They are all afraid

 "We are all afraid," Senator Lisa Murkowski told the Anchorage Daily News last week, without naming names or specifying what she fears.  A semi-literate Truth Social rant?  Having her house burned down while she sleeps?  Something in between?  "We're in a time and a place where -- I don't know, I certainly have not -- I have not been here before.  I'm oftentimes very anxious about using my voice because retaliation is real.  And that's not right."  Abraham Lincoln standing on Patrick Henry's shoulders could not have put it better.  So glad you're there for us.

"What's Happening Is Not Normal.  America Needs an Uprising That Is Not Normal," wrote David Brooks on the op-ed page of the New York Times, where his drowsy prose in service of the status quo has appeared since roughly the Truman administration.  He lists the facets of civilization which "make our lives sweet, loving and creative, rather than nasty, brutish and short" -- constitutions, alliances, scientific institutions, charitable organizations, "universities to preserve, transmit and advance the glories of our way of life."  (Commencement season is nearly upon us and Brooks is available for a reasonable fee and an honorary doctorate in The Obvious.)  His solution:  "Stop Trump."  I wish I had thought of that.  He dismisses the huge crowds drawn by Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders ("partisan rallies") and shyly confesses, "I'm really not a movement guy."  But somebody needs to do something, and he'll cheer them on from his book-lined study.  Because "We have nothing to lose but our chains."  Hobbes to Marx/Engels in one essay.  Impressive.

Despite this being its busy season, the Catholic Church's top-level guys (after the pope) sat down with J.D. Vance for an exchange of views on various topics including "the plight of persecuted Christian communities around the world," the abuse of immigrants, and The Leader's well-known commitment to peace at the expense of Ukrainians, Palestinians and anyone else who interferes with his plans.  Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, displayed his mad diplomatic skills by noting that "the approach of the current US administration is very different from what we are used to," but the topic of possible excommunication for the freshly baptized Vance did not come up.  It's not as if he supports a woman's right to choose, after all.  Besides, there's a long list of Catholic Nazis ahead of him, including Hitler and Goebbels.

Speaking of persecuted Christians, it looks like some of that persecution is happening right here in Trumpomuskovia.  Catholics and evangelicals are alarmed to learn that "a significant share of the immigrants who are a part of our body are vulnerable to deportation," 80% according to their report "One Part of the Body."  Suddenly they can see the importance of due process and the rule of law.  They were under the impression the gulag would be populated by Mahmoud Khalil and his ilk.  So David Brooks is not the only one who regrets his vote.  Damn those face-eating leopards!

We should all be afraid if this is the level of reality at the White House Office of Science and Technology, though not surprised.  Michael Kratsios explained, "Our technologies permit us to manipulate time and space.  They leave distance annihilated, cause things to grow and improve productivity."  Yes, but the Romulan Empire is still ahead in cloaking technology.  We continue to seek a magnet that will work under water.  Now is not the time for complacency!

Ed Martin may never be confirmed as US attorney in New York but he can do plenty of harm as an "acting."  I'm not familiar with CHEST, the peer-reviewed medical journal for specialists in respiratory diseases and sleep medicine, but apparently it's a hotbed of radical wokeness.  Martin has demanded to know why it does not feature "diverse" viewpoints.  Emphysema may be good for you.  With The Leader slobbering on the coal industry and offshore wind projects being cancelled, it damn well better be.