Taylor wasn’t writing about this administration’s self-inflicted victim complex … or was she? Pretty on the mark.
The Dow rallied late yesterday to lose only just under 1,000 points for the session. This entirely avoidable destruction of personal and collective wealth comes courtesy of you know who.
Before that, of course, the president’s decision to feel aggrieved by basically every trade relationship on the planet gave the markets an entirely understandable and more serious case of the heebie jeebies.
And just a couple of days ago, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt deflected about Secretary Hegseth’s oversharing habit by claiming that more or less everyone in the Pentagon was out to get Hegseth. That’s on top of a reported ongoing leak hunt that resulted in firing two aides who are not taking the accusations lying down.
Heckuva work environment you’re building over there, Hegsy. Feeling guilty? Feeling scared? Hidden cameras everywhere?
Man, there’s really something wrong with you. You’re gonna self-destruct …
I always loved Ian Gibbons’ muscular piano there, providing solid counterbalance to those guitars. Then again, unlike most people in this post, Gibbons was qualified for the position.
SAUCY SECRETARY
Elsewhere in the most ramshackle cabinet ever assembled, we already laughed ’til it hurt over Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and her A1/AI debacle. McMahon has decided to take back the narrative this week by taking over 5 million Americans to debt collection over their student loan status.
Nothing says “jumpstart the American economy” like garnishing wages of millions of Americans already watching this administration tank the economy, and who likely are victims of the traditionally predatory student loan environment.
Secretary McMahon might have shown herself to be grossly incompetent to speak in the most simple terms about the leading technological advancement in the world, but dammit, that lady can still use her authority to spread some pain and misery for very little payoff. You show those weasels who’s the smartest of them all, Linda.
THINGS HAVE CHANGED
Which all gets us back to the most recent Dow dip. In this episode, Trump gave the market the vapors via his outspoken criticism of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, including calling him a “major loser.”
The president undermining the independence of the Fed chair and possibly trying to outright fire him is a scenario that would likely slash and burn America’s collective 401k even further. Presidents used to care about that sort of thing, just like they used to be able to issue an Easter message that nobody would describe with words like “unhinged.” But, well, you know.
I like a late-model Dylan reference as much as the next guy, but looking over this crew’s nonstop string of no-account interpersonal and international conflicts, what I’m really reminded of is this nugget of wisdom from early 21st-century philosopher Raylan Givens. The last word is yours, Marshal.
