A Review Of The Book "Regime Change" By Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan

August 20th, 2026

My Dear America:

I had initially wanted to write a Post and Podcast titled "Flight of The TACO" because I truly thought that Donald Trump's disgusting behavior regarding putting his staff and journalists in grave danger without the decency to notify them of that danger was in my mind a new Low. I changed my mind about that, however, because I just finished reading "Regime Change" and feel compelled to write a Review of that Important, Compelling and Highly Disturbing Book.

Here Goes.

Title: Regime Change

Authors: Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

464 Pages

Every page of the book "Regime Change" is both Highly Interesting and Highly Disturbing.

Much of what Authors Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan write about in this book is not exactly new.  We have all seen over the past year and a half what Donald Trump has done to demolish and denigrate much of what we have come to Respect and Understand about America during the past Two Hundred and Fifty Years of American Democracy.  What these two Authors add to the story of Trump's First Year of Trump Unleashed in his Second (Possibly Stolen) Term is the addition of Background Information which, in almost every case turns what we all knew even more disturbing than we thought it was in the first place.

Haberman and Swan are both truly professional Journalists and show it throughout the book.  Both are seasoned writers who seem to have some significant sources who are in extremely close contact with some of the important movers and shakers in the Trump Administration.  

Both of the Authors are presently employed as Journalists for the Prestigious and highly respected New York Times Newspaper and both have covered the White House beat for several years.  Each chapter of the book adds background to the Trump White House Story and most chapters give background information on many of the backroom deals and many individuals who advise Trump and carry out his often questionable orders including, among others Stephen Miller and Stephen Cheung.

Haberman and Swan Write each chapter and section of the book with surprising clarity in their description of incidents and individuals involved in White House matters.

As Haberman and Swan describe much of what has gone on in the Second Trump Administration it appears as though  in many matters regarding the Trump Administration Nobody seems to know what they are doing because Trump  changes his mind  constantly regarding what he wants done.  This tendency has embarrassed Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance often.

One of the more interesting stories regarding Rubio and Vance in the book occurred at a Dinner Party Trump gave for Fox News And Wall Street Journal Executive, Rupert Murdoch.  While everyone was at the dinner table Trump asked Murdoch who he preferred to see run for President in 2028, Rubio or Vance. Murdoch tried to be noncommital but did say that he thought that Marco was "Brilliant".

Haberman and Swan seemed to have the backstories for Ice and Iran nailed down pretty well in the book.

All in all "Regime Change" is a rather horrifying and unsettling look at life in the United States during the Second Coming of Donald Trump.

Although the entire book is a terrifying look into the inner workings of the Trump White House it appears to me as though the most terrifying part of the text is the Epilogue which describes Haberman and Swan's efforts to get an interview with Donald Trump, which at first he refused to give them.

When Trump did finally agree to meet with the Authors of "Regime Change" he spent much of the time comparing his power to some of the most vicious and violent leaders that ever lived including Alexander The Great, The Caesars, William the Conqueror, Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun and Napoleon, as well as Putin, Xi and Kim Jong Un.  Trump pointed out to the Authors that he saw himself  as much more powerful than any of these leaders as he led the United States.  

As Haberman and Swan ended their interview Trump went off on Maggie Haberman telling her that "I know that your book will be critical, but remember this: People are tired of your bullshit. Always criticizing."

It was a chilling end to the interview but to her credit and to the credit of Jonathan Swan These two outstanding Journalists have continued to write stories critical of the man who sees himself as the most powerful Leader who ever lived.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher      

                                                                                                                                           

Musikfest Is Over For 2026 - Long Live Musikfest

 

My Dear America:

There Is nothing in the world as thrilling to a musician as looking out from a  Musikfest Stage into a sea of faces enjoying the weather and also enjoying the music being performed on that Musikfest stage.  It has been a long while now since I have had that feeling but I confess that every year at Musikfest time I miss that musical thrill that came with every Good Performance in those long ago days when I was lucky enough to play at Musikfest with my Musical Buddies in "The Earth Riders" or with "The Lehigh Valley Folk Music Society."   

I realize that very few people outside of Pennsylvania and New Jersey might have ever heard of Musikfest or have been to Musikfest but regardless this 43 Year old, 16 Stage, 11 Day FREE MUSIC FESTIVAL continues to break attendance records every year that it is presented and the weather cooperates.

This Past Year, 2026 was a banner year for Musikfest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  The music was overall pretty awesome and the weather was pretty awesome too.  As hard as it is to believe almost all of the concerts are free.  There is one stage, The Wind Creek Stage which features pretty well known acts and charges for them.  This year many of those well known acts like TI and da baby were not well known to me.  I had heard of John Mullaney, however.  He was the first Well Known Comic that I recall playing Musikfest.  There were some free stages this year, however, featuring mainly locally known comics.

Music presented at Musikfest includes all kinds of music.  The Festplatz Stage has always featured some polka music (Not my cup of tea) but these days it features other types of music as well. Rock - Folk Rock - Blues - Jazz - Bands that performed Tributes to Coldplay, Dave Matthews Band and The Grateful Dead were also featured this year.

In addition to the thrill of playing at Musikfest with my bands back in the day I have had some wonderful experiences and memories not only this year but in many past years as well.  This year I made it to Musikfest a couple of times.  On the first Friday of Musikfest when it was hellishly hot I sought refuge from the heat in the Artsquest Building at the Frank Banko Ale House, which is a Movie Theater with Comfortable Seats and Air Conditioning.  During Musikfest  this theater changed its name to the Lutron Jazz Cabaret and featured an Excellent Jazz Band called "Doctor, Doctor". One Doctor played great Jazz Guitar and the other Doctor looked outstanding as she sang mainly Jazz Standards. Other talented members of the band were a trumpet player, A bass player and a Percussionist.  They were terrific and so was the air conditioning.

I had such a good time at the Jazz Cabaret that I decided last Tuesday to go to see a Fleetwood Mac Tribute Band, called "Yesterdays Gone" on the north Side of Bethlehem at the Zinzenplatz Staqe.  Unfortunately for me I was cheap enough to decide not to pay the 10 dollars to ride the bus from the South Side of Bethlehem to the North Side of the City where the concert was .  I forgot, for the moment, that I am 83 Years old and I recalled the good old days when it was no big deal for me to walk across the bridge over the Lehigh River To get to the North Side Musikfest Stages.  When I was Halfway across the Bridge I realized that I had made a big mistake and after briefly watching what I could see and hear of the band I figured I had better head back across the bridge again.  I made it back to my car without being hospitalized but just barely.  God, how I missed that Air Conditioned Jazz Cabaret.

After my disastrous experience on Tuesday night I decided to watch the rest of Musikfest on TV at my home on the Service Electric  Cable Network that was broadcasting 3 different Musifest channels during Musikfest.  Although it wasn't quite as exciting as actually being at Musikfest, It was air conditioned and I was able to see and hear the festivities fine on my TV Set.

I had a lot of great Family Times at Musikfest in the past.  I missed that this year.  But as I look back through my memories of Musikfest I am impressed by the fact that in this strange and desperate time we are living through when it is difficult and sometimes nearly impossible to get through the day without a feeling of dread about what is happening in our country and in the world there are still some wonderful things happening.  One of those wonderful things is Musikfest.

Musikfest has been providing this incredible Free Music Festival for over Forty Years and it has always been incredible.  It is extremely well organized and seems to have a dedicated group of Volunteers who return to serve their neighbors at Musikfest year after year. This year I heard of a  couple who formerly lived in Bethlehem but moved to Florida.  This couple volunteered at Musikfest when they lived locally and still return from Florida every year to volunteer at Musikfest.

Although I have seen countless really great Performances at Musikfest There are a few that really stand out in my memory. Crosby, Stills and Nash cost money but they were worth every penny.

Believe it or not The Everly Brothers played at Musikfest for Free in the early days of Musikfest and although they had a little difficulty hitting the high notes on some songs They were Historic.

Speaking of Historic I will never forget walking around Musikfest one year back in the Eighties and hearing this group rocking out sounding like they invented Rock and Roll.  When the band took a break I began  to talk to the guys in the band and found out that the band was called "The Sun Rhythym Section" and was made up of only musicians who had played on Sun Recording Sessions with the likes of Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis.  They had, in fact, invented Rockabilly Music.

The truth is that I know that there are already too many people who attend Musikfest and I am not anxious to see a lot more people showing up in Bethlehem at Musikfest time.  But I also feel as though Musikfest is such a special gift to those of us who live in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania that it is only right to share this Magical Musical Experience with our Brothers and Sisters in America.

So if you missed Musikfest this year do yourself a favor and plan to be in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania next August to enjoy the incredibly American Experience of Musikfest.  I promise you that you won't regret it.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher  

     

The (Character) Assassination Of Dr. Anthony Fauci

My Dear America:

This past week Senator Rand Paul and his Band of Republican Bootlickers brought Dr. Anthony Fauci in for a Senate Republican Committee Ambush and Smackdown by some of the poorest excuses for Legislators that I have seen in some time..  Although Dr. Fauci appeared a bit haggard having endured Extensive and Continued Verbal Bashing by Dr. Rand Paul and other Republicans on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security And Governmental Affairs for a considerable period of time he was ready for the Republican Onslaught.  Thank God for the good sense of the members of the Biden Administration to Pardon Doctor Fauci prior to the beginning of the Trump Administration.

Certainly the main reason that Dr. Fauci was dragged before the Senate Committee that was chaired by Rand Paul was to have him testify so that the Republicans could use his testimony to trap him and somehow use his testimony against him.  Dr. Fauci was ready for the Republicans, however.  He first of all read a prepared statement which indicated that he knew full well what Rand Paul and his Republican Cronies were up to and following his prepared statement he answered every question he was asked by members of the Senate Committee by utilizing his Fifth Amendment Privilege.

Clearly back during the First Trump Administration when Covid spread like wildfire across America and the world and nobody was prepared for it, Donald Trump and many Republican Legislators were big fans of Dr. Fauci.  Dr. Fauci was the Expert who everybody in the Government and, indeed in the country was depending on and had been depending on for several Decades  Back then when nobody seemed to know what in the hell to do next about Covid. Dr. Fauci recommended Wearing masks, avoiding contacts with other Human Beings and when the vaccines were available Dr. Fauci recommended that everyone get them.  All of this advice certainly seemed to make sense at the time and still makes sense.

Now, however, it seems that because Dr. Fauci might have been mistaken about what nobody knew at the time regarding where Covid came from and maybe some other problem guesses that he made, Republicans seem to be trying to make Dr. Fauci the scapegoat for what might have gone wrong with regard to Covid during the First Trump Administration.

The truth is that we were all lucky as hell to have Dr. Fauci on the job when Covid hit. For decades when we have been affected by strange and terrible killer viruses we have always had Dr. Fauci to advise us and help us through the difficult times.  Whether it was Aids, Ebola or Covid Dr. Fauci was there to advise us and give us his best guesses regarding what to do with regard to dangerous Pandemics.

I am certainly glad that Dr. Fauci was on the job for as long as he was.  It seems as though Dr. Rand Paul has taken great  pleasure in releasing transcripts of Dr. Fauci's Private diaries in which Dr. Fauci seems to reveal that he certainly got a kick out of being recognized for being on the front lines of Covid and had reason to be proud of himself for helping the United States deal with that awful Pandemic.  I have seen nothing, however, in Dr. Fauci's diary entries that shows that he is deserving of the threats and abuse he got in his Republican Beatdown this past week in the Senate.

Although most Republican Committee  Members seemed to be anxious to get into the abusive Republican Fauci Smackdown Session the people I saw who were the worst offenders were Senators Bernie (has nothing to say about his Daughter's abusive Congressman Husband) Merino, Josh (January Sixth Running Man) Hawley and  Joni Ernst.  These people were disgusting in their horrible treatment of the man who deserves nothing but positive credit and accolades for helping to get us through the worst pandemic of my lifetime.

I have certainly seen some incredible abuses of power in my time but I can't recall anything rising to the level of the nearly criminal behavior that this horrible spectacle showed to a man who has deserved nothing but respect but got none of it from the Republicans on this disgusting Runaway Committee.  

Although this hearing was on C Span and was probably not watched by many people I can only imagine the reaction of young people who might be considering becoming Physicians themselves watching this Republican Horror Show and thinking to themselves I would never want to endure something like what they are doing to Doctor Fauci.  And who could blame them.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher