Trump+Musk: Folie à Deux - Trump thread #137

[Spandauer]

The clock is already ticking and he's an old man. Mid-terms: November 3, 2026

Thanks to @AcrossThePond55 for the thread title.

Previous thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5206120-the-grown-ups-have-left-the-building-trump-thread-136

yep, hannah ahrendt wrote about exactly this after ww2.

Gestapo, Stasi, KGB, we could go on

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/23/us/politics/trump-military.html?unlocked_article_code=1.rk4.XRxY.lKrQN737iajW

Trump Pulls the Military Back Into the Political and Culture Wars

The removal of a portrait of Gen. Mark A. Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from a Pentagon hallway was among the president’s early actions.

The head of the coastguard “was told on the evening of Inauguration Day that she had been fired, as she was waiting to have a photo taken with Mr. Trump at the Commander in Chief Ball, a military official said.”

Are there no rules about unfair dismissal in the US? Are workers so unprotected?

famously little employment protection.

I deal with a lot of people in the US through work. I knew one lady who had been in her very senior role for over 30 years (VP level). She went into work one morning, was taken to one side, told she was being made redundant and had an hour to clear her desk. She also had to sign an NDA in order to get a semi-decent redundancy package so couldn’t even talk to anyone about what had happened beyond the basic details.

Thanks @bloodredfeaturewall and @CaveMum - more reasons to question the greatness of America.

I have relatives in the us.

I have the impression that nda are the work of the devil used a lot for all sorts of things.
regarding hire & fire it's very much in the enployer's interest to have a happy and stable workforce but redunancy and performance is ruthless.

I worked for an American company in the UK for years and in general they were a terrific employer. They normally made redundancies here through the proper processes but every now and again someone would ‘disappear’. They’d be offered a ‘Compromise Agreement’ ie a largeish sum of money to leave without argument or discussion ie an NDA. Tended to be either non union members or those who were not on TUPE terms and conditions.

Will the plan to overwhelm the courts work ? Are the American people ready and able to deal in a mature way with media headlines screaming:

"ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE"

above photographs of judges with names, addresses, and phone numbers ?

Asking for a friend.

This is not my area, but I believe there's nationwide employment law and then states have leeway to add their own regulations. I believe California and Massachusetts have decent worker's protection expansions to the federal laws. I think DC is pretty good too.

I don't know this for a fact, but I believe presidential appointees (such as the head of the coastguard referenced earlier) serve at the pleasure of the president and can be removed at any time. I don't know what the compensation rules would be.

@SerendipityJane

In a world where Michael Fanon's 75 year old mother has had shit thrown at her while raking her lawn, I would say, possibly not?

And then there's this:

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/05/us/wisconsin-judge-killed-attack/index.html

This is not my area, but I believe there's nationwide employment law and then states have leeway to add their own regulations.

States can do whatever they like, as long as it doesn't contravene either their or the US constitution which takes precedence over everything.

Is my simple understanding.

I keep meaning to mention that I'd like to recommend this website for people interested in some serious, sober analysis of current events

https://www.justsecurity.org/about-us/

Maga volunteers wanted

https://newrepublic.com/post/190555/donald-trump-immigration-deportations-farm-workers

About 75% of immigrant farm workers did not show up for work this week in Bakersfield, California, as the threat of Trump’s immigration raids looms.

These seem to be the aims of Project 25 and there is a lot of overlap with his campaign promises.

Project 25

• Secure the border, finish building the wall, and deport illegal aliens
• De-weaponize the Federal Government by increasing accountability and oversight of the FBI and DOJ
• Unleash American energy production to reduce energy prices
• Cut the growth of government spending to reduce inflation
• Make federal bureaucrats more accountable to the democratically elected President and Congress
• Improve education by moving control and funding of education from DC bureaucrats directly to parents and state and local governments
• Ban biological males from competing in women' s sports

That link just takes you to the page set up by the authors of Project 2025. Of course they're going to make it sound reasonable.

I would suggest actually reading it, or at least a thorough analysis by someone who has.
Here's one
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/14/project-2025-election

Trump disavowed it during the campaign.
“I have nothing to do with Project 2025,” Trump said in the ABC News Presidential Debate. “I haven’t read it. I don’t want to read it purposely. I’m not going to read it.”

Paywall removed:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/29/us/politics/trump-project-2025.html?unlocked_article_code=1.rk4.InMc.BEfYa-32Qhhh&smid=url-share

And here's a link to how the American population felt about Project 2025
https://citizendata.com/report/tracking-voter-awareness-and-support-for-project-2025/

Sadly climate change is on us right now. And if you live in Scotland you’re probably seeing it at first hand.
I’m actually a nurse and since the success of Brexit we’re having shortages of multiple medicines and varying items, you name it.

Donald Trump pardons 23 anti-abortion activists, and is expected later on Friday to address via videolink America's largest annual anti-abortion rally March for Life in Washington DC

I didn’t vote for Brexit if that’s what you’re implying.

There are already vines grown for wine in Yorkshire - so the Borders could follow

https://yorkshiredalesfood.co.uk/2010/10/05/grape-harvest-in-yorkshire-english-wine/

Dh actually wrote an essay on the potential expansion of wine growing areas (and the demise of traditional areas) as a consequence of global warming when he was studying to be a Master of Wine and got a decent mark for it

I have a grapevine in my garden in Manchester, and there are several more on my street that fruit well.

Don’t you start, @prettybird 🤣 I’ve had enough farmer bashing in the last few months to last a lifetime. How’s the weather in the dear green place? I’m down in England tending to DH. DS is on the farm and I’m dreading news about fallen trees and destroyed sheds. A lot of trees down according to the local facebook.

That's not farmer bashing - that's pointing out potential future opportunities

Syrah from Selkirk anyone?

We've battened down the hatches here and have not ventured out all day. Cats are most pissed off at having been shut in . This is a couple of streets from me, on the way to the subway. The next street parallel to that (which is a major route) also has a large tree across it. I presume it will be the priority to get cleared.

Thanks for the business advice 🤣. A couple of farmers would have that road cleared in 5 minutes. My experience of the council clearing trees was them bulldozing a cut up felled tree into my field and thereby knocking down the fence. 😡

Any time trees are blown down round here, someone with a chainsaw appears within the hour to chop it into logs. There are a lot of people with log burners, and with access to power tools.
When the council took down some mature trees the other year they didn't need to take logs away as locals nabbed them within the day.