July 3 Open Thread: Trade War Is Hell

Filed in National by on July 3, 2018

When the Trump administration was tearing apart families, most of corporate America said nothing. When Trump supported white supremacists, most of corporate America said nothing. When Trump made clear everyone was either with him or against him, most of corporate America flattered and bowed like 18th-century French courtiers.

Now that Trump is carrying through his threats of tariffs and seems unfazed by the possibility of an outright trade war — “Holy shit! The man is ignorant, autocratic and quite possibly crazy! Somebody do something!” Sorry you’re late to the party, boys, but you have some serious pain to endure if you want to catch up.

I’m not sure they can take it, considering how they’ve blanched at the example His Nibs is making of Harley-Davidson, which deserves all it’s getting for hugging him back. Corporate America is like the torture victim who starts talking as soon as he sees the washcloth and water bottle. My favorite part of his idiotic tweet against the company this morning was that he cited its 7% decline in sales in 2017 as evidence that its popularity declined this week. And we thought the last GOP president was unedumacated.

What changed the hive mind of the business tycoon branch of the GOP? The fact that, as Paul Krugman notes, even the “winners” of the tariff fights would face serious disruption to their businesses, meaning there’s no upside here in real-world terms — even the people he’s supposedly trying to help would be hurt.

I’m paying no attention to the game show Trump is making of choosing a Supreme Court justice, but it appears the existence of a short list has given the liberal opposition lots of time to prepare for the confirmation fight. That’s because I assumed from the moment of the Kennedy announcement that the seat was lost. Democratic opposition amounts to a show for the base, which needs the fight for morale-building reasons.

The centrist rot that has descended upon Delaware under Democratic Party rule is not unique — in fact, it’s not even the worst example of what happens when “Democrats” decide conservatism is where the money is. Up in Rhode Island, the state Democratic Party endorsed a Trump-supporting kook over an incumbent progressive lawmaker, apparently because she said on the radio that an “insane amount of drinking” went on in the statehouse. Well worth reading for a reminder that it’s not just Delaware where the Democratic Party has not been the answer.

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  1. truth80 says:

    1st rule of being a legislator. Don’t piss on every other legislator. Or you will find yourself in the corner.

  2. Alby says:

    On that Rhode Island story, I thought Delaware had more representation that it needs (I base that on the number of legislators who run unopposed or with token opposition), with 41 reps and 21 senators for under 1 million people. Rhode Island, with 1.6 million people, has 75 representatives and 38 senators.

    On the one-party rule front, there’s no Sussex County in Rhode Island (there is a Kent). Democrats control the House 62-12 and the Senate 32-5, with one independent in each.

  3. Alby says:

    @T80: Let’s see if she’s re-elected. What you fail to realize is that incumbents of your stripe operate as a club, and voters despise it. It’s the inevitable result of one-party rule.

  4. truth80 says:

    @alby Rhode Island makes Delaware look like a battleground state. Hawaii too

  5. Alby says:

    @t80: I think it’s a bad time to be part of the establishment in either party. Mitch McConnell is underwater 34-52 in Kentucky. He’s not up until 2020, but I doubt he survives.

  6. Delawarelefty says:

    T80, you sound like a Rethug or Russian bot ( no real difference), but claim to be a Dem. Please share one or two Democratic values that you support.

  7. RE Vanella says:

    I gotta say, for the record, this is meaningless.

    This is like a joke.

    And somehow… People question me.

    Hilarious.

  8. Truth80 says:

    Wow that was quick. Wonder what dirt was about to be revealed. That’s why I say people can be forgiven for most as long as they disclose it before they announce

  9. RSE says:

    “When Trump supported white supremacists…”

    Are you talking about when Trump said there are “very fine people on both sides” of the argument of whether or not to remove a statue of Robert E Lee in Charlottesville Va. ?

    Yes, the white nationalists showed up to protest the removal of the statue, but there were also many people, liberals in fact, who didn’t want the statue removed.

    The campaign to remove Confederate monuments across the South is still an ongoing issue, and there are still “fine” people on both sides of the argument.

    “I’ve condemned neo-Nazis. I’ve condemned many different groups. But not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me,” – Donald Trump

  10. Alby says:

    No, there are not fine people on both sides of the argument. And there are not liberals who didn’t want the statue removed.

    And no, they didn’t hold that rally to protest the removal of the statue.

    If you sympathize with the Confederacy, you are a white supremacist. Simple as that.

  11. RE Vanella says:

    The only fine Reb is a dead Reb.

    Down with Sesh scum.

  12. Liz Allen says:

    35% of Trump’s twitter followers also follow at least one white nationalist like David Duke. Supporting Trump is the same as supporting white nationalists, KKK and the poorly educated. Trump is the Troll in Chief. Al Plant used to say, “throw it where the hogs can git it”..it applies too the Trump cult…throw the “fear where the hogs can get it.”

  13. Liz Allen says:

    truth80 says:
    July 3, 2018 at 1:01 pm
    1st rule of being a legislator. Don’t piss on every other legislator. Or you will find yourself in the corner.

    Seriously! Shouldnt they be more concerned about their constiuents who can vote their asses out? You are in a corner, a self imposed corner.

  14. Delawarelefty says:

    As well as, the only good Nazi is a dead Nazi. Every patriotic American knows that.