Who is the greatest?

 

No shrinking violet, President Donald Trump has posted a chart on Truth Social showing himself on the very top tier, where he labels himself "The Greatest," on a chart of his own rankings of US presidents. He places himself, all by himself, right there at the very pinnacle, above even such historic figures as Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. Will the history books be likely to agree on his exceptional ranking of himself alone?  We already know the answer. More probably, Trump will be ranked as the most arrogant, misguided, and deluded individual to ever occupy the oval office. Might he even be considered the very worst president our nation has ever had? That may be debatable, but he certainly belongs down on the very bottom tier.  

Trump's Presidential Rankings 

The Greatest: Donald Trump (occupying the very top tier by himself)
Great: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Woodrow Wilson
Near Great: Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt, Grover Cleveland, John Adams, James K. Polk
Failures: Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter, Ulysses S. Grant, Warren Harding, George W. Bush, Herbert Hoover 

Twice-elected Barack Obama was a failure? That's a laugh. He was actually one of the most popular and most effective presidents ever in our nation's history! The history books will show him at the top, while Trump's name will appear near the bottom. 

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Delusions of grandeur are fixed, false beliefs that a person is vastly more powerful, wealthy, famous, or capable than they actually are. 

That would certainly seem to describe Donald J. Trump. He was never the brightest, most competent, most talented of US presidents, and may have even committed some serious crimes. But he is failing rapidly now with senile dementia. He was never brilliant (like Barack Obama), but what smarts Trump has actually had are ebbing fast. Can we all make it until he is mercifully gone from office, now with more than a year still left to go? The writing is on the wall. Republican candidates are no longer seeking his endorsement or photo-ops with him anymore. 

Trump's own citizen approval has been plummeting ever since the last election and is now deep underwater.  

                                             The photo here shows him still above water. 

the-independent.com 

https://www.the-independent.com

Donald Trump’s approval rating has dropped to a record low in a major poll, presenting a headache for Republicans in the lead up to the midterm elections. Less than two months before November's elections, a Financial Times poll has found that only 33 percent of registered voters approve of Trump's performance as president.

That President Trump still enjoys even 33% approval seems rather amazing, given his recent behavior. 

Former Fed Chair Jerome Powell advises folks not respond to Trump's criticisms, rather simply to ignore him and anything he might say. That seems like good advice. 

As for the greatest,

as has been mentioned on the blog before (quite a while ago), I once interviewed boxer Muhammad Ali in his later years for the occupational therapy magazine I worked for, OT Week. He could no longer speak, so his wife answered for him. Now Ali really was one of the greatest--greatest boxers, that is. But Donald Trump as our greatest president? Hmmm. Who says that besides Trump himself? 

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Wash. Post, ‘He needs to go’: What drives the chaos in Pete Hegseth’s Defense Department

Pete Hegseth was never qualified to begin with and has not learned on the job. (He is also a blatant war criminal, a compulsive liar, and the murderer of innocent fishermen.)

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A Latino museum has now been opened by the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. It's about time. 

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A cargo plane has crashed in Miami. 

NBC 6 South Florida 

5 people killed, 5 injured after Amazon cargo plane overruns runway at MIA

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Burning Man has ended out in the Nevada desert, where at least 3 participants have died. 

The exhibit seen above, called Collapsed Eiffel Tower of Broken Dreams, was brought all the way from France by its creator. 

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       Here now is one of the winners of the Washington Post's 2026 travel photo contest. 

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                                So many mosquitos have now been spreading dengue in south Florida. 

Florida's mosquito-control agencies have been increasing surveillance, inspections, and spraying as the state reports dozens of locally acquired dengue cases. 

Yes, I am quite familiar with dengue. You can  read all about it my books, especially in Triumph & Hope. 

In Honduras, where I was a Peace Corps health volunteer and where I've traveled annually with health projects ever since, I've often seen folks with dengue at health clinics, not usually fatal, though occasionally it actually is. There are 4 types of dengue and becoming ill with one type doesn't confer immunity for the others. In any case, it's best to avoid dengue completely, whatever type is involved. I did have malaria in Honduras, but never was ill with dengue.  

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Is Donald Trump actually a war criminal? 

A timeline of US strikes on boats that have killed at least 227

It's possible that some of the boaters killed in international waters by Donald Trump, executed in the water without any evidence being presented, might actually have been carrying illegal drugs destined for the US. What kinds of drugs? Trump doesn't say because he really doesn't know. Maybe there were even no drugs at all. There certainly has been no proof whatsoever that this has ever been the case. It's just a hunch that Trump has had. And even if the boaters had actually been carrying illegal or recreational drugs (what kind, marijuana? cocaine? LSD?), did they deserve the death penalty? Maybe they were only out sightseeing, fishing, or just traveling from one place to another. Before Trump, they had journeyed around freely in their little homemade boats. 

Does the US even have jurisdiction in international waters? That may seem like a rhetorical question, though it does have an answer and that answer is "no." But what redress do murdered boaters families have and what court is going to bring Donald Trump and his brutal agents to justice? And after that, who will actually put Trump behind bars where he belongs, to stop him from actually killing folks willy-nilly? He's a serial killer on steroids. And how about tackling drug consumption at its source here within the United States? Trump's actions seem a rather convoluted way to try to handle that. Besides, most illegal drugs come into our country not by sea but across the land border with Mexico. Lots of folks cross over there. 

Wash. Post, U.K. bans imports from West Bank settlements in starkest break yet with Israel

Numerous other European countries immediately pledged support for the boycott, which prompted warnings from the United States.

Israel, by its own government's actions, is becoming a pariah nation. This is not evidence of the resurgence of antisemitism, but simply a matter of treating Israel equally as a normal nation, one expected to behave fairly and ethically toward non-Israelis and non-Jews. But Trump is standing firmly by Israel's current government and by his good buddy Bibi Netanyahu, no matter what, threatening retaliation for the boycott. Without Trump's intervention, Netanyahu would now be behind bars. And let's not forget that it was Netanyahu who had urged a very befuddled, mentally compromised Donald Trump to start the Iran war for no good reason. Can the world now manage to simply survive until Mr. Trump leaves office, as Trump's mind, never very sharp, is fast deteriorating. Yet there is still over a year to go in his term, so a lot can happen in the meantime. Even almost any other Republican would do better as our president than Donald Trump, but we are stuck now with Trump for the duration. 

NY Times, U.K., France and Canada Announce Sanctions on Israeli Settlements in West Bank

Britain said Israel had “turned a blind eye” to violence against Palestinians by extremist settlers, as it joined allies in announcing a ban on trade with illegal settlements.

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A young boy in Honduras still sleeps with the stuffed animal that I once gave him. 

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A good friend I had first met in Cuba back in the day now plans to return on a visit there, although we both had been expelled some 25 years ago, being warned never to return. (Never, is quite a long time.)  I suspect that now now my friend will gladly be welcomed, as Cuba needs all the dollars it can get.  

He tells me: It is reported that Raul Castro [age 95] is terminally ill. He is/was a harsh person, but I always felt he retained some humanity, unlike his cold, cruel and robotically harsh elder brother Fidel, who was a terrible influence on Raul.

Here now was Raul, first seen in his younger days, then below more recently. I had once seen both Raul and Fidel years ago.