And Then They Came for the Librarians...

~ I wrote the following in response to a friend who referenced this article in the New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/10/us/education-politics-learning.html?searchResultPosition=3 "I found the New York Times article's title intriguing enough to subscribe so I could read it. Not a hopeful picture of education but here are my thoughts. - I think learning is still a priority for the Democrats and independents of this country and they will always support a free and diverse curriculum. The GOP/MAGA on the other hand, seem to want an uneducated citizenry who will blindly follow whatever leader is in power. Hence, the elimination of the Dept. of Education, attacks on institutions of higher learning, the defunding of libraries and museums, and the latest - the firing of the Librarian of Congress, a smart, well-educated (Strike1), black (Strike 2) woman (Strike3). - In their plans for education as well as their overall political rhetoric, the GOP/MAGAs seem to be capitalizing on the shorter attention span that social media has spawned in the past decade or so - hence we end up with Steve Bannon’s “food the zone” tactics at every turn. - Somewhere along the road we lost the notion that education is not a business. It does not need to make money - it should be an investment in people and their futures and by extension, the future of our country. But politics, both local and national, raised their hand and got involved and here we are. The MAGAs are all about the dollars and so anything that has intrinsic value gets monetized. (See selling off public lands for logging and development.) ~ I fear that the orange man’s choice of a new Librarian of Congress will be yet another unqualified bright shiny object and/or another attempt to troll the Dems. I have worked in a library under a top administrator who received his title because he earned an advanced degree (not in Library Science!!!) and the college administration didn’t know what to do with him so they made him the Dean of Libraries. It was a disaster - he had no idea what anyone in the library did, what the mission was, what basic practices were. But, boy, was he ever good at taking credit for everyone’s work and schmoozing at conferences. He would be Trump’s choice for sure. (Perish the thought.)" ~ And today it was announced that Trump has named one of his gaggle of attorneys, Todd Blanche, as the new acting Librarian of Congress. Blanche is currently the Deputy Attorney General, confirmed in a 52 - 46 vote back in March. He was one of the team representing Trump in the 2024 criminal trial that resulted in the 34 charges against the President. Other clients include Rudy Guliani and Paul Manafort, not known for their scruples or respect for the law. I suppose it could have been worse - it could have been MTG or Bobert, although I guess he's been told by the GOP heads to keep his hands off current members of Congress (see Elise Stefanik.) ~ In other news, Trump has declared that the government of Qatar wants to gift (grift???) him a Boeing 747 with all the regal trappings for him to use as Air Force 1 until Boeing can get the planes he ordered to him , hopefully before he leave office. Of course, there are arrangements that will somehow by-pass the emoluments clause - the plane will actually be given to the military and will transfer to the Trump presidential library once he leaves office. Should be plenty of room in there for that 747 because there certainly won't be any books - Maybe some old classified documents but no books. Good place to note that like his boss, FBI director Kash Patel also has a problem focusing on his daily briefings and "adjustments" have been made. Good God - I just want a competent government, not a bunch of cosplaying social media hounds.

100 Days - Seems Like Forever to Go

~ 100 days into his 2nd term and it seems as if Trump has never left - although it's so much worse because we had that 4 year span of thoughtful, compassionate leadership in between and the contrast could not be more stark. A prime example on display this past Saturday in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis (who passed away one day after a brief audience with JD Vance!!!). Joe Biden attended with Dr. Jill and they were quietly shown to their seats in the back of the VIP section without fanfare. I would hazard a guess that there are still people who have no idea they were there. Contrast that with Trump, who reports said made a fuss about the seating and requested a change that put him front and center of every shot of the crowd, while he stared at his phone and dozed off in his BLUE suit. (The vatican had requested black suits but dear Donald had to stand out.) And he inconvenienced the Vatican staff by holding a sit down with Zelenskyy 15 minutes before the start of the cermony. It was heartening to hear the cheers and applause that Zelenskyy received when he walked out to be seated (no where near Trump!). ~ I also find it heartening that the protests seem to be growing, at Telsa dealerships and courthouses and government buildings. Senator Cory Booker held sway in the Senate chamber for over 24 hours a couple of weeks ago with support from several of his fellow Democratic Senators. He and Rep. Jeffries held a sit in conversation on the Capitol steps this past Sunday, with people joining them at times. Over 150 college and university presidents have banded together to fight the assault on freedom of speech and the cancellation of funding for their institutions. Within 15 minutes of a judge in Wisconsin being arrested by the FBI for allegedly aiding an immigrant to eldude arrest by directing him out a less public exit in her courthouse many demonstrators showed up to protest her arrest, which looked more like a staged event meant to gin up the base. ~ Quilting continues in fits and starts here. I have been accepted for 3 of the 6 shows I have applied for. And I yesterday received word tht I have a corner for the Topsham show. Will be interesed to see if it results in more sales. I'm wondering what effect all the tarriff shit will have on people's spending this year. On the one hand, people are cutting back - I know I have. On the other, if they can't find things on the shelves at the stores maybe they'll support us! We can only hope!

It's All Gone to HELL!!!!!

~ Well, the orange man has done it. He instituted a series of tarriffs on the world and the stock market reacted immediately by dropping over 4000 points the past 2 days. And is he still in DC to take the heat? Of course not! He's at his "Southern White House", hosting a Saudi-backed golf tournament and a million dollar a plate fundraiser. He also was NOT in Delaware to attend the dignified transfer of four American soldiers who died during a training exercise in Lithuania last week. Instead, he sent Pete Hegseth - what an act of disrespect! It's becoming more and more obvious that Trump has no interest in performing the duties of the office except when it garners him attention and press coverage. He does not care to make the tough decisions the job demands and certainly takes no responsiblity for the dire results of his decisions (or the decisions of his appointed underlings.) Musk received a major beat down in the Wisconsin supreme court election this week - the Democratic candidate won by 10 points! And the 2 Florida elections for replacement House reps was much closer than anticipated, although the GOP won. ~ Today is Hands Off day - 50 states, 50 demonstrations, 1 day. I had planned to go but now I'm thinking I just want to stay home and quilt and take a day off from the dissonance. Let the younger folks take up the fight. I'll call it self care. ~ Oh, and all those tarriffs? Included were several islands with no population so no exports. I think the list was generated by AI. Reportedly the formula used to calculate the amounts wasn't decided upon until 3 hours before the splashy presentation in the Rose Garden. Way to give the interns enough time to catch any errors! And way to make you like like the buffoon you are! ~ And the hits keep coming in Trump's retribution against Gov. Mills, who stood up to him. The government is witholding funding from U Maine and the public schools until the Gov. apologizes. To her credit, Gov. Janet has stated she will not apologize. Expect a huge court case about this. And Maine has joined just about every lawsuit against the Feds for their reckless actions.

Surprise!

~ Greeted yesterday morning by 5-6" for fressh sanow. This after a decidedly Spring feel to the air last week. But it's Maine, as I so often remind myself. It will all be gone later this week with temps north of freezing each day. ~ Who could not have predicted the clown show that happened when the people charged with securing our country and keeping us safe decided to discuss and formulate their plans to attack the Houthis in Yemen using a commercial messsageing app (SIgnal)? No one would be the wiser save for the fact that national security adviser Michael Waltz invited Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of the Atlantic to join the chat. (Oooopsie!) To his credit (proving he is much more a patriot than anyone else on the chat) he just remained silent and and no one - ABSOLUTELY NO ONE! - asked who he was and why he was there. After reading the minute details of the attack planned for 2 hours hence, he sat chilly and then checked for confirmation that what he had read about was taking place, which it was. He then left the chat group and contacted some of the other participants off app and asked some very pointed questions. The only reply came from an official at the White House who spun it and never addressed the fact that 1) the group was using an unapproved method of communication and 2) that a member of the press had been added to the group chat. Just the usual nonsense about how successful the operation was. The President denied any knowledge of the mistake and the national Defense Secretary, Hegseth, vehemently denied that any plans were texted to anyone. (A bald faced lie!!!) Goldberg had the foresight to screen shot some of the texts and they do not lie. Once again proof we are living in a kakistocracy. I'd love to be in the Senate hearing with FBI Director Kash Patel, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Tulsi Gabbard, the DNI. This hearing was previsouly scheduled for another purpose but I'm certain this fiasco will be brought up. Waiting for reports.* ~ Quilting continues apace. Lots of progress now that I'm healthy again. And some bad news/good news on the show front. Bad news is that the KVAA show at Snow Pond is a no go this year. KVAA is reorganizing. And the proposed first weekend in December show Linda had created for SSMC did not get approved. Good news: They are looking at a one day summer show on Route One in the Wiscasset area. And Linda will try to put together a 2 day show for the first weekend in December (not SSMC) at the Wiscasset Community Center. And I have been accepted for the Fall Fiesta Show at Stevens Square. And likely will get into Scarborough. (Counting on getting into Brunswick and the Topsham shows as I have done them before.) * ~ And the reports are a mess of stonewalling and deflecting to Hegseth, who was not part of the hearing. These people think they can just lie and deflect their way out of everything. Of course, that strategy comes from the top, the stonewaller and deflector in chief.

WTAF?????

It's taken me a few days to cool down enough to write about what transpired in the Oval Office last Friday, when the duly elected leader of a democratic country was attacked and demeaned in front of the entire world in a set up ambush by the President and Vice-President of the United States. The run up to this included the orange man labelling Zelenskyy a dictator. He and his underling then acted all pissy, saying the Ukrainians had not thanked them enough. (And just what had Trump ever done for them? Nada, except pressure then to start an unfounded investigation into Biden and his son so that Trump would win the 2020 election. All that did was lead to Trump's first impeachment!) Things got very heated, sides separated to cool down and then Trump ordered the Ukrainians to leave, without so much as lunch. Needless to say, there were no agreeemnts on minerals or anything else signed that day. And now I understand why - - - it was all a set up. Thanks to my go-to person for all things Trump (and now Musk), Seth Abramson, I have finally come to understand that Musk is the back channel to Putin that Trump wanted in 2016 but couldn't find a way to establish it. Or, rather, he's the back channel that Putin wanted. He and Musk have a regular conversation it seems, supposedly about Musk doing business in Russia, but it has become obvious to anyone paying attention that Russia sent Musk a large sum of money which he donated to Trump's campaign last year, helping him defeat the Democrats. (I suspect some money found its way to some of the Congressional races as well.) And Musk, in his role as "special advisor to the President" and head of DOGE, is creating just the chaos that Putin wants to see in this country. Citizens are fearing for their jobs, seniors and veterans are fearing they will lose health care and Social Security payments, we all are just waiting for the next shoe to drop. At midnight today, Trump's tarriffs on goods from Canada and Mexico and China went into effect. Who knows what I will see in the grocery store tomorrow? We knew it was going to be more stressful than his first term but this is truly terrifying. The encouraging signs are there...lots of protests everywhere, on all the issues. Vance even got basically run out of Vermont over the weekend, which serves him right. His big mouth and the stupid words coming out of it were what derailed Friday's meeting. I loved Zelinskyy's line" "You’re raising the volume of your voice but not the logic in your argument.” The man is no one's fool. He speaks 3 languages, he thinks fast on his feet and speaks with humility and grace. But the oafs like Trump and Vance only see weak man, because he does not shout and use their faulty logic.

Still Coughing....

This is the flu from Hell - Hangs on with the cough. Not as bad as last week but still here. Sigh. Things in DC on the other hand, are getting worse. No one seems to be able to define Musk's role in all the chaos and he's all over X dissing everyone like a 13 year old. Hard to tell who is in charge - I suspect someone behind the scenes, not the glory hogs we hear from on a daily basis. Trump wasted more millions of our tax dollars to make an appearance at the Daytona 500 this weekend, including several laps around the track in the Beast with his escorts. I'm hereby warning Churchill Downs, the Maryland JOckey Club and NYRA that he should not be invited to any of the Triple Crown races. What a catastrophe that would be. And so far, I have yet to see anything approaching competence in any of the confirmed cabinet heads. Hegseth has pissed off anyone he's spoken about, Rubio is just parroting whatever he's been fed, JD Vance has really pissed off our European allies...it just keeps on going. We are already the pariah of the world. And planes keep falling out of the sky - really miss Mayor Pete. I hope I live long enough to see him right the ship.

Sick, Sick, Sick...

We have been suffering a bout of the flu in the house this week. Headaches, stuffy noses, coughs, body aches, chills and fevers. D. suffered one day of nausea, I've had several days of no appetite and a couple of days of diarrhea but seem to have turned the corner. Energy level has been up and down - up enough today to clear the front walk this morning then spent the rest of the day recovering. Sleep has been had in 2 hour increments the past few nights and I'm feeling it. I just want a good night's sleep!!!! Misery loves company and we have it - Linda Turner and Lee Sykes are also in camp with us. It snows every couple of days, enough to have the plow guy come and do a crappy job and then we have to go out and finish up. I still need to do the deck before Sunday's storm arrives. And the Pfaff is ready to be picked up in Portland, so maybe Wednesday next week. I have a hair appointment (rescheduled for this past Weds.) on Tuesday. It's been a week of deliveries - Staples (notebook and shredder lube sheets), Broan (range hood filters), Chewey (cat food), and batting. All done now. I just need to layer and pin the items I've created so I can hit the ground quilting on Wednesday afternoon. Still waiting on the show applications for SSMC so can write those checks. And still waiting on Christa to get back to me. Hurry up and wait. The forewarned chaos is happening in DC - Elon and his band of pranksters are creating choas everywhere they show up. They appear to be all male, all in thier 20s and all angry at someone (parents? girlfriends? authority?) as reports are that they yell at established workers when their demands are ignored or not taken seriously. And there are reports that one posted some racist things on X so he resigned yesterday but today was rehired after JD Vance went to bat for him. Confirmations are ramming through because of the majority held by the GOP. The Senate Dems held a 24 hour talkathon the other night, listing all the ways the nominee for Budget Chair was not qualified. He passed, of course. None of Trump's nominees have tanked so far, save for Matt Gaetz who did not make it to the prelim stage. There have been a daily fusillade of EOs, most illegal, on everything from axing foreign aid to nixing the use of paper drinking straws. Also a flurry of lawsuits to counteract the EOs.