As someone who lived most of my life under authoritarianism, this rings so many alarms. Pressing civil servants and government workers to vote the way you need is basically the first trick in the dictator's manual.
And the point isn’t that they should actually vote a particular way.
The point is that they should start feeling that it’s inconceivable to become a whistleblower, regardless of what they see on the job, because the implied punishment is so high.
Also, the authority forces individuals into acts that bind them tighter to the regime while isolating them from other options. Ex:
"Bob wants to join the resistance. He says he was lying about the loyalty oath the oppressors."
"I dunno, even if Bob was always lying about that, it still makes him the kind of person who would deceive people in order to keep his job, so I'm not sure we can trust him either."
I read the article and learned something new. Non political (aka career) Members of the NSC are deputized from their parent agencies - FBI, DOJ etc. Those that are removed return to their parent agency to continue line work.
And these are not some line DMV workers. They are high officials. It's not nearly as alarming as the headline makes it sound. I think it's fair for a new elected political leadership to expect high officials to be aligned with the policies they were voted in on.
> It's not nearly as alarming as the headline makes it sound
It is from a national security perspective. A body borne out of WWII has been rendered into a partisan shell [1]. That's a lot of institutional knowledge walking out the doors.
We started dismantling the spoils system in the 19th century and, other than in Chicago, had largely eradicated it by the nuclear era [2]. It's wild to think that a nuclear superpower's national security advisory board is no longer going to be merit based.
(From a domestic political perspective I agree it's being blown out of proportion.)
I don't have much of anything in common with the incoming admin but even I can see what you're saying is true. This is a special privilege, not a job, that is being conditioned. If everyone keeps crying wolf we won't be as alert when something fascist does happen.
Voting should never jeopardize your career... the last thing you want with voting is to associate fear and possible job insecurity. You should be able to freely vote for anyone without any consequences.
For now. We should never accept basic freedoms being sidelined like this just because there is another one that protects us — what if that one gets the same treatment.
A good thing the parties don't have registered party affiliation lists they can x-verify the information against then. Of registered voters in the US, 47% have declared a party affiliation.
You think they would stop at not being able to verify it properly?
They'll gladly fire you for "not being loyal enough" whatever the cause, for example like ever questioning the dear leader or refusing to do exactly as told.
Forcing victims to compromise themselves is part of the strategy. Even as a lie, it demoralizes them, binds them to your organization, and isolates them from one-another.
Under authoritarians, voting is theatre where everyone under the leader are rubber stamps which approve whatever the authoritarian wants. If they don't they get removed. Currently we're seeing 'soft' removals where people are being fired, or reclassified and then fired. If nothing stops this track then in future (not sure how far out) we'll be hearing stories about officials 'falling out of windows' as so many of Putin's people have.
1. Presidents and other rulers will always put people who align with them politically in the important offices. Because that's what the people voted for. Anything else would be undemocratic. It's not about "job security".
The US switched from the spoils system to the civil service system because the voters did not want a system where rulers could always put people who align with them politically into non-political offices.
The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (passed in 1883) and subsequent laws were put into place democratically. To think otherwise is farcical.
Guiteau took the spoils system pretty personally, as you might recall.
The next step on this path would be for Republicans to introduce some innocuous-sounding legislation...
Perhaps something like "Act for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service"?
> [§4] Officials whose previous political activities do not guarantee that they will always be fully committed to the national state may be dismissed from service.
> [§7] Dismissal from office [...] shall be pronounced by the highest Reich or state authority, which shall make the final decision without recourse to the courts.
And that's how the freshly-arrived executive guy started unilaterally firing people he felt were insufficiently servile to his agenda, ignoring prior checks-and-balances and without appeal.
No - these people are loaned to the NSC, they don't lose their job if they no longer have a position there, they return to their previous position in the agency they came from.
Readit News
The point is that they should start feeling that it’s inconceivable to become a whistleblower, regardless of what they see on the job, because the implied punishment is so high.
"Bob wants to join the resistance. He says he was lying about the loyalty oath the oppressors."
"I dunno, even if Bob was always lying about that, it still makes him the kind of person who would deceive people in order to keep his job, so I'm not sure we can trust him either."
I'm blown away this isn't illegal.
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https://youtu.be/P2PIco48G4k
And these are not some line DMV workers. They are high officials. It's not nearly as alarming as the headline makes it sound. I think it's fair for a new elected political leadership to expect high officials to be aligned with the policies they were voted in on.
It is from a national security perspective. A body borne out of WWII has been rendered into a partisan shell [1]. That's a lot of institutional knowledge walking out the doors.
We started dismantling the spoils system in the 19th century and, other than in Chicago, had largely eradicated it by the nuclear era [2]. It's wild to think that a nuclear superpower's national security advisory board is no longer going to be merit based.
(From a domestic political perspective I agree it's being blown out of proportion.)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_National_Securit...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoils_system#Reform
Wow, is the Overton Window shifting fast.
They'll gladly fire you for "not being loyal enough" whatever the cause, for example like ever questioning the dear leader or refusing to do exactly as told.
> whether they have made social media posts that could be considered incriminating by President-elect Donald Trump's team
2. Nobody can know who you voted for.
The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act (passed in 1883) and subsequent laws were put into place democratically. To think otherwise is farcical.
Guiteau took the spoils system pretty personally, as you might recall.
Weird how, as a conservative, I've never felt even remotely supported (for lack of a better word) at any of the numerous jobs I've had.
In fact it's very clear that workplaces generally cater to liberals and it seems those people have no theory of mind regarding anyone but themselves.
The next step on this path would be for Republicans to introduce some innocuous-sounding legislation... Perhaps something like "Act for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service"?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_for_the_Restoration_of_the...
> [§4] Officials whose previous political activities do not guarantee that they will always be fully committed to the national state may be dismissed from service.
> [§7] Dismissal from office [...] shall be pronounced by the highest Reich or state authority, which shall make the final decision without recourse to the courts.
And that's how the freshly-arrived executive guy started unilaterally firing people he felt were insufficiently servile to his agenda, ignoring prior checks-and-balances and without appeal.
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Dead Comment
Nevertheless, chilling and, I imagine, very illegal.
so why are people suddenly surprised ?
/s