The felon-in-chief is now blaming the disabled for this airplane wreck... and all at a time when he literally knows nothing about the wreck. Dear friends, this MUST stop!
My job is to assist those with disabilities get hired by employers who will benefit from their contributions... NOT place them in roles they can't do! That's antithetical to the work we do. DEI is NOT about putting unqualified people into positions they can't do, just to feel good about diversity!
We've been making great progress over the last decade in getting formerly unemployed people into meaningful jobs where they can simply work. We don't want to have it undone by an incompetent jackass speaking from a place of ignorance.
If he's going to be president, we need him to hire actually qualified people to do the jobs they know to do (unlike his cabinet, unfortunately) and then he needs to shut up, get out of the way, and let those qualified do the work.
His words coming from a place of ignorance are/are going to hurt real people. We don't want to - and will NOT - go back to a time before human rights were encouraged for all of us!
Unfortunately, if they were actually hiring competent people, the the president and most of his staff would be removed. All the talk about meritocracy, but it wasn't one of the many qualified black military leaders in actual leadership positions that was hired to run the military, it was a low grade news "personality" that got the position because he was a white man and a Trump loyalist!
This is not a meritocracy. It's an oligarchy, a party run by a delusional wannabe strong man and his sycophants.
31 comments:
Well, you clearly expose yourself as knowing nothing.
"DEI is NOT about putting unqualified people into positions they can't do, just to feel good about diversity!"
Yet this has absolutely been the case far more often than not. Just the mere fact that you believe anyone should ever consider anything but merit means that less qualified people will be placed in positions well beyond their ability.
And I haven't heard any evidence that Trump thinks disabled people are responsible for the collision in Washington. What an evil lie. That he's concerned DEI might have played a role is a completely justified concern.
But then, lying is what you do.
Marshal believes in Affirmative Action for alcoholic hush-money-for-sex cabinet picks.
Marshal...
"Yet this has absolutely been the case far more often than not."
A stupidly false claim that you 100% absolutely can not prove.
Admit that reality or post no more on this thread.
Marshal...
"Just the mere fact that you believe anyone should ever consider anything but merit means that less qualified people will be placed in positions well beyond their ability."
And yet, Hegseth was WAY under qualified and unfit while more qualified candidates were overlooked.
You DO believe in diversity, just only when it's a way under qualified maga white man. That is, you believe that unfit, unqualified candidates should be given priority to have a rich "diversity " of mostly white maga loyalists.
Dan
On what basis do you regard Hegseth as unqualified? You have none but your hatred.
There is currently a class action suit against the FAA (brought by former Nevada AG Adam Laxalt) on behalf of around 100 applicants for air traffic control positions across the nation being denied on the basis of their skin color. At least one of those applicants scored 100%. There are also reports of positions given to people with various issues which would compromise efficient and effective performance in tasks which put lives at risk. This isn't a myth of any kind and a little honest and serious research can provide you with details.
These confirmation hearings are to give advice and consent for those selected by the president on his criteria, which is how these things work. There's nothing about any of the candidates which suggest some kind of racial bias as you intentionally and dishonestly assert without any evidence of any kind.
In the meantime, Lloyd Austin was qualified how? Richard Levine was qualified how? Sam Brinton was qualified how? Pete Buttigieg was qualified how? Kamala Harris was qualified how? Joe Biden was qualified how? The Biden administration has proven how DEI and box-checking fails the nation. What more proof of it do you need than that?
Diversity based on race and sex is not diversity of any substance. It's racism and sexism. And in the selection of a president's cabinet, it is dangerous and destructive. Only merit counts and merit based on the perspective of the President who needs and deserves people of like mind to move his agenda forward. Given his agenda is America first...which means, We The People...Trump has demonstrated and is demonstrating again, particularly by his selections, that he is far better for the nation than those you've supported.
As to Hegseth, many in the military are fully behind him and regard him as just what is needed in that position for the good of the military and its ability to do its job.
Marshal, I was quite clear that you made a stupidly false claim and you need to admit that before you say anything else.
"Yet this has absolutely been the case far more often than not." (that DEI has "been about putting unqualified people in jobs far more often than not...")
A stupidly false claim that you 100% absolutely can not prove.
Admit that reality or post no more on this thread.
So, for that reason, I'll be deleting your comment. We've got reasonable, respectful rules to live by, little friend.
But first, I will address some of your questions.
On what basis is Hegseth unqualified?
* He has served in the military for FAR fewer years than other Defense Secretaries.
* He has no experience managing an operation ANYWHERE near as large as the Defense Department. Not even close;
* the agencies he DID run (TWO non profits to help veterans concerns) he was kicked out of "...amid allegations of financial mismanagement, drunkenness and sexist behavior." AND they were nowhere as big as the defense department, of course;
* because of the sexual abuse allegations hanging over his head;
* because of the drinking problems he's had while at work;
* because of his misogyny/sexual abuse problems, he should NOT be working in or near the military because of the MILITARY's own misogyny/sexual abuse problems. We need to clean that up NOT go back to the good old days of misogyny and winking at rape. Putting this idiot in charge only puts women soldiers back in the firing line.
* because Hegseth's MAIN "credential" for being put in this position is that he's a Trump loyalist. That is PRECISELY the wrong type of person to put in charge of the largest military in the world. We need someone who will stand UP to an idiot president if that president is making stupid policy changes. We do NOT need cowardly "YES MEN" in cabinet positions, including this one;
* Because of his hostility towards LGBTQ service members;
Beyond that (and more), you all keep saying it should be about hiring the "most qualified..." In your own little story (to what end, I don't know) about the poor white men who scored "100%" on some test... you're suggesting that someone with the MOST qualification should be hired. Well, Hegseth, even setting aside his serious deficits, at the very least is NOT the most qualified person for the job.
Clearly there are other people with more experience and at higher levels than this news "personality" and idiot Trump loyalist.
Being a loyalist to one man is NOT a credential worth having. Indeed, it is a red flag.
You can't have it both ways. IF you're advocating hiring based on some notion of "meritocracy," THEN you should support someone with MORE experience over LESS experience.
Now, admit you made a stupidly false claim or be deleted. (Or, failing that, prove your stupidly false claim with data... something you can't do).
Yeah, you'll delete not because anything I've said is actually false, but because you need it to be. But if what I said is actually false, where is YOUR evidence and data to support your knee jerk response as being true? You don't have any. I pointed to examples where that was the case. Here's one regarding a Biden nominee to head the FAA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEj2Yq0okzU&t=2s
How was this guy qualified to even be considered by the guy you insist would make a better president than Trump?
Craig and I have already provided studies such as the following which speaks of peripheral harm caused by DEI policies and trainings in companies and institutions:
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/study-dei-psychological/2024/11/25/id/1189336/
And another look at the same study:
https://www.inc.com/suzanne-lucas/study-dei-training-could-make-racial-tensions-worse/91024524
The following (the abstract and conclusion will be sufficient to drive home the point), indicates harm done to women and blacks as a consequence of DEI initiatives. It states it doesn't seem to be the case for LGBTQ, but insists more research is necessary to ensure that's the case. If it is the case, it suggests the potential for favoring of the LGBTQ cohort, which obviously comes at the expense of others, and thus is harm:
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2595&context=honors-theses
Here is yet another related to the FAA with a follow up comment by me afterward:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/gop-ags-warn-biden-admin-of-catastrophic-consequences-of-faa-pushing-dei-over-merit-based-hiring/ar-BB1iFnxt
As the article states about the FAA:
"...agency has been pushing forward with racial trainings despite previously acknowledging that "[t]here is a trade-off between diversity…and predicted job performance/outcomes."". (embolden mine) This means, they concede poorer performance is likely with choosing diversity over merit.
* Hegseth was involved in organizations upon returning home from military service. Many in his situation suffer from a variety of problems related to their combat experiences and lefties like to hype this period of his life, ignoring his more recent period of good behavior because...you know...embrace grace. He praises my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ for helping him get his shit together.
* As is true for all grace embracing progressives, allegations equal fact. This isn't true for honest people who abide the teachings of the Christian faith.
* The same is true for drinking problems, which he no longer has. For the Jeff St progressive, one's repentance means nothing if one is conservative.
* This one is pure Dan, with no legitimate value of any kind. There is no "winking" at "misogyny" (a word you continue to abuse in order to demonize people better than you) by the hiring of Hegseth as SecODef. That's absurdly childish after supporting both Biden and Harris.
* Hegseth's "main credential" not his "loyalty" to Trump, as if he'd engage in illegal or unethical behavior simply because Trump demands it of him. No. This is just another pathetic accusation toward someone who agrees with the vast majority of Americans on both what's urgently needed in our military and who was the best choice for president last November. This objection isn't particularly unique among your kind, given how absurd your objections to Trump and anyone supporting him are. What's worse is that you pretend the cabinet members of the Obama and Trump administration rarely (more like "never") opposed a damned thing they wanted to do. Indeed, a pro-life woman Democrat is not allowed to march with Dem women's marches. Loyalty among YOUR kind is mandated. Loyalty to Trump (and conservatism in general) is based on the intelligent agreement with better and proven policies beneficial to all Americans.
But the truth is that you want someone...ANYone who will "stand up to Trump" not because his policies are actually bad for anyone, but because you personally don't like the policies. You want them to stand up against policies Dan Trabue doesn't like. They're not at all beholden to the likes of you, but to true Americans wise enough to know a good policy when they see them. (By the way...there's one move Trump's made with which I disagree and on which I hope he will reverse his position. That's the removal of the security detail for John Bolton and Mike Pompeo. They were both involved in the actions taken to take out an Iranian scumbag and given the murderous insanity of the radical muslims, their lives are forever in danger. Salmon Rushie was knifed by an islamic shit many years after the fatwa was proclaimed on him. They don't forget because they're evil, and both men acted on behalf of the American people under the direction of their government. Were that treasonous like General Milley, it would be a different story. He's righteously on his own now.) Anyway, in the meantime, I can't think of anyone who was not cowardly "YES MEN" in the idiot Obama or Biden administrations.
Marshal kerps defending alcoholic hush-money payers as the chief of our national defense. He couldn’t name one country belonging to ASEAN because he’s ignorant of what any real candidate knows. He’s a news jockey.
Christian nationalism is a destructive, revenge motivated movement of toxic men who want their White power back. They will destroy us if we let them. Satan is at work.
I don't normally address the wild fantasies of feo, but this one was short, so on my way to my reason for returning, I'll do so:
ASEAN is an economic alliance, not a military one. The putz who asked him the question either didn't know that, either, or like feo, only asked because he knew it was irrelevant and hoped to put Hegseth in a negative light by the unexpected reference to an irrelevant group with which a SecDef wouldn't necessarily concern himself. But then, the Dems asked all manner of irrelevant questions they stupidly found compelling. What a vile embarrassment your party is for the United States! And as we've suffered greatly from the elevation of a known buffoon about whom his ability to f**k things up was publicized by "the One", to pretend "Christian nationalism" is a threat is laughable on its face, and the reality even more so. And of course, neither of you can resist playing the race card. "Satan is at work" indeed!
So I've tried to find stories related to actual cases where a DEI hire resulted in direct harm to another because of the hire wasn't actually the best available. These stories are harder to find, not because they don't exist, but because of the unwillingness of leftist media to report them. I had a story which I'm not sure I saved in my voluminous stack of stuff describing a case of a black pilot who routinely failed all manner of in the sky testing. I tried various ways to google it in hopes of having it pop up again, as that would have been quicker than digging through all my stuff to find it...if I did actually save it. So far, no dice on either front.
What I've never seen from you is any evidence of DEI hires being solely non-whites wherein the only difference between the DEI hire and the white or asian guy passed over was skin color or sex. That is to say, cases where all applicants considered were of equal ability as proven by actual evidence, such that the deciding factor was, say, race...after which point no negative outcomes occurred as a result which couldn't easily have been as likely of anyone hired solely on merit.
In cases where physical standards had to be met, I've not seen a case where those standards were not at some point altered in order to hire or recruit those who were previously, normally unable to be.
This first link gives an overview of the various fields or industries in which lowering standards resulted in questionable ability in hires. Only a fool would suggest that it wouldn't negatively impact others:
https://www.themainewire.com/2024/03/don-lemon-told-elon-musk-no-evidence-dei-lowers-standards-heres-the-evidence/
This one I found is notable because it admits standards were lowered in order to hire more black men as firefighters. Read all the way down and find where they provide the explanation for just how the original testing was discriminatory. You won't find it. I read another which made the same claim but also failed to explain the charge. The only reason one can surmise is that because blacks (or women where they failed physical tests) were victims of discrimination is because they didn't score as well as those hired. The implication is that tests had always been designed to keep non-white men out of the gig, which is absurd and for which no proof has ever been provided:
https://www.bet.com/article/n4v4et/chicago-fire-department-must-hire-more-black-men
Note at the very bottom, they seek to allege discrimination is still at work because despite the passing grade being around 65%, blacks failed to be hired because only those with passing grades above 89% were hired. It claims qualified people were passed over because they were black (as if not whites with similarly low scores were not also passed over), when logic and honesty and intelligence would suggest simply despite what constitutes a qualifying score, department smartly chose to select from the most qualified, rather than the minimally, "just made it" qualified. Yes, that's discrimination. But it's discrimination of a most effective, benevolent and just kind, and it's what best serves the people who depend upon firefighters to prevent harm to people and minimize damage.
It’s a particular joy to me when Marshal waves his middle school certificate as evidence that he is, indeed, a deep thinker. Here we have inference that Marshal thinks the only job of a Secretary of Defense is to sit at the desk and decide when we should pull the trigger.
[He avoided the long years of alcoholism without proof that Hegseth’s addiction is over; he avoided the multiple hush money payments. Evidently good Christians, good supporters of strong leadership, should ignore such incredible dangers. Pulling the trigger is an easy decision, drunk or sober, and abusing human persons is just part of the job. Jesus, don’t look! Marshal loves the Herods of this world.]
So, Marshal is ignorant of the realities that Defense Secretaries travel the world doing diplomacy by helping to build and strengthen cooperation and allied relationships. Knowing the world’s power groups and being supremely knowledgeable and adept at deal making is a basic, mandatory skill at keeping global peace.
So it is, also, that Marshal is ignorant of ASEAN’s importance. Vitally important and why the Senator - who served in the military three times as long as Hegseth and left her legs behind in Iraq, brought it up.
ASEAN is not a mere economic policy house in Asia. It is THE major aggregate player in security in the East. Its purpose?
The three major pillars of a single ASEAN community were established as:
* Political-Security Community (APSC) [the first stated pillar! Security you idiot]
* Economic Community (AEC)
* Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC)
What is ASEAN’s role in global security? ASEAN is recognized by its members to be one of the main forums to discuss security issues; based on the principles in its charter, its main aim is to provide an environment of common understanding and cooperation between the member states to "respond effectively to all forms of threats, transitional crimes and transboundary challenges". Accordingly, ASEAN has embraced the idea of cooperative security which means that ASEAN's approach to security issues is through confidence-building measures and transparency for reducing the tension and conflict between its members. Security policies and plans are concerted by the ASEAN Political-Security Community to envision "a concert of Southeast Asian nations, outward looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership in dynamic development and in a community of caring societies."
For example, diplomacy in the South China Sea
With perceptions that there have been multiple incursions into the South China Sea by the PRC (China) and ROC (Taiwan), with land, islands and resources all having had previous overlapping claims between Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and various other countries, the PRC and ROC's claim into the region is seen as intrusive by many Southeast Asian countries as of 2022, potentially a reflection of the threat of Chinese expansionism into the region. Shortly after the conclusion of the South China Sea Arbitration, at the 24 July 2016 China-ASEAN Foreign Ministers summit, China assured ASEAN that it would not conduct land reclamation on the Scarborough Shoal. The joint statement at the conclusion of the summit emphasized the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and urged the parties to refrain from inhabiting currently unoccupied islands, reefs, shoals, cays, and other features.
There have been territorial disputes between ASEAN member states such as the Cambodian–Thai border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand, Cambodian–Vietnamese border dispute between Cambodia and Vietnam,and the North Borneo dispute between the Philippines and Malaysia. The Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1978, backed by the Soviet Union, was not accepted by ASEAN. They rejected it as a violation of the principles of regional integration. ASEAN cooperated with US and Australia to oppose Vietnam's move and it sponsored a Cambodian resolution in the United Nations General Assembly. ASEAN played a major role starting in 1980 in the peace process, leading to the 1991 Paris Agreement.
feo dares once again to play mind reader. He makes a false claim about my understanding of ASEAN. But the real issue here is Pete Hegseth and his and Dan's lack of legitimate reason for questioning whether or not he would do well in the role of SecDef. So like the absurd Tammy Duckworth, feo thinks a primer about ASEAN makes any difference. What matters is competence, something about which neither feo nor Dan seem to truly care, or else they'd have been all over Lloyd Austin:
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/07/our_defense_secretarys_repeated_failures_humiliate_our_nation.html
According to this article, he's the one who assured "the One" that ISIS was merely the JV team. Yeah. You guys are wise enough to judge.
Marshal can’t admit the simple fact the he doesn’t know what ASEAN is or does or why it’s important in world affairs. Marshal is unqualified to be Secretary of Defense. A simple standard that applies to anlcoholic, hush-money-payer, Hegseth - who doesn’t know what ASEAN is or does or why it’s important in world affairs. Marshal proves our point.
Not only that: Hegseth claims it’s time that grunts get a shot at the chair. Senator and Lieutenant Colonel Duckworth was a grunt. Served three times as long as Hegseth. Instead of hiding as a partisan news desk jockey, she directed Illinois’ Department of Veteran Affairs, served as Assistant Secretary of the national VA’s Public and Intergovernmental Affairs. And she has been elected in a statewide! election.
Marshal thinks she’s absurd. Trump called fallen soldiers “suckers and losers.”
Marshal and the other Thugs - Craig, Stan, Bubba, the fake Scotsman - they show us the depravity of “Christian Nationalism.” It is just as Christian as National Socialism was socialist.
And shares the same fascist motivations. Along with Muslim terrorists, they love to attack Washington, New York, and tear down, rather than reform our governmental bureaucracies. The bin Laden family is an oligarchy. Elon Musk, unelected but given control over aspects of the Treasury Department and foreign aid, gives the Heil Hitler salute.
As he shows above, and the Thugs demonstrate daily, they cannot look in the mirror. You know who else cannot look in a mirror? Devils.
Elon Musk, unelected and unconfirmed by any Congressional oversight.
Try as you might, you fail to provide a reason why not knowing the nations of the ASEAN alliance is disqualifying, as if he would get up to speed if that knowledge somehow became necessary while SecDef. This lame attempt to find fault is simply a demand for perfection never made of any Biden selection for any position, nor for that matter, of Biden or Obama or any other Dem politician. Indeed, Duckworth's time directing IL Dept of VA was not without controversy. What's more, her election in a state with a majority of Democrats isn't something which makes her qualified for anything. Your arguments are insipid as always. I fully doubt she could name the nations of ASEAN before someone suggesting she ask Hegseth the question. His job is to clean of the problems in our military caused by people like you in the federal government. He doesn't need to know anything about ASEAN to do that.
Only 12 year olds think knowledge is qualifying to be a Secretary of Defense. The information I posted is from sources cited in Wikipedia. Which proved you wrong. ASEAN is a major negotiator/deal maker/moderator in Asian security issues and threats to global peace. I knew that. Now you know that. Hegseth can read Wikipedia without trouble I’m sure. Reading it, knowing it, is available to 600 million Americans.
All the above did was show HOW ABSURDLY FAR BACK YOU ARE IN UNDERSTANDING WHO SHOULD BE CONSIDERED QUALIFIED FOR SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.
Tammy Duckworth isn’t qualified. Maybe in another eight to ten years IF she keeps her head in military affairs.
You are such a f*ck*ng idiot. And Hegseth is supremely unqualified to serve the American public even as a page on the floor of Congress! He’s a predator.
These two things are the only! facts demonstrated on this entire thread.
Doesn't need to be.
Marshal, you moron. “Not knowing everything” is not knowing who the Malay delegate is to ASEAN. Not knowing what ASEAN is, not being able to name just ONE! member is qualified for a junior position and unfit to lead altogether. You’d put Joe the alcoholic plumber in the chair. You want a gutter government. You like this anarchy because it terrifies the public.
And then your spiteful misogyny flairs. What a gutter life you’ve got.
You are so far away from a sane mind you’re going to end your life as a wad of crazy rage and hate. You can’t even read straight.
Your point about “not knowing everything” - I quoted you the first time - is just a point about not knowing particular players. Being qualified isn’t about knowing the Malay delegate necessarily. But! not knowing what ASEAN does is someone who should be interviewing as a staffer for a junior director in the Defense Department. Like knowing that there is an African Union, the OAS, SAARC, who is in the G20, much less what are the individually tailored military arrangements are between NATO and a dozen other nations, etc. The Secretary of Defense should be fully ready to lead on day one. Hegseth is a fly by the seat of his pants disaster in waiting. It’s idiocy.
And your love for tear-it-all down chaos, you’re legitimizing bull in a china shop little boy fantasy of having a big dick is going to set us back for yet another decade. We can’t rule the world like we did in the 20th century. We cannot be head and shoulders above everyone else in goods traded. No one can. Companies in wealthier countries can’t pay high enough wages for workers to make cheap goods. They will always be undersold. And developing nations do not have the skilled education to do high tech, medicine, engineering, etc. If we shit where we eat, we’re fucked. Europe has just completed trading agreements with Latin American countries. Our backyard. But Europe is an ally. For now. China is rushing in across Asia, Africa, and other areas of Latin America, to take advantage of international anger towards Trump. This started in his first term. Biden was occupied with reversing our loss of influence but angry Americans no longer pay attention to such things.
So, economic bullying will only make for further loss of influence in the long term. China will be all over markets in most of the world. Trump is paving the way for either 1) loss of power such that we become like England, some prowess in high tech and finance but otherwise beer and failing social services, or 2) throwing our military might around and becoming a perpetual wartime state like Russia.
What is unconscionably nihilistic is that people like you are ready for either under the banner of “Christ” - which is really just flying the flag of fragile, raging Whiteness wanting self-destructive revenge on other people. Jesus condemns you for your abusive, gratuitous, soul-killing, people killing hate.
Sure, feo. You've done nothing but repeat yourself, pretending bringing up that which is not necessarily relevant is the proper way to determine whether or not a candidate is qualified for the job. You think YOU'RE competent in determining that Hegseth's inability to address this question is significant for that purpose. That's quite arrogant of a degree for which you have no legitimate justification. More to the point, you personally have no basis for asserting YOU can determine whether or not Hegseth is "fully ready to lead on day one" and your focus on this nonsensical Duckworth question proves it. 123 retired generals and admirals disagree with your baseless, hate-driven opinion.
The following describes the position and its duties:
https://veteran.com/secretary-defense/
You'll note what it regards as of most importance and knowing what you and Duckworth pretend is essential appears nowhere in it. I have several other links available which also fails to align with your baseless opinion if need be.
"And your love for tear-it-all down chaos, you’re legitimizing bull in a china shop little boy fantasy of having a big dick is going to set us back for yet another decade."
Not hardly, no matter how desperately you need to believe this. Your guy Biden already set us back after Trump first thrust us forward during his first term. Indeed, your guy Biden set us back enough to make Obama's years look productive. Trump is already showing he has better understanding of what needs to be done than the likes of you ever could have.
"So, economic bullying will only make for further loss of influence in the long term."
"Bullying" is in reality forcing other nations to stop taking advantage of us, and doing what they're obligated to do. No doubt you prefer being the world's doormat, but that wasn't working for us.
"Trump is paving the way for either 1) loss of power such that we become like England, some prowess in high tech and finance but otherwise beer and failing social services, or 2) throwing our military might around and becoming a perpetual wartime state like Russia."
Now you're just spewing crap as if it's true. Your constant posturing as someone with any intellectual superiority is as hilarious as ever, but you've nothing to back up this baseless prediction.
"What is unconscionably nihilistic..."
"Nihilism"??? Now you're just making shit up again. That pathetic projection in no way applies to what's taking place now. Here's more:
"fragile, raging Whiteness wanting self-destructive revenge on other people."
No fool thing out of your virtual mouth is ever complete without some race-baiting thrown in, is it? But you've never provided any evidence of racism on my part or on the part of anyone else not a Democrat marxist like you. It's just something you say.
"Jesus condemns you for your abusive, gratuitous, soul-killing, people killing hate."
Well, He might if ever I indulge in such. You'd be better served worrying about dealing with your own. It's far more obvious and the dead cry out.
There’s clinical name for it. Because, while this is destructive to democracy, this isn’t unique. State capture.
“It was the latest troubling report of the administration’s interventions into practically every corner of the federal government that also include President Trump’s firing, sidelining and encouraging civil servants to quit.
The full picture of the government overhaul has yet to come into focus, and the contours of Mr. Musk’s role and mission in that transformation remain sketchy. (On Monday, President Trump tried to offer some clarity, saying that “Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval.”)
But the cumulative effect of these stories offers at best a complicated answer to what should be an uncomplicated question: Who exactly is running the federal government?
It’s troubling enough not to be able to answer emphatically with “democratically elected leaders.” Even more troubling is the possibility that the actual answer is Mr. Musk — the world’s richest man — and other unaccountable, unelected, unconfirmed allies cozy with the president.
Political economists have a name for that: state capture. State capture occurs when wealthy private interests influence a government to such a degree that they can freely direct policy decisions and public funds for their own benefit or for the benefit of their ideological fellow travelers (or both).
Revelations of this especially pernicious, widespread form of corruption have occurred in other countries — a striking example occurred in the country of Mr. Musk’s birth, South Africa — and they offer cautionary tales for democratic governments everywhere.
The details vary by context, but the political scientist Elizabeth David-Barrett lays out three general mechanisms of state capture. They now sound familiar: shaping the rules of the game through law and policy; influencing administrative decisions by capturing the budget, appointments, government contracts and regulatory decisions; and disabling checks on power by dismantling accountability structures like the judiciary, law enforcement and prosecution, and audit institutions like the inspectors general and the media.”
Sorry, I've been too busy to deal with much of this. Marshal:
You will delete my comments with the full knowledge that it is a rare thing indeed when any of yours are ever deleted at my blog, because I have an actual Christian attitude about what "embrace grace" should mean, whereas in your case it's just something you say as a rhetorical bludgeon.
I will delete your comments, eventually, because you did NOT support the claim you made and you didn't admit you couldn't support it. You threw a lot of stuff at the wall, but none of your sources made the claim that you made. As a reminder, you said:
DEI has "been about putting unqualified people in jobs far more often than not..."
Not one of your sources supported that claim. And you failed to admit that simple reality: That you can NOT support that claim. For that reason, they will be deleted. It was a respectful and reasonable question to ask. In your arrogance, you blew it off. You will be respectful here.
Also, for that same reason, I have already deleted any of your comments with vulgar or oppressive words attacking minority groups (attacks on innocent LGBTQ people with stupidly false claims).
Marshal:
Two weeks in and this government is already demonstrating what a superior, more Constitutionally American government it is and will be.
And...
Elon Musk doesn't need to be approved by Congress [to try to destroy cabinets and departments and to take over the Office of Personnel Management and have access to private records of millions of citizens (and who knows what else this UNAPPOINTED outsider has been doing?)
And that's just the point: Without Congressional approval, Trump can't and certainly an unappointed outsider like Musk can't just choose to CLOSE the Department of Education, can't just close USAID. Those were created by Congress in their constitutional role.
And Trump likewise can not simply say, "We're going to invade another country and take it over and clear it out." The US does not and should not invade other nations and if it's going to be done, then declarations of war are the responsibility of Congress, not the President. And the US certainly can't legally engage in wartime atrocities. Which is literally what Trump is saying.
He is an out of control tyrant and there is no one in the GOP willing to stand up against him.
I've heard you conservatives say, "Blustery/bullying talk is just his nature/approach to negotiations... we wouldn't actually support him if he actually tried to overthrow the Constitution..." Well, NOW is the time for you all to grow a backbone, open your eyes and recognize that this is a Constitutional crisis.
In Constitutional Crisis news (according to actual legal experts) (starting with some conservative legal folks):
“The Trump administration has essentially declared war on Article I of the Constitution,” Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the right-wing Manhattan Institute...
https://www.yahoo.com/news/point-having-congress-even-conservatives-185548156.html
https://www.techdirt.com/2025/02/04/first-cracks-appear-some-conservatives-admit-were-in-a-constitutional-crisis/
https://time.com/7212753/trump-elon-musk-federal-laws-legal-analysis/
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/breaking-law
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/unpacking-trumps-brazen-proposal-us-takeover-gaza-analysis/story?id=118494471
etc, etc. It's clear to all the rational people of the world, starting with but not exclusive to, legal experts.
So, what IF making crazy, illegal-as-hell claims about what he's going to do is "only" a "bargaining strategy" for the Felon Chief? Do we WANT a leader who will say, "You better straighten up or I'll kill your children!" and other crazy stuff? Do we WANT a leader who says, "You need to do what I TELL you to do or I'll just come and take over your country!"..??
No. That is not leadership. That's insanity.
WHAT will it take for you conservatives to finally get your courage and rational thinking back and say, "Well, wait, that's really going too far..."? I see that Craig barely dipped his toe into that (barely) by saying "WTH" about Trump's threats to claim ownership of Gaza. Is that a crack in the wall, or will he simply cower down and not stand up against this insanity?
Unfortunately, I'm afraid I know the answer.
DEI? VS DEI
Biden Press Secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE
NEW YORK INSTITUTE
OF TECHNOLOGY (BS)
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY (MPA)
LECTURER IN INTERNATIONAL AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY.
SENIOR ADVISOR AND NATIONAL SPOKESWOMAN MOVEON.ORG
POLITICAL ANALYST NBC NEWS AND MSNBC
REGIONAL POLITICAL DIRECTOR
FOR THE WHITE HOUSE OFFICE
OF POLITICAL AFFAIRS
DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER
SENIOR ADVISOR TO JOE BIDEN
2020 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN FLUENT IN ENGLISH. FRENCH.
AND HAITIAN CREOLE (EXPERIENCE CONTINUES.
TOO MUCH TO DISPLAYI
Trump Press Secretary KAROLINE LEAVITT
*SOFTBALL SCHOLARSHIP
SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE (BA)
TRUMP ASSISTANT
MAGA SPOKESMAN
FOXNEWS INTERN
VIOLATED CAMPAIGN FINANCE
LAWS AND NEVER PAID
MARRIED A 60 YR OLD MULTI MILLIONAIRE AT AGE 27
BLOND
(IT ONLY GETS WORSE)
You just described the Democratic Party perfectly with your citation of David-Barret, unless her definition was meant "state capture" wasn't the dirty word your kind need it to be to bludgeoning better parties and policies you hate.
Well, at least they're hiring the very best and most qualified, so there's that. It's a meritocracy, after all.
feo pretends he's proven KJP wasn't always selected to fill a quota simply because of her associations with those various institutions. Yet, if we were to actually pretend she comported herself well in the job of press secretary (where she was tragically unable to shine up Biden's lies, senility and incompetence), she still falls short of the far more competent job Leavitt has been doing with her small sample size. Clearly, she's going to be taking far more fire from the leftist press, because that's how it goes for the GOP. Sadly, they fail in their attempts to rattle most Trump press secretaries (I'm only thinking of Sanders, McEnany and now Leavitt. I don't recall much of Spicer or Grisham).
You lie to think you look rational. You always do. Gutter minds have to have a strategy to avoid facts at all cost.
All I demonstrated is that Ms Jean-Pierre has a resume that deserves an interview. Ms Leavitt is just an ass kissing inexperienced, untrained object of Trump’s favor.
The United States deserved better.
btw, the guy sitting in the Oval Office is a felon. Shouldn’t be there.
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