In the unanticipated favorable consequences category, for years we have had 2 employees who were TERRIBLE. Ought to have been fired years ago but, for whatever reason, weren’t.
Over the past 3 days I learned BOTH of them accepted the early out incentives. Getting rid of them will not make ANYTHING more difficult and will, instead, remove recurring frustrations. So, little temporary happy dance!
The House Republicans slipped a little clause into the funding bill hoping we wouldn’t notice, basically making it impossible for anyone in Congress to check Trump’s power to impose tariffs for the next 2 years:
Sorta like giving a junkie unlimited access to their favourite high … what could possibly go wrong?
The manager that could discipline or fire them as they should have is still there I suppose.
Like they needed that in the bill. What have they done to try to stop him so far? Jack, and Shit.
Oh yeah.
When I ran an office like the one I’m currently in, I made it a priority to get rid of employees like these. It was a HUGE effort - but well worth it.
They’re neutering the mid-terms.
Oh god. 33 years ago I was a lead of 3rd shift workers. One guy thought it would be great for him so he could work TWO full time jobs. What a mess that was. That review went… poorly.
Another guy fell asleep at his workstation. We did not bother him. He was mostly a very productive employee.
We all had our moments. We would play frisbee in the parking lot or go for a walk at 2am to stay awake, that’s what you did. It was interesting.
Does this expire in 2 years? If so, it should be a short neutering. But yeah, I guess it is crappy. Or, I guess it could stop current Republicans from discovering a spine in the meantime (stop laughing!).
It, pretty certainly, expires the moment the President isn’t a Republican.
If the results of not being able to check Trump’s power to impose tariffs for 2 years were the same as giving a Junkie drugs, I’d vote yes.
This is absolutely extraordinary and one of the most disappointing and frightening things I’ve seen yet. Trump’s sole authority for enacting tariffs relies on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which as the name implies, is only justified in the case of a legitimate national emergency. Trump is running roughshod over these legal limitations, and truly acting as an unconstrained lawless dictator.
The tariffs alone, a major threat to the economies of at least three nations including the US itself and illegally contravening the North American free trade agreement that Trump signed himself in his first term, should be ample grounds for impeachment and removal from office. Instead, it appears that spineless, self-serving Republicans have doubled down to protect their new authoritarian hero as he continues his mad rampage.
Holy crap, some journalism has happened. NPR spoke with Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar about the justification for the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia “protest leader”. It turns out that the justification is basically just “something something terrorism”.
It’s about a 5-minute listen but worthwhile.
I heard that this morning. Well done keeping up the question, which he is unable to answer:
Is criticizing Israel terrorism now? Is it illegal now?
and
Is criticizing the US government a crime?
All Edgar could do was say, over and over, “watch the video.”
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.” – Teddy Roosevelt.
This needs to be tattooed into every GOP, MAGA and Trumpist brain, because clearly even the ones who’ve heard it before don’t actually believe it.
Now it is. Because any criticism is a criticism of Trump himself.
In Nazi Germany, one swore loyalty directly to Hitler, not the Reich. Hitler was the Reich, and the Reich was Hitler. There was no real distinction, but Hitler was its epitome.
I wasn’t born then, but I’m seeing its equivalent unfold before my very eyes.
Same here. I’ve read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and 1984 And Maus, but only once decades ago, so I don’t remember it.
I’ve read Richard Evans’ trilogy The Coming of the Third Reich, The Third Reich in Power, and The Third Reich at War fairly recently. The first one was pretty dry, the second and third stunning. Compendia of horrors, if you will.
Mass protest at Trump Towers today, protesting the arrest of the Columba protester.
Course, most of the protesters were then arrested as well.
During Trump 1.0, there were inexplicable entry denials to Canadian citizens who happened to have brown-ish skin colouring and had names that might have been Muslim. Now, in keeping with everything being 100x worse, it’s become completely arbitrary: