Yes. There is a possibility that no one could have beaten Trump in 2024 and this aligns with global trends.
COVID and the post-COVID inflation surges have produced "throw the bums" out elections around the world. This has happened to center-left and center-right governments. Basically, almost anyone or party who was in charge of government in 2021 had big issues in their next elections.
If anything, the Democratic Party did much better compared to others. The Tories lost 251 seats in their July 2024 election. The LDP lost 68 seats.
Yes she obviously wasn't good enough but it could be that no one was good enough because "throw the bums" out has been a global phenomenon over the past few years and this is a very silly hypothetical because it allows anyone to say anything to prove their priors.
I'm generally not a fan of hypotheticals for this reason.
Anyway, Jaybird would rather make a trolling remark about a routine action like the DNC choosing their new head instead of:
1. Acknowledging that Musk getting his people in total control of payments, OPM, and GSA is very, very bad;
2. Democrats as the minority party do not have magical mystical powers to stop all of this.
It's immature and it is not good analysis. I don't see why I should accept it as Jaybird just being a big old contrarian.
I don't think being a contrarian is an admirable trait and I dispute his assertion that Harris was a bad candidate or choice and his constant trolling on trans issues is juvenile and as others pointed out, assumes a whole lot of facts not in evidence.
Musk, an unelected person in charge of a non-existing program is locking government workers out of computer systems at a US agency: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-aides-lock-government-workers-out-computer-systems-us-agency-sources-say-2025-01-31/
"The systems include a vast database called Enterprise Human Resources Integration, which contains dates of birth, Social Security numbers, appraisals, home addresses, pay grades and length of service of government workers, the officials said.
"We have no visibility into what they are doing with the computer and data systems," one of the officials said. "That is creating great concern. There is no oversight. It creates real cybersecurity and hacking implications."
Officials affected by the move can still log on and access functions such as email but can no longer see the massive datasets that cover every facet of the federal workforce.
Musk, OPM, representatives of the new team, and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
OPM has sent out memos that eschew the normal dry wording of government missives as it encourages civil servants to consider buyout offers to quit and take a vacation to a "dream destination."
Don Moynihan, a professor at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, said the actions inside OPM raised concerns about congressional oversight at the agency and how Trump and Musk view the federal bureaucracy.
"This makes it much harder for anyone outside Musk's inner circle at OPM to know what's going on," Moynihan said."
MSU college obeys in advance and abruptly cancels Lunar New Year celebration: https://statenews.com/article/2025/01/msu-college-abruptly-cancels-lunar-new-year-event-citing-trump-orders
Musk purges career nonpolitical Treasury official that displeased him: https://meidasnews.com/news/musk-allies-push-out-top-career-treasury-department-official
I think Philip has it correct. There are people who realize what is going on and I think resistance is starting to snap in line. But there is still division over tactics. Marshall who is nobody's idea of a slouch thinks calm and steady wins the resistance: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/calm-amidst-the-storm
"But this is also fundamentally a battle for public opinion, which means it’s about the next election and sowing divisions in the majority party. That means it’s very much a long haul. Unsatisfying and scary, yes, but that doesn’t make it less the reality. The whole game here is whipping up false perceptions of urgency that can’t be met which leads people to despair and giving up.
I tend to think of these things in a political form of the “serenity prayer” usually attributed to the 20th century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr: know what power you lack, use the power you have to the maximum extent possible and do your best to distinguish between the two. “Serenity” sounds to many people to very much fail to meet the moment. But serenity is actually power. (It’s also resilience but let’s focus for now on the power part of the equation.) This is of necessity very much an asymmetric confrontation. It can’t not be. The White House has all the executive authority and, indirectly, the congressional power as well. When Trump or Bannon or Steven Miller talk about overwhelming the opposition, they really mean goading them to meet every new thrust as a pitched battle on open ground which they’ll of course lose since — to extend the metaphor — the Republicans have a big army and the Democrats have no army. Because of the 2024 election. So Democrats keep running out onto the open field with no power or defense and getting crushed, which creates these repeated set pieces of helplessness and impotence. That amounts to free programming for Donald Trump. To stretch the metaphor a bit further, this is for the moment a guerrilla conflict for the Democrats — cutting communications and supply lines, taking out fuel and arms depots and then running back into the hills. As we said yesterday: “Find what you can actually do that’s not begging or meaningless and then do it.”
There is palpably an appetite for someone to be the opposition to all of this. And what works as an opposition is knowing where the footholds of power actually are and using those aggressively and to the hilt. There’s is nothing to be gained by begging Republicans to do this or that. You attack them for supporting what’s happening. Raise the stakes. Gaining credibility as an opposition means demonstrating you know how to do it, that you can land wounds, catch your opponents off guard, leave them confused or force them to come to you. Results."
The problem is that there seem to be a good chunk of people whose response to what Trump is doing is to quadruple down on norms*. Democrats are seemingly united on the spending freezes being chaos but the debate about dying on the hill of transrights is strong everywhere. I'm a "at first they came for the" kind of guy but opinion is split so far. Even Trump's nominees can't produce a unified wall of no yet. Burgum received 25 yes votes from Democrats and Democrats will debate endlessly on whether it should be a unified wall of no on everything or whether powder should be used successfully.
And if Trump is determined to rule lawlessly for the next four years and just ask "how many divisions does Congress and the Supreme Court have?" The pushback response to that is something that people would probably like to keep at the back of their brains.
*I swear there is a certain kind of person that thinks the worst thing in the world is to show any kind of heightened emotion or anger because they think it means their opponent got under their skin. They can be on a train to Dachau and they would still be tut tutting the person who is angry over this instead of the person who put them on the train to Dachau.
"Trump announces federal funding freeze via EO.
Head of OMB issues a memo with specifics.
Judge orders a temporary restraining order.
OMB rescinds memo.
Press secretary says the freeze is still on, the memo was just withdrawn to avoid the court order.
Judge orders the temporary restraining order on freezing spending, citing the Press Secretary's public statement.
Today, all funding requests made by postdocs for their salaries have been unilaterally rejected by NSF."
Trump is announcing he is going to rule unilaterally and ask how many divisions does Congress and the Courts have?
Trump has more announced his intent to rule as near an absolute monarch as possible and is basically letting Congress do the bare minimum and Congressional Republicans don't seem to care and he is pretty much announced his view of the courts will be "how many divisions do they have?"
I suppose the next steps would be whether he openly defies a Supreme Court decision, appoints a nominee that is rejected by Congress (if it happens), or the next time we are about to hit the debt ceiling
These are not very bright fellows and things are getting out of hand: https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/475657302_1105985187874792_9154255246372883800_n.jpg
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Open Mic for the week of 1/27/2025”
Yes. There is a possibility that no one could have beaten Trump in 2024 and this aligns with global trends.
COVID and the post-COVID inflation surges have produced "throw the bums" out elections around the world. This has happened to center-left and center-right governments. Basically, almost anyone or party who was in charge of government in 2021 had big issues in their next elections.
If anything, the Democratic Party did much better compared to others. The Tories lost 251 seats in their July 2024 election. The LDP lost 68 seats.
https://apnews.com/article/global-elections-2024-incumbents-defeated-c80fbd4e667de86fe08aac025b333f95
"
And it looks like Trump should be taken seriously and literally on Greenland too:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fb8e18a624c8253d9343816a7443e5b4725f3027af51f4c8a820c3059cce735f.jpg
"
Trump is apparently hell bent on making Canada the 51st state: https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GiyVs3ZWUAAyDnV.jpg
Canadian Bacon as a Grecian Tragedy. Joy!!!
"
Yes she obviously wasn't good enough but it could be that no one was good enough because "throw the bums" out has been a global phenomenon over the past few years and this is a very silly hypothetical because it allows anyone to say anything to prove their priors.
I'm generally not a fan of hypotheticals for this reason.
Anyway, Jaybird would rather make a trolling remark about a routine action like the DNC choosing their new head instead of:
1. Acknowledging that Musk getting his people in total control of payments, OPM, and GSA is very, very bad;
2. Democrats as the minority party do not have magical mystical powers to stop all of this.
It's immature and it is not good analysis. I don't see why I should accept it as Jaybird just being a big old contrarian.
"
I don't think being a contrarian is an admirable trait and I dispute his assertion that Harris was a bad candidate or choice and his constant trolling on trans issues is juvenile and as others pointed out, assumes a whole lot of facts not in evidence.
"
It's Captain Contrarian Lacks a Moral Compass
"
Musk, an unelected person in charge of a non-existing program is locking government workers out of computer systems at a US agency: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-aides-lock-government-workers-out-computer-systems-us-agency-sources-say-2025-01-31/
"The systems include a vast database called Enterprise Human Resources Integration, which contains dates of birth, Social Security numbers, appraisals, home addresses, pay grades and length of service of government workers, the officials said.
"We have no visibility into what they are doing with the computer and data systems," one of the officials said. "That is creating great concern. There is no oversight. It creates real cybersecurity and hacking implications."
Officials affected by the move can still log on and access functions such as email but can no longer see the massive datasets that cover every facet of the federal workforce.
Musk, OPM, representatives of the new team, and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
OPM has sent out memos that eschew the normal dry wording of government missives as it encourages civil servants to consider buyout offers to quit and take a vacation to a "dream destination."
Don Moynihan, a professor at the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, said the actions inside OPM raised concerns about congressional oversight at the agency and how Trump and Musk view the federal bureaucracy.
"This makes it much harder for anyone outside Musk's inner circle at OPM to know what's going on," Moynihan said."
"
The bring down costs President: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01/30/us/president-trump-news
"
MSU college obeys in advance and abruptly cancels Lunar New Year celebration: https://statenews.com/article/2025/01/msu-college-abruptly-cancels-lunar-new-year-event-citing-trump-orders
"
Musk purges career nonpolitical Treasury official that displeased him: https://meidasnews.com/news/musk-allies-push-out-top-career-treasury-department-official
"
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1328c91bbcbedb713d0c2ce2d3bab0ff2c33f2114cbd4890ec5d89cfb77c51d4.jpg
But sure get your underwear in a twist about transpeople.
"
Jaybird's hardwiring towards contrarianism circumvents all senses of dignity and decency.
"
I think Philip has it correct. There are people who realize what is going on and I think resistance is starting to snap in line. But there is still division over tactics. Marshall who is nobody's idea of a slouch thinks calm and steady wins the resistance: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/calm-amidst-the-storm
"But this is also fundamentally a battle for public opinion, which means it’s about the next election and sowing divisions in the majority party. That means it’s very much a long haul. Unsatisfying and scary, yes, but that doesn’t make it less the reality. The whole game here is whipping up false perceptions of urgency that can’t be met which leads people to despair and giving up.
I tend to think of these things in a political form of the “serenity prayer” usually attributed to the 20th century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr: know what power you lack, use the power you have to the maximum extent possible and do your best to distinguish between the two. “Serenity” sounds to many people to very much fail to meet the moment. But serenity is actually power. (It’s also resilience but let’s focus for now on the power part of the equation.) This is of necessity very much an asymmetric confrontation. It can’t not be. The White House has all the executive authority and, indirectly, the congressional power as well. When Trump or Bannon or Steven Miller talk about overwhelming the opposition, they really mean goading them to meet every new thrust as a pitched battle on open ground which they’ll of course lose since — to extend the metaphor — the Republicans have a big army and the Democrats have no army. Because of the 2024 election. So Democrats keep running out onto the open field with no power or defense and getting crushed, which creates these repeated set pieces of helplessness and impotence. That amounts to free programming for Donald Trump. To stretch the metaphor a bit further, this is for the moment a guerrilla conflict for the Democrats — cutting communications and supply lines, taking out fuel and arms depots and then running back into the hills. As we said yesterday: “Find what you can actually do that’s not begging or meaningless and then do it.”
There is palpably an appetite for someone to be the opposition to all of this. And what works as an opposition is knowing where the footholds of power actually are and using those aggressively and to the hilt. There’s is nothing to be gained by begging Republicans to do this or that. You attack them for supporting what’s happening. Raise the stakes. Gaining credibility as an opposition means demonstrating you know how to do it, that you can land wounds, catch your opponents off guard, leave them confused or force them to come to you. Results."
The problem is that there seem to be a good chunk of people whose response to what Trump is doing is to quadruple down on norms*. Democrats are seemingly united on the spending freezes being chaos but the debate about dying on the hill of transrights is strong everywhere. I'm a "at first they came for the" kind of guy but opinion is split so far. Even Trump's nominees can't produce a unified wall of no yet. Burgum received 25 yes votes from Democrats and Democrats will debate endlessly on whether it should be a unified wall of no on everything or whether powder should be used successfully.
And if Trump is determined to rule lawlessly for the next four years and just ask "how many divisions does Congress and the Supreme Court have?" The pushback response to that is something that people would probably like to keep at the back of their brains.
*I swear there is a certain kind of person that thinks the worst thing in the world is to show any kind of heightened emotion or anger because they think it means their opponent got under their skin. They can be on a train to Dachau and they would still be tut tutting the person who is angry over this instead of the person who put them on the train to Dachau.
"
From a former OTer:
"Trump announces federal funding freeze via EO.
Head of OMB issues a memo with specifics.
Judge orders a temporary restraining order.
OMB rescinds memo.
Press secretary says the freeze is still on, the memo was just withdrawn to avoid the court order.
Judge orders the temporary restraining order on freezing spending, citing the Press Secretary's public statement.
Today, all funding requests made by postdocs for their salaries have been unilaterally rejected by NSF."
Trump is announcing he is going to rule unilaterally and ask how many divisions does Congress and the Courts have?
"
I'm not sure one substacker is a credible weight
"
Vance is Thiel and Trump's dogsbody and has been largely let to the sidelines.
The E.O. seems to have blown up in their faces too quickly and they took the website on it down
"
Things that made it less of a white guys only profession and they hated that. What Trump is doing has no merit and you shouldn't act like it does.
"
Thin-skinned white guys with hurt fee fees sue Obama admin for changes it made in how hiring was done.
On “Trump’s Unforced Error”
More seriously,
Trump has more announced his intent to rule as near an absolute monarch as possible and is basically letting Congress do the bare minimum and Congressional Republicans don't seem to care and he is pretty much announced his view of the courts will be "how many divisions do they have?"
I suppose the next steps would be whether he openly defies a Supreme Court decision, appoints a nominee that is rejected by Congress (if it happens), or the next time we are about to hit the debt ceiling
"
"genuine mass depuration would require something from Congress otherwise it’d get shut down in courts* before it got started."
Where does the Constitution give Congress oversight over cats?
On “Open Mic for the week of 1/27/2025”
Trump apparently signs order blaming DEI and Biden for last night's crash: https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3lgygvhryic2o
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/immediate-assessment-of-aviation-safety/
"
It's a joke.
"
Why hasn't Hegseth made a statement about the airport plane crash?
What else would you expect from a DUI hire?
"
Marianne Faithful has died: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgA4-bLcoN8
"
These are not very bright fellows and things are getting out of hand: https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/475657302_1105985187874792_9154255246372883800_n.jpg
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.