Congratulations, freedom lovers. Patriots. Defenders of the republic. Holders of handmade signs. You did it. You showed up. Three thousand, one hundred marches strong — stretching from the sunbaked sidewalks of the West Coast to the windswept parking lots of suburban New Hampshire. Every single march sent an unmistakable message to power:
We are here. We are loud. We have comfortable shoes and strong opinions.
For several days, I lived inside the kind of pain that hollows you out. Not just physical pain, though that was real enough, but the accumulated weight of years of being managed into silence. Then one morning, steadied by rest and a small mercy of pharmacology, I made a decision. I reached out to my supervisor and contacted a VP directly. I handed them a log of everything that had happened since January 1984.
Could I be fired? Yes. Likely? Probably not. But something shifted the moment I sent that message: my supervisors no longer controlled the narrative. And with that shift came a question I could not stop turning over in my mind.
Would a spiritual person — a Buddhist, a Christian, a person genuinely trying to live with compassion — have done what I did? I have been sitting with that question. Here is what I have found.
Question. Why is Iran Really Getting Whacked?
Rachel Maddow expressed skepticism regarding the motives behind the United States’ initiation of a war with Iran on a Saturday morning, arguing that the U.S. administration’s stated reasons do not withstand rational deduction. Marrow contends Iran posed no immediate threat to the U.S. homeland, as it lacked intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and is not believed to be close to developing them. Even Secretary of State Rubio is cited as admitting that such a capability is only a distant, hypothetical possibility rather than a current reality, leading the author to dismiss the missile threat as a justification for conflict. Finally, the claims that Iran is on the verge of industrial-grade uranium enrichment, as proposed by Steve Witkoff, a real estate developer and friend of the president, who has been involved in high-level talks despite a perceived lack of relevant experience is bogus. The fact that neither international intelligence nor the Trump administration’s own officials—including Rubio during a recent press conference in Saint Kitts and Nevis—have provided evidence that Iran is currently enriching uranium. Thus, the official justifications for military action are inconsistent with the available facts.
So, what gives? Why did the U.S. blow Iran to the desert dustbin?
In my opinion, you have to see the chessboard. In The West Wing episode “Hartsfield’s Landing” (Season 3, Episode 14), President Bartlet tells Sam Seaborn to “see the whole board”. Using a chess game metaphor, Bartlet advises his staff to look beyond immediate, narrow details—such as a single chess move or a minor political crisis—and consider the broader strategic, long-term picture. In the case of Iran, it’s all about power.
And oh, that little itty-bitty island just 1,500 – 1,800 miles northwest of the U.S. coast might have something to do with it as well. “You mean ‘Greenland?'” you ask. Yeah, Greenland.
There are moments when leadership is revealed not by policy, but by instinct. Not by speeches, but by what is laughed at, shared, or dismissed as “no big deal.”
Recently, something ugly surfaced—an image rooted in one of the oldest and most dehumanizing racist tropes in American history. It was not subtle. It was not ambiguous. It was the kind of imagery that generations of Black Americans have known all too well: the stripping away of dignity, intellect, and humanity with a single cruel comparison.
The clip was removed after public outrage, but the damage lingered. Because removal without reflection is not accountability. And silence from the most powerful office in the country is not neutrality—it is permission.
Victims associated with the Annunciation Catholic School shooting were likely saved by a dedicated, well-trained trauma response and their proximity to Level 1 Trauma Medical Centers. In fact, the hospital where I work is just a few blocks away. Thus, should I require emergency medical care, my clinical outcome improves significantly. However, due to funding cuts from the ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ the future is bleak for rural America.
Michael Steele stated, “Donald Trump is the Golden Calf; he is the thing that they come and bow before. And that they offer up their future political support.” After reading the ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ nothing could be truer. The President said there would be no cuts to Medicaid. However, the House Republicans passed plans to cut roughly $716 billion from Medicaid, and program cuts will hit close to home for many residents, even as some welcome the prospect of tighter rules and less government spending. Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates more than 10 million people will likely lose Medicaid and CHIP insurance under the House Republican plan.
Most Americans have a connection to Medicaid. In 2024, Medicaid surged to 78 million recipients. In rural areas, where the share of people with disabilities is higher, residents have lower incomes, and communities are reliant on industries with skimpier health benefits. Overall, about two-thirds (65%) of the public say that someone close to them has received help from Medicaid at some point, including over half (53%) who say either the program has covered them themselves or a member of their family and an additional 13% who say a close friend has been covered. Substantial shares of Democrats (52%), independents (57%), and Republicans (44%) report that Medicaid has covered them or a family member. Nearly all adults (97%) say Medicaid is at least somewhat important for people in their local community, including about three in four (73%) who say it is “very important.”
Ignoring storm clouds on the horizon, voters support lawmakers who cut Medicaid. However, voters neglected a couple of details.
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.
Breaking News: CNN’s ticker blared, “US military ordering thousands more troops to southern border.” Unnamed officials confirmed that thousands of additional active-duty troops are being deployed to the southern US border with Mexico. The stated purpose: to support Homeland Security and Border Patrol operations. Speculation is swirling about whether this move ties into Texas’ construction of an 80-acre facility outside Eagle Pass, rumored to be a deportation or detention camp. Official confirmation on the facility’s purpose remains elusive.
In an NPR interview, Eagle Pass resident Jessie Fuentes criticized Texas Governor Greg Abbott for creating what she called his own immigration force and court system. “Why are we allowing this to happen? Why are we allowing our governor to become a dictator and authoritarian in enforcing immigration policy?” Fuentes asked.
I separated the curtains from my bed. From the 46th floor, I watched the rain drizzle down the window, winced, and rolled back into one of several comfortable positions. My body hurts. I spiritually hurt. I am mentally hurt. No longer able to pray kneeling, I offered today’s queloque from a fetal position. “God, will I die before my health insurance cancels me?”
