Rant Why are they killing USAID?

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iRONic

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2006
7,933
3,241
136
Ohman… how long have you been living under a rock when you don't know this already?!2?!
 

repoman0

Diamond Member
Jun 17, 2010
5,053
4,286
136
Reading about some of the projects and whatnot that were immediately halted, the method of stopping USAID is best described as evil and stupid.

HIV vaccine trials about to be initiated: halted. Famine alleviation measures: immediately stopped. Tuberculosis meds - halted distribution while people were just starting to receive their daily meds. And so on...

Just absolutely monstrous people rampaging through the US government, as if everyone else is an NPC - real sociopathic techbro shit.
These people are quite literally taking food and lifesaving medicine out of millions of peoples’ hands so they can continue to build their dragon hoards of wealth already worth 10x the entire value of the agency. A bullet to the head is too good for any of them but would be an acceptable outcome of all of this.

The peasant class of America literally elected a mad king and a cabinet of lords and dukes to rule over them.
 

trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
15,424
7,943
136
These people are quite literally taking food and lifesaving medicine out of millions of peoples’ hands so they can continue to build their dragon hoards of wealth already worth 10x the entire value of the agency. A bullet to the head is too good for any of them but would be an acceptable outcome of all of this.

The peasant class of America literally elected a mad king and a cabinet of lords and dukes to rule over them.

It seems they want someone else to do their thinking for them to you know, make things easier on themselves by having someone else take the ownership and the blame for their laziness and then bitch, moan and resign themselves to their fate as indentured peasant serfs because someone else did their thinking for them thus rendering themselves blameless and the victims of the mythical deep state these lazy ass do-nothings are directly responsible for creating in their own heads with the help of...the folks they allowed to do their thinking for them.

Round and round it goes with the folks who do the thinking for these lais·sez-faire infected dumbasses brainwashing them into an ever deeper abyss of seeing themselves as the blameless victims of their own self-induced ignorance with their leaders themselves claiming to be victims of the deep state they are in direct control of.

Small wonder Trump and his cabal of oligarch treasury raiders can get away with turning America into this weird Christo-fascist-plutocracy they're fashioning for themselves. They have millions of trained baboons that willingly gave up their freedoms in order to defend their own demise.
 

Amused

Elite Member
Apr 14, 2001
57,016
18,269
146
These people are quite literally taking food and lifesaving medicine out of millions of peoples’ hands so they can continue to build their dragon hoards of wealth already worth 10x the entire value of the agency. A bullet to the head is too good for any of them but would be an acceptable outcome of all of this.

The peasant class of America literally elected a mad king and a cabinet of lords and dukes to rule over them.

They have been sold the conspiracy that USAID is funneling money to media orgs to control the news around the world. That it is used to control the narrative.

Again, the man behind this is Mike Benz, and he has convinced Trumpers that USAID is an arm of the deep state (Benz calls it "the blob") and has nothing to do with any real charity.

You FIRST must utterly debunk the lies before you can even begin to address the harm this is doing. As far as Trumpers think, Dismantling USAID is stopping deep state funding that controls media.

You're dealing with a cult. And the cult has a very complex theory as to why news and reality itself does not line up with the cult narrative.
 
Reactions: grandmasterfluffles

trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
15,424
7,943
136
They have been sold the conspiracy that USAID is funneling money to media orgs to control the news around the world. That it is used to control the narrative.

Again, the man behind this is Mike Benz, and he has convinced Trumpers that USAID is an arm of the deep state (Benz calls it "the blob") and has nothing to do with any real charity.

You FIRST must utterly debunk the lies before you can even begin to address the harm this is doing. As far as Trumpers think, Dismantling USAID is stopping deep state funding that controls media.

You're dealing with a cult. And the cult has a very complex theory as to why news and reality itself does not line up with the cult narrative.

Over the decades they've been hard wired into believing that they need to aggressively defend the lies and disinformation their cadre have been force feeding them, no matter if they know they're being lied to. They are compelled to defend the party at all costs with the lies they hold dear to themselves because they are the only weapons they've been given to arm themselves with in order to defend themselves against the truth, the facts and the realities that threatens to expose and debunk the very weapons they are armed with. A lose/lose scenario that they actually rationalized into a win simply by believing it so.

This is the whole foundation that the party rests on: a barricade of lies and disinformation to keep the believers believing, to shield themselves from the boogeymen (deep state) that threaten to overrun them and poison the blood of the (their) nation with impurities. All the while their own leaders are fixing them into a life of servitude. I guess for the majority of Trump's dependents, life is much easier living in a virtual prison where all your propagandized fears, doubts and suspicions are being taken care of by the wardens and prison guards.
 

ivwshane

Lifer
May 15, 2000
33,163
16,380
136
Can't wait to see Trump's first full cabinet meeting where the comical weirdness of each cabinet suck-up taking a turn standing from their seats and heap glory and praise on Trump while he jaw juts and nods his head agreeing with the bullshit accolades. I really do wonder what four years of this oligarchic authoritarianism will do to our democracy. Although I have high hopes that the nation's democratic style of gov't will stand the test of time, I don't think clawing back the tax cuts that Trump and his richest men in the world club will give themselves is going to happen should the Democrats reacquire a unified gov't.

People power is what it'll take and with the Republican base so mind fucked as they are, the divisiveness sewn into the very fabric of that party of Trump can't be overcome until their party's leadership goes too far in exploiting their rank and file's gullibility and emotional vulnerabilities of which will take something outrageously stupid on the part of their regime's leadership to trigger.

That 'ol saying about "fooling some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of...." doesn't fare too well within the Party of Trump. They proved that their leadership can fool all of the people in their party all of the time and make it look so easy doing it.

Do you remember trumps first cabinet meeting during his first term where each member talked about how grateful they were for Trump? I almost threw up when I saw that. I suspect we’ll have another moment like that.
 

trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
15,424
7,943
136
Need to find a way to have the folks who voted to put Trump in office and only those folks pay restitution to the rest of us and have them and only them finance the huge tax cuts Trump and those suck up oligarchs are going to give themselves.

Fair is fair. They fucked up, they should have to pay for it. Punitive damages should have to hurt real real bad so maybe they won't fuck around again like they did at the polls last November.
 

trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
15,424
7,943
136
Do you remember trumps first cabinet meeting during his first term where each member talked about how grateful they were for Trump? I almost threw up when I saw that. I suspect we’ll have another moment like that.

Yep, remember that quite well. It was a surreal macabre skit being played out in that room. Weird, cringe worthy, yet morbidly hilarious, something you might see in a Benny Hill episode. Still can't ever imagine how people of stature would submit themselves to be humiliated that way, for the whole world to witness.
 

trenchfoot

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
15,424
7,943
136
That judge must be a family man

So I've been running into liberal blogs that mention how Trump's minions are defying the court orders, mostly on MeidasTouch and his associated sites. I'm wondering how Trump's defiance is going to play out in the Republican controlled House and Senate and/or if it's up to our judiciary alone that's going to tow the line as far as keeping Musk and Trump in check. It seems that the Republican controlled legislative branch is totally useless in this regard while Trump's cheerleaders in the SCOTUS gave him a free hand to do whatever and wherever his whims lead him.
 

Pens1566

Lifer
Oct 11, 2005
13,044
10,343
136
So I've been running into liberal blogs that mention how Trump's minions are defying the court orders, mostly on MeidasTouch and his associated sites. I'm wondering how Trump's defiance is going to play out in the Republican controlled House and Senate and/or if it's up to our judiciary alone that's going to tow the line as far as keeping Musk and Trump in check. It seems that the Republican controlled legislative branch is totally useless in this regard while Trump's cheerleaders in the SCOTUS gave him a free hand to do whatever and wherever his whims lead him.

How it's going to play out is already going on. They'll maybe express "concern" or "worry", and then spout some non-committal answer that neither affirms their faith in the courts, nor upsets the Orange Jesus. So, the net effect is ... nothing.
 

hal2kilo

Lifer
Feb 24, 2009
25,259
11,700
136
Read this—it’s insane.

Essentially, most of the anti-USAID sentiment from the Trump administration can be traced back to one man (Mike Benz) who formerly served in Trump’s State Department (1st term.) He’s boosted false conspiracy theories about USAID for a few years now, and Musk, Trump and GOP lawmakers finally started paying attention. Now Musk and others are promoting Russian disinformation like that fake “E!News” clip about Hollywood celebrities taking lavish trips to Ukraine funded by USAID (completely false).

But Musk himself is a beneficiary of USAID grants—they funded Zola and Starlink terminals for Ukraine. But Musk seemed to flip when they started investigating his Ukraine Starlink contract. One of the things they’re investigating is how Russia also obtained Starlink terminals inside Ukraine.

Edit: Was wrong about initial theory on how Russia acquired Starlink—here’s more accurate reporting (WSJ): https://www.reuters.com/world/europ...arlink-terminals-ukraine-wsj-says-2024-02-15/

So Russian firms purchased the terminals via intermediaries in friendly neighbors that allegedly purchased the terminals on the open market. But what if that isn’t the whole story?
He mad black people run the show in SA now. That is all.
 

UNCjigga

Lifer
Dec 12, 2000
25,181
9,628
136
So my wife told me about the USAID withdrawal madness in DR Congo and Sudan a week ago, and now it's in the news. This unfolded exactly as predicted when the USAID shutdown was first announced.

For anyone who still believes that Trump would've had a more orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan than Biden's team was able to execute after 7 months in office (with near zero transition support from Trump's cabinet/DoD) I would ask you to read this and still tell me with a straight face that Trump wouldn't have fucked up Afghanistan.

 

pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
14,467
9,317
136
It comes down to this - if it doesn't benefit anyone but the wealthy - they will cut it. That's the only reason.


Don't know if it's already been said in 8 pages (other than the short answer quoted above), but, answering the original question, my guess is because it's the easiest test-case for the executive illegally grabbing control over spending from the legislature. Because USAID doesn't have many US citizens/voters who will be immediately hurt by its destruction.

It will badly hurt poorer and possibly-desperate people in foreign countries - but they don't get to vote in the US. And it will probably have bad long-term effects on the US, if indirectly, via increasing instability in sensitive parts of the world and a loss of US influence and a growth of Russian and/or Chinese inflluence. And will likely have slow-burning negative effects on some US citizens, as some of that aid money would presumably have ended up being spent on things provided by US companies. But all of that will take a long time to become apparent.

I would assume they are working through destroying government spending in order, depending on how far removed each department is from spending that directly benefits (a) rich people, and (b) white Christians, especially old white Christians. So all forms of corporate welfare will be last on the list for attack, if at all.
 

Jaskalas

Lifer
Jun 23, 2004
34,858
8,963
136
I'm trying to figure out what is wrong with republicans in the house and senate. They are so afraid of being primaried that they won't do their jobs?
Don't they realize they have constituents to represent, and that even as slow as those constituents are, will eventually realize they have been suckered. And then they won't get re-elected anyways.
See.

If such consequences could exist, surely the voters would have mete those out in 2020. Biden would have actually had a Congress to pass legislation and enact some sort of positive reform for the country. If voter backlash against Trump and against Republicans were possible. We would have already seen it and reaped the fruits of their labor.

As it stands, I feel there is no evidence of its existence. Not enough to balance the scales and to right these wrongs.

Ours is not a just society. Nor functional Democracy. Republicans are part of the cult. Their zealous ambition knows no bounds. They feel no shame for their actions. Kool-aid abounds.
 
Reactions: gothuevos

gothuevos

Diamond Member
Jul 28, 2010
3,048
2,267
136
They have been sold the conspiracy that USAID is funneling money to media orgs to control the news around the world. That it is used to control the narrative.

Again, the man behind this is Mike Benz, and he has convinced Trumpers that USAID is an arm of the deep state (Benz calls it "the blob") and has nothing to do with any real charity.

You FIRST must utterly debunk the lies before you can even begin to address the harm this is doing. As far as Trumpers think, Dismantling USAID is stopping deep state funding that controls media.

You're dealing with a cult. And the cult has a very complex theory as to why news and reality itself does not line up with the cult narrative.

This is an impossible task.
 

gothuevos

Diamond Member
Jul 28, 2010
3,048
2,267
136
See.

If such consequences could exist, surely the voters would have mete those out in 2020. Biden would have actually had a Congress to pass legislation and enact some sort of positive reform for the country. If voter backlash against Trump and against Republicans were possible. We would have already seen it and reaped the fruits of their labor.

As it stands, I feel there is no evidence of its existence. Not enough to balance the scales and to right these wrongs.

Ours is not a just society. Nor functional Democracy. Republicans are part of the cult. Their zealous ambition knows no bounds. They feel no shame for their actions. Kool-aid abounds.
Yes, we've been waiting for this massive "backlash" against the GOP yet they gain more voters instead.

A lot of this is also on the ineptness of the Dem party but also just who we are as a society. So be it.
 

WilliamM2

Platinum Member
Jun 14, 2012
2,808
791
136
See.

If such consequences could exist, surely the voters would have mete those out in 2020. Biden would have actually had a Congress to pass legislation and enact some sort of positive reform for the country. If voter backlash against Trump and against Republicans were possible. We would have already seen it and reaped the fruits of their labor.

As it stands, I feel there is no evidence of its existence. Not enough to balance the scales and to right these wrongs.

Ours is not a just society. Nor functional Democracy. Republicans are part of the cult. Their zealous ambition knows no bounds. They feel no shame for their actions. Kool-aid abounds.
Have you seen the new budget proposal? Cuts to medicaid AND medicare, snap, etc. I'm told red states use these services more than any others. Maybe that will wake them up.

And RFK was just confirmed. WTF?
 

akenbennu

Senior member
Jul 24, 2005
751
327
136
Have you seen the new budget proposal? Cuts to medicaid AND medicare, snap, etc. I'm told red states use these services more than any others. Maybe that will wake them up.

And RFK was just confirmed. WTF?
Installing the least qualified as possible to head the government to prove it doesn't work. All part of the plan.
 

pmv

Lifer
May 30, 2008
14,467
9,317
136
Guys, the root of ALL of this USAID nonsense is Mike Benz. It's his conspiracy theory that started ALL of this. He's a nutter and a Nazi.


Free link.



So bizarre that Musk declared
“USAID was a viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America.”

When, if there's any criticism of USAID that I've ever heard, it's that as much as being a 'humanitarian' organisation, it gets used as an instrument of US imperialism, by the radical-right neo-cons who put American interests ahead of all other considerations.

That's generally what the 'radical left' say about it. Same criticisms get leveled against all Western official 'aid' programs. I've never really had the energy to look into those allegations in detail but the idea that it's a "Marxist" organisation is just beyond bizarre.
 
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fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
86,969
53,165
136
So bizarre that Musk declared


When, if there's any criticism of USAID that I've ever heard, it's that as much as being a 'humanitarian' organisation, it gets used as an instrument of US imperialism, by the radical-right neo-cons who put American interests ahead of all other considerations.

That's generally what the 'radical left' say about it. Same criticisms get leveled against all Western official 'aid' programs. I've never really had the energy to look into those allegations in detail but the idea that it's a "Marxist" organisation is just beyond bizarre.
I mean these guys just spent years claiming the F B Fucking I was a hotbed of radical leftists.

Truth and accuracy mean nothing to them. If anything I think they enjoy the feeling of power where you can lie to someone’s face and they just take it.
 
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