Confidentiality for veterans? April 11, 2025: Blackwater wants more taxpayer money after Iraq blunders and Trump wants allies after alienating the entire world. Meanwhile, veterans just want their medical privacy protected. Ally Sammarco Apr 12 Happy Friday… and congrats, you made it! Welcome back to Common Sense, your source for news and analysis on the circus that is American politics and entertainment. It has been one whirlwind of a week. VA clinicians under Trump, ordered back to the office, now must tell patients that they cannot guarantee confidentiality… NPR shared the story of “mental health clinicians who work for the US Department of Veterans Affairs describe as they prepare for the VA's mandatory return-to-office directive.” Fear, anger, and uncertainty were common refrains heard by NPR’s reporters. “Some (clinicians) are being summoned to offices as soon as Monday, April 14. Representatives from the VA say they are planning to have the back-to-office effort completed by May 5. Trump's policies are destabilizing mental health care for veterans, sources say. For this story, NPR interviewed ten clinicians in VA locations around the country, the majority of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were afraid of losing their jobs. Days before the April 14 return-to-office deadline, many were still unclear about the expectations for return dates. Some had received last minute changes or delays for reporting to an office. In a memo obtained by NPR, regional leadership at one VA facility offered a script for its therapists to read to patients. ‘Before we begin our session, I want to inform you that I am currently in a shared office space,’ reads the script. ‘While I will do my utmost to maintain your privacy, I cannot guarantee complete confidentiality.’” Umm, it seems as though there are multiple things wrong here. “Before we begin our session, I want to inform you that I am currently in a shared office space. While I will do my utmost to maintain your privacy, I cannot guarantee complete confidentiality.” —new V.A. clinician script Blackwater CEO — whose firm did very bad things in Iraq — seems VERY eager to cash in on Trump’s mass arrests of non-criminal immigrants… Politico reports, “Former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince and a team of defense contractors are pitching the White House on a plan to vastly expand deportations to El Salvador — transporting thousands of immigrants from U.S. holding facilities to a sprawling maximum security prison in Central America. The proposal, exclusively obtained by POLITICO, says it would target ‘criminal illegal aliens’ and would attempt to avoid legal challenges by designating part of the prison — which has drawn accusations of violence and overcrowding from human rights groups — as American territory. It’s unclear how seriously the White House is considering the plan by Prince, who has drawn scrutiny for his firm’s role in a deadly massacre in Iraq two decades ago. But it would give Prince’s group an unprecedented and potentially highly lucrative role in an expanded version of a transnational operation that has elicited its own web of controversies, in part because it has swept up immigrants who do not have criminal records in the United States.” Yes, thank you, Politico! Anyone with a soul would not seek to make money from the Trump Administration’s systemic misidentification and mistreatment of law-abiding immigrants. Erik Prince of Blackwater speaks at far-right CPAC event earlier this year. Common Sense with Ally Sammarco is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Trump is seeking allies in his economic battle against China… BAHAHAHA. CNN reports, “Does America want its friends back? After three months of insulting, tariffing and even threatening to annex some of its best allies, the Trump administration suddenly needs some help. The US President has now escalated a full-on trade clash with China that he doesn’t seem to know how to win. So the administration is rushing to work out how to build leverage against Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is in no mood to cede to Trump’s bullying. But there’s one thing that might work. It would bring to bear America’s strength and global power and could perhaps build pressure on Beijing to act on consistent US complaints about market access, theft of intellectual property, industrial espionage and other issues. There’s only one problem: This approach would conflict with Trump’s “America first” mantra. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pointed out on Fox Business this week that US allies such as Japan, South Korea and India would soon be in trade talks with Washington, as would Vietnam.” The notoriously transactional Donald Trump – after alienating some allies and betraying others – now wants their help in America’s fight against China. Oh, Donald… Immigration court rules that Trump can expel Columbia grad – a green card holder married to an American citizen – after he led protests calling out civilian deaths in Gaza… This is devastating. ABC News reports, “An immigration judge ruled Friday that Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil can be deported on grounds that he threatens foreign policy, as alleged by the Trump administration. The stunning move may have repercussions on hundreds of other international students who have been targeted by the administration. The Louisiana judge has given Khalil's lawyers a deadline of April 23 to file applications for relief to stop his deportation. The judge said if they failed to make the deadline, she would file an order of removal to either Syria or Algeria… Khalil, a green card holder and permanent legal resident who is married to an American citizen, addressed the court after the hearing was adjourned and spoke to the judge directly, referring to a previous comment she had made about due process and ‘fundamental fairness.’” Today’s Furry Friend Please take a moment to enjoy some clips of tiny humans and their best animal friends. Today’s Buzz Bowen Yang keeps asking SNL to find someone else to play JD Vance and we love him even more now… EW reports, “Bowen Yang would love it if Lorne Michaels cast literally anyone else to play Vice President J.D. Vance on Saturday Night Live. The comedian and Wicked star says he has repeatedly encouraged (read: pleaded with) Michaels to give his role as the Republican politician to another actor. ‘Lorne asked me and I said, 'Please, please, please don't make me do this,’’ Yang recalled after The Daily Show host Desi Lydic asked him about his reaction to learning he'd been tapped to play Vance on Thursday's episode.” Bowen, you are a national treasure and far too talented to play a useless vice president. SNL’s Bowen Yang, left, plays a more appropriate character for his brilliance — The Iceberg That Sank The Titanic. Source: NBC. That’s all for this week! Have a great weekend and check back in Monday evening for the next edition of Common Sense. Common Sense with Ally Sammarco is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thanks for reading Common Sense with Ally Sammarco! This post is public so feel free to share it.