My immediate response to the new administration was to be critical and I was in the one blog I’ve done on the subject so far. But I thought it might be a good idea to wait a bit longer before going forward with such blogs. After all people do change(but seldom), and I am always against people. others anyway, jumping to conclusions. So I waited to see what Trump would present to us in his first couple of weeks. Now we part of the answer–too much.

The great thing about Donald Trump as a subject for a blogger, or any kind of analyst, is that he’s really the gift that keeps on giving. He does and says so much that you’ve just about always got a topic. Right now he’s provided us with several. Unfortunately I find it difficult to celebrate this fact. Nearly everything he does is either neutral in my opinion or worse than neutral, frequently a good bit worse.

There is so much out there right now that I am going to limit myself to (mostly, at least)his bizarre statement yesterday about Gaza and his overall attempt to destroy most of the federal establishment and take over what’s left. I may put off some of the specifics.

The most jaw dropping thing he’s done so far–though it’s hard to tell from such a large number of choices–is to announce the US will take over Gaza. He also seems to think ALL of the people, Arab and mostly with Palestinian roots, will leave. He’s not clear about of lot of things, mainly about exactly what it means, how he thinks it could be done, and what will be the diplomatic/trade/security results.

Most likely I shouldn’t even approach this first issue, but I have that kind of mind and I wonder sometimes. In this case I wonder what Trump meant when he said the US will “own” Gaza. Likely he meant we will establish international ownership rights(however you could do that), leave no doubt we’re running the place and dictate everything that happens there. That would seem to most reasonable people to constitute “ownership.”

But there is another meaning to the word one occasionally hears. “If you break it you own it” is the sort of thing I have in mind. Every now and then this is heard in politics, usually in a statement like “his party started this and now they own it.” I doubt that Trump meant this, but you know what? If he pursues this outlandish plan, the US will “own” the situation in this sense–and be looking for a buyer or anyone to take it off its hands.

I did do a brief exploration,. on line, to see if I could find an international law position on “ownership.” Most of what I first found was about an individual or company owning property in other countries. Eventually I found this. “A country’s ‘ownership’ of another country or part of one … is typically established through an act of annexation, which means forcefully acquiring and asserting legal title over a territory through military occupation, effectively incorporating it into the owning country’s sovereign domain; this is generally considered illegal …unless widely recognized by other states and international bodies.” This comes from Wikipedia and is designated “AI overview,” whatever that means.

(For an interesting–I hope— reflection on annexation see my blog of 03/24/23).

OK. this is likely what Trump meant(to the extent he knew more or less what he meant)and it is, more importantly, what most ordinary readers and most world leaders, diplomats and so forth will take it to mean. So this would require annexation, with military force if necessary. It would be interesting to know what Gen Milley or any past or current member of the Joint Chiefs would think of this,

There was outrage, predictably and in this case I think understandably. Saudi Arabia who has been inching toward the US in recent years, was bitter in its denunciation. So were others. The residents of Gaza, as described by journalists on the scene, were also bitter and many of them indicated refusal to leave the only home they had ever know.

Even if more of them were willing to go, where would be their destination.? Trump mentioned Egypt and Jordan, which makes sense geographically, but not politically, not for military security or anything else good that I’m able to see.
Egypt and Jordan have both announced their unwillingness to cooperate. Without their cooperation, how would you get the Palestinians there, even if they were willing? Use military force to get them in? Get involved in another war situation where we would be stuck, not able to win or to get out without disaster? Can anyone say “quagmire?”

On domestic affairs so much is happening that I will not even try to identify it all right now. Basically, it’s the “buy out” for federal employees, the firing (apparently without legal legitimacy)of a number of non-civil service employees(particularly at DOJ), and the incredible offer of pushing the “buy out” idea with the CIA.. And all this from the man who now dominates, seriously, the party which used to accuse the opposition(that would be the Democrats)of being “soft” on communism–or immigration, or whatever the immediate perceived threat, real or imnaginary happened to be. And now they want to reduce or practically end the CIA which is tasked with protecting our national security.

Although Trump, as the man at the top and clearly the person who ordered this approach,, is primarily responsible for all this and more, it would be well to remember Elon Musk. He is the apparently power-hungry gazillionaire who now is dominating the federal government through his clearly unauthorized and possibly illegal DOGE(Department of Government Efficiency–ironical title to the maximum)

This way lies madness, at home and also abroad. What if nearly everyone with the CIA and those in the domestic federal workforce said “yes” right now? Who would deal with a non-received Social Security payment.? A threatening message to a reporter or commentator? A report of military activity by China which might threaten us? In other words, who would protect many of us from poverty, personal threats and unforeseeable trouble, abroad or at home? The answer appears to be that no one knows.

This is enough for now. I need to find what has happened since I’ve been researching(a little bit) and typing(a lot) here at the library. Please consider what I’ve said and pay attention to the news. It nearly always seems we are in times of serous change but this time I think we really are, including a possible threat of a constitutional crisis. I hope to be back soon to comment further on this–or, perhaps on mysteries and music–some of each might be welcome.