Quotes Of The Day -- Breaking Containment

 

"... The CDC benefited from ears on the ground during that [Ebola] outbreak, which began in late 2013 and grew to more than 28,000 cases and 11,000 deaths. Some were CDC staff, others were contractors or physicians at partner organizations like USAID.  [snip]

"But last year, DOGE took a wrecking ball to that network. USAID was shut down practically overnight, which led to Ebola-prevention funding being “accidentally” canceled, as Elon Musk cavalierly noted. Musk at the time claimed it had been restored, but ultimately the health infrastructure was dismantled. Meanwhile, the CDC faced its own steep cuts and the U.S. — which had long been the WHO’s top funder — withdrew from the organization entirely.

"While it’s too early to directly blame those cuts for the late detection of the current outbreak, one thing is certain: The decimation of USAID and the U.S.’ exit from the WHO will make containing the spread much more difficult..." -- Lisa Jarvis, Bloomberg News, on why "Containing Ebola Is Hard. The U.S. Made It Worse."

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“But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States….”

-Section 4, 14th Amendment

"... It is by now widely understood that the 14^th Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship, and protection from state interference with citizenship rights. The Amendment incorporates the concept of equality – racial equality – into our Constitution for the first time. In so doing the 14^th brings our Constitution into harmony with the core principle of the Declaration of Independence that 'all men are created equal.' The drafting and ratification of the 14^th Amendment constituted a stunningly ambitious act of constitutional repair and reconciliation.

But the Amendment does even more. For the first time, our Constitution confronted head-on the destructive forces that live in the DNA of our country that had been laid bare by the Civil War. The powerful force of white supremacist ideology would have to be cabined. But those founders recognized something else – that the strain of insurrection that led to secession and the creation of the Confederacy continued to run strong throughout the South, and it too would need to be disabled.

For these reasons, the 14th Amendment did more than guarantee equality. Section 2 of the Amendment contains a provision designed to punish southern states if they attempted to keep Black (men at the time) from voting. Section 3 bars those who participated in insurrection from serving in public office.

Section 4, excerpted above, bars payments to insurrectionists...." -- Sherrilyn Ifill, in "Sherrilyn's Newsletter," on "Trump's Insurrectionist Payout Scheme Violates the 14th Amendment."

Both quotes illustrate the bitter irony of the Malignant Fascist's "Make America Great Again" slogan when, in fact, it's a national suicide movement.

Trump's Latest Corruption: January 6 Thug Fund

 

Not long ago, the hugely corrupt and vicious Malignant Fascist filed a $10 billion lawsuit against his own IRS for not stopping the leak of his income tax papers, with his own corrupt Justice Department "defending" the Government.  The court was expected to toss the frivolous and self-dealing lawsuit, so the MF ordered his flunkies to settle out of court.  The illegal settlement was for $1.776 billion, which would allegedly go to pay off the January 6 violent seditionists and others impacted by the MF's big lie.  From PBS:

"The Trump administration on Monday announced the creation a $1.7 billion fund to compensate allies of the Republican president who believe they were mistreated by the Biden administration Justice Department.

The 'Anti-Weaponization Fund' was announced by the Justice Department as part of a deal to resolve President Donald Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in announcing the fund in a statement that it was 'a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.'

Democrats and government watchdogs immediately pledged to fight what they called a 'corrupt' and unprecedented resolution, warning that the arrangement would unjustly enrich people close to the president with taxpayer dollars and open the door to meritless claims of political persecution. [snip]

The fund would represent not only a highly unorthodox resolution but also a further demonstration of the administration's eagerness to reward allies who before Trump came to power were investigated and in some cases charged and convicted. Most notably, the president on his first day back in office pardoned or commuted the sentences of supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. His Justice Department since then has approved payouts to supporters entangled in the Trump-Russia investigation and investigated and prosecuted some of his perceived adversaries." (our emphasis)

The depravity of rewarding the violent goons that stormed the Capitol, beat up police causing 140 to be treated for injuries and several to die, wrecking the building, stealing property, and smearing their feces on the floor of the Capitol, is breathtaking.  There's no question that the MF will find a way to pay himself for being "mistreated" by the Biden Administration.  Imagine how many Federal agencies the felonious MF could sue and then have his Justice Department settle before the case goes to trial. This action is also being seen as the MF buying his own militia for future thuggery on his behalf.

The settlement was so obviously corrupt that the Treasury Department's General Counsel Brian Morrissey, an appointee of the MF, resigned yesterday in apparent disgust.  More should do so, but won't, just as the corporate media will shrug and treat this as a one-day story, if that.  The theft continues.

BONUS:  Senate Dems plan to make Republicans go on the record on the MF's "Anti-Weaponization Fund."

(photo: These violent rioters may soon be a lot wealthier. AP Photo/John Minchillo)