The assault on America’s national monuments is part of a deeper war to erase FDR’s vision and return to an age when nothing was protected from the rich and powerful.
What a truly brilliant article you have written. You have exposed the most corrupt administration in our history for what it truly is - a wholly owned subsidiary of our nation’s wealthiest people who are only interested in raping, looting and pillaging our public lands for their own personal benefit. Where others see the natural beauty of America, all these scoundrels see are dollar signs. Thank you for exposing these people for who they really are and what they really are doing. The Trump Administration has weaponized our government for their own selfish purposes. The rest of us need to weaponize the truth and fight back.
Thanks Anthony. It’s a frustrating time to be someone who cares about our democratic principles and our American ideals. We need to continue to speak truth to power and call out the wrongs as they take place.
Let me add to Anthony's praise. This is a superb essay and directly addresses two of my favorites loves, the New Deal and the public lands. Our family lawyer was a New Deal congressman who had a framed photograph of him shaking hands with FDR, hanging in his office. For years when I would visit the old man socially I would gift him new biographies of Roosevelt including the "Traitor to His Class" one you mentioned. My own library of FDR administration books probably exceeded over 400 volumes. I revere the New Deal and the two great New Deal presidents, FDR and LBJ. They were the American equivalents of the Roman Gracchus brothers, Gaius and Tiberius Sempronius. Both were true friends of the people and instead of a bust of Gaius, I have a bust of LBJ on the bookshelf above me where I type. Great men should not be forgotten .
Thank you, Michael. I knew I couldn’t just write yet another reaction piece. I needed to dig deeper to get at the heart of the issue, even if only for my own sanity. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I too am a big fan of FDR and know we have him to thank for the very architecture of modern life, our social safety nets, the foundation of the middle class, and the liberal democratic order that shaped not just postwar America, but much of the free world.
I use (and attribute!) your writings when I call and email my local representatives and senators. Thank you for researching, writing and providing so much valuable content for the efforts to preserve and protect OUR lands.
This latest piece is excellent and infuriating. It simultaneously makes me feel educated and frustrated in my limitations to affect greater change. Regardless, thank you for providing such great “fodder!”
Thank you Sandy! As you know, a lot of effort and passion goes into these pieces, and it means an awful lot to hear they’re making a difference. I’m grateful for your support and even more grateful for the work you’re doing to help protect our lands.
It IS OUR responsibility to protect what cannot be REPLACED.
Yes, I’m yelling for emphasis because I’m more alarmed than ever about our precious land that we have mistakenly thought “ safe” from our government could be taken away by legal -or illegal means.
This travesty would be another depravation of freedom the $Trump regime is planning. We MUST bring these under- the -radar plans to light with every person we know. Thank you, Jim et al for keeping us in the loop.
Well..... Over the past couple of decades I have watched my home state (Arizona) frequently used for Monument Designation. As a conservationist, I applaud preserving land for the public to recreate. As a conservationist, I also had issues with the degree of difficulty with getting any conservation work done in Monuments. The reams of paperwork, the endless approvals needed, the barring of some forms of equipment to get the work done, and then, the size of the land designation as Monument went far beyond what was necessary. What we are seeing is a reaction to the monolith of what was, the government, to get work done. Is this overreach? OH HELL YES!....Sadly, I have for years been frustrated by examples of no progress, even in light of Federal judges mandates, for people to do their jobs.....One cannot sue the Feds for NOT doing a job, only if they do something wrong. That has left habitat with rampant destruction (Wild / Feral horses) that will never be undone. This pendulum swing is going so far right I do not see any semblance of sanity. It reminds me of the old saying... "Man plans... and God laughs.
Thanks for the thoughtful and honest comment John. I completely get the frustration. Many conservationists have seen firsthand how hard it can be to get real work done, the paperwork, the restrictions, the delays, even when the need is urgent.
Of course the solution isn’t to dismantle the tools we do have, it’s to fix what’s broken in how we administer them. The Antiquities Act was never meant to be the end of the conversation. It was meant to be a starting point, to buy time, create protections, and allow space for us to figure out how best to care for these places.
What we’re seeing now isn’t reform. It’s retaliation. You’re right to call it overreach, not just of policy, but of purpose. The pendulum may swing, but if we let it take down the foundation, there won’t be anything left to rebuild from. That’s a real and present danger right now.
Thanks for writing on such an important topic! In case you or other readers are interested, I respond directly to Chief Justice John Roberts' skeptical question about the Antiquities Act by providing a framework, anchored in case law and originalist/textual analysis, for determining how large monuments can be. In short, protecting an object's "scientific or historic interest" can require protecting a large area around the object. It's a matter of protecting the objects "in situ." See: https://philpapers.org/archive/LEVHML.pdf
Have you thought about reaching out to the Southern Environmental Law Center in Raleigh, NC. They are representing the town of Carrsborro v Duke Energy and have been getting a lot of traction.
SELC does amazing and very important work. I'd encourage anyone to support their efforts along with Earthjustice, the Center for Biological Diversity, and many others. These groups are needed now more than ever.
What a truly brilliant article you have written. You have exposed the most corrupt administration in our history for what it truly is - a wholly owned subsidiary of our nation’s wealthiest people who are only interested in raping, looting and pillaging our public lands for their own personal benefit. Where others see the natural beauty of America, all these scoundrels see are dollar signs. Thank you for exposing these people for who they really are and what they really are doing. The Trump Administration has weaponized our government for their own selfish purposes. The rest of us need to weaponize the truth and fight back.
Thanks Anthony. It’s a frustrating time to be someone who cares about our democratic principles and our American ideals. We need to continue to speak truth to power and call out the wrongs as they take place.
Let me add to Anthony's praise. This is a superb essay and directly addresses two of my favorites loves, the New Deal and the public lands. Our family lawyer was a New Deal congressman who had a framed photograph of him shaking hands with FDR, hanging in his office. For years when I would visit the old man socially I would gift him new biographies of Roosevelt including the "Traitor to His Class" one you mentioned. My own library of FDR administration books probably exceeded over 400 volumes. I revere the New Deal and the two great New Deal presidents, FDR and LBJ. They were the American equivalents of the Roman Gracchus brothers, Gaius and Tiberius Sempronius. Both were true friends of the people and instead of a bust of Gaius, I have a bust of LBJ on the bookshelf above me where I type. Great men should not be forgotten .
Thank you, Michael. I knew I couldn’t just write yet another reaction piece. I needed to dig deeper to get at the heart of the issue, even if only for my own sanity. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I too am a big fan of FDR and know we have him to thank for the very architecture of modern life, our social safety nets, the foundation of the middle class, and the liberal democratic order that shaped not just postwar America, but much of the free world.
Right you are. The European democracies owe FDR a great deal as well as Thurgood Marshall and some of his civil rights ideas.
Thank you for what you do!
Thank you for this powerful piece and all the work you’re doing.
Thank you for reading and for sharing that comment Amy. It means a lot!
As T said today about meeting with leaders while he’s in Italy, ‘we have a good product, it’s called the United States of America’.
We are a product. 😐
Ultimately this is all about a few people getting rich/richer by plundering our shared resources without regard to the devastation they leave.
Spot on Martha
I use (and attribute!) your writings when I call and email my local representatives and senators. Thank you for researching, writing and providing so much valuable content for the efforts to preserve and protect OUR lands.
This latest piece is excellent and infuriating. It simultaneously makes me feel educated and frustrated in my limitations to affect greater change. Regardless, thank you for providing such great “fodder!”
Thank you Sandy! As you know, a lot of effort and passion goes into these pieces, and it means an awful lot to hear they’re making a difference. I’m grateful for your support and even more grateful for the work you’re doing to help protect our lands.
Wishing you much success in your efforts to protect our wilderness lands, some of the most beautiful places on Earth & all so full of life.
Thank you Karen! It means the world to have support from people who love these places as much as I do. I'll keep plugging away over here.
Boy, that’s for sure! Everything is for sale, and/or deregulated to the point where there are no safeguards for the public or their environment.
It IS OUR responsibility to protect what cannot be REPLACED.
Yes, I’m yelling for emphasis because I’m more alarmed than ever about our precious land that we have mistakenly thought “ safe” from our government could be taken away by legal -or illegal means.
This travesty would be another depravation of freedom the $Trump regime is planning. We MUST bring these under- the -radar plans to light with every person we know. Thank you, Jim et al for keeping us in the loop.
Thank you!!!🙏🏻
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment!
Well..... Over the past couple of decades I have watched my home state (Arizona) frequently used for Monument Designation. As a conservationist, I applaud preserving land for the public to recreate. As a conservationist, I also had issues with the degree of difficulty with getting any conservation work done in Monuments. The reams of paperwork, the endless approvals needed, the barring of some forms of equipment to get the work done, and then, the size of the land designation as Monument went far beyond what was necessary. What we are seeing is a reaction to the monolith of what was, the government, to get work done. Is this overreach? OH HELL YES!....Sadly, I have for years been frustrated by examples of no progress, even in light of Federal judges mandates, for people to do their jobs.....One cannot sue the Feds for NOT doing a job, only if they do something wrong. That has left habitat with rampant destruction (Wild / Feral horses) that will never be undone. This pendulum swing is going so far right I do not see any semblance of sanity. It reminds me of the old saying... "Man plans... and God laughs.
Thanks for the thoughtful and honest comment John. I completely get the frustration. Many conservationists have seen firsthand how hard it can be to get real work done, the paperwork, the restrictions, the delays, even when the need is urgent.
Of course the solution isn’t to dismantle the tools we do have, it’s to fix what’s broken in how we administer them. The Antiquities Act was never meant to be the end of the conversation. It was meant to be a starting point, to buy time, create protections, and allow space for us to figure out how best to care for these places.
What we’re seeing now isn’t reform. It’s retaliation. You’re right to call it overreach, not just of policy, but of purpose. The pendulum may swing, but if we let it take down the foundation, there won’t be anything left to rebuild from. That’s a real and present danger right now.
Thanks for writing on such an important topic! In case you or other readers are interested, I respond directly to Chief Justice John Roberts' skeptical question about the Antiquities Act by providing a framework, anchored in case law and originalist/textual analysis, for determining how large monuments can be. In short, protecting an object's "scientific or historic interest" can require protecting a large area around the object. It's a matter of protecting the objects "in situ." See: https://philpapers.org/archive/LEVHML.pdf
Or women!
Have you thought about reaching out to the Southern Environmental Law Center in Raleigh, NC. They are representing the town of Carrsborro v Duke Energy and have been getting a lot of traction.
SELC does amazing and very important work. I'd encourage anyone to support their efforts along with Earthjustice, the Center for Biological Diversity, and many others. These groups are needed now more than ever.