Friday Insights-June 20, 2025
Worry in Washington and everywhere else
As I wrote this piece last night, I was interrupted twice by violent waves of thunderstorms passing through the area where I live. Unlike parts of Washington, D.C., no trees fell here, and I did not lose electrical power, but for more than two hours, I thought both were possible.
Sometimes the possibility of disaster creates stress and worry, even if the feared disaster doesn’t come to pass. That was the case with the weather yesterday, and it seems to be the case with much of everything else going on in the world.
In the interest of brevity, I mention only two developments that caught my attention.
First, the President is considering using nuclear weapons to destroy Iran’s nuclear program. If he does so, he may ignite a world war.
Despite his boast that America was at peace for the entirety of his first term, Trump seems interested in war this time. He is fine with Israel, using American weaponry, “cleaning out” Gaza. And he has sided with Israel’s “preemptive” strike on Iran’s nuclear program.
Trump has moved significant military assets to Europe in preparation for a possible all-out war with Iran, and the assets may include nuclear weapons. That is worrisome, especially because of the juvenile threats and messaging Trump keeps making, much of it on social media.
A second worry this week takes the form of one of the cruelest actions yet taken by an administration that seems to specialize in them. He is shutting down suicide prevention services, a hotline that focused on LGBTQ people.
The Washington Post reports:
The Trump administration said it will shut down the national suicide prevention hotline’s LGBTQ youth-focused services, terminating a program designed to offer expert help to a group that is especially vulnerable to suicide.
. . .
The White House Office of Management and Budget characterized the service as an attempt to encourage children to embrace “radical gender ideology,” Reuters reported, a term the Trump administration has used repeatedly to target the LGBTQ community.
. . .
Lesbian, gay and bisexual teens are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers, and research indicates 40 percent of transgender people have attempted suicide, with youth rates the highest.
People will die as a result of this unnecessary, ideology-driven action.
HHS wishes POTUS Happy Birthday
As all of America knows, President Trump celebrated, in style, his 79th birthday on June 14th. He’s now on his way to the big 8-0.
Yesterday, I came across an X social media post of the Department of Health and Human Services. Somehow, DOGE managed not to fire the HHS employee(s) engaged in social media postings on X despite firing thousands of other employees engaged in medical research.
Was HHS doing any research into the decline in cognitive acuity in 79-year-olds? If they were, don’t expect the results to be published anytime soon.
Thank you.
Today’s Friday Insights is shorter than usual, not because there isn’t much to write about, but because I sense readers are not interested in a list, even with comments, of the week’s events. Such lists are readily available elsewhere.
Thank you for reading Friday Insights. As always, I welcome comments and other feedback.
Have a good weekend and hope for good news. We could use some.
© Copyright 2025 John Dean, all rights reserved.
I always am interested in what you have to say, John, and appreciate the chance to read it. Thank you.