Mon, 28 Sep 2026 15:50:02 -0700WeeblyMon, 28 Sep 2026 18:01:42 GMThttps://www.bjaycooper.com/blog/mid-terms-are-not-the-final-answerAs the midterm elections approach, to defend his war with Iran President Trump likes to say: “Americans are happy to pay extra to keep Iran from getting a nuclear bomb.”
 
Taxpayers are responding with: “We don’t want to pay extra because Republicans are in office. We want them out.”

Thus polls, at the moment, are showing a likely Democratic wave for Congress in November. Will it mean majorities in the House and Senate?

Dunno.

To respond to the affordability crisis and thus the losses the President’s team sees happening, the President has tried:

• Proposing to end beef tariffs to lower beef costs. Ranchers, a key constituency of his, protested
• Instituting high tariffs to punish exporting countries for allegedly taking advantage of American consumers. The result: Prices, as predicted by economists for decades and evidenced by Hawley-Smoot 100 years ago, increased on Americans
• Proposes cutting $5,000 checks to every taxpayer IF they elect a Republican Congress. Even Republicans in Congress protested because they don’t want to add to the national debt which has hit $40 trillion under Trump
• Pronounces magically that prices have gone down during his presidency. The facts are different: the consumer price index has increased from 3.4 percent to 4.3 percent since he took office. Ground beef and steak prices are up about 20 percent. Gas surged more than 30 percent. Rent, up. Airfare, up. Health care, up.

Not a winning formula for Republicans in November and the polls are indicating (and they can, and will change) that Democrats may take control for the next Congress.

That doesn’t only mean Trump’s agenda (if you can name what it is) is dead. It will mean that rather than the Congress looking the other way and the Supreme Court endorsing much of his whittling of power away from the Legislative branch to the Executive branch, the Congress will take back some of its authority.

If Democrats take power, it will mean two years of hearings, investigations and, likely, impeachment though as with his first two impeachments in his first term, it still will take two-thirds of the Senate to convict him, thus conviction is unlikely.

So, is the future brighter for consumers? Maybe but it’s not a sure thing.
It means Democrats need a legislative strategy to make things better for consumers. And, they will need a signature from the President to make their strategy law. Overriding a presidential veto takes two-thirds majority in the House and the Senate. Democrats, even if they retake power, won’t have it at  those levels.

So, taking over majorities in the Congress doesn’t mean life automatically gets better for American consumers.

It might mean, though, that the damage Mr. Trump is doing to our democracy may stop or at least be slowed.

It means Congress will begin retrieving the power Trump has taken away.

It may not mean an end to the madness.

But it’s an important step toward the sanity.

]]>Wed, 26 Aug 2026 13:45:42 GMThttps://www.bjaycooper.com/blog/for-trump-legacy-matters-nothing-elsePresident Trump’s narcissistic personality hits new heights daily.
This week alone:

• His administration issued a blackmail notice to the world that either the Kennedy Center puts his name on its building, or he’ll knock it down (at least he’s giving prior notice versus his illegal destruction of the East Wing of the White House).
• Because of a hissy fit, said he'll rename Lake Ontario to Lake America (at least it’s not Lake Trump)
  
• In the middle of a war he seems incapable of ending, led reporters on a White House property tour to show how he plans to redo the South Lawn, to meld well with his new helipad that he wants completed before the Chinese President visits next month, while his Treasury  Secretary told China they are included in the latest sanctions against Iran to further an economic war they apparently think they can win since they haven’t won the military war. The China president’s trip is now up in the air.

And, it’s only Wednesday.

When I started this blog, a little over 10 years ago, my plan was to write about politics, yes, but also retirement, family and basically anything else that popped into my head.  Call it my narcissism but at  least I'm the one paying and you are free to ignore it. Ten years later, it’s been primarily politics, unfortunately, because Donald Trump came on the political scene at about the same time. And no one can ignore him.

Trump sucked all the attention to himself. And, he continued sucking for four years during his first term.
  
He was impeached twice. Convicted on 34 felony charges stemming from his relationship with a stripper and lost a civil suit to E. Jean Carroll for sexual abuse and defamation, and we thought the ugliness of the Trump chapter in our history was finished.

Then, some normalcy returned to politics. Joe Biden became President.
Biden broke his promise, though, to serve only one term. Then he showed up impaired at a debate with Trump. His age and mental condition quickly became the only issue of the campaign (after all, what Trump does best is leverage any opponent’s weakness for his own gain). Biden was forced to quit the campaign which left Kamala Harris not enough time to wage a strong enough effort, not to mention Biden leaving a suffering economy.

So, Trump, the luckiest man in U.S. political history, was left to chalk up another win against another weakened candidate.

This time, he’d been through it before and understood more how the levers of power could (emphasis on “could” not "should") work. Worse, his hangers-on/sycophants spent four years plotting out an anti-democracy plan for Trump to follow.

He made loyalty to him the top – and only – requirement to be appointed to his Administration. The Congress did not matter. The courts (except, so far, the Supreme Court) did not matter.
 
Only the whims of the me-first Donald Trump mattered in his second term.

Money became his priority. Not your money. His and his family’s wealth.

He and has family have made billions since his return to the White House. He tore down the East Wing of the White House in the dark of night. He gilded the Oval Office  – floor to celing, displayed his “peace prize” from a soccer mogul when he couldn’t earn the Nobel, “beautified” the Reflecting Pool whose repair  from the damage continues, slapped his name on things he didn’t earn – including a Congressionally ordered memorial to John F. Kennedy. And more.

Because, Donald Trump is focused on, solely, his “legacy.” And legacy, to Donald J. Trump, means one thing – putting his name and tacky taste on things. Don’t believe me? Then remember, if you will, Trump Tower, casinos, magazine, vodka, water, wine, steaks, university and on and on.

Be it government organizations he simply renames without regard to the law. Be it planning to build his offensive Arc d’Trump to ruin the landscape and skyscape of Washington, D.C.

He campaigned on “no forever wars” and then chose to dive us into yet another morass, in the Middle East of all places where even a moron knows if you start a war, you’re going to be there for a long while, mired in the centuries-long tribal history of that region. He swears it's been a military victory but this week waged economic war on Iran to defeat them.

He wants to redesign -- at a cost of billions -- our aircraft carriers to make them look stronger. Not perform better but to look stronger. Appearance matters to him. And to him, a strong aircraft carrier looks like what he viewed in his primary military experience – watching World War II movies.

Name one piece of legislation he got passed. Oh yes, the Big Beautiful Bill. Now, tell me what’s in it that benefits you. I’ll wait.

He picks Cabinet members based on what he thinks a Secretary of State, or Defense Secretary looks like, not what he or she necessarily knows. He likes to let Central Casting make his choices because appearances are what matters to him, not substance.  

He allowed the UFC to tear up the South Lawn for a one-night only program of fights, where the fighters used the White House to pose in their fighting outfits, muscled bodies featured before heading out to do battle on the lawn, which is still being repaired. Those memories of black-tie affairs in the same space by JFK? Replaced now by muscled men in tights. Class.

Trump watched a Grand Prix race he called for on the streets of Washington where the speed limit is basically 25 mph but for race day these machines hit nearly 200 mph.

Why? I have no idea other than the King can order such things. This “president” does not watch out first for you and me, but for He.

It’s all about Donald Trump, Donald Trump’s legacy, Donald Trump’s whims, and Donald Trumps impaired view of the world, diplomacy and war.

It’s about Donald Trump’s view of democracy, from his obvious lie that he won the 2020 election to his “right” to tear down the East Wing without anyone’s approval, to his belief he can rename the Kennedy Center the Trump (his name first, of course) Kennedy Center.

It’s about appearance, not substance. It’s about image, not reality.

It’s about Donald J. Trump.

Oh, and the bill will be paid. Someday, long after he is gone from the White House, we will learn what all this cost the taxpayers -- in spite of his promises that his excesses would be paid by private donations.

Rant over. But the week's not over yet.

]]>Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:27:18 GMThttps://www.bjaycooper.com/blog/me-the-trump-not-we-the-peopleEveryone, even most of the Republican Party, knows President Trump lies about most everything including the 2020 election results. Let’s talk bigger picture.

President Trump is destroying the credibility of the United States among our long-time allies, among our citizenry and, importantly, of the presidency. And, an entire generation of voters is being taught not to listen to what a President says because, in advance, we know it won't be the truth.

The fact that a President of the United States can announce an address to the nation and no one – except his most loyal of cable channels – covered it is destroying, too, the ability of the President to say, “this is important. Pay attention. I have important news about the United States – be it war or the state of the economy.”

And no one can listen to what he says because the networks and cable news, in advance, said: since we know he’s going to lie, we won’t broadcast it live, but we will cover anything newsworthy.

Sensible news coverage? I think so. If a president, any president, is not making news, why cover it?

What does that generation think, then, when they are older? The presidency is just another office, not one they should pay attention to?

The only legacy this President cares about is putting his name on anything and everything – from savings accounts for children to the Kennedy Center, to a gold coin and almost anything else. He can’t wait patiently to win that recognition based on what he does because he knows it likely won’t happen, so he’ll do it himself. As he did with Trump Vodka, Trump University, Trump Airlines and other failed products.

He had every right to do that when he was in the private sector. He doesn’t now.

It truly all is about him, not us.

What does the next President – and there will be a next President – do to regain that credibility? Who is that man or woman who not only is capable of running this country and its foreign policy but also can talk, with credibility, about our daily lives? About the legitimate threats we face?

He talked last night (apparently, because I couldn’t find a place to listen to him) election security. His spokesperson announced in advance that he had “shocking” things to say about it.

He didn’t.

He released information that mostly we all knew before, putting on it his “spin” that it threatens the legitimacy of our elections. It hasn’t and it doesn’t.

He provided no proof that any election was affected by any tampering. Because that proof doesn’t exist.  Why doesn’t it exist? Because it has never happened.

It wasn’t enough that he called the Georgia Secretary of State a few years ago demanding he find enough votes for him to win Georgia, now he is using, at best, innuendo to damn our election process that had made the United States the envy of the world, insulting every elected official responsible - Democrat and Republican for overseeing free and fair elections.

If our elections are so manipulated by cheaters – how did he win?

How did the Republican Party gain control of both the House and Senate?

If the evil Deep State, the media and others conspired to screw the GOP, wouldn’t the GOP be screwed? But it isn’t. The GOP controls every lever of government, including the Supreme Court. Where are the fruits of this “cheating?”

In doing so, he never mentioned that as President, as The New York Times reported, he has: “…(dismantled) the election protections built up over previous years. The FBI’s task force on foreign influence was shut down, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence sharply cut back a task force that warned against foreign meddling and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency gutted. And, Mr. Trump has appointed an heir to a housing fortune with no relevant experience as the interim director of national intelligence.”

If there is evidence of foreign meddling, why gut the agencies responsible for uncovering and protecting against that meddling?

Do other countries try to influence our elections?

Duh, yes.

But not by invading our voting machines, or adding votes to their favored candidate. They do it by gaining access to publicly available information to target their disinformation efforts at our voters.

My friends, that’s what the major political parties do, too.

This isn’t all Mr. Trump’s fault, though much of the responsibility can be laid at his door.

Former President Joe Biden contributed to our political world by not doing what he said he’d do – serve as a President who will get us back to “normal” and then not seek reelection. He promised to be a transition president, a one-term president. But he didn’t keep that promise. He, too, convinced himself only he could beat Trump. Even he, he thought, was above our system.

Mr. Trump was elected President because he had the good fortune of running against a flawed candidate (Hillary Clinton) and by Biden deciding too late that he was too old to run. A decision he was only forced into.

The only candidate Donald Trump could have defeated in 2016 was Hillary Clinton. The only way he won in 2024 was because President Biden created the political environment for him to win.

Has Mr. Trump done some good things? Probably. Illegal immigration is down, though one can certainly question the tactics he’s using. One can mourn the lives of those immigrants who did everything the right way, but still were gunned down by thugs hired to supposedly protect us from the “worst of the worst.”

You may not agree with every policy he’s brought to our country but he won the election(s) and that’s how our system works. It’s the tactics that he has introduced to our country, the damage he has done to the United States’ credibility that is the problem. It is the conspiracy theories he foments and spreads.

And that we, in a couple of years, must deal with, with whoever the next President is.

He does not look at legacy as, am I leaving our citizens in better shape than they I found them? His legacy is how that we must correct all the damage he has done to our country, internationally and domestically. To our system.

His approval rating is down to, basically, his base of voters, people who want their lives made better not more violent, people who want their children to be better off than they were. But who for some reason support the very man in the way of that progress. Who for some reason believe he is telling the truth.

That’s the measure, the legacy, of a President. We’ve had some succeed at that, some fail.

He’s failing. And because of his failures, our system is being undermined by a man who cares only about “Me, the Trump.”

Not We, the People.
]]>Thu, 18 Jun 2026 13:32:25 GMThttps://www.bjaycooper.com/blog/he-may-not-be-another-hoover-but-maybe-another-wilsonThe self-proclaimed Master of the Deal, Master of Gaining Leverage has signed one of the worst deals in American history.

Take a look at the 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that President Trump signed at Versailles, of all places, last night. You can read the text for yourself here -- https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/06/17/read-terms-trumps-deal-with-iran/.

Basically, the MOU opens the Strait of Hormuz, which was open before the war began, and ends the war which the U.S. started. Hooray Great Neogitator!

Trump said, repeatedly, that the war could not end with Iran having a nuclear weapon. That, the President said, was his bottom line (he gave up on his stated goal of regime change by claiming that the new leadership -- led by the son of the previous leadership who was killed on the first day of the war -- now in charge of Iran is a different regime).

On his bottom line, though, -- Iran having a nuclear weapon, Paragraph 8 begins with the sentence: “The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons.” Paragraph 9 begins with: “Pending the final deal, the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran agree to maintain the status quo.”

Not even reading between the lines, this does not say Iran will give up any weapon it has now AND it says, anyway, that the “status quo” will be maintained. Plainly in fact.

Plus, Iran has been saying for nearly 50 years it won’t develop a nuclear weapon, while it’s been doing exactly that. So, there’s that.

Meantime, Iran gets a $300 billion fund to rebuild the country from the war damage, gets to keep its ballistic missiles and systems, and the regime remains in power. After all, Trump said, its neighbors in the region have such bombs, why shouldn’t they?

Not a bad deal, for the Iranian leadership.

Also, not a better deal than negotiated by the Obama Administration, that Trump tore up in 2018. In fact, it’s worse – it’s not verifiable and it’s more money than Obama allegedly gave them. Trump covers his backside on this by saying there's no U.S. money involved.

This is what happens when we elect someone who not only  has no experience in world affairs, but someone who famously trusts only his gut to make decisions. That’s a gut that’s gone bankrupt in the private sector multiple times, led dozens of failed companies and that got away with public relations, bluster and lies for his entire life.

Not only that, but he’s showing signs of aging, the same “disease” he accused his predecessor of having. His all-over-the-place diatribes at his press conferences, from lying about foreign policy to clearing algae from the Reflecting Pool, are getting tiresome, even to his supporters.

(My, now retired doctor, once told us: “Your 60s, aren’t bad, 70s are okay…the 80’s, they’re a crap-shoot.”)

His battles with his own party’s senators are becoming a daily event. His appointing someone with no experience in the intelligence community to be in charge of an intelligence agency, his “cancelling” a Senate hearing he has no authority to cancel – it’s all so dangerous. And so wrong and so unconstitutional and illegal to boot.

He literally went from hosting a show business event – men walking around the White House in their costumed underwear, then fighting each other in bloody combat on the White House grounds, escorted by our men and women in uniform who gave their blood in Trump’s War of Choice in Iran, I mean…. Friends, when do we all say enough is enough?

Our true warriors escorting the UFC’s “warriors” in a multi-million dollar show on the White House lawns?

Have we no shame??

I get a piece of our electorate wanting to give the finger to the Establishment by electing Trump, but I gotta believe that feeling has come and gone and it’s time to get back to  trying to return our country to our world-leading leadership, not the cult leadership we have.

Have we no respect anymore?

We lost 14 of our service people in the Iran War, while hundreds were wounded, we spent hundreds of billions of dollars on top of that, we depleted our own bomb inventory, we lost respect around the world for going it alone, for not even explaining why we were doing it to the Congress or the people of this country – people who are wondering how to meet the rent and put food on their family tables – for what?

Trump now points to gas prices coming down (they went up because of his war) and inflation coming down (up, because of his war). 

To sign another Versailles agreement that twill go down in history as one of the worst ever?

Has he no shame?

]]>Wed, 20 May 2026 12:50:48 GMThttps://www.bjaycooper.com/blog/when-will-it-end“When will it end??”

That is the comment I see most often on social media posts when the latest Donald J. Trump head-spinner is reported. 

Example: The last two days when, first, the “settlement” in one of his suits against the government was announced and he won a $1.776 billion award that he now will pass along to those deemed (by his Acting Attorney General-appointed five-member board) worthy of an award for being unfairly treated by the Justice Department. Oh, and President Trump can replace any of those chosen five anytime he wants. So, don’t hold your breath, James Comey, for your windfall.

And, yesterday, when that Acting Attorney General, Todd Blanche, signed an addendum that absolves Trump and/or his family of any tax-avoidance schemes they or their companies perpetrated on their fellow Americans.

Those two announcements likely will be challenged in courts for months or years to come. The “settlement” was not submitted for review by the judge who’s been overseeing his original case. So, is it indeed a settlement of that case?

The “pardon” given to him and his family for any law-breaking in filing their taxes was awarded by his former personal lawyer (Blanche) by his current Acting Attorney General (Blanche) and will be supervised by (Blanche’s) hopeful next attorney general (Blanche).

“When will it end?” 

Probably not until Donald J. Trump leaves office or his spineless Congressional supporters grow a spine (as likely as me winning the U.S. Open golf championship). 

Meantime, Trump is forcing and winning primaries against his fellow Republicans because he deems them “not loyal” to him. 

Because, Donald J. Trump cares not a whit for the Republican Party. He only cares about himself. Most of those he’s staging primaries against likely would have won in November, now it’s questionable if the GOP can hold most of those seats. Especially with Trump’s popularity at an all-time low, even for him.

There are, of course, many long-term consequences to what Trump is doing right now. Forget that the Congress is passing no legislation to help their constituents battle ever-rising prices and ever-stagnant wages.

Forget, too, that Trump’s selfish primaries against incumbents threatens the GOP hold on both houses of Congress.

And forget that Trump – who promised no more American wars – is fighting a war of choice in a region most everyone would have told hm is impossible to clearly win in – the Middle East, where religious zealots reign, meaning they will not be “logical” in resolving a war unless it matches their religious beliefs.

The U.S. is at a stalemate there as Trump draws down on our inventory of weapons while China gets stronger (and Putin now is in China in essence trying to maintain that relationship as he views America, and himself,  as weakened).

How did we get here? How did Donald J. Trump win the presidency twice?

Well, his first election pitted Hillary Clinton against Trump. Clinton was probably the only Democrat that Trump could beat that year (on the other hand, Trump was probably the only Republican Clinton could beat that year). Skip ahead and Trump faced Vice President Kamala Harris who was weakened (further) as a candidate by President Joe Biden’s refusal to step aside until it was too late for Harris to run an effective campaign against Trump. 

So, when will it end?

Probably not until the end of Trump’s term because Trump is who he is and isn’t changing.

His dominance may be challenged if the Democrats could win at least one and, more likely, both houses of Congress in November. But he still will be the President with a mindset that he is all-powerful until someone says he isn’t. 

Once his terms ends, there is not another presence like Donald J. Trump in the Republican wings, yet. Many are trying to position themselves for that, but none is Donald J. Trump.

And that $1.776 billion-dollar pot may be a nice further down payment, like his pardons of nearly all the Jan. 6 criminals, for his militia to stay waiting in the wings.


]]>Sun, 26 Apr 2026 17:49:42 GMThttps://www.bjaycooper.com/blog/now-will-they-focus-on-gun-violenceThe attempted attack by a potential shooter to kill people at last night’s White House Correspondents Association dinner is just the latest example of violence in our country.

School shootings, church shootings, mass shootings, attempted assassinations of presidents and other public figures – we all are almost desensitized to them.

This one, with no one seriously injured, should be looked at differently, though.

In attendance were media elites and working stiffs, the President, Vice President and a lot of the Cabinet, media corporate bigwigs, House and Senate members and others.

So, journalists and their powerful guests have now experienced a potential mass shooting from the “other side,” as potential targets of such violence which, one hopes, has to affect the way they cover these events going forward. One thing to be an  observer detached from a story, another to be in the story.

As the days go by, we’ll learn more about possible motives of the alleged shooter, of arrangements for such events, and more. We need to learn lessons from it all.

To try, finally, to avoid or at least limit, it happening again.

Having been in that ballroom many times, for this event and others, and knowing the layout of the Washington Hilton, while the alleged shooter clearly planned out his attack, if he had gotten into the ballroom, getting to the President or the front of the room would have been next to impossible with the number of people and tables in the way. Would he have killed people? Most definitely, but he wouldn’t have gotten a shot at the dais, in my opinion.

Early reports are he wanted to harm the President and his administration’s representatives.  Logistically, he likely would killed and wounded others though before he was stopped.

Our society has become violent. We have been desensitized to that violence. Reporters cover the tragedies and then move on to the next big story.

Politicians from all sides leverage the events to push their own favorite gun control, gun decontrol or whatever issues.

It’s a pattern that needs changing.

Talking heads this morning took familiar positions. Trump supporters blamed a violent “left wing.” Non-supporters said it’s a problem on both sides of the political spectrum.

Nothing new there – none were calling for calm and a stop to the finger-pointing at the extremes on both sides.

The truth is such violence knows no single home. It comes from all angles.

President Trump’s reactions to the shooting last night covered the gamut. From saying the right things (honoring the Constitution, bringing people together) and all the wrong things (immediately focusing on his White House ballroom, on how “impactful” presidents become targets for assassination, designating himself as “impactful”).

But let’s not forget the shock those in the hall and those of us watching on television felt. Because that’s what we must take from these events. And where we must demand something be done, finally.

Now the most powerful people in our country and the reporters who cover them have felt what it’s like to be under the attack of a person who is, clearly, mentally disturbed, motivated … and armed. The same way so many mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers and others have been affected over the decades.

The President asked the event be rescheduled. A nice idea but probably not practical. Certainly not at the level it’s been held for the last 100-plus years.  

Still, the purpose of the dinner – the true purpose – is to honor the First Amendment and to award scholarships to students. Those scholarships, that day in the limelight, is something those students earned and deserve. 

Many executives plan trips to DC for months to attend the event, and folks in DC manage their schedules around attending.

Not to mention the millions of dollars the association spends and will have to pay for last night’s cancelled event. The Association doesn’t have a chest of money waiting to be spent. The ticket costs typically pay most of the expenses and scholarships each year.

So, I expect a smaller celebration will be planned.

The President’s immediate focus on the White House ballroom, to me, was inappropriate in addition to being false. For one thing the White House, this one and likely future ones, won’t be renting out that ballroom to private groups, such as the correspondents’ association.

And, even if it found a reason to do so, it won’t be big enough to accommodate them. But it fit Trump’s narrative to direct attention and “need” to his "secure" ballroom. As planned, the new ballroom would seat 650-999 people. Last night’s event attracted a few thousand people. It was a fund-raiser. You don’t skimp on seats if you're raising money. You pack the room.

(By the way, personally I don’t oppose having a larger venue for the White House to hold events, but I don’t like just nonchalantly knocking down the East Wing in the effective dead of night with no notice or adherence to the official, legal process that exists to make changes to the White House.)

Attention also needs to be better paid to the line of succession and who attends what events together. Seems like that President and Vice President needn’t be in the same room (off the White House campus) as often as we’ve seen, for example. At least four of the top five office-holders in the line of succession attended last night.

Let's not end without singing the praises of the Secret Service and law enforcement for the job they did last night. No one was injured in the ball room, the alleged shooter never even got to the door to enter the ballroom.

While the hotel writ large wasn’t secure, a perimeter was established widely enough around the ballroom to provide a tragedy from being a disaster. And the Secret Service, part of the Department of Homeland Security, is not even being paid right now because of political budget disputes on the Hill.

Those men and women performed bravely and unselfishly to protect the President and the hundreds of others in that ballroom.

Let’s hope the rest of the government sees that as a message for how they should perform – putting personal positioning aside for the country’s good.

]]>Sat, 18 Apr 2026 13:14:03 GMThttps://www.bjaycooper.com/blog/is-he-just-lying-mad-or-delusional
It’s finally happened, to the Nth degree.

President Trump says we have a deal with Iran. Iran says we don’t.

And, I honestly have no clue whether to believe the President of the United States or the leadership of one of our biggest enemies.

Do you?

Trump “Truth-ed” seven times in an hour claims about where we are in talks with Iran, about ending the war and their efforts to develop a nuclear bomb.

Iran said all seven claims were false.

Iran “completely opened” the Strait of Hormuz” and then said no it didn’t.
Has President Trump finally worn out any sense that he can be honest at least about the state of war – about our women and men being in harm’s way? Does he consult with advisors at all before he punches the buttons on his phone?

Or is he - and I’m just being serious here - truly out of his mind, senile, or riddled with false understandings of his power?

Does he really believe that meme he published of himself as Jesus Christ was a selfie? Or that he was a doctor tending to the sick?

That one, that lie about that meme, led me to think he just thinks “we” are that stupid. A couple of days later, with his claims of Iran accepting all of our conditions to end the war, I wonder if - and I’m being serious here again - if he truly has lost his mind.

Next thing he’ll claims that ending the war with Iran is the 11th time he ended another war and he still can’t get a Nobel.

Yes, he may say he settled the war he started.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.
]]>Thu, 02 Apr 2026 13:31:41 GMThttps://www.bjaycooper.com/blog/hocus-pocus-theyll-lose-their-focusPresident Donald J. Trump’s bravado act is beyond stale.

His first of his second term prime-time speech last night was not just a snoozer, it was full of lies, half truths and, well, bravado as his polling numbers continue to sink, whether he accepts that fact or not.

Most everyone expected a speech that would give a timeline for the war in Iran to end. The best we got was his standard “two weeks or so” prediction. He’s in charge, he can end it today if he wanted to.

Instead, we are watching even more troops being sent to the region as we hear rumors of special operations that could go (on the ground) after Iran’s uranium stash or Kharg Island.

Trump laid out the time lines we’ve experienced for world wars and other “conflicts” – Vietnam, Iraq -- over the years trying to put his month-old war into a context, that he didn’t enter another quagmire.

But none of those commanders-in-chief thought that’s what they were doing either.

What will happen? Tune in next week, or the week after!

Trump is running the country like it’s his old weekly game show on TV: Build the drama, watch the audience reaction, shift gears without saying you’re shifting gears.

Hocus pocus., they’ll lose their focus!

Likely, though, not this time.

At least for that “base” that voted for someone else plus that slice of swing voters who went his way in 2024 but are peeling off after just a year of his second presidency. Young people, Latinos, people unhappy with the Democratic Party's results.

No predictions here on the mid-terms – it’s too early – but at this moment, it’s not looking good for the President’s team. The good news for them is that the opponent is the Democratic Party and they could blow an election at any time as quickly as you need to blow your nose.

Stay tuned!!!

Trump already was forced to switch up some of his immigration battle in Minnesota and, finally, ditched Kristi Noem at the Department of Homeland Security because he either realized she was the disaster most people anticipated or that she was starring in her own multi-million-dollar ads campaign instead of focusing them completely on Donald J. Trump.

Goodbye Kristi, hello MarkWayne!

Today, rumors are all over that Attorney General Pam Bondi will be the next to go. Why? Not because she isn’t doing things she’s there to do for the American people but because she’s failing Trump’s agenda when it comes to the (shhh) Epstein Files and getting indictments against Trump’s enemies, both of which were the charge given her by the President.

Not to make America great, but to satisfy his selfish goals of punishing his “enemies” and apparently hiding some of his secrets.

Speaking of which, the President will soon be clearly viewing the Supreme Court as even more of an enemy, despite his appointing what gave conservatives what they thought was a super majority. While he’s kinda-sorta won some support at the court (through semi-but-not-really court decisions) even his presence in the court yesterday couldn’t stop the justices from pointedly questioning his executive order to end birthright citizenship which has a century-and-a-half of precedence in the country.

Trump has succeeded in creating so much activity and chaos in the country and world that people aren’t even remembering that today is the anniversary of his “Liberation Day,” when he began issuing tariffs against friends and foes to better Americans' life, supposedly to improve our  quality and cost of living.

A year later, prices, as predicted by most legitimate economists on both the right and left, are up, and that was before his war of choice in Iran which has sent gas prices soaring. That has created problems not just for people who need to commute to work but just as the warmer, travel months are arriving. (Not that taking out Iran's leadership and nukes isn't a fine goal but, as with  Trump on most things, his execution was horrible.)

His promises of a return to manufacturing? Manufacturing jobs are down. And that is during his term, not because of Joe Biden, whatever his faults might have been. His inflated claims of, now, $18 trillion dollars in announced potential investment in the USA? Even his own people say the announced promises amount to half of that and even if the $18 trillion was true, you wouldn’t see a job created by that investment for years.

Bravado. Lies. Fantasy. Gaslighting.

That’s what we’re getting from the Trump presidency. Not to mention higher prices, war, and Cabinet members chosen for their appearance (men and women) rather than for their competence.

Chief Justice John Roberts put things in some perspective yesterday when he said, “it’s a new world, but the same Constitution.”

That seemingly off-the-cuff comment came during the birthright citizenship case yesterday and one hopes is also the view of the entire court as we look to survive another three years of bravado and lies.

A President is elected to protect that Constitution not to walk on it.
 
]]>Mon, 09 Feb 2026 14:43:31 GMThttps://www.bjaycooper.com/blog/impressive-bunny-good-seahawks-worst-game-patriotsThe Super Bowl featured great defense (Seattle Seahawks), the worst game of their year (New England Patriots) and a gob-smacking half time, show (Bad Bunny).

The halftime show was incredible from its complicated setup of the field, to its music (all, except for Lady Gaga in Spanish) to its message. It was fast-paced, a well put together production (from setup to story line to music to camera work) and a true story of a proud American – Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio (Bad Bunny).

It also apparently featured, unseen, the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, as a viewer and who tweeted as the show ended:

“The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst EVER! It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity or Excellence. Nobody understands a word this guy is saying...”

In fact, the halftime showcased the greatness of America, its opportunity for success and our standards, creativity and excellence. The President just chooses not to get it.

Earlier yesterday Trump “Truthed” that American Olympian freestyle skier Hunter Hess, who said he had mixed emotions because he doesn’t agree with everything going on in his home country, “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”

Okay, as they say on TV let’s “unpack” that a bit.

We have a Puerto Rican producing a halftime show at the biggest athletic event in the country that talks proudly about his heritage, how hard Puerto Ricans work and contribute to the USA, points out the uniquely Puerto Rican and festive culture of the Puerto Rican people and delivers a message about not just this but that “the only thing more powerful than hate is love.”

Hess, who worked his life to reach his Olympic dream and represent his country – with all the personal and family sacrifices that go with that – answered a question, honestly, that, as an American, he doesn’t agree with everything his government is doing and the President of the United States criticizes him for speaking truth in a country founded and respected globally as the place where you have freedom of speech and expression.

So, what’s wrong with this picture? These two young men – proud of their homeland and their huge accomplishments – and Trump, leader of their country, criticizes them because he’s offended they love their country but not him and have the audacity to use their right of free expression to say so.

Pointedly, neither attacked Trump in their comments.

Pointedly, Trump chose to attack them, by name.

Hess, who crashed a few months before the 2022 Olympic qualifiers and failed to qualify came back and made the 2026 team, carefully spoke his (free speech protected) mind at this year’s Games.

Bad Bunny, a name he adopted because of the way he looked in a bunny outfit and a grumpy expression on his face when he was a child, just 10 years ago was working at an Econo supermarket in Puerto Rico. Today he is pop music’s most popular performer – worldwide.

Seems to most of us (I hope all of us) that they achieved their dreams thanks to the culture and values and freedoms our country was founded on and is admired for.

Congratulations to them both!

]]>Fri, 23 Jan 2026 15:41:11 GMThttps://www.bjaycooper.com/blog/how-does-fascism-happenWhen you look back at fascists, you see patterns of behavior that, while they are happening, don’t seem so nefarious individually. But when you add them up, a different story appears. For example:

Neutering the parliament/Congress
Emasculating the courts
Limiting press freedom slowly
Raiding journalists’ homes
Appointing only true loyalists
Banishing from their government anyone who doesn’t toe the line
Employing spokesmen who ignore questions and attack the questioner for a lack of patriotism
Employing spokesman who tell the public that it didn’t see what it saw
Investigating and charging perceived political enemies
Pardoning people convicted and/or confessing to crimes for no seeming reason
Threatening to cancel elections
Claiming a lost election is a rigged election
Redrawing political maps out to maintain control
Manipulating information to match their version of the truth
Lying
Bullying
Intimidating
Going around traditional institutions and creating their own
Unilaterally defunding programs they don’t agree with
Unilaterally changing laws without going through the traditional process
Taking down monuments of those they don’t agree with
Building monuments to yourself
Employing a masked police force

The list, unfortunately, goes on until someone stops it.
 

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