4 ms·

The entire affair feels so infantalising, these muppets lied and cheated their way to the top, and somehow we're now expected to listen to them? Do what they sa

The entire affair feels so infantalising, these muppets lied and cheated their way to the top, and somehow we're now expected to listen to them? Do what they say? The media just keeps fanning their flame, every day it's something new. Goddamn YouTube algorithm tricks from the executive branch. They feed each other. Their ego cannot be satisfied. Their ego is not a national priority. Stop talking about them, stop tweeting, everything they say gets walked back days later, it's a soap-opera; meaningless drama. They can't invent new laws, stop pretending like they can, stop being fearful of them, just ignore them and watch them wilt. Half of you in the comments are already considering the implementation details of this as if it was a fait accompli. If you desperately need to do something productive, work out how the opposition party has been so catastrophically ineffective for the last generation, and doesn't seem to show any signs of changing.

beached_whale 2y ago
I don't think enough people realize that wealth is not about talent and hard work. It's luck. There are hard working and talented people in all walks and levels of wealth, but having the opportunity at all falls to luck, often who one's parents are. Society blames those that lack wealth instead of pulling everyone up. And they fetishize those with wealth as having more talent than others or working harder.
fuzzfactor 2y ago
A few days ago there was discussion on European uncertainty about US commitment to NATO, but the first thing that came to mind was that our own Pentagon better watch out because there's no way Trump could understand why it was built in the first place, or why it's worth keeping. Now with top military leaders being kicked out, and there are bound to be escalating numbers of department heads rolling, there has got to be someone who can out-rally Trump over the next two years well enough to get Trump's followers voted out of Congress, followed by rapid justice through serious impeachment this time. Just like Trump had himself and Junior and Vance out there during the same week lots of times, all these newly cast-off leaders need to hold hundreds of rallys per week across the country and see who rises to the top as the one who has enough real leadership ability that will put Trump and now Musk to shame. Must be able to convert Trump's voters as well as motivate the non-voters and it should be easier than ever since his mishandling is much more obvious now and millions voted for him only because there was nobody they liked better. All kinds of government employees former or present, especially military members, need to join a new legitimate regular ordinary political party and rally more than once per week using the same populist tactics & strategies that allow non-leaders to arise in the two major parties, but without the limitations of those parties' ingrained deficiencies that keep them from getting anybody better than Trump to run. Surely there is a real leader whom a political machine can be built around, and the machine needs to start being built now, way before the ultimate choice of personality can be made. If there was one big government employee's union it might have been better for them than what they had, but wouldn't their own political party be even better? With enough experience and patriotism running the government as a career, that it could be combined and there is nothing that Trump or Musk will be able to hold a candle to, and it will show enough to convince former Trump voters to attend the new rallys precisely because they were betrayed. Surely there are more than one suitable leader having years of outstanding service who has the charisma and now the freedom and motivation to live on paltry donations until they can snowball well beyond their respectable government salary. This needs to start right in Washington where there should definitely be a rally a day until it's packed every day and the crowd hangs on every word, cheering more so when Trump's unsuitability is emphasized. Then feed it live and get going in other cities, plus bringing some of those crowds to the rural areas too. With undeserved perceived power the Trump administration is going into disarray faster than ever and already may not be able to reduce triggered chaos within two years. They'll be busy in the White House even more than Biden was, so it's time for everyone else to rally for years even if it's just to commiserate how much they hate Trump. That's all Trump did most of the time, was to rally those who hated Biden and spread the hate :\ For years. The only proven tactic for the times. Ideally there should be such a reversal that the PR gets bad enough that Trump resigns and his former followers shun him like they did Nixon.
- necovek 2y ago
  If you had all government workers in a single party, they'd fall pray to groupthink and there would be pressure to join said party if you want to become a government worker.
anigbrowl 2y ago
'Ignore the assholes' is an emotional reaction that simply does not work. It's not like school, where you can (somewhat) rely on a (quasi-) objective educator to sideline intellectual disruptors and focus on the important material. Power, like violence, is its own argument. You can't cause an authoritarian government to wilt by ignoring it any more than you can demoralize a mugger by saying 'ha ha your punches don't bother me at all because resorting to violence means you have failed.' I do agree with a lot of your observations, especially the general fecklessness of the nominal opposition party.
_DeadFred_ 2y ago
It's supposed to feel that way. They have clearly stated this isn't about efficiency but instead the demoralization of our government and the destruction of it's institutions (which has been their goal since the 1980s with their 'starve the beast' strategy). "We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected. When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work" https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/11/books/review/administrative-state-trump-bannon.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/11/books/review/administrati...
qwertyuiop_ 2y ago
This is an illustrative example of how deep the rot is in the federal government. https://x.com/SBA_Kelly/status/1893070684957348301?mx=2 https://x.com/SBA_Kelly/status/1893070684957348301?mx=2
archagon 2y ago
The only reason some of these things get "walked back days later" is because everyone makes a whole lot of noise about them. Stop the noise and the federal government gets steamrolled.
anotherhue 2y ago
As if on cue, two days later: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/24/elon-musk-federal-workers-chaos https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/24/elon-musk-fe...

beached_whale 2y ago

I don't think enough people realize that wealth is not about talent and hard work. It's luck. There are hard working and talented people in all walks and levels of wealth, but having the opportunity at all falls to luck, often who one's parents are. Society blames those that lack wealth instead of pulling everyone up. And they fetishize those with wealth as having more talent than others or working harder.

fuzzfactor 2y ago

A few days ago there was discussion on European uncertainty about US commitment to NATO, but the first thing that came to mind was that our own Pentagon better watch out because there's no way Trump could understand why it was built in the first place, or why it's worth keeping. Now with top military leaders being kicked out, and there are bound to be escalating numbers of department heads rolling, there has got to be someone who can out-rally Trump over the next two years well enough to get Trump's followers voted out of Congress, followed by rapid justice through serious impeachment this time. Just like Trump had himself and Junior and Vance out there during the same week lots of times, all these newly cast-off leaders need to hold hundreds of rallys per week across the country and see who rises to the top as the one who has enough real leadership ability that will put Trump and now Musk to shame. Must be able to convert Trump's voters as well as motivate the non-voters and it should be easier than ever since his mishandling is much more obvious now and millions voted for him only because there was nobody they liked better. All kinds of government employees former or present, especially military members, need to join a new legitimate regular ordinary political party and rally more than once per week using the same populist tactics & strategies that allow non-leaders to arise in the two major parties, but without the limitations of those parties' ingrained deficiencies that keep them from getting anybody better than Trump to run. Surely there is a real leader whom a political machine can be built around, and the machine needs to start being built now, way before the ultimate choice of personality can be made. If there was one big government employee's union it might have been better for them than what they had, but wouldn't their own political party be even better? With enough experience and patriotism running the government as a career, that it could be combined and there is nothing that Trump or Musk will be able to hold a candle to, and it will show enough to convince former Trump voters to attend the new rallys precisely because they were betrayed. Surely there are more than one suitable leader having years of outstanding service who has the charisma and now the freedom and motivation to live on paltry donations until they can snowball well beyond their respectable government salary. This needs to start right in Washington where there should definitely be a rally a day until it's packed every day and the crowd hangs on every word, cheering more so when Trump's unsuitability is emphasized. Then feed it live and get going in other cities, plus bringing some of those crowds to the rural areas too. With undeserved perceived power the Trump administration is going into disarray faster than ever and already may not be able to reduce triggered chaos within two years. They'll be busy in the White House even more than Biden was, so it's time for everyone else to rally for years even if it's just to commiserate how much they hate Trump. That's all Trump did most of the time, was to rally those who hated Biden and spread the hate :\ For years. The only proven tactic for the times. Ideally there should be such a reversal that the PR gets bad enough that Trump resigns and his former followers shun him like they did Nixon.

necovek 2y ago
If you had all government workers in a single party, they'd fall pray to groupthink and there would be pressure to join said party if you want to become a government worker.

anigbrowl 2y ago

'Ignore the assholes' is an emotional reaction that simply does not work. It's not like school, where you can (somewhat) rely on a (quasi-) objective educator to sideline intellectual disruptors and focus on the important material. Power, like violence, is its own argument. You can't cause an authoritarian government to wilt by ignoring it any more than you can demoralize a mugger by saying 'ha ha your punches don't bother me at all because resorting to violence means you have failed.' I do agree with a lot of your observations, especially the general fecklessness of the nominal opposition party.

_DeadFred_ 2y ago

It's supposed to feel that way. They have clearly stated this isn't about efficiency but instead the demoralization of our government and the destruction of it's institutions (which has been their goal since the 1980s with their 'starve the beast' strategy). "We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected. When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work" https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/11/books/review/administrative-state-trump-bannon.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/11/books/review/administrati...

qwertyuiop_ 2y ago

This is an illustrative example of how deep the rot is in the federal government. https://x.com/SBA_Kelly/status/1893070684957348301?mx=2 https://x.com/SBA_Kelly/status/1893070684957348301?mx=2

archagon 2y ago

The only reason some of these things get "walked back days later" is because everyone makes a whole lot of noise about them. Stop the noise and the federal government gets steamrolled.

anotherhue 2y ago

As if on cue, two days later: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/24/elon-musk-federal-workers-chaos https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/24/elon-musk-fe...