She’s Been A Republican . . . Forever April 23, 2026April 22, 2026 But first . . . . . . a few notes from Trump’s team*: > BOBBY DON’T LET SCIENCE GET IN THE WAY OF A GUY WITH A WORM IN HIS BRAIN CDC won’t publish report showing covid shots cut likelihood of hospital visits. I’m not saying the worm is still there — we only know about the worm because Bobby told us — but it clearly ate something important while in residence. The mercury poisoning may not have helped, either. > PETE “AN ABSURD MANDATE” Annual flu vaccine no longer required for U.S. military, Hegseth says. He calls it “an absurd mandate.” Now that we’re making America safe for measles again — why not? Also: Hegseth Says U.S. Troops Are Fighting for Jesus. The Pope Disagrees. > KASH Need I say more? > TULSI Ditto. > KEVIN Paul Krugman calls Kevin Warsh, the next Fed Chair, Trump’s Sock Puppet: . . . He was asked who won the 2020 election . . . and evaded. . . . He was also asked about the spurious prosecution of Lisa Cook, asked about the spurious charges being brought about Jay Powell and refused to take a stand in support of people who will be his colleagues once he gets to the Fed. . . . What was on trial was, can he at least pretend to be not a total hack? And the answer is no. He’s afraid to even show a little bit of verbal independence without substance when it comes to Donald Trump, which is bad. It should be utterly disqualifying for the position because being the Fed chair is important. It requires a lot of independent judgment and requires a lot of credibility because the Fed is mostly needed in moments of crisis. And in those moments of crisis, people need to believe, markets need to believe, but the general public needs to believe that we’re talking about people who are serious experts and seriously have the interests of the nation at stake rather than their partisan political views. He failed that test with flying colors. And he will be confirmed anyway. And now! From Florida’s Sun-Sentinel: I’m a lifelong Republican. This is not what we voted for I am a lifelong Republican from Boca Raton. I never imagined I would be writing something like this. But here we are. Like many Floridians, I feel unrepresented — not by the opposing party, but by my own. That should alarm anyone who still believes in representative democracy. When elected officials stop listening to theirconstituents, we are no longer participating in governance. We are being managed. Recently, my U.S. senator, Rick Scott, sent out an update touting his efforts to pass the SAVE Act, a bill framed as necessary to prevent noncitizens from voting. The message was urgent, emphatic and unwavering. It was also deeply disconnected from reality. There is little evidence that noncitizen voting occurs at any scale that would justify sweeping new federal restrictions. What the SAVE Act would do, however, is create new barriers for eligible voters — particularly married women, seniors, disabled individuals and lower-income Americans — who may face additional hurdles in proving citizenship under stricter documentation requirements. There is also a question of scale. Even conservative-leaning data sources have documented extremely few cases of noncitizen voting over decades, compared to the billions of ballots cast nationwide in that time. Meanwhile, millions of Americans lack ready access to documents like passports or birth certificates, and tens of millions — particularly married women whose names have changed — could face additional hurdles under stricter requirements. That imbalance raises a fundamental question: Are we solving a real problem, or creating a new one? As Republicans, we used to stand for limited government and individual freedom. We believed the burden should not fall on citizens to prove themselves again and again just to exercise a fundamental right. That principle seems to have been abandoned. At the same time, far more urgent issues are being ignored. We are witnessing executive actions that raise serious constitutional questions, including military engagement abroad without clear congressional authorization. Regardless of party, Congress has a duty to assert its role in matters of war. Silence is not leadership. We are also seeing growing alarm from communities across the country about immigration enforcement practices — families separated, detainees held without timely charges, and reports that demand transparency and accountability. These concerns deserve serious attention, not deflection. Yet instead of addressing these pressing issues, our leaders are doubling down on legislation that appears more about political strategy than public necessity. This is not the Republican Party I have supported my entire life. Across the country, Americans are exercising one of our most fundamental rights: peaceful protest. Demonstrations on March 28 reflected a growing sense that voices are no longer being heard through traditional channels. Dismissing these movements does not make them disappear — it deepens the divide. Let me be clear: This is not about abandoning conservative values. It is about reclaiming them. We should be defending the Constitution, not sidestepping it. We should be protecting the right to vote, not making it harder. We should be demanding accountability from every branch of government, regardless of which party is in power. And above all, our elected leaders should be listening to the people who elected them to serve. If the Republican Party continues down this path, it risks losing not just elections but the trust of those who once stood firmly behind it. I am one of them. Katherine “Kitty” Donovan, of Boca Raton, is a retired Broward County school administrator with 37 years’ experience in middle schools, a grandmother of three boys and the Florida state senior ambassador for Giffords Gun Owners for Safety. And here I append my daily plug for leavingMAGA. * “I’ve seen better cabinets at IKEA,” read one NO KINGS 3 sign. Turns out the “basket of deplorables” was not so much that small portion of Trump voters who are Klansman, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers or clean-cut torch carriers at Charlottesville (“Jews will not replace us!”) . . . as they are perhaps the appallingly incompetent, corrupt, reckless crew with which he has populated his regime.