Signal Press

OK, I will say up front that the claim central to the Signal Press post below, that Trump proclaimed he'd have a bigger crowd at his funeral than Dick Cheney had at his, was made up by Andy Borowitz. That is what Andy does, reports with satire and sarcasm. Sometimes people are too quick to believe something they read online, even IF this particular claim seems right in line with Trump's lack of integrity, morals and self-awareness. We are used to Trump acting this way, so it is somewhat believable. But it does appear Trump never said it. Regardless, the rest of the column is worthy of reprinting, so I will do that.

The Signal Press

Sunday, November 23, 2025

Don't Think That This Small-Minded, Spiteful, Insufferable Pettiness Isn't a Reflection on the United States of AmericaDon't Think That This Small-Minded, Spiteful, Insufferable Pettiness Isn't a Reflection on the United States of America

It's been a long time since I've considered using the term "stupid idiot" in either conversation, or in my writing and expressing my thoughts.  Free speech gives us a lot of latitude, but restraint can sometimes be a sign of a level of intelligence, self-respect and simple courtesy.  Then there are times when something happens, and we are left without words to express the depth of our feelings about it. 

That's where I am right now.  

Where else could I be, after seeing the President of the United States publicly declare that the crowd at his funeral will be a lot larger than the one Dick Cheney got at his.  The fact that this man actually uttered these words is irrefutable proof that every criticism of him, every bad word spoken about him, every word spoken that was critical of his total lack of character and morality has been right on target. 

He is a stupid idiot.  And so is every American citizen who voted for him either time he ran for President.  We are a nation of half-witted dumb-asses, or at least, half of us are.  We have not always had some of the best and brightest individuals in our country find their way into the White House, and maybe that's due to some unique quirks in our history.  But we've never, until now, elected someone who bears no resemblance at all to competent, effective leadership.  Or whose character and person is so lacking in human character that it has, indeed, become a national embarassment, and a detriment to his ability to serve.

And the fact that enough Americans used their popular sovereignty, and cast a ballot to put him back in as President, makes them as bottomlessly stupid, ignorant and petty as he is. It takes some serious mental illness and a measure of insanity for a human being to step so far out of the boundaries of normal behavior, understanding the kind of character that is expected of the nation's President to publicly whine about the size of the crowd at Dick Cheney's funeral, and claim his own will be larger.    

This is the man who holds the nuclear codes in his hands, people.  

No Comparison Between Dick Cheney and Donald Trump

Donald Trump is no Dick Cheney.

I was not a fan of Dick Cheney, not at any point in his political career.  The man who served both Bush Presidencies bears a measure of responsibility for the colossal failures of both, particularly those of Dubya, under who he served as Vice-President, and for whose failed policies he was responsible.  The economy tanked, Bush made a muddled mess of a war that should have been quick, cut and dried, and which took place under false pretenses.  And most of that is on Cheney.  

Cheney was a hard line right winger, not a man of the people.  He wasn't exactly easy to get along with, and he was a politician, not a humanitarian.  I wasn't invited to attend his funeral, and wouldn't have gone if I had been, simply because he wouldn't have been someone for whom I'd make an effort to honor his life at his passing.  To those who knew him, he may have seemed to be a "good man," and I'm not going to question those personal perspectives.  My way of paying my respects is to acknowledge his passing, out of respect for the office he held, and that's that.  

But Cheney, by any standard of measurement, was certainly a much better person than the sitting President, by a long shot.  

There Are Consequences We All Must Suffer For the Breakdown of the Support for Constitutional Democracy

And the words that keep tumbling out of the man's mouth, and off his fingertips, every day, show us how big a mistake it was to ever elect him to public office, and how we must all bear the responsibility, and suffer the consequences, because we have somehow created circumstances which allowed America's most stupid idiot to become its President.  Or, which allowed the most stupid idiots in America to have control of the political steering wheel, overcoming the safeguards of a free press and an educated electorate and allowing ignorance to reign.

Not only did we elect the politicians who support this madness, a sad and costly departure from warnings given to us from as far back as Washington's Farewell Address, but we also elected other politicians who don't seem to have the same convictions, fortitude, or courage that those among the American people who see and have responded to what is happening are now exhibiting.  

We need a whole lot more Jasmine Crocketts and Mark Kellys, and Eric Swalwells, who will, like governors Gavin Newsom and J. B. Pritzker, get right in Trump's face and take his fragile ego down.  He's backed down, in Illinois and in California, we've beaten him.  The Texas National Guard, which never actually set foot in the city of Chicago, has gone back to Texas defeated and disoriented and demoralized. And bankrupt. That's what happens when this guy uses things.  They burn up during the process. 

The threats that come out of this man's mouth are signs of his weakness, his inept incompetence and lack of any sort of emotional strength or common sense.  They are indications of his complete and total moral bankruptcy, and of his absolutely horrific lack of any sense of humanity or decency, which are necessities for serving in the Presidency.  

The integrity, decency, humanity of those who have now become his opposition, a group which should include almost all of the American people, but which sadly only numbers somewhere around 60% of us, if we still believe polls and trust their ability to truly gauge the national will, binds us to support the Constitution's means of making a change in office for the benefit of the American people.  We are not like the British parliament, which can call for elections when it is clear that the coalition government isn't working.  So we have to depend on the most partisan and politically ineffective and morally bankrupt Congress that we've ever had to do its job, follow through on their responsibility to impeach him on any of dozens of felony charges for the crimes he's committed, and then vote to remove him from office.  

Every senator or representative that stands in the way of doing this is fighting against American values, the American Republic, American Constitutional Democracy and popular sovereignty, "We, the people."

Original.