I’ve posted this often in threads about Trump begging for eggs: European diplomats can get their point across succinctly by delivering a few dozen eggs, personally and ballistically, direct to the White House front door.
Yes, that will get them expelled, but they will get expelled anyway just for saying things Trump doesn’t like. May as well make it count.
No, I think this is going a different direction, disqualifying women for certain roles, even if they meet the physical qualifications. Keep in mind that whenever this administration states their goals, they are lying. Often, their goals are explicitly the opposite of their public justification.
War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.
It’s important to note that the reason this can happen here is because of how our checks and balances in the government are structured. None of them are automatic, and the GOP has ensured they will not be used.
Congress can function as a check on the Executive, but only by passing laws (and, to a lesser extent, Senate approval, of appointments). So Congress has to take action to rein in the chaos (and, in the case of legislation, override a veto). If Congress takes no action, it cannot function as a check on the Executive at all. Essentially, their lack of action is permitting the chaos just as surely as what Elon Musk is doing.
Similarly, the Courts can function as a powerful check on the Executive, but they rely on someone challenging something done by the Executive, and that starts off a lengthy review process. Individual judges have a lot of discretion, but their rulings get reviewed and it can take a while for appeals to be exhausted. Our court system also relies in all parties having respect for its process and judgements, and it’s clear that this administration does not have respect for rulings it doesn’t like. So even if a ruling against it goes all the way through the appellate process and is “binding”, they are very likely to ignore it anyway, and start another lengthy review.
Both of these checks on the Executive have been effectively neutered, one by complicity and one by contempt. So Trump and Musk can do whatever the hell they want. It is always easier to tear down than build up. Even if, by some miracle, Congress changes hands in 2026, the Federal Administrative State will be a shell of itself, and while we set about to rebuild it Trump and Musk will loot it for their own enrichment.
The next Federal election is critical, precisely because the President is not on the ballot, so all the elections will be for Congress, and hyper-local. Musk has already proven he can buy a national election. If he is successful at buying 50 state elections as well, he may build up enough power in enough states to call for a Constitutional Convention, where they can rip the whole thing up and start over. I think that is Musk’s endgame, where he can turn the US into Apartheid-era South Africa, totally legally.
On second thought, let’s not go to America, 'tis a silly place
In totally unrelated news, Clarence Thomas took delivery of a new RV…
This is good for Bitcoin
“Extremely productive”? I bet that means he took it on the shitter.
Perhaps Don Bacon is feeling the heat from his constituents, and is afraid that if he didn’t say something his career would be cooked.
He might attract a primary challenge, but that’s just like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.
I bet he’s gonna stuff a lot of pork into his next bill, though.
The US will start to pump water out of our side of the Great Lakes to send to red states
Hmm, this means they think they will lose those special elections in Florida next week
There are two sides to the brain drain. First are the researchers into things the government doesn’t like, who will leave if they have the means to.
But the second is that with all of our hostility to foreign nationals right now, even the ones who come from countries the government likes will think twice about applying for positions here.
The net result is that the brightest minds will go elsewhere.
No, they had to divide the case in two because some activity happened in DC, and some ar Mar-A-Lago. Future Supreme Court Justice Cannon is currently a judge in the district that includes Mar-a-Lago. So they knew that they had a chance of getting her when they filed the charges, but the selection was random.
The RNG owed us big time after it gave that one Trump case to Aileen Cannon
There is some context missing here. Other posters have pointed out some things, but what I want to point out is that there are several states where the GOP is actively fucking with the voter rolls. It is very easy for someone’s voter registration to be “challenged” for bullshit reasons, and often these challenges are made strategically to target likely Democratic voters in poor places, who may not have the spare cash to get the additional RealID proof that this EO demands.
So, even though it might seem reasonable on its face, in combination with other GOP priorities it’s obvious that the end goal is to harass poor voters.
Everyone who is not part of the GOP’s demographic needs to get a passport card ASAP. It is RealID compliant, and only $30. Yeah, it sucks that you are being forced to do that, but everyone should go and do it now, before it gets DOGEd…
Be careful what you wish for, we may end up getting all US government payments made in $TRUMP, via X.
Not really, either way the Broligarchs own the government. We might make them buy slightly less shitty politicians, but that doesn’t count for much.
My heart pumps purple piss for them.
I admire your commitment to the cause, but you really should get that checked out…
No, you missed the part where they do it ballistically.