live love laugh
live love laugh's JournalApril 30th
If you or anyone you know has business with the federal government get it done now. There is going to be a massive loss of experienced personnel come April 30.
Multiple friends who work for the federal government are telling me that tens of thousands of employees will no longer be working after April 30 because they are taking an offer to resign or retire in September. The offer is called a DRP (I’m not sure what the acronym stands for and don’t really care).
The offer will pay employees who sign on their regular salaries from April 30 until the September termination date. The employees do not have to work at all. They are even allowed to work elsewhere during the interim period.
Shipping people to other countries is illegal--due process or not--especially when their whereabouts can't be determined
It’s the barbaric equivalent of throwing them into a lion’s den.
Why isn’t it enough to return them safely IF they’re illegal?
Why can’t regular identifiable law enforcement be used instead of black vehicles with goons in black clothes and no identification?
Why must they be terrorized?
We saw Trump “practice” the kidnapping of people during the first hellacious term. They’re emboldened because nobody contested it.
This is the equivalent of Noem’s puppy shooting. It’s overkill and it’s performative. It’s meant to terrorize.
I wish I had the legal expertise to join forces with a team to fight this injustice. I see reports of lawsuits for individuals case by case when the entire operation should be contested. Even IF Garcia’s case was “won” or any other individual case is won we all still lose as long as there is an unprecedented threat by Trump to expand the exportations so that anybody can be kidnapped.
Trump bragged on camera and pointed at guys who made millions off his orchestrated insider trading scheme.
But how much did HE make?
He doesn’t have to report anything to the IRS now that it’s compromised along with the SEC and now that the IRS’ big-money auditors have been let go.
We will never know.
How many more people will be sent to "El Salvador" before we take to the streets?
“El Salvador” is the new “disappeared.”
Trump‘s attorneys are telling the judges they don’t know where people are. The regime is not complying with orders to return apprehendees.
There, but for the grace of God go any of us. It cannot be legal to be shipping US citizens to a foreign country. I know we are being deluged with atrocities left and right, but this assault deserves much more attention than it is getting.
Of course I don’t have answers, but I just had to put the thought down that was rattling around in my head.
Letitia James speaks
Disclaimer: A friend sent me the TikTok and the speech seems recent but I can’t find the exact location or date.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8jA1Euw/
And as Attorney General of the great state of New York I want all of you to know that we have prepared -- all of the democratic Attorneys General -- all 23 of us. And we and we did research on Project 2025. We did research on who had standing. We did research on Circuits. We did research on jurisdiction. And we were ready.
This was not the election that we anticipated but this is the election that we got. And so when he filed his first lawsuit, when he issued his first Executive Order on birthright citizenship--and some of you here benefited from birthright citizenship which is inscribed in our Constitution--we filed the lawsuit within two days. Because we were ready. In addition to that, when they stopped funding OMB -- the Office of Management and Budget-- we were ready. We filed suit. When they filed an action terminating all of those employees in the federal government, primarily women, we filed a lawsuit. We were ready. When they sought to dismantle the Department of Education we were ready. On DEI we were ready. On LGBTQ we were ready. And the list goes on and on and on and on.
My point to all of you is you've got to be ready. You've got to be ready and you've got to stand up and be courageous. Because dictatorships and autocracies basically want you to cooperate. They want you to bend the knee. But democracy requires courage. Democracy requires that you stand up and defend what you have. And all of the work that our ancestors died for, bled for --all of that. This is not the time to be silent. This is the time to recognize that our democracy is at risk. And we will not cooperate with dictators and no one elected a king.
And for all of those out there who thought that he was just going to reduce the price of eggs or that he was going to provide opportunities to people, he lied to you. He fooled you. And now he wants to turn his back on all of you. And for all of you who think that by staying home you did something good because you, for some reason or not, you didn't believe that Kamala Harris supported black people or that she wasn't black enough -- well this is what you get. This is exactly what you get.
But they want to tear down our democracy. And so I don't know about you, although he's coming after me, I'm not afraid. Because I know that our ancestors died for this right. And I will not be silent. And I will not allow all the privileges and all the rights that we enjoy as a community and as a People to be to be destroyed, because with the stroke of a pen, he thinks that somehow he can control the entire government and our entire democracy.
Every revolution [in this country] didn't start with politicians or elected officials. It started with young people -- young people who marched in front of those tanks in Tienemen Square in China; young people who knocked down the Berlin Wall; young people who voted in the civil rights struggle; young people who marched and fought in our wars; young people in the civil rights struggle who rode those buses and young people who were out there who had vision and who believed in a person who had the weird name called Barack Obama. It was young people. And so now to all the young people who are here today now is your moment. Now is your moment. With everything that's at stake now is your moment to stand up with steel in your backbone and thinking about all of those died for you to be here and for the benefits that you now have.
We cannot go back. We can not destroy all the progress that we've made. We've got to continue to go forward. And the only way that we can do it is if we stand shoulder to shoulder arm and arm. Stand up as courageous individuals. Because the future my friends lies in your hands. And if you close your fist in a clinch you'll get absolutely nothing. Extend it. Extend the hand and let people know that we're prepared to stand up and fight back. I know I will. I'm going to use the law each and every time. I'm going to march into court with my head held up high and my back straight. Because I know where I come from. And I know from who I belong.
Do you?
God bless you and thank you.
FUBAR
Tariffs; N. Korea advancing on S Korea; housing market uber inflation; oil pipeline shutdown; illegal kidnapping of citizens and approved foreigners upheld by SCOTUS; dismantling of the government; federal defunding of top universities exceeding $1b; potential drug shortages due to tariffs ….
In record time.
Republicans want to control our bodies our sex lives our speech
our political affiliations our pocketbooks our travel our health and our safety our fealty ….
What else is there to control by these greedy deranged mutherfuckers?
It’s inevitable that they will try to exert more control over who lives and who dies.
DO SOMETHING!
I just finished phoning for WI Dems. VERY rewarding speaking to many many democrats.
There’re only 4-5 days left before the April 1st election.
Theme: The many can overpower the money.
Two important things about Wisconsin’s election: 1) the Supreme Court balance remains with Democrats who only gained control a few years ago. 2) Republicans are introducing an amendment to codify stricter voter ID laws to cut down on turnout. The amendment is extremely important because— if it is codified—it will affect the state for years to come Supreme Court balance or not.
Tomorrow’s even more special as Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi will joins to make calls to voters! Thursday, March 27th at 4PM PT/6PM CT/7PM ET as we call voters in Wisconsin.
First time making calls? Phone banking is easy, fun, and rewarding! You’ll receive comprehensive training at the start of your shift.
https://www.mobilize.us/grassrootsdemocratslahq/event/768981/
"Accident" "mistake" my ass. Allowing them to simply say
either of those things is letting them off the hook.
You shouldn’t get to put an inexperienced alcoholic over national defense and then shrug away the inevitable repercussions.
The majority-Republican-owned media should do their fucking jobs for once and investigate this with at least as much energy as they used investigating R. Kelly. 
Let the American people know exactly what happened, the context of this situation relative to the history of American security forces and and what’s being done about it. They should not let up until it’s been thoroughly investigated.
Six weeks in, WH on way to being the most corrupt in US history
From a YouTube featuring Sen. Chris Murphy D-CT
For those who don't like to click on links I have a transcription below. It's a long, but worth the read and worth bookmarking. I hope we can keep this timeline updated together. The link is at the end for anyone who wants to just watch and listen instead of read.
Transcription:
Trump and Elon Musk and their billionaire friends have engaged in a stunning rampage of open public corruption—not fundamentally different than what happened in Russia. These are efforts to steal from the American people to enrich themselves. And their strategy is to do it all out in the open … at such a dizzying pace that the country just gets overwhelmed or anesthetized or dulled into a sense that we just all have to accept the corruption or maybe more charitably that this is just how government works that government is just corrupt.
So here it goes …
🏧 January 17th Trump launched a meme coin--maybe the most corrupt of all the acts-- because what is the coin? It’s essentially a mechanism by which Russian oligarchs or corporate CEO's can literally send money privately directly to Donald Trump. Nobody knows who buys the meme coin and Trump makes money when people buy it. It is an open sewer valve for anybody who is trying to influence Trump to secretly funnel money. Trump reserves 80% of the coin and waits to release more when the price jumps again.
This essentially means he's waiting for people who want favors from him to buy a bunch of the coins inflating the value. He releases more and makes more money as it goes up. It's a disgusting kind of corruption because this is essentially Trump just posting his Venmo for anybody secretly to wire him as much money as they want.
We've never seen something like this before where anybody who has anything to gain from an Administration can funnel money directly to the president then whisper in his ear that was me that purchased all that coin.
🏧 January 20th he institutes a new energy agenda on the heels of meeting with the oil and gas industry who gave a billion in campaign contributions. They cut a deal that punishes oil and gas competitors--for instance it freezes permits on wind projects both for the land and the sea. And it hinders permitting processes that are not for oil and gas.
🏧 January 25th Trump fires 17 Inspectors General. What do Inspectors General do? They look for corruption in government agencies. What do you do if you are engaged in corruption, trying to steal from the American people? You fire the Inspectors.
🏧 January 27th Trump fires Gwynn Wilcox from the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board ) … (Wilcox is the first Black woman to serve on the Board since its inception in 1935, and also the first Black female Chair..)
When she's fired the NLRB cannot function any longer. Why does this matter? Musk has lots of cases before the NLRB so do the people that were standing behind Trump at the inauguration—billionaires who won't have to worry about active NLRB cases if it's rendered powerless.
🏧 January 30th Trump awarded more than $800k in stock to several board members of the Trump Media and Technology Group –-behind his social media platform. Cabinet members like Kash Patel and Linda McMahon owning stock equity in Trump Media can cash it out and sell it to people who could have issues before the Department of Education, the FBI or any government agency. Yet another way to gain influence in the Trump administration.
🏧 Shortly thereafter, over the course of the first few weeks, the DOJ drops cases against those loyal to Trump and aggressively pursues investigations against critics. February 19th the DOJ opens up “Operation Whirlwind” to target anyone who tries to obstruct or criticize Musk and DOGE. February 23rd the DOJ drops a civil complaint that had been pending against Musk's SpaceX. Eight days later the DOJ drops a case against a Republican Congressman.
🏧 February 1st Trump fires the director of the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Board) and announces plans to shutter it. The agency was investigating Musk and many of the billionaire financial backers of Trump-- who now won't have to worry about labor violations or being investigated by the NLRB or consumer protection actions against them.
🏧 February 4th the first of two extraordinary WH meetings occur. Trump convenes business partners -- the Saudi golf league and the PGA to try to negotiate a solution to the dispute between the leagues. Why? Saudi tournaments are at Trump's course. Trump stands to make money.
🏧 February 6th something absolutely stunning happens. Attorney General (AG) Pam Bondi issues a memo proposing to dull criminal enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. If you are representing a foreign government in the US, you have to register so that we know if you are acting on behalf of American interests or on behalf of foreign interests. Trump officials got in big trouble for secretly working for and getting paid by foreign governments without registering during his first term. This makes it much easier for the MAGA crowd and the people who show up to Maralago for favors to get paid quietly by foreign governments in order to influence Trump.
🏧 February 10th NY Mayor Eric Adams, indicted for corruption, is let off the hook. His charges are dismissed in exchange for a pledge of political loyalty to Trump. They literally went on TV and announced the deal -- as long as the mayor pledges political loyalty. That was so corrupt that six or seven DOJ officials resigned refusing to withdraw charges but the deal went through because the remaining 7th, 8th or 9th official filed the withdrawal.
And now in America it is 100% clear that if you want to get away with corruption, steal from your constituents and you're an elected official all you have to do is just sign up for political loyalty with Trump.
🏧 February 10th Trump directs the DOJ to pause enforcement of laws that prohibit companies from paying bribes overseas. Example: Goldman Sachs was engaged in outright bribery of Malaysian officials to get a contract to manage the Malaysian Sovereign Wealth Fund. American companies should not be overseas bribing foreign governments. That compromises America's reputation and national security.
🏧 February 12th it’s announced that the State Department is going to buy $400 million of armored Teslas. It is true that the Biden administration had a blueprint to buy around $483,000 worth of electric vehicles. There was no personal gain or conflict interest with Biden and the investment amount was less.
🏧 February 12th Musk's people infiltrate the Department of Labor and access OSHA enforcement information against Musk’s companies and the his competitor’s’ companies. (SpaceX’s employee injury rate is 9x higher than industry average.) They also get workplace safety violations against Musk's competitors. Here's the message: if you are close to Trump personally, if you support him politically you can get secret access to enforcement data against your country, against your companies and your competitors.
🏧 February 15th suspicious firings at the FDA are related to Musk's financial interests. Musk owns a medical device company named Neuralink under current review by the FDA. The weekend of February 15th and 16th — 20 people are fired from the FDA's office of neurological and physical medical devices. The clear message: you're gonna get fired if you aren't on the right side of Musk's application.
🏧 February 15th that same weekend there's an announcement that FDA cuts are going to be even deeper — as big as 50%. That means hundreds of drugs and devices won't get approved at the FDA. WHO benefits? The folks selling the snake oil products. Guess who’s selling the snake oil products? The people who work for Trump... The director of the FBI is selling vaccine reversal pills. When the FDA gets gutted, people who sell unregulated [and dangerous] products stand to gain.
🏧 February 19th we hear the IRS is going to be cut by 7000 people. The biggest cuts are the people who audit billionaires, millionaires and corporations.
🏧 February 19th news surfaces that advertising on Musk's social platform is starting to grow again. American companies have come to the collective decision they need to keep advertising with Musk's social platform because he has so much regulatory power inside the government that they need to make sure that they're paying Musk through so if they ultimately need something from the government they can get it.
This again is why we have never ever in the history of this country allowed for the richest man in the world --somebody who controls major companies --to also have an official position inside the government because it opens up these clear avenues where people are going to do business with them privately to curry favor publicly.
🏧 February 20th the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices monthly meeting is cancelled and not rescheduled. RFK makes money off attacks on vaccines. The not-for-profit company he will return to after he leaves office makes money as vaccine misinformation spreads. He also continues to collect fees for referring cases to a company that handles claims of personal injury due to vaccines. Cancelling the meeting it is a clear indication that the campaign of assault on vaccines is going to continue.
🏧 February 26th Trump's MAGA hats for sale on his website are displayed in the Oval Office. So many people inside Trump's universe continue to sell merchandise on the side -- a kind of corruption in and of itself. Kash Patel Director of the FBI is still selling branded merchandise while he's running the FBI. Musk and others are selling DOGE merchandise. As they trumpet their brands inside the government they're making money off their brand outside of the government.
🏧 February 26 news breaks that Musk is having the FAA cancel a contract with Verizon that has been in the works for years. Musk’s Starlink company will replace Verizon. In plain view -- Musk uses his access to government to shove competitors aside.
This week Wired reports guests are paying millions to dine with Trump at MaraLago -- business leaders are being targeted with ads that sell access to one-on-one meetings for $5,000,000. If any previous president had sent out an ad to meet for a payment that in and of itself would be unacceptable. But Trump and Musk believe that in this dizzying pace of corruption -- we are all going to feel that it's normal. This is how democracies die.
Democracies die when the very powerful steal so regularly so openly so unapologetically that we come to believe that it's normal. I understand that many Americans may think that all of this stuff just used to happen quietly and that the only difference is that Trump and Musk are just putting it all out in the open. I'm not saying that there haven't been instances of corruption Democrats and Republicans in this body have been accused of and convicted of acts of corruption it has been a fact of life in American politics for a long time but never before has the corruption happened this openly or this frequently.
And so I lay it all out for you this afternoon in the hopes that it is not too late for us to decide to stand up as a body and as a nation to say that this isn't OK. The Trump meme coins are not OK. It's not OK for people who have interests before the federal government to be able to anonymously funnel money to the president of the United States.
It’s not OK for Musk to have access to Department of Labor enforcement data against him or his competitors that nobody else gets access to. It's not OK to just cancel contracts that were going to Musk's competitors and put Musk’s own business in instead just because he has the ability to do it as a friend of Donald Trump.
The rule of law matters. Doing things by the rules matters. This level of corruption was not occurring behind the scenes prior. It is not just that the cover got pulled off of it all. And it's our decision as a body and as a country to decide not to normalize this scale of corruption.
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