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dissonant1's avatar

I couldn't agree with Arnaud Bertrand more and many have quickly come around to this view just in the last day (too many to link). An interesting article on the extent of the power of the Executive over personnel:

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/02/trump_s_attack_on_the_deep_state_is_spectacular_and_almost_certainly_legal.html

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Ray-SoCa's avatar

Perhaps explains Lyndsey Grahams voting.

Per data Republican Lyndsey Graham heads a foundation that got $130.7 million from U.S. aid.

https://x.com/DataRepublican/status/1886026673805840477?

Hat tip:

https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/none-shall-sleep-monday-february?

Bill Kristol got millions.

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Ray-SoCa's avatar

Amazing! An article explaining how the money is laundered to Bill Kristol.

https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2025/02/03/the-dirty-truth-behind-bill-kristols-money-n4936617

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dissonant1's avatar

The times they are a changin'... every day.. every hour! I'm ecstatic.

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Mark Wauck's avatar

USAID = aid to US politicians. It's how the Deep State and Ruling Class buy off the politicians. They probably provide consultants to walk them through setting up all their foundations, etc. First you set up a foundation--here's a HOWTO and a consultant if you still don't get it. Next, we pay you. And please don't tell me that the other senators haven't figured out what Lindsey! is up to.

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Cosmo T Kat's avatar

I think this is the type of corruption story through USAID that will get more people to open their eyes as to how deep the corruption is and how and how quickly our politico's get rich deceiving the American people. We are not even getting a tiny fraction of ROI and these people seem to believe they are such special humans they are entitled to this. However, let's be real all countries and governments have run on graft, corruption, deceit and lack of decency toward their fellow man. The last fours years have seen the darkest side of this Uniparty deception.

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Retired FL LEO's avatar

Also your point about spoon fed little Marco. He’s always been a pretty smart little puppet, Norman Brahmans real estate money put him into the FL legislature and the Fanjul US Sugar money into the Senate. He’s not dumb and understands power, I just hope his current influence has Trump and our best interests at heart.

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Retired FL LEO's avatar

If my elementary school education and memory still serve me USAID was originally a Truman concept called 4 Point or Point 4. It was supposed to address poverty and open markets in war wrecked countries. Of course like anything in government politicians saw the opportunity to “make it better”. I’m sure the whole Kennedy mystique helped to turn it into something not previously conceived.

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The Elder of Vicksburg's avatar

If Trump is serious about exiting the hegemony b.s., and can do it peacefully - that damn near resembles Cincinnatus returning to his farm. Of course, hegemony seems to be a core component of the Americano-Zionist mentality.

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ML's avatar
Feb 3Edited

Trump is in the process of turning off the spigot funding a never-ending cycle of foreign wars and the shenanigans (censorship/propaganda) that go along with it (as Anne notes below in her extended comment): start a war, send in the artillery, then the clean-up crew, and rebuild (better). Oh, and let’s keep our top-tier chemists and biologists (bat ladies and lads from Scripps) busy with gain-of-function hocus-pocus! Truly seismic and so fast!

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Cosmo T Kat's avatar

It has to start with Ukraine and Israel.

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ML's avatar

Yup

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Brother Ass's avatar

I’m so giddy over all this, I half expect among the secrets soon to be revealed: the U.S. deep state manufactured the election of (Anti?)Pope Francis.

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Tamsin's avatar

The cardinals got some "walking around" money!

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Brother Ass's avatar

Yes they did. Courtesy of the disgraceful Theodore McCarrick, the Deep State operative and former Cardinal Archbishop of Washington DC (now laicized). Besides being a sexual predator, he famously handed out wads of literal cash to clergy all over the world. No doubt a lot of that money came from the U.S. government.

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Brother Ass's avatar

As historians often point out, historical periods or eras are not strictly defined according to the calendar. Thus the 20th century, which began in 1914 (not 1900) and which was mistakenly thought over in 1991, is only now wrapping up before our very eyes. To quote Comrade Lenin (again): “It makes one dizzy.”

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Francisco d’Anconia's avatar

Apparently there are crazy tariffs on all kinds of American goods in Canada and Mexico. It seems we can expect all lopsided subsidies or enabling of all kinds of bullshit globally with our tax dollars to end. Hallelujah.

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Ray-SoCa's avatar

Interesting on USAID and explains some of the firings of the Inspector Generals:

"Moyar, now a military history professor at Hillsdale College, detailed the Kafkaesque administrative sabotage of his efforts to clean up the agency in “Masters of Corruption: How the Federal Bureaucracy Sabotaged the Trump Presidency.” His 2024 book is believed to be being used as a blueprint for reform at USAid.

Moyar was forced out by the well-worn Deep State tactic of using anonymous false allegations to get his security clearance revoked."

And...

"When Moyar sought help from the inspectors general at USAid and the Department of Defense he said they “conducted bogus ‘investigations’ gener­ating no evidence and clearing the government of any wrongdo­ing.” Other whistleblowers faced the same betrayal. Hence Trump’s firing of 17 inspectors general."

https://nypost.com/2025/02/02/opinion/trump-is-sending-the-deep-state-to-the-outhouse-as-he-cleans-house-at-the-fbi-and-doj/

And the book Mark Moyar wrote:

https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Corruption-Bureaucracy-Sabotaged-Presidency-ebook/dp/B0CLL2C6H8

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Mark Wauck's avatar

Great article by Devine, Ray. Would be great to see a guy like @RealStevefriend

who has been targeted by the FBI made at least an adviser to Patel. Having been through that process he can point Patel at some of the people who need to go.

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AmericanCardigan's avatar

After Kash is confirmed; he'll revoke McCabe's retirement pension.

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Mark Wauck's avatar

I suspect there could be some creative legal thinking going on to correct past injustices.

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Brother Ass's avatar

Miranda Devine writes: “Washington has woken from a deep slumber and is operating on Trump Time now. Four years of action have been compressed into two weeks and will only accelerate. Dems and their media apparatchiks don’t know how to cope as all their sacred cows are annihilated one by one.”

As Comrade Lenin once said (I may be paraphrasing): “There are decades when nothing happens and there are years when decades happen.” Да здравствует Революция! Viva la Revolucion!

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Ray-SoCa's avatar

Seems Trump getting USAID under control is having a huge short term impact.

Ending, to name a few:

- Color Revolution Support

- Censorship Support

- Illegal immigration support

And add to this with the money that was shut off by DHS going to Immigration Services.

Longer Term I wonder what dirt is going to be unearthed on USAID's activities. I see no negative on Trump being super transparent, and hurting his foes even more.

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susan mullen's avatar

A UN contractor "spent about $200,000 in U.S. [USAID] money to renovate his guesthouse. Witness names were withheld by USAID."...

4/14/2009, "Report: U.N. spent U.S. funds on shoddy projects," ABC News, Washington

"Two United Nations agencies spent millions in U.S. money on substandard Afghanistan construction projects, including a central bank without electricity and a bridge at risk of "life threatening" collapse, according to an investigation by U.S. federal agents.

The U.N. ran a "quick impact" infrastructure program from 2003 to 2006

under a $25 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The U.N. delivered shoddy work, diverted money to other countries and then stonewalled U.S. efforts to figure out what happened, according to

a report by USAID's inspector general obtained by USA TODAY under the Freedom of Information Act.

"Due to the refusal of the United Nations to cooperate with this investigation, questions remain unanswered," the report says.

Federal prosecutors in New York City were forced to drop criminal and civil cases because the U.N. officials have immunity, according to the report. USAID has scaled back its dealings with the U.N. and hired a collection agency to seek $7.6 million back, Deputy Administrator James Bever said.

The aid agency hasn't heeded its inspector general's request to sever all ties.

"There are certain cases where working with the U.N. is the only option available," Bever said in an e-mail.

The quick-impact program was designed to demonstrate results and promote confidence in the reconstruction effort, but the report suggests it did the opposite.

One U.N. employee told investigators that "about $10 million of USAID grant money went to projects in other countries, to include Sudan, Haiti, Sri Lanka and Dubai." That witness said the Afghanistan country director for the U.N. Office for Project Services (UNOPS), which served as the contractor on the project for the U.N. Development Program (UNDP),

spent about $200,000 in U.S. money to renovate his guesthouse. Witness names were withheld by USAID."...

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=7330083&page=1

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Mark Wauck's avatar

https://x.com/mitchellvii/status/1885770274651439106

In a bold move, Democrats elect a strong black woman to be the new head of the DNC and not the whitest guy you've ever seen.

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Ray-SoCa's avatar

How the dnc elected the vice chair is amazing. My wife, an immigrant, asked if this was real. I had to explain what is a non binary.

The dnc requires a pool of 3 male,3 female, and one non binary.

https://instapundit.com/700068/

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ML's avatar

Karen Bass received a promotion?

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Cosmo T Kat's avatar

Perhaps she shed her skin like most snakes.

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Feb 3
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Marie's avatar

I just remembered, it was Samantha Power's signature on ALL THOSE TRUMP FISA warrants!! And under questioning, she denied she did that. Implying someone used her login or signature. Now who do we believe?

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dissonant1's avatar

This makes me think of John McKay, the coach of the NFL's Tampa Bay Bucaneers in 1976, a season during which they lost all of their games. When asked after a loss what he thought about the execution of his team, he said "I'm all in favor of it." I suspect Trump holds the same view towards USAID.

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Marie's avatar

Don't forget, Vogue did a big spread on Samantha when she came along. That's when I cancelled the subscription.

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Feb 4
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Mark Wauck's avatar

She's been flying around the world bullying nations, setting up coups, pushing wokism. I hope she learns to regret it.

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Meredith Hobbs's avatar

Forced myself to read it. I swear she is an AI.

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ML's avatar

Artificially intelligent?

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