The East Wing.  The National Guard in U.S. cities.  Executing untried Venezuelans.  Grab ’em by the pussy.  Overt racism.  Jeffrey Epstein. Extreme tariffs.  Bailing out Argentina.  Annexing Canada and Greenland.  RFK, Jr. Pete Hegseth. Fake assassination attempt.  Killing wind and solar energy.  Prosecuting political enemies.  Mass redistricting. Alligator Alcatraz.  Orchestrating January 6 and pardoning its participants.  Self-enrichment.  Pardoning war criminals convicted in military courts. Mass deportation without due process.  Defiance of court orders.

It seems that almost every day we get news of something Trump did that so outrageous it defies words.

There are people who believe that, when Nover 2028 comes along, the Unites States will be in such a state of chaos that there will be no way to have a free and fair election, and that Trump will use this to stay in power.

Is All This Mayhem a Part of Trump’s Plan to Stay in Power?

This from the pro-democracy Lincoln Project, with a few comments below:

First, Trump screwed over American soybean farmers with his pointless trade war with China.

Now, Trump’s screwing over American ranchers by promising to import millions of dollars of Argentinian beef.

Trump hates America’s farmers.

Betrayal really is the right word.

Don’t forget, Trump won 93% of rural areas less than a year ago. Farmers voted for this guy because they thought he would have their back. But since coming into office, all Trump has done is screw them over. We’re not surprised.

But now’s not the time to say “ha, ha, I told you so!” – even though that’s kind of our jam.

Now, we need to reach out to the Americans Trump lied to. Show them they’re not better off. And show them the way forward is kicking this liar and his enablers out of office. Their costs are going up, too.

Trump’s bottom line is… well, the bottom’s falling out. If Trump wants his party to even have a prayer at keeping their majorities, he needs to carry the rural vote. And from what it looks like now, the rural vote is about ready to turn on the party they supported in the last cycle.

A few points.

1) Trump doesn’t “hate” farmers, any more than he hates real estate agents or pastry chefs.  One thing we have learned about Trump over the years is that everything and everyone in his life is a transaction. If someone can do something good for him in terms of wealth and/or power, he’s a friend.  For now.

The only people he “hates” are people who never, under any circumstances, are in a position to help him.  That’s why he said the other day, “I hate Democrats,” meaning those people who support preserving democracy and rule of law, while repelling fascism.

2) I’m sure that farmers are keenly aware that Trump’s tariffs have hurt them; they don’t need to be told this.    I know tons of these people, and they’re very good at basic math in terms of tons/acre, dollars/ton, etc.

3) Not only are farmers aware of the fact that Trump’s tariffs have begun to hurt them financially, but they are also upset.  I use the word “begun” because the real economic damage that tariffs create emerges over a period of years, not weeks or months.

4) Let’s consider for a moment the mindset of the typical American farmer.  Sure, financial success is important but so are (in most cases) extreme conservative values.

A few years ago, my brother told me, speaking about someone we both know well, “He’d vote for an orangutan before he’d vote to Hillary Clinton.”

In any case, good for the Lincoln Project for doing what they can to help the United States climb out of the pit into which it’s fallen.

Trump Runs into Trouble with U.S. Farmers–But How MUCH Trouble?

I have a very good friend who’s about my age, i.e., getting old, who writes:

We the People either find a way to break Trump’s party’s grip on the wheel, or we go down with the ship….Like many of our older citizens, I’ve been fighting against this evil current for decades, and with many in later generations who’ve also been waking up and grabbing oars, I still hope we may together turn the tide.

In many, probably hundreds of talks we’ve had on this and related subjects, you’ve always been the more optimistic one. And that’s a good thing, as pessimism is a self-fulfilling prophesy.

I agree that there are scenarios under which Trump is removed from office before our nation becomes another Russia.  Yet my imagination is running thin, as each day we have an event that boggles the mind: he did WHAT to the East Wing of the White House?

Does Washington D.C. need a new ballroom?  Our course not.  Trump has a need, however, and that is to show the American people that, to use my favorite French expression: les carottes sont cuites, i.e. “the carrots are cooked,” a metaphor for “the dinner I’ve made is a disaster and it’s too late to save it.”

Most of what he does on a daily basic is patently illegal, and, while small acts, like executing a few Venezuelans on the high seas with no proof of guilt of a crime may seem trivial, what they really mean is this: “Obviously I know that this clearly violates both domestic and international law. That’s the whole point.  I can do anything I want, and no one can stop me.”

Is Trump Poised to Announce Victory over the American People?