A Confession

During these times since the November election, I confess I have been turning first to the Metro Section of my Washington Post.  I check out the local news; I look at the weather; at my age, I look at the obituaries.  The front page is so painful for a political junkie like me to start my day, I can’t bear it. A cup of high-test coffee is tough enough.

So, this Saturday I dived right into my Metro Section. Here are the headlines of the articles:

Order requires Va. to aid ICE, Officers told to help with immigration enforcement

VMI’s top leader won’t return, Decision to not bring back first Black superintendent comes amid DEI backlash

Purge hits attorney’s office for District, Seven top prosecutors have been demoted to low-level positions

FBI begins probe of grant program, Agency takes up inquiry into EPA amid pushback from judge, prosecutors

U.S. attorney seeks to dismiss state police civil rights case, DOJ would scuttle suit alleging discrimination of Black, female applicants

Judge allows CIA to fire DEI officers

There was no escape.  And I was only three pages into my chosen Metro Section.

The basic point is that the wholesale assault on our democracy, our values, our decency, is everywhere.  You can’t escape the attacks on people of color, on immigrants, on environmental protection, on LGBTQ, on aid to the most vulnerable, and on those who work for real justice, fairness and the rule of law.  The complete unraveling of 250 years of America’s great experiment is on the way, at lightning speed.

The Trump/MAGA/Musk movement brings back the famous phrase to justify the Vietnam War:  “We had to destroy the village in order to save it.”

Many are hiding from the details behind the headlines to preserve their sanity.  Many hold the view that it is just too painful to invest too much time with these stories.  I get it.  But it is true that when we learn the specifics we are more likely to rise up, to say enough, to engage, volunteer, give money, support those who are speaking out and taking on the inhumane, incoherent and incompetent policies of the Trump Administration.

So, to dig a bit deeper with the details of these stories here you go (Post, 3/1/2025)—

ICE

Gov. Youngkin of Va. “signed an executive order instructing state police and prison officials to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that allow the state officers to be deputized as federal immigration agents…”

VMI

“The Virginia Military Institute board voted Friday not to renew the contract of its first Black superintendent… Retired Army Maj. General Cedric T. Wins was hired as superintendent four years ago amid allegations of wide-spread racism at the nation’s oldest state supported military college.  Wins (is) a VMI graduate who served 34 years in the Army… The members who voted against the extension were all appointees of Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), including two members named to the body this week.  Former Gov. Ralph Northam said        ‘ “Our country has purged too many patriotic military leaders this week and now Virginia has done it too, these are dark times.” ‘

7 Top Prosecutors Demoted

“The prosecutors are among a larger group targeted for “retribution” by President Donald Trump and loyalists, including interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin because of their roles in Jan 6 Capitol seditious conspiracy and riot cases and others including Stephen K.  Bannon and Peter Navarro, according to eight people speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals…Their jobs included overseeing or leading public corruption, fraud, major violent crimes and complex conspiracy cases.”

FBI

“FBI agents this week questioned Environmental Protection Agency employees regarding a Biden administration grant program for climate and clean-energy projects, escalating a criminal probe that already caused one veteran prosecutor to resign….and it was rejected by a U.S. magistrate judge in D. C.”

U.S. Attorney

“A civil rights inquiry alleging that Maryland State Police discriminated against Black and female applicants was resolved last year.  U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wednesday that the Maryland case was one of several dismissals initiated by her office this week in an attempt to end Biden civil rights lawsuits meant to “advance a DEI agenda.”

CIA

“A federal judge on Thursday refused to stop the CIA and director of national intelligence from firing 51 officers who had been assigned to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility roles that were scrapped last month by President Donald Trump. (The judge) questioned why the Trump administration decided to fire all of the officials instead of reassigning them, as had been recommended by career-services officials at the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.”

There is obviously more in these articles and the avalanche of coverage about how Trump is exceeding his authority, ignoring congress and the courts, and how he has embedded people from Project 2025 into the government to tear it down. 

The key question is:  what is the impact of all these actions ON PEOPLE?  We need to focus on the specific harms that are being done, the upheaval that is being created and the devastating impact on everyday people’s lives.  This is also about incompetence masquerading as action, common sense and consequences be damned and, basically, ignorance is bliss.

Our free press guards against government overreach, investigates wrongdoing by corporate and special interests, and keeps the public informed of malfeasance.  If we were to lose that, as so many dictatorships have, we would be over the abyss to tyranny.

Our “hometown paper”, the Post, has a tradition of communicating truth to power.  Let us hope that Mr. Bezos does not destroy that or censure articles or editorials that the current administration finds objectionable.  Already he has selectively crossed the line, leading to many canceling their subscriptions.

To quote the Washington Post’s current motto: “Democracy Dies in Darkness” – let’s hope that still stands on the front page and in the Metro Section for years to come.