Don't get me wrong. Of course I want to get rid of the waste, fraud and abuse throughout the federal bureaucracy. And, as to the people destroying Tesla dealerships in various states across the country, and even damaging cars already purchased by individuals, the criminals doing these things should be punished to the full extent of the law. I suspect that these vandals are leftists, who at one point encouraged people to purchase electric vehicles. But now, they disapprove of Musk, so they engage in this destructive, criminal behavior.
So, why am I writing this post? I'll discuss 3 reasons here. First, I'm not convinced that Musk has a good grasp of what each federal agency does. I'd like to see a solid conservative, with experience in government, but who believes in the need to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse. But someone who also knows what must stay. People advising Musk's replacement should continue to be people from the private sector. Business leaders know better than government bureaucrats how to cut waste, fraud and abuse.
I'll start with USAID (the U.S. Agency for International Development). Apparently, they were promoting a bunch of leftwing woke nonsense. Then put in new people to run it. But I want to keep it. I want to return it to its core mission. While the US remains a leading military power, we are also an economic power. How do we gain influence and friends in other countries? Through the use of "soft power," such as through the core functions of USAID - economic development, education, providing healthcare and disaster relief, and, of course, encouraging democratic governance. If you think that is a waste of our tax dollars, think about this. The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) is not only rapidly growing their military power.
They have been using their "soft power" around the world for years. The CCP makes "investments" around the globe. Here's one example. The Shanghai International Port Group has an agreement to operate a new terminal at the port of Haifa, in Israel, for 25 years. Yes, in the country of Israel, our ally. Not to mention the millions (billions?) they are investing in educational institutions through the CCP's Confucius Institutes. Universities in the US were happy to have them, until the federal government threatened a cutoff of federal dollars if they didn't close the Institutes. But as of 2018, there were an estimated 100 such Institutes in the US, and 550 in the world.
Anybody believe that these Confucius Institutes promote democracy? Or freedom of speech and religion? Or the right to criticize the CCP? I certainly would not want to wake up one morning to find out that the majority of countries in the world were relying on the CCP's largesse, with the US left behind. And I definitely do not think the U.S. and the world would be safer with countries persuaded that the authoritarian rule in China is preferable to democratic rule as in the U.S. I do not know if Musk gets this.
In a related matter, it appears that the Voice of America, founded during WWII to combat the Nazi propaganda war machine, is now being shut down. Again, this is no good - unless you believe that China, Russia, North Korea and Iran should be the main influencers in the world. But Trump's Executive Order of 3/14/25 has put an end to the VOA. Musk apparently argued that VOA and Radio Free Europe should go. I don't agree. Fix them, but don't eliminate them. If they had no positive impact, why was it reported that Russia spent $1.2 dollars in 2024 jamming the VOA. (No, I don't know how much broadcasting got through anyway.) But a major problem is that the 1994 International Broadcasting Act prohibits editorial involvement by government officials. That needs to be amended.
Here's a second beef I have with Musk running DOGE. I represent people who have been injured on the job. A good number of them have suffered severe injuries. Severe enough that they should be eligible to receive Social Security Disability. Yet, over two dozen Social Security offices are set to be closed; and 7000 employees are scheduled to be laid off. While these changes may have been if the offing before DOGE, I do have some concerns about Musk's comments. Meanwhile, I have clients who have to wait up to two years to get a decision regarding their entitlement to benefits. And they're unable to work. Two years is unacceptable.
Here's my third beef with Musk. I've said it many times. Whether antisemitism comes from the Left, the Right or radical Islam, it's all bad. And I will call it out. I don't know that Musk is an antisemite, but the alternative is that notwithstanding his brilliance, he is prone to supporting antisemitic tropes and comments. Just a couple of examples. Someone posted that Jewish communities "have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them." Musk then posted: "You have said the actual truth." No, they didn't.
And Musk did subsequently apologize, saying it was the dumbest post he ever made. For his information, Jews come from virtually every country around the world. They can be white, black, Hispanic, even Arabic. You name it. But Musk did one better: "Stalin, Mao and Hitler didn't murder millions of people. Their public sector employees did." Are you kidding me? I get why Musk would repost that comment. He wants to get rid of public sector employees.
But his likely rationale for posting that comment is irrelevant to me. Because the clear implication is that Hitler was not responsible for the Final Solution - the Holocaust. It is beyond insulting. It minimizes the pure evil of Hitler, and of the Holocaust. It is about as antisemitic as one can get. Musk has tried to explain away some of his stupidity by saying "If I quote something it doesn't mean I agree with anything and everything in it." And this: "It's just that I think this is something people should consider." No, no one should consider any of his antisemitic, Hitler defending remarks. Ever.
A final note. I was not fond of seeing Musk prancing around the Oval Office. Or in the first Cabinet meeting of President Trump's second term. Okay, maybe he wasn't prancing. But I don't like his "show-off" style. Such as when he was holding up a chainsaw, showing how he was going to "cut" the bureacracy. We have one President. And that's Trump. Musk did not seem content to remain in the background. But the people did not elect him. So let the work of DOGE continue, but with new leadership. With someone who knows where and why to cut, and what to keep.
