Quote of the Day
Let there be spaces in your togetherness.Kahlil Gibran
Dumb BLEEP of the Week
No, the opening rant by Nate and Chuck on fellow libertarians (probably including me) reminds me of why I dropped GML from my daily podcasts. They have this bizarre love/hate relationship with Trump, but with enough love for Nate admitting he decided to vote for Trump. I probably wrote a half dozen essays against their anti-impeachment rants relevant to Trump . I got annoyed enough by the nature and extent of their differences from my libertarian stands that I couldn't take their daily feed Why stay with the mostly dumb episodes? Basically because of the discussion of leftist moments, like reparations in this episodes. i could write for pages on why I disagree with their rants, but I'll limit myself to a few comments here, but it's possible I can feel another anti-GML rant coming on and possibly also canceling their feed in the future. First, I don't need a lecture on fiscal conservatism. even in my social liberal salad days, I was a fiscal conservative. the issues aren't about the idea of downsizing government and reining in spending, but the dubious legality and constitutionality in Trump's abuse of power. There are civil service protections--and a lot of firings have been motivated by Trump's own political reprisals over J6 and personal prosecutions. Those are wildly corrupt and unethical. There are Trump's illegal mass firings of inspectors generals, the "real" government watchdogs over waste and other official wrongdoings. There is the unvetted/approved presence of Musk which inherently undermines the separation of powers and congressional oversight authority by Constitution. Congress holds the power of the purse and passes laws. You can't end the Department of Education without congressional approval. I agree that the Department of Education is unconstitutional, but you can't argue congress has oversight of it but has no say in its purge. Most of the budget--entitlements--is mandatory spending. Musk implying the US is distributing significant SSA dollars to dead people has me skeptical. I know when my dad died in a military hospital, they were already in the process of notifying social security; it was discussed less than an hour after death with my newly widowed mother dealing with his loss. it was a nuanced situation because she had survivor benefits.
When Wrestling Meets Austrian Economics
Unpacking the Document that Spells Out Trump's Tariff Strategy
Choose Life
Political Cartoon
Courtesy of Chip Bok via Townhall
Musical Interlude: 1960 Top 100 Hits
Brenda Lee, "Sweet Nothin's"
