“Vulnerasti cor meum”

From the Bible - Song of Songs, Chapter 4, verse 9

Whom do you trust? It’s a hard question as we get older. It seems cynicism is the cost of knowledge and loss of trust is the tradeoff for maturity. How many books have I read; ones that have exploded my youthful ideals, my American myths. And to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Really? My sense of justice and morality and my heart may be a little wounded with every lie uncovered but not irreparably. The patriot in me says we are the closest we’ve ever been to those American ideals.

As a lover of History and American History in specific, I live a schizophrenic life. One day I’m reading David Talbot’s The Devils Chess Board lay out the Dulles brothers’ secret government and the next moment I’m hosting a meal celebrating George Washington’s birthday and the Founding Fathers. This week I watched a National Geographic documentary, JFK in Texas November 1963, then realized one of the sweet old ladies interviewed as a witness to Oswald’s family life could be a CIA spy? I only realized it because I just finished a chapter of James Douglass’ JFK and the Unspeakable. I had to stop the film and go look at the book again. Government propaganda is a sneaky thing. It creeps into culture. People lie to your face with a smile. People propagate lies unknowingly. Just a few months ago before I started the book this fact would have escaped me. I guess one month older makes me that much wiser.

Only 22% of Americans trust the government in Washington to do what is right. I’m not the only one with trust issues. This is a real low for Americans’ trust in government. Those numbers come from the PEW National Election Study as of April 2024 which has tracked trust in government since the 1950s. This drop in confidence in American institutions covers all aspects of life. At the top of the heap of distrust is probably the media, then distrust in the 3 letter agencies like the CIA or DOJ or NIH and just as disappointing are the members of the Congress and our local political leaders. What about American education? Well, the 2019 Varsity Blues scandal with its $25 million in bribes for admissions to top American colleges is further proof that something is wrong. It’s all about the money. The system is rigged to benefit the “elite”. Basic government competence is in question. We can’t even rely on a city like Los Angeles to fight fire effectively.

These stats from the PEW are revealing. I searched for more on trust in American institutions. This is what I found.

• Only 57% say science has a mostly positive impact on society.

• 65% say they always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics.

I wonder if cynicism is a new way of life in America. Along with that come extreme emotional arguments over political issues. I hear about depressed Democratic partisans and devotes of MSNBC who lose their minds in hysterical burst on social media. Some have tuned out all political news all together. I must say I have enjoyed a few moments of glee myself having voted for a winning candidate but I’m ready to stay informed and stay critical.

First, we need to accept the political switch that has occurred. The classical liberalism of the “Left” has been splintered. Right wing Republicans now represent a large portion of the working class of diverse backgrounds. Protectionism and populism have replaced the stuffy conservative banker types and business minded country club set who defined Republicans of the 70s and 80s. Republicans want free speech, they want tariffs, they want an end to overseas wars and intervention. All talking points of 1960s left leaning Democrats. I think Chamath Palihapitiya of the All In Podcast put it best

“There was a coalition that the Democrats had and there was a coalition that the Republicans had, the Republicans did a better job of reforming that coalition… There’s a fight in Western societies and it’s a pendulum between labor and capital and it used to be the thought, the conventional wisdom was that the Republicans were pro capital, and the Democrats were pro-labor, and the brilliance of Trump is he took over the Republican party and made it totally populist which is to say pro-labor. And the crazy thing about the Democrats is that they are the most sophisticated liars because if you look at what happened under Biden, you had record high stock markets, it was purely in favor of asset owners, record high deficits, record high illegal immigration, record high wage suppression. All of these things are massively pro capital, but they tried to present themselves as pro-labor. That entire russe is now being undone. “

DOGE vs USAID, Crypto Framework, Google's $75B AI Spend, US Sovereign Wealth Fund, GLP-1s

A cure for cynicism is more information. We cannot stop at red team, blue team political analysis. What about the Libertarians? Or the American Monarchist? Yes, there is a social influencer named Curtis Yarvin, who advocates for a complete change, an American monarchy? His interviews online are examples of interesting political discourse that we desperately need. Throw more than just blue and red into the mix. Yarvin describes the Manhattan project of the 1940s as our first government project run like a modern day Start Up. It reminds me of Elon Musk and DOGE, the “move fast and break things” mentality of silicon valley. I’m a great supporter of uncovering all the government corruption and yet I wonder, who will watch the watchmen?

The Trump administration is an imperfect vessel. It may be implementing what you voted for, and it may disappoint you at the same time. Personally, I can’t express more joy over the actions of DOGE as an attack dog to uncover the lies and bureaucratic mess of American imperialism and greed. Finally, the genius of someone like Elon Musk here to unravel what the hell is going on in the administrative state. What does the budget for USAID do? Where is the biggest waste of the Defense Department budget, all funded by the taxpayers’ money. Even the Public Broadcasting Service is going to go through this rectal exam. Good. If we as citizens must undergo scrutiny, then our government, who represents our interests, must also be subject to the glorious sunlight.

How could anyone one Democrat or Republican be opposed to learning more about what our government is doing? Geriatric Congress people like Maxine Waters and Elizabeth Warren or Chuck Shermer on the streets of DC “protesting” with shrill hysterical cries of “we will win…“strange since your party and its ideas just lost a national election. Who are you protesting? You are the government you protest. Someone needs to let them know they are not representing the people’s will because Americans just voted for what Trump is doing.

52% approval rating after Trump’s first month, Harvard CAPS/Harris Survey.

I guess we’re not as cynical as I thought. I’m cautiously optimistic. One election will not overturn the Deep State. One administration cannot undo what has been built over decades. 400 plus agencies, billions of corporate PAC money, weak elected officials and more social disconnection among us citizens, but I’m clinging to hope because:

• This time the assassin’s bullet missed its mark

• This time the voters turned out to tip the balance

• This time the Cabinet isn’t completely swarmed with the DC swamp creatures

• This time the corporate media is powerless because they have become irrelevant.

We see through the lies of corporate media, and we have innumerable alternate sources of information. The age of the Podcast has come, and Joe Rogan isn’t taking horse paste CNN! The “mercenary media for the State” as Mike Benz calls them has been dethroned.

Joe Rogan Experience #2272 - Mike Benz Mike Benz on JRE podcast

For some of those journalists who are still in a bubble breathing in their own farts it’s funny now to watch them ranting on TV. Thank you but no thanks New York Times, I don’t need you to tell me how to think about anything. Bye-bye ReidOut. And thank God the blow hearts on MSNBC’s Morning Joe have been taken down a notch.

A little over a month into the new Trump administration, some may be hopeful, and relieved others may be nervous and dejected but it’s time to move forward as one country. We have a new reality, a new President and a new government.

As one cowboy President once said, “trust but verify”