Baffled European

Category: Dog botherer

  • Cancelling freedom of speech

    Two years ago, a group called Media Matters produced a report showing how far right messages on Twitter were appearing next to adverts for big corporations such as Apple, IBM and so on.

    Stalwart defender of free speech Elon Musk immediately sued. At the same time, he released an explanation of what happened and how. It seems his motivation was to show that this chain of events was so unlikely, Media Matters was wrong to make the claim. All he did was confirm the original claims. There should be no grounds for legal action, but Musk has continued to harass the group ever since.

    Media Matters is now being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission for breaching federal regulations. The FTC itself is controlled by Republicans, following the dismissal of Democrat commissioners by the president earlier this year. It is the latest government agency to be turned against opponents who dare to question the rulers.

    Kristie Noem escalated her ongoing war with Harvard last week by revoking its ability to enrol foreign students. She said that all 6800 foreign students will need to find another university. All sorts of paranoid rubbish about Harvard enabling terrorism and antisemitism. Usual authoritarian lies.

    Harvard quickly got an injunction to overturn this abuse of government power. This was so fast, they had evidently prepared for a predictable attack. Additionally, they have announced free online courses so people can learn about the US government, civic politics, and constitutional matters. They are not powerless.

  • Opportunity knocks

    With great luninaries such as RFK and Pete Hegseth in the politburo, it’s easy to overlook the contributions that others make to the government of the USA. Let’s take a quick look at Kristi Noem. If you can’t place her, she’s the psychopath who shot her dog rather than take the trouble to train it.

    Her day job is supposedly SoS for Homeland Security. In actual fact, she lives in a make-believe world where she can wear fancy dress and be whoever she wants for a day. A cowgirl one day, a firefighter the next. Maybe pretending to be a coastguard or – probably her favourite – an ICE agent. These excursions break up the otherwise monotonous racism of her official duties.

    He latest project is to team up with a TV producer to pitch a new reality TV series. The idea is to have a group of immigrants competing against each other for the prize of US citizenship. Not just that, there will be other exciting all-USAian bonuses to the winner, such as airmiles or a lifetime’s supply of gasoline.

    It’s hard to see why nobody has tried this before, aside from it being illegal, corrupt, and below basic human decency. Times have changed. With most of the administration being TV hosts by profession, including her boss, they won’t be short of experience.

    It’ll be a hit. I think it will be a perfect legacy for this administration.