Category Archives: Resistance

The World We Knew Is Gone

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Yesterday, an installer came to replace a malfunctioning remote for our gas fireplace. He’s been here three times before, so I’ve come to appreciate his skill and personality. He’s self-employed and both professional and personable. We don’t chat much, but we’ve had pleasant exchanges. When he finished up for what I hope is the final time, I bravely asked him if he was “political.” He said he wasn’t actively political, but “had his beliefs.”

I took that to mean that he pays some attention to what going on in the world without it dominating his life. So, what did he think of the new administration, was he supportive? His thoughts: it will be disruptive, but the disruptions are for the best. Tariffs will work out for the best. We will end up in a better place. The government is bloated; we need to take care of our own people before sending money overseas.

I don’t have strong opinions about bloat and inefficiency in the government. Yes, there’s likely some amount of bloat, but I don’t expect government to be as efficient as a business. A business can decide not to serve some people when it is too expensive to do so. Think rural broadband, for example, Without subsidies of some sort, no cable company is going to extend their services to scattered homes on remote pieces of land. That’s a money losing proposition. But rural broadband has become as essential as rural electricity, so what are we to do? Government subsidies of one sort or another. Is that bloat? Hmm.

But what about “taking care of our own people before helping people abroad?” My installer suggested helping homeless people first. OK, but I’ve never heard a word of support for homeless people coming from this administration. Will our leaner, meaner government fund more housing programs for low income people? More services for people addicted to drugs or alcohol, more services for people with serious mental illnesses? I’m not seeing plans to shift money from other programs to these services.

I asked about Ukraine. For sure my thoughtful, gentle installer would not spend a dime on Ukraine. He sounded much like JD Vance at his worst, but in a gentle voice. “We don’t owe the Ukrainians anything.” On this point, I think he’s just uninformed. Yes, I think we do owe Ukrainians a lot. Putin is a thug. The US, for all its faults, has the ability to keep thugs like Putin in check. We have a horrid track record with thugs, but this is one we could contain if we choose to do so. Biden constrained Ukraine so much that Trump now says Ukraine cannot win this war and must be “brought to heel.”

I will trust you, dear readers, to know that Trump envies Putin and despises Zelensky. Without rehashing that history, let’s just say that I support Zelensky and despise Putin. To see us abruptly end weapons support to Ukraine is gut wrenching. To see us terminate information sharing? This is where the world I’ve known comes to an end. Putin immediately sent rockets to slaughter civilians. Their blood is on our hands. I am ill thinking of it. I am not in position to attend protests as I once did. (Are there any?) But I write blog posts and support candidates who support Ukraine.

My view is that the chaos being wrought by Elon Musk will only bring the inability of government agencies to perform their various duties. I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Saddest of all, is that I blame Democrats for going off the rails on culture war issues to the point that many people I know online could not support them last fall. Nothing is as it should be. The world is upside down, inside out, no rainbows in sight. I’m glad I’m 80 and not 40.

Chaos Reigns. Are You Game?

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Here at home, we are in the midst of a wind storm with gusts up to 50+ mph, but this is nothing compared to the winds that are blowing through Washington DC!

Question: Is chaos truly the best way to improve the federal government?

Answer: I doubt it, but when Congress insists on being dysfunctional, maybe.

Opinion: We are where we are because we have elected and re-elected people to the Senate and House Of Representatives who, for the past two decades have refused to govern. Period. Continuing resolutions avoid the pain of making budget compromises. Executive Orders proliferate in the absence of laws that address issues people care about. So, don’t complain. Blame the Democrats? Sure. Blame the Republicans, Sure. Personally, I put more blame on the Republicans as far as mucking up Congress, but I put equal blame on Democrats for sticking their fingers in their ears on any and all woke policies.

Going forward: Can we? That’s a really important question because our President and his cronies will do as much as they can get away with to advance their agenda in the absence of any pushback. They will likely defy any lower court decisions that don’t go their way. Will the Supreme Court object to anything Trump does? If so, what will Trump do? The actual constitutional crisis happens when Trump defies the Supreme Court or when that court decides not to interfere with the brash actions coming from the White House. 

Is your Go Bag ready? 

How Do We Train and Hire Air Traffic Controllers?

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Raise your hand if you know what TL;DR stands for. I know because I’ve filed many worthwhile articles under this heading: Too Long; Didn’t Read.

Please don’t file this article in your stash of TL;DR. Today, I’m offering you information about the Air Traffic Control hiring scandal that provides background on changes that began in 2013. Yes, under Barack Obama. Essentially, this is a story of good intentions paving the road to Hell. 

The author, Tracing Woodgrains, is familiar to you if you are a fan of the Blocked and Reported podcast. I’ve forgotten his real name, but he did a lot of background research for Jesse and Katie before heading off on his own. He has written about this issue before, but reposted and added to his earlier work in light of the recent crash over the Potomac and Trump’s remarks blaming DEI for the crash.

The Full Story of the FAAs Hiring Scandal

Remember Martin Luther King, Jr.?

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Once upon a time, America had a leader with an inclusive vision for our future. He was not a President. Rather, as a simple citizen, Martin Luther King, Jr. campaigned for bringing black people into our society on an equal footing with the descendants of our founding fathers and the millions of people who immigrated here from Europe.

Despite the protections of our Constitution, the United States had found ways to keep black people down, de jure segregation primarily in the south, and de facto segregation everywhere else. When Jim Crow laws were exposed via videos of sit-ins, voter registration drives, and strategies such as the Memphis bus boycott, we could no longer deny the reality that we were not a nation with equal protection of our laws and equal opportunity for all. We were shamed into taking action to remedy the obvious injustices we saw on TV screens in living rooms across the country.

Slowly, we in the north accepted that policies such as red-lining accomplished the same work in the northern cities that Jim Crow laws did in the south. They kept black people out of our line of sight, “in their place,” so to speak. Yes, they could sit anywhere on our buses – as long as they agreed to exit into segregated neighborhoods, stay out of our unions, and not ask for things that would expose our complicity in their lower status. Slowly, very slowly, these policies began to change also as activists shifted from their work in the south and broadened their work to address issues nationwide.

It’s important to remember that King did not act alone. Rosa Parks did not spontaneously decide to remain in her seat. Black people had been meeting and talking and planning for many years to develop strategies to bring about change. King was an amazing leader, the key word being leader. His ability to articulate a positive future enabled white people to listen and work with him. But there were many other local leaders involved in planning the non-violent actions that elicited the brutal reactions that were impossible to ignore. By anticipating the reactions that exposed the true status of black Americans, these local leaders could plan legal strategies and support for those who were jailed and/or attacked for their actions.

Rosa Parks was a hero of mine for many years before I learned about all the planning that preceded her refusal to move to the back of the bus. I learned that another woman with a more checkered history was not supported by those planning Park’s moment of fame. The civil rights leaders decided they needed a woman who could not be criticized for any reason other than her decision to keep her seat in the front of the bus. You can agree or disagree with that position, but we often face the same consideration today as we continue the work for equal opportunity for all.

So much has been said in recent years about the unfinished work for equality. Are all disparities the result of racism? Some insist they are; others argue that equal outcomes cannot be achieved, that many factors contribute to disparities. Would MLK have favored equality of outcomes? I doubt it, and his name is not often used in current campaigns that seek to erase disparities. Still, I doubt that he would be silent if he were alive today. There is always work to be done. Biases are likely with us forever. We honor King on his birthday to remind us that we always need to be vigilant in order to keep our biases in check.

So: Happy Birthday, Dr. King, and thank you, thank you, thank you for your vision, your powerful words, and your work to bring that vision to reality.

Stress Testing Our Democracy

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With the election of Donald Trump once again in 2024, we have opted to run a stress test on American democracy. Some thought we did this in 2020 with Trump’s first election. But guardrails in human form prevented Trump from doing all of what he wanted to do. Some think that the success of those guardrails are what brought us to Trump 2.0. His supporters were able to claim that his bark is bigger than his bite, so not to worry.

Human guardrails will be largely absent from his cabinet and other positions in the executive branch this time around. Now it will be up to people in Congress to protect us from the impulsive Trump who doesn’t listen to his Presidential Daily Briefings or bother to learn about the complexities of various issues. The first opportunity for the Senate to act will be regarding Trump’s cabinet nominees. Will Senators roll over and approve people who are unfit for their positions? Or will they hold hearings, require background checks, and actually reject some who might pose a danger to the country?

Biden has faded from public view, and Trump seems to be our acting President – or acting co-President along with Elon Musk. Score one for Elon this week as Trump has come out in favor of the H1B visa program that enables tech companies to import clever people from abroad to power their various creative endeavors. The question today is what will the MAGA wing do now? Will those who are opposed to almost all immigration, most especially of brown people, begin to lose their faith in Trump? Will anything at all cause them to rethink their support?

Some people fear, while others cheer, the notion of Trump as a wrecking ball. I’ve heard the call for more efficiency on the part of federal agencies for as long as I’ve been a voter. No one really delivers. Do we need a DOGE initiative to simply eliminate a variety of agencies, perhaps whole cabinet departments such as the Department of Education? That’s not my inclination. Long ago, I decided that government agencies are not going to be efficient, but that their functions are needed, and I would just tolerate inefficiency. 

After coming to that conclusion, I was pleased when some state and county agencies seemed to do some housekeeping. For sure, employees got some sort of customer service training. Also, some employees gained the ability to help with two things at one visit! E.g., “Would you like to change your voter registration information along with the address on your driver’s license? We can do both!” Well, yes I would, and thank you very much! Are similar improvements possible on the federal level?

Perhaps. Ten years ago, when we wanted to remove a culvert on a small stream on our property, several agencies at different levels of government needed to approve this project even though removing culverts is generally a good thing. But, the various agencies had at least cooperated by creating just one set of forms that could be submitted to all, plus they had designated one person to make the final approval! Still tedious, but much less tedious than in prior years. 

I favor incrementalist approaches to change, at least as it relates to governments. Revolutions just don’t always turn out well. Consider Russia. Or Iran. Or Cuba. Sure, get rid of Assad in Syria. But if the violence of a revolution can be avoided, I think that would be a good thing. Those who support Trump acting as a wrecking ball might have fantasies of a peaceful transition to a much smaller government. My vision is one of chaos with the loss of environmental protections and the minimal safety net that exists today. 

Will the Senate and the House of Representatives develop a spine and reclaim their authority to hold hearings on Cabinet nominees. Will they actually perform any oversight of any agencies? Will courts become too political or will they mind the Constitution?

For now, I remain curious – and anxious. We shall see.

P.S.: The news of Jimmy Carter’s death has just come out as I’m finishing this piece. I’m confident that if Kamala Harris had won the election, he would have lived long enough to see her inauguration.