (Wikipedia)
Tulsi writes about the internment of Japanese citizens at the start of WWII, after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. What Trump did to families coming to America to escape extreme hardship is an evil like that, only based on his lies, his evilness, his blackness and hatred. And rather than support an opportunity to fix it, he blocks it, so he can use the situation to obtain power again, and so he will not be held accountable for all the crimes he has committed, and so he can wage a presidency of retribution toward anyone who has ever crossed him, going back decades.
The fact is, undocumented immigrants are by far hard-working and responsible assets to our communities. Greg Abbott and Trump mislead people into hating them, when the vast majority are hardworking people fleeing horrible conditions, looking for a better life in America. “In 2022, undocumented immigrants paid a combined $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes, with $59.4 billion going to the federal government and $37.3 billion to state and local governments.” Trump tells blatant lies about violent immigrants eating pets in Springfield, violent immigrants in Aurora taking over the city, when in actuality, they are improving the local economy, buying and fixing up derelict houses, paying taxes, supporting businesses, working hard. Trump is the one who is ruining our country by telling lies about these people and causing fear, hatred, and division.
Tulsi writes about the US government imprisoning Japanese Americans at the start of our involvement in WWII. This action, in hindsight, has been uniformly denounced by all, but it reflected the will of the average American – we were scared to death of the Japanese after they attacked us and we didn’t trust any Japanese. What the US Government did to the Japanese is reprehensible. What Trump did to migrant families in his first term is reprehensible. What he is doing now in his second term is reprehensible.
She talks about the Patriot Act, which was enacted by Bush after 9/11. We needed to know what was going on so we wouldn’t get attacked like that again. Now, however, Elon Musk and his DOGE employees are spying on Americans. They have access to databases that store deeply personal information like medical treatments, therapy notes, bankruptcy info, and all sorts of financial data. Elon Musk is not an elected person – he is allowed to shut down government offices, fire people, access personal data, withhold funding that Congress has previously approved – all without anyone’s approval or authorization except for President Trump. And Trump is authorizing ICE agents to raid apartments, etc., and round up and deport people without any due process. Trump is terminating the visas of any pro-Palestinian individuals. He is punishing universities for so-called Antisemitism, taking away federal grants. He’s punishing sanctuary cities.
Here is what she writes in almost every chapter: “Those who wake up every day driven by a selfish desire for power don’t care about the truth, and they have no use for the Constitution. In fact, they see it as an obstacle standing in their way that must be undermined, overcome, or cast aside.”
This is exactly what Trump is doing! Trump is trying to undermine the Constitution in so many ways: change voting rights written into the Constitution in order to make it harder and harder for Americans to vote; he has said there are methods for him to be able to seek a third term, which is clearly against the Constitution; he has committed crimes and treason and has managed to avoid any punishment, mostly by getting himself elected again. He is bent on revenge and seeks retribution through lawsuits and financial harm and firing people and removing security protocols against anyone who has ever done him wrong.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Trump is the opposite of love. He is hate personified and he feeds the hate and division that now lives inside the people of this country. He pardoned all of the rioters that stormed the capital, believing his lie that the 2020 election was rigged. Numerous Republicans investigated the 2020 election and found no evidence of fraud. Trump repeats lies over and over to try and fool people into believing what he says is true.
Tulsi is a young woman of mixed race (Samoan father, white mother). Her dad experienced the racism of the south, the ugliness of it. Somehow, she has come to believe that the Democrats are the ones who are racist. The truth of America is that there is racism built into the fabric of this country. White people have WHITE PRIVILEGE in America. Ever since a few years after the Civil War, everything in the USA – banking, housing, education, veterans benefits, voting, everything has been designed to keep black people from accumulating anything, kept them from getting a foothold anywhere; have kept them down. And we have turned a blind eye to it and let it continue for far too long. Black boys cannot play outside without drawing suspicion. Black people cannot walk into any store without drawing suspicion. Black people cannot walk in a white neighborhood without drawing suspicion; some have even been murdered. These horrendous racist attitudes need to be exposed. But Trump has turned this truth into a lie and called it anti-white racism. He causes hatred and division with every single thing he says and does.
Here is the truth about Trump and military service:
He made up a fake injury to avoid serving in Vietnam. He said regarding John McCain, who was captured and tortured in a North Vietnamese POW camp, “I like people who weren’t captured.” He calls those who died in battle, “losers” and “suckers.” “Vietnam Veterans of America is a non-partisan, war-time veterans’ membership and service organization that does not endorse or support political candidates at any level. “However, we cannot remain silent when a Gold Star family member is being publicly denigrated, ” said John Rowan, National President of Vietnam Veterans of America. “It is especially reprehensible when that individual is seeking to become the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of our nation. To lash out and disparage a family whose son gave his life defending this country is both shocking and disgraceful, ” said Rowan. And though Trump may never have spent a day in uniform, his disdain for the sacrifice of this young man and all who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our Constitution is singularly un-American.”
Tulsi has served in the military overseas in Iraq. She has grieved the loss of soldiers who gave their all. Joe Biden’s son, Beau, was a civilian in Kosovo in 1988-1989, and then served in Iraq in 2009 with the Delaware National Guard. He was near open burn pits where they burned everything and died of a brain cancer at age 46 that may have been the result of that service. Tulsi supports a man who is a bully and a coward, who never served anyone but himself, and is so despicable, he makes fun of the families of fallen soldiers and calls those who die or get captured losers and suckers. He is a national disgrace.
She has a chapter on free speech. Here’s what Trump has done so far to try and eliminate free speech. He banned the AP journalists from the White House because they refused to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. He is working to defund PBS and NPR which provide so many services, especially in rural America where they don’t have good internet. From The Conversation: “Trump has expelled established news organisations from the Pentagon, curtailed access to press events for the esteemed Associated Press, and taken control of the White House press pool, sidelining major media outlets.” He is fining, suing, coercing, using his power to punish and thwart free media outlets, law firms, anyone who has ever crossed him. This is what he did to Columbia University-cancelled 400 million of federal contracts – he’s mad at them because they rejected a land deal he offered them decades ago (outrageously overpriced land he wanted them to buy). Trump is going after law firms that had anything to do with the investigations into the crimes he committed. He is fining them and suing them and using his power to coerce them and silence them.
“The legal system, the media and universities are the pillars of US democratic freedoms. The Trump administration’s undermining of these institutions is a blatant attempt to impose an authoritarian rule by bypassing any counterbalance to executive power. And the US Supreme Court has ruled that he is almost entirely immune from prosecution while doing it.”
Most recently, Mike Waltz added Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, to a group of 20 individuals who were then texted detailed plans including times, jets, pilots, and targets of an attack in Yemen. They tried to blame Jeffrey Goldberg the journalist – Trump called him a “sleazebag.” If Democrats had done this, the uproar would have been immense and unstoppable. Mike Waltz has taken full responsibility. Tulsi, Director of National Intelligence, said no classified info was texted. How is it that exact times, pilots, targets are not classified? Yesterday (4/4/25) an evil woman named Laura Loomer came to the White House and advised Trump on who to fire – people she says are disloyal to him. Who is a threat to our democracy?
Tulsi writes about Trump being unfairly investigated by the FBI, etc. Trump is a criminal and he was investigated because he has committed crimes. He tried to interfere with the 2020 election which he lost but never admitted, instead blatantly lying that there was fraud, even after Republican state attorneys and election judges found no evidence in any state of any election fraud. This led to him calling his supporters to go to the Capital on January 6, 2021. He was mad at Pence for certifying the election results. He wanted Pence to refuse to do so. From Wikipedia:
On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup, two months after his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. They sought to keep him in power by preventing a joint session of Congress from counting the Electoral College votes to formalize the victory of the president-elect Joe Biden. The attack was unsuccessful in preventing the certification of the election results. According to the bipartisan House select committee that investigated the incident, the attack was the culmination of a seven-part plan by Trump to overturn the election. Within 36 hours, five people died: one was shot by the Capitol Police, another died of a drug overdose, and three died of natural causes, including a police officer who died of natural causes a day after being assaulted by rioters. Many people were injured, including 174 police officers. Four officers who responded to the attack died by suicide within seven months. Damage caused by attackers exceeded $2.7 million.
Encouraged by Trump, on January 5 and 6, thousands of his supporters gathered in Washington, D.C., to support his false claims that the 2020 election had been “stolen by emboldened radical-left Democrats”, and demand that then-vice president Mike Pence and Congress reject Biden’s victory. Starting at noon on January 6 at a “Save America” rally on the Ellipse, Trump gave a speech in which he repeated false claims of election irregularities and said, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore”. As Congress began the electoral vote count, thousands of attendees, some armed, walked to the Capitol, and hundreds breached police perimeters. Among the rioters were leaders of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers militia groups.
The FBI estimates 2,000–2,500 people entered the Capitol Building during the attack. Some participated in vandalism and looting, including in the offices of then-House speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Congress members. Rioters assaulted Capitol Police officers and journalists.With building security breached, Capitol Police evacuated and locked down both chambers of Congress and several buildings in the Complex. Rioters occupied the empty Senate chamber while federal law enforcement officers defended the evacuated House floor. Pipe bombs were found at the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters, and Molotov cocktails were discovered in a vehicle near the Capitol.Trump resisted sending the National Guard to quell the mob. Later that afternoon in a Twitter video, he restated false claims about the election and told his supporters to “go home in peace”. The Capitol was cleared of rioters by mid-evening, and the electoral vote count was resumed and completed by the early morning of January 7, concluding with Pence declaring the final electoral vote count in favor of President-elect Biden. Pressured by his cabinet, the threat of removal, and many resignations, Trump later conceded to an orderly transition of power in a televised statement.
A week after the attack, the House of Representatives impeached Trump for incitement of insurrection, making him the only U.S. president to be impeached twice. After Trump had left office, the Senate voted 57–43 in favor of conviction, but fell short of the required two-thirds, resulting in his acquittal. Senate Republicans blocked a bill to create a bipartisan independent commission to investigate the attack, so the House instead approved a select investigation committee.They held televised public hearings on the attack, voted to subpoena Trump, and recommended that the Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecute him. Following a special counsel investigation, Trump was in August 2023 indicted on four charges, which were all dismissed in November 2024, following his reelection to the presidency. Trump and elected Republican officials have promoted a revisionist history of the event by downplaying the severity of the violence, spreading conspiracy theories, and portraying those charged with crimes as hostages and martyrs.
Of the 1,424 people then charged with federal crimes relating to the event 1,010 pled guilty, and 1,060 were sentenced, 64% of whom received a jail sentence. Some participants in the attack were linked to far-right extremist groups or conspiratorial movements, including the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and Three Percenters, some of whom were convicted of seditious conspiracy. Enrique Tarrio, then chairman of the Proud Boys, received the longest sentence, a 22-year prison term. On January 20, 2025, upon taking office, Trump granted clemency to all January 6 rioters, including those convicted of violent offenses.
He has also been indicted for his attempts to interfere in the Georgia election. He called Brad Raffensperger, the Secretary of State of Georgia, and asked him to “find” 11,870 votes, the exact number by 1 that would have given him enough to win Georgia, among other illegal activities in the state of Georgia. Of course, since Trump has been elected, this is on hold.
The Classified Documents case, from Politico: “Federal prosecutors, led by special counsel Jack Smith, have accused Trump of taking highly sensitive national security documents when he left the White House in January 2021. He stashed those documents haphazardly throughout his Mar-a-Lago resort and obstructed the government’s repeated attempts to retrieve them, prosecutors allege. On at least two occasions, Trump showed classified documents to individuals who were not authorized to view them, prosecutors say. During one of those episodes — which was audio-recorded — Trump allegedly displayed a top-secret military plan of attack while telling visitors, “As president I could have declassified it” but “now I can’t,” adding that the document he was showing them was “still a secret.”” And a judge, Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed the case. Politico: “The Espionage Act makes it a crime to retain records containing sensitive national security information. The first 32 counts against Trump arise from 32 specific documents that he allegedly hoarded at Mar-a-Lago and refused to give back, even though he was no longer entitled to possess them after his presidency. Of the 32 documents, 31 were marked classified, and many concerned foreign military capabilities, military activities or nuclear weapons, according to the indictment. The remaining eight felony counts arise from Trump’s alleged efforts to stymie the investigation, including directing Nauta to move boxes in the hope that neither Trump’s own lawyer nor the FBI would discover some of the classified documents.” Tell me, who is corrupt? Who is a danger to our country and our democracy? Who ignores the rule of law?
The Hush Money case – Trump paid a porn star, Stormy Daniels, $130,000 to buy her silence a month before the 2016 election, so she wouldn’t reveal he had had sex with her in 2006. A jury unanimously found him guilty. He was convicted on all 34 counts. The penalty is up in the air, now that he has been elected president.
Trump is successfully punishing all of the investigators, employees, lawyers, etc. who have anything to do with his crimes. Blatantly disregarding the rule of law – an attempt to spin and lie and silence all critics.
Regarding a double standard for Biden’s documents: His were packed away by an aide after the 2016 election, before Trump entered the White House in January 2017, and transported to his garage and basement in Delaware. Documents he knew about were his personal notebooks, not marked classified. The others, he didn’t even know about, and he immediately surrendered all documents, whereas Trump refused to do so. Mar-a-Lago is a resort to which many foreigners come. Trump even bragged to someone about the secret documents. Trump had over 13,000 government documents stored there, some in a bathroom, and they were moved around from place to place; 130 were marked classified. Trump refused to return the documents. Mike Pence was also found to have documents from his vice-presidency in his home. And the Hunter Biden laptop scandal was actually a rental application, not for his father’s home, but for quarterly payments for office space in Washington, D.C. The right-wing media published the lie.
Regarding Trump and Ukraine: He called Zelenskyy a dictator, because elections in Ukraine have been postponed since Russia invaded in February 2022. Zelenskyy was prepared to run again in spring of 2024, but Russia invaded and the country is under a period of martial law. From The Guardian: “The disruption from air raids has made organisation and vote counting impossible, as well as bringing obvious risks if large numbers have to congregate at polling stations. Voters in the eastern areas worst affected by the war – or occupied – would be disenfranchised against those living in the west. After mass internal displacement and many people leaving the country altogether, there is no system in place for absentee voting and no recent update to the national voter registry. And any resources spent on resolving these issues are taken away from the country’s defence.”
Now, America has ceased the aid to Ukraine, playing right into Putin’s hands. Supposedly this is so we avert a nuclear war. We have enough nuclear weapons to destroy Russia and the whole world. The way to avoid nuclear war is to use dignified diplomacy and not capitulate to tyrants. Trump wanted Ukraine to allow us to mine their country in repayment of our aid to them. He invited Zelenskyy to the White House where he and J.D. Vance humiliated Zelenskyy. It is sickening to watch what Trump and J.D. Vance did to Zelenskyy. Wagging their fingers at him, telling him he is not thankful enough, why isn’t he wearing a suit (the suit he was wearing is in solidarity with his soldiers). Zelenskyy is a brave and caring leader. If Russia invaded the U.S., Trump would be gone so fast, hiding somewhere safe. Zelenskyy has been brave and strong against Russia, refusing to leave Ukraine, despite the horrible destruction to apartments, hospitals, schools, cities by Russia. Trump and J.D. Vance are disgusting. It is humiliating to be an American under these odious human beings – to see and hear what these disgusting leaders say and do, every single day.
Russian Collusion in the 2016 election: Putin was afraid of Hillary Clinton, as she knew what he was and still is and was not afraid of him. She would refuse to capitulate to his tyranny and corruption. He spread disinformation and lies about her through thousands of trolls on Facebook that helped Donald Trump win the election in 2016. From Wikipedia: “They reached millions of social media users between 2013 and 2017. Fabricated articles and disinformation were spread from Russian government-controlled media, and promoted on social media.” Russian hackers also infiltrated the Democrat’s information systems. They contacted Trump’s campaign numerous times. Of course, Russia denies all of this. And Trump dismissed James Comey, the head of the FBI, because of his investigation into Russian interference.
During the 2024 election, both Trump and J.D. Vance were calling fraud, until they realized they were winning, and then all talks of fraud ceased. We need to be investigating the 2024 election. Trump said shortly before the election that he and House leader, Mike Johnson, had a little secret that would be revealed after the election. From People Magazine: “”We gotta get the congressmen elected and we gotta get the senators elected because we can take the Senate pretty easily, and I think with our little secret we’re going to do really well with the House, right?” Trump said while looking at Johnson. “Our little secret is having a big impact.”
“He and I have a secret,” Trump added. “We’ll tell you what it is when the race is over.””
Trump being thought of as a good businessman: Trump has filed bankruptcy four times. From American Bankruptcy Institute: “Trump has filed for business bankruptcy four times: the Trump Taj Mahal in 1991, Trump Plaza Hotel in 1992, Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts in 2004 and Trump Entertainment Resorts in 2009. Each time, the bankruptcy was a Chapter 11 filing.” Trump loves to spend and build opulent properties. He tries to get away with not paying the people who build his palaces. From USA Today: “Donald Trump often portrays himself as a savior of the working class who will “protect your job.” But a USA TODAY NETWORK analysis found he has been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades — and a large number of those involve ordinary Americans, like the Friels, who say Trump or his companies have refused to pay them.”
“At least 60 lawsuits, along with hundreds of liens, judgments, and other government filings reviewed by the USA TODAY NETWORK, document people who have accused Trump and his businesses of failing to pay them for their work. Among them: a dishwasher in Florida. A glass company in New Jersey. A carpet company. A plumber. Painters. Forty-eight waiters…
“Dozens of bartenders and other hourly workers at his resorts and clubs, coast to coast. Real estate brokers who sold his properties. And, ironically, several law firms that once represented him in these suits and others.
“Trump’s companies have also been cited for 24 violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act since 2005 for failing to pay overtime or minimum wage, according to U.S. Department of Labor data. That includes 21 citations against the defunct Trump Plaza in Atlantic City and three against the also out-of-business Trump Mortgage LLC in New York. Both cases were resolved by the companies agreeing to pay back wages.
“In addition to the lawsuits, the review found more than 200 mechanic’s liens — filed by contractors and employees against Trump, his companies or his properties claiming they were owed money for their work — since the 1980s. The liens range from a $75,000 claim by a Plainview, N.Y., air conditioning and heating company to a $1 million claim from the president of a New York City real estate banking firm. On just one project, Trump’s Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, records released by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission in 1990 show that at least 253 subcontractors weren’t paid in full or on time, including workers who installed walls, chandeliers and plumbing.
“The actions in total paint a portrait of Trump’s sprawling organization frequently failing to pay small businesses and individuals, then sometimes tying them up in court and other negotiations for years. In some cases, the Trump teams financially overpower and outlast much smaller opponents, draining their resources. Some just give up the fight, or settle for less; some have ended up in bankruptcy or out of business altogether.
“…The number of companies and others alleging he hasn’t paid suggests that either his companies have a poor track record hiring workers and assessing contractors, or that Trump businesses renege on contracts, refuse to pay, or consistently attempt to change payment terms after work is complete as is alleged in dozens of court cases.”
Despicable!
Tulsi claims to love the environment, but now she is supporting a man who cares nothing for the environment and is trying to dismantle any progress we have made in green energy.
If Trump would use his powers for good, but he only knows one thing and that’s himself. Why doesn’t he eliminate the time change twice a year – no one likes it! Why doesn’t he eliminate the hurdles to developing clean nuclear power and other clean energy alternatives? Why doesn’t he help get rid of Putin and Kim Jong Un, freeing millions of people? Why doesn’t he fix our broken medical system and provide health insurance for all? Why doesn’t he tax the rich and the corporations who house trillions of dollars overseas? But no, instead he is using the presidency to punish his detractors, free himself from penalties for his crimes, trying to stay in power, destroying our country with his insane policies.
Tulsi Gabbard is aiding and abetting the demise of democracy in America by supporting Trump in his lies, deceit, corruption, evil. God have mercy on us.
Here are quotes from Alexei Navalny’s wife. Alexei Navalny tried to reveal the truth about Putin and Putin had him poisoned first, then arrested and murdered. All of Russia lives with constant lies and one man and his cronies steal and rob from the people so they can live lives of royalty and luxury to excess. Putin has murdered Alexei Navalny and has imprisoned his lawyers under false charges. Yulia Navalnaya, in this video, is appealing for support for them:
I am telling you the story of these three specific individuals but in reality, it’s not only about them. It’s about the entire legal community, the entire judicial system, and in the end, all of us. 25 years ago when Vladimir Putin first came to power, he began systematically and deliberately dismantling any democratic or healthy institutions that could stand in the way of him remaining president forever. Independent media, the legislature, the law enforcement system, and the electoral system–Putin destroyed or subordinated all of them. And the complete destruction of the judiciary became, perhaps, his greatest and most effective achievement. [Putin speaking: “I swear, in exercising the powers of the President of the Russian Federation to respect and protect the rights and freedoms of individuals and citizens. To uphold and defend the Constitution of the Russian Federation and faithfully serve the people.” Any Russian, when talking about honest Russian courts, will just laugh. They don’t exist. Everyone knows that the court will make whatever decision it’s told to. Or whatever is paid for. No one would even think that a judge will seriously consider a case, study the documents, or ensure a fair trial. So HOW does the court deliver a verdict? Literally thousands of people have faced this. The judge goes into their little room, the phone rings, and the ready-made decision is just dictated to them or sent by mail. And it’s not just about bridges, or the new Mercedes that miraculously appeared for a district judge somewhere in Krasnodar. Corrupt courts are not due to neglect or excesses at the local level. They are designed and organized in the Kremlin because, without exaggeration, they are vital to Putin. Without them, he would not have been able to stay in power for even one full term. Just imagine for a moment what would happen if the courts were honest. For example, some childhood friend of Putin wins a multibillion-dollar government contract for building a road or bridge. And the arbitration court cancels the procurement because the competition was unfair and the winner was known in advance. Or another friend of Putin embezzles state-owned company funds and now money from the sale of gas and oil doesn’t go to the budget but ends up in the pocket of his son or mother-in-law. A criminal case is opened, the court reviews the evidence– verdict: guilty. Here’s another example. A corrupt governor falsifies elections (ballot stuffing, carousel voting, fake protocols). Observers catch him red-handed. And what does an honest court, if it existed, do? That’s right. It cancels the election results. New elections are called, and this time they are fair. Or if you were detained and beaten at a rally, and if the court were normal, what would happen? The officer would be sentenced, not you. And this is Putin’s worst nightmare. And precisely for this reason, not for some other abstract reason, Putin destroyed the independent judicial system. And with it, he also destroyed the profession of the attorney. In a mafia-ridden, corrupt state, a “good attorney” is not someone who can deliver a brilliant speech built on subtle legal arguments. (That type of attorney only gets in the way.) It’s someone who knows exactly how to pass a bribe to a judge or investigator to secure the desired verdict. And that’s terrifying–the system has been rewarding the worst for two decades, while the best have been pushed out of the profession, out of the country, or even imprisoned. But it’s important to remember that despite all of this, despite the fact that the profession has effectively been destroyed, there have been and still are attorneys in Russia who continue to work despite everything. Those who refuse to obey the criminal system, refuse to compromise their conscience, and remain faithful to their cause. And it is exactly these kinds of attorneys who are Vadim Kobsev, Alexei Lipster, and Igor Segunin. Of course, they are not the only ones. There is Dmitry Talantov from Izhevsk, who was recently sentenced to 7 years in prison. He defended journalist Ivan Safronov. [several more examples of lawyers who have been sentenced, killed, or labeled extremists and terrorists and unable to return to Russia.] We must know these people, support them and, when necessary, defend them. Specifically, these lawyers I’ve mentioned, but many others. They are truly vital to us. And I’m not just talking about defending our rights in court. I’m talking about our future. One of the most common questions I hear is: “You say that in the Beautiful Russia of the future, the first thing we need is judicial reform. But where will we get these new, honest judges?” And in this question, it seems that the answer is already implied–it’s unrealistic, judges have always been and will always be corrupt, we simply don’t have any others. So this is where we need to find new judges. Do not appoint judges within the presidential administration; instead, hold a competition to select them from the legal community. From exactly these individuals and their colleagues who have real experience in legal practice. This is where we’ll find proper judges. Those who won’t simply copy-paste verdicts dictated over the phone, who won’t imprison for decades those who have committed no crimes, and who will have only one authority — the law. And I believe that the legal community will play a major role in restoring justice and a normal life in our country when Putin and his regime are gone. That is why I appeal to all Russian attorneys and lawyers: Do not turn a blind eye to the arbitrariness happening right now against your colleagues. You understand better than anyone else that the punitive show trial against Alexei Navalny’s attorneys is just the beginning. It’s pointless to comfort yourselves with the thought that “they only go after political figures.” You could be next, even if your client has nothing to do with politics. I know how much your profession means to you. My husband was a lawyer and an attorney. When we were 25 (or even younger), he would tell me about his dream of speaking in court, defending people, delivering passionate speeches that would instantly convince the jury to reach a just verdict. And what happened over the 20 years? No speeches, no trials, no juries. Your knowledge, skills, and eloquence turned out to be completely unnecessary. Your calling has been turned into something unrecognizable, and you’ve been deprived of the opportunity to be who you wanted to be. But I know for sure, this will end. And the day will come when Putin and those who helped him destroy our country will themselves be in the defendant’s seat. And we will do everything to ensure that honest, brave, and intelligent attorneys are released from prisons, return from exile, come back to the profession, and help us make Russia a beautiful and free country based on the rule of law. But for this to happen one day, we need to do something now. We must fight and not give up. Right now, we all need to give maximum exposure to the case of Alexei Navalny’s lawyers.[Their names] must be immediately released. They must return to their families. I call on Russian attorneys to show solidarity and take collective action. This may be your last opportunity to defend yourselves. The entire legal community must stand up for their colleagues. Attend the verdict, which will be delivered soon, and support them. Chambers of Advocates in all regions must defend [their names]. Please write about them on social media. Share their work, and the fact that they are being tried. You know well that you will not break any Putin-era law by doing this. And to everyone else watching this video, I ask you to share it so that as many people as possible learn about my husband’s attorneys. They deserve to have their names heard loud and clear. Free [their names]. Free all political prisoners.
Now, I will end with writing from Wayne to help me to cope with this dark world:
“Turn Godward. Trust Him. In turning my being toward God, I am bound to focus myself on scriptural priorities. For me, that would mean prioritizing the Great Commandment and focusing upon what that means for my relationships and self-care and my walk with God. Of course, the very most important thing, the number one priority, has to be Eternal Life, which is life (now!) with the Father, with Jesus, with the Spirit. And here is the thing: This life with God cannot live in the same room as hatred or rage or malice or despair–regardless of whom or what these states are aimed at–my neighbor, the Donald, even Satan himself. That is the heart of 1 John.
“The result of my choice of focus is very consequential: a focus on the darkness will inevitably poison my soul, darken my heart, and rob my life of the peace and joy that Jesus came to secure for me, replacing them with sin and misery (at best) and despair (at worst). Alcoholism, suicide, and rejection of the Living God could all be possible for me in this scenario.”