helpfully, Mastodon mentions are distinct in format from Bluesky mentions, and vice versa.
BlueSky clients should turn Mastodon mentions into profile links, and Mastodon clients should do the same for BlueSky links.
(can’t, and shouldn’t, for X/Twitter, which shares mention format with eg Insta.)
@Phil @fisherstudio @KimSJ the Constitution literally requires every position to be confirmed except where Congress explicitly authorizes unconfirmed hiring. that’s what it means when we say Congress “creates agencies”. there are no agencies in the Constitution. there are “inferior Officers” Congress vests appointments of who to “Head of Departments “.
@fisherstudio @KimSJ have you seen this, via @Arianity? https://mastodon.social/@Arianity/113970992711223783
@KimSJ we need to find the places where his lawbreaking violates state law. his most obvious infractions are Federal, and Trump has eviscerated any independence of Federal law enforcement. but it’s very likely there are violations of state law, and certainly lots of damages that could become the basis for civil suits in the fifty states.
This point is so obvious it should fit in one post.
Elon Musk’s role is plainly illegal. The “advice and consent” clause of the Constitution is obviously intended to prevent a President from such powerful delegations of authority without explicit Congressional consent.
the Fed chair gets the tone slightly wrong while musing about inflation, markets tumble.
the President apparently muses about US Treasuries "It could be that a lot of those things don't count."
futures green!
buy treasuries because a recession is coming or sell treasuries before a great revulsion destroys US assets?
really interesting times!
Would Apple backdoor Advanced Data Protection, or just cease to offer it as a kind of canary? https://mastodon.world/@Hawaii/113976025533421147
"When history is written, the first few months of Trump 2.0 will go down as the most craven and prostrate in the history of the Republican Party. We are living in a country ruled by fantastic conspiracy theories and personal revenge, and not a single Republican is willing to stand against it. Not one." #KevinDrum https://jabberwocking.com/this-is-the-republican-partys-most-spineless-hour/
we are fortunate Musk has the character flaw of a B-movie serial killer. he can't refrain from openly taking credit for his misdeeds.
their worldview is basically government is a radical left-wing idea.
@quixote i think it really was a weak spot. Presidents need to be talking to the public about what they are doing all the time. Biden's appearances were rationed and scripted. It's not he didn't generate outrage. He didn't tell a story of his own presidency, often and in real time. that is part of the job.
do the never-Trump former neocons now agree that every billionaire is a policy failure?
“voters are pleased to have a president who's taking some kind of decisive action and making sure we know he's taking decisive action.”
// that last part was Biden’s weak spot https://mstdn.social/@nomoremister/113975256174998286
if the founders wanted a unitary executive, why did they assign to Congress the task of structuring the executive branch?
“all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law”
instead of risking that bright, hardworking Chinese grad students might be CCP spies here to steal our science, what if we just didn’t have any science?
that’ll show ‘em.
here in the US, among my lib/leftie crowd, we spend a fair amount of time dwelling on the US’ hypocrisies, its sins against the liberal values it ostensibly promotes. 1/
yet when an illiberal movement assumes power in the US, it does not merely seek to turn American power to illiberal ends. it seeks to sabotage the roots of American power, to render the country impotent. 2/
that suggests to me, for all the United States’ sometimes miserable flaws, the enemies of liberal values, even when they dominate the apparatus of state, still perceive in the US an implacable threat. 3/
i take some hope in that. /fin
elon musk as jodie foster in elysium.
[new draft post] Might Elon Musk be personally liable? https://drafts.interfluidity.com/2025/02/08/might-elon-musk-be-personally-liable/index.html
