This administration is waging a war on all sorts of research, scholarship and expertise.
MAGA Republicanism has long been an enemy of that hated “elitist” devotion to knowledge and empiricism (remember Scott Walker’s attacks on the University of Wisconsin and the “Wisconsin Idea”? He wanted to change the description of the University’s purpose from “basic to every purpose of the (University of Wisconsin) system is the search for truth” to “meet[ing] the state’s workforce needs.” )
If there remains any doubt about MAGA’s animus toward scholarship and the search for truth, one need only look at Trump’s all-out attacks on Universities and the judiciary. The universities’ commitment to empirical fact and the courts’ commitment to “fact-based” analysis are incompatible with the madman’s desire to impose his own prejudices on the American public.
Perhaps the clearest–and most horrifying– example of Trump’s assault on knowledge and expertise has been his enthusiastic facilitation of RFK Jr.’s assault on medical research, including but not limited to cancer research.
As The Washington Post recently reported,
As the administration has slashed funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), perhaps no institution of higher education has been hit harder than Johns Hopkins. Among the programs targeted were a $50 million project to treat HIV while experimenting with machine learning in India and a $200 million grant to treat one of the world’s most deadly diseases in thousands of children.
The employees worked on projects including studying infectious diseases, medical device safety, food safety, lowering health costs and improving maternal health outcomes. All of them are now out of a job.
“The federal government has a huge footprint. [These layoffs] will interrupt all fields of research. Every phase of our scientific endeavor has been interrupted, including that research that is essential for our national security,” said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.
MAGA’s Christian Nationalists evidently want to take us back to the days when “good Christians” like Cotton Mather understood diseases like smallpox to be evidence of God’s displeasure….
To believe the Trump/Musk assault is on “fraud and waste” would require us to re-define those terms. “Waste” in Musk jargon is defined as any program with which he disagrees. The fact that Congress chose to establish a program or pursue a goal is entirely beside the point, as is that pesky Constitutional provision vesting Congress–not DOGE– with exclusive authority over fiscal matters.
If there is one thing that distinguishes MAGA and its White Christian Nationalists from the rest of us, it is a seething resentment of those who differ, and especially those they consider “elitists”–defined not as people with money, (they worship oligarchs, no matter how obviously ignorant) but people with knowledge and expertise.
They’re thrilled with Trump’s destruction of our government, and they evidently don’t worry that they’ll get cancer…or measles.
To borrow from Steppenwolf’s Monster. “Like good christians some would burn the witches”. Guess these are today’s witches!!
If there is something of value to be learned or aid provided to those in need, it will become victim to MAGAs across he board cuts, especially if provided by people with expertise and knowledge above the IQ levels of highest placed MAGAs today. Why does Hegseth need his wife with him at meetings; is she explaining things to him?
We are not in a political war with Trump, Musk and MAGA; we are in an inhumanity vs humanity battle to return to the normal war of politics and our lost American way of life…with all of its warts.
Pillaging of the coffers (our tax dollars) would be much easier if we all just die. I truly believe that is their goal. No more $$ for vaccinations (not stopped yet, but fully expect it will be), cancer research, education, food assistance, SS/SSI/Medicare/Medicaid, housing, etc., *everything* that helps have a decent life. Leave us broke, uneducated, hungry, and infected… Again, they just want us to die.
These obscenities _can_ be attributed to Trump because he is the president. However, I don’t think he cares in the least about a lot of them. Among the current crop of terrible things the US government is doing, I think Trump only really cares about acquiring land/resources and bullying other countries for potential gain. And he may be alone in the administration in these desires because they are counter to the goals of a lot of other factions in his administration.
The real villains pushing things like the attack on higher learning are the Christian Nationalists, the “project 2025” gang. This faction wants to promote destruction of government and current social norms, and promote their version of Christianity. They are insular, and largely supportive of anything that harms the US relationship with the rest of the world. They are incredibly dangerous.
The tech oligarch faction wants the destruction of the government, but they largely don’t care about Christianity. They view religion as a means of controlling the sheep. They want the world leaders to be corporate heads (i.e. themselves).
The ultra wealthy faction (i.e. the ultra wealthy not in the previous group) just want a rising stock market and cheap labour. They do not like the tariffs, nor chaos, as they are terrible for business. They just wanted attacks on labour, regulation, and unionisation. They are probably largely feeling pretty disillusioned and unhappy these days, since the administration isn’t focused on this at all, and only helps by accident. The DOGE stuff is so chaotic that it hurts them more than it helps them.
The racist faction, led by Stephen Miller, seems to be largely in control of the administration right now. Miller hopped into that group chat when they were waffling, and–speaking for the president–pushed them to attack. This group overlaps with the Christian Nationalist faction quite a bit. The Venn diagram is not quite a circle, but it’s pretty close. This is where a large focus of the government lies, and it’s almost unbelievably authoritarian. Given the administrative focus, this is why I think Miller is essentially acting as a shadow president (much more so than Musk). And that’s pretty terrifying.
Overall, my point is: don’t focus only on Trump (no matter how awful he is) to the exclusion of the various administrative factions. These groups hiding in the shadows are really the ones causing a lot of the destruction.
Peg, I think your argument is interesting, but I disagree with the conclusion. They don’t want you to die. That’s just a side effect. They _want_ you to be helpless, impotent serfs. They want to be able to control and exploit you.
Peg nails it. Break every system, show how the systems don’t work, then privatize them so they can be liquidated and the money funneled to the MAGA billionaires.
To quote a phrase from another monster: The MAGA destroyers must be removed, “one way or another.” If not, we will descend further into third-world citizenship.
Well done, voters. You didn’t have to use a telescopic sight when you took dead aim at your own feet.
If you listen closely to Trump and Musk, “waste” consists of any federal program they don’t use personally. Musk still won’t touch the Pentagon or the hundreds of CIA cutouts they use to smuggle guns, manipulate the law, smuggle drugs, etc.
Why has he avoided the Defense Department when everyone knows that’s where all the waste and abuse is located? This department has never passed an audit. I’m unsure if they’ve ever completed an audit because money isn’t tracked intentionally. We print money and hand it over to the Pentagon.
And what happened to DOGE visiting Fort Knox to count the gold? Have government officials looted it all?
I heard on X.com last night that Musk is considering leaving the top spot at DOGE. He’s setting it up as “people are being mean to him.” What a snowflake! The real reason is Tesla shareholders have probably threatened him with a lawsuit.
He also thinks the only people who are mad at him are wokesters on entitlements. Also, he believes the protesters are all paid by “someone,” and the FBI and DOJ will find and arrest those funding the protests. LOL
Once again, an accusation by our grand narcissists is a confession. Look at what Musk is doing in Wisconsin with his money!!!
Just an FYI, I just finished a chapter in Whitney Webb’s book that entailed the famed gay lawyer who died of AIDS despite denying he was gay – Roy Cohn. Sheila may have heard of him during the 70s and 80s. He represented the who’s who in the underworld and was best known for bribing public officials. Among others, he was Trump’s mentor and represented Donald and his dad when the DOJ sued their company for discriminating against blacks. His motto passed to Donald was, “Attack, counterattack, and never apologize.” Roy was also a master manipulator of the media and lied incessantly.
Sound familiar?
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/apprentice-trump-roy-cohn-jeremy-strong-b2628062.html
obviously, trumps meds are to blame,right?
theres a slight of hand since the rights social security bashing started. wall street sees us as non productive, and holding some investments. social securities pile is a mass of income looking for investment with no guarentees,imagine that.and what taxes will they shove on the working class when they privatize it,or are they going to use it to further their own wealth? crypto is inticing and why not invest,its unregulated in the whole world,and open to bankman fried scams.now comes a trump third term and all the(we)parasites will die and they get the money..we now have the most powerful lot of monied people in the world with this non disputable thinking. the right has now proclaimed in congress its own death commission for gain.let the bells ring..
if you can call your rightnwing flunky in DC. about the SAVE act, be informed, its about reregistering/with proof of citizenship to vote anymore. its a scam to upset the next vote. be aware, this is a time issue. and help someone who needs to. its not going away.
ignoring this will give trump the freeway to a lifelong family/billionaire rule.
KKenna:
the words are all there,is how this contry was born,and will die..i know the whole song since it was first played on a free radio. you do remember a free radio? thats when vietnam was in full tilt and the DJs actully said the truth. amassed protests and gave free air time to that music. now,its rightwing radio and talk of how great to be in enslavements.
I like JoAnn Green’s comment about Hegseth’s wife. I had not considered that but JoAnn is probably correct as Hegseth has no brain!
In Trump’s world “Knowledge” is the enemy, and empiricism is it’s buddy!
In Nancy Pelosi’s latest book, she tells off having been warned by a group of doctors, in ’17, the Trump was a sick man.
I think that it’s essential to maintain a bright line between knowledge and beliefs.
Knowledge comes from careful professional research, whether in legal, medical, scientific, or engineering fields. It’s fact- and measurement-based and grounded on careful trial and error and error correction strategies. It’s reliable and precise. It is also impersonal, so everyone who knows is qualified to apply their knowledge because they have chosen to be educated in it and learn the same facts.
Beliefs cover everything the brain, including our imaginations, contains based on memories of every sensory input over every moment of our consciousness. It is entirely personal, so no two of us have the same beliefs, though we try to categorize them to make it easier to deal with them. Another way to regard them is as the personal culture that we were raised in. We are unique individuals due to our DNA and personal cultures or beliefs.
The government has a necessary role to play in maintaining and regulating knowledge, but those of us with the right of free speech are free to be and believe whatever we choose.
MTV (Muskrat, Trump, Vance, supported by Mike Johnson) has instead chosen to censor free speech to eliminate all criticism of themselves and not regulate knowledge, which is precisely the opposite of life in a free country.
Those who believe say amen. Those who know are appalled.
The Rump, aka trumputin, is a useful fool for the real power elements behind the deliberately rapid-fire destruction of the federal system. Trumputin and The Muskovite have made clear their disregard for the red-state voters who put him back in power. Trumputin’s comment that he could not care less about increasing car prices is illustrative. The intense focus on biomedical research prevention is particularly tragic. Loss of funding is affecting all universities, esp. the best and biggest. IU, Purdue and Notre Dame will be hard hit. It won’t just be PhD and MD scientists whose careers will crater. Among the ranks of highly skilled people joining the bread lines will be administrative assistants, lab technicians, animal care experts, grants managers, technical writers, graduate students, computer support staff, and diverse people working for companies that supply researchers with chemicals, radioactive test materials, animals, specialized testing, and on and on. The American research enterprise writ large has been the envy of and a model for the world; its destruction will be a global tragedy. It was built one brick at a time over a century, a complex enterprise that may be impossible to reconstruct. American talent is already being recruited by other nations; China is not just waiting in the wings— they are surging ahead, intent on being the research powerhouse the US once was. RIP, America.
The NIH has had a program that is mostly done in house. I’m waiting to see if it gets the axe. It’s the Orphan Disease Program. Its purpose is to research diseases that are rare, but crippling. The rarity makes the research unprofitable, so no one else has a reason to do the work. If you want proof of inhumanity, the elimination of that program should leave no doubt.
Todd,
Before he was the trump whisperer, Roy Cohn was the chief legal mind behind Joe McCarthy in the 50s. In video of the hearings he can be seen right behind old Joe. Once a scumbag, always a scumbag.
We are in the midst of an incredible display of “insanity” by the MAGA people at a level I never thought I would see. The only thing more amazing is how “passive” the MAGA people are to their own insanity…
Dan, those MAGAs are in total denial as their confirmation biases rule their weak intellects. If one listens to how easily they justify self-inflicted wounds and self-destructive policies, one sees that their intellect is deeply damaged and are centered around believing anything their adored master tells them … no matter what. It’s kind of hard to imagine that people like Hegseth, Gabbard and the rest actually found their way to this level of prominence in ANY area.
We are in really bad shape as a nation if that’s how shallow the talent pool is.
For the first time in my life I feel like I’m coming across people that I completely don’t understand. It’s as if we are living different realities. I’m so glad though that I’m not alone in my thoughts that life in Trumpdom/Muskdom is pure insanity. I admit that I am not the smartest person. However, I’m smart enough to know that some people are far smarter than me and my job is to support their brilliance not impede/mess with their work. It’s seems that neither Trump nor Musk understands that fact about life. As George Carlin jokingly said “Got a pencil? Get in there it’s physics!”
“Many schools and institutions have preemptively implemented cost-cutting measures in anticipation of losing funding down the line.”
I had to laugh at Indiana’s government making a budget in the face of the Project 2025 onslaught. Indiana Republicans don’t believe that Federal money coming to them is going to be cut. Of course there are few fail-safes built into the Indiana system. If the Feds cut Medicaid dollars, Indiana’s answer is to just dump coverage for hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers. It will be a convenient way to say oops, sorry, we didn’t do these cuts. It was somebody else.
Again, I think it’s going to be a shock to state Republicans when the Department of Education is dissolved, and if federal education dollars ever start to flow again, it will take years, and in the meantime we will have another group of students fall into the cracks like the COVID cohort has done. This time the damage will be purposefully inflicted.
Fundamentalist Islamic clerics have been blamed for the loss of Islam’s position as the leader of science.
Hitler’s purges of “Jewish science” led to Germany’s fall from being the scientific center of the world.
Over decades, from the Hygienic Laboratory in the late 1880s to its present day incarnation as the National Institutes of Health, the US has built a reputation as the world leader in scientific research. People from all over the world flock to the various labs in the NIH for training, or just to say that they spent time there.
Trump and Musk may end that. Next step for science – learn Mandarin (not really – China still has to decide between technology with Xi, or true scientific leadership with greater freedom – they do have the potential).