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First They Came For Jay…
As any long-time reader can attest, I spent years (literally) warning on the clear and present dange
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Where is Scottie B. on all of this?
https://www.axios.com/2026/01/12/bessent-trump-investigation-powell-federal-reserve
I don’t know how reliable anything on Axios is.
But I bet at the next Mar a Lago gala, this time he’s going to punch Pulte out. (You know, the integrity thing – he said he was going to do it and now here’s his chance! He’s a man of integrity, right?)
We’ll see if Bessent has any integrity left…and will get fired or resign like so many in Trump’s first term – or will embrace the lies like all the other butt-sucking slime-ball weaklings who have sold their souls to the TrumpFather.
I got into some trouble “Trump trading” last year. That is – making bets on what will happen to markets based on an analysis of what Trump has done. That worked right up to the advent of the TACO trade. After that, the market stopped reacting to Trump’s moves – both announced and real. Fast forward to now, and it looks the same but feels different. Trump is obviously “flooding the zone” again. But this time, his Presidency and (probably) his freedom are on the line. If midterms happen, he will be impeached, and he may go to prison. I don’t think there are any guardrails from here to the end of the line.
You’ve been documenting so much on this and the whole arc towards, and into, autocracy. Your last two paragraphs clearly identify the risks of denial and inaction. And then its simply too late.
Definitely going to get worse, as you say. One additional cause: Trump is afraid of the midterms. Unsurprisingly, he acknowledged his concerns publicly. Wait until he starts publicly floating ideas about how he will survive the midterms. He is going to do everything he can to try to create the illusion that affordability is not a problem. He will do everything he can to interfere with and if possible eliminate the right to vote, including declaring an “emergency” (like a 5 year old running around wearing a fire chief hat) that shuts everything down on election day. He will try to prevent any new Democratic Senators and Representatives from being sworn or to otherwise meet qualifications necessary to serve in Congress. He will do much more “crazy” stuff than anyone can currently imagine.
And pinning some “terrorist” label on formidable Democratic opponents…
And order the broligarchs to broadcast his propaganda…
And commandeer the Fed to buy and lift whichever market that doesn’t like the Empire in 2026…
And bomb somewhere inside or outside the borders if other excuses to declare emergency do not work…
… ….
I know that “he hardly knew the guy”, but these antics have done one thing. We quit asking to see all the Epstein files.
indeed indeed…
I read that times article last night and as I read it realized you read it too
Equally terrifying was the apparent murder of a white protester by some seemingly under-trained federal agent and the associated blatant denials by the country’s “leaders”… if this is also normalized it’d be so much easier to “efficiently” go after those “enemies within”…
Maybe it’s just human nature, it’s so much easier to collude with the corrupt than to stand up against the wicked powerful…those who bravely push back might sacrifice their lives, being looked up at as martyrs by half the nation but disparaged, mocked, and humiliated in some conspiracy theory memes on almighty social media by the other half…their sacrifices (and their loved ones’) today would be for the people they do not even know, even the very people who wrong them, tomorrow… Not a good deal, is it?
Anyway, thanks for the illuminating articles on these topics all the while.
Notice how Tillis, like other Republicans, keeps trying to pin Trump’s actions on “advisers.” I suppose it’s easier to stay out of the MAGA crosshairs if you don’t blame Dear Leader and just paint him as a victim of nefarious advisers.
Jafar would be jealous of how well these advisers have hypnotized Trump to do their bidding.
I noticed, and Tillis is smart because I’ve also noticed the visceral reaction from MAGA cultists when you directly criticize the Orange Jesus, it’s like you’re personally insulting them. Tillis avoids the immediate feral over-reaction while also painting Trump as a puppet who does whatever the last person talking to him tells him to do (also true).
I dearly wish Greenspan to head a pushback against the Trump faction. Imagine the absolute confusion and consternation within the administration as to what precisely Greenspan’s strategy is, should he start outlining this in public.
Usually, I visit the Dept of Labor’s Twitter (I am still not calling it X) for one thing: to see how much they’ve quietly revised down last month’s job numbers. I go there expecting bureaucratic boredom. I do not expect Blood and Soil.
If you think I’m exaggerating, look at this recent gem from the DOL account:
“One Homeland. One People. One Heritage. Remember who you are, American.” .. Who remembers their history ?“Ein Volk. Ein Reich. Ein Führer!”
Since when did the agency in charge of OSHA violations and ERISA compliance pivot to 1930s-style nationalist poetry? They even have 1930’s Art Deco style posters , reminiscent of the good ‘ol mid 1930’s in Germany
It seems the mask is slipping. We thought we were dealing with incompetence; this rhetoric suggests we are dealing with zealotry.
Remember who you are: A tax mule for a bureaucracy that apparently thinks it’s your spiritual guide.