The Witness Chronicles, 4/16/25

Are we finally waking up?

The news is rotten but spring is here! Photo by Jack Cohen on Unsplash

Meet Defiance With Defiance: These People Are Playing Hardball

The response from the Courts and Congress is pitiful

Are we really going to lay down and let these idiots walk over us? If you look to the Supreme Court and the Congress, it sure seems like that’s the plan, and it is suicidal.

If Trump continues on his path of ignoring the law, there will be no courts and no elected officials in the near future. That’s not looking like speculation as it appears that no one in DC is willing to hold the administration responsible for their growing arrogance and lawlessness. They’re thumbing their fingers at all of us every day.

There are rumors that an attack plan memo is being circulated among Democrats in Congress but details are lacking. And that sentence pretty much sums up the Democratic response to what already looks like a full blown Constitutional crisis. A plan but no details, no leader named, no actual action until some uncertain future date. Cory Booker’s courageous 25 hour speech in the House looked like it might be the beginning of a rebellion but no one stepped up and in the flurry of negative news, it was soon forgotten.

Right now it looks like the 2026 midterms will likely see this Congress getting thrown out if they do not take action. That is if Trump doesn’t declare elections illegal and take on all powers himself, something that looks more and more possible every day.

Yes, things are that bad and getting worse.

In case you have any doubt this is getting far worse, take a few minutes and read Heather Cox Richardson’s post from last night. It lists just one day’s actions by this administration that are illegal and there are dozens.

It is extremely depressing to write about these non-events. It is also extremely depressing to watch the daily circus in the White House as with each passing day they seem determined to push the limits of power and arrogance. The underlying stupidity of it all does nothing to make me feel better about it.

There have been many incidents in history where stupidity caused great damage when accompanied by complacency. A part of me has been outraged for too long about two things, the arrogance and vanity of the Trump people, and that complacency as my fellow citizens sit by and watch them destroy our democracy for greed and the need for petty power.

My opinion writing, in the form of blogs, was focused on climate issues for years, though very few readers saw it. Complacency and greed were, and still are, the major problem in combating climate change. Medium, and now Substack, offered me platforms to actually reach people, though my influence is small.

Today, climate change is the single biggest problem we face as weather becomes far more destructive on so many levels. The level of denial and politicization is simply breathtaking in its hypocrisy. But I never expected a reckless President would take it so far, basically destroying scientific research, advanced weather forecasting, and every environmental victory we have achieved in the last 60 years, in just three months.

And that is just one issue as they run amok through our legal system, ransacking our government, extorting our allies, demolishing our strongest economy since post WWII, and all for revenge by a spoiled rich brat who sees himself as the biggest victim in history.

I mentioned earlier that stupid people throughout history have managed to do enormous damage through their stupidity but what we are witnessing now is simply unimaginable. But there is a stubborn streak in the American psyche and that stubborn streak is blinding much of the country to what has been going on.

‘It’s not my problem’ seems to be the excuse for many. But it is your problem, it is all of our problem regardless of your party, where you live, what you do, or how rich or poor you are.

There are signs that people are waking up. Today a 91 year old senior Republican Senate leader stood in front of a town hall making excuses for Trump’s actions and he was shaken by the anger of the crowd. That scene is taking place everywhere that politicians dare face their constituents in person.

When fiery progressives like Bernie and AOC go anywhere, they draw huge crowds. It’s important to remember that these progressives were until recently considered little more than over-educated eastern elites by many. But now their alarmist message is suddenly personal for many who never wanted to hear or believe it.

There is a growing hunger for that message and it is nothing less than a call for a revolution by all of us. It remains to be seen if the complacent find themselves angry because they lost their jobs, found themselves unable to afford the American Dream, lost their benefits promised after serving their country, all to serve the petty anger of a mentally ill man and the greed of those who see him as a means to acquire more power.

This country has been in the grip of materialism we take as a right, over extending ourselves and building debt we can never repay. That debt has now come due. Trump and Musk’s anti-corruption campaign has nothing to do with shrinking the debt or reducing government waste.

That is simply a ruse, a cloud of chaos designed to hide something far worse, a planned effort to destroy democracy and install a lunatic as dictator, a lunatic who is easily manipulated. That is our reality right now and we need to get mad and act to stop it.

I am happy to note that just in the last 24 hours there are signs that people are waking up and getting mad. The question of course is will Trump pay any attention to us? The evidence is building that the White House is living in a bubble of collective insanity, a bubble of their own making.

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Thank you,

Martin Edic