Sunday, April 13, 2025

Here Comes The Sun (Chump is returning to his gutter)

Sad times for Convicted Felon Donald Chump.  Rachel Barber (USA TODAY) reports, "President Donald Trump’s approval ratings on the economy and inflation have fallen after weeks of tariff policy twists and turmoil in the stock market, according to a new poll released Sunday. The CBS News survey of 2,410 Americans found 44% approved of Trump’s handling of the economy and 40% approved of his handling of inflation, both down 4% from March 30. The president's overall approval rating dropped to 47% this month, down from 50% in March and 53% in February." Tom Boggioni (RAW STORY) reports:


After only three months in office full of missteps, some political observers are admitting Donald Trump's second time in the Oval Office is going poorly with one Washington insider pointing out his tariff plan has turned into a "self-inflicted wound" that has damaged his prospects.

In an interview with the Guardian's David Smith, Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, marveled at how badly things have gone for the re-elected president while admitting it may be too early to call what is going on now a "failed presidency."

He then added, "... but to me there are clear indications that Donald Trump’s presidency is endangered."


Chump was never that popular to begin with.  A majority of voters did not vote for him. He did not receive 50% of the votes.  He squeaked by.  And he did so on lies.  As he exposes himself every day, Americans turn away. Lucy Strathmore (2 PARAGRAPHS) notes, "Political activist Zachary Shrewsbury, executive director of the West Virginia nonprofit organization Bluejay Rising, reported Thursday on X: 'Trumpism is cracking in West Virginia. People aren't loyal they're desperate. I see it daily in all my organizing. This state isn't lost. With real focus and a movement rooted in labor and dignity, we can take it back'."  At THE DAILY BEAST, Paul Waldman writes:


On Wall Street and in C-suites across the country, titans of American industry and capital are aghast. How could President Donald Trump plunge us into ruinous trade wars amid yo-yoing tariffs and send markets into chaos ahead of a widely speculated recession? They gave him their support and their donations, and this is how he repays them? 

The better question is: How were they so naïve as to think this wouldn’t happen?

It’s hard not to take some satisfaction in the sudden distress of the plutocrats.

“This is not what we voted for,” tweeted billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman. “What CEO and what board of directors will be comfortable making large, long-term, economic commitments in our country in the middle of an economic nuclear war?”

You don’t say. 


Yes, the honeymoon is over, as Glenn C. Altschuler notes at THE HILL:


In a poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal, 52 percent of respondents disapproved of his handling of the economy — usually his strong suit — up 12 points since October 2024. Even before “Liberation Day” and the huge stock market plunge, only 42 percent gave his tariff policies a thumbs up. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that only 36 percent of Americans think the administration and so-called Department of Government Efficiency are doing a competent job in reducing the number of federal employees.

Trump’s honeymoon, such as it was, is over. And critics of his policies have become more aroused, active, visible and vocal.

In February, videos of town hall meetings in conservative congressional districts in Wisconsin and Georgia dominated by angry protestors went viral. When the phenomenon began to spread, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) — who knows that similar “revolts” in 2009 and 2017 were followed by a powerful backlash against the party in power in the ensuing midterm elections — told his colleagues to stop scheduling such meetings: “Why would we give them a forum to do that right now?”

Those who went ahead anyway had a hard time reassuring their constituents. Questioned about DOGE’s firing of military veterans, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) replied, “No pain, no gain.” Rep. Steve Womack (R-Wyo.) told federal workers who lost their jobs, “Just be patient.”


The mutiny's begun, the honeymoon is over, people are pointing out that the emperor has no clothes on.


All together . . . 



Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun
And I say, it's all right
Little darling
It's been a long, cold, lonely winter
Little darling
It feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun
And I say, it's all right
Little darling
The smiles returning to their faces
Little darling
It seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun
And I say, it's all right

-- "Here Comes The Sun," written by George Harrison, first appears on The Beatles' ABBEY ROAD


The smiles returning to American faces.  


That doesn't mean we're not still in danger.  It does mean that Chumps cult is shrinking and will continue to do so because, as a nation, America's really not into cults.  There's far too much individualism in the DNA.  


Again, there's still huge danger.  At RAW STORY,  Sabrina Haake notes:


To ensure that the United States will always be led by a coherent, functioning President, the Twenty-Fifth Amendment provides for the prompt, orderly, and democratic transfer of executive power in the event the president is incapacitated, physically or mentally. Trump’s tariff debacle, where he thrust out his chest, flung economic incoherence at the world, then flip flopped only two days later, was the strongest evidence yet- in a roiling sea of evidence- that he is mentally incapacitated.

Despite inheriting the strongest post-covid economy in the world, Trump keeps insisting that the US economy is broken and in need of saving.He insists global trading partners who sell us more than they buy from us- even countries that are a fraction of our size- are “taking advantage.”

Trump’s tariff drama was so asinine, he’s either self-dealing or insane. Frankly, although they are not mutually exclusive, I’d prefer the former. I only wish that rumors swirling in the media today, suggesting Trump’s tariffs were a hustle, an insider scheme meant to enrich his backers, were true. Trump being a self-dealing crook poses less danger to the world than him making than no sense at all.

Leaders of the EU are too intelligent to sneer out loud at Trump’s flip flop on tariffs. Aware of his deranged lust for revenge, they are reluctant to utter the truth about his economic ignorance. But the world is aware, even if Americans aren’t, that our president is deranged.

Because Trump’s administration hasrefused to release his medical records, other mental health professionals have come forward with their own assessments. The emerging consensus is that Trump, showing cognitive decline, is presenting signs of advanced dementia.

Psychotherapist Dr. John Gartner, former Johns Hopkins University Medical School faculty, is so alarmed about Trump’s cognitive impairment that he circulated a petition addressing it among thousands of psychiatrists, psychologists and other credentialed mental health professionals. Gartner wrote last year that Trump shows "progressive deterioration in memory, thinking, ability to use language, behavior, and both gross and fine motor skills," adding that he felt an ethical “obligation to warn the public, and urge the media to cover this national emergency."


But the fantasy is fading and reality is returning.  Here comes the sun, indeed.  


One disaster after another has revealed Chump to be a clear threat to democracy as well as public health.  Alex Lang,Devi Shastri,Michelle R. Smith and Laura Ungar (INDEPENDENT) report:


A surge in measles cases across West Texas has raised concerns amongst officials about the potential for outbreaks of preventable diseases across the US due to funding cuts for public health initiatives.

Measles, declared eliminated in the US in 2000, has spread across more than 20 Texas counties. Officials attribute this resurgence partly to underfunded health departments struggling to maintain effective vaccination programs. The situation in Texas serves as a stark warning of the potential consequences of neglecting public health funding nationwide.

[.  . .]

Recent cuts by the Trump administration have pulled billions of dollars in COVID-19 related funding — $2 billion of it slated for immunization programs for various diseases. Overseeing the cuts is Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who rose to prominence leading an anti-vaccine movement. While Kennedy has said he wants his agency to prevent future outbreaks, he's also declined to deliver a consistent and forceful message that would help do so — encouraging people to vaccinate their children against measles while reminding them it is safe.


Chump and his ridiculous HHS Secretary Junior are putting America's children at risk. AP notes, "Recent cuts by the Trump administration have pulled billions of dollars in COVID-19 related funding -- $2 billion of it slated for immunization programs for various diseases. Overseeing the cuts is Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who rose to prominence leading an anti-vaccine movement."  Instead of promoting vaccines and funding them, Junior is undermining them.  CNN runs down nut job Junior's anti-vax b.s. while Spencer Wilson (CBS NEWS) reports:


After seeing the latest case of measles in Colorado, an infection prevention manager with Common Spirit, Aaron Parmet, said things are changing in the fight against the extremely contagious disease. 

The reported cases have been similar in the sense that in the first two, the patients had recently visited Mexico, but in the third case out of Pagosa Springs, the patient had no obvious travel history where an exposure to the virus could be found. That unknown has Parmet concerned.

"There's clearly cases out there that haven't been caught yet," Parmet said. "It's mind blowing to me because it doesn't have to be this way."

Parmet referenced that the United States had essentially eradicated the spread of the disease only a few decades ago, thanks to the help of a long-standing vaccine helping to establish herd immunities in the wider community. Now, Parmet said, given an opportunity to spread once again amongst pockets of mostly unvaccinated groups, the disease has a foothold in Colorado once again.

"One case can actually cause 18 additional cases on average; that's what measles does," Parmet explained. "It's actually the most infectious disease that we know of, the best spreader. It is airborne and spreads more easily through the air than any other disease that we know of."


And it's not just measles that Americans have to worry about.  Duaa Eldeib,  Patricia Callahan and  Sarahbeth Maney (PROPUBLICA) report:


In the past six months, two babies in Louisiana have died of pertussis, the disease commonly known as whooping cough.

Washington state recently announced its first confirmed death from pertussis in more than a decade.

Idaho and South Dakota each reported a death this year, and Oregon last year reported two as well as its highest number of cases since 1950.

While much of the country is focused on the spiraling measles outbreak concentrated in the small, dusty towns of West Texas, cases of pertussis have skyrocketed by more than 1,500% nationwide since hitting a recent low in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Deaths tied to the disease are also up, hitting 10 last year, compared with about two to four in previous years. Cases are on track to exceed that total this year.


The following sites updated:



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