The Imperial Presidency, Part 2

[Bob Schroeck]

He did say that Empathy is made up, woke and "dangerous"; so, in accordance with his beliefs, I have decided to not feel bad about his death.

Regarding that, I can't help but wonder how long it is until the Republicans start declaring that Christ's teachings are "woke" and dangerous, and any church that doesn't preach the Prosperity Gospel needs to be shut down.

[Jinx999]

Regarding that, I can't help but wonder how long it is until the Republicans start declaring that Christ's teachings are "woke" and dangerous, and any church that doesn't preach the Prosperity Gospel needs to be shut down.

It was in the news two years ago.

https://baptistnews.com/article/when-lib...he-gospel/

[Bob Schroeck]

The point is taken, but I meant as a formal part of the party platform/agenda.

[robkelk]

Trump says he believes Charlie Kirk shooting suspect is now in custody

'I feel violated': How a Toronto retiree was falsely accused of being the Charlie Kirk shooter

So.. I'll believe they have a suspect in custody when the suspect stands in front of a judge -- and not before.

[robkelk]

Appeals court blocks Trump bid to ax top copyright official in AI spat

tl;dr: DC Circuit Appeals Court rules that His Orangeness doesn't have the authority to fire the US Copyright Office director. Expect an appeal... but the court issued an injunction forbidding the firing while the appeal takes place.

[hazard]

The US Supreme Court will yield to Trump's wishes.

[robkelk]

The US Supreme Court will yield to Trump's wishes.

I'm not sure about that. Supreme Court justices have traditionally guarded their independence no matter who appointed them, and they can't be fired. (Technically they can be impeached, but Congress has shown that they don't want to impeach.) Trying to predict a decision before it happens is a mug's game.

[hazard]

The Supreme Court may protect its independence, but it has yielded, repeatedly, to the Trump administration on decisions made by lower courts. I have no confidence whatsoever in the idea that they will establish that Trump does not have the authority to fire the US Copyright Office director.

[robkelk]

Senate Finance Committee Chair demands to know status of DOGE 'duplicate' Social Security database 'immediately'

Republican Senator Mike Crapo (it's pronounced Cray-poe), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, sent a letter to the SSA's commissioner, Frank Bisignano, giving him just two weeks to provide answers to concerns raised last month by now-former SSA Chief Data Officer Charles Borges. The former CDO's whistleblower complaint alleged that the presidentially approved cost-cutting unit had duplicated a critical database filled with taxpayer information, known as Numident, to a test cloud environment that wasn't managed by Borges or SSA, and which allegedly is without any oversight controls.

Numident is used to store records of every person who has ever applied for a Social Security Card in the United States.

Crapo's questions are numerous, but one with a much shorter deadline stands out: He wants to know whether that duplicate database "was accessed, leaked, hacked, or disseminated in any unauthorized fashion," and he wants it "immediately upon receipt of this letter."

[hazard]

... A Republican with a smidgen of an actual sense of responsibility. A rarity indeed.

Senator Crapo is going to get stalled the fuck out unless and until he manages to force contempt of congress proceedings through.

[robkelk]

Oh, they exist. And I'm not so sure that he's going to be stalled for very long... if DOGE wants to be on the next Budget.