Simon, thank you for last night's infusion of courage. This morning, I'm so proud of my former senator, Tim Kaine for standing up to Lame Donald Duck's tariffs and getting some of his Republican colleagues to vote with him.
Hi Catherine - YES!! to Senator Kaine and the few from the other side who joined him. I think we have to assume there are least a couple Republicans who are not fully with Trump but have been afraid to speak up. Both houses of Congress are so close in majority we only need a few to be brave enough to break away. Thanks to Senator Kaine, he initiated an important issue that a few responded to.
James Surowiecki: "Just figured out where [Trump’s] fake tariff rates come from. They didn't actually calculate tariff rates + non-tariff barriers, as they say they did. Instead, for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country's exports to us.
"So we have a $17.9 billion trade deficit with Indonesia. Its exports to us are $28 billion. $17.9/$28 = 64%, which Trump claims is the tariff rate Indonesia charges us. What extraordinary nonsense this is.
"It's important to understand that the tariff rates that foreign countries are supposedly charging us are just made-up numbers. South Korea, with which we have a trade agreement, is not charging a 50% tariff on U.S. exports. Nor is the EU charging a 39% tariff."
Today, the Norwegian news site NRK.no has a great article by the journalist Vilde Skorpen Wikan where economics professors dissect the real math behind Trump’s tariffs. Utterly divorced from reality and absolutely insane!
Here is a rough English version via Google Translate.
"How is the rate calculated? It is based on a completely false basis: "Trade deficit" divided by "imports" multiplied by "100". But that's not how you calculate tariffs and trade barriers. It's like a drunk man shooting with a sawed-off shotgun in a crowded place. He hits everywhere."
. – Bent Sofus Tranøy, Professor and expert in international economy and political science
Could all this tariff bunk and removal of people from Tuffs and all over by masked people into unmarked cars and the rest be intentional rather than crazy?
I’m not into conspiracy theories. I actually like my brain that has critical thinking engaged. So this is weird for me to think: It appears that “evil” has entered the picture. Though fewer people are drinking the evil kool aide, thank heavens, he still wields the pen and has people doing his illegal bidding. He still has a large contingent of republican elected officials who appear to have all had lobotomies or “severed” (as in Severance, and been removed from their values.
Deep Racism and white supremacy left over from the Dark Ages... Get rid of all brown/different people (either through disappearing, death from disease & poverty, incarceration ... you get the picture). Put women back into a child bearing/raising position. White Male power through any means necessary. It's been going on from time immemorial. Consciousness at its lowest ebb.
Yes, I have to keep reminding myself that this is a forever war. We will never truly “win,” but we can and must keep helping and protecting each other and pushing back the darkness an inch at a time.
One of my minor complaints with the GOP since 2016 has been that you can’t describe the plain facts of what they are actually doing and announcing on TV without sounding like a conspiracy theorist.
Whether something is evil depends on your definition. I use Dr. Philip Zimbardo’s definition: any intentional harm done to innocent people. (Zimbardo is most famous for the Stanford Prison Experiment but he spent his whole career studying first evil and later heroism.)
So by my definition, yes, this administration’s actions have been unambiguously evil. But others will define it differently.
As for Putin, I am not qualified to diagnose anything, but my suspicion is that Putin is Trump’s surrogate “daddy,” providing transactional “love” when Trump does what he wants. I have not found any other explanation that fits the observables, but I would be very happy to be corrected.
I think he is doing exactly this. He owes so much $ to Russia that he is willing to put us all into a recession and then let Russia bail us out. OMG - this is too crazy to even contemplate right?
A Substack showed up on my feed today arguing if I understand correctly, that it is planned to wreck things in this country so that the billionaires can make more money.
In my opinion this is absolutely intentional. Notice how they first picked someone they thought most Americans would find it hard to defend: a non-citizen Muslim who had praised Hamas. Next they went after "Venezuelan gang members". Next a Turkish student who penned an op ed. Each time the person is slightly less objectionable (in their eyes -- I find all of this 100% reprehensible!). If they continue to get away with it, next week it will be a green card holder, and then a naturalized citizen, and then a Dreamer, and then the child of an immigrant (but not Barron!), and finally just a random brown-skinned person. Eventually they'll get to the liberals and the Jews. That's why we need to stand up and mention this clearly in our calls. Democracies do not disappear people. We are not fascist Argentina or Chile; we are not Nazi Germany.
Yup; always has been IMHO. Believe it is not a conspiracy theory to read the actions and plans of the libertarian Koch brothers work and Heritage Foundation, Leo Lenard, Extreme Nationalist Christian Groups and ALEC group and the group work of project 2025 all supported by out of power GOP leaders. Gingrich most loudest during his time. T blew it out of the water bringing in musk and interested billionaires too. The attachment of an odd leader (Trump) with a wierd attraction to specific authoritarian leaders. Delusions of a world power conquest now?
Also re: tariffs- think it’s a shell game IMO. Tariffs indirectly tax ALL of us non-billionaires and support the government through our increased taxes and allow for the billionaires to keep their extravagant tax cut. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Our Psychological and Political Pandemic DR. BANDY X. LEE
🔸️Mental pathology in a president is a public matter. The more severe the mental pathology the less one will recognize that one is even ill.
🔸️Every other job that deals with life or death has a mental fitness evaluation as a requirement, even before one takes the position.
🔸️Without mental fitness evaluations, the public needs to know the danger of certified madness in politics. When dangerous mental pathologies are allowed to spread like a pandemic, an Extinction Level Event is headed straight for Earth. The U.S. could be a shining example of how to stop dangerous mental pathologies before they worm their way into politics but it is now left with "emergency cleanup on aisle madness'.
So, insanely, our elected officials actually have the legal standing to check and balance and remove this madman, and what are they choosing to do? Until yesterday, *all* republicans fell in line, acting for many, in ways that contradict their own, previously expressed values. It’s as if they’ve all had lobotomies. A few are finally hearing their constituents instead of turning them off by not having town halls. And then there’s the reason so many of us have moved to Substack - so much of the press has treated this ignorant, disrespectful and dishonest madman like a viable option from the beginning.
"The tariffs Trump announced were higher than almost anyone expected. This is a much bigger shock to the economy than the infamous Smoot-Hawley tariff of 1930, especially when you bear in mind that international trade is about three times as important now as it was then."
You can find the equation in there. The constant A is comprised of two numbers that do depend on country, neither of which I understand. I put the equation in my other post.
"Where is this stuff coming from? One of these days we’ll probably get the full story, but it looks to me like something thrown together by a junior staffer with only a couple of hours’ notice. That USTR note, in particular, reads like something written by a student who hasn’t done the reading and is trying to bullshit their way through an exam."
Then he goes on to point out that possibly the tariff plan came from asking ChatGPT how to impose tariffs the easy way.
NOTE: The conversation that Simon just had with Robert Shapiro (entrepreneur and attorney) was truly excellent! Very revealing and crystal clear about the devastating impact we’ll see from Trump’s tariffs.
Agreed. Excellent. Bring in from the cold 1 Repub at a time. Bring to sanity. Trump is insane with greed, power, domination, megalomania. When someone said, I think it was Ruth BenGiat, that T sees the world as spheres of influence, made sense to me. T rules Americas. Putin rules Europe. China has Asia. No partners. All domination. Ridicule will help bring him down. Gov Walz said T is stuck in the 80s. Clothes, Music, trickle down. Dems Deliver SS, Medicare, Medicaid, stable growing economy.
I do not know how to access the daily chat for paid members. I asked the question last night several times during the zoom but the suggestions several people gave did not go to a chat. Please advise; where and when is it each day? How do I get there?
I’m putting the finishing touches on my protest sign. We’re headed to the West Chester PA protest on Saturday 👍 ( I tried to post a pic of it but it asked me to sign in. But sign in where, I do t know. I’m already in the chat by virtue of being a paid member.
Simon, you keep me going! But I am so worried and anxious. Cancer research has been decimated carelessly like a naughty child with a toy he doesn’t like. I’m selfish because I have cancer and it is on. It is treatable, but not curable. The research for a cure will stop. So many people are being hurt by the mad king who only seeks dominance.
Hi Susan - I understand and feel the same way about so many things the Trump/Musk wrecking ball has knocked down. My son has a form of cancer he gets chemo for monthly that was being heavily researched. I have so many transgender friends and colleagues (my primary care doc is a trans man) who are terrified and harmed by him. It goes on and on. I work under the assumption that we WILL take our country back and reinstate all these things we care about and need, but like you I have some days where it's just too much. Simon always makes me feel better.
Here is a link to about 11 hrs of Booker’s speech. It is an amazing course in American Government. I sent this link to my email group suggesting they watch/listen in 20min chunks. At 2:44:00 Maggie Hassan details Medicare Expansion and Booker digs in deeper. We only really know headlines. This is a chance to learn how things really operate. Educate ourselves!! https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-sen-cory-booker-protests-trumps-agenda-in-marathon-senate-speech
It may also work for people if they can listen to it in the background while doing mindless tasks such as warming up dinner, cleaning, etc. I know - multitasking. Everyone has a limit but before it.........it worked well for me during the times i was home to tune in. Also, i'm not sure if this is the same link, but here is one from Forbes which covers the beginning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-GcnM7Laps
Oh that’s the best, Jenny! I find the other task has to be truly mindless, like washing dishes, but even then i had to pause now and then for Booker. This morning, while deleting useless emails, i listened to him read a few notes from his constituents. Compelling, as you say.
I have no idea how he went 25 hours without using the restroom. I'm an old man on FloMax and still in the restroom every 2 hours or so. More power to him! Awesome American!
Remember during Covid, when no one wanted to use public restrooms, especially on the highways, and we all got those Port-a-Johnnies to do it in the car?!
Please elevate what is happening at the National Endowment for the Humanities!!! Grants are being terminated today. This is such a small, and yet powerful, agency making grants for study and research into the human experience. VERY important to colleges and universities and their partnerships with the public and K-12 schools. PLEASE get us some publcity and notice for how DOGE is decimating the one agency in the US that focuses on the humanities.
Thanks for binging this up Marianne. My PhD is in Humanities and I teach DEI and history to university students. We are always put down even in academia, but we NEED those grants! This is what I wrote my 3 Congresspeople about today too.
As I type this, the Dow is down 1,500 points. Middle class 401K retirement accounts getting decimated.
Republican Senators are starting to worry and starting to speak out. Sen. Rand Paul criticized Trump’s tariffs and said Republicans could be wiped out in the midterms and right winger Sen Kennedy said the following on CNN:
“In the long run, we’re all dead, short run matters too. Nobody knows what the impact of these tariffs is going to be on the economy.”
Simon - Last night, I was taken aback somewhat at your lack of enthusiasm for the April 5 nationwide Hands-Off protests. I know that these are not the be-all and end-all of public disaffection, but it is the first time that a coordinated set of rallies is proposed, and it can be a show of strength. I agree with the need to know your organizers and that large centralized rallies BY THEMSELVES are not enough. I checked here in the Bay Area and there are a mix of rallies planned - San Francisco, Redwood City, Mountain View, San Jose, etc. - more than 10 from Santa Rosa to Santa Cruz mostly organized by Indivisible and other legit grassroots groups. Being in a “blue bubble” (blue beacon!) means that we are basically urging our reps and senators to be more vocal and stand up and make noise. I think we need to see ourselves together in numbers, after the Stand Up for Science rally (again there were many local versions) I felt energized and more connected with a larger community.
So, I urge you to add attending a legitimate April 5 Hands-Off rally as one of the actions, with whatever caveats you care to add. But many of us feel that showing up for these is a useful step, necessary but not sufficient.
I commented similarly in yesterday's chat and came here now to say the same.
Everybody and their brother and sister are amplifying the April 5 Hands Off events across the country. Simon, support this action! You spoke your personal reasons for not participating, that you do different work for democracy--fine. But join Indivisible and endorse this action!
People can make a very simple sign: Hands Off ____ and fill in the blank with your issue of choice. People can just show up to support numbers and energy, with or without a sign. Bring an American flag. Or drive by, honk your horn, turn around, and do it again. Amplify on social media. Find an event near you:
Please also be aware that a separate amicus brief is being prepared for signature by retired General Counsels (sometimes called Chief Legal Officers) of various companies in support of Perkins Coie. (There may be some current GCs who also sign this brief, although my understanding is that most signatories will be retired.) I am such a retired GC and I will be a co-signer on this supporting amicus brief. If anyone in the Hopium community is a former or current GC (or knows someone who is a former or current GC) who would be willing to join this brief (after reviewing it, of course; it is short), then such a person could reach out directly to Perkins Coie to seek to be included.
I expect there will be separate amicus briefs to be prepared and filed in the separate lawsuits involving WilmerHale and Jenner & Block, who also are fighting the EOs targeting them in court. The litigation calendar in these two other cases is a bit behind the litigation calendar in the Perkins Coie lawsuit.
Side note: — this is only my second posting here; I am unsure that this is the proper place to put this sort of post. If this is the wrong place, then I welcome being corrected and re-directed. Thanks to all and keep the faith.
The issue of states acting has been discussed here. In Vermont, a diverse, statewide group of 119 Vermont businesses, nonprofits, and faith communities published an open letter to Governor Scott and state lawmakers today, urging them to use the power of elected office to support and protect Vermonters from harmful and unconstitutional federal actions. The letter comes in response to unprecedented attacks on constitutional rights, state and local government autonomy, and the nation’s civic infrastructure.
Self Report: I called Alsobrooks, Raskin, and Van Hollen. I talked about Social Security and the need to fire Hegstreth, et al. I said if Tim Kaine can find 4 Republicans to vote against the tariffs, Dems should be able to find 4 Republicans to vote for Social Security.
I think we Democrats keep making a big mistake to start off by conceding that there was any need to "cut waste" or "make government more efficient." Even Don Beyer did this the other day. (I've found Social Security and Medicare to be VERY efficient and easy to use. I don't think our cancer researchers were inefficient.) Once we concede that there's some need to "fix" government, we're just arguing over how to do it and maybe a pull-off-the-bandaid-all-at-once approach is ok. I know we do this because we think it makes us look reasonable and we're hoping the other side will respond to that but it hasn't worked for years and Dems need to stop it. It's bad rhetoric and bad negotiating skills.
I agree. The starting point of "we all know we need to cut waste" also plays easily into the malicious fiction of trump's mandate. What we *all* need is a functional federal government and economy!
Agreed Catherine. A better way is to remind people that Dem admins balance the budget and lowered the deficit. Rs do the opposite. And VP Gore created the model for Reinventing Gov helping to get us a surplus. It was supposed to protect SS but Bush gave it to the grifting rich.
As the tariffs rightly dominate coverage, please do not forget to call your lawmakers about the decimation of the FDA, NIH, and CDC. Policy, scientific, admin, IT, budgetary staff have all been unceremoniously laid off with zero time to plan for the future. Vast institutional knowledge has been lost that may never return. Innovation and efficiency has bern stifled. In my view, this is not getting enough coverage thought it has extremely large consequences for the country and the world.
Simon, you may well be correct that he is weak and struggles like former presidents have in the face of traumatic events, but he is insane! He will never acknowledge he feels a loss of control. Also, let's be real, he is a puppet being used to destroy the country for the benefit of the uber obscenely wealthy.
REAL WAR. What i fear most about Trump's intentions - from Andrew Tobias' newsletter -
"And then there’s Iran — and Greenland.
Malcolm Nance thinks we’re going to war.
If you thought things were bad in the American national security sphere in the last 48 hours, be prepared for another dramatic shift in US policy that will affect every one of you reading this. Apparently, the Trump regime is preparing for two major blows to US foreign policy. They are making it clear they intend to invade and seize Greenland and they are also silently preparing to attack Iran with strategic bombers. . . .
He sees oil “quite possibly topping the $150 a barrel mark.”
“Worse, is that the Iranian people who have been desperate to break off the chains of the regime and embrace democracy would likely see an American Israeli attack as a provocation. At attack would rally around the regime and set back a decade’s work fostering democracy.”
Let’s hope Nance is wrong. Or that it all somehow works out well. When has a Trump enterprise ever failed? (This final sentence from Tobias is ironic/ sarcastic! Almost all of DT’s enterprises have failed.)
During is first term, I quipped there was a strong risk that Trump would get angry at some real or imagined slight from President François Hollande – and bomb The Netherlands.
(Hollande, as you will remember, was president of France.)
His first term, there were still military commanders who, as noted later, communicated behind Trump's back to prevent any such or other occurrences. This time....Hegseth. This time....no JAG. This time.......
Simon, thank you for last night's infusion of courage. This morning, I'm so proud of my former senator, Tim Kaine for standing up to Lame Donald Duck's tariffs and getting some of his Republican colleagues to vote with him.
Hi Catherine - YES!! to Senator Kaine and the few from the other side who joined him. I think we have to assume there are least a couple Republicans who are not fully with Trump but have been afraid to speak up. Both houses of Congress are so close in majority we only need a few to be brave enough to break away. Thanks to Senator Kaine, he initiated an important issue that a few responded to.
Lame Duck Donald. Nice way to ridicule. Maybe an image?
TRUMP’s INSANE TARIFF MATH, REVEALED
James Surowiecki: "Just figured out where [Trump’s] fake tariff rates come from. They didn't actually calculate tariff rates + non-tariff barriers, as they say they did. Instead, for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country's exports to us.
"So we have a $17.9 billion trade deficit with Indonesia. Its exports to us are $28 billion. $17.9/$28 = 64%, which Trump claims is the tariff rate Indonesia charges us. What extraordinary nonsense this is.
https://nitter.poast.org/JamesSurowiecki/status/1907559189234196942#m
"It's important to understand that the tariff rates that foreign countries are supposedly charging us are just made-up numbers. South Korea, with which we have a trade agreement, is not charging a 50% tariff on U.S. exports. Nor is the EU charging a 39% tariff."
NORWEGIANS SEE CLEARLY…
Today, the Norwegian news site NRK.no has a great article by the journalist Vilde Skorpen Wikan where economics professors dissect the real math behind Trump’s tariffs. Utterly divorced from reality and absolutely insane!
Here is a rough English version via Google Translate.
https://www-nrk-no.translate.goog/urix/trump-hevdet-tollen-var-et-motsvar_-_-ingen-voksne-mennesker-mener-dette-henger-pa-greip-1.17368533?_x_tr_sl=no&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
"How is the rate calculated? It is based on a completely false basis: "Trade deficit" divided by "imports" multiplied by "100". But that's not how you calculate tariffs and trade barriers. It's like a drunk man shooting with a sawed-off shotgun in a crowded place. He hits everywhere."
. – Bent Sofus Tranøy, Professor and expert in international economy and political science
It almost sounds like they are using AI to come up with these bonkers numbers.
Or a Ouija board.
AI is waaaaay smarter than that :-)
Could all this tariff bunk and removal of people from Tuffs and all over by masked people into unmarked cars and the rest be intentional rather than crazy?
I’m not into conspiracy theories. I actually like my brain that has critical thinking engaged. So this is weird for me to think: It appears that “evil” has entered the picture. Though fewer people are drinking the evil kool aide, thank heavens, he still wields the pen and has people doing his illegal bidding. He still has a large contingent of republican elected officials who appear to have all had lobotomies or “severed” (as in Severance, and been removed from their values.
Is he intentionally seeking Putin’s approval ?
*Crazy* and *intentional* are not mutually exclusive.
Beat me to it.
Deep Racism and white supremacy left over from the Dark Ages... Get rid of all brown/different people (either through disappearing, death from disease & poverty, incarceration ... you get the picture). Put women back into a child bearing/raising position. White Male power through any means necessary. It's been going on from time immemorial. Consciousness at its lowest ebb.
Yes, I have to keep reminding myself that this is a forever war. We will never truly “win,” but we can and must keep helping and protecting each other and pushing back the darkness an inch at a time.
One of my minor complaints with the GOP since 2016 has been that you can’t describe the plain facts of what they are actually doing and announcing on TV without sounding like a conspiracy theorist.
Whether something is evil depends on your definition. I use Dr. Philip Zimbardo’s definition: any intentional harm done to innocent people. (Zimbardo is most famous for the Stanford Prison Experiment but he spent his whole career studying first evil and later heroism.)
So by my definition, yes, this administration’s actions have been unambiguously evil. But others will define it differently.
As for Putin, I am not qualified to diagnose anything, but my suspicion is that Putin is Trump’s surrogate “daddy,” providing transactional “love” when Trump does what he wants. I have not found any other explanation that fits the observables, but I would be very happy to be corrected.
Putin is paying Trump. Money is Trump's daddy and the precious. It's simple.
I think he is doing exactly this. He owes so much $ to Russia that he is willing to put us all into a recession and then let Russia bail us out. OMG - this is too crazy to even contemplate right?
A Substack showed up on my feed today arguing if I understand correctly, that it is planned to wreck things in this country so that the billionaires can make more money.
In my opinion this is absolutely intentional. Notice how they first picked someone they thought most Americans would find it hard to defend: a non-citizen Muslim who had praised Hamas. Next they went after "Venezuelan gang members". Next a Turkish student who penned an op ed. Each time the person is slightly less objectionable (in their eyes -- I find all of this 100% reprehensible!). If they continue to get away with it, next week it will be a green card holder, and then a naturalized citizen, and then a Dreamer, and then the child of an immigrant (but not Barron!), and finally just a random brown-skinned person. Eventually they'll get to the liberals and the Jews. That's why we need to stand up and mention this clearly in our calls. Democracies do not disappear people. We are not fascist Argentina or Chile; we are not Nazi Germany.
Yup; always has been IMHO. Believe it is not a conspiracy theory to read the actions and plans of the libertarian Koch brothers work and Heritage Foundation, Leo Lenard, Extreme Nationalist Christian Groups and ALEC group and the group work of project 2025 all supported by out of power GOP leaders. Gingrich most loudest during his time. T blew it out of the water bringing in musk and interested billionaires too. The attachment of an odd leader (Trump) with a wierd attraction to specific authoritarian leaders. Delusions of a world power conquest now?
Also re: tariffs- think it’s a shell game IMO. Tariffs indirectly tax ALL of us non-billionaires and support the government through our increased taxes and allow for the billionaires to keep their extravagant tax cut. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Yes- to your last sentence. @Debrah Whitehead
It's because they don't really care beyond the extortion. It's just to get businesses and countries to come begging for relief. I hope they don't.
Our Psychological and Political Pandemic DR. BANDY X. LEE
🔸️Mental pathology in a president is a public matter. The more severe the mental pathology the less one will recognize that one is even ill.
🔸️Every other job that deals with life or death has a mental fitness evaluation as a requirement, even before one takes the position.
🔸️Without mental fitness evaluations, the public needs to know the danger of certified madness in politics. When dangerous mental pathologies are allowed to spread like a pandemic, an Extinction Level Event is headed straight for Earth. The U.S. could be a shining example of how to stop dangerous mental pathologies before they worm their way into politics but it is now left with "emergency cleanup on aisle madness'.
https://open.substack.com/pub/bandyxlee/p/our-psychological-and-political-pandemic?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=280c3q
So, insanely, our elected officials actually have the legal standing to check and balance and remove this madman, and what are they choosing to do? Until yesterday, *all* republicans fell in line, acting for many, in ways that contradict their own, previously expressed values. It’s as if they’ve all had lobotomies. A few are finally hearing their constituents instead of turning them off by not having town halls. And then there’s the reason so many of us have moved to Substack - so much of the press has treated this ignorant, disrespectful and dishonest madman like a viable option from the beginning.
OK you beat me to this. Krugman has his Substack with the same formula.
Trump is a complete moron.
Please post a link to Krugman’s post here, along with any salient quotes!
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/will-careless-stupidity-kill-the
Quote:
"The tariffs Trump announced were higher than almost anyone expected. This is a much bigger shock to the economy than the infamous Smoot-Hawley tariff of 1930, especially when you bear in mind that international trade is about three times as important now as it was then."
You can find the equation in there. The constant A is comprised of two numbers that do depend on country, neither of which I understand. I put the equation in my other post.
He also has in the article:
"Where is this stuff coming from? One of these days we’ll probably get the full story, but it looks to me like something thrown together by a junior staffer with only a couple of hours’ notice. That USTR note, in particular, reads like something written by a student who hasn’t done the reading and is trying to bullshit their way through an exam."
Then he goes on to point out that possibly the tariff plan came from asking ChatGPT how to impose tariffs the easy way.
NOTE: The conversation that Simon just had with Robert Shapiro (entrepreneur and attorney) was truly excellent! Very revealing and crystal clear about the devastating impact we’ll see from Trump’s tariffs.
Agreed. Excellent. Bring in from the cold 1 Repub at a time. Bring to sanity. Trump is insane with greed, power, domination, megalomania. When someone said, I think it was Ruth BenGiat, that T sees the world as spheres of influence, made sense to me. T rules Americas. Putin rules Europe. China has Asia. No partners. All domination. Ridicule will help bring him down. Gov Walz said T is stuck in the 80s. Clothes, Music, trickle down. Dems Deliver SS, Medicare, Medicaid, stable growing economy.
I do not know how to access the daily chat for paid members. I asked the question last night several times during the zoom but the suggestions several people gave did not go to a chat. Please advise; where and when is it each day? How do I get there?
Bob, good news. This is it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I accidentally did something right! Thanks.
(Assorted noisemaker noises)
Hi Bob - I was confused at first too since I usually read Simon's missives in my email. But we both found it now!
I’m putting the finishing touches on my protest sign. We’re headed to the West Chester PA protest on Saturday 👍 ( I tried to post a pic of it but it asked me to sign in. But sign in where, I do t know. I’m already in the chat by virtue of being a paid member.
Simon, you keep me going! But I am so worried and anxious. Cancer research has been decimated carelessly like a naughty child with a toy he doesn’t like. I’m selfish because I have cancer and it is on. It is treatable, but not curable. The research for a cure will stop. So many people are being hurt by the mad king who only seeks dominance.
Hi Susan - I understand and feel the same way about so many things the Trump/Musk wrecking ball has knocked down. My son has a form of cancer he gets chemo for monthly that was being heavily researched. I have so many transgender friends and colleagues (my primary care doc is a trans man) who are terrified and harmed by him. It goes on and on. I work under the assumption that we WILL take our country back and reinstate all these things we care about and need, but like you I have some days where it's just too much. Simon always makes me feel better.
Thank you for this.
Here is a link to about 11 hrs of Booker’s speech. It is an amazing course in American Government. I sent this link to my email group suggesting they watch/listen in 20min chunks. At 2:44:00 Maggie Hassan details Medicare Expansion and Booker digs in deeper. We only really know headlines. This is a chance to learn how things really operate. Educate ourselves!! https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-sen-cory-booker-protests-trumps-agenda-in-marathon-senate-speech
It may also work for people if they can listen to it in the background while doing mindless tasks such as warming up dinner, cleaning, etc. I know - multitasking. Everyone has a limit but before it.........it worked well for me during the times i was home to tune in. Also, i'm not sure if this is the same link, but here is one from Forbes which covers the beginning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-GcnM7Laps
and one from PBS covering the ending - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tQnm19ZTD0
thank you for posting1
I tried multitasking with Sen. Booker on but he was so compelling I kept forgetting what I was doing and focusing entirely on him!
Oh that’s the best, Jenny! I find the other task has to be truly mindless, like washing dishes, but even then i had to pause now and then for Booker. This morning, while deleting useless emails, i listened to him read a few notes from his constituents. Compelling, as you say.
This is terrific. I was intoxicated, watching as much as I could. I concur with your assessment!
thank you for link
I have no idea how he went 25 hours without using the restroom. I'm an old man on FloMax and still in the restroom every 2 hours or so. More power to him! Awesome American!
He said he dehydrated himself on purpose. Sounds dangerous.
That is dangerous. I hope he is ok and getting medical exams
I figured he had scored a NASA diaper from Sen. Mark Kelly!
Remember during Covid, when no one wanted to use public restrooms, especially on the highways, and we all got those Port-a-Johnnies to do it in the car?!
Please elevate what is happening at the National Endowment for the Humanities!!! Grants are being terminated today. This is such a small, and yet powerful, agency making grants for study and research into the human experience. VERY important to colleges and universities and their partnerships with the public and K-12 schools. PLEASE get us some publcity and notice for how DOGE is decimating the one agency in the US that focuses on the humanities.
Thanks for binging this up Marianne. My PhD is in Humanities and I teach DEI and history to university students. We are always put down even in academia, but we NEED those grants! This is what I wrote my 3 Congresspeople about today too.
As I type this, the Dow is down 1,500 points. Middle class 401K retirement accounts getting decimated.
Republican Senators are starting to worry and starting to speak out. Sen. Rand Paul criticized Trump’s tariffs and said Republicans could be wiped out in the midterms and right winger Sen Kennedy said the following on CNN:
“In the long run, we’re all dead, short run matters too. Nobody knows what the impact of these tariffs is going to be on the economy.”
"Nobody knows"?! We know! Everyone with half a brain does!
Simon - Last night, I was taken aback somewhat at your lack of enthusiasm for the April 5 nationwide Hands-Off protests. I know that these are not the be-all and end-all of public disaffection, but it is the first time that a coordinated set of rallies is proposed, and it can be a show of strength. I agree with the need to know your organizers and that large centralized rallies BY THEMSELVES are not enough. I checked here in the Bay Area and there are a mix of rallies planned - San Francisco, Redwood City, Mountain View, San Jose, etc. - more than 10 from Santa Rosa to Santa Cruz mostly organized by Indivisible and other legit grassroots groups. Being in a “blue bubble” (blue beacon!) means that we are basically urging our reps and senators to be more vocal and stand up and make noise. I think we need to see ourselves together in numbers, after the Stand Up for Science rally (again there were many local versions) I felt energized and more connected with a larger community.
So, I urge you to add attending a legitimate April 5 Hands-Off rally as one of the actions, with whatever caveats you care to add. But many of us feel that showing up for these is a useful step, necessary but not sufficient.
Agree with this sentiment. Also, you would be surprised how many people are still unaware of these protests. Keep spreading the word!
Good points Stu!
I commented similarly in yesterday's chat and came here now to say the same.
Everybody and their brother and sister are amplifying the April 5 Hands Off events across the country. Simon, support this action! You spoke your personal reasons for not participating, that you do different work for democracy--fine. But join Indivisible and endorse this action!
People can make a very simple sign: Hands Off ____ and fill in the blank with your issue of choice. People can just show up to support numbers and energy, with or without a sign. Bring an American flag. Or drive by, honk your horn, turn around, and do it again. Amplify on social media. Find an event near you:
https://www.mobilize.us/handsoff/?end_date=2025-04-07T06%3A59%3A59.999Z&is_virtual_flexible=false&start_date=2025-03-30T07%3A00%3A00.000Z
Dear Hopium Friends and Colleagues,
I am reposting below a comment I meant to post in yesterday’s chat which I instead erroneously posted into the March 27 chat.
***
The following is a link to a NYT article regarding the apparent unwillingness of large law firms to sign a soon to be filed amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie, one of the law firms targeted by a Presidential EO. Perkins Coie has chosen to fight back in the courts. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/business/trump-perkins-coie-amicus-brief.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Please also be aware that a separate amicus brief is being prepared for signature by retired General Counsels (sometimes called Chief Legal Officers) of various companies in support of Perkins Coie. (There may be some current GCs who also sign this brief, although my understanding is that most signatories will be retired.) I am such a retired GC and I will be a co-signer on this supporting amicus brief. If anyone in the Hopium community is a former or current GC (or knows someone who is a former or current GC) who would be willing to join this brief (after reviewing it, of course; it is short), then such a person could reach out directly to Perkins Coie to seek to be included.
I expect there will be separate amicus briefs to be prepared and filed in the separate lawsuits involving WilmerHale and Jenner & Block, who also are fighting the EOs targeting them in court. The litigation calendar in these two other cases is a bit behind the litigation calendar in the Perkins Coie lawsuit.
Side note: — this is only my second posting here; I am unsure that this is the proper place to put this sort of post. If this is the wrong place, then I welcome being corrected and re-directed. Thanks to all and keep the faith.
Just wanted to say welcome to a relatively new poster to the chat and it was nice to hear from you!
Posted in Robert Hubbell’s Substack comments this morning, Status of Big Law firms:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1J_bcoMqt46L05As7GN4ZqH4j6XKeI-Dm4ytJPRFtrwo/edit?gid=287708862#gid=287708862
The issue of states acting has been discussed here. In Vermont, a diverse, statewide group of 119 Vermont businesses, nonprofits, and faith communities published an open letter to Governor Scott and state lawmakers today, urging them to use the power of elected office to support and protect Vermonters from harmful and unconstitutional federal actions. The letter comes in response to unprecedented attacks on constitutional rights, state and local government autonomy, and the nation’s civic infrastructure.
https://www.acluvt.org/en/press-releases/more-100-vermont-organizations-urge-governor-and-legislators-speak-and-take-action
Self Report: I called Alsobrooks, Raskin, and Van Hollen. I talked about Social Security and the need to fire Hegstreth, et al. I said if Tim Kaine can find 4 Republicans to vote against the tariffs, Dems should be able to find 4 Republicans to vote for Social Security.
I think we Democrats keep making a big mistake to start off by conceding that there was any need to "cut waste" or "make government more efficient." Even Don Beyer did this the other day. (I've found Social Security and Medicare to be VERY efficient and easy to use. I don't think our cancer researchers were inefficient.) Once we concede that there's some need to "fix" government, we're just arguing over how to do it and maybe a pull-off-the-bandaid-all-at-once approach is ok. I know we do this because we think it makes us look reasonable and we're hoping the other side will respond to that but it hasn't worked for years and Dems need to stop it. It's bad rhetoric and bad negotiating skills.
I agree. The starting point of "we all know we need to cut waste" also plays easily into the malicious fiction of trump's mandate. What we *all* need is a functional federal government and economy!
Agreed Catherine. A better way is to remind people that Dem admins balance the budget and lowered the deficit. Rs do the opposite. And VP Gore created the model for Reinventing Gov helping to get us a surplus. It was supposed to protect SS but Bush gave it to the grifting rich.
As the tariffs rightly dominate coverage, please do not forget to call your lawmakers about the decimation of the FDA, NIH, and CDC. Policy, scientific, admin, IT, budgetary staff have all been unceremoniously laid off with zero time to plan for the future. Vast institutional knowledge has been lost that may never return. Innovation and efficiency has bern stifled. In my view, this is not getting enough coverage thought it has extremely large consequences for the country and the world.
Hypothesis: tariffs were imposed to stimulate bribes for their removal.
Considering the evidence with Canada and the numerous other times he's tried to institute bribes, that seems like a forgone conclusion.
Apologies, I have choir on Wednesdays, I join when our choir is off
Simon, you may well be correct that he is weak and struggles like former presidents have in the face of traumatic events, but he is insane! He will never acknowledge he feels a loss of control. Also, let's be real, he is a puppet being used to destroy the country for the benefit of the uber obscenely wealthy.
REAL WAR. What i fear most about Trump's intentions - from Andrew Tobias' newsletter -
"And then there’s Iran — and Greenland.
Malcolm Nance thinks we’re going to war.
If you thought things were bad in the American national security sphere in the last 48 hours, be prepared for another dramatic shift in US policy that will affect every one of you reading this. Apparently, the Trump regime is preparing for two major blows to US foreign policy. They are making it clear they intend to invade and seize Greenland and they are also silently preparing to attack Iran with strategic bombers. . . .
He sees oil “quite possibly topping the $150 a barrel mark.”
“Worse, is that the Iranian people who have been desperate to break off the chains of the regime and embrace democracy would likely see an American Israeli attack as a provocation. At attack would rally around the regime and set back a decade’s work fostering democracy.”
Let’s hope Nance is wrong. Or that it all somehow works out well. When has a Trump enterprise ever failed? (This final sentence from Tobias is ironic/ sarcastic! Almost all of DT’s enterprises have failed.)
https://open.substack.com/pub/malcolmnance/p/a-war-is-coming-where-will-the-blow?r=x5q6e&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false"
During is first term, I quipped there was a strong risk that Trump would get angry at some real or imagined slight from President François Hollande – and bomb The Netherlands.
(Hollande, as you will remember, was president of France.)
His first term, there were still military commanders who, as noted later, communicated behind Trump's back to prevent any such or other occurrences. This time....Hegseth. This time....no JAG. This time.......
I think you're still underestimating the stupidity factor.
What if Trump invades Finland thinking it's Greenland?
And then Putin calls up and says, "Donald, what the hell? I thought 𝐈 was supposed to invade Finland!"