Trump47 First Week & Beyond Catch-All

[ZZLPHeels]

Eliminating FEMA is such a boneheadedly stupid idea that I have to imagine it would meet bipartisan opposition. The Red State legislators living in Hurricane and Tornado alley know how important federal aid is during a disaster, and that their careers would end as soon as a disaster impacted their states as the inevitably failed response to it would be entirely their responsibility. But, I'm sure more than a few would be happy to let thousands of their constituents die needlessly just to "own the libs."

 

[aGDevil2k]

Eliminating FEMA is such a boneheadedly stupid idea that I have to imagine it would meet bipartisan opposition. The Red State legislators living in Hurricane and Tornado alley know how important federal aid is during a disaster, and that their careers would end as soon as a disaster impacted their states as the inevitably failed response to it would be entirely their responsibility. But, I'm sure more than a few would be happy to let thousands of their constituents die needlessly just to "own the libs."

End their careers? They would just say "Biden got rid of FEMA and now you have no homes! We need even more republicans to overcome this democrat abuse of power"

And the reds would believe every word.

 

[ZenMode]

Can we let this one go or give it its own thread?

 

[CFordUNC]

I know I follow him there

Great points, both of y'all. Alright, alright I'm gonna pull the trigger and get on BlueSky today!

 

[GoHeelsweeeehoooo]

I want to join others in welcoming CFordUNC back - I hope all is well with you

 

[nycfan]

Eliminating FEMA is such a boneheadedly stupid idea that I have to imagine it would meet bipartisan opposition. The Red State legislators living in Hurricane and Tornado alley know how important federal aid is during a disaster, and that their careers would end as soon as a disaster impacted their states as the inevitably failed response to it would be entirely their responsibility. But, I'm sure more than a few would be happy to let thousands of their constituents die needlessly just to "own the libs."

I dunno — apparently what Trump has told legislators is he wants to replace FEMA with block grants to affected states (sometimes with conditions other times not?) and let the state agencies apply the funds as they see fit. So I think a lot of Red States might embrace that.

 

[CFordUNC]

I want to join others in welcoming CFordUNC back - I hope all is well with you

Much appreciated! Thanks a ton to you and everyone else- it really means a lot to me. I've been well- the calendar year-end 2024 and beginning of this year have been real busy so I was just taking a little bit of an internet break. We've got baby #2 on the way, I'm changing roles at my company, and we're busy getting our house in Birmingham on the market while simultaneously preparing our move back home to the Tar Heel state. So lots been going on but I'm thrilled to be back with y'all- this board is the absolute best.

 

[CFordUNC]

Welcome back, CFord, to the board and to NC..

Thank you, sir We are so back!

 

[LosPollosHermanos]

Why are you doing this? This is such an odd hill for you to die on, but it appears that's what you want.

1. It was not my characterization of the excluded evidence -- it was the Second Circuit's. I've added basically zero gloss here. I'm just quoting verbatim from the opinion. I expressed no opinion as to whether he would have been convicted; I merely cited the district and appeals courts contentions.

2. I'm sorry that you "have a problem" with the use of preponderance evidence in sentencing but it's common. It's so common and unobjectionable that Ulbrecht didn't even seriously challenge it. Sentencing factors have never been required to be beyond a reasonable doubt. In fact, until 2000, judges could rely on facts not found by the jury to justify a sentencing enhancement that would yield a sentence greater than the statutory maximum.

Anyway, there's this, from Second Circuit:

The drug offenses alone—ignoring all other illicit materials sold on the site —yielded a calculated offense level of 50. Of that calculation, only two levels are attributable to Ulbricht's “credible threats of directed violence” associated with the murders for hire. PSR ¶ 94. Thus, even without considering that enhancement, the drug convictions yielded an offense level of 48, which is higher than the maximum offense level recognized by the Guidelines, for which a sentence of life imprisonment is recommended even for someone who, like Ulbricht, has no prior criminal convictions.

3. You keep using this phrase "uninformed arrogance." Why? It's clear from this discussion that you are patently uninformed, because you couldn't even bother to read the opinions in the case. You watched a documentary instead, lol. Those documentaries are always flattering toward the subject because that's the condition for them getting made. If you didn't know that, you should have. In any event, now you do.

4. You have no substantive response to bullying, I see. Every bully in the world blames the victim -- just as you did (in a completely non-specific way). Your behavior here is like a domestic or child abuser. I have no idea if you've done those things, but a person who has done those things would post just like you. You think about it. When you're bullying people and then blaming them for it, you have badly lost your way. You've basically become MAGA muck. Congrats!

Bless your heart, really.

 

[farce©]

I dunno — apparently what Trump has told legislators is he wants to replace FEMA with block grants to affected states (sometimes with conditions other times not?) and let the state agencies apply the funds as they see fit. So I think a lot of Red States might embrace that.

So every disaster would require a separate vote to appropriate funds from Congress? With conditions or not, or various poison pills or not? God knows the kind of nonsense red state MAGAs would put in relief bills; Bible classes in all schools taught by fundamentalist preachers, outlawing dreadlocks, forbidding vaccination requirements for public schools, wait…

 

[CFordUNC]

Gives me major McCarthy vibes. A good time to remember that Trump was mentored by Roy Cohn.

Yikes.

I think that most corporate and higher ed DEI programs, even if well-intended, are awkward, clunky, poorly-executed, and ultimately in many cases an inefficient and ineffective utilization of resources. I've long thought that elite college admissions practices should ignore race and sex altogether in favor of socioeconomic and geographic diversity. I also think that corporate hiring practices should almost always favor qualification and related experience over all else.

That said, it truly is fascinating that the people most obsessed with ending DEI programs never replace DEI programs with anything that actually *ensures* merit-based hiring. Instead, they promote ideologues and loyalists: RFK Jr. to run NIH (despite having no qualifications and gunning down steroids and raw milk); Tulsi Gabbard to ODNI (despite having never worked in intelligence), and Pete Hegseth to run the DOD (despite a severe alcohol problem and having never risen to a senior military role). They complain about nominations like Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, despite her having a better resume than most people who receive the same honor (and a notable lack of sexual harassment charges, right Brett? Or porn addiction, lookin' at you, Clarence!).

Conservatives don't care about merit. They never have. As with everything else in the conservative movement, it was all a lie.

 

[ZenMode]

Having federal departments dedicated to making sure enough non-white, straight, cis people are employed seems like an incredible waste of money.

 

[sringwal]

Yikes.

I think that most corporate and higher ed DEI programs, even if well-intended, are awkward, clunky, poorly-executed, and ultimately in many cases an inefficient and ineffective utilization of resources. I've long thought that elite college admissions practices should ignore race and sex altogether in favor of socioeconomic and geographic diversity. I also think that corporate hiring practices should almost always favor qualification and related experience over all else.

That said, it truly is fascinating that the people most obsessed with ending DEI programs never replace DEI programs with anything that actually *ensures* merit-based hiring. Instead, they promote ideologues and loyalists: RFK Jr. to run NIH (despite having no qualifications and gunning down steroids and raw milk); Tulsi Gabbard to ODNI (despite having never worked in intelligence), and Pete Hegseth to run the DOD (despite a severe alcohol problem and having never risen to a senior military role). They complain about nominations like Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, despite her having a better resume than most people who receive the same honor (and a notable lack of sexual harassment charges, right Brett? Or porn addiction, lookin' at you, Clarence!).

Conservatives don't care about merit. They never have. As with everything else in the conservative movement, it was all a lie.

Counterpoint - diversity appears to lead to higher profit margins in corporations.

Diversity wins: How inclusion matters

Although the business case for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) is stronger than ever, many companies’ progress has stalled. A systematic approach and bold action can help.

www.mckinsey.com

"Moreover, we found that the greater the representation, the higher the likelihood of outperformance. Companies with more than 30 percent women executives were more likely to outperform companies where this percentage ranged from 10 to 30, and in turn these companies were more likely to outperform those with even fewer women executives, or none at all. A substantial differential likelihood of outperformance—48 percent—separates the most from the least gender-diverse companies.

"In the case of ethnic and cultural diversity, our business-case findings are equally compelling: in 2019, top-quartile companies outperformed those in the fourth one by 36 percent in profitability, slightly up from 33 percent in 2017 and 35 percent in 2014. As we have previously found, the likelihood of outperformance continues to be higher for diversity in ethnicity than for gender."

 

[CFordUNC]

Counterpoint - diversity appears to lead to higher profit margins in corporations.

Diversity wins: How inclusion matters

Although the business case for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) is stronger than ever, many companies’ progress has stalled. A systematic approach and bold action can help.

www.mckinsey.com

"Moreover, we found that the greater the representation, the higher the likelihood of outperformance. Companies with more than 30 percent women executives were more likely to outperform companies where this percentage ranged from 10 to 30, and in turn these companies were more likely to outperform those with even fewer women executives, or none at all. A substantial differential likelihood of outperformance—48 percent—separates the most from the least gender-diverse companies.

"In the case of ethnic and cultural diversity, our business-case findings are equally compelling: in 2019, top-quartile companies outperformed those in the fourth one by 36 percent in profitability, slightly up from 33 percent in 2017 and 35 percent in 2014. As we have previously found, the likelihood of outperformance continues to be higher for diversity in ethnicity than for gender."

Wow. Thanks for that link- that's great to hear! I should probably do a little more research before opining next time. That's really neat- and really, makes complete logical sense.

 

[farce©]

Having federal departments dedicated to making sure enough non-white, straight, cis people are employed seems like an incredible waste of money.

Yeah, preventing discrimination shouldn’t be function of government.

 

[BlooVooDoo]

Eliminating FEMA is such a boneheadedly stupid idea that I have to imagine it would meet bipartisan opposition. The Red State legislators living in Hurricane and Tornado alley know how important federal aid is during a disaster, and that their careers would end as soon as a disaster impacted their states as the inevitably failed response to it would be entirely their responsibility. But, I'm sure more than a few would be happy to let thousands of their constituents die needlessly just to "own the libs."

Most Republicans in Congress are too pussified to say anything against him. Even those that do water down their criticisms to something like “well, I probably wouldn’t do that, but I’m not the president and don’t have all the information he has, so it’s probably best to just wait and see what happens.”

 

[Healing]

Having federal departments dedicated to making sure enough non-white, straight, cis people are employed seems like an incredible waste of money.

Medical outcomes would sure contradict your claim.

 

[altmin]

So every disaster would require a separate vote to appropriate funds from Congress? With conditions or not, or various poison pills or not? God knows the kind of nonsense red state MAGAs would put in relief bills; Bible classes in all schools taught by fundamentalist preachers, outlawing dreadlocks, forbidding vaccination requirements for public schools, wait…

Then having the equipment that FEMA owns/deploys either in storage somewhere in each individual state, or renting it from a state that does own it.

 

[Ramrouser]

DEI in the federal government is chasing a problem that doesn't exist. The federal workforce is almost 19% Black - which is an overrepresentation (which is fine). Where's the problem? We don't need useless and expensive DEI departments in federal agencies.

 

[sringwal]

Right! Democrats are awful at messaging.

Wow. Thanks for that link- that's great to hear! I should probably do a little more research before opining next time. That's really neat- and really, makes complete logical sense.

Well, exactly. It completely make sense. And it's a study that I have seen discussed by non-politicians a fair amount.

And, yet, because democrats are so awful at messaging, it doesn't come up a lot in the political sphere, at least from what I have seen. Democrats should be shouting "diversity = profitability" from the rooftops. It should be in everywhere - campaign speeches, TV interviews, social media.