According to humorist Andy Borowitz, “Sarah Palin’s tenure as the dumbest person to set foot in the state of Alaska came to an abrupt end on Friday. Speaking to reporters, the former governor was philosophical about losing her crown of idiocy, declaring, ‘I had a good run.’ Watching the newly-minted king of stupid ramble incoherently at a press conference in Anchorage, Palin observed, ‘Whoa — now there’s a moron!’ As for how he clinched the title, Palin opined, ‘Even I know the difference between Alaska and Russia.'” This was in reference to President Trump, twice, telling reporters that he had scheduled a meeting — or perhaps, President Putin had scheduled a meeting — in Russia. Of course, we all know that it took place in Anchorage, Alaska at Elmendorf AFB — former Russian territory…oops! On Monday, following the Alaskan disaster, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that following his meeting with eight European leaders, including Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, he planned to speak again with Russia’s Putin, prompting a CNN commentator to speculate that it was a prearranged discussion to get Russian approval for any future planning. Global affairs analyst, Kimberly Dozier on CNN with Boris Sanchez, said, “The fact that he feels he’s got to check in with Putin right away, as the meeting is taking place, and being told that no NATO ground troops will be acceptable, makes it feel like Trump needs Putin’s approval in a way that’s got to be very disturbing to Zelensky. But Zelensky is a good actor. He’s playing it cool. He’s not biting on any to the questions he got. Hopefully the European officials will tell Trump that it’s time to put ‘troops on the ground’ inside Ukraine and that it’s not Vladimir Putin’s business.”

Trump was denied being able to call the Anchorage meeting ‘historic’ — just take a look at the faces of the US entourage as they met with reporters, and at the boldness of Putin as he addressed the press. Maybe they all got to view the ‘golden showers’ videos? At any rate, Putin turned the screws, coming out with the victor’s gold medal on that meetup, leaving Ukraine in limbo again, and the Nobel Peace Prize firmly locked away in Oslo. As Nicholas Grossman said, “The reason there’s a Nobel Peace Prize in the first place is because peace is hard,” something Trump can never comprehend. With Putin’s refusal to allow Zelensky to attend the meeting, “even the ghost of Neville Chamerlain and Vidkun Quisling are blushing,” said David Shuster of MSNBC, “And, this is not diplomacy. It is not even buffoonery. It is straight up betrayal.” Trump describes his Russian idol as a “man of strength,” but as Shuster says, “Strength to bomb hospitals, kidnap children and send your own troops into a meat grinder. To Trump, morality is a nuisance, history is a fog, and truth is an inconvenience, at best. A meeting about peace that excludes Ukraine is as rational as a trial without a victim, or a wedding without a bride.” The danger is that Trump doesn’t see Putin’s smooth talk as manipulation or strategy — he only hears affirmation which allows him to revisit old political wounds, as Putin directs this theatrical production — with Trump’s ego taking precedence over reality and our national well-being. Trump biographer, Michael Wolff, says, “He’s going to sacrifice Ukraine for Epstein. Essentially, this is, in his mind, a trade.” Wolff reminds us that it is the MAGAs who are pressing the Epstein issue constantly — they are the threat. “The Epstein drumbeat is real. It is unceasing and it is threatening, most of all, to Donald Trump,” said Wolff.

John Jameson Gould wrote on The Signal website: “Earlier in the week, the American president’s performance in his federal takeover of Washington, DC’s police force had comparable aspects: dramatic announcements, National Guard deployments, press conference slogans: ‘This is Liberaton Day in DC!’ — never mind what the crime statistics said. Seems there’s a lot of stagecraft going on these days. Which might strike you as a curious approach to statecraft — or at least one that’s curiously particular to Donald Trump — and recognizably exasperating to his many haters.” Trump would undoubtedly prefer that Tennessee’s Representative Andy Ogles call the shots for the president’s tenure, who said basically that Trump should be given a hall pass to do as he wants. Posting on X, Ogles wrote, “Give Trump a third term, give him the Peace Prize, and let him run DC as long as he wants.” Republicans Against Trump asked X’s AI bot, Grok, what was wrong with Ogles’ statement, bringing forth this answer: “The tweet proposes unconstitutional actions: a third term violates the 22nd Amendment’s two-term limit. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by the Norwegian Committee, not ‘given’ by the US. Allowing indefinite rule undermines democracy and the Constitution.” Should Elon and The Donald become conversant once again, we can bet the president will ask Elon to set Grok straight on the issues. Trump has steadily pounded the electorate about a third term, even selling ‘Trump 2028‘ merchandise in his grifting operation, but only to needle his opposition…so he says.

The crackdown on crime in DC is the latest Trump project, being touted as a success by the president, and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who takes center stage on the issues of immigration, border security, and culture wars. Trump’s federal takeover by sending in National Guard troops to define his legacy, also sees Miller working to make his own mark, shaping and driving the message that the nation’s capital will be safe again, all the while railing against other Democratic mayors that their cities are on the list for the same treatment, with Chicago named as the next victim. Meeting with troops at DC’s Union Station, VP Vance, Defense Secretary Hegseth and Miller heaped criticism on those protesting the federal occupation, with Miller calling them “stupid white hippies,” in his diatribe against “crazy Democrats screeching on TV on behalf of foreign terrorists, hardened criminals and violent illegal aliens.” The White House reported that 2,300 federal law enforcement worked in DC on one Thursday night, with the number of personnel increasing by a few hundred daily — most sent by Red State governors. By Friday, 719 arrests had been made as part of the operation, 300 of which were non-legal migrants with a smattering of known gang members.

Alex Gangitano of The Hill, reports that one area of success for Miller is his messaging approach to DC’s homeless problem. A former Trump aide said of the situation, “For years, cities like Wasington, DC treated homelessness as a housing affordability problem, which pushed the idea that living on the street was an acceptable alternative so long as civil liberties were preserved. What we’re seeing Miller do is flip that script. His message is that the real crisis is driven by drug abuse, mental illness, and criminal activity, and that is why there is broad support for moving people indoors and into treatment.” DC residents aren’t supportive of the ‘anticrime’ push, with a Washington Post survey finding 69% of those polled “strongly” in opposition, and 10% “somewhat” opposed. “Communists,” said Miller in his protester bashing, “All these demonstrators, elderly white hippies are not part of the city and never have been. And by the way, most of the citizens who live in Washington, DC are Black. So we’re going to ignore these stupid white hippies that all need to go home and take a nap because they’re all over 90 years old.” Dozen of homeless encampments have been removed, illegal firearms seized, and many of the migrants have been arrested for additional crimes or having outstanding warrants and convictions. Gangitano quotes a source saying, “A lot of what Miller talks about resonates with the debate. There’s alignment there, so it’s reinforcing. And I think Trump very much likes to get the roar of the crowd. If it seems like it’s something that’s going to drive is base, then he dives headfirst.” Former US Senator Claire McCaskill believes that Stephen Miller is actually running the whole show for Trump, which has resulted in White House staffers complaining that Miller is always on the phone spouting his directives. Heads up Chicago, Los Angeles and Baltimore!

Ben Meiselas writes on MeidasTouch, “Trump is getting more desperate by the day. His approval is collapsing. He is the most unpopular president in history. He is accelerating his authoritarian tactics. The latest reports are that he is planning a military invasion of Illinois with active-duty armed forces and the National Guard. Trump is too afraid to confront America’s actual enemies, like Russia. Instead, at press conferences, he holds photos of himself and Putin in the Oval Office, that Putin sent him. Trump would rather invade Blue States that don’t have a military, or pick on marginalized communities instead of actually showing strength. That’s where we are as a country.” Michael Cohen, also on MeidasTouch, writes, “Illinois governor JB Pritzker was quick to cut through the spin, calling the proposed deployment a ‘manufactured crisis.’ He’s right. There is no emergency that justifies military involvement in Chicago. Crime is not spiraling out of control. Local law enforcement has not asked for assistance. Yet the president is pressing forward, because the goal isn’t safety; it’s spectacle. By painting Democratic-led cities as lawless ‘hellholes,’ he positions himself as the singular force capable of restoring order. It’s political theater, except the props here are armed troops and the backdrop is one of America’s great cities.” Chicago’s Mayor Johnson warns that federal troops on his streets could undo fragile progress in community relations and potentially inflame tensions. Cohen sees this warning as fact — not alarmism, in his belief that armed troops in civilian locations has never de-escalated a situation, almost always heightening the risk of confrontation. Especially for Chicago where the mistrust between residents and the police is longstanding, the risk is profound; if Johnson sounds worried, it’s because he has every reason to be.

Troops sent to Washington, DC were initially unarmed, but our macho Defense Secretary has seen to it that weapons were issued — an escalation that leaves little margin for error. It only takes one misunderstanding, one panicked reaction, to result in tragedy. Michael Cohen is concerned about Trump’s threat that he “may” declare a national emergency which would give him authority to keep troops in place indefinitely, sidestepping Congress, overriding local leadership, and normalizing use of military force in governance — rewriting the rules altogether. If any city doesn’t align with the White House politically, that city is rebranded as having a public safety crisis, a potential target for a troop invasion. “Polls already show that residents of DC overwhelmingly oppose the current deployment. Local leaders point to long-term declines in crime rates, evidence that contradicts the administrations’s claim of chaos. And yet, these objections are brushed aside. That dismissal should trouble all of us, because it underscores how little local input matters once the machinery of federal power is in motion. If you think local democracy is safe in that environment, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you — and real cheap,” says Cohen. He says it’s questionable whether Trump can legally justify his actions, but the issue is the slow erosion of democratic norms since the military is designed to protect us from foreign threats, not to police Americans. The lines blur, democracy weakens, and with Trump opening that door, it is nearly impossible to close, with future leaders succumbing to the same power moves. And it is about power, not law and order; it’s governance by intimidation, spectacle, and a dangerous rehearsal for authoritarian rule that risks dismantling democracy itself.

As if the federal takeover of DC wasn’t enough, according to Rachel Kahn of The New Republic, Trump wants to “beautify” the city — turning it into a resort? Giving him esthetic control will surely result in the garishness we see in the Oval Office or Mar-a-Lago — not a pretty picture! The president wants to repave the streets and update the lampposts within a three-mile radius of the Capitol Building, as he claims, “It’s gonna be beautiful, all those lightbulbs — you see the poles, they’re rusting and they’ve got different lenses on top, if you look. We’re going to have this place beautified.” He speculates that his redecoration plan would require approval by Congress of a $2 billion expenditure; however, House Republicans have yet to restore the $1 billion city funds they blocked earlier, because the city budget doesn’t align with the conservative agenda. But just imagine gold-plated lampposts, and manicured city parks resembling his golf courses! Trump brags, “I’m very good at grass because I have a lot of golf courses all over the place. I know more about grass than any human being, I think, anywhere in the world, and we’re going to be re-grassing all of your parks…it’l look like Augusta. It’ll look like, more important, Trump National Golf Club — that’s even better.” Mar-a-Lago on the Potomac!

Last Monday, as Trump signed executive orders in the Oval Office, he whined that people were up in arms after he suggested Chicago was up next for deployment of National Guardsmen. Not everyone in Chicago was unhappy with his plan, he claimed, saying, “A lot of people are saying ‘Maybe we’d like a dictator.'” He quickly said, “I don’t like a dictator, I’m not a dictator. I’m a man with great common sense, and I’m a smart person.” Edith Olmstead of The New Republic writes, “It’s not clear that there is any meaningful difference between a dictator, and a leader pleasing the people who are asking for one. What is apparent, however, is that Trump’s plan to move federal forces to other American cities is so unpopular that he’s concocting consent for tyranny as a means to justify it. Crucially, Trump gets closer to becoming a dictator everyday. On Monday, he signed an executive order which would criminalize flag burning, and act of political expression protected by the First Amendment, claiming that it incited riots. If Trump truly believed that inciting a riot earns you a year in prison, then the president himself is well overdue for a stint behind bars.”

Marco Margaritoff of HuffPost points to a comment made by Bill Maher, host of ‘Real Time,’ that Trump might be planning another ‘slow-moving coup.’ Maher had predicted an attempted power grab by Trump during his first term, but the recent DC deployment of the National Guard and federalization of the local police to combat the purported “bedlam” has revived his speculation. He said his first mention of the “slow-moving coup” brought laughter, especially when he predicted Trump would never concede his power. “They would say, ‘Oh, you smoke too much pot,'” he remembers, and adds, “Well, turned out I was smoking just the right amount of pot,” and calling out those people as being in a trance. “If there was a slow-moving coup, let me just describe some of the steps and you tell me if I’m being paranoid,” said Maher. “First, create a masked police force — get people used to looking at that. Normalize snatching people off the street — get them used to that. Normalize seeing the National Guard and the military on the street. Then, start talking about crime in the capital, which is basically, you know, has always been a fairly crime-ridden city, but this is our nation’s capital — where elections are decided. So, when an election dispute might come up, just hypothetically….” as he trailed off into the uneasy studio laughter. Maher suffered criticism for dining with Trump in March, describing the president as “gracious and measured,” and now, not wanting to be “a big pessimist, I’m going to pretend for the rest of the duration that the Democrats do have a chance of winning, and they might win the next election.” But having said that, he throws out the warning, “I just don’t think they’re ever going to take power, because this is what’s going to happen. I think THIS coup is going off a lot smoother that the last one.”

Greg Sargent writes in The New Republic regarding the FBI raid on the home of Trump’s former associate, John Bolton: “Whatever we end up learning about the rationale for the FBI’s early morning raid on former national security adviser John Bolton’s Bethesda, Maryland home on Friday, there’s plainly a major escalation underway in President Donald Trump’s use of law enforcement to persecute his perceived enemies and entrench his authoritarian power. Consider the pattern: The targeting of Bolton, a major critic of Trump, appears to have been personally authorized by Kash Patel. An apparently official leak to the New York Post deliberately underscored Patel’s involvement, probably to make sure it’s understood by Trump’s other enemies.” Others on Trump’s enemies list include Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Whatever happens with Bolton, we should keep focused on the unmistakeable broader pattern — the escalation of law enforcement and military to target critics and consolidate power. MAGA leaders are openly declaring that the specter of state violence will be used to intimidate voters in urban strongholds, and the president’s manufacturing of fake pretexts for all of it is growing bolder and more unconstrained. Sargent asks, “Do we get to call it fascism yet?”