Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, and Debt:
Trump taps Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to slash gov’t with ‘DOGE’
What could possibly go wrong?
Shell wins landmark climate case against green groups in Dutch appeal
Trump Eyes Pro-Crypto Candidates
President-elect Donald Trump is preparing the U.S. government to adopt a more permissive stance toward cryptocurrency, eyeing a roster of industry-friendly candidates for key posts while his top advisers consult crypto executives on potential changes to federal policy.
Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:
When Long COVID Worsens Preexisting Chronic Conditions
Politics:
A SCOTUS Short-Lister Has Flip-Flopped to Embrace One of Trump’s Worst Positions
Putin Was Close to Launching a Nuke in Ukraine
Vladimir Putin was so close to letting off a nuke in October 2022 that crisis meetings were held over the fallout hitting Britain.
Ex-PM Liz Truss spent her final days in office studying weather maps and preparing for UK radiation cases after American spies feared the Kremlin tyrant was hours from pressing the button.
An American retreat from liberal democracy—a precious yet vulnerable inheritance—would be a calamity. Indifference is a form of surrender. Indifference to mass deportations would signal an abnegation of one of the nation’s guiding promises.
Vladimir Putin welcomes Trump’s return not only because it makes his life immeasurably easier in his determination to subjugate a free and sovereign Ukraine but because it validates his assertion that American democracy is a sham—that there is no democracy. All that matters is power and self-interest. The rest is sanctimony and hypocrisy. Putin reminds us that liberal democracy is not a permanence; it can turn out to be an episode.
I’m guessing that the “mass deportations” that MAGAs voted for aren’t going to be the tens of millions that they hoped for. The big numbers will be in the population of concentration camps run by private companies. The opportunities for graft there will far outweigh the grifting that deportations would provide.
If anyone believed the nonsense about Donald Trump’s second term shifting away from chaos and towards ruthless efficiency his initial personnel rollout is putting that to rest. We’re going to have four more years of chaos and inept presidenting. Keeping in mind that incompetence is at least and probably more dangerous than ruthless efficiency.
A few things spark this. One is that he’s rolling out his picks in a totally arbitrary, willy-nilly fashion; presidents-elect who know what they’re doing don’t start with the UN ambassador and the head of the EPA before they get around Secretaries of Treasury and State (which is now to go to Marco Rubio, unless it doesn’t). And also neither of those selections, Elise Stefanik and Lee Zeldin, have subject-matter experience. Which isn’t the end of the world for a cabinet-level pick, but it’s not exactly a plus, either.
Oh, also, Trump has already selected two sitting Members of the House (Stefanik and National Security Advisor designate Micahel Waltz) for his administration despite the ongoing vote-counting still leaving the size of what appears to be a tiny Republican House majority up for grabs, with the most likely outcome a tiny 220-215 majority and a possibility of a more tiny 219-216 or even 218-217.
Rick Scott’s MAGA Momentum Backfires in Senate
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) may be the MAGA media darling, but some of his colleagues are bristling at the public pressure on their secret voting process to elect Mitch McConnell’s Senate Republican leader successor on Wednesday.
Senate GOP sources tell us Scott’s weekend momentum — especially without an endorsement from President-elect Trump — is starting to backfire.
Said one Republican: “At this point I won’t vote for him for anything ever.”
Trump Allies Lay Groundwork for Massive New Tariffs
President-elect Donald Trump’s former trade chief and those close to him are preparing to aggressively sell their plans for massive new tariffs on imports that will go far beyond anything seen in Trump’s first term.
Justices Reject Mark Meadows’ Request to Move Case
The Supreme Court declined Tuesday to let Mark Meadows move his Georgia election subversion case to federal court, effectively barring the former chief of staff during Donald Trump’s first term from claiming immunity from those charges.
