When No One Is In Charge
19/02/25 08:23
February 19, 2025 (Vol. 19 No. 9) - This picture from a recent Oval Office news conference tells you everything you need to know about the current status of the United States of America. A South African interloper - the richest man in the world who apparently can't afford a babysitter - drones on about how he is saving the country from unelected bureaucrats while a mentally unstable and cognitively impaired man, allegedly the most powerful man on earth, sits helplessly by. Elon Musk, the godfather of DOGE, the Department of Government Evisceration, has been sending out his minions to haphazardly cut government spending by gutting vital public and national defense agencies. It has been widely reported that Musk's teenage mutant minions have been surgically slashing what they recklessly have called government fraud with the same skill as a blindfolded butcher. They have had to backtrack on at least a couple of occasions after firing the people who oversee the nation's nuclear weapons program and those with the CDC trying to avoid the outbreak of global AIDS and Ebola pandemics. More ominously, Elon's marauding minions are demanding - and receiving - access to highly sensitive tax and defense databases. Is there waste in government? Yes, of course there is, as it is true in almost any gigantic organization. Does waste, in and of itself, constitute fraud? No, it doesn't. And the fact that Felon 47's press secretary, a clueless blonde bimbo who never gives a direct answer to any question, has provided no tangible proof that Musk's minions have uncovered fraud stretches credibility to its breaking point. If that is not bad enough, just yesterday the White House said in a court filing that Musk is not, in fact, in charge of DOGE. Nor did they say who was in charge. And lest we forget, DOGE is not an agency that has been legislatively created by Congress. To put it another way, it has no legal standing to be exercising the powers it has. So here's where we stand: The President, whose electoral campaign was backed by Musk's $240+ billion contribution, gives every impression that Musk is calling the shots. The optics from that ridiculous Oval Office news conference appear to confirm that. Meanwhile, Dr. Evil is financially benefiting from his mentorship of Felon 47 and even dictating U.S. relations with South Africa. Considering the reckless manner in which Felon 47's stealth administration is sowing chaos throughout government and now into American foreign policy, you have to wonder if anyone is in charge in Washington. Congressional Republicans are afraid to assume their constitutional role of oversight. The Democrats are impotent and still licking their wounds from last November. And who knows what the highly conflicted U.S. Supreme Court will do when challenges to Musk and DOGE reach their chambers? Just like the ill-fated Titanic, the U.S. government and economy appear headed into dangerous waters with no one clearly in charge at the helm. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.Life in the Key of G
12/02/25 07:20
February 12, 2025 (Vol. 19 No. 8) - I will never be confused with Glen Campbell, Ricky Staggs, Roy Clark or Jimmy Reed. But I love to play guitar and prefer acoustic music. It was in that context that I attended the Bluegrass Unlimited Workshop this past weekend at the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Owensboro, Kentucky. To be honest, I have only passing knowledge of Bluegrass music. I first became aware of it when I moved to Western Kentucky in 1974 to work at a country music radio station. I married a Kentucky woman and, thus, married into the Bluegrass culture. In recent years, my sister-in-law has been the director of development at the Hall of Fame and Museum. It was she who convinced me to attend the workshop. I went to Owensboro with some trepidation. After all, I am a self-taught guitarist who was joining far more accomplished musicians in playing a gendre of music mostly unfamiliar to me. However, any fears I had proved unfounded. That's because I found the Bluegrass community to be one that is very supportive and willing to embrace newcomers. Another attractive aspect of the Bluegrass culture is how it encourages collaboration. After two or more Bluegrass musicians get together, it doesn't take long before a jam follows. And because the most popular Bluegrass songs are found in the keys of G, C or D, it is relatively easy to pick up the tune and lyrics and to join in. On several occasions this past weekend, I witnessed and participated in these jams. I even played and sang Gentle on My Mind in public - something this self-conscious musical novice would have never imagined. Then, to top it off, I joined other students and the instructors at the end of a concert to perform Will the Circle Be Unbroken, pictured above. I still tend to be a folk-rock kind of guy. But, I left this experience with a deeper understanding and admiration for Kentucky and the music it has blessed us with. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.On Empathy and Compassion
29/01/25 11:24
January 29, 2025 (Vol. 19 No. 7) - Individuals — and even nations — act in their own self-interests. It is basic human nature. However, think of how life would be dramatically different if people - and nations - didn't occasionally work against their self-interests to serve the greater good. Think how different the world would have been if there hadn't been a Marshall Plan. And where would your parents, grandparents or possibility yourself be without Social Security and Medicare? The impulses to do something for the greater good comes out of the human impulses of empathy and compassion. Empathy is the ability to sense and understand the feelings of others. Compassion comes when we are motivated to act upon our empathy for others. Americans tend to have a self-image of a people who are empathetic and compassionate. To put it another way: We see ourselves as the good guys. And, until recently, the rest of the world bought into that narrative with certain reservations. The America the world knew was that of a well-intentioned giant that occasionally stumbled into messes such as Vietnam and Iraq. They forgave those "sins" because they also knew an America that was generous in providing less fortunate nations with financial, technical and medical assistance. However, that narrative has changed. This is no longer an empathetic and compassionate nation. Judging by the results of the most recent national election, nearly half the voting population is comfortable with the idea of deporting millions of people whose only crime is that they lacked proper permission when they sought refuge in the United States. Yes, some of these undocumented individuals have committed crimes — but nowhere near as many as certain public figures would have you believe. In fact, more than half of those who have been arrested and deported since the current purge began have committed no other crime than illegally crossing the border. When someone tells you that other nations are emptying their prisons and sending the dregs of society here, that is a lie. In our fervor seeking to cleanse America of illegal immigrants, we are forgetting where we came from and how we got to where we are today. Unless you are of Native American ancestry, your family is not from here. The President's mother and current wife immigrated to this country. There were reasons your ancestors left their native lands to start a new life here. For whatever reason, they were seeking a new start. What is wrong with that? Do we lack empathy to allow people who are trying to escape drug lords and government oppression to seek a new life here? Have we forgotten that our nation has been morally, spiritually and financially enriched through the assimulation of these refugees? Must we set them up as scapegoats or fodder for political rantings? And, while we are at it, is it necessary or morally correct to picture dedicated career government employees, those who work for NGOs or anyone receiving government assistance from welfare to college loans as deadbeats and slackers? In questioning their humanity we are devaluing our own. If we embrace our traditional American values and show empathy and compassion for others less fortunate, perhaps we can be an America that actually is what we'd like to think it is. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.Disobiedience - Civil and Otherwise
22/01/25 20:30
January 22, 2025 (Vol. 19 No. 6) - In protest to the Mexican-American War, Henry David Thoreau refused to pay some of his taxes and ended up spending a night in jail. From that experience, Thoreau penned one of his most famous essays, Civil Disobedience, in which he contended that the people's first obligation is to do what they believe is right and not to follow the law dictated by the majority. In Thoreau's time, the moral issue was slavery. In the century and a half that followed, many have wrongly interpreted the essay's meaning. They get the part about standing up against what they see as wrong. But just because they see something as wrong does not mean that their view is the moral view and the opposing view is immoral. Not everything is a moral issue. Nor does it suggest that taking a moral stance protects one from repercussions - Thoreau did spend a night in jail. This week has shown us what a muddled mess determining right from wrong and the moral from the immoral can be. A mob attacked the United States Capitol four years ago. The man most responsible for unleashing the hounds of insurrection has gotten away with his crimes and, in turn, made it possible for the mob to get away with its crimes, as well. Those of us who oppose this Master of Disaster are righteous in our indignation. We are equally bothered by his scapegoating of immigrants to our shores. And we are confronted with news that he has instructed the Justice Department to prosecute any elected officials in so-called "sanctuary cities" who fail to enforce immigration laws. There are those among us who feel that blocking forced deportations would be the moral stance to take. I am going to let the readers decide that for themselves. But let me share with you three salient points. There's a difference between non-cooperation with federal officers and obstruction of justice. Just because a city may not block arrests, doesn't mean it has to facilitate them, either. Also, don't assume that just because you deem your stance as a moral one doesn't mean that there are not consequences for disobeying the law. (Of course, the other guy believe his is the moral position.) Finally, this is not a tit-for-tat situation. Just because the party currently in power flaunts the law and undermines democratic government doesn't mean that the loyal opposition should, either. Failing to follow the requirements of immigration law as they are currently being exercised does as much to question the legitimacy of our government as does, say, storming the Capitol to overturn a fair election. Elections have consequences, even if we don't like them. In other words, you can't have it both ways. If you are upset over the events of this week, take heart. You may have lost the most recent battle. But there are other battles to come and we've just begun to fight. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.Thank You, Joe
18/01/25 07:30
January 18, 2025 (Vol. 19 No. 5) - When Joe Biden took office as the 46th President of the United States, our country was in chaos. The incompetence of his predecessor had led to more than a half-million deaths in the COVID-19 pandemic, left the economy in a shambles, generated a insurrection that threatened to overturn a free and fair election, left our allies to wonder if they could trust us and gave aid and comfort to our enemies. Now, four years later, America is much better place than President Biden found it. The pandemic is behind us, the economy is the strongest in the world, democracy has - at least for now - survived, our allies trust us and our enemies fear us. That's because with Joe Biden in the White House, America finally had an adult in charge. Of course, as President Biden leaves office, we will hear a lot of Republican revisionism. They will say that inflation is out of control, ignoring the fact that the disruption of the supply chain created by the former (and soon-to-be current) President's incompetence is its root cause. They will say that Biden cut-and-ran from Afghanistan, weakening our position in the world. Again they will ignore that is was Biden's predecessor that set the sudden withdrawal of American troops into motion with an ill-conceived agreement with the Taliban. And while it was Biden's predecessor who pledged to put an end to a seemingly never-ending war, it was Biden who actually did it. Republicans will complain about Biden's spending for COVID relief and much-needed infrastructure improvements increasing the budget deficit. They will also point out that not a single Republican voted for these measures. But that will not stop them from sending out news releases - at taxpayer expense - claiming credit for projects they voted against. Also of note is that the deficit created under Biden is a mere fraction of that created by his predecessor - the worst in American history. Did President Biden make some mistakes? Sure he did. There are two that stand out. First is his appointment of Merrick Garland at U.S. Attorney General. His snail-like approach to addressing the crimes of the 45th President has ensured that the son-of-a-bitch will never be held accountable for his seditious actions. The second is Biden's failure to recognize his own limitations. He should have dropped out of the race in February, opening the door for a true selection process to determine his party's nominee. I'm not saying that Vice President Harris would not have won that campaign. However, whoever the Democratic nominee was would have been in a much stronger position to challenge the felon who will take the oath of office next Monday. However, that's all water under the bridge. At the stroke of noon on January 20, Joe Biden will conclude a half-century of service to this nation. He was the man we needed at the very time we needed him the most. He is a decent, God-fearing man - something no one will ever say about his successor. His public opinion polls may be under water as he leaves office. However, no President since the days of Lyndon Johnson got as many things done as Biden did. As Citizen Biden heads home to Wilmington, Delaware, I am compelled to say - from one Delmarvan to another - "Thank you, Joe." That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.