Robert H. Workman

Lock Haven

I am writing this while I’m still allowed to freely speak out against Trump and what he is doing with this country. He’s militarizing Democratic cities, trying to stop free speech on those who speak against him, allowing yes men and women to do his dirty work in every branch of government to shut down democracy and put his political enemies in prison. He has filled every branch of government with people who have no clue about the true meaning of what that position entails. They just do what Trump tells them to do. And if they don’t, he fires them and finds someone who will.

And I’m so tired of hearing him and his cult talking about free speech. Guess it only applies to them and Republicans. The hypocrisy is so clear to me.

At just 33 years old, Aakash Singh became associate deputy attorney general in Washington, D.C. earlier this year, and has since overseen a team of other attorneys in prioritizing misdemeanor cases and charges against protesters. Soon no protests against Trump will be allowed. During Singh’s fairly short legal career so far, while serving as a North Carolina assistant U.S. attorney back in 2021, police arrested him for driving under the influence. He’s reported to have been actively prosecuting a number of cases at the time, including for fentanyl trafficking. Singh pleaded guilty to the charges and received a fine of $393 dollars. He was also ordered to surrender his license for 30 days, as well as undertake 24 hours of community service and a substance abuse assessment. This has perhaps most notoriously included attempts to bring felony assault charges against Sean Dunn, a former Justice Department employee who threw a hoagie at Customs and Border Protection officers last month. “What about the hypocrisy?” “Why did someone who threw a sandwich get fired, from the justice department, while someone convicted of drunk driving get promoted?”

Hegseth boasting about scrapping the Pentagon’s Women, Peace, and Security program, a program intended to boost women’s role in peacebuilding and conflict prevention missions, describing it as “woke” and a priority for “feminists.” He neglected to mention that the program was one of Trump’s accomplishments from his first term, and that the law that created the program was written by prominent Republicans, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, during their congressional tenures.

Meanwhile, in July, Hegseth announced that he’d replaced Vice Adm. Yvette Davids, the first woman to lead the U.S. Naval Academy, after he also ousted Adm. Linda Fagan, the former commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard; Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the only woman on NATO’s military committee; Adm. Lisa Franchetti; Lt. Gen. Jennifer Short; and Col. Susannah Meyers. And now, two months later, Hegseth decided to shutter the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, too.

The Trump administration said this week that it would extend financial support to Argentina, as the South American country’s currency and economy falters. To shore up its own economy, Argentina suspended its 26% export tax on soybeans, immediately luring China (historically the top importer of U.S. soybeans) as a buyer. The purchase undercuts U.S. farmers, whose product remains weighed down by a 20% retaliatory tariff imposed by China amid the trade dispute with Washington. “China probably booked the rest of their November supplies last night,” Jacquie Holland, an economist at the American Soybean Association, tells Axios.

U.S. farmers are bearing the brunt. “Indiana, and U.S. farmers, would like total soybean exports to increase,” Todd Davis, chief economist for Indiana Farm Bureau, told Axios in an email. “A lot of our farmers are struggling just to break even this year, so they’re hoping for some better news on trade relationships as soon as possible.”

Indiana’s economy faces broader implications. Corn, soybeans and pork account for more than $6.4 billion in agricultural exports in Indiana and an estimated one-third of the state’s farm income is exported, but we’ve been essentially locked out of China, one of our largest markets this year.

The Trump administration is considering the use of tariff revenue to fund bailouts for U.S. farmers, according to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

In the near term, consumers will likely see lower prices on soybean products, ranging from vegetable oil to soy milk to meat alternatives, Holland of the American Soybean Association says. Longer term, we could see the opposite effect, as farmers will likely stop planting soybeans this year, which could cause a supply shortage, driving up prices, she adds. Tariff revenue was meant, in part, to address the federal government’s ballooning deficit. If it’s used to bail out farmers instead, that could start to roil bond market investors, potentially leading to higher rates despite the administration’s push for lower levels. “Any time the natural supply and demand forces of the market are interfered with, that is always going to incur additional costs that are going to be passed on to consumers,” per Holland.

Young men wearing MAGA hats showed up unannounced at Tennessee State University Tuesday without permission from the school and tried to set up in the university’s quad to presumably engage with HBCU students about MAGA’s right-wing politics.

They were not welcomed and were promptly booted out. “This incident was not an isolated act of political expression, it was an intentional effort to antagonize, disrupt, and instill fear in a space created to be safe, affirming and supportive of Black students. While free speech is a constitutional right, there is a clear and urgent distinction between constructive dialogue and rhetoric deliberately designed to provoke, demean, and endanger the psychological safety of students at HBCUs,” the statement read in part. Yet Trump keeps blaming the Left for everything wrong with this country. Yet, most of what we see is his MAGA cult causing chaos and spreading hate, bigotry and misinformation.

Have you ever heard or seen such a display of hate, retribution, bigotry and hypocrisy from any single person in your life? I haven’t and I’m going on 72 years of life. Never have I seen the country so divided by the actions of one man. Never have I seen one man who, nothing is ever his fault, but everyone else is the problem.

There is so much more, and this is probably a waste of my time, but I will keep speaking up, while I’m still able to, in defending the country I love and what it once stood for.

And to those who still support this dictator, I know there is a special place for you in your afterlife, alongside him and all his minions.