Friday, February 28, 2025

The snapshot

Friday, February 28, 2025.  Donald Chump's erratic and confused nature does not instill confidence, polling reflects this as Americans reject The Chump-Musk Destroy America Campaign. 

How are things for the Convicted Felon Donald Chump?  Sarah K. Burris (RAW STORY) reports:   


Longtime Republican Party pollster Sarah Longwell is conducting focus groups with voters of President Donald Trump — and she's beginning to see some "buyer remorse."

MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace introduced the segment, playing the comments from a participant who voted for Trump.

"There's a lot of babies being tossed out with the bath water, to use an old-fashioned phrase, in this first few weeks and, of course, as usual, and I'm disappointed about this with President Trump because he served before, we're just forfeiting respect internationally daily," said one Trump voter.
"If we had a drinking game where everyone took a drink when word 'reverse course' or 'walking this back,' we'd be drunk in 20 minutes. It's chaos up there," he added.
"I think what we're starting to see is the very beginning of buyer's remorse setting in," said Longwell. "And the voters that I was talking to — both before the election — and after the election that are kind of these, we say, low-information. But we just mean people who aren't tapped into politics all the time. They voted for Donald Trump for one very specific reason. They thought things were too expensive. And they still think things are too expensive."

What is coming up now, she said, is that they don't like Trump's priorities.

"They're like, what is he focusing on? I didn't vote for this dismantling of the government!" said Longwell.

She noted that there are people online who are excited about DOGE, but the people she spoke to are citing friends or family members who are dealing with the government purge. This isn't just a "message" from Democrats.

"It's that people are experiencing negative personal consequences as a result," Longwell explained, noting Musk's work is simply that "vast."
 

“I think what we’re starting to see is the very beginning of buyer’s remorse setting in,” Longwell told MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace on Deadline: White House. “And the voters that I was talking to both before the election and after … They voted for Donald Trump for one very specific reason—they thought things were too expensive, and they still think things are too expensive.”

The segment also played a few recordings sent over by frustrated Trump voters who detailed why they’ve been disappointed with the president’s moves so far.

It's not one issue, it's pretty much every issue that Chump's failing on.  The economy?  Paul Krugman (SUBSTACK) provides this overview:

Early this month Donald Trump announced that he was about to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Then he put them on pause for 30 days. So are they on again next week? Yesterday he insisted that they are. But will they really happen? Nobody knows.

Trump is also threatening a trade war with the European Union, which he says “was formed to screw the United States.” (It was actually created with America’s blessing, because we saw it as a force for peace and democracy.) Will he follow through on his threat? Nobody knows.

The legislation currently providing the federal government with the money it needs to stay open will expire on March 14, and it’s by no means clear that Republicans have the votes to continue that funding. So will the U.S. government shut down? Nobody knows (although betting markets say that there’s a better than even chance that it will.)

The real possibility of a general shutdown aside, will DOGE’s efforts to fire large numbers of federal workers — half the staff of the Social Security Administration! — cripple essential government services? Nobody knows.


The rising prices, the erratic behavior from the nation's supposed leader, the government layoffs, confidence in the economy is fading.   Shawn Donnan and Claire Ballentine (BLOOMBERG NEWS) explain:

President Donald Trump’s plan to impose new tariffs on imports to force manufacturers to relocate production to the US is getting a skeptical reaction from one important audience: American consumers.

Almost 60% of US adults expect Trump’s tariffs will lead to higher prices, according to a Harris Poll conducted for Bloomberg News. Some 44% say the levies are likely to be bad for the US economy — compared to 31% who say they’d be a boost.


On today's The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent, Greg addresses American sentiment regarding the economy:


Sargent: Let’s start with this Bloomberg poll. Not only do 59 percent say Trump’s tariffs will bring higher prices, 61 percent say food prices have increased in the last month. Only 38 percent think the economy is working for them. All this is echoed by a whole bunch of other polls and by worsening consumer sentiment metrics. It’s worth pointing out, Andrew, that many economists agree with these majorities. They, too, say Trump’s tariffs will lead to rising prices. Your reaction to all of it?

Bates: Yeah, I think that he betrays the fundamental promise that he made to the country. I remember in the Republican National Convention speech, he told people on day one—that’s a direct quote—prices will fall across the board. He also said that inflation would end immediately—immediately is also a direct quote. He was very explicit about this. And of course that was a false promise. Tariffs are a tax, and they are a tax that is disproportionately paid by people who are not wealthy, people that spend a greater percent of their income on daily necessities, food, clothing.

And I think that what’s especially telling about this is the revenue that they make from these tariff taxes—the revenue they’re taking in from middle-class folks who they said they were going to fight for—they’re turning around and they’re using it to make room in the budget for tax giveaways to billionaires and big corporations. It’s like a Bernie Madoff scheme. They are trying to take money out of the bank accounts of hardworking people after they got their votes promising lower cost, lower prices. Instead, they’re actively raising prices that they said they were going to reduce, and taxing people for it, and they’re pocketing that money.

Sargent: It’s a funny thing, Andrew. Trump is explicit on this point because he keeps saying the tariffs are going to bring in gangbusters revenue. Well, what do they need the revenue for?

Bates: That’s right. Because they’re trying to add trillions to the deficit with tax giveaways for the wealthy. And you mentioned the DOGE cuts too. That also relates to this because while everybody is against waste—myself, every Democrat I’ve ever known—a lot of what they’re cutting is bone and not fat. For example, they fired people who have been in charge of fighting bird flu while egg prices are skyrocketing. They want to use the money that went to those salaries for tax cuts for the rich. And it’s also true of the Medicaid cuts and the Affordable Care Act cuts they want to make. That is also to accommodate tax welfare for the richest people in the country, for Elon Musk and for Donald Trump themselves. It’s just a total reverse of what they promised voters. 


On the economy, remember that today's National Economic Blackout.  Anne Marie Lee (CBS NEWS)  noted yesterday:

Over the past few weeks, information has been spreading on social media about a nationwide economic protest called the "Feb 28 Economic Blackout."

The call to action — or rather inaction — is asking that American consumers refrain from making any purchases at major retailers on Friday, February 28. The protest comes as people continue to endure rising prices on everything from food and gas to housing and utilities, epitomized by the soaring cost of eggs which in January averaged $4.95 a dozen.

"I'm just not going to spend any money tomorrow," said Pat Gavin-Gordon, 83, who lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Gavin-Gordon learned of the boycott from an email circulated among a small group of friends of hers which she describes as "socially responsible women who try to do things for the community and help people."

A lifelong social activist, Gavin-Gordon said she marched along highway I-25 in Denver with civil rights leader Cesar Chavez in the 70s. She sees Friday's protest as a way to voice her disapproval of many things she said she sees going on today, from the cancellation of DEI by corporations to the Department of Government Efficiency's firing of thousands of federal workers.

"All these young people were being laid off for bad performance, which is not true at all," said Gavin-Gordon. 

Also supporting the Economic Blackout is Isabel Cotarelo from Kingston, New York. "I'm all for 2/28 Economic Blackout to demonstrate that the majority of people don't agree with the way things are being taking over the richest man in the world, how the oligarchs are supporting this government and only care about enriching themselves," the 69-year-old artist told CBS MoneyWatch.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk — the world's richest person, with a net worth of $398 billion — has been tasked by President Trump to oversee DOGE, in slashing government spending and cutting the federal workforce.

"One day of Economic Blackout may not impact the corporations gravely, but they will see that there is action and that action, hopefully, will inspire more people to resist this horrendous path my dear country is going through," Cotarelo said.



On BLUESKY people are noting today's economic blackout. 

ECONOMIC BLACKOUT ECONOMIC BLACKOUT ECONOMIC BLACKOUT ECONOMIC BLACKOUT ECONOMIC BLACKOUT ECONOMIC BLACKOUT ECONOMIC BLACKOUT ECONOMIC BLACKOUT ECONOMIC BLACKOUT ECONOMIC BLACKOUT ECONOMIC BLACKOUT ECONOMIC BLACKOUT

— Gays Of Bluesky (@gaysof.bsky.social) February 27, 2025 at 11:40 PM

A grassroots movement is calling on all Americans to abstain from shopping with major retailers tomorrow, February 28, as part of an “economic blackout.” I encourage you to join. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/boycott

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— Robert Reich (@rbreich.bsky.social) February 27, 2025 at 6:01 PM


Your Wallet = Your Power An economic blackout is a reminder: every dollar spent is a vote for the world we want. If businesses ignore ethics, sustainability, or fair wages, we can hit pause. No spending. No profits. No ignoring consumers. Money talks—make sure yours speaks for what matters.

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— Stoic Punk 🔵 (@senecascript.bsky.social) February 28, 2025 at 7:34 AM

Also, this Friday there is a movement of an economic blackout. Of course you can support independent artists this Friday as the boycott is aimed at major retailers. In any case, our concert is FREE! No money exchange, only nourishment for the soul.

— Ricardo Gallo (@bluegallo.bsky.social) February 28, 2025 at 7:34 AM

Last night, Rachel Maddow covered the layoffs and the public support for the government workers as well as so many erratic and crazed things about Donald Chump's second failed presidency.





There is no stability.

Last weekend, Alien Musk -- in his role of presidential consort -- was demanding that federal employees e-mail him on Monday justifying their jobs.  And some agencies told their staff to ignore the e-mail, don't respond.  Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard were among the ones telling employees at the agencies they headed not to respond to the e-mail.  Then Alien Musk announced that they had to reply or risk being fired.  Then Donald Chump said it was "somewhat voluntary."


Is anyone in charge?  Anyone rational and possibly on their meds?  Chump and his administration can't be consistent from day to day.  They have no idea what they're doing.  That's why Musk keeps firing people only to realize their jobs are required and needed.  The incompetence on display just signals how unprepared and unqualified Chump and his administration truly are. 



How's life going for Alien Musk?  Jennifer Bowers Bahney (RAW STORY) reports:

Some state lawmakers who formerly supported legislation to help Tesla bring in direct sales of its electrical vehicles have soured on the company, thanks to Elon Musk's divisive political activities.

Politico reported Thursday, "In the past, blue state Democrats and environmental groups pushed for allowing Tesla and other electric vehicle makers to set up shop rather than requiring customers to buy online. They saw it as a no-cost measure to support higher EV sales and slash transportation emissions."

Attitudes have changed, however, in statehouses across the country with lawmakers who are vehemently opposed to Musk's growing influence over the Trump administration.



American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten is urging top Tesla investors to review the company’s current valuation on behalf of her union’s members. 

Weingarten, who heads one of the largest unions in the country, penned a letter Thursday pointing to drops in Tesla’s stock price, latest financial disclosures, electric vehicle (EV) competition and “deterioration” of brand as reasons for the review.

“Given these mounting concerns and the potential material impact on pension fund portfolios, I would appreciate a response detailing your firm’s assessment of Tesla’s current valuation and the steps you are taking to protect AFT members who are your clients and beneficiaries,” Weingarten said at the end of the letter.  

The letter was sent to the CEOs of six asset managers, with the Tesla board and Elon Musk copied onto the message.

In the letter, Weingarten goes directly after Musk, saying he is a big reason people are losing trust in Tesla.  

“According to the American EV Jobs Alliance, EV swing consumers—those open to EVs once costs drop—view Musk negatively, making customer expansion even harder. Just last week, Stifel analyst Stephen Gengaro declared that Tesla’s net favorability is at an all-time low at 3 percent, down from 9 percent in January 2024,” Weingarten wrote. 


In the fall of 1984, when I was a senior in high school in Washington, DC, the protests at the South African Embassy began. Civil rights leaders met with the ambassador of South Africa on Thanksgiving Eve. Timed for maximum press coverage, that meeting became a sit-in, and that sit-in launched a movement. Soon, there were protests at consulates across the country. College students held rallies, built “shantytowns,” and pushed their schools to divest.

Area high school kids like me got in on protesting the embassy too. And we had a soundtrack. “Free Nelson Mandela” had been released by the Specials in March. The leader of that British ska band, Jerry Dammers, later admitted he didn’t know much about Mandela before he went to an anti-apartheid concert in the UK, where a long-simmering boycott movement was rolling into a boil. The DC music scene was pretty wild then—a bouillabaisse of go-go, R&B, punk, New Wave; there was breakdancing in the hallways during lunch hour—and for some of us, ska was sort of a unified field theory. Musically but also culturally. (If you have a racist friend / now is the time, now is the time for your friendship to end.)

But it wasn’t just kids who cosplayed in checked socks or porkpie hats. In 1985, a month after I started college, Artists Against Apartheid recorded Steven Van Zandt’s “(I Ain’t Going to Play) Sun City”—essentially the music world launching its own boycott on South Africa. The song was not (like, at all) great, but the wild cross-genre supergroup—DJ Kool Herc, Lou Reed, Bonnie Raitt, Gil Scott-Heron, Pat Benatar, Bono, and Miles Davis to name but a very, very few—guaranteed continual rotation on a relatively new cultural phenomenon: MTV.

We were getting a collective education: Because South Africa was so dependent on Black labor and exports, if industrialized nations withheld trade and investments, we could backstop Black South Africans who’d been directly resisting the Afrikaner regime for decades. So, suddenly, amazingly, we did. By 1986, Congress had imposed sanctions on South Africa and banned direct flights to it. Coca-Cola became the first major company to pull out of South Africa. Sports teams joined the musicians in refusing to play there. Divestment battles raged on campuses and boardrooms for the rest of the ’80s. And they worked. South Africa’s economy ground to a near halt. Mandela was freed in 1990, and negotiations to wind down apartheid began. By 1994, free elections were held and Mandela became president.

I found myself reconstructing this history recently, as the protests and boycotts against Tesla began. Do you need a reminder as to why? Okay: Tesla CEO Elon Musk—the world’s richest man, and Trump’s biggest campaign donor; an unelected, ketamine-happy, video game cheating, transphobic, subsidy–guzzling, deadbeat dad—is leading a bunch of scythe-wielding mini-me shitposters through innards of the federal government, harvesting and compromising the most essential data of every taxpayer, government contractor, and NGO in America. Oh, and he’s also supporting fascists, using apparent Nazi salutes, and blasting antisemitic and racist theories to his millions of followers.

Anyway, the dude is bad news. And he’s threatening to use his hundreds of billions—again, money he would not have without US subsidies—to take out any politician, foreign or domestic, who opposes his and Trump’s agenda, which is a mix of toxic masculinity, grift, and a seeming desire to return to a gauzy form of racial apartheid.

Words like “apartheid” and “Nazi” shouldn’t be tossed around lightly. Musk has denied he’s a Nazi, and that his salute was a Nazi salute. But clear-eyed commentators aren’t buying it, and white nationalists like Nick Fuentes are downright jubilant: “That was a straight up, like, Sieg Heil, like loving Hitler energy.” And then there’s Musk’s history. His maternal grandparents were, according to Musk’s own father, members of the Canadian neo-Nazi party who decamped to South Africa because they were fans of racial oppression. Musk has been pretty mum about what it was like to grow up in South Africa and the influence that had on him. (Today he holds US, Canadian, and South African citizenship.) But the fact is that many white South Africans who left at that time did so because their position of privilege was coming to an end.

In any case, once in the States, Musk joined forces with fellow South Africans Peter Thiel, David Sacks, and Roelof Botha—grandson of former South African leader Pik Botha; now the head of venture capital giant Sequoia Capital—to form PayPal. And they revealed themselves to be racial reactionaries. Thiel (who, according to his biographer, once called critiques of apartheid “overblown”) and Sacks wrote “The Case Against Affirmative Action” for Stanford Magazine in 1996. They’ve led concerted, organized attacks on DEI. Musk, who was under federal investigation for racial discrimination in his Tesla factories—that is, until Trump took over—is supporting extremist movements across the world, using Holocaust Remembrance Day to tell Germans they should no longer feel “guilt” over it, and echoing South Africans who claim they’re victims of “white genocide.”

So yes, some people are too quick to label people they don’t like as Nazis. But also, people who don’t want to be called Nazis should avoid giving Nazi salutes.


Apartheid is a huge issue here.  You can see it in the attacks on people of color from the administration and you can see it in the attacks on modern day South Africa -- modern day South Africa where apartheid -- much to Musk's regret -- has ended.  And good for Clara for making the connections.  Some writers can churn out an entire book and never manage to grasp the obvious -- see Ava and my "Media: OWNED finds Eoin Higgins owned by bad journalism" for an example of how Higgins did just that. 


This country never knew Musk.  They knew a p.r. created dream.  He wanted to sell Teslas and conservatives aren't big on electronic cars so he pandered to the left and he got rewarded with easy press and easy press.  Most didn't even know, ten years ago as he was being pimped on THE SIMPSONS and elsewhere, that he was from another country and they certainly didn't grasp his support for racism.  An e-mail accused me of 'othering' him.


You don't need to accuse me of that.


I'll gladly cop to it.


It's about time those of us of color learned how to turn othering back on White racists.  


Yeah, America doesn't like him.  He is the other.  He's got a creepy voice, he looks ridiculous, his accent is laughable and he's corrupt as hell.  He's unelected but he's determining who gets to keep a job and who doesn't and who's entitled to government services and who isn't and whether we -- Americans, real ones not abusers with triple citizenship -- owe our veterans.


I'm not one of those 'support the . . .'  people.  I've never been that.  I'm not a jingoist.


But when we ask people to be prepared to die for this country -- or some lame brained scheme of some idiot who got into the Oval Office -- we keep the promises we made to them.  That's why we've focused on VA issues here and covered VA hearings.  


Not being an American -- he's not one, he had two citizenships before he bought his US citizenship -- he doesn't care about Americans who served in the US military.  So he and Chump (who avoided military service with lies and with money) have no problem firing veterans who work at the VA.  And they have no problems firing VA workers -- veterans and non-veterans -- who take care of basic needs including assistance hotline workers.  They don't see the very real debt our country owes because of promises we made to people we were willing to send off to foreign lands.


Foreign.  That's Musk.  That's Chump.  They're foreign to the basis of American life.  Chump didn't care to learn about it and Musk was raised elsewhere. 



One of the unacknowledged advantages of the horrendous era we’ve entered is that it is revealing the putrid connections between great wealth and great power for all to see.

Oligarchs are fully exposed and they are defiant. It’s like hitting the “reveal codes” key on older computers that let you see everything.

On Wednesday, Jeff Bezos, the third-richest person in America, who bought the Washington Post in 2013, announced that the paper’s opinion section would henceforth focus on defending “personal liberties and free markets”.

Anything inconsistent with this view would not be published, according to his statement. “Viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.”

The Post’s opinion editor, David Shipley, promptly resigned, as he should have.

When they speak of ‘freedom’, what they actually seek is freedom from accountability

You’ll recall that Bezos barred the Post from endorsing Kamala Harris in the last weeks of the 2024 election. Subsequently, the paper wouldn’t print its cartoonist’s drawing showing Bezos and other oligarchs bowing to Trump, leading the cartoonist to resign.

Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, bought Twitter in 2022, laid off everyone who was filtering out hateful crap on the platform, renamed it X and turned it into a cesspool of lies in support of Trump.

Mark Zuckerberg, the second-richest person, has followed suit, allowing Facebook to emit lies, hate and bigotry in support of Trump’s lies, hate and bigotry.

All three of these men were in the first row at Trump’s inauguration. They, and other billionaires, have now exposed themselves for what they are.

They are the oligarchy. They continue to siphon off the wealth of the nation. They are supporting a tyrant who is promising them tax cuts and regulatory rollbacks that will make them even richer.



As sentiment continues to move against Chump and his attacks on We The People, Republicans in Congress are going to have to step up.  The are living in a social media bubble if they still can't grasp just how angry voters are across the country over Chump and his foreign boyfriend attacking our country, our way of life and our history.  

Chump ran from Project 2025.  He lied throughout the campaign.  And he did that because Project 2025 is offensive to the majority of Americans.  Now he's implementing it and voters who voted for him are saying this isn't what we voted for.

He had to lie about it to get back into the White House. 

Of course, the American people were going to turn on him.  

Each day, he looks more of a liar, more of an incompetent and more of a crazed fool in the midst of cognitive decline.  The polling doesn't usually allow you to increase your popularity when you're where he is now.

Smart GOPs in Congress would realize that voters -- especially swing voters -- reward those incumbents who appear to stand up for the American people to presidents.  Still they cower and hide, unable to buy a clue.  Writing at LGBTQ NATION, Dr. Warren J. Blumenfeld  explains:


“Enabler” is the term given to those who fail to act in stopping those who perpetuate abuse.  “Passive bystander” or “bad Samaritan” is the name for people who are conscious of bad actions developing around them but fail to intervene.

I often wonder how Trump’s enablers can sleep at night and get back up in the morning, still willing to degrade and prostrate themselves by supporting those who attack our democratic institutions and seriously dismantle our country’s standing in the world.

Each time anyone enables an abusive action, they keep perpetrators and themselves further from the truth and from help, and they diminish themselves and their integrity more than just a bit.

Why does Trump eagerly respond as if he were Putin’s puppet? Does Trump simply respect Putin’s dictatorial powers? Or is Putin carrying some sort of incriminating evidence over Trump?

No matter what, Trump could not be any more aligned with Putin and his agenda to return Russia to its former empire and weaken the Western alliance than if he were a secret Russian agent.

Rabbi Joachim Prinz, a Berlin-based rabbi who fled Nazi Germany in 1937 concluded: “The most important thing that I learned under those tragic circumstances was that bigotry and hatred are not the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful and the most tragic problem is silence.”

For what is true in AIDS education and activism holds true for all forms of politics: “Silence = Death.”

So, where are the Republicans with any backbone?



Let's wind down with this:

The Black Commentator Issue #1030 is now Online
 
February 27, 2025



Read issue 1030

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