The Witness Chronicles, 11/13/24
This just in…
The Silence of the (old school) Republicans
I thought they were pro-military
Donald Trump just chose a certified wack job as Secretary of Defense and his Republican supporters are just accepting it. His name is Pete Hegseth and he is a former Fox News commentator who was asked to leave the military because his unit considered him too extreme.
The Pentagon is reportedly in shock about the choice, especially given he would have the nuclear codes if confirmed by the Senate.
This appointment is just the latest in a series that should be freaking out the Muslims and pro-Palestinian supporters who voted for Trump. This guy is an ardent Zionist as is Mike Huckabee, the nominee for ambassador to Israel. Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, believes that both the West Bank and Gaza belong to the Israelis based on biblical tribal divisions.
This is very bad news for those who want a two state solution for the Palestinians and very good news for the hard right in Israel and their leader Bibi Netanyahu. It essentially gives them the green light to wipe out Palestine as we know it, something it appears they have been doing during the last year, with our help.
Get ready for us doubling down on sending massive bombs and missile systems to Israel, bombs being used to kill thousands, including an estimated 40% children. And now we have another pro-radical Israel supporter about to gain control of the most powerful military on the planet.
The Biden administration threatened to withhold those bombs if Israel didn’t allow large scale humanitarian aid into Gaza. There was a thirty day deadline which expired this week. Israel did two things. They kicked the United Nations aid providers out of the country, then at the last minute allowed a trickle of aid in, just enough for Biden to back off.
I mention this because both sides here are complicit in the starvation of Palestinians that Netanyahu appears to be using as a battle tactic. Now it’s likely to get even worse.
We knew Trump’s administration would be extreme and in just one week there is plenty of evidence of that, with a lot more to come. I’m already numb to the bad news as it is coming in torrents, but what is really numbing is the hopelessness of any effective resistance.
The traditional Republicans, what’s left of them, did defy Trump by picking John Thune over Rick Scott to lead the senate, but Thune is a pretty hard core Trumpie himself. Maybe the lesser of two evils, sort of. But there is little sign of any pushback within the party for any of this madness.
It was easy to stir up outrage when the election was still going on but it's a lot harder now, not because it isn’t outrageous, but because I can’t see a path forward for any resistance movement, not in the foreseeable future. That’s probably the most depressing thing about this right now.
We’re going to have to be patient and have faith that the policies the Trump White House is promoting are likely to take us into a depression, possibly escalate wars in Europe and the Middle East, result in crazy high prices as the immigration deportations empty out meat packing and poultry plants of labor, and climate driven weather gets even worse.
On that last point we have wildfires all over both coasts and yet another dangerous hurricane developing in the Gulf, guaranteeing this will be one of the worst hurricane seasons ever. The incoming head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, is promising to deregulate and pull funding for renewable energy, something that may cause a backlash as the majority of Biden’s climate change funding goes to red states where it is popular with incumbent politicians on the right.
I’ll say one thing for this country. Things can change really fast as we are seeing right now. But a lot of the Project 2025 plans we’re watching materialize are designed to eliminate resistance and crush protest of the most extreme policies. And those are the policies they are rushing to lock down before the general public wakes up and realizes what is going on.
If they wake up. There’s not much sign of it so far, but that may be because all of us are numb from a year of wacko politics and four years of fighting rising extremism. We’re watching a war of ideologies and right now the right are handily winning that war.
I’m not feeling hopeless but I am feeling frustrated and, to be honest, angry at a lot of my fellow citizens for choosing change for change’s sake, without really thinking through the consequences. It’s not like Trump and his people haven’t been clear about their intentions. You can’t say no one told you what was coming.
They put it in writing for God’s sake and then went further, openly embracing racist language and hate of anything different, i.e. non-white, non-Christian, non straight, etc. It was clear as a bell what was coming.and now it’s here in all its glory.
As my readers know, I think the blame game is pointless but if you need to find blame look around you. The majority of the people you see voted for this stuff. Maybe not in my city, which is hardcore northeastern Democrat, but across the country.
But that’s a done deal and that’s the scary part right now. The best we can do is make sure our neighbors pay attention and hopefully understand what is going on.
That’s not much of an encouragement but it’s what I got right now.
Good grief. As I was doing a final edit on this, word came out that Trump is appointing Matt Gaetz as Attorney General, an obvious insult to the office which has been targeting Trump’s various alleged crimes. Gaetz has been accused of having sex with underage women, though there have been no prosecutions.
Yes, it can get worse.
The need to support writing that witnesses is more important than ever. Please consider supporting my writing with a small donation through Buy Me A Coffee, a site for supporting creators, or by upgrading to the paid subscription option. I realize not all readers can afford to help out and that my writing needs to earn your support, so all my content is available to all subscribers. Thank you, ME
I agree with you but also feel it is best to continue living as positively as possible. There is not much we can do at this point. It is likely the complaining will come from the people who supported Trump when they experience the reality of what is going on. I visited Russia back when it was the Soviet Union and met with Russian scientists and average people. I observed how they survived and lived. They helped each other and seemed happy enough even though they were oppressed. They had their passions and lived well. We are heading for a similar oppression and will survive.
Could never understand why the repub ticket is always the "go-to" when voters are angry or unhappy. This time around the repubs talk of ending the ACA, cutting or gutting social security, Medicare & Medicaid and people choose that over Harris wanting to protect all of it as well as making it easier to buy a home & start a business. And then voters whine about the working class being ignored. What? They choose repubs who break unions, don't want to increase the minimum wage & vote down child care even though they want all these forced pregnancies. It makes no sense. 🤔