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

oh and he did have a "controversial" tweet a few days ago. keeping his hand in, i guess.

that makes the Elon thing weirder, I think Trump does at least still have good TV instincts, he recognizes Vance's loser energy and that's why he basically never talks about him or includes him in anything. Elon, if anything, is even weirder. Trump basically called him a lapdog like 9 months prior. he appears visibly disgusted by him. why is he letting him do this? he didn't care about this stuff in his first term and it's like way beyond even Project 2025, which was more about staffing these agencies with sycophants, not getting rid of them altogether. all this shit is like hyper targeted to benefit one person in a way that is so completely transparent.

is it a 'thank you' for buying him the election? maybe, but since when has he been loyal to anyone? is he just completely braindead? or is there something else going on here?

this is probably complete fantasyland but time and time and time again we've been hearing about tapes of shit that would be incredibly damning for Trump, notably it happened again with like 4 weeks to go in the election. obviously there's a good chance all of this was bullshit echoed by extremely gullible people, but also we know that Trump did the catch and kill thing a LOT. it's not like he would just stop doing it one day. anyway at the risk of sounding completely crazy I bet if one person would pay more for such a thing it would be Elon Musk, in fact he's probably the logical choice for someone looking to sell it

So did anyone see the video doing the rounds recently with Tucker, where Musk and his kid are being interviewed and the kid is no shit laughing like a demented TROLL, and he says, several times, "THEY'LL NEVER KNOW!". WTF is he getting that from!?

https://www.reddit.com/r/musked/comments/1inq0u3/elon_musks_son_tells_tucker_carlson_that_trump/

the kid is the product of Musk and Grimes, trying to figure that out is probably just going to cost you sanity points

kid, welcome to realiti

Did see a clear video of the kid is saying "you're not the president" but the its an X link.

imagine if Yeltsin was visibly braindead and some insanely rich oil guy banks just stepped in and dismantled as much as possible while funneling a bunch of money into his their own companies

Another funky video I saw, via X.

BREAKING: Trump, visibly confused and rambling, forgot why he was in the Oval Office—to swear in Tulsi Gabbard as DNI.

I honestly feel like Trump's only real interest in being president this time round is to keep himself out of prison/in power. If Musk wants to bring the ideas and do all the hard work, it seems like Trump DGAF?

no-one's doing any hard work

Trump and Musk obviously came to an agreement or a series of agreements during the late campaign and transition period. Trump being 100 percent transactional, there's gotta be some very concrete things in it for him. That could include blackmail, but I lean more toward assorted forms of bribery. Anyway I saw someone post side by side photos of the Musk Oval Office visit and the notorious press conference with Trump and Putin — two the only times where Trump has been visibly cowed in public. Whatever it is, it's not just because Trump "respects" them.

the media needs to do their fucking jobs and hammer on this Cybertruck story. this is the most openly corrupt and insane shit, like this puts Russia to shame, like imagine if Putin was visibly braindead and some insanely rich oil guy just stepped in and dismantled as much as possible while funneling a bunch of money into his own companies

Oops, what you said Tracer

The Cybertruck contract was actually floated under Biden, fwiw, and it looks like they're now pausing it (at least while anyone is looking): https://time.com/7221880/state-department-2025-procurement-forecast-tesla-armored-electric-vehicles-musk/

I have questions about the theft of FEMA money. What bank does NYC have the money in? Did the bank have to sign off on the transfer or can the feds just dip into anyone's account and pull money out? If the latter, Dems should shout 24/7 that every Soc Security recipient in the country is unsafe.

the media needs to do their fucking jobs

Not gonna happen. Ever. The media is complicit and fully collaborating.

I do think there's an opportunity for a new major news channel or platform given all the people who have quit or have been fired from various other channels, newspapers, and magazines recently, but no idea how that would come together. I also think some shadow government or police force could take shape given the mass purges that have been happening, you end up with a lot of qualified and pissed off people who might try to continue on in some capacity. I have no idea if any of this is feasible, but it doesn't seem impossible.

I do think there's an opportunity for a new major news channel or platform given all the people who have quit or have been fired from various other channels, newspapers, and magazines recently, but no idea how that would come together.

It'll be on Substack and people will angrily refuse to read it because it's on Substack.

What we need is a public-spirited billionaire to selflessly bankroll a newspaper with complete editorial independence and…oh, never mind. sorry.

Good morning!

Where’s the…

Yeah, speaking of, where are those?

Mara Lago bathroom probably

This Daniel Drezner essay makes a compelling argument that the US is no longer a democracy; it's an anocracy (a term I was unfamiliar with until today).

Would have preferred an enocracy. Brian Eno looks like a benevolent autocrat.

Billionaire Elon Musk’s team has initiated sweeping layoffs of federal employees, as the Trump administration races to shrink the government’s civilian workforce.

An official with the Office of Personnel Management, which is now run by Musk allies, emailed staff Wednesday morning stating that widespread layoffs — known as “reductions in force” — have begun and are already overwhelming the small agency that functions as a human resources department for the government, according to a copy of the message obtained by The Washington Post. OPM has also begun to assert more control over all federal hiring, according to four employees of the agency and additional internal communications also obtained by The Post.

clearly illegal, unconstitutional, everyone knows it, including everyone in the judiciary. every day this goes on, the corruption becomes more plain and the autocracy gains more ground

On the truck procurement - "extent competed" can be "full and open" but the requirement may be written so that the only successful bidder will be Tesla.

Just like the state where they wrote a description for bibles with the constitution in them, which coincidentally meant they could only buy Trump bibles. A fig leaf.

nice Kendrick callback!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF3-jxHEb_E

i mean it wasn't nice it was lame but whatever he tried.

RFK is in
I just wanted this one nice thing to hold on to, that this piece of shit not be in charge of health in the US. but no

also, i've tried to type this over the last few weeks but can never figure out how to not sound like a giant dumbass, BUT:

more than ever before, and more plainly, the establishment democrats -- by that i mean the schumers, the durbins, the 1990s political media ecosystem that has survived into the current time, the obamas, the clintons, anyone who ever said covfefe, people in a financial position to be able to observe the current destruction with some safety) -- have shown they have no new ideas and aren't going to be the leaders on the left when we come out of it. i'm sure they will try again. the democratic establishment probably still blames trump on bernie sanders, palestinians, acab, defund the police, any number of things which polling showed weren't popular with upper-middle class democrats, apocalyptic white evangelicals, and tacit supporters of white supremacy. but they're showing, right now, that they don't have any new ideas, and that their remaining ideas of how to govern come from 1992-2016, not from the era we actually live in.

i think the valid criticism of that^ is "ok so what are your new ideas smartass", and the answer to that is "payment for posts" (jk), my wishful answer is "stop working. everyone, stop working.", but the real answer is yeah, i know it's a hard one, it's tough when the other political party drops pretenses of caring about people or following the law and are daring everyone else to stop them. they are literally a horrible bad kid acting out repeatedly because they want to be shown the red line. no one is showing them a red line so they keep crossing it. that's hard for anyone to deal with, let alone the political party that should represent everyone to the left of the brutally unempathetic far right. but just saying, more than i've ever witnessed in my life, the establishment democrats have nothing CLOSE to winning ideas right now, they aren't inspiring anyone, there's no plan, there's no motivation, there's just nothing except hoping for the courts to save us all. i don't know what happens after this, i don't know how long autocratic rule is going to settle in, i don't know if the u.s. will ever make it "back" to anything resembling a liberal democracy.

eh, as usual that's going nowhere. hopefully someone feels some of that

more than ever before, and more plainly, the establishment democrats -- by that i mean the schumers, the durbins, the 1990s political media ecosystem that has survived into the current time, the obamas, the clintons, anyone who ever said covfefe, people in a financial position to be able to observe the current destruction with some safety) -- have shown they have no new ideas and aren't going to be the leaders on the left when we come out of it. i'm sure they will try again. the democratic establishment probably still blames trump on bernie sanders, palestinians, acab, defund the police, any number of things which polling showed weren't popular with upper-middle class democrats, apocalyptic white evangelicals, and tacit supporters of white supremacy. but they're showing, right now, that they don't have any new ideas, and that their remaining ideas of how to govern come from 1992-2016, not from the era we actually live in.

I second these points. Then you have reps like Maxwell Frost, who might have ideas, still treated as some sort of kook.

also, one more thing that points in the wrong direction - the establishment democrats are embarrassed about the good things they did. the title of the biggest and most impactful climate bill in global history, for example, is The Inflation Reduction Act. maybe americans get amnesia again in 2028 and reelect democrats because they want different entertainment on their screens for a while. but i _think_ that really powerful political movements involve motivating people and inspiring them about what kind of world we could live in, and showing how we get there. what is the vision for democrats? what do they want, for people, these days? what's the dream like in the u.s. in 2050? are we all typing on our computers, still, and watching computers figure things out and fly products around in the air in perfect production chains? or are we supposed to be...happier, more fulfilled as human beings, at some point?

The FBI had used Glomar arguments to retain the privacy of the Mar-a-Lago case files, falling back on its typical refusal to “confirm or deny” a criminal investigation in order to safeguard ongoing investigations. But the decimation of any future case against Trump on the details of the case has completely undermined that argument, according to the judge.

“In these circumstances, defendants’ Glomar arguments crumble with no more weight than dust and just as little persuasiveness,” Howell wrote. “As plaintiff pointedly highlights, as to President Trump, ‘there is a reasonable argument that he is immune from prosecution for flushing his own records down the toilet while in office.’”

In a footnote, Howell torched the high court’s decision to grant Trump such sweeping protections, likening their actions to enablers of the fascist regime of Nazi Germany.

“Of course, while the Supreme Court has provided a protective and presumptive immunity cloak for a president’s conduct, that cloak is not so large to extend to those who aid, abet and execute criminal acts on behalf of a criminally immune president,” Howell wrote. “The excuse offered after World War II by enablers of the fascist Nazi regime of ‘just following orders’ has long been rejected in this country’s jurisprudence.”

https://newrepublic.com/post/191370/donald-trump-supreme-court-immunity-lawsuit

sorry if posted.

It's kind of wild that Mitch McConnell was the lone Republican to vote against Gabbard and RFK Jr. and that he was one of three to vote against Hegseth.

A quibble, zach: Durbin, Schumer, Obama, etc., all those solons, none of them are remotely left and never were. What they hope for is our taking back Congress in 2026. What did Pelosi run on in 2018? Health care? I can't even remember.

McConnell:

“Individuals, parents, and families have a right to push for a healthier nation and demand the best possible scientific guidance on preventing and treating illness,” it read in part. “But a record of trafficking in dangerous conspiracy theories and eroding trust in public health institutions does not entitle Mr. Kennedy to lead these important efforts.”

The senator said he could not “condone the re-litigation of proven cures.”

McConnell surely isn't going to have another election, and Trump already hates him, so he doesn't have much to lose.

In the 60 Minutes interview last week McConnell hinted that he hadn't spoken to Trump since 1/6/21.

Plus he's only doing this because his vote won't change the outcome.

Then you have reps like Maxwell Frost, who might have ideas, still treated as some sort of kook.

Frost, Crocket, AOC, Tliab, Pressley, Omar.... I wonder what the trend could be

Cocaine Mitch would trade his left nut and at least two inches of peen to wind the clock back to 2004, nice orderly business-friendly conservatism where you keep the culture war and racism as mostly subtext

As usual welcome to the #resistance Mitch

Just want to pause to thank z_tbd for posting that. Very relatable sentiment for, I think, lots of folks even while we don't have a magic prescription that will make bullies go poof.

I had to do it. In line at the local market this morning I said to Maria: "No eggs. Can you believe it? Thanks, Trump!" And then I said: "There were always eggs when Obama was president!" And the cashier said: "It's a conspiracy." And I said: "It's an egg conspiracy?" And she said: It's a conspiracy to raise prices..." And I said: "But there aren't any eggs!" And she said knowingly: "There are eggs." I looked around as if they were hiding somewhere or maybe she was selling them under the table, bootleg-style. I did actually get one of the last cartons of local eggs. All they had left was local eggs. Because local eggs are nice and won't kill you. Then another cashier said: "Walmart has eggs." And I said: "Walmart eggs! I don't want those. They probably come from China!" And the first cashier said: "They have all the regular kinds of eggs that we carry." And I said: "They have the local eggs there?" And she said: "No, they don't have those." And I muttered under my breath: "A conspiracy..."

Yeah, but can you still eat any of those Obama eggs?

In many spaces right now some of the "why aren't you fighting back more?" talk sometimes feels like victim-blaming.

Courage is good! Defiance is good! And praising courage is good! But it's tricky messaging because turn it a notch further and it becomes, like, why aren't you punching the bully in the face, you coward.

Junior high school is forever I guess

like, genuinely, what am I supposed to do here? there were people protesting at the busy intersections in town the last few days, but is that really gonna make one lick of difference? do I call my reps who will ignore me? do I donate more money to the party who lost to a sundowning fascist?

but i _think_ that really powerful political movements involve motivating people and inspiring them about what kind of world we could live in, and showing how we get there. what is the vision for democrats? what do they want, for people, these days? what's the dream like in the u.s. in 2050? are we all typing on our computers, still, and watching computers figure things out and fly products around in the air in perfect production chains? or are we supposed to be...happier, more fulfilled as human beings, at some point?

This is a great point. I feel like Democrats have been leaning on the same rhetoric for decades: variations on giving everyone a fair shot, providing opportunities to achieve the American Dream, building out the middle class, etc. These are all cliches at this point, but they're also very individual-oriented. (The middle class in their imagination isn't a space for solidarity, it's a measure of individual status.) They have sort of an abstract vision of a society that is more egalitarian, but it seems like that's about it.

i think it has to get a lot worse before it can get better and i think Donald Trump has to fully sunset below the horizon and blink out forever before the spell can be broken. if i was a republican i wouldn't be optimistic that as many people would be on board if the big star is suddenly offstage forever. but that also means the democrats have to stop trotting out legacy acts.