This is very common for Muskolini, any press contacts are often let go, makes obtaining damning information impossible/improbable. None of his companies staff a PR department as far as I know. Why anybody puts up with this guy and his companies is beyond me.
Muskolini
Sounds like a pasta. A shitty pasta.
The word Duce (a title used by Mussolini - il duce) and Doge, have the same Latin etymology
The word is from the Venetian language, reaching English via French. Doge, along with the related English word duke and the Italian duce, duca (masculine) and duchessa (feminine) all descend from the Latin dux, meaning either "spiritual leader" or "military commander".
No, absolutely not. I'm sorry, but that's a bullshit false cognate that gives Musk way too much credit. The reality is much simpler, and stupider: it's just a meme misspelling of "dog" that, even in its initial conception, was canonically coined by an idiot.
The etymology of "dog" is admittedly a little mysterious, but I can't find anything at all to suggest it's even slightly related to "dux."
Same thing happened with the Twitter takeover.
All the official, PR/Communications staff were fired or quit, nobody had any idea what any actual policy changes were real or not.
They were already doing this in the first Trump term. They started clearing out a lot of the science-focused agencies, telling numerous agencies they couldn't release ANY statements without approval from on-high. That was literally almost a decade ago now.
They are literally fucking up entire US government.
That's the point
Yep:
“I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.” — Grover Norquist
That was 25 years ago. It's always been their plan. They want to dismantle democracy and replace it with a corporatocracy, oligarchy, or similar authoritarian structure.
Americans wouldn't let that happen.
Right, Americans?
When it’s not single digits and ice storming in a couple weeks I think people are going to take to the streets. Everyone I talk to is pissed except the unreachable morons.
Of course! Isn't this situation what the second amendment is for? 🤔
It's the situation they claim it's for, but no it isn't. The second amendment is to have a militia ready to defend the nation in case of invasion. Militias were the norm at the time, not standing professional armies, which the newly founded tiny union of states certainly didn't expect to have. That time came and went though and some people carried the corpse of the second amendment and turned it into something else that it clearly isn't.
There's one more step that brings it back to the same place. The thinking behind standing armies is that they would be used for tyranny. The reason for loosely connected militias is that there isn't a singular guy who is Commander-in-Chief of all of them. There was even attempts at a militia Navy, which is a hilarious idea to me ("Got my musket and my rowboat. Off to defend the motherland!" Rows up to 28-gun British heavy frigate)
It's not a practical system of defense in the modern age. It barely was back then.
To be fair, it wasn't some people but the majority opinion of Chief Justice Antonin Scalia in DC v. Heller (2008) that swept away the militia part as a mere "prefatory clause". 😔
All the maga 2nd amendment bible beaters that voted for the talking Cheeto are too busy kicking their wife and jerking off to pics of trump to worry about anything.
Part of the GOP plan. First fuck up government so completely it doesn't work, then scream that government doesn't work and should be defunded and shut down.
I think the driving forces are more likely sociopathic corporate interests that want deregulation and foreign adversaries who want to see the US government dismantled (and allies driven away, and growing social division)
Not entirely true.
All these firings are likely going to result in classaction lawsuits, and the judiciary (so far) has been very responsive to Trump's power grabs. You'll recall they shut him down on DOGE's Treasury incursion, birthright citizenship, and the funding freeze. (Among others)
It may seem like everything's fucked up, but that's only because your social media feed and executive orders create chaos faster than the judiciary can check it.
Yeah that's why I'm trying to take a more passive approach and only monitor the situation *gestures vaguely*.
I can't affect anything that happens at the national level anyway, so all I can do is be on the lookout for harm to myself or my loved ones and do my best to mitigate it.
We have FOUR MORE YEARS of this, and after that its going to take decades to get back to where we were two months ago. So, buckle in, I hope you weren't hoping for any kind of societal progess or innovation.
We have FOUR MORE YEARS of this
Not necessarily. Clinton, Dubya, Obama, and Trump all went into office with Congress and lost it at the mid-terms, and as we saw with the Muslim ban, Trump's a bit of a bitch when the judiciary stands up to him. It's just a matter of time until these attempts start to slow down.
The downside is that Dems rule as conservatives too, so it's likely whatever the judiciary doesn't reverse will be permanent.
But, as we saw with similar activities in the McCarthyist era, the damage is reversible. (But I know that's not much consolation, but it's consolation to me to know that this isn't the first time someone has tried to brute force fascism in government and been stopped.)
I don't think you realize just how long it takes to hire federal employees, or reconstitute entire agencies (like CFPB).
tens of thousands of people forced out, thousands of research grants and projects canceled, hundreds of programs stifled...
this is the end of the federal government as we know it, and it will take a generation (20+ yrs) of back to back Democrat administrations to rebuild it. that's not going to happen.
the oligarchs won dude. kids growing up today will never know how much has been lost. the corporate media will make sure all they know is 'we've always been at war with eastasia''
that’s not going to happen
Possibly, but I know it's already happened at least once in our history. We can speculate about the future all we want, but the past is a helpful guide.
I'm hoping that too. either way, I'm not advocating hopelessness or doomerism. I'll be working harder than ever this year to decouple my life from corporations and govt reliance. community building, strengthening friendships, helping others when I can. it's going to be a long road ahead and we won't survive as isolated individuals.
Clinton, Dubya, Obama, and Trump all went into office with Congress and lost it at the mid-terms, and as we saw with the Muslim ban,
Lost what at the mid-terms? Congress? You think he needs Congress to do all of this shit? Have you been paying attention?
There is no rule-of-law. No structure to these systems. It's just pure defiance at whatever "social norms" are holding this house of cards together.
Nobody is putting up a reasonable fight with these EOs, so they just happen. Elon just wanders into government buildings and systems without criminal charges. No police action. No hard punishments.
And whatever fighting back is occurring in the courts, where we will never see a settlement before the courts themselves get dismantled before our eyes.
We're fucked. Stop using past history as a guide.
Lost what at the mid-terms? Congress? You think he needs Congress to do all of this shit? Have you been paying attention?
Nope. But losing Congress will make it harder. We saw this with his first term.
There is no rule-of-law.
That's factually incorrect. I provided several examples above.
Nobody is putting up a reasonable fight with these EOs,
Again, wrong.
We’re fucked
Totally, man. That's why the funding freeze was reversed in less than 24 hours after a lawsuit was filed. You need to turn off the TV, stop doomscrolling, breathe, and maybe watch some alternative media.
Stop using past history as a guide.
You may need to start.
All these firings are likely going to result in classaction lawsuits, and the judiciary (so far) has been very responsive to Trump’s power grabs. You’ll recall they shut him down on DOGE’s Treasury incursion, birthright citizenship, and the funding freeze. (Among others)
Yeah, good luck with that in 2-4 years, when those lawsuits pan out. And then they get appealed to the Supreme Court, where the GOP-majority lapdogs say "yessir" and rule in favor of chaos.
We couldn't even get Trump convicted of criminal charges in time. What makes you think the judiciary is going to save us?
You may want a more recent news update before you claim the judiciary has been responsive. Judge Tanya Chutkan, the same one who ruled against insurrection charges "because we don't prosecute sitting presidents", just blocked the multi-state lawsuit requesting DOGE be restrained.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/18/politics/doge-temporary-restraining-order-chutkan/index.html
No, they are NOT literally fucking the US government. They are figuratively fucking up the entire US government.
Literally fucking up the US government would be some kind of orgy at the Senate. Or a bukkae of The Statue of Liberty.
protip: if you're gonna criticise another's words, make sure you don't make any typos. Just sayin'
Why not post the actual CNN article? https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/18/politics/opm-privacy-team-fired/index.html
CNN is sympathetic to fascists. I’m happy to not give them a click.
Could use the Wayback Machine
Common dreams headline is funnier and more succinct.
Holy shit, I called it.
I thought they’d have Congress do it, but this was more efficient, so yay?
Who needs Congress when the supreme Court is behind you?
They already know the Supreme Court is too slow. By the time it lands on their desk, the damage was already done a long time ago.
And the supreme Court will also side with them anyways. It's been stacked conservative over the years on purpose. When you lose the courts you lose the country. Look at what has happened with India and Pakistan over the years with their meddling with their legal systems.
So it seems like CNN doesn't follow the news of the day do they? To my recollection Trump had DOGE actions covered under the Presidential Records system so they are classified for a number of years and not allowed to be requested by FOIA requests until that time passes. So as of now their request would just be denied anyway.
You know, Totally Transparent Government™©® things... Definitely not doing anything wrong that needs to be hidden right?
Slight clarification, presidential records are subject to foia a few years after the presidency. But yes, transparent in the way that Elon "jail CNN for badmouthing doge" musk is a free speech absolutist.
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) applies to the Presidential Records Act (PRA) five years after the President has left office.
https://www.archives.gov/news/topics/presidential-records-act
EDIT: thinking about this more, you can definitely foia the clearances he had from SpaceX contracts. You know, back when he smoked weed on Joe Rogans podcast and got absolutely no consequences.
💩 coming soon
This was planned and on purpose.
How convenient, considering one of the extremely few checks we have available on DOGE destructive powers is FOIA requests.
It's hard to keep track of everything getting killed.
With this one now the transparency they're touting so much has been cut off at source. What next?
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