A Government in Crisis—and a Virus That Won’t Quit
While headlines remain dominated by the Jeffrey Epstein file debacle—a crisis wholly created and now perpetuated by Donald Trump—countless other urgent issues are being pushed out of the spotlight. That’s not to say the Epstein scandal isn’t newsworthy. It absolutely is. But the saturation coverage is obscuring other catastrophic developments unfolding in real time.
One such issue is the unlawful and unconstitutional detainment of individuals by the Trump regime—many of whom have been stripped of their right to due process. Little to no public information is available about where these people are being held, the conditions they're enduring, or what the government plans to do with them. The silence is deafening.
Another alarming trend flying under the radar is the administration’s ongoing dismantling of the Department of Education. Enabled by a corrupt and illegitimate supermajority on the Supreme Court, the Trump regime now has a green light to gut federal education infrastructure—something with repercussions that, to borrow a phrase, we cannot possibly imagine.
And yet, even those two urgent crises pale in comparison to what’s happening at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), now led—if one could call it that—by Robert Kennedy Jr.
Under Kennedy’s leadership, HHS is actively undermining decades of public health infrastructure. Agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have been hamstrung. As a result, diseases once eradicated—like measles—are making an alarming comeback. Polio may not be far behind. Meanwhile, it’s as though COVID-19 has simply ceased to exist in the minds of policymakers.
To underscore the real-world consequences of this neglect: I currently have COVID. I tested positive about a week ago. It’s the second time I’ve had it. I managed to avoid infection for nearly four years, only to get sick after attending the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last August—where, out of 25,000 attendees, I was one of perhaps five people wearing a mask.
That experience reinforced my belief that masks are still essential in enclosed and crowded spaces—planes, trains, subways, stores—but unfortunately, a mask alone offers limited protection if you’re the only one wearing it.
Back then, I was extremely ill—bedridden for two weeks, followed by weeks of COVID-related brain fog. By comparison, this bout has been far milder: a low-grade fever, a dull headache, and persistent exhaustion. Thankfully, Paxlovid—an antiviral medication—was covered by my insurance with only a $25 copay.
However, COVID tests are no longer covered. Once freely distributed by the federal government, these tests now cost between $20 and $25 each. That may not seem like much, but for many families, it’s an added burden—especially when repeat testing is required.
There’s also the risk of Paxlovid rebound. Patients who complete a course of Paxlovid can become reinfected shortly thereafter, often with more severe symptoms. This raises another affordability issue: if you need a second course, you’ll likely have to pay out of pocket. A single five-day course of Paxlovid now costs around $2,000 without insurance coverage.
To be clear, that pricing crisis isn’t the Trump regime’s doing—those problems date back at least to August 2024. But they’re emblematic of a deeply broken healthcare system. And under Robert Kennedy’s leadership at HHS, things are only getting worse. As booster uptake declines and vaccine skepticism rises, we are careening toward another public health disaster.
It’s summer now, and most people are outdoors. I suspect I contracted the virus either while flying or attending a concert. But winter is around the corner, and with it comes higher risk. We’re hearing there may not be a flu vaccine this year. And even if an updated COVID booster—specifically targeting the new “razor throat” strain—is developed, there’s no guarantee it will be made widely available. After all, Kennedy has made it clear he doesn’t believe in vaccinating people.
That’s the terrifying reality: COVID is a disease that never should have been allowed to take hold in the first place. Had world leaders acted responsibly and followed the science, it could have been eradicated early. Instead, an entire political movement turned mask-wearing into a culture war—and here we are. People are still getting sick, some are still dying, and the administration now in charge has no intention of helping.
This is not normal. It never should have been. And unless we recognize how far off the rails we’ve gone—from public health to education to constitutional rights—we risk losing not just our institutions, but the very concept of governance itself.
More to come.
The Epstein Scandal: Donald’s Self-Made Nightmare
While Donald Trump desperately tries to dodge accountability, the Epstein scandal continues to tighten its grip—and the panic inside his administration is palpable.
As reported by NBC News, a whistleblower within the FBI has come forward to Senator Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. According to the whistleblower, FBI personnel reviewing over 100,000 Epstein-related documents were given a specific instruction: flag any document that mentioned Donald Trump by name.
That directive alone raises enormous red flags. In response, Senator Durbin sent formal oversight letters to Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino. In those letters, Durbin directly questioned whether Bondi had “pressured” Patel to carry out this search-and-scrub operation.
Durbin’s letter reads in part:
“My office was told that these personnel were instructed to flag any records in which Donald was mentioned. Why were personnel told to flag records in which Donald was mentioned? What happened to the records mentioning Donald once they were flagged?”
These are serious questions. And they demand real answers.
When asked about the matter during a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt offered a canned, evasive response:
“I don't believe that's something the White House was aware of. You'd have to ask the FBI.”
“The president has said if the Department of Justice and the FBI want to move forward with releasing any further credible evidence, they should do so. As to why they have or have not or will—you should ask the FBI about that.”
In other words: pass the buck and deny everything. The administration isn’t even pretending to care about transparency.
Leavitt’s deflection didn’t end there. In what now reads as textbook Trumpian retaliation, she announced that The Wall Street Journal would be barred from the press pool covering Donald’s upcoming trip to Scotland. The ban was reportedly in response to the Journal’s recent exposé about a lewd birthday card Donald allegedly gave to Epstein—a crude drawing, included in a birthday album compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell for Epstein’s 50th birthday.
While the image itself has yet to be made public, it’s reportedly vulgar and juvenile—exactly the sort of tasteless gift one would expect from Donald to his fellow misogynist. But in the grand scheme of his many misdeeds, the card is barely a footnote. It isn’t criminal. It isn’t even scandalous. It’s simply pathetic.
So why the overreaction?
One theory: it’s not about the card. It’s about what the card represents—the possibility that more humiliating, reputation-destroying details are on their way. For someone like Donald, whose carefully constructed image of virility and dominance has always masked a fragile ego, this kind of exposure could be psychologically devastating.
That may explain why the administration is scrambling to suppress any mention of him in the Epstein files. Not necessarily because he’s criminally implicated (though we don’t know that yet), but because the truth—any truth—threatens to puncture the myth he’s spent his entire life building.
And with no real tools left in his arsenal except deflection, litigation, and vengeance, Donald’s usual tactics aren’t working. The more he tries to smother the story, the louder it gets.
Academic Freedom Under Siege: The Harvard Lawsuit
As if the Epstein scandal weren’t enough, Donald Trump’s administration now finds itself entangled in yet another crisis—this time, a constitutional battle with Harvard University.
The Ivy League institution has taken the Trump regime to federal court, challenging the administration’s decision to revoke $2.6 billion in federal research funding. The administration’s stated rationale? Harvard allegedly failed to sufficiently combat antisemitism on campus. But university officials strongly dispute that claim, arguing instead that the funding cut was politically motivated and legally indefensible.
In court, attorneys representing the Trump regime asked the judge to dismiss the case, citing language in grant contracts that supposedly permits termination if an institution’s actions conflict with the administration’s priorities.
Harvard, for its part, has pointed to a list of demands from the White House—including overhauling its admissions process and scrapping diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives—as evidence that the true motive is to intimidate and control. The university says those demands were both unconstitutional and a direct threat to its independence.
This legal clash comes on the heels of broader efforts by the Trump regime to assert dominance over U.S. universities. Since retaking office in January, Donald has made dismantling DEI programs a priority and has repeatedly accused schools of allowing antisemitism to “fester” during pro-Palestinian protests.
But in this case, the regime’s legal arguments are already showing signs of unraveling.
At a hearing this week, U.S. District Judge Allison Burr expressed deep skepticism of the administration’s logic. She openly questioned how defunding a university for alleged civil rights violations could be justified without due process and warned that such actions could carry “potentially staggering” constitutional consequences.
As The New York Times reported, Judge Burr’s concerns centered on the possibility of executive overreach—specifically, whether the federal government can punish an institution simply for failing to fall in line with the ruling party’s political agenda.
This is not just a Harvard issue. It’s a crisis for academic freedom writ large.
If Donald is allowed to weaponize federal funding against universities that refuse to conform to his ideology, there will be no independent institutions left to push back. Today it’s Harvard. Yesterday it was Columbia. Tomorrow it could be any school that dares to resist.
The case also underscores a deeper threat to America’s role as a global leader in scientific research and innovation. As Trump’s regime cracks down on academic independence and immigration, the country is losing talent at an alarming rate. Scientists, researchers, and students who once came to the U.S. for opportunity are now seeking refuge elsewhere.
And if this continues, Donald’s America will be remembered not as a nation of ideas, but as a graveyard of progress.
There’s no ruling yet, but the hearing made one thing clear: Harvard’s legal position is strong. The Trump regime’s arguments, in contrast, are unraveling fast—exposing not only the flimsiness of their case but the fragility of their grasp on constitutional law.
Any lawyer still working inside the Department of Justice who is willing to carry out these political attacks likely isn’t there for their legal acumen—they’re there because they’re loyal to Donald.
And that should terrify everyone.
Trump’s Legal Troubles and the Exploding Deficit
While his administration battles Harvard in federal court and scrambles to contain the fallout from the Epstein files, Donald is also facing serious legal trouble of his own. In Minnesota, the state Supreme Court has officially rejected his motion to dismiss a lawsuit that could remove him from the ballot under the 14th Amendment.
This is the legal effort to disqualify Donald from running for office again on the grounds that he incited an insurrection on January 6, 2021. His legal team argued that the attack on the Capitol was not an insurrection and that, regardless, Donald had no part in it.
The justices didn’t buy it.
Now that the case is moving forward, other states may follow Minnesota’s lead. With just months before the election, Donald finds himself fighting for ballot access in courtrooms across the country—an unprecedented scenario for any presidential candidate, let alone one currently in office.
But the trouble doesn’t end there.
According to a new analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the deficit under the Trump regime is exploding. Their latest projection for the fiscal year 2025 puts the federal deficit at $2.1 trillion—more than double what it was just a year ago.
This is particularly galling given Donald’s past promises. During both the 2020 and 2024 campaigns, he vowed to eliminate the national debt entirely. Instead, we’re witnessing record borrowing, massive tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy, and a hollowing-out of federal revenue streams—especially after repealing estate and capital gains taxes.
And this isn’t the full picture. The effects of his economic policies have yet to fully materialize. As the tax base continues to shrink and social programs are gutted to make room for military expansions and vanity projects, the long-term outlook only gets worse.
So let’s take stock.
We have a president under investigation for suppressing records in a sex trafficking scandal.
We have a Department of Justice operating as a shield for the president’s ego instead of as a pillar of democracy.
We have a university system under attack, public health in retreat, a collapsing economic outlook, and a president trying to rewrite the Constitution to cling to power.
And it’s only Monday.
The Fight Isn’t Over—But It Requires Our Attention
All of this underscores what many of us already know: this isn’t just political dysfunction. It’s intentional. It’s systemic. And it’s being orchestrated by a regime that sees accountability as the enemy.
Donald has always relied on chaos as a weapon and distraction as a shield. But this time, the truth is catching up with him. Whether it’s Epstein, the economy, public health, or his mounting legal troubles, the walls are closing in.
Which is exactly why we can’t afford to look away.
We must stay vigilant, informed, and engaged—because the fight for truth, justice, and democracy requires more than outrage. It requires endurance.
And if Donald and his enablers have made one thing clear, it’s that they’re counting on our exhaustion. Let’s prove them wrong.
We’re Only at Monday. Stay Awake. Stay Angry. Stay In It.
Every single thing you just read—the attacks on truth, the erosion of institutions, the weaponization of government against its own people—is happening right now. And while Donald spirals, lies, and lashes out, his regime keeps grinding away behind the scenes, hoping we’re too distracted—or too tired—to notice.
But we do notice.
We see the authoritarian overreach. We see the corruption. We see the cruelty masquerading as policy. And we’re not going to let them win by default.
So if you’re exhausted, you’re not alone. But please, don’t check out. Don’t disengage. And definitely don’t let this moment slip past you thinking it’s just politics as usual.
Because it’s not. This is a coordinated dismantling of American democracy—and we need all hands on deck.
We’ll be here to break it down, call it out, and shine a light on every scandal they try to bury. Because no matter how hard they try to silence, erase, or distract us, we still have the truth. And we still have each other.
Thanks for reading—and for staying in the fight.
Wear your damn mask. Get your damn booster. And for the love of democracy, don’t let the bastards get you down.
