- absolutely flies off the fucking handle -

- "stay safe everyone" -

Let's try breaking down your screed using the same tools I just suggested to Ben:

"He's just closed a $50 billion annual budget agency"

So the fact of the matter is that USAID has been rolled into State, near as we can tell, and it'll be tough to figure out what happens next.

Another thing to consider is that USAID is everywhere the CIA wants to be. I'm so old that I remember when the liberals hayyyyyyyyyyted USAID because it mostly exists to distribute money to rebels under embargo by congress.

"turns out USAID was pretty integral in pushing for the end of apartheid, btw"

Do you remember Apartheid? I do. It was this thing the Reagan administration propped up because the two places to buy titanium in the world were the USSR and South Africa. Back in the '60s and '70s the CIA successfully purchased Soviet titanium through shell companies (every A-12 OXCART and SR-71 that ever flew was figuratively born in the USSR) but by the '80s the Soviets were wise. It took fifteen years for congress to finally get some sanctions through and then when the Reagan administration needed money that could go to South Africa despite the sanctions? There was USAID.

Look - you can't hate the World Bank and love USAID. They're the same sort of organization, except one of them is pretty much riddled with spooks. So whatever you love about USAID, guaranteed it'll be back next quarter because that's how the CIA rolls.

"The democrats announced this afternoon that they'll make more laws that ensure this is all illegal. OK! It already is all illegal."

"Illegal" doesn't mean "you can't do it." "Illegal" means "you'll possibly face consequences, depending on how white and rich you are." Remember Brad DeJoy and the post office? This is that. There are things that can be done and things that can't be and what you've got is pen-testing and flooding of zones.

"Again, I'm sorry, it is so fucked to believe this, but I think it is a total waste of time to gameplan electoral strategies."

You're not sorry, you're playing your favorite game.

Nothing that has happened in the past two weeks gives you any juice to lean into that, you're just leaning into that because it's fun to lean into that. It's the rationalization of your panic and writing it down makes it feel more true.

"In fact it's a little fuckin' hilarious to imagine Trump or JD or anyone MAGA now being like "Well, the people have spoken at the ballot box, I guess, and my feelings are a little hurt... y'know, I thought I did a good job.. Oh well, guess I'll head back home. Thanks for the chance, America!!"

This is all happening because Trump won the (conditional) popularity contest. Trump's ideas did not win the popularity contest, which is why our trade war lasted approximately six hours.

JD Vance has never won a popularity contest. He barely made it into the Senate, and made it in by less of a margin than anything else Republican. The thing about populists and demagogues is their populism and demagoguery isn't readily transferrable - You remember Duterte, you don't remember who came after Duterte. You remember Berlusconi, you don't remember who came after Berlusconi.

More than that, Trump's ability to act hinges on his popularity. Trump, more than anyone, knows that his life got progressively harder the more people he pissed off. He'd never been President before so he didn't know the lay of the land, but his entire existence has been pissing off the people he can get away with pissing off and fellating the people he can't. Last time around? He fellated the Russians. This time around? He's recognizing that fellating the Russians didn't keep him from being impeached twice.

" the last section of a rather strange announcement "

Sovereign wealth funds aren't weird, they just aren't American (because Americans aren't cool with the word "sovereign"). You wanna see America's Sovereign Wealth Fund? It's called the IMF. It used to be called "Bretton Woods" but we had to default on our Vietnam debt. That whole "sovereign wealth fund" canard is because Trump doesn't have an obvious mechanism to keep Tik Tok afloat that doesn't involve selling it to Elon, and even Trump doesn't want to give Elon that much power.

"This is my truth, and unfortunately, in this truth, increasingly, it's beneficial for the entire planet if other Americans also understand it. So.. Fuck I'm evangelical now. Ugh."

This is you, running around with your hair on fire, because it's what you see everyone else doing. In order to get here you had to embrace howlers like

Yes, this is "merely" Project 2025, one might say, but nobody, nobody thought they'd gun it out of the gate like this

As if Project 2025 weren't the backbone of the Harris campaign. Everyone. Everyone thought they'd gun it out of the gate like this. How many "dictator on day 1" commercials did you watch?

See, I know you were there for the first Trump administration. We watched it together. It was a man who was bad at government throwing elbows to see if he could get his place in line. I'm not seeing how this is any different - it's stupider, it's more venal, but it's the same

fucking

show

dude.

And you know it.

And you survived it.

And embracing the panic?

Did that actually help last time?