Elon Musk: Mass Murderer

[Moksha]

I didn't vote for Elon, but I did vote for Donald Trump and support his decision to put Elon in charge of cutting waste, fraud, and abuse.

Oh and before I forget, Happy Juneteenth.

Elon was able to buy Trump. By the way, doesn't Juneteenth stand for everything you resent?

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

1) No one is being thrown in jail for criticizing foreign aid.Condoms for Africa is part of long-standing global health programs under both Republican and Democratic presidents. *cough* George W. Bush’s PEPFAR *cough*

And I for one am glad that I am no longer paying for condoms in Africa. In fact I haven't heard anyone on the right complaining about not having to continue to pay for that. That's what we voted for. When you get back in charge, you can sock it to the working man until you put the country into eternal debt slavery. In meantime, don't be surprised that I'm happy your efforts to continue to do that have stalled.

You’re not “paying for condoms in Africa” out of some personal burden. We’re talking about a fraction-of-a-penny investment in global health that’s saved millions of lives and actually helps prevent the spread of disease, including to US personnel abroad. Programs like PEPFAR were championed by President George W. Bush, not out of wokeness or pity, but because stable, healthy populations make for more stable geopolitics, which benefits the us.

As for "eternal debt slavery," let’s be honest, foreign aid is less than 1% of the federal budget. The real drivers of US debt are domestic: tax cuts without offsets, massive military expenditures, and an aging Boomer and X population. So no, you didn’t vote to stop paying for condoms, you voted for performative outrage that cuts effective programs while ignoring the big-ticket spending that actually affects your taxes.

But hey, if the hill you want to die on is “no more disease prevention for brown people overseas,” that says more about your worldview than your economic acumen.

- Doc “Ajax18 would literally clean Dump’s diapers if given the chance” nc4me

[Everybody Wang Chung]

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Oh and before I forget, Happy Juneteenth

[canpakes]

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Posted on Juneteenth, of course.

[Dr. Shades]

I can't, because I don't know which ones they are. But I think Israel is able to afford to give its citizens free health care because the United States pays its defense bill for it. I also think the non-U.S.A. NATO countries can afford to give their citizens free health care, too, because the United States is paying for the lion's share of their defense by proxy.

The US is not paying for other NATO countries’ defense; each member nation funds its own military.

Right, that's why I said "by proxy." By us being there, they can have a much smaller military--with all the savings of their own citizens' tax dollars.

For example, Germany pays ~80B/year while we spend ~4B/year to maintain bases there by mutual accord.

If we didn't maintain bases there by mutual accord, we could save $4B/year.

Nonsense, of course, but the kind of nonsense that MAGA bots love to hear.

I sure hope you're not including me in that "MAGA bots" comment, because that's about as far from me as it is from Some Schmo.

And let's not forget: the only country ever to have invoked the NATO treaty clause that allows a member to demand support from fellow members if it is attacked is the USA, after 9/11. Just saying.

Yep. So NATO didn't work out too well for them after all. And we ended up doing the lion's share anyway, so invoking the clause wasn't necessary.

Can anyone justify the government sending a single penny overseas while those three conditions remain unmet?

China has gained many friends and allies through its Belts and Roads Initiative, while Trump has cost us dearly by losing friends and allies.

Do China's new friends and allies pose any threat to the United States whatsoever?

[Moksha]

China has gained many friends and allies through its Belts and Roads Initiative, while Trump has cost us dearly by losing friends and allies.

Do China's new friends and allies pose any threat to the United States whatsoever?

I doubt they do, but making expenditures that way benefited China more than wars or propping up friendly dictators.

[Chap]

Nonsense, of course, but the kind of nonsense that MAGA bots love to hear.

I sure hope you're not including me in that "MAGA bots" comment, because that's about as far from me as it is from Some Schmo.

It was quite clear from my post that I was referring to Trump's silly post about "the money pouring in" (supposedly to US coffers) when European countries increased defense expenditure. Did you not notice?

And let's not forget: the only country ever to have invoked the NATO treaty clause that allows a member to demand support from fellow members if it is attacked is the USA, after 9/11. Just saying.

Yep. So NATO didn't work out too well for them after all. And we ended up doing the lion's share anyway, so invoking the clause wasn't necessary.

Surely you are not under the impression that NATO membership is supposed to prevent attacks by suicidal Islamic terrorists? On your second point, it would perhaps be nice if the US government could now write to the families of the UK military personnel who died in Iraq and Afghanistan because they were supporting the US effort in those countries, explaining that those deaths were unnecessary. I'm sure that gracious gesture would cheer them up no end.

[Physics Guy]

US bases in Germany now are not here to defend Germany. The largest is the US military hospital complex at Ramstein, which is there so that wounded American soldiers can be airlifted to hospital more quickly from this half of the globe. The other bases likewise support American global power projection in various ways. Germany permits these US bases on its soil because the US is an ally.

[Doctor Steuss]

[...] If I would have told you that millions of dollars were spent on condoms for some African country, I'd have been banned from social media and likely thrown in jail for peddling conspiracy theories. [...]

Your and others inability to use publicly available sources regarding funding initiatives that use taxpayer money doesn't mean there's conspiracies.

This is why everyone was able to fact-check all of the times DOGE lied. Because it's publicly available information. It's literally mandated by law to be publicly available (thanks in part to Obama).

Oh and before I forget, Happy Juneteenth.

Thank you. I used some vacation time so I could take my son to a celebration with some friends. It was his first time eating fried catfish; I think he's a fan. It's unfortunate that Conservatives tried so hard to maintain the institution of owning human beings, even after they lost the war. Thank goodness for the freedom loving patriots in the United States military.