A Highly Distracted Government

Can you say, SQUIRREL?

Or is it an intentionally distracted government? See this post.

Anyway…

IMHO: What the US government is focusing on—

  1. Immigration: Blaming, vilifying, and mistreating “them”

  2. Tax breaks for the wealthy

  3. Reducing government regulation (environment, financial, business)

  4. Cutting /reducing institutions (examples: VA, Dept. of Education, Museums, National parks)

  5. History washing (racial)

  6. Maintaining the great divide/polarization

  7. Bullying colleges and universities, law firms, corporations, and individuals

Primary drivers: greed, separation, kowtowing to base, and supporting the top 1%

IMHO: What the government should be focusing on—

  1. Environmental regulation, repair, and support; including international leadership

  2. Social Security and Medicare financial strengthening

  3. Creating a more effective healthcare system (regulation, experiments, challenging healthcare leaders)

  4. Reducing drug costs

  5. Strengthening and simplifying Medicaid

  6. Creating a more balanced tax structure so that the Top 5% pay their fair share.

  7. Fixing the immigration system

  8. Thoughtful and common-sense gun control

  9. Term limits and political contribution/lobby limits

Primary drivers: people, fairness and balance, care for the elderly, safety, and growth.

One reason for not working on these, even deflecting attention away from them, is that they are challenging issues. Making progress would require cross-aisle collaboration, mutual respect, empathy, and the ability to compromise.

The Challenge

The challenge is to discern all the distractions, cut through to the core issues, and focus on them. One common way to distract is denial.

For example, at his UN General Assembly speech on September 23, 2025, President Trump quoted in this NY Times article—

President Trump went on a rant against climate change at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, calling it the “greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” and saying that the scientific consensus on global warming was created by “stupid people.” He also berated countries, including close allies of the United States, for adopting renewable energy.

It clearly shows how powerful denial can be.

From my perspective, I don’t see how any rational human can deny climate change and our impact on it.

Ah, but that might be the rub…

 #weshouldbebetterhumansthanthis

Agile Moose