It seems that most of Canada is planning a boycott of American goods. I have already switched from Tropicana orange juice to Canadian apple cider for my breakfast. Others I know have given up on bourbon and switched to Canadian whiskey. we are your closest and biggest customer; this is gonna hurt everyone.
I have been doing the same since 2016 when Trump was first elected. I thought he was dangerous then, and was accused of paranoia at the time by many. It's not all that difficult to stay away from most things American. I have been hoping for some time that our country would increasingly sever many economic ties with the US. I no longer feel it is in our best interests as a country to be so dependent on our trade with America. The US under Trump is not an ally in my eyes.
I recently read that after successfully buying the recent US election for Trump, Musk is now setting his sights on corrupting Canada, Great Britain, and Germany. Hope you all will be more alert than us and not allow that to happen. The world would be back in the dark ages should he succeed. Trump is the front man here, getting all the attention for his outrageous bullying ways, but Musk is even more dangerous and should not be lost in our sights.
His plans to corrupt and influence British and German politics on behalf of fascist, white nationalists and Nazis are well underway in those countries.
I don't see how any nation will ever be able to trust the US again. For starters, it would be just plain dumb for any foreign nation to share any kind of military secrets with the US. No agreement with the US is any longer worth the paper its written on if the toddler can just willy nilly tear them up. He did that previously on the agreement with Iran and the climate accords and is already at it again. No better than Putin.
Kiss and make up? Maybe, maybe not. How can we trust the US not to elect another Trump--or even, in violation of your own constitution, not to elect him for a 3rd term?
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
We should have learned from Trump's first term to diversify our markets; if we don't learn to do so this time, we deserve what we get.
I might say the same to my American friends and relatives--you've been fooled twice: what are you going to do about it?
I voted for Kamala Harris. I am devastated by her loss. I am at a loss to explain it. Those of us who voted for Kamala Harris are in shock and depressed. We are grieving. The orange blight won by a very slim margin.
The morbidly wealthy are working together to destroy the government and economy of the United States of America. Maybe they are bored and have nothing better to do. Afterall, who need 400 BILLION DOLLARS?
I can’t blame you. Jay’s point is well-made. All that’s going to happen from this is the loss of trade now and in the future, and the previous administrations have weakened so much of our own productivity that we might as well start ‘Victory gardens’ and change the name to ‘Survival gardens’.
All the things you listed are ways to incite and control other humans. It’s all part of Cult 101. (If you study cults, psychology and rhetoric & persuasion you can easily follow how white supremacy and evilangelicals have taken over their groups and added to them.) It is astonishingly, and depressingly, easy to use fear and hate to control other people. Once you get them into your cult, mob or religion, they will easily use revenge and brutality against whomever you (the cult, mob, religious leader) tells them to.
Absolutely. Thinking for oneself is an act of courage, and we all discover it
at some point. Sometimes we choose to let someone else take over, forgetting 'the fine print' that goes with that decision. We can always start over.
Sometimes we have to practice thinking for ourselves until it finally takes hold, and then we have to figure out a way to stay open-minded while
sometimes living with friends who think differently. A society of people who all think alike is unhealthy, and apparently so is monoculture as applied to farming: not a good thing for the soil or for the crops being grown.
Variety is healthy, but when 'trigger words' take on a life of their own and
suddenly having a diverse group of persons is akin to having Plague, then
a closed minded narrative has taken the microphone. Being unafraid is being open to a different, even challenging point of view, but being fearful is making everything about closing down discussion as a means of preventing new ideas.
An American here, with a fondness for our neighbor to the north.
GO FOR IT CANADA ! Throw on a secondary boycot of American goods. Shut off the flow of oil and gas to the midwest. And in a final, telling blow: stop sending us your maple syrup ! Let 'em try eating their pancakes with Karo and see how they like that!
Get real. Most Americans are buying the aunt jemima crap that's mostly high fructose corn syrup. Our food supply is trash and our citizens have no education or motivation to eat healthy. They will consume any and every unhealthy junk food presented to them and then wonder why they have so many health problems. This is America.
Sooo..... if you know anyone in Canada who needs a very tough and very experienced data analyst - translator - painter - belly-dancer, let me know. No, seriously, we SO need rescuing.
I’ve also been exploring Canadian options that don’t include purchasing American products. We’ll be in the market for a new/used vehicle as my 13 year old car is on its last legs. We’ll be waiting to see if the tariffs will drive down the cost of cars here in Ontario.
His combination of stupidity and megalomania reaches new depths every day. Not only is he completely wrong on what I can only loosely call policies, he basically has no idea how the world works. How can he think that being nasty to our allies is a good idea?
He thinks “being nasty to our allies is a good idea” because he has been hateful and nasty to everyone his entire life - from basic manners to business deals to rape and sexual harassment - and not once has he been made to legally pay for his actions. Yes, the courts have found him guilty of felonies as well as sexual assault and he was ordered, twice, to pay E. Jean Carroll for his crimes against her. Has he yet? No. Not at all. What has been done for that? Nothing.
He is a psychopath and malignant narcissist. He has no clue what a good idea actually is.
I can’t disagree, but it’s still astounding and appalling to watch all of this happening. You have to wonder—again, still—if the direct lines to Russia are more active than ever.
Would love to see the 25th Amendment applied. Yes, Vance is at least as evil, but it seems unlikely that he would attack our allies verbally and speculate about doing it literally. This is what happens with no guard rails. We can thank Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy as huge factors for the mess we're in now.
We can. If you’re interested in going further back, start with Nixon’s Southern Strategy. The Republicans have definitely played the long con to get us here. Unfortunately the Dems were split into two groups - those who went along for the rewards and those who refused to look at what was right in front of them. There were a few on the ball but they were treated as Cassandras and ignored.
Excellent thumbnail sketch. Mix in some Clintonian corporatocracy (remember the Glass-Steagall repeal?) and the Citizens United decision, and here we are.
If you read the 25th amendment, the removal process is not as easy and simple as they make it appear in the movies. *If* the VP and a majority of the Cabinet were to send a message to Congress that the felon can't perform his duties, all the felon has to do is send Congress another note that say "yes, I can" and he's back in. Repeat the notes from the VP and Cabinet and the felon, but this time Congress has the last word. They can remove him with a 2/3 vote of both Houses.
You can see the hurdles that make implementing the 25th impossible at this time. Vance and this amazingly honorable Cabinet the felon is assembling will never declare him unable to continue. And this Congress would never be able to pass his removal with a 2/3 vote. No, regretably the 25th is not an option.
Yes and no. Once he gets his thoroughly corrupt and incompetent cabinet in place, they don't need him any more. They might just as soon deal with someone who is also evil might but less likely to start WWIII with a random tweet storm. I remember a period of time during his first term (excuse me while I gag at having to call it that) when I woke up every morning wondering if we were at war with North Korea because of his stupid tweets in the wee hours of the morning.
Rachel Maddow reviews things, found t;his comforting in its delivery, the honesty. Like sitting in on a dinner party with her. The company of good people. An hour with Jon Favreau, Both are so thoughtful. Helps to know there alot of good people in the world. To believe in each other in that sense.
Trump has *always* seen the world in mercantilist terms of "winners" and "losers." For him and/or the US to "win" another person or country has to "lose." IMO, this type of thinking plays into his narcissistic personality as well as the undeniable fact he's a eugenicist.
Lastly, remember that Trump's been lazy his entire life. IMO, mercantilist "I must win, therefore you must lose" policies are the lazy person's way to think about economics. You don't really have to consider messy things like comparative advantage and economies of scale.
Well that's not different than Fox and MAGA saying the recession under fRump was due to COVID (which it was, even as a hater I admit it was) but the resulting inflation which was also worldwide and due to COVID was Biden'sfault. I told people they couldn't have it both ways but in true MAGA form they don't listen or care about fact
Well, let's talk about that recession. I had already pulled my 401k money out of stocks and put it in safe money market account before the pandemic. Why? because the market was way over valued and headed for a crash like in 1986. Also inflation was already rising when COVID hit. The pandemic just made it worse.
this is true. My investment guy had made similar changes. And pre COVID he said that fRump would be lucky to get out of his term without a recession- and he's a Repub. I believe the Obama economy was strong longer than predicted, it was kind of inevitable not to mention fRump wasn't good for economics no matter what people think.
If you'd left the "don't worry off", I could agree with your post. But "don't worry"? As if we all should just wait around for something to happen? Uh, uh. We need to worry and we need to do everything we can to counter the damage.
Worrying changes nothing. It is time to take action and push back. As things stand Trump can't make the changes which he wants to make. The people have to protest and resist and make sure he can't change the law.
The January 6th rioters, insurrectionists, who Trump has pardoned feel indebted to him and will likely take this as license to attack those they deem the enemies of Trump and his Nazi America.
A militia will need to formed in order to protect ordinary Americans from Trumps legalised skinheads. Peaceful protest will not suffice.
The 1/6 criminals were pardoned so they could form his own group of Brownshirts. Anyone else notice that Stewart Rhodes was not only at the Vegas rally but standing right behind trump? trump clearly intends to create his own Brownshirts and to use them and our militaries against immigrants and citizens. As a citizen and veteran, I find it highly worrying and likely unethical how whiplash fast the Pentagon said ‘we’ll comply’.
Well, the First Felon now has his abusive alcoholic incompetent white supremacist boy installed as SecDef, ready to bend the entire defense apparatus to White House whims and also to be the official link between the government and the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and other extra-legal thugs. As Ruth Ben-Ghiat has pointed out, authoritarians and dictators invariably incite and then leverage paramilitary and vigilante groups for intimidation and violence.
They have achieved everything they wanted and more. Beyond their wildest dreams. Investing in the certaintly that Americans aren't smart or informed enough to protect their democracy was a very, very wise investment for our enemies. With loyalists controlling the military, there's no turning back. These people aren't being put in their positions to protect us, or the constitution. They are there to protect the party, fascism. The sooner everyone understands that, the better. The cops and the military are not here to protect us anymore. They will protect the interests of the obscenely wealthy. Most of them won't be savvy enough to understand the unlawfulness of their following orders. So here we are.
But half the country doesn't know what DEI is or any other scare acronym (DEI, SEL, CRT - all must be banned, but no Republican can define any of them or explain why they're so threatening, because they aren't curious, they don't read, and they don't do critical thinking). All they know is they've been told to hate and fear it. So to them, firing your partner is a smart idea. When people start protesting...that is what they want, so they can declare martial law and sic ICE/Cops/Military on our own people. This is where all of this is going and this is what they want. Chaos means we inch closer to civil war. War is very profitable for the kinds of people that own Republican elected officials. Chaos is the goal. Chaos makes it even harder to see what is really going on, which is a fascist takeover. Americans aren't smart enough to protect their democracy.
In the same vein, USAID grants (US foreign aid development assistance) have been "paused" for 90 days for assessment of programmatic efficiencies and consistency with U.S. foreign policy. Incredibly short-sighted as a policy. 1. Many recipient organizations can't absorb a 90 day pause as we have staff salaries to pay, 2. This kind of soft power is cost-effective for the US, and China is waiting and eager to step into the breach.
I don't think Trump and his MAGA idiots have realised that Europe is able to work together to completely shut the USA out if he continues with his stupidity. All his supporters see is a 'Hard Man Making Hard Decisions' (a particular mentality that I absolutely despise), and they don't understand that said decisions are suicide on the international stage.
I wonder who's going to tell him that Australia makes most of your guys medications?
For instance, Germany could unilaterally freeze the US out of the Middle East by closing the Ramstein Air Base and/or denying US military aircraft transit rights. Turkey could do the same, too.
Huh, cool, I didn't know that! It makes sense, actually, we do have a remarkably high level of designers and talented dressmakers here. Learn something new every day!
Yes. Republican voters wouldn't ever read, listen, or dive deep enough into any issue to understand the nuances. This is why we are here. Because our enemies weaponized the low information literacy, low reading ability, and low political knowledge of our people, and they succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Americans just aren't very bright.
Can we be fair about the Colombia deal? They only agreed after they got felon47 to agree to their terms on accepting migrants. Theyve been doing so under the previous adminstration without incident. Now some idiot comes and fumbles the whole deal, has to slapped on the wrist until they get it staight. This was NOT a win for Felon47.
Even foreign organizations like BBC and Al Jazeera are repeating the line that Colombia caved to Trump, without ever making clear what they are supposed to have conceded. Accepting deportation flights? Yeah, they *were* accepting deportation flights - throughout the Biden administration, without incident - before Trump made a show of this one with the military plane, and the cuffs and shackles. So are we just back to the pre-Trump norm, or has something actually changed?
NPR reported on it factually. I was surprised.Before the election I do not feel they were acting with integrity. They were doing way too much chipper both-sides-ing. I hope what I've heard this past week will continue, but I'm sure the party will find a way to muzzle NPR.
Glad you saved me the effort to say what you did. These are the lands that supply coffee, chocolate, fruits, nuts, vegetables and so much more. Trmp is cutting off his nose just to spite his face.
Jay, thank you for your clearly written and comprehensive of what is going on here. In a news world of over-wrought drama, you bring clarity to how various events fit together and what is actually meaningful in the story. I truly appreciate it. You are needed.
As a proud Canadian my family is also boycotting American products. But I do have a question, as the orange man says, the US does not need our oil, lumber, natural gas, and electricity. If this is true, whay do they keep buying it?
I think it would be an excellent idea for every other country on this planet to make new alliances to protect themselves - economically and geopolitically - from America. The stronger those alliances the better for them all. This includes holding off military action from America.
A full third to almost half of American voters deliberately chose a psychopath to run the country. (I’m not sure of the exact breakdown in percentages.) They knew exactly what he is. There is zero excuse for not knowing or not fully facing what he is - as in saying “oh, I like this but not that so I’m not voting for that part” 🙄. They deliberately chose a bully because they think being a bully is masculine and powerful and “shows all those p****** who is really in charge!”. (My neighbor’s take on trump.) What it shows is their definition of masculinity is deeply toxic and they have no clue what it means for a community - from towns to cities to states to a country to the global community - to watch out for each other, to work together. It’s all part of the “I’ll get mine! and f*** everybody else, especially all those damn _______” mindset of the trumpcult. trump is their golden calf/god/hero. Or as Mel Gibson disgustingly put it, their “daddy”. (Yech!!!)
Those of us who voted for sanity and all those who didn’t vote (I’m referring to both those who shrugged and thought “it doesn’t matter anyway” and those who had situations that prevented them from voting [it does happen in a small amount of cases]) now have to live with the hate spewing, government destroying bully and his entire administration of far-right bullies and his budding Brownshirts being in charge. We have to live in this toxic stew until we can turn things around. (Maybe the shrugging nonvoters will vote next time around.) The rest of the world really doesn’t have to. They don’t. But, to stand up to him they will have to form strong alliances and the sooner the better.
The people who voted for him expected him to do horrible things, but not to THEM.
They felt immune to his appalling plans because they voted for him and supported him.
Did you see the viral post from a Vet whose nurse wife's new VA job got frozen?
They sold their house and moved for her new job that Trump froze so now she is in a new town with no job.
In the letter, the husband basically said "We know you didn't mean to do this to us, your biggest supporters" as if Trump would only have a hiring freeze for those who didn't vote for him. This man was perfectly ok with other people being frozen out of jobs as long as his MAGAt wife got hers.
Same responses from the Hispanic community here in Texas who are being rounded up even as I write this. They just can't understand why their friends, neighbors and family are being hauled away because they're good people. They work for a living. They're not criminals. Hispanics voted overwhelmingly for Cheetolini here in Texas or didn't vote at all. They are getting exactly what they voted for. They just didn't realize he was talking about them.
I hope they do. If violence occurs over Greenland, I hope NATO gets involved. What bothers me more and more is how our R “leaders” are all in on everything he is doing. The cult, we can understand; but are our elected officials REALLY not seeing a terrible future - or must we assume that he has their backing.
ALL OF THEM are compromised, spineless, cowards. The party intentionally grooms exactly this type of person to run for office. People who obey. People with no moral compass. The party attracts such people and then they find the ones who would make good television and get them elected with their dirty money.
I think he is insane or extremely demented. Certainly not rational. I knew this stuff would happen (again)! I hope he dies soon. Vance is a bad guy but may be more rational, as long as he doesn't start imitating Mary Queen of Scots. Sigh.
Vance is not so much a bad guy (except morally corrupt) as incompetent. That's probably why he was picked - people like Trump are looking for, more even than loyalist, people who aren't a threat. And people who disagree with each other.
For instance, his choices of Elon Musk and Steven Miller were clearly deliberate. Their disagreement will prevent them from working together to stage a coup. Trump benefits from being able to control their infighting. Vance wouldn't be able to control them.
It's an age-old dictator's playbook. Somewhat similiar to Hugo Chavez/Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.
Yeah, no. Vance deliberately spread lies about Haitian immigrants eating pets, resulting in bomb threats against those immigrants. He never apologized. He is a soulless, contemptible scumbag. And to think I used to like him when his book "Hillbilly Elegy" first came out!
On top of that is that the cult of Project 2025 love jd. He is who they want to be president. IMO don-old was picked because Project 2025 thought he would get more of the maga vote than Vance. We really have to work hard for the interim elections.
That falls under morally corrupt, of course. What I meant, Vance wouldn't have been able to come up with and pull off such a scheme on his own. Without Trump, he'd be like a fish out of water, and get devoured in no time by the chaos team Trump put in place.
There are conflicting reports as to whether Colombia backed down or trump accepted their terms. Colombia claims the trump administration agreed to more humane treatment of deportees and to return to charter flights, which are about ten times less expensive than military ones. The trump administration claims Colombia capitalized to trump's demands. I know who I think is lying.
"So its president backed down, much to the delight of the MAGA faithful, who see it as an incredible validation of Trump’s aggressive foreign policy, even toward our friends."
The number of people who think "strong leader" and "callous, arrogant a-hole" are synonyms no longer surprises me, but it continues to depress me.
Donald Trump reversed course on his threat to slap stiff tariffson Colombia in a move poised to fuel uncertainty over the president's promise to impose sweeping tariffs.
— The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative launched new probes to assess trade deals in a move that could lay the groundwork for new tariffs.
😂😂😂
They just don’t get the concept of: the leg bone is connected to the ……
I've stopped buying anything on Amazon and I've stopped going to Walmart for the most part ! Renewed my Costco membership and always try to buy locally ! I've logged off fb and joined Bluesky. I've stopped watching any legacy media as I don't trust their sanewashing a criminal !
It seems that most of Canada is planning a boycott of American goods. I have already switched from Tropicana orange juice to Canadian apple cider for my breakfast. Others I know have given up on bourbon and switched to Canadian whiskey. we are your closest and biggest customer; this is gonna hurt everyone.
Grateful you all are boycotting-grateful for the partnership as we resist this fascist regime. Money is the only language they understand. Thank you.
I have been doing the same since 2016 when Trump was first elected. I thought he was dangerous then, and was accused of paranoia at the time by many. It's not all that difficult to stay away from most things American. I have been hoping for some time that our country would increasingly sever many economic ties with the US. I no longer feel it is in our best interests as a country to be so dependent on our trade with America. The US under Trump is not an ally in my eyes.
I recently read that after successfully buying the recent US election for Trump, Musk is now setting his sights on corrupting Canada, Great Britain, and Germany. Hope you all will be more alert than us and not allow that to happen. The world would be back in the dark ages should he succeed. Trump is the front man here, getting all the attention for his outrageous bullying ways, but Musk is even more dangerous and should not be lost in our sights.
His plans to corrupt and influence British and German politics on behalf of fascist, white nationalists and Nazis are well underway in those countries.
So sad that one evil man can corrupt the entire world!
You are so right Lori. Go your own way, get away from the toxicity that my nation will become under Trump. When he is gone we can kiss and make up.
I don't see how any nation will ever be able to trust the US again. For starters, it would be just plain dumb for any foreign nation to share any kind of military secrets with the US. No agreement with the US is any longer worth the paper its written on if the toddler can just willy nilly tear them up. He did that previously on the agreement with Iran and the climate accords and is already at it again. No better than Putin.
Kiss and make up? Maybe, maybe not. How can we trust the US not to elect another Trump--or even, in violation of your own constitution, not to elect him for a 3rd term?
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
We should have learned from Trump's first term to diversify our markets; if we don't learn to do so this time, we deserve what we get.
I might say the same to my American friends and relatives--you've been fooled twice: what are you going to do about it?
I voted for Kamala Harris. I am devastated by her loss. I am at a loss to explain it. Those of us who voted for Kamala Harris are in shock and depressed. We are grieving. The orange blight won by a very slim margin.
The morbidly wealthy are working together to destroy the government and economy of the United States of America. Maybe they are bored and have nothing better to do. Afterall, who need 400 BILLION DOLLARS?
I understand and it makes sick that he has made these conditions. It's so UNCALLED for!
I can’t blame you. Jay’s point is well-made. All that’s going to happen from this is the loss of trade now and in the future, and the previous administrations have weakened so much of our own productivity that we might as well start ‘Victory gardens’ and change the name to ‘Survival gardens’.
Revenge, hate, fear, brutality - how did these become a party platform? They have
no healthy qualities, and whatever arises (not 'grows') out of them will be the result
of only the present occupants of the admin., not the previous one. Who then will
be the scapegoat?
A society succeeds when it works together, but disease spreads when it is ignored.
A sickness can be recovered from, but health must be nurtured to prevent disease.
All the things you listed are ways to incite and control other humans. It’s all part of Cult 101. (If you study cults, psychology and rhetoric & persuasion you can easily follow how white supremacy and evilangelicals have taken over their groups and added to them.) It is astonishingly, and depressingly, easy to use fear and hate to control other people. Once you get them into your cult, mob or religion, they will easily use revenge and brutality against whomever you (the cult, mob, religious leader) tells them to.
Absolutely. Thinking for oneself is an act of courage, and we all discover it
at some point. Sometimes we choose to let someone else take over, forgetting 'the fine print' that goes with that decision. We can always start over.
Sometimes we have to practice thinking for ourselves until it finally takes hold, and then we have to figure out a way to stay open-minded while
sometimes living with friends who think differently. A society of people who all think alike is unhealthy, and apparently so is monoculture as applied to farming: not a good thing for the soil or for the crops being grown.
Variety is healthy, but when 'trigger words' take on a life of their own and
suddenly having a diverse group of persons is akin to having Plague, then
a closed minded narrative has taken the microphone. Being unafraid is being open to a different, even challenging point of view, but being fearful is making everything about closing down discussion as a means of preventing new ideas.
We'll always love Canada and Canadians, even if it hurts! :-)
Hopefully the boycott is huge enough to impact the US. Maybe Congress would wake up.
An American here, with a fondness for our neighbor to the north.
GO FOR IT CANADA ! Throw on a secondary boycot of American goods. Shut off the flow of oil and gas to the midwest. And in a final, telling blow: stop sending us your maple syrup ! Let 'em try eating their pancakes with Karo and see how they like that!
And don't forget about shutting off electricity to the US if the toddler enacts tariffs against Canada.
So very much on board.
Get real. Most Americans are buying the aunt jemima crap that's mostly high fructose corn syrup. Our food supply is trash and our citizens have no education or motivation to eat healthy. They will consume any and every unhealthy junk food presented to them and then wonder why they have so many health problems. This is America.
Yes, please help us get rid of this orange bully!
Sooo..... if you know anyone in Canada who needs a very tough and very experienced data analyst - translator - painter - belly-dancer, let me know. No, seriously, we SO need rescuing.
Outstanding! Keep it up!!!
I’ve also been exploring Canadian options that don’t include purchasing American products. We’ll be in the market for a new/used vehicle as my 13 year old car is on its last legs. We’ll be waiting to see if the tariffs will drive down the cost of cars here in Ontario.
His combination of stupidity and megalomania reaches new depths every day. Not only is he completely wrong on what I can only loosely call policies, he basically has no idea how the world works. How can he think that being nasty to our allies is a good idea?
He thinks “being nasty to our allies is a good idea” because he has been hateful and nasty to everyone his entire life - from basic manners to business deals to rape and sexual harassment - and not once has he been made to legally pay for his actions. Yes, the courts have found him guilty of felonies as well as sexual assault and he was ordered, twice, to pay E. Jean Carroll for his crimes against her. Has he yet? No. Not at all. What has been done for that? Nothing.
He is a psychopath and malignant narcissist. He has no clue what a good idea actually is.
He belongs in jail not the White House, but I’m repeating the obvious to the choir.
I can’t disagree, but it’s still astounding and appalling to watch all of this happening. You have to wonder—again, still—if the direct lines to Russia are more active than ever.
I would bet on that. Watching a stupid country destroy itself and laughing till the Kremlin rings with it.
Thank you for the overview primer Jay. He is an actual loser but he’s head of our government - how to isolate him is t big question
Good points. Rather, accurate points that s*ck for us.
Simple, a combination of rapid onset dementia and being able to completely ignore the law his entire damn life.
Would love to see the 25th Amendment applied. Yes, Vance is at least as evil, but it seems unlikely that he would attack our allies verbally and speculate about doing it literally. This is what happens with no guard rails. We can thank Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy as huge factors for the mess we're in now.
We can. If you’re interested in going further back, start with Nixon’s Southern Strategy. The Republicans have definitely played the long con to get us here. Unfortunately the Dems were split into two groups - those who went along for the rewards and those who refused to look at what was right in front of them. There were a few on the ball but they were treated as Cassandras and ignored.
Excellent thumbnail sketch. Mix in some Clintonian corporatocracy (remember the Glass-Steagall repeal?) and the Citizens United decision, and here we are.
If you read the 25th amendment, the removal process is not as easy and simple as they make it appear in the movies. *If* the VP and a majority of the Cabinet were to send a message to Congress that the felon can't perform his duties, all the felon has to do is send Congress another note that say "yes, I can" and he's back in. Repeat the notes from the VP and Cabinet and the felon, but this time Congress has the last word. They can remove him with a 2/3 vote of both Houses.
You can see the hurdles that make implementing the 25th impossible at this time. Vance and this amazingly honorable Cabinet the felon is assembling will never declare him unable to continue. And this Congress would never be able to pass his removal with a 2/3 vote. No, regretably the 25th is not an option.
Yes and no. Once he gets his thoroughly corrupt and incompetent cabinet in place, they don't need him any more. They might just as soon deal with someone who is also evil might but less likely to start WWIII with a random tweet storm. I remember a period of time during his first term (excuse me while I gag at having to call it that) when I woke up every morning wondering if we were at war with North Korea because of his stupid tweets in the wee hours of the morning.
I'd say its more likely JD just gives him a little nudge at the top of the stairs.
Or hone his skills using gangster politics.
Rachel Maddow reviews things, found t;his comforting in its delivery, the honesty. Like sitting in on a dinner party with her. The company of good people. An hour with Jon Favreau, Both are so thoughtful. Helps to know there alot of good people in the world. To believe in each other in that sense.
https://youtu.be/8c6-abhO7XI?si=0IO-Ybd9y-lf2R7-
Great podcast! Thanks!
Unfortunately, that approach of "let others clean up the mess" has worked for him for decades already.
Sigh......
Trump has *always* seen the world in mercantilist terms of "winners" and "losers." For him and/or the US to "win" another person or country has to "lose." IMO, this type of thinking plays into his narcissistic personality as well as the undeniable fact he's a eugenicist.
Lastly, remember that Trump's been lazy his entire life. IMO, mercantilist "I must win, therefore you must lose" policies are the lazy person's way to think about economics. You don't really have to consider messy things like comparative advantage and economies of scale.
He doesn’t (want to) understand or value the concept of allies.
I saw on Fox that the reason for the spike in egg prices is the bird flu. Funny just three months ago they said it was Biden's fault.
Weird huh?
Well that's not different than Fox and MAGA saying the recession under fRump was due to COVID (which it was, even as a hater I admit it was) but the resulting inflation which was also worldwide and due to COVID was Biden'sfault. I told people they couldn't have it both ways but in true MAGA form they don't listen or care about fact
Well, let's talk about that recession. I had already pulled my 401k money out of stocks and put it in safe money market account before the pandemic. Why? because the market was way over valued and headed for a crash like in 1986. Also inflation was already rising when COVID hit. The pandemic just made it worse.
this is true. My investment guy had made similar changes. And pre COVID he said that fRump would be lucky to get out of his term without a recession- and he's a Repub. I believe the Obama economy was strong longer than predicted, it was kind of inevitable not to mention fRump wasn't good for economics no matter what people think.
Not only is Trump betraying our allies, he is betraying our civil servants. MAGA fascists fired my partner and thousands of other Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion professionals. We must do everything we can to save democracy by undermining the orange menace: https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/dei-public-servant-fired https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/dei-public-servant-fired
Don't worry. Trump won't last. He won't finish this term.
If you'd left the "don't worry off", I could agree with your post. But "don't worry"? As if we all should just wait around for something to happen? Uh, uh. We need to worry and we need to do everything we can to counter the damage.
Worrying changes nothing. It is time to take action and push back. As things stand Trump can't make the changes which he wants to make. The people have to protest and resist and make sure he can't change the law.
The January 6th rioters, insurrectionists, who Trump has pardoned feel indebted to him and will likely take this as license to attack those they deem the enemies of Trump and his Nazi America.
A militia will need to formed in order to protect ordinary Americans from Trumps legalised skinheads. Peaceful protest will not suffice.
The 1/6 criminals were pardoned so they could form his own group of Brownshirts. Anyone else notice that Stewart Rhodes was not only at the Vegas rally but standing right behind trump? trump clearly intends to create his own Brownshirts and to use them and our militaries against immigrants and citizens. As a citizen and veteran, I find it highly worrying and likely unethical how whiplash fast the Pentagon said ‘we’ll comply’.
Well, the First Felon now has his abusive alcoholic incompetent white supremacist boy installed as SecDef, ready to bend the entire defense apparatus to White House whims and also to be the official link between the government and the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and other extra-legal thugs. As Ruth Ben-Ghiat has pointed out, authoritarians and dictators invariably incite and then leverage paramilitary and vigilante groups for intimidation and violence.
They have achieved everything they wanted and more. Beyond their wildest dreams. Investing in the certaintly that Americans aren't smart or informed enough to protect their democracy was a very, very wise investment for our enemies. With loyalists controlling the military, there's no turning back. These people aren't being put in their positions to protect us, or the constitution. They are there to protect the party, fascism. The sooner everyone understands that, the better. The cops and the military are not here to protect us anymore. They will protect the interests of the obscenely wealthy. Most of them won't be savvy enough to understand the unlawfulness of their following orders. So here we are.
ONLY worrying changes nothing.
I agree with Annie D Stratton above who says we do need to worry along with doing everything we can to counter the damage.
But we are still stuck with the unelected and unelectable President musk and Vance….
From your lips to God’s ears.
And how will these fired people get a new job. And who replaces them and is trained to do these jobs? I shudder to think how it will all go!
His loyalists will replace them and they won’t do any “investigating”. So they don’t need training.
But half the country doesn't know what DEI is or any other scare acronym (DEI, SEL, CRT - all must be banned, but no Republican can define any of them or explain why they're so threatening, because they aren't curious, they don't read, and they don't do critical thinking). All they know is they've been told to hate and fear it. So to them, firing your partner is a smart idea. When people start protesting...that is what they want, so they can declare martial law and sic ICE/Cops/Military on our own people. This is where all of this is going and this is what they want. Chaos means we inch closer to civil war. War is very profitable for the kinds of people that own Republican elected officials. Chaos is the goal. Chaos makes it even harder to see what is really going on, which is a fascist takeover. Americans aren't smart enough to protect their democracy.
In the same vein, USAID grants (US foreign aid development assistance) have been "paused" for 90 days for assessment of programmatic efficiencies and consistency with U.S. foreign policy. Incredibly short-sighted as a policy. 1. Many recipient organizations can't absorb a 90 day pause as we have staff salaries to pay, 2. This kind of soft power is cost-effective for the US, and China is waiting and eager to step into the breach.
China is cheering this on. Cheaper than military action by far. As is Putin
I don't think Trump and his MAGA idiots have realised that Europe is able to work together to completely shut the USA out if he continues with his stupidity. All his supporters see is a 'Hard Man Making Hard Decisions' (a particular mentality that I absolutely despise), and they don't understand that said decisions are suicide on the international stage.
I wonder who's going to tell him that Australia makes most of your guys medications?
For instance, Germany could unilaterally freeze the US out of the Middle East by closing the Ramstein Air Base and/or denying US military aircraft transit rights. Turkey could do the same, too.
And Australia makes almost all wedding dresses, too. There are next to no wedding dresses made in the U.S. anymore.
Huh, cool, I didn't know that! It makes sense, actually, we do have a remarkably high level of designers and talented dressmakers here. Learn something new every day!
Yes. Republican voters wouldn't ever read, listen, or dive deep enough into any issue to understand the nuances. This is why we are here. Because our enemies weaponized the low information literacy, low reading ability, and low political knowledge of our people, and they succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Americans just aren't very bright.
I would happily pay extra for my coffee and flowers if it could put a stop to Donny Despot.
Can we be fair about the Colombia deal? They only agreed after they got felon47 to agree to their terms on accepting migrants. Theyve been doing so under the previous adminstration without incident. Now some idiot comes and fumbles the whole deal, has to slapped on the wrist until they get it staight. This was NOT a win for Felon47.
Try convincing his base of that. Or, apparently the media.
Even foreign organizations like BBC and Al Jazeera are repeating the line that Colombia caved to Trump, without ever making clear what they are supposed to have conceded. Accepting deportation flights? Yeah, they *were* accepting deportation flights - throughout the Biden administration, without incident - before Trump made a show of this one with the military plane, and the cuffs and shackles. So are we just back to the pre-Trump norm, or has something actually changed?
NPR reported on it factually. I was surprised.Before the election I do not feel they were acting with integrity. They were doing way too much chipper both-sides-ing. I hope what I've heard this past week will continue, but I'm sure the party will find a way to muzzle NPR.
Glad you saved me the effort to say what you did. These are the lands that supply coffee, chocolate, fruits, nuts, vegetables and so much more. Trmp is cutting off his nose just to spite his face.
Jay, thank you for your clearly written and comprehensive of what is going on here. In a news world of over-wrought drama, you bring clarity to how various events fit together and what is actually meaningful in the story. I truly appreciate it. You are needed.
Ditto!
As a proud Canadian my family is also boycotting American products. But I do have a question, as the orange man says, the US does not need our oil, lumber, natural gas, and electricity. If this is true, whay do they keep buying it?
Because we do need/want them but the rapist felon is just too stupid to understand how trade works.
I think it would be an excellent idea for every other country on this planet to make new alliances to protect themselves - economically and geopolitically - from America. The stronger those alliances the better for them all. This includes holding off military action from America.
A full third to almost half of American voters deliberately chose a psychopath to run the country. (I’m not sure of the exact breakdown in percentages.) They knew exactly what he is. There is zero excuse for not knowing or not fully facing what he is - as in saying “oh, I like this but not that so I’m not voting for that part” 🙄. They deliberately chose a bully because they think being a bully is masculine and powerful and “shows all those p****** who is really in charge!”. (My neighbor’s take on trump.) What it shows is their definition of masculinity is deeply toxic and they have no clue what it means for a community - from towns to cities to states to a country to the global community - to watch out for each other, to work together. It’s all part of the “I’ll get mine! and f*** everybody else, especially all those damn _______” mindset of the trumpcult. trump is their golden calf/god/hero. Or as Mel Gibson disgustingly put it, their “daddy”. (Yech!!!)
Those of us who voted for sanity and all those who didn’t vote (I’m referring to both those who shrugged and thought “it doesn’t matter anyway” and those who had situations that prevented them from voting [it does happen in a small amount of cases]) now have to live with the hate spewing, government destroying bully and his entire administration of far-right bullies and his budding Brownshirts being in charge. We have to live in this toxic stew until we can turn things around. (Maybe the shrugging nonvoters will vote next time around.) The rest of the world really doesn’t have to. They don’t. But, to stand up to him they will have to form strong alliances and the sooner the better.
The people who voted for him expected him to do horrible things, but not to THEM.
They felt immune to his appalling plans because they voted for him and supported him.
Did you see the viral post from a Vet whose nurse wife's new VA job got frozen?
They sold their house and moved for her new job that Trump froze so now she is in a new town with no job.
In the letter, the husband basically said "We know you didn't mean to do this to us, your biggest supporters" as if Trump would only have a hiring freeze for those who didn't vote for him. This man was perfectly ok with other people being frozen out of jobs as long as his MAGAt wife got hers.
Same responses from the Hispanic community here in Texas who are being rounded up even as I write this. They just can't understand why their friends, neighbors and family are being hauled away because they're good people. They work for a living. They're not criminals. Hispanics voted overwhelmingly for Cheetolini here in Texas or didn't vote at all. They are getting exactly what they voted for. They just didn't realize he was talking about them.
I hope they do. If violence occurs over Greenland, I hope NATO gets involved. What bothers me more and more is how our R “leaders” are all in on everything he is doing. The cult, we can understand; but are our elected officials REALLY not seeing a terrible future - or must we assume that he has their backing.
ALL OF THEM are compromised, spineless, cowards. The party intentionally grooms exactly this type of person to run for office. People who obey. People with no moral compass. The party attracts such people and then they find the ones who would make good television and get them elected with their dirty money.
I think he is insane or extremely demented. Certainly not rational. I knew this stuff would happen (again)! I hope he dies soon. Vance is a bad guy but may be more rational, as long as he doesn't start imitating Mary Queen of Scots. Sigh.
Vance is not so much a bad guy (except morally corrupt) as incompetent. That's probably why he was picked - people like Trump are looking for, more even than loyalist, people who aren't a threat. And people who disagree with each other.
For instance, his choices of Elon Musk and Steven Miller were clearly deliberate. Their disagreement will prevent them from working together to stage a coup. Trump benefits from being able to control their infighting. Vance wouldn't be able to control them.
It's an age-old dictator's playbook. Somewhat similiar to Hugo Chavez/Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.
"Vance is not so much a bad guy"
Yeah, no. Vance deliberately spread lies about Haitian immigrants eating pets, resulting in bomb threats against those immigrants. He never apologized. He is a soulless, contemptible scumbag. And to think I used to like him when his book "Hillbilly Elegy" first came out!
Not to mention a P2025 plant because they know frump won't make it another 4 years
On top of that is that the cult of Project 2025 love jd. He is who they want to be president. IMO don-old was picked because Project 2025 thought he would get more of the maga vote than Vance. We really have to work hard for the interim elections.
That falls under morally corrupt, of course. What I meant, Vance wouldn't have been able to come up with and pull off such a scheme on his own. Without Trump, he'd be like a fish out of water, and get devoured in no time by the chaos team Trump put in place.
grim. and true
There are conflicting reports as to whether Colombia backed down or trump accepted their terms. Colombia claims the trump administration agreed to more humane treatment of deportees and to return to charter flights, which are about ten times less expensive than military ones. The trump administration claims Colombia capitalized to trump's demands. I know who I think is lying.
"So its president backed down, much to the delight of the MAGA faithful, who see it as an incredible validation of Trump’s aggressive foreign policy, even toward our friends."
The number of people who think "strong leader" and "callous, arrogant a-hole" are synonyms no longer surprises me, but it continues to depress me.
Donald Trump reversed course on his threat to slap stiff tariffson Colombia in a move poised to fuel uncertainty over the president's promise to impose sweeping tariffs.
— The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative launched new probes to assess trade deals in a move that could lay the groundwork for new tariffs.
😂😂😂
They just don’t get the concept of: the leg bone is connected to the ……
I don’t think they care.
I've stopped buying anything on Amazon and I've stopped going to Walmart for the most part ! Renewed my Costco membership and always try to buy locally ! I've logged off fb and joined Bluesky. I've stopped watching any legacy media as I don't trust their sanewashing a criminal !
Good start, but those are the low hanging fruit. Ready for rationing?