The Most Active Threads Since Friday

The most active thread over the weekend was titled, "Colombia blocks deportation flights, Trump responds with tariffs" and posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. This thread was started soon after U.S. flights repatriating Colombian citizens were turned back by the Colombian government. Cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump reacted angrily to Colombia's refusal to accept the flights and threatened immediate tariffs on Colombian imports to the U.S. as well as immigration restrictions. Within hours, both sides announced that the impasse had been resolved, with the White House suggesting a complete capitulation by the Colombians. However, that account is likely overstating things. What is known is that the U.S. has conducted regular deportation flights to Colombia for years. The flights have generally been non-events. In this case, Colombian President Gustavo Petro seems to have been angered by two factors. One, while the U.S. normally uses civilian aircraft for the deportations, these flights consisted of military aircraft. Central and South American countries are particularly sensitive to the use of military aircraft, something that Trump, in contrast, considers important. Second, video of the Colombian nationals being loaded onto the aircraft that circulated widely on social media showed them shackled on their hands and feet. Many Colombians perceived the treatment as dehumanizing. The tariffs that Trump threatened would have caused significant harm to Colombia's economy, which relies heavily on exports to the U.S. However, the tariffs would likely have been problematic for the U.S. as well. The largest Colombian import to the U.S. is oil, with coffee being second. Any price increases in those two goods would have been immediately noticeable to U.S. consumers. Moreover, the third largest Colombian import is cut flowers. Tariffs on those just before Valentine's Day would also not be welcome. Trump's reaction of essentially going nuclear thrilled a number of the posters in this thread. They see this as a sign of strength and the reported Colombian capitulation as a demonstration of respect for a strong American President. It is almost assured that Colombia did not cave completely as Trump is suggesting. Rather, there has likely been some sort of agreement that satisfies Colombian objections. Convincing Trump supporters of this, however, will be impossible. Other posters are concerned about the long-term damage Trump may be doing. Colombia had already shown interest in establishing closer relations with China and the BRICS countries. This episode will likely push the nation further in that direction. A common retort by those who oppose immigration is to tell immigration supporter to house immigrants in their own homes. Based on this logic, a reasonable solution would have been to ask proponents of deportation to load migrants into their cars and drive them to Colombia.

The weekend's next most active thread was the Blake Lively discussion that has been among the most active for weeks. That thread has frequently hovered right on the line of what I was willing to tolerate on the website and finally crossed it over the weekend. I locked the thread, causing considerable consternation among some posters. After that was the thread about the latest Office of Personnel Management memo regarding federal employees' return to work that I discussed last week. The most active thread after that was somewhat related. Posted in the "Jobs and Careers" forum, the thread was titled, "What is your federal agency telling you re: RTO? (No other rants/comments!)". The original poster stated that the purpose of this thread was simply to list agency responses to the OPM memo discussed in the earlier thread that required them to notify employees about return to office policies by 5 p.m. Friday. The original poster was told to continue teleworking while the agency continued to review and assess the situation. What quickly became apparent was disparate treatment of federal employees depending upon whether or not they were covered by collective bargaining agreements or CBAs. Those workers who were not part of a CBA were generally told that they should return to the office promptly, often within 30 days but in the same cases as early as today. Those who were covered by CBAs, however, and who had valid telework agreements, were told to continue teleworking until their agreements were renegotiated. Generally, supervisors are not included in CBAs and, therefore, are expected to return to the office. There were significant differences in agency reactions. Some seemed to lean toward extending telework for as long as possible, something their employees appreciated. Others, on the other hand, interpreted the memo strictly and ordered their employees back as soon as possible. NASA, for instance, told its employees to be back in the office today. Some agencies, especially parts of the Department of Defense, still hadn't gotten around to notifying their employees as of this morning. The government is famous for its use of acronyms, and this thread is laden with them. As I understand it, CBAs are negotiated by unions, but a CBA covers a bargaining unit, or BU, that can apparently include nonunion members. Because BUs were generally not being ordered back to the office immediately, a number of posters were trying to determine whether or not they were part of a BU. If nothing else, this situation has likely increased support for unions.

I just noticed that every thread that I will discuss today is somehow related to cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump. Whether it is his conflict with Colombia's President, his orders for federal employees to return to the office, or this thread, his actions are dominating discussion. This thread was titled "Trump has terminated the security detail for Dr. Anthony Fauci" and posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. Earlier, Trump withdrew the government-provided security details for former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Pompeo's top aide, Brian Hook. All three have faced threats from Iran due to their involvement in ordering the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. This thread is about Trump's withdrawal of Dr. Anthony Fauci's security detail. Fauci is the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and led the U.S. response to the COVID pandemic during Trump's first administration. However, Fauci became a hated figure among MAGAs due to his policies regarding COVID. While Fauci, unlike the others, likely faces no threat from Iran, he may well be at risk from some of Trump's supporters. Such threats likely increased after Fauci was pardoned by former President Joe Biden, and a new round of hatred was launched targeting him. As is to be expected, MAGA posters are thrilled with the removal of security for Fauci. They don't believe that he deserved it in the first place, and they see Trump's actions as saving money. Other posters are also comfortable with Trump's actions because they don't believe the U.S. government should be responsible for lifelong security for those such as Fauci. More liberal-leaning posters are generally opposed to dropping Fauci's security detail, something that they believe puts Fauci at risk. Moreover, many of these posters believe that Trump is the leading instigator of threats against Fauci and, by removing Fauci’s security detail, Trump is doubly increasing the risk to Fauci. The fact that government officials may create long-term security threats for themselves for which the government is not willing to provide security may well become an obstacle to recruiting for some government positions.

The final thread that I will discuss today was also posted in the "Political Discussion" forum. Titled, "Trump fires Inspectors General.", the original poster linked to a Washington Post article reporting that cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump had fired 15 independent inspectors general late Saturday night. As the original poster noted, Trump's move was blatantly illegal. The law requires that 30 days’ notice be given to Congress before an inspector general is removed. Trump, obviously, did not provide such notice. It is expected that the inspectors general will be replaced with Trump loyalists. This is concerning because inspectors general are supposed to operate independently. While many of the posters in this thread argued in support of Trump because they believed, wrongly, that he had simply removed former President Joe Biden’s appointees, that is not the case. The 15 inspectors general removed included Trump appointees that Biden had kept on. The fact that the move was illegal yet generally supported by Congress is troubling. Senator Lindsey Graham conceded that Trump had "technically" acted illegally, but still supported the move. This continues a pattern of Trump taking illegal actions that are condoned by the political establishment. For instance, TikTok is operating illegally now. Trump issued a 70-day extension allowing it to continue operating, but he did not have the legal authority to do so. Nobody seems to care. Similarly, Trump issued an executive order ending birthright citizenship. Birthright citizenship is enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and, therefore, would require a constitutional amendment to change. Trump's executive orders cannot even change law, let alone the Constitution. In this case, a federal judge has blocked Trump's EO. Despite its illegality, MAGAs in this thread support Trump's action. Others are opposed to the move, which they, probably correctly, view as a threat to our democracy. Not only is Trump normalizing illegal actions, but moves such as putting loyalists into inspector general positions will make further illegality easier. Trump has no respect for the rule of law, and neither do his supporters. Congress, with both chambers in Republican hands, seems content to go along with Trump even at the expense of its own power and prestige. Trump wants to rule by diktat, and nobody seems to want to oppose him. Therefore, that's exactly what he is going to do.