The Common Ills: 2025-04-13

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Wednesday, April 16, 2025. Whistle blower Daniel Berulis comes forward with disturbing reports on DOGE, Chump continues to wreck the economy and the American dream, MSNBC's web team is still asleep this morning so could someone please wake them, Dems in Congress talk of going to El Salvador to investigate what's going on, and much more.

Let's start with Alien Musk's DOGE which has existed with no real authority and certainly no oversight. We've trusted Musk with access to this country's most sensitive information despite the fact that he's a security risk due to his drug usage, despite the fact that he's depended on huge amounts of money from China and despite the fact that he's not an American citizen (he's first a citizen of South Africa, then Canada and then the US). From yesterday's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED (NPR):

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency team, or DOGE, appears to be collecting sensitive data from all over the government. A whistleblower has come forward by filing an official disclosure to Congress. The disclosure is over concerning activity at one independent federal agency - the National Labor Relations Board. NPR's Jenna McLaughlin spoke to that whistleblower. He described to NPR what he saw and how DOGE appeared to go to great lengths to try to cover its tracks.

JENNA MCLAUGHLIN, BYLINE: It was a Friday afternoon in February when Daniel Berulis got a call from his boss. DOGE, the new federal cost-cutting unit, effectively led by billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk, would be arriving soon.

DANIEL BERULIS: I was working on a spreadsheet for some budgeting stuff, and I got a call from my boss saying, hey, it's possible DOGE will show up.

MCLAUGHLIN: The following week - according to his official disclosure to Congress - Berulis and his colleagues watched a black SUV with a police escort pull into the parking garage of the National Labor Relations Board in Southeast Washington, D.C. The small, independent federal agency investigates and adjudicates complaints about unfair labor practices. It stores reams of potentially sensitive data, such as private legal notes in ongoing labor investigations or confidential lists of union organizers.

Most of that data lives on the Cloud, a virtual computer system that can be accessed remotely. It's Berulis' job to watch over the cloud and make sure no single user has access to data or systems they don't need. But for DOGE, those policies and guidelines didn't seem to apply, Berulis says. They had a very specific request.

BERULIS: Do not log the accounts. Don't log the access and stay out of our way.

MCLAUGHLIN: That was just the start for Berulis and his colleagues.

BERULIS: That was a huge red flag. That's something that you just don't do. It violates every core concept of security and best practice.

MCLAUGHLIN: After his suspicions were raised, Berulis was able to hunt down a few details about what took place while DOGE had access. In his disclosure to Congress, there's a ton of complicated technical detail. But here's what it says.

There's clear evidence DOGE got the highest level of access to the system, that a big chunk of data left the agency's internal case management system, followed by another chunk of data leaving the agency itself and that whoever had done those things had turned off security tools and network monitoring logs. They deleted records and appeared to try and disguise the chunks of data leaving the agency as routine web traffic. And after the DOGE accounts were created, someone with an IP address in Russia started trying to log in to the NLRB system, using a username and password that DOGE had created. Even though the attempts were blocked, Berulis says that made him worried the system was more vulnerable now.

The NLRB tells NPR the agency did not authorize DOGE to access their systems, and that there's no record of DOGE requesting it. They also said there was a recent internal investigation that ruled out a breach. However, the disclosure includes forensic evidence and records of communications that seem to tell a different story.

BERULIS: Why was that done? And that's a purposeful effort. That doesn't just happen. Logs don't just disappear. Tools don't just turn themselves off randomly. Everything in a computer has a cause and effect. That means it has to have a trigger.

MCLAUGHLIN: NPR has talked to 10 outside cybersecurity experts - embedded in companies, government agencies and the private sector - who reviewed Berulis' claims. They say the activity is suspicious and that there's no reason a legitimate user would act this way or remove data that is protected by multiple federal laws, including the Privacy Act. They say it is hard to definitively prove what happened without further access to the NLRB systems or without an investigation by agencies with more resources, like the FBI. But from what they can see, none of this behavior is normal. They told NPR the shadowy tactics described in the disclosure are the kinds of things criminals and hackers from China and Russia like to do. Meanwhile, several labor law experts who spoke to NPR say they believe there's no possible reason why DOGE should have had access to or removed NLRB's sensitive labor data.

SHARON BLOCK: There is nothing that I can see about what DOGE is doing that follows any of the standard procedures for how you do an audit that has integrity and that's meaningful and that will actually produce results.

MCLAUGHLIN: Sharon Block is the director of Harvard Law School Center for Labor and a Just Economy. She has held key labor policy jobs in multiple administrations, including as a member of the National Labor Relations Board. She said she thinks DOGE's statements about cutting waste and its behavior don't match up.

BLOCK: That mismatch between what they're doing and what we know the established professional way to do what they say they're doing - that just kind of gives away the store - that they are not about actually finding more efficient ways for the government to operate.

Last night on THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW (MSNBC), Rachel spoke with the whistle blower and with his attorney. We'd embed the video here but MSNBC's internet team appears to be sleeping on the job and not understanding the importance of breaking news.

David Ingram and Megan Lebowitz (NBC NEWS) note:

The whistleblower report, which NBC News has reviewed a copy of, comes as DOGE and Trump’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk continue to face multiple lawsuits questioning their access to computer systems across the federal government.

Berulis, who works at the labor board, wrote in the declaration that within days of DOGE staffers arriving in March, he noticed a series of “anomalous” events in the board’s computer systems. Those included changes to the use of multi-factor authentication, which is a widely used security protocol, and internal alerting systems being switched off, he wrote in the 14-page statement.

He also wrote that he tracked what appeared to be the outbound transfer of around 10 gigabytes or more of data — “the equivalent of a full stack of encyclopedias” if the data were all text files, he wrote. He wrote that the removal was “extremely unusual because data almost never directly leaves NLRB’s databases.”

The database accessed by DOGE contained personally identifiable information of “claimants and respondents with pending matters before the agency” as well as confidential business information gathered during investigations, he wrote.

e added that after DOGE gained access to the labor board’s systems, there was an increase in attempted logins from locations outside the United States including from a user with an internet protocol (IP) address in Russia. He wrote that the person with the Russian IP address appeared to have a correct username and password, created minutes earlier by DOGE engineers, and was blocked from logging in only because of their location.

“Those attempts were blocked, but they were especially alarming,” Berulis wrote.

Berulis included in his disclosure several screenshots from a computer workstation that he says are evidence of data being transferred. He wrote that he has almost two decades of experience in his field and that he has held a Top Secret security clearance.

Liam Archacki (THE DAILY BEAST) adds:

Musk is currently embroiled in a legal battle with the NLRB over the agency’s ability to enforce labor law. Attorneys for Musk’s SpaceX argued before a court in November that the NLRB’s structure is unconstitutional.

A ruling against the agency could severely diminish its power.

The legal battle began after the NLRB accused SpaceX of illegally firing employees who had publicly criticized Musk.

The nonprofit Whistleblower Aid, which is representing Berulis legally, passed along his sworn disclosure in a letter to Sens. Tom Cotton and Mark Warner, the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, respectively. It asked the committee to probe the matter.

The letter describes DOGE’s actions as possibly constituting a “significant cybersecurity breach that likely has and continues to expose our government to foreign intelligence and our nation’s adversaries.”

It also claims that ”someone physically taped a threatening note to Mr. Berulis’ home door with photographs – taken via a drone – of him walking in his neighborhood” as he prepared to make his disclosure. The note, which Berulis declined to share with Reuters, specifically referenced the impending disclosure, the letter says.

The spying and intimidation attempts? They started before he went public. Daniel Berulis' attorney explained that to Rachel Maddow last night. Which means that DOGE is also spying on government employees. Yesterday on CNN, Jake Tapper reported on this story and spoke with Daniel.

Alex Shephard (THE NEW REPUBLIC) explains:

It’s worth underlining the caveat that no one quite knows where the data allegedly pilfered from the NLRB is going—if indeed it has left the agency at all. But the information allegedly leaving the NLRB would be extraordinarily valuable to corporate titans like Musk looking for a leg up on rivals, as well as a window into the inner workings of the labor unions they despise. It would also explain why Musk is involved with DOGE to begin with. As a number of his companies, especially Tesla, struggle, the government systems DOGE now controls could provide invaluable information.

The theft of personal information also points to another more nefarious motivation for Musk and DOGE. It’s already abundantly clear that the group will not reduce the deficit. It likely will not even decrease federal spending, which is already $100 billion higher under Trump than it was under Biden at this point in his term. Instead, the group’s slashing of regulations and bureaucracy is aimed not at reducing “waste” but at cutting the many governmental layers that exist to fight risk—and fraud.

In another sense, it really doesn’t matter if this information is being used for nefarious corporate reasons at all. What matters is that unaccountable coders with close ties to the world’s richest man have their mitts on the personal information of millions of Americans—that’s bad no matter what they’re doing with it.

Some reaction on BLUESKY.

Be really great if MSNBC could get Rachel's interview with Daniel uploaded to their YOUTUBE channel this morning.

Moving over to the topic of the economy, the elephant in the room is the breasty Donald Chump who continues to wreck the US economy. David J. Lynch (WASHINGTON POST) reports that, since January 20th, the US dollar is on the decline having lost 10% of its value during that time period -- 5% of the decline occurred in the last few weeks as Chump's tariff scheme was implemented. "Bad news," Lynch explains, "for Americans traveling abroad and could also aggravate inflation by making foreign goods more expensive."

On the topic of the economy, we noted yesterday that Chump was destroying travel to the US and the billions of dollars that this travel results in:

Other damage he's doing? The United States makes a lot of money from foreigners traveling here for various events, conventions and sight seeing journeys. Dallas, TX? A magnet for people around the world who want to remember President John F. Kennedy. And a ton of people do because President Kennedy was a monumental and historical figure -- unlike his nephew Tiny Balls Junior who is an embarrassment. Florida? The incredible beaches. Key Largo, Key West. DISNEY WORLD, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA THEME PARK, Daytona Beach, The Dahil Museum, etc, etc. California? DISNEYLAND Park, the wineries, the film studios, the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, Alcatraz Island, Pier 39, the beaches, the San Diego Zoo, Catalina Island, Big Sur, Joshua Tree, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Santa Monica Pier, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Mission San Juan Bautista . . . New York has the Statue of Liberty, the Museum Of Modern Art, Central Park, Empire State Building, Time Square, Grand Central Terminal . . . That's just a few things in a few states. Most of the states have major tourist attractions. And tourists from outside the US coming here accounts for a lot of money each year.

Do you get how much money that is? How many industries that impacts? You've got the airline industry, you've got the car industry if the visitors rent a car, you've got taxis and Ubers, you've got hotels and motels, you've got eateries, you've got bars, many of the points of interest have fees visitors have to pay, you've got the clothing industry since travelers often purchase an outfit or two (or a t-shirt or two) in addition to what they've packed, you've got shops -- souvenir and regular shops.

Or it did.

Do we grasp how much money Chump's running off?

In 2023, international travelers poured an estimated $213 billion -- billion -- into the US economy. That amounted to approximately $584 million a day.

And now Chump's making us pariah around the world. See, sending people to a gulag in El Salvador doesn't really argue for freedom and democracy. And since Chump declares these deportations and imprisonments require no trials, if you're in Paris, you really think Las Vegas or whatever is worth seeing when, while you're visiting the US, you might accidentally get caught up in one of Chump's dragnets and end up being taken not back to France but a to prison -- one where the are no rules or guidelines and people are tortured.

Will Vitka (PREDICITION NEWS) noted yesterday afternoon:

7.1 million visitors entered the U.S. Jan–March 2025, down 3.3% from 2024.

A consistent downward trend began in early 2025, tied to trade rhetoric and visa delays.

The sharpest declines were seen in Canada, UK, France, Mexico, and Germany.

Expected to hit $198 billion in 2025, down from early 2024 projections.

Let's zoom in on one state. Jason Weisberger (BOING BOING) reports on California:

Ignoring the many tales of horror inflicted upon innocent tourists to the United States, California Gov. Gavin Newsom encouraged Canadians to visit the Bear Republic. Canadians said no.

California depends on international tourism, and the Trump administration's new Draconian policies will hit the state hard. In 2024, nearly 1.8 million Canadians visited California, contributing around $3.72 billion to the state's economy. Only Mexico boasts higher international tourism numbers than the Golden State, and you can be sure they will enthusiastically not visit either. In an attempt to build some confidence in potential international travelers, Newsom took to TikTok with an invitation. Canadians politely shoved it back in his face.

Janna Brancolini (THE DAILY BEAST) points out, "President Donald Trump’s policies could cost the U.S. economy $90 billion this year in lost tourism and export revenue, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. Many foreign visitors are avoiding the U.S. over concerns about increased hostility at the border, including reports about European tourists being detained for weeks in U.S. immigration centers. Others are angry about Trump’s trade wars and his treatment of U.S. allies -- particularly Canada -- and are boycotting U.S. travel and products."

This topic was also addressed on THE 11TH HOUR WITH STEPHANIE RUHLE when Stephanie spoke with Wilfred Frost about the upcoming series -- Sunday, April 27th -- on his father journaist David Frost -- a six part docuseries entitled DAVID VS. Stephanie and Wilfred looked at the countries and the drop in travel to the US with Wilfred noting that Denmark had one of the highest fallen rates on travel to the US since Chump was sworn in on January 20th.

Love to post the video but, guess what -- That's right MSNBC's web team just sleeps on the job. We will note this discussion Stephanie had last night at the start of her program.

Staying on the topic of the economy,

Brad Bannon (THE HILL) explains, "President Trump has just reached a crucial stage early in the second term of his presidency. Sandwiched between his abject capitulation on tariffs and the bitter fight over his tax breaks for fat cats and plutocrats, he now owns this creaky economy." Andrew Stanton (NEWSWEEK) elaborates, "A growing number of Americans are blaming President Donald Trump, rather than former President Joe Biden, for the state of the economy, according to two recent polls." And what's the conclusion to the growing feeling of mistrust toward Chump and his GOP tariff boosters? Maria Villarroel (LATIN TIMES) explains, "As the Trump administration continues defending tariffs and the uncertainty they have created in the global economy, voters are reacting, with more saying they trust Democrats more than Republicans to handle the economy for the first time since 2021, a new poll shows. The poll in question was conducted by Morning Consult among 2,203 registered U.S. voters across the country between April 11-13. It found that more trust Democrats in Congress more than their Republican counterparts to handle the economy (46% to 43%)." More bad news for Chump via Miles Klee (ROLLING STONE):

New polling from the University of Massachusetts Amherst reveals that after almost three months in office, a majority of respondents disapprove of Trump's actions in office. Just 27 percent said they "Strongly Approve" of his job performance, with another 17 percent indicating they "Somewhat Approve" of him so far in his second term, for total favorables of 44 percent. By comparison, 44 percent "Strongly Disapprove," and 7 percent "Somewhat Disapprove," for an unfavorability rate of 51 percent.

Trump is also underwater on every issue apart from immigration. At least 40 percent of respondents said he has handled jobs, foreign affairs, civil rights, inflation, and trade "Not Well At All," with the president receiving especially poor marks on the latter two economic fronts: a combined 62 percent unfavorable on inflation and 58 percent on trade, presumably as the cost of household necessities hasn't budged, while Trump's messy tariffs plans have roiled international markets and investment portfolios.

Again, Chump has killed the American dream and few people want to travel into a den of iniquity. His trashy ways have tarnished the country's image around the world. And, as we noted yesterday, people don't want to travel to some country that might deport them -- accidentally or intentionally -- to a prison in El Salvador. Daniel Hampton (RAW STORY) notes:

A civil rights attorney sounded the alarm Monday afternoon, warning the Trump administration is essentially engaged in what he called "human trafficking."

Trump publicly said he would like to deport American citizens who are violent offenders to El Salvador, where they would then serve their prison sentences under a deal with the Salvadoran government. Trump made the remarks during a White House meeting with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele.

[. . .]

The idea has been widely challenged by legal experts, including civil rights attorney Scott Hechinger, who took to X on Monday to blast the president.

"Pay attention: This is human trafficking. President Trump is already paying to ship humans to El Salvador & now wants to expand his slave trade. US military contractors like Eric Prince are salivating, now negotiating to privatize deportations/imprisonment to make billions," warned Hechinger.

In a separate post, he called the deportation effort a "clear assault on civil liberties and due process rights."

"It also represents an arguably darker milestone: 'The US government is now in the business of trafficking migrants on the global market.'"

A darker milestone? Travis Gettys reports that historian Timothy Snyder is also making that argument:

"Yesterday the president defied a Supreme Court ruling to return a man who was mistakenly sent to a gulag in another country, celebrated the suffering of this innocent person, and spoke of sending Americans to foreign concentration camps," Snyder wrote.

"This is the beginning of an American policy of state terror," he added, "and it has to be identified as such to be stopped."

Snyder, who is leaving Yale University for the University of Toronto in the fall, said both Stalinists and Nazis both referred to their own people as "criminals" and "terrorists," as both Trump and Bukele did at the White House, to justify their authoritarian abuse and escape from the law.

"It is that anti-constitutional escapism that enables abuse," Snyder wrote. "State terror involves not just the malignant development of state organs of oppression, such as masked men in black vans, but also the withdrawal of the state from its role as a guardian of law. What aspiring tyrants present as 'strength,' the ability to terrorize innocent people, rests on what might be seen as a more fundamental weakness, which is the withdrawal of the state from the principle of the rule of law. When we have law, we are all stronger; when we lack law, everyone is weaker except for the very few who can direct the coercive power of the state against the rest of us."

In the face of all of this, Democrats can't afford to be a cowardly James Carville. People want to see leadership and they want to see that some elected official actually gives a damn. Phillip M. Bailey (USA TODAY) reports:

Democratic lawmakers say if a wrongly deported man sent to a supermax prison in El Salvador isn't brought back to the U.S., they will visit the central American country, adding further pressure on the Trump administration for his release.

President Donald Trump met with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office on Monday, where he praised the foreign leader for opening his country's notorious prison system to alleged gang members and detainees the U.S. wants out of the country.

[. . .]

"I've been clear: if President Bukele doesn't want to meet here in D.C., then I intend to go to El Salvador this week to check on Kilmar Abrego Garcia's condition and discuss his release," Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-MD, said in an April 14 post on X.

"Kilmar was illegally abducted and deported by the Trump (administration). He must be brought home now."

Other members of Congress say they plan to join Van Hollen's trip, including Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fl., who described Garcia's detention as a "kidnapping and illegal detention."

"We need answers now," said Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., who reshared Van Hollen's post on Monday.

This needs to happen.

Brian Taylor Cohen discussed this Congressional trip last night with US House Rep Robert Garcia.

Again, this needs to happen.

And Lawrence Tribe discussed this last night. Let's post that video. Oh. Wait. We can't. He did that on MSNBC speaking with Lawrence O'Donnell. Again, MSNBC's web team is sleeping on the job.

Marjorie Taylor Greene? She's got some conditions. Maybe it's because of her recent 'winnings' -- see Elaine's "Lock up MTG?" from last night -- but she is holding a town hall her way. David Badash reports:

Jake Gittes: I wouldn't extort a nickel from my worst enemy. That's where I draw the line.

Loach Jr.: Well, I'll tell you, Jake. I knew a whore once. For the right amount of money, she'd piss in a guy's face But she wouldn't s**t on his chest. You see, that's where she drew the line.

Jake Gittes: Well, Junior, all I can say is: I hope she wasn't too much of a disappointment to you.

Oh, wait, it just sounds like they're talking about Marjorie. That's actually from the Jack Nicholson film THE TWO JAKES (script by Robert Towne). Here's David Badash writing about Marjorie:

In a social media video, Congresswoman Greene stated, “this is a town hall that’s strictly for constituents. That means you have to live in my district, and you had to sign up on the sign up link. That’s important. Make sure you bring your ID, as we will be verifying that you actually live in the district and have signed up to be in the town hall.”

Greene, under scrutiny over recent stock purchases she allegedly made, is holding the town hall in a county Vice President Kamala Harris carried in November by 15 percentage points, according to Fox News. The GOP Congresswoman established additional rules, namely, no protesting—despite First Amendment protections.

“Also, this is important for everyone attending the town hall,” she said. “You need to understand this is not a place to protest. This isn’t a place to stand up and scream and yell. This is a place to sit and listen, and we have your questions if you signed up.”

Huh? Isn't this the same bull dog who went after AOC? Stuck her ugly face in the mail slot of AOC's office? I understand Marjorie stuck her face in a lot of slots over the years. But this is when the burly girl was making her way through the halls of Congress. And burly butch wasn't one of AOC's constituents.

Poor Marjorie, she can't handle an honest interaction with her constituents. Listen to what I just said. "With her constituents." As if. Marjorie can't handle an honest interaction with anyone. But last night, she had them tossed out of the meeting, had them tasered and much worse. Let's hope they all remember when the midterms approach.

The following sites updated:

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Tuesday, April 15, 2025

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YIKES! Donald Trump’s Latest POLL NUMBERS ARE CRATERING!!!

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The Snapshot

Tuesday, April 15, 2025. Chump wrecks the economy and that includes tourism, Chump's deportation policies are illegal and one man proves that which is why Chump doesn't want him back in the US, they're going after Head Start, and much more.

Convicted Felon Donald Chump has wrecked he economy and the fallout continues. Yesterday, Ruth noted in "Chump could be a wet nurse" that the real number of Republicans concerned about Chump's tariffs is probably much greater and that people have a hard time admitting they made a mistake. And she notes how elected Republicans are beginning to voice their concerns which will break the ice and allow non-elected Republicans to get truthful. Florence Muchai (CRYPTOPOLITAN) reports:

Republican lawmakers are worried that President Donald Trump’s pause-and-play tariff strategy could backfire politically and economically, potentially jeopardizing the GOP’s prospects in the 2026 midterm elections.

Owing to how tariffs hit both adversaries and allies, party leaders warn the President that inflation, higher borrowing costs, suppressed consumer expenditure, and market instability could undo hard-won electoral gains.

Last week, Trump announced that Chinese import tariffs would clock 145%, prompting Beijing to retaliate with a 125% tariff on American goods. Though the POTUS temporarily paused trade levies for several other countries for 90 days, claiming they are now on the negotiation table, Republicans are concerned about the leading party’s reputation back home.

According to data reported by Yahoo Finance, the 30-year Treasury yield, closely linked to mortgage rates, saw its biggest one-week jump since 1982, rising to 4.88%. The 10-year yield climbed to 4.59%, increasing borrowing costs for consumers and businesses.

Conservative Senator Thom Tillis, one to watch in the upcoming midterm cycle, referenced the former President Ronald Reagan era in 1982 when Republicans lost 26 seats in the House, likely caused by economic concerns and rising interest rates.

“All the indicators would be ‘wrong track’ if we’re still having the same tariff discussions by February,” Tillis remarked.

Tillis is asking the Trump administration to finalize favorable trade deals within the next 10 months. But without concrete results, he said, the GOP would face “political headwinds” similar to past electoral wipeouts following tax hikes or trade disruptions.

Another GOP leader, Senator Rand Paul, invoked the 1932 election when the Republican authors of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, Senators Reed Smoot and Willis Hawley, lost their seats after their protectionist policies shared the biggest part of the blame for deepening the Great Depression.

When Democratic Party analyst James Carville says to let the GOP screw things up all by themselves, he's basing it on historical models like the above. History often repeats. But not always precisely and it's rather lazy -- and a bit of a scaredy cat -- to talk people out of taking action on the hope/dream/prayer that things will turn out exactly as they did in the past. And it also puts aside/ignores all the other things he's doing -- all the other illegal things.

In a column for THE NEW YORK TIMES, Carville argues that Chump's con may be coming to an end, "The problem is that smoke and mirrors only work until you screw up so hard that no act of lunacy can pull the American people's attention elsewhere. And boy, did the president just screw up royally. In what will certainly be recorded as one of the most ignorant acts of political leadership in American history, the president of the United States has now willfully damaged the global economy with his tariff chaos."

The MAGA voters still hanging on to Chump are some who struggle with admitting mistakes and others who are just idiots. Loved Reece Waters underscoring the grammar challengers of one Chump defender on TIK TOK.

"I'm telling you guys, he's very smart. That's how the country was ran before taxes."

Was ran.

If you're that stupid, I guess you don't care that you posted a video exposing that you couldn't pass elementary school English. "Was ran." It's a shame when she finished fourth grade that they didn't let her keep the dunce cap -- especially since it appears she never went to any grade higher.

They lie to themselves that Chump has a plan, that this is going step by step, one chess move after another. No, kids, he's making it up as he goes along. Nicola Slawson (GUARDIAN) explains:

Donald Trump’s tariff war has plunged deeper into chaos after a cabinet official floated a plan for new levies on semiconductors – a crucial component in electronic goods – just days after the Trump administration exempted computers and smartphones from tariffs.

Trump’s commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, told NBC the tariff exemption on several electronic devices was temporary, and that new duties would come in “a month or two”. Semiconductors would be targeted, he said.

The president said he would lay out the new tariffs on Monday and that any relief for the electronics industry would be short-lived. “NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding: “Especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!”

And Josh Boak (AP) notes:

President Donald Trump on Monday suggested that he might temporarily exempt the auto industry from tariffs he previously imposed on the sector, to give carmakers time to adjust their supply chains.

“I’m looking at something to help some of the car companies with it,” Trump told reporters gathered in the Oval Office. The Republican president said automakers needed time to relocate production from Canada, Mexico and other places, "And they need a little bit of time because they’re going to make them here, but they need a little bit of time. So I’m talking about things like that.”

You've handed the checkbook over to an addict with no scruples. You're the chumps for Chump. The sooner you wake up to that reality, the more likely you'll be able to help out the rest of the country. And even if you made a grave mistake in November, your help is still needed. From Anne Applebaum's "The Kleptocracy Presidency" (THE ATLANTIC):

The right question to ask about Trump’s tariff policy is also financial: How will this enormous change to American trade policy benefit Trump? One answer is already clear. The countries and large companies damaged by these tariffs, some of which could face huge losses or even bankruptcy, will have an enormous incentive to play up to the president, to offer him political donations, and maybe even to offer business deals to him, his family, or his friends in order to get some kind of exception made for themselves or their industry.

In a law-abiding administration, personal finances wouldn’t be an important part of the public debate. But this administration’s leaders have decided that laws and norms of behavior that have held for a century or more don’t apply to them. The Republican-led Congress has so far decided not to enforce them either. It’s now up to the media, to outside organizations, and to whistleblowers to keep reporting the slide into kleptocracy to the public and to the courts, to make sure that remaining laws are enforced. It’s up to the Democratic Party to follow the lead of opposition movements in other kleptocracies and to put corruption at the center of their arguments. Before it’s too late, everyone who can do so must communicate what is happening: American government, American foreign policy, and American trade policy are slowly being transformed, not to benefit Americans but to benefit the president, his family, and his friends. Only voters can stop them.

And we're going to have to because Chump is destroying the economy. Matthew Chapman (RAW STORY) notes:

The United States is about to pay an economic price that Edward Luce for the Financial Times calls the "moron premium," he argued in an article published on Monday.

A sign of how far things have fallen on the right now, wrote Luce, is the constant appearances of failed former British Prime Minister Liz Truss to MAGA conventions — and Trump is somehow proposing a scheme even worse than that which got Truss kicked out of office faster than a head of lettuce could rot.

Chumps for Chump live in denial. They are not at one with the world. Florence Muchai (CRYTOPOLITAN) reports, "The International Monetary Fund is warning countries about an impending global recession, citing US President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy and geopolitical indifferences as factors that could destabilize global financial markets. In a report released Monday, the IMF cautioned that escalations in geopolitical risk, especially related to trade conflicts, could lead to major and lasting corrections in global asset prices. The global lender noted recent developments, particularly the White House’s tariff agenda, have introduced a “heightened uncertainty” that could disrupt macro-financial stability across economies." Need some more bad news? Elliot Gulliver-Needham (CITY AM) reported yesterday, "The dollar has fallen 0.7 per cent today, marking its fifth straight day of decline, as markets continue to reassess the currency’s position in the global economy. The DXY index, which tracks the dollar’s value against a basket of currencies, dropped to its lowest in three years in trading today." David Blond (MARKETWATCH) explains:

The impact of Trump’s on-and-off again tariffs will be practically immediate. Americans likely will see the choking of supply chains across all industries as companies decide to wait to clear their orders through U.S. Customs. Stores will have less to sell and need fewer salespeople. Americans don’t have to wait for the knock-on effects in the CPI; it could show up in farmers not planting as many soybeans or retailers wondering if ordering in June for the December holiday season is too much of a risk.

The point I’m making is that the U.S. is not the trade titan that Trump believes we are. Important? Yes. But the world can do without selling to or buying from American companies and farmers. A 90-day pause in U.S. import tariffs will not bring back trade-policy sanity, and other countries have no good reason to negotiate with a U.S. president who could tear up signed agreements on a whim.

Or it did.

Do we grasp how much money Chump's running off?

In 2023, international travelers poured an estimated $213 billion -- billion -- into the US economy. That amounted to approximately $584 million a day.

He's destroying this country and he needs to stand trial at the ICC for what he's done with regards to El Salvador alone. You're not legally allowed to knowingly put people into human abuse situations -- and your further guilty when you're paying El Salvador to take these people. He needs to stand in the International Criminal Court and maybe he become the first former US president to do so after he leaves office in January 2029.

For now, he just ruins our economy. Tom Sykes (DAILY BEAST) reports:

Big-spending European tourists appear to be turning their backs on the United States as a a tourism destination, with new figures showing a sharp drop in transatlantic travel. According to the U.S. International Trade Administration (ITA), overseas visits to the U.S. fell 12% overall in March compared to the same month last year. Western Europe -- traditionally a key source of tourists -- was down 7%, but that modest figure masks some dramatic declines in specific countries. U.K. visitors, the single largest tourist group to the U.S., were down 14%. Ireland, another crucial market, saw a staggering 27% drop. Denmark fell a whopping 34% -- possibly a response to Donald Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. should annex Greenland, a Danish territory. German visitors plummeted 28%, as Elon Musk -- reportedly close to the former president—faced accusations of promoting far-right parties there. Spain and Norway both saw a 25% decline, and Swiss tourists dropped by 26%.

Where's the Chamber of Commerce lodging their public objections as Chump destroys the economy and destroys business big and small?

THE 11TH HOUR WITH STEPHANIE RULHE (MSNBC) last night featured a strong discussion of our economy and corruption.

Andrew Latham (NATIONAL SECURITY JOURNAL) argues:

Donald Trump’s return to power is not just another act in the familiar drama of American politics. It is a direct assault on the very framework of American constitutionalism. This isn’t about pushing legal boundaries or stretching precedent. It is about transforming legal defiance into public performance. Trump is not merely ignoring the law – he is staging a spectacle of impunity. Every ignored subpoena, every violated gag order, every delayed trial becomes a demonstration of dominance. The message is clear: the law will not touch me, because I have turned it into theater.

And like all good theater, it draws an audience. What should be a straightforward exercise of legal accountability has become a recurring ritual in which enforcement mechanisms are twisted into symbols of persecution. Each indictment becomes a campaign prop. Each judicial rebuke is recast as political martyrdom. Institutions built to constrain are instead conscripted into a narrative of grievance. And because the machinery of justice moves slowly by design, Trump’s tactics – delay, diversion, denigration – are proving effective. He doesn’t need to win in court. He just needs to run out the clock.

This is Charybdis: a legal system whirling in futility while deadlines lapse and consequences evaporate. Justice doesn’t just fail here – it becomes farce. Trump has figured out how to convert the slow grind of due process into a tool of mockery. Gag orders become proof of censorship. Trials are dismissed as witch hunts. The very idea of law is hollowed out and rebranded as tyranny. And the longer the system hesitates, the deeper the damage. Rule of law begins to resemble a punchline.

But Scylla waits on the other side. That’s the danger of overreaction – the temptation to stretch legal remedies into political revenge, to let fear drive institutions into excess. That’s what Trump is counting on. He dares prosecutors to push too hard, courts to act too aggressively, lawmakers to go too far. He wants the system to stumble into overreach, to justify his claim that it was never about justice to begin with. His strength lies in forcing the guardians of legality into a trap: act, and look like tyrants. Don’t act, and look like cowards.

This is the bind. The dangers are real, and the choices are terrible. Veer too far one way, and legitimacy crumbles. Veer too far the other, and law loses its teeth. That’s the tragic symmetry of the Scylla and Charybdis metaphor – not a choice between good and evil, but a high-wire act where the price of imbalance is catastrophe. Odysseus didn’t conquer the monsters. He outlasted them. And that, now, is the task before the republic: not conquest, but survival.

But survival demands clarity. It demands the ability to see what’s actually happening. This isn’t a cultural squabble. It’s not the latest round in some never-ending partisan brawl. It is a stress test of whether constitutional limits still mean anything. Because what we are witnessing is not the ordinary friction of democratic politics. It’s the steady conversion of the presidency into a stage for personal power – where law is not enforced but inverted, not respected but turned into a weapon against itself.

We’ve seen this before, just not here. From Orbán to Erdoğan to Putin, we’ve watched elected leaders keep the outward forms of democracy – elections, courts, legislatures – while draining them of substance. The systems look intact, but their spirit is gone. Power is centralized, opposition is marginalized, and the rule of law becomes rule by law. Trumpism is not some American anomaly – it is part of a broader global drift toward strongman politics cloaked in democratic rituals.

He does need to be impeached. What he did to the economy is not something a leader does. And he did it intentionally. He ignored every economic expert. Mataeo Smith (MIRROR) notes:

Some fund managers are doubting the logic of President Donald Trump's actions as his back-and-forth on trade policies causes havoc in the financial markets.

“In the last few days, we have had many conversations with macro fund managers,” Tom Lee, the head of research at the financial analysis firm FSInsights, wrote on Wednesday morning, before Trump backed down from most of his tariffs on U.S. trading partners.

“And their concern is that the White House is not acting rationally, but rather on ideology. And some even fear that this may not even be ideology,” he added. “A few have quietly wondered if the President might be insane.”

They think he's insane because this is insanity.

And he's garbage trash which is why he doesn't golf at Augusta (they don't want him there). He's garbage trash who embarrasses himself and the country. Yesterday, he said this: "CNN over here doesn’t want to put them out because they don’t like putting out good numbers. They only like putting it out because I think they hate our country, actually."

Someone in the White House should have pulled him aside and said STFU.

With the economy, he's done enough damage this month. We don't need to see anymore crazy from our Breasty Donald Chump.

Tommy Christopher (MEDIAITE) explains:

CNN anchor Dana Bash cut in as President Donald Trump was still speaking in the Oval Office to offer a refutation to Trump’s claim the network “hates our country.”

Trump met with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office for a photo op on Monday, during which Trump repeatedly and viciously attacked CNN, including various incendiary and groundless claims about the network’s beliefs.

He began by refusing to take a question from CNN anchor and senior White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins, then said “they hate our country” and want criminals and murderers to roam free.

Eventually, Collins was able to grill Trump in a heated exchange during which Trump insulted her and called the personnel at her network “sick people.”

With about 6 minutes still to go in the photo op, CNN cut away from Trump during Monday’s edition of Inside Politics, and Bash addressed Trump’s barrage before quickly changing the subject:

DANA BASH: Okay we have been listening to a lengthy live press conference inside the Oval Office with the leader of El Salvador, Bukele where we have heard a lot of bits of information, a lot of news nuggets that we want to definitely focus on, a lot of some misinformation as well.

But we want to digest all of this right now with our terrific panel here and our reporters, Jeff Zeleny. I want to start with you. You are at the White House.

Before I get to you, I just want to say for the record, since we heard President Trump say in the Oval Office that CNN hates our country–.

CNN does not hate our country. That should go without saying. I’ve been here for 32 years and I see a rhetorical device. in him trying to say such a thing.

The person who hates our country is Donald Chump and that's why he can't stop attacking the Constitution. That includes his targeting of free speech and that includes his use of deportation. BBC NEWS notes:

An organiser of pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University has been arrested by immigration officials as he attended an interview as part of his application for US citizenship, his lawyer says.

Mohsen Mahdawi, a green card holder who is due to graduate next month from the New York City college, was detained on Monday in Colchester, Vermont.

His lawyer said Mr Mahdawi was taken into custody "in direct retaliation" for his role in campus demonstrations against the Israel-Gaza war.

Others who took part in campus protests against the war, including Columbia University's Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts University's Rumeysa Ozturk, have been detained.

Mahmoud Khalil. Some are asking in e-mails if I've been ignoring him for the last two weeks. Yes, I have ignored here on purpose. His wife, Noor Abdalla, is doing a wonderful job advocating for him, she's got polish and experience and she's a wonderful spokesperson.

That's the good news and not why I've avoided the topic.

His attorneys are idiots -- and that includes the new ones brought on. And I'm tired of arguing with two of them.

The most important thing right now is to get him out of prison.

And it's not that hard. If you make that the focus, it's not that hard.

His wife is pregnant and due to deliver their child at any moment. That's one issue you raise to the court. You raise the issue that the government's charged him with issues of paperwork, how he filled out an application. You get him out.

That is the most important thing.

Yes, it's important because he needs to be there for the birth of his child and to support his wife through the birth.

But he needs to be out because it makes any arguments you make afterwards on his behalf all the more powerful.

Getting him out should be the main priority.

Then pick up issues of whatever Constitutional principals you want.

But get him out and it makes any case you make all the stronger.

I'm tired of arguing with them. I'm tired of their refusal to learn and synergize.

The reason my mind is picked by various friends about their cases is because I have a pretty good memory and know a lot of case law but it's mainly because I synthesize. I pull from this legal are and that legal area and come up with what can work.

They're trying to make this about the Constitution and only that. Any defense attorney will tell you that getting your client out from behind bars is an immediate gain for any argument you're going to make regarding innocence.

But they don't want to deal with reality and they don't want to incorporate lessons learned in other areas of the law.

So there's really nothing I can do at this point with regards to that issue. I wish I could but Im honestly tired from arguing with his attorneys.

They don't want to listen. Point out that he might appear before a judge shortly and that you want him in something -- clothes -- other than a prison uniform. Point that out and it flies over their head and they don't understand. The focus needs to be on getting him out. Once he's out, you have have his released behavior that you can also argue before the court that makes a stronger case for him.

Again, my time is limited and you can't help when attorneys are focused on everything but helping the client.

Chump wants to move towards deporting us all.

Yesterday, at the White House, he met with human rights abuser and dictator of El Salvador Nayib Bukele. Both men are prepared to send more deportees to gulags and torture chambers in El Salvador. That's where Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia remains despite the courts ordering Chump to return Garcia to this country.

This issue -- and Chump's publicly stated desire to deport US citizens to El Salvador -- on MSNBC's THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW.

Right now Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia is not coming back.

And we're talking about that but not talking about the why.

"Because Chump's ignoring court ruling!"

No.

That's not why.

That's a response but it's not why. His ignoring the Supreme Court is a response. But it's not the why.

Why he's not coming back is because Chump doesn't want him talking -- not about how a non-gang member and a non-criminal got thrown out of this country by mistake. Garcia is a face on Chump's very bad policy and Chump doesn't want that.

Chump also doesn't want Garcia back here because he doesn't want the truth getting out.

Right now, the people Chump places in that prison are really not represented or heard by the American people.

Garcia gets brought back and Garcia immediately talks about the torture he experienced.

He talks about that torture and forces a lot of Americans to reckon with the effects of Donald's illegal actions and the very real damage being done and how we are currently ruled by an international criminal.

That's what's going on. That's the why.

Even an idiot like Lindsey Graham might have to break with Chump in the face of that reality.

Garcia's best hope is people talking about his case and getting the word out and forcing Chump to defend his actions when they can't be defended. Lawsuits also need to be brought against the dictator of El Salvador who stated at the White House yesterday that he had no plans to release Garcia.

But we need to be making Garcia's case and pointing out that he's being tortured.

That's what Chump's trying to hide and that's what reveals him as a crook not fit to be president. American presidents are not supposed to participate in torture, they're not supposed to send innocent people overseas to be tortured.

Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

New reporting shows the Trump administration is considering proposing to eliminate Head Start altogether—a key goal of Project 2025

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), responded to new reporting that President Trump is considering proposing to zero out funding for Head Start in his forthcoming budget request—a goal proposed in Project 2025, which would cut off essential services and early childhood educational opportunities for hundreds of thousands of families nationwide.

“While families feel the crunch with a worsening child care crisis and much higher daily costs thanks to Trump’s tariffs, President Trump wants to eliminate Head Start and kick hundreds of thousands of kids out of the classroom, fire teachers, and make child care and early learning more expensive and less safe.

“This administration believes we cannot afford to help families get preschool or help kids get basic health services, but we can afford trillions of dollars more in tax breaks for billionaires. It’s offensive and just plain wrong, and let me be clear: Democrats won’t let a proposal like this go anywhere in Congress. But that doesn’t mean Head Start and so many other programs aren’t under grave threat—because Trump has proven he’ll ignore our laws and do whatever he can to break these programs on his own. Trump has already tried illegally blocking funding for Head Start earlier this year, and programs across the country continued having problems accessing their funding long after his administration promised everything was fine. He has already fired the very people who keep Head Start running with no plan in place to ensure hundreds of thousands of families will keep getting the care they count on, so it’s on every one of us to keep speaking out and opposing this administration’s anti-family, pro-billionaire agenda.”

Head Start currently serves over 750,000 kids nationwide, and the program has served nearly 40 million children and their families nationwide since its inception in 1965. There are over 17,000 Head Start centers nationwide that help kids and families thrive, and these centers are particularly important in serving rural communities with fewer options for care.

Since taking office, President Trump has gutted the offices that keep Head Start centers and child care programs across the country running. In late February, the Trump administration fired scores of staff at the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Head Start and Office of Child Care. Earlier this month, Trump continued to hollow out HHS, including by shuttering half of the regional offices at the Office of Head Start, which are responsible for ensuring high-quality Head Start services are available to families nationwide. The Trump administration has failed to articulate how it will ensure that uninterrupted services are available to families and that appropriate oversight will be carried out despite gutting the very offices charged with these responsibilities.

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