Notices by Jonathan Kamens 86 47 (jik@federate.social), page 4

@heartofcoyote @ralfmaximus @joshuajfriedman.com Not sure the president can pardon someone from a judicial contempt finding

You've already lost a lot of money by waiting this long to pull your savings out of stocks, but in my opinion things haven't gotten nearly as bad as they're going to get, so you still have time to rescue some of your savings.

I'm sorry to keep harping on this (https://federate.social/@jik/114242995943001973), but if you're listening to "experts" telling you that the stock market always performs well over time and you shouldn't try to time the market, I really can't encourage you strongly enough to reconsider that, especially if you're within, say, 15 years of retirement.
It took 25 years for the U.S. stock market to recover from the great depression.
IMO that's where we're heading.
#politics #USPol #investing

I’m excited to share that today I started my new position as Director of Information Security at 4DMedical!

After my recent involuntary departure from USDS and the VA (Thanks, DOGE! /s), I was more certain than ever that I wanted my next role to be in a mission-driven organization making the world better in real ways for real people. I'm certain that 4DMedical fits the bill.

I'm excited to bring my skills and experience to bear leveling up 4DMedical's already solid infosec posture.

Interestingly, in my 30+ year career, I believe this is the first position LinkedIn has helped me secure. When my post there about being fired by DOGE went viral, my new manager at 4DMedical, Erik Anderson, saw it and reached out. When one door closes, another opens.
Apparently, what it takes to get a job via LinkedIn is for one of your posts to get 160k views. 😉
EDITED TO ADD: I was wrong, Erik saw my fedi post, not my LinkedIn post! See my reply.

Here is the "Currently clean on OPSEC!" T-shirt you didn't know you needed.
https://tomtomorrow.threadless.com/designs/currently-clean-on-opsec

The Democrats on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee are holding hearings about what's going on at VA. I was invited to testify at one of the hearings (will post more about this later) and was told, "If your friends and family want to watch live, this will be streaming on the SVAC Democrats Facebook and X/Twitter feeds."
That the Dems are streaming only on Facebook and Twitter is another illustration that they're not up to the moment we're in.
#politics #USPol
I sent them this:

There are too many boot-licking cowards in positions of leadership in this country.
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3llcdrajd632s
NPR CEO: "I regret those tweets. I would not tweet them again today. They represented a time where I was reflecting on something I believe that the president had said rather than who he is."
It is beyond me how these idiots cannot understand that appeasing bullies does not work and will not protect them.
#politics #USPol #NPR #KatherineMaher

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