Sunday, February 9,2025. Annette’s News Roundup.
Even the New York Times Editorial Board gets it.
Now is not the time to tune out.
Don’t get distracted. Don’t get overwhelmed. Don’t get paralyzed and pulled into the chaos that President Trump and his allies are purposely creating with the volume and speed of executive orders; the effort to dismantle the federal government; the performative attacks on immigrants, transgender people and the very concept of diversity itself; the demands that other countries accept Americans as their new overlords; and the dizzying sense that the White House could do or say anything at any moment. All of this is intended to keep the country on its back heel so President Trump can blaze ahead in his drive for maximum executive power, so no one can stop the audacious, ill-conceived and frequently illegal agenda being advanced by his administration. For goodness sake, don’t tune out.
The actions of this presidency need to be tracked, and when they cross moral or legal lines, they need to be challenged, boldly and thoughtfully, with the confidence that the nation’s system of checks and balances will prove up to the task. There are reasons for concern on that front, of course. The Republican-led Congress has so far abdicated its role as a coequal branch of government, from allowing its laws and spending directives to be systematically cast aside to fearfully assenting to the president stocking his cabinet with erratic, unqualified loyalists. Much of civil society — from the business community, to higher education, to parts of the corporate media — has been disturbingly quiet, even acquiescent.
But there are encouraging signs as well. The courts, the most important check on a president who aims to expand his legally authorized powers and remove any guardrails, so far have held, blocking a number of Mr. Trump’s initiatives. States have also taken action, with several Democratic attorneys general suing over Mr. Trump’s attempts to freeze federal grant funding and end birthright citizenship and vowing to fight Elon Musk’s team’s access to federal payment systems containing personal information. State or local officials are also defending their laws in the face of federal immigration raids and fighting Mr. Trump’s executive order barring gender-affirming medical care for transgender children. And independent-minded journalism organizations have continued excellent reporting on the fire hose of excesses of these early days, bringing essential information to the public.
None of this is to say that Mr. Trump shouldn’t have the opportunity to govern. Seventy-seven million Americans cast ballots to put Mr. Trump back in the White House, and the Republican Party, now fully remade in service of the MAGA movement, holds majorities in both houses of Congress. Elections, it is often noted, have consequences. But is this unconstitutional overhaul of the American government — far more sweeping, haphazard and cruel than anything he campaigned on — really what those voters signed up for? To put America’s system of checks and balances, its alliances and its national security at risk? Because, beyond the bluster, that is what Mr. Trump, Mr. Musk and their supporters are doing.
Three weeks into the second Trump term, here are a handful of the places where Americans can’t afford to turn away:
Elon Musk’s Executive Takeover. The problem is not that Mr. Musk is unelected, it’s that he is breaking the law. Not even a full-time government employee, he is trying to unilaterally shut down or dismantle entire federal agencies and departments, ignoring congressional mandates — this is prohibited by the Constitution. He and his team are behind the announced buyout offers to millions of civil servants — including the entire C.I.A. work force — and have effectively forced out top officials whom he has no power to fire. He is on a mission to rampage through the government’s confidential payment systems with an anarchist’s glee, deciding on his own which aspects of federal spending are legitimate, and substituting his instinctual embrace of conspiracy theories for any effort to understand the government functions he’s undermining.
Both the president and Mr. Musk seem to relish that most of their actions are plainly illegal, daring the courts to step in and stop them, on the theory that these laws are flawed to begin with. At the same time, you have the richest man in the world leading this effort, still holding interests in his private companies, which do billions of dollars in business with and are regulated by the federal government. It’s a level of conflict of interest unlike anything we’ve seen in the modern era.
The Administration vs. Public Officials (a.k.a. Trump’s Enemies). Along with terminating more than a dozen members of the U.S. Attorneys Office in Washington who’d worked on cases involving the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, the Trump administration began collecting the names of thousands of F.B.I. personnel who helped to investigate crimes associated with the attack on the Capitol. Several top-ranking officials at the agency have already been fired. The move offered an early glimpse at how Mr. Trump and his nominee to run the F.B.I., Kash Patel — who published a literal enemies list of “Executive Branch Deep State” members — might use federal law enforcement against the president’s political opponents. In perhaps the most disturbing warning to those who might think to question or defy him, Mr. Trump stripped several of his former advisers of security protection that was deemed necessary given credible threats by the Iranian government to assassinate them for actions they took under his direct order.
The President’s Imperial Bluster and Attacks on Allies. Mr. Trump has spent weeks coyly suggesting the United States is on the verge of illegally seizing territory on three continents, leaving all levels of consternation in his wake. Then there are his long-planned, seemingly legal — even if extremely ill advised — tariffs. All the threats and insults have gained Mr. Trump some short-term concessions, but none are likely to make America’s economy stronger or make America safer in the world. Running roughshod over centuries-old alliances will hurt the targeted countries, but it also could compromise national security, raise the price of goods, disrupt global commerce, benefit adversaries like China and Russia that are eager to fill the void of an increasingly distrusted America.
Public Health Imperiled. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vocal vaccine skeptic, has not been confirmed as Mr. Trump’s health and human services secretary yet. But the administration is already taking steps to weaken and wreck public and global health protections. On Thursday, The Times reported that the administration plans to reduce the staff of more than 10,000 Americans at the U.S. Agency for International Development to only about 300 people, and cancel nearly 800 awards and contracts the agency administered. The president — much less Mr. Musk — cannot shut down a federal agency without a vote by Congress. To do so is also illegal under the Constitution. More than half of U.S.A.I.D.’s spending in 2023 went to health programs intended to stop the spread of diseases, such as polio, Ebola, tuberculosis, H.I.V./AIDS and malaria or to humanitarian assistance to respond to emergencies and help stabilize war-torn regions. If you care about preventing the next pandemic or the pressures of global migration, U.S.A.I.D. is an investment you should want the United States to make.
The President’s Anti-Civil Rights Blitz. Mr. Trump has issued a flurry of executive orders and pronouncements that set back decades of progress on civil rights and often openly defy the Constitution. He has especially targeted transgender Americans and has threatened federal funding for public schools that do not adhere to right-wing ideology about how history and race should be discussed. He has also found nearly daily excuses to rail against diversity, equity and inclusion policies, even blaming D.E.I. for the Jan. 29 air crash in Washington and strongly implying that any air traffic controller who is a woman or not white is inferior and has been given a job for the wrong reasons. And the new attorney general, Pam Bondi, announced on Wednesday that private companies that choose to maintain their own diversity and inclusion policies could be targeted for “criminal investigations.”
America faces a new reality, and it demands wisdom, endurance and courage. The United States is now led by a president who appears willing to stampede over any person, law, congressional statute or country that stands in his way. He is driven by impulse and is disinterested in rules, history or reality.
How Americans and the world handle such a president will determine much about the next four years, and it will ask much from all of us. We must meet the moment. Mr. Trump won the election fair and square, but his position is that of president, not king or god-emperor. Every time Congress allows him to exceed his constitutional role, it encourages more anti-democratic behavior and weakens the legislature’s ability to check further erosion of the norms and values that have helped make this nation the freest, richest and strongest in the world. (New York Times Editorial Board).
The New York Times featured this. So did historian Heather Cox Richardson.
Maya Miller of the New York Times reported today that the congressional phone system has been jammed with tens of millions of calls from outraged constituents contacting their representatives to demand that they stand against President Donald Trump and his sidekick Elon Musk as they unilaterally dismantle the United States government and gain access to Americans’ private information. The Senate phone system usually gets about 40 calls a minute; now it is up to 1,600. (HCR, Letters from an American)
One more thing.
If you live in a Blue State, if you live in a Red State, make sure you are one of the callers.
Feel free to critique or compliment.
How to find Senators.
How to find Congresspeople
Call State and Local Officials too.
Here is how to find a Mayor.
Today is Super Bowl Sunday.
You probably knew that.
“Choose Love” is nice and will be on the field but still, the change has at least a slight smell of racism.
NFL will remove 'End Racism' from the end zones ahead of Super Bowl
The announcement comes the same day a White House official told NBC News that President Donald Trump would be attending the game.
The Kansas City Chiefs' end zone at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in February 2024.
The NFL will remove the words "End Racism" from the end zones at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans ahead of the Super Bowl on Sunday, the NFL confirmed to NBC News.
Instead, the field will have stencils of the phrase "Choose Love" as the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement Tuesday.
Throughout the 2024-25 season, NFL teams have advertised pro-diversity slogans at their stadiums and on their uniforms. The field stencils have been a part of the league since 2020, McCarthy said.
"Teams have used on the field this year 'Vote,' 'End Racism,' 'Stop Hate,' and 'Choose Love.' This is part of the NFL’s Inspire Change," he said.
At their conference championship games on Jan. 26, the Chiefs had "Choose Love" in their end zone and the Eagles had "End Racism."
The NFL said Tuesday that it would have stenciling only of the phrase "Choose Love." Sunday's game will be the first Super Bowl since February 2021 at which "End Racism" will not be in an end zone stencil.
"The Super Bowl is often a snapshot in time and the NFL is in a unique position to capture and lift the imagination of the country," McCarthy said.
He said the phrase is most fitting because of tragedies the country has endured in recent weeks.
"'Choose Love' is appropriate to use as our country has endured in recent weeks wild fires in southern California, the terrorist attack here in New Orleans, the plane and helicopter crash near our nation’s capital and the plane crash in Philadelphia," McCarthy said.
The statement comes the same day a White House official told NBC News that President Donald Trump will attend the Super Bowl.
The Secret Service said in a statement that "extensive planning and coordination have been in place to ensure the safety of all attendees, players, and staff," with security measures having been "further enhanced this year, given that this will be the first time a sitting President of the United States will attend the event."
"The U.S. Secret Service has been on the ground for days, working in close collaboration with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, as well as the NFL, to implement a comprehensive security plan," said Anthony Guglielmi, the Secret Service's communications chief.
Trump has made his stance against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives clear since he took, signing an executive order on his first day in office to end DEI programs in federal agencies and putting employees in those programs on leave.
After the deadly midair collision of an American Airlines plane and Army Black Hawk helicopter in the Washington, D.C., area last week — which McCarthy cited as one of the tragedies inspiring the "Choose Love" slogan — Trump again took aim at DEI, implying diversity policies were at fault for the disaster.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said at a news conference Monday that he does not think the league's policies to promote diversity conflict with Trump's push to eliminate DEI programs.
“Our policies have been designed to be well within the law, well within the practice,” Goodell said. “There are no quotas in our system. This is about opening that funnel and bringing the best talent into the NFL."
He added that the NFL's policies are consistent "with the current administration, as well as the last administration."
“We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League, and we’re going to continue those efforts because we’ve not only convinced ourselves, I think we’ve proven ourselves, that it does make the NFL better," Goodell said. (NBC News).
Yes, there will be several important guests at the game.
Jill Biden and grandson Hunter to cheer on Eagles at Super Bowl
Former first lady Jill Biden, a longtime Philadelphia Eagles fan, will attend Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and Eagles in New Orleans, a source familiar with her plans confirmed to USA TODAY.
She will attend with her grandson Hunter but won’t be joined by former President Joe Biden, the person said.
It will be a repeat of her 2023 trip to Glendale, Arizona, where as first lady, Jill Biden and Hunter watched the Chiefs narrowly defeat the Eagles in the Super Bowl.
At a fundraiser before that game, then-President Joe Biden joked that "I'd be sleeping alone" if he wasn't a fan of the team alongside his wife.
The Bidens' grandson Robert "Hunter" Biden II is the son of Beau Biden, the deceased son of Joe Biden.
(USA Today)
Jason Kelce Confirms Taylor Swift Will Be at the Super Bowl to Support Travis: ‘Everybody’s Coming’ (Exclusive)
Baby, let the games begin.
In an interview with PEOPLE on Tuesday, Feb. 4, Jason Kelce confirms that Taylor Swift will be heading to the Super Bowl in New Orleans to support her boyfriend Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs as they take on the Philadelphia Eagles.
When asked about who's coming into town for the Big Game and whether it'd be a family affair, Jason made it known that Travis' cheer squad is assembling. "Yeah, I think everybody's coming in," he began before rattling off some names.
Last year Taylor Swift celebrated the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win with her boyfriend Travis Kelce, #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs.
"I mean, I don't want to speak for everybody, but I think obviously, our whole family. I believe, obviously Trav and Taylor, and his family and his friends. I mean, Trav always travels like, full," he says of his younger brother. (USA Today)
If you plan to watch the game, just keep your eyes on the field or on these two fans 👆 and think about your team.
Inevitability, with a crowd of more than 75,000, the SuperDome will also accommodate some riffraff. Ignore them.
I will see you again on Tuesday.