American Fascism

Foggy Bottom Line Podcast Episode 10: No Kings!

~ R. Stanton Scott ~ Leave a comment

Last Saturday, more than 7 million Americans gathered in cities and small towns across the country (not including thousands more in cities like London) to protest the increasingly authoritarian posture of Trump’s presidency. He is usurping Congress’ Article I spending power, sending federal agents and military forces to occupy and terrorize American cities, and corruptly enriching himself through official acts – more or less like King George.

Scott K and I both attended rallies, and I spoke at the Williamsburg/James City County Indivisible rally in Williamsburg. This week we discuss what we saw at these rallies, how the right wing attempted to discredit them, and how the right responded once they saw the peaceful – almost joyously party vibe – nature of the protests and protestors.

Please take a look and let us know what you think. You can also listen on Spotify.

Thanks!

Trump Fires BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer

~ R. Stanton Scott ~ Leave a comment

Corporations, business owners, investors, and entrepreneurs need accurate data to make good decisions. Every day, organizations and individuals make critical decisions about whether to build a new factory, expand operations, trade securities, and borrow money, among many others.

This makes firing Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erika McEntarfer – on fabricated grounds that the Bureau of Labor Statistics “rigged” data in the most recent jobs report to make Trump look bad – a huge problem for American businesses. American corporations and investors can no longer trust government economic data on the US economy going forward. It’s clear that Trump will quash any bad news and publish only rosy numbers and optimistic projections. 

MAGA will cheer this news and line up to say that if Trump says it’s so then it must be so. The jobs report was rigged and McEntarfer should go to prison! We’re really in great shape on the employment front! The economy is growing! Prices are low again!

Trump has fixed everything! He’s the best President ever!

Others will see this for what it is: an effort to stroke Trump’s ego by tricking people into thinking things are fine when they are not.

Everyone should understand that even if labor data has little or no impact on decisions that affect your bottom line, this will not be the last time Trump cooks the data analysis books to make his policies look better than they really are. He’ll do this again.

Regular people who watch prices on life’s necessities while they can’t find work won’t be fooled by rosy data saying inflation is down and the economy is booming. 

Corporations, business owners, investors, and entrepreneurs won’t be fooled either they see the fabricated upward revisions Trump will expect, and get, from whatever flunky he appoints to the job. They know they’ll be forced to make billion-dollar decisions in an information vacuum. 

If you’re a CEO, small business owner, entrepreneur, or individual investor who supports Trump, this of all things should wake you up, even if extralegal detentions of citizens and lawful US residents did not.

Fingers crossed.

[Cross-posted on LInkedIn with minor edits.]