Too much distressing

I empathize with the woman who wrote on Threads this weekend that she’d like to wake up just one morning and not hear distressing or disturbing or disgusting news emanating from the White House. On Saturday morning, it was war with Iran. Every day some hellish thing greets us — some video of ICE agents grabbing a woman who screams with a thick accent; some zealous official forcing an institution to abandon efforts at diversity; some horrible social media post depicting the nation’s first Black president and First Lady as apes.

We can all relate. For more than a year now, we’ve been flooded with actions creating chaos and causing cuts, and with frequent allegations of corruption in the Trump regime. And then there’s Kash Patel, followed by Trump, getting Olympic gold medals around their necks — images that cannot be unseen.

There’s a lot that’s distressing. I had my own moment Saturday morning: Stood outside at 6:30 am and heard a chorus of birds singing, breaking the long winter silence. It was inspiring. Then, I picked up The Times and my eye went immediately to this headline: Birds Aren’t Just Declining. They’re Declining Faster, a New Study Finds.

The study correlated the further loss of bird populations with warming temperatures, the loss of habitat due to intensive farming and economic growth from land development. We’ve heard that before. That bird populations are falling faster is what’s distressing. And this news comes at a time when our country is led by an ignoramus who dismisses science and rejects climate change as a hoax.

If we get our country back, we are going to have to purge all the know-nothings and pro-authoritarians and put some power in the hands of bird lovers, tree huggers and people who love democracy.