Some of my blog readers have dropped by the wayside. I suppose they got tired of my rants about the corruption in the Trump Administration. It’s a free country. Each individual is free to bury their head in the sand. Each individual is free to say, “I don’t watch the news any more. It upsets me.”

To that I say, “I’m glad it upsets you. It should upset you, but do you think that by ignoring it you are making things any better?” (If you are more than 90 years old, I will give you a pass. You have already done your part to try to preserve our democracy.)

The news upsets me, but the people who choose to ignore it upset me more. But, like I said, it is a free country. You don’t have to participate. You don’t have to care about the rest of us. You don’t have to care about future generations. You don’t have to do your part.

Today, I will draw your attention – if you’re still with me – to just three things that you might not have heard about, if you have stopped watching the news. Even if you still watch the news, you probably did not hear about these actions.

Bureau of Land Management

The Bureau of Land Management quietly removed “conservation” as a use for public lands. Let that sink it.

What uses are approved?

Grazing, mining, and energy development.

The Public Lands Rule (also known as the Conservation & Landscape Health Rule) was finalized in 2024 to conserve and restore federally-owned public lands that had been damaged by drought, development, wildfires, and invasive species.

It is beyond sad that the Trump Administration hates nature so much. We, the American people, own these lands. They were supposed to be held in trust for future generations – you know… like previous generations put them in trust for us. Ever hear of the National Park system? It did not happen by accident.

This is what you get when you put a New York City alleged-businessman in the White House, and then blindly approve everyone he nominates to Cabinet positions and judgeships.

In repealing the 2024 Rule, the Bureau of Land Management says that by removing conservation as a legitimate use of land, “balance” will be restored as grazing, mining, and energy development will be prioritized.

They really think we are stupid.

The EPA and toxic coal wastewater

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed rolling back the rules governing the release of toxic wastewater from coal plants. In the old days, like April 2026, coal plants were required to treat wastewater before it could seep into rivers, lakes, and streams.

Why, you may ask?

Because those rivers, lakes, and streams eventually provide drinking water for millions of Americans. Also, beings like fish and salamanders also live in those waters. They are part of our ecosystem. They are not beings to be trashed.

Why do reasonable people not want coal waste in their drinking water?

Because it contains such things as arsenic, mercury, and lead.

The policy put in place by the Biden Administration to restrict coal wastewater release was projected to keep 660 million pounds of toxic waste from reaching our waterways per year.

Why is the Trump Administration pushing to end this policy?

The official reason is to “bolster the power grid.”

Trump likes to talk about “clean coal.” I’m not sure what “clean coal” is. Trump hates wind power and solar power, but he loves coal-burning plants. He loves toxic black coal and calls it “clean.” Calling it “clean” does not make it so.

Ever heard of Black Lung? Anyone in your family want to be a coal miner? Anyone in Trump’s family want to be a coal miner?

I knew Trump hated the natural world’s beauty. The concept that the world’s natural beauty holds value just by being, well, natural and beautiful, is a concept he was obviously not taught at home or in the expensive private schools he attended.

The natural world allows us to breathe clean air and drink clean water, but Trump’s hatred for such things for the American people is overwhelmingly complete. In his eyes, the natural world only holds value when a dollar sign can be attached to it.

What a sad man. He is to be pitied for his narrow-minded short-sightedness and worship of the almighty U.S. dollar. Oh… and gold. The tackier the better!

Trump’s Triumphal Arch

I have had the privilege of visiting Washington, DC several times. Those visits always left me awestruck and proud… and wanting to visit again.

One thing that never crossed my mind was, “What our nation’s capital needs is a 250-foot-tall arch to block the view of the Lincoln Memorial from parts of Arlington National Cemetery.”

Never crossed my mind.

Trump is hellbent on building this monstrous arch. He brags that it will dwarf the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and will be 30 feet taller than the world’s tallest arch – the Monumento a la Revolución in Mexico City.

In the process, he is attempting to skip the permitting process and the competitive public bidding process (like he did when he gave one of his buddies the $7 million contract to paint the bottom of the Reflecting Pool bright blue like a swimming pool.)

He bypassed the legal requirement of public competitive public bidding by claiming that painting the bottom of the Reflecting Pool bright blue was “an emergency.”

The way the Reflecting Pool was designed and built, government buildings such as the Washington Monument were reflected in the water. The beautiful blue sky was reflected in the water.

Trump said in one speech that some people call it a pond. He thought it was funny and said it could be called many things. I’ve always heard it called the Reflecting Pool.

Trump has no respect for its name or purpose. He has a better idea.  Let’s paint it a gaudy bright blue so it will resemble a swimming pool! And while we’re at it, let’s not put the project out for competitive bids. I know a guy. He does not build pools, but I know a guy who might know how to paint. He can pocket $7 million and be beholding to me.

I’m glad I’m old and will never visit Washington, DC again. I want to remember it the way it was before Trump arrived. Before he tore down the East Wing of the White House without permission and lied about how “the ballroom will not touch the White House.” Surely you remember when he said, “It won’t touch the White House.” He failed to mention that he was going to demolish the East Wing.

I want to remember Washington, DC without a golden Trump arch.

To those of you who still worship Trump & his 20-foot Golden Statue at Doral Golf Club

I pray you will see the light before it’s too late and we lose everything.

I know your stock portfolio is brilliant. I’m sure your 401(k) is secure and soaring.

You preach the love of Trump from your church pulpits every Sunday and again on Wednesday night.

Do you really believe you and Trump are “doing the Lord’s work?”

Do you really believe Trump was “sent by God” to destroy the environment and break all our laws?

I pity you.

I hope your children and grandchildren will enjoy seeing all your money, because chances are they won’t ever see a national park, or breathe clean air, or drink clean water.

They are going to smell the waste that is dumped in our streams – like I smelled back in the 1950s and 1960s in the textile mill belt in the piedmont of North Carolina. They are going to breathe the dirty air in their cities like I saw first-hand in Charlotte in the early 1970s when I started working.

With the repeal of the laws and policies governing pollution, that’s what we are going back to. Young people don’t understand that, because they haven’t seen it. They didn’t smell Buffalo Creek in Concord, North Carolina before it was even in sight. They haven’t seen 20-story buildings shrouded in brown air.

To the rest of you

I wish I could ignore the rampant corruption in the Trump Administration and spend my time writing historical fiction. That’s what I would rather be doing instead of watching our beautiful environment and democracy crumble.

In my early adulthood, I worked for several city and county governments. Much of my job in each position was putting projects out for bid. It was… and is… the law. It was not up for debate or question. I just did it. I did it many times. I never considered trying to circumvent the law or the spirit of the law.

My upbringing and my education in political science and public administration grounded me in following the law. Those laws were there to protect the taxpayer. Those laws were there to protect our democracy.

Those laws are in place to protect the American taxpayer from the likes of Donald Trump, but the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court have torn down the guardrails. Donald Trump has been left to ignore and trample such laws into the dirt.

The laws are still there, but Trump thinks he is above the law.

November 3, 2026 is election day for EVERY member of the U.S. House of Representatives and one-third of the U.S. Senators. Things could change with the November 3 election.

“We, the people….”

Janet

The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.