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> used by journalists and lawyers to hold government accountable. The journalists from Politico have just been ousted by DOGE has having had received $8 millio

> used by journalists and lawyers to hold government accountable. The journalists from Politico have just been ousted by DOGE has having had received $8 million in annual funding from USAID (another Government-run institution that has been ousted by the same DOGE), so I can understand how come Musk would want to keep DOGE's dealing away from journalists that might see this agency as very antithetic to their (the journalists') material well-being.

intended 2y ago
If you assume that USAID was evil from the oustset, its easy to conclude that everything its tendrils touched was also tainted. Kinda like evil. But, the sad part is, that this also means its an idea which is impossible to challenge, because you cant trust anyone who counters it.
- paganel 2y ago
  > If you assume that USAID was evil from the oustset, I'm not "assuming", I know that for a fact. > because you cant trust anyone who counters it. Do you happen to live in a part of the Globe that has been under direct USAID (and NED) influence? Something tells me you don't, I do (I live in Eastern Europe), so allow me not to receive lessons from people who know nothing, absolutely nothing, about this type of organisations.
  - intended 2y ago
    I do! It seems we benefited significantly from them. Who knew. Also, where I'm from was historically on America's shit list. Still benefited from it.
  - throwaway173738 2y ago
    It would help if you’d share something beyond a bald assertion. The idea of soft power gets used by tons of governments everywhere. Maybe they undertook some evil actions where you live. But they also ship food to places that need it, and they fund infrastructure projects.
kemayo 2y ago
USAID gave Politico $24k, not $8M. The entire US govt did pay Politico about $8.2M, presumably in the form of buying their subscription products. Politico really does do deep-dive analysis behind a paywall, and I can see why government people might want access. (I have no idea how justified this is, honestly, but I wouldn't immediately dismiss it.) This seems like a fair enough summary: https://www.axios.com/2025/02/05/politico-trump-musk-government-subscriptions https://www.axios.com/2025/02/05/politico-trump-musk-governm... Or dig through https://www.usaspending.gov/recipient/fa0cefae-7cfb-881d-29c3-1bd39cc6a49e-C/latest https://www.usaspending.gov/recipient/fa0cefae-7cfb-881d-29c... yourself if you want, I guess. That site is super-overloaded at the moment, unfortunately.
- floatrock 2y ago
  Seriously. Headline here really is "Government is buying data from a data provider." Now do Starlink. Or Palantir. I've yet to hear why this is a corrupt or inappropriate purchase. I might change my mind if I hear evidence on why this was an inappropriate contract, but right now this reeks of dictator-grade fear-targeting of political opponents. This is why a government is supposed to have an independent judiciary. Or inspector generals who haven't been purged.
- paganel 2y ago
  So you see nothing wrong with the Government paying the media that is supposed to be independent? For what it's the worth the NGOs supported by American institutions like USAID have been raising hell accompanied by cries of "democracy is dying" when our Government here in Romania had done a similar thing, i.e. paying Government money to the local media (supposedly in order to advertise Government initiatives in said media). So you can see how hypocritical this all seems to us, Eastern-Europeans, us who had been called naughty and worse for doing the same thing that organizations like USAID had been doing on their home-turf ($8 million, $24k, it doesn't really matter, the intention was there, we've had a former political leader thrown in jail for corruption/political influence that involved no money, so $0). Samantha Power and those that stood behind here deserve prison-time, the same prison-time that the NGOs that her organization supported had called for the corrupt leaders here in Romania. LAter edit: Now that I've gone through that Axios article more at length, come on, they can't be serious with stuff like this: > A fake theory about Politico being funded by the government is catching fire in right-wing circles They call this "fake"? They call the Government actually giving money to Politico as "fake"? Pardon my French, by what the hell? What did they expect? For the Government to have written on said money: "this is corruption money"? Of course that the Government "bought" something from Politico, that's how it's done, that's how our corrupt government here in Romania is also doing it when it needs the media on its side. Again, the US "liberals" should smarten up, that's why they've lost last year's elections, because they though the rest of the populace as still being stupid, stupid enough to believe that the Government giving money to Politico is "fake". To say nothing of the "right-wing" innuendo, for what it's worth I'm pretty left-wing, the "I want communist nationalizations" left-wing.
dralley 2y ago
Wrong. The entire federal government has $8 million dollars worth of Politico Pro subscriptions (like Bloomberg terminal for public policy). USAID spent $24k on those subscriptions. Musk is full of shit. I have yet to see an example of such a claim that didn't end up being massively exaggerated or outright false.
- throwaway173738 2y ago
  That’s the whole playbook. Exaggerate loudly the first time you say something, then quietly retract it when nobody is looking. Then say you said the retraction the whole time. It’s textbook manufactured outrage.

intended 2y ago

If you assume that USAID was evil from the oustset, its easy to conclude that everything its tendrils touched was also tainted. Kinda like evil. But, the sad part is, that this also means its an idea which is impossible to challenge, because you cant trust anyone who counters it.

paganel 2y ago
> If you assume that USAID was evil from the oustset, I'm not "assuming", I know that for a fact. > because you cant trust anyone who counters it. Do you happen to live in a part of the Globe that has been under direct USAID (and NED) influence? Something tells me you don't, I do (I live in Eastern Europe), so allow me not to receive lessons from people who know nothing, absolutely nothing, about this type of organisations.
- intended 2y ago
  I do! It seems we benefited significantly from them. Who knew. Also, where I'm from was historically on America's shit list. Still benefited from it.
- throwaway173738 2y ago
  It would help if you’d share something beyond a bald assertion. The idea of soft power gets used by tons of governments everywhere. Maybe they undertook some evil actions where you live. But they also ship food to places that need it, and they fund infrastructure projects.

kemayo 2y ago

USAID gave Politico $24k, not $8M. The entire US govt did pay Politico about $8.2M, presumably in the form of buying their subscription products. Politico really does do deep-dive analysis behind a paywall, and I can see why government people might want access. (I have no idea how justified this is, honestly, but I wouldn't immediately dismiss it.) This seems like a fair enough summary: https://www.axios.com/2025/02/05/politico-trump-musk-government-subscriptions https://www.axios.com/2025/02/05/politico-trump-musk-governm... Or dig through https://www.usaspending.gov/recipient/fa0cefae-7cfb-881d-29c3-1bd39cc6a49e-C/latest https://www.usaspending.gov/recipient/fa0cefae-7cfb-881d-29c... yourself if you want, I guess. That site is super-overloaded at the moment, unfortunately.

floatrock 2y ago
Seriously. Headline here really is "Government is buying data from a data provider." Now do Starlink. Or Palantir. I've yet to hear why this is a corrupt or inappropriate purchase. I might change my mind if I hear evidence on why this was an inappropriate contract, but right now this reeks of dictator-grade fear-targeting of political opponents. This is why a government is supposed to have an independent judiciary. Or inspector generals who haven't been purged.
paganel 2y ago
So you see nothing wrong with the Government paying the media that is supposed to be independent? For what it's the worth the NGOs supported by American institutions like USAID have been raising hell accompanied by cries of "democracy is dying" when our Government here in Romania had done a similar thing, i.e. paying Government money to the local media (supposedly in order to advertise Government initiatives in said media). So you can see how hypocritical this all seems to us, Eastern-Europeans, us who had been called naughty and worse for doing the same thing that organizations like USAID had been doing on their home-turf ($8 million, $24k, it doesn't really matter, the intention was there, we've had a former political leader thrown in jail for corruption/political influence that involved no money, so $0). Samantha Power and those that stood behind here deserve prison-time, the same prison-time that the NGOs that her organization supported had called for the corrupt leaders here in Romania. LAter edit: Now that I've gone through that Axios article more at length, come on, they can't be serious with stuff like this: > A fake theory about Politico being funded by the government is catching fire in right-wing circles They call this "fake"? They call the Government actually giving money to Politico as "fake"? Pardon my French, by what the hell? What did they expect? For the Government to have written on said money: "this is corruption money"? Of course that the Government "bought" something from Politico, that's how it's done, that's how our corrupt government here in Romania is also doing it when it needs the media on its side. Again, the US "liberals" should smarten up, that's why they've lost last year's elections, because they though the rest of the populace as still being stupid, stupid enough to believe that the Government giving money to Politico is "fake". To say nothing of the "right-wing" innuendo, for what it's worth I'm pretty left-wing, the "I want communist nationalizations" left-wing.

dralley 2y ago

Wrong. The entire federal government has $8 million dollars worth of Politico Pro subscriptions (like Bloomberg terminal for public policy). USAID spent $24k on those subscriptions. Musk is full of shit. I have yet to see an example of such a claim that didn't end up being massively exaggerated or outright false.

throwaway173738 2y ago
That’s the whole playbook. Exaggerate loudly the first time you say something, then quietly retract it when nobody is looking. Then say you said the retraction the whole time. It’s textbook manufactured outrage.