22 August—I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”; that the president is not above the law; that Donald Trump and his flunkies will fade from power in 2026 and be democratically overthrown in 2028; and that America will once again be the great nation it was before Trump came to power (largely thanks to the unwitting cooperation of the Democrats).

I hope I live to see my dream fulfilled.

Meanwhile, back in reality, we’re forced to endure autocratic, corrupt, mendacious, self-dealing, unstable, vindictive Trump and his enthusiastically corrupt and mendacious self-serving flunkies. [There’s no limit to the negative adjectives that can be applied to Donald Trump and his slimy coterie.]

Just this morning, for instance, Trump’s Gestapo, euphemistically known as the FBI, raided the Bethesda, Maryland, home and Washington, D.C., office of John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Trump’s own national security advisor—until he saw the light and morphed into a staunch, unyielding, brilliantly vocal critic of the scumbag-in-chief.

The trumped up excuse for the unconscionable, purely spiteful raid is that it’s merely part of an ongoing “national security investigation in search of classified records,” according to a Trump lackey. Of course. Evidently a judge—as yet unidentified but predictably a Trump appointee—signed the warrant to authorize the malevolent search.

Remember Trump’s abuse of classified records?

Anyway, this morning, Trump’s scummy lackeys couldn’t wait to defend the indefensible on social media. For instance: Pam Bondi, Trump’s unqualified attorney general, tweeted, “America’s safety isn’t negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always.”

Kash Patel, Trump’s should-be-disqualified FBI director, tweeted, “NO ONE is above the law. FBI agents on mission.”

Dan Bongino, Trump’s unqualified and should-be-disqualified deputy FBI director, tweeted, “Public corruption will not be tolerated.” Of course he left out, “except from the Lord God Trump (blessed be his name) and his administration, including but not limited to the DOJ and FBI.”

(Apropos nothing, are Trump lackeys still allowed to use Elon Musk’s X?)

And Trump himself, not on X: “I know nothing about it. I just saw it this morning. I tell Pam and I tell the group, ‘I don’t want to know, but you have to do what you have to do. I don’t want to know about it. It’s not necessary.’ I could know about it. I could be the one starting, and I’m actually the chief law enforcement officer. But I feel that it’s better this way.” Plausible ignorance from an ignoramus?

And of course Trump reminds us that John Bolton is “not a smart guy” and that he “could be a very unpatriotic guy. We’re going to find out.”

What Trump’s slimy satraps are doing to John Bolton, have done to others, and will do to any and all on the wrong side of their lord and master is harassment and intimidation pure and simple. That’s how autocrats and dictatorships work.

You wonder, though, why Trump doesn’t just disappear—i.e., murder—people he doesn’t like. If he does it himself and claims it’s in the national interest, his pals on the Supreme Court say he could get away with it . . .