Substacker Mark Strike had a recent unsettling phone conversation with someone very close to both of us after telling this other person he had joined in on the April 5 protests. The other person couldn’t understand why. Afterwards, for his “own sanity,” Mark says, he composed this letter and sent it off to the other person. Then he shared it with me. Now he’s allowing me to share it too — in lightly edited form.
I thought I should explain why I'm protesting. You may not be hearing about things that I do.
Elon Musk/"DOGE" are doing things that are unconstitutional. They are dismantling programs that were funded by Congress and approved by a President.
You mentioned earthquakes in Myanmar. Musk/Trump has fired all the USAID workers. There were some USAID workers trying to help in these countries, but they were let go. We are the richest nation in the world, and these two billionaires said we cannot afford to have a few workers helping in a disaster area.
They are defunding libraries, food aid, etc.
They are firing scientists who work on researching medicines.
There are more cases of measles now than there were ever "trans athletes" competing. Measles that we had once eradicated.
They are dismantling the Dept of Education, which helped ME get aid during college.
Musk is dismantling NASA and FAA so he can get SpaceX contracts to run them. Conflict of interest?
Trump is attacking law firms that had clients he did not like.
By signing an executive order saying certain law firms cannot enter federal buildings, he is blackmailing them into agreeing to do whatever he wants. It's like the Mayor of [your town] saying you are not allowed to use your lawyer to defend [your] business. These firms did nothing illegal; they just had clients Trump does not like.
Trump/Musk/GOP are attacking Social Security and Medicare.
By firing huge number of workers and closing offices, it becomes far more difficult to actually GET these things set up. If you have a problem, good luck getting it fixed.
The Commerce Secretary even said, if Social Security didn't send out checks this month, it really wouldn't be a problem. The only people who would complain are “fraudsters."
Do you think all the [retired] tenants [you have] would survive without a check? What would [your businesses] do if they didn't pay their rent because this billionaire says it shouldn't be a problem if they didn't get checks?
Trump is having people arrested and deported without a trial.
He has had people arrested simply because they have a tattoo, and they *claim* that's proof they're gang members. Well, at least one person had a tattoo that was showing support for their autistic relative. Arrested. Gone. AND the government says they cannot bring him back. They admit it was a mistake, but they paid to fly him away. Pay to have him jailed in another country, but then still claim they are unable to bring him back? What if it was [your grandchild’s] tattoo that they decided they didn't like?
The rule of law in our country says you get a trial before a fair judge. Has always been that way. Not anymore. No trial. No judge. No proof. Just gone.
A student from Tufts was arrested and despite a judge saying, "Bring her back," they won't. Their excuse was they had canceled her student visa. They had not informed her of that. Her alleged crime? Writing an opinion piece that talked against genocide in Palestine. They had masked men arrest her on the street. They were not in uniforms. It was like a kidnapping. And again, Trump and GOP say they're not going to comply with the judge.
What would you say if one of the non-white people you know was arrested by masked men and sent off to some foreign jail, without a trial?
Trump and family are raking in bribes.
He created "Trump Media" so anyone could buy the stocks and tell him they did so. The company has $3.6 million in revenue in 2024. That's probably less than L- did. And losses of $400 MILLION.
He created DJT and MELANIA digital currency (like Bitcoin) so people could anonymously buy it to send him bribes. Companies like Amazon, Disney, Facebook, Oracle, TikTok, and many others, contribute to him, and amazingly get approval to do things.
Convicted criminals are donating to him and amazingly are being let go.
What if the Governor of [your state] told you, "It would be a shame if you could no longer do business in this state. But here's my Governor Coin that you can buy for a million $, and I might be able to do something about it." That's blackmail.
Trump has gotten rid of the people who are here to protect us.
He has fired the people in charge of cyber security. Why?
He has fired Inspector Generals who are there to ensure there's no fraud or abuse. Why?
He has fired experienced military people to replace them with Fox News hosts. Why?
Trump and the GOP are using illegal means to hide what they're doing.
There was an app used by VP, Secretary of Defense, etc., to plan an attack on a civilian building because there was one "bad guy" whose girlfriend lived there. They mistakenly added a reporter, who shared the fact that these guys were using unsecured means to communicate military plans. I'm old enough to remember how the GOP attacked Hillary for using a private email server. Why do these guys use this app? Because it automatically deletes the messages. There's NO WAY for anyone in the government to track what is being said or planned. This is illegal.
Trump wants to annex Canada and Greenland. This is madness. They do not want to be part of the US. He may do it to distract us from the other things he's doing (see above).
Today's GOP politicians refuse to accept that they lose elections. They NEVER claim there is anything wrong when THEY win but keep fighting when they lose. Trump was already declaring fraud before he was declared the winner, and then immediately stopped saying there was fraud.
In North Carolina, which is very gerrymandered, a judge is about to throw out an election because the GOP lost a seat on the Supreme Court.
It is not democracy if the only "valid elections" are ones you win, and anything else is fraud or stolen.
I was a Republican for much of my life. The party today is not that party. This party wants to join Russia and North Korea in having no democracy. Why did the VP and Trump attack Ukraine's President, instead of Russia's President? Putin is the one who started the war. HE is the one who could stop it immediately. But he does not. And I'm ashamed that our nation is now part of this axis of evil.
So, yes, I am very scared for our country. This is not about this or that policy. This is about lawless acts. If you studied history in high school, you may have learned what happened in Germany in the 1930s. This is very similar with similar tactics.
I know you are a caring person. I see it in what you DO. Please keep caring for others.
In the meantime, a bit of joy.
Last week, Ms. Wife and I enjoyed a train ride. This wasn’t one of those tourist journeys on a steam engine that chug you off to a little town for lunch and a peek at the scenery. This was the kind of train ride where you reserve a room for the night and eat in a dining car with strangers who could become instant friends.
Amtrak, the nation’s main passenger railroad, was running a two-for-one special. That was the only excuse we needed. We decided to make an overnight trip to visit family in Santa Cruz, along the coast of California. Since we’re no longer capable of sleeping in an upright position, coach class was out. We reserved what’s called a “roomette” which held the promise of two beds.
We arrived at the station and found our way onboard, upstairs and down the aisle to room number 3. With visions of the luxurious wood-walled cabins from Murder on the Orient Express dancing in my imagination, we ended up in a four-foot-wide space that more closely resembled the Naugahyde recliners ridden down the street by those Mardi Gras revelers a few years ago.
But we settled in all the same. Seats facing each other. Restroom down the hall. An attendant who took care of our every need, including converting the recliners into bunk beds. A large window through which we could view the passing cityscapes, countryside and mountain vistas. “Fresh air breaks” in Eugene and Klamath Falls. Amazing meals in the dining car with paper for lunch and linen for dinner.
Along the way, we met a trainspotter who authored Travel by Train, to share the art of the American railroad poster between 1870 and 1950; a former world traveler and current non-profiter who helps folks move into low-income housing; and a pair of erudite reporters, one retired from the Seattle Times and the other working as a spokesperson for a US district court.
We enjoyed fascinating conversations with every single person we met over meals of three-egg omelets, artisan grilled cheese sandwiches, flat iron steaks and pan roasted chicken. Did I mention the desserts? Chocolate cake and cheesecake with blueberries and these little wrapped demons called buttercakes from Frank & Louie’s in Rehoboth Beach, DE. Worth the price of admission all on their own.
In the observation car, as evening settled in, we spent an interesting hour conversing with a student from South Korea who was traveling around the country and looking forward to visiting Universal Studios in Los Angeles. He and Ms. Wife commiserated about our respective countries’ political woes. Theirs will definitely be settled before ours.
Alas, our arrival back home conflicted with the April 5 protests. But through our picture window we saw marchers toting righteous signs in Eugene and Portland. And in my next SubStack, I’ll share the best signs shared with me from marches in Washington DC and San Diego!
In the meantime, please keep caring for others. And consider how to share the reasons why with the naysayers in your own life.
Ooh. The train ride sounds amazing +