#The inspector general

[best-movie-ever-tournament]

School of Rock was submitted without propaganda.

The Inspector General:

Goofy musical adapted from a Gogol play. Danny Kaye is mistaken for someone else (shocker!) and abuses his position to... right wrongs, eradicate corruption and save an orphanage or smth like that.

[peterlorres21stcentury]

today in "roles that Peter should have played, but didn't"

Oh no it's another bit of hilarity from my man Nikolai Gogol. This time it's "The Inspector General," a satirical play of corrupt government officials and the rascals who scam them. I first read the play in high school (I think, it's been many years), and from the start I imagined that Peter would have filled the role of Osip perfectly.

ok this still is from Crime and Punishment, but tell me he's not adorable and perfect

Osip is, according to the directions for the cast:

"A typical middle-aged servant, grave in his address, with eyes always a bit lowered. He is argumentative and loves to read sermons directed at his master. His voice is usually monotonous. To his master his tone is blunt and sharp, with even a touch of rudeness. He is the cleverer of the two and grasps a situation more quickly. But he does not like to talk. He is a silent, uncommunicative rascal. He wears a shabby gray or blue coat."

Osip openly insults his master Khlestakov at several points in the play and Khlestakov doesn't seem to take much notice, which is somehow especially funny if I imagine the insults in Peter's voice. He also opens Act II with a lengthy monologue while lying in bed, complaining to himself about being hungry on account of his master being a penniless fool and a ne'er-do-well. I... used to read that monologue several times over because you should know why at this point. The translation that I owned is a little different than the Project Gutenberg one, and I remember one line in particular that I preferred: "Oh, I could eat the whole world, the way I feel." 🥺 I've stolen it a couple times, or adapted it to several fics. I may be using it yet again, haha

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

July: Blue Redux (+ Green Redux)

The Inspector General / Elsa Lanchester as Maria

The 1830s is a decade that doesn't make it to film particularly often. I like the unusual combination of black and light blue here, and the looped pattern around the neckline with the little heart-shaped ornament in front. I'm not an expert, but I believe the hairstyle is actually from a decade or two later, with the dangling ringlets.

Costumes for this movie were by (William) Travilla, who also designed costumes for several of Marilyn Monroe's films and, much later in his career, the TV show Dallas. This was one of his early projects.

[cookiecrumbconundrum]

yeah yeah yeah i can get behind the intersection of the commodification of 1980s and the artificiality created by a narrative based on false assumptions but what i really need to know before i approve this production of government inspector is will there be a Twister™️ mat present on the set? no? well fuck you.

[saywhat-politics]

BREAKING — Inspectors General are NOT leaving, stating Trump’s attempted firings broke the law

Also: Chuck Grassley, Republican Senator from Iowa, said Trump broke law requiring 30 days notice to Congress and detailed reasons for firing IGs

KEEP STANDING YOUR GROUND!

[gwydionmisha]

Trump fires 17 independent inspectors general at federal agencies, source says

Their job is to find corruption and waste. The only reason you'd get rid of them is if you were planning to be wildly corrupt and wasteful. They save the government money. This is not a cost saving measure.

[eugenedebs1920]

Well well well… Let me show you my surprised face 😶

Imagine that! Trump terminating the government watchdogs tasked with impeding corruption and protecting tax payer dollars. It’s just incredible that there is not ONE. Not f*ckin one Republican who would speak out and denounce this corrupt behavior. I guess that bastion of modern times, a man with his finger on the pulse of a new generation, the 90 something year old Chuck Grassley isn’t pumped about it…

It’s monsterously reminiscent of the war on fact checking. Who are the people that would protest fact checking? F*cking liars!!!

So why fire the civil servants tasked with defending the American people and the taxes they contributed? Because you intend to pillage the funds and engage in illicit activity.

Seriously! Wtf?!

[corporationsarepeople]

So, why would he do this? Aren’t the inspectors there to curb overspending and and to monitor how the agencies are working?

Yes. Exactly.

Every action he is and will be taking while in office is a setup to drain money into the bank accounts of him and his cronies. And it will only flow to his cronies while they’re profitable to him.

Just like every use of the military he will order will be to protect Donald Trump from the American people, and never to protect the American people from others. He wants the inspectors gone to protect himself from all of us, and from anyone who might hold him accountable or—even more importantly—slow down the river of funds.

[mewtwo365]

So i watched the time travel inspector gadget episode where he goes to 19th century london (which accidentally is very up my alley) …. and so heres even more inspector gadget drawings and also Great Ace Attorney because i love crossing over stuff i like XD

I hope you enjoy my weird drawings, and have an AWESOME day!!

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

“Donald Trump’s administration late Friday fired the independent inspectors general of at least 12 major federal agencies that are tasked with rooting out fraud, waste and abuse in the government, according to The Washington Post.

The dismissals appeared to violate a federal law that requires Congress to receive 30 days’ notice of an intent to fire an inspector general.”

“This is a chilling purge,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Saturday in a speech on the Senate floor. “This is Donald Trump’s way of telling us he’s terrified of accountability.”

“Congress established the offices of inspectors general as part of its Watergate-era reforms following President Richard Nixon’s administration. Their job is to provide independent audits, inspections and investigations of government agencies.

After Trump dismissed the inspectors general of five cabinet departments at the end of his first presidential term, Congress passed a law in 2022 that increased the removal protections for the post, including requiring a notification as to the “substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons” for the removal action.

Trump, who was sworn into his second term earlier this week, has not provided Congress any such notice.”

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Thomas Joscelyn and Norman Eisen at The Bulwark:

Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as FBI director, asked that question during a November 25, 2022 episode of his Kash’s Corner podcast for the Epoch Times. It was no slip of the tongue. As the title of that episode suggested—“What Did the FBI Know Before Jan. 6?”—Patel spent considerable time trying to cast the FBI as a villain responsible for January 6th. Patel noted that FBI Director Christopher Wray had “testified that the FBI never instigated or helped the January 6th protesters commit crimes.” But citing a report that the FBI had confidential human sources in the crowd, Patel asserted: “Okay, well, that was in planning for at least a year.” Our review of Patel’s public appearances over the past four years reveals that he has repeatedly insinuated or argued that the FBI used its confidential human sources or employees to instigate the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol and entrap Trump’s supporters. Patel has claimed (as in the podcast episode above) that what he calls the “FBI’s Confidential Human Source Corruption Coverup Network” was somehow involved with January 6th. That is not only an insult to the memory of that day; it should be disqualifying for him to helm the bureau.

During the September 30, 2022 episode of Kash’s Corner, for instance, Patel said: “The question that has to be answered is, when did the FBI put those guys in, and where? And did those confidential human sources engage people who are not going to conduct criminal activity and convince them to do so?” Patel claimed that “is the definition of entrapment, which is illegal, and you can’t charge someone who’s been entrapped.” And he wondered who “was running this confidential human source network” and reporting it to FBI Director Chris Wray.

Patel added he would “venture a guess” that “once we see the documentation from January 6th, you will see the FBI’s confidential human source corruption coverup network on blast.” And he accused the FBI of inserting these human sources “into these matters.” Patel asked rhetorically: “Why? Why would you say January 6th? Because they wanted a political target, a political prosecution, not one based on law and fact.” The man who could lead Trump’s FBI has failed to substantiate these wild accusations, which are contradicted by other evidence and by common sense. Regardless, he has frequently advanced this conspiracy theory, using his background as a former federal prosecutor and public defender—key credentials used to buttress his nomination—to provide it with a veneer of credibility. Below, we provide additional examples showing how Patel has elaborated on this conspiracy theory in his public appearances and his book. But first, we explain how Patel’s conspiracy mongering was recently debunked by the Department of Justice’s own inspector general.

A debunked conspiracy theory

Patel is not alone in claiming that the FBI had a hidden hand in the events of January 6th. That conspiracy theory is popular on the right. In December 2024, the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report debunking the conspiratorial claim that the FBI corruptly used its confidential human source network to instigate January 6th. The OIG reports that it “found no evidence . . . that the FBI had undercover employees in the various protest crowds, or at the Capitol, on January 6.” The OIG did find that the FBI tasked three confidential human sources (CHS) with traveling to D.C. “for the events of January 6 to report on domestic terrorism subjects who were possibly attending the event.” And twenty-three other FBI CHSs were in D.C. for January 6th. However, the OIG emphasizes that “none” of these twenty-six CHSs was “authorized to enter the Capitol or a restricted area, or to otherwise break the law on January 6, nor was any CHS directed by the FBI to encourage others to commit illegal acts on January 6.” Simply put, the FBI relied on CHSs to provide information about domestic extremist groups such as the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. The leaders of both groups have been convicted of seditious conspiracy for their actions surrounding and on January 6th. These rightwing extremists—especially the Proud Boys—were proven in a court of law to have led the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

[...]

Patel falsely asserted that Ray Epps was “allowed to encourage and incite” the Jan. 6th riot as a “government employee”

As part of the conspiracy theory blaming the FBI for January 6th, the MAGA right has fixated on Ray Epps—baselessly asserting that he worked for the FBI and somehow instigated the attack on the Capitol. As discussed above, Patel and Pool wove Epps into their retelling of the conspiracy theory. Patel has pushed his baseless claims much further in other appearances, falsely stating that Epps was “allowed to encourage and incite a riot around some of the events of January 6th as a government employee”; was on the U.S. Capitol grounds “on behalf of the FBI”; was on the “FBI payroll”; and was part of the FBI’s “corruption coverup network,” involving “the illegal use of confidential human sources.” Patel’s allegations, documented more fully below, are not based in fact. During a January 2022 interview with the House January 6th Committee, Epps himself denied working for the U.S. government in any capacity, saying that “the only time I’ve been involved with the government was when I was a Marine in the United States Marine Corps.” In September 2023, Epps pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct on restricted grounds and was subsequently sentenced to one year of probation. During his plea hearing, a government prosecutor confirmed on the record that Epps “was not before, during, or after” January 6th ���a confidential source or undercover agent working on behalf of the government, the FBI, or any law enforcement agency.” Outgoing FBI Director Christopher Wray has directly rebutted the conspiracy theory centered on Epps in congressional testimony as well. Nevertheless, Patel has alleged on multiple occasions—without citing adequate supporting evidence or documentation—that Epps was working for the FBI. And again, Patel used his credentials as a former federal prosecutor to lend the conspiracy theory the appearance of legitimacy. “Look, as a former federal prosecutor who ran sources and informants, if the answer is, ‘This guy is not on our payroll and we don’t know him, and he did absolutely nothing for the United States government,’ you come out hard and fast in your press op and say those things,” Patel said during the January 6, 2023 episode of his Kash’s Corner podcast. “But those things have never been said by this DOJ or FBI about Ray Epps.”

[...]

Conclusion

PATEL PUSHING CONSPIRACY THEORIES about what happened on January 6th should disqualify him from leading the FBI. These allegations deface the truth: the responsibility of Donald Trump, his supporters, and his enablers for what happened that day. That dishonors the memory of the members of law enforcement who were injured or died as a result of what really happened that day and in its long runup. But groundlessly focusing blame on the very agency Patel is supposed to lead is more shocking still. It undermines his ability to win the trust of those who make up the FBI. Given the bureau’s central role in protecting us all, the risk of dysfunction is unacceptable. And what other conspiracy theories will he subscribe to, and who will be targeted as a result? Because of the power of the FBI, that question should concern us all. Patel should be thoroughly examined on all of this at his confirmation hearing. It should be disqualifying.

Potential Donald Trump FBI nominee Kash Patel traffics in the dangerous myth that the FBI “planned” the January 6th Insurrection and the lie that Ray Epps “incited” the insurrection.

Patel is wrong: Trump was the chief instigator, and the OIG debunked Patel’s BS lie. On top of that, this fascist bozo should NOT be leading the agency.

[best-movie-ever-tournament]

The Inspector General:

Based on a Gogol play. Danny Kaye plays a gipsy (the movie's words, not mine) who, after a bunch of shenanigans, ends up being confused with an imperial inspector general. He's getting very well treated which is good and makes him keep up the charade, but unknown to him, the people treating him well are actually corrupt and want to kill him so they're not denounced by the inspector to the emperor. He'll manage to survive through sheer clumsiness.

The Court Jester:

It's a really funny movie with songs and dances. Danny Kaye is a musical/comedic genius. The women are treated so well! The princess is portrayed as a person with power, not just helpless to the whims of her father. And Maid Jean is the love interest and the second in command for the rebel group. Also, look up the fight scenes. They are impressive and stupidly hilarious

[gatheringbones]

nothing more lesbian than a scarcity mindset and a paralyzing fear of contamination 🌝

[nodynasty4us]

From the January 25, 2025 article:

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Saturday she didn’t understand why President Trump fired several departmental inspectors general late Friday night....

“I don’t understand why one would fire individuals whose mission it is to root out waste, fraud and abuse. This leaves a gap in what I know is a priority for President Trump. So I don’t understand it,” Collins said while arriving at the Capitol for a Saturday morning vote.

What I think:

Once again Senator Collins is concerned but puzzled. Let me explain it to her. Trump doesn’t really care about waste, fraud, and abuse -- that’s just an excuse to cut programs that he or his MAGA base don’t like.

The inspectors general are gone because they could have exposed the graft and corruption that Trump and his cronies will indulge in.

Actually, let me take back that word “puzzled”. I’m not sure if Collins is genuinely clueless or if she is a good actor.

[reading-writing-revolution]

BREAKING: Inspectors General Refuse to Vacate Posts, Citing Trump’s Firings as Illegal

Here is their letter to the Director of Presidential Personnel:

Dear Mr. Gor:

I am writing in response to your email sent to me and other Inspectors General earlier this evening wherein you informed each of us that “due to changing priorities, your position as Inspector General . . . is terminated, effective immediately.”

As Chairperson of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), I recommend that you reach out to White House Counsel to discuss your intended course of action. At this point, we do not believe the actions taken are legally sufficient to dismiss Presidentially Appointed, Senate Confirmed Inspectors General.

Specifically, based upon the 2022 amendments to the Inspector General Act of 1978, the President must notify Congress 30 days prior to removal of an IG and provide “substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons” for such removal. 5 U.S.C. § 403(b), as amended by the section 5202(a) of the Securing Inspector General Independence Act of 2022 (Title LI, Subtitle A, of P.L. 117-263, 136 Stat, 2395, 3222). The requirement to provide the substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons, was added to better enable Congress to engage on and respond to a proposed removal of an Inspector General in order to protect the independence of Inspectors General.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me at xxxxxxxxx@sba.gov.

[saywhat-politics]

WASHINGTON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Security agents escorted the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Agriculture out of her office on Monday after she refused to comply with��her firing by the Trump administration, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Phyllis Fong, a 22-year veteran of the department, had earlier told colleagues that she intended to stay after the White House terminated her Friday, saying that she didn’t believe the administration had followed proper protocols, the sources said.

In an email to colleagues on Saturday, reviewed by Reuters, she said the independent Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency “has taken the position that these termination notices do not comply with the requirements set out in law and therefore are not effective at this time.”

Fong declined to comment.