Political Irony

Here’s the definition of DEI from Wikipedia:

In the United States, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are organizational frameworks that seek to promote the fair treatment and full participation of all people, particularly groups who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination based on identity or disability.

But most Republicans use the term like “they are a DEI hire” or “they only got this job because of DEI”. They want to totally ban DEI, and even make it illegal. And, of course, they only say this when they are talking about a minority. Like this:

But Republicans have their own version of DEI, when they hire people who are total idiots. Like when they made Pete Hegseth the US Secretary of Defense.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk claim that the US Government was overwhelmed by “fat and waste and fraud and abuse” and that they are only cutting the people “that aren’t working or … not doing a good job” and are “keeping the best people”. Can you believe that, with all the evidence that their goal is to take a hatchet to the US Government so they can give more tax breaks to the rich (including themselves)?

What they don’t mention is that the size of the US government is currently lower than in the past, even though the population of the US has increased significantly. Federal employment peaked at 3.4 million in 1990 and the most recent low was 2014, with 2.7 million. Since the year 2000, it has remained relatively flat, although it actually increased an average of 0.9% a year during the first Trump administration.

And as Doonesbury points out, it was the Democrats who reduced federal employment, during the administration of Bill Clinton and Al Gore. When the measure came up for a vote in Congress, every Republican voted against it. The only modern presidents who were able to generate a budget surplus were Clinton and LBJ. In addition, only two other presidents were able to reduce the deficit, and they were Barack Obama and more recently, Joe Biden. The GOP always increased deficits, usually by slashing taxes for the rich.