I have been saying for a long time that the tipping point will only come if/when Trump gives the order for the military or police to use force on American citizens exercising their Constitutional right to protest. It was gratifying to see that sentiment in print.
I agree with Kathleen, but I would not be at all surprised to see a few 'Kent State' moments. The Orange Ogre cannot stand to see people opposing him, especially in large numbers. I'll be out there, though. I'm making my sign today.
Thanks, Kathleen. Two thoughts: 1) Why have MSM moved away from accurately describing crowd size? This seems so simple to me by using aerial photos. Add AI (I would guess) and it becomes very simple and accurate. WE NEED GOOD NUMBERS for the wizard in the white house. And 2) notwithstanding his reticence, can you get Simon Rosenberg to give a full-throated clarion call to his Hopium Community to get behind April 5th? Thx.
Estimating crowd sizes became extremely politicized during the Vietnam War demonstrations. Vastly conflicting estimates were litigated in the pages of MSM. The National Park Service used to give estimates for crowd sizes on the National Mall, but because the issue became so controversial, they stopped doing it. Doubtless a better job could be done today, but it still would be very disputed.
One amusing episode came when the National Park Service estimated the crowd size for LBJ's inauguration as 2.4 million. They did this purely to suck up to Johnson who had a ridiculously large ego. It was soon after this that the National Park Service was shamed into stopping its crowd size estimates.
Some years back, the Houston Chronicle ran a story that said 400,000 people had attended the local pride parade, based on the crowd estimate of the event's organizers. That would be 10% of the population of the city. It was an extremely hot day, and 400,000 people would have constituted a medical emergency because there is no way they could stay dehydrated.. I wrote the newspaper a letter, but I never heard back.
My point is that neither I, or you, or Musk is competent to figure out what federal money is misspent. That is something that a well-qualified cabinet secretary and inspector generals should be spending weeks determining before action is taken. What Musk is doing is throwing all the furniture out of a house on a single afternoon and then claim he did spring cleaning.
That reminds me of something that happened to me years ago. I had a houseguest who undertook to “clean” my house for me. She put many of my belongings where she thought they should go. I was still looking for things 5 months later.
"My point is that neither I, or you, or Musk is competent to figure out what federal money is misspent."
The point is you don't want to give your opinion on the three or four spending projects DOGE found - not surprised. And these were verified by CNN, not exactly a bastion of conservatism. If you think any or all of those projects are worthy (or not) of taxpayer funds, just say so.
They were expressed by a single CNN commentator, not vouched for by the whole network or repeated by the whole network. I don't know if she characterized them accurately. On the one where I had an opinion, the goal of providing free condoms to Mozambique is to prevent the spread of AIDS, and I am 100% in favor of that expenditure. It's an excellent use of my taxpayer dollars.
BTW, DOGE canceled thousands of USAID contracts in the course of a few days. Clearly, that was a well informed and careful review. It sure inspired confidence in me./s
"They were expressed by a single CNN commentator, not vouched for by the whole network or repeated by the whole network."
So if the rest of the talking heads don't repeat the same story then it's somehow not valid? Why not go with the idea that the host/commentator actually has some leeway in what topics they want to cover? To my knowledge there was no pushback from CNN headquarters about the interview topic.
"On the one where I had an opinion, the goal of providing three condoms to Mozambique is to prevent the spread of AIDS, and I am 100% in favor of that expenditure. It's an excellent use of my taxpayer dollars."
Well that's progress...thank you. What about your opinion on the other expenditures? Just assume for the sake of argument that every one is verified and true...what's your opinion?
Congressman Lieu certainly didn't want to express his opinion on any of them, and that's the problem. One would think that if wasteful spending is discovered that partisanship would take a back seat. From what I understand about how USAID was funded, they got a chunk of money from Congress with no line items listed. USAID made the determination on how the money was spent once they got the funding. And once DOGE came on the scene USAID refused to detail how their funding was allocated.
"From what I understand about how USAID was funded, they got a chunk of money from Congress with no line items listed. USAID made the determination on how the money was spent once they got the funding."
What is your source for this? Can you prove there was never any congressional oversight?
"And once DOGE came on the scene USAID refused to detail how their funding was allocated.:
And your source for this claim is? At the time DOGE was asking USAID questions (if they did), the legal basis for their existence was still not clarified. Are government officials supposed to spend their time answering questions from random people who walk in the door claiming an authority not affirmed by congressional act?
Why should I try to comment on issues on which I have no background and I'm not sure that the CNN host has any background either? Perhaps she was hired as a token conservative to provide “balance” to the network. I don't watch CNN, and I have no basis on which to either trust or distrust what this particular woman has to say.
I will only comment on issues on which I feel I am well informed enough to have as an opinion. My opinion is that DOGE could not competently evaluate thousands of USAID contracts in three days. To give you background on that, the Trump administration first said they were pausing all USAID contracts for 90 days so that they could evaluate them. Later, when a federal judge said they could not pause the contracts (no legal basis for that action), they came back to court three days later and told the judge that they had simply canceled them. Do you think it is plausible that DOGE could carefully evaluate that many contracts in three days?
I followed that court case closely. Here is a summary of its progress.
"Unless I am impressed by the points you make henceforward..."
I do not post with the intention of impressing anyone, especially in a forum such as this one. I post because I subscribed and I choose to, just as you chose to host a Substack channel. It is not a right but a privilege and I view it as such. I neither seek your approval nor beg your forgiveness. I give you no conditions whatsoever on whether you respond to me or not. I do not ever expect a reply from anyone nor do I post what's on my mind for the "Likes" - in this forum those are few and far between. So respond or not - that is entirely your call.
""IRS will cut 25% of its employees""
What, in your opinion, is the perfect number of employees at the IRS and how did you arrive at that number?
"If Elon Musk and DOGE had proceeded by creating new systems before they destroyed or crippled the old systems..."
Again, what rubric are you using to determine just how much damage has or will occur to the IRS, or is this simply your opinion?
"Many people are estimating that tax receipts will decrease by $500 billion this year..."
I hear the same thing from Trump and others ("...many people...") and I give it just about as much credibility. But right now those are estimates and nothing more.
"When Social Security recipients have to wait two hours online to talk to a a Social Security employee, Musk is not doing a good job."
What was the average wait time before Musk? You didn't say.
"Only an idiot would tear down the existing government systems before building better ones."
It would be helpful if you could elaborate on your standard for "tear down the existing government systems", unless (again) this is nothing more than your opinion. And Musk may be many things, but an idiot is not one of them. He built a successful car company and was the darling of the Left until he bought Twitter and aligned himself with Trump. Now look at how people like you treat him. He has built a space program from scratch. An idiot he is not.
BTW, you still never commented about your view of those who have vandalized Teslas, whether owned by individuals or at dealerships. Do you think that is acceptable/appropriate behavior?
Can you point out a specific federal agency that has been improved by Musk's intervention? Federal expenditures on employee salaries are less than 5% of the federal budget.
I was just thinking that Trump urged people to rake forests to prevent forest fires. But now that the half the personnel of the Forest Service has been fired, who's going to do the raking?
Frankly, I think an intern knows more about cancer surgery than Musk's youngsters know about the function of any federal agency. My analogy focused on insufficient information and preparation.
Frankly, I also think that incompetence is worthy of hatred. That's why I'm angry at a lot of people.
"Can you point out a specific federal agency that has been improved by Musk's intervention?"
That's the wrong question, Kathleen. The first task is to find the fraudulent and wasteful spending and figure out what to do with the money. I imagine that, regardless of what has been identified, Congress still has some say in the matter. Efficiency comes later. I guess you expect this whole process to be "instant coffee" but it's not. There are different techniques being used to identify potential wasteful spending. I don't expect everything found to be valid, but it's a start. You are simply complaining about the process and not what has potentially been found and work from there.
"I was just thinking that Trump urged people to rake forests to prevent forest fires. But now that the half the personnel of the Forest Service has been fired, who's going to do the raking?"
Half of the Forest Service has been fired?
From Rolling Stone:
"The U.S. Forest Service chief announced his retirement in a sobering email to staff Wednesday as 3,400 federal employees at the agency face layoffs, roughly 10 percent of its workforce."
"Frankly, I also think that incompetence is worthy of hatred."
Frankly, I bet you have no clue as to the techniques and procedures Musk and company are using to find out what they have thus far. But if you want to talk about incompetence, maybe you should direct your attention to how the media missed Biden's cognitive decline for four years. Because it's either incompetence or complicity, take your pick.
You offered me a forced choice between Trump or Biden. I am satisfied with neither. Biden never attempted to reform the federal government. And Trump's idea of reform is simply throwing large chunks of it out of the window. Reportingly, I would give Biden a C- and Trump an F -.
Quite frankly I don't know of any president of the United States throughout our history who has ever put an intelligent focus on reforming the federal bureaucracy. Clinton / Gore claimed to be doing that, but I am not in a position to evaluate to what extent they have succeeded.
For example, if you want to make the Socialist Security Administration more efficient by automating customer service, why don't you install that system before firing employees with the result people have hold for two hours before they can talk to somebody?
Since you are NOT a member of DOGE, you do not know what their strategy and methods are. If you are a member of GOGE I hope you will go and talk with somebody who is competent to understand, so it can be explained to all of us.
"You offered me a forced choice between Trump or Biden."
I did no such thing.
"I am satisfied with neither."
On that we can agree.
"For example, if you want to make the Socialist Security Administration more efficient by automating customer service, why don't you install that system before firing employees with the result people have hold for two hours before they can talk to somebody?"
I'm not sure. I know that the FAA has been talking about modernizing their equipment for decades but I do not believe they have been successful, so it's not just the SSA.
"Since you are NOT a member of DOGE, you do not know what their strategy and methods are."
I neither stated nor implied that I was a member of DOGE or familiar with their protocols. You aren't either yet you say they are incompetent. What I do know is that almost all of the criticism is coming from the Left. My hope is that instead of incessantly whining they should take a breath, calm down, put aside the partisan histrionics and actually talk to Elon/DOGE about what they have found. Then maybe everyone can figure out what is or isn't true and address the findings themselves instead of attacking the messenger.
I have been saying for a long time that the tipping point will only come if/when Trump gives the order for the military or police to use force on American citizens exercising their Constitutional right to protest. It was gratifying to see that sentiment in print.
I agree with Kathleen, but I would not be at all surprised to see a few 'Kent State' moments. The Orange Ogre cannot stand to see people opposing him, especially in large numbers. I'll be out there, though. I'm making my sign today.
https://handsoff2025.com
Thanks, Kathleen. Two thoughts: 1) Why have MSM moved away from accurately describing crowd size? This seems so simple to me by using aerial photos. Add AI (I would guess) and it becomes very simple and accurate. WE NEED GOOD NUMBERS for the wizard in the white house. And 2) notwithstanding his reticence, can you get Simon Rosenberg to give a full-throated clarion call to his Hopium Community to get behind April 5th? Thx.
Estimating crowd sizes became extremely politicized during the Vietnam War demonstrations. Vastly conflicting estimates were litigated in the pages of MSM. The National Park Service used to give estimates for crowd sizes on the National Mall, but because the issue became so controversial, they stopped doing it. Doubtless a better job could be done today, but it still would be very disputed.
One amusing episode came when the National Park Service estimated the crowd size for LBJ's inauguration as 2.4 million. They did this purely to suck up to Johnson who had a ridiculously large ego. It was soon after this that the National Park Service was shamed into stopping its crowd size estimates.
Some years back, the Houston Chronicle ran a story that said 400,000 people had attended the local pride parade, based on the crowd estimate of the event's organizers. That would be 10% of the population of the city. It was an extremely hot day, and 400,000 people would have constituted a medical emergency because there is no way they could stay dehydrated.. I wrote the newspaper a letter, but I never heard back.
Brilliant idea.🇨🇦💗
Maybe you'd like to comment on the spending projects mentioned in this video on CNN to a Democratic member of Congress:
"‘What Do You Say?’: CNN Host Challenges Ted Lieu On ‘Taxpayer Money’ Going To Questionable Programs Abroad"
https://dailycaller.com/2025/02/19/cnn-host-challenges-ted-lieu-taxpayer-money-going-questionable-programs-abroad/
My point is that neither I, or you, or Musk is competent to figure out what federal money is misspent. That is something that a well-qualified cabinet secretary and inspector generals should be spending weeks determining before action is taken. What Musk is doing is throwing all the furniture out of a house on a single afternoon and then claim he did spring cleaning.
That reminds me of something that happened to me years ago. I had a houseguest who undertook to “clean” my house for me. She put many of my belongings where she thought they should go. I was still looking for things 5 months later.
"My point is that neither I, or you, or Musk is competent to figure out what federal money is misspent."
The point is you don't want to give your opinion on the three or four spending projects DOGE found - not surprised. And these were verified by CNN, not exactly a bastion of conservatism. If you think any or all of those projects are worthy (or not) of taxpayer funds, just say so.
They were expressed by a single CNN commentator, not vouched for by the whole network or repeated by the whole network. I don't know if she characterized them accurately. On the one where I had an opinion, the goal of providing free condoms to Mozambique is to prevent the spread of AIDS, and I am 100% in favor of that expenditure. It's an excellent use of my taxpayer dollars.
BTW, DOGE canceled thousands of USAID contracts in the course of a few days. Clearly, that was a well informed and careful review. It sure inspired confidence in me./s
"They were expressed by a single CNN commentator, not vouched for by the whole network or repeated by the whole network."
So if the rest of the talking heads don't repeat the same story then it's somehow not valid? Why not go with the idea that the host/commentator actually has some leeway in what topics they want to cover? To my knowledge there was no pushback from CNN headquarters about the interview topic.
"On the one where I had an opinion, the goal of providing three condoms to Mozambique is to prevent the spread of AIDS, and I am 100% in favor of that expenditure. It's an excellent use of my taxpayer dollars."
Well that's progress...thank you. What about your opinion on the other expenditures? Just assume for the sake of argument that every one is verified and true...what's your opinion?
Congressman Lieu certainly didn't want to express his opinion on any of them, and that's the problem. One would think that if wasteful spending is discovered that partisanship would take a back seat. From what I understand about how USAID was funded, they got a chunk of money from Congress with no line items listed. USAID made the determination on how the money was spent once they got the funding. And once DOGE came on the scene USAID refused to detail how their funding was allocated.
"From what I understand about how USAID was funded, they got a chunk of money from Congress with no line items listed. USAID made the determination on how the money was spent once they got the funding."
What is your source for this? Can you prove there was never any congressional oversight?
"And once DOGE came on the scene USAID refused to detail how their funding was allocated.:
And your source for this claim is? At the time DOGE was asking USAID questions (if they did), the legal basis for their existence was still not clarified. Are government officials supposed to spend their time answering questions from random people who walk in the door claiming an authority not affirmed by congressional act?
Why should I try to comment on issues on which I have no background and I'm not sure that the CNN host has any background either? Perhaps she was hired as a token conservative to provide “balance” to the network. I don't watch CNN, and I have no basis on which to either trust or distrust what this particular woman has to say.
I will only comment on issues on which I feel I am well informed enough to have as an opinion. My opinion is that DOGE could not competently evaluate thousands of USAID contracts in three days. To give you background on that, the Trump administration first said they were pausing all USAID contracts for 90 days so that they could evaluate them. Later, when a federal judge said they could not pause the contracts (no legal basis for that action), they came back to court three days later and told the judge that they had simply canceled them. Do you think it is plausible that DOGE could carefully evaluate that many contracts in three days?
I followed that court case closely. Here is a summary of its progress.
https://www.justsecurity.org/107087/tracker-litigation-legal-challenges-trump-administration/
"Unless I am impressed by the points you make henceforward..."
I do not post with the intention of impressing anyone, especially in a forum such as this one. I post because I subscribed and I choose to, just as you chose to host a Substack channel. It is not a right but a privilege and I view it as such. I neither seek your approval nor beg your forgiveness. I give you no conditions whatsoever on whether you respond to me or not. I do not ever expect a reply from anyone nor do I post what's on my mind for the "Likes" - in this forum those are few and far between. So respond or not - that is entirely your call.
""IRS will cut 25% of its employees""
What, in your opinion, is the perfect number of employees at the IRS and how did you arrive at that number?
"If Elon Musk and DOGE had proceeded by creating new systems before they destroyed or crippled the old systems..."
Again, what rubric are you using to determine just how much damage has or will occur to the IRS, or is this simply your opinion?
"Many people are estimating that tax receipts will decrease by $500 billion this year..."
I hear the same thing from Trump and others ("...many people...") and I give it just about as much credibility. But right now those are estimates and nothing more.
"When Social Security recipients have to wait two hours online to talk to a a Social Security employee, Musk is not doing a good job."
What was the average wait time before Musk? You didn't say.
"Only an idiot would tear down the existing government systems before building better ones."
It would be helpful if you could elaborate on your standard for "tear down the existing government systems", unless (again) this is nothing more than your opinion. And Musk may be many things, but an idiot is not one of them. He built a successful car company and was the darling of the Left until he bought Twitter and aligned himself with Trump. Now look at how people like you treat him. He has built a space program from scratch. An idiot he is not.
BTW, you still never commented about your view of those who have vandalized Teslas, whether owned by individuals or at dealerships. Do you think that is acceptable/appropriate behavior?
That's a pretty lousy analogy, but I guess it works for you. It still doesn't justify the hatred and vandalism, does it?
Can you point out a specific federal agency that has been improved by Musk's intervention? Federal expenditures on employee salaries are less than 5% of the federal budget.
I was just thinking that Trump urged people to rake forests to prevent forest fires. But now that the half the personnel of the Forest Service has been fired, who's going to do the raking?
Frankly, I think an intern knows more about cancer surgery than Musk's youngsters know about the function of any federal agency. My analogy focused on insufficient information and preparation.
Frankly, I also think that incompetence is worthy of hatred. That's why I'm angry at a lot of people.
"Can you point out a specific federal agency that has been improved by Musk's intervention?"
That's the wrong question, Kathleen. The first task is to find the fraudulent and wasteful spending and figure out what to do with the money. I imagine that, regardless of what has been identified, Congress still has some say in the matter. Efficiency comes later. I guess you expect this whole process to be "instant coffee" but it's not. There are different techniques being used to identify potential wasteful spending. I don't expect everything found to be valid, but it's a start. You are simply complaining about the process and not what has potentially been found and work from there.
"I was just thinking that Trump urged people to rake forests to prevent forest fires. But now that the half the personnel of the Forest Service has been fired, who's going to do the raking?"
Half of the Forest Service has been fired?
From Rolling Stone:
"The U.S. Forest Service chief announced his retirement in a sobering email to staff Wednesday as 3,400 federal employees at the agency face layoffs, roughly 10 percent of its workforce."
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/us-forest-service-chief-retires-doge-layoffs-letter-1235281480/
"Frankly, I think an intern knows more about cancer surgery than Musk's youngsters know about the function of any federal agency."
Frankly, I couldn't care less. Brett Baier interviewed Musk and several members of his DOGE team. You can tell me who the "youngsters" are:
"Elon Musk and DOGE team sit down with Bret Baier in 'Special Report' exclusive"
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6370654580112
"Frankly, I also think that incompetence is worthy of hatred."
Frankly, I bet you have no clue as to the techniques and procedures Musk and company are using to find out what they have thus far. But if you want to talk about incompetence, maybe you should direct your attention to how the media missed Biden's cognitive decline for four years. Because it's either incompetence or complicity, take your pick.
You offered me a forced choice between Trump or Biden. I am satisfied with neither. Biden never attempted to reform the federal government. And Trump's idea of reform is simply throwing large chunks of it out of the window. Reportingly, I would give Biden a C- and Trump an F -.
Quite frankly I don't know of any president of the United States throughout our history who has ever put an intelligent focus on reforming the federal bureaucracy. Clinton / Gore claimed to be doing that, but I am not in a position to evaluate to what extent they have succeeded.
For example, if you want to make the Socialist Security Administration more efficient by automating customer service, why don't you install that system before firing employees with the result people have hold for two hours before they can talk to somebody?
Since you are NOT a member of DOGE, you do not know what their strategy and methods are. If you are a member of GOGE I hope you will go and talk with somebody who is competent to understand, so it can be explained to all of us.
"You offered me a forced choice between Trump or Biden."
I did no such thing.
"I am satisfied with neither."
On that we can agree.
"For example, if you want to make the Socialist Security Administration more efficient by automating customer service, why don't you install that system before firing employees with the result people have hold for two hours before they can talk to somebody?"
I'm not sure. I know that the FAA has been talking about modernizing their equipment for decades but I do not believe they have been successful, so it's not just the SSA.
"Since you are NOT a member of DOGE, you do not know what their strategy and methods are."
I neither stated nor implied that I was a member of DOGE or familiar with their protocols. You aren't either yet you say they are incompetent. What I do know is that almost all of the criticism is coming from the Left. My hope is that instead of incessantly whining they should take a breath, calm down, put aside the partisan histrionics and actually talk to Elon/DOGE about what they have found. Then maybe everyone can figure out what is or isn't true and address the findings themselves instead of attacking the messenger.