Trump’s Capitulation to Putin Is Undermining U.S. National Security

by Rod Williams, Oct. 24, 2026- I am totally disgusted at seeing the   US switch sides in the Ukraine War. If I had not seen it coming, it would be hard to believe. Despite public policy disputes and failures, I have always thought that we were on the right side in the world. I believed that we were a force for good in the world. We believed democracy was worth defending and that might did not make right and aggression should not be rewarded.

Instead of pressuring Zelensky to surrender, Trump should be pressuring Putin to stop Russia's invasion.  If Ukrainians stop resisting, they are eliminated from the face of the earth. The way to peace is for Russia to stop its aggression, not for Ukraine to stop defending itself.

What we are seeing from Trump is disgusting and shameful. If this were the eve of World War II, Trump would be saying, "Hitler I can work with. I get along fine with Hitler; that Winston Chruchhill is just unreasonable."

Many have speculated as to the reason Trump is so pro-Putin. Maybe Putin does really have something on Trump, but I suspect it is simpler than that. Trump sees his role not as leader of the free world, but as a crime boss, relating to another crime boss. He wants his share of grift. I don't think Trump cares one iota about Democracy or justice, but sees all relationships as transactional and respects ruthless, powerful people. Trump sees those with total and near-total authority, and he wants to be a member of the big boys' club.  I don't think he is capable of seeing national interest, or sacrifice, or the value of democracy or human rights. He likes winners. He respects power. He looks at Putin, or Xi, or Kim Jong Un and admires their might. He also sees an opportunity to do business deals with Russia, and that is more important than any concern for humanity and decency. 

Trump is making the world a much less safe place, destroying the world order that has kept tyranny at bay since the end of World War II, and he is undermining US national Security. In the article below, Michael McFaul explains how Trump went from expressions of affinity for Putin in his first term to now actually adopting policies that strengthen and aid Putin's hand in his war against Ukraine and his threat to the rest of Europe. 

Michael McFaul is a professor of political science and senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute and the Hoover Institution, both at Stanford University. His latest book is Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder. He also served as U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014. He has just published an article in The Dispatch explaining how Trump's capitulation to Putin is undermining U. S. national security. Below are excerpts.

Trump’s Capitulation to Putin Is Undermining U.S. National Security

 Donald Trump has never hidden his admiration for Russia’s imperial dictator, Vladimir Putin. ...These expressions of affinity for Putin were shocking at the time, but crucially, they did not produce consequential shifts in U.S. foreign policy. The first Trump administration included many senior national security officials who had a different, more accurate assessment of how Putin’s policies threatened American national interests. ....

No longer constrained by Gens. H.R. McMaster or Jim Mattis, Trump has gradually but consistently turned his effusive admiration for Putin into the most radical shift in American foreign policy in the last century—and maybe ever. Today, under Trump, the United States—a country that once was considered the leader of the free world—is now openly and shamelessly supporting an imperial dictatorship in Russia. 

This tragic pivot started slowly after Trump returned to the White House for a second term. ... This month, Trump’s pivot toward Putin became more pronounced, with real-world negative consequences for Ukraine. He eased sanctions on Russian diesel, allowing Moscow to release millions of barrels of fuel onto the global market. He then signed an executive order waiving most of the new sanctions and tariffs against Russia under the Lindsey O. Graham Act, two days before they were to take effect. Then, most damagingly of all, came the restrictions on SpaceX’s satellite communications service, which Ukraine relies on for battlefield communications and drone operations. 

.... we have now learned that Putin has floated the idea to Trump of a meeting among China, Russia, and the United States to deal with the “Ukraine crisis,” just as imperial powers used to do in the 18th and 19th centuries. 

... I want my country to be against imperialism and for sovereignty, to stand against dictatorship and for democracy, to aid those fighting for independence and against occupation. ...  it’s also the pragmatic thing to do. Let’s be realistic. Putin is not going to abandon his autocratic partners in China, Iran, and North Korea just because Trump offers him concessions. 

.... Trump is also weakening America’s relationships with our democratic allies and partners in Europe. In this new era of great power competition with China and Russia, our democratic allies are America’s greatest comparative advantage. Together, the free world has far greater economic power and military strength than autocracies, and our democratic values and ideals have significantly more global appeal than those of autocracies. But Trump’s embrace of Putin and his abandonment of Ukraine are weakening these ties. 

... Xi must increasingly believe that Trump will show similar indifference when it comes to defending Taiwan. 

... In embracing Putin and abandoning Ukrainians, Trump is out of step with American society. Hopefully, more emboldened and courageous leadership in the U.S. Congress next year will realign American actions regarding Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine with the will of the American people.

Read the full article at this link.

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How to Buy a Trump Pardon

by Rod Williams, Oct.21, 2026- Do you remember Ray Blanton? 

Ray Blanton, a Democrat, was Tennessee’s governor from 1975 to 1979.  He became infamous for a “cash‑for‑clemency” scandal in which pardons and commutations were sold, ultimately leading to his early removal from office.

His scheme of selling pardons came to light when Marie Ragghianti, chair of the Board of Pardons and Paroles, was fired in 1977 after refusing to release prisoners who had bribed officials. The 1985 film Marie is a biographical drama starring Sissy Spacek that tells this story and is worth watching.

Marie, after being removed from her position, sued the State and won a legal judgment. In December 1978, the FBI raided the state capitol and seized the office of Blanton’s legal advisor, securing evidence of the scheme. It was revealed that in 1979, Blanton issued 52 pardons and commutations, including 20 convicted murderers and individuals tied to political allies 

Due to concern that Blanton planned to issue many more pardons before he left office, legislative leaders used constitutional ambiguity to swear in Governor‑elect Lamar Alexander three days early, effectively removing Blanton from power. Although Blanton was never charged directly for selling pardons, several aides were convicted, and Blanton himself was later convicted of mail fraud, conspiracy, and extortion for selling liquor licenses and served 22 months in federal prison.

Compared to Donald Trump, Ray Blanton was minor league. Of all of the outrageous and despicable things Trump has done, one that gets scant attention is his selling of pardons. The article below from today's New York Times tells the story of how one such deal worked.

When Democrats retake the House, I hope there is a serious investigation of the pardon scandal. When Ray Blanton was selling pardons, Tennessee Democrats joined Republicans in condemning the action, investigating the scandal, seeking justice, and preventing even more of the same. Republicans in the Trump era seem uninterested in Trump corruption of any kind. This includes not only members of Congress but everyday Trump supporters, including people I know and family. Republicans have lost their moral compass.

A Billionaire Wanted a Trump Pardon. His Family Gave Alina Habba a $50 Million Deal.

By Tyler Pager, New York Times, Oct. 21, 2026- Julio Herrera Velutini really wanted a pardon.

A billionaire banker from a prominent Venezuelan family, Mr. Herrera faced felony bribery charges in the United States and struck an unusually lenient plea deal in August 2025 for a misdemeanor campaign finance violation. But he felt that reduced charge was still a stain on his record.

So Mr. Herrera deployed his lawyer, Christopher M. Kise, the former Florida solicitor general who was on President Trump’s personal legal team, to help with a plea for clemency. .... 

... In Mr. Trump’s second term, a pardon industry has sprouted up, with wealthy criminals paying well-connected lawyers, fixers and lobbyists to appeal to the administration and its allies in an effort to secure pardons. Many pardon seekers have come to the conclusion that supporting Mr. Trump and his political agenda is the fastest way to secure clemency.

Some people looking for pardons have reported paying hundreds of thousands of dollars or even $1 million to hire people promising access to the president or influence over the pardon process. (read it all)

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Vote as if Donald Trump was on the Ballot.

by Rod Williams, Oct. 21, 2026- It is hard to absorb and keep track of all the despicable things the Trump administration is doing. Each day is a new outrage. Outrages mount so quickly that any one thing gets lost.  Whether it is the betrayal of Ukraine and openly siding with Putin, destroying NATO, wrecking the economy with tariffs, advancing Trump socialism, massive deficit spending, raiding homes without warrants, suppressing the press, meddling in the election process, selling pardons, using the power of the presidency for personal gain, or any number of other things, it is hard to focus on any one thing.

This has got to be curtailed. It won't end until Trump is out of office, but we can tamp it down. I have concluded that Democrats need to take Congress. This is not a recent conclusion, but I am now of the view that it is the most important consideration in these mid-term elections. The Trump corruption, mismanagement, and betrayal of the West are so severe that it is even necessary to elect the craziest of Democrats in order to clip Trump's wings. 

Some have said of me that I have changed and am now a liberal. I am not. I am a Buckley-Reagan conservative. I have not changed; It is the Republican Party that has changed. The Republican Party sold its soul and abandoned the things it once held dear. I think it is time for people of good faith and decency to abandon the Republicans, at least temporarily, until sanity is restored.

Back in December, when Democrat nut-job Aftyn Behn and Republican Matt Van Epps were running for the 7th Congressional seat, I voted for Van Epps. At that time, I thought it would be better for the country if Democrats took the House, but I could not bring myself to vote for Behn. If I had a do-over, I would vote for her. I don't like her. I do not share her policy preferences or her values, and I do share those of Van Epps, however, this is not about which candidate I like the most. It is not even a vote about policy preferences or ideology; it is about voting strategically. It is about voting as if Donald Trump were on the ballot, and I would vote against Donald Trump. Curtailing the power of Donald Trump to do more harm to our country is the most important issue in this election. 

If we do elect a few Socialists or other weird woke nut-jobs, they won't be able to accomplish anything anyway. The worst of the lot are a minority in their own party, and Dems will not get a veto-proof majority in any event.  They won't be able to pass Medicare for all, or defund the police, or close the prisons. What they will be able to do is hold hearings and investigate. They will be able to expose the recklessness, illegal actions, mismanagement, and corruption of the Trump administration. 

The greatest threat to our freedom, world peace, and prosperity is Donald Trump. It is time to hold your nose and vote for some odious Democrats in order to save our democracy. Vote as if Donald Trump were on the ballot. 

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Should Christa Pike Live?

by Rod Williams, Oct. 19, 2026- What should happen to Crista Pike now that the State has tried to execute her twice and failed? 

The article below, in The Dispatch, examines what should happen now. The article summarizes the horrendous crime that led to Christa Pike's death sentence and examines the failed execution attempts and then looks at the law and the ethics.

Would putting Christa Pike to death violate the Constitution's prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishment?"  The article looks at a similar case and compares and contrasts these cases.  It concludes that, "the state has already inflicted a cruel and unusual punishment on Christa, and to attempt to do so again would appear to violate the Fifth Amendment’s double jeopardy clause and the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. "

The article also looks at the bloodlust for execution and the ethical considerations.  I am also appalled by those who enthusiastically want this execution to occur.  It seems to be similar to those who wanted  to livestream the firing squad execution of  Nidal Hasan, the ex-Army major convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009. 

Public hangings used to be big public spectacles, where the town would turn out and bring their children. I don't want to return to those days, but many do. 

There is a fairly prominent MAGA activist here in Nashville by the name of Dan Meridith who recently rhetorically asked if, by not wanting to finish the job of executing Crista Pike, we believe we were more compassionate than God? He quotes an Old Testament Bible verse that calls for "all the men of the city" to stone people to death. I do not want to return to public stoning, so I guess I am more compassionate than God.  

The Bible also calls for stoning to death of children who are stubborn and rebellious: “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear." (Deuteronomy 21:18-21) 

I'm glad we no longer stone to death stubborn and rebellious children. Something has changed in the last few years to where people are either more cruel and have a greater bloodlust, or they are no longer hiding it. 
The article in The Dispatch ends with this conclusion:

The courts will probably rule that an additional attempt at executing Pike would be unconstitutional. But legality aside, commuting her sentence to life in prison is probably the right thing to do. Justice would still be served since most people convicted of murder in the U.S. serve a term (not life) in prison. What’s more, we routinely commute sentences for good behavior. If the testimonies of her fellow inmates have any veracity at all, Pike, despite her horrible crime and profound brokenness, is a person changed, even if just a little bit, for the better.

The article is worth reading in full:  

 A second execution attempt strains legal and ethical standards.

by Lydia Dugdale, The Dispatch, Oct. 19, 2026 -  Christa Pike’s botched execution in Tennessee last week raises a host of questions about what comes next, what Gov. Bill Lee should do, and what is meant by “cruel and unusual.” These are legal questions, but they are also ethical and political questions, and they demand our consideration. .... (link)

It is my hope that Gov. Lee will commute Christa Pike's sentence to life imprisonment. 

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What Should Dems do When They Take Control of the House

W. H. Bernstein

by W. H. Bernstein, Facebook, Oct. 16, 2026- So it looks like Democrats will take the House in November, no shock. They may win a majority in the Senate, but I doubt it.

So what should Democrats do in control of the House?  They have limited power: the budget and investigations are mainly it.  There are legitimate investigations they need to have.  But since this administration is a target-rich environment of sleaze and corruption they could easily become overwhelmed with investigations.

My suggestion, like any Democrat has ever asked my opinion, is they should focus on the most serious areas of actual crime and Constitutional abuse.  Those would include:

The bombing of boats in the Atlantic.  The entire rational and intelligence of this operation is still not clear.  What intelligence did they have as to who and what was on those boats?  Who made the decision to destroy them, rather than simply interdicting them, as normal drug enforcement operation would suggest?  Why were two of the survivors whisked back to their home countries instead of standing trial for drug trafficking, as you might expect?  Who authorized any of this, and why?  What legal foundation was there here?

• The killing of Renee Good and others by ICE.  What orders were agents given?  Why were agents involved transferred to other posts, some overseas, or otherwise made unavailable?  What evidence was gathered at the scenes?  Who made the decision to shut down investigations, and why?

• ICE conduct.  What were ICE's orders regarding protestors?  Did ICE compile a database of people protesting peacefully and use it to harass them or target them?

• Trump's pardons.  What process existed for getting a pardon under Trump?  Who bypassed the existing structure and protocols for pardons?  How were pardon decisions made?

• Entanglements with family businesses.  How were contracts awarded to businesses with Trump family ties?  Was there a bidding process?  How involved were family members in these awards?  How or did family members benefit specifically?

• Insider trading.  Did Trump or members of his administration trade on insider information, using futures markets or betting markets like Kalshi?

• High-profile prosecutions.  Who made the decisions to prosecute people commonly taken to be Trump's enemies?  What legal basis was there for these prosecutions?  This includes Lisa Cook, Jerome Powell, and John Bolton.

I've probably missed a number of items, but these alone would keep committees occupied for the next two years.  What I don't want to see is multiple investigations that look politically motivated, with numerous impeachment votes.  Dems don't have the Senate votes to remove Trump, so impeachment would just underscore a desire for clownish political points.

Bill Bernstein, formerly of Nashville where he was owner of Eastside Gun Shop, now lives in Sumter, South Carolina. He is a scholar with a BA degree from Vanderbilt University and degrees in Classics from Corpus Christi College, Oxford, UNC-Chapel Hill, and University of Pennsylvania.

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