The dodos of DOGE may be extinct, but they left a lot of damage in their wake, by Hal M. Brown

 

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“The dodo bird was a flightless bird that lived on the island of Mauritius and became extinct in the late 17th century, primarily due to human activities such as hunting and habitat destruction. It is often used as a symbol of extinction and the impact of human interference on wildlife.” (AI) 

The dodo was not a bloodthirsty beast. They were omnivores that primarily ate fruits, nuts, seeds, bulbs, and roots. They may, however, have also consumed small invertebrates like crabs and shellfish (reference).

If you call someone a dodo bird you may mean that they are acting like a person who is about to become extinct. However if you say they are a dodo it can have several even less flattering meanings (see reference)

Yesterday we learned the following:

The dodo bird didn’t destroy or disrupt lies the way DOGE did. But like DOGE it did become extinct, or so we’re supposed to believe. 

A web inquiry says that “approximately 300,000 federal employees have been laid off due to the actions of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration. This includes significant job cuts across various federal agencies, with many employees being encouraged to resign or take early retirement.” In May The Hill reported that half the layoffs in the country were due to DOGE cuts.

By coincidence reports indicate that DOGE cuts to USAid have been blamed for approximately 300,000 deaths, the same number as jobs lost. Most of those who died were children. Due to cuts that eliminated or otherwise impacted critical programs that support health and well-being. (see, DOGE’s big illusion: the heavy costs of the Trump administration’s so-called efficiency.)

I rather doubt that Trump has shown DOGE the door because he had a flash of compassion. He never even cared about government efficiency. It was just something he could to to show how powerful he was. He liked being best big buds with Elon despite the lunatic leaper looking ridiculous in Oval Office photo ops. I don’t think the fact that DOGE was getting bad press bothered him at all. He probably liked this because he thought he was owning the libs. 

I’m pretty sure DOGE has gone dodo because his personal relationship with Musk got moldy, mold of the really stinky kind.

All in all it is a good thing they are gone. Damage done. Good riddance.

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Trump is engaged in two fights against democracy. Both involve agents armed with guns. Are we a nascent police state? By Hal M. Brown

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This is the main page of HUFFPOST this morning:

The news about Trump defying a federal judge’s order is all over the media. There are lotsa guns in that story. In this instance it is ICE agents. There’s another story with lotsa guns. Rachel Maddow reported on it last night. You can see the 10 minute segment in the RawStory article here.

This is from The New York Times (subscription):

Musk’s Team Evicts Officials at the U.S. Institute of Peace

A bubbling dispute broke into a dramatic standoff that ended with police involvement and the Department of Government Efficiency taking up residence at the independent agency.

Excerpt:

A simmering dispute between the Department of Government Efficiency and an independent agency dedicated to promoting peace broke into an open standoff involving the police on Monday, as Elon Musk’s government cutters marched into the agency’s headquarters and evicted its officials.

The dramatic scene played out in Washington on Monday afternoon as Mr. Musk’s team was rebuffed from the U.S. Institute of Peace, an agency that President Trump has ordered dismantled, then entered it with law enforcement officers. Agency officials say that because the institute is a congressionally chartered nonprofit that is not part of the executive branch, Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk do not have the authority to gut its operations.

“DOGE just came into the building — they’re inside the building — they’re bringing the F.B.I. and brought a bunch of D.C. police,” Sophia Lin, a lawyer for the institute, said by telephone as she and other officials were being escorted out.

George Moose, who was fired as the institute’s acting president last week but is challenging his dismissal, accused Mr. Musk’s team of breaking in. “Our statute is very clear about the status of this building and this institute,” he told reporters. “So what has happened here today is an illegal takeover by elements of the executive branch of a private nonprofit corporation.”

If anyone still disputes the evidence that Trump is now a dictator who, when defied, is willing to use his own Gestapo and SS they have their head so deeply in the dirt that it may be poking into the Earth’s substrata. If they bury themselves too much deeper in denial it will get pretty damn hot for them.

How far will this go? There’s a name for the kind of country we could become. It is called a police state. At it’s extreme it looks like this.

This is the Wikipedia defintion:

A police state describes a state whose government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties. There is typically little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive, and the deployment of internal security and police forces play a heightened role in governance. A police state is a characteristic of authoritarian, totalitarian or illiberal regimes (contrary to a liberal democratic regime). Such governments are typically one-party states and dominant-party states, but police-state-level control may emerge in multi-party systems as well.

Originally, a police state was a state regulated by a civil administration, but since the beginning of the 20th century it has "taken on an emotional and derogatory meaning" by describing an undesirable state of living characterized by the overbearing presence of civil authorities. The inhabitants of a police state may experience restrictions on their mobility, or on their freedom to express or communicate political or other views, which are subject to police monitoring or enforcement. Political control may be exerted by means of a secret police force that operates outside the boundaries normally imposed by a constitutional state. Robert von Mohl, who first introduced the rule of law to German jurisprudence, contrasted the Rechtsstaat ("legal" or "constitutional" state) with the anti-aristocratic Polizeistaat ("police state").

Russia and other totalitarian countries have their own versions.

Some of my friends say “it can’t happen here.” Others say it can happen here. I am seeing indications it is already happening and what we have is a nascent police state. Trump is testing the limits. Trump and Musk and their lieutenants want to see how far they can go. They don’t know what will happen but I am certain they have considered the possibility that there will be massive protests. I am just as sure that they have a contingency plan for this. They will wait until there’s a protest that gives Trump an excuse to say it is a national emergency and declare martial law.

From Wikipedia:

Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties may be suspended for as long as martial law continues. Most often, martial law is declared in times of war or emergencies such as civil unrest and natural disasters. Alternatively, martial law may be declared in instances of military coups d'état.

This would put the onus for carrying out unconstitutional, illegal, and un-American presidentiall on true patriots in the military. Would they bend to Trump and Hegseth or could we actually have a military coup d'état?

Update:

This is in response to Trump. But Trump has the guns. Roberts doesn’t. He depends on the respect for the rule of law.

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A tale of the DOGE destruction disruption and more unintended consequences. By Hal M. Brown

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Ready, fire, aim," is how David Ignatious put it on "Morning Joe" today talking about the unintended consequences of the DOGE cuts. 

This pretty much sums up what has happened because of Trump's manic rush to initiate everything that is laid out in Project 2025 and make himself into a dictator. The authors of Project 2025 were sane, so a other things that the authors of the blueprint for autocracy hadn't thought of were added by Trump: Greenland, Panama, making Canada a state, Gaza, and a social media post justifying being a Napoleonanic dictator, for example. 

Here are some illustrations from various websites and photos I took while I had MSNBC and CNN on while I was writing this:

I wonder how many viewers and readers of far-right media even know about any, let alone, all of these. Some of them may not be disabused of their belief that Trump walks on water until, if they depend on Medicaid for crucial medical treatment, they look at their monthly payment and don’t understand why it’s been drastically cut. Others may have personal connections to the fired federal workers. A few may be friends with, or employed, immigrants who have been deported, or are fearful of being deported. Some may be parents of unvaccinated children who get the measles. The list goes on.

When an aggressor army is actually invading a country shock and awe is often effective. The Nazi blitzkrieg is an example of a success. Putin tried it against Ukraine but failed. Trump is only figuratively invading a country called Democratic America. He didn’t have to come on like gangbusters.

Trump could have avoided shooting himself in the face if he was prudent instead of reckless when he went about trying to become the dictator he aspires to be. He could have stiffed Musk after what was supposed to be a reward for his donations. He could have kept him out of the Oval Office and never allowed DOGE to exist. But Trump gets something about having the richest person in the world (or the second richest after Putin whose net worth is hard to determne), someone reviled by his enemies, as his co-president. He enjoys all the mockery coming from liberals about this. Trump is happy when he thinks he owns the libs.

It would have been difficult to find them, but he could have found competent loyalists to nominate for Cabinet positions and top jobs. Instead we have RFK Jr., Tulsi Gabard, and Pete Hegseth.

He could used strategic instead of mass firings.

He could have actually made sure that the only immigrants deported were violent criminals. He could have told Thom Homan not to be such a macho asshat and to stay away from Dr. Phil.

He could have just ignored the plight of Eric Adams.

He definitely shouldn’t have posted his Napoleon message. I expect that even some of his allies on the Supreme Court think this will make it harder to rule in his favor in certain cases. He just told them that if he disagrees with any other their decisions he can ignore them.

If Trump had just stuck with Greenland, Panama, and Canada, he’d have been better off. He could have moved slowly on everything else. He could have been judicious, a concept that shouldn’t even be in the same sentence with Trump.

Thankfully for democracy in America, he’s so thrilled by his reckless ride into a Caligula like monarchy that he can’t stop himself. He hasn’t had visceral feelings like this since Stormy Daniels agreed to go to bed with him.