Five Questions with The Chickens

It has been a long week, full of new and developing stories to stay on top of and catch up on. Overall, the trend is encouraging—Trump is continuing to lose ground with the public.

This is a daily average of polls from the New York Times on Trump’s presidential approval rating, conducted by dozens of different organizations since Inauguration Day.

He’s also in free fall with the senators in what’s being called the “YOLO” (you only live once) caucus, the informal group of outgoing Republicans like John Cornyn and Bill Cassidy who lost primary challenges against Trump-endorsed candidates, and Thom Tillis, who gave up and didn’t even try to run again. They are pushing back against Trump on some issues, only because they have little left to lose, politically speaking. But they are hitting the mark with him in some cases, although let’s not pretend this is anything even resembling an outbreak of courage.

All told, more people are beginning to see Trump as an emperor without clothing.

The situation with the Reflecting Pool, an iconic part of the National Mall that many Americans have visited in person, seems to have caught hold. Trump spent $16 million of our tax dollars to “fix” something that wasn’t broken, breaking it in the process of handing over all of that money in the form of no-bid contracts to his Mar-a-Lago neighbor, John J. Cafaro, who is also a donor.

The Reflecting Pool is a mess, with chips of “American Flag Blue” paint Trump used in his failed effort to make it conform to his vision of how it should look. Now, Trump is going to spend more of our money to correct his mistake. It turns out “I alone can fix it” was just another one of his lies—and people can see it for themselves in peeling American Blue paint accented with algae bloom. Let’s hope that this moment of clarity lasts. It should be accelerated by the development we discussed last night, with a federal judge ordering the administration to turn over parts of the Epstein Files it has tried to withhold despite the clear dictates of the Transparency Act. The fever dream could finally be ready to break.

The fact that we are making progress doesn’t make this stretch of history any less difficult to live through. It’s a trying time where the question, “How are you?” takes on real meaning.

I try to devote our Friday nights to a deep dive into an important matter, where we can learn from an expert. When it comes to dealing with stress and burnout, I turn to my chickens. They always keep me on an even keel. So, in lieu of one of our usual Friday night guests, I’ve asked them for help.

The chickens definitely have some thoughts about coping.

Five Questions is usually behind a paywall, the only Civil Discourse post that is, and my way of thanking paid subscribers for their support. But in this moment, the advice these friends have to offer us is far too important to restrict, so no paywall tonight.

Here are five pieces of advice for surviving the Trump era, from the chickens:

1. Never be afraid to let a friend watch over you—we all need someone to take care of us sometimes. I’m beyond grateful for friends who do this!

2. Don’t be afraid to step out on your own. It can be revitalizing, and you may find important work to do along the way or new groups you can turn to for good trouble and support.

3. But it’s also good to hang out with friends. Sometimes, you just need to hang out in fellowship with the ones you’ve known forever.

4. Don’t be afraid to try and make new friends. Even if you have to try it from a distance at first, you never know when it might pay off.

5. Bonus Advice: When all else fails, act silly with your bestie. Don’t worry about how you look or who’s watching you. It can be the best form of therapy.

Enjoy your weekend!

We’re in this together,

Joyce