Doin’ The Vatican Ra-a-ag July 28, 2025 RIP TOM LEHRER I never met Tom Lehrer, who graduated from Harvard at 18 and died Saturday at 97, but his songs have delighted me for 60 years and are available to anyone free, as his obit notes. I can’t sing The Elements (all 102 of them, back then), but I can sure sing The Vatican Rag. As for Wernher Von Braun, it doesn’t get more biting than this. If you’ve never heard of him, read this quick bio before listening to the song. RIP ZEUS I met Zeus when he was just weeks old. He barely came up to the top of my sneaker. What a touching love story. YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK We’re spending tens of millions so the president can golf. Far more distressing: the tens of billions we’re spending to rid the country of needed labor, shatter families that have been working hard and paying taxes for years, denying asylum claims, and becoming cruel. Even sadistic: Immigration agents told a teenage US citizen: ‘You’ve got no rights.’ He secretly recorded his brutal arrest. WHOM COULD THEY POSSIBLY BE TALKING ABOUT?
I’m Back July 27, 2025 CHRISTIAN? JEWISH? MUSLIM? HINDU? Bernie Sanders (20 seconds). DEPT. OF WASTE FRAUD AND ABUSE Donald Trump’s Scotland golf trip comes at incredible cost to U.S. taxpayers . . . Trump spent an estimated $151 million of taxpayer money golfing across his first term [and] is well on his way to blowing that total out of the water . . . . . . According to the website DidTrumpGolfToday.com, the president has played golf on 23.4% of the days thus far in his second term heading into his Scotland stay. . . . “He’s using the presidency to market his golf courses,” Richard Painter, the top ethics lawyer in George W. Bush’s second-term White House told HuffPost. (See also: Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump.) WHOM WE HONOR Renaming the USS Harvey Milk What is it about Harvey Milk that offends an administration that honors Confederate generals who sought to preserve slavery? KRUGMAN The Art of the Really Stupid Deal Overall, the interaction between the Japan deal and Trump’s other tariffs probably tilts the playing field between U.S. and Japanese producers of cars, and perhaps other products, in Japan’s favor. If this sounds incredibly stupid, that’s because it is. OVERHEARD “You may not be the dumbest guy in the world, but you’d better hope he doesn’t die.” May I suggest you share today’s first item — the Bernie Sanders clip — on Truth Social as part of your DIS-dis-information campaign? “Hey guys. How should I respond to this socialist crap?”
More DIS-dis . . . July 23, 2025 Attention MAGA Shoppers. You know all this, of course — that Trump’s tariffs are a tax on consumers. But what a perfect column to send as part of your hour-a-day DIS-dis-information campaign. (Have you started doing it? It’s fun! And so much more constructive than spending an hour lamenting the state of the world.) You just go onto some right-leaning website — Truth Social should do fine — with a handle like sky-dive-bro-23 or patriot2076 — and ask for advice. “Hey, all. Got this just now from my woke lib cousin. Any advice on how to respond?” Or send this graphic: Or send one of the damning 60-second clips you’ve been getting. The point is: by asking for their advice, you will get maybe 12 people — or 400 — to consider the content. Think of it as a Trojan Horse’s nose under the camel’s tent. (Sorry.) But you get my drift? When they respond, “Just tell the pervert to go f— himself” . . . you can respond, “Yeah, well, not sure that’s they education he needs. Can you point me to some links where I can actually debunk?” So now the people watching this thread have to think some more about it. And if they send you some links that are flat out wrong, thank them . . . but after an hour or two . . . “I sent that link, and he responded with THIS link! My head’s gonna explode. Help!” (“THIS link,” of course, being a link that debunks theirs.) And on it goes, as you, woke-is-broke696969, gradually begin to doubt Trump is the straight-talking hero so many believe him to be. Tell me this is not as much fun as Words With Friends or Spelling Bee! BONUS Prague’s Franz Kafka Airport.
Carville: Repeal The Steal! July 21, 2025 If you missed it: Repeal The Steal. Now Carville bolsters the case — and boils it down to just one word. Something on which the most and least liberal Democrats can unite around. NOOM As previously noted, this is not a stock symbol — though if it were, I’d be a buyer. It’s the “fitness” app I loaded onto my phone when I weighed 160 five weeks ago. I treat it like the other games I play on my phone. Only, this one requires a $10 digital scale (which works great) . . . logging in everything I eat (which I never thought I’d ever bother to do) . . . and logging my exercise (which is easy, because I don’t do as much as I should and it logs my “steps” automatically). The point is: I’ve made it a game, I like games, and I like to win. Guess who’s now 154 and headed lower. I tell you this not to brag, but because I want you to live forever, too. I need you. [Hint: the first few days, between getting used to the app’s navigation and not seeing any real progress, you may be tempted to quit. But once you get in the groove and see progress, it has to work — it’s just math. Calories in, calories out. Plus, it’s fun annoying people. Annoying is sort of my specialty. “Oh, that looks amazing,” I say as Tim serves us all the salmon he’s slaved over making. “How much does it weigh?” I may be taking this week off, so I’m scheduling some posts in advance. If a volcano erupts plunging the earth into darkness and I fail to blame it on Trump, or to comment in some other way, it’s because I was someplace without Internet access.
Your Nobel-Winning Primer For Just $6 July 20, 2025July 19, 2025 This column began as a postscript to yesterday’s Quick Primer On Stablecoins. IF YOU’RE SHORT ON TIME, SCROLL DOWN TO THE CHART AND THE QUESTION. Otherwise . . . Sixteen years after Bitcoin was created there are still no clear use cases for cryptocurrency that don’t involve illegal activity. Yet at the time of writing the value of crypto assets was approximately $3.3 trillion. . . . (Stablecoins, as suggested yesterday, could be the one exception.) The above quote comes from Part 5 of what Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman first planned to be a 2-part Primer on Rising Inequality. But inequality has widened so much since 1980 (thank you Ronald Reagan, Grover Norquist, Republicans ever since, with much resistance, though some help, from Democrats), he is currently up to Part 7. Inequality, Part VII: Crypto . . . I should close out with an in-the-moment case study: A discussion of the rise of the crypto industry, which can be seen as a sort of hyper-powered example of predatory finance, influence-buying and corruption. . . . I still sometimes see people conflating the case for cryptocurrencies with the general case for a digital monetary system. The truth, however, is that our monetary system is already largely digital. Your bank account consists of ones and zeroes on the bank’s server, not a pile of cash in the bank’s vault. Most people use physical currency, if at all, for a handful of small transactions. Even writing checks has become increasingly rare. Instead we use debit cards and payment apps, which are simply ways to transfer ownership of some of those ones and zeroes. In case anyone brings it up: Yes, there’s still $2.3 trillion in cash out there. But more than 80 percent of that is $100 bills, which are almost unusable in daily life, and are presumably being hoarded, largely outside the United States, rather than used in transactions. . . . Combined, his 7-part series forms a course in economics that should be of broad interest to those seeking to understand how we got here — a long-simmering rage leaving tens of millions susceptible to the false promises of a demagogue who pretends to be a victim of the elites, just like them — and seeking to understand how we might reverse the trend. (For starters: support the party that fights for a minimum wage, unionization, affordable health care, and effective taxation of the uber-wealthy.) Most of the series is behind a $6/month paywall. But you can cancel at any time, so the real cost of this course, if you choose to cancel, is $6. Herewith, a further preview: Understanding Inequality, Part I Between World War II and the 1970s income disparities in America were relatively narrow. Some people were rich and many were poor, but overall inequality among Americans in terms of wealth, income and status was low enough that the country had a sense of shared prosperity. Things are very different today, as American society is beset by extreme inequality, economic fragmentation and class warfare. What happened? The economic data show a huge widening of disparities in income and wealth starting around 1980, eventually undermining the relatively equal distribution of income we had from the 40s to the 70s. Moreover, growing disparities in income have led to growing disparities in political influence and the reemergence of what feels more and more like an oppressive class system. . . . Understanding Inequality, Part II: The Importance of Worker Power As I documented last week, not only have the top 1% in the income distribution pulled away from the remaining 99%, but within the top 1% the top 0.1%, the top 0.01% and the top 0.001% are pulling even further away. And this concentration of wealth at the top is corrupting our politics. Elon Musk’s claim that Trump would not have won in 2024 without him is quite plausible, while those currying favor with Trump by giving millions to his inaugural fund and buying his crypto-coins are clearly receiving favorable treatment. . . . In last week’s primer, I asserted that the most important reason for rising inequality since 1980 has been a shift in political and bargaining power against workers. While globalization and technological change have certainly been contributing factors, the numbers just don’t justify the claims that they are the primary reasons for rising inequality in America. Mostly it was about power. . . . Understanding Inequality, Part III: Tariffs Tariffs are regressive taxes that increase inequality. . . . Inequality, Part IV: Oligarchs This one leads off with a chart . . . Share of the top 0.01% in total wealth: . . . followed by a question: Who said this? << If there are men in this country big enough to own the government of the United States, they are going to own it; what we have to determine now is whether we are big enough, whether we are men enough, whether we are free enough, to take possession again of the government which is our own. >> No, it wasn’t Bernie Sanders or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It’s a quote from The New Freedom, Woodrow Wilson’s campaign platform in the 1912 presidential election. Inequality, Part V: Predatory Financialization How Wall Street increases disparities . . . Last week I cited the argument by Andrei Shleifer and Larry Summers that hostile takeovers “worked” largely through “breach of trust”: breaking implicit contracts with stakeholders in corporations, especially ordinary workers. Financialization was both a cause and a consequence of such breaches of trust. A deregulated financial industry provided the financial backing for hostile takeovers; the profits made in hostile takeover helped fuel the surge in financial profits and compensation. Ordinary workers suffered slashed benefits, layoffs and often outright terminations. At this point you might wonder how much trust is left to be breached. But the financial industry keeps finding new frontiers to exploit. In recent years health care has become a major focus of private equity investments, with private equity firms purchasing a number of hospitals. What they do next, according to a study published last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is sell off land and buildings, then charge the hospitals rent for use of facilities they previously owned. The result, the study claims, is a reduced quality of care for patients . . . Inequality, Part VI: Wealth and Power [T]he current level of inequality in America is much higher than what would be expected in a truly democratic polity, one in which all citizens had an equal voice. Clearly, the economic elite possesses political power greatly disproportionate to its share of the electorate. Some readers are no doubt saying “Well, duh — everyone knows that.” Indeed we do. Yet how, exactly, does this work? What mechanisms give the 1 percent and the 0.01 percent so much political power in the United States — especially compared with other countries? And why has their power increased in recent years? . . . There you have it. I have many friends at the top of the wealth pyramid. Most of them are wonderful people. Some are Republicans (though few Trump supporters). Most of them decry today’s extreme and dangerous inequality — and are generous in their philanthropy. So this isn’t about vilifying them; it’s about electing a Congress and President who will enact things like Social Security, child labor laws, the GI Bill, Medicare and Medicaid, “food stamps,” reasonable minimum wages, paid family leave, Pell Grants, Obamacare, the Infrastructure Act of 2021 and the CHIPS Act of 2022 — all Democratic of them initiatives, mostly or entirely opposed by Republicans. Join Indivisible. Support the opposition.
A Quick Primer On Stablecoins July 18, 2025July 18, 2025 But first: Andy Borowitz: Trump Will Lose His War on Laughter. Also: Thursday’s weekly Indivisible organizing call, if you missed it. And Wednesday’s One Million Rising training, which had more than 100,000 in attendance. Share with anyone looking for ways to save our democracy. And now: Stablecoins Explained. Unlike all the other crypto (if you ask me), this variety would seem to make some sense. (Different perspectives welcome.) My first thought: I’m glad I don’t own stock in MasterCard or Visa, selling at 38X and 35X earnings, respectively. Stablecoins could eat into their revenue. My second thought was to buy a few MA puts. I’ll make a profit if Mastercard — $553 now — falls below $540 between now and October 17. I usually lose money on bets like this, so wish me luck. Meanwhile, the fun with SQNS seems to be over. I hope that, like me, you sold most or all your shares in the $4-$5 range to pocket a lovely profit. With the stock now back down to $2.70, I plan to hold the rest for now. The Bitcoin it’s betting on might actually zoom in this crazy world. (I think I heard the Winklevoss twins predict $500,000 a while back.) And there’s also the chance that Sequans’ actual business will one day be valuable.
Putting Women Back Where They Belong; Voting At 16 July 18, 2025July 17, 2025 Could this time be different? Why Trump Can’t Make Epstein Go Away This Time — Psychology Explains the Backlash I’m counting zero chickens, but this is certainly cause for hope. Whereas THIS is cause for alarm: From Epstein’s Island to Musk’s Baby Farm — How the Right Redefined Masculinity as Control, by Thom Hartmann. Underneath the memes, podcasts, and tradwife fantasies lies a dangerous agenda: train young men to reject equality, fear women’s power, and embrace authoritarianism disguised as masculinity . . . Rape culture isn’t just at the top; it’s everywhere, especially in the digital spaces young men inhabit. This isn’t just a parental issue, it’s a cultural emergency. This content is shaping how an entire generation understands sex, power, and consent. And Trump’s “best friend” Epstein was an avatar of that twisted worldview. . . . White women are expected to go “back to the kitchen and bedroom,” producing more white babies in a panic about the “browning” of America. This fixation on race and reproduction mirrors the same “Great Replacement Theory” rhetoric promoted on Fox “News” and other rightwing outlets that fed the Charlottesville rally and inspired mass murderers in Las Vegas, Buffalo, and El Paso. From Trump saying, “If Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America?” to telling Esquire Magazine that “arm candy” is essential for a successful businessman (“You know, it doesn’t really matter what [the media] write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass”) to sarcastically calling Kamala Harris “a beautiful woman,” our president has long made clear his thoughts on the role of women. . . . Much more here, worth reading in full. They don’t seem to be kidding around. BONUS! The UK Plans to Lower the Voting Age to 16. Here’s What to Know. You heard it here first: Sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds may not be as wise as 80-year-olds . . . but they have a whole lot more at stake. Elections today will impact their lives for the next 70+ years. Giving them the right – and responsibility – to vote is the best civics lesson I can think of. A reason to get involved, debates the issues, then have their say. They can handle it, just as they can handle driving. Young voters may come to regret some of their early votes as they get older, just as young drivers have more than their share of accidents. But allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote will injure NO ONE — and only add a shot of youthful vitality to our shared democracy. Lowering the voting age will help Democrats win. That’s because our views on climate, equality, reproductive freedom, and sensible gun safety, to name just four – and on democracy itself, to name a fifth – have strong appeal to the young. Read on for more on how this might actually play out in the U.S.
What The CIA Has Concluded July 16, 2025 MARKET ANALYSIS James Scurlock Tuesday: Ignore the misdirection about “expectations” this morning. Inflation is accelerating while economic growth is decelerating and the dollar is falling. These are not unrelated phenomena and they add up to stagflation on steroids. The end. CIA SECRETS REVEALED Have you seen Tim Weiner’s new book, The Mission? (Click “Read Sample” below the cover for the prologue.) The New York Times says it can be a bit dense. But the passage Rachel Maddow read Monday night is anything but: For CIA veterans, what truly shocked their conscience was Trump‘s cold betrayal of Ukraine and his open embrace of Russia. For a decade, American spies, politicians, citizens, and journalists had wondered aloud about the president’s affinity for Putin. Was Trump really his useful idiot? Could the Russians have something on him? Was it conceivable that he had been recruited? Or had he recruited himself? Was it simply that he liked Putin because he wanted to be like Putin – an autocrat with absolute power? It had been a mystery. But now the answer was apparent, as clear as a bolt of lightning. Trump wasn’t Putin’s agent. He was his ally. The president of the United States had gone over to the other side. Today’s Indivisible call is at 3pm Concord, Massachusetts time, where just over 250 years ago American colonists took the first action toward forming what is now the world’s oldest democracy. Now being rapidly destroyed. Join us!
“Inigo Montoya” On Netanyahu July 16, 2025 But first . . . Inside Big Law: The Cost of Silence Is Democracy Itself . . . argues a high school drop-out who went on to graduate from Harvard Law School, land a job at Davis Polk, and then get fired. I asked a long-time partner at another top firm that’s tangled with Trump for his thoughts: It’s a heartfelt, smart article. And I agree with him 100% that silence is complicity. But what do you do when the bully has all the power and realistically threatens to eliminate you. If we all band together we stand a chance, no doubt, but we don’t. And Big Law’s primary obligations are to its clients, and then to its employees. When most clients demand compliance or they threaten to leave, that leaves even powerful Big Law in an existential crisis. The article ignores the harsh reality that Big Law’s clients demand success, but if the firms are effectively blocked so we can’t adequately represent our clients, what next? I’m perplexed why he was fired from Davis Polk though; something is missing from the story. But I’d hire him in a second, if he were willing to work for me knowing my perspective. From The Economist: Five Charts Explain Trump’s Cuts To Foreign Aid. When pollsters ask Americans to estimate what proportion of its budget the federal government spends helping people abroad, the average answer is 26%. In reality it is about 1%. . . . If Congress approves, the cuts would save less than Americans think—and risk countless lives. [And hand much of our “soft power” and moral authority to China.] And now . . . In case you haven’t seen it (but have seen “The Princess Bride”), here are the Patinkins — powerfully — on how opposing Netanyahu’s conduct of the war doesn’t make you antisemitic.
Carl’s View July 15, 2025 SQNS Sold more at $5.50, have about 25% left . . . if it keeps wanting to go up, who am I to stop it? OPRT They settled. The stock slipped a bit on disappointment. If I didn’t already have so much, I’d buy more. If it goes lower, I may anyway. Not to say anything is guaranteed; but it’s selling around 5X projected earnings . . . with potential for much higher earnings in years to come. SCARY, INSIGHTFUL 2 MINUTES Ezra Klein: how previously decent people can be transformed. CARL’S TAKE ON YESTERDAY’S POST: “What you and you Democrat, Socialist, Communists have done to and still doing to this country is despicable. Your loathsome leaderless party sinks to the lowest depths possible!” → Like all the comments Carl sends me daily, this one makes no sense and is supported by no facts. Biden left us with an economy the Economist dubbed “the envy of the world,” crime was falling, inflation was falling, and the only reason the border crisis had not been solved in a tough but humane way was that Trump killed the long-sought, hard-won bi-partisan legislative compromise Biden was poised to sign. But Carl knows otherwise. He knows “Russia” was a hoax because he hasn’t read Volume 1 of the Mueller Report. Knows Trump did not obstruct the Mueller investigation, because he hasn’t read Volume 2. He is an intelligent man who knows that if he did read those reports, he would have to reassess. By the same token, he knows things were horrible in America under Obama and Biden because Trump says they were; wonderful under Trump 1.0 and even better now because Trump says they are. And that’s good enough for him. BONUS Don’t worry about Robert Reich.