onfocus

“It’s a shit show,“ says Dr. Jeff Jensen, vice chair of research in obstetrics and gynecology at the OHSU School of Medicine. “But it’s that way by intention. They are doing it to destabilize everyone who didn’t vote for them. People will lose jobs.”

OHSU is a fantastic organization that does important work for humans regardless of party affiliation. It’s painful to watch them (and every research institution) being attacked for the lulz.

A stunning 54% of Americans now believe we’re in a Constitutional crisis, according to recent YouGov polling. They’re right.

It’s not going well for Uncle Sam.

It has been three weeks since Inauguration Day. Most Americans recognize that newly elected leaders bring change. That is expected. But most Americans also expect that changes will take place in accordance with the rule of law and in an orderly manner that respects the lives of affected individuals and the work they have been asked to perform.

Just a completely normal statement from the American Bar Association advocating for the rule of law. Very precedented.

Nichols noted that despite Trump’s claim of massive “corruption and fraud” in the agency, government lawyers had no support for that argument in court. Aside from that assertion, the judge said, the administration was unable to explain “what harm would befall the government if it could not immediately place on administrative leave the more than 2000 employees in question.”

It’s interesting to see what shows up in court vs press conferences. Lawyers are still hesitant to present false evidence in court.

"This is terrible, these families are the most at risk, the most vulnerable across our state, and they depend on us for many services," said Morrison-Frichtl. "For some of our children, we meet two-thirds of their nutritional needs each day. Families depend on us to get to their job, to have their child in a safe, educational, caring place."

The suffering is what people voted for. No, I don't really think everyone voted for this level of suffering.

Based on what has been reported, DOGE representatives have obtained or requested access to certain systems at the U.S. Treasury, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Personnel Management, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with eyes toward others, including the Federal Aviation Administration. “This is the largest data breach and the largest IT security breach in our country’s history—at least that’s publicly known,” one contractor who has worked on classified information-security systems at numerous government agencies told us this week. “You can’t un-ring this bell. Once these DOGE guys have access to these data systems, they can ostensibly do with it what they want.”

Republicans are a criminal organization. There's no other way to look at it.

An intelligence team within the department recommended stripping DOGE staffers of their access to data immediately.

What happens when the people who are supposed to enforce the law are breaking it?

After years of screaming “save the children” while baselessly accusing others of exploiting kids, the Trump administration is now trying to destroy the actual infrastructure that saves children. This one crosses from standard MAGA hypocrisy into genuinely evil territory.

There is no moral philosophy backing Republican actions—it’s only grabbing power by any means that works.

They weren’t warning readers to amuse them. They were warning readers that someday they would need to be prepared to act fast.

What would you do if you knew censorship was on the way?

The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment isn’t just about individual rights—it’s a fundamental guarantee that the government will treat all persons and entities equally under the law. When someone with Musk’s level of government access and influence starts making threats against competitors, we have to ask: Are we still operating in a system where all companies have equal protection and opportunity under the law?

This is a lot. But a lot is happening—worth the read.

“Regulations, basically, should be default gone,” Musk said during an X spaces conversation last week. “Not default there, default gone. And if it turns out that we missed the mark on a regulation, we can always add it back in.”

Everything seems so easy when you don’t know how anything works. Pair that with having never had consequences for your actions due to extreme wealth and you have historic levels of reactionary stupidity destroying the US government now.

In his letter, Wyden said he was concerned that Musk’s extensive business operations in China “endangers U.S. cybersecurity” and creates conflicts of interest that “make his access to these systems a national security risk.”

Oh no, a strongly worded letter! Wyden does great work, but we need something stronger than a letter to protect our country. Not sure anything can stop the destruction so maybe documenting it is our best option right now, I don't know.