Today I spent the morning collecting phenological data at the Botanic Garden. The Cottonwood Gallery was in particularly high form. Golden cottonwoods, orange crabapples, yellow maples, blue skies, cranes flying overhead. After a cold start, the NM sunshine warmed things up pleasantly, but a jacket was still needed.
Meanwhile, in strong contrast to that pastoral morning, 8 Democrats broke ranks and let the GOP end the government shutdown. The rank-and-file party members are furious at this betrayal. One can only hope that the release of Epstein files is worth the failure on policy.
On top of this, our feckless leader has managed another insulting round of pardons, releasing or commuting another tranche of felons convicted of January 6 crimes. I'm sure the timing is to try and get this under the radar of public perception. I'm sure most media is covering the shutdown story, so this gets little attention. The sad news is that the message it sends is, "Subvert an election and I'll get you out of jail." The bitter solution is left up to the blue states to convict these people of state crimes that FELON47 can't pardon.
I continue to be amazed that democracy can be completely off the rails in a few short months as a fascist takes over our country, while daily life for me goes on seemingly unaffected. Sure, grocery costs and energy prices are climbing, but we are among the lucky ones with resources to weather the storm. Turmoil in Washington seems far removed, yet I know there are still 3 more years of his madness and mental decline.
Did people in Weimar Germany feel this way while the Nazis subverted their nation and led them into a disastrous war? The Convicted Felon bends the Justice Department to his every whim, the Supreme Court obliges him, and the Republican majority looks the other way while our country is run into the ground. Education, research, health, international respect, and the economy are all suffering harm that may take decades to repair.
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