Sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from malice.

Yeah, he definitely seems untethered enough that any kind of threat seems risky to entirely dismiss. I don’t think he’s gonna do anything with the actual military against Canada, though. That’s expensive, and his puppeteers don’t see a big profit in it. He’s kind of already acting as an occupying force within the US, and his hold on power here is tenuous; and war with Canada, who can actually hurt Americans on their home soil, would be even more unpopular than his various overseas entanglements.

I didn’t take apart a phone to get it, but I managed to buy a rotary dial mechanism from a surplus store near where I grew up when I was a teen (maybe thirty years ago?). I think I’ve still got it in a drawer. It’s honestly a very clever design, and the sound is kind of weirdly soothing.

This is my read on it too. He has no idea whether we want bond yields high or low or what. He actually feels a little bit attacked by the question because he doesn’t understand it. At first he tries to deflect it, because if the question will just go away, he doesn’t have to care about it anymore. But then there’s a follow-up. This is a challenge that isn’t immediately going away. That makes him angry. He still doesn’t know what’s going on, but now he has to care about that. So he’s gonna make a vague threat about being in control of the military. That should do the trick. That makes the reporters’ eyes get wide every time, and he can just walk away at that point and be guaranteed to get a lot of press attention. It’s a win-win.

You have to understand that he doesn’t see these interviews as means of communication. He sees them as power struggles. Any communication that occurs is entirely incidental.

Frogger.

I sort of think everyone should have a chance to play with an Ames Room at least once in their life.