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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   37967 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of February 3, 2025

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Nothing Ever Happens

DOGE is as good as dead. They’ve hit the wall.

Federal judge pauses deadline for federal workers to accept Trump’s resignation offer.

DOGE Staffer Resigns Over Racist Posts.

The one shining light of hope for true government reform was Elon Musk’s DOGE. They seemed to be making real progress. They may not have been loved, but they were feared, and Machiavelli said that’s enough.

Now they have lost the momentum. Stays and injunctions will start pouring in as district court judges stop fearing that their orders will be simply ignored.

If the deep state career civil service can draw blood with a trick as old as “drag-up old racist internet comments”, then DOGE really are toothless. No one will take them seriously anymore.

“Some US officials had begun calling the young engineers the “Muskovites” for their aggressive loyalty to the SpaceX owner. But some USAid staff used another word: the “incels”.

Maybe Congress can tap in…

  • -11

Elon Musk just posted a poll: "Bring back @DOGE staffer who made inappropriate statements via a now deleted pseudonym?" (It's yes/no, pretty steady at about 80/20)

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1887867644814020902

It didn't occur to me this was even an option, but bringing him back would be even better than not firing him in the first place (in my opinion).

They can't get entrenched on this specific battle. They took a casualty, gotta move on, keep the objectives in mind. The objective is not "give this 20 something a job," the objective is "Zero Base Budget (ZBB) the federal government, remove the welfare of the elites." They are at war.

If this person is crucial to the fight it is one thing. If they are just starting a new fight that's another.

Maybe it is about the principle that anti-Doge forces shouldn't have a say who Doge employs. If Doge fire anyone its enemies can dig up allegedly offensive postings of, then it isn't Doge draining the swamp, but the swamp draining Doge.

Or maybe it is a "No man left behind" sort of thing, where one precommits to spending resources (in Doge's case political efforts) to defend your own, as to make sure thoey fight with greater devotion to the cause.

I don't really care about Doge, I care about results. Elon Musk can take care of the Doge staffer by hiring him at Space X or Tesla. Everyone at Doge needs to be aware that success is everything. If they win, they will have a great resume, many tech billionaires willing to pay them nice salaries, etc. If they lose they may never be employed again. They may end up in jail.

These are the stakes. This is the mission. They have one chance at this.

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