Weekend Quotables
Imperial Dreams
All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home
All your reindeer armies are all going home
The lover who has just walked out your door
Has taken all his blankets from the floor
The carpet too is moving under you
Yes, and it's all over now, baby blue — B. Dylan
According to a CNN report released today, 51% of Americans oppose Trump's tariffs, while only 38% support them. The report also highlights that public interest in tariffs has surged, with more people searching for information on tariffs than on popular topics like Taylor Swift.
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I made a prediction this week. Something I rarely do.
But Trump is so predictable. As I’m writing this, the Washington Post reports:
MEXICO CITY — In a dramatic, last-minute move, the Trump administration agreed Monday to pause sweeping tariffs on Mexico for a month while the two sides hammer out an agreement on security and trade, the U.S. and Mexican leaders announced.
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In February 1941, Henry Luce, the publisher of Time and Life magazines, penned an article heralding the “American Century,” a post-war era in which the United States would apply its newfound standing as the “dominant power in the world.” Yes, they called it “The American Century,” and it almost was. But then came the defeats at the hands of anti-imperialist, anti-colonial revolutions in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, the military defeats in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and the rise of the People’s Republic of China as a global economic powerhouse.
The post-WWII world order of American dominance is likely over now, but Madman Trump, like Biden before him, refuses to face up to it. Instead, he still dreams of a return to a unipolar world. He imagines annexing Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal and tariffing Canada, China, and Mexico into submission.
The notion that Trump, Vance, Musk, and company are isolationists should be gone with the wind. But they should remember that Hitler’s Thousand Year Reich only lasted 12 years and that the sun now sets every day on the British flag.
Weekend Quotables
Shakira
During her speech after winning for best Latin pop album, Shakira reached out to her "immigrant brothers and sisters." The Colombian singer continued, "You're loved and worth it, and I'll fight with you." — USA Today
Elon Muck Musk
On Sunday, Musk repeatedly attacked USAID [the world's largest food assistance program for children] on X, calling the long-standing government agency “evil” and a “viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America.”
“USAID is a criminal organization,” he added. “Time for it to die.” — WaPo
Kristi Noem, DT’s secretary of homeland security
“We are getting the dirtbags off the streets.” — Guardian
Ontario Premier, Doug Ford
Every year, LCBO sells nearly $1 billion worth of American wine, beer, spirits and seltzers. Not anymore. Starting Tuesday, we’re removing American products from LCBO shelves. As the only wholesaler of alcohol in the province, LCBO will also remove American products from its catalog so other Ontario-based restaurants and retailers can’t order or restock U.S. products. — @fordnation
Jeremy Faust, M.D.
CDC scientists have been instructed to retract and/or pause all scientific papers submitted to any medical or scientific journal to cleanse them of a list of words deemed offensive by the Trump administration. Terms like gender. (Not joking.) — Inside Medicine
Columnist Moira Donegan
Why are Democrats so spineless?
Now, the Democrats seem less like a resistance than an acquiescence. They are not mounting any meaningful opposition to Trump’s aggressive, sadistic mission. Instead, they’re rolling over, like a submissive dog showing its belly. — Guardian
