Just 52 days in and we're already witnessing the spectacular implosion of American governance. Trump's second term has started exactly as anyone with half a functioning brain cell could have predicted: a chaotic shitstorm of terrible decisions, abrupt dismissals, and more congressional infighting than a dysfunctional family at Thanksgiving dinner. Let's dive into this festering cesspool of political incompetence that our nation has become.
The War on Culture: Goodbye Humanities, Hello Ignorance
In what can only be described as another deliberate attack on American intellectual life, Trump has directed Shelly Lowe to step down as chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities. This isn't just another routine changing of the guard—it's a calculated assault on the institutions that preserve our cultural heritage, foster critical thinking, and support scholarship that helps us understand our complex world.
Let's be crystal fucking clear about what's happening here: this administration has never valued education, artistry, or historical understanding. By pushing out Lowe, Trump is sending an unmistakable message that the humanities—the very disciplines that teach us how to think, question, and engage with our shared human experience—don't matter. It's anti-intellectualism masquerading as governance, and every American should be absolutely livid.
Lowe, a member of the Navajo Nation and the first Native American to lead the NEH, brought crucial perspective to an organization responsible for supporting cultural projects across the country. Her departure isn't just a personal loss—it's symbolic of this administration's disdain for diverse leadership and cultural preservation. The agency spokesperson Paula Wasley confirmed Lowe's departure "at Trump's direction," which is political code for "she wasn't willing to turn the NEH into another propaganda factory."
Guantánamo and Immigration: Chaos Disguised as Policy
In a whiplash-inducing policy reversal, the Trump administration has emptied Guantánamo of migrants, sending all 40 detainees—including 23 so-called "high threat" individuals—back to the United States. No future deportation flights to the island are scheduled. This might sound humanitarian on the surface, but don't be fooled for a goddamn second.
This isn't about compassion. This is about creating more domestic chaos and fueling anti-immigrant sentiment. By bringing these individuals back to American soil—after specifically labeling nearly two dozen of them as "high threat"—the administration gets to have it both ways: they get to manufacture a crisis while claiming they're the only ones who can solve it.
The erratic nature of this decision betrays its true purpose. One minute Guantánamo is essential for "national security," and the next it's being emptied without explanation. This isn't policy—it's performance art for a base that feeds on fear and outrage. The migrants themselves are merely pawns in a disgusting political game where actual human lives are treated as expendable plot devices.
Media Burnout: When Even the Professionals Can't Take It
When MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell announces he's taking a break because he's exhausted by the first 52 days of Trump's second term, we should all sit up and pay attention. These are professional journalists whose entire careers revolve around covering political turmoil, and even they're reaching their breaking point.
O'Donnell, who has weathered political storms for decades, cited sheer exhaustion with the administration's chaos as his reason for stepping away. Think about that for a moment. The people whose job it is to process and explain political developments to the rest of us are becoming so overwhelmed that they need to physically remove themselves from the coverage.
This isn't just a personal decision by one journalist—it's a canary in the coal mine. When media professionals start taking breaks just to preserve their sanity, it tells us something profoundly disturbing about the state of our democracy. The relentless assault on norms, decency, and coherence isn't just a political problem—it's becoming a public health issue as millions of Americans experience the psychological toll of constant governmental chaos.
O'Donnell plans to return to continue coverage through the administration's first 100 days, but his temporary departure speaks volumes about the unsustainable nature of Trump's governance style. Exhaustion isn't just a personal issue—it's a deliberate political strategy designed to wear down resistance and normalize the unacceptable.
The Democratic Response: Profiles in Cowardice
While the Republican wrecking ball swings freely through our institutions, Democrats seem determined to perfect the art of the strategic retreat. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has declined to run for Senate in Michigan, choosing instead to "help candidates who share his values." Translation: I'll tweet supportively from the sidelines while others do the actual work of governance.
This pattern of Democratic timidity extends to Congress, where Senate Democrats privately indicate they won't allow a government shutdown despite pressure from activists and liberal lawmakers to oppose the GOP spending bill. Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is giving centrists in his caucus room to vote for the House-passed continuing resolution, effectively surrendering before the battle has even begun.
This spineless approach to opposition is why we're in this mess to begin with. While Republicans operate with ruthless efficiency to implement their agenda—no matter how destructive—Democrats continue to prioritize "bipartisanship" and "norms" in a political environment where those concepts have been dead and buried for years.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune's gracious offer to be "open" to giving Democrats an amendment vote on a monthlong funding patch in exchange for Democratic votes on a six-month spending bill isn't compromise—it's extortion dressed up as negotiation. And the Democratic response? Roll over and show your belly, apparently.
The CDC Catastrophe: Putting Anti-Science at the Helm
In perhaps the most dangerous development of all, the White House was forced to withdraw Dave Weldon's nomination to lead the CDC after Sen. Patty Murray revealed Weldon believes vaccines are linked to autism—a thoroughly debunked conspiracy theory that has contributed to the resurgence of preventable diseases.
Let that sink in for a minute. The administration nominated someone who rejects basic scientific consensus to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This isn't just incompetence—it's active sabotage of public health. Nominating a "vaccine skeptic" to lead the CDC is like appointing an arsonist as fire chief.
The withdrawal of Weldon's nomination isn't a victory—it's evidence of how dangerously low the bar has fallen. The fact that such a nomination was even considered shows the administration's contempt for expertise, science, and public health. They're not even trying to hide their disdain for evidence-based governance anymore.
Congressional Dysfunction: Shutdown Theater Returns
The seemingly endless cycle of government shutdown threats continues, with no votes on continuing resolutions expected until Friday—conveniently timed just before congressional delegation trips are scheduled to leave. Nothing says "dedicated public service" quite like manufacturing a crisis and then resolving it just in time for your taxpayer-funded junket.
This isn't governance—it's hostage-taking masquerading as fiscal responsibility. The Republican majority holds basic government functions ransom to extract concessions that they could never achieve through normal legislative processes. And the most infuriating part? It works, time and time again, because Democrats lack the spine to call their bluff.
The "ball is in Democrats' court to avert a shutdown," according to Thune—a masterclass in gaslighting that places the responsibility for preventing a crisis squarely on those who didn't create it. It's like setting someone's house on fire and then blaming them for not having better fire extinguishers.
The Bigger Picture: Democracy in Critical Condition
When we zoom out from the day-to-day chaos, a terrifying pattern emerges. This isn't just incompetence or partisan politics as usual—it's a systematic dismantling of functional governance, expertise, and accountability. The attacks on cultural institutions, the erratic policy reversals, the nomination of unqualified ideologues, and the constant brinkmanship over basic government functions aren't isolated incidents—they're features of a deliberate strategy to undermine democratic norms and consolidate power.
The most dangerous aspect of all this isn't any single decision or nomination—it's the cumulative effect of constant chaos. When every day brings a new outrage, it becomes impossible to focus on any single issue long enough to mount effective resistance. This isn't an accident—it's by design. The administration floods the zone with so much shit that meaningful accountability becomes practically impossible.
As journalist Masha Gessen has noted in her work on authoritarianism, "The purpose of autocratic language is to create and normalize abnormality."[1] What we're witnessing is precisely this process—the normalization of governance through crisis, the elevation of loyalty over competence, and the deliberate erosion of the very concept of shared truth.
What Now? Resistance Isn't Futile—It's Essential
So where does this leave us, 52 days into what promises to be four long years of this bullshit? Exhausted, certainly. Outraged, definitely. But hopefully not defeated.
The one silver lining in all this darkness is that resistance to authoritarianism isn't just possible—it's happening every day, in ways both large and small. When Sen. Murray exposed Weldon's anti-vaccine views, she forced the administration to withdraw his nomination. When journalists and citizens continue to document and decry each new attack on norms and institutions, they create a record that refuses to normalize the abnormal.
As historian Timothy Snyder argues in his work on tyranny, "Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government would want, and then offer themselves without being asked."[2]
This means refusing to become numb to the outrages, continuing to hold elected officials accountable, supporting independent journalism, and never accepting the unacceptable as "just how things are now." It means showing up for local elections, becoming active in community organizations, and recognizing that democracy isn't something that happens every four years—it's something that requires constant maintenance and vigilance.
The next 100 days—and the 1,308 days after that—will test our collective resolve and our democratic institutions in unprecedented ways. The question isn't whether we'll face more crises and outrages—we absolutely will. The question is whether we'll maintain the capacity for principled outrage and the commitment to something better.
Because one thing is crystal clear after just 52 days: this isn't normal, and we can't afford to pretend that it is.
Citations
The Hill Staff Collective. 2025 “Live updates: Senate Democrats weigh shutdown options; Trump to meet NATO leader” The Hill
Schonfeld, Z. 2025 “Dem AGs sue over Trump administration’s Education Department layoffs” The Hill