Trump and Iran

 
The United States is now at war with Iran.

A single person - Donald J. Trump - has released the dogs of war on one of the most dangerous countries in the world, and done it without the consent of Congress, our allies, or even a clear explanation to the American people.

Anyone who has doubted Trump's intention to replace American democracy with a dictatorship should now be fully disabused.

- Robert Reich, AlterNet, June 22, 2025

The last person in the world I want to write about, or even think about, is Donald Trump,  Unfortunately, he is wreaking havoc on the United States and the rest of the world.  He has threatened the sovereignty of my country - Canada. He is a scourge to humanity.  He is in our face every single day.  The man is totally unhinged and he is in control of the most powerful country in the world.  It is indeed a tragedy that this convicted felon was returned to the Oval Office.

I am writing this because I cannot stand idly by.  I must make my voice heard peacefully, as should all people who support democracy and the rule of law.  No one knows how this chaos will end, but it has to play itself out.

Trump took an oath of office and swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States.  He has violated his oath of office and should be impeached for a third time.  Republicans, who respect the rule of law, should be calling him out.  Instead, Speaker Mike Johnson and Senator Ted Cruise are standing behind this despot. They stand behind him as he makes the world a more dangerous place by bombing Iran, demonizing hard-working immigrants and cutting foreign aid.  His cruelty is unparalleled for an American president.  His behaviour is that of a petulant child.

Mary Trump, the president's psychologist niece, and one of his fiercest detractors. has suggested that her uncle ordered a missile attack on Iran in part because his "fragile ego" was still hurting from being called TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) by critics.  She said that he felt so humiliated that he launched a military operation that could entangle the United States into a Middle East.  He wanted to appear tough and decisive.

In her The Good in Us newsletter, Mary Trump wrote the following:

It is long past time that we stop imputing some deeper or reasonable motives to Donald Trump. Despite being depraved and cruel, much like his cohort Benjamin Netanyahu, he is driven by the most primitive impulses that center almost solely around protecting his fragile ego from humiliation (about which he has a pathological terror) and himself from the reality that he is a complete fraud.

If Mary is right, then Americans and the rest of humanity are subject to the whims of a leader who shows all the signs of malignant narcissism.  His behaviour is becoming more and more erratic and unpredictable.  He should be nowhere near the nuclear button because he is a sick man.  He probably has some form of dementia, which is only going to get worse as it progresses.  Section 4 of the 25th amendment may have to be invoked.  It reads as follows:

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Sooner or later (I hope sooner), Republicans and Fox News are going to have to admit that the emperor wears no clothes.  They are going to have to admit that Trump is unable to "discharge the powers and duties of his office."

- Joanne

Suggestion for Summer Reading

It's Summer Reading Time

Today marks the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.  It's the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.  It's also the perfect time to relax with a cold drink and  a good book.  If you are looking for some summer reading during those lazy, hazy days, may I humbly suggest my two novels -  Children of Dieppe and The Missing Reporter.  They are novels of mystery and intrigue.  For further information, click on the link below to reach my author's page. 

Joanne Madden – Author

NOTE:  I am a self-publishing Canadian author.  At the moment, I am working on my third novel, The World Reporter, a sequel to my second novel, The Missing Reporter.  I am grateful for your interest and support.  Thank you very much.  I wish you all a happy, healthy and safe summer.  I know it's not the beginning of summer in places such as Australia and New Zealand,, but you cam enjoy reading during any season of the year.

Sincerely,

Joanne

Putin has something on Trump. But what?

I am becoming more and more convinced that Vladimir Putin has something really big on Donald Trump.  It may not be just one thing.  It may be a compilation of compromising material and huge debts, political personal and financial.  It appears that Trump owes Putin, bigtime. and that Putin is taking every advantage of his leverage over Trump.

Before his departure from the recent G-7 summit in Alberta, Canada, Trump whined and complained that Putin should have been there.  He declared that kicking the Russian dictator out of the group was a "very big mistake" which helped pave the way for the war in Ukraine (Russia was part of the group of eight (G-8) until it annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014).

Trump blamed former U.S. President  Barack Obama and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for Russia's expulsion from the group.  As usual, Trump had it wrong.  Trudeau didn't become Canada's PM until 2015.  It was Trudeau's predecessor, Conservative PM Stephen Harper, who helped expel Putin.  Kicking Russia out for its annexation of Crimea was a move that was popular among American conservatives back then.

Trump was also dead wrong in his assertion that the expulsion of Russia from the G-8 led to Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.  Putin invaded Ukraine because he wanted Russian control of Ukraine.  It was an unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation, and Putin is a war criminal.  So, why does Trump persist in defending this ruthless Russian leader?

It's no surprise that Trump avoided tougher sanctions on Russia at the G-7 summit.  In a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump declared that "Europeans should do it first."  He said he wanted to continue with stalled peace negotiations before hitting Russia with sanctions.  When reporters questioned him as to whether he was on board with Europe on new sanctions against Russia, he replied, "well Europe is saying that, but they haven't done it yet."

Trump went on to say. "When I sanction a country, that costs the U.S. a  lot of money - a tremendous amount of money. It's not just, let's sign a document.  You're talking about billions and billions of dollars.  Sanctions are not that easy.  It's just not a one-way street."  Maybe so, but why would the high cost of imposing sanctions have stopped Trump if he really wanted to do so?  

According to ABC reporter Rachel Scott,. Trump said he would be "open to" Putin to mediating the  current Mideast conflict between Israel and Iran.  He claimed that Putin could play a stabilizing role in the region.  Yeah, right!  Mercifully. French President Emmanuel Macron firmly dismissed Trump's proposal.  He stated that Moscow does not have the credibility for such a role.

In February of 2022, when Joe Biden was president, Donald Trump called Putin "smart" while the Russian despot pressed on with his large scale invasion of Ukraine.  "The problem isn't Putin is smart - which of course his is smart - it's that our leaders are dumb," Trump said.  He claimed that NATO nations "are not so smart, they are looking the opposite of smart."  He then blamed the Biden administration for the invasion, which Putin falsely claimed was justified because Ukraine was run by "drug-addicted, neo-Nazi" leaders."

When Trump is angry or upset with someone or something, he does not hesitate to condemn that person on social media.  The worst he has ever said about Putin's Russia is that he is "disappointed."  He's been much harsher with former Canadian PM Justin Trudeau.  However, despite Trump's favourable attitude toward Putin, their bromance appears to be one-sided.  Trump presents himself as an alpha male, and he is an authoritarian.  There is little doubt that Putin has the strongman qualities that Trump greatly admires, but there must be something much more than that for Trump to go out of his way to mollify him.

Putin does not seem to share the same admiration for Trump.  He just uses Trump for his own purposes.  Trump's support for the murderous Russian falls right into Putin's hands.  Trump is Putin's useful idiot.  Furthermore, Putin probably holds the key to an embarrassing or horrific secret in Trump's past, a secret that Trump can't risk having revealed. 

Alexander Vindman, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel who testified against Trump at his 2019 impeachment trial, had this to say during an interview with Morning Joe on MSNBC on February 28, 2025, as he accused Trump of betraying Ukraine to serve the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin.  

"I am not big into conspiracies because I see government as a leaky sieve - things just don't stay secret. But now I 'm starting to wonder," asked Vindman, "what does Putin have on Trump that he's willing to bend over so hard, to bend over backwards to really support Putin's agenda?  It doesn't make a huge amount of sense.  He's not getting anything for it right now.  He's giving away the farm."

Donald Trump likes to think he's perfected the art of the deal.  He wants to be known as a great deal maker.  Here's what Vindman had to say about Trump's dealing with Putin.  "I'm not sure what kind of deal he's making, where he's giving everything his opponent wants, nothing in return, maybe the promise, the dangle of something in the future."

Trump has made no demands on Putin and he refuses to hold Putin responsible for the 2022 invasion. He claims that Putin only talks to him.  Right!  Nobody else matters!

Perhaps we will never know the exact details of what Putin has on Donald Trump.  It may be related to the Steele Dossier, the controversial political opposition research report on Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.  The report was compiled by counterintelligence specialist Christopher Steele.  It contains allegations of wrongdoing, conspiracy and co-operation between Trump's election campaign and the Russian government.  In 2017, the file was published as an incomplete 35-page compilation of memos. To be fair, none of the allegations have been verified.  Steele considered them to be "raw intelligence - not established facts, but a starting point for further investigation."

There is also the possibility Trump's defence of Putin may be related to Trump's ties to Jeffrey Epstein. There was a time when Trump and Epstein were quite chummy.  Billionaire Elon Musk recently posted that Trump's name is in the still-sealed "Epstein Files," the U.S. government documents about the disgraced wealthy financier and convicted sex offender.  Epstein died in prison in 2019 of what the authorities called an apparent suicide.  Musk claimed that the "Epstein Files" haven't been released because Trump is in them.  

Musk has since deleted his explosive allegations from his X social media platform, but I can't help wondering if the Russians themselves have some damning evidence about Trump's relationship with Epstein.  This is pure speculation, of course.  How reliable is the word of Elon Musk in this instance?  Who knows for sure?.  I'm just considering all the angles and various reasons why Donald Trump is so beholden to Vladimir Putin.  

A Daily Beast reporter, Julia Davis, revealed part of a Tass Russian News Agency article that quotes Vladimir Putin's aide, Niikolay Patruchev, saying that "to achieve success in the (2016) election, Donald Trump relied on certain forces to which he has corresponding obligations.  A responsible person, he will be obliged to fulfill them."  What are these forces?  Was there a concerted online foreign disinformation campaign to assist Trump's 2016 election campaign?  According to Microsoft News, "American intelligence has already determined that Russia worked to help Trump's (2025) campaign, as it had in the past.  However, there has been do direct proof of collusion between Trump and Russia - not by the Trump-maligned Mueller Report, nor since."

In, the early 1990s, Donald Trump faced financial ruin.  He had amassed massive personal debt. Two of his businesses, the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City and the Plaza Hotel in New York had declared bankruptcy. In the fall of 1992, Trump made a deal with U.S. banks to work off almost a billion dollars of what he owned.  After that, no U.S. bank would lend him money. 

However, Trump eventually made a comeback,  According to Michael Hirsh, a columnist for Foreign Policy, "foreign money played a large role in reviving his fortunes.  In particular, investment by wealthy people from Russia and former Soviet republics." 

 Donald Trump's  longtime architect, Alan Lapidus, told Foreign Policy that based on what he knew from the internal workings of the Trump Organization, Trump "could not get anyone in the United States to lend him anything.  It was all coming out of Russia.  His involvement with Russia was deeper than he's acknowledged."

Glenda Blair, a Chicago-based investigative journalist, has studied Trump closely.  She is the author of a definitive biography of the Trump family entitled The Trumps: Three Generations of Builders and a President.  Blair has written that "Trump was on the Titanic heading down.  Everyone's drowning around him . . . Suddenly he gets saved.  It's almost like a spaceship landed right next to where he was in the water."

In 2021, The Guardian reported that documents it obtained from a top-level Kremlin meeting in 2016 appear to say that Russia had compromising information on Donald Trump.  The newspaper stated that it verified the documents and that they reveal a plan to help Trump win the 2016 election.  There have long been rumours that Russia had lurid information about Trump's behaviour on a business trip.

Evidence suggests that Donald Trump owes some kind of huge unpaid debt to Russia.  Unfortunately, Ukraine is paying the price for Trump's dealings with Russia and his return to the Oval Office.  Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin is the one who is benefiting from Trump's actions and his decisions.

SOURCES:  Foreign Policy, "How Russian Money Helped Save Trump's Business," by Michael Hirsh, December 21, 2018; Business Insider, "Leaked Kremlin documents support claim that Russia has compromising material on Trump, report says," by Tom Porter, July 15, 2021;  Wion, '"What does Putin have on him?' Key witness accuses Trump of betraying Zelensky as both leaders meet," by Prapti Upadhayay, February 28, 2025; The New Voice of Ukraine, "Trump dodges tougher Russian sanctions at G7 summit," June 17, 2025

- Joanne

José Bautista and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies

On Saturday, I spent a wonderful afternoon at the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Mary's, Ontario.  This year one of the inductees was Joey Bats himself - José Bautista.  Above is a photo of José signing autographs at Saturday's festivities.  

Bautista, a right fielder and third baseman, spent 15 seasons in Major League Baseball, mostly with the Toronto Blue Jays.  He played for four different teams before the Pittsburgh Pirates traded him to the Blue Jays in August of 2008.  In 2010, he slugged 54 home runs, the most ever hit by a Blue Jay in one season.  Yet, what most fans will always remember is José's epic bat flip to emphasize his go-ahead, three-run homer in the decisive Game 5 of the 2015 American League Division Series between the Jays and the Texas Rangers. 

I was impressed by Bautista's speech in St. Mary's.  He did not recite a list of his accomplishments.  He focused on thanking those who had given him support as well as his Blue Jay teammates and other Dominican players.  He thanked his family, his wife and daughters, who were in attendance.  He also thanked his parents for emphasizing the importance of education.  José learned to speak English at a young age and he is very fluent in the language.

Bautista

If you are a Canadian baseball fam, it's worth the trip to St. Mary's on induction day or just to see the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.  The quaint, historic town is located about on the Thames River, 20 kilometres southwest of Stratford, Ontario and about 170 kilometres southwest of the Great Toronto Area.  St Mary's is nicknamed "Stonetown" because of its many homes, churches and commercial buildings that are constructed of local limestone.

This year's Hall of Fame festivities were hosted by Sportsnet's Hazel Mae. She introduced longtime Toronto Star baseball writer and sports columnist Dave Perkins. Dave accepted the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum's 2024 Jack Graney Award.  The Graney Award is given to "a member of the media who has made significant contributions to baseball in Canada through their life's work.

In addition to Bautista, other inductees included the following: Greg Hamilton from Peterborough, Ontario, who has served as Baseball Canada's Head Coach and Director of Men's National Teams since 1998, Erik Bedard, a Franco-Ontarian major league pitcher, who was the staff ace for the Baltimore Orioles, the late Amanda Asay, from Prince George British Columbia, who played on the Canada women's national baseball team from 2005 to 2021,  the late Arleene Johnson of Saskatchewan, an infielder who played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1945 to 1948 and the late Gerry Snyder, who served on the Montreal City Council and was instrumental in bringing the Expos and Major League Baseball to Montreal.

Erik Bedard was unable to attend the ceremonies.  Gerry Snyder's son was there to represent his father, who passed away in 2007.  Arleene Johnson passed away in 2017 at the age of 93.  Her daughter made a speech about her contribution to Canadian woman's baseball.  Amanda Asay died in a skiing accident in 2022 at the age of 33.  Her father spoke on her behalf.  

Amanda Asay

José Bautista is from the Dominican Republic, but Canadian citizenship is not required to be inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame. This year's inductees have all made lasting contributions to baseball in this country.

END NOTES

* I said hello to former Blue Jays outfielder Lloyd Moseby who was in attendance.  Some Montreal Expos fans always attend the ceremonies wearing their Expos caps.

- Joanne