Thoughts for the Day, January 27, 2025: It has begun

This is how authoritarian governments work.

Part of the playbook of authoritarian governments is to get citizens reporting on citizens. It promises severe consequences to those who do not snitch on their fellow citizens. It creates fear. Fear as a motivation of enforcement.

As reported by The Guardian, the Trump administration on Wednesday threatened federal employees with “adverse consequences” if they fail to report on colleagues who defy orders to purge diversity, equity and inclusion efforts from their agencies.

Tens of thousands of workers were put on notice that officials would not tolerate any efforts to “disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language.” Emails sent out, which were based on a template from the Office of Personnel Management, gave employees 10 days to report their observations to a special email account without risking disciplinary action.

“There will be no adverse consequences for timely reporting this information,” the template sent to agency heads said. “However, failure to report this information within 10 days may result in adverse consequences.”

The message also said: “These programs divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars and resulted in shameful discrimination.”

Some agencies, such as the Education Department and the State Department, sent the template to their employees on Wednesday. Other agencies made slight modifications when they sent emails to their workers. The Department of Homeland Security, for example, said failure to report D.E.I. efforts “will result” in adverse consequences.

The warnings were a dramatic escalation of President Trump’s war on diversity programs that seek to reverse decades of systemic inequities. They were also part of a broader assault on the federal work force, which the president has long viewed as a bloated bureaucracy. He has pledged to eliminate departments and has ordered remote workers back to the office.

In his Inaugural Address, Mr. Trump said he would stop efforts to “socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.”

“We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based,” Mr. Trump declared.

This is one of many steps that Trump will take. He is following a playback well established by authoritarian governments. Use citizens against each other.

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January 6, 2021, Pardons

From Heather Cox Richardson Letters from an American

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly summed up the judges’ outrage when she wrote: “Dismissal of charges, pardons after convictions, and commutations of sentences will not change the truth of what happened on January 6, 2021. What occurred that day is preserved for the future through thousands of contemporaneous videos, transcripts of trials, jury verdicts, and judicial opinions analyzing and recounting the evidence through a neutral lens. Those records are immutable and represent the truth, no matter how the events of January 6 are described by those charged or their allies.” This is my Quote of the Day.

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Dazed and Confused

The Democrats are acting like they have been sucker punched.

The Democrats in Washington D.C. are struggling with how to react to the onslaught of executive orders. The rules have changed, and they are left out in the cold because they underestimated Trump and his appeal to most Americans. Sound bites and stating the “democracy is at risk” will not get the Dems back in power. It is going to take a change in strategy. It is going to take a unified front that hits home with the American people.

A strategy of waiting for Trump to make a major mistake will be a strategy of failure. Trump has proven that mistakes or convictions will not affect his appeal or the appeal of candidates who have his endorsement.

Democrats need to focus on finding charismatic leaders who can win races. They need to start by winning back the House and Senate in 2026, which can be done, if they can get their act together and rewrite their playbook. Tweaking the status quo will not work.

The Democrats need to put their internal differences aside and develop a plan that appeals to most Americans, most state voters and most local voters.

Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii said it best. “We’re no longer trying to win a news cycle. We’re trying to win an argument, and that’s going to take time and patience and discipline.”

Democrats need to have the mentality of the great golfers in match play. The great ones assume the opponent is going to hit the right shot and make the putt. The great golfers know that waiting for their opponent to make a mistake is a recipe for disaster. The great golfers know that to win in match play requires them to be better than their opponent even when both players have their “A” game. To win in match play, great golfers play each hole like it is the most important hole of the match.

The Democrats need to take this approach to each election at the national, state, and local level. This will take time, but they have time to prepare. Their next match is 22 months away.

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A crazy week

Not since the week that covid hit in mid-March 2020 have I had a stranger week than last week.

It started with the Lions losing on Saturday night. Monday was a big juxtaposition with it being Trump’s nomination and Martin Luther King Day all in one. Monday ended with a round of Trump’s executive orders and the pardoning of 1,400 January 6, 2021, insurrectionists, which pissed me off.

As I went to bed Monday night a history making snowfall started in Gulf Shores and the entire northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. By Tuesday afternoon there were more than 7 inches of snow, and the city was paralyzed for four days. It was the worst snowfall in over 150 years. Going out on the roads was not safe. Not only were the roads full of snow and ice, but the locals have no experience with driving in winter conditions, nor are their cars prepared to handle the snow and ice. City buildings were closed for four days. Most business were closed until Friday. It was a cluster.

Fortunately, Leah and I were not going to be denied. Leah got in her three miles walking every day. By Thursday I was back on my bike carving out 6-10 miles each day by dodging ice, snow, and wind in the mile loop I ride in the complex.

By Saturday people were starting to get out and stories were being exchanged. One of our neighbors used a kayak paddle to try to break the ice on the sidewalk in front of his home. One lady told me it was the first time she ever dealt with snow, and she never wanted to deal with it again. She said she would rather deal with hurricanes than another snow like this. One person told me she was afraid to drive because she had never driven in snow. We saw city workers trying to clear roads of ice and snow with huge road graders, backhoes and bobcats. Whatever it took. Snowblowers, snow shovels and car window snow scrapers do not exist down here. Neither does salt for the roads.

In Petoskey, seven inches of snow is an inconvenience for a short time. In Gulf Shores it is life altering until the weather warms and melts it away.

Today it was 65 degrees, and I played golf.

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Quote of the Day: See above from U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.

Orchid of the Day: The Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles for making it to the Super Bowl.

Onion of the Day: Michigan’s men’s basketball team for getting their butts handed to them on Friday night. It was so bad from the get-go; I stopped watching four minutes into the game. Purdue came out angry and took it out on Michigan. Michigan was not prepared for the intensity of Purdue or its crowd.

Lyrics of the Day: Well, I'm not the world's most physical guy
But when she squeezed me tight, she nearly broke my spine.

Well, I'm not dumb but I can't understand
Why she walked like a woman but talked like a man

If you think you know the title of the song and the artist/group, feel free to provide your answer in the comment section below.

Answer to Lyrics of the Day for January 23, 2025, Gimme Some Lovin’ by the Spencer Davis Group, featuring a very young Steve Windwood

Question of the Day: Chiefs or Eagles?

Video of the Day: Eddie Vedder - Better Man - Late Show with David Letterman - 05/18/2015

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