Thoughts for the Day, August 11, 2025: A 12 day reflection. Chapter 3: Project 2026 and 2028

A reflection after 12 days of not blogging

With Katy and her family visiting last week I took the time off from blogging. Not that I had time, as they wore Leah’s and my ass out with 20-mile bike rides, golf, cooking, eating out, including celebrating Katy’s 41^st birthday and daily trips to Kilwins. Despite all the activity I put on five pounds.

For each of the 12 days since my last blog, it was business as usual in the morning. After coming home from my morning workout, I perused my media sources for items to write about. When I found them, I put them aside for future reference. As I looked back this morning, I was overwhelmed with the number of items I had set aside. There was no way I could select only four or five items to write about. What seemed important last week was replaced by something this week.

In reflection, it is clear to me that we are being inundated with distractions like Epstein files, meetings in Alaska, firings of agency heads, firing of the Chairman of Federal Reserve, ballrooms in the West Wing, presidential golf trips, etc. etc. etc. In the meantime, important issues are getting lost. Issues such as the following:

• · The genocide and starvation in Gaza continue with the U.S. financial support and political support.

• · The Ukraine war continues.

• · A major tax increase on the American consumer has been implemented and is being sold by the administration as tariffs that will make our country great again (don’t count on it)

• · The Supreme Court, loaded with Trump loyalists, are complicit in changing the balance of power from the legislative branch to the executive branch with their constant support of Trump on issues related to the power of the Executive branch.

• · The Republican controlled congress acting like wimps and lapdogs sit back and do nothing as Trump uses executive orders to override the role of Congress. For the Republicans in Congress, loyalty to Trump, takes precedent over honoring their oath of office and doing their jobs.

• · Incompetent cabinet members are undermining science, research, the rule of law, the Constitution, and commons sense.

I haven’t even mentioned our State of Michigan government, which isn’t much better.

It was a good thing for me to take twelve days off from writing as I now have a clearer picture of the forest and I am not lost in the trees.

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No one can do it better than Trump

Is there anything Trump feels he cannot do better than everyone else? Today, he decided to send the national guard to run Washington D.C. for the next 30 days.

Per the NY Times, President Trump said that he was temporarily taking control of the Washington, D.C., police department and deploying 800 National Guard troops to the city, painting a dystopian picture of the nation’s capital that stood in sharp contrast to official figures showing violent crime in the city is at a 30-year low.

After Mr. Trump’s claims that the city was overrun by “bloodthirsty criminals” and “roving mobs of wild youth,” Mayor Muriel Bowser struck a diplomatic tone that acknowledged the president’s authority to enact a 30-day takeover of the city’s police. But she disputed his rationale and his depictions of life in the city, calling his actions “unsettling and unprecedented.”

It is not without precedent that presidents and governors have temporarily taken over cities, but Trump doing it is just one more thing in the long line of things that he thinks he can do better than everyone else.

Does the term egomaniac come to mind?

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Inch by inch, step by step, mile by mile

Each day we get closer to an authoritarian government. I would like to believe that a large majority of our country does not want it, but I am beginning to have my doubts.

Trump has been given a pass on a multitude of discretions, crimes, and civil suits that no other politician in my lifetime could have ever survived for just one of the items. His supporters have turned a blind eye to all those discretions, crimes and civil suits while also turning a blind eye to his tearing down of our country’s democracy piece by piece, inch by inch, step by step and mile by mile.

It started at the end of the Obama administration when Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell refused to bring forward Obama’s nomination for the Supreme Court, saying it was inappropriate for a lame duck president to be able to nominate someone to such an important job. This led to Trump being able to name three SCOTUS justices in his first term, filling the court with six conservative justices that have done Trump’s bidding ever since.

The deterioration continued throughout Trump’s first term but came to a head on January 6, 2021 when the Capitol was overrun by Trump supporters trying to overturn the 2020 election. The House decided to impeach Trump for his role in the insurrection, but Mitch McConnel once again came to Trump’s rescue by saying their was no need to vote to convict Trump because he was no longer in office. The majority of Republican senators agreed with McConnell. This lack of holding Trump accountable for his actions allowed Trump to run for a second term. Trump used four years and Elon Musk’s money to convince his followers and a share of independent voters that he was going to Make America Great Again. It worked as he got re-elected.

During his 2024 campaign Trump was clear that he was going to become dictator on day one. He said it on the campaign trail and Project 2025 laid out the gameplan. Although Trump denied knowing anything about Project 2025 (he lied) he has been following the gameplan since January 20, the day of his inauguration.

In the meantime,

• The Republican congress has succumbed to Trump’s plan to be dictator, as they cower in fear of being primaried if they speak out against him.

• SCOTUS goes out of their way to expand Trump’s power by continually overruling lower court judges on cases involving the power of the executive branch.

• And worst of all, the American pubic is sitting back and allowing all this to happen

See my Quote of the Day

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Project 2026/2028: Chapter 3, Immigration

This third chapter of Project 2026/2028 outlines what I am looking for in politicians who want my vote in 2026 and 2028. Today my focus is immigration.

For my entire lifetime, our immigration policy has been in flux. The party in power in Congress does nothing to solve it, while the party in the minority complains about what the party in power is doing or not doing. There have been only two instances that I recall that someone has put forward a serious comprehensive proposal. George W. Bush developed a proposal that couldn’t get out of his only party’s congressional committees, and in 2024, a bi-partisan Congressional committee developed a proposal that had solid support until Trump threatened any Republican who supported it because he didn’t want the Biden administration to get credit for addressing immigration prior to the 2024 election.

This is an important issue that needs to be addressed immediately by Congress. The Ying and Yang we have gone through over the last 24 years through ever changing executive orders is not good for our country’s security, economy, businesses, and our future. To accomplish what I am looking for requires additional resources, many of which are available from the additional resources included in the recently passed bill by Congress.

Here is what I am looking for in a candidate as it relates to immigration.

A functional immigration policy must uphold national security, reflect economic realities, support human dignity, and enforce the rule of law. It should serve both American interests and our historical identity as a nation of immigrants. A practical immigration policy focuses on clarity, enforcement, opportunity, and compassion.

1. Secure and Manageable Borders
A practical policy begins with control of national borders. This includes investments in modern surveillance technology, adequate staffing at ports of entry, and resources to process asylum claims timely, efficiently and fairly. Border enforcement should target criminal trafficking while protecting the rights of legitimate migrants.

2. Streamlined Legal Immigration System
The current legal immigration process is outdated and overwhelmed. A modern system should reduce bureaucratic backlogs, increase transparency, and prioritize family reunification, high-skilled workers, and essential labor sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, and construction. It is important that Congress provides the resources needed to accomplish this.

3. Employment-Based Immigration Aligned with Economic Needs
A flexible visa system should allow for seasonal and long-term workers based on verified labor market demand. Employers must be held accountable for fair wages and working conditions, while ensuring that foreign labor complements—not undercuts—American workers.

4. Humane and Orderly Asylum Process
Asylum should remain a protected right for those fleeing persecution, but the process must be timely and orderly. Clear guidelines, timely adjudication, and humane detention alternatives can reduce abuse while honoring international obligations. Resources are critical.

5. Pathway to Legal Status
For long-term undocumented immigrants who contribute to society, a pathway to legal status—contingent on background checks, taxes, and progress toward English proficiency—recognizes reality and fosters integration. This includes permanent protection for “Dreamers” brought to the U.S. as children.

6. Enforcement with Fairness and Consistency
Immigration laws must be enforced, but not at the expense of due process or family unity. Interior enforcement should prioritize serious criminal offenses, not minor infractions or workplace raids that destabilize communities.

7. State and Local Coordination
Federal leadership should coordinate with local and state governments to ensure immigration policy reflects regional needs while preventing inconsistent enforcement or discriminatory practices.

8. Bipartisan and Data-Driven Reform
A durable immigration policy must be based on facts, not fear. It should be shaped by demographic and labor market data, national security considerations, and long-term economic goals—developed through bipartisan dialogue.

A practical immigration policy respects both the law and the humanity of those who seek opportunity. It secures our borders, serves our economy, and upholds our values as a nation rooted in immigration.

This is what I am looking for as it relates to immigration for those candidates who want my vote in 2026 and 2028.

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Quote of the Day: Sunday former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers told George Stephanopoulos of This Week on ABC News: “This is the stuff of democracies giving way to authoritarianism…. [F]iring statisticians goes with threatening the heads of newspapers. It goes with launching assaults on universities. It goes with launching assaults on law firms that defend clients that the elected boss finds uncongenial. This is really scary stuff." I

Orchid of the Day: The wind in Northern Michigan. For the first time in 6 weeks, we have not been overwhelmed with smoke from Canada. For the first time in six weeks, we have been able to look across the bay and see Harbor Springs

Onion of the Day: President Trump for not putting tariffs on Canda’s smoke and those filthy dirty geese.

Question of the Day: What does it take for the majority of Americans to wake up and realize that we are moving closer and closer to an authoritarian government on a daily basis.?

Lyrics of the Day:

We don't need to escalate. You see, war is not the answer for only love can conquer hate. You know we've got to find a way to bring some lovin' here today.

Picket lines and picket signs Don't punish me with brutality. Talk to me, so you can see …….

If you think you know the lyrics send me your answer in the comments section of the blog.

Answer to Lyrics of the Day for July 30: TNT by AC/DC

Video of the Day: Matthew Boyd, former Tiger ace, has always been a great fielder, but this play is above and beyond.

https://youtube.com/shorts/Q6Kh25Kzo8A?si=oxy4fMaEjCe5meJv

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