A Tale of Two Women

Capitulation versus Speaking Truth to Power

Capitulation

In the first two days of the new Trump Administration, the President signed a pair of Executive Orders (EO) designed to root out all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs in the federal government, and by coercive means, in the broader society as a whole.

The two orders, titled “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing,” and “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” are dystopian in tone and perverse in their intent, threatening private companies with “investigations”:

“[E]ach agency shall identify up to nine potential civil compliance investigations of publicly traded corporations, large non-profit corporations or associations, foundations with assets of 500 million dollars or more, State and local bar and medical associations, and institutions of higher education with endowments over 1 billion dollars.” (Emphasis added.)

By compliance, they mean following Trump’s efforts to root out any DEI program even in the private sector.

In the federal government the directive is immediate:

The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), assisted by the Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), shall coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and “diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility” (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear. (Emphasis added.)

By discriminatory programs, they mean programs that were intended to assist capable, but often marginalized, people to participate in federal employment, programs, and contracts. Presumably because too many white dudes aren’t represented already? Seriously?

It didn’t take long for the message to be promulgated throughout the agencies of the federal government. Here’s how that appeared at NASA:

Hey, Janet, bravo on capitulating in the most obsequious way possible.¹ Here’s the most Orwellian part:

We are aware of efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language. If you are aware of a change in any contract description or personnel position description since November 5, 2024 to obscure the connection between the contract and DEIA or similar ideologies, please report all facts and circumstances to DEIAtruth@opm.gov within 10 days.

There will be no adverse consequences for timely reporting this information. However, failure to report this information within 10 days may result in adverse consequences. (Emphasis added.)

So the Acting NASA Administrator wants employees to rat out each other by using the email address, DEIAtruth??? Lovely. Or maybe instead, as one of my colleagues who received this capitulatory missive responded, “Go fuck yourself!” That seems like exactly the proper response.

Speaking Truth to Power

By contrast, there is the encouraging example provided by the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, D.C., Mariann Edgar Budde, who has served in that role since 2011, and is Washington's first female diocesan bishop. She is also a bit of a hell raiser, as Mother Jones might have noted.

Speaking from the pulpit of the Washington National Cathedral during an inaugural prayer service, Bishop Budde looked Trump straight in the eye, and in a soft, even voice she spoke Truth to Power:

“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now… There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families — some who fear for their lives.”

As Trump looked away, Bishop Budde continued:

“The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals — they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.”

She concluded by reminding the most powerful man in the world of the call for mercy, a call he seems to have never heard:

“Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land.”

In a world of Bishop Buddes and Janet Petros, be Bishop Budde.

In community, forward!

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Notes:

EO: Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing

EO: Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity

Video of Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s Plea for Mercy (NY Times)

1. I understand that similar missives, with the same or nearly the same verbiage, went out to all government agencies. But capitulation is capitulation, even when it is occurring broadly.