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These Are the Times that Try Men’s Souls
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| Thomas Paine |
In December of 1776, pamphleteer Thomas Paine published his ‘American Crisis’ to strengthen the dedication of the people in the thirteen colonies who were rebelling against English rule. Most of it dealt with military operations against the British at that time, but its opening words have permanent relevance to our nation and should be kept in mind even today, 249 years later. Here they are:
“These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.”
Are you only a summer soldier or a sunshine patriot?
JL
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There Ain’t No ‘Deep State’
If there were a ‘Deep State,’ as MAGA publicist-liars claim, by now it would have sprung into action against the measures being taken by the Trump administration, taking steps to remove him from office.
Of course, there is no such thing as a ‘Deep State,’ despite the Republicans pinning that label on the career employees who make our government work effectively, following the laws passed by Congress, and who are dedicated to accomplishing that. Some Republicans cannot conceive of an employee doing a job thusly motivated, for other than selfish monetary reasons. Hard working people who vote for Republicans are fools.
JL
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Trump’s Actions May Lead to Loss of House Majority in 2026 … or Sooner
The excesses of the Trump administration have resulted in complaints by Americans to their Representatives in Congress, and they can serve to weaken the Republican majority there. G.O.P. leadership has even told Representatives to avoid ‘town halls’ where constituents, even of their own party, might ask them very embarrassing questions about what is going on with this new administration. They have no answers.
Besides the poorly thought-out, self-destructive, and recession-creating tariff policy the President has embarked upon, and the vindictive firing of many career government employees without whom government cannot operate effectively, Republicans have consistently fostered the myth that government employees are lazy, and the agencies where they work are bloated with people who do nothing and could never hold a job in the private sector.
These are lies and the kind of misinformation that has enabled billionaire and presidential advisor Elon Musk (with whose firms the government has signed a number of lucrative contracts, and who had donated 288 million dollars to Trump’s 2024 campaign) to assume a significant role in a government to which he was never elected and which he famously is attempting to cut down with a chainsaw.
Elon Musk thinks that government can be run like a business.
Well, it cannot. The reasons for its existence greatly differ from those of a business. Musk does not understand this and is looking for whatever 288 million dollars bought him. People like Musk abhor any regulation of whatever it is they do. Americans are at last getting smart. They are not so dumb as Republicans think they are!
Losing one’s job or even contemplating the possibility of that occurring, not being able to afford the foods one’s family has become accustomed to eating, watching stock market gyrations threaten even conservative investing, especially retirement plans, and the destruction of the international friendships that have brought about peace and economic benefits to Americans for many years are the kinds of things that are now striking home every day in this country; those affected are letting those they elect to the House of Representatives know it too! These are things that no American, even most Republicans, ever voted for, and it all can be attributed to Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who wasn’t even on any ballot.
Most of what Trump said he was going to remedy on that ‘Day One’ quickly evaporated. All he has seemed to have done since elected is to seek vengeance against his critics and take his marching orders from Musk who must stay up nights figuring out ways to emasculate government.
Governing? Trump doesn’t know the meaning of the word, nor does billionaire Musk who flails about trying to match profit-oriented business skills to running a government, an impossibility.
Here's some icing on the cake: Trump’s freeing of the convicted criminal insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021 to forestall the finalization of Trump’s loss to Joe Biden back then is a crime even worse than theirs! If and when they are returned to jail, he ought to accompany them there. But don’t hold your breath.
The bright side of this is that the Republicans will probably not be able to move their conservative agenda through the House of Representatives, where they have a razor-thin majority and will need some Democratic help, and that will come with a price. The tide is slowly, very slowly, beginning to turn, and its doing so, amazingly, is Trump’s own doing.
His name is all over the plunging stock market, the alienation of our worldwide allies, and his tariff policy which is bouncing back to hurt American consumers who end up paying not only higher domestic prices for imports but also may lose jobs because of decreasing exports resulting from reciprocal tariffs imposed by those nations which Trump thought he was punishing.
I suspect that at least a dozen Republican Representatives will choose to put their constituents’ complaints ahead of the demands of the MAGA-controlled House leadership. And that will herald the end of their House majority in November, 2026, unless occasional special elections to fill vacant seats bring that about sooner.
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A Simple Lesson on Tariffs: When we impose a 20% tariff on particular items imported from a foreign country, the American importers pay it, increasing their price of the item by that 20%, with the American consumer finally paying that 20% more for the item. And the country from which the item is imported doesn’t sit still either. Chances are that it will impose its own tariffs on items imported from the United States, reciprocating for our tariff. Jobs in both countries become at risk because of a reduced demand for items now having higher prices due to tariffs. This can lead to an economic recession. The correct way to do this is for the two countries to negotiate beforehand with one another deciding on what items each will impose tariffs and the amount of such tariffs, until they reach an agreement that leaves both of them happy. The day they taught that at the University of Pennsylvania where he was able to take some Wharton Business School courses, Trump was probably cutting classes.
JL
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Our Irresponsible President
A recent article in the New York Times by Erica Green pointed out that President Trump contradicts himself so often that it is difficult to criticize a position he has taken. It was headlined ‘You Can’t Pin Him Down’: Trump’s Contradictions Are His Ultimate Cover.’
The article pointed out that ‘President Trump’s shifting positions and outright lies have presented the American public with dueling narratives at every turn. Since his first days in office, President Trump has leaned on distortions of the truth in his statements’ and that ‘since storming back into office, Mr. Trump has used a dizzying rhetorical tactic of shifting positions like quicksand, muddying his messages and contradicting himself, sometimes in the same day.’
Anyone looking for definitive answers about Ukraine, Russia, Greenland, Canada, Mexico, Gaza, the economy, or even his tariff policy, will have a hard time finding them. He has been all over the place in regard to issues concerning them.
That is why it is difficult to criticize him. If the administration takes a firm stand on anything, it will always be taken by someone other than the President. If it goes wrong, Trump is blameless. Because of his refusing to be ultimately ‘responsible’ for anything, the best way of describing Trump is to say that he is ‘irresponsible.’
JL
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Read ‘Letters From an American’ Every Day
Boston College Professor Heather Cox Richardson, in her recent postings, especially those dated March 7, 8, 9, and 10, makes it pretty clear that our present government is not up to the task of operating to serve the nation’s people, but prefers to favor the billionaires whose donations put it into office in the 2024 elections. They do not believe in Lincoln’s describing our government as being ‘of the people, by the people, and for the people’! Check out her free daily postings by CLICKING HERE or copying and pasting https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/ on your browser line.
Even better, once there, choose to receive her daily postings of ‘Letters from an American’ directly in your Email box. (They usually carry the prior day’s date because she posts them late in the evening.)
JL
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The Culprit: Misinformation
Future historians will puzzle over how the American people ever voted into office a president and a Congress in 2024 that was dedicated to destroying a government that was functioning pretty well, although not perfectly, but still benefitting and serving the nation’s people, and replacing it with one dedicated to stop doing that in order to make very wealthy people even wealthier.
I contend they were misled by purveyors of misinformation who were allowed to lie on TV, the internet, in magazines, and in newspapers because of their First Amendment rights.
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Fighting Misinformation
Here's how media can fight the misinformation that has infected it, the weapon that pierced our Achilles Heel in November 2024 and put Republicans in charge of Congress and the White House.
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| Greek mythology has it that when Thetis, Achilles’ mother, dunked him in the magical waters that rendered him impregnable, they never reached his heel by which she was holding him. An arrow piercing that spot years later was the cause of his ultimate death. Such a weakness is today referred to as an ‘Achilles Heel.’ |
Most journalists, who are the tillers in the fields of media, are usually very knowledgeable people. They know right from wrong. They can smell crap a mile away. Therefore, putting a band aid on our Achilles Heel is a job best suited for journalists.
First, if the medium they write for, or appear on, espouses policies with which they personally disagree, they should resign and seek employment elsewhere. While lies emanating from right-wing media like OAN, Breitbart, and FoxNews are usually recognizable as such, they should not be tolerated, even in tiny amounts, on PBS, CNN, MSNBC, or the nationwide network news on CBS, NBC, and ABC.
Then, they should make certain that whatever they do report is ‘fact checked.’ If their employer is not doing that routinely, they must take on that task themselves. Without ‘fact checking,’ no media source can be trusted. Years ago, foods and household items proudly boasted that they had received the ‘Good Housekeeping Magazine Seal of Approval,’ for whatever that was worth. Announcing that it had ‘fact checked’ its content, media should do the same kind of thing today.
Finally, they should alert their followers to ‘imprecision’ in language. That is extremely difficult. Politicians often state opinions that can be taken to mean different things to different people and enabling them to subsequently switch opinions and even deny that they are changing their position. You know what I am talking about. A politician might say ‘I’m for that bill; it certainly is a step in the right direction,’ That kind of remark might satisfy those on either side of a particular piece of legislation, those who are for it, and those who have objections to it.
Here are President Trump’s recent words on our economy:
(I’ve colored parts of them with two separate colors because they represent taking both sides of an issue, using vebal ‘imprecision’ as a tool.)
“There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big … We’re bringing wealth back to America. That’s a big thing ... It takes a little time, but I think it should be great for us.” Asked whether he thinks a recession is imminent, Trump said, “I hate to predict things like that.” He later added, “Look, we’re going to have disruption, but we’re OK with that.”
Some Americans might not be OK with that, particularly if they’re among those being ‘disrupted.’
This type of imprecise language caters to many different opinions and really is meaningless, taking what is said to mean whatever you want it to mean. Journalists must not hesitate to point this out. That must become part of their job. Their failing to do so only sharpens the tools of misinformation, keeping the public from asking the right questions, let alone getting the right answers.
Summing up, here are the three remedies that can serve as a band aid on the nation’s Achilles Heel, as defined as too many voters being misled by misinformation.
1. Journalists should not work for media sources with which they disagree.
2. All media should be ‘fact checked’ and announce that is being done.
3. Journalists should try to remove the curtain of ambiguity from imprecise language used by office holders and politicians.
JL
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We Must Find a Shortcut
Congress, and the American voters will eventually see the light and attempt to undo the damage done during the administration of the 47th president.
I believe they will have the support of the courts, which already are standing in the way of some of Trump’s excesses, perpetrated by the Executive branch and possibly disagreeing with the intent Congress enacted into laws.
The Supreme Court will have the last say in the pending struggle between those two branches of our government, and I believe they will finally decide that our Legislative branch has primacy over our Executive branch. If they do not, our representative democracy will have suffered a near fatal blow.
The problem is that legislation takes a while to work its way through Congress, but Executive Orders, even ones eventually deemed illegal by the courts, can be quickly implemented. Legal action, including appeals, can hamstring any attempts to harness the Executive branch for a very, very, long time, before coming to fruition; it would seem ‘forever.’ By then, years may have gone by and it may be too late to put a damper on a president and an Executive branch that exceeded its constitutional powers, resulting in significant and damaging changes being done to our democracy.
Its possible resuscitation would be a century-long process.
We must find a shortcut.
JL
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Postal Card Time Again
Join the campaign to send a postal card to President Trump on Saturday, March 15 (the ‘Ides of March’) to give him some idea of the extent of the nation’s dissatisfaction with him. Make up your own message. The cards I will be sending will carry this message:
Mr. President: Article 2, Sec. 3 of the Constitution says your job is to ‘take care that the laws be faithfully executed,’ not disregarded! You do not make the laws. Congress does!
His address: The President, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC 20500
JL
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Housekeeping on Jackspotpourri
Forwarding Postings: Please forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it (Friends, relatives, enemies, etc.) If you want to send someone the blog, you can just tell them to check it out by visiting https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com or you can provide a link to that address in your email to them.
There’s another, perhaps easier, method of forwarding it though! Google Blogspot, the platform on which Jackspotpourri is prepared, makes that possible. If you click on the tiny envelope with the arrow at the bottom of every posting, you will have the opportunity to list up to ten email addresses to which that blog posting will be forwarded, along with a brief comment from you. Each will receive a link to click on that will directly connect them to the blog. Either way will work, sending them the link to https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com, or clicking on the envelope at the bottom of this posting.
Email Alerts: If you are NOT receiving emails from me alerting you each time there is a new posting on Jackspotpourri, just send me your email address and we’ll see that you do. And if you are forwarding a posting to someone, you might suggest that they do the same, so they will be similarly alerted. You can pass those email addresses to me by email at jacklippman18@gmail.com.
Eliminating ‘Promotions’: Each morning when I check my Email, I first sweep out almost all the messages that end up asking for a donation. My Email ‘in basket’ enables me to do that, separating most of them out without my even clicking on them individually. That makes my life a little easier, and a lot of informative material still reaches me. If I want to donate to a particular cause or candidate, I can easily find a way to do so. Again, I urge you to forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it. Bear in mind that the population of Florida is constantly changing and many newcomers are not familiar with Jackspotpourri.
JL
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