Trump's America has divided the country and families. His behavior has ruined relationships all over America. Too many choose the moral and ethics of Trump to be their leader... 🤦♀️
MAGA has destroyed this country and how it is viewed in the world. Sadly, America will never be fully trusted ever again. We look ignorant and uneducated to other countries.
MAGA is a delusional-cult, that isn't smart enough to distinguish their buttholes from their mouths. Millions who fell for Trump's lies they can not be trusted. They support a man whose been very dishonest throughout his life. He tore apart many families and friendship, and fanned the flames of hate in the United States of America.
The MAGA cult is so fragile that when confronted with legit questions, they panic and resort to name calling. They don't have emotional maturity! I enjoy wearing these kinds of tees in front of them 👇 😆
Once again, Heather, you have covered it all and appreciate your veracity. The only thing I can add is that we are a strong and resilient nation, despite being surrounded by bold-faced liars and authoritarianism. I only wish the mid-terms were being held next month so we can observe the MAGA tribe taking a bath. The more I hear Karoline Leavitt preach nothing but right wing propaganda, I only ask: Is this how you are going to raise your young children? She is pathetic and a disgrace to humanity.
I can’t afford to send a contribution, so these are my words of encouragement. I hope you don’t get tired of writing these texts. They are some of the best notes on what’s happening that I’ve read. Also your infusion of psychological understanding are helpful for me and help me keep my own sanity.
We know Vance is lying when his lips are moving. As for Donald, he actually might not try to run a 3rd time because didn't you hear he's going to be king of Gaza? LOL
Many of us have wondered, Mary, how such a lying, scheming, cheating, zero talent person like your uncle could possibly rise to a position of supreme political power in this once great country? Evidently, as you point out so aptly, it is his talent to manipulate and con people which has got him to the pinnacle of abuser in chief, a source of infernal shame. Should he wake up one morning and realize what a worthless bastard he really is, may he put the rest of us out of his misery. "O, to sleep, per chance, to dream".
He adopted his mentor, gay attorney Roy Cohn's philosophy. I had to mention gay attorney because these days the LBGTQ are near the top of his hit list. Cohn's philosophy, which he pounded into your uncle's head, was if you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it. He lies as easily as he breathes, doing it so well and so often that MAGA believes EVERYTHING he says despite lots of proof he's lying. Sadly, a close member of our family falls into that category.
He lies as easily as he breathes, and has 34 felony convictions, which are a drop in the bucket of his total crimes, yet there are people on our side who still say he legitimately won the 2024 election.
He will never, ever, EVER realize what a worthless piece of filth he is. When he is finally imprisoned, I want it to be part of his punishment that he spend at least eight hours a day every day writing over and over things like “I am a loser and a criminal. I have always been a loser and a criminal. Most of the world despises me, and rightfully so because of my many crimes and rotten attitudes“.
At first, I thought he should do this on a blackboard like Bart Simpson in the opening credits. But blackboards get erased. Now I want it on paper in permanent ink, and I want him to have to sign every statement. Reams and reams of this stuff, kept in locked boxes just outside his cell, where he can see but not reach them. He can watch the pile grow!
I ran this fantasy past my husband, and he said even that will not penetrate. He’s probably right. I should know better. My adoptive mother was like that. Still, I want to see him be forced to write those things. And I want it videoed and shared widely on social media, so he would at least occasionally have to write very large. Ha ha, maybe a blackboard for the videos and paper the rest of the time.
Either that, or have him restrained in such a way that he can’t object to or block out what is being said to him, and then be forced to listen to things like that said to him all day long. I’d gladly pay 1000 bucks for a 10 minute session where I could look him dead in the eye from maybe 3 feet away and tell him what he really is.
Tracey, you are correct in your first sentence, and your husband is right, too. To dream is good, to make it come true is hard, and to write is a good thing.
Just love you, Mary! You’re brilliant, clear eyed analyses of our dark times is so spot on. Of course, you had a front row seat. You don’t have to answer, of course, but I wonder why it seems, Fred cared more about hideous Donald than Freddy?? Incidentally, uncle Don threw rocks at my former next-door neighbor when he was a baby in Jamaica and lived next-door to Fred and Marianne.
I would guess that Fred trusted the dumpster because he lacked empathy, which is considered a weakness by most of the obscenely rich. Dumpy took after dad.
Mary , love your unique perspective on this corrupt regime. I'm really sorry for the damage done to your father by Fred Sr., damage which trickled down to you. I thought I was raised by wolves, but holy cow! It doesn't undo the psychological trauma, but you are my hero for having fought your way through. You are doing so much to pull back the curtain, giving us a deeper understanding how a monster like Donald was created. Keep up your great work. The world needs your voice! 💙💙💙
JFC… Unfortunately it’s going to take things like this, things that affect MAGAS personally, so they’ll wake up and realize he doesn’t care about them any more than he cares about “the libs”.
I have never forgotten the piece that the NYT wrote about your father, it was heartbreaking, & it still is! He was too kind & decent to have survived that family, but his legacy, his children, survive him & they are truly, amazing!!
"Donald’s rise has been enabled by somebody else with more power and their own malign motives" - that would be Stephen Miller, a worthless wimp with no friends.
The White House (in my time on this little planet) was a place of integrity, whose press secretaries were grounded in reality, working for presidents who understood that ordinary folks were the reason they held that position and that you had to respect the voters, the workers, the facts, the law...
Little men have reduced American democracy to rubble. Who needs Armageddon when you have tariffs, no healthcare, no vaccines, no reason, no compassion. And no humanity.
Mary, what you describe resonates with something I had already been thinking this morning. Before even reading your post I found myself looking at the United States as I once had to look at my own inner life. On the surface there is an image of maturity, success, and ethics. Underneath, there is a long-established pattern of fear and self-protection that adapts brilliantly in order to stay in control. I used to believe my corrupt self was my real self, and it took years of work to recognise who was actually driving the car.
Your words about pettiness and zero-sum family dynamics echo that. The Trump story, in your telling, is not just about one man’s rise but about an entire system that rewards trauma-driven behaviour and punishes generosity. I see the same thing in national policy: the original promises of liberty and equity still live on paper, yet the machinery around them has been built to keep power concentrated and to scapegoat whoever might challenge it.
For me this isn’t just political analysis. It is the same “trauma playbook” that John Bradshaw, Bessel van der Kolk, Peter Levine, and Gabor Maté have mapped out in individuals. Denial, projection, scapegoating, and rigidity are the hallmarks of a wounded inner system. Only the healthy self can interrupt that cycle; the corrupt self will never dismantle itself.
So when you write about the shutdown, the layoffs, the memes, the pettiness, I hear a call for presence rather than despair. If we recognise what is happening, we can stop expecting the corrupted system to heal itself and start acting as the healthy body it once claimed to be. That is the work of “we the people”: to reclaim authorship from the frightened child at the wheel.
Thank you for naming the pattern so clearly. Reading your piece today felt like seeing the family secret spoken aloud — and once it is spoken, there is at least the possibility of change
I'm not sure how you are all moving forward Mary, these last few weeks have been truly exhausting, & i'm only observing from across the pond. I hope you know that the reporting here, isn't even remotely similar to what your MSM is reporting. There is an air of incredulity, that somehow this man is demolishing what we understand to be America, & cherished institutions, has a constituency for such destruction! The task ahead is enormous, but more decent people didn't vote for him than did.
You think the pettiness of this all might kill you? I hadn’t thought of putting it that way but that’s what throws me off the edge too. I usually say that nostalgia might end up killing me. But now that everything is off the rails and we’re witnessing these wackos being like monkeys with a razor, everything is so insane that it’s exhausting to try to keep it together. I heard him say things on the Celebrity set that I will never forget, things like his “methods” to get things done, with 2 of his adult idiotic children nodding like puppets, I heard him reading the poem of the snake at his rallies and I feared that nobody understood it; he is all the things you’ve said and more… I’m running out of adjectives to describe the state of affairs in which he has left us… How much longer until he destroys our country and our American morale completely? And yet, we’re still standing. We must find hope. Always.
Thank you Mary for letting us know the background to your family -- it helps to understand how this all came about, Donald's pathological selfishness, his sickness, his lack of empathy and as you say, the ongoing intractible pettiness. It is horrific. We are now living through this hell on a global level, what you went thru as a family we are all experiencing. We will survive, it's harder than I expected this time around with MAGA and Trump. It's like we're being battered collectively. How do we get out of this mess?
Thanks, Mary, for your clear eyed and courageous description of our sadly divided country.
Trump's America has divided the country and families. His behavior has ruined relationships all over America. Too many choose the moral and ethics of Trump to be their leader... 🤦♀️
MAGA has destroyed this country and how it is viewed in the world. Sadly, America will never be fully trusted ever again. We look ignorant and uneducated to other countries.
MAGA is a delusional-cult, that isn't smart enough to distinguish their buttholes from their mouths. Millions who fell for Trump's lies they can not be trusted. They support a man whose been very dishonest throughout his life. He tore apart many families and friendship, and fanned the flames of hate in the United States of America.
The MAGA cult is so fragile that when confronted with legit questions, they panic and resort to name calling. They don't have emotional maturity! I enjoy wearing these kinds of tees in front of them 👇 😆
https://libtees.dashery.com/t-shirts
Cults are dangerous!
Once again, Heather, you have covered it all and appreciate your veracity. The only thing I can add is that we are a strong and resilient nation, despite being surrounded by bold-faced liars and authoritarianism. I only wish the mid-terms were being held next month so we can observe the MAGA tribe taking a bath. The more I hear Karoline Leavitt preach nothing but right wing propaganda, I only ask: Is this how you are going to raise your young children? She is pathetic and a disgrace to humanity.
I can’t afford to send a contribution, so these are my words of encouragement. I hope you don’t get tired of writing these texts. They are some of the best notes on what’s happening that I’ve read. Also your infusion of psychological understanding are helpful for me and help me keep my own sanity.
THANK YOU‼️
We know Vance is lying when his lips are moving. As for Donald, he actually might not try to run a 3rd time because didn't you hear he's going to be king of Gaza? LOL
The king is a blockhead!
LOL! I'd say you state the obvious, but I guess it's not obvious to everybody. :(
My comment is from some children's cartoon I saw long ago. Seems appropriate now, and I agree that maybe 1/2 of America doesn't see it. :)
Many of us have wondered, Mary, how such a lying, scheming, cheating, zero talent person like your uncle could possibly rise to a position of supreme political power in this once great country? Evidently, as you point out so aptly, it is his talent to manipulate and con people which has got him to the pinnacle of abuser in chief, a source of infernal shame. Should he wake up one morning and realize what a worthless bastard he really is, may he put the rest of us out of his misery. "O, to sleep, per chance, to dream".
He adopted his mentor, gay attorney Roy Cohn's philosophy. I had to mention gay attorney because these days the LBGTQ are near the top of his hit list. Cohn's philosophy, which he pounded into your uncle's head, was if you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it. He lies as easily as he breathes, doing it so well and so often that MAGA believes EVERYTHING he says despite lots of proof he's lying. Sadly, a close member of our family falls into that category.
He lies as easily as he breathes, and has 34 felony convictions, which are a drop in the bucket of his total crimes, yet there are people on our side who still say he legitimately won the 2024 election.
He will never, ever, EVER realize what a worthless piece of filth he is. When he is finally imprisoned, I want it to be part of his punishment that he spend at least eight hours a day every day writing over and over things like “I am a loser and a criminal. I have always been a loser and a criminal. Most of the world despises me, and rightfully so because of my many crimes and rotten attitudes“.
At first, I thought he should do this on a blackboard like Bart Simpson in the opening credits. But blackboards get erased. Now I want it on paper in permanent ink, and I want him to have to sign every statement. Reams and reams of this stuff, kept in locked boxes just outside his cell, where he can see but not reach them. He can watch the pile grow!
I ran this fantasy past my husband, and he said even that will not penetrate. He’s probably right. I should know better. My adoptive mother was like that. Still, I want to see him be forced to write those things. And I want it videoed and shared widely on social media, so he would at least occasionally have to write very large. Ha ha, maybe a blackboard for the videos and paper the rest of the time.
Either that, or have him restrained in such a way that he can’t object to or block out what is being said to him, and then be forced to listen to things like that said to him all day long. I’d gladly pay 1000 bucks for a 10 minute session where I could look him dead in the eye from maybe 3 feet away and tell him what he really is.
Tracey, you are correct in your first sentence, and your husband is right, too. To dream is good, to make it come true is hard, and to write is a good thing.
Hello Dennis.... It is Rocktober... Pray For Divine Intervention...
Just love you, Mary! You’re brilliant, clear eyed analyses of our dark times is so spot on. Of course, you had a front row seat. You don’t have to answer, of course, but I wonder why it seems, Fred cared more about hideous Donald than Freddy?? Incidentally, uncle Don threw rocks at my former next-door neighbor when he was a baby in Jamaica and lived next-door to Fred and Marianne.
I would guess that Fred trusted the dumpster because he lacked empathy, which is considered a weakness by most of the obscenely rich. Dumpy took after dad.
Mary , love your unique perspective on this corrupt regime. I'm really sorry for the damage done to your father by Fred Sr., damage which trickled down to you. I thought I was raised by wolves, but holy cow! It doesn't undo the psychological trauma, but you are my hero for having fought your way through. You are doing so much to pull back the curtain, giving us a deeper understanding how a monster like Donald was created. Keep up your great work. The world needs your voice! 💙💙💙
And he just hit one of his biggest Red States, Utah, with mass firings.
https://www.alternet.org/utah-trump-irs-doge/
JFC… Unfortunately it’s going to take things like this, things that affect MAGAS personally, so they’ll wake up and realize he doesn’t care about them any more than he cares about “the libs”.
I have never forgotten the piece that the NYT wrote about your father, it was heartbreaking, & it still is! He was too kind & decent to have survived that family, but his legacy, his children, survive him & they are truly, amazing!!
Thank you for all you do & say!!
"Donald’s rise has been enabled by somebody else with more power and their own malign motives" - that would be Stephen Miller, a worthless wimp with no friends.
The White House (in my time on this little planet) was a place of integrity, whose press secretaries were grounded in reality, working for presidents who understood that ordinary folks were the reason they held that position and that you had to respect the voters, the workers, the facts, the law...
Little men have reduced American democracy to rubble. Who needs Armageddon when you have tariffs, no healthcare, no vaccines, no reason, no compassion. And no humanity.
Vote them out in 2026.
Mary, what you describe resonates with something I had already been thinking this morning. Before even reading your post I found myself looking at the United States as I once had to look at my own inner life. On the surface there is an image of maturity, success, and ethics. Underneath, there is a long-established pattern of fear and self-protection that adapts brilliantly in order to stay in control. I used to believe my corrupt self was my real self, and it took years of work to recognise who was actually driving the car.
Your words about pettiness and zero-sum family dynamics echo that. The Trump story, in your telling, is not just about one man’s rise but about an entire system that rewards trauma-driven behaviour and punishes generosity. I see the same thing in national policy: the original promises of liberty and equity still live on paper, yet the machinery around them has been built to keep power concentrated and to scapegoat whoever might challenge it.
For me this isn’t just political analysis. It is the same “trauma playbook” that John Bradshaw, Bessel van der Kolk, Peter Levine, and Gabor Maté have mapped out in individuals. Denial, projection, scapegoating, and rigidity are the hallmarks of a wounded inner system. Only the healthy self can interrupt that cycle; the corrupt self will never dismantle itself.
So when you write about the shutdown, the layoffs, the memes, the pettiness, I hear a call for presence rather than despair. If we recognise what is happening, we can stop expecting the corrupted system to heal itself and start acting as the healthy body it once claimed to be. That is the work of “we the people”: to reclaim authorship from the frightened child at the wheel.
Thank you for naming the pattern so clearly. Reading your piece today felt like seeing the family secret spoken aloud — and once it is spoken, there is at least the possibility of change
This is the mass insanity that results when empathy is neglected.
Thank you Mary for laying it out.
I'm not sure how you are all moving forward Mary, these last few weeks have been truly exhausting, & i'm only observing from across the pond. I hope you know that the reporting here, isn't even remotely similar to what your MSM is reporting. There is an air of incredulity, that somehow this man is demolishing what we understand to be America, & cherished institutions, has a constituency for such destruction! The task ahead is enormous, but more decent people didn't vote for him than did.
Social Security payments are supposed to be unaffected.
That’s for existing recipients. New ones will be waiting.
Yes. Applications might get held up. I applied 6 months earlier than my FRA for just this reason. I didn’t trust something not happening.
You think the pettiness of this all might kill you? I hadn’t thought of putting it that way but that’s what throws me off the edge too. I usually say that nostalgia might end up killing me. But now that everything is off the rails and we’re witnessing these wackos being like monkeys with a razor, everything is so insane that it’s exhausting to try to keep it together. I heard him say things on the Celebrity set that I will never forget, things like his “methods” to get things done, with 2 of his adult idiotic children nodding like puppets, I heard him reading the poem of the snake at his rallies and I feared that nobody understood it; he is all the things you’ve said and more… I’m running out of adjectives to describe the state of affairs in which he has left us… How much longer until he destroys our country and our American morale completely? And yet, we’re still standing. We must find hope. Always.
Hello Viv… Don’t Insult Monkeys!!! … ;-)
Thank you Mary for letting us know the background to your family -- it helps to understand how this all came about, Donald's pathological selfishness, his sickness, his lack of empathy and as you say, the ongoing intractible pettiness. It is horrific. We are now living through this hell on a global level, what you went thru as a family we are all experiencing. We will survive, it's harder than I expected this time around with MAGA and Trump. It's like we're being battered collectively. How do we get out of this mess?