I’m not sure people are being sufficiently imaginative about just how craven and chaotic Musk is going to be with the computer systems he seized. Refusing to pay bills he doesn’t like? Sure, yes. But:
Imagine that he sends cash directly to every person in the country the data brokers think is Trump supporter, and double dog dares Congress or the courts to start a mass insurrection by clawing it back.
For example.
Imagine that he shuts •all• the payments down at once and issues an ultimatim like Lex Luthor or something. And there's an emergency injunction, and Trump pardons him in advance, and he keeps doing it.
Imagine that he just slurps the entire budget directly into his pocket. Who can know? Nobody has access to the system. By the time we find out, the money’s gone.
2/3
Would any of these ideas actually work?! Well, what does “work” mean?
These ideas are all chaotic, nonsensical, ridiculous, sure to immediately blow up. Obviously.
I think it’s a mistake to underestimate just how much chaos these people are willing to unleash. They’ll grab the wheel of the moving car at the edge of a ravine if they think they’re more likely than the driver to survive the crash. “That makes no sense, they wouldn’t do that” is a thought we need to scrub from our planning.
3/3
OK, here’s a way of framing the posts above:
When a fascist sits down at a checkers board with you, you might think you’re playing a game of checkers — but they don’t. They think they’re playing a game of “flip the board and punch you in the eye.”
And unless they get kicked out when they try that, they are correct.
In the meantime, with a few notable and truly admirable exceptions, the institutional opposition (including but not limited to the Democratic Party) is saying, “Sure, they may be punching us in the face now, but we are so much better at checkers!”
EDIT: “Few” was unfair; see posts below
I do think a few of the quicker elected Democrats get the assignment (see below).
And then there’s my Senator, Amy Klobuchar, who muddles around like a modern Neville Chamberlain and (reportedly) saves all the rage for her own staff.
https://progressivecafe.social/@TonyStark/113942648882695706
Attached: 1 image Since nobody’s covering this stuff, I’ll do it. This is from Hakeem Jeffries, Leader of the House Democratic Caucus. My own U.S. House representative has been all over the district, and has called an emergency town hall for Thursday evening. If you’re not seeing this in the same media that normalized and generally wanted Trump by all appearances, don’t be shocked. Democrats are doing things, limited by the power voters didn’t bother to give them. That’s just the reality of the situation.
A heartening piece from @jaykuo , recommended by a friend:
https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/is-somebody-doing-something
When I talked about the “notable and truly admirable exceptions” above, I should not have said “few.” Strike that. Say “many.” A whole lot of people who aren’t feckless Klobuchars are in the fight, even if they’re not in the headlines, and they know this isn’t checkers anymore. That piece lists a few. I’m going to take heart and say there are many more.
Nearly 100 Federal employees took part in a protest now into its second day of a takeover by Elon Musk surrogates of the high administration arm of the Federal government. Photo: DCMediaGroup Washington DC—Federal employees and supporters returned to the main Federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) building today in much greater numbers to continue […]
I really would like there to have been a better DFL candidate to vote for in the primary last year.
At least Tina Smith acknowledges the problems we now face?
@brunogirin @inthehands Thanks.
It's also in the urban dictionary.
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Pigeon%20chess
Refers to having a pointless debate with somebody utterly ignorant of the subject matter, but standing on a dogmatic position that cannot be moved with any amount of education or logic, but who always proclaims victory. Origin: "Debating creationists on the topic of evolution is rather like trying to play chess with a pigeon; it knocks the pieces over, craps on the board, and flies back to its flock to claim victory." -- Scott D. Weitzenhoffer (From an Amazon.com book review)
Paul Cantrell
pivot
Michael Busch
Budgegeria 🦜
robert daniel pickard
Lazarou Monkey Terror 🚀💙🌈
Irenes (many)
Bruno Girin