I remember as a kid hoping that between chores and supper, I could watch Walter Cronkite give the news on our black and white television. Yeah, I was a geek. I\u2019ve been a news junkie ever since.<\/p>\n
I get that not everyone is so obsessed. If you have kids at home, maybe working two jobs, you might not follow the news like I do. It would be easy to not know we are in one of the most unprecedented times in our history. And the lives of those kids you\u2019re cleaning up after will be altered because of this.<\/p>\n
First off, whenever I mention Donald Trump, I get texts from a couple friends saying how disappointed they are in me. I have been duped by the woke deep state. So, in anticipation of those, yes, I know.<\/p>\n
I admit having Trump Derangement Syndrome. I want nothing more than to not think about him. That\u2019s difficult right now. Since I\u2019ve sat down to write, there will be something else he has said that is absurd, inciteful, or cruel. He does crave attention.<\/p>\n
The stupid stuff Trump says doesn\u2019t matter. The things that Elon Musk, Steven Miller et al. are doing matter a lot.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m just a farmer. I often say, \u201cI don\u2019t know much.\u201d The texters mentioned above are nodding their heads in agreement. But I know that what\u2019s going on isn\u2019t normal.<\/p>\n
Until three weeks ago, it was accepted that there were limits to the president\u2019s powers. Every so often, presidents of both parties have poked around at expanding those powers. Historically, they\u2019ve been reined in by the courts or Congress.<\/p>\n
You might recall from fourth grade social studies that Congress passes laws, and the White House is responsible for carrying them out. If you\u2019re like me, you were thinking about pom, pom, pull away at recess.<\/p>\n
A theory has floated among right wing thinkers that says Article II of the Constitution somehow gives the president power to do whatever he does or doesn\u2019t want to with the laws Congress passes.<\/p>\n
The \u201cunitary executive theory\u201d has been a pet notion of conservatives who don\u2019t really trust citizens or their representatives. It is the core of Project 2025, the document no one read, and Trump knew nothing about. The planned takeover of everything by President Musk, er, Trump, isn\u2019t a secret.<\/p>\n
Several court rulings have already said that actions performed by the White House are illegal. The administration has taken the unique step of ignoring those. Ty Cobb, not the ballplayer but the White House lawyer who served in Trump\u2019s first term said, \u201cIt\u2019s a naked power grab consistent with what Trump\u2019s advisers have persuaded him to do, which is to flood the zone with as much unconstitutional activity as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking of that first term, this is wildly different. Eight years ago, there was a functioning Republican Party. A number of Republicans stood up to Trump\u2019s basest ideas. Now there is nary a peep. I suspect many have reservations in their hearts. They know that if they express those, they will be harassed, threatened, and primaried.<\/p>\n
How else do you explain 54 Senators voting to approve Robert Kennedy as head of Health and Human Services? We all know that\u2019s crazy. If you convince yourself Kennedy doesn\u2019t believe anything he ever said, you can make a case.<\/p>\n
While the White House goes about gutting programs and firing anyone in their way, this will inevitably come down to the Supreme Court. This is the same court that created out of whole cloth absolute presidential immunity last summer. For the first time in our nation\u2019s history, one of us was above the law.<\/p>\n
If the weird interpretation of presidential power stands, our grandchildren will grow up in a different country than we did. We can look to Hungary and Venezuela for comparisons. Both of those had functioning democracies and now have consolidated power. If you\u2019re okay with that, well, congratulations. Just know this isn\u2019t like anything before.<\/p>\n
In the torrent of efforts by the White House, it\u2019s impossible to know what to focus on. Chaos is strategy. If you are a newsie like me, you barely come up for air before the next wave crashes into your face.<\/p>\n
A couple stand out because of the Lutheran\/Catholic world that I grew up in.<\/p>\n
On February 2, Lutheran Social Services came under attack. (Typing that line doesn\u2019t even make sense.) In a tweet by Elon Musk, he said his team would be shutting down \u201cillegal payments\u201d and accused LSS of running a money laundering operation. Much of that money goes to operating senior living centers in the Midwest.<\/p>\n
Congressman Finstad blamed negative response to LSS cuts on \u201csocial media disinformation.\u201d I suppose if Robert Kennedy isn\u2019t responsible for what he said, the same can be true for Elon Musk.<\/p>\n
The week before, those sneaky Lutherans caught Musk\u2019s attention when Global Refuge (formerly Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services) had their funding frozen, along with every aid organization working with legal immigration. That left six thousand immigrants in the care of Global Refuge with no money to pay for housing and food.<\/p>\n
At least Musk and his high school graduate buddies are ecumenical. Funds that went to Catholic Relief Services were cut. Pam and I donate to that organization. I have felt nothing but good about that as I\u2019ve followed the work CRS does.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the U. S. Catholic Bishops said “To target this tiny portion of the federal budget in such a haphazard and irresponsible way is going to cost people’s lives and livelihoods. It is not a thoughtful or humane way to go about treating programs that help the poorest of the poor all over the world.”<\/p>\n
The Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, Presiding Bishop of the ELCA wrote in response to attacks on immigrants, \u201cIt is my sincere hope that harmful actions will be reconsidered. God calls us to welcome the stranger and love the sojourner as we love ourselves. I pray for God\u2019s grace to increase understanding of and mercy toward immigrants in these days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Catholic Archbishop John Wester said of threats to immigrant, “The heart of this complex issue lies in the fact that it concerns human beings, each created in the image of God with inherent dignity. We must not treat them as mere pawns in a game of chess nor politicize them.”<\/p>\n
Unlike Musk and Kennedy, how about if we take that stuff Jesus said literally?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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