«Did Trump plan this assault on everyone’s personal information or is he too weak and ineffective to stop this bad actor from coming in? WHICH IS IT?»

https://www.wonkette.com/p/an-open-letter-to-the-majority-of

Trump has always been clueless. CLUE. LESS. He has never had intention, other than that of a child, and I’ve always disliked headlines that imply intention. He is a weak person around whom others have collected, like flies on shit.

The New York Times may prefer to refer to his “chaotic management style”, but that’s not what it is. It’s just weakness and the inattention of an easily-distracted child.

He’s not so much a President as a hole in the air. Other people are driving.

So… I sometimes use https://5calls.org to call my representatives. I’ve never had a problem with it, it’s great. (Usually I get voicemail, but a couple of times I’ve gotten a polite aide of some sort.)

Today, I’m trying to call, because [gestures around], and my representivates’ phone numbers are extremely slow to come up, if they ever do at all. I’m wondering if the current shenanigans are resulting in an abnormally large number of people trying to do what I’m doing and 5calls is just under load. (Or maybe there’s a DDOS attack going on? That would be interesting.)

…

Ok, I finally got some numbers to come up by clicking on another issue, and I called, and, wow, their voicemail systems sound like they’re underwater (burble burble burble…). I get the feeling the call volume is through the roof today.

You can add to it. 🙂

«There is a subreddit for federal employees where  one of the top posts reads: “This non ‘buyout’ really seems to have backfired. I’ll be honest, before that email went out, I was looking for any way to get out of this fresh hell. But now I am fired up to make these goons as frustrated as possible.” As I write this, it’s been upvoted more than 39,000 times and civil servant after civil servant is echoing the initial sentiment.»

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-trump-column-read.html?unlocked_article_code=1.t04.9UAD.wQ7-EAz_C7dz&smid=url-share (gift)

«Galston and Kamarck propose that Democrats undertake a “Pennsylvania project,” calling the state the closest thing to a microcosm of the country and therefore a proxy for the national problems facing the party. They write, “If Democrats can figure out how to turn Pennsylvania reliably blue, they will be well on their way to regaining a sustainable national advantage.”

The analysis published in Third Way presents one view from a particular ideological wing of the Democratic Party. Others from other parts of the party have similarly strong views. In calling for an open and robust debate, Galston and Kamarck argue, “Party unity based on unchallenged premises and outdated ideas will not get the job done.”

For Democrats, hard choices lie ahead.»

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/02/02/democratic-party-losses-assessment/

MAYBE Fetterman’s not the bad guy (yet). (Although I will be a little surprised if he runs for reelection.)

https://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=4289

(The desktop site has the alt text, which describes nothing, but is extra humor.)

«Should Chinese automakers be banned from Western markets, or should they be welcomed as long as they build factories here, maybe even in joint partnerships with local brands as China has required on its end for years? I think the latter approach makes more sense, and the United States and Canada risk letting Mexico seize the entirety of that opportunity because their Sinophobia is so all-consuming. Conservative politicians are already starting to call for Mexico to be ejected from the continental trade pact over the issue of Chinese cars.

Electric vehicles are far from a silver bullet for transport decarbonization, let alone addressing the long list of other issues that plague transport systems dominated by personal automobiles. But given how fast we need to cut our emissions, they will be part of any realistic path forward. Maybe one of those path is to have US and Canadian workers in domestic factories churning out cars with Chinese labels on them — just as they do with Japanese and Korean brands today. It might even give local automakers the kick they need to offer some more affordable models.»

https://www.disconnect.blog/p/what-we-get-wrong-about-the-supposed-threat-of-chinese-evs

Also: MOAR NUKES!

(Still not a fan of Chinese software and human rights practices, though. And the way we mine lithium is *literally* salting the earth.)

https://www.disconnect.blog/p/advertisers-are-returning-to-twitterx-to-keep-elon-musk-happy

«According to the FT, multiple media executives admitted that brands would be returning as advertisers on Twitter/X not because it’s a great place to reach people, but because they know it’s something Musk cares about and he’ll have influence with Trump. Lou Paskalis, chief executive of marketing consultancy AJL Advisory, called it a form of “political leverage” that will be helpful if the companies are seeking government contracts. Throwing a few million dollars at Twitter/X to be in the “good graces of Elon” will surely also be a good strategy to stay out of his crosshairs and those of the administration.»

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/01/education-department-diversity-training-00201957

How is it my stupid, government-hating cousin is somehow in charge of things now?

In addition to the headline story (no email, just Xitter),

«On Friday, the Department of Defense announced it would evict four news organizations — NBC News, the New York Times, NPR and Politico — from leased offices within the Pentagon. The office space will be turned over to four other organizations — Breitbart News radio, the Huffington Post, One America News Network and the New York Post — some of which have curried favor with Trump and his political allies in recent times. (The Huffington Post is owned by BuzzFeed, which counts Trump ally Vivek Ramaswamy among their minority owners.)»

https://thedesk.net/2025/02/ntsb-moves-plane-crash-press-updates-x-twitter/