ItsDrGrandmaToYou :verified:<p>[1/3]</p><p>Elon Musk is a good example of today's propaganda. Reasonable people on the left and the right are susceptible to today's propaganda. I am susceptible to today's propaganda. How? Because all it takes is Outrage + Social Media Clicks and the propaganda has liftoff. I get outraged. Do you get outraged? Of course you do. All that's needed is to tap that outrage and, ta-da, the propaganda goes viral. (It is based on what makes reality TV popular.)</p><p>The pattern is this:<br>🚩 Clicks = money. No clicks, no money.<br>🚩 Even legacy media like NYT and CBS require clicks to make money.<br>🚩 Outrage = Clicks<br>🚩 Create outrage<br>🚩 Outrage catches and everyone on social media, including news sites, carry it, speak to it, journos comment on it, reporters do segments on it.</p><p>🚩 The outrage does not need to be true. Most of the far-right stuff is actually absurd, and the more absurd the better. But, do not feel all sanctimonious, because we are no more rational than they are. The left gets outraged over the absurdity. And... with that ... the horse race is off.</p><p>The words used by media regarding Musk only had to call his advisory group by its name "Department of Government Efficiency" and amplify what Musk has to say with some modicum of credibility leaving out context (because, again, they want clicks so they produce the content to manipulate toward outrage). All of a sudden, without any needed help from Musk or Trump, in the publics' minds... left and right... there is a new government department with Musk as unquestioned, unelected overlord. Rather than us being outraged that Musk and Trump are manipulating us to undermine our Constitution and our government to try to get their way, and pissed that <a href="https://c.im/tags/LegacyMedia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LegacyMedia</span></a>, who should fucking know better and do their fucking jobs as the <a href="https://c.im/tags/fourthestate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fourthestate</span></a> , are happily spreading crap, we are outraged over the intended cuts and slashes WHICH CANNOT HAPPEN WITHOUT CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL AND THE CONGRESSIONAL PURSE.<br>______________<br>So, now, I'm going to repost what I posted before:</p><p>Okay, about DOGE (which I will insist on pronouncing doggie because I dislike Elon Musk). ***DOGE is NOT a government department.*** ONLY Congress (that is the House and Senate) can create a government department. A president cannot create a government department. Congress, as part of checks and balances, must vote to establish a department and fund a department. Period. DOGgiE does not exist as a "department." </p><p>(Also, government departments can only be funded, by law, with government funds; so however Musk is paying his non-existent department, those people are not government employees.)</p><p>Rule #1: Do not obey in advance.</p><p>What DOGgiE is is an advisory group to the president. Advisory. Period. Done. So, Musk can tweet whatever the hell he wants to on his social media site about whatever cuts he *is* going to make and departments he *is* shutting down. It's all bullshit. He has no authority to do anything. Congress is the only entity that gets to establish a department and dissolve a department. This is why I ignore what Musk says. He's only trying to get everyone to believe he has authority he does not have. If we all believe he has authority, then it won't raise alarm if he tries to take authority. (Don't you worry, I and many others will scream to high heaven if he tries to take authority.)</p><p>Now, Democrats are VERY aware that there is waste in government. We are very aware that it would serve all of us well if we can eliminate waste. Let's work on that. We are with Real Republicans on that. Let's do it.</p><p>HOWEVER, in reality, the only way a $trillion can be eliminated from government is to actually get rid of programs we, The People, Dems and Repubs, demand be kept: that is, Social Security, Medicare, ACA, Veteran Benefits. DO NOT let MAGA fool you with their double-speak (a.k.a. lies) and he-man taunts (a.k.a. bullying). MAGA has every intention of killing programs we've paid into, we like, and we expect to remain whole. DO. NOT. LET. THEM.<br>____________<br>Note:<br>⌚️ $1000 = 1,000 seconds = approx. 17 minutes<br>⌚️ $1million = 1,000,000 (million) seconds = approx. 12 days (almost a two-week vacation)<br>⌚️ $1billion = 1,000,000,000 (billion) seconds = approx. 32 years <br>⌚️ $1trillion = 1,000,000,000,000 (trillion) seconds = approx. 31,710 years</p><p><a href="https://c.im/tags/Politics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Politics</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/USPolitics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>USPolitics</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/ElonMusk" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ElonMusk</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/vivek_ramaswamy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>vivek_ramaswamy</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/DOGgiE" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DOGgiE</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Trump" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Trump</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Budget2025" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Budget2025</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Propaganda" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Propaganda</span></a></p>