Our leaders prefer observing this train wreck

Appears to be cowering: Chief Justice Roberts

OK so here's a headline on this Wednesday morning in the merry times of DJT's first year (of the second time around, because one time was not enough): "DOGE cuts bring chaos, long waits at Social Security for seniors." 

Now who could have expected this? And is it something you can just take in stride? With a shrug? Is it something you can reconcile with your Christian faith if you are a Christian? What kind of Christian are you? A MAGA Christian? There are lots of those here in windswept West Central Minnesota. 

No one knew the farm bill better than Collin Peterson. We had to toss him out. People were overwhelmed by the right wing salesmanship of DJT and those who decided to line up behind him. They have now placed the U.S. judiciary hugely on the defensive. DJT has re-aligned the top court of the land so that it's a reliable refuge for him when the standard professional courts and judges are not doing his bidding. 

Trump wants a big "military parade" on his birthday. You know what this is going to look like to the rest of the world, don't you? It will remind so much of when the autocracy of mid-20th Century Germany was building up. The total glorification of a charismatic leader, a leader who strives to bulldoze past our standard legal system with its measured non-political judgments. He wants everything to be political now, to be reverential toward him. 

We are passive in accepting. On a subconscious level assuredly we feel some rejection of, see the absurdity of so much. 

We are waiting for what exactly? For a real crisis that affects the welfare of our families? Like new bursts of inflation caused by the tariffs? And it's not just the tariffs coming into play. DJT keeps talking about how essential lower interest rates are. There will always be cheerleaders for lower interest rates. The problem is the specter of more inflation. An accompanying problem is the devaluation of our currency. 

People seemed to be pretty upset about rising prices before all this started. I'm right on that, aren't I? Are you such a sucker for all the verbiage from the Orange Man that you can live with more real financial distress? Many experts think DJT wants a serious recession because it would force interest rates lower. 

Man, I remember the days when it was an unwritten rule in Washington D.C. that elected leaders should not comment directly on the Fed. Just "zip it." Respect the "independence" of the Fed. You've heard the expression I'm sure, "don't fight the Fed." Seriously, and I implore you, don't you think the various "unwritten rules" existed for a reason? It's obvious Trump would respect none of those. Maybe that's why a lot of you voted for him. 

 

Good Shepherd Lutheran

Thinking as a bloc

Is there even one person at our local Good Shepherd Church of rural Morris who voted Democratic? Wouldn't even allow Collin Peterson to stay? You're that intransigent? And Peterson suffered a serious blow by just posing for a nice photo shoulder-to-shoulder with Nancy Pelosi. Both smiling so nice, and y'all were revulsed by that. You have to try to "own the libs" all the time. 

And now I'm sure you have joined the chorus of the MAGA elites saying we have to wipe out DEI on college campuses. Which would have what effect locally? Y'all know that UMM virtually stands for DEI. It broadcasts DEI or it "bleeds" DEI to use the description offered by a local lawyer friend of mine who like me has been an advocate for UMM. 

In my case I am inextricably tied to UMM because of my family history. My family fund for UMM honors my late parents - I am just the one pulling the strings because I am the lone survivor. I live alone on the family homestead along Northridge Drive, in a house that is much too big for one person. I will stay here for as long as I can. Man, aren't property taxes something? Aren't the homeowners insurance premiums something? Or how about car insurance? 

 

Only one direction

And all prices are simply headed up all the time. Now with tariffs and Trump's strong-arming of the Fed for lower interest rates, what a picnic we will have with even more drastic inflation, n'est-ce pas? I think the Roman empire collapsed because of such things. Looks like y'all basically don't care much yet. I do but I have always been sort of an outlier in this town. 

I stick with First Lutheran Church (FLC). Now there's talk of a possible "two-point parish" with FLC joining with the Methodist folks of Federated Church. We're slipping, losing ground. Largely I think this is because FLC, Federated and Faith Lutheran have not joined the wave of MAGA enthusiasm that has come to be associated with the American Christian church. 

First Lutheran Church

Are we dying? Sometimes I have sensed a breath of hope for my FLC. How strange that FLC was once the epitome of mainstream religious commitment in Morris. We had so many "community leaders" in our midst. They irritated me sometimes. Then again, I really didn't go to church for about 30 years. My parents most certainly did. 

Today I strive to be reverent at FLC even though we are hugely on the defensive for being "liberal." Is there any more grave sin in America now that to be liberal? I would gag if I even considered the word "woke." Alas, such is our lot in life to be basically outcasts. 

 

We love UMM

Whither our local college

Can UMN-Morris even continue operating in the age of the aggressively anti-woke Trump and MAGA? You don't dare even say anything sympathetic about the Palestinians now. Looks like the Supreme Court is allowing deportations to foreign prisons just on whims. Again, 1930s Germany. Well of course it is. 

Justice Roberts could be a real hero now. He has chosen not to be.

Regarding a lot of these people, I feel tempted to say "may God have mercy on your soul."

  

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com