It’s a Lovely Day For a Coup
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@Steve-Miller said in It’s a Lovely Day For a Coup:
From the article:
... locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees ...
Is that necessarily a bad thing? Good data privacy and data security practice typically wants as few people as possible to have access to personal data. Unless I see something that shows that this "locking out" hampers critical functions, I'm not sure I want to condemn it as "bad."
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Taken in the context of other actions by Musk’s people, it’s hard to imagine that security is the underlying driver.
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We've staged coups in other countries approximately 50 times so don't say it couldn't happen here!
We've only had at least one coup attempt here-- the attempted fascist coup against FDR.
That's a fascinating story.
Smedly Butler, Major General, Marines was the obstensible leader of the plot but he betrayed the others.
Approximately 1/3 of American oligarchal families were the plotters.
Butler went on to write, "War is a Racket."
The others went on a campaign of revisionist history denying everything. The National Archives were looted of almost all of the files about the event. The extant files are contained in a single metal box.
I never tied this together until
todayrecently but a significant amount of the British upper class were fascists and wanted a German victory. -
Speaking of coup… I have been increasing disturbed by the degree to which Musk is basically just doing whatever the f*ck he wants, and his role was literally the first thing I was thinking about when I woke up this morning. And then another wtfer posted this on Facebook:
Found online:
I know you’re overloaded with news, but of all the horrible things that are happening there is one thing that is most dangerous, seems to be getting the least air time, and is the ONE THING you need to tell people and call your reps about above ALL ELSE.
DOGE is not even an official entity, needs congressional approval, has zero authority but Elon has waltzed into multiple gov offices, tapped into their servers, locked employees out, collected federal data, tried to get into the treasury payment system (and now the treasury head that denied him is forced to step down), sent emails from unofficial accounts promising money if fed employees stepped down THAT HE CANNOT PROMISE because he has no authority and no funding.
If this is unclear at all: a foreign born billionaire with ties to Russia is stealing our info, getting into the country’s wallet, illegally, with no authority and nobody is stopping him. This is the kind of thing that in any functioning gov should result in immediate arrest. It is a hostile take over. He is not elected. He has no authority. He isn’t even in an official role he is just a rich private citizen making rules, trying to destabilize the gov by getting people to quit with false promises, trying to get into our FREAKING CASH.
If this problem isn’t solved swiftly we are ruined. It’s the most blatantly openly illegal act with the most far reaching consequences I’ve ever seen. And if we allow it we basically hand over the keys to our gov to Musk with no repercussions and unlimited power. Forget the courts. Who needs a legal battle if he isn’t even challenged on doing the most blatantly illegal act at the highest level of gov as a foreign national?
Share. Tell everyone. Call your reps now. Immediately. None of the other issues will even matter if this isn’t dealt with. This is by and large the scariest thing that’s happened thus far. This is a coup.Is this an exaggeration? This person is saying Musk is our most pressing problem, is that true? Or even if not “most pressing,” something that we should be acting on immediately?
And if so, besides calling elected officials in my state (which I have a hard time believing will be at all effective) what else can we do here?
I mean, waiting for the mid-terms doesn’t really seem like a good strategy….
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Yes, I think Musk is a huge risk. Getting control of critical data gives a tremendous amount of power. He knows how to leverage it in ways that wreak havoc. Or perhaps more accurately, he hands off the information to the people who will actually take the wrecking ball to our infrastructure...
When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier
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Bernie issues a call to action:
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@Steve-Miller That deserves a thread of its own!
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I'm happy to see a pep talk from Bernie, but really, what can we do besides "call your representatives" ? He isn't offering any real short term or long term strategy in any kind of specifics.
When do we call a general strike? When do we take to the streets? Where is the tipping point?
fear is the thief of dreams
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Thanks for that @Steve-Miller
So, I called the switchboard number Bernie gave. It maybe is overloaded, because I couldn't get through. And while we're on the subject, what should we be saying when we contact reps? Here's what I have so far:
Stop the rampant violations of the constitution and federal law.
Stop Musk from becoming the de facto leader of this countryDon't pass the budget reconciliation bill - it's nothing more than a tax break for the wealthy and will not help our economy, will not help working Americans.
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I would also be specific about ways the constitution and federal law are being violated. I think it's important that they understand that people are paying attention to details.
While Congress doesn't control the tariffs directly, I would also express my concerns about the negative impacts they will have on prices. The Republicans ran on the platform of reducing prices. The opposite is going to happen, and if they make the problem worse people will react in the voting booth next cycle.
When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier
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Trying to reduce costs and reorganize portions of the federal government is not a bad thing; there are efficiencies to be found but it has to be done methodically. I also think that the targeting and purging of federal employees because they worked on Jan 6 is a travesty and congresscritters should know that voters are not okay with that.
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And now Musk has gained access to the Treasury payment system.
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Gosh, I'm so glad POTUS is on the same page as the unelected billionaire running around dismantling our government.
Staffers of the U.S. Agency for International Development were instructed to stay out of the agency’s Washington headquarters on Monday, according to a notice distributed to them, after billionaire Elon Musk announced President Donald Trump had agreed with him to shut the agency.
USAID staffers said they also tracked more than 600 employees who reported being locked out of the agency’s computer systems overnight. Those still in the system received emails saying that “at the direction of Agency leadership” the headquarters building “will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, Feb. 3.”
The developments come after Musk, who’s leading an extraordinary civilian review of the federal government with the Republican president’s agreement, said early Monday that he had spoken with Trump about the six-decade U.S. aid and development agency and “he agreed we should shut it down.”
https://apnews.com/article/trump-musk-usaid-c0c7799be0b2fa7cad4c806565985fe2
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Musk is not a cabinet member. Doge is not a government agency. The legislature creates and funds government agencies, not the imagination of a president and his benefactor. Musk has no more standing to take those actions than you do.
“I’m at an age when remembering something right away is as good as an orgasm.”—Gloria Steinem to Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Wiser Than Me
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@CHAS said in It’s a Lovely Day For a Coup:
Musk is not a cabinet member. Doge is not a government agency. The legislature creates and funds government agencies, not the imagination of a president and his benefactor. Musk has no more standing to take those actions than you do.
Exactly!! We need to be repeating this over and over again.
In fact, I'm going to borrow your words, if you don't mind!
