Every day I have to decide which of the dozen seemingly impossible things the Trump administration is doing to consider.

The new cycle is relentless and feels overwhelming. This is intentional. The sheer volume is designed to disarm and instill a sense of powerlessness,

and that's one thing none of us can afford right now. What to pay attention to then? I try to

monitor as much as I can to at least keep myself informed of what's possibly coming down the pipe.

The amount of legal, questionably legal,

and blatantly illegal maneuvers are not designed to implement everything, but it's very much

meant to move the goalposts as far as possible. So what's questionably legal passes by without

much friction, and maybe they'll even slip by a few illegal things

as well. The possible becomes probable. We just have to ensure that nothing ever feels inevitable.

And I know, I know, it's not like I'm not feeling that way. What scares me, though, is the number of friends I have who just don't want to hear about any of it. They want to tune out at the moment when we all really need to be tuned in, and I understand that impulse. This shit has been going on for years and years, and it seems to be never ending. That too

is part of the design. How much of it anyone can take is part of what I want to meditate on today,

or at least how we handle ourselves with the unique worldview that we each hold during this time.

And, most importantly, how do we fight back?

I'm Derek Barris, and you're listening to a Conspiratuality Bonus episode.

If you're hearing this on the main feed and you're not subscribed to our Patreon,

and you have the means to do so, we really love your support. I'm going to meditate on the ideas I just

expressed by sharing a few excerpts from a recent conversation between New York Times columnist

Ezra Klein and his guest, James Pogue. Pogue is an essayist and journalist, as well as contributing

editor to Harper's magazine. I've read his pieces on militia groups in the past, and his book,

Chosen Country, Rebellion in the West, which is about militia groups, has been on my list for a while.

I've always been fascinated by fringe groups of all sorts, but since moving to Oregon, where a number of them are based,

I've become more personally invested in understanding them. What I want to pull from this

...