Living in fear

Frank Kendall was the Secretary of the Air Force during the Biden Administration.  He is now an attorney.  He recently wrote “The Trump Administration Brings Fear to America,” in which he discusses Trump’s efforts to suppress dissent and spread fear among colleges, students, government employees, even members of Congress.  

These people will not be thrown in jail or sent to another country, They may lose their jobs, but they won’t be killed or deported, at least not yet.

However, there are groups of people in this country who have much more to fear.  Kendall writes:  “A few years ago, I represented a woman seeking asylum because she had been persecuted by her country’s government.  When an immigration judge granted her the right to remain in the United States indefinitely the assumption was that she was finally safe.  Now she must live in fear once again.”

We are now Chile under Pinochet, Argentina under the Generals, Russia under Putin.  I hear people say “This is not who we are.”  I am afraid it is exactly who we are.

See Frank Kendall, “The Trump Administration Brings Fear to America,” New York Times, (July 24, 2025), p. A 22.  The conclusions are mine.

Gaming the political system

Political columnist and author Ezra Klein has written that when a dominant and powerful group foresees that it is losing its controlling position in a democratic system, it has two choices.  It can make an appeal to the groups it is losing, reaching out to broaden its coalition.  It can also repress the party that it sees as a threat, limiting the suffrage, discouraging voters who might support the other side, and winning by intimidation.

The Republican Party is full of people who worry about “the great replacement,” who are concerned that Republicans (and often times white people) don’t have enough children, and think that Christianity and conservative dominance are under threat.

Some Republicans have successfully attempted to broaden their support.  Mike Dewine in Ohio and Larry Hogan in Maryland are two Republicans who won elections with a broad coalition.  Even Trump has courted “tech bros,” although many of that group are also rich, into crypto, or believe Trump will advance their wealth and power.

The main Republican emphasis, however, seems to be to limit the ability of Democrats or third parties to win elections.  Attacks on voting by mail or demands for citizenship papers are obvious methods to limit voting, but also consider the conservative boost in “Citizens United,” the push to gerrymander districts, and the efforts to undermine an independent press.  Even structural features in the Constitution help to maintain Republican dominance–red Wyoming gets two Senators; blue California, with about 60 times the population of Wyoming, also has two.  That system also affects the electoral college.  And if a party can win both Congress and the Presidency, it can appoint fanatical followers to the federal courts.

Yeah, it looks bleak. 

Roadkill

I’m tired of posting about Trump.  Just looking at him makes my skin crawl.  So tonight I’m writing about a much more pleasant subject.

Did you know it is legal in Pennsylvania to pick up road-killed deer for personal consumption?  There are a few stipulations.  You have to be a Pennsylvania resident, and you must notify the Game Commission within 24 hours.  They will issue a permit number for the meat along with instructions on what to do with the inedible parts, like antlers.  

I learned this today in an article by Ben Moyer in the latest issue of the Pennsylvania Game News.  Use your common sense, of course.  Do I really need to say the carcass should be fresh?  

By the way, the same rules apply to road-killed turkeys. 

Escape from reality

I keep a list of the books I read, and I just noticed that the last seven books I finished have all been either crime or spy novels by authors like Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Carl Hiaasen, and Anne Hillerman.  I Just started The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner, and that one is over 500 pages long.

I know what I’m doing.  I’m trying to shut out a world where Gaza children are starved, a pedophile is president, children are snatched off the street by armed thugs hired by the U.S. government, the environment is going to hell, and I don’t see things getting any better.

So back to the Wallace Stegner.

I haven’t quit.  Just need some diversion.

"New agers" driving toads into extinction

I get so tired of selfish Americans.  The Sonoran Desert toad is on the road to extinction because jerks in the U.S. who want to “expand their consciousness” are smoking a psychedelic compound that is secreted by the toads.  Mexicans are catching the toads and harvesting the secretions until the toads die.  The toads are now in steep decline and may go extinct.  

You want to raise your consciousness, try raising it to the level where you don’t need to kill innocent animals.  

This is just one more example of selfish behavior on the part of Americans who don’t give a damn what they do to the rest of the world.  How many drug cartels and how many Mexican gangs would exist if it weren’t for Americans using drugs like heroin and Fentanyl.  I personally don’t care if people get high.  I just wish they would find a way to do it that doesn’t wreck other countries. 

Drug addiction is an activity of selfish people who ought to know better.  For goodness sake, get addicted to alcohol.  At least you won’t be endangering toads.

Sheer vandalism

Some of the actions of this President make sense in a twisted way.  Trump thinks the world is taking advantage of the U.S., so he proposes tariffs.  I get that he doesn’t understand tariffs, but at least there is some justification, however misguided, for the action.  I get that he thinks brown and black immigrants are a threat to white America, so I understand his support for mass deportations.  I get that he thinks women are to be used–he has said as much–so I get his visits to Epstein’s island to rape teenage girls.

What I don’t get is why we would pull out of UNESCO.  Or why we would pick a fight with Canada.  Or why he is willing to gut workplace safety rules.  The only explanation I can think of for these actions is that Trump is like a young boy who vandalizes a public park and thinks that was an interesting and fun thing to do.

What I also don’t get is that grown men and women, who would take the young boy to the juvenile authorities, seem quite willing to go along with the vandalism.  I have never seen a good explanation for this behavior on the part of Trump or his followers. 

the Washington "Redskins"

 Trump announced he wants the Washington Commanders to go back to their old name, the “Redskins.”  He also supports the Cleveland “Indians.”  

We should honor more groups that way.  The Cincinnati “Krauts,”  The Boston “Micks,” The New York “Dagos,” the Chicago “Polacks,” and the San Francisco “Chinks” could be appropriate.

In honor of Trump’s interest in sports, he should have his own golf team.  I suggest the Mar-a-Lago “Pedos.”