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

GOP: MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN
DEMS: Do some googles before you comment some dumb shit

it's never good enough is it

ha ha no it isn't

The original post: https://bsky.app/profile/maxwellfrost.bsky.social/post/3lhlzfk6xn22a

it's super easy to be a keyboard warrior

Fuck off with the condescension, some of us are sick of tweets and would like to see some meaningful action. This shit isn't hypothetical anymore.

I've mixed feelings, part of which is, yeah, I do think it's uncomfortable for me to demand that people get arrested while I eat my lunch.

Sorry, that wasn't cool. I'm just frustrated that people are just waiting for "the process" when we're well past that stage.

meaningful action is protesting right now and going to the agencies and demanding to be let in and then walking away if not

i don't see what getting arrested or forcing people to violence does right now--what goal would that accomplish? and like i said earlier they have likely thought about this be have decided now's not the time yet to get arrested

everything trump has done so far he is getting hosed in court.

the big touchpoint will be if he decides to ignore a court's order, which yes is coming and we need to be prepared for

that's the tipping point i would guess

getting videos like this more views by the general public is important, I think. I don't watch cable news at all these days, so I'm not sure what kind of coverage it gets; but it's not on cnn.com or anything. it is on huffpost

so, this is a coup. neither elon nor trump has any authority to make the cuts they are making. once the court orders start coming i do not believe they will abide by them. maybe i am wrong -- court orders have stopped some things already. but i think the doge stuff is central to his strategy to consolidate power and i don't think it will stop.

if you go into right wing world, all they are talking about is the waste and fraud doge has uncovered at USAID. this is where they want to keep the conversation. i am sure they will find all sorts of irregularities in the government books, but it isn't the point. this is going to be the dems' biggest messaging hurdle --- defending the integrity of the constitutional system without getting sucked into the whataboutism over this or that particular expense. budget cuts are one thing; this is another thing.

the cuts are too big to ignore. they want to defund a number of agencies and slash the federal work force

the USAID stuff is not gonna stick when they wanna fire half the FBI

Xp They find “irregularities” because they don’t know what they are looking at.

like measure out what the average person would think about and would be the bigger deal

"they funded condoms for Hamas" vs. "they fired half of the FBI"

Sure we can demand the Dems go to jail protesting.

Then of course we’ll yell at them when the Dems are in jail and can’t obstruct the nominations in Congress.

what is the procedural effect of say two Dem senators being arrested and held without bail on the confirmation process in the Senate?

getting arrested for protesting or civil disobedience (espec while being nonwhite) post Jan 20th 2025 does not mean the same thing it used to. "they would be out on bail anyways," you sure about that?

"i'm sick of talk, it's time for action! that's why i'm posting on the internet that someone else should do something!" come on now

I mean, these people are looking for a Reichstag fire they’re looking for a reason to arrest and murder Democrats

seems weird they'd wait for Democrats to take bold action instead of just manufacturing a bullshit pretext out of thin air

as if the option of these feckless fucking morons continuing to play by the rules set by these fascists is going to work.

surejan.gif

xp

not sure about the arresting/murdering part, but i do think the idea is to continue to claim executive power until someone pushes back meaningfully. the thing about "meaningfully" is that since they've disregarded the constitution, physical force becomes more and more of a primary way to push back. not sure they want a reichstag fire so much as another jan 6, this time with the left (will anyone be surprised when it's asserted that antifa was behind it?) as the culprit, projected as a reverse image of 1/6/21, complete with lots of activists being thrown in jail, lots of televised hearings/committee investigations on what the left did and who was behind it, etc.

I am seeing a lot of folks online judging from the sidelines. There's a popular tweet about "why don't people just physically stop these dorks."

Hi office worker with kids at home and a mortgage, why aren't you getting down into it with Mr. Ex--Special Forces Blackwater guy?

People are terrified here, and scolds from the left asking them why they aren't building a burning barricade of desk chairs in the street is, well.

(Not that it's about my feewings particularly, just reporting, as we all are.)

also not to blow anyones mind but you dont have to be in DCto protest. much like posting tuff stuff on the internet, anyone can do it anytime anywhere

I wonder what would happen if someone quietly offered Trump a massive amount of untraceable cash to step down.

We’d have President Vance. Yay.

There'll need to be some Big Event to turn around a lot of ambivalent or indifferent Americans - for example, a failure to send out tax refunds, or social security payments being delayed... but for now, I think a lot of MAGA-adjacents are happy to watch the shitshow from the sidelines

For now I'm just watching developments, because all this is leading up to what the media will call a "Constitutional Crisis", which is simply code for Trump committing a raft of impeachable crimes amounting to a coup d'etat. My current self-assessment is that I'm not too old to protest in the streets, but I am too old to riot in the streets.

if you go into right wing world, all they are talking about is the waste and fraud doge has uncovered at USAID. this is where they want to keep the conversation. i am sure they will find all sorts of irregularities in the government books, but it isn't the point. this is going to be the dems' biggest messaging hurdle --- defending the integrity of the constitutional system without getting sucked into the whataboutism over this or that particular expense. budget cuts are one thing; this is another thing.

Someone I went to high school with posted on Facebook: "Elon is attacking corruption, and corruption is attacking Elon. Couldn't be clearer. The side you choose reveals your character."

This is someone I was once good friends with, but haven't spoken to in 25 years. He was vaguely liberal in high school (as most of my friends were) but not especially political. (I do recall that his parents were kind of racist, though.) The first time I saw him posting on FB about politics was in 2016, when he cheered on Bernie Sanders -- but then he quickly turned MAGA during the first Trump term. From what I can tell, most of it is motivated by anti-establishment energy. It's why he hated Hillary in the 2016 primaries and why he's convinced himself that USAID is evil in 2025. In this view, Trump and Musk are taking bold action and draining the swamp, just like they promised.

"Elon is attacking corruption, and corruption is attacking Elon"

I just heard that the WH is claiming Musk will be 'self-policing' his conflicts of interest, i.e. all the gov't contracts and taxpayer dollars he's been syphoning from the coffers

It feels like the plan here is: fuck shit up until protesting ratchets up and Dem congresspeople act in opposition, declare martial law and send in the military/militia, dissolve Congress, consolidate absolute power “temporarily” (which power is never then relinquished). Maybe this goes in the doomposting thread. Feels like no matter what happens (resistance or no resistance) we are playing into their hands either way. Maybe it’s just meant to feel that way and it’s a big bluff they’re hoping won’t be called before they have all the pieces in place.

send in military where? everywhere?

Jaymc is correct about the spin from magaland.

Top Story

The biggest breach of US government data is underway. (Tech Crunch)

What Tech Crunch means here is that decades of government malfeasance is being brought to light.

And they hate it.

The biggest heist in American history: DC is just waking up to the Elon Musk takeover. (The Verge) (archive site)

What The Verge means here is that decades of government malfeasance is being brought to light.

And they hate it.

https://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=413558

Yeah, I know, we shouldn't do/not do the right thing because of how the right will characterize them.

But part of how Dem resistance is being defanged in the media is with the message "of course government workers and liberals (but I repeat myself) are freaking out. Their calumny is being discovered!"

So the more strident Dems seem, the guiltily they seem, on this view. And then they get hit simultaneously with "why aren't you fighting harder?" rhetoric from our side. Damned if they do and damned if they don't, rinse, repeat.

(Again, not to entreat activists to pity them, just sayin what it seems like.)

Keeping things tied up in courts interminably until it’s too late and/or things work out in his favor and/or get appealed to a pet judge is his specialty- it’s hard to see the judicial system as a real long term resistance play, some principled judges notwithstanding

at some point the repubs are gonna need to pass spending abd debt ceiling, both of those are next month

At some point the repubs are going to have fish or cut bait about whether Trump is allowed to destroy the present system of government and replace Congress with a new government by Executive Order.

Dems rightfully get a lot of shit from both liberals and progressives (or whatever everyone labels themselves) for being toothless, centrist wastes but I do think there's a misattribution of strategic genius and "grit" to win towards the republicans because they've effectively given up their entire platform. They aren't gonna take a stand on any of this.

I was thinking something similar the other day, and it's been brought up in other places— will Republicans in congress really cede all their power? I somehow doubt this— at some point there will be a rebellion by a number of Republicans, not out of any sort of integrity, but because they see that their own hold on power will be compromised.

sorry, xpost there.

yes exactly.

repubs are uneasy with trump and they hate Musk even more

would be nice if that mattered at all

After they retire we'll find out about all their uneasiness in their memoirs.

They are losers

As far as I've seen, Republicans are generally happy with this outcome.

repubs are uneasy with trump and they hate Musk even more

Musk is fucking things up for Trump. Project 2025 (which was always the goal, and anybody who tried to tell you different was either lying or a fucking mark) was about tearing shit out root and branch, but doing it in a legally defensible way. What Musk is doing, just running in with a private goon squad of groypers and wrecking everything in sight, is the exact opposite of the methodical teardown they had in mind, and it's going to make the plan that scumbag Vought who just took over OMB had in mind untenable in many ways.

I suspect most Rs in Congress despise Trump but are also power hungry fascists themselves who know the ultimate sin would be crossing him

maybe I'm more optimistic than some here, but I think they're riding a sugar rush right now and the crash is coming... the bromance will absolutely fail, Trump will distance himself from Musk and he'll go back to excessive golfing and mumbling strange things at reporters

Re: courts, it would be different if there were such a thing as the judicial police that could go arrest people. Not so great when you tell the executive to arrest itself and it says "no, I don't think I will."

Congress at least has the sergeant at arms. Which I must admit would be a badass mid-tier action movie. (Teal and orange poster.

Starring I dunno Aaron Eckhart as... the Sergeant at Arms. His buff actual arms showing a tattoo of the Capitol dome, cradling a machine gun. Tagline: "He's Gonna Get Legislative on Your Ass."

Sidekick: Alison Brie as... The Parliamentarian. She takes off her glasses and loosens her bun when shit goes down. Comic relief character is a pot-smoking IT guy they call "Joint Session." Played by I guess Kal Penn.

Trump only ever turns on ppl less rich than him. he is awed by Elon the same way he is with Putin, the whole reason he got into this is to get the respect of people like that. imo he'd be happy to let Elon be acting president going forward as long as Elon pats him on the back once in a while