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Good morning! A few things jumped out at me in the news last night. And a new cartoon.
Is this something to report about, is it something to spend any time thinking about? Maybe not, it’s more of the same. But it really gets to me. Trump put together another really annoying (and part of me thinks he does these things just to annoy us) event in DC over the weekend: “Freedom 250 Grand Prix” around the National Mall. “25 IndyCar drivers are covering 147 laps at speeds up to 150 mph around a 1.7-mile (2.7 km), 7-turn street circuit loop past the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Monument, the National Archives, and the National Gallery of Art. The race has required workers to weld down more than 200 manhole covers, move traffic lights, and put up barriers that have disrupted traffic, while the National Gallery of Art has had to protect its sculptures from vibrations and airlines have had to reroute flights.”
How much is this costing taxpayers? We have a war going on, people are suffering.
Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney suspended trade negotiations with the U.S. and said Canada will impose retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. beginning September 8. In a statement, Carney said: “We have recognised from the beginning that America has changed, and that we will not return to our old relationship.” Canada, he said, will be “focused on building our strength at home [and] diversifying our partnerships abroad.”
This is because Trump has slammed Canada with 50% tarriffs on different goods. Some of the things are a bit odd: Anoraks and suit jackets. National flags. Some Christmas ornaments. And 36 different kinds of plywood.
Is Trump doing this because he wants to take over Canada and show how tough he is? Another case of him pushing—or rather shoving— an important ally away.
Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat Minority leader, potentially the next Speaker of the House, met privately with Jared Kushner over the weekend to discuss ways the two parites could compromise should the Dems take over the House. Who initiated this? Is the administration admitting that they might lose the House in the midterms? Kushner is not officially part of the administration, but he is a close advisor to Trump, and of course his son-in-law. Standing to lose his role, Speaker Johnson spoke to the press and said politely that Kushner doesn’t really have his thoughts centered on the House like he does (I am paraphrasing)…I guess Johnson still thinks the GOP will retain House control, or at least he has to appear to think so.
Many Democrats are criticizing Jeffries for taking the meeting. They say that Democrats should not be trying to make nice, should not compromise on anything. I agree we should play hardball, spend our time impeaching and investigating. But that doesn’t mean we can’t talk to the other side. My worry is the left in the Democrat party will hold it against Jeffries, whom they probably think is an establishment member. I don’t think he is; his job as Speaker requires him to have a certain level of friendliness. We’ve all seen him get angry, I believe he is really tough. In any case, compromise will be remote, the GOP has no interest in working together.
Take a look at this story:
Even Heffner, with whom I have many many issues, knew what Epstein was up to, and tried to do something about it. The coverup is astronomical. ,
I am sharing below something that Heather Cox Richardson wrote over the weekend because I think its great, and gives us hope.
“On August 17, former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg recorded a video to assure those Americans who oppose the Trump administration that they are in the large majority. He noted that the strategy Republicans are pursuing shows how unpopular they are.
“Think about it,” he said. “They’re not out there showing that the economy is somehow better than it looks…. They’re not defending their cuts to healthcare, they’re not defending the tax cuts for the wealthy. They’re not defending the corruption that’s going on in Washington.”
“It’s too late for that,” he said, because “we’ve all seen that those policies have failed. They made us all pay tariffs and said the reason we got to do this is to bring back manufacturing jobs…. Well, we paid the tariffs, and then America lost manufacturing jobs. They cut taxes for the rich. They said we’ve got to do that in order to speed up economic growth. And what happened? Economic growth slowed down…. They said they were going to cut costs and prices. Inflation is actually higher now than the day Donald Trump took office. They said they were gonna drain the swamp. And then they expect us to be okay with the first family making a billion dollars or more in crypto deals while the president’s in office….