Continued Confessions

#FAFO

I’m back on my laptop after a wonderful remote human helper from Apple named Dee spent a good deal of time with me this morning sorting things out. I still have no idea what was wrong, but since it is fixed I will just be thankful.

And to my subheading this morning. That’s actually an excellent motto for these strange times. It is so hard to take in all the political drama which seems to have infected a good deal of our world. But as you know, I live by the seat of my pants so to speak, and one day at a time I can muddle through.

I think I told you last time that my morning read is now the Clarence Thomas book (having finished Fauci earlier). The amount of history I am absorbing is fascinating, particularly because I have lived through much of it. For instance, the hearings for the confirmation of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court made an impression then and to now get a lot of the back story about the various witnesses gives me a much better understanding of how and why he ended up getting confirmed.

Then out of my pile arose something I received last year, and I finally decided to read it thoroughly. For some reason I was on the mailing list for Hillsdale College, which puts out a monthly newsletter entitled Imprimis. I have the November 2024 issue Volume 53, Number 11, and the cover article is “Drain the Swamp” by Larry P. Arnn, President of the College (it notes that this is adapted from remarks delivered November 19, 2024, at a Hillsdale College reception in San Diego, California). Now I certainly don’t want to run afoul of any copyright issues, but I will just remark upon a few paragraphs one of which describes Mr. Arnn’s visit to Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. The two discussed the fact that it might be possible “to restore constitutional government in place of the administrative or bureaucratic state that has almost overtaken it” and the Speaker said that he prayed about it every day. (Note to self: Don’t get snarky about the Speaker’s arrangement with his son about their sexual dalliances. He must be praying quite a bit though.)

Anyway, this pamphlet then discusses in great detail what President Trump proposes to do. It describes the creation of a Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. The author describes the two men in glowing terms, and then he states that “DOGE will work as an advisory group outside the government to find a cheaper and better way to do things—or not do things! It will work with the Office of Management and Budget, the office in the White House that has final approval over regulations. It can do a lot, but fundamental change rightly requires legislation.”

I leave it to anyone interested to read the whole thing, but Arnn invokes Winston Churchill quite a bit because he was involved in writing a book about him. Many of us have been thinking a lot about the Second World War and Winnie as well. But somehow our ideas of freedom seem to be radically different from this college president’s take on the subject. I’ll end with another piece that I found fascinating, a paragraph devoted to wondering whether it will be enough that “Trump won the popular vote, a moral victory, and that the politics of Trump have been changing the party” (emphasis mine). No wonder rational Republicans have become hard to find.

Now I have the latest issue of Brain & Life from the American Academy of Neurology to enjoy, with a cover picture and quote from Phil Keoghan, host of the Amazing Race. He says “Just keep moving forward. Whatever that means for you. I promise you will feel better.” So, onwards and upwards. I’m thankful for Substack and the other writers here who can spread the word and continue to coalesce the Resistance. Power to the People!

RESIST ALWAYS

TTFN