WTFJHT

Recently one of my comments was included in a compilation of responses to an editor's note/request on the WTFJHT newsletter's May 27, 2025 edition, linked here. The Pinboard is only available in the emailed newsletter, not on the website, so I have pasted the responses to the editor's note at the bottom of this post.

WTFJHT (WTF Just Happened Today?) is "A political newsletter for normal people."

Author Matt Kiser's tagline for his newsletter is "a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific."

My comment, in response to Kiser's request, is printed below in crimson font.

Editor Matt Kaiser's note: At the bottom of today’s edition are some of your anonymous reactions to the House passing Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” by a single vote to expand corporate tax breaks, repeal clean energy credits, cut Medicaid and food aid, and add $2.3 trillion to the debt. The responses are raw, urgent, and deeply personal. And, they tell the story not of politics, but of people facing real consequences of these policies.

The Pinboard, May 27, 2025

"I am afraid and frankly angry that our future as a society looks like poverty and desperation." –Anonymous

"As a nurse who spent the first couple decades of my career taking care of vulnerable kids who relied on both Medicare and Medicaid to cope with the results of extreme prematurity, complex congenital cardiac diagnoses and heart transplants, I can’t imagine what will happen to these kids and families." –Anonymous

"Don't Republicans want a better world for their children? What good is it to hand your children a pile of gold and a mansion if you live in a world akin to the setting of Mad Max? In a broken world, money can only buy security for so long." –BTS

"All I can say is I wonder if this is how the Germans felt watching their country being taken over by lunatics and sycophants..." –Anonymous

"As a teen father whose son is on state healthcare losing Medicaid would be a heavy blow to me and my family. Having to pay insane premiums or not having health insurance at all could drive us well into the ground. I don’t know what to do." –Anonymous

"Prior to the Affordable Care Act, healthcare was inaccessible to me. I was a single mother, with next to no resources, raising a small child. Because of my epilepsy, the best plan I could get was going to be $1000/month. It was out of the question. The choice before me was life-saving meds or food for my child. As I’ve aged and developed new conditions, Medicaid has saved me from bankruptcy and homelessness. What’s heartbreaking is that this story isn’t unique. This is the American dream?" –Anonymous

"I am supposed to get a kidney transplant this fall which would save my life, but that is now in dire jeopardy because of cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and rural health support of all sorts. This may literally cost me my life. That pisses me off." –Anonymous

"I was diagnosed with cancer in May [...] and I nearly died at the end of January. The good news is that the cancer is gone. The bad news is that I have to have an MRI and colonoscopy every six months for at least two years. My medical bills have been astronomical, but fortunately I have 'only’ had to pay out 20k. So, now, I have a serious pre-existing condition and if Medicaid is cut, my health insurance will be in peril. I am terrified." –Anonymous

"This whole thing just feels like a death march to the end of democracy and the vast majority of the population is distracted by the shiny object over there instead of the guillotine straight ahead." –Anonymous

"What's happening now is deliberate deconstruction of every piece of physical, intellectual and social infrastructure that makes a country viable, growing and competitive in a global economy." –Anonymous

"I work in in-home caregiving and 90% of our clients are Medicaid funded. This bill is going to leave millions of people without care. It’s absolutely disgusting and stomach-churning, because I know what happens when those people aren't supported – they die." –Anonymous

"I’m terrified that my as-yet-unborn children won’t ever have the chance to afford living on their own, and they won’t know what the world was like before climate change destroyed every single country. Someday they might see an old map of what the world looks like today and I don’t know if they’ll recognize it." –Anonymous

"What future are we building? There is no future vision for us, just a desire for power and wealth for a few, and a march to dystopia for the rest." –Anonymous

"Life is far too short to spend it living in fear. To get through this, we will all need to learn how to be brave, bold, and beautiful. Don’t forget who you are out of fear of being who they hate. The better world that we will build together will be built in the ashes of this crumbling empire - and I promise that better days are ahead." –Anonymous

Please support WTFJHT at https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/

 

 

To what exactly do you object?

A conservative friend recently asked  - let us be charitable and imagine this was a good faith inquiry - to what I objected in the current presidential administration (the autocrat, #47). He wanted to know specifically what I was resisting. In an informal conversation this is a difficult question to answer comprehensively. Given that reality, I set out to create a written list that will be curated as we go.

This was off the top of my head:

• Executive order to end birthright citizenship
  
• The January 6th Pardons
• Attacking the free press. 
• Attacking higher education
  
• Attacking law firms with petty and dangerous executive orders.
• Massive deportations- creating a culture of fear.
• Deportations with no due process.
• Defying the Supreme Court.
• Insane tax cuts. 
• Weaponizing the IRS
  
• Anything remotely related to DOGE which will probably cost us money after all the lawsuits, pain, and cruelty.
• DOGE's having compromised our personal information.
• Gutting health and human services and putting a wacko in charge which will undoubtedly lead to more measles deaths, among other things.
• Ridiculous gutting of government services to pass tax cuts for the rich.
• Cutting funding and personnel to the national parks.
• Ruining our reputation completely destroying our relationships with allies.
• All the lies he's told about Ukraine.
• Destroying our relationship with the EU.
• The obvious preparations that are now being made to undermine the next elections (3rd term)
• The Canada and Greenland business
• The support of the toxic masculinity culture.
• Attacking the LGBT community
• Pete Hegseth's complete incompetence as Secretary of Defense
• The Tariffs
• Peter Navarro's wackadoodle economic theories
  
• Defying the courts
• Preparing to cut Medicaid, Medicare, and social security

Also, from the Legal Perspective, the Youtuber "Legal Eagle" lays out the case for how the autocrat seeks to destroy the rule of law, thereby rending our entire legal system meaningless, or, better, yet, merely another tool with which to bludgeon "enemies" of the state.https://youtu.be/1leFwYSUHQ4?si=X3iY9NemqRVcwnFL

 

The Atlantic lays out a damning case against the autocrat as well, in "The End of Rule of Law in America" by By J. Michael Luttig, making the case that "The 47th president seems to wish he were king—and he is willing to destroy what is precious about this country to get what he wants."

And the NY Times lays out the case, by interviewing autocracy experts, that fascism is already here. See this recent video. entitled "We’re Experts in Fascism. We’re Leaving the U.S."

 

In a very real sense I am shocked that I have to write this piece at all, for the sheer redundancy it represents in an ocean of superior explications. As I wrote I realized there were better lists out there and here are two of them:

 The Trump Drum Slime Timeline

 A More Informal List on Reddit

The Patchwork of Pulling Threads

Pulling threads, in the sense that I use it, is the process of searching for insight indirectly, gently agitating or stimulating one's mind with seemingly unrelated details, tasks, or other projects until suddenly an insight comes into focus. This includes working at a piece of writing or other artwork in fits and starts, brainstorming, trying new approaches until something works.

Pulling Threads is a labor of love, a patchwork journal to document my intellectual forays and preserve my sanity. Selections will include essays, opinions, poetry, artwork, observations, excerpts, passages, favorite quotes, ideas, lamentations, excoriations, and possibly debates. This blog will undoubtedly evolve.

My purpose in this endeavor is to document in snapshots our strange and alarming period of history and in many cases refine and share my thoughts and opinions on life in America in what could be the latter days of Democracy (or perhaps just the latter days, period.) I do not utter such a warning lightly; I will strive to speak clearly and eschew hyperbole.

Often I may post a link, quote, story or photograph and then respond to it in short form. As such, my aim is not a research project, but rather an effort to think rationally throughout the coming chaos and the post-truth onslaught.

Some posts may be as succinct as one memorable quote that I offer for the purpose of clearly laying out an argument or opinion in the future.                                                                                                      -BTS

We'll start with a quote from one of my favorite authors:

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”

― Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing: Releasing the Creative Genius Within You

And, I almost forgot to mention humor, which will undoubtedly infuse my posts here and there.

We are well on our way now. Roads go ever on and on.

That's all. For now, onward, to what future, I do not know.

Flight Risk - Artwork

 

Flight Risk - Poem

"Flight Risk" is a poem I wrote in 2023 and includes a companion piece of digital artwork. No associated commentary is necessary. I will post the artwork separately.

Flight Risk

by Brian Seiler

I. 

Unsettled sleep of late, that struggle
to quiet the networked marionettes,
those storming mouths like murder holes
And so: At night I dream of escaping –
over the Alps or maybe the Berlin Wall –
in grieving hot air balloons, buffed in soot
to match the bruised horizon
Days fade
We hide in gaslit castle passages 
sheltered by tapestries of rain splattering the silent stones

II.
Whether past or future scenes
these are not dreams – no –
but rather survival routines
Often with a partner, shrewd children
and boots with buckshot soles
An odd way to sooth myself to sleep – perhaps–
but I have built my barriers.
For now I have forced the fascists to sulk in shadow
ever sharpening their long knives

III.
At night we walk, always a whisper ahead
Every step brings solace in skirting the searchlights
but in daylight the black robes, gathered six over three,
intone the founding myth: smiles and smiles and villainous lies
fueled by – why dissemble? – fear, immeasurable
And so with city sirens whining
we unfold worn blankets, hope forged
from priceless passports sewn into linings

 

The Manchurian Cantaloupe Attacks the Free Press

A posting from Barry F in the comments over at Tangle arguing that the attacks on the free press are serious and dangerous. I fully agree with Barry F here and am pinning his comment here in an effort to make readily available the best arguments against the criminal syndicate.


Anticipating the publication of today's article in Tangle, I wrote this political commentary over the past weekend because I was immediately alarmed by Trump’s May 1st attack on public media. I understand Isaac’s position, but I believe this moment calls for a stronger response.

While I agree that government funding can present a conflict of interest, the executive order’s timing and intent raise fundamental concerns about freedom of the press and the much broader implications for democracy. Trump’s action is not merely about fiscal policy -- I firmly believe it’s part of a dangerous trend of undermining institutions that act as checks on power.

This is what I wrote a couple of days ago …

His executive order to defund NPR and PBS is a brazen authoritarian move and a direct assault on the First Amendment. The fact that it’s the “first” amendment is no accident: the framers of our Constitution placed it at the forefront of the Bill of Rights because a free press and the right to speak and dissent are the foundation of a functioning democracy.

Framed as a response to “radical, woke propaganda,” this executive order has nothing to do with fiscal discipline or media reform. The claim that NPR and PBS are biased is unfounded because it ignores the critical role these institutions have played in offering diverse perspectives and independent, fact-based reporting. Public funding for these outlets is not about supporting a partisan agenda; it’s about ensuring that all Americans have access to information free from corporate interests or political influence.

This assault is a deliberate attempt to muzzle independent journalism and strip away the constitutional protections that stand between democracy and tyranny. While it may not be automatically unconstitutional, the executive order raises serious First Amendment concerns.

If the move is motivated by hostility toward critical coverage -- and all signs point to that --then it can be viewed as retaliation against protected speech. Courts have ruled in similar situations that such retaliatory defunding violates the First Amendment, which prohibits the federal government from using its power to suppress, punish, or inhibit free expression, including press criticism of public officials.

Some may argue that the federal government has the right to reallocate funding based on shifting priorities; that’s true from a legal standpoint. For the most part, the government can decide how to distribute public funds, especially when the justification is framed in ideological or budgetary terms.

Yet, intent matters. When the purpose is to punish dissent or discredit factual reporting, there’s a strong case that such action undermines the constitutional guarantee of a free press. NPR and PBS may be editorially independent, but if funding cuts are used as a weapon to intimidate or silence them, the effect is still corrosive to democratic norms.

Trump’s executive order is not an isolated act. It fits a broader pattern of undermining institutions that challenge his narrative, from discrediting the press to purging watchdog agencies, all in service of seizing unchecked control and suppressing dissent.

The playbook Trump is using is chillingly familiar. In the early 1930s, Hitler rose to power by relentlessly attacking Germany’s free press, branding independent journalism the “Lügenpresse” (“lying press”), and accusing it of betraying the nation. His regime then dismantled independent media entirely, replacing it with state-controlled propaganda that served the Nazi party’s agenda. It’s important to note that this was a central mechanism of control, used to silence criticism, manipulate public opinion, and justify increasingly extreme abuses of power -- exactly what is unfolding now in the United States, before our very eyes.

Trump’s rhetoric and actions echo Hitler’s strategy with disturbing precision: delegitimizing the media as “fake news,” elevating loyalist outlets, demanding retribution against journalists, threatening to revoke press credentials, undermining whistleblowers, attacking legal and judicial figures who oppose him, and now using executive power to defund public broadcasters.

It’s obvious that Trump’s goal is not reform but the subjugation of the press, the public, and ultimately, democratic resistance. History has shown where this path leads -- an insidious road to authoritarian rule and the destruction of democratic freedoms.

This is not an alarmist view. It is a logical, historically-grounded response to a dangerous precedent. If left unchallenged, this action will not only damage public media but also accelerate the unraveling of democratic norms, contributing in real and lasting ways to the erosion of our republic.

To dismiss or downplay the significance of this executive order is to engage in willful denial. Like the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand, such complacency empowers the very authoritarianism it refuses to acknowledge. Silence in the face of this kind of power grab is not neutrality -- it’s surrender disguised as indifference.

If we watch from the sidelines and do nothing, we aren’t just complicit -- we are collaborators in the dismantling of our own democracy. For nearly 250 years, the United States has stood as a global symbol of freedom. That symbol will be shattered -- not by a tyrant’s hand alone, but by the collective failure of Americans too indifferent, credulous, or afraid to defend it. Now is the time to speak out, to resist, and to act before silence becomes utter submission, and our democracy becomes a memory.

Ultimately, the First Amendment is only as strong as the institutions that uphold it. The real question is whether Congress and the Supreme Court will fulfill their constitutional duty or remain silent while the foundation of our democracy is dismantled. If these separate-but-equal branches of government fail to act, they won’t simply be passive observers; they will actively contribute to the unraveling of the very freedoms they were designed to protect.

Source:

Trump signs order to defund NPR and PBS.