In Memoriam: The America We Knew — Can It Be Revived?

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On this Memorial Day, as we remember those who lost their lives for this country, I wonder how they’d feel about what this country has become, ruled by a regime that cares nothing about them and their comrades who gave everything. 

Now, too many of them are homeless. They lie in the street, under bridges, in alleys, looking like discarded bundled heaps. Others can be found sitting around for hours in VA hospital waiting rooms, eyes glazed over, hoping someone will finally see them.

It gets worse. The country they served no longer honors the American values that once underlined their sacrifice. 

It is getting harder and harder to remember what those values even were. In fact, the country they bled for may no longer exist.

And for those who still do remember, it is getting harder to keep up, harder to make sense of the precipitous decline. And yet, what choice do we have? The temptation to tune it all out is great — but that of course has its own consequences. 

The foolhardiness, selfishness, recklessness, lawlessness, and general chaos that are Donald Trump continue to manifest themselves at breakneck speed. 

Trump Team Disintegrates

While the country and world fall apart as this dangerous clown continues to maraud, his own team also disintegrates. 

Trump’s first term was marked by an unprecedented level of turnover, and it looks like he may top that in his second term.  

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has just resigned, ostensibly to take care of her husband, recently diagnosed with bone cancer. But multiple sources said she had become isolated within the administration over clashes on Iran and intelligence issues. Of course, she was totally unqualified for the position, even if some hoped her outsider status meant she might challenge the clubby NatSec establishment and its worldview. 

She follows other recent departures, such as Attorney General Pam Bondi and an entire crew of incompetents connected with the Department of Homeland Security, starting with former Secretary Kristi Noem and her reputed lover, Corey Lewandowski, and Greg Bovino. 

Some leave because they’ve fallen out of favor with Trump, some because they embarrassed the administration, and some leave because they’ve fallen out of love with the man — despite how enormously lovable he insists he is. Among them: 

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned, stating that Iran posed no imminent threat to the US, and alleged the conflict was driven by pressure from Israel.

Mike Waltz, national security advisor, was fired over “Signalgate” and for not properly vetting staff for the National Security Council.

John Phelan, Navy secretary, was fired by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over disagreements on shipbuilding reform, among other things.

Jeffrey Kruse, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, was fired by Hegseth after suggesting attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities had been “ineffective.”

We’ve also seen an ominous purge of many highly experienced and competent individuals within the military and national security establishments whose only crime was trying to do their jobs.

Those in his Cabinet who have survived thus far, like Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., continue to oversee their own little hotspots of chaos, corruption, and destruction. The remaining individuals on the health side of things with actual ability continue to resign or be forced out. 

Deserved — and Undeserved — Disaster

The misguided, ignorant, and generally hapless of America — who brought this second-term disaster on us — got what they deserved, along with, unfortunately, the rest of us who did not deserve it. 

Reminders of why Trump and the current manifestation of the GOP should never have been moved from the kiddie seat into the driver’s seat continue to emerge by the hour. 

We know of course about the various messes: the economy, Iran, ICE, etc, etc. But no, they’re not done destroying this country and whatever other countries they can. 

Here are just a few random paintballs they’ve fired recently.

When we hear the term “refugee” we normally think of someone fleeing horrible conditions and hardship, but Trump and his enablers have managed to redefine the concept. 

Of the 6,069 people admitted under that term to this country since last October, State Department figures show that all but three came from South Africa, and almost all were white. 

Let that sink in… 

This despite the fact that evidence and on-the-scene reporting show that white South Africans face no particular hardship or threat greater than do their fellow Black South Africans. Those coming here are mostly working class, and seeking greater economic opportunity — in other words, like most people everywhere in the world would do if permitted. 

Now, the Trump administration wants to more than double the number of “refugee” slots for Afrikaners. Remember, this is the same administration that slashed and trashed aid to truly vulnerable Black Africans, the desperately hungry and sick, and millions of children. 

Is this what MAGAs voted for?

Did they actually want a country where an estimated 6.7 million children live in a household with a loaded and unlocked firearm? 

Or a country bracketed — alongside Russia, Iran, and China — on a global watchlist of countries cracking down on freedom of expression, and on journalists. 

Even the biggest stories — like Trump trying to hand out huge cash payments from a proposed $1.8 billion fund to his Brown Shirt hooligans if they feel the government unfairly targeted them for invading and ransacking the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 — seem to provoke no outrage from these underinformed masses. 

Team Trump has a twisty, contrived justification for how this relates to his dropping his wacky $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS because a contractor leaked the truth about his tax returns. 

It took Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who was just defeated for reelection for daring to defy Trump, to lay out the tortured ridiculousness of Trump’s Fund proposal. 

We are a nation of laws. You can’t just make things up whole-piece. It is as if somebody sued themselves and agreed upon a settlement with themselves that’s going to be funded by the rest of us. 

We may be a nation of laws, but one-third of Americans now qualify as adherents or sympathizers of Christian nationalism. Trump has taken this as permission to turn the government into a playing field for the nuttiest of the nuts. 

A federal employees union (representing more than 100,000 workers) sued the Department of Agriculture on First Amendment grounds May 13, accusing USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins of illegally proselytizing to the agency’s workers.  

The complaint alleged Rollins has sent numerous religious emails to USDA employees since becoming secretary in February 2025, including: an Independence Day email calling for “God’s protection of and favor toward the US”; a Christmas email saying “God gave us the greatest gift possible, the gift of his Son and our Savior Jesus Christ, who came to free us from our sins and open the door to eternal life”; and an Easter email characterizing the holiday as “the greatest story ever told, the foundation of our faith and the abiding hope of all mankind.”

While the US Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and the US Census Bureau is restricted from asking questions about religious affiliation, the most respected private surveys indicate that over a third of US citizens are either not affiliated with any religion or are members of non-Christian faiths, including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism.

But, God Be Praised, Trump Will Not Tolerate Adultery 

Trump may pull his endorsement of Sheriff Mark Lamb after reports that the “family values” (“God, family, and freedom”) congressional candidate from Arizona has been engaged in extramarital affairs. 

The source of this news — an adviser who works with the White House on candidate endorsement decisions — explained that Trump regards his endorsement as the “gold standard,” and he goes to great lengths to protect its worth. 

Initially, Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales had Trump’s golden endorsement, but Trump withdrew it after Gonzalez’s sexual misconduct was publicized, prompting him to resign: “There is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all. When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office.”

Thomas Massie — Taken Down by an Op?

The independent-spirited Republican Rep. Thomas Massie (KY), a Trump nemesis, may have been taken down by an “op.” 

Bulwark writer Will Sommer mulls a fascinating if complicated story that suggests Massie may have been defeated for reelection as part of a hoped-for deal in which Trump would recompense participants in a ridiculous get-rich-quick stock scam. 

The particulars involve a former Massie paramour, who herself lost a lot of money on the stock, going public to embarrass Massie in the 48 hours before the election. She and others have been overtly appealing to Trump to make them whole. 

And given Trump’s propensity to dispense taxpayer dollars to those who help him, why not?

Did Elon Musk Steal the 2024 Election for Trump?

I don’t know how closely you follow the drama around Elon Musk’s energetic romantic life or his various baby mamas, but a new wrinkle may in particular be worth our scrutiny.

One mama, former conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair, went on TikTok to mention, almost in passing and while applying her cosmetics on-camera, that Elon told her things on election night 2024 that made her believe he had helped rig Trump’s victory. 

Oh. 

Let me repeat, in case you were reading quickly: 

St. Clair claims Elon basically told her that he was involved with rigging the 2024 election for Trump. 

St. Clair says she was at Mar-a-Lago on the night of November 5, hours before the election was called, when Musk texted her: 

I knew hours ago that Trump won, my team has the best real-time data.

Exactly what that means — including how Musk’s people would have information no one else does — is unclear. Bear in mind that a tiny swing of a mere 115,000 votes in three tight states, out of over 153 million votes cast nationally (that is, 0.075 percent), would have given Kamala Harris an Electoral College majority — and proven Musk dead wrong.

St. Clair associates this with earlier Musk assertions. She claims that Musk had in the past shared internal data from the political action committee America PAC, which he created to influence the 2024 election. 

Musk, St. Clair says, attributed his election prowess to something from “space technology” — seemingly referencing his globe-encircling network of communication satellites. 

Wondering on election night how Musk could possibly have voting information that no one else did, she says he replied that it was “not a piece they’ll see on the chess board.” 

She told him not to tell her more, noting that she didn’t want “to be deposed” — i.e., face any legal liability for the information. To which he purportedly replied, “Very wise.” 

Now, if he did agree that this was dangerous information, it’s hard to see how he will claim it is all a misunderstanding — and entirely benign. 

Someone “close to Musk” already has disputed that (if indeed the texts are real), leaving us to ponder if he could have been bluffing, or hallucinating, or making relatively trivial things sound much more ominous and substantial. 

Perhaps we’ll learn more. St. Clair stated on her TikTok that she has taken measures to protect herself and what she knows. She says she has the backed-up messaging with Musk safely stowed somewhere, and that others have instructions on what to do with it should anything unfortunate happen to her. 

This “revelation” has received breathless attention from some few in the social media hothouse — but so far been generally ignored by legacy media. 

The right way to do this is to stay agnostic and dig in. It’s important to note that St. Clair, who has renounced her role in MAGA, has generally not sought publicity, and that is exactly the kind of thing one looks at in determining whether to take such a claim seriously. 

To be sure, this particular item must be considered in tandem with Trump’s postelection nod to Musk for his “win” in Pennsylvania, framed something like “[Elon] knows those vote-counting computers better than anybody.” 

Our Way Forward

An aside: I was struck that this Musk story got traction mostly on sites like TMZ, which work the gossipy margins of journalism and which seemed, frankly, more interested in the baby mama parts of the story than in the end of democracy in America. 

Sadly, it’s increasingly clear that the American mind needs rewiring. America’s institutions, including higher education and the legacy media, dance around the fundamental rot because they have to. 

They have too much on the line and cannot stand up to the insanity without incurring business setbacks or some other form of withering punishment.

But small independent media have always been, and continue to be, the one redoubt of sanity and frankness — yet also continue to struggle for the resources to survive, and to grow and share with an ever-expanding audience. 

You’ll be hearing more from me regarding what can be done to fix this “state of affairs.” For one thing, it’s time to recognize that no Big Daddy is going to save us. Not the largely performative political class, and not the tech-bro oligarchs. 

No, we are going to have to organize ourselves, patronize and support and encourage all manner of entities and initiatives that seek to expose the largely veiled nature of our reality. 

The good news is that there are untold thousands of bright spots and innovative operations looking to go deeper — even if we rarely hear about them. 

Coupling “solutions journalism” with sharp investigative reporting/analysis that shines an unsparing light in the darkest corners — this is what we need. 

To those who serve or served in the military or who died for what they believed to be the principles of democracy and freedom that underlie our country, we remember you on this Memorial Day, and we thank you for your dedication and sacrifice.