Trump Tariffs Tank Economy & 4 Weird Signs You’re Getting Older
April 8, 2025
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: Sylvia Plath has something to say about why so many people are desperate for a father figure in politics and religion—even an abusive one.
Trump Tariffs Tank Economy: I’m guessing you’ve heard about this.
Anti-Trump Protesters All Over the World Are Flooding the Streets: Over 1,400 protests worldwide are trying to save our country from driving over the cliff while GOP boosters keep shouting, “Faster! Faster!”
Cory Booker Reminds Democrats What Fighting Back Looks Like: This is what courage looks like. Hope it catches on in Congress.
Democratic-backed judge wins Wisconsin race in setback for Elon Musk: Musk spent over $20 million to buy this election. He failed. Then he complained about the elections being rigged. Classic Elon.
The health industry is starting to express alarm about RFK Jr.: This man is a direct threat to the health and safety of Americans. The truth is out there—he just refuses to see it.
4 Weird Signs You’re Getting Older: Aging brings a lot of unexpected changes.
Kareem’s Video Break: I could watch children getting puppies all day long.
Kareem’s Sports Moments: My stomach clenched from the first frame of this video.
Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald Sing “The Lady Is a Tramp”: Two jazz greats sing a classic tune.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
You do not do, you do not do
Any more, black shoe
In which I have lived like a foot
For thirty years, poor and white,
Barely daring to breathe or Achoo.
Sylvia Plath (1932-1963), American poet and author
Sylvia Plath’s defiant poem about the abusive and oppressive influence of the father portrayed is one of the most famous in the American canon. (Her father died when she was eight.) This poem popped into my mind while reading a startling article from Buzzfeed that asked its readers who voted for Trump to comment on how they plan to vote in the mid-term elections. Some expressed regret at voting for Trump given the disturbing and destructive actions he and his gangster administration have taken. But I was shocked by how many dug their heels in, ignoring the lightning storm around them by choosing instead to stand in an open field holding onto an iron tower.
Here’s a typical response from the article:
I have always been a voter of Donald Trump since he entered the presidential race in 2015. He has evolved and adapted, and this is the best he’s been. Almost being assassinated made him more humble and relatable. I will only vote for common sense Republicans and not far-left lunatic liberals who hate this country.
Here’s another one:
It won't change! I agree with everything that President Trump is doing. I am sick and tired of the wasteful and corrupt government of the past four years and the previous eight years before President Trump's first term. I'm not ashamed to say it.
Everything about both statements is wrong, illogical, and lacking any grasp on reality. I realize that neither of these respondents would ever be swayed by facts or logic, so it would be a waste of time to try. So, you’re probably asking yourself, “Kareem, what does this have to do with Sylvia Plath’s disturbing poem?” Well, after reading those sad responses, I pondered why people like this are so obsessed with Trump that their loyalty is more a compulsive fetish than a healthy choice.
There are many answers to that question, and I’ve explored them all. But one of the main ones is the pathological need for a judgmental father figure. To them, Trump embodies the characteristics of an Old Testament God: angry, vengeful, and demanding unquestioning loyalty. Follow the rules without exception or face some serious smiting. These are the characteristics that many men have chosen to shape their parenting, some to the point of emotional abuse.
There comes a time when adults must be able to make choices that may disappoint or anger their fathers but define them as independent thinkers and beings. Otherwise, they’ll go through life like obedient sons Don Jr. and Eric, who are nothing but faded photocopies of their father’s ass.
Trump lives in his heavenly abode surrounded by cherub billionaires issuing commandments for the earthbound clods. To his followers, it feels good not to have to make tough moral decisions, simply follow orders. The burden of choice is removed and as a bonus, they feel virtuous for doing what Daddy wants.
Rome burns. Trump plays golf. His minions applaud.
For the rest of us, we’re living in a tightly laced shoe, “Barely daring to breathe or Achoo.” Yet, there is hope for a turnaround at the end of Plath’s poem when she declares:
There's a stake in your fat black heart
And the villagers never liked you.
They are dancing and stamping on you.
They always knew it was you.
Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm through.