Good evening, and welcome to another episode of Why Is Our Country Like This? I wouldn’t say the news is worse than it was two weeks ago, but it certainly isn’t better. I think it’s fair to say that there’s still a need for the NNR, so, hello again from Fash News land.
Several nouveau and some classic reminders still apply: we may be well into my ninth year of journalism, but I focus on national news within my areas of expertise–which, at this point, includes (1) health news, (2) queer news, (3) news about law and government, (4) news about descent into authoritarianism, and (5) connections between news stories. NNR summaries may still occasionally contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a government shutdown!–but we are moving away from this model in general, as we pioneer a more focused and sustainable format. And, of course, for the law things you read here, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!
Spills in Aisle 47
‘Toddler Supermarket Tantrum,’ taken with permission from Stockcake.com
- Shutdown Takedown. As I’m sure most of the folks reading this are aware, we did indeed go into a shutdown on October 1, and we’re on the thirteenth day of it as I type this. And shocking no one, the administration has jumped at the chance to break things, so there’s a lot of mess to sort through. Right out of the gate, official government websites started blaming ‘Democrats’ and ‘the radical left’ for disrupted government functioning, which is a blatant violation of the Hatch Act but I guess we’re not doing that anymore. (Fun fact: My research on an unrelated matter yesterday took me to the Department of Health and Human Services page, which sure does still reference the ‘Democrat-led shutdown’ as soon as you open it.) It didn’t get better from there, as the administration left ICE functions in place but took the opportunity to close the agency’s oversight office. We also started immediately seeing airport delays because traffic controllers were so thin on the ground–traffic controllers are essential workers, but many already-overwhelmed workers have been calling in sick. And I honestly can’t blame them, because the administration has signaled that it isn’t going to pay government workers for their essential work performed once the shutdown ends–which is also blatantly illegal under a 2019 law, despite these ghouls claiming otherwise. As foretold by prophecy, they took the opportunity to lay off a ton of people, also likely illegally, which I’ll talk more about below. Needless to say, these developments didn’t make Democrats less inclined to filibuster, and the House bill has now failed to advance in the Senate at least seven times.
- Terrifying Terrorism Designations. I’m sure everyone reading this is aware of the death of Charlie Kirk, and much of the resulting First Amendment horrorshow—Jimmy Kimmel‘s suspension saga and subsequent return to most stations was particularly well-covered. What might be less obvious, however, is how much of a turning point the immediate aftermath of Kirk’s death turned out to be for how the administration engages with political enemies. Almost immediately, we started to see the administration issue statements implicating trans people and ‘trans ideology,’ without specifying what that even meant. That eventually broadened to speaking about ‘leftist ideology‘ when it became apparent that the shooting had no direct ties to transgender anything beyond the alleged shooter having a transgender roommate. These messages continued to iterate and deepen, as did anti-trans rhetoric, until reports began emerging that the FBI plans to designate trans people as ‘violent extremists’. In apparent response to the FBI’s plan, the Oversight Project at the Heritage Foundation (you know, the people responsible for making Project 2025 become real policy) issued a frightening directive pushing for a new form of domestic terrorism designation called ‘Trans Ideology-Inspired Violent Extremism,’ which they proposed include things like speech in defense of trans people. Almost immediately, we saw the administration take this ball and start to run with it, first by issuing an executive order that designated Antifa as a domestic terrorism organization. A few days after that, the administration released a memo which stated they would “disband and uproot” nonprofits and institutions that “engage in activities that support domestic terrorism,” including “conspiracies against rights” in that definition. The same day, the administration announced a criminal investigation of George Soros’s human rights foundation Open Society. Dovetail this with Bondi’s recent statements, also in the wake of Kirk’s death, that the DOJ will “go after you. . . if you are targeting anyone with hate speech, anything,” and you start to see a pretty scary picture.
From the Department of Health and Human Sacrifice
Image unnamed and in the public domain
- HHS Layoffs. As mentioned above, the administration has taken its current shutdown as an opportunity to start laying off nearly 4,000 more government workers. Of that number, over 1,000 people receiving RIFs work in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from offices that handle outbreak prevention, immunization, chronic disease, and other very critical areas of health. This is made even more confusing, however, by the fact that some of those RIFs were rescinded, as they were apparently sent in error. All of this just happened at the top of this weekend, so reports are still pretty muddled, but I’ll try to circle back with more specifics once I have them.
Queer By(lines) For the Straight Guy
Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
- Just Say Yes to Torture. SCOTUS is back in session, and heard arguments this past week on a case called Chiles v. Salazar, which alleges that a Colorado law banning conversion therapy is unconstitutional because it infringes on the plaintiff’s freedom of speech and religion. Folks, I am literally not exaggerating in the slightest when I note that conversion therapy, though it can be a “talk therapy” in the strictest sense of the term, has been classified as torture under United Nations metrics which measure such things by UN experts. There is overwhelming evidence that the practice increases suicidality of LGBTQI+ people. So the fact that the current Supreme Court appeared to buy the plaintiff’s arguments this week is, frankly, terrifying. This is like the court agreeing that a Stephen-King-worshipping woman has shown how laws prohibiting chaining people to beds and breaking their legs violates her Constitutional right to reenact Misery.
Ways to Weather This
Image unnamed and licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
- No Kings on October 18. I believe it has become increasingly important for people to have tools to get through these difficult times. As a result, I’m trying out a new section to cover forms of activism, resilience, and health best practices. This cycle, I’m spotlighting No Kings, an internationally-coordinated protest effort happening this upcoming Saturday in cities around the world. (While I included that organizing link because it has information about individual city events, incidentally, I encourage you to avoid ‘RSVP’ing to a protest in the current climate.) Protests are both an important form of resistance and a strong form of solidarity, which is vital for navigating our current moment. This particular protest is a reiteration of a June protest that drew over 5 million people, and it likely will draw even more this time. That said, it’s important to understand that this one might not feel the same, because conditions are much worse now than they were four months ago. There is psychological weight to that, as Paul Shattuck notes in his excellent ‘No Kings Field Kit’, which I strongly recommend people read. I particularly agree with his observation that Saturday is “mile 7 of a marathon most of us didn’t train for.” We’re all in this together, and it will not be fixed overnight, but actions like Saturday are still worth it. And, as I mentioned last time, these protests are one part of a much richer ecosystem of social change.
So that’s what I have for you this cycle, and I’m sorry, there are still no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve a toke from this shofar and a less corrupt government. I’m still figuring out formatting and sustainability, and I would find feedback in the National News Roundup ask box particularly helpful this week (though it is always there for your constructive comments). Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me Tylenol because this headache sucks!
National News Roundup 