March 2026 - Page 6 of 7

Succumbing to the Law of Transitivity

March 9, 2026 Buck Banks

“When I look at Donald Trump as a person, I see a failed real estate guy from Queens with a lot of natural showman talent, whose obviously poor physical condition is covered by terrible, ill-fitting suits and a lot of makeup. When I listen to him I hear incoherent bluster and self-absorbed whining. None of this makes me experience him as strong. … The strongman is strong because of the law of transitivity. If you accept at a certain point that he is stronger than you, then you are accepting that you are weaker than him. You are joining in the collective creation of the strongman.“

After a short week of bombing — BOOM! — Iran Problem solved!
Then Iran attacked everybody, now it’s too big to be resolved.
But Trump wants to keep the Kurds in Iraq,
To prevent a strategic flank attack.
Said Trump: “This war’s complicated enough without getting the Kurds involved.”

Creating a ‘Toxic Problem’ for the Midterms

March 9, 2026 Buck Banks

“If you combine an economy that people don’t like with a prolonged war that you know nobody in his base believes they voted for, that’s a toxic problem.”

— A Trump ally, quoted by Politico.

Oil Prices May Set New High

March 9, 2026 Buck Banks

$100

“U.S. oil futures have followed their biggest weekly rise ever by surging as much as 20% in Sunday evening trading, vaulting above $100 a barrel for the first time since war in Europe rattled energy markets in 2022,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Trump Had an Affordability Message — In 2020

March 6, 2026 Buck Banks

“We’ve spent $8 trillion in the Middle East. And we’re not fixing our roads in this country. How stupid is it? We’re not fixing our highways, our tunnels, our bridges, our hospitals, even.”

— President Trump, speaking in 2020.

Most Americans Disapprove of Trump’s War with Iran

March 6, 2026 Buck Banks

56%

G. Elliot Morris: “According to a simple average of new high-quality surveys, 38% of Americans approve and 49% disapprove of U.S. military action in Iran. … When ignoring ‘don’t know’ respondents, 56% disapprove.”

U.S. Lost 92,000 Jobs in February

March 6, 2026 Buck Banks

92,000

“The U.S. lost 92,000 jobs in February, a sign that the job market continues to struggle across a broad range of sectors,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The unemployment ticked slightly higher to 4.4%.”

Independents Have Left Trump

March 6, 2026 Buck Banks

72%

A new Fox News poll finds 72% of independents disapprove of President Trump’s job performance and 78% think he is focused on the wrong issues.

It’s Not Just the Iran War, It’s the Economic Crisis

March 6, 2026 Buck Banks

“In its war against Iran, the White House has already failed: to offer evidence that the country posed a direct threat to Americans; to provide a consistent justification for the attack; or to explain under what terms the conflict might end. … Now the evidence is piling up that this rather unjustified and thoroughly unexplained war could very likely lead to an energy crisis, just as the US economy is showing new signs of weakness …. Surely, one thing the US economy doesn’t need right now is a war of choice shutting down a major trade route, blowing up oil markets, and driving up the cost of energy for Americans, just as the labor market seizes up.”

— Derek Thompson

The Soulless Defense Secretary

March 6, 2026 Buck Banks

— Timothy Snyder

“If you combine an economy that people don’t like with a prolonged war that you know nobody in his base believes they voted for, that’s a toxic problem.”

— A Trump ally, quoted by Politico.

$100

“U.S. oil futures have followed their biggest weekly rise ever by surging as much as 20% in Sunday evening trading, vaulting above $100 a barrel for the first time since war in Europe rattled energy markets in 2022,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“We’ve spent $8 trillion in the Middle East. And we’re not fixing our roads in this country. How stupid is it? We’re not fixing our highways, our tunnels, our bridges, our hospitals, even.”

— President Trump, speaking in 2020.

56%

G. Elliot Morris: “According to a simple average of new high-quality surveys, 38% of Americans approve and 49% disapprove of U.S. military action in Iran. … When ignoring ‘don’t know’ respondents, 56% disapprove.”

92,000

“The U.S. lost 92,000 jobs in February, a sign that the job market continues to struggle across a broad range of sectors,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The unemployment ticked slightly higher to 4.4%.”

72%

A new Fox News poll finds 72% of independents disapprove of President Trump’s job performance and 78% think he is focused on the wrong issues.

— Derek Thompson

“The defense secretary [Pete Hegseth] appears unable to approach matters of life and death with even the slightest bit of reverence or humility.”

— Peter Wehner

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“If you are committing fraud against the American people, all of us in public leadership should be trying to stop it and throw you in prison for enriching yourself off the American taxpayer.”

— Vice President JD Vance, on Fox News.

“Your generation has a great bullshit meter, because you’re fed bullshit online all day. And the Democratic Party brand right now is so bullshit.”

— Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D), quoted by The Atlantic, speaking to college students.

“We are done, Americans are done with endless conflict in the Middle East, spending trillions of dollars, American lives… this is insane and we have to call it for what it is.”

— Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), on CNN.

Numerati

+175,000

“The U.S. State Department announced on Monday that it has revoked more than 175,000 visas during President Donald Trump’s administration so far,” Fox News reports.

$4,600

11

30%

A new American Research Group poll finds just 30% of Americans say they approve of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president and 67% say they disapprove.

61% to 35%