The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States.
Trump used a national emergency as the justification for imposing these tariffs.
If the Supreme Court truly considers a trade deficit with Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea to be a national emergency, I seriously doubt whether the United States can still be considered a nation governed by the rule of law.
By the way, you may have seen some arguments on Twitter claiming that Trump's use of Section 301 was legal. Those arguments are incorrect: Section 301 requires a formal investigation into specific products from an individual country. Those canned letters, which contain numerous grammatical errors, are clearly not formal investigations.
The Court of International Trade ruled that Trump’s tariffs were illegal. The case is still under appeal and could ultimately reach the Supreme Court.
Three of the nine justices on the Supreme Court were appointed by Trump. In addition, the Court has effectively granted him immunity for actions taken during his first presidency—including his role in the January 6 Capitol attack. So, if the Supreme Court ends up ruling in Trump's favor, I wouldn't be surprised.
But this also means that, at least in the courts, no one can stop Trump’s illegal actions.
That would apply to the behavior Professor Krugman described in his article—nothing could be done to stop it through the legal system either.
Yes, I heard about the International Coutt but it was immediately appealed.
I’ve noticed (even as a Canadian) how the Supreme Court, with a majority of conservative judges, is giving him a pass most of the time. I’m not optimistic.
The SCUMBAG anti-AMERICAN HERITAGE Society guides DONNY CONVICT on how to circumvent his GOP MAGA Duma Congress and law by declaring everything an emergency. They all need to face trial
These people don't clean their own homes nor mow their own yards....have you seen that documentary filmed by the two Irish? boys in Venezuela at the time there was a coup to overthrow Chavez? People were being interviewed/filmed as not to trust their domestic staff....these fascist mofos probably have their staff whom they hire intentionally because they don't know what the hell is going on walking on egg shells that they could be fired at any moment, prosecuted for "theft" left without a social safety net. These mofos need to be OVERTHROWN!!! TIME FOR THE GUILLOTINE!!!
SCOTUS won't rule in favor of Trump. But they won't rule against him until the cases are moot. Between not taking cases, imposing or overturning injunctions, and dragging their feet, they will green-light Trump's actions until it is no longer an issue.
American politics exists in this bizarro world where *admitting* that there's something wrong would be worse than something actually being wrong, because if we admitted that there was something wrong, well, people would Lose Faith and there'd be Bad Feelings and whatnot, so we must never admit that there's anything wrong.
At least, for anyone who's not a Republican.
We started off this way with Watergate and Iran-contra and by this point it's an ingrained reflex. I genuinely have no idea at all what it's going to take to break people out of it. If a literal coup couldn't do it...
What's unique about Watergate is that once the story broke (ah the good ol' days of actual investigative journalism) even the Republicans had to acknowledge that, yeah, that wasn't cool. The GOP has been trying to avenge Tricky Dickie ever since. Even Repubs who weren't even born yet back then. Now, as soon as anyone runs for the Dem primary, the GOP immediately starts the impeachment talk. And upon any talk of impeaching a GOP president, however warranted, they immediately circle the wagons.
Yep - Nixon had to resign because his OWN PARTY said they were going to CONVICT HIM. What a novel concept, before the GOP became a bunch of fawning Trump Chickenheads - 90’s term
That is absolutely correct. Roger Ailes, who was one of Tricky dick's young guns (his media guy) never got over his idol being made to step down. He came up with the idea of making a network show so far slanted to the right that no republican president would ever be forced to step down. it took him over a decade to find a money man willing to fund his propaganda station.
"If Fox News had a DNA test, it would trace its origins to the Nixon administration. In 1970, political consultant Roger Ailes and other Nixon aides came up with a plan to create a new TV network that would circumvent existing media and provide "pro-administration" coverage to millions. "People are lazy," the aides explained in a memo. "With television you just sit — watch — listen. The thinking is done for you." Nixon embraced the idea, saying he and his supporters needed "our own news" from a network that would lead "a brutal, vicious attack on the opposition." Alas, his fantasy network did not come into being at that time, and the 37th president was soon engulfed in the Watergate scandal. At first, Republicans dismissed the scandal as a Washington Post "witch hunt." But then the White House tapes proved beyond doubt that Nixon had used the levers of government to pursue vendettas against his opponents and cover up his extensive skullduggery. Disgusted GOP leaders, including Sen. Howard Baker of the Senate Watergate committee, chose principles over party. Nixon was forced to resign.
We live in a far different country today, thanks to the vision originally outlined in that 1970 memo, which Ailes realized decades later with Rupert Murdoch's money. Fox News provides an alternative reality to the "fake news," providing daily talking points to Republican elected officials and policing them the way a sheepdog does its flock. Those who dare stand up to President Trump know they will be denounced as traitors on Fox, even if they're war veterans with a Purple Heart on their chests. In Foxworld, no evidence can prove that Trump tried to extort Ukraine into interfering in the 2020 U.S. presidential election — and if he did, so what? If the president beats the impeachment rap in the Republican Senate, as he's likely to do, he should send a thank-you card to Roger Ailes and Richard Nixon, wherever they may now be."
"Disgusted GOP leaders...chose principles over party".
Or, more accurately, the >appearance< of principles over party. They weren't disgusted by Tricky Dickies crimes so much as they were being exposed. Nearly the whole GOP turned corrupt right around 1953, with Ike being a rare exception.
I didn't say he was perfect, but nowhere near as corrupt as the rest of the party. Indeed, that might be the very reason why he didn't do enough to reign them in: Who and what could be worse than Sen. Joe McCarthy?
It's a bot. Mere code. It'll keep coming back, under a different three random letter "handle". All we can do is play spam bot whack-a-mole and keep reporting it whenever and wherever it pops up.
Can't the US just apply the RICO statutes to the entire administration. They can all spend the rest of their lives in chain link cages at Alligator Alcatraz. This needs to end.
Scam Biondi, the former corrupt AG of the most corrupt state - Florida - after all the other gulf coast states - is now the most Attorney General in US HISTORY
It's not even really "authority," it's "ability." We left actual authority behind a long, long time ago. If he can do it and no one stops him, then he can do it. It doesn't mean he has "authority" to do it.
It should be noted that people DO stop him, not always but often, and it doesn't do anyone any favors to act like he's some kind of untouchable don like the "lib media" loves to.
Let’s face it. Republicans hate democracy. This had been true since the inception of our republic!! Just ask Jefferson and Madison who fought the Federalists tooth and nail.
The Republican Party was founded just before the civil war, by, among others, Abraham Lincoln, to oppose slavery or at least the expansion of slavery to new states. Ironic, but true. They are not the same as the Federalists & they did not exist at the inception of our republic.
Parties are just constructs by powerful men to accomplish what they want by organizational means. Fuck powerful wealthy people! Time for the revolution!
Lincoln was not a powerful man at the time & certainly not a wealthy one. Power usually derives from wealth. Your view is common & cynical & sometimes true. But it is also an easy out, to default to cynicism. Right now, you are correct. But it is not always the case that parties are the tools of wealthy men to manipulate uneducated or unthinking masses. They can be & have been forces for good in our history. U.S. history is complicated & has gone thru many phases -- some more constructive than others. It does not help to smooth it all out into one long story of corruption.
What's more, my comment was simply a reply to an incorrect statement of history.
I like Thomas Crane....he might seem a bit unhinged--like me right now pissed off after a few glasses of wine--but that doesn't mean the mofo doesn't know the score, even if he does seem a bit paranoid. There's probably a kernal of truth behind some of his outrageous projections.
The mainstream media is owned by oligarchs, as are the right wing fantasy spewing "news" outlets. In spite of their various disagreements on aspects of policy, they are absolutely united on the goal of keeping the proles squabbling amongst themselves, and retaining their fortunes. The day the mainstream media all suddenly wake up and agitate for action, is the day the overlords calculate that the threat of united proles is lower than the threat of Trump dipping his grubby little fingers into their cash hoards. And not a day before that.
Professor Krugman: as usual, the NYTimes is boldly reporting lies: it's reporting this as agent orange "testing" the legal limits of his tariff powers. on the other hand, other media are somewhat ethical. for example: Bloomberg TV reports it like this: Trump Tariffs 'Pure Revenge and Illegal,' Says Trade Expert
I have a love/hate relationship with the times. They have great journalists, but their editorial staff is in the tank for Trump; sane washing his illlegal acts. And the audacity of these people to print misleading headlines. Clearly, they have very little respect for their readership…:)
My degrees are in international relations. Most of the people who've gone through that education, in my experience, are either Democrats or Rockefeller Republicans who've probably voted Democrat several times since the millennium. If the average senior foreign policy adviser was like the average IR graduate, our foreign policy would largely be in good shape. But the rich and the people in politics whose ears they have tend to have a very narrow range of things they want to hear from their advisers, so the people they elevate are either politically acceptable mediocrities and yes-men or fringe ideological fanatics (the Colin Powells or the Donald Rumsfelds), and thence, "the Blob."
Same with economists. Most of them seem to have their heads on straight; but the people who own the think tanks don't want people who have their heads on straight, they want people who think "Atlas Shrugged" was a documentary, so we've had Grover Norquist setting the agenda for most of the last forty-five years. Same with reporters; most of them, again, seem to have their heads on straight, at least the ones I've met, but the Sulzbergers and Bezoses have their own particular ideas about what stories they do and don't want told, and the coverage is slanted accordingly (as a commenter on a blog I used to read put it, "the owners want Republicans, the journalists want to keep their jobs.")
Everything in society is like this, because in a world where the rich make the rules, they largely have to be.
I like those articles about Malaysia....I'm almost cheering on China, although I wouldn't want to live under its surveillance society, however its getting that bad here, too.
The Times hires way too many hacks like David Bobo Brooks, who equates his huge bar bill, with the cost of his hamburger at an airport as being Biden's fault (he went viral for that lie.) Also, they pay Maggie Habberman the trump whisperer and Ross Douchehat. They "both-sides" the effluent out of everything, and helped lie us into the "W" wars.
I am actively contemplating canceling my NYTimes subscription. Their journalists are excellent and sometimes come up with great evidence-based articles. I find their editorial board to be a disappointment. They are very much in thrall of corporate interests and have been insidious about sane-washing Trump
i think the NYtimes investigative journalists are generally very good -- when the editors allow them to do their jobs, that is. and the cooking and puzzles sections are good, but otherwise, the NYTimes suxxorz donkey dicks and i am daily reminded of how happy i am that i dumped them finally.
AKA sane washing. MSNBC has been sane washing the $750 billion fiasco in Iran. It really doesn't take much enriched uranium to make a bomb. It's likely they moved at least some of the enriched uranium to a safe place.
Didn't say it was, did I? A nuclear power is capable of moving it in multiple, small undercover shipments through various cutouts and shell companies. If Iran wants a bomb badly enough, they have the oil and money to get it.
And we saw the satellite images of trucks lined up by the dozens a week before the bombing. I'd bet they also moved their best centrifuges as a precaution.
It doesn't matter what's the labels are. What matters is whether you get a destroyed city or merely a very dirty bomb. 95% is where you need to be to make sure.
Meanwhile the Houhtis are back to sinking ships in the Red Sea..Two in two days. And no navy anywhere near to be found, save their own. Iranian backed terrorists control the entrance.
We buy organic honey from Brazil at Trader Joe's but I doubt they'll step up, margins are slim in the grocery business and even criminal buy groceries, or their people do it for them.
I love to jack with these dumb asses locally and I mention Smokey & the Bandit often [met the real deal in TX back in the day ;) ] Customs & border people can be bought for a LOT less than 30-35% tariffs! No one believes this bs and can make better $ on the take than through what republicans are willing to pay govt workers. In other words, tariffs going into working mans' pockets--not the US Treas. So that is how the US collapses--lack of revenue.
From Canada- how is one supposed to work with someone like Trump? An irrational actor with unlimited power, who lies continuously. He goes off again about the imaginary flow of fentanyl from Canada across the northern border.
And there is no accountability from Americans for subjecting the world to this maniac.
I can only apologize. At this time of crisis we can only hope that a rational world will come to our aid. Start by boycotting US products. Establish an economic structure to work with China to save the world from climate catastrophe and hope connectivity of peoples can overcome the tribalism the US has become. We were a beacon of hope now we light up danger
I buy cat litter from Target because the bags are useful to dispose of it without adding more plastic to the environment. I live in a city that is majority Black and I think Target announcing it would drop DEI is just to appease tRump. They don't give a f-ck....many Blacks work at the location that has an entire section dedicated to Black/minority other ethnic owned hair care products, of which I've been buying mousse for my naturally curly hair because I'm tired of paying professional hair care distributor prices.
CdnRealist - And what would you want them to do instead? I prefer people shopping at Target/Walmart, etc. over people ordering everything they use from Amazon. (I wish we could still go to K-Mart, as I liked that store the best.) Many people would prefer to eat at a Michelin-starred restaurant with a "curated" wine list. But alas, for most of us, Applebees or Chili's, it is - with a coke or an iced-tea.
Macron and Starmer made nice with each other, granted that the UK is the weaker country and less reliable as there's still a lot of faff about the "special relationship." Nonetheless Canada would do well to join in with the EU, the UK, and possibly Japan and Korea to form a counterbalance to both Trump and China, though a semi-friendly ralationship with China wouldn't hurt either.
The US simply isn't stable enough to count on now.
Technically speaking, you can't "work with" someone like that. All you can do is call him out on his BS as it comes. Carney seems to be handling him pretty damn well if you ask me.
The bigger question is how the hell are we (Americans) going to extricate this Orange Menace and his Klown Kar Krew without bloodshed? Or at least too much bloodshed.
It seems that all the claims that Trump is making in his erratic posts are not based on true facts. He wants to take the twisted facts and use those as a basis for bargaining, so should this in and of itself be illegal? Should our PM and those working with him state these facts as to the accuracy or lack there of when they are dealing with Trump and his cohorts? Business deals cannot be based in lies, even though that’s the way Trump has been operating all his life.
But roughly 12% of all of Brazilian exports go the the United States. Only China imports more. Still I would bet that Brazil will get along just fine if Old Man TACO follows through.
Maybe that penguin island may be good for something....no tariff enforcement...just stamp "penguin island" ad problem solved. Seriously, I still think there's going to be a lot of shady shit at ports because there always has been....it's like the strip joint industry pay to play--or pay less than 30-35% and you're in like Flynn.
Almost everything Trump does is illegal. But he does it out in the open, shamelessly, therefore everyone assumes it's legal. It's the upfront, in your face, aspect of it that has everyone confused. If he was trying to hide, he'd be caught, but his genius is just doing it.
Ezra Klein's last interview with an intelligent young woman pointed out something that's rather obvious, but very profound. Trump is a master at getting attention, but as other's have said, 'he's like a squirrel,' and jumps to the next thing as soon as everyone is looking. All he is...is an attention getter. He has no policy. His goal is to enrich himself and get attention. Catch me if you can!!! Our formal, legal society is at a total loss in how to deal with an out of control squirrel.
Yes, he is a shameless criminal and showman combined. But he is much more of a destroyer than any squirrel can be. There are no boundaries to his combined sociopathic, malignantly narcissistic and histrionic (erratic, dramatic, "poor-me, I'm always treated unfairly") personality.
What most amazed me, is the inaction of Congress. Where is DOGE-Elon when you need him? At least half of Congress - the red side - can be sent home after being asked what five useful things they did during the last week. (None - working on legislation against "cloud-seeding" does not count.)
Trump is the middle finger for his loyalists especially the more he is loud-mouthed, narcissistic, gross, craven, cruel, base, bullying, bigoted, ad nauseam.
Does it matter anymore when Trump breaks the law? He is a criminal as well as a dangerous lunatic who believes he is the King of the World. Congress is controlled by a corrupt and intimidated Republican majority, Democrats as well as Republicans are on the take from crypto and Israel lobbies. The Supreme Court majority is corrupt and ideological, in Trump's pocket. America has no functioning government, only a rule by gangsters and criminals and racketeers. Just consider the announcement of the 50% tariff on copper - a major opportunity, seized immediately by commodity traders, to make a killing. Are Trump's current threats of tariffs against Canada or his letter to the King of Thailand any more sane or legal?
Trump has this power because 77 million American voters gave it to him. The 77 million are the problem. Not Trump. Not the media. Not even the billionaires. The 77 million are the problem. The only solution is to outvote the SOBs.
Indeed - and that answer was underlined by the SC decision to grant immunity and impunity to a convicted felon for all acts as president, without even a possibility of investigating or attributing motives. Most people seem to be under the illusion that this is still a country under laws. It's like a phantom limb.
The media is not going to save us now. We must make enough noise and disrupt things, possibly via a boycott and financial measures, to get the attention of the craven GOP, who enable all of this. And when we prevail, as we will, there must be justice and consequences and trials.
I'm not going to lay down and die. You can do what you want, but negativity and defeatism isn't going to get you far in this life, the only life we have. We need to stand up and resist. There are more of us than there are of them.
I understand your hopelessness. But we simply cannot succumb to that. Please join the millions of us DETERMINED to prevent the worst possible outcomes from occurring.
“That letter is basically a confession that he is imposing a tariff for non-economic reasons. And that’s not legally allowed.”
Agreed professor, it’s not only illegal; ironically, it’s also a confession of just what a corrupt and morally bankrupt human being he is.
And we know this because he has offered references for other corrupt authoritarian dictators like Netanyahu, Orban, El-Sisi, and Putin. Need I say more?…:)
Yes, recently he has loudly and repeatedly implored the Israelis to let Bibi off the hook. It's as if DJT imagines himself to be president of the Corruption Country Club, with influence to advocate for the other criminal leaders. It's an aspect of his delusions of grandeur, and at the same time perhaps a way to ingratiate himself with the Big Boys he so admires.
trump appears to be banking on mob-style threats to cow the leaders of other countries. I believe these leaders will wake up, communicate with one another and decide to let the bully be hoisted on his own petard. It will be pretty awful for the US, as the countries who supply us with many things we need (Brazilian coffee!) withdraw their trading. However, the sooner it happens the better, because polls show Americans turning in large numbers on trump's destructive buffoonishness.
Trump seems to think that because he has the Republican party under his thumb, he has the whole world there, too. He has no concept of the immensity/complexity of the world.
If the rest of the world restructured their economies to eliminate the US as a trading partner, we might just get the message. Oh, and they could redeem all those bonds that are floating our economy, too.
It would be painful for the world in the short term, but more painful for the US after we realize the rest of the world doesn't need us anymore. And everyone else could start trading on the basis of sane relationships again.
You're right: "NOBODY would have impeached him." Republicans spent 1.5 years trying and came up with nothing. Imagine if Republicans had done something constructive with all that time and money. (Imagine them doing something constructive now...)
Apparently some countries put people on trial when they attempt to overthrow the government. What a concept.
In fact, it is illegal for Trump to impose tariffs on goods from countries like Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea.
The authority to impose tariffs belongs to Congress and is explicitly stated in the U.S. Constitution.
https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-8/
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States.
Trump used a national emergency as the justification for imposing these tariffs.
If the Supreme Court truly considers a trade deficit with Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea to be a national emergency, I seriously doubt whether the United States can still be considered a nation governed by the rule of law.
By the way, you may have seen some arguments on Twitter claiming that Trump's use of Section 301 was legal. Those arguments are incorrect: Section 301 requires a formal investigation into specific products from an individual country. Those canned letters, which contain numerous grammatical errors, are clearly not formal investigations.
The Supreme Court declined to take the case, so I guess they think it’s fine (?)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/20/supreme-court-trump-tariffs
The Court of International Trade ruled that Trump’s tariffs were illegal. The case is still under appeal and could ultimately reach the Supreme Court.
Three of the nine justices on the Supreme Court were appointed by Trump. In addition, the Court has effectively granted him immunity for actions taken during his first presidency—including his role in the January 6 Capitol attack. So, if the Supreme Court ends up ruling in Trump's favor, I wouldn't be surprised.
But this also means that, at least in the courts, no one can stop Trump’s illegal actions.
That would apply to the behavior Professor Krugman described in his article—nothing could be done to stop it through the legal system either.
Amy Comey Barrett titled her book, "Listening to the Law." Methinks, she needs a hearing aid.
She's a faux christian fraudulent bitch to be lecturing fellow justice Ketangi.
Appointed by Trump after the masterful machinations of the prince of darkness, Mitch McConnell.
Yes, I heard about the International Coutt but it was immediately appealed.
I’ve noticed (even as a Canadian) how the Supreme Court, with a majority of conservative judges, is giving him a pass most of the time. I’m not optimistic.
Every time they do that that’s a green light for him to destroy the constitution further.
Time to take all of their asses out.
The SCUMBAG anti-AMERICAN HERITAGE Society guides DONNY CONVICT on how to circumvent his GOP MAGA Duma Congress and law by declaring everything an emergency. They all need to face trial
These people don't clean their own homes nor mow their own yards....have you seen that documentary filmed by the two Irish? boys in Venezuela at the time there was a coup to overthrow Chavez? People were being interviewed/filmed as not to trust their domestic staff....these fascist mofos probably have their staff whom they hire intentionally because they don't know what the hell is going on walking on egg shells that they could be fired at any moment, prosecuted for "theft" left without a social safety net. These mofos need to be OVERTHROWN!!! TIME FOR THE GUILLOTINE!!!
What was the name of the film?
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised aka Chavez: Inside the Coup on You Tube 74 minutes in Spanish with English subtitles.
SCOTUS won't rule in favor of Trump. But they won't rule against him until the cases are moot. Between not taking cases, imposing or overturning injunctions, and dragging their feet, they will green-light Trump's actions until it is no longer an issue.
The Scott is not ruling against Trump is an endorsement and an encouragement for him to push his policies even further
We cannot, we are not already after 6 months of Trump.
American politics exists in this bizarro world where *admitting* that there's something wrong would be worse than something actually being wrong, because if we admitted that there was something wrong, well, people would Lose Faith and there'd be Bad Feelings and whatnot, so we must never admit that there's anything wrong.
At least, for anyone who's not a Republican.
We started off this way with Watergate and Iran-contra and by this point it's an ingrained reflex. I genuinely have no idea at all what it's going to take to break people out of it. If a literal coup couldn't do it...
What's unique about Watergate is that once the story broke (ah the good ol' days of actual investigative journalism) even the Republicans had to acknowledge that, yeah, that wasn't cool. The GOP has been trying to avenge Tricky Dickie ever since. Even Repubs who weren't even born yet back then. Now, as soon as anyone runs for the Dem primary, the GOP immediately starts the impeachment talk. And upon any talk of impeaching a GOP president, however warranted, they immediately circle the wagons.
Yep - Nixon had to resign because his OWN PARTY said they were going to CONVICT HIM. What a novel concept, before the GOP became a bunch of fawning Trump Chickenheads - 90’s term
That is absolutely correct. Roger Ailes, who was one of Tricky dick's young guns (his media guy) never got over his idol being made to step down. He came up with the idea of making a network show so far slanted to the right that no republican president would ever be forced to step down. it took him over a decade to find a money man willing to fund his propaganda station.
"If Fox News had a DNA test, it would trace its origins to the Nixon administration. In 1970, political consultant Roger Ailes and other Nixon aides came up with a plan to create a new TV network that would circumvent existing media and provide "pro-administration" coverage to millions. "People are lazy," the aides explained in a memo. "With television you just sit — watch — listen. The thinking is done for you." Nixon embraced the idea, saying he and his supporters needed "our own news" from a network that would lead "a brutal, vicious attack on the opposition." Alas, his fantasy network did not come into being at that time, and the 37th president was soon engulfed in the Watergate scandal. At first, Republicans dismissed the scandal as a Washington Post "witch hunt." But then the White House tapes proved beyond doubt that Nixon had used the levers of government to pursue vendettas against his opponents and cover up his extensive skullduggery. Disgusted GOP leaders, including Sen. Howard Baker of the Senate Watergate committee, chose principles over party. Nixon was forced to resign.
We live in a far different country today, thanks to the vision originally outlined in that 1970 memo, which Ailes realized decades later with Rupert Murdoch's money. Fox News provides an alternative reality to the "fake news," providing daily talking points to Republican elected officials and policing them the way a sheepdog does its flock. Those who dare stand up to President Trump know they will be denounced as traitors on Fox, even if they're war veterans with a Purple Heart on their chests. In Foxworld, no evidence can prove that Trump tried to extort Ukraine into interfering in the 2020 U.S. presidential election — and if he did, so what? If the president beats the impeachment rap in the Republican Senate, as he's likely to do, he should send a thank-you card to Roger Ailes and Richard Nixon, wherever they may now be."
https://theweek.com/articles/880107/why-fox-news-created
It's astounding, isn't it?
//
"Disgusted GOP leaders...chose principles over party".
Or, more accurately, the >appearance< of principles over party. They weren't disgusted by Tricky Dickies crimes so much as they were being exposed. Nearly the whole GOP turned corrupt right around 1953, with Ike being a rare exception.
Don't give him a f-ing hall pass, the mofo turned a blind eye away from what the Dulles Bros were up to.
I didn't say he was perfect, but nowhere near as corrupt as the rest of the party. Indeed, that might be the very reason why he didn't do enough to reign them in: Who and what could be worse than Sen. Joe McCarthy?
Love your sarcasm 😆
I know, right? Would that we were such a civilized country.
Would you please go away? Unrelated SPAM to infomercial. Seen it many times before. Reported
It's a bot. Mere code. It'll keep coming back, under a different three random letter "handle". All we can do is play spam bot whack-a-mole and keep reporting it whenever and wherever it pops up.
Soylent Green is People!
"Testing the limits of authority” used to be called “crime spree. "
Can't the US just apply the RICO statutes to the entire administration. They can all spend the rest of their lives in chain link cages at Alligator Alcatraz. This needs to end.
The DOJ is corrupt.
Scam Biondi, the former corrupt AG of the most corrupt state - Florida - after all the other gulf coast states - is now the most Attorney General in US HISTORY
Civil RICO case for damages ??
I hear you brother.
It's not even really "authority," it's "ability." We left actual authority behind a long, long time ago. If he can do it and no one stops him, then he can do it. It doesn't mean he has "authority" to do it.
It should be noted that people DO stop him, not always but often, and it doesn't do anyone any favors to act like he's some kind of untouchable don like the "lib media" loves to.
And that letter sounds like it came from a Mafia Don. A Don who's more than a little loose upstairs, if you know what I mean.
Oh, we all know! Probably written by the Heritage Foundation Treason scum
Let’s face it. Republicans hate democracy. This had been true since the inception of our republic!! Just ask Jefferson and Madison who fought the Federalists tooth and nail.
The Republican Party was founded just before the civil war, by, among others, Abraham Lincoln, to oppose slavery or at least the expansion of slavery to new states. Ironic, but true. They are not the same as the Federalists & they did not exist at the inception of our republic.
Parties are just constructs by powerful men to accomplish what they want by organizational means. Fuck powerful wealthy people! Time for the revolution!
Lincoln was not a powerful man at the time & certainly not a wealthy one. Power usually derives from wealth. Your view is common & cynical & sometimes true. But it is also an easy out, to default to cynicism. Right now, you are correct. But it is not always the case that parties are the tools of wealthy men to manipulate uneducated or unthinking masses. They can be & have been forces for good in our history. U.S. history is complicated & has gone thru many phases -- some more constructive than others. It does not help to smooth it all out into one long story of corruption.
What's more, my comment was simply a reply to an incorrect statement of history.
I like Thomas Crane....he might seem a bit unhinged--like me right now pissed off after a few glasses of wine--but that doesn't mean the mofo doesn't know the score, even if he does seem a bit paranoid. There's probably a kernal of truth behind some of his outrageous projections.
Among the most amazing things about this new era is the utter complacency, complicity and cowardice of the mainstream media.
The mainstream media is owned by oligarchs, as are the right wing fantasy spewing "news" outlets. In spite of their various disagreements on aspects of policy, they are absolutely united on the goal of keeping the proles squabbling amongst themselves, and retaining their fortunes. The day the mainstream media all suddenly wake up and agitate for action, is the day the overlords calculate that the threat of united proles is lower than the threat of Trump dipping his grubby little fingers into their cash hoards. And not a day before that.
Putin did it to his Oligarchs and Tangerine Caligula will emulate him
Totally - all of it is now owned by Trump donors
Spot on! Glad you left the NYT and came to Substack.
Double and triple your comment - we are with you Professor Krugman!
Professor Krugman: as usual, the NYTimes is boldly reporting lies: it's reporting this as agent orange "testing" the legal limits of his tariff powers. on the other hand, other media are somewhat ethical. for example: Bloomberg TV reports it like this: Trump Tariffs 'Pure Revenge and Illegal,' Says Trade Expert
https://pie.yt/?v=https://youtu.be/M5PFz1Njdh0?si=OgvcjuG-JqaT2m68&pieshare=1
I have a love/hate relationship with the times. They have great journalists, but their editorial staff is in the tank for Trump; sane washing his illlegal acts. And the audacity of these people to print misleading headlines. Clearly, they have very little respect for their readership…:)
A lot of fields are like this, in my experience.
My degrees are in international relations. Most of the people who've gone through that education, in my experience, are either Democrats or Rockefeller Republicans who've probably voted Democrat several times since the millennium. If the average senior foreign policy adviser was like the average IR graduate, our foreign policy would largely be in good shape. But the rich and the people in politics whose ears they have tend to have a very narrow range of things they want to hear from their advisers, so the people they elevate are either politically acceptable mediocrities and yes-men or fringe ideological fanatics (the Colin Powells or the Donald Rumsfelds), and thence, "the Blob."
Same with economists. Most of them seem to have their heads on straight; but the people who own the think tanks don't want people who have their heads on straight, they want people who think "Atlas Shrugged" was a documentary, so we've had Grover Norquist setting the agenda for most of the last forty-five years. Same with reporters; most of them, again, seem to have their heads on straight, at least the ones I've met, but the Sulzbergers and Bezoses have their own particular ideas about what stories they do and don't want told, and the coverage is slanted accordingly (as a commenter on a blog I used to read put it, "the owners want Republicans, the journalists want to keep their jobs.")
Everything in society is like this, because in a world where the rich make the rules, they largely have to be.
The Golden Rule:-)
"He who has the gold, rules."
It's in the Bible somewheres.
The New York Times is both...
1 - An evil organization dedicated to working with shadowy forces to manipulate society.
2 - The best newspaper in the country.
Yeah, it's a bummer.
Owned by a nepo baby
You mean what's left of their readership. I'm pretty sure their numbers are in the toilet by now. And deservedly so.
I like those articles about Malaysia....I'm almost cheering on China, although I wouldn't want to live under its surveillance society, however its getting that bad here, too.
I have a Times subscription and every day I'm disappointed by their ignoring what's happening.
The Times hires way too many hacks like David Bobo Brooks, who equates his huge bar bill, with the cost of his hamburger at an airport as being Biden's fault (he went viral for that lie.) Also, they pay Maggie Habberman the trump whisperer and Ross Douchehat. They "both-sides" the effluent out of everything, and helped lie us into the "W" wars.
I am actively contemplating canceling my NYTimes subscription. Their journalists are excellent and sometimes come up with great evidence-based articles. I find their editorial board to be a disappointment. They are very much in thrall of corporate interests and have been insidious about sane-washing Trump
i think the NYtimes investigative journalists are generally very good -- when the editors allow them to do their jobs, that is. and the cooking and puzzles sections are good, but otherwise, the NYTimes suxxorz donkey dicks and i am daily reminded of how happy i am that i dumped them finally.
The WSJ is worse although they dislike tariffs and have another editorial about them tonight.
AKA sane washing. MSNBC has been sane washing the $750 billion fiasco in Iran. It really doesn't take much enriched uranium to make a bomb. It's likely they moved at least some of the enriched uranium to a safe place.
An Israeli official was widely reported yesterday as confirming Iran was able to move its enriched uranium. So much for obliteration.
The Hiroshima bomb took about 35 pounds of uranium enriched to 95% U-235. At last report, Iran is up to 60%. They have a ways to go.
Who's to say that they won't get clandestine help from another country like North Korea?
Not to mention Russia.
Enriched uranium is not something that can package up and send UPS.
Didn't say it was, did I? A nuclear power is capable of moving it in multiple, small undercover shipments through various cutouts and shell companies. If Iran wants a bomb badly enough, they have the oil and money to get it.
Yeah, the middlemen won't suspect a thing until their teeth and hair start suddenly falling out.
And we saw the satellite images of trucks lined up by the dozens a week before the bombing. I'd bet they also moved their best centrifuges as a precaution.
Pakistan is a neighbor.
True, but not that far. Getting it up to 60 is the hardest part. Getting from 60 to 90 is much easier.
90 percent is barely there. That's why they used 95% for the Hiro bomb. They wanted to make very sure it would work.
90 percent is close enough to be called "highly enriched". It's takes very little effort to go from 90 to 95.
REALLY?!? wow.
i know nothing about enriching uranium but generally the last few percentage points of purity are the hardest / mosr demanding to achieve.
It doesn't matter what's the labels are. What matters is whether you get a destroyed city or merely a very dirty bomb. 95% is where you need to be to make sure.
Meanwhile the Houhtis are back to sinking ships in the Red Sea..Two in two days. And no navy anywhere near to be found, save their own. Iranian backed terrorists control the entrance.
It goes faster as the percentage increases.
Find a US importer of Brazilian products and they will have legal standing to sue
It should not be a problem to find US importers of Coffee Beans. Or hey, the National Coffee Association !!!
I would like my DOJ to represent me in this and bring charges but they were stolen away by fascists.
I posted this in my comment, below, but I can't resist.
https://youtu.be/zTbJBnkRkFo?si=_9Q3QtnPsgtDifQb
THANK YOU!!! A treat!
They'll take away my coffee when they pry my cold dead fingers from the mug!
Seriously! When the Coffee stops the Stabbings Start. I will lose it
They will ask for and get their exemption…
Maybe after tithing their share to Dear Leader.
It's always transactional with him. He could give a fuck about the welfare of the country.
The US imports a lot of Brazilian beef and coffee.
MAGA TRASH cannot find Brazil on a map
And it is huge!
We buy organic honey from Brazil at Trader Joe's but I doubt they'll step up, margins are slim in the grocery business and even criminal buy groceries, or their people do it for them.
I'm lucky that I can buy local honey at my farmers market.
There are many importers of Brazilian lumber.
I love to jack with these dumb asses locally and I mention Smokey & the Bandit often [met the real deal in TX back in the day ;) ] Customs & border people can be bought for a LOT less than 30-35% tariffs! No one believes this bs and can make better $ on the take than through what republicans are willing to pay govt workers. In other words, tariffs going into working mans' pockets--not the US Treas. So that is how the US collapses--lack of revenue.
From Canada- how is one supposed to work with someone like Trump? An irrational actor with unlimited power, who lies continuously. He goes off again about the imaginary flow of fentanyl from Canada across the northern border.
And there is no accountability from Americans for subjecting the world to this maniac.
I can only apologize. At this time of crisis we can only hope that a rational world will come to our aid. Start by boycotting US products. Establish an economic structure to work with China to save the world from climate catastrophe and hope connectivity of peoples can overcome the tribalism the US has become. We were a beacon of hope now we light up danger
Meanwhile, in the suburbs of America people continue to shop at target and eat at Applebee’s oblivious to the carnage.
Until they're abducted by ICE and put in concentration camps.
I buy cat litter from Target because the bags are useful to dispose of it without adding more plastic to the environment. I live in a city that is majority Black and I think Target announcing it would drop DEI is just to appease tRump. They don't give a f-ck....many Blacks work at the location that has an entire section dedicated to Black/minority other ethnic owned hair care products, of which I've been buying mousse for my naturally curly hair because I'm tired of paying professional hair care distributor prices.
CdnRealist - And what would you want them to do instead? I prefer people shopping at Target/Walmart, etc. over people ordering everything they use from Amazon. (I wish we could still go to K-Mart, as I liked that store the best.) Many people would prefer to eat at a Michelin-starred restaurant with a "curated" wine list. But alas, for most of us, Applebees or Chili's, it is - with a coke or an iced-tea.
world, stop drinking Coke or Pepsi; stop eating any American fast food. Stop using Amazon and Netflix.
Just stop and you will see some backtracking.
Macron and Starmer made nice with each other, granted that the UK is the weaker country and less reliable as there's still a lot of faff about the "special relationship." Nonetheless Canada would do well to join in with the EU, the UK, and possibly Japan and Korea to form a counterbalance to both Trump and China, though a semi-friendly ralationship with China wouldn't hurt either.
The US simply isn't stable enough to count on now.
I'm pretty sure that's already been happening.
Forcecomony, security, and defense of Ukraine
Unfortunately, I agree, but don't want to click "like".
Technically speaking, you can't "work with" someone like that. All you can do is call him out on his BS as it comes. Carney seems to be handling him pretty damn well if you ask me.
The bigger question is how the hell are we (Americans) going to extricate this Orange Menace and his Klown Kar Krew without bloodshed? Or at least too much bloodshed.
I worry it will take Civil War-level bloodshed.
Yeah, me too. Hopefully we can pull it off peacefully. It won't be easy, and it will take discipline, but I think it's possible.
Super hard to fix imaginary things.
👆🎯👏👏
It seems that all the claims that Trump is making in his erratic posts are not based on true facts. He wants to take the twisted facts and use those as a basis for bargaining, so should this in and of itself be illegal? Should our PM and those working with him state these facts as to the accuracy or lack there of when they are dealing with Trump and his cohorts? Business deals cannot be based in lies, even though that’s the way Trump has been operating all his life.
Also noteworthy that the US runs a trade surplus of about $7bn with Brazil
But roughly 12% of all of Brazilian exports go the the United States. Only China imports more. Still I would bet that Brazil will get along just fine if Old Man TACO follows through.
I thought the EU imports about 14% from Brazil?
The source I found breaks it down to countries. They don't have a figure for the EU.
Perhaps Brazil should use the same tariff formula on the US and bring in 25% tariffs on us imports because they have been ‘subsidizing’ the US.
He’s threatened massive tariffs for countries who retaliate. Mob boss.
Maybe that penguin island may be good for something....no tariff enforcement...just stamp "penguin island" ad problem solved. Seriously, I still think there's going to be a lot of shady shit at ports because there always has been....it's like the strip joint industry pay to play--or pay less than 30-35% and you're in like Flynn.
The tariff on the penguins was pretty funny all right. 🐧🐧🐧
Well, why would they hurt their own people who depend on US products? But the same is true for the US...
Of course they shouldn’t. My comment was sarcasm ridiculing trumps logic. 😊
Almost everything Trump does is illegal. But he does it out in the open, shamelessly, therefore everyone assumes it's legal. It's the upfront, in your face, aspect of it that has everyone confused. If he was trying to hide, he'd be caught, but his genius is just doing it.
Ezra Klein's last interview with an intelligent young woman pointed out something that's rather obvious, but very profound. Trump is a master at getting attention, but as other's have said, 'he's like a squirrel,' and jumps to the next thing as soon as everyone is looking. All he is...is an attention getter. He has no policy. His goal is to enrich himself and get attention. Catch me if you can!!! Our formal, legal society is at a total loss in how to deal with an out of control squirrel.
Yes, he is a shameless criminal and showman combined. But he is much more of a destroyer than any squirrel can be. There are no boundaries to his combined sociopathic, malignantly narcissistic and histrionic (erratic, dramatic, "poor-me, I'm always treated unfairly") personality.
I've had squirrels invade my house. They can do a hell of a lot of damage in a very short time!!!
So have I come to think of it...
Though it was a really stressful experience, they didn't destroy my home's foundation. I hope they didn't do that to your house either.
Squirrels do fall out of trees from time to time. Maybe he will jump to a broken branch.
Ok that may be but are they really waiting until everyone is watching?
What most amazed me, is the inaction of Congress. Where is DOGE-Elon when you need him? At least half of Congress - the red side - can be sent home after being asked what five useful things they did during the last week. (None - working on legislation against "cloud-seeding" does not count.)
Trump is the middle finger for his loyalists especially the more he is loud-mouthed, narcissistic, gross, craven, cruel, base, bullying, bigoted, ad nauseam.
Thanks for this brief and clear indictment. Especially like that last note to "mainstream media." Their phrases are euphemisms on steroids these days.
I think they are well past euphemism, and solidly in "propaganda" territory.
Does it matter anymore when Trump breaks the law? He is a criminal as well as a dangerous lunatic who believes he is the King of the World. Congress is controlled by a corrupt and intimidated Republican majority, Democrats as well as Republicans are on the take from crypto and Israel lobbies. The Supreme Court majority is corrupt and ideological, in Trump's pocket. America has no functioning government, only a rule by gangsters and criminals and racketeers. Just consider the announcement of the 50% tariff on copper - a major opportunity, seized immediately by commodity traders, to make a killing. Are Trump's current threats of tariffs against Canada or his letter to the King of Thailand any more sane or legal?
Trump has this power because 77 million American voters gave it to him. The 77 million are the problem. Not Trump. Not the media. Not even the billionaires. The 77 million are the problem. The only solution is to outvote the SOBs.
The 12 million who voted for Biden in '20 but stayed home in '24 made all the difference.
Too late.
I'm pretty sure Merrick Garland answered your first question for U.S.
Indeed - and that answer was underlined by the SC decision to grant immunity and impunity to a convicted felon for all acts as president, without even a possibility of investigating or attributing motives. Most people seem to be under the illusion that this is still a country under laws. It's like a phantom limb.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/12092-phantom-limb-pain
Analogous to the SC shadow docket.
The media is not going to save us now. We must make enough noise and disrupt things, possibly via a boycott and financial measures, to get the attention of the craven GOP, who enable all of this. And when we prevail, as we will, there must be justice and consequences and trials.
MSM is almost completely owned by our billionaires. They will not challenge him for fear of losing $$$. Have to be places like this.
We aren't going to be saved, period.
We have to save ourselves, in other words.
Make sure to join the No Kings marches on July 14!
(European) Kings knew there were limits to their behavior. What you have in Trump is a Dragon Emperor.
Not with that attitude. We will fight and win.
I'm not going to lay down and die. Nothing dear was ever won by defeatism.
I'm not going to lay down and die. You can do what you want, but negativity and defeatism isn't going to get you far in this life, the only life we have. We need to stand up and resist. There are more of us than there are of them.
Yes, but they have the power.
That is where you're wrong. WE have the power. We simply need to exercise it.
Good luck. How do you propose to exercise that power? As an immigrant I'm not part of the "we".
First off, I won't waste my energy by engaging with you. You have already given up.
🩵💙🩵👍💪
A national calamity (other than Trump) must befall us first.
I understand your hopelessness. But we simply cannot succumb to that. Please join the millions of us DETERMINED to prevent the worst possible outcomes from occurring.
“That letter is basically a confession that he is imposing a tariff for non-economic reasons. And that’s not legally allowed.”
Agreed professor, it’s not only illegal; ironically, it’s also a confession of just what a corrupt and morally bankrupt human being he is.
And we know this because he has offered references for other corrupt authoritarian dictators like Netanyahu, Orban, El-Sisi, and Putin. Need I say more?…:)
Yes, recently he has loudly and repeatedly implored the Israelis to let Bibi off the hook. It's as if DJT imagines himself to be president of the Corruption Country Club, with influence to advocate for the other criminal leaders. It's an aspect of his delusions of grandeur, and at the same time perhaps a way to ingratiate himself with the Big Boys he so admires.
trump appears to be banking on mob-style threats to cow the leaders of other countries. I believe these leaders will wake up, communicate with one another and decide to let the bully be hoisted on his own petard. It will be pretty awful for the US, as the countries who supply us with many things we need (Brazilian coffee!) withdraw their trading. However, the sooner it happens the better, because polls show Americans turning in large numbers on trump's destructive buffoonishness.
Trump seems to think that because he has the Republican party under his thumb, he has the whole world there, too. He has no concept of the immensity/complexity of the world.
YES! That's such a good point. Surrounded by sycophants, he's unable to see just how weak he actually is.
If the rest of the world restructured their economies to eliminate the US as a trading partner, we might just get the message. Oh, and they could redeem all those bonds that are floating our economy, too.
It would be painful for the world in the short term, but more painful for the US after we realize the rest of the world doesn't need us anymore. And everyone else could start trading on the basis of sane relationships again.
Just as Canada has been doing!
I'm waiting for an attempt to grow coffee at the Alligator Auschwitz.
They already are waking up.
Imagine if Biden had done this...office pool on how many minutes before the articles of impeachment were submitted.
You're right: "NOBODY would have impeached him." Republicans spent 1.5 years trying and came up with nothing. Imagine if Republicans had done something constructive with all that time and money. (Imagine them doing something constructive now...)
https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/24/politics/house-gop-biden-impeachment-effort
Remember: everything is Biden's fault. "He's an elderly man who lost his mind," but he caused those floods in Texas. https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/08/politics/biden-blame-trump-texas-flood. Maybe he'd booked time on the Jewish Space Laser.
Huh?
The random capital letters and all caps are just embarrassing.
I kind of like the caps, etc. They so clearly show what an idiot he is.
Maybe the grammar police can throw him in jail; nobody else seems to be able to on his multi-numerous other offenses.
We can tell you're not Trump; you used a semi-colon and wrote a complete sentence with a complete thought!