Welcome to Stupid America!

Honestly, is this even worth commenting on at this point? Is anything in the Dictator Don administration worth writing about? That’s why I’ve given up on posting so frequently, for everything has been predictable, yet Americans still love this guy! It is incomprehensible to me that The Don! still has an approval rating higher than he did during his first term, despite him wreaking more havoc on the world. Nonetheless, this is what Americans voted for, and it’s what Americans wanted. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Of course, Dictator Don was going to come into office and destroy the economy; of course, he was going to put troops on our streets; of course, he was going to get us into a war in the Middle East. And if you think this is a one-and-done strike on Iran, then you are sorely mistaken and dumber than I thought — and that bar was already on the floor. Mark my words, f***tards! Of course! Of course! Of course! Like I said, this was all predictable. This was all known. This is The Don! acting as advertised. And people love it! Mark my words, f***tards. Mark them well! Americans love this guy. And as for those MAGA morons who were “against” intervening in Iran? They’ll all find a way to support The Don! They always do. They’ll have to perform some intellectually dishonest gymnastics to reconcile their cognitive dissonance, but they’ll come around to support the Dear Leader — full-throatedly at best or d*mn with faint praise at worst. They always fall in line! Always! Not sure why everyone else hasn’t figured this out yet.

And the markets may stumble a bit, but not for long. I have no doubt they will rally for some stubborn, persistent, and unfathomable reason. (I guess traders love a good war!) Americans will carry on as usual. Spend money they don’t have as usual. Complain about the state of the economy as usual, yet spend, spend, spend! Americans won’t even pause for a second to contemplate the potential disaster Dictator Don’s actions may have unleashed upon the world, not just on the U.S. Their indefatigable spending and propping up of the economy as usual is tacit approval of Dictator Don’s war against Iran, specifically, and this administration, generally. The only power Americans have to express their collective disapproval of the Dictator Don regime is to withhold their spending. But they won’t. And if you think his approval ratings will suffer because he’s dragging us into yet one more foreign conflict (the mother of all conflicts) in the Middle East, then think again. As usual, The Don! never suffers any consequences — never! Never has, never will. For far too long, this sh*t-for-brains country has given him the benefit of the doubt, ignored, or rationalized his criminality. When the chickens come home to roost — and they will at some point — all hell is going to break loose. And Dictator Don is the “leader” you morons trust to lead us into war? I guess so. What could possibly go wrong?

Yet Americans will rally around the flag and the dictator. At last, The Don! will become the imperial and wartime president for which he’s longed. Imagine all the power he will usurp and amass at that point, especially if there is a terrorist attack on the homeland. I can’t wait for his job approval ratings to skyrocket under a set of circumstances most Americans allegedly had wished to avoid: another war in the Middle East. But this is what happens when morons of America elect a RepubliKKKlan. All RepubliKKKlans are pro-war. Every last one of them, without exception! It never f***ing fails. Just as assuredly as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, a RepubliKKKlan president will get the U.S. into another foreign conflict. This is, indeed, precisely what you idiots voted for. I told you so, but whatever! Nothing matters; no one cares. Americans are too f***ing G.D. stupid to ever learn! Welcome to stupid America! People deserve the government they deserve and desire. Congratulations! You did this to yourself. Now, live with it!

What is it about humans? What drives the vast majority of humans to do nothing? What is the motivation behind complacency? Why do humans always tend toward conservatism more often than liberalism? Why are humans more attracted to a strongman than a Jesus Christ-type? (And don’t be fooled by Christianity, for most “Christians” hardly understand Jesus’ teachings, let alone follow his example.) Why is it easier for humans to hate than to love? Why? Why? Why?

Needless to say, I have thoughts! I want to understand people at the most fundamental level. So, strip away the notion of morality (religion). Ignore social conventions and contrivances. Discard the sciences of psychology, sociology, politics, and economics, for these are all derivations of man seeking to bring order to the cacophony of human actions and interactions. These social sciences are merely artificial interpretations, applying a subjective structure to chaos. (To clarify, I have a degree in economics, so I believe in the power of market theories and the motivations of homo economicus — to a point.) However, these sciences are nothing more than an artifice used to describe human behavior, often comprising theories that possess so many exceptions, contradictory postulates, and caveats that any one field, taken in total, describes too much yet explains nothing — predicting everything and predicting nothing.

What remains when we dispense with these theories of the social sciences? Perhaps we are left with biology, which, as a descriptive science, may suffer from the same pitfalls as the above social sciences. Although I should think biology is far less a normative science than a positive one. I view biology and physics in much the same way; they have immutable laws and properties. (However, the field of quantum physics can only describe the probability of an event occurring, rather than providing a bedrock foundation of nature governed by certainty. As it turns out, God does play dice.)

Nonetheless, allow me to take a chance and reduce human biology to its irreducible elements — or, more specifically, the one element that comes to mind. Over my years and years of observing humans, I think I can safely say homo erectus, like all the itterations of homo that have come before, exists to survive and reproduce (and build things — humans like to build, including wealth, hence, the field of economics). It’s that simple. (Yes, yes. I can hear the screams of “exceptions” because biology produces homosexuals who have no chance of reproduction. I suppose caveats are unavoidable everywhere. Exceptions are the metaphor of rolling snake-eyes versus any other desired combination.)

While social science theories attempt to describe (and prescribe) the purpose of humans who are simply trying to make sense of their interactions with the world around them, let’s face it, most people really don’t try to “make sense” of the world beyond their immediate universe. That is to say, they concern themselves only with how their individual actions impact them and their clan. (Yes, clan. Not fellow citizens or colleagues. Just blood relations, and even that dedication diminished as the purity of the blood connection adulterates.) The broader examination of humanity is primarily left to the philosophers among us. The vast, vast majority of humans are merely worker ants. Allow me also to speculate further — and here, alas, is my main point — to survive and reproduce, biology demands that humans conserve energy. It is this impulse to do as little as possible to survive and thrive that I believe underpins all human behavior. Acquiring energy is costly. Expending energy also comes at a cost. We expend energy to obtain more of it (through hunting and gathering food), to protect what we have (by building shelter), and to consolidate and amplify our energy gains (through clan affiliation and cooperation). What we may perceive as familial connections, intimate relationships, market forces, political affiliations, and so on, are nothing more than a biological need to conserve, preserve, and amplify energy, allowing humans to survive and reproduce.

What is the easiest way to conserve, preserve, and amplify energy? Do as little as possible. Be lazy. There is a reason troops of apes and monkeys spend most of their time sitting around doing nothing. Dare I say translate this notion of being the least energetic as possible through a political science lens, and what you get is a theory of conservatism, literally and figuratively. Humans revert to what has already been done. They return to something easy and familiar by doing that which requires the least effort — politically. People prefer to be led (ruled) by a paternal strongman (king, autocrat, dictator — take your pick) who will take away their needless thinking, for brain power requires energy. Humans prefer to be told what to do and how to cognate, for making decisions beyond what to eat, who to f***, and where to sleep again requires more energy than the alternative: reasoning and questioning. (Hence, the gullibility of humans to be religious.) Furthermore, it is easier to hate than to love. It is far easier to point to a person or a group and say no than it is to look to the same group and say maybe or yes, for yes requires understanding.

Understanding requires thinking about the “other”; questioning the “other”; comparing, reconciling, and assimilating differences with the “other”; seeking commonalities and identifying patterns with the “other” — all higher-level functions of the brain, which expend more energy. It’s easier to shun and not think about “others.” It’s easier to be stupid and mindless. It’s easier to go along to get along. Protesting is hard. Rocking the boat is a risky effort that may waste energy. Some may argue that cooperation is a synergistic effort, thereby amplifying the collective’s use of energy. That is a fair point, but cooperation among non-kin may require those higher-level brain functions described above and therefore inhibit the desired benefits because cooperation is too difficult and costly to initiate in the first place. I could go on and maybe one day I will expend the energy and effort to do so, but at this point I feel like stopping and returning to a state of doing nothing. Carville coined the phrase, “The economy, stupid.” Perhaps it’s the energy, stupid. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Obviously, I did not waste my time listening to Dictator Don’s speech before the military gathering at Fort Bragg, but I did watch pertenant clips and read some commentary. Needless to say, and right on cue, The Don! never passes up an opportunity to politicize the military for his fascist ends. To see and hear the soldiers engage in booing and jeering of political figures while cheering on parts of Dictator Don’s politically partisan and divisive speech is yet one more step toward full-on dictatorship. (Don’t even get me started on his stupid f***ing military parade.) It should go without saying that the soldiers pictured above should have remained silent, betraying no emotions or political opinions one way or the other. Yet, with not-so-uncanny alacrity, soldiers, airmen, seamen, and marines readily cede to The Don! He has fully captured the military. Full stop! I’ve heard commentators, political pundits, former military, and other “experts” on various news, talk shows, and podcasts claim that our military is “professional” and “non-partisan,” that those in uniform would not follow unlawful orders, that they have a greater commitment to the Constitution than a single man — Dictator Don! What a bunch of sh*t!

Honestly, I never believed that, not for a second. History has shown time and time again that the military is easily beguiled by a strongman, and, dare I say, Americans are more susceptible to such infantile infatuations. I will go so far as to predict we are mere months away from Dictator Don demanding that all military personnel take an oath to him specifically. And no one within the ranks will raise a stink. They’ll welcome the opportunity to pledge allegiance to The Don! Mark my words, f***tards! Mark them well!

Furthermore, if you think soldiers will not fire on fellow citizens if ordered to do so or those in uniform will refuse to take an oath to The Don! or the ranks will refuse to follow illegal orders, then you are even dumber than I thought. The end is here, people! And most refuse to believe or fear the end of our democracy. In fact, half of the f***tards in this God-forsaken country don’t fear fascism, for they want it! Oh, well, you morons. I’ve been warning you for years and years, yet no one believed me, and now citizens are living through the worst of what I have predicted. This is just the beginning as people continue to sleepwalk into authoritarianism. And the military will lead the march — in double-time. You guys simply aren’t getting it (if ever). The signs of our democratic decline are everywhere. Yet citizens carry on as usual. Spend as usual. Prop up the economy as usual. Entertain and indulge themselves as usual. And now you see how the good German followed Hitler right into the abyss. Welcome to stupid America. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If you were hoping that Americans would finally wake up to the threat of an imperial presidency with Dictator Don at its head, usurping federal power from all branches and the states, then you are gravely mistaken. The idea that the turmoil in L.A. would rouse the passions of democracy-loving citizens across the country is yet one more pipe-dream by politicians, journalists, pundits, and dumbass Democrats, who especially keep hoping someone (except themselves) would do something (anything) to stand up to The Don! Alas, King-God Don slightly flexes his flabby arms and everyone backs down. The L.A. protests are waning. Property destruction, which is T.V. and social media fodder, is abating. On this last point, it’s a good thing because burning cars, looting, and defacing buildings with graffiti are not doing the cause any favors. In short, Dictator Don federalizes the National Guard and mobilizes the Marines, and the citizens retreat. The L.A. protests needed to gain momentum day after day and spread from city to city to force the ultimate showdown. Yet it appears citizens are unwilling and unenthusiastic about preventing America’s slide into autocracy. This is precisely the insidious, incremental steps toward destroying states’ rights and concentrating all power under The Don!, while coated in the veneer of “successfully” restoring “law and order.” Whatever! Americans are already cowering, sooner and faster than I expected. Oh, well. This is what fascism looks like, and no one f***ing cares. Welcome to stupid America!

I originally started this post weeks ago, so the quotes are dated, but given the events in L.A., I thought I would revisit and finish it.

From CNN, “US Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Saturday the agency and state law enforcement in Florida have arrested nearly 800 people over four days in a ‘massive, multi-agency immigration enforcement crackdown.’”

And this from The Palm Beach Post, “Diego breathed a sigh of relief after a federal judge’s ruling this week kept his Venezuelan family’s Temporary Protected Status in place, at least for now. So did his employer, a construction warehouse in South Florida. So did the restaurant where his wife is a cook. And so did an incalculable number of other companies that stood to lose employees across the state and the nation if the 350,000 Venezuelans covered by TPS lost their legal status and could no longer work. The loss of TPS, economists have warned, could tighten South Florida labor markets like a taut rope, especially in service-oriented industries such as construction, education, health care and hospitality. … The threats to revoke TPS come at a time when Florida is already facing a labor shortage, with 53 available workers for every 100 open jobs, according to data from the U.S Chamber of Commerce. An abrupt change would affect Florida’s economy and change the identity of neighborhoods across the state. In Florida, data from 2022 shows more than 95% of the TPS population had jobs and listed $3.2 billion in household income and $2.6 billion in buying power as consumers. They also paid $655 million in federal and state taxes, according to a study by the American Immigrant Coalition, a Miami nonprofit.”

And now the unrest in L.A., as ICE shifts away from arresting criminal immigrants to otherwise law-abiding undocumented individuals who came to the U.S. looking to improve their lives and the lives of their families, highlights the national problem.

Needless to say, I’m growing very, very impatient! Where are the consequences? Where is the economic collapse I’ve been expecting in Florida, in particular, and the country, more generally, brought about by deporting legal and illegal immigrants en masse? Look, I do not say this sarcastically as a means to poke fun at those [Democrats] who warned that messing with the illegal immigrant workforce would bring disaster as Americans keep chugging along, doing more complaining and pretending that the state of the country is bad, just not that bad — yet. Quite the contrary. I am eager and welcome an economic disaster. For as Carville said, “the economy, stupid.” A declining economy truly seems to be the only thing that will wake Americans up to the error of their catastrophic votes. Yet, nothing’s happening. Produce prices are not increasing. If anything, they are a bit lower. Medium avocados, for example, are on sale for $0.39 each at my local grocery store, although they are mostly imported and consequently less impacted by domestic labor forces. Bananas are $0.45 per pound, again, mostly imported. (I live near a major grocery chain, so who knows how much buying power they have that may be keeping prices in check.) Moreover, domestically sourced items, such as tomatoes of all sorts, exhibit price stabilization, essentially unchanged from last year or the year before. The same applies to nearly any other produce item that immigrants harvest in America’s fields; a partial list of Florida’s major produce items includes oranges, watermelons, strawberries, sweet corn, and bell peppers. In short, there appears to be no labor shortage driving up prices, as I would expect from undocumented workers being rounded up or encouraged to self-deport. Clearly, fruits and vegetables are not rotting in the fields as feared. What gives? Seriously?!?! How does all this turmoil in the workforce ultimately manifest as business as usual? Nothing ever changes! (One could reasonably argue this is the market adjusting as intended. If there are no price increase consequences, then that’s just how things shake out.) No wonder morons of America are being lulled into a false sense of security, this notion that whoever the president is, nothing really changes all that much. I suppose this is the insidious magic of Dictator Don: It’s all bluff and bluster, signifying nothing and amounting to even less. That is until The Don! brings down the hammer, at which point the collective outrage of Americans will be one giant shrug! Oh, well!

Again, I reiterate: What the f***?!?! What the f*** is taking the economy so long to crash? My stock portfolio has never been higher. How the f*** is that possible? How, despite all the tariff mess, the stock market blithely moves onward and upward? Why is inflation still moderating, if not declining? How is it that people remain so sanguine about the state of the nation despite everything unfolding across the country? At what point do f***tards of America realize that eventually The Don! will come for them and their rights? But people keep keeping-on with blindfolds — willfully.

Yet, Dictator Don’s immigration policy remains his strongest polling issue. What pushback he’s getting on any public opinion survey outlier shows only slight “discomfort” from people, and any time he’s underwater on the topic it’s on the margins at best, with all too many still willing to give The Don! the benefit of the doubt, allowing him more time — to destroy the country further before they wake up. Dare I say, this situation in L.A. only strengthens his hand. It galvanizes the MAGA moron hoard and other “moderate” “Independents,” who hide not-so-mild racism beneath their alignment with Dictator Don in the name of keeping “law and order.” Utterly oblivious to the realization that “law and order” will come for them eventually. Whatever! Welcome to stupid America.

Look f***tards! There is nothing to this so-called Musk-[T]rump feud. Do not believe anything you read. Oh, sure, the posts are real, and there is some bad blood between them at the moment, but like everything in this sphere of politics and billionaires’ egos, it is all ephemeral. Musk is not going to decommission his spaceship. Nothing will come from Musk’s Epstein file-gate threat. Dictator Don is not going to cancel any of Musk’s government contracts or other federal largesse. Musk is not going to start or back any feckless third-party candidates in any election. (He’s wasted enough money.) And Musk’s opposition to the most absurdly named bill ever is utterly meaningless. The bill — I predict — will pass through the Senate as is. Full stop! I think all these Senators “pushing back” are posturing to gain political points and to evince a modicum of “discomfort” before all RepubliKKKlans, with the exception of Rand Paul and one or two others, vote for the bill in the end. They are not going to waste time making changes and sending it back to the House. What you see in the bill now is what you’re going to get. So, anyone who thinks that the RepubliKKKlan Party writ large would dare cross The Don’s! is a moron engaging in the usual mindless wish-casting! But I digress.

Who will win the Musk-[T]rump feud as I have seen positted on the socials is a retarded question to ask because no one is going to “win” or “lose.” This is all sound and fury, signifying absolutely nothing. At some point, détente will set in, and these two will continue on as they always have, albeit perhaps in a more frosty relationship. This, too, shall pass. Musk and Dictator Don will resume destroying America in the way the morons of this country elected them to do. Welcome to stupid America! Always entertaining — of course! Because to the average f***tard American, all people want is bread and circus. Same base human instincts, different millennia. Nothing ever changes, you f***tards, except for the technology.

According to NBC News, “Francis, who died Monday at age 88, was keen to flex his muscles as supreme pontiff. He angered some Catholic Church traditionalists by reaching out to gay and marginalized people, demanding justice for the poor and the dispossessed and railing against unbridled capitalism and climate change.”

Half of my prediction has already come true. As I said, when Pope Francis was in the hospital, he would not survive the year. Of course, it does not take a genius to claim this small bit of clairvoyance safely. Duh! I said in a previous post that the Pope would pass and the Church would lurch back to the right. Again, this is also not a big leap given the tendency for the Chruch, like any other political institution, to zig-zag or ping-pong between liberal and conservative ideologies. God forbid a person or humanity, for that matter, should pick the correct direction in which to move and stick with it; heaven forbid humanity should possibly want to row in the same direction long enough to actually fix the world’s problems — climate change, the poor, world hunger, and other assorted injustices and evils. So, to predict that the next Pope will be more unlike Pope Francis than like him requires no great matter of divine intervention. But I will make this prediction: The next Pope will be Italian, not a European, but from Italy. And the new Pope will not only be a conservative in the traditionalist mode, but an uber-conservative in the model of Pope John Paul II. The Chruch will not merely drift away from Pope Francis’ liberal legacy, but it will run hard and fast away from liberalism as soon as humanly possible. Moreover, I also predict that the new pontiff will be relatively young compared to previous Popes. While Pope Francis was 76 at the time of his elevation, I think the next pontiff will be younger still.

So, why do I make these specific pronouncements? Because I think the Vatican will — as I have said before — follow the worldwide trend of eschewing liberalism and embracing “traditional” values. In short, the Church will regress, like the rest of the world, because that’s what humans do. Two steps forward, one step back on a good day. (Sometimes I think it’s more like one step forward, two steps back.) How many times and how often have I tried to convey to you people that this conservative movement in Europe and the MAGA moron movement here in America are, in fact, all part of the same movement away from liberal democracy. The Catholic Chruch is far less the leader of movements than you may want to believe; it is, indeed, more of a follower. (Or, perhaps, Pope Francis was an aberration and the Church is simply continuing in its long tradition of being less Christ-like and more fire-and-brimstone, for the old and new covenants really do operate on two vastly different plains.) Nonetheless, the new Pope will reverse all progressive advances. Once more, the LGBTQ community will be demonized and ostracized. Migrants will be given no second thought. Climate change? What climate change? Hoax! Of course, God approves of humanity treating the planet he created as one gigantic open sewer and trash dump. You name it. All the worst bigotry and hatred of the universal Church will come back into vogue and on full display for the world to relish because there is no greater hate than Christian love! It will be the return of the culture wars — on steroids! This has been the worldwide trend in the last 10-15 years, and it has come to fruition and become more manifest with the rising power of fascist leaders in Europe and the Americas — from the likes of Hungary and Italy itself to the U.S. to El Salvador.

So the Catholic Church pulling hard to the right is merely a reflection of the rest of the world as people sleepwalk into a future of fewer freedoms for everyone and a world dominated by leaders who hate more than they love; and the Pope will be yet one more leader added to the mix who will either look the other way when injustice ravages the world or, worse still, provides his tacit approval in the name of returning to a time of religious Christian dominance, which translates to religious exclusionism and a blessing of worldwide Christian theocratic rule. The Church is itching to reassert its religious and political hegemony on the world stage, and it can’t do that with “weak” liberal beliefs and policies a la Pope Francis. The Church beckons for a return to a Papal Prince, not another Papal pauper. The next Pope will be a titanic shift! If you truly want to understand the character and essence of the Catholic Chruch, then witness how fast it moves away from a humble Pope Francis toward a Pope who is more Princely — in all the trappings of pomp and circumstance — than the pastor. Mark my words, f***tards. Mark them well! I promise you!

“DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, ET AL. v. J. G. G., ET AL.

“ON APPLICATION TO VACATE THE ORDERS ISSUED BY THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

“[April 7, 2025]

“JUSTICE JACKSON, dissenting.

“I join JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR’s dissent in full and would deny the application for all the reasons she explains. I write separately to question the majority’s choice to intervene on the eve of the District Court’s preliminary-injunction hearing without scheduling argument or receiving merits briefing. This fly-by-night approach to the work of the Supreme Court is not only misguided. It is also dangerous.

“The President of the United States has invoked a centuries-old wartime statute to whisk people away to a notoriously brutal, foreign-run prison. For lovers of liberty, this should be quite concerning. Surely, the question whether such Government action is consistent with our Constitution and laws warrants considerable thought and attention from the Judiciary. That was why the District Court issued a temporary restraining order to prevent immediate harm to the targeted individuals while the court considered the lawfulness of the Government’s conduct. But this Court now sees fit to intervene, hastily dashing off a four-paragraph per curiam opinion discarding the District Court’s order based solely on a new legal pronouncement that, one might have thought, would require significant deliberation.

“When this Court decides complex and monumental issues, it typically allows the lower courts to address those TRUMP v. J. G. G. JACKSON, J., dissenting matters first; it then receives full briefing, hears oral argument, deliberates internally, and, finally, issues a reasoned opinion. Those standard processes may not always yield correct results. But when we deviate from them, the risk of error always substantially increases. Today’s rushed conclusion—that those challenging the Government’s action can only pursue their claims through habeas—is Exhibit A.

“I lament that the Court appears to have embarked on a new era of procedural variability, and that it has done so in such a casual, inequitable, and, in my view, inappropriate manner. See Department of Education v. California, 604 U. S. __ , __ (2025) (J ACKSON, J., dissenting) (slip op., at 1–2). At least when the Court went off base in the past, it left a record so posterity could see how it went wrong. See, e.g., Korematsu v. United States, 323 U. S. 214 (1944). With more and more of our most significant rulings taking place in the shadows of our emergency docket, today’s Court leaves less and less of a trace. But make no mistake: We are just as wrong now as we have been in the past, with similarly devastating consequences. It just seems we are now less willing to face it.”

From The Hill, “Days before his troops overthrew the regime of Bashar Assad, Ahmad al-Sharaa declared that Syria deserves a system in which no ‘single ruler makes arbitrary decisions.’ Sharaa, once a feared jihadist and founder of al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch, now vows to abandon vengeance and lead Syria’s reconstruction with moderation and inclusivity. But as interim president, he has seized control of every pillar of government, stacking sensitive posts with loyalists and family. This culminated in mid-March with the imposition of an interim constitution granting him executive, legislative and judicial authority for five years.”

Pick your cliche: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss,” or “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” The situation in Syria is hardly worth commenting on because in the Middle East, nothing changes, not even the Arab Spring changed much, as ultimately all those protests culminated in nothing — just a return to the tried and true dictatorial tendencies of the Islamic faith. No Islamic state in the Middle East is a democracy; they’re all some form of autocracy, so it is no surprise that Syria should trade one dictator for another one in the making. And guess what? The people love it! They really, genuinely do. They love to be lorded over; they just want there to be a peaceful dictator so long as they can all practice their sh*tty religion, which is based on oppressing everyone except the patriarch of the family. So whatever! I have no idea why people should be surprised that democracy is not taking root in Syria despite Sharaa’s “promises.” Dare I say that Syria may actually wind up being closer to a Caliphate than a secular state with a strongman at the head of the government. But, again, this is what the people want — to be ruled, not led. But I digress.

The reason I brought up the situation in Syria is that it’s, once again, yet another example of a global trend everyone in the MSM is refusing to address, and Americans at large are clueless to apprehend. That trend is this: Democracies across the globe are dying. Now, now! I can hear you complaining already: A budding dictatorship in a part of the Islamic world that has never had a democracy is no indication or has no bearing on the rest of the world backsliding; it’s merely the Middle East doing what the Middle East does best: Propagating uber-conservative religious states that limit people’s rights and freedoms. They’ve constantly been regressing. This is true. But it should call to our attention that what we see in the Middle East is not contained — near has been, I suppose. If anything, it should be a warning that nascent dictatorships are alive and well, and, indeed, sprouting up everywhere. As Syrians celebrate peace despite trading in one dictator for another, Americans should understand our apparent willingness to welcome the first dictator if it brings peace to the economy — turmoil that Dictator Don brought on himself. But that’s the whole point. Welcome to stupid America!

According to J.P. Morgan, “In light of heightened trade policy uncertainty, J.P. Morgan Research has raised the probability of a global recession to 40%. Both business sentiment and consumer confidence have slumped in the U.S., and a slowdown here could weigh on global growth. Against this rapidly evolving economic backdrop, J.P. Morgan Research still expects to see two more rate cuts this year.”

Once again, the “smart” money is completely missing the point and refuses to state the obvious. J.P. Morgan, one of the largest banks in the world, can’t bring themselves to declare the obvious: We’ll be in a recession immediately! Obviously, we won’t know officially until the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Business Cycle Dating Committee declares one after two quarters of contracting economic growth. Maybe they’ll declare one earlier if the crash is significant enough. Oh, wait. Who am I kidding? I forget who controls the NBER. It’s the executive branch, i.e., The Don! Thus, expect them never to declare a recession — ever. No matter how bad things get, they will never officially declare a recession. Mark my words! Other non-government institutions may unofficially “declare” a recession, but do not expect the government to tell citizens the truth. The truth will be dead in rough times!

Nonetheless, for the “braintrust” at J.P. Morgan to still forecast a less than 50/50 — at the time of this writing that is — chance of a recession is somewhat incomprehensible. As Reuters reported about Fitch Ratings, “The U.S. tariff rate on all imports has rocketed to 22% from just 2.5% in 2024 under the new global levies imposed by President Donald Trump, Fitch Ratings’ U.S. economic research chief said on Wednesday. ‘That rate was last seen around 1910,’ Olu Sonola, Fitch’s head of U.S. economic research, said in a statement after Trump’s announcement for a global baseline import tax of 10%, but much higher rates for many trading partners.” While many analysts will have many opinions and predictions, I think the warning from Fitch about returning to a time early in the last century should be a wake-up call for the markets and businesses. J.P. Morgan’s rather optimistic forecast really does speak to the fact that the big banks don’t want to poke the bear — Dictator Don. They still hold out hope that these tariffs will be less catastrophic than is apparent to everyone else. Whatever! After 10 years of the Dictator Don reality show, people are still — still to this very day — shell-shocked by everything he says and does to the point that they can’t think straight. Welcome to stupid America! Proving dumber one day at a time.