Trump Threatens to End Free Speech & GOP Politicians Admit They Don't Like the Big Beautiful Bill They Voted For
June 9, 2025
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: Every generation tries to define what America means to them.
Trump warns Musk of ‘very serious consequences’ if he backs Democrats: When a president publicly threatens a private citizen to stop him from supporting any political party, it’s the end of democracy. I wish that were hyperbole.
Gavin Newsom calls threats to deploy US marines in California ‘deranged’: Trump unnecessarily deploys National Guard to suppress protests to punish California for not liking him. Predictably, it made things worse.
Hegseth orders the Navy to strip gay rights leader Harvey Milk's name off ship: There is no rational reason for this except to announce to America that being gay is not American enough.
'We are all going to die' - Senator's healthcare comment sparks row: It’s always enlightening when rich politicians dismiss the health concerns of average Americans by telling them they’re going to die someday anyway.
Hitler-Quoting GOP Rep Makes Jaw-Dropping Religious Blunder: When you read this, remember that people actually voted her into office, despite missing a brain and any integrity. DEI?
Marjorie Taylor Greene Admits She Didn’t Read Trump Mega Bill She Voted For: Several GOP Representatives are complaining about the “big beautiful bill” they voted for but forgot to read.
$1.7 trillion sits in lost and forgotten 401(k) accounts. Is one of them yours?: My PSA hoping you find some misplaced money here.
Kareem’s Video Break: I’ve seen my children do this.
Kareem’s Sports Moments: The impossible save is a highlight for every athlete.
Buffalo Springfield: “For What It's Worth”: This song was part of the counter-culture soundtrack of the sixties. It still works today.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
“Kathy, I'm lost,” I said, though I knew she was sleeping
I'm empty and aching and I don't know why
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all come to look for America
Paul Simon from “America” (1968)
What is America?
Every generation has its unique group of poets/songwriters trying to capture their struggle to define what America means to them. Walt Whitman’s 1888 poem “America” captured the optimism of a young nation still confident of its moral center:
Centre of equal daughters, equal sons,
All, all alike endear'd, grown, ungrown, young or old,
Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,
Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love,
A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother,
Chair'd in the adamant of Time.
Nearly 150 years later, the basic ideas of equality and justice are still at the core of what we claim are our national values. But do our present actions contradict those values? That is the important question every generation hands to the next.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how this younger generation will express their struggle to define the current spiraling America we’re in. Regardless of the generation, the battle is usually simplified to the Promise of America that our children are raised on, and the Reality of America that they experience as they mature. There is a resentment about the hypocrisy as well as a feeling of being disrespected that is always expressed, regardless of the generation. That’s a natural reaction to fully learning that life isn’t fair and the world doesn’t revolve around them.
Once their naive expectations have been adjusted, their concerns are legitimate about what efforts this country is making to address the level of unfairness rather than add to it. That is the search for America of every generation.
That search is a journey, which is why our literature often describes it as a literal journey, a symbolic road trip. Whether it’s Huckleberry Finn on the river, driving cross-country in On the Road, or astride motorcycles in Easy Rider, the trip opens our eyes to the harsh reality of what the country is and the dreamy optimism of what it could be.
Paul Simon transformed a five-day road trip he took in 1964 with his girlfriend Cathy Chitty into a mythic quest for personal purpose within a national identity. He tells her while she’s sleeping (because he’s afraid to admit to her while she’s awake) that he’s lost: “I'm empty and aching and I don't know why.” He’s thinking about his future. Not just his career, but what life would be like in this country that had assassinated its president the year before and was filled with racial strife. When he says all the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike were looking for America, he’s acknowledging we’re all asking ourselves the same questions about how the country is a reflection of who we are as a people.
When this generation writes their songs and poems and novels and movies about the America they are facing, they will undoubtedly condemn America that is run by the worst traits in humanity: greed, selfishness, incompetence, irrationality, racism, misogyny, and lack of compassion. Will they also praise the older generations for fighting to reclaim an America that we can all be proud of: flawed but always striving to be better? Or will they be disappointed that we did so little?