Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, Elon Musk, and Project 2025 promised to do a lot of really terrible things. True to their word, they are implementing them all while the media watches and tries to make it normal, while Republicans cower in fear, and while Democratic leadership is waiting for his popularity to drop so they can really do some stuff, according to Chuck Schumer.
Our government is being dismantled. We can all see that.
What you might not see is worse. It’s the inside terrorist campaign that is purposely and deliberately traumatizing the two million Americans that run our federal government—exactly as promised by the guy the Senate approved 53-47 as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
The terrorism campaign is playing out and you are hardly hearing anything about it because it all seems so benign. What is ‘traumatizing’ about having to work in an office instead of remote? What is the big deal about having to fill out a few forms on your employees performance? What kind of snowflakes can’t fill out a little email with five bullets about what they accomplished last week?
Take it all individually and it all sounds so mild and unimportant. Take it as a concerted campaign to force employees to be afraid of writing something that AI will flag as fireable, evaluate people you consider friends knowing that if you fill the form out wrong they will get fired, or spend your days answering new taskings instead of actually doing your job.
Repeat that daily. Over and over. It adds up to trauma, fear, and incapacitation of humans and our entire government
That’s what’s happening.
To paint the picture for you myself, I reached out to friends that are working inside the federal government. One is a supervisor in the mental health space of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The other is a current Federal Bureau of Investigations agent.
Both are military veterans.
I want you to read this all. I have kept their identities anonymous to protect their safety and jobs.
This week my friend who works in mental healthcare for veterans at a VA hospital was given a tasking to review all of the people in their section and turn it in the next day.
There are over sixty people under their department. I want you to see how insane this set of instructions is for yourself:
Yes. 24-hours to complete this on over 60 people.
My anxiety it through the roof. If I don’t get this right, people could lose their jobs and vets lose vital services. Yet, I’m being given a day to justify 60+ positions.
It’s 9am and I just want to cry. I can’t do my job because I’m buried in the bullshit from this admin and the asshole Sec of the VA who gives zero fucks about veterans or VA employees.
My head is pounding.
I see on this list my colleagues, my friends, fellow veterans. Humans who choose to make less, work more hours, and deal with more bureaucracy because they are committed to serving veterans. They do this work because they have a passion for it. They want me to choose who on this list is less valuable, less critical. I can’t. These people have families, lives. They deserve better than one line on a spreadsheet that will likely be reviewed by AI or some DoGE bro who has no idea what we do.
Nearly 300 MH (mental health) staff… reviewed line by line. Retain, eliminate, consolidate, expand. A few words to describe the impact of losing this position. Assign a % impact on the mission. What’s the potential damage to the reputation of the service line or org. What’s the risk? It’s so cold. It doesn’t capture the work. It doesn’t allow for innovation or creativity. It just feels like I’m being made to execute someone else’s bad ideas so I will be the bad guy.
On top of that, they have an April 15th deadline to find office space for all of the mental health providers who have been hired over the last four years to work as telehealth therapists. They all have to be in VA facilities and there are not enough private offices for them, as privacy is critical in therapy sessions.
RTO. Returned to Office that means everyone who is currently teleworking has to return to the office by April 15.
So I am currently scrambling to find offices for mental health providers, which don’t exist. This means we are going to have to cancel mental health appointments for patients because I don’t have offices to privately see veterans even by video.
The applies to any staff who is within 50 miles of a VA facility. Which is pretty much everyone. So if I have a staff who lives in Maine but works for xxxxxx we have to find them a place in Maine and they have to return to an office.
The implications for veteran care are extreme.
When Doug Collins, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs promises that there will be no disruption to veterans healthcare or benefits, you can be assured he is lying through his teeth. He knows exactly what he is doing.
This last note I received has stuck with me since I read it… “Does any of this matter?”
I have another fellow veteran friend who is an agent with the FBI. I asked what’s going on in the agency and how it’s impacting their work. The response was lengthy, so I will lightly edit it for you.
I want you to think about what you are reading here. This is our nation’s top law enforcement agency. Legendary men and women. Multiple movies and television shows about their heroic efforts to defend our country and take down the worst criminals in the world.
This is what they are doing right now.
– Very limited trust in the current administration, especially following the fork email and dismissal of senior executives.
– Almost no guidance from FBIHQ, specifically the Director and Deputy Director. Director does not hold the daily update briefings from the various divisions. This compounds the stress level and many of us of us feel like we’re just showing up for a paycheck with no idea what direction the organization is heading.
– No official guidance from HQ on how to execute the immigration mission with DHS, so every field office is doing it differently, and in many cases, unsafely. For example, immigration units rely on administrative warrants to pick up undocumented individuals. We have no experience with those and therefore are extremely concerned regarding officer safety, as well as civil rights of subjects.
– Focus on DEIA removal has severely diminished public outreach, especially in the civil rights realm. Regular contact with minority groups has dropped significantly over confusion over DEIA messaging from HQ.
– LGBT employees have been cautioned about having books and other items in their workspace which could be construed as violating the administration’s policy against DEIA. In addition, many members of the community have removed self identification of their sexuality from internal HR databases, as well as removing information regarding same-sex marriages and spouses from the same.
– The reduction in prioritization of civil rights and public corruption and replacement with less complex violent crimes and gangs has added to the frustration and distrust of the administration. There is mistrust and anger following the pardoning of subjects like the J6ers, and alleged corrupt politicians such as Eric Adams and Brian Kelsey.
– The poor treatment of ASAC Elvis Chan for his role in communicating with Twitter leading up to and during the 2020 election was a huge blow to morale.
– DOJ’s orders to pause investigations into oligarchies, violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Foreign Extortion Prevention Act, along with dissolution of the Foreign Influence Task Force and DOJ Public Integrity Section, has led to legitimate concerns regarding the sanctity of future elections, specifically involving foreign malign influence from Russia and China.
Bottom line, many of us are scared when we come to work each day because we have no idea what to expect. We have received almost no guidance from our top two leaders. The stress is palpable and whereas political discussions were very limited prior to this administration, they now have become common. Many of my peers – myself included – are seeking therapy on a regular basis.
There is very much an “us versus them” mentality, with “them” being the current administration. We get more information from the news and social media than we do from HQ. Those of us on the J6 list constantly wait for the other shoe to drop, and are extremely concerned for our safety, as well as our families in regards to doxxing and potential violence.
I don’t trust the administration to not “accidentally” release the personal information to whomever. Basically, if there wasn’t a “deep state” before, they’ve certainly done their damnedest to create one.
That’s the most shocking thing I’ve read in a long time and almost no one is aware of it or reporting on it.
If you have friends in the federal government, check on them, let them vent to you and share what they are going through.
If you are an elected representative…do your damn jobs. Do you want veterans to die? Do you want crimes to go unpunished? Was this your vision for a “golden age?”
When is enough, enough?
I think it’s now. Get in the streets and let them know we are done waiting for our government to be destroyed.
Done.
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