Retribution Is His

Vengeance is so much more fun than governing.

He told us he was “our” (read: “his”), retribution, and now a New Jersey Congresswoman believes him. Lamonica McIver (D-Duh) accompanied the mayor of Newark, New Jersey to a private prison engaged by the Trump administration to hold immigrants (but is not licensed to be occupied). She was arrested on frivolous assault charges that won’t stand the light of day.

There’s so much to unpack here that I’ll just have space to touch on the lowlights. Here’s a partial list.

•Unqualified (what’s new?) IRS director designee, Billy Long, Trump’s sixth in as many months, is a fierce loyalist, destined, according to Ron Wyden (D-Obvious) to, “use the IRS as a cudgel to beat his adversaries into submission.” Wyden also noted serious accusations against Long’s involvement with fraudulent tax schemes. Federal law states that the government may not ever use the IRS as a political weapon, yet here we are.

Laws? We don’t need no stinkin’ laws.

•The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency that has returned $21 billion to defrauded consumers, is in the process of being turned into the Corporate Protection Bureau. Consumers be damned.

•After Bruce Springsteen took the stage in the UK and singed Trump with words like “corrupt” and “incompetent,” the predictable social media salvo (ALL CAPS, of course) ensued, in which Trump threatened not only The Boss, but Beyonce, Oprah, and Bono (again, huh?) with “major investigations.” It was all too much for Neil Young, who wrote on his website, "STOP THINKING ABOUT WHAT ROCKERS ARE SAYING. Think about saving America from the mess you made."

•He promised Medicaid wouldn’t be touched, but of course it’s on the chopping block. Instead of admitting the broken promise, they’ll now use paperwork as an uncrossable moat to gaining health benefits from the government. “See, it’s right there…”

•While we’re on the subject, how about the blatant inhumanity of ICE raids and renditions, where cruelty is the point?

•The First Amendment, too? Yup. The pressure campaigns against honest reporting in general, and the major networks and newspapers in particular, is in full bloom. The borrowed Nazi slogan, “Enemy of the people” is right on time. CNN: “Trump repeatedly attacked NBC's Peter Alexander for asking about the Qatari jet ‘gift’... He called the well-respected reporter an "idiot" and a "jerk" and said that NBC parent Comcast and its CEO Brian Roberts "ought to be investigated." CNN is also reporting that Disney head, Bob Iger, told ABC execs to tone down the Trump bashing on “The View.”

•Media Matters for America is a progressive watchdog that analyzes websites, apps, podcasts, internet posts, and cable stations for accuracy and bias. Do I need to tell you that the Trump Federal Trade Commission (FTC ) has initiated an “investigation”? The agency sent a letter, which CNN's Liam Reilly has viewed, "demanding communications between the progressive media watchdog and advertising entities. The move is an attempt to use discovery to punish the organization and find alleged evidence that it colluded with advertisers to pull their funding from Elon Musk's X." Read Reilly's full story here...

•The DOJ is (of course) investigating the Democratic fundraising site, Act Blue.

•Just to be petty, The Sore Winner has revoked security clearances of former, “disloyal” aides. Whether you’re a killer cop or a cop killer, it’s all the same to Trump. As long as you kowtow to him, you’ll be exonerated.

There’s much blame from a guy who has never been wrong about anything, and who will take responsibility for nothing. He actually said about the economy, the good parts are Trump; the bad parts are Biden. (The American economy was the envy of the world until Trump took a monkey wrench to it.) He’ll probably rename the San Andreas Fault, “Biden’s Fault.”

•Tariffs as retribution: The administration announced recently that if Apple doesn’t make the iPhone in the U.S., it will be taxed at 25%. Experts note that it is virtually impossible for Apple to domesticate manufacturing in less than five years.

•Last, what of Harvard? The most prestigious university in the world, older than the U.S., is under vengeful siege from the president. Cynics say it is because son, Baron, didn’t get accepted. From legal expert, Jay Kuo, “The Supreme Court has long disfavored content-based sanctions by the government in order to coerce or silence speech. But that is what we are seeing on full display in this case.”

CNN: Americans’ views of what he’s done so far have turned deeply negative, a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds. Trump’s 41% approval rating is the lowest for any newly elected president at 100 days dating back at least to Dwight Eisenhower – including Trump’s own first term.

No surprise that his Memorial Day speech was about Donald Trump, not fallen heroes.

Vengeance is his.

©2025 Jon Sinton