"If the moderates fail to act now, history will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. Our generation will have to repent not only for the acts and words of the children of darkness but also for the fears and apathy of the children of light."
Martin Luther King, Stride Toward Freedom, 1958
"It was true, the bill was said to be founded on necessity; but what was this? Was it not necessity, which had always been the plea of every illegal exertion of power, or exercise of oppression? Was not necessity the pretence of every usurpation? Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
William Pitt, Speech, House of Commons, 18 November 1783
"Find out just what
any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure
of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will
continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The
limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they
oppress."
Frederick Douglass, Emancipation, August 3, 1857
"The liberties of our country are worth defending at all hazards; it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors. They purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood. It will bring a mark of everlasting infamy on the present generation – enlightened as it is – if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of designing men."
Samuel Adams, Article Signed 'Candidus,' The Boston Gazette, October 14, 1771
"American political corruption was the buying up of legislatures and assemblies to keep them from doing the people's will and protecting the people's interests; it was the exploiter entrenching himself in power, it was financial autocracy undermining and destroying political democracy. By the blindness and greed of ruling classes the people have been plunged into infinite misery; but that misery has its purpose in the scheme of nature. Something more than a century ago we saw the people driven by just such misery to grope their way into a new order of society; they threw off the chains of hereditary monarchy, and made themselves citizens of free republics."
Upton Sinclair, The Brass Check, 1919
"God has a way of standing before the nations with justice and it seems I can hear God saying to America 'you are too arrogant, and if you don't change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power, and I will place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name. Be still and know that I'm God.'"
Martin Luther King, Why I Am Opposed to the War, Ebenezer Baptist Church, April 30, 1967
I may be wrong, but it appears to me that the US stock market is overdue for a significant correction.
The first chart below shows that margin debt is now at a record.
Stocks dipped, but came back a bit in the final hours after Europe went home to bed.
This is becoming a familiar pattern.
I had thought that Bessent et al. were pumping the equity market to make the Administration look good.
But as it turns out, the President, and most likely his sycophants, are day-trading stocks, and in some case blatantly front running their own statements.
I have never seen anything like it, and I have seen quite a bit of corruption in my 70+ years.
Gold and silver took a hit in the early trading, but recovered for gains by the end of the day, again.
VIX declined.
The Dollar is in a fairly narrow trading range. A longer term view, as is shown below, makes the wiggles fit into a fairly sensible picture of 'maintenance.'
People are preoccupied with Iran, but the war between Ukraine and Russia is heating up. And it is a powder keg.
Trump issued a statement saying that he has called off the planning military action against Iran for Tuesday, based on request from his Gulf partners.
I think they said they would not permit the US to use its bases in their countries, knowing that a devastating counterattack on their own infrastructure was likely.
Donny is caught in a bit of a stalemate. And he and his outsized ego are obviously not happy.
"So, what happens in the end? Difficult to predict. Each circumstance is different... Others, unfortunately, will seek to do harm as they face a breakup, a divorce, are fired from a job, are outed for their crimes, or are removed from office." Joe Navarro, When Narcissists Fail
Let's see what the rest of this week brings.
There is still time to stock up on essentials that may enter soon enough into short supply, but the window appears to be closing.
Have a pleasant evening.
