“You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in.”
Al Wilson, The Snake
The New York Times published a feature today that takes up the effect of the double-whammies that now afflict farm country: Trump’s insane tariffs, and his indefensibly juvenile government shutdown.
Farm country has stood by President Trump, even as farmers have strained under two years of slumping incomes and billions in losses from his trade wars. But as the government shutdown now drags into a third week, some farmers say the loss of crucial loans, payments and other services has pushed them — and their support — to a breaking point.
While many rural conservatives may loathe the idea of Big Government, farmers and the federal government are welded together by dozens of programs and billions of dollars in spending.
Now, farmers and farm groups say that federal crop payments have stopped flowing. Farmers cannot get federally backed operating loans to buy seed for their spring planting, or feed for their livestock.
I am supposed to feel sorry for the farmers, I suppose, but the feeling just isn’t there.
They knew, or had no excuse for not knowing — and strongly supported Trump anyway — that …
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Trump lies about everything.
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Trump has gone bankrupt six times.
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Cheating his subcontractors is how Trump does business.
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Cheating his customers is how Trump does business. Trump University? Seriously?
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Trump promised better, affordable health care, a low-cost infrastructure fix, and that Mexico would pay for the wall. If it sounds too good to be true … et cetera, et cetera …
I was in disbelief then, and am still, that anybody fell for that gaudy, plaid-suited carnival barker.
And I just can’t mobilize any sympathy for those boobs who are now paying the price.