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DOGE staffer is trying to reroute FEMA funds

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Re: DOGE staffer is trying to reroute FEMA funds

#161

Post by areyousure »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #82
pupppet wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trump won the popular vote with 49.8% of votes cast, let’s stop pretending the entire country gave him the mandate to do whatever he wants.

Fourth smallest margin in POTUS election history.

In case anyone was curious, I computed some popular margins of victory defined as (%popular vote of winner) - (%popular vote of highest other candidate).

I got the following small margins of victory smaller than the 1.5% in 2024, five of which are positive and five of which are negative.

-7.8% in 1824, 1.4% in 1844, -3% in 1876, 0% in 1880, 0.6% in 1884, -0.8% in 1888, 0.1% in 1960, 0.7% in 1968, -0.5% in 2000, -2.1% in 2016.

Re: DOGE staffer is trying to reroute FEMA funds

#162

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

pupppet wrote: post #75
atomicnumber3 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The checks and balances assumed the entire country didn't vote the exact same people into majorities in all 3 branches

Trump won the popular vote with 49.8% of votes cast, let’s stop pretending the entire country gave him the mandate to do whatever he wants.

Unfortunately, it's winner take all, and I don't think he's ever cared about the consent of the people he's taking advantage of.

Re: DOGE staffer is trying to reroute FEMA funds

#163

Post by JumpCrisscross »

dannyr wrote: post #59
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is there anything we can do? Keep durable notes and share them with your electeds. Particularly at the state level. These kids won’t be prosecuted immediately, possibly never federally. But their actions will need to be systematically undone at the federal level and individually prosecuted at the state and/or local levels. This is going to be a massive bureaucratic and legal undertaking, and we’ll need record prese…

How will local/state prosecute it? The crimes are on the federal level and pretty sure they'll receive pardons.

> How will local/state prosecute it?

Lots of state laws around privacy and tort that wouldn’t gain supremacy if a federal court found the DOGE bros didn’t act lawfully. Pardons prevent them from being punished for that lawlessness by the U.S. But it doesn’t stop state courts from finding adversely.

Re: DOGE staffer is trying to reroute FEMA funds

#164

Post by JumpCrisscross »

pubby wrote: post #74
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is there anything we can do? Keep durable notes and share them with your electeds. Particularly at the state level. These kids won’t be prosecuted immediately, possibly never federally. But their actions will need to be systematically undone at the federal level and individually prosecuted at the state and/or local levels. This is going to be a massive bureaucratic and legal undertaking, and we’ll need record prese…

Keep in mind that the ruling party has massively powerful surveillance systems at their fingertips. It's hard to say how things will unfold, but being a dissident may not be in one's best interest.

> the ruling party

Monolithic ruling classes are the political scientific equivalent of spherical cows. The richer model (still spherical, but maybe incorporating drag) is that of elite constituencies.

> being a dissident may not be in one's best interest

If we’re going imperial, dissident status is less risky than being poor. Practically every autocratic transition in history has involved a massive wealth transfer up, together with the dismantling of expensive social safety nets.

Re: DOGE staffer is trying to reroute FEMA funds

#165

Post by JumpCrisscross »

f38zf5vdt wrote: post #98
dannyr wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How will local/state prosecute it? The crimes are on the federal level and pretty sure they'll receive pardons.

I think maybe the user is implying that a civil war will break out. I started reading about the original American Civil War after recent events. The lead up to that was protracted. As long as some states begin assembling militias now and unify, it's probable they will be able to mount an attack against the Federal government as happened back then. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_events_leading_to_...

> maybe the user is implying that a civil war will break out

I’m not. Short of a decapitation strike in which MAGA and Musk are taken out in a night of long knives, which would itself be more destabilising to our republic than anything they’ve done, there is little to play for a military conflict à la the Civil War in a nuclear state. If we’re going to see a civil war, it wouldn’t be states vs U.S. but some compartment of the U.S. claiming legitimate power while another denies it, e.g. the military deposing Trump or him refusing to step down after impeachment and conviction or an electoral loss.

Re: DOGE staffer is trying to reroute FEMA funds

#166

Post by Jtsummers »

beardyw wrote: post #157
PaulRobinson wrote: post #29

I say this as a UKian with a constitutional monarch as head of state: These actions suggest that today the United States seems to have a de facto King with far greater powers than even those held by George III at the time the founders decided that America did not need a King. They might not be called that, but they have the ability to exert behaviours akin to an English monarch not seen much since Henry VIII. Arguabl…

It is way worse than than that. If it all falls apart, the worst for Trump is to lose an election and retire to Florida. He has no real stake in any of this. The king is the king and the only way out is abdication, passing the problem to his own family. I am so very happy we have a monarchy. I used to be against it, but the fact that no one person can wreak this kind of havoc is fantastic. And of course the king has…

> If it all falls apart, the worst for Trump is to lose an election and retire to Florida.

He doesn't have another election to lose. He gets 4 years (less a few weeks now) and then gets to retire from being POTUS. There are few consequences for him this term. For the Republicans, on the other hand, if DOGE and their trade wars and other things fail, they could be fucked for a decade or more trying to rebrand themselves.

Re: DOGE staffer is trying to reroute FEMA funds

#167

Post by JumpCrisscross »

mjburgess wrote: post #152
insane_dreamer wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, here we go with the "invisible deep state" theory that secretly controls -- or tries to -- things behind the scenes. Does make for good movies though.

It's not invisible, nor is it much of a secret. Nor does it "control" anything in particular. Much of the coordination against trump by NGOs funded through USAID, publicly, is just online -- you can just go watch recordings of the conferences. It's just an institutional consensus about Trump's style of populism which gave profound motivation to a large number of groups, to organise against his perceived threat. The i…

> Consider how egreious it would be for the US gov to lie about funding healthcare, but instead to use that as a guise for one of your "impossible, movie plot lines..."

Sorry, what part of the CIA hatching hare-brained schemes is incredulous? (You should have linked to acoustakitty.)

Re: DOGE staffer is trying to reroute FEMA funds

#168

Post by JumpCrisscross »

beardyw wrote: post #157
PaulRobinson wrote: post #29

I say this as a UKian with a constitutional monarch as head of state: These actions suggest that today the United States seems to have a de facto King with far greater powers than even those held by George III at the time the founders decided that America did not need a King. They might not be called that, but they have the ability to exert behaviours akin to an English monarch not seen much since Henry VIII. Arguabl…

It is way worse than than that. If it all falls apart, the worst for Trump is to lose an election and retire to Florida. He has no real stake in any of this. The king is the king and the only way out is abdication, passing the problem to his own family. I am so very happy we have a monarchy. I used to be against it, but the fact that no one person can wreak this kind of havoc is fantastic. And of course the king has…

> If it all falls apart, the worst for Trump is to lose an election and retire to Florida

Given his revocation of security clearances for Biden, depending on what happens, the stakes may be higher.

Re: DOGE staffer is trying to reroute FEMA funds

#170

Post by insane_dreamer »

mjburgess wrote: post #152
insane_dreamer wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, here we go with the "invisible deep state" theory that secretly controls -- or tries to -- things behind the scenes. Does make for good movies though.

It's not invisible, nor is it much of a secret. Nor does it "control" anything in particular. Much of the coordination against trump by NGOs funded through USAID, publicly, is just online -- you can just go watch recordings of the conferences. It's just an institutional consensus about Trump's style of populism which gave profound motivation to a large number of groups, to organise against his perceived threat. The i…

The CIA has done a ton of bad shit - especially in other countries - over the past 50 years, but that’s a completely separate matter from a “deep state” controlling things and trying to prevent Trump’s election.
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