It’s 1:00 AM. Leaning into the recliner’s headrest and staring through the window onto Lake Michigan, I note the moonlight glistening over whitewashed tips of gentle waves lapping across the shore. Just as I performed several times before, my thoughts slipped whispered, “I expected something.” I expected something because I was told ’a new America’ had once again arrived. Shangri-La had arrived. However, in the days since the inauguration, God sent no angels, no great trumpet heralded, and the elect did not gather from all over the world. The Lord hasn’t descended, people did not rise, and Jesus caught no one in the clouds. Instead, the new America bled supremacy, falsehood as truth, and armed in hate.
“A dizzying 100 days,” the Jewish Journal headlined. The Washington Post, ABC News and Ipsos just released a poll showing Trump’s approval rating at 39 percent—down six percentage points from February. CNN marks his approval rating at 41 percent—a seven-point drop since February. Not since the first 100 days of the Eisenhower administration have approval numbers been this anemic at this early stage of a presidency, says CNN. Meanwhile, DOGE (or the current administration eliminated approximately 120,000 federal jobs. 120,001 if you include Musk’s job. That’s 1,200 jobs a day.
National Public Radio (NPR) reported scholars evaluated the health of America’s democracy. (Author’s disclosure: I contributed to NPR.) The keys are governmental infringement on freedom of the press, the punishing of political enemies, and the absence of judicial and congressional checks on executive power. Trump didn’t score well. Scholars insited we’re not 100% like China, but “Mirror, Mirror on the wall, are we like Hungary or Turkey should one call?” Mirror looks back, “Yeah, baby.”
Sorry, I digress.
Let’s move back to the 120k figure mentioned earlier. Elon Musk has spent 100 days helping the current administration destroy vital parts of the U.S. federal government. Round about, only 35% of Americans approve of the methodolgy. 56% of men dislike Musk. Women hated Musk more. 60% disapproved. Tesla owners stated they hated Musk because they did not get a free chainsaw with each Tesla purchase. (Ok. Ok. I made up that last sentence.) Musk’s popularity was highest with people aged 50-64, roughly the Gen X demographic, with a love rating of 42%. (I am so glad I reached the geezer generation: age 65.) As Elizabeth Lopatto (The Verge) noted, “… as much fun as we all are having watching Congress render itself irrelevant and wondering whether the courts even matter, there’s a concrete nightmare looming. Mass unemployment, the defunding of crucial social programs, and just plain incompetence mean that America, as we know it, is already in for hard times.”
Just before Trump’s first inauguration, I told a former boss: “I think we’re in for a twenty-five year swing, with three periods. Period 1: Ten years of hell. Period 2: 5 years of America figuring it out. Period 3: Ten years to fix it.” However, I fear the long-term costs will be measured in decades. The degree to which the American Democratic experiment failed is not merely measured upon ourselves but also to our grandchildren. Disregard for the functions of the agencies are glaring. Project 2025 crafters have little understanding of the roles of the employees fired. Such a cavalier approach not only exposes ignorance but also a blatant disrespect for dedicated public servants.
The current administration has demolished the federal workforce, withheld foreign and domestic aid, destroyed FEMA and NOAA, obliterated HHS, fired nuclear safety inspectors (then rehired some), moved immigrants to foreign prisons without due process, boosted personal earning via cryptocurrency, strangled trade, targeted universities, legal entities, and media outlets for not supporting their viewpoints, outlawed diversity, and attacked federal judges. (And disregarded some judicial orders as well.) This administration is intent on destruction.
When challenged about the possible accidental deportation of American citizens, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt basically gave a ‘stuff happens.’ “As the president has said himself, nothing is ever going to be perfect in this world.”
So, what happens next? As stated previously, American leaders are great at blowing stuff up. However, know what? There’s no post-destruction plan. You’re on your own.
Sorry America, ‘stuff happens.’