No shortage of reasons to despair — but humor and bits of hope still shine through.
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I encourage you to read this powerful piece by one of our WhoWhatWhy team, the always thoughtful and authentic Jonathan Simon. He believes in owning the overwhelming sense of despair many of us are feeling.
Meanwhile, running our hardy band and trying to keep everyone motivated, I have no choice but to soldier on. While I am getting WhoWhatWhy — and myself — on track for a determined push forward against the superior firepower of money and vicious self-interest, I thought I’d share some “items,” things that strike me as important or funny or telling.
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I just want to let it sink in that the guy who killed himself in front of Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel — surrounded by explosives in Elon Musk’s bully-message Cybertruck — was a highly decorated, damaged US Army soldier with PTSD, who thought we should “try peaceful means first but be prepared to fight” to get Democrats out of the federal government. And, he said, “people should rally around Mr. Trump and Elon Musk.”
Somehow, he was convinced that Don and Elon are trying to save America, and to endorse their effort, he wanted to end his life. He was right about one thing. As he explained in one of his many notes:
This was not a terrorist attack, it was a wake up call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives.
Meanwhile, another man — also clearly suffering from mental health issues, who was radicalized by ISIS videos — killed 14 people and injured many more by driving his vehicle through a New Year’s Day crowd in New Orleans.
Both the Las Vegas and the New Orleans attackers served in the US Army at Fort Bragg, and both were in Afghanistan in the same time period. Of course, that ought to be a topic of serious investigation and public discussion. I doubt it will be.
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Musk is, like Trump, a self-defined “genius” who is also, like Trump, congenitally dishonest. He seems to think — correctly, it appears — that his constant patter will overwhelm any desire to actually look at what he says, versus what he does.
This short piece underlines just how perfidious Musk is about his favorite topic of visas and work: He’s now claiming he cannot get enough “top talent” from the US and needs it from abroad — but the fact is that his companies dumped pricey, skilled Americans, replaced them with not-so-great but cheap foreign tech labor, then later laid many of those imported foreign nationals off, leaving them stranded.
Speaking of foreign, the richest person in the world, not content with de facto ruling the United States, has already in 2025 made a play to increase his interference with other governments. Among other things, he is advocating for right-wing politicians and rebroadcasting claims that the UK’s ruling Labour Party did not do enough about a decades-old child sexual exploitation scandal — while also tweeting criticism of Britain’s Online Safety Act, which would require X and other social media companies to protect children from harmful and inappropriate content (while opening the platform to rampant porn); firms not complying could be fined up to 10 percent of their global revenue.
And he made brazenly clear he expects Trump to protect his financial interests against the UK law, which will take effect in March: “President @realDonaldTrump will take power just in time,” Musk wrote. “Thank goodness.”
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I like that pic because it is Musk, like Putin, going braless! Or, maybe it’s a precursor to him being one of the emergent “tech bras.” (OK, well, actually “bros” but you get the joke — Jeff Bezos being another of these characters, now infamous for genuflecting to Trump, along with Mark Zuckerberg and a growing list of others.)
I remain on X (yes, you can also find me on Bluesky and Threads) in part because my doing so doesn’t contribute anything to Musk’s coffers, while I do get to post things that some of that shrinking but still huge audience appreciate, and which aren’t always totally suppressed by the app’s shadow-ban algorithms.
lol! You first https://t.co/1zUFGHgkFv
— Russ Baker (@realrussbaker.bsky.social at Bluesky) (@RealRussBaker) December 29, 2024
As a humorous friend notes, Trump and Patel will put an end to these kinds of outrageous FBI excesses pic.twitter.com/kNlkH6zJeE
— Russ Baker (@realrussbaker.bsky.social at Bluesky) (@RealRussBaker) January 2, 2025
Trump posts we might see Bill Gates at his new years bash. Since MAGA vilified Gates’ health initiatives, maybe Trump meant Matt Gaetz? Or as the Germans say, wie geht's?
— Russ Baker (@realrussbaker.bsky.social at Bluesky) (@RealRussBaker) December 28, 2024
Trump hopes to emulate his friend Putin, so consider this: In final years of the USSR, 3 percent of top Russian officials came from the security services dedicated to protecting the country's leadership and suppressing dissent. Today, that figure is… 80 percent (!!!). (WSJ)
— Russ Baker (@realrussbaker.bsky.social at Bluesky) (@RealRussBaker) December 23, 2024
Lara Trump withdraws from Florida Senate race. Hmmm. Was it the prospect of doing actual work that turned her off? Or some skeleton in her huge closet?
— Russ Baker (@realrussbaker.bsky.social at Bluesky) (@RealRussBaker) December 21, 2024
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And while we’re on the subject of plastic (see above photo), I just learned that Amazon Prime has exclusively licensed a documentary film for global theatrical and streaming release that will give viewers an “unprecedented behind-the-scenes look” at First Lady Melania Trump’s life. In it she tells us all about her husband’s “patriotism.” I just can’t wait.
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Got another item sent along by my humorous friend, a great fellow named Jim Terr, who has been providing us with useful ideas and comments for years.
Trump complains that US flags will be half-staff on his inauguration day
(I’m sure Carter timed it that way, on purpose)
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You’ve no doubt read plenty of remembrances of Jimmy Carter. Here’s one from the distinguished foreign correspondent Bill Dowell of our team, who, as you’d expect, offers something a bit different.
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In New York City, our mayor, Eric Adams, was charged with bribery, campaign finance illegalities, and conspiracy, plus a steady stream of investigations and indictments of figures close to him.
It makes you wonder how long it will be until the rag-tag team of schemers and scoundrels that flocked to Trump will fall under scrutiny themselves. Though the Supreme Court seems to have immunized Trump himself from any charges of wrongdoing, it’s not clear that others around him will be similarly protected, beyond Trump’s implied promise of pardons galore.
Meantime, there is at least Trump’s upcoming sentencing in his hush money case. Given the way things are going, it is a little startling to see that the “Untouchable One” hasn’t escaped a wee, symbolic bit of accountability.
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Is it just me, or do the small delights in life seem more vivid now in contrast to the current challenges? When the overall thrust of major events seems headed in the right direction, we tend not to see quite how amazing all that cornball stuff is.
You know: the smile of a child; the nuzzle of a pet; the nod from a stranger; the sudden hello from a long-vanished friend; some gobsmacking store window display; an admirably hardy plant making its way through winter; coming across old correspondence; a clean, well-ordered living space; a simple but perfect homemade meal; the restorative brilliance of exercise and a good night’s sleep; the satisfaction of having resolved some knotty challenge; taking time with someone whose problems are bigger than yours. Call this my way of coping. But it gets me through. I hope such things will get you through, too.
