Stuart Stevens: The Hidden Power Structure of Closeted Gay Men in the Republican Party. When I see the explosion of sexual orientation hate coming out of the Republican Party under the false pretense of it being limited to anti-trans hate, I can't help but think of the powerful role closeted gay men have played in the modern Republican Party. Below is the first of a series of pieces I'm writing reflecting on my experiences with what was widely known as the GOP's Pink Mafia.
Jasmine Mooney: There was no explanation, no warning. One minute, I was in an immigration office talking to an officer about my work visa, which had been approved months before and allowed me, a Canadian, to work in the US. The next, I was told to put my hands against the wall, and patted down like a criminal before being sent to an Ice detention center without the chance to talk to a lawyer. read more
Americans are fed up with the Musk-Trump power grab and want an end to the lawless raiding of our government. "Hands off!" is a simple rallying cry against an administration that's dangerously overreaching and throwing our democracy, our economy, and for many " our private lives " into chaos. read more
The men had just begun new lives in Dallas when officers arrived at their home and arrested them. Their relatives deny that they have any connection to the Tren de Aragua gang. read more
The federal court system warned its employees that DOGE's cuts to building services and to executive branch staff could cause "immediate and long-term effects on court operations," according to a Monday memo obtained by TPM . read more
That manifestation of humanity and empathy was criminalized for many, many years
Humanity and empathy are under a full force attack by Trumpers.
Just read anything posted by our Trumpers.
It's all hate and apathy.
#15 | Posted by ClownShack
Elon Musk on empathy: "The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy. The empathy exploit. They're exploiting a bug in Western civilization, which is the empathy response. So, I think, you know, empathy is good, but you need to think it through and not just be programmed like a robot."
https://substack.com/@marypezzulo/p-158894226
In The Cross Section, Paul Waldman notes that the point of the right wing's dehumanization of political opponents is to dismiss the pain they are inflicting. If the majority of Americans are not really human, toying with their lives isn't important--maybe it's even LOL funny to pretend to take a chainsaw to the programs on which people depend. "We are ants, or even less," Waldman writes, "bits of programming to be moved around at Elon's whim. Only he and the people who aspire to be like him are actors, decision-makers, molding the world to conform to their bold interplanetary vision."heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
As Waldman notes, Musk and his team of tech bros at the Department of Government Efficiency are not actually promoting efficiency: if they were, they would have brought auditors and would be working with the inspectors general that Trump fired and the Government Accountability Office that is already in place to streamline government. Rather than looking for efficiency, they are simply working to zero out the government that works for ordinary people, turning it instead to enabling them to consolidate wealth and power.
"Most fundamental to protecting SOCIAL SECURITY is assuring that all who receive it are eligible by citizenship, and by their age and ID verified and quarters paid into the system. This needs nailed down."
Code of Federal Regulationswww.ssa.gov
401.45. Verifying your identity.
(b) Manner of verifying identity "(1) Request in person. If you make a request to us in person, you must provide at least one piece of tangible identification such as a driver's license, passport, alien or voter registration card, or union card to verify your identity. If you do not have identification papers to verify your identity, you must certify in writing that you are the individual who you claim to be and that you understand that the knowing and willful request for or acquisition of a record pertaining to an individual under false pretenses is a criminal offense.
(2) Request by telephone. If you make a request by telephone, you must verify your identity by providing identifying particulars which parallel the record to which notification or access is being sought. If we determine that the particulars provided by telephone are insufficient, you will be required to submit your request in writing or in person. We will not accept telephone requests where an individual is requesting notification of or access to sensitive records such as medical records.
(3) Electronic requests. If you make a request by computer or other electronic means, e.g., over the Internet, we require you to verify your identity by using identity confirmation procedures that are commensurate with the sensitivity of the information that you are requesting. If we cannot confirm your identity using our identity confirmation procedures, we will not process the electronic request. When you cannot verify your identity through our procedures, we will require you to submit your request in writing.
Citizenship is not a requirement to pay or receive Social Security.
#64 | Posted by snoofy
It's a little more complicated than that:
Can noncitizens receive Social Security benefits or Supplemental Security (SSI)?
www.ssa.gov(SSI)?,-December%2030%2C%202022&text=Lawfully%20present%20noncitizens%20of%20the,SSI%20Benefits%20For%20Aliens%20pages.
Generally, only noncitizens authorized to work in the United States by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can get an SSN. SSNs are used to report a person's wages to the government, to determine that person's eligibility for Social Security benefits, to work, collect Social Security benefit, and receive other government services.
www.ssa.gov
And why not check to make sure that person didn't die and their checks weren't being swindled by their care taker.
#57 | Posted by fishpaw
How is DOGE going to check? BTW, funeral homes notify the SSA when somebody dies:
How to report a deathwww.ssa.gov
Funeral homes generally tell us when someone dies. So, you don't typically need to report a death to us.
If a funeral home isn't involved or doesn't report the death for some reason, you should call us and provide the name, Social Security number, date of birth, and date of death for the person who died.
this judge was on fisa court that allowed spying on the trumo campaign.
he has a daughter who works for a group that helps illegals stay in the country
and finds them taxpayer money
makes sense you fckm dopes like this piece of garbage.
GD idiots.
#24 | Posted by shrimptacodan
Reposting this just for you, STD:
Judge Boasberg was SC Justice Kavanaugh's roommate in law school and was first appointed to the federal bench by George W. Bush. Roberts appointed him to the FISA court:
During Boasberg's formal investiture ceremony elevating him to a federal judge, he sat beside Brett Kavanaugh, his close friend and housemate at Yale Law School and then a federal appeals judge in the D.C. Circuit. Kavanaugh conducted the rites at the ceremony.
www.nbcnews.com$3p=e_sailthru&_branch_match_id=1431258110183286659
Sorkel @sorkel3.bsky.social
In recent years, Judge Boasberg has:
- ordered the release of Hillary's emails
- ensured Trump's tax returns never became public
- restricted disclosure from the Mueller investigation
- limited disclosure of grand jury material in the Trump classified docs case.
The resistance, he ain't.
When Biden bragged about defying SCOTUS (in this case we are talking about a single federal judge with an ideological axe to grind, not SCOTUS) over student loan forgiveness, you all cheered it on.
#24 | Posted by BellRinger
I'm just glad some Democrats have figured out that Republicans aren't going to listen to you anymore and there's nothing you can do to stop them.
Keep having your activist judges flail there arms in the air and we will just keep laughing.
#36 | Posted by Bluewaffles
Judge Boasberg was SC Justice Kavanaugh's roommate in law school and was first appointed to the federal bench by George W. Bush. Roberts appointed him to the FISA court:
During Boasberg's formal investiture ceremony elevating him to a federal judge, he sat beside Brett Kavanaugh, his close friend and housemate at Yale Law School and then a federal appeals judge in the D.C. Circuit. Kavanaugh conducted the rites at the ceremony.
www.nbcnews.com$3p=e_sailthru&_branch_match_id=1431258110183286659
Sorkel @sorkel3.bsky.social
In recent years, Judge Boasberg has:
- ordered the release of Hillary's emails
- ensured Trump's tax returns never became public
- restricted disclosure from the Mueller investigation
- limited disclosure of grand jury material in the Trump classified docs case.
The resistance, he ain't.
Suddenly claiming someone died a year and a half ago sounds kind of DOGE-Y to me, and I bet we are going to hear more and more stories like this:
90 year-old veteran wrongly declared dead struggles to restore Social Security benefitswww.9news.com
March 19, 2025
Kind received a letter from his healthcare provider addressed to his estate, notifying him of his own death that supposedly occurred a year and a half ago in October of 2023.
"To the estate of Thomas Kind. We're sorry to hear about the recent loss of Thomas Kind. We want to share some information without placing any extra burden on you at this time," the letter read.
Kind's reaction: "What a bunch of crap."
For the past 10 days, Kind has been unable to resolve the situation despite multiple attempts to contact officials.
"You can't talk to anybody," Kind said. "You can't get through. You sit on the phone for an hour waiting and making requests for customer service. I'm just looking for whoever has some ideas to turn the benefits back on."
The situation is particularly challenging for Kind, who has limited mobility.
"It's tough to have to deal with something like this when I'm here living 24/7," he said. "I can't get out. I don't have a car anymore."
The horror and hits keep coming.
Please STOP the madness, read the link. We need marches and protests!
The SSA is being significantly undermined. Please read beyond the Trump/Musk propaganda. Or don't. As for the rest of us, we are not content with being so smug and gullible:
Between the lines: "People have a lot of trouble with the identification process," says Jen Burdick, a lawyer who provides free legal services for Americans trying to get Social Security disability benefits.www.axios.com
A recent client tried to drop by an office last week and was told to make an appointment by phone. On the phone, they were put on hold for six hours on Monday, five hours on Tuesday and two blocks of time, each three hours, on Wednesday, she said.
These proposed changes are "a way they're trying to use red tape to literally block people from getting benefits," Burdick said.
"At the same time, the agency will expedite processing all direct deposit change requests " both in person and online " to one business day. Prior to this change, online direct deposit changes were held for 30 days.
#2 | Posted by gracieamazed
"SSA recently required nearly all agency employees, including frontline employees in all offices throughout the country, to work in the office five days a week. This change ensures maximum staffing is available to support the stronger in-person identity proofing requirement."
#3 | Posted by gracieamazed
One business day after you get an appointment if you need to go in person. Getting that appointment can already take a long time and even requiring employees to work in the office 5 days a week isn't going to compensate enough to deal with the influx of increased appointments the agency anticipates:
Because the SSA serves a large population that is either older or physically disabled, many cannot access the internet. Under the new system, this would force these populations to visit an office to have their claim processed. The Diaz memo estimates it would require 75,000 to 85,000 in-person visitors per week to SSA's offices to implement the policy.popular.info
SSA offices do not currently have the resources to handle an influx of in-person appointments of this size. In 2023, the most recent data available, there were about 119,128 daily visits, on average, to SSA offices. Eight-five thousand more week visits would be a 14% increase. SSA offices no longer accept walk-ins and the wait time for an appointment, even before these changes, averaged over a month.
The memo anticipates creating a huge surge in demand for in-person appointments as the SSA slashes staff and closes offices. Acting SSA Commissioner Leland Dudek has announced that he will terminate 7,000 workers, about 12% of the workforce. Meanwhile, dozens of SSA offices are being shuttered. Some people need to travel more than 100 miles to get to the nearest location. As the SSA limits services that could be provided over the phone, it is ending in-person services at some offices, converting them to phone-only.
An SSA source told Popular Information that there are "no significant concerns about fraud at intake" because no benefits are being distributed. And there are already multiple layers of identity verification in place before a claim is approved. The source said they believe the new ID verification steps are an effort to "create additional hurdles to filing claims and overwhelm the system."
The memo acknowledges that the policy changes would create increased "challenges for vulnerable populations." This seems to concede that many elderly and disabled people are physically unable to travel to an in-person office. It is unclear how these populations will be able to receive benefits at all.
The combination of fewer workers, fewer offices, and a massive increase in the demand for in-person services could sabotage the Social Security system " effectively denying many Americans the benefits they are due.
All of this is directly acknowledged in the Diaz memo. The memo predicts "service disruption," "operational strain," and "budget shortfalls." It also says preventing people who cannot use the internet or travel to an in-person office from receiving benefits could result in "legal challenges and congressional scrutiny."
Resistance is alive and well in the United Stateswagingnonviolence.org
Protests of Trump may not look like the mass marches of 2017, but research shows they are far more numerous and frequent--while also shifting to more powerful forms of resistance.
Many underestimate resistance to the current Republican administration because they view resistance through a narrow lens. The 2017 Women's March in particular--immediate in its response, massive in its scope and size--may inform collective imaginations about what the beginning of a resistance movement should look like during Trump 2.0.
In fact, our research shows that street protests today are far more numerous and frequent than skeptics might suggest. Although it is true that the reconfigured Peoples' March of 2025--held on Jan. 18-=saw lower turnout than the 2017 Women's March, that date also saw the most protests in a single day for over a year. And since Jan. 22, we've seen more than twice as many street protests than took place during the same period eight years ago.
In February 2025 alone, we have already tallied over 2,085 protests, which included major protests in support of federal workers, LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights, Palestinian self-determination, Ukraine, and demonstrations against Tesla and Trump's agenda more generally. This is compared with 937 protests in the United States in February 2017, which included major protests against the so-called Muslim ban along with other pro-immigrant and pro-choice protests. Coordinated days of protest such as March Fourth for Democracy (March 4), Stand Up for Science (March 7), rallies in recognition of International Women's Day (March 8), and protests demanding the release of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil suggest little likelihood of these actions slowing down. These are all occurring in the background of a tidal wave of lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's early moves.
FTA:
Hands off our Medicaid.Examples of individual protests falling under the "Hands Off" umbrella:
Hands off our Social Security.
Hands off our public lands.
Hands off our jobs.
Hands off public education.
Hands off veterans' benefits.
Hands off our undocumented neighbors.
Hands off our trans siblings.
Hands of Ukraine aid.
Hands off our diversity programs.
Hands off Canada, ffs.
Hands off our reproductive rights.
Hands off our democracy.
Hands off _____.
Social Security Works
@socialsecurityworks.org
We are organizing rallies at Social Security field offices around the country as part of the mass mobilization on April 5th.
Join us to tell Elon Musk and Donald Trump to keep their hands off our earned benefits!
HandsOffSocialSecurity.org
bsky.app
50501: The People's Movement @50501movement.bsky.social
April 5th: REMOVE / REVERSE / RECLAIM
50 Protests, 50 States, 1 Movement.
Add your action by 3/28/25 to have your flyer shared on 50501 socials. Go to www.FiftyFifty.one and click "Add An Action."
bsky.app
FTA: