“the test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”
~~~ Franklin Roosevelt, second inaugural address
Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/12/03/one-liner-wednesday-i-dont-think-this-is-mathing/
Vote for Democracy #49
(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)
I’ve been struggling with health stuff again and unable to organize my thoughts well enough to tackle a post on the overwhelming state of affairs in the US but will make an attempt.
There was not really a path for the record-breaking government shutdown to have a good outcome, so it didn’t. The Trump administration cruelly shut off food assistance, even though there were funds available to continue. It did, however, highlight the truly terrible statistic that 1 in 8 people here struggle to get enough to eat. The vast majority of these are children, elders, disabled people, or employed adults. Many employers do not pay wages that are sufficient to cover the basic cost of living, so workers and their dependents need government assistance and/or charity to have enough food. This also means that, even after a lifetime of employment, many retirees don’t have enough income to survive and were never able to save enough to have a cushion for their retirement years. It’s a sign of how warped our society has become that so many are hungry in the richest country in the world. At least in the agreement to reopen the government through January 20, funding was secured for food benefits through September 30.
Meanwhile, it is unclear if the health insurance subsidies for Affordable Care Act marketplace plans will be extended. As people are trying to sign up for 2026 plans, the rates from the insurance companies have risen sharply without the subsidies in place, sometimes doubling, tripling, or worse, which will leave millions uninsured. This, in turn, will drive up insurance rates even higher, as hospitals and doctors will raise prices for people with insurance to try to stay afloat. More rural hospitals, which are already strained, may be forced to close. It’s disgusting that our country does not treat health care as a basic right, denying care to anyone without good insurance and/or mounds of cash.
There has been a lot of talk about who bears “blame” for the shutdown. To my mind, the fault lies with the Repbulicans in both the legislative and executive branches. The budget process should work through the Congressional committees to have the appropriation bills passed and in place for October 1, when the new fiscal year begins. Instead, Repbulicans insisted on ramming through their own proposals rather than negotiating with Democrats and Independents to craft appropriation bills that could pass under regular order. Even when Democrats tried to make proposals, Congressional Republican leaders and the President refused to negotiate. The Speaker of the House went so far as to not even call the House into sessions for weeks, time that should have been spent crafting budget bills so that they didn’t have to rely on short-term continuing resolutions to keep the government open.
Another major problem is that the Trump administration has not been executing laws that Congress has passed. How can Congressional Democrats and the general public trust that the Trump administration will spend the money that Congress allocates when they shamefully cancelled life-saving funds for USAID and other agencies and programs, even ignoring court orders?
There is a Constitutional way to deal with this, impeachment of the president and other members of the executive branch by the House and conviction by the Senate, but the current Congressional Repbulicans won’t take action against Trump, even when he is illegally usurping powers granted to Congress, not the President. Unfortunately, this traps the country in this hurtful, dysfunctional state until, at least, the next election.
It is possible that the Republicans could lost the majority in the House even before the midterm elections next November. If more Repbulicans resign, as Marjorie Taylor Greene plans to do in January, and seats are left open for a time period or if Democrats flip some of those seats, the Repbulicans could lose their majority and a new Speaker would be elected. A Democratic majority could launch investigations and might be able to find enough Repbulican senators to pass bipartisan legislation to better serve the country.
Meanwhile, concerned citizens will continue to protest, boycott, and raise their voices to call for their rights, liberty, and values to prevail, in line with our Constitution and laws. We have sunk so low in the functioning of our national government that it will be a long, hard slog to recover, but we will try. It will be difficult for other countries to ever trust us again, given the immense harm that Trump has perpetrated on the world. All the more reason to get to work now.
Vote for Democracy #48
(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)
I’ve been experiencing life here in the United States with increasing alarm.
The cruelty, lawlessness, and incompetence of the Trump administration continues to accelerate while the suffering here and abroad continues to mount.
I will spare you a stream-of-consciousness list of all the component parts of this catastrophe, but the destruction by Trump of the East Wing of the White House presents a decent metaphor – lie about what you are planning and rush in and wreck things.
Millions upon millions of people here are fighting back to save our democracy and have a chance to re-build it and slowly repair to the extent possible the global damage inflicted but we haven’t been able to turn the tide yet. I don’t know how long it will take but we won’t give up.
Joyce Vance published her first book this week, entitled Giving Up is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy. It’s what we need to do.
We won’t give up.
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “alarm.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/10/24/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-oct-25-2025/
“Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.”
~~~ Benjamin Franklin
This wise observation brought to you as part of Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday series. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/10/22/one-liner-wednesday-he-laughed/
Vote for Democracy #47
(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)
Millions of people in the United States plan to attend peaceful protests, rallies, and marches tomorrow, Saturday, October 18, 2025. The theme is No Kings and it is in support of the democratic principles of the United States and against the current administration which has grown increasingly autocratic. There are thousands of events scheduled across the United States with more occurring internationally in solidarity. You can find locations here.
Tomorrow’s events follow on the April 19th No Kings! events which turned out several million people. It is expected that even more people will turn out on October 18 as the Trump administration has grown even more extreme and defied court orders on deploying troops, immigration, cutting government employees, and refusing to execute laws and spending authorizations passed by Congress.
These events are planned to be non-violent and are meant to uphold our democracy. Although the Republicans in Washington are saying the No Kings rallies are about “hating America,” that is totally untrue. It’s about loving our country and upholding our highest ideals of equal rights, equal protection, and equal opportunity for all.
Sadly, my health situation will keep me from attending my local No Kings event in person, but I will be supporting them through my thoughts, letters to my representatives, advocacy through organizations working to uphold democracy, and through my words here at Top of JC’s Mind and among my various circles of friends and family.
Are you involved with the No Kings event? Please share in the comments if you are so moved!
my paper clip bracelet
Following the example of Norwegians under Nazi occupation during World War II, some people in the United States have started wearing paper clips as a sign of our unity and our resistance to the erosion of our democracy.
Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out how here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/09/24/one-liner-wednesday-why-2/
Vote for Democracy #46
(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
That is the text of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
The Attorney General, the Vice President, the President, the Chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and everyone else in the government would do well to re-read it and observe it.
The court system has ruled over and over that “hate speech” and flag burning are protected by the First Amendment and that press report are not subject to government censorship.
Yes, here we are with the Attorney General saying the administration would target hate speech. The Justice Department tried to re-characerize the remark as meaning they would target speech that incited violence, which can be illegal, but that was not what she had said or appeared to mean.
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, the administration wants to investigate anyone critical of Kirk or his views, even though they have no legal grounds to do so because people’s right to free speech is guaranteed against government interference by the First Amendment. For those of you not familiar with the structure of the US government, Congress makes the law, the executive branch executes the law, and the judicial branch judges if the laws are in accordance with the Constitution and other statutes.
Note that the freedom of speech right is in regard to government interference. Private entities aren’t bound to allow free speech. For example, if someone makes an uncivil or inflammatory comment on my blog which I then delete, I am not violating the First Amendment because I am not the government and have the right to control what happens on my platform. (For the record, while I encourage respectful debate here at Top of JC’s Mind, I have on a rare occasion removed comments for using foul language or for spreading disinformation.) There was an instance of a copy shop employee refusing to print a flyer regarding Kirk. While the business owner could choose to sanction or fire the employee, the government has no right to investigate on free speech grounds.
The administration upped the ante a few days ago when the FCC Chair publicly pressured ABC affiliates to stop airing comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show because of a comment he had made regarding the right’s actions after Kirk’s murder, implying that not doing so would harm them in getting approvals and licenses from the FCC. This caused a couple of large media ownership groups to say they would suspend airing the show and ABC/Disney then suspending production. It’s unclear if the show will return or not. This situation does appear to violate the First Amendment because a government entity intervened to inhibit Kimmel’s free speech rights.
To make matters worse, President Trump is again threatening freedom of the press, as well as free speech, by saying that entire broadcast networks should be disbanded because they run stories that are critical of him. There is a real fear that media companies will continue to cave to pressure from Trump and his administration and stop broadcasting facts and opinions that run counter to Trump’s viewpoint.
While most Republicans have been either backing Trump or staying silent, a few were shaken enough about the concept of hate speech – or opposition speech – not being protected by free speech provisions that they are speaking out. I’m not sure if they are standing on principle or if they fear what might happen to them when Republicans are no longer in power, but it’s good to see some of them willing to oppose the Trump administration when it is acting against our Constitution.
I also appreciate that having some Republicans speaking out will reach people who only consume ultra-concservative media. Everyone needs to realize that there are threats to free speech and free press so that we can make moves to protect our First Amendment rights. Some people are boycotting companies like Disney that are curtailing free speech by bowing to pressure from the administration. Many are supporting independent journalism sources, such as PBS/NPR.
It’s important for all of us to speak up for our rights. I plan to continue doing that here and wherever I find myself. I also plan to be on the lookout for further attempts to erode our rights and silence dissenting voices. We have to be careful that the United States doesn’t have its media coopted in the way it was in Hungary.
We also need to be sure that we don’t fall into the administration’s trap of calling any opposing viewpoints “hate speech.” If I say that I think it’s wrong to deport people who are in the process of getting green cards or who have refugee or other protected status, that is protected free speech. It is not hate speech.
I do try to heed the call in my faith to love everyone.
I refuse to engage in hateful speech or behavior.
I wish everyone felt that way.
Vote for Democrary #45
(Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash)
Last week was very difficult in the United States.
September 11th was the 24th anniversary of the Al-Qaeda attack which used hijacked airplanes as weapons against the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon, headquarters of the US military, in Virginia. A fourth airplane was prevented from hitting Washington DC, most likely planned to target either the White House or the Capitol, when the passengers fought against the hijackers and the plane crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all on board but no one on the ground. There are solemn ceremonies at all three sites and people pause to remember those who were killed that day and those who were impacted by the attack, such as the responders who worked amid the wreckage and suffered health consequences.
This year, the Spetember 11th observance happened in the immediate reaction to the murder of Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old right-wing firebrand, during an event at a college in Utah. Although Kirk didn’t hold elected office, this was considered political violence because he was a major fundraiser and influencer through Turning Point USA, which he co-founded when he was 18. Much of his activity centered on high school and college campuses. His work was considered crucial to the Trump/Vance victory in 2024 and he was close to Vice President JD Vance, in particular.
Violence, including political violence, is unacceptable to me and the vast majority of Americans. Kirk’s murder was immediately denounced by leaders across the political spectrum. While many people looked at this as being part of a spate of political violence in recent years, including the attack on two Minnesota state legislators and their spouses that left two dead and two seriously injured, the arson attack on Pennsylvanis governor Josh Shapiro’s official residence hours after he had celebrated a Passover Seder with family and friends, the two assassination attempts against then-candidate Trump, and the attack that seriously injured former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband when a man broke into their home looking for her, some Republicans, most prominently President Trump, blamed Democrats or those on the political left for Kirk’s death, even though there was no evidence about who the shooter was or what their beliefs might be.
This is especially upsetting coming from Trump, who fometted the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the election victory of Joe Biden and then pardoned all those crimes when he took office. Trump’s supporters had injured scores of police officers and sought to kill Democractic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Vice President Mike Pence. This was a massive exercise in political violence whose implications continue to contaminate our national consciousness and discourse.
When the alleged shooter of Charlie Kirk turned himself in to authorities, it turned out that he is not affiliated with Democrats. He was registered to vote without a party affiliation but had apparently never actually done so. He had etched message onto bullet casings that are part of online video gamer subcultures, but that are difficult to interpet for those who aren’t part of that community. Perhaps, he will make his motivations known in the future as the legal process unfolds, but, for now, we don’t know what his political motivations might have been. We do know that he came from a Republican family that were long-time gun owners. He was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons).
I don’t know what will happen in the coming days and weeks. While there are calls for greater civility in public discourse – again – and calls for better mental health care – again – and calls for tightening access to guns – again, there is little hope that these will effect change among those who are promoting themselves by vilifying those who disagree with them.
There is also the real fear that political violence will continue to escalate as it did in the 1960s when I was a child. Then, as now, the perpetrators of political violence were more often on the right/white supremacist side of the spectrum than on the left.
I know that I am afraid.
“I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag.”
~~~ Molly Ivins
Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/09/03/one-liner-wednesday-me-from-now-on/
(COVID Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash)
Last week, after reading a newsletter from Your Local Epidemiologist founded by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, I got a COVID vaccination. I will be going to my annual poetry residency with the Boiler House Poets Collective at The Studios at MASS MoCA in early October and wanted my immunity to be as strong as possible while I’m there.
The newsletter had warned that there might be label changes coming from the US Food and Drug Administration that would impact the availability of COVID vaccines and that it might be advisable to get the vaccine soon, especially for people younger than 65.
I’m glad I took action.
Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration changed the guidelines, making it more difficult for people under 65 to qualify for COVID vaccines without consulting their doctor. In response, CVS and Walgreens, whose pharmacies are a major source for vaccinations to the public, suspended giving any COVID vaccines to anyone in sixteen states, including mine, unless you have a prescription from a health provider. Part of the confusion is that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has yet to issue its guidance and just suffered the loss of its top leadership through firing and resignations, grounded in the fact that they were being pressured to put forward recommendations not backed by scientific research.
That’s what happens when you have a Health and Human Services Secretary like Robert Kennedy, Jr., who does not have a background in medicine and disrespects rigorous scientific inquiry.
The fact is that COVID-19 vaccines have been rigorously tested and are safe and effective, cutting down on infection rates and keeping most people from becoming seriously ill and needing hospitalization. Serious side effects are very rare, so the benefits of receiving the vaccine outweigh the risks.
Tragically, vaccines have been politicized in the US, which has cost lives. The death rate from COVID-19 for Republicans is higher than for the population as a whole because of this.
I urge everyone with questions to talk to a trusted medical professional about the research and science behind vaccines. Don’t fall for the misinformation coming from Kennedy and the people he has put in place at the CDC and FDA who disregard valid scientific findings.
You can also look for recommendations from medical associations, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Don’t let misinformation keep you from taking the best care possible of your and your family’s health.
Joanne Corey 