Update no.1206

 Update from the Sunland

No.1206

17.2.25 – 23.2.25

Blog version:  http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/

 

To all,

 

The follow-up news items:

-- President [no name] through his surrogate imitated a direct action to eliminate United States Agency for International Development (USAID) [1205]. To ensure we have the history correct in this matter, Congress passed, and President Kennedy signed into law the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 [PL 87-195; 75 Stat. 424] [609], also known as the Act for International Development of 1961. The Act authorized the expenditure of substantial funds to support international development in conjunction with U.S. Policy. The Act also authorized the president to act as he chose to carry out the provisions of the Act [PL 87-195; Part I; Chapter 3, §301; 75 Stat. 424; 433]. Pursuant to the Act’s stated purposes and in accordance with the provisions of the Act, President Kennedy issued Executive Order 10973 - Administration of Foreign Assistance and Related Functions, which established the Agency for International Development [3.November.1961]. The USAID is an independent agency of the United States Government responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance from We, the People, of the United States of America.

Now, that said, while I strongly disagree with President [no name]’s action to shut down the USAID and all its functions, We, the People, duly and properly elected him to be president and to do the People’s governmental business. I believe he has made a monumental mistake in withdrawing humanitarian assistance to other people not as fortunate as Americans. I understand and appreciate the urge to retreat from the world behind our natural moats and our land borders, but isolationism is not and never will be the correct path. While I may vehemently disagree with the president, he is the person vested with the responsibility to act on our behalf in international affairs, and he has the authority and the power to do what he is doing. Where he went wrong was how he chose to carry out his decision. We can argue whether his actions are illegal or unconstitutional. There is no question in my little pea-brain that his actions are not consistent with the principles of democracy that ground our republic. He is acting precisely like a dictator . . . laws, norms, traditions, practices be damned.

Then, we have [no name]’s wealthy, unelected, wet-work man who is vigorously executing his wannabe dictator’s orders. I watched the 60 Minutes Season 57, Episode 21, broadcast on 16.February.2025. The first segment covered the administration’s evisceration of the USAID. Musk and the administration chose not to participate in the segment, although they were invited to do so. Well, wonder of wonders, Elon Musk was not happy with the treatment his actions garnered in the 60 Minutes segment. Not surprisingly, Musk said, “60 Minutes are the biggest liars in the world! They engaged in deliberate deception to interfere with the last election. They deserve a long prison sentence." Musk’s remarks are consistent with the performance of the current administration. From my perspective, 60 Minutes did a magnificent job reporting on the issue. The administration chose not to have a voice in the program; that was their choice. Musk was categorically wrong and deserves condemnation for his words and actions. At the end of the day, if I have to choose who to believe, 60 Minutes is infinitely more reliable and accurate than [no name] or Elon Musk. Shut the front door!

 

President [no name] blames Ukraine for starting the war with Russia. Speaking at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, he publicly stated, “I think I have the power to end this war, and I think it’s going very well. Today I heard, ‘oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years ... You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.” He went on to say, "I hear that they're upset about not having a seat, well, they've had a seat for three years and a long time before that. This could have been settled very easily.” He later added, “"You should have never started it. You could have made a deal. I could have made a deal for Ukraine. That would have given them almost all of the land, everything, almost all of the land - and no people would have been killed, and no city would have been demolished.

This is exactly what happens when we put someone in that office who has no clue of history, old or contemporary, and refuses to listen to those experts who do know the history. The man is an idiot, and I apologize for the insult to the mentally impaired among us.

President Zelensky could not leave that idiocy stand, and he observed, “Trump lives in a disinformation space.” Spot on! And, I think President Zelensky is being very generous to [the person who shall no longer be named] {AKA no name}

His level of outright ignorance is appalling especially for someone who was hired to be president of the United States of America.

We could peg the genesis of the Ukraine-Russia War to many milestones in history. Ukrainians have a very long history of resistance to Russian domination. The embers have been glowing for centuries. The contemporary spark that brought the conflagration to full, roaring flame was the Ukrainian Revolution of 2014, AKA Maidan Revolution and Revolution of Dignity. A consequence of the revolution was the ouster and flight of President Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych, who fled to Russia for sanctuary. The situation between Ukraine and Russia was stable as long as the Russian-lackey was president of the country. When the revolution dispatched Yanukovych, Russia lost its indirect control of Ukraine. One month later, Russia’s “Little Green Men” invaded the Donbass region of Eastern Ukraine and the Crimea Peninsula. One week after that, Russia annexed Crimea and recognized the independence of the Donbass provinces. I believe the war started in 2014, and it was emphatically started by Russia. The only thing Ukraine did to instigate the war was remove the Russian-lackey dictator and assert the sovereignty of their country. They continue to fight for their independence to this day, despite the ill-informed, verging upon ignorant, statements from [no name]. Do not be fooled or misled! Russia started the war. They sustained the war. Russia could have stopped the carnage at any time. Ukraine was only defending its sovereignty and territory. I suspect [no name] is headed down the path of forcing (coercing) Ukraine to cede a large chunk of its territory and some portion of its sovereignty to Russia. Let us call a spade a spade!

 

The bevy of clowns continues growing in the White House circus. The U.S. Senate actually confirmed Kashyap Pramod Vinod ‘Kash’ Patel as the new director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) [Senate: 51-49-0-0(0)]. Patel is a degreed lawyer. However, he has minimal, perhaps even marginal, law enforcement experience. He is the first overtly political director. Patel has made multitudinous foolish, unsubstantiated, public statements about the FBI. We can only imagine what he is going to do to the republic’s premier law enforcement agency.

Senator Richard Joseph ‘Dick’ Durbin of Illinois stated, “I cannot imagine a worse choice.” I stand with Durbin on this one.

Watching this disaster play out will be like watching a slow-motion train wreck. This is not going to turn out well. Patel is another wet-work man who will execute [no name]’s declared retribution against the law enforcement agency that investigated his unlawful retention of multiple classified documents, among other crimes [no name] has committed. The Patel nomination is consistent with [no name]’s vindictive, aggressive personality. So it is. So it shall be.

 

Comment to Update no.1204:

“1204 is right on target. I do have one question.

“Regarding the so-called buyout, how do conclude that ‘the underlying objective is to replace all non-believer federal employees with staunch loyalists...’?

“Do you have some facts to support that understandably cynical view? Yes it may well be illegal, unfundable, etc., but I have missed any inference in the news I have observed that would suggest Trump intends the federal work force to stay inflated or to grow in number. Obviously he would favor or appoint loyalists, but keep the federal bloated numbers? I doubt it. Correct me if I am wrong.

“Of course, this is no way a defense of his methods.”

My reply:

Thank you for your contribution

In my continuing effort to understand why he does some of things he does, I have no evidence admissible in court. I only have a history of watching him and trying to understand why. “Inflated” is a relative term dependent upon what each of us defines as necessary or appropriate government activity.

As a background to my reply to your query, I will confess that I gave up a long time ago arguing for reductions in the size of the federal government, which in practical terms means less regulation and governmental services. As an example, since [no name] chose USAID as the vanguard of this “cost cutting” [downsizing] efforts, I will use USAID. For those “America Firsters” [then (1941) and now (MAGAts)], no money should be spent outside our borders, thus USAID is irrelevant and unnecessary. I vehemently disagree. American isolationism is a disaster in progress. I condemn and absolutely disagree with the MAGAt effort to disembowel USAID.

Government is NOT and never has been a business. Virtually all the states must and have operated within their revenue—a balanced operating budget. What makes the federal government fundamentally different from the states is its ability to print money. No business has that capability. Both parties have spent money like drunken sailors. 

The issue with government is what services are necessary. I used to support Republican positions, i.e., strong national security. What I see today, is Republican spending via the Defense Department that is outright corporate welfare, e.g., buying more M-1 tanks that the Pentagon does not need or want, because those tanks are made in a powerful senator’s state and a representative’s district. Or, building a state of the art, high-end airport in rural Pennsylvania in a powerful representative’s district. We need USAID; we do NOT need more M-1 tanks.

Republicans have long been focused on the Department of Education. The current administration is hellbent on eliminating the entire department. They argue that education is a state function, not federal. I adamantly disagree. Education is no more a state issue than our most fundamental rights. I see the Department of Education as the mechanism to raise future generations with a homogenized sense of what it means to be an American. E pluribus unum! I used to be a professed state’s rights advocate. I am no longer. I absolutely refuse to parse our rights by states.

I have gone on too long, and I have probably said too much. My apologies. The current administration is cutting essential American programs. They have provided no evidence whatsoever of fraud, waste, and abuse.

I cannot and will not argue that you are wrong. Is there fraud, waste, and abuse in the federal government. Yes, absolutely! Both parties spend our tax dollars on far too many foolish things. So, let us debate what is necessary. That task belongs to Congress, not DOGE or [no name]. Let us have this debate in a proper democratic manner, not at the whim of a wannabe dictator.

‘Nuf said.

 

Comments and contributions from Update no.1205:

“My that was a busy write and read! Where do you find the time? Thanks again for keeping us this side in the picture.”

My reply:

[No name] provided a bountiful supply of topics. I feel a duty and an obligation to address those issues.

Oh, I have a routine process that seems to work well. Plus, writing seems to keep me sharp. I think of my writing as therapeutic.

 

Another contribution:

“Muskrat’s attacks on our government have nothing to do with ‘waste, fraud, and abuse.’ Those are just cover claims. Muskrat first damaged the agencies that investigated his companies (correlation +1), then expanded into anything that doesn’t benefit him personally. 

“That Oval Office press conference produced horrible public relations imagery of the Felon. Felon voters will have abuse flashbacks from that scenario.

“Tulsi Gabbard is a security risk; who gave her a clearance? Heroin addict RFK, Jr., already seeks to ban psych meds; that’s a whole other threat to millions of Americans. Thanks to McConnell for voting to stop them.

“The Felon and Vance are ruining our foreign relations. They ask obedience from sovereign nations much like an abusive parent asks of children. That’s insane. (Vance, per his book, had an abusive childhood.)

“The courts resist the Felon’s extremes so far. Activists can’t hold out for the midterms to change Congress. Fortunately, April will bring special elections that might tip the balance in the House of Representatives, and there’s always a chance some in Congress will come to their senses.

“I disagree with your other commenter, but I appreciate their civil and lucid voice.”

My response:

We are in absolute agreement on that point. “Fraud, waste, and abuse” is a convenient façade—disguise. I do not trust Musk any more than I do [no name] . . . which is zero. I do not have evidence, but I certainly have an opinion. I suspect there is serious malfeasance underway behind the obfuscation. [No name]’s unilateral extra-congressional actions are focused on the elimination of congressional programs they do not agree with or support. And, more specifically to [no name] terminate anyone not 100% loyal to him, and where they decide, replace those positions with loyalists . . . an activity also in violation of the law.

Yes, indeed, it was a bizarre impromptu press conference only for selected journalists.

That is my opinion as well. I have been gobsmacked by many of her public statements and actions. From my perspective, she is at DNI for one reason—to feed [no name]’s ego.

Yes, they are. If we ever needed an example of how NOT to do international relations, this administration is providing that negative example. They will de facto isolate the United States and default to the dictators.

Yes, they do, but the courts are slow and laborious. He is intentionally overwhelming our judicial processes. Perhaps so, we can only hope. We do not have any here in Arizona, so I have no means to participate.

That is why I embrace all contributions offered with respect. Public debate of contemporary issues is simply too important to the recovery of the health of the Republic.

 

My very best wishes to all.  Take care of yourselves and each other.

Cheers,

Cap                  :-)