How you can tell it's a cult

I’m a Democrat.  Let’s say you told me you thought the American withdrawal from Afghanistan was a disaster, and that Joe Biden ought to be ashamed of it.  I would agree.  Let’s say you said Joe Biden should have stuck by his promise to be a one-term president instead of hanging on.  I would agree.  Let’s say you said Obama should have never announced that “red line” policy in Syria and then went back on his word.  I would agree.

So would most Democrats.  We can be critical of all kinds of Democratic actions.  Sometimes maybe more than we should be.

Now ask MAGA supporters to name some Trump policies they oppose.  Ask what they think about some of the worst things–supporting Putin over Ukraine, deporting people who are here legally, giving polluters a license to defile the air and water, picking on Canada and Denmark.  They will not criticize Trump.  They will make excuses.  They will say you are being unfair.  Give him a chance.  Look at all the good things he’s done.  You’re just being “woke.”   He makes no mistakes.  He is a god.

The National Museum of African-American History and Culture

Earlier this week we drove to Washington to visit the museum.  I told people we were going before the Trump administration closed it down.  It occurs to me that it could happen.  These people are nuts.  Grabbing legal immigrants off the street.  Arresting people for speaking favorably about Palestinians.  Prescribing Vitamin A to cure measles.  The list of stupid and illegal actions would fill a book.  If they stop the Voice of America or USAID, shutting down a museum would be easy.

So see it as soon as you can.  Check out Chuck Berry’s red El Dorado.  See the exhibit on Blacks in the American Revolution (both sides.)  Watch the short films.  Eat the corn bread and the mac and cheese.  Prepare to spend a full day.  It is an experience.

Income tax time

I fill out our income tax return forms.  Unfortunately, I’m not very good at it.  You know that line of people you see at the tax office just before midnight on April 15.  I was in that line at least three times.  Probably the worst year was in the mid ‘80s when we had to sell our car to pay our taxes.

I usually pay a penalty because I don’t do that quarterly estimating thing.  It’s worth the penalty rather than having to deal with taxes four times during the year.

Tonight when I started to put the records in order I noticed that I don’t have a 1099R for my pension from the warehouse job.  I know that will be a hassle.  

I am proud that I never cheat.  One year I paid more than President Reagan.  (That was when presidents published how much they paid, not like the grifter currently in the White House.)  I declare scrap metal income, fair prize income, my piddling dividends from my New York Times stock, and the money I make from selling electricity to PPL from our solar panels.  Elon Musk needs that money for his contracts.

We really need some wolves

I rent our fields to a neighboring farmer who plants mostly corn, soybeans, and hay.  Last fall he planted a cover crop of winter wheat which he will plow under this spring.  Tonight when I went up to close the chicken pen, there were 14 fully grown deer in the field of winter wheat.  That is like a herd of cattle.  

When the soybeans or corn are planted, those deer will decimate those crops.  Hunters are not keeping the herds down.  The forests in the Poconos have little underbrush; the deer eat up to what is called “the browse line.”  People feed them corn, which further increases their number.

They have no natural predators left in the east.  It is time we import some.  Plus, wolves would help to rid us of the feral cats.  The whole ecosystem would improve.  Let’s do it.  And you know I am serious.

Derogatory place names

The former Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, the first Native American in a presidential cabinet, had appointed an Advisory Committee on Reconciliation in Place Names.  The Committee’s task was to remove racist slurs from geographical place names like Mount Evans Wilderness (named for a man who was responsible for the massacre of more than 230 Cheyenne and Arapaho people).  That name was changed to ”Mount Blue Sky Wilderness,” chosen by the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.  

More than 650 place names that had a slur against indigenous women were changed.  Tribal representatives picked out the new names.  One of the most famous changes was dumping Mt. McKinley, named by a gold prospector for a president with no connection to Alaska, to Mt. Denali, a name that means “great one,” used for over 10,000 years.

Now this Advisory Committee is being disbanded.  We’ve had an executive order to change Mt. Denali back to Mt. McKinley.  The depth of this current administration’s pettiness is truly amazing.  Rest assured, however, that long after Trump is dead, Mt. Denali will still be there, and it will still be Mt. Denali, no matter what the clown in the White House or his Interior Secretary Doug Burgum say it is.

Info for this post was taken in part from an email from the Native Organizers Alliance Action Fund. <info@nativeorganizing.org>.

The Tectonic Plates Are Shifting

The surface of the earth is composed of large plates that move, sometimes separating, sometimes colliding.  This process involves centimeters of movement, but every now and then an earthquake occurs or a volcano erupts when the pressure builds.  

It’s the same way in politics.  Often the shift is slow; the movement is barely perceptible.  Yesterday we had evidence that the plates are moving.  Dan Goughnour won a special election for a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.  The House was divided 101-101, but now the Dems have a one seat majority.  Even more amazing was a special election for the State Senate.  James Malone, Democrat, won a seat in the Pennsylvania State Senate that had gone for Trump by double digits.  

The plates are moving. 

The CA Coastal Commission is under attack

In 1972 the voters of California adopted an initiative which which declared that the 1000 mile California Coast belonged to the people of California.  Unlike the beaches of some eastern states where towns can restrict access or even private owners can section off portions of the beach, in California you have access to any beach.  The citizens own the beach.

The passage of the act did not say exactly how the Coastal Commission, which was tasked with overseeing the new law, would operate.  That needed enabling language.  Jerry Brown was Governor; Jerry Smith (D-Saratoga) was the sponsoring Senator.  The bill was opposed by both labor and business.  After all, building condos and private homes along the beach and fencing off your section–rich people like that kind of thing.  

In spite of the opposition the bill passed the legislature and was signed by Gov. Brown.  

I worked as a Field Representative for Sen. Jerry Smith.  It is one of the things of which I am very proud.  

Now I understand that both President Trump and the richest bastard on the planet, Elon Musk, are attacking the Coastal Commission and want to get rid of the legislation.  This is getting personal.

Note to my faithful readers:  I am driving to Washington D.C. tomorrow to see the National African American Museum and the National Art Gallery on Tuesday.  I want to do this before they are closed down.  Since I usually have problems posting on the road, I’ll see you on Wed. evening.

Is Joe Rogan as stupid as he sounds?

I’ve never listened to or watched Joe Rogan, but I recently read about him in either the Atlantic or Harpers–they arrived the same week, and I can’t remember.  Evidently millions of young men have nothing better to do than listen to this guy.  He sounds like a whiner to me.  He also sounds like a guy who pops off without much knowledge about anything meaningful.  

I’m 82.  I don’t have a lot of time left.  I’m sure not going to waste it on someone like Mr. Rogan.  I haven’t read all the classics, and I haven’t learned Spanish, and I must get my pepper seeds sprouted.  No time for nonsense.

Crypto currency operation in Nesquehoning

A crypto currency “mining” operation in Nesquehoning in Carbon County is burning waste coal to power its computers.  It does not produce electricity for the grid.  In fact on a number of occasions it has tapped into the grid when its own power supply was inadequate.

The operation also adds to the pollution of air and water.

In spite of this the operation is actually given a subsidy by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  Some of the stuff that goes on in this country is truly mind-boggling.

By the way, the Voice of America is now dead.  Has there ever been a more poignant metaphor? 

John A. Hemingway. 105, dies

He was the last known survivor of the “Battle of Britain.”  He was one of approximately 3000 pilots and crew who fought the German Air Force in 1940.  Those were the flyers about whom Churchill said, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

Had they not succeeded, Hitler would have had air superiority, and it is likely his forces would have crossed the Channel to invade Britain.  Remember at that time Britain was standing alone.  The U.S. didn’t enter the way until Dec. 1941.  

We owe those pilots.  We owe Britain.

Hey Trump, Who's your daddy?

According to numerous reports, Putin kept Trump waiting for an hour for a phone call on Ukraine.  Trump was reportedly livid; evidently Putin thought it was funny.

I guess we now know which one is the alpha male.

Disappearing American allies

A few days ago I read an article entitled “The Real China Trump Card” in the March/April issue of Foreign Affairs.  The authors noted that China is not the economic powerhouse that most analysts think it is.  On page 80 they included a chart listing profit shares in sixteen economic sectors such as IT Software and Services, Semiconductors, Capital Goods, Banking, and Aerospace and Defense.

In at least seven of those sectors the U.S. had over 50% of global profits.  In five more sectors U.S. allies along with the U.S. were well over 50%, including Telecommunications Services, Capital Goods, and Chemicals. 

And then it hit me.  The authors obvious wrote this article before Trump policies actually were known.  WE NO LONGER HAVE ALLIES.  In the last two months we have alienated such close friends as Germany, Canada, Mexico, France, and Britain.  Even allies we haven’t yet alienated must now mistrust the tyrant in the White House.  If you were in the government of Taiwan or Japan or Australia, would you believe the U.S. will come to your aid if you were attacked?  I know I wouldn’t.  

Mark Zuckerberg and censorship

Meta has announced it would no longer try to police what appears on its platform, even if the material is completely false.  Free speech and all that.  However, the company has a different take on the book “Careless People:  A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed and Lost Idealism” by Sarah Wynn-Williams, who worked at what was then called Facebook from 2011 to 2017.

Ms. Williams describes sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior at the company.  Evidently a lot of that went on.  Meta claims that the material in the book is prohibited under a non-disparagement contract the company makes its employees sign.  

The publishing company Flatiron Books says it will continue to promote and sell the book.  And from what I have heard about “tech bros,” I believe Ms. Williams.

Ten are complicit

Ten Senate Democrats, including Sen. Schumer, voted in support of the continuing resolution to keep the government running.  What did they receive for their vote?  Nada.  Sen. Fetterman, my Senator, blathered about hurting his constituents if the resolution didn’t pass.  

What do Schumer and Fetterman and the other eight think is happening now?  This President has cast aside all the normal rules.  When Nixon fired the Special Prosecutor and two Justice Department officials, that was called the Saturday Night Massacre.  When Trump fires 11 prosecutors, hardly anyone even notices.  

Why cooperate?  Shut it down.

Here is how dumb Americans are

 In an article about Musk in the New York Times earlier this month, the authors noted that in one poll by a Democratic organization in February, Elon Musk had significantly stronger name recognition than Vice President J. D. Vance.

Reflect on that.  

J.D. Vance is a hamburger away from becoming president of the United States, yet Elon Musk had a higher name recognition.  That means there are Americans out there who don’t know who J.D. Vance is.  I think J.D. Vance is a little creep, but my goodness, the guy is the Vice President.  Who would not know that?  This shows just how ignorant, how unconnected, some Americans are.  

Do you think they are bothered by a Palestinian activist getting deported for peacefully demonstrating?  They don’t know what Palestine is.  To quote Jack Reacher (it’s a paraphrase), these are people who couldn’t find their anus if you gave them a stick with a mirror attached to the end. 

Info for this post was taken in part from Jess Bidgood and Lisa Lerer, “While Some in G.O.P. Are Unnerved by Musk, Democrats See Opening,” New York Times, (March 11, 2025) p. A15.

How to privatize Social Security and Yellowstone National Park

Social Security:  Fire thousands of government workers; make it difficult to contact your local Social Security office; get young tech bros to compromise millions of numbers; say the system is now riddled with corruption.  Claim that only private ownership can fix this.  End one of the most successful retirement programs ever developed, but allow private owners and stockholders to make a killing, much like they do with privatized health care.

Yellowstone National Park:  Fire Rangers and crucial park employees; allow the park facilities to deteriorate; make it difficult to visit the Park or camp there.  Claim that only private ownership can fix this.  Point to Disneyworld and Disneyland as examples of success.  Raise daily ticket prices to $100 a day and add rides, ATV trails, and buffalo hunts for trophy hunters.

Fetterman caves

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman announced that he would vote for the resolution to continue to fund the government, even though the Republican leadership gave absolutely nothing in return.  

I sent Fetterman the following letter today:

Dear Sen. Fetterman:

The first rule of union negotiations is never give away something before the negotiations start.  You don’t go in saying, “We know your’ve had a rough year, so we have decided to take a wage cut of 50¢ an hour.”  You present your position, and you wait to hear a counter offer.

When you announce ahead of time that you will vote to keep the government running with no concessions from the other side, you have just lost any reason for the other side to bargain.  You have already been rolled before negotiations even started.

Needless to say, I am terribly disappointed in your willingness to do that.  Donald Trump and his minions are bullies.  Here’s another rule:  When you kowtow to bullies, they are only encouraged.

Sincerely,

Roy Christman

Incidentally, the staff at the Kresgeville Post Office where I do my mailing told me I am one of their top customers.  

One more fact:  Today we received a fundraising letter from Fetterman in which he said he was standing up to the Republicans.  I’m not sending any money. 

Living through a divided America

Born in 1942, I’ve managed to live through three major divisions in American society.  There were many more, of course, but I am thinking of the three big ones.  The first, well underway when I was high school and college, was the Civil Rights movement.  The country was divided along geographical lines, with the old Confederate states mostly opposed to racial equality, but significant pockets in the rest of the country also opposed to the March for Freedom.  On the other hand we had governors, Congress members, even presidents on the side of Civil Rights.  Racial issues are still here, but legal discrimination on the basis of race is largely at an end.’

The second huge division was over the Vietnam War.  While the government favored the war, large chunks of American citizens saw that war as immoral and not in keeping with American values.  Again, many political leaders, some congress members, and millions of citizens demonstrated their opposition.  The war ended, of course, and it ended badly, but the scars are healing over and today we trade with an independent and unified Vietnam.

Then we had the War on Terrorism.  That led to a controversial war against Iraq under the mistaken assumption that Iraq was the instigator of international activity aimed at the U.S.  The War in Iraq brought it official American government support for various methods of torture.  Men are still being held in Guantanamo without trial.  And that war morphed into the War in Afghanistan, which ended badly for combatants on both sides.  

In each of those three cases we had a free press, political leaders on both sides who spoke without intimidation, and governmental institutions that sometimes acted badly, but never failed completely.  One or more branches of the Federal government provided support to the Civil Rights movement, or to the anti-war movement, or to the continuing opposition to torture and illegal detainment. 

Now we have the Fourth Division.  The press, with one or two excerptions, is compliant to Trump.  Wall Street is compliant.  The Congress is controlled by the rich and powerful and bows to Donald Trump.  The public is led around by social media and its minions.  There is almost no independent source of pushback.  

During the first three major divisions I’ve experienced, I always felt that my side would win, at least in part.  This time I am not so sure.  Tonight a group of us wrote postcards.  Postcards.  I think we need a lot more, and I don’t where that will be coming from.

The kid with cancer

 I couldn’t watch Trump’s speech to the joint session of Congress.  From what I read about it, he was the blowhard I expected him to be.  What I didn’t anticipate was that he would use a kid with cancer for a prop.  

I have three comments on the cancer kid.  First, the Dems should have stood and politely applauded.  Trump knows how to hold a crowd, how to make a point, how to trap people, and the Dems fell right into the trap. 

Second, if you think Trump cares about kids, remember the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of kids who were separated from their parents, some of whom were never reunited with their mothers and fathers.

Third, think about the hypocrisy of the Republicans who pretend to be shocked, shocked, at the behavior of the Democrats, but say nothing about kids killed in school shootings or migrant kids or kids in poverty or Ukrainian kids kidnapped by Russians or kids who die of measles because of anti-vaxxers.  I’m not buying their concern.

Fulbright Scholars stranded

The Fulbright Scholarship program awards grants to college seniors and graduate students to study abroad.  The program was named for Sen. William Fulbright from Arkansas.  Fulbright was considered a foreign policy expert.  The program has benefited thousands of students and, as a byproduct, has had a positive impact on U.S. foreign relations.

Now the State Department has halted the program in response to Elon Musk’s cutbacks.  Students have been stranded in foreign countries with no money to get home.

At one time this would have been front page news.  Now so much mismanagement and chaos is occurring that the story ran on page 22 of the New York Times.  

See Vimal Patel, “Fulbright Scholars Cut Off From Funding,” New York Times, (9 Mar. 2025), p.22.

This is not normal

Earlier this week after Trump’s speech to the joint session of Congress, Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury (D-N. Mex.) held up a small sign that said “This is not normal.”  She was standing fairly close to Trump.  Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas ripped it out of her hands.  You can see it on YouTube.  You can’t actually see the sign being ripped, but you can see Mr. Gooden’s arm reaching to rip the sign down.

I thought Mr. Gooden deserved a scolding.  Here is a copy of my letter to him:

Rep. Lance Gooden

2431 Rayburn Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Rep. Gooden,

I saw a map of your congressional district.  It looks kind of gerrymandered.  I don’t think that is normal.

It is also not normal for an alien from South Africa to fire federal employees.

It is also not normal for the U.S. to turn its back on an ally fighting for its freedom against a Russian invasion.

It is also not normal for a President to say he will lower our grocery bills on day one and then watch as prices continue to rise.

Nor is it normal for a grown man to rip a sign out of a woman’s hands.

And it is not normal to watch our democracy rapidly being destroyed.

You, sir, are a disgrace to both Texas and the United States.

Sincerely,

Roy Christman