Tag: tariffs

A Trump Threefer

We were the beneficiaries of a Trump threefer in yesterday’s news spillage.

A twofer is when you get two for one; with a threefer, well, you can do the math.

Donald Trump is known for telling lies. It’s been hugely documented. This week alone brought evidence of lying a few more times.

‘Like he’s just lying’: Trump supporters in deep-red state have regrets

Trump claims South Korea will invest $50B in Alaska gas pipeline. Not so fast, Korean officials say

He’s also known for trying to bribe people to curry favor. That’s also historically demonstrated.

Finally, Donald Trump is a master of distraction. His attempts to change the narrative via have been ongoing but largely unsuccessful, thanks to modern technology. To Donald Trump’s surprise, modern technology is able to show videos and transcripts with the exact words, date, time, and context when he blustered or lied. I like to file these attempts under the umbrella, Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!

As a sign of how desperate Donald Trump is, he gave us three for one yesterday — a lie, a bribe, and a distraction.

For background, the 2026 midterms are coming up in the United States. Democrats are expected to win, largely based on people disapproving of the job Donald Trump is doing and the direction the nation is going.

Donald Trump is desperately aware that’s he doing terrible. Claiming that he’s doing great, Trump grows angry and throws tantrums whenever someone asks about one of the many things not going well. That would include releasing the Epstein files, rising gas and food prices that Trump hasn’t been able to lower, the war in Iran Trump started, the many lies he’s been caught making, and his disastrous attempts to fix the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

The other things going terribly under Donald Trump was his attempt to add his name to the Kennedy Center, rising measles outbreaks and measles deaths in the United States, and the surging federal debt.

Besides those things, the other things going poorly for Donald Trump is the growing backlash to AI/data center backlash, multiple court rulings against his plans and tariffs, reported munitions shortages due to Trump’s Iran war, the debacle with the USS Abraham Lincoln, and his poorly attended midterm convention, Trumpapalooza.

Additionally, the things going bad for Donald Trump include anemic job growth, especially when compared to the success which Presidents Biden and Obama had with job growth. Donald Trump is increasingly shown injured, sleeping during meetings, or confused about what’s going on, a bad, bad image for Trump after he pummeled President Biden for being old and sleepy.

Aware of these things, Donald Trump presented his threefer.

Trump promises ‘nearly $100’ to 20M seniors in latest cash giveaway

Yes, another cash giveaway, or shall we call it a bribe?

Donald Trump promised cash giveways before.

  • DOGE Dividend (Early 2025): Trump and Elon Musk floated sending 20% of federal budget cuts from the Department of Government Efficiency back to taxpayers as a $5,000 dividend. Never happened.
  • Tariff Refund (Late 2025): Donald Trump proposed using incoming import tax revenue to fund direct payments or $2,000 checks for the public. Never happened.
  • Repeated Tariff Dividend (2026): Trump again promoted sending cash directly to Americans using projected tariff revenues ahead of formal policy announcements. Never happened.
  • The “Trump Dividend” (September 2026): Trump officially unveiled a $5,000 cash payment for adult citizens, conditioned on Republicans maintaining control of Congress in the midterms. Hasn’t happened, and has gained a lot of negative press.

Trump’s announcement about this $100 senior giveaway is another obvious bribe and distraction. But he also lied when he made the announcement. That gives us the threefer!

Donald Trump said the giveaway would, “…help pay for their Medicare Part B premiums, which we have already reduced by significant amounts.”

And there’s the lie. Trump Medicare Part B premiums have not been reduced. They’ve gone up, up, up. Anyone paying Part B premiums know this. And it’s easily verifiable by using a search engine on the Internet.

As an aside, that $100 would pay less than half of one month’s Part B premiums.

And BTW, Donald Trump said ‘he’ would be sending ‘nearly $100’ but the White House Fact Sheet puts it at $90.

Donald Trump had Trump lied again.

Those who still believe Trump after this threefer remain the hateful, the ignorant, or the ones who just don’t care about what Donald Trump is doing to this nation.

I guess they share the same values as him.

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Five Cracks in Trump Support

Maggie Habermann wrote that the first crack in MAGA’s blind support of Trump came with Trump’s handling of the Epstein files.

Maggie Haberman reveals the moment MAGA broke with Trump

That makes sense to me. It also follows a distinct Trump pattern of making promises which he then breaks. Reading different sits online, the Epstein files were he first crack, but there were four others. In each case, a MAGA crack came because what Trump promised and what happened after he took office in his second term were far apart.

For the TL/DR crowd, the five cracks in MAGA support of Trump which I see right now:

  1. 1. Epstein files
  2. 2. Lower prices
  3. 3. Immigration policies
  4. 4. No new wars
  5. 5. Helping farmers

No, I’m not an expert on any of these things. Just a concerned and aging American citizen. Let me unpack my thinking.

When running for re-election in 2024, Trump picked up that MAGAzens really cared about the Epstein files. MAGAzens spent a lot of energy building scenarios about the damaging information the Epstein files had on Democrats and ‘elites’, two primary MAGA targets. When Trump was asked if he would release the files, Trump replied, “Probably.” Thus was born the belief that the Epstein files’ contents would finally be fully and completely seen if Trump won.

Since then, Trump has angrily demanded that people stop talking about the Epstein files, calling it a hoax. Many are also convinced that he attacked Iran initially in 2025 and tore down the White House East Wing in order to change the conversation from the Epstein files.

The damage had already been done with MAGAzens. They wanted to see what was in the Epstein files, and they’re pissed that they’re being denied.

Many Americans were completely about high inflation and the affordability crises during President Biden’s term. Seizing on that discontent, Trump promised that he would immediately lower prices. While some prices did initially drop, Trump first said that lowering inflation was harder than he thought, then dismissed affordability as a hoax, and then started the war with Iran in 2026.

Prices had already been going up in 2025, due to many factors, including Trump’s tariffs and the trade agreements he broke.

Trump then started the Iran war in February of 2026. This no gave him cover for higher prices; the higher prices were due to the war, yes, but he was doing it to free Iranians from their terrible government and to save the world from Iran’s nuclear weapons.

Either way, prices keep rising, and many now blame Trump. The second crack with MAGA had begun to spread.

Trump initially did just as he promised with immigrants. He went after them hard and violently.

Trump’s MAGA supporters were initially gleeful. But then their friends and relatives began getting picked up and whisked away.

A collective cry went out among MAGAzens. Trump said he was going to deport criminals, but he was departing people who were not criminals. Many were here legally, trying to go through the process of becoming US citizens.

Trump didn’t care. They weren’t born in the US, so he was departing them. Then, to worsen matters, Trump began sending them to nations where they were not from.

While running for office in 2024, Trump promised no new wars. He made speeches that Kamala Harris and the Democrats would start new foreign wars and decried the idea that Americans would go off and fight in another endless war.

Then, in 2026, before he was in office for two full years, Trump attacked Iran. Since then, Americans have been treated to a shifting tapestry about why Iran was attacked and the war’s objectives, how much the war is costing us, and when the war would end.

It was not the cakewalk that Trump and his administration expected. They had put in a Fox personality as the head of DOD and fired many high-ranking individuals. Trump and his staff thought they could bomb Iran into submission in a matter of days or weeks.

They were wrong.

Trump’s Iran War has been going over 210 days. Trump calls it a conflict to avoid problems with Congress and the Constitution and then calls it a war when it’s convenient to sell demands for more weapons, munitions, and cutbacks to other programs.

Even MAGAzens are seeing through this, opening a fourth crack with Trump’s MAGA base.

Trump campaigned on helping American farmers and ranchers. Trump said that raising tariffs would save American farmers because other countries were taking advantage of the US.

The tariffs didn’t lower prices. Nor did they open markets. Instead, the tariffs and Trump’s Iran war raised prices. The prices which went up the most affecting farmers and ranchers was diesel fuel and fertilizer. Potash was primary imported from Canada; Trump’s tariffs and trade war with Canada pushed those prices up yet more. In fact, diesel prices increased transportation costs across the board.

Trump knew his tariffs and the war, with its resulting high diesel prices, was hurting both consumers and producers. To address it, Trump pushed a temporary suspension of his tariffs on imported beef.

That resulted in anger among ranchers and farmers, because it didn’t help them. Farmers and ranchers’ problems are far more complex and has to do with droughts, rising energy prices, and smaller herds. Those things couldn’t be fixed by a bandage like suspended tariffs for a limited period and amounts.

Nor did suspending tariffs substantially lower prices. The fifth crack with MAGA opened.

There are potentially other cracks getting exposed.

  • Rural hospitals remain in a crisis.
  • The national debt is growing fast, disrupting the accepted truism that Republicans are fiscally more responsible.
  • People of both parties are pushing back against AI and data center construction while Trump urges more building. Trump is pushing for their construction because that’s where most of the commercial construction in the US is now taking place. Stopping construction of them would massively affect the stock market and economy.

Many rifts are emerging between Trump and MAGA. Some of those will probably expand into more cracks in their support of Trump.

The larger question for us now is when will traditional Republicans finally realize that the Trump experiment is a disaster and give him up?

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Trump In the News

Dateline U.S.A., September 25, 2026.

From court cases to historians to polls to pundits, we’re watching Trump continue to endure a disastrous year. Personally, I thought it would happen faster. But no; many MAGAzens and Republicans continue to support Trump. There’s much evidence that they will continue to support Trump albeit for different reasons.

Still, MAGA is currently contracting, and Trump’s unpopularity and disapproval grows.

Those points will matter if we’re still a functioning democracy when the midterms come.

The headlines are both encouraging and scary, reflecting the polarized electorate, and the Trump government’s effort to marginalize the will of We the People.

‘MAGA collapse’ is here as Trump’s embarrassments mount: historian

Trump loses big in Iowa court after trying to sue pollster

Trump can’t make ‘super intelligence’ happen

Donald Trump abdicates as leader of the free world

Trump-endorsed candidate says family member is now facing deportation

A Quiet ICE Surge That Unfolded ‘Everywhere All at Once’ This Summer

From 16,000 to 185 to Zero: Trump’s Claims of Illegal Voting in Nevada Fizzle.

Backfired: Trump’s plot to damage Canada has gone awry

On the flip side, the Heritage Foundation that’s propping Trump up with its Project 2025 playbook knew that the disastrous results would catch up with Trump. They’ve been working to change voting and voting districts to keep Republicans in power. While courts have been mostly ruling against these efforts, when they arrive at the Roberts Court, chances are Trump’s power play will win.

The Supreme Court revives a controversial data system for citizenship checks

It’s interesting — again — that Republicans, who complain about big government and want to insist they’re for law and order and democracy, keep reining in the checks and balances that helped our nation advance toward a true democracy, and have turned a blind eye to Trump’s willingness to corrupt the national discourse and enrich himself.

And then they wonder why progressives, liberals, and Democrats are so angry with them.

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Here We Go Again — Your Trump Quotes of the Day

I laughed as soon as I read the headline today:

Trump pledges $5K ‘Trump dividend’ if Republicans hold onto Congress

Bribery: such a classic grifter move: I’ll pay you through the government if you vote to keep and put Republicans in office.

Gosh, has Trump ever made a promise like this before?

Trump Has Repeatedly Promised Payments That Have Yet to Materialize

I’m sure there are some voters out there nodding and saying, “Did you hear? Trump promised us money for our vote. I’m going to vote Republican.”

Meaning, they would need to pretend that Trump is going to follow through on this promise after all his other failed promises. It’s so much easier for Trump to promise more instead of fulfilling all the previous promises. Especially those promises Trump made such as, “I will not golf”, “I will deliver a new healthcare plan”, and “I will start no new wars.”

Or this classic Trump promise:

Over two years later, and we’re waiting for Trump to do what he promised.

Trump is calling this a ‘dividend’. He’s not really explaining how it’ll be paid for. It’s hard to believe that a ‘dividend’ is available when the national debt has surged past $40T, a level never seen before, and shows no signs of slowing.

In the past, Trump has cut programs and services which he didn’t like, labeling these fraud and waste. These were mostly from the regulatory side and the social safety net, like SNAP, healthcare premium subsidies, and childcare assistance. Since Trump has already cut those, what else can be cut? Defense?

I can see why people with little future and little hope, desperate just to make it to the next payday in order to buy gas and food might want to take Trump’s deal. But Trump is the one who create the 2026 affordability crisis. His DOGE cuts, tariffs, and bloated defense budget with its plan to build ‘Trump’ class battleships created this crisis. Trump’s Iran War fueled the crisis by disrupting the global supply chain and pushing gas prices to record levels.

Now, instead of addressing those things, he’s offering a bandage when surgery is needed.

I think Trump is falling back on an old favorite.

We’ll need to wait and see if Trump can buy his way out of another mess, as he tried to do when he paid off Stormy Daniels after Trump had an affair with her.

That worked out so well.

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Your Trump Quote of the Day

Yes, that’s what so many Americans are worried about. War with Iran, Epstein files, Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, government corruption, climate change, decreasing employment, increasing national debt, more measles and spreading COVID-19, rising gas, food, and housing prices — food recalls — forgot those!

Private jets are the line in the sand.

Of course, there is more to the story…

The US–Canada Aircraft Certification Dispute: What the Latest Developments Could Mean for Aviation Safety

What happened (in plain English)

“In late January 2026, President Donald Trump publicly threatened to “decertify” certain Canadian-made aircraft (often cited as Bombardier’s Global Express family) and to impose a 50% tariff on aircraft imported from Canada. Reporting linked the threat to Canada’s pace in certifying (validating) several US-made Gulfstream business jets for Canadian operation.”

Wait a minute!

Are you telling me that Trump’s complaint about Canada not being willing to certify the Gulfstream is a result of Trump threatening to decertify Canadian aircraft and impose a 50% tariff?

Why, Donald Trump — suddenly, I can believe that Canada has not certified the Gulfstream.

What I can’t believe — again — is how you refuse to accept the consequences of the stupid decisions you make.

And again, you try blaming others for your stupidity.

Fool me once, shame on you.

Fool me twice, then I’m a Republican.

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Tuesday’s Theme Music — Walk On

Ashland, southern Oregon. Tuesday, August 25, 2026. We’re into August’s final week. September begins next week.

Cooler day today. Cloudy this morning, there remains plentiful sunshine. 73 F, we’ll climb to 94.

Mom fell from her bed yesterday at the assisted living facility. We don’t know details, whether she rolled off or slipped off while sitting or missed the bed when she tried sitting on it. My niece, May, visited there yesterday and reported that the bed is very high. Mom texted me, the fix-it man was supposed to fix it but couldn’t because he was the cook. ?

Gina visited there today and reports, yes, it’s a tall bed. It’s stripped and she saw that it’s two thick mattresses. I asked, “Has it always been this tall?” Yes; this is the same bed Mom has used since arriving in February.

Mom has now been there a half year. It’s been a tumultuous time.

My wife and I are pissed about the Roberts Court decision regarding mail-in ballots. Basically, the POTUS, who has nothing to do with voting. That’s the states and Congress. But the Roberts Court walked a very fine line. Oh, the states filed too soon because they’re not yet being harmed by Trump’s efforts.

WTAF.

Not that Trump’s action are legal or illegal, or if has the authority to do this, etc. No, let’s wait and see, the Roberts Court declared. Kick it down the road. Wait till the election gets fucked up because the USPS isn’t delivering ballots. Then they’ll talk about it.

I was a conspiracist, I’d say the Roberts Court is trying to walk us into the state of midterm election chaos Trump wants so Trump can step in and declare an emergency.

Election fraud is another Trump boogey man. Just like his racism and his commie screams, he uses these words to instill fear and manipulate others.

Evidence of the voting fraud Trump screeches about is as scant as the cancer caused by windmills. Trump’s claims make as much sense as he did when he declared he’d lower prescription drug prices by more than 100%.

Trump is a weak person who thinks himself strong. I suspect the midterms will be as messy as Trump’s Iran War — reaching six months now, after he claimed it would be over in weeks — the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool fiasco, or the White House ballroom. It’s another case built on lies and false claims. It’s as reliable and substantial as AI-generated pictures of Trump as Jesus or Superman, or Trump with George Washington.

That is Trump: a fake. A con. A charlatan.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Trump has always called himself a great negotiator. But progress with Iran and Canada both verify, no, Trump is not a great negotiator. Despite Trump claims about what was done to Iran, the war continues. Prices continue rising and the affordability crisis grows.

Now, Trump’s negotiations with Canada has resulted in yet more pain for US consumers.

WSJ is dumbfounded by Trump’s dumb beef with Canada: it just ‘got dumber’

That’s Trump, too: dumb, and dumber.

Thinking about the court’s narrow approach, The Neurons gave me “Walk On” by U2 in the morning mental music stream. The song came out in 2000.

Sample Lyrics

And if the darkness is to keep us apart
And if the daylight feels like it’s a long way on
And if your glass heart should crack
And for a second you turn back
Oh no, be strong

Walk on, walk on
What you got they can’t steal it
No, they can’t even feel it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight

Yes, Trump is the darkness, trying to tear our nation apart.

Walk on. Stay safe. Be strong.

Cheers

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The Trump Logic

I laughed today, reading a few articles about Trump. For example, this one:

Haberman reveals why Trump ignores his own team’s plea to stop voter revolt

“During a Monday morning appearance on MS NOW, author and journalist Maggie Haberman revealed that President Donald Trump’s own team pleaded with him to address voter anxieties, but he has so far seemed content to ignore them as the midterms approach.“

I laughed because Trump has demonstrated that he’s so out of touch, it’s gone beyond surreal. As further news emerges about Trump’s relationship with Natalie Harp, I think she’s influencing him, bolstering ideas that Trump is doing great. So, ipso facto, if Trump is doing great, as he believes, he has no reason to change.

Secondly, I would not be surprised if Trump is already planning to declare an emergency, and in fact to create an emergency to intervene in the 2026 elections or even suspend them. Everyone except Republicans would be in an immediate uproar. What’s really scary in this scenario is that the courts would probably tell Trump that he lacks the authority, but the Roberts Court would probably let Trump do so while they schedule arguments.

Trump and his Project Heritage puppet masters, are expecting that. They’ve been probing the judicial system to see how it reacts to different situations and arguments. They know which courts and judges favor Trump. And they also see how much legal leeway Roberts is giving Trump.

It would be so weirdly Trump: he would simultaneously claim — as he has — that crime and violence is down and everything is great — but also declare an emergency because of how bad everything is.

At the same time, Trump has repeatedly argued that the economy is strong and that his economic record will help Republicans in the 2026 midterms.

When talking about the economy, Trump likes to say that we’ve entered a golden age. He then recites a laundry list of ‘good things’. The thing is, those measurements are typically the metrics for the wealthy.

Outside of the wealthy, the economy sucks. The national debt is at a record high. Dominos fall from that. Bond rates increase; interest rates rise; the housing market suffers.

Gas and diesel fuel prices are up. That drives up the cost of everything, including just going to the store to buy things. With prices up, people have to spend more to buy less.

Back to school sales will be a tell about the economy; so will the upcoming holiday months. But retail sales are trending down YTY for the same period, not a good sign. Although places like Walmart say they’re going to counter by slashing prices by using refunds of tariffs they paid, how much can they significantly offset. More importantly, in parallel to that, Trump is adding more tariffs, and energy prices are ticking upward.

The bottom line of that: the government gives retailers money back for tariffs because the Roberts Court ruled against them. Then retailers use some of it to reduce prices. But Trump imposes new tariffs that push costs back upward.

And Trump knows that his tariffs are costing consumes, even though he previously said that they don’t. That takes us to quotes about what Trump has said about affordability, prices, and tariffs.

Your Trump Quote(s) of the Day:

So, I get it!

According to Trump, he’s going to address affordability, and bring prices down on day one, except affordability is really a Democratic hoax and doesn’t matter, and he doesn’t care anyway. And affordability — that Democratic hoax — is better under Republicans, even though prices are higher and trending to go higher yet. Also, consumers don’t pay tariffs but he’s suspending beef prices to lower prices for you.

If you believe that, Trump has a bible to sell you, religiously used for him to pray every night.

Listening to Trump has all the exasperation and weariness of dealing with a toddler, except toddlers are make a lot more sense.

Joey Politano put it best:

“[E]very 6 months the Trump administration realizes lowering tariffs will lower prices, applies this insight to one specific good, and then proceeds to never introspect beyond that,” he wrote in a post on X. “It’s honestly beautiful in its stupidity.”

Even more beautiful in an ugly way is how so many MAGAts still trust and believe in Trump. Because the direction Trump has taken us in the United States is what they want.

That’s the Trump logic at work.

6

Saturday’s Theme Music — Unravelling

Saturday, August 22, 2026. Ashland, southern Oregon.

Although the clouds have departed and sunshine spreads across a blue sky, today’s temperatures are cooler. 68 F now — feels like 70 something — 86 F will be our high.

Like many others, I’m reading about Trump, Natalie Harp, and Trump’s desperate efforts to win support. It’s unravelling for him.

2026 is becoming the year in which nothing goes right for Trump. Sure, he made a lot of money last year — $3B. But after bragging about how good the economy would be under him and proclaiming a golden age, Trump gets the honor of being the Oval Office resident as the national debt rockets past $40T and climbing.

Gas prices are up. Diesel prices are climbing. Beef prices are still up. Trump’s Iran war goes on. People still ask, what do the Epstein files reveal about Trump that Trump is dodging their release.

Then there’s Natalie Harp. Lo, this blonde looks much like his daughter, making us all gag with memory about Trump’s earlier suggestions about dating her. Natalie Harp, aka the Printer and the Human Binky, is Trump’s constant companion and his wall against the world. He was very upset when people said things about her.

Predictably, Trump launched more Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!

Trump puts his face on Reflecting Pool water in algae green during latest posting spree

Does that shout WTF, or what? Certainly crazy of him because it draws attention back to a series of humiliating setbacks. Trump scorned previous administrations’ efforts to fix it. Trump also said, “Our job will take one week and will cost about a million and a half dollars.”

Trump also said, “This will last for at least 50 years and you’ll never have a leak. It’s very strong. You couldn’t — if you had a knife, I don’t want to give anybody ideas — if you had a knife you can’t even cut it.”

LOL.

“THE FACTS: Work is ongoing 15 weeks later. The pool was drained for a second time in mid-July to address returning algae blooms and issues with a new coating that was peeling. Trump’s estimates of the project’s cost have increased as work has progressed, to “less than $20 million.” Records show that more than $16 million worth of contracts have been awarded for the project so far.”

h/t to AP News

So why did Trump put his face on the pool, which many now call symbolic of his shambolic administration?

Maybe he didn’t.

It’s possible that Natalie Harp posted it on behalf of Trump, trying to coax a smile out of that dour old orange peel face. Because posting on social media on Trump’s behalf is part of Natalie Harp’s official duties.

Trump’s face on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool isn’t likely to improve his tanking poll numbers. Trump knows that. So he pulled another trick out of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!

Trump Announces Beef Tariff Relief — and Takes Jab at Biden — in Bid to Cut Prices

Anyone with half a brain would know that Trump’s move would irritate ranchers and beef producers. Tragically, there’s not half a brain within all of the Trump administration put together.

Pushback was almost instant.

Republicans revolt over Trump’s beef tariff relief: Will ‘further harm’ MAGA

This is so catastrophically funny. Trump imposed the beef tariffs. That, with the actions he took to cut out trading partners and his war with Iran, has raised prices. Now, desperately trying to do anything to improve his numbers, he’s actually going against his own tariffs and war.

Trump is basically warring with himself. Of course, with all of it, it’s always someone else’s fault.

Doesn’t matter who Trump tries to blame. He’s made a mess of the United States, and now he’s unraveling.

And all of it was predictable way back when he began his presidential campaign back in 2015. We knew he was a fraud, liar, and inept, a con who cheated his way to apparent success.

But there’s a sucker born every minute. Trump managed to con them into voting for him.

Thinking about Trump unravelling caused The Neurons to bring up one of my favorite unravelling songs. Weezer came out with “Undone” back in 1994. The song quickly became known as “Undone – The Sweater Song”.

Sample Lyrics

If you want to destroy my sweater
Hold this thread as I walk away (As I walk away!)
Watch me unravel I’ll soon be naked
Lying on the floor, lying on the floor, I’ve come undone

h/t to AZLyrics.com

It’s a fun song. Though, truthfully, I shudder to think about Trump lying naked on the floor. *ugh*

I hope you don’t unravel but that your day is carried out with peace and grace, and a tincture of tranquility.

Cheers

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Never Trump

Hard to stomach reading today’s news. An opinion piece cited Trump’s tariffs as his biggest policy failure.

Opinion: Trump’s tariffs are his biggest policy failure

I disagree; I think the war with Iran is Trump’s biggest policy failure. It also completely undermines Trump’s whole philosophy.

Trump came in. Removed generals and military leadership. Then he hired sycophants such as Hegseth to shape military policy and develop strategy.

Screaming, “WOKE! DEI!, Hegseth bludgeoned the established military establishment. Took people who earned promotion off the list because of the color of their skin or their sex, or their political loyalties.

Trump did all of this while scoffing at the military. He declared himself smarter than generals and has repeatedly blasted them.

Trump blasted top military generals as ‘a bunch of dopes and babies’ according to new book

Yet, here we are, mired in a war that Trump started. Trump claimed to have won. Claimed it was already over. Claims it’s not a war.

Yet it’s draining us in multiple ways and exposing Trump and his arrogance. He and his chosen staff thought war was easy. Though it was just a matter of power: who has the biggest military and the most weapons.

And the war continues without a certain end in sight.

As in many other things, Trump was exposed as ignorant and wrong.

Both policies — tariffs and the Iran War — are policy failures, though.

Both are driving increased burdens to the economy and to our citizens. The war, though, also resulted in people being killed, maimed, and injured, and has devastating consequences on the people of another nation.

When I think of things that Trump boasts of as successes and triumphs, I realize that there is nothing that this administration has done that has impressed me. He’s exactly how terrible I thought he’d be, and then some. We as a nation stagger through increasing loops of disasters.

Take our healthcare issues. Rural hospitals are closing. Measles outbreaks are increasing. Healthcare premiums are rising. AI plants are being built, which will increase energy costs and use land, further driving up healthcare costs. Yet Trump pushes to build more AI centers, more data centers. Models say that will worsen the extreme heat problem as well as the water shortage. It’s like WTAF are people thinking?

Instead of real solutions, We the People are offered more political theater as another underqualified Trump nominee moves toward confirmation for a powerful Federal position.

We’re instead subjected to Trump crowing about himself winning a golf tournament. Venting at his staff about the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool fiasco.

Distracting us with AI-generated photos of himself as Elvis Presley.

While our nation is at war. While wildfires burn. While extreme heat and drought sweep the nation. While healthcare and affordability problems worsen.

That seems to be okay with MAGAts and the greater GOP, even if the rest of us are angry and disapprove of Trump. As long as Trump and his family keeps getting wealthier and speaking out for them — whatever the fuck that now means to them — they remain happy.

As far as those things falling apart and policy failures, that’s because of other people. It’s not because of Trump.

Never, in their eyes.

Never.

As for me, it will always remain, “Never Trump.”

Never.

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