This Coming Age of Silence
Another day, another batch of executive orders, another round of reactions, worries, celebrations, and memes. There are so many stories to sift through. There is so much exhaustion of eyes, of minds, of rage, of delight. Five days in and people are unplugging from SNS (social network services) (social network services) (social network services) (social network services), filling their feeds with cats, LOLz, hot chicks, hotter guys, and Obama-nostalgia posts.
Not even a week has passed and these things have changed for the next four years:
- the Mexico City policy first enacted by Reagan which prohibits federal dollars spent abroad providing abortions (and later advocating birth control and family planning) has been reinstated (Obama undid this in his first few days; Republicans reinstated it). Slate’s coverage includes links data that shows the Mexico City policy increases deaths (unsafe abortions) and does more harm than good.
- the US has pulled out of the Trans-Pacfic Trade Partnership (TTP)—this is something everyone but corporations and HRC (at first, then was later against it to gain favor with Sanders supporters). Some analysis says this give China an edge … more can be read at the RT (Putin’s propaganda arm)
- there is a hiring freeze of Federal employees in place … add this to the reinstatement of the 1876 Holman Rule reenacted by the GOP which can be used to drive down the salary(ies) of an individual or group of government employees to $1. It was rescinded in 1983.
- the US Department of Agriculture has been locked down and its scienists are forbidden from speaking with the public and more importantly from sharing its research.
- the National Park Service twitter feed has been shuttered and reopened; its tweets now striped of any politicizing.
- there will be weekly reporting of crimes committed by immigrants in sanctuary cities courtesy of the White House. The full text of the executive order which contains this is here. The executive order includes a clause to “take all appropriate action to hire 10,000 additional immigration officers” … The order also “empower[s] State and local law enforcement agencies across the country to perform the functions of an immigration officer in the interior of the United States …”
- six journalists reporting and/or documenting the protests on inauguration day we scooped up by police and are being threatened with a $25,000 fine and up to 10 years in jail.
- the percentage of Americans who want to see President Trump’s tax returns is increasing (NYT). This one is unlikely to go away for President Trump without something better for the press to care about.
- the Dutch are already trying to curry favor with the new administration, by aligning features of the Netherlands with President Trump’s manner of speech.
- there were allegations of cake plagiarism, then they were proven, but the copied cake was mostly fake …
- scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also been forbidden from speaking publicly or publishing or sharing their research. The Trump administration will determine on a case-by-case basis who is permitted to publish.
- the EPA has also been ordered to freeze grants and contracts … this will have an effect on state-level EPA departments conducting their own research.
- the Badlands National Park Service twitter account tweeted several ‘climate-change’ messages before losing control of the account; those tweets were deleted.
- President Trump has re-greenlit the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. In addition to reviving these projects, he also wants to fast-track their completion as another executive order he signed expedites environmental impact studies.
- Kellyanne Conway showed up on late night tv to talk about her boss and how things have been spun. (Conway of “alternative facts” fame).
- the EFF reports that Jeff Sessions, Trump’s nominee for attorney general favors crypto-backdoors …
- Spicer’s protracted description of President Trump speaking at CIA headquarters to an enthusiastic, cheering and applauding crowd has been proven false (and Spicer again, a liar / purveyor of alternate facts). President Trump brought paid staffers with him to cheer and applaud, much like he did for his press conference. CIA insiders are fucking pissed.
- January 20, 2017 was a National Day a Patriotism, but the president forgot to tell us. It’s unclear if this will be so next year …
- President Trump misspelled ‘honored’ on twitter and deleted the tweet before reposting—Gizmodo suggests that this is illegal
There is some good reporting and writing going on too, but not enough. These are all worth your reading time:
- “Plight of the Redneck” and the article that frames it
- “This is Psychological Warfare” (Trump’s Laugh Track is Tricking America) by Sarah Cooper
- three EPA employees and a writer created an anti-Trump EPA account on twitter to continue communicating with the public and fact-sharing
- UPDATE: there is a rogue Badlands National Park Service twitter feed too
Lastly, watch and remember this: Lest We Forget – Bill Moyers and four historians on the big lie behind the rise of Trump.