The Trump Administration: The Clusterfuck Continues

[Atamasama]

@natureboy

I think the message is, find ways to stop buying so much Chinese, Vietnamese, etc. stuff.

That’s literally the whole point of tariffs, or at least it’s supposed to be. I’m not quite sure what the point of the current ones are.

[eschereal]

@Atamasama

I’m not quite sure what the point of the current ones are.

The point is to crash the American economic system, so that the oligarchs can sweep in and stuff their carpet bags with the remnants, then rebuild the nation to fit their preferences. It is called “Disaster Capitalism”. Average citizens suffer in a crash, but the wealthiest among us weather the storm just fine. Usually. That is the plan: to destroy the spirit of decency and equity under the boot heel of economic despair.

[Monty]

I’m starting to wonder how felon⁴⁷ thinks his (mis)management of the economy is going to provide a comfortable life for him in a nice dacha.

[DesertDog]

Think? Think??

[Der_Trihs]

@Monty

I’m starting to wonder how felon47 thinks his (mis)management of the economy is going to provide a comfortable life for him in a nice dacha.

He’ll be dead, so the future doesn’t matter to him.

Besides, his life has taught him again and again that he’s immune to consequences. Whatever else happens, he’ll die rich, comfortable and unpunished. And after that as far as he’s concerned the universe has fulfilled its purpose and can spontaneously disintegrate for all he cares.

[Monty]

The FBI director and deputy director forgot the script.

FBI director Kash Patel and deputy director Dan Bongino said in no uncertain terms on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures that the convicted pedophile took his own life as he was awaiting trial in 2019, going against a number of popular conspiracies about his death.

When asked by host Maria Bartiromo about Epstein’s death, Patel replied that people “have a right to their opinion,” but that the evidence points towards suicide.

“They have a right to their opinion, but as someone who has worked as a public defender, as a prosecutor, who’s been in that prison system, who has been in the Metropolitan Detention Center, who’s been in segregated housing, you know a suicide when you see one, and that’s what that was,” Patel said.

“He killed himself, Bongino said, backing Patel up. “I’ve seen the whole file, he killed himself.”

This upset the president’s biggest fans online, many of whom continue to assert that Epstein’s death was a government conspiracy—though few mention that Trump was president when his suicide took place.

But, hey, Patel sure has learned from his master. (The bolding is mine.)

FBI Director Kash Patel hinted at a “wave of transparency” on the horizon as the agency struggles to rebuild public trust, especially in the wake of longstanding controversy over alleged politicization and selective prosecution.

Sitting alongside FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino for a “Sunday Morning Futures” exclusive interview, Patel pointed to the FBI’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation as an example of political bias and institutional failure. He claimed senior officials within the Department of Justice “hijacked” their constitutional responsibilities by selectively deciding which cases to pursue.

“You asked in the beginning how the FBI was weaponized,” he said to host Maria Bartiromo. “Well, the FBI hijacked the constitutional responsibility of the Department of Justice and the Attorney General, and James Comey and others specifically decided what cases to prosecute and not prosecute. Don’t believe me? Go to the videotape in the Hillary Clinton investigation.”

&

“It’s a good thing we’re here now to clean it up, and you’re about to see a wave of transparency… Just give us about a week or two.”

[natureboy]

I think the point is to switch from a regime of free trade to one of mercantilism, in which the US basically tries to challenge other world powers for supremacy. Trade is part of the equation, but control of resources (especially energy) is the other part. This also involves bullying other countries, one on one, into collaborating with us to contain China, and to a lesser degree, Russia and other powers.

The problem with this is that other countries value that sovereignty thing. Moreover, they really have a hard time believing this administration won’t eventually turn on them with little or no provocation (see Canada). So if you’re one of the lesser-thans in terms of power, you actually value China (and perhaps even Russia at some point) not as an ally or even a partner, but a hedge against the abuses of American power.

[DesertDog]

@Der_Trihs

And after that as far as he’s concerned the universe has fulfilled its purpose and can spontaneously disintegrate for all he cares.

It is time like this I wish I believed in an afterlife. Ah, well, maybe the Buddhists are back and he’ll come back as a hungry ghost. Lower than that the universe is done with you – you dissipate into nothingness.

[Atamasama]

@natureboy

Moreover, they really have a hard time believing this administration won’t eventually turn on them with little or no provocation (see Canada). So if you’re one of the lesser-thans in terms of power, you actually value China (and perhaps even Russia at some point) not as an ally or even a partner, but a hedge against the abuses of American power.

Yeah, bullying people into cooperating doesn’t work on the world stage the way it might work in little negotiations that Trump has experience with.

[natureboy]

If I had to pick a single reason why I think the ‘grand macro-strategy’ won’t work, it’s because they don’t have particularly knowledgeable/competent people implementing it. I don’t think they understand how interdependent with other countries the US has become. Nothing inherently wrong with wanting to shift supply chains to reduce dependence on others for critical supplies, materials, or products, but front-loading the shock and then scrambling to make exceptions would seem to indicate there are a few things they overlooked in their analysis.

[Great_Antibob]

That pre-supposes they are making good faith arguments about dependence in the first place, rather than finding it a convenient excuse.

That’s an utterly naive assumption. This is, after all, the same crew that used the excuse of national security to tariff Canadian timber.

[smithsb]

[Monty]

Today’s reality is yesterday’s MAD magazine comic.

[Monty]

Yeah, let’s save taxpayer money by thowing it at the family of a traitor.

The Trump administration is set to pay out nearly $5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of Ashli Babbitt, a rioter fatally shot during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News on Monday.

The settlement will resolve a $30 million suit brought by Babbitt’s estate and the conservative group Judicial Watch alleging the Capitol Police officer who shot her as she attempted to breach a broken window of the House speaker’s lobby was negligent in his duties.

I’m wondering how all those cops who voted for this lunatic feel about their vote now.

The traitor-in-chief cannot accept people with brains support someone other than him.

President Donald Trump said he plans to call for a “major investigation” into the celebrity endorsements that Kamala Harris received during the 2024 campaign, alleging without evidence that Bruce Springsteen, Oprah Winfrey, U2’s Bono and Beyoncé were paid to publicly support the Democratic nominee.

Representatives of several of the entertainers targeted by Trump − all of whom have previously endorsed Democratic candidates for president − have rejected rumors they were paid to appear with Harris and back her campaign.

Trump, in a 1:34 a.m. EDT May 19 post on Truth social, accused Harris of paying for their endorsements “under the guise of paying for entertainment” in a “desperate effort to artificially build up her sparse crowds.” Springsteen, Beyoncé and Winfrey each headlined campaign events for Harris. Bono, who is from Ireland, did not, nor did he publicly endorse her candidacy.

Awwww. His ittybitty feelfeels are hurt. The part I bolded above explains the reasoning, such as it is, behind this latest stupidity: his obsession over size.

My ability to be shocked by this clown is gone.

[Spoons]

Mine is too. Nowadays, it’s perfectly normal for the Head of State of a major nation to send out messages in the wee small hours of the morning, demanding investigations into popular entertainers, because he alleges they were paid by the candidate who, as things turned out, lost the election. No longer surprising at all.

What is surprising is that IMHO, it’s 25th Amendment time, especially given this wacko latest message, and that nobody is doing anything about it!

[Monty]

And what’s better than soothing hurt feelings than asking your rich uncle to give you a plane? Well, asking a rich someone, anyway.

The Trump administration first approached Qatar to inquire about acquiring a Boeing 747 that could be used as Air Force One by President Donald Trump, four sources familiar with the discussions told CNN. That’s contrary to the narrative from the president that Qatar reached out and offered the jet as a “gift” to him.

After Trump took office in January, the Pentagon contacted Boeing and was told the company would not be able to deliver the new jets it was building to replace the aging presidential planes for another two years, the sources said.

The Trump administration, however, wanted a replacement plane much faster, and the Air Force was exploring different options for doing so. At the same time, Trump tasked his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff with finding a list of viable planes, a senior White House official told CNN.

Ah, let’s talk about the self-deportation flights. Them foreigners are gone! What’s that you say? Oh, yeah. There were United States citizens on that flight and I’m not talking about the crew.

The first flight carrying migrants who chose to self-deport from the United States as part of a new Department of Homeland Security initiative offering free flights and $1,000 stipends has landed in Honduras.

A group of 38 Hondurans arrived at Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport on Monday afternoon after applying through a mobile app provided by US Customs and Border Protection, Honduran Deputy Foreign Minister Antonio García said.

“There was a bit of everything. There were mothers with children. Each one was given $1,000, including the children,” García told reporters at the airport, saying that up to 19 children had arrived.

At least four of the children were born in the US and one was born in Mexico. They left the US with their Honduran relatives to avoid family separation, according to Honduran Migration Director Wilson Paz Reyes.

“In this case, the US makes the decision, along with their families, that they return to the country so that family disintegration does not occur,” he said.

It doesn’t take someone with a Ph.D. in literature to read what happened there. Take the kids with you or else.

Honestly, though, I am a bit shocked (guess I do still have some ability there) the kids got the $1,000 joke, I mean, payment, not that it’ll do them much good.

[Atamasama]

@Monty

The settlement will resolve a $30 million suit brought by Babbitt’s estate and the conservative group Judicial Watch alleging the Capitol Police officer who shot her as she attempted to breach a broken window of the House speaker’s lobby was negligent in his duties.

Negligent? Is it because he should have shot more of them?

[Monty]

[enipla]

@Monty

Yeah, let’s save taxpayer money by thowing it at the family of a traitor.

The Trump admin has done some ridiculously horrible things, but this pisses me off the most. That traitor asked for it and she got exactly what she deserved. That anyone spent more than 30 seconds even considering this infuriates me.

[Monty]

And let’s be realistic here. Captain Byrd and his family are now even more the targets of the extremist maga cultists. They will never be safe thanks to Trump.