David, I believe your analysis of Trump is spot on. However, for a true red MAGA, Trump isn't doing it for power, he's doing it for us.
Also, I think Trump is reacting to his first administration. He thinks he played the nice guy and got indictments for his trouble. This time around it's full-on bulldozer.
So glad you're mostly better. I hope you will be 100% really soon.
What will they think when groceries, etc., get to the point where they're almost luxuries or treatment for chronic medical conditions has to be postponed because insurance won't cover it ? Blame liberals / Democrats, LGBTQ, immigrants, atheist / agnostics ? His followers are delusional as Hell.
I usually don;'t stockpile the freezer, and occasional 'eat down the freezer' when it gets too full. I'm not stockpiling, but neither am I clearing out what's there.
I'm in retail, and I think last Christmas was the last gasp of wildly spending for the average consumer. January was slower than last year according to my posted sales, and there hasn't been a lot of Valentine's Day shopping (I work on commission in an nationally known upscale department store in the suburbs of Minneapolis).
Big spending, or BIG SPENDING - I think that that ship is pulling up the gangplank & fixing to leave the dock.
I buy a LOT of things online but cut back last Christmas. I've been on a budget since 2008 so this ain't my 1st rodeo.
When tariffs go full blown into effect - I'm not an expert, nor a prophet, but spending is probably going to slow down quite a bit. I'm no expert, but still.....
DJT is NOT the strong silent Gary Cooper type. He is the insecure, weak, LOUD, BRATTY, problem - child type who's in this to get even, & avoid going to " THE BIG HOUSE " or Club Fed.
He’s the bully at school who has a gang of guys (namely Xi and Putin) who’ll all beat the other kids up and steal their lunches. Maybe even shove a few in a locker. But they somehow get away with it because their parents are on the school board.
& bullies are insecure weaklings with parents who physically / mentally abuse them & delight in making them feel like big bags of CRAP, no matter how HARD they might try.
Are they? I wonder. Not my life experience but then my life experience has been weird anyway. It's like with serial killers. The papers (back in the day) would be describing a monster and when the killer was finally found it would be someone perfectly normal looking,pleasant even,and all the neighbours would be saying,' oh he was a very nice man,had a friendly word for everyone ' and of course he (usually he) got to be a Serial Killer BECAUSE he didn't look like Boris Karloff.
I thought that was David’s point. Gary Cooper strong; Trump weak and blustery. Proof of point: Would a self-respecting Quaker Amy have married Trump? Case closed.
Interesting. I am optimistic that from all the chaos good will come. For Canada, too.
My only comment is that it is 100% true that Trump acts "As If", it is by design. His family attended the NYC church of Norman Vincent Peale, of the Power Of Positive Thinking, and Trump has always embraced this attitude in everything he does. I can also say from personal experience that the related Law Of Attraction is a real phenom, and when put into active practice, manifests amazing things (I have benefitted personally, bigtime).
So Trump is totally working this angle, its in his DNA. He manifests what he thinks about.
The populations served by some of the anti-poverty groups we support are absolutely terrified, Construction day laborers are staying at home for fear of being picked up by ICE. They and their families may soon be kicked out of their rentals. I can't feel their terror but I can say that they feel terrified. What if you're a government worker and you've been suddenly fired? That has to be terrifying. Or run a non profit whose finding has been cut off? Terror is part of the recipe.
I don't think terror is the right word. I also think that cutting government bloat when necessary is just part of the cost doing The Republic's business and should be expected from time to time.
I do get that drastic change causes fear, but fear is part if life and human's are resilient to it.
Agree! With a Republican House, Senate, Judiciary and White House, he should be able to accomplish objectives in the lawful manner that has been the foundation of our government. Creating all the chaos purposefully distracts from the true goals of those who have bought this presidency.
David, do you think illegal immigrants (or whatever is the correct terminology) should be allowed to stay in the country when other immigrants followed the law and waited years to become citizens? I know this is hard because we all have compassion for immigrants and understand their fears of being deported,but why have immigration laws if we aren’t going to enforce them? I wish there were better solutions for this as I understand why people want to help those less fortunate… Also, with respect to federal employees, how is getting laid off for them different than getting laid off in the private sector?Not saying I support everything Trump is doing, but as a former business owner, I always wondered why some people assumed they’d have a job for life when in private industry, that was never a guarantee.. Just food for thought.
On immigrants, I think it is unfair that people who played by the rules and people who din't are both given de facto status as Americans. That said, illegal immigrants are now in great terror so they are actually worse off. I don't think mass deportation is a solution. We can't afford it. There have been sensible compromises on the table that our government has failed to enact.
Federal employees have various legal protections that most at will private sector employees do not have.
I don't know to whom you are addressing that statement, but I will say this - the word terror denotes violence, often extreme violence, hence the root of the word terrorism or the French Revolution Reign of Terror (or The Terror). You can hate DJT et al all you want, but deporting illegal immigrants and mass lay offs to reduce the bloat size of government bureaucracy has all been done before, will be done again, and is legal (despite claims that it is being done this time like a sledgehammer). That doesn't diminish the fact that this causes people to be afraid, but I would expect that illegal immigrants live in a low level constant state of fear anyways and ANYONE in the employ of another is aware their position is never permanent. So yes its harsh, its not 'nice' and may even be kind of brutal, but sometimes drastic measures are necessary. You are welcome to call me a big meanie if you wish, I am ok with that.
His energy is a particular, even unique, blend of energies that have attracted enough people to put him in the White House twice. So, yes, his power of attraction is strong.
Trump clearly displays talent as a Capitalist (entrepreneur). He knows how to read a room, to negotiate, to sell, and to charismatically entertain. He built a considerable cult following during his years on The Apprentice; as well as making a huge pile of dough. But his deep narcissism has set him up for serious strategic failures. Which are compounded by his intellectual laziness. A key example of this was his Atlantic City bankruptcy, where, instead of enhancing his first casino and using it expand market share, he overleveraged himself trying to buy up the entire market. If it weren't for the half-a-billion dollars his daddy gave him during this formative period, his early bankruptcies would have doomed him to irrelevance.
From a Law of Attraction perspective, the aching chasm of insecurity in his psyche poisons what could otherwise be an amazing ability to manifest dreams.
Fair comments. I am indifferent to DJT but recognize he has a certain mindset (and whatever you think about him, he comes from a line of successful people (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_G._Trump) and that this mindset was (probably) developed by the thinking of Norman Vincent Peale. I am not sure why the Law Of Attraction works, but it definitely does. Some people attribute its operation to supernatural forces and others to simply increasing the probability of synergetic interactions. But like any tool, it can be used for good or evil.
Spot-on analysis: “the aching chasm of insecurity.” I never fail to be astonished by the number of people who either can’t see or won’t acknowledge how utterly psychologically damaged Trump is.
There are people who walk into a room and dominate it immediately for any one of a number of reasons, including an energy we often refer to as charisma. I've seen it work very powerfully.
I am lol ing that anything Trump does or says could be described as 'Positive Thinking'. He is relentlessly negative, always blaming others. I think he was once asked if he would ask God for forgiveness for anything (this was when he was trying to pretend he cared about religion) and he said no, he's never done anything that would require it. He's a vile human being.
You are welcome to your opinion, and your opinion is shared by many, and lots of Democrat supporters. However, I wasn't describing Trump's state of character or external/perceived acritude, I was describing a technique of mind he uses - based on the 50s book The Power Of Positive Thinking, written by the Trump family minister Norman Vincent Peale. It is clear he uses these techniques to shape the world around him, and to kind of bend it to the reality he wants. Its also related to the Law Of Attraction. These techniques work, despite scientific skeptic claims there is no evidence to support them.
If you are not already familiar with these ideas, they are worth at least knowing about:
The norm he’s breaching most brazenly is the one on doing business as president. On the contrary, he fires the SEC chair and then issues a “coin” that would’ve been illegal under Gensler. Rumor is Jared already owns a piece of Starlink, which Trump can assist as president. He’s setting up an insider trading company and trying to issue shares in it to his cabinet members, to make sure they are also compromised. (This is how it works in Russia.) A lot of the geopolitical noise may be partly to distract everyone from that reality.
The kleptocracy that's being formed is stunning. The Trump coin renders all FEC regulations toothless. And the sovereign wealth fund? The shenanigans are limitless.
I’m glad you’re feeling better! Sounds horrible. Do keep resting up and don’t try to do too much too fast or you might get sick again. Do what your wife tells you to. I live in Philly and people are going insane. I’m not a sports fan but I love the way sports can bring the city together. At my synagogue last night the sermon was largely about football. We sang “Fly Eagles Fly” translated into Hebrew. Seriously. I’m writing about it today in my own Substack. My reform synagogue is extremely anti Trump and at times I feel to the right of them on Israel. But I’m not a member yet and free to find another, I just really like the people. Keep feeling better and enjoy the game !
Thanks April. I am feeling better. My doctor says that the strain of flu this season is particularly bad and the flu shot seems not to have been very effective. But I'm in good hands.
It must be wild to be in Philly this weekend. I love "We sang “Fly Eagles Fly” translated into Hebrew."
Liking the people at the synagogue may be the most important criterion!
True. But I've heard that he was mostly a delusional ECCENTRIC, like a dotty old guy who believes that he's Amun - Ra, where Trump is basically channeling Hitler with some dashes of Pol Pot.
David. No need to wonder. The list is minuscule. Kanye , Kid Rock Jason Aldeen and The Village People . Why should I , we or Arts and Entertainment Community be shocked with his CHAIRMANSHIP?! He knows most if not all would decline invite from him to perform. Live from Kennedy Center has been a highlight of 5 best performers from different genres . A time for unity . Non partisan. Dancing and singing in the aisles. The Superbowl of talent. A haze of Darkness is hovering over our country.
David. Since it’s beginning I’m bout sure I’ve not missed one Honors. A bit impossible to choose from so many . Maybe Sweet Baby James Taylor last year and many moons ago Jack The one and only Nicholson…. Trump ruins everything.
You’d have to explain why 53% was a sufficient mandate for Obama to do things that were broadly unpopular (ACA, Iran deal), while Trump’s margin is insufficient for things that have >70% popular support. He may not have a personal mandate, but he absolutely has a policy mandate that Obama and Biden never had.
I don't know where the 70% approval comes from. I'm probably in the top 1% of information on what's going on because I have the time to try to understand it and it's impossible for me to understand what the effects of all these moves are.
Here's a new and huge one. The NIH announced that they will set a 15% cap on indirect costs for grants. Most medical research projects are unaffordable at that rate. Because of my relationship with Weill Cornell, I understand the math.
There's so many promising developments in researching disease and cancer. This single policy could set back our country's progress. How many people would you say know about this and understand it?
Many good babies will get thrown out with the bathwater, but we must contend with the bathwater: only 26% of America thought we were on the “Right Track.” This is the consequence (right track has risen to 39% since Trump took office). My counterexample: Biden’s own GAO reported finding $236B of waste and fraud in 2023. That’s 14% of that year’s deficit, and only examined mistaken payments. Are you aware of any previous efforts to address that? Is this the “norm” we want to defend? I think we should be debating the policies themselves before we psychoanalyze the instrument of public will, or call him a fascist.
Name calling gets us nowhere and part of the reason Trump won was because voters were fed up with that being the Democrats strategy for winning.. calling him a fascist, a racist, etc. etc.. whether or not one believes that to be true, it wasn’t a smart campaign strategy. For more on this, I recommend “The Liberal Patriot” Substack. Ruy Texeira is brilliant in his analysis of the election and why Democrats won’t focus on why they lost.
My point is that the policy is power and, to a lesser extent, using the office for financial gain (in a religious context what Christians called "simony"!)
The policies are the Emperor's New Clothes. And some of them are and will lead to great deal of misery, particularly on the health side.
A bit of a rambling answer from "Old Europe": First of all, I am deeply, deeply afraid and very worried about what is happening. I'm reading too many newspapers and Substacks (and I had thus picked up on the NIH-news), but I see so very few hopeful signs that Trump et al can be stopped.
Your analysis of "act as if" is a very good one! I was also secretly hoping you or someone here could enlighten me on the question of what the "good" law & order Republicans are doing. They can't all have become MAGA. (I also read The Bulwark now and then and read Tim Miller's book "Why We did It").
I sometimes fear the large number of non-Trump voters are still in shock - I cannot imagine what I would feel and be like if I were living in the States) - and any normal/regular sort of protest, via the law, is just not adequate enough and that a lot of people are not in the know or are like a rabbit staring into Musk's Tesla headlights.
On a personal note, glad the flu did not get to your brain, and thanks to your daughter for reading your writing!
You are correct... Half the U.S. population is in shock and the other half is about to learn the lesson of the phrase: "The gods punish us by granting our prayers."
Annoesjka, First i love long comments so no apology necessary. The action for now is happening in the courts, led by the state attorneys general, unions and non profits.
It's hard to know what to do. I am being supportive of the organizations we are already involved with to help them navigate the stresses of funding freezes, ICE raids, and a lot of misinformation. If you are poor and undocumented, you are terrified.
It's also a relief to write about what I think. Trump supporters have dig themselves deep in mentally so I don't think I can reach them. But I think I can remind people to avoid fatalism. That seems important to me, although i can't articulate why.
Annoesjka, First i love long comments so no apology necessary. The action for now is happening in the courts, led by the state attorneys general, unions and non profits.
It's hard to know what to do. I am being supportive of the organizations we are already involved with to help them navigate the stresses of funding freezes, ICE raids, and a lot of misinformation. If you are poor and undocumented, you are terrified.
It's also a relief to write about what I think. Trump supporters have dig themselves deep in mentally so I don't think I can reach them. But I think I can remind people to avoid fatalism. That seems important to me, although i can't articulate why.
Feel better. Yay for Lauren . Voting for Trump in 2016 remains the dumbest decision I have ever made. I’m so sorry. He wants to be a monarch and has surrounded himself with those who want that too. I am stunned when he can’t be nice when it would be wise tactically. He mangled the U.S. Covid response resulting in higher deaths than other similarly situated counties (and more Republicans than Democrats died- there’s a study!), is a convicted felon, sent enemy Michael Cohen back to prison (federal judge unraveled that) and on and on and on. He is a plague. Appreciate your essays David.
I think that Elon is the little red demonic imp sitting on DJT's shoulder. IF DJT ever had an angel sitting on his other shoulder, it flew away a LONG TIME AGO.
Elon shouldn't be NEAR the White House, with his Canadian, Australian, South African, whatever other citizenships. He's just going to make a crapsackian situation WORSE.
I agree that Trump and the Project 2025 people he is appointing (after he swore he knew nothing about it, only a fool would have believed that) are committing illegal acts hoping to take everything to the Supreme Court, who have already ruled that nothing POTUS does is against the law.
Birthright citizenship is in the Constitution, and they know that, so this is just an assault on the law as red meat for the base. Congress passed a law to fund agencies, Trump doesn't have the power to strip that money. Elon Musk's 20 somethings don't have the right to my personal info, and did you see some dude with a bandaid on his neck (presumably covering a suspiscious tattoo) was blocking entrance to the Dept of Ed the other day? Not a police officer/FBI agent, just some dude. JD Vance defending one of the 20 somethings who posted not only racist Tweets in the past year or so, but specifically anti Indian racism? Well, I'm sure his wife thinks she and their kids are 'different' somehow.
The guys in your chat might have been brilliant lawyers, but brilliance doesn't mean they are good people or can understand/care how these things affect other people.
I just paid $4.67 for eggs in suburban Minneapolis at an Aldi, known for the cheapest prices around. There was a posted limit of two! Remember when Trump said he would bring down the price of groceries? (Yes, I know it's the bird flu and he was never going to care about the prices anyway).
David, I am thinking about your powerful post in Toronto, where I live as a dual citizen who has sworn off bourbon and Florida vacations. My next post was supposed to be a personal tale of two countries—both beloved in different ways, the president of one attempting to bully the other into submission—but I need to collect myself before addressing this this emotionally charged topic. Trump’s threats have had a powerful impact on Canadians and may well change the course of an election that had seemed all but settled. I have never seen such pride, determination and unity among Canadians (and I’ve been here since 1968). We are buying Canadian, reading the fine print on mayonnaise labels and, in some lamentable cases, looking on Americans as the enemy, even though Americans didn’t vote to crush Canada. My American friends and family drove voters to the polls, knocked on doors and donated money (a lot, in your case) in an effort to prevent the American catastrophe. I will not let Trump stop me from seeing friends in New York and supporting American art museums. Americans need and deserve to see Canadians among them from time to time, and to know who we are. But no patriotic Canadian should be supporting a predatory economy with their vacation dollars.
We lived in Toronto for a year in 1990-91 so we have a fondness for all things Canadian. If I were in your position I would do precisely what you and your friends are dong. In the background I'm listening to The Last Waltz concert film of The Band, almost all Canadian. (Plus Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, two more Canadian treasures).
I'm glad for and a little envious of the "pride, determination, and unity" you describe among Canadians. The last time I truly felt that was in the days after September 11th. I remember folks coming to NYC from the Midwest and buying coffee for everyone at my midtown Starbucks as a show of support. it meant a lot and it felt good.
David, we came to NYC fairly soon after 9/11 to support the city. Another couple joined us and expanded our happy sense of mission. New Yorkers were glad to see us.
I am reading this in the Eurostar terminal on my way to Paris. I didn’t realise that you and I left the U.S in exactly the same year! Funny that. I gave up my us citizenship in 2015 but still feel culpable when it makes bad decisions.
You mention domination and how you feel Trump is using his executive powers to dominate America and procure power (just like Biden when he was elected by a thin majority?). How one views Trump depends on how one views Biden, Harris and Obama and their support of the intense polarization caused by DEI, the antisemitism supported by antisemitic Ivy League students and the demonic violent brutal domination of Hamas, Iran and Hezbollah in the Middle East and of Putin in the Ukraine. That's an incredible amount of collateral damage caused by the previous administration in supporting far left fever dreams to dominate America and the world in league with Russia, China and Iran. You can't fix all that damage, all the attacks on merit that unleashed gross incompetence with mealy mouthed compromise measures that don't handle the antisemitism and everything wrong when the Democrats decided to give away America to the far Left. Trump was not elected to compromise with all that Biden, Harris and Obama did and would have just continued doing if he had not been elected. They never compromised with him so why should he ever compromise with them, especially now? And they were always all or nothing with whatever they wanted which is the Supreme definition of arrogant Dominators. And the recent election proved that a majority of all sectors of American society were not okay with that. They didn't want more of the same from Biden, Harris and Obama and they certainly didn't want rampant antisemitism to continue. I know change is difficult but if what if what was just going to continue happening is worse? Then maybe Trump's changes, though difficult to bear, are necessary to thwart the way overreaching domination of the Far Left which caused the Democrats to way over sympathize with it and it's political aims. What are your thoughts on that?
I don't like "whataboutism" as an argument. I understand that most Trump supporters believe that the country was in terrible shape. They have to believe that in order to justify the chaos that Trump is causing to try to grab power. Classic "the means justify the ends" thinking. As Max Weber would say, it's an absolute ethic, which has no proper place in politics. We will have to agree to disagree.
As for anti-semitism, I am a proud Jew and want Israel to be secure. I will note, however, that the track record of Jewish populations who act as the "court Jew" to propitiate rulers is grim.
Thank you for your thoughts. If one doesn't think our country and the world was (and still is) in terrible shape then that can get them to a place where they can think maybe Trump was a bad choice. And for me it's not a question of "what if" Biden, Harris and Obama and the Far Left were overreaching and overly dominant only to gain personal power to dominate America and Americans? They were and did and that's why they are not leading America any more. And if Trump is too overreaching and dominate than our President after him will most likely be a liberal Democrat. We live in an era of extremity in which there is no easy answer, no compromise and no shared sorting out possible for now. But at least we can have a conversation. And I do agree with you that overbearing domination is unacceptable. But it shouldn't be conditionally unacceptable as though it should not be mentioned and actually tolerated if it's for a good cause. Because then we all have to agree on what is a good cause and what isn't and for now there is no such agreement possible. Glad you are feeling much better after that flu.
Larry, you articulate perfectly much of what I also believe. So many Trump voters were fed up with the Biden administration, yet so many Democrats refuse to see that as the reason they lost. I would love to see strong candidates from both sides (preferably more moderate) in the next election. Both parties contributed to the chaos some see Trump as bringing… and yet, there are millions who see what he is doing as positive. Time will tell. In the meantime, bring on the popcorn.
He’s not auditing anything. He’s destroying things whether they work or not and is doing so illegally. He is supposed to uphold the Constitution and he’s just doing end runs around it.
You realize Berlatsky is a MAP advocate, right? I mean that shouldn’t necessarily disqualify his deep thoughts on Fascism, but being in favor of pedophilia is frowned upon in most circles.
“Anther significant power move is granting Elon Musk access to the Treasury Department payment systems. That access could involve the power to alter payments. That would be a fundamental breach of the Constitution, which reserves appropriations and spending to Congress.
Then there’s the near complete dismantling of the USAID (US Agency For International Development). The dismantling serves no ideological purpose. The purpose is to show that the will to act fast and break things, regardless of moral and legal commitments, is real. “
David, I believe your analysis of Trump is spot on. However, for a true red MAGA, Trump isn't doing it for power, he's doing it for us.
Also, I think Trump is reacting to his first administration. He thinks he played the nice guy and got indictments for his trouble. This time around it's full-on bulldozer.
So glad you're mostly better. I hope you will be 100% really soon.
Thanks Kathleen. And yes I agree about the beliefs of his followers. Most are likely convinced that his means will justify some glorious end.
What will they think when groceries, etc., get to the point where they're almost luxuries or treatment for chronic medical conditions has to be postponed because insurance won't cover it ? Blame liberals / Democrats, LGBTQ, immigrants, atheist / agnostics ? His followers are delusional as Hell.
I usually don;'t stockpile the freezer, and occasional 'eat down the freezer' when it gets too full. I'm not stockpiling, but neither am I clearing out what's there.
I'm in retail, and I think last Christmas was the last gasp of wildly spending for the average consumer. January was slower than last year according to my posted sales, and there hasn't been a lot of Valentine's Day shopping (I work on commission in an nationally known upscale department store in the suburbs of Minneapolis).
Big spending, or BIG SPENDING - I think that that ship is pulling up the gangplank & fixing to leave the dock.
I buy a LOT of things online but cut back last Christmas. I've been on a budget since 2008 so this ain't my 1st rodeo.
When tariffs go full blown into effect - I'm not an expert, nor a prophet, but spending is probably going to slow down quite a bit. I'm no expert, but still.....
DJT is NOT the strong silent Gary Cooper type. He is the insecure, weak, LOUD, BRATTY, problem - child type who's in this to get even, & avoid going to " THE BIG HOUSE " or Club Fed.
He’s the bully at school who has a gang of guys (namely Xi and Putin) who’ll all beat the other kids up and steal their lunches. Maybe even shove a few in a locker. But they somehow get away with it because their parents are on the school board.
& bullies are insecure weaklings with parents who physically / mentally abuse them & delight in making them feel like big bags of CRAP, no matter how HARD they might try.
Are they? I wonder. Not my life experience but then my life experience has been weird anyway. It's like with serial killers. The papers (back in the day) would be describing a monster and when the killer was finally found it would be someone perfectly normal looking,pleasant even,and all the neighbours would be saying,' oh he was a very nice man,had a friendly word for everyone ' and of course he (usually he) got to be a Serial Killer BECAUSE he didn't look like Boris Karloff.
I thought that was David’s point. Gary Cooper strong; Trump weak and blustery. Proof of point: Would a self-respecting Quaker Amy have married Trump? Case closed.
He's also a crappy con with the people skills of a bag of coprolites. He'd be the ONLY PERSON that the legendary Will Rogers never liked.
If he DID serve time in prison, he'd have the life expectancy of a fruit fly in a bug zapper. ZZT !
David,
I am deeply moved
by your profound letter.
I am glad for your recovery.
I am amazed at your utter clarity
so soon after the fog of fever.
I am grateful for the strengthening
I receive from your brave
and accurate analysis
of the constitutional crisis
we are in.
Thanks Deborah.
Old age is like a car you always have to take it in for maintenance. Get well soon
Tower of Power did a song called Soul Vaccination, that is what trump needs. He has no shield but a facade.
Please stay healthy as we need every voice.
Thanks McDude.
Interesting. I am optimistic that from all the chaos good will come. For Canada, too.
My only comment is that it is 100% true that Trump acts "As If", it is by design. His family attended the NYC church of Norman Vincent Peale, of the Power Of Positive Thinking, and Trump has always embraced this attitude in everything he does. I can also say from personal experience that the related Law Of Attraction is a real phenom, and when put into active practice, manifests amazing things (I have benefitted personally, bigtime).
So Trump is totally working this angle, its in his DNA. He manifests what he thinks about.
Amazing capacity to ignore outrageous terror and hardship wrought by this chaos, such as on women and people of color.
You obviously don't know what terror actually is.
The populations served by some of the anti-poverty groups we support are absolutely terrified, Construction day laborers are staying at home for fear of being picked up by ICE. They and their families may soon be kicked out of their rentals. I can't feel their terror but I can say that they feel terrified. What if you're a government worker and you've been suddenly fired? That has to be terrifying. Or run a non profit whose finding has been cut off? Terror is part of the recipe.
I don't think terror is the right word. I also think that cutting government bloat when necessary is just part of the cost doing The Republic's business and should be expected from time to time.
I do get that drastic change causes fear, but fear is part if life and human's are resilient to it.
But there are procedures in place to do so legally and that is NOT what the current administration is doing. They’re just destroying things.
Agree! With a Republican House, Senate, Judiciary and White House, he should be able to accomplish objectives in the lawful manner that has been the foundation of our government. Creating all the chaos purposefully distracts from the true goals of those who have bought this presidency.
David, do you think illegal immigrants (or whatever is the correct terminology) should be allowed to stay in the country when other immigrants followed the law and waited years to become citizens? I know this is hard because we all have compassion for immigrants and understand their fears of being deported,but why have immigration laws if we aren’t going to enforce them? I wish there were better solutions for this as I understand why people want to help those less fortunate… Also, with respect to federal employees, how is getting laid off for them different than getting laid off in the private sector?Not saying I support everything Trump is doing, but as a former business owner, I always wondered why some people assumed they’d have a job for life when in private industry, that was never a guarantee.. Just food for thought.
I agree with all your points.
On immigrants, I think it is unfair that people who played by the rules and people who din't are both given de facto status as Americans. That said, illegal immigrants are now in great terror so they are actually worse off. I don't think mass deportation is a solution. We can't afford it. There have been sensible compromises on the table that our government has failed to enact.
Federal employees have various legal protections that most at will private sector employees do not have.
I would never presume who has experienced or not experienced “real terror.” You don’t know me. Or this is a threat?
I don't know to whom you are addressing that statement, but I will say this - the word terror denotes violence, often extreme violence, hence the root of the word terrorism or the French Revolution Reign of Terror (or The Terror). You can hate DJT et al all you want, but deporting illegal immigrants and mass lay offs to reduce the bloat size of government bureaucracy has all been done before, will be done again, and is legal (despite claims that it is being done this time like a sledgehammer). That doesn't diminish the fact that this causes people to be afraid, but I would expect that illegal immigrants live in a low level constant state of fear anyways and ANYONE in the employ of another is aware their position is never permanent. So yes its harsh, its not 'nice' and may even be kind of brutal, but sometimes drastic measures are necessary. You are welcome to call me a big meanie if you wish, I am ok with that.
I think what he thinks about and is trying to manifest is his own aggrandizement regardless of the consequences to others.
That may or may not be true, but regardless, The Law of Attraction is his M.O. and you got that right.
His energy is a particular, even unique, blend of energies that have attracted enough people to put him in the White House twice. So, yes, his power of attraction is strong.
Strong for a man / whatever the hell he is who can't open his toad mouth without a casserole of disconnected rambling spewing out.
It is, and I think it is deliberately cultivated.
Trump clearly displays talent as a Capitalist (entrepreneur). He knows how to read a room, to negotiate, to sell, and to charismatically entertain. He built a considerable cult following during his years on The Apprentice; as well as making a huge pile of dough. But his deep narcissism has set him up for serious strategic failures. Which are compounded by his intellectual laziness. A key example of this was his Atlantic City bankruptcy, where, instead of enhancing his first casino and using it expand market share, he overleveraged himself trying to buy up the entire market. If it weren't for the half-a-billion dollars his daddy gave him during this formative period, his early bankruptcies would have doomed him to irrelevance.
From a Law of Attraction perspective, the aching chasm of insecurity in his psyche poisons what could otherwise be an amazing ability to manifest dreams.
Fair comments. I am indifferent to DJT but recognize he has a certain mindset (and whatever you think about him, he comes from a line of successful people (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_G._Trump) and that this mindset was (probably) developed by the thinking of Norman Vincent Peale. I am not sure why the Law Of Attraction works, but it definitely does. Some people attribute its operation to supernatural forces and others to simply increasing the probability of synergetic interactions. But like any tool, it can be used for good or evil.
Spot-on analysis: “the aching chasm of insecurity.” I never fail to be astonished by the number of people who either can’t see or won’t acknowledge how utterly psychologically damaged Trump is.
Thanks for putting it so succinctly, NubbyShober.
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If you try using the Law Of Attraction you might find you like it.
There are people who walk into a room and dominate it immediately for any one of a number of reasons, including an energy we often refer to as charisma. I've seen it work very powerfully.
I am lol ing that anything Trump does or says could be described as 'Positive Thinking'. He is relentlessly negative, always blaming others. I think he was once asked if he would ask God for forgiveness for anything (this was when he was trying to pretend he cared about religion) and he said no, he's never done anything that would require it. He's a vile human being.
You are welcome to your opinion, and your opinion is shared by many, and lots of Democrat supporters. However, I wasn't describing Trump's state of character or external/perceived acritude, I was describing a technique of mind he uses - based on the 50s book The Power Of Positive Thinking, written by the Trump family minister Norman Vincent Peale. It is clear he uses these techniques to shape the world around him, and to kind of bend it to the reality he wants. Its also related to the Law Of Attraction. These techniques work, despite scientific skeptic claims there is no evidence to support them.
If you are not already familiar with these ideas, they are worth at least knowing about:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_attraction_(New_Thought)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Positive_Thinking
The norm he’s breaching most brazenly is the one on doing business as president. On the contrary, he fires the SEC chair and then issues a “coin” that would’ve been illegal under Gensler. Rumor is Jared already owns a piece of Starlink, which Trump can assist as president. He’s setting up an insider trading company and trying to issue shares in it to his cabinet members, to make sure they are also compromised. (This is how it works in Russia.) A lot of the geopolitical noise may be partly to distract everyone from that reality.
He obviously doesn't CARE about rules & regulations. They're for OTHER PEOPLE as far as he's concerned.
The little people.
Leona Helmsley, " The Queen of Mean ",had those sentiments & she did some time in the joint. A prison is a prison, even if it's a Club Fed.
Yes,that's who/what I was thinking of!
As a female small business owner, I ask myself daily, why should I pay my taxes this year?
The kleptocracy that's being formed is stunning. The Trump coin renders all FEC regulations toothless. And the sovereign wealth fund? The shenanigans are limitless.
As I wrote in a post on kleptocracy, in Kazakhstan the sovereign wealth fund was a key tool the ruling family used for theft.
I’m glad you’re feeling better! Sounds horrible. Do keep resting up and don’t try to do too much too fast or you might get sick again. Do what your wife tells you to. I live in Philly and people are going insane. I’m not a sports fan but I love the way sports can bring the city together. At my synagogue last night the sermon was largely about football. We sang “Fly Eagles Fly” translated into Hebrew. Seriously. I’m writing about it today in my own Substack. My reform synagogue is extremely anti Trump and at times I feel to the right of them on Israel. But I’m not a member yet and free to find another, I just really like the people. Keep feeling better and enjoy the game !
Thanks April. I am feeling better. My doctor says that the strain of flu this season is particularly bad and the flu shot seems not to have been very effective. But I'm in good hands.
It must be wild to be in Philly this weekend. I love "We sang “Fly Eagles Fly” translated into Hebrew."
Liking the people at the synagogue may be the most important criterion!
Interesting piece. No comment on DT or the Super Bowl but I am glad you feel better and I thought Lauren did a great job recording your audio for you.
HEADLINE NYT SATURDAY THE NINTH DAY OF FEBRUARY.
TRUMP SAYS HE WILL DISMISS KENNEDY CENTER BOARD MEMBERS AND INSTALL HIMSELF AS CHAIR.
'AT MY DIRECTION, WE ARE GOING TO MAKE THE KENNEDY CENTER N WASHINGTON DC GREAT AGAIN," HE WROTE ON TRUTH SOCIAL.
I am numbed.
He wants CBS shut down. Nero LIVES. Or maybe Caligula. A lot of Roman emperors were insane. DJT would have been at home as Foolius Caesar.
Hmmmm. Lest not forget Richard lll.
True. But I've heard that he was mostly a delusional ECCENTRIC, like a dotty old guy who believes that he's Amun - Ra, where Trump is basically channeling Hitler with some dashes of Pol Pot.
Hi Jennifer,
I wonder which acts will play for him and whether it will break down along political lines.
David. No need to wonder. The list is minuscule. Kanye , Kid Rock Jason Aldeen and The Village People . Why should I , we or Arts and Entertainment Community be shocked with his CHAIRMANSHIP?! He knows most if not all would decline invite from him to perform. Live from Kennedy Center has been a highlight of 5 best performers from different genres . A time for unity . Non partisan. Dancing and singing in the aisles. The Superbowl of talent. A haze of Darkness is hovering over our country.
That’s a pretty sad lineup.
My favorite Kennedy Center performance is Heart’s cover of “Stairway” with Led Zeppelin and the Obamas watching.
David. Since it’s beginning I’m bout sure I’ve not missed one Honors. A bit impossible to choose from so many . Maybe Sweet Baby James Taylor last year and many moons ago Jack The one and only Nicholson…. Trump ruins everything.
What?! You're not looking forward to the World Wrestling performance at the Kennedy Center?
You’d have to explain why 53% was a sufficient mandate for Obama to do things that were broadly unpopular (ACA, Iran deal), while Trump’s margin is insufficient for things that have >70% popular support. He may not have a personal mandate, but he absolutely has a policy mandate that Obama and Biden never had.
I don't know where the 70% approval comes from. I'm probably in the top 1% of information on what's going on because I have the time to try to understand it and it's impossible for me to understand what the effects of all these moves are.
Here's a new and huge one. The NIH announced that they will set a 15% cap on indirect costs for grants. Most medical research projects are unaffordable at that rate. Because of my relationship with Weill Cornell, I understand the math.
There's so many promising developments in researching disease and cancer. This single policy could set back our country's progress. How many people would you say know about this and understand it?
Many good babies will get thrown out with the bathwater, but we must contend with the bathwater: only 26% of America thought we were on the “Right Track.” This is the consequence (right track has risen to 39% since Trump took office). My counterexample: Biden’s own GAO reported finding $236B of waste and fraud in 2023. That’s 14% of that year’s deficit, and only examined mistaken payments. Are you aware of any previous efforts to address that? Is this the “norm” we want to defend? I think we should be debating the policies themselves before we psychoanalyze the instrument of public will, or call him a fascist.
Name calling gets us nowhere and part of the reason Trump won was because voters were fed up with that being the Democrats strategy for winning.. calling him a fascist, a racist, etc. etc.. whether or not one believes that to be true, it wasn’t a smart campaign strategy. For more on this, I recommend “The Liberal Patriot” Substack. Ruy Texeira is brilliant in his analysis of the election and why Democrats won’t focus on why they lost.
Thanks for quelling the fire. Will check out that Substack!
My point is that the policy is power and, to a lesser extent, using the office for financial gain (in a religious context what Christians called "simony"!)
The policies are the Emperor's New Clothes. And some of them are and will lead to great deal of misery, particularly on the health side.
A bit of a rambling answer from "Old Europe": First of all, I am deeply, deeply afraid and very worried about what is happening. I'm reading too many newspapers and Substacks (and I had thus picked up on the NIH-news), but I see so very few hopeful signs that Trump et al can be stopped.
Your analysis of "act as if" is a very good one! I was also secretly hoping you or someone here could enlighten me on the question of what the "good" law & order Republicans are doing. They can't all have become MAGA. (I also read The Bulwark now and then and read Tim Miller's book "Why We did It").
I sometimes fear the large number of non-Trump voters are still in shock - I cannot imagine what I would feel and be like if I were living in the States) - and any normal/regular sort of protest, via the law, is just not adequate enough and that a lot of people are not in the know or are like a rabbit staring into Musk's Tesla headlights.
On a personal note, glad the flu did not get to your brain, and thanks to your daughter for reading your writing!
My apologies for such a long comment.
You are correct... Half the U.S. population is in shock and the other half is about to learn the lesson of the phrase: "The gods punish us by granting our prayers."
I've discovered many people are avoiding the news completely. Gave congressional phone #, suggested they could at least call and lodge a protest.
Annoesjka, First i love long comments so no apology necessary. The action for now is happening in the courts, led by the state attorneys general, unions and non profits.
It's hard to know what to do. I am being supportive of the organizations we are already involved with to help them navigate the stresses of funding freezes, ICE raids, and a lot of misinformation. If you are poor and undocumented, you are terrified.
It's also a relief to write about what I think. Trump supporters have dig themselves deep in mentally so I don't think I can reach them. But I think I can remind people to avoid fatalism. That seems important to me, although i can't articulate why.
Thanks for that reply. Gives me some hope. I also hope there are more people like you.
Good discussion overall here in the comments. So thanks again for writing your post!
Annoesjka, First i love long comments so no apology necessary. The action for now is happening in the courts, led by the state attorneys general, unions and non profits.
It's hard to know what to do. I am being supportive of the organizations we are already involved with to help them navigate the stresses of funding freezes, ICE raids, and a lot of misinformation. If you are poor and undocumented, you are terrified.
It's also a relief to write about what I think. Trump supporters have dig themselves deep in mentally so I don't think I can reach them. But I think I can remind people to avoid fatalism. That seems important to me, although i can't articulate why.
Feel better. Yay for Lauren . Voting for Trump in 2016 remains the dumbest decision I have ever made. I’m so sorry. He wants to be a monarch and has surrounded himself with those who want that too. I am stunned when he can’t be nice when it would be wise tactically. He mangled the U.S. Covid response resulting in higher deaths than other similarly situated counties (and more Republicans than Democrats died- there’s a study!), is a convicted felon, sent enemy Michael Cohen back to prison (federal judge unraveled that) and on and on and on. He is a plague. Appreciate your essays David.
I think that Elon is the little red demonic imp sitting on DJT's shoulder. IF DJT ever had an angel sitting on his other shoulder, it flew away a LONG TIME AGO.
Elon shouldn't be NEAR the White House, with his Canadian, Australian, South African, whatever other citizenships. He's just going to make a crapsackian situation WORSE.
Proves that Money Talks.
I agree that Trump and the Project 2025 people he is appointing (after he swore he knew nothing about it, only a fool would have believed that) are committing illegal acts hoping to take everything to the Supreme Court, who have already ruled that nothing POTUS does is against the law.
Birthright citizenship is in the Constitution, and they know that, so this is just an assault on the law as red meat for the base. Congress passed a law to fund agencies, Trump doesn't have the power to strip that money. Elon Musk's 20 somethings don't have the right to my personal info, and did you see some dude with a bandaid on his neck (presumably covering a suspiscious tattoo) was blocking entrance to the Dept of Ed the other day? Not a police officer/FBI agent, just some dude. JD Vance defending one of the 20 somethings who posted not only racist Tweets in the past year or so, but specifically anti Indian racism? Well, I'm sure his wife thinks she and their kids are 'different' somehow.
The guys in your chat might have been brilliant lawyers, but brilliance doesn't mean they are good people or can understand/care how these things affect other people.
I just paid $4.67 for eggs in suburban Minneapolis at an Aldi, known for the cheapest prices around. There was a posted limit of two! Remember when Trump said he would bring down the price of groceries? (Yes, I know it's the bird flu and he was never going to care about the prices anyway).
David, I am thinking about your powerful post in Toronto, where I live as a dual citizen who has sworn off bourbon and Florida vacations. My next post was supposed to be a personal tale of two countries—both beloved in different ways, the president of one attempting to bully the other into submission—but I need to collect myself before addressing this this emotionally charged topic. Trump’s threats have had a powerful impact on Canadians and may well change the course of an election that had seemed all but settled. I have never seen such pride, determination and unity among Canadians (and I’ve been here since 1968). We are buying Canadian, reading the fine print on mayonnaise labels and, in some lamentable cases, looking on Americans as the enemy, even though Americans didn’t vote to crush Canada. My American friends and family drove voters to the polls, knocked on doors and donated money (a lot, in your case) in an effort to prevent the American catastrophe. I will not let Trump stop me from seeing friends in New York and supporting American art museums. Americans need and deserve to see Canadians among them from time to time, and to know who we are. But no patriotic Canadian should be supporting a predatory economy with their vacation dollars.
Rona,
We lived in Toronto for a year in 1990-91 so we have a fondness for all things Canadian. If I were in your position I would do precisely what you and your friends are dong. In the background I'm listening to The Last Waltz concert film of The Band, almost all Canadian. (Plus Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, two more Canadian treasures).
I'm glad for and a little envious of the "pride, determination, and unity" you describe among Canadians. The last time I truly felt that was in the days after September 11th. I remember folks coming to NYC from the Midwest and buying coffee for everyone at my midtown Starbucks as a show of support. it meant a lot and it felt good.
Best,
David
David, we came to NYC fairly soon after 9/11 to support the city. Another couple joined us and expanded our happy sense of mission. New Yorkers were glad to see us.
A belated thank you!
I am reading this in the Eurostar terminal on my way to Paris. I didn’t realise that you and I left the U.S in exactly the same year! Funny that. I gave up my us citizenship in 2015 but still feel culpable when it makes bad decisions.
You mention domination and how you feel Trump is using his executive powers to dominate America and procure power (just like Biden when he was elected by a thin majority?). How one views Trump depends on how one views Biden, Harris and Obama and their support of the intense polarization caused by DEI, the antisemitism supported by antisemitic Ivy League students and the demonic violent brutal domination of Hamas, Iran and Hezbollah in the Middle East and of Putin in the Ukraine. That's an incredible amount of collateral damage caused by the previous administration in supporting far left fever dreams to dominate America and the world in league with Russia, China and Iran. You can't fix all that damage, all the attacks on merit that unleashed gross incompetence with mealy mouthed compromise measures that don't handle the antisemitism and everything wrong when the Democrats decided to give away America to the far Left. Trump was not elected to compromise with all that Biden, Harris and Obama did and would have just continued doing if he had not been elected. They never compromised with him so why should he ever compromise with them, especially now? And they were always all or nothing with whatever they wanted which is the Supreme definition of arrogant Dominators. And the recent election proved that a majority of all sectors of American society were not okay with that. They didn't want more of the same from Biden, Harris and Obama and they certainly didn't want rampant antisemitism to continue. I know change is difficult but if what if what was just going to continue happening is worse? Then maybe Trump's changes, though difficult to bear, are necessary to thwart the way overreaching domination of the Far Left which caused the Democrats to way over sympathize with it and it's political aims. What are your thoughts on that?
I don't like "whataboutism" as an argument. I understand that most Trump supporters believe that the country was in terrible shape. They have to believe that in order to justify the chaos that Trump is causing to try to grab power. Classic "the means justify the ends" thinking. As Max Weber would say, it's an absolute ethic, which has no proper place in politics. We will have to agree to disagree.
As for anti-semitism, I am a proud Jew and want Israel to be secure. I will note, however, that the track record of Jewish populations who act as the "court Jew" to propitiate rulers is grim.
Thank you for your thoughts. If one doesn't think our country and the world was (and still is) in terrible shape then that can get them to a place where they can think maybe Trump was a bad choice. And for me it's not a question of "what if" Biden, Harris and Obama and the Far Left were overreaching and overly dominant only to gain personal power to dominate America and Americans? They were and did and that's why they are not leading America any more. And if Trump is too overreaching and dominate than our President after him will most likely be a liberal Democrat. We live in an era of extremity in which there is no easy answer, no compromise and no shared sorting out possible for now. But at least we can have a conversation. And I do agree with you that overbearing domination is unacceptable. But it shouldn't be conditionally unacceptable as though it should not be mentioned and actually tolerated if it's for a good cause. Because then we all have to agree on what is a good cause and what isn't and for now there is no such agreement possible. Glad you are feeling much better after that flu.
Larry, you articulate perfectly much of what I also believe. So many Trump voters were fed up with the Biden administration, yet so many Democrats refuse to see that as the reason they lost. I would love to see strong candidates from both sides (preferably more moderate) in the next election. Both parties contributed to the chaos some see Trump as bringing… and yet, there are millions who see what he is doing as positive. Time will tell. In the meantime, bring on the popcorn.
So people are mad Trump wants to audit the books? I suppose I’d be mad too, if I was in on the grift. I say more, faster please.
He’s not auditing anything. He’s destroying things whether they work or not and is doing so illegally. He is supposed to uphold the Constitution and he’s just doing end runs around it.
Replace “he” with “democrats and their RINO enablers” and you’ll be onto something.
That makes no sense whatsoever.
I agree.
You realize Berlatsky is a MAP advocate, right? I mean that shouldn’t necessarily disqualify his deep thoughts on Fascism, but being in favor of pedophilia is frowned upon in most circles.
My comments section is not the place to make personal accusations. Please don't do that again.
Fair enough. Your Substack, your rules. Just thought since you referenced him so heavily in your piece that tidbit may interest you. You can research my personal accusation yourself if you care. This may help: https://www.splicetoday.com/writing/is-noah-berlatsky-getting-cancelled
Thanks Jrod. I appreciate that.
Oh really?
“Anther significant power move is granting Elon Musk access to the Treasury Department payment systems. That access could involve the power to alter payments. That would be a fundamental breach of the Constitution, which reserves appropriations and spending to Congress.
Then there’s the near complete dismantling of the USAID (US Agency For International Development). The dismantling serves no ideological purpose. The purpose is to show that the will to act fast and break things, regardless of moral and legal commitments, is real. “
Sounds like an audit to me.