NATIONAL SUPPLY CHAIN DAY UPDATES

Wow – That’s On The Nose, Isn’t It?!

-There is little doubt that Trump and the White House are NOT HAPPY with all the polling to indicate his first 100 days of his second stint in the Oval Office is now historically gawdawful, from the standpoint of pretty much any sane metric you can find. After coming home from his embarrassing doze at the funeral of Pope Francis, Trump went on one of his patented social media benders, naturally blaming the media itself for all the hideous polling that now has general approval numbers below 40% and overall performance on every issue bad and getting worse while also blasting general threats to anyone and everyone not to question what Dear Leader does when it’s all making America great or some such piffle.

-Trump also took a post in that spluge to announce, somewhat oddly, that he would hereby declare that Columbus Day would once again be a celebration of Christopher Columbus and would no longer be “woke” by calling it Indigenous People’s Day.

-The White House itself then pivoted in the first couple days of the week to try to change the story in their uncharming would-be authoritarian way. In a clear attempt to stem the tide of rightfully negative publicity over Trump’s deportations and demands for due process (which Trump whinewheezed “was not PAHsible!” because, well, yeah), reporters appearing outside the White House yesterday they were greeted with placards of dozens of people Stephen Miller and company claim are all vicious gang members that have been expelled from the United States to … somewhere … so that every reporter filing a story would have a nasty brown person in the background of the report and the implicit question of “Why do Democrats want to release these bloodthirsty criminals out on to their street to eat their dogs and cats in front of them – MAGA!?” being asked by their images.

-In addition to that, the Presidential Daily Briefing was shifted from lunch time to 9 am EDT, the better to get the lying of Presidential Spokesblonde Katherine Leavitt out into the world faster and try to establish the day’s Trump Spin. That came in handy just this morning when Amazon announced it would include a line item in purchases going forward to indicate how much of the cost of a given item was in MAGAGOPTrump Tariffs – a move that got denounced from the podium as “a hostile and political act!” and has led to a little bit of backtracking from Amazon Corporate so Jeff Bezos does not unduly jostle the fee-fees of those setting all those exorbitant fees on consumers.

-Leavitt also explained that no, actually, Trump’s demand on Friday to have a team in the NFL draft Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders as a favor to Trump self-declared buddy (and dad) Deion Sanders had nothing to do with Sanders falling deep into the 5^th round on Saturday to be picked up at a bargain basement rate (as well as numerous reports of arrogance and disrespect while being interviewed prior to Draft Day) by the Cleveland Browns – so only give credit to Trump for helping Shedeur finally get drafted, please and thank him like JD Vance says you should.

-The White House seems girded for a potential further downward slide thanks to the aforementioned tariffs, as well as clear acknowledgment that the MAGAGOPTrump Tariffs have been an utter disaster. Last night, it was announced that “exemptions” for certain tariffs that would damage the auto industry will be made today – a clear backtracking from the OOH-TOUGH! Point of the initial tariffs and a victory for our auto-country-making neighbors up north and down south, as well as a nod to what could be imminent shortages thanks to slowdowns from China in retaliation for those ill-advised and worse-conceived-and-implemented tariffs.

-Indeed, there is now fear that Trump’s provocation with China could be severe enough that China may be willing to crash the U.S. economy as a motive to reset their economy in a less capitalistic and more traditional Communist mold, which would have enormous implications worldwide if true. So that’s something to be focused on again. (Erp.)

-The building opposition (we’re a ways beyond being a mere resistance) will again hit the streets to protest all of the above and so much more on Thursday, which is May Day and a day for organized labor to march anyway. That is the overall theme for the 50501Movement and the continued buildup, and a point may soon be coming where opposition will shift to demands for more political leadership – particularly on the alleged Republican side, where 4-5 legislators need stand up to Trump to begin to add heft to the courts’ slowdowns of many of the worst of the Trump/Project 2025 impositions – to act more decisively against Trump.

-Yesterday in New Hampshire, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker made his leadership in these efforts even more overt with a barnburner of a speech calling out Trump atrocities, handcuffing the GOP and MAGA to Trump tightly, then pivoting to demand more from “Do-Nothing Democrats” to defend “Black people and trans kids and immigrants, instead of their own lack of guts and gumption,” then calling on Democrats and others to “fight everywhere and all at once,” adding “Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace.” Naturally the White House called that wanting to start a riot like it was January 6 or something, which Pritzker – clearly on the road to a Presidential campaign in 2028 (if not re-election in 2026) – dismissed as “ridiculous.”

-More dynamic leadership may also be coming to Congress, though in part for a sad reason. Yesterday, VA Rep. Gerry Connolly announced he was going to step down from the Chairmanship of the powerful House Oversight Committee and not run for re-election in 2026, as the 75-year-old longtime Progressive revealed the throat cancer he has been fighting has returned. That illness was one reason Connolly was challenged for that Committee Chair by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has emerged as one of the most powerful anti-Trump voices. Connolly’s seniority combined with an apparent effort by House Emeritus Nancy Pelosi to block AOC from gaining the Chair earlier in the year, but with more Democrats rejecting the calls to lay low amid the aforementioned protests and demands of the base for younger and more forceful leadership, watch this space to see if AOC now gets that Chair and create a very uncomfortable dynamic for MAGAts trying to defend Dear Leader.

-Speaking of Congresscritters leaving their gigs, three of the most noteworthy and addled MAGAts have announced they will be leaving DC to terrorize their home states instead seek to become Governors instead. From the House, hard drive penis Javere Rep. Jame Comer (R-HunteR!) has announced he will explore a run to run Kentucky. In the Senate, vapid Sen. Marsha Blackburn (HaiR Rinse?!) has announced she will be a candidate for Governor of Tennessee, last seen trying to silence young Black Democratic legislators Justin Jones and Justin Pearson through one of the most repressive and freakish hard-right legislative bodies in the country.

-And in Alabama, failed Auburn head coach and candidate for Dumbest Senator Ever, the seemingly always-concussed Tommy Tuberville, has announced his interest in becoming that state’s Governor, which could be amusing because other MAGAts in that state seem perturbed that there is scant evidence Tubs has been a resident of that state anytime in the last 7 years or so – years that also include his totally embarrassing term as a Senator, whose greatest “achievement” was to prevent promotions within the Pentagon for over a year to impose anti-abortion policies in the military. An effort that ended with the promotions happening without the rollback on the abortion policies.

-Speaking of the Pentagon … oh, my, more Petty Atrocities are coming, and these are, again, piled on to the walking Axe Spray/hair gel/budget-basement tequila dope of a Scretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth. Amid the pile of stories of arrogance, danger to our troops, sheer incompetence and zealotry come new revelations from various stories about just how bad he is. Putting aside the latest firing of a former Hegseth aide, Joe Kasper, after first talking down to the Acting Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, then bragging at a staff meeting about “a planet-sized dump” that he had just completed, and finally the perhaps-inevitable rumors about cocaine usage.

-That these are out into the world via leaks from The Pentagon has led to other stories and interviews (Politico, The Hill, Megyn Kelly) that, when he wasn’t posting secret classified information on the public messaging site Signal or allowing his wife in and out of meetings while also displaying portraits of her in Pentagon offices, Hegseth’s two main areas where he was spending his time have been hunting down leaks (D’OH!) and leaving to find enlisted men to work out with them, leaving the nagging job of actually administering the world’s largest bureaucracy or watching over our armed forces to … others.

-And, while thus far the only White House person not to get a job was the excretable Matt Gaetz (and that was just a nomination), a sign that mmmmmaaayyyybbeee Drunky McHoneyPotAnyone’s days may be numbered came in the revelation that Hegseth has, indeed, been spoken to by Dear Leader, and when asked about the conversatin, Trump spathummed “I think he’s gonna get it together … I had a talk with him, a positive talk, but I had a talk with him.” Perhaps Trump really is talking to Chuck Schumer, eh? (And Petey is still in office, tick tock or drip drip?).

-But let’s wrap this update with most excellent news out of Canada, where one of the biggest political turnarounds in this century took place with a clear and direct assist from Donald Trump! As we all have to remember because these are our lives right now, shortly after his election (sigh) Trump began berating then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, incorrectly and nonsensically charged Canada with being an open-air market to the dangerous drug fentanyl, and most frustratingly and oddly continued to refer to Canda as “our 51^st state.” With election imminent, Trudeau’s approval numbers brutal, and Trump acolyte Pierre Poilievre ready to bring MAGA to The Great White North, Trump felt like he could take credit for turning Canada into U.S. with Moose.

-Only, a funny set of things started to happen … Trudeau started to play Trump by first showing up in Mar-a-Lago and then fighting back forcefully at “attacks on Canadian sovereignty.” MAGA and Poilievre and Trump were fused together into becoming a lunkheaded Cerebus monster for Canadians getting ready to head to the polls. Trudeau was replaced as head of Canada’s Liberal Party by Mark Carney, a businessman who took the position and immediately went on the attack against Trump and Poilievre while defending Canada. Finally, Proud Canadian Mike Myers followed up his cameos on Saturday Night Live as Elon Musk with a T-shirt saying ELBOWS UP! – a hockey reference telling his fellow Canadians to throw some checks in the way of anyone trying to horn in on his home country.

-Last night, the perfect storm hit, and an election that was widely assumed to be a Conservative rout with Poilievre as the new Prime Minister instead became a near-full-majority for the Liberal Party. They were five votes short of a full majority, but it is widely believed it will be able to work with other left-wing Canadian political parties (interestingly, the far left New Democratic Party lost seats) to form a working majority with Carney as Prime Minister.

-And Poilievre? While Conservatives did well in the oil-rich provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan (no duh), the Trump yoke their party was forced to put on proved so damaging that Poilievre himself lost his legislative seat to a member of the Liberal Party, once again proving to the world that a Trump endorsement outside of MAGA-ville is The Kiss Of Death for said people not named Trump. Too bad so sad, but time to celebrate with some Tragically Hip and a Molson’s, eh?

-No? Hosers …

-That’s a good note to wrap the updates on – NOW TO THE HISTORY!

-NEWS ON THIS DATE: In 1770, James Cook landed in Australia. In 1945, American forces liberated the Dachau concentration camp. Also in 1945, Adolph Hitler and Eva Braun got married. In 1975, Americans began to evacuate Saigon. In 1990, the Brandenburg Gate began to be torn down. In 1992, Los Angeles exploded in riots after the acquittal of four white police officers for the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King. In 2004, the last Oldsmobile rolled off the assembly line. In 2011, Prince William married Catherine Middleton. In 2018, THE SIMPSONS became the longest-running series in television history.

-DEBUTS ON THIS DATE: Lincoln University, the first Historically Black College and University (1854), Three-Dimensional Television broadcasts (1953), “Respect” (1967), HAIR (1968), the Watergate tapes (1974), The World War II monument (2004).

-HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Duke Ellington, Fred Zinnemann, Tom Ewell, Celeste Holm, George Allen, Toots Thielemans, Rod McKuen, Willie Nelson, Luis Aparicio, Otis Rush, Bernie Parrish, Zubin Metha, Klaus Voormann, Tammi Terrell, Johnny Miller, Tommy James, Debbie Stabenow, Dale Earnhardt, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Nora Dunn, Jerry Seinfeld, Kate Mulgrew, Leslie Jordan, Daniel Day-Lewis, Eve Plumb, Michelle Pfeiffer, Master P., Carnie Wilson, Andre Agassi, Uma Thurman, and Justin Thomas.

-REST IN PEACE/POWER: Ludwig Wittgenstein, Alfred Hitchcock, Mae Clark, Mick Ronson, Mike Royko, John Kenneth Galbraith, Bob Hoskins, Robert Mandan, Gino Marchetti, John Singleton, Billie Hayes, David Birney Tim Bachman, and Wally Dallenbach.

-FEED THE WORMS: William Randolph Hearst, Hirohito, and Bernie Madoff entered Earth on this date.

-TODAY’S MUSIC INTERLUDE: Rest in Peace to Mike Peters, lead singer and songwriter for 80s anthem rockers The Alarm, who died this morning after a 30-year battle with blood cancer: