“Definitely never seen this type of response to a FOIA request,” quipped one journalist.

  • FlashMobOfOne
    link
    English
    9
    edit-2
    3 days ago

    We have FOUR MORE YEARS of this

    Not necessarily. Clinton, Dubya, Obama, and Trump all went into office with Congress and lost it at the mid-terms, and as we saw with the Muslim ban, Trump’s a bit of a bitch when the judiciary stands up to him. It’s just a matter of time until these attempts start to slow down.

    The downside is that Dems rule as conservatives too, so it’s likely whatever the judiciary doesn’t reverse will be permanent.

    But, as we saw with similar activities in the McCarthyist era, the damage is reversible. (But I know that’s not much consolation, but it’s consolation to me to know that this isn’t the first time someone has tried to brute force fascism in government and been stopped.)

    • @stopdropandprole
      link
      English
      13
      edit-2
      3 days ago

      I don’t think you realize just how long it takes to hire federal employees, or reconstitute entire agencies (like CFPB).

      tens of thousands of people forced out, thousands of research grants and projects canceled, hundreds of programs stifled…

      this is the end of the federal government as we know it, and it will take a generation (20+ yrs) of back to back Democrat administrations to rebuild it. that’s not going to happen.

      the oligarchs won dude. kids growing up today will never know how much has been lost. the corporate media will make sure all they know is ‘we’ve always been at war with eastasia’’

      • @WhiskyTangoFoxtrot
        link
        English
        12 days ago

        If by “corporate media” you mean Hollywood, they’re in the process of collapsing, too.

        • @stopdropandprole
          link
          English
          1
          edit-2
          2 days ago

          no, i do not mean Hollywood… that’s weird… why would anyone think corporate media means what, marvel movies?

          I’m talking about Time Warner, Sinclair, CNN, Netflix, Comcast, Amazon, NBC, Fox, every single source of online professionally written articles, video segments, the evening news, and mainstream platform owned by someone with a net worth exceeding $1 billion dollars. the corporate media, ya know, the ones who manufacture the consent as described in “Manufacturing Consent” or a dozen different media criticism books available at your local library or on youtube (if you prefer).

      • FlashMobOfOne
        link
        English
        43 days ago

        that’s not going to happen

        Possibly, but I know it’s already happened at least once in our history. We can speculate about the future all we want, but the past is a helpful guide.

        • @stopdropandprole
          link
          English
          63 days ago

          I’m hoping that too. either way, I’m not advocating hopelessness or doomerism. I’ll be working harder than ever this year to decouple my life from corporations and govt reliance. community building, strengthening friendships, helping others when I can. it’s going to be a long road ahead and we won’t survive as isolated individuals.

          • FlashMobOfOne
            link
            English
            22 days ago

            That’s a good goal. I live solo and never had children and don’t want a relationship, so for me, things are fairly simple. It’s nice to not have responsibilities when the wealthy class is trying to seize more power.

            I’m just doing what I can for my neighbors in my own little corner of the world. No matter how bad things get, you can always do good with your own two hands.

    • P03 Locke
      link
      fedilink
      English
      123 days ago

      Clinton, Dubya, Obama, and Trump all went into office with Congress and lost it at the mid-terms, and as we saw with the Muslim ban,

      Lost what at the mid-terms? Congress? You think he needs Congress to do all of this shit? Have you been paying attention?

      There is no rule-of-law. No structure to these systems. It’s just pure defiance at whatever “social norms” are holding this house of cards together.

      Nobody is putting up a reasonable fight with these EOs, so they just happen. Elon just wanders into government buildings and systems without criminal charges. No police action. No hard punishments.

      And whatever fighting back is occurring in the courts, where we will never see a settlement before the courts themselves get dismantled before our eyes.

      We’re fucked. Stop using past history as a guide.

      • FlashMobOfOne
        link
        English
        1
        edit-2
        3 days ago

        Lost what at the mid-terms? Congress? You think he needs Congress to do all of this shit? Have you been paying attention?

        Nope. But losing Congress will make it harder. We saw this with his first term.

        There is no rule-of-law.

        That’s factually incorrect. I provided several examples above.

        Nobody is putting up a reasonable fight with these EOs,

        Again, wrong.

        We’re fucked

        Totally, man. That’s why the funding freeze was reversed in less than 24 hours after a lawsuit was filed. You need to turn off the TV, stop doomscrolling, breathe, and maybe watch some alternative media.

        Stop using past history as a guide.

        You may need to start.

        • P03 Locke
          link
          fedilink
          English
          12 days ago

          Totally, man. That’s why the funding freeze was reversed in less than 24 hours after a lawsuit was filed.

          You think no damage has taken place? We’re in a thread where FOIA admitted that most of its staff has been laid off. They are trying to get rid of as many departments as they can.

          Throughout all of this, I want you to understand one thing: It is easier to destroy than it is to create!

          Things can be destroyed instantly. It takes no time to fire an entire department and wipe away centuries of institutional knowledge. It doesn’t matter if a lawsuit for a few of these managed to piece through the smoldering ruins and rescue what they could.

          Trump himself even had a hard time trying to “unfire” a bunch of nuclear weapons workers.

          You need to turn off the TV, stop doomscrolling, breathe, and maybe watch some alternative media.

          Stop assuming what I do and don’t do. You aren’t me, you don’t know who I am, what my political trappings are, and what my habits are.

          You may need to start.

          Open your eyes. All of this behavior is unprecedented. You can’t just reference previous years and expect to be a guide.

          Congress is too busy shitting its pants, while filling out the paperwork to do so, to matter. I think this opinion piece put it best:

          And so we find ourselves in the absurd position where Democratic leadership, in the form of Jeffries and Schumer, treats an ongoing coup like an inconvenient scheduling conflict. Their response to democracy’s crisis amounts to little more than checking Robert’s Rules of Order to see if authoritarianism requires a two-thirds majority.

          While Rome burns, they’re busy drafting strongly-worded letters to the arsonists, pausing only to scold the citizens who dare suggest using the fire extinguishers. Their position would be merely comedic if it weren’t so catastrophically dangerous—like watching someone respond to a home invasion by suggesting the burglar fill out a visitor’s form.