Tea at Trianon: Elon, DOGE & Fox

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, March 29, 2025

Elon, DOGE & Fox

From Tierney's Real News:

Elon & the DOGE team gave a great summary on Fox of what they are doing for us. It’s a must-see interview for all Americans - regardless of party. You’ll be shocked at what they have uncovered about our Government systems and you’ll be amazed at how savvy and determined they are.

Also, around the end of the video at the 36-minute mark, listen to Elon’s response to Bret Baier about the war. Look at his face and see his pain as he talks about all the senseless death. It’s very raw and comes from a deep place. I believe Elon is grieving the loss of his own son to what he calls the “woke mind virus.” That’s why I believe he is now so committed to MAGA and making sure it never happens again.
MUSK: "We should have empathy for the thousands of people dying everyday in the trenches. For no movement in the lines. For the past two years thousands of people have died every week for nothing."

"I take great offense at those who put the appearance of goodness over the reality of it. Those who virtue signal and say we can't give into Russia, but have no solution to stopping thousands of kids dying every day."

"I have contempt for such people and I want to make that clear. Because they're virtue signaling and their lack of a solution means that kids don't have a father. It means parents lost a son. For what? Nothing." (Read more.)

From Amuse on X:

The dissolution of USAID—an institution long considered the crown jewel of American humanitarianism—has caused no small stir among the bureaucratic class, the global NGO ecosystem, and those for whom inertia passes as moral virtue. Yet such reforms, though disruptive, are not only justified—they are necessary. Under the leadership of Secretary Rubio and President Trump, with operational execution led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the United States has finally begun the long-overdue task of reconciling its foreign aid with its foreign policy.
That sentence may surprise some. Isn’t foreign aid a tool of foreign policy? Ideally, yes. But in practice, the two have long existed in a state of awkward cohabitation. USAID, created by executive order under President Kennedy in 1961, was intended to be nimble, responsive, and aligned with executive authority. Instead, over the past six decades, it became precisely the sort of permanent, self-perpetuating bureaucracy the Framers would have abhorred: expensive, redundant, and structurally unaccountable. Its agents abroad frequently contradicted presidential policy; its programs multiplied beyond oversight; and its purpose drifted into abstraction.
To be clear: the issue is not whether the United States should offer life-saving aid. It should, and it will. The issue is whether that aid should be aligned with coherent national interests, subjected to fiscal restraint, and delivered by a government apparatus capable of speaking with one voice. The answer, now decisively, is yes.
Consider, for a moment, what USAID had become. A foreign aid agency should be a tool of diplomacy, one that strengthens alliances, alleviates suffering, and advances national interests. Instead, USAID became an ideological export factory—shipping out cultural fashions under the pretense of humanitarianism, with a price tag courtesy of the American taxpayer. (Read more.)

From The Daily Wire:

In a Friday statement, USAID Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer Jeremy Lewin said the agency has strayed from its original mission to help stem the world’s “gravest crises and support allies in need.”
“But the independent establishment of USAID has grown inefficient and unwieldy, too often contradicting rather than reinforcing the foreign policy of the President and nation,” he said.
“By bringing USAID’s core life-saving and strategic aid programs under the umbrella of the State Department, this Administration will significantly enhance the efficiency, accountability, uniformity, and strategic impact of foreign assistance programs – and ensure that our nation and President speaks with one voice in foreign affairs,” Lewin added. (Read more.)