The Frankish Reich

Is this for real? I've seen it mentioned elsewhere. I'd assume fake except everything is so crazy with this group that you just can't assume anymore.

Paul Krugman: Trump 2.0 is now run by the Dunning-Kruger Kids. And the latest is, of course, total moron horror show Laura Loomer dictating national security personnel decisions.

Rick Santelli/CNBC is no liberal. He's actually the guy who coined the term "tea party" in response to Obama's bailouts during the Great Recession. (Unfortunately that term was quickly co-opted by people who are the opposite of libertarian.) He put it simply yesterday. Globalism in trade has greatly reduced prices. There is no argument here. So let's not overthink it. The end of globalism/freer world trade will raise prices. So it is inflationary. Period. It is also anti-growth. It makes corporations and entrepreneurs less likely to invest and to grow the economy. So it is inflationary and tends to cause stagnation. We call that stagflation.

I agree. How a libertarian could become a Trumpie is beyond me. I assume it is all a strategic ploy. Peter Thiel and his protege JD Vance needed someone intellectually weak (Trump) in power, someone they could dazzle and control to ultimately get to their Benevolent King model of governance and a libertarian paradise. Elon hopped on right away. You know they hate tariffs privately but probably believe this is all working to destroy the current world order, leaving it open for their Benevolent Fascist to ascend. I'm not making this up. It is Curtis Yarvin and his ilk, who have become weirdly close to this whole set. They're running Trump, and he's too dumb and narcissistic to realize it. Or he doesn't care since all he's ever wanted are the trappings of power. Yep. Republicans are the new socialists.

Ahh, nothing like the Parade of Hits the Trumpies will inundate us with to try to distract from the Most Incompetent Presidency in Modern History. Expect lots of photos of trans people. Maybe AOC looking like she's yelling. Biden stumbling at a cemetery. Nancy Pelosi. Hell, even Paul Pelosi. And nothing about this current American Carnage.

It isn't elitism. It is common sense mixed with a bit of tough love. If your economic future depends on the return of a factory employing generally unskilled labor to your town, well, then you probably need to find a new town or develop a skill. Hmm, sounds a little like Republican philosophy?

Preposterous that they're now talking about anti-tariff people as "libs." Yes, we are classical liberals, today's libertarians. Tariffs are, at their core, an affront to freedom. Anti-tariff = pro-freedom. Period.

@Joe Ferguson forever Just wondering what your take would be on The Pitt. I've heard that many ER docs say it is the most realistic of all medical shows. Incredibly fast-paced. Of course, not "realistic" I imagine since they cram every single outrageous thing that may have happened to their ER doc consultants in a career into 15 one-hour episodes. I find it pretty absorbing as a window into a world I know little about.

Isn't there something about freedom? The freedom to buy whatever the hell you want from whoever the hell wants to sell it to you? In other words, in my classical liberal (read: Locke, not Pelosi) philosophy there has to be a truly compelling basis for stopping that free exchange. And that's why it requires a true "national emergency," not some concocted foolish long-term drive to autarky.

Hey, guess what, I agree with you. The semaglutide era ahead of us is not all wonderful. What will happen to a society/public health when maybe 40% of the population is dependent on these drugs?

Bill Maher has, unfortunately, been right about some things. Woke identity politics is killing the Democratic brand? Check. Trump will not accept defeat? Check. Trump has a history of always doing some woman on the side, who's the leading candidate now? Hmm.

Thanks to our light sleeper in NC for that wake-up call.

We run a trade surplus with Australia. So why any tariff at all?

So what else explains it?

Go to bed.

Go to bed.

So I'll hand it to the old creep Rupert Murdoch. He owns both Fox News and the Wall St. Journal, and they're going in completely different directions here. The Journal has been superb in calling out Trump's insanity on a daily basis while Fox News continues to cheerlead and ignore the obvious lead news story.

You mean I'm NOT getting my job back at the old Pinto factory? A machine powered by AI is gonna make a Bronco Sport instead?

Wow, dude got really fat again. I guess he was on Ozempic in the run-up to the election, but now he's looking like Massive Heart Attack in Waiting.

⬆️ QAnon adherent. Loomerite.

Awesome. And here I thought Sowell was dead.

So tell me: did a QAnon adherent just visit the White House and advise Trump on national security personnel? You mean I just found QAnon again? Oh, and grow up, loser. ⬆️ Death of a Salesman.

Good question. It's so full of sycophants that they may be able to stick around longer than you think. Still, Trump always needs a fall guy, so let the firings begin. I think Bessent will be gone. He had a decent academic/investment banking career and all that's left of that is being a pariah in those two communities. He may think the only way to salvage anything is to quit and come out against tariffs.

It is. Incredibly juvenile and completely witless. He's having a tantrum because he likes to mock me for finding signs of QAnon everywhere in TrumpWorld, and now he's got nothing since a noted QAnon nut was just invited to the White House, and Trump did what she told him to do.

He's already made a fool out of himself defending the indefensible. He better stick it out because I can't see him getting another prominent post anywhere. And he's too bland for Fox News or his own podcast.