Trump's Second Term

[JayUtah]

How are the DOGE children getting physical access to these buildings and systems ? Why is no-one physically stopping them ? How are they simply walking into secure buildings and plugging in their computers ?

The pre-existing office that got co-opted to be DOGE was formerly the United States Digital Service, which functioned essentially as an IT office for the executive branch. As such it had the authority to access some government computer systems in the infrastructure, most prominently the public-facing elements. They have a proper mandate to modernize and streamline computer technology. This does not give them access to special systems that have specific security or privacy access restrictions. It was limited to public-facing services such as public portals to government services. The office has no policy mandate.

Elon Musk was set up originally as the head of this office, but now the administration has tried to walk this back in a court filing and claim that Musk is not a government employee nor in charge of DOGE. (This will probably come as a surprise to Musk.) The normal employees of the former USDS were originally subject to Title 5 requirements for government service, but the techno-toddlers Musk has brought in have not qualified for that service.

But insofar as access to facilities and systems, they have a semblance of authority.

 

[Pacal]

trump is up and ranting and raving at Zelinskyy, calling him a dictator whose only skill was manipulating Biden.

"Zelenskyy admits that half of the money we sent him is “MISSING.” He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden “like a fiddle.” A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left."

I'll spare you the rest, it's pretty clear trump intends to sell Ukraine down the river.

So all you Trump supporters what do you think of that?

It's obvious aside from demanding Ukrainian resources Trump is going to sell out the Ukraine.

Restoring diplomatic relations with Russia without a quid pro quo it seems. Russia is going to be asked for nothing it seems and Ukraine for everything.

 

[Random]

Yeah, that quote is false, it's literally not what he said. Even as a paraphrase it's wrong. There's a major difference between a statement about what should be and a statement about what is likely to be. Trump said it was unlikely that Russia would give up all the territory they seized, he did not say they should not give it up. And as a factual assessment, it's probably correct. Nobody is putting forward a plan that would actually make Russia pull out.

While it is difficult to imagine a scenario that would give Ukraine all of its pre-war territory including Crimea, excluding Ukraine from the peace talks while demanding Ukraine hand over half their mineral rights in perpetuity to the US to pay for the equipment we sent them and blaming Zelensky for Russia's invasion is not a good start.

 

[sphenisc]

Michael Moorcock's essay "Starship Stormtroopers" is worth reading in that regard. I have a link to the text somewhere but google etc are failing me.

Starship Stormtroopers: Michael Moorcock

An essay by Michael Moorcock on the saturation of Fascistic and authoritarian themes and messages in Science Fiction literature.

libcom.org

 

[crescent]

Questions from Mrs Don.

How are the DOGE children getting physical access to these buildings and systems ? Why is no-one physically stopping them ? How are they simply walking into secure buildings and plugging in their computers ?

What written authority do they have ? Why isn't building security or the director refusing access ?

In D C. most federal civilian building security fals under an agency called Facilities Protection Service (FPS), which is an agency of the Dept. of Homeland Security. FPS in turn contracts it out, mostly to a company called "Triple Canopy".

...and Triple Canopy is one of the names of the corporation formerly known as Blackwater. In addition to security services in the U S. they also field mercenaries in Iraq.

They won't do ◊◊◊◊ to stop this.

 

[Jack by the hedge]

Zelensky - people are talking about $X billion, we didn't get even half of that.
Trump - Zelensky admits half the money we sent him is missing.

No, you lying sack of ◊◊◊◊. You didn't send that money to Ukraine. Nothing is missing.

 

[Darat]

Michael Moorcock's essay "Starship Stormtroopers" is worth reading in that regard. I have a link to the text somewhere but google etc are failing me.

Starship Stormtroopers: Michael Moorcock

An essay by Michael Moorcock on the saturation of Fascistic and authoritarian themes and messages in Science Fiction literature.

libcom.org

 

[TellyKNeasuss]

If you ask me, his plan would be to do exactly what Putin did with Medvedev. Put up a puppet candidate, run the campaign as if he himself is running for president (his addiction to rallies is really an addiction), and instead put himself up as VP or chief of staff, effectively holding the levers of power without holding the office officially.

Or have himself appointed as the head of DOGE.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Trump full statement on Ukraine and the 'moderately successful comedian' Zelensky.

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn't be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and "TRUMP," will never be able to settle.
The United States has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe, and Europe's money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back.
Why didn't Sleepy Joe Biden demand Equalization, in that this War is far more important to Europe than it is to us - We have a big, beautiful Ocean as separation.
On top of this, Zelenskyy admits that half of the money we sent him is "MISSING." He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden "like a fiddle."
A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only "TRUMP," and the Trump Administration, can do.
Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the "gravy train" going.
I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died - And so it continues.....

 

[Andy_Ross]

Trump, Trump Trump.

It's not about Ukraine or Zelensky, or even Russia.
It's always about him.

 

[MarkCorrigan]

Jesus christ he's scum.

 

[Garrison]

The epitome of knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Trump endorses the House budget, which would need to drastically cut Medicaid, the program Trump said last night he would not touch.

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
The House and Senate are doing a SPECTACULAR job of working together as one unified, and unbeatable, TEAM, however, unlike the Lindsey Graham version of the very important Legislation currently being discussed, the House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it! We need both Chambers to pass the House Budget to “kickstart” the Reconciliation process, and move all of our priorities to the concept of, “ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL.” It will, without question, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

 

[Andy_Ross]

Did I already say that America has become Putin's Bitch and is now the enemy?

 

[The Great Zaganza]

and since Putin is Xi Jinping's bitch, the US is now doing what China wants it to do.

 

[Mike!]

Did I already say that America has become Putin's Bitch and is now the enemy?

Yeah, but it bears repeating.

 

[Safe-Keeper]

Did I already say that America has become Putin's Bitch and is now the enemy?

Did we also mention that X Oblast, Musk's Nazi Germany 2.0, has an unparalleled military and nuclear weapons --and equally deranged and incompetent leadership? Interesting times.

 

[Andy_Ross]

The US State Department is forcing all of its employees to cancel subscriptions to any Trump-unfriendly media.

 

[thaiboxerken]

How long until he tries to restrict access to "enemy media" from all americans?

 

[theprestige]

If that's what it takes to do what, exactly? Regain all the Ukrainian territory?

Yes.

And what if it takes every last Ukrainian to do it? Is that worth the cost?

That's up to Ukraine to decide. Right now it's a risk, that we're exacerbating by trickling military aid. And right now, that's a risk Ukraine is willing to take. I think we can honor their commitment, and reduce the risk - the cost in Ukrainian lives - by giving them more aid faster.

And just as importantly, what exactly is the plan to make that happen?

More aid, faster. Manufacture ammunition, send it to Ukraine. Manufacture drones, send them to Ukraine. Send more medical supplies. Send more generators. Send more water purifiers. Send more tanks. Send more planes. Send more intel. Send more EW gear. Send more night vision. SEND MORE.

Sure, it would be. But how do you make that happen? I think the idea that it even can happen any time soon is completely unrealistic.

Sending more aid faster will make it happen sooner. Sending more aid faster in 2022 and 2023 and 2024 would have made it a lot faster. But better late than never.

Again, if there's no one left, there's no one to trade with. And yeah, "no one" is a bit hyperbole, but seriously, population matters. And the longer the war goes on, the less population is left. They are literally chewing through their future here.

Then we should invest more heavily in ensuring that there's someone left to trade with. By sending more aid faster.

Ten billion to secure Ukraine as a trading partner is a far better investment than one billion to secure Russia as a trading partner.

You do realize that we haven't actually abandoned them, right? We're still sending them military aid.

No. The American right has pretty much turned its back on Ukraine, in favor of a Trumpist and frankly bizarre capitulation to mother ◊◊◊◊◊◊◊ Moscow. That's been a big impediment to sending more aid faster. It's about to get worse, and I think that sucks.

See, I don't think we are on opposite sides. I think we're on orthogonal sides. I think you're looking at what you want (and in an ideal world, I want it too), while right now I'm looking at what we can actually get. And I'm not seeing an answer from you to indicate I'm wrong about what we can actually get, only an insistence that we should want more than I think we can get. And it's not enough to want it. Where's the plan to get it? "Just keep doing what we're doing" doesn't suffice. Ukraine isn't actually making territorial gains here.

I think we can actually get more aid to Ukraine, faster. I think we can actually get Russia to collapse and rout, if we send more aid, faster. You're right that "just keep doing what we're doing" doesn't suffice. Let's do more. Faster.

And territorial gains are a terrible metric, for a weak defender. Attrition over time and space is the play for Ukraine. We can and should do a lot more to make that attrition as time-and-space efficient as possible.