WDDDDT? #47 AKA ERROR #2: “WE JUST DISAGREE”

April 9, 2025: DAY 80 of 100

   

   Over the many years I saw DAVE MASON numerous times, always amazed at his prowess on the guitar. Today’s shit show reminded me of a song written by Jim Krueger, recorded by Dave Mason.

So let's leave it alone 'cause we can't see eye to eye

There ain't no good guy, there ain't no bad guy

There's only you and me and we just disagree 

   THE FIRST 100 days: Monday, January 20, 2025 – Wednesday April 30, 2025. Just a reminder, it is only 573 days to the mid term election, November 3, 2026. 

   Meanwhile, ELON MUSK is arguing on line (X) with PETER NAVARRO, (senior counselor for trade and manufacturing for The Hump). Musk referred to Navarro as “Peter Retarrdo.” Me, I feel like I’m back in fifth grade. The WHITE HOUSE responded with a “we cool” attitude. “Whatever. We are the most transparent administration in history, expressing our disagreements in public,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. One must remember Musk is only (legally) allowed 130 days as a “special advisor” for DOGE. His clock is ticking. ELON is pissed that the tariffs are based on trade imbalance, rather than the individual tariff rates and trade barriers other countries impose on U.S. imports.

   Does anyone remember EMANUEL GOLDSTEIN, the ‘enemy of the people” in ORWELL”S “1984”? These X rants or the media plugs by THE GREAT MANIPULATOR on his Social Media account are similar to the two minute hate sessions aimed at GOLDSTEIN.

   From: European Jewish Association, 2024: Elon Musk: "Always be wary of any name that sounds like it could come out of a George Orwell book.That's never a good sign.Sure, diversity, equity, inclusion – these all sound like nice words, but what it really means is discrimination on the basis of race, sex and sexual orientation. And it's against merit.” ELON the same guy who oversees the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Oh, Ye, gentle mistresses and most distinguished gentlemen, and others… The opinions and observations are solely my own views, and I take full responsibility for any errors of fact, not to mention any predictions that prove to be wildly inaccurate

 The Road of #47: Polite Dinner Conversation

Date line: 2/21/25: THE WHITE HOUSE

   Yesterday I wrote “The insulting, condescending bully has returned”when in fact he never left the arena. For ten years since he was first nominated as the GOP candidate for president, beating out sixteen other potential candidates, and for a few decades before, #47 has been a “news worthy” item, in fact many times controlling the news cycle. Besides being condescending and insulting, his words can endanger the safety of not only ourselves, citizens of the US, but other nations as well. 

   Usually speaking (posting) in the third person, all in caps, one wonders about how egotistical this person is. An example:"Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn't be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and 'TRUMP,' will never be able to settle.”

   Braggadocio aside his approval rating in the first 30 days has taken a slight turn to the negative side, at less than 49% and dropping. Yet, I try to avoid polls because tomorrow never knows. Never the shy boy, our fearless leader in his attempt to consolidate power in to his own hands has issued 73 executive orders.Afterwards, he posted, "THREE GREAT WEEKS, PERHAPS THE BEST EVER.” Most (75%) folks believe that #47 is handling the presidency just as he stated he would on the campaign trail.

   Meanwhile, I ponder the thought that most of these DOGE cuts of staff and the “savings” of billions of dollars might be a Ponzi scheme to hide the impact of the reduced taxes on big businesses and of course #47’s favorite oligarchs, Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. Only time will tell.

   But I ask, as promised for DAY ONE…Price of eggs and gas would be drastically reduced, no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime…where is it????

Oh, Ye, gentle mistresses and most distinguished gentlemen, and others… The opinions and observations are solely my own views, and I take full responsibility for any errors of fact, not to mention any predictions that prove to be wildly inaccurate.

 The Road of #47:CONFLICT OF INTEREST, Hmmm

 Date line: 2/15/25: The White House

   When one thinks of TESLA what comes to mind, besides that ugly truck is a just as ugly guy, one ELON MUSK aka “the world’s richest person @US$ 397 billion. He owns SPACE X and X(Twitter). Quite the character he is as he with his mass fortune finagled his way in to the heart and soul of our beloved president #47. So much so that Musk can be found most days in the Oval Office (wearing what I consider disrespectful: a baseball cap and tee shirt) talking to the press in an “official manner”, or in The Blair House. This non-elected appointee of #47 is the leader of the DOGE pack.

   According to a piece from last year’s State Department website, in September of 2025 it, the State Department will award a lucrative contract to spend $400 million over five years for TESLA (CEO Elon Musk) to build armored electric vehicles.  Wednesday of this week the site removed TESLA’s name as the manufacturer.

   In a letter to Secretary of State MARCO RUBIO The senator from Connecticut, Rich Blumenthal(D) is questioning if the TESLA plans which are now on hold, would bring to mind any “profound conflicts of interest issues”. Hmmmm…

Coming Soon: Arts and Leisure

Oh, Ye, gentle mistresses and most distinguished gentlemen, and others… The opinions and observations are solely my own views, and I take full responsibility for any errors of fact, not to mention any predictions that prove to be wildly inaccurate.

 The Road of #47: THE DREADED PINK SLIP

 Date line: 2/14/25: The White House

   #47 and his posse in its efforts to reduce the size/cost of the fed workforce, last night laid off over 1000 employees of Veterans Affairs saving the department more than $98 million a year. Those “pink slipped” included non-bargaining unit probationary employees who have been employed less than a year in a competitive service appointment or less than two years in an expected service appointment. 

   OPM (Office of Personnel Management) an independent agency of the United States government that manages the United States federal civil service itself was not immune as some workers received their walking papers via a group call. They were “dismissed” and told to leave the building within the “half-hour”. WOW…

  Some union leaders representing those let go are calling these moves “a politically driven mass firing spree, targeting employees not because of performance, but because they were hired before Trump took office.” This is very similar to the Kennedy Center dismantling. Once again, new broom sweeps clean…

PINK SLIPS FOR:

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
• Department of Education
• Department of Energy
• Department of Veteran Affairs
• General Services Administration
• National Nuclear Security Administration
• Office of Personnel Management
• Small Business Administration
• US Forest Service
• United States Department of Agriculture

Coming Soon: Conflict of Interest

Oh, Ye, gentle mistresses and most distinguished gentlemen, and others… The opinions and observations are solely my own views, and I take full responsibility for any errors of fact, not to mention any predictions that prove to be wildly inaccurate.

 POLITICS 101: The 2025 Version aka The Road of #47:

   To those who assumed that the PROJECT 2025 was just bullshit, and that #47 according to what he stated prior to Election Day, would never consider implementing that manifesto…well, How do you feel now?

   Whether or not this “braintrust” document is worthwhile only time will tell .The last three weeks, #47 surely has a keen insight into what those papers stated and how to use many of the suggestions. Just the headlines are a bit unnerving. The “shock and awe” factor has quieted many Americans with a wait and see approach or better yet, let’s give him the first 100 days before commenting.

   Almost a month in, Gas and the price of eggs are still high but the border is relatively quiet. Musk wearing a tee shirt and baseball cap (disrespectfully I thought) accompanied by his 4 year old son held court in the Oval Office with #47 seated at the desk, authorizing the DOGE to work its magic- termination of the work force-reducing the budget-and magically eliminating the very powers who were investigating Musk’s business dealings. All while claiming to downsize the excesses in the government.

   “Under the Trump administration, federal consumer protections are being rapidly stripped away in a lawless process,” said Adam Levitin, a professor at Georgetown Law who specializes in financial regulation. “This is deregulation by firings.”

   Yesterday(Feb 12) a federal judge stated the “Kash Patel deal” (deferred resignation/pass out) could move forward, despite the fact that this “deal” is dependent on the March budget. Illegal or misleading as it may be.

   #47’s executive order related to “Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” is interesting. I must admit that I have a difficult time when a “biological” male participates in a female sport… unless that male/female is invited to do so. I also have a difficulty with the pronoun usage, “we/they”…WTF?

   Yet the quest of D.E.I. continues, DEI: diversity, equity, and inclusion. It appears that some higher educational facilities, those especially dependent on federal funds are removing and or cancelling activities/references that do not comply with the executive order targeting diversity. Let’s see how this goes after Linda McMahon, the WWF leader not an educator, becomes the head of the Department of Education, the department which #47 has repeatedly stated he would disassemble.

   “TODAY IS THE BIG ONE: RECIPROCAL TARIFFS!!!” so stated #47 on his social media platform. Thinking this through on my part I first say “Way to go…” but question what will this cost me…

   Lastly for today, “NEW BROOM SWEEPS CLEAN”. While I agree that a leader of any enterprise needs employees who are loyal AND agree with the principles the leader is using I caution myself with the new directive issued regarding the Foreign Services.“Failure to faithfully implement the president’s policy is grounds for professional discipline, including separation.”

   Vocabulary for a further rant: Repatriated-send (someone) back to their own country. Welcome to  El Salvador or Guatemala or Panama, the new “land of opportunity”.

Oh, Ye, gentle mistresses and most distinguished gentlemen, and others… The opinions and observations are solely my own views, and I take full responsibility for any errors of fact, not to mention any predictions that prove to be wildly inaccurate.

 THE ROAD of #47: Three Weeks In: “One Dozen, Please”

   February 1: A lovely Saturday morn, happy Saint Brigid’s Day to all. Today, is one of the deadlines established by our fearless leader to impose 25% tariffs on that country that no longer owns the Gulf, Mexico, also on our soon to be 51th state Canada and a measly 10% on China. All this is under consideration. 

    Let us look at the last few years to attempt to understand what might happen in the future. In 2023, the total value of (legal) goods traded between the US and Canada AND the total between the US and Mexico was collectively more than $1.5 trillion. That’s a lot of shit to trade. 

   New tariffs will disrupt trade, as #47 would so eloquently state, “from Day One”. And of course there will be the retaliatory tariffs imposed on the US not just from those three (Canada, Mexico, China) but from other countries. Finally, there will be severe damage to the smaller economies, many who rely on the US. So, what about the price of eggs and gas…

   Ah, a Democrat finally standing up to have a say with the shock and awe of week one. In an interview, the senior senator (D) from Minneapolis , Amy Klobuchar stated: “I look at it this way: Chaos up. Corruption up. And, sadly, the cost of eggs is way up. No matter how many tech bros you have at the inauguration, none of that helps the people who weren’t in that room. Those are the people that he told he was going to work to bring down housing costs, to create more housing, to do more on child care, to bring down health care costs, and he kept telling us how beautiful it would be. Well, all of this — and maybe it’s done for a distraction — but all of this chaos takes us away from that mission”.

   EGG PRICES:But he promised… I’ll give him this as it is one week 1…For more than two years, farmers have fought a battle with a fatal strain of bird flu that continues to disrupt the U.S. egg supply. Since October, continual large-scale outbreaks of the virus across multiple states have taken a massive toll on the U.S. flock of egg-laying hens. With limited supplies, shoppers have seen prices skyrocket, and many have encountered buying restrictions or empty shelves. 

   Egg prices rose 36.8% in one year, food prices just 2.5%.The average cost of a dozen Grade A large eggs was $4.15 in December, up from $3.65 in November, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, retrieved from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ FRED site. 

   GAS PRICES: But he promised…awaiting the tariffs to hit…According to AAA, the current national average price of regular gas is around $3.10 per gallon. Let’s see how that goes…

Oh, Ye, gentle mistresses and most distinguished gentlemen, and others… The opinions and observations are solely my own views, and I take full responsibility for any errors of fact, not to mention any predictions that prove to be wildly inaccurate.