Joe Biden was senile. Donald Trump is crazy!
Not so mentally disturbed that he cannot do his job, unlike Old Joe. And much of Donald Trump’s performance is inspired. But the President just made another low-altitude flight over the cuckoo’s nest. Has anyone held tighter to a grudge? Indulged in more fantasies? Practiced such pointless retribution? (Canada?!) Not even Richard Nixon.
Trump’s always simmering paranoia erupted after the International Trade Court turned down his unilateral declaration of tariffs. Rather than accept the court’s guidance that there is a right way to impose tariffs — by congressional statute, not executive whim — the President threw his latest victim into the Deep State dungeon: Leonard Leo, former head of the Federalist Society. In the words of the 45th and 47th President of the United States:
“I was new to Washington, and it was suggested that I use The Federalist Society as a recommending source on judges. I did so, openly and freely, but then realized that they were under the thumb of a real ‘sleazebag’ named Leonard Leo, a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions.”
Off the playground
Have you ever heard a sorrier, more sniveling case of finger pointing? Or more embarrassing? (I was young and stupid but it’s not my fault, I was tricked by someone who hates America.) The buck never stops at Trump’s desk. And who is this groper and trinket hustler to call anyone a “sleazebag”?
The three judges on the Trade Court were appointed by Presidents Reagan, Obama, and Trump. And, no, the Federalist Society did not recommend Trump’s appointee — Trump’s trade representative Robert Lighthizer did, according to the Wall Street Journal. Get your facts straight! (Ukraine did not cause its invasion.)
To have a court that jumps to the will of a president or a changeable voting majority is to have … Venezuela. — Kimberley Strassel
The Federalist Society did vet Trump’s three Supreme Court appointees, all of whom refused to overturn his 2020 defeat. “Purely a hatred of Trump! What other reason could it be?” the man vents. Ahh, but the strawberries! That’s where I had them! They laughed at me and made jokes …
A world of ‘traitors’
Which brings us, reluctantly, to Vicki McKenna. Blaska has held off criticizing the Wisconsin radio talk show host out of long friendship. Unfortunately, Miss Vicki gradually replaced informed commentary with unpasteurized MAGA conspiracy mongering. The lady has a microphone.
“Trump finally figured out the Federalist Society con job,” Miss Vicki exults while reposting Trump’s latest rant as if it were a Papal bull. Finally! Much simpler when the intricacies of our constitutional order can be dispensed with in a few code words: Deep State! RINOs! Fake News! Globalists and Traitors! Oh my!
The MAGA cult’s enemies list keeps growing: Leonard Leo and John McCain! Paul Ryan and Robin Vos. Brad Raffensperger and Dominion Voting Machines. Bill Barr and Ray Epps. Judges state and federal, legislators, election clerks, FBI agents masquerading as January 6 insurrectionists — all on George Soros’ payroll. A conspiracy so vast it’s hard to believe not a single one of them has betrayed their dirty secret! Hang Mike Pence! Release the Epstein files!
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Hero worship is harmless until it metastasizes into sycophancy.
17 responses to “Vicki McKenna should know better”
Yep. Vicki has OD’d on the koolaid. I stopped listening to her after hearing her pandemic lies. She has become a disinformation tool.
Squire, up until December 28, 1977 your post would have been correct. In the constitution, the power of tariffs is given to the Congress. On December 28, 1977, US President Jimmy Carter signed into law the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) giving that power to the President under certain conditions. According to the Brennan Center, as of March 25, 2022, 67 national emergencies had been declared invoking the statute. Why wasn’t even one of those occurrences ever questioned by this court? My guess is that this court is suffering end stage TDS.
“To consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions [is] a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy. Our judges are as honest as other men, and not more so.”
-Thomas Jefferson
This document is instructive: https://sgp.fas.org/crs/natsec/R45618.pdf. Table 1 on page 58 lists all the emergencies declared by the executive branch since 1977. None of these involved the imposition of tariffs, however, as it is noted on page 26 that “no President has used IEEPA to place tariffs on imported products from a specific country or on products imported to the United States in general.” (The document was published in 2024.)
The following is anathema to the TL/DR crowd, but it is germane to the issue at hand.
It goes on to say, “While a President could likely use IEEPA to impose additional tariffs on imported goods as President Nixon did under TWEA, no President has done so. Instead, Presidents have turned to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 in cases of purported emergency. Section 232 provides that if the Secretary of Commerce ‘finds that an article is being imported into the United States in such quantities or under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security,’ then the President may take action to adjust the imports such that they will no longer impair national security. While the use of Section 232 requires findings by the Secretary of Commerce, the restrictions and reporting requirements of the NEA do not apply. For that reason, Section 232 may be an attractive source of presidential authority for imposing additional tariffs for national security purposes. Using this authority, President Donald J. Trump applied additional duties on steel and aluminum in March 2018. However, IEEPA is not subject to the same procedural restraints as Section 232. As no investigation is required, IEEPA authorities can be invoked at any time in response to a national emergency based on an ‘unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States.’ As such, IEEPA may be a source of authority for the President to impose a tariff quickly. On May 30, 2019, President Trump announced his intention to use IEEPA to impose and gradually increase a five percent tariff on all goods imported from Mexico until ‘the illegal migration crisis is alleviated through effective actions taken by Mexico.’ The tariffs were scheduled to be implemented on June 10, 2019, with five percent increases to take effect at the beginning of each subsequent month. On June 7, 2019, President Trump announced that that ‘The Tariffs scheduled to be implemented by the U.S. [on June 10], against Mexico, are hereby indefinitely suspended.’”
(So… Trump did signal an intention to use IEEPA for the first time ever to place tariffs on Mexico in 2019, but did not go through with it. I can’t help but remark: The first instance of TACO occurred in 2019 and involved… Mexico! Suddenly, I’m hungry…)
The dispute now is over whether such sweeping tariffs involving virtually every country in the world, enemies and allies alike, are responsive to the purported “emergency” Trump has declared. Time will tell.
The International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 had never before been used to authorize tariffs through presidential action. The IEEPA allows the president to take emergency action on foreign threats to the U.S., including sanctions and asset freezes, but says nothing on tariffs specifically.
The IEEPA specifically authorizes the President to “regulate” or “prohibit” imports. Tariffs are a type of regulation on imports. Therefore the President can impose tariffs Q.E.D. President Trump may have a legal problem with the requirement to consult with Congress before exercising any of IEEPA powers. I’m not sure what “consult with Congress” means in this context (Give them a text? Require a vote in the House? Senate? Both? Just a vote by the Committee on Energy and Commerce?) Since the decision has been temporarily stayed by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, my guess is a text is fine.
There’s a reason why Dementia Don is now called TACO. He flip-flops more than a grill cook at a waffle house. tariffs on then off. He has a shrinking base at home but, world leaders think he’s a fool. People are tired of the lies, stupid tweets at 3am and idiot appointments. gas at 1.61, eggs for a dollar, For the love of god, you can’t even get a camp site in a national park. We have a QVC WH. poor Americans do without so he can have a military parade. trump is a corrupt fraud. Good luck in the midterms. You’re going to need it.
Richard, my guess is that you were not wearing Trump’s limited edition victory sneakers when you penned this little diddy. The reason we are not seeing as much of the “D” word in progressive posts has less to do with Trump and more with the Tapper/Thompson book. Have you read it? Biden’s response to the book is somewhat telling, “You can see that I’m mentally incompetent, I can’t walk — and I can beat the hell out of both of them,”.
SO, THE FAILING!!!!! CNN AND THEIR LOSER!!!!!!!TAPPER ARE PUSHING HIS BOOK WITH INFO THAT THE ENTIRE!!! COUNTRY ALREADY KNEW> THE POLLS SHOWED IT>
So…you didn’t get the book? Are you going to wait for the movie? It’s fun that Terry Kiser is still available for the title role!
I like the Hayek quote. Here’s one:
“If all men were without needs, they would be necessarily equal. It is the poverty that is a part of our species that subordinates one man to another. It is not inequality, it is dependence that is the real misfortune.”
Voltaire
Masquerading as a Conservietant is evident here. When will Sir get some balls. Otherwise watch as the RPOW self destruct. The good people to run are holding back not wanting to get embarrassed in the free for all about to happen.
The Squire, if you’re referring to me, uses his real name.
I am a former Vicki admirer. When I do still catch her now and again, much of her show is still excellent. Great guests, excellent interviewing technique, etc. But – as with many former conservatives – it seems Trump has turned part of her brain that is responsible for critical thinking to mush.
Take, for example, a rare morning when I turned her on in late February. She opened the show by presenting three obviously fake MAGA news stories as fact. I really didn’t have to check them to know they were bogus, but I did and they were.
– The CIA handed off American secrets to foreign governments to thwart Trump. (“Treason!”)
– FBI employees destroyed evidence on servers. (“Felony!”)
– Listening devices were found on the resolute desk, in the Oval Office.
(https://www.iheart.com/podcast/426-the-vicki-mckenna-show-27246267/episode/vicki-mckenna-show-fly-by-media-268981692/)
It was rich, then, for her to open a recent show by rattling off a bunch of “fake news” from the mainstream media, titling the episode online as “100 Days of Fake News.” (https://www.iheart.com/podcast/426-the-vicki-mckenna-show-27246267/episode/vicki-mckenna-show-100-days-of-273810083/)
“(I was young and stupid but it’s not my fault, I was tricked by someone who hates America.) The buck never stops at Trump’s desk.”
Yes, good to see someone else calling out such obvious hypocrisy by the leader of the GOP – the group that used to claim they were the party of “personal responsibility.”
At least Trump is trying to do something compared to all the Presidents of the last 40 years who allowed the hollowing out of many stateside industries. How about praising Trump for keeping US Steel in Pennsylvania?? Madison has no industry other than leftist judges and pushing papers so everybody can afford their $500K houses. Don’t see any solutions to that coming from this corner – Act 10 is not working anymore. Oh, how about shutting down the border which the Biden autopen family said couldn’t be done? You have your beef with Trump, I get it, but it’s time to move on from your litigation of Jan 6 – over 50% of America has.
We’ll get over January 6 when you and the current President acknowledge it.
[…] It’s the human condition, transcending political party and what else have you: We have biases, we want them confirmed. That’s the problem with sycophancy. […]