Some ranting about the IG firing.
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I don’t understand what they mean by “he might get away with it”. Hasn’t it already been determined by the SC that he can get away with whatever he wants?
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Yup, the only consequence at this point is Impeachment and removal from office, which until there is a broad public rejection of Trump isn’t going to happen (through Congress).
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The SC said he can’t be criminally charged.
It seems to me the inspectors general could sue the federal gov’t. If they won, I don’t know what they would get. Presumably pay for 30 days. Would a court say that they have to get their job authority back for 30 days?
Then, would Trump comply or just ignore the court order. Would the SC say that ignoring a court order is an “official act”?
This is how we get to authoritarian gov’t.
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Job-seekers hoping to join the new Trump administration are facing a series of intense loyalty tests, with White House screening teams fanning out to government agencies to check for “Make America Great Again” bona fides and carefully parsing applicants’ politics and social media posts.
Those seeking jobs have been told they will have to prove their “enthusiasm” to enact Trump’s agenda and have been asked when their moment of “MAGA revelation” occurred. One federal employee said they briefly considered buying Trump’s crypto meme coin in case the president’s team asked about their voting record.
Some officials have referred to the newcomers sent by the White House to federal agencies disparagingly as “MAGA commissars,” a reference to Communist Party officials from the former Soviet Union. They are generally young and many do not appear to have particular expertise or background in the portfolios of the agencies in which they are working, according to three U.S. officials, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
They said the screeners seem to be looking for even the slightest divergence between candidates and Trump’s MAGA movement and “America First” policies. A negative social media post or a photograph with a Trump opponent has been enough for some applications to be rejected or put on hold for further review. One official said he and several colleagues from various agencies had been told that even if they passed the initial vetting process to be admitted into the applicant pool, they would still need to prove their bona fides and convince interviewers of their “enthusiasm” to put in place Trump’s policies, including by providing references from people whose loyalty had already been established.
This official said one colleague who made it to the interview stage was asked when that person’s moment of “MAGA revelation” had occurred. At the State Department, which has been a particular Trump target since his first term, current officials have described the atmosphere as “tense” and “glum,” with career civil and foreign service officers leery of voicing opinions on policy or personnel matters, let alone politics, fearing retribution from their new political bosses.
I thought they were against DEI hires and wanting people to be hired on merit. This hiring process seems to be based entirely on identity rather than merit.
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Sucking up to Trump is meritorious.
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The goal of the American Conservative Movement is to break the constitution and replace the US rule of law with an authoritarian regime. The American Conservative Movement is a cooperation between Corporate Christianity that want a American Christian Theocracy, billionaire and extreme wealth and ownership business interests that want Randian objectivism, racists and “cultural” white supremacists, and amoral political grifters. MAGA is the public brand name of this movement.
Trump, the current political head of ACM, is following the plan of systematically disrupting as many institutions and social structures as possible to create a chaotic tipping point where he can declare martial law and suspend the constitution. Before this can happen he needs:
- A significant number of Americans to be desperate (psychologically or physically) - my guess at least 20% ideally over 40%
- The military branches to be neutralized or complicit to this change in government - my guess 6 month to 2 year minimum time frame.
- Control of the media - done
- Loyalist inserted into everything that has influence on the daily lives of the populace - from brownshirts to schoolboards I don’t have a good read on how far along they are but my gut says they wouldn’t have started without this in hand.
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This is what they want to achieve their goals, but I think what they will end up with is a monster then ultimately can’t control.
Once this happens we are firmly on the 4 year train to whatever Trump wants Trump gets. There is a slight chance Congress can come to its senses before then but they need to look at the last week and realize where that trajectory puts us by this summer.
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The factions each think they see the right path and cooperate because they can’t force the authoritarianism on their own. The factions are not compatible once the US is broken. The infighting will get messy. The monster that wins is usually the worst of them.
Yet another “it would be funny if it wasn’t true” post.
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I don’t know that he’s actively seeking to suspend the Constitution.
I think it’s more likely that (for better or, more likely, for worse) he has a vision of how things should work, and he’s acting on that without regard to the Constitution.
There’s a difference between simply ignoring/not caring about the Constitution, and seeking to override/replace it.
I think that some of the groups that are capitalizing on having Trump as a useful idiot to further their agendas are also not actively seeking to replace/override the Constitution. It’s more probable that they just have their own interpretation of the Constitution that either seems unorthodox to most of us, or relies on assumptions that live in their alternative reality.
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I have a question, what’s up with all these companies caving in to Trump? I believe in 2017 for the most part, companies retained their DEI programs and didn’t do stupid shit like make plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico on Google maps. What’s different this time?
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I wonder if some companies are actually happy about some of the changes, like DEI? People didn’t think Trump had the support that he actually got in the election, and were surprised at how many people actually voted for him. Maybe this is similar?
I think a lot of companies had DEI programs partially as PR, and are likewise viewing taking them down also as PR. Likewise, many LGBTQ friendly sales were done to make money, not out of sincerity, so if one thinks eliminating them helps the bottom line then they are gone.
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How many companies adopted DEI primarily because they perceived that a significant number of people (investors, customers, employees) demanded it of them?
If they no longer perceive the demand (or perceive a rejection)…
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I read a post earlier today saying that aides are already struggling to get Trump to read anything. I’ve also seen it’s costing the U.S. government a million dollars a round for Trump’s golf games.
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The Republican congressional retreat at one of his golf courses is probably costing a lot more than that once you account for the lodging of 218 people plus aides.
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The former would be consistent with his first term.
The latter is too…although objectively, I’m less bothered by it, at least in the sense that the job of President shouldn’t require the individual to make a significant change in the personal choices they make about their off-duty activities.
We The People apparently wanted to hire the guy who goes golfing frequently at his over-priced clubs. We The People apparently demand that a President have ample protection and the means to react instantly to events. If a lot of money has to be spent to facilitate the continuation of his established lifestyle…well, We The People are supposedly getting what “we” wanted.
(I’d be more bothered if someone who was playing at dinky public courses started taking advantage of the role to upgrade their playing experience / increase the frequency of their golfing.)
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We voted for a fraudulent, election meddling rapist to lead the country. Only around 30% of us, sure, but enough of us gave our apathetic consent to let it happen.
He’ll profit many billions off of us and hurt us before dying and as a nation we asked for it.
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