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

Anyone who starts an LLC before the age of 18 should probably be put on a watchlist.

Good lord can you imagine the chaos if there was a 9/11 scale event

^^Biden's fault, obviously.

JD Vance sticking up for the “normalize Indian hate” guy is pretty depraved

ain't that America

Judge blocked DOGE access to the treasury, let's see what happens now

I'm currently reading Milton Mayer's They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-1945, which I found in my local library last week. Mayer spent a long time postwar hanging out and making friends with 10 ordinary small-town German citizens (he did not tell his new friends he was Jewish; they simply thought of him as an American), and gradually they told him about what life was really like there during Hitler's rise, and you know what? If you weren't a Jew, things were pretty good! Better than they'd been in the 1920s, that was for sure!

The reason the Trump regime is ultimately going to fail is that they're making people's lives materially worse. The OG Nazis made many people's lives better, at least until the war.

Trains won’t be running on time under this administration that’s for sure

It actually reminds me more of what happened in the Soviet Union around the time World War II started up, they were flung back on their heels because Stalin had purged so many competent people from the government, and it was being run by a bunch of amateurs or incompetents at crucial positions.

While some are just making jokes about the Kennedy Center Honors, music folks who know more are worrying about the future at Kennedy Center of the free multiple nights per week Millennium stage gigs w/ roots, global music & more; the hiphop gigs; the jazz ones; the collaborations w/ local Washington DC organizations.

One of the sponsors of the Republican bill to repeal home rule for Washington DC, Congressman Andy Ogles (TN-05) was being investigated by Biden Justice Department for campaign violations and had his phones seized and such. But Trump Justice Department dropped the charges

The difference in bravery between Korean opposition politicians (facing down armed military, scaling walls) and US Democrats (going away when rentacops tell them to) is, as people on social media are pointing out, striking.

Do some googles

I know this will be a disappointing answer but:

The resistance here wants a return to normalcy. To civil rule by grownups.

We're - surprised? Angry? - that they're not acting up in ways that they are not temperamentally suited to. We want people who last months were filling out the equivalent of TPS reports to suddenly become barricade-storming radicals, and that may not be quite fair or realistic.

It's worth noting that Korea has had fratricidal barbarism in living memory. Different cultures and different circumstances.

Like, "stop the steal" and "hang Mike Pence" worked as rallying cries, at least partly because the audience was already bonkers.

It's hard to storm the gates with goals like "a return to regular order in the legislative calendar" and "respect the statutory 30-day notice period for removing inspectors general."

I mean, I am definitely temperamentally suited to fuck some shit up but I also have young kids and don’t want to end up in an el Salvadoran prison.

It just seems as though even some minor passive resistance is beyond them. They just leave when they're told to, acting as though "the rules" will somehow save everything.

the horrific guantanamo situation was finally starting to wind down, so of course trump has started making the problem worse

Their names have not been released. Their exact crimes are unknown. The more than three dozen immigrants being held at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba have entered what lawyers are calling a “legal black hole.”

Four days ago the Trump administration flew the first migrants from Fort Bliss, Texas, to Guantánamo Bay. The officials said the detainees were “dangerous criminals,” “the worst of the worst” and alleged members of a violent Venezuelan gang, holding them in a prison on the U.S. naval base created for suspected terrorists after Sept. 11, 2001. But administration officials have released almost no other information.

...The unusual and hasty movement of detainees to the military prison with a history of accusations of human rights violations comes as President Donald Trump attempts to fulfill a campaign promise to aggressively increase the number of immigration arrests and deportations. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities in the United States have quickly filled, officials say, and Trump has ordered the construction of detention space for as many as 30,000 migrants at Guantánamo.

Most of those migrants are expected to live in tents pitched on a different part of the base. But the early arrivals are more than three dozen “high-threat criminal illegal aliens” who are in ICE custody and are being housed in a vacant military facility, a Defense Department spokesperson said on Saturday.

“Any new arrivals of illegal aliens will be temporarily housed in designated migration holding areas at Naval Station Guantánamo and will be treated safely and humanely in accordance with international humanitarian standards,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “This will be a temporary solution until the illegal immigrants are return[ed] to their countries of origin.”

For the migrants who recently arrived at Guantánamo, four lawyers who are familiar with the military prison say the Trump administration is breaking the law by denying them access to legal counsel — something the suspected terrorists detained in Guantánamo have obtained. Even if the migrants are confirmed as members of the Venezuelan-based Tren de Aragua gang, as the Trump administration contends, the lawyers say the migrants do not qualify to be held in the high-security area of the base that some prisoners have described as a “tomb above ground.”

"What do we want?" "Due process in lieu of contractual terminations for convenience!"

"When do we want it?" "Ideally as part of the next round of appropriations, or, failing that, as part of budget reconciliation!"

"Hey hey, ho ho, circumventing a duly certified 1102-series funding obligation procedure has got to go!"

Xp

No I agree. I didn’t watch the whole encounter because one person kept repeating “so I have to be on a guest list? Is that what you’re saying?!?” over and over so I turned it off.

That was xp to james

xp
many federal employees are like that, and of course many of the contractors are. but not all. i wasn't like that. i'm surprised that some more people haven't stood up and spoken more forcefully, even those mired in the courage sinkhole morass that is middle to upper class income

Oh yeah I forgot you lived here back in the day

Anyway, it’s been two weeks.

The longest two weeks.

Enjoying the Golden Age?

The Pee Tape is here and we're in it.

Feeling like Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ right now

Shh not so loud, I’m sure there’s some arts funding he hasn’t stopped yet.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Youfucknkiddn, called yesterday's ruling by Judge Engelmayer a "judicial coup," which Musk tweeted "Yes" too. These guys are about 3 days from saying Trump should override the judiciary.

I know Alfred doesn’t like podcaster/ writer Adam Johnson but I agree with this take of his from x :

Musk comes on here everyday spreading lurid, baseless rightwing conspiracy theories & our media is still reporting on his purging of ideological enemies and govt programs he—arbitrarily and ideologically—dislikes as “cost cutting” and “finding waste”. A totally alternate universe

I don't dislike him, not especially the last couple years.

Candidates for top national security positions in the Trump administration have faced questions that appear designed to determine whether they have embraced the president’s false claims about the outcome of the 2020 election and its aftermath, according to people familiar with cases of such screening.

The questions asked of several current and former officials up for top intelligence agency and law enforcement posts revolved around two events that have become President Donald Trump’s litmus test to distinguish friend from foe: the result of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, according to the people, who, like other interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.

These people said that two individuals, both former officials who were being considered for positions within the intelligence community, were asked to give “yes” or “no” responses to the questions: Was Jan. 6 “an inside job?” And was the 2020 presidential election “stolen?”

These individuals, who did not give the desired straight “yes” answer, were not selected. It is not clear whether other factors contributed to the decision.

The best books, Winston perceived, are those that tell you what you know already.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Youfucknkiddn, called yesterday's ruling by Judge Engelmayer a "judicial coup," which Musk tweeted "Yes" too. These guys are about 3 days from saying Trump should override the judiciary.

It actually reminds me more of what happened in the Soviet Union around the time World War II started up, they were flung back on their heels because Stalin had purged so many competent people from the government, and it was being run by a bunch of amateurs or incompetents at crucial positions.

reposting this here

very good essay on how anti-Palestinianism relates to fascism in the US:

https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/the-boomerang-comes-back/

― rob, Sunday, February 9, 2025 9:35 AM

But beyond a lack of awareness of the vast devastation, many Americans also haven’t heard what it has to do with the United States, and with the Democratic Party in particular: the fact that, in the year following October 7, the Biden administration sent nearly $23 billion to Israel with no red lines; that it vetoed four UN Security Council resolutions demanding a ceasefire; that Secretary of State Antony Blinken ignored the U.S. government’s own determination that Israel was blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza when he delivered a statement under oath to Congress last May; that the United States has violated its own laws—including the Arms Export Control Act, Section 620i of the Foreign Assistance Act, and National Security Memorandum-20—conditioning U.S. military aid to state belligerents on their compliance with U.S. and international laws of war; that the United States has undermined the authority of both the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC); and that 107 members of Congress sent a letter to the United Nations two weeks before the election threatening to withdraw U.S. funding and support for the organization if it allowed its members to unseat Israel, as the General Assembly had done with the South African apartheid regime in 1974.

Simply put, most people have no idea to what extent this genocide is being perpetrated not only by Israel but also by the United States. For a solid majority of the center-left, what is happening in Gaza is tragic but ultimately less important than the most significant existential threat: the ascendance of Trump. During the run-up to the election, the argument goes, we Palestinian and Arab Americans should have understood that resisting fascism in the United States is the primary goal and gotten in line accordingly.

But resisting fascism is our collective goal. We just know that in order to resist it, we have to fight it on two fronts of U.S. state violence: at home and abroad. Because if the United States, together with Israel, manages to disembowel the ICJ, the ICC, the UN, and a broader global order built after the Holocaust and World War II, no one is safe. The fact that Israel has committed genocide, turned humans into walking bombs in its pager attack in Lebanon, and decimated countries while the UN Security Council watches passively should concern all of us. As Colombian President Gustavo Petro warned back in December 2023, “What we are seeing in Gaza is a rehearsal of the future.”

in a country where most people don't know shit about shit - i think 10% of the country reads a newspaper? millions of people even now would not be able to tell you who the vice president is. i'm gonna guess and say that 94% of the country would not be able to tell you what DEI stands for and i'm being generous... - getting your message out in any way that you can is so huge. even one person at a time. because if you tell someone in the u.s. that something is happening somewhere and that the u.s. is responsible for it they WILL believe you because they will believe literally anything. even true things.

even bulk mailings that say on the envelope FREE GIFTS INSIDE with one sheet of paper (with a new pen and a coupon for jiffy lube inside as well) that states america's role in gaza would be a better use of money than any lobbying or media interviews to let people know what is going on and to make them aware of their own complicity and allow them to donate to the Palestinian's cause. people love a free pen. they like feeling guilty too. and sending money through the mail. win/win. just ask fake veteran relief boiler room schemers. they'll tell you.

All of that article is spot on although I think they inadvertently grant the premise that the Democrats lost because of Gaza, and I don’t think that’s quite a testable hypothesis. (A million other pundits think it was the price of eggs). It sure didn’t help, of course.

Shared by a friend who is a small farmer:

Folks, it's taken a few days to trickle down, but I'm seeing post after post after post in the ag community social media channels of massive issues impacting U.S. farmers and the U.S. ag economy from Trump's DOGE efforts, tariff wars and the USAID shutdown.
Here are a few:
*Cotton and grain growers are losing contracts to long-time Canadian buyers because, even with the tariff pause, Canadian buyers don't trust the stability of U.S. export commerce with Trump in office. Plus, Canadians are just flat-out pissed and avoiding U.S. made/produced goods, including farm products.
* Chuck Grassley, of all people, is pleading with Trump to exempt potash from any Canadian tariffs because U.S. potash (a major fertilizer in agriculture) mainly comes from Canada. Impending tariffs will shoot farmers' fertilizer prices sky-high.
* Corn and soybean farmers are upset because Trump cancelled all of Biden's Climate Smart grants that were supposed to help them offset their adoption of soil health improving new practices like no-till and cover cropping.
* USAID's cancellation cuts $2 billion straight out of U.S. farmer's pockets from the Food for Peace program which purchased rice, wheat, corn and soy from U.S. farmers and distributed them to hungry nations. In some states and for some crops, USAID was their primary buyer.
* USDA NRCS is cancelling conservation contracts and leaving farmers holding the bag. These are things like fence improvements and upgraded water lines that boost farmer efficiency while also conserving the environment. Plus, the way they work is the farmer has to do the work first, then once they are done, the NRCS reimburses them. So now farmers that have spent the money to do the work are being told the NRCS won't honor their contracts.
* California farmers are PISSED because his "turn on the taps" PR move did nothing to combat California wildfires and instead wasted 2 BILLION gallons of water being held in reservoirs for summer irrigation.
* U.S. crop farmers are freaked out over the trade wars since Canada, China and Mexico represent half - let me repeat that again, HALF, of all U.S. agricultural exports!
* Per Trump's freeze on financial contracts, the USDA is withholding funds for the Organic Market Development Grant program and the Transition to Organic Partnership Program, which typically go directly to organic farmers or to non-profits supporting organic farmers.
* The shutdown of USAID has been trickling down through multiple ag-focused agencies, including the Soybean Innovation Labs, which were hosted at land-grant universities across the U.S.. These research labs focused on developing new genetics and growing practices in soybeans critical to U.S. and international growers. They had to close the entire program, laying off 30 scientists and researchers in 19 labs across 17 states.
* K State University lost up to $50 million that was pledged through a USAID Program over the next five years to advance research in “sustainable intensification,” an approach focused on increasing crop yields without expanding agricultural land use, expected to directly benefit Kansas (and U.S.) farmers.
* China's retaliatory tariffs (although not yet on crops, we shall see) are expected to have a major impact on U.S. ag machinery manufacturers, who were already struggling and have had massive lay-offs over the last 12 months. China imported almost $800 million of U.S.-manufactured ag machinery in 2020.

* Chuck Grassley, of all people, is pleading with Trump to exempt potash from any Canadian tariffs because U.S. potash (a major fertilizer in agriculture) mainly comes from Canada.

Amazingly, Trump said in response to a question at a press conference early last week that the Canadian tariffs aren't intended to elicit any particular trade concessions, at least he didn't 'have any in mind', but just 'wanted to see where things go'. Could this be any stupider?

Potash?
Yes sir potash
Po tash?
That’s right, Mr president
Potash.

i doubt many people could tell you all the gazillions of connections there are when it comes to world trade. the stereo mc's might have been the last people to really try and break it down.

Trump always liked Step It Up better I guess

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Youfucknkiddn, called yesterday's ruling by Judge Engelmayer a "judicial coup," which Musk tweeted "Yes" too. These guys are about 3 days from saying Trump should override the judiciary.

Increased security today at the Kennedy Center due to threats from Trupoids who just found out they had a drag show months ago.

yup xp

Re: the agriculture stuff last time he did this he just shoveled tons of tax money to corporate farms to buy their compliance

There's a definite push to get rid of small family farms and consolidate everything into large corporate ones which is a choice considering your base.