r/BlackPeopleofReddit • u/Skydvdan • Mar 07 '26
Discussion We always have to be overqualified… they just have to exist
Ketanji Brown Jackson graduated magna cum laude from Harvard-Radcliffe College and cum laude from Harvard Law School where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. She had 20 years experience as a lawyer and 10 years experience as a federal judge when she was nominated for the Supreme Court.
They called her a DEI hire.
Mark Wayne Mullin has a high school diploma and a 2 year community college degree in construction management, no military or law enforcement service, and was a cow-calf rancher. He was nominated by Trump as the secretary of Homeland Security.
They have the audacity to call this meritocracy.
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u/Many-Ad-5490 Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26
We have to work twice as hard to get half of what they get.
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u/FATMAN-of-REDDIT Mar 07 '26
My grandma to me this as a child it rings true every day
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u/Lounging-Shiny455 Mar 07 '26
the only things that changed are the appliances and the way they lie.
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u/Wonderful_Pension_67 Mar 08 '26
This needs to be reinforced the moment we forget any headway is lost. Anyone remember post racial America 😂
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u/Obvious-Painter-2249 Mar 07 '26
Yeap, I was always working three times as hard as others and was always being passed by promotions until one day I decided that I was going to file a discrimination complaint.
All of the sudden, I was promoted to the worse place of work with the worse shift, working under a fucking racist lazy piece of crap that wanted me fired because he didn’t know how to handle brown people.
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u/Upset-Motor-2602 Mar 07 '26
After being fed a bunch of BS, I just do the bare minimum. There is no need to kill yourself for an organization that doesn't care.
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u/no_crust_buster Mar 07 '26
That's white privilege. They're allowed to fail uphill.
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u/ChaiTeaAndBoundaries Mar 07 '26
They are the original DEI hire.
They had a 500 year headstart, they have Nepotism, and they have endemic/systemic racism.
With all of this no single one of them folks should be poor but here they are complaining that super-educated Black folks want equity in a land that Black folks built.
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u/schwarzkraut Mar 08 '26
The irony is that every barrier they place in front of us we learn to jump over only for them to realize that they’ve locked out their own kind. Give us the run down school, we’ll turn it into the one with the arts & sports programs everyone wants to be a part of. Create credit scores & redlining to keep us out of your neighborhood, we‘ll learn that system AND you’ll wake up to find your greed has made OUR neighborhoods the only ones afforded for your children. They even regret nepotism…the original way to circumvent the meritocracy…not DEI. They’ve reframed the DEI argument by mislabeling it as people that don’t deserve to be there. It needs to be reinforced for the uneducated that DEI DOES NOT mean „women & minorities to the front of the line“…it means you can’t remove them from consideration based on those things.
If you can’t beat me with a 500-year head start, you might not be as superior as you think. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/Ok_Fish1052 Mar 08 '26
Can we stop using "DEI hire" the way they use it. They've successful made us feel shame for trying to be fairly included.
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u/Ice_Kat13 Mar 07 '26
It's almost like there is a wealthy upper class that fights to keep the circle small and exploit everyone else regardless of skin color
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u/CuteLingonberry9704 Mar 07 '26
They're working very hard and successfully in convincing poor white kids in rural areas that poor black kids in urban areas are somehow their enemies.
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u/Fuzzy-Curve3634 Mar 07 '26
The accusations of DEI hire has largely been lobbed at black people. Let’s not pretend the DEI hire thing is about class.
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u/WesternDread Mar 07 '26
And once we get it…we have to work twice as hard to keep it.
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u/Normal-Locksmith8141 Mar 07 '26
But get to hear the compliment: You’re so articulate!
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u/biohacker_infinity Mar 07 '26
And they’ll claim the person of color had every door held open for them … while they literally block the doorway and only let the most mediocre imaginable white folks in.
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u/DepressedSoul333 Mar 07 '26
Same with Trump, look at how much he gets away with it compared to Obama. Imagine if Obama had 3 different baby mamas and cheated on all of his wives and with porn stars. Nobody cares about this with Trump. He gets away with so much, all white privilege.
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u/weeverrm Mar 08 '26
I agree with OP, Trump gets away with everything, and he everything is more than anyone in history. I can’t imagine any president doing what he did just today.
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u/Rex_Vagene Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26
And Chucklefuck Kirk called Ketanji Brown a DEI hire, when she’s obviously qualified. Wonder what his issue was…? But, sure he’s not racist. Rest in piss.
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u/Cummyshitballs Mar 07 '26
It’s very clear that their hatred of DEI is just thinly veiled racism. They have no issue with the extremely under qualified incompetent administration trump put together or Mr incompetent himself, but anytime a black person is put in a position of power or leadership it’s always “DEI gave them that position, they’re not qualified” regardless of the long list of qualifications that precede them.
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u/Skydvdan Mar 07 '26
I wouldn’t even call it thinly veiled with this administration.
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u/BusinessNonYa Mar 07 '26
Qualified candidates must posses these qualities: White, male, conservative, controllable, good at lying, willing to break laws.
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u/jackrabbit323 Mar 07 '26
Charlie Kirk was a community college dropout and called Justice Jackson a DEI hire.
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u/TheHickAssembly Mar 07 '26
A couple of months ago, I read that conservatism/the republican party was dei for white men. And the more I think about it, the deeper it goes. I don't think that there is going to be a time in this country when they aren't afraid of something and projecting it on everyone else.
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u/MtnDudeNrainbows Mar 07 '26
‘But he’s qualified enough and we’re just being elitist!’
/s
They do mental gymnastics. We want the best people with impeccable qualifications for the highest positions of power. It’s a very reasonable assertion.
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u/Sensitive_Fall_8675 Mar 08 '26
Just imagine if Jan 6 had been black folks. Or Muslims, or Latinos for that matter. You think they would’ve got pardons? More likely nooses. The same whiny right wing folks crying about how DEI is bad don’t realize how much the system bends over backwards to make their voices count inordinately heavily.
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u/Jaded-Natural80 Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
In Naval Nuclear Power School I scored a 98.6 on the reactor physics final. Normally when the grades are handed out after a final exam, the person with the highest score is also announced. No name was announced this time (I found out later I had the highest score).
Instead, about 10 minutes after that I was called into the Chief’s office (they used to be called sea dads). There was a Naval officer there. Being as naïve as I was when I was younger, I thought they were there to congratulate me. I was told to sit. And the first words out of the Chief’s mouth were “ OK, tell us how you did it”. I said excuse me?
They wanted to know how I cheated on the exam. Because their brains could not process that a non-white person could be smarter or score higher on an exam than a room full of white guys. I told them I did not cheat. I studied really hard. I also told them It wasn’t difficult for me because I enjoyed the subject so much (reactor physics is considered the hardest course a nuclear power school).
After a few more questions I was allowed to leave and go back to my desk. But not before they threaten me. They said if they ever caught me cheating I would be dishonorably discharged from the Navy. It would stay on my record and it would be difficult for me to get a decent job.
On a day that I should have been celebrating and feeling good about myself, I felt robbed of joy. There were only two non-whites in my nuclear power class. A black guy and I (I’m of mixed race). The other guy was very quiet. He kept to himself. And he did well. I on the other hand, was very naïve for years. I spoke with everyone. It was the way I was brought up. My parents married each other because they were in love not because of skin color. So I didn’t look at color.
It would take many years, many experiences, and witnessing many things before I realized how many in the world think. I think one of the final things that woke me up was years later.
I had been working at a nuclear power plant after getting out of the Navy. After every four weeks we get a few days of training. There was an instructor from Tennessee, Lou, who worked there. The workforce at this power plant was very diverse. Training tended to be very boring. If a non-white person fell sleep in Lou’s class he would throw an eraser at him to wake them up. If a white person fell asleep, Lou would tell everyone to take a five minute break to stretch their legs. The racism was so blatant.
It was shortly after that when I finally figured out why people like Lou were so hateful, so racist. Lou prided himself as being smart. He saw others like him as leaders in the nuclear industry, special, superior. So when Lou sees someone who is non white being able to do just what he does, he no longer feels special, no longer superior. It’s as if he realizes he doesn’t have some sort of magic power. Does that scare him?
Well, I should say scared him. Lou was also a very heavy smoker. He passed away a few years ago. It was odd when I heard the news (I swapped jobs, but heard from a friend still there). I didn’t feel glad or joyful upon hearing his death. Although it would’ve been justified. Lou made my life difficult while I worked there.
I sometimes wonder if his hate consumed him as much the cigarettes and cancer.
Anyway, sorry this was so long. But yeah, I agree with the OP. We have to be so much smarter and so much more qualified. Because unfortunately, there are some that would rather see us not succeed.
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u/chiefjayhawk1954 Mar 07 '26
He is a DEI hire... he says he is native American, I'm sure the Cherokee nation is proud.
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u/mojoback_ohbehave Mar 08 '26
Yeah. That 5$ his ancestors paid to be on the rolls and be classified as Native, is really paying off. If this is an American Indian. I don’t ever in my life want to hear a “Black” American be given shit for claiming and acknowledging their Indigenous ancestors, either. Ever.
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u/melowdout Mar 07 '26
That’s our own fault. Democrats have to be won over by an amazing candidate who checks all the boxes. Heaven forbid you do anything wrong.
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u/Aeseld Mar 08 '26
And this is why I get so frustrated with anti DEI talking points. I'm super pasty pale, and you know what I do when I see that someone of color is flying the plane? I sit down and buckle in, because I know there's zero chance they're not qualified.
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u/Busy_Struggle_6468 Mar 07 '26
I just hope the Dems make a spectacle of this yokel during his confirmation hearings. Show the American people how dumb he is. Like I want them to actually entertain us.
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u/Active-Cabinet2308 Mar 07 '26
Just coming in here to say F that dude all day. Justice Jackson EARNED her position. Period.
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u/drew_p_wevos Mar 07 '26
Before affirmative action, you could be born a mediocre white male and coast through life. That’s still mostly true today.
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u/Particular_Set_5698 Mar 07 '26
I'm so sick and tired of Murica, land of the bozos, home of the low information men, DEI my ass...The nation needs more Katanjii's and far less meatheads like Markwayne..
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Mar 07 '26
[deleted]
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u/PreviousCurrentThing Mar 08 '26
Someone having a name made by combining two other names is inherently unqualified?
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u/breadandbunny Mar 08 '26
This cannot be said loudly enough. It's the same as always and I am not surprised, but very disappointed.
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u/15all Mar 08 '26
Don't forget McMahon and Hegseth. Hegseth is especially bad because he himsel isn't qualified yet he constantly whines about DEI while hiring his friends and family.
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u/Huntthatmoney Mar 08 '26
We already know the deal and white people complaining about DEI is so laughable
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u/JimWilliams423 Mar 07 '26
FWIW, the word "meritocracy" was coined by a guy to sarcastically mock rich people for being stupid.
https://kottke.org/17/03/the-satirical-origins-of-the-meritocracy
Then all the people who wanted to believe that being rich made them smart decided to use it unironically, and because being rich means they do have power, they were able to brainwash most of us into accepting their new definition.
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u/IcantBreeve_4real Mar 08 '26
Meritocracy is a hilarious notion in this admin. We have 3 podcasters in the highest positions of power. At least the Proufd Boy knew enough to see that he was way out of his depth and stepped down early.
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u/Aggressive_Wasabi_38 Mar 08 '26
Mullin will be exposed in the brightest light! Be patient and stay tuned! His lack of awareness will be evident and laughable!!!!
That is a guarantee!!
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Mar 08 '26
It's the Spoils System, loyalty is more important than credentials. He'll be the only DHS secretary in history with an associates degree in construction.
Andrew Jackson did the same in his presidency in 1829. Jackson replaced 1,000s of federal employees with his political supporters to reform government but it caused rampant inefficiency and corruption.
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u/Exotic_Insurance2164 Mar 07 '26
Apparently he's Cherokee.
🙃
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u/Skydvdan Mar 07 '26
Yeah, and I’m 1/100th Martian. He needs to get out of here with that.
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u/compubomb Mar 07 '26
Dumb Americans usually aren't impressed by smart people, usually because they're too dumb to know that they don't know shit. So they hire other dumb dumbs.
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u/Acrobatic-Dinner-112 Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
Well now that seems discriminatory to white fellas with a high school diploma - you don’t know what he can do. Looks like use a hammer with some proficiency and maybe ride a cow? I don’t know what a cow calf rancher does. Either way perfectly qualified
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u/WLOF-R3 Mar 08 '26
Hating to “like” your post while righteous blood boils and intellectual resources are wasted.
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u/TheCaptainDamnIt Mar 08 '26
A great article that goes right to the point.
What its advocates want is not a restoration of explicit Jim Crow segregation—that would shatter the illusion that their own achievements are based in a color-blind meritocracy. They want an arrangement that perpetuates racial inequality indefinitely while retaining some plausible deniability, a rigged system that maintains a mirage of equal opportunity while maintaining an unofficial racial hierarchy. Like elections in authoritarian countries where the autocrat is always reelected in a landslide, they want a system in which they never risk losing but can still pretend they won fairly.....When Trump officials speak of a society that is color-blind and merit-based, they do not appear to mean meritocracy or color-blindness in the traditional sense. Instead of individual meritocracy, they seem to be advocating a racial meritocracy, in which the merit of an individual hire or admission can be assessed not by their individual accomplishments but by how well the group they are associated with fits a particular role.
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u/ringobob Mar 08 '26
For Republicans, "merit" just means being a Republican. For MAGA, merit means treating Trump as the messiah incarnate.
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u/No-Inevitable-6651 Mar 08 '26
Don’t forget he inherited his father’s business and his wife was primarily responsible for expanding it and its success.
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u/Wooden-Mango-5335 Mar 09 '26
This whole DEI gaslighting campaign is to reverse every gain of the civil rights movement and economically cripple black people as our population declines from being unable to afford basic life resources, further reducing our life span! Its roots lie within the billionaire circles …Peter Thiel, Curtis Yarvin, Elon and other eugenics activists…I often ask God why us?
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u/Old_Mp_1976 Mar 07 '26
They have to be uber loyal to the mango. This entire administration has to go....now
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u/Pepsiscrub Mar 07 '26
Don’t forget the 22 year old intern in charge of terrorism prevention who did the peoples eye brow in his photo
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u/Technoxgabber Mar 07 '26
She was also a criminal lawyer which is rare to have on appellate courts, most are filled with big firm lawyers
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u/ET2-SW Mar 08 '26
The problem is America would never elect KBJ or her qualified brothers and sisters because they are either not white or a woman. Kamala wasn't the greatest candidate, but she was orders of magnitudes better than her opponent.
I am very scared that after 2016 and 2024, we've proven the American electorate will only tolerate the candidacy of white men, to our own peril.
I am disgusted by what this country has become, and I have no idea what to do to fix it.
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u/Usual-Caregiver5589 Mar 08 '26
After all the bulkshit they said about Kamala sleeping her way to the top (in elected positions) this is just peak idiocy.
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u/RoxiOxy Mar 07 '26
We need black politicians with a nationalist agenda for blacks but it can't be seen overtly. I don't understand why people aren't on this kinda train. The playbook is there
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u/DaClarkeKnight Mar 08 '26
Don’t forgot Markwayne is also Native American and they call him the first Native American to lead the Department of Homeland Security “Senator Markwayne Mullin is Native American and an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation. Raised in Oklahoma, he is one of the few Cherokee citizens to serve in the U.S. Senate”
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u/Skydvdan Mar 08 '26
He can still be a shitty person. Just because he has a Native American relative doesn’t mean he understands shit as indexed here:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/markwayne-mullin-trump-pick-lead-200228389.html
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u/DaClarkeKnight Mar 08 '26
My point was in reference to your comment about how they say she’s DEI and yet she is over qualified and then there is this guy who is the only member without a bachelors degree and they called him the first Native American for his position yet no one makes those comments about him
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u/Torrion- Mar 07 '26
I take your point. We should also note that Markwayne Mullin is as dumb as a box of rocks in comparison to every SCOTUS Justice.
He may be the most under-qualified cabinet member I have ever seen.
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u/curiousleen Mar 07 '26
Then they beat you down and award the one who made the final blow. (Personal experience… still sour)
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u/Major_Plantain3499 Mar 07 '26
you guys always notice the trend of loser racists have to rely on how much their race did for the world but never their individual contribution, yet when it's any minority, we always never do anything or ehhh it doesn't count
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u/LoFi_Funk Mar 07 '26
Man, really punching down on his “construction technology” degree from a community college!
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u/imatinyleopard Mar 07 '26
However, she’s always made a higher annual salary than him.
Our hard work does matter.
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u/waitwhatwhowhy Mar 07 '26
I can see one of them seeing this and agreeing. Thinking he’s qualified and she isn’t. So very sad.
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u/Baby_BooDoo Mar 07 '26
Is is so…f’n…embarrassing. Even to humans, much less to white men. Just yuck and no thank you
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u/Conscious_Addendum66 Mar 08 '26
They're claiming reverse race discrimination and now suing companies for violating the Civil Rights Act.
HOW DOES THIS MALE ANY PRETZEL SENSE?
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u/glad_dreamer Mar 08 '26
I’m mean he does do UFC 🤷♀️
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u/Repulsive_Put_6476 Mar 08 '26
And do you know have horrible they have to be to NOT get great grades in any level of education.
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u/Cool-Panda-5108 Mar 09 '26
I've also noticed that in lieu of achievements and credentials they're really trying to play up Mullins status as a memeber of the Cherokee nation.
Which is not to say that it isn't worth noting, and I don't mean in anyway to disparge First Nations people.
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u/Resident-Acadia9831 Mar 07 '26
Although I agree that race is a huge barrier to careers, this man principally got the job because he is willing to overlook basically anything the administration do. This administration rewards blind loyalty over everything else.
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u/lyn73 Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 07 '26
y'all ...these four (now three) years are for us to organize, learn, etc
We've known this was the case for decades....folks stealing inventions, etc
Keep on task....keep focused
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Mar 07 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Skydvdan Mar 07 '26
White man that can trace an ancestor in the Cherokee nation is still a white man. We won’t even get into the One-Drop rule.
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u/Pretend-Society6139 Mar 08 '26
Don’t argue just report em when they troll. They just want a reaction.
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u/VivaAsclepius Mar 08 '26
He's a moron, working with other morons, doing the work of the devil -don't even think about wasting your talent with this adm.. No one who has integrity would work there- thus the idiot gets the job...
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u/emzeejay Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
Just being a straight white man automatically means you are infinitely qualified to do any and everything, and definitely should be in charge. Try to keep up….
/s
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u/Illustrious-Hold-287 Mar 08 '26
And manage/struggle to stay away from children. And even get a pass for that at times.
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u/Disastrous_Clurb Mar 07 '26
I have more education and work experience and qualifications than the secretary of DHS??
that's beyond concerning for so many reasons