Today on The Daily Whatever Show we had a double-hitter of extraordinary guests: we opened with Bree Fram and then had Anne P. Mitchell, Esq. join for the second half. And what a show!
A recently retired Space Force colonel and astronautical engineer, Bree was forced out of the military after 23 years of service because she’s transgender. She talked plainly and powerfully about what it meant to spend decades protecting the Constitution, only to see it weaponized against people like her.
What stood out wasn’t just her résumé—though it’s incredible—but her clarity about the oath we don’t talk about enough: allegiance to the Constitution itself, not a flag or a president. She connected that idea to transition in a way that felt deeply American, framing it as the belief that we can be better tomorrow than we are today.
One of the most affecting moments came when Bree described authenticity as removing a constant tax on your mental energy. When you stop hiding, she said, you give that energy back to your work, your relationships, and your teams.
She illustrated this with a story about leading a counter-drone project that involved real career risk and ultimately saved lives. The pride she felt in her team was palpable. So was her grief over losing the uniform, not just the mission, but the people.
Bree also shared the family history that fuels her resolve, including her grandfather, a Holocaust refugee who enlisted to fight the Nazis and later gave her one of his Bronze Stars.
The quote engraved on it, about courage sometimes being a quiet promise to try again tomorrow, neatly summed up her approach. When asked what to do now, her answer was disarmingly practical: do the boring things that make democracy work, and don’t comply in advance.
Anne P. Mitchell, Esq. joined us inour most spontaneous guest bookings ever, when I saw her late-yesterday post about Minnesota’s lawsuit against ICE. A law professor emeritus, former law dean, and the author of Notes from the Front explains court actions in plain English for people trying to make sense of this moment.
Anne broke down how the courts are actually functioning right now, pushed back on the idea that everything is lawless chaos, and explained why emergency rulings aren’t the same as decisions on the merits.
Her advice echoed Bree’s in a different register: don’t panic, don’t go silent, and be strategic. Her suggestion to call opposition representatives calmly and “be the wedge” sparked a lot of nodding in the chat. Through her organization, We the People Defend, she’s seen how calm, direct pressure can widen existing cracks.
We wrapped with barking dogs, Star Trek jokes, and Anne naming Santana’s “Smooth” as her favorite dance song, a reminder that even serious conversations still make room for humanity Connection, not compliance, is what carries us through conversations like this.
We love you all—truly!—mean it.
We’ll be back tomorrow morning bright and early for another amazing week on The Daily Whatever Show with out guest Kerala Goodkin
Thank you to all the Whatevers for their lively participation in the chat including Nick Paro, Jason Odell, NeuroDivergent Hodgepodge, Cat, Caro Henry, Mason/She/Her🩷💜💙 Yanni Hamburger, and many others. Big love to Karen Marie Shelton for moderating the chat and helping us write this recap—you’re amazing.
