Powell will not bail Trump out of the mess he has created. On Monday we will cross the threshold making this officially the worst stock market in over 50 years. And it will go lower. Imports and exports have fallen off a cliff, the damage already is actually worse than covid somehow. The entire world is boycotting America right now. The coming depression he has caused with his insanity will be unlike anything modern America has experienced before. To say the average American is unprepared for what losing our place at the top of the pyramid is going to do to the nation is a vast understatement. A lot of people will die. This is going to a very painful lesson for this country to learn that sociopathic billionaires are not friends of the working class. I would have thought that would be self evident to all by now, but the voters wanted to do things the hard way so here we are.
And yet, the majority of American voters are so ignorant and stupid that I can’t imagine enough of them will ever hold him responsible enough to matter until his term is over (which, if he had his way, would last into his nineties). Many are STILL talking about Biden and Democrats being responsible for the results of HIS actions. Did anyone see the latest NYT story interviewing “swing” voters who went for Trump that came out yesterday? “At least he’s doing something!” is their mantra, even if what he’s “doing” is causing death, destruction, and financial ruin.
"At least he's doing something" is quite the take. I guess cruising along steady-as-she-goes with low unemployment, low inflation, and strong alliances was just too boring. These people must be great as airline passengers--"This pilot is too boring! I want someone who makes me crap my pants, scream in terror, and then crashes the plane! So exciting!"
I don’t know about the majority of Americans, but a very large number of Americans still rely upon Fox News for their disinformation. It’s the primary source in many households. Fox’s pervasive and destructive influence is a big part of the problem.
So Fox "News", even though they lost their news license years ago, is a good source of information? Too funny. Btw, you don't have to be white to be racist.
Yet another Cletus safari by the FTFNYT. Weirdly, they never, EVER ask Harris voters what their take on these events are, or if they would change their minds given what is happening...
1. “NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS.”
2. “THINK OF HOW STUPID THE AVERAGE PERSON IS, AND REALIZE HALF OF THEM ARE STUPIDER THAN THAT.”
3. “THE OWNERS OF THIS COUNTRY [“IT’S A BIG CLUB, AND YOU AIN’T IN IT.”] KNOW THE TRUTH: IT’S CALLED THE AMERICAN DREAM BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO BE ASLEEP TO BELIEVE IT.”
4. “IF HONESTY WERE SUDDENLY INTRODUCED INTO AMERICAN LIFE, THE WHOLE SYSTEM WOULD COLLAPSE.”
I heard one of these Trump voters on a podcast say maybe we might have a “little recession or a little depression”. It won’t last long. How long? Jeez! Is she really that stupid? I’m hoping she was homeschool or educated at a church school. If it was public, I’m ashamed we have sunk that low. Heck, I’m ashamed for her anyway. I have lived through recessions (with inflation BTW). My parents lived through Depression. Sorry this nut is itching to do it now.
A Trump voter also said who cares about the stock market or a recession, it always goes back up and we get out of a recession in time, so just relax and be patient. Recent analysis shows we probably did not actually recover from the 2008 recession until 2016! EIGHT years!
From MAGA relatives, I do get the "he's doing something" response. When I mention the impact of trade war resulting in high and higher prices, I get, "well, we're giving him time" followed by, "I'm so glad he's getting rid of those immigrants who are killing 'our people'".
So, rationalizing with Fox Angertainment talking points and whole-hearted buy-in to the business tycoon persona created by "The Apprentice."
I'm sorry Erwin, but that is EXACTLY what they are. "Not doing what I like?" Yeah, I guess that's true, but what I "like" is the possibility for disadvantaged people to gain healthcare through Medicaid, for seniors to be able to visit doctors through Medicare, for women to have access to reproductive care and not have doctors be charged with murder for assisting with miscarriages, and for children in poverty around the world to not die by the thousands of disease (which is now happening as the direct result of these voters electing a government that put that sociopath Elon Musk in charge of dismantling USAID).
And anyway, I guarantee you none of those idiots are reading this newsletter, so they won't see it in any case.
It doesn't help to call people you disagree with stupid, you're right. For example, I fucking hated Dick Cheney and everything he did and stood for. But he was a very fucking smart man and I gave him full credit for that. Same goes for McCain (whose politics I despised but who I respected personally), Putin, President Xi, and ex-PM Stephen Harper. Horrible people, all of them, who did (and do) horrible things - but they're damn smart and for that I have to give them the credit they're due and respect their intelligence.
But it does no good to ascribe intelligence to those who lack it. Smart people with political power do their damage like a surgeon with a scalpel. They delicately cut away the parts of a country's laws and rights that interfere with their awful agendas, but otherwise leave well enough alone. As a result, when you try to warn people about the damage they're doing, perfectly intelligent people dismiss you as hysterical, overwrought and hypersensitive. Only years later does the damage they've done become obvious and by then they're off sipping margaritas on a beach enjoying their golden parachutes and the damage is so far in the past nobody can generate the appropriate degree of rage.
Stupid politicians, though - they smash their way through a country's laws and traditions like a temper-tantrum-having toddler on a meth bender. You can't even respect their intelligence or admire the way they go about destroying the countless delicate interweaving strands that make up the way a nation functions, because the lights may be on, but nobody's home. It does us a disservice to look for intelligence where there is none. Stupid evil does more damage than intelligent evil, because intelligent evil does its damage with a scalpel (and keeps more public support thereby, since so much of the damage goes unrecognized), while stupid evil does its damage with a flaming bulldozer spewing acid out the sides.
Call stupid evil what it is. Attributing to it intelligence it doesn't possess only clouds the issue. Donald Trump is no Dick Cheney, and his merry band of morons are exactly what they look like. It might hurt to realize how many Americans actually voted for a man who struggles to read at a third-grade level, but it's what happened, and without being honest about the situation that currently obtains, there's no beginning to figure out how to stop it from happening again - once, that is, the current situation is repaired.
Yeah, but let's not make the critical error of imagining that many (probably most) of Trump's most ardent fans are currently capable of rational thought and decision-making. In fact, they are so caught up in the process of resisting cultural change and threats to their familiar roles and self-concepts that they are like lost souls. Unfortunately their fear and anger (both pre-rational emotions, often) has been weaponized to Trump's advantage. Perhaps this is why Churchill once observed that the best argument against democracy was to spend five minutes with the average voter. And maybe the average administration. This angst has been clearly visible for at least a half century and we have failed to address it, except sporadically and incompletely.
Although, at times I can understand the sentiment behind the non-Churchill quote you posted. That quote appears to have begun circulating in the 1990's, long after Churhill's death in 1965.
If you are interested, Churchill was actually very much pro-democracy. 👇
"Here is what he actually said (in a speech to the House of Commons in 1947):
'[I]t has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time; but there is the broad feeling in our country that the people should rule, and that public opinion expressed by all constitutional means, should shape, guide, and control the actions of Ministers who are their servants and not their masters.'...
"Churchill was not saying that he thought democracy is the worst form of government except all others. Indeed, he was rejecting that notion in favor of popular rule. And if you look at his speeches over many decades, you find a consistent theme in support of democracy as an ideal that he cherished."
My uncreative brain had settled on calling Trump's tariffs "chaotic tariffs." But Paul nailed it calling them "Trump's disastrous tariffs."
The Republican propaganda machine dubbed the withdrawal from Afghanistan, "Biden's chaotic withdrawal." Even the WAPO and The NY Times almost always used the word "chaotic." I was so enraged when a year later The NY Times was still using the word "chaotic". I wrote to the editor saying that it was lazy journalism and uncalled for. Since then, I have only seen the word used once.
BUT, I think all of us that are speaking out against Trump's disastrous tariffs should take a play from the Republican propaganda playbook and insert "disastrous" before the tariffs every time we use the word.
Of course this is hypocritical of me, but Trump is a master of propaganda using the same lies hundreds of times.
It’s not hypocritical. It’s strategic. Brian Klaas (Garden of Forking Paths) wrote a post on schemas yesterday. The Republicans use them very effectively to mislead. You are using them to inform and fight back. The Republicans play the ref all the time by complaining they are not getting fair treatment in the press. Democrats, especially progressive ones, should do the same. Keep complaining!
Yes, there's still a press! I just donated $100 to the AP, which Trump won't allow in the room because it isn't owned by a gazillionaire who tells them what to print...
Churchill knew full well that people like Trump and the MAGA party could exist. After all, he was one of the first statesmen to warn the public about the dangers of Hitler and the Nazi Party. The parallels between 1930s Germany and present day America are frightening.
The Dems and media are too polite and afraid to acknowledge that comparison, instead preferring to angrily talk about the elusive oligarchy, which actually crosscuts all parties. Meanwhile, the Frankenstein Republican’s monster Trump is ravaging the country.
No, but he had Hitler and the Nazis....right? One could say we have our Hitler and Nazis, too. They aren't killing us here (but abroad, by withholding U.S. aid), they are just threatening to deport us.
Voters don’t even know about history. Oligarchs and sociopaths take notes and try to repeat history, assuming they will be more successful than prior idiots.
"Those who cannot remember the past ae condemned to repeat it.." George Santayana, "The Life of Reason," 1905. This also has been attributed to Churchill and others. I can recall my Dad quoting this and other nuggets of wisdom through the years. Another one with staying power.. and I cannot recall the quote in full.. describes perhaps what we're enduring every day on behalf of Trump and his idiocy-- "The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune!!"
As I recall it, "To be or not to be, that is the question. Whether to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them..."
Then again, the opposition that Hamlet was contemplating was suicide, and that doesn't seem to be a workable alternative in the present case.
Hi I hope I'm replying to your comment Jan, I'm kind of new to Substack. Several sources, including the Smithsonian and Indiana University, attribute the Santayana quote to “A Life of Reason,” however, the latter also attributes the quote as follows: “A Life of Reason, Reason in Common Sense.” I'm not sure if that helps. I must say I haven't read the full text of “A Life of Reason.” Good catch!! Perhaps someone else can add some clarity?
There are apparently five volumes of "Life of Reason", and I had searched one of the other four.
I found a copy of all five combined, published by echo-library.com (ISBN 9781406800401), and it was the third-to-last occurrence of "condemned", on page 131.
Peter fucking Navarro? DFG’s co-senile co-septuagenarian co-felon? Trump never listens to ANYONE, but the minute he decides to break his streak, he listens to NAVARRO? Not reiki, not runestones, not entrails, but NAVARRO? We’re doomed.
I can’t help but wonder if this is what needs to happen in the US. A local WWII type financial destruction, lots of pain, then a rising of a social democratic government like you see in Europe. I’d prefer to jump to the social democratic government without losing everything I’ve worked for and to live the remainder of my life with dignity and the ability to afford the things I’d like to do.
Yes. And men like Powell are so circumspect as a matter of discipline like federal judges choosing not to acknowledge that We are all "Dead Men Walking". Where is Pat Robertson when we need him ? To pronounce that Donald Trump is an avenging Angel from Heaven, and that The Greatest Destruction he has wrought upon America is God's Punishment visited upon us for our Sins ? Someone really should do a survey of sermons delivered this Easter from pulpits across America to see what preachers are saying. And take attendance. Especially in Mike Johnson's Parish in rural Louisiana. I wonder if he will be in church this Sunday. And what his minister will be saying. You Gotta believe ! Trust in God's own annointed Donald Trump ! Only He can Make America Great Again ! By consorting with the Whore of Babylon as he has always done.
America is under invasion. Aliens from Outer Space are secretly pouring in to our country and in connivsnce with Enemies Within are tinkering with Voting Machines in order to Deny Us Victory over them !. Therefore Donald Trump has issued an Emergency Proclamation. A Detention Facility will be created on Mars. We are closing our borders and ceasing all commerce from abroad. Peter Navarro has named Fed Chairman. He has been ordered to reduce interest rates. And as soon as he does prices will go down for everything. The President has now returned to Mar a Lago and does not wish to be disturbed. He has appointment the last person to speak with him his deputy in charge of everything.
I see… the stupid believers. We saw them in Germany&Italy&Japan in the 1930s, in Russia in the 1920s, in China in the 1940s, in North Korea & Cuba in the 1950s…
More fearful than stupid. Taught all their lives to respect authority, believe what they are told and do as they are told. Lying as a means of social control through intimidation. Anyone who disagrees loses their job then gets in to worse trouble if they persist. Advancement in society depends on acceptancw of lies. America is under invasion by an army of organized criminals who are sweeping across our boards. I Donald Trump have declared there to be an emergency and have put a stop to it calling out the Army. But a gang of Venezuelan terrorists has already infiltrated the country and is causing mayhem everywhere. In order to be sure that we our rid of them and their fellow travelers, I am declaring martial law, suspending habeas corpus, ending birthright citizenship, firing all immigration judges, and deporting all suspect foreign nationals found to be present in the country. Foreign countries have also been stealing from us. Stealing money and jobs. So I have also issued an emergency order regarding that. I imposing tariffs to put a stop to it and get it all back. And between that and all the corporate income tax cuts I will require Congress to make, we will get it all back. We will get it all back and eliminate budget deficits. We will eliminate budget deficits, put a stop to rising prices, achieve full employment, pay down the national debt, and Make America Great Again. Believe it or else. If you're don't believe me you are stupid and we don't want you here
I suspect that in most churches in America they are preaching the teachings of Jesus. Of course, there will be exceptions...mega church exceptions...but to malign all is one of the things maga hates about the left. We can not reclaim this country, which is quite religious, by attacking Christianity. If you can't admire Christians, can you admire the teachings of Jesus?
We need those teachings now. His pacifist message will be our salvation. The hateful mega churches aren't spreading the word of Jesus, they are calling on a vengeful, jealous, arrogant God of ignorance. The anti-Christ.
Without the mad king, that court is just a food fight. We haven't heard anything but unctuous puffery from them although once some of them had some fiber. Yet who knows what they are thinking as each tries to outdo the other in grossly flattering Trump? Flatterers actually erode trust. Surely there is at least one Judas at his table. If I were Trump, I wouldn't accept any hot drinks from Vance. Also, he needs to appoint Stephen Miller in charge of food-testing before it's too late.
After tRump and fElon steal all our money they can build that bitcoin reserve they slobber over. They are too blinded to see that it is a pipe dream filled with the most destructive explosives.
Losing Powell in the final nail in America’s coffin.
I think you're correct. It's like Jenga. Trump pulls out pieces one at a time, avoiding overly drastic changes that even a Republican-controlled Congress, judiciary and constituency can't ignore, until our federal government and economy collapse. And it's not just Trump; it's his cabinet and most Republican leaders who understand all too well what Trump is doing, and they support it. They, too, have clearly decided that autocracy is preferable to democracy.
It also captures the way the pieces of the plan, which is well thought out, fit together. Except for the tariffs, each of his actions benefits 2 or 3 constituent groups. Think about everyone who gets a piece of those Freedom Cities, from Thiel on down. I've got five bucks that says it'll be a national park. Thiel gets the lot with the primo view and the robber baron collaborators (sorry, I mean job creators) strip mine the rest. Maybe Disney gets to raise prices when there are fewer national parks crowding out the private sector. So much winning!
I've long suspected that a significant number of swing voters voted for Donald Trump expecting that there was a high probability he would fail spectacularly. Many of these voters are so repelled by the existing system that has consistently diminished their quality of life for decades that they would rather see it burn to the ground than have there be incremental, small improvements.
The democrats, of course, in opposing Trump were forced into a position where they were the de facto defenders of the status quo.
Meanwhile, the Republicans who are responsible for these voters' diminished livelihood by defending the status quo of the wealthy elite for decades, got to play pretend populist.
This reminds me of a conversation I had with an acquaintance. This person has a friend who is "otherwise a nice guy" but has not been able to get ahead in life and is drowning financially and unable to find work that pays enough to live a normal life, and is understandably frustrated by that. His solution was to vote for Trump as an act of acceleration to burn it all down. After all, he had nothing to lose, so he went with the candidate that he hoped would bring about some kind of change, any change. He was right in that respect, but I wonder if he regrets his vote.
We also have non-voters to thank, and all those who didn’t want a woman, non-white as president. Next time a woman lawyer offers to run the country, let her.
I can't agree more. It's almost too disturbing to imagine where we would be right now if Harris had won the election ... an increasingly strong economy, a stable federal government, inflation continuing to fall, the Biden Administration's infrastructure laws fully funded ... And instead nearly half of voters chose this muck.
Let’s be clear. This is hard to pin on Trump since he is obviously so senile and mentally kaput that there is no longer anyone there. Fascinating that after months of media like the NY Times laser focusing and spending so much time on questions regarding Biden’s “mental acuity” they are so quiet about what is so obviously going on. This is ALL the fault of the Republicans who absolutely refuse to take the reins. At some point they will have to but by then it will be too late.
Trump reminds me more and more of a sad, occasionally bellowing and addled marionette. Some days his hair is a bit scruffy and face wan and pale. But yesterday, the orange makeup was laid on thick. It's as if Stephen Miller sits him down with the marching orders daily. Oftentimes the script sounds exactly like what that reptilian Miller would say.
The voters wanted this? They were smoked. They wanted something different than anything the two parties gave them. The big black holes called supper PACS even spending crypto bought their impression of who would help them. They know they’re fucked, what they don’t know is that they were manipulated … except they were even before, by the comfortable minority that couldn’t look behind the curtain. So here we are. The educated and comfortable, and we’re being eaten for lunch
Paul, We are being subjected to the insanity of the Orange Idiot and a fake economist from the felon Navarro! At this point, economic strategy from an astrologer would be better!!!
The ultimate irony of these moronic economic policies is that they will literally crush his uneducated ..low skilled base ….some lessons unfortunately need to be learned the hard way ..
I just saw a survey conducted by the premier scientific journal in the world, Nature, that 75% of USA scientists are looking for work outside the USA. The USA just committed SCIENTIFIC SUICIDE in just 3 months thanks to the Orange Turd!!!
It’s partially the media’s decision to avoid covering protests or placing coverage of them in obscure places. After prominent coverage from 2017-2020, protest coverage dropped off the radar screen. I attended protests after the Dobbs decision in 2022 so I know they happened, but there was virtually no notice of them by the media. The media also won’t cover politicians it doesn’t think have charisma, which means my state’s senators and representatives have been speaking out but only get covered by what little remains of local news organizations.
Well, actually the nationwide protest a couple of weeks ago got quite a lot of coverage. Though in fact I don't know what the Times-Post said about it.
I believe their strategy is to sit back and let Trump be Trump. Their clearest path to victory is to let him publicly rage—and even steer the U.S. into a recession. At this point, there’s very little they can do beyond organizing candidate placements for the midterm elections.
They also need to organize an army of lawyers that can be deployed at a moment’s notice in the service of ensuring that the midterm election will actually happen in a democratic manner. Lawyers who are competent and who will not allow themselves to be intimidated by the Trumpists. This preparation includes preparing the logistics of how these lawyers will get paid.
Often what's meant by "do something!" is command public attention. But they're up against Trump,and commanding public attention is what he does. Where he gets into real trouble is when he screws up something that affects everyone, like Covid. And Biden got 81 million votes. The economy will do the same thing,his polling already bad, and getting worse.
And very few of the impacts of the tariffs have hit yet. The ominous storm clouds of dramatically fewer shipments, a chaotic nightmare trying to administer millions of small personal imports (no more de minimus exemption; think small eBay packets pouring in from China), business plans mothballed or abandoned, massive layoffs and facility closures, defaults and foreclosures, collapsed foreign tourist visits, a spiking Gini coefficient, deaths of despair, are on the horizon. It's all just beginning. Wait until the winds and torrents really get going. Buckle up!
And, unlike a financial panic, there is no quickly stopping and reversing that process, even if Republicans actually knew how. Causing recessions/depressions is more their thing.
I suspect the lamestream media is ignoring them, except when they do something spectacular like Cory Booker's 25+ hour filibuster. Unfortunately, that's what it'll take for any Dem to get even one drop of press coverage.
When they say TrumPox sucks the air out of the room - they mean it literally!
I think it's building. The first protest I went to there were 200, the next 2000, in a space of weeks. We'll see what it is today.
It's hard for people to believe the coup is real. A lot of people's reaction is to turn off the news.
Our Senator has been going to the red part of the state and answering questions. If you heard Lisa Murkowski, and Elizabeth Warren, they are scared and under personal threat, but they're still out there.
There is nothing the Democrats can do legally. Even prominent conservative columnist David Brooks said it was time for nationwide resistance.
Has anyone tried putting a resignation letter in front of him while Fox & Friends is on? Maybe a pretty woman in a short skirt hand it to him while complimenting his bravery to distract him further? He's such a bumbling idiot it seems like 50/50 he'd sign it without looking at it.
Unfortunately, the order of succession works its way down the cabinet. President Hegseth, anyone? Rubio, Bobby Brainworm? Bondi, Noem? Lutnick, Bessent?
Please just tell us it’s fixable, but don’t say how - I’m hoping they f it up so badly and so fast that they are impeached or quit. Then explain it to those who can do so.
November 2026 can’t come soon enough. The market will rally when the Articles of Impeachment are passed on Jan 4th 2027. Assuming there is even an election, of course.
Right, the markets will recover even before the Senate vote, in anticipation of the new President Vance.
Oops.
Hey, what about a double impeachment? Nothing in the Constitution forbids that, and whatever Democrat is in charge of the House by then, can't fail to be sane.
I should have been explicit about that! Yes, impeach both - Vance for being complicit at the very least. And with the new Dem majorities sworn in on Jan 3, 2027, once the Senate convicts the two of them, say hello to President Hakeem Jeffries.
Maybe Trump is lying about prices coming down, but given that he doesn't shop for himself, it's seems equally likely that the people around him are simply telling him what he wants to hear. I'm not sure which is worse.
He just makes up a number that sounds good. During the campaign he often ramped up previously exaggerated numbers just to make things sound better or worse. Since the sycophants in the room and press don’t burst out laughing, he gets away with it. If, on occasion, they do, he says he was joking or he never said it. It’s all part of the alternative mendacious facts world he constructs for his cult.
Did everyone miss the moment in Trump’s press conference with Meloni when he said since he became POTUS that the price of eggs had fallen by 92%? Just asking...
LOL. I've been reporting every one of its posts - across different substacks, as well as from its profile page. I'm not 100% sure but I suspect it's a kind of DoS. It's posting all over the place.
You mean the 92% drop in egg prices comment isn't irony? It sure sounds like it. It goes with the You voted for lower egg prices and got measles. FUNNY really.
I think that the reason Trump is able to demagogue the Fed is because the majority of the American public does not realize the importance of central bank independence. There is a reason independence is sacrosanct to all central banks in developing economies. We cannot allow Trump to usurp the Fed because there will be severe economic ramifications.
Some are being silenced by their rich owners. Some are cowards afraid to stand up for fear of being attacked by maga terrorists. The rest have decided the best thing they can do right now is let the conservatives get everything they have been saying they want and then some. When the billionaires gut this country like a fish and the poor red states are all struggling to survive, maybe then they might wake the fuck up and realize that the rich are THEIR fucking enemy too. One can dare to dream.
I know this is real, but it is still hard to grasp that anyone can be so stupid and so ignorant. Yes, Trump was a master of bankruptcy, which is understandable, but what isn't understandable is how he's not a homeless bum living on the streets. Apparently, the U.S. has a social and financial safety net for complete idiots. Even with all this playing out in plain sight, it is still hard to believe.
What is equally hard to believe is that anyone could be so extraordinarily lacking in self-awareness. Trump is a very sick man.
Justin, When I saw the Dunning-Kruger curve, I couldn’t stop laughing. Show me another curve like one based on the consequences of hyperinflation or mass suicides to bring us to our senses. Thanks. Michael
Powell will not bail Trump out of the mess he has created. On Monday we will cross the threshold making this officially the worst stock market in over 50 years. And it will go lower. Imports and exports have fallen off a cliff, the damage already is actually worse than covid somehow. The entire world is boycotting America right now. The coming depression he has caused with his insanity will be unlike anything modern America has experienced before. To say the average American is unprepared for what losing our place at the top of the pyramid is going to do to the nation is a vast understatement. A lot of people will die. This is going to a very painful lesson for this country to learn that sociopathic billionaires are not friends of the working class. I would have thought that would be self evident to all by now, but the voters wanted to do things the hard way so here we are.
Winston Churchill said that you could always count on Americans doing the right thing, after they tried everything else.
“Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” I don’t know who came up with that truism.
‘Tis a sad characteristic of the human condition that we seem to need to learn the same lessons over and over again, sez me.
And yet, the majority of American voters are so ignorant and stupid that I can’t imagine enough of them will ever hold him responsible enough to matter until his term is over (which, if he had his way, would last into his nineties). Many are STILL talking about Biden and Democrats being responsible for the results of HIS actions. Did anyone see the latest NYT story interviewing “swing” voters who went for Trump that came out yesterday? “At least he’s doing something!” is their mantra, even if what he’s “doing” is causing death, destruction, and financial ruin.
"At least he's doing something" is quite the take. I guess cruising along steady-as-she-goes with low unemployment, low inflation, and strong alliances was just too boring. These people must be great as airline passengers--"This pilot is too boring! I want someone who makes me crap my pants, scream in terror, and then crashes the plane! So exciting!"
They want to entertain themselves to death. I can’t comprehend this level of idiocy, no matter how hard and long I’ve tried.
Get lost spammer.
join the trump administration-i hear they're looking for a few more people with brain fog
I hate those group interviews in the Times. I’m always left wondering “under what rock did they find these people?”.
imo that applies to the interviewers.
Now THAT'S a metaphor! I'm still laughing (ironically, of course! )
I don’t know about the majority of Americans, but a very large number of Americans still rely upon Fox News for their disinformation. It’s the primary source in many households. Fox’s pervasive and destructive influence is a big part of the problem.
.
Exactly. Willful ignorance....
Watched by old white vain men who are feed a daily diet of hate and sex.
So Fox "News", even though they lost their news license years ago, is a good source of information? Too funny. Btw, you don't have to be white to be racist.
I saw the NYT article yesterday and could not believe what I was reading. They are impervious to reality!
Yet another Cletus safari by the FTFNYT. Weirdly, they never, EVER ask Harris voters what their take on these events are, or if they would change their minds given what is happening...
A famous comedian once said:
1. “NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS.”
2. “THINK OF HOW STUPID THE AVERAGE PERSON IS, AND REALIZE HALF OF THEM ARE STUPIDER THAN THAT.”
3. “THE OWNERS OF THIS COUNTRY [“IT’S A BIG CLUB, AND YOU AIN’T IN IT.”] KNOW THE TRUTH: IT’S CALLED THE AMERICAN DREAM BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO BE ASLEEP TO BELIEVE IT.”
4. “IF HONESTY WERE SUDDENLY INTRODUCED INTO AMERICAN LIFE, THE WHOLE SYSTEM WOULD COLLAPSE.”
I heard one of these Trump voters on a podcast say maybe we might have a “little recession or a little depression”. It won’t last long. How long? Jeez! Is she really that stupid? I’m hoping she was homeschool or educated at a church school. If it was public, I’m ashamed we have sunk that low. Heck, I’m ashamed for her anyway. I have lived through recessions (with inflation BTW). My parents lived through Depression. Sorry this nut is itching to do it now.
A Trump voter also said who cares about the stock market or a recession, it always goes back up and we get out of a recession in time, so just relax and be patient. Recent analysis shows we probably did not actually recover from the 2008 recession until 2016! EIGHT years!
And some of us won’t be alive long enough to see that recovery. ❤️🩹
The maggots are rationalizing their racism and bigotry.
The one I keep seeing is “But boys in girls’ bathrooms!”
From MAGA relatives, I do get the "he's doing something" response. When I mention the impact of trade war resulting in high and higher prices, I get, "well, we're giving him time" followed by, "I'm so glad he's getting rid of those immigrants who are killing 'our people'".
So, rationalizing with Fox Angertainment talking points and whole-hearted buy-in to the business tycoon persona created by "The Apprentice."
Racism has deep roots. The maggots will go through hell to maintain their bigotry.
That interview was taken right before the first tariff announcement and markets took a dive. So take it with a grain of salt.
I can’t find the story. What’s the title? I can only find months old articles on swing voters.
J.W.: It is never helpful to call people who don't do what you like "stupid."
I'm sorry Erwin, but that is EXACTLY what they are. "Not doing what I like?" Yeah, I guess that's true, but what I "like" is the possibility for disadvantaged people to gain healthcare through Medicaid, for seniors to be able to visit doctors through Medicare, for women to have access to reproductive care and not have doctors be charged with murder for assisting with miscarriages, and for children in poverty around the world to not die by the thousands of disease (which is now happening as the direct result of these voters electing a government that put that sociopath Elon Musk in charge of dismantling USAID).
And anyway, I guarantee you none of those idiots are reading this newsletter, so they won't see it in any case.
It doesn't help to call people you disagree with stupid, you're right. For example, I fucking hated Dick Cheney and everything he did and stood for. But he was a very fucking smart man and I gave him full credit for that. Same goes for McCain (whose politics I despised but who I respected personally), Putin, President Xi, and ex-PM Stephen Harper. Horrible people, all of them, who did (and do) horrible things - but they're damn smart and for that I have to give them the credit they're due and respect their intelligence.
But it does no good to ascribe intelligence to those who lack it. Smart people with political power do their damage like a surgeon with a scalpel. They delicately cut away the parts of a country's laws and rights that interfere with their awful agendas, but otherwise leave well enough alone. As a result, when you try to warn people about the damage they're doing, perfectly intelligent people dismiss you as hysterical, overwrought and hypersensitive. Only years later does the damage they've done become obvious and by then they're off sipping margaritas on a beach enjoying their golden parachutes and the damage is so far in the past nobody can generate the appropriate degree of rage.
Stupid politicians, though - they smash their way through a country's laws and traditions like a temper-tantrum-having toddler on a meth bender. You can't even respect their intelligence or admire the way they go about destroying the countless delicate interweaving strands that make up the way a nation functions, because the lights may be on, but nobody's home. It does us a disservice to look for intelligence where there is none. Stupid evil does more damage than intelligent evil, because intelligent evil does its damage with a scalpel (and keeps more public support thereby, since so much of the damage goes unrecognized), while stupid evil does its damage with a flaming bulldozer spewing acid out the sides.
Call stupid evil what it is. Attributing to it intelligence it doesn't possess only clouds the issue. Donald Trump is no Dick Cheney, and his merry band of morons are exactly what they look like. It might hurt to realize how many Americans actually voted for a man who struggles to read at a third-grade level, but it's what happened, and without being honest about the situation that currently obtains, there's no beginning to figure out how to stop it from happening again - once, that is, the current situation is repaired.
Perhaps you'd prefer "contemptible"?
No name calling or dehumanizing of opponents is helpful. Act, don't shout.
Churchill never said trying everything else twice.
HA Roger, I'd give your comment TEN likes if I could!🤣☹️
It's better to cite the definition a certain human condition, like:
"Trying the same thing again expecting a different result"
Well, maybe not better and only applicable to those 80 million Americans who couldn't help themselves last Autumn...
Yeah, but let's not make the critical error of imagining that many (probably most) of Trump's most ardent fans are currently capable of rational thought and decision-making. In fact, they are so caught up in the process of resisting cultural change and threats to their familiar roles and self-concepts that they are like lost souls. Unfortunately their fear and anger (both pre-rational emotions, often) has been weaponized to Trump's advantage. Perhaps this is why Churchill once observed that the best argument against democracy was to spend five minutes with the average voter. And maybe the average administration. This angst has been clearly visible for at least a half century and we have failed to address it, except sporadically and incompletely.
Leigh,
Although, at times I can understand the sentiment behind the non-Churchill quote you posted. That quote appears to have begun circulating in the 1990's, long after Churhill's death in 1965.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/churchill-democracy-voter-argument/
If you are interested, Churchill was actually very much pro-democracy. 👇
"Here is what he actually said (in a speech to the House of Commons in 1947):
'[I]t has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time; but there is the broad feeling in our country that the people should rule, and that public opinion expressed by all constitutional means, should shape, guide, and control the actions of Ministers who are their servants and not their masters.'...
"Churchill was not saying that he thought democracy is the worst form of government except all others. Indeed, he was rejecting that notion in favor of popular rule. And if you look at his speeches over many decades, you find a consistent theme in support of democracy as an ideal that he cherished."
https://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2019/01/misquoting-churchill-on-democracy.html
Just as we address any entrenched problem that we can avoid thinking about.
My uncreative brain had settled on calling Trump's tariffs "chaotic tariffs." But Paul nailed it calling them "Trump's disastrous tariffs."
The Republican propaganda machine dubbed the withdrawal from Afghanistan, "Biden's chaotic withdrawal." Even the WAPO and The NY Times almost always used the word "chaotic." I was so enraged when a year later The NY Times was still using the word "chaotic". I wrote to the editor saying that it was lazy journalism and uncalled for. Since then, I have only seen the word used once.
BUT, I think all of us that are speaking out against Trump's disastrous tariffs should take a play from the Republican propaganda playbook and insert "disastrous" before the tariffs every time we use the word.
Of course this is hypocritical of me, but Trump is a master of propaganda using the same lies hundreds of times.
It’s not hypocritical. It’s strategic. Brian Klaas (Garden of Forking Paths) wrote a post on schemas yesterday. The Republicans use them very effectively to mislead. You are using them to inform and fight back. The Republicans play the ref all the time by complaining they are not getting fair treatment in the press. Democrats, especially progressive ones, should do the same. Keep complaining!
There's a press?
Yes, there's still a press! I just donated $100 to the AP, which Trump won't allow in the room because it isn't owned by a gazillionaire who tells them what to print...
I did the same last year. Time to repeat
Churchill didn't know a Trump or his Maga Morons could exist.
Churchill knew full well that people like Trump and the MAGA party could exist. After all, he was one of the first statesmen to warn the public about the dangers of Hitler and the Nazi Party. The parallels between 1930s Germany and present day America are frightening.
The Dems and media are too polite and afraid to acknowledge that comparison, instead preferring to angrily talk about the elusive oligarchy, which actually crosscuts all parties. Meanwhile, the Frankenstein Republican’s monster Trump is ravaging the country.
No, but he had Hitler and the Nazis....right? One could say we have our Hitler and Nazis, too. They aren't killing us here (but abroad, by withholding U.S. aid), they are just threatening to deport us.
None of Hitler's concentration camps were actually *in* Germany.
Weren’t all the gas chambers in Poland?
Dachau had a gas chamber ("showers"), but they were never used:
https://www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de/en/historical-site/virtual-tour/crematorium-area/
Dachau was.
Not true. Dachau is just outside of Munich. Misinformation doesn’t help.
D'oh! I'll beat up the person who just told me that.
The amount of MAGA support for sending those migrants to a prison in El Salvador (without a trial) is very discouraging.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it..." George Santayana, "The Life of Reason," 1905.
Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it next semester.
--Auctore Ignoto
Voters don’t even know about history. Oligarchs and sociopaths take notes and try to repeat history, assuming they will be more successful than prior idiots.
"Those who cannot remember the past ae condemned to repeat it.." George Santayana, "The Life of Reason," 1905. This also has been attributed to Churchill and others. I can recall my Dad quoting this and other nuggets of wisdom through the years. Another one with staying power.. and I cannot recall the quote in full.. describes perhaps what we're enduring every day on behalf of Trump and his idiocy-- "The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune!!"
Shakespeare
As I recall it, "To be or not to be, that is the question. Whether to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them..."
Then again, the opposition that Hamlet was contemplating was suicide, and that doesn't seem to be a workable alternative in the present case.
Nothing like that phrase appears in my PDF copy of "The Life of Reason".
Might it be in some other work of Santayana's?
Hi I hope I'm replying to your comment Jan, I'm kind of new to Substack. Several sources, including the Smithsonian and Indiana University, attribute the Santayana quote to “A Life of Reason,” however, the latter also attributes the quote as follows: “A Life of Reason, Reason in Common Sense.” I'm not sure if that helps. I must say I haven't read the full text of “A Life of Reason.” Good catch!! Perhaps someone else can add some clarity?
Thanks! Found it!
There are apparently five volumes of "Life of Reason", and I had searched one of the other four.
I found a copy of all five combined, published by echo-library.com (ISBN 9781406800401), and it was the third-to-last occurrence of "condemned", on page 131.
Thanks for encouraging me to keep looking!
Peter fucking Navarro? DFG’s co-senile co-septuagenarian co-felon? Trump never listens to ANYONE, but the minute he decides to break his streak, he listens to NAVARRO? Not reiki, not runestones, not entrails, but NAVARRO? We’re doomed.
Rachel Maddow documents how Nararro was picked. Basically, Jared Kushner saw a book cover he liked on Amazon that had his name on it.
We're all being screwed by Ron Vara.
Scroll to 5:57:
https://youtu.be/MJbZCbBLqkk?si=svEwspoDSxYB0NQd
it's generally credited to the Spanish philosopher santayana,ralph-more than that i'm too lazy to look up-besides,i'm watching NBA playoff basketball
George Santayana
George Santayana “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it",
And someone else said that each time we repeat
Sent too soon. S/B As Ronald Wright said, every time we repeat history the price goes up
I'm thinking this time is going to prove Churchill wrong.
Begone, bot!
I can’t help but wonder if this is what needs to happen in the US. A local WWII type financial destruction, lots of pain, then a rising of a social democratic government like you see in Europe. I’d prefer to jump to the social democratic government without losing everything I’ve worked for and to live the remainder of my life with dignity and the ability to afford the things I’d like to do.
I dunno. Navarro's getting advice from Nobel laureate Ron Vara...
😂😅
This is 1929 squared. It's also 1984 squared.
The MAGArean (DI-moronic) theorem
2025^2 = 1929^2 + 1984^2
Yes. And men like Powell are so circumspect as a matter of discipline like federal judges choosing not to acknowledge that We are all "Dead Men Walking". Where is Pat Robertson when we need him ? To pronounce that Donald Trump is an avenging Angel from Heaven, and that The Greatest Destruction he has wrought upon America is God's Punishment visited upon us for our Sins ? Someone really should do a survey of sermons delivered this Easter from pulpits across America to see what preachers are saying. And take attendance. Especially in Mike Johnson's Parish in rural Louisiana. I wonder if he will be in church this Sunday. And what his minister will be saying. You Gotta believe ! Trust in God's own annointed Donald Trump ! Only He can Make America Great Again ! By consorting with the Whore of Babylon as he has always done.
America is under invasion. Aliens from Outer Space are secretly pouring in to our country and in connivsnce with Enemies Within are tinkering with Voting Machines in order to Deny Us Victory over them !. Therefore Donald Trump has issued an Emergency Proclamation. A Detention Facility will be created on Mars. We are closing our borders and ceasing all commerce from abroad. Peter Navarro has named Fed Chairman. He has been ordered to reduce interest rates. And as soon as he does prices will go down for everything. The President has now returned to Mar a Lago and does not wish to be disturbed. He has appointment the last person to speak with him his deputy in charge of everything.
I see… the stupid believers. We saw them in Germany&Italy&Japan in the 1930s, in Russia in the 1920s, in China in the 1940s, in North Korea & Cuba in the 1950s…
More fearful than stupid. Taught all their lives to respect authority, believe what they are told and do as they are told. Lying as a means of social control through intimidation. Anyone who disagrees loses their job then gets in to worse trouble if they persist. Advancement in society depends on acceptancw of lies. America is under invasion by an army of organized criminals who are sweeping across our boards. I Donald Trump have declared there to be an emergency and have put a stop to it calling out the Army. But a gang of Venezuelan terrorists has already infiltrated the country and is causing mayhem everywhere. In order to be sure that we our rid of them and their fellow travelers, I am declaring martial law, suspending habeas corpus, ending birthright citizenship, firing all immigration judges, and deporting all suspect foreign nationals found to be present in the country. Foreign countries have also been stealing from us. Stealing money and jobs. So I have also issued an emergency order regarding that. I imposing tariffs to put a stop to it and get it all back. And between that and all the corporate income tax cuts I will require Congress to make, we will get it all back. We will get it all back and eliminate budget deficits. We will eliminate budget deficits, put a stop to rising prices, achieve full employment, pay down the national debt, and Make America Great Again. Believe it or else. If you're don't believe me you are stupid and we don't want you here
Millions of them didn’t mean it out alive. Good luck to us!
Bravo, perfectly predicted!
I suspect that in most churches in America they are preaching the teachings of Jesus. Of course, there will be exceptions...mega church exceptions...but to malign all is one of the things maga hates about the left. We can not reclaim this country, which is quite religious, by attacking Christianity. If you can't admire Christians, can you admire the teachings of Jesus?
We need those teachings now. His pacifist message will be our salvation. The hateful mega churches aren't spreading the word of Jesus, they are calling on a vengeful, jealous, arrogant God of ignorance. The anti-Christ.
Without the mad king, that court is just a food fight. We haven't heard anything but unctuous puffery from them although once some of them had some fiber. Yet who knows what they are thinking as each tries to outdo the other in grossly flattering Trump? Flatterers actually erode trust. Surely there is at least one Judas at his table. If I were Trump, I wouldn't accept any hot drinks from Vance. Also, he needs to appoint Stephen Miller in charge of food-testing before it's too late.
Great idea!! Stephen Miller, the "Taster in Chief!" And your phrase, " unctous puffery," is one for the ages!! 👌
After tRump and fElon steal all our money they can build that bitcoin reserve they slobber over. They are too blinded to see that it is a pipe dream filled with the most destructive explosives.
Losing Powell in the final nail in America’s coffin.
Again: even though he seems to adore tariffs, his goal is to bring down the US and Europe because Putin wants it. It's sabotage, not economics.
We're all distracting ourselves.
I think you're correct. It's like Jenga. Trump pulls out pieces one at a time, avoiding overly drastic changes that even a Republican-controlled Congress, judiciary and constituency can't ignore, until our federal government and economy collapse. And it's not just Trump; it's his cabinet and most Republican leaders who understand all too well what Trump is doing, and they support it. They, too, have clearly decided that autocracy is preferable to democracy.
That's a fantastic analogy!
It also captures the way the pieces of the plan, which is well thought out, fit together. Except for the tariffs, each of his actions benefits 2 or 3 constituent groups. Think about everyone who gets a piece of those Freedom Cities, from Thiel on down. I've got five bucks that says it'll be a national park. Thiel gets the lot with the primo view and the robber baron collaborators (sorry, I mean job creators) strip mine the rest. Maybe Disney gets to raise prices when there are fewer national parks crowding out the private sector. So much winning!
I've long suspected that a significant number of swing voters voted for Donald Trump expecting that there was a high probability he would fail spectacularly. Many of these voters are so repelled by the existing system that has consistently diminished their quality of life for decades that they would rather see it burn to the ground than have there be incremental, small improvements.
The democrats, of course, in opposing Trump were forced into a position where they were the de facto defenders of the status quo.
Meanwhile, the Republicans who are responsible for these voters' diminished livelihood by defending the status quo of the wealthy elite for decades, got to play pretend populist.
Right now, I’d love the status quo.
This reminds me of a conversation I had with an acquaintance. This person has a friend who is "otherwise a nice guy" but has not been able to get ahead in life and is drowning financially and unable to find work that pays enough to live a normal life, and is understandably frustrated by that. His solution was to vote for Trump as an act of acceleration to burn it all down. After all, he had nothing to lose, so he went with the candidate that he hoped would bring about some kind of change, any change. He was right in that respect, but I wonder if he regrets his vote.
How sad to be like that. Did he have a family? That stabilizes some guys.
There’s definitely a “burn it all down” wing in MAGA. I don’t have any ideas of the numbers though.
Jupp, this is a one royal clusterfuck, indeed
We also have non-voters to thank, and all those who didn’t want a woman, non-white as president. Next time a woman lawyer offers to run the country, let her.
I can't agree more. It's almost too disturbing to imagine where we would be right now if Harris had won the election ... an increasingly strong economy, a stable federal government, inflation continuing to fall, the Biden Administration's infrastructure laws fully funded ... And instead nearly half of voters chose this muck.
Yes, let Fox News whine about the color of her suits or asking for spicy mustard on a sandwich. I can live with that.
Let’s be clear. This is hard to pin on Trump since he is obviously so senile and mentally kaput that there is no longer anyone there. Fascinating that after months of media like the NY Times laser focusing and spending so much time on questions regarding Biden’s “mental acuity” they are so quiet about what is so obviously going on. This is ALL the fault of the Republicans who absolutely refuse to take the reins. At some point they will have to but by then it will be too late.
Trump reminds me more and more of a sad, occasionally bellowing and addled marionette. Some days his hair is a bit scruffy and face wan and pale. But yesterday, the orange makeup was laid on thick. It's as if Stephen Miller sits him down with the marching orders daily. Oftentimes the script sounds exactly like what that reptilian Miller would say.
Start every statement with “the 34 times convicted felon “…….
That is how he should always be prefaced.
Very true.
Nothing is self evident to the electorate of this country. That's why we have Fox "news".
It is terrible. Trump’s tariffs cost most of our retirement savings. How are we going to get a job at 83?
And we aren’t rapidly degenerating into a fascist state?
The voters wanted this? They were smoked. They wanted something different than anything the two parties gave them. The big black holes called supper PACS even spending crypto bought their impression of who would help them. They know they’re fucked, what they don’t know is that they were manipulated … except they were even before, by the comfortable minority that couldn’t look behind the curtain. So here we are. The educated and comfortable, and we’re being eaten for lunch
Paul, We are being subjected to the insanity of the Orange Idiot and a fake economist from the felon Navarro! At this point, economic strategy from an astrologer would be better!!!
"At this point, economic strategy from an astrologer would be better!!!"
Nancy Reagan on line 1.
The ultimate irony of these moronic economic policies is that they will literally crush his uneducated ..low skilled base ….some lessons unfortunately need to be learned the hard way ..
Be careful what you ask for
Nobody asked for NAVARRO!
Yes, Nancy Reagan and Jeane Dixon were a little better advisers.
Send them a Magic 8-Ball or a Ouija board.
I just saw a survey conducted by the premier scientific journal in the world, Nature, that 75% of USA scientists are looking for work outside the USA. The USA just committed SCIENTIFIC SUICIDE in just 3 months thanks to the Orange Turd!!!
Paul, and astrologers don't lie, cheat, grift, a nation. At least the ones I know. We must remove this regime out! Now.
You got me at “coffee in Italy”
We're being "governed" by the Kitsch Kaiser and his Klowncar
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😢😢😢😢😢😢😢
I watch what is going on in the USA from Europe - with morning coffee :-). Try to find objective informations.
I have some questions.
Where are the Democrats (except Sanders and AOC)?
Is there really no noteworthy opposition or resistance against this "politics"? - Or we got simply no information about it?
Thx in advance
It’s partially the media’s decision to avoid covering protests or placing coverage of them in obscure places. After prominent coverage from 2017-2020, protest coverage dropped off the radar screen. I attended protests after the Dobbs decision in 2022 so I know they happened, but there was virtually no notice of them by the media. The media also won’t cover politicians it doesn’t think have charisma, which means my state’s senators and representatives have been speaking out but only get covered by what little remains of local news organizations.
Well, actually the nationwide protest a couple of weeks ago got quite a lot of coverage. Though in fact I don't know what the Times-Post said about it.
WaPo interviewed the Dem senator who went down to El Salvador.
"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake"- Napoleon Bonaparte
Unfortunatelly for the poor, this will mean watching all social security nets flying across the window
I believe their strategy is to sit back and let Trump be Trump. Their clearest path to victory is to let him publicly rage—and even steer the U.S. into a recession. At this point, there’s very little they can do beyond organizing candidate placements for the midterm elections.
They also need to organize an army of lawyers that can be deployed at a moment’s notice in the service of ensuring that the midterm election will actually happen in a democratic manner. Lawyers who are competent and who will not allow themselves to be intimidated by the Trumpists. This preparation includes preparing the logistics of how these lawyers will get paid.
Marc Elias is all over election abuse. And others.
Please! For the love of democracy, let this be acted upon.
Often what's meant by "do something!" is command public attention. But they're up against Trump,and commanding public attention is what he does. Where he gets into real trouble is when he screws up something that affects everyone, like Covid. And Biden got 81 million votes. The economy will do the same thing,his polling already bad, and getting worse.
And very few of the impacts of the tariffs have hit yet. The ominous storm clouds of dramatically fewer shipments, a chaotic nightmare trying to administer millions of small personal imports (no more de minimus exemption; think small eBay packets pouring in from China), business plans mothballed or abandoned, massive layoffs and facility closures, defaults and foreclosures, collapsed foreign tourist visits, a spiking Gini coefficient, deaths of despair, are on the horizon. It's all just beginning. Wait until the winds and torrents really get going. Buckle up!
And, unlike a financial panic, there is no quickly stopping and reversing that process, even if Republicans actually knew how. Causing recessions/depressions is more their thing.
This just out:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/business/tariffs-china-shein-temu.html
I suspect the lamestream media is ignoring them, except when they do something spectacular like Cory Booker's 25+ hour filibuster. Unfortunately, that's what it'll take for any Dem to get even one drop of press coverage.
When they say TrumPox sucks the air out of the room - they mean it literally!
Actually, main stream media is controlled by the purse strings of people desperately trying not to find themselves on trumpets “bad list.”
That is, unfortunately, the case.
Senator Van Hollen has been in El Salvador, finding out more about his kidnapped constituent.
The GOP is paid by oligarchs to win elections. The DEMs appear to be paid by about the same oligarchs to lose elections.
I think it's building. The first protest I went to there were 200, the next 2000, in a space of weeks. We'll see what it is today.
It's hard for people to believe the coup is real. A lot of people's reaction is to turn off the news.
Our Senator has been going to the red part of the state and answering questions. If you heard Lisa Murkowski, and Elizabeth Warren, they are scared and under personal threat, but they're still out there.
There is nothing the Democrats can do legally. Even prominent conservative columnist David Brooks said it was time for nationwide resistance.
And Sanders isn’t really a Democrat either
Yeah. Well to the right of, say, Hubert Humphrey...
I am dyslexics myself so probs the other direction
There are Dems -- van Hollen, for instance. After I saw his interview with the press, my thought was "Why doesn't HE run for president??!!"
Has anyone tried putting a resignation letter in front of him while Fox & Friends is on? Maybe a pretty woman in a short skirt hand it to him while complimenting his bravery to distract him further? He's such a bumbling idiot it seems like 50/50 he'd sign it without looking at it.
He would probably sign it thinking it was an executive order. He doesn’t read the orders.
Yep. Just put a few multi-syllable words in there and he'll have no idea.
Does he read at all?
You’re scaring me: Plans to remove Trump from the White House which don’t also involve getting rid of Vance might actually make things worse.
Yeah, that's a serious problem. While we're at it, we need to get rid of Jackass Johnson too.
Vance doesn't have the charisma to hold the base. Senators and representatives would be able to oppose him.
I think you're right.
That' why I say Impeach 'Em All!! All the way down to Mike Johnson!!
Unfortunately, the order of succession works its way down the cabinet. President Hegseth, anyone? Rubio, Bobby Brainworm? Bondi, Noem? Lutnick, Bessent?
Yikes!!
Definitely a risk
Whats sad is that this would 100% work.
😂😂😂
Keep up the good work Paul. Sanity is so cool 😎
Please just tell us it’s fixable, but don’t say how - I’m hoping they f it up so badly and so fast that they are impeached or quit. Then explain it to those who can do so.
November 2026 can’t come soon enough. The market will rally when the Articles of Impeachment are passed on Jan 4th 2027. Assuming there is even an election, of course.
Right, the markets will recover even before the Senate vote, in anticipation of the new President Vance.
Oops.
Hey, what about a double impeachment? Nothing in the Constitution forbids that, and whatever Democrat is in charge of the House by then, can't fail to be sane.
I should have been explicit about that! Yes, impeach both - Vance for being complicit at the very least. And with the new Dem majorities sworn in on Jan 3, 2027, once the Senate convicts the two of them, say hello to President Hakeem Jeffries.
Maybe Trump is lying about prices coming down, but given that he doesn't shop for himself, it's seems equally likely that the people around him are simply telling him what he wants to hear. I'm not sure which is worse.
He just makes up a number that sounds good. During the campaign he often ramped up previously exaggerated numbers just to make things sound better or worse. Since the sycophants in the room and press don’t burst out laughing, he gets away with it. If, on occasion, they do, he says he was joking or he never said it. It’s all part of the alternative mendacious facts world he constructs for his cult.
Kind of like them saying the Harvard letter was sent 'in error' now that the university has stood up to Trump/Project 2025's outlandish demands..
I fear the federal news will start being only what they want us to believe.
Did everyone miss the moment in Trump’s press conference with Meloni when he said since he became POTUS that the price of eggs had fallen by 92%? Just asking...
Are you a bot?
Yes. It's a bot. And a rather pointless one at that.
Now a blocked bot!
LOL. I've been reporting every one of its posts - across different substacks, as well as from its profile page. I'm not 100% sure but I suspect it's a kind of DoS. It's posting all over the place.
You mean the 92% drop in egg prices comment isn't irony? It sure sounds like it. It goes with the You voted for lower egg prices and got measles. FUNNY really.
Yes. Yes they are. Someone messing with the Professor, no doubt.
No. It's posting all over the place on other substacks as well. I suspect it's a DoS of sorts. I've reported it.
Looking at that photo I am thinking: is perhaps Dr Oz the new economic advisor for central bank policy, telling Trump how Erdogan did it in Turkey?
We should be so lucky. He'd do less harm than he will as head of the CDC.
I think that the reason Trump is able to demagogue the Fed is because the majority of the American public does not realize the importance of central bank independence. There is a reason independence is sacrosanct to all central banks in developing economies. We cannot allow Trump to usurp the Fed because there will be severe economic ramifications.
If you want to read more, click below:
https://open.substack.com/pub/aaronalysis/p/looking-back-at-the-2008-financial?r=4lbn1t&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Some are being silenced by their rich owners. Some are cowards afraid to stand up for fear of being attacked by maga terrorists. The rest have decided the best thing they can do right now is let the conservatives get everything they have been saying they want and then some. When the billionaires gut this country like a fish and the poor red states are all struggling to survive, maybe then they might wake the fuck up and realize that the rich are THEIR fucking enemy too. One can dare to dream.
I know this is real, but it is still hard to grasp that anyone can be so stupid and so ignorant. Yes, Trump was a master of bankruptcy, which is understandable, but what isn't understandable is how he's not a homeless bum living on the streets. Apparently, the U.S. has a social and financial safety net for complete idiots. Even with all this playing out in plain sight, it is still hard to believe.
What is equally hard to believe is that anyone could be so extraordinarily lacking in self-awareness. Trump is a very sick man.
He was born rich.
Stupid is always stupid. Never learn from your mistakes. Think you know everything. That is Trumpism.
Justin, When I saw the Dunning-Kruger curve, I couldn’t stop laughing. Show me another curve like one based on the consequences of hyperinflation or mass suicides to bring us to our senses. Thanks. Michael