Surrender or Strategic Withdrawal?

The fight in Congress… actually among Democrats in Congress… over voting yea or nay on the horrendous Republican CR is seen by many Democrats as a surrender to Musk, Trump, and MAGA. I admit I see it that way too. To quote David Corn at Mother Jones, “if you aren’t punching back, you are the punching bag.” 

But, Minority Leader Schumer and a small group of Senate Democrats (and one independent) chose to fight another day. They figure that over the next few months DOGE will have so damaged American’s expectations of government services, that anger over higher prices and a crumbling economy, and that Trump’s disregard of civil rights and the rule of law will shift the battlefield. There is a real possibly that Trump/Musk will overplay their hand with Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Schumer and friends hope the American people will be pissed! They believe that not only Democrats and the American people, but also some Republicans in purple districts/states, will have second thoughts about supporting the mad king and his court jester. 

Time will tell if Schumer is right. In the meantime he may even lose his leadership position. But, the strategic withdrawal card has been played and won’t be available a second time. Democrats and a growing number of Americans of whatever political persuasion will have drawn a line in the sand and said ENOUGH… we are no longer the punching bag for a bunch of bullies.

The Mad King’s Chaos and Confusion

Chaos and confusion. Tariffs on, then off, then on again. Formerly friendly trading partners appalled and angry. Everybody loses trade wars. The stock market falling. Prices in my local market rising. Uncertainty and complete lack of clarity about direction is apparent to Wall Street and Main Street.

Historically Republicans were opposed to tariffs but GOP Representatives and Senators continue to kiss the ring of the mad king. Under the National Emergencies Act, Congress has the power to end this so-called “emergency.” Congress needed to act on the resolution to end the false emergency within 15 days—so to dodge having to vote a bit of parliamentary trickery stops the clock until the end of the session.

Republican cowards, like lapdog Ben Cline, are enabling this authoritarian madness to continue. Trump inherited a strong economy that was the envy of the world. Less than two months in this presidency the economy is cratering… the administration says the economy is in “transition.” Transition to what… recession… or worse?

Protect Our National Forests

An executive order by President Trump directs the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior to issue new guidance within the next 30 days to accelerate timber harvesting on federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), with the goal to “fully exploit our domestic timber supply.

Contact Representative Ben Cline to protest cuts of Forest Service employees and the executive order to decimate our national forests.

This executive order would end compliance with the Endangered Species Act, bypassing critical protections for Virginia’s most vulnerable animals and plants. There’s no way to increase timber production without targeting old-growth and mature forest stands that do the crucial work of providing habitat for wildlife, filtering municipal drinking water, providing recreational opportunities, enhancing wildfire resilience, and absorbing and storing the carbon necessary to fight climate change. It’s also unclear how timber sales could be planned, administered, and implemented when the government has just fired thousands of Forest Service employees.

My family has enjoyed camping, hiking, exploring, canoeing in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest. We have often explored and camped in other national forests while cross country traveling. My family drinks municipal water from the national forests.

Tell Ben Cline to protect our national forests.

Donald Trump… the man, the monster

This description of Donald Trump was posted in the comments on a Washington Post article about tariffs on Mexico. It was credited to Nate White. It is too good, too accurate to not share.

“Donald Trump has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honor and no grace – all qualities, ironically enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.

And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

He is a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies like Putin, Xi, Epstein, and Kim; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.

He’s a slug, a Jabba the Hutt of privilege, and it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of gibberish. Even his flaws have flaws. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart.

If Dr. Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.”

Trump… the Manchurian Candidate

Hey Ben, maybe you can hold some townhall meetings to discuss the Manchurian Candidate? President Zelensky pointed out that America has oceans for protection. But, what if the invasion is from within, directed by a powerful and aggressive force from without? What if the rot and the subversive danger is deep in our constitutional system?

 

John Locke anticipated thugs like Trump and Musk

 In his 1690 Second Treatise on Government, John Locke noted that when a leader disregards constitutional order, he gives up legitimacy and the people are justified in treating him as a “thief and a robber.” “[W]hosoever in authority exceeds the power given him by the law and makes use of the force he has under his command…ceases in that to be a magistrate; and, acting without authority, may be opposed, as any other man, who by force invades the right of another,”

Ben Cline… it is time for you to do a bit of reading.

Ben Cline’s five accomplishments last week

I emailed Rep Ben Cline (VA 06) to ask what five good things he’d done for the United States last week so that he could comply with the DOGE command. Knowing Cline wouldn’t respond, a helpful friend supplied the answers: “1) Called my most generous donors to find out what favors they’d like me to do for them. 2) Visited remote western towns in my district to explain to people how they will be better off when their local clinics close. 3) Drafted a bill to change the name of Shenandoah National Park to Harry Byrd NP. 4) Attended Jud Comm meeting to strategize ways to impeach woke radical leftist judges who are disloyal to our Dear Leader. 5) Invited teenaged DOGE techies to program office computers to auto-delete *** ****‘s emails.”