Musk’s “I’m just gonna break everything” brand of havoc may be somewhat viable in Silicon Valley, but it is not congruent to thriving government.
Lives are at stake. Lives are in danger.
Elon installing hard-drives in the pentagon, and dictating any security chief opposing him be put on leave, is scary.
If Taylor Swift was collecting every American’s SSN, there would be large scale outcry. Watching “working class” America cheer on an oligarchy, while burning their self-interests to ash, is pretty wild.
Half the country has gone from “Biden made bacon expensive!” to “paying more for groceries is patriotic” almost overnight.
There is no safety net. There is no emergency brake. Trump can do whatever he wants. Laws are only good if they’re enforced. Who will stand up, who can stop him now?
It’s only gonna get worse. Trump’s goons are basically speed-running a stress test right now to see what they can get away with, and anytime they go too far, they’ll just distract us with something that doesn’t matter, like a trans athlete at a middle school in Vermont, or blaming immigrants for fentanyl trafficking despite 80 percent of border drug seizures involving US citizens.
That is one of the most important questions. Where are the democratic Republicans? Is whatever it is competing in their calculus with the future of our constitutional republic really worth it?
Amen, Jim. Thank you for speaking out and putting this shitshow into context. This is worse than an “own-goal.” It’s more like pulling one’s entire team off the playing field and allowing other teams to score on us at will. And what I hear from former colleagues still inside the State Department, it’s amateur hour on the 7th Floor, as Little Marco” cares only about fetching balls to drop at the feet of “Donold.” He doesn’t care about advancing U.S. interests overseas. This nihilistic regime has already inflicted grievous harm on people in the U.S. and around the world, putting U.S. national security, democracy, and prosperity at grave risk.
Thanks, Ambassador Nealon. As you mentioned, process matters. With $340 million of rice and wheat sales to USAID’s Food for Peace program now cancelled, I believe others — some of them Trump supporters — are beginning to see the folly of destroying the mainstay of our foreign assistance delivery system.
Reform was possible — major changes could have been done to streamline operations and focus on America First issues. To counter increased grocery prices, we could have re-programmed USAID agriculture and private sector funding to support a major Winter Vegetable program in Central America to significantly increase the supply of fruits and vegetables to the US market during November to March.
Increased supply should lower or stabilize prices, and the Administration would have had a “win” that benefited many sectors. The option to throw everything away was short sighted and chaotic.
Michael, thanks for reading, and for the very thoughtful reply. Unfortunately, constructive, win-win thinking like yours is absent from the discussion for now. Soon enough Secretary Rubio is going to realize he's destroyed the most useful and versatile tool in his toolbox. He's going to have to re-invent foreign assistance and disaster relief. What a needless own-goal.
An excellent piece, championing USAID's essential role in sustaining and advancing America's soft power presence and influence in the world. You acknowledge improvements that could and should be made within the agency. But you assert such improvements in no way justify the extent to which the agency is being dismantled. Samantha Power made much the same point in today's Times. The perspective might seem obvious. And yet at this remarkable moment, it seems too subtle for some to grasp. I wonder about that inability, or unwillingness, to understand the subtle, and whether the price of that loss might be even more costly than the loss of the institutions to which it's aimed.
This is spot on. Well written, James.
Musk’s “I’m just gonna break everything” brand of havoc may be somewhat viable in Silicon Valley, but it is not congruent to thriving government.
Lives are at stake. Lives are in danger.
Elon installing hard-drives in the pentagon, and dictating any security chief opposing him be put on leave, is scary.
If Taylor Swift was collecting every American’s SSN, there would be large scale outcry. Watching “working class” America cheer on an oligarchy, while burning their self-interests to ash, is pretty wild.
Half the country has gone from “Biden made bacon expensive!” to “paying more for groceries is patriotic” almost overnight.
There is no safety net. There is no emergency brake. Trump can do whatever he wants. Laws are only good if they’re enforced. Who will stand up, who can stop him now?
It’s only gonna get worse. Trump’s goons are basically speed-running a stress test right now to see what they can get away with, and anytime they go too far, they’ll just distract us with something that doesn’t matter, like a trans athlete at a middle school in Vermont, or blaming immigrants for fentanyl trafficking despite 80 percent of border drug seizures involving US citizens.
Only 3 years and 49 weeks to another administration. Hold on to your seat for this roller coaster ride--except the tracks aren't on a loop...
But who’s counting?😳
They are one-hundred-percent going to try for a third term. Can’t wait to see all the “constitutionalists” backpedal and bend the knee.
Again, who is gonna stop him? Are there enough reasonable Republicans left?
That is one of the most important questions. Where are the democratic Republicans? Is whatever it is competing in their calculus with the future of our constitutional republic really worth it?
Amen, Jim. Thank you for speaking out and putting this shitshow into context. This is worse than an “own-goal.” It’s more like pulling one’s entire team off the playing field and allowing other teams to score on us at will. And what I hear from former colleagues still inside the State Department, it’s amateur hour on the 7th Floor, as Little Marco” cares only about fetching balls to drop at the feet of “Donold.” He doesn’t care about advancing U.S. interests overseas. This nihilistic regime has already inflicted grievous harm on people in the U.S. and around the world, putting U.S. national security, democracy, and prosperity at grave risk.
Thanks, Ambassador Nealon. As you mentioned, process matters. With $340 million of rice and wheat sales to USAID’s Food for Peace program now cancelled, I believe others — some of them Trump supporters — are beginning to see the folly of destroying the mainstay of our foreign assistance delivery system.
Reform was possible — major changes could have been done to streamline operations and focus on America First issues. To counter increased grocery prices, we could have re-programmed USAID agriculture and private sector funding to support a major Winter Vegetable program in Central America to significantly increase the supply of fruits and vegetables to the US market during November to March.
Increased supply should lower or stabilize prices, and the Administration would have had a “win” that benefited many sectors. The option to throw everything away was short sighted and chaotic.
Michael, thanks for reading, and for the very thoughtful reply. Unfortunately, constructive, win-win thinking like yours is absent from the discussion for now. Soon enough Secretary Rubio is going to realize he's destroyed the most useful and versatile tool in his toolbox. He's going to have to re-invent foreign assistance and disaster relief. What a needless own-goal.
Jim,
An excellent piece, championing USAID's essential role in sustaining and advancing America's soft power presence and influence in the world. You acknowledge improvements that could and should be made within the agency. But you assert such improvements in no way justify the extent to which the agency is being dismantled. Samantha Power made much the same point in today's Times. The perspective might seem obvious. And yet at this remarkable moment, it seems too subtle for some to grasp. I wonder about that inability, or unwillingness, to understand the subtle, and whether the price of that loss might be even more costly than the loss of the institutions to which it's aimed.
Thanks for the piece,
--Bob