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DICTATOR CHIC

I simply couldn’t let the President’s destruction of the East Wing to make way for an imperial 90,000 square foot "Big Balls" Room that will dwarf and trivialize the White House go by without a snarky blog post.   Let the tackiness begin! I would call the style of the gilded-by-Home-Depot cartouches that now festoon the Oval Office,    the convention-center-sized "Big Balls" Room soon-to-be under construction,   and the proposed (but you know he’ll build it) Arc de Trump , dictator chic.   Sadly, I can’t claim to have coined that bon mot .   It’s an iteration of Peter York’s term “dictator style.” Who is Peter York, you might ask?   According to this article , he is a cutting British culture critic who dishes with the finest faience : Peter York is best known for his astute and acerbic observations about British culture and life. For more than 40 years, he has drawn on his background in market research to spot and analyse trends and tribes, from the Sl...
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NO KINGS

The handmade sign below is the sign I will carry today, October 18, 2025, at the No Kings rally in front of the American Embassy at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, a city that knows a thing or two about fascism and men who abuse with impunity those who cannot protect themselves.       Keep it real and keep the faith! Marilyn
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IN CASE OF EMERGENCY BREAK GLASS

A vocal critic of Benito Mussolini, Antonio Gramsci, Italian philosopher and politician,  was imprisoned for his political views in 1926; he remained in prison until shortly before his death in 1937.   From his cell, he wrote the  Prison Letters in which he famously said, “I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will."   In this time of upheaval, when the post-World War II world order is dying, a new world order is being born, and monsters roam the earth, it is from Gramsci's dual perspective that I write this post.    I will be brief. Th e window to oppose America’ s headlong rush into authoritarianism at home and neo-imperialism abroad by congressional or judicial means has closed.   Law firms, universities, businesses, the press, media, foundations, and individuals alike who have been deemed "insufficiently aligned" with the Administration's agenda, have been intimidated into submission by frivolous lawsuits, expe...
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“I COULDN’T CARE LESS”

Two days after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, President Trump made a previously-scheduled appearance on Fox & Friends, where he announced the arrest of the gunman, which arrest he said had occurred just moments before.   As reported by ABC News , “ Trump was asked [by co-host Ainsley Earhardt] about the presence of radical individuals on both sides of the aisle and how it can be fixed to bring the country together. ”   You can watch the Fox & Friends clip here:   https://www.foxnews.com/video/6379207542112 . Here is a transcript of the exchange between Ms. Earhardt and the President: “Because we have radicals on the right as well. We have radicals on the left. People have gotten [sic] are watching all of these videos and cheering. Some people are cheering that Charlie was, was killed. How do we fix this country? How do we come back together?" co-host Ainsley Earhardt asked the president. "I'll tell you something that's going to get me in trouble, but...
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