Friday, January 31, 2025

Hopefulness is not a neutral position...

I found Timothy Noah's analysis in The New Republic really insightful and hopeful, where he argues that this administration's "Chaos Strategy Is Already Blowing Up in His Face."

The whole thing is worth reading, but this part here: "The main purpose, I think, of that OMB memo was to assert that the president has the power to impound appropriated funds. Trump was trying to just blunder his way into asserting this power over appropriations that he doesn’t have. It led immediately to all sorts of lawsuits, entirely foreseeable, and Trump withdrew. Trump is, I have argued, not a strong president. He is a weak president. He has authoritarian tendencies, but he’s weak. He’s mentally weak. He is subject vulnerable to all sorts of manipulation by his aides. He tries to do all sorts of contradictory things. He is not competent. And on the evidence of this particular example, neither are his enablers. Surely, Vought have understood that this memo was going to be challenged immediately in court. He ought to have been able to anticipate that Trump could not tolerate the bad publicity surrounding it so that Trump, even before there was a court judgment, withdrew the memo. These are all signs of a weak presidency, but weakness can cause chaos too. And we’re certainly experiencing a lot of chaos, a lot of fear, and a real degradation of the ability of government to perform its functions."

Pic: Words from Nick Cave, he's not not wrong here.  

14 comments:

Lisa's Yarns said...

I so appreciated that you shared that podcast and transcript with me over email this week. I hadn’t heard this podcast, but I’ve now subscribed and intend to listen to several episodes on my flights to and from Florida this week. I need to cling to hope right now!

StephLove said...

It is really hard not to sink into despair and fear, but I've been taking inspiration from the past and other perils people have overcome.

Bibliomama said...

All so well said. It is so hard not to panic. I'm trying to remind myself that I've been so privileged for so long, and we are by far not the first people that have to learn to find hope and joy under frightening conditions. I hate the direction our countries seem to be going in (particularly for my kids), but we just have to keep on doing the small things we can to in protest, and help the people we can help.

maya said...

Hope in an actionable way (rather than in a toxic positivity way) has really helped me these past few weeks too...

maya said...

StephLove--Honestly, your updates (and exploits!) have given me so much comfort and hope in the last ten days <3

maya said...

I need to just keep this comment somewhere where I can reread it whenever despair strikes... esp. the parts about "the small things we can" and "helping the people we can help" We can all do *something." Thanks, Allison. <3

Nance said...

Bibliomama's assertion about our privilege is so incredibly wise. I take great courage from that.

Jenny said...

Love the quote and the Timothy Noah excerpt. A voice of reason!

J said...

I am finding myself overwhelmed by the news, and I mostly avoid it. I can't imagine how stressful it is for people who scroll or watch all day. The (local to me) issue is the Federal govt releasing a shit ton of water from dams in Northern California, which will stay here, and is not needed on a rainy weekend, and will not help anyone in SoCal at all, and perhaps might cause problems this summer when things are dry dry dry. Why would they do this? To assert power and cause chaos, that's all.

maya said...

I'm so sorry, Jules. The ass doesn't understand science and is too egoistical to listen to scientists. I am worried about what it will mean for food prices later in the year especially with the tariff war and whatnot. What a nightmare!

maya said...

Yes, indeed! That was a lovely thing to hear.

maya said...

It really does help me to listen to people who aren't spiraling, Jenny. I feel so much more in control of what I can do.

Stephany said...

This is such a helpful reframing and it's what I need right now. I listened to a really great IG Live with a senator who was just so calm and thoughtful, he really laid out what it happening and what we need to be worried about in such a calm way. It's hard not to downward spiral with every new news event so I'm grateful to people who are helping us with straight facts.

maya said...

Agree! There are some amazing people out there! Thankfully, we don't have to fight this alone... I for one wouldn't know where to start. I really love Senators Andy Kim, Sarah McBride, and Chris Murphy RN.

my tiny domestic tragedies

Big A seemed a bit better yesterday. But he didn't think so. I think he likes being taken care of. It makes me think of my hero, June Jo...