Uh-oh…time to start packing our bags? Allison Detzel writes on the MSNBC website that three Yale professors who are experts in their knowledge and study of authoritarianism are concerned enough about the “democratic emergency” in this country to cross the border to continue their teaching in Canada. They believe the rise of fascism in the US has become so dire that they have decided to leave, with professor Marci Shore referring to Nazi Germany of 1933, and saying, “…the lesson is you get out sooner rather than later. We’re like people on the Titanic, saying, ‘Our ship can’t sink. We’ve got the best ship. We’ve got the strongest ship.’ And what you know as a historian is that there is no such thing as a ship that can’t sink.” The exits of these highly-respected educators comes as a result of the Trump administration’s crackdown on higher education, with investigations into dozens of universities over the policies of diversity, equity and inclusion, part of the effort to get them to toe the line and bow down to the new regime in DC. Accusing the universities of favoring antisemitism by allowing pro-Palestinian protests, funding has been cut to many of the institutions, with Harvard being hit particularly hard with cuts and freezing of funds amounting to nearly three billion dollars. As promised during his presidential campaign, the targeting of his perceived enemies and those who publicly criticize his policies are simply victims in the  continuation of his “I am your retribution” mantra. Professor Jason Stanley fears persecution if he stays at Yale, and will go to the University of Toronto “because I want to do my work without the fear that I will be punished for my words. In times as these, it’s essential to set up centers of resistance in places of relative safety.” Stanley shares his colleagues’ concerns, but says he isn’t leaving explicitly because of Trump, a personal reason being his marriage to Marci Shore.

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of his small but familiar book, ‘On Tyranny,’ wrote in the Yale Daily News, that ‘conversations about freedom and unfreedom’ have become harder to have in this country. He warns Americans who believe fascism is only a foreign predicament, saying, “Talking about American exceptionalism is basically a way to get people to fall into line. If you think that there’s this thing out there called ‘America’ and it’s exceptional — that you don’t have to do anything, whatever is happening, it must be freedom. And so then, what your definition of freedom is gets narrowed, and soon you’re using the word ‘freedom’ but what you’re talking about is authoritarianism.” Snyder’s 2017 book, ‘On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century,’ is a worthy read, with a frontispiece quote by Leszek Kolakowski: “In politics, being deceived is no excuse.”

Someone who forgot that you don’t have to make big waves to ruffle the feathers of MAGA this week, was former FBI Director James Comey — who made what should be regarded as only a ripple effect. Seeing a rock and sea shell formation on the beach that someone left behind, a layout reading ‘8647,’ he photographed it and posted it to Instagram, — and the “interesting” post then ramped up the retribution rampagers. The number ’86’ has long been a slang term that means ‘to eliminate’ or ‘get rid of,’ as in: “Get out, and stay out.” Unfortunately, the number ’47’ relates to Donald Trump being the 47th President of the US, so MAGA accused him of threatening or encouraging another assassination attempt. Comey surely knew what ’86’ means, but he apologized , taking down the post, and writing: “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. That didn’t occur to me when I saw it. But I am opposed to violence, so I took the post down.” That wasn’t enough for Team Retribution within the DOJ and Secret Service to forego an investigation, or Trump’s Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, to say he should be in jail — and we can be certain that trickster Roger Stone is lining up the firing squad. Gabbard told Fox Host Jesse Waters that Comey should automatically be locked up — no investigation, no evidence, no due process, just throw away the key for ‘threatening’ a president. A David Schuster piece on BlueAmp mentions the plight of Kilmar Abrego Garcia who sits in a jail in El Salvador following his deportation without benefit of a court hearing or judicial ruling, despite a 9-0 Supreme Court decision that his return must be ‘facilitated‘ by the Trump administration. Schuster says MAGA World keeps proving Comey’s point: “The threat is not on the beach. It’s coming from inside the house — the White House.”

Still being bandied about by Trump and his Eichmann clone, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, is the threat of suspending habeas corpus — the right of a person to challenge their detention in court — which would be a dramatic escalation of the administration’s immigration policy, and a curtailment of a right enshrined in the Constitution. Miller was asked by a reporter, “First, you know, President Trump has talked about potentially suspending habeas corpus to take care of the illegal immigration problem. When could we see that happen in the future?” Miller raised the specter that it may be necessary because of undocumenteds “invading” the country. “The Constitution is clear, and that, of course, is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in time of invasion. So, it’s an option we’re actively looking at.” The Constitution allows for the suspension in extraordinary circumstances, Article I saying writs of habeas corpus “shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.” Our history shows it has been done four times — during the Civil War, the reconstruction period in South Carolina, in the Philippines during the 1905 insurrection, and in Hawaii after Pearl Harbor was attacked. Miller sees a threat from the undocumented migrants, and a similar argument was used by Trump to invoke the Alien Enemies Act, which in his view allowed him to remove noncitizens with no due process, among them Kilmar Abrego Garcia, purported to be a member of Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua. Two Trump-appointed judges concluded that use of the act was unlawful because the administration failed to prove a Tren de Aragua invasion, but Miller responded that the administration’s decision would come down to whether the “courts do the right thing or not.” Legal experts say the issue is not as simple as Miller suggests, and that a president cannot suspend habeas corpus without authorization from Congress, making any unilateral suspensions by Trump unconstitutional.

In a recent interview, Trump told the interviewer he didn’t know whether the Constitution required him to uphold due process rights of non-citizens, complaining it would present an extraordinary burden of providing individual hearings for millions of immigrants scheduled for deportation. As he wrote on Truth Social, “Our Court System is not letting me do the job I was Elected to do. Activist judges must let the Trump Administration deport murderers, and other criminals who have come into our country illegally, WITHOUT DELAY!!!” Trump’s unmerciful cheerleader, Miller, rages against what he terms a “judicial coup” of rulings upholding the due process rights of immigrants, scoffing at the notion that Trump’s so-called “terrorists” have the right to contest their deportations, their only “right” being deportation. Robert Reich reminds us of four things to remember: 1) The Constitution clearly guarantees “due process” to all “person[s]. The word “person” makes no distinction between citizens and non-citizens. 2) The Supreme Court has long held that this promise extends to immigrants in deportation proceedings. In 1993, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that “It is well established that the Fifth Amendment entitles aliens to due process of law in deportation proceedings.” 3) Due process doesn’t always require a full trial, however. Immigrants are entitled to: a) Notice of the charges against them in a “notice to appear,” outlining the reasons for potential deportation. b) The opportunity to present evidence before an immigration judge to show why they should not be deported. c) A judgement based on the facts of the case and applicable immigration law. d) The right to appeal the decision to a higher court. 4) The right to habeas corpus is fundamental to our legal system. Defendants have used habeas corpus to challenge detentions by governments since 13th-century England and the Magna Carta. Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist 84, “The subjecting of men to punishment for things which, when they were done, were breaches of no law, and the practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.” Reich asks, “What happens if ICE decides that the definition of an ‘American citizen’ doesn’t apply to someone who has spoken out against the regime, for example? What happens if habeas corpus is suspended and all Americans are in danger of arbitrary punishment? A growing number of jurists have framed this fight as existential for all Americans’ fundamental rights, not just those of immigrants. They’re right.”

In one of his posts, Reich says we are living in a time of “monsters” who roam the globe: Trump, Putin, Netanyahu, Xi, Modi, Erdogan, and others, who are destroying countless lives, fueling hate, spreading fear. He asks, “What is our moral obligation as human beings in the face of this? How do we maintain integrity in a time of monsters?” Some are in denial and have stopped listening to the news, preferring not to know what the monsters are doing, and he understands that it’s too painful to hear about the abductions and deportations in our country, the deaths in Ukraine and Gaza, human rights abuses in China and Turkey, and the violence in Kashmir. Being immobilized by grief, some cannot abide the inhumanity and suffering, sinking into despair, believing nothing will be done. Others are resigned to what’s happening, believing their only choice is to keep quiet for fear of reprisals from the monsters; and no matter what one feels, guilt should not be a response — “we are only human.” However, it’s also important to know that these attitudes help the monsters thrive and grow — believing nothing can be done, or assuming nothing will be done, or believing silence is a practical choice, only fueling more monstrosity. Reich relates the story of New York social worker, Emily Feiner, who went to Republican Congressman Mike Lawler’s town hall and asked him ‘what would it take for him to refuse to go along with Trump?’ His non-answer drove her to persist, so she was told to leave, refusing to do so. State troopers then lifted the 64-year old from her chair to deposit her outside the meeting hall, with catcalls erupting from the attendees, shouting, “Shame, shame, shame!” Feiner was subsequently labeled a “radical far-left” activist by Lawler, though she is only an average American, sometime-Republican voter, who has now had enough. She does not deny what is happening, going to town halls to express her views, and asking questions. She’s not in despair, but is filled with positive energy, and is not silent as she actively resists the monsters and their agents to hold them accountable. Reich believes that if enough of us emulate Emily by standing up, the monsters cannot win — we will prevail, ending up with a democracy stronger than it was before the time of monsters.

Steve Schmidt was appalled by the gilded parade of Trump and his entourage in Saudi Arabia last week, saying, “The images of Donald Trump’s arrival in Saudi Arabia are disgraceful and without precedent. What the American people [witnessed] is an ‘Eras’ tour [a la Taylor Swift] of corruption and crony capitalism that beggars belief and description, while being broadcast in the plain light of day. It is a death march and a celebration of decay, collapse and the shattering of free market capitalism in favor of a new Trump gangsterism that picks winners and losers.” His posse for this trip consisted of about 20 business leaders from Tesla, IBM, Boeing, Amazon, Halliburton, Citigroup, Google, Coca-Cola, Uber, LinkedIn, and The LA Times — just a simple mom-and-pop collection of small-business owners! Schmidt continues, “Trump has come to the Arab thugs, hat in one hand, with weapons systems dangling from the other, looking for more for Trump, while telling the American people that they must have less for America. When historians look back at this era there will never be a lack of fascination over our anesthetized culture and indifferent population that was the frog in the pot for 10 long years before the water boiled. The lies spilling over the American people from Trump and his propagandists aren’t just absurd, but ludicrously so. America’s politicians, billionaires and CEOs have turned aggressive against the American people, the US Constitution, free market capitalism, the rule of law, personal liberty and democracy. It will be up to all of us to help instruct them with a memorable teachable moment. Each day the reckoning draws closer — it is coming. A judgement will be rendered over the obscenities at hand, for there has never been a worse lot of Americans who have ever gathered together with temporary power, and more profoundly betrayed the interests of the people who gave it to them in the entire history of America. Donald Trump thinks he has a license to steal and take, and more incredibly, the scumbags who surround him and compete for his affections and a chance to taste his detritus, think they have a license to steal. There is a terrible price to be paid for indifference and not caring — America is paying for it now, but soon the indifferent will start caring again. That’s why Donald, cocooned by his arrogance, will never see it coming.”

The Onion, in a post aimed at Gangster Trump and his minions, quotes an individual who is complaining about having to read the Terms and Conditions before he is able to download a ‘stupid app’ to bribe the president. He longs for the old days when it was a straightforward procedure, like “doing a dead drop of a briefcase in a parking garage,” but nowadays he has to link his bank account to a cryptocurrency exchange, making space on his phone by deleting some apps he uses to bribe other world leaders and public officials. Plus, he now must ‘create a wallet’ and convert all his funds into special tokens, hardly a simple and streamlined procedure. Further, he expects he will be getting push notifications to inform him about new opportunities to funnel money to the president and his family. However, The Onion reports a glitch in the process as a result of Chinese spyware that came with the app — what a headache! Sounds almost plausible?

Donald Trump now has more work to do in his retributions procedures, with Bruce Springsteen rising to the top of the list following his ‘Land of Hope and Dreams’ tour in Manchester, England. Springsteen’s message to his audience attacked Trump, charging him with leading “a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration,” which only raised Trump’s hackles even more in light of the rocker’s endorsement of candidate Kamala Harris in October 2024, and a history of endorsements to include Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. In giving his seal of approval to Harris, Springsteen called Trump “The most dangerous candidate for president in my lifetime. Perhaps not since the Civil War has this great country felt as politically, spiritually, and emotionally divided as it does at this moment. It doesn’t have to be that way.” A couple of days following ‘The Boss’s’ fiery description of the MAGA regime, Trump lashed out to call the artist “a dried-out prune of a rocker.” The president posted on Truth Social, “I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States. Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy — just a pushy, obnoxious JERK who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our country.” Patting himself on the back yet again, Trump suggests the country “would be gone by now” absent his election, and warned Springsteen of repercussions from MAGA World should he make similar comments during his domestic shows. “Springsteen is ‘dumb as a rock,’ and couldn’t see what was going on. This dried-out ‘prune’ of a rocker ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country. That’s just ‘standard fare.’ Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!” cautioned the president.

With his fiery juices flowing, Trump then launched into other performers on Truth Social, asking, “Has anyone noticed that, since I said ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,’ she’s no longer ‘HOT?'” Swift has long been a Trump critic and they have exchanged comments and insults in the past. David Gura of Bloomberg News posted on X: “Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which concluded in December, sold $2,077,618,725 in tickets — double the gross ticket sales of any other concert tour in history.” In reaction to Trump’s dissing of Swift, Representative Jamie Raskin quoted words from Springsteen’s ‘Badlands’ recording: “Poor man wanna be rich. Rich man wanna be king. The king ain’t satisfied ’til he rules everything.” Other posts on social media called The Don’s comments simply distractions to cover his new Qatari plane brouhaha, retail price hikes from his tariffs, or the fact that he’s ripping away Medicare and Medicaid from millions of Americans. Political analyst Larry Sabato said, “77 million Americans voted for a president who spends his time on Air Force One (the real one) trashing Swift and Springsteen.” On a roll, Trump couldn’t stop, so now it’s on to investigating not only Springsteen, but Beyoncé, Oprah, and Bono, accusing the Kamala Harris campaign of paying them illegally to endorse her under the guise of performance fees. Trump is throwing around ridiculously large expenditures that were paid — no proof or backup, of course, but the Federal Elections Commission shows much lower fees were paid to production companies for staging the events — which would include payroll, sound and lighting equipment — all of which cannot be donated to political campaigns. In all likelihood, Donny is still digging — many more lies to tell and lives to shatter before he rests, a monster on the edge!

Carley Suthers writes on BuzzFeed, “As an American, I’ll be the first to admit that we can be a bit weird. While all countries have habits and behaviors that make them unique, the US takes that to a bit of an extreme, much to the bafflement of others.” She picks up a feed on social media platform Reddit, where a member posted an invitation to followers to submit comments about things about the US that don’t make sense, yet are considered ‘normal’ by most Americans. One commenter feels that second- and third-generation Americans who boast about having Irish, German, etc. roots in other countries should simply face the reality that they are Americans, with nothing in common with those countries. Another feels Americans are weird about religion, citing tour guides on European trips explaining that most locals are not practicing believers — just following a tradition, and not having their whole personas wrapped around religious beliefs. Several felt that allowing a waiter to take your credit card, walk into another room out of sight, before bringing back the receipt, is completely wild and ripe for credit card fraud. Likely speaking from experience, another feels that teenagers should not have jobs while in high school, which wastes the remainder of their childhood between work, study, and school attendance — no time to hang out with friends and socialize to develop relationships. Another submission reads, “The incongruity between blind flag-worship and constantly desecrating the flag by putting it on everything — if you like the flag so much, don’t turn it into a swimsuit!” One submission bashes ‘tipping’ with, “Why is it ok to underpay certain jobs in hopes that the consumers will pay extra to provide a living for employees — employers should pay employees, period!” Americans who buy pickup trucks as their ‘normal’ family vehicle, but rarely haul anything, strikes another as unusual. ‘Pharmaceutical ads’ grate on a few people, who dislike hearing several speeded-up seconds of ‘possible side effects’ before being advised to get a doctor’s recommendation. One ‘weirdness’ with several commenters targets our health care system. One says, “Our healthcare system is trash. So many people can’t afford health insurance, so they slowly wither away or go broke to stay healthy. Horrific!” The topper has to be the follower who wrote, “Honestly? Electing a bankrupt reality TV host as president and then doubling down eight years later, like it was a subscription you forgot to cancel. That’s not politics — that’s a national cry for help!”

A post on Quora begins, “Trump is not the president.” Attribution is to Jesse Dollemore and it continues, “I have long suspected something similar, as have many others. There are too many things Trump does not know — too many people, he says, are responsible for the things he does not know; too many things he does are because Laura Loomer, Bobby Kennedy, Stephen Miller, etc. tell him to do those things. He has no idea what half the things he signs are about. They have to be explained. There are aides in the Oval Office in every presser having to explain things to him. Trump is a narcissistic old man, on the edge of dementia, loving the idea of being powerful and respected and feared by all, but woefully incompetent. It bewilders him that people hate him, it makes him furious, and he lashes out with insane posts, night after night. His handlers reassure him with compliments, thank him, and tell him what a genius he is.” No president? Seems like MANY presidents! David McAfee writes on the Raw Story blog, that a Washington Post analysis says Trump could be “out of the loop.” Reporter Aaron Blake wrote, “The president appears to be taking a backseat in his own presidency despite criticizing his predecessor for being asleep at the wheel, suggesting himself that ‘he’s not involved in major decisions.'” Blake’s article says, “One of the major themes of President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign was the idea that Joe Biden had no idea what was happening around him, but less than four months after taking over from Biden, it’s Trump who, in his own telling, is often unaware of major events surrounding him and directly involving his administration.” He highlights, in addition to ‘pleading ignorance’ on some issues,Trump has also distanced himself from certain administration moves — as if he had little or nothing to do with them, suggesting he played virtually no role in the selection of his new candidate for surgeon general, Casey Means. “I don’t know her,” Trump said in his announcement. “There’s certainly a question about how much Trump actually is out of the loop and how much he’s just saying that. Trump’s record for dishonesty is nearly without compare. When it comes to some of the more sensitive issues, he could benefit from distance from these decisions, but this seemingly hands-off approach also reared its head in his first term, particularly when it came to the administration’s COVID response,” writes Blake. He concludes, “And it’s certainly a notable posture from the man who said his predecessor was hopelessly disengaged and repeatedly talked about how bad it was to have people who aren’t president call the shots.”

As CNN reports, Trump influencer Laura Loomer can get President Trump on his direct phone line, but she can’t get a seat in his briefing room, even as the White House opens its doors to a new class of media personalities consisting of online commentators, podcasters, web video hosts and partisan influencers — leaving her as one of the most prominent figures in the pro-Trump digital ecosystem remaining on the outside looking in. Loomer explained to CNN, “I do think there’s a fear that I may ask questions about the loyalties of people in the White House, and they fear me having a national and global microphone to ask these questions.” For instance, she wanted to know why Hunter Biden still had Secret Service protection once Trump took office, so the president revoked that privilege in March, but she also questions why the White House legal team isn’t pushing to disqualify judges she sees as conflicted. And most of all, why certain staffers with what she claims are questionable allegiances have been hired in the first place. “I would hold people accountable,” Loomer continues. “Not to be malicious toward anyone in the administration but to support the America First agenda.” CNN says the White House did not respond to their request for comment on this. Loomer’s skepticism of Trump’s White House is a right-wing rarity, since most of her peers amplify the presidents actions, echoing the administration’s talking points or attack outside critics; she, on the other hand, often directs her fire to target perceived traitors inside the government and maximizing pain on is enemies. A few weeks ago, following a Loomer phone call, and a followup Oval Office meeting, Trump dismissed several national security aides that she flagged, and more recently he reassigned national security adviser Michael Waltz to be ambassador to the UN, following weeks of public criticism by Loomer regarding Waltz’s staffing appointments. Following this shakeup, she posted on X, ‘Loomered‘ — a term used to describe those who draw her anger, soon to find their jobs and reputations in jeopardy. Describing herself as an investigative journalist on X, and with her twice-weekly broadcast on alt-right video platform, Rumble, she said, “Contrary to what’s been said, Trump doesn’t hire the best people. That’s why it’s so important there’s people to help support the president, because nobody’s perfect. Show me any other independent ‘new media’ reporter that’s having more of an impact on the Trump administration than me, with the president calling me for private meetings — but I don’t meet the standards of the esteemed press team? It’s a joke.” Loomer’s confrontational style, her past inflammatory rhetoric, and promotion of conspiracy theories, and being out of step with the tone of those so far granted access is why she is being held at arm’s length, and in the view of Trump’s first press secretary, Sean Spicer, she is viewed more as an influencer. “All those details matter,” Spicey said.

So, influencer and MAGA disciple Loomer says she is “deeply disappointed” in Trump for accepting a luxury jet from what she called “jihadists in suits,” reports Malcolm Ferguson in The New Republic. The gift of a Boeing 747-8 from Qatar’s royal family is to be upgraded, at taxpayer expense, into the new Air Force One, replacing the 40 year old aircraft now in use, and making it one of the most lavish gifts given to a US president. The president claims it will not be used by him following his presidency, as it will be given to his presidential library. “Loomer was quick to voice her distaste for the move, even as it was rooted in Islamophobia,” writes Ferguson. She continued her diatribe, saying, “It’s going to be hard for the administration to designate the Muslim Brotherhood and obliterate Iranian proxies in Hamas and Hezbollah when Qatar funds the Muslim Brotherhood, harbors Hamas, and the US just accepted a $400 million jet from Qatar. We are watching an Islamic takeover of our country in real time. And I say that as someone who would take a bullet for Trump. I’m so disappointed.”

Greg Sargent writes in The New Republic, that our know-nothing president in his “intensive daily reading of complex policy papers,” noticed in the title of a government initiative created by President Biden, a ‘woke’ term — ‘equity’ — leading him to conclude, of course, the initiative was designed to aid undeserving minorities. Perceiving it to be reverse racism toward Whites, he immediately announced on Truth Social he had cancelled the program, fuming, “It’s RACIST. No more woke handouts based on race!” The program, the Digital Equity Act, contained mega-amounts of money for governments in GOP-run states, as well a Democratic ones, to expand high-speed internet access in underserved communities, including red states’ rural areas. Much of the money has already been approved, following submission of states’ proposals, explicitly designed by GOP governments to serve their rural constituents. Many proposals have not been approved, and with Trump’s clumsy interference, reductions or complete blockage of funds is now possible. Senator Patty Murray says his cutoff is illegal, and states are likely to sue, as Republicans see their own voters threatened. Trump posted on social media, “I have spoken to my wonderful Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, and we agree that the Biden/Harris so-called “Digital Equity Act” is totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL. No more woke handouts based on race! The Digital Equity Program is a RACIST and ILLEGAL $2.5 BILLION DOLLAR giveaway. I am ending this IMMEDIATELY, and saving Taxpayers BILLIONS OF DOLLARS!” Sargent says, “It’s anybody’s guess how serious Lutnick really is about this. But if the Commerce Department, which is implementing this law, follows Trump’s command, it will do all it can to halt these payments.” In her statement, Senator Murray says, “It’s insane that Trump is blocking resources to help make sure kids in rural school districts can get online all because he doesn’t like the word ‘equity.’ My Republican colleagues will need to explain to their constituents why the rural schools they represent won’t get this funding for hotspots or laptops in the meantime.” Somebody needs to get ‘Loomered.’

As noted above, on May 7, Trump announced he was nominating Dr. Casey Means to be surgeon general instead of his initial choice, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, igniting criticism since Means is only a wellness influencer who didn’t finish her medical residency at Stanford, therefore lacking a valid medical license. As one social media posting pointed out, “The US is the only country where one needs a license to cut hair, but not so to practice medicine at the highest level.” The president praised her qualifications, though she is closely linked to the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ ideology championed by none other than Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Trump posted on Truth Social, “Casey has impeccable ‘MAHA’ credentials, and will work closely with our wonderful Secretary of HHS, Robert Kennedy, to ensure a successful implementation of our Agenda in order to reverse the Chronic Disease Epidemic, and ensure Great Health, in the future, for ALL Americans. Her academic achievements, together with her life’s work, are absolutely outstanding. Dr. Casey Means has the potential to be one of the finest Surgeon Generals in US History.” Later, as he was faced with questions about her qualifications, he was backtracking about his selection of an individual who never finished her residency. “Because Bobby thought she was fantastic,” he answered to a questioner’s query about why she was qualified to be America’s top doctor, adding, “I don’t know her.” Means completed her undergraduate degree and medical school at Stanford, but never finished her surgical residency, though she ultimately finished enough postgraduate work to qualify for a medical license in Oregon before turning to alternative medicine. In her public appearances, and in her book, ‘Good Energy,’ she claims that her residency experience left her disillusioned with the state of modern medicine, purporting to now be “working towards a healthier and happier planet by empowering people to understand their health and the limitless potential within them.” Oregon public records indicate her medical license has been inactive since January 2024, so it remains to be seen if her nomination will hold up to congressional scrutiny, despite Kennedy’s defense of her on X. The People website quotes RFK as saying, “The attacks that Casey is unqualified because she left the medical system completely misses the point of what we are trying to accomplish with MAHA. Casey is the perfect choice for Surgeon General precisely because she left the traditional medical system — not in spite of it.” Kennedy accuses the medical industry and media outlets of paying influencers to “vilify” Means, adding, “But it will not work.” Sure, but can she cut hair, Bobby?

Being a fanatical Trump supporter seemed to be qualification enough for the president to raid the Fox Network once again for one of his new appointments. Fox News host Jeanine Pirro is such an unhinged individual that the network took her show off the air following the 2020 election out of fear that she would use it to launder deranged conspiracy theories about a ‘stolen election,’ but Trump praised her Fox News career last week, appointing her interim US attorney for the District of Columbia, dumping US Attorney Ed Martin as a nominee who showed weakness for a Senate confirmation. If you’re keeping score, Pirro is person number 23 with Fox history, picked by Trump for his second Oval Office occupancy. Martin’s Achilles heel seemed to be his legal support for January 6 defendants. Pirro was elected as a Westchester County Court Judge in New York in 1990, then later served as the county’s district attorney prior to her losing run for US Senate in 2005 — for which she is still in debt to the tune of $600,000, not to mention failure to file mandatory financial reports. She then experienced a landslide defeat for state attorney general, and the following year began her Fox sojourn for two decades, serving as a legal analyst, hosting the weekend program Justice with Judge Jeanine, and co-hosting the weekday panel show The Five.

After Trump’s 2016 victory, Pirro essentially became a Fox shill and propagandist in what the late Simon Maloy termed “advocacy for the president that is so aggressive that it often borders on insane.” She called for a “cleansing” of the FBI and the Justice Department, firing individuals “who should be taken out in handcuffs.” Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions was urged to resign if he was “unwilling to protect Trump and prosecute his enemies,” and then getting a suspension for pointing out that Representative Ilhan Omar’s hijab was a sign of her adherence to Sharia Law, and not the US Constitution. Pirro vehemently defended Trump’s ‘stolen election’ lies in 2020, prompting Fox to preempt her first broadcast following the election; yet when she was allowed to return, she provided conspiracy-minded segments promoting the false claims, including attacks on technology company Dominion Voting Systems — segments which provided ammo for Dominion in its lawsuit against Fox, resulting in a massive payout for Fox in the court decision. The lawsuit gave some insight into how her Fox colleagues viewed her, with Fox executive David Clark explaining he had taken her show off the air initially because, “I don’t trust her to be responsible. If she offers any pushback against guests, it will only be token.” Internal emails reveal her executive producer described her as a “reckless maniac” who is “nuts,” and “should never be on live television, promoting her conspiracy theories.”

But Fox being what it is, it’s hard to fire a Trump supporter, so Pirro got a promotion to The Five, using that position to furiously denounce the legal cases against Trump, along with the prosecutors and jurors involved in the cases. After a jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts in New York, she said, “We have gone over a cliff in America. This is a new era in America, and I think it goes against the ilk of who we are as Americans and our faith in the criminal justice system.” After Trump’s return to the Oval Office, she kept showering him with praise, saying, “Donald Trump is not panicked and neither should we be because he’s bringing us to the golden age, and that’s the end of it.” Her years of denunciation of the Justice Department’s failing to serve Trump’s will and throwing his political enemies in jail, now opens up her own opportunities for doing just that. The Daily Dose of Democracy website advises us, “Strap in, folks! Donald Trump has turned to yet another Fox teevee talker for yet another top post…Jeanine Pirro will apparently take a break from drunkenly shouting about her many phobias on the Fox New airwaves to become the interim US Attorney for DC…the same Judge Jeanine who was named in the $787 million Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit for spreading election lies, and whose convicted husband was granted a last-minute pardon by Trump in 2021 for tax evasion. Someone at Saturday Night Live better get Cecily Strong and her wine goblet on speed dial.” And, indeed that happened…Cecily appeared on SNL last week as Jeanine in the opening sketch along with the regulars portraying Trump and Hegseth (who, true to his promise to ‘put down the bottle’ during his tenure as Defense Secretary is sated by Mama Bird Jeanine to Baby Bird Pete). The Lincoln Project says all one has to do to get a Trump job is wend your way onto Fox News and praise Donald like you’re on a Russian propaganda network — don’t try to tell anybody Pete Hegseth or Jeanine Pirro got their nominations based on qualifications! TLP’s favorite Pirro fact is that she has been nominated for two Daytime Emmy awards, losing both times, and the hope is that she goes 0 for 3.

Brian Karem headlines his thoughts on Salon, “When facts become seditious, it’s time to hit the panic button.” Karem mentions the cabinet meeting of a couple of weeks ago, where for two hours, Trump “reveled in their professed unconditional love and appreciation,” with “Pam Bondi telling the president ‘no one has ever done anything better in the history of mankind,’ or something like that,” and Pete Hegseth texting the entire meeting to his family and a reporter from The Atlantic on his Signal app. “According to Elon Trump, or Donald Musk, the president has brought the world to the brink of Nirvana,” observes Karem, but “we have to come to grips with an unshakeable truth — free speech no longer exists. Every positive thing that Trump claims he’s done, he can back up because he’s stifled dissent. Everything his detractors say he’s done to the detriment of the country begins and ends with the same reason. Without dissent, without facts, without the ability to speak truth to power, you cannot have due process. You cannot educate. You cannot inform, and you certainly can’t govern democratically. Today, if we’re not kissing the ring, we aren’t wanted. What Trump wants and needs is a roomful of sycophants and media influencers who applaud the lunacy that has destroyed free speech. That’s why Trump is an unmitigated disaster, and the next 1,360 days will be fraught with peril. But, on the upside, your Uber driver speaks English.”

BORSCHT BELT SCHTICK, DONNY TWO DOLLS, CLOWN SHOW FASCISM

We’ve known for some time that Senator, and former football coach, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama is lost somewhere in a cornfield maze of his own making, as apparently he doesn’t know which state his resides within. Kyle Whitmire of AL.com writes that he may not meet the state’s residency requirements as he plans to run for the governorship, which has stricter prerequisites than that of a senate officeholder. The senator is accused of living in Florida since 2023, and voting records bolster these suspicions argues Whitmire, who points out that a seven year state residency is necessary. If Tuberville is a true Alabama resident, his income tax filings should be evidence, but no disclosure has been forthcoming, as he maintains that his wife’s homestead exemption in Auburn, as far back as 2018, is proof enough of his residency despite the fact that the senator’s name is absent from the deed. Election records show that both spouses voted in Florida in late 2018. Senate records from 2023 reveal that Tuberville made several trips to the Florida panhandle, and Whitmire challenges him to show his utility bills — “where he flushes his toilet probably tells us more than his homestead exemption,” he contends. Seems ripe for a political challenger to take him to court on the issue.

Representative Jasmine Crockett of Texas is still hot on the case for designating Marjorie Taylor Greene the dumbest member of Congress for spending more time currying favor with Donald Trump and the MAGA crowd, than she has spent working for the people of Georgia. The MAGA majority has seated her on powerful committees, within which she’s more concerned with picking fights, then going on social media to secure her cable news appearances — no way to solve the country’s problems. In the same vein, Andy Borowitz takes on Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana, asking if there exists a more grating assclown, which he doubts. Andy wrote in his book ‘Profiles in Ignorance: How America’s Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber’ that over the past fifty years, mass media have rewarded politicians who can entertain over those who can think — designating it the ‘Age of Ignorance,’ appropriately. He splits this into three stages: Ridicule, Acceptance, and Celebration. In the Ridicule stage, ignorance resulted in career-ending mockery, spurring dumb politicians to fake intelligence. The Acceptance stage sees ignorance modified into congenial, a sign that the politician was authentic, down-to-earth, and a somewhat normal person — allowing dumb politicians to be as dumb as they really are. The Celebration stage, today’s condition, allows ignorance to take precedence over knowledge: wearing a dunce hat is elevated over expertise. Being ill-informed is the criterion, forcing smart politicians to fake dumbness. Borowitz puts into this highly-educated stable of moronic politicians the likes of Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Elise Stefanik, and the aforementioned John Kennedy, with space for an ever-expanding membership.

Last week, the ‘sage of Omaha,’ Warren Buffett announced his upcoming retirement from Berkshire Hathaway, proclaiming, “Trade should not be a weapon,” as he pointed to President Trump’s current war. Steve Schmidt wrote in his ‘The Warning’ blog that it is Trump’s weapon in a declared world war, one that he is losing. Schmidt argues that this has come to pass despite all of Trump’s previous warnings, and it is now too late to stop the looming devastation of the American economy, with no place to run, no place to hide. The catastrophe resulting from the war of madness and aggression could have been stopped, but that time has slipped by us, allowing the zealots and sycophants to lie to their dictator with words allowing him to embark on his supposed strategy — no plan beyond the execution, no vision on how it ends. In Schmidt’s estimation it was launched by Trump’s ego, drafted by incompetents, and executed by nihilists, echoing Steve Bannon’s 2017 wish to “bring it all crashing down.” Schmidt believes that millions in Trump’s cult of malice are about to have their dependency broken, Jonestown style, a la the Jim Jones People’s Temple massacre in Guyana. However, his favorite strategist, thinker and leader who was as profoundly dumb as Donald Trump is General George Armstrong Custer, who Schmidt characterizes as ‘American political dumb, DOGE dumb.’ Custer was brave — better than his contemporary peers who possess none of his virtues — but graduated last in his West Point class, though he exhibited such fearlessness as the youngest Union general in the Civil War, he took his cavalry experience West to fight the Lakota. One story has him separating from his men to chase a buffalo into hostile territory, drawing his revolver to shoot the beast, only to miss and blow his horse’s brains out. Lost and stranded alone, he was fortunate to be happened upon by a few of his contingent’s scouts, a perfect parallel for Trump and his tariffs, minus the rescue element, temporary though it may have been for the general and his trusting troops.

Schmidt says, “The chances that Trump was a secret genius, and that Trump Derangement Syndrome were a real thing have all been disproven by events, and reduced to absolute zero over the first 100 days of his term. There are no manufacturing plants returning, no jobs coming back, no golden age, no nothing. America will be weaker, poorer and isolated. All of it because of Donald Trump, his henchmen and women, and the easily conned and deeply ignorant American voter. What comes next is catastrophe. Waves of meanness, capriciousness, cruelty, insanity and nonsense spewed forth from Trump and his family, while the overwhelming majority of the American media was the last to figure out that Trump meant every word of his toxic Borscht Belt schtick. Trump was feted and celebrated by America’s media mandarins, who saw a golden calf, where most saw an orange buffoon. With a few exceptions, Trump steamrolled everyone in front of him with the same ease that he emasculated Jeb, Little Marco and Ted Cruz — ambitious men with no core, only great ambitions and fragile egos, being susceptible prey for Trump. All of it begs some questions: how stupid is this movement and how much dumber can it get? This country is in crisis because the concept of democracy is in danger. It is endangered because of the lassitude of the citizenry, the malice of a fascist movement, and a dishonest billion-dollar media industry that revels in conflict. At the same time, it is repulsed by the truth because it is too contentious for liars who demand coddling and accommodation in the name of ‘balance’ and ‘fairness.’ The American media isn’t a stakeholder in the epic fight underway for American democracy besides being billion-dollar economic players. That’s the only ‘balance’ they are interested in. All the democracy talk is marketing schtick — they don’t mean a word. The problem is that the fascists mean everything they say. That’s the truth! They have conviction, and mostly, the opposition does not. It is what makes this tragedy. It’s a tragedy that should not be, but is. Just like Donald’s trade war.” The bigger the fool, the more they are loved.

In a Cabinet meeting last week, President Trump admitted that his foolish tariffs will lead to empty store shelves across the nation, but that’s just fine because China made a trillion dollars selling us stuff during Biden’s administration — we don’t need any more material goods. “Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally,” The Don said. Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC’s ‘The Last Word’ commented that he sounded like a gangster, giving him the name ‘Donny Two Dolls’ as a possible character on ‘The Sopranos’ TV series. The meeting which resembled a North Korean People’s Committee meeting which pours praise onto Dear Leader Kim Jong Il, had a round-robin of comments by Trump’s cabinet members as they told Dear President how fabulous he is. So, like good Communist Kim, Trump is telling Americans that they must suffer and go without for the greater good, so that he may have his way on trade policy, not to mention the hideous, distasteful, and costly gilded bawdy house décor that he is implementing in the White House at taxpayer expense. We can celebrate that in his first 100 days the president has made economic recessions great again. A Mike Luckovich cartoon shows that Trumpty Dumpty has fallen from a brick wall, is lying on the ground with a cracked shell, long red necktie all askew, and All The King’s Men looking on with praise: “Great fall, sir!” and “Way to stick the landing!”

In line with Steve Schmidt’s contention that media outlets today are kowtowing to the Trump administration, Scott Pelley of CBS’ 60 Minutes made an on-air criticism of its corporate owner, Paramount Global, a couple of weeks ago. This unusual step was prompted by the resignation of Bill Owens, a CBS News veteran of almost 40 years, 26 of which were spent as head of 60 Minutes. Pelley says the sudden turn of events was hard on Bill, and difficult for the staff who admired him greatly for his insistence on accuracy and fairness in their coverage. However, Paramount Global had stepped in to start supervising news content in subtle ways, with Owens feeling that he had lost the independence that honest journalism requires. The reason lies with Dear Leader Trump who not only has sued CBS News for $20 billion over a ‘fake news’ story during the 2024 presidential campaign, but Trump appointed FCC Chairman, Brendan Carr, will be overseeing approval of Paramount’s $8 billion sale to Skydance Media, a $2.4 billion windfall for Shari Redstone’s family holding company, controller of Paramount. Shari Redstone looks to pocket over $500 million personally, with the administration’s approval. She has recused herself from deliberations in the Trump/CBS lawsuit, even as she has signaled her desire for a settlement with Trump, which is likely to result in a payment to The Don, and probably an admission of wrongdoing. Legal experts have said that Trump’s suit is without merit, foreseeing an easy CBS victory, but Paramount is favoring the white flag in view of the pending sale’s approval — a mob shakedown by Donny Two Dolls and his Luca Brasi, Brendan Carr. Mr. Carr has also intimated that the sale is sketchy unless the company ends its DEI efforts, telling Bloomberg, “Any businesses that are looking for FCC approval, I would encourage them to get busy ending any sort of their invidious forms of DEI discrimination.” Paramount has sent a staff memo noting the company would move to eliminate its DEI goals, but Carr will see to it that the FCC’s review is thorough. Elon and crew are standing by to be of service!

Cliff Schecter writes on Blue Amp that Trump is once again fantasizing about tanks rumbling down the streets of DC, not to stop a coup or a domestic terror attack, but to feel like a boy — a real boy! “I know he doesn’t get the concept of democracy — much like tariffs, multiplication, multi-syllabic words, vegetables, a fitting suit or running a business that doesn’t go arse-up to name a few — so I’ll try to explain it to him: Let’s learn a little history, Donny you mega-jingoistic cod-piece. Our founders feared standing armies, because they knew a permanent military was a military to be used — often, just because it was there. And here you are.” Schecter notes that “the National Guard wasn’t even created until 1903. Militias carried a lot of the load (ya know, those ‘well-regulated ones for whom the Second Amendment was actually intended? As opposed to your next-door neighbor Billy Bob a-fixin’ to git hisself 47 AR-15s, just because.” He goes on to say that even between World Wars I and II, our military was badly underfunded because that fear remained in our DNA. Dwight Eisenhower, upon leaving the presidency in 1961, infamously warned about the ‘military industrial complex’. But, as Hafiz Rashid in The New Republic laments, “Donald Trump may finally get his long-desired military parade, citing an unnamed source that he has chosen June 14 which is the 250th anniversary of the US Army, Flag Day, and only coincidentally his own 79th birthday. The four-mile procession would go from the Pentagon in Arlington to the White House.” Trump’s yen for such a grand parade goes back to his first term after seeing a French parade in 2017, with his desire to top that display. Pushback by both the military and the DC government put that one to bed, with cost estimates to the two entities around $92 million and $21 million, respectively. An angry Trump abandoned the idea, accusing the DC politicians of a ‘holdup’ over costs. Then, Mayor Muriel Bowser said, “I finally got through to the reality star in the White House with the realities of parades, events, and demonstrations in Trump America.” Now, Mr. Trump holds the cards with his overhaul of the military leadership, plus placement of top lawyers in all branches of the military, with the DC pols cowering out of fear that Trump will follow through on threats to take over the local government. The president has set up a federal task force on DC crime fighting that does not include a single local official, indicating that he will continue to interfere with operations within the city — to include his massively wasteful parade to sate his ego, spending millions of local and federal dollars despite his claims of waste, fraud and abuse eliminations. As the recently departed comedian and actor, Ruth Buzzi, once said, “Scientists say the universe is made up entirely of neurons, protons and electrons. They seem to have missed morons.” Rest in peace, Ruth.

“In 100 days, Trump has invented something new: Clown-Show Fascism,” says Michael Tomasky in his piece in The New Republic. “The administration is a serious threat to democracy. They’re also laughably incompetent. But the result is no laughing matter.” Tomasky reminds us that the president’s April 2 ‘Liberation Day,’ when he blew up the markets with his tariffs announcement, was actually the second Liberation Day declaration — the first being announced in his January 20 inauguration speech, when he said, “That is why each day under our administration of American patriots, we will be working to meet every crisis with dignity and power and strength. We will move with purpose and speed to bring back hope, prosperity, safety, and peach for citizens of every race, religion, color, and creed. For American citizens, January 20, 2025, is Liberation Day.” The author asks, “How is that working out? There is much to say about these 100 days. The odor of fascism is unmistakeable — and entirely intentional. The bullying of universities and law firms; the probably illegal firings of those 18 inspectors general; the ghastly executive order instructing the Justice Department to investigate two US citizens for expressing their political views; the purposeful lawlessness of so many actions, designed to force showdown after showdown at what Trump assumes will be a pliant Supreme Court; the daily inventions of reality peddled by Karoline Leavitt, Cabinet officials, and not least, Trump himself.”

Tomaksy says we should think about the average Americans, who are having a hard time. He poses another key line from the inaugural address: “I will direct all members of my Cabinet to marshal the vast powers at their disposal to defeat what was record inflation and rapidly bring down costs and prices.” Tomasky’s response is, “Gee! That doesn’t seem to have happened. Inflation is down a bit, largely because energy prices have fallen.” He points out that price decreases are a function of overproduction, that electric vehicle production in China has an effect, but gives Trump credit for our fears of a recession. Worry that Trump’s tariff war will spark inflation is seen in polling, with 71% believing that is our fate — even 47% of Republicans in agreement. To the many variants of fascism — Nazism being only one — there is Italian fascismo, Spain’s Francoism, Ukraine’s Banderism, South Korea’s Ilminism, plus neofascism, crypto-fascism and Islamofascism, to which Tomasky adds clown-show fascism. He describes his addition as “a regime marked simultaneously by hubristic and defiant assaults on the democratic and constitutional order on the one hand, on the other, a nearly laughable incompetence in just about every other area of the regime’s activity. Trump’s constant about-faces and walk-backs on tariffs have been an international embarrassment. Elon Musk’s DOGE has fired federal workers willy-nilly only to turn around and rehire many after the Musketeers realized they weren’t deep-state bloodsuckers and the work they did was kind of essential, after all — you know, like the people who tend the country’s nuclear weapons stockpile.” Tomasky summarizes that it can be hilarious to watch, but consequences are no laughing matter, and not how it’s supposed to work in a democracy — only 1300+ days to go!

David Litt writes on his Substack blog, Word Salad!, that if our founders had foreseen a Donald Trump presidency, they would have included pictures in the Declaration of Independence for him to understand it. In his faltering attempt to explain what the document means to him, Trump tells Terry Moran in the ABC News interview, “Well, it means exactly what it says, it’s a declaration. A declaration of unity and love and respect, and it means a lot. And it’s something very special to our country.” The commander-in-chief’s answer, had it come from a beauty pageant contestant, would have disqualified her with no chance of wearing a finalist’s crown. Litt is concerned that Trump’s brain worms have brain worms, causing him to give his blah, blah, blah answer. Asking ChatGPT to estimate the grade level of a student who gave such an answer to the question, Litt says the AI chatbot estimated ‘roughly 6th to 8th grade.’ Litt’s purpose in bringing up the Declaration of Independence “is not that Trump hasn’t read it — it’s that the rest of us ought to, and those who have read it need to re-read it with an eye toward understanding how to talk about dealing with this generation’s mad king.” The debate among Democrats rages passive-aggressively about what to focus on — attacks on the rule of law, or kitchen-table issues, which is dragging the president’s approval ratings down? Democrat Team Rule of Law says tariffs come and go, but damage to our democracy will be irreversible; Democrat Team Kitchen Table says stopping Trump raises the need to win elections, and that the electorate cares more about their pocketbooks than the rule of law. To the two teams, Litt says, “It’s my pleasure to scold everybody and say both sides are wrong. Drawing a distinction between the two issues would be like telling a pack-a-day smoker to differentiate between ‘nicotine addiction’ and ‘shortness of breath,’ — talking about one without the other rings hollow. Choosing between democracy and the economy is, in and of itself, the wrong choice. This is all one big issue. We have to treat it that way.”

The Trump administration, and in particular, JD Vance and the head MAGAman himself, have been the butt of jokes and criticisms in the wake of Pope Francis‘ death. Vance started off the previous week by meeting the national champion Ohio State football team in the Oval Office, fumbling and breaking their hard-won trophy in the process. One contributor on X posted that anyone scheduled for meetings with Vance should be shaking in their boots, and with the death of the Pope on the Monday following Vance’s visit on Easter Sunday, the floodgates were opened on social media, making the VP the butt of jokes, confirming him as the anti-Christ. One X user shared similar sentiments, writing, “JD touched a trophy and broke it. Then, he touched the Pope and he broke. I hope he shakes Donald’s hand this week…” Satirist Andy Borowitz contributed on his The Borowitz Report: “JD Vance will represent Satan at Pope Francis’s funeral this weekend, the Devil confirmed on Thursday. In a rare public statement, the Prince of Darkness said that he could not attend the funeral himself because it conflicts with a Tesla board meeting. Explaining his choice of Vance, Beelzebub said, ‘If you can’t have me, JD is the next best thing.’ But longtime Vatican-watcher Harland Dorrinson criticized Satan’s decision to send Vance, noting, ‘With Trump in attendance, this seems like overkill.'”

And indeed, Trump was in attendance as he made doubly sure he was seen, finagling a prized front row seat, though protocol had him, along with First Lady Melania, initially assigned to a third row position. In what was mostly a somber sea of black-clad attendees who followed the requested dress code, there he was resplendent in his bright blue silk suit and blue tie, missing only his bright red clown nose. Melania was respectful in her stylish all-black outfit — blazer dress, gloves, and lace veil, acting as sort of a peace maker between her childish and snub-prone husband and France’s Macron, encouraging him to shake the French president’s hand in the Sign of Peace  portion of the mass in following the custom of shaking hands with other mourners. Several photos reveal that he was probably napping — unlikely that prayer was on his mind — and an adult should have taken away his cell phone which was a playtoy during some of his time at the service. Prior to being seated for the ceremony, Trump and Ukraine’s Zelensky were able to have a short face-to-face meeting, both of whom shared positive words of their discussion afterwards, along with an announcement of a meeting to follow afterwards. Zelensky, also seated in the front row, wore all-black, but kept his vow not to dress formally until the Russian invasion of his country is history. Upon the Ukrainian leader’s appearance as he was seated, spontaneous applause from the assembled echoed across the plaza, which likely raised Trump’s hackles since he got no recognition.

Not willing to extend the Sign of Peace to former president Biden for such a momentous occasion, Trump declined to allow Biden and his entourage to fly with him on Air Force One to the Pope’s funeral, despite President George W Bush’s precedent of inviting his father and Bill Clinton to accompany him to the funeral Mass of Pope John Paul II in 2005. Trump has kept his predecessor front and center as his scapegoat, with The New York Times keeping score on his mentions of Biden at 300 in the first 50 days since January 20 — as he whines about the porous southern border, calling him “the worst president in American history.” In 2022, Trump mocked then-President Biden for his placement in the 14th row at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, maintaining that it was proof that “there’s no respect for the US anymore,” suggesting that if he were still president, he would have received front-row seating. For the Saturday funeral of Pope Francis, Biden was seated much further back, dressed in his black suit and non-protocol blue tie! Doubtless, the Trump-seating brouhaha would have raised the eyebrows of Pope Francis, who dedicated much political capital into confronting The Don, viewing his immigration policies as “un-Christian” and making his concerns known to JD Vance in the hours before his death. Many are saying that the pope rebuked Trump from beyond the grave through Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re’s homily in the Mass, saying, “Pope Francis incessantly raised his voice, imploring peace and calling for reason and honest negotiation to find possible solutions. ‘Build bridges, not walls,’ was an exhortation he repeated many times.” The Cardinal ensured that Trump’s call for building a border wall got the final criticism from Pope Francis, which the president had called “disgraceful,” labelling the Pope as “a very political person,” who was questioning his faith. There was no missing the finger pointed at Trump in view of the audience of millions worldwide — yep, the so-called world leader in the embarrassing, look-at-me fluorescent blue suit! It’s doubtful the Vatican could have provided a high chair for the occasion.

The Economist magazine blisters Trump with its latest cover, showing an illustration of a wounded and bandaged US eagle, accompanied by the headline, “Only 1,361 Days to go.” Ron Dicker of HuffPost writes, “The Economist is counting the days until President Donald Trump’s second term is over, showing the amount of time left after his first 100 days is up. He has spent his first months dismantling government agencies, sparking a trade war, defying courts over deportations and trying to strong-arm Ukraine into submitting to its invader, Russia. The Economist summed up his strategy in the cover story, which examines the ‘lasting harm’ he has already done: ‘The method is to bend or break the law in a blitz of executive orders and, when the courts catch up, to dare them to defy the president. The theory is one of unconstrained executive power — the idea that, as Richard Nixon suggested, if the president does something then it’s legal.’ This injured eagle might need more than bandages to heal.” Something legal in Trump’s plans is the installation of two 100-foot flagpoles on the White House grounds. On the Jimmy Kimmel Show, Kimmel said, “Trump took a little stroll around the White House, he did a little location scouting just like he would do at one of his golf courses in deciding where to bury an ex-wife.” Kimmel joked that by installing the flagpoles will “clear up a lot of confusion. For years, whenever I’d see a picture of the White House I’d think, ‘Well, that’s a nice building, but what country is it in? You do have to admit, it is crazy the White House doesn’t have a flag — other than that giant one on top of the White House.” He says the new ones will be high enough to be out of Trump’s hugging range.

Raw Story’s David Edwards posts about a historically Jewish newspaper’s comparing President Donald Trump’s tactics to those used by Germany’s Adolf Hitler prior to WWII: In an op-ed for Forward, author Terrence Petty likened Trump’s demonization of his self-declared enemies to Hitler’s attempt to blame Jews for Germany’s loss in WWI — a tactic known as the Dolchstosslegende, or stabbed-in-the-back legend. “Donald Trump has created an American version of the Dolchstosslegende, propagating a myth that the nation is being led to ruination by Joe Biden and the Democrats, prosecutors who go after Trump, judges who go against him, non-MAGA news media, practitioners of ‘wokeism,’ and elite universities, among others,” Petty wrote. “All of this is utter nonsense, of course, but this American S-I-T-B lie is at the core of Trump’s assaults on democracy.” The author compared Hitler’s first speech as chancellor on February 10, 1933, to Trump’s second inaugural address, which he insisted “reads like a S-I-T-B manifesto.” “For many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens, while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair,” said Trump in his January speech. Gazing into the future, Petty warns the US may be going through the early stages of authoritarianism, though he notes, “There are signs of hope with some law firms and universities fighting back against Trump’s efforts to coerce them into bending to his will. Citizens are mobilizing, legions of them taking to the streets in protest of his power grabs. Courts have been ruling against his attempts to subvert the law. But none of this seems to faze him, even as appeals play out in rulings against him — he keeps using his authoritarian jackhammer against the foundations of American democracy.”

From the moment he regained office, Trump has been following the autocrat’s playbook, step-by-step by going after universities for disobeying his decrees. He has extorted law firms for existing staff, or previous staff members, who crossed him, and he has targeted for prosecution former aides who challenged him. He has now arrested a federal judge for not helping him round up migrants for deportation, and attacking the free press for not bending to his will. The first day in office saw him release from prison, hundreds of domestic terrorists who assaulted police officers in his name — now a personal militia. Less than 100 days into his term he is straight-up defying the US Supreme Court and is getting away with it — no one being fined, no one going to jail — and terrifyingly, the American public is oblivious to what’s taking place. Trump creates one ’emergency’ after another — the foreign ‘invasion’ by immigrants seeking safety and a better life as did many of our forebears — hardly an invading army of ‘military-aged men’ as Stephen Miller would have it; then, there’s the ‘energy emergency’ for which Trump is trampling environmental laws to allow an increase in petroleum production; next, we have an ‘economic emergency’ prompting Trump to impose outlandish tariffs on any and all countries, despite the fact that the Constitution grants the power of taxation to the Congress. Neither the Supreme Court nor the Congress has an army or a police force to see that the Constitution is followed, so we all are dependent upon the Executive Branch to honor our laws. Yet, simply by fiat, the president can designate any person or group or court judge, ‘terrorist’ or ‘invader,’ should they protest or rule against his policies, then arresting them and sending them away to his gulag in El Salvador. Alarmist? We need to examine our bias of normalcy, our failures of imagination, and remember January 6, 2021 when he unleashed his violent mob on the Capitol. Harvie Wilkinson who served 41 years on the federal appellate court bench, as a Reagan appointee, asks, “If today the executive claims the right to deport without due process and in disregard of court orders, what assurance will there be tomorrow that it will not deport American citizens and then disclaim responsibility to bring them home? And what assurance shall there be that the executive will not train its broad discretionary powers upon its political enemies? We yet cling to the hope that it is not naïve to believe our good brethren in the executive branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos. This case presents their unique chance to vindicate that value and to summon the best that is within us while there is still time.” Harvie Wilkinson fears for our republic, as we all should be doing.

Trump’s latest attempt to neuter political opposition is his executing yet another memorandum targeting ActBlue, the fundraising platform behind Democratic campaigns and causes, which he claims is accepting foreign contributions, despite the platform’s denial, and an analysis to the contrary by Republican Representative Bryan Stell. The president himself has been accused of accepting Russian bribes, and a political consultant working for Trump-backing Great America PAC, got 18 months in prison for illegally accepting Russian money in 2016. Trump is at present raking in millions from cryptocurrency investors, who are buying his meme coin in a blatantly corrupt pay-to-play effort to meet him, with a dinner and a White House tour — surely with foreign money flowing into his personal coffers. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut wrote on X, “The Trump coin scam is the most brazenly corrupt thing a president has ever done. Not even close.” Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Jake Auchincloss have demanded an investigation into the meme coin scam, but Pam Bondi’s Department of Justice has better things to do, of course. The two Massachusetts Democrats say, “Anyone, including the leaders of hostile nations, can covertly buy these coins, raising the specter of uninhibited and untraceable foreign influence over the President of the US, all while Trump’s supporters are left to shoulder the risk of investing in $Trump and $Melania.” Meanwhile, ActBlue continues to raise massive amounts of money, taking in nearly $500 million in 2025 alone as it gears up for the fight against Trump, not being put off by his bullying tactics. Despite assurances from ActBlue that its service will continue, Democratic strategists are “drafting contingency plans and evaluating other options,” leery of a president who has expressed complete disregard for the rule of law, as he attempts to stamp out all political, electoral and ideological opposition. Cory Archibald, communications director at Turn Left PAC, warned, “There is no other fundraising platform that comes even close to the functionality, security, and stability of ActBlue. Democrats need to democratize their campaign tech, and they need to do it yesterday.”

Meanwhile, Trump is still meddling in Canada’s politics, as he fired off another ultimatum on Truth Social as their polls opened on federal election day: “Good luck to the Great people of Canada. Elect the man who has the strength and wisdom to cut your taxes in half, increase your military power, for free, to the highest level in the World, have your Car, Steel, Aluminum, Lumber, Energy, and all other businesses, QUADRUPLE  in size, WITH ZERO TARIFFS OR TAXES, if Canada becomes the cherished 51st State of the United States of America. No more artificially drawn line from many years ago. Look how beautiful this land mass would be. Free access with NO BORDER. ALL POSITIVES WITH NO NEGATIVES. IT WAS MEANT TO BE! America can no longer subsidize Canada with the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year that we have been spending in the past. It makes no sense unless Canada is a State!” Travis Gettys of Raw Story writes, “The US president has upended relations between the neighboring allies with steep tariffs on Canadian imports and threats to use ‘economic force’ to annex the country as the 51st state.” Thanks to Trump’s policies, analysts at Goldman Sachs estimate the US economy will take a $90 billion hit in lost tourism and export revenue, with many foreign visitors avoiding the US over increased hostility, and reports about Europeans being detained in immigration centers. Canada, in particular, is boycotting US travel and products — with Canadian summer flight reservations seeing a 70% decline, and a 25% decline in bookings from Europe, an overall 10% drop in international visits compared to this same time in 2024. This could amount to an almost $20 billion reduction in international visitor spending.

President Trump maintains he is “actively” negotiating with China on a tariff deal, but China insists his claim is false, and even Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent states that talks have not started. Trump reiterates that President Xi has called him for discussions, with the US president saying, “He’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf,” but no particulars have been provided. Guo Jiakun, of China’s Foreign Ministry, chimed in with his take, saying, “As far as I know, the two heads of state have not called each other recently. I would like to reiterate that China and the US have not conducted consultations on the tariffs issue.” Earlier, the Ministry told the US to be more polite: “If a negotiated solution is truly what the US wants, it should stop threatening and blackmailing China and seek dialogue based on equality, respect, and mutual benefit. To keep asking for a deal while exerting extreme pressure is not the right way to deal with China and simply will not work.” Trump’s threatening ultimatums have produced chaos world-wide, and fear across American political and economic life — a dynamic that could ultimately undo his presidency as many of those tantrums ring hollow, as seen with his easing up on attempting to fire Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell. David Faris, associate professor at Roosevelt University, explains on Slate, how Trump’s “depressingly familiar loop” keeps playing out: “This loop is now standard operating procedure from the most chaotic White House in history. In fact, it seems to be more or less the only move that this iteration of Trump has, one that he is deploying against everyone from Canada to Harvard University. And it is eerily similar to the nuclear strategy concept of ‘escalate to de-escalate’ — using a shocking act of aggression to convince an adversary to negotiate on your terms.”

Faris says Trump’s strategy isn’t quite working for him because his opponents have taken note of his weakness and his administration’s incompetence, so they’ve essentially rerouted their long-range plans around the United States. “Trump is fundamentally a weak, lame-duck president, whose paper-thin margins in Congress and embarrassing ineptitude at staffing his administration and carrying out his policies are not kinks that will be ironed out with time but rather inescapable features of his already unbearable and disastrous presidency. That weakness, and the servile paralysis of Congress, is leading him to try the same blunt maneuver over and over again, with predictably diminishing returns. Rather than doing the painstaking work of enacting his lunatic agenda through that narrowly divided Congress, Trump has been acting, since Day 1, like a leader who has to resort immediately to vindictive threats and massively escalatory decisions to get what he wants. If it was a useful tactic, Russia would already have deployed it against Ukraine, and China would have come to the negotiating table to plead with Trump to reduce tariffs. Issuing a never-ending stream of escalatory and often nonsensical threats is also no way to run a country, and voters are fast coming around to the understanding that they made a terrible mistake putting this senescent maniac back in power in November. It is not clear how the United States will even survive another 44 months of this circus with anything resembling the status quo, or our battered psyches, intact. But if Trump’s incipient authoritarians ever allow another Democrat to be elected president, that person is likely to discover that some of the damage to America’s reputation and interests is irreversible,” contends Faris.

King George III Redux inhabits the Oval Office now that we’ve reached the tipping point separating democracy from a dictatorship! King Donald is openly flouting the courts and the rule of law in deporting US residents to his mega-prison in El Salvador, and is now threatening to do the same to American citizens who displease him, one of the grievances against King George enumerated in the Declaration of Independence. The test case seems to be in the person of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a legal resident of Maryland who was whisked off the streets and sent to the notoriously evil prison in El Salvador…admittedly a mistake as disclosed in court by a Justice Department official, who was then axed from the job for committing such an error against the administration. In an Oval Office meeting with Salvadoran dictator Nayib Bukele, Trump declared that, “the homegrowns are next…you gotta build about five more places…it’s not big enough.” If Abrego Garcia can be kidnapped and flown to a foreign country’s prison, then American citizens are in jeopardy. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, “The Government’s argument…implies that it could deport and incarcerate any person, including US citizens, without legal consequence, so long as it does so before a court can intervene.” Alaska’s Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, said, “we’re all afraid” of freely speaking out against Trump, simply because she knows from experience that he will respond with petty vengeance and irrational retribution. She, along with every GOP officeholder, is responsible in some fashion for the destructive rise of Trumpism, so it would be remarkable for any one of them to speak up about the dismantling of our democracy. Murkowski sees that the fear of Trump has risen by degrees not seen before, admitting that she is “oftentimes very anxious” about speaking out, even though she has been one of the foremost critics in her party. Responding to a question from her audience about how we should address people who are fearful of the current political climate, her response was, “We are all afraid.” Allowing that statement to briefly sink in, she then said, “It’s quite a statement. We’re in a time and place where — I don’t know, I certainly have not — I have not been here before. And I’ll tell you, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice because retaliation is real. And that’s not right. But that’s what you’ve asked me to do and so I’m going to use my voice to the best of my ability.”

Matt Kerbel from Wolves and Sheep on Substack, writes, “This is a very revealing response, and it seems as though Murkowski recognizes in real time just how revealing it is for a US senator to admit to a constituent she is afraid to use her platform for fear of retaliation and she doesn’t know what to do about it.” Kerbel surmises that she isn’t necessarily worried about political retaliation, since she lost her Republican primary in 2010, but then won re-election through a write-in campaign — a somewhat amazing feat to get over 100,000 voters to spell her name correctly on the ballot — she is worried about her personal safety! Trump’s vindictiveness could also cause problems for Alaska, her constituents and their businesses. Kerbel says, “She is also pulling off the cover of Washington Republicans who are expressing their fears in private.” She expressly said, “We are ALL afraid.” The writer asks, “Is it not right that retaliation is real? That’s what Murkowski appears to be saying, and it is inarguably true. But is she also recognizing as she speaks that it is not right to hold a position of power and be afraid to use it? As Murkowski pivots back to the constituents question, she leaves the impression that what’s not right is her reluctance to speak out.” As she confesses being anxious about herself and using her voice, she then assures her audience, “But that’s what you’ve asked me to do.” Kerbel accuses her of saying less than she probably thinks she does, as she shifts to the future tense, acknowledging things left undone, with a promise that she will do more. He speculates that she will keep a low profile and talk to her colleagues, be a charmer without upsetting the relationships she has built — but in the end, she doesn’t know, and for the sake of the country she needs to figure it out fast. “She will not find an easy answer. But we have reached a moment when, and if, she cannot embrace the uncomfortable, then perhaps the answer is to step aside for someone who can — or let the voters do it next year,” Kerbel concludes.

Murkowski has repeatedly criticized the Trump administration’s policies and the mindless devotion of those within the GOP. She has rebuked the president for casting aside our allies in his alignment with dictator Vladimir Putin, and for his Oval Office performance against Ukraine’s Zelensky. Her opposition to Elon Musk and his DOGE chainsaw’s destruction of government agencies she describes, “as hard as anything I’ve engaged in in the 20-plus years in the Senate,” when she has to face constituents who have been fired from their positions without notice, afraid to speak up from fears of retaliation. Trump backed a challenger in her 2022 reelection campaign, but she was able to be victorious, and even if Musk steps up to finance a challenger for her post, that would not be until 2028. Stephen Colbert, on The Late Show, said the ‘administrative error’ that sent Kilmar Abrego Garcia to rot in the El Salvador prison was a “mistake made on purpose” as a way to publicly threaten American citizens with with same fate. “We’re not on our way to a dictator-ship, we’re on the ship,” as he pondered whether there might be a “break-glass-if-Constitution-stops-working-mechanism.” Colbert also offered his take on Trump’s physician’s comments after the recent physical exam, referring to the president’s “active lifestyle,” especially his “frequent victories in golf events” which contribute to Trump’s well-being. Colbert’s rendering of the statement: “His well-being is also due to a cruel, indifferent universe where good, hardworking people are routinely diagnosed with terminal illnesses, but an objectively evil monster who only eats cheeseburgers and fried chicken lives forever. The world is chaos. There is no God, proven by his frequent victories in golf events.”

Of course the taxpayer is picking up the bill for Trump’s medical care, and also for the physician who narrates the president’s canned, prepared statement on his outstanding condition following the ‘exam.’ Coincidentally, Trump recently signed yet another executive order, this one aiming at a delay in Medicare negotiations for a broad category of prescription drugs, all in response to a lobbying campaign by Big Pharma to fight efforts to rein in its pricing policies. The order, entitled “Lowering Drug Prices by Once Again Putting Americans First,”  puts Robert F Kennedy Jr in the forefront to work with Congress to “modify” price negotiations as established under the Biden administration — negotiations which had previously yielded worthy results, despite the industry’s efforts to have the courts overturn the outcome. One specific aspect of the order calls for a four-year extension of the period during which small-molecule prescription drugs are exempt from price negotiations with Medicare, usually not for a period of nine years after FDA approval. Small-molecule drugs, usually taken in pill form, represent 90% of medications currently in circulation, so the four-year extension represents a significant span in which to earn even more profits. Drug policy advocate Steve Knievel, of Public Citizen, warns that by pushing back negotiation dates for drugs will likely reverse any recent progress on this issue, doing the opposite of the executive order’s loftily titled goal. Knievel sees Trump’s proposal undermining Biden’s singular achievement to address forty years of Big Pharma’s price gouging, a “total capitulation to the demands of drug corporation lobbyists that want to continue to overcharge Medicare beneficiaries and taxpayers.” The advocacy group ‘Protect Our Care’ said, “Trump just caved to Big Pharma — again. The only winners here are the drug companies.” A group called ‘Seniors 4 Better Care’ is revealed to be a front for a lobbyist-led shell group called the ‘American Prosperity Alliance,’ and its ads deceptively appear to be targeting Trump and his MAGA group, while GOP lawmakers receive pharmaceutical industry campaign cash to support the objectives laid out in Trump’s order, which only echoes lobbyist’s language against any negotiations. Merith Basey of ‘Patients for Affordable Drugs,’ says, “This is yet another attempt by Big Pharma to rig the system in its favor — at the expense of patients.”

Gregg Gonsalves writes in The Nation, “The scope and scale of attacks on the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the firings of thousands of staff, and the broader shutdown of programs and slashing of budgets across HHS are unprecedented. Institutions are reeling, imperiling frontline work to protect public health and aborting progress on new advances in the treatment and prevention of infectious and chronic diseases.” Gonsalves questions ‘why’ this is being done, “some framing the cuts as a response to Kennedy’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ agenda, or an attempt to downsize a government gone wild — anything to try to shoehorn the rationale for these actions into some sort of standard, political logic.” What he sees “is a purge of the administrative state, of universities, of expertise, consistent with China’s Cultural Revolution, or the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia as it dismantled the tsarist civil service, and sans the bloodshed of those events, the comparison is still relevant.” “The goal is to get rid of an entire set of people and institutions in the service of a radical ideology. While the short-term effects of the administration’s policies have been well-articulated, the long-term ones are just as chilling. In less than 100 days, President Trump has created a lasting legacy: We have lost a generation of expertise, of systems built up to care for our nation and provide for our collective future in terms of scientific advances,” he writes. If Trump is gone from the scene, these resources won’t just spring back to life — people are seeking other opportunities, students and trainees are missing their chances to enter their chosen professions and they won’t wait around indefinitely for the political winds to change. Gonsalves says some government agency officials are being offered positions in remote areas of Alaska or Montana to remain in federal service, the consolation being that they aren’t getting a bullet to the head as they are marched into the countryside to face a kind of exile. He writes, “We’re in deep trouble. The midterms, the 2028 elections, should they change the balance of power in Congress or who is in the White House, all come too late. The patient is bleeding out in the waiting room. American science, public health, and healthcare will be damaged for a generation or more.” Answering the ‘why’ this is being done, he concludes, “Because this is what they want — psychologies or philosophies are irrelevant at this moment. We are living through times that are now focused on destruction as a central goal, meant to inflict pain and suffering on millions now and into the future, long after THEY are gone.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is seeing incoming flak after his claims last week regarding what people living with autism CAN’T do, getting slammed after asserting that the disorder is “preventable” and on an epidemic scale in the US. In a press conference, Kennedy quacked that, “These are kids who will never pay taxes,” which prompted Ronny Chieng of the Daily Show to ask, “Wait, that’s what you’re going to lead with? That’s like a big tragedy for you? It’s not even accurate, I mean, autistic people do pay taxes. Are you thinking of art history majors?” Chieng then played a video of conspiracy theorist Kennedy babbling, “They’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go out on a date.” Chieng blasted RFK’s claims as “ridiculous,” saying, “Autistic kids will never write poems? Well, who wants kids to write more poems? That’s something we SHOULD be preventing. Who even made RFK the judge of what makes life worth living? I’m sorry they’ll never know the joy of planting bear carcasses in Central Park.” Rex Huppke of USA Today quotes in his column, Dr. Eric Fombonne, an autism researcher and professor emeritus at Oregon Health and Science University, “Of course it’s ridiculous. If it’s coming from the mouth of the guy who drinks raw milk and brags about eating roadkill, there’s a near-100% chance it’s going to be ridiculous.” Huppke reminds us to not forget who wanted the charlatan in charge of HHS: “This is the Republican Party’s guy. They signed, sealed and delivered him, handing our nation’s health to a snake-oil salesman.”

Under the draconian DOGE budget cuts, the Administration for Community Living will be disbanded and its so-called ‘critical’ programs will be integrated into other HHS agencies — the most important of these being ‘Meals on Wheels,’ known for providing more than 261 million meals to older adults, assistance such as respite care for over 1.5 million family caregivers, and independent-living services to almost 250,000 people with disabilities in 2022 alone. The ACL is budgeted only $2.5 million a year, so it remains to be seen if this is considered a ‘critical program,’ despite Trump’s claim, “We love our seniors.” Richard Festa, executive director of advocacy group ‘Alliance for Retired Americans’ says those are empty words played against the drastic cuts already seen at HHS, leaving many to go hungry due to the needless cuts. Elon Musk’s DOGE posse has already cut billions in funding for maternal health care, research and community programs, leaving providers struggling and expectant mothers without critical care — Brooklyn-based maternal health advocate, Sevonna Brown, had to immediately stop her work after DOGE froze more than $2 million in funding – all this in spite of Musk’s claim that declining birth rates worldwide is a threat to civilization. Time for Musk to go for child number 15? On his show, Jimmy Kimmel reported that Elon has fathered “many mini-Musks” in order to “seed the world in his own image” — not surprising to Kimmel since we already know “he loves babies,” having spent $300 million to get one elected president. Kimmel reports that The Wall Street Journal published “a bonkers account of Musk’s efforts” to recruit women to carry his children, and then buys their silence with multi-million dollar nondisclosure agreements, with sources saying there could be “many more mini-Musks out there that no one knows about.” Kimmel asks, “Who says romance is dead? You’ve heard of ‘Alien v. Predator? Elon might be both.”

The satirical Borowitz Report has Andy writing: “A South African man who invested millions in Donald J Trump is in a ‘state of shock’ after losing a fortune, the man said on Monday. ‘I’m still trying to process what went wrong,’ he said. ‘If Donald Trump can’t make money, who can?’ The man said he was ‘baffled’ that his investment had soured, given Trump’s ‘unparalleled track record of business success.’ ‘I just don’t understand how this happened,’ he said. ‘He seemed so smart on The Apprentice.'”

With the April 15 tax filing deadline behind us, Helaine Olen, managing editor of the American Economic Liberties Project, reports that Intuit, parent company of TurboTax has received its tax refund — in a manner of speaking. TurboTax has spent two decades lobbying against the IRS making it easier for people to file taxes online, and it seems that Intuit’s $1 million donation to Trump’s inauguration committee has done the trick — while claiming the donation was “part of our decades-long commitment to bipartisan advocacy.” The trick is on the American taxpayer who will no longer be able to file simple tax returns online for free, with the administration’s elimination of the IRS’ Direct File program. The National Retail Federation’s annual tax return survey says that 40% of US adults will prepare taxes themselves using computer software, which is a $31 billion market for Intuit and H&R Block, after Americans have spent 1.7 billion hours preparing their returns. Contrast this to more than three dozen countries where government sends eligible taxpayers a pre-filled return, which the filer signs and returns if it is accurate — if not, the taxpayer can dispute it. During the Clinton administration, Congress passed a law ordering the IRS to come up with, by 2008, a ‘return free’ offering for people with simple returns — the clock is still ticking on that. Such a system would not be difficult to create, since we are simply sending the government information it already has on W2 and 1099 forms — the complexity lies with the tax prep industry who earn huge profits by charging to perform a service which should cost nothing — it’s all just a make-work scheme even if we don’t see the truth — but now we don’t even have the free option. Enjoy your refund, TurboTax — baby needs new shoes, or maybe a Tesla.

Here’s one to keep an eye on: Trump’s MAGA team has contacted the IRS to review audits of “high profile” friends of the president, one friend being conspiracy theorist Mike ‘My Pillow’ Lindell. Mikey has told a judge that he’s struggling to pay court-imposed sanctions because his finances are “in ruins” and his credit rating has hit bottom among lenders, and is now unable settle with voting software company Smartmatic. With friends in high places, Lindell may not have to face the pending audit at the IRS, but it is suggested this is all just a misunderstanding and that Treasury may have ‘misconstrued’ the request, having to do with Employee Retention Credit from having to lay off hundreds of employees. Accused of failing to hand over financial documents to the court, Lindell claims he has nothing to hide. “They’re not going to silence me. I will keep going until we get to paper ballots being hand-counted and melt these voting machines down and turn them into prison bars,” he said. Jimmy Kimmel joked, “Lindell may be the only person on Earth whose life was better when he was smoking crack.” Watch this space!

GRIFTING GOLF, BUBBA’S SHRIMP, SWEET KKKAROLINE, BE COOL!

Despite the panic on Wall Street over the Trump tariffs fiasco, the president claimed he was “doing just fine” leading up to his annual physical exam on Friday, posting on Truth Social that he “never felt better,” and that the visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center “must be done.” Jimmy Kimmel said on his show, “It’s funny ’cause the rest of us have never felt worse,” predicting Trump would get an “excellent” report if it should be released — pointing out that his promised release of medical records during the 2024 campaign never happened. Kimmel quipped, “Let me guess, his physical strength and stamina are extraordinary, his blood pressure is astonishing and he is by far the healthiest president to have single-handedly tanked the world economy overnight. This man has the Diet Coke button-pressing strength of a man half his age.” Since the July assassination attempt, though Trump’s stamina and strength have been scrutinized, Dr. Marc Siegel says the miraculous survival showed an “adroitness” in the MAGAt leader. Last October over 230 doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals asked for a release of records, with supporters of VP Kamala Harris claiming, “With no recent disclosure of health information from Donald Trump, we are left to extrapolate from public appearances. And on that front, Trump is falling concerningly short of any standard of fitness for office and displaying alarming characteristics of declining acuity.” In November, Florida neurosurgeon Dr. Brett Osborn told Fox News Digital that the president remained in good health, and, “The fact that he attended 120 events in seven months, often multiple rallies in a single day in different states, is proof-positive that Trump has a tremendous amount of stamina, mentally and physically.”

As expected, the Sunday following the Medical Center exam, the White House physician released a memorandum declaring Donald Trump “fully fit” to perform the duties of the presidency, citing his “frequent victories” in golf tournaments as evidence of his robust health. The memo included details of lab work, physical exams, a skin exam and a cognitive test, conjecturing (considering that Trump himself filled in some of the blanks on the document) that The Don is in “excellent health.” Alexa Lisitza reports on BuzzFeed that the president has reportedly spent 18 out of his first 69 days in office on one of his golf courses — working on his swing one-fourth of his second term. From a 2019 Government Accountability Office report, a HuffPost analysis concludes his golf outings have cost the taxpayers about $26,127,531. Social media comments called taxpayer money used on golfing as wasteful, and that DOGE should be looking into reducing this waste of funds, especially since the outings are taking place at Trump-owned facilities where significant chunks of money go directly into his pockets since his entourage of staff and secret service must use the golf carts and other club amenities — no discounts for the help! Another post called his golf habits “the least of my worries, when he’s talking about a third term, with conservatives pretending they care about the Constitution when they demonstrably don’t.” “I’m far less concerned about him golfing than I am with him kicking off wars all across the globe with former allies. Quite frankly, him wasting time golfing is time he isn’t signing more fascist executive orders,” contributed another. Many prefer that he remain on the greens, summed up by UmpireMental7070: “I wish he’d play golf every day. He does less damage to my retirement fund there.”

Chris Hayes of MSNBC’s ‘All In With Chris Hayes’ sees Trump running the US economy like a mad king, saying, “You cannot build a factory or set up a supply line if there’s someone in charge who might burn it down today, or tomorrow, or in 90 days.” Making the US economy analogous to a house in which Trump ignited a fire with his sweeping tariffs, only to watch it burn until he lost his nerve, Hayes says he put out most of that fire, desiring high praise for doing so. Now we’re left with partial, smoldering destruction, unsure of its habitability or whether or not another torch will be thrown into it. Nobody knows, as the domestic and world markets soothe the burns of a loss of over $10 trillion in value following Trump’s initial announcement. Stocks tumbled the day following, and with White House Press Secretary Leavitt’s statement that the president would not change his course, the third day brought another stock plummet — followed by Trump’s social media post asking everyone to “BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well.” A few minutes later he posted a hot stock tip, “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!” Hours later, Trump got cold feet and authorized a 90 day pause on the tariffs, but not before many government officials had taken his hot stock tip seriously and loaded up their portfolios with depressed stocks just in the nick of time as markets rebounded dramatically. Hayes calls Trump, “One erratic man with unilateral power who flits from whim to whim, imposing whatever tariffs he wants whenever he feels like it, doing it mostly to feel powerful and respected to have the rest of the world ‘kiss his butt.’ He is so pleased with himself for saving a few rooms in the house he set on fire. He is also deluded. Prices are still almost certainly going to rise, and growth is likely going to fall. We are still in for that pain. The threat of a global trade war still exists. Fox Business’ Charles Gasparino alleged Trump backed down because…it could destabilize the debt of the US federal government.” Little known fact from history: As Rome burned, Nero signed an executive order on improving shower heads.

A large holder of US bonds — Japan — was allegedly ‘dumping’ its bonds, forcing the administration’s hand. T-Bonds are a foundational asset of the entire global financial system, a famously safe haven in uncertain times, contributing to America’s status as a superpower, with China and Japan being the biggest holders — and not very appreciative of Trump’s antagonistic moves. So with their dumping of bonds, Trump admitted that these actions contributed to his 90-day pause of tariffs, saying, “They were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid…the bond market is very tricky. I was watching it. But if you look at it now, it’s beautiful…I saw last night where people were getting a little queasy.” Chris Hayes says, “Trump thinks that by pressing the PAUSE button and goosing stocks, he has fixed everything. But that gets at another reason why demand for American Treasury bonds is down: the full faith and credit of the US is not what it used to be — not when it is entirely bound up in the whims of one man. You cannot run a national economy — much less a global economy — based on how Trump is feeling and who is kissing his butt from hour to hour.” Stephen Colbert commented on Trump’s ‘BE COOL’ post and his remark that people were “getting yippy,” saying, “Yeah, exactly, Russia was watching Trump tank the economy and going, ‘Yippee!'” On Trump’s boast that the markets had the “biggest day in financial history,” with the S&P 500 index making its largest gain since WWII, Colbert pointed out that ‘biggest’ isn’t the same as ‘best.’ “That’s why on Mother’s Day you don’t give her a mug that says, ‘World’s Biggest Mom,'” he cracked.

A writer on Quora posts: “Our reputation will lie in tatters. Our economy will almost certainly be smaller. Prices will be higher, so quality of living will drop. But that’s the easy part of the forecast. The harder bit? How long it will take to recover. One of the things we learned in Trump’s first term is that a lot of things we thought were laws were really norms that could be ignored by a man without shame or decency. I expected Biden’s four years would be filled with patching those holes, though to a lot of progress was not made due to the split in Congress. Then Retribution Trump returns, and this time even things that are clearly against the law are being violated with impunity. Congress has rendered itself irrelevant, and Trump is now taking aim at both lawyers and the federal courts — which Mike Johnson suggested they just might get rid of, three co-equal branches of government notwithstanding. And we’re only two months in. At this pace, it’s hard to imagine how little of our core principles will be done by the time The First Convicted Felon finishes raping the country. And getting consensus on how to fix the foundational damage will be made worse by the economic issues listed at the outset, as No-One-Has-Time-For-That when you’re struggling to put food on the table. I’ve been asking some smart people how long it will take us to recover. Even among the most optimistic, the fastest prediction I’ve heard is 25 years. Most say, ‘not in my lifetime.’ Which is terrifying.”

Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update host, Colin Jost, started off the segment last week quipping that POTUS “tried to rescue the economy from the disastrous policies of whoever was president last week” with the 90-day tariff delay, and saying, “It’s like listening to Bubba Gump talk about shrimp.” About Trump’s statement that the economic downturn was like treating an ailment, co-host Michael Che declared, “Yeah, but this feels like we took a whole bottle of medicine with a glass of vodka and laid in a warm bath.” Che got a rise from the audience with his one-liner: “It was reported that Elon Musk personally appealed to President Trump to stop his tariff plan, and it worked! The stock market went up like this,” as a photo of Musk and his infamous Nazi-like salute appeared on-screen. Jost ripped Trump and his chaotic tariffs, as well as the tech CEOs who claimed not to see it coming. “The CEOs of many tech companies who supported President Trump’s campaign have said they were surprised by all of his tariffs — well, yeah, I mean, he hardly ever mentioned them,” he said, which was then followed by a video montage of 2024 campaign promises about tariffs he would enforce if elected. The montage concluded with Trump maintaining, “I love tariffs!” Jost added, “Trump announced he was pausing most tariffs for 90 days. Now, 90 days may not seem like a long time, but remember: Trump has only been president for 82 days. Already it feels like a goddamned decade.” Che addressed Trump’s argument that it would be better if America manufactured all its own products, saying, “A new report shows that if iPhones were manufactured in the US, they could cost up to $3,500, which is a lot, but remember: your kids would get an employee discount.”

Jon Stewart in his Daily Show opening recently, said, “Our economy is in the midst of a beautiful metamorphosis, turning from a simple caterpillar into a dead caterpillar,” as he introduced a new segment called ‘Trade Wars.’ Stewart derided Trump with a news clip of a Truth Social post reading, “Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid. Don’t be a PANICAN,” as he suggested better nicknames such as ‘hystericats,’ ‘Repussicans,’ and ‘cryin-tologists,’ suggesting Trump’s nickname factory must have been shut down in the tariff war. To the lack of response from Republicans, who don’t seem fazed by the economic ripples, Stewart says, “You are all acting like the tariff regime is a tried-and-true remedy. Oh, and of course, this is the medicine that’s always prescribed! Except the last time it was tried 100 years ago we had a Great Depression.” He closed his monologue by musing on the overall issue with the tariffs. “We continue to blame everybody else in the world that we designed and policed after WWII. We’re the richest country in the world, ever! We’re not the world’s victims. If we have inequalities in this country, that’s on us. It’s not a supply problem, it’s not fair trade for the most part. It’s an investment and distribution problem — it’s our fault. And it’s not saying we can’t make adjustments and renegotiate things, but it didn’t have to be this reckless. You killed the hostage and then went, ‘Oh, ransom?’ Hey mom, look, no economy!”

Tom Boggioni writes in his piece on Raw Story, that White House insiders have no clue what Trump’s tariff endgame will be. Politico’s White House Bureau Chief Dasha Burns was asked where the president sees the tariff game going, or is it just sort of ‘every day is another adventure?’ Her reply: “Well, he said this week it’s all about instinct, right? Look, remember how much we were reporting at the outset of this administration that chaos is the strategy? That’s how he’s going about what he’s doing with DOGE. That’s how he’s going about so many aspects of his agenda. He’s doing that with tariffs as well. He wants to keep everyone off balance, he want people to come to the table and negotiate and wonder, you know, how they’re going to do with the White House. The problem is that uncertainty and chaos is not good for markets. It’s not good for consumers and it’s certainly not good for the global economic order and the question of what the endgame is. I think a lot of people around Trump are asking themselves the same thing right now.” Fox News contributor Karl Rove advised President Trump and his administration to stop all the ‘happy talk’ as concerns over the economy grow, urging the White House to ‘temper’ its language around tariffs. Rove explained that consumer sentiment has dropped by 11 points in the last month according to the University of Michigan index, only being worse during the 2008 recession. Rove reminds us: “The important thing to remember is trade makes us richer.”

White House Press Secretary KKKaroline Leavitt was asked why consumer confidence was so low, only to reiterate Trump’s claim that this marked a “period of transition,” and that he “wants consumers to trust in him,” and they should trust in him. “I think there’s great optimism in this economy, great optimism for the American people, a lot of reason for the people to feel optimistic. The president made it very clear when the US is punched, he will punch back harder.”  A writer on Quora posts that “whether Leavitt attended Harvard, or Yale, or a community college isn’t important and it doesn’t appear on her résumé since the job qualifications needed are few — needing only to be a loyal Trump supporter, able to regurgitate everything he says. You can see by the irritable way she responds to questions, even thought that’s her job, that she is simply repeating trigger words and phrases — repeat, defend and praise. That’s it, except for the interjection of a scowl or a condescending remark, or a derogatory comment about Joe Biden which likely gets her brownie points from Daddy, and especially if she makes sure to be rude to as many people as possible while ‘answering questions.’ She doesn’t have to be good at her job as far as providing factual information — she has been proven wrong right to her face as she spews lies to the public. Her job is to honor and worship Trump, promote his false sense of reality, be nasty to any members of the press who oppose his viewpoint, and blame everyone else — no college degree necessary.”

And speaking of education, Education Secretary Linda McMahon spoke on an educational panel last week where she reportedly mistook artificial intelligence (AI) for A.1. Steak Sauce. While discussing the impact of AI on future education and workforce skills innovations, she confused the vinegar-based condiment with artificial intelligence, making the same error repeatedly as she spoke — a bit of an oversight to the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment. “Kids are sponges. They just absorb everything. It wasn’t all that long ago that it was, ‘We’re going to have internet in our schools! Now let’s see A1 and how that can be helpful.” Even though the neighborhood kids come home reeking of vinegar, if it’s beneficial, who’s to say otherwise? McMahon’s blunder went viral, and A.1.’s marketing team seized the day by creating an image of a new bottle of their sauce reading, ‘For education purposes only,’ posting it on the company’s Instagram account with the text, ‘Agree, Best To Start Them Early.’ Social media exploded with roasts, critiquing her intelligence, with one person posting, “We’re ruled by the stupidest, most incompetent people in the world,” and another wrote that A.1. Sauce “will help students, and the smarter kids can move up to Thousand Island Dressing.” McMahon is working to dismantle public education and it’s encouraging that she evidently has a head start on everyone.

Satirist Andy Borowitz writes in his The Borowitz Report, that “Attorney General Pam Bondi found a ‘serious breach of the Department of Justice’s code of conduct,’ and that she had terminated a career DOJ employee who was caught with a copy of the US Constitution on his desk. Bondi said that the employee, who had worked at the department for 37 years, had ‘raised suspicions’ by using ‘telltale phrases like due process’ in DOJ memos. At Bondi’s direction, US marshals ransacked his office, discovered the offending document, and frog-marched him out of the building. Bondi took the opportunity to remind all DOJ staffers that the US Constitution is on the Republican Party’s banned reading list.” Earlier this month, the US Naval Academy removed 381 books from its library shelves in response to President Trump’s executive order banning diversity, equity, and inclusion materials and policies in federal facilities. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the Academy to review its titles listings and remove books promoting DEI, whereupon the Academy officials identified nearly 900 books for review, afterward releasing the list of the 381 removed items. Trump’s order against DEI did not apply to US military academies, but Hegseth took it upon himself to order complete compliance, prompting school officials to also remove historic items honoring Jewish female academy graduates, later declared a mistake, with steps being taken to restore the removed pieces. Hegseth’s aggressive push to erase DEI programs and online content has been met with questions from angry lawmakers, local leaders, and citizens over the removal of military heroes and historic mentions from Defense Department websites and social media pages. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was quick to point out that Hegseth and the Naval Academy bans works by Maya Angelou, and works on slavery, the civil rights movement and the Holocaust, but excludes Adolf Hitler from its directive. Watch this space…and watch for lots of smoke from the burning pyres.

In an opening monologue last week, Michael Kosta on The Daily Show summed up the first seventy-five days of the Trump administration coup with, “The second Trump administration is off to a roaring start — if you don’t count the economy, inflation, rampant corruption, cyberbullying of allied nations, and we’re all gonna die of measles.” Addressing Trump’s so-called ‘Liberation Day‘ tariffs, Kosta responded to the president’s Truth Social all-caps post (“THE OPERATION IS OVER! THE PATIENT LIVED, AND IS HEALING. THE PROGNOSIS IS THAT THE PATIENT WILL BE FAR STRONGER, BIGGER, BETTER, AND MORE RESILIENT THAN EVER BEFORE. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”), with a deadpanning, “Boy, I feel so much better now.” He advised viewers not to panic about economists’ warnings of a tariff-caused global recession by assuring them that “Trump’s habit of speaking soothing words of comfort in times of need” would see them through the tough times. “Always reassuring when the surgeon comes out screaming at the top his lungs, ‘THE PATIENT IF FINE, EVERYTHING IS GOING GREAT. DOES ANYBODY HAVE A MOP?”, he said, mimicking Trump’s all-caps post. He added, “The thing is, the patient didn’t need major surgery. We just needed a teeth cleaning, keep it clean and shiny. No one wants to wake up from heart surgery to their dental hygienist shouting, ‘I THINK HE’S GOING TO LIVE!'”

Trump kicked off his televised ‘Liberation Day‘ tariffs fiasco with a board charting the list winners and losers among the global community, “like a Hollywood game show host,” wrote David Gardner on The Daily Beast. Gardner described the president as being spray-tanned with lacquered hair, gesticulating and bragging as he unveiled the numbers matching his international contestants in his trade revolution. His catchphrase was, “Let’s make America Wealthy Again,” as world leaders looked on in disbelief, and as the stock market started its tumble, with the dollar sliding worldwide. The tariff percentages ranged from a benign ten percent up to a mind-boggling forty-nine percent, which fell onto Cambodia which charges the US ninety-seven percent according to The Don. Trump’s complaint about “foreign scavengers ripping us off for years” revealed that he was being “kind” by charging the “nations that treat us badly” only about half what they supposedly charge us. What a considerate guy, eh? With his game show host smile he added, “We’re going to start being smart, and we’re going to start being very wealthy again.” He is piling onto China a thirty-four percent tariff on top of the twenty percent already being charged Beijing — claiming that President Xi Jinping should be satisfied since they charge us sixty-seven percent, says the chart-bearing Teletubby. One notable omission on the president’s chart: Russia, along with Cuba, North Korea and Belarus. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained that those exclusions are because existing economic sanctions already imposed “preclude any meaningful trade.” Watch this space!

Objections to the glut of tariffs quickly came to the fore, with Ross Gerber of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management calling the action “a disaster of idiocy,” and even Republican senators Rand Paul and John Kennedy expressing concern at this major escalation in a global trade war which will soon impact American consumers. Gerber, a major investor in Tesla, being interviewed by CNN’s Laura Coates, could only foresee gloom and doom as he sought a silver lining in the long term. His short term worries aren’t causing him to panic, but he cautions, “We went from almost an ideal market environment over the last year or two, to now complete and utter sort of destruction of the system of trade that we’ve had for a very long time, that has benefitted America greatly with lower prices! That’s the whole reason that this is set up the way it is.” Even Musk’s expected exit from the White House would not be enough to turn Tesla’s fortunes toward positive territory, according to Gerber — Tesla needs a new face to regain stability. His anger at Musk has little to do with his DOGE organization’s haphazard slashing of government agencies, but with his constant delivery of insulting comments toward people, and should he step away from his government position, Gerber doubts that Musk’s attention would be refocused on autos, which has seen neglect for years, but on xAI and other artificial intelligence projects. “It’s not a great time to buy the stock,” he advises. Musk’s only addition to the Tesla lineup since buying the company, has been the Cybertruck which seems to be in constant recall, especially since the glued-on parts are falling off the vehicles as they are driven, so most now view the brand as broken and unfixable.

Because Trump included two rocky and remote islands near Antarctica inhabited only by penguins and seals, with ten percent tariffs, he has provided us with some hilarity in spite of his ego-driven disaster. Heard and McDonald islands are not countries, though he may have mistakenly thought McDonald Island was the home of the Big Mac, from which he might have extracted favors in subsequent negotiations. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow noted that it takes two weeks by sea to get there from Australia — no scheduled airlines and no airports for that quick weekend getaway! She points out that active volcanoes pose a problem, adding, “Those volcanoes, penguins and seals will never menace the American economy again, as they have in the past, by flooding us with their cheap exports of what? Like, fresh air, cool breezes, a waft of eau de penguin, I don’t know. What do they send us? Are you tired of winning, America? Can you just feel the practical economic benefits that MAGA leadership is bringing to us at last? Isn’t it a relief?” The mockery continued with former Representative Tom Malinowski of New Jersey posting, “The Heard Island and McDonald penguins have been taking advantage of us for too long — it’s about time we stood up to them!”

Economists have sounded the alarm over the past few weeks, that any new tariffs will spike prices for domestic consumer products, with import businesses taking on those costs, but then charging customers higher prices to make up for the import costs. Democratic strategist James Carville said, “There’s no policy behind it. It’s just Trump’s ego playing itself out in public, and I think voters are getting very, very apprehensive about this. These policies will hurt a ton of people with new financial burdens you can’t imagine.” He commented that even the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board, some of the most conservative people in the country, shared that concern. Following Trump’s big announcement was a cratering of the stock market the day after, as fears of global economic slowdown brought the worst day of loss since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down four percent, losing almost 1700 points, with the S&P 500 down 4.8 percent and the Nasdaq down six percent, marking new lows for Wall Street after months of speculation about Trump’s trade agenda. In his analysis, Michael Arone of State Street Global Advisors said, “The Trump administration may be playing a game of chicken with trading partners, but market participants aren’t willing to wait around for the results. Instead, investors are selling first and asking questions later.”

Trump is quoted as saying, “The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom. And the rest of the world wants to see if there’s any way they can make a deal.” In the meantime the markets are going ‘BOOM‘ or as Stephen Colbert terms it: “the traditional sound when everything stays intact.” The administration’s officials have diverse messages regarding any deal-making, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick offering conflicting guidance stressing no “backing off” on tariffs, but that deals could be a possibility. Lutnick said, “This stuff has got to stop. America has got to stop being exploited, and you’re going to see America prosper. And then, and only then, will Donald Trump make a deal with each country when they’ve really, really changed their ways. That’s not ‘back off.’ That is, let the dealmaker make his deals when, and only if, these countries change everything about themselves, which I doubt they will.”

The Associated Press called Trump’s sweeping new tariffs “a historic tax hike that could push global order to a breaking point,” about which John Stoehr of The Editorial Board asks, “Why are we still wondering what Trump voters want? He promised. He delivered. What’s the mystery? I ask, because our discourse seems to be invested in the idea that his supporters don’t really want this, and I just don’t mean his hardcore supporters. Resolving this tension is important. The Democrats believe if they can show Trump is going to make things more expensive, they can get them to support Democrats in the midterms. But conventional wisdom also asks us to do something we should not do…treat Trump supporters as if they didn’t understand what they were getting into…treating them like children, that they can’t be responsible for what they did. We shouldn’t do that. Treat them as adults who have THEIR way of understanding tariffs…look at it this way — Trump supporters are going to trust him no matter how incoherent, no matter how dumb…the dumber and more incoherent, the more they trust. His choices trigger reactions, forcing people to choose between those who say tariffs are a tax, or trusting Trump who says it’s a tax cut. Trump has swept them up in his story of a cosmic battle between good and evil, in which the chosen people have been taken advantage of by ‘globalists,’ trying to replace them with foreigners who are ‘poisoning the blood’ of the US, leading toward destruction. The story can be told in a way that appeals to everyone, even nonwhites — the challenge isn’t just hardcore supporters. It’s swing voters, too. Liberation requires personal sacrifice and ‘short term pain.’ So if supporters end up recognizing that policies are impoverishing them, they almost certainly will not attribute their suffering to him — they will blame whomever he tells them to, hence his use of emergency powers usually reserved for wartime. Suffering Trump supporters will bind themselves closely to the president, using this as proof of patriotism and devotion to the cause of justice, with their savior the only one who can relieve them of their condition.”

Stoehr concludes with his observation that the last election was about money — not in the way most may think. “The economy was booming, inflation was down, wages were up, unemployment had rarely been lower — Joe Biden really did grow the economy…almost everyone prospered. But that may have been the problem, because he did more than any president to expand the economic pie to include all those who are usually left behind, especially Black people — Whites feel something is wrong, that something is being taken from them, someone is cheating them, despite their own prosperity. It’s white-power’s zero sum — if America includes ‘them,’ it excludes ‘us.’ Democrats’ beliefs that Trump voters can be won over with economic politics in everyone’s interest won’t cut it. They want economic policies for them, not everyone. And if tariffs end up hurting them, they take comfort in knowing Black people are hurting more. These tariffs are the biggest tax increase of our lifetimes. But that’s what they wanted. He promised. He delivered. No mystery.” Reactions on social media brought one tweet with a Rodney Dangerfieldesque response: “Just got off the phone with my financial advisor; he just told me my 401k is now a 400k.” Another posted a stock heat map, nearly all red, with a superimposed image of VP JD Vance asking, “Have you even said thank you once?”

Trump insists that his ‘Liberation Day‘ tariffs levied around the world will be borne by his victimized nations and not American buyers, but skeptics within his own MAGA gang are not so sure. Republican senators Rand Paul, Lisa Murkowski, Mitch McConnell, and Susan Collins joined with Democrats in voting against the emergency powers Trump is using to impose a 25% tariff against Canada. And while Senator John Kennedy did not join them, he made known his concerns in a Newsmax interview with anchor Rob Schmitt, saying, “What the president is saying, is if you want to sell stuff to Americans, move your business to America and hire Americans and contribute to our economy, don’t just sell stuff. In the long run, he’s right. But in the long run, we’re all dead.” He added that he’s heard both favorable and disastrous assessments from economists, and even “late-night psychic hotlines” are more accurate in their predictions, as he slammed blind supporters of the policy. “It may not lead to inflation this time. Am I predicting that it will or won’t? No. I’m going to say it again. We’re in uncharted waters and we don’t know. And anybody who tries to tell that they know what the short-term impact is going to be is just lying. Either that or they’re selling deep stupid,” he concluded. The Daily Show’s Michael Kosta says, “We’re basically punishing OTHER countries for selling us stuff that WE want.”

On The Late Show, host Stephen Colbert asked, “Is everyone feeling liberated?” Because…yeah. Today was the first day of trading on Wall Street since Trump slathered our country in honey and staked it down next to a fire ant hill. So, worst day for our economy since COVID. Just a little reminder: this time, he’s the disease. One bit of good news coming out of all this: it’s all pretty solid proof that there is no deep state, because if there was, they would have stopped this. But if they do exist, I just want to say to the cabal of financial and governmental elites who pull all the strings behind the scenes, maybe put a pause on your ‘5G chip JFK Jr adrenochrome chemtrail orgy’ and jump in here, ’cause we’re dying.”

Conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro pulled a 180 on Trump after calling his tariffs “probably unconstitutional” and “pretty crazy” as he broke ranks with the MAGA boss after supporting, fundraising, and voting for the president. He told his seven million YouTube subscribers of his ‘Ben Shapiro Show,’ that “the president’s vision of international trade is mistaken” and that Trump’s belief that the country is getting swindled by trade deficits is completely false. “We are punishing countries that have a low tariff rate with us.” Shapiro says the president’s math is “all wrong,” that his numbers come from the trade deficit which has “nothing to do” with tariff rates. He noted that Madagascar’s tariff percentage was ridiculously high, but “so what?” if there’s a trade deficit. “The idea that we have to chisel out of the people of Madagascar extra dollars from American products or we are getting screwed by the great and powerful nation of Madagascar makes zero sense,” he asserts. Railing against Trump’s basis for MAGA, he said the tariffs are based on “false notions about the American economy” that the nation is failing economically — “this is a myth propagated by both parties.” Shapiro has no desire to support the MAGA-strong wish to return to the 1980s. “America does not suck and has not sucked for several decades, economically,” disagreeing with the notion that the country has been “hollowed out” by de-industrialization and is no longer manufacturing. Scoffing at having a Ford factory job a la 1955, in a non-air conditioned workplace while riveting metal all day is not an ideal job. No thanks! He claims the upper middle class has grown and wages are up, contrary to Trump’s argument that international trade is destroying that strata of workers. “I can name you a period of American history where there was a fairly large surplus in America’s balance of trade: the entire Great Depression,” he offers.

A viral tweet from @frogs4girls asks readers what the coming economic downturn should be called: “So what are we calling this one? Just ‘Great Depression 2’? ‘Greater Depression’? Any suggestions? Anybody?” Respondents contributed: ‘The Yuge Depression,’ ‘The Greatest Depression,’ ‘The Bigly Depression,’ ‘The Great Deux-Pression,’ ‘The Most Beautiful Depression You’ve Ever Seen Believe Me,’ ‘2 Depressed 2 Be Blessed,’ ‘Great DEIpression,’ and the ‘Great Depression 2: Electric Boogaloo.’ Another contributor suggested we call the period ‘Groceries,’ a word Trump seems to have a fascination with, calling it a beautiful, descriptive word, an “old-fashioned” term that he used a lot in his campaign last year. Social media critics mocked his word salad over the word: “Groceries, that unspoken word lost in the sands of time,” or “This is your king, MAGA. This is your Daddy.” Another posted: “Here’s an old-fashioned term that we don’t use enough. It’s schmuck!” JD Vance will be pretending in 2028 that he never met this guy.

President Trump’s all-caps response to the negativity brought on by his tariff escapade, precipitated the stock market’s reaction, prompting Senator Chuck Schumer to call it the “dumbest” recession ever. Usually loyal Republicans who criticized the Trump plan caused the president to attempt to ease everyone’s minds in a most bizarre way: his message of ‘hope’ was a cryptic five-word, all-caps post on Truth Social: “ONLY THE WEAK WILL FAIL!” Sam Barlow on BlueSky posted that those words are his favorite of Jesus‘ teachings from the book of Matthew. A post on X responded that is an apt response from one who has taken six businesses into bankruptcy — including a casino of all things! One X poster wrote: “Seems like what Trump really means is, ‘ONLY THE POOR WILL FAIL!’ because average Americans are perpetually impacted more than anyone on Earth. So, if you’re struggling, when Trump’s tariffs make life worse, it’s your fault.”

Last week the Trump administration reminded us of the Frank Zappa quote: “Government is the Entertainment division of the military-industrial complex,” — not so entertaining as the reality was an ominous leak of “imminent war plans,” as described by journalist Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic who was an inadvertent recipient of the shocking security breach, being added by Michael Walz, who implied “conspiracy“ during one interview. Included in a group chat on Signal comprised of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and seventeen other top officials who discussed upcoming strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Goldberg disclosed that he had hours of advance notice of the action, not sure that it was authentic initially, only to see the Trump announcement about a “very effective” operation later on March 15. When questioned about the leak by the press, Trump claimed not to “know anything about it. I’m not a big fan of The Atlantic. To me, it’s a magazine that’s going out of business.” though National Security Council spokesman Hughes was already on the case reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the Signal chain. If Goldberg had publicized the details in advance, it could have been deadly to our armed forces in the region, but he chose not to do so until the administration started defending its slip-up, and the Fox News talking heads began making excuses for their old colleague, Hegseth, with charges of “fake news,” a “hoax,” and other improbable spins about conspiracies. Democratic lawmakers were outraged by the security breach, with Senator Coons posting on X that “every single one of the government officials on this text chain have now committed a crime.”  Republican Mike Lawler, a New York representative, said: “Classified information should not be transmitted on unsecured channels — and certainly not to those without security clearances, including reporters. Period. Safeguards should be put in place to ensure this never happens again.”

In the chat, Trump’s cabinet complained about “bailing out Europe” by attempting to keep international shipping lanes safe from Houthi missiles for passage through the Red Sea, with JD Vance expressing his doubts that his boss is aware of the inconsistency in regard to his messaging to Europe that they have to go their own way, essentially “loathing of European free-loading.” Vance wrote that only 3% of US shipping runs through the Suez Canal, with 40% of European trade doing so, with Hegseth’s complete agreement. Interesting that he fled shortly to Greenland with his wife — things a bit too heated in the Oval Office? Jeffrey Goldberg’s surprise at being included in the chat message led him to believe that he could be “part of a disinformation campaign,” since he had met National Security Advisor Mike Walz only briefly in the past, and with the “administration’s contentious relationship with journalists,” and him personally, it was clear that this was out of whack. “I also could not believe that the National Security Advisor to the President would be so reckless as to include the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic in such discussions with senior US officials, up to and including the vice president,” said Goldberg. These revelations are surely going to trigger major questions about security within the Trump cabinet and the handling of highly sensitive government information, echoing the scandal brought upon Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign when she was accused of using insecure servers for emails, a major factor in dooming her run for office.

Another shocker is that his team allowed the president to take to the podium before the assembled press, without briefing him on the security breach, raising questions about the care and qualifications of his inner circle, dumbfounding former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta about the entire episode. Panetta said there was “no question” that the chat was legitimate, referring to the incident as a “serious blunder,” and that a proper conversation should have been held in-person in the White House. “It has to be investigated, and somebody, frankly, needs to get fired. Somebody put that name on a list, and whoever that was deserves to be fired,” he told CNN. Regarding the leak, X users displayed a wide range of emotions and opinions, from disbelief to anger, with search terms encompassing ‘War Plans’ to ‘Hegseth.’ ABC’s late-nighter, Jimmy Kimmel commented on the ineptitude, saying, “Our national security is being guarded by a bunch of dudes he wouldn’t trust to throw your cousin a surprise party. The administration accidentally texted me its war plans. No one on the chain thought to ask, who is JG, what are these initials for? They could have been  leaking secrets to Jeff Goldblum for all they know. And not only did this happen, after it happened, no one thought to tell Trump.”

Typically, Fox News host Jesse Watters was indifferent to the accidental disclosure, likening it to an incident where a family member is inadvertently added to a group chat about “raunchy” bachelor party plans. “Well, that kind of happened today with the Trump administration. He (Goldberg) heard some things today he probably shouldn’t have. Could’ve been a wee bit of a security breach.” Goldberg disputes this, saying he removed himself from the group after realizing it was authentic and contained sensitive national security information, hitting back at the White House’s insistence that “no war plans were discussed” and “no classified material was sent to the thread.” Watters attempted to discredit Goldberg, calling him “not a good reporter” and “one of the biggest hoax artists around.” After Goldberg provided screenshots of the Signal group chat in a report to back up his story, Watters contended, “I’m sure it won’t happen again.” Fox’s Jessica Tarlov was absolutely taken aback by Watter’s nonchalance, standing her ground in calling the debacle a sign of “incompetence and recklessness on a scale unimaginable,” compounding Trump’s drop in ratings on his handling of the economy, inflation, and cost of living. “So they’re not doing this on a SCIF (a sensitive compartmented information facility), they’re doing it on an app that you and I, we all have on our phones, and it’s obviously incredibly reckless. National security risks — I don’t ever wanna hear ‘but her emails’ again,'” she added, referring to Hillary’s email server brouhaha. She called this incident a perfect example of what James Carville was asking of Democrats, to “run out the clock” and see what happens in Trump’s second term, where “folks have jobs that didn’t deserve them.”

Watters wasn’t done with Tarlov, trying to call it an accident, unlike “purposeful leaks from the Democrats” in the past. He began, “Yeah, they accidentally leaked something to the media instead of to the Democrats — ,” which brought Tarlov’s interruption to tell him, “They didn’t leak it; they invited him in.” “At least they didn’t home-brew a server and acid-wash it — ‘but her emails!’ I just did it,” Watters jabbed back. Hillary Clinton for her part, posted on X in response to the whole fiasco, “You have got to be kidding me,” alongside a side-eyed emoji. Secretary of Defense Hegseth, initially denying anything at all was amiss, jumped into the attack on Goldberg after he made his revelations, calling him a discredited journalist who makes a profession of peddling hoaxes, naming ‘Russia, Russia, Russia,’ or ‘fine people on both sides’ hoax, and the ‘sucker and losers’ hoax as examples of his “peddling garbage.” Donald Trump kept up his criticism by posting on Truth Social a link to the conservative satirical website, The Babylon Bee, and its article “4D Chess: Genius Trump Leaks War Plans to ‘The Atlantic’ Where No One Will Ever See Them.” Elon Musk stepped in to help by posting the link to the article, also writing, “Best place to hide a dead body is page 2 of The Atlantic magazine, because no one ever goes there.”

Pete Hegseth’s post claiming that “nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,” brought a pushback from Fox’s Brit Hume who said, “Oh, for God’s sake, the administration has already confirmed the authenticity of the message.” Fox News anchor, John Roberts, praised Goldberg following his devastating exposé, saying, “I would think that there are worse people that you could text your secret plans to, but it appears Goldberg has acted responsibly here in writing this article.” Posts on X, call the operation “sloppy — the only thing worse would have been if they had used Facebook to communicate. We are the laughing stock of the world. Allies sharing intelligence is no more,” and “God, dude, this place is worse than China. They are not allowed to take responsibility for anything. Nothing they do is bad, ever. The media has to adore them, or it’s fake or illegal. This party belongs in prison before it’s too late.” The administration’s whitewashing started from the President on down to White House Press Secretary Leavitt, who said Trump “continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Walz,” followed by Speaker Mike Johnson rejecting the possibility that Walz or Hegseth might face disciplinary action. Both Leavitt and Johnson praised those involved saying, “top- level officials were doing their job, doing it well and executing on a plan with precision.” However, Politico is reporting that internal discussions among White House officials are considering ejecting Walz, supposedly with Trump to make a decision within a few days. Still holding your breath?

Satirist Andy Borowitz offered his take on the Signal breach in The Borowitz Report: “Defending his decision to use an insecure messaging app to discuss classified war plans, National Security Advisor Mike Walz said on Wednesday that he chose Signal because it offered more emojis. ‘Those sleaze bags at The Atlantic are acting like using Signal is some kind of scandal,’ Walz said. ‘You want to know a real scandal? The government spent billions of dollars on a secure communications system that has zero emojis.’ Walz said that he refused to use the government’s system when it became clear to him that it lacked even rudimentary emojis like fist, fire, and smiley face. ‘I stand by my decision to use Signal,’ he said. ‘When you’re planning to bomb another country, an emoji is worth a thousand OMGs or LOLs.'”

Back during the nomination process for Trump’s cabinet members, red flags were raised about Hegseth’s ability to handle the job he was offered, with many stories about his alleged abusive behavior, public drunkenness, financial mishandling, and bigotry — all ignored as the Senate Republicans approved him with flying colors. “Soooo, we thinking old Pete was drunk on the job or what?” Texas Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett asked. “It would be funny, if it wasn’t so scary! Maybe we need some DEI (Definitely Earned It) hires to get this together because incompetence is OVERWHELMINGLY problematic.” Spotted: A demonstrator’s sign with a photo of Pete Hegseth sipping whiskey from a bottle, captioned “WHISKEY LEAKS…LIKE WATERGATE BUT WITH MORONS.” Journalist Aaron Rupar writes that history repeats itself, but at increasingly high levels of stupidity: “It’s like Watergate, only in this version Nixon directly mails the tapes to Woodward and Bernstein.” And The Onion headline: ‘Teen Warned Not To Accept Group Chat Invites From National Security Advisors She Doesn’t Know.’ Interestingly enough, real estate mogul Steve Witkoff, who was included in the Signal chat group was physically in a Moscow meeting with Vladimir Putin — US military strategy leaking in real time to someone in Russia. Just imagine that — a face-to-face so Putin doesn’t have to bother with reading a text, unless Witkoff handed the Russian leader his cellphone on which the Signal thread was stored.

A US Department of Defense official explained to CNN’s Natasha Bertrand that “information providing indication or advance warning that the US or its allies are preparing an attack” — which Hegseth shared — is classified Top Secret. “It is safe to say that anybody in uniform would be court martialed for this. We don’t provide that level of information on unclassified systems, in order to protect the lives and safety of the service members carrying out these strikes. If we did, it would be wholly irresponsible. My most junior analysts know not to do this,” he continued. Representative Maxwell Frost of Florida is sending letters to all the identifiable officials in the ‘Hegseth Disaster Signal Chat’ demanding they retain all messages for any pending litigation and Congressional investigations, saying, “Any deletion of the chat is a willful destruction of evidence.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Hegseth “the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in American history” and demanded his immediate dismissal. Jeffries wrote, “The so-called Secretary of Defense recklessly and casually disclosed highly sensitive war plans — including the timing of a pending attack, possible strike targets, and the weapons to be used — during an unclassified national security group chat that inexplicably included a reporter. His behavior shocks the conscience, risked American lives, and likely violated the law.” Jen Rubin wrote on The Contrarian, “Proud of your votes for Hegseth? This is on you as much as Hegseth. You knew he was not remotely qualified,” as she called out Senators Ernst and Tillis. Fun fact: Former US Air National Guardsman Jack Douglas Teixeira was sentenced to 15 years in prison four months ago for doing the same thing Pete Hegseth and his band of idiots did when they leaked war plans to a reporter.

So, discipline, dismissal or firing? Jimmy Kimmel says the excuses don’t stop, with Trump dragging out one of his old favorites — “witchhunt.” “First, he blamed the reporter, and when that didn’t work, he blamed the Signal app, saying, ‘it could be a defective platform, and we’re gonna have to find that out.’ Right, maybe one of the wires came loose and the gasket got cracked,” Kimmel quipped, adding, “Blaming Signal for this is like blaming Tinder for when you get caught cheating on your wife.” He wasn’t through as he tore into the talking heads at Fox and Newsmax as they continued with downplaying the scandal, calling it “the perfect storm of incompetence, inexperience, dishonesty, and hypocrisy from the same people who spent the last 12 years screaming about Hillary’s emails and Hunter’s laptop, while calling Signalgate a ‘non-story.'” Why cover it if it’s a non-story? Taking a final swing by mentioning Trump’s DEI initiatives, Kimmel said, “Thank God they got rid of DEI. Now you can rest assured that the idiots in charge are not chosen for their race or gender. They were chosen purely based on being idiots. I believe that Pete Hegseth wasn’t drunk. I believe he was perfectly sober when he made this idiotic mistake.” His belief that President Trump might not be very happy with his national security and defense picks may lead him to calling them Eric and Don Jr.

Satirist Andy Borowitz provides another followup view of Hegseth: “Millions of Americans have been rattled this week by the bombshell that a former Fox News host might be a liar, reports on Thursday indicate. According to industry insiders, the revelation that a former employee might have knowingly disseminated falsehoods threatens to tarnish the image of the nation’s most trusted news organization. Harland Dorrinson, a crisis management specialist, said Fox News needs to ‘change the narrative’ by reminding Americans of its peerless and longstanding reputation for honesty. ‘Fox needs to remind people that they are the network of Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, and Tucker Carlson,’ he said. ‘One bad apple doesn’t spoil the whole bunch.'”

Steve Schmidt on his The Warning blog focuses on a story by Peter Nicholas, Carol E Lee and Megan Shannon concerning the reappearance of former president Joe Biden, offering to people close to him to raise funds, campaign and do anything else necessary for Democrats to recover lost ground from the rollbacks of Democratic Party-designed programs by President Trump. In a meeting with new Democratic National Committee chairman, Ken Martin, Biden offered his help to raise the popularity of the party from the 27% favorability of voters to which it has fallen of late, a ranking that is likely to keep falling in its struggle to regain its viability. A report says Donald Trump responded to a possible Biden re-entry into politics by declaring, “I hope so.” Schmidt says Trump is happy. DNC Vice Chair Jan Kleeb responded with, “The Kool Aid tastes delicious. If you were to call any state party chair and ask if they wanted Joe to be a keynote speaker for their annual dinner, the answer would be ‘Yes.’ He is beloved by the party and beloved by voters.” It is said the Bidens are sequestered with their team of gaslighters, all plotting how to make money on the books that are coming as they consult with former administration officials, and a snarky question arises: Biden is signed with CAA in Hollywood, so it is fair to ask who will play him in the dramatic pardon scene at the end of his tenure? Schmidt says Biden’s selfishness is his legacy, and wife Jill’s lust for power, combined with the insatiability of his advisers for more of it, has led America into an abyss — which leads into another tragic legacy: Trump. This is a legacy of catastrophe, and the reality is that Joe Biden will serve the sentence that he imposed on all of us in solitary. Schmidt concludes that the lies and delusions should be put down at last, with a realization that more Biden and Schumer is not the right path — the party is already in the ditch.

Schmidt slams Senator Schumer by mocking his ‘strategy‘: By not going after every single issue, picking only the most important fights, then lying down on the train tracks. He describes Schumer as “the career politician from Brooklyn, a cloistered man from a cloistered club, presiding over our national suicide — sublime, indifferent and capitulant. The view is good from the tracks for Chuck Schumer and his team of fools, who can watch the Trump locomotive run over them again and again and again.” Illinois governor JB Pritzker rejected Schumer’s appeasement, saying, “Trump is not somebody that you can appease. We’ve got to stand up and fight. And by the way, at the state level, I think many of us are. But I think that we’ve got to make sure that in the Senate and the House, that the people who have a platform are standing up.” Schmidt charges the Democratic Senate members with failing the country in an urgent moment, being ill-led, and corrupted by the touches of a thousand lobbyists, who know the lure of self-interest as a primary enticement which is more important than fighting for constituents. “The Senate Democrats are a team that can’t fight because at their head they have a man who can’t stand up. Chuck Schumer is a lay-flat type of man. This moment calls for stand up people with guts, integrity and a plan. JB Pritzker should appreciate two things: Chuck Schumer isn’t changing, and neither is Donald Trump. Let me close by saying something as clearly and directly as I can. Is there anything more grotesque than what Donald Trump is doing? Is there anything more grotesque than Elon Musk stomping about the US government like it is SpaceX? What about the purges, the lawlessness? The answer is yes, there is. It is the surrender to it all. It is the laying down on the tracks when the train is coming. Why can’t Chuck see it? Why can’t Chuck hear it? He is a most preposterous figure. He is a hollow man from a fallen age — the archetype of the 21st century politician so perfectly suited for our fallen moment. The age of silliness has ended, and along with it, any pretenses that menace isn’t real and malice hasn’t seized power in America. It has. The question now is, can we get it back?”

The bugaboo for ‘Real Time’ host Bill Maher is ‘deregulation,’ a repudiation of which he believes is dragging the Democratic Party downwards, suggesting the party is facing the same fate as the Whig Party which collapsed in the 1850s, and a notion they should embrace. He cited the American Redistricting Project’s outlook that Democrats will lose congressional seats in California, New York, Illinois, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Oregon by 2030, with Republicans gaining seats in Texas, Florida, Idaho and Utah. “I mean, it looks like ‘game over.’ And the reason why people are voting with their feet is a lot what your book is about: taxes and regulation,” he told New York Times columnist and ‘Abundance‘ co-author Ezra Klein. “I’ve been screaming about it forever. We’re taxed (in California) more than any other state. People are leaving these kind of states for places where they don’t feel the heavy breath of government on them. It’s not that hard for Democrats to understand this, but they don’t. They seem to be incapable of doing anything about it,” he continued. Klein’s response cited polls revealing the reason people are ditching Blue States is ‘cost of living,’ stressing that if 2030 projections hold, the Red States will ultimately allow Republicans to win presidential elections without the Blue wall states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. “They are driving people out, working-class families, out of the states they govern because the cost of living is too high,” Klein says, linking it to regulations and taxes, adding, “But the big problem is they just don’t have enough energy, not a government capable of delivering, and they’ve been treating that as not a real problem.” He went on to praise Texas and cities like Houston and Austin which are booming because of their friendly environment for home and energy development, while noting the irony of the Texas GOP’s opposition to clean energy, yet able to thrive because of deregulation. “We need an Elon Musk who would do to California what he’s doing to the government — in a sane way. I mean, if you have 400,000 regulations and you cannot build a high-speed rail that started in 2008, you need somebody to come in here. Who is this person on the left?” Responding to his question, panelist and Substack writer, Andrew Sullivan said, “The left doesn’t want to deregulate. They just don’t have that instinct to deregulate. They’re gonna have to get over it, or they’re gonna be the Whigs.”

With the Democrats approval rating at 27%, Donald Trump’s star rose to a 44% rating, his highest-ever, prompting him to crow about it on Truth Social — still underwater, however, with 51% of those polled in disapproval. Americans who believe the country is on the right track also hit the 44% mark, with 54% saying we’re on the wrong track, but the Trump border security and immigration issues got a 55% approval. The economy polling has another topsy-turvy result with 54% disapproving of Trump policies, and a 44% approval rating in the NBC poll. Intra-party rifts and frustration consumed the Democrats in Congress as lawmakers approached a possible government shutdown a couple of weeks ago, as Senate Democrats had to decide between a House approved, GOP plan to keep the government afloat — a choice between backing Trump legislation giving him more power, or a shutdown forcing hundreds of thousands of workers to be idled. In the end, ten Senate Democrats sided with the MAGA side of the aisle avoiding a shutdown. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is asking for less animosity, calling for Dems to end the “intramural quarreling” in this “fight for democracy,” as “we fight in the dugout, being absent on the field and the other team scoring runs.” Senator Chris Murphy, a ‘no’ voter, said he gets it why some of his colleagues voted to avoid a shutdown, but this risk aversion led to the party sinking to a historic low in polling. “I understand that had we gone into a shutdown, even for a handful of days, it would have been difficult, but it would have sent a message that the Democratic Party is not going to be bullied by Donald Trump.” In a CNN poll, 57% of Democrats and Democratic-aligned independents feel that party leaders should focus on stopping the GOP agenda, with 42% wanting cooperation with Republicans.

Last week, President Trump signed an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely,” though completely shuttering the 45 year-old agency will require an act of Congress. The workforce had already been cut in half, and dozens of grants and contracts canceled, all of which have drawn legal challenges. Former wrestling executive McMahon’s actions will effectively destroy a $100 billion-a-year department created by President Carter, as surely as Trump’s gutting of funding for the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and effective closure of USAID. Not to be overlooked are his and RFK Jr’s attacks on vaccine science, Trump’s attacks on freedom of speech of university students and professors, and state attacks on teaching truth in our schools about America’s history of slavery and Native American genocide. Then we have attacks on libraries with an executive order mandating cuts in funding, which will jeopardize literacy development and reading programs, reliable internet for those without it at home, and homework help and other resources for students and educators. The same executive order cut funding for museums, and on the arts, as Trump appointed himself as chair of the Kennedy Center in DC. Robert Reich sees all this as an attack on the American mind, as “tyrants throughout history have understood that their major enemy is an educated citizenry. Slaveholders prohibited slaves from learning to read. Nazi’s burned books. Ignorance is the handmaiden of tyranny.” Reich sees Trump as “the frontman in this attack which is really coming from the anti-democracy movement: From JD Vance; and from Vance’s major financial backer, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, who staked Vance’s senatorial campaign and helped convince Trump to select Vance as VP; and from Thiel’s early business partner, Elon Musk.”

Thiel is a self-styled libertarian who once wrote: “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.” Reich responded with, “Hello? Freedom is incompatible with democracy only if you view democracy as a potential constraint on your wealth and power. Curtis Yarvin comes as close as anyone to being their intellectual godfather. He has written that political power in the US is held by a liberal amalgam of universities and the mainstream media whose commitment equality and justice is eroding America’s social order. In Yarvin’s view, democratic governments are inefficient and wasteful. They should be replaced with sovereign joint-stock corporations whose major ‘shareholders’ select an executive with total power, who serves at their pleasure. Yarvin refers to the city-state of Singapore as an example of a successful authoritarian regime. Be warned,” advises Reich. Former Obama adviser, Steven Rattner, wrote on X, “The Department of Education provides crucial funding for low-income public schools — eliminating it would result in the loss of 6% of teachers’ jobs nationwide.” He presented a chart based on data from the Center of American Progress on states’ K-12 education funding under Title I, the Ed Department’s main federal program to help low-income students, showing Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Nevada, and Arizona — Trump states — as most reliant on that funding, and the most likely to lose hundreds of teachers, with many other Red States close behind. Rattner says this will likely lead to a devastating domino effect of educational instability in states that need it most.

Conservatives argue that other education department functions, such as administering loans, should be handled instead by the US Department of Treasury, and that civil rights infractions are the Department of Justice’s domain. Trump’s allies also want to expand school choice, which would allow students and families to use public money to select private or religious alternatives to public schools. But who can forget Trump’s primary victory speech in Nevada, when he said, “We won with the young. We won with the old. We won with the highly educated. We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated.” This post on Quora captures that moment: “A person who misspells three-letter words, talks in code, cannot finish a single thought in a sentence, acts like a toddler, and only thinks of himself with a strong desire to be worshipped and loved by his followers, will almost literally roll over and have his belly scratched for money by actual billionaires and corporate goons. Although graduating from Penn State, claiming he went to Wharton School of Business, his professors said he was the dumbest person they ever taught — and who could prove otherwise since he forbids his school records to be divulged. Military school instructors called him the dumbest person on the planet. I peg his IQ at about a 75, slightly above my dog’s IQ, which is borderline Special Needs. The scary part is how many MAGA supporters think he is a very smart man — revealing volumes about their own IQs.”

“Trump, his chief of ghouls Stephen Miller, and his czar of white ethnonationalism, Tom Homan, have been making the rounds of calling out ‘rogue’ federal judges who dare to try to apply the law to Trump and his administration,” wrote Elie Mystal in The Nation. The chief executive has called out for the impeachment of US District Judge James E Boasberg, who ordered Trump to halt the deportations of Venezuelans to El Salvador — which Trump ignored. “That SEEMED to trigger Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, prompting him to pull out the weapon most preferred by institutionalists to fight the fascist takeover of the government: the sternly worded letter,” reports Mystal. Roberts issued a statement which read, in full: “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.” Mystal says people who don’t know any better are calling this a rare “rebuke” of the sitting president from the Chief Justice. “I urge people to not fall for the ‘Okiedoke,’ and to understand Robert’s statement for what it is: meaningless drivel from a man trying to protect his own stature instead of trying to protect the country from a tyrant.” Robert’s letter telling Trump that impeachment is not an ‘appropriate response’ to a judicial disagreement is like me telling Trump that he can’t jump off his roof and fly. It’s not a ‘rebuke’ to tell somebody they shouldn’t do what they physically can’t do anyway. Impeachment of federal judges follows the same rules as the impeachment of a president, a process familiar to Trump, where the House brings impeachment charges, and the Senate presides over a trial which requires a two-thirds vote for conviction. Mystal gets a dig in, when he says, “Trump controls the House, but he doesn’t control two-thirds of the Senate. Judge Boasberg is not Palestinian, so I don’t think Chuck Schumer will give Trump the extra votes he needs.”

“Justice Roberts knows all that. His statement is meaningless because it tells Trump not to do something he already can’t do. Roberts is sprinting to the head of the parade already in motion, just to look like he’s leading it,” says Mystal. Looking at what Roberts didn’t say, Mystal points out that Trump is in direct violation of Boasberg’s order, but Roberts avoided that, and instead of an admonishment, Roberts only invoked the ‘normal appellate review process,’ NOT saying Trump should litigate disagreements with the judge, but saying Trump should feel free to ignore lower-court orders until the Supreme Court has a chance to weigh in — essentially telling Trump what he wants to hear. Roberts is trying to maintain the appearance of power in the face of a president who has shown no inclination to respect it, with the Chief Justice desperately trying sound as if he’s in control, to avoid a judicial confrontation with Trump. Mystal calls it a delicate game, looking back in history to Chief Justice John Marshall’s attempt to maintain an appearance of judicial supremacy against President Thomas Jefferson — the Marbury v. Madison case in 1803. The case dealt with the seating of commissioners appointed by President Adams, seats Jefferson didn’t wish to fill, so a lawsuit was initiated by William Marbury. Marshall knew Jefferson was never going to fill those positions, and all the court orders in the world wouldn’t have mattered a whit to Jefferson, so Marshall deferred to the president, saying it was wrong not to seat the commissioners, but it didn’t matter anyway because the entire congressional law itself was unconstitutional. Mystal concludes, “He was bending the knee.” Turn down the echo machine!

A phone call between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine has comedian Jimmy Fallon casting a jaundiced eye, saying, “Both sides said the call went well, which makes sense because they’re both on the same side. Russia actually described the call as historic and epic, and nothing makes me feel safe like a happy Russia.” Despite the hype, the New York Times reported that the call accomplished nearly nothing, with Fallon joking, “The White House said Putin agreed to a partial ceasefire — at least they think he did. It was tough to hear on the phone with Elon’s kids playing tag in the background.”

Speaking of happy — the US has dropped to its lowest-ever ranking on the World Happiness Report conducted by Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford in partnership with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. Falling down one spot from last year, to 24th, and from the nation’s highest ranking of 11th place in 2012, rankings are determined from answers people give when asked to rate their own lives. Finland has held the top spot for eight years, followed by Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, and the Netherlands in the top five; Costa Rica and Mexico entered the top ten for the first time, ranking sixth and tenth place, respectively. Brent Hartinger and Michael Jensen-Brent in the Washington Post say that people don’t want to go to parties anymore — along with other signs the world is coming to an end. They say Americans‘ current obsession with social media and “therapy culture” isn’t going to end well, as people who do show up at social gatherings are sitting to one side staring at their phones assuring that things rarely take off. The Wall Street Journal adds that it’s now socially acceptable — even something brag about — to cancel your plans with other people at the last second. Both publications blame these new social mores on America’s political polarization — who wants to socialize with people on ‘the other side’ anyway? They say it’s the lingering after-effects of COVID — but please, that’s not it at all; why are both newspapers pretending not to see what’s really going on? Smartphones and social media! Why bother interacting with actual human beings when you can have all your social needs met by living online? Teachers will tell us that kids are literally addicted to their phones, accustomed to the dopamine hits from social media that bring on actual symptoms of withdrawal when separated from their phones. The greater problem is that social media isn’t really real; it’s the illusion of intimacy. It gives people what we want, to keep us forever engaged and looking at ads — but not what we need. It’s also important to sometimes be bored. And remember, as great as cat videos are, actual cats are always better.

Stephen Colbert who recently mocked Democrats and their hand-held protest signs displayed at Trump’s State-of-the-Trump speech at the joint session of Congress, has gained a bit traction with his own paddle-sign that read “Try Doing Something.” Protests against the administration’s policies are becoming more common, larger in number and in participants, with representatives holding town halls in their districts being forced to flee because of voter anger — advisers are saying, “just skip this tradition!” One person who has been persistent in punching at Trump with Tweets for years, but magnifying her activity since last October, is Natasha Rothwell, who starred as Belinda in the TV series, ‘The White Lotus.’ Every single day she posts a message reminding the president in some form saying, “Donald Trump, you are trash!” Natasha may include retweets, quotes, likes, and different views, one variant reading, “You have no value or use and you spend your days lying around doing nothing…cuz u trash.” Not content to pick on just Donny, her header on X has ‘TRASH‘ above headshots of the six conservative Supreme Court Justices, with arrows pointing appropriately to insure that they feel the burn.

Feeling the burn from last week’s vote on the continuing resolution to fund the government until September, is Senator Chuck Schumer who succumbed to the demands of blackmail as John Stoehr of Editorial Board posted on the blog. Schumer took to the floor and said that he would vote with MAGA to pass the resolution, with Stoehr asking, “What is Schumer getting in return?” He isn’t implying that corruption is an issue, only that this is politics and the Senator must be trading for something, right? The resolution allows Trump and Musk to continue dismantling the government, with Everett B Kelly of the American Federation of Government Employees saying, “A widespread government shutdown has been underway since January 20 and will continue to spread whether Senators vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on HR 1968.” Kelly, leader of the country’s largest public employee union, says HR 1968 sets in stone the administration’s crime spree, decimating agencies without due process, cutting off funding that has already been appropriated and signed into law, and with it the administration “will dramatically expand its termination of federal workers and double down on its campaign to make federal agencies fail, because there will be nothing left” to stop them. He believes it robs the constitutional authority of Congress, with the White House having said that even if the bill passes, it will ‘impound‘ that money — which is to say, ‘steal it’ — if it pays for things that Trump does not like. What it boils down to for Democrats who voted for it, is that Trump will become a criminal president, or if they voted against it, Trump will become a criminal president. Heads…I win, tails…you lose. Not a choice, blackmail, as Stoehr said.

Senator Schumer explained to Chris Hayes in an interview, that he made his choice to vote for the resolution, because the alternative was much worse by allowing a government shutdown. Trump would have favored a shutdown, allowing him to redefine what counts as ‘essential services,’ then cutting the government even closer to the bone. Stoehr saw Schumer’s premise, yet he didn’t explain why the House MAGAs voted to keep the money flowing if co-presidents Musk and Trump preferred a shutdown — and why did Schumer deceive us earlier into thinking he might lead a resistance demanding a one-month extension? Stoehr asks agains, “What are Democrats getting in return?” He answers his own question — “nothing.” Chris Hayes posted that “the institutional Democratic Party is guided by an almost pathological level of conflict-avoidance in almost every direction. ‘What can we do to make the least number of people mad?’ is just a bankrupt way to operate.” Stoehr concludes the Dems pathology is deeper than ‘conflict-avoidance’ — only the fear of being held accountable by someone somewhere “who requires the Democrats to take responsibility for the bad choices made by Republicans. Its’ a deep-seated sense of obligation that the Democrats are the only adults in the room, and if they don’t act like adults, things will get much worse than they are. Schumer believes in his bones that the Democrats must save the Republicans from themselves, and thus save the country from the Republicans, as reflected in his comments about a possible shutdown.”

Schumer is quoted as saying, “There’s no exit ramp. Anyone who wants the shutdown, I have asked: ‘Well, how do we get out of it?’ Guess who it’s up to — Trump, Musk, DOGE, all bad choices. I respect people who don’t want to vote for the CR. It’s awful. But with the alternative being a government shutdown, that’s even worse.” To this, Stoehr replies, “Well, yes! It is up to Trump! And if he does to the government after a shutdown what he’s already doing to it before a shutdown, then whatever happens is on him and him alone. Lots of good people are going to suffer, because the administration is evil. But the Senate Democrats cannot save them, nor should they try, because they cannot hold accountable the man responsible for their suffering if they themselves are complicit in it.” Stoehr feels that institutional Democrat Schumer is taking cues from the mainstream media, not “plucky indie newsletters,” and also the party’s donors who are concentrated in the northeast. “They want the Dems to bargain with the Republicans, not necessarily fight them, as serious combat would probably jeopardize their interests,” he discerns. “In times of crisis the mainstream media understands subconsciously that the Republicans are hopeless but that Democrats are not. They assume that Democrats will be the adults in the room, and because institutional Democrats interpret this assumption as something mainstream voters want, they deliver. Even if it means getting nothing in return.”

Representative Nancy Pelosi, in a statement regarding handling of the funding vote, took a shot at an unnamed Schumer, saying, “Democratic senators should listen to the women. Appropriations leaders Rosa DeLauro and Patty Murray have eloquently presented the case that we must have a better choice: a four-week funding extension to keep government open and negotiate a bipartisan agreement. America has experienced a Trump shutdown before — but this damaging legislation only makes matters worse. Democrats must not buy into this false choice. We must fight back for a better way. Listen to the women, For the People.” She goes on to praise House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for his leadership in rejecting a false choice, and her colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus for their “overwhelming vote against this bill.” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said, “There is a deep sense of outrage and betrayal. And not just about progressive Democrats — this is across the board — the entire party. I cannot underscore enough how incorrect that is. There are members of Congress who have won Trump-held districts in some of the most difficult territory in the United States, who walked the plank and took immeasurable risks in order to defend the American people, in order to defend Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare.” Representative Greg Casar, head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus chimed in, saying, “The GOP bill is specifically designed to allow Trump and Musk to continue plundering the taxpayers to enrich themselves.”

In the end, Senators and Representatives voted to “sell our country out to Donald Trump and Elon Musk for mass firings, cuts to vital services, and tax breaks for the rich,” according to the Common Cause website. Elected leaders are sticking to the same passive, by-the-book strategies that empowered people like Trump and Musk in the first place, while abandoning our public services and our values at the altar of political convenience. Stirring up a hornet’s nest of dissatisfied constituents, Senator Schumer was met with a barrage of demands for his resignation, calls which have only escalated. Food & Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter said, “Schumer has lost the confidence of a critical mass of well-meaning people around the country. He must step down from his leadership role in the Senate now, so a sufficiently determined resistance to the disastrous Trump-Musk agenda can be allowed to rise up and act before it’s too late.” Human rights lawyer Qasim Rashid said in a blog post, that Schumer must resign, and adding with perspicuity, “Let’s be clear: MAGAs control the House, the Senate, and the White House. The Democratic Party is not in its strongest position, and every single day Trump and Musk are working to gut democracy, attack working families, and consolidate power. And yet, when given the opportunity to use the one piece of leverage Democrats have — forcing Republicans to own the government shutdown — Schumer is folding like a cardboard box in a rainstorm. This isn’t just betrayal. It’s utter incompetence. We don’t need more politicians holding tiny signs and coordinating outfits while Trump consolidates power and enables fascism. We need leadership with the courage to fight injustice and hold the line when it matters.”

Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of Sunrise Movement, a youth-led, climate-focused organization, declared that, “Today was a spectacular display of cowardice from Senator Schumer. This morning, Schumer had arrested, 11 young protestors in his office rather than look them in the eye. This afternoon, he gave Elon Musk the keys to the government. Trump’s and Musk are hurtling our country toward disaster. They are gutting the educational system, enabling oil billionaires to burn the planet, and destroying vital government programs that millions rely on. Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer sits on the sidelines. The budget is one of the only pieces of leverage Democrats have, and Schumer just gave it away. That’s incredibly reckless. Chuck Schumer needs to step aside. Our democracy and our climate and our families can’t afford even another month of this b.s.” Democratic strategist, Waleed Shahid, commented, “This wasn’t about whether Democrats were willing to impose a cost on their opponents for governing through blackmail. Instead, Schumer made the kind of move that tells Republicans they can keep pushing.” Justice Democrats, a progressive group that helped Ocasio-Cortez upset a top House Democrat in a 2018 primary, said, “Corporate Democratic leadership is all talk and no fight. Gutless, spineless, and utterly unqualified to lead.” Schumer stepping down from his leadership isn’t enough for many, with many critics encouraging Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or Dan Goldman to challenge the Senator in the 2028 primary.

Domestic beer brewers should take a page from Canada’s oldest brewery, which has announced a ‘Presidential Pack’ of Moosehead beer — 1,461 cans of its Canadian lager, intended to last the course of President Trump’s entire second term, one beer for every day of that term. The pack retails for $3,490 CAD and is sold in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Ontario provinces. Leaning into the ongoing trade war with the USA, Karen Grigg, director of marketing said in a press release, “If the start of 2025 has taught us anything, it’s that it will take determination to weather four years of political uncertainty — and what better way to make it through each day than with a truly Canadian beer.” Trevor Grant, VP of Sales and Marketing said the idea was talked about for a few weeks as the challenges with tariffs and the Trump administration dragged on, and, “Obviously, it’s a bit of a difficult situation, so we’re trying to maybe have a little bit of fun with it, as Canadian shoppers look for locally made products now more than ever.” Many of the big US companies that sell in Canada, like Anheuser-Busch, manufacture American brands within Canada, such as Bud Light, and thus aren’t affected by tariffs — or good taste.

Trump’s Health Secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has remained relatively low-key as the measles outbreak worsens, with cases popping up in even more states across the country. Several weeks ago, Kennedy couldn’t get excited about the first death in Texas, saying, “It is not unusual, we have measles outbreaks every year,” ignoring the fact that outbreaks are considered rare, with measles considered eliminated in the US in 2020. Kennedy has been slammed for writing previously that measles are not deadly and that outbreaks had been “fabricated” to push people toward “unnecessary and risky” vaccines. His prominence in the anti-vax community has been credited with leading to an increase in the number of parents who won’t follow the science, now refusing to vaccinate their children. What our children have now learned from Kennedy and President Trump is that, ‘science is stupid.’ Fran Lebowitz, in her short essay entitled ‘Science,’ writes, “Legend has it that the atom was split when a bunch of scientists working late decided to order in a pizza. Indeed a terrifying story and one made all the more chilling when one learns that a number of their colleagues smarting from the snub of being excluded from this impromptu meal spitefully repaired to an all-night diner and invented polyester.” Be aware that Trump and Kennedy may designate measles as ‘Freedom Freckles.’

In defense of his bosom buddy and co-president, Elon, Donald Trump came to the Tesla mogul’s aid after an announced boycott against the firm’s vehicles, in addition to protester’s vandalizing dealership showrooms or individually owned cars and trucks, not to mention plunging stock prices. The orange co-president posted, “To Republicans, Conservatives, and all great Americans, Elon Musk is ‘putting it on the line’ in order to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! But the Radical Left Lunatics, as they often do, are to illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the world’s great automakers, and Elon’s ‘baby,’ in order to attack and do harm to Elon, and everything he stands for. I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American. Why should he be punished for putting his tremendous skills to work in order to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN???” Musk responded with, “Thank you, President @realDonaldTrump!” So be careful out there — those of us who decide against buying a Tesla because we dislike Musk are doing so illegally, and perhaps Donny should know, being a convicted felon himself as many pointed out. Let’s not forget that Trump once called for a boycott of Goodyear tires because of their dress code prohibiting political attire, i.e., MAGA baseball caps. Trump’s promotion of a specific brand and whining about ‘illegal‘ is silly and inappropriate for a president’s concern. Of course, while this is going on, the two co-perpetrators are ruining American’s lives, by tanking the economy, threatening long-time allies around the world, and compelling them to boycott all American products. No worries, though — Trump, a once fierce critic of electric vehicles (drill, drill, drill!) is buying a Tesla from the world’s wealthiest man. Oh! And, so is Sean Hannity! Lunatics all — to include those who voted for this.

Tesla sales boycotts are only part of the picture, as some Tesla owners are selling, or considering selling, their vehicles as the backlash against Musk and DOGE grows, even though they may take a serious financial hit as prices plummet according to dealership website CarGurus. Singer Cheryl Crow announced she is selling her Tesla, then donating the proceeds to NPR as a protest against Elon. Investor Joanne Wilson told Business Insider she was ditching her Model S, floating the idea of letting members of the public smash it with hammers. Real estate developer, Scott Oran decided to sell his Tesla out of “embarrassment,” and a concern over vandalism, and to beat the rush of other sellers to the marketplace with the brand which is most common for EVs. Oran feels that Musk has irrevocably damaged the Tesla brand, with the maker’s stock drop on a recent Monday of 15% — a $29 billion reduction to Musk’s worth in just one day. Not to fret over Musk’s loss — after Trump’s announced Tesla acquisition, reports emerged that Elon was considering a $100 million donation to a super PAC associated with, and controlled by, the president.

That donation probably went a long way into converting the White House south lawn into a Tesla showroom for Trump’s big auto purchase, with five vehicles displayed for his perusal before his decision to spring for a deep red Tesla Model S, valued at almost $80,000, for use by his staff since he doesn’t drive any more. It’s unclear whether or not Pennsylvania Avenue was lined with plastic tube men, or air dancers, to attract the locals to the big sale. Trump praised Tesla’s quality and Musk’s dedication during the White House auto sale, and a photographer got a shot of the script and Tesla price list given the president by Musk to make a sales pitch to the masses. It must have been a convincing sales pitch, because Trump also committed to gifting a Tesla Cybertruck to his granddaughter, Kai — what’s another $80 grand? According to the price list, “Teslas can be purchased as low as $299/month or $35K.” And who knows? Trump may qualify for tax incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act for purchasers of electric vehicles. That’s dependent upon whether or not the Internal Revenue Service is still operating by next year’s tax filing — no comment from Musk, as he told Fox Business’s Larry Kudlow that he’s been running his businesses “with great difficulty” since spending his time with DOGE. Time for that chainsaw to be shelved, Elon? If Trump is drawing his $400K standard presidential salary, he won’t qualify for the tax incentive, but if he’s only drawing his one-dollar annual salary as in his first assault on the presidency — he’s not saying…what do you think? — he might qualify for the EV credit.

So far, Trump has not commented on his 2023 post that electric car supporters should “ROT IN HELL.” The Atlantic’s Charlie Warzel wrote that the car promo was, “a stilted, corrupt attempt to juice a friend’s stock, and certainly below the office of the presidency,” and we might add, so is most of the other junky crapola Trump and his grifting Crime Family push constantly. If any other government official in the executive branch had done a similar promotion, they would have been in clear violation of the regulation prohibiting such endorsements; but Trump and his hillbilly VP are exempt, where norms are usually respected as the primary lever for holding the line. The Don has repeatedly demonstrated his appetite for overturning norms and pushing ethical bounds, so his Tesla push is not out of the ordinary for him, and in reality, it delights him that he has such impunity, says Lora Kelly in her The Atlantic Daily commentary.

On his show, Jimmy Kimmel expressed dismay at the changing reputation of Tesla recently, recounting how owners are attempting “to disguise their vehicles to avoid confrontations and vandalism.” He showed clips of Teslas minus the logos, which now sport Mazda, Audi, or Subaru identification. “People are even trying to disguise their Cybertrucks. That’s like trying to pass off Chewbacca for a chihuahua. It doesn’t seem right,” he said. “Maybe this is all a ruse. Elon somehow tricked MAGA into driving electric cars. Maybe he really is a genius,” he speculated. The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert shared that recently someone stole the wheels off of every single Tesla in a Texas parking lot. “Whoever did it, I do not condone this. But I do appreciate your tireless efforts,” he said as he accepted a fake Nobel Prize for Puns. “Thank you so much!” He continued, “I want to be clear. I do not condone violence or vandalism of any kind. That is a deeply held belief of mine that comes from the bottom of my CBS legal department.” He pointed to a trend where Cybertrucks are being covered in garbage, theorizing, “To be fair, that might not be vandalism. That might just be a simple mistake because they do look a lot like a dumpster.”

PLAYING POSSUM, FULL OF IT, RUBY, COOKOUT POTATO SALAD

James Carville seems to have adopted the Napoleon Bonaparte quote: “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” The influential Democratic Party strategist who came to prominence in the Bill Clinton years recently predicted that the Trump White House will “collapse” in less than a month as his approval ratings continue to decline with his multitude of unpopular executive orders, and slashing of governmental agencies by firing thousands — risking an economic nosedive. His advice to his party is to simply sit back and watch it all come down: “Democrats need to play possum. This whole thing is collapsing,” he predicted in an interview with Dan Abrams of Mediaite. “We’re in the midst of a collapse. This is the lowest approval — not even close — that any president has ever had at a comparable time. It’s going to be easy pickings here in six weeks. Just lay back.” Later, he told Sean Hannity on Fox News that he sees Democrats up by 13 points in the congressional generic, with Trump at the lowest approval of any president, so early in the game, in American history. He challenged Hannity by his query, “So, your viewers are getting one view. And I’m reading another view. One of us is right and one of us is wrong. It’s that simple. Have they got fact checkers at Fox?” Trump came to his defense on Truth Social with the claim that he has “the best polling numbers” in his history. “The Democrats, run by broken down losers like James Carville, who’s weak of mind and body, are going crazy, and just don’t know what to do. They have lost their confidence and spirit — they have lost their minds!” he fired back. Carville maintains that the House Democrats know exactly what they are doing because they see what is going to happen, in spite of the concern in the party that its defenses are lacking. Trump’s first moves in office instigated from constituents, 1,600 phone calls a minute to the Senate, complaining that more needed to be done. Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts told Axios that the record number of calls were from “people disgusted with what’s going on, and they want us to fight back.”

Carville suggested to Democratic politicians that they should not get in the way of protesters around the country who are speaking out against co-presidents Trump and Musk, or as rural America says, “‘Don’t just stand there. Do nothing.’ Let this germinate. In the immortal words of Dalton in ‘Road House,’ ‘be nice until it’s time not to be nice.’ And that time is coming shortly.” Carville disagrees with moderates who say people are overreacting to Trump, warning, “No one is overreacting. We’re living in real time in a catastrophe.” One prominent date he sees is the November 5 election in Virginia, where Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, a leading Trump supporter, will be dealing with a large and angry electorate made up of thousands of fired federal employees. Carvile asks, “Do you think they’re gonna vote? I think they’re gonna vote. I think I know which way they’re gonna vote, and they’re gonna vote heavily.”

Robert Reich says people are asking him, “Where’s the Democratic Party?” He says that at a time when America needs a strong, bold, courageous opposition, the party’s silence is deafening, but goes on to say, “But with due respect to my old friend James Carville who is telling Democrats to ‘roll over and play dead,’ he’s full of it. Trump is killing our country, reducing the US government to rubble, and destroying our relationships with our allies. Putin may love it, but it’s a catastrophe four us and much of the rest of the world. Democrats have been rolling over and playing dead too long. That’s one reason the nation is in the trouble we’re in. My simple advice to congressional Democrats: Wake the hell up!” He goes on to say that if the party had only “had the guts years ago to condemn big money in politics, fight corporate welfare, and unrig a market that’s been rigged in favor of big corporations and the rich, Trump’s absurd bogeymen (the deep state, immigrants, socialists, trans people, diversity-equity-inclusion) wouldn’t have stood a chance.” His comments preceded the joint congressional session State-of-Trump speech, where he correctly predicted the “Republican lawmakers who have turned over their brains and intestines” would applaud his stream of lies. His wish that the Democrats would boycott the whole event en masse did not come to pass and his suggestion that they would perhaps just sit on their hands and applaud a few insipid Trump utterances was close to what we saw. There were many empty seats, with some making an exit at various times during the ninety-nine minute ordeal. Representative Al Green had to be escorted from the gathering when he heckled Trump as he pointed his cane toward the president for spewing lies, and many of those remaining had brought signs which they held up in response to his insults and rambling lies.

The small, hand-held signs only brought derision and chuckles from the Republican faction, and a political cartoon printed in some newspapers emphasized the futility of the protest in showing a chainsaw wielding Elon Musk laying waste to government buildings as the Democratic donkey mascot sat nearby in a chair holding up a sign that read, “Tsk, tsk.” Andy Borowitz satirized the event with his own account: “Donald J Trump watched Elon Musk’s historic address to Congress Tuesday night from the last row of the House chamber. Striking a menacing tone, Musk threatened to mount lavishly funded primary campaigns against congressional Republicans unless they gave him a standing ovation after every line of his speech. Trump’s view of the speech was partially obstructed by Robert F Kennedy, Jr, who sat in the second-to-last row and brought a dismembered whale’s head as his plus-one guest.” With a bit more accuracy, Borowitz said, “In what is being called a historic performance, on Tuesday night Donald J Trump set a new world record for delivering the longest speech that did not include a single fact. Congressional Republicans were awestruck by their leader’s ability, at the age of 78, to give such a sustained fact-free oration. House Speaker Mike Johnson said, ‘He’s still got it.’ Republicans contrasted Trump’s address favorably with the Democratic response of Senator Elissa Slotkin, who spoke only briefly but whose remarks were riddled with facts.” It must be noted that Elon was actually present, all spruced up in a fitted suit and tie, after ditching the blazer/t-shirt/baseball cap/dark sunglasses attire which is his Oval Office outfit — much the same as Zelensky’s. Stephen Colbert offered his thoughts on the Oval Office’s strict dress code of decorum, saying, “You must either look like a businessman or a guy trying to hand you a flyer outside of a strip club.”

In his speech, Trump again spoke about trying to regain ownership of the Panama Canal, sure to cause diplomatic shockwaves, as he singled out Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the one “to blame if anything goes wrong,” — resulting in a wide-eyed and shocked reaction from Rubio, and a classic forever meme for denizens of social media sites. Poor ‘Little Marco’ was probably still in a state of shock from being present at the Trump-Vance-Zelensky brawl in the Oval Office a few days before. Rubio — who according to Saturday Night Live, will now be known as ‘Marc Ruby’ since Trump signed his English-only language executive order — posted on X that the president’s speech was “inspiring” and “momentous,” with Trump’s “clear mandate from the American people to renew the American Dream.” Ruby won his Senate confirmation 99 to 0, and many hoped that his maturity and government experience would serve him well in holding some sway over Bully Trump, but that is obviously not to be. Ominously, the American asset management company, BlackRock has volunteered to buy two ports at either end of the Panama Canal from their current Hong Kong-based ownership in order to lessen Chinese influence over the crucial international waterway. BlackRock and other investors will spend $22.8 billion to buy the ports of Balboa and Cristobal — a deal which is now only an ‘agreement in principal.’

Response by Senator Bernie Sanders to the joint session speech charges Trump with creating a parallel universe with “a set of ideas that either have no basis in reality, or are nowhere near the most important concerns of the American people” — a pivotal moment in our country’s history. He says Trump’s tactic is the BIG LIE, many of which were heard during the Tuesday night blathering, and these grossly false lies are repeated over and over again, with complicity of right-wing social media sites blasting them out until people accept it as truth. Sanders points to the purpose of these lies, not only to push a right-wing agenda, but to deflect attention away from those important issues facing the country — issues Trump and his billionaire friends don’t wish to address, otherwise there is no financial benefit to them. He emphasized the issues Trump ignored in his record-setting speech: About how will working people support families in these tough times, made tougher by the administration; the reality of the 60% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck; the broken, dysfunctional, expensive health care system, and the non-affordabilty of prescription drugs; the major housing crisis and homelessness;  the massive income and wealth inequality with three 3 Americans owning more wealth than the bottom half of our society; the corrupt campaign finance system that allows billionaires to buy elections; the life expectancy of the poor compared to the wealthy; and the planetary crisis of climate change. Trump urged Congress to pass his “big beautiful budget,” leaving out ugliness of the $880 billion that would come from Medicaid, leaving 36 million Americans in peril. But what the hey — spaceship ownership is such an important factor nowadays, as well! An occasional fireworks display over the Caribbean is a sight to behold!

On his nightly show, Stephen Colbert mocked Trump’s remarks, but he was most critical of the Democrats, saying, “But don’t you worry. The Democrats came ready to fight back with their little paddles. That is how you save democracy. By quietly dissenting…or bidding on an antique tea set, it was hard to tell what was going on. In fact, I made my own sign.” Impassively, he held up a sign reading: “Try doing something.” Before Trump’s address, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had demanded that Democrats sit meekly and do nothing during the MAGASpeech, a demand that was not respected by several individuals. Consequently, a dozen or so disruptors were called into a ‘come to Jesus meeting’ on Thursday following the address, to be helped to “understand why their strategy is a bad idea,” which brought forth the comment that “if Jeffries has any good ideas, we’d love to hear them,” accompanied by the snarky, “But he’s been busy on a tour to sell his children’s book, “The ABCs of Democracy.” It seems incredibly misguided to scold Congressional Democrats for taking a stand against an autocrat who the party has characterized as a fascist authoritarian — a puny stand though it may be. Elie Mystal wrote in The Nation: “I asked Democrats to boycott Trump’s speech to Congress. They did not. Instead, they brought little placards emblazoned with political messages, as if they were in a silent auction for fascism. We live in hell.” Senator John Fetterman on X, characterized the protests as a “sad cavalcade of self-owns and unhinged petulance. It only makes Trump look more presidential and restrained.”

Elie Mystal, besides being disgusted with Democrats for showing up at the joint session, was further enraged that Representative Al Green was censured by Congress for disrupting Trump’s speech “to a joint session of sycophants and co-conspirators”; and, though many Democrats protested and voted against the procedure punishing Green, Mystal posted a list of the ten Democrats who voted with the MAGAts who he hopes will never be able to raise a dollar from other Democrats, ever again: Ami Bera (D-CA), Ed Case (D-HI), Jim Costa (D-CA), Laura Gillen (D-NY), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), Jim Himes (D-CT), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), and Tom Suozzi (D-NY). He also decried Elissa Slotkin’s “tepid Democratic response to Trump’s multi-hour Netflix series address to Congress, during which she managed to praise notable Democratic hero, Ronald Reagan.” Mystal recounts her follow-up interview with Tim Alberta of The Atlantic, “where she outlined her priorities. Her answers were the usual thin gruel that passes for Democratic Party talking points, but one line really stood out to me. She said, ‘It doesn’t win elections to speak to just the base of the party…if it did, Kamala Harris would be president.’ First of all, I’m really gonna need Becky with the 80% White Congressional district to keep Kamala Harris’s name out of her mouth. It’s easy to slag off the Democratic ‘base,’ which has been Black people for Slotkin’s entire life, when nobody is inviting you or your potato salad to the cookout anyway. It’s a little harder when you are running to represent all of America, not just the White folks who think they should own the place.”

Co-president Elon Musk is watching his Tesla vehicle empire skid downward, almost as fast as his pyrotechnics rocket company, though not quite as flashy. Sales are dropping dramatically worldwide, and dealerships are experiencing violent actions from an angry anti-Musk crowd, not to mention individual car and truck owners having their vehicles damaged and getting new paint treatments, or protest stickers applied surreptitiously. A post on Quora shares a definition of the portmanteau word, ‘DePlorean,’ combining ‘deplorable’ and ‘DeLorean,’ which has been applied to Tesla’s Cybertruck. The early 80s DeLorean sports car had a brushed aluminum exterior similar to the C-Truck, and carried similar social connotations of audacity, impracticality, and irritating behavior. While the DeLorean, which originally sold for $12,000 is now a prized collector’s item, the Cybertruck at $100,240 is an overpriced, poorly constructed symbol of excess, greed and stupidity, and much uglier when seen up close than online photos reveal. A UK-based group, ‘Everyone Hates Elon,’ recently unveiled an advertisement for a ‘Swasticar,’ which shows Musk standing in one of his cars while giving the Nazi salute, with printed copy proclaiming the vehicle “goes from zero to 1939 in three seconds.” The bus stop posted image has gone viral, and the group encourages supporters to spread it far and wide, saying, “Not happy with fueling the far-right in the USA, Elon Musk is now doing the same in Europe. We can’t let the richest man in the world poison our politics.” A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise cash to plaster the ‘Swasticar’ ad in more public places, as well as for production of small stickers reading “Don’t buy a Swasticar,” giving emphasis to their motto: “Pissing off Elon Musk, one small action at a time.”

In the UK, Musk has supported the far-right, anti-immigrant Reform Party, and attacked the Labour government by spreading “lies and misinformation” about the criminality of immigrants according to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. A few weeks back, Musk expressed support for Germany’s Alternative for Germany party, which gained support in their losing election campaign, even though it has been classified as a suspected extremist group by Germany’s intelligence service. Two left-wing activist groups — UK’s Led by Donkeys, and Germany’s Center for Political Beauty, claimed responsibility after they beamed an image of Elon Musk making the Nazi salute onto Tesla’s factory in Berlin, accompanied by the words “Heil Tesla.” A jeering crowd who erupted at the mention of Musk’s name on the ‘Late Show‘ caused Stephen Colbert to comment, “That is the sound of Tesla sales plummeting.” He also joked, “Millions of young people can’t stand him — and those are just his kids.” Colin Jost on ‘Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update‘ reported that “experts are saying that Trump’s tariffs will raise the cost of a new car by as much as $12,000, or you can get a free Tesla, since people are throwing them away.” Update co-host, Michael Che reported that European leaders have been coaching Volodymyr Zelensky on dealing with Trump —“kind of like how you need extra training to be a special ed teacher.” Che referred to a Trump claim that “no president has changed government more in 43 days,” to which Che replied, “Yeah, and nobody changed airport security more than bin Laden.” Addressing Trump’s constant back-tracking on his tariffs, amid concerns among consumers and investors, Che joked, “It’s a cunning political tactic experts call ‘bipolar disorder.”