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The Mystery of the Strong Economy Has Finally Been Solved


The Atlantic

Story by Rogé Karma • 14h • 5 min read

The Trump economy doesn’t look so hot after all. This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released revised data showing that, over the past three months, the U.S. labor market experienced its worst quarter since 2010, other than during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. The timing was awkward. Hours earlier, President Donald Trump had announced a huge new slate of tariffs, set to take effect next week. He’d been emboldened by the fact that the economy had remained strong until now despite economists’ warnings—a fact that turned out not to be a fact at all.

After Trump announced his first sweeping round of “Liberation Day” tariffs, in April, the country appeared to be on the verge of economic catastrophe. The stock market plunged, the bond market nearly melted down, expectations of future inflation skyrocketed, and experts predicted a recession.

But the crisis never came. Trump walked back or delayed his most extreme threats, and those that he kept didn’t seem to inflict much economic damage. Month after month, economists predicted that evidence of the negative impact of tariffs in the economic data was just around the corner. Instead, according to the available numbers, inflation remained stable, job growth remained strong, and the stock market set new records.

The Trump administration took the opportunity to run a victory lap. “Lots of folks predicted that it would end the world; there would be some sort of disastrous outcome,” Stephen Miran, the chair of Trump’s council of economic advisers, said of Trump’s tariffs in an interview with ABC News early last month. “And once again, tariff revenue is pouring in. There’s no sign of any economically significant inflation whatsoever, and job creation remains healthy.” A July 9 White House press release declared, “President Trump was right (again),” touting strong jobs numbers and mild inflation. “President Trump is overseeing another economic boom,” it concluded.

The seemingly strong data spurred soul-searching among journalists and economists. “The Economy Seems Healthy. Were the Warnings About Tariffs Overblown?” read a representative New York Times headline. Commentators scrambled to explain how the experts could have gotten things so wrong. Maybe it was because companies had stocked up on imported goods before the tariffs had come into effect; maybe the economy was simply so strong that it was impervious to Trump’s machinations; maybe economists were suffering from “tariff derangement syndrome.” Either way, the possibility that Trump had been right, and the economists wrong, had to be taken seriously.

The sky’s refusal to fall likely influenced the Trump administration’s decision to press ahead with more tariffs. In recent months, Trump has imposed 25 percent tariffs on car parts and 50 percent tariffs on copper, steel, and aluminum. He has threatened 200 percent tariffs on pharmaceuticals. Over the past week, Trump announced trade deals under which the European Union, Japan, and South Korea agreed to accept a 15 percent tariff on exports to the United States. Finally, this morning, he announced a sweeping set of new tariffs, a sort of Liberation Day redux, including a 39 percent levy on Switzerland, 25 percent on India, and 20 percent on Vietnam. These are scheduled to take effect on August 7 unless those countries can negotiate a deal.

Then came the new economic data. This morning, the BLS released its monthly jobs report, showing that the economy added just 73,000 new jobs last month—well below the 104,000 that forecasters had expected—and that unemployment rose slightly, to 4.2 percent. More important, the new report showed that jobs numbers for the previous two months had been revised down considerably after the agency received a more complete set of responses from the businesses it surveys monthly. What had been reported as a strong two-month gain of 291,000 jobs was revised down to a paltry 33,000. What had once looked like a massive jobs boom ended up being a historically weak quarter of growth. 

Even that might be too rosy a picture. All the net gains of the past three months came from a single sector, health care, without which the labor market would have lost nearly 100,000 jobs. That’s concerning because health care is one of the few sectors that is mostly insulated from broader economic conditions: People always need it, even during bad times. (The manufacturing sector, which tariffs are supposed to be boosting, has shed jobs for three straight months.) Moreover, the new numbers followed an inflation report released by the Commerce Department yesterday that found that the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of price growth had picked up in June and remained well above the central bank’s 2 percent target. (The prior month’s inflation report was also revised upward to show a slight increase in May.) Economic growth and consumer spending also turned out to have fallen considerably compared with the first half of 2024. Taken together, these economic reports are consistent with the stagflationary environment that economists were predicting a few months ago: mediocre growth, a weakening labor market, and rising prices.

The striking thing about these trends is how heavily they diverge from how the economy was projected to perform before Trump took office. As the economist Jason Furman recently pointed out, the actual economic growth rate in the first six months of 2025 was barely more than half what the Bureau of Economic Analysis had projected in November 2024, while core inflation came in at about a third higher than projections.

The worst might be yet to come. Many companies did in fact stock up on imported goods before the tariffs kicked in; others have been eating the cost of tariffs to avoid raising prices in the hopes that the duties would soon go away. Now that tariffs seem to be here to stay, more and more companies will likely be forced to either raise prices or slash their costs—including labor costs. A return to the 1970s-style combination of rising inflation and unemployment is looking a lot more likely.

The Trump administration has found itself caught between deflecting blame for the weak economic numbers and denying the numbers’ validity. In an interview with CNN this morning, Miran admitted that the new jobs report “isn’t ideal” but went on to attribute it to various “anomalous factors,” including data quirks and reduced immigration. (Someone should ask Miran why immigration is down.) And this afternoon, Trump posted a rant on Truth Social accusing the BLS commissioner of cooking the books to make him look bad. “I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY,” he wrote. “She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified.” He then went on to argue, not for the first time, that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell should be fired for hamstringing the economy with high interest rates. These defenses are, of course, mutually exclusive: If the bad numbers are fake, why should Trump be mad at Powell?

In these confused denials, one detects a shade of desperation on Trump’s part. Of course, everything could end up being fine. Maybe economists will be wrong, and the economy will rebound with newfound strength in the second half of the year. But that’s looking like a far worse bet than it did just 24 hours ago.

The Deal Maker or Country Ruiner?


Trumplelstilskin has spent most of 100 plus days signing and issuing executive orders that look good on paper (maybe) but are terrible in implementation. How he ever got the idea that tariffs are great for the country is a mystery, any child in high school understands that tariffs are taxes on goods coming from other places yet he is using tariffs as a basis for making “deals”. These “so called deals” are merely negotiations that could occur with a simple meeting with the countries involved and they would be willing even glad to take on these conversations.

A Tariff is a tax pure and simple (that’s one of causes for the American revolution). Consider the effect on many goods we buy and the extra tariffs on good we send out for manufacturing and receive back; we are paying taxes on our own goods. The Europeans are looking at this with a tongue in cheek and allowing the fool to continue his quest when all that’s needed is a conversation.

Instead, these so-called negotiations have been dramatized, turned into spectacles that stir up headlines but rarely deliver meaningful results. The very notion of governance has become a performance, where optics trump outcomes and bluster supersedes substance. The disconnect between policy promises and practical impacts grows wider each day, leaving citizens to wonder if leadership is measured by the number of signatures on parchment rather than the coherence of a national vision. As one decree follows another, uncertainty mounts among business owners, workers, and everyday people caught in the crossfire of impulsive policy shifts. The country, it seems, is being steered by a philosophy that prizes bravado over balance, with little concern for the ripples each decision sends through the fabric of society.

Trumple can tout his actions as success all day long but in the end the American people suffer for it.

Couple the tariff fiasco with the blackmailing of companies and higher education this administration is looked upon with a smile of tolerance. We are the richest country and the strongest with an idiot at the wheel speeding around uphill curves. It is even more remarkable that the majority party is allowing it with no regard to the effect it has on their constituents. Now as far as I am concerned neither party is doing that great a job overall, but both have small pockets of success which have a small benefit. The gilded cage that is now the Whitehouse is a perfect example of the Midas touch gone awry. The Majority party has allowed the high court to be corrupted along with the confirmation of a band of irregular cabinet members unfit for their jobs.

The cause? Each party has failed in their own mandates to do what they were elected to do but instead they have made the congress a school yard scrap in which no one wins, and recess is the main objective.

Sen. Jon Ossoff: “Yes, This System Really Is Rigged — But Trump Is Not Unrigging It, He Is Re-Rigging It For Himself”


Real Clear Politics

“So Trump promised to attack a broken system. I get it; it’s a ripe target,” Ossoff said. “Yes, this system really is rigged, but Trump is not unrigging it. He is re-rigging it for himself.”

And it is worse than ever now. Citizens United was the worst court decision in modern American history. And when members of Congress aren’t begging for money from lobbyists, they’re trying to dodge getting carpet bombed by these super PACs. Senators get threatened every day with millions and millions of dollars of attack ads over the votes that we take.

SEN. JON OSSOFF: I get why people voted for him. Because even before he came on the scene, America had the most corrupt political system in the Western world. It’s been running on corporate money, secret money, billionaire money, on both sides.

And see, this is why nothing works for ordinary people. It’s not because of woke college kids or trans students, because there are interracial couples in cereal commercials. It’s because the people’s elected representatives don’t represent the people; they represent the donors.

And that corruption is why they just defunded nursing homes to cut taxes for the rich. Corruption is why you pay a fortune for prescriptions. Corruption is why your insurance claim keeps getting denied. Corruption is why hedge funds get to buy up all the houses in your neighborhood, driving you out of the market, and then your corporate landlord ignores your calls during a gas leak. Corruption is why that ambulance costs $3,000 after you just had to get your choking toddler to the hospital.

So Trump promised to attack a broken system. I get it; it’s a ripe target. But here’s the thing: he is a crook and a con man, and he wants to be king. Yes, this system really is rigged, but Trump is not unrigging it. He is re-rigging it for himself.

Opinion from M.A.: I have recently coined the phrase: Trumplestilskin: entity who can spin Gold into Shit!

Buried in Trump’s beautiful bill is a new $250 fee on travelers to the U.S. Estimates project it could cut the federal deficit by nearly $30 billion


Nino Paoli-Fortune

Sat, July 19, 2025 at 7:44 AM CDT

3 min read4.1k

Travelers on nonimmigrant visas will fork over $250 in a security deposit-like transaction when coming to the U.S.
  • A provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act states all visitors who need nonimmigrant visas to enter the U.S.—tourists, business travelers and international students, to name a few—must pay a “visa integrity fee,” currently priced at $250. Travelers who comply with their visa conditions will be eligible for reimbursement. The provision is estimated to bring in $28.9 billion over the next decade.

Visitors to the United States will need to pay a new fee to enter the country, according to the Trump administration’s recently enacted bill.

A provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act states all visitors who need nonimmigrant visas to enter the U.S.—tourists, business travelers and international students, to name a few—must pay a “visa integrity fee,” currently priced at $250. The fee cannot be waived or reduced, but travelers are able to get their fees reimbursed, the provision states.

All told, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the new fee could cut the federal deficit by $28.9 billion over the next ten years. During the same period, the CBO expects the Department of the State to issue about 120 million nonimmigrant visas.

In 2023 alone, more than 10.4 million nonimmigrants were issued visas, according to DOS data. CBO expects a “small number” of people will seek reimbursement, as many nonimmigrant visas are valid for several years.

CBO also expects the Department of State would need several years to implement a process for providing reimbursements. Still, the fee could generate billions, the agency estimates.

The fee is set at $250 during the U.S. fiscal year 2025, which ends Sept. 30, and must be paid when the visa is issued, according to the provision. The secretary of Homeland Security can set the current fee higher, the provision states. During each subsequent fiscal year, the fee will be adjusted for inflation.

Those eligible for reimbursement are visa holders who comply with conditions of the visa, which include not accepting unauthorized employment or not overstaying their visa validity date by more than five days, according to the provision.

Senior Equity Analyst at CFRA Research Ana Garcia told Fortune in an email she expects the “vast majority” of affected travelers to be eligible for reimbursement, as historical U.S. Congressional Research Service data indicates that only 1% to 2% of nonimmigrant visitors overstayed their visas between 2016 and 2022.

“The fee’s design as a refundable security deposit, contingent upon visa compliance, should mitigate concerns among legitimate travelers.” Garcia wrote.

Reimbursements will be made after the travel visa expires, the provision said. Any fees not reimbursed will be deposited into America’s Checkbook, or the General Fund of the Government.

Trumplestilskin, Spinning Gold into Shit!


My Opinion: Michael Abrams

The “Resident” abetted by sycophantic Congress will personally be responsible for disease outbreaks and closing of rural hospitals while touting the “savings”. The “silent public” who will normally attack the facts have fully embraced the agenda of the current administration purposely or tacitly are upset over “the Epstein files”. The “Epstein files” are just another distraction from the real issues that should concern all voters. The Neer do well Congress has saddled the country with more debt that will be paid by the voters (and their progeny). It would interest the willing to read this bill and understand how the upper 1% are big winners in the “BBB”. The lower end of the income scale (earners under 50K annually) get zip. The ongoing idea that there is massive fraud in the safety net programs (Medicaid and others) which has been proven false. The idea appears to be that the people who are gaming the system are mostly people of color collectively as if there are no white Americans suffering and struggling. The choices we have is pay close attention to your representatives’ actions and statements, call or write to them if you are not happy with their decisions on your behalf. FORGET PARTY POLITICS, this is less important than the integrity of the person.

Nothing is more boring than watching paint dry or Congressional sessions or debates, both are dull subjects but the only one that can educate you in what your representatives are doing! Does anyone remember the statement of Oct 30, 2020? ” I’m going to surround myself only with the best and most serious people,” the Republican said in August 2015. “We want top of the line professionals.” It’s a line that’s come back to haunt him, yet he is still surrounding himself with sycophants who are largely unsuited for the positions they are in. They amount to highly paid “yes men and women loyal to “Trumplestilskin”. This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Whether you chose to believe it or not, the power is in the hands of the voters if we chose to use it.

Extra Descriptive: “Trumplestealskin”

Caveat Emptor


Home Warranty Companies or Extended warranties For a Variety of Objects and machines.

How to select:

  1. Get a copy of their mission statement, contract or statement of operation.
  2. Determine if their customer service is local (speaking your native language)
  3. Request in your native language if you need it.
  4. Do not believe the statements of coverage and the cadre of contractors across your area or the country.
  5. Better Business inquiries usually do not yield much useable information. Even if the company has good or bad rating.
  6. In their advertising they tout how many contractors they have, 24-hour service.

The reality: The service quality depends on the company’s relationship with the contractors.

1.Your basic fee may be less that the contractor fee.

2.Replacement or repair price is negotiated with the contractor to get the cheapest price for the job.

Relative to their location: contractors have a basic fee (which the customer pays) to make the visit and evaluate the problem. When the evaluation is complete the contractor provides that information to the company and the company approves the evaluation after some negotiation (the company always goes for the cheapest way not necessarily best way e.g. If you have a high-quality product and the repair would exceed the price of replacement, the company will offer the customer a” token” amount for replacement maybe with installation according to the product).

Summary:

Read the contract

Talk only to customer service people who speak your language

Get specific details on Contractor fees (even if you have a contracted fee with the company All of these companies express their ability to service but have the basic objective of getting as many signed up as possible but can and will fail the customer at some point usually in the negotiation with the contractor. Remember contractors are being hosed as well as the customer and for that reason the better contractors do not remain in the service of these companies. The hype of what you save in time and money from these companies varies from state

Discovery: When Trump touts, its bad!


Or illegal.

Without any in depth analysis, I have noticed that anytime the Resident tout anything with his regular hyperlatives, it mostly turns out to be the opposite. Near time iteration: “tariffs will make America rich”. Tariffs are a tax on goods coming into the country ergo a tax on goods we consume so whenever we (consumers) purchase these goods we pay a portion or all of these “Tariffs” aka “taxes”. By the facts: the Resident is taxing the people above our normal state and local taxes. He and his supporters are really good at gouging the public and smearing superlatives on them to distract us. Solution become educated voters-aka “all that glitters is not gold”!

When Incompetence Goes to War!


Bombing was the easy part
Dan Rather and Team Steady Jun 23    

    Watching Donald Trump deliver the news of an American attack on Iran Saturday night, I wondered how many viewers had the same reaction I did: How can the United States be going to war — and that’s exactly what it is — with advisers whose collective experience managing international conflict is see-through thin? There was Trump, a draft dodger who has long derided the military, surrounded by his war cabinet of second-rate choices, who owe their professional and political souls to him. Will any of them ever question Trump’s decisions? We know the answer to that. Trump did not have solid evidence Iran was building a nuclear bomb. Nearing the time when they might be able to build one is the best that can be said. Similar, although not identical, to the situation when George W. Bush didn’t have hard evidence that Iraq was building weapons of mass destruction. Bad intel back then led to a war that lasted eight years and killed nearly 5,000 Americans and reportedly 200,000 Iraqis. No WMDs were ever found. Lessons learned? Hardly. Bombing Iran was easy enough. Did anyone at the White House think about what would happen on Day 2? Forty-eight hours after the United States launched bunker-busting bombs and dozens of cruise missiles at Iran, the Iranian regime retaliated. Iran launched missiles at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East. The Defense Department said there were no injuries because Qatari air defenses were able to intercept the Iranian attack. Also, the Iranians gave advance warning to minimize casualties. No one should be surprised by this escalation. And no one should think this is the end of hostilities. Forty thousand U.S. troops are stationed in the region. It is a consequence of going to war, which is exactly what Donald Trump did when he called for strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites. Even if Vice President JD Vance says otherwise. “We’re not at war with Iran. We’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program,” he said on “Meet the Press” Sunday. The Iranian people likely quibble with Vance’s semantics. Iran has other retaliatory options from which to choose. In an internal FBI email obtained by The New York Times, American officials warn that Iran and its allies have “historically targeted U.S. interests in response to geopolitical events, and they are likely to increase their efforts in the near term.” The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow strip of water between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, is one of the world’s most important strategic choke points. And Iran controls the north side of it. The 20 million barrels of oil produced daily in the region — a fifth of global output — must travel through the strait. Some influential Iranians are calling for Hormuz to be closed, including Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor-in-chief of a popular hard-line Iranian newspaper, who has the ear of the supreme leader. “It is now our turn to act without delay. As a first step, we must launch a missile strike on the US naval fleet in Bahrain and simultaneously close the Strait of Hormuz to American, British, German, and French ships,” Shariatmadari wrote in his newspaper. Mohammad Ali Shabani, an expert on Iran, told CNN that Iran’s control of global shipping lanes gives the government the “capacity to cause a shock in oil markets, drive up oil prices, drive inflation, [and] collapse Trump’s economic agenda.” If Hormuz is closed, oil prices will skyrocket. But perhaps the ayatollah will put his pocketbook before payback. China is the No. 1 buyer of Iranian oil. The money Iran earns from Chinese oil sales accounts for 50% of government spending, according to The Times. It has allowed the Iranian regime to fund terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. By the way, need we remind ourselves that China, not Iran, is the most potent foreign threat to American security? Also that Iran, along with China and Russia, has the ability to launch destructive cyber attacks. But now back to the strikes themselves. Trump claimed victory, saying the U.S. bombings “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program. No evidence has been given, and a bomb damage assessment has yet to be released. This administration is not known for truth-telling, so a wait-and-see approach is justified. Using satellite imagery, the Israeli military’s initial assessment is that Fordo, the main nuclear site, where the U.S. dropped at least six bunker busters, was damaged but not destroyed. Israeli intelligence believes Iran moved equipment and uranium from the site prior to the bombing. All this means that Saturday’s attack was not a one-and-done as the president would have us believe. Add to that Trump’s changing tune on regime change. Initially he said the goal of the bombing was “destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity.” Vance, Pete Hegseth, and Marco Rubio were reading from the same script as they made the rounds on the Sunday talk shows. The administration’s view “has been very clear that we don’t want a regime change,” Vance said. Perhaps the president didn’t get a copy of the talking points. Not four hours later, Trump took to social media. “It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!” he posted. No one thinks the Iranian government is made up of good guys. It has an abysmal human rights record and is the poster child for state-sponsored terrorism. These leaders have a long record of hating America and all for which we stand. They have been known to subvert our Arab allies in the region. But regime change seldom if ever works out the way the changers intend. See: Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan.   But calling for regime change versus seeking to destroy a country’s nuclear capabilities — no matter how spurious the intelligence — are very different goals with very different long-term prospects. It’s been widely reported that the U.S. defense secretary was not included in planning the Iran mission. Perhaps Hegseth’s Signalgate scandal has finally caught up with him. At least he was by Trump’s side as the president delivered his version of the war news. Meanwhile, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has been put on ice by Trump for testifying to Congress — in March — that the intelligence community did not believe Iran was close to building a nuclear weapon. So Trump needs advisers who will guide him by telling him the truth, rather than what he wants to hear; because they are beholden to him for jobs they aren’t qualified for, they never will. Trump learned from his first administration: Don’t hire the smart people, elevate the sycophants. A few closing notes from your reporter, who has spent a fair portion of his life covering wars: Truth IS the first casualty of war. The first things you hear often are untrue, and so are many of the things you hear later. Wars are by their very nature chaotic and unpredictable. What you most expect frequently does not happen; what you least expect often does. Up close and personal, wars are almost unbelievably savage. The television screen and the printed word do not come close to conveying their harsh realities. Stay Steady,
Dan

Jack Ohman’s You Betcha!


Wow, those military parades can’t even keep a totalitarian awake.
Jun 16

President Trump’s Shitstaffel Chief Stephen Miller, who is currently getting a busy signal from his wife, the New Musk GF Du Jour, has had a busy week rounding up school children, four year olds, and people who pick crops to feed his emaciated Goebbels face.

He had Trump send U.S. Marines, the California National Guard, and any loose Boy Scout troop to patrol the streets of Los Angeles, to no real effect, since what was, in fact, going on was 4,000,000 people getting ready to go to a Dodgers game, brunch, or Disneyland.

This cartoon features a device called “transmogrification”, which means that you make a human into some other weird, surprising object. I think. As I have previously noted here, I am always looking for a little phrase that I can turn into a drawing. They’re not puns, per se, they’re word play. So I kept thinking about the phrase, “Stephen Miller’s biggest fan,” which, of course ultimately called for me converting Trump into an actual fan, which was surprisingly easy to do. Sometimes, this doesn’t work, at all. This worked fine, as Trump’s mouth is open all the time when he’s not pouting. Throw in a whirling blade, build the face around it, and there you go.

I am remiss in not featuring Miller more. I drew him a few times during Trump 1.0, but mostly haven’t done that much about him. I can see this needs to be done much more going forward. It’s my patriotic duty.

I can only imagine the chitchat between Miller and his equally odious wife when he found out she was going to join Musk and his 12 other wives in California.

X-wife, if you will.

Anyway, let’s move on, shall we?

I couldn’t resist doing this, even being part of the Resistance. I have always called The Home Depot “The Home Despot”, and even genius buddy Joel Pett, my colleague late of the Lexington Herald Leader (don’t get him started, either) said he calls it the same thing.

When I set out to do a storefront, I always have to take some care that it at least vaguely resembles the actual business. I drew Walmart the other day, for example, and carefully reproduced the Walmart logo. In this case, I noted that Home Depots usually have that orange lattice on the top of the building. Not exclusively, but usually. When I draw lattice (most frequently on NASA rocket launch gantries, I am usually kind of winging it. I suppose if you carefully examined the lattice, you would probably note that it isn’t technically correct, but I also know it’s unlikely you will give it that level of scrutiny, and thank God.

Then there’s the tank.

I almost never look at tank photos anymore, and just draw a tank the way I want it to look. I suppose that now I have brought this up, I also may have to do that, just to amuse myself. I remember looking at older cartoonists work in 1980, and noting that they would draw television cameras from 1950, with multiple interchangeable lenses sticking out. I would sigh, and draw them correctly, because I am so hip and with it.

I drew a camera a few years ago, and I got a note from a cameraman saying, hey buddy, you might want to check out the way cameras look now, which I did. Wow, were they off. I assume this means that there’s now a new generation of cartoonists looking at my cameras and shaking their heads about how out of it I am.

I’m 64, after all. You can’t keep up with everything. I used to listen to American Top 40 in 1976 and knew every single on the Billboard chart, and whether it was rising or falling. “Oh, Bungle in the Jungle has dropped to Number 24”.

Let’s resume the countdown. NUMBER THREE!

Normally, I don’t like to do cartoons like this, which are simply paens to someone. I’m not above it, but I was delighted to see and hear Gov. Gavin Newsom’s speech the other day where he acted like he wasn’t exactly setting the table for his political future. He sounded like a guy who actually was passionate and sincere about the direct threat of authoritarianism facing this country, California, and him.

Look, I know Newsom is, in fact, a politician likely lining up for 2028, if we have an election, which I do not assume at this point. But he showed a lot of courage and character, and I give him props for doing so.

When doing these types of cartoons, the subject is usually dead or leaving office. There is a fine line between interesting and cornball, so I kept thinking “beacon”. That’s when I saw Gav as a lighthouse. I also really enjoyed drawing this as:

  1. I enjoy drawing water.
  2. I enjoy drawing dark skies.
  3. I enjoy drawing blue and yellow drawings.
  4. I enjoy drawing Newsom.

Newsom is beyond good-looking, honestly. I’ve talked to him many times in person, and I find myself looking at him as an objet d’art—how did they do that? He looks better in person; he almost has an AI appearance to him. Obama: same. JFK: same. Reagan: same. When we have to tackle the good-looking politicians, male or female, it’s something of a challenge. Prior to television, it was perfectly normal to elect politicians who weren’t handsome or pretty. Radio faces, and all. Now most electeds look like weekend weathermen or saleswomen at Nordstrom.

Next?

This was kinda fun.

I’ve never drawn the iconic JFK birthday song by Marilyn Monroe, who was dressed in “skin and beads, and I didn’t see the beads,” according to historian and Kennedy guy Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.. Finally I got my chance here.

I had originally labelled Marilyn Monster as “FASCISM,” which would have fit better. Labeling is tough, people, and the only space I had was where you see it, although in closer examination I could have put it on the tail. I then decided to say “AUTHORITARIANISM,” which was still a bit more accurate than fascism, although I am very open to your counterarguments.

POLLHow best to describe the Trump Administration?Full-on fascistAuthoritarianIncompetent with a hint o’ fascism

The Audacity of Ignorance


MSNBC host Chris Hayes couldn’t contain his laughter on air Friday while reading a fundraising email from President Donald Trump. The email asked for donations for his Saturday military parade, which, as it turns out, most Americans aren’t that eager to fund.

“Donald Trump is holding a North Korean-style military parade, Soviet-style military parade through the nation’s capital, something that we just don’t do as a country,” said Hayes. “The last one we did was after the first Persian Gulf War, which was celebrating the end of the war.

more

He continued, “We don’t have that here. It just so happens to fall on his 79th birthday. He’s even fundraising from it, if you could believe it — well, you can, of course — sending out this email with the subject line, quote, ‘Please help me before my military parade!’”

Hayes broke into laughter reading that last line aloud, as a screenshot of the email was displayed onscreen. He quickly composed himself and continued his coverage on the impending Washington, D.C., event.

“I’m sorry, that’s a funny sentence,” said Hayes. “‘My military parade.’”

Trump has never served in the armed forces and reportedly avoided the Vietnam War draft with a diagnosis of bone spurs in his feet. The daughter of the doctor who provided the diagnosis later said he had done so as a favor to his landlord — Trump’s father, Fred Trump.

The parade and surrounding festivities are meant to celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary, though the event notably also falls on Trump’s 79th birthday.