Dr. Krugman, the sanewashing happens because admitting that Trump is a deranged criminal suffering dementia would also mean admitting that the media and the voters and the entire GOP are, similarly, insane and deranged. And nobody is going to admit that about themselves, not even the one who aren't too stupid to recognize it.
You left out an extremely important group — Wall Street financial “experts”. Chris Hayes had a great discussion on his show the other night with Stephanie Ruhle and Catherine Rampell about how shocked they are by how shocked all those Wall Street “experts” they talk to are by Trump imposing tariffs. Ruhle pointed out these people (mostly men) are paid big bucks for their expertise on financial issues which requires expertise on political issues yet they indulged in naive wishful thinking instead because they felt Trump would “ take care of the “ (cut their taxes). It’s long past time we held these “experts” to account and started mocking them for the self- centered fools they are.
You are right. And a lot of others should have been fired. Instead they were allowed to return to business as usual which includes opposing the regulations put in place to prevent another meltdown. It also apparently supported their tendency to engage in immature magical thinking.
The space needed to imprison the bankers, underwriters, rating agencies, real estate appraisers, buyers and sellers of residential real estate, and legal counsel, (did I get everyone?) responsible for the fraud behind the subprime mortgage meltdown is about the size of North Dakota.
Yes. Aside from Madoff, there were only a couple of successful prosecutions and they were South Asian immigrants who weren’t the principal culprits of the 2008 financial crisis. The jury system has its drawbacks if your peers aren’t willing to convict members of their group but are very willing to convict members of other groups.
Self-interest, not the national interest, propels the Wall Street crowd and their media claques, and all they cared about tRump's "plans" were: Moar Tax Cuts! and Deregulation! His tariff shite was waved away cos "campaign rhetoric".
And yet, here we are, a kneecapped economy, fascistic domestic policies, and a rudderless Ship of Fools piloted by a demented Queeg...spiffy, just spiffy...MAGA!
It's really amazing how the self-proclaimed "masters of the universe" can't see the danger in handing the reigns of power to a mad king. It's as surreal as seeing people's increasing acceptance of authoritarianism because they think they'll benefit, even though everyone, enemies of the power, members of the power structure, and those who try to keep their head down usually suffer instead.
"Ruhle pointed out these people (mostly men) are paid big bucks for their expertise on financial issues which requires expertise on political issues yet they indulged in naive wishful thinking instead because they felt Trump would “ take care of the “ (cut their taxes)."
In other words, the same wishful thinking that the entire political class has been indulging in since he was first elected.
Something I've noticed in years and years of studying and reading international relations is that even for the so-called "experts" who really are more in tune with the country they're studying and not just their own country's stereotypes about it... oftentimes, that "expertise" consists of nothing more than having really imbibed all the conventional wisdom of that country's chattering classes.
And when you know how disconnected, propagandized, chronically wrong, and just plain delusional our own mainstream media is, it becomes clear very quickly just how much they must still be missing.
"Gosh, it's crazy that no one saw the Iranian Revolution coming!" Is it? Where were all your "expert" diplomats, spies, and foreign correspondents getting their information from? From the generals, ministers, businessmen, socialites, and other courtiers that were doing great under the Shah? Then yes, it's no wonder you missed the Iranian Revolution. And so forth.
These "financial experts" basically did the same thing to their own country. Their job requires them to be politically literate, so they started reading a lot about politics, but unfortunately most of what they read was the kind of crap you find in the op-ed page of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and so forth. And so they come out thinking they know everything, when really they don't know squat.
The Wall Street financial “experts” didn’t vote Trump into the Presidency. The 70 million moronic US voters are now reaping the rewards of their idiocy.
While it is true that the media and many voters and the so-called GOP are, in an imprecise everyday sense of those words, “insane and deranged”, I’d like to understand more precisely what exactly is going on. It doesn’t look to me like a medical condition in the field of mental illness.
The so-called GOP is, I would argue, in a state where its main parts have been turned into a dangerous cult, and those who have not been turned into acolytes of Trumpism have been bullied into silence.
But how precisely should the state of the media and all those voters who are still not angry at Trump be characterized?
I think men, particularly those young men, bear some responsibility. Over 55% men(18-24) vote for Trump, because they have increasingly lost political influence in the left-wings groups. Social media traps these individuals in echo chambers, further fueling their hatred, while extreme Christian doctrines reinforced by fundamentalist ideologies propagate anti-intellectualism through these platforms.
There is nothing Christian about their ideology, it is the opposite of the teachings and example set by Jesus. It’s long past time true Christians speak out and reclaim that name. I’m not a believer but I studied the gospels in college. To call these people Christian is as crazy as calling Putin a pacifist.
There were Christian denominations who spoke out In the months following the Dobbs decision because their religious beliefs do not include life beginning at conception. They even joined lawsuits claiming the abortion bans violated the First Amendment because the bans impose a particular religious belief. They were unsuccessful. Then Bishop Marianne Budde of the National Cathedral spoke about the Christian tradition of welcoming the stranger during Trump’s inaugural prayer service and received death threats and insults. True Christians have been trying to speak out but are bullied and threatened by the political “Christians” who have sucked up most media attention for 50 years.
Thank you, Lee, for the term “political Christians.” It suits perfectly those who are now saying Jesus was wrong (about Love Thy Neighbor), and that empathy is a sin if it promotes tolerance of “others.”
They protested not because people's autonomy was being attacked, but because Dobbs disagreed with their particular beliefs. Beliefs are not facts. We're back to "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin."
I agree with you. While I recognize many devout, rational and kind Christians, there are individuals who exploit religious rhetoric to incite extremism, reject science and medical knowledge, and systematically propagate harmful ideologies through social media.
It has always struck me that these people always use the Old Testament — or occasionally Revelations — to justify their bigotry. They completely ignore what Jesus said and did even though most claim to believe Jesus is God.
I wouldn’t say “rarely”. It’s just that the people who do live like true Christians don’t get a lot of attention. They just quietly go about living a moral, compassionate life. I have known as many people like that as I have known pseudo-Christians who are MAGA types. And I have known—and still know—a lot of both. I grew up in Appalachia and have lived for 10 years in Texas and 30 in NC.
The problem with white evangelicals is they are far more white than evangelical. They just couldn't tolerate a black woman as president no matter how mentally irregular and lawless her opponent was.
and succeed. They want to prove themselves to be winners. In our competitive society, in which we’re exposed to images of aspirational consumerism through regular media, social media and peer groups, these young men may feel like it’s too hard, like they don’t have a chance. Along comes Trump telling them that it’s not their fault, that they’re being given a raw deal. He (and the Right Wing) offer scapegoats to blame, immigrants, DEI, childless cat ladies. Trump’s spiel makes them feel like they have a chance and that he’ll open the floodgates of opportunity. They want to believe his story tale.
A global economic recession is quietly taking place. Young people are becoming a "lost generation", turning more towards "opposing something" than "supporting something". Compared with the disadvantaged groups that are constantly enhancing their voice, the sense of disparity among men is particularly large.
Yes, they are insane and deranged. They have been doing this for nearly a decade. Being in a cult is, very truly, insane and deranged. If they are still not angry at Trump, yes, they are deluded.
Certainly since the MSM decided to ignore Newt Gingrich cheating on his wife with Callista in a limo in the senate garage while he was also chasing Clinton's penis all over the beltway.
As late as the 1992 election, the candidates' "personal lives" were famously off-limits to each other because everyone knew that HW was just as guilty as Clinton on that front, so it would've been mutually assured destruction. Clinton presumably thought the same rules would hold through his term of office, the same way they had for years.
The Clinton impeachment was something new in terms of the utter shamelessness shown, not only by Republican politicians, but by pretty much the entire Republican electorate and by the mainstream media, in terms of pretending that the same issue could be of nation-defining importance when a Democrat did it and an utter triviality when a Republican did it. So much of the coverage Democrats get since then stems from this moment.
This scenario (falling dollar + treasury weakness) has happened before. Hard to believe, but on October 25, 2000, a dollar would buy 1.25 Euros. The court's illegal awarding of the presidency to Bush on 12/12/00 unleashed a flood of capital back to Europe clearly seen on the currency, bond, and stock markets, and capital flow statistics. This was reinforced by the corporate scandals of 2001/2. But this time the yen and other Asian currencies seem to be joining in.
The GOP cult of personality really hit it's stride beginning with Ronald Reagan's election in 1980. It has grown & metastasized to be the abomination it is today. I'm waiting for RFK Jr to tell us we need to drink Kool-Aid for our TDS.
Access journalism, IMO. No Republican will talk to them if they started telling the truth about the cult, which those in mainstream media think would harm their credibility and alienate half of their potential customers.
Thank you for making those points, indeed it appears plausible enough that these aspects may well be a big part of the explanation.
I wonder though whether “no Republican will talk to them if they started telling the truth about the cult” is just speculation or a fear they may have, or is there evidence that that is an actual reality?
Of course there’s evidence. Wapo owner bezos pulled an endorsement for Harris and then started censoring op-ed writers after trump won. Similar things happened at CNN and NYT. The administration kicked the AP out of the White House press pool for not calling the Gulf of Mexico the “gulf of America.”How many articles do you see actually analyzing what the administration does with respect to our history and the obvious parallels with fascist movements in the 20th century?
After Biden took office the number of clicks on news media sites fells off dramatically, as did subscriptions. That resulted in layoffs. So the media abdicated its responsibility in a democratic republic to make money and went soft on the Trump circus because he had been good for their bottom line. It’s awful, but the ultimate responsibility lies with Americans who must be constantly entertained and will not spend 5 minutes reading a serious, straight news report. Plus, now that Trump’s back in office and unrestrained (thanks, SCOTUS), the probability these news outlets will be sued makes them cautious. The ABC case casts a long shadow.
I’ve bought access and I have read the article, which I’ve found to consist entirely of brief portraits of the viewpoints of a couple of Trump voters who still believe in him. Interesting and illuminating as far as it goes, but there is no analysis, no calling out that what is described is in fact a cult-like phenomenon. So it’s in effect yet another articles that contributes to normalizing Trumpism.
Actually there is good research about the mental health issues involved in getting sucked into a cult and the serious mental health issues involved in getting out and avoiding getting sucked into another one.
Steven Hassan’s account of getting sucked into the Moonies and how he got out is very interesting. He is now an expert on cults helping people get out of cults.
In regard to “good research about the mental health issues involved in getting sucked into a cult and the serious mental health issues involved in getting out and avoiding getting sucked into another one”, is there something in particular that you’d recommend? (I have access to a good scientific library, so I’m not limited to what is available online.)
In regard to the author you mention, Steven Hassan, I’ve ordered a copy of his book “The Cult of Trump” which is evidently directly relevant to my questions.
They are responding to the their own self interest. Media professionals want access and scoops. Going hard (and honest) about Trump and his minions means losing access and being subject to threats and intimidation. Non-MAGA Trump voters responded to what they perceived as (and wanted to believe was) their own interests. They wanted lower costs on both consumer goods and taxes. If someone (us) tried to tell them the facts they reacted like an angry child whose birthday cake was being taken away.
For the most part, especially working class Whites, about half Trump's supporters aren't insane. They’re just ignorant or, when I'm in a less generous mood, stupid. They don't understand the world around them, so they glom onto anyone who exudes confidence while telling them that their problems are: a) not their fault, b) someone else's fault and c) easily fixed by going after the "others" that are screwing up their lives. I hope a bunch of Trump's people are just ignorant, because ignorance can be fixed. Stupid, however, can't. If Trump supporters really are just a bunch of stupid, insane clowns, then we as a nation are only at the very beginning of a long, long descent into the heart of darkness.
This is actually an extension of the diseased mind into society. Insanity is now part of the system. The “sanewashers” livelihood depends on trying to make sense of something that simply doesn’t. How many of us believe that we have to overlook the horrible effects of what we do, because not doing so would cause us to lose our jobs or suffer even worse consequences? When we don’t even ask ourselves that question we are living in a culture permeated by insanity. The original insane act was to allow a person, who under paranoid delusions used his position to unleash a riotous mob upon the capital only 4 years, 3 months and 5 days ago, to run for and be elected President of the United States. It wasn’t cynical, it wasn’t craven, it wasn’t rational business strategy. It was to be in the thrall of a folie a deux. In other words it was crackers. It’s hard to admit, but sooner we ALL realize it the better. Time spent trying to rationalize the position we are in is time wasted in a dystopian dreamland of our own making. Paul Krugman is spot on to call it what it is - insanity.
What really scares me are the previously rational, intelligent people I have known who got sucked into MAGA. They got pulled in back in the 90s when the mainstream media helped promote right wing pseudo-scandals about the Clintons. The NYT was the one pushing the Whitewater, Travegate, Filegate and Chinagate lies. Then they started watching Fox News .
I like the New York-ese argot we use for the Trumps of this world, he's a major "wack job". A wack job with a facile grasp of worldly affairs, let alone international trade or macroeconomics. Trying to second guess him or his motives beyond his morbid delusions of grievance will exhaust you and won't even register with him.
True but by supporting Trump they have very seriously hurt their own interests. They are finally waking up to the fact that trust in the US democracy is key to their financial health
Yes the idea of ‘drug’ treatment for 80 million is a challenge! Particularly when they get the drugs delivered for free, sort of. But the cost is coming directly at them!
The hell it is, everyone remotely Trump adjacent is getting away with everything short of murder (and RFK Jr. is rapidly approaching murder) because they have no shame.
My point was about those who supported Trump in delusion of expecting something else.
For elected Republicans, their shame could inhibit them from acting against Trump. Note that many elected Republicans have spoken out against Trump excesses, but have yet to act.
Now only if we can get them to override their shame ... it doesn't take many for impeachment in the House, and maybe gives a (slim) chance of conviction in the Senate.
Most journalist don't have a solid training in journalism anymore? Are you for real? Most publications of note will not hire a journalist who doesn't have a journalism master's degree from an incredibly expensive journalism school! You talk like people writing for The Times or Reuters or WAPO or whatever they are reading have maybe an undergrad in journalism and it's not true at all. The education leve and barriers to enter into the field beyond one 's neighborhood are incredibly high.
So, then, what causes the folx to vote for a fascist wannabe dictator? Primarily propaganda which they don't recognize due to personal bias. They want what propaganda is selling because it conforms and confirms their worldview. They do not look at who owns the media companies to even understand that the content they are consuming is biased. I see this living in a relatively liberal state, yet out of the Metro area, where our local TV stations have a decidedly right wing slant - although not outright propaganda. Most of us Democratic voters know the companies that own the outlets are right leaning, so we aren't affected by it. If you don't know, you might be affected by it. But it's the bigger outlets, like OAN or Newsmax or even NewsNation, where people do not know who owns the companies nor who's doing the reporting. At these outlets, mostly founded by people who made money in marketing, are staffed by "journalists" or journalists educated in the field who were uncomfortable their networks or papers neglecting a conservative viewpoint ...
Because the fact is: the conservative viewpoint is almost always manufactured from spinning facts differently from what they actually represent. I've seen this done time and again with survey reports from reputable companies like Pew Research taken and turned on their head to gin up panic for the untimely demise of a particular conservative p.o.v. The demise is, actually, timely and based on the changing views of the public, but this isn't what the conservative networks desire to show people. Now, people hold their own bias going into a news show -- say a negative bias of Black youth-- then the spun fact becomes the confirmation of their bias.
The echo chambers of social media don't help either. Even after all the years we have had of social media, people still do not seem to understand that someone who chooses not to show their identity should never be a trusted source. Rather, their confirmation bias gets turned into conspiracy bias and the anonymous or discredited source becomes the truth teller.
The blame then should be leveled on people's own bias (how did they get so mean in the first place?) and the outlets owned by people who have an interest in making money from implicit bias, which trashes any journalistic integrity that may have existed.
You speak as someone who may not know anything about the programs of, say, Columbia's J school, or how a journalism grad degree works so I'll chalk up your opinion on that to lack of knowledge and personal bias against higher education (until you perhaps demonstrate otherwise.)
To the other matter,, it is NOT completely the un-educated that have been falling for neofascist propaganda. First it's not that they are uneducated but perhaps poorly educated, in that they were never taught how to distinguish propaganda. Their environment, their peer group, the popular culture they might consume, their church might be planting the seeds of a viewpoint that causes them to skew neo-fascist. A defensive and negative mindset that sees itself always under siege will almost always skew neo-fascist because fascism gives easy answers to complex problems. Your assertion also assumes that people who are better educated will be immune to neo-fascism. I would say this is false. If someone is of a particular social class and religion, they are in many cases inclined to support regimes that desire to keep rigid class boundaries. They will reward the candidate to considers "illegals" unworthy of their charity because of their hidebound belief in "word of law.," and so forth. This is why people such as the Mercer family funded Breitbart....
You also dismiss the fair educations of the striving middle class who are many of my peers-- I would call them high school plus educated (plus being a community college and or some university and "life experience.) . Some of us are comfortable with the Democratic view because we have acheved a level of education and money that is Enough. We also have a root in either a liberal form of a traditional religion or no religion at all. However there are those among the striving middle class for whom what they have is never enough. They have internalized the negative and conspiratorial thinking that comes from the working class and feel to deny their roots would be disloyal. They keep their loyalty to a defensive posture and wear it as a badge of honor. And so they call for the QAnons and believe that "illegals" are both taking jobs and are lazy. They may have been taught to think critically but will not change when their loyalty is challenged. I've seen this in staunch Catholics who won't admit that their attitudes towards "illegals" flies in the face of Jesus' teachings.
So, who votes and accepts neo-fascism is far more complex than saying it is ONLY the un-educated. Rather it's groups within the spectrum of rich, educated, grievance driven loyalists of the middle and the poorly educated.
“Trump and all MAGA rhetoric strongly denounced fascism, so no, most MAGA voters didn't vote for neofascism at all.”
Alas, the GOP exhibits all the hallmarks of a fascist movement, including trump as the clown at the head of it as a fake strongman. Reality doesn’t care when trump lies or if voters don’t realize they voted for a fascist movement. It’s just reality.
1. To call those who did not go to college "the un-educated" is violently insulting and does not take into consideration the numbers of "educated" who voted for Trump. And yes, they are there. A study with no gray area in education gives a false-positive and plays into bias against working class folks who are not universal in their thinking.
2. To address your 4th point, how do I know this about the working class?? Lol....oh, honey, I've got some very deep working class roots. I got a full academic scholarship to a ritzy woman's college, but, as a friend described me, I'm "delightfully crass." Part of me has never fully left the working class. My husband, who is also highly educated, is also from a working class family. It's what I grew up with and still have a lot of interaction with working class folks -- probably more than you. While many of the people I know are very nice folks, when you get them going about politics, wow, some of them are all grievance and anger, even when they have little to be angry about. I could write you the most erudite and evidenced essay ( novella length) on the
The mad king is not reasonable at all and has never been. Big business, big media, the Republican Congress and the Republican Supreme Court will do little to nothing to try to restrain him, if that is even possible at this point. The mad king is bringing our country to its knees and will destroy it before he is done. One way or the other, he must not be allowed to further transform our democracy into an autocracy. How, I don’t know, but Trump must be contained or replaced.
That’s what the power-sharing basis of the Constitution was supposed to ensure. However, the Framers never anticipated a situation where all three branches of government would be in one man’s hand, as they are now. Turns out the US Constitution hasn’t stood the test of time.
We're now face to face with the realization that all along it was dependent on the "honor" system. The framers couldn't imagine that someone with no honor would ascend to the throne. Now we know.
Indeed. And that’s why abolishing all traces of presidential immunity must be a top priority when the new Constitution is written.
Any sport has rules, and penalties for those who disobey them. A game where one player has a free pass to do whatever he wants will inevitably descend into anarchy. Same thing here: one must always anticipate what to do when, not if, someone breaks the rules.
In previous comments here, I have said that CDs, bank certificates of deposit, are a safe place to ride out the Trump Tempest. That's because, like the banks, they are insured by the FDIC, so no one can lose money, unless Trump attacks the FDIC. Guess what? A little research shows that Trump is indeed attacking the FDIC.
CD don't really protect your wealth, it protects your USD against... USD! If today 100 USD buys one widget imported from China and you need 120 USD in a year from now, your CD at 4% won't do it. I've often heard over the years that USA export their inflation, but that is what is changing.
I agree, mostly, but consider that a new CD at 5% will do it. Alternatively, don't buy the tariffed product, or find a substitute. I know, easier said than done.
What exactly did Trump expect from the clear rejection he and his administration are showing toward foreign capital entering the U.S.? Every year, massive amounts of European — and global — funds flow into the American market because of the strong return on investment the U.S. typically guarantees. But how can anyone invest confidently in America when the VIX, a key measure of market volatility, is reaching levels comparable to the March 2020 pandemic crash?
This kind of instability can only weaken the position of U.S. assets.
On top of that, blocking or even just obstructing global trade with the U.S. — which is exactly what tariffs do — will inevitably harm the global economy. And a weaker global economy means fewer funds available to invest in U.S. bonds. The rising yields on Treasury bonds are already making this clear.
We are seeing a kind of “Argentinization” of the U.S. economy. All the warning signs are there: a weakening currency, the prospect of sustained high inflation, and rising interest rates on public debt. And it’s important to note that over the next year, the U.S. will need to refinance roughly $7 trillion in government debt. Higher interest rates in that context are not just inconvenient — they’re dangerous.
This is not the behavior of a stable, trusted reserve currency issuer. It’s what we expect from emerging markets in crisis — not from the United States.
As soon as it became clear the degree to which loyalty to Trump and yesman-ism were the requirements for office (and that competence was irrelevant), it should have been obvious to anyone that the country would head to third-world status. The only surprise to me is how fast it is happening.
The country may never recover from the destruction being done by Trump 2.0 and his enablers. It won't even begin unless or until they are all held to account for what they are doing. What does that mean? It means that they need to be put on notice today, all of them From Trump, Vance and Musk on down, that there will be investigations and prosecutions for the crimes they are committing. By 2029 the destruction might be so bad that Roberts may reconsider the damage he did by giving Trump any immunity for official acts, but then again, a good prosecutor can easily argue that little Trump is doing are official acts as most of what he is doing is illegal or unconstitutional or both.
Except 6/9 of the SUPREMES declared tRump immune to prosecution. and he will just pardon the rest of his regime. One incredibly corrupt president supported by many fanatic and greedy enablers is going to bring down the Republic.
True, for now. Do not forget that King Dipshit is 78 years old, morbidly obese, with a terrible diet and obvious dementia. He may not last long enough to pardon anyone. And there is no successor as cult leader...
But there are people involved in the Trumpist government who are using Trump as their useful idiot in their pursuit of their agenda of turning the US into a fascist state with themselves as part of the ruling cabal.
If for reasons of health issues on the part of Trump, his presidency ends before the end of his term, that’ll change the flavour of the nightmare that is this government, but it won’t end the nightmare.
But JD would. He is there to give the Oligarchs continued influence. The MAGAts don't like him, but that is not necessary if we don't have any more elections.
IMO, that's just skilled photography and a bit of Photoshop. During the campaign, there were many shots of him with a seemingly normal complexion. All Photoshop work.
You will need a Constitutional reform. The flaws in this 250-year-old document are now too obvious to ignore. However, that can only happen post-MAGA, lest things become even worse.
FINALLY Anne Applebaum just concurred that the guardrails have COMPLETELY FAILED. 250 years of theory and hoped for restraints but/and the first actual encounter with a tyrant and the checks/balances/guardrails NEVER worked at all. complete failure. (The Atlantic)
I've been saying it since before Jan 20, 2025 and hers is the first voice of the 'experts' on democracy who has also stated it in just that term: FAILURE of the guardrails theorized/planned/hoped for in the constitution. completely non-operational.
Humans will push any system to its breaking point. It's why I have been saying we need a new Constitution with some actual teeth in it and a reasonable method to recall an unsatisfactory president. And we just cannot let one person to wield this much power. Maybe an executive council of 5-7 elected members.
Roberts rethinking his position? - ha!! Hell will freeze over before that cabal will step up. Alito? Gorsuch? Kavenaugh? Possibly Coney Barrett, though I won't hold my breath.
Professor Krugman: how on Earth can this sort of economic, political and policy chaos continue for even a few months longer before the nation implodes and collapses? what will happen to americans then?
It can't. Abject poverty is what happens to those of us who aren't already there. Then comes the explosion of rage and the subsequent guillotining of the culprits.
Just to remind everyone, none of the sound and fury of the last week or so changed anything about Trump's tariffs on Canada and Mexico. The tariffs he already put on steel, aluminum and the auto industry stayed at the high level they were at. The US's top three trading partners all have stupid tariffs on their products, and, in the case of Canada and Mexico, in violation of the agreement Trump himself negotiated and was so proud of in his first administration.
The world, that does pay attention to our politics, like Americans pay attention to reality TV shows, also sees a GOP congress who are unwilling to reign him in.
If it was clear that there were guardrails, I do not think we would be seen as such a risky bet, and Trump talking about a "third term" does not help.
Congress could eliminate Trump's tariff powers which he is clearly stretching, as well, but the House axed the proposal, and I assume they would need a veto proof number to pass it.
How far do we have to unravel for congress to act?
Considering that what happened on Jan 6th was not enough... and people chose to not even believe their own eyes...
On the news the other day, Trump was compared to the UK's Truss, but we can't quickly unseat our leaders like they can.
The world sees that some in charge here have bought into the GOPs political and economic talking point nonsense spread by right-wing media that was only supposed to dupe the masses into voting for them, not those who would hold office. Sadly, it seems like after decades of these lies, many who grew up with them as their parents watched right-wing cable news, actually believe it is all real and/or accept it as fact and many now even hold office.
Instead of addressing this crisis, they just passed a budget framework to add trillions more to deficits and debt and are doubling down on all the nonsense.
The GOP only get one simple majority BR a year. They might want to save it to use in order to save our economy instead.
We may have brainwashed out of being a superpower and a wealthy innovative economy by decades of right-wing nonsense.
However, even this does not fully explain Trump and his enablers because I am even seeing some right-wing think tank people on the PBS NewsHour who seem quite sane by comparison and see the danger here and who are now not making excuses for this administration (a bit too little too late).
Decades of lies and GOP grifting have snowballed into this.
No one talks about the desperate need to stop this downward spiral in the country. Not only tariffs but the continued blackmailing of universities, disappearing people, taking away legal social security benefits, the desecration of all minorities, white supremacy . . . on and on and on.
I think the point of the tariffs is that it's the only way the administration can raise revenue from the middle and lower economic class es to 'pay for' more big tax cuts for the rich and large corporations.
Trump and his flying monkeys may think they can replace income tax revenue with tariff revenue, but it simply won’t work. A 100% universal tariff would generate $3 trillion a year in a perfect world, but 100% universal tariffs would cause imports to drop dramatically AND draw massive retaliation that would dramatically reduce other forms of government revenue. There’s no situation in which tariffs will meaningfully offset income tax.
Paul said this last week. It’s a ruse. It was never meant to be true. How many times can we be fooled and played. Another diversion to pretend other countries are paying for the tax cut for the comfort capitalist class. It doesn’t have to be true to fool the lower class that doesn’t read. Doesn’t listen to paul. Doesn’t care about politics because in their opinions politicians are all stooges and money grubbers. The ignorance is astounding on so many levels.
Don't get me wrong, the U.S. government is horrifically in need of a constitutional overhaul, but it wouldn't have fixed this. Stopping someone like Trump is, in fact, the one thing the U.S. constitutional structure is GOOD at; the founding fathers absolutely buried the federal government in veto points. 90% of the time, that's the problem; the government gets mired in gridlock, and over and over people elect new administrations only to find that they can't do almost any of what they promised because too many people's approval is needed and one of them, somewhere, decided to be a petulant child and throw up a veto.
The only reason Trump is able to do this is that every single veto point is currently controlled by Republicans and the entire Republican Party has decided that they're okay with what he's doing.
There's no constitutional workaround for 45% of the nation going full fascist.
At least Madison was well aware risks that a large faction posed. In Federalist #10 he writes that while Republican Government (the form not the party) might provide a check, it was nevertheless still possible that men "of factious tempers, of local prejudices, or of sinister designs, may by intrigue, by corruption, or by other means, first obtain the suffrages, and then betray the interests of the people." His hope was that the size of the nation would damp down the chances of such problems: "Extend the sphere, and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens; or if such a common motive exists, it will be more difficult for all who feel it to discover their own strength, and to act in unison with each other." This idea might have made sense in an 18th Century communications environment. Now that everyone walks around with a TV studio in their pocket, so to speak, circumstances are changed. It's very difficult for Congress to serve as "a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country, and whose patriotism and love of justice. . ."
Overhaul there may need to be, but what a constitutional convention might produce in current circumstances gives me pause.
The trouble with civil wars is always what comes after.
Let's just not let rich criminals buy an election for a demented old criminal that they thought wouldn't do anything to hurt them. Don't elect criminals. They will not do the right thing.
I’m a global bond fund manager. The US chipped away at its credibility over recent years with endless brinkmanship over raising the debt limit.
Not great but then the country elected Trump.
A few months ago we asked ourselves ‘Where can you put your money?’ That wasn’t to get high returns but just a place where you thought your money would unequivocally be safe.
Nowhere. The US remained very high on the list of the mostly OK though.
Today, not so much. I doubt you need reasons: a resentful fool surrounded by sycophants who thinks nothing of just taking what he thinks he can get with no concern about the longer term consequences or law is not someone you want to trust with your money.
Some clients have benchmarks which have very high levels of dollar holdings because they are conservative. We are advising they alter the benchmark away from the dollar somewhat.
Trump even made noises about defaulting on certain types of U.S. debt a month ago or so. My jaw hit the floor when I read about that. That should have set alarm bells ringing world wide (and maybe it did but below the public's radar).
Just to add to the very long list of Trump's mistakes, I would say a word about a less-regarded aspect of future nogotiations on tariffs.
It is understood that US negotiators are asking European conterparties to eliminate non-quantitative tariffs.
My opinion is that this will cause a damage in inter-Atlantic links even worse than standard negotiations on tariffs, as they will try to modify some long established values (for istance Europeans do not want OGM food from US entering our markets freely, and we also want to defend our typical food and hystorical products, not for economic reasons but for cultural ones).
Frankly I don't see anybody in the US team to properly consider cultural differences in the negotiations, and I am afraid this will cause big problems with European public opinion, in a time when inter-Atlantic cooperation is needed most.
Dr. Krugman, the sanewashing happens because admitting that Trump is a deranged criminal suffering dementia would also mean admitting that the media and the voters and the entire GOP are, similarly, insane and deranged. And nobody is going to admit that about themselves, not even the one who aren't too stupid to recognize it.
You left out an extremely important group — Wall Street financial “experts”. Chris Hayes had a great discussion on his show the other night with Stephanie Ruhle and Catherine Rampell about how shocked they are by how shocked all those Wall Street “experts” they talk to are by Trump imposing tariffs. Ruhle pointed out these people (mostly men) are paid big bucks for their expertise on financial issues which requires expertise on political issues yet they indulged in naive wishful thinking instead because they felt Trump would “ take care of the “ (cut their taxes). It’s long past time we held these “experts” to account and started mocking them for the self- centered fools they are.
Maybe if some of them had been sent to prison for the subprime collapse in 2008 they would have played nicer.
You are right. And a lot of others should have been fired. Instead they were allowed to return to business as usual which includes opposing the regulations put in place to prevent another meltdown. It also apparently supported their tendency to engage in immature magical thinking.
The space needed to imprison the bankers, underwriters, rating agencies, real estate appraisers, buyers and sellers of residential real estate, and legal counsel, (did I get everyone?) responsible for the fraud behind the subprime mortgage meltdown is about the size of North Dakota.
The rating agencies were paid to provide inaccurate ratings by the banks so their true (low) value would be hidden from the investors.
If I paid an appraiser to estimate a high price for my house without notifying the buyer both me and the appraiser would be in jail.
The heads of the banks and rating agencies were the ones who committed fraud and should have been fined billions and thrown in jail.
Same as it ever was
Plenty of room 😜 n El Salvador
Yes. Aside from Madoff, there were only a couple of successful prosecutions and they were South Asian immigrants who weren’t the principal culprits of the 2008 financial crisis. The jury system has its drawbacks if your peers aren’t willing to convict members of their group but are very willing to convict members of other groups.
Liberals and Republicans? or Democrats and Fascists?
Have Democrats kicked their "look forward, not back" habit yet?
Self-interest, not the national interest, propels the Wall Street crowd and their media claques, and all they cared about tRump's "plans" were: Moar Tax Cuts! and Deregulation! His tariff shite was waved away cos "campaign rhetoric".
And yet, here we are, a kneecapped economy, fascistic domestic policies, and a rudderless Ship of Fools piloted by a demented Queeg...spiffy, just spiffy...MAGA!
It's really amazing how the self-proclaimed "masters of the universe" can't see the danger in handing the reigns of power to a mad king. It's as surreal as seeing people's increasing acceptance of authoritarianism because they think they'll benefit, even though everyone, enemies of the power, members of the power structure, and those who try to keep their head down usually suffer instead.
"Ruhle pointed out these people (mostly men) are paid big bucks for their expertise on financial issues which requires expertise on political issues yet they indulged in naive wishful thinking instead because they felt Trump would “ take care of the “ (cut their taxes)."
In other words, the same wishful thinking that the entire political class has been indulging in since he was first elected.
Something I've noticed in years and years of studying and reading international relations is that even for the so-called "experts" who really are more in tune with the country they're studying and not just their own country's stereotypes about it... oftentimes, that "expertise" consists of nothing more than having really imbibed all the conventional wisdom of that country's chattering classes.
And when you know how disconnected, propagandized, chronically wrong, and just plain delusional our own mainstream media is, it becomes clear very quickly just how much they must still be missing.
"Gosh, it's crazy that no one saw the Iranian Revolution coming!" Is it? Where were all your "expert" diplomats, spies, and foreign correspondents getting their information from? From the generals, ministers, businessmen, socialites, and other courtiers that were doing great under the Shah? Then yes, it's no wonder you missed the Iranian Revolution. And so forth.
These "financial experts" basically did the same thing to their own country. Their job requires them to be politically literate, so they started reading a lot about politics, but unfortunately most of what they read was the kind of crap you find in the op-ed page of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and so forth. And so they come out thinking they know everything, when really they don't know squat.
Amen. They should use those brains and their collective power to do something. Think outside the box!
He’ll cut income taxes but tariffs are a tax themselves.
The Wall Street financial “experts” didn’t vote Trump into the Presidency. The 70 million moronic US voters are now reaping the rewards of their idiocy.
While it is true that the media and many voters and the so-called GOP are, in an imprecise everyday sense of those words, “insane and deranged”, I’d like to understand more precisely what exactly is going on. It doesn’t look to me like a medical condition in the field of mental illness.
The so-called GOP is, I would argue, in a state where its main parts have been turned into a dangerous cult, and those who have not been turned into acolytes of Trumpism have been bullied into silence.
But how precisely should the state of the media and all those voters who are still not angry at Trump be characterized?
Deluded by normalcy bias?
I think men, particularly those young men, bear some responsibility. Over 55% men(18-24) vote for Trump, because they have increasingly lost political influence in the left-wings groups. Social media traps these individuals in echo chambers, further fueling their hatred, while extreme Christian doctrines reinforced by fundamentalist ideologies propagate anti-intellectualism through these platforms.
There is nothing Christian about their ideology, it is the opposite of the teachings and example set by Jesus. It’s long past time true Christians speak out and reclaim that name. I’m not a believer but I studied the gospels in college. To call these people Christian is as crazy as calling Putin a pacifist.
There were Christian denominations who spoke out In the months following the Dobbs decision because their religious beliefs do not include life beginning at conception. They even joined lawsuits claiming the abortion bans violated the First Amendment because the bans impose a particular religious belief. They were unsuccessful. Then Bishop Marianne Budde of the National Cathedral spoke about the Christian tradition of welcoming the stranger during Trump’s inaugural prayer service and received death threats and insults. True Christians have been trying to speak out but are bullied and threatened by the political “Christians” who have sucked up most media attention for 50 years.
Thank you, Lee, for the term “political Christians.” It suits perfectly those who are now saying Jesus was wrong (about Love Thy Neighbor), and that empathy is a sin if it promotes tolerance of “others.”
They protested not because people's autonomy was being attacked, but because Dobbs disagreed with their particular beliefs. Beliefs are not facts. We're back to "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin."
I agree with you. While I recognize many devout, rational and kind Christians, there are individuals who exploit religious rhetoric to incite extremism, reject science and medical knowledge, and systematically propagate harmful ideologies through social media.
It has always struck me that these people always use the Old Testament — or occasionally Revelations — to justify their bigotry. They completely ignore what Jesus said and did even though most claim to believe Jesus is God.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8jBn14x/
I wouldn’t say “rarely”. It’s just that the people who do live like true Christians don’t get a lot of attention. They just quietly go about living a moral, compassionate life. I have known as many people like that as I have known pseudo-Christians who are MAGA types. And I have known—and still know—a lot of both. I grew up in Appalachia and have lived for 10 years in Texas and 30 in NC.
The problem with white evangelicals is they are far more white than evangelical. They just couldn't tolerate a black woman as president no matter how mentally irregular and lawless her opponent was.
Just saw these articles at Salon.com addressing the “insecure masculinity” factor:
“MAGA's war on empathy exposes misogynist fears
Elon Musk and the Christian right call empathy "toxic" and "suicidal" — blame their shared misogyny”
https://www.salon.com/2025/04/11/magas-on-empathy-exposes-misogynist-fears/
This one is even more bonkers:
“Fox News, desperate to defend Trump's tariffs, exploits MAGA's masculinity delusions
Right-wing social media has decided soaring inflation will somehow grant them all tradwives”
https://www.salon.com/2025/04/09/fox-news-desperate-to-defend-tariffs-exploits-magas-masculinity-delusions/
Young man, generally, feel pressure to achieve
and succeed. They want to prove themselves to be winners. In our competitive society, in which we’re exposed to images of aspirational consumerism through regular media, social media and peer groups, these young men may feel like it’s too hard, like they don’t have a chance. Along comes Trump telling them that it’s not their fault, that they’re being given a raw deal. He (and the Right Wing) offer scapegoats to blame, immigrants, DEI, childless cat ladies. Trump’s spiel makes them feel like they have a chance and that he’ll open the floodgates of opportunity. They want to believe his story tale.
A global economic recession is quietly taking place. Young people are becoming a "lost generation", turning more towards "opposing something" than "supporting something". Compared with the disadvantaged groups that are constantly enhancing their voice, the sense of disparity among men is particularly large.
Yes, they are insane and deranged. They have been doing this for nearly a decade. Being in a cult is, very truly, insane and deranged. If they are still not angry at Trump, yes, they are deluded.
They've been doing it for a lot longer than that. TrumPox is merely the culmination of what's been happening since around 1953.
Certainly since the MSM decided to ignore Newt Gingrich cheating on his wife with Callista in a limo in the senate garage while he was also chasing Clinton's penis all over the beltway.
Their hypocrisy is boundless.
Yeah, I really think that was a watershed moment.
As late as the 1992 election, the candidates' "personal lives" were famously off-limits to each other because everyone knew that HW was just as guilty as Clinton on that front, so it would've been mutually assured destruction. Clinton presumably thought the same rules would hold through his term of office, the same way they had for years.
The Clinton impeachment was something new in terms of the utter shamelessness shown, not only by Republican politicians, but by pretty much the entire Republican electorate and by the mainstream media, in terms of pretending that the same issue could be of nation-defining importance when a Democrat did it and an utter triviality when a Republican did it. So much of the coverage Democrats get since then stems from this moment.
Callista being a congressional staffer. At least we taxpayers didn't pay for Monica.
This scenario (falling dollar + treasury weakness) has happened before. Hard to believe, but on October 25, 2000, a dollar would buy 1.25 Euros. The court's illegal awarding of the presidency to Bush on 12/12/00 unleashed a flood of capital back to Europe clearly seen on the currency, bond, and stock markets, and capital flow statistics. This was reinforced by the corporate scandals of 2001/2. But this time the yen and other Asian currencies seem to be joining in.
Yup. I remember that. Even back then we knew it put us on a slippery slope. We were right. Unfortunately.
This goes back eons. Not decades. A small group seeks to dominate a large one. No holds barred.
The GOP cult of personality really hit it's stride beginning with Ronald Reagan's election in 1980. It has grown & metastasized to be the abomination it is today. I'm waiting for RFK Jr to tell us we need to drink Kool-Aid for our TDS.
It’s a cult. That’s really all the understanding required.
But why are the media, even those that are not part of the cult, largely sanewashing and normalizing it?
Access journalism, IMO. No Republican will talk to them if they started telling the truth about the cult, which those in mainstream media think would harm their credibility and alienate half of their potential customers.
Thank you for making those points, indeed it appears plausible enough that these aspects may well be a big part of the explanation.
I wonder though whether “no Republican will talk to them if they started telling the truth about the cult” is just speculation or a fear they may have, or is there evidence that that is an actual reality?
Of course there’s evidence. Wapo owner bezos pulled an endorsement for Harris and then started censoring op-ed writers after trump won. Similar things happened at CNN and NYT. The administration kicked the AP out of the White House press pool for not calling the Gulf of Mexico the “gulf of America.”How many articles do you see actually analyzing what the administration does with respect to our history and the obvious parallels with fascist movements in the 20th century?
It's not considered "polite" to say the leader of the free world is an ignoramus in your headlines.
After Biden took office the number of clicks on news media sites fells off dramatically, as did subscriptions. That resulted in layoffs. So the media abdicated its responsibility in a democratic republic to make money and went soft on the Trump circus because he had been good for their bottom line. It’s awful, but the ultimate responsibility lies with Americans who must be constantly entertained and will not spend 5 minutes reading a serious, straight news report. Plus, now that Trump’s back in office and unrestrained (thanks, SCOTUS), the probability these news outlets will be sued makes them cautious. The ABC case casts a long shadow.
Thank you for making those points, indeed it appears plausible enough that these aspects may well be a big part of the explanation.
The WSJ has a good article today on the cult-like aspects of Trumpism:
Trust Unshaken: Trump Voters Are Sticking With Their Guy
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trust-unshaken-trump-voters-are-sticking-with-their-guy-865cde58?mod=mhp
I’ve bought access and I have read the article, which I’ve found to consist entirely of brief portraits of the viewpoints of a couple of Trump voters who still believe in him. Interesting and illuminating as far as it goes, but there is no analysis, no calling out that what is described is in fact a cult-like phenomenon. So it’s in effect yet another articles that contributes to normalizing Trumpism.
Like all media, they have a “show both sides” technique. They don’t say “they’re cultists” but I personally thought that most described were cultists.
What’s “established?”
My understanding is that cults aren’t necessarily religions sociologically speaking. Is that wrong?
In denial and working hard to stay there.
Actually there is good research about the mental health issues involved in getting sucked into a cult and the serious mental health issues involved in getting out and avoiding getting sucked into another one.
Steven Hassan’s account of getting sucked into the Moonies and how he got out is very interesting. He is now an expert on cults helping people get out of cults.
Thank you so much for these pointers!
In regard to “good research about the mental health issues involved in getting sucked into a cult and the serious mental health issues involved in getting out and avoiding getting sucked into another one”, is there something in particular that you’d recommend? (I have access to a good scientific library, so I’m not limited to what is available online.)
In regard to the author you mention, Steven Hassan, I’ve ordered a copy of his book “The Cult of Trump” which is evidently directly relevant to my questions.
They are responding to the their own self interest. Media professionals want access and scoops. Going hard (and honest) about Trump and his minions means losing access and being subject to threats and intimidation. Non-MAGA Trump voters responded to what they perceived as (and wanted to believe was) their own interests. They wanted lower costs on both consumer goods and taxes. If someone (us) tried to tell them the facts they reacted like an angry child whose birthday cake was being taken away.
Thank you for making those points, indeed it appears plausible enough that these aspects may well be a big part of the explanation.
Speak for yourself!
'It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled'
For the most part, especially working class Whites, about half Trump's supporters aren't insane. They’re just ignorant or, when I'm in a less generous mood, stupid. They don't understand the world around them, so they glom onto anyone who exudes confidence while telling them that their problems are: a) not their fault, b) someone else's fault and c) easily fixed by going after the "others" that are screwing up their lives. I hope a bunch of Trump's people are just ignorant, because ignorance can be fixed. Stupid, however, can't. If Trump supporters really are just a bunch of stupid, insane clowns, then we as a nation are only at the very beginning of a long, long descent into the heart of darkness.
This is actually an extension of the diseased mind into society. Insanity is now part of the system. The “sanewashers” livelihood depends on trying to make sense of something that simply doesn’t. How many of us believe that we have to overlook the horrible effects of what we do, because not doing so would cause us to lose our jobs or suffer even worse consequences? When we don’t even ask ourselves that question we are living in a culture permeated by insanity. The original insane act was to allow a person, who under paranoid delusions used his position to unleash a riotous mob upon the capital only 4 years, 3 months and 5 days ago, to run for and be elected President of the United States. It wasn’t cynical, it wasn’t craven, it wasn’t rational business strategy. It was to be in the thrall of a folie a deux. In other words it was crackers. It’s hard to admit, but sooner we ALL realize it the better. Time spent trying to rationalize the position we are in is time wasted in a dystopian dreamland of our own making. Paul Krugman is spot on to call it what it is - insanity.
Dunning-Krueger at its best…
What really scares me are the previously rational, intelligent people I have known who got sucked into MAGA. They got pulled in back in the 90s when the mainstream media helped promote right wing pseudo-scandals about the Clintons. The NYT was the one pushing the Whitewater, Travegate, Filegate and Chinagate lies. Then they started watching Fox News .
I like the New York-ese argot we use for the Trumps of this world, he's a major "wack job". A wack job with a facile grasp of worldly affairs, let alone international trade or macroeconomics. Trying to second guess him or his motives beyond his morbid delusions of grievance will exhaust you and won't even register with him.
Grim eh?
True but by supporting Trump they have very seriously hurt their own interests. They are finally waking up to the fact that trust in the US democracy is key to their financial health
Yes the idea of ‘drug’ treatment for 80 million is a challenge! Particularly when they get the drugs delivered for free, sort of. But the cost is coming directly at them!
Yes, it would imply that 49.5% of the voters were ignorant, morons, bigots, or malign.
It doesn’t imply that, it provides evidence of it. The clearest evidence? Trump is in the White House; MTG, Boebert and Tuberville are in congress.
By definition, they can't. The insane don't realize they're insane, they genuinely believe the instructions they get from the mothership are real.
Indeed.
Shame is a powerful inhibitor of positive action.
The hell it is, everyone remotely Trump adjacent is getting away with everything short of murder (and RFK Jr. is rapidly approaching murder) because they have no shame.
My point was about those who supported Trump in delusion of expecting something else.
For elected Republicans, their shame could inhibit them from acting against Trump. Note that many elected Republicans have spoken out against Trump excesses, but have yet to act.
Now only if we can get them to override their shame ... it doesn't take many for impeachment in the House, and maybe gives a (slim) chance of conviction in the Senate.
Most journalist don't have a solid training in journalism anymore? Are you for real? Most publications of note will not hire a journalist who doesn't have a journalism master's degree from an incredibly expensive journalism school! You talk like people writing for The Times or Reuters or WAPO or whatever they are reading have maybe an undergrad in journalism and it's not true at all. The education leve and barriers to enter into the field beyond one 's neighborhood are incredibly high.
So, then, what causes the folx to vote for a fascist wannabe dictator? Primarily propaganda which they don't recognize due to personal bias. They want what propaganda is selling because it conforms and confirms their worldview. They do not look at who owns the media companies to even understand that the content they are consuming is biased. I see this living in a relatively liberal state, yet out of the Metro area, where our local TV stations have a decidedly right wing slant - although not outright propaganda. Most of us Democratic voters know the companies that own the outlets are right leaning, so we aren't affected by it. If you don't know, you might be affected by it. But it's the bigger outlets, like OAN or Newsmax or even NewsNation, where people do not know who owns the companies nor who's doing the reporting. At these outlets, mostly founded by people who made money in marketing, are staffed by "journalists" or journalists educated in the field who were uncomfortable their networks or papers neglecting a conservative viewpoint ...
Because the fact is: the conservative viewpoint is almost always manufactured from spinning facts differently from what they actually represent. I've seen this done time and again with survey reports from reputable companies like Pew Research taken and turned on their head to gin up panic for the untimely demise of a particular conservative p.o.v. The demise is, actually, timely and based on the changing views of the public, but this isn't what the conservative networks desire to show people. Now, people hold their own bias going into a news show -- say a negative bias of Black youth-- then the spun fact becomes the confirmation of their bias.
The echo chambers of social media don't help either. Even after all the years we have had of social media, people still do not seem to understand that someone who chooses not to show their identity should never be a trusted source. Rather, their confirmation bias gets turned into conspiracy bias and the anonymous or discredited source becomes the truth teller.
The blame then should be leveled on people's own bias (how did they get so mean in the first place?) and the outlets owned by people who have an interest in making money from implicit bias, which trashes any journalistic integrity that may have existed.
You speak as someone who may not know anything about the programs of, say, Columbia's J school, or how a journalism grad degree works so I'll chalk up your opinion on that to lack of knowledge and personal bias against higher education (until you perhaps demonstrate otherwise.)
To the other matter,, it is NOT completely the un-educated that have been falling for neofascist propaganda. First it's not that they are uneducated but perhaps poorly educated, in that they were never taught how to distinguish propaganda. Their environment, their peer group, the popular culture they might consume, their church might be planting the seeds of a viewpoint that causes them to skew neo-fascist. A defensive and negative mindset that sees itself always under siege will almost always skew neo-fascist because fascism gives easy answers to complex problems. Your assertion also assumes that people who are better educated will be immune to neo-fascism. I would say this is false. If someone is of a particular social class and religion, they are in many cases inclined to support regimes that desire to keep rigid class boundaries. They will reward the candidate to considers "illegals" unworthy of their charity because of their hidebound belief in "word of law.," and so forth. This is why people such as the Mercer family funded Breitbart....
You also dismiss the fair educations of the striving middle class who are many of my peers-- I would call them high school plus educated (plus being a community college and or some university and "life experience.) . Some of us are comfortable with the Democratic view because we have acheved a level of education and money that is Enough. We also have a root in either a liberal form of a traditional religion or no religion at all. However there are those among the striving middle class for whom what they have is never enough. They have internalized the negative and conspiratorial thinking that comes from the working class and feel to deny their roots would be disloyal. They keep their loyalty to a defensive posture and wear it as a badge of honor. And so they call for the QAnons and believe that "illegals" are both taking jobs and are lazy. They may have been taught to think critically but will not change when their loyalty is challenged. I've seen this in staunch Catholics who won't admit that their attitudes towards "illegals" flies in the face of Jesus' teachings.
So, who votes and accepts neo-fascism is far more complex than saying it is ONLY the un-educated. Rather it's groups within the spectrum of rich, educated, grievance driven loyalists of the middle and the poorly educated.
“Trump and all MAGA rhetoric strongly denounced fascism, so no, most MAGA voters didn't vote for neofascism at all.”
Alas, the GOP exhibits all the hallmarks of a fascist movement, including trump as the clown at the head of it as a fake strongman. Reality doesn’t care when trump lies or if voters don’t realize they voted for a fascist movement. It’s just reality.
I'm only going to address a few of your points
1. To call those who did not go to college "the un-educated" is violently insulting and does not take into consideration the numbers of "educated" who voted for Trump. And yes, they are there. A study with no gray area in education gives a false-positive and plays into bias against working class folks who are not universal in their thinking.
2. To address your 4th point, how do I know this about the working class?? Lol....oh, honey, I've got some very deep working class roots. I got a full academic scholarship to a ritzy woman's college, but, as a friend described me, I'm "delightfully crass." Part of me has never fully left the working class. My husband, who is also highly educated, is also from a working class family. It's what I grew up with and still have a lot of interaction with working class folks -- probably more than you. While many of the people I know are very nice folks, when you get them going about politics, wow, some of them are all grievance and anger, even when they have little to be angry about. I could write you the most erudite and evidenced essay ( novella length) on the
You're blind!
I apologize-this comment was not meant for you but the comments by Patricia Grier.
The mad king is not reasonable at all and has never been. Big business, big media, the Republican Congress and the Republican Supreme Court will do little to nothing to try to restrain him, if that is even possible at this point. The mad king is bringing our country to its knees and will destroy it before he is done. One way or the other, he must not be allowed to further transform our democracy into an autocracy. How, I don’t know, but Trump must be contained or replaced.
That’s what the power-sharing basis of the Constitution was supposed to ensure. However, the Framers never anticipated a situation where all three branches of government would be in one man’s hand, as they are now. Turns out the US Constitution hasn’t stood the test of time.
We're now face to face with the realization that all along it was dependent on the "honor" system. The framers couldn't imagine that someone with no honor would ascend to the throne. Now we know.
Indeed. And that’s why abolishing all traces of presidential immunity must be a top priority when the new Constitution is written.
Any sport has rules, and penalties for those who disobey them. A game where one player has a free pass to do whatever he wants will inevitably descend into anarchy. Same thing here: one must always anticipate what to do when, not if, someone breaks the rules.
That's why it's imperative that we Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
April 19 is the next nationwide rally, be there or be square!
//
Don't let up folks, it's working:
Boycott TE卐LA! Boycott Swastikar!
Short TE卐LA! Short Swastikar!
Boycott 卐tarlink!
Boycott 卐/Twitter!
Curb your DOGE!
https://generalstrikeus.com/strikecard
Do not forget Amazon/Whole foods and all things Meta. With a little in confidence we can take these fools down.
Oh yeah! Absolutely! A major nationwide general boycott would be great.
Or John Wilkes Oswald?
We now need The Jackal.
In previous comments here, I have said that CDs, bank certificates of deposit, are a safe place to ride out the Trump Tempest. That's because, like the banks, they are insured by the FDIC, so no one can lose money, unless Trump attacks the FDIC. Guess what? A little research shows that Trump is indeed attacking the FDIC.
CD don't really protect your wealth, it protects your USD against... USD! If today 100 USD buys one widget imported from China and you need 120 USD in a year from now, your CD at 4% won't do it. I've often heard over the years that USA export their inflation, but that is what is changing.
I agree, mostly, but consider that a new CD at 5% will do it. Alternatively, don't buy the tariffed product, or find a substitute. I know, easier said than done.
Predictably.
What exactly did Trump expect from the clear rejection he and his administration are showing toward foreign capital entering the U.S.? Every year, massive amounts of European — and global — funds flow into the American market because of the strong return on investment the U.S. typically guarantees. But how can anyone invest confidently in America when the VIX, a key measure of market volatility, is reaching levels comparable to the March 2020 pandemic crash?
This kind of instability can only weaken the position of U.S. assets.
On top of that, blocking or even just obstructing global trade with the U.S. — which is exactly what tariffs do — will inevitably harm the global economy. And a weaker global economy means fewer funds available to invest in U.S. bonds. The rising yields on Treasury bonds are already making this clear.
We are seeing a kind of “Argentinization” of the U.S. economy. All the warning signs are there: a weakening currency, the prospect of sustained high inflation, and rising interest rates on public debt. And it’s important to note that over the next year, the U.S. will need to refinance roughly $7 trillion in government debt. Higher interest rates in that context are not just inconvenient — they’re dangerous.
This is not the behavior of a stable, trusted reserve currency issuer. It’s what we expect from emerging markets in crisis — not from the United States.
As soon as it became clear the degree to which loyalty to Trump and yesman-ism were the requirements for office (and that competence was irrelevant), it should have been obvious to anyone that the country would head to third-world status. The only surprise to me is how fast it is happening.
This can’t continue for almost four years. A Jefferson Airplane song comes to mind.
https://youtu.be/Xaw--HWHecg?si=CQkt2cPqVGvMtnuD
Perfect!
I immediately thought it would be White Rabbit - 'one pill makes you smaller...'
Whatever Trumpski is on
Another true classic.
A true classic.
This is flushing out late 60s potheads! Or least the ones who have kept some of the ideals of that time.
The country may never recover from the destruction being done by Trump 2.0 and his enablers. It won't even begin unless or until they are all held to account for what they are doing. What does that mean? It means that they need to be put on notice today, all of them From Trump, Vance and Musk on down, that there will be investigations and prosecutions for the crimes they are committing. By 2029 the destruction might be so bad that Roberts may reconsider the damage he did by giving Trump any immunity for official acts, but then again, a good prosecutor can easily argue that little Trump is doing are official acts as most of what he is doing is illegal or unconstitutional or both.
Except 6/9 of the SUPREMES declared tRump immune to prosecution. and he will just pardon the rest of his regime. One incredibly corrupt president supported by many fanatic and greedy enablers is going to bring down the Republic.
True, for now. Do not forget that King Dipshit is 78 years old, morbidly obese, with a terrible diet and obvious dementia. He may not last long enough to pardon anyone. And there is no successor as cult leader...
But there are people involved in the Trumpist government who are using Trump as their useful idiot in their pursuit of their agenda of turning the US into a fascist state with themselves as part of the ruling cabal.
If for reasons of health issues on the part of Trump, his presidency ends before the end of his term, that’ll change the flavour of the nightmare that is this government, but it won’t end the nightmare.
But JD would. He is there to give the Oligarchs continued influence. The MAGAts don't like him, but that is not necessary if we don't have any more elections.
Suspect he is on ozempic (or similar). Some pictures show cheekbones emerging.
IMO, that's just skilled photography and a bit of Photoshop. During the campaign, there were many shots of him with a seemingly normal complexion. All Photoshop work.
You will need a Constitutional reform. The flaws in this 250-year-old document are now too obvious to ignore. However, that can only happen post-MAGA, lest things become even worse.
FINALLY Anne Applebaum just concurred that the guardrails have COMPLETELY FAILED. 250 years of theory and hoped for restraints but/and the first actual encounter with a tyrant and the checks/balances/guardrails NEVER worked at all. complete failure. (The Atlantic)
I've been saying it since before Jan 20, 2025 and hers is the first voice of the 'experts' on democracy who has also stated it in just that term: FAILURE of the guardrails theorized/planned/hoped for in the constitution. completely non-operational.
Humans will push any system to its breaking point. It's why I have been saying we need a new Constitution with some actual teeth in it and a reasonable method to recall an unsatisfactory president. And we just cannot let one person to wield this much power. Maybe an executive council of 5-7 elected members.
Roberts rethinking his position? - ha!! Hell will freeze over before that cabal will step up. Alito? Gorsuch? Kavenaugh? Possibly Coney Barrett, though I won't hold my breath.
We're going to need a lot of guillotines.
Professor Krugman: how on Earth can this sort of economic, political and policy chaos continue for even a few months longer before the nation implodes and collapses? what will happen to americans then?
It can't. Abject poverty is what happens to those of us who aren't already there. Then comes the explosion of rage and the subsequent guillotining of the culprits.
The French Revolution redux?
"Let them eat cake!" Chop!
Just to remind everyone, none of the sound and fury of the last week or so changed anything about Trump's tariffs on Canada and Mexico. The tariffs he already put on steel, aluminum and the auto industry stayed at the high level they were at. The US's top three trading partners all have stupid tariffs on their products, and, in the case of Canada and Mexico, in violation of the agreement Trump himself negotiated and was so proud of in his first administration.
It will be a long time, if ever, before Canada will fully trust the USA again.
Someone please convince me that Putin is not pulling all the strings on his puppet.
And it is not "just" Trump.
The world, that does pay attention to our politics, like Americans pay attention to reality TV shows, also sees a GOP congress who are unwilling to reign him in.
If it was clear that there were guardrails, I do not think we would be seen as such a risky bet, and Trump talking about a "third term" does not help.
Congress could eliminate Trump's tariff powers which he is clearly stretching, as well, but the House axed the proposal, and I assume they would need a veto proof number to pass it.
How far do we have to unravel for congress to act?
Considering that what happened on Jan 6th was not enough... and people chose to not even believe their own eyes...
On the news the other day, Trump was compared to the UK's Truss, but we can't quickly unseat our leaders like they can.
The world sees that some in charge here have bought into the GOPs political and economic talking point nonsense spread by right-wing media that was only supposed to dupe the masses into voting for them, not those who would hold office. Sadly, it seems like after decades of these lies, many who grew up with them as their parents watched right-wing cable news, actually believe it is all real and/or accept it as fact and many now even hold office.
Instead of addressing this crisis, they just passed a budget framework to add trillions more to deficits and debt and are doubling down on all the nonsense.
The GOP only get one simple majority BR a year. They might want to save it to use in order to save our economy instead.
We may have brainwashed out of being a superpower and a wealthy innovative economy by decades of right-wing nonsense.
However, even this does not fully explain Trump and his enablers because I am even seeing some right-wing think tank people on the PBS NewsHour who seem quite sane by comparison and see the danger here and who are now not making excuses for this administration (a bit too little too late).
Decades of lies and GOP grifting have snowballed into this.
It has started:
IDIOCRACY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP2tUW0HDHA)
No one talks about the desperate need to stop this downward spiral in the country. Not only tariffs but the continued blackmailing of universities, disappearing people, taking away legal social security benefits, the desecration of all minorities, white supremacy . . . on and on and on.
Dear Professor Krugman,
I think the point of the tariffs is that it's the only way the administration can raise revenue from the middle and lower economic class es to 'pay for' more big tax cuts for the rich and large corporations.
Michael
Trump and his flying monkeys may think they can replace income tax revenue with tariff revenue, but it simply won’t work. A 100% universal tariff would generate $3 trillion a year in a perfect world, but 100% universal tariffs would cause imports to drop dramatically AND draw massive retaliation that would dramatically reduce other forms of government revenue. There’s no situation in which tariffs will meaningfully offset income tax.
Paul said this last week. It’s a ruse. It was never meant to be true. How many times can we be fooled and played. Another diversion to pretend other countries are paying for the tax cut for the comfort capitalist class. It doesn’t have to be true to fool the lower class that doesn’t read. Doesn’t listen to paul. Doesn’t care about politics because in their opinions politicians are all stooges and money grubbers. The ignorance is astounding on so many levels.
I think that’s definitely one motivation, perhaps the main one.
Republican form of governance needs to be overhauled,
What form? Total destruction?
Severely reduced presidential powers for a start.
The Congress could act on the President’s tariff powers today if they wanted to. Don’t hold your breath.
This.
Don't get me wrong, the U.S. government is horrifically in need of a constitutional overhaul, but it wouldn't have fixed this. Stopping someone like Trump is, in fact, the one thing the U.S. constitutional structure is GOOD at; the founding fathers absolutely buried the federal government in veto points. 90% of the time, that's the problem; the government gets mired in gridlock, and over and over people elect new administrations only to find that they can't do almost any of what they promised because too many people's approval is needed and one of them, somewhere, decided to be a petulant child and throw up a veto.
The only reason Trump is able to do this is that every single veto point is currently controlled by Republicans and the entire Republican Party has decided that they're okay with what he's doing.
There's no constitutional workaround for 45% of the nation going full fascist.
At least Madison was well aware risks that a large faction posed. In Federalist #10 he writes that while Republican Government (the form not the party) might provide a check, it was nevertheless still possible that men "of factious tempers, of local prejudices, or of sinister designs, may by intrigue, by corruption, or by other means, first obtain the suffrages, and then betray the interests of the people." His hope was that the size of the nation would damp down the chances of such problems: "Extend the sphere, and you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens; or if such a common motive exists, it will be more difficult for all who feel it to discover their own strength, and to act in unison with each other." This idea might have made sense in an 18th Century communications environment. Now that everyone walks around with a TV studio in their pocket, so to speak, circumstances are changed. It's very difficult for Congress to serve as "a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country, and whose patriotism and love of justice. . ."
Overhaul there may need to be, but what a constitutional convention might produce in current circumstances gives me pause.
The trouble with civil wars is always what comes after.
Well, then, that’s what civil wars are for.
Let's just not let rich criminals buy an election for a demented old criminal that they thought wouldn't do anything to hurt them. Don't elect criminals. They will not do the right thing.
I’m a global bond fund manager. The US chipped away at its credibility over recent years with endless brinkmanship over raising the debt limit.
Not great but then the country elected Trump.
A few months ago we asked ourselves ‘Where can you put your money?’ That wasn’t to get high returns but just a place where you thought your money would unequivocally be safe.
Nowhere. The US remained very high on the list of the mostly OK though.
Today, not so much. I doubt you need reasons: a resentful fool surrounded by sycophants who thinks nothing of just taking what he thinks he can get with no concern about the longer term consequences or law is not someone you want to trust with your money.
Some clients have benchmarks which have very high levels of dollar holdings because they are conservative. We are advising they alter the benchmark away from the dollar somewhat.
Trump even made noises about defaulting on certain types of U.S. debt a month ago or so. My jaw hit the floor when I read about that. That should have set alarm bells ringing world wide (and maybe it did but below the public's radar).
Just to add to the very long list of Trump's mistakes, I would say a word about a less-regarded aspect of future nogotiations on tariffs.
It is understood that US negotiators are asking European conterparties to eliminate non-quantitative tariffs.
My opinion is that this will cause a damage in inter-Atlantic links even worse than standard negotiations on tariffs, as they will try to modify some long established values (for istance Europeans do not want OGM food from US entering our markets freely, and we also want to defend our typical food and hystorical products, not for economic reasons but for cultural ones).
Frankly I don't see anybody in the US team to properly consider cultural differences in the negotiations, and I am afraid this will cause big problems with European public opinion, in a time when inter-Atlantic cooperation is needed most.