Damn, this is well written and very informative. I say this as a federal contractor for the past 24 years. AFAIK, my customer has not been DOGEd yet, but we have been hit with the bone-stupid EOs: purge DEI: eliminate affinty groups, no public displays for MLK day, Black History Month, Women's History Month, et cetera; rename the Gulf of Mexico.
Just petty, fragile, mediocre white grievance bullshit—they're all just completely honorless fucks.
Musk bought the Presidency. Trump will play golf and perform every so often. We need to rally our fellow citizens, especially those in red states/areas, to oppose this, and quickly. In 2-3 years, legal opposition to Musk/MAGA will be almost impossible. In 5 to 10 years, Musk/MAGA will have consolidated power and we will be living in a police state.
I agree, and what troubles me is I don't think it'll be possible to rally the low-info voters who voted for Trump and/or unplugged after the election until they start feeling the impacts, at which point we'll be significantly farther down this road and it'll be significantly harder to oppose. Not to bait 2025 and I'm knocking on wood as I say this, but we're in something close to a worst case scenario
As a nation we’ve missed numerous potential off-roads over the last 10 years to avoid this train wreck (though we did take a few around the 2020 elections and 1/6/21). Will the Supreme Court (which even hard-right Republicans claim to respect) enforce the law? And if it does, and MAGA-Musk-Trump ignore those rulings, as seems likely, then what? Glad you are doing what you can & likewise here.
We are going to have to touch the stove and a lot of people are going to suffer and die. See the Whitehouse insta story with the ASMR of deportation flights. If I could Shinzo Abe Stephen Miller/Musk I would.
Any idea when parts 2+ might be coming out? Feeling I'd like to hear more of your thoughts/analysis on developments. Looks like there's plenty of wild shit going on at CPAC too... So maybe that's up next?
I don't want to make promises I can't keep, but: originally I was shooting for Monday for Part 2. That being said, CPAC is DEFINITELY wild, and I'm considering pushing Part 2 back to make room for something about CPAC. Either way, I'm hoping to get something out by Monday
Where are the grownups? Where are the leaders? Where are the men and women of conscience? Where are all the genuine patriots? Where is the press? Since the democratic party has been shown to be entirely impotent, we have both the traditional democratic party and republican party in collapse, so the two party system is gone. I am afraid we are in very deep shit, so deep I cringe at thinking of it and I'll bet all the grown ups do too.
Thanks for the detailed explainer. As bad as I knew it was, this lives up to 2025's promise to always be worse than you thought. It's clear that a lot of thought went into setting up DOGE for maximum unfettered reach and non-existent oversight. If this coup can be stopped, the permanent damage to the functioning parts of the US government will still be immense.
That's one of the things that disturbs me most -- if Musk threw this together last-minute we'd still be in deep shit, but the fact that someone thought this through and Trump executed the plan on the night of his inauguration suggests to me that it's part of a larger plan. I really don't like it
So what's the point of all the machinations? Things fall into place when you realize that Trump sees himself to be in a business, that works from having the presidency. His objective is making a profit. He is making deals, not holding negotiations. He does what's good for him, regardless of what happens to us.
Can't we have a coup? No need for guns in this electronic age. Get all living Presidents to declare it. Or however. The rule of law is admirable, but when they pay no never mind to it aren't we suckers to do things by the books?
I agree that for Trump it's all about profit and that's why he's allowing the world's richest man to be President for him. But for Musk & Co, I think it's about power and vengeance, which is somehow even worse
And I agree: when one side tosses out the law to this extent, legal methods aren't cutting it
I wish our living Presidents had the guts to declare this a coup. A lot of people in positions of power right now deserve to go down in history for cowardice
This is literally the sort of stuff that lead to the writing of the Declaration of Independence
Paragraph 3 and 13 -Thomas Jefferson and company.
"He has refused His Assent To Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance."
Every time these fuckers evoke our framers as justification for what they're doing, I see red
Damn, this is well written and very informative. I say this as a federal contractor for the past 24 years. AFAIK, my customer has not been DOGEd yet, but we have been hit with the bone-stupid EOs: purge DEI: eliminate affinty groups, no public displays for MLK day, Black History Month, Women's History Month, et cetera; rename the Gulf of Mexico.
Just petty, fragile, mediocre white grievance bullshit—they're all just completely honorless fucks.
It's so stupid!! This DEI Thoughtcrime nonsense is so childish and petty and dumb. May your agency continue to be DOGE-free for as long as possible
Musk bought the Presidency. Trump will play golf and perform every so often. We need to rally our fellow citizens, especially those in red states/areas, to oppose this, and quickly. In 2-3 years, legal opposition to Musk/MAGA will be almost impossible. In 5 to 10 years, Musk/MAGA will have consolidated power and we will be living in a police state.
I agree, and what troubles me is I don't think it'll be possible to rally the low-info voters who voted for Trump and/or unplugged after the election until they start feeling the impacts, at which point we'll be significantly farther down this road and it'll be significantly harder to oppose. Not to bait 2025 and I'm knocking on wood as I say this, but we're in something close to a worst case scenario
As a nation we’ve missed numerous potential off-roads over the last 10 years to avoid this train wreck (though we did take a few around the 2020 elections and 1/6/21). Will the Supreme Court (which even hard-right Republicans claim to respect) enforce the law? And if it does, and MAGA-Musk-Trump ignore those rulings, as seems likely, then what? Glad you are doing what you can & likewise here.
We are going to have to touch the stove and a lot of people are going to suffer and die. See the Whitehouse insta story with the ASMR of deportation flights. If I could Shinzo Abe Stephen Miller/Musk I would.
Any idea when parts 2+ might be coming out? Feeling I'd like to hear more of your thoughts/analysis on developments. Looks like there's plenty of wild shit going on at CPAC too... So maybe that's up next?
I don't want to make promises I can't keep, but: originally I was shooting for Monday for Part 2. That being said, CPAC is DEFINITELY wild, and I'm considering pushing Part 2 back to make room for something about CPAC. Either way, I'm hoping to get something out by Monday
Where are the grownups? Where are the leaders? Where are the men and women of conscience? Where are all the genuine patriots? Where is the press? Since the democratic party has been shown to be entirely impotent, we have both the traditional democratic party and republican party in collapse, so the two party system is gone. I am afraid we are in very deep shit, so deep I cringe at thinking of it and I'll bet all the grown ups do too.
This is so good, tysm Laura ❤️❤️❤️ I really appreciate your journalism at all times, but *especially* times like these
Good stuff. I only wish it were subtitled "System of a DOGE."
♫♪ Eating seeds as a pastime activity
The toxicity of our city, of our city
You, what do you own the world?
How do you own disorder? Disorder ♫♪
Wow I am SO MAD I DIDN'T THINK OF THIS
Thanks for the detailed explainer. As bad as I knew it was, this lives up to 2025's promise to always be worse than you thought. It's clear that a lot of thought went into setting up DOGE for maximum unfettered reach and non-existent oversight. If this coup can be stopped, the permanent damage to the functioning parts of the US government will still be immense.
That's one of the things that disturbs me most -- if Musk threw this together last-minute we'd still be in deep shit, but the fact that someone thought this through and Trump executed the plan on the night of his inauguration suggests to me that it's part of a larger plan. I really don't like it
So what's the point of all the machinations? Things fall into place when you realize that Trump sees himself to be in a business, that works from having the presidency. His objective is making a profit. He is making deals, not holding negotiations. He does what's good for him, regardless of what happens to us.
Can't we have a coup? No need for guns in this electronic age. Get all living Presidents to declare it. Or however. The rule of law is admirable, but when they pay no never mind to it aren't we suckers to do things by the books?
I agree that for Trump it's all about profit and that's why he's allowing the world's richest man to be President for him. But for Musk & Co, I think it's about power and vengeance, which is somehow even worse
And I agree: when one side tosses out the law to this extent, legal methods aren't cutting it
I wish our living Presidents had the guts to declare this a coup. A lot of people in positions of power right now deserve to go down in history for cowardice