The USA by a slim margin votes for Fascism, Rascism, Mysogeny, Hate.

[Fred Steeves]

Chris Hedges at his finest -

[Peter Lemkin]

This is an Emergency
Mike Brock
Feb 28


[img=550x366.7925824175824]https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F2c6c57e3-b356-4abd-adb6-ca89c0eeda1d_4799x3200.jpeg[/img]

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy visit Bucha town after liberation it from Russian occupiers during Russian Ukrainian war

Not just emergency. Catastrophe. That is where we are. At the center of a historical catastrophe.
We are perilously teetering towards a global disaster, one that few seem to fully comprehend. Todays obscene spectacle in the Oval Office, where the President and Vice President of the United States berated the leader of a sovereign nation fighting for its survival, are not just a diplomatic misstep. They are a stark warning that we are perilously close to the collapse of the post-World War II international order.
This is not hyperbole. This is not alarmism. This is a cold, hard assessment of our current reality. We are witnessing the unraveling of decades of progress towards global stability, fueled by a toxic mix of ignorance, arrogance, and a dangerous misunderstanding of the complexities of our interconnected world.
The instruments of state power are being wielded by individuals guided not by wisdom or a sense of historical responsibility, but by petty grudges, empty narratives, and cynical alliances against the very foundations of democratic governance. This is more than a political crisis; it's an existential threat to the principles that have underpinned global stability for generations.
Those who believe America can remain neutral in this conflagration are not just naive—they are dangerously delusional. The fire that is spreading will consume us all, regardless of our attempts to stand apart. We are past the point where isolation is possible. The global economy, the reach of modern weaponry, and the cascading effects of regional conflicts ensure that no nation, no matter how powerful, can escape the consequences of this unfolding disaster.
The idiot savants of realpolitik, those who fancy themselves masters of great power games, like John Mearsheimer, think there's some reductive analysis to be had about the rational behavior of great powers. It's like applying the physics concept of a “spherical cow” to geopolitical analysis, but in the most stupid and sloppy way imaginable. Their oversimplified models fail to account for the complex realities of human nature, the chaos of domestic politics, and the unpredictable dynamics of a multipolar world.
These armchair strategists, with their neat theories and tidy predictions, are dangerously out of touch with the messy realities on the ground. They speak of rational actors and balance of power as if international relations were a game of chess, ignoring the fact that the pieces on this board have minds of their own, driven by fear, ambition, and often, sheer incompetence.
Now, as a result of this myopic thinking and the reckless actions it has enabled, the world prepares for war. Not the limited, contained conflicts these theorists might predict, but a potentially catastrophic conflagration that could engulf us all. The drums of war are beating, not just in the corridors of power, but in the hearts and minds of people being fed a steady diet of nationalism and fear.
We are witnessing the failure not just of diplomacy, but of imagination. The inability to conceive of a world beyond zero-sum games and spheres of influence is pushing us towards a precipice from which there may be no return. The so-called “realists” have become the ultimate fantasists, clinging to outdated notions of state behavior while the world burns around them.
This is the true emergency we face: a crisis of thought as much as a crisis of action. We must wake up to the reality that the old models, the old ways of thinking about international relations, are not just inadequate—they are actively dangerous in a world of nuclear weapons, climate change, biotechnology and artificial intelligence.
The consequences of such outdated thinking are already evident. Consider the disastrous invasion of Iraq in 2003, predicated on simplistic notions of regime change and democratization. This catastrophic misadventure, born from a reductionist view of power dynamics, has destabilized an entire region and fueled ongoing conflicts. Or look at the West's mishandling of Russia's resurgent ambitions, where a failure to understand the complex interplay of historical grievances, domestic politics, and personal ambitions has led us to the brink of a wider European war. This is the explanation for the conflict, not the singular feature of the eastward creep of NATO.
We urgently need a new paradigm for understanding and navigating global politics—one that acknowledges the intricate web of interdependencies that define our world. This new model must account for the role of non-state actors, the impact of rapid technological change, the power of information (and misinformation) in shaping public opinion, and the existential threats posed by climate change and potential pandemics.
Critics may argue that this view is naive, that the world has always been governed by power politics and always will be. But this criticism itself stems from the very limited thinking we must overcome. The challenges we face today—from climate change to the risks posed by artificial intelligence—are unprecedented in human history. They demand a level of global cooperation and foresight that traditional realpolitik is ill-equipped to provide.
It's not out of the realm of possibilities that we have simply moved too far outside of formerly stable arrangements, and the unstable interregnum we are now navigating is bound for military conflict. I don't want to believe that. But I am afraid it could be true. And if we do have time left, we don't have much of it.
The gravity of this situation demands immediate and decisive action at the highest levels of government. Congress should be starting emergency impeachment proceedings, as if the lives of their own children depend on it—because they do. This is not about partisan politics; it's about preserving the very foundations of our democracy and global stability. Every day that passes with unfit leaders at the helm of our nation is a day closer to potential catastrophe.
But impeachment alone is not enough. We need a fundamental reimagining of our approach to global politics and national security. We need leaders who understand the complexities of our interconnected world, who can navigate the challenges of emerging technologies, climate change, and shifting global power dynamics.
We need a new generation of thinkers and policymakers who can break free from the outdated paradigms that have brought us to this precipice. We need a public that is informed, engaged, and willing to demand more from their representatives than simple slogans and easy answers. We need it now. Not in four years. There really is no time for that.
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Principles
I am not at all sure, that people even know what the word means.
Mike Brock
Mar 1


I am going to risk going further out onto the limb of alarm than I already have. I recognize that acknowledging my emotional state will amuse the algorithm-captured people who sneer at me, seeing me as nothing more than an out-of-touch, preening intellectual. But I don't care. The truth is, I am quite upset about what has happened today. That the President of Ukraine was treated as he was, is a moral stain on this country. It was.
And it's true we have many moral stains on the clothes of our civilizational project. Because while we can get into conversations of foreign policy adventurism, and the long history of moral failings in this country, the truth is, it's the year 2025. Those things are in the past. Presumably, we've learned from them.
But apparently we have not.
We have somehow managed to elect literal traitors to act as the stewards of our country. I and others have written extensively about how this has happened. Yes, the liberal cosmopolitan elite lost touch with the rest of America. Yes, Biden was too old. Yes, Hunter Biden should never have been trying to sell access to his father. All of this is true.
But at this very moment, I have to say, I have such profound disappointment for a great many people. Not so much the people cheering this all on from the sidelines. They've been captured by algorithms and demagoguery, and have seemingly been rendered incapable of normative thought.
But there's a lot of people for whom that's not true. They know this is wrong. They acknowledge it. But they will not speak up.
They won't speak up because they feel “the left” has not sufficiently atoned for its sins. They won't speak up because of Gaza. They won't speak up because of moral failings in US foreign policy. These people are scattered across the left and right.
The bottom line is, they all know it's wrong. And that they stubbornly sit on the sidelines and explain why they can't be bothered to fight for the basic principles of constitutional government is supposed to be, as I understand—some of them family and friends—a feature of them standing firm on principles.
But what the hell do principles even mean, if you do not act on them?
What about this is normal? Can someone actually explain to me what is okay about what is happening that isn't regurgitating talking points from the MAGA media machine? I'm being really fucking serious.
Outside of a parade of nonsense about NATO expansion, fiscal responsibility, bullshit corruption scandals out of DOGE, I just don't know what possible justification there is for allowing this charade to go on? This isn't in anyone's interest. This isn't going to make anything better.
They are literally just breaking things, and then selling off the functions of government to Elon Musk.
This isn't governance. This isn't policy. This is vandalism on a national scale, dressed up in the language of populism and “America First.” It's a fire sale of our democratic institutions, our international credibility, and our future, all to satisfy the egos and line the pockets of a few.
And yet, we have people—intelligent, educated people—who continue to rationalize this behavior. They couch their complicity in terms of “both sides” arguments or whataboutism, as if the flaws of previous administrations somehow justify the wholesale dismantling of our democracy.
This silence, this inaction in the face of clear moral wrongs, is not principled. It's cowardice dressed up as moral superiority. It's a failure to recognize that while the past matters, the present is where we live and the future is what we're fighting for.
This silence, this inaction in the face of clear moral wrongs, is not principled. It's cowardice dressed up as moral superiority. It's a failure to recognize that while the past matters, the present is where we live and the future is what we're fighting for.
Yes, America has made mistakes. Yes, there are valid criticisms of our foreign policy, our leaders, our system. But none of that justifies standing idly by while the very foundations of our democracy are eroded, while we treat allies fighting for their survival with contempt, while we elevate those who would betray everything this country is supposed to stand for.
To those sitting on the sidelines, I say this: Your principles are worthless if they prevent you from acting in defense of democracy, decency, and the rule of law. Your moral purity is an illusion if it allows you to watch injustice unfold without raising your voice.
I don't know how to tell you this, but you are not above the fray. You are not an atomic unit unto yourself. You are a product of a society, a culture, a system. Even the language you speak was inherited. You do not exist outside of the contingencies of society.
Your delusions of your own sense of independence and the hero you think you are in whatever story is playing out in your fucking head is so detached, so removed from anything resembling a coherent reality, that you think of yourself as an independent thinker, that you think you rise above it all.
No, you don't.
You're a bag of meat and water like the rest of us, and the only reason you are where you are is because you worked with other people to help get you there. Your family. Your friends. Your colleagues. The customers who bought your product. The investors who took a risk on you.
You are part of a system. And you owe something to that system. Whether you realize that or not, you do.
And history will make its judgments.
To those sitting on the sidelines, I say this: Your principles are worthless if they prevent you from acting in defense of democracy, decency, and the rule of law. Your moral purity is an illusion if it allows you to watch injustice unfold without raising your voice.
The time for equivocation is over. The time for action is now. Speak up. Stand up. Fight for what you know is right. Because if you don't, you may find that the principles you thought you were preserving have been lost forever in the silence of your inaction.
This system, this democracy, this society that has nurtured you, educated you, protected you—it's now under threat. And your silence, your inaction, your self-serving rationalizations are not just a personal failing. They are a betrayal of everything that has given you the privilege to even have the choice to remain silent.
Wake up. Because this is not a spectator sport. This is our shared reality, our shared responsibility, our shared future at stake. And history—that relentless, unforgiving judge—will remember not just what was done, but what was not done when it mattered most.

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

[Peter Lemkin]

[Peter Lemkin]

[Peter Lemkin]

The Mob-Up on Zelensky by the Mobster-in-Chief
Heather Cox Richardson
Mar 1
 
Today, President Donald Trump ambushed Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky in an attack that seemed designed to give the White House an excuse for siding with Russia in its war on Ukraine. Vice President J.D. Vance joined Trump and Zelensky in the Oval Office—his attendance at such an event was unusual—in front of reporters. Those reporters included one from Russian state media, but no one from the Associated Press or Reuters, who were not granted access.
In front of the cameras, Trump and Vance engaged in what Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo called a “mob hit,” spouting Russian propaganda and trying to bully Zelensky into accepting a ceasefire and signing over rights to Ukrainian rare-earth minerals without guarantees of security. Vance, especially, seemed determined to provoke a fight in front of the cameras, accusing Zelensky, who has been lavish in his thanks to the U.S. and lawmakers including Trump, of being ungrateful. When that didn’t land, Vance said it was “disrespectful” of Zelensky to “try to litigate this in front of the American media,” when it was the White House that set up the event in front of reporters.
Zelensky maintained his composure and did not rise to the bait, but he did not accept their pro-Russian version of the war. He insisted that it was in fact Russia that invaded Ukraine and is still bombing and killing on a daily basis. His refusal to sit silent and submit meekly to their attack seemed to infuriate them.
Trump appeared to become unhinged when Zelensky suggested that the U.S. would in the future feel problems, apparently alluding to the new U.S. relationship with Russia. “You don’t know that. You don’t know that,” Trump erupted. “Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel.”
Zelensky answered that he was just answering the questions Vance was showering on him. “You are in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel,” Trump said. “We’re going to feel very good.”
Zelensky answered: “You will feel influenced.”
Trump disagreed. “We are going to feel very good and very strong.”
“I am telling you,” Zelensky said. “You will feel influenced.”
Trump appeared to lose control at that point, ranting at Zelensky that Ukraine was losing and that he must accept a ceasefire, but also complaining about former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama and echoing Putin’s talking points. When he could get a word in, Zelensky reiterated that he would not accept a ceasefire without guarantees of security and pointed out that Putin had broken a ceasefire agreement in the past.
Later, when a reporter picked up on that question and asked what would happen if Russia broke a ceasefire agreement, Trump became enraged. Among other things, he said: “Putin went through a hell of a lot with me. He went through a phony witch hunt….” Trump referred to what he calls the “Russia, Russia, Russia hoax” that Russia had worked to elect him in 2016. That effort, though, was not a hoax: the Republican-dominated Senate Intelligence Committee in 2020 released an exhaustive report detailing that effort.
One of the things Russian operatives believed Trump’s team had agreed to, the report said, was Russia’s annexation of the parts of eastern Ukraine it is now trying to grab through military occupation.
Then Trump continued to rant at the reporter, rehashing his version of the story of Hunter Biden’s laptop at some length, tying in former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and former representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) in a larger stew that brought up Trump’s history with both Russia and Ukraine and their roles in his quest to hold power. Clinton ran against Trump in 2016, when Russia worked to elect him, and Zelensky came across Trump’s radar screen when, in July 2019, Trump tried to force Zelensky to say he was opening an investigation into Hunter Biden in order to smear Biden’s father Joe Biden before the 2020 election. Only after such an announcement, Trump said, would he deliver to Ukraine the money Congress had appropriated to help Ukraine fight off Russia’s 2014 invasion.
Zelensky did not make the announcement. A whistleblower reported Trump’s phone call, leading to a congressional investigation that in turn led to Trump’s first impeachment. Schiff led the House’s impeachment team.
After unloading on the reporter, Trump abruptly ended today’s meeting, saying it was “going to be great television.” Shortly afterward, he asked Zelensky and his team to leave the White House.
This afternoon, former representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) posted: “Generations of American patriots, from our revolution onward, have fought for the principles Zelenskyy is risking his life to defend. But today, Donald Trump and JD Vance attacked Zelenskyy and pressured him to surrender the freedom of his people to the KGB war criminal who invaded Ukraine. History will remember this day—when an American President and Vice President abandoned all we stand for.”
—
Notes:
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/28/tass-oval-office-trump-zelenskyy-00206739
https://apnews.com/article/trump-zelenskyy-vance-transcript-oval-office-80685f5727628c64065da81525f8f0cf
X:joshtpm/status/1895663732241678670
Liz_Cheney/status/1895543534377152668
YouTube:watch?v=wpAj8rRe-p0
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Heather Cox Richardson
Mar 2
 
John Simpson of the BBC noted recently that “there are years when the world goes through some fundamental, convulsive change.” Seven weeks in, he suggested, 2025 is on track to be one of them: “a time when the basic assumptions about the way our world works are fed into the shredder.”
Simpson was referring to the course the United States has taken in the past month as the administration of President Donald Trump has hacked the United States away from 80 years of alliances and partnerships with democratic nations in favor of forging ties with autocrats like Russian president Vladimir Putin.
On February 24, 2025, the U.S. delegation to the United Nations voted against a resolution condemning Russia for its aggression in Ukraine and calling for it to end its occupation. That is, the U.S. voted against a resolution that reiterated one of the founding principles of the United Nations itself: that one nation must not invade another. The U.S. voted with Russia, Israel, North Korea, Belarus, and fourteen other countries friendly to Russia against the measure, which nonetheless passed overwhelmingly.
Then, on Friday, February 28, 2025, Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance made clear their shift toward Russian president Vladimir Putin as they berated Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, publicly trying to bully him into agreeing to the ceasefire conditions that Putin and Trump want to end a war Russia started by invading Ukraine.
The abandonment of democratic principles and the democratic institutions the U.S. helped to create is isolating the United States from nations that have been our allies, partners, and friends.
After yesterday’s Oval Office debacle, democratic nations rejected Trump and Vance’s embrace of Russia and Putin and publicly reiterated their support for Ukraine and President Zelensky. The leaders of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the European Council, the European Parliament, the European Union, and others all posted their support for Ukraine and Zelensky.
In London today, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer greeted Zelensky with an enthusiastic hug and in front of cameras told him: "You are very, very welcome here…. As you heard from the cheers on the street outside, you have full backing across the United Kingdom. We stand with you and Ukraine for as long as it may take."
In the last interview that former secretary of state Antony Blinken gave before leaving office, he talked about the importance of alliances and the strong hand the Biden administration was leaving for the incoming Trump administration. Now, a little over a month later, that interview provides a striking contrast to the course the Trump administration has steered.
We are learning the difference at our peril.

—
Notes:
schiff.senate.gov/post/3ljbtm5cy3k2a
maks23.bsky.social/post/3ljdxyvpgic23
acyn.bsky.social/post/3ljdnh4oja22g

[Lauren Johnson]

Peter, this whole thread is an embarrassment in a forum on deep politics. It is more like watching CNN with more edge. I hope you can get back on track of looking for truth in the context sorting through a multitude of conflicting narratives.

[Peter Lemkin]

The backstory behind the Oval Office Massacre of Zelensky

[Peter Lemkin]

The real reason behind the pre-planned ambush of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office was to provide justification for cutting off congressionally approved aid to Ukraine!!
Heather Cox Richardson
Mar 4
 
As seemed evident even at the time, the ambush of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office on Friday was a setup to provide justification for cutting off congressionally approved aid to Ukraine as it tries to fight off Russia’s invasion. That “impoundment” of funds Congress has determined should go to Ukraine is illegal under the terms of the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, and it is unconstitutional because the Constitution gives to Congress, not to the president, the power to set government spending and to make laws. The president’s job is to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”
It was for a similar impoundment of congressionally appropriated funds for Ukraine, holding them back until Zelensky agreed to tilt the 2020 election by smearing Joe Biden, that the House of Representatives impeached Trump in 2019. It is not hard to imagine that Trump chose to repeat that performance, in public this time, as a demonstration of his determination to act as he wishes regardless of laws and Constitution.
On Sunday, Nicholas Enrich, the acting assistant administrator for global health at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) released a series of memos he and other senior career officials had written, recording in detail how the cuts to “lifesaving humanitarian assistance” at the agency will lead to “preventable death” and make the U.S. less safe. The cuts will “no doubt result in preventable death, destabilization, and threats to national security on a massive scale,” one memo read.
Enrich estimated that without USAID intervention, more than 16 million pregnant women and more than 11 million newborns would not get medical care; more than 14 million children would not get care for pneumonia and diarrhea (among the top causes of preventable deaths for children under the age of 5); 200,000 children would be paralyzed with polio; and 1 million children would not be treated for severe acute malnutrition. There would be an additional 12.5 million or more cases of malaria this year, meaning 71,000 to 166,000 deaths; a 28–32% increase in tuberculosis; as many as 775 million cases of avian flu; 2.3 million additional deaths a year in children who could not be vaccinated against diseases; additional cases of Ebola and mpox. The higher rates of illness will take a toll on economic development in developing countries, and both the diseases and the economic stagnation will spill over into the United States.
Although Secretary of State Marco Rubio promised to create a system for waivers to protect that lifesaving aid, the cuts appear random and the system for reversing them remains unworkable. The programs remain shuttered. Enrich blamed "political leadership at USAID, the Department of State, and DOGE, who have created and continue to create intentional and/or unintentional obstacles that have wholly prevented implementation."
On Sunday, Enrich sent another memo to staff, thanking them for their work and telling them he had been placed on “administrative leave, effective immediately.”
Dangerous cuts are taking place in the United States, as well. On Friday, on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Musk called Social Security, the basis of the U.S. social safety net, a “Ponzi scheme.” Also on Friday, the Social Security Administration announced that it will consolidate the current ten regional offices it maintains into four and cut at least 7,000 jobs from an agency that is already at a 50-year staffing low. Erich Wagner of Government Executive reported that billionaire Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) team had canceled the leases for 45 of the agency’s field offices and is urging employees to quit.
The acting commissioner of the agency, Leland Dudek, a mid-level staffer who got his post after sharing sensitive information with DOGE, blamed former president Joe Biden for the cuts. In contrast, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) pointed out that the system currently delivers 99.7% of retirement benefits accurately and on time. He warned that the administration is hollowing it out, and when it can no longer function, Republicans will say it needs the private sector to take it over. He called the cuts “a prelude to privatization.”
“The public is going to suffer terribly as a result of this,” a senior official told NPR. “Local field offices will close, hold times will increase, and people will be sicker, hungry, or die when checks don't arrive or a disability hearing is delayed just one month too late.”
In South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia, more than 200 wildfires began to burn over the weekend as dry conditions and high winds drove the flames. Firefighters from the Forest Service helped to contain the fires, but they were understaffed even before Trump took office. Now, with the new cuts to the service, prevention measures are impossible and there aren’t enough people to fight fires effectively and safely. South Carolina governor Henry McMaster ® declared a state of emergency on Sunday.
Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo picked up something many of us missed, posting today that Trump’s February 11 “workforce optimization” executive order is a clear blueprint for the end goal of all the cuts to the federal government. The order says that departments and agencies must plan to cut all functions and employees who are not designated as essential during a government shutdown. As Marshall notes, this is basically a blueprint for a skeleton crew version of government.
But for all that the administration, led by DOGE, insists that the U.S. has no money for the government services that help ordinary people, it appears to think there is plenty of money to help wealthy supporters. In February, the cryptocurrency bitcoin experienced its biggest monthly drop since June 2022, falling by 17.5%. On Sunday, in a post on his social media site, Trump announced that the government will create a strategic stockpile of five cryptocurrencies, spending tax dollars to buy them.
Supporters say that such an investment could pay off in decades, when that currency has appreciated to become worth trillions of dollars. But, as Zachary B. Wolf of CNN notes, “for every bitcoin evangelist, there is an academic or banker from across the political spectrum who will point out that cryptocurrency investments might just as easily go up in smoke, which would be an unfortunate thing to happen to taxpayer dollars.”
The first three currencies Trump announced were not well known, and the announcement sent their prices soaring. Hours later, he added the names of the two biggest cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin. After the initial surges, by Monday prices for the currencies had fallen roughly back to where they had been before the announcement, making the announcement look like a pump-and-dump scheme. Economist Peter Schiff, a Trump supporter, called for a full congressional investigation, suggesting that someone other than Trump might have written the social media posts that set off the frenzy and wondering who was buying and selling in that short window of time.
Also on Sunday, the administration announced it would stop enforcing anti-money-laundering laws that were put in place over Trump’s veto in 2021 at the end of his first term and required shell companies to identify the people who own or control them. Referring to the law as a “Biden rule,” Trump called the announcement that he would not enforce it “Exciting News!” The Trump Organization frequently uses shell companies.
A world in which the government does not regulate business or address social welfare or infrastructure, claiming instead to promote economic development by funneling resources to wealthy business leaders, looks much like the late-nineteenth-century world that Trump praises. Trump insists that President William McKinley, who was president from 1897 to 1901, created the nation’s most prosperous era by imposing high tariffs on products from foreign countries.
Trump confirmed today that he will go forward with his own 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada and an additional 10% on goods from China, adding to the 10% tariffs Trump added to Chinese products in February. While President Joe Biden maintained tariffs on only certain products from China to protect specific industries, it appears Trump’s tariffs will cover all products.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada called the tariffs “unjustified” and announced that Canada will put retaliatory tariffs on $20.8 billion worth of U.S. products made primarily in Republican-dominated states, including spirits, beer, wine, cosmetics, appliances, orange juice, peanut butter, clothing, footwear, and paper. A second set of tariffs in a few weeks will target about $90 billion worth of products, including cars and trucks, EVs, products made of steel and aluminum, fruits and vegetables, beef, pork, and dairy products.
Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum did not provide details of what her country would do but told reporters today: “We have a plan B, C, D.” Chinese officials say that China, too, will impose retaliatory tariffs, singling out agricultural products and placing tariffs of 15% on corn and 10% on soybeans. It also says it will restrict exports to 15 U.S. companies.
The tariffs in place in the U.S. at the end of the nineteenth century were less important for the explosive growth of the economy in that era than the flood of foreign capital into private businesses: railroad, mining, cattle, department stores, and finance. By the end of the century, investing in America was such a busy trade that the London Stock Exchange had a separate section for American railroad transactions alone.
And the economic growth of the country did not help everyone equally. While industrialists like Cornelius Vanderbilt II could build 70-room summer homes in Newport, Rhode Island, the workers whose labor kept the mines and factories producing toiled fourteen to sixteen hours a day in dangerous conditions for little money, with no workmen’s compensation or disability insurance if they were injured. The era has become known as the Gilded Age, dominated by so-called robber barons.
Today, the stock market dropped dramatically upon news that Trump intended to go through with his tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 650 points, down 1.48%. The S&P fell 1.76%, and the Nasdaq Composite, which focuses on technology stocks, fell 2.64%. Meanwhile, shares of European defense companies jumped to record highs as Europe moves to replace the U.S. support for Ukraine.
Also today, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta forecast a dramatic contraction in the economy in the first quarter of 2025. Evaluating current data according to a mathematical model, it moved from an expected 2.9% growth in gross domestic product at the end of January to –2.8% today. That is just a prediction and there is still room for those numbers to turn around, but they might help to explain why Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is talking about changing the way the U.S. calculates economic growth.
—
Notes:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/usaid-official-leave-barriers-life-saving-programs-preventable-death-rcna194455
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/03/02/usaid-memo-official-leave/
https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/2dbddd9a823b8824/168a9032-full.pdf
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/health/usaid-cuts-deaths-infections.html
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-usaid-rubio-marocco-canceled-programs-gaza-syria-congo-hiv-ebola
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/health/usaid-cuts-deaths-infections.html
https://newrepublic.com/post/192244/trump-celebrates-destroy-anti-money-laundering-law
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/01/trump-tied-to-dc-protests-dark-money-and-shell-companies/
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/03/us-pauses-military-aid-to-ukraine-says-white-house.html
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/22/politics/leland-dudek-acting-social-security-head-doge/index.html
https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/03/prelude-privatization-social-security-confirms-workforce-reduction-targets-continues-shutter-offices/403439/
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/elon-musk-slams-social-security-ponzi-scheme-sparking-new-concerns-rcna194538
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump-orders-permanent-govt-shutdown-no-really
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/28/nx-s1-5296986/trump-worker-cuts-social-security-administration
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X:PeterSchiff/status/1896660831880007729

[Peter Lemkin]

If you're not frightened yet, this ought to put you over the edge!!!

[Peter Lemkin]

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I did NOT watch. I did see highlighted bits and pieces later and read the transcript. This about sums it up for me......
America Is Over
Fascism and Acquiescence on Full Display
Mary L Trump
Mar 5

 

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It is hard to put into words how I feel about tonight’s grotesque event. It was at once a travesty, a farce, and a dystopian exercise in mendacity, disinformation, and fascism. It was, if you will, a stunning and brazen display of American carnage.
None of what Donald Trump said was unsurprising. For anybody paying attention, it was exactly what we should have expected. But to see it play out in real-time—the endless mendacity; the incalculable cruelty and unceasing violence; the assaults on our allies, on the most vulnerable among us, on our rights, on our home—was difficult to take. The ways in which Donald drowned the American people in the vile poison that is his vision of America, and indeed, of humanity, is something I will never forget.
What tonight offered us was as much clarity as we needed to understand where we are and what we need to do if we are to get through this and come out on the other side.
The Republican Party rewarded Donald with yet more slavish sycophancy. There is nothing to hope for there so let’s not waste our time.
The Democratic Party had no coordinated stance. Once again, they failed to understand the mission. When Rep. Al Green (D-TX) stood in protest, he refused to stop even after Speaker of the House Mike Johnson threatened to have him removed by the Sergeant-at-Arms. Some Democrats also raised their voices, but not enough. And when the Sergeant-at-Arms did indeed remove Rep. Green, all Democratic voices went silent. I don’t know that I have ever been as ashamed of my party as I was tonight. Instead of vocal and unrelenting opposition, they held up sophomoric signs and sat stony-faced as if they couldn’t even be bothered.

As we’ve long expected, it is up to us. Now we know. Tonight we mourn. Tomorrow we fight.