Live data from Hacker News

Trump fires NSF's oversight board

science.org

331–340 of 383 posts

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#331
post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in academia, so NSF cuts are very misguided in my view, and hopefully will be reversed in the next administration. But the first two sentences of your post immediately contradict one another. You say America is in a state of lawlessness, and then immediately describe the American legal system. So that's exactly what following the law in America has always meant. America is a common law country, not a civil law co…

People like you sanewashing the actions of this admin are a major part of the problem. Even if this were how the system was designed, it is time to acknowledge that it is fundamentally broken and needs change. It is mind boggling that the response to these issues amounts to WONTFIX.

The change starts with us not follow the orders and actions of a criminal.

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let us not say executed. It's a harsher punishment that they live to see the rebuild of what they turned to ash.

Let us not hesitate to seek justice. I fear that the capture of American media and the DOJ is too far gone, and that following through with proper punishment for the naked corruption of this regime would be unpopular. “Let bygones be bygones.” Oh, to live in an America where white-collar crimes and financial treason were actually punished…

I'm very much with you for "punish" and "jail", but if you are insisting on execution like commenters upthread, we will part ways there.

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're arrested for trespassing. Remember, the president also effectively controls the security team, the DoJ and the military. It's just a king again, and you're asking the sane question: "Why would anyone follow the mad, old king?" And the answer is around the same: "Because he will hurt you."

> You're arrested for trespassing By who? and on what grounds? The only people that have authority to fire are the people that are heads of that institution. The president has no connection to this institution. He does not have any power in this context. His power stops at the federal level and even then his power is limited. Nobody has to abide by his orders. Yet, there are plenty of people doing so. Im not understa…

I feel like you didn't really read my comment.

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let us not hesitate to seek justice. I fear that the capture of American media and the DOJ is too far gone, and that following through with proper punishment for the naked corruption of this regime would be unpopular. “Let bygones be bygones.” Oh, to live in an America where white-collar crimes and financial treason were actually punished…

I'm very much with you for "punish" and "jail", but if you are insisting on execution like commenters upthread, we will part ways there.

The punishment for treason can be death. Risking the lives of American intelligence agents and military operators for financial gain is plainly treasonous. I am not convinced beyond a doubt that that has not happened in this government.

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm very much with you for "punish" and "jail", but if you are insisting on execution like commenters upthread, we will part ways there.

The punishment for treason can be death. Risking the lives of American intelligence agents and military operators for financial gain is plainly treasonous. I am not convinced beyond a doubt that that has not happened in this government.

With your focus on death as punishment — the day after an apparent assassination attempt no less — it seems we have less in common than I supposed. I’m not with you after all.

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're arrested for trespassing. Remember, the president also effectively controls the security team, the DoJ and the military. It's just a king again, and you're asking the sane question: "Why would anyone follow the mad, old king?" And the answer is around the same: "Because he will hurt you."

> You're arrested for trespassing By who? and on what grounds? The only people that have authority to fire are the people that are heads of that institution. The president has no connection to this institution. He does not have any power in this context. His power stops at the federal level and even then his power is limited. Nobody has to abide by his orders. Yet, there are plenty of people doing so. Im not understa…

This is the "how can she slap?" style of reasoning.

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Do you think a commitment to inclusion is some kind of activism?

the best person to run the country is a bankrupt casino owner and television host (also a pedophile). the best person to run the department of defense is a television show host (also a sex offender). the best person to run the department of transportation is a guy from a reality tv show. The best person to run the department of education is the lady who runs a fake wrestling entertainment media company. the best person to run the FBI is a podcaster who makes children's books.

I hate dei and love meritocracy

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You're arrested for trespassing By who? and on what grounds? The only people that have authority to fire are the people that are heads of that institution. The president has no connection to this institution. He does not have any power in this context. His power stops at the federal level and even then his power is limited. Nobody has to abide by his orders. Yet, there are plenty of people doing so. Im not understa…

I feel like you didn't really read my comment.

People on this site would literally say "actually you can't do this" as they're being taken away to somewhere to never be heard from again.

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US government is not currently in a state of following the law or constitution. People get fired, and if authority was not there, a lawsuit 9-18 months later might rectify it, and in the meantime the fired employee has moved on. DOGE cuts were extreme, capricious, and the only rhyme or reason was to try to hyperpoliticize the science to meet what people were guessing that Trump would want. On the grant side, they…

I'm still not quite sure how anybody is required to follow an order of someone that doesn't have authority to do what they're doing. What happens if you refuse to be let go by someone that doesn't have authority?

Look at the body cam footage of the armed takeover of the Institute of Peace on youtube, or here's a politico article:

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/19/doge-institute-peac...

Or Musk "deputizing" his private security guards to be federal agents for his purposes:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politic...

A new department head gets installed, DOGE selects people to fire, has complete access to IT etc.

What's not to understand? The government was completely in the control of Trump and DOGE. What type of "authority" do you think did not exist? This is the standard authoritarian playbook that's played out many times over the world over the past century, it's not hard to understand.

Re: Trump fires NSF's oversight board

#340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm still not quite sure how anybody is required to follow an order of someone that doesn't have authority to do what they're doing. What happens if you refuse to be let go by someone that doesn't have authority?

They flip a bit in the DB that makes you an ex exmployee and your badge doesn’t work, you can’t login to systems, your emails don’t work, etc. It’s not that hard. To prevent it, someone in IT would have to actively prevent bosses from having those kind of admin privileges which in itself would be illegal.

Who would do that? and by what authority?
Post reply on HN