How the Federal Government Fell

Using the justification of removing government bureaucracy, Musk and the Trump administration have installed their own batch of bureaucratic tech oligarchs, made up of former Tesla and SpaceX interns and engineers, teal fellowship researchers, pallenteer employees, eugenics enthusiasts, and literal nick fuentes,

pilled groypers. Career employees have been locked out of their respective agencies, both digitally and physically, as the DOGE team ransacks various departments and accesses wide swaths of sensitive government data. Agency officials who have tried to resist Musk's seizure of classified materials have been fired, and more federal employees have

been put on leave, including the entirety of USAIDE. This effectively amounts to Musk abolishing the whole department, all without congressional authorization or oversight, not even in executive order from Trump that extends presidential authority on a whim. The unelected Elon Musk decided to carry out to the closure of an entire government agency, and he is far from finished.

Doge has hijacked the Treasury to withhold authorized payments to multiple agencies, resulting in an ongoing battle of lawsuits and court orders. This is it could happen here. I'm Garrison Davis, and this episode is an audio companion to an article I published on the shatter Zone substack linked below in the description. You can follow along online at shatterzone dot substack dot com and click the hyperlinks for more information

and sources. Elon Musk has personally directed the General Services Administration to terminate leases on quote unquote mostly empty federal buildings. The GSA, essentially the landlord of the federal government, was one of the first agencies to receive Musks quote unquote fork in the road deferred resignation letter offering to buy out the entire workforce. The legality of the letter is still uncertain as it promises to pay out currently unappropriated

funds IRS. Workers who accepted the resignation offer have already

been asked to return to work until May. The newly appointed GSA Commissioner, Michael Peters, a private equity executive that specializes in downsizing corporate real estate, has decided that quote non DoD federal building space should be reduced fifty percent, according to a GSA employee who requested to remain anonymous, on top of planning to cut the entire federal portfolio by half, DOGE is seeking to cut GSA's own budget by as much as fifty percent, with talk of consolidating

GSA offices into a few major cities using a quote unquote hub model. Wired reports that DOGE staff may be trying to use White House IT credentials to access GSA computers remotely. An anonymous GSA employee claims that few people at the agency have elected to take up the voluntary paid resignation offer, with those who have mostly being of

retirement age. High level Trump appointees used quote unquote scare tactics in agency emails pressuring career employees to accept the deferred resignation offer, warning that cost cutting measures will eventually lead to a further reduction in force. Employees are concerned that a reduced federal workforce would result in federal buildings losing their operations and maintenance contracts, with disastrous consequences for

the functionality of government buildings. Quote the brain drain is going to cripple our ability to maintain the buildings even more than it already was. We aren't overstaffed unquote for a GSA employee, they continued, quote, I think this process is already too far along to stop. I'm hoping we just need to get to the mid terms unquote. What is happening across the federal government right now is unprecedented. But this is not Germany in the nineteen thirties. It's

not the fall of the Soviet Union. We grasp at analogies to help contextualize current events that escape understanding. There are similarities, but what's happening is new, very American, very twenty first century. Think of the growth of the Internet, social media tech startups in fifty years. What's happening right now could be talked about in the vein of what

happened to the United States in the mid twenty twenties. Now, rhetoric of cutting red tape and breaking federal bureaucracy has been common political clap trap for decades, and previous efforts have been largely all bark and no bite. But now there's been a huge chomp. So why now? What happened? Trump has blamed entrenched federal bureaucracy or the quote unquote deep state, for preventing him from enacting sweeping change during

his first term. The obstacles Trump encountered didn't just come from Congress and the courts, but rank and file government workers who run day to day operations. Last month, the far right America First Policy Institute published a report titled Tales from the Swamp, How federal bureaucrats resisted President Trump. The author, James Shrek, a former Heritage fellow, credits quote unquote hostile career employees for quote unquote refusing to implement policies.

Shrek says, quote many career employees refused or defied directives withheld information, slow walked projects that they opposed, performed unacceptably, and used strategic leaking to undermine the President's agenda unquote.

Trump himself realized this late into his first term and sought to remedy the situation by revoking civil protections for tens of thousands of federal career employees, reclassifying them as at will employees under an executive order called Schedule F. This allowed Trump to treat large swaths of government employees

as political appointments. In his article for the America First Policy Institute, Shrek refers to career removal protections as a quote modern invention that protects entrenched bureaucracy.

vowing to quote wield that power very aggressively unquote. When Trump first ran on Drain the Swamp in twenty fifteen, he was referring to corporate lobbyists special interests in Washington corruption, but now the term is used to deride the so called administrative state, federal agencies, regulatory boards, and bureaucratic career

employees that maintain the basic functionality of our government. Both Schedule F and DOGE are part of a too pronged assault on the administrative state, all in service of consolidating then amplifying executive power. Trump has fully embraced the unitary executive theory proposed by the likes of Russell Vaught, Project twenty twenty five co author and the newly confirmed director

of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Although it's understood that Congress has quote unquote power of the purse, under unitary executive theory, Trump now believes that funding appropriated by Congress does not need to be spent. Rather, the executive branch controls the flow of federal spending, and Congress merely sets a ceiling on spending that the executive must

not exceed. Under this interpretation of the Constitution, the president has sole and complete control of the executive Branch, including all of its agencies and departments. But people in Trump's circle like JD. Vance and Elon Musk could be pushing Trump to go even further to where the president considers both the judicial and legislative branches as purely ceremonial and advisory. In the words of New Right philosopher Curtis Jarvin, and arguably we are already well on our way to that point.

This centralized executive power allows the executive branch to achieve goals I would have previous considered to be quite lofty. And I'll outlined two of those examples, pulling from the aspirations of the modern conservative movement. After this ad break, welcome back to it could happen here, and get ready to say bye bye to the FBI. Though the right has typically been thought to be firmly in the back the blue camp, this isn't always the case, especially on

the more extreme end. The far right militia movement has long clashed with federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI and ATF. In the aftermath of January sixth, many Mega supporters found themselves at odds with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Republican politicians began to feed into right wing uproar surrounding the FBI, as Trump himself became a target for investigations after the mar Lago raid. In August of twenty twenty two,

Marjorie Taylor Green tweeted defund the FBI. Arizona Representative Paul Gosar joined in attacks on the Bureau, hosting we must destroy the FBI, we must save America. That same month, right wing columnist and podcaster Liz Wheeler published in op ed titled Abolish the FBI, which called to quote farm out the vital functions of the FBI and raise the rest unquote. The new right publication Compact magazine featured a slightly better written article by the same title, Abolish the

FBI at SAPAC. In March of twenty twenty three, Matt Gates, noted pedophile advocated to get rid of the FBI among other federal agencies.

Later called to quote abolish the FBI at a Heritage Foundation symposium on the quote weaponization of the US Government in April of twenty twenty four.

January sixth investigations. This was believed to be used for the targeted removal of agency personnel. Last week, the FBI handed over a list containing the information of five thousand employees and agents who worked on the January sixth investigations. FBI leadership initially chose to withhold employee names. In response, Bove accused the FBI leadership of insubordination. This was ultimately a fruitless effort, as data seized by Elon Musk's DOGE

team could easily match employee IDs to names. Trump has since agreed to not publicly release the names of agents until at least late March as lawsuits continue, and is required to give two days notice if the administration chooses to publicly disclose names, but individual agents are still worried. An anonymous letter from an FBI agent to Warren's quote. Currently, there is an effort to cull a significant number of career special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation unquote.

Around one third of FBI agents were told they would be placed on leave, according to a government source who spoke on the condition of anonymity, FBI employees have lost access to systems, only to later regain access, while others were told to wait to find out about their employee status. Agents are now trying to negotiate back into their jobs, with sources saying FBI employees may be able to stay on if they can prove their loyalty to Trump and

disown the January sixth prosecutions. I write all of this not in defense of the FBI, but to demonstrate how far Trump is willing to go to expand his executive power and transfer law enforcement duties to agencies seen as more loyal to the president. Though I doubt the FBI will be completely abolished in the next few years, the agency could become unrecognizable, a shell of its former self, with hardline Trump loyalists replacing the existing and already largely

conservative workforce. Alternative agencies perceived as being more loyal to Trump, like Homeland Security investigations, could start picking up the FBI slack. According to a senior government source, on day two of Trump's second term, HSI was instructed to reopen investigations into the twenty twenty George Floyd protests to quote identify protesters BLM rioters like they did to us after January sixth, unquote.

For another once considered far fetched goal of the conservative movement that now seems oddly within grasp, let's talk about the Department of Education. Conservatives have advocated for dismantling the Department of Education ever since Jimmy Carter signed its modern incarnation into law in nineteen seventy nine. Most notably, Ronald Reagan tried and failed to abolish the department in nineteen eighty one, but Reagan's Commission ironically strengthened support for the department.

Once Reagan ran into roadblocks he instead sought to limit the Department's power and influence. Since then, calls to abolish the Department of Education have been a recurring Republican talking point among certain think tanks and politicians, but they have struggled to land sizeable blows against the department. Trump previously fiddled around with merging the Departments of Education and Labor

during his first term, but that plan went nowhere. In Trump's own Agenda forty seven plan, released in twenty twenty three, he expressed his goal of quote closing up the Department of Education in Washington, d c. Later, at the National Religious Broadcasters twenty twenty four Christian Media Convention in February of twenty twenty four, Donald Trump repeated this promise quote, I will close the Federal Department of Education, and we will move everything back to the states where it belongs,

where they can individualize education unquote. Project twenty twenty five out lined how to achieve the effective dismantling of the department by transferring funding and duties to other departments such as Health and Human Services and the DOJ. Opposition to the Department of Education was a frequent topic at the

twenty twenty four Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Robert, Sophie and I attended multiple panels and events taking aim at the Department, hosted by groups like Moms for Liberty

and the Heritage Foundation. On the first day of the convention, the party ratified their official twenty twenty four RNC platform, which called to quote close the Department of Education in Washington, DC and send it back to the States where it belongs and let the states run our educational system as it should be run unquote. And now the department seems to be next on the Trump doge chopping block. The

administration is drafting a sweeping executive order. While Trump says he wants his education nominee Linda McMahon to quote unquote put herself out of a job. The planned executive order would not just direct the Secretary of Education to begin dismantling the department, but also ask Congress for assistance in

formally abolishing the agency. It's unlikely that Trump would get the sixty Senate votes needed to pass the quote unquote necessary legislation, but even if they can't manage to technically abolish the department, he could still try to rip it scuts out, slash spending, and forcibly resign or fire employees, basically make the department simply non functioning, much like what Doge did to USAID. Upwards of sixteen DOGE staffers are

currently listed in the Education Department directory. Federal education employees have already received the Fork in the Road resignation buyout offer, while others have been fired for alleged links to DEI. Without someone like Elon Musk and Trump's administration, there was no clear path towards implementing some of the more lofty plans proposed by conservative thought leaders, whether they be Trump's own Agenda forty seven, the Heritage Foundation's Project twenty twenty five,

or Curtis Yarvin's dream of a national CEO king. Only Elon Musk could do this. You need someone with his influence, connections, money, experience, and knowledge of fringe neo reactionary Silicon Valley political theory to propose and carry out something like Doge. So how did Musk get here? Though it's common knowledge that Musk has drifted pretty severely right word the past five years leading into the twenty twenty four presidential campaign, he was

not an out and proud Trump supporter. As recently as twenty twenty two, Musk deemed Trump too old to serve as president, again, tweeting that it was time for Trump to quote hang up his hat and sail into the sunset unquote. Initially, Musk threw his support behind the doomed presidential bid of Florida Governor Ron De Santis, but as it became clear Trump would be the Republican nominee, Musk fell in behind his new party line, but his implicit

support of Trump was kept on the down low. The two met in Florida in March of twenty twenty four among other wealthy Republican donors, as Trump was lobbying for campaign funding. The New York Times reported that Musk did not want to publicly endorse Trump as of early twenty twenty four, telling friends the most he would do was

an anti Biden endorsement. Instead of public support, Musk would create his own super pack to secretly help get Trump elected, timing payments so his fiscal backing of Trump's campaign could only go public after the election. But all that changed on July thirteenth, after Trump's brush with death in Butler, Pennsylvania, Musk seemingly took Trump's call of fight Fight Fight to heart, tweeting less than an hour later, quote I fully endorse

President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery unquote. This opened more frequent communication between Musk and Trump. Later that weekend, both Musk and Peter Teel called Trump to recommend J. D. Vance as vice president. Next week was the Republican National Convention, during which Elon Musk was frequently name dropped, both by official speakers and regular attendees talked about as almost some

kind of mythic right wing superhero. On the final day of the convention, rumors circulated that Musk himself would make a surprise appearance on stage, Though said rumors did not come to fruition. Musk's specter haunted the entirety of the RNC. Come August, Musk just finished overhauling leadership at his America Super Pack and was rigorously pushing pro Trump messaging on X the Everything app. On August twelfth, Musk hosted Trump in a two hour live streamed phone call dubbed in

x Space. This conversation marked the first time Trump casually spoke at length about the assassination attempt The pair also discussed quote unquote migrant crime and the need to eliminate federal bureaucracy. Trump gave a rare compliment to Musk, calling him the greatest cutter, followed up by saying, quote, I need an Elon Musk. I need someone that has a lot of strength and courage and smarts. I want to close up the Department of Education, move education back to

the States unquote. News outlets were more interested in reporting on the stream's technical glitches rather than Musk's idea for a government efficiency commission, to which Trump responded very positively. Next month, on September fourth, Trump announced that, at the suggestion of Elon Musk, if elected, he would quote create a government Efficiency Commission, tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government and making

recommendations for drastic reforms unquote. Musk himself agreed to be appointed head of the commission, aiming to cut trillions of dollars.

This announcement was not taken very seriously. The New York Times called commissions such as this quote a favor at Washington's solution for delaying dealing with hard problems unquote, and The Times later reported that the Commission quote can issue recommendations around federal funding and regulations, but will be powerless to enact them without executive actions by mister Trump or

funding approval by Congress unquote. Even I can admit that both myself and some of my coworkers underestimated Doge's ability to physically carry out Musk's suggestions with no Congressional oversight or authority. As the election ramped up, musk super Pac mobilized thousands of canvassers across key swing states and collected

data to target both enthusiastic and unlikely voters. Throughout twenty twenty four, Musk spent over two hundred and ninety million dollars in contributions in support of the mega campaign, mostly via his own super pack. On October fifth, Musk made his first appearance at an official campaign event, joining Trump for his return to Butler, Pennsylvania. Musk continued to appear at Trump rallies in the month leading up to the election.

By election day, Musk was firmly in Trump's inner circle, spending Election night and most of the next week with President elect Trump at mar A Lago. After this adbreak, we will return to discuss how Elon Musk is now trying to become the CEO of the United States of America. Okay, we are back, and now a few months after the election, Elon Musk is doing to the United States exactly what he did to Twitter. By the end, it still might technically function on some level, just worse in every way,

prone to glitches and full of Nazis. The previous version was already bad and harmful, but the new one somehow sucks even more and no longer has the aspects that made it semi worth while. The fork in when the Road deferred resignation letters sent to government employees used the exact same title as a similar email sent to Twitter

employees after Musk bought the company. The Doge team has installed sofa beds on the fifth floor of the headquarters of the Office of Personnel Management to enable working around the clock, mirroring Musk's previous actions. During his takeover of Twitter, Musk has brought on some of the same exact people who helped him take over Twitter, all of whom are now special government employees with odd job titles but immense power.

It was reported and Wired that a Musk stooge told General Services Administration workers that the agency will now pursue quote an AI first strategy unquote, and that the GSA should operate like a quote unquote startup software company. Musk has ordered the General Services Administration to terminate leases for all roughly seven thousand and five hundred five offices, amidst

a national call to return to in person work. This again is a classic Musk move, taken from his takeover of Twitter, in which to cut costs, he refused to pay rent for Twitter offices in London, New York City, and San Francisco while the buildings were still in use. A current GSA employee was quoted and wired as saying, quote, they are acting like this is a takeover of a tech company unquote. Musk's own personal success hasn't been from

his skill as an inventor or a software engineer. What he's a proficient at is taking over corporations and molding them in his image. This is what happened to Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter. In twenty twenty. Musk called the federal government quote the ultimate corporation unquote, and now he seeks to become CEO. In doing this, Musk is following the

tech industry motto of move fast and break things. So far all his actions bypass Congress, the slow controller of stable government, having everything be done via executive order and doge helps to speed run a full reboot of the administrative state. The motto of the old government may as well have been move slow and build things. Progress is slow, but detonation is fast. The breakage of government isn't a mere side effect or a bug of this expediated form

of rule. It's a feature to reshape the government into their ideal technocracy. First, breaking things is a requirement. They might not get away with all of it, and they don't need to. They're doing so much so fast, knowing that they will only get away with some of it. But with new Supreme Court approved presidential immunity and unlimited pardon power, they can try as much as they want with zero consequence. These are not the moves you would

make if you wanted a stable government. It's the moves you would make as a new tech company, which is why Musk's operation is masked with the Silicon Valley language of efficiency. The inefficiencies of government are part of the point. That's what creates stability makes the country a trusted ally and gives the dollar value. Quote. Regulations can be bothersome sometimes and downright problematic, but that's kind of the point. They act as a control on imprecise and rushed decision making.

If the cost of doing business is slowing down the process, that's the cost that has to be made to quote a government employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity. But those inefficiencies and pesky regulations really irritate the Silicon Valley tech bros who think they are the smartest people on the planet. It's their view that since they're so smart, shouldn't they run the country. Musk has a personal interest in slashing the regulatory state, as it interferes with his

own businesses and dreams of space colonization. Last year, Musk claimed that Doge quote was the only path to extending life beyond Earth unquote. The White House Press Secretary has said that Musk himself will determine when there is a conflict of interest involving his businesses and Doge. SpaceX alone has received fifteen point four billion dollars in government contracts,

according to The New York Times. The large reduction in the federal workforce through the combined efforts of DOGE and Schedule F. There is an irrefutable similarity to a plan outlined by New Right blogger Curtis Jarvin, Peter Teel's favorite philosopher. Last year, Robert Evans did a behind the Bastards on Curtis Yarvin, and you should absolutely check that out for

more information. In twenty twenty two, Yarvin outlined how a second Trump term could quote unquote reboot the United States government. This plan amounts to a corporate takeover of government, which subsequently re shapes the structure of government, akin to a corporation. Though in Yarvin's mind, it is not President Trump who assumes the role of CEO. Instead, the President acts as chairman of the board, and before inauguration should select a

CEO who is an experienced executive. This appointed CEO could then quote run the executive branch without any interference from Congress or the courts, to quote Jarvin, while President Trump reviews the CEO's performance in the background, Jarvin writes, quote, most existing important institutions, public and private, will be shut down and replaced with new and efficient systems. Trump will be monitoring this CEO's performance on TV and can fire

him if need be. Unquote. Musk may believe that he has successfully maneuvered Trump into appointing him CEO, but Trump could be well aware of Musk's ambitions, but is keeping him around as an emergency patsy, ready to fire when needed. The Trump admin is currently testing the limits of presidential authority, and once those limits get surpassed by the standards of Senate Republicans, Musk is the easiest guy to blame and

push out of the administration's inner circle. The first step in Yarvin's plan has the Trump campaign running on centralizing executive power to eliminate government inefficiency. This was both in line with Project twenty twenty five and Musk's suggestion of an efficiency commission once Trump gets into office. The plan is as follows. Purge bureaucracy what Yarvin calls rage retire

all government employees. This is essentially being carried out by doge schedule left and by just pressuring career employees to accept deferred resignation offers. By threatening future mass layoffs, senior level officials have been replaced by a batch of loyal tech oligarchs with links to and Peter Teel. The stupidity of Doge was almost a secret weapon. The cryptocurrency meanness made everyone in respectable society not take the idea seriously.

What's the worst an advisory commission could do with no power to enforce its suggestions. Oops. Another step in Yarvin's plan is to nullify elite institutions of power like the media and academia. Musk's takeover of Twitter has gone a long way in altering the country's information ecosystem. The Trump adman seems to be utilizing Steve Bannon's flood the Zone strategy to distract and exhaust the media, as well as

more directed attacks. On January thirty, first, the Department of Defense kicked out NBC News, The New York Times, NPR, and Politico from their in house press offices and replace them with one American News, The New York Post, Brightbart and huff Post. Under from Doge, the White House has ordered government agencies to cancel subscriptions to policy news services from multiple news outlets. A White House advisor told Axios, quote, the eye of sourn is on more than just Politico.

It's all the media unquote. In terms of attacks on academia, the federal grant freeze has had devastating effects on university research. Another step in Yarvin's plan is to co opt Congress and ignore the courts. This is where we are at right now. The goal is to reduce both the judicial and legislative branches to being purely ceremonial and advisory, as advocated by Yarvin. So far, the Trump administration has effectively

sidestepped the legislative bodies via Elon Musk and Doge. It's highly unlikely Trump would ever be impeached or removed by this Congress. Furthermore, this Congress seems to have willfully given up on their power over the federal budget. To quote senior government official quote, the real challenge is that Congress is on board for now in losing their own budgetary authority. So far, a loan security guard standing outside you, sayed and the Department of Education has been enough to deter

resistance from the Democratic Party. Last week, I interviewed to Derek Black, a constitutional law professor at the University of South Carolina. The full interview will air tomorrow, but here's his short take on the current situation.

the separation of powers unquote. This past weekend, Musk raged against a federal judge who ordered to temporarily restrict doja's access to Treasury Department data. Both Musk and the White House have labeled the judge an activist with White House spokesperson Harrison Fields calling the order quote absurd and judicial

overreach unquote. On x the Everything app, Musk boosted claims calling this a judicial coup and shared an announcement from California Representative darryl Isa to introduce legislation to quote unquote stop these rogue judges. But even without added legislation, Musk and the Trump administration are gearing up to directly defy

judicial authority. On Saturday, Musk shared a tweet reading, I don't like the president it sets when you defy a judicial ruling, But I'm just wondering what other options are these judges leaving us if they're going to blatantly disregard the Constitution for their own partisan political goals unquote. And on Sunday, Vice President J. D Vance posted a statement undermining judicial power. Quote. If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would

be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that's also illegal. Judges aren't allowed to control executive's legitimate power unquote. So now it all comes down to force if the executive branch not just ignores judicial authority but blatantly defies it, who would be left to enforce the power of the court. That leads us to another step in Yarvin's plan, centralize the police, nationalize local law enforcement

to place them under federal control. Trump has flirted with his tactic in the past, when he deputized Washington police as US marshals to kill Michael Rhinol In twenty twenty, DOGE staff threatened to call us marshals when you say to security officials who have since been fired, denied them access to classified systems. Jarvin believes this step is paramount quote.

Support of the democratic public is a cipher. I think that actually all you need is command of the police unquote, if you have all of the guys with guns who can physically stop you. Support from the public doesn't hurt, though, and if things get tricky, Trump could employ the next step in Yarvin's plan. Mobilize populist support. But crucially, don't wait until you're at your weakest at the end of

your term after losing an election under popular mandate. Deploy your empowered supporters at the height of your powers to oppose any obstruction from government agencies or the courts, Trump may weaponize a Supreme Court ordained presidential immunity and his unrestricted pardon power to make any willing actor carry out his bidding with zero risk of legal consequence. Now, even if Trump himself isn't aware of Yarvin's plan, his vice president certainly is. On a far right podcast in twenty

twenty one, JD. Vance laid out a very similar vision for a second Trump term, using what the Peter Teel protege described as a dewocification program to purge bureaucracy.

because you will get taken to court. And then when the courts stop, you stand before the country like Andrew Jackson did, and say the Chief Justice has made his ruling, now let him enforce it.

Without checks and balances, all those crazy things Trump tried to do during his first term would be a lot easier to enact, let alone, whatever Musk and the tech oligarchs want out of the United States incorporated. But that's a whole separate topic. The current fight determines the degree to which this power is seized, and Jarvin notes the importance of going all the way.

from Jarvin. There, all of this doesn't even need to benefit average Trump supporters because Trump's main campaign promise wasn't mass deportations, fixing the economy, or abolishing the Department of Education. It was retribution as extremism. Analyst Jared Holt notes, quote, the right got its base so hooked on the idea of revenge. He doesn't even need to pretend that any of this benefits their base in any tangible way. They just have to say it hurts the wrong people, and

that satisfies them. Unquote. If Trump and Musk continue to get their way, it could take years to fix. But the past ten years have shown us you can't really

return to normal. There probably is no going back. The options are to hunker down and play it slow and try to survive whatever happens in the next two to four years while offering passive resistance, or we accelerate to whatever comes next, put cards on the table, trigger a kinetic confrontation, and fully manifest the results of this constitutional crisis. We are dealing with managing crumbles versus a full system's collapse. Sad face emoji.