The Witness Chronicles, 3/5/25

Consequences

Photo by Roman Datsiuk on Unsplash

Consequences: No, the Plane Crashes Are Not Donald Trump’s Fault, But…

They will be and so will a lot of bad stuff

As I write this swathes of red states across the south including Texas, Louisiana, and Georgia are experiencing destructive storms and hundreds of thousands are without power. And, obviously, even I cannot blame Trump for the weather, but he has slashed employment at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration (NOAA) which includes the National Weather Service.

When we face destructive weather, we rely on rapid notification of impending storms to save lives. And that notification comes from the NOAA. Most do not know this but private weather forecasting businesses like Accuweather depend on data generated and shared by the Weather Service. That’s because those businesses could not be profitable if they had to generate that data.

You may not know this, but weather forecasting is the primary reason people tune into local tv news coverage, which is the last source of local news. And their meteorologists depend on National Weather Service information to make their forecasts. If we lose our local news, you might consider the consequences of shutting down the NWS.

Weather data is one of those DOGE hits that would have wide range consequences across the country. So are aviation safety, environmental protections, all kinds of regulatory actions designed to protect our food, water, air- the list goes on. There are going to be consequences and they are likely to be universally bad.

No one believes a government as big as ours is corruption-free, but rooting out that corruption without creating more is not the job of a bunch of hackers who work for Elon Musk, and have no experience with the areas they are attacking. I’m also pretty sure they are not fully aware that they may take the fall when the legal system catches up with what they defying.

If the legal system doesn’t catch up it will mean our democracy will fail.

Consequences are real and we are seeing them in real time. The CEO of Target said today that tariffs will immediately raise the prices of produce, most of which comes from Mexico. Gas prices are expected to begin rising in the next weeks because of tariffs on Canada.

The list goes on and on and on and on. When no thought whatsoever goes into consequences, we are in real trouble. Military security, intelligence security, food security, health security, and financial security are all on the line in the name of cost cutting

It is that bad. Actually it is far worse as consequences have consequences and those dominoes fall in ways we cannot always see coming, though some, like cuts to the IRS, seem obvious as those cuts possibly cripple the government’s ability to collect taxes.

Now we know people hate taxes. That’s why billionaires pay fortunes to lawyers to avoid them, but billionaires do not need to worry about a lot of things the government provides, or so they think. They may be in for surprises. More realistically, they will be in for surprises.

Donald Trump has never had to face the consequences of his actions, including rock solid major felony investigations, so it is understandable that he is not concerned with them. Elon Musk is in exactly the same circumstances, insulated by the vastest personal fortune ever accumulated in history.

In other words, they don’t care. But, nevertheless, those consequences are real and they have a way of coming back and biting you in the ass.

When I speak of consequences, today a glaring example appeared. As the Trump sanctions clicked in today, China’s response was extremely targeted. They imposed retaliatory sanctions on American farm exports, a direct shot at one of his core constituencies, who have been hit very hard by the DOGE freezes and the immigrant deportations. A zinger, in other words.

What this tells us is that China is far more sophisticated in their understanding of American politics than Trump and the polluted Republican Congress. They are targeting his core supporters and a particularly vulnerable economic sector.

When we have a leader who can’t be bothered to understand consequences, his foreign opponents are going to take advantage of that weakness. There will be many more of these targeted attacks as Trump’s vulnerablities become apparent. His willful ignorance what makes our enemies empowered to act.

I forced myself to watch Trump’s speech almost to the end. It was the unrelenting stream of boasting, lies, and exaggerations I expected, but I’m sure it was a hit with his followers. However, in the longer run, it is irrelevant because the consequences I’ve outlined are inevitable. We are already seeing economic indicators falling, some precipitously. But the important indicators lag, meaning we are yet to see the more drastic changes.

The problem with Trump’s shock and awe approach is that it eventually gets boring as he rants and brags incessantly. I suspect he will fold quickly on his tariffs as their effects start to directly hit pocketbooks, as they may as early as this week. His major weakness is his need for constant praise and attention. As things get negative, he will get more desperate.

Take the egg prices thing. Frankly, this is a storm in a teapot as eggs are not critical to our existence. But last week Trump attempted to deal with it by saying he would buy eggs from foreign countries. That went nowhere because bird flu doesn’t respect borders and, by the way, birds fly. Yes, I know chickens don’t, but it’s not called chicken flu.

I sincerely hope this is the last time I write about egg prices here because this ridiculous issue may have helped him get re-elected, which is beyond pitiful. If the price of eggs helped you decide to take a chance on him, know that your boneheaded decision is costing the lives of people, especially children, across the globe. Shame.

It strikes me as strange, this place we find ourselves, especially as spring begins it’s inevitable dance of life. Walking yesterday, on a mild cloudy afternoon with glimmers of sun, I see green shoots coming up as the dirty snow disappears. That, despite all this crap I’m writing about, makes me exceedingly happy. Though I feel a responsibility to witness this stuff I don’t want it to own me, or you.

My advice when you feel overwhelmed? Take a walk and enjoy the very early spring, if you can. It makes all the difference.

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Thank you,

Martin Edic