[Corrected WITH audio] The message in Trump's silence about the firebombing of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence
April 14, 2025
Shortly after 2 a.m. on Sunday, a 38-year-old man jumped the security fence at the Pennsylvania Governor’s mansion and tried to kill Josh Shapiro and his family by firebombing the residence. We don’t know enough to speak with certainty, but one interpretation is that the attack was an attempt to commit a political assassination of the governor and concurrent mass murder of his family. An even more disturbing possible interpretation is that the firebombing was motivated by antisemitism directed against Pennsylvania’s Jewish governor on the first night of Passover.
As I write on Sunday evening, the perpetrator's motivation is unknown. But the firebombing and its after-effects are known—and they are horrific. Whatever the motivation and whoever the perpetrator, the attempted assassination of a governor and the murder of his family should shock the conscience of all Americans. The events demand immediate and unequivocal condemnation by the president and the nation’s leading law enforcement officials.
Instead, eighteen hours after the attack, there has been no public statement from Trump, the White House, the FBI, the US Attorney General, or the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The collective, coordinated silence by the federal government is shameful, indecent, and intentional. The silence will likely be interpreted by Trump's followers as a “wink-and-a-nod,” “good people on both sides” message of approval. The longer the silence continues, the stronger the message from Trump that violence is an acceptable method of political expression for his supporters.
At some point, the president, the FBI, and the Attorney General will be forced to make statements. They will likely be ambiguous statements. Instead of condemning the violence in unequivocal terms, they will emphasize the presumption of innocence and the need to gather more facts. The news cycle will move on, and Trump will never issue a full-throated condemnation of the violence. I dearly hope that my prediction will prove to be spectacularly wrong.
In the vacuum of Trump's silence, the perpetrator may become an anti-hero of the MAGA movement, a criminal lionized as a loner standing up against the deep state.
We cannot afford for our leaders to put on a coy show of innocence while soft-pedaling violence by right-wing extremists. In the last nine months, there have been three attempted political assassinations in America (two against Trump, one against Gov. Shapiro). As a nation, we have avoided national trauma by inches and minutes. When violence occurs, the only acceptable response is like that of Governor Shapiro on Sunday morning:
We don’t know the person’s specific motive yet. But we do know a few truths. First, this type of violence is not OK. This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society.
I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other, directed at one party or another, or one person or another, it is not OK. It has to stop. We have to be better than this.
See The Independent, Suspect arrested for arson attack on Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s home.
Every minute of delay by Trump in condemning the attack on Governor Shapiro’s residence is an abomination. Trump's silence is depraved. And I cannot help but think that some of the nation’s pre-eminent law firms have mortgaged their reputations to Trump in exchange for greater profitability in the short term. They are granting Trump a veneer of legitimacy at the very moment he is presiding over the state-sponsored kidnapping and rendition of migrants to an El Salvador prison that has been called a “black hole of human rights.”
We cannot allow violence to be normalized by silence, praise, or ambiguous statements that serve as coded encouragement to Trump's base.
Trump administration refuses to provide information regarding Abrego Garcia in daily status reports.
After the Supreme Court issued a mealy-mouthed opinion that asked the government to “share” whatever information it felt like sharing about efforts to facilitate the return of El Salvadoran immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the government has refused to provide any relevant information to Judge Paula Xinis. See Chris Geidner on BlueSky (chrisgeidner.bsky.social), who reports that in a government filing over the weekend,
In today's declaration filed by the government in Kilmar Abrego Garcia's case, the govt still provides no information or past or current efforts to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return. Instead, an asst director of ICE suggests that Abrego Garcia "is no longer eligible for withholding of removal."
So, three days after the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to provide information about its efforts to “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia, the government has provided no information about such efforts. The government did disclose on Friday that Abrego Garcia is still alive and incarcerated in the El Salvadoran prison.
Because of the ambiguity and weak language in the Supreme Court’s order, the Trump administration has interpreted the order in a way so that the Trump administration is not required to return Abrego Garcia to the US. Per The Guardian,
Attorneys for the Trump administration said the high court’s order to “facilitate” the return of Abrego García, 29, meant they should “remove any domestic obstacles that would otherwise impede the alien’s ability to return here”, not help extract him from El Salvador.
But, even as the legality of transfers of migrants from the US to El Salvador is being litigated in the US judicial system, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that ten more migrants have been transferred to El Salvador. See The Guardian, US deports 10 more alleged gang members to El Salvador, says Rubio.
It is clear that the Trump administration will not comply with any order from the Supreme Court until the Court says, “Return Abrego Garcia by April 20, 2025 at Noon EDT and provide him a hearing to determine if he is subject to deportation from the United States.” To date, the feckless John Roberts has been unwilling to confront the Trump administration head-on. We need to know sooner rather than later if it will ever do so.
Trump and his cabinet cause more confusion regarding tariff policies over weekend.
If you thought the tariff situation was confusing last week, Trump and his cabinet members made it worse over the weekend. Late Friday night, Trump tried to soften the blow of 125% tariff increases on Chinese goods by exempting computers, smartphones, and electronics. See Newsweek, Trump Exempts Phones, Computers From Reciprocal Tariffs: What to Know.
On Sunday, Trump Commerce Secretary Lutnick said that the exemptions for computers and smartphones were “temporary,” and then Trump said later on Sunday that there were no exemptions for computers or smartphones. See HuffPo, Trump Admin Walks Back Tariff Exemption On Electronics.
At this point, the only certainty about tariffs is that it is impossible to know what tariffs will be in effect for more than one hour into the future, creating an intolerable trading relationship with the US.
Worse, the lack of certainty is making it difficult for US businesses and farmers to plan investments in the near term. See, e.g., The Conversation, Trump tariff chaos: radical uncertainty will likely make companies delay investments.
Update on Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg has tried to suck up to Trump in order to curry leniency for Meta. Zuck’s sucks have done little to change the attitude of the administration or the GOP-led Congress toward Meta.
On Monday, the federal government will begin its anti-trust trial against Meta, which seeks to break up Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. See The Independent, The trial to decide if Meta has to sell Instagram and What’s App begins this week. Here’s everything you need to know.
The FTC alleges that Facebook (now called “Meta” to make it sound more impressive) used a “buy and bury” strategy to eliminate competition.
Per The Independent,
Regulators have suggested they’ll point to internal documents like a 2008 email from Zuckerberg that reads “It is better to buy than compete,” and a 2012 memo describing the $1 billion Instagram deal as a means to “neutral[izing] a potential competitor.
It sounds like the government has a good case against Facebook. More to the point, Zuckerberg has been spectacularly unsuccessful in currying favor with Trump.
Separately, a Facebook whistleblower testified before a Senate Committee last week regarding Facebook’s cooperation with the Chinese government to suppress dissident voices in China. See CBS News, Meta whistleblower: Facebook worked with Chinese government to censor posts.
The whistleblower also testified that Meta helped China develop artificial intelligence. See The Independent, Facebook whistleblower testifies that company undermined national security by working with China.
Per The Independent, the whistleblower testified,
[Meta] started briefing the Chinese Communist Party. These briefings included discussions around critical emerging technologies, including AI, with the “explicit goal being to help China outcompete American companies.
“There’s a straight line you can draw from these briefings to the recent revelations that China is developing AI models for military use, relying on Meta’s Llama model,” [the whistleblower testified.]
Elon Musk is not the only billionaire who is placing personal net worth above the interests of the nation that allowed them to become obscenely wealthy. The day of political reckoning will come but in the meantime, they are inflicting serious damage on America.
Concluding Thoughts
I received lots of feedback regarding the April 19 protests. I will collate that information and report in tomorrow’s newsletter.
Jill and I attended a Tesla protest on Saturday morning. By the time we were finished with the Tesla protest, we could not gain entrance to the over-subscribed event with Bernie and AOC. But my brother and his wife showed up first thing in the morning, nabbed a good spot near(ish) the stage, and provided lots of pictures and video. Jill stitched their feed into a video on her blog, Every Day With Jill, "Hands Off" Demonstration in Downtown Los Angeles. It was a great event. Check out Jill’s video.
During the Tesla demonstration, I was reminded once again of my own advice: We should focus on the 90 million people who did not vote rather than trying to change the minds of Trump's base.
During the Tesla protest, a jet-black Tesla CyberTruck with “military” plates drove by. The owner pulled into the parking lot behind us. He approached me, introduced himself as an accountant and cybersecurity specialist. He was polite and had military dog tags dangling outside his $75 silk tee-shirt. He said he stopped because “I saw a bunch of old people [the protestors] who appear to be confused and thought I would help clarify things for them.”
I should have said, “Thanks for your service” and walked away. Instead, I said, “What are we confused about?” He said “Tesla is not a car company. Car sales make up only 2% of its revenue. It makes 98% of its money on artificial intelligence. So you are out here protesting for no reason.”
I will spare you the lengthy conversation that followed, but I guided him on his phone to Telsa’s 2024 Form 10-K that shows 90% of Tesla’s revenues come from automotive sales and 10% comes from the battery segment. (If he were an accountant, as he claimed, he had no idea what a Form 10-K was or how to access the SEC online database of public filings. But that’s another story.]
When confronted with Tesla’s most recent financial statements that proved he was wrong, he said, “What you old people don’t understand is that Elon Musk is a wizard and genius. Those financial statements are from last year. Since 2024, he converted Tesla from a car company into an artificial intelligence company.”
So, I said, “Okay, use your phone, do a search, and show me a reputable source that supports what you are saying.” He then explained to me it would be easy to do so because he had “an artificial intelligence app” on his phone that would reveal the truth in seconds.
So, I waited as he ran a series of unsuccessful searches (using Google, so far as I could tell). After he failed to find a story that backed his assertion, he said, “Here is the problem. Elon Musk is changing things so fast that even artificial intelligence apps can’t keep up with how quickly he is moving.” He then said again, “That’s what you old people don’t understand. Things are changing so quickly it’s tough to keep up.”
At this point, Jill was literally dragging me away from the conversation. As I was being pulled away, the young man asked for my phone number. I asked, “Why?” He said, “So I can call you in two weeks when the press begins to report what I am telling you and you can apologize to me for being wrong.”
To state the obvious, there was nothing I could say that would change this young man’s mind. When confronted with Tesla’s financial statements proving him wrong, he said, “Elon Musk didn’t approve those statements.” I showed him Elon Musk’s certification of the financial statements as Tesla’s CEO. He said, “Oh, Elon has to sign those things ‘just for show’. He doesn’t really believe it.”
While I respect people who say that what we really need to do is to “listen” to Trump's base, please accept this as my final and irrevocable rejection of your invitation to do so. I will, instead, focus on motivating people who want to support the Democratic agenda but did not make it to the polls in 2024 to vote. The return on investment for that effort is much higher than talking to someone who will not change their mind, no matter what. I wish I could get those 20 minutes back. We might have made it through the gates at the Bernie / AOC event.
If you disagree with me and want to engage in dialogue with Trump's true believers, I wish you godspeed and the best of luck.
Talk to you tomorrow!
Daily Dose of Perspective
Well, they can’t all be winners! The image below is of NGC 4236. The galaxy is 11 million light-years from Earth, has a “low surface luminosity,” and is reputedly a “difficult object to image.” Undaunted, I took a two-hour image and got something that looks like bubble gum on the sidewalk.
Ah, well! Tomorrow I will focus on a bright, well-defined, colorful object and take credit for being a talented amateur astrophotographer when it is the universe that deserves credit!
To salve my wounded photographer’s pride, I include below a photo of Bath Cathedral from our recent trip to England. I think it is a good photo. (Or it could be an ordinary photo of a great subject. You decide!)
WHAT A STORY! OMG! Good for Jill for dragging you away and I’m so so sorry to read that might have been the tipping point for getting into the Bernie/AOC rally…or not. When you describe details of this conversation with the fellow, I’m sorry to say I recognize such actors and just can’t relate to the rigid arrogance (and rudeness! The apology thing???) . But of course, I’m an old person… I’m just shaking my head, but also feeling riled. Sheeesh!
Thank you for your wise conclusion, that the returns are much more productive and satisfying to choose the route you describe, not trying to change any MAGA minds.
Different topic: In your Saturday video presentation, you mentioned something that resonated deeply… That Substack has become so successful as a gathering place for great minds and solid resources so that managing daily use of such a rich resource is a whole new challenge. I’ve been observing that from one day to the next, and I want to acknowledge the validity of your observation. Thank you for that.
Truly love the Saturday morning live videos. Thank you so much for going that extra mile, along with all your other extra miles.
Finally, so cool seeing the picture of you two with Tom and Karen… Such a beautiful story he has shared with us all, and you guys are right there, part of it.
All for now. Preparing to take in news of next steps in light of what HCR and Tom shared late tonight, the open defiance by Felon47 and his administration regarding the issues with prisons, El Salvador and deportations. Horrendous. Crossing the Rubicon, indeed.
Take good care. ~K
The US is crossing into territory where I say that foreign students, and perhaps other immigrants should consider leaving.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/foreign-students-at-a-us-university?r=f0qfn
The madman Trump is not listening to the courts, and as of now, no one is making him listen.
Here is the end of Heather Cox Richardson's post today.
"Here’s the thing: Once you give up the idea that we are all equal before the law and have the right to due process, you have given up the whole game. You have admitted the principle that some people have more rights than others. Once you have replaced the principle of equality before the law with the idea that some people have no rights, you have granted your approval to the idea of an authoritarian government. At that point, all you can do is to hope that the dictator and his henchmen overlook you.
At least some people understand this. The president of North America’s Building Trades Unions, Sean McGarvey, received a standing ovation when he said to a room full of his fellow union workers: 'We need to make our voices heard. We’re not red, we’re not blue. We’re the building trades, the backbone of America. You want to build a $5 billion data center? Want more six-figure careers with health care, retirement, and no college debt? You don’t call Elon Musk, you call us!... And yeah, that means all of us. All of us. Including our brother [International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers] apprentice Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who we demand to be returned to us and his family now! Bring him home!' "
I hope that the NABTU does not built a single building until Kilmar Abrego Garcia is back. In fact, all unions in the US should join in support of bringing him home. Trump has a way to get rid of all public workers, but not of all union members. Not yet. Union Yes!