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oilyhips.bsky.social
Oily Hips
@oilyhips.bsky.social
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The blues ain’t nothing but a good person feeling bad
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gruber.foo
I will add that this is not like North Korea. It’s like the cheap Temu knock-off of North Korean “Dear Leader” cult worship. It’s embarrassing as hell, and must be denounced, but more importantly it must be mocked. It’s our mockery that makes clear this is just kayfabe authoritarianism.
August 28, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Reposted by Oily Hips
donmoyn.bsky.social
This is actually worse than I assumed:
*DOGE officials looked at SSA data, did not understand it and claimed there was fraud
*SSA career staff explained the data showed no fraud
*DOGE: we don’t trust civil servants, will hand power to a 21 year old intern

Nothing could convince them they are wrong
Inside that system, DOGE members saw taxpayer funds flowing to people who appeared not to have Social Security numbers, according to an internal memo viewed by The Times and people briefed on DOGE's analysis of the Treasury data. Other recipients seemed to be dead. None of it was evidence of wrongdoing, Social Security employees would later explain to DOGE. Mr. Musk's team simply did not understand the data. But on X, Mr. Musk suddenly began accusing the agency of enabling "massive fraud," saying in a flurry of posts starting Feb. 9 that Social Security payments had been going to scammers and "illegals." "These payments are valid," Sean Brune, an acting deputy commissioner, wrote in a memo examining one of the issues. (A Treasury spokeswoman declined to comment.) But Mr. Russo, who did not respond to a request for comment, said that DOGE would not trust career civil servants, according to people familiar with his statements. Instead, he insisted that Akash Bobba - a 21-year-old who had interned at Palantir and become one of DOGE's lead coders - conduct his own analysis. To do that, Mr. Bobba would need to gain access to the personal data Social Security kept on Americans. That could include the identifying nine-digit numbers, names, addresses, dates and places of birth, citizenship and benefit amounts, as well as other sensitive information.
June 16, 2025 at 9:14 PM