The Trump Presidency 2.0

[Box]

Did anyone ever expect anything different?

The question is - what do those who are still trying to masquerade as "honest politicians" do about it?

If I was in a position to do so - I would trumpet from the highest mountain tops all of the things that these criminals have done under the mantle of "public servant" that led to a residential "pardon"

Pardoned for treason
Pardoned for espionage
Pardoned for perjury
Pardoned for more treason
Pardoned for violating Article 103b, 104, 106a, 107, 117, 131, 132, and 133
Pardoned for witness tampering
Pardoned for more perjury
Pardoned for fraud
Pardoned for more sedition
Pardoned for public violations of Articles 81, 88, and 89 of the UCMJ
Pardoned for perjury and fraud and sedition
Pardoned for crimes against humanity
Pardoned for conspiracy to commit fraud
Pardoned for violating Article 94 AND 99 of the UCMJ
Pardoned for conspiracy to commit treason
Pardoned for conspiracy to commit espionage
Pardoned for conspiracy to commit witness tampering

...and it would continue until the mountains crumbled


Best of all is the complete lack of self awareness as the Biden justice department releases a statement that those that might get and ACCEPT a pardon from Donald Trump would do so with that very pardon being an admission of guilt.
One thing can now NEVER be changed - a former congresswoman NEEDED a residential pardon to save her from her nefarious conduct as she went about the process of indirect election tampering.

A retired General Office leaves as part of his legacy - that his public conduct and behavior to a seated and duly elected POTUS was such that it was warranted that he be protected form his actions and public statements through the issuance of a residential pardon.
There is "speaking truth to power" and then there is just "disrespectful cock bag" - there is no gray area.
...way to put the bow on 43 years of public service you uninspiring, overweight, disgraceful example of "Professional Soldier"

Fuck you ALL very much, goodbye, and good riddance.

 

[Devildoc]

"January 20, 2025 is liberation day". Lol. Brilliant.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

I’m envisioning liberals everywhere as he speaks…

 

[BlackSmokeRisinG]

Trump sounding good at the inauguration, just promised to designste the cartels as FTOs, and Drill Baby Drill!

 

[Muppet]

Only 2 genders!

Nooooo!!!!

Lol

 

[Kraut783]

Also ending telework for federal employees

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/20/nx-s1-5268852/trump-telework-executive-order-federal-workers

 

[Kraut783]

Trump starts to pardon Jan 6,ers

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/20/g-s1-36809/trump-pardons-january-6-riot

 

[Muppet]

Trump starts to pardon Jan 6,ers

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/20/g-s1-36809/trump-pardons-january-6-riot

They were political prisoners anyway, good news. I mean, if our lord and savior Fauci can get a pre-emptive pardon, why not political prisoners.

 

[Box]

maybe they didnt do anything wrong that needs a pardon?

 

[AWP]

Also ending telework for federal employees

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/20/nx-s1-5268852/trump-telework-executive-order-federal-workers

Which is more fluff than anything. Most positions are already back to full time in the office or one day of telework a week. The article also doesn't allow for RDO schedules and days, so this EO is much ado about nothing. Cheer, jeer, whatever. For most Federal workers this won't change much.

 

[AWP]

I chewed over the remote work EO and the Federal work force EO. I've mostly addressed the telework issue. The Federal bit is more complicated and not the W most think.

The union, the AFGE, will push back. The EO can't suddenly undo collective bargaining agreements. You can't touch CBA positions until the lawyers are done.

I know for an absolute certainty engineering and cybersecurity positions are underfilled. In some cases they are already underfilled to the point of missing deadlines or one engineer is working multiple programs. I've seen what the latter does to work performance and it isn't pretty. Cybersecurity? Hooo boy, all of the emphasis on cybersecurity, all of the hand wringing, and we are still undermanned. If someone messes with the rank and file there they are, and I say this without exaggeration, affecting our security posture.

Contracting officers are already in bad shape. Cut those numbers and watch contracts go from bad to worse costing us more money and delays in performing those duties.

The "fix" for fewer Gov employees is contractors. Those savings hit a certain break point before a contractor is more expensive. Also, contractors are generally employed under strict responsibilities. Say one is hired to provide IT support for air traffic control systems. You can't moonlight at the base or facility help desk to "help out" without exceeding the limits of your contract. Cue the lawyers.

My tiny department of tech nerds, roughly 60 people, is already 6-8 positions short (Gov and Ctr combined), with 4-6 of those in cybersecurity (see above). We've been able to recruit in part through...generous telework policies. My command of about 1000 or so averages 2 retirements a month and onboards roughly 2 dozen new hires a month. (our attrition is significant) Even cutting new hires by 50% would be crippling. I could actually argue to not fill the CTR positions and make those Gov because of contracting restrictions.

Let's be honest, bean counters are most likely to assign an arbitrary percentage of personnel to cut rather than targeting specific careers. If you've read this far, do you see the problem?

You can cut the Federal government, and we need cuts, but you need to be really smart about those cuts. I honestly do not believe DOGE will take the time to analyze specific units, jobs, and needs. Those of you on the outside will see a "functioning" government and cheer the cuts. Those of us on the inside, Gov and CTR alike, will have a very, very different view as deadlines are missed and costs skyrocket.

 

[Marauder06]

Coast Guard Commandant terminated over border lapses, recruitment, DEI focus: official

Fagan has demonstrated leadership deficiencies, operational failures and an inability to advance the strategic objectives of the Coast Guard.

Wow. That's way more specific than the usual "lost confidence in ability to command" or whatever.

 

[Cookie_]

Coast Guard Commandant terminated over border lapses, recruitment, DEI focus: official



Wow. That's way more specific than the usual "lost confidence in ability to command" or whatever.

I know border and DEI stuff gets clicks, but this seems like a bigger deal.

In Operation Fouled Anchor, the cover-up of sexual assaults at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy "deeply eroded trust" in the Coast Guard among the American public, the U.S. Congress and the military. The Coast Guard did not disclose the existence of Operation Fouled Anchor until 2023, despite its existence from 2014 to 2019.

Fagan was grilled by senators over the summer when she testified at a hearing on Capitol Hill, where she was questioned for not holding anyone accountable for the cover-up and withholding additional documents congressional lawmakers requested about the mishandling of the problem at the service’s academy.

 

[AWP]

The memo appears to provide for that type of contingency:

"...the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary."

This is all understandably the talk of the office this morning. That's how the rank and file are viewing this, vague and open-ended enough that nothing will change UNLESS overzealous tries to make this a reality.

Buuuutttt, as @Steve1839 pointed out, not all gov't buildings can accommodate 100% in-office participation. Walking around this AM as part of my normal day-to-day, we're pretty close to being in that position if we aren't already there. We just took on a bunch of Army folks because they didn't have enough office space.

This all becomes a knee-jerk reaction leading to a dumpster fire or a nonevent.

And hell, if we want to properly secure the border we'll need to hire people. Probably a lot of people.

 

[Devildoc]

And hell, if we want to properly secure the border we'll need to hire people. Probably a lot of people.

Talking heads were on this today, saying the same thing. And you can't hire by EO, they need a budget, so they have to wait until the next budget cycle.

A lot of his EOs are low-hanging fruit that will give the MAGA crowd (myself included) warm fuzzies, but some face significant legal battles (looking at you, birthright citizenship). All I know is all of this is making me simply giddy.

 

[Cookie_]

I think it’s kind of crappy they they lit “not properly securing the border“ on her, I mean, what was she supposed to do?

I think it's to give the MAGA crowd warm fuzzies, as @Devildoc termed it.

It's an easy win on messaging to throw the border, DEI, and "weakness" at her with the other reasons she's being fired.

 

[Topkick]

think it's to give the MAGA crowd warm fuzzies, as @Devildoc termed it.

I think it's more substantial. She's just not the person the administration wants in the position. I'm guessing this wasn't an impulsive decision. Trump ran on firing DEI focused military leaders.

 

[Devildoc]

The other elephant in the room, birthright citizenship. Four lawsuits were filed yesterday to stop Trump's EO (I am not sure he can, legally, cover it with an EO anyway). Like 2A, it depends on how one interprets the language of the 14th amendment. I bet this will see SCOTUS before all is said and done.

Me, I am all for it.

 

[Box]

"Objective truth" being what it is theses days - exactly how are we going to define "properly secured"
...is it a turnstile that accepts tokens?
...is it a 20 foot high border wall that would rival anything ever built by the Ming Dynasty?
...is it 2000 miles of chain link fence secured by a few hundred gates held shut with Series-300 padlocks?
...is there a clearly defined consequence for violating the sanctity of said border?

Verily I say unto thee - to solve a problem, one must first define the problem.
The next thing is to figure out what our politicians will use as a campaign platform should they actually surrender to their voters and FIX the actual problem that they ran on.

There is no sustainable profit stream connected to "securing the border" - which should be enough to convince people that the problem - as it impacts the average aMErickan - is NEVER going to be solved.
Properly secure it - and the maintenance becomes little more than changing the oil in your car every few thousand miles.

Opening the discussion - creating dialogue - reviewing courses of action
These are all great ways to "show progress" without actually fixing anything and unless there is a true super-majority in both houses of congress that are willing to support any given presidents' campaign promises - talk and band aids is all we will ever get.

Trump had the congress AND the senate his first time around and people like John McCain FUCKED him out of pure spite. They didn't care that their ego and irresistible urges to score some camera time at any cost - they just wanted to fuck the Orangeman for being mean to them.
I lived in Yuma and watched McCain campaign on "completing the wall" as he walked side by side with a uniformed Border Patrol Agent. I listened to countless ramblings from them man on getting rid of Obamacare and then when he had the chance...
- he helped scuttle the ship because OrangeMan bad.

It isn't about what President Trump wants to do - or how bad "we the people" want him to do it.
It's about the 535 voting members of the US Congress that fill their days with networking and fundraising...

- what? you need me to cross the aisle and vote for your silly little partisan pet project so you can sell it as "bipartisan?
Well why not; I'm not up for reelection this cycle and my constituents will have long forgotten about it before I run again.
I'll tell ya what - if one of your lobbyists makes a charitable donation to the "Box Foundation" - your silly assed pet project has my zealous bipartisan support. Hell, I may even be able to get one of my colleagues to vote for it if you stay quiet about that donation to the "Box Foundation"

Rinse and Repeat

 

[Topkick]

I think it’s kind of crappy they they lit “not properly securing the border“ on her, I mean, what was she supposed to do?

Based on her performance, I'm good with it. The CInC ran on and needs to do a complete review/ overhaul of sr. military leadership. I will say this though, I served with the Army COS and he is a warrior.