Harvard's suit observes: “The government has not—and cannot—identify any rational connection between antisemitism concerns and the medical, scientific, technological, and other research it has frozen . . . " Of course the government cannot. That's because this is extortion.
It is extortion, but at the same time it is also the destruction of the American research and education system. My husband is a scientist and their approved funding is frozen. If they do not release it my husband is going to retire early. So, that is one way they will save money, but by saving money research is not getting done.
I am glad that Harvard is countering Trump and can take him on with their 50 bil dollar endowment. It would be nice to see other universities joining them. I also think that Harvard should rescind the degrees from anyone working with or for Trump because they are violating an ethical code that Harvard should at this point be insisting on from their alumni. Other Universities would be wise to do the same thing, and take back degrees from people who do not live up to a code of ethics.
For sure. You’ve summed it up very well. What we stand to lose is immeasurable wealth in knowledge, talent, and so much more. And unity of higher education is indispensable, although I am disappointed it was not there at the outset of this onslaught.
I’m sorry to express that the government will be totally destroyed and a complete collapse is on the verge of happening. Only then can it attempt a rebuild. The phenix will rise but not after total destruction .
planes are exploding. A new pandemic is in the rise now with no capacity for found cures as millions die in the streets. Dante’s doors have been opened. Even the papa has taken leave. The total rape and pillaging of America is at hand. The high metal fencing surrounding the White House were place not to protect the inside residents from attack but to isolate the monsters within.
Bill, the condition you describe sounds like the Christian definition of the word “apocalypse.“ The true definition of the word comes from the ancient Greeks, and it means to uncover that which was hidden, often accompanied by a sense of revelation.
I don’t abide much by the Christian Translation of the word apocalypse, but I very much identify with its source, the ancient Greeks. For years I have believed we were facing the “great uncovering“ and obviously that is what we are seeing accelerating today. Much of what the billionaires, Musk and Donald J Trump are accomplishing is to uncover trends that have been going on for decades And what we see uncovered is nothing but greed and contempt for compassion.
Although the daily news is startling and depressing, one has to accept that when the Trump administration is over we will have a giant pile of ashes, and it is up to us. “we the people,“ to build a new government, a new economy, and a compassionate caring society.
If you would like a peek at what that might look like and what people are discussing for the next level of economics and governance, please visit.
Maybe a bunch of new laws to prevent a trump and the massive corruption and self-dealing. And promise to permanently repair our relationships with our allies. Putting teeth into laws to prevent this kind of disaster from happening again.
It seems writing better laws makes sense but perhaps even more important is putting and keeping people in positions to support and uphold those or any "publicly beneficial" ( in the truest sense; sorry to be so vague; I'm no philosopher or politician) laws. Clearly that's been lacking 'til now and seriously if not desperately needed despite some good and good faith attempts by members of the legal world.
I admire Bill’s capacity for hyperbole. But I might remind him that, to update an old saying to the level of correct political correctness, 'the plus size lady ain’t sung yet’.
In July of 1956, when I was eleven, I had occasion to climb Katahdin with a classmate and his father. While enjoying the snack we’d brought up with us, we saw a DC-3 letting down between us and North Brother for somewhere east of us. And we were just a bit higher than it was. I remember thinking then that anything must be possible. A boy’s whim, but there are still moments, even now.
! I saw a quote the other day: the government is where all the problems that the private sector can't solve go. If they can't profit from it, the private sector shrugs its shoulders and sends it down the line. IMHO, capitalism in its extreme will not take care of anyone but business owners and executives.
Linda, this is an excellent statement! Thank you! I, as a high school educated senior citizen, wasn’t aware colleges had a code of ethics! (Why would I ? And dont worry, I am not self-deprecating , I am very smart!) To your point, if they could somehow hold the alumni to account for that code, it could go a long way to help .
Yes. The threat of losing the degrees that these hypocrites claim comes from woke institutions that they are trying to destroy, should make them think twice. At some point, backing Trump is going to be like staying on a sinking ship.
Actually, the ship is sinking. But, meanwhile, the media system blaring from the speakers on the ship, is telling the passengers that it is completely safe and actually rising up higher out of the water due to the skill and caring of its captain.
Former and current governors like Kevin Walker of Wisconsin, DeSantos of Florida and I believe one from the Midwest (who claimed no one needs to study French or its literature. What? I was a French major and put it to good use at a French bank on Wall Street.) The new mantra is STEM - so the humanities have been woefully underfunded as a result.
As I understand it, STEM was created to get more minority students involved in those disciplines, which, IMO is a good thing. That said, I believe that all disciplines are valuable. Variety is the spice of life.
I agree that variety and rounded ness is part of a good education. STEM and then STEAM were created to also get girls into those fields, but the way it was done was to over-focus on that and imply that you are only bright if that is what you are good at. You don't add one and dump the other the way that has been done. Still, I am not going to go into a rant on education, American and other, because it is in danger of being anything at all in the US. Who does that? Fascists.
Linda Weide Linda on Life Abroad -- "𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 50 𝑏𝑖𝑙 𝑑𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡."
Yes, Harvard can use its endowment... but it’s complicated.
Yes, Harvard has an enormous endowment (about $50 billion), but it's not like a checking account. Most of that money is earmarked for specific things like:
• Scholarships and financial aid
• Faculty salaries
• Research in particular areas
• Maintenance of buildings, libraries, museums, etc.
So, while Harvard has a lot of money on paper, it can’t freely repurpose all of it to cover anything it wants — like a sudden loss of federal research grants.
How else could Harvard respond?
• Bridge funding: Harvard might use unrestricted endowment returns or other funds to temporarily keep key research labs and projects alive.
• Private funding: The university might ramp up fundraising from donors, foundations, or corporations to replace some federal support.
•Political advocacy: Harvard and peer institutions have powerful lobbying arms. They would push back hard through Congress, media, and public campaigns.
In any event, the optics of attacking elite universities may play well to some bases, but it opens up big constitutional and institutional risks for any administration trying it.
Good points, but the value of Harvard's endowment is in the investments that make it up. Through those, and the voting rights they confer, Harvard can influence Boards of Directors and business executives, many of whom are alumni, to put pressure on Trump & Co. and possibly bring about some change.
So for me the question remains. Why should private educational institutions expect ANY funding at all from the government? Why shouldn't government funding be aimed at public institutions? This should be true for research as well as for idiotic things like giving government grants to support religious schools and their prayer books!
For me, government doesn't belong in those areas, period. We have strayed so far from having colorblind, agnostic public institutions it is sad. Government funds should be used to support institutions that provide fair and equal access to ALL people, not given out to institutions that provide biased access to certain groups whether that is based in religion, gender, race or even academic superiority. Support should be provided only to public institutions that offer equality of services to all.
You are wrong Jon, the government is needed precisely in areas that don’t have great economic potential, like rare childhood diseases where there will be no chance of recouping development costs. The knowledge gained from that research may well lead to other solutions to ancillary problems. The government does have a place at the research table that public companies have no incentive to take part in, the government is there representing all of us.
You are completely misreading what I said. I do NOT oppose using government funds to fund ANYTHING that you suggested in fact i urge it. I just believe that funding should go to PUBLIC institutions not PRIVATE ones.
This is not about keeping research from being done, I urge ALL research to be funded, just NOT at Harvard or Stanford. If those schools choose to become public institutions I would be thrilled to fund them equally to all other public institutions but they want to keep and protect their endowments and investment like any private company.
We have plenty of institutions scraping for money that we don't need to give it to the Harvard's of the world who have their own multi billion dollar endowments.
There are several reasons why the U.S. government gives funding to institutions like Harvard, even when they clearly don’t need the money in a survival sense:
1. Federal Research Grants
The majority of federal money going to Harvard isn’t a blank check—it’s typically earmarked for research. The government (through agencies like the NIH, NSF, and DoD) funds research across universities because of the high-quality work produced there. Harvard happens to attract top-tier researchers, which makes it a hub for government-backed research projects in medicine, science, defense tech, AI, etc.
It's like the government saying: “𝑊𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔-𝑒𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ—ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒’𝑠 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑎𝑏.”
2. Student Financial Aid
Some federal funding also goes toward student aid programs—like Pell Grants or federal student loans—which follow students wherever they go. If a low-income student chooses Harvard, the government still contributes to their education through these aid programs. So in this case, the money isn’t really for Harvard, it’s for the student.
3. Indirect Costs
When the government funds a research project, they also pay overhead costs (known as indirect costs) to keep the lights on, literally—lab space, administration, maintenance, etc. Some criticize these as too generous, but they’re a standard part of federal research funding across all schools, not just Harvard.
But, the real question is, why isn't this funding spread out to smaller institutions. A question for another time, perhaps.
Sometimes that funding is spread out across a wide swath of institutions, both large and small, public and private. Consider the zebra fish. NIH has a massive zebra fish facility (my brother helped design its filtration system) with thousands of individual tanks controlled by individual researchers. Each tank represents a different field of experimental inquiry- genetic, regeneration, systemic. And the list goes on. Zebra fish can regrow amputated parts like lungs or heart atria, allowing the researchers to study the evolution of a condition across multiple generations in a short time span.
Studies of some diseases need to be conducted across multiple clinics to get the requisite number of cases to validate or disqualify a particular thesis.
Stopping one study at a Harvard or a Columbia probably could have a devastating effect at a UAB or a UW or a UM if the institutions were investigating in tandem.
In a Republic, I cannot think of any better purpose for government funding than educating the electorate, no matter in what area as long as it is open to all students and not affiliated with religious or other purely partisan entity.
I strongly oppose the use of public funds for any kind of private education because in fact private schools are NOT "open to all " but are rather subject to selective processes. For instance even Harvard still grants "legacy" preference to people whose parents went there and give lots of money to the school and Harvard has the right to use any money it receives that is not otherwise allocated for whatever it chooses.
Public institutions are not free to do such things as they are required by law to act in certain ways (although the current system which permits state systems to create different biases in public educating is also bad and we need a truly federalized system IMHO )
in any case I oppose the use of public money for private education of any kind including private universities as well as private primary and secondary schools including religious schools.
That's a separate question Jon, and one worthy of serious discussion. In the meantime, we have the system as it is and Trump's piecemeal revenge based approach is clearly inappropriate as well as largely ineffective.
Which is why my daughter goes to a public uni in another country that does not charge tuition. That is a whole other discussion. This is a piece I wrote on it.
I could have gotten a Master's Degree for free at Muencher Freiheits Universitaet, but 3 weeks at a Goethe Institute in Grafing bei Muenchen was a good second place!
I know that funds are restricted, but fortunately they are getting new funds as they have taken on this fight. I still think that they can use many monies for many things and take this on, because they are protecting those things. In fact, they can always ask the donors if they may use their money otherwise, except for anonymous donors of course. I do think that they should set up going forward a removal of degree if people dishonor the university. That is broad and acceptable. I would already take it from anyone in the Trump administration, or government that is supporting these anti-education actions.
Wise words ....as Americans, we must act! We have seen enough. Our amazing country is being destroyed for money and power ie placed in the fists of SELECT PERSONS. For how many days will this "fake " leadership be maintained and fed!!!!
A "wise code of ethics" is needed and we will not find it honored within the minds and hearts of many of our leaders.
Actions are being taken to hijack our education system, our monetary system, exchange truth for lies in the areas of scientific research, lies spread regarding health care, as well as the care of our earth.....quick acquisition of money with transfer into the pockets of billionaires.
Truth, wisdom, the care of our earth, the future and nourishment of our children ie mental, emotional and physical is being wiped out. Those in need throughout the world are experiencing abandonment...more poverty and starvation as we turn our backs on those in need.
We are allowing truth to be exchanged for lies....we are aiding and facilitating the "rule" of one man, Donald Trump!!! This weak fool is being allowed to take over this country with the vision of including The Panama Canal, Mexico, Greenland and Canada.
That is his goal...to rule the world...one country at a time.
I am so grateful for the courage shown by the populations and leaders within our world.
I am saddened that any country including China, should have to spend time and resources defending themselves from so many tariffs. There is a better way for all to benefit....ways of working together that would benefit the world...NOT just one man.
Those who chose Donald Trump...put him into office ....."brainwashed" his followers....and are using them to ruin the goodness and strength of this great nation.
I never hear this administration talking about the education of our children except how to control the education system. Trump and his minions must be worshipped. They are the authoritarians who choose the books our children will read and the science we will follow regarding the health of our children.
The leaders and workers within every agency of education, science, monetary...etc will be led by a Trump appointee. They will comply with the KING or "lose their head". Is this the way you want to continue, examine yourselves because THIS IS THE WAY WE ARE GOING!
That famously ugly ex-soldier and sculptor who haunted the Athenian agora 2400 years ago asked, “How should men live?”
Our Founders answered with the Constitution, the first time in history a nation had defined itself at its inception. For me, their challenge was quite straightforward. We were designed to be that nation in which ‘We the People’ might together find enough of the courage, the understanding, the honesty, the tolerance, the compassion, the humility, the wisdom, the humor, the hope, and the sheer common sense to rule ourselves from the bottom up with as much equity and justice as humanly possible. I don’t suppose that constitutes an ethical code, but then the Constitution is based on a very pragmatic understanding of human nature, not anyone’s ethical standards.
Linda, I have had that same thought re: rescind those degrees of the many Repub cowards who claim that the lives of their families and of themselves are more important than ours.
That’s interesting. Could a degree actually be rescinded? Fascinating. I guess Orange Turd could have hiss Wharton degree rescinded but it like is full of D’Souza and F’s for tge subjects he took. Seeing the transcript would be lovely.
It could be a great way that the education system could contribute to the overhaul of the political system. I think nothing ventured nothing gained. It would at least force all these people who are attacking education to admit to the public that they have degrees from these institutions, and that they value them.
Cancelling degrees awarded by Harvard to injure them for their political views is nonsense and even if it could be done it would amount to nothing less than an unlawful attack on free speech, i.e. very fascist, ignorant and Trumpian.
I respectfully disagree. It would force them to expose their hypocrisy. If they complain they will be publicly acknowledging that they value the degrees that they pretend to their un college educated constituents they don't.
One of my doctors, a highly regarded specialist, told me last week that he is applying for citizenship in another country -- and that a shocking number of his colleagues (including some researchers) are considering the same. He said that Trump's politics are going to impact the "medical community" in ways we haven't even seen yet, but are soon to take place. I was shocked, but then again, why am I surprised? This gifted doctor is relatively young and has a family, and has no problem starting fresh, where medicine is practiced without the bizarro government threats that we are starting to see in the U.S.
All I can say is, I hope the Trumpers who remain in this country are prepared to do their own heart surgery with whatever tools they have in the shed/
I have been saying since Roe v. Wade was overturned that we are going to see doctors leaving Red States and not just abortion doctors, med students going to blue states, and ultimately I see hospitals shutting down and doctors because getting rid of medicaid is going to cut back on so much funding for health care. I expect people to go to other countries, since there is a shortage of doctors everywhere.
Most particularly, Ms. Weide, Duke University needs to divest Stephen Miller of his degree. But then it is a “tobacco university” so what can we expect?
I like the idea of rescinding degrees for people who don't meet the standards under which they were conferred. Might wake some up, would certainly scare the bejeebers out of a few.
Is that even possible? It seems like most of the bad actors in the gov (including C Thomas) are Harvard or other Ivies alums. What do they teach there?
Do you think I would want my daughter going there? It smacks of entitlement. Entitlement to harm women because of the kind of Freedom that is discussed in Freedom's Dominion by Jefferson Cowie. The freedom for White males to have dominion over others.
I really don't need you mansplaining to me what my politics should be. I am a feminist and this is part of why my daughter is going to uni abroad. It is the culture of "this is not really a problem," well the Supreme court upholding laws that permit this sort of misogynist culture might be a problem, it is also found in the so called elite Unis that form these people and credential them. Trump is part of a culture in the US, the culture that many people are sick and tired of. These men are rapists too. The courts are filled with people formed by these cultures, that finds a fraternity gets 5 year ban instead of something that might change the culture. Like expulsion of the members from the Uni, and degrees conditional on not committing crimes like these.
Bill, without getting into the particular possibilities, it is a cry of male entitlement over another person's body without feeling the need for consent. Be it rape of females or males it is about a horrid sense of entitlement. The entitlement to possess someone else that is discussed in Freedom's Dominion by Jefferson Cowie. Not the freedom that respects other people having dominion over themselves.
I think it is possible to say we can remove your degree if you don't follow a code of conduct afterwards in which you gain work using this degree. Also, I think they should try it and see what Trump can do about it.
I read this morning that Harvard alum Stefanik has requested a federal investigation of the Saratoga Springs (NY) City School District over allegedly "woke" or DEI policies. Doesn't she have anything better to do than to get involved in local school district matters?? I'd love to see Harvard call her out.
She can't take her upset out at being pulled from the ambassador job on Trump, so she has to take it out on the helpless children. She is showing us that she is one of Madman Trump's Madwomen.
It would be a humorous moment if they had their degrees pulled. All the way back to grade school. Well, the Kindergarten advancement would be pulled as well. Then the doctor who pulled these future piglets out of the womb should correct the birth certificate with a “ Unsure of human qualities” clause.
If Harvard rescinds degrees they would be doing much the same as trump is doing. Bullying. Not necessary to take away degrees. Maybe shame them by publicizing them?
That would be the easiest thing to do. If Harvard is attacked by Trump, put out a list of the members of Congress, Supreme Court, etc. who are Harvard graduates. Maybe even poll them for their opinions!
If it is bullying it is showing that these people are hypocrites. They tear down an institution. If someone threatens your family with a gun do you let them shoot you or do you fight back? If that is bullying than so be it. I prefer to think that the best defense is attack. That is what I was taught when I played soccer and I see that as a metaphor for this. Do not take it lying down!
I have read that the moment Harvard took a stand against the bullying that donations flooded in. Let us hope that every graduate that truly values this country sent them money.
Well, it's the reality at Columbia (although I hear it was pushing back now that Harvard has lifted the standard of resistance), but it's not the only reality of authoritarian rule: should Trump decide to throw his paramilitaries and groups of loyalist bureaucrats at a university, then unless the local police is prepared for an all-out battle, the university can be taken over by force.
I also hear that the Trump government asked Columbia's partner school Barnard's faculty to fill out some form saying whether they are Jewish, Pro-Israel, zionist and so on... Scary, scary, and I hope no one filled it out.
And the party that says "good people on both sides," referring to those chanting "Jews will not replace us." They don't care about anti-Semitism one whit.
tRump has been spouting antisemitic as well as racist garbage since he was an adolescent, if not before. It’s one of his brightest ideas for retribution to turn Title VII (civil rights act) prohibitions against the very institutions that practice DEI & tolerance.
lauriemcf, Pfft. The antisemitism excuse is so lame. Antisemitism is as much a part of the hatred of others as anything else. Did we see any supportive comments after the arsonist torched the state home of Governor Shapiro. Then there is Gangrene basically celebrating the death of the Pope because he was too woke. These people, are a bunch of soulless ghouls looking to making us an all white Christian theocracy. And is death star really going to attend the funeral of the Pope. He will bring nothing but bad energy the opposite to what the Pope tried to achieve.
He has such bad energy and of course, a very large secret service retinue. I hope he just does more than fall off a horse like maybe just drop dead. He reminds me of a principal I once had who always showed up even thought he knew he was not wanted. It was about him as is everything death star does. I do not want this Pope's funeral to be tainted. Bad enough that he spent some of his last moments with the odious Vance.
The rational connection is that it's a convenient pretext for imposing their will on what they see as a haven for liberal elitism and for deporting activist students and faculty.
Russell, we now have two students here in Oregon who were ordered to deport, one from England, who are now suing the government. They were both very near to getting their degrees and one is working on wildfire problems. So, we now have a situation where no one will come here if they want to make sure that they can finish their education. I am wondering too about college athletes from all over. And why vacation here when we have Customs acting like jackboots even with American citizens who happen to be on the wrong train, the wrong airport, or driving in the wrong place.
I believe the furor is over the fact that some students correctly asserted in their protests that Palestinians have rights too. Does anyone think that Netanyahu influenced Trump's agenda toward Israel? A while back Foreign Affairs listed the 4 most dangerous leaders: Trump, Netanyahu, Xi Ping and Orban. I have several Jewish friends who detest Netanyahu. I am against certain US policies; that doesn't make me anti-American or anti-white people, or whatever nonsense one wishes to fabricate.....
I am sure that Bibi is delighted with what we are doing. I am disgusted by what Israel is now doing in Gaza. It looks like the Israelis are reducing it to complete rubble, so that death star can make the area into a resort. And people have the right to speak for Palestinians. I know several people who are absolutely appalled by what is happening there. We need to be able to speak against wrongs wherever they occur and whoever is perpetuating them.
Often, when the subject of U.S. policy toward Israel comes up, I feel it's necessary to review how we got to where we are. So let's go back to the beginning.
Jewish scribes who wrote various books in the Hebrew Scriptures (aka The Old Testament) inserted an alleged pronouncement from Jehovah declaring that (coincidentally) the Israelites were God's "chosen people." Further, that God would favor any nation that favors Israel (coincidentally), and would punish any nation that is mean to Israel. Centuries later, Christian gentiles who interpreted the Judaic scriptures literally carried forward this belief that God will protect friends of Israel.
From the founding of the U.S., Christians have had an outsized influence on U.S. government policy, including the nation's relationship with Israel, which has turned out to be unique, compared to U.S. relations with other countries. Israel has typically received U.S. financial aid that is disproportionate to its strategic or economic value to U.S. interests. Moreover, when Israel's leadership engages in actions that would be considered aggressive or against International Law if carried out by any other nation, the U.S. Government looks the other way at a minimum, or provides resources to carry out those bad actions.
Among American Christians, evangelicals have a peculiar relationship with the Jewish nation of Israel. They are all in on the "biblical lucky rabbit's foot" status of Israel, but condemn Jews for disclaiming that Jesus was their anticipated Messiah. This condemnation provides an opening for evangelicals' embrace of antisemitic attitudes, while claiming the opposite. Although cognitive dissonance is on-brand for evangelicals.
Michael Oren - an Israeli - wrote a History of the Middle East. Excellent research. However, it all began after we became untethered from England, when these new Americans travelled to the Middle East and insisted on converting the Arabs to Christianity -- without asking them what they wanted or thought. The story marches on until we come to Truman then Clinton when real negotiations started with Egypt and other countries. It has been fraught from the start. There's been treachery on both sides.....
Don’t Republicans keep saying they want smaller government, less interference in our lives? When do they plan on implementing that? Seems they’re insinuating themselves in everything including our walking down the street what’re when they don’t like the color of you skin they’ll arrest you and hold you indefinitely, even if you prove you were born here.
"Harvard is suing the departments of Health and Human Services, Justice, Education, Energy, and Defense, the General Services Administration (GSA), the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, NASA, and the leaders of those agencies." Now there's a very good use of those billions in endowment. Give 'em hell, Harvard!
Putin/Musk are running this. Trump takes orders for today’s distraction. Today’s is really Hegseth with a touch of Noem. We have to continue to make as much noise as possible until SCOTUS and the non-traitor Republicans get the picture.
These inexplicable demands embody a digital coup d'état, together with a dash for dictatorship, giving life to ling hidden revenge fantasies. If that is the not behavior of a psychopath write large, then nothing is. No wonder Baron von Blimpoman keeps 'Mein Kampf' of his night-stand.
Their fear does not impress me, nor can I empathize with them. If they want to represent us, they must be greater than any fear they might have for themselves when facing a threat to our entire society and democracy. If they are so afraid that they cannot act to defend us, they must resign.
Given how much I hate the Trump administration I have to say that i don't have a lot of sympathy with Harvard either. I have railed for years at the billions of government dollars literally funneled into private and religious educational institutions and Harvard is one of the worst.
I do NOT like the extortion that Trump is trying to inflict here, but I WOULD favor getting rid of ALL governmental support of private educational institutions at all levels. Governments shouldn't be supporting private institutions whether business or education.
Harvard has its $50B endowment and if it wants to fund its research, let it pay for it itself rather than use government funds on top of that. But that should go for ALL private education. No government support at all. Ever. This should apply to K-12 as well as secondary and college.
Somehow, I can picture you grousing about the U.S. government refusing to provide funding to America's best and brightest student researchers, merely because they aren't attending a public university with lower academic standards.
Note: The funding is going to the STUDENTS conducting the research; the university is just providing a venue to conduct that research and faculty to facilitate it.
We would not have a majority of the technology we enjoy, were it not for government-funded research.
With that clarification, I agree that public funds should not be redirected to private and parochial schools teaching the lower grades.
First of all there are FEW students doing research. Most research money goes to the professors who do it. Yes they probably pay students money to do work for them but the students aren't the ones doing the research most of the time.
And the reason lots of research is done at institutions like Harvard is historical. Those institutions for many decades for most of the public money and that let them grow their faculties and research colleges. If the distribution of money had been equitable all along there would be plenty more public institutions with great research centers.
In fact there are selected public institutions in some fields where this already happens. For av long time astronomy was not a huge research area and the private institutions ignored it. But the University of Arizona Did not and now they have one of the strongest PUBLIC astronomy research departments in the country.
All I advocate for is the recognition that the big private colleges take money that should be going to fund PUBLIC research. Let the state schools flourish with more funding and reduce or ultimately eliminate funding to schools like Harvard, simply because private education in this country should be exactly that. Private.
…I suppose you are happy with the government giving huge contracts to Musk companies who use their communications tools and satellites to aid Putin with his invasion of Ukraine, right?
Are you just ignorant or do you not read anything? I am actively opposed to almost everything Musk has his sticky little hand in. I say that repeatedly so maybe you should actually read what people write before making comments. Sigh...
If you actually read what i wrote it had nothing to do with religion although in fact Harvard IS historically a religious institution. That aside, I am opposed to providing PRIVATE institutions of ANY type with governmental funding, particularly for education. I believe public funding for education should go only to public institutions where the money can aid ALL citizens and not just a privileged few. How that clears things up.
Probably --- because the use of proper grammar is certainly in decline. If I have to read or listen to one more journalist or other professional misuse amount and number, less and fewer, I'm throwing something.
I agree, Stephanie. The one that irks me the most is the misuse of "me" and "I" that I hear on a regular basis from people who should know better. On NPR even! As an example, it makes me cringe to hear people say "He told my wife and I." I scream out to the tv or radio "me not I." Or when people use "me" in the nominative, such as "Me and my boyfriend went to..." Such basic grammar! We couldn't graduate from 8th grade without knowing these rules. (That was a rural school in NJ in the late 50s.) I understand that people learning English as a second language might have problems understanding our pronoun rules, but I know several people who teach English as as second language, who do emphasize these things that help in basic communication skills.
There's just such an easy way to check it for oneself, by dropping the other noun and saying the sentence out loud. It has to sound wrong to most people to say "me went to the store. Or 'he told I". I too react with consternation especially when it's someone in the public eye who can't speak properly.
It’s also the people who use the word “like” every 5th word that annoy me; or raising the inflection at the end of every sentence. These aren’t exactly issues of journalism, but are issues I hear every day that also make me want to throw something.
I hope this doesn't offend anyone... but my husband calls me the Grammar Nazi.... because I correct print and TV and others (not to their face) all the time!!!
Kind of counterintuitive hitting the ‘like’ on this one, but, like, it’s, like, a flash flood these days. It would be interesting and disturbing to, like, rewrite the Gettysburg Address with, like, all the sh*tty grammar in vogue these days. ALL CAPS IN THE IMPORTANT PARTS. N
Some people have already started doing this. It becomes harder and harder to understand the written word. What with that, the interchangeable use of they’re, there and their, and its and it’s, and other homonyms, spelling errors, etc, it takes a longer time than it should to construe a simple sentence. Run-on sentences, to which I am prone, don’t help either.
no doubt creating messages by voice recognition exacerbates the misuse of homonyms - not taking the time to go back and check, and then the constant use of errors makes one not sure if they *are* errors .... alas.
The BIG news is that Don Bacon, R NE, is the first Republican member of Congress to ask for Hegseth's removal from office.Bacon is the chair of a House Armed Services subcommittee and one of just a handful of House Republicans in districts that Kamala Harris carried last year. He first made his comments to Politico. https://www.axios.com/2025/04/21/don-bacon-pete-hegseth-signal
Yes, Daniel, I had seen that yesterday about Bacon. Perhaps like dominoes, the convicted felon's supporters will fall away once they realize the insanity won't end. And I do believe that he is insane at this point -- his brain is disordered.
Exactly. Often it's a twist of logic that is designed to be discovered, like the puns in Alice in Wonderland. Detection of the "lie" in the narrative makes it funny, such as Carroll's substitution of the word "lessen" for "lesson", or statements or depiction meant to be obvious exaggeration, with clearly no attempt to deceive. Thomas Nast's image of a man with a moneybag for a head is obviously not real; or is it? Real lies attempt to defraud.
The point of all of this is to make the government agencies so damaged and inefficient so there is an excuse to privatize everything. It is just another form of what Bain Capital did, buy companies and take them apart and sell them off. Who cares what it does to employees and pension plans, as long as the robber barons can take over and make tons of money. Having run out of private sector companies to destroy, these robber barons are looking to profit off the government and government services, at a very high cost to taxpayers. Ordinary Americans will see even more of the economy in the hands of the one percent by the time this is all over. We need to stop it now.
So 'Make America Great Again' equates to DOGE opening up interdimensional, highly sensitive data portals straight into Moscow’s inbox, and RumpRat plotting for the new RUMP card to replace the government’s $700 billion SmartPay system. Of course, there's nothing to see here. None of this is treasonous or corrupt. It’s just deeply misunderstood patriotism. Are you kidding me?? Someone call the cops.
These people are gangsters robbing the country blind. Isn’t it about time for the military to round up the Don, his cabinet, heads of all govt agencies appointed by him, and the Heritage foundation and hold them until our law-abiding experts can return to assess the damage. Once the country is stabilized, we can deal with their crimes.
I hope you don't mean an actual paper check since that has been winding down for quite some time. Electronic transfer does have electronic trails but once a paper check goes into the mail it's far more difficult to trace.
We have an account we only use for IRS/State/City taxes now. If something hits that account that shouldn't, we transfer it and make sure to reroute future payments to the other account. Not sure how much that will help if they start seizing accounts, but it's a start. We're already over halfway out of the stock market and assuming we'll lose our SS by the end of the summer.
I fully expect a full blown depression by the end of the year if nothing changes. Maybe sooner. IANA financial advisor, but I think most of the people in the market are assuming these are normal times. Uh uh. This won't be a classic depression. It's man made, which makes me think it will be far worse.
It would seem obvious by now that DOGE's mission is not to root out waste and inefficiency. Mr. Trump is all about retribution. If a journalist, or commentator or common citizen and even those who comment on HCR's wonderful newsletters could find that their bank accounts frozen, Social Security is cut off, Medicare benefits gone. Musk has your social security numbers, he has your bank info and yup, he knows where you live. Mr. Trump has not hesitated with his perceived enemies about naming them with his mega phone and where you live.
Unfortunately, "calling the cops" is not a usefult option anymore. The foxes now guard the henhouse. Can anyone really trust information coming from federal agencies anymore?
Carol, I disagree that the government agencies are "damaged and inefficient."
The SSA makes over 70 million payments a month. And they do it effectively without the requested level of staff. Every year Congress votes on a number of changes to the Federal tax code and the IRS programmers and staff have about a month to program those changes into the already heavily modified system. And every year, the Republicans vote to reduce the IRS budget just so the wealthy won't get audited and are forced to pay their fair share.
Correct, that is my point. IRS and SS are being deliberately attacked so that they do not function as intended so that becomes an excuse for private take over.
I think her point was that DOGE, and cooperating people are sabotaging the formerly quite efficiently run agencies, to make them ripe to be taken over by private companies. That way the rich get even richer at disastrous cost to everyone else.
What I don’t get is the data they are stealing (and the medical research being abandoned, etc.) affects Congress members and THEIR families too. How do they think they are protected from the damage?
Maybe it can be done twice: run the agency into the ground; privatise; load the new company with debt and transfer assets to another company just before selling on; crash; be nationalised at huge cost to taxpayer because essential and/or strategic services not happening.
It’s a scam that’s happened a few times in the UK: see under rail nationalisation and Thames Water (not yet renationalised but probably will have to be).
Their not transferring the debt to another company. They’ll be transferring the debt to the American people.
The idea is to privatize the profits and dump the losses in the American people.
They will say a private company can do better but the whole thing will still be usbsizized by tax payers.
Think about it….they hand over the debt to”running” of the agency to a private entiti but still will be using the money allocated by congress. IT’S WHY they have’s asked Congress to “close” them. The American taxpayer is int going to be handed a check and they say, “good news, next year your taxes are going down 20% because we closed SS, the USPS, USAID,” etc. our taxes will still be the same. If not hirer and the billions going to these agencies will still go to them. The difference will be the CEO and shareholders will take their cut of profits and then ask for more money the following year.
DeJoy never severed ties completely with his private package delivery company. He was just waiting it out for either A GoP president or a majority in the Congress and senate. Now he has both. So he’ll most likely partner the USPS with his old comapny which will not only be given billions in tax dollars to run the USPS, with all profits going to DeJoy and its shareholders, yhey will literally have 315 MILLIONS customers. Wonder how much tat stock will rise.
Same thing for the private comapny chosen to run SS and student loans.theyll still get billions in government money to “run” the services which means these bankers no longer need to wine and dine and try to get retirees to invest with them. They’ll already have 315 MILLIONS customers customers they can treat anyway they want. And the profits will go to the CRo and the shareholders, who will not be considered to the taxpayer. And if they screw it uo like the housing and dot.com, theyll walk away with a government bailout. You think banks were too big to fail, try the entire US economy.
They’ve been trying this for years. And how they get the American people to go along is to say it’s inefficient and THEY can do better. Just like they’ve done so much better controlling healthcare costs with Medicare Part D or private insurance.
A private company’s dream to to attach to a government, get the contracts, the subsidies and be protected from losses while they squeeze the profits. It’s why K Street is so huge.
And of course, they’ll be hefty kick back to the guy who made it all happen. I’m guessing neither Bezos or Musk get to trillionaire first….itll be Trump through bribes.
1. Privatise a state-owned organisation /agency, including its assets and liabilities.
2. The new owners then load the new company with new debt under the pretext of having to invest to bring the service up to date. They transfer the borrowed money to another company and don’t update the services.
3. They then sell on the heavily indebted company.
4. The company is then stripped of its most profitable assets to pay off the massive debt, but only pay off a part. At that point the second new owners ask for state subsidies to keep operating.
5. Finally, the company having become wholly dysfunctional and nearing bankruptcy, it is re-nationalised, including massive debt and minus the most profitable assets. (This final stage can happen after more forward sales, indebtedness and stripping by the private sector.)
Have a look at the history of Thames Water for an example..
If we were playing the game “BINGO”, you would’ve won the prize! Every one of these evil billionaire-ish people should be made to be stripped bare. By that, I mean that they lose all of their earnings and capital to replenish what they have stolen from us and the world. May we see real justice take over before we see our demise.
Muskrat also wants to spy on government employees who make less than complimentary remarks about dear leader on their spare time outside of work (doing so at work can run afoul of the Hatch Act, which Trump thinks he doesn’t have to follow. He also wants to prevent any efforts to collectively bargain in the public or private sectors.
What's to be done about Musk and Tesla? It seems that Trump is handing out contracts to Musk like candy at Halloween. Of course there are serious conflicts of interest here, but don't expect Bondi or Patel to do a thing about them.
AI, A "qui tam" provision, primarily associated with the False Claims Act (FCA), empowers individuals to bring lawsuits against those defrauding the government, with the potential to receive a share of any recovered funds.
The FCA provides that any person who knowingly submits, or causes to submit, false claims to the government is liable for three times the government's damages plus a penalty that is linked to inflation
This provision allows "whistleblowers," also known as "relators," to sue on behalf of the United States and, if successful, receive a portion of the recovery.
My only issue with any comparison to Nazis is that I don’t think MAGA sees that as a negative or an insult.
I heard Seth Moulton make a reference to Nazis and he was absolutely right but I think he need eit realize…..many people in this country admire Nazis and Hitler which is why it is nauseating yhey have tried to goose step they way around the constitution on the back of antisemitism. I’m shocked more Jews haven’t demanded they stop using them for illegal and anti democratic scapegoating.
MAGA talks about Hitler and the Nazis as if THEY were just proud Germans being attacked by gypsies and Jews who were diseased and controlling all the money and they needed to stand up to those two entities. They have warped history so badly and I’m not even sure yhey get how dangerous the Nazi and fascists movements were to the world. I definitely do not think they ever draw the conclusive line from the fact the freedoms we have been afforded are quite opposite to what the Nazis wanted. I think we have been spoiled I. This country with the factb5at we can say anything we want without fear of government retaliation. Or we used to be able to. I also don’t think MAGA understand the difference between what Trumo is doing with religion and speech to “wokeism”.
Their reaction to wokeism was pretty strong. But yhey never understood the difference between the GOVERNMENT saying you can’t tell a woman, “nice ass” at work and your boss. The GOVERNEMTN has no right to do anything about you saying that or calling comeone the N word or a woman a C or a Jew a K. Has no right to tell you you cannot say “Jews will not replace us or Muslims saying River to the sea or calling Jews names.
They equated what was happening to them for being vile from their friends, neighbors and coworkers with a governemtn restricting free speech, they didn’t get the fact your neighbors are just as free to have NOTHING to do with as you are to EVERYTHING to do with the KKK. Free association. And your boss CAN fire you for using racial slurs and saying offensive stuff to their female employees. And comedians didn’t get that audiences could 100% not by tickets to your shows. That’s not censorship, it’s a consequence of actions. HUGE difference.
In Nazi Germany and the Trumo administration, if you now say something or write something etching, you are getting GOVERNEMTNT agencies succeed in you. Of course, it won’t and hasn’t held up in court because it’s illegal but it is still harassment by the GOVERNMENT. this isn’t your brother in law refusing to go to Thanksgiving bevause if your racist rants. This is the power of ten governemtn saying you cannot speak freely. And if you do, we I’ll punish you by freezing your assets.
Maybe universities handled Gaza protests wrong. Plenty didn’t but they was a fine line between LEGAL repulsive speech we dislike and physical harassment and destruction and trespassing. Many schools removed kids for trespassing, not speech bevause no matter how vile, you can say what you like in 99% of the cases ruled by SCOTUS.
Moulton can compare them to Nazis, they do have a lot in common. And I’m not against his ability to do it. I just think it’s ineffective in trying to sway people who admire a group that wouldn’t let Jews worship their religion, sewed stars on them confiscated their property and tried to annihilate them because they disagreed with their religion and thei speech. They simply didn’t like who they were and blamed them for their horrible lives. Just like they want to punish gays and women and minorities for how they are and their horrible lives. And they both worship the men who actually take their opportunities, steal all the resources and leave them to live on hate and fear. It get it. It’s easier.
Yes. As Heather writes in the last paragraph: "“There’s a lot of money to be made by a new company coming in here,” said Hashmi. “But you have to ask: What is the problem that’s being solved?” " Well, the problem is that Muskolini STILL doesn't have enough money and influence. THAT is the problem he is fixing.
Carol S., you so nailed the goals of the one percenters! Will we wake-up in time? The call for peaceful demonstrations is now. More and more will be needed! Project 2025 has been underway for quite awhile. That is, too long.
It’s called the “Shock Doctrine”! a book written by Naomi Klein who it would be nice to hear from substack. I think it’s also Chapter 13 from the secret Russian playbook.
MTG want to see evil all she needs to do is look at her idols trump, vance, musk and look in any mirror. These villains are the face of evil. Lying, hating anyone not them, stealing funds and information, money laundering, insider trading, hurting people in America and the world, starving people, depriving people of education and trying to stop them from reaching their human potential, human trafficking. The list goes on and on. Oh, their judgement day is coming and mercy and sympathy we will not have.
Here's an on point excerpt from an article I'm publishing later today:
A growing few in the GOP understand that when their billionaire donors lose wealth due to economic instability, hourly changes in tariff and trade policies, the rapidly declining value of the US dollar against the Euro and other currencies, when jobs are lost, and each new round of Trump/Musk/DOGE "government efficiency is unmasked to reveal newly corrupt single-source contracts for SpaceX and Starlink, concern about whether Trump is “draining the swamp” or is the swamp begins to manifest.
At present most have remained silent, or are grumbling to one another in the halls of Congress, not wanting to reject a solid base of MAGA cultists who, in 2024, represented one-third of eligible voters in the United States. Since one-third of eligible voters couldn’t be bothered to vote in 2024, MAGA voters accounted for slightly more than one-half of those who cast a vote between an incompetent corrupt criminal and a highly-qualified woman and positioned the criminal-elect for his second Executive Branch crime wave.
If there are elections in 2026 and beyond, there will not be a blue wave, not a red wave, but a wave of people embracing the core principles of the rule of law, the concept of competent governance, equality, and democracy. A 2026 vote renewing a 250-year-old fight to overthrow tyranny, tariffs, and royalty in favor of reasonable self-governance.
George, thank you for the thoughtful comment on the professor’s letter. I regret I can only give you one ❤️ for your comment.
In support of your thoughts I offer the following short anecdote. A friend of mine, a now retired Harvard Alum of reasonable means, told me over the weekend that he had never included Harvard in his philanthropic efforts because he didn’t think they needed it but, he made a substantial donation to Harvard to fight Trump. I’d like to believe he’s part of the wave.
Thank you Gary (and your friend as well). I often write that any meaningful democracy requires an educated, informed, and engaged society. Grateful to all who support and strengthen the foundation.
Prudence and decency are getting swamped, and they are pissed.
A wave of people embracing the core principles? I sure hope so. The beautiful and sustaining (even if hazardous) Earth? The vast potential of any "wild and precious life"? Why trade all that for these ugly and destructive games?
Thank you JL. I suspect many donors viewed the criminal-elect as an easy shortcut to doubling or tripling their offshore portfolios of wealth. They underestimated the scope of damage he could do without any guardrails and a Cabinet full of incompetent sycophants.
20 years ago Leonard Leo didn't have a pot to piss in and now he picks the Federal court judges and buys elections for Susan Collins and others.
And in 2016 the Koch brothers pledged up to $900 million to buy elections across the country for Republicans. Two of their favorite candidates were Mike Pence and Ron Johnson. It seems they have backed away from buying seats in favor of funding Project 2025 and other Fascist projects.
If there is anything left. Muskrat and chump are supposedly finishing the destruction derby by summer and then the restoration. And there is a bridge in Brooklyn….
George, while I am pleased at your otherwise thoughtful analysis, I am quite troubled that you continue to write as if "one-third of eligible voters couldn’t be bothered to vote in 2024” when voting was suppressed in SO many ways from severe gerrymandering on to intentional slowing of mail-in ballots via the US Postal service under it’s MAGA-installed director to necessity to “cure” ballots arriving late within impossibly short time windows, especially from overseas, to severely limiting polling places to the outright intimidation evident at so many of those polling places in heavily blue districts to outright burning of ballot boxes to ballot tabulators rigged to actively change voting numbers in seven swing states. You continue the grievous distortions and outright lies of the MAGA Right with this kind of simplistic representation as if "voters don’t care."
Very good point John. Voter suppression is on full display in the North Carolina Supreme Court vote count, new attempts like the so-called “SAVE” act, and more dating back to Bush v. Gore in Florida.
While the GOP continues to pass legislation at the State and Federal level to disenfranchise voters, 89 million eligible voters did not cast a ballot in 2024. The voter suppression efforts are generally directed at removing eligible voters from the rolls.
Thank you Roxanna. It would be interesting for every individual who has data stored at the VA and SSA to sue Musk in small claims court for maximum allowed for a data breach.
trump and musk are stealing America’s data for personal gain, and possibly allowing China and Russia to have access! What DOGE is doing is highly illegal, why isn’t he being stopped?
They are stealing the country blind and we just watch? This is insane.
Ricardo, the whistleblower at the NLRB reported a login with a newly DOGE created account and a spike of information leaving the agency. The ISP address was Russian.
There is no "possibly" about it, at least with Russia.
💯% right Ally, The question is for how long our military are going to tolerate the destruction of our security apparatus in the benefit of our enemies . All the information being transferred to them, one way or another are, at the end, going to be used against us. Thanks for your reply.
“He’s doing an incredible job. And we stand firmly with him.”
Chaos. Crazy. Unvetted wife joins another top-level meeting.
“He’s our guy.” He’s done a great job getting rid of D.E.I. And religion has come back to America.”
More resignations. More firings. More mis-statements. More lies.
“He’s totally professional. He can throw an ax. His wife can join any group chats she likes. His kids, too, if they like.”
More confusion. More contradictions. More clowns. More back-channel info to Putin via Musk’s incel boys.
“He’s fighting the fake news media. They’re so corrupt. He, and I – all of us – can stand up to them. We’re 100% for America. We’re Making America Great Again.”
More congressional and from-within-the-Pentagon calls to fire the ax-thrower. More chaos. More theater.
“Sure, he had a few drinks when he was younger. Kristi had to shoot her puppy in the head. Couple of goats, too. Too bad. Some of our fake news could use some of that toughness. But Pete – admit it – handsome on Fox. Great tattoos – a real Christian. May be politically incorrect, but Kristi is easy on the eyes. Our blond, apple-cheeked, 27-year-old press secretary also – come on, admit it . . .. And they’re all perfectly loyal to America’s most-needed president ever.”
Tragic situation Phil. They are destroying America from within at unimaginable speed to the delight of our adversaries and declared enemies. I wonder what our military are thinking in view of our constant weakening as a nation. In that respect and all others, we can't let the regime reach the point of no return.
If "we" rally appropriately, however, we may face the fact that we let our schools down and so left ourselves vulnerable to exactly what Putin and his oligarchs were wrecking on their people, the Russian people, for the past 30 years.
We may insist on schools of sufficient quality -- and sufficient freedom for the teachers (from the deadening testing) -- so that we can with conviction say "never again."
And as to others who used to say that, we may be in a position to put such humane schools in place so those two words, "never again," mean something even for those who never got the schools decent enough to reconcile with their neighbors, never learned to be decent enough to escape the stereotypes which all that testing has only left grimly in place.
I live in the mountains of Kyushu, Japan, Kathy. Getting English books not easy.
Diane Ravitch's "The Language Police" shows how -- with copious appendices -- corporate textbook packagers and standardized testers have gone out of their way to feature neutered language only. To exclude the personal, always. And to emphasize only the abstracted categorical and simpleton causal chronologies.
It's had enormous impact. Many fewer Americans read whole books anymore, even at the best Ivy League schools. Public officials and those in media almost never cite any novels, memoirs, histories, biographies, or essay collections. They can't. As those posting online by far also never do. Doesn't matter if the format of what one could use is print or digital.
Ominously, the damages from what Diane Ravitch documents overlaps with how Timothy Snyder in "The Road to Unfreedom" shows the strategies of dictators who dump the personal, the individual, facts, and evidence in favor of only group consciousness for outrage and easily-provoked sensationalism.
Joni Ernst was the 5th vote that could have sunk Hogsbreath's confirmation. Hopefully, the good people of Iowa can get rid of this worthless piece of crap once and for all. That is, if we have another election.
GJ, what you mentioned as "if" we have another election, I've been posting for weeks about my gut feeling that eventually that situation would arise. As soon the regime senses there's a chance to lose the midterm, they would create an incident or incite a reaction from we the people to declare martial law or invoke the insurrection act. Actually it's more than a gut feeling.
So many laws violated, with no consequences. When the Supreme Court ruled that the President cannot be prosecuted for official acts, did they mean just Trump, or the entire Executive branch, even DOGE? Is John Roberts regretting his Federalist Society roots even now? Does he regret the destruction of the rule of law that he and his supposed conservative fellow judges have caused? This is all on them, making Trump 2.0 possible, starting with Citizens United.
My question is "Did they mean all presidents or just Republican ones?" The most startling thing about that ruling is that it was issued in the context of the WORST PRESIDENT IN U.S. HISTORY.
The right-wing SCOTUS majority has played a major role here, but I don't think it's *all* on them. HCR's HOW THE SOUTH WON THE CIVIL WAR gets at the bigger picture, but I'd at least go back to what followed the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of the mid-1960s: The Republican Party became more and more white and less and less democratic. This led straight to the Reagan administration, whose coddling of mega-wealth eventually led to Citizens United (2010). The majority in Citizens United (Kennedy, Roberts, Scalia, Alito, Thomas) were all Republican appointees.
This is just more evidence that government and business are two different human enterprises with two different purposes: 1) The government works to help The People; 2) business works to make as much profit as possible for each business. It does not exist to help anyone but itself.
This is a discussion I've been having in my cohort of retired cop friends (MAGAts one and all) who claim that the cuts to the government that DOGE is making are really cutting out fraud and waste because they do not see the value in providing services. FFS, they were COPS, who, almost by definition, provided a government service!
Yes, well done, Teresa! And the best way to reverse the “We’re here to help” status is to 1) Declare that Government is awful, corrupt, and “the enemy” and 2) Corporations are legitimate, efficient, and “our friends.” AND, how can we make that switch? 1) Get a “Successful Business Person” to run the government and 2) Make sure the “Information Systems” stop the Fake News and tell the True News. NOW, that’s where it gets complicated: the Information Systems! I grew up with newspapers and radio. (Yikes, I must be OLD.) And, yes, those were Corporations. Now, ANYBODY can be “Information Systems” - Yes, radio, TV, newspapers, but also anybody with a keyboard or a microphone and an Internet Connection, etc. Now, I am NOT suggesting that we ban, eliminate, stifle, or whatever our “Information Systems.” It does help if We, the People take the time to think for ourselves!! Let Freedom Ring.
Yup, I believe that we, the citizens of the United States (yes, I am “homegrown”) are very much being hoodwinked into believing that Government Is Bad (see note at the end of this comment). I had ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War. My great x4 grandfather was at Yorktown in 1781 (at the ripe old age of 21). The government that was established 250 ago was meant to be helpful “for the People.” Indigenous People, Slaves, Women … yup, we eventually got better at recognizing All People - but we still have plenty of work to do. However, we have now hit a roadblock. Trump is Corporate. So is Musk. On and on! Efficiency is the key! They have organized a Grand Plan - Project 2025, which is 41% completed at this point. Now - can the US government be “bad”? Yes, we have a 250 year history to deal with. Have we had US Senators and US Representatives break the law recently? Yup. Have they been caught and sent to jail? Yup - (but not to El Salvador). Have we elevated a convicted felon (who took full advantage of his DUE PROCESS) to the Presidency. We need BETTER government, not STRONG-ARM government.
The stories we are being told from both directions have flaws. They are clearly interpretations of the same events that differ in content and the direction the People should take as we move forward in time. I feel we are sorting through the evidence, as we accept evidence, in the due process format which is in our DNA at this point. Hell yeah! That is a help! That is a genetics belief on my part. Do as you will with that point of view.
If one examines the last 10,000 or so years of recorded time in stones, texts, all the way up to digital records, we see a pattern of building and disintegration. I believe disintegration is one of those 'interesting' times. Building is one of those 'fun' times.
The Pope showed caring as I want my leaders to care, though I am neither Catholic nor do I agree with the strictures his faith imposes on some. But, he had compassion, empathy, and experience. Others prefer attacking the needs of those these people profess to protect.
Billions of people have compassion, empathy and experience Cynthia. He was the head of an organization that promotes the patriarchy and is the reason abortion is illegal in most of the red states.
When there is a Pope that recognizes that women are equal or superior to men by allowing them to be priests, cardinals and bishops and even pope, then perhaps they will be recognized as legitimate.
The Pope refused to endorse Kamala Harris for President. His endorsement could have made the difference in the 2024 election.
Until paternal DNA of fetus' and equitable responsibility for the products of conception is law the heritage foundation, et al will continue to criminalize motherhood.
As the Commander-in-Chief said so movingly (in between introducing his beautiful wife and the cavorting Easter Bunny), "He was a good man, worktard, did a great job. He loved the world. And now (paraphrased) we're gonna have fun!" (and more, in the latter vein).
The Press and the DNC are just beginning to realize what stock and bond investors are well aware of: the tariffs are a National Sales Tax. A corrupt tax that is filtered through the Trump and Musk bank accounts.
DOGE is directed by highly intelligent immoral thieves. Hiding behind the Idiot chaos. Deception with focused purpose. And immune from prosecution for their crimes.
The entire Trump Organization is a scam. Designed to steal as many billions they can take. Daily. Until the grownups say stop.
Pretty sure all regimes require support of law enforcement and military. When *all* the people are in the streets- military and LEOs will switch sides and join us.
This is a pleasant dream. So we pray. Patrick Henry warned in 1788 that the success of the government depended on only Good Men elected to offices of the public trust. Now we have a Bad Man as President. Supported by immoral oligarchs who bought the Congress. Be aware of what they say they want. Read Yarvin and Browder and Applebaum.
That was what W said and he added, “those are the ones you have to concentrate on.” That’s what chump did and why W has not criticized one syllable. Wonder what Dickie thinks. Any regrets that you gave power to an idiot.
Yes, it irks the crap outta me that Georgie hasn’t muttered a word about all of this chaos! Perhaps, he is involved in this coup? After all, he is an oilman.
Chump and muskrat don’t solve problems, they create them. Make everything come crashing down and replace it with something that will give them control over every aspect of our lives. Wonder if the P2025 people have realized that a wasteland is all they will have left. The “due process” rage has been cover for the dismantling of our financial systems. That done, people will scream for a fix, which will be with ultimate control over every aspect of our lives. The only question left is what does Vlad want…
How can trump admit he's wrong, when he can never see that he is?
Always a hoax, fake news, someone else's fault. . . an excuse for every occasion.
And no awareness of WHAT is "wrong."
If you tied him to a chair, and held his feet to the fire and said "Is ignoring the law wrong? Caging children? Threatening people?" he'd just look a bit puzzled and say" Well - no, I don't THINK so. . . "
He is following the playbook of his mentor, Roy Cohn, the self-loathing, closeted gay man who Daddy Trump tapped to school Donald on how to be “tough.” Cohn, Joe McCarthy’s counsel during his Red Scare romp, had a simple approach: never admit you are wrong and always attack your opponent. He died of AIDS but never conceded that fact. He was under investigation for massive tax evasion, but fought it until his death, telling a friend he’d spend every dime before he died rather than handing over any cash owed to the IRS. A true POS. Donald loved him (as much as he can love anyone but himself.)
Didn't even visit when he was dying. So deep and heartfelt was his sympathy that he complained to his aides " 'I had to spend a fortune to fumigate all the dishes and silverware.'" after one of Cohn's visits.
Oh, no - that's too easy an out. I think he has quite a good brain going there - in a weaselly sort of way. Good enough, anyway, to wriggle his way through the law. . . rather like your average pimp.
Does anyone else remember Pinky and the Brain”, an American animated sitcom about two genetically altered lab mice that plot to take over the world? Well, we are watching the technocrats play it out in real life, but not just for world domination, they want Universe domination, and to get it they are stealing our data, tanking our economy so their bros can buy low, and leaking sensitive information possibly to Russia and China and who knows who they are selling it to, and we seem to be powerless to stop the data leak, but again yeah Harvard,
Not sure about selling it to China etc. The goal is to create a billionaire TechBro elite with ways to expedite the demise of the ‘unproductive’ populace and maximize the worker bee force. Thiel has been instrumental in contracting with the CIA on surveillance tech and Heather forgot to mention that he is involved with the SmartPay takeover attempt. The data mining is to maintain control over us, to monitor and punish dissent. Do we really believe that the power to ‘kill’ people by f-cking with their social security is just for migrants? It can target anyone.
Obviously the problem being solved is the collection of data for maximum personal gain. The fun of tearing agencies apart and terrorizing employees and patrons by shock and awe is just a bonus.
Harvard's suit observes: “The government has not—and cannot—identify any rational connection between antisemitism concerns and the medical, scientific, technological, and other research it has frozen . . . " Of course the government cannot. That's because this is extortion.
It is extortion, but at the same time it is also the destruction of the American research and education system. My husband is a scientist and their approved funding is frozen. If they do not release it my husband is going to retire early. So, that is one way they will save money, but by saving money research is not getting done.
I am glad that Harvard is countering Trump and can take him on with their 50 bil dollar endowment. It would be nice to see other universities joining them. I also think that Harvard should rescind the degrees from anyone working with or for Trump because they are violating an ethical code that Harvard should at this point be insisting on from their alumni. Other Universities would be wise to do the same thing, and take back degrees from people who do not live up to a code of ethics.
For sure. You’ve summed it up very well. What we stand to lose is immeasurable wealth in knowledge, talent, and so much more. And unity of higher education is indispensable, although I am disappointed it was not there at the outset of this onslaught.
I’m sorry to express that the government will be totally destroyed and a complete collapse is on the verge of happening. Only then can it attempt a rebuild. The phenix will rise but not after total destruction .
planes are exploding. A new pandemic is in the rise now with no capacity for found cures as millions die in the streets. Dante’s doors have been opened. Even the papa has taken leave. The total rape and pillaging of America is at hand. The high metal fencing surrounding the White House were place not to protect the inside residents from attack but to isolate the monsters within.
The devils are at the gates.
Bill, the condition you describe sounds like the Christian definition of the word “apocalypse.“ The true definition of the word comes from the ancient Greeks, and it means to uncover that which was hidden, often accompanied by a sense of revelation.
I don’t abide much by the Christian Translation of the word apocalypse, but I very much identify with its source, the ancient Greeks. For years I have believed we were facing the “great uncovering“ and obviously that is what we are seeing accelerating today. Much of what the billionaires, Musk and Donald J Trump are accomplishing is to uncover trends that have been going on for decades And what we see uncovered is nothing but greed and contempt for compassion.
Although the daily news is startling and depressing, one has to accept that when the Trump administration is over we will have a giant pile of ashes, and it is up to us. “we the people,“ to build a new government, a new economy, and a compassionate caring society.
If you would like a peek at what that might look like and what people are discussing for the next level of economics and governance, please visit.
https://open.substack.com/pub/crisistransition/p/democracy-at-the-edge?r=bj2wi&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Maybe a bunch of new laws to prevent a trump and the massive corruption and self-dealing. And promise to permanently repair our relationships with our allies. Putting teeth into laws to prevent this kind of disaster from happening again.
It seems writing better laws makes sense but perhaps even more important is putting and keeping people in positions to support and uphold those or any "publicly beneficial" ( in the truest sense; sorry to be so vague; I'm no philosopher or politician) laws. Clearly that's been lacking 'til now and seriously if not desperately needed despite some good and good faith attempts by members of the legal world.
We need the impossible. We need a Constitutional amendment which will NOT allow anyone with a felony to be president.
Thank you for that. Thoughtfully written. Uncovering what was hidden, accompanied (hopefully) by an sense of revelation to all of us.
Don't you find it odd that little, or almost none, of this uncovered greed and contempt is found among the billionaires?
Not off. A very very old story.
How many will perish till your time arrives?
Christy'[s remarks are so true. Love the remark "A disempowered public is a manageable one." We have the power. USE IT!
Waiting for 2026 will be like waiting for Godot.
And we know how futile that was for Vladimir and Estragon.
At least those two had a hope, albeit never consummated.
I admire Bill’s capacity for hyperbole. But I might remind him that, to update an old saying to the level of correct political correctness, 'the plus size lady ain’t sung yet’.
And as we say here in New England, “Ahup.”
In July of 1956, when I was eleven, I had occasion to climb Katahdin with a classmate and his father. While enjoying the snack we’d brought up with us, we saw a DC-3 letting down between us and North Brother for somewhere east of us. And we were just a bit higher than it was. I remember thinking then that anything must be possible. A boy’s whim, but there are still moments, even now.
Specify “planes exploding”: where, when? Thanks!
Because the great leader does not want anyone or anything to be smarter than he.
My cats and the chair I'm sitting on are smarter than he is. Much nicer too.
I’ll “Meow” that.
Puuurrrrrr
I agree and I am a dog partisan! 😉
My horse had much more sense and intelligence than his band of loyalists.
Woof!
We all should paws and reflect on that.
" . . . . the land of the greed and the home of knaves."
! I saw a quote the other day: the government is where all the problems that the private sector can't solve go. If they can't profit from it, the private sector shrugs its shoulders and sends it down the line. IMHO, capitalism in its extreme will not take care of anyone but business owners and executives.
Interesting thought. I will have to chew the cud on it. Thank you, Mona.
Orange idiot is a loser, no brain dumbass
? Stephanie Banks do you mean Putin? Surely you can’t mean his useful idiot who can’t think beyond his hairdo and makeup.
Yes, I meant Putin. Of course Orban is bad, but he has not invaded an innocent country to expand his empire. Thank you for the correction.
Agree completely. I used to be an in-house lawyer for Columbia. I am so disappointed in them for their capitulation.
Linda, this is an excellent statement! Thank you! I, as a high school educated senior citizen, wasn’t aware colleges had a code of ethics! (Why would I ? And dont worry, I am not self-deprecating , I am very smart!) To your point, if they could somehow hold the alumni to account for that code, it could go a long way to help .
Yes. The threat of losing the degrees that these hypocrites claim comes from woke institutions that they are trying to destroy, should make them think twice. At some point, backing Trump is going to be like staying on a sinking ship.
Actually, the ship is sinking. But, meanwhile, the media system blaring from the speakers on the ship, is telling the passengers that it is completely safe and actually rising up higher out of the water due to the skill and caring of its captain.
Former and current governors like Kevin Walker of Wisconsin, DeSantos of Florida and I believe one from the Midwest (who claimed no one needs to study French or its literature. What? I was a French major and put it to good use at a French bank on Wall Street.) The new mantra is STEM - so the humanities have been woefully underfunded as a result.
As I understand it, STEM was created to get more minority students involved in those disciplines, which, IMO is a good thing. That said, I believe that all disciplines are valuable. Variety is the spice of life.
I agree that variety and rounded ness is part of a good education. STEM and then STEAM were created to also get girls into those fields, but the way it was done was to over-focus on that and imply that you are only bright if that is what you are good at. You don't add one and dump the other the way that has been done. Still, I am not going to go into a rant on education, American and other, because it is in danger of being anything at all in the US. Who does that? Fascists.
That point was January 20, 2025.
Peaceful Protester, I am a college graduate, and I didn't know that. Linda's comments are always educational.
That's what Trump wanted besides his name everywhere, he wanted to steal their endowment!
It’s not about finding waste it about where can they steal money and power from.
Linda Weide Linda on Life Abroad -- "𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 50 𝑏𝑖𝑙 𝑑𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡."
Yes, Harvard can use its endowment... but it’s complicated.
Yes, Harvard has an enormous endowment (about $50 billion), but it's not like a checking account. Most of that money is earmarked for specific things like:
• Scholarships and financial aid
• Faculty salaries
• Research in particular areas
• Maintenance of buildings, libraries, museums, etc.
So, while Harvard has a lot of money on paper, it can’t freely repurpose all of it to cover anything it wants — like a sudden loss of federal research grants.
How else could Harvard respond?
• Bridge funding: Harvard might use unrestricted endowment returns or other funds to temporarily keep key research labs and projects alive.
• Private funding: The university might ramp up fundraising from donors, foundations, or corporations to replace some federal support.
•Political advocacy: Harvard and peer institutions have powerful lobbying arms. They would push back hard through Congress, media, and public campaigns.
In any event, the optics of attacking elite universities may play well to some bases, but it opens up big constitutional and institutional risks for any administration trying it.
Good points, but the value of Harvard's endowment is in the investments that make it up. Through those, and the voting rights they confer, Harvard can influence Boards of Directors and business executives, many of whom are alumni, to put pressure on Trump & Co. and possibly bring about some change.
So for me the question remains. Why should private educational institutions expect ANY funding at all from the government? Why shouldn't government funding be aimed at public institutions? This should be true for research as well as for idiotic things like giving government grants to support religious schools and their prayer books!
For me, government doesn't belong in those areas, period. We have strayed so far from having colorblind, agnostic public institutions it is sad. Government funds should be used to support institutions that provide fair and equal access to ALL people, not given out to institutions that provide biased access to certain groups whether that is based in religion, gender, race or even academic superiority. Support should be provided only to public institutions that offer equality of services to all.
You are wrong Jon, the government is needed precisely in areas that don’t have great economic potential, like rare childhood diseases where there will be no chance of recouping development costs. The knowledge gained from that research may well lead to other solutions to ancillary problems. The government does have a place at the research table that public companies have no incentive to take part in, the government is there representing all of us.
You are completely misreading what I said. I do NOT oppose using government funds to fund ANYTHING that you suggested in fact i urge it. I just believe that funding should go to PUBLIC institutions not PRIVATE ones.
This is not about keeping research from being done, I urge ALL research to be funded, just NOT at Harvard or Stanford. If those schools choose to become public institutions I would be thrilled to fund them equally to all other public institutions but they want to keep and protect their endowments and investment like any private company.
We have plenty of institutions scraping for money that we don't need to give it to the Harvard's of the world who have their own multi billion dollar endowments.
Jon Rosen -- "𝑆𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠. 𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝐴𝑁𝑌 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡?"
Think about it.
There are several reasons why the U.S. government gives funding to institutions like Harvard, even when they clearly don’t need the money in a survival sense:
1. Federal Research Grants
The majority of federal money going to Harvard isn’t a blank check—it’s typically earmarked for research. The government (through agencies like the NIH, NSF, and DoD) funds research across universities because of the high-quality work produced there. Harvard happens to attract top-tier researchers, which makes it a hub for government-backed research projects in medicine, science, defense tech, AI, etc.
It's like the government saying: “𝑊𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔-𝑒𝑑𝑔𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ—ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒’𝑠 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑎𝑏.”
2. Student Financial Aid
Some federal funding also goes toward student aid programs—like Pell Grants or federal student loans—which follow students wherever they go. If a low-income student chooses Harvard, the government still contributes to their education through these aid programs. So in this case, the money isn’t really for Harvard, it’s for the student.
3. Indirect Costs
When the government funds a research project, they also pay overhead costs (known as indirect costs) to keep the lights on, literally—lab space, administration, maintenance, etc. Some criticize these as too generous, but they’re a standard part of federal research funding across all schools, not just Harvard.
But, the real question is, why isn't this funding spread out to smaller institutions. A question for another time, perhaps.
Sometimes that funding is spread out across a wide swath of institutions, both large and small, public and private. Consider the zebra fish. NIH has a massive zebra fish facility (my brother helped design its filtration system) with thousands of individual tanks controlled by individual researchers. Each tank represents a different field of experimental inquiry- genetic, regeneration, systemic. And the list goes on. Zebra fish can regrow amputated parts like lungs or heart atria, allowing the researchers to study the evolution of a condition across multiple generations in a short time span.
Studies of some diseases need to be conducted across multiple clinics to get the requisite number of cases to validate or disqualify a particular thesis.
Stopping one study at a Harvard or a Columbia probably could have a devastating effect at a UAB or a UW or a UM if the institutions were investigating in tandem.
In a Republic, I cannot think of any better purpose for government funding than educating the electorate, no matter in what area as long as it is open to all students and not affiliated with religious or other purely partisan entity.
I strongly oppose the use of public funds for any kind of private education because in fact private schools are NOT "open to all " but are rather subject to selective processes. For instance even Harvard still grants "legacy" preference to people whose parents went there and give lots of money to the school and Harvard has the right to use any money it receives that is not otherwise allocated for whatever it chooses.
Public institutions are not free to do such things as they are required by law to act in certain ways (although the current system which permits state systems to create different biases in public educating is also bad and we need a truly federalized system IMHO )
in any case I oppose the use of public money for private education of any kind including private universities as well as private primary and secondary schools including religious schools.
That's a separate question Jon, and one worthy of serious discussion. In the meantime, we have the system as it is and Trump's piecemeal revenge based approach is clearly inappropriate as well as largely ineffective.
Which is why my daughter goes to a public uni in another country that does not charge tuition. That is a whole other discussion. This is a piece I wrote on it.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/study-abroad?r=f0qfn
I could have gotten a Master's Degree for free at Muencher Freiheits Universitaet, but 3 weeks at a Goethe Institute in Grafing bei Muenchen was a good second place!
One could better pressure Trump if he were in his right mind. A lot of his governing, which is not much, is done on a whim.
Dave, which is what I meant by "Political Advocacy."
I know that funds are restricted, but fortunately they are getting new funds as they have taken on this fight. I still think that they can use many monies for many things and take this on, because they are protecting those things. In fact, they can always ask the donors if they may use their money otherwise, except for anonymous donors of course. I do think that they should set up going forward a removal of degree if people dishonor the university. That is broad and acceptable. I would already take it from anyone in the Trump administration, or government that is supporting these anti-education actions.
Linda Weide,
Wise words ....as Americans, we must act! We have seen enough. Our amazing country is being destroyed for money and power ie placed in the fists of SELECT PERSONS. For how many days will this "fake " leadership be maintained and fed!!!!
A "wise code of ethics" is needed and we will not find it honored within the minds and hearts of many of our leaders.
Actions are being taken to hijack our education system, our monetary system, exchange truth for lies in the areas of scientific research, lies spread regarding health care, as well as the care of our earth.....quick acquisition of money with transfer into the pockets of billionaires.
Truth, wisdom, the care of our earth, the future and nourishment of our children ie mental, emotional and physical is being wiped out. Those in need throughout the world are experiencing abandonment...more poverty and starvation as we turn our backs on those in need.
We are allowing truth to be exchanged for lies....we are aiding and facilitating the "rule" of one man, Donald Trump!!! This weak fool is being allowed to take over this country with the vision of including The Panama Canal, Mexico, Greenland and Canada.
That is his goal...to rule the world...one country at a time.
I am so grateful for the courage shown by the populations and leaders within our world.
I am saddened that any country including China, should have to spend time and resources defending themselves from so many tariffs. There is a better way for all to benefit....ways of working together that would benefit the world...NOT just one man.
Those who chose Donald Trump...put him into office ....."brainwashed" his followers....and are using them to ruin the goodness and strength of this great nation.
I never hear this administration talking about the education of our children except how to control the education system. Trump and his minions must be worshipped. They are the authoritarians who choose the books our children will read and the science we will follow regarding the health of our children.
The leaders and workers within every agency of education, science, monetary...etc will be led by a Trump appointee. They will comply with the KING or "lose their head". Is this the way you want to continue, examine yourselves because THIS IS THE WAY WE ARE GOING!
That famously ugly ex-soldier and sculptor who haunted the Athenian agora 2400 years ago asked, “How should men live?”
Our Founders answered with the Constitution, the first time in history a nation had defined itself at its inception. For me, their challenge was quite straightforward. We were designed to be that nation in which ‘We the People’ might together find enough of the courage, the understanding, the honesty, the tolerance, the compassion, the humility, the wisdom, the humor, the hope, and the sheer common sense to rule ourselves from the bottom up with as much equity and justice as humanly possible. I don’t suppose that constitutes an ethical code, but then the Constitution is based on a very pragmatic understanding of human nature, not anyone’s ethical standards.
Linda, I have had that same thought re: rescind those degrees of the many Repub cowards who claim that the lives of their families and of themselves are more important than ours.
That’s interesting. Could a degree actually be rescinded? Fascinating. I guess Orange Turd could have hiss Wharton degree rescinded but it like is full of D’Souza and F’s for tge subjects he took. Seeing the transcript would be lovely.
It could be a great way that the education system could contribute to the overhaul of the political system. I think nothing ventured nothing gained. It would at least force all these people who are attacking education to admit to the public that they have degrees from these institutions, and that they value them.
Cancelling degrees awarded by Harvard to injure them for their political views is nonsense and even if it could be done it would amount to nothing less than an unlawful attack on free speech, i.e. very fascist, ignorant and Trumpian.
I respectfully disagree. It would force them to expose their hypocrisy. If they complain they will be publicly acknowledging that they value the degrees that they pretend to their un college educated constituents they don't.
Sounds great, but wouldn't doing that just make us Mensheviks instead of Bolsheviks?
Did you attend? 😏
D not D’Souza cheeses.
🤔
One of my doctors, a highly regarded specialist, told me last week that he is applying for citizenship in another country -- and that a shocking number of his colleagues (including some researchers) are considering the same. He said that Trump's politics are going to impact the "medical community" in ways we haven't even seen yet, but are soon to take place. I was shocked, but then again, why am I surprised? This gifted doctor is relatively young and has a family, and has no problem starting fresh, where medicine is practiced without the bizarro government threats that we are starting to see in the U.S.
All I can say is, I hope the Trumpers who remain in this country are prepared to do their own heart surgery with whatever tools they have in the shed/
That last sentence is priceless. And while they're at it, clean up after their tornadoes and floods, because FEMA ain't gonna be there.
What? They have hearts?!
Good point! :-)
LOL at that one!
I have been saying since Roe v. Wade was overturned that we are going to see doctors leaving Red States and not just abortion doctors, med students going to blue states, and ultimately I see hospitals shutting down and doctors because getting rid of medicaid is going to cut back on so much funding for health care. I expect people to go to other countries, since there is a shortage of doctors everywhere.
Linda, you're exactly right. That's what I'm hearing.
Most particularly, Ms. Weide, Duke University needs to divest Stephen Miller of his degree. But then it is a “tobacco university” so what can we expect?
I like the idea of rescinding degrees for people who don't meet the standards under which they were conferred. Might wake some up, would certainly scare the bejeebers out of a few.
Is that even possible? It seems like most of the bad actors in the gov (including C Thomas) are Harvard or other Ivies alums. What do they teach there?
I have read in 2 places and seen in a film on rape on campus that at Yale the men say, "No means yes, and yes means anal."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunting_Ground
Do you think I would want my daughter going there? It smacks of entitlement. Entitlement to harm women because of the kind of Freedom that is discussed in Freedom's Dominion by Jefferson Cowie. The freedom for White males to have dominion over others.
I am appalled to read this comment here…skip the Yale slagging and turn your ire on the Supreme Court and rapist Trump where it belongs.
Watch the movie The Hunting Ground. It is shocking.
Here is an article discussing what I said.
https://www.thefire.org/cases/yale-university-fraternity-suspended-five-years-intimidating-satirical-chant
https://www.businessinsider.com/yale-delta-kappa-epsilon-2018-1
https://msmagazine.com/2011/05/18/yale-bans-no-means-yes-fraternity-for-five-years/
I really don't need you mansplaining to me what my politics should be. I am a feminist and this is part of why my daughter is going to uni abroad. It is the culture of "this is not really a problem," well the Supreme court upholding laws that permit this sort of misogynist culture might be a problem, it is also found in the so called elite Unis that form these people and credential them. Trump is part of a culture in the US, the culture that many people are sick and tired of. These men are rapists too. The courts are filled with people formed by these cultures, that finds a fraternity gets 5 year ban instead of something that might change the culture. Like expulsion of the members from the Uni, and degrees conditional on not committing crimes like these.
Or… or… “Yes means anal” could mean male on male. Beats me. Coming from Yale.
Bill, without getting into the particular possibilities, it is a cry of male entitlement over another person's body without feeling the need for consent. Be it rape of females or males it is about a horrid sense of entitlement. The entitlement to possess someone else that is discussed in Freedom's Dominion by Jefferson Cowie. Not the freedom that respects other people having dominion over themselves.
I think it is possible to say we can remove your degree if you don't follow a code of conduct afterwards in which you gain work using this degree. Also, I think they should try it and see what Trump can do about it.
I read this morning that Harvard alum Stefanik has requested a federal investigation of the Saratoga Springs (NY) City School District over allegedly "woke" or DEI policies. Doesn't she have anything better to do than to get involved in local school district matters?? I'd love to see Harvard call her out.
She can't take her upset out at being pulled from the ambassador job on Trump, so she has to take it out on the helpless children. She is showing us that she is one of Madman Trump's Madwomen.
It would be a humorous moment if they had their degrees pulled. All the way back to grade school. Well, the Kindergarten advancement would be pulled as well. Then the doctor who pulled these future piglets out of the womb should correct the birth certificate with a “ Unsure of human qualities” clause.
Bill, this made me laugh out loud! Thanks for the very accurate imagery.
IMO, we should start by rescinding the elections of those Republican senators who refused to convict Trump after January 6th.
If Harvard rescinds degrees they would be doing much the same as trump is doing. Bullying. Not necessary to take away degrees. Maybe shame them by publicizing them?
That would be the easiest thing to do. If Harvard is attacked by Trump, put out a list of the members of Congress, Supreme Court, etc. who are Harvard graduates. Maybe even poll them for their opinions!
If it is bullying it is showing that these people are hypocrites. They tear down an institution. If someone threatens your family with a gun do you let them shoot you or do you fight back? If that is bullying than so be it. I prefer to think that the best defense is attack. That is what I was taught when I played soccer and I see that as a metaphor for this. Do not take it lying down!
I wonder if like-minded donors would be upping their donations.
I have read that the moment Harvard took a stand against the bullying that donations flooded in. Let us hope that every graduate that truly values this country sent them money.
Applaud Harvard
It’s more than extortion: it’s an attempt at authoritarian control of a private institution without legal authority.
That is definitely the objective. You’re right. And it is so scary.
Sophie, you need two to Tango, an attempt at authoritarian control and an institution run by irresponsible cowards. That's the reality at Columbia .
Well, it's the reality at Columbia (although I hear it was pushing back now that Harvard has lifted the standard of resistance), but it's not the only reality of authoritarian rule: should Trump decide to throw his paramilitaries and groups of loyalist bureaucrats at a university, then unless the local police is prepared for an all-out battle, the university can be taken over by force.
I also hear that the Trump government asked Columbia's partner school Barnard's faculty to fill out some form saying whether they are Jewish, Pro-Israel, zionist and so on... Scary, scary, and I hope no one filled it out.
Ricardo. I think it’s also about the cowards in the repuglicans party
For the party that demonizes George Soros to be claiming to be fighting anti-semitism is pretty rich.
And the party that says "good people on both sides," referring to those chanting "Jews will not replace us." They don't care about anti-Semitism one whit.
Indeed, they do not I grew up in the midwest where there was considerable antisemitism and actually anti anything not WASP.
tRump has been spouting antisemitic as well as racist garbage since he was an adolescent, if not before. It’s one of his brightest ideas for retribution to turn Title VII (civil rights act) prohibitions against the very institutions that practice DEI & tolerance.
lauriemcf, Pfft. The antisemitism excuse is so lame. Antisemitism is as much a part of the hatred of others as anything else. Did we see any supportive comments after the arsonist torched the state home of Governor Shapiro. Then there is Gangrene basically celebrating the death of the Pope because he was too woke. These people, are a bunch of soulless ghouls looking to making us an all white Christian theocracy. And is death star really going to attend the funeral of the Pope. He will bring nothing but bad energy the opposite to what the Pope tried to achieve.
Michele. If Death Star shows up maybe it will be like Simon who fell off his high horse and was converted. One can hope!
He has such bad energy and of course, a very large secret service retinue. I hope he just does more than fall off a horse like maybe just drop dead. He reminds me of a principal I once had who always showed up even thought he knew he was not wanted. It was about him as is everything death star does. I do not want this Pope's funeral to be tainted. Bad enough that he spent some of his last moments with the odious Vance.
I have a vision of Trump lurching smugly into the funeral service and Pope Francis rising from the dead to denounce him as the anti-
Christ. Can you even imagine how Fox would report that?
LOL. What an image. I will be thinking about that one for a long time.
A rational connection? No one can.
A Russian connection?
The rational connection is that it's a convenient pretext for imposing their will on what they see as a haven for liberal elitism and for deporting activist students and faculty.
Russell, we now have two students here in Oregon who were ordered to deport, one from England, who are now suing the government. They were both very near to getting their degrees and one is working on wildfire problems. So, we now have a situation where no one will come here if they want to make sure that they can finish their education. I am wondering too about college athletes from all over. And why vacation here when we have Customs acting like jackboots even with American citizens who happen to be on the wrong train, the wrong airport, or driving in the wrong place.
It's good to see that people are not putting up with this -
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/21/us-university-presidents-trump-administration
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/17/trump-international-students-visas
Just got a favorable ruling from a judge.
How to get rid of Homan? He is obviously a Kommandant from the movies only cruel without thought.
I believe the furor is over the fact that some students correctly asserted in their protests that Palestinians have rights too. Does anyone think that Netanyahu influenced Trump's agenda toward Israel? A while back Foreign Affairs listed the 4 most dangerous leaders: Trump, Netanyahu, Xi Ping and Orban. I have several Jewish friends who detest Netanyahu. I am against certain US policies; that doesn't make me anti-American or anti-white people, or whatever nonsense one wishes to fabricate.....
Trump is using anti-Semitism as a cover story for isolating and then stifling dissent.
Totally agree with you.
I am sure that Bibi is delighted with what we are doing. I am disgusted by what Israel is now doing in Gaza. It looks like the Israelis are reducing it to complete rubble, so that death star can make the area into a resort. And people have the right to speak for Palestinians. I know several people who are absolutely appalled by what is happening there. We need to be able to speak against wrongs wherever they occur and whoever is perpetuating them.
Often, when the subject of U.S. policy toward Israel comes up, I feel it's necessary to review how we got to where we are. So let's go back to the beginning.
Jewish scribes who wrote various books in the Hebrew Scriptures (aka The Old Testament) inserted an alleged pronouncement from Jehovah declaring that (coincidentally) the Israelites were God's "chosen people." Further, that God would favor any nation that favors Israel (coincidentally), and would punish any nation that is mean to Israel. Centuries later, Christian gentiles who interpreted the Judaic scriptures literally carried forward this belief that God will protect friends of Israel.
From the founding of the U.S., Christians have had an outsized influence on U.S. government policy, including the nation's relationship with Israel, which has turned out to be unique, compared to U.S. relations with other countries. Israel has typically received U.S. financial aid that is disproportionate to its strategic or economic value to U.S. interests. Moreover, when Israel's leadership engages in actions that would be considered aggressive or against International Law if carried out by any other nation, the U.S. Government looks the other way at a minimum, or provides resources to carry out those bad actions.
Among American Christians, evangelicals have a peculiar relationship with the Jewish nation of Israel. They are all in on the "biblical lucky rabbit's foot" status of Israel, but condemn Jews for disclaiming that Jesus was their anticipated Messiah. This condemnation provides an opening for evangelicals' embrace of antisemitic attitudes, while claiming the opposite. Although cognitive dissonance is on-brand for evangelicals.
Michael Oren - an Israeli - wrote a History of the Middle East. Excellent research. However, it all began after we became untethered from England, when these new Americans travelled to the Middle East and insisted on converting the Arabs to Christianity -- without asking them what they wanted or thought. The story marches on until we come to Truman then Clinton when real negotiations started with Egypt and other countries. It has been fraught from the start. There's been treachery on both sides.....
White American Christians have spent mind-boggling amounts of energy and money trying to force everyone else to do as they say.
Well done, Dale. The blindness and fear of evangelicals well elucidated. Thank you.
Don’t Republicans keep saying they want smaller government, less interference in our lives? When do they plan on implementing that? Seems they’re insinuating themselves in everything including our walking down the street what’re when they don’t like the color of you skin they’ll arrest you and hold you indefinitely, even if you prove you were born here.
"Harvard is suing the departments of Health and Human Services, Justice, Education, Energy, and Defense, the General Services Administration (GSA), the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, NASA, and the leaders of those agencies." Now there's a very good use of those billions in endowment. Give 'em hell, Harvard!
Putin/Musk are running this. Trump takes orders for today’s distraction. Today’s is really Hegseth with a touch of Noem. We have to continue to make as much noise as possible until SCOTUS and the non-traitor Republicans get the picture.
These inexplicable demands embody a digital coup d'état, together with a dash for dictatorship, giving life to ling hidden revenge fantasies. If that is the not behavior of a psychopath write large, then nothing is. No wonder Baron von Blimpoman keeps 'Mein Kampf' of his night-stand.
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/republican-us-senator-murkowski-on-threat-of-trump-retaliation-we-are-all-afraid
This article quotes Lisa Murkowski: “We are all afraid,” I happened to see the original clip. She means the whole Congress.
We have rule by fear. This is a coup.
The data that is being stolen will allow complete control of the U.S. Apparently Russia is involved. This has been in the works for years.
Their fear does not impress me, nor can I empathize with them. If they want to represent us, they must be greater than any fear they might have for themselves when facing a threat to our entire society and democracy. If they are so afraid that they cannot act to defend us, they must resign.
Given how much I hate the Trump administration I have to say that i don't have a lot of sympathy with Harvard either. I have railed for years at the billions of government dollars literally funneled into private and religious educational institutions and Harvard is one of the worst.
I do NOT like the extortion that Trump is trying to inflict here, but I WOULD favor getting rid of ALL governmental support of private educational institutions at all levels. Governments shouldn't be supporting private institutions whether business or education.
Harvard has its $50B endowment and if it wants to fund its research, let it pay for it itself rather than use government funds on top of that. But that should go for ALL private education. No government support at all. Ever. This should apply to K-12 as well as secondary and college.
Somehow, I can picture you grousing about the U.S. government refusing to provide funding to America's best and brightest student researchers, merely because they aren't attending a public university with lower academic standards.
Note: The funding is going to the STUDENTS conducting the research; the university is just providing a venue to conduct that research and faculty to facilitate it.
We would not have a majority of the technology we enjoy, were it not for government-funded research.
With that clarification, I agree that public funds should not be redirected to private and parochial schools teaching the lower grades.
First of all there are FEW students doing research. Most research money goes to the professors who do it. Yes they probably pay students money to do work for them but the students aren't the ones doing the research most of the time.
And the reason lots of research is done at institutions like Harvard is historical. Those institutions for many decades for most of the public money and that let them grow their faculties and research colleges. If the distribution of money had been equitable all along there would be plenty more public institutions with great research centers.
In fact there are selected public institutions in some fields where this already happens. For av long time astronomy was not a huge research area and the private institutions ignored it. But the University of Arizona Did not and now they have one of the strongest PUBLIC astronomy research departments in the country.
All I advocate for is the recognition that the big private colleges take money that should be going to fund PUBLIC research. Let the state schools flourish with more funding and reduce or ultimately eliminate funding to schools like Harvard, simply because private education in this country should be exactly that. Private.
…I suppose you are happy with the government giving huge contracts to Musk companies who use their communications tools and satellites to aid Putin with his invasion of Ukraine, right?
Are you just ignorant or do you not read anything? I am actively opposed to almost everything Musk has his sticky little hand in. I say that repeatedly so maybe you should actually read what people write before making comments. Sigh...
Harvard can scarcely be called a “religious” institution. I don’t understand your jeremiad.
If you actually read what i wrote it had nothing to do with religion although in fact Harvard IS historically a religious institution. That aside, I am opposed to providing PRIVATE institutions of ANY type with governmental funding, particularly for education. I believe public funding for education should go only to public institutions where the money can aid ALL citizens and not just a privileged few. How that clears things up.
No Shit! We don't need the government controlling any information a university has. Why? Extortion as you said.
Exactly
ANYONE THAT WRITES ALL IN CAPS IS NOT STABLE!!!
Little bit of humor in this stressful times is very welcome John. THANKS!!!!😁
YOU ARE WELCOME! HAVE A NICE DAY!!!
John Irving used it for Owen Meany’s voice. Screaming and annoying.
It says allot about his mental state. The whole nation will be typing with ALL CAPS by 2028.
First it was cursive writing they took away and now the lower case letters. Is punctuation next?
Punctuation died the death by a thousand tweets.
Boy that’s for sure and it was on shaky leg’s to begin with (see what I did there?).
ouch :-D
Also deceased: Proper capitalization, correct spelling and paragraphs.
Probably --- because the use of proper grammar is certainly in decline. If I have to read or listen to one more journalist or other professional misuse amount and number, less and fewer, I'm throwing something.
I agree, Stephanie. The one that irks me the most is the misuse of "me" and "I" that I hear on a regular basis from people who should know better. On NPR even! As an example, it makes me cringe to hear people say "He told my wife and I." I scream out to the tv or radio "me not I." Or when people use "me" in the nominative, such as "Me and my boyfriend went to..." Such basic grammar! We couldn't graduate from 8th grade without knowing these rules. (That was a rural school in NJ in the late 50s.) I understand that people learning English as a second language might have problems understanding our pronoun rules, but I know several people who teach English as as second language, who do emphasize these things that help in basic communication skills.
Carol, I attended public school in a small town in Georgia in the same time period as you. We share a lot of the same cringe points. 😖
I learned that stuff in Santa Monica, CA in the same time period. Plus my mother was the grammar police, and insisted that we use words correctly.
There's just such an easy way to check it for oneself, by dropping the other noun and saying the sentence out loud. It has to sound wrong to most people to say "me went to the store. Or 'he told I". I too react with consternation especially when it's someone in the public eye who can't speak properly.
Don't forget "it's" for "its" and plural words with unnecessary apostrophes ("apostrophe's").
Please add farther and further.
How about lay and lie?
How about lose and loose.
It’s also the people who use the word “like” every 5th word that annoy me; or raising the inflection at the end of every sentence. These aren’t exactly issues of journalism, but are issues I hear every day that also make me want to throw something.
I hope this doesn't offend anyone... but my husband calls me the Grammar Nazi.... because I correct print and TV and others (not to their face) all the time!!!
Kind of counterintuitive hitting the ‘like’ on this one, but, like, it’s, like, a flash flood these days. It would be interesting and disturbing to, like, rewrite the Gettysburg Address with, like, all the sh*tty grammar in vogue these days. ALL CAPS IN THE IMPORTANT PARTS. N
Stephanie Banks—that bothers me, too. And I hear it a ton 😏
Me Tarzan, you Jane.
Some people have already started doing this. It becomes harder and harder to understand the written word. What with that, the interchangeable use of they’re, there and their, and its and it’s, and other homonyms, spelling errors, etc, it takes a longer time than it should to construe a simple sentence. Run-on sentences, to which I am prone, don’t help either.
no doubt creating messages by voice recognition exacerbates the misuse of homonyms - not taking the time to go back and check, and then the constant use of errors makes one not sure if they *are* errors .... alas.
Hegseth's team of incompetent likes emojis, maybe that's where we are headed.
The BIG news is that Don Bacon, R NE, is the first Republican member of Congress to ask for Hegseth's removal from office.Bacon is the chair of a House Armed Services subcommittee and one of just a handful of House Republicans in districts that Kamala Harris carried last year. He first made his comments to Politico. https://www.axios.com/2025/04/21/don-bacon-pete-hegseth-signal
Hopefully, this is the start of the Feathers of Hope scenario. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
Where do the others on the committees stand?
Meanwhile there is pushback on tariffs, on Musk and his Muskovites, by Congressional Republicans.
Yes, Daniel, I had seen that yesterday about Bacon. Perhaps like dominoes, the convicted felon's supporters will fall away once they realize the insanity won't end. And I do believe that he is insane at this point -- his brain is disordered.
Right - they speak with cartoon characters instead of properly composed sentences.
Perhaps because they're all in the clown car being evil cartoon characters.
😆😆😆
Punctuation is already lost GJ
The technofascists want AI to do ALL the typing by 2028...
AI is NOT always right.
loved A Prayer for Owen Meany. Maybe those believing in their own divine destiny scream in caps?
The novelty is surely wearing thin??
ALL RED MAGA CAPS
Is Elements of Style a banned book🧐😬?
John, I hope not. I can't make myself use all caps.
Much of the best humor carries a payload of truth.
Good humor is very similar to lying, isn't it, yet different.
Exactly. Often it's a twist of logic that is designed to be discovered, like the puns in Alice in Wonderland. Detection of the "lie" in the narrative makes it funny, such as Carroll's substitution of the word "lessen" for "lesson", or statements or depiction meant to be obvious exaggeration, with clearly no attempt to deceive. Thomas Nast's image of a man with a moneybag for a head is obviously not real; or is it? Real lies attempt to defraud.
So much of Andy Borowitz’s best work carries that same payload.
Or cartoons of "Tom Tomorrow". The final cartoon of Ann Telnaes for WaPo packed a little more truth than it's owner could handle.
InDeed, sTABle GENIusEs WRitE liKe ThIS!!!
All CAPS = ALL CRAP 😉🤭🤫🙂🥳
💩💩💩
You get an* A+++ on the Trump smell-test. 🤭 I get a D- (i.e., a gentleman's F} for spelling. 😉
When computer keyboard manufacturers finally add a key with 3 exclamation points, it would save a lot of time.
That’s good! True LOL. Thanks martin!!!
Good one! Too funny!
I wish there was a laughing emoji!!! Hahaha
On my PC, if I hit "right click" at the top of my options is "emoji". They are similar to (but not as good as) the ones on my phone.
Or is that one's? Or ones'?
<sarcasm font>
This is a nice recess from this troubled world. Wonder they did for WWII? I know it was pot and music during the troubled years of Vietnam.
😂🤣😅
I did that once on some platform and was censored-too angry.
YOUR COMMENT IS PERFECT!!
John, Well, if I yell, everyone will have to pay attention.
YOU CAN’T FALSELY YELL FIRE TOO MANY TIMES!!!
Even the red hats are starting to see that. Especially ref hats with 401Ks.
No, just trying to make a point.
😂🤣
😄
What are you suggesting?
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/06/politics/donald-trump-white-house-fitness-very-stable-genius/index.html
The point of all of this is to make the government agencies so damaged and inefficient so there is an excuse to privatize everything. It is just another form of what Bain Capital did, buy companies and take them apart and sell them off. Who cares what it does to employees and pension plans, as long as the robber barons can take over and make tons of money. Having run out of private sector companies to destroy, these robber barons are looking to profit off the government and government services, at a very high cost to taxpayers. Ordinary Americans will see even more of the economy in the hands of the one percent by the time this is all over. We need to stop it now.
So 'Make America Great Again' equates to DOGE opening up interdimensional, highly sensitive data portals straight into Moscow’s inbox, and RumpRat plotting for the new RUMP card to replace the government’s $700 billion SmartPay system. Of course, there's nothing to see here. None of this is treasonous or corrupt. It’s just deeply misunderstood patriotism. Are you kidding me?? Someone call the cops.
Well, my husband received his social security check -- I DID NOT -- and they usually come together. Wrote to Jamie...
These people are gangsters robbing the country blind. Isn’t it about time for the military to round up the Don, his cabinet, heads of all govt agencies appointed by him, and the Heritage foundation and hold them until our law-abiding experts can return to assess the damage. Once the country is stabilized, we can deal with their crimes.
I am soo sorry to hear this! And now even more frightened for myself.
I hope you don't mean an actual paper check since that has been winding down for quite some time. Electronic transfer does have electronic trails but once a paper check goes into the mail it's far more difficult to trace.
We have an account we only use for IRS/State/City taxes now. If something hits that account that shouldn't, we transfer it and make sure to reroute future payments to the other account. Not sure how much that will help if they start seizing accounts, but it's a start. We're already over halfway out of the stock market and assuming we'll lose our SS by the end of the summer.
I fully expect a full blown depression by the end of the year if nothing changes. Maybe sooner. IANA financial advisor, but I think most of the people in the market are assuming these are normal times. Uh uh. This won't be a classic depression. It's man made, which makes me think it will be far worse.
I’m so very sorry, Stephanie Banks.
It would seem obvious by now that DOGE's mission is not to root out waste and inefficiency. Mr. Trump is all about retribution. If a journalist, or commentator or common citizen and even those who comment on HCR's wonderful newsletters could find that their bank accounts frozen, Social Security is cut off, Medicare benefits gone. Musk has your social security numbers, he has your bank info and yup, he knows where you live. Mr. Trump has not hesitated with his perceived enemies about naming them with his mega phone and where you live.
Unfortunately, "calling the cops" is not a usefult option anymore. The foxes now guard the henhouse. Can anyone really trust information coming from federal agencies anymore?
With Team Treason sitting atop up to five thousand nuclear weapons.
Carol, I disagree that the government agencies are "damaged and inefficient."
The SSA makes over 70 million payments a month. And they do it effectively without the requested level of staff. Every year Congress votes on a number of changes to the Federal tax code and the IRS programmers and staff have about a month to program those changes into the already heavily modified system. And every year, the Republicans vote to reduce the IRS budget just so the wealthy won't get audited and are forced to pay their fair share.
Correct, that is my point. IRS and SS are being deliberately attacked so that they do not function as intended so that becomes an excuse for private take over.
Gotcha, sorry I misinterpreted your comment. My bad.
I think her point was that DOGE, and cooperating people are sabotaging the formerly quite efficiently run agencies, to make them ripe to be taken over by private companies. That way the rich get even richer at disastrous cost to everyone else.
What I don’t get is the data they are stealing (and the medical research being abandoned, etc.) affects Congress members and THEIR families too. How do they think they are protected from the damage?
they get death threats from the MAGAts if they raise an eyebrow ... so they don't.
Hiding now will just push them down the list for elimination. He'll get to them sooner or later.
Maybe it can be done twice: run the agency into the ground; privatise; load the new company with debt and transfer assets to another company just before selling on; crash; be nationalised at huge cost to taxpayer because essential and/or strategic services not happening.
It’s a scam that’s happened a few times in the UK: see under rail nationalisation and Thames Water (not yet renationalised but probably will have to be).
Their not transferring the debt to another company. They’ll be transferring the debt to the American people.
The idea is to privatize the profits and dump the losses in the American people.
They will say a private company can do better but the whole thing will still be usbsizized by tax payers.
Think about it….they hand over the debt to”running” of the agency to a private entiti but still will be using the money allocated by congress. IT’S WHY they have’s asked Congress to “close” them. The American taxpayer is int going to be handed a check and they say, “good news, next year your taxes are going down 20% because we closed SS, the USPS, USAID,” etc. our taxes will still be the same. If not hirer and the billions going to these agencies will still go to them. The difference will be the CEO and shareholders will take their cut of profits and then ask for more money the following year.
DeJoy never severed ties completely with his private package delivery company. He was just waiting it out for either A GoP president or a majority in the Congress and senate. Now he has both. So he’ll most likely partner the USPS with his old comapny which will not only be given billions in tax dollars to run the USPS, with all profits going to DeJoy and its shareholders, yhey will literally have 315 MILLIONS customers. Wonder how much tat stock will rise.
Same thing for the private comapny chosen to run SS and student loans.theyll still get billions in government money to “run” the services which means these bankers no longer need to wine and dine and try to get retirees to invest with them. They’ll already have 315 MILLIONS customers customers they can treat anyway they want. And the profits will go to the CRo and the shareholders, who will not be considered to the taxpayer. And if they screw it uo like the housing and dot.com, theyll walk away with a government bailout. You think banks were too big to fail, try the entire US economy.
They’ve been trying this for years. And how they get the American people to go along is to say it’s inefficient and THEY can do better. Just like they’ve done so much better controlling healthcare costs with Medicare Part D or private insurance.
A private company’s dream to to attach to a government, get the contracts, the subsidies and be protected from losses while they squeeze the profits. It’s why K Street is so huge.
And of course, they’ll be hefty kick back to the guy who made it all happen. I’m guessing neither Bezos or Musk get to trillionaire first….itll be Trump through bribes.
You misunderstood me.
There’s a scam that goes like this:
1. Privatise a state-owned organisation /agency, including its assets and liabilities.
2. The new owners then load the new company with new debt under the pretext of having to invest to bring the service up to date. They transfer the borrowed money to another company and don’t update the services.
3. They then sell on the heavily indebted company.
4. The company is then stripped of its most profitable assets to pay off the massive debt, but only pay off a part. At that point the second new owners ask for state subsidies to keep operating.
5. Finally, the company having become wholly dysfunctional and nearing bankruptcy, it is re-nationalised, including massive debt and minus the most profitable assets. (This final stage can happen after more forward sales, indebtedness and stripping by the private sector.)
Have a look at the history of Thames Water for an example..
The post office was just for practice …
Now it's not soon enough Carol.
If we were playing the game “BINGO”, you would’ve won the prize! Every one of these evil billionaire-ish people should be made to be stripped bare. By that, I mean that they lose all of their earnings and capital to replenish what they have stolen from us and the world. May we see real justice take over before we see our demise.
You’ve been paying attention.
Muskrat also wants to spy on government employees who make less than complimentary remarks about dear leader on their spare time outside of work (doing so at work can run afoul of the Hatch Act, which Trump thinks he doesn’t have to follow. He also wants to prevent any efforts to collectively bargain in the public or private sectors.
What's to be done about Musk and Tesla? It seems that Trump is handing out contracts to Musk like candy at Halloween. Of course there are serious conflicts of interest here, but don't expect Bondi or Patel to do a thing about them.
That is a dilemma I’ve thought about, and Pam Bondi and Kash Patel won’t do their jobs.
I believe the courts can appoint special prosecutors, if the AG won't do the job.
Qui tam is possible.
AI, A "qui tam" provision, primarily associated with the False Claims Act (FCA), empowers individuals to bring lawsuits against those defrauding the government, with the potential to receive a share of any recovered funds.
The FCA provides that any person who knowingly submits, or causes to submit, false claims to the government is liable for three times the government's damages plus a penalty that is linked to inflation
This provision allows "whistleblowers," also known as "relators," to sue on behalf of the United States and, if successful, receive a portion of the recovery.
Would any of us commenting here ever be subject to criminal prosecution or other investigations?
Maybe. Depends on whom we anger.
Stasi pretty much? But it's unfair to compare the Mump regime to Hitler's nazi regime...
My only issue with any comparison to Nazis is that I don’t think MAGA sees that as a negative or an insult.
I heard Seth Moulton make a reference to Nazis and he was absolutely right but I think he need eit realize…..many people in this country admire Nazis and Hitler which is why it is nauseating yhey have tried to goose step they way around the constitution on the back of antisemitism. I’m shocked more Jews haven’t demanded they stop using them for illegal and anti democratic scapegoating.
MAGA talks about Hitler and the Nazis as if THEY were just proud Germans being attacked by gypsies and Jews who were diseased and controlling all the money and they needed to stand up to those two entities. They have warped history so badly and I’m not even sure yhey get how dangerous the Nazi and fascists movements were to the world. I definitely do not think they ever draw the conclusive line from the fact the freedoms we have been afforded are quite opposite to what the Nazis wanted. I think we have been spoiled I. This country with the factb5at we can say anything we want without fear of government retaliation. Or we used to be able to. I also don’t think MAGA understand the difference between what Trumo is doing with religion and speech to “wokeism”.
Their reaction to wokeism was pretty strong. But yhey never understood the difference between the GOVERNMENT saying you can’t tell a woman, “nice ass” at work and your boss. The GOVERNEMTN has no right to do anything about you saying that or calling comeone the N word or a woman a C or a Jew a K. Has no right to tell you you cannot say “Jews will not replace us or Muslims saying River to the sea or calling Jews names.
They equated what was happening to them for being vile from their friends, neighbors and coworkers with a governemtn restricting free speech, they didn’t get the fact your neighbors are just as free to have NOTHING to do with as you are to EVERYTHING to do with the KKK. Free association. And your boss CAN fire you for using racial slurs and saying offensive stuff to their female employees. And comedians didn’t get that audiences could 100% not by tickets to your shows. That’s not censorship, it’s a consequence of actions. HUGE difference.
In Nazi Germany and the Trumo administration, if you now say something or write something etching, you are getting GOVERNEMTNT agencies succeed in you. Of course, it won’t and hasn’t held up in court because it’s illegal but it is still harassment by the GOVERNMENT. this isn’t your brother in law refusing to go to Thanksgiving bevause if your racist rants. This is the power of ten governemtn saying you cannot speak freely. And if you do, we I’ll punish you by freezing your assets.
Maybe universities handled Gaza protests wrong. Plenty didn’t but they was a fine line between LEGAL repulsive speech we dislike and physical harassment and destruction and trespassing. Many schools removed kids for trespassing, not speech bevause no matter how vile, you can say what you like in 99% of the cases ruled by SCOTUS.
Moulton can compare them to Nazis, they do have a lot in common. And I’m not against his ability to do it. I just think it’s ineffective in trying to sway people who admire a group that wouldn’t let Jews worship their religion, sewed stars on them confiscated their property and tried to annihilate them because they disagreed with their religion and thei speech. They simply didn’t like who they were and blamed them for their horrible lives. Just like they want to punish gays and women and minorities for how they are and their horrible lives. And they both worship the men who actually take their opportunities, steal all the resources and leave them to live on hate and fear. It get it. It’s easier.
Why? They’re conducting themselves just the same.
Yes they are. But they also like double standards and playing the victim.
Yes. As Heather writes in the last paragraph: "“There’s a lot of money to be made by a new company coming in here,” said Hashmi. “But you have to ask: What is the problem that’s being solved?” " Well, the problem is that Muskolini STILL doesn't have enough money and influence. THAT is the problem he is fixing.
Carol S., you so nailed the goals of the one percenters! Will we wake-up in time? The call for peaceful demonstrations is now. More and more will be needed! Project 2025 has been underway for quite awhile. That is, too long.
It’s called the “Shock Doctrine”! a book written by Naomi Klein who it would be nice to hear from substack. I think it’s also Chapter 13 from the secret Russian playbook.
Yup. Disaster (or vulture) capitalism.
The Pope died hours after his hand was touched by Vance. Coincidence?
Everything this regime touches dies.
If Vance was a Democrat, Fox News would announce, "Vance killed the Pope."
Gary, as I wrote elsewhere yesterday, during Francis' meeting with Trance, the pope whispered "God, just kill me now."
You called it, that is how they'd be.
The British news services reported that he refused to see JustaDick and had his assistant give him a lecture on compassion
Couch boy had a photo op with the Pope. He (pontif) wasn’t at the formal meeting.
Oh that’s good! I wonder if it’s true.
The Pope refused to die until he ensured JD Vance received instruction in the teachings of COMPASSION 👏
From former Washington Post wag, Gene Weingarten.
No, I don’t think JD Vance’s
Visit killed the fine Pope Francis,
(Whatever online wags might yelp.)
— But I’m pretty sure it didn’t help.
Wait until some evangelical MAGATs explain that God decided to use Vance as a way to kill a progressive pope.
The always classy MTG (a Catholic turned evangelical) suggested tastelessly that Pope Francis’s death was the death of evil. Au contraire, MTG.
MTG want to see evil all she needs to do is look at her idols trump, vance, musk and look in any mirror. These villains are the face of evil. Lying, hating anyone not them, stealing funds and information, money laundering, insider trading, hurting people in America and the world, starving people, depriving people of education and trying to stop them from reaching their human potential, human trafficking. The list goes on and on. Oh, their judgement day is coming and mercy and sympathy we will not have.
She was a Catholic??! OMG.OMGOMGOMG.
Yeah, I wish it was more transparent, though - I can't post it the way she phrases it..
Marjorie Taylor Gangrene has already gone there.
One of the few political analysts whom I trust, Jimmy Kimmel, had some choice words last evening. 😉
Right, I was waiting for someone to suggest that JD killed the Pope.
Thank you Professor Richardson.
Here's an on point excerpt from an article I'm publishing later today:
A growing few in the GOP understand that when their billionaire donors lose wealth due to economic instability, hourly changes in tariff and trade policies, the rapidly declining value of the US dollar against the Euro and other currencies, when jobs are lost, and each new round of Trump/Musk/DOGE "government efficiency is unmasked to reveal newly corrupt single-source contracts for SpaceX and Starlink, concern about whether Trump is “draining the swamp” or is the swamp begins to manifest.
At present most have remained silent, or are grumbling to one another in the halls of Congress, not wanting to reject a solid base of MAGA cultists who, in 2024, represented one-third of eligible voters in the United States. Since one-third of eligible voters couldn’t be bothered to vote in 2024, MAGA voters accounted for slightly more than one-half of those who cast a vote between an incompetent corrupt criminal and a highly-qualified woman and positioned the criminal-elect for his second Executive Branch crime wave.
We are already seeing some “Buyer’s Remorse”. I never dreamed I would someday be on the same side as Charles Koch and Leonard Leo. And yet here we are. (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/07/trump-tariffs-lawsuit)
If there are elections in 2026 and beyond, there will not be a blue wave, not a red wave, but a wave of people embracing the core principles of the rule of law, the concept of competent governance, equality, and democracy. A 2026 vote renewing a 250-year-old fight to overthrow tyranny, tariffs, and royalty in favor of reasonable self-governance.
George, thank you for the thoughtful comment on the professor’s letter. I regret I can only give you one ❤️ for your comment.
In support of your thoughts I offer the following short anecdote. A friend of mine, a now retired Harvard Alum of reasonable means, told me over the weekend that he had never included Harvard in his philanthropic efforts because he didn’t think they needed it but, he made a substantial donation to Harvard to fight Trump. I’d like to believe he’s part of the wave.
Thank you Gary (and your friend as well). I often write that any meaningful democracy requires an educated, informed, and engaged society. Grateful to all who support and strengthen the foundation.
Prudence and decency are getting swamped, and they are pissed.
A wave of people embracing the core principles? I sure hope so. The beautiful and sustaining (even if hazardous) Earth? The vast potential of any "wild and precious life"? Why trade all that for these ugly and destructive games?
Thank you JL. I suspect many donors viewed the criminal-elect as an easy shortcut to doubling or tripling their offshore portfolios of wealth. They underestimated the scope of damage he could do without any guardrails and a Cabinet full of incompetent sycophants.
George, had they underestimate anything, they would be complaining loudly. Have you heard anything lately?
They are partners in crime.
Thank you Ricardo. They truly are partners in crime. I think of their outsized "donations" as investments and/or bribes. Nevertheless, Charles Koch is suing... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/07/trump-tariffs-lawsuit
Lordy, shocking. Are they seeing their plans circling the drain
I'm not sure they see much beyond what they can steal next.
George, when you have ticked off a Koch and a Leo enough to file a lawsuit against you, well…will wonders ever cease?
I know, right? I've tried to tick them off for years!!!
20 years ago Leonard Leo didn't have a pot to piss in and now he picks the Federal court judges and buys elections for Susan Collins and others.
And in 2016 the Koch brothers pledged up to $900 million to buy elections across the country for Republicans. Two of their favorite candidates were Mike Pence and Ron Johnson. It seems they have backed away from buying seats in favor of funding Project 2025 and other Fascist projects.
Leonard Leo is close to Opus Dei. Lots of money worldwide sloshing around that fascist Catholic sect (a cult, in fact).
David Koch died a few years ago, but his brother Charles is still trying to buy the government.
I read that David was not as radical as Charles, Charles evil enough for two.
If there is anything left. Muskrat and chump are supposedly finishing the destruction derby by summer and then the restoration. And there is a bridge in Brooklyn….
I like walking across that bridge! :)
Want to buy it…
"Restoration." Heh
Their idea of a joke or an excuse for stealing every dime from out from under our noses.
And building a Christofascist government from the ground up to serve only the obscenely rich.
And a place called (for now) Penn Station.
IF there are elections in 2026!
And if the results aren't published before hand, like Putin's "elections".
George, while I am pleased at your otherwise thoughtful analysis, I am quite troubled that you continue to write as if "one-third of eligible voters couldn’t be bothered to vote in 2024” when voting was suppressed in SO many ways from severe gerrymandering on to intentional slowing of mail-in ballots via the US Postal service under it’s MAGA-installed director to necessity to “cure” ballots arriving late within impossibly short time windows, especially from overseas, to severely limiting polling places to the outright intimidation evident at so many of those polling places in heavily blue districts to outright burning of ballot boxes to ballot tabulators rigged to actively change voting numbers in seven swing states. You continue the grievous distortions and outright lies of the MAGA Right with this kind of simplistic representation as if "voters don’t care."
Very good point John. Voter suppression is on full display in the North Carolina Supreme Court vote count, new attempts like the so-called “SAVE” act, and more dating back to Bush v. Gore in Florida.
While the GOP continues to pass legislation at the State and Federal level to disenfranchise voters, 89 million eligible voters did not cast a ballot in 2024. The voter suppression efforts are generally directed at removing eligible voters from the rolls.
"WIRED -- Daily
'The ACLU Is Suing the Government to Get Access to DOGE Records'
The ACLU claims the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration have violated the Freedom of Information Act."
https://www.wired.com/story/aclu-lawsuit-government-doge-access-sensitive-data/?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=wired&utm_mailing=WIR_Daily_042225&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&utm_content=WIR_Daily_042225&bxid=5e94e02f05e94e3ae723ab28&cndid=58664759&hasha=c18e10b601ad6f3c1008493c939e8ebc&hashc=6d62c369fda366783468950859715e3bcb28b54168477760207a4d97e312b30f&esrc=MARTECH_ORDERFORM&utm_term=WIR_Daily_Active
Thank you Roxanna. It would be interesting for every individual who has data stored at the VA and SSA to sue Musk in small claims court for maximum allowed for a data breach.
We The People have powers -- We The People need to use our powers!
trump and musk are stealing America’s data for personal gain, and possibly allowing China and Russia to have access! What DOGE is doing is highly illegal, why isn’t he being stopped?
They are stealing the country blind and we just watch? This is insane.
But, yeah Harvard.
Yes they are. And selling our data to Russia and China with impunity and using it to threaten American citizens.
Linda, are you really suggesting that trump and musketeer are "possibly" allowing China and Russia to have access to America's data ?
Think again please.
Ricardo, the whistleblower at the NLRB reported a login with a newly DOGE created account and a spike of information leaving the agency. The ISP address was Russian.
There is no "possibly" about it, at least with Russia.
💯% right Ally, The question is for how long our military are going to tolerate the destruction of our security apparatus in the benefit of our enemies . All the information being transferred to them, one way or another are, at the end, going to be used against us. Thanks for your reply.
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/musk-pushes-plan-china-data-power-teslas-ai-ambitions-2024-05-17/
remember when musk stopped letting Ukra ine have satellite access?
do,some more google searches.and have another think
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMEk8Yy3OE4
“He’s doing an incredible job. And we stand firmly with him.”
Chaos. Crazy. Unvetted wife joins another top-level meeting.
“He’s our guy.” He’s done a great job getting rid of D.E.I. And religion has come back to America.”
More resignations. More firings. More mis-statements. More lies.
“He’s totally professional. He can throw an ax. His wife can join any group chats she likes. His kids, too, if they like.”
More confusion. More contradictions. More clowns. More back-channel info to Putin via Musk’s incel boys.
“He’s fighting the fake news media. They’re so corrupt. He, and I – all of us – can stand up to them. We’re 100% for America. We’re Making America Great Again.”
More congressional and from-within-the-Pentagon calls to fire the ax-thrower. More chaos. More theater.
“Sure, he had a few drinks when he was younger. Kristi had to shoot her puppy in the head. Couple of goats, too. Too bad. Some of our fake news could use some of that toughness. But Pete – admit it – handsome on Fox. Great tattoos – a real Christian. May be politically incorrect, but Kristi is easy on the eyes. Our blond, apple-cheeked, 27-year-old press secretary also – come on, admit it . . .. And they’re all perfectly loyal to America’s most-needed president ever.”
Tragic situation Phil. They are destroying America from within at unimaginable speed to the delight of our adversaries and declared enemies. I wonder what our military are thinking in view of our constant weakening as a nation. In that respect and all others, we can't let the regime reach the point of no return.
Yes, tragic, Ricardo.
If "we" rally appropriately, however, we may face the fact that we let our schools down and so left ourselves vulnerable to exactly what Putin and his oligarchs were wrecking on their people, the Russian people, for the past 30 years.
We may insist on schools of sufficient quality -- and sufficient freedom for the teachers (from the deadening testing) -- so that we can with conviction say "never again."
And as to others who used to say that, we may be in a position to put such humane schools in place so those two words, "never again," mean something even for those who never got the schools decent enough to reconcile with their neighbors, never learned to be decent enough to escape the stereotypes which all that testing has only left grimly in place.
Ummmmm, didnt most of us here graduate from those schools? Think critically, please.
As to their priorities, Kathy, please see Diane Ravitch's "The Language Police."
Whose priorities? See, please, "The Politics of Language", David Beaver and Jason Stanley. WE are in a new era and it is digital.
I live in the mountains of Kyushu, Japan, Kathy. Getting English books not easy.
Diane Ravitch's "The Language Police" shows how -- with copious appendices -- corporate textbook packagers and standardized testers have gone out of their way to feature neutered language only. To exclude the personal, always. And to emphasize only the abstracted categorical and simpleton causal chronologies.
It's had enormous impact. Many fewer Americans read whole books anymore, even at the best Ivy League schools. Public officials and those in media almost never cite any novels, memoirs, histories, biographies, or essay collections. They can't. As those posting online by far also never do. Doesn't matter if the format of what one could use is print or digital.
Ominously, the damages from what Diane Ravitch documents overlaps with how Timothy Snyder in "The Road to Unfreedom" shows the strategies of dictators who dump the personal, the individual, facts, and evidence in favor of only group consciousness for outrage and easily-provoked sensationalism.
Wish it were farther away than it is…
Joni Ernst was the 5th vote that could have sunk Hogsbreath's confirmation. Hopefully, the good people of Iowa can get rid of this worthless piece of crap once and for all. That is, if we have another election.
Several women in Congress have asserted their experience with rape, GJ.
And have over and over supported the convicted criminal, proud pussy grabber, and adjudicated rapist.
That's the height of hypocrisy. And if they had gotten pregnant from a rapist would they have wanted an abortion?
For instance Joni Ernst that casted the decisive vote for another women abuser, Hegseth.
GJ, what you mentioned as "if" we have another election, I've been posting for weeks about my gut feeling that eventually that situation would arise. As soon the regime senses there's a chance to lose the midterm, they would create an incident or incite a reaction from we the people to declare martial law or invoke the insurrection act. Actually it's more than a gut feeling.
WWSD (what will Scotus do?) if that happens.
Nothing.
Yup. My exact feeling too. There will be no midterms and a huge “event” will happen Summer 2025. Tyranny of the minority will continue if we let it.
These clowns don’t just gaslight, they nuclearbomblight.
Your depiction sends chills down my spine...
How many "dumb blondes" in the administration?...where is that 1 from rump 101?
Another puke
So many laws violated, with no consequences. When the Supreme Court ruled that the President cannot be prosecuted for official acts, did they mean just Trump, or the entire Executive branch, even DOGE? Is John Roberts regretting his Federalist Society roots even now? Does he regret the destruction of the rule of law that he and his supposed conservative fellow judges have caused? This is all on them, making Trump 2.0 possible, starting with Citizens United.
My question is "Did they mean all presidents or just Republican ones?" The most startling thing about that ruling is that it was issued in the context of the WORST PRESIDENT IN U.S. HISTORY.
The right-wing SCOTUS majority has played a major role here, but I don't think it's *all* on them. HCR's HOW THE SOUTH WON THE CIVIL WAR gets at the bigger picture, but I'd at least go back to what followed the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of the mid-1960s: The Republican Party became more and more white and less and less democratic. This led straight to the Reagan administration, whose coddling of mega-wealth eventually led to Citizens United (2010). The majority in Citizens United (Kennedy, Roberts, Scalia, Alito, Thomas) were all Republican appointees.
Don't forget the millions of lazy, ignorant and stupid voters voting for him and the 2025 Bible.
Lazy, ignorant, stupid, -- and racist AF.
This is just more evidence that government and business are two different human enterprises with two different purposes: 1) The government works to help The People; 2) business works to make as much profit as possible for each business. It does not exist to help anyone but itself.
Who doesn’t know that. Well, smart people I know, idiots, greedy bastards, those waiting for the rapture, a pandemic of stupidity.
Believe what ever you will.
I was trying to agree with you. Sorry if I missed the mark.
This is a discussion I've been having in my cohort of retired cop friends (MAGAts one and all) who claim that the cuts to the government that DOGE is making are really cutting out fraud and waste because they do not see the value in providing services. FFS, they were COPS, who, almost by definition, provided a government service!
Yes, well done, Teresa! And the best way to reverse the “We’re here to help” status is to 1) Declare that Government is awful, corrupt, and “the enemy” and 2) Corporations are legitimate, efficient, and “our friends.” AND, how can we make that switch? 1) Get a “Successful Business Person” to run the government and 2) Make sure the “Information Systems” stop the Fake News and tell the True News. NOW, that’s where it gets complicated: the Information Systems! I grew up with newspapers and radio. (Yikes, I must be OLD.) And, yes, those were Corporations. Now, ANYBODY can be “Information Systems” - Yes, radio, TV, newspapers, but also anybody with a keyboard or a microphone and an Internet Connection, etc. Now, I am NOT suggesting that we ban, eliminate, stifle, or whatever our “Information Systems.” It does help if We, the People take the time to think for ourselves!! Let Freedom Ring.
Believe whatever you will.
Yup, I believe that we, the citizens of the United States (yes, I am “homegrown”) are very much being hoodwinked into believing that Government Is Bad (see note at the end of this comment). I had ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War. My great x4 grandfather was at Yorktown in 1781 (at the ripe old age of 21). The government that was established 250 ago was meant to be helpful “for the People.” Indigenous People, Slaves, Women … yup, we eventually got better at recognizing All People - but we still have plenty of work to do. However, we have now hit a roadblock. Trump is Corporate. So is Musk. On and on! Efficiency is the key! They have organized a Grand Plan - Project 2025, which is 41% completed at this point. Now - can the US government be “bad”? Yes, we have a 250 year history to deal with. Have we had US Senators and US Representatives break the law recently? Yup. Have they been caught and sent to jail? Yup - (but not to El Salvador). Have we elevated a convicted felon (who took full advantage of his DUE PROCESS) to the Presidency. We need BETTER government, not STRONG-ARM government.
The stories we are being told from both directions have flaws. They are clearly interpretations of the same events that differ in content and the direction the People should take as we move forward in time. I feel we are sorting through the evidence, as we accept evidence, in the due process format which is in our DNA at this point. Hell yeah! That is a help! That is a genetics belief on my part. Do as you will with that point of view.
SOME people are “sorting through the evidence;” OHERS have already made up their minds. Due process? Both sides? Should they? Yes. Do they? No.
If one examines the last 10,000 or so years of recorded time in stones, texts, all the way up to digital records, we see a pattern of building and disintegration. I believe disintegration is one of those 'interesting' times. Building is one of those 'fun' times.
The Pope showed caring as I want my leaders to care, though I am neither Catholic nor do I agree with the strictures his faith imposes on some. But, he had compassion, empathy, and experience. Others prefer attacking the needs of those these people profess to protect.
Billions of people have compassion, empathy and experience Cynthia. He was the head of an organization that promotes the patriarchy and is the reason abortion is illegal in most of the red states.
When there is a Pope that recognizes that women are equal or superior to men by allowing them to be priests, cardinals and bishops and even pope, then perhaps they will be recognized as legitimate.
The Pope refused to endorse Kamala Harris for President. His endorsement could have made the difference in the 2024 election.
Until paternal DNA of fetus' and equitable responsibility for the products of conception is law the heritage foundation, et al will continue to criminalize motherhood.
Truth.
He said some of the things that most need to be said; and need to be repeated and examined endlessly.
As the Commander-in-Chief said so movingly (in between introducing his beautiful wife and the cavorting Easter Bunny), "He was a good man, worktard, did a great job. He loved the world. And now (paraphrased) we're gonna have fun!" (and more, in the latter vein).
Puke
As usual, Trump manages to make it all about himself.
And enhancing himself by demeaning his “competitors.” By the way, whatever Trump does as President is endorsed by his personal SCOTUS.
Did you read the online screed he sent out in the Easter message. His brain is like a pot boiling over.
Written for him by Franklin Graham? Normal grammar, typography and punctuation?
I guess I was lucky to never know about Rev FG before. Had to look him up. 🤮🥹🙀
Then you know about his father, Rev B G? The man with the Mussolini eyes.
The Press and the DNC are just beginning to realize what stock and bond investors are well aware of: the tariffs are a National Sales Tax. A corrupt tax that is filtered through the Trump and Musk bank accounts.
DOGE is directed by highly intelligent immoral thieves. Hiding behind the Idiot chaos. Deception with focused purpose. And immune from prosecution for their crimes.
The entire Trump Organization is a scam. Designed to steal as many billions they can take. Daily. Until the grownups say stop.
Who has the cojones to say STOP?
Pretty sure all regimes require support of law enforcement and military. When *all* the people are in the streets- military and LEOs will switch sides and join us.
Then Congress will remove all of them.
This is a pleasant dream. So we pray. Patrick Henry warned in 1788 that the success of the government depended on only Good Men elected to offices of the public trust. Now we have a Bad Man as President. Supported by immoral oligarchs who bought the Congress. Be aware of what they say they want. Read Yarvin and Browder and Applebaum.
Well, when a convicted felon, rapist, compulsive liar is elected to be President of the United Staes of America, what else is to be expected?
"But Hegseth blamed the media for the exposure of his Signal chats, and Trump stood by Hegseth."
Damn those reporters. No one had to know how reckless intends to be with our national security.
J L, I can't believed the scumbag president have more than 1% approval rate.
"You can fool some of the people ALL of the time."
That was what W said and he added, “those are the ones you have to concentrate on.” That’s what chump did and why W has not criticized one syllable. Wonder what Dickie thinks. Any regrets that you gave power to an idiot.
Yes, it irks the crap outta me that Georgie hasn’t muttered a word about all of this chaos! Perhaps, he is involved in this coup? After all, he is an oilman.
More like his brain is failing…
George or Donnie? Donnie is just plain mean and cruel. George is painting portraits.
But Trump has maybe 70% in the Supreme Court!
Chump and muskrat don’t solve problems, they create them. Make everything come crashing down and replace it with something that will give them control over every aspect of our lives. Wonder if the P2025 people have realized that a wasteland is all they will have left. The “due process” rage has been cover for the dismantling of our financial systems. That done, people will scream for a fix, which will be with ultimate control over every aspect of our lives. The only question left is what does Vlad want…
How can trump admit he's wrong, when he can never see that he is?
Always a hoax, fake news, someone else's fault. . . an excuse for every occasion.
And no awareness of WHAT is "wrong."
If you tied him to a chair, and held his feet to the fire and said "Is ignoring the law wrong? Caging children? Threatening people?" he'd just look a bit puzzled and say" Well - no, I don't THINK so. . . "
the King can do no Wrong. Blaming the victim is Trump's religion.
And his Bible is Proyect 2025. What can be wrong with that J L?
“I don’t know anything about that.” Ad nauseam
The things he SHOULD know about, he "knows nothing" about - and the things he knows NOTHING about he's a "Super-Genius" on. . .
He knows but is ignorant of what humanity entails.
That alone shows you how coward he is.
He is following the playbook of his mentor, Roy Cohn, the self-loathing, closeted gay man who Daddy Trump tapped to school Donald on how to be “tough.” Cohn, Joe McCarthy’s counsel during his Red Scare romp, had a simple approach: never admit you are wrong and always attack your opponent. He died of AIDS but never conceded that fact. He was under investigation for massive tax evasion, but fought it until his death, telling a friend he’d spend every dime before he died rather than handing over any cash owed to the IRS. A true POS. Donald loved him (as much as he can love anyone but himself.)
I read that Donald dropped him like a hot potato when he found out Cohn had AIDS.
Didn't even visit when he was dying. So deep and heartfelt was his sympathy that he complained to his aides " 'I had to spend a fortune to fumigate all the dishes and silverware.'" after one of Cohn's visits.
What a saint. . .
He uses people until he has used them up. Trump has his own sexually transmitted diseases to deal with.
Because he doesn't think are all Lady.
Oh, no - that's too easy an out. I think he has quite a good brain going there - in a weaselly sort of way. Good enough, anyway, to wriggle his way through the law. . . rather like your average pimp.
Does anyone else remember Pinky and the Brain”, an American animated sitcom about two genetically altered lab mice that plot to take over the world? Well, we are watching the technocrats play it out in real life, but not just for world domination, they want Universe domination, and to get it they are stealing our data, tanking our economy so their bros can buy low, and leaking sensitive information possibly to Russia and China and who knows who they are selling it to, and we seem to be powerless to stop the data leak, but again yeah Harvard,
Not sure about selling it to China etc. The goal is to create a billionaire TechBro elite with ways to expedite the demise of the ‘unproductive’ populace and maximize the worker bee force. Thiel has been instrumental in contracting with the CIA on surveillance tech and Heather forgot to mention that he is involved with the SmartPay takeover attempt. The data mining is to maintain control over us, to monitor and punish dissent. Do we really believe that the power to ‘kill’ people by f-cking with their social security is just for migrants? It can target anyone.
I am so glad more people are finally talking about this….
Yes! One of my favorites!
Obviously the problem being solved is the collection of data for maximum personal gain. The fun of tearing agencies apart and terrorizing employees and patrons by shock and awe is just a bonus.