Dear Commons Community,

Dori Zinn of Bankrate has advice for those thinking about retirement.  She provides eight sound reasons why you might want to delay it.  As someone who has delayed retirement, I am in agreement with everything she says.

Below is her entire piece.

Tony

——————-

Bankrate

Should you delay retirement? Here are 8 reasons why you might want to

Dori Zinn

Updated March 5, 2025 at 10:18 AM

If you’ve been dreaming of retirement since you entered the workforce, you might have a certain idea of what it looks like. But there’s a chance you might not start retirement when you thought you would, perhaps due to circumstances beyond your control or because you’re simply not ready to exit the working world. While life doesn’t always go according to plan, would-be retirees can make the best of a delayed retirement timeline, and may even find that putting it off for a few years is a good idea.

8 reasons to delay retirement

Amid a shifting economic landscape and the possibility of living longer than ever before, the traditional retirement age of 65 to 67 might not be the best plan for everyone. For some, punching out for the last time may need to be pushed back a few years.

Here are eight reasons why you might want to rethink your retirement timeline.

1. You give yourself more time to save and invest

For many retirees, $1 million is the magic savings number for retirement, but most Americans are nowhere close to that figure. According to Vanguard’s “How America Saves 2024” report, workers who were between 45 to 54 years old in Vanguard’s retirement plans had a median savings of $60,763 at the end of 2023. Those aged 55 to 64 had a median savings of $87,571 in their plan.

Delaying retirement gives you more time to save for your golden years and less time to live off your savings. Many retirees fear they will run out of money before they die, so the more time you spend saving, the less you’ll depend on that nest egg when the time comes to stop working.

2. You can delay Social Security for a bigger payout

While you can file for Social Security benefits as early as age 62, the longer you put it off, the higher the amount you’ll receive. Waiting until your full retirement age — or all the way until you hit 70 — significantly bumps up your benefits. For example, if your full retirement age is 67 and you delay filing until age 70, you’ll get a 24 percent boost in your monthly Social Security check.

Delaying Social Security means you’ll need to rely on income from another source until you file by either drawing down from your nest egg or continuing to work. But even if you do have to work a little while longer, you’ll be locking in some more Social Security boosts while you’re on the clock.

3. You like what you do

Not everyone enjoys their jobs, and many look forward to the day they don’t have to go into the office anymore. But if your job brings you satisfaction, don’t feel compelled to stop once you hit a certain age. Aside from income, working has numerous other benefits for emotional, psychological and mental health. Older workers needn’t stop working at a certain age, especially if they enjoy it.

4. You can capitalize on other work benefits

While income is useful, a job typically provides valuable benefits beyond just a paycheck. For instance, your employer may help pad your retirement portfolio via an employer-matched 401(k) program. Access to workplace health care benefits can save you a lot of money if you don’t qualify for Medicare yet and would otherwise have to pay out-of-pocket for coverage.

You might also want to stick around at your job to keep access to other perks, such as reimbursement for continuing education, gym memberships, reimbursement for some bills and more.

5. You can wait out inflation

Inflation may have cooled a bit since the summer of 2022, but if it picks up again, you might consider delaying retirement. It can make sense to wait out rising prices and ensure that your finances are on a stable footing before you move on to the next stage.

6. You’re stuck and unable to retire

Sometimes important elements of your retirement plan get derailed. For instance, you may not be able to downsize because of an uncertain housing market. Or maybe you got laid off and had to find a job that wasn’t what you traditionally did for work, so you’re making up for lost income now. Maybe you wanted to relocate to be close to family, or sudden health concerns have eaten up more of your budget than you expected. Regardless of the reason, you may not be able to retire now and may need to re-evaluate your plans or consider alternatives, including working longer.

7. Health insurance

If you opt to retire before reaching the age of 65, the age at which you become eligible for Medicare, you will need to secure health insurance. Several options exist, including COBRA coverage, which can extend your employer’s group health plan for a certain period, usually 18 months. Alternatively, you might be able to join your spouse’s employer-sponsored coverage or explore individual plans in the health insurance marketplace.

Remember, though, retiring early can significantly impact your health insurance options and associated costs, primarily because of the coverage gap before you qualify for Medicare at 65.

8. Continue to delay taxes

Delaying retirement can also provide you with the opportunity to defer taxes on certain retirement accounts. If you continue to work past age 73, you will still need to take required minimum distributions (RMDs) from your traditional IRAs, regardless of your employment status.

However, if you are working and don’t own more than 5 percent of the company you work for, you might have the option to delay RMDs from your current employer’s 401(k) plan. It’s important to familiarize yourself with the specific rules of your plan and seek advice from a financial advisor to avoid any potential penalties.

Bottom line

Retirement isn’t a one-size-fits-all path. If you have to delay retirement for whatever reason — unexpected events or by choice — the tradeoffs aren’t all bad. Delaying gives you time to build your nest egg, pad your Social Security benefits and save money on taxes and other expenses along the way. Take some time to review your options so you can map out a path to retirement in the future.

Damon Winter/The New York Times

 Dear Commons Community,

Maureen Dowd in her column this morning entitled, “The State of Himself” analyzes Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday.  She makes a number of keen observations summarizing Trump’s aim was simply “to glorify himself” during the longest ever presidential address. I agree with her fully and gave up on it after about 40 minutes.  I could not stand his lies and insults.

I thought Dowd’s best comment included a shot at the Democrats.

“Trump was loud, confident and forceful and, for his supporters, enormously effective. G.O.P. lawmakers were jubilant, even though many are unnerved by his tariff infatuation — markets plummeted over the past week — and his disgusting embrace of Putin.

Democrats could only combat this dominant Trump by refusing to applaud or stand, waving little paddles with messages like “Musk steals” and “False,” wearing hot pink or, in the case of Representative Al Green, getting thrown out.

They’re going to need a bigger boat.”

They are going to need a bigger boat indeed.  The Democrats right now are reeling at the national level.  There are several good and decent governors but no one is stepping up to really challenge Trump.

Dowd’s entire column is below.

Tony

The New York Times

The State of Himself

March 5, 2025

By Maureen Dowd

Opinion Columnist, reporting from Washington

Interviewing Donald Trump over the decades, I would sometimes do a lightning round of questions at the end. It was always his favorite part. He relished giving short bursts of opinion on a range of political and cultural topics.

Now he has turned his entire presidency into a lightning round, putting out a breathless stream of executive orders, slapping tariffs around the globe, siccing Elon Musk on the federal government to rip it apart from the inside out, blowing up alliances as he pulls Vladimir Putin close. Trump’s energy, his output and the sheer volume of words he has uttered in the first six weeks of his presidency are stunning.

He spilled many more words on Tuesday night during his address to a joint session of Congress, talking for 100 minutes, the longest presidential address to Congress ever.

Again, it played like a lightning round. He was Action Jackson, racing through pledges to cut regulations, getting rid of seemingly silly or superfluous foreign aid programs, leaving the World Health Organization. He sped through boasts about economic success, even though the Atlanta Fed says the economy will contract this quarter. He dashed through sketchy claims, painting electric cars as evil, predicting that tariffs will lead to a car boom and asserting that there are nearly 20 million centenarians — some pushing 150 — who are getting Social Security. (Data shows that only 89,000 people over 98 received Social Security payments in December 2024.)

He sounded like a Bob Barker-style game show host, tossing out prizes in a rapid-fire style to his guests in the gallery. Congratulations, you’re going to West Point! Congratulations, you’re in the Secret Service now!

He was loud, confident and forceful and, for his supporters, enormously effective. G.O.P. lawmakers were jubilant, even though many are unnerved by his tariff infatuation — markets plummeted over the past week — and his disgusting embrace of Putin.

Democrats could only combat this dominant Trump by refusing to applaud or stand, waving little paddles with messages like “Musk steals” and “False,” wearing hot pink or, in the case of Representative Al Green, getting thrown out.

They’re going to need a bigger boat.

When I interviewed Trump during the 2016 race, I wondered if the profane and rambunctious former reality show star could ever be presidential. He replied that he could do it if he wanted, pointing to the fact that he could get along at fancy dinners with the society matrons of Palm Beach.

But it turned out that Trump did not need to alter his behavior to be president. He simply altered the presidency to match his personality.

He has mocked Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas” at political rallies, and he mocked her as “Pocahontas” again to her face in his formal address to Congress.

He sprayed the air with exaggerations and untruths at his rallies, and he didn’t feel the need to add any fact-checking as president. “A manifesto of mistruths,” proclaimed Nancy Pelosi after the speech.

He blithely ignores blatant contradictions in what he’s saying and doing. He praised police officers, saying they would get the respect “they so dearly deserve” and calling for the death penalty for anyone who murders a police officer. This, even though he sided with the insurrectionists, pardoning nearly 1,600 “patriots,” as he calls them, in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, where police officers got hurt trying to fight off the violent Trump mob.

He declared in the House chamber that “the days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over,” ignoring the irony of Musk — the most powerful chainsaw-wielding unelected government official in history — basking in the first lady’s box. (At long last, wearing a suit.)

Giving a shout-out to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump said, “Our goal is to get toxins out of our environment.” But Trump has been eliminating regulations that would accomplish that. He wants to make deep cuts in the E.P.A., and two of his top appointees at the agency are former chemical executives.

He honored a child who he said had probably gotten cancer from chemicals, even though he is slashing scientific and public health research.

He hailed his tariff hikes as “protecting the soul of our country,” saying, “I love the farmer — who will now be selling into our home market, the U.S.A.” But many farmers make money selling abroad, so they may not appreciate Trump’s sanguine exclamation, “Have a lot of fun. I love you, too.”

Trump crowed that he “brought back free speech in America.” Meanwhile, some of his executive orders have mandated that the government ax selected “woke” words and phrases, and he has threatened that schools that tolerate certain types of protest will lose federal funding.

He has also barred The Associated Press from covering him in the Oval Office and Air Force One because the news service won’t bend the knee and call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.

It seems unsavory to brag about free speech when his administration has been conjuring Joseph McCarthy by asking government employees to name names. The administration set up a hotline to get snitches to tell on colleagues promoting D.E.I. And the head of the F.B.I.’s New York field office was forced out this week when he interfered with Trump’s revenge rampage, urging employees to “dig in” and refuse to name names of agents who had worked on Jan. 6 cases.

Other presidents might have tried to heal divisions after an acrimonious election, but not Trump. He knows that trolling the Democrats, ratcheting up divisions and stoking the culture war got him to the Oval, and he never gives up what gets him to No. 1.

In his address, Trump relentlessly trashed his predecessor, blaming him for everything, even the price of eggs. Ignoring the decorum that once marked presidential addresses, he dismissed Joe Biden as “the worst president in American history.”

As usual, he took all the credit and gave everyone else the blame.

“We have Marco Rubio in charge,” Trump said. He added, as his secretary of state looked on, “Now we know who to blame if anything goes wrong.”

Trump has not been focused on his campaign promise to lower prices. But at the Capitol, he finally raised the issue. “The egg prices, out of control. We’re working hard to get it back down.” Then he swiftly passed the buck to his agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins. “Secretary, do a good job on that.”

He offered a softer tone on Ukraine, citing a message from Volodymyr Zelensky urging peace and saying he was ready to sign the minerals deal. Now that Trump has forced the Ukrainian president to grovel, now that he has humiliated the war hero in public and put his own swollen ego above America’s longstanding foreign policy principles, he may give Zelensky another chance.

His new imperialist attitude was on display, a sharp contrast to his old rants about how awful George W. Bush was for his failed occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. About Greenland, Trump said, “One way or the other, we’re going to get it.” He also vowed, “My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it.”

The thrust of Trump’s speech was, of course, to glorify himself, to claim sanctification bestowed on him by God when he escaped assassination. The main point was to brag that he is the best of the best. It is the same way he once boasted that the rolls in the restaurant at Trump Tower were “the best rolls in the city.”

The first month of his presidency, he said, was “the most successful in the history of the nation. And what makes it even more impressive is, do you know who No. 2 is? George Washington. How about that?”

Trump has remade the presidency, just as he has remade the Republican Party, in his own image. The first presidential address of his new term mirrored all his old rallies: It was an ode to himself.

Democrats holding signs  sign reading “Musk Steals” and “Save Medicaid” as President Trump addressed a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol last night.

Dear Commons Community,

Democratic lawmakers protested President Donald Trump with multiple signs during a speech to the Joint Session of Congress that quickly turned into a partisan rhetorical brawl.

Representatives were seen holding up black signs with white letters saying: “Save Medicaid,” “Musk Steals” and “Protect Veterans,” with “False” written on the back.

As Trump entered the chamber, Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-New Mexico, displayed a sign saying, “This is not normal.” Republican Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas ripped it out of her hands and threw it, nearly hitting the president’s head as he walked down the aisle.

Representative Al Green, a Texas Democrat, stood and yelled, “You don’t have a mandate,” before Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson ordered him removed. Green announced in February that he would file articles of impeachment against Trump over “injustice in Gaza.”

“I’ll accept the punishment. It’s worth it to let people know that there’s some of us who are going to stand up to against this president’s desire to cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security,” Green told a media scrum captured by CSPAN.

As Trump was complaining about Democratic support, California Democratic Rep. Gil Cisneros yelled: “But the stock market,” while Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib yelled “save Medicaid.”

Tlaib was holding a small dry erase board on which she wrote messages including: “no king!” and “that’s a LIE!”

Democrats left the speech, turning their back on the president to reveal black T-shirts with the word “RESIST” in white letters.

California Democratic Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove was also one of the Democrats who left. She wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that “there’s only so much (expletive) a person can tolerate.”

“Through walking out, my message to Donald Trump is simple: stop the lies, stop the cheating, and stop the stealing – enough is enough. The American people deserve better,” she wrote in a statement.

In sum, Trump’s speech was a horrendous display of the state of the American political system.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Last year, I read two books  by Christopher de Hamel about illuminated manuscripts.  He, who is widely recognized as a world  authority on illuminated manuscripts,  inspired me to consider how technology could be used to generate colorful, electronic versions using AI and other digital tools.  I coined the term for doing so a “technuscript.”

An illuminated manuscript  is by definition produced by hand.  A technuscript (if you look in a dictionary or on Google, there is no such word) uses many of the same design elements that characterized the medieval illuminated manuscripts but would employ digital technology to produce the finished product.  In this post are sample images I created to develop a technuscript based on an article I wrote entitled “Theories and frameworks for online education:  Seeking an integrated model.”  I selected this article because it has a number of concepts that are conducive to creative and image-based explanations.   The design features for this technuscript include:

1. Using bright,  jewel-toned colors (reds, blues, yellows, greens) in the images;
2. Using AI to generate images;
3. Employing a variety of image sizes from small thumbnail to full pages;
4. Placing borders on images;
5. Using an antique block font on a vellum-style page background for the text;
6. Colorizing the first word of each paragraph.

Below are  sample pages to illustrate the style I used.  The entire technuscript is available at: Article Matted Matura Script PDF

Here is a comment  from Christopher de Hamel mentioned above on viewing my technuscript: :

“…I have looked at your unexpected technique of conjuring up modern manuscripts, or technuscripts, which, as far as I know, no-one has ever attempted…I am sure [medieval] scribes would rejoice to see it, as I do.”

I would love to receive feedback from any of you reading this post as to what you think about my efforts.

Tony

Linda McMahon.  Courtesy of Education Week.

Dear Commons Community,

As expected, Linda McMahon yesterday secured the votes in the U.S. Senate needed to serve as secretary of education, allowing her to take the helm of an agency President Donald Trump is already trying to significantly downsize and hopes to abolish.

The Senate approved McMahon to lead the U.S. Department of Education in a 51-45 party-line vote.

Though the Trump administration’s early moves to shrink the department and force schools to drop diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts have sparked strident objections from Democrats, McMahon passed with relative ease compared to her predecessor in Trump’s first term, Betsy DeVos, who made history by needing a tie-breaking vote from then-Vice President Mike Pence.

The vote was a far cry from McMahon’s 81-19 confirmation vote in 2017 to serve as head of the Small Business Administration in Trump’s first administration, when most Democrats backed her.

Republicans have championed McMahon as the person needed to fundamentally change a department they feel is bloated with bureaucracy and imposes conditions on schools they find unfavorable. Though the federal government has no say over what schools do and don’t teach, the Trump administration has skirted around the edges of that limitation early into his second term, threatening to pull federal dollars from schools that disobey executive orders seeking to eliminate DEI programming and roll back rights for transgender students.

GOP lawmakers said McMahon’s background in business as the co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment and her time in Trump’s first administration as head of the U.S. Small Business Association will help her overhaul the department—despite her lack of a lengthy education background.

“Ms. McMahon demonstrated a strong vision for the Department of Education,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana who chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, said during a Feb. 20 committee meeting. “She committed to empowering parents and returning powers to states and local communities, which, by the way, are best equipped to address students’ needs.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the role of education secretary is not that of a superintendent.

“The job description of a secretary of education is to manage a bureaucracy that runs a number of funding programs,” he said. “By all accounts, Linda McMahon did a great job running the Small Business Administration in the last Trump administration. I have no reason to believe that she cannot run the Department of Education.”

Democrats, meanwhile, have raised concerns that abolishing the department would hurt the most vulnerable students, as the agency annually funnels billions of dollars earmarked for low-income students and students with disabilities to the schools that serve them. The nation’s largest teachers’ union pressed the Senate to reject McMahon.

We will see how McMahon does!  Abolishing the DOE will be difficult.  Dismantling and defunding programs is another issue!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — the consummate anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist ― struck a drastically different tone in a new Fox News op-ed published Sunday in which he advocated for the MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella) vaccine amid the growing measles outbreak in Texas.

The op-ed, titled “Measles Outbreak Is A Call To Action For All Of Us,” carried the subheadline: “MMR Vaccine Is Crucial To Avoiding Potentially Deadly Disease.”

In the piece, Kennedy said he is “deeply concerned” about the outbreak in the South Plains region that’s “claimed the life of a school-aged child, the first measles-related fatality” in America for more than a decade.

Kennedy wrote about the risks of measles “especially to unvaccinated individuals” and acknowledged the previous fatality rate of 1 in 1,205 cases before the introduction of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine in the 1960s.

Vaccines must be “readily accessible for all those who want them,” said the yearslong vaccine skeptic, adding that: “Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.”

The op-ed split opinion on social media, following as it did years of Kennedy’s promotion of debunked vaccine misinformation.

Only last week, Kennedy downplayed the outbreak in Texas as “not unusual.”

Public health experts warned last year how deadly epidemics — including of measles — could surge in the United States again if Kennedy was confirmed as America’s top health official given his past debunked takes on shots.

Glad Kennedy basically admitted his lunacy!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Tariffs might be President Donald Trump’s favorite word. To legendary investor Warren Buffett, there is less to be excited about.

“Tariffs are actually an act of war” Buffett said in an interview with CBS that aired on Sunday.

The Berkshire Hathaway CEO and billionaire investor said tariffs over time serve as a tax on goods and could raise prices for consumers.

“The Tooth Fairy doesn’t pay ‘em!” Buffett said with a laugh.  As reported by CBS and CNN.

Tariffs disrupt trade between countries by raising taxes on imported goods, and those new costs are often passed on to consumers through higher prices. Tariffs are considered by many economists a political cudgel — sometimes used in a trade war — and not an efficient framework for international trade.

Buffett offered his thoughts in a rare sit-down interview, with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell. The segment focused on the late Katharine Graham, former publisher of the Washington Post and a friend of Buffett’s, though he answered a few questions about the economy.

The Oracle of Omaha said it’s critical to ask, “And then what?” when thinking about the implications of tariffs and who will bear the cost.

“You always have to ask that question in economics: Always say, ‘And then what?’” Buffett said.

Trump is set to go ahead with tariffs on America’s three biggest trading partners today, imposing 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico and hiking tariffs implemented on China.

The Trump administration has gone back and forth on its proposed tariff plans. Economists expect tariffs to increase the cost for US consumers on everyday goods that rely on international supply chains, from electronics to vehicles. Trump’s tariff proposals also come at a time when US consumer confidence is declining and concerns of inflation are lingering.

China has hit back at the United States with its own tariffs, stoking concerns of a trade war similar to Trump’s first term. And this time, the European Union and other trading partners are also targets, with Trump outlining a plan for “reciprocal tariffs” on countries that have tariffs on US goods.

While Buffett didn’t elaborate on his comment about tariffs being an act of war, tariffs have long been associated with protectionist trade policy that has influenced isolationist foreign policy. In the 1930s, after the United States hiked tariffs as part of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 (which exacerbated the Great Depression), the French media reportedly called it a declaration of (economic) war.

Buffett has previously been outspoken about the negative effects of tariffs. In 2016, he said Trump’s proposals for tariffs on the campaign trail were “a very bad idea.”

When Buffett was asked by O’Donnell about his thoughts on the general state of the economy, he said it was the “most interesting subject in the world,” though declined further comment.

Buffett, whose every word is watched closely by investors, drew attention over the past year due to a growing cash pile at Berkshire Hathaway.

Berkshire amassed its cash and cash equivalents to a record $334.2 billion in the fourth quarter, up from $167.6 billion the year prior. Berkshire added to its cash position while selling stock in blue-chip companies like Apple (AAPL) and Bank of America (BAC), raising questions about his thoughts on the US market.

Berkshire’s operating earnings in the fourth quarter surged to a record, and both its class A shares (BRK.A) and class B shares (BRK.B) closed at a record high just last week. Buffett said most of the money he manages will always be in the United States.

“It’s the best place,” Buffett said. “I was lucky to be born here.”

Buffett knows what he is talking about!

Tony

James Lankford

Dear Commons Community,

Senator James Lankford, R-Okla., said yesterday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is “rightfully concerned” about Russia reneging on agreements, as some Trump administration officials took to the airwaves to criticize the leader of the longtime U.S. ally.

“I understand Zelenskyy is rightfully concerned that Putin has violated every single agreement he’s ever signed and that he can’t be trusted,” Lankford said in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

His comments come after an explosive exchange in the Oval Office between President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Zelenskyy, in which the U.S. leaders berated the Ukrainian president for his approach to diplomacy and argued that he didn’t sufficiently thank the U.S. for its support, despite Zelenskyy having thanked the U.S. numerous times. Current and former Russian officials praised Trump after the confrontation.

Zelenskyy pointed out during the Oval Office exchange that Russia has previously broken ceasefires, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin “killed our people and he didn’t exchange prisoners.”

Asked Sunday about Putin’s not keeping previous agreements, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told ABC News’ “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos that “moving forward is the question, not the past,” before adding that the United States wanted to engage Russia in negotiations.

Lankford was asked on “Meet the Press” whether he was concerned that the United States was turning its back on Ukraine, a longtime ally. Lankford said “no.”

“No, we’re not turning our back on Ukraine, nor should we,” he said. “Putin is a murderous KGB thug that murders his political enemies and is a dictator.”

We need a few more Republican leaders to tell Trump not to turn our back on Ukraine!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

In her column yesterday, Maureen Dowd weighed in on the “sickening spectacle” of a meeting between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday.  Entitled, “Trump is Rootin for Putin,” she reviews the meeting as “the man (Trump) who tried to upend democracy by bullying the man (Zelenskyy) who is fighting for democracy.”

She added that “it was shocking to see Trump parrot the view of Vladimir Putin, a murderous tyrant who wants to swallow Ukraine in a fit of nostalgia for the Soviet Union.”

She concluded Trump is nothing more than a “truckler” to Putin!

Her entire column is below.

Tony

The New York Times

Trump Is Rootin’ for Putin

March 1, 2025

By Maureen Dowd

Opinion Columnist

It was a sickening spectacle: the man who tried to upend democracy bullying the man who is fighting for democracy.

The air seemed to turn flame red as the TV stars-turned-pols sat side by side in elegant yellow armchairs and had the wildest dust-up ever televised from the Oval Office.

“This is going to be great television — I will say that,” President Trump noted. The Ukrainian ambassador, Oksana Markarova, hung her head in her hands.

It looked like a setup. Vice President JD Vance, a malign presence who has said he does not care a fig about Ukraine, chided Volodymyr Zelensky for not being grateful enough to America, i.e. Trump.

“Have you said, ‘Thank you’ once this entire meeting?” Vance pressed Zelensky, who has thanked America over and over.

Trump barked at Zelensky, “You’re gambling with World War III” and wagged a finger at him: “You’ve got to be more thankful because, let me tell you, you don’t have the cards. With us, you have the cards, but without us, you don’t have any cards.”

Pretty rich for a draft dodger to lecture a man whose name has become synonymous with wartime bravery. (Trump once said that avoiding sexually transmitted diseases was his personal “Vietnam.”)

When a reporter asked what would happen if Russia broke the cease-fire again, Trump snapped, “What if anything? What if a bomb drops on your head right now?”

The bust of Churchill so beloved by Trump watched over the three men as they sparred. Can you imagine F.D.R. petulantly ordering Churchill to be more thankful? Can you imagine Churchill’s chilly disdain for Trump’s protection-racket demand for Ukraine’s minerals.

As though this weren’t enough humiliation, a member of the president’s new handpicked press pool, Brian Glenn of the right-wing Real America’s Voice, asked Zelensky, “Why don’t you wear a suit?” And then, “Do you own a suit?”

(He was echoing Trump, who mocked Zelensky when he arrived, saying “Ooh, you’re all dressed up.” The Ukrainian president had on black pants, top and boots, similar to what Elon Musk wears at the White House.)

Even though we should be used to it by now, it was still shocking to see Trump parrot the view of Vladimir Putin, a murderous tyrant who wants to swallow Ukraine in a fit of nostalgia for the Soviet Union. Trump insisted that they were fellow victims.

“Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me,” Trump said, as though they were Army buddies. “He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him and Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia.” U.S. intelligence agencies found that Russia meddled in the 2016 election on Trump’s behalf.

“You see the hatred he’s got for Putin,” Trump said of Zelensky. “It’s very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate.”

The president doesn’t understand why Zelensky is not happy with Putin for invading the smaller country and beating the bejesus out of it, for decimating a generation of young Ukrainian soldiers, for breaking cease-fires and committing war crimes.

Zelensky deserves our thanks. He has endured so much, keeping the David versus Goliath dream alive, exposing the weakness of the Russian military and basically taking it on the chin for the rest of Europe to keep Putin from gobbling up more territory.

But instead of being gracious, Trump booted Zelensky out of the White House, leaving the hero’s lunch on a tray in the hall, torpedoing his existential fight to save his battered country and Ukrainian lives.

Republican lickspittles like Lindsey Graham and Jim Banks praised Trump and trashed Zelensky while Russian leaders rejoiced. “The insolent pig finally got a proper slap down in the Oval Office,” said Dmitri Medvedev, the former Russian president and Putin toady.

A cascade of gobsmacked Western leaders wrapped Zelensky in a warm online embrace. “Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader,” said Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat. France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, posted, “Il y a un agresseur: la Russie.”

European leaders had tried to guide Trump in the days before Zelensky arrived, but Trump is wedded to his demented dream of a troika of strongmen — himself, Putin and Xi Jinping — astride the world.

Macron and Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain came to Washington, humoring Trump. Starmer grandly delivered a cream envelope with an “unprecedented” invitation from King Charles III for a second state visit, perhaps to Balmoral.

A real king soothing the ego of a hooligan who thinks he’s a king.

All the flattery did not soften up Trump. It puffed him up. Everyone is so obsequious around Trump that he now gets huffy at the least pushback. He can make any claim, no matter how outrageous — that Ukraine started the war with Russia, that Zelensky is a “dictator.” But if anyone points out that he is wrong, he blows a gasket.

After Trump flew off to Mar-a-Lago, Zelensky did an interview with Bret Baier on Fox News. He did not apologize when Baier asked him if he should. “I can’t, you know, change our Ukrainian attitude to Russia,” he said, adding that Putin wants to “kill us.”

He said the meeting came a cropper because he talked honestly about the need for security guarantees. “We just want to recognize the reality, the real situation.” He added that everybody is “afraid that Putin will come back tomorrow.”

Trump does not do well with reality; he tries to impose his own on the rest of us.

Zelensky said that Trump told him he wanted to be in “the middle” of the negotiations. But the Ukrainian president demurred: “I want really him to be more at our side” because “the war began when Russia brought this war to our country.” About Ukrainians, he said: “They just want to hear that America on our side and America will stay with us, not with Russians.”

Seems simple. Unless Trump’s art of the deal is all about truckling to Putin.

Dear Commons Coimmunity,

European leaders have rallied behind Volodymyr Zelensky after Donald Trump’s ugly exchange on Friday with the Ukrainian president in the White House.

The leaders of Germany, France, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, and  more than a  dozen other countries were among those who posted social media messages backing Ukraine – with Zelensky responding directly to each one to thank them for their support.  As reported by the BBC.

The Ukrainian president arrived in London to attend a summit hosted by UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer who “retains unwavering support for Ukraine”, Downing Street said.

It comes after extraordinary scenes in the Oval Office on Friday as US President Trump clashed with Zelensky, telling him to make a deal with Russia “or we are out”.

At one point, Trump told Zelensky he was not thankful enough for US military and political support during Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion, and that he was “gambling with World War Three”.

As a flurry of supportive messages for Ukraine were posted by European leaders following the row – along with posts from the prime ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand – Zelensky replied to each one: “Thank you for your support.”

French President Emmanuel Macron posted: “There is an aggressor: Russia. There is a victim: Ukraine. We were right to help Ukraine and sanction Russia three years ago – and to keep doing so.”

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said the Netherlands supports Ukraine “now more than ever”, adding: “We want a lasting peace and an end to the war of aggression started by Russia. For Ukraine and its people, and for Europe.”

Germany’s outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote that “no one wants peace more than the citizens of Ukraine”, with his replacement-in-waiting Friedrich Merz adding that “we stand with Ukraine” and “we must never confuse aggressor and victim in this terrible war”.

Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said the “unspeakable” row resembled a “bad dream” and “underlined that a new age of infamy has begun”.

She said she would “wholeheartedly push” for measures that could help Ukraine “withstand Russia’s aggression even if the US withdraws support, so that it can achieve a just peace and not a capitulation”.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said: “Ukraine, Spain stands with you,” while his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk wrote: “Dear [Zelensky], dear Ukrainian friends, you are not alone.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada “will continue to stand with Ukraine and Ukrainians in achieving a just and lasting peace”.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese posted that his country had “proudly supported the brave people of Ukraine in their struggle to defend their sovereignty against the brutality of Russian aggression and in support of international law”.

European Union chiefs Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen assured Zelensky in a joint statement that he was “never alone”.

“We will continue working with you for a just and lasting peace,” they said.

Poland’s Tusk and France’s Macron were among those posting messages of support to Zelensky

There were also supportive messages for Ukraine from political leaders in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Romania, Sweden and Slovenia.

On Saturday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told the BBC he had spoken with Zelensky twice following the White House meeting.

He said he was “not at liberty to say what was discussed” but shared that he told Zelensky “we have to respect” what Trump has done for Ukraine so far.

He said Zelensky must “find a way” to restore his relationship with his US counterpart.

Zelensky left the White House early following his row with Trump – but afterwards thanked the US president on social media for his support, saying: “Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that.”

Writing on messenger app Telegram on Saturday, Zelensky said it was “very important for us that Ukraine is heard and that no one forgets about it, neither during the war nor after”.

“It is important for people in Ukraine to know that they are not alone, that their interests are represented in every country, in every corner of the world,” he added.

The Western world is standing with Ukraine regardless of the Trump and Vance debacle!

Tony