Without a doubt, we now live in Orwellian times. Anyone who runs afoul of the Dear Leader must be punished. The truth is whatever the Dear Leader says (even when he contradicts something he earlier said). We don't have a Ministry of Truth (yet), but we do have Truth Social. We have always been at war with Canada, and Russia has always been our friend, right? The past is being rewritten, erasing any mention of the trans people who were instrumental in leading the Stonewall Riots, and any mention of why pioneers like Jackie Robinson weren't considered just some random baseball star. Maybe Rosa Parks will be next: "She was just some woman on a bus... not really sure why some woman on a bus is historic, but everyone remembers her name for some reason...." In all this Orwellian flood, though, the one that stands out for me is the up-is-down nature of the richest man in the world absolutely destroying major government departments in the name of "government efficiency." That one really takes the Orwellian cake, as it were.

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President Elon Musk and his figurehead Donald Trump inched closer to a constitutional crisis (once again) last week. It still hasn't been fully resolved, so we've all got more of this to look forward to next week as well.

Trump invoked a law from the 1700s this week which would allow him personally to determine who gets deported. No due process, no hearing before a judge -- none of that. Just Trump deciding: "I don't like this guy, let's kick him out." The Alien Enemies Act is only supposed to apply when the United States is at war with another nation, and has only been used three times -- the most recent being the shameful internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. But as far as Trump is concerned, it doesn't matter than we aren't at war, he just doesn't want to deal with the courts at all.

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Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!

First, let's just quickly check the weather report from the Emerald Isle, shall we?

(Heh.)

But surprisingly enough, the country that caught my eye this particular Paddy's Day wasn't Ye Ould Sod, but instead our neighbor to the north. And it wasn't the fine stout product from Sir Arthur Guinness that intrigued my beer-loving sensibilities this year, but instead... Moosehead?

That's right. Moosehead beer (lager, actually, if you want to be pedantic). From Canada.

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As is now the new normal, there were so many things happening in the political world this week it is hard to keep track of them all. But what is currently in the center ring is the vote happening in the Senate on the continuing resolution to fund the government for the rest of this fiscal year.

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Senate Democrats are currently trapped between a rock and a hard place. They face a lose-lose situation, so it's no wonder they haven't figured out a viable path forward yet. Anything they do, at this point, is going to disappoint the voters in their base in one way or another (which is really just the natural result of being in the minority in both houses of Congress and not holding the Oval Office).

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While the biggest political spectacle of the week was the president's big speech to Congress, the biggest political news of the week was actually the American economy reacting to Donald Trump's on-again-off-again, now-you-see-them-now-you-don't tariffs. The whiplash began at the start of the week and hasn't fully subsided yet. Taken together with all of Trump's other disruptive wrecking balls, economists are now starting to talk about the possibility of an upcoming "Trump recession."

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Is America headed for a "Trump recession" already? Economists are starting to get worried. So are consumers. And the stock market has been in a deep dive ever since the tariff threat became real this week. So the possibility now exists -- we could be headed for an economic trainwreck. And if it happens, there will be a big difference from normal business-cycle recessions, because this time the reason why it happened will be pretty obvious to everyone.

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I have to begin this review with the mandatory bit of pedantry which is required every four years. Last night, President Donald Trump gave a speech to a joint session of Congress. However, it was not technically a "State Of The Union" speech, since tradition dictates you have to have been in office for a whole year before giving one of those.

Nitpickery aside, let's do a quick review of how things went last night, shall we?

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It is time for Democrats to step up to the plate. President Donald Trump will address Congress and the nation tonight, and will doubtlessly boast about all the wonderful things he thinks he has been doing. In doing so, he will also doubtlessly lie about many of them in shameless fashion, since that's what he always does. But Democrats need to not get distracted and remain focused on one thing above all else. Call it a return to: "It's the economy, stupid."

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So is everyone ready to pay more for stuff? Because that certainly seems like what is next on the agenda for the American consumer. We'll be paying more for food in the grocery store, more for electronic goods, and a whole bunch more for cars, starting tomorrow.

Or maybe not. You never know what's going to happen, since American trade policy will now be decided on a whim. By a man who simply does not understand how world trade works. Isn't that a comforting thought?

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