Finding Sanity Amidst Political Turmoil
The United States continues to experience political chaos, whether because of tariffs against Canada, China, and Mexico, frivolous lawsuits against CBS by President Trump, or the decimation of DEI. But, somehow, we have to find our sanity.
Time for Coffee
Welcome to the second episode of Morning Coffee with me, Professor Alex. Since it’s only our second show, you might be wondering why I’m in a robe. Well, it’s morning coffee! In my first video yesterday, I explained that there are many things I want to talk about, but I don’t always have the time to make videos or write blogs about them. Some things just escape the media, and I wanted to talk about them, but fitting it all in can be challenging. So, I thought, why not talk about it during my morning coffee?
Listen to this podcast.
When you’re 52 years old, old habits die hard. I’m not about to jump out of my robe just to drink coffee because this is how I enjoy my coffee. So, you guys are stuck with me looking like this. I’m sorry, but there are other videos where I’m wearing a normal shirt, not a bathrobe.
So, first things first: good morning to you. And yes, there is coffee in here. I don’t know if you can see it there, but there is coffee. This is my first cup of the day, and it’s Sunday, so there will be two cups of coffee today. There’s a lot to talk about what’s happened over the last 48 hours. So much so that I had to write this down. There’s one particular thing I want to focus on.
President Trump’s Attack on California
First, if you’ve been paying attention, you know that President Trump released the water in the reservoirs in California. People on social media are making fun of it, saying it’s like there’s a faucet you can just turn. But President Trump has released water to the reservoirs in California through the Army Corps of Engineers.
The problem is that President Trump should coordinate with state and local officials because that water is supposed to be used for farmers. Supposedly, the water will evaporate by the time summer comes around. This is part of the chaos and shows that President Trump is trying to meddle in the business of states, which is going to create bigger problems.
But there’s that issue, and we also have the tariffs. I’ve written endless blogs and made videos about the tariffs against Canada, China, and Mexico. Please make sure to review those because you’ll see how they start to affect you, whether directly or indirectly.
The Unprovoked Tariff War with Canada
It seems the tariffs with Canada are at 25%, with Mexico and China at 10%. Why is there a 25% tariff on Canada? Your guess is as good as mine. Nobody has any idea that Canada is our ally. I will say that a lot of the lumber used for housing in the northern part of the United States comes from Canada. So housing just got more expensive.
Supposedly, Canada is now taxing just the Republican states, so keep that in mind. More chaos. This is what happens now. We have the DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) issues that have been ongoing for a while.
Certain things, like getting rid of Black History Month—not completely getting rid of it, but basically not paying attention to it, like it’s the elephant in the room. Apparently, that’s going to be the new trend now.
DEI also includes Black History Month. I think there’s a whole month, LGBTQ or Pride Month, too, so I’m not sure which month, but it seems like silliness. But this is all part of the chaos.
There was an accident with the plane. The National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) had gotten emails, I think, about 8 days before that, saying that they had to either resign or take a buyout package.
Officials were scrambling, trying to tell their people that the Executive Branch has no control over them. We don’t listen to them. And yet, this is part of the chaos. Of course, Elon Musk wanted to get rid of the head of the NTSB just because he had fined him $600,000. So again, chaos.
I’m going to focus on one particular thing now. But before I get there, I should mention that there were no eggs at Walmart yesterday. Most of the gas stations I went to were limited on gas. Just a few pumps were open with the lowest octane available. When I went to play golf, they increased the DOS by 5%. As far as I’m concerned, this is all related somehow to the insanity we’re going through.
The First Amendment?
Now here’s what I really wanted to focus on. There is an actual lawsuit by President Trump related to an interview that Kamala Harris had with CBS, claiming the interview was edited. All interviews are edited. They might interview someone for 20-30 minutes to an hour, and not all of it will fit into the show.
With streaming, they often say to go online to see the full interview, but there’s always going to be editing. You can tell when they ask a question and then jump to the next one. That’s editing for time. There’s really no issue there.
President Trump Becomes the Union Buster
Supposedly, this somehow made him look bad. I talked about this yesterday. One of the lawsuits—well, not even a lawsuit, but an executive order that President Trump signed—was based on a non-existent legal theory that former President Biden was making him look bad on purpose.
The concept is simple: every time you replace someone at a job, part of your new role is to make the person who got fired look bad. That’s why they hired you. They think you’re going to do a better job, and you have to prove it by making the other person look bad.
So, all these collective bargaining agreements with federal employees are now off the table 30 days before the inauguration. Think about that—30 days before he wasn’t even president.
What authority does he have? He has none, but this is part of the chaos he has created. He’s taken it a step further now by being a legal bully, which he’s been his whole life. President Trump has thousands of lawsuits, and I’m sure that number has multiplied by ten since he entered office in 2016.
*Note, while this was not part of the original transcript, yesterday, Utah passed legislation that is anti-union and will affect powerful unions such as the teachers’ union, firefighters, and law enforcement. But unfortunately, this is a trend from the Republican Party. Unions are integral when it comes to the rights of employees, but those rights are being eliminated.
The issue is, it’s a $10 billion lawsuit because CBS edited the tape. I don’t understand the issue. They have creative control. They can do whatever they want with those tapes. They could decide not to publish the interview at all. They could put a fuzzy face over it if they wanted. They own the rights to that content.
So here’s this lawsuit where he’s trying to show that the interview was edited. No one’s denying this. But so what if it was? When there’s a lawsuit, there have to be damages. There has to be an injury. If you slip and fall at Walmart, it’s simple, right? You hurt your hip and want to sue to have your medical bills paid off. That makes sense.
Defamation of character makes sense as well. Defamation of character with two public figures—forget that because it’s not going to happen. We can do that for another show. But so what? So what if it was edited? What are the damages? What is the injury to him?
I think I’ll tie this into the fact that he’s taken out credible reporting agencies like NBC, which has been pulled out of the press corps and replaced with Breitbart and OANN. Those are now part of the press corps in Washington. Think about that. Listening to all this, and considering this is just the last 48 hours, you can imagine what the next four years are going to be like, right?
I forgot to mention Guantanamo—putting Guatemalan immigrants in Guantanamo. He’s deporting Cubans. I’m Cuban, born and raised by two Cuban parents. Marco Rubio is Cuban too. I can’t believe this is going to be good for him politically, but it is what it is.
So my question to you is, how do you feel? This has been a rough ride already, and Trump has only been in office, what, two weeks? And this is what we’re dealing with. What are the next four years going to be like if this is what we’re facing already? It’s only going to get worse.
Take a Deep Breath Now!
Now, I’m not saying this to scare you, although it sounds that way, but you’re going to have to take some time off for yourself. When I started practicing law, I made it a point to notice the physical changes in a lot of lawyers.
Some lost weight, some started smoking too much, or drinking too much. I saw a lot of that. And I said I can’t lose myself in all this. So I’m going to have to work just as hard at relaxing as I am at work. And I did strike that balance, whatever it was—if it was a trip to Home Depot to make something, cut some wood. And I’m still like that today at the age of 52, but I’ll be 53 by the end of the month.
But I work just as hard to relax. When I play golf, I walk the golf course. I don’t take the cart anymore. It’s just me continuing to add things to my list of ways to relax. I need to take a deep breath and relax, and so do you. Now, that doesn’t mean you go blind to all this. You have to be informed because, as I keep saying, chaos creates political instability. Political instability creates financial instability.
We are experiencing political chaos that we’re not used to. Some of it might seem like it’s overblown. I saw a long post on social media from someone in Canada, saying we might be seeing the end of the US empire. It might be hard to believe, but we have those five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. We’re probably all in the denial and anger stages right now.
Bargaining is for those arguing; give President Trump a break. Maybe things will turn around. We’ve only got two more stages left, right? And I think a lot of us have already gone through three stages.
So just keep that in mind. You can tune out, but don’t be blind to what’s going on. I’m not saying this because I want you to learn more about politics. I want you to learn more about finances. You have to see how all this is going to affect you because it will. Tariffs are the perfect proof.
Everyone is saying these tariffs are a tax, except one person: President Trump. Now, since he’s not the most credible person in the world, ask yourself: Is everybody wrong, and he’s the only one that’s right? He has a history of saying, “I’m the only one who can fix it.” But he hasn’t fixed anything. Mexico still hasn’t paid for that wall, and his legal bullying with these ridiculous lawsuits is another issue.
CBS is being sued just because a tape was edited. This is protected under the First Amendment, but these little things, little by little, start to strip away our rights. If we’re busy doing something else or not paying attention, then before you know it, it will affect you. I’m not talking about your rights when driving down the road and getting pulled over, especially if you’re an immigrant and they’re profiling you. I’m focusing on the financial impact.
Ridiculous lawsuits have a financial effect. Someone has to pay for that lawsuit, of course. Unless he’s using the DOJ (Department of Justice), which I’m not sure about, but those DOJ government lawyers could be busy doing something else. The courthouse is not staffed by robots. Maybe now is a good time to consider AI in there because someone has to deal with all this paperwork. Someone has to be at the court, and this case delays other, more important cases.
It all has an effect, which is why I keep saying there’s a snowball effect. At the end of the day, all those employees at the government courthouse are paid for by taxpayer dollars. So one way or another, we are going to be affected. But you have to take a deep breath, go out, and have fun.
It Won’t Be Easy, But We Will Get Through This
I know things are challenging. I’ve been teaching since 2012, and I’ve been teaching full-time for maybe three years. I have a lot of students from Latin American countries, especially when I was teaching in Miami, and even more so now. They have faced tough political times, but they have to move forward.
They’re going to the clubs if they’re older, they’re working, spending time with their family, having cookouts—whatever it might be. You have to do the same thing. You know your tribe. You know who you hang out with. You know who’s not going to stress you out over these things.
Certain people are going to want to talk about this the whole time, and they might not be on the same side as you. I’m not saying you shouldn’t talk to these people or associate with them. These are decisions you make. But ultimately, if it’s a toxic environment, it is a toxic environment, and you shouldn’t put yourself through that voluntarily.
Again, you have to take a deep breath. Be informed, but take a deep breath. Have fun. You should take time out for yourself. Even if it’s just 5 minutes a day. You’ve earned it. You deserve it.
It’s going to be harder and harder to push those 5 minutes today, especially when I’m reading about these ridiculous lawsuits. And how they’re obviously going after the press—the “enemy of the people” and all that garbage. But all that garbage affects you, and it will affect your pocket somehow.
Alright, so I am almost out of my coffee, so you’re free to go get more coffee. But I am done for now. I will be publishing a blog post later today, focusing on Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Whoever wants to check out my blog. Remember, I talk about everything related to finances, the economy, the Trump economy, and especially bankruptcy.
Alright, any questions, like always, feel free to post comments on my YouTube video. More importantly, take a break. Some things you have to take with a grain of salt, while others might impact you more directly. And like always, be prepared. Be prepared financially because no one’s going to convince me otherwise that chaos doesn’t create political instability. It does, and ultimately, it creates financial instability.
Alright, take care and enjoy that cup of coffee. See you tomorrow morning.
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