Lately, we’ve been checking the Big Bear Eagle Cam, always live from somewhere out in southern California. There’s a pair of adult bald eagles—Jackie and Shadow—with three hatchlings. It’s been interesting and enlightening to tune in and see what they’re up to. Often times, there will be long stretches of stillness with one or the other adult sitting in (not really on– it’s pretty big) the nest protecting the young, occasionally and daintily feeding them, calling for the partner or maybe communicating with the young ones.

The nest looks to be placed high in a pine tree overlooking what I assume is Big Bear Lake. Weather conditions have varied. Sometimes it’s perfectly still and clear, no wind. A couple of days ago, the wind was howling and I found myself hoping the nest would hold up in the gale.

Yesterday, it was snowing, and there was little movement. Jackie was sitting on the hatchlings, covered in snow, hardly moving the whole time. I got to wondering if this was an annoyance and difficult, but then realized that, of course, she’s built for this. She and all other wild creatures don’t ever go inside where it’s warm and cozy. They’re outside their whole lives. Eagles have feathers, and powerful instincts.

Sitting in a nest, high in a tree, feeding and protecting their young in gale force winds and snowstorms and from occasional incursions from intruders—it’s all in a day’s work. They come by it naturally, and it’s somehow inspiring to watch.

Washington (AP)– The head of the Environmental Protection Agency has announced a series of actions to roll back landmark environmental regulations, including rules on pollution from coal-fired power plants, climate change and electric vehicles.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said Wednesday his actions will eliminate trillions of dollars in regulatory costs and “hidden taxes,” lowering the cost of living for American families and reducing prices for such essentials as buying a car, heating your home and operating a business.

It’s good to see that the AP can still file and publish stories, considering that Mr. Trump has a contrived bone to pick with these folks. But beyond this, let’s take a few moments to parse the above news brief.

The EPA, like many other agencies in Washington, is being decimated, discounted, overruled. Oh, and dismantled, because it seems the Trump administration and those who authored Project 2025 would prefer to torch everything, so that we the people have to turn to the all-knowing, omnipotent Republican Party for table scraps and mercy as we fly blind and defenseless through an average day.

I suppose we are expected to be grateful to Mr. Zeldin for reducing prices for such essentials as buying a car, heating our homes, and operating a business—all movers and big ticket items that keep the wheels of commerce from falling off (not to mention continuing a steady cash flow for all those passionate environmental stewards in the fossil fuel industry).

What angers me more, though, is the fantastical figure of “trillions of dollars in regulatory costs and ‘hidden taxes.’” Has he run the numbers, or just picked a big one out of thin air?

Most of all, Mr. Zeldin and so many others in the Trump administration play the general public for simpletons and fools whose god is the belly, who, they apparently believe, will always respond with fervent support and gusto to news about cost savings of any kind—whether on another gas-guzzling, CO-spewing vehicle, a tax-sheltered business, or anything else–no matter if all this “savings” jeopardizes the air we breath or water we drink even more than it has already been compromised.

Mr. Zeldin and his ilk appear to be cut from the same cloth— caricatures, almost, who have bought into this march to the precipice with their outsized dislike of regulation and disregard for climate science. It tempts one to ask, “Who are these people, and why are they so blatantly dishonorable, so uncompromising in their focus and ignorant of facts, hell-bent on killing us all?”

Well, not all. Some will be on the next flight to Mars, or secure in their fortified and well-stocked, palatial bunkers.

This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. Trump and his doomsday cronies aren’t gonna stop, so it’s going to be up to the rest of us to stop him.

The huge irony is that the system he so maligns is what’s allowing him to get so far with the plan. It’s not his plan. He doesn’t have the wherewithal—ok, the brains—to conceive of such darkness. But he’ll gladly go along with it, maybe even manipulate it a bit, if it generates attention and enrichment for him, and keeps him at the top of the pile.

It may be difficult for many to wrap our heads around such an evil infestation making it so far up the chain of command, but here we are.

We’re past the time of pointing fingers. Mistakes have been made, but Trump is President now, and he shouldn’t be. It’s time for blue and red, left and right to put our heads together, roll up the sleeves, and make it clear to this empty-souled traitor and all the cling-ons around him that their vision for America is odious, hateful, and totally unacceptable.

How dare they?

Haven’t we seen enough? Hasn’t enough been dismantled already? As much as none of it should come as a surprise, it’s still unnerving to watch one pillar after another dissolve, just like Project 2025 said it would. It’s all a cancer, metastasizing very quickly.

I wake up every morning with a pit in my stomach anymore. I take this stuff very seriously. I’m already grieving, or at least apprehensive, because Trump and his army of sycophants and plebes just keep chipping away. The seeds are being planted for WWIII, alliances are being scrubbed, we appear to be moving closer to recession with people in positions of economic power who know next to nothing about their jobs and how to right the ship.

Fuck you, Trump voters. You had no idea this was what would happen if he got in again? You thought he was only gonna “fix” things? Well, the fix is coming in, and there’s no reason to like any of it.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy certainly didn’t deserve the trap he walked into last week. He couldn’t have known what awaited him in the Oval Office, as Donald and JD pounced on him while Marco tried to sink into the couch.

Mr. Zelenskyy couldn’t get a word in edgewise. He was ambushed, belittled, treated like garbage instead of as a beleaguered leader who somehow has survived to lead his country in a war against not only Putin, but now us as well? Who were Trump and Vance playing to, if not Vladimir himself? What the hell were we watching?

And Trump had the gall to say that what unfolded would at least make great television. Yup, that sounds about right.

Anyone else had enough yet? MAGA? Bueller? Anyone? Holy shit.

What gets me more than anything is that, apparently, it was Mr. Zelenskyy’s bad for not knowing how to schmooze, for not bearing gifts for the King and bending the knee and mustering the patience —given everything he has seen and suffered—to show proper deference to a 78-year-old child who can’t hold a candle to the depth of character that was gracing his presence.

My word, America, how could you put this clown back in office?

He’s our show pony. We’re so proud of him, because he really seems to have his shit together. He’s regal, carries himself well, knows when to offer just the right words that calm and reassure. He’s the leader we all rally around, because he exudes confidence and compassion. We respect him so…

Yah, in our dreams.