US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago

For example, we know pretty conclusively at this polint that communism doesn't work, which is why the "left" these days is social policies overlaid on a free market system.

Seems like it should be easy to do. We're looking at this big corrupt blob thing of questionable competence that is the US political class, and then one polyp of the mass does something that probably makes the world a little better. Yay. Well done blob thing.

It'd be better if people committed to a high-integrity political class but it is a monumental task (probably multi-generational) and the people trying to progress it haven't made much progress. Suggestions welcome.

They don't. It's widely established that sometimes in the late 19th century or 20th century that party priorities basically shifted around. But for modern times, those are generally how Left and Right assossiate.

> I would not claim that the American right is very conservative these days

I would. In my best faith interetation, they want to preseve their right to bear arms, restrict and downsize immigration, remove many federal departments made in the past 5-6 decades (like the DoED)\, and overall serve, foster small business, and reduce taxes. These are all policies to try and go back to "the good times", without understanding the history and why we can't go back. What are these progressive ideals that the Right hold?

>I don't want to really delve into political topics, however I feel strongly that what is currently going on with executive orders and gutting the executive branch workforce is not conservative whatsoever.

It is not. But they decided to trust in their elected official that this is done to protect small business. They are being hoodwinked, but they do believe it aligns with their goals. In very basic logic: ICE is deporting illegals so there's more business opportunities, and a smaller government means less money to run it, which means lower taxes. That's how they rationalize it.

It definitely is not traditional conservatism, but these days it seems the party has accepted that the ends justify the means at best.

>I also think it could potentially be argued that leftist programs, such as entitlements, social programs, etc, are not necessarily "progressive."

When we have the worst coverage in a first world country, "catching up" is still "progressive". It shouldn't be progressive, but here we are with proposals to cut Medicaid and Elon Musk calling Social Security inefficient and insecure (and sadly, he's right here. But once again, he's attacking something without understanding the history).

>In other words, they may just be no strict definition, and I think you could also argue that _I'm_ the one taking a minority definition.

At the end of the day, communication is used to (hopefully) quickly convey ideas, even complex ideas, to others. It's not perfect without being a lawyer, so there will always be a lot of wiggle room when defining abstract concepts. We've spent millenia in hundreds of different languages trying to define "love", for instance. We won't ever fully agree, but we all have this abstract, univeral, generality on what "love" is nonetheless.

Politics are similar, so I wouldn't delve too deep into definitions unless the context requires it. No one fits in a jar but most people will have a rough idea on what "Left" and "Right" in the modern US political concept is if you've conversed enough about it. Good enough for this context.

  * I am the country. I am the law.  
  * When the president does it, that means it's not illegal.  
  * Anyone who opposes me is an enemy of the state.  
  * People loyal to me, prepare for violence.

Instead, via Bondi and Bove, they have ordered career prosecutors to dismiss the case, and nearly a dozen of those attorney's have resigned instead of following orders. Many of these people clerked with Republican federal judges.

One is Noah Schactman, 38-years old, US attorney, SDNY, three combat tours in Iraq, two bronze stars, Harvard graduate, clerked with Roberts and Kavanaugh. This is his letter resigning and explaining why the order from DOJ superiors was inappropriate and not considered.

https://bsky.app/profile/noahshachtman.bsky.social/post/3li5...

Hundreds of thousands of people in civil service and armed forces have taken an oath to the Constitution of the United States. 5 USC 3331. This isn't an oath to a country, political party, president, or a superior. It's an oath to a contract.