In the past week or so, the courts have begun to try to set some boundaries on the Musk–Miller–Trump administration’s early blitz of recklessness.

. . .

This judicial review provides at least a small reprieve, hope that some of the administration’s most destructive impulses will be stopped. Or at least pared back. But even with the courts stepping up, and even with the reality of the administration’s ineptitude sinking in, this early Musk–Miller–Trump blitz remains very—maybe irreparably—damaging. Of course, there are a lot of moles to whack: the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are being dismantled at an alarming rate, and the court system is not known for being nimble. The administration is betting, perhaps rightly, that at least some of its thoughtless, lawless efforts will slip through the cracks.

But even if the courts caught them all—and even if every court facing each lawless escapade said, “Nope, that’s not a thing”—still the entire process would be doing serious damage to our institutions. Think of it as someone spoofing your identity and going on a shopping spree with your credit cards. Even if the goon gets caught, you still have to go store by store to argue that the fraudulent purchase wasn’t legitimate and hope the debt is forgiven. And all the while, perhaps long after all the debts are dealt with, the torrent of uncertainty kills your credit score.

MBFC
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    • Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works
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      10 hours ago

      Dirt? Guy is a convicted felon, says and does monstrous things openly, and denies things he just did on video the day before. He promoted a violent attack on his own government. He is dirt, he lives dirt. Unless it’s a video of him literally beheading dozens of kittens, I can’t imagine it would give him any leverage. Not even sure if that would either sadly.

      • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
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        5 hours ago

        The scariest thing is that even if Musk or Trump were to film and upload themselves ritualistically murdering kittens, their followers would call it fake AI. There’d be nothing anyone could do or say to convince them otherwise, short of them witnessing the slaughter in-person with their own eyes (and even that might not do it.)

        There’s no way that the release of so much generative AI last year, just before this election, was a coincidence. Fascists got this shiny new tool for denying reality, and now they’re free to dismiss photos and videos without question or repercussion.

      • Refurbished Refurbisher@lemmy.sdf.org
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        10 hours ago

        Trump’s comment about Elon who “knows those computers very well” relating to voting machines makes me think that all the other crimes he did before are small fries comparitively to what Elon has on him/what Trump owes Elon.

        Trump allowing himself to be openly cucked by Elon repeatedly is not something that he would just let happen without something big going on behind the scenes. Trump is a massive narcissist, and he is not afraid to tell people to fuck off normally if they steal his spotlight or slightly disagree with him. Just look at his last administration for plenty of examples.

    • buddascrayon@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      and probably holds dirt over Trump.

      Possibly that Trump wasn’t legally elected and Elmo rigged the election for him. It would explain Trump’s servile attitude in the oval office earlier. Elmo’s fucking kid basically told Trump to STFU.

      • Maeve@midwest.social
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        11 minutes ago

        Parkrose Permaculture did an excellent video on that press conference and the dark implications of the child’s words. Jordan Lund removed my comment from politics because videos aren’t allowed. I’m beginning to wonder if this is denial or active aid.