Serious people don’t sign manifestos with disappearing ink



The Information Age brought rapid technological progress and unprecedented access to knowledge. But one rule still holds true: Once it’s on the internet, it’s there forever.

Some EPA employees are now learning that the hard way.

If publicly attacking your boss gets you fired in the private sector, doing so in the executive branch should have the same consequences.

The signatories of the now-infamous “Stand Up for Science” declaration — an act of open defiance against the Trump administration — are scrambling to erase their names after their stunt blew up in their faces. The petition, framed as a principled stand, was nothing more than a petulant swipe at a duly confirmed administrator carrying out the people’s mandate.

Now, these federal workers want to duck the consequences and are trying to rewrite history.

Several employees placed on leave after signing the letter hope that removing their names from the petition will shield them from accountability. Even the union officials who likely helped draft the statement lacked the backbone to leave their signatures in place. It’s yet another reason federal employee unions clash with the idea of genuine public service.

But they’re too late.

We at Democracy Restored have preserved all 388 names tied to this attempted bureaucratic mutiny. The so-called resistance within the federal government won’t get to disappear just because their stunt failed.

Cosplaying courage

Signing a petition or manifesto should demonstrate conviction. It’s meant to show political courage and reputational risk — something closer to “our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor” than to anonymous internet whining. But when EPA employees try to quietly withdraw their signatures to avoid consequences, they reduce the entire effort to a farce. The petition becomes suspect, and its signers look unserious at best, cowardly at worst.

These federal workers don’t get to play both sides. They drew taxpayer salaries while inserting themselves into partisan fights, then tried to hide the evidence when the heat came. If they cared about science or the agency’s future, they wouldn’t have attempted to scrub their names. Their stunt revealed what they really wanted: to lash out at their boss — the American people — without accountability.

The “Stand Up for Science” campaign wasn’t just a case of weak knees. It was a condescending ploy by bureaucrats who think the public is too stupid to notice. They bet they’d get away with it. They lost.

In this age of performative outrage, maybe they thought their names didn’t matter. Maybe it’s enough that the letter existed, that the accommodating media publicized it, and that some guy in a bar may cite a declaration signed by hundreds of EPA employees as reason to vote against the president and his party.

They struck a blow for the revolution, with none of the messy personal blowback.

These individuals are cosplayers, seeking excitement by sticking it to the man. They are not a serious group of government officials or even serious grown-ups. An election didn’t go their way, so they’re acting out — or they were right up until the moment they realized their taxpayer-funded paychecks could be harmed.

Wiping the names from this petition illustrates that the hundreds of signatories are desperately vying for the attention and adoration of their political allies and like-minded friends. It also reveals the toxic culture of entitled partisanship that infects the public sector.

Zeldin called their bluff

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s action to address this matter was not only warranted, it was the correct response. By suspending the individuals who declared their intent to stand against the American people’s mandate to return scientific integrity to the federal government, Zeldin is taking the first steps to dismantle that culture.

If publicly attacking your boss gets you fired in the private sector, doing so in the executive branch should have the same consequences. Federal employees are not entitled to their jobs, and they’re certainly not entitled to perform them while extending a middle finger to the people who pay them.

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Photo by Allison Joyce / Contributor via Getty Images

In all cases like this, the exemplars should be the signers of the Declaration of Independence (or perhaps that’s too grand a comparison for the EPA letter). The signers’ lives really were at stake, their fortunes hadn’t come from cushy civil service jobs, and they understood what “sacred honor” really meant. John Hancock is the greatest example of this: Not only did he sign his name first, but he signed it large, loud, and proud so that the British knew exactly who stood against them.

Where have you gone, John Hancock? Your spirit still lingers with some, but it’s clear that, for these signatories, that torch has gone out.

Jasmine Crockett’s phony ‘sistergirl’ act is fooling no one



Between her recent profanity-laced public remarks, “Governor Hot Wheels” quip, and admission that she isn’t interested in legislating, it’s clear that Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) is focused on being a full-time congressional content creator. Crockett is by far the most visible Democrat among the anti-Trump “resistance.” But her role in politics today seems far more reminiscent of the 1987 film “Hollywood Shuffle” than the hit Netflix series “House of Cards.”

The satirical comedy starring Robert Townsend follows an aspiring actor, Bobby Taylor, who begins to feel conflicted because the roles reserved for black performers are tied to racial stereotypes. Taylor and his fellow actors grow frustrated with being cast as slaves, pimps, prostitutes, and drug dealers. Their frustrations are exacerbated by white movie executives who let them know they aren’t “black enough” for the roles they seek.

To many black commentators, Jasmine Crockett is the embodiment of all the worst stereotypes people believe about black women.

Bobby lands the lead role in “Jivetime Jimmy's Revenge,”playing a “jive-talking” gangster,but he quits after the director tells him he needs “a little more black” in his lines. The film ends with Bobby — dignity intact — taping a public service announcement for the U.S. Postal Service. One of his final lines is, “I have the respect and admiration of the entire community, and that makes me proud.”

Playing into stereotypes

“Hollywood Shuffle” was critical of an entertainment culture that pigeonholed black performers. It also showed that desperate actors were often willing to take these roles, regardless of the damage it did to their self-esteem or the public image of the black community.

My sense is that Jasmine Crockett is caught in a similar identity trap. Her behavior is frequently labeled “ghetto” and “ratchet” by her conservative detractors, but she is the daughter of a pastor and attended private schools her entire life. To many black commentators, Crockett is the embodiment of all the worst stereotypes people believe about black women. A viral video of her speaking about running for Congress a few years ago, however, sounds more valley girl than “city girl.”

Today, the representative is playing an entirely different character. She curses frequently, even in congressional hearings. Her fake hair and fluffy, fake eyelashes are outward representations of the inauthentic “sistergirl” vernacular she often employs in the social media videos she posts.

Progressive commentators frequently criticized Trump-loving sisters Diamond and Silk for their over-the-top appearance and rhetorical style, but Crockett is no less of a walking stereotype. The difference is that her brand of crassness and vulgarity is exactly what Democrats want from their members at this moment.

The left seems to have trouble with black politicians who grew up in the suburbs and speak the Queen’s English. Leftists took a young Justin Pearson and transformed him from a clean-cut Bowdoin graduate to a man playing the role of an Afroed civil rights preacher. That is not surprising. The left loves black men who are — or act like — gangsters and dope dealers if they’re in the entertainment industry. Black men seeking political office must be dutiful social justice activists, who wouldn’t dare offend the party’s feminist and LGBTQ base.

The 'sophista-ratchet' act

As we see with Crockett, the “sophista-ratchet” schtick that repels conservatives has only made her more popular among liberals. The only question is how long she can keep up this act and how far she will go to create a spectacle in Congress.

In “Hollywood Shuffle,” the main character has a dream where he is being boycotted by the local NAACP. The civil rights leader, played by the late Paul Mooney, said the organization needed to make an example of Bobby Taylor to dissuade others from accepting stereotypical roles. In his words, “They’ll never play the Rambos until they stop playing the Sambos.”

Something similar needs to happen to Jasmine Crockett and every other politician who thinks the purpose of his or her office is self-promotion and brand-building. Voters can send that message, and they should use their voices to demand candidates who represent their values and interests.

Crockett said her district is one of the most densely populated black districts in the country, but she also said her voters skew older and more conservative. I doubt elders who grew up in an era where people carried themselves with dignity approve of her behavior. They may get a temporary thrill from seeing someone troll Trump, but people generally vote for candidates who want to be leaders, not just play them on television.

It’s bad enough having to deal with bad actors pushing stereotypes in Hollywood. There’s no need to have them in Washington, too.

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Protesters mellow as the nation welcomes Trump’s sweeping return



Supporters of President Donald Trump attending this week’s inaugural events in Washington, D.C., all echoed the same sentiment: The atmosphere feels markedly different compared to 2017 when Trump first took office.

One striking difference is the absence of significant street protests. Although a few demonstrations took place over the weekend and on Inauguration Day, they were far smaller in size and energy — a stark contrast to the massive, sometimes violent protests of 2017.

As temperatures rise and Trump’s policies take effect, these groups are likely to intensify their efforts to reignite #TheResistance.

Saturday saw the largest protests in the nation’s capital, notably before temperatures dropped significantly. While thousands gathered at the Lincoln Memorial, attendance remained in the thousands. The Washington Post noted that the Women’s March eight years ago drew more than 1 million attendees, blanketing the National Mall. Photos on X showed Saturday’s crowd thinning considerably by the time it reached the World War II Memorial.

Organizers offered a predictable spin to explain the lower turnout.

“If the prerequisite were that we shouldn’t get out or shouldn’t take action … unless it can be bigger than the biggest thing that ever was, no one would ever take action,” Rachel O’Leary Carmona, the executive director of the People’s March (formerly Women’s March, before the original organization imploded), told the Post.

Monday’s protest saw the more radical groups converge in a park north of the White House. Groups like the ANSWER Coalition, the Democratic Socialists of America, and anti-Israel organizations gathered to talk about the grave danger Trump is to the world.

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One speaker said that because of U.S. foreign policy, migrants not only deserve to come and stay in the U.S., but they also deserve reparations.

“We’re going to bring the fight to [Trump]. When his forces come to town, we’re going to smash the event. … If they’re looking for a fight, we’ll give it to them! And even if we don’t start the fight, we sure as hell are going to finish them,” another speaker vowed.

— (@)

One might have expected thousands more to join the Inauguration Day protest, given that D.C. remains a majority-Democrat city. While the cold likely contributed to the low turnout, it also underscored how much the nation’s mood toward Trump has shifted.

After the 2020 presidential election, the streets frequently descended into nighttime violence from Antifa and BLM groups whenever Trump supporters held rallies in the city. Anyone wearing a red hat became a target, and police struggled to contain the chaos. Proud Boys often appeared in force to clash with far-left activists.

Monday evening, despite the numerous balls and galas, did not see a repeat of past unrest. Tucker Carlson walked down the street in broad daylight, approached only by supportive admirers rather than insane leftists intent on confrontation.

Although street protests have barely registered so far, the far left’s extensive network has not disappeared. The cold weather likely played a role in the subdued activity. However, as temperatures rise and Trump’s policies on illegal immigration and DEI take effect, these groups are likely to intensify their efforts to reignite #TheResistance.

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