WE THE PEOPLE ARE TIRED OF DESTRUCTIVE COMPLICITY. WE WANT BETTER. WAY BETTER

Read of the day…some of Trump’s advisors are worried at what the war is doing to his popularity by causing higher prices. And, oh yeah, maybe by the deaths of 18 servicemembers. And there you have it folks. Popularity is the concern. So what’s a cheap accounting trick to ease the pain of those deaths and raise his popularity? The Pentagon website changed the number of military personnel killed in the Iran war. The NYT reports that the Pentagon has dropped the names of the four Americans killed in Jordan and Iraq, reducing the number of US personnel killed in the conflict from 18 to 14. Three military officials told the reporters that the number was revised because the four were killed after Trump announced the ceasefire in April. But acting press secretary for the Pentagon said the four were dropped owing to “temporary data disruptions.” Be as disingenuous as language allows, but dead is dead. And these people would not be dead, before or after a ceasefire, if they were not dragged into the president’s war of choice. If I were the family of those killed I would be outraged and heartbroken by the cold calculation seemingly designed to make it all seem not so bad after all. Only 14. Not 18. Do you like him better now? There’s a million psychological studies that have shown how relatively easy it is to desensitize us to most anything and everything. It just takes a persistent consistent effort to erode all the norms we are accustomed to living by. We’ve seen this happen to the Republican Party under both Trump administrations. The expected fealty to their political party has morphed into a lemming over the cliff pact with a leader that would happily see them destroyed if it serves him. And they seem powerless to do anything about it. Instead they have participated in diminishing America. They confirmed Pam Bondi, Pete Hegseth, Kash Patel, and Kristi Noem. They funded ICE. They stood by while Trump hollowed out our Intelligence Community. Fired thousands of people. Drained the US Treasury. Highjacked the country’s semiquincentennial. Trashed the WH lawn for a WWE event. And drained the reflecting pool. Twice. I could go on. All this is to say regardless of any weak noises you might hear to the contrary, Todd Blanche will be our next Attorney General. It’s way too late for the GOP Congress to change their stripes. But it’s not too late for we the people to remain strong. We show it every single day. James Comey made a perfect encapsulation, as he watched the small compromises he observed the people around Trump making that were pushing them past a point of no return…”Mr. Trump eats your soul in small bites.” History shows complicity isn't one catastrophic decision. It's a long series of small, forgettable bites, each one making the next slightly easier to swallow. Let’s not make it easy for them. Don’t take that first bite.