Surviving a second Trump admin

[GoCubsGo]

There's a new definition of DEI.

[Vrede too]

Maybe - maybe Collins will grow a spine. I don't think she's up for reelection until after Trump's gone but she almost lost her seat last time over Boof.

Ineffective, and thus safe, spine with Hegseth. No spine with Gabbard:

Gabbard boosted in bid to become chief US spy ahead of committee vote

Former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard's nomination to become director of national intelligence received a major boost on Monday when Senator Susan Collins said she would back President Donald Trump's nominee.

... Despite Collins' support, Gabbard still faces an uncertain path to becoming the nation's top spy....

Some of the panel's other Republicans have not said whether they would vote in favor of sending her nomination to the full Senate for a vote.

Fingers crossed.

Both Republicans and Democrats have expressed doubts about the choice of Gabbard, a 43-year-old former Democrat and combat veteran without significant intelligence experience, for a position overseeing all 18 U.S. intelligence agencies....

More unqualified than the GQP's DEI myth.

[neoplacebo]

Click:
https://www.usaid.gov/

Too bad if you're hungry, at risk of HIV, trying to stop Ebola, etc from spreading to the US, a congressperson who voted appropriations for AID, a citizen who supports the law and Constitution, and so on.

China is like: Don't worry, we'll handle this. Thanks Trump

They say the same thing when trump lies about electric vehicle mandates (which don't even exist....a tax credit is not a mandate) and babbles "drill, baby, drill" as China silently says thanks for handing us the future and the money that comes with it.

[Vrede too]

China is like: Don't worry, we'll handle this. Thanks Trump

They say the same thing when trump lies about electric vehicle mandates (which don't even exist....a tax credit is not a mandate) and babbles "drill, baby, drill" as China silently says thanks for handing us the future and the money that comes with it.

RepuQ cultists also love unqualified nominees, Putin and al Assad and hate America:

Senate committee backs Tulsi Gabbard as next intelligence chief
Gabbard had faced pointed questions from some Republican senators about her stances on Edward Snowden and surveillance authorities.

The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday voted 9-8 to back President Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, clearing an important hurdle for her nomination....

[neoplacebo]

China is like: Don't worry, we'll handle this. Thanks Trump

They say the same thing when trump lies about electric vehicle mandates (which don't even exist....a tax credit is not a mandate) and babbles "drill, baby, drill" as China silently says thanks for handing us the future and the money that comes with it.

RepuQ cultists also love unqualified nominees, Putin and al Assad and hate America:

Senate committee backs Tulsi Gabbard as next intelligence chief
Gabbard had faced pointed questions from some Republican senators about her stances on Edward Snowden and surveillance authorities.

The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday voted 9-8 to back President Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, clearing an important hurdle for her nomination....

Making her the DNI (an arguable redundant entity created by a Republican president in a knee jerk reaction to his own incompetence) is like putting Otis in charge of the sheriff office in Mayberry. She and cosplay Kristi are a true pair of security experts. If I wren't so old, I'd leave the country. fish slap

[Vrede too]

Making her the DNI (an arguable redundant entity created by a Republican president in a knee jerk reaction to his own incompetence) is like putting Otis in charge of the sheriff office in Mayberry. She and cosplay Kristi are a true pair of security experts. If I wren't so old, I'd leave the country. fish slap

More self-defeating stupidity, human rights abusing Putin and the Zionists win, again:

Trump withdraws the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council

[Vrede too]

Fox in the henhouse:
Trump makes a provocative choice for the National Counterterrorism Center
Joe Kent has alleged associations with white nationalists and has embraced a variety of conspiracy theories.
Great, a terrorist to direct counterterrorism

Then, there's the terrorist running AID:
Rubio taps Pete Marocco to run USAID, despite his Jan. 6 past
In case the Jan. 6 pardons weren’t enough, one of the men who entered the Capitol now has a powerful position in the State Department.

Rubio has also hired a racist terrorist as an acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy:
Senior State Department official haunted by his scandalous record
In theory, revelations about Darren Beattie's recent past should end his State Department tenure. In practice, it might not be that simple.

https://www.blueridgedebate.com/viewtop ... 23#p207923

The answer lies in what is defined as "wasteful spending". To many if not all Republicans, this starts with any program benefiting the unrich.

For example:

To Wall Street's delight, Trump fires the man in charge of protecting American consumers
With Rohit Chopra gone, Republicans have the mechanisms to overturn some of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's most popular regulations.

... Chopra's resume includes: removing medical debt from credit reports, capping overdraft and credit card junk fees, giving consumers greater control over their personal data, and forcing corporate offenders like Wells Fargo to return billions to consumers....

Thank you for your service. Are we being set up for a repeat of the Shrubcession?

[Vrede too]

Rubio has also hired a racist terrorist as an acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy:
Senior State Department official haunted by his scandalous record
In theory, revelations about Darren Beattie's recent past should end his State Department tenure. In practice, it might not be that simple.

Van Jones Says the Latest Trump Appointee Is One of the ‘Worst People Ever Born’

CNN commentator Van Jones says the Trump administration’s latest appointment isn’t fit to run a bodega, let alone do the job he’s been offered at the State Department.

Darren Beattie, a former Trump speechwriter who was fired in 2018 for making a speech to white nationalists, has reportedly been appointed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to fill a key role as acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy.

Beattie, a conservative journalist and influential figure in MAGA-land, has previously made unproven claims about the Jan. 6 Capitol riots including the suggestion that President Joe Biden organized a cover-up.

Beattie’s news site Revolver News has also implied that the D.C. plane crash was done on purpose.

... Van Jones didn’t hold back from expressing his views about Beattie to CNN host Anderson Cooper on Monday, saying the choice of Beattie is “shameless and despicable.”

“They are saying they only want quality... and then they bring in people out of the trash can,” he said, referring to the Trump administration’s policy of ending initiatives to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

“I guess this is inclusion of a former speaker to a white nationalist group,” Anderson Cooper joked.

Van Jones continued, “It’s the gaslighting of Americans, attacking black people, attacking brown people, saying we’re not good enough. Then they go get the worst people ever born and put it in high positions.”

... People say, ‘Where are the protests?’ I think people are literally just shocked and can’t believe it and having a hard time processing it,” he added.

Yup

[neoplacebo]

Making her the DNI (an arguable redundant entity created by a Republican president in a knee jerk reaction to his own incompetence) is like putting Otis in charge of the sheriff office in Mayberry. She and cosplay Kristi are a true pair of security experts. If I wren't so old, I'd leave the country. fish slap

More self-defeating stupidity, human rights abusing Putin and the Zionists win, again:

Trump withdraws the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council

On top of that, early this morning I got an email directing all CIA employees to quit their jobs. I initially went but then my training kicked in and I immediately sent back a request for a raise, a massive increase in my expense account, and three million dollars to evacuate all my network of informants. Depending on their response, I figure I'll know if the initial email was legitimate. Until then, I am as a slight gust of wind.

[Vrede too]

On top of that, early this morning I got an email directing all CIA employees to quit their jobs. I initially went but then my training kicked in and I immediately sent back a request for a raise, a massive increase in my expense account, and three million dollars to evacuate all my network of informants. Depending on their response, I figure I'll know if the initial email was legitimate. Until then, I am as a slight gust of wind.

I'll never blow your cover, hominy.


The Project 2025 wave rolls on:

Democrats To Take Over Senate Floor All Night To Oppose White House Budget Office Nominee
“He’s the architect of the dismantling of our federal government,” Sen. Brian Schatz, one of dozens taking part in a 30-hour talkathon, said of Russell Vought.

Chris Wright, Former Fracking Executive, Confirmed As Nation's 17th Energy Secretary
The former fracking executive is set to take over an agency with relatively little purview over oil and gas.

[Vrede too]

It's always a shady deals, scams and reneging on promises with DonOLD and POTUS Musk:

Education Department staff warned that Trump buyout offers could be canceled at any time

Top officials at the Education Department told staff members Wednesday that if they accept the Trump administration’s deferred resignation package, the education secretary may later cancel it and employees would not have any recourse, potentially leaving them without promised pay.

The Office of Personnel Management sent notices last week to federal employees that if they resign by Thursday, they could continue receiving pay and benefits until the end of September. The Trump administration hopes to get as much as 10% of the workforce to quit as part of a plan to shrink the federal bureaucracy....

“It sounded like a commercial for a used car dealership, like, ‘Act now, one day only,’” said a department official who attended the meeting.

... the memo includes a sample agreement that includes a clause that agency heads retain the sole discretion to rescind the deals and that employees waive the right to challenge them before the Merit Systems Protection Board "or any other forum.”

... Many Democrats and some Republicans say Trump and Musk are violating constitutional limits on the presidency in ways that are unlawful and that are precipitating a constitutional crisis.

Some labor unions for federal workers have sued to stop the deferred resignation program, arguing that the Trump administration does not have legal authority to offer such buyouts. Federal government labor unions and Democratic state attorneys general have warned federal workers that they may never receive the promised resignation benefits and characterized the offers as an attempt to intimidate them into quitting....

Trump has said he wants to eliminate the Education Department, which would fulfill a longtime dream of the Republican base but is supposed to take an act of Congress to achieve....

What part of illegal does MAGA not understand?

[O Really]

I suspect that Trump's gestapo knows that the window to get a bunch done is fairly small, and the lawsuits will catch up with them well before the mid-terms. So they're just going balls to the wall on anything, legal or illegal. Reminds me of an old quote "Act in haste, regret in leisure"

[Supsalemgr]

It's always a shady deals, scams and reneging on promises with DonOLD and POTUS Musk:

Education Department staff warned that Trump buyout offers could be canceled at any time

Top officials at the Education Department told staff members Wednesday that if they accept the Trump administration’s deferred resignation package, the education secretary may later cancel it and employees would not have any recourse, potentially leaving them without promised pay.

The Office of Personnel Management sent notices last week to federal employees that if they resign by Thursday, they could continue receiving pay and benefits until the end of September. The Trump administration hopes to get as much as 10% of the workforce to quit as part of a plan to shrink the federal bureaucracy....

“It sounded like a commercial for a used car dealership, like, ‘Act now, one day only,’” said a department official who attended the meeting.

... the memo includes a sample agreement that includes a clause that agency heads retain the sole discretion to rescind the deals and that employees waive the right to challenge them before the Merit Systems Protection Board "or any other forum.”

... Many Democrats and some Republicans say Trump and Musk are violating constitutional limits on the presidency in ways that are unlawful and that are precipitating a constitutional crisis.

Some labor unions for federal workers have sued to stop the deferred resignation program, arguing that the Trump administration does not have legal authority to offer such buyouts. Federal government labor unions and Democratic state attorneys general have warned federal workers that they may never receive the promised resignation benefits and characterized the offers as an attempt to intimidate them into quitting....

Trump has said he wants to eliminate the Education Department, which would fulfill a longtime dream of the Republican base but is supposed to take an act of Congress to achieve....

What part of illegal does MAGA not understand?

Sounds like these "top officials" are trying to scare employees in order to protect their jobs.

[GoCubsGo]

The federal cluster fuck just got murkier.

[Vrede too]

Sounds like these "top officials" are trying to scare employees in order to protect their jobs.

That doesn't make sense. If anything, scaring employees about DonOLD/POTUS plans would put the "top officials" jobs at greater risk. In reality, they're probably getting ousted, regardless, so they've got no reason to be dishonest about the shaky buyouts.

[Whack9]

It's always a shady deals, scams and reneging on promises with DonOLD and POTUS Musk:

Education Department staff warned that Trump buyout offers could be canceled at any time

Top officials at the Education Department told staff members Wednesday that if they accept the Trump administration’s deferred resignation package, the education secretary may later cancel it and employees would not have any recourse, potentially leaving them without promised pay.

The Office of Personnel Management sent notices last week to federal employees that if they resign by Thursday, they could continue receiving pay and benefits until the end of September. The Trump administration hopes to get as much as 10% of the workforce to quit as part of a plan to shrink the federal bureaucracy....

“It sounded like a commercial for a used car dealership, like, ‘Act now, one day only,’” said a department official who attended the meeting.

... the memo includes a sample agreement that includes a clause that agency heads retain the sole discretion to rescind the deals and that employees waive the right to challenge them before the Merit Systems Protection Board "or any other forum.”

... Many Democrats and some Republicans say Trump and Musk are violating constitutional limits on the presidency in ways that are unlawful and that are precipitating a constitutional crisis.

Some labor unions for federal workers have sued to stop the deferred resignation program, arguing that the Trump administration does not have legal authority to offer such buyouts. Federal government labor unions and Democratic state attorneys general have warned federal workers that they may never receive the promised resignation benefits and characterized the offers as an attempt to intimidate them into quitting....

Trump has said he wants to eliminate the Education Department, which would fulfill a longtime dream of the Republican base but is supposed to take an act of Congress to achieve....

What part of illegal does MAGA not understand?

Sounds like these "top officials" are trying to scare employees in order to protect their jobs.

Alternative (less cynical) take: I'd like to believe that there are still decent people out there. The places I've worked, some of those (not all of course) in the upper echelons of the company seemed to actually care about those below them. Maybe thesse top officials are simply trying to look out for their employees.

[Supsalemgr]

Sounds like these "top officials" are trying to scare employees in order to protect their jobs.

That doesn't make sense. If anything, scaring employees about DonOLD/POTUS plans would put the "top officials" jobs at greater risk. In reality, they're probably getting ousted, regardless, so they've got no reason to be dishonest about the shaky buyouts.

Thank you for your opinion.

[Vrede too]

Sounds like these "top officials" are trying to scare employees in order to protect their jobs.

That doesn't make sense. If anything, scaring employees about DonOLD/POTUS plans would put the "top officials" jobs at greater risk. In reality, they're probably getting ousted, regardless, so they've got no reason to be dishonest about the shaky buyouts.

Thank you for your opinion.

You MAGAts always have to be the victim of something. Pants-wetting fear of conspiracies define you. Whack9's take is far more plausible - competent and experienced managers looking out for their coworkers when radical, possibly illegal bait is dangled in front of them.

[Vrede too]

I was in The Hague in the aughts when Cheney/Shrub threatened the International Criminal Court. Some clever people built sandbag bunkers (sans guns) on the beach for symbolic defense. Time to do it again:

Netanyahu meets US lawmakers as Trump sanctions International Criminal Court

US accuses ICC of 'illegitimate' and 'baseless' actions

A moment ago, we brought you news that Trump has today signed an executive order issuing sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC).

We have now have further details of the order itself - in which the president accuses the court of engaging in "illegitimate and baseless actions" targeting both America and Israel.

The order sets out: "The ICC has, without a legitimate basis, asserted jurisdiction over and opened preliminary investigations concerning personnel of the United States and certain of its allies, including Israel, and has further abused its power by issuing baseless arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant."

The US "remains committed to accountability," it adds, as well as "international order".

As a reminder, neither the US nor Israel are members of the ICC.

The Zionists win, again.

[neoplacebo]

On top of that, early this morning I got an email directing all CIA employees to quit their jobs. I initially went but then my training kicked in and I immediately sent back a request for a raise, a massive increase in my expense account, and three million dollars to evacuate all my network of informants. Depending on their response, I figure I'll know if the initial email was legitimate. Until then, I am as a slight gust of wind.

I'll never blow your cover, hominy.

I knew I could count on you, hominy. But don't worry....most of us still have our Deep State contacts and about as many have the Covid chip. No word yet on my raise, expense account, or exfiltration money but i"ve got that covered anyway.....just wanted to see if Elon was really on the job. Don't these people ever give up?