Yea, my panic button clicked. I live in Iowa, a farming state, and today fearless leader threatened massive tariffs on Canadian potash. Our farmers, coming off a killer year where they barely broke even are ordering their ammonia and potash now and will start to be in the fields in six weeks. They rely on potash. Sure there are huge corporation farms here, but there’s also Larry and John and LeRoy, some sitting on Century Farms. They are friends and neighbors, many may have voted for Trump but it’s still a betrayal and hardship. Our compromised Supreme Court still hasn’t ruled on the legality of tariffs and I have no confidence they will find their way to truth.
Jack, I hope your Part Two will sprinkle some hope and credible logic on Part One. And, as always thank you.
Becky, yup. Your panic button didn’t misfire...it caught a real chain reaction.
While I have never farmed, I grew up around it, and several of my family members were/are farmers.
Potash/ammonia isn’t a “policy debate” in Iowa. It’s a clock. Orders go in now...fields move in weeks...and prices get baked in fast.
So when “fearless leader” starts playing tariff chicken with Canadian potash...it lands as what it is: whiplash risk dumped onto Larry/John/LeRoy...not onto the people making the threats.
And you nailed the betrayal piece. Even if some of your neighbors voted for him...this is still breaking the bargain: you plan...you finance...you WORK… and Washington turns your inputs into a roulette wheel.
On the Court...I’m with you. Even if legality gets argued later...the harm is front-loaded. Markets don’t wait for opinions.
The hope/logic isn’t “trust the system.” It’s this: farm-state blowback is immediate and loud...supply chains respond fast...and uncertainty gets punished.
Those are constraints...not virtue...but they’re real. And politically...this is also a persuasion opening in rural America, not shaming, just recognition...“You kept your end. You got jerked around.”
Thank you for saying it plainly! That’s exactly the kind of grounded reality check people need.
I studied mental maps as an undergrad years ago, and I APPRECIATE your careful design and contribution to fortify my understanding of events. What stands out the most to me is the constant desperate attempt of the regime to control the narrative. I am so grateful that we aren’t forced to rely on mainstream media to tell the story. Thanks, Jack.
Ytram, mental maps are EVERYTHING in a pressure environment. If you can’t build a clean internal model...you end up reacting to whatever headline hits hardest. So I really appreciate you naming that you’re tracking the structure...not just the noise.
You’re right: the constant...desperate effort to dominate the narrative is a tell. When a project is stable...it doesn’t need that level of message control. When it’s fragile...it has to keep people INSIDE the story at all costs.
Also...yes. The ability to route around gatekeepers matters. Not because “mainstream media is always wrong,” but because centralized narratives...always have blind spots...incentives...and delay. Distributed attention is messier...but it’s harder to fully capture.
Thank you for reading this the way it’s intended: as orientation. And...thank you, Ytram, for saying it out loud...it helps other readers trust their own pattern recognition too.
I felt the click when you highlighted that we are halfway through. That makes a lot of what we see make better sense--all the saber rattling, all the attempts at scary rhetoric, all the attempts at making us afraid. More, please.
Which do you think is the strongest pressure signal right now…narrative, loyalty, or procedural?
I have to say narrative, because of Epstein. He actually has to continue to bleat that the files exonerate him. I don't think he can admit to himself that he failed. So he is cornered and will double down. Next verse same as the first -- tariffs, bombing other countries, invading our cities, going after his perceived enemies. I see him as a mad conductor flailing his arms as every instrument plays a different tune. But each time the crack gets just a bit wider and he loses a few more supporters.
If I had to pick the strongest pressure signal right now...I’d say narrative is the loudest symptom… but PROCEDURAL is the most decisive constraint.
Narrative is where you can literally watch the strain: the compulsive “I’m exonerated” refrain...the endless re-framing...the inability to let the story settle. That’s a cornered system...trying to keep its spell intact.
But...the cracks that change outcomes usually show up in procedure: delays...reversals... refusals...quiet noncompliance...people “following the rules” in ways that suddenly stop protecting the leader.
That’s where loyalty gets stress-tested in real time.
Your “mad conductor” image lands because it captures the whole thing: flailing control... discord in the orchestra, and...most important...each cycle widens the seam a little more.
You just described the mechanism in a way most people feel but can’t articulate.
When the same loyalty test governs both what gets said publicly and what gets done operationally, the system doesn’t need to announce corruption. It just quietly normalizes it...one decision, one exception, one “special case” at a time.
And...those points about why this keeps escalating are the uncomfortable ones: if loyalty is the top credential...the leader starts treating lawbreaking as a tolerable cost...sometimes even as proof of devotion...because it signals, “I’ll risk myself for the line.”
The good news (and it’s real) is that this kind of arrangement is brittle.
It looks solid until scrutiny becomes personal and consequences become specific. The moment exposure turns into career risk...money risk...or legal risk...a surprising number of people suddenly discover their principles… or at least their survival instincts.
You’re not just venting here...these are the pressure points!
Jack what comes to mind for me is narrative flooding…the EPSTEIN FILES…IRAN ESCALATION…GREENLAND ….ANOTHER BOAT BOMBED IN THE CARIBBEAN ….THE VOTING FIASCO IN GEORGIA……
Jeff, yes...that’s narrative flooding: multiple high-emotion threads launched at once so attention can’t settle long enough to form a clean public judgment.
The trick is to treat these as separate lanes...with different “real-world consequence speed.”
“Boat bombed” = part of an ongoing anti-narcotics strike pattern...not a one-off headline.
So...you’re not crazy...you’re noticing a tactic.
The antidote is boring but powerful: slow the feed...label the lane...track what actually changes policy or price...and ignore the rest until it forces its way into consequences.
Jack, you are sharing insights, which, probably, many of us need to know. I think you have surpassed yourself this time! I am ready for the next chapter.
Thank you, Bill. I appreciate that. I did spend more time on this article than most. I think the extra time, at least with this one...produced a better end "product."
He's lost control of the narrative, and the effects are worldwide; many of our neighbors and allies are calling bullshit on his tariffs and international bullying saying America has become unreliable. The effect on our national economy is devastating. The goodwill and trade established in the last eighty years has now been pissed away; it will take generations to replace. It brings tears to my eyes when I hear the words of an eighty years old Danish Veteran tell Denver Riggleman at the "No Words" march "we want our big brother back"...so, keep it coming Jack...
I think Trump’s strongest pressure signal is narrative. The Epstein files are sucking all the oxygen in the room. He can shift the narrative away to something else, but it doesn’t last. It ALWAYS comes back to Epstein. And that’s driving him nuts. HIS OWN BASE is demanding release of the files. It’s an albatross around his neck and he can’t get it off.
Thank you Jack. Analysis like this is what makes the difference between being educated and being trained. This kind of critical thinking is what is not being taught to any scale in our schools before the Post Graduate level.
What I notice is seeking to control the narrative. “We are moving on from Epstein” is an example. Except even though the MSM may be bought off, the rest of the world is not.
The Stephen Colberts are out there. To the extent that the loyalists around him shield him, Bondi’s performance for one would be an example, perhaps he settles down for a minute? Who knows.
I Still wonder if we won’t get WWWIII to maintain his fragile sense of wellbeing. Because maybe pressure hardens, but that hardness is brittle. Diamond fracture under the pressure of prongs pressed too tightly.
Meanwhile I enjoy pictures of the Fasching floats in Germany every year and the knowledge that the rest of the world sees him for what he is. CBS can obey in advance, but we have the independents including people like you. Rebelling from authority is a huge part of American identity for all our flaws. We have them and living with both/and will mature us as a people.
I see him continuing to try the narrative for regaining control since it appears the Epstein files are not going away…and he is starting to”fires” all over the globe. I am guessing it will prevent him from being cornered.
He is trying to dig in that he has been exonerated from any involvement with Epstein. He keeps repeating it when asked.
I do not see any constraint occurring and expect to see escalation which could be part of the situation with Iran.
Question I have: we know he has most likely had a CVA and memory is off…does that not play a part here??
Yea, my panic button clicked. I live in Iowa, a farming state, and today fearless leader threatened massive tariffs on Canadian potash. Our farmers, coming off a killer year where they barely broke even are ordering their ammonia and potash now and will start to be in the fields in six weeks. They rely on potash. Sure there are huge corporation farms here, but there’s also Larry and John and LeRoy, some sitting on Century Farms. They are friends and neighbors, many may have voted for Trump but it’s still a betrayal and hardship. Our compromised Supreme Court still hasn’t ruled on the legality of tariffs and I have no confidence they will find their way to truth.
Jack, I hope your Part Two will sprinkle some hope and credible logic on Part One. And, as always thank you.
Becky, yup. Your panic button didn’t misfire...it caught a real chain reaction.
While I have never farmed, I grew up around it, and several of my family members were/are farmers.
Potash/ammonia isn’t a “policy debate” in Iowa. It’s a clock. Orders go in now...fields move in weeks...and prices get baked in fast.
So when “fearless leader” starts playing tariff chicken with Canadian potash...it lands as what it is: whiplash risk dumped onto Larry/John/LeRoy...not onto the people making the threats.
And you nailed the betrayal piece. Even if some of your neighbors voted for him...this is still breaking the bargain: you plan...you finance...you WORK… and Washington turns your inputs into a roulette wheel.
On the Court...I’m with you. Even if legality gets argued later...the harm is front-loaded. Markets don’t wait for opinions.
The hope/logic isn’t “trust the system.” It’s this: farm-state blowback is immediate and loud...supply chains respond fast...and uncertainty gets punished.
Those are constraints...not virtue...but they’re real. And politically...this is also a persuasion opening in rural America, not shaming, just recognition...“You kept your end. You got jerked around.”
Thank you for saying it plainly! That’s exactly the kind of grounded reality check people need.
-Jack
I studied mental maps as an undergrad years ago, and I APPRECIATE your careful design and contribution to fortify my understanding of events. What stands out the most to me is the constant desperate attempt of the regime to control the narrative. I am so grateful that we aren’t forced to rely on mainstream media to tell the story. Thanks, Jack.
Ytram, mental maps are EVERYTHING in a pressure environment. If you can’t build a clean internal model...you end up reacting to whatever headline hits hardest. So I really appreciate you naming that you’re tracking the structure...not just the noise.
You’re right: the constant...desperate effort to dominate the narrative is a tell. When a project is stable...it doesn’t need that level of message control. When it’s fragile...it has to keep people INSIDE the story at all costs.
Also...yes. The ability to route around gatekeepers matters. Not because “mainstream media is always wrong,” but because centralized narratives...always have blind spots...incentives...and delay. Distributed attention is messier...but it’s harder to fully capture.
Thank you for reading this the way it’s intended: as orientation. And...thank you, Ytram, for saying it out loud...it helps other readers trust their own pattern recognition too.
-Jack
I felt the click when you highlighted that we are halfway through. That makes a lot of what we see make better sense--all the saber rattling, all the attempts at scary rhetoric, all the attempts at making us afraid. More, please.
Maggie...OUTSTANDING! Because that was exactly the kind of "click" I was striving to help subscribers as you...have.
-Jack
Which do you think is the strongest pressure signal right now…narrative, loyalty, or procedural?
I have to say narrative, because of Epstein. He actually has to continue to bleat that the files exonerate him. I don't think he can admit to himself that he failed. So he is cornered and will double down. Next verse same as the first -- tariffs, bombing other countries, invading our cities, going after his perceived enemies. I see him as a mad conductor flailing his arms as every instrument plays a different tune. But each time the crack gets just a bit wider and he loses a few more supporters.
Now I will read the rest of another great piece.
#HoldFast
Sue
Sue,...this is such a sharp read.
If I had to pick the strongest pressure signal right now...I’d say narrative is the loudest symptom… but PROCEDURAL is the most decisive constraint.
Narrative is where you can literally watch the strain: the compulsive “I’m exonerated” refrain...the endless re-framing...the inability to let the story settle. That’s a cornered system...trying to keep its spell intact.
But...the cracks that change outcomes usually show up in procedure: delays...reversals... refusals...quiet noncompliance...people “following the rules” in ways that suddenly stop protecting the leader.
That’s where loyalty gets stress-tested in real time.
Your “mad conductor” image lands because it captures the whole thing: flailing control... discord in the orchestra, and...most important...each cycle widens the seam a little more.
#HoldFast right back at you.
-Jack
Narrative
Loyalty
Procedural
Narrative is controlled by loyalists
Procedure is executed by loyalists
Loyalists toe The Company Line
Trump in his quest for loyalty tolerates felonious behavior.
Loyalty is in the shortest supply.
Pressure them with proper light and today's loyalists are tomorrows cockroaches.
Julien, I'm glad those points resonated with you.
You just described the mechanism in a way most people feel but can’t articulate.
When the same loyalty test governs both what gets said publicly and what gets done operationally, the system doesn’t need to announce corruption. It just quietly normalizes it...one decision, one exception, one “special case” at a time.
And...those points about why this keeps escalating are the uncomfortable ones: if loyalty is the top credential...the leader starts treating lawbreaking as a tolerable cost...sometimes even as proof of devotion...because it signals, “I’ll risk myself for the line.”
The good news (and it’s real) is that this kind of arrangement is brittle.
It looks solid until scrutiny becomes personal and consequences become specific. The moment exposure turns into career risk...money risk...or legal risk...a surprising number of people suddenly discover their principles… or at least their survival instincts.
You’re not just venting here...these are the pressure points!
-Jack
Jack what comes to mind for me is narrative flooding…the EPSTEIN FILES…IRAN ESCALATION…GREENLAND ….ANOTHER BOAT BOMBED IN THE CARIBBEAN ….THE VOTING FIASCO IN GEORGIA……
Jeff, yes...that’s narrative flooding: multiple high-emotion threads launched at once so attention can’t settle long enough to form a clean public judgment.
The trick is to treat these as separate lanes...with different “real-world consequence speed.”
Epstein files = document churn + interpretation fights (slow burn, high drama).
Iran escalation = elevated tension with diplomatic/force-posture risk (can spike fast).
“Boat bombed” = part of an ongoing anti-narcotics strike pattern...not a one-off headline.
So...you’re not crazy...you’re noticing a tactic.
The antidote is boring but powerful: slow the feed...label the lane...track what actually changes policy or price...and ignore the rest until it forces its way into consequences.
-Jack
Yes!! Slow the feed…label the lane..track what actually changes policy or price…..
I love the logic!
Jack, you are sharing insights, which, probably, many of us need to know. I think you have surpassed yourself this time! I am ready for the next chapter.
Thank you, Bill. I appreciate that. I did spend more time on this article than most. I think the extra time, at least with this one...produced a better end "product."
-Jack
He's lost control of the narrative, and the effects are worldwide; many of our neighbors and allies are calling bullshit on his tariffs and international bullying saying America has become unreliable. The effect on our national economy is devastating. The goodwill and trade established in the last eighty years has now been pissed away; it will take generations to replace. It brings tears to my eyes when I hear the words of an eighty years old Danish Veteran tell Denver Riggleman at the "No Words" march "we want our big brother back"...so, keep it coming Jack...
“Which do you think is the strongest pressure signal right now…narrative, loyalty, or procedural?”
LOYALTY
Mary...you're a consistent contributor! Thank you.
-Jack
Narrative
Thanks for being here, Jeff!
-Jack
Narrative and loyalty.
Lynn...I'm glad you're here. I really am!
-Jack
Narrative.
Thanks for showing up, Tim Sullivan!
-Jack
I think Trump’s strongest pressure signal is narrative. The Epstein files are sucking all the oxygen in the room. He can shift the narrative away to something else, but it doesn’t last. It ALWAYS comes back to Epstein. And that’s driving him nuts. HIS OWN BASE is demanding release of the files. It’s an albatross around his neck and he can’t get it off.
Thank you Jack. Analysis like this is what makes the difference between being educated and being trained. This kind of critical thinking is what is not being taught to any scale in our schools before the Post Graduate level.
What I notice is seeking to control the narrative. “We are moving on from Epstein” is an example. Except even though the MSM may be bought off, the rest of the world is not.
The Stephen Colberts are out there. To the extent that the loyalists around him shield him, Bondi’s performance for one would be an example, perhaps he settles down for a minute? Who knows.
I Still wonder if we won’t get WWWIII to maintain his fragile sense of wellbeing. Because maybe pressure hardens, but that hardness is brittle. Diamond fracture under the pressure of prongs pressed too tightly.
Meanwhile I enjoy pictures of the Fasching floats in Germany every year and the knowledge that the rest of the world sees him for what he is. CBS can obey in advance, but we have the independents including people like you. Rebelling from authority is a huge part of American identity for all our flaws. We have them and living with both/and will mature us as a people.
I see him continuing to try the narrative for regaining control since it appears the Epstein files are not going away…and he is starting to”fires” all over the globe. I am guessing it will prevent him from being cornered.
He is trying to dig in that he has been exonerated from any involvement with Epstein. He keeps repeating it when asked.
I do not see any constraint occurring and expect to see escalation which could be part of the situation with Iran.
Question I have: we know he has most likely had a CVA and memory is off…does that not play a part here??
#HOLDFAST
Teri