US is becoming a banana republic
I thought this was to be the American century, now I'm just fascinated and wonder what it will be instead.
Phyllis Fong, who was investigating Neuralink, "forcefully removed "
41–50 of 249 posts
Re: Phyllis Fong, who was investigating Neuralink, "forcefully removed "
#42I gather that I'm further right than much of the HN crowd, having been on the edge of the Tea Party movement &c. The presence of the Citrus Caesar and the billionaire boys is due to substantial, ongoing problems. The U.S. Government, like any code base, has accrued much cruft over the last century. Whether or not DJT has any lasting positive effect isn't knowable yet. The risk of this current course being a cure wors…
Sure, fine, whatever. However, when you fire all the inspectors general, without any evidence that they're being bribed, you're basically saying that you're planning corruption. The whole purpose of the position is to make sure the government is doing its job and firing them sends a signal that you are putting the watchdog role in a political light.
Re: Phyllis Fong, who was investigating Neuralink, "forcefully removed "
#43The specific law that Trump is very obviously breaking is the Securing Inspector General Independence Act of 2022, which says Congress must be notified 30 days in advance and given "substantive" rationale for dismissing inspectors general. This law was passed specifically in response to Trump breaking the antecedent law, Inspector General Reform Act of 2008, during his first term. Will the "party of law and order" do…
I'm tired of congressional Republicans being treated as unmentioned bystanders in this.
Reporters should be pushing microphones in their faces asking why they approve of the latest thing Trump did, or at least what they think of him breaking laws they passed.
Re: Phyllis Fong, who was investigating Neuralink, "forcefully removed "
#44Our government is literally falling in a matter of weeks. It's being assaulted, and we're all just standing by.
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Trump has decided he controls the purse (a privilege of the legislative branch that he legally DOES NOT HAVE), has begun to fire people illegally and ignoring the legal methods (such as Fong), is doing so through someone who is not part of the federal government and has active conflicts of interest (Musk), and is actively working to remove the 22nd amendment that prevents him from becoming a dictator for life. Most of congress has just bent over and let him, seemingly.
What exactly do you think is "gonna be just fine" about the most intense set of attacks of democracy this country has ever seen?
Re: Phyllis Fong, who was investigating Neuralink, "forcefully removed "
#45I gather that I'm further right than much of the HN crowd, having been on the edge of the Tea Party movement &c. The presence of the Citrus Caesar and the billionaire boys is due to substantial, ongoing problems. The U.S. Government, like any code base, has accrued much cruft over the last century. Whether or not DJT has any lasting positive effect isn't knowable yet. The risk of this current course being a cure wors…
What part of the cure is illegally firing someone who was investigating you for a valid, non political reason?
There's no cure in that, just corruption.
Re: Phyllis Fong, who was investigating Neuralink, "forcefully removed "
#46Re: Phyllis Fong, who was investigating Neuralink, "forcefully removed "
#47US is becoming a banana republic
becoming? past tense is more like it. also Google your own term in Wikipedia to see the history of it.
This extreme cynicism is part of what got us here. People have made this cynicism manifest. They're making the government of their imaginations real.
Re: Phyllis Fong, who was investigating Neuralink, "forcefully removed "
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
The people spoke very clearly in November: they wanted this.
This is my big struggle with all of this. His first term I felt America was duped by a con man so protested and made a fuss on social media. Americans saw the first four years and astonishingly decided they wanted more of it, by a decent margin. So while I absolutely hate what is going on right now this seems to be what the people wanted. I question each day whether that needs to be respected or we should resist. I a…
> I also wonder if his supporters have any idea of what is going on.
They do not. Most of his supporters are either rich or uneducated normal people who lack the mental capacity to realize what's going on. They just repeat the talking points. Respond to anyone of them with a non-talking point, compassion, and honesty and they just shut down. They haven't a clue about what's really going on. I bet none of his supporters even know who Robert Mercer is, the person that got him elected in the first place.
Re: Phyllis Fong, who was investigating Neuralink, "forcefully removed "
#49Our government is literally falling in a matter of weeks. It's being assaulted, and we're all just standing by.
The people spoke very clearly in November: they wanted this.
Can we then openly call republican voters guilty then? Instead of pretending that people voting for that party are good people? I do agree that many wanted the harm and that is why they voted for Trump.