Judge orders restoration of Voice of America

5 days ago (apnews.com)

Simple enough, just reverse the arrow of time and unshatter that vase, restore allied trust, and un-DOGE all the clogged pipelines.

  • These kinds of victories really are thin gruel, aren't they?

    • It's almost but not quite:

        "One more victory over Trump and we are completely done for!"
      

      ~ Pyrrhus of Epirus, 2026 AD

      territory.

  • What's the point of this doomerism? Do you want people to just give up? Or are you not willing to build back institutions, and try to make them stronger? I don't understand the point of your comment other than apathy/negativity?

    • > What's the point of this doomerism?

      It's absolutely _not_ a "Doomerism" comment - it's a short, sharp, somewhat wry assessment of exactly where the US currently is on the task of undoing the damage caused by gutting longstanding institutional services.

      USAID, VoA, Government overwatch, Environmental monitoring, Departmental independance, the US DoJ, et al ... have all been broken in ways that will take much longer to reverse than the time taken to break them.

      See "Arrow of Time" and shattered vase examples that go back long in time.

      > Do you want people to just give up?

      Which people? I don't think the ones doing that damage will "just give up" - it'll take effort to vote them out, it will likely take more effort to actually remove them if they stay on trend and refuse to follow court orders and established procedures.

      > Or are you not willing to build back institutions, and try to make them stronger?

      Weird take, I've been backing my people and country for 60 odd years. In that time I've even backed the USofA on the odd occassion.

      > I don't understand the point of your comment

      Hopefully that has clarified things a little - you may still need to do some work on that on your side.

      > other than apathy/negativity?

      because takes such as this are way off the mark.

      Still, best of luck getting the US reputation back on track - it'll take time and concerted effort.

      5 replies →

    • Because of both how the senate is set up where South Dakota has 2 senators just like California, gerrymandering and to a lesser extent the Electoral College, the 40% of America who like these policies will always have outsized power.

      Despite the naive optimism of liberals like Michelle Obama saying “this is not who we are”, what you are seeing now is who this country has always been.

      14 replies →

Reading the article, Lake said this decision is going to be appealed.

The ultimate resolution will likely have to happen at the Supreme Court.

I guess that is what happens when you don't stuff the courts with loyal judges.

Wasn't Voice of America just a propaganda tool? Why are we happy that crap is back?

  • > Why are we happy that crap is back?

    Don't you want to hear the voice of freedom and democracy ?

I am reading the comments under the AP article and wondering how many of them are just bots yelling at each other.

Dead internet theory is creeping up on me.

  • I don’t see any comments at all, at least on mobile. Is this a bot?

    I was going to look at the comments out of curiosity, because I was surprised that there would be any comments at all on an AP article, for several reasons.

    • Here are a few I see:

      Comment by burkej27. 41 MIN AGO No state run media!

      Comment by Robertl. 55 MIN AGO Is there anything that Trump does that is legal and won’t be overturned? What a waste of 4 years. They should be held responsible to the 1000 people damaged by his actions. If he can’t then his cabinet.

      Comment by Trumpisyourpresident. 1 HR AGO Just like NPR, it's the voice of liberal America, not America, so it should not be funded.

      Comment by KendallGrubb. 1 HR AGO We’re not in the 1950’s building Crystal am radios anymore. The cost of this service is unnecessary given today’s media options

      3 replies →

Gonna take a generation to unpick and fix the Trump/DOGE bullshit ...

  • I mean they're on thin ice. I have no love for the trump administration, but It's not clear where the constitution authorizes congress to fund VoA or any government propaganda arm, really. You could equally make the argument "it took three generations to unpick and fix the FDR bullshit".

    • Seems like this would fall under the General Welfare clause. Certainly a lot clearer than the idea that growing your own feed for your livestock means you don’t buy feed on the open market which affects prices which means your feed growing qualifies as interstate commerce despite never leaving your land and can therefore be regulated by the federal government.

      7 replies →

    • > it took three generations to unpick and fix the FDR bullshit

      The difference is that the New Deal is one of, like, 3 reasons the US isn't a complete shithole. Basically everything you like about the US can be traced back to the New Deal.

      1 reply →

[flagged]

  • My takeaway was that VoA can be shutdown, it just needs to be done so according to the law.

    • My read is that it's all about the dollars. The court cannot force Congress to appropriate money, and so if there is no money appropriated to run VoA then the administration has no money from Congress to run it, and cannot be forced to restore it.

  • It’s hilarious to call VoA, which had already faded into near irrelevancy, “their biggest propaganda organ.” That title belongs to Fox News or Hollywood.

    • VoA is for an international audience whilst Fox News, CNN & co are for the American public. Hollywood is mixed.

  • Why does this comment get voted down? Which part are people against hearing/reading about? Is it the fact that the USA is an empire, the fact that its own journalistic efforts are propaganda, the claim that VoA is the biggest propaganda organ, or something else?

    • It’s the sort of comment that does nothing to inform or convince or really say anything. If you already agree with it the you’ll like it. If you don’t then it doesn’t tell you anything. Its only purpose is to stir things up.

    • It's using criticisms which generally aren't even well-received in good faith conversation, stating them obtusely, and ultimately just disingenuously abusing them to support fascism which doesn't actually seek to reform but merely seeks to consolidate power.

      I've long criticized the US foreign policy and the US economic empire. But with the fascists destroying every institution they can, I've become extremely conservative.