We are watching a coup in real time.
There's no two ways about it.
Sigh...
There's no two ways about it.
Sigh...
I used to think people were over-doing it in their criticism of Trump – I thought he was dreadful, but ultimately a contained / containable force. I was even a little optimistic that he might be a disruptive force (inadvertent) that would make other politicians return their focus to everyday, working class concerns.
I was naive and stupid. And many people are kidding themselves even now about what's going on. There's nothing normal or business as usual about what's happening in America right now. I'm not qualified to predict where this all ends, but I don't think any of it's good and I don't think this ends after Donald Trump's second term.
To the people thinking DOGE is about cutting "wasteful spending", I can only shake my head. What will it take for people to see clearly what's right before them?
Besides, maybe everything is fine and the Muskovites are right.
Some people hold conservative views, some liberal and others a mix. People have "tribes", but that's not what this is about.
What is happening is not good if you view rule of law and liberal democracy as being good things.
I have never seen a genuine person end a request like this. It's always to bait someone.
As the saying goes, "I don't know how to explain to you that you should care about other people."
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Agency_for_Inter...
2. You're answering a question that wasn't asked. The question was, essentially, what USAid did for the OP, and why he would miss it. Food kitchens haven't done anything for me either, so why not get rid of them?
3. This wasn't the reason given for shutting USAid down. No concrete reason was given, just vague references and accusations that could refer to anything or nothing.
There is a long-standing history of ties between USAID and the CIA. During the Cold War, they worked together in training police forces all across the world, notably in Latin America, where the exercises allegedly included techniques of torture. USAID also served as cover for various covert activities, especially during the Vietnam War. After the Cold War, according to Weiner, the agency funded democracy-building programs in the former Soviet Union, “sometimes on its own, sometimes in concert with the CIA.” As recently as 10 years ago, it used its pro-democracy rubric to help foment anti-regime propaganda in Cuba.
Throughout this period, as was the case with U.S. embassies generally, USAID was used as a front for CIA officers, though, Weiner says, “much less frequently now than in the old days.” [0]
And how does he know that? Not enough time has passed for the things to get leaked or declassified. I included this sentence just for the sake of completeness of the quotation.
My argument was that forced sterilization was not an isolated incident, but just one of many cases of CIA's operations under the cover of USAID. One might argue that other CIA operations were benign, but I think it would be a hard point to make.
No, you weren't. People on every angle of this are tired of the government not working. It's easy to have that glimmer of hope that maybe he really will make a good change. The problem is, he's a salesman - a grifter. His art is to latch onto that glimmer of hope and sell you on it while never delivering on it.