Notices by Sean Casten (seancasten@mastodon.social)

The Trump admin by contrast is all 4th / 5th tier talents. Duffy, Hegseth, Gabbard, Wright, Bondi - none of these people distinguished themselves for anything but talking on television. And like all mediocre people they are intimidated by talent so hire people who won't challenge them.

I think of people like Wally Adeyemo, Shalanda Young, Rohit Chopra, Jigar Shah... these are intimidatingly smart people. You may not always agree on policy but their intellect and ability to simultaneously grasp the big picture and the minutiae of public policy are unparalleled.

Some of the smartest people I've met in my life are the career hill staffers, and the just-below-cabinet level tier in the WH. Thousands of people want those jobs and the WH gets to pick the best.

And that's huge own-goal. There is an amazingly deep pool of talent in DC that wants to work in the WH. Not the electeds (no disrespect intended) but the people they hire. Because while winning an election depends on a whole host of factors, hiring staff is an embarrassment of riches.

This is scary and highlights something that's painfully obvious in DC: smart people either don't want to work in this administration or are being turned away. But effective government - especially when crisis strikes - depends on having smart people around. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/05/17/trump-administration-brain-drain-doge/

I am at a loss to understand why the Trump WH is so committed to weakening US intelligience operations - or why my Republican colleagues who long prided themselves on being the “daddy party” are so quiet on this. But it’s a BFD, and not limited to CIA cuts. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/us/politics/trump-cia-cuts.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

If Mike Johnson gave a damn about the Constitution he claims to be an expert in we would be having immediate hearings on this blatant emoluments violation. There will be accountability. But apparently not until Dems get the gavels back from these cowards. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/us/politics/trump-cryptocurrency-usd1-dubai-conference-announcement.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

This is entirely Trump-inflicted and GOP-enabled. Acknowledge the emperor has no clothes, do proper oversight, put the country first and this ends.

A few select slides. 1/ Trump did this.

4/ US consumers are increasingly worried they're going to get laid off (thanks to Trump.)

3/ People who depend on Chinese supply chains are slowing down their purchases.

2/ CEOs, who will make recommendations on whether to invest are souring on the US economy.

7/ And finally, this is all a choice. We don't have to have this happen. But Trump has chosen to tank the US economy. He did this. Insert your own expletives. He deserves all your rage. /fin

6/ More Americans are maxing out their credit cards and entering default.

5/ Europeans are deciding not to vacation in the US.

This is sobering, but worth reading if you want to understand how badly Trump is destroying the economy. Just data. And entirely Trump-inflicted. https://www.apolloacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/042625-ConsumerandFirms_v2.pdf

To understand why this is straight up fascism, just ask yourself what protection you would have - as a law-abiding American citizen - if the President alleged that you were a criminal and an illegal immigrant and deported you to a prison in El Salvador. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/us/politics/trump-undocumented-immigrants-trials-deportation.html

Because you cannot assert that someone is doing something "illegally" in such a country unless that person has the right to present evidence, have access to counsel and defend themselves in court BEFORE such assertion carries with it the full force of law.

The truth is, it doesn't take a particularly sophisticated knowledge of the law to understand why a country based on rule of law must afford equal protection under that law to everyone inside our borders, regardless of their immigration status.

And that of course applies equally to immigrants who are here as DREAMers or asylum seekers under Temporary Protected Status. Both are technically "illegal" but are here with the understanding that if they go through a legal process and commit no crimes they can secure legal status.