I agree with all of that, except for the assumption that DOGE had any intention of helping or doing real good - that entire effort was deliberate and purposefully destruction.
Elisabeth...you’re not alone in seeing it that way. A lot of people have come to the same conclusion....and rightly so....that the scale and speed of the cuts suggest something FAR MORE than a simple efficiency effort. In short...We. Know. Better.
When changes this sweeping happen across complex institutions...it’s critical to ask whether the real objective is reform... or something much more disruptive.
What you’re, and millions of others are pointing to...the likelihood that the destruction itself is the point...is exactly the kind of question people SHOULD be asking and discussing openly.
I phrased it that way...for good reason; when you want to know what people really think...don't ask them. They think too much when you do that.
If you want it from the get...downplay something just enough...that...just as you heave so beautifully, here...they speak up...loud...and...clear.
DOGE swung their ax at USAID and other purveyors of American soft power. Now DOGE is going after America's hard power in the middle of a war with poorly thought out aims against a skilled and wily adversary. If I didn't know any better it's an attempt to take down America from the inside...
Ellen...you’re pointing to something important there...the contradiction is harder than hell to ignore. No question about it.
First...the cuts hit areas like USAID and other parts of America’s SOFT power infrastructure.
Now...we’re seeing pressure on elements connected to HARD power as well. When both sides of that equation start getting weakened....at the SAME TIME...it naturally raises questions about the broader strategic thinking behind it.
What you’re really highlighting is the risk...when a country reduces both its diplomatic influence...AND... parts of its defense support structure...simultaneously...it can create openings for adversaries who are paying VERY close attention.
That tension...between efficiency reforms and strategic readiness...is exactly the concern a lot of analysts are talking about.
Jack.. Thank you for laying this all out for us. This country is being run by people who were never equipped for the job. It’s highly concerning.
Is there anything we can do? Anything at all? Where should our focus be other than the midterms which are so very critical?
I look forward to the paid subscriber article tomorrow on the Epstein situation. I hadn’t heard what you wrote about but I’m sure you’ll catch me up quickly.
Susan... yes. There is absolutely something we can do.
The trap is thinking our only job is to WAIT for the midterms. They matter, but so does everything between now and then: local pressure...public visibility...calling...writing... showing up...supporting local journalism...and refusing to let any of this be normalized.
Just as important: keep your clarity.
Systems like this...count on exhaustion and resignation. So...part of the work is staying grounded...naming what’s happening accurately...and helping other people do the same.
That’s why #Holdfast fits so damn well. Not panic. Not surrender. STEADY pressure.
And...yes...I’ll catch you up quickly on the Epstein piece. The financial side of that story may be even darker than most people realize.
Rope makers know that each fiber is important but don’t know where each fiber starts and ends and where it is compromised by a bend or twist. They also know no fiber by itself can be relied upon to keep the rope together nor be called a rope by itself. Nor can anyone calculate which fiber tearing apart is the last fiber keeping the rope a rope and not two shorter ropes. Catch my drift?
I certainly do. And the rope holding our government together is frayed and ready to unravel or snap completely. And it does not help that several factions are sawing away as we attempt to repair it.
What a precarious position I find myself in, wanting our soldiers to be safe while wanting our president and his sycophants to be embarrassed and horrified by their carelessness with human life. November can’t come soon enough to see if we are a nation to be proud of
Good article, Jack. I didn’t see the word, fraud, in there once and I’m glad about that. During 47’s campaigning in 2024, governmental waste and fraud were mentioned almost non-stop. I heard Trumpers on too many occasions repeating that refrain. Yet, even after the DOGE fanfare and headlines and continued inflammatory rhetoric, I do not recall learning of thousands, or hundreds, or even dozens of charges being filed for fraud against federal employees. I guess that was yet another campaign screen, followed by yet another presidential administration lie, resulting in the intentional weakening (and, to me, likely pre-planned decimation) of the U.S. I guess the real fraudster has been identified, his name is likely Donald J. Trump.
61,000 employees over a short time frame, $580,000,000 in contracts (which converts to tens of thousands of additional employees being laid off or businesses closing their doors. Some of these people were close to retirement so took the bait, but many flooded the numbers already vying for trump's imaginary job market. And at the same time DOGE was stripping departments of necessary employees, trump's cabinet was fleecing the taxpayers. Hell, Kristi Noem spent that much on herself and close friends. Add in Hegseth, Patel, and the others, every penny DOGE "saved" has evaporated.
A new at home problem, one DOGE employee walked out of the Social Security offices with personal data on 500,000,000 or so American citizens, both living and dead. He says he needs it for his new job.
How many more of these frat boy mentality jokers stripped data from all those systems they were supposedly auditing to be used in their next job?
trump bragged last June about obliterating Iran's nuclear abilities. DOGE has come close to destroying ours. Another of their whoopsies. Had to hire back employees who kept our nuclear weapons safe.
How many of the level headed upper brass who would have been the steady hand needed in war did Hegseth replace with his Holy War "kill them all Jesus is coming" religious nutcakes?
And it isn't just DOGE. Patel fired dozens of FBI folks with generational memory of our enemies especially Iran...on Thursday. Two days before trump and Hegseth declared their not really a war war on Iran's leaders and children.
140 service people were injured on top of the 6 dead trump and Hegseth admitted to. How many were the result of failed systems and the trump to Russia to Iran pipeline?
All that has happened has been under Trump’s watch, which in turn he will blame Biden. Can we hold on long enough for the midterms conclusion before we get in more serious shape?
First Jack I was listening to Malcom Nance today and he said they have no Marines in the middle east and that they are in Cuba and Japan and that if the poor planning group want to put boot on the ground on the islands in the persian gulf area they will need the marines. They also do not have the boats they previously designed and used in prior wars in that are=a as they were sent back recently and put in storage. These were smaller boats that looked for mines in the sea and the Iranians are putting mines in the sea at night. SO all the intel that they should have is not available oor they declined help from people with experience in the middle east. This is true a clown show. and now with the DOGE cuts I want to know where are the getting the funds for 1 billion dollar a day costs of this war... I they just writing IOUs???? This is not looking good. With dear leader asking Zelensky for help with fighting drones after refusing his help when he offered it I worry he , drumpf with just pass the info on to Putin. Mlacom also had a guy on today that is in Ukraine and he was describing how th eUkrainians on the from line where he s=has spent time are adjusting the drones for all different kinds of activity from making the reconnaissance drones or drones to block incoming fire or drones to deliver food to the guys in the trenches. He say we are a whole generation away from the current way to fight war and Iran is right up there with Ukraine. Anyway sorry so long but I am getting a real education from you and Malcom Nance. Thank for today's info. Loved th comment about working on the plane while its in the air...
I agree with all of that, except for the assumption that DOGE had any intention of helping or doing real good - that entire effort was deliberate and purposefully destruction.
Elisabeth...you’re not alone in seeing it that way. A lot of people have come to the same conclusion....and rightly so....that the scale and speed of the cuts suggest something FAR MORE than a simple efficiency effort. In short...We. Know. Better.
When changes this sweeping happen across complex institutions...it’s critical to ask whether the real objective is reform... or something much more disruptive.
What you’re, and millions of others are pointing to...the likelihood that the destruction itself is the point...is exactly the kind of question people SHOULD be asking and discussing openly.
I phrased it that way...for good reason; when you want to know what people really think...don't ask them. They think too much when you do that.
If you want it from the get...downplay something just enough...that...just as you heave so beautifully, here...they speak up...loud...and...clear.
Thank you for that, Elisabeth!
-Jack
DOGE swung their ax at USAID and other purveyors of American soft power. Now DOGE is going after America's hard power in the middle of a war with poorly thought out aims against a skilled and wily adversary. If I didn't know any better it's an attempt to take down America from the inside...
Ellen...you’re pointing to something important there...the contradiction is harder than hell to ignore. No question about it.
First...the cuts hit areas like USAID and other parts of America’s SOFT power infrastructure.
Now...we’re seeing pressure on elements connected to HARD power as well. When both sides of that equation start getting weakened....at the SAME TIME...it naturally raises questions about the broader strategic thinking behind it.
What you’re really highlighting is the risk...when a country reduces both its diplomatic influence...AND... parts of its defense support structure...simultaneously...it can create openings for adversaries who are paying VERY close attention.
That tension...between efficiency reforms and strategic readiness...is exactly the concern a lot of analysts are talking about.
-Jack
Looking forward to tomorrow’s post, Jack.
Thanks.
#HoldFast
Jack.. Thank you for laying this all out for us. This country is being run by people who were never equipped for the job. It’s highly concerning.
Is there anything we can do? Anything at all? Where should our focus be other than the midterms which are so very critical?
I look forward to the paid subscriber article tomorrow on the Epstein situation. I hadn’t heard what you wrote about but I’m sure you’ll catch me up quickly.
#Holdfast
~Susan
Susan... yes. There is absolutely something we can do.
The trap is thinking our only job is to WAIT for the midterms. They matter, but so does everything between now and then: local pressure...public visibility...calling...writing... showing up...supporting local journalism...and refusing to let any of this be normalized.
Just as important: keep your clarity.
Systems like this...count on exhaustion and resignation. So...part of the work is staying grounded...naming what’s happening accurately...and helping other people do the same.
That’s why #Holdfast fits so damn well. Not panic. Not surrender. STEADY pressure.
And...yes...I’ll catch you up quickly on the Epstein piece. The financial side of that story may be even darker than most people realize.
-Jack
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1buUrNyZZv/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Found this thought concerning..
Worse, they’re cutting out brains.
Rope makers know that each fiber is important but don’t know where each fiber starts and ends and where it is compromised by a bend or twist. They also know no fiber by itself can be relied upon to keep the rope together nor be called a rope by itself. Nor can anyone calculate which fiber tearing apart is the last fiber keeping the rope a rope and not two shorter ropes. Catch my drift?
I certainly do. And the rope holding our government together is frayed and ready to unravel or snap completely. And it does not help that several factions are sawing away as we attempt to repair it.
.
What a precarious position I find myself in, wanting our soldiers to be safe while wanting our president and his sycophants to be embarrassed and horrified by their carelessness with human life. November can’t come soon enough to see if we are a nation to be proud of
Good article, Jack. I didn’t see the word, fraud, in there once and I’m glad about that. During 47’s campaigning in 2024, governmental waste and fraud were mentioned almost non-stop. I heard Trumpers on too many occasions repeating that refrain. Yet, even after the DOGE fanfare and headlines and continued inflammatory rhetoric, I do not recall learning of thousands, or hundreds, or even dozens of charges being filed for fraud against federal employees. I guess that was yet another campaign screen, followed by yet another presidential administration lie, resulting in the intentional weakening (and, to me, likely pre-planned decimation) of the U.S. I guess the real fraudster has been identified, his name is likely Donald J. Trump.
61,000 employees over a short time frame, $580,000,000 in contracts (which converts to tens of thousands of additional employees being laid off or businesses closing their doors. Some of these people were close to retirement so took the bait, but many flooded the numbers already vying for trump's imaginary job market. And at the same time DOGE was stripping departments of necessary employees, trump's cabinet was fleecing the taxpayers. Hell, Kristi Noem spent that much on herself and close friends. Add in Hegseth, Patel, and the others, every penny DOGE "saved" has evaporated.
A new at home problem, one DOGE employee walked out of the Social Security offices with personal data on 500,000,000 or so American citizens, both living and dead. He says he needs it for his new job.
How many more of these frat boy mentality jokers stripped data from all those systems they were supposedly auditing to be used in their next job?
trump bragged last June about obliterating Iran's nuclear abilities. DOGE has come close to destroying ours. Another of their whoopsies. Had to hire back employees who kept our nuclear weapons safe.
How many of the level headed upper brass who would have been the steady hand needed in war did Hegseth replace with his Holy War "kill them all Jesus is coming" religious nutcakes?
And it isn't just DOGE. Patel fired dozens of FBI folks with generational memory of our enemies especially Iran...on Thursday. Two days before trump and Hegseth declared their not really a war war on Iran's leaders and children.
140 service people were injured on top of the 6 dead trump and Hegseth admitted to. How many were the result of failed systems and the trump to Russia to Iran pipeline?
#HoldFast and I need a dose of medicinal alcohol.
Sue
All that has happened has been under Trump’s watch, which in turn he will blame Biden. Can we hold on long enough for the midterms conclusion before we get in more serious shape?
Pretty sure the name he will pop up with is Barack Hussein Obama.
First Jack I was listening to Malcom Nance today and he said they have no Marines in the middle east and that they are in Cuba and Japan and that if the poor planning group want to put boot on the ground on the islands in the persian gulf area they will need the marines. They also do not have the boats they previously designed and used in prior wars in that are=a as they were sent back recently and put in storage. These were smaller boats that looked for mines in the sea and the Iranians are putting mines in the sea at night. SO all the intel that they should have is not available oor they declined help from people with experience in the middle east. This is true a clown show. and now with the DOGE cuts I want to know where are the getting the funds for 1 billion dollar a day costs of this war... I they just writing IOUs???? This is not looking good. With dear leader asking Zelensky for help with fighting drones after refusing his help when he offered it I worry he , drumpf with just pass the info on to Putin. Mlacom also had a guy on today that is in Ukraine and he was describing how th eUkrainians on the from line where he s=has spent time are adjusting the drones for all different kinds of activity from making the reconnaissance drones or drones to block incoming fire or drones to deliver food to the guys in the trenches. He say we are a whole generation away from the current way to fight war and Iran is right up there with Ukraine. Anyway sorry so long but I am getting a real education from you and Malcom Nance. Thank for today's info. Loved th comment about working on the plane while its in the air...
#HOLD FAST
Teri