Cul de Sac

 Paul Krugman makes the same point many others are making, especially with regards to the bonkers Time interview with Trump. Here's the excerpt he shares:

Your trade adviser, Peter Navarro, says 90 deals in 90 days is possible. We're now 13 days into the point from when you lifted the reciprocal, the discounted reciprocal tariffs. There's zero deals so far. Why is that?

No, there’s many deals.

When are they going to be announced?

You have to understand, I'm dealing with all the companies, very friendly countries. We're meeting with China. We're doing fine with everybody. But ultimately, I've made all the deals.

Not one has been announced yet. When are you going to announce them?

I’ve made 200 deals.

You’ve made 200 deals?

100%

Let's start with the fact that there are not 200 countries in the world. As always at moments like this, we have to contend with the question, "Is the president of the United States lying or stupid?" Krugman goes on to note that almost every country that has tried to talk to the Maladministration leaves, frustrated by the incoherent demands and false premises. There are no deals to be made, because the very premises about trade that these tariffs seek to remedy are confabulations. 

We are seeing Trump's approval rating plummet even before the worst impacts of the trade war are being felt. Lots of companies ran up inventories just in case and those inventories will deplete. Container ship traffic in the Pacific has all but dried up. 

Even on immigration - Trump's strongest issue - his cruel and illegal overreach is turning people against him. 

Put more succinctly, all those dumb libtards were 100% right when they warned about what Trump 2.0 would be.

The problem, as Krugman reminds us, is that we live in a presidential, not a parliamentary, system. We are stuck with this stupid, demented, cruel old man. Unless his arteries close, we have little recourse. However, as Josh Marshall reminds us, Trump is term limited (and old). Congress is not. 

If the tariffs really do tank the economy and Trump's approval plummets to the Crazification Factor, when will the cowards of the GOP take a stand?