F**king Mondays: Trump's Bloodbath, Putin's Victory, And Strongman Fantasies
It's that time of the week again!
Welcome to another edition of “F**king Mondays!” In the roundup today:
Trump’s non-violent bloodbath
There is a huge debate raging (mostly on Twitter) about Trump’s use of the word “bloodbath” during a speech he gave at a rally in Ohio. In a meandering, barely coherent speech, Trump promised a 100 percent tariff on Chinese-made cars to protect the U.S. auto makers if he was elected. He then declared if he wasn’t elected, there would be a “bloodbath.” Here’s the transcript:
“We’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those cars if I get elected. Now if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s gonna be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it. But they’re not going to sell those cars. They’re building massive factories.”
Media outlets accurately reported on Trump’s words, quoting him directly:
According to the right, this was a grotesque smear on the honorable president, who has definitely never, ever used violent rhetoric before:
When you watch the video, it is very clear Trump wasn’t talking about the car manufacturing industry when he used the word “bloodbath.”
In the first sentence, he tells President Xi China isn’t going to be able to sell Chinese cars in America if he gets elected. He then says if he doesn’t get elected, there will be “a bloodbath for the country,” and that the Chinese/Mexican car issue is “going to be the least of it.” To recap: Trump didn’t say what he said, and the liberal media is biased for reporting on what he definitely didn’t say, even though he did actually say it.
Putin wins a very legitimate election
One wonders why Putin went through with the performance given he’s fighting a full scale war with Ukraine, but either way, it’s another good reason for Tucker Carlson to move there.
Putin used his victory speech to warn the West about a “Third Wold War,” so lots to be positive about going forward.
The strongman fantasy
The rise of Donald Trump revealed a deeply worrying inclination for fascism in America. The right had been rotting for decades before Trump emerged, but no candidate like him had managed to successfully co-opt the seething racism and resentment that existed. The transformation of the right was sudden, shocking, but ultimately not surprising — it just needed the right character to set the wheels in motion.
While many Americans believe that an unencumbered Trump would turn the nation into a paradise for people like them, they have no real understanding of what living in a real dictatorship is like. Historian Timothy Snyder has a brilliant essay on what living under such rule actually means:
Another pleasant illusion is that the strongman will unite the nation. But an aspiring dictator will always claim that some belong and others don't. He will define one group after another as the enemy. This might feel good, so long as you feel that you are on the right side of the line. But now fear is the essence of life. The politics of us-and-them, once begun, never ends.
We dream that a strongman will let us focus on America. But dictatorship opens our country to the worst the world has to offer. An American strongman will measure himself by the wealth and power of other dictators. He will befriend them and compete with them. From them he will learn new ways to oppress and to exploit his own people.
At least, the fantasy goes, the strongman will get things done. But dictatorial power today is not about achieving anything positive. It is about preventing anyone else from achieving anything. The strongman is really the weak man: his secret is that he makes everyone else weaker.
Snyder doesn’t mention Trump by name, but the implication is clear. If America elects him in November, it is the end of democracy as we know it. Then we will all be at the mercy of a madman hellbent on revenge and claiming what he believes is rightfully his.
The fake billionaire
Central to the myth of Donald Trump is his unfathomable wealth. Trump has estimated his net worth to be upwards of $6.1 billion, a fortune so massive he should be generating $305 million a year in interest alone. Of course his wealth isn’t liquid, but with assets at that value, raising half a billion to pay a bond shouldn’t be that difficult. Unless that is, you are nowhere near as wealthy as you claim to be. From the NYTimes:
Donald J. Trump’s lawyers disclosed on Monday that he had failed to secure a roughly half-billion dollar bond in his civil fraud case in New York, arguing that doing so was “a practical impossibility.”
The filing, coming one week before the bond is due, raised the prospect that the former president might face a financial crisis unless an appeals court comes to his rescue. Mr. Trump has asked the appeals court to pause the $454 million judgment that a New York judge imposed on Mr. Trump last month, or accept a bond of only $100 million.
The former president has been unable to secure the full bond, his lawyers said in the court filing on Monday, despite “diligent efforts.” Those efforts included approaching about 30 companies, and yet, they said, he has encountered “insurmountable difficulties.”
In this case, the “insurmountable difficulties” can be roughly translated as “being full of shit and everyone knowing it.” Trump can’t raise the cash because his financial empire is collapsing and his assets aren’t worth anywhere near $6.1 billion.
How does Trump get out of this mess? His only solution is to win in November and use the power of office to evade liability for his growing list of debts and crimes.
See you next week!
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Trump's evil genius is using litigation and endless appeals to get away with all sorts of crimes and malfeasance for decades -- screwing contractors and business partners, and now the American people. He knows his opponents will eventually just crap out and give up. I would not doubt the heavily-stacked appeals court will side with him, but if not, I am sure Elon Musk, the Murdochs, Putin, Orban, or the Saudis will come through with aid. I bet the Heritage Fund alone can front him. And they each can do it legally by buying Trump's real estate at inflated rates. It's the perfect bribe, pre-laundered money.
I am very worried about the upcoming election, as too many people don't understand the stakes. Odds are strong that if a person is reading this Substack, they are NOT among those who don't understand what's at risk. For those who don't have enough free-floating anxiety, Google "Project 2025".