Thoughts of Never

Note: this post was edited on 2026-03-02 – edit appears at bottom of post

So this isn't what I had planned on posting next, but it seems like the US is now in another illegal/unconstitutional war. Donald Trump, after breaking the JCPOA, a deal made with Iran to limit their pursuit of nuclear weapons, has now used their pursuit of weapons as a pretense for bombing Iran (during negotiations to create a replacement JCPOA (a deal he broke), and after last year when Trump ... bombed Iran, “completely destroying their nuclear capabilities”). He's done this alongside his genocidal buddy Benjamin Netanyahu, of course.

A mad king’s illegal war on Iran is a cry for regime change...in Washington – Will Bunch; The Philadelphia Inquirer

There has already been plenty of coverage of the civilians these bombings have killed. And I'm sure there will be plenty more murders and war crimes committed to write about as we continue to bomb Iran in the name of peace.

But I want to talk about something slightly different.

There's been media coverage over the last few months about representatives reminding servicemembers of their right, their duty, to refuse unlawful orders. The trump administration decided to target these representatives with (illegal) legal and administrative action. I'm sure many people thought these statements were unnecessary. Surely our servicemembers – officers and enlisted – would uphold their duty. After all, they said an oath to the Constitution, not the president.

These bombings, this illegal war, did not involve only Donald Trump and his anti-qualified cabinet, it was made possible by many members of our military who didn't refuse these illegal orders. They acquiesced, fell in line, and did what they were told – following a corrupt liar to war. They followed orders to start an illegal, unconditional war.

My question is: what other illegal orders will they be willing to follow?

Edit (2026-03-02): I received a response that there were probably people who did refuse these unlawful orders, and that or may be years before we find out how many. I agree with this assessment. I'm sure there were people who stood up against this action. But I also think it is likely that they were relieved of duty and their role was filled by someone who would comply. I hope there were many who resisted, but I fear that I am wrong.

... oooh, the title track!!!

Thoughts of Never is the name of a song by Doc and Merle Watson. It's a beautiful, instrumental, song composed by Merle.

I grew up with varied musical influences, and I continue to be a fan of most genres. But I've never cared for country – mostly pop-country – but Doc Watson's music was different. For a while, I thought maybe bluegrass was was the exception to my dislike of country music, but it turns out it's really just Watson.

Listening to his recordings now is peaceful and reminds me of, not simpler or better times but, when I didn't have to worry so much about the world.

Anyway, Thoughts of Never is way too short of a song, but had a tremendous influence on me.

I hope you enjoy it, even just a little.

“Billionaires didn’t become billionaires by finding savings for you; they became billionaires by finding ways to take your savings.” – The Reframe: The Beached Whale

No one becomes a billionaire without exploitation; exploiting workers, the people who toil for what little the rich are willing to pay them; exploiting customers, the people who have to pay whatever the rich can squeeze from them; exploiting society, the systems we put in place to support each other.

What got them rich was greed, and being lucky – that's it. They wanted more, and were willing to do whatever it took to get it, and had the stars align to allow it. Lie, cheat, steal ... everyone else is doing it, right?

That's for people who didn't start off rich. The others, despite their claims of being “self made” (its own topic), are simply born into wealth (and a lack of social responsibility) and continue the legacy of exploitation.

Greed is (or should be) disqualifying for anyone seeking public office – a person dedicated to serving others – a public servant. Putting other people's interests first is not something a greedy person can do, and they should never be put in a position where that's their job.

I've always found it strange that there are so few [official] qualifications* to become president.

1. Be a natural-born citizen of the United States
2. Be at least 35 years old
3. Have been a resident of the United States for 14 years

By contrast, low paying jobs that many people consider menial and unworthy of their own consideration have stricter requirements.

Some of these jobs won't even consider a convicted felon (or they put severe restrictions on them), but even that's clearly not an issue for presidential consideration – official or unofficial.

Ignore all that though, and assume a business leader decision maker was a good candidate for the office of president.

Given those assumptions, how does it make sense that someone who put six businesses, including three casinos into bankruptcy – enterprises notorious for taking inordinate sums of money from its patrons (by design) ... “the house always wins” – could 1. be seen as a competent business person and 2. be elevated to the office of the President of the United States?

* There are other non-official qualifications; the most important one currently seems to include having an endless supply of money for years-long campaigning.

Why do so many people think that being an entrepreneur or a business executive is a qualifying credential for public office (especially the office of the president)?

I always thought there was something off about the idea, but I had a hard time putting my finger on it. Then, several years ago, I figured it out – I don't remember if I heard or read something that pushed me over the line.

The business leader, CEO, company president, etc. is in the position to make all decisions for the business. That position is an authoritarian one, by its nature. They may have advisors to provide feedback and ideas, but it's their final decision.

To rephrase the question:

Why do so many people think that a person who is used to acting as an authoritarian is qualified to represent them in a democracy?

There's a monologue from the movie “V For Vendetta” that I always found powerful, and right, but now seems even more salient (at least part of it – I'm less convinced about people being held accountable):

How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now high chancellor, Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent.

This has parallels in America's current position (and our recent history) and the media atmosphere we live within. News stories of violence and death get over hyped to seem as if this is happening everywhere – the “invasion at the border”, “foreign gangs”, and the “violent immigrants” stories and “migrants are taking your jobs”, and instilling fear of being replaced by minorities; stories that have been pushed – primarily by the right-wing media – despite them not being truthful (or entirely truthful), but commented on by all media, giving the original stories credibility. The stage is set.

Along comes a candidate, who is all too happy to play up these fears, who has no issues with lying constantly about what he believes, or what he wants; he's been lying his whole life, and the world has bought into it. A business mogul, his name synonymous with gilding. Donald Trump promises that only he can fix things, put the country back on track. No one can make deals the way he can (which ... seems like it might be true; just not as he intended it).

He promised to make America great, and people ate up his lies, his empty promises. The only promises he's kept are the ones that harm people. And, at least at this point, plenty of people still support him ... he's been hurting the people they don't like, so they're still satisfied.

I keep wondering if there's a line that can be crossed. If his actions are now hurting his supporters, will they finally see reason and turn against him. I think that, unfortunately, there is no line – as long as he's hurting “the others” (immigrants, minorities, women, the LGBTIA+ community, etc.) then they're willing to shoulder the burden as well.

There may be many reasons that people bought into the lies he spat, but I think the core of those reasons comes back to fear. A fear continually stoked by Trump's campaign, but a fear that was instilled in people for decades by the targeted fearmongering of talk radio personalities like Rush Limbaugh, and Rupert Murdoch's Fox News (“news” ;) ), bringing their grievances into the mainstream and making them palatable for the larger public – don't keep your racist feelings to yourself for fear of being shamed, fly your racist flag proudly!

The groundwork laid, the demagogue slides in.

Will there be consequences? For the lies, the deaths caused by his actions (and inaction), the lives destroyed, the theft of public resources and services, the grifting, the cons, the sexual harassment and assault? Either for him or those he's put in charge of various destructive projects?

I hope so, but I'm not holding my breath. My fear is that this continues as the new normal, the abject corruption and destruction will last beyond my lifetime.

Don't ... Just don't

Don't apologize for what is happening – you voted for this to happen. If you're only feeling remorse now that bad things are happening to you or someone close to you, then I was wrong about you being an empathetic and compassionate person. This apology is disingenuous and insulting.

If you didn't want these things to happen to us, then you wouldn't have supported the people who said they were going to do these things.

If you didn't want these things to happen to us, then who were you okay with this happening to? And why would that have been okay?

This, or some variation of it, has been lodged in my brain for the past couple months, while we exist on the edge of the cliff ... waiting for the layoff notice for my wife's position at the CDC. It is a response to the apologies I expect to receive once they get the news that it happened. Weeks of wondering if this will be the week when the clowns in charge eliminate her position.

There are many people with larger concerns and problems than us. People are being harmed all over this country by this administration – people being detained and exiled to foreign prisons (deportation is the wrong word for what is happening), people in worse financial shape or precarious conditions are being laid off, children dying from preventable illnesses, there are so many harms being done.

However, the impending CDC layoffs are our immediate reality, and I'm just waiting for that apology from close family, people who abdicated their moral responsibility when they threw in with hate and the destruction of the current administration.

I don't want apologies from them. I want them to finally realize the harm their decisions have caused, and to start doing something to counter their actions.

About ten years ago, I stopped writing. I had maintained a blog for several years, writing about various topics which grabbed me: baking pies, ethical and moral thoughts on movies, political opinions, etc.

Then it just became too much. I had things I wanted to write about, but they quickly got eclipsed by additional interesting, and timely, topics. I got overwhelmed and stopped writing.

More recently, I've found myself writing to family about the politics of the day. However, there have been times when what I have to say is disconnected to previous discussions, or needed to be divorced from a single recipient. Hence, this space.

Purpose

My purpose with this blog is to continue the writing I did before. I want this to be a place to collect my thoughts and put them to paper. Some of them may remain unfinished or a bit rough; however, my goal is to just keep writing.

In the current environment there is a constant flood of news to respond to. I will try not to get overwhelmed and quit again. Instead, there may just be shorter pieces, or the unfinished pieces I mentioned.

Posts from the old blog

I may try to resurrect posts from the old blog as I have time, and if I feel they are still relevant. When that happens, they will be listed here with the original posting data; however, I'll try to note that these are re-posts (I'm not sure what that will look like yet).