Respect the Threat, Not the Threatener

Never mind the endless histrionics of Trump, Vance, Musk — and instead pay attention to what they're targeting

Hello, friends —

I am writing while fighting a fairly virulent cold, so this one will be short.

Amid all the turbulent events of the past few weeks, from U.S. President Donald Trump blaming a plane crash on diversity hiring (with zero evidence) to the scorched-earth tactics of Elon Musk’s so-called U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, please be very careful to take time out from these torrents of headlines. This overwhelm is likely to last for the next four years and no one need burn out on them this soon.

Here’s what most Americans need to do right now: As one of my favorite humans (a now-retired professor) likes to say, “Focus on what matters most.”

So, if you value your health care, if you’ve been shelling out for Social Security all your life and were hoping to have that in retirement, if you care about clean air, clean water, legal rights, labor rights, privacy rights, human rights, your long-term security, what happens to your family, friends, spouse, children, watch what is getting slashed now and do not get sidetracked by these mad children and their antics.

The threats are real. There’s no way around it, they have to be taken seriously. But the people making those threats are not serious people. Do not forget that. You will see people treating Trump like a king, calling Musk a genius. None of that matters if they’re not making your life better. None of it matters if they’re gutting what is yours.

Watch closely what they aim at and don’t be distracted by the noise — because those distractions will be much more obvious and galvanizing, but what’s happening underneath will be what counts, and what will be the most dangerous.