One of the saddest things about the ongoing destruction of the U.S. is that Trump/Musk/Vance are blowing off many long-nurtured relationships with other countries. Yesterday I caught this interview with a former U.S. ambassador to Denmark on J.D. Vance and the ham-handed bullying of Greenland.
See also The Imperialism Has no Clothes: JD Vance in Greenland by Timothy Snyder on how utterly contradictory and incoherent Trump’s policies really are.
If Dems take back both houses in 2026, IMO another Trump impeachment and removal from office have to be on the table. It’s the only way the U.S. can even begin to get its credibility back.
Trump’s problem, as I understand it, is that he understands only one kind of relationship, between dominators and the dominated. He doesn’t understand strategic alliances, or equal partnerships in which nations work together where they share mutual interests. To Trump, you’re either the boss or you’re the flunky. He and Vance and Musk also don’t seem to grasp that what happens in other countries can really, truly, impact the U.S. Ultimately isolationism makes us weaker.
Regarding Elon Musk, see Jonathan Chait at The Atlantic, Why DOGE Could Actually Increase the Deficit. In the long run Musk’s antics probably will cost us a lot more than he “saves.” And if he were really all that smart he should be able to figure that out himself. Or maybe he has, and he doesn’t care.
See also Greg Sargent, Trump Accidentally Wrecks His Own Tariff Spin in Leaked Call Stunner. You’ve no doubt heard that Trump has ordered a 25 percent tariff on all cars imported into the U.S. This is supposed to take effect on April 3. Some time later there is to be a 25 percent tariff on all car parts imported into the U.S. Trump has already slapped 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum, and he’s threatened to impose tariffs on copper. (If you’re thinking of replacing your laptop, do it before the cost of copper goes up.)
This is supposed to bring more car manufacturing back to the U.S. Car industry experts are saying it probably won’t, and even if it did cars would cost more. But somebody must have gotten through to Trump that his tariffs will raise the price of cars. Greg Sargent:
The Wall Street Journalreports that in a private call with CEOs of the nation’s leading auto companies this month, the president warned them against hiking prices after his tariffs hit. The White House will look unfavorably on them if they do, he darkly intimated, leaving them worried about retribution.
I’m waiting for the outrage from the “free market” libertarians and the Friedrich Von Hayek devotees to scream about the “road to serfdom.” Crickets so far.
This is getting attention as another abuse of power, akin to his extortion of law firms. But it’s notable for a different reason: It wrecks the spin Trump has offered on his tariffs on many different levels, and it highlights a glaring absurdity about his economic agenda that continues to be overlooked. While Trump’s stated goal of tariffs is to rebuild the nation’s industrial base, he’s gunning to reverse policies by his predecessor in a way that would kill large numbers of manufacturing jobs, including in the auto industry, simply because they would facilitate the transition to a green future.
He wants to undo everything Biden accomplished because Biden accomplished it. He also wants to stay in the good graces of fossil fuel companies. Meanwhile, China is cornering the EV market. U.S. automobile manufacturers will be left behind.
Some Trump-targeted law firms are fighitng back. That’s encouraging.
Just read an article that China has a way to fully charge an EV in 5 minutes. Seems donnie is taking us to the poor side of the economy.
There are going to be lots of breakthroughs in battery charging, because rapid-charge is the holy grail for range anxiety. Still, you need to be able to spot-generate, or store, enormous amounts of electricity to be able to charge up cars the way we gas them up now. Replaceable batteries or fuel cells would work, but, on-the-spot pure-d electricity will always be most efficient, when it's possible.
So this is where we want to be fully funding physics research, and chemistry research, and engineering research, without edog shivving our universities. Breakthroughs in battery technology; in charging technology; in storage technology; in generation technology. We want China to be licensing our technology, or rapidly trying to play catch-up, not vice versa.
Instead, we not only elected an evil moron, his veep literally went to Greenland and said "nice island you got here; be a shame if something bad happened to it. I run an organization that provides… protection, that's a good word, protection, from mishaps."
The USA is now the scorpion, and the rest of the world has seen what happens to frogs who trust scorpions. It would be insanity itself not to try to create a new, non-US dominated, world, and dear lord, I've long felt that way, but, I wanted them to step up, not for the USA to step into the crapper and swear it was the sweetest perfume they were tromping all over the dance floor.
Sigh. I know, I know, "tell me how you really feel," but trust me, you don't want me to go that far.
Oh: sorry random person who mentioned battery charging, and in response to whom I unloaded… I had feelings.
We're gonna be on the receiving end of global sanctions. When the economy really tanks, and it may not take two years, the GOP in going to try to negotiate with Trump and discover that it's useless. Trump is not concerned with the survival of the Rpeublican party. If Trump can not succeed, he will gladly take everyone with him.
At that point, the GOP may see impeachment as a way of laying all the blame on Trump. (We're gonna forget about our support and collusion.) If Vance is also complicit in the same crimes and misdemeanors, it could result in a Democrat Speaker of the House rising to the WH before 2028.
If impeaching, and then convicting, both Trump and Vance leads to a Democratic Speaker becoming President no way in hell will enough Republicans support this in the Senate. Still, one can dream.
If Musk destroys the software mechanisms that provide Social Security payments and pulls the plug on Medicaid, there won't be a "safe" Republican district in the country. Not for the incumbent.
If the value of the dollar tanks globally because Trump decides the national debt is negotiable with the holders of T-bills, we could beat the Great Depression in unemployment and inflation.
If you are sure these can't/won't happen, review the list of things that can't happen that are. BTW, Musk was on Trump's leash but I believe he's running his own agenda. Nobody knows for sure what that agenda is. If Musk decides to tank SS "permanently" he has access and control to do just that in ways Trump can't reverse just by removing the Muskrats.
The COBAL software engineers who are gone might reverse Musk's vandalism but why should they return and work heroically to put programs back on line if it will keep Trump in office. And the engineers would have no security after the fix is done – not a second or a dollar of security if they lay the blame of the catastrophie at Trump's feet.
Have you checked ssa.gov lately? The destruction has already started.
From what I have gleaned – and this is personal opinion, but I've been trying to think like a criminal – the reason Musk wants SS data is to use it – for Trump, for himself, I don't know.
There is discussion that he hopes to destroy the old code base, and rely only on his new one. I really hope he's not that stupidly delusional. With the amount of time the law has been in effect, the only way you could properly compute who is due what is to do what we've been doing, which we wanted to do differently, but, well… we weren't stupid enough to think a few codemonkeys could fix it.
I really don't think he's that stupid. I think he can be convinced that Twitter was overstaffed, but I don't think he thought he could build his own faster, and more cheaply (or, duh, he would have). I think "he wants to ruin the code base" is meant as chaff – when he doesn't do that, "see what you LIEberals claimed?"
Instead, well, I saw a quote about "god mode" in Uber, where, if you wanted to, you could just see how much of a person's life you could map, just from their Ubers.
I think he, and Trump, want IRS, and SSA, and all other data, so they can use it for personal gain (which might not be monetary). I think they want to be able to go "god mode" on their political opponents and enemies. With enough data, you can always find a weakness.
Plus, Trump has a lust for cruelty, and would love to chase down him some "illegals".
(Maha: I might have a comment in moderation, for mentioning a medicinal compound I use. I won't feel crushed if it never makes it to public view, especially if you'd prefer I not mention said compound and sources/relatives/etc..)
Um. I'm using some THC for pain relief, which is making me talkative – please don't take me babbling at you as criticism of you or your viewpoint, it's just what came bubbling up from brain to fingers.
Well, here's the thing.
As long as you say that, Republicans have cover not to convict. I know, I know, you sound like a sucker, if you say you expect their oath, to see impartial justice done to mean something, but, you still need to say it.
We need lots of people being – is "cringe" the right word here? – cringe about this. Yes, we know, political realities are, a lot of Republicans would rather keep their job, than keep their oath. But as long as that's an acceptable choice, as long as we curse them all as cowards, rather than naming and shaming each vile individual, they'll take the cheap way out.
Instead, we should be punching each and every one of them in (body part deleted), metaphorically speaking, e.g., "They swore they'd be as hard on him, as they were on Bill Clinton! And, how can you ever trust any public official, who, swearing to see justice done, violates their oath so obviously?"
It's stupid, but cynicism helps evil, when evil operates in the open. It says "this really isn't all that different from normal." Right now, it really is.
I am not chicken, and I am not lazy. I am old and way behind on my work. I lost my younger brother a couple of years ago who knew much about both chickens and the chicken tax, a disaster of tariffs dating back to the days of the compact VW pick-up truck. Yes, chickens and pick-up trucks politics and probably long neck beers were involved and perhaps a divorce or two and tariffs. The tariffs are still there as far as I know. No country and western songs were involved as far as I know but should have been. By now it should be a tariff disaster talked about in every business circle and in every business course.
What is needed is some good review of its history and an honest write up of its dismal effects. We do know now that the US car industry is still weak. We have gotten VW plants in the US but VW is also weak in comparison to other foreign car makers. Before we make more tariff, mistakes someone needs to review and critique ones we have already made. Chickens are another matter. Eggs come from chickens. Eggs are another matter. We have current big problems with both. What we do not have is an honest write-up about how we got things so screwed up. Questions remain. How much of these problems is due to tariffs? Why is the chicken tax tariff still on?
I have lost several wing-persons in the last few years. With them went great knowledge and the great contacts they had. Unfortunately, all that remains is a shell of an undocumented story that was never written that we need today. I will try to fill in what I can, when I can, but solo research takes time we do not have. Right now, we need someone who knows the history of the chicken tax from both the European (possibly German) view and the US view. Before we go on a tariff binge, we need to learn from our history and mistakes. We know who won't bother with either and is obsessed with tariffs and wouldn't know a mistake if he wallowed in one. Of course, the cult will follow blindly. The rest of us need at least an idea of what we are really up against.
For sure tariffs are a tax. Once taxes or fees or other "taxes" are passed they are very hard to remove. Some fees and taxes are bad ones. These facts should be known and generally accepted as true. The chicken tax/tariff was a bad one, it seems, and to repeat that type of mistake without an honest critique of it is pure folly. Folly and gut instincts are the guiding lights of our leader and his cult which seems to think (without evidence) he has "special guidance". The rest of us think he is "special" too, but we use a different definition of the word special. Knowing about chickens and chicken taxes is nothing to be chicken about. There seem to be real pitfalls we need to know about and avoid. We need rational fear. We need some idea as to what the cult is dragging us into. We all get the same future. Some of us are sane enough to want to know what pitfalls are possible or probable. Some of us are using a different definition of special. The cult does not share our fear. The cult is using another definition of special.
Always great discussions and insights from this site.
Slightly off topic:
I cringe when the term "Republican" is used. I am convinced that the republican party no longer exists except in the confines of the Trump cult.
I have no evidence except there are certain (few) lawmakers that say all the right things that feel like they are concerned about the extremes of the current situations, but return to the Trump cult line toeing the next time they appear on the airwaves, radiowaves. or wireless waves. Looking at you, Murkowski, although she is not the only one.
Oh well, keep up the good work.
David Lynch wrote in the WP this afternoon of the chicken tax and tariffs in general. He had details and research to add to the discussion. Here is a quote and link to his article:
Why Trump’s complaints on others’ tariffs overlook realities of U.S. trade – The Washington Post
Will Wisconsin be the national fool and sell out to Musk? A proxy war for the soul of the country. We will see if they can stand firm against the fascists. Some have already sold their souls and the soul of our county. Fools. Even there some are well below average. Too few we hope.