Pity. For my entire lifetime it was a fine paper.

Trump is range finding to see what he can get away with. He tosses out these statements to see what the reaction will be, when he actually attempts something in that general category.

Yes. Absolutely.

Remember when he assembled a task team to arrange for the purchase of Greenland? Or using nuclear weapons to disperse hurricanes, in August of 2019?
www.npr.org/2019/08/19/7...

Legacy media keeps behaving as if they are surprised by this. Trump is going to do what he will do. This time around there are few limits to that. Starting on January 6th this will be a very different country than the one we have known. The wreckage will not be repaired in my lifetime.

"Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty."

- Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism

Many would say that if not 'serious' this is certainly 'grave'.

Congratulations to the Times. I was beginning to think that they were going to capitulate to the incoming administration.

In the informal initiation rites & rituals of street gangs here in SoCal initiation can involve committing a few crimes, an assault, a theft, some gratuitous vandalism, on behalf of the gang, just to establish your street cred as a thug. This feels similar.

When you consider just how much stuff sold on Amazon comes from China you have your answer.

Fashion too. Don't forget fashion, and shopping advice. I go for the games myself.

Tesla needs tariff exemptions to remain profitable in 2025, These will be available on a case by case basis from Trumps Department of Commerce. In order to qualify for exemptions Musk needs to show unquestioning loyalty. Creating problems for Vindman is a gesture in that direction.

While his kind of threat is ancient, (consider Henry the 2nd's lament: "Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?") social media, gives this a new potency, as a form of 'stochastic terrorism'. Our legal system has not adjusted to the gravity of the threat. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stochas...

Who says that we are necessarily going to make it past this authoritarian grab? There is no sense in which this is a forgone conclusion. Let's have this conversation again, after the tariffs hit, and the price of chicken, tomatoes, shoes and car parts is up by 25 to 35%.

This takes you straight into a paywall.

Not complicated. Consider that Tesla buys 40% of its batteries from China. DJT intends a 35% tariff on China. To remain in business Tesla needs a tariff exemption from the Department of Commerce. To earn the exemption Musk has to make a public show of blind loyalty. This is that demonstration.

Both Jeff Bezos' Amazon, and Elon Musk's Tesla import a huge fraction of their product from China. The Commerce Depart, which answers to POTUS, provides exemptions to tariffs on a case by case basis. Is there any question as to who will get the exemption.

Inevitable.

DJT will probably give intelligence away as party favors. Others will be more discerning. Consider Jared Kushner, one of the highest consumers of intelligence in the last administration. Kushner was given $2B to 'invest' by the Saudis, in trade for unspecified services.
thehill.com/homenews/adm...