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Barbie Gate: Trump’s Counterrevolution [1]

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Date: 2025-05-02

Conservative political commentator Victor Davis Hanson is quite giddy about Trump. He writes, “No prior modern Republican president has sought to launch a counterrevolution aimed at reversing the economic, political, cultural, social, and military progressive trajectory of the modern era. Trump has done that—and in his first 100 days—in a comprehensive fashion that perhaps surpasses the ambitious agendas of even the first three months of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal or Ronald Reagan’s efforts to unleash the American free market and win the Cold War.” (Source: https://www.thefp.com/p/victor-davis-hanson-trumps-counterrevolution)

If that counterrevolution’s goal is to destroy America, Trump is succeeding beyond his wildest dreams—a nightmare for the rest of us. Is that what Hanson means? Republicans in Congress seem quite comfortable goose-stepping behind Trump’s every move. Already ranked among the worst presidents in U.S. history after just one term, Trump’s second term is so historically catastrophic that presidential historians might need a new rating system—something beneath the basement.

Aside from vague mutterings about tariffs, retribution, and his “Day One” delusions (like magically lowering prices and personally negotiating peace between Ukraine and Russia), Trump returned to office with no coherent agenda. His 2024 campaign wasn’t about policy; it was about escaping legal accountability.

Driven by impulsivity, Trump governs through chaos. There is no Trump plan—just Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation conservative fever dream that “campaign-Trump” claimed he’d never heard of, though now it’s being implemented ferociously.

Impatient and lazy, Trump couldn’t figure out how to pardon just the non-violent J6 criminals, so he pardoned them all. That pill would have gone down better if he had been discerning—keep the dangerous “J6-hostages” in jail. While he complained about their treatment in jail, it certainly wasn’t a Salvadoran supermax. The same is true for tariffs and addressing fraud, waste, and abuse in government. Both, if done slowly and thoughtfully, might have been effective. But no, he implemented massive tariffs on every country in the world using a magic formula—and then lowered them to a “still massive” level. Trump also allowed thousands and thousands of federal employees to be chain-sawed.

Then there’s immigration. Trump-appointed Judge Fernando Rodriguez, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas recently blocked Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act against Venezuelans, concluding—shockingly—that it “exceeds the scope of the statute.” (Source: https://www.npr.org/2025/05/01/g-s1-63830/trump-appointed-federal-judge-blocks-use-of-alien-enemies-act-for-venezuelans-in-south-texas)

Meanwhile, a Data for Progress poll found that huge majorities of Americans—including Republicans—believe immigrants with legal status deserve due process rights: the right to know the charges (81%), a fair trial (77%), to present a defense (75%), and to appeal (69%). (Source: https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2025/4/15/voters-think-legal-residents-and-undocumented-immigrants-should-have-due-process) Trump’s response? Ignore all of these rights.

His 100-day rally at Macomb Community College’s 4,000-seat Sports & Expo Center didn’t quite bring the thunder—only 2,400 seats were prepped, and even those had empty patches behind the former president. Meanwhile, 3,000 protesters showed up outside. (Source: https://newrepublic.com/post/194599/donald-trump-aoc-bernie-sanders-nerves-crowd-size)

Trump must be seething with envy since Bernie and AOC have packed several 30,000+ rallies across an 18-stop tour.

At the rally, Trump claimed I had “the most successful first 100 days of any administration in the history of our country, according to many, many people.” (Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy5rd35wg4ro) According to the polls above and below, that is not true. The polls reveal that Trump is wildly out of step with Americans.

Apparently, those “many people” don’t read polls. Trump’s approval rating is the lowest of any president at the 100-day mark in modern history. Even Fox News, a network usually friendlier than a golden retriever, released a poll showing Trump’s overall approval dropped from 49% in March to 44%. But his approval numbers on core issues were worse:

**Deportations: 45%

**Economy: 38%

**Inflation: 33%

**Tariffs: 33%

His only bright spot was border policy at 55%, but even that could backfire. Once a problem is “solved,” voters tend to move on. (Source: https://www.foxnews.com/official-polls/fox-news-poll-first-100-days-president-trumps-second-term)

The White House’s response to that poll? Fire the pollster. Because obviously, if the numbers are bad, it’s the thermometer’s fault.

Trump also proclaimed, “In 100 days, we have delivered the most profound change in Washington in 100 years.” (Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/29/trump-100-days-michigan/)

He may be right, although historians would point to FDR. But profound change is not inherently positive. Hurricanes are profound, too.

Consider the economy. The GDP for the first quarter of 2025 contracted by 0.3%. Trump blamed Biden, even though Trump was in office for 78% of the quarter and had already detonated global markets with his “beautiful” tariffs. The fourth quarter of 2024 saw 2.4% growth. The change—a 2.7% drop—is not just a blip. It’s recession territory.

And now, Barbie. Yes, Barbie.

On April 30, 2025, Trump delivered crushing news to children everywhere: “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know? And maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.” Just two Barbies. Out of the 200+ versions released since 1959.

That’s not just inflation. That’s Barbie Gate.

Who is writing his material? Thirty Barbies? And now pollsters will have to add dolls to their surveys. Worse still, Amazon won’t be allowed to tell parents how much Barbie prices have increased due to tariffs. The White House called such pricing info “a hostile and political act.”

So here we are: from Signal Gate to Barbie Gate, with Trump caught in a whirlwind of his own making—and Barbie caught in the middle of an economic and cultural war.

If Trump’s second term is a counterrevolution, as Hanson asserts, it’s a one against logic, law, order, and yes, even Barbie. His chaos-first, policy-later approach leaves America reeling—economically, culturally, and diplomatically. Forget infrastructure—Trump is tearing down reality itself, one doll and one delusion at a time. The only question left is: who will he come for next? Ken?

Day 103: days left to January 20, 2029: 1,359 days

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