Trump Presidency

[burger1]

US judges have already overruled other judges who have blocked Trumps actions. Trump will do whatever he wants unless he is stopped by force. The old saying is what law is stronger than strength. Some military black history programs removed. Seems like a war against coloured peopled, disabled people and women.

The CIA is now being offered buyouts for people to leave.

Quite a few protests but none really seem to get news coverage.

USaid workers fired for giving out aid.

Sections of US history are being removed. Nasa moves to erase women indigenous people from websites. FBI was painting over murals and removing stuff after dei was removed.

Doj is looking to prosecute people reporting on Elon Musk and doge or people critical of it.

Civil rights cases process was already stopped before this.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopeq ... port-says/

And internet stuff (news reports, etc...) is effected due the US government censorship.

Kamala Harris and other Democrats still doing speeches and protests.

US is removing voters from the voting list in an attempt to get more gop voters eligible than dem voters. Might have been new legislation/rules passed in the last couple days.

California water supply messed up by trump. Might be a water shortage this summer there.

[clakclak]

The one thing I do not understand is where the American people are in all of this? In Germany the CDU and AfD just voted on a single issue with each other and it instantly drew massive demonstrations in all major cities, with more than 100.000 people taking to the streets in Berlin alone. Where are the American citizens as their country is being dismantled? Democracy means responsibility.

[matthewfarmery]

Unless American citizens fight for their democracy, then its finished, and the fascist take over will be complete. While the dems seem to be mulling over trying to stop Musk with lawsuits, I think its too little too late. the GOP clearly seem to be ok with the fascist take over. America can only go downhill from here.

[matthewfarmery]

So Musk has taken over the Department of Veterans Affairs benefits. This database controls many American lives,

Over the weekend, Musk and his team gained access to the system that the Treasury Department uses to make all U.S. government payments. The system includes taxpayer data, such as Social Security numbers, for nearly every American, which naturally includes scores of veterans. On top of that, information about VA disability and retirement benefits, Medicare and Medicaid payments and any other government benefits veterans might receive would be swept up in the system.

"Anyone who's receiving payments from the federal government, first and foremost, is likely to be concerned that payments that they are obliged to receive might not show up, either intentionally because they're getting blocked for some reason that's not explained, or even unintentionally, because they're giving admin access to a critical piece of our federal infrastructure to random coders off the street, which violates like every principle of cybersecurity and administration of these systems that exists," said Alan Butler, executive director and president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit privacy advocacy group.

I did suspect that SS and medicare will be on Musk;s hit list, and there we have it ladies and gentlemen, Musk will effectively cut off funding for many Americans. The effect of this will be widespread. And from a few Dem senators, what Musj has done is totally illegal and unconstitutional. But there we have it. Anerica is being crippled in real time.

[Observe]

More hyperbole. Veterans on disability, people on Social Security retirement, and Medicare payments are not at risk.

Medicaid is another story altogether. Expect Medicaid to be gutted to some extent and it is likely that there will be work requirements for those receiving it.

[Thereswhy]

Of course, they will cut costs on Medicare. If they cut costs by a few 100 billion dollars on the one thing, why wouldn't they do the same on the other?

[fiksal]

The one thing I do not understand is where the American people are in all of this? In Germany the CDU and AfD just voted on a single issue with each other and it instantly drew massive demonstrations in all major cities, with more than 100.000 people taking to the streets in Berlin alone. Where are the American citizens as their country is being dismantled? Democracy means responsibility.

Not sure.
Probably they are not at breaking point yet.

I don't think many understand what Democracy is.

Even Trump supporters don't, for all their opposition to it

[chew-ie]

What I found so far about that is that they (Democrats) don't want "to die on certain hills". So they are not yet there and don't want to fight every fight Prumpin starts. And RE USAid - there were some people protesting, but there isn't much coverage.

To me that definately looks lethargic, not grasping what's going on.

---

Oh looky here: USAid was investigating Starlink. Now who would've thought that... /S

[burger1]

Nation wide protests against Trump today. Won't find it easily in the news of course.

https://apnews.com/article/50501-protes ... e7530e18ab

Trump to sell off half of federal property. Same thing happened in Russia when the Oligarchs seized power.

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-s ... ts-2026412

Democrats plan to try to impeach Trump along with some other. Odds are slim but possible.

Thousands protest at Treasury.

Flag being flown upside down as sign of distress outside of US State Department building

Canada still booing the American national anthem and getting trade partners outside the US including more oil to China.

France might issue arrest warrants to Elon musk over election interference.

[Incubi]

I think that most Americans; myself included, are not interested in a civil war to solve our problems. We have systems in place to make change that does not require death and destruction. Doesn't take much snooping around in other countries current events to see the futility in that. Not to mention a part of the American dream is to be safe. Now, Trump is threatening our safety with his stupidity, but we still have much at our disposal that does not require slaughter and violence, so put the popcorn away. I do not think this has to go that far. Nothing like making a problem worse and acting righteous about it eh? That is all internal violence ever does.

[clakclak]

I think that most Americans; myself included, are not interested in a civil war to solve our problems. We have systems in place to make change that does not require death and destruction. Doesn't take much snooping around in other countries current events to see the futility in that. Not to mention a part of the American dream is to be safe. Now, Trump is threatening our safety with his stupidity, but we still have much at our disposal that does not require slaughter and violence, so put the popcorn away. I do not think this has to go that far. Nothing like making a problem worse and acting righteous about it eh? That is all internal violence ever does.

Nobody wants a civil war in America (besides the obvious enemies of course). That would be horrible and devastating. However it is still good to see that some people are taking to the streets now. Protest can lead to change. Solidarność in Poland is a good example. The Berlin wall also fell without violence and America itself has a lot of examples of effective protests from the civil rights movement. I understand that there is considerable backing for what Trump is doing, but those who are not onboard with it need to make their voices heard or they will be ignored. What burger is posting is good start, even though the scale of the protests is still pretty small.

Edit: Seems as if the protests are growing fast.

[fiksal]

if anything we learned from Russia, it's good to organize now, get in touch with people who organized protests and often, good to participate, donate when you can, and keep doing it every chance one gets. Because later comes a time when all of these are illegal and self organizing is going to be really difficult

for my part, I try to donate, I am not physically around to protest and I left the American dream awhile back

[Chips]

Oh looky here: USAid was investigating Starlink. Now who would've thought that... /S

Not sure that's the smoking gun you believe it is... if you read the article, that is.

“The USAID Office of Inspector General, Inspections and Evaluations Division, is initiating an inspection of USAID’s oversight of Starlink satellite terminals provided to the Government of Ukraine. Our objectives are to determine how
(1) the Government of Ukraine used the USAID-provided Starlink terminals, and
(2) USAID monitored the Government of Ukraine’s use of USAID-provided Starlink terminals.”

I mean, what part of that statement outlining the objective of the investigation links to the headline grabbing "investigating starlink over its contracts in the ukraine." - which *does* sound like they'd be looking for mispractice in Starlinks actions.

It's literally "we're examining how the Ukraine uses it, and how we monitor its use". Or am i reading it incorrectly?


Currently what Trump is doing isn't exactly surprising. Jon Stewart had that whole segment about how Trump said he'd be a dictator for at least a day; go after people who pursued him; cut off aid; put on tarrifs; put that famous and well practiced Government employee Musk in line to cut trillions from a budget that... can't possibly have trillions cut from it -- and so on and so forth.

So seems a bit early to expect the folks who voted for him to really start getting up in arms. They'll only care when they *really* feel it.

Having our seemingly reliance on social media (seemingly) to get our "news", which is controlled by Musk, who regularly retweets people's views that he likes (i.e. pretty far right) and an algorithm that force feeds "related" content to things you've read... (I'm implying his algorithm and his constant tweeting what he wants people to read causes them, without realising, to be force fed related types of content he wants you to read before you realise it...); coupled with the constant attacks against non supportive media platforms, means I imagine they sort of control their own narrative for now as it'll take a lot more negative press to start overcoming that partisan voter entrenchment.

After all, the alternative was the communists. In their eyes. So... probably a way to go before anything *really* happens.

Without mentioning Jon Stewart too much - he made a good point the other day. Instead of the Democrats handwringing and complaining, they should be presenting the alternative as to what they would do... otherwise what have people got to be tempted to that side with, other than the point at which revulsion of Trump is strong enough...

https://youtu.be/In4pEWIUDCs?t=911

As always, the whole episode is worth watching.

[mr.WHO]

Without mentioning Jon Stewart too much - he made a good point the other day. Instead of the Democrats handwringing and complaining, they should be presenting the alternative as to what they would do... otherwise what have people got to be tempted to that side with, other than the point at which revulsion of Trump is strong enough...

https://youtu.be/In4pEWIUDCs?t=911

As always, the whole episode is worth watching.

That was good episode and a lot very good points there.
I do hope opposition reorganize sooner than later, due to the pace the things going.
It was just two weeks and it already feels like two years.

[fiksal]

what exactly is the alternative?

social systems? Americans don't care about those.

equal rights? Majority is indifferent about other people's rights . And minority is hostile to them.

better steering of the economy and trade? Americans mostly care for promises that can't be done, flashy isolation and exploitation of others.

there are other causes that Democrats really shouldn't get onboard or become the same party of immorally bankrupt. Like be against abortions, against women rights, against separation of Church and State, pro white nationalism, etc

but then that's it, I feel like I have exhausted my list

all that is left is a silent revolution and refusing to follow orders of those that don't want to live like this. And no one wants to organize this yet

[chew-ie]

Oh looky here: USAid was investigating Starlink. Now who would've thought that... /S

Not sure that's the smoking gun you believe it is... if you read the article, that is.

I' m not looking for a smoking gun. But it's better than nothing - this should at the very least be a reason why M shouldn't have access to any of this. It is connected to his company - and having unchecked full access gives him all possibilities to hide anything he does not like.

---

Michael Moore about the ongoing coup in the US: https://www.michaelmoore.com/p/the-coup ... irect=true

[matthewfarmery]

Musk’s Team Feeding Sensitive Data Into AI Software

“Representatives from Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service have fed sensitive data from across the Education Department into artificial intelligence software to probe the agency’s programs and spending,” the Washington Post reports.

“The AI probe includes data with personally identifiable information for people who manage grants, as well as sensitive internal financial data.”

How can this be even remotely legal? Unless he wants to profit from this in some way.

[Observe]

what exactly is the alternative?

Stop pushing insane gender ideologies. I don't care how "gender fluid" a person is, or what sex they want to pretend to be, if you were born a man, stay out of women's bathrooms and women's sports! Stop mutilating children with puberty blockers and transgender surgeries. This subject alone, may have cost Democrats the election.

Continue the Democrat tradition of supporting strong social safety nets, such a Social Security, Medicare, etc. Most people agree that we need these programs, even if they debate implementation.

Stop trying to censor speech. History does not favor the censors. Democrats, along with liberal media, have been captured by big pharma. This is in direct contrast to 'old time Democrats' who were vehemently opposed to anything smelling like 'Big Brother'. Question Authority used to be the rallying call for Democrats. Now, their mantra is "Look at me, I got the vaccine". Stop obsessing about vaccines.

Formulate sensible immigration policies. Get rid of 'sanctuary cities' that harbor criminals. And yes, if you are here illegally, you are a criminal.

Stop supporting endless wars. Reduce the military budget. Stop sending weapons oversees. These used to be standard, default positions for rank-and-file Democrats.

Continue pushing for labor rights and fair pay. We need the liberal point of view and influence. I hope that Democrats, throw off the shackles of crazy 'progressive' delusions and return to their more common-sense roots that still appeal to a large slice of society. When they do, I will probably rejoin the Democrat party.

If Democrats seek relevance, these may be some good places to start. There are others, but those come to mind at the moment.

[clakclak]

Elon Musk is now directly posting russian propaganda on X. By that I do not mean that he is picking up propaganda talking points, no, he is straight up posting videos from m.tsargrad.tv, a Russian propaganda channel.

[Observe]

Elon Musk is now directly posting russian propaganda on X. By that I do not mean that he is picking up propaganda talking points, no, he is straight up posting videos from m.tsargrad.tv, a Russian propaganda channel.

Granted, X Community Notes, flagged the truth, which is good, but Musk really needs to apologize when he is wrong. In this instance, it appears he was definitely wrong. Given his position with the Trump administration, we all need for him to be more responsible.