People say Trump lies. Far scarier to me, and more likely, is that Trump is such an absolute fucking moron he actually believes the idiocies he spouts about tariffs, windmills, sharks, Hunter Biden, William McKinley, Rosie O'Donnell, etc.
The man is gobsmackingly stupid -- delusionally so. But there's no one around him who will call him an idiot to his face. And THAT'S the real problem.
A related problem is the sycophants like Stephen Miller who definitely are not stupid and definitely plant the worms that are crawling through Trump's brain.
That always seems to accompany the rise of morons --- the 'grey cardinals' behind the throne who manipulate the strings. Every single person around Trump is either a moron, a drunken lout, a Nazi, incompetent, inept, a macho shithead, a figurehead. (Gosh, who could have predicted that?) And the only one who was supposed to hold his own was the Treasury Secretary who's proved to be a spineless puddle of sycophancy (big surprise) mouthing babbling nonsense about his wonderful tariffs...
Our two Florida senate Republicans should get holy hell from our Canadian population, many with dual citizenship and who are registered Republican. 500,000 Canadians pay Florida real estate taxes, employ 54,000 Floridians.
Here 3 Cuban American House Republicans represent majority Democrats. Call, email, picket Gimenez, Diaz Balart, Salazar. All have protested parts of Trump immigration policies. Gimenez, born in Cuba, was our Dem county mayor to 2020.
Also CANF, Cuban American National Foundation .... "Based in Miami and Washington, DC, CANF engages in cultural activities, supports education and research, and conducts various events, including lectures and conferences. Historically, the organization has been known for its hardline stance against the Cuban government..." Miami (305) 592-7768. The Republican donor base is connected here. 202 530 1894.
Mike Johnson won't let it come to the floor - he learned too well from Mitch McConnell that you can quash progress by simply not allowing the debate. And Mitch, voting for that resolution - far too little, far too late, after all the damage he's done.
If only four Dems in House would switch to independent and caucus with Democrats. That’s best chance of getting rid of GOP House leadership. Magical thinking on my part! But it could happen..
Stephen Miller has flourished under Trump. He is more powerful than ever. He is not only Deputy Chef of Staff, and involved in everything, but he is "helping to drive his maximalist immigration enforcement agenda, and he's working closely with his ally, Elon Musk, to shrink the size of the federal government and rid it of 'deep state' bureaucrats".
Miller's company, Americas' First Legal, which he opened in 2021 ( the MAGA equivalent to the ACLU), has filed over 100 lawsuits against "woke" companies, in addition to filling lawsuits supporting all of Trump's illegal activities. They have received over $27.1M from the conservative Bradley Foundation.
"The law group is a key part of Miller's larger mission to make diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs illegal across the country — based on the argument that they violate the civil rights of white people."
What brain Swbv? If there's something inside the scumbag president it's only slogans connected to a neuron that he pulls in a reflective act when the occasion comes. He is really good at that.
I don't know about the "stupid" part. I'd call it delusional. Trump is certainly a "brilliant" fabricator of dangerous fictions that he "believes" when he says them. It's not so much that he's a liar, which he most certainly is by the standards of the real world. It just that Trump is constantly creating his own fictional reality and then making up the facts (lies) to fit his fictional world. Then he has his vast megaphone echo chamber willing suspending it's disbelief as they buy into his fictional reality of the day.
When Trump's tarrifs cause a nasty recession or worse and his false claims of Social Security fraud deny millions their monthly payments, we can hope mere mortals back on planet earth get together and finally toss Trump onto the garbage heap of history which he'll immediately start promoting as a great real estate investment.
One can be delusional and stupid at the same time. Add to that a lack of decency, moral compass, empathy and integrity and you have a truly dangerous person when they get hold of power.
I think there are more than a few people whispering their ideas and suggestions in his ear, and suddenly they are his. I wouldn’t call him brilliant at all, more of an evil parrot .
There's a quote attributed to Hitler's Propaganda Minister, Josef Goebbels, although I gather that nobody can find evidence he actually said or wrote it:
If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it--- and YOU will even come to believe it YOURSELF!
That's probably what we're seeing here. Trump has no respect for the truth. He has lied so often and so consistently over the years that to some degree he may actually believe every bit of garbage that spews from his mouth
Trump is not stupid. He is scripting a reality TV show, which is something he knows very well. The lies, the cruelty, the conspiracies, the bullying, the “deep state” enemies - all part of the script. He chose his cabinet based on how they appear on TV. He’s playing the powerful “you’re fired” boss, a role he’s practiced for decades. He knows his MAGA audience well - his “Presidency Apprentice” ratings (with Republicans) are through the roof.
It is indeed terrifying. Trump is a deadly combination of colossal idiocy, willful ignorance of the first order, and being a huge ignoramus coupled to the worst sort of grifter lying patter, all driven by a galactic-sized malignant narcissism.
I would love to hear from anyone who knows if he really attended Wharton (sp) College or if his father paid to have his name placed in that year's graduating class and paid for a wing to be named after himself in exchange. Trump can't even do simple math!
"Attorney Frank DiPrima revealed what former Wharton marketing professor William T. Kelley told him about Trump. Kelley, who retired from teaching in the 1980s, even went so far as to reportedly call Trump "dumb," per Philadelphia Magazine. "He must have told me that 100 times over the course of 30 years," DiPrima said.
But it wasn't just that Kelley thought Trump wasn't very smart. "I remember the inflection of his voice when he said it," Di Prima said of Kelley. "'Donald Trump was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had!' He would say that [Trump] came to Wharton thinking he already knew everything, that he was arrogant and he wasn't there to learn." Kelley likely taught hundreds of students over the years, so it seems like Trump made quite the negative impression.
Trump entered Wharton as a transfer student from Fordham, and two years later, graduated with a BSc in Economics. His niece "Mary Trump wrote that Donald Trump paid a proxy to take the SAT for him to help him get into Penn, concerned that his low GPA would hinder his chances of getting accepted," "according to CNN.
James Surowiecki: "Just figured out where [Trump’s] fake tariff rates come from. They didn't actually calculate tariff rates + non-tariff barriers, as they say they did. Instead, for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country's exports to us.
"So we have a $17.9 billion trade deficit with Indonesia. Its exports to us are $28 billion. $17.9/$28 = 64%, which Trump claims is the tariff rate Indonesia charges us. What extraordinary nonsense this is.
"It's important to understand that the tariff rates that foreign countries are supposedly charging us are just made-up numbers. South Korea, with which we have a trade agreement, is not charging a 50% tariff on U.S. exports. Nor is the EU charging a 39% tariff."
Did you notice the Australian offshore ones? Heard Island, Antarctica, where there was once a scientific station, and where nobody has set foot for ten years now? Norfolk Island, population 2000? Miniscule tourist industry?
I seriously don’t think Trump knows that much about geography. With the exception, perhaps, of that place where the sun never shines from which he pulls his "huge ideas".
Today, the Norwegian news site NRK.no has a great article by the journalist Vilde Skorpen Wikan where economics professors dissect the real math behind Trump’s tariffs. Utterly divorced from reality and absolutely insane!
Here is a rough English version via Google Translate.
It's excellent. " The African country of Lesotho tops the list, with 50 percent customs duties. This is followed by a number of poor countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, among others.".
Yes, those no ones that will call his lies and stupidity are prominent in the House and Senate. At least the Senate has made a small move in revoking the emergency powers this moron has claimed and which have made the world economic chaos possible. The Speaker is saying we have to trust the moron’s “instincts” and won’t even consider bringing revoking emergency powers to a vote. Unbelievable.
While I agree with you, I also worry that readers spend too much time critisizing Trump - Musk destruction of America. I urge readers, if agree, to exchange ideas to stop this. America is not Germany or Hungary, but a country of DEI, can produce Heroes.
Thank you Jen Rubin! You are an inspiration in and of yourself for giving up your career and starting a new one on principle! Thank you for being a contrarian.
What leaves me utterly gobsmacked is that so many voters not only put a criminal nincompoop in the White House, but also expected something good would come of it. They are all infected with what Paul Krugman has so aptly called malignant stupidity.
But lies can warp things a lot. The Next election (if we have one) will be decided based on trans kids in sports, kitty litter in the classroom, Haiti immigrants eating dogs or who knows what other venom the gop comes up with
Penguins in the Falkland Islands mooching off of us. They can go suck fish now.
Before yesterday, I wold have believed you could't have made shit like that up if you tried. But that was before El Dumpo's tariff announcement -- declare war on everybody: Lesotho, Heard Island, Diego Garcia -- you name it.
The advertising business learned generations ago that while a particular advertising tactic or technique or motto might be immensely effective in the short run, consumers tend to wise up in the long run, disillusionment sets in, and sales go down. Then they have to come up with something new, or that cigarette or coffee or rat poison or sugar substitute is going to lose its luster and profits will dry up.
The Republicans have sold themselves for the last few decades with a weird, ugly brew of race-hate, fear, smug cruelty, and contempt for ordinary voters--a contempt masquerading as populism.
It was effective for a long time, but that seemed to dissipate as the richest man on the planet swanned about onstage, soaring on ketamine, clad in a foam rubber cheesehead and brandishing huge comedy checks.
The contempt became visible in that moment: the audience could see the man behind the curtain, pulling the levers with a sneer on his face.
For many voters (though by no means all) the magic was gone, erased by the spectacle of the spectacularly nasty, overweeningly arrogant magician.
Now the Republicans are trying to sell the American people on tariffs and bizarre assaults on fundamental freedoms; doing it without Elon, allowing Donald himself to play magician.
He made the presentation with charts, cheerleaders, the Marine band, and a version of US economic history chock-a-block with lies and riddled with errors. As pensions dry up and prices go up and farmers' crops rot in the fields, one wonders how long this Republican magician will be able to hold the affection of an audience for which he has such fundamental, obvious contempt.
Sitting here safe at home, drinking coffee, while we get closer by the day to some sort of crack-up. It’s clear we are in the grasp of a madman who’s lost his hold on reality, and each day he drags us further and further along towards some, god only knows where, really bad place. I can’t see the current situation in this country sustaining itself for too much longer. Something’s got to give.
Yes, Jen, but the problem remains that MAGA is not hearing the refutation of the lies. Rather they just hear more lies about the lies. We have no effective communications vehicle into the MAGA community, since they (like we) tend to listen only to those who support their ideas. Even if we were to gift a subscription to The Contrarian to any of our MAGA acquaintances, chances are they would never see more than the notice of the gift.
Cory Booker's marathon speech was a tour-de-force of truth telling, but my MAGA acquaintances have already dismissed it as a political stunt. If we are going to get MAGA to see the lies for lies, we're going to have to come up with some other means of making the point than calling out the lies. I see the problem but can't offer an effective solution.
The MAGAts are in a cult. There is nothing we can say or do to change their minds. Like any addiction, the sufferer must reach rock bottom and decide to fight their way out.
The people we need to impress are Congressional Republicans. To support Musk is a pathway to defeat. Many supported Ukraine and despise Putin. Many of their dolnors are in distress.
Many of them have lost bigly personally in their finances.
And how can GOP stalwarts live with the Administrations hard U-turn in regards to Russia? Is it not true that the one country that gets off lightest in the TariffGate fiasco is Russia?
What the Dear Leader does is far more serious than just lie. He has probably told a million lies in his miserable life. His lies have deadly consequences. His lies KILL PEOPLE. The Dear Leader is a malignant narcissist, ignorant but with the power of life and death. A perfect example is his gutting of USAID or his mass destruction of Medicaid or NIH.
So don't just call what he spews as "Lies." They are death sentences. He is a mass, serial murderer just as if he pointed an AR-15 at a crowd and fired.
Senator Chris Murphy says the Trump Tariff Tax is not part of an economic policy. The tariffs are a political tool to bring private US industries and companies under trump’s control- the same way he is bringing law firms and universities under his control. Private industries and companies that pledge loyalty and meet his demands will get sanctions relief. The Trump Tariff Tax is designed to bring maximum economic hardship as a leverage to get industries to bow to his demands.
I want to take exception to one point Jen makes, “Most people don’t want to be lied to, at least not if the lies spawn harmful policies.” I think MAGA voters willingly buy into Trump’s lies about immigrants, minorities, elites etc., BECAUSE they want to punish those groups. There’s an inherent cruelty behind Trump’s policies that MAGA relishes. They want to see their “enemies” - liberals, minorities, scientists, feminists, LGBTQ, immigrants - made to suffer. Trump’s lies reinforce their own bigotry. MAGA are willing co-conspirators, not naive dupes.
I am thinking of a song that Barbara Streisand sang on her first album: “How Could You Believe Me When I Said That I Loved You (When You Know I’ve Been a Liar All My Life)?”
Ooh, that goes back further than Streisand! Which MGM musical of the fifties? They sang it as a musical hall duet? Judy Garland and ? "Three Little Words"?
Trump has dropped his hydrogen level, destructive tariff bomb, not just on the US, but on all our world wide trade partners. The negative impact on consumer prices, economic growth, US foreign relations and equity markets cannot be overstated. We are witnessing the beginning of the end of Trump and MAGA.
I truly hope and pray so! Trump the felon in my opinion has been a complete and utter disaster for our country and our people! He is definitely the “Divider and Chief”!
Thanks for helping keep me sane, Ms. Rubin. Truth is sorely needed right now, and the only way out of this mess. If enough Americans know it when they see it.
(But, to be fair, Republicans have been indulging in economic sophistry since at least the Reagan administration.)
People say Trump lies. Far scarier to me, and more likely, is that Trump is such an absolute fucking moron he actually believes the idiocies he spouts about tariffs, windmills, sharks, Hunter Biden, William McKinley, Rosie O'Donnell, etc.
The man is gobsmackingly stupid -- delusionally so. But there's no one around him who will call him an idiot to his face. And THAT'S the real problem.
A related problem is the sycophants like Stephen Miller who definitely are not stupid and definitely plant the worms that are crawling through Trump's brain.
That always seems to accompany the rise of morons --- the 'grey cardinals' behind the throne who manipulate the strings. Every single person around Trump is either a moron, a drunken lout, a Nazi, incompetent, inept, a macho shithead, a figurehead. (Gosh, who could have predicted that?) And the only one who was supposed to hold his own was the Treasury Secretary who's proved to be a spineless puddle of sycophancy (big surprise) mouthing babbling nonsense about his wonderful tariffs...
tRump has way too many evil enablers.
Last night 4 senate Republicans voted with the Democrats in a resolution against Canadian tariffs.
It's possible we can have shared government. Need 3 House members. NOW. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
And would be a patriotic victory if Mike Johnson was sent packing
You mean "if."
Make it happen.
Our two Florida senate Republicans should get holy hell from our Canadian population, many with dual citizenship and who are registered Republican. 500,000 Canadians pay Florida real estate taxes, employ 54,000 Floridians.
Here 3 Cuban American House Republicans represent majority Democrats. Call, email, picket Gimenez, Diaz Balart, Salazar. All have protested parts of Trump immigration policies. Gimenez, born in Cuba, was our Dem county mayor to 2020.
Also CANF, Cuban American National Foundation .... "Based in Miami and Washington, DC, CANF engages in cultural activities, supports education and research, and conducts various events, including lectures and conferences. Historically, the organization has been known for its hardline stance against the Cuban government..." Miami (305) 592-7768. The Republican donor base is connected here. 202 530 1894.
Mike Johnson won't let it come to the floor - he learned too well from Mitch McConnell that you can quash progress by simply not allowing the debate. And Mitch, voting for that resolution - far too little, far too late, after all the damage he's done.
Takes 9 members to bring ANYTHING to the floor under House rules.
As a practical matter, 3 can deny Trump any legiislation.
If only four Dems in House would switch to independent and caucus with Democrats. That’s best chance of getting rid of GOP House leadership. Magical thinking on my part! But it could happen..
4 republicans. -- Jerry has been working at this. They can remain Republicans and vote with Democrats. Historically that used to happen frequently.
They are the only ones who'll work for him.
Stephen Miller is a psycho who actually believes everything he spits out of his mouth! He belongs in a mental institution!
Stephen Miller has flourished under Trump. He is more powerful than ever. He is not only Deputy Chef of Staff, and involved in everything, but he is "helping to drive his maximalist immigration enforcement agenda, and he's working closely with his ally, Elon Musk, to shrink the size of the federal government and rid it of 'deep state' bureaucrats".
Miller's company, Americas' First Legal, which he opened in 2021 ( the MAGA equivalent to the ACLU), has filed over 100 lawsuits against "woke" companies, in addition to filling lawsuits supporting all of Trump's illegal activities. They have received over $27.1M from the conservative Bradley Foundation.
"The law group is a key part of Miller's larger mission to make diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs illegal across the country — based on the argument that they violate the civil rights of white people."
https://aflegal.org/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/16/trump-rightwing-groups-funds
https://www.axios.com/2025/03/08/stephen-miller-dei-outside-trump-white-house
For those wondering about the Bradley Foundation: https://www.bradleyfdn.org/
Thanks, I should have included the link. It's covered in the Guardian article I have linked to down below.
What brain Swbv? If there's something inside the scumbag president it's only slogans connected to a neuron that he pulls in a reflective act when the occasion comes. He is really good at that.
I don't know about the "stupid" part. I'd call it delusional. Trump is certainly a "brilliant" fabricator of dangerous fictions that he "believes" when he says them. It's not so much that he's a liar, which he most certainly is by the standards of the real world. It just that Trump is constantly creating his own fictional reality and then making up the facts (lies) to fit his fictional world. Then he has his vast megaphone echo chamber willing suspending it's disbelief as they buy into his fictional reality of the day.
When Trump's tarrifs cause a nasty recession or worse and his false claims of Social Security fraud deny millions their monthly payments, we can hope mere mortals back on planet earth get together and finally toss Trump onto the garbage heap of history which he'll immediately start promoting as a great real estate investment.
One can be delusional and stupid at the same time. Add to that a lack of decency, moral compass, empathy and integrity and you have a truly dangerous person when they get hold of power.
If he is speaking, he is lying. It has always been so.
Great ending sentence….probably true. Jail ?
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1K1DvkPdJY/?mibextid=wwXIfr
He is a reality show.
I think there are more than a few people whispering their ideas and suggestions in his ear, and suddenly they are his. I wouldn’t call him brilliant at all, more of an evil parrot .
There's a quote attributed to Hitler's Propaganda Minister, Josef Goebbels, although I gather that nobody can find evidence he actually said or wrote it:
If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it--- and YOU will even come to believe it YOURSELF!
That's probably what we're seeing here. Trump has no respect for the truth. He has lied so often and so consistently over the years that to some degree he may actually believe every bit of garbage that spews from his mouth
Trump is not stupid. He is scripting a reality TV show, which is something he knows very well. The lies, the cruelty, the conspiracies, the bullying, the “deep state” enemies - all part of the script. He chose his cabinet based on how they appear on TV. He’s playing the powerful “you’re fired” boss, a role he’s practiced for decades. He knows his MAGA audience well - his “Presidency Apprentice” ratings (with Republicans) are through the roof.
Exactly.
It may be a "reality show", but Donald Trump believes it's reality. Even the Reeeallllly stupid stuff.
Incompetence. Corruption. Full stop. That's the whole enchilada.
It is indeed terrifying. Trump is a deadly combination of colossal idiocy, willful ignorance of the first order, and being a huge ignoramus coupled to the worst sort of grifter lying patter, all driven by a galactic-sized malignant narcissism.
A concise and accurate summary. But missing corrupt and mean.
I would love to hear from anyone who knows if he really attended Wharton (sp) College or if his father paid to have his name placed in that year's graduating class and paid for a wing to be named after himself in exchange. Trump can't even do simple math!
He surely attended, as he made a mark on one of his professors who commented that Trump was the stupidest student he'd ever had.
BSMH! Thanks, Steve! You just made my day!!
This should add to your happiness.
"Attorney Frank DiPrima revealed what former Wharton marketing professor William T. Kelley told him about Trump. Kelley, who retired from teaching in the 1980s, even went so far as to reportedly call Trump "dumb," per Philadelphia Magazine. "He must have told me that 100 times over the course of 30 years," DiPrima said.
But it wasn't just that Kelley thought Trump wasn't very smart. "I remember the inflection of his voice when he said it," Di Prima said of Kelley. "'Donald Trump was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had!' He would say that [Trump] came to Wharton thinking he already knew everything, that he was arrogant and he wasn't there to learn." Kelley likely taught hundreds of students over the years, so it seems like Trump made quite the negative impression.
OMG!!! Thank you soooooooo much! I always knew he was stupid but now I KNOW he's stupid!!!!
He attended but I don't think he actually graduated from the Wharton School. At least I don't think there is a record of him getting an MBA.
Trump entered Wharton as a transfer student from Fordham, and two years later, graduated with a BSc in Economics. His niece "Mary Trump wrote that Donald Trump paid a proxy to take the SAT for him to help him get into Penn, concerned that his low GPA would hinder his chances of getting accepted," "according to CNN.
Thanks for the clarification!
It's shameful that not one official at the Wharton School has had the courage to do the democratic thing and release drumpf's transcripts.
not really necessary.....I think we can assume there are no A's in his record...
prob looks like this:000000000
00000000
-10000000
-2
If he didn't graduate, as he claims, that's another major lie. Not that the MAGAs care. They like college dropouts, like musk.
TRUMP’s INSANE TARIFF MATH, REVEALED
James Surowiecki: "Just figured out where [Trump’s] fake tariff rates come from. They didn't actually calculate tariff rates + non-tariff barriers, as they say they did. Instead, for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country's exports to us.
"So we have a $17.9 billion trade deficit with Indonesia. Its exports to us are $28 billion. $17.9/$28 = 64%, which Trump claims is the tariff rate Indonesia charges us. What extraordinary nonsense this is.
https://nitter.poast.org/JamesSurowiecki/status/1907559189234196942#m
"It's important to understand that the tariff rates that foreign countries are supposedly charging us are just made-up numbers. South Korea, with which we have a trade agreement, is not charging a 50% tariff on U.S. exports. Nor is the EU charging a 39% tariff."
Did you notice the Australian offshore ones? Heard Island, Antarctica, where there was once a scientific station, and where nobody has set foot for ten years now? Norfolk Island, population 2000? Miniscule tourist industry?
Yup. Those damn penguins just aren’t importing enough American beef!
He’s trying to close loopholes where importers can claim those as the exporting country
I seriously don’t think Trump knows that much about geography. With the exception, perhaps, of that place where the sun never shines from which he pulls his "huge ideas".
NORWEGIANS SEE CLEARLY…
Today, the Norwegian news site NRK.no has a great article by the journalist Vilde Skorpen Wikan where economics professors dissect the real math behind Trump’s tariffs. Utterly divorced from reality and absolutely insane!
Here is a rough English version via Google Translate.
https://www-nrk-no.translate.goog/urix/trump-hevdet-tollen-var-et-motsvar_-_-ingen-voksne-mennesker-mener-dette-henger-pa-greip-1.17368533?_x_tr_sl=no&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
It's excellent. " The African country of Lesotho tops the list, with 50 percent customs duties. This is followed by a number of poor countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, among others.".
Trump is ignorant and stupid. Ignorance can be cured, stupid can't be cured - and mitigates against curing ignorance.
You have to give it to him, he is (or at least, he has been) an effective liar.
Yes, those no ones that will call his lies and stupidity are prominent in the House and Senate. At least the Senate has made a small move in revoking the emergency powers this moron has claimed and which have made the world economic chaos possible. The Speaker is saying we have to trust the moron’s “instincts” and won’t even consider bringing revoking emergency powers to a vote. Unbelievable.
I don't think he concerns himself with whether what he says is true or false. He only cares whether it serves his interest at any given moment.
An administration full of people who “have no clothes”.
❤
While I agree with you, I also worry that readers spend too much time critisizing Trump - Musk destruction of America. I urge readers, if agree, to exchange ideas to stop this. America is not Germany or Hungary, but a country of DEI, can produce Heroes.
That's the real emergency Corbin.
Dunning Kruger
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1K1DvkPdJY/?mibextid=wwXIfr
I would if given the opportunity.
Thank you Jen Rubin! You are an inspiration in and of yourself for giving up your career and starting a new one on principle! Thank you for being a contrarian.
At least those of us who quit WaPo when you did now have the pleasure of reading you again.
What leaves me utterly gobsmacked is that so many voters not only put a criminal nincompoop in the White House, but also expected something good would come of it. They are all infected with what Paul Krugman has so aptly called malignant stupidity.
they also had hopelessnes caused by wealth inequality and desperately believed him when he said he would help them.
that makes him a special kind of bad
"Money cannot buy everything."
But lies can warp things a lot. The Next election (if we have one) will be decided based on trans kids in sports, kitty litter in the classroom, Haiti immigrants eating dogs or who knows what other venom the gop comes up with
Penguins in the Falkland Islands mooching off of us. They can go suck fish now.
Before yesterday, I wold have believed you could't have made shit like that up if you tried. But that was before El Dumpo's tariff announcement -- declare war on everybody: Lesotho, Heard Island, Diego Garcia -- you name it.
In about 10 years this shitshow will be a hilarious movie.
Those of us still alive then will still be unable to find it funny.
Never! It should be a sober reminder about how precious our democracy is and what we have done to preserve it.
Or a tragedy.
Congress must reverse Trump’s illegal tariffs. The country is not in a state of emergency —yet.
It is Susan, the scumbag president is the emergency and we are falling deeply into it.
Only if we and the media allow it.
CORRECT, Carla.
The advertising business learned generations ago that while a particular advertising tactic or technique or motto might be immensely effective in the short run, consumers tend to wise up in the long run, disillusionment sets in, and sales go down. Then they have to come up with something new, or that cigarette or coffee or rat poison or sugar substitute is going to lose its luster and profits will dry up.
The Republicans have sold themselves for the last few decades with a weird, ugly brew of race-hate, fear, smug cruelty, and contempt for ordinary voters--a contempt masquerading as populism.
It was effective for a long time, but that seemed to dissipate as the richest man on the planet swanned about onstage, soaring on ketamine, clad in a foam rubber cheesehead and brandishing huge comedy checks.
The contempt became visible in that moment: the audience could see the man behind the curtain, pulling the levers with a sneer on his face.
For many voters (though by no means all) the magic was gone, erased by the spectacle of the spectacularly nasty, overweeningly arrogant magician.
Now the Republicans are trying to sell the American people on tariffs and bizarre assaults on fundamental freedoms; doing it without Elon, allowing Donald himself to play magician.
He made the presentation with charts, cheerleaders, the Marine band, and a version of US economic history chock-a-block with lies and riddled with errors. As pensions dry up and prices go up and farmers' crops rot in the fields, one wonders how long this Republican magician will be able to hold the affection of an audience for which he has such fundamental, obvious contempt.
Little pigs get fed, but big pigs get eaten. And these pigs are so greedy, they are huge now. Time to make some bacon.
Sitting here safe at home, drinking coffee, while we get closer by the day to some sort of crack-up. It’s clear we are in the grasp of a madman who’s lost his hold on reality, and each day he drags us further and further along towards some, god only knows where, really bad place. I can’t see the current situation in this country sustaining itself for too much longer. Something’s got to give.
Absolutely John. The question is what and when. This is the real emergency we are facing.
I drink my coffee, then go back to preparing for the worst as best as I can. It helps keep the bad emotions away. YMMV
Yes, Jen, but the problem remains that MAGA is not hearing the refutation of the lies. Rather they just hear more lies about the lies. We have no effective communications vehicle into the MAGA community, since they (like we) tend to listen only to those who support their ideas. Even if we were to gift a subscription to The Contrarian to any of our MAGA acquaintances, chances are they would never see more than the notice of the gift.
Cory Booker's marathon speech was a tour-de-force of truth telling, but my MAGA acquaintances have already dismissed it as a political stunt. If we are going to get MAGA to see the lies for lies, we're going to have to come up with some other means of making the point than calling out the lies. I see the problem but can't offer an effective solution.
The MAGAts are in a cult. There is nothing we can say or do to change their minds. Like any addiction, the sufferer must reach rock bottom and decide to fight their way out.
The people we need to impress are Congressional Republicans. To support Musk is a pathway to defeat. Many supported Ukraine and despise Putin. Many of their dolnors are in distress.
Many of them have lost bigly personally in their finances.
And how can GOP stalwarts live with the Administrations hard U-turn in regards to Russia? Is it not true that the one country that gets off lightest in the TariffGate fiasco is Russia?
Thus Feathers of Hope.
What the Dear Leader does is far more serious than just lie. He has probably told a million lies in his miserable life. His lies have deadly consequences. His lies KILL PEOPLE. The Dear Leader is a malignant narcissist, ignorant but with the power of life and death. A perfect example is his gutting of USAID or his mass destruction of Medicaid or NIH.
So don't just call what he spews as "Lies." They are death sentences. He is a mass, serial murderer just as if he pointed an AR-15 at a crowd and fired.
Senator Chris Murphy says the Trump Tariff Tax is not part of an economic policy. The tariffs are a political tool to bring private US industries and companies under trump’s control- the same way he is bringing law firms and universities under his control. Private industries and companies that pledge loyalty and meet his demands will get sanctions relief. The Trump Tariff Tax is designed to bring maximum economic hardship as a leverage to get industries to bow to his demands.
It's the total National Socialist (aka NAZI) agenda.
This👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼👹
I want to take exception to one point Jen makes, “Most people don’t want to be lied to, at least not if the lies spawn harmful policies.” I think MAGA voters willingly buy into Trump’s lies about immigrants, minorities, elites etc., BECAUSE they want to punish those groups. There’s an inherent cruelty behind Trump’s policies that MAGA relishes. They want to see their “enemies” - liberals, minorities, scientists, feminists, LGBTQ, immigrants - made to suffer. Trump’s lies reinforce their own bigotry. MAGA are willing co-conspirators, not naive dupes.
I also think it was the culture wars that elected trump.
I am thinking of a song that Barbara Streisand sang on her first album: “How Could You Believe Me When I Said That I Loved You (When You Know I’ve Been a Liar All My Life)?”
Ooh, that goes back further than Streisand! Which MGM musical of the fifties? They sang it as a musical hall duet? Judy Garland and ? "Three Little Words"?
You have some good memory Anne-Louise 😅
Trump has dropped his hydrogen level, destructive tariff bomb, not just on the US, but on all our world wide trade partners. The negative impact on consumer prices, economic growth, US foreign relations and equity markets cannot be overstated. We are witnessing the beginning of the end of Trump and MAGA.
I hope so
I truly hope and pray so! Trump the felon in my opinion has been a complete and utter disaster for our country and our people! He is definitely the “Divider and Chief”!
Tariffs aren’t just a lie, they’re a strategy to buttress his hold on power. Chris Murphy lays. it out succintly: https://bsky.app/profile/chrismurphyct.bsky.social/post/3lluxkmx7wc2m
Follow the link! Chris Murphy and Cory Booker seem to be the best truth tellers among the elected Dems in DC.
Interesting that the fact that conservative publications (WSJ, Economist) are calling out this economic blunder does not matter to Republicans.
Thanks for helping keep me sane, Ms. Rubin. Truth is sorely needed right now, and the only way out of this mess. If enough Americans know it when they see it.
(But, to be fair, Republicans have been indulging in economic sophistry since at least the Reagan administration.)