The Butcher lost his job.
What is there to say? I feel helpless and angry and afraid. The idea of this tiny family full of people I love not having health insurance in the middle of all this makes me want to vomit.
Before all this, they had found some old Nazi here in the U.S. and shipped him back to Germany and a friend of mine was mulling over whether it does any good at this late date to be prosecuting old men for things they did as young men.
And, in the time before, that seemed like a reasonable existential question. Something you might mull over. Can a person change? Is it justice if it comes at the end of a bad person’s life? Etc. Etc.
Now?
The feeling I have toward the people who are doing this to us has clarified things for me. I want them to never rest entirely easy, to always fear that, no matter how they try to make themselves safe, someday they may have to answer for what they’ve done.
And I will cheer loudly, every time they pull a 90 year old Nazi out of whatever life he’s been hiding in.
Because fuck those people.
Tiny Cat Pants 
I am so amazingly sorry, and furious, that the Butcher lost his job. I don’t know what else to say, really, except to agree. I still find myself grappling with the notion of change over time, and…I do believe it’s possible. I think that people who do bad things are not necessarily bad people and that bad people can do good things, but this, right now, is none of those thing and they need to be held accountable for what has happened.
That’s one of the things about everyone leaving and writing books; as soon as someone is out of the White House and saying something even vaguely critical, they’re encouraged, given accolades, or at least somewhat (publicly) forgiven. Even if they came to their senses, they were still a part of something awful, and hardly anyone says that plainly, much less tries to make restitution, no matter how poorly that may go over. It’s worth half of one of those ‘meets minimum standards for decent human’ cookies, and that’s being generous.
I’m so sorry about the Butcher. I wish I could help. My place let 1.5 people go several weeks ago. I think the rest of us are safe, but I was let go after 22 years last summer so I’ll probably never be sure of that again. I know all the grocery stores are hiring like crazy right now so he might try there.
As to the rest, I’ve been saying for awhile now that anyone who worked in this administration will be forever tainted in my eyes. Even if they went in with the idea that they could change things. Even if they got fired for doing the right thing. They took the job knowing who he was and what he was about. Anyone associated with him should be held accountable. I hope they all end up trying to live on unemployment and worrying about how to make their next house/car/rent payment. I hope their investments tank (but not mine, or yours) and they lose everything. I hope they can’t find another job because of their association with him. Shall I go on? ;) And all this goes for politicians who endorse and/or support him, too. This all makes Watergate look like nothing at all and that was really horrible.