Date: 2025-08-21 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00028959
TRUMP
A THIN SKINNED INCOMPETENT
Trump gets bad employment data, then fires BLS Commissioner.
Professor calls him a cartoon dictator.
A THIN SKINNED INCOMPETENT
Trump gets bad employment data, then fires BLS Commissioner.
Professor calls him a cartoon dictator.
Original article:
Egberto Off The Record
Trump gets bad employment data, then fires BLS Commissioner. Professor calls him a cartoon dictator.
The employment data came in very weak, so Trump fired the BLS commissioner. The cartoon dictator was unhappy that revisions to the data prove what we knew: he is a failure.
Aug 2, 2025
Privatizing Social Security
Summary
The cartoon dictator strikes again with his typical authoritarian playbook. Trump’s decision to fire Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer mere hours after dismal employment data revealed the actual state of his economic mismanagement represents a direct assault on democratic institutions and scientific integrity. This shameless attack on independent data collection mirrors the tactics of authoritarian regimes worldwide, signaling a dangerous escalation in Trump’s war on truth and expertise.
Immediate Retaliation: Trump removed the head of the agency that produces monthly jobs figures after a report showed hiring slowed in July and was much weaker in May and June than previously reported, firing Dr. Erika McEntarfer, whom he accused of manipulating the monthly jobs reports for “political purposes.”
Authoritarian Tactics: The firing represents classic dictatorial behavior – when confronted with unfavorable data, authoritarian leaders attack the messenger rather than address the underlying problems, reminiscent of manipulation tactics used in China and the former Soviet Union.
Economic Reality Check: The employment data exposed Trump’s economic incompetence, with revised numbers showing only 19,000 jobs added in May and 14,000 in June – pathetic figures that reveal the actual impact of his destabilizing policies on American workers.
War on Expertise: This action continues Trump’s broader assault on scientific institutions, research universities, and independent agencies, embedding lies and political ideology into government operations while undermining the world-renowned credibility of American statistical agencies.
Progressive Response Required: The situation demands organized resistance through electoral action, prioritizing progressive candidates in Democratic primaries whom corporate interests cannot purchase, and building independent media networks to counter mainstream capitulation.
The firing exposes Trump’s fundamental weakness and the inevitable collapse of his economic house of cards. As data continues to reveal the actual costs of his ineptitude, Americans must recognize that only progressive policies – Medicare for All, comprehensive childcare, and economic justice – can rebuild the foundation Biden began to establish and create a genuinely democratic economy that serves working people rather than corporate overlords.
The mask has finally slipped completely off. President Trump ordered the firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner after her office released a trove of negative jobs data, directing his team to fire former President Biden appointee Dr. Erika McEntarfer in a Truth Social post that accused her of manipulating jobs data. This brazen assault on independent statistical agencies represents exactly what one would expect from a cartoon dictator straight out of a Marvel movie – when reality refuses to conform to the strongman’s narrative, the strongman attacks reality itself.
The economic carnage Trump has unleashed was entirely predictable. His administration’s policies of uncertainty, pillaging, and corporate favoritism have created the exact conditions that make healthy economic growth impossible. Only sycophants unwilling to think critically could believe otherwise. The revised employment figures – showing a pathetic 19,000 jobs added in May and 14,000 in June – expose the actual wreckage beneath the surface of Trump’s economic “success” story. These numbers represent real families struggling, real communities devastated, and real working-class Americans abandoned by an administration that serves only the wealthy elite.
President Donald Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics hours after a report showed weak job growth, prompting outcries from economists and policymakers over the integrity of the data going forward. This timing reveals everything about Trump’s character and intentions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics represents one of the world’s most respected statistical agencies, staffed by career professionals whose data collection methods are the envy of international economic institutions. To attack these dedicated public servants as political operatives demonstrates either breathtaking ignorance or calculated authoritarian manipulation – and given Trump’s track record, the latter seems far more likely.
The parallels to authoritarian regimes become impossible to ignore. In China, economists who speak truth to power about economic problems mysteriously disappear. In the former Soviet Union, they avoided conducting censuses for decades because the results would have exposed the failures of their economic system. The collapse of the communist system proved so traumatic precisely because reliable economic data had been systematically suppressed, leaving everyone unprepared for the underlying reality. Trump’s assault on American statistical independence threatens to replicate this same destructive pattern on American soil.
What makes this moment particularly dangerous is Trump’s complete abandonment of any pretense of democratic norms. Trump is turning his ire about poor jobs numbers on the number-crunchers – literally minutes elapsed between his social media attack and the actual firing order. This represents a direct connection between authoritarian rhetoric and disruptive action that shatters any remaining illusions about Trump being merely a blowhard whose words don’t matter. His actions demonstrate a systematic war on expertise, truth, and democratic institutions that extends far beyond economic policy into research universities, scientific agencies, and any institution that dares to provide objective analysis.
The mainstream media’s tepid response exposes their fundamental complicity in normalizing authoritarianism. While MSNBC and CNN hosts express appropriate concern, their corporate ownership ensures they will never sustain the kind of relentless pressure necessary to wake up the American people to the full scope of this crisis. Only independent media can be trusted to maintain focus on the systematic destruction Trump is wreaking on democratic institutions and economic stability.
The economic reality underlying this authoritarian theater reveals the deeper structural problems with late-stage capitalism that Trump’s policies have accelerated. Capitalism in its current form simply must eat its own – corporate profits extracted from worker productivity, wealth concentrated among the already-wealthy, and economic stability sacrificed for short-term gains. Trump’s policies represent the logical extreme of this extractive system, where uncertainty and instability become tools for further wealth concentration rather than obstacles to overcome.
But Americans retain the power to choose a different path. The foundation for economic recovery already exists — some started through Biden’s infrastructure investments, clean energy initiatives, and worker-friendly policies. What’s needed now is the political will to build beyond that foundation with truly progressive policies: Medicare for All to eliminate healthcare insecurity, comprehensive childcare to support working families, and economic justice policies that prioritize human needs over corporate profits.
The path forward requires organized resistance beginning with an electoral strategy. Virginia and New Jersey elections in November provide immediate opportunities to demonstrate rejection of Trump’s authoritarian approach. But more importantly, progressive candidates must be elected in Democratic primaries throughout 2026 to ensure that the representatives fighting Trump cannot be purchased by the same corporate interests that profit from economic instability.
The corporatocracy understands that Trump will be political dirt by 2026, even with their cheating, redistricting, and financial manipulation. Their response will be to invest heavily in neoliberal Democrats who will restore corporate-friendly policies while offering superficial resistance to authoritarian tactics. This makes progressive primary victories imperative – only candidates who corporate interests cannot buy can be trusted to implement the fundamental economic reforms necessary for genuine recovery.
Trump’s firing of the BLS Commissioner represents far more than political theater or even authoritarian posturing. It demonstrates the complete breakdown of democratic norms and the urgent need for Americans to choose between accepting autocracy with economic devastation or fighting for genuine democracy with economic justice. The choice remains in the hands of ordinary Americans, but only if they can see through corporate media manipulation and organize around the progressive policies that serve working people rather than wealthy elites.
The cartoon dictator has revealed his true nature. Now Americans must decide whether they will accept his authoritarian rule or fight for the democratic future their children deserve.
Peter Burgess COMMENTARY
I am not impressed by President Trump ... in fact I think he is a 'buffoon'
I crossed paths with Trump in the mid 1990s when the new casinos had been built in Atlantic City. At the time I was doing some consulting work with business owners on the Jersey Shore and was curious about the casinos that were being built.
During my 'walk-about' in one of the new casinos, Donald Trump was taking his own inspection tour and I watched his interaction with the huge entourage that was accompaning him. He was 'barking' instructions to these members of his staff like he was an emperor!
A short time ... several weeks not months ... the whole Atlantic City casino development went into bankruptcy causing a wholesale crisis for small contractors who had been worked on the casono development. While hundreds of small businee people went into bankrutpcy, Trump and powerful lawyers enabled Trump to walk away losing little if anything. I remember referring to Trump as 'Teflon Trump' because of his ability to slither away from any onerous responsibility.
There was a time when I was quite impressed with Trump when he first started doing major building projects in Manhattan. Later I learned that most of Trump's early uccess was really orchestrated by his father, and though Donald Trump took the credit, it was really the staff of his father's real estate companies that should have been given the credit.
I am scared stiff that most of America has no idea how bad Donald Trump is going to be for the country.
I grew up in the UK. I was born in 1940 in the early days of WWII and had my education in post-WWII Britain when there were chronic shortages of everything. There was 'rationing' for more than a decade after the war ended. Britain may have been on the 'winning' side of the war, but the people of Britain paid a very high price in order to win.
I got to visit North America when I was a university student ... in the summers of 1960 and 1961. The travel arrangements were made by the Cambridge Canada Club which chartered two Boeing 707 jets from Air France to carry two planeloads of students West from London to New York in late May and then back East in September. As students we were allowed to get paid work in Canada for the summer, but could not work in the USA.
The first year I got work with The Foundation Company of Canada in Montreal. The second year I got employed by The Austin Company of Canada in Toronto. The amount of money I was able to earn in Canada made British wages / salaries look pathetic, and opened my eyes to basic economic realities!
Both years, I took the opportunity to see as much of the two countries as I could. In the first visit, I was able to drive West from Montreal to Alberta by car and then onward to Vancouver in British Columbia by Greyhound bus. I returned to Montreal by Greyhound bus.
Afer that three of us set off from Montreal to Florida in an old Pontiac that we had purchased for $30. We made good progress until we crossed the border from Geogia and Florida. By then we were consuming more oil than petrol (gasoline) and the car was 'smoking' worse than a steam train. Immediately we got into Florida the State Police stopped us, telling us we might be able to drive our car in Georgia, but not in Florida. They gave us 24 hours to 'fix the car or junk the car!.
We drove to Jacksonville ... the nearest big town, laying a smoke screen as we drove and headed for a scrap yard to junk the car. By that time our car was 'backfiring' almost continuously ... sounding more like gunfire than an autobile!. People on the sidewalk were flattening themselves to avoid the gunfire as we passed. We did not know that the day before there had been very serious race riots in Jacksonville with many killed ... and we fitted perfectly into the idea that a vioent riot was starting again. We got ourselves to a junk yard and then to a Greyhound bus terminal were we were able to take a bus to Miami.
In Miami, we got to attend one day of the Republican Presidential Convention. Security was pretty lax, and were got to walk in a sit ourselves down in the niddle of the Iowa delegation, The big speach was by Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. who was running as the nominee for Vice President. Nixon was schedulted for the following day.
Our plan had been to continue South to Key West were we had booked tickets to get us to Cuba. At the time US citizens were banned from going to Cuba ... but people like me could still make visits. I think that subsequently changed ... but our trip could not happen because a major tropical hurricane destroyed most of the bridges along the Keys and we simply could not get to Key West.
Peter Burgess