Our Addled, Failing, Desperate Leader Wags The Dog, Goes To War, And Declares Himself King (Again)

Oh, by the way, the inflation data on Friday was terrible

Morning all. Before we get to our new war, let’s review the new, terrible inflation data we got yesterday. One of the three main gauges of inflation, the Producer Price Index, rose 0.5% in January, much higher than expected.

Here’s the trend line:

Here’s a similar trend line for the PCE measure of inflation, the Fed’s preferred measure:

The Supreme Court gave Trump an off-ramp from his ruinous tariff-based economic strategy. In full blown Mad King form he defied the Court, the will of Congress/voters/farmers/businesses/our allies, and created a whole new set of tariffs, almost certainly illegal (and also LOLOLOL temporary) a week ago Friday.

Yes, Donald Trump is raising taxes and prices on the American people, slowing down the overall economy, keeping interest rates high, hurting farmers and small businesses, angering our allies, all in order to pay for tax cuts for himself and his wealthy friends.

A reminder that Stuart Stevens is coming by at 10am EST on Monday to talk about this never ending shambolic Trumpian shitshow. Click here to join us live. There is a lot to talk about.

Now, war.

What is there to say, really? More full blown Mad Kingism. No clear rationale, no consultation or approval from Congress, no discussion with the American people, no Coalition of the Willing (meaning no allies). Like with the tariffs, there is no version of what Trump is doing in Iran that can be considered faithful to the Constitution, US Law, or International Law. As Gov. Newsom says, just “the law of Don.”

In a very Trumpian thing he has not been able to articulate a clear rationale for what we are doing in Iran - WMD, election interference, regime change (Bad Guys), because my poll numbers suck and my State of the Union was a huge dud and my dementia is getting worse…..

Here’s a strong, new statement from Leader Hakeem Jeffries:

Overnight, Donald Trump announced the start of massive and ongoing military operations against Iran. The framers of the United States Constitution gave Congress the sole power to declare war as the branch of government closest to the American people.

Iran is a bad actor and must be aggressively confronted for its human rights violations, nuclear ambitions, support of terrorism and the threat it poses to our allies like Israel and Jordan in the region. However, absent exigent circumstances, the Trump administration must seek authorization for the preemptive use of military force that constitutes an act of war.

Donald Trump failed to seek Congressional authorization prior to striking Iran. Instead, the President’s decision to abandon diplomacy and launch a massive military attack has left American troops vulnerable to Iran’s retaliatory actions. We pray for the safety of the men and women of the U.S. military as they have been put into harm’s way in a dangerous theater of war.

If Iran’s nuclear program was “completely and totally obliterated” by the military strikes in June 2025, as Donald Trump boldly proclaimed, there should be no need to strike them now. Equally troublesome, the advancement of security and stability in the Middle East requires more than military might, as we painfully discovered in several failed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Trump administration must explain itself to the American people and Congress immediately, provide an ironclad justification for this act of war, clearly define the national security objective and articulate a plan to avoid another costly, prolonged military quagmire in the Middle East.

The War Powers Resolution introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna and Rep. Thomas Massie demands that President Trump remove U.S. forces from hostilities in Iran absent Congressional authorization. House Democrats remain committed to compelling a vote on this resolution upon our return.

It is likely that both the Senate and House will be debating and voting on the War Powers Resolution this week. Khanna and Massie are the leads in the House, Tim Kaine in the Senate. Can Trump his coalition together on Iran? I am not so sure.

Let’s return to those heady days in January, when Trump and Miller, buoyed by the “daring raid” that snatched Maduro, loudly proclaimed that law and democracy was for sissies and there were no longer any checks on Trump’s powers. Here’s that infamous Miller appearance on CNN:

Well, what the President said is true. The United States of America is running Venezuela. By definition that’s true. Jake, we live in a world in which... you can talk all you want about international niceties and everything else... but we live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world.

Here’s that NYT interview where Trump declared himself King, free to do whatever he chooses:

President Trump told The Times during a wide-ranging interview last night that he alone was the arbiter of his authority as commander in chief. He brushed aside international law and other checks on his power to order the U.S. military to strike or invade nations around the world.

When asked if there were any limits on his global powers, Trump said: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

In my talk this week I argued that Trump’s decision to double down on his failed and unpopular governing strategy (tariffs, ICE terror/mass deportations, cuts to health care/food assistance, etc) and not course correct meant that he had decided to pursue an illicit path to keep himself and Republicans in power, something I am calling the “whatever it takes” path. In a democracy when a leader is unpopular, and their policies aren’t working, they course correct and do things are that popular and good for people. Trump looked at that option, and chose another - the go-to-war/billions of dollars of corruptly & oligarch funded mid-term SuperPACs/mafia-like media and tech takeover/unending AI slop/unprecedented foreign active measures on his behalf/end free and fair elections/the whatever it takes path.

Last month Trump and Miller told us that they believe they are no longer bound by law or any kind, that there are no checks on their power. Clearly all of this is grounds for his immediate removal. But short of that we all have to start preparing for a mid-term election that will not be like any mid-term election any of us have experienced, a “whatever it takes” election where one side is no longer playing by the rules of a democracy, or feels bound by law, and has foreign authoritarian allies that desperately want Trump’s party to stay in power.

For they cannot win an election where the economy keeps getting worse, where the backlash to ICE continues to grow, where the opposition movement continues to gain strength, where these strongman spasms push him further and further away from the electorate, and where his standing with the public continues to erode (from FiftyPlusOne):

The single most important thing we can today to ensure we win in what is going to be a very hostile, “whatever it takes” electoral battlefield this year is to get our candidates and party committees as much money as we can, now. So, my friends….

Let’s Get To Work People!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The Map

Hopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $264,000 raised, $400,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Learn More | Enjoy our new conversations with Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Mayor Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), and Janelle Stelson (PA-10) and learn more about the eight candidates we just added to our campaign here.

We will be meeting the rest of our newly expanded slate of intrepid House candidates in the coming weeks. It’s a great crew! This fundraising total includes funds already raised with our friends at FridayAction for a joint event we’re doing in late March.

Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $384,700 raised, $500,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our new campaign to expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas. Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $10,000 to each of our five state parties.

Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $39,500 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and learn more. Amazing start everyone!

Winning Ohio - $63,700 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party. Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue! | Watch my conversation with David Pepper, who does a great overview of the opportunities we have in Ohio this year. Note a generous donor has sent $21,000 worth of Hopium-infused contributions directly to the candidates which are not included in our on-line goal tracker.

Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $134,600 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff

Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $80,100 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my conversation with Gov. Cooper

Advocate For The Hopium Agenda/Pass Resolutions Of Condemnation In Your Community/Study The Spangerberger And Padilla Speeches

Two more ways you can go to work in the coming days - call your leaders and advocate for elements of our working, ever evolving Hopium Agenda; and bring resolutions that condemn our Mad King and lets facts be spoken to a candid world to your state or local government.

This week our calls should clearly on reining in the illegal war in Iran.

I also strongly advise studying the speeches from Governor Spanberger and Senator Padilla this week. They charted a new, powerful rhetorical path forward for our movement, one that we can all use in our own work each day.

Keep working hard everyone. The momentum is with us, and we need to keep fighting as hard as we can - Simon