First They Come For Harvard, Then They Come for Your Church
On presidential retribution, a kooky Kennedy, new U.S. citizens and My Reply to your questions.
Welcome to the Thursday Mash: My take on today’s headlines and My Reply to your pesky questions.
Item #1: Tax-exempt Status for Churches at Risk
Evangelicals who strongly support President Trump need to block this latest White House policy. The precedent could cost their churches dearly.
The Trump administration has asked the Internal Revenue Service’s top attorney to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status, according to The Washington Post, an escalation of Trump’s fight with Harvard’s handling of antisemitism and diversity practices.
Tax-exempt status is available to charitable, religious and educational organizations, as well as social welfare groups. They must adhere to tax laws that prohibit them from engaging in certain political activity.
A succession of U.S. presidents have given great leeway to American churches, almost all of whom engage in activities that some future president could easily classify as political.
These are the unintended consequences of government overreach: First they came for Harvard. Then they came for my church.
Item #2: The Autism Bigot
As a father of a young man with autism, I read this with fury: Our nation’s leading health official said Wednesday that autism is preventable.
“Genes don’t cause epidemics,” said Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “You need an environmental toxin.”
Kennedy is not a scientist or a doctor. He is a discredited and deceitful conspiracy trafficker who runs Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services, whose doctors, scientists and researches say he’s wrong. As the New York Times reported.
“Autism rates among children have increased nearly fivefold since 2000, when the C.D.C. first began collecting data on the condition’s incidence in children. The C.D.C.’s new report attributed some of the increase in autism’s prevalence to more screening for the condition. And researchers have pointed to several other factors, including greater awareness of what autism looks like, more access to services, more parents having children later in life and broader definitions of the disorder.”
Kennedy’s unfounded claims are scaring parents away from vaccines, a trend that is breathing new life into dead diseases — and killing kids.
He’s a bigot.
Item #3: Make America Welcoming Again
At a time when, and in a country where, immigrants are under attack — demonized, delegitimized and deported — 25 immigrants from around the world became U.S. citizens Wednesday during a naturalization ceremony in Detroit.
Ceremonies like it occur every day across the country, a small measure of normalcy in abnormal times. “I feel excited to be part of the political process. I can’t wait to vote. I can’t wait for my voice to be heard,” Jainaba Faal, 42, who came to the U.S. from Gambia to join her husband, told The Detroit Free Press. “It’s now time for me to give back to the United States.”
Faal, who lives in Dearborn Heights and works as a procurement expert at Michigan State University, spent three years working toward her citizenship. Before immigrating, she served in her home country’s government, and now dreams of one day working for the federal government in the U.S., she told the Free Press.
"It's now time for me to give back to the United States," Faal said.
It’s time for America to be more welcoming again.
My Reply
These exchanges are drawn from my Notes, in the comments section of my columns, and through the “Morning Read-In” feature for my paid subscribers.
Your questions are in italics. My answers are not.
Do MAGA concerns have merit?
, identified as a former Director of Policy Analysis at AIPAC, challenged my call for a broad coalition capable of eradicating MAGA with a fair question: “Do any of the concerns of MAGA have merit?”
REPLY: Yes. Many of MAGA concerns have merit including:
Porous U.S. borders
Economic policies, alliances, and trends that moved jobs offshore
National security alliances that rely too much on U.S. spending and were used to justify failed wars
Some DEI policies and language that might go too far, even for people deeply committed to diversity, equity and inclusion
Lost of trust in all social institutions, particularly the two major parties (a duopoly) and the media.
Two things can be true:
MAGA concerns are legitimate and shared outside Trump’s orbit of voters
MAGA policies and tactics used to address those concerns are bad for those same voters, and their concerns are being exploited by Trump to undermine democracy.
The Democratic Party can win the occasional swing election without understanding how to separate legitimate concerns from illegitimate responses. But Democrats will never fully eradicate Trumpism unless they offer radical and positive solutions to those concerns.
“Authoritarianism is here!”
didn’t think my “It’s Worse Than You Think” column was strong enough. “Ron, it’s already worse than you think because he’s already marched into authoritarianism. The crisis is here NOW!”
REPLY: I appreciate your passion, Dale. But the United States is still a democratic republic. While we must take Trump’s threats to seize ultimate power seriously and literally, we should keep our language grounded in the present. If for no other reason than to leave room for escalation of our rhetoric and actions should things get worse.
knows the way to “My Reply” is through my Detroit sports franchises. “Could you kindly share your thoughts on the loss of the most significant components of the coaching staff for your beloved Lions? The Chicago Bears would like to extend their sincere gratitude.”
REPLY: Ouch, Bob.
In Dan Campbell I trust. I believe great leaders know how to identify and recruit great talent, and the loss of an outstanding young offensive coordinator to the Chicago Bears is an opportunity to recruit another, maybe even better, offensive coordinator.
I agree with most of your comments about legitimate MAGA concerns. Howsoever I disagree with this premise
"National security alliances that rely too much on U.S. spending and were used to justify failed wars" These failed wars were of the USA's making and we dragged our allies with us but the justifications for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ( both of which I was vehemently opposed to) were cooked up by our departments of Defense and State.
They have used this as an excuse for our abdicating our role in the world protecting democracy. As I often note my father didn't watch thousands of fellow Marines at Iwo Jima for this- you don't get to be the greatest country in the world by sitting on the sidelines while tyrants prey on weaker neighbors.