Last Mon 27, the White House pressed the “stop” button on federal funds, and so rather a lot of cow deposits promptly leapt into the nearest fans – chaos was unleashed. This had the potential to not only hurt a lot of people but it was a choice that could have also crashed the economy. Those that voted for him would not have been protected from the consequences of their choice, it would have impacted everything.
Below are a few notable examples, of which there are many many more.
No more meals for the seniors …
- I wonder how many of these seniors voted for him thinking he would end wasteful government spending, but didn’t think he’d classify the thing they depend on to live as waste.
- Since my tax dollars are no longer being used, does that mean I don’t have to file any more?
“Pausing” grants also means people don’t eat …
- The reality: Universities rely enough on grants that they might eliminate positions — perhaps tenured faculty — if the financial situation becomes dire enough. But in the meantime, grad students, postdocs, and “soft money” researchers typically are paid ENTIRELY on federal grant funding. No grant = no salary.
- Here is a gift link to the WaPO article above (via Kate) … https://wapo.st/4gfgcHQ
- Pausing grants means people with disabilities don’t have funding for transportation, places to live, or medicine. Pausing grants means people die. This is a death sentence for many people, not just the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in every sector of the government and beyond – republicans know it’s a death sentence, they know they’re causing real human suffering… and they RELISH it.
- If the Republicans think grants only affect uppity researchers, wait until they see what it does to rural clinics that can’t find enough staff.
The “Oh, that’s what that was for” crash course rapidly pivoted into action …
- Many are just incapable of understanding the various interconnected systems in our society and the delayed ways in which effects ripple out and amplify.
- Fascism abhors nuance and the idea that things may be beyond its control. So, it’ll dedicate itself to simple “solutions,” regardless of how counterproductive they might actually be.
Thankfully after a few days a federal judge blocked the memo that had been issued on Monday from taking effect, so the While Hose had to rescind the freeze on Wed… for now. It was not just the judge, Attorneys general in multiple states and the District of Columbia had also joined together to stop the order.
You have to seriously wonder what the strategy here was. Is he trying to spark civil unrest so that he has cause to invoke the insurrection act and consolidate more power into the hands of the executive?
The current expectation is that a more targeted version of this will be coming back once Vought has been installed into position, and so this was just a taste of what is yet to come.
Was there any other “interesting” stuff during the past week? (Side note, yes that is indeed “interesting” as in the phrase “may you live in Interesting times” being a curse)
Oh come now, you don’t need to ask, because even without the above chaos rather a lot of other bovine waste was deposited by the turd-in-chief. So let’s go look at some of it.
The utter raw stupidity of Tariffs
Economic catastrophe for no rational reason now incoming …
- At some point analysts and media must accept the simplest explanation: Donald Trump is a fucking moron. He does the things he does because he’s a racist and because he’s stupid.
- Auto workers who cheered on Trump’s strongman shtick are about to enter the FO phase of FAFO.
Will Canada, China, and Mexico roll over?
Of course not, you know what happens next.
Canada’s former finance minister and current Liberal Party leadership contender, has proposed a bold countermeasure: slapping 100% tariffs on select American goods, including Teslas, in direct response to President Trump’s threatened tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports.
“We need to be very targeted, very surgical, very precise,” she said. The strategy isn’t just about economic retaliation — it’s personal. Tesla’s inclusion stems from CEO Elon Musk’s financial and operational backing of Trump, which Freeland didn’t shy away from addressing. “We need to look through and say who is supporting Trump and how can we make them pay a price for a tariff attack on Canada.”
They see it as it is … “The threat comes from the president of the US—a convicted felon and known predator.” …”Gangster class from Mar a lago”...
- Only Trump has the skill to piss off what is perhaps the friendliest nation-state on the planet.
Ron Filipkowski: “So now we get in a pissing contest where each side tries to show how much they can hurt each other, people who have been friends and partners forever, things just keep getting ratcheted up, and everyone loses. All because of one malignant narcissist’s derangement and fragile ego.“
JUSTIN TRUDEAU ANNOUNCES RETALIATORY MEASURES AGAINST THE UNITED STATES Canada is imposing a 25% tariff on $155 billion worth of American goods in response to U.S. trade actions. $30 billion worth of American goods will face immediate tariffs starting on Tuesday.
An additional $125 billion worth of American products will be subject to tariffs in 21 days, providing time for Canadian companies and supply chains to adjust and find alternatives.
Includes everyday consumer items like: American beer, wine, bourbon, fruits and fruit juices (specific mention of orange juice), vegetables, perfumes, clothing and shoes. It also includes major consumer products: household appliances, furniture, and sports equipment.
Canada is also targeting materials like lumber and plastics. Canada is also exploring non-tariff measures related critical minerals, energy procurement, and other strategic partnerships
The Offer of Unpaid leave for Federal Workers is utterly worthless
Federal workers supposedly got the option to resign and receive pay for eight months.
…neither Musk nor even Trump has legal authority to offer you eight months of pay if you’ll resign by February 6.
Your salaries are funded by the federal agencies and departments you work for, not by the Office of Personnel Management, not by Musk, and not by Trump.
None of them is authorized by Congress to move money from one agency or department to another without Congress’s approval. I know. I used to be a cabinet secretary.
Besides, the funding for your agency or department is guaranteed only through March 14, when the government is expected to shut down unless the debt ceiling is lifted. If not, any commitment for additional pay is worthless.
In fact, Musk (and Trump) are violating the law by agreeing to spend money that the administration doesn’t have. Congress could declare the entire offer illegal — which it is. Then where would you be?
May I also add that you shouldn’t trust Trump or Musk.
Trump has a long history of stiffing workers and contractors.
So, for that matter, does Musk. During the pandemic, Musk gave Tesla employees permission to remain at home if they didn’t feel comfortable reporting to the factory. Then he sent them termination notices alleging “failure to return to work.”
When he bought Twitter in 2022, Musk denied he wanted to lay off 75 percent of its staff (“No way I’m laying off 75 percent of them”) but then fired 80 percent of them (maybe that’s what he meant when he pledged not to fire 75 percent?)
In short, it’s a bum offer. Reject it.
Yet another example of – Actions really do have Consequences
Well gosh, what a surprise to discover that releasing violent thugs back out on to the streets really does have consequences …
- Every elected Republican should be blamed for every single one of these stories. Or at least that’s what an effective opposition party would do if we had one of those.
Deportations
So this is the kind of stuff that is now happening – just speaking Spanish is enough to get you detained …
- I’m sure there will be an investigation … to find out who apologized, and to fire them.
Also, this dropped this past week …
- Which newspapers will actually call this what it is? (Spoiler: none of them)
- 30,000 in a detention centre meant for 780, that’s a *very* concentrated camp
Purges
CDC website and much more wiped …
Halting Foreign Aid has dire life threatening consequences …
- Well hey 81% of evangelicals, this is what you voted for … just like Jesus wanted you to … right?
- Just to be clear about all this, foreign aid is not purely humanitarian, it’s strategic. We help these people to stop their problems from crossing our borders, keep them from embracing dictators or communism, and make them feel like they owe us favors. He’s undermining national security just to be a dick.
Christian Nationalist Fiction
Yes, their usual stream of totally fictitious BS continued to flow this past week.
David Lane claims that “George Washington clearly emphasized that maintaining a clear and unwavering allegiance to Jesus Christ and His Word was essential for political prosperity, public happiness, and the sustaining of freedom.”
- I’d love to see Lane’s evidence to support that assertion, but of course he can’t produce any because he has none.
Mark Meckler says that “you cannot separate the Bible and politics” because “government is mentioned as much as anything else in the Bible.”
- This is a message for those that never actually read the bible, nor will they bother to question or check; it’s for the evangelicals of course.
Right-wing pastor Jesse Leon Rogers brags that his Christian nationalist organization City Elders “will determine who gets in public office.”
- FYI, it comes from this village idiot – Pastor uses church’s status to avoid property taxes, investigation shows
- Number of Gospel texts that have Jesus aspiring to take over government – zero.
- Knowing that this guy raises money for good causes, but then keeps a lot of that money for himself tells you all you really need to know about John Feucht (his real name).
Lance Wallnau claims that Bevelyn Beatty Williams “was incarcerated by the Biden administration” simply because she “prayed outside an abortion clinic.”
- As usual Lance is lying. She was actually convicted of forcibly blocking entrance to health clinics and terrorizing staff and patients.
Just to be clear, lying is business-as-usual with these guys. For example this past week Rick Green was repeating myths (The Daniel Boone one) even after it was debunked.
Liars, Dammed Liars, and Trump WH Press Secretaries
Yes this “tradition” also started once again, we are back to anything the Trump WH Press Secretary says being total BS …
Crazy Confirmation Hearings
- Do we really want a director of the FBI who supposedly can’t remember names, faces, places? I feel like that’s pretty important for a cop.
- Meanwhile Stew remembers him – Stew Peters says that Kash Patel was helping him to sue Rolling Stone and during that process, “we directly [texted] via personal cell phones constantly.“
Air Safety
What happened is utterly tragic.
What is inevitable is that the grifting lizards use it to pop up from under their rocks and spit venom in your eye …
What is utterly unacceptable by any measure is an elected official offering exactly zero sympathy to the families and instead is pretending to know what happened, but has no clue what actually happened …
As president he would normally be able to get the facts from the head of the Aviation Safety Committee. but he can’t because he fired him on Jan 22 …
He also can’t call the FAA Administrator to find out, because when they demanded that he step down on Jan 20, he did.
I can’t help but also ponder over this being a possible factor …
You have experts for a reason, now he has got none. There is nobody left to work out what the hell happened, and it is distinctly possible that the chaos he has unleashed played a role.
You know how this would have played out if Biden was still in charge. Something like this would have resulted in calls for his resignation and impeachment hearings for the remainder of his Presidency. Trump will say he had nothing to do with it. And most of the mainstream media will let him get away with it.
Pete nails it …
So to sum all this up, the racist and deeply stupid idiot-in-chief …
- Forced out the FAA chief at Musk’s insistence
- Imposed a hiring freeze that reportedly included air traffic controllers
- Fired the TSA head and gutted a key aviation safety committee
- Then went into full racist mode and blamed the crash on DEI on the basis of no evidence at all
This is disastrous leadership.
Oh, and also let’s be wholly clear about his DEI claim, it is pure racism …
- He claims that DEI policies mean hiring people who aren’t the most qualified, but hey, let’s not forget that he has nominated people who are blatantly the most Unqualified, because they were on TV and white.
Weirdest of the Weird
Deeply weird Pastor Joel Webbon, the guy with the very very very small … church … but gets amplified by making outrageous absurd statements on YouTube came out with this during the past week …
- As yes, the dark ages, a time when everybody stunk and sewage ran freely through the streets carrying plague … oh happy times.
- So who wants to break the news to him that during that time there were no Protestants.
Rep. Eric Burlison announced the introduction of the Life at Conception Act that will declare “that unborn children are ‘persons’ under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, allowing their right to life to be legally recognized and protected.“
- Will individual sperm also be declared “people”, will Masturbation be deemed to be a crime, will a miscarriage be declared to be manslaughter?
Stew Peters declares that the Holocaust is “a fairy tale” and that “Auschwitz is an emotional amusement park for gullible retards.“
- The disturbing part here is not that he said this, but that there are idiots stupid enough to believe him.
Far-right priest Calvin Robinson delivered A Nazi salute at the National Pro-Life Summit, which was also attended by Rep. Robert Aderholt, Charlie Kirk, Kevin Roberts, Ben Carson, Seth Gruber, Kristen Hawkins, Abby Johnson, Kayleigh McEnany, and Matt Walsh.
- He got applause and laughter when he did it – that’s not a surprise, the Pro-life movement is fundamentally a fascist movement that seeks to impose their beliefs on everybody by force.
- Just to be clear, he once was an Anglican Catholic, but this “Sieg Heil” was a career decision. They promptly kicked him out. The front page of their website also denounces his actions.
- Side note, don’t call it the Musk salute, tag it for what it is – a Nazi salute.
- Also, it comes as no surprise to see that shortly after all the fuss Eric Metaxas was defending Calvin Robinson.
Lucas Gage says that praising Hitler is now “the ultimate symbol of free speech.“
- Meanwhile back in reality, absolute freedom of speech also has consequences such as libel, slander, sedition, incitement, hate speech, classified information, copyright violation, trade secrets, food labeling, non-disclosure agreements, the right to privacy, dignity, the right to be forgotten, public security, perjury, etc, etc…
- Consequences Example: See previous item above regarding Calvin Robinson. He has the freedom to do his “Sieg Heil”, but then his church also has the right to toss him out for that, and we all have the right to call him an obnoxious shit.
What should happen as stuff happens?
Ron has a few good thoughts …
- The perception of inaction from most Dems is deeply frustrating. AOC, Jasmine, and a couple of others can’t do it alone.
Make no mistake, some really are doing their best …
Pressing hot emotional buttons really does work …
- The only winning message the Democrats have is “I will fix the huge fucking mess the Republicans made.” The Republicans nearly always provide. But maddeningly, “let’s not make another huge fucking mess” is a losing message. So here we are.
Any hope of any kind of political bipartisanship has been slaughtered by Republicans, you don’t compromise with fascists … period …
- “bipartisan” – a word that now describes resistance fighters who also happen to like both men and women.
Political Cartoons from the past week
As always, there are many excellent cartoons. Here are a few samples. Each comes with a link to the cartoonist putting the cartoon out via BlueSky. If you are on Bluesky then you can use the link to follow them.
Media Madness
Let’s call it as it really has been. We have been well and truly fucked by the deregulating of the media. Media outlets very quickly consolidated under a handful of billionaires, and they’ve had the knives out for the Democrats ever since. “Sanewashing” Trump is only a more extreme version of the excuses they made for Dubya.
This is what is rolling into place now …
People are struggling to work out what the hell is actually happening because mainstream media is no longer reliable, and so Ryan Broderick spells it out (in one of his latest twice a week substack postings under the banner “Garbage Day” where he writes about the Internet because that’s his thing)…
He finished with the excellent plea to mainstream media …
This past week also saw the parting of the ways between CNN and Jim Acosta. It finally happened, I’m just surprised that it took this long …
If you are wondering what next for him, then here you go …
- Quote: “Really love this cartoon from the great Michael De Adder. The outpouring of support coming in has been truly amazing! Thanks everybody!” – Jim Acosta
Parting shots…
- Jim should be extremely proud of the fact that he got under his skin. That means he did his job well. This really is a badge of honor.
Swing voters …
Does the NYT from Feb 11, 1933 remind you of anything …
