Dear Editor,
Stunning, isn’t it? Watching them all fall in line, like dominoes, the spineless, the fearful, the greedy, the ignorant, the stupid, the fascist? Eight years ago, there was some semblance of institutional resistance to the Criminal Dictator. This time around, complicity in dismantling the democracy is in full swing.
In lockstep with the 77+ million who stupidly believe this idiot is the savior, Time Magazine, The Washington Post, the LA Times, the odious Silicon Valley tech bros, the cult captives in both houses of Congress, all of them can’t plant their lips on his backside fast enough, tongues hanging out, shoveling millions and millions into his bank account, anxiously hoping he won’t come after them, breathlessly awaiting his approval. It’s a sight to behold.
The current theater surrounding his absurd choices for the cabinet and various high-level agencies is nothing more than that. The advise-and-consent Senate will make a pretense of the advise part and go straight to the consent part. Highlights include some creature who calls himself K$h running the FBI, another one whose only qualification for the job is that he was on television in charge of Defense, a Russian asset heading up National Intelligence, and an intellectual from the world of professional wrestling directing the Department of Education, until Criminal Dictator decides we don’t need that cabinet post any longer. And let’s not forget his government “efficiency” experts, a pair of billionaire ding-dongs supposedly charged with cutting trillions from the budget who don’t know any more about the federal bureaucracy than I do. Laugh or cry, it’s hard to pick.
All of this has been made possible, of course, by six unelected members of what used to be our highest court, decreeing that Criminal Dictator pretty much has cart blanche to do whatever his little heart desires, the law be damned.
So here we are in these United States of America, some 248 years after throwing off the yoke of monarchy, with a common criminal at the pinnacle of power, a self-described dictator stuffing his government with more criminals, all of whom will grift and steal everything they can get their grubby little mitts on for as long as he is alive. 2028? Surely you jest. The only way he’s leaving is lying face-up in a box with his eyes shut.
John C. Ficor
Richmond, Va.
John:
Abraham Lincoln, along with his wife Mary, attended seances in the White House, in hopes of communicating with their dead sons, Eddie and Willie. Though we are died-in-the-wool skeptics, we’d stand in line to attend a seance today, if we thought there was a chance old Abe would appear. We’d like to hear his thoughts on the current state of the party he once led.
The Editor
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A Toxic New Menu Item: The Don
[Note: Faithful long-time subscriber Wes Flierl sent us the following preview of a new alleged food product, expected to appear on the menu of a certain fast food chain on January 20th. – The Ed.]
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The Truth About Tariffs
To the Editor:
Donald Trump has touted tariffs as the means of increasing revenue and bringing back manufacturing jobs lost to overseas competitors. Recently, he has stated his intention of levying 25 percent across the board tariffs against Mexico and Canada as well as increasing levies against China until those countries act to end fentanyl traffic into the U.S. This threat indicates that Trump intends to use tariffs not only as an economic tool, but also as bargaining chips to intimidate trade partners on non-economic issues. No matter what Trump’s justification for tariffs, their widespread use will act as a tax, increasing the price of the goods paid by the consumer. Let’s review some basic facts on tariffs.
Trump has claimed that exporting nations pay the tariffs imposed by the U.S. The claim is false. Tariffs are paid at the port of entry by U.S. companies that are importing the product. This increases the cost to the importer who usually passes the added charge on to their customers. American consumers eventually pay the tariff in the form of higher prices. Limited tariffs can sometimes be justified as a retaliation against unfair trade practices or for the protection of industries vital to national security. Wide-based or general tariffs, such as those proposed by Trump, are almost always damaging, bringing retaliation by trade partners. They destroy the efficiencies of free trade that benefit trading nations (remember the Law of Comparative Advantage), distorting competition and reducing growth. The classic example is the Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930 which raised tariffs on over 20,000 imported products with the intent to protect American industry during the Depression. After its passage, U.S. imports decreased by 66 percent. Following retaliation by trading partners, U.S. exports also declined by 61 percent. Smoot-Hawley had a disastrous effect on the global economy and is credited with worsening and extending the Great Depression. Trump’s tariffs of 2017-18 are also a case study in failure. Rather than increasing manufacturing employment, their net effect was to decrease manufacturing jobs. Although employment in directly targeted industries slightly increased, more jobs were lost in industries whose supply chains experienced increased costs. Moreover, price increases in products affected by the tariffs closely tracked the increased costs due to the tariffs, causing an overall decline in sales of the affected industries.
Changes in manufacturing technology call into question Trump’s argument that tariffs would bring back large numbers of manufacturing jobs. Manufacturing employment in 1970 comprised 31 percent of the total work force but had declined to 9.7 percent by 2023. From 1970 to 2000, most of the manufacturing job loss was due to offshoring caused by globalization. Since 2000, however, most of the decrease in manufacturing jobs has been due to technological change. In the modern factory, computer-aided automation has replaced humans in most of the assembly and material-handling processes. Robots are aided by data supplied by a network of sensors that allow real-time production scheduling and quality control without human interaction. All tasks are performed at a speed, precision and efficiency that makes the high-tech factory competitive with low labor-cost foreign factories.
Not only do modern factories require fewer human workers, they also require higher skill levels and education among the workers that remain. Large numbers of dungaree clad, lunch-bucket carrying laborers have been replaced by solitary, lab-coated technicians and no tariffs will restore the jobs lost to technology. Jobs in high tech factories often require a college education or, at a minimum, training well beyond the average high school graduate. Unfortunately, automated factories are experiencing a shortage of educated workers. American schools are not providing the STEM graduates necessary for manning high-tech factories. Absent an adequate supply of STEM workers, the effect of tariffs on high-tech manufacturing would be to drive up the wages of skilled labor without increasing production, adding to inflation. Given the shortage of skilled labor and the high cost of building out modern technology, it is uncertain that owners of capital will be motivated to invest in expanded capacity. It seems likely that current owners will simply use the tariff to increase profits by charging higher prices. The outcome would be to further enrich the owners of capital with negligible impact on employment among the working class. This may be welcome to Trump’s billionaire supporters, but it would be at the expense of American consumers.
Modern economies are complex, facts matter, and economic policy cannot be based on campaign slogans based in ignorance. If Trump follows through on his recent blusters, we are in for a rough four-year ride.
Robert D. Russell, Ph.D.
Harrisburg, Pa.
Robert:
We’re old enough to remember the Cold War, when American politicians scorned the Kremlin’s reliance on political commissars to enforce their ideology.
Stalin would have envied Trump. The Soviets had to construct elaborate justifications for their policies. Our incoming President just tweets, and his minions leap to do his bidding—however insane.
The Editor
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The Children of Gaza
To the Editor:
Oh, “say can you see… the rockets red glare, and the bombs bursting in air,” upon the children of Gaza. The UN Human Rights Office estimates there are 19,000 dead children, while Save the Children reveals that “more than 10 children on average have lost one or both of their legs every day in Gaza since October 7th.”
What horror, fear, and trauma these families and their children have faced from unbelievable violence which the U.S.A. has supported with its shipments to Israel of weaponry and ammunition. UNICEF says “all 1.1 million children in Gaza are in desperate need of mental health assistance.”
Can Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Anthony Blinken, Lloyd Austin, and Jake Sullivan, imagine the terror these children face on almost a daily basis? The world will not soon forget what the “home of the free and the brave” have done in supporting a full scale Genocide in Gaza.
CAIR (the Council on American-Islamic Relations), stated that the Biden administration must take responsibility for the horrific increase in amputees in children. Its National Director, Nihad Awad, said: “For more than a year, Biden has remained unmoved by the far-right Israeli government’s systemic campaign of slaughter, ethnic cleansing, forced starvation, and mass destruction that he unfortunately supported and excused.”
Joe Biden’s unconditional support for Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity will not be ignored by historians and young voters. What America has done in Gaza, especially to children, is unspeakable.
Will Thomas,
N.H. Veterans for Peace
Manchester, N.H.
Will:
Gazans are human beings. You would never think so, though, from the way our political class treats them. It is as if all Gazans were born guilty, and must remain so until they prove their innocence in a court of law—though no such court exists.
Nearly all our news media view Gaza through the ready-made frame provided by our political class. As a result, much of the public finds it all too easy to ignore the suffering we’re helping to inflict.
Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. We could stop it, but we won’t.
The Editor
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Len is Disgusted
Dear Mr. Fowle,
There was an article in the New York Daily News (Wednesday, November 13, 2024) about Donald Trump selecting South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as head of Homeland Security. Leave it to Trump to select a vicious dog killer, and she was severely criticized for what she did.
In her autobiography she wrote that she killed her dog because she believed he wasn’t a good hunting dog. She boasted this demonstrates she’s capable of making tough choices. What foul smelling horseshit! It demonstrates she lacks common sense and that she’s a cruel, cold-blooded, poor excuse for a human being who killed her innocent, harmless dog. She should have given that precious dog to an animal shelter where they would have taken good care of him and trated him with dignity and respect. It’s frightening that he selected her as head of Homeland Security. Like Trump, she’s an embarassment and disgrace, and she belongs in prison for being a vicious cruel dog killer. She’s extremely offensive.
Sincerely, Len, A Disgusted Citizen
[Postmarked Boston]
Len:
We don’t ordinarily print letters without the writer’s full name. We made an exception in your case because we have a weakness for letters hand-written on graph paper.
Kristi Noem may be more offensive than you know. To prepare for her transition from S.D. to D.C., she’s accepting help from New Hampshire’s own Corey Lewandowski—the guy who mocked a 10-year old child with Down syndrome who was separated from her mother at the border. Widespread but unverifiable media reports also allege that Noem and Lewandowski—both married—are, shall we say, more than friends.
That latter point is neither here nor there. Respect for marriage vows is a personal matter. Taking guidance from Lewandowski is disqualification enough.
The Editor
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GOP Ex-Rep. Got It Right
Dear Sir:
Donald Trump is using a very partisan report written by MAGA Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) to seek retribution against those who opposed him, especially former Representative Liz Cheney. The report states that Cheney, a member of the January 6th Select Committee, “should be investigated for potential criminal witness tampering,” and that “numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney and that the FBI should investigate that alleged criminality.” In response to these allegations Trump wrote, “Liz Cheney could be in a lot of trouble.” He has also called for Cheney to be jailed for her participation on the January 6th Committee.
In response to Trump’s threats, conservative writer David Frum wrote: “After his successful consolidation of power, the Leader prepares show trials for those who resisted his failed first violent attempt to overthrow the government.” And conservative former representative Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) wrote in response to Trump’s threats, calling for the investigation of Liz Cheney; “Don’t you dare tell me he’s not an authoritarian. And don’t you dare look the other way. Donald Trump is un-American. The resistance to him from Americans must be steadfast and fierce.”
I am pleased to see some Republicans speaking out forcefully against Trump’s dictatorial intentions, many more need to do so and quickly. I have been taken to task by writers to this paper accusing me of not wishing Trump well as our next president. Why would I or any patriotic American wish a man well who, when he lost the 2020 election, never accepted defeat, incited an insurrection to overturn that election, and did not participate in the Constitutional peaceful transfer of power? My comments have also been called abhorrent for calling for people who took the oath to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic to honor that oath. It is those who ignore their oath whose behavior is abhorrent, not those who honor it. Former Rep. Walsh said it perfectly, “Donald Trump is un-American and the resistance to him from Americans must be steadfast and fierce.” The future of our Republic requires it.
Rich DiPentima
Portsmouth, N.H.
Rich:
Your letter got us curious about Rep. Loudermilk. As Sen. John McCain said about Vermin Supreme, “What a guy!”
After getting a $2,000 contribution from Equifax, he filed a bill to “reduce consumer protections in relation to… credit bureaus, including capping potential damages in a class action suit to $500,000 regardless of class size or amount of loss… [and] eliminate all punitive damages.” Consideration of the bill was delayed after Equifax was hacked in “the worst leak of personal info ever.”
He knows all about trials, though: “When Jesus was falsely accused of treason,” Loudermilk said during Trump’s first impeachment, “Pontius Pilate gave Jesus the opportunity to face his accusers… During that sham trial, Pontius Pilate afforded more rights to Jesus than the Democrats have afforded this president in this process.”
Christian nationalist leader David Barton says he’s an exemplary Christian, but the health conscious should avoid his kids like the plague. They’re not vaccinated against measles or mumps.
We’re bracing for a revival of that old Stalinesque standby, show trials for those who are insufficiently loyal. Before this episode of madness ends, we may end up in the dock ourselves.
The Editor