He’s lying about what we did in the Clinton administration, lying when he says public servants are our enemies, and lying that beneficiaries of public programs are parasites.
Mr. Johnson, you sir, are full of crap! The people of this country are vehemently opposed to the efforts put forth by the current Republican party, to strip away the authority of our social agencies. There is a vast difference between streamlining an arm of the government and eviscerating a country of the agencies it needs in order to function. Trump and his goons aren't getting rid of waste and fraud they are systematically weakening our country, why? All the examples they have sighted where billions of dollars have been saved by their efforts, show me in black and white where these cuts are warranted. LIes backed up with more and more of the same. What Trump loves about the existence of his lies, they require no proof to be told. Trump and Musk are stripping away this country's credibility, one layer at a time. If he continues to weaken us, every free-thinking mind in the world will suffer. We are under the influence of a solipsistic group of oligarchs. We understand how to free ourselves from the quagmire in Trump's swamp, but all we do is sink deeper through our efforts to free ourselves. Swim Forrest, swim.
As Trump is wont to do, he’s successfully replaced the “swamp” with a toxic cesspool. The more disgusted and frightened I become, the more determined I am to stand up for democracy in any and every way I can. We all can. Start with the 5 Calls app. At the very least, it will provide you with congressional contacts in your district. Participate in your local Indivisible group. And no matter how horrible the onslaught of bullshit can be, don’t lose hope.
Yesterday, NPR's "Fresh Air" spoke with Professor Elizabeth Linos at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Professor Linos described how DOGE is neither saving taxpayer's money, nor making the Federal government more efficient.
In fact, DOGE will cost taxpayers more money, make government less transparent and run off the best employees needed.
News flash: The Federal Government has been streamlining to become more efficient for decades.
The following NPR interview is a MUST listen to piece. It's very informative, factual and non-partisan. The guest, a Harvard Professor, is well-versed with history, facts and practices. For example, people hated tax season. So they figured out a way to file taxes easier for free. Now Republicans want to mix it. The MSM must ask why DOGE is recklessly gutting our government necessary for the USA to be efficient, effective, safe and a World leader for decades.
Gutting the government and replacing Federal workers with private contractors is bad for tax payers, the economy, the workforce, and makes income inequality worse by making (his tech buddies) private businesses rich and more1099 workers less secure without benefits.
The following interview is probably the BEST NPR interview I've EVER heard. And I've heard thousands upon thousands.
The story is so good I called my Rep and asked that she and her staff listen to the interview so they have the facts to stand up and stop Musk's destruction of government necessary for public safety, transparency and oversight of his companies. I added that she should stand up and fight to stop all government business to Musk's companies. Enjoy! Please share this important and timely story:
The actions of doge is not to save money or find fraud or waste. It is to disrupt the government, to weaken/destroy the few remaining guard rails and allow an autocracy. It’s in every dictator’s playbook.
Still think it’s more mob mentality as in Mafia. I have said for years that Russia is not a country but the worlds’ largest criminal organization with Putin as mob boss.
A recent Substack by "Curiosity Cafe" (highly recommend) took a high dive in to the unknown "what if" waters of Democracy. The possible ramifications are apocalyptic and horrifying. Sensing genuine terror, I tried my best to make the case that she doesnt need to start stocking up on canned goods, guns, gold and start prepping for the pending collapse of our civilized society. One of reasons that I used was that a Professor once told our class that the US Government "does not change too much too fast because of all the bureaucracy. Bureaucracy protects the system from swinging one way too far." I see some truth to this statement. It took 50 YEARS to make modest consumer protections to our heavily bureaucratic healthcare system with the ACA. You see where I'm going with this? What I'm trying to say is that by DOGE gutting the government bureaucracy, what Musk is also doing is eliminating the built-in guardrails that protect our government from changing too much too fast. This presents the very real possibility that the USS Democracy is in perilous waters that could sink our experimental democracy ship like the Titanic.
Bannon is exactly right. "Musk is evil." When is the media going to start doing their job and make people like Musk explain their reasons and actions, and make him resign if he gets it wrong?
The MSM must be asking questions like: What's the reason for taking off the vital guard rails of the Federal government that protect Americans, Elon?
Do you see that dismantling bureaucracy, like the CPFB that formed because of the disasterous banking "too big to fail" collapse, is instantly creating ripe conditions for another fleecing of the system, like a crypto collapse?
Why do you think YOU and few college kids can do a job that would take the entire Deloitte workforce many years to complete?
When can we see the thousands of email responses from demoralized government workers?
How much do your companies stand to gain by eliminating the federal oversight of your businesses?
Are you going to pay for any financial damage you cause Americans?
And In all due disrespect, DOGE looks very dodgy. Are you nuts to stand here and tell the Press Corp and American people that DOGE has one iota of transparency?
It's been said that Putin is the most successful gangster in the history of the world. He is very wealthy but his money is hidden and invested in real estate. Maybe muskrat has surpassed him now.
The ironies of DOGE are sickening. This is also the name of Musk's crypto. The first firings of non essential workers included the live help line for Veterans - that says it all ! None of these bastards ever fought in a war and Trump ridiculed Senator Loser from AZ for getting caught along with a handicapped man for being spastic. He kicked a pet dog and he confused his daughter for the woman he raped. It continues to defy Logic and Common Sense that the Average MAGA is till on board with this - but in a way it makes perfect sense. Donny is winning and his champions love to witness that on the global stage. He may be destroying our History and Legacy and Violating the Hopes & Dreams of millions who died or were maimed for life but went on living like my grandfather; but they do not care. The 'they' is now us.
Right, Danny, the 'skump' admin 'transparently' is moving to concentrate wealth into the coffers of world oligarchs. at the expense of public benefits and safety, the main reasons for government to exist. Doge + Musk = DUSK, Death Under the Sun by Kleptocrats. Note drump's recent comment about how one Russky 'ollie' would be a great candidate for one of his $5M gold immigrant cards. These are the same people who were under indictment for racketeering by the previous admin. Thanks for the reference, and kudos to Robert for setting the record straight.
Danny, you are right this was a good interview, straight-forward, interesting, and did not talk down to folks or use terms people could not understand. Now, if we could get more people to listen to it, we might make some progress in dealing with this current lying, cheating, insanity.
Excellent link: includes transcript. I prefer to read , since I am hard of hearing, and don't have the time to listen. Everyone should be reading or listening to this interview.
You are welcome, Susie! If we tell as many people as we can about the blackout, our voice will become louder and stronger! We have to unite on this and make sure the orange man and the musk-rat understand, we are not their stupid followers. We are the American people and we know exactly what is happening. We will protest and we will fight. All of us united make a very loud and clear voice and we will be heard! C'mon, America! We can do this!
You are welcome, Cathlynn! There are more actions coming up and I will be sure to post them and the dates they are happening. Coming up on March 7-14 is the Amazon Boycott. Remind your friends and post it on all of your substacks!
Thank you for posting this, Susie! I am surprised any media would even talk about it! Also, I find it interesting that axios also said it has no impact. If that is true, then the next blackout must be longer and must have many, many true Americans participating! For true Americans to sit back and basically say, "Sure government, go ahead and suppress us, yeah, take our rights and liberties and freedoms, we're just going to sit on the sidelines and watch our country destroy itself by the enemy within!" Medicaid recipients are not the enemy, journalists who speak the truth are not the enemy, public servants are not the enemy. THE ENEMY IS THE ORANGE MAN, MUSK-RAT, AND EVERY SINGLE TRAITOR THAT DOES THEIR BIDDING! THE ENEMY IS THE MEGA-CORPORATIONS WHO FEEL THEY ARE GOING TO DICTATE TO TRUE AMERICANS HOW WE WILL LIVE! I will fight them with every fiber of my being! No one is going to tell me how to live my life and no one is going to take my rights, liberties and freedoms away from me!
After reading the garbage posted by doge, I had myself a good cry. We HAVE to make a difference. We HAVE to.
Let’s see if THIS makes a difference! Please feel free to make the below your own and post it EVERYWHERE! Comments. Text messages. You know what to do….
If congress won’t avail themselves of their constitutionally mandated power of the purse, then WE, THE PEOPLE, will.
TOTAL ECOMIC BLACKOUT. TOMORROW. Friday, FEB 28th. DO NOT SPEND A SINGLE DIME BETWEEN MIDNIGHT TONIGHT and 11.59PM ON FRIDAY.
Years ago, my husband and I were driving through the mountains of Colorado. At one point we passed a series of ponds along the twists and turns of the road. The water was a weird unnatural shade of blue. The banks were dirt and dust. No living thing, not a tree, a weed, nor even grass, let alone any sort of animal, could be seen within hundreds of yards of these pools. But there were occasional bones.
I found out later the pools were filled with tailings from old copper mines, which mixed with the water and created a toxic substance.
That's what Trump and Musk are trying very hard to do with this country.
You are right. Trump and Musk, without admitting it, are promoting Project 2025. Russell Vought, one of its architects, and now head of the OMB, spares no words in his attacks on federal agencies, but the one agency he singles out for vilification is the EPA. Project 2025 is a project for the unrestricted plunder of the country's natural resources.
Drain the Swamp was ALWAYS Donny's double speak for this. He is not draining that swamp for us - or the most ardent MAGAs. He is replacing it with his own cess pool and he has plugged up the outlets. No FDA to control PFAS is not exactly what Love Canals need forevor and that includes poor white trash behind the WalMart as much as rich Karens living in suberbia and the CEO of Dupont and his grandchildren. No Justice Department to protect Truth or Justice leaves us with nothing but the American Way with and no recorse or even agreement on whether this was the end of Democracy or a bloodless coup. Trumpf himself becomes bigger in ways that his sister warmed us - now he is balooned as a self styled Super Man who is way better looking than that Hitler guy and he does not have latent self loating like Napoleon for being short. He only fears the photos showing his small dick or whatever else Putin has on him.
All we hear are obvious lies and lame excuses as Musk and DOGE continue to carry out their self serving scheme to slash, trash, grab and burn. Claims of transparency - simply laughable. The lies aren't being well received - they are having the opposite effect. People are becoming very, very angry. They do not, will not be taken for dupes. The feelings of betrayal are deepening. How long will repugnant-cans in Congress keep yoking themselves to the shameful trump/musk pirate ship....sooner or later they will be forced to walk the plank.
I think the why is easy to explain..if you strip away enough of the people who do the basic things that Americans rely on, then you have to hire outside contractors to do the work. This will cost more and there will be even more grifters who make money off of government. Why do we allow one man to control STARLINK? (Remember at one point Musk turned it off over Ukraine.)Why do we allow one man to be in control of our space program? It makes no sense. The idea that the private sector can do better is just a hold over from the Reagan era and we all know that since then, more money has flowed upward than ever, leaving less for rest of us, or for the social programs that we need. As the richest country in the world we should not have the high infant mortality rates that we have. We should not have women dying as the result of childbirth depending on which state that they live in. We should not have parents not being able to afford child care. We should not have the cost of housing so high that people are homeless. We need to bring back the progressive tax rates that existed when Eisenhower was president. Even Warren Buffet has said as much.
Carol S, yes, there is no power or money to be made off of the federal workforce public servants as a whole. Bulldozing those pesky, non-corrupt civil servants into the river creates the perfect conditions for corruption from the ground up. Full-on privatizing and contracting of programs and expenditures, limited to only those that benefit them, and can be leveraged as quid pro quo.
Why do 'we' let Musk have the keys to our federal payment system? Why indeed/
I see this as an epic over reach - led by a German sounding idiot punch drunk on power and a freak from South Africa taking a kamikazzee shot at our port side and loving every minute.
good point on starlink- a while back,after a dispute over a fishing trawler,China cut off japan's access to rare earth minerals-the authoritarian exercises of power are eerily similar
In order to maintain control, the Oligarchs must bamboozle the voters. This is how Putin stays in power.
"We must do what they fear - tell the truth, spread the truth This is the most powerful weapon against this regime of liars, thieves and hypocrites. Everyone has this weapon, so make use of it." - Alexei Navalny
Justin, I agree with you and Alexei Navalny. However, telling the truth to power can often result in a powerful response from power. We should tell the truth, but be ready for consequences.
I am more than ready, Marc! It hasn't even been a month and I am mad as hell! Truth should always triumph. If there are consequences, then there will be consequences but at least my kids and future generations will know where I stood!
Justin and Marc, very much agreed. But as telling lies is a craft, so is telling the truth. I did not help Navalny so far: so how can we gain terrain again?
Stupidity and childish backwardness are not easy to convince.
What the hell happened to the Republicans? Is there one grown-up left? Let us try to find him or her. What the hell happened to the Democrats? Can we distribute some civil courage?
He is my hero. I have his picture on my refrigerator and T-shirt to inspire me and to honor him. His murder impacted me much like the assassinations of the 1960's. What a horrible loss!
A tragic loss, indeed, and learn an important lesson from it: Navalny created two enemies. Attacking the oligarchy was dangerous enough, but when he also came out against the invasion of Ukraine he sealed his fate. Nationalism always trumps justice.
Because, biologically-speaking, we're wired for fight or flight, and therefore for gossip. If you're always gullible when it comes to bad news, at least you'll escape when it's true. The more malignant gossip is, the more believable. Hitler said in Mein Kampf that people are so used to telling little lies in their lives, that they cannot imagine telling a whopper, so anyone telling the Big Lie must be telling the truth.
The fact is - and it only takes two neurons and a pulse to make this observation - that the $38 billion gifted to Musk by the US government probably contains more fraud and abuse than USAID. Why do we need more satellites anyway? It's getting polluted up there, soon we'll all have to leave Earth.
Speaking of which, has anyone called Musk on his puerile idea for terraforming Mars? It violates the laws of physics and chemistry.
When DOGE was announced, a reported asked Muskrat where he would look to save money. His answer was vague. I believe he said something like, "you can shoot in any direction..."
I thought to myself, "I hope he aims at unnecessary missions to Mars, no wasteful private satelights for mass surveillance and wasteful, unnecessary health insurance companies charging Americans outrageous rates and using shameful new algorithms to discriminate and deny necessary healthcare. And make the super rich pay their fair share!"
Well, it appears I'm 0 for 4. All he is aiming at are the government agencies with necessary oversight of big business, namely his business interests. DOGE is dogging out the most important agencies needed to protect consumers, workers and the economy.
Bannon is right on Musk. I believe his quote was "Musk is evil."
Imprisonment for contempt of Congress was a badge of honor for Bannon, but being excluded from Trump's inner circle is evidently extremely painful for him. Sometimes life is fair.
This is it! Trump is not that smart - he simply knows how to dredge up old angers and fuel division. He is the biggest Loser to actually never lose - he is such a bully that he gets ALL to bend the knee if he chooses to fan the fury of his base. He got them to storm the capitol and then released them all to go form their own militias and we Americans wait in fear for what he will do next. Donny is not your friend - he has zero friends and he does not even like dogs. He does not drink or smoke - he simply is addicted to Power and making his enemies pay
For mouth-breathing magas, they are just supremely happy that they are "owning the libs"! Honestly, for many of these idiots, they would rather watch their country collapse and burn just so they can say they "owned the libs"!
It will only become clear to them far too late that in "owning the libs," what they were really doing is owning THEMSELVES. Everything they welcomed because it punished the people who scare them so much is also happening to them. By the time they feel it, it will be too late.
You voice an important question, Tom. Angry, frustrated people listen to individuals who voice their feelings, and then their attention is turned to scapegoats. It is a trick every demagogue knows.
This "constant stream of lies," is so attractive to a certain part of the American population because they have been abusively raised in ways that beat out of them, verbally or physically, any aspects of their personalities that didn't fit the rigid requirements of those, families, friends, communities and communities of "faith" that surrounded them. They are left with heartache from having pieces of their personalities ripped out. They have large deficits in their ability to be aware of the world around them and think about things clearly. Weasel news and other "conservative" media have tuned in on these deficits and dysfunctions and feed their audience a steady diet of lies which soothe their heartache and fit the warped view of the world their dysfunctions force them to hold. Coupled with that is a steady diet of outrage designed to addict that audience to the dopamine rushes they experience in response to that outrage.
Because we could not bring ourselves to put guardrails around the flow of information as our information infrastructures expanded so massively over the past few decades, prohibiting the wholesale dissemination of lies and warped interpretations of current events, we left the door wide open for this to happen. Our devotion to "free speech" has resulted in the birth of Orwell's "Ministry of Truth," but we failed to recognize it because it was not the government doing it but "conservative," media which has become a "Ministry of Truth," for our "conservative" friends and now dominates our government (even the Supreme Court as has been revealed by their most recent ruling).
With that Supreme Court ruling it has become clear that we are now living in a fascist oligarchy with Trump as its figure head. We need to shift our efforts from prevention to resistance, because we are already where we feared we were headed. America as we have known it is gone. Our only choice now is to take it back by whatever means necessary.
We are under the influence of sociopathic robber barons. Neil deGrasse Tyson says we are currently paying SpaceX to do what NASA has done more cheaply for the last 60 years. Why isn’t the DoD being audited for waste, fraud, and abuse? Eisenhower warned about the military industrial complex. How long has it been since DoD passed an audit?!
I have a family member who is working on his doctorate while conducting medical research on the brain. He’s thinking he’s on the chopping block. Slashing research devastates the scientific community as well as the growth of knowledge. Many experiments will be interrupted at critical junctures that will ruin them and the careers of those researchers, not to mention the damage to universities where a significant amount of research takes place.Research that turns into products, like medical devices or new therapies, better equipment for firefighters, better battery technology. All this slashing and burning can lead to a depression. Throwing millions of people out of work for no damn reason than to give rich people tax cuts.
In addition, the immigration acts of 1921-24 also included scientists from many Eastern European countries. The loss of this "brain Power" caused the number of patents and inventions to declined 68% in the United States and persisted into the 1960's. So like you mentioned, the DT, Musk, MAGA attack on current research and the researchers is dangerous to our country. DT's constant blathering about immigrants may lead to another 1920's ban on people he just doesn't like coming here. Bad news for all of us. Ref; Petra Moser NYU, Shnnel San NYU, 12/28/2019.
Bret---Elon Musk is saying the Biden administration left our two astronauts on the space station for political reasons. Now I know the fool is as crazy as the loon in the White House.
I respectfully disagree with your statement that “all we do is sink deeper through our efforts to free ourselves.”
When your back is against the wall, there is nothing left to do but fight and die. I say, “Do not go quietly into that dark night…rage, rage against the dying of the light.” I can think of nothing worse than the refusal to claim your power, not for your own sake alone, but for all future Americans and even for the world.
We will all be judged by future generations, not just the criminals and traitors.
Two malignant narcissist sociopaths running the show. No words for this bullshit. Total criminal, mafia mentality to the core. Total Treason to the max.
I can't say anything online, but I have my own thoughts about how this should come down. I'm livid and beyond furious with this level of God awful, intentional, malicious corruption and cruelty. They will pay a high price, and not one minute too soon. The people getting affected, and it will be LOTS of them, will come to terms with this Fucking crap, and will react. This is a classic case for inciting violence.
You may be correct - but the vast majority of Americans are Apathetic, Scared or actually Love Trump. The courageous Americans who will risk deportation to Guantanomo are the minority
Eloquently stated and true, Donald. We must move fast. We must be able to bring the economy to a halt if that is what it takes to save our constitutional government from the pretender "savior."
Bunkerboy waddled in by recieving a mere 24% of the voting public! THAT'S IT! And it's boss, President elon, is an illegal immigrant unemployed BUM living off the backs of AMERICANS despite having an IQ in the low 80s I'd say.
Professor Reich: musk is a ginormous parasite himself, a psychopathic kleptocrat, whose only goal is to steal money and resources from the entire world. anyone who thinks musk may show some mercy to children on medicaid is mistaken: he is trying to stick one of his babies mammas with a tiny child support payment for THREE KIDS whilst he chases after every last dollar that he can get his hands on. of course, this leaves me wondering what *his* mamma thinks of him?
my heart goes out to those who lost their jobs and careers after musk went on his chainsaw-fueled job-massacring rampages. i've already been reading about federal workers who are losing their housing as a result. worst, this is a immigrant (of dubious legality) who is running the government without getting a single vote to do so. if someone had told me a decade ago that this was the very future we were heading into, i''d be completely dumbfounded.
And that so many in the House and Senate are complicit. They all make me truly sick to even think about them. I'm not giving up the fight, but their existence nauseates me.
Half trump supports are clueless. They don't understand much of government internal workings.
It's easier for them to believe Trump is good and doing the right thing because he love love this country.
The other half of MAGA, dark MAGA, understands what is happening. They know trump and his goon are demolishing our government and consituation by default and they don't care.
They want a new government, even an authoritarian one because they think they will thrive. Dark MAGA, includes white supremacist.
So what we have is a small minority who have hired terrorists and place him in the highest office.
Domestic terrorist, no other name will do.
If the courts won't stop him then will at the ballot box or worse.
Bret, I think that your separating of the people makes sense. It seems some find the surface theater of it all fun and entertaining, but haven't looked or thought beyond that. While others seem to have went below the surface and think that increasing power and wealth through violence is what it's all about.
I, too, am astonished, Marc. This is how I explain it to myself: Donald Trump expressed sympathy for people who felt they had been wronged by the government and the elites. Trump also voiced their anger, and promised that that would never happen again if they voted for him. I wish Barack Obama had done that. I wish Hillary Clinton had apologized. Well, all that is water under bridge now, and we can be certain that Trump and his allies will never apologize for their criminal behavior. It will be up to us to apologize to future generations if we fail to act.
Yes. Congress could impeach Trump and remove him from office. They are too afraid of Elon Muskrat to do it. We need to find out why they are afraid of him, and then, do something about it.
As pertaining to the USAID money, why will it take "weeks" to turn the funds back on? The aid was stopped on Day One and they've been ordered to turn the funding back on. They need these "weeks" to do a thorough analysis before obeying the court. They could have done the same review while the funds were in place. They are nothing but criminals, literally ALL of them. How do we stop this?
"We also involved federal workers, because they knew better than anyone what could be improved and how best to do it."
This is the key. The Trump regime has only utter contempt for everything the orderly administration does, as illustrated by the texts of Russell Vought.
I am sick to death of that musk-rat and his department of gaslighting everyone! Who in hell does he think he is? Calling those people (even children!) that depend on Medicaid to help them manage parasites?! He's got some nerve! I want that lying sleaze bag brought down! I want him as far away from our government as possible! The republicans that just slashed Medicaid need to go to! Who in hell do they think they are? They DO NOT represent the American people. We simply are not like that! We are not parasites, our public servants who have worked tirelessly for the American people ARE NOT the enemy. That piece of shit is the enemy! I absolutely abhor that vile cretin and I want him gone! Please remember the Economic Blackout on Friday. Please remember to make those phone calls and declare in a very strong fashion how very much we are against this crap! Please write letters, sign petitions and protest. Right now, I am past being nice. I do believe we are headed in a path that will lead to violence. I really do not want that; however, if we want our country back, something has to be done!
To resort to violence will beget civil war. I, for one, have no desire to put America through that again. We’ve never fully recovered from the first Civil War.
The power of nonviolence may produce martyr/heroes. It also cripples corrupt power most rapidly with the least destruction. It brings together many disparate voices united in common cause and the people are blessed by it.
This is why we must unite in RESISTANCE: CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, rallies, protests in the streets, along the highways, in town halls, strikes, marches, protest songs, sit-in, lie-ins,
I worked from age 13 to age 68, 55 years of mostly steady employment, during which I paid taxes and contributed to Social Security. I'm hardly a parasite having helped raise four wage-earning productive citizens, who also pay taxes and contribute to Social Security. If you're looking for parasites, check out that cabinet meeting yesterday.
What is happening? A private citizen from South Africa conducts a Cabinet meeting while the President dozes? He illegally orders federal workers to do his bidding or get immediately fired? He calls poor working Americans “parasites” while planning to cause their deaths by denying them medical care? He has no controls and calls for judges who rule against him to be fired or impeached. He thwarts the Constitution and Congress and the Supreme Court sleep.
Am I talking about America or failing to wake up from a horribly bad dream?
Musk labels beneficiaries of public programs the parasite class, but likely they have worked and paid taxes sometime in their past. When did Musk or any of the oligarchs pay taxes, never. They are the parasite class. The reason they lie is they know the traditional, docile media will scream it out from the rooftops. In fact traditional media aid and abet Trump and always have because it pays.
One of Musk's employees at X said that Musk told him to just cut and cut, and, "if you don't have to replace something, that means you haven't cut enough." Musk has also said, "If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough."
Of course, to decide if you are failing and if you have to replace something depends on what you think the function of what you are innovating and/or cutting should be.
Musk thinks the function of government offices is to make him as rich and powerful as possible and to help him succeed in his goal of getting to Mars.
Trump thinks the function of government offices is to make him and his family as rich and powerful as possible.
Anything that does not conduce to these goals is unnecessary and need not be replaced.
Musk's and Trump's rehiring fired nuclear experts who oversee the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) was necessary because their job is essentially, as they see it, to keep them alive while they pursue their goals; they may also prove useful to Musk's goal of getting to Mars.
Similarly, Musk's and Trump's rehiring fired federal staff who were working to contain the bird flu outbreak was necessary because their job is essentially, as they see it, to keep them alive while they pursue their goals.
No other government services/departments/workers that were cut need, in their views, to be rehired because they are not necessary to the two men's goals. Therefore, they, like most if not all of us reading this post, are "parasites" who should be cut.
In order to maintain control, the Oligarchs must bamboozle the voters. This is how Putin stays in power.
"We must do what they fear - tell the truth, spread the truth This is the most powerful weapon against this regime of liars, thieves and hypocrites. Everyone has this weapon, so make use of it." - Alexei Navalny
Both he and 47 lie all the time. I don't believe anything they say. Musk has now said that his boss is a moron, in company in the WH. Lets see how long he lasts once that gets back.
Apparently Elon Musk is a believer in "management by fear" which has been proved many times to be inefficient and destructive. I am therefore puzzled by his success in business. How can he retain talented and dedicated staff in his own companies? Or does he reserve the chainsaw approach for acquisitions he wants to dismember?
Mr. Johnson, you sir, are full of crap! The people of this country are vehemently opposed to the efforts put forth by the current Republican party, to strip away the authority of our social agencies. There is a vast difference between streamlining an arm of the government and eviscerating a country of the agencies it needs in order to function. Trump and his goons aren't getting rid of waste and fraud they are systematically weakening our country, why? All the examples they have sighted where billions of dollars have been saved by their efforts, show me in black and white where these cuts are warranted. LIes backed up with more and more of the same. What Trump loves about the existence of his lies, they require no proof to be told. Trump and Musk are stripping away this country's credibility, one layer at a time. If he continues to weaken us, every free-thinking mind in the world will suffer. We are under the influence of a solipsistic group of oligarchs. We understand how to free ourselves from the quagmire in Trump's swamp, but all we do is sink deeper through our efforts to free ourselves. Swim Forrest, swim.
As Trump is wont to do, he’s successfully replaced the “swamp” with a toxic cesspool. The more disgusted and frightened I become, the more determined I am to stand up for democracy in any and every way I can. We all can. Start with the 5 Calls app. At the very least, it will provide you with congressional contacts in your district. Participate in your local Indivisible group. And no matter how horrible the onslaught of bullshit can be, don’t lose hope.
Yesterday, NPR's "Fresh Air" spoke with Professor Elizabeth Linos at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Professor Linos described how DOGE is neither saving taxpayer's money, nor making the Federal government more efficient.
In fact, DOGE will cost taxpayers more money, make government less transparent and run off the best employees needed.
News flash: The Federal Government has been streamlining to become more efficient for decades.
The following NPR interview is a MUST listen to piece. It's very informative, factual and non-partisan. The guest, a Harvard Professor, is well-versed with history, facts and practices. For example, people hated tax season. So they figured out a way to file taxes easier for free. Now Republicans want to mix it. The MSM must ask why DOGE is recklessly gutting our government necessary for the USA to be efficient, effective, safe and a World leader for decades.
Gutting the government and replacing Federal workers with private contractors is bad for tax payers, the economy, the workforce, and makes income inequality worse by making (his tech buddies) private businesses rich and more1099 workers less secure without benefits.
The following interview is probably the BEST NPR interview I've EVER heard. And I've heard thousands upon thousands.
The story is so good I called my Rep and asked that she and her staff listen to the interview so they have the facts to stand up and stop Musk's destruction of government necessary for public safety, transparency and oversight of his companies. I added that she should stand up and fight to stop all government business to Musk's companies. Enjoy! Please share this important and timely story:
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/26/nx-s1-5309756/as-elon-musk-continues-sweeping-cuts-to-the-us-government-people-are-really-scared
The actions of doge is not to save money or find fraud or waste. It is to disrupt the government, to weaken/destroy the few remaining guard rails and allow an autocracy. It’s in every dictator’s playbook.
Still think it’s more mob mentality as in Mafia. I have said for years that Russia is not a country but the worlds’ largest criminal organization with Putin as mob boss.
And that is what trump wants to be.
A recent Substack by "Curiosity Cafe" (highly recommend) took a high dive in to the unknown "what if" waters of Democracy. The possible ramifications are apocalyptic and horrifying. Sensing genuine terror, I tried my best to make the case that she doesnt need to start stocking up on canned goods, guns, gold and start prepping for the pending collapse of our civilized society. One of reasons that I used was that a Professor once told our class that the US Government "does not change too much too fast because of all the bureaucracy. Bureaucracy protects the system from swinging one way too far." I see some truth to this statement. It took 50 YEARS to make modest consumer protections to our heavily bureaucratic healthcare system with the ACA. You see where I'm going with this? What I'm trying to say is that by DOGE gutting the government bureaucracy, what Musk is also doing is eliminating the built-in guardrails that protect our government from changing too much too fast. This presents the very real possibility that the USS Democracy is in perilous waters that could sink our experimental democracy ship like the Titanic.
Bannon is exactly right. "Musk is evil." When is the media going to start doing their job and make people like Musk explain their reasons and actions, and make him resign if he gets it wrong?
The MSM must be asking questions like: What's the reason for taking off the vital guard rails of the Federal government that protect Americans, Elon?
Do you see that dismantling bureaucracy, like the CPFB that formed because of the disasterous banking "too big to fail" collapse, is instantly creating ripe conditions for another fleecing of the system, like a crypto collapse?
Why do you think YOU and few college kids can do a job that would take the entire Deloitte workforce many years to complete?
When can we see the thousands of email responses from demoralized government workers?
How much do your companies stand to gain by eliminating the federal oversight of your businesses?
Are you going to pay for any financial damage you cause Americans?
And In all due disrespect, DOGE looks very dodgy. Are you nuts to stand here and tell the Press Corp and American people that DOGE has one iota of transparency?
It's been said that Putin is the most successful gangster in the history of the world. He is very wealthy but his money is hidden and invested in real estate. Maybe muskrat has surpassed him now.
Trump recently said that the government is fat and bloated. Damn I thought he was describing himself.
The ironies of DOGE are sickening. This is also the name of Musk's crypto. The first firings of non essential workers included the live help line for Veterans - that says it all ! None of these bastards ever fought in a war and Trump ridiculed Senator Loser from AZ for getting caught along with a handicapped man for being spastic. He kicked a pet dog and he confused his daughter for the woman he raped. It continues to defy Logic and Common Sense that the Average MAGA is till on board with this - but in a way it makes perfect sense. Donny is winning and his champions love to witness that on the global stage. He may be destroying our History and Legacy and Violating the Hopes & Dreams of millions who died or were maimed for life but went on living like my grandfather; but they do not care. The 'they' is now us.
Right, Danny, the 'skump' admin 'transparently' is moving to concentrate wealth into the coffers of world oligarchs. at the expense of public benefits and safety, the main reasons for government to exist. Doge + Musk = DUSK, Death Under the Sun by Kleptocrats. Note drump's recent comment about how one Russky 'ollie' would be a great candidate for one of his $5M gold immigrant cards. These are the same people who were under indictment for racketeering by the previous admin. Thanks for the reference, and kudos to Robert for setting the record straight.
Musk is treating Washington like it was DOGE city, and he is standing in the OK corral, with Pistols in hand.
Danny, you are right this was a good interview, straight-forward, interesting, and did not talk down to folks or use terms people could not understand. Now, if we could get more people to listen to it, we might make some progress in dealing with this current lying, cheating, insanity.
Thanks, Danny, excellent!
Thanks, Peggy! It's great to be back. It's been rough but I'm hanging in there. I missed y'all! ❤️
Glad you are back, Danny! Everyone needs a break from this crap every now and then. I hope all is okay with you!
Have a friend who made a lot more as a contractor than he did as a Lt. Colonel for basically the same job.
WOW! Thank you, Danny piper for posting this great, clarifying conversation. Very well explained.
Excellent link: includes transcript. I prefer to read , since I am hard of hearing, and don't have the time to listen. Everyone should be reading or listening to this interview.
Susie, don't forget the economic blackout on Friday as well!
I won’t, Peggy!! Thank you.
You are welcome, Susie! If we tell as many people as we can about the blackout, our voice will become louder and stronger! We have to unite on this and make sure the orange man and the musk-rat understand, we are not their stupid followers. We are the American people and we know exactly what is happening. We will protest and we will fight. All of us united make a very loud and clear voice and we will be heard! C'mon, America! We can do this!
Thank you Peggy. My Daughter placed that reminder on her calendar.
You're welcome, Maureen! Now, don't forget to tell all your friends!
Yes! Thanks for reminding us of the Friday buy-nothing blackout!!!!!!
You are welcome, Cathlynn! There are more actions coming up and I will be sure to post them and the dates they are happening. Coming up on March 7-14 is the Amazon Boycott. Remind your friends and post it on all of your substacks!
Get your essentials today. Let the trivial shopping wait.
https://www.axios.com/2025/02/25/economic-blackout-february-28-peoples-union
Thank you for posting this, Susie! I am surprised any media would even talk about it! Also, I find it interesting that axios also said it has no impact. If that is true, then the next blackout must be longer and must have many, many true Americans participating! For true Americans to sit back and basically say, "Sure government, go ahead and suppress us, yeah, take our rights and liberties and freedoms, we're just going to sit on the sidelines and watch our country destroy itself by the enemy within!" Medicaid recipients are not the enemy, journalists who speak the truth are not the enemy, public servants are not the enemy. THE ENEMY IS THE ORANGE MAN, MUSK-RAT, AND EVERY SINGLE TRAITOR THAT DOES THEIR BIDDING! THE ENEMY IS THE MEGA-CORPORATIONS WHO FEEL THEY ARE GOING TO DICTATE TO TRUE AMERICANS HOW WE WILL LIVE! I will fight them with every fiber of my being! No one is going to tell me how to live my life and no one is going to take my rights, liberties and freedoms away from me!
After reading the garbage posted by doge, I had myself a good cry. We HAVE to make a difference. We HAVE to.
Let’s see if THIS makes a difference! Please feel free to make the below your own and post it EVERYWHERE! Comments. Text messages. You know what to do….
If congress won’t avail themselves of their constitutionally mandated power of the purse, then WE, THE PEOPLE, will.
TOTAL ECOMIC BLACKOUT. TOMORROW. Friday, FEB 28th. DO NOT SPEND A SINGLE DIME BETWEEN MIDNIGHT TONIGHT and 11.59PM ON FRIDAY.
You go, Susie! I'm with you! We MUST do something!
Years ago, my husband and I were driving through the mountains of Colorado. At one point we passed a series of ponds along the twists and turns of the road. The water was a weird unnatural shade of blue. The banks were dirt and dust. No living thing, not a tree, a weed, nor even grass, let alone any sort of animal, could be seen within hundreds of yards of these pools. But there were occasional bones.
I found out later the pools were filled with tailings from old copper mines, which mixed with the water and created a toxic substance.
That's what Trump and Musk are trying very hard to do with this country.
You are right. Trump and Musk, without admitting it, are promoting Project 2025. Russell Vought, one of its architects, and now head of the OMB, spares no words in his attacks on federal agencies, but the one agency he singles out for vilification is the EPA. Project 2025 is a project for the unrestricted plunder of the country's natural resources.
I've cancelled a planned trip to Europe this summer because I'd be embarrassed to admit I'm an American!
How awful for you and for us all, Yvonne. :(
Drain the Swamp was ALWAYS Donny's double speak for this. He is not draining that swamp for us - or the most ardent MAGAs. He is replacing it with his own cess pool and he has plugged up the outlets. No FDA to control PFAS is not exactly what Love Canals need forevor and that includes poor white trash behind the WalMart as much as rich Karens living in suberbia and the CEO of Dupont and his grandchildren. No Justice Department to protect Truth or Justice leaves us with nothing but the American Way with and no recorse or even agreement on whether this was the end of Democracy or a bloodless coup. Trumpf himself becomes bigger in ways that his sister warmed us - now he is balooned as a self styled Super Man who is way better looking than that Hitler guy and he does not have latent self loating like Napoleon for being short. He only fears the photos showing his small dick or whatever else Putin has on him.
I’m going to a protest right now with Chicago Indivisibles to protest the firing of government workers in the CFPB!
Here is some good news for a change.
https://open.substack.com/pub/dworkin/p/this-good-news-for-us-is-terrible?r=bj2wi&utm_medium=ios
All we hear are obvious lies and lame excuses as Musk and DOGE continue to carry out their self serving scheme to slash, trash, grab and burn. Claims of transparency - simply laughable. The lies aren't being well received - they are having the opposite effect. People are becoming very, very angry. They do not, will not be taken for dupes. The feelings of betrayal are deepening. How long will repugnant-cans in Congress keep yoking themselves to the shameful trump/musk pirate ship....sooner or later they will be forced to walk the plank.
Thank you Susie.
I think the why is easy to explain..if you strip away enough of the people who do the basic things that Americans rely on, then you have to hire outside contractors to do the work. This will cost more and there will be even more grifters who make money off of government. Why do we allow one man to control STARLINK? (Remember at one point Musk turned it off over Ukraine.)Why do we allow one man to be in control of our space program? It makes no sense. The idea that the private sector can do better is just a hold over from the Reagan era and we all know that since then, more money has flowed upward than ever, leaving less for rest of us, or for the social programs that we need. As the richest country in the world we should not have the high infant mortality rates that we have. We should not have women dying as the result of childbirth depending on which state that they live in. We should not have parents not being able to afford child care. We should not have the cost of housing so high that people are homeless. We need to bring back the progressive tax rates that existed when Eisenhower was president. Even Warren Buffet has said as much.
Carol S, yes, there is no power or money to be made off of the federal workforce public servants as a whole. Bulldozing those pesky, non-corrupt civil servants into the river creates the perfect conditions for corruption from the ground up. Full-on privatizing and contracting of programs and expenditures, limited to only those that benefit them, and can be leveraged as quid pro quo.
Why do 'we' let Musk have the keys to our federal payment system? Why indeed/
I see this as an epic over reach - led by a German sounding idiot punch drunk on power and a freak from South Africa taking a kamikazzee shot at our port side and loving every minute.
good point on starlink- a while back,after a dispute over a fishing trawler,China cut off japan's access to rare earth minerals-the authoritarian exercises of power are eerily similar
I share the anger, but let us think about the situation. How is it possible that every time the open their mouth or write, a blatant lie comes out?
Is it the connection with the "alternative facts" of Kellyanne Conway? Why is the appeal of this constant stream of lies so strong?
In order to maintain control, the Oligarchs must bamboozle the voters. This is how Putin stays in power.
"We must do what they fear - tell the truth, spread the truth This is the most powerful weapon against this regime of liars, thieves and hypocrites. Everyone has this weapon, so make use of it." - Alexei Navalny
Justin, I agree with you and Alexei Navalny. However, telling the truth to power can often result in a powerful response from power. We should tell the truth, but be ready for consequences.
I am more than ready, Marc! It hasn't even been a month and I am mad as hell! Truth should always triumph. If there are consequences, then there will be consequences but at least my kids and future generations will know where I stood!
As I stated in my comment to him, our founding mothers and fathers were, and so am I. Thanks, Peggy. You made me feel better.
Justin and Marc, very much agreed. But as telling lies is a craft, so is telling the truth. I did not help Navalny so far: so how can we gain terrain again?
Stupidity and childish backwardness are not easy to convince.
What the hell happened to the Republicans? Is there one grown-up left? Let us try to find him or her. What the hell happened to the Democrats? Can we distribute some civil courage?
Our founding fathers and mothers were, and so am I.
He is my hero. I have his picture on my refrigerator and T-shirt to inspire me and to honor him. His murder impacted me much like the assassinations of the 1960's. What a horrible loss!
A tragic loss, indeed, and learn an important lesson from it: Navalny created two enemies. Attacking the oligarchy was dangerous enough, but when he also came out against the invasion of Ukraine he sealed his fate. Nationalism always trumps justice.
Absolutely!!
Because, biologically-speaking, we're wired for fight or flight, and therefore for gossip. If you're always gullible when it comes to bad news, at least you'll escape when it's true. The more malignant gossip is, the more believable. Hitler said in Mein Kampf that people are so used to telling little lies in their lives, that they cannot imagine telling a whopper, so anyone telling the Big Lie must be telling the truth.
The fact is - and it only takes two neurons and a pulse to make this observation - that the $38 billion gifted to Musk by the US government probably contains more fraud and abuse than USAID. Why do we need more satellites anyway? It's getting polluted up there, soon we'll all have to leave Earth.
Speaking of which, has anyone called Musk on his puerile idea for terraforming Mars? It violates the laws of physics and chemistry.
When DOGE was announced, a reported asked Muskrat where he would look to save money. His answer was vague. I believe he said something like, "you can shoot in any direction..."
I thought to myself, "I hope he aims at unnecessary missions to Mars, no wasteful private satelights for mass surveillance and wasteful, unnecessary health insurance companies charging Americans outrageous rates and using shameful new algorithms to discriminate and deny necessary healthcare. And make the super rich pay their fair share!"
Well, it appears I'm 0 for 4. All he is aiming at are the government agencies with necessary oversight of big business, namely his business interests. DOGE is dogging out the most important agencies needed to protect consumers, workers and the economy.
Bannon is right on Musk. I believe his quote was "Musk is evil."
Imprisonment for contempt of Congress was a badge of honor for Bannon, but being excluded from Trump's inner circle is evidently extremely painful for him. Sometimes life is fair.
This is it! Trump is not that smart - he simply knows how to dredge up old angers and fuel division. He is the biggest Loser to actually never lose - he is such a bully that he gets ALL to bend the knee if he chooses to fan the fury of his base. He got them to storm the capitol and then released them all to go form their own militias and we Americans wait in fear for what he will do next. Donny is not your friend - he has zero friends and he does not even like dogs. He does not drink or smoke - he simply is addicted to Power and making his enemies pay
Like a dutch satiricist observed: Musk did not bring a Hitler salute but he indicated where he would build his house on Mars...
Let us hope he leaves for it soon! GH
muskateer is either lying or deluded about colonizing Mars. It is biologically impossible for humans to live on that red rock.
For mouth-breathing magas, they are just supremely happy that they are "owning the libs"! Honestly, for many of these idiots, they would rather watch their country collapse and burn just so they can say they "owned the libs"!
It will only become clear to them far too late that in "owning the libs," what they were really doing is owning THEMSELVES. Everything they welcomed because it punished the people who scare them so much is also happening to them. By the time they feel it, it will be too late.
I know, Greg, that is so sad, isn't it?
Because they say what people think (or were persuaded that) they want to hear.
You voice an important question, Tom. Angry, frustrated people listen to individuals who voice their feelings, and then their attention is turned to scapegoats. It is a trick every demagogue knows.
This "constant stream of lies," is so attractive to a certain part of the American population because they have been abusively raised in ways that beat out of them, verbally or physically, any aspects of their personalities that didn't fit the rigid requirements of those, families, friends, communities and communities of "faith" that surrounded them. They are left with heartache from having pieces of their personalities ripped out. They have large deficits in their ability to be aware of the world around them and think about things clearly. Weasel news and other "conservative" media have tuned in on these deficits and dysfunctions and feed their audience a steady diet of lies which soothe their heartache and fit the warped view of the world their dysfunctions force them to hold. Coupled with that is a steady diet of outrage designed to addict that audience to the dopamine rushes they experience in response to that outrage.
Because we could not bring ourselves to put guardrails around the flow of information as our information infrastructures expanded so massively over the past few decades, prohibiting the wholesale dissemination of lies and warped interpretations of current events, we left the door wide open for this to happen. Our devotion to "free speech" has resulted in the birth of Orwell's "Ministry of Truth," but we failed to recognize it because it was not the government doing it but "conservative," media which has become a "Ministry of Truth," for our "conservative" friends and now dominates our government (even the Supreme Court as has been revealed by their most recent ruling).
With that Supreme Court ruling it has become clear that we are now living in a fascist oligarchy with Trump as its figure head. We need to shift our efforts from prevention to resistance, because we are already where we feared we were headed. America as we have known it is gone. Our only choice now is to take it back by whatever means necessary.
America is the Frog in the boiling pot!
We are under the influence of sociopathic robber barons. Neil deGrasse Tyson says we are currently paying SpaceX to do what NASA has done more cheaply for the last 60 years. Why isn’t the DoD being audited for waste, fraud, and abuse? Eisenhower warned about the military industrial complex. How long has it been since DoD passed an audit?!
I have a family member who is working on his doctorate while conducting medical research on the brain. He’s thinking he’s on the chopping block. Slashing research devastates the scientific community as well as the growth of knowledge. Many experiments will be interrupted at critical junctures that will ruin them and the careers of those researchers, not to mention the damage to universities where a significant amount of research takes place.Research that turns into products, like medical devices or new therapies, better equipment for firefighters, better battery technology. All this slashing and burning can lead to a depression. Throwing millions of people out of work for no damn reason than to give rich people tax cuts.
Thanks Jenn...
In addition, the immigration acts of 1921-24 also included scientists from many Eastern European countries. The loss of this "brain Power" caused the number of patents and inventions to declined 68% in the United States and persisted into the 1960's. So like you mentioned, the DT, Musk, MAGA attack on current research and the researchers is dangerous to our country. DT's constant blathering about immigrants may lead to another 1920's ban on people he just doesn't like coming here. Bad news for all of us. Ref; Petra Moser NYU, Shnnel San NYU, 12/28/2019.
All the best to everyone.... GH
Bret---Elon Musk is saying the Biden administration left our two astronauts on the space station for political reasons. Now I know the fool is as crazy as the loon in the White House.
I respectfully disagree with your statement that “all we do is sink deeper through our efforts to free ourselves.”
When your back is against the wall, there is nothing left to do but fight and die. I say, “Do not go quietly into that dark night…rage, rage against the dying of the light.” I can think of nothing worse than the refusal to claim your power, not for your own sake alone, but for all future Americans and even for the world.
We will all be judged by future generations, not just the criminals and traitors.
Two malignant narcissist sociopaths running the show. No words for this bullshit. Total criminal, mafia mentality to the core. Total Treason to the max.
I can't say anything online, but I have my own thoughts about how this should come down. I'm livid and beyond furious with this level of God awful, intentional, malicious corruption and cruelty. They will pay a high price, and not one minute too soon. The people getting affected, and it will be LOTS of them, will come to terms with this Fucking crap, and will react. This is a classic case for inciting violence.
You may be correct - but the vast majority of Americans are Apathetic, Scared or actually Love Trump. The courageous Americans who will risk deportation to Guantanomo are the minority
Eloquently stated and true, Donald. We must move fast. We must be able to bring the economy to a halt if that is what it takes to save our constitutional government from the pretender "savior."
To whom are you replying Donald? I don't see a post from a Mr Johnson.
there's a whole cult who approve.....not me..
Bunkerboy waddled in by recieving a mere 24% of the voting public! THAT'S IT! And it's boss, President elon, is an illegal immigrant unemployed BUM living off the backs of AMERICANS despite having an IQ in the low 80s I'd say.
No one knows more about Musk’s lies than you Professor Reich. You were in Clinton’s administration!
This Musketeer is a fraud! Our president is a fraud! His cabinet is loaded with fraud! It’s corruption on a scale never seen before, anywhere!
Except perhaps Russia in the 1990s.
Professor Reich: musk is a ginormous parasite himself, a psychopathic kleptocrat, whose only goal is to steal money and resources from the entire world. anyone who thinks musk may show some mercy to children on medicaid is mistaken: he is trying to stick one of his babies mammas with a tiny child support payment for THREE KIDS whilst he chases after every last dollar that he can get his hands on. of course, this leaves me wondering what *his* mamma thinks of him?
my heart goes out to those who lost their jobs and careers after musk went on his chainsaw-fueled job-massacring rampages. i've already been reading about federal workers who are losing their housing as a result. worst, this is a immigrant (of dubious legality) who is running the government without getting a single vote to do so. if someone had told me a decade ago that this was the very future we were heading into, i''d be completely dumbfounded.
Not only am I disgusted by the lies spewing out of Musk and Trumps mouths, I am even more astonished that so many that believe them.
And that so many in the House and Senate are complicit. They all make me truly sick to even think about them. I'm not giving up the fight, but their existence nauseates me.
Half trump supports are clueless. They don't understand much of government internal workings.
It's easier for them to believe Trump is good and doing the right thing because he love love this country.
The other half of MAGA, dark MAGA, understands what is happening. They know trump and his goon are demolishing our government and consituation by default and they don't care.
They want a new government, even an authoritarian one because they think they will thrive. Dark MAGA, includes white supremacist.
So what we have is a small minority who have hired terrorists and place him in the highest office.
Domestic terrorist, no other name will do.
If the courts won't stop him then will at the ballot box or worse.
No other choice left
Bret, I think that your separating of the people makes sense. It seems some find the surface theater of it all fun and entertaining, but haven't looked or thought beyond that. While others seem to have went below the surface and think that increasing power and wealth through violence is what it's all about.
I, too, am astonished, Marc. This is how I explain it to myself: Donald Trump expressed sympathy for people who felt they had been wronged by the government and the elites. Trump also voiced their anger, and promised that that would never happen again if they voted for him. I wish Barack Obama had done that. I wish Hillary Clinton had apologized. Well, all that is water under bridge now, and we can be certain that Trump and his allies will never apologize for their criminal behavior. It will be up to us to apologize to future generations if we fail to act.
Will no one stop this mad man? Can anyone stop this mad man?
Yes. Congress could impeach Trump and remove him from office. They are too afraid of Elon Muskrat to do it. We need to find out why they are afraid of him, and then, do something about it.
Are you dreaming, Marc? Just the other day President Trump made it clear to his entire cabinet who their immediate boss is.
As pertaining to the USAID money, why will it take "weeks" to turn the funds back on? The aid was stopped on Day One and they've been ordered to turn the funding back on. They need these "weeks" to do a thorough analysis before obeying the court. They could have done the same review while the funds were in place. They are nothing but criminals, literally ALL of them. How do we stop this?
"We also involved federal workers, because they knew better than anyone what could be improved and how best to do it."
This is the key. The Trump regime has only utter contempt for everything the orderly administration does, as illustrated by the texts of Russell Vought.
I am sick to death of that musk-rat and his department of gaslighting everyone! Who in hell does he think he is? Calling those people (even children!) that depend on Medicaid to help them manage parasites?! He's got some nerve! I want that lying sleaze bag brought down! I want him as far away from our government as possible! The republicans that just slashed Medicaid need to go to! Who in hell do they think they are? They DO NOT represent the American people. We simply are not like that! We are not parasites, our public servants who have worked tirelessly for the American people ARE NOT the enemy. That piece of shit is the enemy! I absolutely abhor that vile cretin and I want him gone! Please remember the Economic Blackout on Friday. Please remember to make those phone calls and declare in a very strong fashion how very much we are against this crap! Please write letters, sign petitions and protest. Right now, I am past being nice. I do believe we are headed in a path that will lead to violence. I really do not want that; however, if we want our country back, something has to be done!
To resort to violence will beget civil war. I, for one, have no desire to put America through that again. We’ve never fully recovered from the first Civil War.
The power of nonviolence may produce martyr/heroes. It also cripples corrupt power most rapidly with the least destruction. It brings together many disparate voices united in common cause and the people are blessed by it.
This is why we must unite in RESISTANCE: CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, rallies, protests in the streets, along the highways, in town halls, strikes, marches, protest songs, sit-in, lie-ins,
ECONOMIC RESISTANCE in particular.
Yes!
I worked from age 13 to age 68, 55 years of mostly steady employment, during which I paid taxes and contributed to Social Security. I'm hardly a parasite having helped raise four wage-earning productive citizens, who also pay taxes and contribute to Social Security. If you're looking for parasites, check out that cabinet meeting yesterday.
What is happening? A private citizen from South Africa conducts a Cabinet meeting while the President dozes? He illegally orders federal workers to do his bidding or get immediately fired? He calls poor working Americans “parasites” while planning to cause their deaths by denying them medical care? He has no controls and calls for judges who rule against him to be fired or impeached. He thwarts the Constitution and Congress and the Supreme Court sleep.
Am I talking about America or failing to wake up from a horribly bad dream?
The best writer in Hollywood couldn't make this stuff up. We are living in the Twilight Zone.
Musk labels beneficiaries of public programs the parasite class, but likely they have worked and paid taxes sometime in their past. When did Musk or any of the oligarchs pay taxes, never. They are the parasite class. The reason they lie is they know the traditional, docile media will scream it out from the rooftops. In fact traditional media aid and abet Trump and always have because it pays.
Professor Reich, Do you ever sleep? I guess I'm not the only night owl.
We need to understand Trump's and Musk's goals:
One of Musk's employees at X said that Musk told him to just cut and cut, and, "if you don't have to replace something, that means you haven't cut enough." Musk has also said, "If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough."
Of course, to decide if you are failing and if you have to replace something depends on what you think the function of what you are innovating and/or cutting should be.
Musk thinks the function of government offices is to make him as rich and powerful as possible and to help him succeed in his goal of getting to Mars.
Trump thinks the function of government offices is to make him and his family as rich and powerful as possible.
Anything that does not conduce to these goals is unnecessary and need not be replaced.
Musk's and Trump's rehiring fired nuclear experts who oversee the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) was necessary because their job is essentially, as they see it, to keep them alive while they pursue their goals; they may also prove useful to Musk's goal of getting to Mars.
Similarly, Musk's and Trump's rehiring fired federal staff who were working to contain the bird flu outbreak was necessary because their job is essentially, as they see it, to keep them alive while they pursue their goals.
No other government services/departments/workers that were cut need, in their views, to be rehired because they are not necessary to the two men's goals. Therefore, they, like most if not all of us reading this post, are "parasites" who should be cut.
In order to maintain control, the Oligarchs must bamboozle the voters. This is how Putin stays in power.
"We must do what they fear - tell the truth, spread the truth This is the most powerful weapon against this regime of liars, thieves and hypocrites. Everyone has this weapon, so make use of it." - Alexei Navalny
Both he and 47 lie all the time. I don't believe anything they say. Musk has now said that his boss is a moron, in company in the WH. Lets see how long he lasts once that gets back.
I think musk owns him somehow..
Janet, more money, the bestest, most wonderful bank you've ever seen.
Apparently Elon Musk is a believer in "management by fear" which has been proved many times to be inefficient and destructive. I am therefore puzzled by his success in business. How can he retain talented and dedicated staff in his own companies? Or does he reserve the chainsaw approach for acquisitions he wants to dismember?