Don't let anyone tell you to delete your comment. This is NOT about taking the high road. And, PS, we took the high road with Obama and Biden and got sucker punched. And I am a big fan of theirs. But this is not a time for niceties.
It looks like you observe you were sucker punched by Obama. If that's what you are saying, I agree.
We will come to learn that Trump is a big part of Obama's legacy, along with Hillary and even Harris, and along with decreasing lifespan for Americans due in part, almost certainly, to the misleadingly vaunted ACA, i.e. Obamacare.
Look at the actual data, not a bunch of misled Democrats pining away for the "good old days".
Trying to wrap my small brain around this. Do you mean that many good policies were initiated by the Dems, who managed to alienate many voters with other issues, and by doing so opened the door for the Reps and the current horror show?
A tattoo “installed” at, say age 30, looks nothing like the original at age 65, even if one’s weight and musculature remains fairly unchanged. There’s no escaping what Father Time does to skin.
Everyone has tattoos. I drove Uber for a little while just to see what it was about and I lived near a huge military base. All of the younger service members, men and women, were throwing away their money on tattoos. I kept my mouth shut but if they did ask me I would tell them that every one of my buddies that got a tattoo later regretted it including one tattoo has a huge mistake that the “artist” just shrugged his shoulders about. I have to go to my grave knowing about that mistake because my friend would never have heard the end of the fact his tattoo is messed up from my other buddies.
Real presidents? I watched Valerie Jarrett issue orders to USGS scientist during the DWH event to shore up the cash grab for keeping Gulf states in Democrat hands. As for Biden, no sane person could defend him
Studies? Love to see the citations, but they don’t exist. It is a fact that Biden was never in command of his faculties. The sooner the DNC admits this, the sooner they can rebuild. As far Jarrett, I guess you had to be there. Which I was.
I am not saying that at all. If it came across that way, I apologize. But look at this clown car. You think rational conversation is going to change anything?
Right on! Unprecedented times with ignorant, misanthropic, national leadership calls for using any word that helps the message. Refreshing that this column deals with truth, fact and critical thought. Thanks.
This started out as a discussion over somebody castigating someone else for using an obscenity. Most people here see that we are in a national fucking emergency. Our greatest crisis since not just the Civil War, but the revolution. And most people get behind this, but some are virtual signaling and arguing that we show civility towards the actual Nazis? I don’t fucking think so.
Using all the goddamned words, i.e., venting, seems like mostly a way to feel better, although I suppose you could argue that the MAGA folks succeeded in getting us into all this shit by expressing their intense, often uncontrolled anger more forcefully than the rest of us.
I’m a predator? Fuck you. I’m a tiny female, some of the prey in this big bad world. Why are you being such an absolute bag of dicks? What is wrong with you?
And that original comment was trying to be nice. But you keep being such an insecure asshole for reasons I do not understand, and I am guessing it has more to do with you than me.
My reply to T.P. McGrane would have been "go fuck your sexist ass, please." He sounds like the product of too much Catholic school. All words have meaning and are less dangerous than bombs when used properly, and in the case of anything to do with Trump, anything goes.
Hey, thank you for that. I’m a fortyfuckingsix female going through menopause, and I’ll be good goddamned if I let anyone lecture me on acceptable words. First, do not take my words. They’re just about all I have left. And second, fuck off to misogynistic lecturing assholes.
I'm 84 and well beyond menopause, and having anyone tell me how to speak. You don't need any excuse to express yourself any way you want. Just say how you feel. Trump does all the time, and no one complains to him, McGrane.
Agreed that a "regular embrace of the gutter stinks." Overused shock words lose their power to affect us. That is why Paul Krugman's use of "shit" last night was dynamically effective; he saves the word for when it is really needed, and in this case it was.
I disagree. Who said some words are “bad”? And besides that, when they go low, we go high…how did that work out? Sometimes you have to get into the gutter and punch some dicks (from a 5’2” female, lol, but always been feisty).
I disagree. If they fight dirty to undermine democracy, we fight dirty back. They don’t respect democracy or any of us. They are trying to take everything.
We are not in the classroom here. We are in the trenches. We are awash in a sea of mis- and disinformation online from all sides. An occasional epithet or obscenity will do no harm and might, in fact, inspire others. This is a national emergency. We can't all be Churchill, FDR or Lincoln. We DO need to stick together, though - ALL OF US - and too much talk like this is corrosive. Let's focus on policy, issues and justice.
And it's a great reminder of the imperative that we continue to Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
The next nationwide rally is June 14, yes >that< June 14, be there or be square!
Let's ruin Chump's B'day. We need 3.5% or the population, or around 12,000,000 people to be present. So bring all your friends and families. Spread the word as far and wide as possible. Let's all get out there with a Howard Beale spirit and yell "We're as mad as hell, and we're not gonna take it anymore!".
While it's true that a regular embrace of the gutter stinks - as the GOP has long demonstrated - always taking the high road, especially under current conditions, is tantamount to capitulation.
The time for "decorum" has long ended. When congressional Democrats displayed cute little lollipop signs at the "State of the Union" address, it was taking the high road - totally lame and accomplished nothing in the face of lies and malfeasance.
This is exactly it. Dudes, are we going to just tolerate bullies punching down while we are playing nice because frankly we are better humans? Or should we figure out some ways to punch up? Nicety is not solving these fucking problems.
We're in a fight now. We can choose to let the bully repeatedly punch us while we passively fail to respond, or we can choose to hit back any and every way we can.
What is this "high road" of which you speak? Is it anything like "do the right thing"?
Chamberlain took the "high road" in Munich re his appeasement of Hitler and dishonoring his government's agreement with the Czechs. Lenin took the high road when he advocated withdrawing from WWI. England thought otherwise and continued the senseless slaughter. What the "high road" is, is completely subjective.
Trump and Musk think they're taking the high road. Most miscreants think they're taking the high road. Most sanctimonious folks also think this. It's a meaningless term unless it is specifically defined, and then it's unnecessary.
This is exactly the lesson I have tried to teach my children, nieces, nephew. There are times, places, situations. Like don’t scream “fuck!” in school or church. But if you need to say it at home, go ahead. It’s cathartic.
Paul you are the reason I joined Substack. Thank you for the tacos for lunch comment and the post modern Jukebox coda. It made this 78 year old feel good.
Well, I’m 83 and followed Paul to Substack when he left the NYT. He has always been one of my favorite opinion columnists, even though I’m roughly 10 years older than he is. Old dogs aren’t always the most stodgy and conservative. Paul, I wasn’t at all offended by your language this morning. Trump and the other bastards in his coterie deserve the harshest language we can throw at them. Keep the faith.
Too many people are forgetting that SCOTUS gave Trump carte blanche as president. If this goes to the supreme court, I think they are more likely to uphold their own constructed ruling and not a differerent era's ruling.
And, too many of SCOTUS have given up on the Constitution.
He may not be subject to criminal prosecution for his illegal conduct but that does not mean that all the actions he takes are constitutional. It’s a big difference.
Actually the SC stated (paraphrased) that a President cannot not be held accountable for actions which are within the bounds the President’s Constitutional powers. A President is not above the Constitution but constrained by those powers. If DTrump creates EOs which exceed the Constitutionally stated Presidential powers, he can be held criminally responsible and if necessary accountable for those actions. We, the people, need to hold DTrump to those standards by using the courts, Congressional action, or Constitutional Article Section 4 of impeachment. Failing those avenues the last remaining choices are becoming an unwilling passive observer or taking action based on massive public display of disapproval.
Not really what the SC ruled. They said president has immunity from “official” acts and they weren’t really clear about what that means. Many of Trump’s actions regarding the Jan 6th case were no doubt un-official acts but the SC never directly addressed it in the written opinion.
All of this tariff crap, deportations, etc will be claimed to be official acts.
Now if we ever get to investigate these crypto scams ….. that could be a way to get to Trump for unofficial financial crimes.
The tariff issue was stated to be outside official acts by federal court. Deportations of immigrants and US citizens without proper proof of judicial certification is illegal.
The issue of bitcoin isn’t illegal on its face - but selling access to the President for purposes of influencing executive decisions is.
Richard, When it comes to the scope question I am dubious that the current conservative majority will rein him in vis-a-vis the criminal immunity inquiry…..that is the nature of the defense….yes what you did was unconstitutional but you are immune from criminal liability. My point is maybe too fine.. just see a distinction between the immunity determination and the underlying question of constitutionality. So, if the question of constitutionality is in front of the court in a non criminal suit, they will have to address the constitutional question.
This is a great reminder of the imperative that we continue to Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
The next nationwide rally is June 14, yes >that< June 14, be there or be square!
Let's ruin Chump's B'day. We need 3.5% or the population, or around 12,000,000 people to be present. So bring all your friends and families. Spread the word as far and wide as possible. Let's all get out there with a Howard Beale spirit and yell "We're as mad as hell, and we're not gonna take it anymore!".
The problem there is that Trump still wields the pardon power for federal crimes. However, the landscape of federal civil rights suits under Biven remains open…although pitted with the landmines of qualified immunity. And there is always state courts.
It is funny that when I was a kid in the 60s, the republicans were up in arms about federal judges 'legislating from the bench', but now that they have a super majority they are happily legislating from the bench. They have happily watched as tRump has turned our Constitutional Republic into a massive joke.
Yes, the rest of the world, will just have to wait anxiously for the SCOTUS to deliver the blind and impartial verdict of Lady Justice (sarcasm), before we can truely know if the current financial plan of the USA is illegal. (the ROW already knows...)
When lawsuits were filed in a number of states, including Colorado (Anderson case) to disqualify Trump under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,Fed Soc split on the issue, with Judge Luttig and George Conway emphatically for, and Mukasey and Calabresi (who was first for) against.
There is no such split in this matter. Calabresi and Mukasey filed amici in the V.O.S. Selections case. Another suit is backed by none other than Leonard Leo, the creator of this Supreme Court. The far right wants to use Trump as its instrument, not be used by him, is my take.
“The far right wants to use Trump as its instrument, not be used by him, is my take.”
Exactly, which is why the attorneys for the business plaintiffs in this tariff case were “conservatives”. When Trump did something that hurt them (tariffs) instead of just the people they hate, they finally decided he had behaved unconstitutionally and headed to court.
This is why we read your posts, Paul. They show an intelligent man who’s not afraid to use profanity when he sees this country in the hands of a fuck up who doesn’t give a shit about anything except lining his pockets.
Johnson doesn't automatically become Veep. Vance can choose someone else.
However, if both Trump AND Vance were to be simultaneously impeached, Johnson would become prez via the line of succession.
Personally, I think that's a great idea. Johnson has the charisma of a lizard and a commensurate following. He would be entirely ineffective and a great reason to vote blue in '28.
But no one is getting intimidated by Vance - it's a GOP power struggle. Vance doesn't have the blackmail chops nor does he wield the base into attack mode. It would be better with Vance (famous last words 🙄)
That might actually be the case. I hope it is. Neither Couchboy Hillbilly nor Jackass Johnson wield the nationwide influence (albeit restricted to MAGAnuts) that Trumpkopf does.
I hope that is true. But I believe that, in addition to Peter Thiel, a lot of big money would get behind Vance because it is clear that he is easy to buy.
I would bet that Thiel is on the Musk side of the fight, which means that Vance is not going to step into it. Musk and Thiel have a very unpopular position, and a lot of trouble pushing Vance into power. Their only hope is that Trump gets sick.
I remember people making the same sort of comment about Pence in the first DonnyJon rodeo. In my opinion, we would've been much better off under Pence then, and probably would be better off under Vance now.
Without a shade of doubt, if Trump were to kick the bucket, the world's supply of champagne would be sold out in minutes. Even I would take a holiday from my sobriety to celebrate that moment.
But what then? There would still be a critical mass of toxic troglodytes who, like The Professor wrote, "may insist that they’re pro-American, but what they mean by “America” is a land of bigotry where your identity is determined by blood and soil, a land of closed borders and closed minds."
And by virtue of an ossified Constitution, combined with a thoroughly corrupt SCOTUS and its deleterious rulings, they will remain the ones who decide about the future of the US.
JD Vance would be the hangover. Vance is even more evil in that he knows exactly what he is doing. Shady is a protégé of Peter Thiel, a supporter of outright autocracy and an actual Techbro fascist capitalist.
I want him to live and see it all come crashing down. I don't want him to die until he knows his name will be synonymous with failure for eternity. Not that he knows what synonymous means.
He won't accept responsibility, but maybe a 30% approval rating, dump truck full of articles calling him a loser and some kind of public humiliation may break through his psyche a bit.
Even if he won't accept that responsibility, maybe he'll be aware of what his reputation is when it's in tatters.
No it doesn't prove that TACO was already priced in. More likely is that the market didn't expect Trump to suddenly start obeying court orders after he flouted so many before.
There are some other key issues in this court decision, very important in terms of the longer arc of Supreme Court thinking. The Trade Court overtly invoked the Major Questions doctrine, as though it is settled law. This then puts quite the challenge to the conservative justices, notably Gorsuch, who has expounded on the theory behind the Founders' structure of the government, that Congress has a duty to debate and legislate, which they can't duck. The Trade Court also noted that how Trump declared emergencies was deficient, because it involves reporting to Congress, which must take its own actions, and there is a periodic affirmation that is necessary from all parties about the emergency. Regarding the tariffs aimed to help control fentanyl, there are also problems, because there is no direct linkage between the goal of reducing drug availability here and the use of a more global international tariff, which the law requires. For those interested in reading the opinion, see https://www.cit.uscourts.gov/sites/cit/files/25-66.pdf. The bottom line is that this situation is a fundamental problem of separation of powers, and Congress will be forced to act, or there will be no tariffs.
Another key point: This is the mouse that roared. VOS Selections, the lead plaintiff, is a New York-based wine importer. They and the co-plaintiffs are small companies that have established the damages to their businesses from the tariffs with success. The Mouse That Roared is the classic satire by Leonard Wibberley, a worthwhile quick read, made into a play and then a fine movie with Peter Sellars and Jean Seberg.
A lawyer responded last night that Trump can appeal for this particular court to rule on the issue en banc, which means all of the judges rather than these three judges who made up this panel. If he loses here, his next stop is the Supreme Court.
"A federal appeals court has temporarily put on hold a ruling that voided President Trump’s tariffs while it considers the administration’s challenge to the lower-court decision. "
"The Federal Circuit, an intermediate appeals court in Washington, D.C., asked a group of companies that challenged the tariffs to file a written brief before June 5 laying out their arguments. The court instructed the Justice Department to reply to that brief by June 9. "
Now we hope that this daily Dog & Pony show of tariffs will come to an end. This on-off-on-off-up-down-up-down tariff announcements was also a nice insider trading scheme for Trump minions.
This is what i wrote about in my article few days ago.
"Another thing that is needed in ‘cleaning up’ process is at least some curtailing of the executive powers of American Presidency. These executive powers were not a problem before but with thorough abuse of executive authority, Trump has maligned the whole concept of executive power. The Presidents in past used executive powers with responsibility & restraint - even the worst of the Presidents had some sense of restraint unlike Donald Trump.
President’s unilateral authority to practically declare a trade war against the world is gross abuse of executive authority. In fact, the world needs to be convinced that America will not abuse its power arbitrarily. In terms of economy, a robust process of declaring a ‘national emergency’ is needed which should include congressional deliberation and central bank’s technocratic opinion on given situation. Just declaring ‘national emergency’ on farcical premise (fentanyl, size of trade deficit etc) can plunge America into unnecessary trade wars."
Actually, I think you might be referring to dog-killer and cruel, ignorant poseur Kristi Noem. One of the worst idiots ever foisted on our government. Parading in front of wrongly imprisoned men with her $50,000 Rolex. Thoroughly disgusting.
Not only the putative "They," who created financial, judicial and congressional oversight, never imagine they would have to deal with a person like Trump (and, is he a person in the usual sense of that word?), but none of us have. This has been obvious almost from the beginning, and ought to be a wake up call. Systems of all sorts, including the law are presently ill-equipped to resist the actions of Apex Preditors. And with AI upon us and many of its developers having revealed themselves as being in that class, we had better give up our comfortable illusions about how guardrails 'ought' to work. These guys eat guardrails for dinner.
Following the ruling by the Court of International Trade, a responsible administration would suspend the contested tariffs while the appeal proceeds. Continuing to enforce tariffs deemed illegal risks further harm to U.S. businesses and the broader economy. Importers are left in limbo—uncertain about what duties will apply—creating paralysis in the supply chain and driving shortages. This chaos is the direct result of recklessly imposed and poorly considered trade policies.
Surely people will be trying to claw back the tariffs already paid. This will be tied up in litigation for years. Such a waste of time and effort and still they will continue to destroy our economy.
Fuck this shit. Use all the goddamned words.
Don't let anyone tell you to delete your comment. This is NOT about taking the high road. And, PS, we took the high road with Obama and Biden and got sucker punched. And I am a big fan of theirs. But this is not a time for niceties.
The time for bipartisanship, [strikeout] capitulation [/strikeout] cooperation and decorum has ended.
It ended when Newt Gingrich made his marathon speeches in front of the congressional cameras when congress was out of session.
We could go further back than that, to Nixon, or even further back to McCarthyism.
I think not. Newt was the point at which the Elephants decided never to co-operate with Democrats and never to allow tax increases.
That was what the Reagan Revolution was all about.
Begone brain fog spam bot.
Quote from one of my favorite war movies, "The Guns of Navarone" (1961):
Mallory (Gregory Peck's character):" The only way to win a war is to be as nasty as the enemy."
Not possible, but we could acknowledge that it’s not a political game.
This is exactly the thing. Because they brought us down to this point.
It looks like you observe you were sucker punched by Obama. If that's what you are saying, I agree.
We will come to learn that Trump is a big part of Obama's legacy, along with Hillary and even Harris, and along with decreasing lifespan for Americans due in part, almost certainly, to the misleadingly vaunted ACA, i.e. Obamacare.
Look at the actual data, not a bunch of misled Democrats pining away for the "good old days".
What? Trump is diametrically opposed to Obama and Hillary on just about everything from trade to the rule of law to human rights to the environment.
What? Trump is diametrically opposed to Obama and Hillary on just about everything from trade to the rule of law to human rights to the environment.
Life expectancy in the US is indeed falling, Covid-19 and drug-overdoses are two important contributors. Not the ACA.
Trying to wrap my small brain around this. Do you mean that many good policies were initiated by the Dems, who managed to alienate many voters with other issues, and by doing so opened the door for the Reps and the current horror show?
For example?
So agree
Absolutely.
A tattoo “installed” at, say age 30, looks nothing like the original at age 65, even if one’s weight and musculature remains fairly unchanged. There’s no escaping what Father Time does to skin.
SNL had a great sketch-ad for tattoo removal with "Pretty Lady" morphing into "Pretty Sad" in a few decades.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBmvfW7WOUc
Mine is about 30-35 years old, and I’m only 57, not 65, but it looks as great as when it was new.
Everyone has tattoos. I drove Uber for a little while just to see what it was about and I lived near a huge military base. All of the younger service members, men and women, were throwing away their money on tattoos. I kept my mouth shut but if they did ask me I would tell them that every one of my buddies that got a tattoo later regretted it including one tattoo has a huge mistake that the “artist” just shrugged his shoulders about. I have to go to my grave knowing about that mistake because my friend would never have heard the end of the fact his tattoo is messed up from my other buddies.
Real presidents? I watched Valerie Jarrett issue orders to USGS scientist during the DWH event to shore up the cash grab for keeping Gulf states in Democrat hands. As for Biden, no sane person could defend him
Studies? Love to see the citations, but they don’t exist. It is a fact that Biden was never in command of his faculties. The sooner the DNC admits this, the sooner they can rebuild. As far Jarrett, I guess you had to be there. Which I was.
I am not saying that at all. If it came across that way, I apologize. But look at this clown car. You think rational conversation is going to change anything?
But how do you engage in civil and rational debate with unhinged narcissistic sociopaths?
"This is not a time to be dismayed. This is punk rock time, this is what Joe Strummer trained you for."
~ Henry Rollins
I like a lot of Flogging Molly right now, lol.
Hey, Trump is more than worthy of an FU and any other bad shit you can muster. He is dastardly.
Forget words. How about a guillotine?
I used to work for AT&T. I prefer the "reach out and touch someone" approach.
Yeah, with a really sharp blade.
Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of a .50 caliber sniper rifle.
Point blank.
Are you saying he’s a deranged orange lunatic CUNT?!
The National Curseword Reserve is limitless. Never think we’re out of fucks to give to the deserving.
Right on! Unprecedented times with ignorant, misanthropic, national leadership calls for using any word that helps the message. Refreshing that this column deals with truth, fact and critical thought. Thanks.
This started out as a discussion over somebody castigating someone else for using an obscenity. Most people here see that we are in a national fucking emergency. Our greatest crisis since not just the Civil War, but the revolution. And most people get behind this, but some are virtual signaling and arguing that we show civility towards the actual Nazis? I don’t fucking think so.
Using all the goddamned words, i.e., venting, seems like mostly a way to feel better, although I suppose you could argue that the MAGA folks succeeded in getting us into all this shit by expressing their intense, often uncontrolled anger more forcefully than the rest of us.
100-fucking-percent!
As a Teamster for decades I say fuck yeah.
"Swearing is an art form. You can express yourself much more directly, much more exactly, much more succinctly, with properly used curse words."
Coleman A. Young, former mayor of Detroit
What are talking about?!
Well, we got off on a tangent about using “curse words”
Right, Trump deserves no less
Just accept yourself and accept where we are in this country. It’s okay.
I’m a predator? Fuck you. I’m a tiny female, some of the prey in this big bad world. Why are you being such an absolute bag of dicks? What is wrong with you?
And that original comment was trying to be nice. But you keep being such an insecure asshole for reasons I do not understand, and I am guessing it has more to do with you than me.
Respectfully, delete yourself. Who are you to tell me that I can’t have a voice?
My reply to T.P. McGrane would have been "go fuck your sexist ass, please." He sounds like the product of too much Catholic school. All words have meaning and are less dangerous than bombs when used properly, and in the case of anything to do with Trump, anything goes.
Hey, thank you for that. I’m a fortyfuckingsix female going through menopause, and I’ll be good goddamned if I let anyone lecture me on acceptable words. First, do not take my words. They’re just about all I have left. And second, fuck off to misogynistic lecturing assholes.
I'm 84 and well beyond menopause, and having anyone tell me how to speak. You don't need any excuse to express yourself any way you want. Just say how you feel. Trump does all the time, and no one complains to him, McGrane.
They are the ones who took the gloves off. Now we do too. 🤷♀️
Why the fuck are you wasting everyone's time giving language advice when the world is on the edge of destruction. Keep your eye on the ball.
Amen. We don't need any more circular firing squads.
Good luck. If you would like it, show it.
For some unaccountable reason I feel compelled to link to this article.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/apr/27/cameron-calm-down-dear-sexist-put-down
Thank you for this article.
Respectfully, most of us would like to see the comment stay up. Democracy in action.
Agreed that a "regular embrace of the gutter stinks." Overused shock words lose their power to affect us. That is why Paul Krugman's use of "shit" last night was dynamically effective; he saves the word for when it is really needed, and in this case it was.
I disagree. Who said some words are “bad”? And besides that, when they go low, we go high…how did that work out? Sometimes you have to get into the gutter and punch some dicks (from a 5’2” female, lol, but always been feisty).
I disagree. If they fight dirty to undermine democracy, we fight dirty back. They don’t respect democracy or any of us. They are trying to take everything.
We are not in the classroom here. We are in the trenches. We are awash in a sea of mis- and disinformation online from all sides. An occasional epithet or obscenity will do no harm and might, in fact, inspire others. This is a national emergency. We can't all be Churchill, FDR or Lincoln. We DO need to stick together, though - ALL OF US - and too much talk like this is corrosive. Let's focus on policy, issues and justice.
And it's a great reminder of the imperative that we continue to Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
The next nationwide rally is June 14, yes >that< June 14, be there or be square!
Let's ruin Chump's B'day. We need 3.5% or the population, or around 12,000,000 people to be present. So bring all your friends and families. Spread the word as far and wide as possible. Let's all get out there with a Howard Beale spirit and yell "We're as mad as hell, and we're not gonna take it anymore!".
https://www.nokings.org/
P.S. Stay the hell away from D.C.! Don't give him an excuse to declare martial law!
I’m also a teacher (of English actually), and I understand your point as well. But sometimes the situation calls for some salt.
Under tRump, for many it has become casual punctuation.
I regret that we have come to this point, actually, but we have apparently to this point.
While it's true that a regular embrace of the gutter stinks - as the GOP has long demonstrated - always taking the high road, especially under current conditions, is tantamount to capitulation.
The time for "decorum" has long ended. When congressional Democrats displayed cute little lollipop signs at the "State of the Union" address, it was taking the high road - totally lame and accomplished nothing in the face of lies and malfeasance.
You don't bring a water pistol to a gun fight.
This is exactly it. Dudes, are we going to just tolerate bullies punching down while we are playing nice because frankly we are better humans? Or should we figure out some ways to punch up? Nicety is not solving these fucking problems.
We're in a fight now. We can choose to let the bully repeatedly punch us while we passively fail to respond, or we can choose to hit back any and every way we can.
Never get into a mud-wrestling match with a pig. You both get dirty, and the pig likes it.
What is this "high road" of which you speak? Is it anything like "do the right thing"?
Chamberlain took the "high road" in Munich re his appeasement of Hitler and dishonoring his government's agreement with the Czechs. Lenin took the high road when he advocated withdrawing from WWI. England thought otherwise and continued the senseless slaughter. What the "high road" is, is completely subjective.
Trump and Musk think they're taking the high road. Most miscreants think they're taking the high road. Most sanctimonious folks also think this. It's a meaningless term unless it is specifically defined, and then it's unnecessary.
This is exactly the lesson I have tried to teach my children, nieces, nephew. There are times, places, situations. Like don’t scream “fuck!” in school or church. But if you need to say it at home, go ahead. It’s cathartic.
Paul you are the reason I joined Substack. Thank you for the tacos for lunch comment and the post modern Jukebox coda. It made this 78 year old feel good.
Just for fun, I think I’ll actually make tacos for lunch today.
I was thinking of leaving an almost identically worded comment, including the PM Jukebox coda. I’m only 62, but working on that. 😏
Well, I’m 83 and followed Paul to Substack when he left the NYT. He has always been one of my favorite opinion columnists, even though I’m roughly 10 years older than he is. Old dogs aren’t always the most stodgy and conservative. Paul, I wasn’t at all offended by your language this morning. Trump and the other bastards in his coterie deserve the harshest language we can throw at them. Keep the faith.
Thanks for this from a contemporary.
Did the same thing, although same age as PK, 10 yrs your jr. Bring the language - The times we live in call for it.
I’m having pulled chicken for dinner today.
We're uniting with Congress and going with pulled pork.
Ditto from this 80 y/o crone.
Likewise but 73
Same.
Ditto
I am 77 and liked it too. As usual I liked the music. I like radio head.
Still won't buy American or travel to the US.
American here. No offense taken.
Too many people are forgetting that SCOTUS gave Trump carte blanche as president. If this goes to the supreme court, I think they are more likely to uphold their own constructed ruling and not a differerent era's ruling.
And, too many of SCOTUS have given up on the Constitution.
He may not be subject to criminal prosecution for his illegal conduct but that does not mean that all the actions he takes are constitutional. It’s a big difference.
Actually the SC stated (paraphrased) that a President cannot not be held accountable for actions which are within the bounds the President’s Constitutional powers. A President is not above the Constitution but constrained by those powers. If DTrump creates EOs which exceed the Constitutionally stated Presidential powers, he can be held criminally responsible and if necessary accountable for those actions. We, the people, need to hold DTrump to those standards by using the courts, Congressional action, or Constitutional Article Section 4 of impeachment. Failing those avenues the last remaining choices are becoming an unwilling passive observer or taking action based on massive public display of disapproval.
Not really what the SC ruled. They said president has immunity from “official” acts and they weren’t really clear about what that means. Many of Trump’s actions regarding the Jan 6th case were no doubt un-official acts but the SC never directly addressed it in the written opinion.
All of this tariff crap, deportations, etc will be claimed to be official acts.
Now if we ever get to investigate these crypto scams ….. that could be a way to get to Trump for unofficial financial crimes.
The tariff issue was stated to be outside official acts by federal court. Deportations of immigrants and US citizens without proper proof of judicial certification is illegal.
The issue of bitcoin isn’t illegal on its face - but selling access to the President for purposes of influencing executive decisions is.
Richard, When it comes to the scope question I am dubious that the current conservative majority will rein him in vis-a-vis the criminal immunity inquiry…..that is the nature of the defense….yes what you did was unconstitutional but you are immune from criminal liability. My point is maybe too fine.. just see a distinction between the immunity determination and the underlying question of constitutionality. So, if the question of constitutionality is in front of the court in a non criminal suit, they will have to address the constitutional question.
This is a great reminder of the imperative that we continue to Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
The next nationwide rally is June 14, yes >that< June 14, be there or be square!
Let's ruin Chump's B'day. We need 3.5% or the population, or around 12,000,000 people to be present. So bring all your friends and families. Spread the word as far and wide as possible. Let's all get out there with a Howard Beale spirit and yell "We're as mad as hell, and we're not gonna take it anymore!".
https://www.nokings.org/
P.S. Stay the hell away from D.C.! Don't give him an excuse to declare martial law!
The SCOTUS did not exempt his followers from criminal prosecution for carrying out blatantly illegal orders, AFAIK.
The problem there is that Trump still wields the pardon power for federal crimes. However, the landscape of federal civil rights suits under Biven remains open…although pitted with the landmines of qualified immunity. And there is always state courts.
He will just pardon them.
He cannot pardon them for convictions in state courts.
That is true enough, but they would have to violate state laws and you know they would fight like hell to have the charges tried in a federal court.
I'd say none of the actions he takes are constitutional. And in most cases, deliberately so.
But if nobody is keeping the balance of power, it doesn’t matter anymore. The Constitution is out the window.
It is funny that when I was a kid in the 60s, the republicans were up in arms about federal judges 'legislating from the bench', but now that they have a super majority they are happily legislating from the bench. They have happily watched as tRump has turned our Constitutional Republic into a massive joke.
Hypocrisy is their calling card.
Many of us are not forgetting. We are watching in horror.
You’re completely wrong. Gave him immunity in criminal cases. Totally different.
I wish and hope I am, but the Roberts court has demonstrated unprecidented(to my knowledge) willingness to defer to a Republican presidency.
Ironically, they justify it with claims of "original intent", which, of course, they also interpret any which way they damned please.
Yes, the rest of the world, will just have to wait anxiously for the SCOTUS to deliver the blind and impartial verdict of Lady Justice (sarcasm), before we can truely know if the current financial plan of the USA is illegal. (the ROW already knows...)
When lawsuits were filed in a number of states, including Colorado (Anderson case) to disqualify Trump under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,Fed Soc split on the issue, with Judge Luttig and George Conway emphatically for, and Mukasey and Calabresi (who was first for) against.
There is no such split in this matter. Calabresi and Mukasey filed amici in the V.O.S. Selections case. Another suit is backed by none other than Leonard Leo, the creator of this Supreme Court. The far right wants to use Trump as its instrument, not be used by him, is my take.
“The far right wants to use Trump as its instrument, not be used by him, is my take.”
Exactly, which is why the attorneys for the business plaintiffs in this tariff case were “conservatives”. When Trump did something that hurt them (tariffs) instead of just the people they hate, they finally decided he had behaved unconstitutionally and headed to court.
Just in: an appeals court has reversed the decision.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/05/29/us/trump-news
Oh dear. All of a sudden, a different musical coda:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5TD9qQF6fQ
This is why we read your posts, Paul. They show an intelligent man who’s not afraid to use profanity when he sees this country in the hands of a fuck up who doesn’t give a shit about anything except lining his pockets.
The "emergency" graph was priceless. Thank you for your explanation of the legal process on this issue, and for your humor.
Why can’t this motherfucker just die of cheeseburger yet? Seriously.
Then we are stuck with Vance and Johnson.. ugh.
Johnson doesn't automatically become Veep. Vance can choose someone else.
However, if both Trump AND Vance were to be simultaneously impeached, Johnson would become prez via the line of succession.
Personally, I think that's a great idea. Johnson has the charisma of a lizard and a commensurate following. He would be entirely ineffective and a great reason to vote blue in '28.
Hogwash! Lizards are infinitely more charismatic than Jackass Johnson will ever be.
Johnson is a weasel eying the chickens.
To put it charitably.
I dunno... he has that fanatical look in his eyes. Flee the theocratic fish.
But no one is getting intimidated by Vance - it's a GOP power struggle. Vance doesn't have the blackmail chops nor does he wield the base into attack mode. It would be better with Vance (famous last words 🙄)
That might actually be the case. I hope it is. Neither Couchboy Hillbilly nor Jackass Johnson wield the nationwide influence (albeit restricted to MAGAnuts) that Trumpkopf does.
I hope that is true. But I believe that, in addition to Peter Thiel, a lot of big money would get behind Vance because it is clear that he is easy to buy.
I would bet that Thiel is on the Musk side of the fight, which means that Vance is not going to step into it. Musk and Thiel have a very unpopular position, and a lot of trouble pushing Vance into power. Their only hope is that Trump gets sick.
Good point.
I think…well, that fucker with mascara and the Keebler Elf suck too. But maybe more expendable?
Vance and Johnson don't control the MAGA cult. They're just Republicans.
I remember people making the same sort of comment about Pence in the first DonnyJon rodeo. In my opinion, we would've been much better off under Pence then, and probably would be better off under Vance now.
Without a shade of doubt, if Trump were to kick the bucket, the world's supply of champagne would be sold out in minutes. Even I would take a holiday from my sobriety to celebrate that moment.
But what then? There would still be a critical mass of toxic troglodytes who, like The Professor wrote, "may insist that they’re pro-American, but what they mean by “America” is a land of bigotry where your identity is determined by blood and soil, a land of closed borders and closed minds."
And by virtue of an ossified Constitution, combined with a thoroughly corrupt SCOTUS and its deleterious rulings, they will remain the ones who decide about the future of the US.
JD Vance would be the hangover. Vance is even more evil in that he knows exactly what he is doing. Shady is a protégé of Peter Thiel, a supporter of outright autocracy and an actual Techbro fascist capitalist.
Unfortunately only the good die young
I want him to live and see it all come crashing down. I don't want him to die until he knows his name will be synonymous with failure for eternity. Not that he knows what synonymous means.
In other words, you want him to live forever??
I mean, seriously. This is a being who bankrupted six CASINOS (!!!) without getting disabused of the notion that he's a business genius.
Do you seriously think that anything can make him accept responsibility for anything that goes wrong?
He won't accept responsibility, but maybe a 30% approval rating, dump truck full of articles calling him a loser and some kind of public humiliation may break through his psyche a bit.
Even if he won't accept that responsibility, maybe he'll be aware of what his reputation is when it's in tatters.
Tacos for breakfast indeed 🌮
No it doesn't prove that TACO was already priced in. More likely is that the market didn't expect Trump to suddenly start obeying court orders after he flouted so many before.
There are some other key issues in this court decision, very important in terms of the longer arc of Supreme Court thinking. The Trade Court overtly invoked the Major Questions doctrine, as though it is settled law. This then puts quite the challenge to the conservative justices, notably Gorsuch, who has expounded on the theory behind the Founders' structure of the government, that Congress has a duty to debate and legislate, which they can't duck. The Trade Court also noted that how Trump declared emergencies was deficient, because it involves reporting to Congress, which must take its own actions, and there is a periodic affirmation that is necessary from all parties about the emergency. Regarding the tariffs aimed to help control fentanyl, there are also problems, because there is no direct linkage between the goal of reducing drug availability here and the use of a more global international tariff, which the law requires. For those interested in reading the opinion, see https://www.cit.uscourts.gov/sites/cit/files/25-66.pdf. The bottom line is that this situation is a fundamental problem of separation of powers, and Congress will be forced to act, or there will be no tariffs.
Another key point: This is the mouse that roared. VOS Selections, the lead plaintiff, is a New York-based wine importer. They and the co-plaintiffs are small companies that have established the damages to their businesses from the tariffs with success. The Mouse That Roared is the classic satire by Leonard Wibberley, a worthwhile quick read, made into a play and then a fine movie with Peter Sellars and Jean Seberg.
Jean Seberg. So talented and her life ruined by US Government.
https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2016/spring/statement/the-secret-lives-jean-seberg
The court order can be accessed here:
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cit.17080/gov.uscourts.cit.17080.56.0.pdf
The court announced that “within 10 calendar days necessary administrative orders to effectuate the permanent injunction shall issue.”
This means that Trump has 10 days to seek intervention from a higher court.
Besides Section 232, Section 301 may be cited to impose tariffs.
The tariffs storm is not over yet.
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/programs/geoeconomics-center/trump-tariff-tracker/
A lawyer responded last night that Trump can appeal for this particular court to rule on the issue en banc, which means all of the judges rather than these three judges who made up this panel. If he loses here, his next stop is the Supreme Court.
update:
https://www.wsj.com/economy/trade/trump-trade-tariff-strategy-pivot-bfe11596
"A federal appeals court has temporarily put on hold a ruling that voided President Trump’s tariffs while it considers the administration’s challenge to the lower-court decision. "
"The Federal Circuit, an intermediate appeals court in Washington, D.C., asked a group of companies that challenged the tariffs to file a written brief before June 5 laying out their arguments. The court instructed the Justice Department to reply to that brief by June 9. "
Now we hope that this daily Dog & Pony show of tariffs will come to an end. This on-off-on-off-up-down-up-down tariff announcements was also a nice insider trading scheme for Trump minions.
This is what i wrote about in my article few days ago.
"Another thing that is needed in ‘cleaning up’ process is at least some curtailing of the executive powers of American Presidency. These executive powers were not a problem before but with thorough abuse of executive authority, Trump has maligned the whole concept of executive power. The Presidents in past used executive powers with responsibility & restraint - even the worst of the Presidents had some sense of restraint unlike Donald Trump.
President’s unilateral authority to practically declare a trade war against the world is gross abuse of executive authority. In fact, the world needs to be convinced that America will not abuse its power arbitrarily. In terms of economy, a robust process of declaring a ‘national emergency’ is needed which should include congressional deliberation and central bank’s technocratic opinion on given situation. Just declaring ‘national emergency’ on farcical premise (fentanyl, size of trade deficit etc) can plunge America into unnecessary trade wars."
https://3rdworldecon.substack.com/p/how-can-america-restore-its-credibility
Have you met the Botox lady who has habeas corpus entirely backwards?
Pam’s angry elevens can’t be smoothed-out by clostridium. She’ll need the full orange&black jumpsuit they wear down in CECOT.
Actually, I think you might be referring to dog-killer and cruel, ignorant poseur Kristi Noem. One of the worst idiots ever foisted on our government. Parading in front of wrongly imprisoned men with her $50,000 Rolex. Thoroughly disgusting.
Not only the putative "They," who created financial, judicial and congressional oversight, never imagine they would have to deal with a person like Trump (and, is he a person in the usual sense of that word?), but none of us have. This has been obvious almost from the beginning, and ought to be a wake up call. Systems of all sorts, including the law are presently ill-equipped to resist the actions of Apex Preditors. And with AI upon us and many of its developers having revealed themselves as being in that class, we had better give up our comfortable illusions about how guardrails 'ought' to work. These guys eat guardrails for dinner.
Following the ruling by the Court of International Trade, a responsible administration would suspend the contested tariffs while the appeal proceeds. Continuing to enforce tariffs deemed illegal risks further harm to U.S. businesses and the broader economy. Importers are left in limbo—uncertain about what duties will apply—creating paralysis in the supply chain and driving shortages. This chaos is the direct result of recklessly imposed and poorly considered trade policies.
Nice musical coda once again. 👍
"paperclip factory" - nice touch. I hope AGI goes easy on you.
Surely people will be trying to claw back the tariffs already paid. This will be tied up in litigation for years. Such a waste of time and effort and still they will continue to destroy our economy.