Leon
17d ago
I would be very surprised
People have priors, we get. Flat Earth Society people would also claim, that they'd be surprised to discover that Antarctica is not a CIA cover for something nefarious. Still, would be nice to have something solid, you know.
Leon
17d ago
If the unvarnished truth is inaccessible to the public, how can they meaningfully exercise democratic control over these expenditures?
Yet we cannot even know who works for DOGE, as Elon threatens whistleblowers with legal action?
Leon
17d ago
does not make sense under Constitutional theory or a theory of actual democracy.
It doesn't make sense to me. Didn't the POTUS appoint the Administrator, which then should have been confirmed by the Senate? Just like with other Departments? And then Congress does oversight and control (and public through it)? There is certain autonomy in how USAID defines its priorities, but please point me at a paragraph in the Big Book of Constitutional Democracy (or wherever the “theory of actual democracy” described; and no, US Constitution is not that) where it is laid out that President should not just have his finger in every pie (department, bureau and office), but also actively stir with that finger. DOGE has less accountability than USAID.
Leon
18d ago
I'm still waiting for the mea culpas for all the people on this very forum who said that Trump was old and demented like Biden.
He isn't? For me, calling Spain a member of BRICS is on the same level as calling Zelenskyy 'President Putin'. Alternatively, Biden is demented, and Trump is ignorant, which isn't much better. Of course, Trump is often graded on a curve, so his many gaffes get a pass from MAGA.
You can add here "Moon Landing was a hoax" or "9/11 is an inside job". It's also "normie-pilled", and there is some probability that it is true. Still, the level of discourse around it here is exactly that — "normie". "Midwit". 105 IQ. I would expect better from the public on this forum.
More options
Context Copy link