One of my favorite segments on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” is “Amber Says What.”  It features Late Night writer and comedian Amber Ruffin in which she races through the most outrageous headlines since her last appearance followed by various intonations of the word, “What?”  The goal is to share the absolute absurdity of current events.  Since January 20, I have created more unfinished posts than I have published on this site.  Why?  Because none of the topics merit the kind of explanation which requires a detailed entry to clarify the issue or make a point.  The headline is self-declarative.  Therefore, today I am offering a new Deprogramming101 feature, “Dr. ESP says HUH.”

Today, the U.S. Senate will vote to confirm Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.  Just to make sure I was not missing something, I Googled the phrase, “Rotary International Opposes RFK, Jr. Nomination.”  Why?  Because this organization has spent the last 35 years and more than $2.5 billion to eradicate polio.  The headline on the first hit referred to a letter from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights to each U.S. senator.  It began, “The undersigned 87 organizations representing diverse interests and sectors urge you to vote against Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s nomination to serve as secretary of (HHS) and to publicly announce your opposition as soon as possible if you have not already done so.”  Rotary International was not among the signatories.  HUH?

Donald Trump signs declaration formally renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America during flight on Air Force One to attend the Super Bowl in New Orleans.  Trump was interrupted by the following announcement by the pilot.

Ladies and Gentlemen, if you could please direct your attention outside the right side of the aircraft, Air Force One is currently in international waters.  For the first time in history we are flying over the recently renamed Gulf of America.

HUH?  Didn’t the pilot’s acknowledgement that the Gulf is actually “international waters” undercut Trump’s ability to rename it.

During an Oval Office press conference, Elon Musk justifies his role as head of the “Department of Government Efficiency.”  While Trump sat quietly at the Resolute desk, Musk responded to a reporter’s question about his authority to overhaul the federal government.

And if you asked the founders today and said, what do you think of the way things have turned out? Well, we have this unelected, fourth unconstitutional branch of government, which is the bureaucracy, which has in a lot of ways currently more power than any elected representative. And this is not something that people want, and it does not match the will of the people. So it’s just something we’ve got to fix.

HUH?  As pointed out by everyone from the New York Times to “The Daily Show,”  Musk’s lack of self-awareness may be bigger than his net worth and his teenage protege Edward Coristine’s (aka “Big Balls”) genitalia.

Trump suggests U.S. sovereignty should expand to Canada, Panama, Greenland and Gaza.  HUH?  Didn’t he run on a foreign policy platform of “no more nation-building or regime change?”  In defense of Trump’s plan to rebuild Gaza, press secretary Carolyn Leavitt quoted Albert Einstein, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  Yet Trump’s plan to rebuild Gaza sounds an awful lot like the U.S. experiences in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst says she’s loving what DOGE is doing.  (Source: Fox Business, February 10, 2025)  Ernst seeks to exempt farm and small business assets in deciding who gets financial aid.  (Source: Des Moines Register, February 11, 2025)  HUH?  Pretty clear message.  Slash federal spending but don’t you dare touch my voters’ share.

I hope you enjoyed this inaugural edition of “Dr. ESP says HUH.”  Somehow, I doubt it will be the last one.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

In the past few weeks, current events have grabbed my attention and taken me away from the topic of demands for more civics education in schools.  In an August post, “Civics Advocate, Heal Thyself,” I argued much of the research on which this movement is based asked the wrong questions.  To understand the Constitution and governance based on that document, the names of certain office holders are temporal and therefore less important than the processes by which these office holders make decisions.

Just as current events took me away from this topic, a current event, the aftermath of Hurricane Helene brings it back in focus.  Response to a natural disaster is the perfect opportunity to educate people how government works.  And whereas I often turn to experts and their research to bolster an argument, today I will speak from experience.

In April 1983, Texas Governor Mark White approved my appointment as state director of housing and community development.  My team’s primary responsibilities included distributing $41 million/year in HUD block grants and tracking Section 8 housing expenditures.  In December of that same year, Texans experienced the most severe cold snap in the Lone Star State’s history.  The citrus and produce industry along the Rio Grande border was devastated when the high temperature on December 18 was less than the previous all-time low for the same date.

The next morning Governor White invited program directors from several agencies to his office to discuss a recovery plan.  The common denominator among the invitees was each “controlled” a significant amount of discretionary funds.  After being briefed on the economic stress in South Texas including 27 percent unemployment in Starr County, the governor then asked us “to start writing checks” so impacted residents could purchase essentials during the recovery period.  My counterparts in other agencies and I had to remind Governor White that our programs, authorized by federal or state law, restricted both the uses and recipients of the legislatively appropriated funds.

For programs my team administered, eligible recipients were local governments and qualified expenses were limited to public improvements or services.  Within hours we were on the phone with mayors and county judges (Texas’ equivalent to county commissioners who also have some judicial responsibilities).  We were able to identify qualified projects and activities for which displaced farmworkers could be hired and paid at prevailing wage rates.  One example was removal of freeze-damaged trees along U.S. Highway 83, which parallels the Rio Grande River from Brownsville to El Paso.  The State Transportation Commission had federal funds under a “transportation enhancement” program which could be used to purchase trees and other flora to reduce soil erosion or beautify highway corridors.  Therefore, we were able to provide additional income to workers who helped with reforestation of the most impacted areas.

Concurrently, FEMA brought in trailers and heated tents to house residents with inadequate home heating to counter the arctic-like temperatures.  No one person or agency had all the answers or resources.  But many of us could pick a niche and did what we could.  To coordinate the effort of so many agencies (federal, state and local), a control center was established at the National Guard Armory in McAllen, Texas where progress was monitored and lingering problems could be addressed.

Equally important, the only two phrases I ever heard from elected officials in the region were, “Thank you,” and “What else can we do to help?”  If Donald Trump understood what it takes to respond to an unprecedented natural disaster he would be ashamed of his rhetoric since Helene uprooted communities, business and families in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.  But he has no shame.  Nor do his enablers who have repeated and amplified his lies.

Which is why I am grateful for the few Republicans such as Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis, and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp who have all shared stories about the effective involvement of a host of public and private responders, including FEMA.  The most damning description of Trump’s irresponsible behavior comes from the editorial board of the Charlotte Observer.

This is not a situation to capitalize on for political gain. But former President Donald Trump has politicized the situation at every turn, spreading falsehoods and conspiracies that fracture the community instead of bringing it together…There’s no evidence to support any of those ridiculous claims. And by every indication, state and federal agencies have been working to help people in need.

One more reminder to voters they have a choice on November 5.  On one side a candidate who understands that government, more than at any other time, can and should help Americans when they face hardship which is no fault of their own.  On the other, a candidate who when informed of an imminent pandemic declares, “It is only one or two cases and will be over soon.”  Who when told his own vice-president is in danger of harm  says, “So what?”  And this week falsely accuses immigrants of syphoning life-saving resources being sent to disaster zones.

What better civics lesson than one you can see unfold in real time.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

The purpose of today’s post is not to make light of the second attempt to assassinate former president Donald Trump.  Political violence, under any circumstances, is not acceptable in a democracy where their vote is the only weapon citizens should wield.  Nor do I have the definitive answer how the Secret Service can guarantee the safety and security of any public figure.  My goal, as always, is to ask questions that no one else seems to proffer.  But first, two important facts.

#1: The following picture taken by Palm Beach Post photographer Thomas Cordy shows the section of the perimeter where Ryan Routh camped out for close to 12 hours on Sunday morning.

This photograph also appeared in an article by BBC News correspondent Madeline Halpert in which she describes the situation Sunday morning as follows.

The gunman – who investigators say did not fire any shots – was concealed by the well-manicured shrubbery and tall palm trees that line the perimeter of the 27-hole course.

He had been lurking there on the public side of a fence since 01:59 local time on Sunday morning, according to mobile phone records, cited by federal officials.

#2: Unobstructed line-of-sight photographs of a golfing Trump taken from outside the course’s perimeter set off alarm bells among those tasked with the president’s security.  On Monday, Washington Post investigative reporters Carol Leonig, Josh Dawsey and Isaac Stanley-Becker reminded readers these concerns existed from day one of the Trump presidency.

Soon after Donald Trump became president, authorities tried to warn him about the risks posed by golfing at his own courses because of their proximity to public roads. 

These two facts raise the question, “If security was such an issue when Trump was playing golf, no infrequent situation, why would HE permit those responsible for the perimeter of HIS golf course, to configure the barrier between public roads and his private property in such a way that they literally created a shooting blind for a wannabe assassin?”  If only the “well-manicured shrubbery and tall palm trees” had been INSIDE the fence, there is no way anyone on the public side of the fence could go unnoticed, especially if he camped out for 12 hours.

What’s more, putting the bushes and trees INSIDE the fence would add an additional level of difficulty for anyone targeting Trump.   The gunman would have to aim and shoot through the shrubbery, not from it.

One answer, of course, is vanity.  It is easy to imagine the conversation between Trump and course designer Jim Fazio back in 1999 when Fazio was commissioned to lay out what became Trump’s first golf property.

Jim, you know, it’s not enough for the course to be beautiful.  I want all those people who cannot get in, but pass by, to see how magnificent it is.  We need to surround the course with the most perfect, beautiful landscaping in the world.  It can’t look like a prison.

That may have been acceptable when the owner was a bankrupt real estate developer turned reality show host.  But not as president or now former president/MAGA party nominee.

There is one other option.  The next time Trump hosts a rally at Mar-a-Lago, he can reach deep down into his bag of greatest hits and revive the chant, “Build that wall.  Build that wall.”  To save money, he could replicate the winning design from the border wall competition, 30-feet high, black paint with spikes on the posts.  And he could sell official DJT golf apparel and equipment to pay for it.  Maybe even auction the polo shirt he was wearing at the time of the intended assault.

Of course, the fence might serve a future and quite different purpose.  Trump International could become his personal minimum security prison, if Judge Merchan and others sentence him to house arrest.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP