Apparently they don't get along anymore.
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Showing posts with label Zeitgeist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zeitgeist. Show all posts
Thursday, June 5, 2025
Saturday, May 17, 2025
Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist 84th Edition. The uncomfortably agreeing with the far right edition (on some things). Hegseth orders transgenderism out and a bill to outlaw pornography.
"Transgendered" troops to depart.
I'll be frank, I don't think transgenderism exists at all.
Gender dysphoria, however, certainly does. It's a psychological condition, and indeed, a mental illness, often a temporary one.
Moreover, "transitioning from a man to a woman", or vice versa, is impossible.
Whether or not that fiction should be allowed to medically occur for adults (for anyone not in their majority, it's child abuse), is another thing. I basically don't feel that it should be allowed, as its a manifestation of a mental illness that isn't served by being medically and surgically coddled, but I'll also fully admit there's more than one allowable medical procedure I don't think should be legal either. Plastic surgery, for example, for mere cosmetic reason for uninjured and the morphologically normal people is also wrong, in my view, and that's not the only such thing.
Nonetheless, the sudden, and it was sudden, post Obergefell societal trend towards treating this mental delusion as something that should be fully supported is not only stunning, but it's flat out wrong. It may be the only mental illness which has rising to be not only culturally tolerated, but for which the left makes cultural demands. As I predicated at the time of the Obergefell, making such demands would have a societal ripple that would be devastating, and it has been. There's a straight path from Obergefell to Donald Trump, as what it brought in was just a bridge too far.
So, here, I find myself agreeing with Secretary Hegseth's action, even though I'm not a fan of Secretary Hegseth.
By the way, there's a transitioned high school softball picture who has been blowing the doors off of her opponents with her pitches. Well, she's genetically a guy.
This is just wrong, and shouldn't be allowed to happen.
I'll also note that I may be one of the view Wyomingites in my region to have encountered a guy pretending to be a gal and seeking medical assistance for the delusion, with that person in uniform. Some time back I had some email correspondence with a full time National Guardsman on something, although I don't recall what. What I do recall is that he was "transgendered". Like a lot, but not all, "transgendered" men affecting the appearance of a woman, he looked very much like a guy, which of course what he genetically and morphologically is.
Gender studies also out.
In something that is sort of related, and sort of not, UW is eliminating its Gender Studies degree.
I've posted on the topic of pornography here from time to time.
UW looks to end embattled gender studies degree
I don't know much about gender studies other than its one of those host of degrees that came in during the 1970s and 1980s in the liberal arts that have always baffled me a bit. What do you do with it?
Having said that, I'm not as condescending towards the degree as I once was. I do, however, think that what US is doing makes sense. Folding the program into some other sort of sociology degree strikes me as making sense, rather than having it stand alone.
Sorority transgender pleading allowed.
In something else sort of related, and sort of not, the Federal Court has allowed for an amended complaint to be filed in a suit in which it seeks to address a man identifying as a woman being admitted to its house at UW as a sorority "sister".
Banning pornography.
And here's another item that come from the far right, and indeed from Project 2025, which generally scares me overall, but whose goal I find myself in agreement with:
I've posted on the topic of pornography here from time to time.
Pornography is a devastating scourge. It's wholly destructive, and about that there's no doubt
This bill will be interesting to watch. I suspect it will get no traction I don't know, for one thing, that Donald Trump cares one whit about pornography. After all, his wife became famous as a model for posing in a manner that I'd regard as pornographic. And a guy who rode the Lolita Express to Epstein's jail bait fantasy island doesn't strike me as a man of deep moral principles. And hte pron industry is powerful and will take this on in the guise of free speech.
It may ironically prove to be the case that deporting people to foreign concentration camps is something most Americans are willing to tolerate, but stopping young women from prostituting their images is not.
It may ironically prove to be the case that deporting people to foreign concentration camps is something most Americans are willing to tolerate, but stopping young women from prostituting their images is not.
Related posts:
Topic One.
Normalizing Mental Illness isn't helping to address it.
Topic Four
The life of Fran Gerard/Francis Anna Camuglia. Was Francis Anna Camuglia and Cynthia Blanton.
Secrets of Playboy
Lex Anteinternet: De mortuis nihil nisi bonum. M'eh. Throwing rocks at Hugh Hefner . . . I'm not alone in that.
De mortuis nihil nisi bonum. M'eh
Last edition:
Labels: 2020s, Baby Boom Generation, Generation Jones, Growing up in the 1970s, law, mehr Mensch sein, Military, Old Age, The Practice of Law, The Second Trump Administration, Vietnam War, Zeitgeist
Friday, May 9, 2025
Pope Leo XIV
As I'd predicted, the new Pope, Pope Leo XIV, was a cardinal that wasn't in the pundit list.
A quote from an AP news article:
Vatican watchers said Prevost’s decision to name himself Leo was significant given the previous Leo’s legacy of social justice and reform, suggesting continuity with some of Francis’ chief concerns.
Not just the AP, I said this yesterday, and in spades. In fact, as a Distributist, Pope Leo XIII is one of my absolute favorite recent Popes. He was an ardent opponent of communism and capitalism.
Some headlines:
NEWLY ELECTED POPE
FIRST FROM US
From the Star Tribune.
MAGA Melts Down Over New Pope's Anti-Trump, Pro-Immigrant Social Media
Rolling Stone
This will be interesting. There was, yesterday, a flood of negative comments about Pope Leo from the mostly non Catholic populist far right. I suspect that a hidden anti Catholicism in that quarter will really start to surface.
Indeed, Pope Leo being an American poses a real challenge to the isolationist, nationalistic MAGA populist elements now in power, as well as the pretending to be isolationist, nationalistic and MAGA fellow travelers. Some have already wondered if that's part of the reason that he was chosen as Pope, but that will not be known for years, if ever. At any rate, right now, it's really interesting to note that the US is lead by a not very smart almost octogenarian who has shown aggressiveness and extreme nativism, while global Christianity will be lead by a highly educated catholic concerned for the poor, who as a Cardinal corrected J. D. Vance's odd comments about an order of mercy.
This leads, I suppose to noting that Pope Leo is, at this point, nearly as Peruvian as he is American. But as noted, the Catholic Church is catholic, i.e., universal. It's concerns are for humanity, not a narrow section of the American public. But Pope Leo might serve to remind Americans of what the United States has, in its better moments, stood for.
Thursday, May 1, 2025
Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist 83d Edition. The law and refusal to depart, departing in the worst way, echoes of service.
The old lawyers.
I was on a phone hearing recently and one of the lawyers, whom I used to run into a fair amount but have not for years, sounded really rough. In a subsequent phone call he sounded the same way, and I looked up his firm photo and realized he is now 76 years old.
76.
What the crap?
In his photo, he looked haggard and ancient.
I was at something else not too long ago and saw another lawyer I used to run into a fair amount, who always had a youthful appearance even though I knew he was at least decade. I was shocked by his appearance.
He's now 83. He might just be practicing part time, I'd note.
I spoke to a lawyer friend of mine who is now up over 70, I think. He doesn't appear worn or drawn down, but he told me that he's afraid of retiring as he enjoys the social interaction of the lawyers. We discussed another lawyer who is a friend of his whom I figure is now in his mid 70s.
There's something deeply wrong with all of this.
This reflects, I'll note, in our society at large, of course. Our last qualified President, Joe Biden was in his 80s, and clearly suffering from mental decline, when he left office in defeat. A recent book regarding the 2024 election reports, in hte opinion of hte authors, that Biden believes he's smarkter than everyone else which formed the basis of his disaterous decision. Our current chief executive is also, in my view, suffering from dementia at an increasing rate that can't be ignored, but which is largely being ignored, even as he destroys the economy, foreign relations, and American democracy. He also seems to suffer from "only I can do it" delusion, and on at least one occasion in the 2024 campaign said as much.
Biden was a lawyer, eons ago. Trump is a real estate developer, so that's a bit off point. But there's something really pathetic about lawyers who practice past their 60s. I'm in my early 60s, I'd note. They've lost something of their soul, if not their souls in general, and have nothing left but their work.*
There's also something societally wrong with a society that allows this to occur. I'll avoid the political discussion, but mental decline is inevitable in almost everyone who lives past their 50s. People don't want to believe it, but it's absolutely true.
And beyond that, society should not encourage the elderly to occupy positions such as this past their mid 60s. It takes up space that should be filled by younger people. By that point a peson should be ready to retire, and if they're not, they're never going to be ready, economically. Talent wise, they should apply their talents and time to something else.
Read a book, train a dog, go fishing. Discovery the person you were when you started out, and the one you apparently lost.
Mehr Mensch sein.
Service.
Vietnam service ribbon.
This will be an odd one, and it'll sound difficult not to make it should like I'm being unduly critical.
We've been running a lot of posts recently about the collapse of South Vietnam in 1975. Nearly daily, as we're in the cycle in which things were becoming a disaster for the Republic of Vietnam, and a war which we entered in the early 1960s, and left in 1973, was about to be lost by the country we supported.
I note this as it's struck me for a long time how many professionals I know, including lawyers, who are of the Vietnam War generation and have no military service.
Not all, I'll note. One former Federal District Court judge here was an artillery observer in Vietnam, and a lawyer in our capital city was an artilleryman. Two state district court judges I know served in Vietnam. And a few other lawyers I know did.
But by and large, most didn't.
It's interesting in a number of ways, one being that it's likely their father's all had served in World War Two.
Now, the Second World War was a huge war, to be sure. But as a member of Generation Jones, when I was growing up, it was the case that if our fathers hadn't served in World War Two, they had in the Korean War, or on either side of it. Growing up, this was so routine you simply assumed it. I recall always being surprised if a kid I knew had a father who had never served in the Armed Forces, and this included professionals. All the doctors and dentists that my father was friends with had served in World War Two or in the Armed Forces after that. I didn't know but one lawyer then, but he'd served in the Post War Army and later on the older lawyers I knew who were of World War Two vintage had served, often quite heroically, in the war.
Baby Boom generation male lawyers? Not so much.
I don't think that's a good thing, frankly. War is awful but most American servicemen who served in the 60s nad early 70s didn't see a day of fighting. The Service is full of men who aren't like you, who didn't grow up like you, and don't have any of your per service shared experiences. That's valuable.
Lots of those guys would have been better men had they served.** Donald Trump would have been.
And American society would be. We really started dividing the country back into the haves, and have nots, but allowing so many who could afford an education to avoid serving. It helped split hte country into the mess it is now.***
"Biased, Misguided WY Judges and Lawyers."
So claimed Wyoming's Congressional delegation about a letter signed by over 100 Wyoming lawyers.
I'm not a signatory to it as, frankly, I was too busy to notice its circulation when it was going around. The letter is 100% correct, however. I know a lot of the lawyers who did sign it, and more of a few of them are actual conservatives, and a few of them were once very significant figures in the Wyoming Republican Party, including those who were elected to office.
Moreover, at least two of the three of the Congressional delegation itself are not anywhere near as populist as they now assert they are. All three of these figures would have supported this letter under different circumstances, and two out of the three undoubtedly still hold the view that the lawyers are right, but are taking their positions as they do not wish to anger Trump supporters. If the wind turns, they'll turn with it so rapidly that it will toss MAGA right off the decks.
All of which is profoundly sad. That people hold one view and then express another one publicly is no doubt common, but it's not admirable, and is far from admirable in a situation like this. It’s one of the things that’s really wrong with American politics today.
It is interesting t have even with the taking of extreme positions like this, at least one refused to publicly adopt the extreme Executive Power doctrine that’s being exercised now, while at the same time, not disavowing it. John Barrasso, when asked if the President really had the power to levy tariffs the way he is (he doesn’t) just twice said that Congress had delegated a lot of power to the President. It has. It’s not a good thing, and he wouldn’t say that it is.
It does make sitting back and letting things happen easier. The entire country is going to suffer massively due to Trump, and Wyoming is going to take a bruising. It’d be far better to stand up and say so now, and take the lumps if they come, then to excuse your conduct later.
Footnotes
*Coincidentally, I saw this in our local newspaper in an advice column.
Dear Eric: I was an attorney when I started having memory problems at age 65. I retired and subsequently learned that I had a devastating rare dementia with a very short lifespan. Instead of providing me support, my friends disappeared from my life, at the time I needed them most. Friends may rally around you when you have cancer, driving you to chemo treatments, dropping off food and other things to support you; when you have dementia, everyone just disappears.
I’ve always been a sociable person and I’m missing that so much, but I have no idea how or where to start. Any ideas?
Students navigate campus atmosphere, social changes to find connection
– Left By Friends
Dear Friends: People sometimes don’t know what to do or say when confronted with illness, but that’s no excuse for your friends’ behavior and I’m sorry. The Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org) has a wealth of resources for people with dementia, including support groups, both online and in-person. Being able to talk with others about what you’re experiencing and feeling will help with isolation.
This also might be a time for you to explore new volunteer opportunities or social groups that have nothing to do with dementia, depending on your care plan and abilities. You are a person who is worthy of connection, with a wealth of experiences and knowledge from which others can benefit. Your company would be welcomed at a senior center, a local outing group or an organization that aligns with your interests and values. If you have anxiety about navigating these spaces with dementia, or need accommodation in order to feel safe, please don’t hesitate to reach out in advance and talk to a group leader about how you can participate most comfortably.
Eric is surprised that his fellow lawyers quit associating with him.
He likely ought not to be.
I don't think it's that people don't know what to say or do. I think that people fail to appreciate that workplace social contacts are, to a very high degree, extremely casual or even business contacts, and that once the professional is not employed, at least in teh law, the value of that person to others in the law is gone.
In other words, this doesn't surprise me a bit.
**I'd note that I feel the same way about men who weren't in the service, but who worked a blue collar or agricultural job. Those employments are levelling in a way, and I've noticed that men of the same generation who were never in the Armed Forces, but worked as roughnecks or came from ranches and farms, are much more accepting generally of other people.
***And, ironically, it also started the country off on the hyper glorification of those who have been in the service.
Last edition:
Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist 82nd Edition. The This Is Your Economy On Dementia Edition.
Nativism is no virtue
Nativism is no virtue: A birth certificate stamped Wyoming doesn't qualify as authority or expertise, guest columnist Marion Yoder writes.
This is no doubt true, but I have to note that I'm very nativist myself.
What Yoder didn't note, interestingly, is that a lot of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, indeed, most of it, is made up of imports.
Saturday, April 12, 2025
Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist 82nd Edition. The This Is Your Economy On Dementia Edition.
Substitute brain for economy, and drugs for dementia, and you get a picture of what might very well be going on with the administration of the United States right now.
Is Trump Insane?
As Donald Trump’s tariff plan slams the stock market, investors are beginning to wonder if the president doesn’t have some broader economic agenda—but rather if he’s just mentally ill.
The New Republic.
They're just asking this now? Some of us have been stating that Trump is probably demented for a long time.
This is a serious, not a rhetorical, question.Some psychologist have looked at his behavior and said no, others, have said a definite yes. For instance, an April 1, 2025 interview of Dr. John Gartner states the following, and accuses the press of "sanewashing" Trump:
He is losing his capacity for coherent speech. We’ve collected dozens and dozens of Trump’s phonemic paraphrasias, in which you use sounds in place of an actual word (a hallmark of brain damage and dementia). What happens is that someone is trying to say a word and then they get the first part out but they have to end it or create one because they can’t remember the rest. Trump will say something like ‘mishiz’ for missiles, or “Chrishus” for Christmas, because he can’t complete the word. Then we see also a lot of semantic paraphrasias, in which he uses a word incorrectly, as in “the oranges of the situation” because it rhymes with “the origins of the situation.” This is not within normal limits; his basic ability to use language is breaking down.
So there is that verbal deterioration. And then there is the physical deterioration. He used to be quite graceful, and now he uses a wide-based gait typical of frontotemporal dementia, sometimes he swings his right leg in a semi-circle. He also has trouble getting up the ramp; he has trouble doing physical things.
The other way we see deterioration is in his behavior. Actually, this is where people say, ‘Well, how can you tell? He’s a bad person; he breaks every rule of law and decency, what is new?’ But he is much more impulsive and erratic now. He blurts things out; he makes impulsive decisions that he has to then reverse, like his many reversals on tariffs.
‘The Press Has Sanewashed Trump’s Dementia and Mental Illness’: Dr. John Gartner by Diana Hembree
I think there's a lot to this, and have for some time. I don't think he's a well man. The amazing thing is that there are an army of people backing him up. Gartner notes some are doing so for their own purposes:
Now people may think that because Donald Trump is demented that he won’t be very effective in his agenda. But the problem is he has the whole Project 2025 team behind him, led by Russell Voight. And he’s got Elon Musk, who is a mental health study in and of himself. Musk is on the spectrum; like Trump, he is hypomanic, and like Trump, he is clearly also a sociopath. He feels no remorse in inflicting pain on people; in fact, he feels a sense of glee and mastery in doing it. He was joking about using a chainsaw (to cut federal jobs), holding one up and laughing about it. He’s taking away the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. He’s a monster, just as Trump is a monster, and Trump attracts monsters. Now we have a real Trump problem, because we now have a whole government that is populated by people who have some version of his personality disorder.
‘The Press Has Sanewashed Trump’s Dementia and Mental Illness’: Dr. John Gartner by Diana Hembree.
Okay, that's pretty extreme, but that doesn't mean that he's incorrect on Trump. . . and Musk.
Some related threads on this one:
We should worry.
And there's plenty of evidence of this. Consider this statement when the Dodgers recently visited the White House:
When you ran out of healthy arms, you ran out of really healthy, you had great arms, but they ran out, it’s called sports, it’s called baseball in particular, and pitchers I guess you could say in really particular.
Donald Trump
What the f***?
Or this, about the Great Lakes, this past week:
I assume the lakes are all interconnected.
Or this, earlier this month, on groceries.
An old-fashioned term that we use – groceries. I used it on the campaign. It's such an old-fashioned term, but a beautiful term. Groceries. It says a bag with different things in it.
The last two comments are monumentally stupid.
By the way, if Trump is demented, this will get worse. His dementia will get worse, and his erratic behavior will get worse. His meanness will likely get worse, and its already pretty evident.
And I say this as a person who has witnessed the onset and advance of frontotemporal dementia in a person up close, and personal. Let's take a look at the symptoms, according to Mayo, keeping in mind they advance over time:
The most common symptoms of frontotemporal dementia involve extreme changes in behavior and personality. These include:
- Increasingly inappropriate social behavior.
- Loss of empathy and other interpersonal skills. For example, not being sensitive to another person's feelings.
- Lack of judgment.
- Loss of inhibition.
- Lack of interest, also known as apathy. Apathy can be mistaken for depression.
- Compulsive behaviors such as tapping, clapping, or smacking lips over and over.
- A decline in personal hygiene.
- Changes in eating habits. People with FTD typically overeat or prefer to eat sweets and carbohydrates.
- Eating objects.
- Compulsively wanting to put things in the mouth.
Speech and language symptoms
Some subtypes of frontotemporal dementia lead to changes in language ability or loss of speech. Subtypes include primary progressive aphasia, semantic dementia and progressive agrammatic aphasia, also known as progressive nonfluent aphasia.
These conditions can cause:
- Increasing trouble using and understanding written and spoken language. People with FTD may not be able to find the right word to use in speech.
- Trouble naming things. People with FTD may replace a specific word with a more general word, such as using "it" for pen.
- No longer knowing word meanings.
- Having hesitant speech that may sound telegraphic by using simple, two-word sentences.
- Making mistakes in sentence building.
Movement conditions
Rare subtypes of frontotemporal dementia cause movements similar to those seen in Parkinson's disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Movement symptoms may include:
- Tremor.
- Rigidity.
- Muscle spasms or twitches.
- Poor coordination.
- Trouble swallowing.
- Muscle weakness.
- Inappropriate laughing or crying.
- Falls or trouble walking.
For a man in command of the world's most powerful Army and Air Force, and second largest Navy, this should be a matter of grave concern for everyone.
What were you thinking?
That's what those who voted against Trump have been wondering about those who voted for him. New stats on this, however, suggest that many rank and file Trump voters now are at the point that they understand why those who voted against Trump wonder that. They're wondering a bit themselves.
In spite of the embarrassing spectacle of Trump apologist struggling to keep up with his meandering and dangerous policies from day to day, most Trump voters didn't vote for anything like what we're seeing. They simply discounted the warnings.
Is White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stupid?
There's a fair number of people who are asking this question.
She is a college graduate, but she comes across as a somebody who obtained her position for her looks. It's embarrassing.
As a co religious of mine, she's embarrassing. Married to somebody 32 years her senior (that's odd) and who lies without hesitation, which is sinful, she also comes across as simply dumb.
Catholics, who fit into a group that a lot of "Evangelical Christians" of the type Trump supports that, while being the first Christians, aren't regarded by the latter as Christians, are, I'm convinced, really going to come out with the short end of the stick the longer the Trump Administration lasts and the association of a certain brand of Christianity, which they aren't part of, with Trump, is going to hurt Christianity in the US overall.
No Female Four Stars
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There are 27 four star officers in the U.S. military, including two in the Space Farce.*
Not one of them is a woman.
It hasn't been really noticed, but with dismissals in the Trump administration, they're all gone.
I doubt this is an accident.
Now, this is where I'm probably legitimately a target for the charge of hypocrisy, as I don't feel that women should serve in combat.** I don't object to them being in the service, however.
Now, a person could, an d rightfully, point out, that if women can't serve in combat, it'd be difficult for them to obtain a combat command, and that would be true. . . except history has demonstrated the opposite.
Dwight Eisenhower never had a combat command. Neither did George Marshall. And the Coast Guard arguably has no combat commands, although a person could argue that. The Space Farce very clearly has no combat commands and there's no earthly reason whatsoever that the various occupations occupied by their junior birdmen couldn't be occupied by either sex equally well.
Indeed, the dirty little secret of the US military is that at some point after World War One, and before World War Two, most occupations in the military are in fact non combat roles.
And speaking of the Space Farce. . .
Getting fired for being sane.
U.S. Space Force Col. Susan Meyers, 821st Space Base Group, noted her support for Denmark after J. D. Vance visited her base and got canned immediately thereafter. She noted that her base in Greenland proudly flew the US and Danish flags.
For Release
Published April 10, 2025
By Space Operations Command Public Affairs
Pituffik Space Base, Greenland -- Colonel Susannah Meyers, commander of Pituffik Space Base was removed from command by Colonel Kenneth Klock, commander of Space Base Delta 1, on April 10, 2025 for loss of confidence in her ability to lead.
Commanders are expected to adhere to the highest standards of conduct, especially as it relates to remaining nonpartisan in the performance of their duties.
Colonel Shawn Lee has assumed command.
Col. Meyers may be the first serving officer to publicly criticize the Trump administrations per World War One colonialist views. She surely knew she'd be relieved and fell on her sword. Good for her.
J. D. Vance seems to have something against Europeans. He may really be a hillbilly. Whatever it is, in spite of being very well educated, he just doesn't seem to like them, which may be proof that you can take the hillbilly out of Appalachia, but you can't take the Appalachia out of the hillbilly, even if he is from Ohio.
I just can't see how this is a good thing.
Degenfelder Cheers Dismantling of U.S. Dept. Of Education At White House Signing Ceremony
Wyoming Superintendent of Education Megan Degenfelder was in attendance. Governor Gordon begged off, saying he had other things to do.
Maybe he did, or maybe he just didn't want to be associated with this populist bad idea.
Trump, in signing the executive order, stated; "“We want education to come back to them — to come back to the states — and they’re going to do a phenomenal job". Yeah, well clearly they aren't all doing a phenomenal job now, and they're already in charge of education. Frankly, tha'ts a pretty uneducated statement, but then its not like Donny or his family have every had to depend on public education.
The Wyoming Education Association, which is made up of teachers, was less thrilled.
“The Wyoming Education Association stands in strong opposition to the dismantling of the Department of Education (DOE),”
Wyoming's Secretary of Education stated:
“It’s just a truly momentous and historic day for education in America, and it’s a win for American students,” said Degenfelder. “We’re taking out the middle man in education, putting education back where it belongs — in the classroom and not in D.C. offices.”
Degenfelder ran in the last election against Sergio Maldonado. I voted for Maldonado who is a Native Wyomingite and Native American. He's also a professional teacher, which Degenfelder is not, who is a graduate of BYU and Arizona State University. While he's no spring chicken, he's a doctoral candidate at the University of Wyoming. He had served during the Bush Administration as a member of the National Advisory Council on Indian Education.
He's also a Democrat.
Footnotes:
*What the crap?
**
Women and combat
Related threads:
Monday, April 7, 2025
That was a sudden switch . . .
“There are things that we need beyond tariffs. We need open borders.”
Donald Trump, April 7, 2025.
Of note, Elon Musk said the same thing, as to Europe and North America, within the past 24 hours.
Sunday, April 6, 2025
Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist. 81st Edition. Protests and Golfing.
Lex Anteinternet: Protests spread to Wyoming.: The "Hands Off" protest is a nationwide movement. And it's showing up even in Casper, in central Wyoming.
Protests spread to Wyoming.
The "Hands Off" protest is a nationwide movement. And it's showing up even in Casper, in central Wyoming.
Protests did occur yesterday in Casper, and apparently in a host of other cities, including Rock Springs. Based upon the article in the Tribune, the Casper protests suffered from the common problem all left of center protests in Wyoming tend to, which is rather than be focused on the immediate topic, they featured every left wing cause going, which is exactly why the left has no pull here.
Apparently there were large protests across the country, showing widespread discontent with Trump. Even some Republicans who have backed Trump all along, like Ted Cruz and Ben Shapiro are calling his tariff policy into question. Some of them are being surprisingly blunt, calling the tariffs basically dumb.
Here's the thing, however. Trump, born into wealth to the degree that he can repeatedly fail and not feel the effects, doesn't care. He has the supreme confidence of a man who is not introspective, and frankly, by all evidence, not very smart. He's believed in tariffs for over 40 years, having a shallow understanding of the economy, and not even grasping that the economy 40 years ago had real problems.
The US has lost its manufacturing base, but not to the degree people like Trump believe. Quite a bit of it fully remains. Many of the "lost" industrial jobs in heavy manufacturing were lost to automation. Those behind Trump understand that, and they don't seem to care that their concept of "returning" jobs to the US means taking jobs from real human beings overseas.
The ultimate irony of all of this is that the tariffs real goal, for those who aren't as dense as Trump seemingly is, was happening anyway. As world trade increasingly globalized roboticization was occurring anyhow, and as that occurs other factors, such as transportation, begin to factor heavily. So the tariffs simply disrupt the economy, destroy wealth, and probably actually slow that evolution.
Meanwhile Trump goes golfing, seemingly not caring what he's doing to real people, and not needing too, as he lacks the empathy, understanding, and financial exposure that would require him to. His wealthy backers and racial rearward looking functionaries continue on in their destructive march.
It's more than a year away until the mid terms. Ted Cruz predicted a bloodbath at the pools in 2026 if things go badly. And that's the ultimate irony. Trump was elected, basically, as people didn't like the social views of the left and didn't believe that he believed the rest of the nonsense he spouted. People tend to vote with their wallets.
Trump isn't going to change direction. Like many old people, his ideas are fixed in the distant path, when they actually might have made some sense. It's a common failing of the old. The nation is going to go into a heavy duty recession, the Republicans are going to get slammed in the 2026 election, and the left will be resurgent. A weary nation will, at that point, not care much about men wearing dresses and the like, and for that matter, the left may have made a slight course correction.
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