The Daily Beast, 1 Feb 2025: Trump Admin Paints Over FBI\u2019s DEI Values in Viral Photo<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A photo from the FBI\u2019s training academy in Quantico, Virginia, has gone viral as a grave symbol of the Trump administration\u2019s push to strip diversity, equity, and inclusion values from all facets of the federal government. The image, which has racked up millions of views on social media, shows a man painting solid gray over a colorful mural that highlighted the agency\u2019s core values, such as \u201cdiversity,” \u201cfairness,\u201d \u201ccompassion,\u201d and \u201cintegrity.\u201d The photo was obtained<\/a> by The New York Times<\/i> and posted<\/a> to X by pastor Zach W. Lambert. \u201cIf a picture is usually worth a thousand words, this one is worth millions\u201d…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Not to mention, apparently, the word “Constitution” at the bottom.<\/p>\n \\\\\\<\/p>\n Salon, Alex Galbraith, 1 Feb 2025<\/strong>: Defense Dept. evicts NBC, NPR, NYT from Pentagon offices to make way for Breitbart, OANN<\/a>, subtitled “The major news outlets were ordered to vacate their offices as part of a newly instated ‘media rotation program'”<\/p>\n It’s not that any press credentials are being revoked, it’s that the occupants of a limited number of press offices inside the Pentagon are being given new occupants. Ring-wing occupants. Because of this new policy they just invented.<\/p>\n \\\\\\<\/p>\n This hits the nail on the head.<\/p>\n The Atlantic, Jonathan Chait, 30 January 2025<\/strong>: Is There Anything Trump Won\u2019t Blame on DEI?<\/a>, subtitled “The president is promising a return to meritocracy\u2014while staffing his government with underqualified loyalists.”<\/p>\n The purpose of Trump\u2019s wild finger-pointing appears to be twofold: first, to avoid taking any blame for a disaster; and second, to exploit the tragedy while it is in the public\u2019s mind, using it to advance the notion that his administration is replacing favoritism toward minorities with pure, race-blind merit. \u201cAs you said in your inaugural, it is color-blind and merit-based,\u201d said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, joining Trump at the press conference. \u201cThe era of DEI is gone at the Defense Department, and we need the best and brightest, whether it\u2019s in our air-traffic control or whether it\u2019s in our generals or whether it\u2019s throughout government.\u201d<\/p>\n This was rich coming from a man who might be the least qualified secretary of defense in American history\u2014a Cabinet official whose professional qualifications include mismanaging two small lobbying organizations and whose alleged history of drinking and mistreatment of women led his former sister-in-law to urge the Senate to reject his nomination, as it very nearly did.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \\\\\\<\/p>\n Comments from some of my Facebook friends, over the past 24 hours:<\/p>\n Istvan Csicserty-Ronay<\/strong>: It’s a coup now. There’s no other way to explain it<\/a><\/p>\n Linking this:<\/p>\n Wired, 31 Jan 2025<\/strong>: Elon Musk\u2019s Friends Have Infiltrated Another Government Agency<\/a>, subtitled “Elon Musk\u2019s former employees are trying to use White House credentials to access General Services Administration tech, giving them the potential to remote into laptops, read emails, and more, sources say.”<\/p>\n \\<\/p>\n Rob Latham<\/strong>: I\u2019ve read a lot of books about the fall of the Roman Empire, but they don\u2019t really prepare you to live through the collapse of a civilization in real time.<\/a><\/p>\n (One lesson might be: most people won’t notice, or care.)<\/p>\n \\<\/p>\n Jeff VanderMeer<\/strong>: Destabilization of reality in the US is about to reach surreal heights. Protect your mind. Monitor stress levels. Do not doomscroll–it does not help. Be selective about when and how long you expose your brain to this. Do what you can when you can.<\/a><\/p>\n \\<\/p>\n Don D’Ammassa<\/strong>: If there is anyone out there who expects to just ride this out and re-emerge in four years, don’t fool yourself. This is already the end of the US we grew up in and potentially even worse.<\/a><\/p>\n \\<\/p>\n Rob Latham<\/strong>: Everything that\u2019s happened so far is consistent with this interpretation. Appoint a drunk to run the Pentagon. Appoint a foreign asset to run national intelligence. Appoint a crazy anti-vaxer to run the health system. Decapitate the DoJ and FBI by driving out experienced prosecutors and agents. And so on.<\/a><\/p>\n With a cartoon about Trump as a Trojan Horse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Under the weather the past few days, with an ordinary cold, mostly a scratchy-throat driven cough. Today: light reading, and naps. At an FBI facility, someone is literally painting over a wall of value words, like “fairness,” “diversity,” “leadership,” and … Continue reading ![](\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/GioxaTPWkAAfqlE?format=jpg\")
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