Welcome to Crazytown. Up Is Down, Down is Up. Trump is Angry. Musk Is Mad.
BONUS! A calendar of more than two dozen resistance events in San Diego...
Tariffs on. Tariffs off. Layoffs on. Layoffs off. Free speech on. Free speech off. Vaccinations on. Vaccinations off. And so it goes. Don’t like what you hear coming out of the White House? Wait 15 minutes and they’ll shift the story in a new direction.
Of all my morning reads, Paul Krugman made the most sense today with this headline: A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Lose (Especially when you’re running a country):
How did the highest levels of U.S. government become infected by madness? Well, this is what you get when you give flawed people — people prone to grandiosity, vindictiveness and paranoia — so much power that nobody dares tell them when they’re going too far. Cowed Republicans and timid Democrats have effectively given Trump and Musk the freedom to become the worst versions of themselves.
It’s going to continue being an unstable world, as more than 100 business executives heard during a Trump speech during a meeting of the Business Roundtable on Tuesday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to say how far stocks would have to fall for President Trump to reconsider his tariffs. She should win a prize for expressing irony in high places with:
“If people are looking for certainty, they should look at the record of this president.”
Meanwhile, at The New Republic, the story was: Trump’s Advisers Are Freaking Out Over His Reckless Tariffs
The various messages coming from the White House have also spooked Republicans who think Trump doesn’t have a coherent plan on the economy. Trump has refused to rule out a recession and indicated that tariffs could hurt the average American, and as a result stocks have plummeted. All of the market’s gains since his election have been wiped out, and Trump has flip-flopped and carved out exceptions for his tariffs at the same time.
Trump economic staffers have gotten nervous, including people on the National Economic Council, who are worried that the president’s tariffs and lack of a clear economic plan are not only hurting the stock market but leading to price hikes across the country. Trump has not listened to their warnings.
Trump’s New Best friend Elon Musk is decidedly NOT nervous (he swears), as he continues to pump cash into the MAGA machine. The New York Times reports he’s told the President’s political advisors that he plans to add a further $100 million to Trump’s political coffers.
Yesterday, the bunko billionaires turned the south lawn of the White House into a Tesla showroom, with the President reading off a pre-written spiel about the virtues of the different models.
I’m sure this not nervous move had nothing to do with Tesla losing nearly 40% of its stock market share value this year. Family and board members have sold off millions of dollars in shares this year .
From Jalopnik:
The President took delivery of a red Model S Plaid, which he cannot drive, and purchased a Cybertruck for his granddaughter Kai.
During the Tesla infomercial, Trump told the gathered onlookers that recent anti-Musk protests, which have occasionally included damage to Tesla vehicles and charging infrastructure, and are allegedly secretly funded by George Soros somehow, would be treated as cases of domestic terrorism.
He said this morning that boycotting Tesla is illegal, but taking it a step further and upgrading the charges to domestic terrorism is beyond the pale.
Parker Molloy was astonished at the degree to which mainstream media outlets sanewashed this spectacle.
The most glaring part is how the media dutifully reported Trump's talking points that Musk "shouldn't be penalized for being a patriot" and that a "very small group of people" is treating him unfairly. These statements went largely unchallenged in the framing, treating Tesla's stock drop as some kind of injustice rather than a market reaction to Musk's increasing political activities.
The truly concerning aspect is how easily the media has normalized this behavior. By treating it primarily as a quirky story about Trump buying a car rather than a serious breach of ethical norms, they're laying the groundwork for more of this behavior.
Will we see the White House lawn hosting a lineup of Trump-branded steaks next month? Maybe MyPillow guy Mike Lindell will get to showcase his products in the Rose Garden? Once you've crossed this line, where exactly do you stop?
Finally for today, a gizmo for your edification and entertainment. Popular Information has cranked out the Musk Watch Doge Tracker, enabling ordinary people like you and me to see the degree to which we’re being lied to about the supposed savings being found. Today the difference between claimed and verified savings is… 92% unprovable.
Here are some upcoming events that may be of interest. I’ll be doing my best to alert readers to events as fast as I learn of them. Let me know at dougporter506@yahoo.com
Thru - 4/17 - Boycott Target. Folded DEI programs to please MAGA racists
3/13 - Issa Hold a Town Hall: 11am-Noon- Weekly in El Cajon
3/13 - Tesla Encinitas CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER
3/14 - Issa Hold a Town Hall Escondido, 10:30 - 11:30
3/14 - Veterans Rally Noon-2pm Carlsbad Blvd & Pine (Next to Harbor Fish House)
3/14 - Veterans’ Protest 4-6pm San Diego Veterans Museum
3/14 - CFT Educators & Allies Noon- March against Trump/Musk’s attacks on public education.
3/14 - AMAZON BOYCOTT ends. That wasn’t so hard, wasn’t it?
3/15 – Tesla Take Down Encinitas, 1pm
3/15 - Cesar Chavez Day of Service 9am - 1pm at the Mt. Hope Community Garden
3/15 - Phone Bank for Paloma Aguirre 11-am - 2pm
3/15- Support for Transgender Troops 10am-1pm Camp Pendleton Main Gate
3/16 - Support Ukraine Rally at Balboa Park 2-4pm El Cid Statue
3/17 - A Brief History of Protest in San Diego: 5-pm (Potluck) Activist San Diego
3/20 - Issa Hold a Town Hall: 11am-Noon- Weekly in El Cajon
3/20 - Tesla Sign Waving - Encinitas 4pm - 5:30pm
3/21 - Issa Hold a Town Hall Escondido, 10:30 - 11:30
3/22 - Swing Left Virtual Event 4pm feat.Dr. Cody Petterson& Geneviéve Jones-Wright
3/23 - Issa Empty Chair Town Hall, California Center for Fine Arts, 4-6pm
3/23 - Support Ukraine Rally at Balboa Park 2-4pm El Cid Statue
3/27 - Issa Hold a Town Hall: 11am-Noon- Weekly in El Cajon
3/27 - Tesla Sign Waving - Encinitas 4pm - 5:30pm
3/28 - Issa Hold a Town Hall Escondido, 10:30 - 11:30
3/29 - Transgender Day of Visibility 11am- 2pm, Civic Center Plaza, Oceanside
3/21-3/28 – Nestle Blackout, Don’t buy!
3/30 - Support Ukraine Rally at Balboa Park 2-4pm El Cid Statue
4/07-4/14 – Walmart Blackout, details tba
Click HERE for more upcoming events.
