Let’s talk about values.

Do your values align with freezing travel and communications at the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health? The kids fighting for their lives at Children’s Hospital want a word about their frozen grants.

Do your values resonate with the revocation of Executive Order 11246? Not sure what it is? No worries, here’s a quick explainer courtesy of Heather Cox Richardson:

“Historically, it had a predecessor, EO 8802, crafted during World War 2 because Black Americans weren’t being hired at the factories working in defense industries. 8802 encouraged “full participation in the national defense program by all citizens of the United States, regardless of race, creed, color, or national origin, in the firm belief that the democratic way of life within the Nation can be defended successfully only with the help and support of all groups within its borders”.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Executive Order 11246, translating FDR’s 1941 measure into the needs of the peacetime country. It states: “It is the policy of the Government of the United States to provide equal opportunity in Federal employment for all qualified persons, to prohibit discrimination in employment because of race, creed, color, or national origin, and to promote the full realization of equal employment opportunity through a positive, continuing program in each executive department and agency.”

Do your values align with the Air Force removing training videos showcasing the work of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots and Tuskegee Airmen to comply with an executive temper tantrum over diversity and inclusivity programs?

Do your values align with releasing violent criminals who pled guilty to attacking Capitol police who put their lives on the line to protect our elected officials, including a man who was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison by a federal judge who called him a “one-man army of hate”? More than 600 rioters were found guilty and convicted of assaulting or resisting police officers. Of those defendants, nearly 175 used a dangerous or deadly weapon. They’re all free, with two notable exceptions who refused the pardon. One – Pamela Hemphill – said, “It’s an insult to the Capitol police officers and to the rule of law and to the nation. It contributes to the propaganda that it was a peaceful protest, that the DoJ is weaponized against them and against Trump.”

Another said: “I still just can’t help but think of all the suicides amongst the Capitol Police officers since the riot. I can empathize. I just can’t imagine – it’s got to be real hard for anyone working in that department with him coming back into office and now pardoning 1,500 people who assaulted their brothers and sisters on that day. And I think about them.”

Do your values align with firing 17 government watchdogs (inspectors general) in violation of a 30-day notice requirement to Congress? IGs act as non-partisan, independent checks against mismanagement and abuse of power.

Do your values align with freezing funding for a bipartisan infrastructure bill to help fix roads, bridges, and water systems?

As businesses begin kowtowing to power for the sake of profitability, it’s worth noting that business is personal.

These actions don’t align with my values. I’m guessing that at least a few don’t resonate with your values either.

Speak up. Silence is complicity.