Did Musk fire hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration employees to increase "efficiency"? I don't think so. There is a better explanation: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv... - ThreadSky

anneapplebaum.bsky.social • 82 days ago

Did Musk fire hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration employees to increase "efficiency"? I don't think so. There is a better explanation:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/doge-civil-servant-purge/681671/?gift=hVZeG3M9DnxL4CekrWGK340fqCcgarrtnJIjRC-oEI4&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

Comments

luckytheturtle.bsky.social•82 days ago

Thank you for your clear headed sanity.

andrewjames66.bsky.social•82 days ago

duerpress.com•82 days ago

"...people who work for the American federal government are having the same experience as people who find themselves living under foreign occupation"--Applebaum

All in the name of privatizing government. All those tax dollars will flow directly into the pockets of favored oligarchs.

mojo28.bsky.social•82 days ago

Another incident today with delta airlines from Minnesota to Toronto.

chipburkitt.bsky.social•82 days ago

So grateful for your clarity and sense of history.

cld9vineyard.bsky.social•82 days ago

Loved this article and shared with many

Anti Donelon Demonstration in Santa Rosa, Ca

1donaldlee.bsky.social•82 days ago

Is the goal to completely destroy competence in order to replace it with one quality: loyalty to Trump.

ddminn.bsky.social•82 days ago

Keep people dumb and poor. That’s what the want

stacysometimes.bsky.social•82 days ago

Thank you, Anne. My heart is breaking.

kellysherbo.bsky.social•82 days ago

My son was one of them.😢 These are real people with real lives.

noligarchs.bsky.social•81 days ago

I'm sorry for your son.

noligarchs.bsky.social•81 days ago

They are working for ultra rich tax cuts and for pukin by destroying America from within.

pattytboston.bsky.social•82 days ago

None of it has to do with cost cutting, efficiency, fraud or waste. Musk is closely aligned with ultra right/nazis in Germany & in Europe. His goal is to eviscerate government, create chaos & confusion, weaken democracy, & of course plunder U.S. revenue & riches .

pattytboston.bsky.social•82 days ago

Can't see the gifted article but of course he wants to shut down any agency that dares to investigate him as well.

pcalabrese.bsky.social•82 days ago

Thank you for this forthright and prescient article. It’s essential to inform people as these changes happen so they know what’s at stake for their families and the country.
Then they will go to the streets with knowledge, courage and patriotism.

hiphopdrops.bsky.social•82 days ago

IT'S A POWER GRAB. SUPER OBVIOUS.

beegutjahr.bsky.social•82 days ago

These people still have to get paid. Companies will get richer, taxes won’t decrease and workers get screwed.

laureanne.bsky.social•82 days ago

My biggest fear now is that after the Musk-ovites bludgeon our federal stability apparatus, and, economic & political engines, they’ll start funding ridiculous kleptocratic projects.

And the nightmare is, people don’t see that’s what is coming.

macsico.carsten-muerau.de•82 days ago

The S in USA now stands for: shutdownthewholecountry

wmreddy.bsky.social•82 days ago

'Fear is the mindkiller' - Bene Gesserit

gberfieldusaua.bsky.social•82 days ago

Break it then charge us to fix it.

donnamenner.bsky.social•82 days ago

Doesn’t seem to be any way to stop this.

justmet.bsky.social•82 days ago

Making people too scared to fly…is this the plan?

sarayama.bsky.social•82 days ago

Why are you still on X? Stop supporting Musk by using his platform. If you and others, also politicians, abandon X, many others will follow.

dameofdestiny.bsky.social•82 days ago

No one believes Musk, Trump or the MAGA congress are on a cost cutting mission.

Two of those don't have a clue what they're doing. Their knowledge of government is non-existent. That makes the collusion of the GOP House & Senate even more disgustingly insidious. @newdems.bsky.social

itshard.bsky.social•82 days ago

Isn’t this the same outlet that said Trump was a big strong boy and the best thing we can do is just not fight him on anything? Media is strange.

fg8c.bsky.social•81 days ago

To the patronage point: would it be far fetched to think that musk firing of aviation employees would be to supplant air traffic controllers with his Starlink system? We know auto-pilot on Tesla leads to fatal crashes. I can't imagine what Starlink would do to flight safety.

rodhillen.com•82 days ago

Thank you for your lucid article. It https://helped.me to feel less crazy.

jeffmay.bsky.social•82 days ago

The little lie that changed the world was that his inauguration was bigger than Obama’s. Now we got a MAGA Regime with granular details of every American to crackdown on dissidents and control every aspect of our lives so oligarchs stay rich and powerful

gripyoldman.bsky.social•82 days ago

Just because planes are crashing doesn’t mean we didn’t save a few thousand dollars in employee costs. I guess teenage programmers see things differently than us older fellas

level90.bsky.social•82 days ago

This is the wholesale destruction of the USA from within. But you cannot deny the laws of physics. You cannot suddenly replace highly skilled people with MAGA 'patriots'. Eventually, the loss of expertise will become so obvious that the regime will only have one option. Hide the truth.

mjz1957.bsky.social•82 days ago

Thank you for the gift article

plaintanjane.bsky.social•82 days ago

Thank you for sharing this gift link, Ms Applebaum. This is the most lucid and straightforward explanation I’ve heard to date. It would be so wonderful if you could speak about this to Congress and on television. Republicans have got to step up and stop Musk & Trump.

anthonytee20001.bsky.social•80 days ago

.Rather than legally work with Congress to redefine agencies and decide the number of fed employees, Trump and Musk have chosen illegal and unconstitutional means. They are being cruel and creating chaos on purpose, and they're making mistakes that are hurting the country.

paul28730.bsky.social•82 days ago

Thank you Anne. I retired from the Feds about two years ago and have been very bothered by all of the actions of this administration. This really helps put a finger on why what is going on feels personal.

ems49.bsky.social•82 days ago

bandit9914.bsky.social•82 days ago

Install patronage and privatization.

bandit9914.bsky.social•82 days ago

Privatization.

bazalgette74.bsky.social•82 days ago

Fantastic, thank you, Anne!

I also feel putting idiots at the head of everything is a way of forcing departments and organisations to self-purge – the moral and the capable will soon tire of taking orders from a Kennedy, a Hegseth or a Patel.

Madness is complicated but evil is always simple.

jazzmom.bsky.social•82 days ago

I’m still in shock that this is our reality now.
It’s unreal.

marriecarrie.bsky.social•82 days ago

@stevenbeschloss.bsky.social ICYMI

marriecarrie.bsky.social•82 days ago

Thank you for this, @anneapplebaum.bsky.social

ninjanick101.bsky.social•81 days ago

Our nation is hijacked.

sail2it.bsky.social•82 days ago

It’s still shocking to read “and Musk”.

jamilajohnson.bsky.social•82 days ago

Can we call it fascism yet. Since that's what it is. Or is everyone still being timid and afraid to offend?

4legsrgood.bsky.social•82 days ago

I no longer think they want to make Trump a king. Musk is out for himself. He wants to make himself an emperor.

jonsnowball.bsky.social•82 days ago

Thank you, @anneapplebaum.bsky.social. Excellent article. Scary as hell. In your research / reporting on Orban, Chavez et al, did you uncover strategies that worked for their opposition parties and citizens? I see lots of criticisms of Democratic inaction / ineffectiveness, but few concrete ideas.

gbliss.bsky.social•82 days ago

Privatization. Profit.

margueritevillier.bsky.social•82 days ago

Selling plane safety to the highest bidder. No more regulations.

fungibev.bsky.social•82 days ago

📌

mjdowntheshore.bsky.social•82 days ago

Thank you Anne. We cannot let this go unnoticed. We are under attack and going to be reduced to serfs.

beach-gem.bsky.social•82 days ago

This administration is like a fast growing cancer with many Americans just hoping everything is going to be ok or even refusing to believe the diagnosis while practical heads around them are starting to realize their democracy is terminal.

noligarchs.bsky.social•81 days ago

The former repugnantcan party is now the Nazi Party of America and is compromised by Russian money.

randomcoolzip.bsky.social•82 days ago

IT was all explained in Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine." Ruin government's ability to perform services, then use that to justify privatizing the service so investors like Musk can make money. The business will be steered to Musk/Trump businesses or supporters, of course.

jamilajohnson.bsky.social•82 days ago

Spot on. Be nice if more than a handful of us realized it.

cmtroy205.bsky.social•82 days ago

📌

a4niemann.bsky.social•82 days ago

📌

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