Today’s world has definitely seen plenty of occasions where politicians have decided to make some egregiously idiotic decisions. So, let’s talk about some of my (least) favorites.

St. Louis

On March 26, Gov. Mike Kehoe signed HB495 into law, a bill that will give the state control over the St. Louis police force. Despite Republican claims that this bill will allow for a reduction in homicides, all that it marks is a continuation of the strife between a blue dot in a sea of red. 

This change is relatively pointless for a few reasons. But, let’s look a bit more into the history of state control, something that was originally put in place to aid in Missouri’s succession from the union. Contrary to what everyone’s favorite (and only) governor with nothing more than a high school diploma says, the AP reports, “neither state nor local control may make much difference when it comes to stemming homicides.” So, it’s harmless–right? 

Not true. 

This move by Kehoe makes it more likely that the Trump administration’s draconian immigration policies will be enforced by St. Louis police overseers. Barbara Shelly, a writer for the Kansas City Star–living in a city that has remained under state control–ends her commentary on this issue by saying, “[Police overseers will] find additional funding to handle problems instead of seeking other, community-based solutions. They won’t question the state’s gun laws. They’ll support the officers, even if they are wrong. They’ll promote the status quo. But they won’t make communities safer or happier. We know that from experience.” 

This is a decision that is in a similar category to those which I will mention further in my commentary. It wastes time, helps no-one, and in some circumstances–actually harms people. Recently, a suit against this bill was dropped, although it’s likely to be re-filed.

Missouri

Living in Missouri can be pretty crappy sometimes. And no, it’s not because of the “unpredictable weather” or “car-devouring potholes” (that’s not just Missouri…) There’s a reason why Missouri was ranked as the 7th worst state to live in last year.

A big piece of that, unsurprisingly, stems from politics. With ⅔ of young workers claiming that they would likely not choose to live in a state that bans it–yep, it’s time to talk about abortion. Recently, Missouri passed Amendment 3, allowing individuals to get abortions for the first time since 2022. 

I don’t think I need to explain why that’s a good thing. (At least hopefully…)

However, it’s hard to have nice things in a state so polarized. On Apr. 15, a proposed abortion ban passed the Missouri House. I suppose that the “will of the people” doesn’t mean a whole lot here. Additionally, on Apr. 28, Attorney General Andrew Bailey used a recently enacted law to appeal abortion freedoms. Missouri lawmakers, using reasons with logic backed in a 2,000 year old book–have decided to embark on a crusade against one of the most important issues to younger Americans–all while the state’s population continues to decay.

I sincerely hope that we don’t end up like Utah here. The state recently passed a bill to ban fluoride in the water supply–citing medical autonomy. Utah is labelled as “very restrictive” when it comes to abortion rights. I hope that you can see the connection here, it’s pretty disgusting. Apparently, medical freedom matters when it comes to a choice about retaining or banning one of the greatest public health advances of the 20th century–but not for abortion. 

The world is ruled by hypocrites.

I suppose that’s what we get in a world where our lawmakers believed that someone leading crusades against vaccines, with no medical experience, and who claimed that the unvaccinated have “less freedom” than victims of the Holocaust–would be fit to guide U.S. health policy. (Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also been accused of cutting off the head of a beached whale with a chainsaw, but maybe that’s something to talk about another time…)

The U.S.

Where can I even start here? There have been so many negative headlines within the news lately–every section ends up having the same tone as the obituaries. (Sidenote, the New York Times did an incredible piece on the first 100 days of the Trump Administration–read it.) But, since you and I have both heard plenty of depressing things about the big headlines–let’s talk about something that went a bit more under the radar. 

“Drill, baby, drill.” We’ll drown our sufferings in oil. When the last tree is cut, the last fish caught, and the last stream poisoned, only then will we realize that being rich is awesome.

When billionaire and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum isn’t busy ordering political appointees to remake his batches of cookies, or making other political appointees cry–he’s busy working to destroy the environment. While Burgum may have been described as “Doug the diva,” by one staffer, his policies aren’t very “slay.”

Burgum is the leader of the Endangered Species Act Committee, aptly referred to as the “God squad,” and it’s something that I’m happy to bet will cause some pretty big floods (at least metaphorically, if not literally…) One of the panel’s primary goals is to find loopholes in the ESA. While the committee rarely has met since its inception, a recent executive order brought it back into the limelight.

While the implications of this committee are further-reaching than what my time and the 200mg of caffeine in my system allow me to discuss–I want to hone in on one specific facet of this issue. Recently, as you may have seen, and then seen consequently debunked by nearly every reputable news source–a company named Colossal Biosciences has claimed to revive the dire wolf. 

While I’m no “Game of Thrones” fan, the U.S. government did take this as something important. The “God squad” took this development as evidence that innovation–not protection–will save endangered species, with Burgum stating in a speech to “pick your favorite species and call up Colossal.”

This rhetoric, like much of what comes out of the Trump Administration, is pretty abhorrent. Who cares about the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam (or the animals living in them) when we can throw cash at the corpses of endangered animals? 

The World

I debated whether to include this section or not–given that I’m depressed enough already–but we’ll continue to let the good times roll (away). There’s one thing that stands out in the international category, and it’s not leaving the WHO, sanctioning the ICC or making everyone learn what a tariff is. 

Before this last year, I’m sure that I couldn’t tell you what the United States Agency for International Development was (or much else… I wasn’t the most informed person). But recently Trump, along with the assistance of his chainsaw-toting special government employee Elon Musk dismantled the body. USAID acted as one of the primary agencies building U.S. soft power, and was essentially the main distributor of U.S. foreign aid. In February, the Trump Administration stated that it will eliminate 90 percent of foreign aid contracts. 

This is the big one. This takes the cake. This is going to kill people. By putting “America First,” we’ve only put ourselves in the first lane of a track with the rest of the world now more excited than ever to trip us up after the whistle blows.

Let’s look at some of the effects here. One of the programs hit by cuts was The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). As of writing this, an impact tracker created by Boston University professor Brooke Nichols estimates the number of deaths caused by cuts to that program alone to be over 45,000. 

This simple truth here is that the Trump Administration has cut a program that is estimated to have saved over 25 million lives. Mind you, PEPFAR is 0.08% of the country’s budget, and literally within the amount of time that you’ve spent reading this, someone has died as a result of cuts to this program.

Foreign aid makes up around 1.2% of the U.S. budget, yet delivers extreme value to the U.S. economy by ensuring that countries remain loyal towards the U.S.. Beyond these benefits, are the obvious–millions of lives saved. Beyond PEPFAR, USAID cuts are estimated to lead to: up to 18 million more malaria infections per year, 166,000 resulting deaths, one million children not being treated for malnutrition and 200,000 children being paralyzed by polio–among other things.

The U.S. government, through the Department of Government Efficiency, has sacrificed its humanity for greater efficiency (provided efficiency is some kind of foreign language term meaning tax cuts for the rich). 

The U.S. has left only one other country to step in when it comes to foreign aid, and yes, it’s China. In an increasingly multipolar world, Trump has given China a prime opportunity to influence more countries, and expand its power. The country has already begun to extend its aid to countries left destitute by the U.S., like Cambodia. And while the U.S. loses global hegemony by the second, the Trump Administration continues to toil away at its demented agenda.

And sadly, unlike Napoleon’s 100 days back in power–there’s still over 1,300 left.