The situation afterwards is hard to know. It makes me think of the novel, Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. — Paine

Tarkovsky made a fascinating movie, Stalker, loosely based on Roadside Picnic. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky wrote the screenplay.

Clearly illegality is not the proper benchmark of corruption, nor is it the proper benchmark for "incitement."
5 hours ago — Count Timothy von Icarus

Particularly when you consider the absurd presidential power to arbitrarily and with impunity issue pardons.

Yes, I am a fan of both book and movie. The book captures that "don't worry, everything is under control vibe" of the late Soviet era.

Cheers, I haven't read the book. I'll place it on my list.

Trump goes all in on DOGE

“We are going to be signing a very important deal today,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “It’s DOGE.” He said that his administration had found “billions and billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse.” — Washington Post

How he's had time to 'find' billions and billions in the three frantic weeks since the inauguration is anyone's guess, although never a problem for someone who just makes stuff up.

The executive order gives billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE, tasked with finding government inefficiencies, even more power than it has amassed in the first three weeks of the new administration. The order installs a “DOGE Team Lead” at each agency and gives that person oversight over hiring decisions. DOGE stands for Department of Government Efficiency. ...

Trump on Tuesday criticized the judicial rulings, saying that “it seems hard to believe that judges want to try and stop us from looking for corruption.”

He threatened to “look at the judges because that’s very serious,” but later said he would “always abide by the courts” and appeal their findings.

Well, that's something, but actions speak louder than words.

Musk saw fit to bring one of his many infant children to the Oval Office, charmingly named X Æ A-Xii.

The Musk appearance in the office was also reported by the NY Times.

Answering questions from the media for the first time since his arrival in Washington to run the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, Mr. Musk stood next to the Resolute Desk and asserted that his work was in the interest of the public and democracy. President Trump sat behind the desk, chiming in with approval as he let the world’s richest man expound for roughly 30 minutes on the rationale for the drastic overhaul of the federal bureaucracy.

The goal is to “restore democracy,” Mr. Musk said. “If the bureaucracy’s in charge, then what meaning does democracy actually have?”

Among Mr. Musk’s claims, which he offered without providing evidence, was that some officials at the now-gutted U.S. Agency for International Development had been taking “kickbacks.” He said that “quite a few people” in the bureaucracy somehow had “managed to accrue tens of millions of dollars in net worth while they are in that position,” without explaining how he had made that assessment. He later claimed that some recipients of Social Security checks were as old as 150.

“We are actually trying to be as transparent as possible,” Mr. Musk said, referring to postings by his team on his social media site, X. “So all of our actions are maximally transparent.”

He continued, “I don’t know of a case where an organization has been more transparent than the DOGE organization.”

In reality, Mr. Musk’s team is operating in deep secrecy: surprising federal employees by descending upon agencies and gaining access to sensitive data systems. Mr. Musk himself is a “special government employee,” which, the White House has said, means his financial disclosure filing will not be made public.

It's basically a hostile takeover of the functions of the Federal Government. It is utterly Orwellian.

It is utterly Orwellian. — Wayfarer

Not really.

Orwellian - says 'we are being transparent', when in actual fact, nobody has the slightest idea where Musk is getting his information from, what his plan of action is, or what his 'authorisation' amounts to.

Orwellian says: C'mon everyone, let's do our Two Minutes Hate.

Just making the information available for those interested. You're under no compulsion to read it, you can keep enjoying your 'very nice life'.

Just making the information available for those interested. — Wayfarer

I think you know the information you're posting is headline news. You're just throwing it up there without any sort of intellectual engagement.

The kid seems to be pointing to Trump. I imagine him saying "look Dad, there's a disgruntled ogre over there".

:lol: The commentary said that Trump seemed a sideshow in the Oval Office, seemed distracted by the kid (pet name 'X' :vomit: )

An interesting piece in that rag, the Conversation, suggesting the better term is a "state capture".

Most Americans are familiar with hiring freezes, layoffs, cost-cutting czars, etc. The Executive Branch has been immune from any kind of austerity, thus most Americans either applaud DOGE or they're like meh.

:up: Bernie Sanders never tires of pointing out that the World’s Richest Man made $150 billion in the two weeks following the election. It’s why I re-named the thread ‘plutocracy’, meaning ‘government by the very wealthy’.

I doubt it is as benign or 'business as usual' as you seem to want to paint it Frank. Anyway, we'll see how it all plays out and what the ramifications are. Not just for the US, but for the world.

Earlier in this thread, I paraphrased the old saying ‘when America sneezes the whole world catches a cold.’ America is doing much worse than sneezing, and the world is going to get much more than a cold.

[Wrong thread, sorry]

Hey Pierre-Normand - Wrong thread, I'm afraid. This one is about the imminent demise of American constitutional democracy.

I'm afraid you're right...the world might get the Mumps.

Crikey editor Sophie Black today set out some guidelines for dealing with reporting Trump that are worth a look.

Don't pay attention to what he says. Look at what he does. "Unless, that is, there’s an opportunity for a joke".

Hey Pierre-Normand - Wrong thread, I'm afraid. This one is about the imminent demise of American constitutional democracy. — Wayfarer

Yup, it was the wrong thread, and wrong Chrome tab. I saw President Musk's Address to the Nation in the Oval Office today. VP Trump was listening very politely, but seemed very scared of little X.

I know, I know. I've promised myself, and everyone here, to 'stop posting about Trump', about a million times. But I can't look away, it's just too awful, and the threat too imminent.

Ain't the the truth. 'Look, here's the future I'm unleashing'. :yikes:

You're right. I was wrong. Let's focus on the fallout. Step by step. :wink:

I doubt it is as benign or 'business as usual' as you seem to want to paint it Frank — Janus

No, I think the US is headed toward increased authoritarianism with nothing to stop it. But you guys will be fine. :up:

↪Banno I know, I know. I've promised myself, and everyone here, to 'stop posting about Trump', about a million times. But I can't look away, it's just too awful, and the threat too imminent. — Wayfarer

Yeah, but it is sound advice, especially for one's own wellbeing.

"A range of Australian projects have USAid funding. Some organisations receive funds directly, while others work on projects that are jointly funded by the US and other partners and it is unclear what the stop work orders mean for them. There are concerns the US has left a chasm that could be filled by China."

here

Ok. I like this. You know, we have another twenty or so more years of this ..

There are concerns the US has left a chasm that could be filled by China." — frank

Isn't that obvious? China will be ecstatic.