The first two weeks of felon Trump’s term has been horrendous. If you haven’t read any thing by Ruth Ben-Ghiat, I hope this article by her will give you some solace. Her work is crucial for understanding autocratic and fascist dynamics in the United States. Her Substack site, Lucid, and her recent book, Strongmen, are especially valuable. What follows is today’s Substack post.
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I don’t know about you. Washington Episcopal Bishop Mariann Budde’s sermon moved me. It was delivered at the Washington National Cathedral’s Service of Prayer for the Nation.
She directed the words spoken at the end of her sermon to Donald Trump. We call it the “Seeking Mercy Semon.”
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The post that follows was written 4 years ago. That year, wildfires ravaged Australia and the western United States, especially California. On January 7th, 2025, at least 23 catastrophic fires broke out in Los Angeles County. These fires were intense due to low humidity. There were arid conditions. Powerful Santa Ana winds reached hurricane force, exceeding 80-100 miles per hour. Two fires, the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades and the Eaton Fire in Altadena, have caused the most damage. The map shown here is an overview of the significant fires in the Greater Los Angeles area.
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On December 20th, Donald Trump faced Judge Juan Merchan in a sentencing hearing. The hearing...
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I wrote this post in on December 10, 2020 from my home office. From here, I can see wetlands formed from Mud Creek. Mud Creek is a small stream about 100 meters from my backyard. It runs for a few miles until it merges with Noses Creek. Eventually, it meets with Sweetwater Creek, a tributary of the Chattahoochee River, Georgia’s largest river.
I have been writing from this office since 1993. I will share more in the future as The Mud Creek Chronicles.
Visiting the past can help us navigate the future. This is especially true now. We have a wannabe dictator and a known authoritarian. They prefer meeting with leaders of authoritarian nations rather than democratic leaders.
Donald Trump and his sycophants were trying to steal the 2020 election. I wrote this nearly a month before he incited thousands to attack the United States Capitol Building. It was obvious. Or it should have been obvious. Autocrat Trump was showing the world that he was determined to stay in office, no matter what.
What did we learn from this attempted coup?
I wrote this post in 2012, about Senator Rubio’s answer to question that’s interesting to consider 22 years later. Trump picked Senator Rubio as the Secretary of State. He might become a very good Secretary of State. I hope he is in terms of working with other nations to solve problems. Nonetheless, the post that follows explores the implications of the senator’s reply when asked about the age of the earth.
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Stephen Miller. Would you happen to know who he is? Or what position he’ll have in the Trump administration? He won’t hold a cabinet spot. But he will have an office in the White House.
Miller crafted Trump’s rally speeches and designed immigration policies that banned Muslims and separated families. He will be at the center of the threat to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. The danger to American immigrant families is real.
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Note: I received this letter on the day of the election. The letter is from Skyler Fussro, a young woman living in the 2055. I have received letters from Skyler for several decades. You can read some of them here. Usually, she is calling me out for our dismal approach to education and climate change. She is also in touch with Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish climate change and humanitarian activist.
But this letter reflects a deep concern she has with Donald Trump’s election by primarily white men and women. She says that the America she is living in is more diverse than it was in 2024. By the way, she lives with her family in a high-rise apartment in central Atlanta. It is a few blocks from Five Points and the campus of Georgia State University. I was a professor there from 1969 to 2003.
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Donald Trump is now the president-elect and brings upon us another existential threat. In my book, The Trump Files, I concluded that Trump poses a significant risk. This is a conclusion I made if he were ever elected again as President. His election created an existential threat.
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t’s Election Day in the United States. I’m writing this at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time. Millions of Americans will stand in line to vote. By 7:00 p.m., a third of the country will have voted. By 10:00, nearly all those wanting to vote will have cast their votes. Kamala was my choice. Who was yours?
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