Go to your room. You know what you did.
From the Seattle Times
Donald Trump has temporarily replaced the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office after Elon Musk’s son seemingly wiped a booger on it during their viral visit to the White House last week.
The self-described “germaphobe” announced on Wednesday that he’d sent the desk to be “lightly refinished” and brought another desk in for the time being.
I thought Trump had a Scottish mother? Surely she’d have brought him up to see it given a quick wipe with a wet rag (or to get the child to clean up after himself). Or is Musk family snot particularly acidic?
A “Scotch” mother:
Worth sharing again from The Pit Clusterfuck thread just to show how ignorant Trump is (and “plonker” was new word for me).
If he were talking about Rudy Giuliani, calling him Scotch would’ve been accurate depending on the time of day.
No, it snot.
US Institute of Peace says DOGE has broken into its building
I cannot find what sort of tools or threats were used to break in. Does anyone see what I missed?
Does it really matter? Even if they just bullied their way into the building with threats does that make this okay? They are an independent, non-profit. At the least this is criminal trespass.
Legally? I do not know.
If someone breaks into my house by threatening me, I’ll probably be even more upset than if they jimmy the lock. YMMV.
I now see this:
USIP employees called the Metropolitan Police Department and reported it as a break-in.
P.S. Unfortunate:
A law professor who specializes in pardons explains the president’s unique power to intervene in local D.C. criminal prosecutions. It’s a real shame the Institute of Peace wasn’t located in Bethesda.
I found this from the NYT (not only paywalled, but the link is to a live-updating story, so you will have to scroll down and at some time, it will be buried)..
Lin said that the U.S. Institute for Peace called the D.C. police on the Musk team members in an effort to stop them from trespassing because the institute has control of its own building and the land it sits on. But instead, the D.C. police allowed them to enter and kicked out the institute’s officials.
Before the D.C. police arrived, the Musk team had tried for hours to enter the building. They attempted to enter on Friday, but that effort was unsuccessful.
So, when DOGE tried to break in, the cops were called. The cops helped those trying to break in..
We are toast unless things change. Quickly..
Eh, don’t worry so much about being abused by out-of-control cops.
You’ll die of an easily preventable disease first!
The old fashioned vaccines also have bits of broken RNA. If the virus is an RNA virus.
On Rachel Maddow last night the plans to break Social Security were laid out. Those signing up for social security (could be tens of thousands a year) no longer can call up and make appointments. The phone service is to be scrapped. I assume you can go on line to make an appointment in person. To get the social security you oftern have to present proof of your identity. Birth certificate and such. Proof or age is what they are looking for (even before this). Well, the offices are being closed, so if you sign up on line, your appointment is months ahead and could be one office per state. Once you have the thing set up (you get an on line account) you can then change addresses and banks where the money is to be sent.
You can also check the dates of upcoming payments.
I just called my local SS office and scheduled an appointment.
I cannot get into my account online (I’m working on it) so I guess I would have to use snail mail in the future.
According to the SS website, in 2022 5.6 million people started receiving benefits in 2022.
Fast Facts & Figures About Social Security, 2023
I’ve had dealings with Social Security on an irregular basis since my father died in 2016. Dealing with that organization by phone has always been an exercise in patience and futility, but I always managed to get my questions answered, although it sometimes took weeks or months. Going to the office was okay until the pandemic, but now it’s damn near impossible.
It’s only going to get worse, particularly as staff numbers are reduced.
This also provides more opportunities to make Democrats vulnerable and strengthen the hand of Republican legislators.
Consider that constituent service - helping voters get things they need or are entitled to out of the federal bureaucracy - is an important part of the job for congresspersons. Historically, going to bat for a constituent that needs help can mean a loyal voter for life for a politician - multiply that by thousands a year, add some others influenced by stories they hear from friends and family, and you can build up a solid bipartisan bloc of voters who will stick with them even when the chips are down.
With a nonpartisan bureaucracy, this effect is muted by the fact that requests come in from lawmakers of all politcal stripes, and are dealt with fairly and efficiently. But if the bureaucracy is corrupted, loaded down with more work than they can cope with, and prioritizes based on the partisan affiliation of the lawmaker who is making the request - well, you’ll see more and more people getting frustrated with Democrats who can’t get things done and loyal to Republicans who can. Over time, this is one way that modern competitive authoritarian regimes can gain a nearly unassailable position of political dominance.
Great explanation of yet another likely vicious circle.
I’d say it’s already started with the Democrats’ apparent or perceived fecklessness:
From Wonkette. Disgusting but not surprising.
The Trump administration this month dropped a lawsuit by the Environmental Protection Agency against the owners of a huge petrochemical plant in Louisiana, which isn’t all that surprising, given the administration’s love of pollutants and the polluters who generously share them with the public. And while that will always be true, the Justice Department announced the dismissal of the suit as a great big victory in the administration’s fight against “DEI.” Yes really.
…
Long story short, the plant is in Louisiana’s notorious “Cancer Ally,” the 85-mile industrial corridor between New Orleans and Baton Rouge where cancer cases are far higher than in the rest of the nation, and where the vast majority of the population in the risk zone is Black.
…The DOJ press release said dropping the suit “fulfills President Trump’s day one executive order […] to eliminate ideological overreach and restore impartial enforcement of federal laws.” If the people in Cancer Alley wanted to be able to sue, they should have found some white families to move there and get cancer for generations, too.
…
Goshdarnit! Why didn’t they think of that??
More along those lines, i.e., rewriting erasing history.
The latest move, deleting at least 10 military web pages dedicated to Native Americans, including the “Code Talker” units that used codes based on Navajo to transmit secret messages, who have been credited with the Marines being able to take Iwo Jima. The deletions were apparently in response to a Feb. 26 memo from Sean Parnell, assistant to the Secretary of Defense, demanding that the military branches remove news, feature articles, photos, and videos that “promote DEI.” Which is Trump-administration code for “anybody not a white cis man who Donald Trump thinks would have worshipped Donald Trump, if Donald Trump had been alive at that point in history.”
Also removed, a page celebrating Ira Hayes, a member of the Gila River Indian Community and one of the Marines iconically pictured raising the American flag at Iwo Jima in 1945.
…
Also removed over the weekend by President Bone Spurs’ administration, a page in honor of Black Medal of Honor recipient and Vietnam War veteran Maj. Gen. Charles C. Rogers, which on Saturday generated a “404” error message. The URL was also changed, with the word “medal” changed to “deimedal.” The page was later restored. Also removed then restored after backlash, a page on the Japanese-American “Go-for-Broke” regiment.
Restored or not, the message is still clear: Some people just don’t count in history, and Trump et al. will decide who does.
And, Arlington National Cemetery reportedly scrubbed its website of various pages on grave sites and classroom lesson plans highlighting the work of Black, Hispanic, and female service members buried at the grounds.
…
My bold.
Don’t even need to bother to burn books.
Ach. Nothing these fascists does surprises me anymore - still disgusts, but doesn’t surprise.
Eliminating DEI is despicable, but at least they can sort of make up a (lame) rationale. This shit is literally, straight up erasing people from history. Like, crystal clear, no room for argument, racism and misogyny. How can this pass with no comment? Who, but a complete bigot would think this is ok?