Life in Post Democracy Era: The Trump 2/Elon Dictatatorship

[China]

Is Trump looking to start a war with Mexico or Canada with the pretense of protecting Americans from fentanyl?

Trump to declare “illicit” fentanyl “Weapon of Mass Destruction," per draft EO

The heads of the US Departments of Commerce, Defense, Justice and State received a copy of a draft executive order (EO) likely sometime last week stating that President Trump would be designating “illicit” fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction, The Handbasket is first to report.

At a meeting of the Policy Coordination Committee (PCC) hosted by the Homeland Security Council (HSC) on Friday, March 14th, the departments discussed the draft, per a copy of the post-meeting read out shared with me. By this week, the draft was shared with additional employees in the Department of State, per a source there.

Here is the text of the draft in its entirety, a copy of which was also shared with me:

Executive Order Designating Fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction

March __, 2025

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2483), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code.

I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that the sustained influx of synthetic opioids, such as illicit fentanyl, has profound consequences on our Nation, including by killing approximately two hundred Americans per day, putting a severe strain on our healthcare system, ravaging our communities, and destroying our families. Synthetic opioid overdose is the leading cause of death for people aged 18 to 45 in the United States.

The flow of illicit fentanyl into the United States through illicit distribution networks has created a national emergency, including a public health crisis in the United States, as outlined in the Presidential Memorandum of January 20, 2025 (America First Trade Policy), Proclamation 10886 of January 20, 2025 (Declaring a National Emergency at the Southern Border of the United States), and Executive Order 14157 of January 20, 2025 (Designating Cartels and Other Organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists).

Accordingly, immediate action is required to address this national crisis and finally end this unsustainable crisis.

I hereby determine and order:

Section 1. As President of the United States, my highest duty is the defense of the country and its citizens. I will not stand by and allow our citizens to be poisoned by illicit drugs from other countries that are flooding into our country, having our law trampled upon, our communities to be ravaged, or our families to be destroyed. Accordingly, I declare illicit fentanyl to be a Weapon of Mass Destruction as defined in 50 U.S.C. Section 2902

Section 2. Within 14 days of the date of this order, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take all appropriate action, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to make operational recommendations to implement this order.

Section 3. General Provisions. Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

1. the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

2. the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

3. This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

4. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

DONALD J. TRUMP

The White House, March_, 2025.

The EO may be published as early as next week, the Department of State source tells me, but the timeline isn’t confirmed. The source speculates the purpose is a combination of designating fentanyl cartels as terrorist organizations and creating justification for conducting military operations in Mexico and Canada. They also suspect that it will be used domestically as justification for rounding up homeless encampments and deporting drug users who are not citizens.

Click on the link for more

[China]

Trump is claiming credit for plummeting egg costs. So why haven’t you noticed lower prices?

The Trump administration is declaring victory for defeating a massive pain point for inflation-weary Americans: Egg prices are plunging.

“When I took it over, eggs were through the roof, and now eggs are down,” President Donald Trump said Sunday aboard Air Force One.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing Monday that falling egg prices show the administration is working quickly and diligently to solve America’s affordability crisis.

“Wholesale egg prices, they continue to fall. A dozen eggs are now $3.10 cheaper since January 24. That’s a 47% decrease overall,” Leavitt said. “So I think the American people do have great reason to be optimistic about this economy.”

But if you haven’t noticed lower egg prices at the grocery store, you’re not alone.

The reason is a key word Leavitt included: “wholesale.” Those are the prices distributors buy from farmers or middlemen. Consumer prices, which is what you’re charged at the grocery store, aren’t falling – they’re rising.

For the third straight week, wholesale egg prices fell to $4.15 per dozen, according to the US Department of Agriculture, a 30% decrease from the week before when prices were $6.85 a dozen.

But the average price for consumers is $5.90 per dozen eggs, up $0.94 from last month, the USDA notes. That’s because grocery stores may decide to keep prices at a higher price, even when wholesale prices drop, to try to recoup lost profits from prior weeks, noted Kevin Bergquist, sector manager at Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute, in an email to CNN.

Click on the link for the full article

[The Evil Genius]

In Nebraska.

[The Evil Genius]

[CobraCommander]

Meanwhile Musk is on TV crying about how mean people are being to him and all he has ever done is be productive.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Looks like Musk has fucked around and found out, I'd say.

As smart as that guy is, I bet he never once thought that people would be lighting his Teslas on fire and vandalising his dealerships. I'm not really here to say that behavior is acceptable, but I'm also not really about to shed a tear for Elon.

All that guy had to do was not get involved in politics and he'd probably be liked.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Oh, and...it's exceptionally clear why Musk was able to start DOGE. If you ever come across a Trump humper and they start on DOGE...I mean, Elon gave Trump a ton of money, spoke at his rallies, etc. One might argue (and I'm not about to argue this, but I've seen this before) that Trump doesn't win without Musk's influence and money in the last couple months of the campaign. While I don't know enough to agree or disagree with that, it seems plausible.

Anyway, so Trump's beholden to his biggest donor, he let's Elon do whatever the hell Elon wants to do...and it's not a coincidence that Elon goes right after the very departments that are investigating his companies and/or have lawsuits against his companies. USAID was investigating Starlink.

If Elon was truthful about wanting to save a ton of money, he'd start at the DoD. They never pass an audit and they're the biggest spender in the government by far. But Elon isn't about to touch a department where he's got a ton of contracts tied up.

It's so obvious and I've yet to talk to a conservative who thinks this is real.

[Chew]

[China]

Looking to alienate some more government contractors, I see:

Pentagon aims to cut 50,000 to 60,000 civilians

The Pentagon is attempting to reduce the size of its civilian workforce by between 50,000 to 60,000 employees through voluntary workforce reductions, though it remains unclear if it will be able to meet that goal without possibly having to carry out forced reductions in the civilian workforce.

The Defense Department is currently carrying out a voluntary process to reach its goal of a 5% to 8% reduction of its 878,000 civilian employees -- a number that equates to 50,000 to 60,000 employees, a senior defense official told reporters on Tuesday.

"The number sounds high, but I would focus on the percentage, a 5% to 8% reduction is not a drastic one," said the official, who added that the percentage is one that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth "is confident can be done without negatively impacting readiness in order to make sure that our resources are allocated in the right direction."

Click on the link for the full article

[The Evil Genius]