Vanishing Acts

Dear you,

March madness is here and not just on the basketball courts. The madness I refer to is the imposition of self-doubt; entities bending reality so what is actually happening is erased, edited, vanished. Poof! This is happening in America, just like in other dictator-leaning nations. Seemingly minor but hugely significant are the following events:

The new administration is gunning to eliminate public broadcasting (PBS, NPR). Who cares, rants Marjorie Taylor big-G, congress-thing from Georgia. I care. We care. Nations with public broadcasting outlets of any form tend to score higher on the democracy scale. Shut those down? We get a dark space, an empty space, less voices who can speak truth to power. I share a link from NPR about the larger implications:

https://www.npr.org/sections/npr-public-editor/2025/02/27/g-s1-51050/we-cant-answer-audience-questions-about-defundnpr-without-talking-about-the-larger-implications-for-public-media

Next, there is this in-our-faces obvious effort to take down Social Security.  Sure, Elon. your DOGE-ness, that is easy if you fire countless employees who keep it running, close local offices, and eliminate phone access. Then, when the very much ALIVE person who has been falsely listed as DEAD and removed from SS payment systems tries to contact someone to correct the error, he/she has to journey through Dante's circles of hell to make things right. The cruelty is the point, yes?  Just make that person vanish.

Then there's my locale. Tune in to 105.1 in this zip code. That station, formerly "Bob FM", was known for its funny and innocuous airing of everything top-10 prior to 2020. This was a happy, head bopping channel. Notice I use the past tense. Why? A few weeks ago 105.1 became something else. When I hit the radio preset button for that channel, I did not hear the usual playlist or the corny jokes. I heard some angry preacher-man ranting about redemption and his savior. He passionately denounced everything that I would categorize as joy. Just like that, a joyful radio station disappeared and became something else, something deplorable, fearful, and soul-killing.

All that, and then too, the vanishing of people from our towns, cities, campuses. It is happening. It is happening here.

Wake up.

Save everything you can.

Love, 

Joyce

 

Dear you,

Writing quickly on a latish Sunday night here in Seagrove Beach, FL. So much to say about my current entanglements (yes, I am under contract to sell my condo and buy a townhome and dealing with all the bullshit related to that), but all that "me" stuff is overshadowed by the bigger and more critical issue of all that "we" stuff.

The "we" stuff? An administration that is rapidly and somewhat successfully demolishing a federal government. An administration that just a few days ago spoke openly about prosecuting/abolishing entities (universities, law firms, media outlets, and oh yes, PEOPLE,) who speak honestly in opposition to him and his DOGE-ness.

Yes, that. And several days ago (or perhaps weeks ago, time is flying) we all got to enjoy the advice from one of Trump's minions  on Fox News claiming this economic stress is a good thing, because, yes, we should all be raising chickens in our own back yards!  Shall we reply, retort, by explaining not everyone has the skill or time to care for chickens or (more relevantly) not everyone has a fucking back yard?

It is patently clear to anyone with a functioning brain that Trump is channeling the game plan of all authoritarians. Shut down media that speaks truth to power, instill fear in the population that resistance is futile, and when the people are in pain, tell them it is their fault, because they didn't plan ahead and buy chickens. Or a backyard.

As I said, I am writing quickly because I just need to get something down, something said, during these days of deplorable deluge and attempts to enforce despair. Having said something, I sign off with this:

Resist despair and do NOT obey in advance.

Carry on, my lovelies.

Always here,

Joyce

Elon, here is your list!

Dear you, or should I say, dear child Elon Musk:

You demand a list of our accomplishments this week. I may not be a civil servant, but I am a citizen, a citizen from the blue side of the aisle.  Therefore, I must justify to your DOGE-ness how I have earned my right to exist under your regime.  Fine. Here we go:

Accomplishments as a blue citizen in your newly twisted world:

1. I stood strong during the entrapment and debasement of Ukraine in my oval office last Friday. The hillbilly VP and our spray-tan president berated a leader fighting for his nation's lives, freedom. I will not abandon them. I stood/stand with Ukraine.

2. I resisted the urge to slap the faces of the Trump voters in my zip code who are (still) complaining about the high cost of groceries while advocating tariffs and worker firings.

3. I quickly deleted emails sent by my senator Rick Scott praising the glorious carnage caused by his beloved Lord Donald.

4. I consumed multiple cocktails mixed with NOT Russian vodka.

5. I renewed by membership with the ACLU.

6. I continued to attempt to sell my condo on THE GULF OF MEXICO, tragically entertaining and rejecting offers from your like-minded "fuck these old people" friends.

7. I rose above all your noise and remained healthy as hell.

8. I took my aging car for repairs to a "non-dealership" entity who fixed him up for a reasonable, non-Musky price. I resisted the pressure to buy a Tesla.

9. I enjoyed the informative and entertaining programming on NPR, every day, every hour, as if it was the last airing.

10. I kept my head while all around me were losing theirs.

11. I loved and pampered my feline pet, who is (undebatable fact) superior to most humans checking into my condo complex during this early spring break.

12. I walked past the condo building to the north of me that is openly hosting a crowd of underage teenage boys and smiled, saying to the MAGA-capped child screaming on the balcony of unit 12D "I have the county sheriff on speed dial". (He ran.)

13.I resisted everything irrational and anti-democratic.

14. I watched the Oscars and loved the show, notably its reminders that culture unifies and trash, in the end, will be washed away.

15. I read several fabulous books you would find subversive. And they were from the public library. (Something else you intend to kill.)

There is your list, darling Elon.

Yes, I know history. I know democracies fall. And I also know it is your intention to take ours down.  However, I also want you to understand that millions and millions and millions of Americans (the brightest, the sexiest, the smartest, the sweetest) resist your efforts.  Take your best shot. We will #resist.

That is my list! Hope it meets your expectations.

Love,

Joyce