“Now he’s taken over America, gleefully brandishing a chainsaw as he celebrates ending thousands of good American citizens’ livelihoods with sadistic glee.”
A protest on February 24 that began in front of Congressman Tom McClintock’s Stanislaus County office spilled over into downtown Modesto as demonstrators came and went and numbers swelled into the hundreds. No one really expected McClintock to be present; he’s notorious as an absentee Republican who is seen in his district about as often as a lunar eclipse. Nevertheless, the demonstration served its purpose to amplify demands McClintock do his Constitutional duty and resist the destruction of America’s democratic Republic.
All across the United States, patriotic Americans are protesting the takeover of their government by Elon Musk, who is rapidly installing an autocratic regime, aided and abetted by Donald Trump. In town halls, packed arenas, and on street corners across the country, the American people are sending a loud and clear message that they’ve had enough.
They’ve had enough of impulsive cuts to agencies that monitor the safety of nuclear weapons plants — cuts that later had to be hastily rescinded. They’ve had enough of the ignorance and arrogance behind proposed cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. They’ve had enough of Elon Musk and his Muskrats combing through sensitive government data, much of it personal and private. They’ve had enough of Donald Trump’s fawning alliance with the murderer Putin. They’ve had enough Nazi salutes.
It’s taken a while for the nation to gather its wits after sustaining a blitzkrieg of sucker punches thrown by the nominal president and his smirking puppet master. Almost no one could have imagined the damage done to the American Republic in these few short weeks since Trump turned our government over to a South African billionaire whose genius for predatory takeovers of innovative companies has made him the richest man in the world. Now he’s taken over America, gleefully brandishing a chainsaw as he celebrates ending thousands of good American citizens’ livelihoods with sadistic glee.
Materialistic America’s worship of the Golden Calf has led too many people to believe that Musk’s wealth must be a sign of executive and innovative genius. Even the dimmest wits among them may be starting to realize that Musk’s blundering cuts to essential services and staff are a flashing red light — maybe he’s not so much interested in cutting waste and improving efficiency as he is in crippling a government that has dozens of investigations into his various businesses. Maybe he’s much more interested in sowing fear and chaos than in the welfare of the American people. Actions speak louder than words.
Too many people seem to have forgotten the concepts behind phrases like “conflict of interest” and adages about foxes guarding hen houses. Numerous complaints about Musk’s businesses filed at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) are almost certain to go unanswered since Trump fired CFPB Director Rohit Chopra.
Several investigations by the Department of Transportation (DOT) into Musk’s SpaceX Company, including into “loss of a Starship vehicle after a test flight” will doubtless cease now that Trump has fired the DOT Inspector General. In fact, every agency investigating Elon Musk has now been crippled either by Trump or Musk himself, always with the fawning acquiescence of the president.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s approval rating is worse than any president’s since 1953. Not surprisingly, Elon Musk’s approval rating is even lower. A recent survey reported by Reuters found that,
“58% of respondents said they were concerned that federal programs such as Social Security retirement payments and student aid could be delayed by Musk’s campaign, double the 29% of respondents who said they did not worry about it.”
Regardless of whether anyone supports or opposes Elon Musk’s takeover of the government, most experts on Constitutional law agree that his maneuvers represent a severe threat to Congressional authority, especially the power of the purse. Many of his and Trump’s recent actions have been halted by court orders, with more to come.
Protests against Elon Musk’s unprecedented access to sensitive government records are growing nationwide and around the world, but the real question is whether Trump and Musk will be able to do away with democratic oversight and control altogether. Only the American people stand in the way.
This, as nearly all Congressional Republicans pee down their legs and cede their Constitutional power to an unelected maniac who is in fact rendering all of them to be as useful as the enduring phrase, “…tits on a boar…”
When the realizations sink in that two legged stools cannot stand, these Republicans must soon choose; lackey, or resistance.
With the Supreme Court on wobbly legs, our Constitutional Democratic Republic can only be saved by those in power supporting the promise and principles vested in those who swore to preserve and protect it.
Let their oath to the Constitution of the United States of America, effective March 4, 1789, be their guide.
Those in power are the so- called republicans and so far they’ve shown no desire to uphold their oath to the constitution and they won’t because they’re all craven appointees of Trump. Don’t look to the Supreme Court for deliverance from the madness. They’re heavily tilted in the wrong direction and at least one of them is rotten through and through with corruption.
I am especially disgusted with Congress for abdicating from all their duties and powers to a maniacal madman.
As for McClintock, you can’t get through on the phones because of “heavy call volume”. He was going to have an open office hour in Oakdale …yes…an hour, just with staff, not him. And that was abruptly canceled. I’m sure the nation wide surge in angry voters packing town halls was the reason for cancellation. McClintock’s staff was contacted by the Bee for comment re: protesters and got crickets. ( as of 2/25…maybe someone found their backbone and replied by now).
Calling twice a week to express my disgust. Still able to talk to an assistant in the DC office, but his local office says mailbox is full.
I received an email invitation at 10:22 AM on the 24th from McClintock to his Modesto office for the 25th. At 4:47 PM he canceled his office hours. I guess he didn’t really want to talk with us, after all.
Doubtful Mary re: getting back to Bee but I could be wrong. McClintock is great on telephone townhalls as he has complete control over the conversation. I sat thru one to see if I could talk, but no. Several people really wanted an answer from him, one re: what are you going to do for the Central Valley? and started to say more and McClintock cut him off and started voicing propaganda. One lady wanted to know why he voted to stop the Womens vote and he said not and she proceeded to talk and he cut her off also. Those who complained about regulations for guns got lots of attention from him. He even mentioned the need for a country wide okay to do away of the regulations. All in all it was a frustrating experience as McClintock and other Republicans, who have taken oaths to the Constitution, are fully behind the Elon Musk destruction of the operation of the US Gov.. Never mind the actions being taken are more like a train crash then a real try to get rid of waste and fraud. The very people who WERE put in positions of Inspector Generals were there to stop Waste and Fraud, were the first people to be fired by Trump. Info now per MSNBC, is showing most Waste, fraud proof claims are bogus, old and already done away with by the Gov. they are gutting now with the DOGE frauds themselves. Freezes on Congress authorized money has been said by Judges, that freezes are unlawful and should return to normal. Those very orders are being ignored by Trump, congress and Elon Musk and disease etc. and all other things, people involved are suffering. They are firing employees with nameless emails and told because of a bad performance and in most cases that was nothing but an ongoing lie. Nuclear, CDC, USAID, IRS, Education, FEMA, Parks and fire control and many others including outbreaks of Old diseases like Measles and even Ebola are rearing their ugly heads. . New Cabinet of HHs seems to think this is normal. Activate folks before they, oath breakers, are more in charge and you aren’t able to. That’s the way Dictator Regimes operate.