Side bar: Rep #AlGreen’s official twitter account has spent the last few days tweeting about people who committed acts of defiance: #NatTurner. #HarrietTubman. The #Democrat from #Texas’s pinned post is of the late congressman #JohnLewis.

#GoodTrouble

#JointSession #Trump #USpol

Rep. #AlGreen (D-Texas) stood up & shook his cane at #Trump & told him, “You don’t have a mandate!” Republicans almost immediately drowned him out with “USA, USA, USA” chants.

Mike Johnson just had security remove Re Green.

#resist

I have watched dozens of these speeches & that was the least engagement with the opposition party I have ever seen.

There was none.

#trump #JointSession

Watch (if you dare) #Trump’s address to the #JointSession to #Congress:

youtube.com/watch?v=Z6zaAzNXc5…

[this soooooo gonna suck]

President Trump Addresses Joint Session of Congress

President Trump makes his first address to a Joint Session of Congress (1:18:20) since beginning his second term. Michigan freshman Senator Elissa Slotkin ga...

^YouTube

🧵 reportedly, #Trump going to blame #Biden [shocker 🙄] for inflation, including egg prices specifically. The price of a dozen #eggs in US cities hit a record $4.95 in January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as millions of hens have been slaughtered in the hopes of containing a bird flu outbreak.

Not for nothing, #Musk fired the folks working on #BirdFlu & Trump has an #antivaxxer, #RFKJr, in charge of the #HHS.

Some #Democrats will be wearing stickers saying #ElonMusk is stealing #SocialSecurity.

Several Dems will boycott #Trump’s speech altogether.

Me? I am having a martini to gird myself against the terror.

And that’s what I’ve decided Trump has been up to in his first 50ish days, a campaign of #terror against the citizens of the US & the citizens of planet earth.

#TrumpIsATerrorist.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus [#CBC], including Illinois Rep #LaurenUnderwood, plan to wear black to the speech to "capture the party's somber mood," according to her & to reports from Axios.

Other members are planning to wear blue & yellow to show solidarity with #Ukraine, just days after #Trump ordered a pause on military #aid to the country.

#USpol #geopolitics

Tonight, at #Trump’s speech, members of the #Democratic #Women’s Caucus — will be dressed in a bright pink.

New Mexico Rep Teresa Leger Fernández, chair for the 96-member caucus, explained to Time that the pink is meant to “signal our protest of Trump’s policies which are negatively impacting women & families.”

[it’s also the color of the #WomensMarch]

#USpol #tyranny #MaleSupremacy #sexism #Rapist #SexualAssault #law #accountability
time.com/7264001/trump-congres…

Exclusive: Dozens of Democratic Congresswomen Plan To Wear Pink to Trump’s Joint Address to Congress

Dozens of Democratic congresswomen will wear pink to President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress Tuesday night, organizers tell TIME

^{Nik Popli (Time)}

Anxiety Mounts Among Social Security Recipients as DOGE Troops Settle In
—

Elon Musk’s team has descended on an already understaffed Social Security Administration, which now faces further workforce cuts and closures of vital local offices. The consequences could be significant for millions of the most vulnerable Americans.
propublica.org/article/doge-so…

#News #DOGE #SocialSecurity #ElonMusk #Trump #Musk

What Are DOGE’s Plans for the Social Security Administration?

^ProPublica

I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that a US President who is a known rapist helps guys accused of rape to escape justice, but it's still pretty sickening to see

bbc.co.uk/news/live/c70wq044zn…

#AndrewTate #TateBrothers #Rapists #Trump

Tates getting seized cars and properties back, says spokesman, as they fly to Florida - live updates

The social media influencers are still under investigation and face trial on allegations of rape and trafficking minors, all of which they deny.

^{BBC News}

"How does Elon Musk use the word 'fraud' to dismantle the US federal government?

The term is not as an attempt to describe the world, but to change it. It is a political tool, used by a politician to justify a political action: regime change to oligarchy."

~ Timothy Snyder

#Musk #Trump #FederalGovernment #fraud #firings #workers #billionaires #EconomicElites #TaxCuts #Medicaid
/3

snyder.substack.com/p/the-frau…

The "Fraud" Fraud

How DOGE destroys

^{Timothy Snyder (Thinking about...)}

"Musk's 'fraud' rhetoric is presented as an anti-politics, as something fresh and exciting. But it is in fact a politics, a very old sort, the politics of oligarchy. As he himself has made clear himself, Musk is a politician with a program. It is to disable the rule of law, leaving no barriers to his oligarchical power. In this scheme, the only parts of government meant to function are the ones used to silence people who point out this obvious truth."

#Musk #Trump #fraud #LawandOrder
/4

"A recent poll suggests that 70% of Americans believe government expenditures are filled with waste, fraud, and inefficiency....

The GOP is now broadly using the fraud trope to justify cutting any popular program. Medicaid is up next."

#Musk #Trump #FederalGovernment #fraud #firings #workers #billionaires #EconomicElites #TaxCuts #Medicaid
/2

"Musk and Trump’s focus on fraud is nothing new. Fraud has always served as a powerful political trope, one that provides a rationale for cutting government. Accusations of fraud were used to discredit Black elected officials during Reconstruction. Ronald Reagan’s Welfare Queen was an especially effective trope directed against poverty-based policies."

~ Pamela Herd and Don Moynihan

#Musk #Trump #FederalGovernment #fraud #firings #workers #billionaires
/1

donmoynihan.substack.com/p/mus…

Musk’s Fraudulent Fraud Squad

A tired trope gets a new lease of life

^{Pamela Herd (Can We Still Govern?)}

"This is not about personal liberties or free markets. It’s about making the Post more amenable to the Trump administration so that Jeff Bezos’s businesses will not be punished."

~ Jonathan V. Last

#WashingtonPost #Bezos #MediaFailure #capitulation #EconomicElites #billionaires #Musk #Trump #oligarchy
/9

thebulwark.com/p/the-washingto…

The Washington Post and Autocracy’s Asymmetric Advantage

Liberalism is afraid to take its own side.

^{Jonathan V. Last (The Bulwark)}

"When billionaires take control of our communication channels, it’s not a win for free speech. It’s a win for billionaire babble.

When they talk of 'personal liberties and free markets' they mean their own liberties to become even richer and more powerful, as the rest of America slides into greater economic insecurity and fear."

~ Robert Reich

#WashingtonPost #Bezos #MediaFailure #capitulation #EconomicElites #billionaires #Musk #Trump #oligarchy
/8

robertreich.substack.com/p/its…

It's the oligarchy, stupid.

Friends,

^{Robert Reich}

"At key moments, Leavitt visibly seethed at the media. And we think we know why: On Tuesday, consumer confidence registered another big drop, and Leavitt was simply unable to defend the glaring Trump-Musk failures we’re seeing."

#Musk #Trump #media #KarolineLeavitt #economy
/7

"At Tuesday’s media briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the White House will now decide who attends briefings, an effort to insulate President Trump from tough scrutiny. She also offered awful spin about the developing Elon Musk fiasco."

#Musk #Trump #media #KarolineLeavitt #economy
/6

newrepublic.com/article/191984…

Trump Press Sec Seethes at Media over Musk as More Bad Econ News Hits

As press secretary Karoline Leavitt snaps at tough questions over the Elon Musk fiasco, an MSNBC writer discusses how Leavitt’s display pulled the curtain back on Trump’s hidden vulnerability.

^{The New Republic}

"The Opinions section is being told what their opinions are to be, from now on. And they seem to align with current thinking by the Trump regime’s current scumbag leaders. …

From a very quick survey by me of Wapo staffers: This is the worst thing to happen to The Washington Post ever in its 147 year life, including the Janet Cooke scandal."

~ Gene Weingarten

#WashingtonPost #Bezos #MediaFailure #capitulation #EconomicElites #billionaires #Musk #Trump
/5

geneweingarten.substack.com/p/…

(Heart) Breaking News

From Update (4:30 p.m.)

^{Gene Weingarten (The Gene Pool)}

"The message could not be clearer: editorial independence is dead at the Washington Post. Opinion editor David Shipley, recognizing this fact, has already resigned rather than oversee this ideological narrowing. ...

Democracy dies in darkness? No, it dies when billionaires decide they want their media properties to serve their personal ideological agendas rather than the public interest."

#WashingtonPost #Bezos #MediaFailure #capitulation #EconomicElites #billionaires #Musk #Trump
/4

"The audacity of claiming that free market ideas are 'underserved' in American media is staggering. Has Bezos somehow missed the existence of The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Bloomberg, Fox Business, CNBC, and countless other outlets that have spent decades championing free-market capitalism?"

#WashingtonPost #Bezos #MediaFailure #capitulation #EconomicElites #billionaires #Musk #Trump
/3

"In a stunning announcement today, Jeff Bezos declared that The Washington Post's opinion section will now exclusively focus on 'personal liberties and free markets.' …

Today's announcement takes things to an entirely new level of billionaire meddling."

~ Parker Molloy

#WashingtonPost #Bezos #MediaFailure #capitulation #EconomicElites #billionaires #Musk #Trump
/2

readtpa.com/p/jeff-bezos-just-…

Jeff Bezos Just Announced The Washington Post Will Now Be His Personal Megaphone

With its new "free markets and personal liberties" mandate, democracy dies not in darkness but in billionaire ideology

^{Parker Molloy (The Present Age)}

Interview: "Federal workers are staging mass protests to Save Our Services"

“They’re trying to immiserate the working class, & they’re doing it through the federal workforce.

"It’s about gutting the services that create a safety net... because the more miserable we are, the easier it is for them to exploit us.

“The whole public sphere is at stake.”

~Chris Dols

democracynow.org/2025/2/20/dog…

#USPol #SaveOurServices #Trump #Musk #Oligarchy #GeneralStrikeNow #ResistFascism .

“Grand Theft Government”: Federal Workers Send SOS over Musk-Led Mass Firings, Service Cuts

Amid the indiscriminate dismantling of the federal government by the Trump administration’s Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, federal workers, thousands of whom could lose their jobs, are fighting back.

^{Democracy Now!}

Don't EVER tell me public pressure doesn't work

Yet another reversal:

" #Trump administration reinstates funds for lawyers representing 26,000 children in immigration court, days after halting it with little explanation.

👉🏼The decision came after supporters flooded Congress members with letters of support👈🏼, but advocates still worry the program may eventually lose funding..."

latimes.com/california/story/2…

Funding restored to lawyers representing 26,000 children in immigration court

Trump administration reverses itself on a program providing lawyers for 4,000 migrant children in immigration court.

^{Rachel Uranga (Los Angeles Times)}

Keep 'em coming

Via Kyle Cheney:

JUST IN: A judge has enjoined #Trump's effort to block federal funds from going toward grant recipients who engage in DEI practices.

The judge says the orgs are likely to succeed on claims that this is viewpoint discrimination, among other issues

storage.courtlistener.com/reca…

these damn anarchists

#SoupForMyFamily #Trump

Trump Official Destroying USAID Secretly Met With Christian Nationalists Abroad in Defiance of U.S. Policy
—

Now one of the most powerful people in the U.S. government, Peter Marocco’s turbulent tenure during the first Trump administration sheds light on his current efforts to dismantle the American foreign aid system from the inside out.

propublica.org/article/usaid-p…

#News #USAID #Trump #USPolitics #Diplomacy

USAID Dismantler Peter Marocco Secretly Met With Christian Nationalists Abroad in Defiance of U.S. Policy

^ProPublica

#AP Says #Trump Blocked Access Because It Didn’t Rename #GulfOfMexico As #GulfOfAmerica

The #AssociatedPress said it was blocked from covering Trump‘s #ExecutiveOrder signing today because it declined to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in its editorial style standards.

#law #FirstAmendment #FreePress #journalism #whitewashing #WhiteSupremacy #WhiteNationalism
deadline.com/2025/02/ap-trump-…

Fascinating idea by @doctorow about the trade wars inspired by #Trump

Meeting a #Tarrif with a Tarrif isn't going to help #Canadians however what Cory suggests here could:

canadaland.com/podcast/1100-a-…

More importantly, it might hurt the backers of the chaos coming out of the USA since Jan 20th.

/c @pluralistic

#1100 A Weird Way to Win the Trade War with Trump

Hitting America where it hurts: right in the dongle.

^Canadaland

Elon Musk to reporter: “We post our actions to the DOGE website. All of our actions are maximally transparent. I don’t know of a case where an organization has been more transparent than the DOGE organization.”

Here’s the doge.gov website IN ITS ENTIRETY. It’s literally a blank page!

#Musk #doge #Trump #coup #uspolitics

ProPublica has identified nine additional Musk-affiliated staffers. A former staffer at Boring Company now has an official role at DOGE in the Executive Office of the President. A former X employee now works in the General Services Administration.

propublica.org/article/elon-mu…

#News #ElonMusk #DOGE #Government #USPolitics #Trump

ProPublica Confirms Additional Staffers Helping Elon Musk and DOGE Dismantle U.S. Agencies

Musk and his lieutenants are reshaping the government and its mission with the blessing of President Trump. ProPublica has confirmed the names and roles of more than 30 staffers affiliated with the billionaire.

^ProPublica

Poll result: Who loves Elon in government?

On the question of who wants "Musk to have less influence over government spending & operations," nearly half of respondants said yes.

However, "nearly three-quarters of Republicans surveyed said Musk & DOGE should have 'a lot' or 'some' influence."

motherjones.com/politics/2025/…

#DOGE #Musk #Trump #USPol #PollResult #CapturedState .

Unbelievable

#ElonMusk’s US #DOGE Service are feeding sensitive data into #AI software via #Microsoft’s #cloud

#Musk’s US #DOGE Service have fed sensitive data from across the #Education Dept into #ArtificialIntelligence software to probe the agency’s programs & spending….
The AI probe includes data w/personally identifiable info for people who manage grants, & sensitive internal financial data…

#law #security #InfoSec #CyberSecurity #NationalSecurity #Trump #TrumpCoup
washingtonpost.com/nation/2025…