MAGAs off their meds

What we leave to the crows

Just now a pleasant breeze came through my window, and I momentarily forgot that our entire country is coming apart.

The crows in my neighborhood like to cavort on the wind at dusk. They fly happily over the rooftops, cawing to one another and maybe to me. I realize I'm a short step from Dorothy Gale in Depression-era Kansas singing, "If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why oh why can't I?" - except for me, the inspiration is a murder of crows.

I briefly imagine the entire Trump administration turning into crows and flying away; but the crows are my neighbors and I would never wish that on them.

If I wanted to summarize all the court rulings that went against Trump in the past two weeks, and follow that with highlights (lowlights?) of his sinking poll numbers, I would not have enough space.

Instead, let's talk about the amazingly awful Nevada politician Michele Fiore whom Trump recently pardoned. She raised money to build a statue for a fallen police officer, then spent it on plastic surgery, rent, and her daughter's wedding. She's also a gun fanatic and a fan of Cliven Bundy who fantasizes about Bureau of Land Management officers pointing guns at her so she can shoot at them in self-defense.

Do you ever wake up and wonder who sent you on a trip to Crazy Town? How is it that people are being disappeared for having tattoos or writing mean op-eds while our government is being run by convicted felons and photogenic numbskulls who blab defense secrets into unsecured phones?

After the death of Pope Francis, Trump said that he and Melania were looking forward to attending his funeral, as if boasting that they had scored tickets for a hot new show.

Dear Leader has a gift for tone-deaf observations like that. Another is his lack of concern for the stock market chaos he generated. He also has a habit of saying things like he's been getting calls from world leaders eager to kiss his ass, which sounds like a bullshitting undergraduate.

Every time he says, "People have been telling me," get ready to hear a lie. It's as if random people call him up to chat. Apparently his phone is just as insecure as his defense secretary's. Alternatively, he forgot to take his meds. Don't worry. It's not as if he has the nuclear launch codes. Oh, wait.

I joke to avoid crying, but our basic liberties and values are under assault. Judges are being arrested. People are being abducted by masked men and put into unmarked vans.

So do I feel common cause with Michele Fiore? Not for a moment. At the heart of what is going on is a double standard by which aggrieved white supremacists and Christian nationalists (who are not Christian at all, judging by the teachings in the Gospel) feel entitled to do whatever they please while people of color, religious minorities, immigrants, and queers are treated as criminals or vermin.

Speaking of Christianity, the late Pope Francis was a kind and compassionate man whose pastoral gifts markedly contrasted with the medieval authoritarian he replaced. He had his blind spots, including failing to understand the science of gender identity. But his statement about gays, "Who am I to judge?" was a welcome change from his predecessors.

Reform is a journey that we undermine if our attitude is that you have to be perfect or you can go to hell.

I spent many years working for police reform and improved community-police relations in the nation's capital. My colleagues and I built on the work done by the generation before ours. The LGBTQ+ community has come a long way since gay men were cruised and then arrested by plainclothes vice cops in Lafayette Square. The trans community has had a harder time, including in employment. But the progress made becomes clear in light of the aggressive efforts by Trump to reverse it.

We are never done. We always have more struggles ahead. One problem is that we often judge Democrats more harshly than Republicans. Arguably, that is how Trump won.

I read about the leading opposition candidate in Turkey being arrested by the Erdoǧan regime. Trump would do the same to his opponents if he thought he could get away with it. If we do not continue standing up to him, he will. Then the only ones who won't have to fear arrest will be the crows.

Richard J. Rosendall is a writer and activist at [email protected].

Copyright © 2025 by Richard J. Rosendall. All rights reserved.