Today is Friday, April 11, 2025. Today is Day 82 or whatever of this horror show called the Dump shit show, but I found some reasons to have hope even though the situation seems so dire in this country right now. An online article for AlterNet provides that glimmer of hope in “The Trump horror show continues – but here are 12 reasons to have hope,” and it’s written by Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary under President Bill Clinton.

Reich first exults in the number of rallies that were held across all 50 states last weekend – drawing an estimated 3 million participants. Even red states like Alaska, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Kentucky drew angry protesters to town and city squares demonstrating against the current administration.

Here then are some reasons for having hope this week, according to Reich.

• Trump’s wild retreat on tariffs.

As you know, this deluded leader thinks tariffs are the key to prosperity and said trade wars are easy to win. But on Wednesday, Dump decided to retreat from this losing strategy when investors shouted that it was not the right thing to do, as the market lost trillions in investments. “It was a large and embarrassing retreat.”

• Trump can’t win a trade war with China because he’s cut off other suppliers. Duh.

After China retaliated against last week’s tariffs, imposing an 84 percent duty on all U.S. goods, Chump raised his duties on Chinese imports to a total of 145 percent!

But facing off against the world’s second-largest economy in a trade war requires alternative and reliable suppliers, which Chump has foolishly cut off.

• Democrats see a surge of interest in running for office.

Spurred on by the horror of last week’s Signalgate affair and Elon Muskrat’s increasing stature as the nation’s most-hated billionaire, Democrats are gearing up to push deeper into red territory on the campaign trail next year.

Among the areas of interest showing a Democratic surge is an Iowa district now held by GOP Rep. Zach Nunn (which is certain to feel the ill effects of stupid Dump’s tariffs); two prospective bids in Pennsylvania and Michigan by candidates who lost or left jobs thanks to the Dump administration, giving them a powerful story on the campaign trail; a pair of former representatives considering comeback bids for battleground districts in the Rust Belt; and at least two districts in Virginia, held by GOP Reps. Rob Wittman and Jen Kiggans, that Dems believe are increasingly in play thanks to backlash against Muskrat’s government cost-cutting frenzy..

Meanwhile, former Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-NC) announced he’ll run for the Senate with plans to unseat vulnerable Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) for not standing up to Herr Dump. Notably, Nickel’s launch video leads with an attack on Tillis’s capitulation to the Golden Leader for not voting against tariffs.

Mike Sacks became the fourth Democrat to jump into the race against Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY). This lawyer and former TV reporter’s campaign pledge? To “unfuck the country!” A more blunt campaign pledge if I ever heard one.

• Democrats are plotting a fresh round of town halls in GOP-held districts, to hammer Republicans.

As another fucking recess period begins for these worthless lawmakers, Democrats see another opportunity to strike against embattled Republicans for scaling back town halls and other open forums because of backlash from constituents who screamed bloody murder at these repugnicans for their unpopular positions.

• Trump’s firing of Timothy Haugh at Laura Loomer’s urging causes widespread bipartisan concern.

This idiot known as Laura Boomer, who has captured the grazed ear of the illiterate president, the person who thinks 9/11 was an inside job, who has openly advocated at a white nationalist conference that she is a white advocate, has persuaded the dimwitted liar in chief to fire General Timothy Haugh, a four-star general who served as head of both the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command.

Haugh’s termination shocked lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in which national security veterans described the unexpected action as a “chilling” one that would damage America’s cyber defenses and “roll out the red carpet” for attacks on critical networks by foreign adversaries. Don’t you think that Loomer herself is a dangerous presence in the president’s purview? What an asinine decision by an asinine man!

• Trump’s poll numbers continue to drop.

Since Inauguration Day, a day that will live in infamy here, Dump has lost 29 points among voters aged 18 to 29, 14 points among 30 to 44, and 8 points among those 65 plus.

A Navigator poll (done between April 3 and April 7) shows Dump’s economic approval at its worst ever, with 58 percent of Americans holding an unfavorable view of tariffs, compared to only 30 percent favorable. Overall, Chump has a 44 percent approval rating versus 53 percent disapproval. I’m surprised it’s not at 80 or 90 percent!

Other factors for having a little hope in such dire times include the courts continuing to strike back at Dump and his unlawful decisions, the repugnican budget will cause mayhem, which contains huge unworthy tax cuts for big corporations and the uberwealthy, but also would need to cut social safety net programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, which is political suicide for that party proposing it, Muskrat the bastard is disappearing after his fatal mistake in Wisconsin, and DOGE itself is sinking, where the Social Security Administration is walking back its DOGE-led widely unpopular phone service cuts and the unofficial governmental agency is being audited itself by the Government Accountability Office over its access to and use of sensitive government data.

Now that the repugnican party has been exposed as nothing more than a sounding board for the deranged king, Democrats must launch an intensive campaign to hit them on the failing economy and other unpopular actions taken within the last three months of Dump’s second term.

Tomorrow Elliot and I will drive to Cherry Hill to be included with my longterm chum “Harold” and his family to observe the beginning of Passover. I’ll be away until Monday, so let me wish everyone here a Happy Passover to all of those who celebrate it. In addition to intoning “Next year in Jerusalem” at the end of the Passover service, let’s also intone “Next year in 2026!” and hope some sanity is restored in this country.

Have a great weekend.

And so it went!