"Trump does not appear to have control of his mental faculties. We're not talking about that enough."
Heather Cox Richardson
12.01.2026 21:24
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"Trump does not appear to have control of his mental faculties. We're not talking about that enough."
Heather Cox Richardson
The paradox is stark: millions show profound faith at Traslacion, yet vote for leaders who disparage it.
Religion, politics, & culture intertwine in contradictionsโwhere devotion & disillusionment coexist.
The predicament echoes patterns in the US.
Her popularity reveals a deeper truth: in Philippine politics, dynasty & shallow charisma often sway even devout devotees.
Some even claim pastoral authority while accused of plunderโtaking His name in vain while enabling violence & corruption.
Sara Duterteโdespite corruption backed by strong evidence, weak thinking, inadequate leadership intelligence & poor communication skillsโremains a strong figure.
Rodrigo Duterte once called God โstupidโ & the Church โfull of shit.โ
Clergy condemned him, but outrage never became rejection.
He stayed wildly popularโeven among the faithful.
Senators quote the Bible & invoke God, yet supported Duterteโs drug war that killed innocents.
Traslacion 2026:
Millions walk barefoot in devotion to the Black Nazarene, a centuriesโold ritual of faith & resilience.
Yet a paradox endures: many of these same devout Catholics vote for leaders who insult the Church or face corruption & violence charges.
We have reached "The Madness of King George" times
For the Philippines, the implications are direct.
Facing harassment in its own waters & spillover from transnational crime, the Maduro case is a stark reminder: authoritarian alliances abroad can land squarely on the countryโs doorstep.
3/n (continuation in next post)
Taiwan warns the U.S. move to seize Maduro could jolt the IndoโPacific.
The region already faces Chinaโs coercive behavior at sea and across neighbors.
Any disruption tied to Maduroโs networks risks amplifying instability in maritime security.
2/n
Nicolรกs Maduroโs record of abuses & alleged narcotics trafficking makes him a global menace.
His closeness to Beijing sharpens the stakes, as analysts warn Venezuelan drug routes have reached Asia โ a serious concern for nations already battling syndicates.
1/n
His family is an immigrant.
๐ถ๐น
Tender, romantic, and timelessโฆ
Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2 | Frรฉdรฉric Chopin
youtu.be/9E6b3swbnWg?...
Frรฉdรฉric Chopin & Vincent Van Gogh (Painting)
๐ง ๐ถ
Lover | Taylor Swift๐ฉต
๐โค๏ธ
youtu.be/-BjZmE2gtdo?...
๐ง ๐ถ
Lover | Taylor Swift๐ฉต
youtu.be/-BjZmE2gtdo?...
@davidofergals6947 and @Ryantheman21: Misogynists & Sexists, & Nazis? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCOiEVU3R9Q
Dream on Nazis!
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Film complete (Nuremberg with Russell Crowe & Rami Malek).
๐
Book open (Jack El-Haiโs The Nazi and the Psychiatrist.)
The story deepens.
Philippines
Sinking in Corruption โ ABS-CBN exposes how politiciansโ selfish greed drowns flood control projects.
youtu.be/CTz8aDj5HNQ?...
๐ง ๐ถ ๐ค
๐ฉต Opalite | Taylor Swift
youtu.be/3PJC6uPIekc?...
30 September 1928 | Elie Wiesel was born in Romania. A Jewish writer, Auschwitz & Buchenwald survivor, Peace Nobel Prize laureate.
"Indifference is the epitome of evil." / โWe must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
Joining Alex Witt on MSNBC at 1:30 today to discuss Tuesdayโs โflag meeting.โ
@caltrain.com just celebrated one year of fully electrified train service in the Bay Area โ with surging ridership and faster, more frequent services.
California is driving our clean tech dominance forward and laying the groundwork to hook up to our @cahsra.bsky.social high-speed rail.
โIn front of drowning nations, Trump dismisses climate change as โcon jobโ" | New article by @apnews.com in the United News of Bangladesh:
unb.com.bd/category/Env...
Finest political leadership comms in history?
Itโs amazing how well these hold up.
cc:
Senators
@chrismurphyct.bsky.social โ foreign policy, national security, ethics
@warren.senate.gov โ financial corruption & crypto regulation
@durbin.senate.gov โ Judiciary Committee chair
This is not just another ethics lapseโitโs a $2 billion foreign payoff tied to national security policy.
The TrumpโUAEโWitkoff entanglement demands immediate investigation, not shrugs.
Congress must act.
The DOJ must act.
Silence is complicity.
Will this level of corruption continue to go unchecked?
Have we already accepted kleptocracy as normal?
As Trump completes his second state visit to the UK, a reminder of one of the many alleged corruption scandals facing his administration:
As anti-corruption standards slip (or are brazenly ignored) around the world, the UK must show global leadership.
newrepublic.com/article/2005...
A reminder that most Israelis, and particularly Israeli civil society, are not in line with Netanyahu's regime, just as most Americans are not in line with the Trump Regime's actions.
That quoteโoften attributed to Mark Twain but more likely a modern paraphrase or misattributionโstill echoes his style: biting irony, social critique, & a deep skepticism of power structures.
"When the rich rob the poor,ย the rich call it 'business'. When the poor fight back, the rich call it 'violence'."
Mark Twain