One of the things I like about Bluesky is it aggregates news similar to TwitterX, but without the Nazis. Good deal.
I do not watch a lot of the Sunday morning news shows because often they drive me batty. There is enough stress in the world, I don’t need supplemental stress. However, I do keep up on what was said on Meet the Press, Face the Nation, This Week, and the various cable news versions of Sunday punditry shows thanks to Bluesky.
If the Stupidest, Meanest, Greediest Person in the World and the President of the United States of America were two different people, the Sunday shows would feature lots of market soothing talk from the White House. Unfortunately, they are the same person and he is surrounded by yes people.
Instead of talking about maybe toning down the trade war, or talking about working out deals, or what exactly it is they are trying to do with these stupid tariffs, each Trump proxy went out there with their own deranged story. One example:
Every Cabinet member has different, contradictory talking points about supposed purpose of these tariffs. Are they a negotiating tactic? Are they instead permanent, because we need them to raise revenue/boost US manufacturing?Are they designed to return us to 1790s lifestyles & living standards?
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell.bsky.social) 2025-04-06T15:55:41.033Z
They sometimes contradicted themselves in under a minute:
Kevin Hassett on ABC goes from claiming "I don't you're gonna see a big effect on the consumer in the US" to acknowledging that "there might be some increase in prices" within one minute
There was some old-school Republican blaming the media stuff:
On the Sunday shows, Trump officials blame the media for fussing over the crash.Ag Sec. Rollins rebukes @jaketapper.bsky.social: "Everyone, especially on your side, on the left, is freaking out."Econ adviser Hassett calls ABC's coverage "stories that your team is using to attack President Trump"
— Will Saletan (@saletan.bsky.social) 2025-04-06T20:25:57.050Z
There was this offer of comfort which was really no comfort at all:
Lutnick: "The army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little screws to make iPhones — that kind of thing is going to come to America."
A billionaire who has no idea how we peasants live, offering his take on what we peasants think about all this:
WELKER: The markets lost more than $6 trillion in value. Was this disruption always part of the plan?BESSENT: We had record volume on Friday and everything is working very smoothly. So the American people can take great comfort in that.
If you are wondering if any of this went over well, all you have to do is glance at the global markets. They are not reacting very well, as you might expect when a mad man is trying something that is very stupid and is wrecking the economy, and the weekend reaction by his henchmen is “he’s got great ideas and we think this is all super awesome.”
I know that there are some cracks in the Trump coalition. His big business buddies are sort of thinking maybe Trump won’t be the best thing that’s ever happened to the corporate world. Maybe that will help us avoid the absolute worst (the “worst” is currently ongoing). But not going to hold my breath.
As long as Trump is surrounded by fellow mean, stupid, greedy morons who will gleefully piss gasoline on the raging fire, we are going to have big economic problems. And the Sunday shows will offer the markets, and us, little reassurance.
The last word goes to Alice in Chains.
As I watched news this morning, in the 8:00 a.m. (MT) hour, it started with a little bit of hope because the stock market had gains. By the end of the hour, those gains were gone and continued downward! As I researched what happened, I found that Trump had screamed about China reataliating with 34% tariffs. “If China does not withdraw its 34% tariff increase, along with its long-term trade abuses, by tomorrow, April 8, 2025, the United States will impose additional 50% tariffs on China, effective April 9!” Does that mean bring the total to 50% or add 50% more to bring it to 84%?! Who the hell knows! “But that’s not all, because [Trump] also announced that all talks with China regarding their requested meetings will be suspended.”
So, once again, Trump destroyed any stability the world markets were seeking! Market volatility! So much winning! 💩💩💩
I’ve been on the lookout for an estimate from the felon’s administration just how long this course of therapeutic economic medicine will take to show results. A week? A month? Six months? Ten years from now? Nobody knows, and nobody in the administration is saying. But it’s not because they don’t know what they’re doing, so don’t say that.
The beatings will continue until [Trump’s] morale [and bank account] improves is probably the only correct answer.