There Is No Battlefield

Morning Dispatch

Don’t concede an inch.

If the battle lines aren’t clear, it’s because there aren’t any. Or, putting it differently, the war is happening everywhere in places we typically wouldn’t expect fighting to occur.

Here, in broad strokes, is what I’m currently looking at.

The Purges

As far as I’m aware, a significant percentage of workers at every U.S. agency have been or are about to be let go. None of this is normal. Government employees are supposed to be afforded certain protections. They cannot be fired without cause and agencies wishing to terminate an individual’s employment must follow due process. Since the Trump regime has instated Schedule F, which gives the executive broader control over the civil service, these rights have been withdrawn. Failing us once again, the corporate media have referred to these illegal firings as “buyouts” or “deferred resignations” when, in reality, they are, in the short term, a way to replace career civil servants with loyalists to Donald and his fascist agenda. Their mission will be to dismantle the agencies they are supposed to serve.

The lives of hundreds of thousands of dedicated federal employees will be upended and careers will be destroyed. A more troubling knock-on effect is that institutional memory, the essence of a high-functioning democracy, will be wiped out, potentially for generations.

The Rule of Law

The lawsuits continue apace. So far, with few exceptions, the rule of law seems to be holding. But it’s not yet clear, beyond the actual rulings being handed down by judges, if it ill continue to hold.

And that’s because we cannot be sure that the Trump regime will comply with judges’ orders, just as we have no assurances that the corrupt illegitimate super-majority of the Supreme Court will uphold the Constitution if (and when) these cases reach them.

In the meantime, see the above paragraph regarding the federal employees who have already been terminated, or those who are currently in the crosshairs.

The Western Alliance . . .

is being willfully destroyed by the corrupt, fascist regime currently in charge of the United States government. I will have much more to say about this later in the week but I want to mark just how blatantly anti-democratic the stance of those who recently represented America at the Munich Security Conference. In the wake of the egregious performances by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Vice President J.D. Vance, our erstwhile European allies are being forced to reimagine their current and future relationships with the United States.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia announced it would hold talks with the United States and Russia to discuss ending Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. As of now, Ukraine will not have a seat at the table, and neither will Europe, Ukraine’s greatest ally. In an interview with Kristen Welker over the weekend, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, "I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine. Never.” Nor should he. Nor should any of us.

These are not “peace talks,” which is how they’re being billed. They are negotiations for a hostile takeover of the country that is the injured party in all of this—a country, our former ally, that the United States of America, has so grievously failed.

The Assault on American Health

Members of the Epidemic Intelligence Service, a legendary training program run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were warned on Friday morning that most of them were about to be fired,

The Epidemic Intelligence Service, the world’s premier training program for applied epidemiologists, also known as disease detectives, is being gutted. State health departments call these disease detectives when they need experts to help them trace the origins of contagious diseases. They are often among the first responders when things are at their worst—as they are almost certainly about be.

Tom Frieden, former director of the CDC, said, “The loss of this next generation of highly qualified leaders will make our nation — and the world — less safe, and less prepared to prevent, detect, and respond to health threats.”

Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy added, “This will destroy the EIS, which is one of the absolute crown jewels of global public health.”

The Human Toll

• The eradication of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has led to the first casualty that we know of, a 71-year-old refugee from Myanmar who died after her oxygen supply, upon which she was dependent, was cut off when the USAID-funded healthcare facility at which she received treatment was ordered to close.

• Early last week, Federal district court judge Brendan Hurson blocked the enforcement of Donald’s vile executive (“Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation”) which seeks to end gender-affirming care for transgender youth under the age of 19. The order is intended to be implemented across the country.

  On Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Lauren King in Seattle upheld Hurson’s ruling. In their brief, the Democratic attorneys general wrote, “If the Order stands, transgender children will die. Whatever interest the federal government may have in cutting off treatment to transgender kids during the pendency of this case pales in comparison to Plaintiffs’ irreparable harm.”

  While the ruling, assuming the Trump regime adheres to it, continues to keep the pause on the draconian order, I worry for our chances as the case winds it way through the court system, which it almost certainly will.

• Gaines County, Texas is the epicenter of the current measles outbreak. The vaccine non-compliance rate in Gaines Country is 17.5%, which is objectively insane.

• The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has been withholding reports on the bird flu (H5N1) and its spread, even though there are documented cases of the disease being spread undetected to humans. The US Department of Agriculture has also canceled congressional briefings on the topic. One mission of both of these agencies is to monitor and respond to epidemics.

  Just one indication of how out-of-control this situation is, the United States, one of the four largest producers of eggs in the world, is now importing them from Turkey.

The Resistance

Today at noon local time there will be protests in major cities throughout the United States. Spearheaded by the 50501 Movement, (50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement), the protests are, according to the organizers, a response to "the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration."

If you can go, I hope you do—and report back.

Thank you!