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I consider myself an informed United States citizen.

I read articles, listen to podcasts and radio shows, and watch news reports. Admittedly, I am left leaning…well, far more than leaning… my feet are firmly planted in progressive soil.

Most of the news I absorb comes from Liberal or Moderate sources. When I can stomach it, I catch the Trump apologist Fox News at the gym, since it is broadcast on one screen on a bank of televisions in front of my favorite machine. It is sandwiched in between CNN and MSNBC. The languaging, the chyrons (digital on-screen graphic that announces breaking news), and slant are dramatically different, as if speaking disparate languages while reporting on the same story. The narrative is shaped by the bias of the network. The viewers are often living in two alternate universes.

When covering the hush money trial, Fox has a string of interview subjects and hosts who proclaim it a “witch hunt, waste of time, politically motivated, Biden initiated.” None of those accusations are true. The events that led to the trial happened before the 2016 election and it has taken this amount of time and due diligence to bring all the players to the court room. If the defendant didn’t do what he was accused of doing, what was the $130, 000-payoff for?

I have watched the news roundup at the end of the day to catch up on the goings on in the courtroom, wishing that the entire hearing was broadcast so I could catch it live. Stormy Daniels told her story in sordid detail and was accused of manufacturing her testimony since Trump declared over and over that it never happened. Her excessive verbiage seemed to be a way of reinforcing what happened, which the defendant denied. She put herself in a humiliating position via her description, so it is hard to imagine that she manufactured her testimony.

In an article on NPR, it says that Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, who bore the title of “fixer,” testified that his boss “knew about the settlement negotiation with former adult actor Stormy Daniels to keep her allegations of an affair out of the press ahead of the 2016 election, and that Trump directed Cohen to make a settlement payment of $130,000 to her.” His credibility was called into question, since he had been incarcerated and was known to lie on behalf of Trump. The ultimate irony is that his integrity was impugned, but the same attorneys who questioned him had no concern about the incalculable number of lies the defendant has told over his business and political career.

The prosecution was not permitted to play the infamous Access Hollywood recording since Judge Merchan deemed it prejudicial, but it could be raised in court and discussed. I was repulsed when I first heard it and even more astonished that it was dismissed as “locker room talk,” that was normalized. His cavalier comments about assaulting women should have been enough to end his presidential run. But sadly, it elevated him in the mind of “dude bros” who were glad that he said what they thought but didn’t have the chutzpah to express.

The defense attorneys claim that Trump was concerned about the impact of the story on his family rather than his campaign. How about the Access Hollywood confession? Did he consider that his grossly expressed sentiments wouldn’t land lightly at home? If that was so, wouldn’t you think he wouldn’t have done anything with other women to endanger his marriage?

Although Trump was warned multiple times not to violate the gag order imposed by Judge Merchan, to protect witnesses, jury members, and their families, he dipped his toe over the line, but not enough for the judge to take the ultimate step and jail him. Instead, yesterday, a bevy of sycophantic supporters stepped forward in uniform, decked out in blue suits and red ties. The only one who broke the pattern was Speaker Mike Johnson whose tie was striped red and blue. One by one, they spoke for their idol, using the same statements he himself had been scolded for saying. I wonder how long it will take for them to fall out of his favor or grow a conscience and turn away as have others who were in Trump’s inner circle.

For those who believe that his statements about being a dictator, but only on day one, are hyperbole, think again. This is a man who plays fast and loose with the truth, who doesn’t take responsibility for what comes out of his mouth, who wields words like a cudgel, not caring who he assaults with them or the fallout from them.

He has told adoring audiences, “I am your retribution.” His messages are a merging of grievance and self-aggrandizing. He speaks about himself in the third person. He delivers lines using superlatives indicating that he is, “the greatest president that God ever created.” He has said he is “the least racist person you will ever interview” after journalists asked him about reports he dismissed African nations as “sh*tholes” and insisted the U.S. prioritize (white) immigrants from Norway.

He has not assured anyone that he would accept the outcome of the 2024 election if he doesn’t win and has made it clear that political violence could be justified if he doesn’t win. Some toddlers have better emotional regulation when they don’t get their way.

His followers/adherents/worshippers (how many other American presidents have those?) steadfastly stand by him in ways that make no sense to me. What are the common factors? Most who align with Trump only see themselves as victims of those (Democrats, minorities, immigrants, people from other religious groups, liberals) who they feel are attempting to take away their right to feel special or elevated. It has been referred to as “collective narcissism.” If they stand behind Donald Trump, as so many had at their own peril during the January 6th insurrection to loudly and violently object to the election of Joe Biden, they feel vicariously empowered and entitled. These “back the Blue,” law and order proclaiming people used the American flag (and others) as a weapon against police officers on January 6th. Many have been convicted of crimes. Why hasn’t the one who invited them to the party had the same fate?

Jordan Klepper from “The Daily Show” ventures into Trump rallies and interviews attendees in an attempt to take the pulse of Trump-nation. Their responses speak for themselves. You couldn’t make this stuff up if you tried.

It is important to be aware of Project 2025 which outlines, step by step, the plan that he and many in the Republican Party have in the event that (God forbid) he is reelected. They intend to “rescue the country from the grip of the radical Left.” The intention is to reshape the governance of the country and put unchecked power in his hands. Please take the time to read it and search your values and ask yourself if this is the country in which you want to live under such rule. If not, please vote your conscience and prevent what, if it were instigated by a foreign power, would call for an uprising.

In case you missed it, Hannibal Lecter is his new hero as he glorifies the fictional cannibal character from “The Silence of the Lambs.” I don’t know who is scarier, the human flesh eating serial killer or the man who, even after losing the 2020 election, has maintained a firm grip on the Republican party and has influenced policy decisions and would be a dictator given a chance.

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