Former Marine, U.S.Attorney, FBI Director and Special Counsel Robert Mueller passed away Friday evening. He was a giant of a man whose commitment to justice and fairness was staunch. I met him for the first time during the investigation into the murder of my Father-in-Law shortly before I went to DOJ. His, was one of the good examples. Every prosecutor who came in contact with him was better off for it.
When the Mueller report was finished during Trump’s first term in office, Trump‘s Attorney General, Bill Barr, claimed it was a total exoneration. That, of course, was not the case. Once the entire, albeit redacted, report became available, it was clear that it was a stunning indictment of a sitting president—but one that respected constraints on prosecutors that prevented an actual indictment of a sitting president. It should’ve been a roadmap for Congress to impeach and convict, but they did not take up Muller’s invitation. Trump shared his comments on the passing of an American hero this morning: “Robert Mueller just died. Good, I’m glad he’s dead.”
Trump is not a decent person and we should not expect decency from him. Across the country, people who knew and worked with Mueller will be honoring his service to our nation as they remember him. But it’s not just a great man and a loss for the country that we should mourn today. It is also a loss of decency, honor, and integrity. We should have a president who is better than this. We’re in this together, Joyce You're currently a free subscriber to Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance . For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
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Saturday, March 21, 2026
Decency Died Along with Bob Mueller
Global Disruption and the War in Iran
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Trump Is Pushing America And The World Into A Dangerous Global Crisis
Trump Is Pushing America And The World Into A Dangerous Global CrisisOur madman leader is doing extraordinary damage to the world, and this war must end. Now.
Greetings everyone. For weeks now we’ve been reviewing the economic data here almost every day, alarmed about where the US economy was heading. Prior to the war we now know the economy had slowed dramatically - GDP growth in the 4th quarter was only 0.7 percent and we’ve seen job loss in 5 of the 10 months since Trump implemented his illegal tariffs. All three main inflation gauges have been running far above the Fed’s target rate and two - PCE, PPI - have show inflation picking up steam in recent months. Here’s that scary PPI data we got this week:
Trump’s enormous tax cuts had already put our our pre-war economy in a far weaker fiscal condition. This next chart does not include revised projections of what the war is likely to bring - slower growth (less revenue), higher interest rates (if inflation spikes) - which make all this much worse. It’s my assumption that the tariffs will eventually disappear so we are really at the top, red line, pre-war:
Then Trump launched his ridiculous, illegal war, and threw the US and the world into a global economic crisis - energy shock, commodity shocks, fertilizer shortages and price spikes, damage to energy production throughout the Middle East, 2nd and 3rd order effects - all together are undermining the economies and stability of the world. Here’s my working chart (with assistance from Claude) on the total cost of the war. Right now Trump’s war is on track to cost the world almost as much as the global financial crisis in 2008-2010, and that’s with very generous projections on a rapid ending of the war.
My main point today is that once something like this begins we have no idea where it will go, particularly as we have an unstable madman at the helm of the US who cares little for the economies or people of the world and who we cannot count on to even understand what is happening - let alone create a clear path for recovery once the war ends. For he has created this crisis through his tariffs, his tax cuts, his mass deportation policies, and his war - and recovery here in the US will require him to walk away from all that. Because this was a sudden and unexpected shock, and because many thought it would end quickly, global markets and our domestic discourse I think have been slow to come to terms with the gravity of what is happening now. In the last few days I think that has begun to change. Let’s review some headlines and stories:
Here’s an excerpt from that letter to Trump:
Yesterday the state of Georgia suspended collecting of their gas tax to lower the price of gas and diesel. While good for consumers in the short term this is going to weaken the fiscal position of the state in a time when a slower economy is already putting tremendous pressure on the budgets of non-petro governments throughout America and the world. Many states are likely to follow.
The CEO of United Airlines, Scott Kirby, sent an extraordinary letter to the United community yesterday about the threat the war has become to the company. Some excerpts:
Translation = much higher fares, curtailed service, significant danger to the integrity of the company, higher inflation, slower US economy, end the fucking war Mr. Trump. A key gauge used by Wall Street traders started pricing in inflation to surge to over 5% in the US this year yesterday. It’s just the beginning of a broad re-assessment of our economy by the Street and by business and political leaders:
Some analysts yesterday speculated that an inflation surge like this will cause the Fed to raise interest rates, not lower them this year - further slowing the economy and making a recession far more likely; and further driving up our deficit as debt service costs will increase. While Trump has been a crisis for America since his first day back in office, he has now become a crisis for the entire world, and every single person in it. It’s why Democrats simply must move to something that feels far more like a war footing, and be fighting every day to end the war, and then pass an agenda that makes a successful recovery from this disaster far more likely. We’ve offered a first draft of that agenda below. We need to be very, very loud this week everyone. The war must end, and starting the slow, difficult recovery process is what we need to be focusing on now.
Now, Let’s Get To Work People!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Winning The Midterms, Competing In Red States and Red Places, Expanding The MapHopium’s Winning The House Campaign (2026) - $337,400 raised, $400,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Donate to all twelve of our endorsed House challengers with one click | Enjoy our new conversations with Christina Bohannan (IA-01), Mayor Paige Cognetti (PA-08), Jo Mendoza (AZ-06), and Janelle Stelson (PA-10) and learn more about the eight candidates we just added to our campaign here. We will be meeting the rest of our newly expanded slate of intrepid House candidates in the coming weeks. It’s a great crew! This fundraising total includes funds already raised with our friends at FridayAction for a joint event we’re doing later this month. James Talarico For Texas - $32,700 raised, $100,000 March 31st goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More | Watch my recent interview with Rep. Talarico Mary Peltola For Alaska Senate - $52,000 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Volunteer and Learn More. | Watch my new interview with Mary Peltola Winning Ohio - $81,200 raised, $250,000 goal - Our new campaign splits contributions evenly among Sherrod Brown, the Acton/Pepper ticket, and the Ohio Democratic Party. Donate today and help us turn this critical 2026 battleground blue! Roy Cooper for NC Senate (2026) - $89,600 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my conversation with Gov. Cooper Jon Ossoff GA Senate (2026) - $144,400 raised, $250,000 goal - Donate | Learn More | Volunteer | Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Senator Ossoff Hopium’s Audacious Expansion Fund - $420,800 raised, $500,000 goal (new stretch goal) - Join our new campaign to expand our map by investing in the Democratic Parties of Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and Texas, and catch interviews with 5 intrepid state party chairs leading us into battle this year. Many thanks to two generous Hopium community members who have audaciously donated $10,000 to each of our five state parties. Advocate For The Hopium Agenda/Pass Resolutions Of Condemnation In Your Community/Sign Up For No Kings on March 28thThere are a few more ways to go to work in the coming days - call your leaders and advocate for elements of our working, ever evolving Hopium Agenda; bring resolutions that condemn our Mad King and lets facts be spoken to a candid world to your state or local government; sign up for a No Kings event and watch my new interview with Indivisible’s Ezra Levin, a driving force behind No Kings. Here’s our working Hopium Post-Iran Disaster Agenda:
This week our calls should clearly focus on reining in the illegal war in the Middle East and ICE here at home, rescind the tariffs, and on blocking the “SAVE Act.” Keep working hard all. We have a country to save and an election to win, together! - Simon Invite your friends and earn rewardsIf you enjoy Hopium Chronicles By Simon Rosenberg, share it with your friends and earn rewards when they subscribe.
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Decency Died Along with Bob Mueller
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