Hard Power and Soft Power

[ChuckMK23]

I assert the government should not be run like a for-profit business. Government for hire? Isn't that a YUGE part of the problem? Government's task and purpose are different than a for-profit business.

Well said. I remember distinctly the experience of meeting with a senior officer JA shortly after receiving my GS appointment - the goal of civil service / government service in general is *never* efficiency, expediency, or profit/monetary savings. It's not turning $1.00 into $1.10. Just like our cyber security goals generally are at the expense of productivity and convenience. The goal is always integrity first with mission accomplishment and delivering on the goals of elected vs appointed officials. That system has worked well IMHO. There maybe marginal levels of efficiencies toi be gained but there is not much there without first making policy changes.

I am glad to approach the 5 year service mark in my GS career.

 

[sevenhelmet]

I am glad to approach the 5 year service mark in my GS career.

Congratulations, Chuck. I am glad to be on the verge of retirement from the reserves.

 

[Brett327]

I stand by that statement.

He is at risk for selling secrets for personal narcissistic gain, but that's different than being coerced into it because he needs the moolah.

I don't think you've been paying attention these past 10 years.

 

[Spekkio]

@sevenhelmet, I mentioned several posts ago that I'd be a fan of legislation that defined a phase out timeline. For example, President can slash an organization but it must be gradually drawn down over 12 months.

But I don't think we should have to live with things forever because an administration signed it into law decades ago, and I don't believe that Congress has the power in the Constitution to force a sitting President's hand to oversee federal agencies he believes that he does not need.

I'm generally a small federal government minded person, so although the ways is draconian I'm onboard with the ends.

As for your other somewhat rhetorical question... I don't know why you think federal workers - who, btw, are usually paid significantly more in wages and benefits than people working in equivalent civilian positions - should be immune to layoffs when their organizations become obsolete.

 

[Brett327]

But I don't think we should have to live with things forever because an administration signed it into law decades ago

That's what the legislative branch and constitutional amendments are for. We shouldn't be casually giving this power to a single branch of government to decide capriciously.

 

[Griz882]

That's what the legislative branch and constitutional amendments are for. We shouldn't be casually giving this power to a single branch of government to decide capriciously.

Indeed…so where has our legislative branch been?

 

[taxi1]

Indeed…so where has our legislative branch been?

Subsumed by party politics

 

[Faded Float Coat]

Subsumed by party politics

For those in the crowd that champion originalism and the infallibility of the founders, Tax1 hits it on the head: the primary forces at play in modern American politics are the two parties, not the co-equal branches. That Congress would be so willing to cede their power and authority when their team holds the WH, but then bark like crazy when the roles are reversed, well, at least that aspect of it all is bipartisan...

 

[Griz882]

Subsumed by party politics

Hence my ever so slender hope that the U.S. is reaching a kind of post-party era where they vote beyond party lines.

 

[Brett327]

Indeed…so where has our legislative branch been?

That's a different question. Whether they choose to act in any particular way is different than whether they are the constitutionally appropriate branch of government to act.

 

[Random8145]

Personally I think Trump is a vindictive jerk and supreme a-hole. The reason I mostly support him is a few-fold:

1) Plenty of the other politicos are the same, just they keep quiet about it

2) If the justice system went after people like Biden, Hillary, Pelosi, McConnell, etc...I am sure they'd find all manner of illegal or questionable stuff

3) The fascism that is Wokeness and all of its associated insanity (censorship, cancel culture, men in women's sports/bathrooms/locker rooms, etc...)

4) The legalization of crime and punishment of the law-abiding.

5) The allowing the cities to burn in 2020 then going nuts over January 6 (and comparing it to 9/11 and Pearl Harbor!)

6) The throwing open of the border and allowing millions of illegal aliens to just pour into the country and seemingly rolling out the red carpet it seems for quite a few of them---this especially gets me given the struggles I've seen of fellow blue-collar Americans at work and in my own family. If I send a letter to the IRS telling them I've decided not to pay taxes this year due to disagreement with how they are spending the money, the response will basically be like the Soviets to the Prague Spring. There is ZERO playing around there. They don't care how it will possibly mess up families or stress people out, they just Enforce the Law Judge Dredd-style. Things got so bad with them back in the '90s, Congress had to pass reform. But with those who cross over into the country illegally, it's "Meh." Even worse, it's been "Meh" regarding violent illegal aliens. And all this with people who are victims of Hurricane Helene needing help and now victims of the LA fires.

There was the apartment complex in Colorado taken over by the violent Tren de Aragua gang, to which at first the government and law enforcement denied was real (I'd love to have seen the state government response had it been a building housing illegals that a violent MAGA gang took over). You cannot have a country that does not apply the law to non-citizens and even goes out of its way to favor such people, but which applies the law with an iron fist to tax-paying citizens.

I will say much of the hand-wringing in this thread demonstrates a big part of the problem. So many are OUTRAGED over the stuff being done to the government, to various foreign programs, to the foreign aid being cut to the poor Third World peoples, etc...yet so many seem completely oblivious to all the other stuff that I mentioned above and how that comes across to many of the average American who can be suffering and have sick parents they have to deal with, work multiple jobs, things like that.

Part of me agrees with a lot of the criticisms being leveled against the administration, they aren't untrue, but another part of me is really like "I don't care." Trump is a wrecking ball breaking things? Good! It will make the politicians actually do their jobs and stop being so corrupt and interested in enriching themselves.

 

[Spekkio]

There was the apartment complex in Colorado taken over by the violent Tren de Aragua gang, to which at first the government and law enforcement denied was real (I'd love to have seen the state government response had it been a building housing illegals that a violent MAGA gang took over). You cannot have a country that does not apply the law to non-citizens and even goes out of its way to favor such people, but which applies the law with an iron fist to tax-paying citizens.

Biden's asylum policy was a huge blunder. It was the worst kept secret in Latin America how to scam the system to immigrate into the U.S., and governments were actively coordinating with organized crime to send us the dredges of their societies, but especially Venezuela. Kind of humorous that South American countries themselves knew what was going on and closed their borders to Venezuela, yet Biden was all like "come on in!"

And yeah, quite a few hispanic immigrant families want it to be easier to bring abuelita to the U.S., but they don't want the gangs and organized crime they left behind to follow them. And also... like European immigrants before them, there's nationalism at play.

Trump owes Gov. Abbott for his election. The decision to use the sanctuary city laws to make illegal immigration a Democrat party and voter problem was ingenious. When you have the black mayor of NYC publicly pleading with Biden to close the border while hispanic voters are outraged at his immigration policy, you've won.

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

Did you read the classified documents indictment?

As a matter of fact, yes. As have many of those on these threads. To my point, there are in that indictment photos that depict well over 100 boxes of misc. papers. In those boxes, 102 classified documents were located. I mentioned optics, as these photos were given to the press to play over and over again to the public, implying there were boxes and boxes of classified documents.

He was not accused of selling any documents (back to my initial questioning source for "Trump's history" and "risk of selling secrets" comments). He was accused of improperly possessing and storing of classified materials, and to that I agree there is a strong basis.

So back to the thread, and discussion of those at risk of selling secrets. That I do not see with Trump, even in light of the idictment.

 

[BigRed389]

Personally I think Trump is a vindictive jerk and supreme a-hole. The reason I mostly support him is a few-fold:

1) Plenty of the other politicos are the same, just they keep quiet about it

2) If the justice system went after people like Biden, Hillary, Pelosi, McConnell, etc...I am sure they'd find all manner of illegal or questionable stuff

3) The fascism that is Wokeness and all of its associated insanity (censorship, cancel culture, men in women's sports/bathrooms/locker rooms, etc...)

4) The legalization of crime and punishment of the law-abiding.

5) The allowing the cities to burn in 2020 then going nuts over January 6 (and comparing it to 9/11 and Pearl Harbor!)

6) The throwing open of the border and allowing millions of illegal aliens to just pour into the country and seemingly rolling out the red carpet it seems for quite a few of them---this especially gets me given the struggles I've seen of fellow blue-collar Americans at work and in my own family. If I send a letter to the IRS telling them I've decided not to pay taxes this year due to disagreement with how they are spending the money, the response will basically be like the Soviets to the Prague Spring. There is ZERO playing around there. They don't care how it will possibly mess up families or stress people out, they just Enforce the Law Judge Dredd-style. Things got so bad with them back in the '90s, Congress had to pass reform. But with those who cross over into the country illegally, it's "Meh." Even worse, it's been "Meh" regarding violent illegal aliens. And all this with people who are victims of Hurricane Helene needing help and now victims of the LA fires.

There was the apartment complex in Colorado taken over by the violent Tren de Aragua gang, to which at first the government and law enforcement denied was real (I'd love to have seen the state government response had it been a building housing illegals that a violent MAGA gang took over). You cannot have a country that does not apply the law to non-citizens and even goes out of its way to favor such people, but which applies the law with an iron fist to tax-paying citizens.

I will say much of the hand-wringing in this thread demonstrates a big part of the problem. So many are OUTRAGED over the stuff being done to the government, to various foreign programs, to the foreign aid being cut to the poor Third World peoples, etc...yet so many seem completely oblivious to all the other stuff that I mentioned above and how that comes across to many of the average American who can be suffering and have sick parents they have to deal with, work multiple jobs, things like that.

Part of me agrees with a lot of the criticisms being leveled against the administration, they aren't untrue, but another part of me is really like "I don't care." Trump is a wrecking ball breaking things? Good! It will make the politicians actually do their jobs and stop being so corrupt and interested in enriching themselves.

Eh…I didn’t like a lot of what the last Administration did but it’s debatable just how much “wokeness” was real vs manufactured or magnified by the MAGA party. Same goes for law enforcement and treating illegals with kid gloves. I genuinely don’t know any “normie” Democrat who was ok with any of the absurdities MAGA claimed was happening - ie even if it was real, no way it had wide support even among liberals.

I think #5 is a fair point, but I’m not sure a repeat of 2020 would get a pass precisely because of J6.

#3 is especially ironic given the culture war the current Administration is waging. People are literally getting notices they’ll be fired if they have pronouns in their signature. I’ve never had any interest in having pronoun identifiers, always thought they were stupid, but if you want to talk about things that smack of fascism, censorship, etc….MAGA is also terrible.

But the thing I think gets missed among Trump’s boorish behavior being a lightning rod is who actually is backing him. Trump isn’t coming up with this shit on his own…all of this is playing out by the alliance of the MAGA faction, the tech broligarchy and their extremist playmakers. The absurd wealth disparity and the amount of influence they can buy with it is getting truly concerning, along with the bizarre politics created by the two party system swinging further to extremes.

 

[Brett327]

One day, you will all learn to use the ignore user function, as I have, immeasurably improving your AW user experience. Imagine never seeing another absurd post from Random ever again. It's like Nirvana.