The goddamn Trump Administration

[Catsidhe]

I just went to the FTC announcement to have a look at what he said, and…

NOTICE: The FTC website is currently unavailable. Thank you for your patience while we work to restore service.

[Hanglyman]

Yet if they aired a bunch of anti-fascist movies after Biden’s inauguration, absolutely nobody would assume that they were a political statement. It’s almost as though they know damn well that Trump’s a fascist and even assuming these movies are aimed at him is an admission…

[OhHai]

[Shuck]

I’m reminded of how, post-2016, almost every anti-fascist statement, historical discussion or fictional storyline was presumed to be about Trump by the MAGAts, who took offense. Also that time, in 2017, when New York’s Public Theater did a version of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” with an (overtly) Trumpian figure as Caesar, and not only did the MAGAts freak out, but they lost all corporate sponsorship. And how five years earlier, however, an equally overtly Obama-themed version of the same play didn’t even raise any eyebrows, even among some of the same corporate sponsors.

[ChuckV]

[ficuswhisperer]

@danimagoo

Also, accepting a pardon is not an admission of guilt.

It’s my understanding that the only wrinkle is that you can’t invoke the 5th if testifying about the crimes you were pardoned for as there’s no risk of self-incrimination. I know Con Law is its own discipline, but does this seem correct to you?

[ficuswhisperer]

Saw this on TV this morning. They should have known what they were getting themselves into inviting Fanone on daytime TV. He has no filter at all, but his words needed to be said.

‘Go f*** yourself’: Fanone’s message to Oath Keepers founder’s Jan. 6 comments

Starts at about 6:18 in,

“[Stewart Rhodes] says he has no regrets. What do you say, Michael?”

“Yeah, I mean, this is what I say to Stewart Rhodes. Go fuck yourself. You’re a liar.”

[ObakeBakaNeko]

Some people aggree with you and said no to the pardon.

Convicted US Capitol rioter Pam Hemphill turns down Trump pardon

[ObakeBakaNeko]

(post deleted by author)

[Catsidhe]

It’s back now, and… it’s as bad as you think, as bad as you think it is. Maybe worse.

FTC Chairman Ferguson Announces that DEI is Over at the FTC

January 22, 2025

Tags: FTC Operations Commissioners

Today, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson announced that the agency is delivering on the promise that President Trump made to the American people and issued the following statement:

DEI is a scourge on our institutions. It denies to all Americans the Constitution’s promise of equality before the law. It divides people into castes on the basis of immutable characteristics, and treats them as caste members rather than as individuals. It stokes tensions by elevating race and other immutable characteristics above merit and excellence. It promotes invidious discrimination. And it violates federal and natural law.

The Biden-Harris Administration reveled in this pernicious ideology. They encouraged it, and it has festered within the federal government for four years.

No more. President Trump was elected on a promise to confront this dangerous ideology and free the federal government from this illegal and discriminatory practice. Within hours of his inauguration, he delivered on this promise to the American people. He issued three executive orders entitled Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing, Initial Recissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions, and Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity. Those three orders collectively terminate DEI-related activities and programs within the federal government. In doing so, President Trump is enforcing federal civil rights laws, protecting equality before the law, and adhering to the Constitution.

Chairman Ferguson has taken the following actions to protect the FTC’s employees and the American people from DEI:

• Closed the FTC’s DEI office—the Office of Workplace Inclusivity and Opportunity—and has placed all employees within that office on administrative leave.
• Terminated the Diversity Council.
• Removed materials promoting DEI on the Commission’s website.
• Ordered a review of all FTC contracts, which concluded that no FTC contracts currently in force contained DEI ideology.
• Ordered the heads of the Commission’s Bureaus and Offices to conduct an internal audit by tomorrow to ensure total compliance with President Trump’s orders, and to terminate any noncompliant programs immediately.
• Ordered an immediate review of all Commission orders to ensure that the Biden Administration’s DEI dictates did not make their way into formal Commission decisions.
• Forbid the Commission from promoting DEI in any internal or external operations, rules, law-enforcement decisions, or hiring decisions.

Some DEI-related directives, documents, or programs—including the current strategic plan—may not necessarily be brought into compliance under the Chairman’s existing authority. Accordingly, Chairman Ferguson will make a motion requesting that the Commission delegate to him the authority he needs to be able to comply fully with President Trump’s orders.

It’s a full-blown ideological purity purge.

ETA: and even worse than that, the forbidden ideology is the idea that being racist, sexist, homophobic, or ableist are bad things.

The new order is that anyone who isn’t racist/sexist/etc is suspect, and will be reported to the authorities. Join in the blonde jokes, laugh at the ethnic jokes, make fun of the cripples, or else report to the authorities to explain your “Secret DEI Program”.

Are you now, or have you ever been, a feminist?

[tcg550]

Marge doesn’t have a filter either, she’s big mad that the media isn’t talking about the murders and rapists Biden pardoned.

She a classy person using the f word right there in the Capitol after she was asked about the January 6 pardons.

[KathyPartdeux]

So, theocracy.

[KathyPartdeux]

@ChuckV

And on social media, MAGA is taking it personally.

They immediately assumed that it was Trump and that he was a Nazi. So - they know who his is too.

[Docosc]

Maybe? I doubt this asshat has any idea who Thomas Aquinas was. I read that as “naturally, straight, cis, white, rich men should be at the top of the heap. And everyone else needs to know their place, and stick to it.” The whole “mudsill” theory, slightly updated.

[KathyPartdeux]

Jinx!

[Millie_Fink]

Clarity from a commenter there:

Say it often, post it everywhere.

In a way, rejection of “DEI” is just another form of it. A twisted, obverse form.

[danimagoo]

@ficuswhisperer

It’s my understanding that the only wrinkle is that you can’t invoke the 5th if testifying about the crimes you were pardoned for as there’s no risk of self-incrimination. I know Con Law is its own discipline, but does this seem correct to you?

You know, I don’t remember discussing that specific issue in Criminal Procedure (we discussed the 4th and 5th Amendments a whole lot more in Crim Pro than in Con Law), but I think that’s correct. I do know if you have been granted immunity by a prosecutor, you can no longer invoke the 5th Amendment, so I would assume the same would apply for a pardon.

[j9c]

@Lucy_Gothro1

So wanna be friends?

Yes.
Thank you.

[danimagoo]

Yeah, I was actually thinking about this. If they fire all government “DEI hires”, they had better gear up to defend a lot of lawsuits. If they aren’t firing these employees based on performance, but based on the fact that they were a “DEI hire”, then they are firing them because of the color of their skin or their gender or their disability, and all of those are not legal reasons to fire someone. Race, especially, is protected by the Constitution. If I were a civil rights attorney specializing in employment law, I would be working overtime right now trying to contact anyone who just got fired.

[Lucy_Gothro1]

Yay!!!