Erik Jonker<p>That judges in the US are now stopping some things Trump is trying to do temporarily, this not a reason for optimism, they alone can't stop him for sure, he can overwhelm or circumvent them in the end.<br>What is striking is the seemingly total lack of resistance in the executive branche. The lack of massive protests.<br>And in Belgrado 300.000 take to the streets to protest against corruption, Americans where are you... ?<br><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/usa" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>usa</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/corruption" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>corruption</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fascism</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/serbia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>serbia</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/belgrado" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>belgrado</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>trump</span></a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/politics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>politics</span></a></p>
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174 posts78 participants4 posts today
"After a SpaceX rocket exploded, investors offloaded Tesla shares and Doge hit legal roadblocks, the world’s richest man saw his fortune sink by $100bn .. His net worth declined over $22bn on Monday alone."
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/15/elon-musk-stock-tesla-doge-spacex
The Guardian · Elon Musk faces week of harsh setbacks amid Tesla selloff and Doge backlash
Inside Elon Musk’s ‘Digital Coup’
Musk’s loyalists at DOGE have infiltrated dozens of federal agencies, pushed out tens of thousands of workers, and siphoned millions of people’s most sensitive data. The next step: Unleash the AI.
https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-digital-coup-doge-data-ai/
WIRED · Inside Elon Musk’s ‘Digital Coup’
Robert O. Paxton's 5 stages of fascism:
1. Intellectual exploration, where disillusionment with popular democracy manifests itself in discussions of lost national vigor
2. Rooting, where a fascist movement, aided by political deadlock and polarization, becomes a player on the national stage
3. Arrival to power, where conservatives seeking to control rising leftist opposition invite fascists to share power
4. Exercise of power, where the movement and its charismatic leader control the state in balance with state institutions such as the police and traditional elites such as the clergy and business magnates.
5. Radicalization or entropy, where the state either becomes increasingly radical, as did Nazi Germany, or slips into traditional authoritarian rule, as did Fascist Italy.
The Trump administration is coming for student protesters
Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest reveals the Kafkaesque nightmare that awaits those arrested by ICE — whether or not they have a green card.
https://www.theverge.com/policy/630129/trump-student-protesters-mahmoud-khalil-columbia-deportation
The Verge · The Trump administration is coming for student protesters
Fear and resignation after ‘world’s most powerful company’ pays Trump a $100 billion ‘protection fee’
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/13/tech/taiwan-tsmc-us-investment-reactions-intl-hnk/index.html
CNN · Fear and resignation after ‘world’s most powerful company’ pays Trump a $100 billion ‘protection fee’
Reitred Federal Judge: "What has happened with Elon Musk, well, I have called it a coup. If it succeeds, it will have been a coup. In other words, if the definition of a “coup” is a small group of people who are not elected — and there was Musk — who are taking over the power of the government, yes, I would call it a coup. I mean, he — there are challenges around the country to his authority, to Musk’s authority — Musk, who is not confirmed by Congress, who was selected by means that no one exactly knows, who was given powers that no one knows about, who is getting access to information that only government officials who have been appropriately selected can get. And if he’s successful in that — there are challenges to that. If he is successful, yes, I would call that a coup."
#coup #corruption https://www.democracynow.org/2025/3/14/nancy_gertner_constitutional_crisis
Democracy Now! · If Successful, I Would Call It a Coup: A Retired Judge’s Warning About Elon Musk’s Abuse of Power
"The regime won't merely use [government databases] for nefarious purposes. Musk's wrecking crew will be able to change what's inside those databases – and I believe it's a certainty that at some point they will.
Are you old enough to be collecting Social Security payments or Medicare? Musk's incels could decide that you don't deserve any of that, and delete you from the system. That's what people with access to "everything, including source code," can do. When people working in good faith are replaced by people who exemplify bad faith, expect the worst."
#coup #corruption #SocialSecurity
https://cornerstone.dangillmor.com/essentials-march-14-2025/
The cornerstone of democracy... · Essentials, March 14, 2025News and commentary for understanding and coping with the years ahead...
Musk's incels have your most personal data
Inside Elon Musk’s ‘Digital Coup’Musk’s loyalists at DOGE have infiltrated dozens of federal agencies, pushed out tens of thousands of workers, and siphoned millions of people’s most sensitive
Very interesting: The Real Reason Trump Submits to Putin
Replied in thread
Trump and Musk Are Getting Their Butts Royally Spanked in the Courts
Some 25,000 federal employees will be back at work Monday. Look beyond Capitol Hill: The resistance, in fact, is strong.
https://newrepublic.com/post/192759/trump-musk-doge-court-rulings-butts-spanked
"Granted, these are temporary injunctions... But if the way the arguments unfolded Thursday is any indication... the administration has a long way to go in making arguments the #court will find credible."
Replied in thread
Two lawsuits could provide further insight into DOGE
https://www.muskwatch.com/i/159032671/two-lawsuits-could-provide-further-insight-into-doge
"US District Judge Tanya #Chutkan ordered #Musk and his #DOGE collaborators to provide records and testimony about its plans...seeks to establish the “parameters of DOGE’s and Musk’s authority.”
...US District Judge Christopher Cooper requiring DOGE to expeditiously process Freedom of Information Act requests"
![Sub-heading and text(edited for length):
Two lawsuits could provide further insight into DOGE
On Wednesday, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered Musk and his DOGE collaborators to provide records and testimony about its plans to slash federal agencies. The order seeks to establish the “parameters of DOGE’s and Musk’s authority.” From Politico:
"[Chutkan’s order] is a win for a group of 14 Democratic state attorneys general who are suing President Donald Trump, Musk and DOGE, arguing that Musk has unconstitutionally wielded immense power in ways that are damaging their states. Any information the states glean as a result of Chutkan’s decision will help her determine whether to block Musk and DOGE’s government activities altogether. It’s the first time a judge has ordered Musk to produce documents in a court challenge to his aggressive campaign to slash and reshape the federal bureaucracy."
Musk and DOGE have three weeks to fulfill the discovery requests.
...a Monday night ruling from U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper requiring DOGE to expeditiously process Freedom of Information Act requests...
Remarking on the initiative’s “unusual secrecy,” Cooper wrote in a 37-page opinion that DOGE has exercised “unprecedented” authority without congressional input. “The rapid pace of [DOGE’s] actions, in turn, requires the quick release of information about its structure and activities,” the judge wrote. “That is especially so given the secrecy with which DOGE has operated.”](https://assets.newsie.social/media_attachments/files/114/164/233/991/985/151/original/b7dbda26d391aa84.png "Sub-heading and text(edited for length):
Two lawsuits could provide further insight into DOGE
On Wednesday, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered Musk and his DOGE collaborators to provide records and testimony about its plans to slash federal agencies. The order seeks to establish the “parameters of DOGE’s and Musk’s authority.” From Politico:
\"[Chutkan’s order] is a win for a group of 14 Democratic state attorneys general who are suing President Donald Trump, Musk and DOGE, arguing that Musk has unconstitutionally wielded immense power in ways that are damaging their states. Any information the states glean as a result of Chutkan’s decision will help her determine whether to block Musk and DOGE’s government activities altogether. It’s the first time a judge has ordered Musk to produce documents in a court challenge to his aggressive campaign to slash and reshape the federal bureaucracy.\"
Musk and DOGE have three weeks to fulfill the discovery requests.
...a Monday night ruling from U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper requiring DOGE to expeditiously process Freedom of Information Act requests...
Remarking on the initiative’s “unusual secrecy,” Cooper wrote in a 37-page opinion that DOGE has exercised “unprecedented” authority without congressional input. “The rapid pace of [DOGE’s] actions, in turn, requires the quick release of information about its structure and activities,” the judge wrote. “That is especially so given the secrecy with which DOGE has operated.”")
Replied in thread
DOGE plans to double its staff, target safety net programs
https://www.muskwatch.com/i/159032671/doge-plans-to-double-its-staff-target-safety-net-programs
" #Musk also telegraphed DOGE’s designs on dramatically reducing social #safety net programs...
Earlier this month, he described #SocialSecurity as “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.” So far, DOGE’s work has served as a form of austerity theater, which — while destructive — has done very little to reduce federal spending."
Replied in thread
The Week in Musk: The White House is now a Tesla dealership
https://www.muskwatch.com/p/the-week-in-musk-the-white-house
"predicted a certain amount of graft. But even the most skeptical observers may not have pictured #DonaldTrump selling Teslas on the #WhiteHouse lawn...
A makeshift South Portico showroom — featuring five #Tesla models — was organized for the explicit purpose of rallying the company’s #stock after it suffered its worst selloff in five years"
