WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THIS?

By Ruth A. Sheets

I attended one of the best online conferences I have ever been to on Monday, April 7, 2025, presented by the organization, Patriotic Millionaires.  It covered the current economic and political situation here and abroad and what we can do about it.  The symposium was called “Stopping the Brologarchy.”  It is nearly all men who are involved in the attempted destruction of our government and our economy, men groomed to believe in their superiority displaying masculinity that is toxic to everyone but themselves, probably to themselves too. 

Powerful speakers from all over presented a clear, comprehensible picture of what is going on, a sense of how desperate the situation is, and that we must do something to stop this and work toward a world, nation, and communities that are more equitable.

The presenters gave us the reality of our situation from tariffs designed to do as much harm around the world as possible (even putting tariffs on islands with only penguins), to firing thousands possibly millions of government workers, to undermining health and research that impact the world.  They described a Trumpian goal as wrecking the world economy so the very rich can take over and subdue everyone and have an open season on people’s rights, even survival, based on whether the people capitulate to the “master’s” will, and they do mean masters, those men who revel in what the rest of us see as toxic masculinity.  Abigail Disney, for example,  informed us that the violence against women has not decreased over time even though only a small fraction of men participate in it, but is acceptable to those men in charge. 

The presenters then left us with a few important considerations as we work to make essential change:

1. You can’t change anything you don’t understand or acknowledge.  When we have knowledge, we have ability to act, our power.
2. We must commit to do something we are not already involved in doing, something new to us.  If we can, we should, make a commitment to do one more thing.  Ask, what do I need to learn to do that one new thing?
3. We need to fix the disease that is eating us alive.  It is a mathematical cancer that involves wages that are too low and a corrupt inequitable tax code and so much more.  If we don’t deal with the disease, nothing will improve sufficiently to make a positive difference.  Taxing the wealthy at high levels is critical. 
4. Focus  on the money and deal with it on local and state levels, who has it, how it is being used, and the lies being told about it.
5. !Demand a positive opposition, not one that is just a bit better than the other side.  We need to focus on actions that will actually work for the positive.  It is time to be done with what the Director of Patriotic Millionaires calls the throttlebottoms (folks that are bottom-feeders driving everyone else down).  They need to be countered at every opportunity because they have nothing good to offer anyone.
6. Find a small group of committed people to connect then work with.  There are many great organizations working on these challenges.  Help make small groups larger with the aim of making things better. 

Director of “Patriotic Millionaires” Erica Payne, reminded participants of the clarity of this reality, those involved with the current destruction process are evil.  We all must be the light that shines through the darkness and gives us hope that we can make things even better for all of us than before this crisis.

THE CABINET OF INCOMPETENTS

By Ruth A. Sheets

On April 2, 2025, Robert Reich presented his weekly poll, this time about the presidential cabinet , put into place since January 20^th.  OMG!  It was a hard poll.  The question, “Which of Trump’s cabinet officers is the worst?  His choices:  Pete Hegseth of Defense, RFK,Jr. of Health and Human Services, Pam Bondi the Attorney General, and Marco Rubio Secretary of State. 

There is another cruel incompetent who should be included, the new director of Homeland Security (a cabinet-level position that should not even exist, has far less reason than the Department of Education which actually does positive things to help our children and young people).  Kristi Noem The head is a dog murderer who feels about the rest of us the way she seems to have felt about her dog before she killed it and dumped it into a quarry. 

Among the poll members, there's Rubio whose family were "refugees" from Cuba.  They and their cohort came here and did a lot of disrupting over the years, particularly in Florida and few "long-time American citizens” demanded they be deported and that their children, like "Little Marco" are not citizens.  What an evil hypocrite! 

There is nothing positive to say for either RFK,Jr. or Hegseth.  Neither of them should ever be in charge of anything since they can't even take care of themselves properly.  They are both ignorant of not only the departments they were foolishly approved by our Senators to run but ignorant of just about everything else too; they prove it every single day, putting us all at risk.  I chose RFK,Jr. in the poll because he is undermining the already precarious health of this nation with his lies and disinformation, putting us and the rest of the world at risk. 

Pam Bondi’s  law school should erase her from their records of graduates or rather should never have graduated her in the first place; she is a person of no moral compass who knows nothing of our Constitution and cares less than that about it or this nation, only her infatuation with Donald Trump, adult-toddler-in-chief.  She like the rest of the Trumpers and Trumpettes just makes things up as she goes along just to see what she can get away with, and she is getting away with a lot, or thinks she is. 

They are all despicable, the whole crew, like McMahon in Education and the rest of the ignoramuses our Senate Republicans and a few Democrats chose to sick on us.  None of them has a clue, but tries to pretend they are working for their god and will follow his wishes even though dementia has clearly taken hold.  They were chosen since they play the role of sycophant quite well and together represent the worst of America, not one of them worthy of any positive recognition.  Thank you Senate Republicans for proving your judgment is just as poor as Trump and his handlers and fan club hoped it would be.  Justice would be that every single Senate member who voted for these destroyers and incompetents would be voted out.  Not likely, but one can dream! 

MARCH GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

By Ruth A. Sheets

Today is the last day of Women’s History Month which overlaps one day with “Trans Day of Visibility.”  I am a family member of trans persons, a friend of more, and a supporter of trans persons everywhere.  Despite what people like Donald Trump, and his warped administration believe, transgender persons have been part of the human community probably from the beginning of our species. 

Over time, trans persons’ degree of acceptance in groups and societies has varied.  It is only in the past century or so that science has been able to help facilitate a match between a person’s gender identity and physical body and hormones.  However, it seems over time, trans people have found ways to live their correct gender despite having non-matching physical characteristics, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. 

What is going on now?   As far as I can tell, it is about control.  Anti-trans persons want to have sufficient control to say, “you are illegal and I am going to hurt you if you don’t agree with what I believe and you don’t live as your birth sex.”  There is no honest reason for this white “straight” male stance, but they don’t care; it’s about control.  For Trump and friends, their public stance is that white “straight” male is the basic human form and everyone else is inferior and in need of control by those white “straight” men whose money or something else magically adds to their intelligence and puts them in power, supposedly letting them determine who is acceptable and who is not.  So let’s see who is acceptable to them:

• - “Trad (traditional) Wives” who stay at home, demand nothing, pump out lots of white babies, and care for hubby as though he were another of her brood
• - Men who are willing to work hard for crap wages so the rich white men, magically in charge can bring in huge salaries for minimal work 
• -people of color, invisible except as servants, house cleaners, hotel “maids,” custodians of golf clubs and other hang-outs for the rich white men and their accepted buddies
• - International leaders who will bow and scrape in subservience to the American autocracy and give “good deals” for everything the rich white American men demand
• - People who look, talk, think, and act just like themselves, but not too much

The unacceptable includes the rest of us:

• - Smart, clever, creative women who are independent, even choosing not to have a hubby or to bear children
• - White men who dare to challenge the white male status quo, writing and speaking about just how stupid such a world view really is
• - Researchers who have known for some time that female is the basic human form; males need extra hormones injected in the womb to become male,
• - Scientists who work to understand and will share the truth, demonstrating just what fools’ men who choose conspiracy theories and bad science, like RFK, Jr. and friends are
• - LGBTQ+ persons because they don’t fit the “acceptable” male-female behaviors
• - Judges who rule honestly, can’t be bribed, and hold to their oath to our Constitution
• - Protesters of the dictatorial nature of the current government, folks who want Black History, women’s history, Asian-American history, Hispanic History, Native American history and more, respected, taught, and shared

You get it, the rich white “straight” men and the tiny fraction of “allies” they permit into their sphere, resent everyone who is not a perfect minion.  They want to defeat and subdue anyone who is not willing to accept enslavement and is not OK with abuse and denial of rights.  These rich white “straight” men are scared of the rest of us and are putting forth massive efforts to control us all so they can do whatever they wish unfettered with no regulation, no oversight.  They assume their wealth and power will keep them from suffering from the smoggy air, bad water, unwilling workforce.  They are now recruiting the minions whom they will use to control us, if we permit it. 

Trans persons and LGBTQ+ persons in general are not the ones who are doing damage to our society.  Having trans girls on girls’ teams will not destroy a sport that men have ignored forever.  It is not trans people using their appropriate bathrooms that put anyone at risk; it is white males and some other men who think it is their right to prey on other people who pose a threat, though minimal at best.  Let’s fight the rich white “straight” male desire to control everything and everyone, and to do harm to anyone who does not succumb.  There are more of us than there are of them, a lot more!

So, let’s celebrate!  Be glad that many people are working to make it possible for all people to live their lives as they choose.  Happy Day of Trans Visibility!

WHEN WILL ENOUGH BE ENOUGH?

By Ruth A. Sheets

I keep wondering when Republicans who claim to be patriotic Americans, are going to say "enough." 

• - It wasn’t enough when Trump pardoned all the January 6^th insurrectionists, people who threatened their own lives.  Trump and his handlers were just too lazy to determine who were the ones who had actually done the most violence, although that information was readily available.
• It clearly wasn't when Musk and his wrecking crew fired (without permission from anyone but Trump), thousands of the government workers who actually know how to make our government work and keep this nation safe. 
• It wasn't enough when Musk/Trump dismantled the USAID that helps protect the people of the world, including us from horrific diseases and to help people deal with war and poverty. 
• - It wasn't enough when the concept of a free public education for all children was maligned by Musk/Trump getting rid of about 50% of the Department of Education that provides funding and services for children with learning and functioning differences as well as scholarship money for college. 
• - It wasn't enough when Trump/Vance in tandem insulted President Zelensky of Ukraine and lied that Ukraine began the war, clearly started by Russia. 
• - It wasn't enough when the FAA was undermined and air travel was put at risk, now supposedly to be under the rule of Musk's Starlink or whatever other BS entity the ignorant greedy Musk illegally comes up with for his own benefit. 
• - It wasn't enough when Musk and his toddler troop began messing with Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, programs that have worked tremendously well for nearly 90 years for Social Security and 60 for Medicare and Medicaid, programs we pay for from our first jobs onward.  They are closing local offices so people can't go directly to get help, while requiring them to go to local offices to register.  Then they started taking some people off the roles, claiming the people are actually dead when they are not. Musk, a super-rich recent citizen knows nothing about Social Security or any of the programs he is working to destroy for the benefit of himself and rich white people and corporations. 
• - It isn't enough now when our military under a rapist, misogynist, racist incompetent, Hegseth removes the courage of people of color and women from their websites, pretending only white men did anything to protect America, a massive lie, of course. 
• - It wasn’t enough when immigrants were grabbed off the street, people who hold green cards and have done nothing illegal, unlike Musk and Trump and disappeared, 200+ of them sent to a torture prison in El Salvador, others to countries they have not lived in since infancy, not knowing anyone or speaking the language.
• It wasn’t enough when Trump declared there is no climate crisis, global warming isn’t real, and that “drill baby drill” will be the chant instead.  That is happening while Republicans and their constituents are dealing with terrible storms, floods, and wildfires made far worse by global warming.  The Republican states are being hit worst with little to no way to manage without government help.  Yep, those people voted for this to happen to them because their racism and misogyny couldn’t let them do anything else.
• It wasn’t enough when Trump and his clown show threatened judges and our courts, you know, the ones that oppose the illegal things Trump and Kump are doing. 
•  
  
• It is truly shameful that I hear no Republicans and few Democrats standing up and yelling "stop."  It must be something pretty powerful that Trump is holding over Republicans in Congress these days to keep them either mouthing just what Trump’s handlers want them to say or remaining silent.  They need to stand up. 
•  
• At this point, it seems to me that it should not matter what Donald Trump and his Goon Troops have on anyone in Congress because the harms being done to this country will overshadow anything else Trump can make up about them.  It seems living without a spine or moral compass works for Republicans, MAGAs, and some Democrats and Independents too.  Shame on them all.  I do wish there were a way to remove Trump/Vance/Musk from office without violence because none of them should be in charge of anything and may only be in power because they found a way to cheat in this past election using secret cheating algorithms, in the "{swing states" of course, somehow just barely taking every single one of them.  That really does stretch credibility.

THE THING WE WON’T TALK ABOUT

By Ruth A. Sheets

One positive thing that might come from the current Musk/Trump insanity is that we may force ourselves as a nation to take a serious look at the thing that can’t be mentioned. 

Many Americans voted for Trump and his crazies because of their embedded racism and misogyny, wrapped in sayings like "the price of eggs."  Maybe if we can be honest about that, people can see that voting for someone just because he is white, male, belligerent, and has a big mouth over a woman of color who unlike Trump, is actually more than competent will never save their lives, fortunes, or sacred honor.

I get it that by tradition, white and white wannabees , and many men are scared of anyone who is not them and will lash out at those folks who are more competent and skilled than any white male folks they know, but we don’t have to go along with it.  We the People keep pretending that racism and misogyny are things of the past, and they are, but they are also things of the present and future if we do nothing to call them out wherever we see them and bring it to the attention of the racists and misogynists who are using issues like the economy to cover their hatreds and bad behavior. 

Trump, Musk, and nearly every person nominated and approved of for high positions in our government, male and female are both racist and misogynist, yet our Senate Republicans and a few Democrats voted for them anyway.  A host of Republican representatives at all levels in our nation are racists and/or misogynists (usually both), but keep being elected because their opponents are not "supposed" to mention that, and it might not matter anyway since their constituents often share their racism and misogyny.  Those representatives though, are permitted to call THEIR opponents all kinds of racist and misogynistic names not only with impunity, but gaining them higher approval points. 

President Biden declared the ERA the 28th Amendment of our Constitution, which it should have been declared by Trump 5 years ago when Virginia became the 38th state to ratify, but I have not yet heard that the archivist was forced to actually see that it is printed in all copies of the Constitution, as she should have done since all of the requirements were met as described in our Constitution.  And, yes, women can be as misogynistic as men, often to please the men in their lives.

Where is the racism?  It is nearly everywhere if one takes a moment to notice.  The Washington, DC government as ordered a street mural for “Black Lives Matter” removed at significant cost because Trump threatened to cut their funding if they don’t, a minor but powerful instance.  The plans for cutting programs that serve disadvantaged communities as well as DEI are a much larger example.  In neither case has Congress stood up to stop the actions.

So, it is time we as a people fully acknowledge our complicity with the racism and misogyny rampant in our nation.  It does have economic costs since most of the billionaire class are white and male, just as one would expect and they intend to stay on top no matter what they have to do to maintain their position and wealth.  It really is up to all of us who recognize racism and misogyny when we see it to take a stand.

• We must demand better candidates and of a greater variety. 
• We need audits of our elections to see that people’s actual votes are being cast and tallied accurately. 
• - We need advertising that shows what racism and misogyny are and how they can be identified and challenged. 
• - We need more movies and TV programming to deal with racism and misogyny head-on, emphasizing the cruelty and evil nature of both as well as positive examples of communities where the people are effectively dealing with both. 
• - We need quality journalism at all levels from local to international, telling the truth regularly, about the impacts of racism and misogyny.
•  

We can do this if we really act as our Constitution claims to want to do, “form a more perfect union.”  That can’t happen when racism and misogyny reign.

OPTIMISM? WELL MAYBE

By Ruth A. Sheets

I appreciate the need for optimism as we watch our nation sinking under the BS of the Republican Party, led by the "would-be-king/deity" Toddler-Trump and his goons, but it’s hard, and maybe they’re evil. 

Senate Republicans voted for some pretty despicable people to run our critical departments and agencies.  They supposedly interviewed and questioned each candidate, but clearly they didn’t care about the nominee’s past, biases, personal vendettas, lack of competence or qualifications.  One can’t help but wonder why.  I suspect it has something to do with Toddler-Trump’s desire to be a MAFIA Don who collects information on everyone around him to use against them, blackmail, you know.  In addition, those in office will owe their toddler-boss for a job they clearly didn’t deserve.  Among the worst:  

• - an absolute fool, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to run our department of health and human services - he knows nothing about medicine, research, or just about anything else, but he does have a lot of ridiculous ideas about vaccines, medicine in general, and how the Department should be run, all without knowledge or experience;
• - a personal lawyer for Toddler-Trump, Pam Bondi,  as Attorney General - a woman who has her own “hit list” to nurse, mostly people who legally opposed Trump;
• - an accused rapist, incompetent manager, you know, criminal, Pete Hegseth, with minimal experience of the Department of Defense, but a lot of vengeance in his heart and hatred for anyone who is not rich, white, “straight,” and male, a minority in our military;
• - a Putin "mole," Tulsi Gabbard in charge of our intelligence service – enough said;
• - an empty suit, Marco Rubio, to be our Secretary of State – He has traveled a bit, so knows what he needs to do, right;
• - an ignoramus, Sean Duffy at Transportation– already 7 aircraft “accidents” since Toddler-Trump took office;
• A hateful vindictive sycophant of ?Toddler-Trump, Kash Patel to run the FBI – he maintains an “enemies list of people he plans to go after.

  Then there's Toddler-Musk and his child-hackers tearing through our government's tech to see how much damage the richest man in the world, supposedly, can do to many of the poorest.  The Senate didn’t even get to vote on these kids - They were not vetted or even required to fill out an employment application, but can steal our personal information and fire people whose jobs they neither understand nor care about.

Toddler-Trump moving deeper into dementia has now decided to betray an ally and turn his love toward Putin of Russia.  That should be seen as treason since he is betraying an ally for an adversary while that adversary is conducting a war it began for its own purposes. Trump now lies that Ukraine started the war which was actually a Putin/Russian invasion to annex Ukraine.  Is it Trump’s dementia or Putin conducting some blackmail on our current president?  Hmmm!

I am working on staying at least somewhat optimistic.  I think one must be optimistic if a teacher and if I believe in our nation and working toward making it a more perfect union. 

Optimism comes from people using their courage to stand up and say “no.”  The most recent example was Governor Mills of Maine who told Trump trans athletes would be able to play sports in Maine because they have rights in the Maine Constitution.  Trump threatened to cut off funding for the state of Maine if they did let those athletes compete.  She said “then, I’ll see you in court.”  I was hoping the other governors would have stood up to support her, but nope.  She did show people how to stand up to a toddler-man who thinks he can control everything and everyone because all his life, the people around him regularly bow and kiss something for him on request.  Not everyone will do that.  That is where I have optimism, real hope!

In any case, we need to stand together against this coup mastermind by The Heritage Foundation and corporate America, a right-wing collection of white supremacists and pseudo-christians who want to stop anyone and anything that does not promote rich white maledom.  Well, they are a minority and we need to let them know that as often as possible. 

We can do something.  Don’t forget the 24-hour boycott over February 27-28^th, and the Amazon boycott from March 7-14.  If you need to buy something, go local!