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.

Trump says he doesn’t pay attention to the stock market’s activity, but that’s a lie. He says there are millions of old, old people still receiving Social Security benefits, but that’s a lie. He lies like he breathes, and with a similar frequency. He can say anything and it doesn’t matter if it’s true.

People stand and applaud as if he’s just issued a marvelous decree, but he’s just getting off on the attention.

I spent the last week not looking at the news, for the most part, and this was done intentionally. I avoided the breathless hype of post-Oscar ridiculousness, and didn’t come anywhere near video or audio clips of Trump’s State of the Union speech, or whatever people were calling it.

It was nice to take a break from the constant hum of frivolous and ugly news.

It seems the best possible face one could put on what we’re witnessing now is an administration hellbent on cutting waste in government spending. DOGE, eh? Efficiency, you say? Seems more like a cover for a complete gutting of the institutions that have served us well for a long time. No doubt, there may be some glut and questionable spending in a sprawling bureaucracy, but it seems in a rational world there would be a bit more evaluating and number crunching before this wholesale evisceration commenced.

What we’re watching now is the wanton collapse of a system of governance. There has been no scalpel, just a wrecking ball and explosives, and to what end?

Once the destruction is complete, what then?

I bet they know, and I bet most of us won’t like it. It has little to do with efficiency or streamlining or responsiveness to need. Or justice.

They appear not to care if the world burns.