Elon has your data. Now what?? Ally Sammarco Feb 21 Good Thursday evening, readers, and thank you for making Today’s American News your source for news and analysis on the circus that is American politics and entertainment. This Politico headline is terrifying… “What’s Elon Musk doing with your data?” is not the kind of headline plastered across Politico’s homepage that makes you feel good about the direction in which America is headed. But that’s what readers found today, with the sub-headline, “The White House says Musk is not using DOGE data to inform his AI.” Yikes. “Elon Musk is racing to perfect an AI model,” the article notes, “just as teams of his young associates are gaining access to some of the nation’s most sensitive and closely guarded databases through the Department of Government Efficiency.” The idea that Musk is keeping DOGE-obtained data and his business enterprises separate requires a willing suspension of disbelief. (photo credit: AFP) Today's American News with Ally Sammarco is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Federal housecleanings hit IRS with thousands fired… CNN reports that “Internal Revenue Service workers described chaotic scenes, heightened security and charged emotions playing out at tax agency locations across the country Thursday.” The outlet quotes one worker as saying, “Emotions are high. People are arguing with management, throwing books, kicking chairs in frustration. The bottom line is this wasn’t handled with care, and these people have no idea where their next paycheck will come from.” Absolute chaos. But the impact goes beyond the employees whose livelihoods have been upended. Elon Musk’s DOGE is supposedly looking to tackle “waste, fraud, and abuse,” but isn’t tax fraud a major fraud committed against our country and its people? Without a fully staffed IRS, will people like Donald Trump get away with not paying their full taxes as legally obligated–in a system that already unfairly favors them to begin with? Mass layoffs can continue, federal judge rules… It had seemed for weeks that the judiciary was Americans’ only refuge from chaos and a takeover of the country by Trump and his oligarch friends, but that refuge has proven unavailable in recent major judicial rulings. NBC News reports, “A federal judge Thursday denied a bid by labor unions to block the Trump administration from carrying out mass layoffs at federal agencies. U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper indicated in his ruling that he was sympathetic to the National Treasury Employees Union and the four other unions that were seeking a restraining order to temporarily halt the layoffs, but said that federal court was not the appropriate venue for their lawsuit.” Seems like yet another weak-kneed judge apparently fearful of backlash from Trump, Musk, and MAGA supporters. NY Gov. Hochul too afraid to remove NYC Mayor Eric Adams from office… Citing fear of potential “disruption and chaos” that such a move could bring New York City, the state’s governor, Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, says she will not remove Adams from office. During a press conference today, Hochul “said she believes voters should decide Adams' fate and she also cautioned that a removal process could spin out of control,” reports NPR. Her decision is not so much a win or loss for the voters of the Big Apple; it’s a major win, however, for Donald Trump and his Wild West system of justice that has upended the rule of law in America and led to mass resignations as well as mass firings among federal prosecutors. It’s sad but not surprising to see Democrats–from Congress to governors’ mansions–sit back and allow Trump to make a mockery of law and order across the country. (photo credit: Getty) Today’s Buzz Planned movie with The Rock, Leo, and Emily Blunt is definitely one we want to see… Can this be in theaters tomorrow, please?? The Hollywood Reporter writes, “Martin Scorsese is looking to make a splash with a star-studded crime movie set in Hawaii. A new package that hit the town would star Dwayne Johnson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Emily Blunt. Scorsese would direct the feature from a script by journalist and author Nick Bilton. The fact-based untitled movie is said to be in the mold of Scorsese’s Goodfellas and The Departed and center on a mob boss vying for control of the Hawaiian islands in the 1960s and 1970s. Scorsese, Johnson, Blunt, DiCaprio, Bilton, Dany Garcia, Lisa Frechette and Rick Yorn serve as producers.” (photo credit: Deadline) That’s all for now. Tune back in for more chaos tomorrow evening in the next edition of Today’s American News. Today's American News with Ally Sammarco is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.