The Future's So Dark, I Gotta Wear Shades

 

Look, I have to retire some time, eventually, and I'm in my 50's, so I'm not grave-dancing over here about what tomorrow is going to bring. The whole election, despite what people were saying about Trump being a felon and a sex-pest and a danger to democracy had also an undercurrent of "This is a whole damn pudding-brained sociopath who will set the country on fire for giggles," but you what? Bygones. Let's just say some people out there chalked all of that up to Trump Derangement Syndrome and didn't want to believe the motherfucker was crazy.

But here's the SOB now:

Trump: "I spoke to a lot of leaders -- European, Asian, from all over the world. They are dying to make a deal, but I said 'we're not gonna have deficits with your country' ... to me a deficit is a loss. We're gonna have surpluses or at worst we're gonna be breaking even." pic.twitter.com/xnW7jb0u3R

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 6, 2025

Is everyone starting to get it? 

The financial deficits he's talking about is just a trade deficit.  We have a trade deficit with Madagascar. They sell basically vanilla. We have bakeries and ice cream factories and whatnot. They have people who are too poor to buy US goods. That's a trade deficit. Botswana sells diamonds. Same deal--we have jewelers and people buy engagement rings and so forth. They don't have the kind of incomes to be buying a lot of US goods. 

It just is what it is. Not everyone is going to be giving us a trade surplus--to think it can be so is just crazy and what you get when you don't know geography, or how anything but particularly trade works--you trade for shit you can't make or get easily. If I'm a pumpkin farmer, I don't want someone else's pumpkins--I want something I don't have. How is this hard to get? 

TWGB: He Does What He Wants

 

People can point to things like Trump bailing on the dignified transfer of four deceased troops for a weekend of golfing as sign that Trump doesn't care, but I think that would be missing the point with Trump's admirers: if Trump doesn't care, they don't. The screencap above is from Fox News, where Jesse Watters is extolling who Trump is." He doesn't give a fuck."

Trump, with respects to tariffs, is described as being at the "peak of not giving a fuck."  That's actually coming from the White House. Also from the White House, this self-congratulation:

It was a good thing you did, Donny, wishing the economy into a cornfield. 

But is not giving a fuck what you actually want from the leader of your country? Like, if old Darcy down at the diner stops giving a fuck and pours coffee in someone's lap, she's liable to get fired. If Sean at the SuperMart goes off and rams a row of carts into someone's 4X4, he's out. And here's Donny, hero of the guys who always wanted to say "Take this job and shove it!" who ends a busy week fucking with the world economy with doing whatever he feels like. 

We're Sticking it to Those Penguins, Though

 

The funny/not funny thing about Trump's "reciprocal tariffs" is the way the White House apparently just willy-nilly came up with a plan to suit the ill-informed whims of a mentally ill man who doesn't know what he's doing.  The places being tariffed are internet domains, the alleged tariffs the location have on us is somewhat fictitious, and the formula for levying a "reciprocal" tariff is a bit of slap-dash treating a trade deficit like a tariff and, hoo boy. 

This is "nuking the hurricane" territory.  His sycophants are arguing, "Well, we have to trust him! He's Mr. Art of the Deal, right?"

(Um. No, he isn't. He's a glorified failure who cheats.)

Anyway, at least we are sticking it to those very duplicitous thieving Heard Island penguins, whose exports include, per their trades minister, Binky: "bit of extra fish", "shiny pebble" and "piles of poo for some reason, you weirdos." 

Isn't that a kind of grim satisfaction in the teeth of losing a healthy economy?

Signal Amid All the Noise

 

🚨🚨🚨Waltz’s team set up at least 20 Signal group chats for crises across the world https://t.co/FxTndiEMdk@DashaBurns @politico

— Dave Brown (@dave_brown24) April 2, 2025

While we're all here dangling on a financial precipice, I just wanted to point out that this story yesterday, following on from Signalgate and the revelations that pretty much TrumpWorld (im)proper  is using the app and the Waltz himself regularly uses his private email account.  It's kind of a big deal that people would have time to be bothered about if.....

(Waves hands about frantically)  If not for all this. Which almost makes you wonder (or not "wonder") whether everything being on fire is supposed to distract you from all the other fires. 

Susan Crawford Wins in Wisconsin

 

CNN calls the Wisconsin Supreme Court race for Susan Crawford pic.twitter.com/qtR9KqYanf

— Acyn (@Acyn) April 2, 2025

Elon Musk spent about $20 or 25million in Wisconsin on behalf of Brad Schimel, and while I won't go so far as to say his "assistance" was an absolute menace to his candidate, it surely did not help. 

I think it would be great if we could all point to the results here as basically a referendum on Musk and his influence with Trump itself, but I don't want to take away that message too cleanly. I think it's more like a referendum on whether Mr. Moneybags can just start throwing his weight around without people getting really suspicious as to why.

When some out-of-state clown with a cheese hat on wants to tell people a state Supreme Court seat is about the fate of civilization and pours millions out in a kind of ostentatiously scammy-looking sort of way, it kind of feels suspicious, doesn't it? 

Like, what makes it so important to HIM, anyway?

Anyway, that's just something everyone should keep in mind for next election. Maybe a whiff of Musk can be a problem for the GOP. 

Well Done, Senator Booker!

 

Senator Cory Booker (D., NJ) has surpassed Strom Thurmond's record, holding the Senate floor for an astonishing 25 hours! (Get yourself a well-deserved rest!) As he closed his speech, during which he spoke to the Trump agenda and the ways that it will hurt working families, he invoked the memory of John Lewis:

"This is a moral moment. It’s not left or right; it’s right or wrong. Let's get in good trouble," Booker said as he concluded his remarks and was met by a standing ovation from Senate colleagues. "I yield the floor."

Democratic lawmakers have been facing pressure from their constituents to respond more forcefully to the Trump administration’s sweeping policy changes, including massive cuts to the federal workforce, ramped-up deportations and sweeping tariffs.

Booker's remarks clearly resonated with many who watched them. A live feed of the speech on the senator's TikTok account had more than 220 million likes by early Tuesday night, before he exceeded 24 hours on the floor, and users were posting fan edits.

This was a demonstration about what our Democratic representation in congress can do even if they do not have the majority in either chamber--they can hold the floor adn speak to the values and concerns of the people they represent. 

That's what we want them to do--represent US. 

Juris Doctor Vance, Not So Young, Also Not Credible

 

While we can tell ourselves that part of Karoline Leavitt's juvenile dissembling attempts are sheer youth and immaturity, we know for sure that Vice-Signaling Junior President Vance "tells stories" with a purpose. So, when he condescendingly insults a reporter for not having read a court document--I don't even assume the JD Vance was simply mistaken and responding in a hurry when he got the basic details entirely wrong. 

JD Vance is a Yale Law grad and quite capable of seeing whether or not Kilmar Abrego Garcia was convicted of or merely accused of being a member of MS-13. It seems to me he counts on MAGA not reading, and only superficially noticing a lot of liberals telling Vance he's wrong (which he is) and assuming they are "triggered."