Like a big, out-of-control bully, America strides across the world, making enemies wherever it goes, acting as if there will be no consequences. Both our president and our country are behaving like spoiled children, demanding whatever they want and giving nothing in return.
Our leaders insult the fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers who fought and suffered in two wars for the freedoms we have. They denigrate NATO and the promise it has kept to its members all these years. The president denies that international law is binding on him or on our country.
Americans know right from wrong. Our parents and teachers helped us with that. We learned how to play together, then work together as adults, based on mutual respect and the fact that we all depend on each other. We know that hurting anyone on purpose is morally wrong, and that it will come back to hurt us.
Americans are a good and moral people. How can we accept leaders who are neither good nor moral, leaders who break all 10 commandments openly and don’t fear punishment by their God or country.
Do we live in a world where there are no consequences? Can we applaud the words and actions of our president and his minions while they destroy our country and our position in the world?
Americans have come to a crossroads. Will we allow our president and his administration to continue their reign of violence, creating fear in our streets? Will we allow him to punish other countries for not doing his bidding? Will we allow America to steal what the president claims is ours from countries that cannot fight back?
This is our moment of truth. I believe we are brave enough to join together, stand up, and say no! We cannot wait any longer. The time has come!
Gale McNeeley
Santa Maria
This article appears in Jan 22-29, 2026.
The “time has come!” for what? How has your “resistance” been working out for you so far? Over the last year, you and your leaders have incited mob violence over immigration enforcement, and people have died, yet the 2024 election gave the clear message that voters want the country to protect its borders and to enforce the immigration laws. After the 1/6 riot, you howled about “insurrection” and “sedition”, but now appear happy to embrace them in order to get your way. Do you really think that ” turning it up a notch” is going to convince voters that “gee, the Democrats are really pissed off. We better do as they demand”, and that you are sane, responsible people who can be trusted to run things?
In the end, none of this matters. Our economy comes to an end this year. We are going to be more focused on trying to figure out how to put food on our tables than anything else.
“sane, responsible people”
Said the supporter of Donald Trump, easily the most insane and irresponsible leader in the history of this nation. Displaying maps that include Canada, Greenland and Venezuela with the American flag on top of them, placing tariffs on island nations where only penguins live, tearing down part of the White House to build himself a palace, etc. are not the actions of a sane actor.
Obama deported more than 3 million, 90% with criminal convictions. I don’t recall the same turmoil in our streets. I don’t remember any folks being killed. I don’t remember small children used as bait to get folks to open their doors. Yes, we do need to deport criminal aliens. No one is arguing that. But, wouldn’t a Congressional immigration reform law be better to achieve the goals of managing our immigrant population, rather than the whims of the white nationalists who have infested the executive branch of our government?
Or maybe Mr. Donegan accepts Mr. Fly’s claim that apocalypse is near and none of this matters. Because most “sane and responsible people” believe the federal government has gone way too far in immigration enforcement.
Or, perhaps the reason that you don’t recall this sort of drama occurring under Obama is because the media didn’t relentlessly highlight it, like they are now for political effect. And, of course, the usual lefty suspects were not calling on their followers to take to the streets to protest and fight ICE.
Oh come on, are you really that deep in the right wing media echo chamber?
In fact, there were plenty of “lefty suspects” who protested Obama’s actions. According to Google, “Protests against the deportation policies of the Barack Obama administration were widespread among immigrant rights advocates, religious leaders, and community activists, particularly between 2010 and 2016.” These appear to be the same people protesting now, but regular citizens have also become involved because of the brutal tactics being used by this administration. You really believe there would have been no coverage of ICE during the Obama administration if they were the same masked goons that are currently wreaking havoc? Please.
Moreover, I think we might all remember if there had been 3,000 ICE agents in the streets of Minneapolis confronting American citizens, or if the National Guard had been deployed to Portland, LA or Chicago. Your argument is simply ridiculous.
From the rioting and hysterical media coverage, it is clear that the current enforcement of immigration laws is making a far bigger outcry. You are just being political selective. True, there was less violence, but there were also no mobs showing up to try and block Obama’s efforts, nor social media alert networks to ensure a crowd would be present. The Democrats lost in 2024 on the illegal immigration issue, and this is just another cynical attempt to get their way by utilizing rioting and chaos.
Michael:
We are late Soviet Union. Do you really believe any numbers coming out of government agencies or the media? It’s all a lie.
“Bumper crops …full production….soft landing ….booming economy …green shoots…”
I don’t know about you, but I’m stocking basic commodities and preparing for the end of our economy and hyperinflation. Bonds auctions are failing, the Fed is intervening, we are in a debt spiral, our national debt is being monitized. Pensions will collapse. Treasuries are being dumped and insiders are selling stocks and bailing. They are frontrunning the collapse and need Americans to believe everything is fine. If not, they would have no one to unload their garbage assets to. Markets need buyers and if everyone was rushing for the exits at the same time, they would have no one to dump their garbage assets on.
I think you are right to point out these important indicators. They are worrisome, but I don’t think the cataclysmic collapse you are predicting will happen anytime soon. The U.S. is currently at about a 125% debt to GDP ratio. Albeit a much smaller economy, Japan has been surviving with a well over 200% ratio for many years.
But, I understand your frustration, and I agree that the boomer generation has profited trillions of dollars without paying a fair share of taxes. When you look at taxation, the U.S. ranks around 50th in the world for highest taxed citizens. Successive cuts by Republican presidents with no response from Democratic presidents has been a mistake.
And, unfortunately, most all of those boomers are now retiring, if they can, which will place a heavy strain on both medicare and social security. There are fixes to this, but doubt they will happen with Republicans in charge and a crazy man in the White House. I did, however, read that Mitt Romney has recently said there needs to be a raise in the income cap for SS taxes. Of course, he says this now that he has no power. Maybe an old man regretting the world he helped build.
You may be eager to may more taxes, and I encourage you to do so, but I am already tapped out. I don’t appreciate your “vicarious generosity” on my behalf.
Just pointing out facts. The U.S. ranks 32 out of 38 highly developed nations in total tax burden per citizen. Before Reagan lowered the top tax rate from 72% to 35% this nation had very little in debt and the CEO pay ratio to his workers was about 40-1. Today that ratio is 280-1. Instead of paying their workers more they get away with hoarding wealth.
According to Google, “The richest 1% in the U.S. owned approximately 29% of the national wealth in 1980. This figure represented a low point in wealth concentration, which subsequently began to rise substantially in the following decades. Since the 1980s, wealth concentration has significantly increased. The share of wealth held by the top 1% has risen substantially and currently stands at around 40%.”
And, your assertion that Obama’s immigration enforcement was just as brutal as what’s currently going on, and that the media simply didn’t cover people being teargassed and shot in the streets, is the product of delusion or too much Fox News.
Finally, dialogue is actually happening about the economy instead of boutique issues. As a bonus, a Boomer, Mr Smith, is actually aware of the devastation his generation caused and is actually contrite.
The solutions would include:
1. Slashing defense spending 70%.
2. Creating a public option for health care.
3. Balancing our budget.
4. Raising taxes on the rich and corporations to what they were in the 1950s.
Smith:
Commercial real estate is going to be our downfall. The zero to low I interest loans obtained from regional banks for hundreds of billions for commercial real estate that are the time was occupied, are generally 5 year loans with interest only being paid monthly with a balloon payment in 5 years. They are not 30 year mortgages.normally they are just rolled over at the 5 year mark because banks are willing to loan the money necessary to pay off the original loan. Unfortunately the real estate is no longer occupied due to layoffs, remote work, and downsizing. If the borrowers wanted to borrow to pay off the balloon payment, it would be at the 7 or 8 percent interest rates and lenders aren’t going to give them money even if they wanted. Regional banks are going to collapse (like SVB) and bring the whole financial system to collapse. The Fed will print and hyperinflation will ensure. This year is the 5 year mark. We’re toast, ladies and germs.
What you point out is certainly a negative, but I do not believe it will bring down a $27 trillion economy that continues to grow (no matter who the president is) at about 3% a year. This has been the case for the last 15 years, and that factors in the interruptions surrounding COVID. Small banks come and go. Midstate Bank became Rabobank which became Mechanic’s Bank. Small community loan associations and credit unions, however, where people should put their money, continue to grow in members and assets.
I see the glut in vacant commercial buildings as one solution in the current housing crisis. While conversion is expensive it can be worthwhile to those involved.
I do understand your concerns, but I am really only worried by what Mr. Trump does, because taking over the Fed and eliminating its independence could lead to what you are predicting. I hope cooler heads prevail. One good thing about Trump is that he seems to be swayed easily by what happens on Wall St.
I have been reading about the imminent collapse of the U.S. economy for many years (one of my favorite analysts, Thom Hartman, even wrote a book called The Crash of 2016–that year did see slower growth but not anything significant).
But keep up your posts, Mr. Fly, they are always entertaining, often maddening, and, every once in a while, quite profound.
Michael:
I’m not writing for you, but for the general public.
“One good thing about Trump is that he seems to be swayed easily by what happens on Wall St.” This is a good thing? All Wall Street cares about is profits and frankly, both parties are guilty of “being seated by what happens on Wall Street.” Does anyone really think Wall Street will demand a balanced budget, a tax on their class, a public works program, a civilian corp of public workers, full employment, an end to the (public) bailouts they’ve profited from so handsomely, and an end to stock but backs? No. They want the opposite. They want mass layoffs, off shoring, tax breaks, no bid contracts to the defense sector, bailouts, corporate welfare, unregulated (illegal) immigration, and secrecy. Well, they got it. A Democratic administration or congressional majority won’t change it. They will however, open our borders up again and flood our country with illegals to drive wages down. Demographically, we need immigration, but what we need is regulated immigration and the importation of STEM majors and graduates.
I basically agree with everything you said about Wall Street. All I was saying is that Trump tends to back off from his worst instincts when the market drops. In the spring, he backed away from his most Draconian tariffs when the Dow Jones plunged, and recently he backed away from his preposterous idea to take Greenland by force when a similar drop occurred.
On immigration, I’ve been saying for years that we need comprehensive reform which, I believe, would keep each party from indulging in excess. The Republicans will not be able to militarize our cities and the Dems will not be able to open the door to large swaths of illegals. In recent years, both parties have handled the issue poorly.