Here we are -- three and a half weeks into Trump's second term, and wow! Politically, these weeks have been my most difficult and depressing weeks in my entire life. Several of my conservative friends are even trying to cheer me up, as if understanding what I'm going through.
And it's not because I "lost," but because -- well -- the past weeks have been MUCH worse than I had imagined possible. Whatever hope I had held previously that Trump would do the right thing is basically gone. I had thought he would go slow while staying within the confines of the Constitution. But no, rather, he's trying to do EVERYTHING through executive orders and other "quiet" orders through the executive branch, often through individuals who have not been vetted by the Senate.
Trump has been breaking tens or possibly hundreds of laws passed by Congress and has basically ordered them to stand down with no bellyaching. The judicial branch is kicking in with their checks and balances, but Trump is starting to ignore them as well, and has even threatened them for trying to stop him.
And in short: MANY broken promises. Not the promises Trump had made to his base, but rather the promises made by Congress and previous administrations to millions of Americans and also other countries. Signed contracts that are now being broken. Refugees being stranded. Farms being shut down. Many jobs lost. Promised payments drying up. And ... inflation ticking back up.
So, today I start deducting points. And as I said before, I will only deduct points for things that I had predicted. Today, Trump will lose 4 points total, and each of these fall under the same theme: Broken Promises.
Refugees Not Wanted
"100,000 LEGAL non-citizens are deported in any 12-month period" -- 3 pts. total.
Here, I invite you to read the story of Carlos, who is a Venezuelan man who was invited to come to the US as a refugee, LEGALLY, and who is currently in the process of being deported even though he has no criminal record, nor any evidence that he had done anything wrong. A short summary of this article:
- These Venezuelans came to the US through a Temporary Protected Status, which allows the migrant to stay in the country legally for a couple of years while they work out next moves. (They are considered to be non-citizens.)
- Carlos applied to this program last year using the CBP One mobile app.
- At this stage, ICE claims that they are only deporting criminals at this time.
- Carlos was arrested on Jan. 26, but not his parents.
- There was no warrant.
- The officers claimed that Carlos had appeared in a video with firearms and drugs, but then refused to produce said video.
- Independent researchers have been unable to find any criminal record on Carlos, or the existence of said video.
- Carlos' mom and dad actually supported the idea of deporting Venezuelans who were committing crimes in the US, but were taken by surprise when they came for their son.
- NBC reports that 48 percent of the Venezuelans recently deported did not have any criminal records.
- The parents have no idea when they'll see their son again, and wonder when they'll be next.
- When Karoline Leavitt was asked how many of these deported had criminal records she replied: "All of them, because they illegally broke our nation's laws, and, therefore, they are criminals, as far as this administration goes."
While it can be shown on a case-by-case basis that nearly half of these deported migrants have no criminal record, I can only interpret Leavitt's statement as referring to them coming into our country "illegally." But that's the thing. These people were INVITED. The United States of America made a promise to them. These refugees went through the legal process. They did everything they were asked. They did NOTHING wrong. They are LEGAL. Trump can't retroactively do take-backsies and suddenly say they came in illegally.
Out of all the items discussed in my update today, this one hurts me the most. If these people are shipped back to Venezuela where hunger and unrest are still rampant, and with an unjust ruler who refuses to abdicate to the rightful winner, we'd be sending these refugees back into the danger zone to be punished, jailed, or even executed. Also, it upsets me that people like Carlos aren't being extended the usual due process. Carlos and his family requested to see the incriminating video, and the officials had refused. Does the video really exist? And I notice that many don't seem to realize, or simply don't want to know, that nearly half of these deportations are not criminals. Many also seem to not be aware of all the other stories of stranded refugees, separated families, and people punished even though they had followed the rules.
1 point deducted.
What Climate Change?
"Pulls us out of climate change agreements" -- 1 point total.
In his first day of office, Trump signed an executive order to pull us out of the Paris Accords. (Section 3-a.) This doesn't go into effect immediately, as first, our ambassador to the UN needs to communicate our intentions to the UN, and then the process could take up a year. But for all intents and purposes, I'm going to consider this a done deal.
Why is this bad? Because climate change is behind most of our recent natural disasters. In the past few years, both frequency and severity in disasters have increased, and there are no signs of stopping in 2025. Among actuaries (insurance companies) there isn't even any debate on whether climate change exists. That's because these companies are paying a LOT of money to cover these disasters, and why your insurance rates are increasing, and why more homes are being dropped from coverage.
Trump has further indicated that there will be no more approved development of wind turbines and solar farms, even though renewables account for 8% of our total primary energy production -- a major contributor to our being net exporters of total primary energy over the past 6 years. Plus, in oil alone, we've broken our own records both in 2023 and 2024 in oil production.
Yet, Trump is using an "Energy Emergency" to bring this all to nonsense to pass. Yeah -- when was the last time you saw an "emergency" in anything where we already had plenty? And Trump thinks he can eek out more production when we're already at a comfortable equilibrium point? Good luck!
Oh -- and fun fact. When it comes to highest CO2 emissions per capita, the US currently ranks 14th at 14.21, while China ranks 24th at 8.89. China may be the heaviest polluter overall, but they got a lot of people. The only countries that rank higher than the US are Canada, Australia, and a collection of Middle East countries. So -- are we doing our part? What Trump is planning to do and NOT do is irresponsible.
It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Babylon 5: Analyze the problem, choose whichever strategy makes least sense, and then do it.
1 point deducted.
Sorry, Transgender People
"LGBTQ protections are lessened" -- 2 pts. total.
As part of Trump's war on DEI, transgender people have taken an unproportionate hit, with extra genders removed from forms. Also, federal websites have revised ALL references to LGBTQI+ to be simply LGB. (Sometimes, Q still appears.)
All of my LGBTQ+ friends are terrified and worried about what comes next.
In general, this war on DEI has saddened me greatly. What most conservatives don't seem to realize is that DEI is NOT Affirmative Action. And it is NOT hiring an unqualified minority over a more qualified white guy. Rather -- as one friend explained to me, DEI is more about seeking out minorities who are actually MORE qualified than another white guy under consideration.
I see this war on DEI for what it really is. Here's a hint. The Army is deciding to no longer reach out to black schools and events for recruiting. They've done away with Black History celebrations and even -- get this -- Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Don't see it yet? Well -- consider this. While Trump calls for us to consider people's merits and talents, he fired people just for running DEI initiatives, and Trump also called for fellow federal workers to tattle on those who were doing it. These people were fired without ANY REGARD to their MERITS or TALENTS. Imagine the black guy being asked to run a resource group at work. Gone -- even though he had good people and leadership skills. Is it starting to sink in?
And if you still don't see it, perhaps this joke I've created will help. We all know what "DEI Hiring" is supposed to be, but what do you call a "DEI Firing"? Yep -- that's right. Discrimination. And believe me -- those lawsuits are happening right now, and I don't think they're going to lose. Don't believe me? You don't have to -- you can look it up for yourselves when no one is looking.
1 point deducted.
Retribution Time
"Uses presidential power or agencies to go after current or political opponents" -- 3 pts total.
On the most part, Trump has not gone after the big ones (the ones who are supposedly protected by Biden pardons and Romney, who isn't). But Trump has indeed gone after top FBI employees (through the DOJ) who had worked on the cases against him, and has ordered a investigation of up to 1,500 rank and file employees who were assigned to the cases. Though, recently, a top DOJ official has clarified that agents who "simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner" will not be fired -- supposedly. (How are they going to determine which ones were acting "with corrupt or partisan intent"?)
I understand the concern of "they won't be loyal to me" in the higher ranks, but if it becomes more of a personal vendetta, it'll be exactly what I was concerned about. (If it weren't personal, why would he even need to order investigations of the rank-and-file employees?) And should I say it again ... more people fired with regard to their MERITS or TALENTS? Anybody ever wonder what happens when competent people are fired in high places?
1 point deducted.
Other Items -- Negative Outlook
I'm watching Trump in other areas (such as Federal Agencies), but I'm not ready yet to deduct more points just yet. If you think I've missed something, let me know. I'm trying to be purposefully picky, though.
Summary
With 4 points being deducted today, this brings Trump's score to 96. This is still above tolerance, so as per the rules of this experiment, I still owe lunch in 4 years.
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