frankusz.bsky.social
Retired University Professor still interested in all aspects of human behavior including politics.
265 posts
15 followers
7 following
Regular Contributor
Active Commenter
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Ahhhh, so that's where that massive sucking sound is coming from.
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Translation: Trump to the 99% of Americans disadvantaged or ignored by his Big Beautiful Bill Boondoggle: "It's a simple matter of mind over matter. I don't mind and you don't matter."
Actions speak louder than words and this is what he is actually saying to us.
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Note how CNN weakens the quote by changing it from the literal "we will kill you ..." to the lesser possibility that "... demonstrators could face a forceful response ..."
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How can this be construed as "new" when the rationale for militarizing this effort can be traced back to the Fugitive Slave Act? Autocrats through time and space have always started out with vulnerable minorities before escalating enslavement to larger, more difficult to oppress groups. You're next.
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Do we have any good and reliable information on the quality of these "arrests" to understand whether due process is being provided or not? What prompts an arrest, skin color, tattoos, lack of ID, what? In short, are these troops protecting agents who are acting legally or illegally?
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There appears to be a super abundance of medical doctors who didn't get the memo from Hippocrates. You know, the one that says, "Do no harm."
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Radical right wingers frequently posit the presence of "paid agitators." Given their propensity to project their darkest fantasies onto their opponents, we should not be surprised to learn that the radical right is paying agitators to make legitimate protest look something like violent insurrection.
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When will Congress exercise its oversight responsibilities? At a minimum, we (the people) need to know what the DOGE charter is, who is actually making its decisions and why. Defining fraud, waste and abuse is key and understanding evidence supporting what they think they found is essential. When?
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Please tell us what was done in response to this denial. Who did Watters et. al. complain to? What authorities did they try to involve? How did they identify themselves? Reporting on this was quite poor.
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Note how the definition of illegal alien has shifted from dangerous law breaker (rape, murder, robbery and pet consumption) to anyone whose paperwork says that they are not yet citizens. One that we know of was snatched only hours before he was to take the oath of citizenship! Challenge that ASAP.
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Spending money on enforcing government delusions and not spending money on schools are complimentary tactics. They are part of the wider goal of subduing the population with anticipatory compliance. Reduce or eliminate critical thinking and then push people around claiming it's all for our own good.
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Yet another medical doctor choosing to exploit people for money and influence over helping them. Doesn't the Hippocratic oath that they take mean anything? You know, the one that says, "Do no harm."
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Will we see false claims as to crowd size? Probably. Protest should be an easy matter of not watching any of this and not being anywhere in the vicinity so as not to be falsely labeled a spectator. Make the parade route look like a ghost town.
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Republicans probably consider this a no-brainer. Trump is seen as having much more power and the eager willingness to use it. Of course Musk can always defect to the Russian Federation. He already has a nest set up there.
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The Trump admin makes no attempt to understand the futility and impossibility of reanimating this myth of the golden past. It simply sees it as something that can be successfully marketed w/o concern for inevitable buyer's remorse. There will be no refunds.
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However, this effect is probably not automatically inevitable. It requires that good people do not remain silent and unmoved.
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Perhaps Musk could also give us his operational definitions of fraud, waste and abuse. Please note that an operational definition is:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operati...
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The way that they look at is that wealth is being righteously transferred from the undeserving to themselves, the deserving.
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They know now and have always known that these ideas are bogus and false. It's just that ideas like "trickle down" worked to placate the poor witless victims of economic rapacity (trickle is better than nothin'). It's not what's true; it's what anesthetizes enough voters to get assent.
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These masked men know that what they are doing is legally sketchy and they also know that the Nuremberg defense won't shield them any more that it did the Nazis. It is prima facie evidence of wrongdoing.
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For when and if Trump gets to fly in this jet plane as an ordinary citizen, won't the Pentagon have to remove certain things that ordinary citizens shouldn't have? How much will that cost?
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If you take your car to a mechanic, they fix it, bill you and you fail to pay; that mechanic (in many states) can attach what is called a "mechanic's lien" to your car. They can then sell it to recoup what you failed to pay. Now, think of the Pentagon as that mechanic and Trump as the vehicle owner.
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We can learn from history but that requires a long perspective, not shooting from the hip. Right now we have more important issues before us such as how to deal with the authoritarians currently in power.
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Aldous Huxley called it "newspeak" in his book entitled "1984."
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This will set the standard within organized crime. Get shot and killed in a B&E? Not to worry, your family will be taken care of. Bigly.
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Seriously though, this is a boondoggle that no rational person expects to reach fruition. The real objective is to rake in tons of money that doesn't get properly accounted for because it is for developing something that has never been done before.
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Prostrate cancer is where you have to stand up all the time in order to manage its terrible effects and survive it. This was NOT the diagnosis/prognosis provided to Joe Biden.
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I have never seen a compelling argument for cryptocurrency that wasn't praising the enabling of crime and grift. It's the secrecy of it, not its digital character. Make cyber currency public and transparent.
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So interesting that this "punishment" is being visited on MAGA voters as well. No deed (good or bad) goes unpunished is their motto.
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Taxing rich individuals and corporations is the only way out of this predicament and even then it will take at least 10 years to make a significant dent. Better get started real soon.
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Being an exceptional nation, we could do socialized medicine far better than any other wealthy industrialized country. It would certainly be far better than having to beg as we do now. First, we have to throw the bums out at the ballot box.
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Much of what is now Romania used to be Hungary and many Hungarian speaking people still live there. It would be wonderful if this sentiment leaked into Hungary and undermined the Orban autocracy mislabeled "illiberal democracy."
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Trickle down has never worked due to greed and selfishness under cover of anonymity.
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Trickle down has never worked as advertised. It's proponents knew this all along but were eager to reap the short temp personal benefits. BS on steroids.
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The net effect of the BBB budget will raise debt exponentially and lower our credit worthiness accordingly. Interest paid will soon exceed all other payments combined. Instead of lowering taxes for the rich raise them significantly. Republicans should fix what they broke.