Trump's Bravado on Full Display on 60 Minutes

A sitting president enjoys many perks of office, from use of Air Force One to free Washington, D. C., residency at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, to unfettered access to anyone in America if not the world. But a most cherished perk, as demonstrated by Donald Trump for some 75 minutes Sunday night on “60 Minutes Overtime,” is the ability to ramble on, to filibuster, to conflate reality with falsehoods, to denigrate opponents, to inflate accomplishments and reject criticism, without fear of interruption or correction (https://share.google/cuR5gsIUSwZlvwiq9). 

Trump scored 75 minutes of free propaganda. Norah O’Donnell tried to ask probing questions, but her deference to the office of the president, and Trump’s everything-but-the-kitchen-sink responses made the interview an extended commercial for Trumpism. 

Even easy retorts to his contention that the 2020 election was rigged—that more than 60 judges, including Republican jurists,  found no such reality—and that Trump has promised a better healthcare plan than Obamacare for more than a decade without releasing any details, and that ICE raids have failed to seize dangerous illegal immigrants but have gone after hard working, productive, long-time undocumented family members with no criminal records, and that he was wrong to say the inflation rate under Joe Biden was the highest in our history (it was higher in the 1970s-1980s), hardly escaped her lips, and when they did he rejected the counterpoints. 

CBS chose not to simultaneously fact check Trump’s numerous exaggerations, obfuscations and fantasies. Perhaps the White House insisted it would not do the interview if it were fact checked as he spoke. 

I like Norah O’Donnell. But she was overmatched because Trump chose to dominate, not interact. You get to do that when you’re president. Norah was not there to debate. There was no independent commission setting ground rules. 

Trump repeated his favorite talking points from staged events, time and again circling back on attacks that have been debunked while praising actions that have many independent observers worried they have destabilized our constitutional republic and our economy. 

By their nature, politicians are rarely humble. In that respect, Trump is an uber-politician. His extreme bravado was on full display Sunday night.

Seventh Game World Series Memories

The seemingly forever baseball season which began March 27 ends tonight with the ultimate game between the champions of the American and National Leagues, respectively the Toronto Blue Jays and the defending 2024 World Series victor, the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Have you ever attended the seventh and deciding game of a World Series? 

I have. In 1975. In Fenway Park as the Boston Red Sox tried to end the curse of the Bambino that had suffocated them and their fans since the team sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1919. 

On that night in 1975 I was sitting along the third base line with John Membrino, a fellow reporter on The New Haven Register, courtesy of comp tickets from our sports department. John was an ardent Bosox fan. As a lifelong New York Yankees fan I was not. I kept my prejudice to myself as the game against the Cincinnati Reds proceeded. 

 

A cherished edifice of Beantown architecture, Fenway is a bandbox of a ballpark where fans sit so close to the action they feel they can almost touch the players. John and I sat along the third base line, in the lower, covered deck. It was the night after the Red Sox had triumphed in what some people argue was the best World Series game ever, a contest tied in the bottom of the eighth by a three-run home run by Bernie Carbo and won four innings later by a solo shot over the Green Monster down the left field line by Carlton Fisk, a home run forever immortalized in film by Fisk’s willing the ball to stay fair to give Boston a 7-6 victory and a chance to win its first championship in 57 years. (Some might equally argue that the third game of this year’s series, won by Los Angeles in the bottom of the 18th inning via a walk-off home run by Freddie Freeman, topped that 1975 epic, though Fisk’s physical antics surpassed Freeman’s exuberance.)

Despite the exhilaration from the night before, Boston fans, including my friend John, seemed to me to carry an air of resignation on their shoulders, even after the home team took an early 3-0 lead. They seemed to be waiting for someone to foul up, to make the error that opened the floodgates for the Big Red Machine. 

Sure enough, in the sixth inning, second baseman Denny Doyle, a mid-season acquisition based on his defensive skills, made his second error of the game, a miscue that prolonged a Cincinnati at bat. Tony Perez promptly made Boston pay by smacking a two-run homer. From then on the home town crowd’s emotional support never revived. Like prisoners waiting for their turn before the firing squad, the fans waited patiently for the coup de grace. Cincy scored single runs in the seventh and ninth innings to win the game and Series, 4-3.

With the exception of Reds players and their families, I probably was among the few fans to leave Fenway a happy fellow that night. I don’t like the Boston Red Sox. My only regret is I could not openly express my feelings. I’m not stupid, after all. No way would I openly cheer against the home team in Fenway.

If there’s another team that ranks among my despised, it is the Dodgers. I grew up in Brooklyn, but unlike my brother who rooted for the Dodgers, I followed my mother’s devotion to the Yankees, though she also liked the New York Giants (she did, after all, grow up in the Bronx and Manhattan). I was a mere lad of six when “Dem Bums” of Brooklyn beat my Yankees to cop their first crown. 

I was a more devoted, older fan when Sandy Koufax, seen cheering on the Dodgers during this year’s telecasts, began the 1963 series by striking out five straight Yankees including Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris enroute to a 15 strikeout, complete game win, the first of a four game sweep by Los Angeles. Of course, last year’s Yankee loss to the Dodgers also did not sit well with me.

I have another regret, not tied to the Red Sox or the Dodgers, but to baseball in general. My business travels took me to every major league city. I regret not watching a game in each ball park. Too late now.

Only one other time did I possess a ticket to the seventh game of a World Series. It was in 1998. Yankees vs. the San Diego Padres. My employer had four season tickets to Yankees games which accorded the right to purchase two additional seats. As our son, Dan, was celebrating his 20th birthday during the week the series was being played, I asked company president Roger Friedman for two tickets to the seventh game. Roger agreed. I mailed the tickets to Dan at school. He was thrilled. The Yankees, however, finished off the Padres in four games. Dan had to mail back the tickets for Roger to obtain a refund, but I still scored points for the thoughtful gift. 

In the Heartland, No Kings Royally Received

Gilda and I flew to the center of the country last week to participate in a No Kings demonstration Saturday protesting Donald Trump’s autocratic tendencies and actions. 

Well, in truth, we flew to Omaha to spend a week with daughter Ellie and grandchildren Cecilia Jane and Leo. 

Deep in red conservative middle America-Trumpland, Omaha is a blue dot oasis. Aside from the main protest site near the downtown, anti-Trumpers lined main thoroughfares waving signs and eliciting approving car horn blasts. In Turner Park thousands gathered to hear and cheer a slew of speakers blasting Trump’s anti-democratic actions. 

Perhaps the best way to convey their themes is to quote some of their handmade placards and display some photos: 

“Free the national guard”

“Hate will not make us great”

“At second Unitarian Church, we love our neighbors: immigrants, LGBTQ, of color, with disabilities, of all and any faiths”

“No faux king way”

“I’ve seen smarter cabinets at Ikea”

“Silence fuels injustice”

“Health care not wealth care”

“This is not left or right, this is right or wrong”

“Masked police are secret police”

“If you are not outraged you are not paying attention”

From three women dressed in Handmaids’ red capes and white bonnets to a gold-plated Trump-faced giant chicken, here are some of my favorite visuals: 

Trump and Wilson: Peacemakers and Racists

Donald Trump is stretching the limits of domestic abhorrence, even as he receives accolades for a much hoped for, yet previously elusive, cease fire between Israel and Hamas. It is still too early to pronounce his achievement as ever-lasting, for there have been ceasefires in the past that disintegrated from the enmity of the aggrieved and religiously zealous, on both sides of the conflict. But if all the hostages, alive and dead, are returned, and Palestinians are successful in shaking off the repressive rule of Hamas, he is to be commended for exercising the power of the United States in a positive manner. 

Trump must be salivating at the prospect of his being a frontrunner for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. Four previous U.S. presidents received the award: Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 for negotiating an end to the Russo-Japanese War; Woodrow Wilson in 1920 for working to end World War I and creating the League of Nations (which the Senate refused to enter); Jimmy Carter in 2002 for his work toward “peaceful solutions to international conflicts (including peace between Israel and Egypt), advancing democracy and human rights, and promoting economic and social development;” and Barack Obama, in 2009 for working to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation. In addition, former vice president Al Gore in 2007 received the Nobel Peace Prize for expanding knowledge about climate change.

For his part, Trump has been a less than enthusiastic cheerleader for the work of the United Nations, the successor international forum for the League of Nations. And he has been vocal in rejecting scientific truth about climate change. 

Wilson has enjoyed historic credits for his espousal of the League of Nations and his advocacy of a 14 point peace program. After cutting excessive tariffs, he initiated the income tax system and the Federal Reserve System. He supported creation of the Federal Trade Commission and passage of the Clayton Antitrust Act, among other progressive actions by his administration.

But as a son of the South, raised in Virginia by parents who were supporters of slavery and the Confederacy, Wilson held segregationist principles. As president of Princeton University, he discouraged admitting black students. When elected president of the United States he drastically cut back appointments of blacks to administration positions, resulting in dramatic reduction in the growth of the black middle class in Washington. He allowed Jim Crow laws to flourish within the federal bureaucracy. He countenanced and further enabled the segregation of the armed forces.  

Like Wilson, Trump has been eviscerating black representation in civil service, military and administration jobs. Trump’s world view for peace—his repetitive listing of wars he has ended, some real, some imagined—does not manifest itself in the image he projects domestically. He spars with Democratic mayors, many of whom are Afro-Americans in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia. 

He has removed black leaders from military commands, from educational institutions and from government boards and commissions (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/us/politics/black-leaders-trump.html?smid=url-share). 

If he were only able to control the demeans of revenge within his psyche and within his zombie-like followers, Trump would ease much of the angst half of the country feels toward him. Barring his execution of a coup toppling our democracy (feared by many of his detractors), Trump and the country would be better served if he sought compromise and comity with Democrats. Keep in mind, we have three more years of his legitimate gold-plated residency in the White House. 

Two years ago Hamas turned one of the most joyous days of the Jewish calendar, Simchat Torah, the joy of Torah, into a day of unspeakable tragedy. It is fitting that the hostages, at least the living ones, will be brought home two days before this year’s Simchat Torah. Tears of joy will replace tears of sadness. But celebration will be tinged with memories of relatives and friends lost forever and lamentations for the thousands of innocents killed in a war started and fueled by extremism. 

***No A.I. was used in the writing and editing of this post. The only intelligence employed was my own.*** 

I Swallowed a Camera Monday Morning

That’s right, I swallowed a camera Monday morning. 

The size of a large multi-vitamin pill, the camera traveled eight hours to regions of my gastrointestinal tract not reachable by the routine endoscopy and colonoscopy (e/c) procedures I underwent months ago. 

As my doctor explained, those procedures only explored the outer portions of their respective entry points into the convoluted world of my intestines. The pill-camera, on the other hand, would navigate its way down, up and around the full 25-30 feet of intestines. In my case it was searching for any signs I was dripping blood anywhere, which might explain why I am slightly anemic despite eating a healthy diet and have not shown any blood during my e/c exams. 

Developed in Israel, the PillCam is another example of Israeli technology making our world easier and safer. Think Waze. Exploding beepers and walkie-talkies. USB flash drives. Drip irrigation systems. Iron Dome missile defense system, to cite just a small sample of Israeli know-how used in peacetime and war. 

For eight hours PillCam bobbed and weaved, tumbling along taking pictures at the rate of two to six frames per second inside my body, causing no discomfort (for revelations, if any, I’ll have to await the doctor doing what Warner Wolf used to say during his sportscasts, “Let’s go to the videotape,” probably by week’s end). 

The PillCam SB 3 capsule is about the size of a Costco brand adult daily multi-vitamin pill. It’s smooth on the outside with a clear dome on one end encasing a light and camera that wirelessly sent pictures to a recorder I wore on a sling next to my right hip (https://www.medtronic.com/en-us/healthcare-professionals/products/digestive-gastrointestinal/capsule-endoscopy/endoscopy-systems/pillcam-sb-3-capsule-endoscopy-system.html). 

Twenty-four hours prior to swallowing the PillCam at 8:30 am I was allowed no solid food (a perfect tune-up for Yom Kippur). The only other prep was drinking a 10 oz. bottle of magnesium citrate at 6 pm Sunday. Yes, the expected flushing of the system transpired, but not as intensely as for a colonoscopy. 

A light meal—two poached eggs and a toasted English muffin—broke my fast at 12:30 pm Tuesday. I was back to eating a regular diet by evening. Good thing, as I had lost about five pounds in the process. 

By the way, for those interested, the PillCam self-disposes like everything else one ingests. 

Hard-Fought Rights Could Be Lost

Clarence Thomas believes Supreme Court decisions are not set in stone. They are not “gospel.” They can be overturned. So everyone, stop citing precedent or stare decisis when theorizing how today’s Supreme Court, or any Supreme Court will rule, he opined Thursday (https://share.google/MGlGRVrXIh7TxnYGj).

You know he’s right about decisions not being forever gospel. After all, the Dred Scott decision of 1857 denying a black man’s right to be a citizen was invalidated by the North’s Civil War victory followed by passage of constitutional amendments ending slavery, granting birthright citizenship and extending voting rights to black citizens.  

Thomas’ no-binding precedent belief even applies to decisions he and his fellow conservatives made just a few years ago. When Joe Biden was president they struck down his actions giving financial relief to millions with college debt. The justices said a president could not unilaterally invalidate a program passed by Congress. Yet, when Donald Trump repeatedly has eviscerated congressional programs the conservative majority has allowed his actions to stand. 

So, don’t be too secure that the rights of LGBTQ couples to marry will continue to be nationally recognized, or that couples of different races could continue to legally marry in all 50 states and territories, or that the right to engage in private homosexual activity is guaranteed in the Constitution. Or that the availability of contraception is legally guaranteed. 

Scary, huh? You betcha! 

But that’s what Thomas and like-minded conservatives believe. Nothing is guaranteed unless specifically stated in the Constitution and its amendments. Even those amendments may be interpreted differently in the present age versus the last century and a half, as we may discover when the conservative majority on the court weighs in on the validity of birthright citizenship that Donald Trump wants to eliminate. 

There’s at least one long-shot silver lining to this world Thomas has imagined, if not in actual word, in contemplation, at the very least. Future courts might review the sweeping powers granted to a sitting president by the current Roberts supremes. A more progressive court might restore appropriate checks and balances to our government. 

I know, it’s a long shot. It would require an extraordinary president willing to cede back powers Trump has been granted by a pliant Supreme Court majority. Electing such a president will be increasingly difficult given the Electoral College tipping more and more to the right. 

But “hope springs eternal,” the saying goes.  

 

Ramblings About iPhone Pain, Funding for Public Broadcasting, Unequal Justice, Hispanic Heritage

I think I have enlarged-iPhoneitis (at least that’s what I’m calling it). 

About two months ago I reluctantly traded up from an iPhone SE to an iPhone 16E. The 16E is more powerful, but it also is slightly larger in length (+.33”), width (+.17”) and depth (+0.1”). 

Now, those dimensions do not seem overwhelmingly different. But to my hand, they must, as my left abductor pollicis brevis (the tendon on the outer portion on the palm-side of the hand) hurts after holding my iPhone. Gilda, as well, incurred this injury when she traded up to a larger iPhone months before I did.  

I wonder how many other iPhone users have silently suffered the same fate. 

Calling All Billionaires: Donald Trump stripped $500 million from public broadcasting’s budget. Are there no multi-billionaires with enough intelligence and heart willing to step up and donate sufficient funds to keep information broadcast lifelines alive? 

Yes, I know each year another infusion of cash might be needed until the crisis surrounding public broadcasting is resolved. But the need is great and immediate (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/us/politics/public-broadcasting-cuts.html?smid=url-share).

All Talk, No Action: Trumpsters in Congress are all talk, no action. 

Sure they privately lament Donald Trump’s imposing his will on them, castrating their power of the purse, defanging their right to advise and consent appointments, but when it comes time to vote for or against Trump they act like the eunuchs he has turned them into. Sound bites come from a mouth with no teeth. 

Four doctors in the Senate had a chance to block Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from becoming Secretary of Health and Human Services. They accepted his word he wouldn’t disrupt health care, that he wouldn’t mess with inoculations. 

They are all Republicans: John Barrasso (WY), an orthopedic surgeon; Bill Cassidy (LA), a gastroenterologist and hepatologist; Roger Marshall (KS), an obstetrician/gynecologist; and Rand Paul )KY), an ophthalmologist. 

The American Medical Association should strip them of their professional credentials. They violated the most basic tenet of a physician—do no harm. By confirming Kennedy they have endangered millions.  

Unequal Justice: The Supreme Court has given Trump virtual carte blanche to disregard congressionally approved programs, to scrap them as part of his executive authority. But when President Joe Biden tried to relieve millions from their onerous college tuition debt the Supremes said he could not override a congressional program. 

How blatantly biased can they be? Shame on the conservative majority for bending their knee to Trump and making a mockery of constitutional law.

No Shows: Hispanic Heritage Month began September 15 and runs through October 15. By one estimate, 20% of Americans are Latino. 

In years past, activities throughout the United States heralded contributions of people and communities with Latino origins. This year, however, fear of ICE raids has dampened and in some cases cancelled programs in Illinois, the Carolinas, Louisiana and Indiana. 

Latinos are afraid to go to events. Even citizens and people with valid residency papers have been swept up in indiscriminate ICE actions. 

How sad, considering Hispanic/Latino populations settled the southwest, California and Florida decades before Europeans came to America. 

***No A.I.  .was used in the writing and editing of this post. The only intelligence employed was my own.***