Government Workers Say Their Out-of-Office Replies Were Forcibly Changed to Blame Democrats for Shutdown

Have they tried all the boxes about it?

I don't think it was designed as that at all. But like anything long-term with no protection or regulation, it will be exploited. This is as guaranteed as sunrise.

The fascists in other countries are taking notes after seeing how easily Trump and the MAGAts are managing to get away with this bullshit.

The rest of us need to wake the fuck up and push back agaist thw faccists before it gets too late in our countries.

It’s also not that easy to get visas for decent places to live.

The American passport is incredibly strong, we get Visa On Arrival to Japan and Korea, 3 month e-visa for Vietnam, and the application is a pain in the ass, but americans get a 90 day/10 year tourist visa for China if you apply in America (but you have to be near one of the visa centers), and 60 day/10 year if you apply in Vietnam, Seoul, or Tokyo.

I can understand immigration restrictions because they've always been in the interest of maintaining a healthy economy that can contribute plenty toward future infrastructure. This is just the play for as long as history is recorded. As long as we've had borders, and walls, fences, guards... It's common for countries to go through periods of restriction to only skilled workers, specific industries, etc. otherwise it's working internally on itself for a period.

But when you've got a booming GDP, restricting visas makes as much sense as having substantial poverty among citizens. Like sovereignty and protection of those within was never on the cards, it's just straight up fascism, as you said. You get the same idiots saying they're the most powerful military in the world capable of destroying anything—which isn't far from true—also saying a brown family is going to destroy the nation... Uh-huh. Sure... One of these things has to be a lie for both cannot be true.

Maybe you should try being more privileged.

Only gets worse the longer you leave it. Myself and many friends I have met along the way one day just did it, with nothing. Within two years, things are so much better than if they were spent in the same situation. The worse that can happen is you just go back to what you have now. So what you have now is the worse-case scenario.

Edit: Oh, I mean there's cavets to that, obviously. Like you could get ruined. But that's why less likely than getting ruined by a drunk driver or something. Point is, what you have control of will always end up how you imagined.

I know in my country, such a thing is illegal af and there'd be very damaging outcry from the public if a gov tried it. But this country and the ones I've lived in, the governments seem to understand they're in service of the public. This is one of the reasons why governments came to exist and why they are still relevent, after all.

First I'm 100% with you, Azure audits who set those messages and they do need to be reported.

Conspiracy time: Every furloughed employee with that message set could be considered in violation of the Hatch Act and that carries with it a possible penalty of removal from federal employment, debarment from federal employment for up to 5 years, and possibly up to a $1,000 civil penalty. I'm really hoping the plan isn't to start firing these workers from agencies the current administration doesn't like to begin with.

It's insane how many people think if all the rational people left the government...

That will somehow fight Trump's plan to make the government ineffective.

Fucking toddler logic, and it's widely up voted.

No wonder shit's so fucked.

if you're planning to leave the country, why not

if you're planning to stay, do everything in your power to stop them

Not only is Mars a frigid desert without enough air, at this point any Mars colony is pretty likely to be Elon Musk's company town/fiefdom/slave plantation, which is obviously even worse.

Did you see that "just before dawn" pic? Peaceful...

Don't even need a college degree.

Australia, Spain, UK, Portugal (they may even still be doing that super cheap buying a property thing for foreign workers they're trying to attract in smaller towns), Finland... I assume the other countries around Finland...

Many of these places they are more concerned about filling industries regardless of your qualifications. Education and hospitality are lways in demand. I have four American friends that went to Australia and NZ for short-term visas and just decided to never leave and are PR now. No degrees, though two were former US servicemen which may have boosted their credits.

The only catch for pursuing PR is you either have to have an employer happy to sponsor you, or you are told which cities and industries need you the most. After some time for the government to know you're not fucking them around, welcome to your new home.

Teaching English is a classic too. Especially in SK and Japan. You don't need to know the language well as English is expected to be the natively spoken language in classrooms. Have a friend that never left China doing that and two that never left Japan. No degrees; only basics of the national languages. They obviously have become fluently bilingual over time.

He basically shredded the Hatch act his first term, there were no consequences, of course he's just gonna flat out ignore it this time.

Forcing those military generals to sit through a campaign speech showed that the Hatch Act is basically dead.

34 times convicted felon, who knows how many more he's committed without being convicted.

I wouldn't call him dumb. If he was literally stupid he wouldn't have made it this far. He knows exactly what he does and doesn't care. Hes evil as hell, but not dumb.

Google remove paywall

Skeleton watches computer.jpg

Maybe not fraudulent, since it's not asking for money, but I see where you're coming from. I'm not sure if there's any recourse for the employees affected - did they lose money (for example) because of that message?

Less than 65% of americans voted in 2024

The point is the overwhelming majority of folks are MAGA true believers. A good chunk of that 70% voted for Trump, not because he convinced them hes a good president, but just as a vote against the status quo. They'll support a better option for that if there is one presented.

So we need some sort of ..red army..?

Shit is the Russian Revolution a better model for what America's upcoming period of political violence looks like? Because the "Second Civil War" invokes ideas of a clean boundary between belligerents, akin to the North/South. But it's obvious that it won't be like that this time, and until now I hadn't considered Russia as a better example.

Is he really capable of leading the party he's always struck me as the sort of person that would get out of depth in a slightly melted ice cube. Trump gets away with it because he just says it all does something ridiculous and then the story moves on to that. Vance doesn't really command the kind of following they need.

It will definitely be a big baby step

The Cheeto is definitely a cult of personality, and I suspect it will be harder to rally all conservatives behind his replacement. Cult leaders dying can solidify a cult if done correctly (Scientology), but it's also quite likely that it dissolves.

Anal probing would be a welcome change of pace.