Month: April 2025

In desperate times like these, average citizens must take action. Anyone who cares must use their voice to oppose the fact that public safety net programs are being crippled, that people are being abducted and sent to foreign prisons without any due process of law, that women’s rights to reproductive healthcare and voting are threatened, that medical and environmental research are being defunded, that books and history are being banned, that government workers are being fired, that the department of education is being dismantled along with FEMA, that the rule of law and the Constitution are being ignored, that trans people are having their rights taken away, that ludicrous tariffs are causing prices to rise and tanking the economy, and that the nation is becoming a pariah in the world.

What is your chosen voice of opposition? Is it protesting in the streets? Is it boycotting? Is it in the arts? Is it showing up at the office of representatives or a Tesla dealership? Is it making social media posts? Is it donating to opposition organizations? Big numbers in peaceful opposition from every corner and in every way is required to meet this moment.

One of my ways to express my opposition is emailing or writing letters to political leaders (like the one I share here.) I also sent a letter yesterday to house minority leader Hakeen Jeffries, encouraging him to speak and act more boldly in opposition to the corrupt and evil Republican agenda that harms our democracy and ruins the lives of many people.

April 12, 2025

Dear Speaker Mike Johnson,

With each passing day, I have less confidence that you and the Republican lawmakers are motivated to help average Americans in their pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.  I watch you condone the cruelty, lawlessness, corruption, and unconstitutional executive orders coming from Trump and I see you abdicate your congressional duty as a co-equal branch of government, elected by the American people to represent them and to uphold the Constitution.  Your refusal to hold Trump accountable and your endorsement of policies and actions that harm Americans and human beings who have migrated here for a better life is repulsive to me.  I want my tax dollars to provide a safety net for Americans, to protect the environment for future generations, and to build an infrastructure that enables Americans to work hard, innovate, and thrive.  

On another note, I deeply resent Trump’s plan to spend $100 million dollars on a military parade to celebrate his birthday.  It’s vulgar!  We do not have a king and the great majority of us do not want a king. And if we did, he would not be worthy of the position with his sloppiness, corruption, lack of empathy, and blatant incompetence.  He is a bully and a thug and sadly, you continue to empower him. Shame on you!

I once thought you had the welfare of the American people in mind, but no longer.  I see that you are about power, money, and installing a ruthless theocracy that is similar to the Taliban: oppressive, cruel, incompetent, devoid of empathy and incapable of harnessing the talents and gifts of its people.  Like Trump, you deal in oppression, discrimination, lies, and fearmongering to advance your evil agenda while lining the pockets of billionaires at the expense of the average Americans.  You want to erase history, multiculturalism, basic human rights, and to silence Americans who disagree with your unconstitutional vision for this country.    

But even more important, I’m deeply disappointed in your distortion of Christianity.  You give God and His Son a bad name with your cruel and ruthless legislative agenda.  Jesus told us that we will know a tree by the fruit that it bears.  Your agenda proves that you are one of those people Jesus spoke about in Matthew 7: 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

Then in Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus says: “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.  All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them, one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.  And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.  The King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.”  Jesus goes on to declare in verse 40, “And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to Me.”  And then in verses 45-46 He describes the eternal punishment that awaits those who did not help those in need.  

Your legislative agenda will inflict harm upon the poor, upon women, and upon the immigrant.  It will disempower women, the educated, and talented who drive this nation forward. I see no compassion, no empathy, and no understanding of the struggle many Americans face when it comes to accessing the necessities required to thrive. There seems to be no regard for the basic freedoms of every American. We are headed to be like North Korea or Afghanistan.  We will soon be a nation filled with terrified, ignorant, sick, and hungry people, isolated from the rest of the world.  You and your friends will be drunk with power and money as you rule over ashes. I wonder if you will even notice.  I predict this country will be incapable of producing the talent and productivity the world once admired. Trump is already pushing the most intelligent scholars in the world to other countries with his anti-immigration policies. The brain-drain away from the United States is already happening. The masses in this country will soon be in survival mode and no innovation or real productivity comes from that. This country will soon fall far behind other nations who welcome immigrants, value their people, protect them, educate them, and empower them.

I can’t imagine that this is the future you desire for our country, but it is the future that awaits us if you do not change course by first doing your job as a co-equal branch of government and a member of Congress who took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic.  At this point, you aren’t even doing your duty as a Christian. Both God and history will not look kindly upon you if you fail to change course.

Sincerely,

Dr. Juanita Hall, Voting Citizen

I’ve been glad to see the Town Hall contentious interactions with Republicans lawmakers. I was also elated to see the massive street protests across the country yesterday. I hope the resistance continues to grow to the point they can no longer be ignored by MAGA and the Republicans who fear Trump. Noticeably absent from the Town Halls and the street protests are people of color, specifically black faces, and I understand why. We feel that we did our job sounding the alarm prior to election day and then we voted in mass for Harris. We are protesting on social media and with our wallets through various boycotts. We recognize that this power struggle over the direction of the country belongs to white people even though we will be disproportionately suffering from the cruel and reckless Trump policies if the indecent white folks win. Our greatest responsibility is to protect ourselves.

There are a few people I watch and listen to when it comes to my wellbeing with regards to my finances, health, political participation, and gardening. For example, after the election, I followed Warren Buffet in a move to cash, divesting enough cash from the market in late 2024 and early 2025 to last seven years. I put that money into a high yield savings account and certificates of deposit. I also reduced my monthly stock market investments by 75%, limiting my remaining investment to a single index fund. And I made a commitment to not look at the stock market. And then we looked to reduce future spending.

In anticipation of a Trump induced financial turndown with his threatened tariffs (now reality), we made household upgrades. including an expansion of our food pantry and then purchased food staples, stocked up on everyday household items and then expanded our produce garden. We purchased seeds as opposed to seedlings (a fraction of the price) and learned from YouTube videos how to grow produce from seeds. I stockpiled clothes, crafting items, birthday gifts, and Christmas gifts for 2025 and 2026, purchasing these items during black Friday and the after Christmas sales.

When it comes to protecting our health, we listened carefully to the information and experiences surrounding Medicare advantage versus Medigap plans and chose Medigap for our medical care needs. Medigap plans may be more expensive, however, they offer greater protections and access to healthcare when it is really needed. On another note, I have very little confidence in this Administration’s public health decisions, so I’m paying special attention to maintaining my health. We’ve received all the recommended vaccines and doctor’s checkups, including dental visits. Part of this added attention to our health includes avoiding big crowds and wearing a mask in public. Since the fires and living in an earthquake zone, we upgraded our emergency kit to include a solar-powered generator and additional items. Under this administration, we anticipate that less aid will be available following a disaster. At this point, I’ve decided I’m not comfortable flying. However, we did renew our passports as a precaution.

Our mental health is important to us. We decided to spend our discretionary funds investing in ourselves, our relationships, helping the needy and helping to fund the political fight to save our country and the freedoms of our children and grandchildren. Our priority is maintaining our mental and physical health and that of our family members. Beyond that, we donate to political candidates and to organizations fighting in the courts on behalf of our rights. We continue to donate to fund medical research, food charities, and scholarships because we are all in this together.

We’ve noticed that the news is always disturbing these days, so we limit ourselves to small bites of news each day and limit our discussions of Trump and his latest act of cruelty. My husband has taken to watching cartoons and crime stories while I listen to music a lot more. I’m walking and stretching and doing breathing exercises to relieve stress. These practices also improve my physical stamina and flexibility. We’re both spending more time in the backyard enjoying the flowers and the birds and doing a lot of gardening. I’m making our favorite foods. We rely on pictures and videos of our grandchildren to make us laugh and smile throughout the day. Their futures are a huge motivator for us.

In this time of national distress, we cannot do nothing. While some people are taking to the streets to protest, I prefer to make my political posts each morning to encourage others to also stay in the fight for our decency, democracy, and our rights. We are participating in the Target boycott. We haven’t shopped in Target since January 31st. We frequently engage in conversations with busy family and friends to keep them informed and I frequently write to lawmakers to share my thoughts as well. And of course, I write this blog.

Horrible things are happening every day to innocent people. The cruelty, lawlessness, lies, and incompetence makes us angry. We find ourselves in a perpetual state of distress that no one asked for (not even a lot of Trump voters). So, it is imperative that we take additional steps to care for ourselves and our loved ones. In addition, it is required of us as patriots to do our part to resist the forces that seek to undermine our freedoms, destroy the rule of law and crash our economy.