What I still don't get is the complete surrender of the Congressional Republicans. They're content to be nothing more than talking heads with zero power? Because that's what they will, with zero power except to rubber-stamp Trump's appointments, if Musk succeeds. Although I suppose, based on their absolute inability to get anything done, they've already abdicated. Governing is hard, being a talking head is fun?
I just got a reply from my R congressman about Elon. He claims Elon "...is unpaid, and in full compliance with the law." Ha. Ha. Ha.
He also is in "full support" of Elon's "cost cutting".
The next letter I sent to him I accused him of abrogating his responsibilities as a member of Congress. If trump wants to make cuts, Congress should be the starting point not Elon or DOGE.
It's plain to see that Elon doesn't care about cost cutting. He sees this as a means to dismantle the US government. That's the really frightening prospect.
I have noticed over the years that the wealthy I have known feel no responsibility to contribute to the 'general welfare and common good'. They think it is ALL their money and they want it back - with interest. They all have their 'Nut' - money they have squirreled away offshore so the 'takers' cannot get at it. We all need to stand up and make it clear that Musk-tRump cannot destroy the government. Support any Civil Servants you know and appeal to their patriotism. Protest. Call and write your congress critters. It is all we have right now.
I think regulation is a big deal to Musk. The idea that anyone would stand in his way in any way shape or form is a personal insult. The EPA calls him on killing birds with space X...instead of coming up with mitigations he'll destroy the entire department.
I saw Elon quoted recently -I think within the past few days or maybe a couple of weeks- that we should get rid of "all regulations." Before adding that we can always reinstate any that we might later decide we need.
Yeah, that "no regulations, no controls, no government" line goes all the way back to the ante-bellum, slave-owning oligarchy. And you don't have to squint very hard to see how the essence of it threads back to feudal times. It's been dressed in increasingly fancier clothing since about the 1950s and certainly since 1980, but it's the same old shit.
I don’t know if would help but shaming the wealthy folks who are not speaking out (are they in agreement? are they fearful?) about the destruction happening at the hands of musk and trump should be loud and persistent. Show pictures of children starving in Sudan or Gaza because food aid is not reaching them. Show that workers near the Ebola outbreak that is happening are not going to work because they’re not getting protective equipment to help contain the outbreak. Show the damage being done in all those places and make sure those wealthy folks/businesses waiting for their tax cuts see the devastation and damage being wrought by these two men and their minions. I know the republicans and Trump and musk and likely the front row oligarchs don’t have any more shame, but they should still be asked about it, daily.
Yeah, I've decided you can't be wealthy and moral. You talk about good rich people but they are so disconnected from the trials and tribulations of the working class, the working poor, the poor, the destitute, and people in impoverished places they can't truly help because they can't define the problem. It's like the federal minimum wage. Why increase it they say. They haven't had to live in this economy on that wage so they don't get it. They think they have worked hard but I bet the vast majority of them have never worked three jobs only to have to sleep in their car because they can't afford to rent an apartment. I bet they never joined the military because they come from a poor state with no employment opportunities just to work 12 hr days and sleep in the mud. So yeah, no moral rich people.
I think the ex-wife of Bezos and the widow of Apple founder (I will think of this name) as well as Bill Gates’ ex are doing wonderful things. These are extremely rich women (key word) who actually care about people. You could say the same of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet. Not all uber wealthy are assholes but enough of them fit that category.
Well, this opens the door for someone (hackers, the DNC, a disgruntled Treasury programmer) to pull the data on payments to Trump, the family Trump, the deep state Trump, Elon, and any other grifter in Trump's orbit.
Apparently access to what were once very secure databases are now legally open source for anyone to gather info.
MSNBC reported yesterday (Maddow) that one of Elon's flying monkeys has a start-up that hires cyber hackers, and the domain is registered in Russia; he has another domain registered in China. My jaw dropped; is it too late? How much info has been stolen? 😳
These people have ties to Russian propaganda. Elon talks to Putin regularly. One of elon’s kiddies was fired for selling company data. It’s not a stretch to say we’re at great risk. 10 million people will need to go to Washington to shut this all down.
Yes...as Paul wrote , the real motives are becoming clear even at their break neck speed....which is why the SAND is absolutely essential....and I suspect it will fall on every American, in one way or another ..to Show up FOR their Country and save it....that is the only way to topple an Autocrat. Nobody left on the couch :)
My congressman Nancy Mace is so far over in TrumphukWorld that she’s absolloootly HOPELESS. On top of that I’ve got Lying Lascivious Lindsay as one Senator and Timorous Timmy Scott as the other…. I’ve sent messages to them and received vanilla fudge “thank you very mush” replies. Congressman Clyburn sent a much more responsive letter back …
The question is when you live in a virulent red state what can you do?
Does railing on Substack accomplish anything? Down heah in Charleston I’m not sure where to go to protest…
Richard, I hear you. It feels like you are pissing in the wind. One suggestion is to donate to legal groups such as Lawfare that are fighting the autogolpe in the courts.
Yup!! And support Congresspeople and Senators who have the cojones to stand up — I’ve out done $$$s behind some. I yelled at Kaine for voting to confirm The Suckretary for Inferior Noem. What approve any of these jackals and sycophants??
That's a great question .. I don't know. I'm not anything more than a keyboard warrior myself.
You could .. stand at a corner of some intersection with a smile and a sign that says, "America, Musk's New South Africa"? Or, simply a sign that says "Trump, please start following our Laws" with the subtext that he is a felon? Or .. here's a half-baked idea .. ask the City attorney If they're willing to do some community outreach and say please follow law? The leading idea being, if the city attorney is not willing to encourage lawful behavior, then that's a statement in and of itself.
Krugman here is suggesting that federal employees who remain in their job (and not take the bogus resignation "ask") are, to borrow a phrase, The thin Blue Line that saves us from the bad people doing the bad thing to our government.
So the puzzle Of knowing the right Civic Action to, to me starts with understanding how the country works, given that we are part what's yours is mine and what's mine is mine, plus, some high moral views about freedom and liberty, all baked into the same cake, sprinkled with lots of really wonderful and interesting people.
My republican senators lie to me also. I will continue to call them daily and challenge the lies and speak the truth. I’m unsure how effective it will be, but I don’t know what else I can do.
If the US fiscal system seizes up because of Musk’s minions coding, will the value of the US dollar shrivel and affect your congressman personally? Will Americans targeted by Mump create a hyper local currency to survive (it happened during the Great Depression), thereby decreasing the value of the dollar in economic transactions? If that happens, your congressman could be personally affected. I wish Dr. Krugman would revisit one of his first newsletters in which he said the dollar will eventually be replaced as the world reserve currency, but it will take decades. In light of what we know now, does he still think that timeline holds up? Swiss Francs and even Japanese Yen are starting to look more desirable than the US dollar.
re: "unpaid," Elon is being "paid" in our data. DOGE is using our data to train AI—most likely, Musk's own xAI, though I haven't yet seen that confirmed. *Even if* all he does is hoard it onto the private server he lugged in, that data is still an incredible goldmine that no one else has yet had access to—except, you know, now Russia and China do too.
Yes, cost cutting is a joke…it’s control, fear and chaos…break it as we fake it! A whole collective pile of steaming crap! Till they blackmail you with your check only if you comply! Bend over!
Christian conversion camps here we come. Want your social security then you better get down on your knees and pray to my God. Need welfare, better memorize those Bible verses - and not those ones about loving your neighbor - those hell fire and damnation ones. Ffs
Carry your passport and keep a copy at home…I like the actual teachings of Jesus, fan of the Jeffersonian Bible…Jesus was the first liberal by almost all measures, and yet puritanical religious zealots have co-opted these teachings…and of course they refuse the practice them themselves…for the little people. You can not be a jealous billionaire and be a Christian! And the hell fire…it’s that these Christian’s really want to be God, after all is said and done! Donny-John is the worst! The Musky-man is right over him! Brimstone for sure!
The Congressional Republicans are still afraid of him. Once his popularity numbers drop they will lose their loyalty. Don't buy a Tesla, if you have one sell it quick and cheap. Delete, don't abandon your Facebook account, delete don't abandon your Twitter account. Those stock prices will decliny and his popularity with them. We all need to make him unpopular. Blame everything on Trump. Trump taxes (the tarrifs). Trump egg prices. Trumpflation.
We're in something like the take over of state industries by the oligarchy in post USSR Russia. However the US being an information and services economy there are no state owned oil companies or mining companies to steal. Musk and his goblins are basically running the same playbook on the information and services provided by the federal government. This information and services are worth trillions and he wants to control of it. That's his goal.
Trump just wants revenge and some self enrichment as he slides into senility. He's just there to scribbles his name on whatever order they put in front of him and rile up the red hat mob. Musk and Vought are in charge which gives a strategic wedge for the opposition. Neither are charismatic or appealing to the vast majority of Americans, especially rural MAGA voters. Target Musk and his companies.
Musk and his empire is fragile and mostly propped up by Tesla's overvalued and esentialy a meme stock. Organize protests not just at USAID but at Tesla showrooms. Always target the money.
Out of X. Deleted Insta. FB this week has to go. However What’s App is a tough one for me - lots of international contacts on it. And I’m pissed at Bezos too but tough to give up prime and Whole Foods.. on the margin my shopping will change for sure - not going to thoughtlessly buy from Amazon any more.
At this point it is more about money than power. They lost all their power to MAGA. Trump owns them. They cannot survive a primary if they show any opposition to Trump. But they can grift off of Trump and MAGA.
They are spineless traitors but i also think they’ve been threatened with violence. This is a congressional hostage situation. A patriot would take the risk and speak out. There are no patriots in that party.
Or being disappeared. If not by kidnapping then by being placed in the dead file via SS. No access to your bank accounts, credit cards, investments. Lot of effort goes in to showing them you are not really dead.
Their aim in the last 40 years has been to destroy the federal state. They now have all the tools they've always dreamt of. They are not useless idiots. They want this and are happy with the situation. I expect them to double down on cuts to any program helping people and laws fueling hatred.
Not a matter of trust, as I tried to make clear. It's a matter of fear. Roberts and Barrett are not yet utterly deranged. To nullify the Constitution in the teeth of an outraged public would be very dangerous for them, even physically. They don't to live in constant dread.
They ignore the law. Enough public anger would have to be a massive - and possibly violent - response. It might be a while before it reaches that boiling point, and I for one am not looking forward to that.
Yet DOJ lawyers are showing up response to the lawsuits seeking to stop the Musketeers and bhaving themselves in court, as per Roger Parloff's blow by blow.
And we see that one of the two 'SGEs' that these DOJ lawyers identified as having "read only" IT priviledges at Treasury, Elez, has reportedly been booted from DOGE for eugenicist postings, just too Nazi, for public opinion.
So, not ignoring law, not ignoring public opinion. Think we'll be spared what you fear.
I wouldn't quite say I fear it. Quite the contrary, I'm ready to join it - if necessary. That doesn't mean I look forward to it. I would just prefer to avoid it - if possible.
If you are a Republican Congressman, perhaps you fear for more than loss of your seat in Government. I would not be surprised to see the coming months/years feature Trump-inspired violence against those who oppose his rule. Why have so many GOPers who have left government remained silent? Fear?
Look what they did to Joni Ernst with the Hegseth nomination. Threatened her in all different ways including siccing MAGA maniacs on her. Now she has to go around with Musk claiming that the reason he's taking over the Treasury is because fraud is causing inflation.
Also, in the NYT analysis of the relationship between Trump/Musk that seemed to develop overnight, some republicans were quoted anonymously. That made me wonder if they didn't want their data sold on the dark web as retribution.
As George Washington warned us in his farewell address, party (what he called faction in the language of the time) could short circuit checks and balances of the new form of government, because the faction would be more loyal to the party than to the country.
“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.”
"What I still don't get is the complete surrender of the Congressional Republicans. "
When a Congressional Republican publicly opposes Trump, they receive an avalanche of death threats against both them and their families. They come by email, phone, and snail mail, and they often get doxxed on social media.
They're largely empty threats; after all, no one who has opposed Trump in the past has yet been murdered, but I guess they have to take them seriously.
Not defending Republicans here. They had their chance to throw Trump out of office in January 2017 and they didn't do it.
I have stopped calling the lower chamber the "House of Representatives" for the time being. To me, it is now the "Camera dei fasci e della corporazioni." With about the same amount of power as that chamber had in fascist Italy.
I agree, the GOP are in it all the way up to their necks. It’s so disgusting how they are selling our country without even blinking. They care nothing about the People. And they’re afraid of trump. Just like him, the GOP want power, status, money, and all the perks.
Can congressional Republicans be impeached? Nobody's got the time to wait for the next election. Although I hear they are being plenty hassled. There's a lot of calls placed to congressional Democrats at least, time for these Republicans to get calls or investigations. Seems a pretty good bet that it's those who would stand to gain from the new world order that are staying passive right now.
Take a look at https://bondsforthewin.com/ which talks about the surety bond that each public official has to have. With enough complaints on their bond, they can't get another one, so can't hold office.
As with other Federal officers, impeachment of Congressmembers, SCOTUS, POTUS, Federal Judges, etc., requires a 2/3 majority in the Senate, which has convicted a double handful of judges. A dozen or so other officials resigned before the Senate could act.
They have got nothing…it’s the story of emperor’s cloths writ very large! They are naked, quaking in fear! They know what they did and now the costs to people…death and distraction.
Looks like Elon could be next to be run out if Trump still cares about polls. As Rachel Maddow reported last night a recent Economist/YouGov poll shows “support among Republicans for Elon Musk falling sharply by 21 points – from 47% just after the November election – to 26% this week.” Support among both Democrats and Independents for Musk having a lot of involvement in our government is only 6% — what Maddow described as tooth decay level of approval.
I think what would really force Musk to get out of DOGE would be if the media puts a lot of focus on the fact that Trump is letting Musk quickly revamp our air safety system. Even the precious lives of billionaires who only fly on their personal private jets — with the Supreme Court Justices they own — will be threatened by Musk’s “move fast and break things” ideology.
Which one do professional oddsmakers think is more likely to accidently fall out a window? A "Defenestration Ratio" should tell us who actually owns whom.
Yes and no. DJ, horrible as it is, is the one with the "charisma" to make the MAGAt groupies group. Elon doesn't have a molecule of charisma in him, and would be powerless in the halls of power without that. We just have to encourage the collision of those two egos, like a couple of mini-brained dinosaurs duking it out in the swamp...
I worked in the FAA for 30 years, starting out as a air traffic controller. Luckily for all of you. I was washed out in the first training. My class of 26 lost 50% then and ultimately only 5 made it to full performance level after 4 years of training. Those 5 were fired when their union PATCO told them to strike. Reagan fired all of them. Air traffic controllers take a very long time to replace and even those billionaires need them to separate traffic and provide guidance during instrument flying for their jets. Musky is very ignorant demanding these highly specialized people take his offer. He’s lying about what they might receive if they resign.
The DOGE team also includes crypto grifters with impressively dodgy histories who should probably not be allowed anywhere near America's financial infrastructure
Thank you, this has given me a bit of hope. I’m a probationary fed who will hit my year mark in March. I want to work for my federal government, I believe in the US, i love my country! I have my favorite presidents tattooed on my arm so I should be “patriotic” enough for these people? But evidently not, since I believe in the sanctity of our institutions & rule of law (not to mention letting individuals do with their lives what they want).
Your righteous anger is a beautiful thing. I just do hope our Democratic electeds find a way to get their own house in order before it’s too late. The early signs are not promising. Interesting poll here from Stanley Greenberg at Democracy Corp shows the Democrats have lost a key portion of all segments of their base on several issues: https://prospect.org/politics/2025-02-03-what-is-donald-trumps-mandate/. Side note, while I agree DEI is being used as a distraction, it is in fact a mess, and our side does need to recalibrate its stance on that. We do ourselves no favors if we become entrenched in support for things that don’t work and are likely doing harm. Here’s a good piece from a lifelong, progressive educator about that: https://intrepidednews.com/dismantling-dei-to-reimagine-purpose/.)
Thanks K., yes, you are right to point that out, and I didn’t mean to suggest that’s what the poll said, but rather, on that score, was responding to a statement PK made in the article. DEI is a complicated issue, and there are many parts of it that have gone seriously off the rails, so I don’t see that as a distraction, but something to work together to fix. That said, what we know for sure is that it won’t be treated as complicated by this admin. My spouse—who has a lot of experience in this area as an educator—and I were just talking about this on our morning walk, teasing out the good and not so good aspects. For example, accommodations to allow those with disabilities to participate fully in public life are part of it, too. I just wish our Democratic electeds would not so often be so intensely reactive, find a way to acknowledge that there is a need for course corrections here as elsewhere, then demonstrate how to do this compassionately. Perhaps this is a fond hope, but I want to think that if our electeds did that more, rather than shying away from problematic issues, I think the party overall would command more respect, which would be helpful about now.
I'll pass that along to Ivanka, whose Female Forward agenda is a big part of what Donald is trying to boot from USAID - You know, those programs that empower women in areas where they are economically and physically at risk. Could be Texas, could be Afghanistan or Africa. I find it ironic that a Dad who introduced his daughter to Russian and South American criminals as business partners would object to a little DEI in the workplace. Whatever.
Thank you for this! Yes my husband & I were talking about this during the election. Democrats appear to be trying to take all the ground left from the MAGAs since they moved to the far right, & it’s too much. It lacks cohesion. We need a clear focus & to redefine our party planks.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your reply. It’s really hard, anyway, to have these conversations, and all the more so when it is in these small exchanges online. So much can be misunderstood. I am going to save what you wrote for reference as I think and talk with friends and neighbors further about this, as it is so well stated. And also, my apologies for neglecting to state how sorry I was to hear about your situation. You are exactly the kind of person we need in government. Such a shame. I wish you and your family all the best. Love that you have tattoos of Presidents!
As a retired federal employee I would encourage you to stick with it. We need all the good people we can get running things. Just keep saying “This too shall pass. “
Thank you for your kind words. I’ve decided I’d rather be fired than take musk’s out. I am exploring outside employment (I have 3 teens to feed!), but I feel so let down. I really have been excited about growing with my agency, learning & developing myself while helping my country.
I agree about the autogolpe. But it's also important to keep in mind the purpose of the autogolpe, which is to undo all social progress since the New Deal and return the US to a 19th century laissez-faire form of government, so the rich and businesses don't have to pay taxes and businesses aren't regulated. Paul likes to refer to the federal government as an insurance company with an army. The orange turd and his supporters want to get rid of the insurance company. A secondary goal is to promote white Christian nationalism, focusing on the cult of the unborn fetus, limiting women to traditional housewife roles, treating Black and brown people as subhuman and excluding them from the economic life of the country, and legally allowing discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.
Thanks for this reply. After seeing the list of what is being called wasteful spending by the USAID is only garnering more support among his base and pulling more folks in to the support of their tactics.
Please, this talk of “saving democracy” annoys the hell out of me. That’s so abstract it’s meaningless to the average American. Please say “protecting the rule of law”, and “honoring legal contracts”, like Social Security and Medicare, etc. We all need to clean up our language, and thanks for “autogolpe”, which is a far better conversation starter than “coup”.🤗
This. Spot, fucking, on! Framing really is key here.
The GOP half of the voting citizenry has already been conditioned by FOX News to interpret "Saving democracy" as "Our hero Trump has the Dems whining and very upset." Which actually makes them very pleased with themselves.
But "protecting the rule of law" is something that hits 'em right between the eyes, and gets through. More or less. It a universal values call for us 'Mehricuns that transcends political tribalism.
The more the message can be dumbed down, the better. I’d suggest, “they’re coming for your Social Security and Medicare” or “Musk’s team now has your bank routing number from your taxes.” Fear mongering in simple terms seems to work.
While I agree that “saving democracy” is rather broad brush — IT IS WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO! Yes it involves “protecting the rule of law” and such … But we are in real danger of losing the very basis of our lives and liberty in a free society.
Sorry to even posit this as a possibility on a Krugman article, but I'm afraid we're heading toward "extralegal" responses to the outright theft of our Constitution and our government, with high-profile goniffs getting targeting. I mean, if one steals another person's livelihood, that calls for extraordinary actions, which includes 2nd Amendment "solutions" in the minds of many affected people, mark my words.
The assassination of the UHC CEO, Brian Thompson, was described as a reaction to denial of life-saving medical attention...what happens when tens of thousands of people are unceremoniously and illegally denied their jobs, thence their paychecks? Their means of economic and financial well-being? Writing one's Congressional Rep? Really?
Mussolini was stripped naked, beheaded and left on the streets for all to see. F-ing with veterans and others may in the end not bode well for these people.
You understand Framing, right? This particular concept needs to be Framed twice: for Liberals, and separately for Trump voters. "Respect the law" for the latter; "Save democracy" for the former.
Because FOX and RW media has already Framed "save democracy" for the conservative media consumer to mean that "liberals are crybaby elitist whiners upset over President Trump's manly efforts to bring down the price of eggs."
Spot on! I’ve been thinking about this a lot because Trump and the Republican/MAGA machine kick our ass in messaging (always have, IMO). We try to cram paragraphs worth of ideals and values into pithy sayings and then assume “message delivered”.
I don’t even like using the words “protecting the rule of law” anymore. It’s so overused by both parties that it’s become trite. And Musk is making breaking the law look cool (Billy the Kid-style)
American citizens need to understand this:
Democracy says “you are in charge and you run this show. You are the boss”
Trump says “shut the hell up and get out of my way. You are meaningless”
Americans really don’t like to be told what to do.
Or try, "Respect the Constitution," "don't be a lawbreaker," or as TomR posted above, "Don't let them steal your Social Security and Medicare."
I'm particularly fond of using their own Frames against them: "Drain the Swamp!" (in response to Trump/Musk grifting); "Fake News!" (whenever FOX News comes up with another whopper).
Reminds me of white house down. Where is rambo? Nowhere as he supports trumpinetto like most of those cheap actors. Anybody supporting maga is a traitor to AMERICA! Time for a counter coup? Cut starlink. Get out from twitter. Do not buy tesla. Fuck bitcoin
As a Japanese with love (not uncritical one) to America, it has always been unbelievable for me to read US newspapers which wrote of Musk as if all he is doing in Washington for some political ideology or beliefs.
Isn’t it so obvious that he is doing all the things all those things, including changing laws and rules, cutting federal government arms, and getting federal financial datum, to benefit himself? Of course, he is not alone: he is just a most obvious example of those Trump tribe. But it’s still attempted stage.
I am glad that many Americans are awaking from the initial shocks, and beginning to resist to the Attempted Coup.
Yes it is obvious to the rest of the world and to those of us paying attention, but many of our US mainstream news organizations owned by. oligarchs have become mouthpieces for Trump's propaganda.
This is all about one thing and one thing only - stealing as much money from as many poor and middle class people as possible to give to Musk and a few other greedy billionaires as tax cuts. This will hurt more MAGAs than coastal liberals, and they won't see it coming because Fox won't tell them.
Trump once said, "I only got going when I learned to talk Shallow". By which he revealed several things:
- detail is for shmucks
- truth is for schmucks
- self-contradiction doesn't matter. X pleases some people, not-X pleases others,
and I get to be like a slippery eel because I've already agreed with whatever your complaint was, critics give up, eventually no-one cares, everyone gets careless
- I can say what I really mean and my enemies don't see it
- my communication with my base, which gets me power, is just pure feeling, with no content other than fantasy, to the point of group hypnosis, when I do a fist sway back and forth, like a cobra
- lying is good. It leaves me free wade around in a can't -touch-me zone.
It's a coup attempt all right. One of the points made in The Dictator's Handbook (Mesquita & Smith, 2011) is the guys seizing power get hold of the money.
Super true, especially in this day and age where the owner of the website that had brutally terse, 140 word comments is now second in charge of the country.
"A fascist is one whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions, or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends.… The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power.…" - Henry Wallace
What a perfect moment in history for Paul to break free from the "legacy journalists" and tell us what he really thinks. Jumped to the top of my stack of subs.
Have you noticed how many NYT journalists are writing their final column lately? Their coverage is shifting. Mostly entertainment, a little headline liberal stuff. They ditched business news a few years ago.
Professor Krugman: workers that have accepted the buyout were likely planning to leave anyway? according to the most recent information, 60,000 government workers have accepted the buyout. that's rather a lot, don't you think? do these people naively think they are going to be paid by two plutocrats who got rich partially by not paying their bills?
and speaking of public crises, let's spend a few seconds thinking about the PUBLIC HEALTH crisis unfolding in ameriKKKa: there are now at least two types of bird flus that are widely circulating, both of which are deadly, especially to animals, which means you meat-eaters are in deep shit, at the very least. tuberculosis is now breaking out in a number of states and cities. the occurrence of polio and measles and covid-19 and RSV are all on on a steep increase. so in short, musk and his sidekick, the orange toddler, don't have to declare war or start shooting people (with bullets) because they instead are going to destroy a significant portion of the country by allowing and supporting infectious diseases to be their agents of doom.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Antibiotic [strikeout] impervious [/strikeout] resistant bacteria, global warming, the next viral pandemic, and even the triumphant return of nukes, all promise to do us in.
Everyone reading this, outside of the occasional troll, probably greatly appreciates everything you say about it not yet succeeding.
But we all live in a relatively small echo chamber. What makes dictatorships successful is when the majority of the population remains silent and only wakes up too late and for all the wrong reasons.
I think one of the best ways right now to wake people up to *a* right reason is by complaining loudly about the price of eggs. As a conversation starter.
America still cares very much about it's pocketbook, and the continued rising prices while blatant financial risk of millions is going on is a bipartisan concern. Bring on the civil lawsuits for $$$ lost from reckless announcements, leaked information, etc. The right strategy is happening - counter-distraction will slow them down and time is clearly of the essence if they are literally sleeping in the buildings. Court orders challenging their legitimacy to be in the building will also help prevent interference. Time for the Aviation Authority to get a restraining order to keep them from the building.
Excellent column. I think that the autogolpe (thanks for that term) is also about racial re-segregation and purging, as well as depriving all women of their rights. I don't think we can ignore the blatant attempts in that direction, including the eugenicist (just one?) on Elon's team, as well as the attack on the 14th amendment, the assumption that DEI means "inferior" hires, the casual racism in their comments. The DOGE efforts are being led by a guy who did a Hitler salute--twice.
Federal transportation funds being directed to places with more births (like Utah) rather than high cost-of-living urban centers smacks of that line of thinking.
with all due respect: I think you are mistaken in the assumption that Trump's announcements of intended land grabs are mere distractions. They are not. All these illegal attempts are being pursued parallel to each other. «Flood the zone». Like in the film: Everything everywhere all at once.
A comment, certainly Trump's infamous Project 2025 book is a thoughtfully constructed plan, and it instructs many of the actions that we are seeing taking place today, confirming your idea that ALL of this, simultaneously, is the goal.
In the context of an individual's interest -- Trump or Musk and other billionaires/enabling employees -- one appears to be seeking the ability to change how the US government functions as their wants and needs change, for power and profit, for eternity, through autogolpe. This is how I understand it, at least.
Greetings from Great Barrington. I find these letters of yours really really helpful, and agree that we've not anticipated how Trump/Musk would so quickly try to take over the government. (Though I'm not sure "autogolpe" is going to catch on. Digital coup?) Two thoughts for your consideration. We have experienced another 9/11, not only because the world is different now, and will ever be, but because no one anticipated the weapons. It seems obvious in retrospect: cyber-warfare's where it's at. I suppose the military is next. Second thought: billionaires are not buddies. They are fiercely competitive. Are there any signs of a united oligarchy, or does the system require a single dominant wolfpack leader?
Fox is no longer relevant & worthy of paying advertising expense for the oligarchs once "the uneducated, whom dear leader said he loves, will no longer have to vote again."
What I still don't get is the complete surrender of the Congressional Republicans. They're content to be nothing more than talking heads with zero power? Because that's what they will, with zero power except to rubber-stamp Trump's appointments, if Musk succeeds. Although I suppose, based on their absolute inability to get anything done, they've already abdicated. Governing is hard, being a talking head is fun?
I just got a reply from my R congressman about Elon. He claims Elon "...is unpaid, and in full compliance with the law." Ha. Ha. Ha.
He also is in "full support" of Elon's "cost cutting".
The next letter I sent to him I accused him of abrogating his responsibilities as a member of Congress. If trump wants to make cuts, Congress should be the starting point not Elon or DOGE.
It's plain to see that Elon doesn't care about cost cutting. He sees this as a means to dismantle the US government. That's the really frightening prospect.
I have noticed over the years that the wealthy I have known feel no responsibility to contribute to the 'general welfare and common good'. They think it is ALL their money and they want it back - with interest. They all have their 'Nut' - money they have squirreled away offshore so the 'takers' cannot get at it. We all need to stand up and make it clear that Musk-tRump cannot destroy the government. Support any Civil Servants you know and appeal to their patriotism. Protest. Call and write your congress critters. It is all we have right now.
Chesterson remarked "...the rich have always objected to being governed at all."
I think regulation is a big deal to Musk. The idea that anyone would stand in his way in any way shape or form is a personal insult. The EPA calls him on killing birds with space X...instead of coming up with mitigations he'll destroy the entire department.
I saw Elon quoted recently -I think within the past few days or maybe a couple of weeks- that we should get rid of "all regulations." Before adding that we can always reinstate any that we might later decide we need.
And that would be easy to reinstate things, right? Breaking things is easy, creating them is hard.
Yeah, that "no regulations, no controls, no government" line goes all the way back to the ante-bellum, slave-owning oligarchy. And you don't have to squint very hard to see how the essence of it threads back to feudal times. It's been dressed in increasingly fancier clothing since about the 1950s and certainly since 1980, but it's the same old shit.
Fricking Libertarians, next he'll want to lower the age of consent, they always seem to want that.
That’s a principle of capitalism.
He is afraid of regulation, he’s afraid of being found out! Like Donny- there is no there there.
And keep killing birds, whose population is struggling enough between bird flu and environmental issues. Argh!
Remember the outcry over Obama's "You didn't build that?" They can't see beyond their noses (if that far).
I don’t know if would help but shaming the wealthy folks who are not speaking out (are they in agreement? are they fearful?) about the destruction happening at the hands of musk and trump should be loud and persistent. Show pictures of children starving in Sudan or Gaza because food aid is not reaching them. Show that workers near the Ebola outbreak that is happening are not going to work because they’re not getting protective equipment to help contain the outbreak. Show the damage being done in all those places and make sure those wealthy folks/businesses waiting for their tax cuts see the devastation and damage being wrought by these two men and their minions. I know the republicans and Trump and musk and likely the front row oligarchs don’t have any more shame, but they should still be asked about it, daily.
Yeah, I've decided you can't be wealthy and moral. You talk about good rich people but they are so disconnected from the trials and tribulations of the working class, the working poor, the poor, the destitute, and people in impoverished places they can't truly help because they can't define the problem. It's like the federal minimum wage. Why increase it they say. They haven't had to live in this economy on that wage so they don't get it. They think they have worked hard but I bet the vast majority of them have never worked three jobs only to have to sleep in their car because they can't afford to rent an apartment. I bet they never joined the military because they come from a poor state with no employment opportunities just to work 12 hr days and sleep in the mud. So yeah, no moral rich people.
I think the ex-wife of Bezos and the widow of Apple founder (I will think of this name) as well as Bill Gates’ ex are doing wonderful things. These are extremely rich women (key word) who actually care about people. You could say the same of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet. Not all uber wealthy are assholes but enough of them fit that category.
And here’s the first of stories where cutting off aid is having an impact: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/us-aid-freeze-claims-first-victims-as-oxygen-supplies-cut/
Well, this opens the door for someone (hackers, the DNC, a disgruntled Treasury programmer) to pull the data on payments to Trump, the family Trump, the deep state Trump, Elon, and any other grifter in Trump's orbit.
Apparently access to what were once very secure databases are now legally open source for anyone to gather info.
MSNBC reported yesterday (Maddow) that one of Elon's flying monkeys has a start-up that hires cyber hackers, and the domain is registered in Russia; he has another domain registered in China. My jaw dropped; is it too late? How much info has been stolen? 😳
All of it probably. That's what we have to assume.
You can easily imagine Musk's minions pocketing the Social Security data and selling it to the highest bidder.
Highest bidder? I'm guessing those incel kids would trade key data for feet pics.
Cryto-currency…fake it till you make it, them sell your stock, fast and first!
Or veterans or federal retirees.
These people have ties to Russian propaganda. Elon talks to Putin regularly. One of elon’s kiddies was fired for selling company data. It’s not a stretch to say we’re at great risk. 10 million people will need to go to Washington to shut this all down.
That would be Putin, in person.
Great suggestion
C'mon Anonymous, get on it!
Good for u to keep writing your Republican Congressman- putting heat on him! Keep it up!
Show up his town halls and be vocal until security throws you out. Be careful
of your person safety, however.
Yes...as Paul wrote , the real motives are becoming clear even at their break neck speed....which is why the SAND is absolutely essential....and I suspect it will fall on every American, in one way or another ..to Show up FOR their Country and save it....that is the only way to topple an Autocrat. Nobody left on the couch :)
Sand and gum and maybe a wrench or two.
My congressman Nancy Mace is so far over in TrumphukWorld that she’s absolloootly HOPELESS. On top of that I’ve got Lying Lascivious Lindsay as one Senator and Timorous Timmy Scott as the other…. I’ve sent messages to them and received vanilla fudge “thank you very mush” replies. Congressman Clyburn sent a much more responsive letter back …
The question is when you live in a virulent red state what can you do?
Does railing on Substack accomplish anything? Down heah in Charleston I’m not sure where to go to protest…
Richard, I hear you. It feels like you are pissing in the wind. One suggestion is to donate to legal groups such as Lawfare that are fighting the autogolpe in the courts.
Yup!! And support Congresspeople and Senators who have the cojones to stand up — I’ve out done $$$s behind some. I yelled at Kaine for voting to confirm The Suckretary for Inferior Noem. What approve any of these jackals and sycophants??
Unforgivable!
That's a great question .. I don't know. I'm not anything more than a keyboard warrior myself.
You could .. stand at a corner of some intersection with a smile and a sign that says, "America, Musk's New South Africa"? Or, simply a sign that says "Trump, please start following our Laws" with the subtext that he is a felon? Or .. here's a half-baked idea .. ask the City attorney If they're willing to do some community outreach and say please follow law? The leading idea being, if the city attorney is not willing to encourage lawful behavior, then that's a statement in and of itself.
Krugman here is suggesting that federal employees who remain in their job (and not take the bogus resignation "ask") are, to borrow a phrase, The thin Blue Line that saves us from the bad people doing the bad thing to our government.
So the puzzle Of knowing the right Civic Action to, to me starts with understanding how the country works, given that we are part what's yours is mine and what's mine is mine, plus, some high moral views about freedom and liberty, all baked into the same cake, sprinkled with lots of really wonderful and interesting people.
Do what you can with your own. Many of us have weaker voices, but they can be raised.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-156440457
Fine! When the same congressman in a few months tries to distance himself from this coup, that answer will make a nice Exhibit A.
My republican senators lie to me also. I will continue to call them daily and challenge the lies and speak the truth. I’m unsure how effective it will be, but I don’t know what else I can do.
Lies Are All They Have.
It's the Iron Law of Republicans
If the US fiscal system seizes up because of Musk’s minions coding, will the value of the US dollar shrivel and affect your congressman personally? Will Americans targeted by Mump create a hyper local currency to survive (it happened during the Great Depression), thereby decreasing the value of the dollar in economic transactions? If that happens, your congressman could be personally affected. I wish Dr. Krugman would revisit one of his first newsletters in which he said the dollar will eventually be replaced as the world reserve currency, but it will take decades. In light of what we know now, does he still think that timeline holds up? Swiss Francs and even Japanese Yen are starting to look more desirable than the US dollar.
I suspect the MAGA King believes this will help boost the value his and Queen Melania's new crypto-currencies.
Bitcoin and soon!
re: "unpaid," Elon is being "paid" in our data. DOGE is using our data to train AI—most likely, Musk's own xAI, though I haven't yet seen that confirmed. *Even if* all he does is hoard it onto the private server he lugged in, that data is still an incredible goldmine that no one else has yet had access to—except, you know, now Russia and China do too.
Exactly...money doesnt motivate Musk...it only motivates Trump so its a match made in Hell.
Yes, cost cutting is a joke…it’s control, fear and chaos…break it as we fake it! A whole collective pile of steaming crap! Till they blackmail you with your check only if you comply! Bend over!
Christian conversion camps here we come. Want your social security then you better get down on your knees and pray to my God. Need welfare, better memorize those Bible verses - and not those ones about loving your neighbor - those hell fire and damnation ones. Ffs
Carry your passport and keep a copy at home…I like the actual teachings of Jesus, fan of the Jeffersonian Bible…Jesus was the first liberal by almost all measures, and yet puritanical religious zealots have co-opted these teachings…and of course they refuse the practice them themselves…for the little people. You can not be a jealous billionaire and be a Christian! And the hell fire…it’s that these Christian’s really want to be God, after all is said and done! Donny-John is the worst! The Musky-man is right over him! Brimstone for sure!
Wow. They just bow down to the orange god.
Thank you for following up and putting pressure on your reps.
Sounds like the response I got. Who wrote the talking points for these responses? Project 2025?
Thanks for doing the work. Every email counts.
And to preempt investigations into his businesses.
Didn’t Mike Johnson call what Musk/doge is doing “stewardship “? 🤢
It is only "stewardship" in the sense of right wingers view of stewardship of the planet, by raping and polluting it.
The Congressional Republicans are still afraid of him. Once his popularity numbers drop they will lose their loyalty. Don't buy a Tesla, if you have one sell it quick and cheap. Delete, don't abandon your Facebook account, delete don't abandon your Twitter account. Those stock prices will decliny and his popularity with them. We all need to make him unpopular. Blame everything on Trump. Trump taxes (the tarrifs). Trump egg prices. Trumpflation.
We're in something like the take over of state industries by the oligarchy in post USSR Russia. However the US being an information and services economy there are no state owned oil companies or mining companies to steal. Musk and his goblins are basically running the same playbook on the information and services provided by the federal government. This information and services are worth trillions and he wants to control of it. That's his goal.
Trump just wants revenge and some self enrichment as he slides into senility. He's just there to scribbles his name on whatever order they put in front of him and rile up the red hat mob. Musk and Vought are in charge which gives a strategic wedge for the opposition. Neither are charismatic or appealing to the vast majority of Americans, especially rural MAGA voters. Target Musk and his companies.
Musk and his empire is fragile and mostly propped up by Tesla's overvalued and esentialy a meme stock. Organize protests not just at USAID but at Tesla showrooms. Always target the money.
Out of X. Deleted Insta. FB this week has to go. However What’s App is a tough one for me - lots of international contacts on it. And I’m pissed at Bezos too but tough to give up prime and Whole Foods.. on the margin my shopping will change for sure - not going to thoughtlessly buy from Amazon any more.
There are other stores.
Eggs were $7.99 yesterday. No free range or organic, just eggs.
At this point it is more about money than power. They lost all their power to MAGA. Trump owns them. They cannot survive a primary if they show any opposition to Trump. But they can grift off of Trump and MAGA.
Project 2025 is in full swing. They said they would go department by department and purge and replace personnel.
The Republican Senators so far, are in full compliance.
The Republican senators will reverse course when rumps popularity drops.
They are spineless traitors but i also think they’ve been threatened with violence. This is a congressional hostage situation. A patriot would take the risk and speak out. There are no patriots in that party.
Or being disappeared. If not by kidnapping then by being placed in the dead file via SS. No access to your bank accounts, credit cards, investments. Lot of effort goes in to showing them you are not really dead.
Push the president's popularity numbers through the floor and repug senators will run away howling like scared dogs.
Grifting is their specialty not legislating or caring about their constituents.
Their aim in the last 40 years has been to destroy the federal state. They now have all the tools they've always dreamt of. They are not useless idiots. They want this and are happy with the situation. I expect them to double down on cuts to any program helping people and laws fueling hatred.
They do not have the law. And only the Supreme Court can give them that. Enough public anger, and it will not dare.
Seeing what the Supreme Court did with presidential immunity, do you trust them to uphold the Constitution?
Not a matter of trust, as I tried to make clear. It's a matter of fear. Roberts and Barrett are not yet utterly deranged. To nullify the Constitution in the teeth of an outraged public would be very dangerous for them, even physically. They don't to live in constant dread.
Yes, I missed your point about fear. And I hope you're right. I think I'm becoming more and more pessimistic.
They ignore the law. Enough public anger would have to be a massive - and possibly violent - response. It might be a while before it reaches that boiling point, and I for one am not looking forward to that.
Yet DOJ lawyers are showing up response to the lawsuits seeking to stop the Musketeers and bhaving themselves in court, as per Roger Parloff's blow by blow.
And we see that one of the two 'SGEs' that these DOJ lawyers identified as having "read only" IT priviledges at Treasury, Elez, has reportedly been booted from DOGE for eugenicist postings, just too Nazi, for public opinion.
So, not ignoring law, not ignoring public opinion. Think we'll be spared what you fear.
I wouldn't quite say I fear it. Quite the contrary, I'm ready to join it - if necessary. That doesn't mean I look forward to it. I would just prefer to avoid it - if possible.
Ummm....
You are absolutely correct
..lets not forget the few people who have the guts to stand up are, in fact, mostly women.
If you are a Republican Congressman, perhaps you fear for more than loss of your seat in Government. I would not be surprised to see the coming months/years feature Trump-inspired violence against those who oppose his rule. Why have so many GOPers who have left government remained silent? Fear?
Look what they did to Joni Ernst with the Hegseth nomination. Threatened her in all different ways including siccing MAGA maniacs on her. Now she has to go around with Musk claiming that the reason he's taking over the Treasury is because fraud is causing inflation.
It's bullying via the threat of violence.
Also, in the NYT analysis of the relationship between Trump/Musk that seemed to develop overnight, some republicans were quoted anonymously. That made me wonder if they didn't want their data sold on the dark web as retribution.
Yes, fearing physical threats to their families.
As George Washington warned us in his farewell address, party (what he called faction in the language of the time) could short circuit checks and balances of the new form of government, because the faction would be more loyal to the party than to the country.
“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.”
Remarkably prescient.
"What I still don't get is the complete surrender of the Congressional Republicans. "
When a Congressional Republican publicly opposes Trump, they receive an avalanche of death threats against both them and their families. They come by email, phone, and snail mail, and they often get doxxed on social media.
They're largely empty threats; after all, no one who has opposed Trump in the past has yet been murdered, but I guess they have to take them seriously.
Not defending Republicans here. They had their chance to throw Trump out of office in January 2017 and they didn't do it.
They own 100% of all of this. We can only hope their constituents turn on them.
I have stopped calling the lower chamber the "House of Representatives" for the time being. To me, it is now the "Camera dei fasci e della corporazioni." With about the same amount of power as that chamber had in fascist Italy.
House of Horrors? There are some D Reps who speak up and speak out. They need our unwavering support.
And a well armed security detail.
As the resident atheist in a church choir, I offered “may elected officials get backbones” during prayer time. Lots of nods, so maybe?
Congressional Republicans didn't surrender.
They're part of the conspiracy.
No, the GOP wants this. They are part of the scheme.
And have been for decades. Direct line: McCarthy-->Nixon-->Reagan-->Bush I + Gingrich-->Bush II-->His Orange MAGA Majesty.
This is a direct result of their 40 year war on government. That strategy is working. They wanted dumb sheep and half the country volunteered.
I agree, the GOP are in it all the way up to their necks. It’s so disgusting how they are selling our country without even blinking. They care nothing about the People. And they’re afraid of trump. Just like him, the GOP want power, status, money, and all the perks.
Can congressional Republicans be impeached? Nobody's got the time to wait for the next election. Although I hear they are being plenty hassled. There's a lot of calls placed to congressional Democrats at least, time for these Republicans to get calls or investigations. Seems a pretty good bet that it's those who would stand to gain from the new world order that are staying passive right now.
Take a look at https://bondsforthewin.com/ which talks about the surety bond that each public official has to have. With enough complaints on their bond, they can't get another one, so can't hold office.
That's an intriguing idea. It would require massive numbers though.
I don't know that it takes massive numbers: https://bondsforthewin.com/it-only-takes-10-people/
Looks like it's only for school board stuff in South Dakota. How do we do this for Senators etc? I'd be happy to and as it happens, mine is Thine.
Thune
More intriguing still.
Who is on the ethics committee? They need to get busy!
Unfortunately, the fox (Republicans) is in charge of the henhouse, so we cant count on them.
As with other Federal officers, impeachment of Congressmembers, SCOTUS, POTUS, Federal Judges, etc., requires a 2/3 majority in the Senate, which has convicted a double handful of judges. A dozen or so other officials resigned before the Senate could act.
Oh how I wish.
All the GOPee congressionals care about is low taxes and weak regulations so, of course, they're on board with the tRump/Musk Junta.
$
They have got nothing…it’s the story of emperor’s cloths writ very large! They are naked, quaking in fear! They know what they did and now the costs to people…death and distraction.
“Run out of DOGE.” Priceless!
Looks like Elon could be next to be run out if Trump still cares about polls. As Rachel Maddow reported last night a recent Economist/YouGov poll shows “support among Republicans for Elon Musk falling sharply by 21 points – from 47% just after the November election – to 26% this week.” Support among both Democrats and Independents for Musk having a lot of involvement in our government is only 6% — what Maddow described as tooth decay level of approval.
https://www.rawstory.com/elon-musk-2671112356/
I think what would really force Musk to get out of DOGE would be if the media puts a lot of focus on the fact that Trump is letting Musk quickly revamp our air safety system. Even the precious lives of billionaires who only fly on their personal private jets — with the Supreme Court Justices they own — will be threatened by Musk’s “move fast and break things” ideology.
The problem is that Musk owns drumpf.
He does. But Trump cares about Wall Street and overall MAGA support. He wants to be adored by the crowds of "his people".
Well, yes and no. Remember, trump and the Muskovites can , and did, hedge against the market. And will in the future.
To Paul: Please do t use that term,”Circling the wagons.” It doesn’t fit well with Native Americans. Hellow.
Which one do professional oddsmakers think is more likely to accidently fall out a window? A "Defenestration Ratio" should tell us who actually owns whom.
Well, technically the windows won’t open at the White House, I think you have your answer
Open? Who said anything about open?
Yes and no. DJ, horrible as it is, is the one with the "charisma" to make the MAGAt groupies group. Elon doesn't have a molecule of charisma in him, and would be powerless in the halls of power without that. We just have to encourage the collision of those two egos, like a couple of mini-brained dinosaurs duking it out in the swamp...
Buyer’s remorse? Maybe this will stop his acid fetish? Too real man!
But his job is to make his boss look good.
Maybe that is what Elon is doing, getting this sensitive government info for his own leverage. Who knows?
No doubt about it.
“Who knows”? Anyone with half a brain. Believe your lying eyes!
I worked in the FAA for 30 years, starting out as a air traffic controller. Luckily for all of you. I was washed out in the first training. My class of 26 lost 50% then and ultimately only 5 made it to full performance level after 4 years of training. Those 5 were fired when their union PATCO told them to strike. Reagan fired all of them. Air traffic controllers take a very long time to replace and even those billionaires need them to separate traffic and provide guidance during instrument flying for their jets. Musky is very ignorant demanding these highly specialized people take his offer. He’s lying about what they might receive if they resign.
The DOGE team also includes crypto grifters with impressively dodgy histories who should probably not be allowed anywhere near America's financial infrastructure
https://cryptadamus.substack.com/p/the-crypto-grifters-of-doge
Or government contracts.
𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘩
Gulp!
I have pronounced it that way from the beginning - as in "dodgy"... :)
Thank you, this has given me a bit of hope. I’m a probationary fed who will hit my year mark in March. I want to work for my federal government, I believe in the US, i love my country! I have my favorite presidents tattooed on my arm so I should be “patriotic” enough for these people? But evidently not, since I believe in the sanctity of our institutions & rule of law (not to mention letting individuals do with their lives what they want).
Your righteous anger is a beautiful thing. I just do hope our Democratic electeds find a way to get their own house in order before it’s too late. The early signs are not promising. Interesting poll here from Stanley Greenberg at Democracy Corp shows the Democrats have lost a key portion of all segments of their base on several issues: https://prospect.org/politics/2025-02-03-what-is-donald-trumps-mandate/. Side note, while I agree DEI is being used as a distraction, it is in fact a mess, and our side does need to recalibrate its stance on that. We do ourselves no favors if we become entrenched in support for things that don’t work and are likely doing harm. Here’s a good piece from a lifelong, progressive educator about that: https://intrepidednews.com/dismantling-dei-to-reimagine-purpose/.)
To perhaps clarify, the Prospect article does say that Greenberg's polling is pretty positive about DEI.
Thanks K., yes, you are right to point that out, and I didn’t mean to suggest that’s what the poll said, but rather, on that score, was responding to a statement PK made in the article. DEI is a complicated issue, and there are many parts of it that have gone seriously off the rails, so I don’t see that as a distraction, but something to work together to fix. That said, what we know for sure is that it won’t be treated as complicated by this admin. My spouse—who has a lot of experience in this area as an educator—and I were just talking about this on our morning walk, teasing out the good and not so good aspects. For example, accommodations to allow those with disabilities to participate fully in public life are part of it, too. I just wish our Democratic electeds would not so often be so intensely reactive, find a way to acknowledge that there is a need for course corrections here as elsewhere, then demonstrate how to do this compassionately. Perhaps this is a fond hope, but I want to think that if our electeds did that more, rather than shying away from problematic issues, I think the party overall would command more respect, which would be helpful about now.
I'll pass that along to Ivanka, whose Female Forward agenda is a big part of what Donald is trying to boot from USAID - You know, those programs that empower women in areas where they are economically and physically at risk. Could be Texas, could be Afghanistan or Africa. I find it ironic that a Dad who introduced his daughter to Russian and South American criminals as business partners would object to a little DEI in the workplace. Whatever.
They will not. The State is being captured and they are part of the plot.
That’s what I fear, that they are part of the plot. Good way to put it.
Thank you for this! Yes my husband & I were talking about this during the election. Democrats appear to be trying to take all the ground left from the MAGAs since they moved to the far right, & it’s too much. It lacks cohesion. We need a clear focus & to redefine our party planks.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your reply. It’s really hard, anyway, to have these conversations, and all the more so when it is in these small exchanges online. So much can be misunderstood. I am going to save what you wrote for reference as I think and talk with friends and neighbors further about this, as it is so well stated. And also, my apologies for neglecting to state how sorry I was to hear about your situation. You are exactly the kind of person we need in government. Such a shame. I wish you and your family all the best. Love that you have tattoos of Presidents!
Unfortunately, the Orange Deity has redefined "patriotism" to mean fealty to the MAGA King over country or Constitution.
Hang in there.
As a retired federal employee I would encourage you to stick with it. We need all the good people we can get running things. Just keep saying “This too shall pass. “
Thank you for your kind words. I’ve decided I’d rather be fired than take musk’s out. I am exploring outside employment (I have 3 teens to feed!), but I feel so let down. I really have been excited about growing with my agency, learning & developing myself while helping my country.
I agree about the autogolpe. But it's also important to keep in mind the purpose of the autogolpe, which is to undo all social progress since the New Deal and return the US to a 19th century laissez-faire form of government, so the rich and businesses don't have to pay taxes and businesses aren't regulated. Paul likes to refer to the federal government as an insurance company with an army. The orange turd and his supporters want to get rid of the insurance company. A secondary goal is to promote white Christian nationalism, focusing on the cult of the unborn fetus, limiting women to traditional housewife roles, treating Black and brown people as subhuman and excluding them from the economic life of the country, and legally allowing discrimination against LGBTQ+ people.
Thanks for this reply. After seeing the list of what is being called wasteful spending by the USAID is only garnering more support among his base and pulling more folks in to the support of their tactics.
I agree with everything you written here.
I agree.
Please, this talk of “saving democracy” annoys the hell out of me. That’s so abstract it’s meaningless to the average American. Please say “protecting the rule of law”, and “honoring legal contracts”, like Social Security and Medicare, etc. We all need to clean up our language, and thanks for “autogolpe”, which is a far better conversation starter than “coup”.🤗
This. Spot, fucking, on! Framing really is key here.
The GOP half of the voting citizenry has already been conditioned by FOX News to interpret "Saving democracy" as "Our hero Trump has the Dems whining and very upset." Which actually makes them very pleased with themselves.
But "protecting the rule of law" is something that hits 'em right between the eyes, and gets through. More or less. It a universal values call for us 'Mehricuns that transcends political tribalism.
The more the message can be dumbed down, the better. I’d suggest, “they’re coming for your Social Security and Medicare” or “Musk’s team now has your bank routing number from your taxes.” Fear mongering in simple terms seems to work.
Crude language seems to work as well. How about we warn people about government of the fuckers, by the fuckers, and for the fuckers?
While I agree that “saving democracy” is rather broad brush — IT IS WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO! Yes it involves “protecting the rule of law” and such … But we are in real danger of losing the very basis of our lives and liberty in a free society.
Sorry to even posit this as a possibility on a Krugman article, but I'm afraid we're heading toward "extralegal" responses to the outright theft of our Constitution and our government, with high-profile goniffs getting targeting. I mean, if one steals another person's livelihood, that calls for extraordinary actions, which includes 2nd Amendment "solutions" in the minds of many affected people, mark my words.
The assassination of the UHC CEO, Brian Thompson, was described as a reaction to denial of life-saving medical attention...what happens when tens of thousands of people are unceremoniously and illegally denied their jobs, thence their paychecks? Their means of economic and financial well-being? Writing one's Congressional Rep? Really?
Mussolini was stripped naked, beheaded and left on the streets for all to see. F-ing with veterans and others may in the end not bode well for these people.
You understand Framing, right? This particular concept needs to be Framed twice: for Liberals, and separately for Trump voters. "Respect the law" for the latter; "Save democracy" for the former.
Because FOX and RW media has already Framed "save democracy" for the conservative media consumer to mean that "liberals are crybaby elitist whiners upset over President Trump's manly efforts to bring down the price of eggs."
Spot on! I’ve been thinking about this a lot because Trump and the Republican/MAGA machine kick our ass in messaging (always have, IMO). We try to cram paragraphs worth of ideals and values into pithy sayings and then assume “message delivered”.
I don’t even like using the words “protecting the rule of law” anymore. It’s so overused by both parties that it’s become trite. And Musk is making breaking the law look cool (Billy the Kid-style)
American citizens need to understand this:
Democracy says “you are in charge and you run this show. You are the boss”
Trump says “shut the hell up and get out of my way. You are meaningless”
Americans really don’t like to be told what to do.
Or try, "Respect the Constitution," "don't be a lawbreaker," or as TomR posted above, "Don't let them steal your Social Security and Medicare."
I'm particularly fond of using their own Frames against them: "Drain the Swamp!" (in response to Trump/Musk grifting); "Fake News!" (whenever FOX News comes up with another whopper).
I reposted the last of your comment. Hope you don’t mind.
I don’t mind at all! :-D
True people should put in those terms but they also need to talk about democracy compared to dictatorships.
Reminds me of white house down. Where is rambo? Nowhere as he supports trumpinetto like most of those cheap actors. Anybody supporting maga is a traitor to AMERICA! Time for a counter coup? Cut starlink. Get out from twitter. Do not buy tesla. Fuck bitcoin
Bitcoin is being cast aside in favor of MAGAcoin and MrsMAGAcoin.
Come on dude, you're gonna need your sense of humor.
As a Japanese with love (not uncritical one) to America, it has always been unbelievable for me to read US newspapers which wrote of Musk as if all he is doing in Washington for some political ideology or beliefs.
Isn’t it so obvious that he is doing all the things all those things, including changing laws and rules, cutting federal government arms, and getting federal financial datum, to benefit himself? Of course, he is not alone: he is just a most obvious example of those Trump tribe. But it’s still attempted stage.
I am glad that many Americans are awaking from the initial shocks, and beginning to resist to the Attempted Coup.
I think this is right. Vought and some others may be sincere ideologues. Musk is just a greedy egomaniac.
Yes it is obvious to the rest of the world and to those of us paying attention, but many of our US mainstream news organizations owned by. oligarchs have become mouthpieces for Trump's propaganda.
Yes. That's why it's called a "kleptocracy", as well as an "oligarchy". It's basically organized crime.
This is all about one thing and one thing only - stealing as much money from as many poor and middle class people as possible to give to Musk and a few other greedy billionaires as tax cuts. This will hurt more MAGAs than coastal liberals, and they won't see it coming because Fox won't tell them.
Trump once said, "I only got going when I learned to talk Shallow". By which he revealed several things:
- detail is for shmucks
- truth is for schmucks
- self-contradiction doesn't matter. X pleases some people, not-X pleases others,
and I get to be like a slippery eel because I've already agreed with whatever your complaint was, critics give up, eventually no-one cares, everyone gets careless
- I can say what I really mean and my enemies don't see it
- my communication with my base, which gets me power, is just pure feeling, with no content other than fantasy, to the point of group hypnosis, when I do a fist sway back and forth, like a cobra
- lying is good. It leaves me free wade around in a can't -touch-me zone.
It's a coup attempt all right. One of the points made in The Dictator's Handbook (Mesquita & Smith, 2011) is the guys seizing power get hold of the money.
Super true, especially in this day and age where the owner of the website that had brutally terse, 140 word comments is now second in charge of the country.
"A fascist is one whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions, or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends.… The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power.…" - Henry Wallace
What a perfect moment in history for Paul to break free from the "legacy journalists" and tell us what he really thinks. Jumped to the top of my stack of subs.
Have you noticed how many NYT journalists are writing their final column lately? Their coverage is shifting. Mostly entertainment, a little headline liberal stuff. They ditched business news a few years ago.
People magazine for the semiliterate.
Professor Krugman: workers that have accepted the buyout were likely planning to leave anyway? according to the most recent information, 60,000 government workers have accepted the buyout. that's rather a lot, don't you think? do these people naively think they are going to be paid by two plutocrats who got rich partially by not paying their bills?
and speaking of public crises, let's spend a few seconds thinking about the PUBLIC HEALTH crisis unfolding in ameriKKKa: there are now at least two types of bird flus that are widely circulating, both of which are deadly, especially to animals, which means you meat-eaters are in deep shit, at the very least. tuberculosis is now breaking out in a number of states and cities. the occurrence of polio and measles and covid-19 and RSV are all on on a steep increase. so in short, musk and his sidekick, the orange toddler, don't have to declare war or start shooting people (with bullets) because they instead are going to destroy a significant portion of the country by allowing and supporting infectious diseases to be their agents of doom.
60,000 is 2% of 2,800,000. Not a big deal so far. Could very well be within the margins of typical turnover as far as I know.
but 60,000 in the span of ONE WEEK? that sounds like a lot to me.
Agreed, but 2 things:
1) They may have been planning to scoot anyway, and simply decided to take the 'offer' early.
2) The number "60,000" might be pure nonsense – we've seen much of that already, so no concrete reason to believe any of it.
Thanks for data. I wondered what the % was.
Over 100K retire annually.
Thanks. Cite?
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Antibiotic [strikeout] impervious [/strikeout] resistant bacteria, global warming, the next viral pandemic, and even the triumphant return of nukes, all promise to do us in.
Yeah. The face-eating leopards will get a few tender morsels, but it's always the microbes what does us in.
Everyone reading this, outside of the occasional troll, probably greatly appreciates everything you say about it not yet succeeding.
But we all live in a relatively small echo chamber. What makes dictatorships successful is when the majority of the population remains silent and only wakes up too late and for all the wrong reasons.
I think one of the best ways right now to wake people up to *a* right reason is by complaining loudly about the price of eggs. As a conversation starter.
America still cares very much about it's pocketbook, and the continued rising prices while blatant financial risk of millions is going on is a bipartisan concern. Bring on the civil lawsuits for $$$ lost from reckless announcements, leaked information, etc. The right strategy is happening - counter-distraction will slow them down and time is clearly of the essence if they are literally sleeping in the buildings. Court orders challenging their legitimacy to be in the building will also help prevent interference. Time for the Aviation Authority to get a restraining order to keep them from the building.
Which is why that blanket suspension of grants was such a blunder. It scared many people, all across this country. Note how fast they backed off.
Excellent column. I think that the autogolpe (thanks for that term) is also about racial re-segregation and purging, as well as depriving all women of their rights. I don't think we can ignore the blatant attempts in that direction, including the eugenicist (just one?) on Elon's team, as well as the attack on the 14th amendment, the assumption that DEI means "inferior" hires, the casual racism in their comments. The DOGE efforts are being led by a guy who did a Hitler salute--twice.
Federal transportation funds being directed to places with more births (like Utah) rather than high cost-of-living urban centers smacks of that line of thinking.
Dear Professor Krugman,
with all due respect: I think you are mistaken in the assumption that Trump's announcements of intended land grabs are mere distractions. They are not. All these illegal attempts are being pursued parallel to each other. «Flood the zone». Like in the film: Everything everywhere all at once.
Your avid reader
Sigrid Löffler
Krampasplatz 7
D-14199 Berlin
A comment, certainly Trump's infamous Project 2025 book is a thoughtfully constructed plan, and it instructs many of the actions that we are seeing taking place today, confirming your idea that ALL of this, simultaneously, is the goal.
In the context of an individual's interest -- Trump or Musk and other billionaires/enabling employees -- one appears to be seeking the ability to change how the US government functions as their wants and needs change, for power and profit, for eternity, through autogolpe. This is how I understand it, at least.
Greetings from Great Barrington. I find these letters of yours really really helpful, and agree that we've not anticipated how Trump/Musk would so quickly try to take over the government. (Though I'm not sure "autogolpe" is going to catch on. Digital coup?) Two thoughts for your consideration. We have experienced another 9/11, not only because the world is different now, and will ever be, but because no one anticipated the weapons. It seems obvious in retrospect: cyber-warfare's where it's at. I suppose the military is next. Second thought: billionaires are not buddies. They are fiercely competitive. Are there any signs of a united oligarchy, or does the system require a single dominant wolfpack leader?
What we’re going to get is a top dog with rabies.
They already threw Ramaswamy to the curb. I wonder if it was more than he could stomach. I don't think Rupert Murdoch is on board.
Fox is no longer relevant & worthy of paying advertising expense for the oligarchs once "the uneducated, whom dear leader said he loves, will no longer have to vote again."