People were lined up on both sides of our main street carrying signs, with cars honking their support as they drove by. Many cars. Many more than is normal for a Saturday afternoon. I walked down the street trying to find a place to set up shop and display my sign that I had manufactured the night before. It was the first protest sign I had ever made. It held up quite well in the wind, I must say. I had struggled to decide what to say. There was so much I could have said. But I stuck to a more general plea, “Hands Off Our Future” read one side and “Stagflation Affects Everyone” on the other. My intent was to send a message, even if it fell on deaf ears, to the Trumpers that I figured would show up. They don’t seem to care about our democracy, but maybe they would care about their wallets and their children’s future.
There were the usual signs, “Dump Trump”, “Hands off *insert favorite issue here*, but also one apologizing to Canada, one alluding to the fact that while Trump has raised tariffs on many of our allies, he has not put any on Russia. One of my favorites said, “It’s so bad even the introverts are here”. I saw one Ukrainian flag walking around, and went up to that person to thank her for bringing it. She said many people didn’t know what it was. I showed her my shirt, which had the Ukrainian trident symbol on it. There was a Canadian flag and a penguin walking around. The meaning of the penguin didn’t dawn on me until the next day when I was watching a CNN news show talking about the tariffs Trump put on the island occupied only by penguins. Very clever.
I moved around a bit taking pictures to send to friends who couldn’t attend. I eventually migrated to the main rally point and stood behind a couple, holding my sign above their heads. As I mentioned cars would drive by, honking if they supported us, or giving us the finger if they didn’t. There were quite a few of the supporters in cars who had signs of their own plastered to their windows and many waved. I think there were some who just got caught up in the protest without realizing it was there. They were just going somewhere. Those people just ignored us. The couple in front of me left, so I moved forward. There was a feisty little lady to my left who was waving two signs. She must have been in her seventies, maybe a child of the sixties, used to protests. Anyway, there were at least 3 rather large trucks of Trumpers, tricked out with Trump banners or flags that drove up and down, revving their engines and burning rubber, literally. This lady would scream at them as they went by “cowards”! I just flashed my “Stagflation” sign at them. It probably won’t do any good, but when the economy tanks and we slide into stagflation, maybe they will remember my sign.
What I found at the protest were people who are just as concerned as I am about the survival of our democracy and the health of our country’s economy. They worry about the gutting of so many of our critical agencies. You may have noticed that we were nowhere to be found in Myanmar. I read that while we still have some response teams, Trump had eliminated funding for travel.
Protests:
Protests in Chicago:
44 comments:
Optimistic investors spent much of yesterday trying to convince themselves, and would-be stock buyers, that Trump's announced tariffs were mostly a negotiating ploy that would soon be negotiated away. (And the stock markets bounced up and down all day according to how well that story was selling among would-be stock buyers.)
Then Trump spent most of last evening trying to convince said investors and would-be buyers that his tariffs are not a negotiating ploy. (At least he's not negotiating for anything remotely realistic.)
Might be another interesting day on the stock exchanges.
And I have been trying to figure out if he is really this incompetent or if he is deliberately trying to destroy our country.
There are also those who think he is deliberately tanking the stock market so he and or his wealthy friends can pick up stocks cheap. Then he will make the tariffs go away to reinflate stock prices.
The Iranians reiterated over the weekend that they were not willing to hold direct talks with the Trump administration.
So, Trump announced yesterday that they'd be holding direct talks with Iranians on Saturday. Politico (Didn't say where though.)
The Supreme Trumpkins also seem to be rolling over for Trump, leaving in place his deportation scheme which is using an archaic law and rubber stamping the firing of probationary federal workers.
"I have been trying to figure out if…"
I'm beginning to think he pulled the trigger on tariffs when he did because he wasn't seeing enough headlines that said "Trump" in a prominent place. He figured he'd see his name mentioned more if he went ahead and imposed the tariffs. But he doesn't seem to have thought it through any further than that. Like, for instance, he doesn't know what deal he actually wants from most, if not all, of the countries he's imposed tariffs against.
Once he got the headlines, he'd achieved his primary goal. What comes next he hasn't thought out. What does he want? More headlines of course, but beyond that…?
That makes it kinda hard for the United States to entertain negotiations with the various countries who've been hit with tariffs. Next? He doesn't really know. Radio-Right-Wing has never dealt with what comes next. So, he doesn't know what he wants (beyond very public groveling to Trump which he always wants), and he doesn't know whom to ask. So now he's just makin' it up as he goes along.
Sooner or later the stock market's gonna figure that all out.
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I'm much less troubled about the "Enemy Aliens Act" being archaic than I am by its dubious constitutionality and its inapplicability on its face to the situation at hand, even if it were otherwise constitutional.
China just raised its tariffs against American goods by another 50%, bringing them up to 84% across the board.
Next move to Trump.
"I have been trying to figure out if he is really this
incompetent or if he is deliberately trying to destroy our
country."
I've been giving that question further thought. How to explain it (beyond a "Yes, He is overwhelmingly incompetent to meet the obligations of the job of President of the United States." That is true, but it still leaves many things unexplained.)
Trump has recognized that much of what keeps the current Trumpkan/Republican coalition together is a shared anger and hostility to those Americans who don't share their desire to return America to the white male dominated society of the 1950s. Their hatred of the Americans who've "stolen" from them their proper place at the pinacle of American society is great. It is the one single thing that unites them.
Trump was the first national Republican politician to recognize this. He was the one who lived with Radio-Right-Wing playing in the background 24/7. He learned what the broadcasters had agreed upon and adopted that. And one of the things they agreed upon was being 'anti-', being angry over and hostile to anything the 'liberals' happened to be in favor of. (They had to broaden the list of things they were against. Takes a lot of rambling to fill the AM radio waves with hostile conversation for 24 hours a day, five days a week.) So, whatever the liberals were in favor of, they were against. That was enough to fill their airwaves and entertain their audience. Still works that way. And Trump was the first national politician to come to the realization that their politics was based primarily on hate and hostility, and only secondarily on political or economic theory.
Whatever the 'liberals' favor, they will be against, and often for no better a reason than that the 'liberals' are in favor. And the less sense their antipathy makes logically, the more passionate will be their embrace of hatred and bitterness as the driving force and unifying force keeping them together.
You'll understand them better if you keep that in mind. Trump figured it out already.
Herd mentality. They would drive us over a cliff. It is up to more sane heads to put on the breaks, liberal or consevative.
"Herd mentality."
In this case more of a cult phenomenon. Intense allegiance to the cult is strongly encouraged, almost demanded, on account of how little actual sense the cult's published philosophy makes upon reflection and analysis. (Better if the believers aren't allowed to question the precepts of the cult) But, it would seem you got the general idea down.
Trump is clever. He's found a way to back down from his universal tariffs and claim a victory anyway. "Claim" a victory that is--not at all clear how much damage he's done to the United States with this game.
Costco toilet paper pre-tariffs $20.99, estimate after tariffs $26.49.
Further clarifications of Trump's newest tariff position include a baseline 10% import tax on all imports no matter what or from whom. And there will continue to be tariffs of 25% on all steel, aluminum, and autos and parts therefore. (And a special hammering of all Chinese imports.)
(Contrary to my first guess, Trump has so far not been able to spin up tale where his backtracking on tariffs serves as a 'win' over China.)
I'd expect inflation in the American economy to follow this little exercise in economic stupidity. The stock market has jumped back up already (perhaps only temporarily), but I still expect painful inflation to follow. Of course, I was wrong about Trump being able to spin up a story of a 'win' over China.
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The Trumpkan/Republican coalition was unable to pass Mike Johnson's proposed fantasy 'reconciliation' budget framework bill. Didn't even vote on it. They're going on a short vacation instead. They'll try again when they come back from their spring break.
Well now… Johnson managed to reschedule a vote on the fantasy 'reconciliation' budget blueprint bill for this morning. Got it passed 216 to 214. There are currently 220 Republicans in the House--two voted with the Democrats, which leaves two Republican votes not voted.
Blunk and the stock market picture changes. It went back down again.
Economists are saying the damage to the global economy is done. They are predicting a global recession. So high prices, from tariffs, plus a recession equals stagflation.
*sigh* That should be *blink*.
I thought the smarmy smile on Mike Johnson's face meant something. Everybody else looks rather grim in the picture I saw.
The Chinese have retaliated against Trump's last tariff move by raising their 'counter-tariffs' to 125%. They then noted that the tariffs already in place effectively precluded any significant trade between the countries, and said that further tariffs by Trump would be a mere historical "joke". So, they're not going to respond to more tariffs with more tariffs. They say they've already hit the limit on serious numbers there.
They do have a point.
It looks like Trump is defying SCOTUS' order to return the man from El Salvador that was wrongly sent there.
He has also said he would approve of sending any US citizen convicted of a violent crime there as well.
"It looks like Trump is defying SCOTUS' order to return the man from El
Salvador…"
He says his administration was not ordered to arrange that return. He has a point. The Supreme Trumpkins ordered the administration to "facilitate" the man's return. They were afraid he'd simply refuse a direct order. So they avoided giving him a direct order. So, now he's evading an indirection instead.
Hmmm...yes, a wishy washy ruling by SCOTUS that just leads to even more power grasping by Trump.
Meanwhile billionaire Ray Dalio is publicly suggesting that Trump's tariff policy could lead to something worse than a recession.
Gee...ya think?
I just ordered seeds for my garden.
It's lookin' to me as if Trump's intent on forcing a direct confrontation with a Supreme Court that's trying to avoid a direct confrontation.
The Court might be reluctant to go head to head with Trump on account of Chief Justice Roberts has done a head count and figures there's a fascist wing within the Court strong enough to give a stamp of approval to a Trumpian claim that he alone is entitled to judge the "constitutionality" of his actions and the inherent illegality of any congressional (or state) efforts to curb his enthusiasm.
Roberts may not want to have that fight on account of he's done the head count already and fears he'll lose.
But I don't think this is where Trump wants to have the main fight. I think he's manipulating this fight to get the Supreme Court to back down, so that they get into the habit of backing down. Then the real fight comes later, after the resistance has been discouraged and deflated on smaller fights like this one.
Harvard University has announced over the weekend that they will not be modifying their curriculum to satisfy Trump's demands. They're gonna fight back. It's a beginning.
Trump has said he will end funding to Harvard in reaponse.
I think we still need to get people to actually notice the fascist eliminate in Trump's behavior. Too many people are burying their heads in the sand thinking this is normal political animosity between the parties.
"Too many people are burying their heads in the sand…"
As I said before, I think the Harvard rebellion is the beginning of a more serious resistance. And Trump's decision to flout the judiciary is already beginning to get noticed I think. Lotta folks are gonna already have at least a vague idea that this is not normal.
Add to that Trump's assault on CBS (who've got a platform of their own to fight from--and media allies who'll clearly see that they could be next.)
And I think the Harvard rebellion may be the start.
(You will likely be surprised at the size of the pro-fascist public when it becomes clear that it's shaping up as a fascist take-over. But the point is that this may be where it starts.)
"…fascist eliminate…"
Spell checkers can be a nuisance sometimes.
"Trump is defying SCOTUS' order to return the man from El Salvador that
was wrongly sent there."
I'm wondering now if the DOJ argument that the Trump administration "cannot" retrieve the man doesn't set them up for judicial order that they not send anybody else out beyond their jurisdiction until this potential contempt is fully adjudicated. I.e. The judge might freeze all deportations until the Trump administration gets a handle on how to not lose jurisdiction over the prisoners.
I have been hearing that the protests last week drew quite a few people in the rural areas of Minnesota as well. That was good to hear because, like my town, it is Trump country.
So far it looks like there are at least 80 other colleges and universities who are standing with Harvard.
It'll be interesting to see whether or not Columbia University now decides to renounce its capitulation agreement with the Trump administration (TheGuardian), or whether they continue with their decision to grovel before him.
There are reports that Columbia is now taking the position that their capitulation agreement was never fully finalized and is not yet binding and they may not honor it after all.
________________________________
"GREENBELT, Maryland — [F]ederal judge [Paula Xinis] has
ordered an ‛intense’ two-week inquiry into the Trump
administration’s refusal to seek the return of a man who was
wrongly deported from Maryland to a notorious prison in El
Salvador.
"‛To date, what the record shows is that nothing has been
done. Nothing.’ ***
"Xinis’ order sets up a high-stakes sprint that may force senior
Trump administration officials to testify under oath about
their response to court orders requiring them to facilitate the
return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States."
Politico
Americans are starting to tank Trump's approval rating and oppose him on a number of issues, including his stance on birthright citizenship. He seems little swayed. So my question is, why?
What does he have up his sleeve to prevent an overturning of the Republican majority in the mid-terms?
Trump, in the guise if the IRS, is attempting to revoke Harvard's tax exempt status.
It looks like critical research at Harvard is starting to be halted due to funding cuts.
"What does he have up his sleeve…"?
It's quite simple. He intends to rule by executive order backed up by a compliant Supreme Court. (Maybe he'll even declare a Democratic congressional majority to constitute a national emergency.) Screw the congress--screw legislation. He intends to dictate what is the law. That's the plan anyway.
Trump has gone on record today in support of Marco Rubio's earlier claim that their administration is going to "walk away" from any attempt to broker a peace between Russia and Ukraine, unless they are successful relatively soon. Politico
Just a small aside...he should lose that gold tie. Very poor fashion choice.
So if we walk away from the "peace" talks what does that actually mean? I doubt Russia was really bargaining in good faith anyway.
Hmmmm...rule by fiat. Angling for the most hated man in America then.
Seriously, the man looks like an orange bumblebee.
"So if we walk away from the 'peace' talks what does that
actually mean?"
Trump is too capricious to predict in regard to a "post-peaceful" Ukrainian policy. I'd certainly not rely on him to continue enthusiastic support for Ukraine against continued Russian aggression.
But, it may be enough if only he doesn't try to sell out Ukraine to Russia. (Or cut off Ukrainian access to the shared American satellite, radar, and electronic intelligence.)
Lotta Europe is in strong for defending Ukraine (I.e. for keeping Russia out of Europe.) And the Afghans bled the old Soviet Union dry, finally forced a Soviet surrender and withdrawal. And they didn't have near as much in the way of external support. (They had American support, and Pakistani support, but the Chinese were not particularly eager to see another Soviet outpost on their border.) I think Ukraine could eventually win a war of attrition against Russia, with European Union help (and continued access to American signals intelligence and battlefield monitoring). And I don't see that they have any better choices. But we're talkin' several bloody years down the line, in all probability, perhaps a decade or more.
Looks like the Supreme Court has blocked another round of 'dark-of-night' deportations to Venezuela, Thomas and Alito dissenting. Politico
The Trump administration has released yet another round of documents that make passing mention of the assassination of John Kennedy. The upshot of new documents appears to be that Kennedy is still dead, and is expected to remain dead for the foreseeable future.
More demonstrations today in various large cities. I didn't hear about any in my town.
They got the sign right this time. Before they were focusing in getting rid of Musk, this time they are focusing on Trump, the real person responsible for the mess we are in.
I was just listening to the former Lt. Gov. of Georgia on CNN. He actually mentioned the D word. Depression.
He thinks that if the economy crashes even Republicans will abandon Trump. I would wish they would do that before it gets that bad.
Interesting, I was just listening to an interview with voters in South Dakota. I think there some who are done with Trump, but one said he thought it was too early for many to admit they were wrong. *sigh*
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