Vivek is the wrong color

Elon Musk has already achieved his first cut at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency: his co-leader Vivek Ramaswamy.

Musk, the tech tycoon and Donald Trump confidant, made it known that he wanted Ramaswamy out of DOGE in recent days, according to three people familiar with Musk’s preferences who, like others for this article, were granted anonymity to discuss them. An ill-received holiday rant on X by Ramaswamy about H-1B visas apparently hastened his demise.

[...]

Ramaswamy is now leaving DOGE and planning to announce a run for Ohio governor next week. Musk’s ability to ice out Ramaswamy, who for a variety of reasons had irked some Republicans in Trump’s circle, is the latest sign of his influence in the incoming administration.

[...]

Ramaswamy “just burned through the bridges and he finally burned Elon,” said a Republican strategist close to Trump advisers. "Everyone wants him out of Mar-a-Lago, out of D.C.”

One main reason for some Republicans’ frustration with Ramaswamy was a post he made on X during a discussion of H-1B visas. In late December, Ramaswamy criticized American culture, saying that tech companies hire foreign workers in part because of a mindset in the country that has “venerated mediocrity over excellence.”

[...]

Just last week, Ramaswamy was passed over by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine in his pick for Ohio’s Senate seat, after Ramaswamy mounted a late lobbying blitz for the seat.

[...]

In a statement, Trump transition spokesperson Anna Kelly praised Ramaswamy, saying he “played a critical role in helping us create DOGE” and that his plan to run for governor “requires him to remain outside of DOGE based on the structure that we announced today.”

[...]

At a rally Sunday, Trump talked about DOGE and did not indicate that any changes were imminent. He said, "We have [Musk] and Vivek and some great people working on a thing called costs.”

  MSN

I guess no one told him.

The offending tweet...

Greater Cincinnati native and Donald Trump ally Vivek Ramaswamy ignited a firestorm Thursday with a social media post denouncing American culture's "mediocrity," several TV characters from 1990s sitcoms, and too much "chillin'."

[...]

"A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers," he wrote. "A culture that venerates Cory from 'Boy Meets World,' or Zach & Slater over Screech in 'Saved by the Bell,' or ‘Stefan’ over Steve Urkel in 'Family Matters,' will not produce the best engineers."

"More math tutoring, fewer sleepovers," he continued. "More weekend science competitions, fewer Saturday morning cartoons. More books, less TV. More creating, less 'chillin.' More extracurriculars, less 'hanging out at the mall.'"

  Cincinnati.com

He might not have been wrong. But no white nationalist Trump supporter is going to take that, especially coming from a brown person.

The tweet ignited what several news sites called a "civil war" within MAGA circles. Major MAGA influencers like Mike Cernovich, Jack Posobiec, Catturd and Laura Loomer, all of whom have more than a million followers, skewered Ramaswamy and X's owner Elon Musk, who came to Ramaswamy's defense.

I wonder why MSN couldn't come up with that in their article. I also wonder if Ramaswamy got some death threats and decided his health would suffer if he didn't leave.

One source told the outlet Ramaswamy also had not done any work for DOGE since early December.

“They wanted him out before the tweet — but kicked him to the curb when that came out,” an unnamed source familiar with DOGE’s internal dynamics told Politico.

[...]

CBS News also reported Sunday the change in leadership comes after friction between Ramaswamy and incoming agency staff. Those close to Musk have also undercut Ramaswamy in recent weeks and are frustrated with his lack of participation in the heavy lifting they must do, according to the outlet. [...]

In Ohio, Ramaswamy would likely have to face off against the state’s attorney general Dave Yost, who has made headlines for fighting to defend the state’s six-week abortion ban law. Meanwhile, former Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton recently announced her campaign to run as a Democrat.

[...]

If Ramaswamy launches his campaign and wins, it will be his first time holding public office.

Ohio is not going to elect a brown billionaire.

From conservative radio host John Cardillo:

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 08:23 am:

Let the lawsuits begin

The courts are going to be very busy these next four years.

In a 30-page complaint obtained by The Washington Post ahead of its filing, the public interest law firm National Security Counselors says that the nongovernmental DOGE panel is breaking a 1972 law that requires advisory committees to the executive branch to follow certain rules on disclosure, hiring and other practices.

Shortly after the election, Trump tapped Musk and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to lead DOGE in identifying government regulations and spending programs for the White House to cut. The group has already hired dozens of staffers as it works out of the Washington offices of Musk’s company SpaceX, sending emissaries across U.S. agencies to put together a list of recommendations to execute in tandem with the administration and often communicating on the encrypted messaging app Signal.

The lawsuit alleges that DOGE meets the requirements to be considered a “federal advisory committee,” a class of legal entity regulated to ensure the government receives transparent and balanced advice. These groups, known as FACAs, are required by law to have “fairly balanced” representation, keep regular minutes of meetings, allow the public to attend, file a charter with Congress and more — all steps that DOGE does not appear to have taken.

“DOGE is not exempted from FACA’s requirements,” states the lawsuit, written by Kel McClanahan, executive director of National Security Counselors. “All meetings of DOGE, including those conducted through an electronic medium, must be open to the public.”

  WaPo

They'll have to take Ramaswampy's name off the suit because he's allegedly going to quit DOGE and run for governor of Ohio.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 10:20 am:

H1B visas - and Elon Musk - are dividing Trump supporters

There is still a lot of bad blood and hard feelings between many people in the MAGA movement who have never fought with each other before over anything. Some very tough things were said that simply can’t be undone or shrugged off by some. And most of the resentment and mistrust that lingers on is directed at Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.

I heard a new name today from one of them: Vivek Ramaswampy.

Elon and Vivek are newish passengers on the Trump Train, but right now they seem to be driving it while Trump plays golf and hosts parties at Mar-a-Lago. They made the argument that we should dramatically increase the number of H-1B visas to foreign workers in the tech industry because there weren’t enough smart, hardworking Americans to take those jobs.

When Trump finally chimed in on Day 3, he said that he has many people working at his properties on H1B visas and said they are great employees: “I always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we had them. I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program.”

Except he forcefully denounced the H-1B program in 2016. Said it was a “scam.” And his Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said they would never increase the H-1B numbers. But Miller and OG MAGA didn’t realize that Trump made this deal with Musk months ago. Now they are finding out.

[...]

MAGA reaction was mixed. Some were begrudging realists, saying that Trump is siding with Musk because of the amount of money Musk put in to help him with the election so he owes Musk. Others correctly pointed out that Trump has H-1B visas mixed up with H-2B visas for temporary workers, which is what his employees came into the country on while they were working for him.

[...]

Musk is trying to justify increasing the number of these visas by claiming they are all super geniuses and indispensable to the American economy, while mass deporting everyone else, and Trump is saying they are cleaning rooms and cutting grass at his resorts. Musk and Vivek were specifically talking about tech engineers though, not foreign workers in any other fields or vocations.

[...]

Musk claimed that the reason why “critical people” like himself are in this country running successful businesses in the first place is because of H-1B visas. Except Musk was never here on an H-1B, and he violated the student visa he was here on when he promptly dropped out of school and started working without an H-1B.

[...]

He then made the following post late Friday night that poured gasoline on the fire and made things much worse with this little missive to MAGA: “Take a big step back and FUCK YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.”

Trump issued his statement to the Post agreeing with Musk several hours later. Awkward.

[...]

But this Musk post calling his MAGA critics racist is the one that really set them off: “These contemptible fools must be removed from the Republican Party, root and stem.” They went absolutely nuts on that one, outraged that Musk would say that there are racist people in MAGA. Shocking!

So Musk then came back and tried to clarify, but only made it worse: “The ‘contemptible fools’ I’m referring to are those in the Republican Party who are hateful, unrepentant racists. They will absolutely be the downfall of the Republican Party if they are not removed.”

[...]

Steve Bannon dedicated his entire show for 3 straight days hammering Musk with one guest after another: “You’re calling the MAGA movement racist? How dare you. Now you want to play the racism card? You think we’re going to tolerate that? We’re not. And I don’t care how big a check you wrote … You can’t stop us—we’re relentless, and we’re never going to quit. We’re a 1000 times tougher than you, and if you don’t get that, keep it up.”

[...]

This went on for hours and hours, day after day.

[...]

Former Trump speechwriter and Revolver News reporter Darren Beattie on Bannon’s show: “Companies profit from H1B workers, who are effectively indentured servants hoping for green cards, while taxpayers foot the bill. This privatized profit, socialized cost model isn’t a natural market system. Even economically, H1B is a scam. H1B, which shifts its costs onto taxpayers, should be on the DOGE chopping block—not something for DOGE to promote.”

[...]

White nationalist groyper leader Nick Fuentes, who had dinner with Trump at MAL two years ago: “Elon told Trump’s base to ‘go fuck themselves in the face’ for opposing cheap foreign labor, and MAGA influencers are trying to spin that into a win. It’s disgusting and you should never forget this episode.”

  Meidas Touch

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 08:43 am:

MAGA cut off their noses to spite their faces

I doubt this will fly, but you never know.

And don't forget Trump's favorite fable: You knew I was a snake when you took me in.  This is the successful coup.

All the money is his

On Tuesday, Trump announced that tech billionaire Elon Musk and former GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy would jointly lead a “Department of Government Efficiency” that would produce recommendations on overhauling U.S. agencies — an effort that people in Musk’s orbit say would aim to apply slash-and-burn business ideologies to the U.S. government. The commission will officially operate outside of the administration but work with the White House budget office, Trump said.

Although changes to government spending typically require an act of Congress, Trump aides are exploring plans to challenge a 1974 budget law in a way that would give the White House the power to unilaterally adopt the Musk commission’s proposals, one of the people said. It is unclear if Trump will ask Congress to approve changes to the budget law or first appeal to the courts to do so, though aides have previously endorsed either approach. Ramaswamy, a former pharmaceutical executive who has said he would “stop funding agencies that waste money” and don’t operate on meritocratic principles, has publicly called on Congress to repeal the law and has suggested workarounds if it is not repealed.

That effort, if successful, could give Trump far greater authority to remake the federal budget on his own, altering the balance of power among the branches of government. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump and many of his senior advisers publicly vowed to assert unilateral authority to rescind some federal funds, after Trump’s attempts to block aid to Ukraine led to his impeachment during his first term.

If the White House were to simply assert more power without Congress first changing the law, it could trigger a constitutional showdown over a bedrock aspect of the federal government, the power of the purse.

  WaPo

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Surprise, surprise

WASHINGTON—The Trump transition team is considering a draft executive order that establishes a “warrior board” of retired senior military personnel with the power to review three- and four-star officers and to recommend removals of any deemed unfit for leadership.

If Donald Trump approves the order, it could fast-track the removal of generals and admirals found to be “lacking in requisite leadership qualities,” according to a draft of the order reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. But it could also create a chilling effect on top military officers, given the president-elect’s past vow to fire “woke generals,” referring to officers seen as promoting diversity in the ranks at the expense of military readiness.

  MSN

"Retired" personnel like General Mike QAnon Nut Flynn?

Also...

Also...

Yes, the Constitutional Rights of all Americans is Trump's top priority.

Also...

Also...

What does he know about national defense?

Also...

What does she know about national security???  

If we're attacked by dogs or goats, we're golden.

UPDATE 11/13/2024:

Only the best people.  Actually, I don't really care about his personal family life.  But his qualifications and his MAGA attitudes are appalling.

I have no doubt.  Makes you wonder if the Trump administration is bent on destroying the US military, and now that I say that, it seems a very likely goal.

I doubt it.  Word is that the Pentagon is currently considering ways to avoid Trump's worst and illegal ideas.  But when he appoints General Mike Flynn as the top guy, and finds other MAGA generals to replace the ones he's currently working to purge, it will come down to the soldiers themselves whether they'll follow such orders.  I don't have a lot of confidence in them.

Probably joking.  But who knows?  OK, definitely joking - 10 years???  Right?  Maybe he should have been appointed to the Department of Health - or whatever they're going to have for- if anything - and now that I say that, I'm not sure they won't abolish all health agencies.  Or give them over to RFK, Jr, which would be essentially the same thing.

Yikes!

Department of Government Efficiency - DOGE - as in Dogecoin.  Musk and Trump are going to attempt to turn US currency (and world currency) to dodgy cryptocurrency, which is where they've been moving their fortunes.

Well, they owned the libs, and that's what's important.

UPDATE 01:49 pm:  And why nothing for Bobby yet?

“The stuff that he eats is really, like, bad,” Kennedy said during an interview on “The Joe Polish Show,” drawing laughter from the audience.

“Campaign food is always bad, but the food that goes onto that airplane is, like, just poison,” Kennedy added, saying that “you’re either given KFC or Big Macs.”

Kennedy went as far to say that he considers some of the options “inedible.”

  The Hill

You're given that because that's what Trump wants.

Kennedy, who dropped his own presidential bid and threw his support behind Trump in the final leg of the 2024 election, now appears poised to take on a role in the president-elect’s second administration.

The idea of him taking on an advisory role with a “direct line to POTUS” has been floated, according to a source privy to discussions about Kennedy this cycle, though the source said nothing is as of yet “solid or set in stone.”

[...]

The president-elect said he would let Kennedy “go wild” on the government’s health care systems, a line that his son Donald Trump Jr. also enthusiastically repeated to conservative media after his father’s victory.

Gotta give him a job first.

UPDATE 11/14/2024:  And there it is...

Also...

Sexual assault seems to be almost a prerequisite for getting on the Trump administration list.

UPDATE 11/17/2024:

We have truly slipped into an alternate reality

And it's ridiculous, as well as dangerous.

They're going all in on the garbage meme.  Some dipshit of a "comedian" at Trump's Madison Square Garden Nazi rally said Puerto Rico was a garbage island, got flak for it, and (other than Trump saying he doesn't know anything about the comedian) rather than try to cover over it, they are going all in.

That's hilarious in its own right, but he didn't drive it.  He rode.  Like taking a kid in a biiiiiig truck.  Woohoo.

Remember this one?

He did the rally in his little garbage man vest (he must have liked wearing the McDonald's apron a lot).

And I don't think this is going to be his best line...

Might remind some women of "when you're a star, you can do whatever you want - grab 'em by the pussy..."

Or this line...

And...whoopsie, Grandpa...you ok?

But wait!  That's not all...

The sad part is they didn't "make" him.  He went along with it, even posting it to his Twitter account!

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 12:34 pm:

And we are reminded why we're so glad Biden is not the Dem candidate.

Kamala Harris is distancing herself today from Joe Biden’s “garbage” gaffe amid a very close election race, but the White House is insisting it’s all about the apostrophe.

“Just to clarify, he was not calling Trump supporters garbage,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at the top of Wednesday briefing as the blast radius from Biden’s comment on a campaign Zoom call last night continued to grow and attract scorn from the likes of Donald Trump. “He does not view Trump supporters or anybody who supports Trump as garbage.”

  Yahoo

Really?

In a call organized by the Hispanic advocacy group Voto Latino, Biden on Tuesday responded to a comic at Trump’s rally who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

[...]

“Just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage. Well, let me tell you something, I don’t, I don’t know the Puerto Rican that I know, the Puerto Rico where I’m fr -- in my home state of Delaware. They’re good, decent honorable people,” he said.

The president then added: “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.”

  AP

Trump responded...

Despicable.

UPDATE 11/02/2024:

Good lord!