The Week that Was ...
Ending Sunday, February 16, 2025
Welcome to the latest edition of The Week that Was, my rundown of what happened last week, curated, in the loosest sense of the word, for your reading pleasure, or displeasure.
Some of the lowlights include:
The self-pity of the incredibly well-paid Democratic Party establishment;
Inflation!
Tariffs;
Foreign Policy: Vance deploys debate team tactics and Hegseth staggers into blunders;
Mayor Adams gets a probably illegal break; and
More awfulness than can fit into this small space.
Some of the links below have paywalls. I’ve used more pay-wall free links than in the past, to facilitate your reading.
1. Photo of the Week
Sandinistas at the walls of the Estelí National Guard headquarters, 1978–79
Credit: © Susan Meiselas
2. A Terrible Week Starts off Silly but Not Funny
This is a post on X of AI-generated images of President Macron of France. These are not parodies or meant in jest of meant to ridicule Macron. He commissioned and posted these himself, to demonstrate the potential of AI and to tout achievements of French AI engineers in AI. You read that right.
French President Macron Touts AI with Computer Generated Images of Himself that You Cannot Unsee
3. The Democratic Party Establishment Reaches New Heights of Self-Pity
Two Parties, One Class
“The Republican and Democratic parties, or, to be more exact, the Republican-Democratic party, represent the capitalist class in the class struggle. They are the political wings of the capitalist system and such differences as arise between them relate to spoils and not to principles.”
-- Eugene V. Debs, September 1, 1904, Indianapolis, Indiana
As harsh as Debs’ view of the two party system sounds (I call it the “two party habit”), I have to conclude that it is largely correct. That is not to say that I do not prefer the Democratic Party part of the Republican-Democratic party, because I do. It’s definitely less threatening.
But the truth is that Eugene Debs was right in that our two main large political parties do not have fundamentally different outlooks as regards economic structures. Both parties accept the primacy of an investor class. The disagreement is over which investors. There is also disagreement over tactics in reaching voters.
Now, having lost miserably in 2024, following a similar miserable loss in 2016, the Democratic Party establishment is in the midst of blame seeking disguised as soul searching. And trying to rebuild connections with investors, excuse me, donors.
“Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries quietly met with more than 150 Silicon Valley-based donors last week in California — an early step in Democrats’ efforts to repair relationships with a once-deep blue constituency.
“The meet-and-greet, in tony Los Altos Hills, came at a precarious moment for Democrats in the tech world, which has lurched rightward in the second Donald Trump era.”
“’There is a significant fear that these tech folks, who have been with us for a long time, will say, ‘fuck it, we’re going with the other guys,’ said Alex Hoffman, a Democratic donor adviser who works with donors across the country but did not attend the event. ‘These donors are also pissed, watching former and current colleagues have unlimited, unchecked power, and getting richer off of this and they’re not.’” [Emphasis added]
“In his remarks, Jeffries concentrated on how Democrats planned to retake the House in 2026. He said Democrats were reaching toward the center, while Trump will swing harder right, [Emphasis added]according to the first attendee, who took notes on the presentation.”
Moving to the center when it’s already fundamentally conservative? Nice. I assume that Rep. Jeffries believes that Democrats who don’t like the already fundamentally conservative nature of the Democratic Party establishment have no other place to go. That’s false. They can found another party. Which is what happened in Mexico in 2008, leading to the election of AMLO in 2018 and Claudia Sheinbaum in 2024.
Hakeem Jeffries met privately with Silicon Valley donors in bid to ‘mend fences.’
Behind all of Jeffries’s fence mending, or supplication, is a self-pity party in Washington. Large numbers of Democratic voters have been calling their representatives and Senators and voicing their concerns. The phones were ringing off the hook, so these elected persons, who serve at our pleasure (in theory), just allowed countless calls to go to their taxpayer funded voicemail boxes, where the messages are easily deleted.
“A closed-door meeting for House Democrats this week included a gripe-fest directed at liberal grassroots organizations, sources tell Axios.
“Why it matters: Members of the Steering and Policy Committee — with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) in the room — on Monday complained activist groups like MoveOn and Indivisible have facilitated thousands of phone calls to members' offices.”
You read that right.
"People are pissed," a senior House Democrat who was at the meeting said of lawmakers' reaction to the calls.
“Zoom in: "There were a lot of people who were like, 'We've got to stop the groups from doing this.' ... People are concerned that they're saying we're not doing enough, but we're not in the majority," said one member.”
“We’re not in the majority.” Meaning fewer investor donations.
Scoop: Dems "pissed" at liberal groups MoveOn, Indivisible
However, perhaps matching the self-pity is the level of obliviousness.
“… some of the country’s biggest liberal donors have paused giving, frustrated with what they see as Democrats’ lack of vision and worried about retaliation from a vengeful president.
“’There are people who were absolutely against Trump, never Trumpers, who fear that they’ll be retaliated against and they’ll have to leave the country,’ Mr. Skoll said. ‘Folks who wish to oppose him — it may take some time before they gather up the courage.’”
These remarks and this thinking comes from people who preached endlessly about the “rules-based” order and the “rule of law.” And now they see that these rules were essentially conventions to enable their own power.
In a somewhat different context, Samuel Goldwyn remarked:
“An oral agreement is not worth the paper it’s written on.”
And some are even openly, if inadvertently, talking about investments.
“Not everyone is dialing back. On Wednesday, aides to George Soros, one of the Democratic Party’s largest donors, helped gather a number of major contributors and players in Washington, including Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey and Tina Smith of Minnesota. The group talked about the progressive media landscape and plotted future investments [emphasis added], according to three people with knowledge of the event, who insisted on anonymity because it was private.”
“But some donors are putting new requirements on the cash they hand out. Many remain frustrated that the $1.5 billion frenzy of spending to elect former Vice President Kamala Harris resulted in defeat.
“They want to know what, exactly, Democrats plan to do differently in the future. Some are demanding more detailed information about the plans and specific targets of liberal groups — including the main pro-Harris super PAC, Future Forward — and candidates before continuing their contributions.”
Appallingly, some of these guys think the problem was getting rid of Biden. Although the Democratic Party establishment knew of his cognitive challenges as early as 2020, during the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, as detailed in the Wall Street Journal (The World Saw Biden Deteriorating. Democrats Ignored the Warnings and How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden in Charge). (Biden placed fourth both times, and many people who saw him in person reported that they were less likely to vote for him after seeing him than before. Essentially, the pandemic allowed for Biden’s election, both by making Trump look even more ridiculous (remember injecting Chlorox?) and by allowing Biden to campaign from his beach house.
“Late last month, Dmitri Mehlhorn, a former adviser to Mr. Hoffman who remains close to him, emailed his political list complaining that Democrats should not have committed what he called “Bidencide” by pressuring the former president to exit the race.”
That’s when they’re not saying Biden dropped out to soon. Or blaming people who care about the country for being so concerned.
At least some observers are laying out a strategy:
“First, vigorous procedural delay.
“Second, convene and spotlight.
“Congressional Democrats can also do more on basic legal protection of the institution.
“Finally, they can go on offense, forcing Trump and Republicans to either help Americans, or clearly demonstrate that they don’t want to.”
Pay Less Attention to That Man in Front of the Curtain
E.J. Dionne had some thoughts on this:
“Democrats who want to save the nation — and their party — need to end their malaise, mobilize their supporters and fight for something that matters. If our constitutional democracy doesn’t matter, I don’t know what does.
“Democrats have a bad habit of pulling back from thorny matters by saying: ‘Oh, voters don’t really care about this issue.’ What Republicans understand is that voters often notice an issue only if a party is persistent enough in forcing it into the public conversation. [emphasis added]”
Democrats, Trump has given you a mission. Accept all of it.
Reality Check vis-à-vis Latino voters
Another of the appalling areas of blame casting has been at Latino/a voters, particularly male Latino voters, as the masculine gender (in Spanish) signifies. Stereotypes such as they are too macho or they don’t support abortion rights mask the naked entitlement with which the Democratic Party establishment approaches minority voters. The attitude seems to be “you’re supposed to vote for us.”
Well, guess what? Latino and Latina voters voted for Harris by a large margin, although somewhat lower than for Biden in 2020.
Poll Tracker: The Latino Vote in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election
And not only that, despite reports that Trump did better with Latino voters than any Republican in the past ever are also false. Look at 2004:
How Latinos voted in presidential elections since 1976
Allow me to suggest that Senator Ruben Gallago of Arizona, elected 2024, has some insights:
“The big question for Democrats is what it means to be an effective opposition party, …
“The risk is always there. We can’t be afraid of failing. I think that’s the biggest mistake I’ve seen Democrats make. We’re always afraid of failing, so we don’t take risks. It’s OK for us to recognize that that is a potential fallback. But we could also be working to mitigate it. What does that look like? Making sure that we meet the moment where the American public is. Making sure that we’re showing them that we’re the ones that are trying to, No. 1, protect the Constitution. No. 2, fighting for you. Because all this BS that’s happening right now? Prices are still high. The cost of eggs is still high. People can’t buy homes.”
Senator Ruben Gallego on the Democrats’ Problem: ‘We’re Always Afraid’
All of this can be chalked up to the Iron Law of Institutions.
“The people who control institutions care first and foremost about their power within the institution rather than the power of the institution itself. Thus, they would rather the institution ‘fail’ while they remain in power within the institution than for the institution to ‘succeed’ if that requires them to lose power within the institution.”
In 2008, I donated some small sums to Barack Obama’s campaign for the Presidency. One unanticipated side benefit of this has been an unending stream of emails from various establishment Democratic Party organization. None of interest or note, or displaying concern, creative, or engagement. They all ask for money, though.
Email is free, of course. But someone was paid to create these, and I’m sure it not a pittance.
4. Foreign Policy: Give Us Your Rare Earths, and We Still Will Do Nothing to Help
Ukraine Games
The Trump administration upped its extortion strategy against Ukraine while also deciding to negotiate directly with Russia, bypassing Ukraine and the European Union as well as NATO.
Trump’s call with Putin ends U.S. efforts to isolate Russia
Russia rejoices at Trump-Putin call as Zelenskyy rejects talks without Ukraine present
US presented Ukraine with a document to access its minerals but offered almost nothing in return
Ukraine rejects initial Trump request for half its rare mineral wealth
Vance Advances
Meanwhile, Vice President Vance advanced on the European front.
First, he attended the AI summit in Paris
Vance makes his debut as VP on the international stage at a high-stakes AI summit in Paris
He had the gall to criticize Europe for not upholding “shared values” of democracy and freedom.
Then he met with the leader of the German far-right party.
US Vice President JD Vance meets German far-right leader as he criticizes ‘firewalls’ in Europe
He thereby alienated the man who is overwhelmingly likely to be the German Chancellor after next Sunday’s national election.
German opposition leader joins rebuke of Vance criticism
Meanwhile, Trump’s newly minted Secretary of Defense behaved so staggeringly stupid that Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi said it was moronic.
“’He made a rookie mistake in Brussels,’ Senator Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican who heads the Armed Services Committee, told Politico on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, referring to the secretary’s comment on Ukraine’s borders.
“’I don’t know who wrote the speech — it is the kind of thing Tucker Carlson could have written, and Carlson is a fool,’ said Mr. Wicker, referring to the conservative media personality and former Fox News host.”
Hegseth’s Bruising 72-Hour Debut Overseas
Explainer
Adam Tooze had some insightful things to say about these events:
“MAGA is full of ****. If you don’t know this yet you have not been paying attention. They say and do stupid things that gesture towards a nationalist populist strategy in a flailing way. But most of their utterances are incoherent word salad masquerading as policy. This doesn’t mean that the project 2025 people are not dangerous. They are. So too is Musk. But the political figure heads are playing a different game, mainly about right-wing, nationalist, racist vibes.
“Last week, Europe got a dose of MAGA at the Munich Security Conference - the annual gathering of the Atlanticist security policy elite. The fact that Vice-President J.D. Vance’s speech came as a serious shock is a sign of just how willfully blind the European political class has been and particularly that in Germany.
“J.D. Vance is more coherent than his boss and more charming. But in his thinking and speech too, the relationship between any actual problem in the world and the policies that are notionally addressed to that problem, be it tariffs, the value of the dollar, slashing government bureaucracy, mass deportations and tariffs, is oblique. The primary is not actually to fit policy to purpose, but to perform the elementary political function of drawing lines, of provoking antagonism, of finding out who is friend and who is enemy.
“Vance isn’t dumb, nor are his speech writers, so they adopted a clever debaters stance towards stirring up the Munich conference. Don’t talk about security. Don’t talk about actual threats. Talk about ‘what it is’ we are defending and hit them with ‘democracy’ the fetish of the Atlanticist alliance, then drive in a MAGA wedge or two, light the fuse, stand back and watch the fireworks. It’s an approach any smart law school team with a bit of IR under their belts would adopt. That this was enough to blow up Munich and provoke comparisons with Putin’s far weightier speech in 2007, is a sign of the times.”
Chartbook 353 How Munich got Maga-ed, or Vance, bull**** & the European furore
The Law of Unintended Consequences
All actions have consequences which the actor who started didn’t see coming. This is the Law of Unintended Consequences.
“The law of unintended consequences is a frequently-observed phenomenon in which any action has results that are not part of the actor's purpose.”
Or as von Clausewitz the Younger put it (I’m paraphrasing), no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy.
Or as they say in the U.S. military, “The enemy gets a vote.”
The European Union is going to finally take the desperately needed measure of lifting the fiscal guidelines that are holding Europe back. Unfortunately, it’s for defense rather than infrastructure, but at least it’s a start.
Von der Leyen: “Suspend budget rules for defence spending”
5. Mayor Adams Gets a Reprieve
Trump didn’t even have to pardon Adams. He just ordered his justice department. (Remember rule of law? What a cruel joke.)
Attorney general will ‘look into’ why criminal case against NYC mayor hasn’t been dropped yet
What to know about the Trump administration moving to drop corruption charges against NYC mayor
New York mayor vows to regain public’s trust after Justice Department orders halt to prosecution
Order to drop New York Mayor Adams’ case roils Justice Department as high-ranking officials resign
6. Inflation Watch
Inflation
Inflation is getting worse.
“U.S. inflation accelerated last month as the cost of groceries, gasoline and rents rose, a disappointment for families and businesses struggling with higher costs and likely underscoring the Federal Reserve’s resolve to delay further interest rate cuts.”
US inflation got worse with rising prices on groceries and gasoline
7. To Tariff Redux or Is It Permanent Caprice?
More tariffs! 1.5% of Mexico’s exports to the U.S.A. are steel and aluminum; for Canada, it’s a whopping 4.5%.
Trump says he will announce 25% steel and aluminum tariffs Monday, and more import duties are coming
This is unclear, although it sounds like the paragon of fairness and decency. But it seems that Trump seems to believe that the European value added tax, a type of sales tax, is, in Trump’s view, a tariff.
Has he noticed that most U.S. states have a sales tax?
Trump signs a plan for reciprocal tariffs on US trading partners, ushering in economic uncertainty
8. The Future of the U.S.
The below-linked video was created twelve years ago, in 2012. Unfortunately, it’s more true than ever.
9. Annals of Expulsion, or Trump Is Doing Worse than Biden in Numbers
Numbers: Sleepy Joe Deported More
The Trump Administration is good at putting on shows; its skills in factual analysis are less. So, let’s do a little analysis, shall we?
“ICE arrests have sagged so far this month, according to data provided by the Department of Homeland Security, declining from about 800 per day in late January after Trump took office to fewer than 600 during the first 13 days of February. The administration has stopped publishing daily numbers, and Trump officials said they will release the data on a monthly basis to conserve resources. It is a level well below the Trump administration’s goal of 1,200 to 1,500 arrests per day.
“’I’m not happy. We need more‚’ Tom Homan, Trump’s designated ‘border czar,’ said Thursday on Newsmax. He did not respond to a request for comment.”
“I’m not happy. We need more.” Such humanity.
ICE struggles to boost arrest numbers despite infusion of resources
10. Israel Confronts Its Own Citizens Spying for Iran
It seems that greed and corruption and cynicism may be contagious.
“Yoram Peri, a professor emeritus of Israel studies at the University of Maryland, told me that ‘Israeli society is sliding into a dangerous state of implosion.’ Peri believes that Netanyahu’s attempts to nobble the judiciary and control the media have contributed to the ‘deterioration of the old traditional institutions” and a general decline in respect for the law. “No wonder that in such a chaotic reality, more and more Israelis have less and less inhibitions and are ready to break the taboo that you don’t betray your country,’ he said.”
11. Keeping Informed and Fighting Back
Below are two sites where you can keep informed and see what is going on and whom to support in fighting back.
Rounding up what happened with Elon Musk and DOGE this week
Below is a link to all of the litigation actions going on. It’s updated frequently, I might add.
Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
12. The Perils of Cheap Solar Power
The Economist reports that solar panels are hurting utilities, and that this is a problem. SMH.
Cheap solar power is sending electrical grids into a death spiral