Today is Wednesday, May 28, 2025. This is going to be a brief blog since Elliot and I did go out this evening to have dinner with “Mary” and “Joseph” from Woodmere at Lucky Boy, on Rockaway Turnpike. As always, it was great having food at this local Greek taverna. The piece de resistance is always the place’s fabulous coconut cream pie. We ended our delicious meal – I had the chicken parmigiana with capellini, along with a Greek salad, while Elliot ordered the fish and chips. Joseph also had the fish and chips, while his wife had some similarly delicious dish I can’t recall here. After dinner, we drove to a nearby Target to do some shopping for various sundry items. We came home close to 9:30.

Breaking news: the illegal and unconstitutional tariffs that the newly named president who has been called TACO (which stands for “Trump Always Chickens Out” for his topsy-turvy stand on imposing tariffs or not) has been dealt a death blow by a U.S. federal court that ruled the clueless president overstepped his authority to impose sweeping tariffs that have raised the cost of imports for everyone from giant businesses to everyday Americans. TACO Dump has now been dealt a humiliating blow by the only agency that is this country’s sole guardrail against a lawless insulter in chief, the judicial branch. As sadly expected of TACO Dump, he and his administration has already appealed this unanimous decision by the three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of International Trade that meets in Manhattan. This binding decision is reported in an online CNN article by Ramishah Maruf and David Goldman entitled “US Court blocks Trump from imposing bulk of his tariffs.”

But just as the cock crows, this ridiculous administration appealed the decision tonight, leaving the situation uncertain for consumers and companies and potentially prolonging the battle over whether Dump’s import duties will stand – and possibly reshape the global economy. Too bad TACO Dump will not ever admit defeat – it’s the same fucking story with his never accepting his damn loss in the 2020 presidential election! So now the country – and world – will have to wait until TACO Chump’s case is reviewed by the “Extreme” Court. If it even is, that is!

This low-profile court in Manhattan stopped TACO Dump’s global tariffs that he imposed, citing emergency economic powers, including the “Liberation Day” tariffs he announced on April 2. It also prevents Dump from enforcing his tariffs placed earlier this year against China, Mexico, and Canada, designed to combat the infinitesimal amount of fentanyl – but the Dump administration would have you believe that the drug is being brought into this country by the tons – coming into the United States.

“The court ruled in favor of a permanent injunction, potentially grinding Trump’s global tariffs to a halt before ‘deals’ with most other trading partners have even been reached.”

The order halts TACO Dump’s 30 percent tariffs on China, his 25 percent tariffs on some goods imported from Mexico and Canada, and the 10 percent universal tariffs on most goods coming into the country.

In the wake of this anti-Dump ruling, stock futures surged. Dow futures rose nearly 500 points, or 1.1 percent. The broader S&P 500 futures were up 1.4 percent, and Nasdaq futures were 1.6 percent higher in after-hours trading.

The lawsuit was filed by the libertarian legal advocacy group Liberty Justice Center in
April and represented wine-seller VOS Selections and four other small businesses that claimed they had been severely harmed by the tariffs. The panel came to a unanimous decision, publishing an opinion on the VOS suit and also one by twelve Democratic states brought against the Dump tariffs.

Dump implemented these tariffs without the consent of Congress – who is now groveling before him anyway – by invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which gives the president the authority to act in response to unusual and extraordinary threats. But the law plainly does not include any mention of tariffs as a potential action the president can take once IEEPA is invoked.

The lawsuit alleges IEEPA doesn’t give the president the power to enact tariffs in the first place, and even if it was interpreted to, it “would be an unconstitutional delegation of Congress’s power to impose tariffs,” according to a statement.

Here is the humiliating blow to Dump’s self-confidence: the court concurred that he lacked the authority to impose those tariffs even after declaring a national emergency. It stated, “IEEPA does not authorize any of the worldwide, retaliatory, or trafficking tariff orders” in their order released today. It added, “The worldwide and retaliatory tariff orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs. The trafficking tariffs fail because they do not deal with the threats set forth in those orders.”

Of course, the TACO Dump White House didn’t concur with the decision. A spokesperson, Kush Desai, said in a statement that: “it is not for unelected judges to decide how to properly address a national emergency. President Trump pledged to put America First, and the Administration is committed to using every lever of executive power to address this crisis and restore American Greatness.” Pure fascist poppycock coming from this administration – nothing more! And Dump’s fascistic deputy chief of staff who has been estranged from his own family because of his far-right extremism, Stephen Miller, was even blunter, posting on X that “The judicial coup is out of control,” not realizing that he and those in the White House are more out of control than this lawful three-panel court.

All I can say is kudos to this less-well-known court for its stunning decision against the purported second king of the United States. Anytime this incompetent buffoon is rendered a decision against him is a good day in America, I say. And today was such a good day!

Have a good Thursday. The weather is not supposed to be nice once more, unfortunately.

And so it went!