The criminaloid is really a borderer between the camps of good and evil, and this is why he is so interesting. To run him to earth and brand him, as long ago pirate and traitor were branded, is the crying need of our time. . . . Every year that sees him pursue in insolent triumph his nefarious career raises up a host of imitators and hurries society toward moral bankruptcy.
These words, written well over 100 years ago by the American economist and sociologist Edward A. Ross1, speak to our present moment in ways that he would not even have been able to imagine, to a time that he could not ever imagine.
He was writing about what later would become known as white collar criminals, people who broke the laws to their advantage in their professional work in business, politics, the law itself, and elsewhere. He noticed the way they played subtly between virtue and vice, presenting themselves as avatars of leadership and merit while grossly preying upon others–and even the nation–to further grow both their wealth and power. And long before his peers and later generations, he saw the connection between uncontrolled “criminaloids” and the end of morality. Continue reading “Criminaloids Take Over The Government”
𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑽𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝑫𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏’𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕? This elemental contradiction is mind-numbing. Trump’s disdain in the 2016 campaign for John McCain’s heroism in Vietnam first raised this question. His history-wrenching meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last Friday (Feb. 28) at the White House makes the question existential.
𝑳𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏: 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆–𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚–𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝑺 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝑾𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑽𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒏𝒂𝒎 𝑾𝒂𝒓. They served in the conviction that they fought for freedom and democracy against invaders, not only in the U.S. but also abroad. They fought those who would deny human rights to others: oppressors, fascists, dictators. According to family and government records, they all fought with honor, valor and distinction, many achieved lofty ranks in service, a number were injured and some died. I had my own turn at the wheel when I was drafted into the Army just after college and was awaiting my orders to basic training in early 1972, when the U.S. decided to end the Vietnam War and the draft. I was opposed to that war, but I believed in the Army’s larger historic mission against tyranny. Perhaps that was in my Irish DNA.
𝑨𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒚, 𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑’𝒔 (𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑽𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑱.𝑫. 𝑽𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆’𝒔) 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒁𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒌𝒚𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑼𝒌𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑨𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚, 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒖𝒑𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏. While falsely claiming to be a “man of peace,” Trump engaged in nothing less than a televised shakedown of a nation and its leader who only several weeks earlier had been a Western democratic ally trying to defend itself in its ongoing war against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Only days earlier the American president had shamelessly lied that the democratically-elected Zelenskyy was a dictator and that Ukraine had started the now three-years-long war. His were the talking points of Russia’s very real dictator, Vladimir Putin, for whom Trump has long expressed admiration and trust. At the Friday summit in the Oval Office, Trump and Vance pressured Zelenskyy to accept a cease fire with Russia without any security assurances (e.g., against future invasions), but with Ukraine’s agreement not to join the West’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which provides mutual protection against just such military assaults as Putin’s.
𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑶𝒗𝒂𝒍 𝑶𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅’𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆, 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔. As of now, he–and the US–are no longer the leaders of the Free World. Trump has aligned America’s interests with those of the world’s autocrats, and especially with Russia’s Putin, wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes associated with his invasion of Ukraine. In so doing, he has turned our nation’s back on its long political and military alliance with Western democracies in NATO, which has prevented world wars for the last 75 years.
𝑴𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝑵𝑨𝑻𝑶 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒏𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅. We are no longer the “land of the free,” and it does not require a “home of the brave” to threaten Panama, Canada and Greenland, as Trump has also done as he re-entered the Oval Office. Our once Western allies immediately circled the wagons around Ukraine to develop a plan to end the war with a peace agreement that ensures Ukraine’s sovereignty and security. Without the US.
