It’s Not OKAY With Me

“Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.” — Mahatma Gandhi

Earlier this summer I read an article about Elon Musk lamenting the fact that in spite of his mega-donation to the Trump reelection effort, President Trump had the audacity to appoint someone as the head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) without his approval. This was about the time he was falling out of disfavor with the President, long after his heady DOGE days. He literally thought that he would name the NASA leader, in spite of the fact that his SpaceX has been the recipient of over $20 Billion in contracts from NASA and other agencies. I’m guessing that absent the falling-out between the two, he WOULD have been able to name the NASA chief. What was the result of the disclosure? Were there massive protest marches at the Capitol? Were there calls for taking away the contracts from SpaceX? Calls for a Congressional Investigation? No, there were mostly just yawns and moving on to the next bombshell coming out of Washington. We apparently accept that this is the way things go. With the audacities coming out daily, we are becoming desensitized and routinely accept things that would have been unthinkable even six months or a year ago.

For any of the handful of my loyal readers, you may have noticed that it has been ages since my last post. I have not been ill. I have been busy with some other things but really the issue for me is that I am pretty discouraged at how things are going. But more than that, I feel very powerless to do anything about it. So, I remain silent. But can my silence be interpreted as acceptance of the things that are being done under the guise of normalcy these days? May it never be so. I say this with the not-totally unrealistic thought that someone somewhere may read this and trigger an IRS audit for Craig and Jan or something worse – perhaps an FBI raid on our home to seize the Craig Common Sense data. Actionable vindictiveness and retribution for anyone with the courage to speak out these days seems to be another thing that we seem to accept. Think that is poppycock? Ask John Bolton or Adam Schiff. Of course, Trump hates Schiff, but HE appointed Bolton as his national security advisor – once. And really, why bother? Pending the next election (if there is one) there really ISN’T anything I can do. But still, I feel the need to say, these things are NOT OKAY with me. A very partial list without even getting into how we are selling Ukraine down the river or the anti-immigrant things going on:

1. Mass Firings of Inspectors General
In the “Friday Night Purge” of January 24, 2025, President Trump abruptly dismissed at least seventeen inspectors general across federal agencies. These guys are not political operatives; they are looking for waste and fraud.
2. Withdrawal from Climate and International Commitments
• Paris Agreement & WHO: On January 20, the President signed an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement and other climate agreements.
• Foreign Aid Cuts: USAID foreign aid contracts were slashed by over 90%, part of a roughly $60 billion reduction, prompting concerns about weakening global health and our diplomatic influence.
• UN Bodies & Sustainable Goals: The administration pulled out of the UN Human Rights Council, UNESCO, UNRWA, and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, and halted funding to several UN humanitarian efforts.
3. Targeting Law Firms via Executive Orders
On March 6, President Trump issued Executive Order 14230 targeting law firm Perkins Coie, suspending its employees’ security clearances, restricting contracts, and barring federal hiring; the firm sued, claiming retaliation and chilling legal representation. I usually think that lawyers can take care of themselves. But when someone can use the power of the federal government, NO ONE is safe. And we can make jokes about attorneys, but we absolutely need them, and we need them to fully make our laws, civil and criminal, to operate as they should.
4. Attacks on Universities and Academic Freedom
The administration has initiated investigations into universities over alleged antisemitism and pro-Palestinian protests, including cancelling $400 million in grants to Columbia University unless it complied with sweeping demands on policies and governance. And there was the big dust-up with Harvard. It’s hard to feel sorry for Harvard with its massive endowments, but when governments can start to tell institutions of higher learning how they can and can’t operate, what they can and can’t teach, I don’t see how this can be a good thing.
5. Curtailments to the CFPB and Media Rights
• A court blocked administration attempts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in February, after its head was fired and employees sent home. It has been partially restored but its effectiveness has been largely destroyed.
• The White House barred the Associated Press (AP) from travel pools in a snit about the AP’s refusal to call that body of water south of Alabama the Gulf of America. Is THIS the most important thing that we have to work on? Don’t get me wrong, I have crossed swords with the media many times during my career, but I never sought to restrict their rights to report events as they saw them. The AP access has been partially restored through court action, but this can’t be good.
6. The Tariffs Debacle
As someone who believes in the free market, I might even say that I like SOME of what Milton Friedman says, the reckless implementation of tariffs on our enemies AND our friends baffles me. The poor people who have to conduct international business these days must be so frazzled. A tariff is ON, then postponed, then changed, then reinstated etc. etc. And really, make Canada our fifty-first state? How disrespectful to one of our longest-term allies. And for what purpose? We are destroying trade relationships that have taken decades to build.
7. Annex Greenland?
And when given the chance to clarify things, refusing to eliminate the possibility of the use of force?

8. The Texas Redistricting Thing and by the Way, the California Redistricting Thing
Since when does a sitting president feel it is within his duties to insist that a state undertake an unprecedented gerrymandering move, in the absence of new census data. Clearly this is an exercise of power to stack the deck in Congress. By the way, I’m not very impressed with the counter effort in California either. They are not the right ones to fight this battle; the courts need to intervene with some courage.

I could be justifiably criticized for dozens of omissions. But when I fail to speak because of a feeling of powerlessness or even worse because of fear of retribution, I have to look at myself and say: Are these things OKAY with you? These things are NOT OKAY with me.