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Straw Men Versus Barbie Dolls
Donald Trump stumbled into another meme last week when, during a cabinet meeting, he played down the
125% on China can’t last indefinitely, but if it lurches its way to 50%, that’s pretty “bad”. Just 10% tariffs on ROW might be optimistic. Deals coming fast and hot starting imminently might be optimistic. Trump can’t stop coming up with new tariffs – movies, re-nego’ing USMCA, Iran oil customers – and whatever adults are in the room can’t shut him up.
While we are mesmerized by our one-sided tariff negotiations, here comes another win for all Americans!
https://www.marketwatch.com/articles/moderna-pharma-stocks-fda-vaccine-regulator-64d9137d?mod=watchlist_latest_news
I am looking into how to get my fall Covid shot in Canada . . .
It is bad. I might not kill us, but it is bad. All of it.
People have downplayed the tariff threats in numerous ways that time has proven wrong. ie they’re a negotiating tactic, smart guys like Bessant will talk some sense into him and he’’ll quietly backoff and negotiate realistic deals behind closed doors. If you’re paying attention, it’s clear those are all false hopes. The king wanna be is hellbent on driving the car off the cliff because he’s been sure since he was 6 that cars can fly if you just give them the chance. Now that dementia has arrived, no one is going to change his mind. There is one hope; they make him pope and he decides it’s a better gig than playing president.
It all feels a lot like ignoring/rolling back the efforts to halt climate change, i.e. the outcome isn’t determined, however it’s a really, really risky bet. Playing with matches in a hay-filled barn risky. Just plain stupid. Especially because the ‘bet’ isn’t even warranted, needed, nor will it get us something better even if it doesn’t blow up in our faces.
The transcript of today’s reception in the Oval Office clearly documents Trump’s progressing dementia – incomplete thoughts and sentences, meandering, loss of focus, memory loss, etc. Then Bessent’s sheepish inability/refusal to explain who pays for tariffs. Hegseth cancelling Ukraine’s munitions on a whim. Think on it: This has to be the scariest time ever in US history, as Americans mostly stand by and watch.
Not true! Chuck Schumer just wrote the Administration another “very strong” letter with multiple “very strong” questions I think he’ll have us back on the right track in no time.
All Americans should be forced to watch Trump answering the question “Do you think you need to follow the Constitution?” with his answer of “I don’t know”, and his answer of what the Declaration of Independence means to him and he answer’s “a letter of love, and unity”. The man is an idiot, and his loyal base doesn’t know it because clips like that never make it on to Fox or Newsmax.
Yeah, he literally doesn’t know why this country exists, which is to say he doesn’t understand what it was the Founders were revolting against. I doubt very seriously that he could recount basic facts about the Revolutionary War which, incidentally, makes him less informed than his base. Having lived in and around rural areas of the South, I can tell you that even if they don’t know anything else about the founding (and they generally don’t), a fair share of the lifted F150 crowd does have some vague conception of the extent to which the whole point here is that we don’t have a king. Unfortunately, they can’t connect the final dot between that and Trump posting pictures of himself wearing a crown on social media.