Fired Federal Workers Protest Being Purged By Benevolent King Trump
The nerve of some people!
Thousands turned up to protest the Trump administration in Washington DC and across the United States yesterday. Dubbed "Not My President's Day," people in DC rallied at the Capitol Reflecting Pool outside of the US Capitol Building and called for Congress to exert its constitutional authority to act as a check on Donald Trump's blatant flouting of longstanding laws.
In other words, this was DC area residents, many of them veterans and federal workers, calling on elected officials to do their goddamn jobs.
A retired Army officer, who spent 40 years in the service, refused to give their name, MOS (job), age or area of residency because, she said, "I'm afraid if I tell you anything, they could come after my pension and benefits."
The young, unelected employees Elon Musk brought in as staffers for "DOGE," his unincorporated, non-governmental organization with no legal authority — "TraitorTots," as one sign read — have generated an exhaustive slew of headlines by attacking federal workers. In less than 30 days, they have attempted to fire civil servants en masse, canceled domestic and foreign aid programs, and illegally clawed back federal spending.
It’s scaring the hell out of people who spent their careers forgoing high-paying private sector gigs in favor of lower-paying government jobs where they could do the dirty work of actually making the world a better place.
Alex, 30, of Maryland, worked for the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH). Last week he was suddenly fired by the DOGE team. Alex was carrying a sign that simply read, “I kept pacemakers safe.”
”CDRH makes sure things like pacemakers don’t kill people,” Alex said. “It’s complicated to explain everything CDRH does really quickly, but it’s the kind of thing that doesn’t really cost taxpayers any money, and saves lives.”
It was a something I heard repeatedly throughout the day. Someone’s rather nerdy and boring job was not easy to explain in a short, sexy sentence, but it was important because it prevented unnecessary death and suffering. How, they wondered, could anyone want to lower the quality of life for humanity in the name of personal profit?
Sara Bernard, 46, of DC, is a retired lieutenant commander in the US Navy. "This is an injustice, what's happening today," Bernard said while holding a sign that read, "Vets stand united with USAID.”
"There's a complete lack of process and procedure. People don't realize what they [DOGE, Trump, Musk, et al.] are doing."
Nobody seemed more concerned than actual residents of DC. The recently introduced "BOWSER Act," so named after DC’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, would repeal what little governing authority the city has. The 1973 DC Home Rule Act gave DC some governing autonomy, and the city bitterly fought and won for some budgetary authority in 2017. But there is always some petty and ignorant congressman who insists on screwing with DC residents like a feudal lord.
"If they wanted, they could turn our schools into for-profits," said David Magee, 41, a life-long DC resident and a teacher in DC public schools. "Erasing accountability at every level does not seem to be making things any better. Why not try to fix what we have?"
Standing with his child in front of the Capitol, Magee smiled as he flipped his sign to reveal another. “BORF Hates Trump,” it read. BORF was a graffiti artist, and later, a guerrilla art movement against excesses of power and wealth during the administration of George W. Bush, and later, Barack Obama.
”It’s a thing that only DC residents will understand. Maybe we need we bring BORF back?”
Found on Bluesky.
“Henceforth, any plane that lands and flips will be known as the Fetterman landing.”
A very related message from God:
God
@godpod.bsky.social
When a judge stops the president from doing something illegal, that’s not a “threat to democracy,” that’s a check on the president’s power. That's the whole damn point.
https://bsky.app/profile/godpod.bsky.social/post/3lifktenxd22o