The View from Here
David Mark Greaves
So, judging by the first week of the new presidential administration, what we have is an oligarchic, kleptocratic, White supremacist, patriarchal kakistocracy taking control of the United States government. Wow, that was fast. Of course, it was easy since they ran the plan in the widely distributed Project 2025 agenda. So there should be no surprises here.

Actually, there was a surprise right off the bat. In all the old movies I’ve seen, killing a cop was the absolute worst thing you could do. Either the chair or the gas chamber, you were going down. On January 6th rioters attacked police guarding the Capital and caused the death of one officer and the direct suicide of four more. While maximum punishment remains true on the street, an Executive Order from the Oval Office says these are pardonable offenses.

And the rounding up of those, whether violent or not, without full citizenship has begun and will continue and escalate until further notice. A military base in Colorado is being made into a camp where those who can’t be immediately shipped out can be concentrated.

By attacking renewal energy, jobs will be killed and new ones across the country, including in Red districts will be cancelled. Removing healthcare subsidies and the attempted freezing of all grants and loans has caused chaos in people-centered programs and disrupted lives. The immediate and fierce reaction shows the new administration’s soft underbelly. They don’t care about people, and it will be their downfall.

The Oval Office occupant has been frequently called a sociopath, and his inability to have compassion and empathize is a part of his executive process. Another person’s pain is meaningless to him, and his people are now scrubbing the federal workforce of those who will not enthusiastically carry out his will. And his will is to make money.

We are being ruled by the money-addicted, who view the economy as an engine best used for their benefit. To paraphrase the legendary bank robber Willie Sutton, why do they want power? Because that’s where the money is.

And firing the 18 Inspectors General is like being able to cut the alarms so that the corruption can take place unimpeded right down the line. They’re going tie us up in paperwork and rob us blind.

This is particularly dangerous for Black folks, and it is best that we pay attention. White Male Supremacy is reestablishing itself in America. With the “freeze” put on the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department and the anti-DEI directives, White supremacists are doing what they have always done—everything they can to prevent African Americans from prospering, while at the same time making life difficult for those others who are not white, male and single-gendered.

I believe things will change for the better when the full effects of the administration’s actions begin to take hold on the MAGA base. When prices go up, and they can’t access health care or childcare, the threats to Republican politicians will switch from supporting the agenda to stopping this man.