Bob Smith
@aftertheice.bsky.social
Old white guy living in Lee's Summit, Missouri, USA.
Centrist Democrat
Not religious
Interested in politics, science, reading, baseball
Centrist Democrat
Not religious
Interested in politics, science, reading, baseball
Putting partisan politics aside, it really isn't clear if Trump can legally fire the Fed chair. The Constitution doesn't magically agree with your (or my) opinion about a given issue of the day. This may be more of a violation of norms than a violation of law. It would be an interesting case.
April 22, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Putting partisan politics aside, it really isn't clear if Trump can legally fire the Fed chair. The Constitution doesn't magically agree with your (or my) opinion about a given issue of the day. This may be more of a violation of norms than a violation of law. It would be an interesting case.
"The tariff still retains its grip on the throat of international commerce. There is no relief in sight...if the men in Washington responsible for this disaster continue in power. ... It was a stupid, blundering idea, and we know it today and we know it has brought disaster."
FDR (1932)
FDR (1932)
April 7, 2025 at 3:01 PM
"The tariff still retains its grip on the throat of international commerce. There is no relief in sight...if the men in Washington responsible for this disaster continue in power. ... It was a stupid, blundering idea, and we know it today and we know it has brought disaster."
FDR (1932)
FDR (1932)
It's as if Musk didn't understand who bought his cars. Remember when Bud Light used a trans spokesman for their product? Bubba at the bar in Biloxi doesn't like trans people so he stopped buying Bud Light. The customer base for expensive electric cars is rich lefties. They don't like Trump.
April 7, 2025 at 2:39 PM
It's as if Musk didn't understand who bought his cars. Remember when Bud Light used a trans spokesman for their product? Bubba at the bar in Biloxi doesn't like trans people so he stopped buying Bud Light. The customer base for expensive electric cars is rich lefties. They don't like Trump.
Should AOC run for President in 2028? I'm a centrist Dem so AOC isn't my first choice, but the reality is that I don't have a first choice right now. But why not run? Maybe she lights up the sky like Obama did. At worst, she loses the primary and the centrist Dems can say, "See, that's not us."
March 24, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Should AOC run for President in 2028? I'm a centrist Dem so AOC isn't my first choice, but the reality is that I don't have a first choice right now. But why not run? Maybe she lights up the sky like Obama did. At worst, she loses the primary and the centrist Dems can say, "See, that's not us."
Shutting down the government would have accomplished nothing. The Dems would've been blamed because, fact that. The "non-essential" workers would be sent home: targets for Musk. The GOP would have sat on their hands and laughed. Eventually, when the checks stopped coming, the Dems would have caved.
March 18, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Shutting down the government would have accomplished nothing. The Dems would've been blamed because, fact that. The "non-essential" workers would be sent home: targets for Musk. The GOP would have sat on their hands and laughed. Eventually, when the checks stopped coming, the Dems would have caved.
The Ukrainian government has made a ceasefire proposal to the Russians. Now we will see how the Russians respond.
March 12, 2025 at 3:26 PM
The Ukrainian government has made a ceasefire proposal to the Russians. Now we will see how the Russians respond.
The US has functionally withdrawn from NATO. Does anyone really think that Trump would defend a European NATO country in the unlikely event that one of them was invaded by Russia?
March 7, 2025 at 9:57 PM
The US has functionally withdrawn from NATO. Does anyone really think that Trump would defend a European NATO country in the unlikely event that one of them was invaded by Russia?
The main question at this point is how long can Ukraine resist the Russian invasion without US support? If the front lines will collapse within months, then Zelensky has no choice but to capitulate and hope for the best terms possible. I don't know the answer to that question, but Ukraine does.
March 5, 2025 at 7:11 PM
The main question at this point is how long can Ukraine resist the Russian invasion without US support? If the front lines will collapse within months, then Zelensky has no choice but to capitulate and hope for the best terms possible. I don't know the answer to that question, but Ukraine does.
"Trump is, at heart, a reality TV show producer/star. He is always looking for moments that can be packaged to go BIG, that can draw eyeballs, that can frame a narrative the way he wants it framed."
The real question to my mind is why Democrats give Trump what he wants. {Chris Cizzilla}
The real question to my mind is why Democrats give Trump what he wants. {Chris Cizzilla}
March 4, 2025 at 4:05 PM
"Trump is, at heart, a reality TV show producer/star. He is always looking for moments that can be packaged to go BIG, that can draw eyeballs, that can frame a narrative the way he wants it framed."
The real question to my mind is why Democrats give Trump what he wants. {Chris Cizzilla}
The real question to my mind is why Democrats give Trump what he wants. {Chris Cizzilla}
"Situations defined as real in the minds of men are real in their consequences." {Martin Seligman} I read this in a Sociology book 50 years ago and it has been burned into my mind ever since. If you wonder why the law & order Republicans supported a felon for President, this is a good place to start
March 3, 2025 at 6:28 PM
"Situations defined as real in the minds of men are real in their consequences." {Martin Seligman} I read this in a Sociology book 50 years ago and it has been burned into my mind ever since. If you wonder why the law & order Republicans supported a felon for President, this is a good place to start
Trump was the star and executive producer of The Apprentice. That’s the role he sees himself playing in the White House - the world’s most-watched reality TV show. Every day he is President is a new episode of the show. And he tries to create images and storylines designed to keep people watching
February 18, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Trump was the star and executive producer of The Apprentice. That’s the role he sees himself playing in the White House - the world’s most-watched reality TV show. Every day he is President is a new episode of the show. And he tries to create images and storylines designed to keep people watching
Trump's overarching foreign policy strategy appears to be a grand effort to defuse tensions between the great nuclear powers. What we're seeing in Ukraine isn't "Munich." It's Yalta after WWII. The world will be divided into spheres of influence benefitting Russia, China and the US. Next up: Taiwan.
February 16, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Trump's overarching foreign policy strategy appears to be a grand effort to defuse tensions between the great nuclear powers. What we're seeing in Ukraine isn't "Munich." It's Yalta after WWII. The world will be divided into spheres of influence benefitting Russia, China and the US. Next up: Taiwan.
Trump wants to divide the world into spheres of influence: Russian, Chinese and American. These are the three powers with enough nuclear weapons to destroy the planet (at least as a habitat for people). Ukraine is part of the Russian sphere, Greenland part of the US sphere and so forth.
February 15, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Trump wants to divide the world into spheres of influence: Russian, Chinese and American. These are the three powers with enough nuclear weapons to destroy the planet (at least as a habitat for people). Ukraine is part of the Russian sphere, Greenland part of the US sphere and so forth.
The only practical political power the Dems have at the moment is their key role in the upcoming budget negotiations. Yes, they should use that leverage to the maximum extent possible. But lefties screaming their outrage to each other in deep blue bubbles is useless. Nobody else hears them.
February 15, 2025 at 4:12 PM
The only practical political power the Dems have at the moment is their key role in the upcoming budget negotiations. Yes, they should use that leverage to the maximum extent possible. But lefties screaming their outrage to each other in deep blue bubbles is useless. Nobody else hears them.
“Well, I always abide by the courts, and then I'll have to appeal it.”
This is important. Trump is saying he will abide by court rulings as opposed to ignore them if they aren’t what he wants them to be. They’re just words but he is now on the record about it.
{Cizzilla}
This is important. Trump is saying he will abide by court rulings as opposed to ignore them if they aren’t what he wants them to be. They’re just words but he is now on the record about it.
{Cizzilla}
February 12, 2025 at 10:11 PM
“Well, I always abide by the courts, and then I'll have to appeal it.”
This is important. Trump is saying he will abide by court rulings as opposed to ignore them if they aren’t what he wants them to be. They’re just words but he is now on the record about it.
{Cizzilla}
This is important. Trump is saying he will abide by court rulings as opposed to ignore them if they aren’t what he wants them to be. They’re just words but he is now on the record about it.
{Cizzilla}
Setting aside political differences, there is a legitimate concern about the authoritarian approach of the new administration. So far, they are respecting rulings from the judiciary and just complaining. But if Trump goes full A. Jackson on us, the political climate could...uh...deteriorate rapidly.
February 11, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Setting aside political differences, there is a legitimate concern about the authoritarian approach of the new administration. So far, they are respecting rulings from the judiciary and just complaining. But if Trump goes full A. Jackson on us, the political climate could...uh...deteriorate rapidly.
Yes, Russia is slowly winning this brutal war of attrition. But the cost is literally the life of hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers. This is the very definition of a pyrrhic victory. NATO sits back and watches while the Russians sacrifice their future.
February 10, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Yes, Russia is slowly winning this brutal war of attrition. But the cost is literally the life of hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers. This is the very definition of a pyrrhic victory. NATO sits back and watches while the Russians sacrifice their future.
2025 will be the year when we stop trying to prevent climate change and just focus on adapting to it. Yes, give Trump and big oil their share of the blame but the people, in their billions, are the underlying cause. No government can enforce laws against the billions who will not or cannot change.
February 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
2025 will be the year when we stop trying to prevent climate change and just focus on adapting to it. Yes, give Trump and big oil their share of the blame but the people, in their billions, are the underlying cause. No government can enforce laws against the billions who will not or cannot change.
I'm a capitalist. Not that it's such a great economic system. It's easy to point out the flaws. But there's no rational alternative. Socialism isn't some great new economic theory. It's been tried over and over for over a hundred years. And it's failed over and over again. Create something new.
February 7, 2025 at 4:32 AM
I'm a capitalist. Not that it's such a great economic system. It's easy to point out the flaws. But there's no rational alternative. Socialism isn't some great new economic theory. It's been tried over and over for over a hundred years. And it's failed over and over again. Create something new.
"Trump views the presidency as a reality TV show. Every day is a new episode. And his goal is to get the highest ratings possible. And it's working. The news is flooded with stories about what he is saying and doing - leaving little room for any other storylines." {Cizzilla}
February 6, 2025 at 3:43 PM
"Trump views the presidency as a reality TV show. Every day is a new episode. And his goal is to get the highest ratings possible. And it's working. The news is flooded with stories about what he is saying and doing - leaving little room for any other storylines." {Cizzilla}
Supreme Court: "I am not as convinced as some are that they are just a rubber stamp for Trump. John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett, in particular, seem willing to go against his preferences at times. And, unlike members of Congress, there’s nothing Trump can do to penalize the justices." {Cizzilla}
January 31, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Supreme Court: "I am not as convinced as some are that they are just a rubber stamp for Trump. John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett, in particular, seem willing to go against his preferences at times. And, unlike members of Congress, there’s nothing Trump can do to penalize the justices." {Cizzilla}
We are watching the internet driven death throes of the big business media system as we transition to a more independent way of reporting and commenting on current events. Media will resemble a digital version of the local newspapers that prospered in the early years of the American experiment.
January 31, 2025 at 3:39 PM
We are watching the internet driven death throes of the big business media system as we transition to a more independent way of reporting and commenting on current events. Media will resemble a digital version of the local newspapers that prospered in the early years of the American experiment.
I'm speculating here but the ambiguity with respect to ongoing US funding of the war in Ukraine may be part of the ceasefire negotiations. So far, Zelensky has been reasonable but Putin has not. If Russia becomes more cooperative, US military aid to Ukraine will cease. If not, it will continue.
January 28, 2025 at 3:43 PM
I'm speculating here but the ambiguity with respect to ongoing US funding of the war in Ukraine may be part of the ceasefire negotiations. So far, Zelensky has been reasonable but Putin has not. If Russia becomes more cooperative, US military aid to Ukraine will cease. If not, it will continue.