My father was a public administrator in Mississippi and retired with 37 years of service. He missed one day of work and had 2 years of sick leave when he retired as an elementary school principal. My father’s heart was in it for every student, teacher and as he would say the problematic parents. Even then they had to ration how many copies teachers could make for lessons to maintain a budget. This is horrifically sad. But I recall when I asked you a question you looked me straight in the eye and I said, “what do we do now?” Your response was right on point. We start from where we can and that’s what we have to do now. And this is just when the DNC was ripping away my democracy by not allowing all of America to choose who we would’ve liked to have as a candidate to run against this false prophet.
Thank you for these posts Marianne. I always feel like someone is keeping watch (not just me!!!l) I know there are many of us who look on in astonishment (being kind!). But thank you great perspective always ☺️
From a What If story: "First, our Wisdom Council, that gives we-the-people a voice, gets selected by an egalitarian methodology that Marianne Williamson, who had run for political offices trying to uplift humanity, first had stepped up for. Marianne got Timothy Snyder to accept her pick as number two, the two of them picked MacKenzie Scott, the three picked Arnold Schwarzenegger, the four Oprah, the five Tim Shriver and so on in getting the most respected figures in the U.S. on board. Still, when our Council speaks, everyone listens."
I love everything you are saying and am fully aligned with everything you’ve been saying for years! My question is: for all of the people who are waking up to find they are deeply impacted by these actions, where do they go? What group do they join? We are in a position to embrace the collective, and as the fallout becomes bigger and more noticeable for people from all walks of life, whose arms are they walking into? This is the time to create a New Democrat, that embraces the moderate republican, that serves as a voice of reason AND opposition. But who is leading that group? I’m hoping we can form a collective WE…but right now I’m afraid people have no group to look to…as the Dems are not looking particularly strong. 2 million civil servants strong….
I agree we need to form a new collective. We need strong leaders. Those that value helping each other and values that embrace democratic values. The legacy media now controlled by Trump. We’re a country on rapid decline inside and out.
While calling it a waste, in the name of efficiency, these funds can be diverted after cleaning up departments and walking back on commitments. Did anyone hear Sovereign Fund that the president and his cronies can oversee?
While closing down the facilities, there is a lot of real estate to be grabbed in the name of disbanded facilities. Did anyone hear plans of seizing lands or building beautiful landscapes and golf clubs?
Or maybe they are just my figments of imagination.
Still, I am wondering out loud on why I am not hearing anyone calling foul or conflict of interest when an elected president and his wife launched business interests in the name of crypto currencies. Earlier ones at least had the decency to wait till their term was over before publishing a book or engaging in public speaking gigs for profit. And again, his previous VP was forced to stay at a Trump hotel while on a state trip to UK, even when the hotel was far away from the city where his meetings are to be conducted. America didn't flinch at this glaring conflict of interest then, why bother now? It is about profiteering and unchecked projection of family business in the name of politicking.
I'll tell you another conflict of interest: Musk has $15BILLION in pending government contracts. Trump said we don't have to worry; Musk will self-monitor.
Trump's response when a reporter asked him about making money off the meme coin was brazen and flippant. He knows what he is doing and speaks it out, not giving a rip about regulations and laws. He needs to be held accountable to his oath to protect and defend the Constitution, this is where it has to start. Who will hold him accountable to his oath?
When we say democracy, it meant that an elected official is representing the best interest of the constituents, according to the guidelines enforced by the constitution and abiding in the law, setting the highest standards of being answerable and accountable. That was incumbent upon them, by the means of the oath that they took. Once someone starts considering themselves to be above the law and beyond the constitution, the rot is already set and in circles of power, precedence is of strange value, as it guides the way for future rulers to continue the ways of decline for unabated abuse of power.
Clearly not the legislators. WE will hold him accountable. I feel it building.
Talk about Shakespearean drama. Trump is all that’s evil in humanity. So love starved, he can’t see the beauty of, or good in, the things we revere. So like a petulant, jealous child, he rips up as many of those things he can. But he can’t kill our live for (justice, the rule of law, etc) and that seems to .. enrage him
The DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION “functions” much like many school districts across the nation with money. Case in point the Clark County School District which has a lot of money yet doesn’t manage to bring the state up from #47 academically with a 4 billon dollar budget. Having been in the classroom over four decades in the district I’ve witnessed much waste as well as bloated administrative salaries including that of superintendents who come and go without results. Education is a state’s right and responsibility. The Secretary of Education, they come and go. What have they accomplished over the years that might have brought the system up to par with other countries? They have not. The system remains as is.
Legitimate reasoning, which I respect. Your views would belong on a serious panel considering the question. That's different however than Musk and his merry henchmen simply going on and deleting it. There are facets of the department's work (sharing best practices, etc) which should not just go away. Also, even though education is up to the States for the most part, there should absolutely be some federal guidelines. Let's say a state puts white supremacist or christian nationalist teachings into its curriculum? (one of the main reasons they did this, by the way). The former goes against the Declaration, the second against the Constitution.
I’ve been on panels including Nevada Succeeds a group of businesses who have tried to assist the school district. A lot of rhetoric represented by administrators and zero teachers. And what happens when federal guidelines aren’t met? And who decides the guidelines? Curriculums are written at the state level by teacher/educators. A task I’ve done also. Then they’re presented to the local state superintendent and approved by the legislature and voted into law. Any real changes in the educational system certainly won’t come from the federal government. It starts by informed educators at the state level initiated through academic professional organizations local, regional, and national.
Your concern for change and the resulting frustration of not being able to change the status quo because of federal guidelines for education are valid observations. Now let us distance ourselves from this and address your concern, maybe with an analogy.
As a Trump, I find it very frustrating to see the continued decline in the amount of water flow through my pipe during the winter year after year at my home and I don't have time to fix it or I feel that it is not my job to do it. And being the Trump that I am, I have decided to cut the water supply itself. At least, the pipe stands no chance of freezing anymore and at best, the house is saved from potentially having a ruptured pipe. Now everyone of the occupants in each room of the house is elated as we were all talking about the trouble we were having with receding amounts of water flow every winter and what a waste of time it is to collect water in this manner. But how long does it take for me to know that my water has dried up altogether? What is the alternative now? Did Trump promise to bring buckets of water whenever the tenants needed and all they have to do is ring him up downstairs? Did he give them permission to use the amount of water that was allocated to them in each room in any which way they wanted, if they found a way to get it by putting in their own efficient pipes in each room (because he still controls the water flow)? If none of the above is clear and I have not discussed with the tenants about how they would have better water flow in future that puts them in direct control of it before cutting down the flow myself, does this look like a plan at all?
And what if this is all done knowingly well that these funds are typically supporting certain families and their kids in getting education that is not the support base that votes for him anyway and what if he also knew that his support base doesn't like these sects getting government benefits? Then sure, this act would satisfy them immensely without thinking deep about any of the scenarios discussed above. Why bother details when small wins can be delivered without thinking of after effects or communicating the reasons for acting in a certain way (with data and facts) and clear alternatives to ensure that the programs that are worthy of having would not be famished in the short run.
I’d like to add: the practice of assessing a school’s worth by only standardized test scores is a dubious and half baked notion, that has unfortunately been accepted as conventional wisdom
Wisdom, it ain’t. As a reporter I’ve been at many “school closings “ where teachers and parents pleaded for their school to stay open, and kids showed how much they learned-- and turned community and did 100 million things good schools do-- and just because they were a point below where they’re supposed to be, they still got closed.
This is corporate thinking - again- whete it has no place and dues no good.
You are so correct about the bloat and unaccountability. It’s worse though. Our schools are democracy’s pillars and thus why democracy is unraveling. Check out my work at trying to expose this at WhiteChalkCrime.com. Trump will merely switch out fraudsters. Even decent people have no idea what schools need.
Destroying the Dept of Education is all part of Project 2025. Those who created Project 2025 want to recreate the Dept of Education so they can teach what they want to teach, to mold and shape children into their ways rather than be free thinkers. I believe that this is why all the departments are being destroyed, so they can recreate in their ways, and if Americans don't follow their ways they will be met with severe punishment unless We The People can stop it somehow, some way. Call your senators, congress person, state attorney generals, and keep calling or show up in person to talk to your representatives.
You may find this hard to swallow, but I voted for Trump, yet I supported you until the day you suspended your campaign. Then I switched to Bobby Kennedy and then Trump. I like people who are willing to shake up the system, and I saw this quality in all of you — your willingness and enthusiasm to reject business as usual in Washington. I also saw the injustice of how you were all being treated by the Biden administration. I certainly don’t agree with President Trump on everything. I think it’s impossible to agree with any president on every policy and decision. I voted for Biden, but he shocked me with his support of two wars. The Democratic Party shocked me with their coverup of his dementia and their unwillingness to hold primaries and their “appointment” of Kamala Harris. It’s very true Elon is moving fast and breaking things, but after decades of overspending, ineptitudes and corruption, this is what happens (short of a revolution) when congress does not serve the people who elected them. People are tired of taxation without representation, and they’re tired of the results they’ve been getting, including from the Department of Education. If the DOE were an ongoing success, there would be evidence of this. There would be a bread crumb trail we could follow from Washington to the states to the schools, and into the classrooms, which would make obvious their success. But tragically, the trail only leads us to the Gingerbread house, with its facade of delights masking a horror within. Clearly, some change has to happen. Canada does not have a DOE at the federal level but its k-12 education ranks well above ours. The DOE was established in 1980 by Jimmy Carter, but a lot has changed in 45 years, and states are now considerably better at addressing the needs of low income students and those with disabilities, and parents now know how to organize and file lawsuits if their children are denied equal opportunities. It’s not the same world. But remember, Elon Musk and Trump are not just out to gut the DOE. They are out to tackle all waste, corruption and bloat in our government in order to reduce our $36 TRILLION debt. The interest on this debt will kill our country if we don’t take drastic measures. I hear the Department of Defense is next. Can’t wait!
thank you for your explanation and a lot of it I understand. I take exception, however with the idea that Musk and Trump are out to tackle corruption and waste. I think the opposite. You don’t cure a sick patient by killing them. Must has $15 billion of government contracts, and he is simply deleting programs and firing people who in their professional capacity had question any of it. Only in a totalitarian society does one man get to make the kinds of decisions that he is making. and our federal workforce does not deserve the trauma and fear he is putting people through.
We do not have taxation without representation, by the way. You have a congressperson and two senators. Unless and until Elon chooses otherwise, I guess….
Hi Marianne, this is exactly how a dictator cemented his power in my country; Inducing trauma and fear over all the government officials. He Imprisoned and disappeared a couple sacred leading members as a way placing a exclamation to his point.- ‘I am the boss, only my mortality can displace me, abandon all fantasy about democracy and focus on your own personal life and enhancement.’
When younger, I contemplated running for a national office, but my father kept telling me that politics is a dirty game. On top of that, which gave me pause, it has been said that politics makes for strange bedfellows. I'm glad he didn't live long enough to see both of these beliefs coming true - at the same time!
It's not as if we've never seen those in the WH in prior administrations having a blatant disregard for the law, thinking that they are above having to answer to it, but in this instance, it's playing out quite publicly, seemingly without a worry that they will be held accountable.
The word "pardon" used to be such a nice word, a sort of old-fashioned word, from a quainter time in history, as to forgive one's debts to society and return him his freedom because in some way or ways he's paid for his wrong doing.
I believe what we are witnessing now is the presidential pardon being
cheapened, and leveraged, in the political arena, as a "pre-emptive" license to see how much they can get away with and still walk away with impunity - a real life "get out of jail free" card! It was never meant to be used as a guarantee to protect one against deliberate and "premeditated" lawlessness. All dignity and concern for one's fellow man has left the WH and we've entered into the realm of human board games where we are no more than mere pieces being moved around the board. We WILL emerge stronger for having survived this time, but for now it's playing out.
I find it quite unusual for two men with heavy narcissistic tendencies to have picked each other as each other's "supply," but there's so much power to reap at the highest seats of government that they both must have decided it's worth the risk to see exactly who will escape being devoured by the other. I feel I know who will betray the other, to their MUTUAL downfall. For now they both need each other to carry out their shared agenda - to seemingly "find" enough money in the government (in the form of cutting costs!) to FUND THE RENEWING OF THE TAX CUT FOR THE RICH that EXPIRES THIS YEAR - IN 2025!
It brings to mind the perhaps familiar old Russian fable, "The Scorpion and the Frog." Though the scorpion promised not to sting the frog if he just gets him across the river, midway the scorpion stings the frog and they both die. Answering the dying frog's question of the scorpion, "Why did you sting me?" the scorpion explains, "I couldn't help myself. It's just my nature."
God only knows what will be cooked up next, in the poison kitchen: Maybe completing the "take-over of the Arctic" by making Iceland and Norway the 52nd and 53rd states, annexing Jerusalem as an "American sacred site" and making Argentina the 54th state, then announcing "Antarctica as a county of the State of Argentina."
If I had all the money in the world, I would hire these civil servants to take as much as they can on thumb drives and secretly start building a true 21st century digital infrastructure so that it’s ready to switch back on as soon as this circus runs itself into the ground and/or we run it out of town. I would hire Jennifer Pahlka, who wrote (the phenomenal) Recoding America, to build a team to oversee the project.
I didn’t know they had been explicitly threatened. That’s terrifying. However, they built their fortunes with and through our democracy and people of good conscience who have the means to protect themselves — and, I should think, build something beautiful in the shadows while these goons are thrashing around in public — are way ahead of most people who have put themselves on the line for humanity.
According to NY Times columnist Shawn McCreesh: On Friday morning, a few hours after the new Time cover [picturing Elon Musk sitting at the White House Resolute Desk] dropped, Mr. Musk posted on the social media platform he owns to flatter the president, writing, “I love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man.”
I would like to comment on the land/Gaza grab. What Trump represents to his MAGA crowd, is the good old days; when the white man just grabbed anything he wanted on the earth. The days of white glory. Trump's favorite animal is the great white shark. What Vietnam showed was that those days are over. Kind of like a drunk driver or a drug user string of luck is over. That door is closed. The Holy land with all the spiritual energy, passions, emotions circulating in it’s atmosphere is not the place to send our troops to enforce ethnic cleansing. Such an endeavor will give rise to a version of Osama bin laden on steroids.
My father was a public administrator in Mississippi and retired with 37 years of service. He missed one day of work and had 2 years of sick leave when he retired as an elementary school principal. My father’s heart was in it for every student, teacher and as he would say the problematic parents. Even then they had to ration how many copies teachers could make for lessons to maintain a budget. This is horrifically sad. But I recall when I asked you a question you looked me straight in the eye and I said, “what do we do now?” Your response was right on point. We start from where we can and that’s what we have to do now. And this is just when the DNC was ripping away my democracy by not allowing all of America to choose who we would’ve liked to have as a candidate to run against this false prophet.
Thank you for these posts Marianne. I always feel like someone is keeping watch (not just me!!!l) I know there are many of us who look on in astonishment (being kind!). But thank you great perspective always ☺️
A lot of my Substack is devoted to Marianne as the clearest voice we have. Here's last week's post to share to get her widely heard:
SAVING THE WORLD (work in progress)
What can get us beyond a lot of woe-is-me
https://suzannetaylor.substack.com/p/saving-the-world-work-in-progress
From a What If story: "First, our Wisdom Council, that gives we-the-people a voice, gets selected by an egalitarian methodology that Marianne Williamson, who had run for political offices trying to uplift humanity, first had stepped up for. Marianne got Timothy Snyder to accept her pick as number two, the two of them picked MacKenzie Scott, the three picked Arnold Schwarzenegger, the four Oprah, the five Tim Shriver and so on in getting the most respected figures in the U.S. on board. Still, when our Council speaks, everyone listens."
I love everything you are saying and am fully aligned with everything you’ve been saying for years! My question is: for all of the people who are waking up to find they are deeply impacted by these actions, where do they go? What group do they join? We are in a position to embrace the collective, and as the fallout becomes bigger and more noticeable for people from all walks of life, whose arms are they walking into? This is the time to create a New Democrat, that embraces the moderate republican, that serves as a voice of reason AND opposition. But who is leading that group? I’m hoping we can form a collective WE…but right now I’m afraid people have no group to look to…as the Dems are not looking particularly strong. 2 million civil servants strong….
I agree we need to form a new collective. We need strong leaders. Those that value helping each other and values that embrace democratic values. The legacy media now controlled by Trump. We’re a country on rapid decline inside and out.
While calling it a waste, in the name of efficiency, these funds can be diverted after cleaning up departments and walking back on commitments. Did anyone hear Sovereign Fund that the president and his cronies can oversee?
While closing down the facilities, there is a lot of real estate to be grabbed in the name of disbanded facilities. Did anyone hear plans of seizing lands or building beautiful landscapes and golf clubs?
Or maybe they are just my figments of imagination.
Still, I am wondering out loud on why I am not hearing anyone calling foul or conflict of interest when an elected president and his wife launched business interests in the name of crypto currencies. Earlier ones at least had the decency to wait till their term was over before publishing a book or engaging in public speaking gigs for profit. And again, his previous VP was forced to stay at a Trump hotel while on a state trip to UK, even when the hotel was far away from the city where his meetings are to be conducted. America didn't flinch at this glaring conflict of interest then, why bother now? It is about profiteering and unchecked projection of family business in the name of politicking.
I'll tell you another conflict of interest: Musk has $15BILLION in pending government contracts. Trump said we don't have to worry; Musk will self-monitor.
*oh [sarcasm][not directed at you BTW]
Yes!!!
Trump's response when a reporter asked him about making money off the meme coin was brazen and flippant. He knows what he is doing and speaks it out, not giving a rip about regulations and laws. He needs to be held accountable to his oath to protect and defend the Constitution, this is where it has to start. Who will hold him accountable to his oath?
When we say democracy, it meant that an elected official is representing the best interest of the constituents, according to the guidelines enforced by the constitution and abiding in the law, setting the highest standards of being answerable and accountable. That was incumbent upon them, by the means of the oath that they took. Once someone starts considering themselves to be above the law and beyond the constitution, the rot is already set and in circles of power, precedence is of strange value, as it guides the way for future rulers to continue the ways of decline for unabated abuse of power.
You have the eyes that SEE. Thank you for your voice.
Best and most powerful phrase I reckon to remember these days. “Needs to be held Accountable “
Clearly not the legislators. WE will hold him accountable. I feel it building.
Talk about Shakespearean drama. Trump is all that’s evil in humanity. So love starved, he can’t see the beauty of, or good in, the things we revere. So like a petulant, jealous child, he rips up as many of those things he can. But he can’t kill our live for (justice, the rule of law, etc) and that seems to .. enrage him
The DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION “functions” much like many school districts across the nation with money. Case in point the Clark County School District which has a lot of money yet doesn’t manage to bring the state up from #47 academically with a 4 billon dollar budget. Having been in the classroom over four decades in the district I’ve witnessed much waste as well as bloated administrative salaries including that of superintendents who come and go without results. Education is a state’s right and responsibility. The Secretary of Education, they come and go. What have they accomplished over the years that might have brought the system up to par with other countries? They have not. The system remains as is.
Legitimate reasoning, which I respect. Your views would belong on a serious panel considering the question. That's different however than Musk and his merry henchmen simply going on and deleting it. There are facets of the department's work (sharing best practices, etc) which should not just go away. Also, even though education is up to the States for the most part, there should absolutely be some federal guidelines. Let's say a state puts white supremacist or christian nationalist teachings into its curriculum? (one of the main reasons they did this, by the way). The former goes against the Declaration, the second against the Constitution.
I’ve been on panels including Nevada Succeeds a group of businesses who have tried to assist the school district. A lot of rhetoric represented by administrators and zero teachers. And what happens when federal guidelines aren’t met? And who decides the guidelines? Curriculums are written at the state level by teacher/educators. A task I’ve done also. Then they’re presented to the local state superintendent and approved by the legislature and voted into law. Any real changes in the educational system certainly won’t come from the federal government. It starts by informed educators at the state level initiated through academic professional organizations local, regional, and national.
Your concern for change and the resulting frustration of not being able to change the status quo because of federal guidelines for education are valid observations. Now let us distance ourselves from this and address your concern, maybe with an analogy.
As a Trump, I find it very frustrating to see the continued decline in the amount of water flow through my pipe during the winter year after year at my home and I don't have time to fix it or I feel that it is not my job to do it. And being the Trump that I am, I have decided to cut the water supply itself. At least, the pipe stands no chance of freezing anymore and at best, the house is saved from potentially having a ruptured pipe. Now everyone of the occupants in each room of the house is elated as we were all talking about the trouble we were having with receding amounts of water flow every winter and what a waste of time it is to collect water in this manner. But how long does it take for me to know that my water has dried up altogether? What is the alternative now? Did Trump promise to bring buckets of water whenever the tenants needed and all they have to do is ring him up downstairs? Did he give them permission to use the amount of water that was allocated to them in each room in any which way they wanted, if they found a way to get it by putting in their own efficient pipes in each room (because he still controls the water flow)? If none of the above is clear and I have not discussed with the tenants about how they would have better water flow in future that puts them in direct control of it before cutting down the flow myself, does this look like a plan at all?
And what if this is all done knowingly well that these funds are typically supporting certain families and their kids in getting education that is not the support base that votes for him anyway and what if he also knew that his support base doesn't like these sects getting government benefits? Then sure, this act would satisfy them immensely without thinking deep about any of the scenarios discussed above. Why bother details when small wins can be delivered without thinking of after effects or communicating the reasons for acting in a certain way (with data and facts) and clear alternatives to ensure that the programs that are worthy of having would not be famished in the short run.
I’d like to add: the practice of assessing a school’s worth by only standardized test scores is a dubious and half baked notion, that has unfortunately been accepted as conventional wisdom
Wisdom, it ain’t. As a reporter I’ve been at many “school closings “ where teachers and parents pleaded for their school to stay open, and kids showed how much they learned-- and turned community and did 100 million things good schools do-- and just because they were a point below where they’re supposed to be, they still got closed.
This is corporate thinking - again- whete it has no place and dues no good.
You are so correct about the bloat and unaccountability. It’s worse though. Our schools are democracy’s pillars and thus why democracy is unraveling. Check out my work at trying to expose this at WhiteChalkCrime.com. Trump will merely switch out fraudsters. Even decent people have no idea what schools need.
Destroying the Dept of Education is all part of Project 2025. Those who created Project 2025 want to recreate the Dept of Education so they can teach what they want to teach, to mold and shape children into their ways rather than be free thinkers. I believe that this is why all the departments are being destroyed, so they can recreate in their ways, and if Americans don't follow their ways they will be met with severe punishment unless We The People can stop it somehow, some way. Call your senators, congress person, state attorney generals, and keep calling or show up in person to talk to your representatives.
You may find this hard to swallow, but I voted for Trump, yet I supported you until the day you suspended your campaign. Then I switched to Bobby Kennedy and then Trump. I like people who are willing to shake up the system, and I saw this quality in all of you — your willingness and enthusiasm to reject business as usual in Washington. I also saw the injustice of how you were all being treated by the Biden administration. I certainly don’t agree with President Trump on everything. I think it’s impossible to agree with any president on every policy and decision. I voted for Biden, but he shocked me with his support of two wars. The Democratic Party shocked me with their coverup of his dementia and their unwillingness to hold primaries and their “appointment” of Kamala Harris. It’s very true Elon is moving fast and breaking things, but after decades of overspending, ineptitudes and corruption, this is what happens (short of a revolution) when congress does not serve the people who elected them. People are tired of taxation without representation, and they’re tired of the results they’ve been getting, including from the Department of Education. If the DOE were an ongoing success, there would be evidence of this. There would be a bread crumb trail we could follow from Washington to the states to the schools, and into the classrooms, which would make obvious their success. But tragically, the trail only leads us to the Gingerbread house, with its facade of delights masking a horror within. Clearly, some change has to happen. Canada does not have a DOE at the federal level but its k-12 education ranks well above ours. The DOE was established in 1980 by Jimmy Carter, but a lot has changed in 45 years, and states are now considerably better at addressing the needs of low income students and those with disabilities, and parents now know how to organize and file lawsuits if their children are denied equal opportunities. It’s not the same world. But remember, Elon Musk and Trump are not just out to gut the DOE. They are out to tackle all waste, corruption and bloat in our government in order to reduce our $36 TRILLION debt. The interest on this debt will kill our country if we don’t take drastic measures. I hear the Department of Defense is next. Can’t wait!
thank you for your explanation and a lot of it I understand. I take exception, however with the idea that Musk and Trump are out to tackle corruption and waste. I think the opposite. You don’t cure a sick patient by killing them. Must has $15 billion of government contracts, and he is simply deleting programs and firing people who in their professional capacity had question any of it. Only in a totalitarian society does one man get to make the kinds of decisions that he is making. and our federal workforce does not deserve the trauma and fear he is putting people through.
We do not have taxation without representation, by the way. You have a congressperson and two senators. Unless and until Elon chooses otherwise, I guess….
Hi Marianne, this is exactly how a dictator cemented his power in my country; Inducing trauma and fear over all the government officials. He Imprisoned and disappeared a couple sacred leading members as a way placing a exclamation to his point.- ‘I am the boss, only my mortality can displace me, abandon all fantasy about democracy and focus on your own personal life and enhancement.’
When younger, I contemplated running for a national office, but my father kept telling me that politics is a dirty game. On top of that, which gave me pause, it has been said that politics makes for strange bedfellows. I'm glad he didn't live long enough to see both of these beliefs coming true - at the same time!
It's not as if we've never seen those in the WH in prior administrations having a blatant disregard for the law, thinking that they are above having to answer to it, but in this instance, it's playing out quite publicly, seemingly without a worry that they will be held accountable.
The word "pardon" used to be such a nice word, a sort of old-fashioned word, from a quainter time in history, as to forgive one's debts to society and return him his freedom because in some way or ways he's paid for his wrong doing.
I believe what we are witnessing now is the presidential pardon being
cheapened, and leveraged, in the political arena, as a "pre-emptive" license to see how much they can get away with and still walk away with impunity - a real life "get out of jail free" card! It was never meant to be used as a guarantee to protect one against deliberate and "premeditated" lawlessness. All dignity and concern for one's fellow man has left the WH and we've entered into the realm of human board games where we are no more than mere pieces being moved around the board. We WILL emerge stronger for having survived this time, but for now it's playing out.
I find it quite unusual for two men with heavy narcissistic tendencies to have picked each other as each other's "supply," but there's so much power to reap at the highest seats of government that they both must have decided it's worth the risk to see exactly who will escape being devoured by the other. I feel I know who will betray the other, to their MUTUAL downfall. For now they both need each other to carry out their shared agenda - to seemingly "find" enough money in the government (in the form of cutting costs!) to FUND THE RENEWING OF THE TAX CUT FOR THE RICH that EXPIRES THIS YEAR - IN 2025!
It brings to mind the perhaps familiar old Russian fable, "The Scorpion and the Frog." Though the scorpion promised not to sting the frog if he just gets him across the river, midway the scorpion stings the frog and they both die. Answering the dying frog's question of the scorpion, "Why did you sting me?" the scorpion explains, "I couldn't help myself. It's just my nature."
Be well!
Christy
God help us
God only knows what will be cooked up next, in the poison kitchen: Maybe completing the "take-over of the Arctic" by making Iceland and Norway the 52nd and 53rd states, annexing Jerusalem as an "American sacred site" and making Argentina the 54th state, then announcing "Antarctica as a county of the State of Argentina."
😂🤣
"The Power Couple" is indeed a very fitting title! Appreciating your updates.
We need a new party!!!
If I had all the money in the world, I would hire these civil servants to take as much as they can on thumb drives and secretly start building a true 21st century digital infrastructure so that it’s ready to switch back on as soon as this circus runs itself into the ground and/or we run it out of town. I would hire Jennifer Pahlka, who wrote (the phenomenal) Recoding America, to build a team to oversee the project.
They have already been threatened not to do any such thing. Told they are being watched.
I didn’t know they had been explicitly threatened. That’s terrifying. However, they built their fortunes with and through our democracy and people of good conscience who have the means to protect themselves — and, I should think, build something beautiful in the shadows while these goons are thrashing around in public — are way ahead of most people who have put themselves on the line for humanity.
In consultation with Audrey Tang, a visionary
According to NY Times columnist Shawn McCreesh: On Friday morning, a few hours after the new Time cover [picturing Elon Musk sitting at the White House Resolute Desk] dropped, Mr. Musk posted on the social media platform he owns to flatter the president, writing, “I love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man.”
Trouble in bromance-land?
He probably did it to reassure him. He’d know that that cover would anger Trump.
Thank you, Marianne! Great to hear your point of view!
I would like to comment on the land/Gaza grab. What Trump represents to his MAGA crowd, is the good old days; when the white man just grabbed anything he wanted on the earth. The days of white glory. Trump's favorite animal is the great white shark. What Vietnam showed was that those days are over. Kind of like a drunk driver or a drug user string of luck is over. That door is closed. The Holy land with all the spiritual energy, passions, emotions circulating in it’s atmosphere is not the place to send our troops to enforce ethnic cleansing. Such an endeavor will give rise to a version of Osama bin laden on steroids.