Also, has ALPA explained why the previous approved infrastructure plan was delayed? Specifically, how Elon Musk stopped the use of secure fiber link from Verizon for the communications upgrade to push the unvetted, insecure Starlink?
Does ALPA have an opinion on the length of the delay Starlink would cause in the upgrade? (Since it has not been tested.)
“The NTSB is with you. We’re not going back on safety. Together it’s the only way, the only way we remain the gold standard for safety.”
Does allowing DOGE to fire ATC workers, bring in untested & insecure Starlink infrastructure and use Elon Musk’s SpaceX software developers to use AI to replace humans, “maintain the gold standard for safety”?
LLAP,
Michal Spocko Contributor, Crooks & Liars, Digby’s Hullabaloo
When I talk to people about creating stories I always ask. “What is your goal?” What are the headlines you want to see? What do you want to happen? What STOPS that from happening? Who are your allies? Who is fighting you?
I worked with two brilliant journalists who have since died. One was a trade press editor. He said there are three stories in the trade press, X vs Y, Poised to explode and Too soon to tell.
He also worked with me when I coached executives to talk to the press. He told them he could tell when they were lying. He used a quote from Emerson,
“Don’t say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
The former financial journalist said you always have to know, “Who is making money and who is losing money.” And, when she couldn’t get the real story because the subject was hiding it, to motivate her to get the story her editor said, “We don’t run puff pieces, not getting the story hurts YOU. Think of it like this, ‘This . . . → Read More: Creating stories that get people to take action
I had a great call yesterday about the kind of data, stories and experts the local media needs for a story. And then how the local GOP politicians dismiss the story. We discussed how fear of retaliation from the Trump admin and MAGA on social media keeps everyone quiet.
I talked about how I had lined up some experts to talk about how the USAID cuts hurt people in foreign countries, and how how they hurt the farmers in the Midwest.
Having the experts and data is one thing, but most farmers wouldn’t know that the money for food aid they got from USAID is not very coming back.
I asked WHO are the subcontractors who bought the food to sell to USAID? Will they talk? Why not? Fear of retaliation.
I had wanted to develop local stories people can use on TV. But Big Ag won’t talk publicly. They cut deals to stay “whole” while smaller farmers just know if the money comes in or it doesn’t.
We have hard evidence that the DOGE staff changes to computer systems have done damage.
Jeff Hauser was on the Nicole Sandler show talking about Musk DOGE Watch.
The whistleblower on Maddow talked about what was done with in National Labor Relations Board. He said that the same is happening in other agencies. I believe that Elon Musk and the policies of DOGE must be stopped. The more we learn about what they are doing, the more clear it will become they have to be stopped. How to stop them is one question, what to do next is another. Major corporations, industry groups and economists KNOW DOGE is destabilizing government. But they are afraid to say it. So we do.
#ElonMusk and the policies of #DOGE must be stopped.
My premise is that while we can link deaths to kids in South Sudan to the USAID cuts in food aid in America, that’ not big enough to register. DOGE changes to the computer systems need to be big enough to lead to the deaths of THOUSANDS of Americans. Specifically, white, male Republican Americans.
I saw my friend Alex Lawson on Maddow Friday April 12, 2025. He said,
Alex Lawson, ED Social Security Works on The Rachel Maddow Show, Friday April 12, 2025
a missed check for some people is a death sentence, a missed check for some people is going to mean that they are out on the street. So we have to come together. And understand that when this catastrophic failure happens, and I believe it will, there’s no indication that they’re trying to fix things, just accelerate it. 73 Million people rely on Social Security. Imagine the chaos that will come when those checks don’t go out. Rachel, it is going to be a scenario that’s hard to imagine how catastrophic it will be.
Alex Lawson, ED Social Security Works on The Rachel Maddow Show, Friday April 12, 2025
I put the date of the warning in here, because it’s important. Here’s how America currently works:
I’m LOVING what I’m seeing on MSNBC about Town Halls! I want to see more! But what if there isn’t one around you?
Right now DOGE & Musk are shutting Social Security offices all across the country and cutting phone services that will force the elderly and disabled to go to their local Social Security office. Alex Lawson of Social Security Works talked to Nicole Sandler about how to set up a rally at your local Social Security Administration office. Sam Seder of The Majority Report talked about it today.
"Every single member of congress needs to be pressured because of what they are doing to Social Security." @samseder.bsky.social @majorityreport.bsky.social @socialsecurityworks.org is setting up people to rally at their local #SocialSecurity offices. Go to HandsOffSocialSecurity.org[image or embed]
— Spocko (@spocko.bsky.social) March 25, 2025 at 1:20 PM
The rallies at Social Security offices will bring the issue to the media, which is great, but we know how people live in media bubbles. Fox News won’t cover them. But they might make the local news. Lately I’ve been talking to some activists on how to reach the “normies” who only watch their local TV news, and prepare for the . . . → Read More: Who to call NOW, before your Social Security is disrupted? Alex Lawson @socialsecurityworks.org
Chelsea Milburn, a disabled Navy vet, was fired from her job because of sweeping cuts to federal agencies. But her story won’t be on Fox “News”
When I saw Elon Musk wielding a chainsaw at CPAC I knew it would be shared everywhere. MAGA people LOVE that image, “He’s owning the libs! AWESOME! An Alpha male cutting Federal Government waste!” But what they won’t see are the lives destroyed by the illegal and reckless cuts.
The pattern we are seeing is a massive sweeping cut, then outrage. If it is so egregious or outrageous like Nuclear Security it’s “an accident” and they try to rehire the people fired. Now you would THINK that if it hits a program or constituent base that Republican politicians care about, they would stand up for their own people. But that hasn’t happened. We see them go on TV and say, the cuts are a good thing.
She needs to be on Fox “News” so people can connect Musk’s cuts & the betrayal of vets to GOP senators who aren’t helping her, but praising Musk. But that is not going to happen because Fox is busy talking about how the cuts are justified. They . . . → Read More: Vets Lives Are Being Destroyed By Federal Cuts
I got into a conversation with some friend’s about the Dem’s failure to prepare for the nomination hearings. I KNEW that there were multiple weaknesses in them, but I also know that the Trump team had a strategy to push them through.
I saw lots of complaints about Dem Senator questions at the hearings. It is hard, especially when Team Trump uses these tactics
1) Withholding evidence
2) No background checks by FBI AND the FBI doesn’t share the info with all committee members
3) Coach candidates to give non-answers and to give technically correct, but misleading answers
“It wasn’t an NDA, It was a”non- disparagement clause in the divorce proceedings”
4) Threaten people who have legit questions about their qualifications, or have issues about their character. See what they did to Sen. Joni Ernst.
I started looking into Tulsi Gabbard. Howie Klein wrote about her at Down With Tyranny. Will Senate Republicans Draw The Line At Tulsi Gabbard? Very Very Unlikely Subhead: Does Trump’s Crazy Hare Krishna Belong To Putin?
I learned a lot. There are multiple weakness that could be exploited if someone was in charge of a PR campaign to derail her . . . → Read More: Hey Dems! You can derail Tulsi’s nomination
I’m a HUGE fan of A Closer Look on the Seth Meyer show. It’s written by Sal Gentile and the supervising producer is Emily Erotas.They have a limited series podcast called A. Closer Look Back, talking about what they learned during Trump first term & what they can do to prepare for Trump 2.0. It’s insightful & funny and I highly recommend it.
Listening to this podcast and Rachel Maddow’s recent show on preparing for Trump’s next term got me thinking.
Who has a media and social media strategy to mess with Trump this time around? And, because nothing seems to hurt Trump, who is focusing on busting his nominees & minions? I ask because I don’t see the Dems doing it.
I wondered what I can do. Who can I help that I think is doing good work to counter the RW narrative? I looked at what was breaking thru the RW narrative IN MULTIPLE SPACES. One was comedy. So I wrote the best comedy writers & producers I knew about & asked them this question:
Today Cliff Schecter and Hal Sparks talked about Kash Patel & how he could be the first possible leather daddy to head the FBI.
The Steve Bannon plan is to overwhelm the media with Trump’s horrible nominees. What gets to the MSM, that makes them disqualified, isn’t the same as what makes it to late night comedy shows, or to Fox News, or RW social media.
Part of what we can do with our audiences is to show how weird these people are. There are serious reasons these people are horrible, that would disqualify them to normal people like us. But we need to also point out stuff that the MAGAs have a hard time with, but we can’t reach their channels. If we tried they’d say, “I thought you were COOL WITH DEI, gays, and leather daddies!” So we put stuff out saying, “We’re cool them being gay or leather daddies, but we are not cool with their policies to destroy our national security, are you?”
Frankly I don’t know which weird, corrupt, sick, incompetent or illegal activity of Trump’s nominees will knock them out of the process. But we need to find them and . . . → Read More: Trump’s Leather Daddy To Head FBI
