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Friday, February 28, 2025

[NPR] sat with Ocasio-Cortez this week just after House Democrats managed a show of unity: they all voted against a Republican budget plan, which barely passed. We talked through her party's path toward political recovery.


Thursday, February 27, 2025

The Trump administration in its first month outnumbered deportations with federal job cuts by almost double, even as many of those cuts face legal challenges, according to a new report from Reuters. read more


A group of prominent military contractors, including former Blackwater CEO Erik Prince, has pitched the Trump White House on a proposal to carry out mass deportations through a network of "processing camps" on military bases, a private fleet of 100 planes, and a "small army" of private citizens empowered to make arrests. read more


An Asheboro, NC man who help popularize the "Thank You Jesus" signs found in so many front yards faces a charge of sexual exploitation of a minor. Lucas Timothy Hunt, 25, was arrested Tuesday. Police claim he received a video that showed two underage girls engaged in a sex act. A tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children led authorities to identify Hunt as a suspect. He was being held at the Randolph County jail on $75,000 secure bond.


The Federal Aviation Administration is close to canceling a $2.4 billion contract to overhaul a communications system that serves as the backbone of the nation's air traffic control system and awarding the work to Elon Musk's Starlink, according to two people briefed on the plans. The move to cancel a major contract in favor of a venture led by Musk " who is leading President Donald Trump's disruptive overhaul of the federal government through the U.S. DOGE Service " would represent a significant test of protections against conflicts of interest in government projects. It would be an especially extraordinary step for the typically cautious FAA, whose systems are vital to the safety of millions of air travelers every day.


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More: "He holds that position as a non-career Special Government Employee," Fisher wrote. "In that job, Mr. Musk is a Senior Advisor to the President."

The Justice Department defines a special government employee as "anyone who works, or is expected to work, for the government for 130 days or less in a 365-day period."

Fisher said it's not unusual for special government employees to advise the president, citing the example of Anita Dunn, who served as a senior adviser to former President Joe Biden.

"In his role as a Senior Advisor to the President, Mr. Musk has no greater authority than other senior White House advisors," Fisher said. "Like other senior White House advisors, Mr. Musk has no actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself. Mr. Musk can only advise the President and communicate the President's directives."

Fisher's declaration seems in conflict with Trump's previous statement that Musk leads DOGE. Trump has touted the cost-cutting operation, claiming it has identified "has found massive amounts of FRAUD, WASTE, INCOMPETENCE, AND ABUSE" within the government.

The filing came in response to a lawsuit by several Democratic state attorneys general, accusing Trump of illegally delegating executive powers to Musk in violation of the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

"Mr. Musk does not occupy an office of the United States and has not had his
nomination for an office confirmed by the Senate. His officer-level actions are thus unconstitutional," the lawsuit states.

Still, Trump has shown no signs of seeking to restrict Musk or DOGE.

More: The pervasive and nitpicky control of language is a crucial, but far from the sole, component of the woke-right movement. Like its antithesis on the left, the woke right places identity grievance, ethnic consciousness, and tribal striving at the center of its behavior and thought. One of the best descriptions I can find of it comes from Kevin DeYoung, a pastor and seminary professor, in a 2022 article called "The Rise of Right-Wing Wokeism." DeYoung, reviewing a book on Christian nationalism in The Gospel Coalition, argues that the book's "apocalyptic vision"for all of its vitriol toward the secular elites"borrows liberally from the playbook of the left." It "redefines the nature of oppression as psychological oppression" and tells white and male right-wing Americans that they are the country's real victims. But "the world is out to get you, and people out there hate you," DeYoung warns, "is not a message that will ultimately help white men or any other group that considers themselves oppressed."

Another hallmark of wokeness is an overriding impulse to contest and revise the historical record in service of contemporary debates. The New York Times' "1619 Project," which reimagined this nation's founding, was emblematic of this trend from the left. But similar attempts are happening on the right. Last summer, the amateur historian Darryl Cooper caused an uproar when he made the case, on Tucker Carlson's podcast, that Winston Churchill was the real villain of World War II.

The compelled politesse of the left has been swapped out for the reflexive and gratuitous disrespect of the right.

Speaking of falsifying reality: The Trump administration seems to be devoting a remarkable amount of energy toward making sure people call the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America." In the White House press room last week, the administration went so far as to eject Associated Press reporters because the publication refused to alter its stylebook to comply with the change. "I was very up front in my briefing on Day 1 that if we feel that there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable," the White House press secretary said. "And it is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America." European exploration records have referred to El Golfo de Mxico since the 16th century.

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