Originally published at: The Memelord Is Leaving. For Now. DOGE Lives On. - TPM – Talking Points Memo
In one sense, Elon Musk failed at DOGE: he came nowhere near to cutting $2 trillion in federal spending, the goal he set for the endeavor before revising expectations downward. He destroyed USAID and a few other programs that had been the focus of right-wing culture war offensives, he demolished hundreds of NIH grant projects,…
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And the worst part is the damage (incalculable and probably unknowable) he did to the lives of average government workers who are unemployed, fearful, and faced with rebuilding their lives, all because of this son-of-a-bitch and his fantasies.
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Apropos of nothing, the United States could recover from the Trump Years if
- Trump were convicted, impeached, penalized, even incarcerated - that is, was somehow held accountable, in a visible, clear and obvious manner
- His hench persons: ditto
However, the way our current lawz’n’customz work, this can never happen. One, Presidents and former Presidents are “special” untouchable creatures. Just ask the Supreme Court, and any Justice Department from the last 80 years. And two, Democrats won’t prosecute, because that would be “politicization”. Three is just too obvious: Republicans put Party and Personality above all else, even Money.
We’ve got to change these “givens”, and we’ve got to do it fast. Like having the groundwork in place in time for the 2026 elections.
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Musk was just the useful dummy; Russel Vought was and will continue to be the ventriloquist.
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And Trump the mechanism/process by which to implement the “messages.”
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Lotta DOGE people bailing along with Elmo. Flunkies left to do more thoughtless carnage
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Oh, we’ll recover – eventually.
But what would make that long recovery entertaining would be watching a few of the perps mauled to death by rabid turkeys.
Or fatally run over by a golf cart.
Maybe die of measles.
Something like that.
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Entertaining for a few, maybe. But not “meaningful.” Random acts of violence won’t substitute for the society and government enforcing its own laws, traditions, and basic sense of morality.
Sorry to be a downer.
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Do this many people, in all fields of endeavor, just not know after all this time that AI persistently “hallucinates,” and absolutely to the point of making stuff up out of whole cloth?
Or do this many people just think that nobody else will notice when they present multiple hallucinations as proof of something, or the answer to something, or the reasons behind something or whatever else?/??
Whichever (or both), it certainly argues that an incredible number of people in supposedly responsible positions don’t take their work seriously at all.
Another force pushing toward the slaughter of truthful good-faith arguments and communications. Pure fake propaganda for us! – And it’s so quick to produce, too! Long lunches forever!
I never felt I fit in this world very well, but now as the age AI “advances” I feel as if I must be from another planet entirely.
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Maybe make them slobber and cry, begging for their lives. Make it appear you’re really contemplating forgiveness. Then give 'em a great big Nelson HA HA. And then release the turkeys.
I’m feeling better already.
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I’ll never forget that interview with Sarah Palin where a guy in the background was killing turkeys and hanging them upside down in a bucket and she just kept jabbering away.
Those were simpler times.
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Musk succeeded at what he wanted: full access to United States records and intel, and tons of free publicity and the adulation of CPAC and other idiots.
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1,000 likes
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Plus, he quietly kicked the successful bidder off of at least one vast government contract and took it over himself, even though his own companies didn’t actually qualify. But he got the money! No fraud there! And clearly, no “waste” or “abuse”, amirite?
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If DOGE and the Vichy Republicans really cared about wasting taxpayer dollars they wouldn’t give trump his personal military parade.
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Its what it was built to do: write statistically probable text that never existed before. It has no concept of true or false, only likely and unlikely. It is absolutely wild that people keep asking AI to report facts. It has no idea what a fact is.
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Kristi Noem… urged Poles to give him their vote.
While he grimaced.
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Exactly. Tons of people are using it-- some for what ought to be important purposes – and they apparently have no idea what it is or how it works…or they use it because they can use it fast and they truly don’t give a crap about the product and must figure that the recipients of the product won’t care either…
And it’s not that how it works is so complicated. It’s really quite straightforward and makes clear what you can and what you can’t actually use it for. …
But you obviously have tons of offices and agencies and professional people and even law firms who ought to know what it is by now – and yet are using it for all kinds of unsuitable things. That just baffles me. These aren’t high school students – although I gather they’re doing the same…It’s a total lack of responsibility, in all kinds of places…
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On the CBS/60 minutes lawsuit:
President Donald Trump suffered “mental anguish” from CBS News’ editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with Democratic opponent Kamala Harris last fall, his lawyers are arguing in court papers.
Trump’s status as a “content creator” was also damaged by attention given to the interview, lawyers said.
…Trump, described as a “media icon” by his lawyers, was “forced to redirect significant time, money and effort to correcting the public record,” he said.
For this he wants $20B.
I thought he always had mental anguish. 
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trump suffers mental anguish if his steak has pink on it
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