I'm not so sure the math is working well for the tax cuts. Of course, they never really did. The value of their portfolios is dropping like a rock. If you're a billionaire and your net worth drops by 10%, it gonna take a lot of years for the savings in taxes to offset a loss of $100 million or more. And most of the stocks will bounce back when Trump is gone. But are greedy rich white men really that patient?
Think of the phenomenon of greed itself. Most psychologists think it's a form of avoidance related to inner insecurities (akin to feeling er, small, as in "Whose got the biggest one?). It functions like all addictions, in that the addict can never get enough of anything. Trump once bragged to an adoring crowd, while flapping his tiny little hands, that "I'm just greedy, greedy greedy." I mean, you could hardly make any of this stuff up. None of it is rational.
Leigh, it still astounds me that someone like Trump, a lousy businessman has been able to project himself as something great, worthy of being president and can lie as he did in his first term over 33,000 times in public yet people will still believe his blatant lies and not the few true things he says. People really are nuts!
Bill, it does make me really sad to realize that money seems to be the only factor that matters to so many people. So many folks are still wrapped in the ridiculous "lives of the rich and famous" BS and keep dreaming themselves into those scenarios rather than actually living their lives and trying to, with others, make life better where they are, not super wealthy in giant mansions or on huge yachts.
Bill, when are Murdoch related corporations going to take a dive? Investors might start dumping when they take a closer look at their portfolios. 🦊 is complicit.
For me the most memorable quote from that Fox interview with the Education Dept Demolition Queen was her assurance to the interviewer that she had not fired any of "the good people". It turned out that the vast majority were part of the DEI cohort, Blacks and women. I'm sort of glad the Black Lives Matter site was erased - it confirms the Trump policy, they don't matter.
Ruth Sheets -- Speaking of someone who is 'worthy of being president' (POTUS), three people spring immediately to mind: Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Gretchen Whitmer. There are probably others, but these three are outstanding in my mind.
Klobuchar has put one foot over the line delineating the Dark Side and no longer deserves Democratic support. She voted YES to confirm several of the sewer clowns in Trump's cabinet, including Marco Rubio and Doug Burgum. Other than early onset dementia, there's no excuse for that.
Ruth, thanks for proposing those three great examples of very worthy people. We know that to name all of those that fit your description would take days. Thanks for your comment.
Judith, I like all your nominees. Now how do we get them elected when it may well be that our vote tallying systems have been compromised in favor of whoever or whatever Republicans choose to run, if we are even able to vote again?
Trump's success proves that the power of White Resentment should never be underestimated. And now he is going to fulfill his promise to Make America Hate Again.
Ruth, his supporters are cultists. Despite everything known about him—including his ties to Russia—they revere him with blind devotion. That’s the very definition of a cult.
Here’s some nuts—-The Democrats knew there would be lies at the big speech and they sat through it instead of walking out with Rep Green. That would have been great free publicity. And the DNC keeps asking for money! It’s past time for the minority. Leaders to step aside. Old ways don’t work against donnie and the clowns.
I am with you Ruth--what is really breathtaking is that people have bought trump's story. They're still stuck on the "Apprentice" show where he was portrayed as this great businessman. Yet in reality six of his companies have gone bankrupt. Why would any thinking person hire this guy to even manage their restaurant. And here he is running the greatest country on the planet...to the ground....
Ruth, as much as I dislike Donald Trump, I've always given him credit for one thing: he's the greatest con man ever. Like you I'm astounded by his true believers. I guess it shows us the power of propaganda.
We seem inclined to believe what we want to believe, or fear may be true. But isn't that a fool's paradise (and I don't claim that I'm immune to irrational behavior)? Doesn't history and individual experience repeatedly prove that the better we understand reality, or at least our individua and collective understandings that coax the most reliable outcomes from our experience of reality, the more fortunate and resilient we are likely to be?
A sober analysis of the risks to benefits of vaccination is just one of many examples. Reality is the teacher. We are the pupil. Historically, taken as a whole, most accurate maps of reality appear to serve us the best when navigating life. Folly may sometimes win a battle but not the war: the odds are always with "the house". And inadvertent or chosen misunderstanding often ends in sorrow, or worse.
I agree. Greed is just a compensation: it is a way of trying to fill a gigantic hole in their hearts. Donny-boy was never loved by his father, and all this is screaming "Look at me! I'm important! Love me, I'm worth it!"
Mike, that is all true, and I have absolutely no sympathy for Trump. Had he put even the smallest effort into it, he could have improved his emotional age, but he prefers to remain at the emotional age of a 3-year-old at best. I love 3-year-olds as they are trying to learn new things, explore their world, etc., but parents do have to say "no" pretty often to keep them safe. A 78-year-old man acting like a 3-year-old has no charm. There are no longer any adults in Trumplandia. He has purged all of them, so he is a free-range toddler, yet getting sympathy from a lot of folks who see that toddler yet can't bring themselves to stop him. Perhaps it is because they too have about the same social-emotional age, by choice.
I can't stop thinking how the press relentlessly focused on Biden's age, his stutter, his less than slick speaking skills. They worried about his mental prowess as he aged.
Biden will be remembered for surrounding himself with real experts and smart advisers. Joe was FAR from perfect. But upon reflection, wasn't it nice to be able to sleep well at night?
And now...that same press doesn't dare ask the obvious questions? Like, why is $Trump allowing Musk to destroy our government? Why has he become a Russian agent? Why does $Trump sound like a lunatic every day? Isn't there something wrong in his brain?
Every day $Trump displays all the characteristics of a mentally ill criminal! Every day he fabricates nonsense. Every day he sounds more and more DEMENTED! He applies tariffs and takes them off then puts them back on again. This is the behavior of an angry child!
And now, he talks of annexing, and if necessary, INVADING Canada! This is beyond nuts! This is crazy shit!
This is when a cabinet would invoke the 25th Amendment. Get the men in white coats now! I know, I know, then we would have Kid Vance. At least he is just evil. Not freaking insane.
I've always pictured Trump as a carnival barker, who couldn't hold a real job, but is damn good and selling potions to the wide eyed participants at the fair.
It's hard for me to walk by the barker selling the latest and greatest gizmo who uses words like "Everyone is raving." or "Supplies are limited." We all know exactly what that means but mixed with the other psychologically grabbing words, we can't help but take notice.
I don’t disagree with your assessment of the felon;however, I don’t think all the folks who surround him fit that description. They are stupid, driven by greed and power, in the hope of getting their 15 minutes of fame. What they will get is infamy.
You're right. You can't make this stuff up. In his first term there he was in the rose garden. He literally jumped (sorta) up and and down, clapped his hands, and said, "I'm President! I'm President!" Yep, you can't make this stuff up.
"Little Donny-boy was so happy, he was filled with glee. Now that he was the president, he was the big boss. People now had to listen to him. He could tell people to do stuff and they would have to do it because he told them to. Donny-boy was excited: his head was full of ideas of all the things he could let people do - just because he wanted it."
Mike, love it! You got the toddleresque nature of Donald Trump just right. Now, since everyone has not done everything he thinks they should do, he is tantruming. The problem now is that Toddler-Trump has dementia and can't remember what he ordered people to do. His playpen managers remind him regularly of the words to say, but there is no guarantee he will get it right. His tantrum against the Ukrainian president was shameful, but he thought it was Zelensky yelling at him. I do not know how we are going to get through this, but somehow, we will if we fight hard enough against the toddler playpen.
Definitely a mental illness like hoarding, related to trauma. But these greedy dick people should be no where near our government. Meant to write sick, but I guess dick works too lol
Addiction to greed, and a sidekick addicted to ketamine. I was a professional nurse for 50 years, and it was illegal to present under the influence of substances. And to think of our children having to witness these boogey type people tearing apart our government.... What a horrible scenario: something Disney might create!
Leigh, what's is less rational of all the irrationality happening hourly, is that millions of voters elected this scumbag president to destroy their own country.
To be fair, the trumpers didn't think they were electing him to destroy their own country.
They thought he was going to get rid of all the people they hate. They thought he was going to make women obedient. They thought he was going to bring back their jobs. They thought he was going to lower their taxes. They thought he was going to lower the prices of gas and eggs.
Unfortunately, poorly educated conservatives aren't very good at lie detection. And they are profoundly myopic. So they're unable to comprehend that the people they hate make it possible for them to have the things they want at prices they can afford. They are unable to admit that the wealthy who have all that they dream of are never going to share it with them.
Dale, very well said! It is astounding to me the way people want to be misled and will pay a lot of money to let it happen to them. I guess if they think they can blame someone else for what happens to them, they see it as low risk, or something. I honestly don't get it, that level of hate and self-delusion.
The phrase "Greed is good" was popularized by a villain in a cautionary tale about avarice, but Wall St. and Republicans embraced it as a motto until it was tarnished by the "Great Recession". I was always a weird choice because greed is only greed when someone takes more than they deserve, at the expense of other people. It happens, of course, and those who choose to bully has gone to some trouble to try to make it "normal", even respectable, but it's always been the same old serpent, and it's always been a blight on humanity. And isn't there a part of practically everyone who knows that's true?
And yes it's an addiction, as our billionaires prove every day.
One appears to be and that seems to be enough for Trump for the time being given that he's also the richest one of them all. Yesterday, Trump publicly promoted Tesla amidst stories of the company's falling share price and a consumer boycott, with Musk as his side. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGdd5JmNrFU
Of course, there's a quid pro quo - Musk is now planning to donate $100m to two Trump-supporting organisations (Make America Great Again Inc., a super PAC, and Securing American Greatness, a political nonprofit) or to a new entity that Trump himself would establish. Musk already funds his own Superpac, America PAC to the tune of over $300m. Trump blasted critics of Musk on Truth Social calling the boycott 'collusive' and 'illegal', which is complete nonsense. The corrupt relationship between the two men (the one a president, the other claimed to be a mere staffer) is quite staggering.
Make America Great Again is just a Super PAC so it has to file donations with the FEC. I thought it had been terminated when the Save America PAC was formed. Securing American Greatness is a 501(c)(4) supposedly promoting social welfare within a community. There's some doubt about its bona fides - https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/31/trump-dark-money-group-00161122
It’s a cycle of market manipulation. Tariffs are coming: market tanks. Stock prices drop, vulture capitalists buy. Never mind, tariffs delayed: market goes up. Stock prices rise, vulture capitalists sell. Lather rinse repeat. This (along with short selling) is what caused the Great Depression.
The fat cats get grotesquely richer, while those of us who have invested, via 401Ks, are watching our savings melt away. If Social Security is defunded, then what happens to us?
There has been a significant increase in I think what is called 'shorting' or 'hedging' where the super wealthy 'bet' on a 'Trump market' of major companies stock falling. . I think only the super wealthy can buy into these funds because of the minimum investment required. A very wealthy person once explained this sort of investing and I probably did not pay much attention (pennies in jars here;) Perhaps someone can correct or expand on this.
As far as I know, that's correct. That is the way the super-rich get even richer when the economy crashes; plus, they can buy companies threatening to go bankrupt at record-low prices. That is why Musk, very consciously and with determination, wants to crash the economy: it will make him even richer.
Yep, small investors sell at a loss. Then wealthy folks buy up the cheap stock and when the market recovers, they are even richer! A billionaire’s game since they can afford to play the market.
The standard 'short' is that you 'borrow' a stock from an investment dealer, sell it and then buy it back and cover the position when the stock price drops. You basically then realize the difference in value betwen when you sell the borrowed stock and when you buy it back
There are other fairly easy things one can do, for example, buying put options on stock indices. These things gain value when the indices drop below theie contract 'strike price'. So one can easily imagine a nafarious party holding a bunch of these contracts and then wait for the bad news to jolt the market and then exercise to realize the 'profit'.
The mega-rich will always find measures to preserve their wealth, but that doesn't mean that we of lesser means can't be proactive to protect what we have. I trust my gut. In 2007 when I kept getting kicked in the stomach, we sold most of our stocks and placed our money in a money market fund, and invested $10,200 in physical gold that is now worth $170k. Wouldn't you know it that the economy crashed in 2008 when we bought back stock at bargain basement prices. trump's shenanigans have once more given me a gut-punch. Just sold all our stocks last Friday (except silver and gold related stock) and put proceeds in a 4.5% interest yielding money market so that we can sleep at night. I am writing about this only to urge you to act for what you feel is best for you....
Tesla stock, on 12-27-2024 reached a high of $450. Today it is $230.58 per share, a decrease of $219.42 per share. Tesla has 3,198,000,000 outstanding shares, Musk owns 12.8 percent of Tesla stock, or 409,344,000 shares. His Tesla stock has lost $219.42 per share. That's more than the GNP of some countries. That's a decrease of about $90 billion.
I, myself, planned well for retirement. I have quite enough to live on and my little stockpile of money has become just numbers on a page. While it is nice to see them get bigger, it doesn't affect my daily life, and my guess is, most billionaires hardly notice their losses.
I am uncomfortable with calling T ‘insane’ he thrives on chaos. People who have mental illness do not deserve the bad press. And I do not believe in reality. It is just a social construct, on a sliding scale.
T has found not only comfort in chaos, he has found two opportunities 1- to be a con man and 2- to feel comfortable and in control. He makes money when things are out of control, and he can keep things spinning and confusing. The tariffs are an example of this. Lots of attention lots of chaos driven by him and who knows what’s going on behind the curtain.
We crave predictably and so are more easily confused. He is predictable, just look for the chaos, and meanness. He’ll be there. If it hurts someone for no reason it’s to the good, if it hurts his enemy as well he loves it.
M is just a gamer, who wants to die with the most toys, only believes he won’t die. Destroying the rest of the world and taking over, he can just start a new game here or on Mars. If you don’t care about anything but winning anything is permissible and no one matters.
For most of us with compassion and care about each other and the world we have a hard time comprehending their world view. So we are often confused and surprised. It makes no sense to us. Two different ‘realities’.
That is why community is so important. To reinforce our reality and feeling of stability, our reality. Human face to face interaction is reassuring. And together we get hope and action and change. It is/will be hard, yet we must persist, together.
It might be best to coalesce around someone like Bernie or AOC. It is easier to follow one leader who is out there talking forcefully. Following a person who is getting press is easier than a movement. Common Cause is great, but hard to be passionate about it.
I think he wants to drain the wealth from the stock market leaving citizens 401k drained. Put it all in his meme coin and make us all use meme coin. He once said he wanted American money to be crypto.
J L, it's those "visions of tax cuts" that are leading them astray. Already corporations, particularly very large ones, you know billionaire-class ones already get out of paying a significant portion of the taxes they owe by renaming things so they fit through the many loopholes in the tax code. I can't help but think that if they want that much in tax-cutting, it is likely their businesses are not worthy of the support we give them. Their only purpose is to make a bunch of already-too-rich white boys even richer. Why is anyone, even members of Congress supporting that?
All the republicans in congress are traitors to the people, the country, and the constitution. They have bent the knee to their felonious leader. Little Mikey Johnson is the worst of the sycophants.
All those Republicons should have marched over to the White House and demanded $Trump's resignation (as with Nixon) when the "child in a man suit" mentioned invading Canada. THAT should be a bridge too far for anyone who is a patriot and is still sane. I mean, really? WTF?
And Canada really is the bridge too far, farcical to even think about in normal times, but he seems to be obsessed with it and nothing is normal right now.
Ruth, one suspects that most members of congress, especially MAGATs and most other Republicans, want very much to join that club of rich white guys. If you’ve ever seen listings of the net worth of Republicans in congress vs Democrats and Independents you will see a distinct difference. That is why they fight measures which would limit or eliminate their ability to buy or sell stock while serving in congress.
For the old folks like me they are excited about their Social Security not being taxed as he promises....I am worried about just getting my Social Security check each month on time.
This is my concern . I am asking what we ( me in mine) in local communities plan to do. In this rural red state (WV) 1 in 3 depends on SS/Medicare/Medicaid. The statistics are dismal already. We have 94 Republicans and 6 Democrats in our state electeds.
John Barry Larson, (D) Conn. gave a wonderful synapse and speech recently about everyone’s situation and chastised his constituents .
J L you are absolutely /nail on the head /to.the.point.
I am asking locals ..‘what’s your plan B? ‘ Talking to my local Farmers Markets, calling my reps. The Trump flags are still flying here. ‘Oh it’ll be fine soon’ is what I hear except for the solid Dems and they’re ripped!
I am prepared.
But it won’t be easy. I’m long past a spring chicken. But I care about my neighbors, my community,my state and my country. Many of them are Republicans, some have converted …even recently.
They are NOT prepared.
I am working to inform/advise …and doing ( as Ruth Ben Ghait amusingly stated) A LOT OF YOGA.👩🌾🧘♂️
It is not too late to write something positive about Biden. I think positive about Biden will help us transition to democratic leadership if we could find a democrat to step up.
I think Canada should call his bluff and ask to become part of the USA. Canada has 13 provinces, so they should be formed into 13 states. That's 26 additional Democratic senators and 40 additional Democratic members of the House.
Canadians are smart, sane, polite people. Let's let our 51st, 52nd, 53rd, 54th, 55th, 56th, 57th, 58th, 59th, 60th, 61st, 62nd, and 63rd new states help us impeach the felon/russian PINO and take our country back.
the usual map shown in Canada in the past few years shows Canada absorbing the west coast states, MN, New England and maybe New York. The rest is called Jesusland, and Canada wants no part of it.
I'd like to see Pacifica as a Canadian province. Washington, Oregon, California, and Hawaii. The eastern halves of WA/OR can join Greater Idaho; eastern CA can join Arizona.
Hawaii should be given their independence. We lived there for 3 years. What the United States government did to them is horrific. It’s no wonder they hate us. They forbid them to practice their own culture unless it was to entertain the tourists in the rich white mans resorts.
I don’t think after the annexation, or actually prior to it, either house of Congress will be more than window dressing. I seriously doubt there will be “elections”.
I expect that Trump would treat Canada the way he treats Puerto Rico, were that boundary ever removed. Paper towels but no standing. I think Canadians know that.
I watch mainstream media and am informed that Trump inherited a great economy from the Biden administration. It’s there but if you don’t watch or read it then you can’t see it.
A long-time friend, formerly a reasonable and even-tempered woman, became Fox-fied I believe. We don’t talk often, but over the last cpl years she complained about what a catastrophe Biden was—she couldn’t afford for him to be pres, etc. I’ll hear from her on my birthday in June, wonder what she’ll think by then. It breaks my heart what has happened to her. And millions more.
It's weird. A distant relation I was fond of went full bore Trumpista, and pretty much cut herself off from old friends. MAGAification can present like a psychotic break.
Very aggravating. On Fox and its metastases, the economy was in shambles in January which is complete BS. But that’s what a large segment of the population is being led to believe.
I would hope that next time around, if there is a next time around, we might elect a person who had spent more time in town halls than on the floor of the Senate.
Leigh, or that Republican Congress members would confirm experts to cabinet positions, instead of people like Linda McMahon, who said she wasn't sure what IDEA stood for, and went on to reassure us that, "This is my fifth day on the job and I'm really trying to learn them very quickly." Really?? We couldn't have, maybe, someone who has experience in the education field and has already learned what they need to know? Being a retired teacher, it makes my blood boil to see someone who cares nothing about the education of ordinary children think they can tear down the Dept of Education and cater to the children of the rich and privileged. We are being bombarded with facts about "The Lifestlyes of the Rich and Famous." People who thought that Trump would work for ordinary citizens were misguided and flat-out wrong.
How could ANYONE have been fooled by Trump? People weren’t looking at him. The price of eggs win is preposterous beyond measure. He has nothing in his head except 1) staying out of jail and 2) having more and more money. It’s gotta be gold like his toilets!
It certainly cannot be Mark Kelly! He likes to claim he is enraged, but he votes Trump. Both Kelly and Gallego (AZ) voted often to approve Trump's nominees. They show their true colors when they can vote in private. When voting AYE for a very flawed nominee who will win even if you vote NO, does not show courage or leadership. Democrats deserve better.
Yep. Kelly and Gallego did. I was astounded and sent him a message saying how disappointed I was that he voted to confirm them. I am watching his other votes but his defense of Ukraine was was important.
Senators aren't perfect. Senator Kelly went to Ukraine and saw the suffering of the Ukrainian people. He put Musk in his place. You can't argue with intelligence. Bravo 👏 for Senator Kelly a who has served his country.
Thanks Sandra, I think the thing about where we are at right now that makes me so angry is thinking about where we would be if 10 million Democrats had bothered to vote!! We can't make that mistake again, if we get a chance, that is.
Sandra Simpson -- President Biden has recently slid severely in my estimation. I don't think I will **ever** forgive him for not stepping aside BEFORE the Democratic Convention, and hadn't endorsed / recommended we swing our support to the unqualified (IMO) VP Kamala Harris. I cannot think of anything positive to write about Biden as President. Sad !
Right on Dutch Mike, your last line about our insubordinate press media hides the transparency to inform the American people on what’s happening in our political news.
HCR said tonight ‘Unable to admit that he might be wrong, President Donald Trump is doubling down on the policies that are crashing the economy.’
Why are we not demanding that our MSM never brought forward the Trump campaign supporting the FBI and White Supremacist militants targeting their extreme aggressions against our safe Democracy.
Yes, yes, that is the plan: crash the economy, and buy the leftovers at a bargain price. Musk has promised to this from the beginning ("it's all for your best interest"); it's like a discount sale for billionaires.
"A dying business throws off cash." Investment stops - money is available ; employees are fired - payroll dollars are available; overhead costs stop - dollars are available. All those funds are floating around, to be hoovered up by Musk's adolescents.
Is the reporting really like an ambulance chaser's attempt to gain an advantage, or is in more like an attempt to avoid stimulating mass panic in the face of the burning building we appear to be in?
Reporters can be very good. And like many people in risky professions, they often go extra miles. But all news gathering has lost all independence and come under the thumb of the very large corporations that own them. It was a dramatic shift in the 1960’s that stripped newsrooms and reporters of the means to gather, deliver, and distribute news. That began a very long time ago. And this is where we are today. Television is a very popular but poor source of information for some 50 or 60 years. Radio, less than that but nothing expensive to produce is immune. All said, pay attention, it can be better than nothing. Be careful and choosey. Listen to everyone and most importantly, don’t “believe”, make up your own mind. As I’m sure you always have after visiting the iffy restaurant.
Mike, I doubt the media will ever admit it was wrong and that it deliberately weighted the election coverage toward Trump in 3 elections and while he was in office. They want eyes or ears and don't care about the outcome. I have little sympathy for the many media platforms that sacrificed their objectivity and honor for a total jerk who has no sense of a greater good beyond himself and the money and power he can accumulate. The smart media guys and gals knew what Trump was and is, yet did it to us anyway. That is beyond shameful!
This is an engineered collapse. Setting Trump aside, these are not stupid people; they understand how mass firings, hollowing out government, and indiscriminate tariffs against our allies would damage the economy and market. But they can hoover up assets and resources at bargain prices while we suffer. Think of the farms, homes, businesses, public lands and now national park land that are likely to be sold off in a depressed market, allowing them to increase their wealth and power. And bonus - tariffs on allies harm their economies and destabilize their governments at a time when both the US and Russia are threatening to invade. The billionaires are executing a long-term plan, and we are collateral damage.
...and are still cheering on Mad King Trump and Evil Emperor Musk. I simply can't believe how stupid people can be. A few, yes, but so many millions?? I still can't believe it.
I agree completely. This is exactly what occurred during the last “Great Depression”. Though it can be a tricky business. At the end of the US Civil War, many had amassed reserves in Confederate currency. Not a happy choice for reinvestment either then or ever.
Directly from Adolf Hitler's playbook: "His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it."
I couldn't finish Heather's post today. I am so outraged and disspirited. The obfuscations, hypocrisy, savagery and hate are overwhelming. Trump and his followers root against good news celebrating the demise of innocent people and institutions. Please read the New York Times article today - three opinion writer assess the damage of Trump's first 50 days.
I hear you, Stephanie. So horrifying to see where we are in just a short period of time. What chills me to the bone is how many of the MAGAt side in my former work cohort are eating it like candy.
Thomas Friedman wrote in NYT rather a pessimistic prospect of America. He cited Lincoln’s speech that a country that thrives on liberty can perish only by suicide. America appears in that stage. We need to stop this self destruction powered by Trump / Musk. We must work to save life of this country. We need a new hero in DEMs. Any name?
Chaos is always going to be the headline. Donald Trump writes their headlines for them everyday day; even when he wasn’t in office. Joe Biden quietly went about the business of securing and building our country. No excitement for the media to cover, and they could not stand the possibility of four more years of steady, stately leadership. The media is getting exactly what they wanted.
Funny, but not really, how folks imagine that reality is kind of like checkers or chess. While a move of the moment is proposed or made, other things, indeed all else, remain fixed. Although nothing in life works this way, a remarkable amount of reasoning seems to remain stuck in gear. Likely it’s one of the laws of extinction.
Sometime, I should mention my notion of the La Brea tar pits and the common sense expression “one learns from one’s mistakes “.
You've expressed it wonderfully, Bill. That is the kind of reductionist-materialist-mechanical thinking that the "modern" West has been stuck in since the days of Descartes. Always thinking in 'separation' and 'other'. Reality as a series of fixed snapshots instead of a process, as Heraclites and William James described it. And yes, the quantum physicist David Bohm did say: "This fragmented thinking may well lead to our extinction." Well, here we are.
2 Words - Hatch Act. As a former federal employee, if I had violated the Hatch Act, as Donnie is doing with Tesla, I would have lost my job and been prosecuted. How does this not apply to hi ?
Can you name anything that does apply to him? He's never had a job to lose, anyway: losing is for losers, and a con man isn't a loser until he runs out of bribes to lawyers.
The only instance in which the Hatch Act applies directly to the president – thanks to a 1993 amendment to the Act – is if the president uses his position to intimidate, threaten, or coerce a federal employee. It's presently unclear whether the SCOTUS ruling on presidential immunity would affect this provision (it's arguable that it can be no part of a president's official duties to behave like this towards an employee). Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer, told the Washington Post:“He may not be violating the Hatch Act, but he is ordering other people to. At a certain point you are using White House resources, and that is a violation of the Hatch Act.” You may recall that Hampton Dellinger, the Special Counsel of the US who runs the Office of the Special Counsel, was recently fired by Trump. This office is responsible (and indeed was set up) to investigate violations of the Hatch Act. No surprise why he was fired - in July 2020, the Office of the Special Counsel found 13 Trump officials in violation of the Hatch Act.
They were never able to nail Kellyanne Conway, who was responsible for numerous violations. At around the same time, Ivanka Trump, then a White House employee, posted a photograph online celebrating Goya Foods, whose chief executive had recently praised her father, in what government ethics experts called a clear violation of federal law. The president followed up the next day with his own photograph, featuring the company’s products arrayed on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office (and he's very particular about that desk - after Musk's four-year-old son wiped the contents of his nose on the desk during their recent joint interview, Trump had it sent out to be cleaned).
(i) an employee paid from an appropriation for the Executive Office of the President; or
(ii) an employee appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, whose position is located within the United States, who determines policies to be pursued by the United States in the nationwide administration of Federal laws.
He also threatens those who demonstrate against Tesla; "And then the same man who gave a blanket pardon to those convicted of violent crimes related to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol called those protesting at Tesla dealerships “domestic terrorists” and promised that the government would make sure they “go through hell.” (HCR)
Nothing that applies to others EVER applies to right-wingers. Hypocrisy doesn't matter, shame has no effect, flouting laws is meaningless. If any of it did, we wouldn't be here. It's beyond disgusting.
All the late night comics zeroed in on the fat orange felon’s commercial for Tesla.
Of course his favorite Nazi, Elon Musk, was there.
Most of the comics also noted how this commercial set at the White House violated federal law, as that’s ours – public property, and can never be used for any commercial purposes.
But then again, this duo’s larger announcement was their reiteration of their total contempt for all American law. Or, we could say, too, their disregard for all the murder, assault on neighboring countries, theft, rape, kidnapping, and wanton destruction by their pal Putin.
Good for the comics, counterpart to Republicans in Congress and on the Clarence court sycophant to the lawlessness, treasonous now supporting Putin’s vaster criminality.
Every so often Roberts decides to uphold the US Constitution. The other day the Court voted 5-4 against Trump being able to withhold funds that were not only allocated but approved for payment.
The two known sexual predators on the court (Alito and Kavanaugh) plus Gorsuch and Thomas voted that the President holds the purse strings of the Federal Government a clear violation of Article 1.
If Robert's had voted the other way, the Court is saying that the US Treasury is Trump's (and Musk's) to do with as they please. This would have been as bad a decision as Dobb's and Trump being above the law.
The court ruled that since a deadline given by a lower court had already passed, they should "clarify what obligations the government must fulfil to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order." So it ain't over yet since Trump can still appeal that lower court clarification of its TRO. Even that cautious ruling has led to problems for Amy Coney Barrett, who has been denounced by the far right for siding with the majority - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/08/amy-coney-barrett-under-attack-by-right-wing
It might seem like that but the Guardian article says that she votes with Alito and Thomas 80% of the time. Let's wait and see how she votes when the inevitable appeal reaches the court.
The SCOTUS 5-4 Opinion was unsigned but, AMY CONEY BARRETT & Chief Judge Roberts voted with Kagan, Sotomayor & K B Jackson releasing $2 Billion in already authorized expenditures by Congress not the orange autocrat.
I recommend anything by SCOTUSblog Co-founder, AMY HOWE, particularly on Opinion days.⚖️
Comics are doing what Dem Party should be and isn’t. Standing up in real time to make clear what wrongs are being done to all of us. Grateful for their outreach!
Trouble is, history will keep the facts of Roberts in 2010 voting 1) to steroid corruption by the rich in Citizens United, 2) his joining the fascist line that women and their private, family decisions do not belong to them, 3 his further tilt to monarchy in declaring the fat orange guy immune to American law, and 4) his contempt for the Constitution in just flat-out ignoring the clear language of Article 14, Section Three.
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In an emergency address from the Oval Office on Monday afternoon, Donald J. Trump commanded the American people not to check their 401k accounts.
“Anyone caught checking their 409s (sic) can and will be deported,” he warned.
Asserting that he was issuing this order “for your own good,” Trump added, "Elon says there's a virus in the stock market and if you check your stocks it will spread to your body."
Though he claimed that “nothing bad is happening on Wall Street,” he promised the American people that, in the event of a stock market crash, “I will fix it with my Sharpie.”
Repubs claim the pillow is ultra comfortable. I was gifted with one and discarded the lumpy thing filled with God knows what. It may have been filled by company owner making money from poor people collecting shoreline plastics... who knows, but the magas say they are comfortable! Amazing!
IWhat if McConnell and Rand Paul could be persuaded to contribute a few Teslas? In Kentucky there are lots of front yards to take them in. Then there’s WV. Maybe Manchin would sell his yacht to save his country. 🤣🤣🤣
I should have added a “for sale” sign. Did you see the signs put on Teslas a few weeks ago? So much **** since then that I’ve forgotten the focus. But lots of fun. And thank you for the affirmation.🤣
As Trump proved on live TV, he does not know how to drive. Does Melania or Barron get the Tesla he bought? Even Queen Elizabeth did in fact drive. Poor Donny - a king who cannot drive. Except a golf cart on an open field.
They had all the EV chargers ripped out at government buildings and stopped them from being installed across the country. Now they want people to buy a car they can’t charge?
I can charge mine, which is now a Mini Countryman, with my solar in my garage but apartment dwellers don’t have that luxury. A regular outlet would take 31 hours for a full charge.
Today saw a video of Biden driving his vintage convertible, Russell.
It featured Jay Leno, too (a lover of classic American cars), and was filmed with Biden driving one of Jay's cars, in summertime. I'm thinking it was recent, when Joe was president, though someone may correct me on that.
There are some videos on YouTube dating from 2016 and 2022. I've read that Biden has signed up with a Los Angeles talent agency that also represents Brad Pitt and Ariana Grande (although Heaven only knows what for) and that there are rumours of another book.
He wanted to bring it to his inauguration but couldn't get it into the Capitol rotunda. It could yet reach iconic status as a symbol for his whole second term the way things are going.
I'm with you on that idea and did you see "Heroes Come in All sizes'" comment?
I think Canada should call his bluff and ask to become part of the USA. Canada has 13 provinces, so they should be formed into 13 states. That's 26 additional Democratic senators and 40 additional Democratic members of the House.
Canadians are smart, sane, polite people. Let's let our 51st, 52nd, 53rd, 54th, 55th, 56th, 57th, 58th, 59th, 60th, 61st, 62nd, and 63rd new states help us impeach the felon/russian PINO and take our country back.
In one key sense, Garrett, he's using Elon's own massive contributions to him.
In another sense -- the one where we remember he has no personal life, and never has -- we recall how his "life" has always been nothing but getting money: millions from his father, more millions from Russian Dmitry Rybolovlev and then other money-laundering Russians, more millions from his base, from banks willing to look the other way (until his many bankruptcies).
I can assure you that MAGA is still celebrating despite the lack of relief from rising grocery prices, rent, utilities, healthcare, and insurance. Despite the return of predatory fees and intentionally obscure pricing the Biden Administration and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were addressing.
MAGA is celebrating because the criminal-elect and his South African Karen Billionaire are like Batman and Robin. Trump is the strongman leader who issues a directive and lets the cards fall where they may. We want Canada. We want Greenland. We want Gaza beachfront, presumably constructed over the bodies of women, children, and families. We want a leader of Ukraine who understands the greatness of kings and tyrants -and bows down appropriately -like every remaining member of the GOP Congress.
MAGA is celebrating because people who protest are being arrested and taken away. Especially people of color.
MAGA is celebrating because they don't yet realize the air they breathe, the water they drink, and the food they eat used to be inspected and protected by the Governmental agencies being destroyed by Trump, Vance & Space Karen.
MAGA is celebrating because real Americans want to prioritize taking care of the poor, hungry, and unhoused here in the United States -not in some "S*&thole" Country. (Just kidding, they don't care about the poor, hungry, and unhoused here in America).
MAGA is celebrating because they don't know that when they are sick, their children are sick, or their parents are sick -the medical bills were paid by Medicaid.
MAGA is celebrating because now their children can get a voucher and go to WalMart K-12 schools and don't yet know that private school costs will rise and the difference between the voucher and the tuition will gleefully be taken care of by Betsy DeVos or someone as greedy and sinister -because there's massive money to be made in student loans repaid over a lifetime.
MAGA will cheer when the criminal-elect and his policies lead to chaos, confusion, protests, and civil disobedience -and this Administration declares martial law and deploys the military into Blue States and cities -because the so-called "news" will show them rounding up people of color.
At some point MAGA will stop cheering but the billionaires will have their massive tax cuts -I guess that's a "silver lining".
There is an article in the WSJ (can’t read it bc of the paywall) where allegedly MAGAts are downplaying hits to their retirement accounts. Its definitely a cult, and you’ve laid it out in beautiful detail, George.
Meanwhile, people are starting to curb their spending and shopping local as well.
It's funny how three or four airline mishaps are scaring people away from flying. If I fly anywhere it's going to be out of Canada to Europe or Asia avoiding US controlled air space.
Sean Duffy had a shouting match with Musk because Musk fired some air traffic controllers he said were DEI.
Elon Musk is clearly out of his ever-luvvin’ mind! Calling Mark Kelly a traitor and speaking like THIS to the Foreign Minister of an ally country: “ Poland’s minister of foreign affairs, Radosław Sikorski, responded that “if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers.” “Be quiet, small man,” Musk replied. “You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.”
Musk is clearly showing his sense of being an Uber Mensch in our world, the sick, sick man.
One of the side effects of ketamine abuse is cognitive decline. Musk "swears" he only uses on occasion, but can he be trusted?
Trump and Musk were both born on 3rd base having inherited fortunes from daddy and mommy, plus they both grew up in white supremacist homes. At least Musk has scored a few runs, while Trump keeps getting picked off of 3rd base with failure after failure.
No mystery why they want to end diversity, equity and inclusion.
Ketamine affects our desire to give up in the face of resistance and adversity [or failure] — It turns off a sense of futility, whether that sense is accurate or not. And that suppression of the impulse to call-it-quits becomes a part of our brain’s function. Perseveration and the tendency to just keep forging ahead, no matter what… No adequate “stop” function, which becomes permanent, especially if it is abused. Sound like it might be having an effect on the Muskrat?
Absolutely not! He is a MAGA Democrat. How else do you account for his AYE votes for 8 of Trump's nominees? Kelly is not for President of the United States. He lacks courage and leadership.
His armed security team have now been deputised as federal marshals so they can now gain access to the White House. There was a report recently on MSNBC that suggested that it was these people, rather than proper federal marshals, who have been accompanying Musk's frat boys when they unlawfully enter federal buildings. It really is quite disturbing how this person Musk, described by the administration as a mere staffer, can wield so much power without supervision. In a recent court case, a judge ruled that DOGE's “unprecedented” powers and “unusual secrecy” made it necessary that it should submit records of its activities to the public - https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/10/judge-orders-doge-record-release-00223151?nname=politico-toplines&nid=0000018f-3124-de07-a98f-3be4d1400000&nrid=00000170-3560-d60b-a9fd-776d3b1f0000
People have often commented about how people's behaviour deteriorates when they comment on social media, saying things they would never say directly to another person. Some consider social media as a safety valve for the darker side of our nature. In the case of Musk and Trump, they seemed to have crossed the Rubicon and have brought their appalling social media personas into the real world.
Well the vote in Greenland was a resounding rebuke of Don Jr’s ‘diplomacy’ and I suspect the idea of allowing Musk and his chainsaw to eviscerate the social safety net they do have vis-a-vis Denmark. Trump-friendly Qulleq has received just over 260 of the approximately 27,000 votes. https://www.dn.se/varlden/demokraatit-segrar-i-gronlands-val/
Big smile. During their sales trip, they seem to have entertained the patrons of some local hostelry, so 260 votes is more than I'd have expected. Probably rigged....
In all seriousness it is presumptuous of me to analyze what is a very complicated situation of a most Inuit people living under Danish protectorate conditions. There has been a very inhuman policy from the 70s in which women, mostly young teens had IUDs inserted to prevent single motherhood without parental consent and often completely unbeknownst to the woman herself. See https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66990670.amp
The centre-right appears to have won the election. They favour a more gradual move towards independence - I guess many Greenlanders like Danish healthcare and welfare benefits (another reason for them not to want to join the US, especially now).
I saw the New York Times headlines about the Democrats are fighting about what to do next. I am starting to think we need to write as many letters and comments to the Democrats about their leadership as we are about the complaints about Trump. Maybe we should make a list and send it to the Democrats.
I mean no disrespect but why are you still reading The NY Times? Even Fox News and the Wall Street Journal have turned against Trump and Musk, while the Times is still looking for ways to blame the Democrats for everything that's wrong with the world.
How many stories has the Times written about Bernie and Elizabeth traveling around the country with their message? The Times cares about one thing - $$$$$$. The Democrats are far from boring. Listen to the political guests on Progress Radio (XM-127). They have a message, but the lame stream media isn't about to advertise it because their advertisers want ratings not hope and common sense.
Read Paul Krugman's account about why he left the Times and what his last year (2024) was like when the editors removed any signs of Trump bashing. He said, from 2000 - 2023 they NEVER did that.
I've kept my NYT subscription - which guarantees disappointment after disappointment every morning with their beige coverage of events. I keep it b/c I live in the city and want the local news and am also hoping to see this once fine paper turn the corner and become fine again.
Thx for the pointer to Progress Radio -- I continually search for sources, listened yesterday to Krugman about his leaving NYT, and will pay more attention to insider news of Ukraine from Deny https://www.youtube.com/@DenysDavydov/videos. I still subscribe to NYT and was interested to hear, in yesterday's The Daily podcast, the voices of Greenlanders who would like to be part of the USA.
Maggie Haberman is an amazing journalist. She also has an amazing voice. Once in a while, I've caught her singing when an ad finishes playing on a podcast, etc.
I was extremely excited to see that my other favorite economist besides Paul Krugman is joining the weekend lineup on MSNBC -- Catherine Rampell. I'm not sure if she quit the WAPO or not but I have missed her since I dropped my subscription a while back. And Ruth Markus quit the WAPO last week when her latest op-ed was rejected by Bezos's cronies.
Gary, I listen to Progressive Radio from time to time. Besides Hartmann’s program being laden with ad after ad, which is particularly irritating, I find the hosts are can be hyperbolic. It worries me that constant listening could be doing on the progressive side what Fox has done on the other side. Except for the constant lying, of course.
It's an acquired taste, like listening to Rush Limbaugh was. I did a lot of driving across Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Minnesota in the 1990's. The radio choices in the rural areas back then were C&W and Rush Limbaugh. Of course when you were close to any of the major cities you had a nice variety. I've never really acquired a taste for most C&W music.
The chaos and uncertaintly is totally destabilizing of everything. There is a core of irredeemable Trump cultists of ill defined numbers. His Electoral College win, while not representing a majority of voters, was achieved with a segment beyond the cultists, seemingly just wanting something different. Or, they had a myriad of reasons from inherent racism to misogyny to basic ignorance. Nevertheless, they are absolutely blameworthy. No rational body of humans should ever choose to be led by an ignorant, mean spirited narcissist with progressing dementia. In this mental state and mental disturbance, Trump is almost certainly not going to retreat from killing our economy and destroying our international alliances. We cannot assess if Vance would be better, but his overall mental state is probably stable.
Unfortunately, impeaching and removing Trump would take an insurmountable transformation of Republican Congress persons, who evince all evidence of being as ignorant as they are cowardly.
I lay primary responsibility for this situation on the 5 million democrats who couldn’t be bothered to show up and vote in November ‘24. This inanity was blatantly foretold. There isn’t a political solution for the reward we are reaping. We had the capacity to avoid this and we didn’t.
Agreed, the current Republican members of the Senate and House are complicit in this mess. But the remedy is at hand, as every single Republican member of the House is up for election in November 2026. Once agin, the country is in the hands of the voters.
“Traitor? Elon, if you don’t understand that defending freedom is a basic tenet of what makes America great and keeps us safe, maybe you should leave it to those of us who do.”
I’m sorry I didn’t short Tesla a month ago. But I have taken very good advantage to the madness in the stock markets. Gains can be made going up as well as going down. I’m not offering advice in fact I would suggest not to do as I say it’s not for everyone. But it will allow me to make more gift-giving to causes and organizations that are rapidly being defunded like public television and the Associated Press. We can’t sustain 4 years of this madness. Absolute madness.
Spanish stocks have been doing well. As a US Expat I hope to invest in European military stocks and bonds and in the replacement for Starlink, which can't be relied upon.
I remember when the Delta Chairman lauded trump’s election and the potential to dispense with those silly consumer protections. All I can do at the moment is laugh.
The presidency of the U.S. is a tag team of Thing One and Thing Two.
Imagine being on a flight and have Elon shut off crucial air traffic control communications just because he was having a fit. No thanks.
Someone recently reported that some individuals in the national management department are users and recreational users of Ketamine. After reading this (j/https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-06/Ketamine-2020.pdf), I would suggest that anyone using this controlled substance probably has no business making decisions that could have serious negative effects on the lives of others.
Still don't know what Trump's tariff war is meant to accomplish. He said “We have to rebuild our country.” How is playing a game of tariff chicken with America's allies supposed to do that?
When it comes to this economic wreckage, I still can’t figure out whether Trump does it due to incompetence, or his allegiance to a certain foreign leader, or his apparent dementia. Maybe all three. And I’m amazed to be able to say I told you so to business and media titans who salivated about the tax cuts and insisted they would easily manage Trump.
War. Trump wants to support the dialogue that Canada and Mexico has been taking advantage of the USA for years. Trump wants the American people to retaliate against Canada and ignore what the United States is doing. It’s all about war.
Trump's statement that Canada and Mexico have been taking advantage of the USA for years is just one more of the constant lies coming out of his mouth. Apparently, with Canada he is referring to the trade deficit. However, if you take oil out of the equation, raw oil, which is sold to the USA on a discount and then refined and processed in the USA, the USA actually enjoys a trade SURPLUS of $60 billion with Canada. Even with oil, all the value added is done in the USA..
Today, Trump also said that will "personally shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada". Well, of the cars and trucks made by the D3 (GM, Ford and Stellantis), 420,000 were exported by Canada into the USA and 700,000 were exported by the USA into Canada, so even here, the USA has a SURPLUS of 280,000 cars. Trump should be careful what he wants to accomplish. If he manages to move all car manufacturing by the D3 into the USA, as is his aim, how is that going to benefit the US auto industry? Canadians are already engaging in a wide spread boycott of travel to the USA and buying anything made in the US. If Trump wipes out the Canadian auto industry, with all the layoffs that will cause in Canada, Canadians will solidly boycott all cars made by the D3. There are enough good cars made by Europe, Japan and South Korea. So, the US industry is going to lose close to 300,000 cars sold to Canada. How is that supposed to be positive to anybody?
Don’t believe anything he says it’s all fake. He uses threats to affect policy. It does work up to a point. Take Ukraine. There might actually be a peace in the making. Trump only wants a truce in order to get a noble peace price but I trust they will never give in to this trash. So he offered Putin favors then retracted them. It keeps everyone guessing. And can lead to a positive ending. But it also causes disruptions.
For trump it's all a SHOW...good TV. He's always on stage. I believe that he's in growing danger from his own base who's believed his lies. He's moving closer to paying the price for his betrayal.
Always on stage is exactly right -- as long as he's in the spotlight the world is fine, so he'll do whatever it takes to have the focus kept on himself.
He thinks stopping steel imports will bring Canadian car manufacturers to a halt and can’t comprehend that it would shut down all the manufacturers in the U.S.
And how will Musk build his rockets without steel?
There's reporting on Wired yesterday that Twitter/X was subjected to a DDOS attack which security experts have said comes from 'botnets', armies of computers that have been hijacked for this purpose so the IP address isn't conclusive evidence that Ukraine was responsible. They've also found that some X origin servers, which respond to web requests, weren't properly secured behind the company's Cloudflare DDoS protection and were publicly visible. One researcher found that Ukraine wasn't even in the top 20 IP addresses linked to the attack. Musk appears to have been lying as you say!
Children are suffering in a spreading measles outbreak and will be denied not only school lunches but public education.
Seniors who are lucky enough to have retirement plans are watching them tank at the same time Republicans are trashing the Social Security Administration.
So after 4 years of Bidenomics, the Orange Clown gives us a Trumpcession - within a mere 2 months.
Maybe now the billionaire-owned press wish they had written something positive about Biden…
I'm not sure it's penetrated yet. Visions of tax cuts dance though their heads.
I'm not so sure the math is working well for the tax cuts. Of course, they never really did. The value of their portfolios is dropping like a rock. If you're a billionaire and your net worth drops by 10%, it gonna take a lot of years for the savings in taxes to offset a loss of $100 million or more. And most of the stocks will bounce back when Trump is gone. But are greedy rich white men really that patient?
Think of the phenomenon of greed itself. Most psychologists think it's a form of avoidance related to inner insecurities (akin to feeling er, small, as in "Whose got the biggest one?). It functions like all addictions, in that the addict can never get enough of anything. Trump once bragged to an adoring crowd, while flapping his tiny little hands, that "I'm just greedy, greedy greedy." I mean, you could hardly make any of this stuff up. None of it is rational.
Leigh, it still astounds me that someone like Trump, a lousy businessman has been able to project himself as something great, worthy of being president and can lie as he did in his first term over 33,000 times in public yet people will still believe his blatant lies and not the few true things he says. People really are nuts!
Propaganda, and Fox has been very good at it.
More lies = more viewers = more $$$.
Fuck the country and what it stands for just, "Show Me the Money".
Bill, it does make me really sad to realize that money seems to be the only factor that matters to so many people. So many folks are still wrapped in the ridiculous "lives of the rich and famous" BS and keep dreaming themselves into those scenarios rather than actually living their lives and trying to, with others, make life better where they are, not super wealthy in giant mansions or on huge yachts.
Bill, when are Murdoch related corporations going to take a dive? Investors might start dumping when they take a closer look at their portfolios. 🦊 is complicit.
For me the most memorable quote from that Fox interview with the Education Dept Demolition Queen was her assurance to the interviewer that she had not fired any of "the good people". It turned out that the vast majority were part of the DEI cohort, Blacks and women. I'm sort of glad the Black Lives Matter site was erased - it confirms the Trump policy, they don't matter.
Ruth Sheets -- Speaking of someone who is 'worthy of being president' (POTUS), three people spring immediately to mind: Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Gretchen Whitmer. There are probably others, but these three are outstanding in my mind.
WE had a chance… Harris and Walz….. and we WILL again….
Klobuchar has put one foot over the line delineating the Dark Side and no longer deserves Democratic support. She voted YES to confirm several of the sewer clowns in Trump's cabinet, including Marco Rubio and Doug Burgum. Other than early onset dementia, there's no excuse for that.
Hi Judith....I would add Antony Blinken.
This Michigander votes for Pete and Gretchen! So cool we all automatically know them by their first names!
I would also like to add Dan Goldman of NY to the list.
Ruth, thanks for proposing those three great examples of very worthy people. We know that to name all of those that fit your description would take days. Thanks for your comment.
Judith, I like all your nominees. Now how do we get them elected when it may well be that our vote tallying systems have been compromised in favor of whoever or whatever Republicans choose to run, if we are even able to vote again?
As a Radically Independent Moderate I'd like to see a split ticket (D&R) (R&D) or a new party of Moderates Who Get the Job Done!
Trump's success proves that the power of White Resentment should never be underestimated. And now he is going to fulfill his promise to Make America Hate Again.
Of course, Trump is not an investor, hence does not understand the stock market. He's only been a (failed) developer....
Ruth, his supporters are cultists. Despite everything known about him—including his ties to Russia—they revere him with blind devotion. That’s the very definition of a cult.
Also it's a definition of stupidity Harvey.
Here’s some nuts—-The Democrats knew there would be lies at the big speech and they sat through it instead of walking out with Rep Green. That would have been great free publicity. And the DNC keeps asking for money! It’s past time for the minority. Leaders to step aside. Old ways don’t work against donnie and the clowns.
I am with you Ruth--what is really breathtaking is that people have bought trump's story. They're still stuck on the "Apprentice" show where he was portrayed as this great businessman. Yet in reality six of his companies have gone bankrupt. Why would any thinking person hire this guy to even manage their restaurant. And here he is running the greatest country on the planet...to the ground....
The Apprentice is now available on Amazon Prime.
Reality TV was a massive contributor to the destruction of our country.
Yes it was, but on the other hand: there is no such thing as "reality" TV.
Ruth, as much as I dislike Donald Trump, I've always given him credit for one thing: he's the greatest con man ever. Like you I'm astounded by his true believers. I guess it shows us the power of propaganda.
We seem inclined to believe what we want to believe, or fear may be true. But isn't that a fool's paradise (and I don't claim that I'm immune to irrational behavior)? Doesn't history and individual experience repeatedly prove that the better we understand reality, or at least our individua and collective understandings that coax the most reliable outcomes from our experience of reality, the more fortunate and resilient we are likely to be?
A sober analysis of the risks to benefits of vaccination is just one of many examples. Reality is the teacher. We are the pupil. Historically, taken as a whole, most accurate maps of reality appear to serve us the best when navigating life. Folly may sometimes win a battle but not the war: the odds are always with "the house". And inadvertent or chosen misunderstanding often ends in sorrow, or worse.
Correction: about half of American voters are genetically oriented to act stupidly.
And they don’t understand consequences—what follows a stupid decision.
Say Republicans are nuts.
So true! What is wrong with the believers!
I agree. Greed is just a compensation: it is a way of trying to fill a gigantic hole in their hearts. Donny-boy was never loved by his father, and all this is screaming "Look at me! I'm important! Love me, I'm worth it!"
Mike, that is all true, and I have absolutely no sympathy for Trump. Had he put even the smallest effort into it, he could have improved his emotional age, but he prefers to remain at the emotional age of a 3-year-old at best. I love 3-year-olds as they are trying to learn new things, explore their world, etc., but parents do have to say "no" pretty often to keep them safe. A 78-year-old man acting like a 3-year-old has no charm. There are no longer any adults in Trumplandia. He has purged all of them, so he is a free-range toddler, yet getting sympathy from a lot of folks who see that toddler yet can't bring themselves to stop him. Perhaps it is because they too have about the same social-emotional age, by choice.
I can't stop thinking how the press relentlessly focused on Biden's age, his stutter, his less than slick speaking skills. They worried about his mental prowess as he aged.
Biden will be remembered for surrounding himself with real experts and smart advisers. Joe was FAR from perfect. But upon reflection, wasn't it nice to be able to sleep well at night?
And now...that same press doesn't dare ask the obvious questions? Like, why is $Trump allowing Musk to destroy our government? Why has he become a Russian agent? Why does $Trump sound like a lunatic every day? Isn't there something wrong in his brain?
Every day $Trump displays all the characteristics of a mentally ill criminal! Every day he fabricates nonsense. Every day he sounds more and more DEMENTED! He applies tariffs and takes them off then puts them back on again. This is the behavior of an angry child!
And now, he talks of annexing, and if necessary, INVADING Canada! This is beyond nuts! This is crazy shit!
This is when a cabinet would invoke the 25th Amendment. Get the men in white coats now! I know, I know, then we would have Kid Vance. At least he is just evil. Not freaking insane.
I've always pictured Trump as a carnival barker, who couldn't hold a real job, but is damn good and selling potions to the wide eyed participants at the fair.
It's hard for me to walk by the barker selling the latest and greatest gizmo who uses words like "Everyone is raving." or "Supplies are limited." We all know exactly what that means but mixed with the other psychologically grabbing words, we can't help but take notice.
Nailed it, Ruth. Nailed it completely.
I don’t disagree with your assessment of the felon;however, I don’t think all the folks who surround him fit that description. They are stupid, driven by greed and power, in the hope of getting their 15 minutes of fame. What they will get is infamy.
Excellent analogy, Ruth. Free-range toddler with the nuclear codes.
trump told his biographer:
"When I look at myself in the first grade and I look at myself now, I’m basically the same. The temperament is not that different."
Now that's NOT a lie.
Ruth, " free range toddler"---love that! I also think this must be what it is like to live with an abusive, arrogant bully and an abusive addict!
Donny and Elania together are crazy- making!!
More like, love me or I'll punch you in the face!
You're right. You can't make this stuff up. In his first term there he was in the rose garden. He literally jumped (sorta) up and and down, clapped his hands, and said, "I'm President! I'm President!" Yep, you can't make this stuff up.
"Little Donny-boy was so happy, he was filled with glee. Now that he was the president, he was the big boss. People now had to listen to him. He could tell people to do stuff and they would have to do it because he told them to. Donny-boy was excited: his head was full of ideas of all the things he could let people do - just because he wanted it."
- from The Little Narcissist Adventures
Mike, love it! You got the toddleresque nature of Donald Trump just right. Now, since everyone has not done everything he thinks they should do, he is tantruming. The problem now is that Toddler-Trump has dementia and can't remember what he ordered people to do. His playpen managers remind him regularly of the words to say, but there is no guarantee he will get it right. His tantrum against the Ukrainian president was shameful, but he thought it was Zelensky yelling at him. I do not know how we are going to get through this, but somehow, we will if we fight hard enough against the toddler playpen.
Definitely a mental illness like hoarding, related to trauma. But these greedy dick people should be no where near our government. Meant to write sick, but I guess dick works too lol
Addiction to greed, and a sidekick addicted to ketamine. I was a professional nurse for 50 years, and it was illegal to present under the influence of substances. And to think of our children having to witness these boogey type people tearing apart our government.... What a horrible scenario: something Disney might create!
Leigh, what's is less rational of all the irrationality happening hourly, is that millions of voters elected this scumbag president to destroy their own country.
To be fair, the trumpers didn't think they were electing him to destroy their own country.
They thought he was going to get rid of all the people they hate. They thought he was going to make women obedient. They thought he was going to bring back their jobs. They thought he was going to lower their taxes. They thought he was going to lower the prices of gas and eggs.
Unfortunately, poorly educated conservatives aren't very good at lie detection. And they are profoundly myopic. So they're unable to comprehend that the people they hate make it possible for them to have the things they want at prices they can afford. They are unable to admit that the wealthy who have all that they dream of are never going to share it with them.
Dale, very well said! It is astounding to me the way people want to be misled and will pay a lot of money to let it happen to them. I guess if they think they can blame someone else for what happens to them, they see it as low risk, or something. I honestly don't get it, that level of hate and self-delusion.
The phrase "Greed is good" was popularized by a villain in a cautionary tale about avarice, but Wall St. and Republicans embraced it as a motto until it was tarnished by the "Great Recession". I was always a weird choice because greed is only greed when someone takes more than they deserve, at the expense of other people. It happens, of course, and those who choose to bully has gone to some trouble to try to make it "normal", even respectable, but it's always been the same old serpent, and it's always been a blight on humanity. And isn't there a part of practically everyone who knows that's true?
And yes it's an addiction, as our billionaires prove every day.
As Dr. Mary Trump titled her book about her horrid uncle, "Too Much and Never Enough".
I am a psychiatrist who thinks you are exactlly right.
One appears to be and that seems to be enough for Trump for the time being given that he's also the richest one of them all. Yesterday, Trump publicly promoted Tesla amidst stories of the company's falling share price and a consumer boycott, with Musk as his side. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGdd5JmNrFU
Of course, there's a quid pro quo - Musk is now planning to donate $100m to two Trump-supporting organisations (Make America Great Again Inc., a super PAC, and Securing American Greatness, a political nonprofit) or to a new entity that Trump himself would establish. Musk already funds his own Superpac, America PAC to the tune of over $300m. Trump blasted critics of Musk on Truth Social calling the boycott 'collusive' and 'illegal', which is complete nonsense. The corrupt relationship between the two men (the one a president, the other claimed to be a mere staffer) is quite staggering.
Are those tax-deductable, educational groups?
Make America Great Again is just a Super PAC so it has to file donations with the FEC. I thought it had been terminated when the Save America PAC was formed. Securing American Greatness is a 501(c)(4) supposedly promoting social welfare within a community. There's some doubt about its bona fides - https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/31/trump-dark-money-group-00161122
It’s a cycle of market manipulation. Tariffs are coming: market tanks. Stock prices drop, vulture capitalists buy. Never mind, tariffs delayed: market goes up. Stock prices rise, vulture capitalists sell. Lather rinse repeat. This (along with short selling) is what caused the Great Depression.
The fat cats get grotesquely richer, while those of us who have invested, via 401Ks, are watching our savings melt away. If Social Security is defunded, then what happens to us?
Never mind, they don’t care.
Aux barricades!
Exactly this.
There has been a significant increase in I think what is called 'shorting' or 'hedging' where the super wealthy 'bet' on a 'Trump market' of major companies stock falling. . I think only the super wealthy can buy into these funds because of the minimum investment required. A very wealthy person once explained this sort of investing and I probably did not pay much attention (pennies in jars here;) Perhaps someone can correct or expand on this.
As far as I know, that's correct. That is the way the super-rich get even richer when the economy crashes; plus, they can buy companies threatening to go bankrupt at record-low prices. That is why Musk, very consciously and with determination, wants to crash the economy: it will make him even richer.
ThankYou. Yes, I forgot that other part.
So many arguments for a truly progressive system of taxation
Zelda-style taxes, I say.
And how the Russian oligarchs bought Russia.
Worked in Russia; rinse and repeat in America.
Yep, small investors sell at a loss. Then wealthy folks buy up the cheap stock and when the market recovers, they are even richer! A billionaire’s game since they can afford to play the market.
Some things never do change, do they... :/
The standard 'short' is that you 'borrow' a stock from an investment dealer, sell it and then buy it back and cover the position when the stock price drops. You basically then realize the difference in value betwen when you sell the borrowed stock and when you buy it back
There are other fairly easy things one can do, for example, buying put options on stock indices. These things gain value when the indices drop below theie contract 'strike price'. So one can easily imagine a nafarious party holding a bunch of these contracts and then wait for the bad news to jolt the market and then exercise to realize the 'profit'.
As I posted yesterday, short selling is not allowed for retirement funds and index funds but rich people--and members of Congress--do it all the time.
The mega-rich will always find measures to preserve their wealth, but that doesn't mean that we of lesser means can't be proactive to protect what we have. I trust my gut. In 2007 when I kept getting kicked in the stomach, we sold most of our stocks and placed our money in a money market fund, and invested $10,200 in physical gold that is now worth $170k. Wouldn't you know it that the economy crashed in 2008 when we bought back stock at bargain basement prices. trump's shenanigans have once more given me a gut-punch. Just sold all our stocks last Friday (except silver and gold related stock) and put proceeds in a 4.5% interest yielding money market so that we can sleep at night. I am writing about this only to urge you to act for what you feel is best for you....
although the losses will have little effect on their lifestyles, their totals is how they keep score among themselves.
Translation: "my penis is longer than yours."
Tesla stock, on 12-27-2024 reached a high of $450. Today it is $230.58 per share, a decrease of $219.42 per share. Tesla has 3,198,000,000 outstanding shares, Musk owns 12.8 percent of Tesla stock, or 409,344,000 shares. His Tesla stock has lost $219.42 per share. That's more than the GNP of some countries. That's a decrease of about $90 billion.
no.
Surely you mean - No-oooooo!!!
trump told his biographer:
"When I look at myself in the first grade and I look at myself now, I’m basically the same. The temperament is not that different."
Now that's NOT a lie.
I, myself, planned well for retirement. I have quite enough to live on and my little stockpile of money has become just numbers on a page. While it is nice to see them get bigger, it doesn't affect my daily life, and my guess is, most billionaires hardly notice their losses.
Way the market is going, the top 10% are going to require a cash influx which only a bigley tax cut can provide.
This will be when Trump bails them out with our tax dollars.
It's the oligarch's credo - "Privatize the profits and socialize the losses"
Gary, they don't pay taxes and already own more than they would ever want.
I am uncomfortable with calling T ‘insane’ he thrives on chaos. People who have mental illness do not deserve the bad press. And I do not believe in reality. It is just a social construct, on a sliding scale.
T has found not only comfort in chaos, he has found two opportunities 1- to be a con man and 2- to feel comfortable and in control. He makes money when things are out of control, and he can keep things spinning and confusing. The tariffs are an example of this. Lots of attention lots of chaos driven by him and who knows what’s going on behind the curtain.
We crave predictably and so are more easily confused. He is predictable, just look for the chaos, and meanness. He’ll be there. If it hurts someone for no reason it’s to the good, if it hurts his enemy as well he loves it.
M is just a gamer, who wants to die with the most toys, only believes he won’t die. Destroying the rest of the world and taking over, he can just start a new game here or on Mars. If you don’t care about anything but winning anything is permissible and no one matters.
For most of us with compassion and care about each other and the world we have a hard time comprehending their world view. So we are often confused and surprised. It makes no sense to us. Two different ‘realities’.
That is why community is so important. To reinforce our reality and feeling of stability, our reality. Human face to face interaction is reassuring. And together we get hope and action and change. It is/will be hard, yet we must persist, together.
It might be best to coalesce around someone like Bernie or AOC. It is easier to follow one leader who is out there talking forcefully. Following a person who is getting press is easier than a movement. Common Cause is great, but hard to be passionate about it.
Hell no , greedy white men aren't patient. Not when it comes to losing money.
Gary, You think they're short the market? I'll bet!
I think he wants to drain the wealth from the stock market leaving citizens 401k drained. Put it all in his meme coin and make us all use meme coin. He once said he wanted American money to be crypto.
International boycotts of US products has got to hurt.
J L, it's those "visions of tax cuts" that are leading them astray. Already corporations, particularly very large ones, you know billionaire-class ones already get out of paying a significant portion of the taxes they owe by renaming things so they fit through the many loopholes in the tax code. I can't help but think that if they want that much in tax-cutting, it is likely their businesses are not worthy of the support we give them. Their only purpose is to make a bunch of already-too-rich white boys even richer. Why is anyone, even members of Congress supporting that?
All the republicans in congress are traitors to the people, the country, and the constitution. They have bent the knee to their felonious leader. Little Mikey Johnson is the worst of the sycophants.
All those Republicons should have marched over to the White House and demanded $Trump's resignation (as with Nixon) when the "child in a man suit" mentioned invading Canada. THAT should be a bridge too far for anyone who is a patriot and is still sane. I mean, really? WTF?
That’s the shirt I want,
“WTF, America!”
And Canada really is the bridge too far, farcical to even think about in normal times, but he seems to be obsessed with it and nothing is normal right now.
Ruth, one suspects that most members of congress, especially MAGATs and most other Republicans, want very much to join that club of rich white guys. If you’ve ever seen listings of the net worth of Republicans in congress vs Democrats and Independents you will see a distinct difference. That is why they fight measures which would limit or eliminate their ability to buy or sell stock while serving in congress.
Never mind the politicians billionaires tend to support and enrich.
Ruth,
Cause they are chicken shits.
Because those already too rich white boys put money in their politicians’ pockets.
For the old folks like me they are excited about their Social Security not being taxed as he promises....I am worried about just getting my Social Security check each month on time.
Or getting it at all. Trump won't care.
That expression would make a terrific political cartoon in the old style. Or maybe Mad Magazine’s? Oops. Unintended pun ;-)
This is my concern . I am asking what we ( me in mine) in local communities plan to do. In this rural red state (WV) 1 in 3 depends on SS/Medicare/Medicaid. The statistics are dismal already. We have 94 Republicans and 6 Democrats in our state electeds.
John Barry Larson, (D) Conn. gave a wonderful synapse and speech recently about everyone’s situation and chastised his constituents .
J L you are absolutely /nail on the head /to.the.point.
I am asking locals ..‘what’s your plan B? ‘ Talking to my local Farmers Markets, calling my reps. The Trump flags are still flying here. ‘Oh it’ll be fine soon’ is what I hear except for the solid Dems and they’re ripped!
I am prepared.
But it won’t be easy. I’m long past a spring chicken. But I care about my neighbors, my community,my state and my country. Many of them are Republicans, some have converted …even recently.
They are NOT prepared.
I am working to inform/advise …and doing ( as Ruth Ben Ghait amusingly stated) A LOT OF YOGA.👩🌾🧘♂️
It is not too late to write something positive about Biden. I think positive about Biden will help us transition to democratic leadership if we could find a democrat to step up.
I think Canada should call his bluff and ask to become part of the USA. Canada has 13 provinces, so they should be formed into 13 states. That's 26 additional Democratic senators and 40 additional Democratic members of the House.
Canadians are smart, sane, polite people. Let's let our 51st, 52nd, 53rd, 54th, 55th, 56th, 57th, 58th, 59th, 60th, 61st, 62nd, and 63rd new states help us impeach the felon/russian PINO and take our country back.
How about Canada annexes some of the blue states? I’m in MN, just south of that artificial border. Take me!
I’m in NY and would rather a number of US states join Canada. 🇨🇦
My daughter married a Canadian, in Canada.
the usual map shown in Canada in the past few years shows Canada absorbing the west coast states, MN, New England and maybe New York. The rest is called Jesusland, and Canada wants no part of it.
Except they do not really believe in what Jesus taught, it's all lies, everything the repubs say and do is lies...
Persecute the poor and abused. Worship the richest. Machine gun your enemies. Wasn't that all part of The Sermon on the Mount?
I'd like to see Pacifica as a Canadian province. Washington, Oregon, California, and Hawaii. The eastern halves of WA/OR can join Greater Idaho; eastern CA can join Arizona.
I love the name Cascadia: BC, Washington, Oregon, California.
We are domiciled in Wasco County, please don't send us off to Idaho! Idaho is trying to kill young women.
My sister would have to move West WA so as not to be lumped with Idaho!
What about Alaska?
It would make sense for Canada to annex Alaska.
I mean what does THAT artificial line mean, anyway?
Alaska will be Russian again.
Alaska actually is a good fit when the oil runs out. The Texas and Oklahoma people/companies are already moving out.
It's own Province, or state.
LA County here...... They already invited CA, OR, WA - the Cascadia 🤗
Let's let Hawaii in as well!!!
Hawaii should be given their independence. We lived there for 3 years. What the United States government did to them is horrific. It’s no wonder they hate us. They forbid them to practice their own culture unless it was to entertain the tourists in the rich white mans resorts.
Annexing can cut both ways. Have a look at what Canadian Green Party leader Elizabeth May had to say about Trump's desire to annex Canada:
https://ca.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=elizabeth+may+speech&type=E211CA1056G0#id=8&vid=72eb7979291077c6d00159819d72c33e&action=click
Take Michigan, too! My state❤️
At least the U.P.!
I know these ideas are just castles in the clouds, but those of us who do not live in blue states feel quite awful when this idea gets spitballed.
Finally, an idea that makes good sense, thank you. I might repeat your idea when I call my representatives -- would you like to be credited?
I am one of the Canadians who is furious with Donold! Why would we give up our universal healthcare to be part of the mess that is currently the U.S.?
There is no reason why you should.
I live just across the water from VI, maybe 30 miles as the crow flies.
I listen to CBC everyday.
What I can say is that Canada has declared war on Trump.
After Trump declared war on Canada.
Right you are!
Or the other way around by American blue states joining Canada.
Have a look at what Canadian Green Party leader Elizabeth May had to say:
https://ca.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=elizabeth+may+speech&type=E211CA1056G0#id=8&vid=72eb7979291077c6d00159819d72c33e&action=click
I don’t think after the annexation, or actually prior to it, either house of Congress will be more than window dressing. I seriously doubt there will be “elections”.
Humor and truth. Thanks to all of you. 🤣🤣👏🏻
Canada does have its own far-right.
Iguess those folks can move to a Red state...
Yes, though somewhat more polite than our Third Reich wannabees so far as I can tell. They seem to pop up in every society.
Good thinking! I love your idea.
I expect that Trump would treat Canada the way he treats Puerto Rico, were that boundary ever removed. Paper towels but no standing. I think Canadians know that.
Interesting how the Doublethink Dude thinks that the Canadian border is illusory, yet the Mexican border needs the Great Wall of Trump.
The best idea I have heard yet put that way I feel sure the prospect to prospect all your rich resources will look substantially less appealing
I love Canada and Canadians❤️‼️
I don't know that Alberta, in particular, would be D.
Oil.
Ha ha, that was a good laugh!
That's what I kiddingly remarked to Canadians I met while on vacation in Mexico! They were uniformly horrified to project being added on to the USA.
I watch mainstream media and am informed that Trump inherited a great economy from the Biden administration. It’s there but if you don’t watch or read it then you can’t see it.
A long-time friend, formerly a reasonable and even-tempered woman, became Fox-fied I believe. We don’t talk often, but over the last cpl years she complained about what a catastrophe Biden was—she couldn’t afford for him to be pres, etc. I’ll hear from her on my birthday in June, wonder what she’ll think by then. It breaks my heart what has happened to her. And millions more.
It's weird. A distant relation I was fond of went full bore Trumpista, and pretty much cut herself off from old friends. MAGAification can present like a psychotic break.
Very aggravating. On Fox and its metastases, the economy was in shambles in January which is complete BS. But that’s what a large segment of the population is being led to believe.
I would hope that next time around, if there is a next time around, we might elect a person who had spent more time in town halls than on the floor of the Senate.
Leigh, or that Republican Congress members would confirm experts to cabinet positions, instead of people like Linda McMahon, who said she wasn't sure what IDEA stood for, and went on to reassure us that, "This is my fifth day on the job and I'm really trying to learn them very quickly." Really?? We couldn't have, maybe, someone who has experience in the education field and has already learned what they need to know? Being a retired teacher, it makes my blood boil to see someone who cares nothing about the education of ordinary children think they can tear down the Dept of Education and cater to the children of the rich and privileged. We are being bombarded with facts about "The Lifestlyes of the Rich and Famous." People who thought that Trump would work for ordinary citizens were misguided and flat-out wrong.
How could ANYONE have been fooled by Trump? People weren’t looking at him. The price of eggs win is preposterous beyond measure. He has nothing in his head except 1) staying out of jail and 2) having more and more money. It’s gotta be gold like his toilets!
It certainly cannot be Mark Kelly! He likes to claim he is enraged, but he votes Trump. Both Kelly and Gallego (AZ) voted often to approve Trump's nominees. They show their true colors when they can vote in private. When voting AYE for a very flawed nominee who will win even if you vote NO, does not show courage or leadership. Democrats deserve better.
Yep. Kelly and Gallego did. I was astounded and sent him a message saying how disappointed I was that he voted to confirm them. I am watching his other votes but his defense of Ukraine was was important.
Senators aren't perfect. Senator Kelly went to Ukraine and saw the suffering of the Ukrainian people. He put Musk in his place. You can't argue with intelligence. Bravo 👏 for Senator Kelly a who has served his country.
I agree. I want to, but can't trust Kelly.
Thanks Sandra, I think the thing about where we are at right now that makes me so angry is thinking about where we would be if 10 million Democrats had bothered to vote!! We can't make that mistake again, if we get a chance, that is.
Sandra Simpson -- President Biden has recently slid severely in my estimation. I don't think I will **ever** forgive him for not stepping aside BEFORE the Democratic Convention, and hadn't endorsed / recommended we swing our support to the unqualified (IMO) VP Kamala Harris. I cannot think of anything positive to write about Biden as President. Sad !
He decreased the cost of insulin. Just sayin'.
Right on Dutch Mike, your last line about our insubordinate press media hides the transparency to inform the American people on what’s happening in our political news.
HCR said tonight ‘Unable to admit that he might be wrong, President Donald Trump is doubling down on the policies that are crashing the economy.’
Why are we not demanding that our MSM never brought forward the Trump campaign supporting the FBI and White Supremacist militants targeting their extreme aggressions against our safe Democracy.
Link to Tavis Smiley interviewing Mike German:
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tavis-smiley/id1609823559?i=1000691032772
Exactly! Americans should be really loud about this!
77 million willfully ignorant American voters think it’s a plus.
Except ambulance chaser profiteers welcome the exploitation opportunities of a recession.
Yes, yes, that is the plan: crash the economy, and buy the leftovers at a bargain price. Musk has promised to this from the beginning ("it's all for your best interest"); it's like a discount sale for billionaires.
It’s what Putin did, privatizing Russian companies, making himself perhaps the world’s richest man.
Rinse and repeat in America.
They have thought of all the ways to screw the public, including the MAGAts
"A dying business throws off cash." Investment stops - money is available ; employees are fired - payroll dollars are available; overhead costs stop - dollars are available. All those funds are floating around, to be hoovered up by Musk's adolescents.
Is the reporting really like an ambulance chaser's attempt to gain an advantage, or is in more like an attempt to avoid stimulating mass panic in the face of the burning building we appear to be in?
Reporters can be very good. And like many people in risky professions, they often go extra miles. But all news gathering has lost all independence and come under the thumb of the very large corporations that own them. It was a dramatic shift in the 1960’s that stripped newsrooms and reporters of the means to gather, deliver, and distribute news. That began a very long time ago. And this is where we are today. Television is a very popular but poor source of information for some 50 or 60 years. Radio, less than that but nothing expensive to produce is immune. All said, pay attention, it can be better than nothing. Be careful and choosey. Listen to everyone and most importantly, don’t “believe”, make up your own mind. As I’m sure you always have after visiting the iffy restaurant.
"The Shock Doctrine"
Mike, I doubt the media will ever admit it was wrong and that it deliberately weighted the election coverage toward Trump in 3 elections and while he was in office. They want eyes or ears and don't care about the outcome. I have little sympathy for the many media platforms that sacrificed their objectivity and honor for a total jerk who has no sense of a greater good beyond himself and the money and power he can accumulate. The smart media guys and gals knew what Trump was and is, yet did it to us anyway. That is beyond shameful!
All done for market share & $.
Totally agree with you there, Ruth.
This is an engineered collapse. Setting Trump aside, these are not stupid people; they understand how mass firings, hollowing out government, and indiscriminate tariffs against our allies would damage the economy and market. But they can hoover up assets and resources at bargain prices while we suffer. Think of the farms, homes, businesses, public lands and now national park land that are likely to be sold off in a depressed market, allowing them to increase their wealth and power. And bonus - tariffs on allies harm their economies and destabilize their governments at a time when both the US and Russia are threatening to invade. The billionaires are executing a long-term plan, and we are collateral damage.
Yep. This is the essence: tank the economy, buy everything at discount prices. Musk promised to do this beforehand, and everyone went along with it.
Exactly! He said very directly what he was going to do, and that we would feel pain. And people still voted for this, wtf.
...and are still cheering on Mad King Trump and Evil Emperor Musk. I simply can't believe how stupid people can be. A few, yes, but so many millions?? I still can't believe it.
It’ll be “Privatized” by a shell of a shell, etc. Going to a deceased person closely related to and willed to … you guess. But I oversimplify.
I agree completely. This is exactly what occurred during the last “Great Depression”. Though it can be a tricky business. At the end of the US Civil War, many had amassed reserves in Confederate currency. Not a happy choice for reinvestment either then or ever.
“Concerned” CEOs need to Quit talking to tfg—talk to the repubs protecting him and threaten THEIR seats.
Talking to TFFG makes no sense anyway. He only listens when you're flattering him, otherwise he zones out.
Trump, "Biden the worst president ever handing over a horrible economy". The truth in it opposite, as usual.
Directly from Adolf Hitler's playbook: "His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it."
the only things the felon rapist can do is destroy and steal...
…or written truthfully about trump. Sanewashing was off the charts.
I couldn't finish Heather's post today. I am so outraged and disspirited. The obfuscations, hypocrisy, savagery and hate are overwhelming. Trump and his followers root against good news celebrating the demise of innocent people and institutions. Please read the New York Times article today - three opinion writer assess the damage of Trump's first 50 days.
I hear you, Stephanie. So horrifying to see where we are in just a short period of time. What chills me to the bone is how many of the MAGAt side in my former work cohort are eating it like candy.
Thomas Friedman wrote in NYT rather a pessimistic prospect of America. He cited Lincoln’s speech that a country that thrives on liberty can perish only by suicide. America appears in that stage. We need to stop this self destruction powered by Trump / Musk. We must work to save life of this country. We need a new hero in DEMs. Any name?
Chaos is always going to be the headline. Donald Trump writes their headlines for them everyday day; even when he wasn’t in office. Joe Biden quietly went about the business of securing and building our country. No excitement for the media to cover, and they could not stand the possibility of four more years of steady, stately leadership. The media is getting exactly what they wanted.
So it is. They'll be getting enough mayhem, carnage and bloodshed to cover... Reporting on normal, reasonable leadership is boring, of course.
The true billionaires knew what was coming and shorted the stock market. They're doing just fine, thank you.
Funny, but not really, how folks imagine that reality is kind of like checkers or chess. While a move of the moment is proposed or made, other things, indeed all else, remain fixed. Although nothing in life works this way, a remarkable amount of reasoning seems to remain stuck in gear. Likely it’s one of the laws of extinction.
Sometime, I should mention my notion of the La Brea tar pits and the common sense expression “one learns from one’s mistakes “.
You've expressed it wonderfully, Bill. That is the kind of reductionist-materialist-mechanical thinking that the "modern" West has been stuck in since the days of Descartes. Always thinking in 'separation' and 'other'. Reality as a series of fixed snapshots instead of a process, as Heraclites and William James described it. And yes, the quantum physicist David Bohm did say: "This fragmented thinking may well lead to our extinction." Well, here we are.
Badenomics
2 Words - Hatch Act. As a former federal employee, if I had violated the Hatch Act, as Donnie is doing with Tesla, I would have lost my job and been prosecuted. How does this not apply to hi ?
The law doesn’t apply to him anymore: the Extreme Court made him immune, remember?
"Extreme Court", that's a perfect description.
So he can be a traitor and pass by any laws? That says a lot!
It applys to Musk - a federal contractor.
https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/Contractor_Political_Activity_Q%26A.pdf
But his main problem in conflicts of interests.
https://www.meritalk.com/articles/biden-signs-fed-contracting-conflict-of-interest-bill/
Pretty clear explanations of rules. Thanks.
$COTUS says that Trump is above the law. As are they.
$COTU$.
Can you name anything that does apply to him? He's never had a job to lose, anyway: losing is for losers, and a con man isn't a loser until he runs out of bribes to lawyers.
The only instance in which the Hatch Act applies directly to the president – thanks to a 1993 amendment to the Act – is if the president uses his position to intimidate, threaten, or coerce a federal employee. It's presently unclear whether the SCOTUS ruling on presidential immunity would affect this provision (it's arguable that it can be no part of a president's official duties to behave like this towards an employee). Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer, told the Washington Post:“He may not be violating the Hatch Act, but he is ordering other people to. At a certain point you are using White House resources, and that is a violation of the Hatch Act.” You may recall that Hampton Dellinger, the Special Counsel of the US who runs the Office of the Special Counsel, was recently fired by Trump. This office is responsible (and indeed was set up) to investigate violations of the Hatch Act. No surprise why he was fired - in July 2020, the Office of the Special Counsel found 13 Trump officials in violation of the Hatch Act.
Thirteen Trump officials in violation of the Hatch Act. Is that all?
They were never able to nail Kellyanne Conway, who was responsible for numerous violations. At around the same time, Ivanka Trump, then a White House employee, posted a photograph online celebrating Goya Foods, whose chief executive had recently praised her father, in what government ethics experts called a clear violation of federal law. The president followed up the next day with his own photograph, featuring the company’s products arrayed on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office (and he's very particular about that desk - after Musk's four-year-old son wiped the contents of his nose on the desk during their recent joint interview, Trump had it sent out to be cleaned).
There are two exemptions in the Hatch Act:
(i) an employee paid from an appropriation for the Executive Office of the President; or
(ii) an employee appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, whose position is located within the United States, who determines policies to be pursued by the United States in the nationwide administration of Federal laws.
So that means Donnie can promote the sale of Teslas on the front lawn of the White House?
Trump appointed Musk without the advice and consent of the senate.
Nothin' up his sleeve!
He wouldn’t care, neither would the SC
However I don’t think the billionaire was ever approved by anyone or his little crime ridden dog office.
His approval comes from Putin! How could anyone doubt that the hierarchy is Putin/Musk/DT/Vance?
He also threatens those who demonstrate against Tesla; "And then the same man who gave a blanket pardon to those convicted of violent crimes related to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol called those protesting at Tesla dealerships “domestic terrorists” and promised that the government would make sure they “go through hell.” (HCR)
I am already going through hell. Every day. Since November 5, 2024!
Nearly everyone in this and the prior Drumpf administration has with routine impunity disregarded the Hatch Act.
Per @kenwhite.bsky.social:
"Members of a government that believes it is not bound by the rule of law are not entitled to its protection.”
Nothing that applies to others EVER applies to right-wingers. Hypocrisy doesn't matter, shame has no effect, flouting laws is meaningless. If any of it did, we wouldn't be here. It's beyond disgusting.
He has been given immunity for all crimes committed in the service of being president. Thank you to the extreme high court!
How many of us have been written up or fired for doing the right and responsible thing? Think whistleblowers
That would be a good question for the US Supreme Court.
All the late night comics zeroed in on the fat orange felon’s commercial for Tesla.
Of course his favorite Nazi, Elon Musk, was there.
Most of the comics also noted how this commercial set at the White House violated federal law, as that’s ours – public property, and can never be used for any commercial purposes.
But then again, this duo’s larger announcement was their reiteration of their total contempt for all American law. Or, we could say, too, their disregard for all the murder, assault on neighboring countries, theft, rape, kidnapping, and wanton destruction by their pal Putin.
Good for the comics, counterpart to Republicans in Congress and on the Clarence court sycophant to the lawlessness, treasonous now supporting Putin’s vaster criminality.
Every so often Roberts decides to uphold the US Constitution. The other day the Court voted 5-4 against Trump being able to withhold funds that were not only allocated but approved for payment.
The two known sexual predators on the court (Alito and Kavanaugh) plus Gorsuch and Thomas voted that the President holds the purse strings of the Federal Government a clear violation of Article 1.
If Robert's had voted the other way, the Court is saying that the US Treasury is Trump's (and Musk's) to do with as they please. This would have been as bad a decision as Dobb's and Trump being above the law.
Was not aware Alito was a sexual predator. Perhaps he is. But don't leave out Clarence Thomas.
He must have meant Thomas.
He probably did. And Thomas had to be listed here. If Gary edits his comment, I'll happily delete mine.
Sorry for the ambiguity. Thomas and Kavanaugh. I'd hate to falsely malign a white Christian nationalist's sexual deviancy. /S
As far as sexual predators are concerned,- don't you mean Thomas & Kavanaugh?
Haven't heard that said about Alito - yet.
At Alito's age, all the victims are probably long dead.
The court ruled that since a deadline given by a lower court had already passed, they should "clarify what obligations the government must fulfil to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order." So it ain't over yet since Trump can still appeal that lower court clarification of its TRO. Even that cautious ruling has led to problems for Amy Coney Barrett, who has been denounced by the far right for siding with the majority - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/08/amy-coney-barrett-under-attack-by-right-wing
Maybe someone should do a gender check under her robes because OBVIOUSLY she’s got a pair! Unlike her cohorts…
HV, we just carry them on the insides. That external carry is a weakness.
It might seem like that but the Guardian article says that she votes with Alito and Thomas 80% of the time. Let's wait and see how she votes when the inevitable appeal reaches the court.
Thank you this is very important insight. I had no idea that the Supreme Court had ruled on this interesting to know who voted for it against
The SCOTUS 5-4 Opinion was unsigned but, AMY CONEY BARRETT & Chief Judge Roberts voted with Kagan, Sotomayor & K B Jackson releasing $2 Billion in already authorized expenditures by Congress not the orange autocrat.
I recommend anything by SCOTUSblog Co-founder, AMY HOWE, particularly on Opinion days.⚖️
Justice Amy Coney Barrett is a new MAGA Target.
That prospect was far from her mind when she stood beside Trump in the Rose Garden, smiling happily, on the eve of his eviction.
Comics are doing what Dem Party should be and isn’t. Standing up in real time to make clear what wrongs are being done to all of us. Grateful for their outreach!
I wonder what the Supremes are gonna do about it when their decision is functionally ignored?
"Every so often," as you say, Gary.
Trouble is, history will keep the facts of Roberts in 2010 voting 1) to steroid corruption by the rich in Citizens United, 2) his joining the fascist line that women and their private, family decisions do not belong to them, 3 his further tilt to monarchy in declaring the fat orange guy immune to American law, and 4) his contempt for the Constitution in just flat-out ignoring the clear language of Article 14, Section Three.
I’m waiting for Trump to install a law that makes it mandatory for every American citizen to buy at least one Tesla car.
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In an emergency address from the Oval Office on Monday afternoon, Donald J. Trump commanded the American people not to check their 401k accounts.
“Anyone caught checking their 409s (sic) can and will be deported,” he warned.
Asserting that he was issuing this order “for your own good,” Trump added, "Elon says there's a virus in the stock market and if you check your stocks it will spread to your body."
Though he claimed that “nothing bad is happening on Wall Street,” he promised the American people that, in the event of a stock market crash, “I will fix it with my Sharpie.”
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/trump-commands-americans-not-to-check?
Robert Kennedy said that you could eliminate that virus by drinking bleach, though.
No: he said cod liver oil, not bleach. But incredibly stupid nonetheless.
Oh. Ah.
I love Borowitz!
LOL. We need a LOL on this site!
https://substack.com/@oldreddragon/note/c-97852911
Listening to somebody hurling f-bombs like there’s no tomorrow is very cathartic, and made me laugh so hard I woke the cats up.
Well. I would say she’s passionate.
I needed that. Thank you. RBMFFer is now in my lexicon.
Each filled with those crappy 'My Pillow' pillows - at $124.99 a pop.
Repubs claim the pillow is ultra comfortable. I was gifted with one and discarded the lumpy thing filled with God knows what. It may have been filled by company owner making money from poor people collecting shoreline plastics... who knows, but the magas say they are comfortable! Amazing!
On credit?
Yes yes, a loan at one of Musk's companies, of course.
Buy a Tesla. Put it in your front yard with flat tires and bashed in windows. That’s a comment that would really be noticeable.
Kia Norway was trolling Tesla on Instagram with this ad: https://www.instagram.com/firstpost/reel/DHEArhwvBcJ/
Thanks, Susan.
I went to your link but, once there, it was necessary to "sign in" and then who knows what further tech nonsense to ensue.
You'll get yourself arrested if you do that, though...
But think what a court case you could get. You might even bring down the government! Thank you, Dutch Mike!
Well, if the judges play along... But it's a great idea, actually ;)
IWhat if McConnell and Rand Paul could be persuaded to contribute a few Teslas? In Kentucky there are lots of front yards to take them in. Then there’s WV. Maybe Manchin would sell his yacht to save his country. 🤣🤣🤣
I should have added a “for sale” sign. Did you see the signs put on Teslas a few weeks ago? So much **** since then that I’ve forgotten the focus. But lots of fun. And thank you for the affirmation.🤣
Perhaps Tesla could build a garbage truck especially for him.
As Trump proved on live TV, he does not know how to drive. Does Melania or Barron get the Tesla he bought? Even Queen Elizabeth did in fact drive. Poor Donny - a king who cannot drive. Except a golf cart on an open field.
" . . . he bought," Mary?
He never "bought" it, of course.
He has lied, and still lies about everything, you know that, yes?
Queen Elizabeth served as an ambulance driver during WW II. Can you even imagine Trump or Musk doing that?
They had all the EV chargers ripped out at government buildings and stopped them from being installed across the country. Now they want people to buy a car they can’t charge?
I can charge mine, which is now a Mini Countryman, with my solar in my garage but apartment dwellers don’t have that luxury. A regular outlet would take 31 hours for a full charge.
I believe presidents are not allowed to drive on the open road anyway.
Today saw a video of Biden driving his vintage convertible, Russell.
It featured Jay Leno, too (a lover of classic American cars), and was filmed with Biden driving one of Jay's cars, in summertime. I'm thinking it was recent, when Joe was president, though someone may correct me on that.
I saw that video. SS wouldn’t let him leave the White House grounds.
There are some videos on YouTube dating from 2016 and 2022. I've read that Biden has signed up with a Los Angeles talent agency that also represents Brad Pitt and Ariana Grande (although Heaven only knows what for) and that there are rumours of another book.
Like the one Trump rode around in during the campaign?
Yes. The one he nearly fell over trying to get into - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWSQc6aDmHE
He wanted to bring it to his inauguration but couldn't get it into the Capitol rotunda. It could yet reach iconic status as a symbol for his whole second term the way things are going.
I must go looking for the comics - they can make us laugh at the lies and other outrages.
I'm with you on that idea and did you see "Heroes Come in All sizes'" comment?
I think Canada should call his bluff and ask to become part of the USA. Canada has 13 provinces, so they should be formed into 13 states. That's 26 additional Democratic senators and 40 additional Democratic members of the House.
Canadians are smart, sane, polite people. Let's let our 51st, 52nd, 53rd, 54th, 55th, 56th, 57th, 58th, 59th, 60th, 61st, 62nd, and 63rd new states help us impeach the felon/russian PINO and take our country back.
Our court jesters. Speaking truth to power—obliquely.
Jimmy Kimmel….”Was there a comedian on the Titanic?”
Trump Shamelessly Shills for Tesla, Hurls More Tariffs at Canada & Stock Market Suffers Bigly
https://youtu.be/vXvhtJy3KrE
I noticed that while Trimp "bought" a Swastikar, even he wouldn't touch the cybertruck. Don't you wonder whose money he used to buy it?
In one key sense, Garrett, he's using Elon's own massive contributions to him.
In another sense -- the one where we remember he has no personal life, and never has -- we recall how his "life" has always been nothing but getting money: millions from his father, more millions from Russian Dmitry Rybolovlev and then other money-laundering Russians, more millions from his base, from banks willing to look the other way (until his many bankruptcies).
Thank you Professor Richardson.
I can assure you that MAGA is still celebrating despite the lack of relief from rising grocery prices, rent, utilities, healthcare, and insurance. Despite the return of predatory fees and intentionally obscure pricing the Biden Administration and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were addressing.
MAGA is celebrating because the criminal-elect and his South African Karen Billionaire are like Batman and Robin. Trump is the strongman leader who issues a directive and lets the cards fall where they may. We want Canada. We want Greenland. We want Gaza beachfront, presumably constructed over the bodies of women, children, and families. We want a leader of Ukraine who understands the greatness of kings and tyrants -and bows down appropriately -like every remaining member of the GOP Congress.
MAGA is celebrating because people who protest are being arrested and taken away. Especially people of color.
MAGA is celebrating because they don't yet realize the air they breathe, the water they drink, and the food they eat used to be inspected and protected by the Governmental agencies being destroyed by Trump, Vance & Space Karen.
MAGA is celebrating because real Americans want to prioritize taking care of the poor, hungry, and unhoused here in the United States -not in some "S*&thole" Country. (Just kidding, they don't care about the poor, hungry, and unhoused here in America).
MAGA is celebrating because they don't know that when they are sick, their children are sick, or their parents are sick -the medical bills were paid by Medicaid.
MAGA is celebrating because now their children can get a voucher and go to WalMart K-12 schools and don't yet know that private school costs will rise and the difference between the voucher and the tuition will gleefully be taken care of by Betsy DeVos or someone as greedy and sinister -because there's massive money to be made in student loans repaid over a lifetime.
MAGA will cheer when the criminal-elect and his policies lead to chaos, confusion, protests, and civil disobedience -and this Administration declares martial law and deploys the military into Blue States and cities -because the so-called "news" will show them rounding up people of color.
At some point MAGA will stop cheering but the billionaires will have their massive tax cuts -I guess that's a "silver lining".
There is an article in the WSJ (can’t read it bc of the paywall) where allegedly MAGAts are downplaying hits to their retirement accounts. Its definitely a cult, and you’ve laid it out in beautiful detail, George.
And Elon told Larry Kudlow the other day that he wants to get rid of Medicare, Medicaid and SS.
I guess the MAGAs are just supposed to suffer and die when the reach retirement age.
Retirement? I’m pretty sure they expect everyone to work work work, until they die at their desk or place on the assembly line.
It great disaster-porn for TV, until the rapid unscheduled disassembly of our way of life hits home.
Meanwhile, people are starting to curb their spending and shopping local as well.
It's funny how three or four airline mishaps are scaring people away from flying. If I fly anywhere it's going to be out of Canada to Europe or Asia avoiding US controlled air space.
Sean Duffy had a shouting match with Musk because Musk fired some air traffic controllers he said were DEI.
"Space Karen" - thank you for that -- it's perfect.
I think I appropriated it from @Jeff Tiedrich -and agree -although it doesn’t necessarily belie the profound damage Musk has done and continues to do.
From my perspective his assets and wealth should be forfeited and he should be sent back to South Africa with his emerald mining parents.
Musk is, in his criminal oligarchic behaviour, like Thiel and Murdoch, an enactment of an illegal alien. All should be stripped of US citizenship.
They don't want him. He could quit playing favorites and take all 14 of his children to work. He could call it DDC- DONNY DAY CARE.
Elon Musk is clearly out of his ever-luvvin’ mind! Calling Mark Kelly a traitor and speaking like THIS to the Foreign Minister of an ally country: “ Poland’s minister of foreign affairs, Radosław Sikorski, responded that “if SpaceX proves to be an unreliable provider we will be forced to look for other suppliers.” “Be quiet, small man,” Musk replied. “You pay a tiny fraction of the cost. And there is no substitute for Starlink.”
Musk is clearly showing his sense of being an Uber Mensch in our world, the sick, sick man.
One of the side effects of ketamine abuse is cognitive decline. Musk "swears" he only uses on occasion, but can he be trusted?
Trump and Musk were both born on 3rd base having inherited fortunes from daddy and mommy, plus they both grew up in white supremacist homes. At least Musk has scored a few runs, while Trump keeps getting picked off of 3rd base with failure after failure.
No mystery why they want to end diversity, equity and inclusion.
Ketamine affects our desire to give up in the face of resistance and adversity [or failure] — It turns off a sense of futility, whether that sense is accurate or not. And that suppression of the impulse to call-it-quits becomes a part of our brain’s function. Perseveration and the tendency to just keep forging ahead, no matter what… No adequate “stop” function, which becomes permanent, especially if it is abused. Sound like it might be having an effect on the Muskrat?
I enjoyed your analogy 😂
Addicts will always use that line.
Mark Kelly for. President.
Absolutely not! He is a MAGA Democrat. How else do you account for his AYE votes for 8 of Trump's nominees? Kelly is not for President of the United States. He lacks courage and leadership.
"Be quiet, small man"
Can someone let us know which pub Melon drinks in?
I would love to be there when someone finally gives him that much needed slap. . .
I hear he's super paranoid and is always surrounded by security. Gee, I wonder who's paying for the security.
His armed security team have now been deputised as federal marshals so they can now gain access to the White House. There was a report recently on MSNBC that suggested that it was these people, rather than proper federal marshals, who have been accompanying Musk's frat boys when they unlawfully enter federal buildings. It really is quite disturbing how this person Musk, described by the administration as a mere staffer, can wield so much power without supervision. In a recent court case, a judge ruled that DOGE's “unprecedented” powers and “unusual secrecy” made it necessary that it should submit records of its activities to the public - https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/10/judge-orders-doge-record-release-00223151?nname=politico-toplines&nid=0000018f-3124-de07-a98f-3be4d1400000&nrid=00000170-3560-d60b-a9fd-776d3b1f0000
I’ll bet a well-placed drone could take him and his security out in a New York minute.
Hopefully while he’s standing next to the 🍊 idiot!
The U.S. Marshall's deputized his security detail. The head of that detail is a nose picker!
I'd prefer to witness a punch on the nose.
People have often commented about how people's behaviour deteriorates when they comment on social media, saying things they would never say directly to another person. Some consider social media as a safety valve for the darker side of our nature. In the case of Musk and Trump, they seemed to have crossed the Rubicon and have brought their appalling social media personas into the real world.
Well the vote in Greenland was a resounding rebuke of Don Jr’s ‘diplomacy’ and I suspect the idea of allowing Musk and his chainsaw to eviscerate the social safety net they do have vis-a-vis Denmark. Trump-friendly Qulleq has received just over 260 of the approximately 27,000 votes. https://www.dn.se/varlden/demokraatit-segrar-i-gronlands-val/
Thanks for the update.
"Trump-friendly Qulleq has received just over 260 of the approximately 27,000 votes."
That many??
Mr. Unreliable is not playing well abroad.
Donold isn't holding the cards and not even close to playing with a full deck to begin with...
Sounds like 259 cases of voter fraud assuming Qulleq voted for himself.
Well, JL, there were some young people wearing MAGA hats…https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/postcard-from-nuuk-youtubers-and-maga-hats-take-over-greenland/
That’s a bit of good news. Thank you.
Here is the Guardian’s report https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/12/greenland-election-opposition-democrat-party-wins-surprise-victory-amid-spectre-of-trump?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Another sort of story from British non-Billionaire owned press:
A bit of life imitating satire:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/karoline-leavitt-dow-jones-stock-ticker-b2713199.html
"...I’m here to echo the remarks of this president of this White House..." President of the White House?!?!?
Naw, the Galactic Empire.
Perfect! Thanks.
Big smile. During their sales trip, they seem to have entertained the patrons of some local hostelry, so 260 votes is more than I'd have expected. Probably rigged....
Excellent. i hadn't heard this news. Those 260 votes are from the 1%?
My guess they are the Don Jr groupies that were paid to show up on his magical MAGA visit….https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/postcard-from-nuuk-youtubers-and-maga-hats-take-over-greenland/
In all seriousness it is presumptuous of me to analyze what is a very complicated situation of a most Inuit people living under Danish protectorate conditions. There has been a very inhuman policy from the 70s in which women, mostly young teens had IUDs inserted to prevent single motherhood without parental consent and often completely unbeknownst to the woman herself. See https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66990670.amp
You're clearly a keen observer of Nordic politics. There's also the scandal in Greenland of Denmark's parenting competency tests - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/20/denmark-to-ditch-parenting-competency-tests-for-greenlandic-families
The centre-right appears to have won the election. They favour a more gradual move towards independence - I guess many Greenlanders like Danish healthcare and welfare benefits (another reason for them not to want to join the US, especially now).
Yes needs must, living here🙃
I heard that yesterday for the first time and was appalled.
"Karoline Leavitt advised, “If people are looking for certainty, they should look at the record of this president.”
Not everyone will find that suggestion comforting."
First LOL - thanks, Heather.
The press secretary was accidentally correct: I am certain that this president cannot be trusted.
The press secretary is a snot!
She is horrible!
And the 70 million who voted for him have yet to get a clue. That's the scary part.
Yes. I live in a red state and the MAGA people bullishly proclaim Trusk must be allowed to cut fraud and waste.
Well, some of Elon's contracts would be a good start. . .
And cut DonOld's golf, travel and security budget by 90%.
Until they lose their jobs...
I saw the New York Times headlines about the Democrats are fighting about what to do next. I am starting to think we need to write as many letters and comments to the Democrats about their leadership as we are about the complaints about Trump. Maybe we should make a list and send it to the Democrats.
I mean no disrespect but why are you still reading The NY Times? Even Fox News and the Wall Street Journal have turned against Trump and Musk, while the Times is still looking for ways to blame the Democrats for everything that's wrong with the world.
How many stories has the Times written about Bernie and Elizabeth traveling around the country with their message? The Times cares about one thing - $$$$$$. The Democrats are far from boring. Listen to the political guests on Progress Radio (XM-127). They have a message, but the lame stream media isn't about to advertise it because their advertisers want ratings not hope and common sense.
Read Paul Krugman's account about why he left the Times and what his last year (2024) was like when the editors removed any signs of Trump bashing. He said, from 2000 - 2023 they NEVER did that.
I've kept my NYT subscription - which guarantees disappointment after disappointment every morning with their beige coverage of events. I keep it b/c I live in the city and want the local news and am also hoping to see this once fine paper turn the corner and become fine again.
The word "beige" says it well. I appreciate the Daily podcast.
I like that too!
Thx for the pointer to Progress Radio -- I continually search for sources, listened yesterday to Krugman about his leaving NYT, and will pay more attention to insider news of Ukraine from Deny https://www.youtube.com/@DenysDavydov/videos. I still subscribe to NYT and was interested to hear, in yesterday's The Daily podcast, the voices of Greenlanders who would like to be part of the USA.
The NYT's news coverage is still very good, especially Maggie Haberman. Some of the opinion pieces are ridiculous.
Maggie Haberman is an amazing journalist. She also has an amazing voice. Once in a while, I've caught her singing when an ad finishes playing on a podcast, etc.
I was extremely excited to see that my other favorite economist besides Paul Krugman is joining the weekend lineup on MSNBC -- Catherine Rampell. I'm not sure if she quit the WAPO or not but I have missed her since I dropped my subscription a while back. And Ruth Markus quit the WAPO last week when her latest op-ed was rejected by Bezos's cronies.
I guess that's why so many talented writers are now on Substack.
Gary, I listen to Progressive Radio from time to time. Besides Hartmann’s program being laden with ad after ad, which is particularly irritating, I find the hosts are can be hyperbolic. It worries me that constant listening could be doing on the progressive side what Fox has done on the other side. Except for the constant lying, of course.
It's an acquired taste, like listening to Rush Limbaugh was. I did a lot of driving across Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Minnesota in the 1990's. The radio choices in the rural areas back then were C&W and Rush Limbaugh. Of course when you were close to any of the major cities you had a nice variety. I've never really acquired a taste for most C&W music.
Start with KELLY, KLOBUCHAR, DURBIN AND WHITEHOUSE
The chaos and uncertaintly is totally destabilizing of everything. There is a core of irredeemable Trump cultists of ill defined numbers. His Electoral College win, while not representing a majority of voters, was achieved with a segment beyond the cultists, seemingly just wanting something different. Or, they had a myriad of reasons from inherent racism to misogyny to basic ignorance. Nevertheless, they are absolutely blameworthy. No rational body of humans should ever choose to be led by an ignorant, mean spirited narcissist with progressing dementia. In this mental state and mental disturbance, Trump is almost certainly not going to retreat from killing our economy and destroying our international alliances. We cannot assess if Vance would be better, but his overall mental state is probably stable.
Unfortunately, impeaching and removing Trump would take an insurmountable transformation of Republican Congress persons, who evince all evidence of being as ignorant as they are cowardly.
I lay primary responsibility for this situation on the 5 million democrats who couldn’t be bothered to show up and vote in November ‘24. This inanity was blatantly foretold. There isn’t a political solution for the reward we are reaping. We had the capacity to avoid this and we didn’t.
You may want to watch this. https://youtu.be/P_XdtAQXnGE?si=HK7tRc2XNDeIBGKP
It’s not so much they didn’t bother and more that they were prevented.
I think it is a split between "prevented" and "it makes no difference". I'd love to see the stats.
It’s pretty simple; Biden got millions more votes in 2020 than Harris in 2024. Where did those additional voters go?
Agreed, the current Republican members of the Senate and House are complicit in this mess. But the remedy is at hand, as every single Republican member of the House is up for election in November 2026. Once agin, the country is in the hands of the voters.
JD would be no better. His personal ideology is anti democratic. Just check out who his mentors were/are.
You mean handlers, don't you?
Yes, the disenfranchising practice of the “winner take all” States must end.
“Traitor? Elon, if you don’t understand that defending freedom is a basic tenet of what makes America great and keeps us safe, maybe you should leave it to those of us who do.”
Classy.
It is MRGA. Make Russia great again.
I’m sorry I didn’t short Tesla a month ago. But I have taken very good advantage to the madness in the stock markets. Gains can be made going up as well as going down. I’m not offering advice in fact I would suggest not to do as I say it’s not for everyone. But it will allow me to make more gift-giving to causes and organizations that are rapidly being defunded like public television and the Associated Press. We can’t sustain 4 years of this madness. Absolute madness.
Now that’s a solution based answer take advantage of the down in the stock market so you can give NPR I love that
Gold and German defense stocks had a good day. Can we see what's coming?
Spanish stocks have been doing well. As a US Expat I hope to invest in European military stocks and bonds and in the replacement for Starlink, which can't be relied upon.
Er, I'm rubbing my eyes...
I sold all my Tesla stock the day the ketamine fueled “genius” used money from Saudi Arabia (read Russia) to b buy Twitter.
I remember when the Delta Chairman lauded trump’s election and the potential to dispense with those silly consumer protections. All I can do at the moment is laugh.
The presidency of the U.S. is a tag team of Thing One and Thing Two.
Imagine being on a flight and have Elon shut off crucial air traffic control communications just because he was having a fit. No thanks.
Thing One and Thing Two 😂😂😂 who is one and who is two? Interchangeable? Made me laugh!
Rich, or Elon shutting down air traffic control to hold the US hostage until we pay the ransom.
Someone recently reported that some individuals in the national management department are users and recreational users of Ketamine. After reading this (j/https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-06/Ketamine-2020.pdf), I would suggest that anyone using this controlled substance probably has no business making decisions that could have serious negative effects on the lives of others.
Still don't know what Trump's tariff war is meant to accomplish. He said “We have to rebuild our country.” How is playing a game of tariff chicken with America's allies supposed to do that?
When it comes to this economic wreckage, I still can’t figure out whether Trump does it due to incompetence, or his allegiance to a certain foreign leader, or his apparent dementia. Maybe all three. And I’m amazed to be able to say I told you so to business and media titans who salivated about the tax cuts and insisted they would easily manage Trump.
They are showing some surprise as the monster they created breaks it's tether.
War. Trump wants to support the dialogue that Canada and Mexico has been taking advantage of the USA for years. Trump wants the American people to retaliate against Canada and ignore what the United States is doing. It’s all about war.
Trump's statement that Canada and Mexico have been taking advantage of the USA for years is just one more of the constant lies coming out of his mouth. Apparently, with Canada he is referring to the trade deficit. However, if you take oil out of the equation, raw oil, which is sold to the USA on a discount and then refined and processed in the USA, the USA actually enjoys a trade SURPLUS of $60 billion with Canada. Even with oil, all the value added is done in the USA..
Today, Trump also said that will "personally shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada". Well, of the cars and trucks made by the D3 (GM, Ford and Stellantis), 420,000 were exported by Canada into the USA and 700,000 were exported by the USA into Canada, so even here, the USA has a SURPLUS of 280,000 cars. Trump should be careful what he wants to accomplish. If he manages to move all car manufacturing by the D3 into the USA, as is his aim, how is that going to benefit the US auto industry? Canadians are already engaging in a wide spread boycott of travel to the USA and buying anything made in the US. If Trump wipes out the Canadian auto industry, with all the layoffs that will cause in Canada, Canadians will solidly boycott all cars made by the D3. There are enough good cars made by Europe, Japan and South Korea. So, the US industry is going to lose close to 300,000 cars sold to Canada. How is that supposed to be positive to anybody?
Don’t believe anything he says it’s all fake. He uses threats to affect policy. It does work up to a point. Take Ukraine. There might actually be a peace in the making. Trump only wants a truce in order to get a noble peace price but I trust they will never give in to this trash. So he offered Putin favors then retracted them. It keeps everyone guessing. And can lead to a positive ending. But it also causes disruptions.
For trump it's all a SHOW...good TV. He's always on stage. I believe that he's in growing danger from his own base who's believed his lies. He's moving closer to paying the price for his betrayal.
Always on stage is exactly right -- as long as he's in the spotlight the world is fine, so he'll do whatever it takes to have the focus kept on himself.
His brain is squirming like a toad.
Rebuild our country in Russia's image.
He thinks stopping steel imports will bring Canadian car manufacturers to a halt and can’t comprehend that it would shut down all the manufacturers in the U.S.
And how will Musk build his rockets without steel?
Musk’s implication that Ukraine had attacked “X” needs to be proven or debunked. Of course, who needs facts when you religiously oppose fact checking?
These guys are inveterate liars and self-serving misanthropes.
There's reporting on Wired yesterday that Twitter/X was subjected to a DDOS attack which security experts have said comes from 'botnets', armies of computers that have been hijacked for this purpose so the IP address isn't conclusive evidence that Ukraine was responsible. They've also found that some X origin servers, which respond to web requests, weren't properly secured behind the company's Cloudflare DDoS protection and were publicly visible. One researcher found that Ukraine wasn't even in the top 20 IP addresses linked to the attack. Musk appears to have been lying as you say!
Children are suffering in a spreading measles outbreak and will be denied not only school lunches but public education.
Seniors who are lucky enough to have retirement plans are watching them tank at the same time Republicans are trashing the Social Security Administration.
Doesn't matter if you are young or old, sick or well - trump is an "equal opportunities" impoverisher.