John Oliver discusses the first four weeks of Donald Trump’s second term as president, the strategy behind some of the choices his administration has made and why it is indeed fuck time. You heard us: It’s fuck time.I responded to the election of Trump 1.0 by writing Kunstler said Americans would elect maniacs. He is even more of a maniac now and his supporting cast this time is, if anything, more maniacal than he is. The one I was worried about before January 20th was Russell Vought, one of the authors of Project 2025. He's now Director of the Office of Management and Budget, putting him in a position to implement his plans to downsize the federal government. That's bad enough. What I didn't anticipate was Elon Musk taking on more than an advisory role. Nope, he and his minions are carrying out the downsizing of the federal government much more rapidly than Vought could have using legal means. It looks like what Musk did to the site formerly known as Twitter. When Americans wanted government run like a business, I don't think they wanted a government run like one of Trump's businesses or X under Musk.
So, what do we do to slow or stop "a hostile government takeover?" I used to be the director of a nonprofit, so I like the idea of supporting NGOs. Indivisible and MoveOn would be good ones to help. Also, civil society will be under increasing attack and needs all the reinforcement it can get. I also like the rest of Oliver's suggestions. The audience seemed particularly enthusiastic about replacing Democratic lawmakers who aren't up to the moment. More AOCs, anyone?
Before I go, I'm congratulating Oliver and his writers on winning the WGA Award for Comedy/Variety – Talk or Sketch Series. This is on top of winning two Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, in September. Keep up the good work!
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