Government Shutdown: Pushing Back On The Republican Narrative

On the first day of the government shutdown, I received an email from Alabama Senator Katie Britt. The subject line read, “SHUTDOWN DAY 1: Democrats Hold Nation Hostage for Transgender Surgeries & Illegal Aliens.” The email blames Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats for shutting down the government. At the end, the email asks for feedback, offering a three-choice survey. The last option: “Democrats are justified in shutting down the government until Republicans agree to fund their leftwing priorities regardless of the cost to taxpayers.” The italics are mine.

Seven days in, still rankled by the email, I started typing and sent the following reply to her office.

Senator Britt,

I am responding to your recent email about the government shutdown. While I do not support the adverse financial impact on government employees, I feel equally that the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are not negotiating with Democrats in good faith. Not passing the Continuing Resolution enables the Democrats to alert Americans to the Republican no-negotiation governing strategy.

President Trump's inflammatory rhetoric about Democrats — a recent Truth Social post calling Democrats “the party of hate, evil, and Satan” — his cuts targeting programs that disproportionately affect Democrat constituencies, and plans to lay off rather than furlough Federal workers scream that Republican claims of respectful negotiation are false.

Also, I find the subject line of your email, “Democrats Hold Nation Hostage for Transgender Surgeries & Illegal Aliens,” deeply offensive because it is both false and inflammatory.

I wonder if you know anyone who is transgender and whether you have heard their life experience and the challenges of gender dysphoria. If not, I suggest you have some heartfelt and open-minded conversations. Transgender folks are equally part of the creation of God and, as such, worthy of dignity and respect — not the hateful rhetoric and punitive actions employed by the Trump administration.

Whether transgender athletes should compete on school teams and what rights parents have to determine the medical care for their children are topics for thoughtful policy discussions. Any policies must begin with acceptance of the humanity of transgender people, who are endowed by their Creator with the same rights outlined in the Declaration of Independence, including the right to self-identify.

The second topic in the subject line of your email, “illegal aliens,” is equally inflammatory. During the presidential campaign, Trump claimed his administration would focus on “murderers, killers, gang members, and rapists” in the country illegally. In practice, masked ICE agents have targeted anyone appearing Hispanic, often brutally capturing and detaining American citizens. The recent raid of a Chicago apartment building in the middle of the night, terrorizing the inhabitants and ransacking apartments, is one of the daily examples of a terror campaign that is writing another dark chapter of the American story.

In a recent ruling addressing ICE overreach, U.S. District Judge William Young, who was appointed by Ronald Reagan, wrote, “To us, masks are associated with cowardly desperados and the despised Ku Klux Klan. In all our history, we have never tolerated an armed masked secret police.”

Despite all these attacks on American democracy, you and your Republican colleagues in Congress remain silent. Something needs to break the Republican fever dream of an all-powerful unitary executive — dare I say king — with a subservient single-party legislature. Perhaps this government shutdown will force you and your colleagues to consider country before party.

Respectfully, (always respectful)

One-Way Free Speech

I'm confused. Conservatives have railed about the “cancel culture” imposed by progressives and perceived infringements on free speech. Yet it's appropriate to fire someone for remarks about Charlie Kirk's assassination? Is that not free speech?

The people who have lost their jobs for posts about Charlie Kirk | Axios

Hagiography

Hagiography. A new word in my lexicon.

I’ve heard it from several pundits who are responding to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. None is applauding or justifying the killing. Quite the opposite, they are decrying the use of violence as a means of disagreement. Invoking hagiography, they are noting that many of the responses to his martyrdom are diminishing the divisive and hateful messages he promoted.

A good example from Jamelle Boule worth reading:
Charlie Kirk Didn’t Shy Away From Who He Was. We Shouldn’t Either.

Violence Won’t Erase Ideas

If assassination is the only way to win the argument, your argument isn’t very persuasive.

While I recoil at the philosophy espoused by Charlie Kirk, he had every right to safely express his ideas, especially in a forum inviting debate (albeit more theater than a thoughtful exchange of ideas).

Spencer Cox, the governor of Utah, asks whether this could be a turning point in American culture. At a news conference yesterday, announcing the arrest of the self-confessed killer, he said

“Social media is a cancer on our society right now, and I would encourage people to log off, turn off, touch grass, hug a family member, go out and do good in your community.”

Secretary Kennedy Won't Make America Healthy Again

Robert Kennedy’s strategy to Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) is to destroy America’s public health institutions, which he justifies as necessary to restore the country’s confidence in them. His actions and the resulting confusion confirm my belief that he lacks the knowledge and leadership to actually improve the country’s health.

Rather than ruminate alone, I shared my disdain with Alabama’s Senators, who voted to confirm Kennedy as HHS secretary.

Robert Kennedy barely received Senate confirmation to become Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. You voted to confirm him.

Among his many commitments to gain Republican support, he assured the Senate he would make no change to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). He promised not to make it more difficult to access vaccines.

Violating both promises, he dismissed all 17 members of the ACIP and appointed several new members who share his skepticism of vaccines. He changed the CDC’s recommendations for COVID boosters, which will make it difficult, if not impossible, for some people to receive the vaccine. His disingenuous claim that boosters will be available for anyone who wants them doesn’t acknowledge that not all pharmacies will offer the vaccine, and the cost may be unaffordable for many.

Secretary Kennedy fired Dr. Susan Monarez, the Director of the CDC, less than a month after she was confirmed by the Senate. His rationale was absurd and unbelievable.

Kennedy has severely cut research, and his budget proposal for FY2026 is 40 percent below previous years’ budgets. Research cuts include $500 million for projects to apply mRNA technology to other vaccines. mRNA vaccines were arguably the finest accomplishment of the first Trump administration, given their efficacy and the “warp speed” to develop. Yet the secretary claims they provide insufficient protection.

Secretary Kennedy promised to restore America’s trust in the CDC and our other health institutions.

Writing as one American, I now have no trust in the actions and staffing appointments made by Secretary Kennedy, which he cloaks in fake science.

I urge you to help restore the CDC, NIH, and other health institutions. It’s not too late to redeem your tragic vote to confirm Secretary Kennedy by calling for his resignation or firing.

Overwhelmed Yet Taking Notes

Nearing seven months of the second Trump presidency, I’m overwhelmed with the steps this administration has already taken to pervert and dismember our democracy. Their strategy of flooding the zone is working. Every day, something egregious, at least one if not multiple actions.

Commenting on Robert Hubble’s Substack post today, a reader copied a list of Trump’s authoritarian actions published by the Caledonian-Record, a conservative newspaper in St. Johnsbury, Vermont (in the northeast corner of Vermont, not far from New Hampshire). This is the publisher’s list:

For the record, our concern about Donald Trump’s leadership is not about party loyalty; it’s about democratic norms. His record includes:

Capturing the justice system through politicized prosecutions and intimidation of judges and lawyers;

Purging and politicizing the civil service via loyalty tests, watchlists, and removals;

Overusing emergency powers to bypass Congress on trade, immigration, and security;

Manipulating elections through extreme gerrymandering, weakening voting-rights enforcement, and politicizing election machinery;

Using domestic militarization for routine policing and threatening cross-border military actions;

Pressuring universities and civil society through funding freezes, punitive settlements, and licensing leverage;

Politicizing science by deleting datasets, blocking research, and controlling grant decisions;

Undermining independent media through defunding, blacklists, and legal harassment;

Profiting from public office through conflicts of interest, foreign gifts, and opaque schemes;

Weaponizing tariffs against allies;

Undermining immigration rights, including birthright citizenship;

Attacking diversity, equity, inclusion, and civil rights infrastructure;

Rolling back equal-protection enforcement;

Weakening social programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and student debt relief.

We believe these are not conservative values — they are authoritarian ones. Between the loss of local journalism and the normalization of such tactics, all Americans, regardless of politics, stand to lose.

Now, if I’m asked why I don’t support the president, rather than staring like a deer in the headlights at the incredulity of the question, I can simply show this list and say, “Pick one.”

I and Thou: Bridging the Divide

I led the service at the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (AUUF) on July 20, asking whether constructive conversations can help bridge the political polarization in this country.

Help is an important qualifier: I believe constructive conversations can help if we approach them with an open heart. In the words of Ghandi,

"If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him... We need not wait to see what others do".

Listen to the podcast version of my homily.

The Depravity Just Keeps Piling On

Like my mother's old pressure cooker, when the pressure builds to a certain level, the valve must release it. In this case, it was this news about the SecDef that triggered an email to Senator Britt.

Pete Hegseth’s recent post on X, sharing the CNN documentary with Pastor Doug Wilson of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches and adding “All of Christ for All of Life,” is troubling:

How does the SecDef have time to post on X, given his vast responsibilities to preserve national security? Hegseth should be focused on ensuring that the U.S. defense capability will counter the threat from China. Instead, he seems focused on culture war issues like cruelly discharging trans people from the service. China’s president Xi Jinping and Russia’s president Vladimir Putin must relish every moment U.S. officials are distracted from their core responsibilities.

Also troubling is the inferred endorsement of a theology that repeals a woman’s right to vote and returns women to the household to submit to their husbands. Senator, if you can’t vote, you certainly can’t serve in the U.S. Senate. I hope you regret your vote to confirm Hegseth as SecDef.

Prices are rising. Legal immigrants and U.S. citizens are being kidnapped by masked ICE goons, detained and deported without due process. Off-and-on tariffs are stalling business investment. After being interviewed by the Deputy Attorney General, Ghislaine Maxwell was moved to a minimum security prison, suggesting a quid pro quo to preserve the president’s “innocence.” The president’s new golf resort in Scotland adds to a growing list of corrupt actions, from the meme coin to accepting a 747 from Qatar that will require close to $1 billion to serve as Air Force One. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is ongoing, while innocent Palestinians are dying in Gaza with no clear path to freeing the remaining Israeli hostages.

The Republican Congress is enabling this authoritarian regime. You’ve lost all moral standing and will be judged harshly by history. Is this the legacy you want to leave for your children?

One Big Beautiful Bill Passes

Vice President J.D. Vance cast the tie-breaking vote to approve the BBB in the Senate; today, the House passed the bill — despite the substantial changes in the Senate — by 218 to 214. The president will sign it tomorrow, July 4, the deadline he imposed.

Perhaps this will give the Democrats a needed boost. We'll have to await the 2026 midterm election to see whose narrative prevails: the Republican's extending the tax cuts and securing the border or the Democrat's taking from the poor (cutting Medicaid and SNAP) to give tax breaks to the rich.

Not content to wait for the midterms, I shared my views with Senator Britt and Representative Rogers:

The passage of the misnamed One Big Beautiful Bill Act is the low point of my 72 years as an American. A corrupt president and a sycophant, Republican-led Congress have enacted legislation that robs services from the poor and infirm to reward the richest Americans, who do not need financial support yet provide the money to line Congressional pockets.

With the passage of this legislation, your own Congressional Budget Office estimates at least 11 million will lose health insurance due to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act cuts. More than 3 million will lose SNAP benefits. These numbers belie the absurd Republican claim that the bill will only reduce waste and fraud.

Beyond Congress ignoring the adverse impact on so many Americans, the CBO estimates the bill will raise the federal debt by some $3.4 trillion to 124 percent of GDP. Increasing the debt used to be the third rail for Republicans — at least when a Democrat was president.

I cannot fathom your “proud” vote to support this legislation and your fealty to a corrupt, authoritarian administration that is desecrating the founding principles and Constitution.

Given your disregard for the values that have been the bedrock of my life as an American. I will do all I can to elect non-MAGA representatives to the Senate and House who will faithfully serve in a government of the people, by the people, for the people.

King Trump and the Republican Congress. Image generated by ChatGPT.

Kill The One Big Beautiful Bill

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act — yes, that's the actual name — is moving through Congress, approved by the House and now being considered by the Senate.

With so many provisions in the legislation, passing it in the House was a near miracle, aided by urging with threats from President Trump. The Senate has started changing the bill while being pushed to pass their version and send it back to the House for approval in time for the president to sign it by July 4.

With significant policy divisions among Republicans in the Senate and between the Senate and the House, passage is uncertain. Yet the president's coaxing and threats that moved it through the House have given it momentum. More coaxing and threats aimed at hesitant Republican Senators may well get the bill through the Senate, with the same strategy used to gain House approval of the Senate's bill.

Despite the odds of betting against the fealty of Congress, I've urged my Senators to vote "no."

Please vote against President Trump’s “big beautiful bill.” Big, yes. Beautiful, no.

The CBO estimates the version approved by the House will increase the debt by $2.8 trillion. Increasing the nation’s debt is supposedly antithetical to Republican orthodoxy, justifying a vote against the bill.

Attempting to minimize this increase, 8–11 million people will lose Medicaid benefits, millions more who receive SNAP assistance. This is hardly just waste, fraud, and abuse. The cuts will hurt the lowest-income Americans to benefit those with the highest incomes. Another reason to vote against the bill.

The provision to shield AI companies from state and local laws for 10 years will simply enable AI companies to exploit the public and the economy without accountability for the adverse effects, which will likely be irreversible. Historically, technology companies have not addressed the negative impact on society until forced by regulation, often too late. Consider the impact social media has on our children. Congress lacks the intelligence and the will to effectively manage AI. Our only hope lies with the states. Yet another reason to vote “no.”

There are numerous other adverse effects hidden within this bill that will take years to discover and will be difficult to undo.

I urge you to vote “no” and demonstrate that Congress is an equal branch of government, not simply a rubber stamp for the president.

Trump’s Tariff Strategy Seeking a Safe Harbor

Long a proponent of the benefits of tariffs, Donald Trump claims they will fund his proposed tax cuts and revive American manufacturing.

There is near-unanimous consensus among economists that tariffs are self-defeating and have a negative effect on economic growth and economic welfare, while free trade and the reduction of trade barriers has a positive effect on economic growth. Source: Wikipedia.

Despite the consensus among economists that tariffs are a hidden tax on American consumers, if Donald Trump believes something, it must be so. Well, it can be deemed so if you’re the most powerful person on the globe.

Yet the implementation of his tariff strategy has been highly erratic — on and off, stair-stepping up and down, country to country, product to product. Heather Cox Richardson, in her Letters from an American, reports, “Trump has changed tariff policies at least 50 times” through May 30.

The voyage of the HMS Trump Tariffs, created by ChatGPT.

Trump’s consistently inconsistent behavior has birthed an investment strategy based on TACO, for “Trump always chickens out.” Buy an investment when the price falls after a tariff announcement, then sell at a profit when Trump backs down and the price recovers.

I’m hoping this arm of Trump’s octopus will be cut off after a ruling from the U.S. Court of International Trade earlier this week said a president does not have “unbounded authority” to impose such global tariffs. The U.S. Court of Appeals has granted a temporary stay to allow the judges time to review the ruling and the administration’s arguments in favor of broad, unilateral tariff policiies. May it only be temporary.

Meanwhile, the trade winds keep blowing.

The Big Beautiful Bill

President Trump's so-called big beautiful bill to extend the tax cuts from his first administration and pay for them through cuts to federal spending — programs like Medicaid and SNAP — is struggling to be birthed by the House. Not hopeful that it will die in the House, I felt obligated to express my opposition to my Congressional representative:

Representative Rogers,

While House Republicans were holding middle-of-the-night hearings on the president’s so-called “big beautiful bill,” the CBO was analyzing the impact of the legislation, if passed:

The CBO estimates the tax provisions in the proposed bill will add some $3.8 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.

After decades of Republican arguments during Democratic administrations that the federal debt must be reduced, the Republican hypocrisy is unfortunate, although not surprising. The tax cuts of the Bush and first Trump administrations fueled the debt. Why should we expect the second Trump administration to change behavior?

It’s not what you say, but rather what you do.

The CBO analysis also projects that the top 10% of earners will receive about 65% of the tax cut benefits. The cuts to social programs like Medicaid and SNAP will cause households in the lowest quintile to lose about $1,035 in income next year. That’s substantial for low-income Alabamians, who are living on the margins.

Not surprisingly, the CBO analysis contradicts Republican claims that the bill will not cut benefits, that it will only eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.

As expected, you’re taking from the poor to further enrich the rich. We see no consideration of increasing the tax rate on the wealthiest Americans, who can afford to support the country that has enabled their success.

I urge you to have the courage to oppose this legislation. You were elected by the people of your district, not by President Trump.

---

Addensum: The House narrowly passed the bill on Thursday, May 22, by a vote of 215-214. All 212 Democrats present voted against the bill, joined by two Republicans. One Republican representative voted "present," and two did not vote. Mike Rogers supported the bill.

The bill moves on to the Senate.

The People’s Town Hall for Mike Rogers

Indivisible Auburn-Opelika held a town hall meeting for Representative Mike Rogers last night. Well over 100 of us showed up to listen to speakers and express our concerns and questions to the absent Congressman, represented by a cardboard figure.

The invited speakers described the impact of the Trump administration’s funding cuts locally, which have degraded university research, health policy, USAID program support in the U.S., disaster relief, and military preparedness.

I learned many specifics about how the administration’s actions are harming the state and local region and felt the satisfaction of showing up and being seen. “A people united cannot be defeated.”

After the event, I sent the following to Mike Rogers:

I was disappointed that you did not attend tonight’s town hall meeting in Opelika to hear and respond to your constituents’ concerns and questions. Since you weren’t there, I will relay my thoughts via this email.

I have a long, long list of concerns about President Trump’s administration and Republicans in Congress enabling his malfeasance. However, I’ll shorten my list to the following:

Despite the Republican talking points, the proposed budget that the House is developing will slash safety net programs like Medicaid. The cuts will hurt many Alabamians, pushing them even deeper into financial despair.

To propose such cuts to extend Donald Trump’s tax cuts without any tax increase on the richest Americans is unconscionable. Any member of Congress who votes for this draconian legislation seems either tone deaf or uncaring, arguably subservient to the oligarchs.

I ask you to vote against these cuts and, if you’re serious about reducing the deficit, to support tax increases on the wealthiest Americans.

Second, President Trump has called for ending the CHIPS and Science Act, claiming his tariffs will restore America’s manufacturing base, including semiconductors.

I’ve spent my 45-year career in the semiconductor industry and have witnessed the loss of U.S. leadership in the latest process technologies and wafer fabs. The CHIPS Act is a successful public-private partnership to establish process technology and manufacturing within the U.S. One focus is developing high-performance and trusted manufacturing capabilities for defense systems.

A new wafer fabrication facility is a multi-billion-dollar investment with a decades-long life cycle. Halting the investments started under the CHIPS Act because of the president’s ignorant, ill-conceived, and mercurial tariffs will undermine the country’s ability to invest in our semiconductor future.

Please oppose any legislation or executive order to curtail or cancel the CHIPS Act.

Restricting the Freedom to Think

We used to cherish freedom in this country, considering it a foundation for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. No longer. Trump's America is looking more like Russia and China.

After decrying what they considered censorship of conservative ideas, conservatives are attempting to censor the ideas they find dissonant with their world views. They call these ideas divisive concepts, like racism and the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The library at the Naval Academy has now been purified.

Post by @garylerude@mindly.social

View on Mastodon

Trump's Vulnerability Flows Downhill

In a recent Substack post, Timothy Snyder identifies a core weakness of President Trump that weakens America: his belief that everyone is ripping him off, or trying to unless he gets them first. It’s a zero-sum game.

This fueled his apparently long-held belief that a trade deficit is bad and tariffs are the solution, which led him to launch a trade war with virtually every country on the globe. Only the rising interest rate on 10-year Treasury notes prompted him to pause before we saw economic Armegadden.

Snyder’s article inspired me to write my Congressional representatives in Washington. I don’t expect to change their opinions, but I felt better hitting “send.”

Historian Timothy Snyder points to President Trump’s core vulnerability: He always thinks everyone is trying to rip him off. This deep-seated irrationality focused on the balance of trade caused the maelstrom around tariffs. Only the rising rates on 10-year Treasury notes prompted the president to largely retreat — except for tariffs on China, which won’t kiss the president’s ring.

Other than keeping reporters and cable and podcast pundits busy, the outcome of this insanity will be higher prices for consumers.

In a recent Substack article, Snyder writes, “We have thousands of years of political theory and indeed great literature to instruct us on this point: too much power brings out the worst in people — especially among the worst of people. As the founders understood, the purpose of the rule of law, of checks and balances, of regular elections, is to prevent precisely such a situation. Allowing our republic to be compromised has many costs, for example to our rights, and to our dignity. But it also has costs in a very basic economic sense. When you elevate the mad king, you elevate the madness.”

Are you willing to enable four years of madness?

Hands Off! Our Democracy

A throng of people, most carrying homemade signs, gathered and chanted at the G.W. Andrews Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Opelika last Saturday morning (April 5), one of more than 1,000 Hands Off! demonstrations protesting the policies of the Trump administration.

Hands off! was the appropriate epithet for opposing funding cuts to federal programs and the wholesale firing of federal employees.

I was so pleased to see this turnout and read of other protests around the country — even internationally.

Our Democracy Burns While the Republican Congress Watches

Inflicted by the daily horrors of the Trump administration, I finally channeled my anguish into words and sent the following to my Congressional Representative and Alabama's Senators.

Campaigning for president, Donald Trump promised to reduce inflation and the prices Americans pay for food and gas. He promised to end the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on his first day in office and bring peace to the Middle East.

After being sworn in, however, Donald Trump rewound the clock to a pre-Copernican view that puts the U.S. at the center of the universe. Reflecting this philosophy, he has launched a delusional trade war that will increase prices and inflation and likely start a recession. We’ve already seen the market respond, with companies losing trillions in market value.

To help him dismember the federal government, the president appointed Elon Musk to lead DOGE. Musk — either a government employee or not, depending on who asks the question — was neither on the ballot nor approved by the Senate like the president’s cabinet and other key officials.

Musk’s strategy of moving fast and breaking things may have worked for Twitter, yet it is dangerous when applied to the complex federal government — like giving Musk a scalpel and inviting him to do brain surgery. The impact on many Americans will at least be disruptive, if not tragic. These are our fellow Americans who are being sacrificed to provide tax cuts for the wealthy.

Musk’s power to access federal computer systems and terminate personnel without due process is egregious, especially considering his decisions reflect tremendous conflicts of interest. SpaceX, Starlink, Tesla, X, cyber currency, and other Musk ventures benefit from this corruption. Add Musk flagrantly buying voters, if not votes, proves the Trump administration is converting America to a “democracy” of plutocrats.

The president has made corruption the coin of the realm, a quid-pro-quo currency of campaign contributions, meme coins, and intimidation in the form of executive orders, funding cuts, and social media threats.

Refusing to admit that Russia invaded Ukraine, as he refused to admit that he lost the 2020 election, the president showed his cards to Putin, displaying his longheld animosity for Volodymyr Zelenskyy and undermining the negotiating strength of the U.S.-European-Ukrainian alliance. Putin strung him along, ceding nothing. Only now does the president appear to be waking up, yet with a weak hand to play.

In the Middle East, the president’s peace plan is to evict more than a million Palestinians to who-knows-where, offering no compensation, so he can create a resort built atop the shallow graves of thousands of women and children.

Amidst all this chaos, the Republican-controlled Congress is content to let the administration neuter the legislative branch and convert America to an imperialist kingdom off to conquer Greenland, Panama, and Canada, while renaming landmarks to stroke the president’s ego.

The absurdity would be funny if not tragic.

Have you ever wondered what you would have done if you were in Congress when the Japanese were interned during World War II? You’re doing it now.

Starve the Poor to Feed the Wealthy

The New York Times headline reads

House Passes G.O.P. Budget Teeing Up Enormous Tax and Spending Cuts
The vote cleared the way to enact major elements of President Trump’s domestic agenda and escalated a bitter fight among Republicans over what federal programs to shrink to finance major tax cuts.

Before the vote, I sent the following email to my Congressional representative, Mike Rogers:

I am horrified by President Trump's agenda to dismember the federal government and Congress abdicating its role as co-equal to the executive branch.

To focus on a specific concern, the proposed cuts to Medicaid will impose unconscionable suffering on many Alabamian families — particularly children — while using those "found funds" to further enrich the wealthy. They need no financial assistance and should be paying far more in taxes to support the country that enabled them to become wealthy.

Please put your country above your fealty to the president.

Jeff Bezos Quick to Congratulate Trump

Jeff Bezos moved quickly to congratulate the former president, now elected to be the next president. In an unctuous post on Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter), Bezos fawned,

Big congratulations to our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory. No nation has bigger opportunities. Wishing @realDonaldTrump all success in leading and uniting the America we all love.

He’s hoping this will erase any doubt of his loyalty to the new administration. It’s a stronger signal than killing The Washington Posts’s endorsement of Kamela Harris, which he tried to justify as principled.

Perhaps a prudent business move, yet it reeks of unscrupulous opportunism.

Whither Goes America?

I moved my phone from the bedroom so I wouldn't be tempted to look at it during the night. Before going to bed, I checked a few races from our old state of New Hampshire.

At 5:25, my wife’s phone dinged, indicating a message from our daughter. I went back to sleep, not knowing whether she was relaying joy or horror.

Shortly after 7, I got up to see the outcome. My wife asked me to read the results to her. My daughter's text read, "Gutted this morning." My response: "Stunned. Deeply saddened. Fearful."

We walked downtown to pick up a coffee order at Mama Mochas and lamented the outcome with Papa Mocha.

I'm avoiding diving into the post mortem, instead cherrypicking the results from a few of the races. Shomari Figures won, a relief since he was behind when I went to bed. It seems many of the abortion referendums passed: Arizona, Missouri, Montana. That's some compensation for the losses in Florida and Nebraska.

Trying not to think much beyond today. Trying to contain my deep disappointment, keeping it from running into despair.

Yesterday, we volunteered with the NAACP, giving rides to the polls. This morning, I'm trying to recall the satisfaction of giving one person a voice, even if not sufficient to change the nation.

This morning, the NAACP chat group is processing the results. Someone shared this poem by Venice Williams, which reminds me of my privilege and the need to do more.

You are awakening to the
same country you fell asleep to.
The very same country.

Pull yourself together.

And,
when you see me,
do not ask me
"What do we do now?
How do we get through the next four years?"

Some of my Ancestors dealt with
at least 400 years of this
under worse conditions.

Continue to do the good work.
Continue to build bridges not walls.
Continue to lead with compassion.
Continue the demanding work
of liberation for all.
Continue to dismantle broken systems,
large and small.
Continue to set the best example
for the children.
Continue to be a vessel of nourishing joy.

Continue right where you are.
Right where you live into your days.

Do so in the name of
The Creator who expects
nothing less from each of us.

And if you are not "continuing"
ALL of the above,
in community, partnership, collaboration?
What is it you have been doing?
What is it you are waiting for?

Election Day — Finally

Last night, I posted the following to Mastodon:

The texts and emails keep coming, more urgently asking for contributions. I'm skeptical that dollars now will change the outcome — more likely contribute to the next race. The cards for 2024 are dealt. It's in the hands of the voters to play their tarot cards.

I've given money — more than I have ever contributed to political campaigns. I've written postcards and letters. Tomorrow, I'll help provide rides to the polls for those without transportation. Then, we await the future.

— Gary (@garylerude) 11/4/2024, 5:46:30 PM

This morning I voted around 9 — in and out in five minutes. The lady welcoming us at the door said the line was long during the first hour, and the turnout had been steady. Yet the organized process was efficiently keeping the line to just a few people deep.

Vote early and vote often.

I first heard that line associated with the corrupt Democratic machine in Chicago, when Richard Daley was mayor. According to Perplexity AI, it was actually used first in the 1850s by pro-slavery voters in Kansas. (See the footnote if you want to go down that path.)

I was able to double my vote today — legally — by providing a ride for someone with no transportation. I was one of a dozen who volunteered for a Lee County NAACP program to provide free rides for anyone needing transportation to vote. Although my rider and I did not discuss how either of us voted, I suspect we are supporting the same candidates.

Historical Footnote

John Van Buren is associated with the phrase “Vote early and vote often” due to historian James Morgan’s identification of him as its originator. This association is supported by Laurence Urdang and Janet Braunstein, although there is limited direct evidence linking him to the phrase. The phrase itself became popular in the mid-19th century, particularly among pro-slavery voters in Kansas who were trying to influence elections. Source: Perplexity AI

Washington Post Part 2 — Jeff Bezos Misses the Point

Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post has admitted he killed the paper’s endorsement of Kamala Harris. Responding to reader outrage and canceled subscriptions — 250,000 according to NPR — Bezos penned an opinion piece that ties presidential endorsements to the public’s distrust of the media.

The bitter pill he sees:

We (a newspaper) must be believed to be accurate… What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias.

While I feel that bitter pill of bias, it’s not because of the editorial team. Their opinions clearly state the bias and what informs it. It’s the “news” side that slants articles with pejorative words and headlines that go beyond a neutral reporting of facts or that create a “false equivalence” between two arguments that don’t have equal weight.

Ironically, Bezos acknowledges the decision won’t add much trust — quite the opposite — and the poor timing:

By itself, declining to endorse presidential candidates is not enough to move us very far up the trust scale, but it’s a meaningful step in the right direction. I wish we had made the change earlier than we did, in a moment further from the election and the emotions around it. That was inadequate planning, and not some intentional strategy.

Then why do it now? Why not wait until after the election, with a four-year runway to build support within and outside the paper?

Bezos’ argument is unconvincing, inviting speculation of Machiavellian motivations.

Thankfully, The New York Times did not equivocate:

You already know Donald Trump. He is unfit to lead. Watch him. Listen to those who know him best. He tried to subvert an election and remains a threat to democracy. He helped overturn Roe, with terrible consequences. Mr. Trump’s corruption and lawlessness go beyond elections: It’s his whole ethos. He lies without limit. If he’s re-elected, the G.O.P. won’t restrain him. Mr. Trump will use the government to go after opponents. He will pursue a cruel policy of mass deportations. He will wreak havoc on the poor, the middle class and employers. Another Trump term will damage the climate, shatter alliances and strengthen autocrats. Americans should demand better. Vote.