Trump signed an executive order declaring all state laws that address climate change to be null and void. He claims that efforts to protect the environment are a hindrance to energy production. So ignoring climate change is important to national security because we need oil and gas more than we need clean air and water.
Remember when Trump said he was eliminating the Departnent of Education because states should manage their own schools and the federal government should get out of the way? Why can’t states make decisions about clean air, clean water, and auto efficiency?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
When/if Trump leaves office, all that will be left of this country is burning embers. It will be hard building back.
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Once Trump leaves office, he doesn’t care what happens to the country. Even in office, he doesn’t care.
He is already bragging about being responsible for the biggest rise in the stock market in decades, after he paused tariffs.
It’s falling again. He doesn’t care.
Read his defenders on Twitter. They think his madness is a brilliant plan. They are a cult.
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It’s all nonsense. Trump cannot simply nullify state laws by issuing an executive order. Only new federal law can do that (via the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution) and those will never get past the Senate, even assuming (and it’s a big assumption) that they could pass in the narrowly divided House. Any state that has such laws is free to ignore him and (as many Blue states actually will) dare him to try to challenge them in court. Either way, he’ll lose this one hands down.
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I hope you are right.
Law means nothing to Trump.
He has broken laws all his life and gotten away with it.
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Why doe he continue to try to destroy things?? There seems to be a pathological issue, destroying things and cruelty aren’t normal leadership traits…..it’s going to be a long four years…….
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Trump is mean and vindictive. He likes to break things and hurt people. In the tariff debacle, he said that other countries were “kissing my ass” and begging for relief. Vintage Trump.
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I’d be begging for relief if I was stupid enough to be kissing his ass.
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This is who we are dealing with.
“Malignant narcissism is a term describing a severe form of narcissism characterized by antisocial behavior, ego-syntonic sadism (taking pleasure in the suffering of others), and a paranoid orientation, while still retaining some capacity for guilt and loyalty. It’s a theoretical construct distinct from Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).”
His lifelong history, which is almost 79 years long, shows this is who he is. He also has a history as an excessive micromanager.
The convicted rapist, fraud and felon is a media whore for the attention, but he also uses the media to vilify anyone that lands on his enemies list by insulting them and accusing them of immorality and/or crimes with no evidence. That’s why the insulting names he calls people is long. Wiki lists most if not all of them.
He uses the courts to satisfy his sadism by hurting his victims even more in their bank accounts taking extreme pleasure from bankrupting people who can’t afford to fight a billionaire in court, which explains why he has cheated so many small-time contractors by refusing to pay them what he owes them. He does that to destroy their family business because he takes great pleasure in the suffering, he causes them. It isn’t difficult to fact check this. Imagine how many he destroyed that didn’t fight back in court. He even cheats his lawyers, which explains why he also has a huge turnover in lawyers. When his casinos were losing money and not paying their bills to contractors and merchants, he was the CEO and kept giving himself million-dollar annual raises.
That also explains why he has a history of raping and sexually molesting women. He doesn’t do it for the sex. He doesn’t it because he is a sadist. Dozens of women came forward publicly over the years accusing him of doing that to them.
Its why he bought the Miss USA Pageant, Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA pageants. He owned them for 19 years.
All the beauty contestants were forced to meet him if they wanted to walk on stage. He used to barge into the dressing rooms when they were changing outfits during the pageants and stand there staring at them. That was against the rules but he owned that pageant company.
That is also easy to fact check.
He’s even been accused of raping a 13-year-old at one of Epstein’s parties. Every once in a while, there’s another news piece that appears reporting she’s filed a new rape case in court against him and drops it soon afterward. I shudder to imagine what he does to torment her that causes her she keeps doing that. The PTSD she lives with that’s destroyed her life.
Stop and think how much sadistic satisfaction he will get by killing millions through starvation by shutting down USAID, from pandemics and disease because he hollowed out the CDC and doesn’t support the use of vaccines, except for him.
It’s why he wants to declare martial law so the military while shoot people and he can hear the reports and watch the news as its being done. It’s why General Miley refused to do it when Trump ordered him to. It’s why he asked another four-star general why his generals wouldn’t obey him like Hitler’s generals did. That can be fact checked too.
I think he will nuke US cities to satisfy his sadism. He’s talked about wanting to do that, too. Use nukes against China. Use them against hurricanes. If he has dementia, he sadism will only get worse.
Hitler was a boy scout compared to what he is capable of doing.
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He falls back on promoting state’s rights when it’s politically expedient for him, like when he said he thought that states should be the ones to decide if abortion should be legal. It was a convenient out for him, due to all of the push-back and dissent he experienced when SCOTUS ruled to overturn Roe V Wade, since it was the people that HE put on that court who did that, so folks were furious with HIM –and he couldn’t take the heat.
He has no principles, no ethics and no respect for law whatsoever, including the Constitution. He believes only in himself, money and power, and he basically just says screw you to virtually everyone and everything else. And then, when his decisions are obviously very unpopular, he finds ways of wiggling out of them, like claiming state’s rights or blaming others for his own impulsive and poorly thought out actions. I can think of no other leader in our history who has taken less responsibility for their poor choices.
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We may all have to brace for his REMOVAL. This nonsense will not continue for 4 years. Today Macro Fund Manager reactions are being made known. They see no tariff plan anywhere on the horizon. And they both fear and seriously suspect that the Oval Office Occupants is “Insane.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/fund-managers-quietly-fear-trump-doesn-t-have-a-tariff-plan-and-that-he-might-be-insane/ar-AA1CGm2F?ocid=msedgntp&pc=LCTS&cvid=84b71f3938d24e7fba1b781a78ae4d66&ei=14
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“Might be insane”. . . ?????
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“. . . brace for his removal.”
Be careful of that as the next in line is the couchf#$cking xtian nationalist theocrat-Vance. And after him the xtian nationalist theocrat-Johnson whose god talks to him. . . and he listens.
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Let the next round of lawsuits begin
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He said in The Art of the Deal that he pushes and pushes until he gets what he wants, and since he said recently that many leaders of other countries have called him and want to negotiate regarding the tariffs, then what is HIS end game? I think he wants to get them to move manufacturing plants and jobs over here, so he can take credit for all that. But why on earth would they do that when it’s likely to mean that THEY will lose manufacturing jobs and income and then they’ll be in the same boat that we are in now???
If they’re smart, they won’t do it at all. But maybe some will try to get away with doing it on such a small scale that it won’t make much difference to either their or our economies –so there also won’t really be very much for him to justifiably brag about…
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ECE Professional: It’s not that complicated. He’s merely selling American trade leverage. If you understand GRIFT, you understand what he is up to. CBK
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CBK: I understand grift and that he has a long history of conning people, so we should expect him to keep doing that, but I don’t understand how selling American trade leverage would work. Could you please expound on that?
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Hello ECE: I mean that Trump is ALSO grifting all the leaders in the world–his leverage is our trading power which he knows others need. That’s his cue to begin grifting.
He says ie wants to make “deals” but where his cover-story is that the American people have been scammed and taken advantage of by moochers for long enough (we are the victims). But now here comes our savior Trump–so everyone gives him a pass on the power play.
However, that’s just the extortionist’s cover-story and even IF SOME might end up benefitting in some way.
The “deals,” however, are really about 3 things:
(1) a power grab–Congress has the power via the Constitution to do tariffs and he has just taken it over and they let him collapsing the power-space between Congress and the executive branch;
(2) a power-play . . . Trump is undermining and even humiliating (getting back at) world leaders, so they have to crawl to Trump individually on their knees in the name of doing what is right for their own country–which makes Trump gleeful and even more careless about whom he hurts; and
(3) enriching himself, his family, his enablers, and his cronies–every nook and cranny of those “deals” (I would bet) are rife with backroom extortionist payoffs. Trump is a one-man criminal racket but with lots of help.
Below is a note I wrote on another blog a few days ago which clarifies the above further.
Thanks for the incisive analysis. One of the first thing that dies with the combination of stupidity, delusional thinking, and political power is history and its lessons.
Also, way-too-many of the media still don’t “get” what Trump is doing . . . like Chris Hayes on MSNBC who “just cannot understand it,” and why Trump seems so oblivious and even happy about the way things are going. But if one understands the principle at work in Trump’s really stupid, careless, and reckless playbook, sprinkled profusely with vindictiveness, it makes perfect sense, as long as one can shed one’s inordinate optimism and stop believing Trump’s fake promises about his actually doing something good for the people of the United States.
Trump’s driving principle is GRIFT and his method is whatever it takes to gain power over those who now must go to him on bended knee for tariff “deals.” Trump is involved in the biggest power-grab and extortion racket the world has ever seen. If grift is his motivation . . . and let’s watch as it unfolds in predictable fashion and while he makes cheap promises for scads of future wealth . . . then the whole thing makes perfect sense–so that, why WOULDN’T Trump be happy, as he invites international criminals to come and invest in America–Wow! What a Deal! . . .
Why not? No regulations, he chooses which laws to apply or not, he pardons felons (who will then be beholden to him), and he is on his way to Making Americans Homeless, and beggars of us all.
But of course, he is the victim. Again, Trump cries out that we are all being taken advantage of, finds an archaic law to support his coming attractions, and then “fixes” everything but real problems with tariffs. So, he power-grabs the authority from Congress (through soul-killing threats, intimidation, and more extortion, not to mention buckets of false hope. Then he initiates tariffs and eliminates all legal guard rails that might stop him; and then starts selling off favors with his newfound leverage–lessening tariffs ***to the first and highest bidders who now must go through him, his family and certain members of MAGA to “get a deal.”*** (He probably just sold the United States to the Saudis over dinner while other nations’ people and leaders mourned our dead soldiers.)
Watch out–he’ll throw a few bones under the table for the rest of us just to keep from having to start whacking people–he’s no Putin yet. But (earlier example, Vietnam) bring a pillow for your knee, the line for ring-kissing starts on both the left and the right. All of this while he steals our Social Security and eliminates health care and other excellent government services right under our noses.
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ECE: Addendum to my other longer response to your note: Class act that he is, Trump actually said that they were all lining up to kiss his ass. CBK
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Thanks CBK. So how is that going to bring back manufacturing/jobs to America, as he led people to believe he would? He and Ivanka are amongst the culprits whose companies outsourced jobs to other countries, so he (and his VP) should know better that different countries and “peasants” there are not the ones to blame, but he probably knows nothing about the principle of Occam’s Razor.
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Here is why Trump’s claim that tariffs will bring back manufacturing jobs is bogus.
The factories that used to employ 1,000 workers are now operated by robots. They are managed by 2-5 workers.
He thinks he can revive the 1920s. He can’t.
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Hello ECE: Promises, Schmomises. I just don’t listen to him anymore. He has been grifting all his life. Why would he change now? But I am the last one to criticize others for maintaining false hope. CBK
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Excellent, spot on points, Diane!
I’m waiting to see how (and how much) USPS is going to charge me for the cheap, piddly things that I bought directly from China recently from companies that had not yet raised their prices. Any way you look at it, I think it’s American consumers who will be hit hardest.
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I am not one who has ever believed his lies or false hopes, but I know many who have. So when he breaks his promises, I begin to have hope they will realize it and tell their representatives in Congress to stop the a** kissing and refrain from giving him Carte Blanche to do whatever the hell he wants…
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ECE: I took heart that all of SCOTUS reiterated the several constitutional violations and said “no” to Trump. I will never understand their earlier “give it all up to Trump” ruling. CBK
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CBK: I read that SCOTUS stopped short in their ruling yesterday, when they said the MD guy (who had no due process) was inappropriately sent to a jail in El Salvador should come home, because they didn’t say when and/or how…
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There are a lot of articles about this matter, such as this on FOX: “Supreme Court gives Trump wiggle room with mistaken deportation decision”
https://fox40.com/hill-politics/supreme-court-gives-trump-wiggle-room-with-mistaken-deportation-decision/amp/
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BTW CBK, I could not agree more with this, “I will never understand their earlier “give it all up to Trump” ruling.” That’s because they effectively said that Nixon was correct when he claimed years ago, in a very startling interview with David Frost, “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.”
There was a lot of outrage about that then, because virtually everyone knew that what he said was incorrect, unconstitutional, and indicative of Nixon’s extreme hubris. But, tragically, we are living in another world today, and playing a much different game, where enforceable rules/laws have changed dramatically –thanks to the current majority on SCOTUS.
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L’État, c’est moi
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He’s the last person I would consult regarding conflict of laws.
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I was checking prices on ebay today for some electronics related items from China (USB extension cords) and they all said something like the following: “International shipment of items may be subject to customs processing and additional charges.
Located in: SZ, China”
I’ve bought that kind of thing many times before but it never said anything like the above. Also, the price and the cost of shipping had both gone up. Welcome to the self-appointed king’s self-defeating tariff war that American consumers have to pay for, not other countries!
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“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”I defy the constructionists Taliban Six to tell us where Climate Change is to be found in the Constitution. But I am sure they can divine something !
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II saw a report on PBS tonight indicating that this administration is specifically targeting poor people now. It was about how the USDA will not give help anymore to Food Pantries across America –which are specifically for the indigent. Some people who work at the pantries talked about how many of the folks who need food live in rural areas and just don’t have the resources. AND the plan is to eliminate EBT/SNAP (Food Stamps) altogether.
So which G-d do Xtrians like Vance and Johnson pray to, who is telling them they should let poor people starve to death? It can’t be the G-d of the bible because He commanded people to help the needy, including by giving at least a tithe (tenth) of their income each year. And Jesus certainly believed in charity for the needy. Either they are very naive and will say “Let them eat cake” or they’re listening to the devil…
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BTW, if those Xtian MAGAts think they give money to the poor at church when the plate is passed each time they go to pray there, they are sorely misguided, because that’s dues which goes to support the church, not poor people. Christian churches do contribute to the poor a lot, including by donating money, food, old clothes and sometimes they make new ones (like scarves, sweaters, etc). However, other than regular donations made for Christmas and Easter, when and how much is given can differ greatly. (I know because I worked for some of them.)
However, for Jews, it’s consistently frequent and on a predictable schedule: In addition to paying dues to belong to a synagogue and contributing their annual tithe, they regularly collect money specifically for needy people throughout the year, which is charity (called tzedaka) for Tikun Olam (“to heal the world”). That also means giving money to the poor on specific holidays, like Purim, large boxes of food on several holidays, like Passover, and many free meals throughout the year (daily and weekly), as well as food and other household necessities (monthly or as needed) from their own Food Pantries (Sometimes they deliver). They also have charitable organizations that provide free health care and medications, as well as free counseling and housing assistance for the poor…
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FYI, I worked in a few Lutheran programs, one at Catholic Charities, and at First Methodist in my old neighborhoods (including their soup kitchen).
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(P.S. I taught at 2 Lutheran schools and 1 Methodist school and in my experience, in the early 2000s, both denominations hired business people to be in charge. They then closed down the schools, despite long histories of success and significant numbers of students enrolled at the time –so all three schools no longer exist).
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As an aside, regarding the business model in education and social services, in my experience, of all the business people I’ve known who were put in charge of schools, wealthy serial entrepreneurs are the worst culprits. That’s because they sweep in, with their team, and shake things up at non-profit schools, then they close programs, sell off the building, as well as the land, and move the parts of the school they think are most valuable to a different location. Then they sell that to a for-profit organization and they leave before the school fails, as it often does. Next they start their own for-profit school –all of which inevitably makes THEM richer because they’re business people and know money best.
However, the first school ultimately fails and only one program in it is slated to survive, and that is sold to an even different school. Their own school that they started fails, too, because they aren’t educators and really know very little about schools, students, teaching and learning, so they shut down as well. Ugh! What a long nightmare for lots of students and faculty –and it has all been primarily about money!
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The school with the mega rich “serial entrepreneur” (which is how he described himself) had been a Methodist school.
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