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

middle schoolers with courage

BRUSSELS — Dozens of American students at a U.S. military installation in Germany walked out of their middle school on Tuesday as part of protests aimed at an official visit by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, underscoring the scope of disillusionment with the Trump administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

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The students attend Patch Middle School in Stuttgart, Germany, and peacefully walked out of class for nearly an hour, according to three people familiar with the matter and a letter sent to parents by a school administrator. Separately, a small group of adults dressed in civilian clothing — likely parents — gathered outside at Stuttgart and protested within view and earshot of Hegseth’s delegation, booing and chanting “DEI!”, according to video recorded by a reporter traveling with the secretary.

Sad, Hegseth was too late to save them from the woke mind virus. Re-education is only partly effective once it's reached this stage, we'll probably have to just cull them.

elon trump effectively running the us government seems like it's been well known for at least...a few weeks (jfc, it's only been a few weeks), but i think the reality is only hitting. here's josh marshall grappling with it this morning:

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These are wild times at TPM because they’re wild times in the American government. It’s hard to keep up with everything happening from one moment to the next. I had not had a chance to look at the new DOGE executive order the President signed this afternoon with Elon Musk standing beside him. I don’t think it’s too much to say that it puts Musk functionally in control of the U.S. government. I know that sounds pretty wild. And that may not apply to high-profile policy — two budget bills or one on Capitol Hill, plans for Gaza. But let me explain what it does.

A DOGE operative, called a “DOGE Team Lead,” will be assigned to every agency, department, etc., of the federal government. That team lead, who will presumably report to Elon Musk since Musk is the head of DOGE, will be in charge of all hiring and firing decisions at their particular department. The EO lays out a government downsizing plan in which only one new government employee can be hired for every four who leave service. It adds various new reasons for termination. And it puts the overall plan for the downsizing in the hands of DOGE, which is to say, Musk. And note here the relationship between the “DOGE Team Leads” and the heads of the various departments …

 (b)  Hiring Approval.  Each Agency Head shall develop a data-driven plan, in consultation with its DOGE Team Lead, to ensure new career appointment hires are in highest-need areas.  
          (i)    This hiring plan shall include that new career appointment hiring decisions shall be made in consultation with the agency’s DOGE Team Lead, consistent with applicable law.  
          (ii)   The agency shall not fill any vacancies for career appointments that the DOGE Team Lead assesses should not be filled, unless the Agency Head determines the positions should be filled.  
          (iii)  Each DOGE Team Lead shall provide the United States DOGE Service (USDS) Administrator with a monthly hiring report for the agency.

I tell ya, I’m tryin’, dear friends. I’m struggling here not to engage in hyperbole. But I don’t know what else to call these people besides political commissars. And again, they report to Elon Musk. He’s already very clearly operating here as an independent actor whose actions the President blesses after he’s found out what’s happened. This is a parallel overlaying of authority over the entire structure of the U.S. government.

We’re in dystopian quasi-science fiction territory here.
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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/not-hyperbole-anymore-musk-is-in-charge-of-the-us-government

holy shit: elon *MUSK, not elon trump. no idea how that one happened, saddest lol

It's insane that this isn't a bigger deal, even after that presser yesterday. He's clearly running the government at this point.

still think we need some basics civics classes especially for journalists. EO's are not law. he can ask an agency to do this, but if a court says no, he's breaking the law. wish people would start listening to EO's and thinking of them as the press releases that they are--

he can say "i created DOGE" but eventually he's going to need money and staffing to run a department like that which he can't do w out congress

like do we think Congress is going to be ok with this

I gotta say, after seeing some more clips from yesterday's press conference... I'm starting to believe Elon did do some meddling in the election (whether it worked or not, or how much of a difference it made is another story) and Trump just has to sit there and take whatever Elon tells him to do or else he'll come clean about it. Just so weird to see him that subservient when half his image is projecting what a "big and strong man" he is. Kinda terrifying.

holy shit: elon *MUSK, not elon trump. no idea how that one happened, saddest lol

He always wanted to be a Tenenbaum Trump...

he can say "i created DOGE" but eventually he's going to need money and staffing to run a department like that which he can't do w out congress

Eh, not quite. DOGE inhabits the budget line previously held by the Office of Digital Services. It's technically a renaming, not the creation of a new department.

It's all terrible, and definitely they are doing a fair amount of unconstitutional shit, but a fair amount of this is going to be found constitutional. Not the impoundments, hopefully, and maybe not abolishing congressionally-created departments — although even there, if the administration argues say that it didn't abolish USAID, it just relocated it administratively, SCOTUS may be fine with it. But things like giving DOGE hiring and firing powers, good luck getting conservative courts to find anything wrong with that.

like do we think Congress is going to be ok with this

not to be too naive here, but....yes? yes i think that if put to a vote, right now, most house republicans would be ok with it. not a majority, but close. senate, more difficult.

but a fair amount of this is going to be found constitutional.

i seriously seriously doubt this

right now, most house republicans would be ok with it. not a majority, but close. senate, more difficult.

if you put DOGE up for a vote I don't think it would pass right now

xps I think it would crazy NOT to assume that Trump and Musk have worked out any number of deals between them, some of which would certainly be illegal if they were ever documented and prosecuted. But that's not gonna happen in the next four years at a minimum, and probably not ever. It turns out that having all the money and all the power is a pretty good position to be in.

also, i think that when fascism arrives, it's "legal". it's made "legal" by corrupt actors in the judiciary and legislature. do we know any of those?

i seriously seriously doubt this

I appreciate the optimism, and I do think courts will ultimately rein in some of this. But only some of it.

me: right now, most house republicans would be ok with it. not a majority, but close. senate, more difficult.

you: if you put DOGE up for a vote I don't think it would pass right now

if you read my answer, i agree. but it would be close. and i think time and experience has shown in the u.s. that, when pure evil is allowed to get "close" without those around it doing anything to stop it, eventually you roll the dice and it "wins"

i dunno y'all how many of these cases has he won so far

i mean am i being overly optimistic or has he not won shit yet

https://www.lawdork.com/p/donald-trump-elon-musk-democracy

In hearing after hearing and ruling after ruling, judges have been sharp when needed to challenge the administration’s moves when they intrude on the legislative function, ignore established laws, or violate the Constitution.

The anti-birthright citizenship order has been blocked by preliminary injunction three times now; Lamberth blocked enforcement of the order that would force trans women in federal prison to be housed with men and end all trans-related medical care; the Office of Management and Budget grants and loans “pause” was blocked and then rescinded and then blocked again, even under any other name; the USAID “administrative leave” directives have been blocked; access to Treasury systems has been restricted; and a judge on Monday evening blocked the indirect costs rate cap issued February 7 by the National Institutes of Health, as applied to states that sued over the act on Monday morning.

And yet, if you look around, that is not the general understanding of the first three week’s of the second Trump administration. Instead, the general views seem to be either that what Trump is doing is fine and good or that it is unconstitutional, illegal lawlessness — but, in either event and whether implicit or explicit, the end result is inevitable and Trump is winning.

That’s wrong, and I want to explain why — not because I think we are safe from the very dangerous consequences being discussed but because those consequences are not inevitable even though Trump and Musk and their allies want you to think they are.

i'm not letting that fuckface steal my joy

Yes, some of it will be found unconstitutional. But a lot of the administrative stuff that DOGE is doing will not be. Not only because SCOTUS likes the unitary executive model, but also because some of this is probably just stuff a president can do. It's just that they haven't before, like this anyway.

I say don't give these pieces of shit an inch on a single issue, whether it's trans rights or the Gulf of Mexico (and thank you for the Battle of New Orleans reference above)

yeah i'm gonna be honest you don't know that for sure xpost

i'm not trying to steal anyone's joy, but eyes need to be WIDE OPEN right now. even law dork agrees

not because I think we are safe from the very dangerous consequences being discussed but because those consequences are not inevitable even though

It's not about giving an inch, it's deciding which problem to chew my nails over. I only have 10 fingers!

But a lot of the administrative stuff that DOGE is doing will not be. Not only because SCOTUS likes the unitary executive model, but also because some of this is probably just stuff a president can do.

The majority (all?) of the DOGE stuff has been found to be illegal and they have backtracked on it. Presidents can absolutely not do the stuff he's been doing (like firing all of the federal works that he has, for one example) and to think otherwise is laughable

*workers

go ahead and be doom and gloom and once they start disobeying judge's rulings we will see what happens if his lawyers get jailed for contempt and then we will be in some real shit

None of us knows anything for sure, but I don't see any reason to expect anything but the most minimal of guardrails from this Supreme Court. Birthright citizenship will probably survive on like a 7-2 decision. Abolishing USAID, I have no idea, it depends on the specific wording of the statute and on the arguments presented. Will SCOTUS tell a president he can't relocate an administrative office into another department? Maybe, but it's hardly a given. A lot of this other stuff? SCOTUS will say tough titty, elections have consequences.

nevermind, my mind has been changed.

we're fine!

go ahead and be doom and gloom and once they start disobeying judge's rulings we will see what happens if his lawyers get jailed for contempt and then we will be in some real shit

― a (waterface), Wednesday, 12 February 2025 16:49 (nine minutes ago) link

They are. NIH study sessions still cancelled.

some are meeting again

https://i.imgur.com/74n6gAN.png

what are we arguing about

About the correct settings for our eyes

whether to keep eyes open or not. negronis taste good with eyes open

xp

“BIDEN INFLATION UP!”

He should revoke Biden's Inflation Clearance

i'm not arguing (or at least don't feel like i am) and apologize if i am coming across too harshly

Meanwhile, Republican Congress is looking to help the rich and corporations by trillions more in the budget reconciliation bill they plan to pass by March. No complete details yet from Stenographer “journalist” Jake Sherman on X

The House GOP's budget resolution is not final yet. But the general discussion is around a res that looks something like this:

- $4.5T for tax cuts.
- $300B increase in mandatory spending.
- $1.5T in spending cuts.
- Assuming 2.8% economic growth.

- $1.5T in spending cuts.

This appears to include eliminating Medicaid.

I don't know about yall, but I'm done using any Google stuff after reading that they are removing pride, women's, and black history months from their calendar. I've been wanting to de-Google for a long time anyway and this is the catalyst I've needed.

what do we use instead? duckduckgo?

I've been using that for years for search, but also have continued using gmail, Drive, Photos, etc. It's going to be a big project but it's worth it to me. Withholding $$ and / or my attention is the only tool I have to protest this shit.

and by "this shit", I mean pretty much everything

I've just now tried Duckduckgo for the first time and it reminds me of Google circa 2015, obviously a good thing

@ waterface - I get where you're coming from and I want to believe as well. I do think the key points towards pessimism here are:

a) what happens when the judge's stays, rulings etc., make their way up from the judges who issue them to SCOTUS? the Court now has the most right-wing alignment it's had since the early 1930s, and after ages of horrible right-wing decisions on countless areas of constitutional law and bare statutory interpretation, has (with the Trump appointees) already issued outright fascist rulings like the Trump immunity decisions. their disinterest in baseline Constitutional premises is plain, so it's hard to feel confident that they will really care about the separation-of-powers issues here, or that they won't sign on fully to the unitary-executive theory. our hopes may hang on a string of 5-4 decisions where Roberts and Barrett, or maybe Roberts and Gorsuch, join the liberals. for how many of these items can we reliably count on that happening? of course, we don't know. my hunch unfortunately is "a few, mainly for show, and written/reasoned to still enable a substantial rightward shift."

b) what happens in cases where Trump/Musk ultimately lose in court, but continue to do the thing anyway? this is already happening to varying degrees with the existing stays and will likely get worse. we actually don't have good mechanisms in place for what to do when the judiciary tells the executive to do something and the executive just says "go jump in a lake."

need some blue state governments to start defying federal judicial orders and say either everyone obeys them or nobody does, get in front of the crisis they're clearing itching to trigger and give it a Democratic frame