There were many Americans, we are talking millions of Americans, who when they first heard about the attempted assassination at Butler, Pennsylvania were left disappointed. These were patriotic, faith believing individuals who would never take to the streets in celebration like many would if the assassination had been successful.

They would find it personally repulsive even to acknowledge to themselves that they were gleefully exuberant if it had been successful. For many they would have felt shame for such happiness.

They clearly would have understood the reasons for the celebration. They never believed they would witness their country descend into the very depths of hell. They never believed they would be so betrayed by their government.

Nonetheless, they would be relieved and embarrassedly happy if the assassin had been successful.

In some ways, they are no different from the many Americans, we are talking millions of Americans, during the eight years when President Barack Obama served as Commander and Chief. Individuals who went as far as praying that ill would befall him and his presidency.

They hoped and some prayed that he would be unsuccessful in bringing the country out of the Great Recession. A recession which he inherited. Wishing that he would be unsuccessful just to be able to point fingers and say he was not qualified to be president. They didn’t care if other Americans suffered. In fact, they hoped other Americans would suffer proving their point of view was correct.

They hoped, some prayed, that President Obama would lead the nation into reckless foreign policy adventures in which American lives were lost. The more lives lost the greater their rejoice. It would provide them ammo to rise holy indignation criticizing his holding the title of president.

This is the state of the union.

There were many Americans, we are talking millions of Americans during the four years that President Joe Biden strolled the Oval Office who found delight in seeing the price of food and other goods rise due to inflation. The higher the prices the more discomfort and suffering that Americans would experience. Such pain and discomfort of other Americans served their political narratives.

They are not that much different than the many Americans, we are talking millions of Americans, today that hope the current regime’s war with Iran backfired. That the US suffered a huge humiliation. That the current regime ended up in another foreign military quagmire as the number of American soldiers’ deaths and oil prices rose.

Convinced that the current regime’s leadership is so incompetent, unholy and just plain evil, there are many Americans, we are taking millions of Americans, who now find themselves hoping that world leaders will openly mock and deride the current leadership. That people from other countries boycott visiting the US and purchasing US made products.

That American college and professional championship teams refuse to visit the White House as long as the current occupant resides there.

Hoping that the nation experiences some natural calamity and is unable to efficiently respond to tragedy because of the current regime’s funding cuts and other policy decisions.

This is the state of the union.

America has had problems in the past. In fact, it almost didn’t survive its civil war that occurred less than a hundred years after its founding.

Nevertheless, there were many, we are talking millions, who believed and were willing to make the nation a more perfect union. Who were willing to believe that as a people and a nation, we could and we would do better.

That America could indeed be a “shining city on a hill.” A place where American exceptionalism was on display. A nation among nations in which it served as a beacon of freedom, hope, and opportunity. “Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

A place which allowed dreamers to believe, and believers to dream.

For many Americans, millions of Americans, the US is no longer that place. Instead, it has become a miasma of hate and evil. A place where the enemy of the people are the people themselves. A place in which “In God We Trust” has been replaced by handguns and assault weapons, hateful and divisive rhetoric.

A place where distrust, alienation and anger is at an all-time high. A place where more people play the lottery than vote. Where the pursuit of the latest technological idol has replaced the American Dream.

The US celebrated its 250th anniversary. For many it was more like a wake than a celebration of life.

It is highly unlikely if the state of the union remains as it is that it will last another 25 years, perhaps not even two and a half more years.

If so, future historians and social scientists will be compelled to proclaim that America was not destroyed, not overrun or defeated from the outside. America died because too many Americans, millions of Americans, saw each other not as fellow Americans, but as the enemy.

Staff Writer; Al Alatunji

Question or comment regarding this article? Feel free to send a message to: Alatunji@ThyBlackMan.com.

The refrain at one time was that the government was of the people, by the people, for the people. A more universally accepted refrain today is a government of special interests, by special interests, for special interests.

People are unhappy and have lost faith in the US Congress. They view it as an institution no longer working and committed to solving problems. Instead, it has become the problem, a major problem unto itself.

It once was held in high esteem by a wide swath of the nation. Members of Congress were held in awe and were respected.

Today the view of the Congress shared by those on the right, left and in the middle is that of a horror house of chambers where several hundred Moes, Larrys and Curlys engage in continuous uninspiring tragicomedies.

They pretend publicly to their constituents to have disdain and contempt for members of the opposite parties. However, behind closed doors in privilege only rooms and venues, they pat each other’s backs and butts while filling their pockets and pocketbooks with money from their real and only constituents, the special interests.

Congress clearly works effectively and efficiently for the special interests. But not the people.

Then there is the US Supreme Court. Of the many disturbing and outrageous decisions adopted by the Roberts, Thomas, Alito Court, perhaps the most egregious and appalling was unconditional and blanket immunity to a sitting president.

A sitting president of the US could literally stroll down Fifth Avenue in New York City and pull out a gun and kill someone. As president he or she could not be prosecuted.

The Roberts,Thomas, Alito Court with their decision had codified what many already knew: Justice was not blind, objective, impartial or unbiased.

One day a majority of American voters might elect a man or woman to serve as president. That person while running for the office will present themselves one way to voters. However, once in office they push certain policies and practices contrary to what those voters believed.

For example, let’s say the candidate promised on day one of taking office to reduce inflationary prices. He or she promised not to engage in foreign wars in which there was little if any threat to American sovereignty.

After taking office the president did contrary to what he or she ran on. The voters would have been duped. They would also be stuck with their vote for four years. Such an example may seem improbable but nevertheless not impossible.

Continuing the hypothetical, let’s say such a president had a due nothing, invisible Congress afraid and/or unwilling to rein in the president. At the same time, still continuing the hypothetical, the president has a Supreme Court whose interest is not to check a president’s unconditional actions and policies. A president would be basically free to run wild.

An improbable scenario, you might say. But not impossible. Not sure if the people of the nation want to live through such a hypothetical situation.

More important even without the twilight zone hypothetical, it is clear representative democracy is not working for the American people.

Perhaps, it is time for something different. How about direct democracy through government by referendum? Let the people directly without filters and middlemen directly make policy.

A Constitutional Convention would be required. At the Constitutional Convention, the people would create a new constitution in which the Congress and the Supreme Court would both be abolished. It would also severely restrict the actions of a president leaving him or her merely a manager of the Executive Branch.  A president would be elected by a majority of the voters. The Electoral College would be abolished –

Would such a form of government be perfect? No, no institution created by man is going to be perfect. However, it should be far superior to what currently exists. One thing it would do would be to remove the hidden hand of special interest from controlling the government.

It would remove the political chaos and circus acted out by Republicans and Democrats as if they were two separate entities. It should significantly eliminate issues which should never have been made political. Issues which suffocate the air and distract from real concerns not being addressed.

As for the crazies, cultists, fanatics, conspiracy wackos and other loonies of the far extremes they would still exist. However, their power to poison governmental processes would be limited to their rants on the internet and their shouts into the heavens.

It should put out of business the merchants of hate, division, disinformation and alienation who use broadcasts and the internet to disseminate their poison like drug pushers to the naive and gullible.

In 1776, when the nation was founded, representative democracy was a necessity. In 2026 due to the advances in technology and communications direct referendum by voters is possible and more prudent. After 250 years perhaps it is time for a change.

Staff Writer; Al Alatunji

Question or comment regarding this article? Feel free to send a message to: Alatunji@ThyBlackMan.com.

Many Americans and others have been compelled especially over the last year and a half to utter in faith and hope that the ugly cloud over America will soon be gone. That it moves out to sea to be seen no more.

That the nation which they were once proud and believed special among nations would free itself of the curse that afflicted and diseased its body and soul. A curse so unrelenting and destructive that they no longer recognized the country of their innocence.

No longer could feel the pride that they once had when they stood with others and saluted the flag and proclaimed their allegiance. Forced to wonder if it was all just some bizarre lie. “No, Virginia, Jamal, Maria, Bill, like Santa it was all just make believe.”

Forced to see their country, a country that they loved and was proud of, become something which it never in their wildest imagination believed would ever become.

America was first among nations in liberty, freedom, justice. A nation of immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Poland, Italy and all over the world who came to America for a better life.  A  better life for their children and their children’s children.

They came to America without a single document.  Only the hope for a better life, a faith in their God and the clothes on their back.

They came because they heard America was a land of opportunities. A land where immigrants were welcome. Where they could get a new start, a new day.  So, they came.

Some experience trials and tribulations that would crush their spirits. That would break their hearts. Some were forced to return back to their country of origins. Others would die in America believing it had been a huge mistake to have come.

They were not expecting to be confronted with the harassment, prejudice, mistreatment and discrimination that they were forced to experience. Treatment directed at them as the most recent others. Mistreated and unwelcomed by previous others. America they would learn was not the promised land.

Others weathered the storms and will themselves through the trials and tribulations certain “this too would pass.” They continue forward one day at a time. If not for themselves than their children and their children’s children.

In time, their children and their children’s children would no longer view themselves as merely Irish, Italian, German, Polish, Swedes but American. They would fight its wars all in the name of democracy, freedom, justice, liberty and what was right and just.

Those earlier Americans, if they saw the nation today, would they see the America for which they believe in, felt proud of and were willing to give their life for? Had it all been in vain?

If America survives and there is no guarantee that it will, there will be many who will demand accountability and retribution.  They will want to hold those they believe responsible for America’s current troubled, unhealthy condition. It will be understandable.

They may see it also necessary as a deterrent to prevent the nation from ever again sinking into the abyss of chaos and insanity.

Many will urge federal lawmakers to push for investigations, hearings and tribunals. They will seek and demand punishment. It clearly will be understood. However, it might not be the most useful course of action.

Instead of a new Congress, hopefully far more responsible Congress will use all its energy, time and resources to legislatively undue all of the regulations, policies and directives enacted by the current regime that helped to make America a pariah nation.

Hopefully put all its efforts into reversing the damage and evil unleashed on America and the world in the last year and a half. Not waste energy on impeachments. Let the current regime remain in place, but render it basically a eunuch.

A new Congress, more responsible however, will need the people of the nation to insist and safeguard its representative democratic form of government will never again end up in the outhouse. They will need to vote. They will need to be more selective in how they elect to represent them. They will also need to be far more attentive and involved in their government.

From this dark, storming night in America there may be a new morning, a new day. The evil regime will have breathed its last unholy breath.

Unfortunately, however much of the destruction, pain, suffering, embarrassment, alienation, disappointment experienced by Americans and others will remain for a long time perhaps forever.

Unfortunately also, many inside the nation and outside may never be able to think of America as a land of hope and  goodwill. Of great promise and opportunity. Of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Staff Writer; Al Alatunji

Question or comment regarding this article? Feel free to send a message to: Alatunji@ThyBlackMan.com.

Loser: The American People

Americans were unhappy prior to the Israeli-US War on Iran. They had witnessed unbelievable chaos, confusion, distrust, alienation and divisiveness within the nation. Still, they viewed their nation as a friendly nation and not a bully.

After the war started, sitting in their cars paying almost double for gas to go shopping for significantly increased groceries did not make them any happier. Americans’ confidence in their government, other institutions, and the economy is at an all-time low. For many Americans they look around and no longer see the nation of their youth.

Winner: The Current Occupant of the Oval Office

The current occupant of the Oval Office has no principals. No beliefs, dogma, tenets nor allegiances beyond his self-preservation and well-being. He does have an insatiable desire for attention. The greater the attention, the happier he is. The Israeli-US War on Iran placed him front and center on the world stage. He gave the performance for the ages, at least in his mind.

Loser: The Epstein Files

It took a war, the Israeli-US War on Iran, to remove the Epstein Files as front-page news. The war did what the Department of Juveniles was unable to do. Whatever hope of justice the victims had is probably now just blowing in the wind.

Winner: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been unsuccessful in prodding earlier US presidents to attack Iran. However, the current occupant of the Oval Office decided that the first duty of the American government is to protect the citizens of Israel.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is not interested in anything less than the complete destruction of the nation of Iran. The only thing which might prevent all-out war is the price of oil reaching levels so high that American and other consumers finally tell Netanyahu ”enough is enough.”

Loser: State of Israel

At the close of the Second World War, people around the world were confronted with images, horrific and shocking images, of the dead bodies of Jews, six million of them. They had been systematically and barbarically murdered during what became known as the Holocaust. The images were unbelievable but unfortunately so very real. Images that showed the depths of the brutality, inhumanity, savagery, hatred and just pure evil that men and women were capable of doing to other men, women and children.

Those images and the ugly history behind the images, compelled governments and people around the world to justify the survivors of the Holocaust and Jews throughout the world have their own nation. To have a place in which they could sit under their own fig tree and not be afraid.

Fast forward roughly 80 years after the State of Israel was established. People throughout the world have been horrified and shocked at the images coming out of Gaza and Lebanon of men, women and children experiencing a present-day holocaust. Have those images as well as the Israeli and US War on Iran served to eradicate the support the State of Israel had been given unconditionally?

Winner: Iran

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. We have oil and you have needs. Iran was forced to take on Israel and the US. Two against one. Iran suffered damage but, in the end, not only did it remain standing it came out of the war stronger than before. David had once again beaten an evil two-headed Goliath. Many inside and outside of Iran are compelled to ask if Israel and the US have nuclear weapons, why shouldn’t Iran? Iranian government hardliners are now stronger and have increased their control of Iranian society.

Loser: The Moral Authority of the US

The current occupant of the Oval Office in one of his many late-night rants stated that if Iran did not surrender to the demands of Israel and the US that he was prepared to bomb Iran back to the Stone Age. Iran dismissed his paper tiger threats. In the end, billions of people and governments throughout the world saw that it was the moral authority of the US that sadly had been ushered back to the Stone Age. A moral authority which had taken decades to establish now wiped away overnight. It might take forever for the US to be viewed as having moral authority by nations and people throughout the world .

Winner: MAGA

The political philosophy of the MAGA movement is quite simple. There is none. It stands for nothing other than being opposed to everything. It feeds on chaos, confusion, division, contempt, pain and suffering of others. It is a movement made up of unhappy, angry people. Their satisfaction is spreading their misery to others.

The Israeli-US War on Iran with its chaos, confusion, destruction, pain, suffering and death was sweet music to the MAGA faithful.

Winner: Islamic and Arabic Militancy

The Israeli-US attacks in the Middle East have killed thousands of men, women and children. For each father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, uncle and aunt killed conceivably there will be three, four, five or more who feel compelled, feel a duty to seek revenge. If nothing else, the Israeli-US attacks in the Middle East will serve to ensure that there will be a new generation of Islamic and Arab soldiers, warriors and martyrs.

Winner: China

Even before the Israeli-US War on Iran, the current Oval Office occupant’s obsession with trade wars, nations around the world began to see China as a more favorable and reliable trade partner than the US. They also see it as more stable and mature. The Israeli-US War on Iran has only served to cement those notions.

China, a once pariah nation, is now viewed as the reasonable, responsible adult in the room. As for the pariah nation designation, the US and Israel have replaced China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

Winner: European Nations

Longtime European allies were caught off guard by the attack on Iran. They had not been consulted prior to the attack. Over the last year and a half the current occupant of the Oval Office berated and mocked longtime European allies of the US over tariffs and other issues. When the current occupant of the Oval Office realized his war was not turning out how he thought he reached out in desperation to longtime European allies. The same longtime European allies he had earlier mocked and berated. Longtime European allies decided to let motor mouth handle his problem all by himself.

Since the Second World War, European nations looked to and relied on the US for their security concerns. Distrustful of the US, European nations are now moving away and developing their own security arrangements. Europe will emerge stronger with greater solidarity, independence and confidence.

No Decision: Arab Nations

Arab nations closest in proximity to Iran have viewed Iran worryingly. The US did not confer with these nations prior to launching its attack with Israel against Iran. It also was not able to protect those nations from attacks from Iran. The war may compel Arab nations to rethink their strategic relationships.

It also remains to be seen if the citizens of those Arab nations are willing to support governments that sided with Israel and the US against a fellow Islamic and Arab nation.

No Decision: Democratic Members of Congress

Democratic Congressional members and candidates should be in a state of rapture unable to wait until their blue tsunami sweeps Republicans from control of the House of Representatives and the US Senate. But the Democrats being Democrats will probably find a way to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. Beyond being against the current occupant in the Oval Office what if anything do Democrats stand for?

No Decision: Republican Members of Congress

It would be understandable if Republican Congressional members and candidates would be out looking for boxes to move their belongings from their more spacious offices to those set aside for minority party members. But not so fast. They are highly successful in hoodwinking and bamboozling voters. In 2024, Republicans were able to convince enough voters that immigrants and transgender people were the number one threats to their life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Will Republicans invent a new mythical monster or monsters to feed voters and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat?

Staff Writer; Al Alatunji

Question or comment regarding this article? Feel free to send a message to: Alatunji@ThyBlackMan.com.

I don’t know about you, but I can truly say I need a little break from all the winning. It has been overwhelming. It has been breathtaking.

I could use a break from the winning for a while. It has been lightning quick, non-stop winning on so many fronts. Out of fairness, perhaps we should allow the other guys to win some, just to make it competitive.

Let’s look at some of the many wins so far.

From day one before, he could warm up his desk seat, he single-handily brought the runaway inflation that he inherited from the previous administration completely under control. Like a masterful magician he waved his magic wand and the high price of eggs, bacon, bread, beer, coffee, gas and oil vanished into thin air.

Affordability was no longer some mysterious concept but a living reality for everyday American families.

Americans everywhere have seen unbelievable low prices on items never ever witnessed in years. Perhaps, ever. It has been nothing less than amazing and miraculous.

Prices continue to fall to the point it is just overwhelming. There is serious concern that with prices so low and continuing to fall Americans may become severely overweight.

Then there are the tariffs established by executive orders. Before the ink could dry, manufacturing plants relocated from other countries to the US. Thousands if not millions of jobs overnight flowed into the US. It has been nothing short of mind-blowing.

There would have been far more new plants and manufacturing jobs if the courts would not have interfered with the winning. But even with those courts interfering, manufacturing plants from Asian and other places began to relocate to the US. American workers, especially younger workers, are ecstatic and are rushing to fill the slots on assembly lines in those plants.

As one young man pointed out, “This is a dream come true. More than anything, being an influencer, rap artist or social media creator, I always wanted to work on an assembly line in a plant.”

The credit for this great win is due to the tariffs and the fantastic, unprecedented deals won by the current occupant of the Oval Office. Let no one be mistaken, only the current occupant of the Oval Office and no one else could have done it.

Countries for years probably going back to the early days of the nation’s founding have unfairly taken advantage of American presidents. Suckering them into terrible economic trade deals. But no longer.

New trade deals have been established within a wink of an eye. The current occupant of the Oval Office is a grand negotiator. A supreme deal maker.

The US is no longer a victim nation. The economic trade war has been won by America. It is just another in a barrelful of wins.

The US has gone from a place that foreign visitors were reluctant to travel to. Now it is the hottest place on the planet to visit. Everyone wants to visit the US.

There was a time foreigners questioned if it was safe to travel to the US. They were told it was too risky.

That ruthless, foreign street gangs and alternative, multi gender cabals had invaded the US spreading unbelievable terror across cities, towns and farm areas.

That is no longer the case. Bathrooms and bedrooms have been made safe again.

Federal troops and ICE are out there on the streets protecting lives and rights. Foreign visitors are flocking to the US in unprecedented numbers now.

Tourist centers, hotels and motels are now overbooked for the unforeseeable future. It has been incredible.

The US is so hot it is on fire. It has been a great win for everyone, not just the millionaires and the billionaires in the US. Everybody is winning.

People in other countries used to look at the US and Americans worryingly. Americans they felt were fat, ugly, uncouth and uncivilized. Not anymore.

The Canadians, Greenlanders, Mexicans, Nigerians, Cubans and people around the world have rediscovered America and Americans. They have nothing but love for the nation and its people. They now sing hosannas in praise of America and its people.

Until the current occupant of the Oval Office, American presidents were mocked and ridiculed by foreign leaders. They laugh behind their backs at them. No longer.

The current occupant is hailed and respected by foreign leaders everywhere. Jokes are no longer made. Foreign leaders are breaking down doors in an attempt to meet with the current occupant. Many have taken to dressing even speaking like him.

Then there was the war with Iran. It was a huge win for the US. Overnight the US was able to completely obliterate its nuclear weapons and its military capabilities.

Less than a year later the US returned just to ensure that Iran was not trying to piece together the destroyed pieces. Have to give them credit, the Iranians are an enterprising people.

Still, one would have thought Iran would have learned a lesson the first go around when they saw all their nuclear efforts setback to the stone age. But they didn’t.

The Iranians have since learned their lesson. It has been a painful lesson: Don’t mess with the US. It is not a paper tiger.

They were given 24 hours to surrender. It only took them a few minutes for them to bend their knees. Another great win for the US. World leaders including China, Russia and others were forced to conclude definitively the current leader of the US is not only not a buffoon but a military genius, perhaps one of the greatest in all history.

In recognition of how much we have been winning, the current occupant of the Oval Office is planning a new huge White House ballroom, an arch of success and a new garden project featuring all the founding fathers and others. During these great economic times this is exactly what the nation needs and wants.

We have been “winning bigly.” We have been winning so much it is tiring.

Staff Writer; Al Alatunji

Question or comment regarding this article? Feel free to send a message to: Alatunji@ThyBlackMan.com.

As for future social psychologists they may deduct that Trump was the most emotionally and mentally challenged individual to lead the nation. That his insecurity, desire to be accepted, inferiority complex, self-hate, alienation, anger, extreme personal unhappiness and instability propelled his desire for attention, power and retribution.

It led him to have utter disdain for conventional norms and standards, practices and conduct. A disdain only surpassed by his genuine disdain for the very people who proclaimed him their leader, their messiah.

However, for all their scholarly credentials and noted accomplishments, their perceptions and assumptions will all be merely just subjective conclusions. Perceptions and assumptions utterly shaped by the mores, values, practices, customs and attitudes of the time period that they live. Such mores, values and attitudes may be entirely different than those of today.

It would be no different that today. Forty, fifty years ago certain behavior, attitudes and practices that seem genuinely acceptable today would have been routinely condemned and denounced.

Nevertheless, future historians, political and social scientists and social psychologists will all have no doubt, have no debate that during the Trump years more Americans and others died from his actions and policies than any other person who occupied the White House. It will not be conjure or speculation. It will be based on numbers.

Politicians and others might lie, but numbers are numbers, they have a truth all of their own. So, let’s look at the numbers.

During the first reign of Trump close to 600,000 Americans died from Covid. Normally, it would be the height of irresponsibility to hold an American leader responsible for what insurance companies might refer to as an Act of God. An event so out of the realm of human control that no insurance company would include it in its coverage policies. No American president regardless if they were Republican or Democrat, left or right would have been faulted.

But Trump’s response to Covid was anything but normal. It was irresponsible, callous, unconscionable, heartless, an abomination and evil. Instead of providing leadership during Covid, Trump went golfing. He refused to lockdown the nation for 30 or 60 days like many other countries did. An action to help to isolate Covid and stop its spread.

Instead, Trump in a politically calculating move refused to place the nation on a lockdown for one or two months thereby allowing Covid to spread nationwide. The end result Covid remained in the US longer than in other nations and produced close to 600,000 deaths. Trump likes to place his name on everything. So the almost 600,000 people who died bear his name, Trump’s deaths.

There were two political calculations that dictated Trump’s actions. One was that if he shut down the country the economy would experience a retreat, a reversal. The main engine for Trump’s approval numbers and his re-election efforts was a strong economy, he strongly believed. He went to no limits to proclaim how great the Trump economy was.

The great economy that he inherited from President Barack Obama who led the nation out of the Great Recession and put it back on firm footing. President Obama’s economy which Trump proclaimed for all to hear was the Trump economy. An economy which because of Trump’s irresponsible leadership during Covid led to manpower and product shortages which would eventually result in inflation.

The second political calculation was that his advisors from the outset before the nation was aware of Covid believed that a disproportionate number of Covid victims would be the elderly,  people of color in particular those living in big cities and the less affluent. Primarily and overwhelmingly Democratic voters and not Trump voters. Close to 600,000 Americans died. Regardless of their political affiliation they are Trump’s deaths.

During the reign of Trump there has been a noticeable uptick in hate speech and hate crimes in America. Each and every one of those deaths are on Trump’s watch.

There has also been an uptick in killings of Americans by law enforcement agents. Because of Trump’s words and policies each and every one of those deaths are also on Trump’s hands. They are added to the Trump deaths.

The number grows with each passing day and there is no guarantee his term will end in January 2029. Trump’s decision to attack Venezuela was clearly not about drugs coming into the US. It was about oil.

It also may have been about forcing a war with Venezuela and others thereby hoping to establish with voters a reason to not change horses in the middle of a race. It would be the manufacturing of a national security emergency to hold office. There might be deaths, Americans and others. So be it, mission accomplished.

Policies put into place during the early days of Trump’s second go around curtailed funding for life saving programs in America. Funding for healthcare programs for less affluent families and individuals.

Programs in America and throughout the world that helped to ease and prevent starvation and hunger, sickness and illness which would otherwise result in death. There will be millions who will perish as a result of Trump’s policies. They too will be Trump’s deaths.

Then there are the imperialist campaigns and wars being plotted by Trump flunkies. If they do occur there might be hundreds of thousands if not millions of people, some of which are Americans who might die. They too will be Trump’s deaths.

The future historians, political and social scientists and social psychologists will focus their research and attention on Trump.  How was he able suck the oxygen out of the air of a country?

At the same time, they will be compelled to ask how so many good people, self-proclaimed upright religious people, people with supposed morals saw no evil, heard no evil and did nothing to stop evil.

They will be compelled to understand how a nation became so filled with such unhappy, alienated, miserable people who were willing to follow an even more unhappy, miserable pied piper into the abyss.

May God have mercy on the soul of America. May God continue to bless the good people of the world who pray and protest for peace, hold up and host humanity as well as fight for freedom.

Staff Writer; Al Alatunji

Question or comment regarding this article? Feel free to send a message to: Alatunji@ThyBlackMan.com.

At the same time, there will be a host of keyboard, internet and podcast warriors who will counter that this is not the 1960s. That the US government and military have all types of advanced military technology that allows them to sit on a battleship or some other luxury location and click buttons that will allow them to destroy the enemy while texting their lunch menu. That may very well be true.

But as the Vietcong proclaimed and showed during the Vietnam Conflict and the Iraqis and Afghans years later, the power of the people is greater than the technology of the oppressor. It was a lesson learned the hard way by Americans. Shock and awe in the first moments of the conflict later turned to a steady chorus of taps and gun salutes.

Apparently, there were those who lived through those years and learned nothing. Then again, money and privilege allowed some to escape not having to fight and/or pay attention to those earlier military campaigns. It is understandable if their intimacy with that history might be suspect.

It would be similar to a person due to daddy’s, or mommy’s money and privilege never having held a job, drove themselves, shopped for groceries or filled up their car with gasoline.

During the first regime of Trump, he ordered Venezuelan military leaders to drop their support of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Those military leaders responded by laughing at him.

Those military leaders may not have been in love with Maduro. But they like so many other people around the world they have no respect for a wannabe, make believe tough guy.

One thing which true, authentic men, real tough guys and gangsters understand is courage, respect and strength. They feel embarrassment and resent having to witness a fake man conduct himself as an eunuch.

In his press conference announcing the kidnapping of Maduro, his wife and son, Trump while barely being able to keep his eyes open went off script. He conveyed the real reason for violating international law. The seizure of Venezuela oil from Venezuela land and its people.

It had absolutely nothing, nothing at all to do with America’s drug problem. Trump and his minions can continue to blame Venezuela and everywhere else for America’s drug problem. He knows a whole lot of Americans will believe that lie. Why not? They have been willing to believe all his many other lies.

America does have a drug problem. Too many Americans are troubled and unhappy. America also has a mental health problem. Too many Americans are troubled and  unhappy. Maybe one day America will address its drug and mental health problems.

Trump once said that he could kill someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose any of his followers. That tells you what he thinks of his followers. It also tells a lot about his followers. Their values, morals and character. It seems they would be willing to march into hell following behind him.

Among the many things that Trump will be notoriously remembered for will be as another US leader, on the wrong side of history. Another US leader using US resources to undermine, destabilize and overthrow a government. In this case in a country where half the population considers themselves to be “morena” Spanish for black, brown or dark skinned. This time it is Venezuela.

In the past, it was the Congo, Vietnam, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Haiti, Grenada, El Salvador and Nicaragua among others.

The Trump regime with cooperation from American business interests and allies is involved in regime change. Seeking to replace a government it did not like. A government it instituted economic measures against to weaken its economy.

What is it about Venezuela’s government that Trump and previous US leaders did not like? Probably because Venezuela’s Maduro and Chavez like Patrice Lumumba of the Congo, Fidel Castro of Cuba and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe refused to be puppets or harlots for the US.

American propagandists would have you believe that America does not like dictators and Maduro was a dictator. However, American presidents including the make believe one currently in the Oval Office loves them some dictators. As Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un will testify they have no better friend than Donald.

It has nothing to do with human rights, freedom of the press, democracy, religious persecution or minority and women’s rights. It definitely does not have anything to do with drugs.

Let us not forget while Nancy Reagan was telling school children to “just say no “to drugs, the US government headed by President Ronald Reagan by way of its CIA was bringing drugs into the US. Drugs like child sexual trafficking is big money. Let us not be fooled. Let us not forget.

If the dictator is good for business as usual, there is no problem. What is important is profit. To hell with the exploitation of the common man and woman.

Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. US oil interests would love to have those oil reserves. Enter Trump like a thief in the night. A stickup, grand theft larceny.

Venezuela had a strong, stable economy as a result of being an oil producing nation. However, through trade manipulation, sanctions, sabotage, news distortions and disinformation campaigns, the US and its stooges worked to wreak havoc on the Venezuelan economy causing widespread shortages and starvation. Men, women and children have died as a result, courtesy of efforts and activities funded by American taxpayer money.

Hopefully, the Lord will be more merciful to Americans on that Great Judgment Day than American courts have been. Under American law, ignorance of the law is no excuse in sentencing. Americans better hope that the Lord will be more forgiving of not knowing or not caring what their government has and continues to do in particular to the least of us worldwide.

It is time for Americans of conscience to tell the regime in Washington, “Get your hands out of its pocket and your knees off its neck, leave Venezuela alone!“

Staff Writer; Al Alatunji

Question or comment regarding this article? Feel free to send a message to: Alatunji@ThyBlackMan.com.

An eight-year-old and ten-year while sitting in a church pew in the act of worship were savagely and ruthlessly murdered. Just another day in the USA.

It is added to the growing list of such ungodly shootings in houses of worship. It joins the Mother Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina and the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh to name just two that confound the mind.

An eleven-year-old boy playing a child’s game with other children rings a doorbell and runs away. “Ding, Dong, Ditch” the kids call it. They laugh as they run down the street to the next house to repeat the same act. Kids being kids, playing kids games.

Shock, horror and sadness replace the laughter as the eleven-year-old boy lies on the ground crying for help after being shot in the back. A gun owner must have thought his life was in danger. Why else would a grown man shoot an eleven-year-old boy in the back after the child rang his doorbell? Just another day in the USA.

It is estimated that there are 83-million-gun owners in the US. Many have multiple guns. There are more guns in the US than people.

The US has more guns by far than any other nation. In fact, it is estimated that there are more guns in the US than in all the other developed nations combined. Is there something seriously wrong with that picture?

Guns are manufactured solely to hurt, maim and kill. Civilized people are supposed to act civilized. Killing other people is not what civilized people do. Granted, guns do not pull their triggers and kill people. It is people who pull the triggers on guns who kill other people.

If the killer didn’t have a gun they would find some other weapon, a stone, brick, knife, pencil, pen to assist them in killing, gun rights advocates argue.  However, it probably might be hard, much harder if the individual who fires off rounds and rounds and kills scores was left to use a stone or pen.

A child, a teen finds a gun inside their homes unaware that the gun is loaded and accidently ends up killing another child, teen or themselves. An adult who hears a strange noise outside their home. The adult reaches for a gun, adrenaline pumps through the person’s body. The adult empties the gun.

Because the person has not been to a firing range in a decade, if at all, the person hits everything but the squirrel that was the cause of the strange noise. Now the person looks down at the ground and sees a loved one or friend taking their last breath. The dying person’s blood flows freely from their body to the ground or floor creating a pool. Just another day in the USA.

Trump and Republican Congressional candidates will push the image that Washington DC, New York City, Baltimore, Los Angeles are out of control, lawless territories where crime and violence is prevalent. Crime statistics make such allegations false. That will not stop Trump and Republicans from saying it. Truth like the innocents of gun violence has been a victim for some time now.

It is also racist. However, that will not stop Trump or Republicans from saying it.

It has always been amazing that individuals who have no empathy for people who live in urban areas, who rigorously oppose programs and policies which would improve the wellbeing of people in urban areas, are the ones who seemed so preoccupied with calling out alleged violence in Chicago and other urban centers.

Do they really care about violence in particular gun violence in Chicago? Or part of some weird lame racist point supposedly directed at President Barack Obama because he lived in Chicago?

For years, the gun lobby and its supporters vigorously espoused the Second Amendment right for citizens to own guns. That American citizens need guns to prevent a hostile federal government going against We the People.

That one day there might be an evil, ungodly cabal headed by a demonic tyrant who would snatch away the citizens’ right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That would shut down longstanding institutions, debase traditions and conventions.

That would turn the government of the People, by the People for the People into a private social club that the demonic leader and his or her cabal games for their own personal enrichment.

The gun lobby and its no restrictions, no controls, gun right zealots maintained the Second Amendment was there to prevent such from occurring.

The Second Amendment to the US Constitution does not give citizens the right to own guns. Nor does it prevent it. The US Constitution is silent on the issue of individual citizens having guns.

The US Supreme Court in 2008 ruled that the Second Amendment gave individual citizens the right to own weapons. As we have seen with other US Supreme Court rules a future Court might rule differently.

As for gun rights advocates, most have no idea what the Second Amendment or any of the other Amendments to the US Constitution says since it is doubtful they have taken the time to read it. Then again, they are no different than the hundreds of millions who apparently never read the Seventh Commandment, “Thou shall not kill.” Although, it probably would not have made a difference with a lot of people. But that is another story.

What the Second Amendment states is that “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

At the time the Second Amendment was written there was no federal army. Individuals who had fought to gain independence from England using their own weapons were the militia.

When the US government established its federal army, the federal army was to serve as the well-regulated militia to prevent the rights of the people from being subverted by a future evil federal government.

Despite having a federal army, the gun lobby and its supporters maintain there is also a need for citizens to bear arms to prevent a tyranny enslaving the people.

Using the narrative of the gun lobby we can expect any day to see a majority of the 83-million-gun owners bearing arms marching on the White House and other federal buildings to prevent the current regime slithering further into a dictatorship.

With the exception of the “internet warriors” on their cell phones, iPad, laptops and computers, US gun owners are not thinking about marching anywhere but to their local beer and burger joint.

If an individual is counting on US gun owners to save the nation from tyranny, they may want to rethink that position. They have a greater chance of hitting the Powerball four consecutive draws than seeing that happening.

If Trump and others in Congress were serious about crime, violence, law and order they would enact sensible gun control measures. They would outlaw all assault and military type weapons. Require mandatory thorough and efficient background checks. Such background checks should include psychological evaluation.

If individuals are required to register their automobiles, then they should be required to register all of their guns. Owners of guns should be required to undergo regular gun training programs to both enhance their marksmanship and safety procedures.

As for shooting unarmed deer and rabbits, hunting should be outlawed. It clearly is no sport. It is uncivilized, barbaric and in conflict with the Seventh Commandment.

Thou shall not kill was not just about mankind. Not that it would make a difference since mankind has clearly been unable to follow that Commandment in dealing with itself.  God’s other creatures must wonder when humans will become civilized.

Governments at all levels in the US must do more to ensure that people in all communities feel free to sit under their fig tree and not be afraid.

Using fear tactics and false narratives about crime and violence in the 2026 election for votes should be deemed by all parties irresponsible and un-American.

Finally, Americans need to judge their society not in terms of its technological devices and advances but how we treat each other as human beings. Hurting, maiming and killing is not civilized.

America may proclaim its great technological accomplishments but the actions of its people in how they treat each other suggest that they are nothing more than cave dwellers.

Staff Writer; Al Alatunji

Question or comment regarding this article? Feel free to send a message to: Alatunji@ThyBlackMan.com.

For years Republicans pushed the narrative of the welfare queen who was beating the system by receiving welfare while riding around in a late model luxury car. The image Republicans stealthily crafted was for voters to envision a Black woman as the welfare queen taking advantage of the system and the taxpayers.

Racist yes, false yes, but extremely effective despite the fact the majority of people on welfare were whites. The image Republicans wanted voters to have in mind when they went to the polls to vote was that of the Black welfare queen cheat.

More recently, taking their cue from Trump, immigrants in particular immigrants from Latin America and Haiti were projected as barbarians coming to destroy America and its people. These Brown and Black people, a savage invading army, Blitzkrieg across open borders at the personal direction and encouragement of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump and Republicans went into overdrive shouting that message to the masses.

Savage invaders bringing guns and fentanyl to cause destruction and death to Americans. Rapists and pedophiles, Trump and Republicans maintained, recruited by Democrats and their billionaire donors to cause havoc in America. Being brought into the country again personally by President Biden and Vice President Harris to steal American jobs while raping woman and children.

It seems a lot of people truly believed it from the polls. Or was it just an excuse to cover and hide their racist and sexist desire not to vote for the Black woman?

A whole lot of American voters, Republicans, Independents and Democrats truly believed this false narrative of open borders and savage Brown and Black people flooding into the country to hurt and harm America and Americans. Trump and Republicans clearly received a grade of A+ for their creativity while receiving a F- with a red circle for honesty.

If that narrative, which was extremely effective, was not enough, Trump and Republicans decided to create the false narrative about transgender people who make up one whole percent of the population taking over schools and bathrooms across the US forcing men to become women and women to become men.

As the propagandists of the Third Reich would be only happy to point out, if you tell a lie often and loudly, the people will believe it. So, Trump and his Republicans allies stated that false narrative often and loudly. A whole lot of people believed it.

Despite Americans still dying of drug use, as if Trump and Republicans really cared about drug use in the US, now there is complete silence from Trump and Republicans about fentanyl and America’s drug problem. Did the issue magically go away or was it just another false narrative to fool the gullible?

It is understandable if there are Americans who are confused about what is really happening regarding America’s drug problem. First and foremost, America has a drug problem. It is part of its mental health problem. A problem the nation refuses to acknowledge.

Perhaps there is too much money to be made from the illicit drug industry. Nonetheless, Americans are some of the unhappiest people on the planet. That too is part of its mental health problem.

Still, it is understandable if Americans are confused. On one hand, Trump and Republicans in their One, Big, Ugly Bill Act eliminated funding for programs aimed at fighting drug and substance abuse.

On the other hand, Trump is threatening to send the US military to invade Mexico to fight the cartels. Maybe his threat was just an attempt to change the narrative away from the Epstein-Trump files?

Which brings me to the subject of the new false narrative. Trump and his Republicans minions are gearing up for the 2026 midterm elections. They need a new false narrative to run on. That new false narrative is that crime is out of control and lawlessness is rampant in various US big cities.

Trump has already deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles and recently to Washington DC. In Los Angeles, he cited lawlessness during the protest against his regime’s use of masked men to round up and detain people. In DC, his decision to use the National Guard was because of a supposed car jacketing of a federal employee.

The use of troops in big cities is something that Trump has wanted to do. Were agent provocateurs used in Los Angeles to cause trouble as an excuse to use the National Guard? Was there really a carjacking in DC?

When a person lies so much it becomes very difficult for people to believe the person when they are actually telling the truth. At the same time, governments including the US have used false flags to provide the pretense to do what they actually wanted to do.

Trump targeting Los Angeles, Washington DC, Baltimore, New York and Chicago is to be expected. Why? Because each is a city in which a majority of the residents are people of color and is headed by a Black mayor.

Los Angeles and DC in particular have a Black woman as mayor and Trump has a particular dislike of Black women. Probably because they refused to allow him to abuse and mistreat them as he was able to do with other women.

During the run up to the 2024 presidential election, Trump and Republicans flooded the airwaves with political commercials which highlighted an immigrant killing a citizen while driving. However, no mention of the hundreds of drunk driving incidents by Road Rage Nancy and Billy Boy that same day.  For the latter, it was just another day in the USA.

Similar political commercials can be expected highlighting some incident in a big city in which Nancy or Billy Boy somehow end up being a victim, real or fake.

As we inch towards 2026, we can expect the rhetoric to be constant and loud regarding crime and lawlessness in big cities. Although the reports, both local and FBI, indicate that crime in major US cities has seen a significant drop from the covid years that will not stop Trump and Republicans from voicing otherwise.

It will not stop Trump and Republicans from fabricating a false, fake and phony narrative about crime and lawlessness. They know if they say it long enough, often enough and loud enough a significant number of Americans will believe it. Trump and Republicans are counting on it.

Social scientists were very clear once it became known that the US and the world were in a world-wide pandemic what more than likely would occur based on what had happened during the 1919 Spanish Flu pandemic. They pointed out that there would be increase in crime and lawlessness, substance abuse, depression, suicides and inflation.

All those things occurred and were in response to the pandemic. So, crime went up everywhere, not just big cities. However, crime and lawlessness have returned to pre-covid numbers. Nevertheless, that will not stop Trump and his Republican flunkies from blatantly lying to the American people about crime and lawlessness.

At the same time, to be fair, crime and lawlessness have increased significantly in the US since January 2025. It is being directed out of the White House by the biggest criminal to step foot inside the Oval Office. If anyone knows about crime and lawlessness it is the crime master, Donald J. Trump.

Staff Writer; Al Alatunji

Question or comment regarding this article? Feel free to send a message to: Alatunji@ThyBlackMan.com.

Their support for impeachment will not be due to Trump’s embarrassment of America to the world. It will not be because he has shown himself to be totally incompetent.

It will not be because he has forced people around the world to have a less than favorable view of America and Americans. It will not be due to his lies, indecency and evilness.

Nor will it be as a result of seeing the images of children starving and dying due to his immoral, inhumane and evil actions eliminating needed humanitarian assistance to the less fortunate. On seeing longtime neighbors and workers they had befriended over the years being rounded up by masked men and placed into detention cages and centers.

It will not be because Trump is a conman, convicted felon, racist, xenophobia and misogynist. There were enough people who were willing to completely overlook those character faults and make him the face of America. None of those things will matter.

What will matter however is if their 401ks and stock portfolios crater due to his gross economic mismanagement of the economy. That enough people are compelled to decide which one of the three they will be able to afford between food, air conditioning/heat and medicine.

What will matter is that he will have forced millions of Americans into a worse financial situation than they were in prior to his second disastrous term .

That they see their butter, bread and beer continue to rise to the point that it becomes too costly to continue to watch their favorite programs and shows on cable and streaming networks.

Democrats will be expected to proceed with impeachment and convict Trump on treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” High crimes and misdemeanors are not defined in the US Constitution.

Stupidity may or may not pass the smell test. But bribery, treason, sedition, election fraud, gross corruption and moral turpitude might be likely if his past history is any indication.

However, Democrats might want to take a page from the Republican Party playbook. They might want to follow in their footsteps and place the party before the people and partisan power before patriotism and principles.

Instead of impeaching Trump, Democratic leaders would offer him a deal that he will not want to refuse. It would require him to sign all legislation passed by the Democratic controlled House and Senate that would reverse everything that he did the first two years. Everything, every program removed, every person fired, every agency and department eliminated, and every dollar withheld would be reinstated.

Trump is all about the deal. He is not an ideologue. He is a chameleon and would have no hesitation keeping his end of the deal if it meant not going to jail.

He could remain in office and continue to bumble, stumble and fumble. Continue to remain America’s clown prince to the world.

He would remain visible in the public eye and a reminder of why things were as they were. Establishment Republicans, the few that still existed, might give thought about reclaiming the Republican Party from MAGA. However, that thought would quickly be retired. There would be no profiles in courage.

Trump remaining in the White House would be an albatross on Republican Congressional candidates in 2028 as well as the party’s nominee for president. They would probably secretly wish that the Democrats had impeached him.

MAGA would be disappointed if Trump did a 180 and became Trump the Democrat again. Disappointed, but not surprised. Many have always been suspicious of Trump. His past contributions to Democratic candidates and officials. His lack of positions and floating positions. His New York City connection and lifestyle.

Democrats would have the desire and be pressured to hold various investigations into possible wrongdoing by Trump and his flunkies. Understandable, but not the correct course to take.

After taking control of both houses, Democrats should remain laser focused night and day on measures to reverse everything Trump and the former Republican control Congress had enacted.

With the deal Democrats would give Trump he would be only too pleased to place his signature on that legislation. There probably will be quite a few Republicans who survived a 2026 blue tsunami who would join Democrats in passing such measures.

Democrats should not make Trump the campaign issue in 2026. Restoring those programs and funding that Americans had lost should be the entire focus of the  campaign.

As for revenge, Trump will be only too busy throwing Republican House and Senate leaders as well as his only cabinet members under the bus for the country’s social and economic malaise. That has been his history, and a leopard does not change its spots.

At the same time, MAGA will be only too busy in a civil war. Democrats need not concern themselves with it.

On the other hand, Democrats might move forward with impeachment allowing JD Vance to become president. He would be able to run for the office in 2028 as president. He would probably be viewed as presidential. However, that would not be hard after Trump.

Vance may be green but  he is no fool, no siree. True, he is a chameleon like Trump and does not seem to have any problem changing his positions. Nevertheless, many would find it refreshing to no longer have Trump sucking up all the oxygen in the room.

Vance however would be handed a political grenade whether he does or does not pardon Donald Trump. He would anger MAGA if he didn’t. It would unite for a moment all the warring factions within MAGA to turn their knives on him.

If he did pardon Trump his political career would be over. Either way he would be in a no-win situation.

Vance would be left to spend his time hanging out with Mike Pence. Both wondering how things might have turned out if they had not taken Trump’s telephone call.

Staff Writer; Al Alatunji

Question or comment regarding this article? Feel free to send a message to: Alatunji@ThyBlackMan.com.