The actions by ICE in this and other cases are beyond defensible. If they have a case, let it be heard in open court with adequate counsel. Stop playing the silly reindeer games with people's lives.
That would be one way to make America great again.
You should read the release that CISA put out [0]. The use of Signal for classified discussions is not a suggested use. True, it's not explicitly forbidden, but people entrusted with that access should know better.
Saying that CISA approved Signal (and, in right-wing sources, saying "Biden administration CISA") is an attempt to minimize and distract.
They shouldn't have been texting classified information. Full stop.
Both sets of my grandparents came to the U.S. from Europe (France and Belgium) just before WW II. They did not become citizens. My father and mother were born in the U.S. and lived here all their lives. I was born in the U.S. and have also lived here all of my life.
Am I a U.S. citizen? If so, what proof can I provide that doesn't rely on the "loophole"?
"I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency and put a man named Elon Musk in charge," Trump told an audience of investors and company executives in Miami. [0]
So is Trump lying? Confused? Senile?
And the pushback to Musk by most of his administration didn't take the form of "this guy is just an advisor". They acted as if Musk were in charge, no matter what Trump tells a judge.
If one month is too early to indicate failure, it's also too early to claim success. But that's not stopping doge and musk from touting how much the cuts and chaos have "saved".
If I sell my car on Friday, I might claim to have saved a $500 a month car payment. But what happens on Monday when I need to get to work?
The responsible course of action would have been to lay out the markers of success so their actions could be assessed against objective measures. That's not what we're seeing in practice.
The memo specifically calls for initiating "large-scale reductions in force", focusing on those positions that are specifically covered by "statute or other law". That's not calling on government agencies to get better about cutting deadwood. It's calling for the wholesale elimination of positions that someone is filling right now, regardless of what that position does.
The people who may be losing their jobs may be losing them not because they're bad at them. Someone did want to hire them. That's why they have a job now. A job that may be going away for ideological reasons, and not good policy or sound choices.
These actions are not based on data that shows why this is most likely to achieve broadly supported goals based on the ideals of the United States. There is nothing to show how many people will be affected, what the likely impact on the private sector will be, and how that impact will be of overall benefit to society. It's a reactionary lashing out based this vague notion that "government is too big".
No one owes you a job because you exist, but I believe it's only fair that if you have a job, it's not taken away without cause. Otherwise you have no basis on which to make any long-term plans -- part of that whole "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" thing. Looking out for other people doesn't mean we live in a communist society, it means we live in a society that values making life better for more than just those at the top of the income ladder.
By the way, the people calling to eliminate jobs, and perhaps put displaced workers on medicaid, are often the same people calling to cut medicaid. Slap with the right, punch with the left.
Really, stay with the conversation here - what are the options that people will have if they lose their job because a "DOGE lead" deems their position no longer covered by statute? If they are ready to retire, then fine. But what about that 30 year old who just bought a house and had a kid?
If the private sector can't absorb them, even at the same level of income as they have now, what will they do?
How will they pay their mortgages or their rent? How will they put food on their table? How will they afford for any kind of healthcare?
Implicit in the "why does the private section have to absorb them?" is the belief that government workers are not deserving of their jobs and, in fact, are not deserving of any job as they are lazy or incompetent.
Perhaps that's not the particular thought that prompted the comment, but let's be honest - it's a common belief. We see it at the heart of the "return to work" cries that Musk and other MAGA supporters have been calling for -- people can't be trusted to do their work at home, they must be in a factory-like setting where their managers can oversee them. You know, crack the whip and all that.
So what's the plan for the displaced workers? Beyond their hardship, what's the expected impact on our overall economy? By what criteria shall we judge these actions as successful?
There is no plan, and the only expectation is chaos. Success will be judged by those who gain the most after the dust settles, and we should not fool ourselves to think that will include the typical person in the United States.
But I'm willing to be convinced. If there's an argument to be made for this "shove the nation off the cliff" approach, then let's hear it.
The actions by ICE in this and other cases are beyond defensible. If they have a case, let it be heard in open court with adequate counsel. Stop playing the silly reindeer games with people's lives.
That would be one way to make America great again.