Liberation Day?  Tariffs Are Tarrifying . . . And Enslaving (April 7, 2025)

Posted in Tariffs on April 7, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Markets do not like uncertainty.”

J          “I certainly do not like uncertainty.  His cherished barometer of success – the stock market – is certainly plunging.”

. . .

J          “Trade wars are wars.  No ‘buts, ands or ifs’ about it.  Trumpi has declared war on the world and on Canada and on Mexico and on Greenland and on Denmark and on Panama and on Europe and on . . . name a country.  He is making enemies out of friends.”

K          “The tariffs are not in our national interest.  World War E for Energy.  World War T for Trade.  World War III for War.”

. . .

K          “The cost in lost trust will continue to throw its shadow for generations.  His blunder is on a par with the grievous and obscene decision by Biden’s handlers to steal Russian assets.”

J          “The loss of trust cannot be voted out in two years.  The long term consequences to the country are even greater than the impact of a Supreme Court Justice.  The shadow is long and ominous.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at Tariffs, Taxes, Trade, Trends (August 26, 2019), Terrorized By Trumpi’s Tariffs (March 5, 2018), Tariffs Are Tarrible.  Oh, And Happy Bastille Day! (July 16, 2018) and ‘Mericanize:  Monetize, Mechanize And Militarize (December 30, 2013).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate.

“It was worthwhile making sure of your potential friends.”  C.P. Snow

“As a rule you couldn’t win over your enemies, but you could lose your friends.”  C.P. Snow

Nations have interests not friends.

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Tenth Annual “Cameo In Courage” Award For 2025 (March 31, 2025)

Posted in Cameo In Courage Award on March 31, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “The envelope please.  . . .  This year, the ‘Cameo In Courage’ Award is awarded to . . . Thomas Harold Massie who selflessly serves as the Congressman from the Fourth District of Kentucky and displays transcendental courage and unwavering conviction in a world of compromise and corruption.  Indifferent to personal threats and caustic criticism, the self-styled ‘hillbilly, nerd, redneck, geek, farmer, Congressman’ and genuine Great American is one of the few statesmen on the American scene today.  With the soul and spirit of a Founding Father, he is a modern day Prophet for our time.”

J          “I vote present.  I concede that he isn’t owned.”

K          “Senator Rand Paul is also from Kentucky.  One must wonder what is in the water down there.”

. . .

[See the tour of the Massie homestead in the video “Off the Grid” that reveals the genius and generosity of Thomas Harold Massie.]

[See the e-commentary at Ninth Annual “Cameo In Courage” Award For 2024 (May 20, 2024), Eighth Annual “Cameo In Courage” Award For 2023 (May 22, 2023), Cameo In Courage Award Nominee: Julian Assange (January 31, 2022), Sixth Annual “Cameo In Courage” Award For 2021 (April 5, 2021), Fifth Annual “Cameo In Courage” Award For 2020 (July 6, 2020), Seeing 2020:  Profiles In Cowardice; Profiles In Courage.  Oh, And Happy Valentine’s Day! (February 10, 2020), Alex J. / J. Assange And The First Amendment (August 13, 2018), Hero or Traitor? (June 10, 2013), Fourth Annual ‘Cameo In Courage’ Award For 2019 (April 8, 2019), Third Annual ‘Cameo In Courage’ Award For 2018 (April 9, 2018), Second Annual ‘Cameo In Courage’ Award For 2017 (March 6, 2017), First Annual ‘Cameo In Courage’ Award For 2016 (May 9, 2016), Award Deadlines (Livelines?) (July 25, 2016), Profile In Cowardice Award (May 12, 2014), Profile In Courage Award, 2015 (May 11, 2015), Chelsea And Ed:  Time For ‘Con’ ‘dign’ Treatment (November 30, 2015) and On Courage and Truth (March 17, 2008).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“My philosophy is live and let live:  You don’t worry about what somebody’s doing in their holler, as long as they don’t worry about what you’re doing in your holler.”  Thomas Harold Massie

Dissent remains patriotic, but perilous

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National Debt:  36+ Trillion Or 136+ Trillion?  That Is The Question (March 24, 2025)

Posted in Debt/Deficits on March 24, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Disregard the amounts that are not available to pay Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other future entitlement obligations.  Just calculate the amount that has gone out the door to date.”

J          “That is the choice.  It is not really close.  I don’t doubt that the national Debt is a number much closer to 136+ Trillion than to 36+ Trillion.”

K          “I agree.  A lot closer to 136+ Trillion.  Those are real dollars or at least real electrons in someone’s hands that are a real claim on future public resources.”

. . .

J          “All government policy is built on a lie.”

K          “All government policy is built on a lie.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at Bankruptcies?  Layoffs?  Foreclosures?  Evictions?  Inflation? (July 29, 2024) discussing the fallacious official statistics for unemployment and inflation, Is Inflation Inflating!?!? (April 26, 2021) discussing the fraudulent official figures for inflation and alternative measures, and the work of Professor Mark Skidmore, the recipient of the Fourth Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 14, 2019), the determine the true national Debt; see also Third Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 8, 2018), To Be (In Debt), Or Not To Be (In Debt), what is the answer? (July 23, 2018), Debt Insouciance.  Does Debt Really Matter In The “Debt Age”? (February 25, 2019) and Forgiving American Debt? (March 3, 2008).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Debt is death

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Russia Beat The U.S.  Europe[an Union] Wants To Do The European Thing And Go To War.  Let Them.  On Their Own Dime/Euro.  Trump Wants To Blow Up The Mideast.  Oh, And Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! (March 17, 2025)

Posted in Europe, Middle East, NATO, Neoconservatives, Russia, World War E, World War III on March 17, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “The U.S. lost the war to Russia.  European bureaucrats and kleptocrats want to continue the fight . . . and lose another war to Russia.  Let them take the lanyard from the Americans and lose to Russia on their dime.  Or on their Euro.”

J          “Who else will step up.  Europe does not have the resources or public will.  Russia must be stopped.  Trump and Putin are far too closely allied.  This will not turn out well.”

. . .

K          “Trump wants to focus his efforts and energy blowing up the Mideast.”

J          “He is getting there.  How are the MAGAts going to react when they realize that Trump lied to them about seeking peace?”

. . .

[See the comments by Michael Shellenberger, one of the recipients of the Eighth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2023 (May 8, 2023), on “X” dated February 28, 2025 and the editorial “U.S. admits Ukraine proxy war defeat while European elites persist in self-destruct delusions” in “Strategic Culture” dated March 7, 2025.]

[See the e-commentary at Special Edition.  Deciphering Derivatives.  Oh, And Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! (March 17, 2023).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“Frankly, it’s a proxy war between nuclear powers, the United States helping Ukraine and Russia, and it needs to come to an end.”  U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Russia wants war:  Look how close they put their country to our military bases.

How many Frenchmen does it take to liberate Paris?  . . .  None.  The U.S. always has to do it.

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The End Of Innocence Hits The Big Five:  March 13, 2020.  Oh, And Happy Coronavirus Day! (March 10, 2025)

Posted in Censorship, Covid / Coronavirus, Totalitarianism on March 10, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “As I recall, we covered a lot last year.  But let’s never forget.”

J          “We may both not want to forget something different.”

. . .

K          “‘jour’ is ‘day’ in French.  ‘dia” is ‘day’ in Spanish.  e-commentary was a weekly Covid Journal and a Covid Diary for years.  e-commentary chronicled the daily developments and the developing trends.  What a time.”

. . .

K          “Remember noting that friendships today are flat, fried, frayed, frazzled, frozen, fractured, fissured, fatigued and finished?  We are so profoundly and permanently broken, wounded and defeated.”

J          “Everyone is tweaky.  Everyone is on the edge.  Everyone is on the ledge.  We are still plagued.”

. . .

[e-commentary served as a weekly Covid Journal (“jour” is “day” in French) and a Covid Diary (“dia” is “day” in Spanish) for years.  Type “Covid” in the search box.  See the e-commentary at The End Of Innocence:  March 13, 2020.  Oh, And Happy Coronavirus Day! (March 11, 2024), Covid: One Year (March 8, 2021), Covid-19:  “The Answer?!?!? Pandemic controlled.  Economy saved.  (April 7, 2020)”  The First Draft Of History A Score Months Later (December 6, 2021), Covid-19 PanICdemic:  It Is Real . . . And Unreal . . . And Surreal (March 16, 2020), Covid-19 PanICdemic/Plague:  The Plague Of Lies Is Pandemic;  Everyone In The Know Knows;  Does Trumpi Know Something? (April 6, 2020) and pieces on who we have become at On Friendship Today:  Flat, Fried, Frayed, Frazzled, Frozen, Fractured, Fissured, Fatigued, Finished?  Oh, And Happy Thanksgiving! (November 20, 2023), Edward Hopper:  The Mirror For Our Age (January 22, 2024) and “Everything Is A Fight Today.” Please répondez s’il vous plaît. Oh, And Happy Solstice! (June 17, 2024) and many, many, many other pieces. ]

Bumper stickers of the week:

We are still plagued

Stand up for what is right even if you stand alone

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Trump:  MBA Not MPP:  Meat Cleaver Versus Surgeon’s Scalpel (March 3, 2025)

Posted in Bureaucracy, DOGE, Schooling, Trump on March 3, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “He is fundamentally a businessman not a politician.  He has never participated in the PTA or presided as a precinct chair.  He is MBA not MPP.  That is a burden and a benefit.”

J          “He is fundamentally a showman not a statesman.  A government is not a show or a business.  There are no profit and loss statements.  There are people and lives.”

. . .

K          “You could get a Ph.D. in public policy by chanting that change must be undertaken with a scalpel not a meat cleaver.  However, there are some times when a meat cleaver may be needed.”

J          “Meat cleavers beget messes.  You need surgery not butchery.”

. . .

K          “Their manner of canning employees lacks good manners and is both brutal and brutish.”

J          “So it should end?”

. . .

K          “Trump is crass and coarse and often impolite and impolitic, yet he promised to be a disrupter and he is fulfilling his promise to disrupt.”

J          “You do not need a Ph.D. in economics to recognize that the lost consumption of all the fired employees and the additional reluctance of others to consume in a time of uncertainty will wallop the economy.  Just wait until his cherished barometer of success – the stock market – plunges precipitously.”

K          “For many compounding reasons, the stock market will drop precipitously.  The economic and social disruption is wrenching and painful, yet some disruption is necessary to disrupt the abnormal norm and reset the system.”

. . .

J          “Wielding a chain saw is puerile and petty.”

K          “How about a paring knife?  A stout paring knife?”

. . .

[See “The Turnaround” by Robert Gore in “Straight Line Logic” dated March 1, 2025.]

[See the e-commentary at “Titters” v. “Self-Unemployed” (September 1, 2014) and Government Bureaucracy 101 (September 26, 2016).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

“It is the classic fallacy of our time that a moron run through a university and decorated with a Ph.D. will thereby cease to be a moron.”  H. L. Mencken

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The New G (Wo)Men In Town.  Oh, And Happy Third [Eleventh] Anniversary! (February 24, 2025)

Posted in FBI, Justice, Law, World War E, World War III on February 24, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “There is a new sheriff in town.  And now a new deputy.”

J          “Two political hacks.”

. . .

K          “The dynamic duo of Pam Bondi and Kash Patel will provide a much needed overhaul and transformation of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

J          “I hate the sheriff, and I do despise the deputy.”

. . .

K          “Chris Wray said the FBI spent about twenty-five percent of its resources on the J6 prosecution.  His last speech in office warned that China presents a tremendous threat.  What was he doing for four years about the tremendous threat?”

J          “Protecting the country.  They should have committed even more funds to the investigation and prosecution.”

. . .

J          “And we mark the third anniversary of Putin’s War.”

K          “Biden’s War.  Will Trump embrace it or will he end it?  He has three months to resolve it before it becomes Trump’s war.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at World War E / World War III Is 1 [9?] Year[s] Old This Week.  Oh, And Happy Presidents’ Day! (February 20, 2023); The “New York Department Of Defense Times” Proclaims:  “War On!”  Oh, And Happy Second [Tenth] Anniversary! (February 26, 2024); Supreme Court:  K:  “Right!”  J:  “Wrong!” (March 4, 2024), Let Lawfare Continue!  And Let War With Russian Escalate! (June 3, 2024), First Monday In October:  Dos-à-dos (October 7, 2024), November 23, 1963; Three Score Years Later (November 27, 2023) and The FBI File:  The American Imprimatur Of Success (January 18, 2016).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

There is a new sheriff in town.  And now a new deputy.

I hate the sheriff, and I do despise the deputy.

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Vice President Vance’s Valentine’s Day Greetings.  Oh, And Happy Valentine’s Day! (February 17, 2025)

Posted in Europe, Foreign Policy, Free Speech, Russia, Security State, Ukraine on February 17, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Vice President Vance’s Valentine’s day speech to the Munich Security Counsel is a much needed and sobering analysis . . . and thus a seismic shock.  The text will appear in future foreign policy texts and treatises.” 

J          “Another Trump blunder delivered by his bumbling sidekick.”

. . .

K          “The war is between the United States and Russia.  Zelenskyy is not even legitimately elected and with his band of banderites and brigands have exploited and abused their fellow Ukrainians.  Those who occupy the positions of power in Europe and the European Union have allowed themselves to be exploited and rendered themselves impotent and irrelevant.  Why should they be involved?”

J          “The Russians must be stopped.  The Ukrainians must be involved.  The Europeans must be engaged.  The U.S. must be leading.”

. . .

[See Vice President J.D. Vance’s speech to the Munich Security Conference on February 14, 2025 and “Munich Bloodbath Ruptures Western Order Wide Open” by Simplicius in “Simplicius76” dated February 14, 2025.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

J.D. Vance:  “Europe must respect and tolerate free speech.”

Europe:        “J.D. Vance is not free to speak freely in Europe.”

“The issue that has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks.”  Lord Acton

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USAID Exposed (February 10, 2025)

Posted in Corruption on February 10, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “I still have the pictures I took of the stacks of rice sacks that are stenciled “Not For Sale” in English with “For Sale” signs in both English and the local language posted atop them.  USAID distributes the rice as bribes and then allows the local functionaries to sell the loot in the local lucre.  The merchants were not concerned about the threat of prosecution or that there were evil spirits in the camera and instead smiled and waved for me.  No one even mentioned the irony or was surprised or outraged or disgusted or even the least bit concerned.  BAU.”

J          “They fulfilled their fundamental duty.  There are probably isolated incidents of loss.  There is always some surplusage in any operation.”

. . .

K          “Everyone says that sunshine is the great antiseptic.  The DOGE folks are unconventional, thinking and acting outside the box and performing an essential role.  The faux journalists who should be exposing the subterfuge are participating in and profiting from it.”

J          “There are established procedures and processes to challenge misinformation.  The agency did manage to get enough rice to kids.”

. . .  

Bumper stickers of the week:

Not For Sale

For Sale

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Social Security . . . In (Out of) The Hands Of The Kleptocrats (February 3, 2024)

Posted in Social Security, Trump on February 3, 2025 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “Here is the secret plan.  Trump will eliminate Social Security and then keep his campaign promise and not tax Social Security payments.”

K          “That may happen.  I still say the system will implode two weeks before I file to participate.” 

. . .

K          “We as a country must select either guns or butter.  Those in power will select guns.  We the powerless need to demand butter.  I have said before that the only way to save the American Experiment is to dispense with the American Empire.”

J          “How about a fifty percent reduction in defense spending?”

K          “I am in one hundred percent agreement.”

. . .

J          “There should be a federal law that no one with a net worth of over four million dollars is allowed to opine in any way or vote on Social Security.”

K          “But for the First Amendment concerns and a conviction that we have too many federal laws already, I am in agreement.”

. . .

K          “Someone noted that of the ten states where the citizens rely exclusively or primarily on Social Security for their retirement, eight or nine are Red States.”

J          “The MAGA army is now expendable.  They will be decommissioned and disbanded and discarded.”

. . .      

K          “Trump may be serious about the no tax thing.  If the promised payments continue, I could tolerate continued taxation even though it violates the original intent of the legislation.”

J          “Stay tuned.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at Social (In)Security And The C.P.I. (May 29, 2017), Pensions and Other Entitlements: Pt. 2 (April 28, 2008), Pensions and Other Entitlements: Pt. 1 (April 14, 2008) and Social Insecurity? (April 7, 2008).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Social Security?

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