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OPINION

Last month, President Donald Trump decided he liked the sound of Department of War a lot more than Department of Defense. It was - like so many Trump impulses - a move that did little to change reality other than cost taxpayers.

The price tag for that single word change will cost Americans about $1 Billion. Everything from signs on nearly 500 military installations in the U.S. and another 750 around the world to letterhead stationery for tens of thousands of senior officers has to change. Printers and sign painters everywhere are rejoicing. Taxpayers…not so much.

However, not a single American…or anyone anywhere in the world…is safer because of the name change. The light of democracy will not shine brighter. But the president - a man with the disposition of a spoiled toddler - believes once-brazen enemies will soon cower from the clear message of “victory” that the new name projects.

"All I can do is put out wars," Trump said. "I don't seek attention. I just want to save lives." Always plugging for that Nobel Peace Prize. Trump promised to end the wars in Ukraine and Gaza…remember…“I’ll end the wars on day one.” Failed.

(DON THOMPSON / iNFOnews.ca)

Never will there be a public park with a statue of Trump emblazoned with one of his unforgettable quotes…unless he builds it and carves the statue…and pays for the 24-hour guards. Forget that, he only spends other people’s money.

Personally, the past three years have been hard to take. What? It’s only been seven months? That’s how crazy the times are…and how (pick one) crazy, stupid, pathetic, cruel…(what the hell, pick two)…are those who carry out Trump’s demented game plan.

Consider the numbers and what’s behind them. Trump is upside down on every issue, every policy with everyone…except those who identify as Republicans. That number - people who consider themselves Republican (not your father’s Republican) - gets a little smaller every year.

Among Republicans, 90 percent feel “thrilled”, “happy”, “satisfied” or “neutral” about the Trump Administration’s actions since January 20. Some 92 percent of Democrats are “dissatisfied”, “angry” or “furious” about those same actions.

Just 8 percent of Independents are positive about Trump…versus 91 percent who are very negative about him. Republicans, can you say, “We can’t win elections unless we cheat!”

The next national vote - mid-term elections in November 2026 for 33 Senators and 435 Representatives - hinges on what issues Americans consider most important. At this point, the top three are 26 percent who choose “the economy”, 24 percent who pick “threats to democracy”, and 17 percent who say “healthcare”.

You don’t have to be a brilliant political strategist to understand that these three issues are things where Trump is failing miserably. He closed the border…but has offered no solution to immigration. Failed. His tariffs have made the economy worse…and increased inflation. Failed.

He promised mass deportations of criminals…11,000 every day to reach the numbers he promised. Mostly, his masked thugs arrest people who look, well, Hispanic or Black or Chinese. The Biden Administration deported 4 Million…Trump fewer than 140,000. Failed.

Keep your political strategist hat on. What do you think Trump - who takes no one’s counsel - is beating the drum most loudly about? He chooses “crime and safety” and “immigration”…the fourth and fifth most important issues among Americans…at 12 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

In the old days - when the Republican Party was mostly sane - they would be praying to St. Jude (the patron Saint of lost causes). Not so, today. They simply look for ways to lie, cheat and steal the elections.

Republicans in every state are pushing the closing of voting precincts in rural Democratic areas (mostly Black, Hispanic and poor folks), making voting more difficult with unnecessarily stiff identification requirements, ending mail-in voting, gerrymandering voting districts and doing what they do best…lying.

How insidious are Republicans. Well, they used the gestapo-like Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) to cut 10,000 U.S. Postal Service jobs…so they can raise the spectre of the post office’s inability to handle mail-in ballots.

Just a reminder, the postal service for decades has delivered Social Security and Internal Revenue Service checks to hundreds of millions of Americans…on time…efficiently. Still, Republicans like to sew doubt…and know no boundaries.

Speaking of numbers…the Trump Administration likes to scare people…play on people’s fears. Trump signed an executive order making it illegal for transgender women to compete in women’s sports. A national issue? Trans people make up less than two-thousandths of one percent of athletes in college…even less in high school.

There has long been a gun issue in the United States…but Republicans have not only not helped solve the problem…they have exacerbated it. There are 330 million people in America…and more than 400 million guns. The most likely death of a child in the U.S. isn’t from any disease…it’s gun violence.

What should Canadians know about what is really happening South of the border? Americans - that great silent majority that always waits until it’s almost too late - is finally rising up to fight for democracy. It’s taken too long.

Meanwhile, Trump and Republicans will continue to do superficial, often stupid things…like renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War. They focus on inane actions to give the MAGA crowd what they want to hear. They’re other focus is making millionaires even wealthier…their number one issue.

Actually, their real number one issue is making sure the Epstein Files never come to light. Again, failed.

— Don Thompson, an American awaiting Canadian citizenship, lives in Vernon and in Florida. In a career that spans more than 40 years, Don has been a working journalist, a speechwriter and the CEO of an advertising and public relations firm. A passionate and compassionate man, he loves the written word as much as fine dinners with great wines.

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