Friday, February 28, 2025

Mini-Post: English Is Now Our Official Language

Trump is going to be signing a EO making English our official national language!
It's the first time the country would have an official language though many states have one.
NBC News 
By Gabe Gutierrez and Rebecca Shabad
February 28, 2025


President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order aimed at making English the official language of the U.S., according to a White House official.

It’s the first time in history the country would have an official language, though the majority of U.S. states have already designated English as their official language. It is unclear when Trump will sign the order.

[...]

“This commonsense legislation recognizes an inherent truth: English is the language of this country. That is why the overwhelming majority of the American people support this proposal,” Vance said in a statement when they unveiled the measure. “The English language has been a cornerstone of American culture for over 250 years. It is far past time for Congress to codify its place into law, which is exactly what this bill does.
Just more of the same xenophobe!

Are You Now Or Ever Have Been A Homosexual?

That question was asked of LGBTQ back in the 1950s at the House Un-American Activities committee when the Lavender Scare.
Time
By Suyin Haynes and Video by Arpita Aneja
December 22, 2020


Six years into his career as a linguist at the National Security Agency in 1980, Jamie Shoemaker was called into the office of the Agency’s security apparatus.

“They read me my rights,” he recalls, “and they said ‘we understand you’re leading a gay lifestyle.’ And I remember saying, ‘well, I didn’t think I was leading it, but yes, I’m gay.’” It was made clear to Shoemaker that he couldn’t keep his top secret security clearance, and he was taken to a nearby facility where he was separated from his fellow employees. For the next four months, Shoemaker didn’t work while his bosses came to a decision. Eventually, personnel officers told him that he was going to be fired.

What happened to Shoemaker in 1980 was the continuation of a policy launched nearly 30 years earlier, in 1953. Under President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Executive Order 10450, the investigation, interrogation and systematic removal of gay men and lesbians from the federal government became policy. Known as the “Lavender Scare,” the policy was based on the unfounded fear that gay men and lesbians “posed a threat to national security because they were vulnerable to blackmail and were considered to have weak moral characters,” says historian David K. Johnson. According to him, this aspect of American history has largely been overlooked.
And now once again, we have the Lavender Scare 2.0, Trump it bring it back with his junta.

Welcome to the Lavender Scare 2.0!


In another reversal of the Biden administration’s expansion of federal protections for LGBTQ+ Americans, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has eliminated language in internal documents prohibiting the surveillance of individuals or groups based solely on their sexual orientation or gender identity, Bloomberg reports.

Two weeks ago, the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis updated its policy manual to fall in line with President Donald Trump’s executive orders excising diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies from federal agencies and declaring there are only two immutable sexes, male and female.

The terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” which were added to the list of protected groups and individuals at the direction of the Biden administration, have been removed.
BUT WAIT! There is more! And it is the scary parts...
The Trump administration reversed Biden’s executive order facilitating the addition of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the intelligence agency’s prohibited list on his first day in office.
Are we heading down that path again?
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a longtime LGBTQ+ antagonist, was confirmed as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in January.
What does Trump's Bible, Project 2025 has to say about us (Hint: It is not good!)
November 7, 2024


The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, which President-elect Trump's allies have touted as the incoming administration's agenda, outlines vast plans for rolling back rights and protections for LGBTQ+ people.

The big picture: If implemented, Project 2025 would reshape the fabric of American life by expanding the power of the presidency, shrinking the social safety net and rolling back rights for a vast swath of Americans.
But it also is chiseling away our rights...
Project 2025 attempts to virtually erase LGBTQ+ people from federal protections altogether. It would also have broad implications for people of color and women across the country.
  • The mandate calls for deleting the words "sexual orientation and gender identity ('SOGI'), diversity, equity, and inclusion ('DEI'), gender, gender equality, gender equity, gender awareness, gender-sensitive, abortion, reproductive health, reproductive rights ... out of every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists."
  • In 2020, the Supreme Court expanded workplace discrimination protections under Title VII for workers based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Project 2025 calls for restricting the application of that ruling to hiring and firing and directs the president to instruct federal agencies to withdraw any guidances that aim to apply it beyond that scope.
It also calls for rescinding other regulations prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, and sex characteristics.
Are we now in the Trump' version of the Lavender Scare on steroids?

Many gays and lesbians thought that Trump wasn't coming after them... but you know he came after the low hanging fruit first and now he has his sights set on the whole community. Because I remembered Martin Niemöller poem.



Where Oh Where Have We Seen This Before?

From YouTube
Denied healthcare... denied bathrooms... denied travel! Where have we seen this before?

When I came out everything was coming out roses. Here in Connecticut we had just about every protection we could think of. And it was spreading across the country, there was a  bill in Congress to finally give us the rights other enjoyed!

But then... but then, along came Trump and his transphobia changed all of this, his kingly edicts forbad us for healthcare, forbad us from the military, forbad us from getting ID with our true identities, and now forbad us our right to travel!

So when else did we coming under attack?
Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust


In the 1920s, Berlin was home to a thriving transgender community, with trans-focused magazines, famous drag clubs, and Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institute for Sexual Science, where some trans people went for gender-affirming care. Hitler’s rise to power in 1933 changed everything. In this talk, Laurie Marhoefer (he/they) explores what happened trans people under the Nazi state, beginning with pre-war Berlin and then under the repressive Nazi regime. Marhoefer will look specifically at violence against trans women that was recorded in police files from the era.
We are repeating history with our own fascist dictator.



I will be busy until Monday so these posts were all prewritten on Wednesday but I written a good number of posts until then!.

Mini-Post: Just Another Lie From The Liar-In-Chief!

The Republicans just can't open their mouths without tell a lie!


President Donald Trump held his first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, during which he said his administration has made progress on immigration, energy production and negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.

Trump has packed his Cabinet with picks to oversee the delivery of his election promises, one of which was to dismantle the Department of Education.

Speaking on Wednesday, Trump decried the performance of the U.S. education system, claiming it was "ranked at the very bottom of the list."

[...]

Newsweek did not find evidence to support that the U.S. is as low in education standards as Trump claims.
So even if that was true... then why is he closing the Department of Education?
The Ruling

Evidence conducted by the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development], examining performance among pupils found that in 2022, the United States ranked above average for reading and science among OECD member nations but below average for mathematics. It did not rank last in these results.

Thursday, February 27, 2025

Again, And Again...

The unrelenting barrage of edicts from the Lord Ruler against us! The newest one is an attack on Maines non-discrimination law.
Notice of the investigation came hours after Gov. Janet Mills and President Donald Trump had tense exchange at White House
Maine Morning Star
By: Lauren McCauley
February 21, 2025


The civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Education announced Friday it is launching an investigation into Maine’s Department of Education over allegations that the state is defying President Donald Trump’s executive order barring transgender athletes from competing on women’s sports teams consistent with their gender identity.

Specifically, the civil rights office argues that by allowing transgender women to compete in girls’ interscholastic athletics, Maine “has denied female athletes female-only intimate facilities, thereby violating federal antidiscrimination law.”

Notice of the investigation came hours after Maine Gov. Janet Mills and Trump had a tense exchange during an event at the White House over the state’s transgender athlete policy.

In response to the president’s threat to withdraw federal funding unless Maine adheres to the order, Mills, who was in Washington, D.C. attending the winter meeting of the National Governors Association, told him: “We’re going to follow the law, sir. We’ll see you in court.”

Ahead of the exchange, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said any attempt by the president to cut federal funding over the issue “would be illegal and in direct violation of federal court orders.”  

“Fortunately,” Frey wrote in a statement, “the rule of law still applies in this country, and I will do everything in my power to defend Maine’s laws and block efforts by the president to bully and threaten us.”
Does this mean that Trump and company will be going after the 22 states (Including Connecticut), one territory, Washington D.C. non-discrimination laws? K-12 Dive writes that...
A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Friday temporarily blocking portions of separate Trump executive orders to end federal support of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and it’s likely the order on transgender athletic participation could face a similar fate, said Brett Sokolow, chair of the boards for both the Association of Title IX Administrators and TNG Consulting.

[...]

“I imagine that the outcome of this politically directed investigation is all but predetermined,” Mills said. “My Administration will begin work with the Attorney General to defend the interests of Maine people in the court of law. But do not be misled: this is not just about who can compete on the athletic field, this is about whether a President can force compliance with his will, without regard for the rule of law that governs our nation. I believe he cannot.”
Yup... and the other 22 states will probably also be facing the wrath of Trump!
“The Trump administration is really risking their entire enforcement authority through the Department of Education if they persist through the process,” said Sokolow. “Initially, a judge might block them based on the EO, but ultimately, if the department tries to implement a fine and the schools fight it — when that happens, then it’s going to be a question of whether the department really has the authority.”
Have you notices... "States Rights" for abortion but when it come to us then the Republicans change their tune.

So tell me... how's the economy doing?


Their Hatred Knows No Bounds

There doesn't seem like the Republicans have any limits when it comes to us... they keep coming up with more vile and draconian laws...
Iowa Public Radio
By Katarina Sostaric
February 25, 2025


Republicans on the Iowa House Judiciary Committee advanced a bill Monday that would remove civil rights protections for transgender Iowans from state law, as a few hundred people protested the bill at the Statehouse.

The committee vote came just a few hours after Iowans testified at a subcommittee hearing for and against the bill, with protesters chanting, “Trans rights are human rights” and “F*** you, fascists” outside the room. State troopers arrested two protesters.

The bill, introduced last Thursday, would remove gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act, which currently provides transgender Iowans with protection from discrimination in housing, education, employment, public accommodations and credit practices.

It would also bar transgender women from places like women’s public bathrooms, prisons and domestic violence shelters while stating “Separate accommodations are not inherently unequal.” The bill would define “sex” in state law as “the state of being either male or female as observed or clinically verified at birth.”
How infantile and vindictive is that! Of course they don't care that in their persecution they just eliminated all intersex people!
Evelyn Nikkel with conservative group PELLA PAC said the bill would fix that “grievous error” and protect women by keeping transgender women who were assigned male at birth out of women’s bathrooms and prisons. She said having gender identity in the Iowa Civil Rights Act elevates the rights of transgender Iowans over others.
Just more lies coming from another Republican to create fear and animosity against us!

Then the biggest lie of them all...
House GOP leaders say those laws are at risk of being struck down by the courts if they don’t remove gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act.
The courts have been upholding non-discrimination laws!

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Your Papers Please.

We all known that Trump kiboshed getting a passport with our true identity but it also effects trans people who are coming here!
Exclusive: State department memo directs officers to bar those deemed to misrepresent birth sex on applications
The Guardian
By Joseph Gedeon
February 25, 2025


The US state department has ordered officials worldwide to deny visas to transgender athletes attempting to come to the US for sports competitions and to issue permanent visa bans against those who are deemed to misrepresent their birth sex on visa applications.

The 24 February state department cable obtained by the Guardian instructs visa officers to apply Immigration and Nationality Act section 212(a)(6)(C)(i) – the “permanent fraud bar” – against trans applicants. Unlike regular visa denials, this section triggers lifetime exclusion from the United States with limited waiver possibilities.

“In cases where applicants are suspected of misrepresenting their purpose of travel or sex, you should consider whether this misrepresentation is material such that it supports an ineligibility finding,” reads the directive from the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio.
So in other words, it an athlete has an official passport from their country Trump is going to bar them from entering the country!
At the signing, Trump also directed Rubio to tell the International Olympic Committee that America “will not stand by and watch men beat and batter female athletes”.

Sarah Mehta, senior policy counsel at the ACLU, said the administration’s use of the permanent fraud provision represents an unprecedented expansion of immigration law against a specific identity group.

“It’s normal to say that people accused of fraud or misrepresentation are often considered to be ineligible. It’s usually a case-by-case determination,” Mehta said. “But it is quite bizarre and novel in a terrible way to be saying it’s based on their misrepresenting their sex or gender in order to come and participate in an event in the United States.”
This is just another link in Trump's pogrom to eradicate us!

The 19th News reported that,
Trump’s executive order directed federal agencies to require that government-issued identification documents, including passports and visas, reflect sex assigned at birth. Since this order states that it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female, and that these sexes are not changeable, “the department’s issuance of U.S. passports will reflect the individual’s biological sex,” an agency spokesperson said in an emailed statement on Friday evening. Under Trump’s executive order, “sex” explicitly excludes gender identity.
Did you you get that... "Visas" So that means that a trans person coming from a government that recognizes us can be barred from entering the US.

I can imagine a scenario where a woman who is masculine looking being denied entry to the US because the woman looks trans.

"He who controls the message, controls the masses"

Or in Trump's case... He who controls the press room, controls the masses.


The White House is stripping the White House Correspondents’ Association of its role in managing the White House Press Pool, taking control of deciding who will be a part of the small rotating group of journalists and photographers who accompany the president.

The press pool includes rotating representatives from television, print, radio, wire services and still photography outlets that travel with the president on Air Force One and in other small settings like the Oval Office or Roosevelt Room. They communicate information back to their counterparts at other outlets through what’s known as pool reports disseminated by email.

Since the 1950s, the independent WHCA, made up of representatives from hundreds of different outelts, has managed who is part of the rotation (in coordination with the White House). That now will change, Leavitt said.
But when they start asking hard questions they now get shown the door, so now the White House coverage is limited to right-wing pundits that tow Trump's line.
February 26, 2025


The White House plans to determine which news outlets have access to President Donald Trump, taking control from an association of journalists after more than a century.

The changes, announced by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday, mean the White House will determine which outlets participate in the "pool" that covers presidential events and shares material with other media outlets.

The rotation of pool reporters was previously determined by the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA), which said the decision "tears at the independence of a free press".

The surprise announcement comes as the Associated Press fights to restore its access to presidential events after it was blocked.

"The White House press team in this administration will determine who gets to enjoy the very privileged and limited access in spaces such as Air Force One and the Oval Office," Leavitt said at a news briefing on Tuesday.
Gee... where else have we seen the government trying to control the news media? Hmm... Let me think.

Oh... Oh... I know when they controlled the news media!

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum writes,
The Nazis used propaganda to win the support of millions of Germans. Censorship helped to suppress ideas that the Nazis saw as threatening. 

When the Nazis came to power in 1933, the German constitution guaranteed freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Through decrees and laws, the Nazis abolished these civil rights and destroyed German democracy. Starting in 1934, it was illegal to criticize the Nazi government. Even telling a joke about Hitler was considered treachery. People in Nazi Germany could not say or write whatever they wanted. 

Examples of censorship under the Nazis included:
Closing down or taking over anti-Nazi newspapers; 
  • Controlling what news appeared in newspapers, on the radio, and in newsreels;
  • Banning and burning books that the Nazis categorized as un-German;
  • Controlling what soldiers wrote home during World War II.
I don't know about you but it sure looks like Trump is following the Nazi playbook.

CNN goes on to write that,
“For decades, a group of DC-based journalists, the White House Correspondents Association, has long dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the president of the United States in these most intimate spaces. Not anymore,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced at Tuesday’s press briefing.

Leavitt added, “Moving forward, the White House press pool will be determined by the White House press team.”
It sure does look like Trump is trying to gut the First Amendment!

Mini-Post: The Hatchet Crew Resigns!

They saw the light that what they were doing for the country wasn't good, so they...
AP News
By  BRIAN SLODYSKO and BYRON TAU
February 25, 2025


More than 20 civil service employees resigned Tuesday from billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying they were refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.”

“We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations,” the 21 staffers wrote in a joint resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. “However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments.”

The employees also warned that many of those enlisted by Musk to help him slash the size of the federal government under President Donald Trump’s administration were political ideologues who did not have the necessary skills or experience for the task ahead of them.
But now all that is left to run the "doggie" are political hacks

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

‘Leave us alone!’

We tend to think of Sarah McBride when we think of trans legislators but there are others who are also under attack by right-wing conservatives!
"Do you not feel any shame at all for trying to remove, to erase, to cut out of this society a historically persecuted group of people?"
attitude
By Jamie Tabberer
February 24, 205


Carla Antonelli, a Spanish politician and LGBTQ activist, has delivered a rabble-rousing speech in defence of trans rights in her country’s parliament.

The moment was shared on Instagram on Friday (21 February 2025) in a collaboration post between Carla and Más Madrid, the left-wing political party she has been a member of since 2023.

Addressing the room, the former actress said: “Trans people – we are everyone’s topic of conversation. Everyone has to have an opinion about us. If we are trans, what we are, what we are not.”

The lawmaker continued: “Do we get surgery or not? Do we mutilate ourselves or not? Just leave us alone, for god’s sake!”

Carla went on to address Vox, a Spanish nationalist party: “Members of Vox, today you came here to derogate my colleague Jimena [González, another Spanish politician who is trans], to derogate me. Honestly, don’t you feel ashamed?

“Do you not feel any shame at all for trying to remove, to erase, to cut out of this society a historically persecuted group of people?”
It is the same around the world! The would-be fascists need someone to bully!

I asked my favorite AI that question.
Perplexity AI: "Why do conservatives attack trans people? Around the world right leaning politicians go after trans people?"

Answer:
Conservatives attack transgender people for several reasons, reflecting a complex interplay of political strategy, cultural values, and social anxieties:

Political Strategy
  • Mobilizing the base: Attacking trans rights has become a rallying point for conservative voters, particularly evangelical Christians. [7]
  • Distracting from other issues: By focusing on transgender issues, conservatives can shift attention away from potentially unpopular economic or social policies. [1]
  • Exploiting fear and uncertainty: Politicians use trans issues to tap into broader anxieties about social change and traditional values. [6]
Cultural and Ideological Factors
  • Opposition to gender diversity: Many conservatives adhere to a strict binary view of gender, rejecting the concept of gender identity as distinct from biological sex. [5]
  • Religious beliefs: Some conservative religious groups view transgender identities as conflicting with their interpretation of scripture. [1]
  • Authoritarianism: Conservative ideologies often favor strict social norms and react negatively to perceived deviations. [4]
Political Tactics
  • Legislation: Republicans have introduced numerous bills restricting trans rights, including bans on gender-affirming care and participation in sports. [3 & 11]
  • Executive actions: The Trump administration has taken steps to roll back protections for transgender individuals in various areas of public life. [5]
  • Rhetoric: Conservative politicians often use inflammatory language, conflating transgender issues with child safety concerns or "gender ideology". [1 & 7]
Global Trend
This pattern is not limited to the United States. Right-leaning politicians worldwide have adopted similar tactics, often as part of a broader pushback against progressive social movements. [1] The anti-trans movement has become a unifying force for various conservative groups, including those opposed to racial and gender equality. [1]

Potential Backlash
However, some experts warn that this strategy could backfire. As more people personally know transgender individuals and public support for LGBTQ+ rights grows, aggressive anti-trans policies may alienate moderate voters. [7] Additionally, focusing on these issues may distract from other important policy areas and potentially cost conservatives support among a diversifying electorate. [7]

Reference:
  1. The Anti-Trans Movement Framework
  2. Election fact check: Trump, Harris on transgender issues
  3. Republicans ramp up attacks on transgender people, in statehouses and on the campaign trail
  4. Why are USA republicans so anti trans?
  5. Trump Administration Moves to Reject Transgender Identity, Rights
  6. Attack on LGBTQ+ rights: The politics and psychology of a backlash
  7. Why is the GOP escalating attacks on trans rights? Experts say the goal is to make sure evangelicals vote
  8. Republican-led states emboldened to continue rolling back trans rights as Democrats struggle with response
  9. Trans Rights Under Attack: Rising Up to Defend the Lives & Futures of Trans Youth
  10. Republicans are betting big on trans issues. Following through could prove harder.
  11. The 19th Explains: Can trans rights survive in a Republican-controlled Congress?
Some of these reference look interesting and I think I'm going to go back and read the full articles instead of just skimming them.

I am trying to find a YouTube video with English subtitles.

Updated on 2/26 @ 5:45AM



You All Know This…

… but did you look behind the decision, what it means beyond trying to eradicate us? The rewriting of history is common all around the world.

You all know about this by now...
In their crusade against 'transgender insanity,' the Trump administration is now going so far as to rewrite history. Future tourists who visit Stonewall will see a version that is far from the truth.
USA TODAY
By Sara Pequeño
February 23, 2025


I stood outside the Christopher Street subway entrance in New York City last week and noted my surroundings: a Starbucks, a Chase Bank and a set of bars. A triangular strip of fenced grass lined with park benches was across the street from where I stood. A defaced sign on that entrance now read, “Stonewall National TRANSGENDER Monument.”

The graffiti was left over from Valentine’s Day, the day after the National Park Service removed the words “transgender” and “queer” from the Stonewall National Monument website.

[...]

The website change is the latest in the Trump administration’s full-out attack on the transgender community. It has also included blocking gender-affirming care for people under 19, barring trans women from competing in women’s sports, banning trans people from serving in the military and declaring that the United States would only recognize two genders, male and female.

In their crusade against "transgender insanity," the Trump administration is now going so far as to rewrite history. Future tourists who visit Stonewall will see a different version of the monument that I saw last week: a whitewashed version of what really happened, a version that is far from the truth. And while the LGBTQ+ community is responding with protest and resilience, there’s an ever-present dread about what’s to come.
You all heard about this already, but stop and think what does rewriting history symbolize?

Do you remember the book “1984” in it they had a “Ministry of Truth” to rewrite history?

The old Soviet Union was notorious for rewriting of history! The website Communist Crimes writes…
History, as a discipline dedicated to studying the past, was far from objective in the Soviet Union. Rather, it was a heavily politicised instrument of propaganda, the sole purpose of which was to perpetuate the rule of the Soviet regime. The result, historian Anna Cichocka writes, was a web of lies on a mass scale.

As soon as the Bolsheviks came to power in Russia in 1917, history, as a science of the past,  was destroyed. It became a political tool totally controlled by the communist authorities and an instrument of communist propaganda. History was completely subordinated to Marxist-Leninist ideology, and it was the Communist Party that always decided which interpretation of that ideology was correct. This made it possible to constantly manipulate and rewrite history according to the ever-changing needs and political sensitivities of the Soviet regime at a given point in time. The result was lies and manipulation on a mass scale.
Question: What did Trump do the first thing when he took office?

PBS News wrote,
The Office of Personnel Management directed agency heads to strip “gender ideology” from websites, contracts and emails in a memo sent Wednesday, with changes ordered to be instituted by 5 p.m. Friday. It also directed agencies to disband employee resource groups, terminate grants and contracts related to the issue, and replace the term “gender” with “sex” on government forms.

Some parts of government websites appeared with the message: “The page you’re looking for was not found.” Some pages disappeared and came back intermittently.
When Putin consolidated his power what did he do?

The website Persuasion wrote about Putin…
Vladimir Putin is the master of modern historical falsification. In 2007 he launched a sweeping redesign of Russia’s national high school history curriculum. The previous version had drawn Putin’s ire for its openness to Western values and for the questions it raised about sensitive subjects such as Stalin’s crimes, his wartime diplomacy, and Moscow’s domination of postwar Eastern Europe.

Putin took an unusual interest in the drafting of the new texts. He chastised teachers for “utter confusion and chaos” in the teaching of history and accused educators of slanting their interpretations to meet the demands of American sources that had given money toward the modernization of Russian education.
China. North Korea. They both rewrite history. Persuasion goes on to write,
 In autocracies large and small, brutal and relatively relaxed, historical revisionism has emerged as a regime priority nearly as important as crony capitalism or control of the judiciary. Modern strongmen demand a new national narrative because the old narrative raises uncomfortable questions about the leader’s legitimacy. Today’s autocrats and aspiring autocrats (think Poland) routinely use the highly charged term “traitor” to demonize their adversaries. They attack opposition figures not because they are leftists or archconservatives but because they are not “real” Turks, Hungarians, or Russians. What defines a real Turk, a real Hungarian, a real Russian? The new history is meant, in part, to serve as a point of reference from which to pass judgment on the patriotism of individuals, whether they be opposition politicians, uncooperative business owners, independent-minded schoolteachers or poets, or citizens who’ve come out as gay.
This is also what all this "Woke" stuff is about, rewriting history! Rewriting slavery and Jim Crow out of history.  The research paper "Woke culture and the history of America: From colonisation to depersonalisation" writes that woke is about preventing the reexamine history through the lens of oppression and marginalized groups, but many conservatives see it as an attempt to rewrite history by telling the untold stories of the oppressed. The telling of the Pilgrims bring indentured servants  to the "New World" is seen by many as teaching "Woke"!

As Trump rewrites history he shows more of his heritage of all his ‘phobias and ‘isms’ and is become more and more dictatorial.

Mini-Post: Our Way Or The Highway!

The Republicans want to fill the government with Trump loyalists. A judge is now feeling the full wrath of Trump's party.
The Hill
by Zach Schonfeld
February 24, 2025


Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) on Monday introduced an impeachment resolution against a federal judge who ordered federal health agencies to temporarily restore online datasets scrubbed as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on “gender ideology.” 

The article of impeachment says U.S. District Judge John Bates’s conduct in the case was “so utterly lacking in intellectual honesty and basic integrity that he is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors.” 
And in the military...

The Hill wrote in another article,
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday that the three fired judge advocates general (JAGs) were potential “roadblocks” to President Trump’s orders.

“It’s not about roadblocks to an agenda,” Hegseth told reporters when asked how the military lawyers present roadblocks.

“It’s roadblocks to orders that are given by a commander in chief,” he said.

The JAGs’ job is to provide independent legal guidance to senior military officers in the Pentagon and on battlefields to avoid potential legal issues with U.S. or international laws surrounding armed conflict.

“Ultimately, I want the best possible lawyers in each service to provide the best possible recommendations, no matter what, to lawful orders that are given,” Hegseth said. “And we didn’t think those particular positions were well-suited, and so we’re looking for the best.”

“We’re opening it up to everybody to be able to be the top lawyer of those services,” Hegseth added.
In other words if Trump orders a coup, they will say it is legal. Trump cronies are  packing the government and the military with Trump loyalist who are loyal to him instead of being loyal to the Constitution!

Monday, February 24, 2025

Hip, Hip... Hooray!

The MAGA are celebrating Trump cuts... but in the real life it is hutting helpless people! Stopping funding for the Older Americans Act hurts innocent seniors... the program includes meals-on-wheels, in-home care, heating assistance, programs for the disabled and other programs supporting the elderly. But Musk and company are giving "hi-fives" about them axing the programs!

The Older Americans Act (OAA) was passed in 1965 as part of President Johnson’s “Great Society” initiative with the goal of supporting older Americans to live at home and in the community with dignity and independence for as long as possible.

For five decades, the OAA has been the foundation upon which the federal, state and local organizational infrastructure has developed, planned and delivered home and community-based services and supports to older adults and their caregivers. This infrastructure is defined in the OAA as a national Aging Network that currently includes 56 state and territorial units on aging, more than 600 Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs), more than 270 Title VI Native American Aging Programs, and more than 20,000 community service providers.

The OAA currently supports a wide array of programs and services, including information and referral, congregate and home-delivered meals, health and wellness programs, in-home care, transportation, elder abuse prevention, caregiver support and adult day care.

AAAs were added to the Act in 1973 to be the on-the-ground organizations charged with helping older adults live with independence and dignity in their homes and communities. The OAA mandates that AAAs use the flexibility provided in the law to ensure that local needs and preferences are taken into consideration and that the resulting local service delivery system is tailored to the community.
Philadelphia Gay News writes....


After the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memo attempting to freeze federal grants and other financial assistance, SAGE — the nation’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTQ+ older adults — teamed up with the National Council of Nonprofits, the American Public Health Association and Main Street Alliance to challenge the directive in court.

Roughly a third of SAGE’s funding comes from the federal government — and Aaron Tax, managing director of government affairs and policy advocacy, said this means SAGE’s access to grants or other funding is at risk.

He also hopes the lawsuit helps to dispel the misunderstanding that SAGE or other nonprofits would have the power and resources on their own to pick up the slack if the federal government pulls funding from sectors that serve vulnerable populations.

“I don’t know how many people understand that the federal government — as well as states and localities — fund many nonprofits to do important work in their communities,” he underlined. “I think it’s important that people understand that connection.”
It is not just SAGE that would be hurting but all non-profits!

These businesses made long term plans, hire employees based on those plane, made capital investments based on the government funding and then only to have the rug pulled out from under them! Their elderly clients literally depend on the services, for them it is a matter of life or death.
Roughly 11 million people rely on programs funded under the Older Americans Act, Tax explained, which funds critical programs that allow people to age in place and in communities they already trust. A federal funding freeze places these programs at risk by making it harder for nonprofits to fund transportation assistance, legal assistance, chore assistance, individual and congregate meals, senior centers, fall prevention and other services that help older Americans. Tax believes LGBTQ+ older adults account for approximately 10% of those who rely on these programs.
Musk, Trump & company had a press conference at the White House bragging about how much they cut.
“This is a population that faces pronounced disparities as they get older,” Tax said. “There are many of the same challenges that other older people face, but often in a more pronounced way — so they’re facing higher rates of social isolation, are twice as likely to be single and four times less likely to have kids than their hetero counterparts, have higher rates of poverty (particularly pronounced among lesbian couples, who have twice the poverty rate of their heterosexual counterparts), and of course, experience more pronounced poverty with respect to people of color and trans older people. Then there’s a lack of access to culturally competent services and supports, both in the LGBT space and also in the aging space.”

Many LGBTQ+ older adults have lived during times when it didn’t feel safe or comfortable to live in their authenticity — and now, given the state of American politics and culture, some are facing similar decisions about whether or not to be “out” as they age.
The Republicans do not give a flying.... about us! If you are not worth serval hundred billions of dollars they don't want to talk to you.

Here in Connecticut, the Democrats have introduced a bill to protect us in long-term-care facilities...

You want to help?

Here is where you can find your Connecticut legislators.

Don't just sit there and b**** and moan... pick up your phone or send them an email your legislators, thank out federal senators and representatives for their work to protect us!

Write letters-to-the-editors in reply to negative letters-to-the-editors!

When you hear mean intervein!

Go to public hearings! Have you ever been to a school board meeting? Have you spoken out against the book bannings!

Do you know that there is a bill in the Connecticut legislature banning book bans?

Have you been b****ing and moaning about all the book bans that the Republicans have been pushing, well now's the time to contact your legislator and let them know you support the bills!

I remember the first time I called my legislators back in 2007 about the gender inclusive non-discrimination bill, I was scared s**tless. But over the years I got to know him and I was known with a smile as "Trouble maker Diana"

We cannot sit by in silence, we cannot be the cattle waiting to go to the slaughter!

 

Mini-Post: Anti-Vaxxers

The thing is that viruses don't know any political boundaries... they are an equal opportunity infector. So when a group of people decides not to get vaccinated it affects everyone!
Health authorities warned of further spread. Most U.S. measles cases this year involved people 19 and under and those without a confirmed vaccination.
The Washington Post
By Kelly Kasulis Cho
February 24, 2025


Nearly 100 people across Texas and New Mexico have contracted measles, state officials say, escalating anxiety over the spread of a potentially life-threatening illness that was declared eliminated in the United States more than two decades ago.

Ninety cases of measles — the majority affecting children under 17 — were detected in Texas’s South Plains, a sprawling region in the state’s northwest, the Texas Department of State Health Services said Friday. The spread marks a significant jump from the 24 cases reported earlier this month. The DSHS said “additional cases are likely to occur in the outbreak area and the surrounding communities.”

[...]

There is no specific cure or treatment for measles. One or two in every 1,000 children who contract measles are projected to die, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in 2019, with pneumonia being the most common cause of death.
But there is a church that does not believe in vaccinations, but now it has spread beyond the church so now everyone is worried!
The disease’s comeback has occurred in tandem with the rise of anti-vaccine rhetoric propagated on social media and among some public officials.
These nut cases are putting me and other in jeopardy. They are putting the elderly, the sick, and the very young at risk just because these far-right nut jobs hate science.



I was vaccinated with MMR about four or five years ago when I was volunteering at a health collective when someone with mumps walked in and exposed all of us. So to be on the safe side many of us older volunteers got the vaccine just incase our protection had diminished. 

We Won One And Lost One

They are back again doing what they have done before, treating our children! After the courts said to Trump, not so fast...
The reversal comes following the Trump administration's January order
Denver Gazette 
By Sage Kelley
Feb 21, 2025


Just weeks after multiple Colorado hospitals halted gender-affirming care for minors following threats of losing federal funding by the Trump administration, two have walked back the change.

Children’s Hospital Colorado and Denver Health announced Wednesday that they will return to providing specific services for transgender youth regarding puberty blockers and hormone therapy in the wake of President Donald Trump's Jan. 28 order that threatened to pull federal funding from hospitals that provided the medical care to patients 18 and under.

The order said medical professionals are “maiming and sterilizing” impressionable young children by performing irreversible surgical and chemical interventions by providing them with “puberty blockers” — drugs that suppress sex hormones during puberty — or performing sex change operations.
Note: Gender confirming surgery are not preformed on minors!
Multiple health systems in the state quickly backed off the care following the order, but Children’s Hospital Colorado and Denver Health will return following Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser joining a lawsuit filed in Washington state Wednesday that is attempting to block the order.

The federal judge in the case issued a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration and said that the order “blatantly discriminated against trans youth,” according to a press release from the Colorado Attorney General's Office.
This isn't over... it will be going to the Supreme Court!

And caught between a rock and hard space...
AP News
By  GEOFF MULVIHILL
February 23, 2025


For some famously progressive colleges in Ohio, a new state law designed to keep transgender women from using women’s restrooms at schools is bringing a moment of soul-searching for students, alumni and administrators.

It’s one of many such laws adopted around the country, with the stated intent of protecting female students. The Ohio law — which applies fully to private colleges, unlike the others — allows individual institutions to decide how they will obey and enforce the measure.

But navigating the law has become a challenge, especially at colleges like Antioch and Oberlin, campuses built on a bedrock of idealism and protest where many see the law as part of a wider attack on transgender students.
They are afraid of losing federal funding...
For some, the idea of complying at all runs counter to the long-held value of being gender-inclusive. At the same time, colleges across the country are sorting the impact of the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, including a threat to cut federal funding for schools that reject its interpretation of civil rights laws.

Oberlin has published policies saying the school will comply with the law taking effecting Tuesday and is offering counseling and a chance for students to ask to move out of their dorms. Antioch has not announced a detailed plan.
FEAR! That is what Trump & Company want to create uncertainty and fear in hospitals, school, and colleges! 

Mini-Post: They Lied... But Are You Surprised?

The Republicans swore on a pack of Bibles that they would not touch Social Security, well it has been just over two months since they took power...

Newsweek magazine writes...
 House Republicans are asking for a $2 trillion reduction in "mandatory spending," which includes programs like Social Security, SNAP and Medicaid.

Mandatory spending uses up roughly $4 trillion in federal dollars each year, with Social Security making up $1.5 trillion of that, roughly 21 percent of the entire budget.

Due to the high portion of the overall budget going to Social Security, many are worried that the new Republican budget translates to a cut in Social Security program, which oversees monthly benefits for more than 70 million Americans.
Anyone surprised? Our senator from Connecticut had this to say...
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) released the following statement today after the Senate approved a budget resolution that will allow the Republican majority in Congress to move ahead with a massive tax cut for the wealthy:

“The Republican budget resolution puts the needs of the American people last,” Blumenthal said. “Grocery prices are skyrocketing and Republicans are too busy passing billionaire tax cuts to do anything about it. Senate Democrats held the Floor through the night forcing our colleagues to vote on amendments to protect veterans’ benefits, tackle rising costs, and keep our communities safe from crime. Republicans voted them down. We’re going to keep fighting, and I am hoping that the American people will make their voices heard, too.”
Anyone surprised that the Republicans put their billionaires friends ahead of the people?

Sunday, February 23, 2025

We Know Nothing... Nothing...

It was funny when Sergeant Schultz said it but it is not funny when major news organizations are shut out from the news!

The is a systematic attempt to control the news you get from the Trump White House, only right-wing news outlets are being allowed at White House news conference,
40 news organizations — including Fox News and Newsmax — asked Trump to lift his ban on the AP. Here’s why it probably won’t matter.
Poynter 
By: Tom Jones
February 21, 2025


Dozens of news organizations are urging the White House to reconsider its ban on The Associated Press over a dispute about what to call the body of water between Florida and Texas. The AP is calling it the Gulf of Mexico. President Donald Trump wants it called the Gulf of America.

And Trump, as recently as early this week, said he will continue to ban the AP from certain media events, including inside the Oval Office and on Air Force One, until the wire service gives in and calls it the Gulf of America.

However, 40 outlets wrote a letter to the White House this week asking Trump to lift the ban. The outlets include many of the news organizations that you would expect to fight for press freedoms: The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC, CNN and The Wall Street Journal.

But it also included two outlets that you might not have expected: Fox News and Newsmax — conservative outlets that usually support Trump.


[...]

The New York Times’ Katie Robertson reports that Newsmax, which is a staunch supporter of Trump, said in a statement, “We can understand President Trump’s frustration because the media has often been unfair to him, but Newsmax still supports the AP’s right, as a private organization, to use the language it wants to use in its reporting. We fear a future administration may not like something that Newsmax writes and seeks to ban us. This is why news organizations like Newsmax and Fox News are supporting the AP’s First Amendment rights though we may disagree with its editorial point of view from time to time.”
But you know this is all personal for Trump, he only want news agencies that tow his line! What got my attention is that Fox News and Newsmax also want the mainstream media back in the Oval office again.
But, will it have any kind of meaningful impact?

It seems unlikely that Trump and his White House will reverse the ban just because other news outlets sent a letter and showed solidarity. It feels more likely that Trump and his White House will simply shrug their shoulders.
But that is not the only First Amendment issues... Poynter write in another article,
‘Anytime that whole FOIA offices are getting fired, it portends terrible things’
By: Angela Fu
February 21, 2025


The federal government — no matter the administration in charge — has always had issues fulfilling public records requests in a timely manner. But the recent firings of staff responsible for handling such requests have left some experts worried about access to government records under President Donald Trump.

“I think that reporters, as is the American citizen, are in for a boatload of trouble in the next four years in this regard,” said Terry Mutchler, an attorney and former journalist who serves as the vice president of the National Freedom of Information Coalition’s board.

CNN reported Tuesday that it had used the Freedom of Information Act to ask the Office of Personnel Management for records related to the security clearances for billionaire Elon Musk and the staff of the Department of Government Efficiency. An OPM email responded, “Good luck with that” — the staff responsible for responding to FOIA requests at OPM had been fired.
This is going to end up in the court because by law a FOI request has to be replied to in 20 days!
Not having staff available to process records requests does not relieve a federal agency of its legal obligation to respond, experts said. The law requires agencies to respond to requests within 20 business days and allows requesters to sue for records if that deadline is missed.

“It’s going to come down to the courts, and it’s going to come down to whether or not this administration has any honor in honoring court opinions,” Muchler said.

[...]

“Let the public know about their losses: ‘We requested this information under FOIA. Public, don’t you think that you have the right to it?’” Jones said. “Be transparent with the readership about the federal government’s failings in following the law or withholding information.”
You know that the Trump administration are just going to tie it up in the courts.

Now tell me where else is the news media under attack?
  • Eritrea
  • North Korea
  • Turkmenistan
  • Saudi Arabia
  • China
  • Vietnam
  • Iran
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Belarus
  • Cuba
And now we can add us to the list!

Now We Know The Real Reason Why...

... Trump is doing what he is doing in Ukraine.

Minerals!

That is what Trump is after mineral rights for his cronies.
President Trump stepped up pressure on Kyiv to agree to a deal at talks. Russia later launched more than 250 drones at Ukraine, Kyiv said.
The New York Times
By Constant Méheut
February 23, 2025


Ukraine and the United States remain locked in difficult negotiations over a deal to trade Ukraine’s natural resources for American aid, Ukrainian officials said Sunday morning, as Washington maintains pressure on Kyiv to sign an agreement quickly.

The timing of the talks, which stretched late into Saturday night, according to two Ukrainian officials briefed on the negotiations, coincided with a huge Russian drone assault on Ukrainian cities overnight. The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia had launched 267 drones, calling it a record since the war began three years ago. That claim could not be independently confirmed.

The buzz of attack drones flying over buildings echoed through the night in central Kyiv, followed by the sound of heavy machine guns trying to shoot them down. Ukraine said that most of the drones were shot down or disabled by electronic jamming, but that debris from destroyed drones damaged houses and sparked fires in parts of the capital.

On Saturday evening, President Trump ramped up pressure on Ukraine to sign the deal, which has now been under negotiation for more than 10 days. Several draft agreements have already been rejected by the Ukrainian side, because they did not contain specific U.S. security guarantees that would protect Kyiv against further Russian aggression.
$$$$$ You know with Trump it is all in the "art of the deal" so that his crony friends can make a buck off it. $$$$$
The new draft agreement reiterated a U.S. demand that Ukraine relinquish half of its revenues from natural resource extraction, including minerals, gas and oil, as well as earnings from ports and other infrastructure.

Under the proposed deal, those revenues would be directed to a fund in which the United States would hold 100 percent financial interest, and Ukraine should contribute to the fund until it reaches $500 billion. That sum is more than four times as much as the value of U.S. aid committed to Ukraine so far.
In other words Trump is blackmailing Ukraine! The Financial Times writes...
Kyiv remains sceptical of plan as Treasury secretary Scott Bessent denies it is ‘coercive’ in FT opinion article

[...]

Kyiv remains sceptical of plan as Treasury secretary Scott Bessent denies it is ‘coercive’ in FT opinion article.
You know when we gave all that military equipment and funding... nowhere did I see anything about that it was a loan. But Trump wants to blackmail Ukraine into giving us the mineral rights.

Today Is Sunday

[Editorial]

I remember when everything was closed on Sunday… only essential businesses could be open. Liquor stores closed at 8. Back in the 1960s, nationwide church membership had grown to 63.3% of the U.S. population, but now only 20% of Americans attend church weekly! Of those only evangelical Christians constitute about 10% of U.S. adults.

Police raided bars looking for “deviant.” It wasn’t safe on the streets for us, you could be wacked in the head by a police billy club and end up in the patty wagon and you name all over the news. That is what they want to go back to… when a marriage was between “a man and a woman.” And we had to have at least three items of male clothing on.

They say that they want "Religious Freedom" but what they really want to do is impose their religious beliefs on us,

They want to control our bodies… on abortion.
They want to control our bodies… in who we love.
They want to control our bodies… in our gender.
They want to control our bodies… in what we read.
They want to control our bodies… in what we say.

My body… my choice!
My body… my choice!
My body… my choice!

The time to sit it is over. It is time for action! Talk to your legislators! Write letters-to-the-editors! When you hear mean, intervene. Have you worked for a candidate? Have you donated to a legal organizations that are fighting our battles in court?

I have read Pastor Martin Niemöller"s poem and know we are only the first!





[/Editorial]

Saturday, February 22, 2025

Taking Time Off

Next Saturday I will be back playing Saturday 9 I took the last couple of weeks off. Thing have been coming fast and furious, I just couldn't get in the mood to play the meme and also there is an awful lot of worry out there including myself.

Actually I am not too worried about the trans community, I am more worried about how fast he is making these changes, the compound effect of them nobody know! What I am worried about is a coup. He will have all his people in key positions to take over the government!

That is what I fear, the United States becoming a fascist dictatorships like Venezuela, or Russia or China. His pettiness knows no bounds... He took the "T" out of the S*onewall Uprising.

Next Saturday I'll be back for Sat9

[/Editorial]

Friday, February 21, 2025

All The Laws In The World!

Here in Connecticut we have all the laws the protections for us that you can think of but it is not enough to protect us but it still isn't enough! The long arm of the "Trump" has touched us!


Connecticut schools are in limbo as they once again face a federal funding threat, with less than two weeks to ditch diversity, equity and inclusion programs or risk losing federal funding, the latest move in the Trump administration's attack on DEI.

In a Feb. 14 letter to educational institutions receiving federal funds, the U.S. Department of Education notified school districts that they must stop using "race preferences and stereotypes as a factor in their admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, sanctions, discipline, and beyond."

For Patrice McCarthy, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, the memo was the latest in what she described as a "fire hose of letters" coming out at the federal level.

"It's chaos," she said. "It's an effort to create chaos."
It is called being between the rock and a hard place.
The state Department of Education is currently reviewing the letter, said CSDE spokesperson Matthew Cerrone in an email Wednesday, and plans to communicate with districts upon completion of the review.

Regardless of ripples at the federal level, McCarthy and other state education leaders expressed confidence that districts will remain steadfast in their commitment to all students and equity in education.
They are nervous!

This wasn't the first time Trump cut funding to us...
January 29, 2025


President Trump signed an executive order that seeks to end gender-affirming medical treatments for children and teenagers under the age of 19.

The directive, signed Tuesday, was the latest step the Trump administration has taken that examines social protections for the transgender community. On Monday, Trump signed an executive order to ban transgender troops from serving openly in the military. On his first day in office last week, Trump signed an order recognizing two sexes, male and female, and taking aim at what the order described as gender ideology extremism.

Tuesday's order says the federal government will not "fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support" gender-affirming care for children, as the president claims it leaves them with costly medical bills and regret as they get older, since the procedures may affect their ability to conceive.
However U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson of Maryland said not so fast! and put an injunction on the EO. But it had a negative effect on Connecticut hospitals... CT Mirror write,
Connecticut Children’s CEO Jim Shmerling said that the political backlash against gender-affirming care is unlike anything he has seen in his 45-year career managing children’s hospitals. 

“There’s a tremendous amount of misinformation and lack of understanding and emotion around this issue,” Shmerling said.
And that is exactly what Trumps wants: to create fear and uncertainly! 
At least three hospitals have made changes to their policies regarding gender-affirming care for children since the executive order published, according to reports from the Associated Press. Denver Health in Colorado and VCU Health and Children’s Hospital of Richmond both confirmed they had stopped or suspended gender-affirming surgeries for people under 19 years old.
And the article ends with,
“It feels like safe spaces are shrinking and that’s a concern,” Kokiasmenos said. “Nobody wants to uproot their lives. … And as [safe haven states] get chipped away, it’s like, ‘Well, what’s left?’ It’s feeling like the rug is being pulled out from under people constantly.”
And now the chaos is spreading to the schools! The CT Insider article goes on to write,
The state Department of Education is currently reviewing the letter, said CSDE spokesperson Matthew Cerrone in an email Wednesday, and plans to communicate with districts upon completion of the review.

Regardless of ripples at the federal level, McCarthy and other state education leaders expressed confidence that districts will remain steadfast in their commitment to all students and equity in education.
But the axe has already fell on a college in Connecticut!
Last week, federal officials stripped Sacred Heart University of a $3.38 million grant that would have funded up to 80 teaching positions over the next five years for a teacher residency program, as part of the DEI crackdown.
There will be many court cases coming out of this EO! We have all the laws protecting us but it still is not enough, I trust our Attorney General to have our backs over this!

There is a Latin phrase that I remember at times like this it say… "Ne permittas bastardus te deprimere"

“Don’t let the bastards get you down!”



Mini-Post: Savings Just Went Out The Window

You seen them both, Musk and Trup touting their savings from the Oval Office on how much they are saving with their layoffs of park rangers, air traffic controls, FEMA, and other federal emergency personnel. But what they are not saying is the $14 million dollars spent on golfing trips and trips to Mar-a-Lago. 
The Republic writes,
US President Donald Trump faces criticism for spending USD 10.7 mn on golf trips in 4 weekends since retaking office, amid budget cuts and taxpayer concerns.

US President Donald Trump has reportedly come under fire for spending a staggering USD 10.7 million of taxpayer money on golf trips since retaking office last month. It has been claimed in the revelation that Trump's golf trips have cost American taxpayers millions in just four weekends since taking office. The US President's extravagant expenses have raised the eyebrows of critics, especially given Trump's campaign promises to save average Americans money and his recent moves to cut funds in various heads across the world. 

[...]

The critics have pointed out the expenses as hypocrisy of Trump's actions. Jordan Libowitz of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington criticised Trump's actions, saying, "It's clear that when the Trump administration considers the definition of corruption and wasteful spending, it doesn't count spending that ends up in the president's pockets."
The rich are different from us.

As for his Mar-a-Lago trips Penn Live writes...
The site said it calculated the cost based off of a 2019 report from the Government Accountability Office that broke down the cost of Trump’s trips to Mar-a-Lago. That report, HuffPost said, said it cost taxpayers $3,383,250 for each trip.
Just think how many federal employees jobs that were cut that would pay for?