Odds and Ends — 17 April 2025

First, there’s the obvious: Trump is going around arresting innocent people, and sending them to foreign torture-dungeons, apparently for the rest of their lives. Bloomberg reports that about 90% of these deportees had no criminal records in the U.S., and most have not been charged with any crime…
Some were arrested simply because they had (non-gang) tattoos. Others didn’t even have any tattoos, and were arrested for no apparent reason.
It’s not clear why the Trump administration is doing this. Perhaps it’s to scare immigrants into leaving the country by making an example of a few. Perhaps it’s to simply assert power, or to test the boundaries of what they can get away with… Who knows. But what’s clear is that this is brutal and lawless behavior — the kind of arbitrary arrest and punishment that’s common in authoritarian regimes.
The second thing that should scare you is the lawlessness… In practice, the administration is arguing that as soon as they arrest someone and ship them overseas, U.S. courts have no right to order their return — ever. That means that Trump could grab you, or me, or anyone else off the street and put us on a plane to El Salvador, and then argue that no U.S. court has the right to order us back, because once we’re on foreign soil it’s the domain of foreign policy.

https://twitter.com/RepMcGovern/status/1912305435865915881

https://twitter.com/LongTimeHistory/status/1912294566595891657

https://twitter.com/mluckovichajc/status/1912225378640208269

The Roman Way to Trash a Republic

When you’re the emperor Augustus, they let you do it.

No, the Wrongful Deportation Story Is Not a Political Trap

The Democrats arguing that it is have got it completely backwards.

https://twitter.com/CalltoActivism/status/1912235614667255986

https://twitter.com/YourAnonNews/status/1912480948383318382

https://twitter.com/covie_93/status/1912634411788415002

https://twitter.com/jasonselvig/status/1912625975810273549

———— Smoot-Hawley 2.0 ————

https://twitter.com/SpencerHakimian/status/1912142339830657443

Fed Chair Warns of ‘Challenging Scenario’

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that the central bank could have less flexibility to quickly cushion the economy from the fallout of President Trump’s trade war, sending stocks down on Wednesday.
Powell said he saw a ‘strong likelihood’ that consumers would face higher prices and that the economy would see higher unemployment as a result of tariffs in the short run.
This would create a ‘challenging scenario’ for the central bank because anything it does with interest rates to address inflationary pressures could worsen unemployment, and vice versa.

“In short, he’s forecasting a period of stagflation.” — Taegan Goddard

https://twitter.com/acnewsitics/status/1912594906616668278

So much winning: China Pivots from U.S. to Canada for More Oil

Chinese refiners are importing record amounts of Canadian crude after slashing purchases of US oil by roughly 90% amid escalating trade tensions.

———— Musk and DOGE ————

https://twitter.com/Cling2Reality/status/1912313316459872405

https://twitter.com/AdamKinzinger/status/1912576967368650780

Musk Focuses on GOP Lawmakers Targeting Judges

Elon Musk targeted a flurry of money in late March to support Republican members of Congress who endorsed legislation to impeach judges or restrict their power, new filings revealed, bolstering his own push to punish judges who rule against the Trump administration.

———— Putin&Krasnov vs. Ukraine ————

https://twitter.com/BobRae48/status/1911914149828866507

Trump’s Ukraine Ceasefire Is Slipping Away

The American president increasingly looks like Russia’s willing dupe…
Another sign of the times is that Pentagon figures recently questioned one ally about why it was still supplying weapons to Ukraine—a challenge that was ignored. Diplomats in Washington also report that some Trump aides say privately that they are ‘fed up’ with Europe’s effort to strengthen Ukraine. As always with such a chaotic administration, it is hard to distinguish the true signal from the noise.

———— Mors Imperii ————

Blatant corruption: Donors Just Paid Off Debt of Trump’s Nominee for IRS

President Donald Trump’s choice for Internal Revenue Service director just had his six-figure debt paid off by campaign donors whose firms have significant, often contentious business before the tax agency he would lead.
The revelations come as lawmakers call for a criminal probe of how tax credits were used by these donors’ firms — many of which have previous ties to former Rep. Billy Long (R-MO), Trump’s IRS nominee whose confirmation is pending in the Senate.

https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/1912575384698380405

Schumer Was Wrong

In the wake of Schumer’s decision last month to back the Republican funding bill and avoid a government shutdown, his supposed “pragmatism” has been praised in some quarters—a tactical retreat in the face of difficult odds. Pick the battles you can actually win!
But some battles are worth fighting even when the odds are long. Pre-emptively retreating isn’t prudence—it’s capitulation…
The psychological battlefield matters. The Trumpist movement understands this. It projects dominance through sheer force of will. Every concession made to it—every inch surrendered without a fight—reinforces the illusion that Trump is inevitable, unstoppable, and above consequence. He is not. But he thrives when no one dares to challenge him.
Schumer’s choice was not just a missed opportunity to wound Trump politically. It was a failure to inspire those who are desperate for signs of life among the opposition. The American people are watching this descent into demagogic lawlessness and wondering if anyone in power has the will to stop it. Moments like this are rare. You either take them—or you lose them.

Serendipity:

200 years ago, France extorted Haiti in one of history’s greatest heists – and Haitians want reparations

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