Have you been ordered to sleep in your office yet, like any dedicated Musk employee should?
Ha! These edicts definitely remind me of the early days of Elmo’s takeover of Twitter. This is exactly the way he operates, and even though he and Trump have had their differences recently, I’m sure that Trump – being lazy and nursing anti-government grievances – is more than happy to let him decimate the federal civil service in his own unique haphazard way, in which no one knows what’s going on and everyone fears for their jobs.
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Yep because they are staunch believers in free speech and absolutely reject cancel culture.
Never mind
To be fair, they’re employer-furnished computers and I’m working on their dime, so to me it doesn’t look like a free speech issue. I’ve never been allowed to say whatever I wanted to say when I was on the clock, and neither has anyone else: I’m sure anyone, no matter who their employer is, can find something to say that would get them fired.
That said, I’m sad to see them going out of their way to insist that we all be less inclusive and supportive (while on the clock) of people who have a tougher row to hoe than most.
You’re right, I was just trying to point out the hypocrisy as American conservatives have frequently been critical of restrictions on speech, or consequences for speech, even within private organizations or within institutions. But you’re right of course that the consistent and legally accurate position should be organizations / employers can set whatever rules they like, as long as they are not asking you to break the law.
I wouldn’t think that MAGA would be too happy to know that these low productivity workers will get paid for 8 months while having a second job or taking nice long vacations. That’s not fair! And they hate when things are not fair.
Have any workers who have left been actually paid? Wouldn’t be surprised if the answer turns out to be “never”.
How dare you sir! The checks will arrive in two weeks!
A couple of cheery pieces from today’s Atlantic (online): FBI Agents Are Stunned by the Scale of the Expected Trump Purge - The Atlantic and The CDC Is Altering Data to Follow Trump’s DEI Order - The Atlantic
I’m wondering how, if everyone in the federal government resigns, how will everyone be getting their pay, accrued leave, etc.? Who is going to do payroll?
I assume that President Musk never had any intention of paying any of them.
Complete article version of first link in last jshore post:
I suppose most of those low level agents voted for the Republican, as they always do. If arrested, will they still believe in Trump? Maybe I should reread Darkness at Noon.
I’ve read enough about dictatorships to know better, but is still disappointing how fast this is going. Looks like Kash Patel being voted down might not make much difference.
The retribution campaign continues. No crime is too small to let go by. Especially if a Democrat is the offender.
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Mr. Trump sued CBS last year for $10 billion and accused the network of deceptively editing the interview with Ms. Harris in a manner that benefited her candidacy. Many media law experts had dismissed the litigation as an idiosyncratic effort to punish a news outlet, and CBS called the lawsuit “completely without merit.”
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This verbiage raises all kinds of “too good to be true” red flags to me. It just screams out “bait and switch” in flashing neon lights. I’ve read Nigerian scam emails that are more convincing than this.
What’s to stop them from accepting someone’s resignation, then making some excuse why they can’t actually pay someone to sit at home not working for 8 months?
Not sure if it’s already been linked here, but Paul Krugman (formerly of the NYT) had a great article on this:
I was going to say the exact same thing. Suppose the situation is “Oops, we can’t hold up our end of the bargain but you still have to hold up yours!”? What do you do then? There is probably fine print that says you can’t sue to get your job back.
This has always been Trump’s business plan. Makes sense that would be in effect now.
So, today is February 1st. I believe this is the beginning of the tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China. Krugman’s substack is one of the best things on the internet.
Anyway, this is, like Krugman says, The End of North America. It was nice having allies that we could count on and work with us and all that. But who needs that, when we have a world to dominate.
Krugman makes the point that these tariffs are likely illegal, as if that matters to anyone.
Dictators do not need fine print.
I was wondering that myself. Could the union that represents government employees file a suit against Musk and this lawless “government”?
There needs to be judicial intervention when possible. Right now, it’s our only hope. After 2026, I hope the Dems will have the House again. If so, they can make Trump’s life much harder than it is right now. But for now, the only recourse is in the courts.