Your reading assignment today is by Greg Sargent at The New Republic, Mexican President’s Harsh Takedown of Trump Exposes an Ugly MAGA Scam. Very briefly, Trump is threatening Mexico with a 25 percent tariff on all goods imported from Mexico. This is to “force” Mexico to do something about the migrants and fentanyl from “pouring” into the United States. However, Mexico has already done quite a bit to reduce such border crossings, which is why the apprehensions are way down.
During the campaign, Trump simply pretended none of that was happening. It’s one of MAGA’s biggest deceptions, and his latest scam carries it forward. The very idea that Mexico must be bullied with tariffs into cracking down on migrants is designed to imply that it’s doing nothing right now—it’s taking advantage of us, Trump might say—and only his fearsome threats can force it into submission. …
… All this paves the way for larger deceptions later. Bank on it: The moment Trump takes office, the lower apprehension numbers will magically become real metrics. Fox News will start trumpeting them, and Trump will start claiming the border has achieved pacification due to his strength. Indeed, Trump very well may credit his current threat of tariffs with “forcing” Mexico to make the lower numbers of border crossings a reality.
Trump’s greatest talent, other than self-promotion, is his skill at taking credit for other people’s work. Media let him get away with it, of course. Do read the whole Greg Sarget piece.
Along those lines, see Trump team says Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal brokered by Biden is actually Trump’s win.
You probably heard that Jack Smith requested the J6 and documents cases be dismissed. Barbara McQuade says,
In fact, this move could be an effort to keep the cases alive in the long term. An interesting tell in each motion is Smith’s request to dismiss the cases “without prejudice.” That means that the cases can be filed again. By dismissing the cases now on his own terms, Smith blocks Trump’s attorney general from dismissing the cases for all time.
In addition, by filing his motions pre-emptively, Smith was able to explain his reasons for dismissing the case, rather than allowing Trump’s future AG to mischaracterize them. According to Smith, he was dismissing the case not because of the merits or strength of the cases, but because he had to. As Smith explains, the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, whose opinions are “binding” on the special counsel, has concluded that a sitting president may not be indicted or criminally prosecuted under the Constitution. OLC reasoned that criminal charges would make it impossible for a president to carry out his constitutional duties in light of the distraction of preparing a criminal defense, the public stigma that would hamper his leadership role and the obstacles prison would impose on his ability to perform his duties.
But Smith was careful to note that this relief from criminal prosecution is “temporary,” and ends when the president leaves office. Smith cites OLC as concluding that this form of immunity for a sitting president “would generally result in the delay, but not the forbearance, of any criminal trial” That is, Trump gets a reprieve, but only during his term in office.
Trump will be lucky if he’s still alive in four years, considering he must be a massive cardio-vascular event waiting to happen.
In transition news, see Trump team signs some, but not all, critical transition documents. In brief, Trump is keeping the sources for his transition funding secret — we know Trump isn’t paying for this out of his own pocket — and also is refusing to request FBI checks of appointees. Trump wants the background checks to wait until he’s inaugurated, so he can control them, apparently.
Try to have a happy Thanksgiving, and put the catastrophe out of your mind for a bit. It’s going to be a long four years.
" This is to “force” Mexico to do something about the migrants and fentanyl from “pouring” into the United States"
Funny thing, I could have sworn Stump went on and on about doing Tariffs to bring back manufacturing jobs? He's been talking that shit since 2015, you would think someone in the potted plant news media would ask what changed, maybe we don't need manufacturing jobs anymore? If Mexico's president has any stones, they will put a 100% tariff on all small arms coming from the good old USA! Though I don’t really see any point in going on and on about the tariffs or anything else diaper don says. He’s a fucking bullshit artist what he says means very little, if he does the tariffs as proposed I’ll be quite surprised.
Trump's first term tariffs: What they could tell us about this term | AP News
The art of war happens without battles, weapons, armies and weapons at times. A county is weakened by other things and destroys itself. Canada, Mexico, and China are some our biggest trading partners if not the biggest. We have transactional relationships with them, we do business with them. These are also the primary targets of Trump's tariffs. Two of them we share a border with and one of them we share the earth's oceans with. Much of this trade is agricultural product which most of us turn into food without too much help from the fast-food industry. Trump does not seem to understand this. In his world all food comes from the fast-food industry. In his world the only reason he owns kitchens is that they came with his real estate.
The republican party sealed our country's fate when it let Sarah Palin into a position of political power. Sarah is of course way to sane for the current republican party. She was just the pioneer and a test case. What followed were waves of advanced Sarah Palins flooding the zone. Yes, the end is near. and it will be catastrophic. We are approaching critical mass of crazy and stupid in our government. All without a single battle or war we will taste defeat,
Taste the turkey or your other feast food today and enjoy. Soon defeat will be all you get to taste. Then only memories of today will remain to sustain you. A surprise attack from a weak spot you never thought you even had. Only too few of us saw it coming before it was too late. I suppose the Pollyanna types will see a way out but many times they only see illusions.
Maybe I'm a Pollyanna type, but my appraisal of history is not warped. (My opinion.) The Great Depression was no picnic. Though the crash of Wall Street is often cited, the handwriting was on the wall long before in rural America. The popular sentiment (voters) before Wall Street crashed was that deregulation and government giveaways to the rich would pave the way for widespread prosperity. Then the roof caved in.
This paved the way for the New Deal. Reality always displaces illusion in the end. Sometimes reality ushers in calamity from which the recovery is slow and unequal. IMO, the Great Depression brought the greatest generation of America to the front. No one predicted that the middle class would rise from the ashes of the Great Depression to the heights it did after WWII.
I'm not saying such a thing WILL happen post-Trump, but it absolutely could. The factor that may make the greatest difference after the tragedy that's going to unfold in the next four years is intangeble. Can we hold in our minds an inclusive vision of a wise and just society ruled by an informed voting public guided by science and compassion? It won't just happen (if it does.) People have to have concept firmly in their minds and elect officials who "get it."
One thing I am certain of – cynicism is not fertile ground for progress. If you believe that the US is a failed nation beyond repair, you will help to manifest that reality.
I agree with that last thought, Doug. More tomorrow.
To Bernie, briefly: Almost every day I have moments of discouragement similar to what you shared above. I hear you. We've all been traumatized. I'll leave it t that for now. (peace)
"People have to have concept firmly in their minds and elect officials who "get it."
Absolutely. As the meme I saw the other day said "Stop asking politicians if the "believe" in Climate Change and ask them if they understand it. It's science – not Santa Claus."
One of the failings of the Democratic presidents has always been that they fail to link the problems in the country with the failure of the voters to elect politicians who will help them fix those problems. That allows the Republicans to point at the Democrats and blame them for not fixing the problems…when it's always been the Republicans who have prevented them from being fixed…thanks to the voters electing people who don’t want them fixed.
Nothing good comes from authoritarian leaders who are zealots with faulty notions. When you get a critical mass of them changing things you get wild levels of unintended consequences. Been there done that. Never at this level of extreme crazy, incompetence, zealotry, and corruption. The only thing that stands to get better is dark humor.
Over at Digby, Tom Sullivan penned an uplifting piece where he extensively quotes Olivia Troye, a former Republican advisor to Mike Pence, now "politically homeless."
But Tom's close is worth quoting.
"Half the country just chose to align themselves with the tribe my friends left a decade ago. The sadness in that is profound. But there is hope too. Not everyone on the right is there for Trumpism. Some are there out of political muscle memory. Welcome them when they turn."
Can You Say Why America is the Greatest Country in the World?. How far we have fallen.
Wow, that clip is awesome.
USA's top four trading partners (2023) in US dollars (billions)
Mexico –$475
China — $427
Canada –$419
Germany –$159
https://usafacts.org/articles/who-are-the-uss-top-trade-partners/
The US already has a trade war with China. Starting one with Canada and Mexico may be a trifle injudicious. A 25% tarrif is likely to play merry hell with the Canadian and Mexican economies but my guess it may devastate the US economy just as quickly.
How much is a new car "built" in Mexico or a can of pop using Canadian aluminum going to jump in price.
Of course, this might motivate Mexican and Canadian industries to seek out new markets.