America's Dumbest Moment

In America's nearly 250 year history, the events of the past week rank among the most idiotic. Also, how Trump's trade war will devastate the developing world.

I’m Michael A. Cohen, and this is Truth and Consequences: A no-holds-barred look at the absurdities, hypocrisies, and surreality of American politics. If you were sent this email or are a free subscriber and would like to become a paid subscriber, you can sign up here.

If money is tight or you’re already up to eyeballs in subscriptions, here’s another idea — share this article. Email it to a friend (or even an enemy). Post it on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Text or email it to your wife, husband, mother, father, brother, sister, or even your creepy second cousin who lives in Maseru. Word of mouth is often the best way to build support for a creative endeavor, so if everyone here sends it to just one person … it would be much appreciated.

As a student of American history, I've long considered Prohibition the stupidest moment in our country's illustrious history. Seriously, who thought it was a good idea to stop people from drinking alcohol?

Prohibition was so dumb that 13 years after the country passed a constitutional amendment making it the law of the land, Americans came to their senses and passed a new constitutional amendment reversing the calamitous decision.

In the last week, however, I fear that we've surpassed Prohibition when it comes to sheer, unambiguous idiocy. Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" might be the single stupidest moment in American history (and this is a country that invaded Iraq in 2003 and spent nearly a decade fighting a pointless guerrilla war in Vietnam).

According to JP Morgan, there is now a 60 percent chance of a recession by the end of the year. In a note titled "There will be blood," the investment bank said, "This year's 22-percentage tariff increase amounts to the largest tax hike since 1968."

Jerome Powell, the head of the Federal Reserve, warned today that Trump's tariffs could lead to "higher inflation and slower growth."

By a three-to-one margin, Americans now say that tariffs are a bad idea.

Yesterday's stock market crash wiped out more than $3 trillion in market value. After today's carnage, that number will likely be trillions higher.

That's pretty fucking stupid.