Recent inanity in three parts …
The Case Of The Entirely Coincidental 321-Diamond Ring
Earlier this year, Belgium gifted President Trump an over-the-top 18-carat diamond ring. A few weeks later — POOF — Trump decided to exempt Euro diamonds from new tariffs. Richer than the ring was the deadpan defense: “The discussion about ‌U.S. import tariffs was entirely separate from (the gifted ring)”, explained Belgium’s diamond industry spokesperson.
See, the ring was just to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. That’s why it was a small but thoughtful diamond sculpture and not something an individual would wear, like a ring.
Wait, let me try that again.
That’s why the ring has a USA on the side and not a great, big letter T.
What? … Oh, dear.
Of course, neither Belgium nor Trump is dumb about this kind of thing. They’re just hoping the public would be comfortably dumb (or oblivious). This is just one byproduct of Trump setting off an otherwise needless tariff war. Mere rational policies are for suckers. Trump creates a dynamic where individual countries must appeal to him personally — one way or another — and nations have no trouble figuring out how to play that game. Our taxpayers pay, our president doesn’t.
He gets the ring, you get the finger.
Darline Graham: Work Too Hard, Die Too Young, ‘Murica!
More recently, the soon-to-be Sistah Senator from South Carolina went before an audience to make a case for guaranteed health care for all. She didn’t mean to. And yet:
I mean, who thinks that way? Her parents died from cancer and a heart attack. Both of which thrive on stress and a lack of prevention/early care. So whatever you do, work hard to keep others from better outcomes. Fantastic. Enjoy your Senate health plan.
Unmodernizing The Military, Cont’d.
Finally, you may recall my post from two weeks ago, about Trump’s know-nothing itch to spend billions on stripping out modern launch systems on aircraft carriers to replace them with words he understands: steam pneumatics. (Well, at least one word, anyway.)
The retro effort continues as the Army’s acting chief of staff wants to eliminate a unit focused on drone warfare. Sure, on one hand, drones have played a growing role in hotspots around the globe. But on the other hand, Biden wanted to develop the military’s facility with drones (and sent them to Ukraine, too), so … this lack of preparedness is for you, Brandon.
Know who else believed in pursuing better drone capabilities? The guy that LaNeve replaced (thus his “acting” title). And what exactly happened to that other guy, anyway?
Hegseth fired him for wanting to follow protocol regarding investigation of that time Kid Rock enjoyed a just-for-kicks helicopter fly-by at his house. Experienced military leader … fired for questioning misconduct. I know I feel safer.
And with that, let’s see ourselves out to Secretary Hegseth’s ringtone.