Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Trump is either stupid or lying when he says tariffs are paid by other nations

While it wasn't widely reported, probably because it isn't news when Trump says stuff that clearly isn't true, today Trump claimed once again that tariffs are paid by foreign countries.  The Chris Hayes show on MSNBC did talk about what Trump said, correctly pointing out that this is another example, among a great many, where it is unclear whether Trump is incredibly stupid or an incredible liar. My personal conclusion is that he's both, though I admit that in any particular instance, logically it is difficult for Trump to manifest both personality defects.  Tariffs are a great example. At the…
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Posted inDonald Trump International issues

Trump is trashing Ukraine and sucking up to Putin. Disgusting and dangerous.

Just when I thought Trump couldn't act like more of an authoritarian jerk than he already is, he surprises me by doing something so outrageous even his most avid Republican acolytes are criticizing Trump. A New York Times story, "Zelensky and Trump Trade Blows as Feud Escalates Over Peace Talks," starts this way: The simmering feud between President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and President Trump escalated on Wednesday when Mr. Trump mocked his counterpart in a post filled with falsehoods, calling him a “dictator without elections.” His comments came hours after Mr. Zelensky said the American leader had been “caught…
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Posted inDonald Trump International issues National politics

A USAID worker I know died helping others. Trump is trashing his memory.

Mark Mitchell worked for the USAID -- the United States Agency for International Development. He joined the monthly Salon discussion group that my wife and I are members of prior to his USAID job. Once Mark became part of USAID, his overseas postings prevented him from attending our meetings except when he returned to Salem for a visit. But he'd keep in touch with us via email, and always had fascinating stories to tell of his USAID work when we'd see him periodically. Then one day a close friend of his told us that Mark had died when the bus…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Trump wants to destroy our democracy. Harris was right on about that.

Kamala Harris has been vindicated.   After her loss last November, many people claimed that her campaign was too focused on the danger to our democracy that Trump posed instead of doing more to reassure voters that if elected she'd work to bring down the price of groceries and inflation in general. Now, two and a half weeks into the chaos that the Trump administration has produced, it's clear that if anything, Harris should have uttered her warnings about how Trump would subvert our democracy in a louder voice.  For every day it becomes more obvious that while Trump's first…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Meet the six 19-25 year old dudes who Musk has given access to your SSN

Did you think that your Social Security number was kept secret by the federal government through rigorous security measures? Well, think again, because Trump's billionaire buddy, Elon Musk, has allowed six 19 to 25 year old dudes access to the Treasury Department's payment system that has sensitive information which, until now, was closely guarded. WIRED has a bombshell story about this by Vittoria Elliott, "The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk's Government Takeover." Excerpt: Elon Musk’s takeover of federal government infrastructure is ongoing, and at the center of things is a coterie of engineers who are barely out of—and in…
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Posted inDonald Trump International issues

Trump’s new tariffs are a big tax increase on ordinary Americans

Another day, another crazy decision by Trump. The newest contribution to the steadily growing list of illegal, improper, or inadvisable moves by the Trump administration is tariffs on goods imported from Canada, Mexico, and China. Before I describe how dumb this is, let's get one simple fact straight, something that Trump either doesn't understand or lies about. Tariffs imposed by the United States are paid by the American companies importing the goods, not by the exporting nation or companies doing the exporting.  Since those American companies either have to pay for the full cost of the tariffs themselves, or pass…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Trump is wrong that DEI caused the D.C. aviation disaster

Silence means surrender to tyrants. I'd rather be writing about other things than Trump's latest outrageous action, but I refuse to allow myself to be shocked into submission by the mountains of authoritarian crap that Trump is shoveling out in these early days of his presidency. For as soon as the American public accepts Trump's completely unacceptable behavior as something that we simply have to silently put up with, that's the day our nation slides irrevocably into a dictatorship.  Today Trump broke new ground for a president, and not at all in a good way. For he claimed with zero…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

No eggs points to danger of Trump administration incompetence

I'm not an egg eater, but my wife is. When she puts eggs on the list for my LifeSource Natural Foods shopping, ideally the pasture-raised variety, I buy a dozen. But today, for the first time I can remember, the shelves were completely bare in the egg section. I didn't look for eggs when I went to Trader Joe's, Natural Grocers, and Fred Meyer (there's four stops on my weekly grocery shopping expedition), so I don't know if any or all of those stores also were out. LifeSource has a "Where are the eggs?" page on their web site. They…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

My great idea for lifting Democratic spirits in the age of Trump

Like so many others who voted for Kamala Harris, then watched Donald Trump defeat her in a fairly convincing though not overwhelming fashion, I'm politically depressed. Meaning, I'm still enjoying the personal life I was leading before the election. But when my attention turns to Trump, my spirits sink.  Trump looks like he's hugely enjoying the kickoff to his second term. He's keeping his promise to be a dictator on Day 1, extending that promise throughout his first week in office. I expect Trump will attempt to realize his authoritarian dreams throughout his entire presidency. Meanwhile, while Trump holds center…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Every Trump voter should hang their head in shame after January 6 pardons

Trump voters, you knew what you were getting when you cast your ballot for him. A man who lies incessantly, who lacks any sense of moral decency, who loves dictators and hates democracy, who has no commitment to upholding the Constitution because his goal is only to uphold himself. Yet you preferred Donald Trump over Kamala Harris. Maybe it was because the price of groceries was too high. Maybe it was because you wanted our southern border to be strengthened and undocumented immigrants to be deported from the United States. I can understand those reasons. They make sense. Almost everybody…
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Posted in2024 election 2026 election Donald Trump

Why I’m going to look upon Trump’s second term as a political experiment

Progressives like me have a choice to make now that Trump has been inaugurated for a second term as president. How do we preserve our sanity during the next four years? I have Democratic friends who say that they're unable to pay attention to the news anymore, given all the crazy stuff the Trump administration will be doing. This doesn't appeal to me. I believe in staying informed, not ignoring what's going on. Another option is to remain in a more or less constant state of outrage as Trump dismantles valuable programs and policies from the Biden administration and institutes…
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Posted inDonald Trump Environment National politics

Trump acting like a jerk in politicizing Los Angeles wildfires

No big surprise, but really disturbing nonetheless. Donald Trump, who recently was elected president of the entire United States, all 50 of them, is acting like the non-empathetic jerk that he is by making completely unfounded criticisms of California's governor regarding the wildfires that are devastating the Los Angeles area. If Trump had one ounce of decency in his flabby body, he'd be making statements like any other president-elect would. Like: "My heart goes out to everyone suffering from the fires in southern California. I assure you that once I become president I'll order my administration to do everything possible…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Jimmy Carter’s death reminds us that presidents should be decent and honest

When I got in my car this afternoon and heard talk about Jimmy Carter after I turned on the radio, I knew, or at least strongly suspected, that former President Carter had died.  My first thought was, "He was such a decent person, the complete opposite of Trump." Listening to reports of Carter's life -- his upbringing, his presidency, his post-presidency -- reminded me  that it wasn't that long ago that decency, honesty, strong moral character, and putting the broad interest of the nation above narrow party politics were viewed as basic qualities someone aspiring to be president needed to…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Vice-President Trump looks weak compared to President Musk

Donald Trump has gotten a political lump of coal in his Christmas stocking. He loves to pretend that he's a macho guy, even though he actually is a grossly overweight, out of shape, hair-dying, makeup-wearing narcissist who doesn't demonstrate any genuinely manly qualities. Now his weakness is on full display, and he hasn't even taken office yet after narrowly defeating Kamala Harris for the presidency.  It's clear that the genuine leader of the Republican Party isn't Trump, but Elon Musk. That's why Democrats like me are finding great satisfaction in referring to President Musk and Vice-President Trump -- as these…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Trump, don’t mess with Daylight Savings Time!

Since I was a strong Kamala Harris supporter, it isn't surprising that much of what Trump wants to do in his second term as president worries me. But there are big differences when it comes to my emotional reaction toward Trump's proposals. If he wants to get back to building his border wall, even if Mexico doesn't pay for it, I say, fine, go ahead. If he wants to pardon some or all of the January 6 rioters, a wrong-headed idea, I say, fine, go ahead. However, if he wants to do away with Daylight Savings Time and make the…
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Posted inDonald Trump International issues

South Korea’s brief stint of martial law is a warning of what Trump might do

South Korea, like the United States, is a democracy. But that didn't stop President Yoon Suk Yeol from declaring martial law today, reversing his order a few hours later following massive outrage and demonstrations from South Korea's citizens and a unanimous vote from parliament rescinding the order. But for a while, troops tried to prevent members of parliament from entering their building, since Yoon's order declared political gatherings unlawful. For a while, things were really ugly in South Korea. Yoon's martial law announcement sounded like a dream come true for Donald Trump. If the decree had been put into effect,…
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Posted inDonald Trump Joe Biden

Biden pardons his son, Hunter. Good for him. Trump’s pardons were way worse.

When I saw this afternoon that President Biden had pardoned Hunter, his son, my immediate reaction was "Great news! Hunter was given a raw deal by the special prosecutor who investigated him." It seems clear that if Hunter didn't have the last name of Biden, he never would have faced such serious charges for merely stating on a federal gun purchase form that he wasn't an addict or user of illegal drugs. Hunter has said that when he filled out the form, he wasn't a user and didn't consider himself an addict. I'm pretty sure that lots of people in…
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Posted in2024 election Donald Trump

Timothy Snyder describes Trump’s fascism in chilling accuracy

American voters just chose a fascist to be president. This isn't political opinion. It is a political fact. The only question that remains unanswered is how much of a fascist Trump will be. The best we can hope for is fascist-lite. The worst is both more likely and beyond comprehension, because the United States has never been led by a fascist. Timothy Snyder is a distinguished Professor of History at Yale University who has studied fascism and authoritarianism in great depth. I've read his On Tyranny book and liked it a lot, though the message wasn't cheery.  In the November…
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Posted in2024 election City Club Donald Trump

Political scientist explains why Trump won at City Club talk

After a national election, I look forward to Ed Dover explaining the results at a Salem City Club presentation. Dover is a retired political science professor at Western Oregon University. Dover's talk last Friday was his 13th City Club appearance. Dover began by saying that asking the right questions is key to understanding election results. Adapting the opening song from Hamilton, he said, how could a liar, conman, narcissist, sex with a porn star candidate become president for the second time? Three factors: (1) Entrenched partisanship, (2) Retrospective voting, (3) Democratic constituencies.  Entrenched partisanship. Other countries have more variation in…
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Posted in2024 election Donald Trump Kamala Harris

Harris didn’t lose by a landslide. She lost by a trickle of electoral sand.

I never expect Trump to speak the truth. When he does, perhaps by accident, it's a shock. But I haven't been at all shocked to hear Trump spout a lie: that he defeated Harris in a landslide victory that gives him a powerful mandate from the American people to do whatever he damn well wants, no matter how odious, unlawful, or unconstitutional. Here's a screenshot by someone I follow on Blue Sky and X (I'm weaning myself from X after Elon Musk became a shameless promoter of MAGA falsehoods) which shows a graphic that was on Chris Hayes' MSNBC show…
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