Turning On The Giant Faucet Of Bullshit - US Politics February 2025

A generation that has modeled themselves on Simon Gruber from Die Hard with a Vengeance.

More bullshit:

US immigration is gaming Google to create a mirage of mass deportations

Thousands of press releases about decade-old enforcement actions topped search results, all updated with a timestamp from after Trump’s inauguration

lol why didn’t Biden just spam us with old new releases about how inflation is zero

Record grain yields comrades

Inflation is zero*

*Compared to the exact present moment

Yes^^^

So USAID was investigating Starlink? Huh

During a hearing at the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability in September, USAID Inspector General Paul K. Martin told Congress that the agency was examining its relationship with Starlink, one of Musk's most prominent tech ventures.

In 2022, USAID and Starlink collaborated to provide 5,000 Starlink terminals to Ukraine, to give the country fighting Russian invasion access to Musk's advanced internet system, operated through SpaceX, as reported by The Lever.

"In addition to another ongoing audit on direct budget support, we are examining USAID's Energy Security Project, USAID's oversight of Starlink Satellite Terminals provided to the Ukrainian government, and USAID's efforts to protect against sexual exploitation and abuse in Ukraine," Martin told Congress.

"When completed, we look forward to sharing the findings of these reports with the subcommittee."

“It has become ever more apparent that, to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain,” U.S. District Judge John Coughenour said as he announced his ruling. 

“Nevertheless, in this courtroom and under my watch, the rule of law is a bright beacon which I intend to follow,” continued Coughenour

“I said this two weeks ago, and I’ll say it again today: There are moments in the world’s history when people look back and ask, ‘Where were the lawyers, where were the judges?’ In these moments, the rule of law becomes especially vulnerable. I refuse to let that beacon go dark today,”

Another woke Reagan appointee.

I've had a helluva day. I gave our faculty union guidance on how to respond to the interim appointment of Jeannette Nunez as my university's president, in essence shoving out our sitting president before his contract has expired. Then a couple hours ago a 21-year-old local Dem hack chastised our local Dem club for LOLing at a MAGA activist losing his TPP status on Instagram. Now I'm on a faculty meeting where I'm listening to how our Board of Governors has demoted two of my three courses, among others across our school's curriculum, for reasons that I imagine are #woke.

So when a Reagan or Poppy Bush judge gives Trump a kick in the balls before I've had the world's biggest martini, I weep with gratitude.

This interview with Senator Brian Schatz is worth five minutes of your time.

Meanwhile, Musk and his associates continue to gain access to important federal systems. Do you think it’s smart strategy for Democrats to be focusing on that particular aspect of things above almost anything else — that Musk, an unelected billionaire, is wreaking all this havoc, and so on?
I want to question your premise, because all day, every day, I am asked about Democratic strategy. So I’m always doing this meta-commentary, as if I’m a podcaster. “Is it smart Democratic strategy?” I think there’s a lot of that, where we consider success to be whether someone ratifies our strategy via the punditocracy, and I just want us to get out of that habit.

That’s a fair point.
Bad things are bad, and you should fight bad things. One of the things people like about Republicans is they’re very determined to do the things they promise to do, and they’re willing to temporarily lose a news cycle in order to win a bigger argument that will cause a bigger shift in the national conversation. And we just have this left-of-center left punditocracy. It’s Morning Joe, it’s [Axelrod] and Carville — whose whole profession is, once they do their perfunctory criticism of Trump, then they get into the thing they really wanted to say, which is how much better things would be if they were in charge. And none of these people have run a Democratic campaign or enacted legislation in more than a generation.

And so it’s not that people shouldn’t use a skeptical or critical eye when evaluating what Democrats are up to, it’s just that the chin-stroking of it all is just a little exhausting. We just need everybody to jump in the boat and start paddling in the same direction, at least roughly speaking. And I have noticed this online — half of activism now is people rephrasing the things that I post. And I’m thinking of all the activities you could engage in online or offline, rephrasing the way a politician decided to say something is like the goofiest bullshit I’ve ever heard. So I think that we have to operate from some core principles, that we’re trying to protect people from a billionaire takeover of the United States government, of their government. And if that makes me sound corny, so be it. But I think that we have had too many pundits and pollsters and strategists who have been losing decade after decade. And I think it would be great if they all made some room for some new thinking.

salud Alfred! Hope you evening is better

I want to question your premise, because all day, every day, I am asked about Democratic strategy. So I’m always doing this meta-commentary, as if I’m a podcaster. “Is it smart Democratic strategy?” I think there’s a lot of that, where we consider success to be whether someone ratifies our strategy via the punditocracy, and I just want us to get out of that habit.

boom -- THANK you.

solidarity Alfred

The fucking Dem runt who wagged his finger at us probably has a photo of James Carville in his mom's office.

Nearly all staffers from the Elon Musk-headed Department of Government Efficiency are expected to be temporarily restricted from directly accessing the Treasury Department systems responsible for nearly all payments made by the U.S. government.

Employees of DOGE, an advisory body tasked with cutting programs and slashing federal spending, were believed only to have access to the highly sensitive systems within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service.

Attorneys from the Department of Justice agreed to the Trump administration motion filed on Wednesday night to limit access to payment systems. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly must sign off on the DOJ's proposed order.

Also, apparently one of Musk's DOGE staffers resigned today when asked about his old racist posts in support of eugenics.

You’d think that would lead to a promotion.

Well, I'd imagine it's why he was hired in the first place, but maybe some of them do have shame.

the Elon Musk-headed Department of Government Efficiency

quickly developing pet peeve is how often the news accounts are forgetting to add in things like "this is not actually a formal department with any authority whatsoever", "this is not part of the government", "we don't know who works there, or how many there are", etc. it's annoying, but in the same way that it's important to add things like "Trump said, without evidence", or "Trump lost the 2020 election, it needs to there

and alfred, sorry to hear about your really shitty day. it must be enraging to have to deal with. i hope the meeting is going ok, by which i mean i hope you haven't flipped a table over. (it'd be understandable if you did)

Oh man, sorry about your day Alfred, I missed that post for some reason. Sending good thoughts your way.

Elon’s efficiency department has racked up 7 million in expenses in just a couple weeks

Actually, it feels great to be engagé! Better than sulking or sullenness. Let's GO.

this DOGE shit is going to wind up be extraordinarly expensive for the US

might be good to remind people this is what their tax dollars are paying for

Worlds richest person expensing lunch on the tax payers dollar

I have been pushing the people who have been orbiting our union, obviously showing interest but not yet joining, to join and fight with us. It's a small thing, we're a small campus, but I know we have smart people and every bit helps. xps

NEA grants will be awarded to pushers of patriotic kitsch going forward.

Grants for Arts Projects
The National Endowment for the Arts is revising the FY 2026 Grants for Arts Projects guidelines and they will be available on arts.gov/grants no later than Monday, February 10, 2025.

As part of these changes, the February 13, 2025, Grants for Arts Projects deadline has been canceled. The FY 2026 deadlines are now March 11, 2025, for GAP 1 and July 10, 2025, for GAP 2. Organizations that have already submitted an application must submit a new application under one of these deadlines.

Under the updated guidelines, the NEA continues to encourage projects that celebrate the nation’s rich artistic heritage and creativity by honoring the semiquincentennial of the United States of America (America250). Funding priority will be given for projects that take place in 2026-2027 that celebrate and honor the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This can include incorporating an America250-related component or focus within a larger project.

...

The updated guidelines are in response to recent directives. They also streamline and simplify the application process and align with the agency’s mission.

I think it is incumbent on every US artist to apply for an NEA grant this year and absolutely stuff their application with fascist kitsch language. Use every right-wing magic word. Lie to them, take their fucking money ('cause it's our fucking money) ... and then do whatever you want with it. Having read Frances Stonor Saunders' The Cultural Cold War, all about how the CIA funded Abstract Expressionism and jazz, I think I have a pretty good idea how to explain what Burning Ambulance does in a way that will make it appealing to patriotic American culture warriors.

Most, if not all, NEA grants don't go to individuals. They go to state or local arts organizations, typically for large projects or for subsequent disbursement (and often not to individuals even then.)

Oh, I know. BA has existed as an organization since 2010. We have a tax ID number and everything.

Sorry about your day and all the bullshit, Alfred. Hope it's a good martini!

Semiquincentennial is a heck of a word.

we could call this style of art “Capitalist Realism”

Next time you hear jazz, thank the CIA.

Sorry about your day Alfred.

Back to USAID, it seems lawsuits are being discussed but because it is not clear whether USAID will be merged into the State Department or whether Trump will just try to shut it down, no lawsuits have been filed yet. But meanwhile US employees (including my neighbor are being put on administrative leave) and employees abroad are being told to come back to the US within 30 days (although Rubio has expressed his "concern" for those abroad).

U.S. Agency for International Development employees and contractors are discussing potential lawsuits targeting the unprecedented attack on the federal agency by President Donald Trump's administration, according to four sources familiar with the talks.

Lawsuits based on loss of income could be used to bring up weighty constitutional claims over presidential power in the face of congressional legislation that set up and funds the agency and its programs...

The challengers could seek an immediate injunction seeking to block Trump's moves, which fly in the face of Congress' role in enacting legislation on such issues. It is unclear exactly whether Trump intends to dismantle the agency altogether — as Musk has said — or whether it will be drastically restructured.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/lawsuits-imminent-trump-dismantling-usaid-rcna190862

a lot of midwestern farmers grow the actual cereal grains that are exported by USAID, and have been since the 1950's

yup, and trump states are really going to feel that pain. as if farmers in this country weren't already feeling enough pain.

I'll allwaaaays
Feel that pain

As well they should

https://newrepublic.com/post/191249/democratic-voters-congress-phones-doge-musk-trump?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the_ticker_rss&utm_term=tnr-newsletter-20240823

“Members of Congress told Axios that they hadn’t received this many calls since events like the October 7 attack on Israel, the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, or the Trump impeachment hearings.”

He’s…not…popular…

Cue up DJ Khalid’s “All I Do Is Win”

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5131524-pardoned-january-6-rioter-minor-solicitation-charges/

Alfred, I hope you treat yourself to an extra Negroni this weekend.

Just finished a martini!

🍸

I don't know why the Dems aren't playing to Trump's insecurities around Musk... Blumenthal should be like "We know who wears the pants in the family... Trump ain't nothing but Musk's little cuck bitch" etc., just lay it on thick 24/7

Vought confirmed

lol I don't know who came up with "incel clown posse" but I salute you

that's pretty good

Yeah that's better than nerd reich