Stop making sense

Hello, friends.....hope your week is off to a good start.

Eagle-eyed readers will note the title of today's comments, borrowed from a concert film and album featuring the late musical group Talking Heads.  One of the more inventive concert films I've seen, directed by the late, great Jonathan Demme.  I saw a show on the same tour from which these performances were taken, and it was quite something.  

But that's not why we're here, is it?

I'm in my mid 60's, so in my memory, when a Presidential administration felt the need to be less than truthful with the American people, there was a narrative created that more or less explained away the straight facts that the public already had in their possession (back when we all cared more, certainly) about a situation or a growing scandal or something equally difficult to hide.

Now, though, our current President and those loyal to him simply say whatever suits them at the moment.  Take the present White House Press Secretary.  She was formerly in a similar role with the current President's campaign, so she's doing roughly the same thing she did when he was running for his current office.  And frankly, much of what she says, without provocation or in response to direct questioning from the media, doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  And often is missing the ring of truth that most of us are listening for.

Doesn't matter, it's all about keeping the boss happy.  Imagine, if you will, being a loyal supporter of this President during his third candidacy for President, saying and doing everything you could to appear to unconditionally support him and his positions.  Then he wins, and you get appointed, say, Executive Director of the Voice of America, which was founded to broadcast truth to those fighting World War II in Europe and those who needed a dose of reality to replace the propaganda being spouted by the opponents of freedom in that conflict.  The Voice of America has continued on all of these years as a beacon of hope and promise to those living in oppression in Europe and elsewhere.

But this will no longer be the case, as the agency has now been identified by Elon Musk's DOGE group as wasteful and unnecessary.  So you, the loyal supporter-turned-appointed-Executive Director of this agency, will have to maintain the loyal stance while accepting that your job will no longer be viable.

Ouch!

There are probably lots of examples of this sort of skullduggery, but the bottom line is that everyone in unelected positions in the federal government is potentially going to face something very, very similar.  And soon.  Now that Congress avoided an outright shutdown of the federal government, DOGE can continue to run roughshod over "lesser" agencies and departments.

So let's hypothetically say that the American beef industry is beset by a widespread outbreak of mad cow disease.  Who decides that action is necessary, and defines what must be done?  Who oversees feed lots to make sure this isn't happening now?  And how much can the American people count on people who were fired summarily, sent packing and then brought back under a court order that invalidated their dismissals?

And then there's the response to restraining orders and other actions ordered by federal courts of law.  Who wins if there's disagreement between the current Administration and the issuing judge?  We're actually seeing this right now regarding the controversial deportation of three planeloads of alleged gang members from Venezuela to some sort of megaprison in El Salvador just after a federal judge issued an order prohibiting these deportations.  Through some legal contortions the Department of Justice lawyers who represent the White House argued that since the order was appealed that they were more or less OK going forward with these actions.  Somehow.

This stuff stopped making sense to me back in 2017 with the Muslim ban and the "fine people on both sides" argument.  How about you?

That's enough food for thought for now.  I've kind of lost my appetite for the moment anyway.