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Home Front: Politix
'This is not going to end well': Trump's friends and allies are worried he's spiraling out of control ‐ and they say this time is different
2018-03-05
Each time it’s different, until they notice the Trump voters discounted it as propaganda. Then they try the next different thing, poor dears.
[Business Insider] President Donald Trump's friends and confidantes are reportedly more worried about his emotional health than ever before.

As Trump becomes ever more focused on perceived attacks against him, constantly obsesses over TV coverage, and lashes out at friends and foes alike in public, many close to him say he is approaching "pure madness," according to the Washington Post.

Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey did not mince his words about Trump's current mental state.

"I think the president is starting to wobble in his emotional stability and this is not going to end well," he told the Post. "Trump's judgment is fundamentally flawed, and the more pressure put on him and the more isolated he becomes, I think, his ability to do harm is going to increase."

But others say things will likely get worse before they get better.

"We haven't bottomed out," one official told the paper.
Posted by:Besoeker

#17  Oh please. The Mexicans can't shut of the flow of drugs INSIDE their country.
Posted by: European Conservative   2018-03-05 23:12  

#16  #13 On NAFTA being renogotiated. It was reported earlier that Trump is talking about the issue of tariffs on Mexico being contingent on Mexico shutting off the flow of illegal drugs into America. Carrot and stick approach.
Posted by: JohnQC   2018-03-05 22:49  

#15  NAFTA, like all trade agreements, ages. So there is nothing wrong with updating it, adapting it to the world of 2020, which differs a lot from 1992.

China uses state sponsored dumping, state-sponsored theft of intellectual property. That's certainly something to keep in mind.

But targeting your best allies?

Europe doesn't do dumping, wages are not low. Yes, too many regulations at time, but we all suffer from them. And Canada? Really?

Wouldn't it make much more sense to JOINTLY keep China in line?
Posted by: European Conservative   2018-03-05 21:38  

#14  President Trump said the tariffs will not go into effect if an improved NAFTA is signed.

This is the end game. There are some NAFTA loopholes that give China access to US markets through Canada and Mexico that they wouldn't otherwise have.

The chatter on NPR today was all about how Trump's tariffs are going to destroy the US economy which is booming after the recent tax cuts. Funny, last week the story was the tax cuts were having no effect except on fat-cat corporations.
Posted by: SteveS   2018-03-05 21:32  

#13  Well it doesn't seem clear whether the tariffs will not be enacted if NAFTA is successfully renegotiated or if they will be imposed and only lifted if...

I consider the threat on automobiles more substantial. But this will hurt the U.S. as much as Europe. This is what I would really like to discuss more.

Trump's tweeted argument is simply wrong and uninformed:

"If the E.U. wants to further increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on U.S. companies doing business there, we will simply apply a Tax on their Cars which freely pour into the U.S. They make it impossible for our cars (and more) to sell there. Big trade imbalance!"

There ARE NO massive tariffs and barriers on U.S. companies. It's true that the EU imposes a flat tariff of 10% on imported cars (U.S. only charges 2.5 %). But then again, the U.S. charges 25% on trucks, which seriously hurts European truck makers.

But the 10% EU tax is applied to all non-EU vehicles, which means that a BMW produced in the U.S. (or Mexico) also faces a 10% import tax. That hasn't stopped Germans from buying those cars (and buying LOTS of Japanese cars also taxed at 10%).

The main reasons why U.S. cars don't sell well in Germany are these:

1) Poor quality (not all, but many)
2) Wrong sizes (SUVs see less demand her)
3) Bad sales policy.

An example for 3)

The Cadillac limousines are actually fine cars with astonishingly competitive prices in Germany (after taxes). We have Cadillac dealers here but they say the cars don't sell well. Why? I never saw a Cadillac ad in Germany.

And they do something completely idiotic. Spare parts are priced outrageously if you buy them in Germany. Prices are often three times as high compared to directly importing them yourself from the U.S. (taxes included). But many people don't like that nuisance.

So no, it's not import taxes. U.S. cars are competitively priced in Germany.

Yo can't get many U.S. cars because U.S. and EU regulations differ. But while many European companies do everything to meet the requirements of both markets, U.S. car makers don't.

And I even have examples of U.S. carmakers REFUSING to export certain cars manufactured in the U.S. to Germany even if I assume all the risks and taxes and stuff. They will insist on exporting a car made in Mexico.

I have more absurd stories to tell.
Posted by: European Conservative   2018-03-05 21:23  

#12  Bless you for your faith in us, European Conservative.

And if you have not yet seen it, according to CNN President Trump said the tariffs will not go into effect if an improved NAFTA is signed. Link.
Posted by: trailing wife   2018-03-05 20:55  

#11  The American system of checks and balances will take care of potential problems.
Posted by: European Conservative   2018-03-05 20:06  

#10  James Kunstler, a one time Obama supporter, posted this today:
What’s going on here makes the Red Scare of 1920 and the McCarthy episode of the early 1950s look sedate in comparison. It’s reasonable to suppose that officials in any foreign country watching the dismal ongoing spectacle here would conclude that the United States has lost its mind.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2018-03-05 19:44  

#9  I think the president is starting to wobble in his emotional stability and this is not going to end wel

The left went completely unhinged when Hilda lost. The next 8 years were laid out by the Dems and they didn't happen. They are the only ones who are schizophrenic in bouncing between memes: Russian collusion, Trump abuses women, Trump hires prostitutes who peepee on the bed, Trump had a fling with Stormy Daniels, he cheats on his taxes and his wife, he's crazy...there's no end to the left's craziness. The country would be better off if they just STFU for awhile.
Posted by: JohnQC   2018-03-05 11:39  

#8  #5 What I find interesting is that the inside sources who get quoted without attribution uniformly support the NYT-WAPO position. You never see a WAPO article saying "Sources close to the Mueller investigation report that they ain't got jack." What are the odds.
Posted by: Matt   2018-03-05 09:56  

#7  Pretty sure something like this was written two months ago, which means we'll see it again in early May. The national media will rotate these column themes like the Enterprise rotates shield frequencies against the Borg.
Posted by: Raj   2018-03-05 09:40  

#6  McCaffery? seriously? what's a matter was Relieve...oops retired genius at large Wesley Clark too busy leg humping eurocrats to wax rhapsodic?
Posted by: Cesare   2018-03-05 09:30  

#5  I love how WaPo and NYT claim to have "inside info"
Posted by: Frank G   2018-03-05 07:20  

#4  The entertainment value of watching these dipshits lose it over nothing month in and month out is so worth it. Bless their hearts.
Posted by: NCMike   2018-03-05 06:46  

#3  Hysterical contagion and June Bug Epidemic

The June bug epidemic serves as a classic example of hysterical contagion. In 1962 a mysterious disease broke out in a dressmaking department of a US textile factory. The symptoms included numbness, nausea, dizziness, and vomiting. Word of a bug in the factory that would bite its victims and cause them to develop the above symptoms quickly spread.[2]

Soon sixty two employees developed this mysterious illness, some of whom were hospitalized. The news media reported on the case. After research by company physicians and experts from the US Public Health Service Communicable Disease Center, it was concluded that the case was one of mass hysteria.

While the researchers believed some workers were bitten by the bug, anxiety was probably the cause of the symptoms. No evidence was ever found for a bug which could cause the above flu-like symptoms, nor did all workers demonstrate bites.

Workers concluded that the environment was quite stressful; the plant had recently opened, was quite busy and organization was poor. Further, most of the victims reported high levels of stress in their lives. Social forces seemed at work too.

Of the 62 employees that reported symptoms, 59 worked on the first shift, 58 worked in the same area, and 50 of the 62 cases occurred in the two consecutive days after the media supposedly “sensationalized” the event. Most of the employees who became sick took time off to recuperate.
Posted by: Besoeker   2018-03-05 06:34  

#2  "He's totally psycho - he keeps his compaign promises"?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2018-03-05 02:08  

#1  Desperate measures to invoke the 25th amendment now that the Russia story died.
Posted by: Harcourt Angoluting9366   2018-03-05 02:02  

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