Spring cleaning

(3/2025) Any day now, we’ll be cleaning our homes, switching out our winter clothes for spring and summer duds. Spring cleaning is about taking care of our own stuff, organizing and putting it all to right. The President, Musk and the GOP are not just throwing away everyone else’s stuff, they’re throwing away people. Not the act of anyone who believes in the Golden Rule.

In the scant month since the current administration’s inauguration, federal employees and funding commitments have been thrown out for no other reason than, "because I said so."

Target: The National Institutes of Health (NIH). One of many gifts God gave to humans is a brain that can solve problems from basic survival to solving medical mysteries. One of my family members has a genetic condition causing immune deficiency. They participated in an NIH clinical trial that found Stelara, a drug used for Crohn's disease and other autoimmune diseases, can be used to treat additional disorders. This is our tax dollars at work. It can take a lot of those dollars to keep any of us alive.

Target: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). This category is easy to randomly hate, but it covers employees who are wheelchair bound, have other handicaps and are veterans. Apparently, to the current administration it’s okay to spring clean the government of veterans, along with the Golden Rule. The Vice President has a relative who conquered addiction, but takes support away from Americans. People working in, and with the current administration want a lot of tolerance for themselves, and yet have very little for other people.

Target: Farmers, subsidies farm families rely on are being withheld. National Forest Service employees fired. Americans will be shocked when they can’t get into National Parks for their vacations. Health research of all sorts, if the government doesn’t believe in medical research is it real?

The American Revolution was fought because of the fundamental principle of No Taxation Without Representation. Well, my Fellow Americans, we have representation in Congress, and they voted to have the departments and funding in place that Elon Musk and this administration have declared must be halted. So by electing the current administration those voters have said "No!" to Representation.

We have made a collective agreement in this country to connect people to support. There are organizations that do not depend on the federal government to honor our American commitment to each other. Some are as simple as a food bank, or Meals on Wheels. Oh wait, Meals on Wheels is one of those money wasters targeted by the unelected federal staff like Elon Musk. Check on the status of this vital service before depending on it. mealsonwheelsamerica.org.

Special education and neurodiversity are just a couple of examples where citizens will lose. A large amount of support for children with developmental and intellectual disabilities comes from the Federal government. Federal funds are distributed through State Public School systems. Stable Public Schools can provide further support to all children by such means as subsidized or free meals. Having a guaranteed breakfast means kids get nutrition and energy to be ready to learn in class. Food security is a building block for education. Education is a building block of a functioning society.

One resource accessible to all of us is the Frederick, Maryland Special Education Citizens Advisory Committee (SECAC)

Did you know that there is a SECAC for the Public School System in each county in Maryland? SECAC is an advisory group that can provide the Board of Education with feedback on special education topics and programs. It can also sponsor events such as the annual Special Education Resource Fair, which will be in Walkersville Maryland at the Rock Creek School on March 29, 2025. Several dozen vendors and organizations will be there to answer questions about and from the Special Education Community. Many organizations are local, and do not rely on the Federal government for survival. https://frederickcountymdsecac.com/resources/resource-fair

Don’t forget about the public library. A library is a virtually bottomless well of resources. Librarians will help you find solutions.

Are we Americans really so overcome with burdens that we would make it harder for people to live with each other? Are we so fragile that we must protect the USA from helping others? Is spring cleaning great again as long as it throws away "them" and not me?

To paraphrase many who analyze our politics right now, people voted for Republican candidates because they wanted to vote against the status quo and normal institutions. Democrats maintaining the status quo is not what people wanted. Americans want action.

The thing about normal institutions is that when they are on an even keel they allow each of us to be individual Americans on the move. We Americans are the ones that need to be in motion. We make the best changes in the country. We are the movers and shakers. We don’t need a small percentage to vote themselves into leadership and disrupt things. We need a stable set of institutions so we can make changes that affect us.

America is special because we collectively decided that everyone has the right to their own opinion, way of making a living, and way of life. Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We fight for the right for people to be as uncivil as they wish, because of Freedom of Speech. It would be a courtesy for many to keep their ugliness to themselves, rather than opening their mouth and removing all doubt. Telling voters that he knew nothing about Project 2025, and then appointing an unelected person—Elon Musk—to carry it out, Donald Trump committed a great betrayal. Voters will hopefully pay more attention, and not elect people who would take those rights away from others. From our local Town Hall meetings, to the State of the Union, stay engaged. Ask yourself, is this the Golden Rule?