Week Two of the New Era – we may not make it to a year

Since taking office on Jan. 20, 2025, the new president has issued hundreds of executive orders attacking the role of Congress and taking a big ax to the Constitution itself. Through his EOs, he has prevented NIH from communicating with the public; halted previously approved research funding, heavily impacting university research programs; froze previously approved federal spending from being disbursed at all; banned birthright citizenship - and much more. Some of these actions are in the courts. With regard to the EO banning birthright citizenship, a judge, appointed by Reagan, said this was the most unconstitutional order he'd ever seen. We'll see how the Federalist Society ideologues on SCOTUS approach this issue. 

On Inauguration Day, pressure from Elon Musk sparked the resignation of the head of the FAA. The first fatal plane accident in 16 years happened less than two weeks later. An American Airlines plane, carrying competitive ice skaters, collided with a military helicopter over the crowded airfields of D.C. All on board died. Trump's first response, echoed by sycophants Vance, serving as VP and Pete Hegseth, a man who promises to stop drinking after becoming Defense Secretary, was to blame DEI for the accident. It seems they have no memory of the multiple accidents in all those years when only white men were allowed to fly planes and helicopters. The control tower the night of the crash was down by 50 percent - only two air traffic controllers were handling the traffic that night, instead of four. 

Also in the news this week, a foreign-born federal contractor who is also a highly compensated CEO of multiple companies that rely on receiving billions of dollars in federal contracts has assumed control of the Office of Professional Management and locked out longtime federal employees previously responsible for the data on federal employees. Musk runs "the Department of Governmental Efficiency" - AKA DOGE - named to remind Elon Musk of DOGEcoin, a crypto currency he favors. 

What is unclear - where the money is coming from to fund a department that is not a real department. Which part of the Constitution allows a president to unilaterally create a new federal department? When did Congress appropriate money to fund this department? 

The head of this department is a man who gave a Nazi salute at an inaugural event last week and one of the most striking things to see was the work being done to persuade Americans that the gesture Musk gave twice was not a Nazi salute. They really want us to believe that what we see is something other than what we see - instead of a Nazi salute, it was the awkward actions of an autistic person - a heartfelt gesture of appreciation to his fans – a Roman salute. As the Associated Press noted, far-right extremists celebrated Musk's use of the salute. A German paper, Zeit Online, called it for what it was – a Hitler salute:

Musk claims he will sue Democratic VP candidate Tim Walz for defamation for saying that Musk performed the Nazi salute. In related news, North Carolina GOP candidate for governor, a man who identified as a "Black Nazi" on a porn site, has dropped his defamation suit against CNN for reporting the news that he frequented porn sites. The threat of a lawsuit has been used by billionaires for many reasons, to instill fear, bankrupt any opponent via legal fees to counter these lawsuits, prevent payment of legally required financial obligations (Trump used that tactic to avoid paying contractors.) 

We are in the midst of a constitutional crisis and national news media has decided to coronate Trump as a monarch, instead of providing the accountability the Fourth Estate is supposed to provide. Here are two examples from the New York Times and the Washington Post. 

It is breathtaking to see the assault on our constitution play out in real time. Democrats seem without any ability or desire to oppose this. They keep voting for too many of Trump's cabinet nominees, whose primary qualifications seem to be loyalty to Trump and disdain for the Constitution. The Republican Party supports the authoritarian power grab of the Trump administration - we would not be in this position if the GOP truly cared about the integrity of the presidency and the Constitution. It's truly a terrifying moment in US history, one that could see the end of all that we held valuable - the idea that we are all "endowed with with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Clearly, the party in power today values billionaires and unchecked power.