Family arriving today for the weekend, so just a few quick items for now.
- DOGE is about putting “traditional” Americans back in charge;
- Where Nazi flags are fine, and Pride flags are banned;
- Musk is about purging federal workers to replace them with theocrats and fanatics;
- RFK Jr.: it takes an engineer to build a bridge but any a-hole can blow it up;
- Conservatives were outraged over Obama’s executive orders, not so much about Trump’s;
- Trump officials “accidentally” fired people in charge of US nuclear weapon security;
- Trump wants to destroy all academia, not just the woke parts;
- Republicans are just fine with letting Musk gut the government;
- Actual judicial sleaze is Trump’s A.G. trying to get those charges against Eric Adams dismissed.
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Slate, Ben Mathis-Lilly, 14 Feb 2025: What the DOGE Takeover Really Means, subtitled “In the dark corners of social media where Elon Musk and the people who aspire to work for him live, it’s clear: This is about putting ‘traditional’ Americans back in charge.”
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Their bigotry is in plain view. Only straight white men who are Christian are allowed recognition by the federal government.
LGBTQNation, Alex Bollinger, 14 Feb 2025: GOP advances bill that would allow Nazi flags while banning Pride flags, subtitled “The GOP lawmaker behind the bill said that the Nazi flag can serve ‘educational purposes’ but the rainbow flag can’t.”
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Salon, Amanda Marcotte, 14 Feb 2025: “What the Lord established”: Elon Musk is camouflaging a Christian nationalist takeover, subtitled “Project 2025 was clear: First, purge federal workers. Then replace them with theocrats and fanatics”
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A reaction to the confirmation of RFK Jr. Conservatives are like terrorists in this way.
CFI, The Morning Heresy, Jeff Dellinger, 14 Feb 2025: “My Colleagues Should Know Better” – RFK Jr. Confirmed, Scopes Centennial, and the Ten Commandments
Quoting CFI President and CEO Robyn Blumner:
“It has been said that it takes an engineer to build a bridge but any a-hole can blow it up…The same is true for public health. Expertise and painstaking, methodical medical science results in effective treatments and good public health, whereas purveyors of quack medicine and anti-vaccine conspiracies, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., can undo it all in the blink of an eye.”
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Conservatives were outraged over Obama’s executive orders, not so much about Trump’s.
Media Matters, 14 Feb 2025: Laura Ingraham sounded the alarm about the need for Congress to assert its authority against a “tyrant” “would-be dictator” in the White House — in 2014, subtitled “Shockingly, Laura Ingraham and her Fox News colleagues’ concerns about executive orders may vary depending on which party holds the White House”
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In their burn-it-all-down zeal, the Trumpists ‘accidentally’ fired people who oversee our nuclear weapons security. And now are scrambling to get them back.
CNN, 14 Feb 2025: Trump officials fired nuclear staff not realizing they oversee the country’s weapons stockpile, sources say
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NY Times, Michelle Goldberg, 14 Feb 2025: Trump Wants to Destroy All Academia, Not Just the Woke Parts
They’re so afraid of being “brain-washed” by education and reality; but they’re fine brainwashing others with their faux-Christianity and white supremacy.
There’s a solid core of Americans who understand reality, and will endure, even if Trump/Musk cuts off their funding.
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The subtitle answers the title’s question.
The Atlantic, Russell Berman, 14 Feb 2025: Why Isn’t Congress Doing Anything?, subtitled “Republicans are just fine with Elon Musk gutting the government”
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New Republic, Michael Tomasky, 14 Feb 2025: Trump’s A.G. Just Did Something So Corrupt She Should Be Fired Already, subtitled “Note to right-wing ‘media’ and all you fantasists who believe them: This is what judicial sleaze actually looks like.”
This is about dismissing charges against New York City mayor Eric Adams, which several attorneys now have resigned rather than do.
