mdoneill.bsky.social
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Musk did not bring efficiency & improved services to Twitter. He broke it, cut it, and glued some pieces back together - and it shows. Relatively, it’s a pretty simple app so at least it basically works.
That won’t work with government. And don’t tell me he has some other master plan.
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Even assuming they are applying “the ends justify the means” gives them too much credit. They will make up anything to avoid admitting they were wrong, including lying about things we can plainly read in the Signal chat. There’s no “PR strategy”. When punched, punch back twice as hard. That’s it.
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After Waltz, Hegseth, Gabbard, etc realize that there are no consequences here they are going to view Congressional testimony as a pleasure, not a trial. They will smirk, lecture, talk over the questions, and use it as just another messaging platform. It’s good TV and Trump will love it.
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He needs to explain to the country why he was using Signal to communicate classified information.
He needs to explain to Trump why he has Goldberg in his contacts.
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I had a fleeting “poor Usha” thought when Trump picked Vance. She looked like she might be a normal woman caught it a bad situation. But you’re right. She’s now executing the agenda just like the rest of the team.
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You’d think that Republicans who are planning to hold a town hall meeting would speak up because their constituents are certainly not going to hold back.
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How does this not end in violence? Normal folks I know who would never have condoned it now say, in social conversations, things like “hopefully someone shoots him”, “I can’t see this ending until someone shoots him”, “I would do it if I could”… it’s really shocking.
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At what point do these organizations - the Naval Academy, West Point, Kennedy Center - push back and say “thanks but we decline to be a tool of this fascist administration”? Their silence condemns them to the pile of historical irrelevance. No one will respect these once great institutions.
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We know that Trump goes for “central casting” stereotypes. If I asked central casting to send me someone who portrays weaponized incompetence and belligerent stupidity, I swear they’d send me Hohman immediately.
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Brooks' “hard vs soft” characterization here is perfect. I’ve tried describing white Evangelical Christianity’s warped view of masculinity and the role it plays and I sound like another egghead nutcase. MAGA likes hard & despises soft. Putin=hard; Europe=soft. Musk=hard; USAID=soft.
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You know they will end up adding back Robert E. Lee as a great defender of states’ rights.
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If you read the US news you detect nothing more than “concern” while the foreign press is blunt about the unmitigated disaster and rising fascism.
We’re the frog in the pot, temperature’s rising, and the world is telling us we’re being boiled. We don’t want to jump out and make a mess.
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Having avoided a shutdown, will we see Senate Democrats roar into action to curtail DOGE and reign in Trump?
I think we will see more of the same - nothing. And they can do nothing whether the government is operating or shut down.
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Anyone who says DOGE is about “efficiency” or “cutting costs” is spouting nonsense. 4/4
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They watch the employee clear her desk and escort her out of the building. And tell her that they would be launching an “investigation” into the “incident”.
They put on a show to humiliate the employee. The career staff looked like they knew this was very wrong but did it anyway. This is DOGE. 3/4
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DOGE member asks employee not to record the meeting. Employee stops the recording and deletes it.
Half an hour after the meeting, agency General Counsel, a career SES, and another staff member come to the employee, call employee’s supervisor, put employee on administrative leave. 2/4
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There was a time when I would laugh and call this a good joke. Now I just think it’s previewing tomorrow’s headlines.
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The real issue is that these guys don’t have the expertise to do what they’re doing, or the authority. Say there was a tiger team of experts working under the direction of the IGs, reporting back to Congress. If they want to camp out… unorthodox, unnecessary, but harmless. These guys are not that.
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Sadly, we have a large portion of the country cheering that performance yesterday. All they want to see is a “tough guy”. They aren’t capable of thinking through the consequences.
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Well, she would know about federal government people who don’t do real jobs.
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The thing that I really don’t get - with all of his intellect and experience, what is telling Bezos that appeasing a bully is a winning strategy? When has this ever worked?
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I unsubscribed to the Post when Bezos canceled the Harris endorsement. I could almost resubscribe just for the use of “possibly” here.
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There isn’t anyone in the party who will initiate the “enough is enough” movement. They are all the type who will pile on after it has become obvious and someone else starts the movement. Sad, for a party that prides themselves on their particular image of toughness and independent thinking.
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But we already know this, right? They are going to send checks with Trump’s signature on them, for the performative value of it. It won’t be tied to any actual savings but that won’t matter.
The only surprise would be if Trump let Musk sign the checks.
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For a guy who thinks he’s such a tough guy negotiator, why does he slip into that silly childish voice? “you better comply”. This is actually a mild instance; he does it more in many other instances. Wish I was enough of a psychiatrist to understand that one.
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Sadly, we all know this only ends with a bullet. We just don’t want to say it out loud.
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This is an enormously instructive and interesting thread. Thank you.
I work in health IT where patient matching is a real challenge. This helps explain why we can’t just use SSNs. (Though I wouldn’t mind if the government decided to create a unique identifier.)
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Yes. There has to be work to stop the unconstitutional activity but in parallel, anything that keeps shining a light on what is being done is a good thing.
Change the narrative from unchallenged falsehoods about things done “in the name of the people” to a real questioning of what is being done.
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Vance’s nose is so far up Trump’s butt that he doesn’t care about how this looks to his wife or kids. He’ll deport them in a second if Trump tells him to. The sad thing is that Usha is standing by him.
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“Appears to be operating totally illegally” is like saying Trump makes statements “for which there is no evidence”. If we can’t start saying things like “that’s illegal” and “that’s a lie” then we are done for.
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Sadly, it’s no longer relevant what Congress thinks. The Trump administration has bypassed them. There’s nothing for a Dem Congressional minority to block. If Dems can’t figure out how to go on the offensive, the best defensive strategy in the world won’t matter.
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People will be upset but no one will really do anything. Can Trump get away with it… he’s taking the “try to stop me” approach, so yes, he can. Republican leadership supports him (out of fear, if nothing else) and Democrats don’t have any idea what to do. Sadly, this includes the military.
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And if it’s “not that bad” - maybe the individuals with access are badged employees, maybe Musk/DOGE people don’t actually have the controls, etc. - then can we get some clarity? Wouldn’t Congress want that clarity before the executive branch makes them irrelevant?
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Normal people reached the “have you no shame” moment long ago; MAGA will never have such a moment. The things that should cause shame are badges of honor for them.
I do worry, though, that he will keep getting worse until someone shoots him. And that’s not going to be good for anyone.
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You’re right, of course, that we shouldn't pin this kind of blame now. I think that many of us are assuming that Trump and his administration will think more about their image and blaming someone else than actually looking at the root cause. We shouldn’t do that but it’s pretty hard not to.
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I’m amazed that people who compare Trump’s J6 pardons to Biden’s death penalty commutations aren’t immediately called out for it. If the J6 criminals want to go back to jail, serve a reduced sentence, and keep it on their record, then we can talk.
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Are you being sarcastic? These people will wear this as a badge of honor. They will never feel a moment of shame. Worse, they will be ready and eager for the next call to arms.
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No, they are not. They interpret kindness as weakness and the behavior of the “non-manly” liberals they despise. It reinforces, to them, that their approach wins and kindness loses. Be kind because it’s the right thing to do but don’t be fooled thinking that it’s going to “get through” to them.
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Thankfully, I deleted my Facebook account a week ago.
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There isn't a goal. Trump heard something that sounded bad, to his macho sensibilities. He reacted the way he thinks a tough guy would react. Remember, this is a guy who started talking about Hannibal Lector because he didn't know what "asylum" meant in the context of immigration.
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Just no ability to make adjustments at half time. It's maddening. This coaching staff does not know how to get it done.