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This is the first of a series three blogs describing
three directions of my current thinking (summer 2026)
I am:
88 years old retired man,
married (has children and grandchildren),
migrant (refugee from Hungary about 70 years ago),
US citizen (naturalized more than 60 years ago),
educated (PhD UC Berkeley College of Engineering more than 60 years ago), living in San Francisco, California.
The three main directions of my sleep disturbing currently mental activity:
I. Observations (My opinion on certain political issues and individuals.)
II. Thoughts and principles ( Migration, sovereignty, and related subjects
throughout human history.)
III. Feelings ( Family, nations, and religion.)
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Donald Trump was indicted for multiple crimes in several courts under both state and federal charges. He has been found guilty of dozens of felonies. He falsified business records, interfered in federal elections, illegally tried to change election results, retained classified documents illegally, was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation. The list goes on and on. He escaped imprisonment because a State Court, after having found him guilty, did not want to interfere with his presidential activity. Also he enjoys significant protection from the conservative majority of the Supreme Court. Winning the elections in 2024 provided him with definitive major benefits for escaping imprisonment: the Federal Justice Department dropped its case against him and state courts delayed their actions (the US Constitution stops state-level proceedings against a seated president).
Thus with Trump, we have a convicted criminal president. There is only one thing that matters to him: self-aggrandizement. As long as people admire him, genuflect in front of him, they are okay. If they disagree with him, they are, in his view, criminals who should be sent to prison. Never have we had a crazier president. He knows nothing, learned nothing, and he's convinced that he is the reincarnation of a brilliant Holy Spirit. He is engaged in an illegal war that costs many lives and many billions of dollars. Now, if he's lucky, maybe he will be able to return to where we were before he started the war: back to the agreement in force with Iran, negotiated by Obama and his deputy. It guaranteed peace, with no nuclear weapons development in the Islamic dictatorship.
Trump is a science denier, a pathological liar, willing to hurt anyone anywhere, as long as he believes that it will enhance his ego, his wealth, or the admiration from his followers.
Until recently the list of my despised was headed by Hitler, Stalin, and Rakosi (Stalin’s enforcer who executed the post WWII folding of Hungary into the Soviet system of communist states); now Trump has joined them.
Trump’s win was shocking for me when he was first elected to be president in 2016. But then I could take comfort that he lost the popular vote; his win was through the special American system: The Electoral College has the power to put in the final vote for the president (the people’s vote only elects the Electoral College). The design of the Electoral College provides a small extra margin for States that have a low population. Therefore it is possible for someone to lose the popular vote but nevertheless win legally in the election. In 2024, however, Trump did win the popular vote. Not by a large margin but nevertheless he won it. His second term is a total disaster, which is now recognized by most voters. What is unbelievably shocking for me is that even now 20 to 25% of the US public appears to support this demented criminal president. But what is even more shocking is Trump's ability to dictatorially control the Republican Congress, House and Senate. The congressmen, the representatives and senators are not stupid, and they are not likely to be religious admirers of a crazy criminal who is destroying the country and possibly the world; they appear to fear retribution and want to hang on to their positions. To save the American democracy that we used to believe in, our hope is now that the Democrats win the midterm elections and then take over Congress. We shall see what happens in the future but nothing will change what has happened in the past (and unfortunately currently still continues).
That Trump-connected past is where Orban comes in. When Victor Orban first showed up on the political scene. I thought he represented the spirit of 1956. But then things appeared to change. For me the change was most strongly represented by the relationship between Trump and Orban. With the CPAC Hungary in May 2022 all my respect for Orban ended. In the US we started to hear from the Trump champions: “follow the Hungarian model”. We in America were suddenly told that Victor Orban has shown the perfect political leadership to be followed by all those who believe in Trump. Thank you, I had enough of Trump and now I knew that I had enough of Orban.
Therefore, when Peter Magyar showed up on the scene, I welcomed him with great optimism. He who succeeded in defeating Trump's friend was immediately my friend. And he not only defeated my enemy's friend, but won by an overwhelming margin. Hail Mary!
Also, for me Hungary's membership in the European Union is very important. I do not simply mean membership, but I mean a positive constructive collaborative participation. Here again Orban failed; whereas, thus far it appears that Magyar is moving in the right direction.
What will the long-term result be? I do not know. I watched on YouTube recordings of several Hungarian parliamentary debates, Tisza and Fidesz exchanges. I do not like the brutal tone of the exchanges and I am fully aware that certain controversies are growing.
But I am still hopeful. Will this be the first time that Hungary is able to establish and practice a True Modern Democracy? The future will tell, but in general till now I feel that events recently are moving in the right direction. I certainly hope so!
Both Trump and Putin lost significantly with the change of government in Hungary. Orban served as Putin's Trojan Horse in the European Union. Putin was determined to undermine the EU and NATO, Victor Orban assisted him in that endeavor, by systematically blocking EU’s attempts to assist Ukraine in the ongoing War. Trump also works to weaken both the EU and NATO. Orban provided a useful link between the two of them, traveling regularly between Moscow and Washington. He tried to enhance his own power through assisting these two autocrats in their anti European attempts.
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