161 Comments
User's avatar
Mike Hammer's avatar

Looks like some of us will have to wing it this year since things have been so fowl.

Eugene Gorrin's avatar

Trump's pardon yesterday of Gobble and Waddle were the only justifiable pardons of his second term.

Mike Hammer's avatar

I guess after all that stress they went home and got basted.

R Hodsdon's avatar

I see what you did there, and it was an AWFOWLLY punny funny.

Daniel H Laemmerhirt's avatar

Yeah, they got killed and cooked so Bunkerboy could ruin it's toilet at 3AM while "SCREAM-TROTHING." (Remember: it's not "Truth Central," it's "Troth Censhul" to those with end-stage Alzheimer's.)

Colin's avatar

Lol! Some good humour here especially if you can afford another 40%. Come to think of it, that's a great nickname for him.

J L Graham's avatar

Ouch! I needed that.

Eugene Gorrin's avatar

And that's why we don't talk politics at Thanksgiving dinner!!!

Although maybe we should just list the prices with the "Trump % increase" on note cards next to the plates containing those items.

Babydoc's avatar

That’s an inspired idea!

Thomas's avatar

Holidays can be very very rough -- especially for those of us who have wonderful memories of much better days. A part of my thoughts will be on gatherings in Tennessee's 7th District -- where the Democratic challenger (Aftyn Behn) has eroded a MAGA 20+ point lead to pull even. (Emerson poll). She is truly a terrific candidate.

Once a safe, gerrymandered district.

Problems in our country run much deeper than prices. And we all know it.

Mary Stewart's avatar

Yes, the problems are deeper, but the cost of food is something most people can understand. They are beginning to realize they were lied to.

Science Curmudgeon's avatar

Never forget the thousands who are no longer with us due to USAID cuts. They paid the highest of all prices for tRump's policies.

J L Graham's avatar

THIS ^ ^ ^ Dystian Nationalism.

Martha Jones Eberle's avatar

Oh Robert, you don't have to convince US!!! From not knowing what a GROCERY was!, trump is full-on EVIL, in what he's doing to the American People (he leads?)! In my family, scattered around U.S., at least we're getting together with like-minded friends, several Friendsgivings. The trumper part are having their own self-satisfied turkey dinner. "Some day" we will have our progressive America back -- we WON'T give up.

R Hodsdon's avatar

You go, girl! (No slight intended, and it sounds better than, "You go, woman").

Martha Jones Eberle's avatar

I don't mind at all -- I'm a feminist and use woman mostly, .... but I say "you go girl" also. I'm 80, by the way..

Fat Peg's avatar

I'm over 70 so 'girl' is a cheerful phrase for me.

J L Graham's avatar

My mom distinguished between "child like" and "childish". The latter thought to be inappropriate and even dangerous in adult form, and the former, both precious, and compatible with dignity and maturity when exercised wisely.

There is a reason why Feckless Leader is so often depicted as an infant.

R Hodsdon's avatar

So, I suppose it's maybe a compliment on your great energy and enthusiasm to be referred to as "girl"? (FWIW, that's what I say to my wife of 55 years).

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Martha Jones Eberle's avatar

And happy Thanksgiving to you and wife and family. Looking forward to my nephew's hosting this year.

Mary Stewart's avatar

it's a traditional phrase. We know it's not usually intended as a rude remark.

J L Graham's avatar

I can't tell "evil" for the worst forms of sociopathy, and Trump seems to check all the boxes. Weird that so many seem to worship that.

Daniel H Laemmerhirt's avatar

No no no! You give that morbidly obese lump of bleached Pilsbury goo too much credit! Bunkerboy's a "PSYCHOPATH," as society didn't warp it's pea a-brain; it was ALWAYS disconnected from humanity, hence the rape, the three unsatisfied wives and chronic sexual abuse.

Madeleine H's avatar

I am so angry about the criminal!

Ann's avatar

I just bought a couple of navel oranges for my cranberry relish: $1.49 each, up from $1 a couple of months ago. Only after I got home did I read the tiny print on the sticker “Product of South Africa”—wtf?

Whereabouts Unknown's avatar

Florida orange industry is suffering:

Devastating crop loss: Since citrus greening was first detected in Florida in 2005, the state's orange production has fallen by more than 75%.

Economic damage: The disease has severely impacted Florida's citrus industry and economy.

No cure: While management strategies can help, the disease is a terminal bacterial infection with no cure.

Babydoc's avatar

And look how involved and active the governor of FL is in trying to find ways to remedy this. Oh that’s right. He’s too busy making childhood vaccination more difficult. Well, look at the upside. There will be fewer kids to consume FL citrus next yr, after all the deaths from pertussis, influenza and Covid.

Paul Cesmat's avatar

yeah so let's cut USDA funding to research causes and treatments. what a moron.

R Hodsdon's avatar

Whereabouts...Thanks for this informative post! On the other hand, it's one more feel-bad thing to feel bad about.

William Whitman's avatar

true, but we need to know. Where has legacy media been for the last 20 years that the rest of America doesn't know abut this?! this is a big deal for Floridians and, therefore, for America.

Ann's avatar

Sorry to hear!

J L Graham's avatar

I was unaware if it; plus I worry when agricultural products are treated with antibiotics that protect humans, as I read has been tried here. The "kingpin" malefactor in a whole lot of stuff is profit over people.

Daniel H Laemmerhirt's avatar

"WHAT?!? Yer missin' the IMPORTANT stuff!!! WIMMIN is playing in MEN'S SPORTS!!!4!"

William Whitman's avatar

Wow! Had no idea. Legacy media focusing on the wrong stuff - again!

William m Gaffney's avatar

A lot of citrus and produce comes from overseas this time of year

Ann's avatar

I do recognize that, but used to e.g. Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico as produce sources. South Africa is pretty far!

William m Gaffney's avatar

Nothing surprises me these days

Susan Benton's avatar

Maybe South Africa made a large contribution to DT’s cryptocurrency

fund—aka a bribe, so he’s rewarding

S. Africa by importing their citrus.

After all, we pay the price, not DT.

That’s what the tariffs are really about. DT arbitrarily sets a tariff,

the country asks him how they can get the tariff reduced, he says deposit

a $”X” million in my cryptocurrency fund and I’ll lower the tariff or put a tariff only on certain things. The tariffs are, simply put, a Mafia

style shakedown. It’s a win for DT

and the American people pay the tariff. He thinks he’s clever. He also

thinks if he keeps telling us prices are

down we’ll eventually believe him.

After all, he did have lots of people

believing that wearing masks was

bad during a viral pandemic that was

spread by breathing contaminated

air, etc.

Ann's avatar

I’ve looked into this a bit and it appears that SA has been a major supplier of oranges for some years, along with Latin American countries. However, the Trump admin put a 30% tariff on citrus from there earlier this year. Now that tariff has apparently been rescinded for oranges but not mandarins (?!) but might still be reflected in prices. I will be scrutinizing labels in the grocery store from now on, haha.

richard winkler's avatar

Trump is a failure at everything he does. He is also a fraud con man and a criminal. Nice.

J L Graham's avatar

Yet it seems that you can fool some of the people all of the time.

Kerry Truchero's avatar

I am not writing this out of any particular holiday glee. But the sad truth is that in America, like the rest of the world, this is what matters. You could line up Muslims in the streets and execute them one by one and it wouldn’t arouse anywhere near the interest or passion that is given to the precipitous increase in the price of eggs or gasoline.

R Hodsdon's avatar

I wasn't sure where you were going until you created that mental image. And then I was sorry I read to the end of your comment. Very sad state of affairs.

Kerry Truchero's avatar

Believe me, I am ashamed to have to speak what I consider to be true. Humans everywhere have a history of tolerating awful injustice while exhibiting a rabid reaction to the injury of personal interest. This is a quote from an interview with Ken Burns: “Washington knew slavery was wrong. Jefferson knew slavery was wrong. And as the historian Annette Gordon-Reed says about Jefferson, “How could you continue to do something if you knew it was wrong?” And then she says, “Well, that’s the human story for all of us.” She’s not letting Jefferson off the hook. She’s putting the rest on the hook for our own failings.”

R Hodsdon's avatar

Thanks for the history lesson, Kerry. While I value historical truths and clear analysis, for my own mental health I find that I have to set these things aside for a while and think about better things, as an antidote to depression.

We have a whole day of Thanksgiving: for at least those 24 hours, I plan to be grateful for what we have which is good, and right and beautiful, and hope others are able to do the same.

Kerry Truchero's avatar

The context was Reich’s argument about Trump’s lies about food prices. But I agree with you about the value of gratitude. It’s an effective antidote to one’s despair about human behavior.

Barbara Aran's avatar

Watching the American revolution (recorded) and as Ken Burns warned—we are a very violent people. Long history of Americans killing Americans—whether by gunfire, bayonets (because the muskets had a limited range), or fires. Some things don’t change?

Victor's avatar

Yes, we can be very violent and even genocidal--once the violence starts. This is why it is so important to take preventive measures. One important preventive measure is avoidance of violent speech. It can act as a spark in a grain silo. It is a matter of self-discipline.

Kerry Truchero's avatar

Watching it too. We are still paying the price for that awful deal we made with slave owners.

Susan Benton's avatar

There are psychopaths in every society and there will always be

people who exempt themselves from

moral truth to justify what they refuse to change about themselves, but let’s not get carried away. As we see in Ken Burns’ documentary, there are people who do great things for humanity in one part of their lives, while at the same time doing terrible inhumane things in other areas of their lives.

Trying to reconcile that causes a great deal of cognitive dissonance. So, we all have to individually figure out where to draw the line for ourselves.

We currently have a group of overtly malevolent people running our gov’t.

who managed, with help from a propaganda spewing daily tv show

to deceive a large portion of our population for a long time. But many of those people are beginning to see

DT & company for who they really are

in his second term, and they don’t

like what he’s doing at all, because

he’s being who he really is. They were warned repeatedly but chose to live in a false reality anyway.

Modern life is complicated and history shows us entire populations cycle through changes. (Don’t get me started on quantum entanglement)

We can choose to see our reality as a “glass half full,” or we can choose to see it as a “glass half empty.” We can choose to see a manipulation for what it really is, and either hatefully reject it or hate it but try to work with it for the common good. What America has always stood for until recently is the freedom to make those choices.

Victor's avatar

Don't we tolerate the cruelties of factory farming? aren't we in denial of climate change?

Marc Donner's avatar

I think this grocery price escalation is actually part of the RFK Jr attempt to force us to be healthier. By making food more expensive, we are being encouraged to eat less. And by having ICE thugs chase us around, we are being encouraged to get more exercise. [Sarcasm]

R Hodsdon's avatar

We certainly need humor in these dark, dark days. Thank you.

Martha's avatar

The greatest travesty in all of this is that he used poor, low-information voters to get himself elected. They are suffering more than ever.

Fat Peg's avatar

I saw a you tube video of people in line at a food bank and a guy called out to a man in line: I see you're not wearing your red hat today, Name. "Name' looked chagrinned.

Gary harmon's avatar

MAGA... Morons Against Good Americans. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! GH

Fat Peg's avatar

Love it and

"Failing faster than a Trump casino!"

Victor's avatar

and now they are telling these gullible people that Obamacare is the cause of high prices. Rich Republicans elected Trump to kill the ACA, and Trump is failing them. It will be interesting to see how this will work out in the coming days.

Deirdre H Robbins's avatar

Thank you, Prof. Reich. You have been talking turkey to us all along through this fowl experience. and as a result we all understand the facts and reasoning we need to talk with others who may not be so well-informed. Here is a little ditty I wrote:

Humpty Trumpty sat on a wall.

Humpty Trumpty had a great fall.

All the king's horses and all the king's men

Ran like hell to avoid the pen(itentiary).

Marianne L's avatar

😆. I love this poem! Thank you

Leonor (Lenore) Delgado's avatar

Ultra Grinch visiting way before Christmas!

J L Graham's avatar

Like Scrooge, Ginchy had a spark of decency.

Leonor (Lenore) Delgado's avatar

However, this Grinch doesn't... not even an iota...

Sherra Hutchins's avatar

Why should he care ? He will be in a nice house with his family and friends being well fed, by the tax payers, and if he goes to Florida, at tax payers expense. he will never care about rising prices as long as it does not affect his bank balance. He will be warm and cozy dreaming of another way to screw the tax paying workers to help billionaires grow their wealth . Rising prices are one thing. but verbal threats against our military community is crossing the line, and should be considered HIGHLY INAPPROPRIATE AND TRUMP AND HEGSETH SHOULD BE RREPREMANDED for such threats that might put a target on another citizens back. And they should be made to apologize publicly.

Fat Peg's avatar

Whichever blondie I saw read on the news reading the exact military oath on is sooooo dumb because the very 1st line says "... obey LAWFUL orders." To me and (I think most people) that means do not follow the UN-lawful ones.

R Hodsdon's avatar

Well, Peg, I'm not making excuses for Trump and Hegseth, but I think from their perspective, any drivel that Trumpty-Dumpty spouts, even if it is seditious, vengeful and totally at odds with the US Military Code of Justice, is ipso facto, a "lawful order". This is bullshit of the highest order, of course, but to the tiny toddler-brained whackos in charge of government, it is gospel.

I am truly thankful, now as always, that there are sensible prosecutors and judges who see through the tissue of lies and laugh the lawsuits out of court because of the utter foolishness of Trump and his minions.

Fat Peg's avatar

Yup, but this one may backfire as pro military was used as a MAGA lure and while former military people could be sold that DEI 'weakened' the military, there a strong history that 'just obeying orders' is no excuse for some actions.

Ironic too as I noticed in videos of crowds at rallies, kids in Scout uniforms, so IMHO Hogsbreath going after the BSA will backfire too.

Gary harmon's avatar

And... Air Force One gets flight priority over ANY other domestic or military flight.

Remember that when your family is spending hours waiting at the airport.

Vote Blue... GH

Emily Rosenberg's avatar

As always, you make the economic bind the president puts us in very clear; the other thing that's clear is that he's completely out to lunch!

Dave Schwartz's avatar

As far as turkey prices, yeah. I've seen increases, at places like Trader Joe's, but ads from Kroger and other supermarkets, they've been having sales for 49¢/lb. I did my normal shopping at BJ's and got a free turkey.

I haven't seen an increase in cranberries bc I bought the same size package on sale that I paid on sale last year.

But, other prices are up SHARPLY. I always buy a standing rib roast from Costco and last year I paid about $15/lb and this year it's $17/lb. When you're buying a three or four bone standing rib roast it can easily cost $125+. So two or three dollars more adds up a lot.

I read Dr./Prof Reich and Heather Cox-Richardson nearly everyday. I'm watching our democracy go to the dogs and yet there are SO many people who believe Trump is no worse. They quote super high inflation numbers under Biden that Trump brought down without understanding WHY inflation went so high and ignore that Biden was able to bring down the inflation before he left office.

I feel like this country just isn't GETTING it, and it's depressing as hell.

On top of that,the Democratic party just can't get its shit together so come the next presidential election we probably won't have a chance.

R Hodsdon's avatar

Dave, "I feel ya". Lotta folks don't have the critical thinking wherewithal to see things as we do, which is really a shame. We are paying the price for people not paying attention in history class.

It can be very tempting to turn away and just quit trying to make things go better, but in my humble opinion, as Trump's stupid policies really bite "Mr & Mrs Average American" we will see a tremendous tsunami of support for Democratic candidates, as well as non-MAGA Republicans, even in supposedly safe conservative districts.

Be of good cheer, and we'll meet at the barricades!

Fat Peg's avatar

I saw the Kroger add too and Publix has the smaller ones at 49 cents a pound. (Limit 2) I figure they're priced them like this as 'loss leaders'. The trick is they make up the loss as most people buy everything at one store. So we check prices on-line and shop around.

We're also doing 'one less thing' and spreading that concept around. Serve one less side dish, have one less decoration and use what you save to donate to a food bank. My fruit salad this year does not have the maraschino cherries, kiwi or other more expensive fruits and the sweet potato 'souffle' is very plain, no decorative (and yummy) pecans around the edges and the meat is only the turkey, no ham w pickled peaches.

Dave Schwartz's avatar

I do the same thing with loss leaders! Most of the grocery stores are in the same area, so it's not wasting a ton of gas driving around. I find the best prices/loss leaders that I need from the different stores and do the rest of the shopping at the least expensive store.