alt Hacker NewsOne thing that I can't get over about this administration is its cartoon villainy. There are all sorts of substantive and important issues in which people can have viable disagreements. Even when I disagree with people on those issues, I can usually at least understand their motivation. But this administration has so many policies like this which both seem completely unimportant to be worthy of focus and yet are also seemingly only motivated to make things worse. I truly can't imagine why anyone would put their energy into enacting a policy like this that is so transparently wrong. And I also don't know why people don't see policies like this as a canary in the coal mine for the administration's other positions.
Replies
It's a classic trait of authoritarianism to not just censor what could be considered 'bad' news, but to actively limit the ability for potential sources of 'bad news' to be known / gathered in the first place.
Refer: DOGE.
There is nobody with competence left running the federal government. They all saw what happened five years ago and kept themselves sidelined when appointments were being handed out. That leaves callow apparatchiks who are busy declaring the emperor is fully clothed as the only ones willing to play act at governance.
According to the article Interior is just centralizing the release of the information. That sounds reasonable to me rather than letting any NPS employee discuss it with the press, and is consistent with many other agencies and employers policies (family privacy etc). As far as I can tell the only "cartoon villainy" is based on speculation in the article that the administration has some other motive. The only evidence I can see the article providing is that two deaths last week are not yet listed on the NPS website.
All information gathering is bad if you’re willing to lie about anything and prefer to create a propagandized version of reality.
The insecurity of this administration is screaming
They see themselves as revolutionaries, genuinely. Plow over everything in the way of the goal & fuck the human cost. I shudder at the thought of having a beer with these people.
I don't think it's comprehensible at the individual level, but at population scales even the worst leaders tend to maintain a sizeable level of support. Trump and Chavez have alot in common[1], and nearly half of Venezuelans still supported Chavez at the end, when Venezuela had already been wrecked. Even Maduro had double-digit support in the last election (nominally 30% but probably less in reality). Cult of personality is a powerful thing, and can linger even after the personality is gone. I wouldn't expect MAGA to disappear overnight.
[1] Does this sound familiar? https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2003/12/03/the-cornered-na...
Some of it is designed to distract and fill the news cycle so actions or matters likely to be very unpopular if they get lots of publicity are drowned out. Any time the administration does something preposterous, look around to see what's actually going on.
That said, I though it was generally obvious the actions and policies are intended to do as much damage to US strengths as quickly as possible?
Relationships with our allies and the developing world?
Research/development/science/education?
The US Dollar standard?
US foreign policy/influence?
US military power?
All of it has been (and is still being) systematically disassembled. Who would benefit from all that? Answer: Russia, China, and to a lesser extent, India.
Did you notice how much the current president loves dictators (or put more politely "strongmen" leaders") but in particular, the Russian head of state? And at times has fawned all over the head of state of China? He sure does spend a lot of time talking to Putin with next to no other US officials in the room, and any records of the meetings destroyed (illegally, I might add.) I'm not joking when I say it's possible Putin is literally telling Trump how to run the country and he's nodding and saying "wow what a great idea, thank you!"
The republican party is generally awfully cozy with Russian officials because they've apparently decided Russia is the ideal society they want to convert the US into:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/15/republicans-...
They see how powerful Putin is, how powerful the FSB is, how freely Russian society racially discriminates, how powerful the oligarchs and ultrawealthy are, how patriarchal it is, how christian it appears to them - and they love all of it.
It's the Cult of Action, one of the main pillars[1] of any Fascist movement.
"Action for action's sake should be undertaken. Without any critical reasoning or reflection."
It's exactly how an unsocialized, undisciplined child or animal behaves, and it is not acceptable in civilized society.
---
[1] Its twin sibling is 'Disagreement is Treason'.
Flooding the zone. They're getting you to waste your time and energy on this, so you don't see what they are really doing.
This is not a situation where good actors have different ideas on how to best administer the country.
These are criminals. They are committing crimes. You are the victim, not their peer.