The World Turned Upside Down

As I sit typing my usual gibberish into an old laptop, it is Sunday, October 19th. 244 years ago on this day, Lord Cornwallis, actually his second in command, surrendered to George Washington and his French allies after the last land battle in the American Revolution at Yorktown, New York. Legend says, his regimental band played an old English ballad, "The World Turned Upside Down."

Indeed it had, and the new nation had shed its old trappings of royal rule and embarked on an, at times imperfect, journey to now as a constitutional republic. Along the way, we finally figured out (the hard way) that you shouldn't own other human beings, everyone should be allowed to vote, stealing land from whole nations of people is wrong (though we did it anyway), and no matter what King George III sang in "Hamilton," we didn't come back.

Though we take a curiously avid interest in the doings of the British Royal household, we don't really want one of our own. There have been political family dynasties, Adams, Roosevelt, Kennedy and Bush come to mind, but no real ruling dynasty. And we put together a constitution to lay down the ground rules. They were pretty clear.

We didn't want one person starting wars on a whim. We didn't want one person deciding how much money we spend and where to spend it. We didn't want one person levying taxes on his own. We didn't want one person deciding who gets to live here and who has to leave. We didn't want one person sending troops to run our cities like King George did. Ah, I tipped my hand, didn't I.

The decisions I just listed were given by our Founders to the US Congress, a bicameral body representing the people of the country and caucusing and voting on all of the above. Except they don't, really anymore. All of these calls were indeed made by one man, the man that millions of people gathered in the streets Saturday to protest. And his response? It was as dignified as befits the office, and respectful of our first amendment rights as you have come to expect...

Let me give you a couple of quick examples. We are blowing up speedboats in international waters. Are they carrying drugs from Venezuela? They could well be, but we don't know. Do we like Nicolas Maduro, the truly illegitimate leader of the country? Of course not. He is a dictator that ignored an election defeat and continues to rule. The woman who defied him is in hiding and just got the Nobel Peace Prize.

So, we go to war? Trump announced it in a press conference. So, the congress reacted to this usurpation of their power, right? Well, if you count Rand Paul, Lisa Murkowski and all of the Democrats. The majority of Republicans have remained silent. So, the B-52's are in the air. And the attitude of our leadership?

How hinky is this not-so-secret secret new war? Between the fifth and sixth boat attacks, US Admiral Alvin Holsey retired — two years before the scheduled end of his tour of duty. He was overseer of operations in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean as head of the US military’s Southern Command, has 37 years of experience, and the New York Times says he got pushed out after reportedly clashing with Pete Hegseth about the legality of the strikes. Of which there is none.

Trump has imposed tariffs that are actually a tax on American companies and American consumers. Tariffs are the purview of Congress, but not these days. Oh, the latest analysis of the tariff revenue shows it is indeed considerable, but 55% of it is paid by you and me at the store. The rest by American companies who now have less money to hire more workers.

But we need more revenue to pay for the incredibly irresponsible tax cut bill passed earlier this year. I won't use that goofy monicker, the "Big Beautiful Bill" because it is anything but. It insures that insane levels or debt are in the offing. J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s chief global strategist, David Kelly, issued a stark warning this week about America’s deteriorating fiscal outlook. 

"The question I am asked most frequently by investors and financial advisors is when is the federal debt going to blow up in all of our faces. My usual answer is that, while we are going broke, we are going broke slowly. Global bond markets are very well aware of the trajectory of U.S. debt. The fact that even today, the U.S. government can borrow money for 30 years at a yield of just 4.6% speaks to a conviction that there remains room for the government to borrow more."

The consumer price level from all 2025 tariffs rises by 1.3% in the short-run, the equivalent of an average per household income loss of $1,800 in 2025. We have lost trading partners over this, most notably China. Farmers are harvesting crops now, normally a great time of the year, but there are few buyers. Farmers are going broke, and the government will have to bail them out as a result of this incompetence.

Ask the average American who is paying for all this, and they'll probably say the same thing the President says. It's our trading partners who pay, but they are all wrong. It's us.

The President is moving money around and canceling programs and whole departments that the Congress established or voted for. And the Supreme Court, an invertebrate collection of microorganisms in black robes, will let it all happen.

We are even sending $40-billion to this guy...

That's Javier Milei, the President of Argentina, the guy who gave Elon Musk a chainsaw at a rally.

And the result of all this on the economy, job creation is down, the debt is soaring, and inflation is returning. At least we don't have British soldiers patrolling our streets, right?

Hold on, I got the wrong photo...

Now, that's money well spent. And of course, except for the minority, not a peep from Congress.

So, how has all this gone down with the American public? Despite all of this, and all the lies and broken promises, still reasonably well. Part of that is a boost from the Israel-Hamas cease-fire, and that is a genuine accomplishment. But on the economy and immigration, the heavy-handed tactics have soured many, and those ratings are well down in the 30% range.

It will be interesting, since he has burnished his foreign policy credentials with the Israeli deal, when he adopts all of Putin's talking points and betrays Ukraine, which seems to be in the offing. His meeting with Zelensky this past week was said to be contentious and profane. And Ukraine isn't getting Tomahawks.

Sounds like we need more complaints about trans athletes, or something.

But look at it this way. Some other jets are on the way. The President gets a 747 from Qatar to go with the $100,000 gold Trump watch he is hawking again.

Yes, he's made another sales pitch for these watches. By the way, the most expensive new gold Rolex is just under $50K. If you have $100K burning a hole in your pocket, buy one of those instead and use the other 50 for a summer in Europe.

As for other jets, the government just bought Homeland Security Secretary and part-time rodeo queen Kristi Noem a pair of new business jets because the old ones were just too, well, old, for $172-million.

But the President has made one bold move that is sure to go down well with the public. He has pardoned former congressman and Apollo 11 astronaut George Santos.

It's the least you can do for the man who also saved Private Ryan.