How the Government is Purging American Heroes Who Aren't White Males & Trump Wants to Cancel Biden's Pardons (Along with the Constitution)
March 21, 2025
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: Today’s quote sets up a theme for today’s newsletter where we explore the various relationships between the message and the messenger.
Black Medal of Honor recipient removed from US Department of Defense website: DEI is the new n-word, as we see by the Trump administration’s attempts to purge recognition of accomplishments by anyone who isn’t a straight, White male—even Jackie Robinson.
Trump Says Biden’s Pardons are ‘Void’ and ‘Vacant’ Because of Autopen: Just saying this aloud further calls into question Trump’s mental acuity.
Johns Hopkins to cut more than 2,000 jobs after $800M in federal cuts: When we start cutting scientific and medical research to punish universities, who will end up actually being punished?
Trade War Retaliation Will Hit Trump Voters Hardest: They were warned, but they shot the messenger.
Kareem the Science Guy: How RFK Jr.’s Lack of Understanding of Science Is Hurting Americans (And It’s Not Going to Get Better): It’s amazing how much he publicly reveals his ignorance without realizing it.
What I’m Watching on TV: NCAA Women’s Basketball is exciting—and rising in the ratings.
Kareem’s History Bites: The FBI’s Attempt to Blackmail Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. into Suicide: In a brief excerpt from my forthcoming book, I reveal why we must be wary of the government’s attacks on messengers they don’t like.
Kareem’s Video Break: My favorite video of all time is the best representation of how many adults argue so stubbornly and passionately based on traditional biases rather than on facts. And it’s also very moving how upset the little boy gets when she pokes his chest.
Kareem’s Sports Moments: I’d never heard of skijoring before. But it sure looks like fun.
Beth Hart Sings “LA Song”: You rarely get to see such a passionate performance that has such a powerful effect on the audience.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
Don’t shoot the messenger.
Anonymous
Greek philosopher Plutarch (c. 46-120 AD) wrote about “killing the messenger” in Parallel Lives, a series of 48 biographies of famous men: “The first messenger, that gave notice of Lucullus' coming was so far from pleasing Tigranes that, he had his head cut off for his pains; and no man dared to bring further information. Without any intelligence at all, Tigranes sat while war was already blazing around him, giving ear only to those who flattered him.” (Sound familiar?)
Town criers who stood in the streets and made public announcements from the king or queen often were the deliverers of bad news, but attacking a town crier was considered treason. That same concept is fortified in our Constitution’s First Amendment protecting free speech. To inhibit free speech is so against the principles the country was founded on and stands for, that it is treasonous to our ideals.
And yet, “Kill the messenger” has become the new normal. The messengers most under attack are journalists, scientists, teachers, judges, and student protestors. These are the people who either present facts, studies, research, or multiple opinions about political issues. Trump and his administration are indeed dedicated to killing the messengers so no one else can hear the reality that conflicts with their illusion. He has many tie-them-to-the-railroad-tracks types of villainy: lawsuits against the press to intimidate and silence them; kicking them out of the press pool and bringing in right-wing “reporters” who only praise him; withholding crucial money from universities; threatening to impeach judges who rule against him; canceling funding for scientific research; and so on.
The most popular technique to “shoot” the messenger is to villainize them by questioning their motives, their race, or their gender. Basically, it’s the same name-calling we experienced in grade school. But even more insidious is shooting the message.
The U.S. proudly hails itself as a melting pot of different cultures that when combined forge a stronger metal than any single ingredient. However, that message is being erased in a flurry of anti-DEI hysteria (see below) and scientific misinformation (see below). They see themselves as Jack Nicholson screaming to Americans, “You can’t handle the truth!” They are right that some people can’t handle the truth—any truth. The vast majority not only want the truth, we demand it. And we see any effort to suppress or manipulate the truth as an attack on the basic principles of this country.