Not quite three months into Trump’s second term and there is talk – some of it emanating from Trump himself – about a third term. What that talk is really saying is that Trump may be considering a presidency for life. The kind that Idi Amin, the “president” of Uganda had.
Well, why not?
The hideous truth is we already have a de facto Idi Amin presidency and it preceded the inauguration of Trump (both of them). The president has not been the thing described in the Constitution for hundreds of years, at least since the presidency of John Adams – who was the second president and the first one to exercise powers he lacked under the Constitution by hounding his political enemies under the Alien and Sedition Acts. Even Jefferson – the president most revered by many libertarians – took it upon himself to make the Louisiana Purchase (not using his own funds, of course) which was something he knew had no constitutional authority to do. Most historian-hagiographers excuse what he did because they agree that Jefferson’s purchase of the Louisiana territory was a good thing. Just the same – in an ends-justify-the-means kind of way – that most Republicans express reverence for Abe Lincoln’s unconstitutional forced re-union of the Southern states during what was a “civil war” in the same way that the war in Korea was a “police action.”
More about that shortly.
Things got even more Idi Amin-like under Woodrow Wilson – who got us into the war to end all wars – and then Franklin Roosevelt, who set precedents expanded upon by Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. It didn’t end there, either. It was in fact just beginning. The Chimp really got things going and then some more so under Obama, who puppeteered the Scranton Sniffer for the first unofficial third term since FDR.
So why not an official one for Trump?
Put bluntly, what is going to stop him for “serving” for a third term – which in his case would amount to a de facto presidency-for-life since he’s already 78 and so would be 86 by the end of his prospective third term, if he manages to live that long.
The adherents of “Q” – who believe that “patriots are in charge” – would see this as a natural evolution of the “plan” they “trust.”
Trump could simply declare himself president-for-life, as Idi Amin did.
Would it not be of-a-piece with the way presidents have already gotten into the habit of issuing what amount to de facto laws via what are styled “executive orders”? Most recently, Trump’s orders regarding tariffs, which – under the Constitution – do not fall within his constitutional powers. It is Congress that has the constitutional authority to pass such legislation. It is the prerogative of the president to see that the laws (passed by Congress) are “faithfully executed.” This distinction stopped mattering as a practical matter decades ago when the presidents began executive-ordering things and thereby issuing laws by not calling them laws. It works very much in the same way that presidents have arrogated to themselves the power to start wars by not declaring them – the latter being the constitutional prerogative of the Congress, which ceded this prerogative to the president some 70 years ago, when the president decided that the United States would go to war in Korea but let’s not call it that.
The war in Vietnam was called that – even though Congress never declared war against North Vietnam. But people knew what was going on, regardless. The wars continue – no longer declared.
So what is going to stop Trump from declaring himself president for life, should he so decide? Would his followers object? Would Obama’s – had he declared himself president for life?
Caesar and his heirs understood. The forms – and the terms of the old republican were retained but the substance had changed. Augustus – the second Caesar – liked to refer to himself as merely the princeps, or “first citizen.” He was astute enough to understand that it had a better mouth feel than “caesar” (or imperator).
Trump may – or may not – deploy such niceties. But he is already planning his first Triumph – to be held in honor of his 79th birthday. It could be the first of many such.
All that’s needed is some kind of national emergency to justify a presidency-for-life.
One that may never end.
. . .
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Mang, you guys are talking it up about stonks, while ‘they’ are going to spend your money, something like $110 million, on a Soviet-style military parade.
I guess that’s nothing, it’s just another NFL flyover? Who cares? Stonks! [It’s grotesque!]
Spend. Spend. Spend. For sure, as soon as ‘they’ balance the budget, the IRS will be CXL, and for sure, taxing you with tariffs, making you pay more for stuff you buy, will certainly bring manufacturing back. …Like the belief of a Cargo Cult?
…Lucy, your job of holding the football, is Very secure.
Sorry to report that after a face-ripping ten percent rally yesterday, stonks have given up nearly half of it at midday.
Like tariff rates, shares are bouncing off the walls like popcorn off a scalding pan.
This is your ‘market’ on Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Like Crazy Eddie, it’s insaaaaaaaane!
Up or down, much money can be made during times of volatility, especially when one knows of it in advance.
When you own the media it’s also very easy to manufacture a narrative to cause panic selling or buying.
We are living in an occupied nation. No escape. It will be one overlord or another. Just do your best to not participate.
RE: “Just do your best to not participate.”
How, exactly, does one do that?
…Work hard, pay taxes, and shut up?
What’s scary, is there are potentially worse outcomes than this.
Trump-Musk-Adelson, the Third Triumvirate?
If Trump were to try and run for a third term, it would be funny if Thomas Massie primaried him – and won.
The Orange Reaper is doing a heckuva job. Competing against the very grim Netanyahu is a tough job.
The Grim Reaper is envious.
So is the Green Ripper, whatever that is.
How much is slaughter enough?
Just a little bit more.
Enough of that.
The boundless contempt of the occupier for the Untermenschen writhing beneath his bootheel:
‘An IDF soldier laughs and smashes up a shop in Jabalia refugee camp. The store will have been someone’s pride and joy, and a source of livelihood.
‘Such brutal cruelty without a second thought — carried out with pride and a camera.’
https://twitter.com/PhilipProudfoot/status/1733270685751935464
While staying with someone who has yet to cut the cord I learned something today. According to the red team faux news, WE WON, its over. China has been broken and the all clear is being shouted from the rooftops of the MSM. No mention of any long term consequences, why would there be consequences, Merika fuk yeah, Merika forever. No thought that China is pissed like the cook at Shenanigans who just had the order returned for some nonsense. No thought of what kind of ‘Special Sauce’ China puts on the plate from this day on.
Wouldn’t it just have been easier to ceed to the idea of a multi polar world? China gets to dominate Asia, Russia, or whoever dominates Europe, We focus on our own hemisphere? That would be truly putting America first. Our excessive hubris is the kind of thing that causes empires to die suddenly. If we’d hadn’t been so dickish about it, the world might have allowed us to keep our exorbitant privilege.
On the up side, in two days of watching cable with our oldster, haven’t seen a single commercial for big Pharma. A month ago they were non stop. Now, tons of car commercials. Too bad the new cars all suck.
I don’t get Trumpenstein’s constantly trying to pick a fight with China; they might just tell Trumpy to f*ck off and ban all exports to the US. Bare aisles at Walmart and good luck getting the rare earths for electronics stuff. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it good and hard.
I hear ya, Mike in Boston. I made a comment on this Brandon Smith article, which his article, I’m sure the likes of Raider Girl would give a hearty Thumbs Up to if she wasn’t so busy.
https://alt-market.us/tariff-freak-out-why-so-many-people-cling-to-the-cancer-of-globalism/
…The U.S. isn’t the Only customer China has.
…For many things, like rare earths, China is prolly, The Only source, Uncle Sam has.
…I think I just creeped myself out typing, ‘Uncle Sam’.
…Dang it! I did it twice.
Well written article, helot. 👍. Brandon Smith and I share similar thoughts on this subject.
Oh. You’re up Late. I knew you’d be jiving with his tangent.
Care to give a moment to my comment there? …Or, here, as it may be?
Actually, I got up to get ready to go to work. 😬 I was in bed by nine last night. Right now I am sitting here with a tea and a headache trying to convince myself that this was a good career path. 😜
I am not going to touch the Crisler comment because I don’t believe nano particles are invading purebloods. I will argue the point after tax season when I have more time.
You state that people will pay through the nose or do without if tariffs are implemented. The purchase of tariffed goods is selective. Personally, I would choose tariffs over forced taxation any day of the week. The early tariffs will likely be swallowed by the global corporations, because they will lose considerable business if a product is increased by 20% or more when it hits the shelves. That product will sit and what happens when a product sits for too long? It goes on sale. The point of tariffs is to redirect the spending of the consumer by purchasing locally or looking at alternatives. Yes, sometimes we are forced to go without or forced to be patient.
My question is where was the upset when prices have been skyrocketing since COVID? Supplies, services, etc. have increased 50 to 200% over the last five years. Cant’t blame that on tariffs. People are spazzing out they won’t be able to buy a new car because imported cars will add another 20% to the bottom line. One, how many of us are truly planning to purchase a new car? They are now subscription based spyware. Are any of us here truly shopping for one that a tariff is going to make a difference? Two, opportunities constantly arise. Nothing remains stagnant and people are always producing a better mouse trap. Are we to believe that new businesses, new products, and new methods will not arise from this? People are adaptable creatures. Where one door closes another always opens.
That East Coast thing. It’s late here, it’s early there. Sorry to read of your headache. Drink lotsa water, take magnesium, or maybe, cream of tartar?
Or, have steak & eggs?
I’m disappointed you are, “not going to touch the Crisler comment because I don’t believe”.
It’s not a discussion of religion. It’s about what’s under the microscope.
‘Walk on By’
Dionne Warwick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsGsCvJWEo8
[I really dislike the commercials at the beginning of YouTube videos. They could place them better.]
I ask, don’t make me think of that song every time I see your nic.
Also, “The early tariffs will likely be swallowed by the global corporations”
…’Cause, that’s how they roll?
They are like a consumer protection army? They swallow costs & don’t pass them on?
Is that a TeeVee commercial?
Anyway, keyword, “early”.
…Rock on, Raider Girl, may your dreams be real. Beware the imitation of, Ghost to the Post.
The frugalistias in my life would fault me if I didn’t call you out on this comment:
“My question is where was the upset when prices have been skyrocketing since COVID? Supplies, services, etc. have increased 50 to 200% over the last five years.”
They have been screaming, yelling, complaining, giving a hard time, to just about everybody & anyone who would listen or was passing The Buck.
Perhaps, since you joined the six figure club, you’ve lost touch a little bit?
Idk.
You say, “People are spazzing out they won’t be able to buy a new car because imported cars will add another 20% to the bottom line.”
.. The Little People, they might wanna buy a washing machine with that same Up Price.\
Or, a dryer?
Or. a microwave? [Although, that’s a good thing, microwaves are Death Boxes.]
New tires?
TeeVee’s
Or, me, a 12 volt cooler. …sometimes, the meat in the cooler on the way back from the grocery store goes bad & everybody feels ill.
Maybe, someday, they’ll make one in the unitedstate? …When I’m 90?
Fleetwood Mac ~ Sara 1979 Classic Rock Purrfection Version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lu78-4JO9I
Hi Helot,
Yup. My Mac – the computer I use to work – is ten years old. It is getting gimpy. I need to buy a new one and feel pressure to buy it soon, because Macs are made in Chyna, so a $1,200 iMac may soon cost $2,000. Oy meet vey. The thing is, while I agree it would be great for such things to be made in the USA, I do not believe they will be. And if they are, they simply cost much more. “Free trade” has worked as planned – to enserf the West.
This is a key point, seemingly lost on worshipers of the Tangerine Asherah Pole. Manufactures are not likely to just up and move back to the US, and even if they do, the cost of labor will be such that we’ll still get overpriced junk we’ll no longer be able to afford, just made by some sloth Union douche. Either way, prices are going up while wages stay flat. And, for stuff already made here, they’ll just raise prices a bit because they’ll have some new found wiggle room. Enserfment as we go down in flames, while retards around us chant USA! USA!
I agree, BAC –
I may just put the new iMac on the card – to avoid paying 125 percent more next month.
Or, you could just get a $600 laptop with an i7 which would have plenty of nuts to do anything you wanted to, only it wouldn’t have a cute little apple on it.
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-15-6-full-hd-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-512gb-ssd-natural-silver/6612253.p?skuId=6612253
Why anyone would be dead set on paying over 2x the price for a computer that does the same exact thing out of…I’m not sure, brand loyalty?…needs to work just a little bit on their consumer skills.
If money is tight, anyone that knows what’s what doesn’t go shopping at the Apple store. It just doesn’t make any sense.
Hi Letme –
I need a Mac because I need a machine that works and that I don’t have to screw with, because I just want to work – not futz with Windows/Virus stuff. Macs are expensive – but they are very reliable, essentially immune to viruses and – for people like me who hate computers – they are very easy to use. I haven’t got the time or the interest to learn about computers. I leave that dreary business to the youth.
Well, Eric,
My Intel/Windows machine “just works.” I don’t have to “futz” with it. Norton AV and Malwarebytes keep me from virus harm. Install and forget about the details.
If you don’t like Windows. you can always install Linux. If you don’t care for Intel you can always use AMD.
Aber, jedem das seine.
Just sayin’…
You ask and I shall deliver, helot!
https://www.amazon.com/Igloo-40369-Iceless-Thermoelectric-28-Quart/dp/B007ZYH4BM/?asc_source=browser&asc_refurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrive.com%2Freviews%2F27433%2Fbest-12-volt-coolers
Got anything against Igloo? Won’t you help a US company out? They also make real good products that last decades.
Good catch. It’s not big enough, but may work in a pinch. It appears to use Dometic to cool. Which is good, because it’s good quality, howevah; as far as I can tell, Dometic is Made in China.
Yes, but it is a Swedish company…maybe they will expand the Stockholm factory.
An electric powered “ice chest” that costs $127?
YGBSM.
When can we expect the (eLoon approved, GovCo subsidized) battery powered version? [snicker]
I think I paid $20 for my Coleman way back when (>40 years ago). Double the capacity of the one shown, and only costs $1-$2 in ice to keep the beverages cool for ~24 hrs.
No “plug in” required.
Anyone US manufacturers selling LiFePO4 batteries, Raider? So far I’ve found a few companies based in the US, but manufacturing here?..
Also, I’ve always argued for buying from more local business, but there needs to be that choice. I’m just not sure tariffs are the way to go about attempting to restrict trade with those who may have more attractive (to manufacturers) conditions.
Being a tax preparer, what thoughts have you on, say, dropping the corporate tax to 5% or abolishing it all together? (I’ve become skeptical of the idea of “corporation” altogether, but that’s another story.) I don’t have much of a problem with a low, flat and universal tariff for revenue generation, if we must have a government and so forth. Darth Tangelo is touting a considerable reduction in taxes, regulations and hopefully red tape with this new “Joint Budget Resolution” just passed by the House, but let’s just say that I’m skeptical. He should’ve began there, attracting the seeding and genesis of manufacturing here, THEN maybe he could’ve gone to tariffs if necessary.
What about a flat sum for income tax? Not good for your business, for sure, but what if everyone who had an income just paid $2,500 and we had a Constitutional government instead?
Also, I don’t mind if Orange Julius uses tariffs to negotiate the reduction of tariffs used against our goods, but is he doing that with any precision? I do question his ability to legally and unilaterally levy tariffs, but that doesn’t seem to be an issue to Congress…
Hi BaDnOn,
I have no issue with a flat tax, but there are not too many people who are going to be keen on the idea….those who receive tax credits, those who already pay $0 in federal income taxes, home builders, realtors, airplane manufacturers, car dealerships, business owners, etc. There are too many loopholes in the tax code to reduce or outright eliminate taxation (unless you are a salaried employee, then you are just screwed).
The tax code is progressive, which means the more one makes the more one pays. Telling everybody that they have to kick in $2500 each is still going to piss off a great many.
When addressing the subject of corporate taxation should we even tax companies? The taxation between a C corporation and an S corporation is very different (although they are both corporations in the eyes of the State). An S corporation is a pass through entity so even when the shareholders leave the money in the business they are still taxed on it at their ordinary tax rate. Should someone be punished for not taking money out of their business? The same goes for a partnership or a sole proprietor. The C corporation is taxed on the entity level and then again on the dividends that stockholders receive. Yes, it is double taxation. Right now, the C corporation has a federal income tax rate of 21%, where S corps, partnerships, or sole props can vary from 0 to 37%. Then these same businesses have to pay self employment tax of 15.3% on top of that. How is that fair?
If taxation occurs it should be at the individual level and businesses (who happen to be made of individuals) should only be taxed when money leaves the organization whether that is in salary, dividends, or the selling of stock options.
Unfortunately, I don’t see that occurring in this lifetime.
I totally agree, RG.
How is that fair, indeed? Hence the flat-sum tax, but you’re right. Too many people either “loophole” their way out of taxes through means not available to the rest of us. Then there is the “Free Shit Army” as Eric calls it. People who pay nothing or next to it in income tax, then “get back” thousands more than they put in because they bred freely. Not sure why there are tax incentives for breeding irresponsibly, but there sure as fuck are. :p
Taxing business IS just double (or triple) taxation, as you’re saying. If that was eliminated, how sexy would building a business in America become? I reckon that no “civilized” country on Earth has this policy. I believe that would be quite the incentive; Business and manufacturing would thrive here, tariffs be damned.
And yes, that truly flat “poll” or “head” tax would piss some people off, and that’s part of the appeal. Gives one even more incentive to do well in life. Also, and this is key, gets people PISSED OFF when they see their tax bill for the year, and makes them want to decrease that amount. Nice way to rein in the size of government.
The term “progressive” must’ve been conjured by the same ingenious wordsmiths that have been fouling language, particularly by the left, for so many years. Viz, Eric’s many “Humpty-Dumpty” articles.
If my taxes remained the same amount (and no more interrogations, by the way!) while my income increased over my lifetime, THAT would be PROGRESS, sister.
>fouling language, particularly by the left, for so many years.
Yes. Words matter.
It matters not how it’s assessed or collected, it’s still nothing more nor less than armed robbery.
You’ll get no argument from me on the armed robbery fact, Mr. Kable. But if it’s going to happen no matter what, I’d like the amount stolen and the picking through my life to be less.
There is no law requiring the average American to pay “federal income tax”.
Why anyone pays that nonsense is utterly beyond me.
Hi LetMe,
No law? That may be technically true. But try telling it to the EyeRess.
Not that I agree with it, but perhaps the 16th Amendment to the Constitution?
“The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.”
Doesn’t mention anything about being “average”.
Where do I try to pass along this insightful grip much of the world is in?
“With six children, growing fatigue and an aging mother, I suddenly feel pulled impossibly between eight different life stages and their unique concerns. The middle schooler is just hitting puberty and its famous moods, while my mother can’t make sense of her TV anymore. I’m awakened by hot flashes, while my daughter prepares to be awakened by a newborn. My younger daughters compare skin products, while I dream of laser surgery. There’s a baby shower, baseball game, elder care discussion, soccer trip, prom party and teacher conference—and don’t forget the colonoscopy!”
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2025/04/no_author/the-universe-proclaims/
…I know, put it under the travel trailer article!
We could produce lots of rare earths. We just don’t. Largely because the mine is in California, and the process of extracting them concentrates radioactivity into the tailings & then you have to deal with that somehow.
But if we actually wanted to do it badly enough, we could do it.
“Corporations are socialist constructs that only exist with government charter and special protections. The market bailouts are a perfect example of how corporations that should have been allowed to fail were kept alive because of their partnership with the government.”
Yeah, like I’ve been pondering. Something here needs to change.
“In terms of ‘free trade’ and the supply chain, interdependency makes all nations weak by forcing them to rely on other countries for key resources and base necessities. ”
I’ve argued that interdependence is a weakness since I was a teenager. It is to some degree inexorable, and does “keep the peace” in some cases, but I’d argue that peace is better brought upon by strong but benevolent people secure in their resources.
“Conservatives and liberty advocates will be blamed for any economic instability that results from Trump’s economic policies.”
Yeah, particularly if he fucks up and fails to bring increased prosperity. Instability comes from uncertainty and general widespread change. But it should pass. It’s just a question of what remains on the other side.
“In every instance since the crash of 2008 when the markets have shifted into correction territory, the central bank has stepped in to prevent a natural reversal. They print tens of trillions of dollars in fiat from thin air and then pump it into banks and international corporations in order to kick the can down the road for a little while longer.”
Totally agree. So will the veil around the Federal Reserve get a slashing from that orange lightsaber? I haven’t seen much criticism of the Fed lately and rarely do from anyone in the District of Criminals. Instead, one of the first things Trump demanded from Congress was an increase of the debt ceiling. Not necessary if you stay within budget.
Just a few thought from your article. All in all, let’s just say that I don’t yet feel “liberated”.
>good luck getting the rare earths for electronics stuff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Pass_Rare_Earth_Mine
>It is the largest single known deposit of such minerals.[3]
Yes, I’ve heard of this place. Would’ve been nice if Trump would’ve pushed to get it restarted and humming along before putting the noose on imports, right? Am I wrong to think the cart is before the horse here? Or that the cart just has no horse?
Fer sure, Norman Franklin. I too, noticed the variety & increase of new non-drug, non-Big-Pharma commercials on the rabbit ears TeeVee.
…Like a dam broke? …A tiny dam. But, a dam breaking.
Hi Norman,
My oldest friend is like that. He’s convinced it’s an “op” and that “patriots are in charge.” It makes me want to just get in bed for a week and watch old Star Trek reruns.
Hi Eric,
I don’t disagree with your friend about it all being an op. Not sure its going to end the way any of us imagine. Seems kind of fake. I expected more immediate downside pain, then a huge bounce back up, new highs going into the fall, then a fade into an epic washout.
Weird how much Trump resembles Harcourt Fenton Mudd. And Spock, he could have been talking about Americans of today when describing the tribbles from fifty years ago. ‘They’re like the Lillies of the Valley. They toil not, but they seem to eat a great deal… Fascinating.’
Hi Norman,
Yup. But my friend thinks it’s a “patriots in charge” op. The “white hats” – special forces/Mark Milley – are directing the “op.” It’s early yet but I feel an urge to pour myself a drink…
I know lots of people who think that way. Sad really, after what we saw in the first term that anyone could. Never too early for a drink though. Don’t skimp, have a bit of the good stuff.
I second Norman, Eric. Have a good stiff refreshment and don’t let the kooks get to you.
[…] Guest Post by Eric Peters […]
A couple of years ago, I saw a video clip of Chump at a WEF “summit”. That pretty much says it all!
Yukon Jack proven right: ZeroHedge’s market summary today:
‘[Treas Sec] Bessent claimed [Trump’s tariff] move had nothing to do with the bond/funding market’s chaos … but Mohamed El-Erian thought differently:
“Up to an hour ago, there was a debate on what would convince the US Administration to opt for some type of pause on tariffs. Would it be Congress, the President’s advisors, business leaders, the legal system, markets, or something else?
“We got the answer today: It’s the government bond market — particularly, how close it gets to the line that separates wild price volatility from market malfunctioning.”
And Trump admitted it …
Reporter: Did the bond market persuade you to reverse?
Trump: I was watching the bond market. It’s very tricky. If you look at it now it’s beautiful. The bond market right now is beautiful. But I saw last night where people were getting a little queasy.
https://archive.ph/IfTrg#selection-1857.0-1899.13
Nice dodge ‘n weave, Mistuh Preznit. But a 4.35% end-of-day yield on the 10-year Treasury note remains crushingly high in a collapsing economy. Here’s what real angst looks like, when you’re down and out:
‘The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury briefly touched an all-time low of 0.318% in overnight trading.’ — CNBC, March 8, 2020
‘I will show you fear in a handful of dust.’ — T S Eliot, The Waste Land
Here is another good one:
https://www.elliottwave.com/articles/stocks-dive-house-prices-next/
WTF! “The percentage of bad-quality FHA loans has soared from 25% to 65%”
“The Wall Street Journal discovered that the Federal Housing Administration has been allowing people who cannot afford monthly payments on FHA mortgages to remain in houses payment-free.”
Another thing that really annoys me, Trump’s overuse of the word “beautiful”.
Will someone please get the President a Thesaurus.
Orange Man is a one trick pony with his vocabulary.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beautiful
Melania’s birthday is in April, the 26th, born in 1970.
She’ll be 55 years old. Get her away from Donald, she could be a lot of fun. har
Trump robbed the cradle there.
Melania would be a better choice for the President for Life.
Netanyahu is president for death.
>Netanyahu is president for death.
And the sooner death comes for him the better off the world will be.
Short drop. With piano wire. Naked at dawn on a cold day.
Televised worldwide.
Or you could do the compassionate thing and put him and his co conspirators in a work camp to live on and provide something back to the society they were trying to conquer. Nah, already been tried and a lot of decent people got screwed to death over it.
CHINA TO BANKS: STOP BUYING U.S. DOLLARS
LOL. Tariff war causing panic in China currency markets. Meanwhile, 30 year US Treasuries shot vertical to over 5% this morning. Bond holders just took big losses as interest rates move higher. Stocks and bonds are both getting killed simultaneously – trillions are being wiped out in a single trading session.
The only reason why China was the biggest holder of US paper was because they were our biggest trading partner. No trade means no China man buying US shit paper. That is a huge problem for a government running endless deficits.
One more upsurge in T-Bonds is going to push mortgage rates above 8% – that kind of medicine is going to kill real estate bubble. Anyone who bought homes in the last couple of years should be underwater soon. Bloodbath coming.
So the Orange Emperor, after a resplendent luncheon which brightened his mood, suspended his reciprocal tariffs for 90 days [after earlier claiming it was fake news] on countries other than China, which just got hiked to 125%. This could all change by sundown, of course.
Stonks ripped to an 8.5% gain on the S&P 500, and over 10% on the Nasdaq 100. Before anyone gets too excited, recall that the last time such extreme whipsaws (both up and down) occurred was in autumn 2008, and before that, during 1931-1933. In both those earlier events, the economy was mired in financial crisis and depression.
National Bureau of Economic Research, our official business cycle arbiter, can take a year or more to review final, revised data series and announce the inception date of a recession. By then, it’s old news.
Today, the unemployment rate of 4.2% is up from 3.4% at its low in April 2023. In other words, we ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Consumer confidence already was in the toilet. Orange Emperor’s egotistical day-trading of the global economy will crush consumer confidence to a record low. In turn, purchases of autos and housing will dwindle to a sad trickle.
Just a step, cried the sad man
Take a look down at the madman
Theatre kings on silver wings
Fly beyond reason
From the flight of the seagull
Come the spread claws of the eagle
Only fear breaks the silence
As we all kneel, pray for guidance
— Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Knife-Edge
There’s a lot of money to be made in such a volatile market, especially if one knows what’s coming next, Jim. 😉
It’s an illusion that anyone knows what’s coming next on a short-term, daily basis. The market went up 10% today. But if the orange Tax Collector for the Warfare State had not graced us with his beneficent tariff pronunciamento, it could just as well have sunk 10%.
Had to re-order prescription eyeglasses today, after losing mine on the trail yesterday. Price from the Chinese vendor is the same as four years ago. Will they really pay His Orange Eminence’s 125% tariff, probably bigger than their gross margin? No:
‘The “de minimis” exemption, a rule allowing goods valued under $800 to enter the US duty-free, is set to end for products from China and Hong Kong on May 2, 2025, and potentially for other countries as well.’
Just in time ordering! As Realtors are fond of saying, Buy now before prices go up! 🙂
“It’s an illusion that anyone knows what’s coming next on a short-term, daily basis.”
Sure! But said Orange Tax Collector might’ve known what he was going to do, as well as his friends, and he might’ve known how it would affect the market.
Of course he would.
That so many aren’t putting up a fight over the actions of the carrot-hued Puppenspieler-in-Chief is telling of how many might be on the take.
BaDnOn: I was going to make a similar comment. The market started moving at the open, maybe even before the open. That tells me someone knew. And if only a few big organizations start buying, ones not in on the take notice and act accordingly. One has to wonder if the entire deep V wasn’t the plan all along. Some nice short-term profits in a planned dip.
That is the case, Arylioa! Invest $1 Billion, and a ~12% (NASDAQ) jump like that yields you $120 million. Nice payday. People are sent to prison for “insider trading”, but one man is able to manipulate global markets single-handedly? And people are okay with that? Pff.
Carry on!
It is very questionable about Trump’s strategy, if his tariff abatement was pre-planned. I say it wasn’t, he was getting so much heat from the stock market plunging, T-Bonds exploding, his staff, Elon, etc. – old Don the Con decided to do a reversal for those who obeyed him and kissed his ass, and China who defied him get screwed with even higher tariffs. That has all the hallmarks of a Don, a mafia kingpin – who is making his vassals slaves.
I say the damage is done and the market will soon sell off again, as soon as the current euphoria wears off – everyone thought world trade was screwed and stonks pumped (biggest gain ever?) – but it will be short lived, volatility is through the roof.
If there is one thing business hates is this chaos Trump sows. IMO Trump is the “crazy maker king”, the great disrupter of things (which is good in many ways). Business wants steady profits, not uncertainty.
>push mortgage rates above 8% – that kind of medicine is going to kill real estate bubble.
Depends on the inflation rate.
It took 16% mortgage rates in 1981 to give us the recession of 1982.
Real interest rate = note rate – inflation rate
16% mortgages reflected the late 1970s inflation rate of (?) ~10-11%
I bought one, because I was getting raped on income tax, and desperately needed the mortgage interest tax write off. No brainer, really. IRS had *not* adjusted tax brackets to account for inflation, which mean that many ordinary folks were pushed into high marginal tax brackets. NF paying $0.70 of that last dollar to the Feds, and the only way out was to buy real estate.
High interest rates kept housing prices depressed in that cycle. Today’s situation is quite different, with low interest rates supporting grossly inflated equities. Quite frankly, I am amazed the current bubble has lasted as long as it has. I do not understand who is buying residential properties at these prices, but I suspect much of it is corporate investors. Just a guess.
” I do not understand who is buying residential properties at these prices, but I suspect much of it is corporate investors.”
When literally everything is in a bubble because there is a global currency and it has been inflated, buying something of tangible value is the only sane bet. So RE, metals, resources. Even when you lose you have something, though RE is compromised by the existence of property taxes.
> buying something of tangible value is the only sane bet.
Exactly.
So who else thinks Chrysler (Stellantis) will survive this?
‘Cause I don’t.
Sure, Jeep will with…someone…but kiss the rest of the line goodbye.
Yes, I believe that includes RAM.
Orange Fail declared a national emergency in 2020 and we ended up with a market crash, an economic recession and five years of inflation (not to mention unprecedented levels of government intrusion in our lives). Not yet three months into his second term, he declares another national emergency–this time over the trade deficit–and we end up with a market crash, an almost certain recession and more government intrusion in our lives. If he declares yet another phony “national emergency,” as Eric suggests, I don’t see how this nation will survive it.
Trump IS the national emergency. Trump’s loyalty to a foreign state is treason. Trump could prove worse than Biden. Trump is currently threatening Yemen and Iran with annihilation – and he is doing this for his masters in Tel Aviv – he is protecting the genocide – punishing nations who dare oppose the bloodlust of Jewish supremacists. Trump is absolutely a traitor and must be removed from office ASAP.
Headline: Trump Admin Mulls Farmer Bailout After China’s Retaliatory Tariffs Threaten Exports
Destroy export markets with tariffs, and pretty soon you’ve got hurting farmers, hurting businesses, and on and on. Everyone needs a handout now.
The mind-bending shocker is that in a nation of 330 million people, there’s not a single adult in the room who can stop this self-administered train wreck.
We’re all ‘Biden’ now, watching in glaze-eyed incomprehension and shaking hands with our invisible friends who we thought we going to save us. Sheesh.
When did a politician ever obey a law that popular opinion wanted them to break? Most often don’t even need that. Witness asset forfeiture.
‘[Trump] is already planning his first Triumph – to be held in honor of his 79th birthday.’ — eric
‘On the day of his triumph, the general wore a crown of laurel and an all-purple, gold-embroidered triumphal toga picta (“painted” toga), regalia that identified him as near-divine or near-kingly. In some accounts, his face was painted
redorange, perhaps in imitation of Rome’s highest and most powerful god, Jupiter.’ — WikipediaA great military parade will process through the imperial capital on June 14th, celebrating not only the Orange Emperor’s birthday, but also America’s first trillion-dollar military budget.
A visitor from Mars might have thought that a ‘peace president,’ pledged to end all the foreign permawars in his first day or two, would CUT the defense budget as hostilities ceased. But as in the case of Emperor G.H.W. Bush’s ‘peace dividend’ when the Soviet Union winked out of existence, it was an illusion, a bitter trick played on the plebes.
Bad intent? Gearing up for apocalypse in Iran? Paying off boodling defense [sic] contractors? All of the above?
‘Any way you look at it, you lose.’
— Simon & Garfunkel, Mrs Robinson
Crude oil is smacked down to $56.50 a barrel this morning, as Donnie Fubar disembowels the economy. Chart:
https://tinyurl.com/2y4dfwuc
Se acabado la fiesta, as our Spanish friends say — the party’s ovahhhh!
I wouldn’t worry too much about Trump, the great orange MIGA pig is digging his own grave with such ferocity I expect huge protests against him to build rapidly from this point out. Trump is callously bankrolling the bulldozing and ethnic cleansing of Gaza – a huge war crime, while simultaneously waging all out economic war on Russia and Iran, ramping up the trade war against China with 104% tariffs (which go into effect today).
And if that wasn’t bad enough, Trump is making irrational demands on Iran like he is king of the world. Iran will never do what Trump orders, Iran is not going to blow up their own nuclear sites (the latest Nutjobyahoo proposal), nor are they going to scrap their defensive missiles, nor are they going to stop arming the Houthis and defending Gaza. Trump is completely delusional about Iran. IMO Trump is insane. So Trumpenstein has set himself up for a big fail against Iran. Either Trump has to completely back down or unleash a huge catastrophe if he attacks.
Same for the Russians in Ukraine. The Russians will not and can not back down, they want Ukraine to be neutral, never part of NATO, and no missiles on their border (think of the Cuban missile crisis under JFK). Putin acted to stop the ethnic cleansing of Russians in SE Ukraine. That was called an invasion by the lunatic west. The Russians will not give Trump one inch, so Trump will have to back down or do something of greater stupidity.
So back to domestic protests and China. Amerika gets most of its shit from China, if Trump cuts off China what happens to Walmart – the favorite store of impoverished Amerikan tax slaves? China has publically vowed to fight Trump tit for tat, so what happens in the next few weeks and months as this new great trade depression gets going in high gear? All the poor will hate Trump and all the stock owning rich will hate Trump, the MAGA base is going to dissolve as millions of Trump supporters will gag at the mention of this name.
ZH – China Strikes Back: Hikes Tariffs On US Goods To 84% As Trade War Goes Nuclear
I ask, is Trump mentally ill? Does Trump actually know what he is doing? I say he is crazy as a loon and setting us up for the greatest crash of all time, because he is literally taking a lance to the world’s biggest bubble. Stocks and real estate have been inflated to the heavens, and now Trump has pulled the plug out of the bathtub. A world wide trade war is going to crash the world economy. And this was predicted by a loon evangelical preacher from Oklahoma, who says he had a vision of Trump’s presidency – the stock ticker going all red, followed by long food lines and the greatest depression of all time.
Back under FDR, as the emperor proxy, FDR took office after the crash, and Herbert Hoover took the fall. This time MAGA will take the fall, Trump is going to destroy his own MAGA movement with his current actions. Amerika will be decimated under Trump and his policies – because Trump is a crazy maker king, a crazy Zionist loon on the throne – making all kinds of bad decisions for the Jewish Lobby and Israel. Trump has full exposed himself as a traitor, as an agent of a foreign state. Thus Trump has sabotaged any chance of a Trump dynasty.
Jack,
Have you ever heard of a guy named Dustin Nemos? If so, what are your thoughts re him?
Never heard of him, a quick search reveals his association with flat earth, here is his Rumble channel, heavy on the Bible and prophecy:
https://rumble.com/user/DustinNemos/videos
The internet is full of upstarts who want to rewrite history based on their own prejudices and brain washing. Mud floods. Earth is a pancake. Giants with 6 fingers. Bible literalists with new age spins. If you actually spent time listening to all the shows these spinmeisters create, your mind would be so confused you wouldn’t know what to think – which may be their purpose. Note how these online experts have no degrees, have not spent time at university or at archeological sites – they attack science and replace it with Bible inspired speculation. In real science, you have to prove each assertion you make, you can not just say this is the way it is, because you know the truth before the investigation, theory, and evidence.
Hi Jack,
Thanks. And – yup – I thought pretty much the same. I have watched a number of his videos and they are a sometimes intriguing concatenation of curious facts (and coincidences) and shit-statue-carving meanderings.
‘IMO Trump is insane.’ — Yukon Jack
If this is so, we have transitioned from last year’s senile scarecrow ‘Biden’ to an NPD sufferer who perceives the world the same way a heliocentrist perceives the solar system — that is, with the shining sun of his greatness at its center.
Amendment XXV provides a procedure to remove a malfunctioning president. Yet despite ‘Biden’ stepping aside for ‘Harris’ owing to his obvious senility, no one stepped up to the plate to usher him out the door.
Thus, we have gone from the frying pan into the fire. A megalomaniac president is in charge, and we’re in a world of hurt. After Trump usurped Congressional authority over tariffs, Senator Charles Grassley meekly opined that maybe Clowngress delegated too much authority to the executive in 1970s trade legislation. But then, perhaps to avoid a knife in his back in the Senate, Grassley added that he supports the Orange One’s goal of fairer trade, if not his specific tactics.
The upshot is that we’re passengers in a bus with a howling maniac at the wheel, headed for a hairpin curve at 100 miles an hour. This all ends in tears.
A major problem is the amount of ‘experience’ virtue signaled among our current, so called leadership. Across the entire spectrum of society, bitter clingers, white knuckling onto their dwindling power, way past their sell by date. We are well and truly fucked exactly because the current crop of crypt keepers refuses to ride off into the sunset with even a modicum of grace and humility. Trump is simply the manifestation of this. I don’t know a single person under 6O who is still for the Cold/War and its attendant never ending waste fraud and abuse. On the flip side, almost everyone over 6O [this place excluded] is in favor of the ‘we have to fight em over there, so we don’t have to fight em over here’ BS narrative
It ends in tears if you’re still on the bus. Shocked to realize how many people over 6O, even 7O are still in the stock market. Whatever happened to risk aversion? Once we reach a certain age its hard, if not impossible to make back what we worked and saved for all our lives. Might as well take it into a casino and give it a go as opposed to letting Wall Street hold your wallet.
As one who is about to write a large check to the IRS, to fund GovCos continued skullfuckery, I’m just angry enough to want an epic washout, consequences be damned. Orange Cesar is looking more and more like the man for the job.
Perfect metaphor – “we’re passengers in a bus with a howling maniac at the wheel, headed for a hairpin curve at 100 miles an hour. This all ends in tears.”
His last presidency ended with Covid nightmare, so the pattern is set for another huge disaster. Trump’s chaos management style is caused by his competing loyalties and deceptions of who he is really is, he keeps everyone off balance, takes the hammer to the china vase, says what you want to hear, does what he perceives is his personal interest of fame and glory, always promoting himself as the greatest president ever. He is actually incompetent and reads nothing. He is always ready to blame and chop the head off of one of his own staff – Elon could be next.
Hi Jack,
One of Trump’s recent tells – and I hope RG will give us her take on this – was his response to a question posed by a reporter about the cost-increasing effects of his tariffs on cars. He replied with “I couldn’t care less.” This was gratuitously callous and politically stupid. But I harp on the callous part because I think it’s . . . telling. Here’s a billionaire with no financial worries in any meaningful sense (i.e., he is never going to miss a meal or be living in a van down by the river) announcing that he couldn’t care less about the effects of his policies on average people.
Not good. For us.
Yes I caught that, and I agree, what does a billionaire know what it is like to get by day to day – they are busy carving up the world for their Zionist task masters. A few nights ago Jeff Rense interviewed noted author and researcher David Icke – who claims Bibi ordered those B-2s to Diego Garcia. I don’t doubt it after watching Trump push in the chair at the oval office, in an epic display of fealty.
Netanyahu is a war criminal with an outstanding warrant for arrest. Trump is harboring a fugitive, and aiding and abetting a genocidal maniac – those are felonies. I find the situation surreal, what kind of loon is running the nation now? From the frying pan to the fire. Each POTUS takes us deeper into the depths of hell. We literally have a Chabad loving FELON running the nation.
What stands out in my mind is what that crazy preacher Brandon Biggs claims he saw – Trump dodges the bullet, gets elected, all charges dropped then immediately the economy crashes, stock ticker all red, food lines, wages cut in half. That is radical shit, in an era of inflation and never ending budget deficits, how could wages be cut in half? We are talking about a deflationary depression. Well Virginia, if the stock market crashes followed by real estate crashing, you very well could have wage cuts like the Great Depression. And what Trump is doing is literally making the stock market tank.
Biggs also says Amerika enters “a great dark time”. That is also believable, because the Gaza genocide is pure dark evil and we are forced to watch and fund it. We are forced to watch in horror as these loons pick off and kill the Palestinians one at a time, while the world does nothing. And all Trump says is what great real estate it is. Sick.
Yukon Jack: “And what Trump is doing is literally making the stock market tank.”
As I write this, the Nasdaq Composite is up nearly 11% today. Proving causation can be very difficult, and is often the mistaken result of applying the logical fallacy of post hoc ergo propter hoc. Using this same flawed logic, what Trump is doing is literally making the stock market SOAR.
I think many people just got played.
Dear America,
Congratulations, you just contributed to the largest transfer of wealth in a four day period from the Middle Class to the Mega Rich.
Was Bill Ackman selling? Jeff Bezos? Howard Lutnick? Guess who sold? A panicked public who still listens to the news media. Guess who bought at cheap prices this morning? A bunch of billionaires.
Today, the Middle Class is a bit poorer, unless you held or better yet, bought cheap.
Yup. Nasdaq closed up 12.1% today.
>Trump is harboring a fugitive, and aiding and abetting a genocidal maniac – those are felonies.
Grounds for impeachment, nicht wahr?
I am not holding my breath…
Well, Trump came across as callous because he wanted to project callousness for the purpose of (what I believe to be) his bluff. It’s a tried and true negotiation strategy. Try to come across as crazy and reckless to your opponent. This guy has negotiated stuff all of his adult life. Again, putting aside the wisdom or Constitutionality of his tariff tactics, this is exactly what I would expect from him. Sure he could have said something like: “I have great sympathy for any hardship that Americans may suffer, but we have to right this ship.”
According to the BBC, I think he sort of did this though, when he said: “I think your question is so stupid,” he told the reporter. “I don’t want anything to go down. But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”
Hi Eric,
I think you are just egging for an argument. 😉 I will give you my whole 15 minute lunch break and then I have to go back and help screw Uncle Sam.
I don’t expect my government to care for me. I want three things from them: reduce regulations so I am not stifled on a business or individual level, lessen (if not outright omit) my taxes, and leave me the hell alone. As I stated yesterday, pretty words don’t turn me on, getting things done do.
We keep thinking that Wall Street is an indicator of Main Street…it isn’t. Main Street has been suffering for decades. Trump didn’t say he didn’t care about citizens he said he didn’t care about the price of foreign cars increasing. Should we really be buying a Mercedes or a Porsche? What is wrong with a Ford F150 and saving a few jobs in Dearborn and KC? If one needs a German manufacturer there is BMW being manufactured in Spartanburg and 60% of the parts are made here.
How come no other nation cries when their country puts tariffs on foreign goods? US citizens do though. Do we need more cheaply ass made Chinese and Vietnamese crap that we have to replace every 3-5 years? Is is really that hard for our country to support its own? France has no problem with it. Neither does China.
Things are not cheaper because they are made overseas, but the profit on the bottom line is larger. We are participating in slavery, because the margin and the ROI is more important then the people making it. Most of these factories lock in their workers, making them work 12-16 hour shifts, sleep on cots on the factory floor, for a few dollars a day. I guess we see nothing wrong with this as long as our engine parts, our clothes, and our meds save us $10. Another note: we have the highest pharmaceutical prices in the world and where are 90% of them made, China and India, things that make you go hmmm…. I am happy to see someone’s explanation on that one. Cheap manufacturing, right?
I have no problem being the only one applauding Trump for what he is doing…at least he is doing something. We have had years of talk, but no action. We are approaching an avalanche and most peoples thinking is let’s kick it down the road. Save it for the next generation as their children and grandchildren are graduating college with no jobs, no home, no skills, and a lifetime of debt.
But, but, but, the globalist (vehemently anti-nationalist/populist) media propaganda is just so darn scary. Hold me, RG!
Lol.
LOL. You are too funny, ML. 🙂
Thank you RG. If I’m forced to be ruled, I too, would much rather have a savvy, successful businessman at the helm.
That said, my thoughts on the manipulating of the financial markets is: human interference in complex systems always results in unintended consequences.
They don’t want to say it because of the political implications, but the tariff plans are long term. Short term pain will be felt. The anti-humanity media will freak out and get others to do so as well. Like COVID. Seems to be working. Even amongst the best and brightest around here.
Hi Philo,
You are absolutely right. They manipulated the financial markets. The Middle Class is a bit poorer today if they chose to sell over the last week.
I don’t believe the tariffs will be long term…except China’s. I guess we will see over the next 90 days who plays Let’s Make a Deal.
I am starting to question if the point was to ever truly produce pain or just pretend to inflict it.
“If I’m forced to be ruled, I too, would much rather have a savvy, successful businessman at the helm.”
I might rather a benevolent and principled man.
What you said about human interference in complex systems is all too true. How many Butterfly Effects does Darth Tangelo now initiate? Are his actions carefully calculated and the products of deep thought?
I think, probably not. Perhaps, as Raider postulates, these tariffs are schemes for leverage and a shotgun blast at those who might come to the table for a deal from the Master Deal-maker. Or perhaps they’re just a salvo from a bombastic Master of Bation. Most likely, his actions are a scheme originating from someone who sold them well.
Some remedies are painful, it is certain. In that case, I don’t mind a little pain. With regards to tariffs, however, I don’t know that there is enough time to truly shift markets to an American advantage. I think players like China look think in longer-term patterns. They see how ephemeral are American political paradigms. If they can take a little pain for the next 3 years, they can deal a greater pain to the American populace, who will make sure Trump and his acolytes will never see power again.
Just a guess how it may play out, however.
“I might rather a benevolent and principled man.”
Me too. Of course a benevolent and principled man would never even entertain the idea of ruling over others. Quite a conundrum!
“Not one in a million men is fit to rule, least of all one who would seek the opportunity.”
Something to that effect.
Might as well wish for a unicorn. Both are similar creatures.
I think that Trump’s response that “I could care less” is not meant out of callousness, though he very might well be, but out of ideology.
True, he is not a pure idealogue, but tariffs are something he believes in and has for nearly 40 years. I, being a tariff advocate myself, might say something like that in response to some baiting, gaslighting question.
In my view, tariffs equalize the cost of doing business across national borders. It helps quantify the costs of underpaid, virtually coerced labor in foreign countries versus ours.
Yeah, I know, it pisses libertarians off. I don’t give a fuck. You can’t have “free trade” with unfree people. I would like to conserve what is left of this basket case economy if not for myself, maybe to give someone else’s kid some kind of a shot at entering manufacturing, building things. I was largely robbed of that by the Reagan administrations slavish devotion to Israel, freeeeeeeeeee maaaaaaaarkets and all the rest of it.
So, yes, I get Trump’s answer.
I am not fully for nor against what he is doing on trade. Maybe that is one area where he does have some “master plan.” On other areas, no.
I know one damned thing for sure. I can’t wait till he’s out of office. So far, I am no fan of this brand of “winning.”
If my post makes no sense, it is because I am trying like anyone, to make sense of all of this crap.
“You can’t have “free trade” with unfree people.”
Brilliantly stated, my dear.
All any of us can do is opine. Was the whole tariff schtick to lure China out into the open? Was it to assess who was willing to negotiate because they were dependent on US commerce? Was it just a transfer of additional wealth to the very people who don’t need it? Or was it a combination of all of the above?
He was the guy that showed up at the poker table with no chips, but still demanded to play. Ballsy? Stupid? Savvy? Only time will tell.
Then there is the possibility Trump is just plain old crazy, has no idea about trade deficits and what causes them, and got the idea in his head he was going to raise tariffs, his candidacy talking point, then when he actually carried through, it created chaotic markets – literally caused a heart attack in the credit markets, so to save himself and his legacy, plus Elon (his brains) telling him what he has to do, Trump reversed.
My guess is Trump is going to be relying on Elon from now on. It’s not Trump’s fault the USA is completely screwed up, and Trump must be careful he doesn’t make it worse as he uncovers all the fraud and unwinds the massive illegal check kiting going on. Today I read DOGE uncovered 5 trillion unrecorded checks not traceable.
Like why the hell are we paying taxes with that kind of fraud going on? And Trump also needs to dump Israhell to save himself, otherwise Trump for life – life sentence in prison for aiding and abetting a genocide!
Hi Jack,
One doesn’t become a billionaire by being an idiot. I don’t think he is going to rely on Musk for anything except campaign donations and using his AI to automate the federal government.
Am I going to select Trump as a partner in Trivia Pursuit? No. One doesn’t need academia to succeed in business, but they need to be able to read people and use common sense. Trump does have this going for him.
Hey Swamprat,
I will too comment on “You can’t have “free trade” with unfree people.”.
Precisely where the Orange Menace should have started. He has attacked, to some nebulous degree, “DEI” practices in some realms of American business, but only, as far as I can tell, in businesses with government connections. There are myriad more governmental interferences that could be rectified. Red tape to be cut. Perhaps even corporate taxes to slash, though the idea of the corporation is to me becoming more distasteful as time progresses.
But American business is most certainly NOT laissez-faire, and it could certainly move in that direction. What happened to America First? Start here. Begin with honey, not vinegar. Begin with opening doors and not building walls.
But all that Darth Tangelo really understands is force, and the dark side of it at that.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1883285912/darth-tangelo-ceramic-mug
FYI
Haha, holy shit. Has it gone this far already? I conjured that moniker myself just the other day…
Also, I imagine him like in his new Official Presidential photo, only in a black cloak and wielding an orange lightsaber. Perhaps I’ll do a mock-up soon.
This mug looks a little more like Tanga-Fett. 😉
Prolly some Jungarian synchronicity going on & others had the same perspective? Idk.
While I too thought it did look like Tanga-Fett (the flip microphone(?) especially) the helmet had this tinge of Roman-esqu/Turkish/Ottoman vibe to it.
Perhaps, quite fitting?
Time will tell.
…The hoot owls are just outside my window right now.
Hooting it up. Looking for prey.
…Like our overlords?
I may have used the term in conversation with an acquaintance. I like the result…
The Constitution is a historical document at this point. With a gigantic, multitentacled beast of an empire ruling over most of the world, with unelected, unseen, unnamed actors ruling from the shadows, with layers of bureaucracy which would make the Byzantine empire blush with shame or flush with desire, with platoons of cops ruling over the domestic subjects and taking their money, their property, their children, and their lives. The united states of America are long gone and claim to be a god damned democracy.
Face it, the American experiment went bad and ended long ago, only now as the surveillance is everywhere and all the time and the shackles are getting ever tighter are the people waking up to it, far too late as always.
A monarchy is actually a superior form of government. A king takes a proprietary interest in his kingdom, as opposed to a temporarily elected politician. There can be good ones and bad ones, but they are human and one can have greater freedom under a king than under a democracy where 51 hysterical women can outvote 50 learned men.
So why not? Make DJT Trump a king. He already is de facto.
The lottery idea by Eric Zuesse makes more sense every day:
‘My Proposal for How To Achieve a Democracy’
“Elections will be replaced by lottery-draws. There will be no “campaigns” to fund. Consequently, over time, the members of the legislature will come to know the strengths and weaknesses of each of the other members. All of the incentives that have caused America to be ruled by a tiny aristocracy of billionaires will have been removed.” …
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2025/04/no_author/my-proposal-for-how-to-achieve-a-democracy/
Who wants a damned democracy? And who will conduct the lotteries under what rules? We had such a system, a constitutional republic, where the government is granted a few well defined privileges to serve us. It was shoved aside by the greedy and stupid, permitted and abetted by the lazy, the stupid, and the venal.
Exactly. Will Dominion be in charge of tabulating results? If we are going down that road, might as well make Elon director of a society modeled after the movie, The Island. At least then a few lucky individuals will always have the chance of winning.
The Island… my favorite Johansson movie. She was… spectacular in that. A sight to behold.
“The Island” is a remake of a prior film called “Parts: The Clonus Horror”. I suggest a watch to see the humble roots of “The Island”.
On a side note, Johannson is disgusting. Yech.
She is now. Back then, not so much.
I am not defending Trump’s talk of a third term here. But I am criticizing all the tut-tutting on the Left. The father of the Imperial Presidency was the Left’s own FDR, who served FOUR terms. And nobody regards FFDR as having done anything wrong. To the contrary the Left still fetishizes the “First Hundred Days,” when Congress gave FDR a blank check.
When the Supreme Court objected, FDR threatened to pack the court. He got two more terms after that.
In fact, FDR served the EXACT same years (1933-1945) as Evil Mustache Man. Congress willingly delegated much of its legislative prerogatives to FDR for the New Deal because of the national “emergency” — just like the Reichstag voted to dissolve itself and give You-Know-Who legislative powers.
But only ONE of them was an “evil dictator,” right?
Like Lincoln, FDR scrapped the constitution and today is regarded as a great president. Why is it wrong for Trump to want to scrap the constitution as well?
RE: “Why is it wrong for Trump to want to scrap the constitution as well?”
Seems such is the operational playbook worldwide. Consider the ways in which it creeps, as described in the UK & Canada, esp in Canada, a snippet:
“Riding in the car that picked me up from the airport, gave me a vertiginous experience of a post-freedom, formerly free Western nation. The dashboard let out a debilitating shriek, as we drive away from the airport. The driver explained that the shriek is emitted by “the system” when he drives out of the “sector” of the airport. I thought, of course, of fifteen-minute cities.
He explained further, as we slowed to a stop before a red light, that “the system” fines him automatically if he does not stop – if he dares to drive through on a yellow light. He also explained that it records us “for safety.” He seemed to catch himself as I was asking if all of this surveillance was intrusive. He had started to agree but then, remembering, it seemed to me, that he too was being recorded, the driver said slowly and clearly that it’s a really good system, because it “keeps insurance costs down.”
I thought of the fact that the major media in Canada is state-funded, and I could imagine the introduction of this kind of continual surveillance as being rolled out with the justification that it is designed to “keep insurance costs down.”
I could not tell if this was a private company bugging his car to keep their drivers in line, or a government/insurance obligation.
Either way, in in March of 2025, the Canadian government added ten additional “internet of things” forms of tracking or surveillance to citizens’ automobiles, including smartphone- based biometrics, in a pilot program “to deter theft”; these are a set of technologies which will also track citizens’ vehicles. The new forms of trackers include:
“Smartphone-based security using biometrics and proximity detection;
Locking devices using artificial intelligence (AI) monitoring;
A system to replace a vehicle’s starter relay;
Fingerprint authentication;
AI-powered steering wheel locks;
Sensors with gesture recognition;
A smart key fob protector; and
Miniaturized devices that could disable vehicle components should theft be detected.” […]
The feral bureaucrats, whom the bistro’s owner’s mother had recognized at once, had won, just as they had in 1933.”…
https://naomiwolf.substack.com/p/a-new-map-of-the-world
Great comment X.
None of the “presidents” the propaganda tells us are “great” are great.
The only president I can stand personally is Jackson, who killed the central bank.
What an accomplishment.