Everything Old is New Again

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it

The Persistence of Memory (1931) is one of Salvador Dalí's most famous paintings and a key work of the Surrealist movement. It is known for its dreamlike imagery, particularly the melting clocks draped over various objects. The painting explores themes of time, memory, and the fluidity of reality, challenging the viewer’s perception of the material world. The melting clocks signify the fleeting nature of moments, the transience of time, and the elasticity of our temporal experiences. The drooping clocks draped over various objects evoke a sense of surrender to the inexorable passage of time.

Salvador Dalí painted The Persistence of Memory to visually represent the concept of time being subjective and fluid, often interpreted as a dreamlike depiction of the subconscious mind, where the rigid structure of time is distorted and melting clocks symbolize the passage of time not being linear or fixed, heavily influenced by his fascination with Freudian psychoanalysis and the theories of relativity by Einstein; essentially, the painting explores the idea that time can be warped and experienced differently depending on one's perspective.

Dali is a personal favorite artist of mine. I have been lucky enough to view his paintings up close. This painting resides at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City. It reminds me of the fleeting nature of time and how what we experience in our reality is not necessarily the reality of others. Here, time loses all reality and meaning, much like those who defend the MAGA Convict and his despicable display of delusion.

There is so much that goes on every week that it does get overwhelming, but that is the point of authoritarians. Viktor Orbán of Hungary changed his country from a Democracy towards what he calls illiberal Democracy, and is headed towards dictatorial rule. Trump has shown admiration for Viktor Orbán's style of governance, and some of his political moves suggest a shift toward a more authoritarian model similar to Orbán’s Hungary. Orbán has visited Trump multiple times last year at Mar-a-Lardo. Maybe there was a trade of Classified Documents for information on how to overturn our Democracy. Orbán has weakened Hungary’s judicial independence by filling courts with loyalists. Trump has similarly attacked the U.S. judicial system, calling judges who rule against him "corrupt" and pushing for greater control over the courts. Trump has defied congressional subpoenas and sought to expand executive power, reducing legislative checks on his authority. Orbán’s government has taken control of much of Hungary’s media, ensuring favorable coverage while cracking down on independent journalism. Trump has attacked the press, calling it the “enemy of the people,” and promoted misinformation through right-wing media networks and social media.

Last week, the White House punished the Associated Press (AP) by denying the organization access to many press briefings. Why? Because the AP decided that it would continue to call the Gulf of Mexico by its proper name. For generations, the White House Correspondents' Association decided which outlets were given seats at the various White House briefings. Now, the White House is officially taking over the job. The AP is not the only wire service currently on the White House's shit list. Reuters dared to describe the work of DOGE as "politically motivated." This got Musk’s attention and immediately went on the attack, which Trump gleefully parroted on his Truth Social.

While the U.S. still has stronger democratic safeguards than Hungary, Trump’s approach—if fully implemented—could lead to an “Orbánization” of American democracy. This would mean a shift toward a system where elections still occur, but power is increasingly concentrated in the executive branch, opposition voices are weakened, and democratic norms are eroded.

It’s not only Orbán that Trump admires. It’s Putin as well. Last week we saw the display of a global hero, President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, being humiliated in the Oval Office by an attack from Vance and Trump. Vance assumed the role of attack dog and decided to engage in some serious politicking. Vance presumed to lecture Zelenskyy about how Ukraine should be much more appreciative of the help it's getting from the United States, and how this war is only going to be resolved with diplomacy. He repeatedly asked if Zelenskyy thanked the American people. Before the Oval Office meeting, Zelenskyy met with a bipartisan group of senators and expressed thanks multiple times. In fact, CNN put together the number of times that Zelenskyy expressed thanks to the U.S. and found at least 33 instances. Then Vance further patronized, telling the Ukrainian leader: "I think it's disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media.” Although Trump did not take the lead in attacking Zelenskyy, it was not hard for the him to jump in, with much enthusiasm, once Vance ceded the floor. It could also be that Trump has a personal vendeta against Zelenskyy since his first impeachment was due to Trump asking Zeleskyy to find dirt on Biden in a possible exchange for missiles in 2019 during the runup to the presidential campaign.

A great many reporters and commentators referred to the meeting as a planned ambush. This meeting was all for the benefit of one person, Putin. As mentioned previously, the two preeminent news services, the Associated Press and Reuters, were not granted access by the White House to cover this meeting while Russia's preeminent news service, TASS, was allowed in the room. Trump is increasingly aligning himself with Putin while criticizing Zelenskyy, which prompts concern that the U.S.’s new ally on the global stage is the Kremlin.

The response to this meeting has been overwhelming support for Zelenskyy, as it is becoming clear that Trump fully intends to pull support from Ukraine and just hand it over to Putin. European nations have shown solidarity with Ukraine. Following the meeting, Zelenskyy secured a loan from the United Kingdom, indicating Europe's commitment to supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and reconstruction efforts. The leaders across the world, with few exceptions (Viktor Orbán), were not impressed with what Trump or Vance did at that meeting. The other thing the leaders of Europe surely realize now is that Trump simply isn't a reliable partner. It also now includes other alliances as well, such as trade agreements, intelligence sharing, and research into weapons development.

Perhaps the most damning assessment came from Kaja Kallas who, as High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, is the European Union's top diplomat: "Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It's up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge." It may soon not be America First but America Alone.

On Sunday, Zelenskyy met with European leaders at a summit in London. The meeting organized by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, was also attended by leaders from Turkey and Norway, so it wasn’t just an EU summit. Also present were NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. Von der Leyen said that Europe urgently needs to rearm to show the U.S. that Europe is ready to defend democracy. Starmer said that Ukraine has the full backing of the U.K. and offered a $2.84 billion loan as the first step.

While Europe steps up to support Ukraine, Trump has ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to stop giving information to Ukraine on targets the Ukrainian military can hit. This follows an earlier decision by Trump to stop supplying weapons Congress has already mandated to go to Ukraine. Clearly, Trump wants to end the war by giving everything over to Russia.

With all this hellabalu going on, you would think that Trump would include Ukraine and his wish to have Zelenskyy grovel and his feet in his speech to Congress this week. Trump gave only a couple of minutes' attention to the matter, reiterating that he's a peacemaker and implying that he damn well better get a Nobel Peace Prize. Instead, he focused on his bugaboo of trans and trans athletes. Most notable, he mistook Transgenic with Transgender and stated that the U.S. is spending millions on turning mice transgender. Next, you are going to hear him banning the Trans-Siberian Orchestra! He also reminded his audience who they need to hate. He mentioned immigrants/undocumented immigrants, often with the usual racially charged language. Has he ever met his wife and her family? His speech to Congress reminds me of Morgan Wallen’s song, lies, lies lies. You can read the fact checks from the AP, CBS News, ABC News, NBC News, CNN, The New York Times or PolitiFact.

When I was young, the real enemies were the Russians, North Korea, and China. We did not even have to give it a second thought. We were the opposite of everything that the Soviet Union stood for. But in this span of time, especially in this age of MAGA, 40% of Americans now have a favorable view of Russia and believe that Putin is an ally. Trump looks up to dictators and wants to emulate them. Putin, with his flashy machismo, total control over Russia and ruthless suppression and often murder of his opponents, seems like Trump’s obvious role model. Trump in his meeting with Zelenskyy even went so far as to side with Putin, “Putin went through a hell of a lot with me,” he stated. With Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and his wish to expand the territory of Russia to it's former state, Trump is also emulating him with his wish to expand the U.S. to include Greenland and Canada! Maybe, it’s true that Trump is known as ‘Krasnov’ in Russia with his relationship with Putin going back to at least 1987.

We've come full circle—from Cold War rivalry to post-Soviet tensions—to an era where America finds itself aligned with Russia under a compromised president. Have we forgotten our history and the strength of our true alliances in the age of Trump? Will deception and propaganda triumph over truth? The erosion of our institutions and democracy carries profound global consequences. Deteriorating diplomacy, trade restrictions, and cyber conflicts risk solidifying an adversarial stance even with our closest neighbors. As distortions reshape our reality, trust among our European allies continues to fray. Only time will reveal our trajectory. Let’s hope our collective memory guides us back to who we truly are.