Irreconcilable Differences

I recommend the recent and well written articles from Maureen Dowd, David Brooks and Thomas Friedman on the insanity and stupidity of the Trump Administration.

What happens when people lose the ability to reason or render good judgments? Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Donald Trump’s tariff policy. I’ve covered a lot of policies over the decades, some of which I supported and some of which I opposed. But I have never seen a policy as stupid as this one. It is based on false assumptions. It rests on no coherent argument in its favor. It relies on no empirical evidence. It has almost no experts on its side — from left, right or center. It is jumble-headedness exemplified. Trump himself personifies stupidity’s essential feature — self-satisfaction, an inability to recognize the flaws in your thinking. And of course when the approach led to absolutely predictable mayhem, Trump, lacking any coherent plan, backtracked, flip-flopped, responding impulsively to the pressures of the moment as his team struggled to keep up.

David Brooks Producing Something This Stupid Is the Achievement of a Lifetime New York Times 4/10/25

So I watched Bill Maher last night on his HBO show. Maher described his recent visit to the White House and conversation with Donald Trump. Sounded like a Kumbaya moment. Trump asked Maher about his opinions on various topics, including Iran, and he even laughed at some of Maher’s jokes. Maher found Trump to be personable and focused on the conversation. It almost sounded like a reassuring segment until one realizes how Trump has ruined the economy and has absolutely no clue on how to conduct policy or run the government. I have read that Hitler had a hypnotic effect on people that he met. I assume that Maher had a similar experience with Trump. I have no issue with Maher meeting with Trump, but I sense that there is no real benefit for either guy though Bill might find a more receptive MAGA audience for the future.

This writer has a high school reunion scheduled. The last one (five years ago) was canceled due to Covid. There were also issues with some of my classmates regarding politics. My class has a significant core of Trump supporters. And strangely enough, political passions may have an effect on whether people want to attend this year’s reunion or not. I try not to engage in political discussions with just about everyone. Regrettably earlier this week, I was involved in a “conversation” with a Trump supporter of my advanced age and I found myself losing my temper. He was wrapped around women in the military, abortion, trans rights, LGBQT and was totally oblivious to the current administration’s poor handling of the economy, foreign policy, national security, cabinet selections, DOGE, compliance to law, etc. Prior to 2008, I was happy to engage in a discussion about politics and current events. But when Obama came in, civility went out. I don’t write to engage in debate. I write to clarify my thinking and for someone hopefully 20 or 30 years from now will read this and conclude there was one sensible man in an era of continual tumult.