by Bob Cesca
WASHINGTON, DC – Donald Trump and his boss Elon Musk are blindly plucking Jenga blocks from the wooden tower that has become our federal government, and it’s only a matter of time before the whole thing crashes down around us. The only institutions holding it all in place, for now, are federal judges who appear to be winning the day, blocking some of the administration’s most damaging actions.
Meanwhile, Donald is busily destabilizing our alliances by launching antagonistically frivolous trade wars. He’s smearing his taint all over the Middle East by musing about ethnic cleansing and a takeover of Gaza, quite possibly triggering years if not decades of terrorism against the U.S., both here and abroad.
At the same time, he and his completely unqualified Secretary of Defense have made it clear that Europe is on its own and shouldn’t count on America to defend it. Plus, it’s very likely Ukraine will be forced to hand over some or all of its sovereign territory to Putin, which will serve as a free pass for Russia to continue its own expansionist goals elsewhere in Europe.
Speaking of Putin, Tulsi Gabbard was confirmed by the Senate this week to be the Director of National Intelligence, making matters far worse when it comes to Russian aggression and our increasingly destabilized national security. And as of this writing, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. cleared a procedural vote this week on his way to confirmation as secretary of Health and Human Services just as bird flu continues to spread.
Oh, and Donald fired the staff of the cybersecurity agency tasked with protecting our elections from cyber attacks. He removed the director of the Office of Government Ethics. He also signed an order pausing the enforcement of a law that prevents American businesses from bribing foreign governments for special favors. And an Elon crony is now in charge of the Treasury agency tasked with issuing Social Security payments and tax refunds.
That’s the bad news. For now.
The good news is that the indiscriminate decimation of the federal government and the stacking of cabinet level departments with nincompoops and pro-Russia goons is beginning to be noticed by Americans who were suckered into voting for Donald last year.
Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal published a piece this week describing the souring mood of the American consumer. The lede: “The Trump bump in consumer confidence is already over.” Notibe quote:
“I don’t like the turbulence. I don’t like the chaos in the market,” said Paul Bisson, a 58-year-old, who voted for Trump. “That will make the economy worse, and that’s not what we signed up for.”
I don’t suspect the uptick in inflation last month will assuage Mr. Bisson’s concerns.
In south Florida, Venezuelans who supported Donald last year are quickly realizing they could be deported at any moment. The Washington Post reported:
The decision to cancel temporary protected status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans has ignited fear, confusion and outrage in this Miami suburb, which is affectionately known as “Doralzuela.” Venezuelans here have been some of Trump’s biggest proponents. Even if many could not vote, they attended rallies, decorated their front lawns with Trump flags, and took to social media to support the man they thought would prioritize removing Nicolás Maduro from power.
For many Venezuelans, Trump’s decision feels like betrayal.
“The Venezuelan community gave President Trump their support,” said John De La Vega, a Venezuelan American immigration lawyer and Army veteran. “This is completely different of what I thought it was going to be.”
We all spent most of last year warning that mass deportations would lead to American citizens and legal immigrants being deported alongside migrants. Incidentally, the first 50 immigrant detainees arrived at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo last week. All were Venezuelans.
Elsewhere, MAGA residents of a deep red county that voted for Donald last year by a staggering margin of 80 points, are pissed off about Donald’s elimination of the penny. Rawstory:
Tennessee workers who supply the U.S. Mint with the blank discs stamped into pennies weren't as thrilled, according to The Greenville Sun.
Jobs could be lost at Artazn LLC, based in Tusculum, Greene County, in eastern Tennessee, which is politically conservative and Republican.
Greene County, where Tusculum is located, voted for Trump in the 2020 election by close to 80 percent. All surrounding counties also voted for him. In November, he defeated Vice President Kamala Harris with roughly 83 percent of the vote.Jeff Taylor, president and CEO of the Greene County Partnership, urged the president on social media to reconsider.
“Save the penny. For those that do not know, every penny starts in Greene County. Save jobs in Greene County!” wrote Taylor, according to the report.
I wonder how many jobs are available for penny-minting experts in Greene County, Tennessee.
Similarly, USDA payments to MAGA farmers in Kentucky were frozen by Donald and Elon. The Kentucky Lantern:
Several media outlets report that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has frozen payments to farmers for conservation projects and possibly other USDA programs. Myrisa K. Christy, executive director of the Community Farm Alliance, said she began getting calls from Kentucky farmers saying they could not access USDA payments after a Jan. 27 memo went out from the Trump budget office announcing a freeze on federal payments.
As of this writing, the payment freeze has been blocked by federal judges, but it was a close call for farmers who still aren’t out of the woods depending on how the court process continues. At the very least, the “finding out” process had to have shaken some formerly pro-Trump farmers to the core.
And finally, you’ll get a chuckle out of this item from Fortune.com:
More than 813,000 crypto wallets have lost a total of $2 billion after buying President Donald Trump’s memecoin, according to an assessment by Chainanalysis commissioned by the New York Times. Meanwhile, the Trump Organization and its partners gained $100 million in trading fees. Since its Jan. 17 launch, $TRUMP has lost most of its value, which is now about $16 per share, down from its $75 peak.
The good news is the suckers who lost all their money on Donald’s latest get-rich-scam will be able to file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – oh wait. Donald and Elon essentially shut down the agency. Never mind.
Beyond the FAFO schadenfreude, these stories will continue to multiply as the president and his goons continue to destabilize the country. To repeat: inflation is rising again; plus the cost of housing and new cars will also rise due to completely unnecessary tariffs on steel and aluminum; Hispanic-Americans will see their friends and family members disappeared into prison camps without legal recourse or any hope of release; and the real life tragedies will continue to impact everyone, including the dummies who voted for Donald despite our myriad warnings.
While I relish none of this, my hope is that the administration will collapse like a Jenga puzzle before the nation does, due largely to real people being impacted by this dismantling of our imperfect but practically necessary system.
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“That will make the economy worse, and that’s not what we signed up for.” Yes, yes it was, all the warning signs were out there, you just chose to ignore them.
Biggest challenge is it is easier to con someone than convince them they made a mistake