Cassidy Steele Dale writes to equip you with the forecasts, foresight skills and perspectives, and tools you may need to create a better, kinder world.
Rachel Maddow's been saying a true thing all week, which is that the worse Trump's poll numbers fall, the more extreme things he will do. Which will put us into a fast, furious spin: extreme actions > falling poll numbers > bigger Trump freakout > even more extreme actions. Wash, repeat until the government falls.
(And Americans don't do falling government. It's not like Canada, where you can declare no-confidence and call a snap election to form a new administration. So that's going to be fun.)
I am not the least surprised about how this has gone down. I'm the one who, on Inauguration Day, was so sure this was coming that I'd left the country 48 hours before his hand went on the Bible. And I won't be heading back.
When the local hospital and nursing homes close due to Medicaid cuts, when their jobs are wiped out, when there's nothing on the shelves at the grocery store, yeah... they'll catch on. And they will be pissed.
Actually, they're going to be pissed sooner than that: Trump's already basically eliminated FEMA, and denied "assistance for tornadoes in Arkansas, flooding in West Virginia and a windstorm in Washington state. It also has refused North Carolina’s request for extended relief funding in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene."
Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said “States must have adequate emergency management staff, adoption and enforcement of modern building codes, responsible planning and strategic investment to reduce future risk, commonsense policies that prioritize preparedness over politics, disaster reserve funds to handle what should be routine emergencies, pre-negotiated mutual aid and contingency contracts that speed up recovery, and above all, an appetite to own the problem."
In other words, states are on their own, because all the disaster money has to go to more tax cuts for the billionaires. As I said, they'll catch on...
Cities like San Diego and El Paso, within miles (or on) the border could see the "Fort Huachuca" action expanded north to cover the city limits.
Rachel Maddow's been saying a true thing all week, which is that the worse Trump's poll numbers fall, the more extreme things he will do. Which will put us into a fast, furious spin: extreme actions > falling poll numbers > bigger Trump freakout > even more extreme actions. Wash, repeat until the government falls.
(And Americans don't do falling government. It's not like Canada, where you can declare no-confidence and call a snap election to form a new administration. So that's going to be fun.)
I am not the least surprised about how this has gone down. I'm the one who, on Inauguration Day, was so sure this was coming that I'd left the country 48 hours before his hand went on the Bible. And I won't be heading back.
When the local hospital and nursing homes close due to Medicaid cuts, when their jobs are wiped out, when there's nothing on the shelves at the grocery store, yeah... they'll catch on. And they will be pissed.
Actually, they're going to be pissed sooner than that: Trump's already basically eliminated FEMA, and denied "assistance for tornadoes in Arkansas, flooding in West Virginia and a windstorm in Washington state. It also has refused North Carolina’s request for extended relief funding in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene."
Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said “States must have adequate emergency management staff, adoption and enforcement of modern building codes, responsible planning and strategic investment to reduce future risk, commonsense policies that prioritize preparedness over politics, disaster reserve funds to handle what should be routine emergencies, pre-negotiated mutual aid and contingency contracts that speed up recovery, and above all, an appetite to own the problem."
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/04/28/trump-denies-disaster-aid-tells-states-to-do-more/
In other words, states are on their own, because all the disaster money has to go to more tax cuts for the billionaires. As I said, they'll catch on...
"It will gain people he betrayed." And they will bring the zeal of the converted.