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Documenting the loss.... [1]
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Date: 2025-02-16
Uniting other countries is something Trump does well. I have taken to reading the news from sources outside the country, the CBC, BBC, etc. Part of what we are really losing is quite evident there. A recent op ed in the Vancouver Sun, painful to read, tells the story. I have many colleagues and friends in Canada, Europe, and Asia. If you think this is an isolated opinion, you would be so wrong. The provinces in Canada and their people are suddenly united as never before. Canadian conservatives, recently assumed to easily slide into the prime minister’s residence in the next election, are suddenly and rapidly losing ground.
Take a step back from the chaos and consider that countries around the world can no longer count on the United States government for anything. Alliances, treaties, commitments – they are all meaningless in the world of the orange one. Each is simply something to be manipulated for advantage, to be discarded whenever convenient. Our word means nothing, our principles no longer command respect. The U.S. has become the ultimate bully, often with no obvious purpose. The world sees it. Ukraine, Europe, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Central and South America, Asia all are slowly realizing that they must come together and forge new networks, new trade agreements, new alliances that do not involve the United States. It will be difficult and take time but they will do the work and the United States will ultimately be much poorer.
Ironically, in spite of the America-first tenor of the administration, U.S. citizens can also no longer rely on their own government for anything, although it will take some time for many to realize it. The orange one inspires loyalty in his MAGA followers that seems not to waiver even as he slowly pulls the rug out from under them. The savings from the current governmental holocaust will not go to MAGA world. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Food Stamps, health insurance through the ACA, accurate weather reports, health data from the CDC, farm assistance programs, grants to fund everything from food pantries to medical research, reliable law enforcement, food inspections, drug safety, protections from financial institution scams, a responsive public health system, safe air travel, safe air and drinking water, national parks, disaster assistance – all the things that virtually every American depends on – are no longer certainties. Anything can be (and much will be) taken away on a whim by the amoral narcissist that Americans saw fit to put in charge of the country. The full faith and credit of the government is now a joke.
The loss extends far beyond essential services and grants. Careers in the federal government traditionally pay less than the private sector but offer the pride of serving a greater good. Given the current chaos, what talented person will want to take on a career of public service, when every job can be terminated by the whims of a few thousand voters in Wisconsin every four years? The loss at the NIH extends far beyond interrupted studies and clinical trials. The new cuts threaten the discouragement of an entire new generation of medical scientists now in training, with some of the best pursuing the opportunities to be found now only in other lands.
We are embarking on the most corrupt and lawless administration in the nation’s history, with all safeguards being systematically removed. With so much coming at us so fast, it may be useful to document this last bit, the path to full corruption, in one place. Grift is the real genius of our new leader. Much of the other chaos he is spewing may well simply be cover to hide his true intent. Much of what he is doing is illegal. Everything Elon Musk is doing is illegal. But there is no longer anyone with the power to stop him, or so it seems for now. I invite other readers to add to the list. Most of the citations are behind paywalls but much of this has also been touched on in Daily Kos.
Firing of independent inspector generals; here and here
Orders to drop corruption case against Eric Adams
Pausing enforcement of the Corrupt Practices Act
Pam Bondi disbanding DOJ teams investigating corruption and election interference
Attempt to funnel a $400,000,000 truck order to Elon Musk and Tesla
Musk using DOGE to eliminate oversight of his companies and Trump scaling back investigations into Musk companies
Less IRS enforcement targeting rich tax cheats
Trump shutting down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
I invite anyone who reads this to add to the list. I will try to update periodically. A running tally must elicit some shame from Republican enablers at some point. Not sure when that point might be. But every autocrat oversteps……...
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