When I was growing up, in a time-frame not all that far removed from the Second World War, it wasn’t uncommon for people to ask ourselves “What would I have done if I’d been an average German citizen during the Nazi era? Would I have had the courage to hide a Jewish person? To protest?”
I’ve always been suspicious of the folks who confidently assert that they’d have stood with the moral minority; when an entire society has decided to go along with power and barbarism –either because they agree that their problems have been caused by “those people” or because it has become very dangerous to object–history tells us it is the rare individual who will risk fiscal or personal harm to resist.
I am gratified to report that–in this dangerous time– America is not devoid of such individuals.
Recent reports confirm the principled resignations of twenty-one workers from DOGE.
More than 20 civil service employees resigned Tuesday from billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying they were refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services.”
“We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations,” the 21 staffers wrote in a joint resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. “However, it has become clear that we can no longer honor those commitments.”
The employees also warned that many of those enlisted by Musk to help him slash the size of the federal government under President Donald Trump’s administration were political ideologues who did not have the necessary skills or experience for the task ahead of them.
This report follows widespread coverage of the departures of several principled lawyers in the Department of Justice, some of whose scathing letters have been widely circulated.
And now, the two top designers at Tesla have left the company.
While the linked report didn’t include the reason these two resigned, it did note that the departure of these two pivotal figures comes at a time when Tesla is experiencing huge problems, significantly exacerbated by popular anger at Musk’s efforts to destroy American government.
Last year was terrible for Tesla. Bad financials. Multiple recalls. Abysmal safety record. Lawsuits. The Cybertruck disaster and cratering sales. All of it tied to design problems and lack of innovation. Add to that the dip in brand loyalty thanks to CEO Elon Musk’s toxic political activity, of course.
The article noted that this confluence of problems has led one of Tesla’s biggest market supporters to warn that the company may implode in 2025.
In recent years, Tesla has faced increasing scrutiny because of poor quality, poor design choices, and the poor personal choices of its founder. Until very recently, the Texas-based automaker has been able to ride out those storms by being the only game in town. But as the legacy manufacturers upped their electric vehicle game and stepped into the market, Tesla’s many faults have became more obvious.
The departure of top designers comes as Tesla’s sales are cratering–European sales are down 45% from last year, and the media is filled with reports of Tesla owners–famous and not–returning their cars in order to protest Musk and DOGE.
Tesla’s problems don’t just diminish Musk’s net worth; they also provide a corrective to the myth that he is a successful entrepreneur. Much like Donald Trump, Musk’s fortune began with a large inheritance from his father. He did not “invent” the Tesla–he bought the company, and contrary to carefully nurtured PR, its early success was largely a matter of timing and lack of competition. While his business operations haven’t been the outright frauds that six-bankruptcy-Donald’s have been, his fortune has been built largely with taxpayer dollars, through billion-dollar contracts with the federal government–contracts that DOGE is protecting by shutting down agencies that were investigating charges of corruption in his companies.
Resignations by principled public servants are admirable. Unlike the billionaires (like Bezos) who immediately bent a knee to our would-be overlords, most of these people lack significant resources to fall back on–and by earning the enmity of the Trumpers, they will face barriers to their prospects for substitute employment
Quitting their jobs took guts.
Most of us lack the ability to resist in so public or significant a fashion, but the example provided by these individuals should reinforce our resolve to do those things we can do–join grassroots organizations, call and visit our Senators and Representatives, turn out for demonstrations, engage in boycotts…
If “good Germans” could hide Jews in their attics and principled Americans can quit their jobs, the rest of us can incur some inconveniences.
Thanks for a glimmer of hope.
Crazy idea. Let’s encourage speakers tonight on the Oscars to ignore Trump and Musk completely. Don’t mention them at all and focus on Ukraine.
After Friday, I can’t just condemn Orange Jesus (OJ) and Muskrat without mentioning Hillbilly Vance. There are also some Republican Senators who deserve at least a day in the corner wearing dunce caps. Miss Lindsey is first among many. He must get dizzy from spinning like a weather vane in a hurricane.
Now that I’m thinking about the Senate, in that august body sits a man who is an expert in Medicare fraud, Florida’s very own Rick Scott. Perhaps he should leave the Senate and join DOGE? It seems like a good fit. We could rename DOGE to Grifters Gathering to Fleece America (GGFA).
It would be nice to see a sitting Republican from either the Senate or the House suddenly find a spine. They’re obviously more afraid of OJ than their constituents. If Friday is an example of what they fear most we should remind them that, if Zelensky lived through it, so can they.
My heart and soul go out to Ukraine. Zelensky is a hero against the bullies in the White House.
We need heroes, and we have them. My hope is that we ask for sacrifices that have an impact, that make a difference. I want it to count in some small way.
Malcolm Nance (American hero)made a desperate plea to America. I will try to share it here:
https://malcolmnance.substack.com/p/warning-we-are-in-a-national-security?r=1gpuw0&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=audio-player
With Gandhi’s words as a guide (“Non compliance with evil is a sacred duty”) I plan to NOT watch the March 4th televised Trump state of the union show. I can read about it the next day; I don’t have to contribute to his tv ratings.
J.D. Vance has fresh new material as a sequel to Hill Billy Elegy: Trump Toilet Tantrum Trilogy from the Oval Office … that has turned into a day center for unsupervised adults in dire need.
One of your best, Sheila. Thank you. We can hope and pray that many, many American people will stand up for ALL people and not bow down to Trump, Musk and Vance, who seem not to care about those people. So sad for what all of this is doing to our reputation as a country.
We can all do something quietly brave. Keep calling your elected officials every day and complain about latest events. It matters.
All the resignations are well and good. This administration is a fascist horror show and won’t stop until somehow the principle players are GONE – one way or another. Some people hope that the mid-term elections will throw the Congress back to the Democrats and they can thwart the orange carbuncle. Not gonna happen. When he sees that his “party” of idiots are going to lose, he will ban elections.
And that action will do one of two things: outright civil war, or a different kind of rebellion last seen in 18th century France. The power mongers and their feeble-minded followers in Congress and SCOTUS will allow it all to happen. There will be no attics for the good people to hide in this time.
Sorry for the doom scape, but it should be clear by now that the people in power don’t give a single damn about the American people – except those few hundred who lavishly pour money into their pockets. They too are complicit in our collapsing democracy. People like Todd blame the media for failure to perform their duty is warning us of the coming horror show. WRONG. Much of the media screamed their lungs out, but the American people stayed home and didn’t vote.
Mega-trons who worship MTV (Musk, Trump, Vance + sycophants Johnson and Roberts + Putin) at the altar of authoritarianism from the Holy Book Project 2025 believe that $ is the currency of civilization.
We don’t blame them for the problems that the fall of Truth has caused, resulting in civilization crumbling around us. They are merely the victims of false media, lured by an expanded appetite for entertainment brought on by the absence of Truth.
We all believe, but our species’ nature is diverse, so we all feel differently. Maga-trons have been led to believe in synch.
But, truth, knowledge, is our bond. They are wrong. Truth is right.
I got to the blog late yesterday, and, while at risk of sounding pedantic, I will repeat my brief comment:
Malignant Narcissism, includes, obviously, narcissism, but also anti-social behavior, sadism and a paranoid outlook on life. Add to that immense, proud, insistent stupidity, and you have a picture of Trump’s inner world!
Gail, the word “seem” is too kind. OJ was clear, and truthful for a change, when he said “I do not care about you, I just want your vote.” Musk has shown major disregard for the people who work for him a number of times, I believe, and Vance, by way of his involvement in the writing of “Project 2025,” shows a similar lack of concern about the fallout on ordinary people.
For those who have resisted by quoting: I bow to you!
None of them have complained about bone spurs, I am sure.
I click on nothing from WaPo, on line.
I do not write to my senators, one of whom is the most dishonorable Scott, though I have responded to my rep., Bilirakis, that if he represented me, as he like to say he does, he would not have fallen into line with the rest of the Trump-supporting caucus.
Everybody has specific skills and attitudes that can be used to protest. Not everybody can return their Tesla, but they can stop shopping at Walmart and Hobby Lobby. They can stop ordering useless items on Amazon and start consuming from locally owned stores. If you like calling your reps or showing up at town halls, bring a couple of friends.
Here’s another take, stop consuming lame media on your TV. I can tell who watches MSNBC and CNN. Not sure why anyone would support these two oligarchy owned networks who’ve been eliminating anybody that raises the ire of Trump.
Also, I’ve not heard any democratic politician make sense amidst the noise. The pro-Ukrainian and pro-genocide crowd are complaining about others who lack morals, are simply virtue signaling. If you support the mass murder of women and children, don’t preach about morals, just shut up and sit down—same thing for those who’ve bought the pro-Ukraine propaganda. A corrupt mafiosa boss mainly owned the land Russia has taken. All of Ukraine was a corrupt mess. Look at all our media outlets about Ukraine pre- and post-2014. LOL
And I’m really enjoying the complaints by the White House Press Correspondents claiming that Trump wants to control who has access to him and the White House, which is destroying the free press. That’s rich! Here is a small group of pressers controlling who has access to the POTUS bitching about the POTUS who wants to rotate media outlets like it should be done. The question is whether the administration will allow all voices to be heard.
p.s. I am now hearing that Europe wants to help Ukraine and pump billions into the former US proxy war. If Trump withdraws support, it will become Europe’s proxy war and if NATO countries enter the fray, it’s called World War III. Do European leaders really want to start a world war over the most corrupt country in Europe?
“Heroic And Principled” We need to move much further back in our history than to last Friday as we watched a foreign leader who was “Heroic And Principled” to find that in totality. We must admit to being too weak to maintain the freedoms fought for and won as we watch daily the Democrats and the RINOs “push back”. Whining pitifully that “they are lying and they cannot do that to us, it is against the laws of the land” is getting us nowhere as behind that curtain in Oz hides the deeper destruction of America. Had we used those tactics before Paul Revere’s warning “The British are coming, the British are coming!” we would all be speaking with British accents and bowing down to kings and queens as they ruled in Royal succession.
In Boston in 1839, our elderly former President John Quincy Adams came out of retirement to defend the slaves of the ship Amistad, speaking for 8 1/2 hours in their defense. A line from the movie “Amistad” but probably not during the actual trial, is relevant today even more than it was then; “And if Civil War must come, let it come. And let it be the last battle in our Revolution.” The Civil War came and went and ended with the freedom of slaves; but in word, NOT in deed, and we all lost a second battle in the Civil Rights Movement. It has added other skin colors and drug in a few disinformational quotes from the Bible to force pseudo-Christianity on the nation in the form of laws denying civil and human rights.
“If “good Germans” could hide Jews in their attics and principled Americans can quit their jobs, the rest of us can incur some inconveniences.”
The Democrats and the RINOs have hidden themselves under rocks to protect their jobs and incomes; leaving the majority of the working and the retired who are old and many disabled, to the “inconvenience” of losing our rights and living in fear of losing our lives. We have our bills marked “PAID IN FULL” in the form of Social Security and Medicare or are still working and paying those bills with lower and lower actual income received so they can support the wealthy and their corporations providing fewer and lower quality services and goods.
I STAND FOR AMERICANS AND SUPPORT OF UKRAINE TO DEFEND DEMOCRACY AND END ALL DICTATORSHIPS GLOBALLY.
So what happened with the big 2/28 boycott?
I did the boycott, even though thought it was a dumb idea,
never even went inside HOBBY LOBBY, for 4 years after two of their horrible stunts.
I go on MAGA sites and post simple truths daily. And try hard to not be mean & let my anger show. We need a few thoughtful quick minded fearless & educated in their field leaders. Were are they??
Laurel, thank you for the link from Malcolm Nance. Sent it to Todd Young and Jim Banks.
I remember him from MSNBC and his work in Ukraine.
Lester, on 2-28 at 5 PM I was driving home through Irvington on Washington Street. That stretch of Washington Street is usually packed with parked cars at that time as the Friday night eat out crowd gathers. Not so on this Friday night. Parking spaces empty, no crowd of customers, Na da. While this was encouraging I doubt it was like that in Carmel or Greenwood. Still, it united people to DO something.
Todd re Ukraine gets at the core of what so many of you miss. Biden wanted to show his toughness not principled strength on Ukraine- just as Trump is owned by Putin Biden was/is both not that bright and stuck both by his two son’s issues- re Ukraine- Trump loves Net man in Israel- you can be “a good Christian “- then confront- Christian Zionism, a similar Jew then ask why two young Israeli Jews matter more than thousands of Palestinians who are similarly killed- our country is in great danger now and the Democratic pols like The Squad and my former Congressperson in WA – Jayapal and current one- old white man John Garamendi- who listens- most Dema are scared, beholden to the Money! Organize everywhere, use what potential power you have- also relax- this will take endurance- not a race- be in community- locally, online etc
Caren, I like your idea. Can you give me some ideas of MAGA sites? I guess the Facebook algorithm doesn’t show them to me.
And now suck-up Johnson is demanding that Zelenskyy resign. Who the fkng hell does he think he is?
Todd, if you’d catch up on your history, you’d see that Zelenskyy was elected in order to rid Ukraine of its unpopular and highly corrupt leader, who then fled to the open arms of Putin. But then, you also thought Moscow was just across the river from Crimea, so…
trumps mob, need i say anymore. he has finally disrespected America. all of it. even his own should be aware that he doesnt give a rats ass about anyone but his own suit. the fact he wouldnt guarentee security over a deal, was obvious, Selenskyy wasnt being played for a chump in front of putin. there will be no security unless russia is stomped into submission by literally closing all its doors to the world. russia has a 35% unemployment rate, burger king still sells there,thanks tim horton,Canada(and tax breaks it gets from the U.S.). if putin transcripts its unemployed, he can over run Ukraine. but, he has to spend his money, along with his wealthy pawns in his game. dont laugh, putin probably is richer than musk.. hungry and turkey probably will never allow Ukraine into Nato, now, boycott them, and end thier imports.
I’m not sure what The Other Sheila is talking about regarding Zelenskyy and the corrupt leader he replaced. I think she has her history mixed up. Victoria Nuland, with the US State Department, handpicked the presidents of Ukraine after our 2014 Euromaidan Coup. Are you saying she picked a corrupt leader?
We all know he was a US puppet, but corrupt?
Most charges against the Chocolate King have been political and exaggerated.
As for Zelenskyy, he’s a bloated PR cocaine user. Check out what he has done to the Orthodox church in Ukraine, shut down protests and media outlets except for those funded by USAID via InterNews. He’s a con man like our current and previous POTUS.
Crimea is separated from Russia by a river, and the Crimeans speak Russian. They had no interest in being part of the Nazis in Kyiv. The Americans are heavily propagandized by the oligarchy-controlled media – ala Disney style.
Todd, I know you have a low opinion of comedians, but think about the smartest commenters on the political scene are people like Jon Stewart and John Oliver. The late night hosts are probably the best diviners of our day to day situational changes. Every comedian I’ve ever known, even those who play dumb, are some of the smartest people I know. Zelensky is very smart. Don’t doubt that for a minute.
The US has given Ukraine a huge portion of our out dated weapons inventory. If we hadn’t given it to Ukraine, we would’ve destroyed it. A point of interest here is that even with a relatively small supply of outdated weapons the Ukrainians held fast until Iran got involved providing state of the art drones to Russia. It seems Ukrainians like being Ukrainian.
What an upside down world we live within. I never thought I would see the Republican Party become the party for peace as the Democratic Party lobbies for more war and deeper entrenchment of the MIC within our political lives.
That’s why so many stayed home. They don’t share the maniacal fantasies of the Atlantacists.
The folks telling me Zelenskyy is a great leader were just months ago bloviating as to how Biden is/was sharp as a tack.