NB: "malicious compliance" is know in the union world as anwork rules slowdown. Do everything exactly as you're supposed to, and gak everything up as a result.
Just read this morning another veteran prosecutor, Denise Cheung, resigned from her post as head of the Criminal Division in the US Atty's office in DC. So far, the only explanation in her resignation email is her words that "...I took an oath of office to support and defend the Constitution...". I feel like I am witnessing the breaking of our democracy in real time.
A couple of things occurred to me after I wrote my initial comment. First, in a brainstorm, I figured out the strategy behind the mass firings and deportations. What President Pinhead plans is to have fired/furloughed federal workers replace deported workers, especially in the agriculture and construction sectors, where immigrants are an important segment of the workforce.
A possible future feature of this policy will depend on a gauge of the price of eggs. If prices for eggs do not start to fall in the not too distant future laid off federal workers will be transported to work camps (similar to convict populated chain gangs in the 20th century) to be available for work on farms. Naturally the largest farmer donors will be at the top of the list for work camp inhabitants.
Second, I think a possible antecedent for the Trump - Musk connection is Caligula and his horse, who some allege was made a consul. Trump will ride Musk for as long as he can. If you avert your vision sufficiently Musk's face does begin to resemble that of a horse. Maybe a horse faced Musk can be used as the logo for a new meme coin.
The Democrats were rejected at the polls and they did raise the alarm. Why does anyone think they can save us now. There needs to be a sea change in public opinion. Sarah Longwell on PBS News stated the independents that voted for Trump like the activity or the sense of activity. As long as these folks like what’s happening, I don’t see how we can stop the madness.
"As a reward, now he gets to be Little Marco forever—or at least until Trump gets tired of him and kicks him to the curb."
Continuing my last comment about what "Trump does," let's look at what really will happen, and what we have been observing for 9 years (and has been happening for 70 years prior). Trump does not "kick" anyone, literally or otherwise. Rather, when one fails to feed Trump's instant gratification, he throws a tantrum like the spoiled toddler that he is, then 10 others waiting in line do the "kicking" and replacing. Unlike 2016, those who would be "guardrails" no longer even apply; not because of him, but because they have always been outnumbered by the bootlickers.
"Did Trump pull out this perhaps-apocryphal quote from Napoleon Bonaparte on his own? Or was this one of his social-media lackeys operating for him?"
I realize that "Trump did X" is usually shorthand for "500 people did X and let Trump take the credit." But let's get real, when you're born to daddy's money and connections, you're surrounded from day one by people who do everything from the thinking and planning to the grunt work. Like ants to a picnic they swarm to you. 8 decades of that has him more addicted to instant gratification than anyone on the planet. And when one fails to feed it, 10 other pathetic bootlickers are waiting in line to replace them. I'd be surprised if Mr. Covfefe can even spell "Napoleon."
One aspect of the firing of all the federal workers that has not been raised so far (at least I have seen no mention of it) is the impact the firings will have on employment levels. There could be a non-trivial increase in unemployment as a result.
A boost to the unemployment level could lead to slower increases or reductions in wage growth levels, which is something the fed is actually interested in seeing. Under the circumstances though with many or Trump's economic and immigration policies likely leading to higher inflation the fed may be forced to increase interest rates at time when unemployment is expanding, not something that promote expanding economic growth.
An ancillary extension to the layoffs is the impact they could have on states' workmens compensation funds. In states with large populations of workers paid with federal funds there may be serious strains on the compensation funds. Virginia certainly comes to mind. And they have a gubernatorial election in the fall.
Slightly off-topic, but regarding the 200 or so Republicans from the Bush era who had the backbone to reject Trumpism:
1) Can they ever accept a strong economy under the current leadership, even if it's achieved through illiberal practices that undermine process and decency?
Would state -- probably not—because they recognize that these economic gains are largely illusory and unsustainable. For them, the integrity of the process matters more than short-term economic boosts. Besides, they would likely deficit spend to get any positive economic outcomes.
2) Can they ever return to a "normal" political landscape, where debates over policy—like the appropriate level of carbon credits—are the biggest issues?
\That seems much harder to imagine. The political environment has shifted so drastically that returning to that level of policy-driven discourse appears unlikely.
I’m just thinking democrat voters are busy working or trying to find work. As for what the democrats in government are doing it seems like a big mystery to me.
1. “Democrat” is a noun! Democratic is an adjective. Democratic voters is correct. Trump started using the noun as an adjective just to prove his power. Unfortunately an awful lot of media and citizens fell victim to Trump’s deliberate manipulations and shenanigans!
2. Lots of elected Democrats are loud and clear. Among them are Senators Chris Murphy, Mark Kelly, Elizabeth Warren, Ron Weiden, etc. The ELECTED REPUBLICANS CONTROL ALL THE POWER. The Dems are taking the only actions available to them.
For those lovers of cheesy horror stories, I would say the invasion of our nation's foundations resembles the long-awaited Zombie Apocalypse -- or maybe we should call it the ZomBoy Apocalypse in honor of Musk's youthful groyper gang.
Of course, that would not be fair now that we know there are a few women in the DOGE staff. We could call them the ZomBabes.
It's something that bizarre. I continue to be floored that it was possible for one man to just buy the US Government. I tend to see Trump, Musk, the cabinet appointees, etc., as Batman villains who have taken over Gotham City.
We have to have one message and we need to fan out to every right wing media outlet to say it everywhere all the time. NO TAX BREAKS FOR THE RICH - SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE AND MEDICAID. Simple message. Focused. If the Republicans get their tax breaks through we are all screwed but even right wing nut jobs support the New Deal programs the billionaires want to kill.
Resistance, objections, protests etc. don’t have to be perfect or reach the exact audience every time. Slowly a groundswell will grow and there will be commonalty among different groups. The sentiment will grow stronger. The cuts have started creeping into local news, teacher recruiting programs, national park, staff, funding for local projects, Vets, soon rural area projects will be in limbo and many other programs cut without notice. The general public will start hearing more about the local issues and seeing protests around them, friends being laid off etc. Opportunities stopped. Contrast that with Trump continuing to creep around any sporting event with crowds pretending they are there for him. He can’t help himself, he will start looking like an out of touch fool to more people. It’s chaos and unwise. Key is everyone that is able to do something to protest do so. For inspiration look at the civil rights movement when people who didn’t have power or wealth managed to change society. We have more power than we think, if we act on it.
I think Congress wouldn’t raise the debt ceiling so Trump and Musk are firing enough people that they lower government spending and they can give tax cuts to the rich that way. Anybody agree?
Bill, you make me chuckle. The courts don't have an army to back up their decisions, the corporate media is going all-in fascist, and many are simply cutting checks to trump! Federal employees are not wealthy enough to fight court battles and need their jobs to provide for their families. What world are you living in? 1984? Oh, wait, maybe that's not a year we want as an example.
I wrote this on another post, but it seems appropriate heare as well. People haven't yet felt the trump disaster admin yet. It will have to hit them much harder in order for the trump fool freaks to finally understand just how stupid their support for trump was and how diminished their financial lives have become. Wait until bird flu hiys hard and the brain worm clown drools at his desk while trump sells more crapcoin. It is hust the beginning of their suffering. It will hit hard and nasty. Enjoy...
Planes weren't crashing and flipping upside down under Biden and DEI. musk and trump, or mump, are way out of their league right now, and dems are waving their canes and holding press conferences where they are able to put a sleeping dog into a coma within 5 minutes.
The best idea I have heard from Timothy Snyder, and some others, is for dems to have an opposition cabinet, similar to what the Brits do. Every freaking day, they need to tail mump cabinet and other GOP leadership and tell the truth about the damage repubs are doing and how dems would do things to help, not hinder Americans. Do dems have the stones to pull it off? They better because the trump SCOTUS has made trump king and only popular resistance can topple a psychotic, incompetent, lying, dimwitted fascist admin.
I like your idea of an opposition cabinet. They could issue a rejoinder to every action the mump (btw, I love that!!) cabinet takes. Would the media even bother to report on it? Probably not at first, but eventually, with persistence and relentless hounding, they might have to.
I don't hold out much hope of the current Dem Party doing this, though. They are still enthralled with the consultant-driven playbook, which means you don't spend any of your money until election season. This, of course, is very stupid when the mumpsters are getting free propaganda every single day, include evening news video of every time Trump says, "Well, we are going to look into it. We have to because they destroyed our country."
mumpsters... lol Absolutely, dems would need to add your phrase to their bland, tired, and stale dictionary: with persistence and relentless hounding,It isn't intellectual rigor that leads Gym Jordan, MGT, Mace, vance and trump, to gather so much media attention. It's that moronic, clueless, boorish, disgusting repubs won't shut up no mater how little they know about everything. Dems have already had so many opportunities that they could have had trump at 30^ approval by now, but they play the 'trump will screw up so much that people will not like him' even though that didn't work the first time and it sure won't work this time. Give me more AOC and less Jeffries, more Murphy and less Schumer. More Pete and fewer patty cake dems.
Meanwhile, the Rs are cowering under their decks and keeping their mouths shut for fear of primaries! So screw the country swirling down the toilet, my job is more important and Elon might used his millions to take it away from me! Meanwhile Dems, grow a spine, toss out some firey floor speeches and just say no to everything Agent Orange wants!
NB: "malicious compliance" is know in the union world as anwork rules slowdown. Do everything exactly as you're supposed to, and gak everything up as a result.
Just read this morning another veteran prosecutor, Denise Cheung, resigned from her post as head of the Criminal Division in the US Atty's office in DC. So far, the only explanation in her resignation email is her words that "...I took an oath of office to support and defend the Constitution...". I feel like I am witnessing the breaking of our democracy in real time.
You are.
A couple of things occurred to me after I wrote my initial comment. First, in a brainstorm, I figured out the strategy behind the mass firings and deportations. What President Pinhead plans is to have fired/furloughed federal workers replace deported workers, especially in the agriculture and construction sectors, where immigrants are an important segment of the workforce.
A possible future feature of this policy will depend on a gauge of the price of eggs. If prices for eggs do not start to fall in the not too distant future laid off federal workers will be transported to work camps (similar to convict populated chain gangs in the 20th century) to be available for work on farms. Naturally the largest farmer donors will be at the top of the list for work camp inhabitants.
Second, I think a possible antecedent for the Trump - Musk connection is Caligula and his horse, who some allege was made a consul. Trump will ride Musk for as long as he can. If you avert your vision sufficiently Musk's face does begin to resemble that of a horse. Maybe a horse faced Musk can be used as the logo for a new meme coin.
musk better watch out. trump does silly things with horse-faces (his name for Stormy Daniels).
The Democrats were rejected at the polls and they did raise the alarm. Why does anyone think they can save us now. There needs to be a sea change in public opinion. Sarah Longwell on PBS News stated the independents that voted for Trump like the activity or the sense of activity. As long as these folks like what’s happening, I don’t see how we can stop the madness.
"As a reward, now he gets to be Little Marco forever—or at least until Trump gets tired of him and kicks him to the curb."
Continuing my last comment about what "Trump does," let's look at what really will happen, and what we have been observing for 9 years (and has been happening for 70 years prior). Trump does not "kick" anyone, literally or otherwise. Rather, when one fails to feed Trump's instant gratification, he throws a tantrum like the spoiled toddler that he is, then 10 others waiting in line do the "kicking" and replacing. Unlike 2016, those who would be "guardrails" no longer even apply; not because of him, but because they have always been outnumbered by the bootlickers.
"Did Trump pull out this perhaps-apocryphal quote from Napoleon Bonaparte on his own? Or was this one of his social-media lackeys operating for him?"
I realize that "Trump did X" is usually shorthand for "500 people did X and let Trump take the credit." But let's get real, when you're born to daddy's money and connections, you're surrounded from day one by people who do everything from the thinking and planning to the grunt work. Like ants to a picnic they swarm to you. 8 decades of that has him more addicted to instant gratification than anyone on the planet. And when one fails to feed it, 10 other pathetic bootlickers are waiting in line to replace them. I'd be surprised if Mr. Covfefe can even spell "Napoleon."
One aspect of the firing of all the federal workers that has not been raised so far (at least I have seen no mention of it) is the impact the firings will have on employment levels. There could be a non-trivial increase in unemployment as a result.
A boost to the unemployment level could lead to slower increases or reductions in wage growth levels, which is something the fed is actually interested in seeing. Under the circumstances though with many or Trump's economic and immigration policies likely leading to higher inflation the fed may be forced to increase interest rates at time when unemployment is expanding, not something that promote expanding economic growth.
An ancillary extension to the layoffs is the impact they could have on states' workmens compensation funds. In states with large populations of workers paid with federal funds there may be serious strains on the compensation funds. Virginia certainly comes to mind. And they have a gubernatorial election in the fall.
Slightly off-topic, but regarding the 200 or so Republicans from the Bush era who had the backbone to reject Trumpism:
1) Can they ever accept a strong economy under the current leadership, even if it's achieved through illiberal practices that undermine process and decency?
Would state -- probably not—because they recognize that these economic gains are largely illusory and unsustainable. For them, the integrity of the process matters more than short-term economic boosts. Besides, they would likely deficit spend to get any positive economic outcomes.
2) Can they ever return to a "normal" political landscape, where debates over policy—like the appropriate level of carbon credits—are the biggest issues?
\That seems much harder to imagine. The political environment has shifted so drastically that returning to that level of policy-driven discourse appears unlikely.
I’m just thinking democrat voters are busy working or trying to find work. As for what the democrats in government are doing it seems like a big mystery to me.
1. “Democrat” is a noun! Democratic is an adjective. Democratic voters is correct. Trump started using the noun as an adjective just to prove his power. Unfortunately an awful lot of media and citizens fell victim to Trump’s deliberate manipulations and shenanigans!
2. Lots of elected Democrats are loud and clear. Among them are Senators Chris Murphy, Mark Kelly, Elizabeth Warren, Ron Weiden, etc. The ELECTED REPUBLICANS CONTROL ALL THE POWER. The Dems are taking the only actions available to them.
Rush Limbaugh minted that 30 years ago and change "speaked" the culture
For those lovers of cheesy horror stories, I would say the invasion of our nation's foundations resembles the long-awaited Zombie Apocalypse -- or maybe we should call it the ZomBoy Apocalypse in honor of Musk's youthful groyper gang.
Of course, that would not be fair now that we know there are a few women in the DOGE staff. We could call them the ZomBabes.
It's something that bizarre. I continue to be floored that it was possible for one man to just buy the US Government. I tend to see Trump, Musk, the cabinet appointees, etc., as Batman villains who have taken over Gotham City.
We have to have one message and we need to fan out to every right wing media outlet to say it everywhere all the time. NO TAX BREAKS FOR THE RICH - SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE AND MEDICAID. Simple message. Focused. If the Republicans get their tax breaks through we are all screwed but even right wing nut jobs support the New Deal programs the billionaires want to kill.
Resistance, objections, protests etc. don’t have to be perfect or reach the exact audience every time. Slowly a groundswell will grow and there will be commonalty among different groups. The sentiment will grow stronger. The cuts have started creeping into local news, teacher recruiting programs, national park, staff, funding for local projects, Vets, soon rural area projects will be in limbo and many other programs cut without notice. The general public will start hearing more about the local issues and seeing protests around them, friends being laid off etc. Opportunities stopped. Contrast that with Trump continuing to creep around any sporting event with crowds pretending they are there for him. He can’t help himself, he will start looking like an out of touch fool to more people. It’s chaos and unwise. Key is everyone that is able to do something to protest do so. For inspiration look at the civil rights movement when people who didn’t have power or wealth managed to change society. We have more power than we think, if we act on it.
I think Congress wouldn’t raise the debt ceiling so Trump and Musk are firing enough people that they lower government spending and they can give tax cuts to the rich that way. Anybody agree?
Bill, you make me chuckle. The courts don't have an army to back up their decisions, the corporate media is going all-in fascist, and many are simply cutting checks to trump! Federal employees are not wealthy enough to fight court battles and need their jobs to provide for their families. What world are you living in? 1984? Oh, wait, maybe that's not a year we want as an example.
I wrote this on another post, but it seems appropriate heare as well. People haven't yet felt the trump disaster admin yet. It will have to hit them much harder in order for the trump fool freaks to finally understand just how stupid their support for trump was and how diminished their financial lives have become. Wait until bird flu hiys hard and the brain worm clown drools at his desk while trump sells more crapcoin. It is hust the beginning of their suffering. It will hit hard and nasty. Enjoy...
Planes weren't crashing and flipping upside down under Biden and DEI. musk and trump, or mump, are way out of their league right now, and dems are waving their canes and holding press conferences where they are able to put a sleeping dog into a coma within 5 minutes.
The best idea I have heard from Timothy Snyder, and some others, is for dems to have an opposition cabinet, similar to what the Brits do. Every freaking day, they need to tail mump cabinet and other GOP leadership and tell the truth about the damage repubs are doing and how dems would do things to help, not hinder Americans. Do dems have the stones to pull it off? They better because the trump SCOTUS has made trump king and only popular resistance can topple a psychotic, incompetent, lying, dimwitted fascist admin.
I like your idea of an opposition cabinet. They could issue a rejoinder to every action the mump (btw, I love that!!) cabinet takes. Would the media even bother to report on it? Probably not at first, but eventually, with persistence and relentless hounding, they might have to.
I don't hold out much hope of the current Dem Party doing this, though. They are still enthralled with the consultant-driven playbook, which means you don't spend any of your money until election season. This, of course, is very stupid when the mumpsters are getting free propaganda every single day, include evening news video of every time Trump says, "Well, we are going to look into it. We have to because they destroyed our country."
mumpsters... lol Absolutely, dems would need to add your phrase to their bland, tired, and stale dictionary: with persistence and relentless hounding,It isn't intellectual rigor that leads Gym Jordan, MGT, Mace, vance and trump, to gather so much media attention. It's that moronic, clueless, boorish, disgusting repubs won't shut up no mater how little they know about everything. Dems have already had so many opportunities that they could have had trump at 30^ approval by now, but they play the 'trump will screw up so much that people will not like him' even though that didn't work the first time and it sure won't work this time. Give me more AOC and less Jeffries, more Murphy and less Schumer. More Pete and fewer patty cake dems.
Meanwhile, the Rs are cowering under their decks and keeping their mouths shut for fear of primaries! So screw the country swirling down the toilet, my job is more important and Elon might used his millions to take it away from me! Meanwhile Dems, grow a spine, toss out some firey floor speeches and just say no to everything Agent Orange wants!
This whole thing reminds me of The King of Hearts where the inmates are in charge of the asylum, except that those inmates were benign.