The Brie-fing: Ignorance *Does* Sound Like Bliss Right About Now

Too bad ignorance won’t protect you from the fallout of these last 2 weeks; even the folks who support these moves will be hurt by them eventually, and the fallout has barely begun.

If I was capable of not paying attention, that’s exactly what I would do.

There’s a small part of me that feels genuine envy for the folks that don’t follow politics, or the ones without the media literacy skills to see what’s going on right now. There’s even a small part of me that feels envious of MAGA voters, who are largely celebrating the news they’ve been seeing. It must be a nice feeling to check the news these days without an impending sense of doom.

Ignorance truly does sound blissful.

Too bad ignorance won’t protect you from the fallout of these last 2 weeks; even the folks who support these moves will be hurt by them eventually, and the fallout has barely begun.

Adolf dismantled Germany’s democracy in 53 days. Dlon Mump appears dead set on beating that record.

“We will take over the Gaza Strip. It will belong to us”

Leaders around the world are condemning President Trump’s announcement that the USA wants to take over the Gaza Strip after resettling the Palestinians elsewhere, with the goal of turning it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

From the UK to the Kremlin, there is a wall of opposition to this proposal, and the Palestinians have been clear about their position from the jump: “We would rather die here than leave.” One can’t help but notice that, despite Donald Trump promising he would restore peace to the country and keep us out of conflicts, this is the fourth territory or country he has proposed the United States take over. But did his voters really sign up for an administration hell bent on manifest destiny, or did his voters sign up for an economic recovery? How is the price of eggs these days?

Offer to Leave Federal Jobs Expands to Include C.I.A.

John Ratcliffe, Trump’s new CIA director, pushed to have the governmentwide federal buyout offer extended to the CIA, which was not originally included in the offer. The New York Times has a quote from one of Ratcliffe’s aides, who spoke anonymously, that the effort is meant to encourage some of the officers who joined after 9/11 to take an early retirement.

I’m no expert on government structure, but I do remember when the airlines offered early retirement to a bunch of their pilots during the pandemic, and it ended up biting them in the ass HARD once air travel picked back up again. I hope they know what they’re doing, because it’s not a simple process to bring all these people back.

Republicans’ reactions to Trump’s proposal on Gaza has been mixed;

• Rand Paul (R-KY): “The pursuit for peace should be that of the Israelis and the Palestinians. I thought we voted for America First.”

• Mike Johnson, House Speaker (R-LA): “We have to back Israel 100%. So whatever form that takes, we’re interested in having that discussion. It’s a surprising development, but I think it’s one that we’ll applaud.”

• Lindsey Graham (R-SC): “We’ll see what our Arab friends say about that. I think most South Carolinians would probably not be excited about sending Americans to take over Gaza. I think that might be problematic, but I’ll keep an open mind.”

• Josh Hawley (R-MO): “I don’t know that I think it’s the best use of United States resources to spend a bunch of money in Gaza, I think maybe I’d prefer that to be spent in the US first, but let’s see what happens.”

Other Updates:

• The U.S. Postal Service has reversed its decision to stop accepting parcels from China. The announcement comes less than 24 hours after their original notification.

• Deborah L. Boardman, a Federal District Court judge in Maryland, just blocked Trump’s attempt to eliminate automatic U.S. birthright citizenship with a more permanent nationwide injunction. In her ruling she states, “The United States Supreme Court has resoundingly rejected the president’s interpretation of the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment. In fact, no court in the country has ever endorsed the president’s interpretation. This court will not be the first.”

• Top climate scientist declares 2C climate goal ‘dead’

  • Climatologist James Hansen concludes that the goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius by 2100 is now ‘impossible’.

As I was editing this article and preparing to publish, Fox News posted that Pam Bondi was just sworn in as the new Attorney General of the United States, with a mission to end the weaponization of the DOJ.

If it wasn’t my own country and my own government and my own freedom at stake, the irony probably would have made me laugh.