March 10, 2026
public service
Dear friends,
There are so many infuriating and frightening things happening. On the list of outrages that have been animating conversations is the disregard for public service.
Alina Habba, who was Trump’s personal lawyer insisted that Trump “has always cared about [military veterans]” before stating
“We are going to care for them in the right way, but perhaps they’re not fit to have a job at this moment, or not willing to come to work.”
Habba was responding to a question about veterans who had been terminated from federal jobs.
The sentences above were the opening to my post last year on this date.
On the good news front, which is not going to get much attention today, a federal judge ruled yesterday that the three people who were selected to succeed Alina Habba at the US Attorney’s office in New Jersey are serving without legal authority.
Habba herself was disqualified from her job as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor because she was not confirmed by the Senate but remained on the job after her interim appointment expired. That decision was affirmed by a federal appeals court in December.
As I noted yesterday, the administration flagrantly ignores the law, playing ‘catch-me-if-you-can’ with the courts. Judges are also public servants and I imagine that some of them must be pretty fed up.
Last year, when I was musing on the regime’s hostility to public servants, the regime had not yet tried to prosecute sitting members of Congress for telling service members that they can and must refuse illegal orders.
Now, with the bodies of service members returning to the US in flag-draped coffins, it’s time to talk again about members of our military.
There are no combat veterans in my circle of friends, nor do any of my friends have children in military service, but I have been thinking about the people — here and elsewhere — whose lives are most directly affected by this war.
Veterans in Congress of both parties have reservations about the US war in Iran.
The seven members of the US military who have died thus far in this war are a tiny fraction of the casualties among service members.
We were young, dumb, full of pride
chasing dust and dreams through the firefight
and left some brothers in that sand
Came back home with blood on our hands
. . .
‘Cause heroes don’t come home the same
Some wounds don’t show, but they sure feel the pain
screenshot from “Heroes don’t come home the same”
There are now many more US service members with blood on their hands, and I expect that their confusion about what they’re fighting for only makes matters worse.
US military commanders have been invoking extremist Christian rhetoric about biblical “end times” to justify involvement in the Iran war to troops, according to more than 200 complaints made by service members to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF).
The carnage would be unforgivable regardless of who was responsible.
Tell Congress to block funding for Trump’s war with Iran and to call for its immediate end. This quick action is from Indivisible.
Apparently, the Pentagon spent $93 billion in September, which is what happens when you give Secretary Hegseth control of an enormous budget.
Last week, while we were reeling from the war we had woken up to, Republican senators Ted Cruz and Tim Scott sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urging him to use executive authority to lower the federal tax on capital gains—the profits from selling stocks, bonds, real estate, and other investments.
The letter calls for a $200 billion tax cut without Congressional approval, even though it is unlawful for the Treasury department to make policy without it.
Tell Congress to block Cruz and Scott’s capital gains tax cut! This quick action is from Our Revolution.
What follows is a re-post from last year on this date:
For many years, I was a full-time NYC public school teacher, and that was all of the public service I could manage. Now, with greater flexibility in my schedule, the wiffij (this publication) is my public service.
A few weeks ago, a lovely new friend wrote an appreciative and apologetic email to tell me that she was unsubscribing from the wiffij because
I am trying to simplify my life in different ways and one way is to unsubscribe to automatic emails that I often don’t get to read in entirety. (And I also felt badly about not contributing money to your work).
I wrote back to reassure her that I intend to always keep the subscriptions free, but I can’t stop Substack’s messages that urge people to pledge.
03/10/26: if you know how to turn off those messages, please put it in a comment!
Mostly, I wanted her to know that reading my posts is not a condition of friendship and that it’s completely fine to read only the good news or skim for the quick actions, or read occasionally.
Another friend recently asked if he should be contributing, and it made me realize the importance of explicitly stating, from time to time, that I have no intention of turning on paid subscriptions.
Plus, like many other subscribers, he occasionally contributes actions and valuable feedback, so we are engaged in a lovely kind of mutual aid.
Your public service is to educate and inform yourself so that you can take action. Thank you for being here.
with love,
L
I appreciate your work. The information is so valuable. Thank you!