Thanks for telling us of so much more of Voice of America, etc. than I believe many of us are aware. I dislike the thought of bad actors moving in on the now empty spots.
Seems all part of the DJT administration's authoritarian playback for sure. Their collective lack of understanding or strategic purpose for agencies they try to shutter or gut, makes me think they will shoot themselves in the foot along with the rest of us. They really don't understand what they are doing ... as evidenced by firing people working with our nuclear weapons or using the Signal app for the attack in Yemen.
In 1979 when I was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer first assigned to Tehran and then reporting on the Iranian economy via daily telephone calls to contacts there, I recall that they counted on VOA "to know what's going on". VOA, RFE and RL are cheap soft diplomacy. Short wave broadcasts escape Internet censorship. Just think back to WW II and how citizens of occupied countries depended on radio for facts. I suppose it was by word of mouth that my paternal grandparents, Fusgeyer from Iaşi, Romania, came to decide, age 20 and newly married, to go to Liverpool and on to Castle Garden (predecessor of Ellis Island) in 1886. My maternal grandmother came to NYC more luxuriously as a tourist in 1917 and never left. I (and my 13 descendants) inherited Swiss passports from her. Will they needs those for a political and economic safe haven some day?) I am raising one of them, 12 yo, who gets his news from the Internet. By anomaly of US law b/c he was born before June 2017 (in Sessions v. Morales-Santana SCOTUS case RBG changed the law) he is not a U.S. citizen: he is British and Swiss. And already understanding that the shutdown of VOA is so that the Trump Administration can make the Leader's Will not just the law but the Word, he has no interest in claiming a green card. Or even visiting the USA again. A side point: when he graduates from his (French) high school he will be a native speaker of two languages and reasonably fluent in another two, German and Russian. Trump has declared English the national language of the USA. AFAIK the Treaty of Paris and the Organic Law protected Spanish as the language of education of Puerto Rico. And Congress in the late 20th Century declared State policy to promote Indigenous and Hawaiian languages: languages that gave us the Code Talkers despite U.S. (and Canadian) efforts to suppress native culture and languages. If the VOA survived, would it broadcast only in English? (Not all U.K. emigrants spoke English. Read Wikipedia's page on Patagonian Welsh, and note Pategonian bilingual Welsh-Spanish speakers are recruited to work for Welsh sports teams and in Welsh pubs.) Sorry for the digressions, but as others have pointed out, cruelty is the point.
Now for a little good news, at the end of last week VOA and other USAGM operations obtained temporary relief in the form temporary restraining orders issued by courts in separate actions they brought against the Trump administration. Now let's hope that these preliminary reprieves result in more permanent relief. As to whether this administration will comply with any court orders is a whole different question, as is the issue of how such orders might actually be enforced.
It is yet more evidence (as if we needed any more evidence) of DJT's own embrace of totalitarian ideals. Revenge, grift, the enrichment of the oligarchy, the quest for power and total domination, all of which align with Putin's and other dictators' aims, are what drive him, and any and all misinformation/disinformation/alternative facts help him to achieve his goals.
No need to step back to see this clearly as it is in plain sight. People are finally starting to speak up and mobilize. I hope that enough of us have the courage to continue to do so and resist this administration's ongoing assault on us (both internally and internationally) before our voices are silenced.
Pretty sure we are going to need a Radio Free US by the time trump, musk, doge & republicans get through with us!
Rounding up students & hauling them off in unmarked cars, plain clothes police with masks. What if some "good guy with a gun" had decided that this was a kidnapping & intervened by shooting the "police", then what?
Radio Free Europe Funding Restored as Trump Administration Sidesteps Lawsuit, but Voice of America Remains Silent
In a significant victory for the outlets, the Trump administration on Thursday ordered that funding for Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty be restored, sidestepping the lawsuit filed by both outlets that the administration looked likely to lose.
The order also restored funding to the Open Technology Fund, but Voice of America and Radio Free Asia remain off air.
Of course they want to get rid of it. I mean championing democracy seems a bit hypocritical when this administration is doing everything in their power to end it in the USA.
Hello Mr. Vindman. Good to hear from you. I remember you from the good fight back when trump tried to silence you and Marie Yovanovich. Keep on trucking and fighting.
There's an error [I hope!] in your article which states "VOA Director Kari Lake". That would be a additional horror show and we are already in the midst of one.
Thanks Christine. I realized that later when I saw a news story with that. Not only is it a shit & horror show but kari lake is a horror on her own. Dreadful person.
Thanks for telling us of so much more of Voice of America, etc. than I believe many of us are aware. I dislike the thought of bad actors moving in on the now empty spots.
Seems all part of the DJT administration's authoritarian playback for sure. Their collective lack of understanding or strategic purpose for agencies they try to shutter or gut, makes me think they will shoot themselves in the foot along with the rest of us. They really don't understand what they are doing ... as evidenced by firing people working with our nuclear weapons or using the Signal app for the attack in Yemen.
In 1979 when I was a U.S. Foreign Service Officer first assigned to Tehran and then reporting on the Iranian economy via daily telephone calls to contacts there, I recall that they counted on VOA "to know what's going on". VOA, RFE and RL are cheap soft diplomacy. Short wave broadcasts escape Internet censorship. Just think back to WW II and how citizens of occupied countries depended on radio for facts. I suppose it was by word of mouth that my paternal grandparents, Fusgeyer from Iaşi, Romania, came to decide, age 20 and newly married, to go to Liverpool and on to Castle Garden (predecessor of Ellis Island) in 1886. My maternal grandmother came to NYC more luxuriously as a tourist in 1917 and never left. I (and my 13 descendants) inherited Swiss passports from her. Will they needs those for a political and economic safe haven some day?) I am raising one of them, 12 yo, who gets his news from the Internet. By anomaly of US law b/c he was born before June 2017 (in Sessions v. Morales-Santana SCOTUS case RBG changed the law) he is not a U.S. citizen: he is British and Swiss. And already understanding that the shutdown of VOA is so that the Trump Administration can make the Leader's Will not just the law but the Word, he has no interest in claiming a green card. Or even visiting the USA again. A side point: when he graduates from his (French) high school he will be a native speaker of two languages and reasonably fluent in another two, German and Russian. Trump has declared English the national language of the USA. AFAIK the Treaty of Paris and the Organic Law protected Spanish as the language of education of Puerto Rico. And Congress in the late 20th Century declared State policy to promote Indigenous and Hawaiian languages: languages that gave us the Code Talkers despite U.S. (and Canadian) efforts to suppress native culture and languages. If the VOA survived, would it broadcast only in English? (Not all U.K. emigrants spoke English. Read Wikipedia's page on Patagonian Welsh, and note Pategonian bilingual Welsh-Spanish speakers are recruited to work for Welsh sports teams and in Welsh pubs.) Sorry for the digressions, but as others have pointed out, cruelty is the point.
Now for a little good news, at the end of last week VOA and other USAGM operations obtained temporary relief in the form temporary restraining orders issued by courts in separate actions they brought against the Trump administration. Now let's hope that these preliminary reprieves result in more permanent relief. As to whether this administration will comply with any court orders is a whole different question, as is the issue of how such orders might actually be enforced.
The only reason for them to do this is because 47 is in Putin's pocket. There is no other reason.
It is yet more evidence (as if we needed any more evidence) of DJT's own embrace of totalitarian ideals. Revenge, grift, the enrichment of the oligarchy, the quest for power and total domination, all of which align with Putin's and other dictators' aims, are what drive him, and any and all misinformation/disinformation/alternative facts help him to achieve his goals.
No need to step back to see this clearly as it is in plain sight. People are finally starting to speak up and mobilize. I hope that enough of us have the courage to continue to do so and resist this administration's ongoing assault on us (both internally and internationally) before our voices are silenced.
Pretty sure we are going to need a Radio Free US by the time trump, musk, doge & republicans get through with us!
Rounding up students & hauling them off in unmarked cars, plain clothes police with masks. What if some "good guy with a gun" had decided that this was a kidnapping & intervened by shooting the "police", then what?
Thank you, Alexander for this informative post.
A glimmer of good news this morning! 🥳
Radio Free Europe Funding Restored as Trump Administration Sidesteps Lawsuit, but Voice of America Remains Silent
In a significant victory for the outlets, the Trump administration on Thursday ordered that funding for Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty be restored, sidestepping the lawsuit filed by both outlets that the administration looked likely to lose.
The order also restored funding to the Open Technology Fund, but Voice of America and Radio Free Asia remain off air.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/radio-free-europe-funding-restored-as-trump-administration-sidesteps-lawsuit-but-voice-of-america-remains-silent/ar-AA1BOq1W
I just wrote about how my parents were Federal employees. My father was the host of the Breakfast Show at the VOA until his death in 1969. https://carynmorgan.substack.com/p/my-parents-were-federal-employees?utm_source=substack&utm_content=feed%3Arecommended%3Acopy_link
Of course they want to get rid of it. I mean championing democracy seems a bit hypocritical when this administration is doing everything in their power to end it in the USA.
Kari Lake's quote cited in the first paragraph of this post is rich indeed!
The problem is no one is thinking about us. They want money and power. How they think they will get it from Putin I don’t know.
Hello Mr. Vindman. Good to hear from you. I remember you from the good fight back when trump tried to silence you and Marie Yovanovich. Keep on trucking and fighting.
There's an error [I hope!] in your article which states "VOA Director Kari Lake". That would be a additional horror show and we are already in the midst of one.
It is a $hit and horror show. That really is her title. Sorry
Thanks Christine. I realized that later when I saw a news story with that. Not only is it a shit & horror show but kari lake is a horror on her own. Dreadful person.