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- Manlobbi
Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)
No. of Recommendations: 13
A Cataract of Corruption by Charlie Sykes
On Monday, there was undoubtedly some joy (or at least grim satisfaction) in the far reaches of Hell Purgatory, where Warren Harding and Richard Nixon could be secure in the knowledge that they would never again be remembered as “the most corrupt president ever.” To be sure, Donald Trump had long since usurped that crown, but on Monday he stood in the middle of Fifth Avenue and said Fuq It.
Let’s quickly review.
Trump fired the head of the Office of Government Ethics, who had just recently begun his five-year term.
Trump also fired the head of the whistleblower-protecting Office of Special Counsel (who was at least temporarily reinstated by a federal judge).
On Wednesday, we learned that Trump’s DOJ had also dropped a criminal probe into WWE boss and Trump crony Vince McMahon. “The revelation comes as appeals judges on Friday revealed that a grand jury had considered whether the 78-year-old billionaire broke the law by hiding allegations of sexual misconduct from two female former employees, whom he ended up paying $10.5 million to keep quiet.”
Trump ended enforcement of the 1977 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the law banning bribery of foreign officials. And speaking of bribery…
Trump pardoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who went to prison for eight years for trying to sell Barack Obama’s senate seat.
He also shut down the federal bribery case against NYC Mayor Eric Adams. The NYT described the directive from Acting Deputy AG Emil Bove to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office as raising “urgent questions about the administration of justice during Mr. Trump’s second term and the independence of federal prosecutors.” But actually, there are no questions…. because we just got the answer.Add to that-the mass firing of IGs and the shuttering of the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau and shutting down key anti-crime units at the FBI.
It’s almost as if Trump just lit up a “Welcome Criminals!” sign under the one that reads “I Am The Law & Order President”
At least you have to admire the chutzpah of the guy.
(For those unaware, the classic example of “chutzpah” is the guy who murders his parents and then throws himself on the mercy of the court as an orphan)
Public Service Announcement: Keep your eyes on what the other hand is doing over here:
https://www.axios.com/2025/02/12/fdic-insurance-tr...
No. of Recommendations: 2
I did a triple take on the use of "cataract", but yes, it's an uncommon usage that I almost forgot about:
cataract (n.)
early 15c., "a waterfall, floodgate, furious rush of water," from Latin cataracta "waterfall," from Greek katarhaktēs "waterfall, broken water; a kind of portcullis," noun use of an adjective compound meaning "swooping, down-rushing," from kata "down" (see cata-). The second element is traced either to arhattein "to strike hard" (in which case the compound is kat-arrhattein), or to rhattein "to dash, break."
Its alternative sense in Latin of "portcullis" probably passed through French and gave English the meaning "eye disease characterized by opacity of the lens" (early 15c.), on the notion of "obstruction" (to eyesight). Related: Cataractous.
No. of Recommendations: 0
But you defeated all this.
You wrote a post on it.
Boom, you showed em.
:)
LOL
No. of Recommendations: 2
A Cataract of Corruption by Charlie Sykes
Charlie Sykes is a full of crap RINO Who hates President Trump
and lost his job at WTMJ, a local Milwaukee conservative radio station because of his tirades of his bitter hate for Trump he could not control.
No. of Recommendations: 8
Charlie Sykes is a full of crap RINO Who hates President Trump
Full of crap or not, the things he lists are true and easily verifiable, as are the items I appended at the end of my post.
Why do you never actually challenge facts? Why is everything you write simply cheering for your team and booing for the opposition?
That was quite a list that Charlie gave. What items on it are not true?
No. of Recommendations: 2
Why do you never actually challenge facts? Why is everything you write simply cheering for your team and booing for the opposition?
President Trump can fire most anyone he wants in government.
President Trump can pardon anyone he wants, same as Biden did pardoning the Biden crime family including Hunter, and speaking of welcoming back criminals to the community Biden pardoned
Leonard Peltier who murdered two FBI agents.
The list goes on....
Charlie Sykes is still full of crap who hates President Trump and continues to write hit pieces
on President Trump with inconsequential nonsense.
No. of Recommendations: 18
President Trump can fire most anyone he wants in government.
No, he cannot.
Under the original Pendleton Act and the Civil Service Reform Act, nearly all government employees can only be fired for cause. Again, political junkies tend to think of policy-adjacent folks when thinking about federal workers - but the overwhelming majority of the federal civilian workforce consists of people who are doing jobs like working in a VA hospital or support roles on a military base or maintaining the grounds on federal lands or the like. They can't just be fired because the President deems them inadequately "loyal" or "supportive of the President's agenda" - in fact, they're not allowed to be fired for any reason that isn't based on merit or job performance. Not only can they not be fired at the whim of the President, but they have both statutory and constitutional rights to a formal due process review to make sure they get their jobs back if they are fired for an illegitimate reason.
The President is not a king. Nearly all of the agencies that make up the federal government were created at the direction of Congress, and Congress has passed laws that direct how those agencies are to be staffed and how people are to be fired if necessary. Because the President's job is to execute the laws, not make them, he has to follow those laws in managing the federal government. It is not like the closely held private corporate structure he is used to.
No. of Recommendations: 1
They're not allowed to be fired for any reason that isn't based on merit or job performance.
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A manager in private business, who desires to terminate for cause, knows how tedious and almost impossible it is to make a case acceptable to HR. HRs basic approach was
"We could be sued" (there is that word, "could", which in this case supported inaction by HR). It was just easier and less risky for the Company for HR to force you to keep a marginal employee. That is unless you invest a year or two documenting your case, and even then not knowing your carefully documented reason will pass muster. Bette to wait for a layoff opportunity, a concept that does not exist in Government where employees apparently own their jobs.
No. of Recommendations: 1
No, he cannot.It seems President Trump is doing a good job of it getting rid of who he doesn’t wants..
SNIP
“President Donald Trump took over the White House less than a month ago, and in keeping with his reality television show catchphrase from The Apprentice - "You're Fired" - he has already removed more than 200 employees.
Some amount of turnover is typical for a new administration, but Trump has made massive changes during his first weeks in office. He offered buyouts to millions of government workers and put a stop to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes.
On Friday, Trump fired the nation's top record keeper, US Archivist Colleen Shogan.
Later that night, he pledged to fire board of trustees members for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts - and to name himself as chairman.
Here's a look at some of the major dismissals during Trump's first few weeks in office.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g3yk3m3z4oSnip
“Firings, freezes and layoffs: A look at Trump’s moves against federal employees and programs
Trump has also targeted specific government officials, firing Democratic Federal Elections Committee (FEC) chair Ellen Weintraub, according to a letter she shared online. Weintraub alleges her firing was not legal.
The FEC enforces campaign finance laws and oversees federal elections.
The president also dismissed Gwynne Wilcox, the first black woman to serve on the National Labor Relations Board, who is now suing the administration.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/youre-fired-people-trum...
No. of Recommendations: 6
It seems President Trump is doing a good job of it getting rid of who he doesn’t wants..
SNIP
“President Donald Trump took over the White House less than a month ago, and in keeping with his reality television show catchphrase from The Apprentice - "You're Fired" - he has already removed more than 200 employees.
There are 2.3 million civilian federal employees. 200 is a very, very small number.
There are about 6,000 federal employees that are not covered by the Civil Service Act - they are Presidential appointees that involved in formulating and implementing policy. Those people all serve at the pleasure of the President (although about a third of them require Senate confirmation).
Nearly all of the rest are governed by the Pendleton and Civil Service Acts, and can't be fired by the President just because he doesn't want them.
Again, I think political junkies (like us) often make the mistake of thinking of federal employees as policy-setting upper management, rather than almost entirely consisting of people who perform utterly non-political ordinary roles (like prison guards or VA nurses or cooks and mechanics on an Army base). The tiny sliver of federal employees that make and implement policy decisions and serve at the pleasure of the President constitutes a quarter of a percentage point of the workforce. Almost all the rest are part of the Civil Service and aren't to be hired or fired based on their political views - and many of them are also governed by union contracts to boot.
No. of Recommendations: 1
The president also dismissed Gwynne Wilcox, the first black woman to serve on the National Labor Relations Board, who is now suing the administration.”
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Why mention she is black, is that some sort of qualification?
No. of Recommendations: 11
Why mention she is black, is that some sort of qualification?
Being black does seem to qualify one for being fired as a “DEI hire”.
No. of Recommendations: 0
Why mention she is black, is that some sort of qualification?
Merely copied and pasted the article as it stated. Color makes no difference to me.
No. of Recommendations: 1
Why mention she is black, is that some sort of qualification? - Asks bhm
Bill replies,
Being black does seem to qualify one for being fired as a “DEI hire”. Bill
---------------
Thus avoiding any attempt at a real answer. Fine by me, I have to wonder about why whoever wrote it felt it was important to include this detail.
No. of Recommendations: 1
>>Why mention she is black, is that some sort of qualification?<<
Merely copied and pasted the article as it stated. Color makes no difference to me.
------------------
Makes no difference to me either. I knew by the formatting your quoting something someone else wrote and did mean to question your intentions. Sorry for the confusion.
My rhetorical question was really directed at the person who actually wrote the words... I get a whiff of activist from his prose....
No. of Recommendations: 8
Thus avoiding any attempt at a real answer. Fine by me, I have to wonder about why whoever wrote it felt it was important to include this detail.
It is a real answer.
No. of Recommendations: 4
It IS needed to say that a human being is "blacK"
Why?
It cements the White Liberal's superior status - - which they treasure.
It allows the White Liberal never to let a black person be just that - a person. He's gotta be "African American Male" or if the White Liberal is really feeling paternal racist pride, he'll say "people of color"
It allows the White Liberal to remind the "black" person that his good fortune is a result of his disadvantaged race, AND because of the auspices of the White Liberal.
They can take umbrage but many times these paternal racists treat other people like playthings. No, NOT just because they've kept "blacks" in inner city failing schools. Not just because they promote and cheer the disintegration of nuclear families.
Just look how they talk.
"Kavanaugh"
"Roberts"
"Alito"
Yet for other SCOTUS picks with an ethnic sounding name they wouldn't give respect of the surname - they love saying "Ketanji" and "Kamala" .....and who can forget "TRAYVON!" - but not Martin, or Mr Martin.
These White 401K Liberals sit around in their non diverse enclaves, content that they've segregated blacks away from themselves, and can have a rather reliable vote based on dependence and resentment.
Mind you the Right has learned recently. We are fomenting the same thing with poor whites in the South and elsewhere.
No. of Recommendations: 3
Charlie Sykes is a full of crap RINO Who hates President Trump
Have another tall glass of MAGA koolaid. You've earned it.
Real Republicans who love our country, traditions and Constitution, hate Trump. Of course they do. Only cultish fools defend that corrupt criminal moron.
No. of Recommendations: 5
President Trump can fire most anyone he wants in government.
You are laughably ignorant.
And your posts indicate you would be really just fine with a dictator. Sick.
No. of Recommendations: 3
Being black does seem to qualify one for being fired as a “DEI hire”. Bill
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Thus avoiding any attempt at a real answer. Fine by me, I have to wonder about why whoever wrote it felt it was important to include this detail.
I think that's a very real answer and why it was written. emPHAsis
