This morning I caught up on Chump-related news, which was a mistake. I spent some time in a depressed funk, staring into space. Thought about calling in sick and going back to bed, but I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep enough. Then it switched over to a low-grade, fight-or-flight panic attack. Not nearly as bad as the ones I had at work in 2020 before lockdown and work-from-home, but still.
I guess I am going to go back to my low-caffeine protocol for a bit, and remove myself from more news-related forum threads. This morning I’m listening to calming and healing music. I’d absolutely go for a long walk around the lake if it weren’t for lingering ice and snow and still-cold temperatures. I may pause in the Spectraphon study, and just make some actual music. I have been playing Guild Wars 2 again (with a “male” elementalist who looks extremely femme, as an act of spite).
I get the distinct impression that Chump is a weak-willed, weak-minded, crumbling shell of a person, fully being manipulated by the Project 2025 folks and techbros. The executive orders smell of AI-generated text, as well as phrasing and vocabulary that Chump would never use himself, and he didn’t read them before signing them (the person passing him the papers to sign was summarizing what they were for). He’s already lost the plot several times in public appearances, and one of these days it’s all just going to unravel. But what will be left when it happens, I don’t know.
A slightly encouraging thing: I got an email last night from the State Department that they have begun processing my application. They really are working overtime to get as many done as they can. I just checked, and the DS-11 form hasn’t been changed and the form filler webpage still allows “X”. And the WH press secretary has announced that the executive order is not retroactive — existing passports will continue to be valid. Renewals will be forced to switch to sex assigned at birth, but adult passports last for 10 years, and all of the X passports are young enough to make it at least halfway into the next president’s term.
Also this darkly hilarious reminder that Chumpian “biological truth” is not based on biology or truth:
“Produces the large/small reproductive cell” is indeed a standard that biologists use — but even if this wording were changed to “at birth” it still be super awkward and the definitions circular. I will take my amusement where I can.