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Notes -
Can someone help me understand the 1000 IQ move behind 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico? Apparently "fentanyl deaths had not fallen by enough" to satisfy the administration.
More broadly: does anyone else feel like Trump was handed the country on a platter after four years of Democratic disaster, and is squandering that goodwill? Whether it's hitching a ride to the increasingly embarrassing and unpopular DOGE, lacking empathy for federal workers (you can fire them without being gleeful about it), claiming to care about slashing the budget but promoting a huge spending bill, and ignoring + likely exacerbating inflation, which swing voters (the people who defected from Obama to Trump in 2016 and also helped him to carry as many states as he did in 2024) seem to care more about than anything else, I suspect that the midterms will not be kind to the Republicans.
No doubt there are good things that have been done, but it seems like things can be handled so much better.
I'm still unsure that Trump is paying very much attention to Canada. The timing of the first delay in response to Canada offering basically the same thing they'd already started doing in December really made it look like someone had to remind Trump about Canada after already delaying the Mexico tariffs.
What I've seen of the meeting with Zelenskyy similarly just reinforces the impression that Trump is governing on broad emotional direction and really doesn't keep any particular details in mind at all.
I end up coming back to what I said last month. After decades of the left talking about the "American Empire," Trump is embracing that view and demanding fealty from his vassals. In Canada, at least, the incumbent thinks they'll do better in the upcoming election by leaning into the anti-Americanism, so the best hope for delaying or canceling the tariffs seems to be that Trump forgets he's mad at Trudeau the way he forgot he called Zelenskyy a dictator.
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Stefferi’s explanation fits my mental model of Trump. He rewards his friends, and he doesn’t think those countries have been very friendly lately. Thus, they deserve the short end of the stick.
As for goodwill? Mine lasted from the election until about 90% of the way through his inauguration speech. You can identify the exact moment my expectations started sliding.
I personally resent the guy, and I despise the way he encourages political tribalism. I’m sick and tired of listening to smart people jump through hoops to explain how he’s actually totally aligned with their principles. FCfromSSC has suggested that the last decade is something like a distributed search for ways to hurt the outgroup; while I don’t want to believe it, no one exemplifies the idea better than our President. He will continue to trample the commons and loot the treasury, sometimes literally. He will collect immunity to the various consequences which apply to us little people. And he will be praised for any damage he does so long as he hurts the right people.
The Republicans are going to do fine in 2026.
And I'm a little sick and tired of certain people ignoring the last four years of blatant looting, forgiving or just denying leftist violence and tribalism as you did in that linked post, and then smugly acting as if they're principled and above it all rather than active partisans.
What part of that was a denial?
I made predictions: no Democrat equivalent to 1/6. Harris concedes. Riots possible, but without any objectives.
What was I supposed to say? Was I supposed to include a CHAZ land acknowledgment?
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I think that the best way to see it is like: Trump likes tariffs. In the ideal Trumpworld, there's basically a high tariff against most every country, with lower and nonexistent tariff rates being a special favor for pliant loyalists, not the basic starting point. He can't implement this right now in its entirety, since it would still be bit too harsh a hit on economy, but he can start implementing it against those whose negotiating position isn't particularly good, ie. weaker neighboring countries much more dependent on US than US is on them.
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