November 20, 2025 - Thoughts from Benjamin Franklin, Two Current Commentators, Gettysburg, and Kate Smith

 

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A Republic ‘IF’ You Can Keep It 

Benjamin Franklin

When asked what the Constitutional convention in 1789 had given to the new nation, Benjamin Franklin replied, ‘a Republic if you can keep it.’ His doubts were expressed by his use of the word ‘if.’ He possibly foresaw the conflict between the Legislative and Executive branches of our government, addressed in the following two pieces, something that can destroy the nation, as it almost did in 1860. 

That conflict is being racheted up right now with some members of Congress suggesting that government employees, including the armed forces, might consider disobeying instructions and orders found to be illegal by the courts. Not backing down, the President has termed that to be sedition, punishable by death. The Supreme Court might, or might not, be willing and able to resolve this conflict.  I have my doubts. 

 JL 

                                                         * * * 

Strength Replaces Weakness 

Simon Rosenberg’s ‘Hopium’ Chronicles posting on November 20 included the following summary of the President’s woes: 

“We Are Strong Now, And He Is Weak - Looking back at the past month we’ve had a remarkable series of big wins - the US Senate voted to roll back Trump’s terrible tariffs; an enormous blue wave swept across the country two weeks ago, giving us election victories of all kinds, everywhere; polling now makes plain that Trump took a huge hit during the shutdown, which helped contribute mightily to our big election wins; we restored our margins with young people and Hispanic voters in NJ and VA, a potentially ominous development for Republicans next year; his redistricting gambit has both failed, and blown up in his face; the entire Congress turned on him, and forced him to release the Epstein files that he’s been suppressing for months despite clear promises to release them; his illicit campaign to prosecute his political enemies has begun to unravel; his already terrible poll numbers have fallen even further, the battlefield has shifted by 8 + points towards the Dems since 2024, Dems are starting to open up sturdy leads in party ID and the generic ballot, and the Senate - not just the House - appears to be in play; it is not clear a diminished Mike Johnson retains control of the House; powerful Republican opposition leaders have begun to emerge; House and Senate Rs are now at war with one another, and the whole DC GOP thing has begun melting down as the undeniable stench of Trumpian failure becomes impossible to ignore.” 

 JL 

                                                        * * * 

Important Thoughts from Josh Marshall 

Josh Marshall, in his Talking Points Memo column of November 18, seems to recognize, where he writes in his ‘backchannel,’ that Trump will get more reckless as his power, well described above by Simon Rosenberg, ebbs: 

 “A few TPM readers responded to yesterday’s post about Trump as the “weak horse” arguing that Trump’s waning power makes him more dangerous, not less. I agree. Mostly. What’s “more dangerous” is a subjective question, with different kinds of dangers, different time horizons. Overall it’s clearly a good thing since Trump’s loss of power and the eventual defeat of his movement are good things. Though that’s far from a certainty, it is getting more likely. But Trump won’t go quietly. We know that from Jan. 6. No president wants to see their popularity wane or the loss of power that goes with it. But Trump’s binary mental world puts a sharper, more draconian focus on everything. In his world, you are punishing or the punished, dominating or the dominated. Loss of power means personal political peril. That’s how it works in his own head, and to a significant degree Trump’s own actions have made that all-or-nothing world a reality around him.” 

                                                       * * 

Marshall’s message is clear. The now unpredictable man in the White House, already speaking of opposition as sedition, has become a danger to the nation because of what he is capable of doing, as well as what those he has put into power are similarly capable of doing. 

Beware of them all! 

JL 

                                                      * * * 

Government Of the People, By the People, and For the People 

November 19 was the 162nd anniversary of President Lincoln’s address at the dedication of the National Cemetery in Gettysburg, PA, site of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Lincoln connected the Civil War to the founding principles of the Declaration of Independence, stating that the nation was "conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." 

This was contrary to those who looked to the Constitution with its careful language catering to the propertied classes, rather than to the Declaration of Independence, as a guidepost for the nation to follow.  Even today, there are those who would reverse Lincoln’s populist orientation.  Most claim to be Republicans.

JL 

                                                      * * * 

Remember Kate Smith? Not a Patriot! 

Irving Berlin may have written the magnificent anthem, ‘God Bless America,’ but it was Kate Smith who sang it beautifully as we entered World War Two, inspiring the entire nation. 

Smith, who was a bit overweight, was the ‘Fat Lady’ referred to in the phrase, ‘The game ain’t over till the Fat Lady sings.’ Part owner of the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team, she sang it at the conclusion of every home game either in person or from a recording. It also was played for Yankee fans at Yankee Stadium. 

But things are not always what they seem. It turns out that Smith was a bigot, with a capital B, and even made a popular recording of a race-baiting song explaining ‘That’s why darkies were born.’ No patriot was she! 

In those days, remember, it was acceptable to be a bigot. The armed forces were still segregated and Jews and Blacks weren’t accepted at Ivy League colleges. 

But that changed, starting when President Harry Truman integrated the armed forces and the country started to become awakened (is that being ‘woke’?) to its injustices, culminating in the Civil Rights act of 1964. In 2019, the Philadelphia Flyers got rid of a statue of Smith, erected at their rink about thirty years earler and the Yankees even replaced Smith’s recording of ‘God Bless America’ at their games with versions by other artists. 

Here are the lyrics to ‘God Bless America,’ as rewritten by Irving Berlin in 1938 from an earlier version. Note the isolationist tinge to the rarely sung opening verse. Even Irving Berlin was not terribly bothered by those ‘storm clouds’ that included Kristallnacht and continued persecution of Jews in Germany. 

"While the storm clouds gather far across the sea, 

  Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free, 

  Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,  

  As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer. 

  God Bless America,  

  Land that I love. 

  Stand beside her,

  And guide her,

  Thru the night 

  With a light from above.

  From the mountains, 

 To the prairies, 

 To the oceans, white with foam,

 God bless America, 

 My home sweet home.’ 

JL 

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Housekeeping on Jackspotpourri 

Your comments on this ‘blog’ would be appreciated. My Email address is jacklippman18@gmail.com. 

Forwarding Postings: Please forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it (Friends, relatives, enemies, etc.) If you want to send someone the blog, you can just tell them to check it out by visiting https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com or you can provide a link to that address in your email to them. 

There’s another, perhaps easier, method of forwarding it though! Google Blogspot, the platform on which Jackspotpourri is prepared, makes that possible. If you click on the tiny envelope with the arrow at the bottom of every posting, you will have the opportunity to list up to ten email addresses to which that blog posting will be forwarded, along with a brief comment from you. Each will receive a link to click on that will directly connect them to the blog. Either way will work, sending them the link to https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com , or clicking on the envelope at the bottom of this posting. 

Email Alerts: If you are NOT receiving emails from me alerting you each time there is a new posting on Jackspotpourri, just send me your email address and we’ll see that you do. And if you are forwarding a posting to someone, you might suggest that they do the same, so they will be similarly alerted. You can pass those email addresses to me by email at jacklippman18@gmail.com

More on the Sources of Information on Jackspotpourri: The sources of information used by Jackspotpourri include a delivered daily ‘paper’ newspaper (now becoming the South Florida Sun Sentinel) and what appears in my daily email. Be aware that when I open that email, I take these steps: 

 1. I quickly scan the sources of the dozen or two emails I still get each day at my old email address to see from where they are being sent. Most are from vendors which I may have used years ago. Without reading 99% of them, I usually immediately delete them. 

 2. I then go to the email arriving at jacklippman18@gmail.com. Gmail enables ‘Promotion’ emails to be so designated and separated out. I believe their criteria are whether or not they end up asking for donations or if they are no more than advertisements. I ignore most of these ‘Promotion’ emails without reading them, deleting them. A very few, perhaps one or two a day, get moved over to the two or three dozen other emails which I will actually open. 

 3. Then I read my email. 

Besides email, my other source of information is the Google search engine (or other search engines) where I can look up any subject I want. Lately, these search results have been headed by a very generalized summary clearly labeled as being developed by AI (Artificial Intelligence). On occasion I might use such search results, but when I do, I will say that I am doing so. Generally, however, I try not to use such summaries in preparing Jackspotpourri. After such ‘AI’ search results, then follows the other results of my search. 

Unlike the anonymous AI-generated summaries, the sources of these results are clearly indicated, giving them a greater credibility than any AI summary. I feel that It comes down to who YOU want to be in the driver’s seat in seeking information: yourself or something else (Artificial Intelligence), the structure of which somewhere along the way had to have been created by others, with whose identity I am neither familiar nor comfortable. At least when I read a column by Timothy Snyder, for example, I know from where it comes, and to some extent, what to expect. 

Caution should be exercised in using Artificial Intelligence. 

JL 

                                                         * * * *

November 16, 2025 - One State's Motto, Mount Rushmore, and the 'Grift Bubble'

 

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A Motto on a State Flag 

The time for fence sitting, and giving the Republicans the benefit of the doubt is ending. There is no reason for continuing to what amounts to legitimatizing their lies and hypocrisy, which is what such attempts at fairness provides.

But replacing words with actions involves risks; that is where we are right now. It is a big step because taking such risks involves the costly hiring of lawyers to defend such actions through the rule of law which itself is being diminished by Republicans.  

But history is on the side of the people.  It demonstrates that tyrants cannot remain in power when ugly truths about them are revealed to the public. ‘Sic Semper Tyrannis’ is more than just a motto on the State flag of Virginia and what the assassin of Abraham Lincoln screamed out. 

State Flag of Virginia carrying the words 'Sic Semper Tyrannis'
('Thus Always to Tyrants')

 

Today, it is rather a call for some sort of action that puts an end to their tyranny, bearing in mind that in our more civilized times such an action does not involve the blood of the tyrant. 

JL

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Trump Added to Mount Rushmore? 

I have received emails asking how I feel about adding a likeness of President Trump to Mount Rushmore. I believe the senders expect me to disagree with that idea and ask for a donation to support their position. Actually, I am for it, but only if it serves the limited purpose of directing visitors to the restrooms, which would carry Donald’s likeness on the commode doors. 

JL 

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The Grift Bubble 

Critics of the Administration frequently use the words ‘grift’ or ‘grifter’ to define what is occuring. These words should not be confused with ‘graft’ which is outright blatant thievery, clearly criminal, perpetrated by government officials. 'Grifting,’ on the other hand, describes small-time, petty, dishonest acts of such officials, often going unnoticed and not worthy of punishment, even when revealed. 

Professor Timothy Snyder, in his ‘Thinking About …’ posting dated November 16, writes about those who operate from within a ‘grift bubble.’  Check it out by CLICKING HERE or by copying and pasting https://snyder.substack.com/p/the-grift-bubble on your device’s browser line.  

JL 

                                                  * * * 

Housekeeping on Jackspotpourri

Your comments on this ‘blog’ would be appreciated. My Email address is jacklippman18@gmail.com. 

Forwarding Postings: Please forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it (Friends, relatives, enemies, etc.) If you want to send someone the blog, you can just tell them to check it out by visiting https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com or you can provide a link to that address in your email to them. 

There’s another, perhaps easier, method of forwarding it though! Google Blogspot, the platform on which Jackspotpourri is prepared, makes that possible. If you click on the tiny envelope with the arrow at the bottom of every posting, you will have the opportunity to list up to ten email addresses to which that blog posting will be forwarded, along with a brief comment from you. Each will receive a link to click on that will directly connect them to the blog. Either way will work, sending them the link to https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com ,or clicking on the envelope at the bottom of this posting. 

Email Alerts: If you are NOT receiving emails from me alerting you each time there is a new posting on Jackspotpourri, just send me your email address and we’ll see that you do. And if you are forwarding a posting to someone, you might suggest that they do the same, so they will be similarly alerted. You can pass those email addresses to me by email at jacklippman18@gmail.com

More on the Sources of Information on Jackspotpourri: The sources of information used by Jackspotpourri include a delivered daily ‘paper’ newspaper (now becoming the South Florida Sun Sentinel) and what appears in my daily email. Be aware that when I open that email, I take these steps: 

 1. I quickly scan the sources of the dozen or two emails I still get each day at my old email address to see from where they are being sent. Most are from vendors which I may have used years ago. Without reading 99% of them, I usually immediately delete them. 

 2. I then go to the email arriving at jacklippman18@gmail.com. Gmail enables ‘Promotion’ emails to be so designated and separated out. I believe their criteria are whether or not they end up asking for donations or if they are no more than advertisements. I ignore most of these ‘Promotion’ emails without reading them, deleting them. A very few, perhaps one or two a day, get moved over to the two or three dozen other emails which I will actually open. 

 3. Then I read my email. 

Besides email, my other source of information is the Google search engine (or other search engines) where I can look up any subject I want. Lately, these search results have been headed by a very generalized summary clearly labeled as being developed by AI (Artificial Intelligence). On occasion I might use such search results, but when I do, I will say that I am doing so. Generally, however, I try not to use such summaries in preparing Jackspotpourri. After such ‘AI’ search results, then follows the other results of my search. 

Unlike the anonymous AI-generated summaries, the sources of these results are clearly indicated, giving them a greater credibility than any AI summary. I feel that It comes down to who YOU want to be in the driver’s seat in seeking information: yourself or something else (Artificial Intelligence), the structure of which somewhere along the way had to have been created by others, with whose identity I am neither familiar nor comfortable. At least when I read a column by Timothy Snyder, for example, I know from where it comes, and to some extent, what to expect. 

Caution should be exercised in using Artificial Intelligence. 

JL 

                                                              * * * *

November 10, 2025 - Looking at Some Earlier Postings

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Looking at Some Older Postings on Jackspotpourri 

Here’s an item that was part of Jackspotpourri’s posting on April 27, 2019, still during Trump’s first presidential term. It consists of the lyrics of a song I had heard somewhere. (It is too good for me to have written it) and It is reminiscent of the kind of folk music with political messages popular in the middle of the last century: 

"The Ballad of “Cheatin’ Donald” (Sung while strumming a guitar (or at least pretending to). Chorus is sort of like “Davie Crockett.” Verse is something like “Sweet Betsy from Pike."  In today’s musical environment, it might fit in with rap or hip hop as well.) 

Oh, he cheats on his taxes, he cheats on his wives, 

But the hammer of justice never arrives, 

He don’t pay his bills, he’ll fight you in court, 

When you try to collect, the amount he wuz short. 

Cheatin’, Cheatin’ Donald, a pro at the old con game 

Do things his way, or you’re right out the door, 

The rule of law, he prefers to ignore, 

To Liberty’s gates, He’ll add ste-el locks, That’s what he learned, 

From watching Fox. 

Cheatin’, Cheatin’ Donald, a pro at the old con game  

To keep his guys happy, he’s got all the tools, 

So long as they let him, he makes all the rules, 

They buy into his big song and dance, 

Blaming their pain on those damn immigrants.

Cheatin’, Cheatin’ Donald, a pro at the old con game  

The problems of plain folks, He’s good at ignorin’, 

Like health costs which are, eternally soarin’, 

But give him a despot, With ty-rannical power, 

To be his buddy and before whom to cower. 

Cheatin’, Cheatin’ Donald, a pro at the old con game   

He pours it on thick, like with real estate, 

Though it involves, our nation’s fate, 

But sooner or later, Our laws he’ll obey, 

Or get himself locked up at, Gwan ton a mo Bay. 

Cheatin’, Cheatin’ Donald, a pro at the old con game   

Oh, he’ll cheat on his taxes, He’ll cheat on his wives, 

Till the day that hammer of justice arrives, 

I don’t give a damn, what will be his fate, but I only hope that, 

It won’t come too late! 

Cheatin’, Cheatin’ Donald, a pro at the old con game   

                                                  * * * 

A posting a week ealier on April 20, 2019, included the following:

 

Early Warning and Not About Hurricanes 

‘It will be too late to save democracy in the United States if we reach the point where a Trumpian Executive branch has so manipulated the Department of Justice and its Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other Federal law enforcement agencies, that they become tools of the Administration’s political agenda. Such an occurrence would amount to a disregard of our Constitution and would be possible only with the acquiescence or impotency of the Legislative and Judicial branches of our government. If this politized control ever extended even further and involved the armed forces, the game would be over … and Americans would be wise to consider emigration, if it were still possible, to friendlier democratic nations where they might seek asylum. Scary, isn’t it. That’s why your political involvement is necessary today to prevent this from happening.’ 

And I wrote that over six years ago! 

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While You’re Looking at Older Postings, check out March 24, 2017’s extremely lengthy and meandering Jackspotpourri posting for another song or two and a link to what JD Vance’s 2016 book, ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ is about. In view of Donald Trump’s instability becoming more noticeable each day, we can’t ignore the fact that JD is presently our Vice-President. 

It is easy to get to that posting by clicking on the archive over to the right, first the year, then the month and you can get all of that month’s postings. I apologize for the length of that posting, but I was about to go on a vacation and tried to squeeze as much as possible into it, adding what I now see as a lot of extraneous material, but give it a shot. I can see now that was a mistake. 

JL 

                                                         * * * 

Housekeeping on Jackspotpourri 

Your comments on this ‘blog’ would be appreciated. My Email address is jacklippman18@gmail.com. 

Forwarding Postings: Please forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it (Friends, relatives, enemies, etc.) If you want to send someone the blog, you can just tell them to check it out by visiting https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com or you can provide a link to that address in your email to them. 

There’s another, perhaps easier, method of forwarding it though! Google Blogspot, the platform on which Jackspotpourri is prepared, makes that possible. If you click on the tiny envelope with the arrow at the bottom of every posting, you will have the opportunity to list up to ten email addresses to which that blog posting will be forwarded, along with a brief comment from you. Each will receive a link to click on that will directly connect them to the blog. Either way will work, sending them the link to https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com , or clicking on the envelope at the bottom of this posting. 

Email Alerts: If you are NOT receiving emails from me alerting you each time there is a new posting on Jackspotpourri, just send me your email address and we’ll see that you do. And if you are forwarding a posting to someone, you might suggest that they do the same, so they will be similarly alerted. You can pass those email addresses to me by email at jacklippman18@gmail.com

More on the Sources of Information on Jackspotpourri: The sources of information used by Jackspotpourri include a delivered daily ‘paper’ newspaper (now becoming the South Florida Sun Sentinel) and what appears in my daily email. Be aware that when I open that email, I take these steps: 

 1. I quickly scan the sources of the dozen or two emails I still get each day at my old email address to see from where they are being sent. Most are from vendors which I may have used years ago. Without reading 99% of them, I usually immediately delete them. 

 2. I then go to the email arriving at jacklippman18@gmail.com. Gmail enables ‘Promotion’ emails to be so designated and separated out. I believe their criteria are whether or not they end up asking for donations or if they are no more than advertisements. I ignore most of these ‘Promotion’ emails without reading them, deleting them. A very few, perhaps one or two a day, get moved over to the two or three dozen other emails which I will actually open. 

 3. Then I read my email. 

Besides email, my other source of information is the Google search engine (or other search engines) where I can look up any subject I want. Lately, these search results have been headed by a very generalized summary clearly labeled as being developed by AI (Artificial Intelligence). On occasion I might use such search results, but when I do, I will say that I am doing so. Generally, however, I try not to use such summaries in preparing Jackspotpourri. 

After such ‘AI’ search results, there follows the other results of my search. 

Unlike the anonymous AI-generated summaries, the sources of these results are clearly indicated, giving them a greater credibility than any AI summary. I feel that It comes down to who YOU want to be in the driver’s seat in seeking information: yourself or something else (Artificial Intelligence), the structure of which somewhere along the way had to have been created by others, with whose identity I am neither familiar nor comfortable. At least when I read a column by Timothy Snyder, for example, I know from where it comes, and to some extent, what to expect. 

Caution should be exercised in using Artificial Intelligence. 

JL 

                                                       * * * *

November 5, 2025 - Tale of Two Cities, Election Comments, Presidential Approval, and Animals

 

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Tale of Two Cities

Some Democrats, while pleased by their fine showings throughout the nation on November 4, keyed to both moderation and opposition to Trump, might be somewhat distressed by the election of leftist Social Democrat Mohran Mamdani as New York City’s Mayor. 

In 2016, Londoners elected their first Muslim mayor, Sadiq Khan, also a ‘soft’ left-wing Social Democrat, buoyed by the votes of that city’s working-class majority. Since then, he has moved toward the center and has been re-elected twice. Look for Zohran Mamdani, newly elected Mayor of New York City, also carried into office by working-class voters, to follow the same path.  What it takes to govern differs from what it takes to be elected. 

Khan and Mamdani

If the buses and daycare are to be ‘free,’ and rents frozen, the costs involved in accomplishing these things have to come from somewhere, and saying just ‘increase taxes on the rich’ isn’t enough and can itself have serious economic results, including an exodus of businesses and individuals.  Both Mayors recognize things like that. 

Mamdani’s election, unfortunately, will give an unjustified talking point to some bigoted Republicans in the United States, including the President and his kind. 

JL

                                                        * * * 

Voters Validate  the President’s Plummeting Approval Ratings 

But they still are not in the sewer where Tuesday’s election results suggest they are heading. Single digits! That’s how low the President’s approval ratings will have to sink before the still silent Republicans in Washington, most of whom really know better, turn on both him and on his appointees starting with the likes of Peter Hegseth, Stephen Miller, RFK Jr, and Russell Vought, who may be the worst one of them all. 

Truth will triumph but not necessarily today. Democratic governorship sucesses in Virginia (expected), New Jersey (not even close, as was expected), and California redistricting aren’t quite enough. 

The President claimed the Republicans’ sorry performance on November 4 was because (1) ’he’ personally was not on the ballot and (2) the government was still shut down, blamable on the Democrats. Both are very flimsy excuses but too many voters are still being conned by such Trumpian lies. Far too many! If you want to know why the government is ‘shut down,’ look to both Houses of Congress, the presidency, and the Supreme Court, all of which are controlled by Republicans. They’re the ones who refuse to negotiate and the ones at which to point a finger. 

How long do we have to wait before history assigns President Trump and such appointees to its dustbin (or to the Lincoln bathroom as described below)? 

It appears that the lower his ratings sink, the greater Trump’s dependence on unconstitutional, law-breaking, and totalitarian measures becomes. The nation’s armed forces, including State National Guards, Border Control personnel, and Immigration Control & Enforcement personnel, often masked to prevent identification, were never intended to be used against our civilian populations, unless an insurrection were occuring, which is happening only in the diseased minds of the President and those who are willing to march over the cliff into dictatorship along with him. Of that, we must be aware, and more importantly, afraid. Yes, afraid! 

I fear that this will not end well. The best that we can hope for is that the refurbished White House ‘Lincoln’ bathroom, now redone in Trumpian marble and gold, has commodes wide enough to accommodate those mentioned above when the voters of the United States, including Republicans, finally wake up, and push the lever to flush all of them down. They reached for it on November 4. 

And there’s so much more for which this irresponsible president is responsible: Rising prices and unemployment due to illegally imposed tariffs (Paul Krugman can explain that to you), alienating long-time allies, attacks on our best educational institutions, loss of government subsidies for those who cannot afford health insurance nor properly feed their families, castigating judges for doing their job, and of course, the destruction of part of the White House to be replaced by a garish ballroom to massage his insatiable and tasteless ego. And you cannot ignore the politically motivated pardoning of convicted criminals, including the mob he inspired to attack the Capitol in 2021 in an attempt to cancel a presidential election. Is there no end to it? Yet, he still has supporters. Unbelievable! 

Concerned Americans should be aware of this. The old Boy Scout motto, ‘Be Prepared,’ applies today (even though that organization’s name has this year been changed to ‘Scouting America’). ‘Be Prepared.’ 

For precisely what, I am not certain, nor do I know what actions on your part, other than voting, ‘being prepared’ involves, but in any event, ‘Be Prepared.’ 

JL 

                                                          * * * 

Recognizing our Non-Human Neighbors

Maybe it’s my imagination, but I see an increasing number of television commercials directed toward dogs and cats, rather than their human owners. Perhaps it is because we now recognize that ownership in any form of another living and breathing creature is slavery. 

And if you look to the comic pages of your newspaper for wisdom, you will see that an increasing number of strips are devoted to such non-human creatures there too. 

The religiously inclined might check out what was created on the fifth and sixth days of Genesis. Homo sapiens was not always the dominant species on Planet Earth, and although that seems to be the case right now, that is no guarantee of its future pre-eminence. The odds are against it. 

JL

                                                     * * * 

Housekeeping on Jackspotpourri

Your comments on this ‘blog’ would be appreciated. My Email address is jacklippman18@gmail.com. 

Forwarding Postings: Please forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it (Friends, relatives, enemies, etc.) If you want to send someone the blog, you can just tell them to check it out by visiting https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com or you can provide a link to that address in your email to them. 

There’s another, perhaps easier, method of forwarding it though! Google Blogspot, the platform on which Jackspotpourri is prepared, makes that possible. If you click on the tiny envelope with the arrow at the bottom of every posting, you will have the opportunity to list up to ten email addresses to which that blog posting will be forwarded, along with a brief comment from you. Each will receive a link to click on that will directly connect them to the blog. Either way will work, sending them the link to https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com , or clicking on the envelope at the bottom of this posting. 

Email Alerts: If you are NOT receiving emails from me alerting you each time there is a new posting on Jackspotpourri, just send me your email address and we’ll see that you do. And if you are forwarding a posting to someone, you might suggest that they do the same, so they will be similarly alerted. You can pass those email addresses to me by email at jacklippman18@gmail.com

More on the Sources of Information on Jackspotpourri: The sources of information used by Jackspotpourri include a delivered daily ‘paper’ newspaper (now becoming the South Florida Sun Sentinel) and what appears in my daily email. Be aware that when I open that email, I take these steps: 

 1. I quickly scan the sources of the dozen or two emails I still get each day at my old email address to see from where they are being sent. Most are from vendors which I may have used years ago. Without reading 99% of them, I usually immediately delete them. 

 2. I then go to the email arriving at jacklippman18@gmail.com. Gmail enables ‘Promotion’ emails to be so designated and separated out. I believe their criteria are whether or not they end up asking for donations or if they are no more than advertisements. I ignore most of these ‘Promotion’ emails without reading them, deleting them. A very few, perhaps one or two a day, get moved over to the two or three dozen other emails which I will actually open. 

 3. Then I read my email. 

Besides email, my other source of information is the Google search engine (or other search engines) where I can look up any subject I want. Lately, these search results have been headed by a very generalized summary clearly labeled as being developed by AI (Artificial Intelligence). On occasion I might use such search results, but when I do, I will say that I am doing so. Generally, however, I try not to use such summaries in preparing Jackspotpourri. 

After such ‘AI’ search results, there follows the other results of my search. Unlike the anonymous AI-generated summaries, the sources of these results are clearly indicated, giving them a greater credibility than the AI summary. I feel that It comes down to who YOU want to be in the driver’s seat in seeking information: yourself or something else (Artificial Intelligence), the structure of which somewhere along the way had to have been created by others, with whose identity I am neither familiar nor comfortable. At least when I read a column by Timothy Snyder, for example, I know from where it comes, and to some extent, what to expect. 

Caution should be exercised in using Artificial Intelligence. 

JL

                                                              * * * *

October 30, 2025 - Upcoming Elections, Reading, Trumpian Lies, Usurper Vought, and Other Stuff

                                                                 *   *   *

November 4 is Election Day Somewhere 

The President is not on the ballot in November but some candidates who support his attempts to be a tyrant are, and they ought to be defeated, particularly in races for seats in the House of Representatives that have become vacant in the middle of terms that are slated to expire next year. Governorship races in Virginia and New Jersey are also similarly in the spotlight. (There are no such contests on the ballot in Florida, vacancies already having been filled through ‘special’ elections or appointments by the Governor.) But it’s still a good time to make certain that your ‘vote by mail’ choice is preserved for future use by contacting your County’s Supervisor of Elections. See the preceding Jackspotpourri for an appropriate link to her office. 

Elsewhere, If there is a race occurring in your State or Congressional District, your vote might be the best way to rid the nation of its 'wannabe' tyrant. And there are many important contests elsewhere though! 

Keep an eye on them as precursors to 2026 when the entire House of Representatives and one third of the Senate will be up for grabs in addition to important governorship races. The Ballotpedia site lists the most important of next week’s contests. Check them out by clicking here or copying and pasting https://news.ballotpedia.org/2025/10/10/top-10-elections-to-watch-this-nov-4/ on your device’s browser line. 

JL 

                                                     * * * 

Read, Read, and Read Some More 

The following comment appeared in the ‘free’ introductory part of the ‘Free Press’ newsletter on October 24:

‘James Marriott (a contributor to that site’s posting) explains why the stakes couldn’t be higher. Our liberal democracy, he writes, was built by widespread literacy — the same widespread literacy that is now being dismantled by screens. Unless we start reading again, he says, our civilization may not survive.’      

                                                    * * 

When was the last time YOU read a book, a printed one, not an online version on a screen as the writer mentions? When?                      

                      

                                                    * * 

This reminds me of the famous quote by John Cotton Dana, founder of the Newark Public Library. It was included on the inside of the cover of every book in that massive library in the town where I grew up: 

1. Read

2. Read 

3. Read Some More 

4. Read Anything 

5. Read About Everything 

6. Read Enjoyable Things 

7. Read Things You Yourself Enjoy 

8. Read and Talk About It 

9. Read Very Carefully Some Things 

10. Read On the Run Most Things 

11. Don’t Think About Reading, But 

12. Just Read

JL 

                                           * * *

More Trumpian Lies – East Wing Destruction and More 

When President Trump announced he was adding a ballroom to the White House, he specifically said that its East Wing, which would be adjacent to that addition, would remain as it is. That was a lie, par for the course for him. The first thing that the contractors who would build the new ballroom did was to demolish the East Wing of the White House. 

Destruction of East Wing of White House
and the President who couldn’t care less 

 According to both the New York Times and MSNBC postings, the East Wing was first built in 1902 under President Theodore Roosevelt as a relatively modest entryway for guests to the White House. The edifice was greatly expanded in 1942 during World War Two, in part to cover up the construction of a bunker beneath the White House. The excuse given was that it would be used for offices purposes. 

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, never one to miss an opportunity, used the newly constructed wing to support her expanded operations, host events with key constituencies and hold press conferences. But it was Rossalyn Carter who first set up the official Office of the First Lady on the second floor of the East Wing. Carter organized the office into a home base for the political power, an influence that first ladies have learned to wield, each in their own fashion alongside their usual social responsibilities. The silence of the present First Lady on the East Wing’s destruction speaks for itself.

Supposedly the new ballroom was to be paid for by those loyal enough, or dumb enough, or seeking the President’s favor, to make donations for this project, but few, if any of them, knew it would involve desecration of a major part of the White House in use for the past 123 years. 

It should be noted that previous architectural changes of the White House over the years have all been ‘constructive’ ones approved by Congress or federal commissions. This latest one, however, making room for the addition of the President’s ego-building ballroom, starts off with destruction of a useful and historic part of the White House, ‘destruction’ being a hallmark of most of what the President and his administration have accomplished. 

They are still busily involved in destroying the Constitution and the nation’s democratic institutions through the President’s often illegal Executive Orders and illegal actions carried out by the Office of Management and Budget whose head, Russell Vought (author of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025), has led the usurping of the House of Representatives’ historic ‘power of the purse,’ even preventing Congressionally-approved government funding from being spent! 

To find out more about Vought’s background and activities from a recent New Yorker magazine artilcle, click here or copy and paste https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/10/27/russell-vought-profile-donald-trump on your device’s browser line. 

The best aspect of these despicable acts on the President’s part and those of his appointees is that they serve to awaken many Americans to the fact that Donald Trump is no more fit to be president of the United States than he was while he was heading up his many enterprises that ended in bankruptcy.

Have you ever wondered why Trump paints everything ‘gold,’ including the fixtures and trim in the Oval office? Think back to the Greek myth about foolish King Midas.  Who does that kind of thing, other than someone seeking a synthetic mantle of royalty? 

Bravo, ‘No Kings’ demonstrators! You hit the nail on the head! 

Millions of those who voted for him are already suffering from political ‘buyer’s remorse.’ Even though there is a Constitutional two-term limits for presidents, Trump is already hinting about finding a way of circumventing that.  Even rock-solid Republicans are coming to believe that Donald Trump is the greatest foe of American democracy since George III. They are correct. Democrats already know that but are having difficulty doing much about it. 

JL 

                                                        * * * 

A Change I Am Considering

On most, but not all, days I find that Boston College history professor Heather Cox Richardson’s daily ‘Letters from an American’ (Usually sent out late the previous evening) has touched on most of the topics I try to reach on Jackspotpourri. 

I am considering limiting Jackspotpourri to matters on which Professor Richardson DOES NOT COMMENT and linking this blog to her daily ‘Letters from an American’ for everything else. 

There’s no ‘paywall’ to surmount in order to access its text and audio postings unless you choose to be able to exchange thoughts with other commenters. Richrdson’s footnotes always include links to the sources of the many topics about which she writes, so it offers more than merely her thoughts. ‘Letters from an American’ can be reached at https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/ . I usually agree with what she posts there so this can save me a lot of work. I am getting lazy as I grow older. 

JL 

                                                        * * * 

Update 

Dr, Howard Olarsh’s letter, included in Jackspotpourri on October 18, was published by the SunSentinel on October 25. Hurrah! 

JL 

                                                     * * * 

Sports Gambling 

I’ve been planning to include in Jackspotpourri my thoughts on sports gambling, particularly the online sites where all that is needed to bet, including on some ‘exotic’ wagers, is a credit card and access to sites like Fanduel, DraftKings, and many others. 

Their ads on telecasts of athletic events tempt people who cannot afford to wager to do so and imply to children that gambling is an acceptable ‘fun’ pastime, which it isn’t. 

The scandal I fear has now occurred, and I hope it results in strict regulation of online wagering and the television advertisements promoting it. More later! 

JL 

                                                  * * * 

Misleading Auto insurance Ads 

And speaking of television ads, a major auto insurance provider instructs viewers to ‘only pay for what you need.’ That is terrible and misleading advice.

In the State of Florida, for example, 'what you need’ to register your car is only $10,000 of property damage coverage and $10,000 of personal injury protection. That is far, far, less than you might need if you get into an accident and find yourself as the defendant in a lawsuit. It is why so many Florida motorists drive around in underinsured vehicles. 

At best, that company’s agents should point that out and try to sell them what they really need, coverage for far more than their dishonest TV ads suggest. 

JL

                                                             * * * 

Housekeeping on Jackspotpourri 

Your comments on this ‘blog’ would be appreciated. My Email address is jacklippman18@gmail.com. 

Forwarding Postings: Please forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it (Friends, relatives, enemies, etc.) If you want to send someone the blog, you can just tell them to check it out by visiting https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com or you can provide a link to that address in your email to them. 

There’s another, perhaps easier, method of forwarding it though! Google Blogspot, the platform on which Jackspotpourri is prepared, makes that possible. If you click on the tiny envelope with the arrow at the bottom of every posting, you will have the opportunity to list up to ten email addresses to which that blog posting will be forwarded, along with a brief comment from you. Each will receive a link to click on that will directly connect them to the blog. Either way will work, sending them the link to https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com , or clicking on the envelope at the bottom of this posting. 

Email Alerts: If you are NOT receiving emails from me alerting you each time there is a new posting on Jackspotpourri, just send me your email address and we’ll see that you do. And if you are forwarding a posting to someone, you might suggest that they do the same, so they will be similarly alerted. You can pass those email addresses to me by email at jacklippman18@gmail.com

More on the Sources of Information on Jackspotpourri: The sources of information used by Jackspotpourri include a delivered daily ‘paper’ newspaper (now the South Florida Sun Sentinel) and what appears in my daily email. Be aware that when I open that email, I take these steps: 

 1. I quickly scan the sources of the dozen or two emails I still get each day at my old email address to see from where they are being sent. Most are from vendors which I may have used years ago. Without reading 99% of them, I usually immediately delete them. 

 2. I then go to the email arriving at jacklippman18@gmail.com. Gmail enables ‘Promotion’ emails to be so designated and separated out. I believe their criteria are whether or not they end up asking for donations or if they are no more than advertisements. I ignore most of these ‘Promotion’ emails without reading them, deleting them. A very few, perhaps one or two a day, get moved over to the two or three dozen other emails which I will actually open. 

 3. Then I read my email. 

Besides email, my other source of information is the Google search engine (or other search engines) where I can look up any subject I want. Lately, these search results have been headed by a very generalized summary clearly labeled as being developed by AI (Artificial Intelligence). On occasion I might use such search results, but when I do, I will say that I am doing so. Generally, however, I try not to use such summaries in preparing Jackspotpourri. 

After such ‘AI’ search results, there follows the other results of my search. Unlike the anonymous AI-generated summaries, the sources of these results are clearly indicated, giving them a greater credibility than the AI summary. I feel that It comes down to who YOU want to be in the driver’s seat in seeking information: yourself or something else (Artificial Intelligence), the structure of which somewhere along the way had to have been created by others, with whose identity I am neither familiar nor comfortable. At least when I read a column by Timothy Snyder, for example, I know from where it comes, and to some extent, what to expect. 

Caution should be exercised in using Artificial Intelligence. 

JL 

                                                         * * * *