Simon Rosenberg recently explained what even minimally-informed people know: mass deportation–if it occurs– will raise prices for Americans, disrupt businesses and slow growth. (Of course, growth is already tanking as a result of Trump’s on-and-off tariffs. When even the Wall Street Journal calls a GOP economic policy “stupid,” you can pretty much assume widespread agreement among people who can spell “economics.”) Rosenberg noted that even the threat of deportations is having its effect; victims of crime and witnesses aren’t showing up for court dates because they are afraid ICE will seize them. “That means cases can’t be prosecuted and that means criminals stay free to commit more crimes. Party of law and order my sweet Aunt Annie.”
Speaking of “law and order,” there are reports that the administration is considering a pardon for Derek Chauvin, who killed George Floyd on camera. Such a pardon would be further evidence of the GOP effort to return the U.S. to the days of Jim Crow.
Let’s be candid. The daily havoc being applauded by Trump supporters demonstrates the profound ignorance of the MAGA cult–as does their rejection of expertise as “elitist,” and their inability to recognize the all-too-obvious effects of Trump/Musk actions.
Research confirms that the polarization that characterizes our politics is largely between the informed and uninformed. (For confirmation, you can review the occasional comment from trolls on this blog.)
The monumental ignorance shown by those cheering Trump and Vance’s thuggish behavior toward Ukraine is a perfect example. In a recent post to The Bulwark, Jonathan Last wrote.
Donald Trump and Republicans explain their worldview by calling it “America First.” That’s a lie.
American foreign policy has always put America first. That’s what nations do. It’s axiomatic. Why did the United States do Lend-Lease with Britain before we entered World War II and bankroll the Marshall Plan afterwards? Why did we airlift supplies into West Berlin? Why did we spend trillions of dollars on nuclear weapons that have never been used? Why do we police the global shipping lanes and ensure stability in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East?
It’s not because we’re nice.
It’s because these actions further our interests. They make America safer and wealthier. They check the rise of rival powers. They put America first.
I urge you to read Last’s entire essay–especially his explanation of “Pax America.” As he writes, for 75 years after the Second World War, the U.S. was the dominant global power. No country, anywhere on earth, could act without considering our interests.
The relationships in NATO, and among the Five Eyes, and with America’s other really close allies—Japan, South Korea—aren’t merely military agreements. They’re kinships. They transcend peace and war; they’re diplomatic, political, cultural, and economic.
Again: This is leverage. It means that when we go to war, we bring a huge crew with us. Other countries are willing to expend resources, and even shed blood, to stay aligned with us. Even for a contentious war like Iraq, we got nearly 40 countries to participate in some way or another.
This makes things cheaper for us. The Soviet Union and China and Iran have to spend money to dominate and subjugate their clients. Our allies spend money on our behalf, pursuing our interests, because we have shaped them in our image.
As Last writes, no country has ever been more globally dominant–and that dominance has largely been a function of our wealth–our ability to spend money.
Here is the thing you must understand: America will win any contest determined by the ability to spend money.
Rightly understood, this is just another example of how America created rules to benefit ourselves: Of course the richest country in history would build a system in which it could exert influence on the global order by spending money: Because the ability to spend money is one of our key advantages.
And yet today’s “America First” class thinks that spending money in order to shape the world is some kind of weakness…
Why do we spend $10 billion a year fighting HIV/AIDS in foreign countries? I have to keep saying this: It’s not because we’re nice.
We spend that money in order to stabilize the global order. If AIDS runs wild in one country, that creates ripple effects. It destabilizes the local economy, risking political instability, which in turn risks regional instability. All of which poses some small danger to the established order which—QED—benefits America.
We spend that $10 billion to preserve the system that benefits us.
That’s what soft power is.
When people in charge are clueless about how the world works, the world no longer works for us. Thanks, MAGA….
Yep. Stupid. Ignorant. Insane. Self-absorbed. All these things erode the visions mentioned above. The stupidity prevents the stupid from seeing those ripples and how they impact our position of strength in the world. Trump/Vance/Musk have NO IDEA what they’re doing, because they are #1 Very stupid and #2 Totally corrupted by a few donors who are also stupid and self-serving.
As the great adage from the late Gene Klein (Former owner of the San Diego Chargers, a major movie theater chain and several Kentucky Derby winners) pointed out that you will find most rich people to not be very bright … or aware of the world in which they inhabit. Why? Because they’ve never had to pay attention to those things before.
Trump and Musk have never wanted for anything in their life, never had to actually work for their livings, nor ever been told “NO” by anyone in their spheres. Their intellectual horizons basically end with the tip of their noses. And now they want to impose their collective stupidity on the rest of the world, ripples be damned.
I don’t think they’re as rudderless is you might think. When everyone is distracted by these antics, political antics, cultural antics, financial antics, a projection of cult, and all sorts of other antics, it’s easy to loot through the back door while everybody’s focused on the fascia or front door.
Musk is a prime example. His exploding starships, are actually quite stunning in the night sky, but exactly what do they accomplish? It’s part of the circuses, except it’s costing the taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. And for what? So Musk can pretend he is in a marvel comic heading to develop a regime on another planet? That can take your mind off or distract from reality and what’s actually happening. That’s just one small example. Bondi, Nome, The messing with veterans, the dismantling of government on a wholesale level, distracts! You’ve got these Trump chicks running around causing havoc, one actually in military garb, is hilarious, irritating, and distracting.
DT can’t shovel the cash fast enough, and given the opportunity, his wife is going to own more shoes than the former Philippine first lady. Why would you want to give up the public slop trough When you got the slop shoot door wedged open. You got Kennedy going after seed oil tinctures, and irritating a whole bunch of homeopathic citizens, who’s going to pay attention to what’s really happening? It’s a grift, Just like the Germans were susceptible to their grift, and the Italians were susceptible to their gift. It didn’t turn out as planned, but, that’s because the greed turned into something more powerful, a god-like status which is hard to pass by.
“. .. ..He stands in opposition and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits down in the temple of God, publicly showing himself to be a god. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I used to tell you these things?….”
9 But the lawless one’s presence is by the operation of Satan with every powerful work and lying signs and wonders 10 and every unrighteous deception for those who are perishing, as a retribution because they did not accept the love of the truth in order that they might be saved. 11 That is why God lets a deceptive influence mislead them so that they may come to believe the lie, 12 in order that they all may be judged because they did not believe the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness. (2nd Thessalonians 2)
Trump was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and hasn’t stirred since.
The amount of National debt has increased $27 trillion since George W. Beyond having an efficient government it has waisted and scammed the public. The first George W. (washington) made it clear that once we found out we could borrow against ourselves we would run into a major problem.
Each family of four could have received a $20,000 check per year for the last 16 years.
Its noted 20 million are on social security roles that should not be. Who is cashing these checks.
NGO’s are given millions and their CEO’s are cashing in.
The outrageous fees you are spending to eat out, and at the grocery store, for rent are in proportion to, if not directly related to how much the government is waisting.
Yes we need to be focused on how we help the world and the influence we wield through kindness has an impact upon the world at large.
In fifteen years we won’t be able to help anyone because we will be bankrupt. This is why 70% agree with huge cuts that are painful.
If we would have run the horrible debts that Obama blamed blamed George W. For who was a moderate we would be at $15 trillion paying out $300 billion in interest.
Prices at the grocery store, rent, eating out would prortionslly have gone up because the backdoor tax of government competing with the public would be 1/3 of the increases. Hamburger would be at $3.75 -$4.25 a pound not $6
Its not America First or last for most and I hate that meme,
Its survival from bankruptcy which is just around the corner. Is “Dr, Zhivago time” is nearer than you think
The art of being an authoritarian begins and ends with the ego, the belief that you are superior and others inferior, compared to being social and collaborative with others. Trump, the showman, taught about one-quarter of the US population to be egoists. Believe in yourself (which can be good), but take it to the extreme of feeling superior to anyone different in almost every apparent way.
Now we have the Big Three (or 4, 5, 6, ….) with little knowledge of government, taking wild swings all around them, hoping to hit something solid more or less by accident. So far it’s been a swing and a miss over and over again.
The unanswerable questions are what is their purpose, what is their reward, and at whose expense does it come?
It is mainly without a real purpose, but rewarding financially (think, power) for themselves and their super-sized egos.
I wouldn’t read any media outlet run by Bill Kristol, the MIC mouthpiece in Washington. The Bulwark gets its money from Donors Trust, a Koch nonprofit that funds the State Policy Network. When I pointed this out on Indiana’s Policy Network, I got blocked on Twitter. They love operating in the shadows.
Do you remember who took over the Republican Party not very long before Donald Trump’s rise? I would say before the fraud, Obama?
The Kochs spent billions taking over the party with the help of the Tea Party movement – another racist organization. Koch may have funded Trump 1.0 but it came with Pence – remember that con man? It didn’t work out well for Trump, so he made a deal with Musk and his Technocracy for Trump 2.0.
Do you think the Kochs might use the Bulwark to publish hit pieces on Trump? 😉
I disagree entirely with Land’s promotion of American Imperialism, which supports the defense industry and the web of CIA agencies around the world. Our “soft power” in Ukraine caused a proxy war against Russia using Ukrainians as cannon fodder. Now, the UK is trying to pull a Winston Churchill and sucker us into getting involved with their con to take on Russia like we took on Germany. Keir Starmer is no Winston Churchill. 😉
Trump and Musk are using a shotgun approach rather than a rifle. It wouldn’t be my choice, but I certainly understand it. Musk is losing money on this deal, as his companies are taking a hit. Tesla is getting hammered by protesters. However, Trump’s network is making riches galore. Someone(s) is buying Trump or paying him for his outstanding work. I still remind people that Epstein was much, much, more than a sexual deviant. He wasn’t at the top of the pyramid. He was a pawn and a bro of Trump’s. Whoever controlled the late Epstein now owns Trump. Did Donny use all his resources to investigate how Epstein was murdered in a jail cell with 24/7 surveillance, or was it good riddance? Also, how many of Epstein’s clients have gone on trial? I think you clever people can make the connections…
Smoke and mirrors hide the massive grift that is certainly going on.
Too often we, confuse ignorance with stupidity. I don’t believe the Magats are stupid. What’s the difference? You can inform the ignorant, but you can’t fix stupid. Maybe the whole problem stems from the proliferation of right wing media.. I’ve been on a few different television providers’ systems. Every single one has FAUX NEWS as a part of their regular lineup, but only a handful offer MSNBC, in the basic lineup. If you have to add a package, sometimes at additional cost, many people can’t afford it.
For those who want to preach about deficits, consider if you will, Orange Jesus is responsible for 1/4 of the total debt. His tax cuts cost trillions. Let’s go back to Bush 2. He was handed a budget with a surplus. A true Conservative would have applied the surplus to the debt. Instead, he did a big tax reduction and it was bye-bye surplus and hello deficit. Let me assure everyone reading this comment that Republicans ONLY care about the deficit when a Democrat is in the White House.
I think there are three kinds of Dump followers: the haters, the whiners, and the ignorant. You can’t change the haters, you might be able to soothe the whiners, and the best chance is with educating the ignorant. Good luck.
Find an authoritarian in government, and you’ve found corruption.