‘Slow-moving coup d’etat of our federal government’

In 2016 Steve Bannon, strategic political advisor to President Trump, said that their goal was “... the destruction of the administrative state,” aka our federal government.

Well, it’s happening.

Some may think that Mr. Trump’s dramatic changes in the way the federal government works will be a temporary shakeup, but we are actually in the middle of a slow-moving coup d’etat of our federal government.

First, Mr. Trump is appointing Cabinet directors that are unfamiliar with, or adversarial to, the mission of those agencies, crippling many of them and firing many senior nonpolitical technical experts.

Second, he is destroying the Civil Service, the system that ensures that all federal employees are loyal to the constitution, not an individual.

Third, he has eliminated the Inspectors General of these Cabinet agencies. Their job is to ensure that the agencies follow the law and are politically neutral.

The resulting chaos in these agencies will paralyze them, and all power will fall to Mr. Trump, who already controls Congress, the Supreme Court and many “news” agencies.

Buckle up!

— Don Eggleston, Aptos

No solution, but what Trump got right on Gaza

Donald Trump’s grand solution for Gaza is impractical, illegal and would cost American taxpayers billions of dollars and possible thousands of lives if it were attempted. However, he is correct that Gaza had the potential to be a thriving tourist destination. It has a long coastline and good weather. Once the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) took over after their electoral victory, things went in a different direction.

Had Hamas worked with Israel and Egypt to improve the infrastructure such as better roads and a port that could receive cruise ships instead of building rockets and digging over 300 miles of tunnels, Gaza could have been a destination for Europeans looking to escape harsh winters.

Hamas fought several wars with Israel, each one more costly to Gaza than the previous one.

Trump’s solution is no solution, but any solution will require Palestinian leaders who care about building a nation as opposed to destroying the one next to them.

— Gil Stein, Aptos

Wealth inequality: ‘Trump is actually on your side’

The prevalent reaction to Trump around here is somewhere between violent protest and non-stop resistance. What the locals don’t understand is Trump is actually on your side. Unjust wealth inequality is really the biggest beef around, and it is almost totally caused by inflation due to and also piled on to by the corruption of the federal government, waste fraud and abuse of the federal budget, and collusion between the federal government and the deep state oligarchs (corporations).

There seems to be also a misunderstanding how critical it is to correct this immediately, or risk sovereign default bankruptcy and civil chaos (end of days). Listen to the fraud and waste they are trying to correct, the common sense of it.

He is a man of the people. Don’t be a “useful idiot” played by the left.

— Garrett Philipp, Santa Cruz

Constitution overthrown by Trump and Musk

No shots were fired. No mobs filled the street. As I walked my dog this morning everything looked the same. Others were out with their dogs. Cars carried people to work or school. City trucks efficiently collected all our waste. But it was not the same. I no longer live in the United States of America as established by the Constitution of 1788. That order has been overthrown, discarded by President Trump and his crew headed by Elon Musk, who has no constitutional authority of any kind.

Whatever we have going forward is not yet known. The plan so far is to destroy. There is no plan to build.

I mourn.

— Stephen Brown, Santa Cruz

Grateful for continuing coverage of war in Ukraine

Thank you for the continuous updates and coverage of the war in Ukraine. It appears that much of the mainstream media seems to have forgotten about the daily plight, fight and suffering of the Ukrainian people.

On behalf of all Ukrainian-Americans (such as myself), a big Thank You!

— Gene Michalak, Santa Cruz