What a way to run a railroad.
Daffy Duck Esq.
Indeed. The only constant in the last week or so has been chaos and something akin to panic. Well what do you expect when the administrations current geo-economic policy was devised by an ex-con and an imaginary expert. That's right, Trump's fixation on tariffs began around the time he read a book written by economic advisor, Peter Navarro. In the book, Navarro repeatedly cited a mysterious, "expert," named, Ron Vara. Vara was the source Navarro based his, "slap 'em with tariffs until they scream," plan on. He sold the plan to Donald Trump in a big way. It turns out, Ron Vara is nothing but a mish mash of Navarro's last name. In other words the expert who Peter Navarro said was his greatest influence was himself.
So now, thanks in large part to some ego driven piece of fiction, the stock market has gone completely bipolar. So much so that last week, during the middle of tanking, all it took to start a rally was for a rumor to hit the floor that tariffs would be postponed for 90 days. A short time later, when the rumor proved to be false, the ship began taking on water once again.
Trump and his people didn't seem to care about the stock market circling the drain, but when people started to dump their government bonds a real delay arrived almost immediately. Except for the tariffs on Chinese goods--you know practically everything you buy in a Wal-Mart, or Target, not to mention the local phone store.
This news caused a run on I phones and other electronics. The administration now seemingly, as the movie titles reads, became, "Dazed and Confused." An exemption was granted to things like smart phones, laptop computers, and semi-conductors. The nation took a deep sigh of relief, then Sunday Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick announced the exemptions were temporary. Then Trump sent things further into a spin by saying in effect, "Yes, we have no exemptions."
In the accident injury business this is known as, "whiplash." Trump propaganda mills, like Fox, News Max and others declared it was all a real time display of Trump's, "Art of the Deal." However to a lot of us it looks like Trump and his administration simply doesn't know what the fuck they're doing.
Or maybe they do.
According to some, everything from annexing Canada and Greenland to talking about a third term, and perhaps now the tariff chaos is all an elaborate ruse. Their number includes democratic strategist, James Carville who claims Trump is a master at distraction. That he wants everyone in an uproar over these things so they will ignore that consumer prices--despite the campaign promises--are still going up. That services, vital ones, are being slashed and a bunch of really rich wankers are about to get richer at our expense. Not to mention, for the first time in memory, a President of the United States is defying every federal judge in the land up to and including the Supreme Court. All of which is setting us on a course toward a Russian style autocratic kleptocracy.
Whether you call it distraction, or misdirection, Donald Trump is awfully good at it. He had dinner the other night with one of his harshest critics, Bill Maher. Maher came away saying Donald Trump listened to him, laughed at his jokes, and was generally a charming and reasonable guy. "He isn't," Maher said, "the man you see on TV."
It would seem P.T. Barnum was right.
A handful of republican Senators have signed on to a measure that will restrict Trump's tariff powers. It's unclear how long the Senators will stick to their guns. As soon as someone tells the Mango Mussolini about them he'll put the screws to the whole bunch and they will cave. Besides, no republican in the House will ever go along with it.
Yes, we're all headed down hill now. We bought the ticket and there is no stopping the ride. The lunacy will continue at breakneck speed for the foreseeable future. And the only real question we have to ask ourselves is, who is right? Is it Daffy Duck and his assertion this is a case of mass incompetence and stupidity? Or is it James Carville and his dark conspiracy? At the moment all we can be sure of is Bill Maher is just another rube who bought into a con hook, line, and sinker.
4-14-25
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