Ray Richmond

There is just so much back-and-forth going on between Donald Trump and Jesus Christ right now that I had a feeling the two must be secretly meeting and trying to figure each other out. And it turns out I was right.

In this Raw Story exclusive, I was able to eavesdrop on the president of the United States and our Lord and Savior as they talked shop.

Here is what I managed to scribble down:

Donald Trump: “So this is it. This is The Guy. I’ll be honest. I expected more. Bigger presence. People talk about you like you’re the greatest ever. I’ve seen greater.”

Jesus Christ: “What were you hoping to see, my son?”

Trump: “Strength. Authority. A winner. Not…this.”

Christ: “And what is ‘this’?”

Trump: “Soft. Quiet. You let people walk all over you. Meanwhile, I’m not buying the whole ‘walk on water’ thing.”

Christ: “I allow people to interact with me however they choose.”

Trump: “And they chose to kill you. Not much of a winning strategy there, pal.”

Christ: “Is that how you measure a life?”

Trump: “It’s how the world measures everything.”

Christ: “I don’t see things in the same fashion. I look at the value of the person. This is how I view achievement.”

Trump: “Yeah sure. Everyone takes advantage of you, uses you and your influence to prop themselves up – including me. You make it WAY too easy.”

Christ: “And yet people find spiritual comfort in the enlightenment I offer.”

Trump: “You talk a good game. But the truth is you’re a disaster. You had the crowd. You had the attention. You could’ve led – really led. Instead, you wandered around, told stories, upset the wrong people.”

Christ: “And what would you have had me do?”

Trump: “Take charge. Build something that lasts out of gold. Put your name on stuff besides churches. No one takes churches seriously. Not really.”

Christ: “What you build will not last.”

Trump: “See, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. You disparage what you don’t understand because you’re jealous.”

Christ: “You build monuments to yourself that will crumble shortly after you shuffle off this mortal coil.”

Trump: “Not true. You’re crazy. What I build lasts forever and has my name on it.”

Christ: “I inspire people to build from their sacred dreams. Those structures are indestructible due to their foundation of insight.”

Trump: “I haven’t got the slightest clue what the hell you’re talking about.”

Christ: “And you never will.”

Trump: “Oh really? And why is that?”

Christ: “Because you are concerned only with finding someone or something to defeat. You have no interest in things that stimulate, that motivate, that inspire, that fulfill. You care exclusively about conquering, crushing, annihilating, deflating.”

Trump: “Because that’s what success is all about. I win. You lose. You’re destroyed in the process. And no one wins like me. That’s why the people love me. You’re just a guy who got nailed to a cross. I like my messiahs not crucified.”

Christ: “I died to atone for mankind’s sins. I do not view that as a loss so much as a form of sacrifice, a concept I fear you will never understand.”

Trump: “Oh I understand it, all right. I’ve sacrificed plenty. All of the criticism from losers. All of the lawsuits. All of the disrespect.”

Christ: “You will never comprehend true sacrifice until you embrace humility.”

Trump: “This is all just a load of crap, Jesus. You really think you’re above all of this, don’t you?”

Christ: “No.”

Trump: “Then what is it? Because you stand there like none of it matters – success, power, recognition, all of the things people actually care about.”

Christ: “I care about those who care about themselves.“

Trump: “See, there you go again, spouting gibberish. Exactly what people who never notch a victory say.”

Christ: “This victory of which you speak is not what I am here for.”

Trump: “Oh yeah? What did you come for?”

Christ: “I came to free human beings from the tyranny of self.”

Trump: “That’s it? That’s all you’ve got?”

Christ: “I’m offering people the truth about themselves.”

Trump: “No. You’re offering them failure.”

Christ: “If it is failure that I represent, my son, then why is it that you seem so enchanted by my likeness that you use it and refer to it at every opportunity?”

Trump: “It’s a way to control people. They are so gaga over your religion – the religion you named after yourself, I might add – that they still follow everything they think you taught them about life.”

Christ: “I offer souls a pathway to contentment.”

Trump: “I teach them to avoid failure and turn it into strength.”

Christ: “You turn it into anger.”

Trump: “Anger wins.”

Christ: “For a moment.”

Trump: “Long enough.”

Christ: “To what end?”

Trump: “Domination.”

Christ: “It is a way to divide. I prefer strength through unity and loving one another.”

Trump: “Whatever. You know, for someone people call the Son of God, you haven’t done a very good job proving it.”

Christ: “How would you suggest I prove it?”

Trump: “I don’t know. Turn water into wine. Heal the sick. Cast out demons. Create chaos out of thin air. Something.”

Christ: “You would not believe it even if you witnessed it, as your cynicism clouds your every thought.”

Trump: “Excuse me?”

Christ: “You only believe what serves you.”

Trump: “That’s not true.”

Christ: “You have built your life on it. And in the process, you have left the world stained with your own egoistic vision of the darkness that inhabits your soul.”

Trump: “Oh yeah? Well darkness has worked pretty well for me so far. I’m worth $6.3 billion. What’s your net worth, Christ?”

Christ: “I cannot be measured in materialistic wealth.”

Trump: “That’s what all the losers tell me.”

Christ: “My response is that you are loved.”

Trump: “Who cares? All that matters to me is that I won.”

Christ: “Then you will never achieve what you seek. And you will never be truly satisfied.”

Trump: “You and that Pope Leo are like peas in a pod. Negative, negative, negative. Enjoy your stupid little existence. I’m done.”

Christ: “I will pray for you.”

Ray Richmond is a longtime journalist/author and an adjunct professor at Chapman University in Orange, CA.

I woke up very early yesterday. Maybe the earliest anyone has ever woken up. People are saying that. The alarm clock? TOTAL DISASTER. Very loud, very unfair. Still, I jumped out of bed feeling STRONG and feeling READY to take on the day!

Many people are saying that my daily life is absolutely INCREDIBLE. Maybe the greatest routine anyone has ever seen. The reason is because I plan it in advance with great care. That’s the secret of having the kind of success I have in my job. It’s just in my DNA.

Breakfast is amazing, but sometimes a challenge. Today, a long-term marriage is going to die unless my wife cooks my morning eggs with harder yokes. The runniness has got to stop. If it doesn’t, we are going to have COMPLETE and TOTAL SPOUSAL CHANGE. A more talented and focused woman will be required. I don’t want to do it, but 15 years of lousy eggs is forcing my hand. She understands why this must happen,

After coffee and several conversations with the most interesting beings on the planet – primarily my Chihuahua mix – column writing begins. It’s powerful stuff. Sharp, insightful, really incredible words. Some people say it’s among the best being done today. I don’t say that, the PEOPLE are saying it. Deadlines come in, very tough deadlines, but I meet them easily.

I write about the things no one else has the courage to. The impact is just unbelievable. No one has ever seen anything like it. The number of views is in the billions. I’m told that no one can count that high, quite frankly.

After I’m done with the column, I go out driving. Everyone looks at my 2019 Ford Fiesta with awe. They pull over to the side of the road with their mouths wide open, just staring, because they’re beyond impressed. They don’t see a man in a car. They see a hero in a piece of American ingenuity. Despite the assorted bumps and scratches, she’s a beauty. I say “she” because being in it makes me feel like I’m with a gorgeous woman. Every morning, I grab her by the steering wheel – if you catch my drift.

It's been a big day for saving money! I found gas for $5.89 a gallon. That’s super-cheap in California. Now that we have a ceasefire with Iran – it’s pronounced “E-ron,” by the way, not “I-ran,” I just learned that – it’s clear that I’ll be able to fill my tank far less expensively. No one can believe I paid so little. It’s beyond incredible. The owner of the station saw it was me and immediately dropped the price 20 cents. That’s respect, hades and gents.

Dropped by the post office to mail a package. Very busy. Lines? Long. But people noticed me. “GO AHEAD,” they insisted. “You deserve it.” I didn’t ask, but they forced me to. I think they recognized me from my interview 14 years ago on “The E! True Hollywood Story.” I was honored.

Came back home and had a chat with the wife about our egg DEBACLE (a new word I just learned, it means disaster). She told me that if I didn’t like her eggs, I could go lay them myself. So, I did. Delicious.

Then I turned on the TV. Maybe my favorite thing to do. Reruns of “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” Tremendous. You know that Dick Van Dyke is still alive at 100 years old? That reminds me that my doctor told me I’m going to live until I’m at least 350. No one has longevity like me. Ever.

Went out to dinner. The maître d’ approached our table and said, “Sir, would you happen to be Ray Richmond of Raw Story?” “Yes,” I replied. “Well then,” he told me, “we can’t possibly take your money. You are my guest. Order whatever you want off the menu. It’s on the house.”

This is why I love being me. Every moment of every day, someone is honoring me just for being glorious. For example, yesterday I received a 10-point proposal from AT&T about my cellphone contract. By the time we were done, I was paying practically nothing for my monthly service – mostly because I don’t like to pay anyone anything and usually get away with it.

Speaking of that, I just did my taxes in advance of the April 15 deadline. Not that I care about a deadline, or taxes. The most American thing I do is making sure I don’t pay UNCLE SAM a SINGLE CENT! I see taxes as extortion. They can pry their STINKING tax money from my cold dead hands – that is, if I ever planned to die, which I don’t.

This is one reason why I so love being an American. The whole world loves us, loves the things we create, loves our freedom. Sometimes, they resent us for it, but I DON’T CARE. What I care about is me. I care about my bank account. I care about how my hair looks (perfect, as always). I care about the people who LIKE ME.

It’s a big responsibility to be so amazingly good at everything. But I love a good challenge. And I’m having WAY TOO MUCH FUN to worry about the losers. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Ray Richmond is a longtime journalist/author and an adjunct professor at Chapman University in Orange, CA.

It was always going to end like this for Pam Bondi, much like it does for everyone in Donald Trump’s orbit. Eventually, you do something to upset him and you’re sent packing precisely as she was on Thursday.

Bondi was just another useful idiot who somehow thought she was special. But they never are. She was handpicked to protect Trump from the Epstein Files, from his enemies, from himself. She destroyed her reputation and dismantled the Justice Department in his name. But then the machine she helped build turned on her and ate her alive.

But in this case, Pamela got what she deserved. Oh, did she ever. When you’re the guardian angel of pedophiles, no one is there to catch you when you fall. And man, did Bondi fall. She fell as hard as a human being can.

The ending was so poetic that it deserves to be its own musical: Bye Bye Bondi.

Kicked to the curb with only the vaguest of promises of some cushy private-sector landing spot, Bondi is said to have cried and begged the president to reconsider. But the monster she served so faithfully wouldn’t listen, even if his Truth Social farewell made it sound like she was being promoted:

“Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year. Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country, with Murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900. We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future…”

Yes, this job is so “important” it’s unclear exactly what it is or when it’s happening.

But shed no tears for Bombastic Bondi. This was a woman who could not even be bothered to turn her head to look at the Epstein victims during her hearing before Congress. That photo will be the enduring image of her tenure, a lingering disgrace that vividly illustrated her loyalty was to neither the United States nor its citizens but to one man and one man only.

Bondi had to go because she wasn’t quite protective enough. The Epstein stench remained tied to Trump like secondhand smoke, and none of her smugly defiant bluster could make it go away. And so now she must go away, her humiliation complete. She chose to annihilate herself for a human being who was interested only in using her before spitting her out like so much chewed gum.

What Bondi seemed to forget was that her job had nothing to do with her fancy title. It was merely to serve/shield Trump and get even with his enemies who failed to properly bow down to The King. I’m talking specifically about James Comey and Letitia James, whose indictments were both tossed out by a federal judge. Seems that it’s tough to land indictments against people who haven’t come close to breaking the actual law. Who knew?

The Daily Mail in London also reported that Trump finally needed to dump Pernicious Pammy because she allegedly tipped off Congressman and California Gubernatorial candidate (and friend) Eric Swalwell about FBI documents related to his association with an alleged Chinese spy a few decades ago.

But in fact, her ouster seemed most tied to the way she mishandled the Epstein cover-up. It wasn’t that she participated in transparent criminality. That’s a gold star in the Trump sphere. No, it’s because she bungled the process so badly that it drew more attention and scrutiny and continued public pressure than the administration was comfortable fielding.

Bottom line: Bondi didn’t make the furor over the files (and Trump’s ongoing association with them) go away. So, Republicans in Congress privately lobbied for her to go and be replaced by a fresh lackey: the ultimate yes man, Todd Blanche.

In Trump’s universe, women are a necessary evil but in no way a respected piece of the presidential puzzle. They are inserted primarily to project the illusion that Trump values and respects women, when nothing could be further from the truth. When it’s time to purge, they are the first to go.

It’s no coincidence that they are now beginning to be shown the door en masse. First, it was Kristi Noem’s canning as Secretary of Homeland Security. Now, it’s Bondi. Next on the chopping block is likely to be Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence.

Much as the women in Trump’s personal life are disposable, so too are those in his work life. At the first sign of insubordination or not completely toeing the Trump line, they are informed of being on thin ice and ultimately summarily jettisoned.

This is not to say these three women in particular don’t deserve to be dumped. It’s just that the men do, too, but somehow get to stick around. I’m looking at you, Secretary of Defense Pete “Do It For Jesus” Hegseth, and FBI Director Kash “Party Hearty” Patel.

But back to Bondi.

She made her own bed. She incinerated the U.S. Constitution she took an oath to serve. She betrayed her country, her duty, her gender, and the law itself in the malicious service of a tyrant.

There has never been such a corrupt Attorney General in American history. And that’s quite a statement when you consider that John Mitchell – in service to President Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal – went to prison for 19 months and was disbarred from practicing law.

At the very least, a similar fate should await Bondi.

It’s the rest of us who should be crying that the nation was subjected to Pam Bondi at all. She did everything in her power to obliterate democracy. Her reward should be confinement in a penitentiary.

Ray Richmond is a longtime journalist/author and an adjunct professor at Chapman University in Orange, CA.

It’s pretty clear by now that our “president” has not the thinnest clue of what he’s doing with regard to this Iran War. And quite frankly, it’s making me feel pretty annoyed.

Trump keeps talking about conducting these imaginary “serious discussions” with Iran as if anyone is going to believe him when it’s crystal clear he’s lying. It’s like you or me dreaming about the Easter Bunny delivering colored eggs to children and, upon awakening, insisting this actually occurred.

He does it to manipulate the Dow Jones and artificially/temporarily prop up the market. This isn’t a terribly savvy strategy. By about the fifth time he makes the claim, “No, really this time, I’m talking to these people I can’t name in a location that doesn’t exist,” it doesn’t even register on our cerebral cortex. We all just yawn and move on.

Because I mean, Trump himself has admitted he’s already bored with this whole Iran thing. It’s the one thing that comes out of his mouth we can believe. I mean, come on. There’s no gold in that country to speak of, no ballrooms to save. What’s there to care about?

We’re only weeks into the war, and Trump’s instinct is to look for the nearest exit and concoct whatever story he can to rescue his reputation (such as it is). Tellingly, Mr. “The Art of the Deal” seems suspiciously short on actual negotiation skills.

Trump clearly thought he was dealing with a country that would get on its knees and cower at the first sign of American bombers. But that turned out to be a gross miscalculation of the enemy’s fighting skills. Iran is hardly Venezuela.

Now that Iran is nowhere close to surrender and has no intention of joining Trump and his merry band of morons (I’m talking about you, Pete “We Do It For Jesus” Hegseth) at the negotiating table, this is how our Bully In Chief sees as his best strategy over Truth Social:

“If for any reason a deal is not reached shortly, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalination plants!), which we have purposely not yet ‘touched’.”

This is actually an outright threat of a war crime, as any attack on civilian infrastructure (including plants that make seawater drinkable) is prohibited by the Geneva Convention. Not that Trump has ever let the law get in the way of doing whatever the hell he wants.

What’s the motivation for Iran to make a deal with Trump when he and Israel are actively looking to kill the people they say they want to come to terms with? “Say yes or I’ll blow you away” is never found to be terribly effective. It’s right up there with, “Give me your lunch money or I’ll beat you up.”

It’s all part of Trump’s and Hegseth’s approach of treating this war like a video game. Hegseth seems to think he’s on a mission from God, invoking Christ and Christianity at every turn. Note: I have it on good authority that our Lord is sleeping this one out.

If it weren’t so disastrous for its impact on the oil barrel and gasoline prices, it would be hilarious just how clueless Trump has been in miscalculating what the gargantuan impact of Iran’s closing of the Strait of Hormuz would be.

It seems the Pentagon took the Iranian military for fools. But they ain’t. They are instead setting the rules and dominating the battlefield because the country is controlling traffic at the strait, where fully a fifth of all the world’s oil passes through.

What’s next? Our sending in ground troops seems increasingly likely, since Trump sees no moral issue risking the lives of American soldiers to help him save face. And that’s already where we are. You know he’s going to try to create the illusion of victory no matter the cost, since it’s never not about him.

Why are we bombing Iran? Why did we go in there in the first place? These questions remain mysterious and unanswered. There were only vague promises of the need for regime change. But that was achieved weeks ago. Now, Trump is simply fighting a war to achieve conditions that existed before the war started – namely, going through Hormuz.

Nice going there, Einstein.

My guess is that Trump will make some sort of deal with Iran that will reopen the strait to U.S. traffic and get Iran to spout some gibberish about capitulating to his demands, in exchange for all sorts of secret goodies.

The reason is, of course, that this war is already proving disastrous to Republicans. Oil has zoomed well over $100 a barrel. The cost of a gallon of gas now exceeds $4.00 nationally and, in California, it’s closer to $6, at minimum.

After 14 months in power, we’re seeing just how effective this guy is at president-ing. He’s embroiled us in a war of choice, not necessity. He’s created the worst global energy crisis in nearly half a century. He’s overseen rising inflation and declining job growth. He’s intimidated Republicans into abdicating their authority to provide guardrails. And he’s cemented a partial government shutdown that looks like it’ll go on for months more.

Oh, and Trump has so alienated our allies in Europe that they won’t raise a finger to help us, fearful not only of getting dragged into a fruitless conflict but of lending assistance to a madman.

One thing Trump has successfully managed to do is make America less popular on the world stage than even Russia, his number one frenemy. Casting Putin as calm and reasonable by comparison is indeed a feat worthy of attention. But it’s nothing to be proud of.

Ray Richmond is a longtime journalist/author and an adjunct professor at Chapman University in Orange, CA.

Remember those innocent days when people were actually asking the question whether or not Donald Trump would use his second term as president to enrich himself and just how much profiteering would be acceptable to the American public?

It’s like we’re living not just on a different planet but a different solar system today. It turns out that Trump’s whole reason for craving the Oval Office again had nothing to do with governing or power or, really, not even necessarily avenging his enemies.

Instead, it’s just about making a buck — or billions of them, as it turns out. In other words, entirely on brand for this guy.

Trump has made a mockery of the emoluments clauses of the U.S. Constitution, the anti-corruption ones that serve to restrict exploiting federal office for personal gain. Fourteen months in, his entire presidency has been one giant scheme. The grift that keeps on taking.

Shameless doesn’t even begin to describe it. The man didn’t take an oath to serve, protect and defend the United States and its people, but to make a fortune off of their backs.

For starters, take a trip over to the Trump Store (trumpstore.com) and check out the capitalist catastrophe that’s waiting there for you. There’s a Trump 250 blanket ($200), a Trump Chocolate Gold Bar ($86), a Trump Straw Hat ($69), a Mar-a-Lago Pickleball Paddle (Trump Sneakers (149.99) and literally hundreds of other products designed to separate you from your cash and line the pockets of our dough-driven chief executive.

That’s merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

What Trump has done that so singularly crooked has been to use his position of power to push individuals, corporations and other nations to give him money and expensive gifts in exchange for favorable treatment by his administration. He hasn’t even tried to hide this. It’s right out there in the open.

One estimate had Trump’s financial benefit from exploiting his presidency at $4 billion during his first year in office ending in January. But of course, that was two months ago. It’s liable to be closer to $5 billion by now, vaulting him to a possible net worth exceeding $9 billion. The truth is we don’t know exactly how much he’s earned because he’s good at concealing it (along with his tax returns).

How has he done it? Besides his massive Trump-emblazoned merch bonanza, here’s where it’s come from:

• Cryptocurrency: After rolling back regulatory enforcement of crypto and signed legislation favorable to the industry, Trump invested in ventures like World Liberty Financial and a “$TRUMP” memecoin – earning him an estimated $900 million and hundreds of millions more to his other family members in 2025 alone.

• Foreign Licensing Deals: He sells his name to developments abroad both that he builds himself or his nothing to do with constructing in places like the UAE, Vietnam and India.

• Lawsuit Settlements and Financial Arrangements: He basically extorted millions in settlements from CBS, ABC News and Meta/YouTube to both buy peace and curry favor from a leader whose litigious nature knows no limits.

• Real Estate, Golf Resorts and Hotels: These generate hundreds of millions in revenue annually for Trump, and the amount he earns is directly proportional to his position as the most powerful man on earth.

It has been proven time and again that this is a man who can be bought and bought many times over. Trump has never met a moneymaking opportunity he didn’t like, ethics be damned. He gleefully squeezes American corporations, flaunts gifts from foreign leaders and celebrates the massive growth of his own fortune.

Fittingly, it was announced on Thursday that Trump’s signature will adorn U.S. currency – a first for a sitting president – beginning later this year. In other words, he isn’t just money-obsessed; he’s literally going to have his name on it.

This isn’t even to take into account the powerful, well-heeled influencers who make donations that benefit Trump politically, including to his planned White House renovation and ballroom monstrosity. In short, everything in his life and presidency surrounds dollars – the acquisition of them, the spending of them, the use of them to generate domination over everything and everyone.

And of course, we all got a valuable lesson in just how far Trump would go to benefit those whose financial interests he supports early this past week when Trump announced his “productive” peace talks with Iran. The price of oil dropped sharply after the announcement, some 14 percent in a matter of minutes.

Questionably, mere minutes before Trump made that morning post on Truth Social, there was a gigantic spike in oil futures trading with a value of nearly $600 million.

What did these traders know and when did they know it? We can all hazard a pretty good guess. It would surprise no one if it could be proven that Trump was in on this seeming market manipulation scheme. Unfortunately, it can’t. But the suspicion will long remain.

This is unfortunately the man who is our president. He puts financial interests over all else, certainly above country. His loyalty is to greenbacks, yesterday, today, and as long as he lives.

Trump is the wealthiest person to serve as president of the United States as well as the most morally bankrupt. This is a horrifying combination.

When the man who is supposed to be setting an example at the top of your country is solely concerned with reaping maximum benefit from his position, that impacts the citizens who purportedly look to him fore guidance. The way he runs his job influences them to put materialism over personal accountability, as the aim of the nation shifts from public good to private gain.

America is now an empty shell of what it was before Trump got his greedy paws on it. I’m just hoping our democracy can survive this man whose craven instincts and kingly ambitions have served to grievously transform the country into a place we no longer recognize.

Ray Richmond is a longtime journalist/author and an adjunct professor at Chapman University in Orange, CA.

I’ll tell you what’s unsettling, ladies and gentlemen: waking up every morning in a country where we know the monster running things is lying to us about everything.

Trump says there have been “very good and productive conversations” with Iran about ending the war. Iran says no such talks have taken place and are a mere figment of his imagination. It should fill us with dread that it’s far easier to believe the enemy than our own president, because Trump lies as easily as he breathes.

Easier, actually.

If he says he had eggs for breakfast, you know it’s pancakes. If he claims the price of gas is beginning to drop, you know it’s skyrocketing. We can, in fact, reliably count on the precise opposite of what he declares to be true at every turn.

In fact, I invite you to print out the Wikipedia section labeled “False or misleading statements by Donald Trump (second term).” It stretches for 56 pages. And that’s only covering the past 14 months. By contrast, there are no such pages for Barack Obama or Joe Biden, or any other president, for that matter.

It emerged on Tuesday that Trump’s tall tale about talks (productive or otherwise) with Iran having taken place sent oil prices tumbling and the stock market briefly surging — with traders betting hundreds of millions on the spike in oil futures mere minutes before Trump’s announcement. Then, upon Iran’s quick denial of the talks, stocks sank again.

Insider trading, anyone? With any other president, he would be given the benefit of the doubt. With this one? Are you kidding?

Not that this should come as the remotest shock to any of you. Even the MAGA faithful seemingly understand that Trump fails all honesty checks. They simply don’t care as long as he’s owning and infuriating the libs.

Oh right, the libs, the group that’s come to be synonymous with the last vestige of sanity in the United States. I happen to live in Los Angeles, one of those sanctuary cities in California, a largely sanctuary state. We’re 40 million strong, and we loathe the air Trump breathes – which of course drives him crazy.

And please, for the love of God, don’t call it Trump Derangement Syndrome. There is no such thing. We hate him because he takes such pleasure in destroying the country and he’s such a lying sack of squirrel vomit.

Because Trump can’t handle the idea of someone despising him, he regularly threatens the stability of my state, as he can’t comprehend presiding over a unified nation. He needs to ration out his support so it goes only to those who voted for him and/or reliably kiss his shiny golden ring.

If you’ve been following the way he “governs,” you know that he’s threatened to cut off federal funding from states that don’t align with his unconscionable policies. He’s frozen billions in child care, social services and infrastructure funding, prompting lawsuits from Democratic-led states like mine. He attaches political conditions to all of it, like the requirement to withdraw support for DEI.

And Trump has again singled out blue states and cities explicitly for his focus of investigations and enforcement, because he doesn’t see himself as president of all the United States, but exclusively the red states. His response to the blue states is to wield financial leverage and deny support in emergencies.

With this in mind, I’d like you all to imagine a frightening but plausible scenario, one that has been bandied about since the launch of the Iran War.

Let’s say that Iran successfully launched retaliatory drone strikes from vessels off the U.S. coast that make it through our interception defenses sometime in the next few weeks. At the same time, envision that these drones are carrying sufficient explosive material to cause significant destruction in, say, Southern California.

If you’re Trump, given his penchant for pettiness and payback, his strategy is to stand down and not retaliate because, after all, we’re a state that collectively hates him. Since he has neither the desire nor the necessity in his mind to defend California, he decides it’s in his own best interests to force the state to manage this profound emergency without the U.S. military’s intervention.

Sound unbelievable? Think again, because this is precisely the kind of subhuman creature we are dealing with.

You know that Trump’s first instinct would be to leave California twisting in the wake of any attack, much as he left the U.S. Capitol Police to fend for themselves and the Capitol itself unsupported for hours on January 6, 2021. He thinks about retribution first and actual assistance never. The idea of doing the right or essential thing never even occurs to him.

What’s that I hear you saying? A deliberate refusal to defend any part of the homeland would trigger accusations of dereliction of duty and abuse of power?

Yes, it would.

But would that matter in the slightest to a man with no conscience whose power appears at the moment to be absolute?

No, it would not.

I can already see how this might play out. An emergency action demand from Democrats could be overruled by the Republican-controlled Congress, claiming that they “trust our president to do what’s right for our country.” What initially seems unfathomable could quickly make perfect sense to Trump’s sycophantic supporters, as this would merely be California, an area unworthy of defense.

The process of normalizing even a nuclear strike on the American mainland could happen quicker than you might imagine. The California National Guard would be deployed, possibly in defiance of the federal government. We would be left all alone to deal with unimaginable destruction and mass casualties.

Trump, you see, wouldn’t care. All he would see is that this is precisely the kind of attack that would afford him an easy opportunity to cancel the midterms. Plus, he achieves revenge on a despised foe. In this guy’s diseased mind, it’s win-win.

I’d be surprised if Trump and his team weren’t secretly hoping for something almost exactly like this to occur, as it perfectly aligns with their goals.

While I understand that this may sound too cynical and sinister even for a president and a party with absolutely no scruples, I say never underestimate their propensity for malice.

We are, after all, living in unprecedented times – a moment when our president is the biggest liar in the land, capable of any evil the mind can conjure.

Ray Richmond is a longtime journalist/author and an adjunct professor at Chapman University in Orange, CA.

It’s reassuring to know that if you have brown skin and happen to be dead, it’s no longer OK to be a suspected pedophile.

I only wish the same were true for those who are white and living.

The lesson we learned from the news that broke this week in The New York Times is that Cesar Chavez, for decades hailed as a Latino civil rights champion and farm labor icon, had instantly plummeted from grace with a sickening thud. The extraordinary Times investigation featured interviews with dozens of sources and uncovered multiple victims of rape, sexual abuse, and grooming of teen and preteen girls — including fellow labor leader Delores Huerta (still with us at 95).

With his name suddenly toxic, momentum quickly built to erase Chavez’s name from schools, streets, and parks as well as change the handle of Cesar Chavez Day (March 31 annually) in California to Farmworkers Day, and essentially expunge him from history.

Heartbreaking though it is, these rapid steps are entirely justified. We can’t just go around venerating presumed sexual criminals no matter their other accomplishments for the greater good – even if they were somehow to become, say, President of the United States.

Chavez never bragged that he could get away with walking up and grabbing women by the genitalia. He didn’t live long enough to be named in the Epstein Files. But the charges by women – two of whom were still young girls when Chavez allegedly raped or molested them – have a sufficient ring of truth to demolish his legacy despite his having been deceased for more than 30 years.

You see, women don’t typically come forward with serious accusations of sexual assault absent legitimacy. This is not to say they never make it up, but it’s exceedingly rare.

In the case of Chavez, the accusers had nothing to gain by coming forward and much to lose in terms of peace of mind and life harmony. No doubt they’ve been threatened since the story broke, likely multiple times. Their moral compass demanded that they speak up in the hope they finally would be believed after so many years.

So, let’s bag the fiction that these women are somehow cashing in, or are insane, or mere troublemakers. No, they are simply courageous beyond measure. Nothing more, nothing less.

Now that it’s been decided Chavez’s reputation should rightly be in tatters, it’s essential that we examine, by comparison, the ongoing aggrandizement of our president – a man accused of equal or perhaps even greater abuse by multiple women, many of whom were young girls at the time of the alleged crimes.

I’m just going to come right out and say this: the chances that these women are all somehow lying about what was done to them by Trump both inside and outside the Epstein universe are close to zero. This is a man, after all, who proves daily that he has not the thinnest acquaintance with the truth and has boasted openly about his fondness for casual sexual attacks.

Oh, and he’s also a convicted felon 34 times over. Plus, a jury in 2023 found him liable of sexually abusing a woman, and then defaming her.

In no universe should we be expected to believe him over them. The only thing separating him from the same fate as Chavez is a credulous cult of blindly loyal MAGA supporters and a craven/corrupt Republican Party.

The Associated Press identified more than 130 locations or objects in at least 19 states named after Chavez, including libraries, boulevards, community centers, and public parks. All are expected to be renamed, the process having already begun.

Trump, meanwhile, shamelessly moves forward with his campaign to plant his name and likeness all over the United States, like a pit bull marking its territory. There’s Trump Tower, Trump International Hotel and Tower, Trump Plaza, Trump National Golf Club, and President Donald J. Trump Boulevard in Palm Beach, FL.

More controversially, Trump attached his name to the Kennedy Center and the United States Institute of Peace – the latter a name desecration that grows more ironic by the day. And now there’s been approval to put Trump’s disgusting likeness on a 24-carat gold commemorative coin to tie in with America’s 250th anniversary. This is to say nothing of his proposed ballroom monstrosity.

The idea of ramping up Trump’s personalization and veneration while his sycophantic Department of Justice steadfastly shields him and his cronies from exposure in the Epstein Files remains a despicable stain on this country. Next time someone assures me no one is above the law, I’ll chuckle and ask them to prove it.

We all live in the hope that once Trump is gone – either out of office or dead – his name will be deleted like Chavez’s soon will be. The Trump Kennedy Center will go back to being the Kennedy Center. The ballroom project will be scrapped. The mere mention of Trump’s ubiquitous name will be seen as blasphemous, and it will disappear into oblivion.

There is precedent for this.

Return with me to Germany in 1945. Soon after the Nazi empire fell, the rush was on to systematically denazify the nation. Every monument, statue, and bust of Hitler was removed. Streets, plazas, squares, and institutions that bore his name were rechristened. Many Nazi buildings were demolished, while others were repurposed or destroyed.

The fact that everyone is moving so quickly on Chavez while there is an overall fear and reluctance to even properly investigate Trump for his alleged criminal behavior leaves me wondering how much racism comes into play here. You know the Republicans are positively gleeful in their takedown of a man long held up as a hero of the left, even if he was loudly opposed to illegal immigration.

Republicans continue to pretend, at least publicly, that Trump remains innocent of ever having forced himself on a woman, much less a child. But there’s no question in my mind that if we could hear their whispers in private, a far different story would be told. And sooner or later, it will.

Ray Richmond is a longtime journalist/author and an adjunct professor at Chapman University in Orange, CA.

I feel incredibly fortunate to have understood an essential truth about how to treat people when I was just 6 years old.

It was a week or so after Halloween. My parents had held back most of my good candy that year with the understanding that I’d already had too much sugar on that magical holiday and the day after, and it would be far better and healthier to ration it out. So, seven days later, they turned over the motherlode, and I brought it all to school with me in a brown paper lunch bag.

My friends were positively drooling over it. But as I recall, I told each of them, “This is all mine. I’m not sharing,” even as I purposely held it up to their faces to tempt them. No matter how much they begged and pleaded, I refused to change my selfish little mind.

About a month later, I was devastated to learn that my friend Louis wasn’t inviting me to his birthday party due to my little candy teasing/greed fiasco that he was still upset over. And he told me as much.

I bring this up now because I thought of Louis and the party that never was after Donald Trump tossed his little foot-stomping temper tantrum (one in a series) after finding out America’s NATO allies had all told him to pound sand as he asked for help in Iran.

This is a 79-year-old man who never learned the lesson that most children do at an age when they’re still obsessed with Legos: you reap what you sow. Or to put it another way — do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

It’s also simple common sense, something our president never developed. He could not believe that threatening leaders who not long before were our friends wouldn’t result in their lining up to kiss his ring and do whatever bidding he ordered with a blindly obedient, “Sir yes sir!”

Behavior has consequences. Negative behavior has negative consequences.

You may recall that in January, Trump had his heart set on taking over Greenland, while at the same time threatening the NATO alliance. This little piece of outrage had no precedent and absolutely no reason to occur aside from the fact that he decided he wanted to do it, the costs in enraging our allies be damned.

Trump emerged incensed and confused that every country rejected his plea for military assistance in Iran, feeling ghosted and dissed. He couldn’t imagine why they would abandon America in its hour of need, after all it has done to keep NATO together and help them out.

Let’s put aside for a moment whether the United States has, in fact, done much directly as a NATO ally to protect the alliance aside from serving as a deterrent. The truth is that our allies weren’t rejecting the USA, but merely Trump himself.

This is patently obvious.

Trump, you see, has positively no self-awareness. He craps all over our allies, bullies them ceaselessly, destroys their economies with damaging tariffs, treats them all like dirt…and then expects them to jump to help in a war they were never advised about, much less invited to lend a hand in planning.

This is a president who completely lacks any understanding about diplomacy, respect, unity. All he knows is intimidation and plundering. It seems to shock him to his core that he can’t gain support by screaming insults. Indeed, he wonders why no one wants to be his friend, lacking the ability to differentiate between a sycophant and a comrade.

Treating people like garbage only brings you garbage in return, a key reason why this man’s leadership is on borrowed time. All of his cowed Republican supporters in Congress will turn on him the moment it’s convenient. The same went for members of the European Union. Not a single member has the slightest motivation to want to help Trump out of whatever mess he’s gotten himself into, because its leaders can’t stand the sight of him, much less the scent.

As all of us on the side of sanity have been screaming from day one, at some point character has to matter. A man who has not the thinnest volume of empathy and compassion, who understands only punishment and cruelty and criminal conduct, can survive for a period of time – far too long, in this case – but never fully thrive.

I call your attention to the story that broke on Monday about the State Department’s considering withholding lifesaving assistance to people with H.I.V. in the African nation of Zambia unless it signs a deal to give the United States greater access to its critical minerals (copper in particular).

Put another way, this greed-driven, morally depraved administration is threatening the lives of some 1.3 million people in Zambia who rely on daily H.I.V. treatment to keep them alive, along with tuberculosis and malaria medications.

And what’s the rationale here? To plunder resources from a poverty-stricken nation, which Trump has made clear is a far greater priority than any human life. It is unconscionable on a scale that’s breathtaking.

When this is the kind of policy Trump and his subhuman aides push – the idea that nothing should ever be done out of goodness and decency but must be transactional – he and they shouldn’t be surprised when there’s push-back.

People don’t typically go out of their way to help those who are out only to benefit themselves. They’re far more likely to provide assistance, and to compromise, when civility and integrity are intrinsic to the mix.

When it comes to Trump, there is only vanity, hostility, arrogance, because somehow the concept of mutual benefit bypasses him. Finally, on the cusp of turning 80, he’s finding out that the art of the deal is about more than just taking without giving a thing in return.

Ray Richmond is a longtime journalist/author and an adjunct professor at Chapman University in Orange, CA.