Notices by Jonathan Kamens (jik@federate.social)

Y'all know that within 24 hours the Trump administration is going to go after Jeffrey Goldberg for unauthorized access to classified information while at exactly the same time insisting that the Trump administration officials who shared it with him in a Signal chat didn't do anything wrong, right?
#politics #USPol

On the off chance that you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to read this entire article. Really, read the whole thing.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151/?gift=fXb4ymsFcV2ntAzqIpmYvaCSBCGxAw0GA0n-mECa1x8&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

In recent weeks the tone has shifted dramatically in terms of current and former feds being ready to step up and put themselves on the line to resist…
A few weeks ago it was extremely difficult for me to find anyone willing to push back on the record in the media about what's happening.
This morning I put out a call for someone willing to do that on the BBC later today, and within an hour I had four high-caliber volunteers.
People are all done taking things lying down.
#politics #USPol #resist

@mighty_orbot @MaryAustinBooks Yes, this exactly.
If you're the kind of person who would "live in a witch's hut in a forest with your cats and give money to charity and basically chill," then you're not the kind of person who would ever be able to achieve that kind of wealth, because you're not enough of an asshole.

Honest to God, anybody who was telling people before the election not to vote for Harris because of Gaza or whatever and who is still defending that can fuck right off into the sun and then fuck off some more.
I can't even.
What we are experiencing now is the most stark possible illustration of the idea that when you believe you are being forced to choose between two evils, you vote for the lesser one, because less evil is better than more evil, actually.
#politics #USPol

TIME quotes me about DOGE and VA, gets stuff wrong

The TIME article contains two substantive errors, several minor errors, and a curious omission.

https://blog.kamens.us/2025/03/19/time-quotes-me-about-doge-and-va-gets-stuff-wrong/
#politics #USPol #DOGE #VA #journalism #TIMEMagazine

It's OK in theory to require online identity-proofing so long as there are feasible in-person alternatives for people who can't do it online.
In fact, the VA was in the process of doing exactly this when I was fired from there in mid-February.
But the VA made sure there were enough in-person identity-proofing locations (post offices) to make that feasible. DOGE isn't bothering. They _want_ people to be unable to apply for benefits.
Ref: https://m.ai6yr.org/@exador23/114190327669657179 (h/t @ai6yr)
#politics #USPol

Please, Mr. President, I am begging you to get in the fight. Your country needs you.

Thank you,

Jonathan Kamens
🧵8/8

While I understand the norm that past presidents do not interfere with future administrations, let's please be real here: what is happening now is entirely unprecedented, people who are trying to resist fascists can't afford to leave anything on the table, and if we keep following "norms" while Trump and Musk completely ignore all of them then soon there won't be a democracy left for us to defend.
🧵7/8

Perhaps you are hoping someone from the younger generation will step up and be the progressive leader the country needs. If so, you are in a great position to facilitate that, but not by remaining silent while our democracy is torn asunder.
🧵6/8

Joe Biden is, frankly, too old and frail to be a leader the resistance, and Kamala Harris, having lost the election, does not have the "elder statesman" gravitas required. However, you are still looked up to by many Americans as the best president in their lifetimes. You could be helping those people understand just how bad things are, which is an absolute prerequisite for there being enough popular resistance to stop what's happening.
🧵5/8

And then, Donald Trump was elected again, and I was fired from USDS less than a month after his inauguration.

Now, I watch, aghast and terrified, as Trump and Elon Musk eviscerate our democracy while Congress does nothing and the courts barely slow them down.

And I have to ask, sir, this very real, very serious question: where the hell are you?
🧵4/8

In 2023, I followed you into public service, leaving a 30+-year private-sector career to join USDS. From there I was detailed to VA, where I spent a year and a half overseeing cybersecurity for VA.gov. For the first time I was using my professional skills and experience to help people and make the world better, rather than just to make money for venture capitalists. I expected to eventually transfer from USDS to VA and stay there for the rest of my career.
🧵3/8

Dear President Obama,

After watching your breakout speech at the DNC, I told my wife that you'd run for president, and I'd support you.

I took an unpaid leave of absence from my job to work on the grassroots "Jews for Obama" organization that I co-created with several other supporters. I would like to think that we made a difference.

You stepped up to lead, and while I didn't agree with everything you did, I know that you wanted nothing but the best for America and the world.
🧵2/8

Today's #WriteYourReps. You can send this same letter to your senators and representatives at https://resist.bot/petitions/POGMPQ.
#politics #USPol #resist

Today for #WriteYourReps, instead of writing I called Senator Ed Markey and Senator Elizabeth Warren and told them to filibuster the continuing resolution unless it contains written guarantees that the DOGE slash-and-burn march through the government will be halted and illegal agency cuts will be undone.
I told Markey that I expected him to honor the commitment he made at his town hall this week to do everything possible in the Senate to block Trump. We'll see if he meant it.
#politics #USPol

If your U.S. rep is one of the 14 who signed the letter demanding that the government release #MahmoudKhalil (Tlaib, Pocan, Moore, Valasquez, Ramirez, Omar, Crockett, Green, Lee, Pressley, McGovern, Simon, Carson, Williams) <https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/mahmoud-khalil-house-democrats-letter/>, please send this letter to them to thank them for their support and ask them to keep up the fight. Text SIGN PWRYXS to 50409 or visit <https://resist.bot/petitions/PWRYXS>.
If not, write or call your rep and ask them why not!
#politics #USPol #WriteYourReps

If your U.S. senator voted against cloture on the continuing resolution (https://federate.social/@jik/114169742753581683 lists the 9 who didn't), please send them this letter to thank them and ask them to work on replacing Schumer as minority leader. Text SIGN PWVQHF to 50409 or visit https://resist.bot/petitions/PWVQHF.
If your senator is one of the 9, they're probably a lost cause, so figure out who is primarying them and go volunteer for their compaign, if we still have a democracy by then.
#politics #USPol #WriteYourReps

I couldn't figure out what to #WriteYourReps about today (I'm pretty down right now on the idea that any of them are going to do anything that makes a difference), so instead I sent this letter to President Obama via https://barackobama.com/:
🧵1/8

I need to apologize for taking https://generalstrikeus.com/ seriously and encouraging people to sign up.
Discord is not praxis, and I can't take anybody seriously who doesn't understand that.
Discord's security is a joke, and they're only "free" in the sense of "if you're not the customer then you're the product," same as Meta.
These folks could have gone with a _truly_ free and secure platform such as Matrix. Opting for Discord and describing it as free and secure means they're clueless.
*sigh*