I've just landed in Italy after a fantastic trip to see Jim and the crew on Jekyll Island. I was going to make this a big mailbag issue, but one question in particular warranted my undivided attention. I won’t thank Suzanne for raising my blood pressure to dizzying heights, but I’m grateful she directed my gaze towards Thomas L. Friedman’s idiotic scribblings in The New York Times, former paper of record.

What was her query, you ask? Here it is:

Hi Sean,

I love anything you write and always look forward to your commentary. I am also a member of the Omega Wealth Circle. I was a JFK Liberal, and most of my friends think they are Liberals and have no idea what is going on in their party. I navigated to the right during the Obama years. So today, a friend sent me this article. I would love it if you could comment on it for me and others. New York Times, Opinion, by Thomas L Friedman: "I Have Never Been More Afraid for My Country.” If possible, could you please provide a succinct answer to this article? My friend is expecting some sort of reply from me, but my head is about to explode.

Thanks,

Suzanne B

Hi Suzanne! Thank you for the kind words. I will do the best I can below, because I’m pretty sure Friedman can’t find his bare ass with either hand.

If you’re following along, you can read the article for free here.

To preface my points, I want you to know I haven’t read The New York Times in decades, and I utterly refuse to pay for their “work,” as it’ll only encourage them.

So let’s proceed with Friedman’s mostly idiotic article, and why his team feels - not thinks - the way it does.

About coal miners, Friedman writes:

It’s commendable that the president honors men and women who work with their hands. But when he singles out coal miners for praise while he tries to zero out development of clean-tech jobs from his budget — in 2023, the U.S. wind energy industry employed approximately 130,000 workers, while the solar industry employed 280,000 — it suggests that Trump is trapped in a right-wing woke ideology that doesn’t recognize green manufacturing jobs as “real” jobs. How is that going to make us stronger?

Idiotic statements like this are why we can’t have the “English majors,” a pejorative term used for innumerate commentators, running the show.

From the Institute For Energy Research:

President Trump has signed executive orders to boost the coal industry, which once was the backbone of the U.S. generating system. Despite coal’s ability to provide reliable baseload power, massive subsidies and state mandates have resulted in significant solar and wind power additions that are causing grid instability. To protect the grid and to help meet rising electricity demand from AI data centers, electric vehicles, and cryptocurrency, President Trump is using emergency powers to keep existing coal plants online. He is also reopening western lands to coal leasing, looking to name metallurgical coal as a critical mineral, and ordering the attorney general to investigate states that have implemented laws against fossil fuel use so that the federal government could waive those rules.

Wind and solar power simply don’t meet the needs for baseload power or AI data centers. This is a smart move. And if you’re worried about China, here’s another reason. They lead the world in operational coal-powered plants with 1,161. The U.S. only has 204:

Source: Statista

Friedman writes:

Trump ran for another term not because he had any clue how to transform America for the 21st century. He ran in order to stay out of jail and to get revenge on those who, with real evidence, had tried to hold him accountable to the law.

Yeah, he went through numerous lawsuits and got shot at (twice) to get re-elected… only to avoid jail, when a simple stepping down from the race would’ve guaranteed him peace. Stupid.

Friedman writes:

The world is now seeing Trump’s America for exactly what it is becoming: a rogue state led by an impulsive strongman disconnected from the rule of law and other constitutional American principles and values.

You mean like Potatohead Biden pre-pardoning his entire family and Fauci? Or like blowing up Nordstream II? Or laundering hundreds of millions through Ukraine? Or USAID funding transgenderism around the globe? Nonsense.

Friedman writes:

And do you know what our democratic allies do with rogue states? Let’s connect some dots.

First, they don’t buy Treasury bills as much as they used to. So America has to offer them higher rates of interest to do so — which will ripple through our entire economy, from car payments to home mortgages to the cost of servicing our national debt at the expense of everything else.

Who left the USG with $7 trillion in USTs due this year? Oh, that was Biden’s Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Friedman writes:

The Financial Times reported Monday that the European Union’s governing “commission is issuing burner phones and basic laptops to some U.S.-bound staff to avoid the risk of espionage, a measure traditionally reserved for trips to China.” It doesn’t trust the rule of law in America anymore.

If you think EU governments have been letting any diplomats carry their personal phones to the U.S. since Obama’s NSA got caught listening to Angela Merkel’s conversations, I’ve got a bridge over the East River to sell you.

Friedman continues:

The third thing people overseas do is tell themselves and their children — and I heard this repeatedly in China a few weeks ago — that maybe it’s not a good idea any longer to study in America. The reason: They don’t know when their kids might be arbitrarily arrested, when their family members might get deported to El Salvadoran prisons.

Funny, because my Asian friends tell me their greatest regret is sending their kids to Ivy League schools to study, because they came back to Asia as socialists!

Friedman finally, mercifully, ends his nonsensical piece:

If Trump doesn’t stop his rogue behavior, he’s going to destroy all the things that made America strong, respected, and prosperous.

I have never been more afraid for America’s future in my life.

No, America will be just fine.

I hope that helps, Suzanne! Now, I’ll go lie down and let my BP return to normal.

Have a lovely weekend.