Thank you. Again, glad you capture the dual narrative, that of both the Actors and the Producers: "It’s obviously alarming that Liesman admits that he could lose his job for pointing out that the emperor is nude and very stupid. The media has set a pattern of proactive surrender to Trump." I'm in favor of calling it the Institutionally-Entrenched, Monied Media. But that's a mouthful. (IEMM?) And remember, lovers of the Mad King: he who attacks his neighbors will soon enough attack his "friends." see: Stalin, J.
Well in the end there was no clout to be gained by listening to Kamala Harris and the other Democrats.
And yes this is insane. But this is the kind of insanity that is only possible with Murc's Law (if there were a thinkable situation of a Democrat doing something like this). This is only possible if your accountability flows only one way.
Also did anyone else notice the parallelism with what the tire-deflating creeper propagandist Watters said, with Putin's (and defenders') statements about Ukraine?
"The Canadians didn’t like that. And they fired the first official shot of the American-Canadian war.”
"Ukraine didn't do what it takes to stop this war"
Well said! Clearly trump, Vance, Watters, and others of their ilk are so insecure, they think that only hard power is effective or needed. They don't understand soft power, and the goodwill that it creates, and can be far more effective than hard power in certain situations. They see soft power as weakness, and being weak themselves, are desperate to appear strong, which to them means hard power, but not even strategically applied - it's used like a bully uses their power to make everyone fear them and not pushback. Plus, they mistake fear for respect. The problem with that, is when you are no longer feared (when the "weakling" pushes back and the bully whines), the fake respect is gone, and you are in danger of losing everything. I don't understand why the media doesn't get that. But good on Canada and other countries getting it and pushing back.
BTW, trump being ignorant, must not be aware that some kings lost their heads when their subjects got fed up with their crap.
Yeah, some find his crap entertaining, but I never have. Besides, we have so many other choices for entertainment, we don't need the president to entertain us. In fact, I prefer a boring, but competent, president, working hard to make life better for us all.
Not coincidentally each of them is deeply insecure in their masculinity, knowing they fall short of the John Wayne ideals they think they should aspire to (as Wayne himself fell short). This is their pathetic way to chest beat, as it is an easy substitute for actual bravery.
This is what people mean when they say our country has a masculinity crisis—none of these guys know shit about actual manhood.
To those of us who try to think and act rationally, Trump's statements and actions seem like totally unforced errors which cannot possibly succeed. But to Trump, chaos is the point. Destroying the normal functioning of government and foreign policy is the point. And the benefits to him are many, and ultimately financially beneficial.
He is already reaping enormous gobs of cash through selling influence to the mega-wealthy. And he is making it impossible to track everything that is happening in the background as he Gish Gallops through the system. His career was essentially started by selling out to Russian oligarchs who needed to launder their cash. Trump discovered that he could capture a portion of the wads of money that needed a place to hide. Now he is doing the same thing with our government and our financial system. He cares only about enriching himself and the grifters and sleazebags that understand what he is doing, and who have jumped aboard the bandwagon to slurp up the dregs.
There is no way for this all to end but badly...either for him or for us.
Someone noted that the Trump presidency is very much like if the country lost a war and the occupying power was looting us for spare parts. Yet we chose this fir ourselves, an act of a decadent and rotted power.
"Other nations that elect sane leaders" have realized Trump can't be trusted... What Americans fail to see in their often cartoonish view of the rest of the world is that the leaders of the nations that they deem "undemocratic" also perceive the erratic behavior and capitalize on it. You can worry about Macron, but he will be out in a couple of years. Meanwhile the leaders in KSA are taking silent steps in the understanding that they cannot expect Trump to do the smart thing and back them against Iran. Jordan just as much, Turkiye will keep making gains at the expense of Syria in order to connect with China in the other side. Trump makes China look stable, reasonable, approachable and an all around good bet. The Chinese understand this and it is in their nature to keep filling this void. By the time we realize this behavior leads to be considered an unserious partner all around, Canada will be a proud member of the BRICS.
Canada has an opportunity to go big and accept large scale immigration from the U.S,, particularly of skilled workers like scientists who are being thrown out of work here. As aspiring PM candidate could even score some points offering to trade skilled American workers for sex criminals because the Trump regime seems interested in taking in the sex criminals. I’d even recommend taunting Trump by saying “why would we want to be part of your country just as you’re flushing your economy down the toilet?”
Of course, to the extent any Canadians wanted to be absorbed into the U.S., Trump pretty much ensured none of them would want this because his terms in any deal require humiliation. At this rate there’s a better chance of Canada making disgruntled U.S. states their newest provinces than the U.S. making Canada another state.
If Canada wants to take New York I'd be into that. Shoot *that* Into my veins. It would never happen, of course, and the wingnuts WOULD actually gun for a shooting war.
I just love that the gibbering pricktator is now grumbling about the 49th fucking parallel. When you're a Republican despot you're not responsible for knowing ANYTHING. Treaties are just a piece of paper.
Yeah, neither scenario will ever happen but I think a lot more Americans will wish they were in another country by the time this demented idiot is through. And this damage could be irreparable.
Hate to say it but 2024 may have been our last chance and we blew it. We may wind up an isolated, far poorer and more miserable nation.
I’m
It's not a trade war; it is a destabilization campaign.
https://palecek.substack.com/p/its-not-a-trade-war-it-is-a-destabilization
Thank you. Again, glad you capture the dual narrative, that of both the Actors and the Producers: "It’s obviously alarming that Liesman admits that he could lose his job for pointing out that the emperor is nude and very stupid. The media has set a pattern of proactive surrender to Trump." I'm in favor of calling it the Institutionally-Entrenched, Monied Media. But that's a mouthful. (IEMM?) And remember, lovers of the Mad King: he who attacks his neighbors will soon enough attack his "friends." see: Stalin, J.
"Institutionally entrenched" is a good way of describing the problem!
He sure is! But most of us love you and detest him, so there’s that.
"A few curds short of a poutine" just made me snort laugh, so thank you for that.
Well in the end there was no clout to be gained by listening to Kamala Harris and the other Democrats.
And yes this is insane. But this is the kind of insanity that is only possible with Murc's Law (if there were a thinkable situation of a Democrat doing something like this). This is only possible if your accountability flows only one way.
Also did anyone else notice the parallelism with what the tire-deflating creeper propagandist Watters said, with Putin's (and defenders') statements about Ukraine?
"The Canadians didn’t like that. And they fired the first official shot of the American-Canadian war.”
"Ukraine didn't do what it takes to stop this war"
Just kinda makes you go 'hmmm.'
Since Hallmark movies are all made in Canada, maybe those heartland Real Americans will finally notice when there's no Hot Santa 2 this year.
This is just all so STUPID. It’s like a South Park episode without the cleverness. And watching these clowns parrot the stupidity is depressing.
When Rupert Murdoch is calling tariffs stupid you would think at least some of the GOP would listen.
𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑’𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂. 𝑯𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒄𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒅𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝒕𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝑪𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒆. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉, 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑’𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼.𝑺. — 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒆 𝒂̀ 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒃𝒂𝒈𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑽𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒑 𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑼.𝑺. “𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓,” 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉-𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝑼.𝑺. 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔. 𝑶𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒛𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒚𝒍𝒖𝒎, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈.
Well said! Clearly trump, Vance, Watters, and others of their ilk are so insecure, they think that only hard power is effective or needed. They don't understand soft power, and the goodwill that it creates, and can be far more effective than hard power in certain situations. They see soft power as weakness, and being weak themselves, are desperate to appear strong, which to them means hard power, but not even strategically applied - it's used like a bully uses their power to make everyone fear them and not pushback. Plus, they mistake fear for respect. The problem with that, is when you are no longer feared (when the "weakling" pushes back and the bully whines), the fake respect is gone, and you are in danger of losing everything. I don't understand why the media doesn't get that. But good on Canada and other countries getting it and pushing back.
BTW, trump being ignorant, must not be aware that some kings lost their heads when their subjects got fed up with their crap.
He's banking on Americans being too well entertained and/or scared to do anything. After all a lot of them gave him a second go at destroying the USA.
Yeah, some find his crap entertaining, but I never have. Besides, we have so many other choices for entertainment, we don't need the president to entertain us. In fact, I prefer a boring, but competent, president, working hard to make life better for us all.
Not coincidentally each of them is deeply insecure in their masculinity, knowing they fall short of the John Wayne ideals they think they should aspire to (as Wayne himself fell short). This is their pathetic way to chest beat, as it is an easy substitute for actual bravery.
This is what people mean when they say our country has a masculinity crisis—none of these guys know shit about actual manhood.
To those of us who try to think and act rationally, Trump's statements and actions seem like totally unforced errors which cannot possibly succeed. But to Trump, chaos is the point. Destroying the normal functioning of government and foreign policy is the point. And the benefits to him are many, and ultimately financially beneficial.
He is already reaping enormous gobs of cash through selling influence to the mega-wealthy. And he is making it impossible to track everything that is happening in the background as he Gish Gallops through the system. His career was essentially started by selling out to Russian oligarchs who needed to launder their cash. Trump discovered that he could capture a portion of the wads of money that needed a place to hide. Now he is doing the same thing with our government and our financial system. He cares only about enriching himself and the grifters and sleazebags that understand what he is doing, and who have jumped aboard the bandwagon to slurp up the dregs.
There is no way for this all to end but badly...either for him or for us.
Someone noted that the Trump presidency is very much like if the country lost a war and the occupying power was looting us for spare parts. Yet we chose this fir ourselves, an act of a decadent and rotted power.
True, and trump doesn't care at all about the effect this has on the country, the world, or anyone else. He has only cared about himself.
'Good... good'
- Putin as he steeples his fingers
Xi Jinping reclines in bed, smoking a cigarette...
"Other nations that elect sane leaders" have realized Trump can't be trusted... What Americans fail to see in their often cartoonish view of the rest of the world is that the leaders of the nations that they deem "undemocratic" also perceive the erratic behavior and capitalize on it. You can worry about Macron, but he will be out in a couple of years. Meanwhile the leaders in KSA are taking silent steps in the understanding that they cannot expect Trump to do the smart thing and back them against Iran. Jordan just as much, Turkiye will keep making gains at the expense of Syria in order to connect with China in the other side. Trump makes China look stable, reasonable, approachable and an all around good bet. The Chinese understand this and it is in their nature to keep filling this void. By the time we realize this behavior leads to be considered an unserious partner all around, Canada will be a proud member of the BRICS.
2017: ‘Protect Us From This Dangerous President,’ 2 Psychiatrists (Judith L. Herman MD, and Robert Jay Lifton) Say: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/08/opinion/protect-us-from-this-dangerous-president-2-psychiatrists-say.html?unlocked_article_code=1.3k4.NQ69.ALjmHKxZ9Mzv&smid=url-share
Wouldn't it be hilarious if Canada announced that it is making Puerto Rico a province? That's the world I want to see.
Or if Denmark agrees to sell Greenland to Canada….for $2.
That would, as the southerners say, burn his biscuit.
Canada has an opportunity to go big and accept large scale immigration from the U.S,, particularly of skilled workers like scientists who are being thrown out of work here. As aspiring PM candidate could even score some points offering to trade skilled American workers for sex criminals because the Trump regime seems interested in taking in the sex criminals. I’d even recommend taunting Trump by saying “why would we want to be part of your country just as you’re flushing your economy down the toilet?”
Of course, to the extent any Canadians wanted to be absorbed into the U.S., Trump pretty much ensured none of them would want this because his terms in any deal require humiliation. At this rate there’s a better chance of Canada making disgruntled U.S. states their newest provinces than the U.S. making Canada another state.
If Canada wants to take New York I'd be into that. Shoot *that* Into my veins. It would never happen, of course, and the wingnuts WOULD actually gun for a shooting war.
I just love that the gibbering pricktator is now grumbling about the 49th fucking parallel. When you're a Republican despot you're not responsible for knowing ANYTHING. Treaties are just a piece of paper.
Yeah, neither scenario will ever happen but I think a lot more Americans will wish they were in another country by the time this demented idiot is through. And this damage could be irreparable.
Hate to say it but 2024 may have been our last chance and we blew it. We may wind up an isolated, far poorer and more miserable nation.