Democratic leaders continued to ramp up their “rage rhetoric” following the inauguration. We have already seen violent protests and planned assassinations directed against Trump Administration figures. Despite the growing tensions, Democrats are ratcheting up claims of a “coup” and calling for Democrats to “fight in the streets.” After failing to win the election with claims that Democracy would die if Trump is elected, Democrats are doubling down on rage politics to try to win over the public. The difference is that they are now focusing on Elon Musk rather than Donald Trump.
Many of those fueling the anger are familiar names. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D, Mass.) declared “Elon Musk is seizing the power that belongs to the American people.” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D, Md.) claimed on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” that Musk and Trump were conducting a “rapidly expanding and accelerating coup.”
Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) appeared to be working off the same talking point and declared that a “coup” was being carried out.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) warned that Musk was “taking away everything we have.”
Despite voting to impeach Trump for calling for his supporters to “fight” against his opponents (while adding to do so “peacefully”), many used the same rhetoric to spur the left to action.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Cal.) said “We are here to fight back.” Sen. Cory Booker (D., NJ) called on citizens to “fight” and declared “We will rise up.”
Not to be outdone in the rage fest, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D., TX) yelled, “We are gonna be in your face, we are gonna be on your a–es, and we are going to make sure you understand what democracy looks like, and this ain’t it.”
Rep. LaMonica McIver (D., N.J.) added: “God d—it shut down the Senate!…WE ARE AT WAR!”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called for Democrats to fight “in the streets.”
In my recent book, I discuss the role of rage rhetoric in our politics extending back to the very beginning of the Republic:
“Just as a desire for free expression is quintessentially human, so is rage. As shown throughout our history, rage is addictive. It bestows a certain license to shed the confining expectations of reason and civility. … At times, our politics seem like a collective primal scream session where only the loudest prevail. Yet, for some, the license to rage goes beyond the amplification of their own views and becomes a demand for the silencing of others.”
Worse yet, it can inspire unhinged citizens who actually believe that this is a war against a coup. That relieves some of any qualms about taking violent action. It is the type of rhetoric that can prompt anti-Republican Nicholas John Roske to try to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh or Sanders supporter James T. Hodgkinson to try to massacre Republican members playing softball.
I still oppose those calling for investigations into such rage rhetoric despite my strong disagreement with these figures. The solution to bad speech is still better speech. The hypocrisy of these leaders is hardly surprising in an age of rage. However, “the rage is not what defines us. It is free speech that defines us.”
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
But, but . . . George Soros was the Democrat insurrectionist for many years, leveraging coup-inspired antics that have caused tremendous turmoil to Americans. Can’t Trump give Elon a short run to compete? The Dems are all for EQUITY – which means equal outcome regardless of merit – so let poor Elon take a stab at Goergie.
May the best man win.
I was just directed to this site by an email from a 2A advocacy organization (Virginia Citizens Defense League) that I support. Evidently, they are trying to track the incestuous relationships (and taxpayer dollars) between the Federal government and various charities (similar to the USAID/NGO relationships being uncovered by DOGE). VCDL brought this to my attention because apparently the Biden administration was laundering taxpayer funds that ended up subsidizing anti-2A (and therefore, anti-Constitution) gun control groups such as Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety. I haven’t yet delved into much else on the site, but at a glance it looks to be extremely interesting:
Data Republican
https://datarepublican.com/expose/
Prof. Turley.. I agree with your solution to rage & hate Speech.. i.e., the only way to dispel & remove Darkness is with Light… BUT>> HOW do we get so many unevolved folks who promote rage & hate speech to see the Light when they are operating at a lower frequency of Darkness and Refuse to see the Light?
You can’t get them to see the light. This is a party that outsources their street rage to gangs who wear masks to hide their identity. The Dems AREN’T the ones in the street.
They don’t want to see the light. They love confusion, turmoil, and distraction. Don’t let them knock you off your center of balance.
Dems are calling DOGE a shadow government and warning it will displace their shadow government:
https://babylonbee.com/news/elon-is-an-unelected-official-warns-government-with-3-million-unelected-officials
Under the federal “Privacy Act” it is a federal misdemeanor for anyone to snoop on any individual American. If the government official shares that private personal information with another person that is a felony crime.
John Robert’s gave presidents “conditional” immunity from criminal prosecution that only covers official constitutional duties.
At minimum, it looks like Elon Musk could be in serious legal jeopardy since he appears to violating the Privacy Act of citizens.
Seems Musk would also no longer be able to accept government contracts from the federal government since there is now a clear conflict of interest. He’s gutting agencies that regulated his businesses.
Elections do have consequences on “legal” political action.
All presidents (of either party) are required to follow the U.S. Constitution and its subordinate federal laws. Presidents swear a sacred oath to do that.
No President has authority to violate the U.S. Constitution or laws passed by Congress!
Just got back into town so I missed much of what has been said today until I just reviewed it. Seems like no positions have really changed from all the usual suspects.
The only questions I want to see answered
1- what will the complete Audit and unmasking of the Pentagon show? With all of what has been exposed in USAid, it begins to show a pattern and maybe that’s why American weapons and weapon systems are so expensive. It also makes me wonder about why certain weapon systems were stopped or otherwise aborted because of cost. Were costs out of control or were the right people not paid off. And if the system was too costly exactly how was it too costly. I almost cringe at what we might discover (or more correctly what DOGE may uncover)
2- I also am waiting to see what is exposed in Health and Human Services. Being in the medical profession for 40+ years I suspect there will be nearly as much graft and corruption there as we have seen in USAid. I wish it were not a worry but I don’t doubt it will be there.
3- I’m also sure most other cabinet departments and other standalone entities will have there own surprises.
4- Lastly, when will we start to see charges filed from the DOJ? Will the charges be filed outside of D.C. where we may get a real uncompromised judge who will actually protect the civil rights of the charged and also protect the nation from the apparent malfeasance that seems to turn up every day.
Congressman and Senators are not immune from corruption charges as the former senior senator from New Jersey found out. So I wonder how many of those may be swept up or former politicians who still slop at the federal trough. Republicans should not get too comfortable either because I don’t doubt some also were involved.
Hardly anyone goes to Washington DC and comes home poorer.
# It appears by the rage from the left there’s something to hide as DJT audits the budget.
GEB,
Good questions. I too am waiting to see for investigations of who did what and if there are going to be charges brought forward. I think that is why some Democrats are in such a panic. The DOJ could have a lot of power to grant immunity to those employees to testify against some people. Could be fun!
Because the “heritage” media, print and broadcast, will not accurately report the unproductive FOOLishness of these elected Ds, I wish some common sense group would create and pay for ads that accurately portray the circus-like misconduct of these elected Ds. FOX News does a good job of stringing together the worst of the worst video with audio for tv viewers; good and decent voters in the USA need to see somethings like that on tv and on social media – because they will not see it on ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, NBC or PBS.
Professor Turley, you need to get your head out of the sand. Democrats and others are guilty of incitement to riot. They should be charged as such, arrested, and convicted. That will shut down future rage incitement to riot (sedition).
Trump won the Electoral College and even the meaningless popular vote. When will Prof. Turley and other legal experts call these Democrats threats to democracy and election deniers? Where’s the outrage against people who declare war on a duly elected president because their frauds have been revealed by his appointed officials. This isn’t understandable rage. It’s a call for an actual insurrection, Antifa/BLM nationwide riots. The tut, tut, tone of this article is inappropriate for the intent of the speakers.
Rage rhetoric are all they have left, after being out flanked on every aspect of the new Trump Administration. The Dem playbook has failed to resonate with their constituents, who are probably glad to see the perverted fossil, President Cabbage headed to the home. Imagine the screams should Ms. Bondi come up with a way to indict Hunter, Kammy, or Biden, himself!
Jonathan: Following up my previous comment about DJT’s attempt to gut the Board of the Kennedy Center there are parallels with what happened in Nazi Germany when they also attempted to remake German culture and the arts.
In 1933 Hitler made Joseph Goebbels the “Minister for Popular Enlightenment & Propaganda”. Goebbels immediately brought artistic and cultural communities in line with Nazi ideology. He purged cultural organizations of Jews and others Goebbels alleged were politically or artistically suspect. Goebbels order the confiscation of thousands of “degenerate” art work throughout Germany. In music Nazi “culture” promoted the antisemitic works of Richard Wagner. Goebbels banned the works of “non-Aryans” like Felix Mendelssohn and Gustav Mahler, and performances of jazz music and Swing–associated in the Nazi mind with African-American culture. When it comes to art and culture DJT is taking a page out the Goebbels playbook!
Like the Nazis DJT also has continuously attacks the press. Like Hitler and Goebbels DJT wants a compliant press that only provides an echo chamber for his views. Need another example? Yesterday, DJT called for the immediate firing of Eugene Robinson, editor and columnist at the Washington Post, who wrote a column critical of DJT and Elon Musk. DJT wants to silence any opposition–and that means taking away the “free speech” rights of the press. Goebbels would applaud DJT’s attacks on the press. The Q is whether you will stand up for Eugene Robinson?
You must be a new troll! Your name is not familiar to me. You are right about “Gleichschaltung.” It is what you Democratic Communist Scum tried to pull with your cancel culture. What you are doing is called projection. For you, MEGA Projection. It is Democrats who are the true Nazis! Twelve years ago, I even wrote you a Trayvonazi song, to the tune of Horst Wessel! And you know what?? You ungrateful wretches got mad about it! All that work I did, and it offended all of you!
The Trayvonazi Song
To The Tune of “Horst Wessel”
by Squeeky Fromm, Girl Reporter
Comrades we must, remember Trayvon Martin!
As we march on, and on with steady gait!
Join in our song, put on and wear your hoodies proudly,
As we fight on, against the Racist State!!!
Join in our song, put on and wear your hoodies proudly,
As we fight on, against the Racist State!!!
The sidewalk calls, his Profile there in chalk lines!
And there his Blood, which time has turned to Black!
Do not forget, the Injury which left him dying,
Was not from gun, but bigoted attack!
Do not forget, the Injury which left him dying,
Was not from gun, but bigoted attack!
So let us march, the Struggle has not ended!
Let bugles ring, and proudly beat the drum!
We can not stop, or ever rest in peaceful slumber,
Until the Racist State we Overcome!
We can not stop, or ever rest in peaceful slumber,
Until the Racist State we Overcome!
Comrades we must, remember Trayvon Martin!
As we march on, and on with steady gait!
Join in our song, put on and wear your hoodies proudly,
As we fight on, against the Racist State!!!
Join in our song, put on and wear your hoodies proudly,
As we fight on, against the Racist State!!!
Back to the Nazi Coordination stuff, here is an Internet Article about it!
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/gleichschaltung-coordinating-the-nazi-state?series=152
Squeaky, I remember your poems and comments that were unafraid. Welcome back.
S. Meyer (AKA Allan, changed because of a computer glitch necessitating the change in name.)
Hi Allan! I am not sure how much I will be back. Penelope D. is keeping me busy, and the days that I go into the office, are like 10 hours or so. She is supposed to be replacing her old office manager, as soon as she finds the right person. I suggested that she ask for peep’s pronouns on resumes, so those ze and zer and fae and meows whatever, can go into a “special” file. Plus, now I live on a farm! Well sort of. My father has a family compound for us all, and it is only about 15 minutes from the office, if I speed a little. Mostly woods with a little open ground for gardens. We have chickens! For eggs, not for food. I hope to build an 800 square foot or so house on it within the next few years. My brothers will help me, and I want to do a lot of the work myself, too. When the Zombie Apocalypse comes, we will be ready!
I hope you will remain for a while. You provide so much to the blog. Where I live your vocational talents are sorely needed, but I’ll enjoy the avocational ones on the blog. Living on a farm away from things must be great.
I am not sure how much I will be back.
Great to see you again Squeeky. Your humor was over the top and you managed to express many sentiments aligned with mine albeit a bit more coarse. The DNC troll is the same as years past (Peter Hill, Late4Dinner, Dianne, CommitToHonestDiscussion, etc) but now has various new names (eg. Dennis, Gigi, George, etc), same shtick, same DNC Media Matters talking points.
Hope to see your comments more regularly
Squeeky,
Congrats on the new digs!
Squeeky,
Good to see your unique talent back, even if it’s only temporary.
“Propaganda”. Goebbels immediately brought artistic and cultural communities in line with Nazi ideology. He purged cultural organizations of Jews and others Goebbels alleged were politically or artistically suspect. “
That is exactly what you leftists were doing before Trump ended your censorship and attempt to control all American institutions. That you don’t realize that demonstrates how brainwashed you are.
Amen! (My like button doesn’t work right for some reason.)
I think it’s because you logged into your WordPress account. I did that a few times myself, only to find out that I was in the same situation you currently found yourself to be in. Maybe if one were to use their email address in order to leave a comment, such a problem like the inability to like a poster’s comment won’t pose a problem.
Dannyboyo2
Make the kennedy center private – and you can do whatever the F#$K you want with it.
Tax payers should not not be paying for Entertainment for the political class in DC anymore than Trans operas in Columbia.
I do not care if the Kennedy Center is shilling for DEI or Motzart – that does not belong on the Tax Payers Dime.
I am NOT unhappy with the Kennedy Center. I am just unhappy with it being paid for by Tax Payers.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the arts. I do not care whether they are funded through ticket sales or Billionaire donors.
But NOT Taxpayers – most of who will NEVER get to see anything there or anywhere like it.
The left likes to go after the rich – let the rich pay for their own arts and entertainment.
You want to rant about Nazi Germany and Goebels. But there is no difference between Nazi’s controlling the arts, Trump controlling the arts or left wing nuts controlling the arts – as long as the money comes from the public coffers.
The Arts ALWAYS are a reflection of some ideleogy. If you put up the money – you get to choose the ideology.
But US tax payers should not be putting up the money no matter what ideology is being sold.
“Like the Nazis DJT also has continuously attacks the press.”
Actually that would be false – the Nazis controlled the press – it was CORE to fascism
“everything inside the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state” and the Nazi press was prosecuted and convicted at Nuremberg.
You are pretty bad on your Nazi history.
Anyone including Nazi’s are free to criticize anyone else – including the press.
Today we are in the midst of myriads of realignments -one of those involves the press. The MSM is dying and irrelevant.
Trump is not attacking the REAL media today – though he is free to do so if he wants.
Idiots like you should not be attacking Trump over press criticism and the efforts to get a compliant press.
Where was the press challenging Joe Biden ? Just yeasterday the REAL video of CBS’s Harris interview was released.
My God they practically had to do AI Fakes to covert an absolutely disastrous interview into something palatable.
That is your idea of a press that speeks truth to power ?
And don;t we have USAID funding Politico and BBC ? Why is the US government funding NAY press,
Along with getting he arts and Kennedy center out of government – NPR must go too.
They can figure out how to survive in the real world – or not.
Again I have no axe to grind with NPR – except that Government has no business funding them.
I used to listen regularly going to work – but that was when they were merely left leaning – not full blown woke idiots.
Regardless each media outlet is free to figure out how to find its own audience.
If NPR can thrive on Woke nonsense – more power to them.
But neither they nor the BBC, nor politico, nor Chelsea Clinton nor Hammas, not foreign operas – Trans or not, should be funded by the US government.
But I find it rich that the party of REAL broad political censorship is complaining about Trump.
The hypocracy is delicious.
WaPo is in trouble – not from Trump, but because Bezos is tired of pouring hundred of millions into a sinecure for left wing nuts.
I an d a large portion of the country do not care what WaPo wrote or what Trump said about them.
You Don’t Matter anymore.
John Say,
Great comment!
The only folks who actually made government “suggestions” of censorship to private companies are Democrats. In fact, the Biden Administration fought Murthy v Missouri all the way to the Supreme Court to preserve their government censorship programs. The Supreme Court was so fearful of crossing the Biden Administration, they ruled the plaintiffs in the original case of Missouri v Biden had no standing to sue. SCOTUS did this because the underlying Constitutional principle is crystal clear.
According to Norwood v Harrison (1973), it is an “axiomatic” principle of constitutional law that the government “may not induce, encourage or promote private persons to accomplish what it is constitutionally forbidden to accomplish.” So government may not persuade companies to censor, since under the 1st Amendment government can’t directly censor anything.
Since Norwood originally outlawed Mississippi buying textbooks for segregation academies, the only way to allow continued “suggestions” was to not rule at all, thus plaintiffs had to have no standing to sue. This outcome was profoundly damaging to the 1st Amendment.
Maybe Trump ought to stop breaking the law.
“With every executive order Biden shows he’s a DICTATOR! Executive orders are not CONSTITUTIONAL and are illegal. They divide our country and MUST be stopped!” — Donald Trump, Truth Social 2023
Unless this drunk can prove the statement, he is his usual lying self. As usual, anonymous posters cannot be trusted.
That is why they are Anonymous.
“Executive orders are not CONSTITUTIONAL and are illegal.”
I hope an actual lawyer will chime in to clear this up but it seems to me that an executive order is akin to a memo from a CEO. It is a directive to those in the executive branch and a perfectly normal act.
If any EO is, in whole or in part, illegal or unconstitutional is a matter for the courts.
A memo from the CEO is exactly the same thing as an EO. The courts will decide if it violates the law or the corporate documents.
I am (was) a lawyer
Such directives to the executive branches have been normal for centuries. There are pages and pages of them. And they started here:
Department heads shall provide to the president “a full precise, and distinct general idea of the affairs of the United States” (George Washington, June 8, 1789)
Presuming Trump actually said EXACTLY that, that would be a good comeback.
But those of you on the left have repeatedly lied about what Trump has said.
Regardless, EOs are perfectly constitutional – so long as they are limmited in scope to the actions of members of the executive branch and not in conflict with constitutional law.
Some Biden EO’s are unconstitutional.
Some Trump EOs are unconstitutional.
Me thinks that the dems should be careful about what they are asking for! People have long memories.
DJT was listening…
Don’t get mad. Don’t get even. Just get elected, then get even.
James Carville
“WE ARE AT WAR!”
– Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ)
__________________________________
Proclamation 80—Calling Forth the Militia and Convening an Extra Session of Congress
“On April 15, 1861,…President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling forth the state militias, to the sum of 75,000 troops, in order to suppress the rebellion. He appealed ‘to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our National Union.’”
Proclamation 92—Warning to Rebel Sympathizers
“[On] July 17, 1862,…I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby proclaim to and warn all persons within the contemplation of said sixth section to cease participating in, aiding, countenancing, or abetting the existing rebellion or any rebellion against the Government of the United States and to return to their proper allegiance to the United States on pain of the forfeitures and seizures as within and by said sixth section provided.”
_______________________________________________________________________________
Now President Donald J. Trump MUST pull a full “Lincoln” and close the border, impose martial law, prosecute a war against the communist rebellion without a formal declaration, shred the Communist Manifesto and irrevocably extirpate all principles of communism in America, implement the “manifest tenor” of the Constitution and Bill of Rights including absolute freedom, absolute free enterprise, absolute free markets, absolute private property, and a substantial diminution of taxation and regulation, eliminate the Departments of Labor, Education, Agriculture, Energy, HUD, and EPA, issue the “Deportation Proclamation” deporting all illegal aliens, past and present, including those who illegally pursued citizenship as criminal border crossers and “asylum” seekers who all made false and fraudulent claims of phantom, nonexistent persecution as foreign citizens with no U.S. rights, establish coherent voter qualifications by State legislatures per the Constitution, declare English the sole official language of the United States, suspend habeas corpus, smash opposition printing presses, networks, podcasts, social media platforms, etc., and throw anyone and everyone who opposes him in prison to Save the Union until America is placed squarely back on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Once again, the left is trying to redefine a word. This time it’s “coup”. How can the party in charge of the country stage a coup? Next they’ll be saying that men can have babies and trans women are women.
How can President Muskrat and King Donald “stage a coup”? By bypassing the role of Congress in establishing agencies and their budgets to carry out the will of the American people and arbitrarily demanding that people either quit or be fired so their salary can be used to finance huge tax breaks for the billionaire oligarchs who have taken over our government and are carrying out Project 2025. The goals is also for there to be less oversight in private business and elimination of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau so banks and other businesses can take advantage of us without consequence. They have NOAA on their radar, too. . Excerpted from the “Washington Post”:
“In less than three weeks, Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service has followed the same playbook at one federal agency after another: Install loyalists in leadership. Hoover up internal data, including the sensitive and the classified. Gain control of the flow of funds. And push hard — by means legal or otherwise — to eliminate jobs and programs not ideologically aligned with Trump administration goals.
The DOGE campaign has generated chaos on a near-hourly basis across the nation’s capital. But it appears carefully choreographed in service of a broader agenda to gut the civilian workforce, assert power over the vast federal bureaucracy and shrink it to levels unseen in at least 20 years. The aim is a diminished government that exerts less oversight over private business, delivers fewer services and comprises a smaller share of the U.S. economy — but is far more responsive to the directives of the president.
Though led by Musk’s team, this campaign is broadly supported by President Donald Trump and his senior leadership, who will be crucial to implementing its next stages. And while resistance to Musk has emerged in the federal courts, among federal employee unions and in pockets of Congress, allies say the billionaire’s talent for ripping apart and transforming institutions has been underestimated — as has been proved in the scant time since Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
“Chaos is often the birthplace of new orders, new systems and new paradigms. Washington doesn’t know how to deal with people who refuse to play the game by their rules,” said investor Shervin Pishevar, a longtime friend of Musk’s.
Noting that Musk’s political inexperience has long been derided in Washington, Pishevar added: “Donald Trump and Elon Musk are two different storms backed by a majority of Americans — one political, one technological. But both are tearing through the same rotting structure.”
DOGE’s early directives, its technology-driven approach and its interactions with the federal bureaucracy have provided an increasingly clear picture of their end goal for government — and clarified the stakes of Trump’s second term.
If Musk is successful, the federal workforce will be cut by at least 10 percent. A mass bid for voluntary resignations — blocked by a federal judge who has scheduled a Monday hearing — is expected to be only the first step before mass involuntary dismissals. Those are likely to include new hires or people with poor performance reviews, according to a plan laid out in memos issued over the last week by the Office of Personnel Management, which is now under Musk’s control. Unions this week advised workers to download their performance reviews and personnel files in preparation for having the information used against them.
As much as half the government’s nonmilitary real estate holdings are set to be liquidated, a move aimed at closing offices and increasing commute times amid sharp new limits on remote and telework. That is intended to depress workforce morale and increase attrition, according to four officials with knowledge of internal conversations at the General Services Administration, another agency taken over by Musk.
“We’ve heard from them that they want to make the buildings so crappy that people will leave,” said one senior official at GSA, which manages most federal property. “I think that’s the larger goal here, which is bring everybody back, the buildings are going to suck, their commutes are going to suck.”
To replace the existing civil service, Musk’s allies are looking to technology. DOGE associates have been feeding vast troves of government records and databases into artificial intelligence tools, looking for unwanted federal programs and trying to determine which human work can be replaced by AI, machine-learning tools or even robots.
That push has been especially fierce at GSA, where DOGE staffers are telling managers that they plan to automate a majority of jobs, according to a person familiar with the situation.
“The end goal is replacing the human workforce with machines,” said a U.S. official closely watching DOGE activity. “Everything that can be machine-automated will be. And the technocrats will replace the bureaucrats.”
The defenestration of the federal workforce could clear the way for Trump and Musk to cancel federal spending or eliminate entire agencies without approval of Congress, an unprecedented expansion of executive power. This week, Tom Krause, a Musk ally, was installed to oversee an agency in the U.S. Treasury Department responsible for executing trillions of dollars in annual payments to the full array of recipients, from contractors and grantees to military families and retirees. The Bureau of Fiscal Service has long simply cut the checks as ordered by various federal agencies, but Krause’s appointment may change that.
Meanwhile, White House officials have begun preparing budget documents that seek to cut some agencies and departments by as much as 60 percent, according to two other people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reflect internal deliberations. It’s unclear whether Trump will feel compelled to ask Congress to approve those cuts. Though the Constitution specifically invests spending power in Congress, Musk and Trump budget chief Russell Vought have argued they should have authority to slash spending unilaterally.
Taken together, experts say, these shifts amount to one of the most aggressive attempted overhauls of the federal government in American history.
David Super, an administrative law professor at Georgetown University, said the proposed cuts would return the modern civil service to the late 19th century, before the enactment of anti-corruption reforms. Super said the two biggest previous power grabs were President Richard M. Nixon’s 1973 attempt to cancel federal programs he didn’t like and President Harry S. Truman’s 1952 effort to nationalize the steel industry — both of which were struck down by the courts.”
King Donald is already simply ignoring court orders, and members of Congress have been locked out of government buildings while President Muskrat’s minions download government information and run it through AI–which includes Social Security information, medical information for Medicare recipients, personnel records, bank account and routing information. King Donald has taken down the sign on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and will give the office space to Border Security. The founders set up a triparte system of checks and balances. King Donald ignores Congress and the Courts and does whatever he wants–that IS a coup.
“How can President Muskrat and King Donald ‘stage a coup’? ”
And you accused squeaky fromm of trying to be “cutesy?”
and your terms aren’t even your own.!
copycat gigi at her best.
I was responding to David Welch’s rhetorical question. Another point–since when in US history has a campaign donor without security clearance or being confirmed by Congress been allowed to command government employees to either quit, retire or be fired, been allowed access to government files on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans benefits, military pay, the employment records of federal employees, bank account and routing information and information that could be used by our enemies to out those who are spying on them? If this doesn’t cause you worry, you must be brain dead. Who elected Real President Muskrat? Was his role disclosed to the American people before the election? According to “Axios”: “A little over half (52%) of those surveyed said they have an unfavorable opinion of Musk, while 36% said they have a favorable opinion of the world’s richest man. Zoom in: 60% of U.S. adults have an unfavorable view of the president relying on a billionaire for advice about government policy, the survey found.”
Thank you, but it is SQUEEKY Fromm with two E’s.
doubly sOOrry. I’m newer to this blog and didn’t know you back then.
No problem! I get called a lot of stuff, (most of it not nice), and there was another person in America with a name quite similar to mine. Which, is why I added the Girl Reporter sobriety to my name. Oh! Is sobriety the right word??? Bouquet??? No, sobriquet! That is the right word! I guess sobriety was a Freudian slip or something. :;
” By bypassing the role of Congress in establishing agencies and their budgets to carry out the will of the American people and arbitrarily demanding that people either quit or be fired”
That would not be a coup. As you note congress establishes MOST agencies and there budgets. Purley administrative positions are entiterly within the presidents executive powers. Doge is auditing the federal govenrment and making recomendations regarding spending cots.
The employees are unpaid, have CV’s that are better than most in Congress, and have a miniscule if any budget.
If Congress has actually budgeted Trans Operas in Columbia – then there is nothing that Trump or DOGE can do – beyond recomending that congress not budget that in the Future.
BTW USAID itself was setup by Kennedy by Executive order. It is only different from DOGE in that its purpose is tot wastefully spend money, and DOGE’s is to find wasteful and unauthorized spending so that the president of Sec. State can terminate it.
“their salary can be used to finance huge tax breaks for the billionaire oligarchs who have taken over our government”
Democrats have far more Billionaires than Republicans.
“are carrying out Project 2025.” What is Trump doing that was NOT a campaign promise ?
If Cutting wasteful government spending is part of project 2025 – then Americans are fully on board.
“The goals is also for there to be less oversight in private business”
Good – the economy is regulated by the markets – by consumers primarily and by torts.
“elimination of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau”
The sooner the better.
“so banks and other businesses can take advantage of us without consequence.”
If your bank is “taking advantage of you” change banks. There is one on every street corner.
We do not need a “Consumer Coffee Protection Bureau” – because markets work.
“They have NOAA on their radar”
Good, we do not need them.
“Excerpted from the “Washington Post””
Why would anyone beleive WaPo ? Didn’t they get a pulitzer for fraudulent reporting on the Collusion Delusion ?
Or was that the Hunter Biden Laptop, or …. any of the myraids of major stories WaPo has gotten totally wrong.
“broader agenda to gut the civilian workforce”
The “civilian workforce” is private employees.
But yes Trump is looking to do what he promissed and dramatically reduce govenrment employement.
“assert power over the vast federal bureaucracy”
The constitution gives him power over the federal bureaucracy.
“shrink it to levels unseen in at least 20 years.”
Great!
“The aim is a diminished government that exerts less oversight over private business, delivers fewer services and comprises a smaller share of the U.S. economy”
Absolutely fantastic – politicians have been promising that my entire lifetime.
Go DOGE! Go Trump!
Promises made,
Promises kept.
“but is far more responsive to the directives of the president.”
Read the constitution – the president is the boss of the executive.
They MUST respond to his directives or be fired.
“Though led by Musk’s team, this campaign is broadly supported by President Donald Trump and his senior leadership, who will be crucial to implementing its next stages. And while resistance to Musk has emerged in the federal courts, among federal employee unions and in pockets of Congress, allies say the billionaire’s talent for ripping apart and transforming institutions has been underestimated — as has been proved in the scant time since Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.”
You are free to resist – but the constitution is on Trump’s side.
“Chaos is often the birthplace of new orders, new systems and new paradigms. Washington doesn’t know how to deal with people who refuse to play the game by their rules,”
Correct, we are looking at the possibility of a federal government that is more libertarian than it has been since Wilson.
A federal governmnt consistent with the constitutional and this nations founding principles.
Go Musk!
Go Trump!
“Noting that Musk’s political inexperience has long been derided in Washington, Pishevar added: “Donald Trump and Elon Musk are two different storms backed by a majority of Americans — one political, one technological. But both are tearing through the same rotting structure.”
So far Trump and Musk have been incredibly successful.
If everything ground to a halt right now – Trump would already have accomplished more than has ever been done before.
But we are at the start – not the end.
If this is political inexperience – Please Sir Can I have More ?
“If Musk is successful, the federal workforce will be cut by at least 10 percent.”
A good start.
” A mass bid for voluntary resignations — blocked by a federal judge who has scheduled a Monday hearing”
Actually false – the Judge blocked the Feb. 6th Deadline – Federal Employees now have LONGER to voluntarily resign.
“is expected to be only the first step before mass involuntary dismissals.”
Could well be.
“Those are likely to include new hires or people with poor performance reviews”
We don’t fire people with poor performance ?
Regardless, Trump is cutting Government – eliminating departments, or offices within departments.
Shutter USAID – and the people are laid off.
“according to a plan laid out in memos issued over the last week by the Office of Personnel Management”
Again what Trump promised running for re-election.
“which is now under Musk’s control.”
False – Musk controls a staff of 6. By presidential order they are given access to executive financial records”
After analysing records they make recomendations – Trump or various department heads decide what they will do regarding those recomendations.
“Unions this week advised workers to download their performance reviews and personnel files in preparation for having the information used against them.” probably a wise choice.
But employees can be terminated without cause, and they can be terminated when their offices are closed.
“As much as half the government’s nonmilitary real estate holdings are set to be liquidated”
As required by the constitution – try reading it some time. The constitution bars the federal govenrment from owning land except for a few very limited purposes.
“a move aimed at closing offices and increasing commute times amid sharp new limits on remote and telework.”
That would all be perfectly legal. But it is still incorrect. Departments are being closed to cut spending. property will be sold to raise funds, and cut spending. Staff will be reduced to cut spending.
I work from my home. I RARELY take traditional employment. Nearly all my work is business to business.
If you want my services – those are the conditions. People who hire me KNOW that.
I am generally supportive of remote work – even Remote W2 work – but everything can not be done remotely.
Regardless each employer is free to establish the conditions of their workplace.
“That is intended to depress workforce morale and increase attrition”
Trump won the election – the morale of 95% of the federal workforce is already in the tank.
Regardless the INTENTION is no secret – drastic cuts to the federal workforce.
If that depresses you – that is YOUR issue.
That is what Voters voted for.
“according to four officials with knowledge of internal conversations at the General Services Administration, another agency taken over by Musk.”
Why do you need an unnamed source to tell you what was said publicly throughout the campaign.
Trump and Musk promised to cut $2T in federal spending.
Only an idiot beleives that can be done without actually cutting federal spending.
“We’ve heard from them that they want to make the buildings so crappy that people will leave,”
I am sure that lots of rumours are floating arround.
Regardless they are looking to CLOSE buildings – lots of them.
“I think that’s the larger goal here, which is bring everybody back, the buildings are going to suck, their commutes are going to suck.”
Again there is no hidden agenda – this was all right out in the open during the election.
Trump and musk want to cut spending by $2T
If you did not grasp that means reducing staff, selling buildings,
then you are a moron.
Absolutely Trump/Musk would prefer that people take the generous terms offered and resign.
But barring a revolt in congress federal spending is getting cut – Drastically.
And that WILL mean firings, and layoffs, shutting down buildings and shutting entire offices.
Likely many people will be fired for cause – where there is cause.
But that will be to preserve SOME of the jobs of people who performed well.
if you are worried – take the buyout.
“To replace the existing civil service, Musk’s allies are looking to technology.”
Good that is what businesses do. to improve efficiency.
” DOGE associates have been feeding vast troves of government records and databases into artificial intelligence tools, looking for unwanted federal programs and trying to determine which human work can be replaced by AI, machine-learning tools or even robots.”
Excellent – that is what Trump promised.
That is what people voted for.
“That push has been especially fierce at GSA, where DOGE staffers are telling managers that they plan to automate a majority of jobs, according to a person familiar with the situation.”
Good.
“The end goal is replacing the human workforce with machines,” said a U.S. official closely watching DOGE activity. “Everything that can be machine-automated will be. And the technocrats will replace the bureaucrats.”
Good.
“The defenestration of the federal workforce could clear the way for Trump and Musk to cancel federal spending or eliminate entire agencies without approval of Congress, an unprecedented expansion of executive power.”
False.
Ultimately congress controls the budget. But pretty sure that If Trump proposes a radically reduced budget it will pass the current congress.
The Goal is to shrink govenrment SOME of that can be done without Congress – frankly ALOT of it. Many govenrment offices and programs can be cut solely by executive action. The president proposes the budget – but ultimately Congress sets the budget.
“This week, Tom Krause, a Musk ally, was installed to oversee an agency in the U.S. Treasury Department responsible for executing trillions of dollars in annual payments to the full array of recipients, from contractors and grantees to military families and retirees. The Bureau of Fiscal Service has long simply cut the checks as ordered by various federal agencies, but Krause’s appointment may change that.”
Correct – and LOTS of fraud was the result. Trump and Musk have Promised that federal checks are NOT going to be rubberstamped.
While they are machine generated – every federal check has Trump’s signature on it. If Trump wants to go to Treasury and turn off the machines signing checks, he has the power to individually review each check
Or to delegate that review power to others.
“Meanwhile, White House officials have begun preparing budget documents that seek to cut some agencies and departments by as much as 60 percent, according to two other people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reflect internal deliberations.”
Again the president prepares a budget and submits it to congress. The constitution requires that.
If the president wishes to cut the budget of some agencies by 60% – he can do that.
“It’s unclear whether Trump will feel compelled to ask Congress to approve those cuts.”
Congress must approve the budget. The constitution requires it.
“Though the Constitution specifically invests spending power in Congress, Musk and Trump budget chief Russell Vought have argued they should have authority to slash spending unilaterally.”
The president MUST provide the services that Congress budgets. The Budget is the law.
it is not likely that the president must spend every dollar budgeted.
“Taken together, experts say, these shifts amount to one of the most aggressive attempted overhauls of the federal government in American history.”
Pretty tame compared to Greece, Ireland, Argentina – other countries that built up more debt than GDP.
“David Super, an administrative law professor at Georgetown University, said the proposed cuts would return the modern civil service to the late 19th century, before the enactment of anti-corruption reforms.”
Not even close. At the moment Trump is not even getting the Civil service to the levels it was when Biden took office.
Mister Super exagerates massively.
“King Donald is already simply ignoring court orders”
Nope, most of the courts have gone in his favor so far.
“members of Congress have been locked out of government buildings”
Not a public building. The capitol is a public building, more importantly it is a government created forum for free speech – yet you locked that down.
” while President Muskrat’s minions download government information and run it through AI–which includes Social Security information, medical information for Medicare recipients, personnel records, bank account and routing information.”
No it includes payee names, Bank names, TRNs and ABAs – DOGE is getting the electronic recocrds of payment.
Not that it matters, They are getting what is necescary to audit spending. Anyone auditing government would do the same.
They want actual payment records as those are harder to alter – and addressing your concern do NOT contain personal information.
Regardless, the DOGE staff are government employees with the highest level of clearance.
Higher than the people that access these records each day.
“Donald has taken down the sign on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and will give the office space to Border Security.”
Good ridance.
“The founders set up a triparte system of checks and balances. King Donald ignores Congress and the Courts and does whatever he wants–that IS a coup.”
The founders did setup a system of checks and balances – and contra your idiocy it is working fine. The courts have mostly ruled in his favor. One “unfavorable ruling” the WH celebrated as it gave federal employees several more days to accept the severance package.
The one case Trump has lost – meaning a TRO was granted – was for a single agency – DOGE will “circle back” to them when DOJ wins the appeal. Trump has been winning other cases.
Because the President has the power to demand spending records.
Trump will likely win all these lawsuits in the long run – because DOGE’s actions are legal.
TRASH BIN for GIGI!
“ Worse yet, it can inspire unhinged citizens who actually believe that this is a war against a coup”
The irony of that statement seems to escape Turley. That’s exactly what Trump’s rhetoric and lying about the 2020 election. It led to the violence and rioting that is Jan. 6.
This ‘rage rhetoric’ is nothing more than people expressing their incredulity of current events. Turley conveniently ignores what is causing it. Trump and Musk’s lawlessness and Republicans ignoring it. If it were the other way around Turley would be critical of the lawlessness instead of the rhetoric.
You do seem a little unhinged…..bustin’ your butt everyday to come criticize Turley.
Turley really ought to be ashamed for feeding into the collective delusion of MAGA mavens. He KNOWS that the billionaire class that set up MAGA media to convince guillible people that King Donald is a victim instead of a criminal, that science and government cannot be trusted, that the lack of proof of the lies King Donald tells proves that media and government are in collusion to hide the truth, and that Project 2025 was the real agenda all along, as it keeps getting rolled out every day, are undermining American democracy. Yet, Turley accepts money and uses his credentials to help feed the collective delusions. MAGA media keeps saying how wonderful it is that King Donald is steamrolling his way through our government–which is supposed to, somehow, prove what a great leader he is and how he’s “gettin’ down to business”. Project 2025 has been in the works for years–King Donald is simply implementing it. The authors of Project 2025 had people lined up and a plan to carry out its terms long before the election. And, what is the philosophy behind arbitrarily demanding that EVERY U. S. government employee agree to retire or quit or be fired? The only logic behind this is that no one who works for the government does anything valuable or useful for the American people. Before the election, the American people rejected Project 2025, so King Donald lied about that being the plan, just like he lied about groceries. And, since it is true that Project 2025 always was the plan and King Donald lied about it, WHY shouldn’t Democrats be upset about it? King Donald doesn’t care that he does not have the actual power to unilaterally shut down the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or demand that every civil employee of the government agree to retire, resign or be fired. Congress established and funded these agencies–but the King don’t care (borrowing a phrase from a local used car dealer from the seventies). So, instead of a fair and balanced assessment of the outrage of Democrats over King Donald and Real President Muskrat assuming power they don’t have and doing things that are not only unconstitutional but dangerous–like downloading highly sensitive information retained by the government, Turley turns it into some claim of unhinged rage on the part of Democrats. He really should be ashamed.
What we really need are TERM LIMITS for both houses of Congress. Both Dems and Reps believe they actually OWN the government. This has been especially true of Democrats for many years now and as they see their power and powerbase crumbling the panic and display this rage. My suggestion would be that senators be limited to two six year terms and Representatives be limited to six two year terms. The big CATCH is that once you serve at least one term in either house of Congress you could not run, be elected to or appointed to a term in the other house of Congress.
Brilliant!
Deny the people the right to vote for the candidates of their choice.
Nothing says “republican form of democracy” like “dictatorship of the proletariat,” comrade.
It’s not the Democrats; it’s what the judicial branch allowed the Democrats to do with impunity in violation of the Constitution.
The entire communist American welfare state is unconstitutional.
The singular American failure is the judicial branch, with emphasis on the Supreme Court.
The Constitution and Bill of Rights—sans the unconstitutional “Reconstruction Amendments” of Karl Marx—are the only things free people need.
The Constitution provides maximal freedom to individuals while severely limiting and restricting government.
The judicial branch must have strictly adhered to the “manifest tenor” of those documents.
It did not.
“What we really need are TERM LIMITS for both houses of Congress. ”
Term limits are always a popular idea among those who are upset about the corruption of politicians (please excuse the redundancy). My concern, which I have never seen plausibly addressed, is that the result might be a merry-go-round of interchangeable puppets for behind the scenes political bosses, whose real behavior , by virtue of their lurking in the shadows, is even less transparent that what we have now. There are clearly other scenarios than this cynical view I have presented, but I do think we need to be careful about moving from a largely corrupt, but generally reasonably well understood system, to something new with dynamics that we do not at all understand, just for the sake of proclaiming that we made a change. Frankly, I also believe that if we cannot work within the current Constitution to ensure the election of more honest and responsible representatives (small “r”), we are likely doomed, no matter what other remedies we concoct and attempt to throw into the path of the runaway government train.
Jonathan: “WE ARE AT WAR” all right. It’s a war between an authoritarian dictator and the forces of Democracy that are pushing back. DJT is trying to take all the levers of power into his own hands. He is purging government agencies of anyone who is not “loyal” to him personally. He is trying to abolish the USAid and the Dept. of Education– agencies established by Congress that can’t be abolished without an act of the legislative branch. And it appears the MAGA Republicans are willing to abdicate there authority. So the Dems are the only ones pushing back on DJT unlawful usurpation of Congressional authority.
When it comes to “rage rhetoric” DJT is the main culprit. Now he is in a “rage” over one of our cultural icons–the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In a post yesterday DJT declared: “At my direction we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, GREAT AGAIN. I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our vision for a Golden Age of Arts and Culture”. DJT also said he will become the new Chairman and complained that “just last year the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth–THIS WILL STOP”.
This the first time a President has taken such action against the Kennedy Center. All previous Presidents have supported the arts. During the two terms the Obamas were frequent attendees at Kennedy events. During his first four years in office DJT never attended a Kennedy Center event. The Chairperson of the Kennedy Board is elect by the Board. He/she is not selected by the President. Although the President gets to appoint the members of the Kennedy Board for 6 year terms, once appointed they can’t be removed at will by the President.
So for the next four years DJT wants the Kennedy Center to celebrate his incredible achievements in music, acting, theater, dance, poetry and other arts. The first performance will undoubtedly feature DJT dancing to the music of “YMCA”–followed by a performance by the Jan. 6 insurrection choir! This is what DJT calls the “Golden Age of Arts and Culture”!
# none of what you’ve said is true…it’s half truths and spin.
Without googling, what is usaid, what does it do, what nations receive the most aid?
Personal note- I don’t like some of what he’s doing but I won’t mischaracterize it. I disapprove of using public money for religious purposes as is being done in Oklahoma but won’t participate in it either as an example.
Downsizing departments is necessary.
Dennis: Thanks. Hitler did exactly the same thing. From “Music and Politics in Hitler’s Germany”:
“In the years 1933-1945, Hitler’s Nazi Party [National Socialist Democratic Workers Party / NSDAP] used music as a tool to forge political unity
among Germans. Hitler and the senior NSDAP leadership instinctively grasped that among the arts, music was the most readily laden with ideology, and could
inculcate both the youth and the masses with state-serving Bildung.1 Nazi music education, promoted heavily by and among the Hitler Youth, expanded along
with concerns of “cultural Bolshevism,” and served as a counterpoint to “degenerate music.”2 Once in power, Hitler moved to purge music and music
scholarship of Jews in an effort to promote the unique origin myths of the German Volk and further saturate citizens with racial theories. In keeping
with origin myths and racialism were the Romantic works of the composer Richard Wagner, a prominent anti-Semite who would assume supreme musical status in
Hitler’s Germany.3 In such a personalized regime as Hitler’s, the dictator’s tastes virtually defined official aesthetic norms.4
Throughout the period of Hitler’s chancellorship, the musical bureaucracy of the NSDAP would struggle to balance the tensions between art music
(symbolized by Wagner) and popular demand for music such as jazz. These very tensions were also reflected in the musical policies of the German occupation
of Eastern Europe and Soviet Russia, an occupation which simultaneously plundered antique musical treasures and brought about demand for popular fare
behind the lines. Ultimately the adoring songs of the soldiers – many of them graduates of the Hitler Youth — would transform into a dirge. German musical
culture and education would thereafter split between the Allied-occupied West and the anti-fascist East. ”
Hitler didn’t like abstract art, like Picasso, so he banned it, too, in favor of pro-Aryan statues, etc., Excerpted from Wikipedia, entitled “Degenerate Art”: “During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, was removed from state-owned museums and banned in Nazi Germany on the grounds that such art was an “insult to German feeling”, un-German, Freemasonic, Jewish, or Communist in nature. Those identified as degenerate artists were subjected to sanctions that included being dismissed from teaching positions, being forbidden to exhibit or to sell their art, and in some cases being forbidden to produce art”
What a crock of poop!Party of Democracy my rear-end! Party of Senile Dementia! Party of Child Mutilation! Party of Grift is more like it! OH! That inspires me to do an Irish Poem!
If You Catch My Grift???
An Irish Poem by Squeeky Fromm, Girl Reporter
There once was a Party of Grift!
And, Gee, did they ever get miffed!
When a fellow named Musk,
In a manner so brusque,
Gave the whole damn bunch the short shrift!
Note 1. )Short Shrift is a term that means, “noun
noun: short shrift
rapid and unsympathetic dismissal; curt treatment.
“the judge gave short shrift to an argument based on the right to free speech”
archaic
little time between condemnation and execution or punishment.
Since you apparently are skilled at song parodies, how about trying to come up with something based on the old Leslie Gore hit “It’s My Party (And I’ll Cry If I Want To)” to commemorate all the Democrats sobbing over their comeuppance?
Or, on further consideration, depending who should be assigned which role, possibly the sequel to that one “Judy’s Turn to Cry” 🙂
I just put one up, to the tune of Drift Away. I always liked the Tom Rush version. I had “grift” on my mind. But It’s My Party is a good basis to do one. I will start working on it.
“the tune of Drift Away”
I’ll need to listen to the Tom Rush version. I did always like Dobie Gray’s performance of it.
great
Just like a Democrat: larping like a some paragon of civic virtue while shamelessly sponging off the system.
So you Dems want to go to the mat? You and what army?? Your Obama generals are about to have their frilly panties kicked out of the Pentagon.
Insurrectionists, be forewarned: the people have spoken.
Defund the Democrats. That money came from taxpayers and bond holders, not DNC donors.
CFOs would go to prison for the fiduciary malfeasance at the USAID. Seriously.
Arthur Andersen was destroyed for far less.