Trump Redux: The Death of Democracy, or Overblown Hyperbole?

[Weekender]

Orwellian.

[Trollheart]

Thanks @DJChameleon : I am going to be doing a full write-up, but feel free to contribute anything you want. Incidentally, have you noticed? DOGE - isn't that what they used to call the rulers of Venice back in the 13th or 14th century? Coincidence?

Back later.

[SGR]

Thanks @DJChameleon : I am going to be doing a full write-up, but feel free to contribute anything you want. Incidentally, have you noticed? DOGE - isn't that what they used to call the rulers of Venice back in the 13th or 14th century? Coincidence?

Back later.

It's this that it's referencing Trolls, not the rulers of Venice back in the 13th century.

[Trollheart]

It's this that it's referencing Trolls, not the rulers of Venice back in the 13th century.

Thanks but I don't get it. Have you ever had a pet doge? I had several, and many cates?

Anyway I like mine better. I suppose you could reverse it couldn't you? If it was the Government of Department Efficiency, we only need MPERO and another R and the truth is known.
Hmm.
Goverment of Department Efficiency, Management, Personnel, Executive Revision Over Rights.
There you go: GOD EMPEROR.
Conspiracy theory my arse!

[SGR]

[Trollheart]

Name: Lee Zeldin
Age: 44
Position: Head of EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)
Previous Experience: US Congress; failed attempt at Governor for New York
Historic Interest:
Trump says: "Lee, with a very strong legal background, has been a true fighter for America First policies. He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards."

I suppose it goes without saying, but he was a staunch ally of Trump during the Democrats' attempts to get the former president impeached, and was also one of his many yes-men who agreed that the 2020 election had been stolen. I wonder if they ever got it back? Hope they had it insured. I did warn them. What sort of career has he had, in particular that may, or probably may not, qualify him for such a post? Has he advocated for green policies, the elimination of fossil fuels, banning fracking or reducing carbon emissions?

As we say here, has he fuck as like. A vehement opponent of climate change (wonder what less harsh-sounding, less scary word they'll use when Trump is back in power - Global Warming made sense), he has stated his opposition to the Paris Agreement (possibly, though don't quote me, on the basis that anything that comes out of France has to be intrinsically bad - remember "freedom fries"? Give me strength!) and on his having been announced to the post had this to say: "We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water." So clearly he's not one for the electric cars, renewable energy and has never seen Terminator 2!

No friend to women either, he had consistently lobbied for the overturn of Roe v Wade, and even if it had remained, he was digging his heels in and publicly stated "nothing changes in New York". He's a Jew, and while that's not strictly relevant to the post, it does mean he strongly supports Israel in their genocidal war against Gaza and Lebanon, and anyone else who gets the fuck in their way. His military service, if it can be called such, consists of intelligence work which he then ditched to go into the Army Reserve, possibly (though of course I can't confirm this) worried he might actually be sent into a warzone. Like, maybe Jersey.

He is opposed to bail reform (which advocates the removal of the need for cash bail in the less serious cases), looks to be (from my limited reading and skim through his Wiki page) against education for all, didn't mask up or practice social distancing during Covid - though he did get vaccinated: talk about hedging your bets! - and didn't think hospital employees or schoolchildren needed to be vaccinated. I'd say he was one of those who believed Covid was a hoax, or "a flu", but then again he got the shot, so what can you say about that?

He voted against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, wanted to repeal Obamacare, and was and is against same-sex marriage. Once Trump came to power he whined about the FBI investigating his new master while also snarling that they should have continued investigating Hilary Clinton's emails (so no double standard there then)and voted against measures to avert the - seemingly usual - government shutdown in 2018.

That's all I got on a quick skim. DJ, if you want to add more, feel free: I'm sure you know a lot more about him than I do, and have personal experience of living under him.

[Trollheart]

Name: Elon Musk (but you can call him Your Imperial Majesty)
Age: 53 (thanks to @Lexi Darling for the correction)
Position: Head of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency)
Previous Experience: Zee-ro
Historic Interest: Not entirely sure, but I doubt the world's richest man has ever served in a US government administration before.

What do I need to tell you about Musky? A far-right, reactionary demagogue, Covid-denier, anti-vaxxer and the richest man on the planet, the man who ruined Twitter for other men and didn't even have the decency to pay its cab fare home (I mean, fucking X? Come on, you unimaginative cunt! I hated it, but they spent years putting that platform together and you just shit all over it!) and a man who epitomises the title of a Jame Bond movie. Yes, for Mrs. Musk's clever little boy, who will soon run the planet, TWINE is a good motto, but that's okay, because if the world is not enough, he has space at his command too.

Yes, the man who has all but but a copyright on the Final Frontier and denied access to any but the super-super-super-add-a-few-supers-rich, he is single-handedly ensuring that the only people who will ever see space are those whose bank balance is, well, astronomical. Soon to be Emperor of Mars, and the sooner the better, but before he departs on his mystical journey, there's work to do. Why travel all that way when there's a perfectly good planet to fuck up right here? And soon, we'll all be his slaves. Wait for the "innovative" new Muskdroids, who will enforce his - sorry sorry I do mean Trump's, yes of course that's what I mean, how silly of me - edicts all across the globe and turn Earth into one giant slave farm.

Well, maybe that's being a bit too hyperbolic.

Knowing Musk, there'll be two slave farms, one for white people and one for everyone else. Anyway, all praise the man after whom and before whom nobody else has been named (what kind of name is Elon anyway? Sounds like a budget airline or a software company specialising in cyber security) who is now in charge of "streamlining" the US Government departments, read, firing anyone he doesn't deem necessary. Just wait till he expands his programme worldwide, and gets rid of all non-essential personnel on the planet. Well I'm fucked anyway.

And if I see that as the premise of a dystopian science fiction movie any time, I'm sure as hell gonna sue!

[Lexi Darling]

Wait, isn't Elon in his 50s? No way that fucker is 73 lol.

[Trollheart]

And he'll be helped by this guy (look I know it's both of them in the picture, but I had to take this one: doesn't he look like some sort of Indian vampire about to take a bite out of you? Very appropriate, I would think)

Name: Vivek Ramaswamy
Age: 39
Position: Commissioner of DOGE
Previous Experience: None
Historic Interest: Again I don't know, correct me if I'm wrong, but first Indian to hold such a high-ranking post?
Trump says: "Together, these two wonderful Americans [him and Musk] will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies. I look forward to Elon and Vivek making changes to the Federal Bureaucracy with an eye on efficiency and, at the same time, making life better for all Americans."

Luckily, this man has no special interests to protect. I mean, when has Big Pharma ever threatened the economy? Naturally, the man is a bigot and a Covid-denier, calling it "Covid-ism" - whatever the fuck that is: did anyone want Covid? Arsehole. Oh and he also decries "climate-ism" (hopefully he gets swept away in the next big hurricane) and "gender ideology". Sounds like a nice guy. And with a name like Vivek, and with no offence to any Indians, doesn't he sound even more like a vampire? Which is what, it looks, like he's going to be as he savages the environment, probably begging the crumbs from his lord and master's table as Musk chows down on climate change, renewable energy and protection of the planet. Yum!

He's had no political career, but it is interesting - and galling - to hear that before he even graduated from law school he was worth 15 million, due to his interests in biotech, finance and of course pharmaceutical industries. So just the man to fire people who may be making not minimum wage but hardly coining it in, working in smaller federal government departments soon to be either ruthlessly cut back or even eliminated altogether.

Nice to see he has the common touch though, describing as a "victimless crime" the pushing of the price of a life-saving drug through the roof. He descibes himself as "anti-woke" and apparently has no issues destroying the environment in the pursuit of profit. He said his company would "do whatever allows them to be most successful over the long run without regard to political, social, cultural or environmental agendas."

He ran for the presidential nomination himself, but backed down when Trump snarled at him to get the fuck back in his lane, and couldn't bow and scrape fast enough, throwing his support behind His Orangeness in the hope of no doubt obtaining such a post as he has now been granted. I suppose, with his pharma background, we should be grateful the cunt wasn't given charge of the CDC!

Sigh. It goes on: he's against affirmative action, women's rights, abortion, LGBTQ (calling the whole "movement" a "cult", which is pretty rich when you slavishly follow Trump but however) and - get this - had he been elected to the White House proposed to shut down (not just restructure now, shut down) the Education Department, the FBI, ATF, IRS, The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the FDA. To quote another famous and fictional Indian, oh my various gods!

[Trollheart]

Wait, isn't Elon in his 50s? No way that fucker is 73 lol.

Fuck you're right! Maths was never my strong suit! D'oh!

[Trollheart]

Name: Tom Homan
Age: 62
Position: Border Czar
Previous Experience: Director of ICE; Police officer
Historic Interest: So far, first Obama appointee to make it into Trump's cabinet.
Trump says: "I have Tom Homan lined up, we have the greatest people: we're bringing back Tom Homan."

This is an interesting one. Now, don't expect me to say this guy is, as it were, the "good Nazi", as Albert Speer tried to paint himself after the fall of Hitler, but he was appointed to his post as head of ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (was ever an acronym more appropriate?) and was the guy who advocated separating immigrant children from their parents! And Obama approved it! Jesus. It's probably due to these hardline views, which dovetail so well with his own, that the president-elect has given him the job instead of firing him. Let's see what else we can find out about him. Just how far up Trump's fat hole has he been, or will he go?

Oay, opposes the policy of sanctuary cities, commented on Fox News, yes, yes, very good. Clearly hates immigrants, another plus. Believes any politicians who support sanctuary cities should be charged with a crime, also asserts that a third of immigrant women get raped coming across the border (no hard evidence I assume). Said this about his experiences on border patrol "So I get there, I'm walking around in the back of a tractor-trailer with 19 dead aliens at my feet, (I fucking KNEW the government was lying to us! Roswell indeed!) including a five-year-old little boy who suffocated in the back of that tractor-trailer. And I had a five year old at the time. I didn't sleep for three days." and signed on for Project 2025.

Anything good about him? Well, other than the quote above, which seems to indicate (or which he wants to seem to indicate) that he kicks out immigrants on an almost merciful basis, he did oppose the invasion of Ukraine, kind of - made some sort of pointless lip service stand or something - and, ah, no. No, that's it. He's going to use an Act passed in 1798 to deport "millions of illegal aliens", saying, no doubt with a cowboy hat on and chewing a cigar, "they ain't seen shit yet." I don't fucking doubt it, you cunt.

[Lisnaholic]

Thanks for giving us a run down on these guys' CVs, Trollheart. They make depressing reading, but I think it's a valuable service to have this info easily available. As a reward, you'll now get to dig into Matt Gaetz' insalbrious past: hasn't he just been chosen as Attorney General ?!

[Trollheart]

Name: Kristi Noem
Age: 52
Position: Secretary of DHS (Department of Homeland Security)
Previous Experience: Governor of South Dakota, Congresswoman and Member of the House of Representatives
Historic Interest: First female Governor of South Dakota
Trump says: "Kristi has been very strong on Border Security. She was the first Governor to send National Guard Soldiers to help Texas fight the Biden Border Crisis, and they were sent a total of eight times."

Another Covid-denier, she does seem to at least have earned her position, i.e., not had her family money buy it for her, or special interest lobbies. Seems she comes from farm stock, and worked as an intern on Capitol Hill. I don't say these things to praise her, as such, but there's no point in me making these sketch profiles complete hatchet jobs, so if there's anything good to say about any of these people who will be running the USA - and by extension, much of the free world - for at least the next four years, I won't shy from saying it. I am, when all is said and done, an equal opportunities bastard, and always have been.

My eyes are however drawn to the story of her killing the family dog, (not doge) so that is not going to win her any points with me, but we'll see what the story is when I get there. Right now I'm reading she worked hard and knuckled down, however as usual the masks slips and the true Republican face snarls out. An advocate for increased gun rights, wanted to ban abortion not just in her state but all over the USA, supports offshore oil drilling and apparently doesn't think pollution is such a bad thing, as she blocked the EPA from tightening its controls over coarse particulates, whatever the fuck they are.

She opposes, you'll be simply amazed to hear, Obamacare (gone from day one I would imagine now), hates immigrants (what self-respecting (!) Republican does not?) and thinks stem-cell research is the work of the devil probably. She certainly wants to cut back spending for Veterans (losers or suckers, depending on which of his alleged quotes you wish to use), infrastructure like high-speed rail projects (probably afraid the voters might run her out of town on one) and of course, that old chestnut, the natural enemy of all members of the GOP, that bothersome environment that keeps getting in the way of them making even more money.

She's also against protests, actually enacting legislation to ban or curtail it (obviously only when it doesn't suit her agenda) and characterising it as incitement to riot, is no friend to Native American or other indigenous, First Nation peoples, and is of course not in the least above using her position as governor (and now presumably as DHS Secretary) to benefit her family and skew the law onto their side. Another perfect nomination, then.

Oh, and that story about her killing her dog? As bad as it sounds, and if you're an animal lover like me I don't recommend you read it. Horrible, horrible person.

[Trollheart]

More tomorrow!

[DJChameleon]

Fuck Homan.

He basically said oh you don't have to worry about children being separated from their parents. Gonna deport them all together.


Also another thing to note is that these nominations are not final until the Senate approves them. Not all nominations will be approved. Some for certain like Marco Rubio will but I'm sure some of the others won't be.