“I’m aware of the innumeracy of the Trump administration, apparently using a shortcut AI formula to reset global trade imbalances and trying to bullshit their way through the criticism. But I think we give too much credit to Donald Trump and his lieutenants when we suggest that they’re pursuing a misguided trade policy, or that they aren’t pairing tariffs with the necessary steps to boost domestic manufacturing. Those things are true, of course: U.S. trade policy has been deeply inequitable for decades, favoring multinationals over workers and the environment, giving benefits to those corporations in free-trade agreements that they could never get through normal legislative channels, and handing over economic decisions to Wall Street. But these careful explanations, however correct, have nothing to do with what we saw on display in the Rose Garden yesterday. Because these aren’t really tariffs at all.” (04/03/25)
“I understand the anger many feel toward Musk. He’s become a symbol of everything broken in corporate capitalism — a billionaire who uses his wealth to dismantle public institutions while enriching himself. His flirtation with authoritarian politics, alliance with Donald Trump, and near-constant stream of conspiratorial rhetoric on X have only deepened the sense that he’s actively working against democracy. … It is easy to see why the rage has boiled over into real world acts of vandalism and violence. How else do you hit back at the world’s richest man? But the destruction of private propert — —and the physical threats now facing ordinary Tesla owners — reflects something deeper and more troubling in segments of left-wing activism.” (04/02/25)
“Millbank is the latest Big Law firm to make a deal with Trump in response to an executive order targeting their business. This brings the current count to four, with many more accommodating the administration’s whims in big ways and small. Trump is doing battle daily with federal judges, but they, at least, have a somewhat secure institutional perch that they exercise their authority from—in as much as any institution is secure these days. But while some firms are trying to hold the line, most have bandwagoned into a position of accommodation. … If we’re to have any legal system to speak of come 2026, we need to stop these firms from bandwagoning now. State bars have the power to make this happen by threatening any prospective defectors. If you are a lawyer yourself, please consider raising this issue with your state bar as soon as possible.” 904/02/25)
“The Signal scandal that engulfed Washington last week constitutes a major breach of US national security. To say that it was an egregious error to invite a national security reporter into deliberations of a National Security Council (NSC) group discussing US strikes on foreign soil is an understatement, though acknowledging it as such is not something that the Trump administration has yet managed to do. In fact, it is much worse than a mistake: it has clear costs for national security and counterintelligence. … But this is not the first time that senior White House officials have accidentally disclosed classified information to US journalists. From a historical perspective, accidental release of classified information is, as the military like to say, Situation Normal All F*cked Up (SNAFU).”
“The Louisiana senator and physician could have stopped the world’s worst antivaxer from taking over the regulation of vaccines. He didn’t. And now we’re paying for it.” (04/02/25)
“Authoritarianism is spreading globally, while freedom is in retreat. A fractured alliance between the U.S. and Canada would only benefit America’s adversaries. The Prime Minister must remind the Trump administration of the importance of having allies. Let’s hope Canada’s political class recognizes the stakes and can rise to the challenge.” (04/02/25)
“Nahid Islam faced a conundrum. Last year, when the sociology student protested the autocratic rule of Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, he had one clear complaint: The system of handing out government jobs was massively unfair. Under the then-prime minister’s watch, more than half of civil service jobs were reserved for specific groups. The largest share (35%) went to the children and grandchildren of those who fought in the country’s 1971 war of independence. That hiring bias helped kindle one of the slogans in the 2024 uprising that forced Ms. Hasina out of office: ‘Equality of opportunity is the essence of the constitution’. Yet earlier this year, Mr. Islam found the roles reversed. The revolution against an autocratic leader had succeeded, and he was now a part of the interim government. Shouldn’t the families of those killed and wounded during the protests – like those in 1971 – be given some quota in civil service jobs as thanks?” (04/02/25)
“We have all been pleasantly surprised and gleeful at many of the accomplishments of the first two-plus months of the Trump administration. A lot of victories. Democrats and the Left are back on their heels, using every device from violence to unconstitutional judicial activism to try to hold off the Trumpian ‘revolution.’ There is hope we might truly ‘Make America Great Again,’ though much remains to be done. But then, Wisconsin got splashed in our faces. Yes, the voters there opted for photo IDs in voting; but, amazingly, 37% were opposed to it. But the big cheese (pardon the pun) was the Supreme Court election between far-left [sic] Susan Crawford and Trump-endorsed Brad Schimel, and that wasn’t even close. Two months do not history make, folks. Some low-intelligence people occasionally do intelligent things, and Wisconsin voters gave their state to Mr. Trump last November (some low-intelligence people NEVER do intelligent things).” [editor’s note: I really wish Lewis would introduce me to his drug dealer – TLK] (04/03/25)
“Treason. Invasion. Conquest. That’s how the Founders and old revolutionaries described usurpation – power stolen, not delegated. And it wasn’t just rhetoric. It was a foundational, and now-forgotten principle at the very heart of the American Revolution. When government repeatedly goes beyond the limits of the Constitution, it’s not just an innocent mistake – it’s a kind of war waged against the sovereignty, or final authority, of the people.” (04/02/25)
“There are both economic and moral reasons for an individual not to lie. One major moral justification to avoid lying and acquiring the habit of lying is that a free society requires an ethics of reciprocity, which means treating as a moral equal any individual who is likely to reciprocate. You don’t lie to those who don’t lie to you. … This moral reason intersects with economics because it calls for the analysis of the institutions necessary to maintain a spontaneous social order offering maximum opportunities to individuals. The freer a society is, the less one feels that others are always trying to swindle him.” (04/02/25)
