If you didn’t see Last Week Tonight with Jon Oliver last night, the Main Story was on tasers.  It's an interesting story, and often pretty funny -- though for a lot of it, my reaction was sort of "...okay, yes, and...??"  But as the report develops, they move into other areas, and that's where it kicks in the most.
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​One new Trump Executive Order caught my eye last week.  It didn’t get much attention, most especially compared to some of his others.  But it did catch mine.  To be clear, there are far more destructive actions that the Trump administration has taken, complicit with the MAGOP Congress enacting the policies, which impact the daily life of Americans – like dismantling Social Security, imposing tariffs on allies that increase prices in the U.S., deporting people without due process, firing masses of federal employees, eliminating expert medical standards and more.  But this new Executive Order – while much less impactful than any of these – may be among the easiest to see as indicative of how the Trump administration and MAGOPs have become fascist in its purest societal sense.
 
The other issues are more destructive to personal lives, but being political at the core of their actions can get them mistaken by the public without noticing the fascist intent.  (“We’re just trying to get rid of excess.  We’re just trying to get rid of fraud.  We’re just trying to keep America safe” – despite not doing any of that).  But this recent Executive Order has none of that as its foundation.  It’s purely ideological and social, and attempting to impose fascist beliefs on all American thought and history.
 
It's Trump’s Executive Order that targets museums, culture and art centers that receive federal funding.  And at the core of its focus is the crown jewel of the country’s culture, the Smithsonian Institution.
 
We saw a precursor to this when Trump took over control of the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, making himself its chairman of the board and stocking the rest of the board with his acolytes.  The financial and artistic impact to the Kennedy Center has been profound, as acts have cancelled (including a scheduled run of the musical Hamilton), ticket sales have been drying up, and donations have dwindled.  Devastating as this is, and as notable as the Kennedy Center is, the direct impact is largely felt by the theater itself, since the various performances can rescheduled elsewhere and money can be spent to support other artistic endeavors.  Mostly, this speaks to Trump’s intent to control art and culture – no small thing, and it leads directly to his new Executive Order.
 
All of which, it must always been reiterated, is enabled by the MAGOPs in Congress, who enact his policies and are complicit in them all.
 
Trump’s Executive Order states vice-president “Vance,” who is a member of the Smithsonian’s board of regents, work with Congress and the Office of Management and Budget to defund exhibits that present "improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology."
 
It also calls for a policy against programs it claims will “degrade shared American values [and] divide Americans based on race”.  And a commitment by the governing board “to advancing the policy of this order”.  As for who that board be -- the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents is made up of the vice president, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, three Senators, three Representatives…and nine citizens -- who the Executive Order states would be broadly in agreement with Trump’s decree, all appointed by “Vance” and the MAGOP-controlled Congress.
 
Two immediate, important things must be noted:
 
The first is that, as we’ve seen in long-standing Trump and MAGA actions, “shared American values” are those shared only by white conservatives and by those, as the order itself states bluntly, who agree with Trump’s decree.  And anything that “divides” American by race is only that which upsets white people who believe they or their ancestors never did anything harmful to black people or minorities, including slavery.
 
And second, museums are not federal agencies.  They exist as archives of what existed in history, both noble and tragic, and everything in between, so that societies can study the past and learn from it.
 
The importance of all this, even if it is of far-less harmful impact on people’s daily lives, is that, in Trump’s own words, it is about “ideology.” And that permeates everything.  It’s the “Thought Police” concept which not only liberals, but MAGOP conservatives rail against.  It’s Trump and complicit MAGOPs in Congress (and “Congress” is in Trump’s order…) trying to impose their ideology and thought on the culture of America.
 
Indeed, when decrying exhibits that, to their fascist view, have “improper, divisive or anti-American ideology”, it’s near-impossible to not be reminded of parallels to actions by Nazis in the 1920-30s against what they called “degenerative art.”  Rather than let culture develop as a reflection of society, which is what culture is, for good or ill, this is imposing one’s self-interested restrictions to limit thought and freedom.  And make no mistake, those restrictions aren’t “merely” about art, but when you limit thought and freedom, it permeates everywhere.
 
That’s why this Executive Order by Trump, with MAGOPs in Congress complicit, is so easy to spot.  It’s not about anything grounded in politics, it’s only pure ideology.  And this case, that ideology is fascism.
 
While this order mostly impacts The Smithsonian Institution, it’s not limited to it.  Furthermore, the Smithsonian Institution, which began 178 years ago, is far more than “just” a museum.  It’s a sprawling collection of facilities that covers a scholarly research complex, monuments that are run by the Department of the Interior, libraries, and 21 separate museums that include, beyond the Smithsonian structure itself, the Air & Space Museum and the American Art Museum.  And the National Zoo!  All of this together is the world’s largest museum and research center. When people call it the “crown jewel” of American culture, that is not hyperbole.
 
That’s what Trump and the MAGOPs in Congress want to reshape into their own, personal ideology.  That’s what so easy to grasp – at least if you are honest and want to take an open look.  That’s what this is – turning a renowned, expansive museum of almost 200 years into a manifesto.  It doesn’t matter what that ideology is, there is no foundation for doing it.  This isn’t about fixing Social Security, enacting tariffs, protecting the border, balancing the budget, getting rid of waste.  It’s a museum – the arts, cultural, history research center of the United States since August, 1846.  A repository of American society – left, right and center, all that’s good and all that isn’t.  It is not only improbable that anyone who voted for Trump and MAGOPs did so thinking they wanted the Smithsonian Institution restructured into a fascist ideology center, which Trump is trying to do – and taking control of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts – it is improbable (bordering on the impossible) that anyone who voted for any candidate...ever, since their founding...did so thinking they wanted the Smithsonian Institution and Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts restructured in any way.
 
And to be clear, for all this…the Smithsonian isn't even a federal agency. It does receive federal funds, though only about 60% of its funding is from the federal government.  Private sources, trust funds, grants and business activities make up the rest. Yet, despite not being a federal agency, Trump and MAGOPs in Congress want to control its ideology.
 
An ideology whose mission for 178 years has been the glory of the United States and a beacon to the world to present history and culture, free and open thought, whatever it may be.
 
And in the end, all of this aside, if “improper, divisive or anti-American ideology” were the actual standard we go by, then a leader and party that enact the illegal mass firings of Americans overturned by courts while defying court orders against illegal deportations, calling all those you disagree with your “enemies” while demanding the impeachment of judges who rule against you, and placing tariffs on your allies as you protect the interests of the country’s enemy Russia, then Trump – and his complicit MAGOP party – would be the first and only ones to be impacted by the order.  Most especially since it’s the core of fascism.

On this week’s ‘Not My Job’ segment of the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the guest contestant is SNL’s Vanessa Bayer.  Her conversation with guest host Tom Papa is charmingly funny and also surprising in the direction it goes for a challenge she faced. 
 
This is the full Wait, Wait… broadcast, but you can jump directly to the “Not My Job” segment, it starts around the 18:30 mark.  

On this week’s Naked Lunch podcast, hosts Phil Rosenthal and David Wild offer highlights from previous shows when they sat down with actors.  They write that “This week's ‘Naked Lunch’ episode kicks off with three Oscar-winners, and it's an honor just to be nominated to listen to this episode!”  The guests include – Allison Janney, Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Paul Reiser, Kevin Bacon, Henry Winkler and more.

From the archives.  The contestant is Austin Hooper from Waco, Texas.  If you can’t get the hidden song, you’re not trying.  For that matter, if you can’t get it within about five seconds, you probably weren’t paying attention.  As for the composer style, I didn’t feel confident in my guess, and was wrong – though the correct answer was a guess I rejected.

The guest on this episode of the Al Franken podcast from a few weeks back is journalist Peter Beinart.   As Al writes, “With a confusing ceasefire deal underway in Gaza, we take a look at the path forward with Peter Beinart. Beinart serves as editor-at-large for Jewish Currents, is a frequent analyst on MSNBC, and has authored a new book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning. The book examines the history of Israel and how Jews have responded to the events of October 7th and its horrifying aftermath. Beinart discusses Israeli power and his hopes for its “moral reconstruction.” We also discuss both Joe Biden’s role in the conflict and how the region moves forward with the questionable leadership of Donald Trump.”