Responding In Kind - 6/2/25

Responses and comments from my readers…I do receive periodic information from the many readers of the blog. While I have often responded individually, I decided that I should share more transparently. Hopefully, this contributes to an ongoing dialogue…

Commentary From Tim.M – I received the following note from a good friend and former colleague who follows my blog on a regular basis:

Kevin, it has taken a while for it to cement in my mind that your Fickenscher Files is your platform for the Democratic Party activism; certainly your purgative/right.   Where I will never let someone's politics sever a broader friendship, I do find it interesting however how you can focus on any negative perception and projection on the current administration no matter how minor (in relative to other actual issues and accomplishments) and ignore 4 years of actual deceit and lies from the prior administration (we have communicated several times about this, but with President Biden's inner circle now speaking honestly...there is no more debate)....even though it the aggregation of that deceit and lies, far more than any other factor, has led to the current Administration being elected… 

Tim – actually, I’m very much a “middle-of-the-road” or “left-of-center” in my politics AND, yes – I do contribute to Democrat candidates. However, you need to know that I was also a big supporter of Sen. David Durenberger (R-MN) and Sen. Robert Dole (R-KS) when they were around and active…even campaigning for Durenberger. But I don’t want to get twisted into knots on that issue. And, also, if I had known about Biden, I would have said something. As you may recall, I served as his first health policy advisor during his first campaign for President and I’ve been a big fan of his over the years. To my current local friends, I did express concern that he was “getting along in age” and “not with it” but then he came to Maine and gave a stunning 45-minute speech with no notes to a gathering, and I backed down. So, yes – if I had known, I would have been more vocal. At the same time, I will admit that the Joe Biden of 2024 was not the Joe Biden of 1987-88 with whom I worked!

However, the bigger issue in my mind is the plethora of activities, initiatives, policy changes, etc., emanating from the Trump Administration is VERY disturbing. And, yes – many of them are of the authoritarian manner, which I do not support! The daily barrage is more than disturbing, with the destruction of government programs in a senseless manner that will take decades to redevelop. Withdrawal from WHO, declarations with the backing of sciences (See below), precipitous dismantling of Medicare and Medicaid funding, the attacks on Harvard and other schools, the shipping of 277,398 (the last count from 2023-24 academic year) Chinese students back to China for totally unsupportable reasons, and, and, and…is more than disturbing. Yes, Biden – retrospectively had ongoing mental health issues, but they pale in comparison to the current state. I could go on, but will leave it there. My number has not changed, so feel free to call…we can discuss further. Besides, it would be good to catch up with you…

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