Congressman Maxwell Frost is the best thing to come out of Florida since key lime pies:
U.S. Attorneys are not the President’s lawyers. They are the United States’ lawyers. You didn’t pledge an oath to a President, you pledged it to the constitution. This statement alone is reason enough to resign.
— Maxwell Frost (@maxwellfrost.bsky.social) February 24, 2025 at 3:50 PM
I wish Frost was my representative instead of the corrupt, cowardly, Trump-humping nepo baby Gus Bilirakis, who doesn’t answer his phone or respond to constituent emails. But I live in a disreputable confederate backwater, so I’m stuck with Gus.
PS: I don’t think I’ve seen an official missive from a Trump admin lickspittle that doesn’t contain an embarrassing typo or two, even if it’s only one sentence long. Maybe the DOGE-bags fired all the proofreaders. Motherfuckers!
Baud
I didn’t realize you were older than key lime pie.
@heymistermix.com
That Martin guy is the. fucking. worst. Complete and utter toady.
TBone
I love you so much, B.C., you make the world a better place by existing.
John S.
They can’t seem to do math very well, either.
That’s a lot of words to say “The Trump administration is full of shit.”
Other MJS
@John S.: Trumper dogma is “vaccines, climate, EVs LOL” until the time comes to put another half-billion into Musk’s pockets.
Elizabelle
Dang. Martin’s middle name is Robert, not Richard. I was so hoping.
Good for Maxwell Frost. He is not wrong.
RSA
This is part of the oath new hires swear when they join the federal executive branch as civilians.
It’s to the ideals of the U.S., at least insofar as they’re are captured by the Constitution. FFS, we’re supposed to be a government “of laws, not men,” as John Adams put it, and Trump is the least convincing counterexample imaginable.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Ah, Martin spent a lot of years in Misery:
And got appointed seconds after Hair Furor assumed power. Yunno people like him are awful when they make your bog-standard Federalist Society hack look good.
Andrew Abshier
You have Gus–I was stuck with him when I lived in Land O’Lakes–but now I have Greg “Bang-Bang” Steube, one of the biggest Trump-humpers of them all. (“Bang-Bang” because Steube never met a gun law he didn’t want to repeal.) I wish I had Maxwell Frost, too.
zhena gogolia
It’s all so depressing.
Elizabelle
@@heymistermix.com: I think the fact that Missouri (!) wouldn’t elect him attorney general in 2012 says volumes. He also lost the 2010 congressional election, previously. Voters at that time were not fond of him, district or statewide.
First sentences from his wiki bio:
and
He just reeks of quality. And. Precedent breaking!
TBone
@Andrew Abshier: I, too, live in a fairly recently designated “Second Amendment Sanctuary” municipality. They never figured on the likes of me, though. I’ll just lay low until I don’t.
Also we contribute to Land O’ Lakes brand butter as the local dairy farms proudly announce on proliferate signage.
A Ghost to Most
Such is life in MAGAville*.
* I reserve Buttholeville for the town where my brother lives.
rattlemullet
Well until recently you had nothing on me I had Matt Gaetz as my representative. Not only incompetent but a pedophile as well.
TBone
@A Ghost to Most: LOL!
geg6
A small ray of sunshine in dark times: the number 1 podcast in America is The Meidas Touch. The number 2 is The Fall of Civilization (a history podcast about fallen civilizations). The number 3 podcast is The Joe Rogan Experience.
Good. Very good.
Betty Cracker
@Andrew Abshier: Ugh — Steube! That is worse. Isn’t he the fool who fell on his head while cleaning gutters or something?
I seem to recall that accident precipitating a feud with DeSantis, who didn’t call when Steube was in ICU — he fobbed it off on his stupid wife. (Whom he is now pushing for governor! Gag!)
Before the latest round of gerrymandering, my rep was the colossally corrupt Bible-thumper Daniel Webster. Bilirakis isn’t an improvement.
kalakal
You think Gus is bad. I have Anna Paulina “nominative determinism’ Luna. Tmurp humper to the max who wants to lower the price of eggs by whipping out a Ouija board and interviewing the Warren Commision
TBone
@kalakal: choking dead with laughing! My humpy neighbors’ son went from Liberty U. directly to her staff in “communications,” despite his functional illiteracy. She got what she paid for! (Nothing.) He has since moved on to a paid position for some Georgia congresscritter.
Have I mentioned that my dumbphone keyboard hates me for revoking certain permissions?
Llelldorin
For people supposedly obsessed with meritocracy, they’re shockingly bad at absolutely everything. I mean, even apart from the whole “being Nazis” thing, there’s the “can’t place an apostrophe properly” thing, the “think it’s appropriate to develop in production” thing, the “immediately believe deeply suspicious results from their first query against old, janky, unfamiliar data” thing…
i mean, at least the Bush II turkeys dressed well!
John S.
@rattlemullet:
::shudder::
I really don’t miss living in Florida.
Tazj
@@heymistermix.com: The man was threatening to investigate Will Stancil on Twitter. That he was spending his time scrolling through social media looking for people to intimidate would have been considered disqualifying at one time in this country.
Mike in Pasadena
I am breaking my rule against commenting to see if anyone else can confirm the following:
One of the things Musk and his teenagers and twentysomethings who are stomping through Treasury, IRS, and other federal computer systems are doing is installing devices to give Musk access through the internet to to download
Baud
@Mike in Pasadena:
How would we be able to confirm that?
TBone
@Baud: plant an Easter egg! (Literary device.)
https://whatwomenwritetx.blogspot.com/2014/05/easter-eggs-never-get-old.html?m=1
Or not so literal.
Elizabelle
@geg6: People are learning up. A little late, but …
David_C
Since I’m in MD, our Congressperson has been very receptive to our concerns – she just doesn’t have a national audience yet.
The OPM email saga ended with a whimper. HHS guidance said it was optional, not to include anything specific, and to assume that all emails will be read by “malign foreign actors.” So the text that came from the bullet points I fed to our internal GenAI will all be for naught, but at least my wife was impressed.
ETA: Some of us are in a real battle for our jobs and our mission.
Baud
@Elizabelle:
I’ve never listened to Rogan, but I’m hearing he’s going more and more Fox News like.
Or it could be people waking up.
Gretchen
@TBone: I wish Land o’ Lakes hadn’t stopped making their cottage cheese. It was the best.
Elizabelle
@Baud: I haven’t listened to Rogan either. Hope to keep it that way.
Jay
@Mike in Pasadena:
We will know when Wired, Teen Vogue or other Tech Sites report it. You know, real journalists.
kalakal
@TBone:
I wish I was making it up
Luna speaker to the dead
Phones do get very snotty if you don’t let them spy on you
zhena gogolia
@Baud: Is Meidas touch worth listening to? I’m allergic to podcasts.
tobie
With hires like Martin and Bongino, this admin has turned to the bottom of the barrel.
I don’t know how media watchers did it, but they’ve determined that 78% of the recommended political posts for users in Germany on TikTok went to the AfD. This statistic alone tells us what we’re up against in the mediaverse. Hmm…we are going to have to work our butts off to get people interested in birding, knitting, drawing, pottery, etc. again to win elections. A happy land of hobbyists is a liberal land.
TBone
@Gretchen: I never tried it because Breakstones has ruled PA cottage cheese since I was wee. But if I see it, I will try it!
BTW Breakstones is also an excellent name. Might have to consider as a pen name. Some day.
oldgold
This afternoon:
JUDGE COLLEEN KOLLAR-KOTELLY: “Is there an administrator of DOGE at the present time?”
GOVERNMENT COUNSEL: “I don’t know the answer to that.”
If I was the Judge: “Counsel, you have one hour to answer my question or you will be found in contempt and a referral will be made to the Bar Association concerning your license.”
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
I don’t know. I also don’t do podcasts.
TBone
@tobie: that barrell has always been bottomless.
zhena gogolia
We had a lot more people at our Ukraine vigil this year than last year. Don’t know how to interpret that.
TBone
@kalakal: was aware of her newest lunacy but reminders are always still funny!
And yes, this spiteful beyotch keyboard is just as exhausting!
Amy!
Are you sure that the apostrophe placement was an error, and not a back-handed acknowledgement of EM, that other President Trump?
satby
Maxwell Frost is great. This new crop of young elected are really inspiring.
@heymistermix.com
@Tazj:
LOL. He also sent a shit letter to Robert Garcia, former mayor of Long Beach, now first-term (I think) rep from CA. He’s going to get spanked over and over in the DC courts.
kalakal
@David_C:
some genius sent in
Woke up, fell out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up I noticed I was late
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Betty Cracker
@zhena gogolia: Perhaps unfairly, I thought the Meidas people gave off a whiff of resistance grifter on Twitter back in the day, so I’ve never listened to their podcast. Still happy to hear they’ve knocked the sociopathic meathead Rogan off his perch.
TBone
@Amy!: I’m certain.
Mike in Pasadena
I am breaking my rule against commenting to see if anyone else can confirm the following: (finishing my comment at 23 that was inadvertently posted before completion):
One of the things Musk and his teenagers and twentysomethings who are stomping through Treasury, IRS, and other federal computer systems are doing is installing devices to give Musk access through the internet to to download and copy data to Musk’s servers. Musk was instrumental in founding PayPal and when he tried to remame it “X,” he was forced out. He maintains control of another payment system. Obviously, he is angling to privatize the payments Treasury makes to trillions in federal dollars. Replying to Baud’s comment which I happened to see while completing my present comment: I don’t know how people will confirm or deny my information. My information came from someone who I went to college with and have known for 54 years. He worked in DC at the Treasury for 40 plus years. He maintained relationships with colleagues working at Treasury after he retired. That’s my source. I posted this comment because I’m hoping others have sources that I don’t know about. So Baud, I don’t know how others might confirm the information.
WaterGirl
@Mike in Pasadena: rule against commenting?
Bill Arnold
@Amy!:
That apostrophe is also possibly an acknowledgement that Trump contains multitudes. (Of what? Demons? Little Trumps? :-) )
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: Meidas Touch feels too much like Rush Limbaugh to me. For what that’s worth.
Mike in Pasadena
@Jay: Thanks
Nukular Biskits
The latest:
Nukular Biskits on Bluesky: “Demanding Answers from MS Members of Congress – Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith”
Folks, I’m gonna repost a portion here (with a couple of edits) of what I said in that Bluesky thread as I think it says a lot about how a lot of Republicans view their constituents:
TBone
I am so pissed about Joy Reid I stopped watching MSNBC entirely. GAH!!!
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Maybe it can reach normies in a way people following politics can’t.
Mike in Pasadena
@WaterGirl: Personal rule
TBone
@Mike in Pasadena: respect. It ain’t easy being green. And I don’t mean new.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rRZ-IxZ46ng
LAC
@zhena gogolia: They are not bad. The legal discussions are interesting. They get some rabid folks in the comments and actual threats from maga weirdos, but they handle it well.
Elizabelle
@kalakal: A Day in the Life. LOL.
The experienced feds are so much smarter than the DOGE disruptors.
We are here for it.
Elizabelle
@Nukular Biskits: Applause!
Van Buren
Anybody ever do the Google Device Usage Study? They sent me something in the mail today that if I agree to let them monitor my phone use (thought they did already LOL) they’ll give me points that I can redeem as gift cards. A bit of sleuthing tells me the gift cards are for apps.
Anyway, seems fishy.
TBone
@Van Buren: stinks like the dead fish left in the vehicle from Grumpy Old Men!
Nukular Biskits
@Baud:
You are playing a dangerous game there, my friend … LOL
cain
@Elizabelle: Literally hes’ a low quality hire. He’s not going to do a great job defending anybody.
E.
“I was counting up the ethics violations in the notice, and had reached three, with promise of more. . . “
TBone
@kalakal: The Beatles have come up in my real life many times in weird ways in the last few days. I will have to investigate!
One today on the way home from market as trivia right before I changed radio station and heard Roberta Flack announcement.
Nukular Biskits
@Elizabelle:
Thanks but I really ain’t looking for applause.
I just want everyone to harass the hell out of their GOP Congressional delegation (and state/local officials as well).
I know folks are tired of hearing me preach the same sermon, but these Republicans really didn’t expect to get any feedback and are hoping this will blow over. We can’t let that happen.
RaflW
Doge-bags seems like a keeper. Thanks Betty!
Baud
@Nukular Biskits:
If she were younger than key lime pie, she’d have been the best thing to come out of Florida before Frost.
cain
Fixed. All for the low low price for the price of eggs.
TBone
@Nukular Biskits: hammer that nail as much as you want as far as I’m concerned.
Raise the roof beams high!
RSA
I thought of listing five bullet points followed by either a huge amount of text to be processed by Musk’s LLM or a tailored prompt that might theoretically steer the LLM in an interesting direction… But this was just idle thinking.
In any case, my agency said not to respond. It’s obviously a huge security risk.
Nukular Biskits
@Baud:
Nice save!
Baud
@Nukular Biskits:
Always my original intent.
sentient ai from the future
so there’s a new “backchannel” email from TPM. (gift link)
that is commentary that points to this piece on GovExec.com
the pushback is just starting.
but truth and rule of law are notoriously slow in putting their shitkicking boots on.
i’m still not betting that we will avoid economic calamity. but maybe we will avoid getting shot down in the streets. maybe.
Nukular Biskits
@Baud:
And speaking of @Betty Cracker, given she lives in the swamp, I wonder if she’d appreciate this:
Youtube: Fickry – Sax & Frog
Josie
@Amy!:
There is also a missing comma in an overly long compound sentence. Good grief! My high school English students could write a better statement than that.
TBone
@sentient ai from the future: thank you for that eye opener.
RaflW
@David_C: There’s a new site up with curated stories by ‘golikehellmachine’ from workers fired or at risk (or resigning).
The first one is up and it’s an absolute banger. Read the guy’s resignation letter from NIH, y’all. Dang! (note: from context, the letter should be dated Feb 2025)
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
Apropos of MrMix’s post below, I wonder how long it will take Trump to figure out he has Musk’s balls in a vice. The dude has broken many laws and Trump could have the Justice Department investigate that law breaking and pursue penalties including prison time or expulsion from the county. Trump is not a smart man but he knows when and how to screw people over.
The President may be immune from prosecution but Musk isn’t the President.
TBone
@Nukular Biskits: that’s like what’s always playing in Abby’s lab at NCIS. (In a good way, I meant.)
My reward from Al. Al Go Rhythm.
https://youtu.be/eKFRekX-LrU?si=rSUxYde5237NCqAv
Jay
https://nitter.poast.org/stevemorris__/status/1894161831557509158#m
BellaPea
Betty, so glad to see you back! And Florida has had other good things come out of it besides you and key lime pie.
I hope Musk is on his way out soon. He’s a danger to this country and our democracy.
TBone
@Jay: same as it ever was. I once reported a pedophile that I caught in the act but no official police report was ever forthcoming because he had A Last Name.
Matt McIrvin
@sentient ai from the future: It amazes me that OSC still exists. Does OLC? Surely they’re not being used, if they do.
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker: Yes. They’re always doing that “HE BLASTS [X]” OR “WATCH HER DESTROY [X]”
zhena gogolia
@TBone: Is she gone entirely from MSNBC?
J.
@BettyCracker, you could have Byron Donalds like us.
Another Scott
Via Ragnarok Lobster – [CAUTION – funny but disturbing images, put down your beverage ] Men in women’s comment sections (link to 42s TikTok)
We’re not quite that bad yet, are we??
Best wishes,
Scott.
different-church-lady
I’ve heard it said the reason those spam emails are so filled with misspellings, grammatical errors and typos is because they want to find the dumbest people, because those are the easiest marks.
Jay
https://bsky.app/profile/vatniksoup.bsky.social
cain
@TBone:
This is the way. Watch NO 24 hour news. They are not our friends.
schrodingers_cat
@cain: Do you and your wife have your OCI cards?
Michael Bersin
The second part of my coverage of Mark Alford’s (r) constituent coffee in Belton, Missouri this morning. Images and 85 minutes of the audio.
It was the most raucous “town hall” I have ever covered in the 4th Congressional District. And I covered Vicky Hartzler’s (r)…
Mark Alford (r) – coffee with constituents – Belton, Missouri – February 24, 2025 – hot water – part 2
Aziz, light!
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: Trump isn’t going to anything about Musk, who is doing his bidding and saving him from doing any actual work. When everything goes south, he will have Musk to blame and he always needs someone else to blame.
HopefullyNotcassandra
@RSA: Lawyers also take an oath to uphold the laws of their states and the constitution.
Michael Bersin
On the drive back home we passed a vehicle in I-470 with a large “Impeach Musk” poster in the back window (I mean, large). I honked at the driver as we passed and we both gave a thumb’s up. The driver smiled.
satby
Something just for laughs, Josh Johnson on the chance of another. civil war
dww44
@TBone: Do you know why her show was axed? I don’t know but RM, NW and LOD were all on her final show avowing their love and respect for her. JR was very positive and spent the last 7 minutes thanking her staff.
. Her slot is being taken by The Weekend hosted by Symone Sanders, Alicia Menendez, Michael Steele. I will continue watching MSNBC as its the only cable news space for liberals and progressives available to me.
Geminid
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: I’ve talked with two friends recently who saw evidence from the two men’s behavior that it’s Musk that has Trump’s balls in a vise.
Trump hates being upstaged, but Musk upstages him and Trump doesn’t complain. And Trump cares about own populafity, but Musk is damaging it and Trump can’t rein him in.
One friend’s theory is that Trump is in fact under Putin’s thumb, that Putin and Musk have a alliance, and Putin has let Trump know that Elon is his boss now.
And to expand on this cheery scenario, what if Trump protests, “But you guys still need me!” and is told, “No we don’t. We have J.D. Vance”?
This made me think about that scene in the Oval Oval: Musk with his arms and his mouth open, talking to reporters while his kid is looking at Trump, whose face is averted.
The look on Trump’s face reminded me of how he looked after his meeting with Putin at Helsinki, when Putin came strutting out to meet the reporters and Trump trailed him like a whipped dog.
David Collier-Brown
Is this actionable in the US?
In the Canadian Forces, it sound like the person was looking for a transfer to detention barracks, but not to work there, to be a prisoner (:-)) One charge in both military and civilian courts might be perjury.
MagdaInBlack
@Geminid: I have also had the impression that Putin has put Musk in charge now. At first I thought trump was just in awe of hanging with a real billionaire, but you’re right that there’s way more going on, when you watch the two them together.
different-church-lady
@Geminid: These are two crazy people. Trying to figure out what makes them do what they do is futile.
azlib
@Mike in Pasadena:
You would not actually have to install any devices, but you would have to have admin access to the system firewalls and routers and changes to those could severely compromise system security.
frosty
Key Lime Pie is awesome! He’s better than that? He’s got to be great!!!
Darkrose
@Elizabelle: Sounds like he wasn’t hired on merit.
Geminid
@different-church-lady: Even crazy people can have power relationships.
xephyr
Best Key Lime pie I ever had was on Key Largo about forty years ago. This little place grew their own limes and were well known for their pie at the time. Pretty much spoiled me for what passes for it up here, but I still remember…
TONYG
The fact that Ed Martin has not yet been fired and that Elon Musk has not yet been arrested indicates that we are no longer a nation of laws.
TONYG
@Darkrose: It’s that special DEI program for white, male fascists.
geg6
@zhena gogolia:
I’m not a fan but I’ll watch clips on YT now and again.
Jay
@azlib:
We can sum up what we know,
Treasury said the DOGgies had only read-only permissions.
Several days later, Wired broke the story that at least one of the DOGgies had Admin permissions.
After the story broke, Treasury said it was an “accident” and that the Admin permissions had been revoked, (Sure Jan,………)
We also know that the “Cop” who blocked the Senators from Treasury was not a “cop”. Their hat badges and shoulder flashes were from Triple Canopy, a PMC , which merged with Academi, (Formerly Blackwater) to form Constellis Group, which became part of Apollo Global Management, an “alternative assets Management Corp”.
Bill Arnold
@Mike in Pasadena:
It’s been a given among computer-security conscious people that the technical people in Musk’s DOGE must be assumed to be installing backdoors and exfiltration mechanisms. (I agree; the ability to edit audit trails is especially concerning if true.)
In GOP-speak, that they should be arrested, flown to GITMO, and waterboarded until they confess the locations and details of the backdoors, or the systems are rebuilt from backups, and preferably with new hardware.
TBone
@dww44:
https://apnews.com/article/joy-reid-msnbc-show-canceled-563eb48925a38e94f78933520f832467
Bill Arnold
@Jay:
Elizabelle
@Darkrose: Ya think?
TBone
@satby: thank you, hahaha!
Jackie
@TBone: I saw that José Díaz-Balart and Katie Phang have also been axed. I see a definite pattern of who’s being removed.
mrmoshpotato
Oh DC US attorneys…
Did you voluntarily declare yourselves Dump’s bitches? You sad, sad, Soviet shitpiles.
Anyone got their offices’ numbers?
Jay
@Bill Arnold:
When I worked in Tech, because I trained everyone on the ERP/EMS system on the Materials Side, over the years I accumulated “permissions”.
2 years after a Fortune 100 bought us, there was an system audit by their Techs.
They kinda freaked.
Amongst other things, I could create a demand, do a RFQ, approve a quote, cut a P/O, receive the goods, pass them through QA, pay the vendor.
They spent hundreds of hours auditing my transactions, until my VP, shut it down. He showed them my expense claims and reports for the past 2 years, and pointed out I wouldn’t even accept a stick of gum from a vendor.
So I had a mass of permissions revoked,
Until the next ERP/EMS upgrade, when they gave them all back, because I had to train people.
Sister Golden Bear
@Mike in Pasadena: Since the Muskrats started taking over government computer systems there’s been rumors they were installing “back doors” — which I believe is entirely plausible, if not likely — but I don’t recall any definitive proof to date. There was at least one instance where they were copying data onto hard drivers and/or a server, but I don’t remember which agency(ies) this happened at.
me
@Jackie:
Lester Holt is leaving too in a few months. (from nbc not msnbc but…)
cain
@schrodingers_cat: Yep, and luckily I got my passport renewed before this shithead took power. My wife and I both have OCI cards.
evodevo
@zhena gogolia: Yes, evidently she has left entirely…just watched Rachel give the details…
Jackie
@me:
It sickens me that ALL networks are capitulating to FFOTUS.
glc
@Mike in Pasadena: I see your question has been addressed. If you want a longer version I’d suggest looking at Schneier’s remarks. But maybe come back in a week or so and see what comes out meanwhile.
One may also wonder what CISA is doing.
https://www.cisa.gov/spotlight
It’s an interesting target.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/doge-appointments-at-cisa-spark-cybersecurity-fears/ar-AA1zqtFM
David_C
@kalakal: Thanks for the laugh. 😂 We all thought of things to include, but nothing was going to happen without guidance from HHS.
Everything we is do covered by statutes, regulations, and process. Failure to follow the proper procedures can result in personal liability (authorizing contract work beyond the negotiated amount) or lawsuits, not to mention bad performance ratings. dogeOPM is working outside the normal boundaries and blind compliance can lead to a terrible outcome.
I did alert my local rep’s staff guy. As I mentioned, they have our backs.
David_C
@RSA: 🙂
Mike in Pasadena
@azlib: Yes, thank you. Breaching the firewall is what i was most worried about. Hackers are always searching for a way to skirt around firewalls in corporate and governmental systems as a first step. There are additional safeguards, but opening that first firewall is a significant development. A helpful first step for worldwide hackers is connecting a formerly firewalled system to the internet, a breach in the firewall of an intranet.
Mike in Pasadena
@Bill Arnold: Sounds like confirmation of my sources’ information.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Bill Arnold:
They’re not brown enough for that treatment. /s
Mike in Pasadena
@Sister Golden Bear: Thanks for the info.
Mike in Pasadena
@glc: Thanks. I will follow those links you posted.
Kayla Rudbek
@oldgold: ooh, I like this idea…