Tuesday at the Shitshow - Updates

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Democrats for Democracy

Andrea Voorhees Reina 

  So, uh, welcome to the shitshow. It’s a hostile takeover of the federal government and he’s what it looks like. Here’s what’s been going on in the last 11 hours or so and it’s only February and yet it feels like January was 87 days long. It’s going to be one of those years, kittens, but we will survive this and chalk it up to some really bad acid flashbacks.

A bit of background: Elon Musk couldn’t get a security clearance because of his ties to the Chinese government.

I’m filing this one a bit late just because I wanted to watch a press conference first (the one with Sens. Schumer, Wyden, Murray and Warren) so that I could let you know what was said there.

11 hours ago (around 4 am EST if you’re nasty): Two senior officials at USAID (US Agency for International Development) were put on administrative leave after they blocked members of DOGE from gaining access to sensitive information. John Voorhees, director of security, and his deputy tried to prevent teenage Musk cosplayers from physically gaining access to the area, and the USAID employees threatened to call in U.S. Marshals. The Lord Dampnut administration has suspended or furloughed hundreds of employees at the agency.

According to Elon Musk, Lord Dampnut has agreed that the agency should be shut down.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has threatened Panama, telling Panamanian President Jose Raul Molino that Lord Dampnut believes China’s presence in the canal area may violate the treaty that handed control of the waterway to Panama in 1999. That treaty calls for the permanent neutrality of the canal, which was built by the US.

We invaded Panama in 1989.

Lord Dampnut announced that he is cutting off all funding to South Africa after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa last month signed a bill that stipulates the government may, in certain circumstances, offer “nil compensation” for property it decides to expropriate in the public interest. It’s eminent domain on steroids.

French President Emile Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have both spoken out on Tweedledumb’s tariff threats, warning that any tariffs levied will only make Europe “stronger and more united” (said Macron) and Scholz added that Europe was strong enough to react to any tariff but “the goal should be that things result in cooperation.”

Five hours ago, Lord Dampnut spoke to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and said “I just spoke with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico. It was a very friendly conversation wherein she agreed to immediately supply 10,000 Mexican Soldiers on the Border separating Mexico and the United States. These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country. We further agreed to immediately pause the anticipated tariffs for a one month period during which we will have negotiations headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and high-level Representatives of Mexico. I look forward to participating in those negotiations, with President Sheinbaum, as we attempt to achieve a ‘deal’ between our two Countries.”

Three hours ago, the Trumplethinskin administration put Elon Musk in charge of a potential merger between USAID and the State Department. No one knows if this will distract Musk from raping and pillaging the U.S. Treasury.

One hour ago, SecState Marco Rubio said he’s taken over USAID and gave his arguments as to why it should merge with the State Department. Rubio’s beef with USAID goes back to “my time in Congress” so I don’t know if he wasn’t invited to the department sleepover and mani/pedi or what. Powerfully petty little man.

Just under an hour ago, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and a group of other Democratic lawmakers attempted to enter the USAID offices but were turned away by Musk’s stormtroopers. Van Hollen told a press conference outside the building that “We asked to enter the Aid building, really on behalf of the American people, but to talk to Aid employees, because … there’s been a gag order imposed on Aid employees. So we wanted to learn first-hand what’s happening. We were denied entry based on the order that they received from Elon Musk and Doge, which just goes to show that this was an illegal power grab by someone who contributed $267bn to the Trump effort in these elections.”

Van Hollen added that “Trying to shut down an agency which was established under law … that is totally against a variety of statutes, and there will be legal proceedings filed to stop them from essentially undoing Aid. They want to do that, they come to Congress, they make a proposal, we vote on it. I can assure you that change that they’re trying to do here illegally would not get through the United States Congress.”

Um, Senator? Do you really think “legal proceedings” are going to stop a man that’s raping the U.S. Treasury? A man that was not even elected, and is gleefully doing so with the approbation of our current President?

40 minutes ago, Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) said “Donald Trump has given unprecedented power over the federal government to an unelected, unaccountable billionaire. Elon Musk’s treasury raid jeopardizes Americans’ sensitive information, tax returns, and Medicare and Social Security. Progressives will fight this in the courts, on the House floor, and with every tool at our disposal until Elon Musk is out of our government and no longer putting taxpayers, the sick, and the elderly at risk.” This is in the wake of Musk gaining access to the federal payment system, which includes access to sensitive personal data of millions of Americans.

The EPA has just locked its own employees out of doing their jobs by shutting down their intranet.

It’s being reported that Musk has now gained access to the Small Business Administration systems. He’ll go after the Treasury Department next, and the Office of Personnel Management.

I’ve read about coups in other countries. It’s very weird to be living through one in my own. I can’t decide if I’m Patrick Henry or Nathan Hale.

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is set to be holding a news conference and hopefully he will announce that Congress is actually taking action, instead of their usual standing-around-with-their-dicks-in-their-hands schtick. Probably he’ll announce a strongly worded letter. They’re playing Candy Land while Musk is playing chess and wondering whether to open with the Caro-Dann defense or the Queen’s Gambit.

Update: he says he and Hakeem Jeffries will introduce legislation to stop this. And, sir, how will that pass? He warned of the consequences of the US defaulting on our debts worldwide. The world markets are already reeling. He called for the Treasury department to resist DOGE.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said it was clear this was the most corrupt administration in the nation’s history. We can only hope that Congress becomes outraged over having their allocated funds used to increase the dick size of a petty tyrant who thinks he’s smart. She stressed that Musk had no legal authority to interfere with payments and that he and Tweedledumb “have yet to find a law that they think applies to them.” Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) spoke and you should watch it, because it’s a good one. It’s on CSPAN, and I guarantee their funding is in danger. PBS and NPR are in the crosshairs too. Sen. Wyden did get a bit cagey, saying they didn’t want to broadcast all their moves they have planned and that they have tools but he didn’t want to go into detail. Maybe the Dems are learning how to play hardball. Bit too late, but I’ll take it when I get it.

Congresscritters are in it for themselves but this is going to affect their constituents and it will affect businesses, and that will get even the Republicans alarmed. Phone calls are what matters, so call your Congresscritters. There are apps you can use, or you can find scripts of what to say online. Mail gets dumped, and emails dismissed, but phone calls are what they pay attention to.

I can’t make this funny, kittens. I wish I could, but we’ve got a petty tyrant in office who wants to play high noon and take over the entire human race. He’s not just a king; he thinks he’s a goddam ace. (I’ll be real impressed if anyone gets that reference).

That’s all I have for you, and I’ll be here, keeping you updated.

We aren’t alone, and there are a lot more of us than there are of them. We also have the support of much of the rest of the world.

“Do not let us speak of darker days: let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days; these are great days — the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race.”

--Winston Churchill, October 29, 1941

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